{"conf": "news", "generated_at": "2026-04-26T08:00:02.954878Z", "threads": [{"num": 0, "subject": "", "response_count": 0, "posts": []}, {"num": 1, "subject": "Stuff to know about the news conference", "response_count": 0, "posts": []}, {"num": 10, "subject": "News from outside the Spring", "response_count": 262, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Mar  4, 1998 (10:28)", "body": "Jack King, noted attorney, is in today's LA Times. He's still waiting for his subpoena: http://www.latimes.com/HOME/NEWS/REPORTS/SCANDAL/STORIES/lat_scandal0303.htm Get in line, Jack. If Vernon Jordan is in the batter's box, does that mean that our gal Monica Lewinsky is in the on deck circle? And from Sonoma Countian Roger Karraker: In the same vein, a report from last Friday's \"Washington Pissed\": White House Tries to Squash Ken Starr's Penis Washington, DC - (Feb 27) - According to CNN, the so-called \"White House,\" apparently tried, early yesterday, to have Ken Starr's grand jury penis, or something, so-called \"squashed.\" According to CNN's source, Ken Starr apparently has 2 penii -- a superior court uber-penis and a grand jury sub-penis, and it was the sub-penis that the so-called \"White House\" tried to have squashed. ---- Full text at http://c3f.com/nty0227.html"}, {"response": 3, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Mar 23, 1998 (06:54)", "body": "Yeltsin fired his entire cabinet. Can you imagine Clinton doing that? What's up with this?"}, {"response": 4, "author": "autumn", "date": "Wed, Apr  1, 1998 (22:48)", "body": "I can top that--yesterday he fired himself!"}, {"response": 6, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, May 21, 1998 (10:05)", "body": "PowerBall lottery: jackpot has grown exponentially with the 20 states (and D.C.) to a grand total of $195 MILLION! and ONE person won it all last night. doh!"}, {"response": 7, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Thu, May 21, 1998 (11:31)", "body": "can I just curl up and cry now?"}, {"response": 8, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Thu, May 21, 1998 (14:14)", "body": "another kids killing kids school shooting spree this morning in Oregon, 25 victims and of those one dead and three super critical maybe Riette is right about murder being instinctual..."}, {"response": 9, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, May 22, 1998 (00:03)", "body": "let's not even hypothesize yet... as liberal as I tend to lean, I still point toward televison/media/movies glorifying and (at the very least) desensitizing the general populus to such violence. How many glorified vigilante movies have there been in the past five years? How many television stations have chosen to replay videos of suicides/standoffs/shootouts? Our society (HUGE generalization) 'preaches' self-awareness. It maintains an air of distance between one person and another. Communities are becoming obsolete (in the sense they are a group of individuals working toward a similar purpose while looking out for 'their own'). Individuals view themselves more frequently as islands... the children I teach have very little respect for life and little to no knowledge concerning cause/effect. Consequences are remote. Seems everyone is living in a dream."}, {"response": 10, "author": "stacey", "date": "Wed, Jun  3, 1998 (16:32)", "body": "Today is backwards day at Knight Academy... if i were much more intelligent and more right brained than I am (or would this use the left side?) I would post all responses in backwards arabic BUT... since I am really smarter than that and I don't want to humiliate or belittle any of you all, I will simply call you by your wacky wednesday (my kids would impale me for not capitalizing that 'W' after all the points I've taken off their papers for similar mistakes -- ahhhh to be the teacher!) names. REW mij etteiR nmutuA (I had to write that out and then flip it around... sad, sad, sad) floW luaP cte. cte. cte."}, {"response": 11, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Wed, Jun  3, 1998 (16:38)", "body": ".em yb yako s'tahT"}, {"response": 12, "author": "stacey", "date": "Wed, Jun  3, 1998 (17:40)", "body": "taht etirw ot uoy ekat ti did gnol woH shit. I forgot the question mark! thanks for playing with me REW!"}, {"response": 13, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Wed, Jun  3, 1998 (17:45)", "body": ".emityna uoy htiw yalp ll'I !emoclew er'uoY"}, {"response": 14, "author": "stacey", "date": "Wed, Jun  3, 1998 (17:53)", "body": "(damn you're really quick with the transciption!)"}, {"response": 15, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Wed, Jun  3, 1998 (18:06)", "body": ".dab oot toN .sdrow trohs htiw yllaicepsE"}, {"response": 16, "author": "autumn", "date": "Wed, Jun  3, 1998 (22:09)", "body": "!!LOL"}, {"response": 17, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Jun  4, 1998 (16:53)", "body": "Here is a story my students wrote yesterday... The Three Hungry Wolves by 121 One morning three little girls were walking on the beach. They were walking to Grandma's house. Silently three wolves crept up and surrounded the little girls. \"Back Off,\" they said. \"Why should we listen to you?\" the wolves snarled. The frightened girls sprinted away toward their grandmother's house. A fox jumped out of a bush and the girls darted to the left. The wolves and the fox began to chase after the girls. Darnell, the wolf, jumped of Chris, the fox, and bit him on the back of the neck. The fox whimpered and slipped away toward the girls. The wolves and the fox continued their pursuit of the little girls. Chris, the fox, soon left the chase in pursuit of a tuna fish sandwich. At Grandma's house, the wolves stopped and looked around for the little girls who were nowhere to be found. Grandma came out of the house with pig feet, chitlins and neck bones. The wolves asked, \"Could we please have a bottle of hot sauce?\" Everyone was happy and full except for Chris the fox, who was still searching for tuna fish. The End (they wrote that round robin after a series of mini-lessons on characterization, dialogue, setting, plot and action verbs! I am so proud of them!) *beam*"}, {"response": 18, "author": "jgross5", "date": "Thu, Jun  4, 1998 (21:05)", "body": "My favorite word was \"darted\" I liked when that happened. I liked how half way through, names came into the picture (Darnell & Chris) And since the wolves were boys instead of just wolves, Grandma treated them real good. I also liked \"crept up\" \"snarled\" \"sprinted away\" \"whimpered\" \"slipped away toward\" The dialogue entered into its own element, did its thing.....coool. Talk about catchin' on, those kids are sharp. Kids' writings are some of the most inventive in the language. It makes me giddy thinkin' how fun it could've been to've been one of them when they were comin' up with their stuff, their contributions. I bet it was pretty engaging. I wonder if they did a buncha tryin' to figure out what would work, like what should go next -- or -- whether they just said stuff, jotted it down, reworked it a little here a little there and it happened fairly quick. I always like how a new activity can bring out something in a kid or kids that no one there really ever noticed about the kid before....and the kid is going, \"hmmm, i like doin' this....it got pretty fun....I'm gonna try some more of this on my own....and with my brother and maybe at recess with Kirsten and Najeeb.\""}, {"response": 19, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Jun  5, 1998 (09:59)", "body": "that's the reaction I'm looking for from them. They actually wrote it as a group (talk about using problem solving skills!) and I jotted it up on the board when they came to a consensus. I wanted them to be able to publish it within the school, so my only rule was... nobody gets eaten! Thanks for the comments Jim, I'll share them with the boys... their first critque!"}, {"response": 20, "author": "autumn", "date": "Fri, Jun  5, 1998 (23:02)", "body": "I liked the food! Are you sure you're still in Colorado, or have you secretly moved to Kentucky??"}, {"response": 21, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sat, Jun  6, 1998 (00:25)", "body": "Hey, what's that about Kentucky?"}, {"response": 22, "author": "autumn", "date": "Sun, Jun  7, 1998 (22:28)", "body": "Now calm down, wer, remember I have this thang for you good ol' boys..."}, {"response": 23, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Mon, Jun  8, 1998 (10:42)", "body": "as long as we're clean shaven and ugly..."}, {"response": 24, "author": "stacey", "date": "Mon, Jun  8, 1998 (15:34)", "body": "still in CO. One of my student's favorite meals is pig's EARS! They claim it's soul food and I am none the wiser. We are having a pizza party tomorrow... typical elementary fare regardless of the locale!"}, {"response": 25, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Tue, Jun  9, 1998 (09:18)", "body": "Happy last day of school, teach!"}, {"response": 26, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Jun  9, 1998 (18:20)", "body": "THANK YOU!!!!!"}, {"response": 27, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Jul 24, 1998 (12:26)", "body": "--------------------------------------------------------- ARS ELECTRONICA FESTIVAL 98 INFOWAR. information.macht.krieg Linz, Austria, september 07 - 12 http://www.aec.at/infowar --------------------------------------------------------- Time Daily - Jul 9, 1998: Television Banned in Afghanistan July 9, 1998 The Taliban government outlaws possession of TV sets Updated: Jul 9 1998 12:32PM The revolution will not be televised -- at least not in Afghanistan. The Taliban government today banned TV, and gave Afghans 15 days to get rid of all sets and VCRs. After that, if the organization's enforcers find one in your house, it will be destroyed and you will be punished. (And in a country where women are beaten in the street if their bodies are not covered from head to toe, tuning in for your regular satellite dose of \"Baywatch\" may not be worth the pain.) Of course there hasn't been anything good on Afghan TV for some time -- the Taliban closed down the country's only TV station in 1996, for fear that the medium would corrupt society. So if you're looking for the remote in an Afghan household, you're unlikely to find it in the couch cushions -- try digging up the back yard. -- Tony Karon http://cgi.pathfinder.com/time/daily/0,1237,101980709-taliban,00.html There are no laws effectively providing for freedom of speech and the press. Senior officials of various warring factions allegedly attempted to intimidate reporters and influence their reporting. The few newspapers, all of which were published only sporadically, were for the most part affiliated with different factions. The various factions maintain their own communications facilities. The Taliban took over the pro-Rabbani radio service in Kabul and renamed it the Voice of Shariat. The Taliban banned television on religious grounds. All factions have attempted to pressure foreign journalists reporting on the Afghan conflict. The Taliban initially cooperated with the international press who arrived in Kabul but later imposed restrictions upon them. On September 29, journalists accompanying European Union Commissioner Emma Bonino, and the Commissioner herself, were detained for 3 hours in Kabul after they entered a hospital for women and began filming in violation of the Taliban rule against photographing living things. The television crews agreed to turn over their cassettes to the Taliban authorities. A Taliban official later expressed apologies for the arrest. The Taliban reportedly require most journalists to stay at the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul (allegedly for security and economic reasons). Journalists also reported that the Taliban attempted to control who could act as drivers and interpreters for journalists. Music, movies, and television continue to be prohibited by the Taliban. Television functioned sporadically in Mazar-i-Sharif. http://www.state.gov/www/global/human_rights/1997_hrp_report/afghanis.html Tjebbe van Tijen Imaginary Museum Projects, Amsterdam tijen@inter.nl.net ----- End of forwarded message from Tjebbe van Tijen -----"}, {"response": 28, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Aug 17, 1998 (22:25)", "body": "ok, how many people watched our President's speech? i don't really know what to think. if he lied (at any point) can this really be left in his personal life? can we continue to \"trust\" in his decisions that affect every one of us? i agree that it should have been left in his privacy, but when brought out to the public he should have come right out then and there and straightened it all out. but i also agree with his statement that we should move on. i'm not trying to put down my president (as my commander in chief) just trying to understand the fabric of the man who is. i am glad he took responsibility (even rather late in the game). the only thing that i think may have held him back in the beginning was fear and the thought (hope) that monica wouldn't have continued to pursue the matter. but we have all made mistakes in our lives. let's hope he doesn't lie to the country and send our men and women in the military into a sad situation. (probably am just displaying my ignorance) so now what's going to happen to the Miss Teen USA that was to be broadcast out of our Hirsch Coliseum tonight? Huh???"}, {"response": 29, "author": "riette", "date": "Tue, Aug 18, 1998 (04:48)", "body": "So, what did he say in his speech? Was it one of those dreadfully emotional, kitchy speeches of his? I mean the man is clever, and probably a good president all in all, I just wish he wouldn't be so damned KITCHY!!!"}, {"response": 30, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Aug 18, 1998 (09:22)", "body": "no. he said he acted inappropriately which was his fault and he wants to patch things up with his wife, daughter, and God. it lasted 4 minutes with two hour commentary by the press. he is clever with his words."}, {"response": 31, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Aug 18, 1998 (11:39)", "body": "It was a mix of humility and outrage. He copped to the affair but he blasted Ken Starr's $40 million 4 year investigation. He tried to wrap it up and bring closure but fell short by firing this shot. The country's tired of it. The worst outcome might be the best, impeachment, then Gore gets a headstart on 2000 as a sitting President. As someone who likes Gore a lot more than Clinton, this might not be so awful. And Gore wouldn't be so impaired and such a lame duck. So I say, let the Republicans muck up things by impeaching Clinton, and thereby insure themselves of another 10 years of Democratic Presidential government. Clinton headed out on vacation. Starr isn't done, he's talking to spin-master, Clinton outcast what's his name today. And he may not be through with Clinton or Lewinsky."}, {"response": 32, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Aug 18, 1998 (12:57)", "body": "i heard someone say that we probably don't want Gore either. you think hilary will run in 2000?"}, {"response": 33, "author": "riette", "date": "Tue, Aug 18, 1998 (14:22)", "body": "Ogh, they're such a ghastly family!!"}, {"response": 34, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Aug 18, 1998 (17:51)", "body": "Maybe as Gore's VP."}, {"response": 35, "author": "riette", "date": "Wed, Aug 19, 1998 (02:29)", "body": "I'll laugh myself to bits everytime I see a speech on TV, by America's President Pete (or Andrew, or Phillip) GORE. Let's just hope they don't assassinate him at any point, because then he will live up to his name gloriously. BLOOD covered President GORE this morning as his BRAINS were shot out this morning.....!!! ha-ha!!!! forgive my sense of humour"}, {"response": 36, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Aug 19, 1998 (08:40)", "body": "He's the VP, and it's Al Gore, Rush Limbaugh derisively refers to him as algor as in some monster movie. He wrote a story about our Farm in Tennessee when he was a reporter in Nashville and my friend Al Bates does environmental research for him."}, {"response": 37, "author": "riette", "date": "Wed, Aug 19, 1998 (09:32)", "body": "HA-HA!!!!!! President ALL GORE!!! Are you always serious?"}, {"response": 38, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Aug 19, 1998 (11:14)", "body": "Sometimes. I like gore."}, {"response": 39, "author": "riette", "date": "Wed, Aug 19, 1998 (11:40)", "body": "Suppose the novelty's worn off for me - what with all the nappies and other gore I deal with every day! But if Gore is important to you, I hope he becomes the next president."}, {"response": 40, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Aug 19, 1998 (12:06)", "body": "He could, if he can overcome the Bush challenge (our Texas gov). Clinton resigning now would give him a big head start."}, {"response": 41, "author": "riette", "date": "Wed, Aug 19, 1998 (14:19)", "body": "Don't you just wish Clinton WOULD resign?"}, {"response": 42, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Aug 19, 1998 (14:27)", "body": "Yes, not because I don't like Clinton but because I like Gore."}, {"response": 43, "author": "riette", "date": "Wed, Aug 19, 1998 (16:45)", "body": "I don't like Clinton - not because he seems a bad president, but because he's such a SNAIL! Leaves a whitish, slimy, squidgy, slippery track every time he looks at a woman. I mean, hasn't the guy go ANY control down there? Is he addicted to Viagra?"}, {"response": 44, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Aug 19, 1998 (20:48)", "body": "don't think he needs it. it's not so much the fact that he \"behaved inappropriately\" that bothers me, it's the fact that he lied about it. and then he wears her tie the day she testified. yes, he was wrong in his behavior. but now who will believe anything he says?"}, {"response": 45, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Wed, Aug 19, 1998 (23:16)", "body": "I never did. He is, after all, the President..."}, {"response": 46, "author": "riette", "date": "Fri, Aug 21, 1998 (02:28)", "body": "I guess calling him pri\ufffdk to his face would be taken as a huge compliment?! ha-ha! No, Wolf, I agree. I can handle a pervert, but not a goddamned liar."}, {"response": 47, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 21, 1998 (10:43)", "body": "Any comments on the rebel base bombings?"}, {"response": 48, "author": "riette", "date": "Fri, Aug 21, 1998 (14:23)", "body": "Politically I guess it's a good move basically. I just get bloody fed up with the way innocent people have to die for quarrels between a bunch of craphead egotists. I mean, if that fanatic ar$ehole was pi$$ed off with Bill, why did he not bomb BILL? And then if America was pi$$ed off at him for bombing Bill, then Gore could become new president, and bomb the damned fanatic! I think it's easy to bomb people if it's not YOU or YOUR family dying."}, {"response": 49, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Aug 21, 1998 (19:35)", "body": "i think it just happened at a strange time."}, {"response": 50, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 21, 1998 (20:03)", "body": "So you're with the 25% or so that say he's waggin' the dog, wolfie? The Russians were mad because the US didn't tell them, nor did they notify the country next door 5 miles away. Question is, what will be the counter reprisals now? Batten down your hatches."}, {"response": 51, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Aug 22, 1998 (12:20)", "body": "they'll probably just continue doing what they've always done. i don't think (as in wag the dog) that this is all made up. but just makes one wonder. the only thing is that now that this precedence has been set, this country is obligated to continue meeting terroristic actions in the same way."}, {"response": 52, "author": "riette", "date": "Sat, Aug 22, 1998 (14:34)", "body": "I isn't made up, it just came at a bloody convenient time for Bill."}, {"response": 53, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Aug 22, 1998 (20:37)", "body": "That country was Pakistan. And Yeltsin's on a rant about it. It's terrifying to think about how far we've come without a major chemical, biological or terrorist attack. These weren't really major acts of terrorism in comparison to what's possible. It's a very tough issue for the world, to be up against such a hard to define and pin down enemy with the ability to change its base of operations and not be tied down to a specific country, it a sense, it's a virtual enemy with ability to organize acroos boundaries."}, {"response": 54, "author": "riette", "date": "Sun, Aug 23, 1998 (09:19)", "body": "Yeltsin on a rant? No way! He's way too senile and chronically drunk - if he's on a rant, it'll be over the price of Vodka, not Pakistan. God, he's an old fart!"}, {"response": 55, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Aug 24, 1998 (11:19)", "body": "OK not rant, perfuncatory West bashing."}, {"response": 56, "author": "riette", "date": "Mon, Aug 24, 1998 (16:45)", "body": "HA-HA!!!! How are you Terry? HAve you been to the movies again with that fabulous friend of yours?"}, {"response": 57, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Aug 24, 1998 (17:44)", "body": "Not this last weekend. I was a homebody."}, {"response": 58, "author": "riette", "date": "Tue, Aug 25, 1998 (02:10)", "body": "Fondling your complicated tool(s), no doubt."}, {"response": 59, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Sep  3, 1998 (04:58)", "body": "Kristen, my room mate, just told me that a Swiss Air plane went down, she's freaked because she knows a bunch of folks that work for Swiss Air. She's shaking."}, {"response": 60, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Sep  3, 1998 (09:05)", "body": "let's keep them in our prayers *hugs* for your roomy."}, {"response": 61, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Thu, Sep  3, 1998 (09:40)", "body": "Swissair Jet Crashes Off Nova Scotia By DAVE HOWLAND .c The Associated Press PEGGY'S COVE, Nova Scotia (Sept. 3) - Dozens of fishing boats and coast guard ships searching through choppy seas today found only bodies and debris from a Swissair jetliner that crashed off Nova Scotia, killing all 229 people aboard. Swissair said there were no survivors from Flight 111 from New York to Geneva, which plunged into the ocean Wednesday night after its pilot reported smoke in the cockpit and attempted an emergency landing at Halifax International Airport. ''About 30 miles south of the airport, the aircraft disappeared from radar screens,'' said airline spokeswoman Beatrice Tschanz in Zurich, Switzerland. At dawn, rescuers had recovered 18 bodies from the turbulent waters a few miles off Peggys Cove, a small fishing village and tourist retreat. Philippe Bruggisser, the airline's chief executive officer, told reporters in Zurich the flight headed out over the Atlantic without incident but within minutes, the Swiss pilot and co-pilot decided to turn back after reporting problems on the McDonnell Douglas MD-11 plane. The passengers were thought to be mostly Swiss, Tschanz said. It was not immediately known how many Americans were on board, but one crew member was an American from Swissair partner Delta, Tschanz said. In Atlanta, Delta spokesman Bill Berry said 53 Delta passengers were on the flight. Dr. Jonathan Mann, dean of the Harvard School of Public Health and a pioneer in the fight against AIDS, was among the dead, along with his wife, according to Dr. Peter Piot of the U.N. World Health Organization. U.N. officials returning to headquarters in Geneva also were believed to be on board. The White House said terorrism likely was not a factor in the crash. President Clinton, who was visiting Northern Ireland today, was being regularly briefed on the crash. The plane left New York's Kennedy International Airport at 8:17 p.m. with 215 passengers - including two infants - and 14 crew, said Philippe Roy, a Geneva airport spokesman. Before the plane went down slightly more than an hour later, residents said they heard loud sputtering noises from an aircraft passing overhead and then a thundering crash. Dozens of ambulances were dispatched to the scene. ''The motors were still going, but it was the worst-sounding deep groan that I've ever heard,'' said witness Claudia Zinck-Gilroy. Searchlights from coast guard cutters, fishing boats, helicopters and planes illuminated the area, said witnesses, who reported seeing an oil slick, life preservers and other debris from the downed aircraft spread over a wide area of ocean. ''It's real ugly,'' said Craig Sanford, operator of a whale-watching boat that was one of the first vessels on the scene. ''You see Styrofoam floating, chunks of wood, panels, the odd body here and there. It's not a nice scene.'' The three-engine plane dumped tons of fuel over nearby St. Margaret's Bay before crashing, The Canadian Press quoted an airport worker as saying. Debris from the aircraft was found off Clam Island and other islets between Peggys Cove and Blandford, 20 miles southwest of Halifax. Lt. Cmdr. Mike Considine of the Search and Rescue Center in Halifax said rescue crews were searching for the aircraft seven miles off Peggys Cove. Local fishermen were called to the area because they are familiar with the waters. There were four rescue planes and four helicopters, as well as a Canadian navy ship, said Canadian navy spokeswoman Tracy Simoneau. She said civilian rescuers were at the scene within minutes of the crash. At the airports in New York and Geneva, grief counselors were on hand for relatives of the crash victims. A special lounge was set up in the Delta Air Lines terminal at Kennedy Airport. Rabbi Mendel Pevzner said more than 100 relatives and friends had gathered at the Geneva airport. Kennedy officials reported only a handful of relatives had shown up there. The National Transportation Safety Board in Washington sent a team of 10 people to Canada this morning. It was the first crash of a Swissair plane since Oct. 7, 1979, when one of its DC-8s overshot the runway in Athens, Greece, while attempting to land and burst into flames. Fourteen people were killed. The plane was put into service in August 1991 and was overhauled in August and September last year, said Georges Schorderet, the chief financial officer of parent company SAirGroup. It had been checked as all are before takeoff, he added. ''This airplane was in perfect working order,'' Schorderet said. The McDonnell Douglas MD-11 is a jet known for its reliability, even though its manufacturer, Boeing, has announced plans to discontinue the model in the year 2000. ''Both the aircraft and the airline have extremely good safety records, among the very best in the industry,'' Daly said."}, {"response": 62, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Tue, Sep  8, 1998 (21:36)", "body": "McGwire DID IT!!! 62 HOMERS!!!! i almost cried as i watched it. what an awesome acheivement, and he was so happy in front of the crowd, soaking it all up. he was so excited that he almost forgot to tag 1st base on his way around the bases, and the first base coach had to tell him to tag up. history made tonight!"}, {"response": 63, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Sep  9, 1998 (00:43)", "body": "I did cry, being a lifelong Cardinal fan and one who listened to Jack Buck, Harry Caray and Joe Garagiola broadcast Cardinals games as a kid. The way he tossed his kind in the air. And all the hugs and body language, what a night. What a night! So many great moments. And at the end he even turned and thanked his \"great ex-wife\"; you just don't get this every day! He slapped it hard. A line drive that went in to a no fan's area. The shortest home run he hit all season. And he gave all the Maris' kids big hugs and expressions of thanks. The big guys got it great."}, {"response": 64, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Nov 16, 1998 (10:47)", "body": "As if we didn't already know... From: mrteegeack@aol.com (MrTeegeack) Newsgroups: alt.religion.scientology Subject: SFChronicle 1951,APRIL 24 - Hubbard Insane Date: 15 Nov 1998 16:39:56 GMT The San Francisco Chronicle April 24, 1951 - A-8:3 Ron Hubbard Insane, Says His Wife LOS ANGELES, April 23 (UP)--- The wife of L.Ron Hubbard, 40, founder of the Dianetics Mental Health Movement, filed suit for divorce today, charging he is suffering from a mental ailment. Mrs. Sara Northrup Hubbard, 25, said \"competent medical advisers\" had examined her 40-year-old husband and concluded he was \"hopelessly insane\" and should be placed in a private sanitarium for \"psychiatric observation.\" She said doctors told her her husband was suffering from a mental ailment \"known as paranoid schizophrenia.\" Mrs. Hubbard also charged he subjected her to \"systematic torture\" by beating and strangling her and denying her sleep. Her suit said Hubbard once told her he didn`t want to be married and suggested that if she really loved him, she would kill herself because a divorce would \"hurt his reputation.\" Mrs. Hubbard described her husband`s dianetics research foundation as his \"alter ego\" and said the institution did more than $1,000,000 business last year. When informed of the doctors` recommendation that he be placed in a mental institution, Hubbard took their 13-month-old daughter, Alexis, from Mrs. Hubbard`s apartment and went into hiding, the suit charged. The wife also said Hubbard told her he was unmarried when they were wed Aug. 10, 1946, at Chestertown, Md., but it was not until December, 1947, that he divorced a former wife, Mrs. Margaret Grubb Hubbard, at Port Orchard, Wash. Mrs. Hubbard asked $500,000 damages to compensate for the loss of \"the golden years of a woman`s life\" and an annulment of their marriage if the court finds she never was legally marriedto the dianetics founder. Mr. Teegeeack More Information: www.xenu.net www.factnet.org www.lermanet.com"}, {"response": 65, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Nov 16, 1998 (13:46)", "body": "she got tired of scientology, eh?"}, {"response": 66, "author": "TIM", "date": "Mon, Nov 16, 1998 (22:26)", "body": "Or she got tired of lies. WAIT A MINUTE!! If they were married in 1946, how canshe be 25 yrs old? 1946 would be 27yrs before she was born. I've heard of robbing the cradle, but this is ridiculous!"}, {"response": 67, "author": "autumn", "date": "Tue, Nov 17, 1998 (17:05)", "body": "Well, all I can say is Chestertown's a darn charming little town. I'm sure it was a nice setting for a wedding, even a bigamist's..."}, {"response": 68, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Feb  7, 2036 (03:02)", "body": "Teletubbies under attack from Jerry Falwell. From luddite@PRAIRIENET.ORG Thu Feb 11 00:46:43 1999 Date: Wed, 10 Feb 1999 22:26:50 -0600 From: \"Margaret M. Sheehan\" To: STORYTELL@VENUS.TWU.EDU Subject: The Tinky-Winky Defense I don't know about the rest of you, but I was shocked, shocked I say, when I heard of Jerry Falwell's vicious and unwarranted attack on Tinky-Winky. Just because Tinky-Winky carries a purse, is that any reason to accuse him of un-natural acts? He has no genitalia, any act would be un-natural! And with whom would he be un-natural? There are only three other Teletubbies and a bunch of rabbits and none of them have had these scurrilous accusations thrown at them. And do we really have any notion of just what kind of act would be natural in Teletubbyland? Until we can find a telesociologist, we will never know. We, as storytellers, must take a stand. We must support the right of any fictional character to accessorize at will. We can not allow others to define the sexual orientation of fictional characters (or non-fictional characters) based solely on inaccurate perceptions. This cuts to the heart of storytelling and our ability to tell freely. Make no mistake, this is a pocketbook issue. I say we should all accessorize in support of Tinky-Winky. Margaret in Illinois"}, {"response": 69, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Thu, Feb 11, 1999 (19:12)", "body": "can't wait till Ree reads this..."}, {"response": 70, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Feb 11, 1999 (20:58)", "body": "i fell out of my chair when i heard that. who in the hell cares? we certainly can't tell what sex it is in the first place."}, {"response": 71, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Thu, Feb 11, 1999 (22:50)", "body": "can we on closer inspection?"}, {"response": 72, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Feb 12, 1999 (09:35)", "body": "well, i'll just leave that up to you to take care of seeing as how you know more about them than i do! *grin*"}, {"response": 73, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Fri, Feb 12, 1999 (12:57)", "body": "Senate Acquits Bill Clinton WASHINGTON (AP) -- The United States Senate has acquitted President Clinton on charges of perjury before a federal grand jury and obstruction of justice, assuring that he will not be removed from office. The first article drew a not guilty vote of 55-45. The second was split 50-50. Both charges would have required 67 votes for conviction, a threshold that senators have known for weeks would not be met."}, {"response": 74, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Feb 12, 1999 (13:36)", "body": "Frankly, I'm more interested in the tanker off Coos Bay"}, {"response": 75, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Feb 12, 1999 (15:48)", "body": "what's happening there?"}, {"response": 76, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Feb 12, 1999 (18:58)", "body": "set a tanker on fire beacuse it was washed ashore and leaking oil. a storm was brewing and if they'd left it alone, they felt the oil spill couldn't be contained/stopped. so... before it could break open and spill it's load... they set it afire. They tried twice actually. Bringing the special forces of the Navy to finally oss their pyrotechnic weight around. It's burning now... they don't know how long it will continue"}, {"response": 77, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Feb 12, 1999 (21:24)", "body": "oh! so instead of polluting the water, they're stanking up the air? real good idea."}, {"response": 78, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Feb 18, 1999 (18:31)", "body": "yep. lesser of two evils I suppose A sad situation either way. At least thousands of shore birds didn't have to die a slow and suffocating oil slick death..."}, {"response": 79, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Apr 20, 1999 (17:15)", "body": "And here's my fair city... Bad shit. Really bad shit. Students flee scene of Colorado shooting Three detained in school shooting April 20, 1999 Web posted at: 3:54 p.m. EDT (1954 GMT) LITTLETON, Colorado (CNN) -- Three men have been detained at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, where gunmen earlier opened fire and wounded at least 14 people. Unconfirmed reports say the men are friends of the suspects. Witnesses said at least two gunmen in black trench coats and masks opened fire and tossed an explosive device Tuesday at the high school southwest of Denver. At least 14 people have been taken to hospitals with gunshot wounds, local television reported. One female student was shot nine times in the chest, another female student was shot once in the chest and a male student was shot once in the back. Nearly two hours after the 11:30 a.m. MDT (1:30 p.m. EDT) shooting, SWAT team members entered the building and 15 to 20 students fled. There was no confirmation that the gunmen were still inside, but police said some students had been hiding in a choir room. SWAT team members are among the 100 to 200 law enforcement officers at the scene. A student named James who called a local TV station said he was locked inside a classroom and he could hear a lot of crying and screaming out in the hallway, along with shouted threats. A girl identified only as Janine told KCNC-TV she saw men in black trench coats open fire. \"We saw three people get shot,\" she said. \"They were just shooting. They didn't care who they shot. They were just shooting.\" Other witnesses said the gunmen were students, part of a group of outcasts. Student Jonathon Ladd said he was leaving a technology laboratory when he saw students running and heard shots ricocheting off lockers. He said he ran to a nearby park to escape the gunfire. Columbine High is in the middle-class suburb of Littleton, population 35,000. It opened in 1973 and has an enrollment of about 1,800. I work about 4 miles away from the school Many of the employees have children there. Bad shit."}, {"response": 80, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Tue, Apr 20, 1999 (21:06)", "body": "this is what I came to on the news... how are you doing, Stace?"}, {"response": 81, "author": "stacey", "date": "Wed, Apr 21, 1999 (12:10)", "body": "pretty yuck. Brandon flew home early last night, thanking his lucky stars all the way that I was no longer teaching. Makes me never want to have children Lotsa tears round here"}, {"response": 82, "author": "stacey", "date": "Wed, Apr 21, 1999 (19:37)", "body": "LITTLETON, Colorado (CNN) -- After word from the bomb squad that a suburban Denver high school was safe, investigators entered the building on Wednesday to collect evidence and photograph the scene of the rampage that left 15 people dead, including two teen-age suspects. Agonized parents braced for the worst as bodies remained inside Columbine High School while police scoured the building for potential bombs and booby traps in the aftermath of Tuesday's terror. \"The investigation is under way,\" Deputy Steve Davis of the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department said at midday on Wednesday. \"The bomb team has assured them the building is safe at this point. We don't feel there are any other devices we have to worry about in the building.\" Davis said 11 males and four females were killed. One of the males was an adult, \"probably\" a faculty member, he said. More than 20 people were wounded, some of them critically. While some of the fatalities and injuries came from gunfire, others were the result of explosions, Davis said. \"It was a combination of both,\" he told CNN. \"We had victims ... that had wounds consistent with shrapnel and consistent with gunshot(s). There were numerous bombs detonated in this school ... during this assault.\" About 30 explosive devices Earlier on Wednesday, authorities reported finding about 30 explosive devices, including \"quite a few\" inside the school. Authorities identified Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17, both juniors at Columbine, as the two gunmen wearing black trench coats who laughed and hooted as they opened fire on classmates with \"long rifles and handguns\" and set off explosions before killing themselves. In addition to unexploded bombs found inside the school, other explosive devices were located in the suspects' cars and bomb-making material was found at Harris' home, police said. Some of the explosives were on timers, Davis said. The bombs were \"easily made and most of the components can be purchased at any hardware store,\" he said, without identifying the materials. Davis said a computer was seized from the home of one suspect, but did not know if the suspects used the Internet to obtain bomb-making instructions. 'It looks like a war zone' Identifying the victims and removing the bodies could take time, said Sgt. George Hinkle, a police SWAT team officer from Lakewood, Colorado, who has been inside the school. \"A lot of them aren't carrying ID.\" \"We want to make sure the scene is fully preserved for court purposes, in case it turns out there are other suspects and court cases that may occur later down the road,\" said Hinkle. \"Everything has to be photographed, diagrammed and the identities established before people are moved.\" He said there were at least \"five or six\" explosions inside the school, while fire sprinklers set off by the blasts left heavy water damage. \"We've got all the debris that goes with a scene like this. We've got backpacks all over. We've got shoes (and) spent shell casings. It just looks like a war zone,\" Hinkle said. 'We could hear people pleading for their lives' Students streamed into Clement Park next to the school on Wednesday morning to leave flowers and share their feelings about the shootings. \"This was out of the blue. Nobody expected it,\" student Katie Crena told CNN. She and some of her fellow students locked themselves into a classroom after the violence began. \"I thought, 'This is it, I'm going to die,'\" Crena said. \"I mean they were so close. They shot the window of the classroom next door. They tried to get... into our classroom. They were playing with the handle and then went on. We could hear people pleading for their lives,\" she said. Clinton to parents: 'Shield children from violent images' At the White House, President Clinton praised the quick thinking of police and the courage of students and teachers who rushed to protect each other. Clinton also said children all over America need to be reassured of their safety. \"We also have to take this moment once again to hammer home to all the children of America that violence is wrong,\" the president said Wednesday. \"And parents should take this moment to ask what else they can do to shield our children from violent images and experiences that warp young perceptions and obscure the consequences of violence -- to show our children by the power of our own example how to resolve conflicts peacefully.\" Attorney General Janet Reno said she may push to have more counselors in the nation's schools to avoid problems before they start. The country must \"make investments in counselors and support systems that can help us identify children who are on the verge of terror and help take steps to alleviate the problem before it produces tragedy such as this,\" she told CNN from Minneapolis. Death toll lowered The attack began when Harris and Klebold, wearing fatigues and ankle-length black coats, opened fire in the school parking lot around 11:30 a.m. Tuesday before entering the school cafeteria."}, {"response": 83, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Apr 21, 1999 (19:57)", "body": "i am so sorry stacey. i really and truly pray none of them were your students. people try to blame guns for this but that's not the case. they have a warped sense of perception (obviously) and..... what can i say? parents need to know what in the hell is going on with their kids. parents cannot be afraid of them. let them threaten what they will, parents need to be the ones in control. please don't take offense. i know that sometimes things happen and the parents really have no idea and have done everyt ing they know to do. i hate to think that my babies can't even go to school without feeling threatened! and i'm doing my best to raise them to understand the value of things...of life....of respect for others....of love."}, {"response": 84, "author": "autumn", "date": "Thu, Apr 22, 1999 (01:39)", "body": "I hear that story and think, those kids were somebody's babies just a few years ago...what went wrong? It makes me so glad I decided to homeschool the girls next year."}, {"response": 85, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Apr 28, 1999 (21:05)", "body": "ok, not to panic anyone or anything, but i just saw the strangest thing in the sky. 1950, 28 Apr 99, clear sky, 4 white cylinder looking crafts moved slowly across the sky heading north (coming from the south). they looked like aircraft bodies without wings. my neighbor and i were outside when they flew by. they were moving slowly and i didn't see any wings nor hear any sound. so what in the hell were they? i'm on cnn right now and nothing (you know how they know everything). these things were going the same direction. i've never seen aircraft passively flying by like that before. soon fter, i did see a regular aircraft fly by at approximately the same height and left an airtrail and wings could be seen. got any ideas?"}, {"response": 86, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Thu, Apr 29, 1999 (01:41)", "body": "got tons of ideas, wolf... am seriously lacking in good answers, however!"}, {"response": 87, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Apr 29, 1999 (09:47)", "body": "well, i think it belongs in the paranormal conference under ufo's. copying it over now. until i find out what it was, it's a ufo, right? unidentified flying object......."}, {"response": 88, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Thu, Apr 29, 1999 (15:17)", "body": "that's my understanding as well..."}, {"response": 89, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Apr 29, 1999 (18:29)", "body": "ooooooh!"}, {"response": 90, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, May  2, 1999 (11:09)", "body": "our boys are in ramstein air base, germany!!!! woohoo!!! (the pow's from kosovo)"}, {"response": 91, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sun, May  2, 1999 (12:52)", "body": "Wonder if any of them will pick up a copy of SUPERSTAR?"}, {"response": 92, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, May  2, 1999 (14:58)", "body": "think that's the last thing on their mind *grin* but they're superstars now, for sure!!"}, {"response": 93, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Mon, May  3, 1999 (11:08)", "body": "You guys tell them. All big (civillian) airports, all trainstations. If they buy it, our circulation will triple!"}, {"response": 94, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Mon, May 24, 1999 (12:44)", "body": "ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA - AP World News via NewsEdge Corporation : Police broke into an abandoned bank vault in a sleepy country town Friday to find the decomposing bodies of at least two, and perhaps up to six murder victims. The human remains found at Snowtown, north of Adelaide, were in six large plastic barrels, possibly containing a corrosive liquid. Police who made the gruesome discovery in the old State Bank building on Snowtown's main street said exhaustive forensic tests would be needed to determine exactly how many bodies there were. Robert Joe Wagner, 27; John Justin Bunting, 32; and Mark Ray Haydon, 40, appeared in court in Adelaide on Friday charged with murder. Detective Superintendent Paul Schramm of the Major Crime Investigation Branch described the discovery as ``bizarre'' and said it was possible there were more than two bodies at the site. ``There were six containers ... there were remains in all six of the containers but I again reiterate that does not mean to say that there were six bodies. ``Let's wait and see what the scientists say.'' No positive identification had been made but it was believed male and female bodies had been found. More than 50 police swooped on tiny Snowtown, population 500, following a yearlong investigation into outstanding missing persons files. [Copyright 1999, Associated Press]"}, {"response": 95, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, May 24, 1999 (15:20)", "body": "gahrosse!!! what tipped them off? i mean, to investigate an abandoned bank vault?"}, {"response": 96, "author": "stacey", "date": "Mon, May 24, 1999 (16:37)", "body": "yucko!"}, {"response": 97, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Tue, May 25, 1999 (10:43)", "body": "Maybe somebody claimed a, huh, deposit?"}, {"response": 98, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Wed, May 26, 1999 (09:18)", "body": "they could have been subjected to early withdrawal penalties..."}, {"response": 99, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Wed, May 26, 1999 (13:45)", "body": "COCOA BEACH, FLA. - The Associated Press via NewsEdge Corporation : A top Russian space official found semiconscious on a beach was arrested after attacking two emergency medical workers, authorities said. Vladimir Lobachev, 61, of Moscow, was released from jail Monday after posting $1,000 bond on two charges of battery. Lobachev is in Florida as a visiting dignitary for Thursday's launch of the space shuttle Discovery, a NASA official said. He is director of the Russian space program's Mission Control Center in Korolev, a suburb of Moscow. According to an arrest report, police arrived at the Cocoa Beach pier Sunday to find Lobachev _ semiconscious, face down in the sand, and wearing boxer shorts. He was transported to Cape Canaveral Hospital. But as he was being removed from the ambulance, he roused himself and became combative, police said. Neither medical worker was seriously hurt, said Orlando Domingez, spokesman for the Fire Rescue agency. The arrest report said that alcohol may have been a factor. [Copyright 1999, Associated Press]"}, {"response": 100, "author": "stacey", "date": "Wed, May 26, 1999 (13:46)", "body": "oh my"}, {"response": 101, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Sat, May 29, 1999 (06:07)", "body": "Those Russians! These people do things right - when y'alls boys were coming down soft on water, they seriously hit the turf! Straight drop orbit to soil! And they work on getting this giant swimming launch pad together, supposedly because some functionaries don't fancy Baikonur weather anymore. Plus they seem to know how to party REAL hard."}, {"response": 102, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sun, May 30, 1999 (14:11)", "body": "which is almost always a plus"}, {"response": 103, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Tue, Jun  1, 1999 (13:23)", "body": "LENA, MISS. - The Associated Press via NewsEdge Corporation : A stage collapsed during a festival bikini contest at a drag race, injuring at least seven people. Witnesses said a man in the crowd tried to climb onto the stage to get to the contestants Sunday just before the front half of the stage caved in, sending bikini-clad women and other performers crashing to the ground. The contest was part of the Pre-Memorial Day Street and Strip Grudge Match Shootout at Lake Slipaway Drag Strip in Leake County. Bobby Cleveland, a sports reporter for The Clarion Ledger of Jackson, who was there, said 31 women were competing in the beauty contest. ``They had announced at least five or six times that there were too many people on the stage and people were going to have to get down,'' said Cleveland. Cleveland said when the unidentified man in the crowd climbed on the stage, two security guards moved toward him and the stage collapsed. Malone Ambulance Service transported at least seven people, including members of a band that had been performing, who had leg, back and other injuries, Teresa Malone said. Four were treated at a local hospital and three others, including one contestant, were taken to Jackson hospitals, she said. The injuries were not life-threatening. [Copyright 1999, Associated Press]"}, {"response": 104, "author": "autumn", "date": "Fri, Jun 11, 1999 (16:14)", "body": "Just incredibly embarrassing."}, {"response": 105, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Sun, Jun 13, 1999 (05:19)", "body": "The straw that broke the donkeys back?"}, {"response": 106, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Tue, Jun 22, 1999 (07:26)", "body": "Police nab fugitive from group that kidnapped Patty Hearst \ufffd CNN's Charles Feldman looks back at the history of the SLA Kathleen Soliah found after more than 20 years in hiding June 16, 1999 Web posted at: 9:32 p.m. EDT (0132 GMT) --------------------------------------- In this story: Husband says he didn't know about her past Hearst saga sensational story of 1970s Soliah accused of putting bombs under police cars RELATED STORIES, SITES --------------------------------------- ST. PAUL, Minnesota (CNN) -- An alleged member of the Symbionese Liberation Army, the 1970s radical group that gained fame by kidnapping newspaper heiress Patty Hearst, was arrested Wednesday after more than two decades in hiding. Kathleen Ann Soliah, 52, who married a doctor and now has three daughters, was arrested on charges that she conspired with other members of the SLA to plant bombs and kill police officers in Los Angeles. FBI officials said Soliah, who had been living under the alias Sara Jane Olson, was taken into custody at a stop sign while driving a mini-van near her home in St. Paul's fashionable Highland Park neighborhood. Los Angeles police Det. Tom King, who was with the arresting officers, described Soliah as \"surprised and relieved.\" Last month, on the 25th anniversary of a shoot-out in Los Angeles in which six SLA members were killed, the FBI offered a $20,000 reward for Soliah's capture. She was also featured on an episode of the television program \"America's Most Wanted,\" and tips from viewers led authorities to her. Husband says he didn't know about her past St. Paul police spokesman Michael Jordan said Soliah's husband, Gerald Peterson, has told authorities he was unaware of his wife's past. Her daughters are ages 12, 17 and 18. Soliah, in black dress, acted in many plays at a local theater in Minneapolis \ufffd \"He had no idea what was going on here,\" Jordan said. \"I feel sorry for the guy.\" During her life in Minnesota, Soliah became involved in community theater and was described by one friend as a \"great actress.\" \"It's not like she paraded around in a beret or anything,\" said Steve Antenucci, manager of Theater in the Round in Minneapolis, where Soliah performed in eight shows. \"Everyone liked her. She was very nice, very intelligent and had a great sense of humor.\" Her most recent performance -- for which she won an award -- was in a one-act play called \"Tall Tales.\" Neighbors describe her as a well-spoken and friendly woman, an avid jogger and gardener. \"She seemed very classy,\" said Gary Price, the neighborhood's regular mailman since 1983. Hearst saga sensational story of 1970s The leftist radicals of the SLA gained fame in 1974 when they kidnapped Hearst, then 19, from an apartment in Berkeley, California. They demanded that her wealthy parents, Randolph and Catherine Hearst, distribute $6 million worth of food to the needy to secure her return. Hearst as SLA member \"Tania\" \ufffd Two months after the kidnapping, Hearst, who had adopted the name Tania, was photographed carrying a weapon during an SLA holdup of a San Francisco bank. After police captured Hearst in 1975, she claimed that she had been brainwashed into participating in the SLA's crimes. Hearst's ordeal and trial became one of the most sensational news stories of the 1970s. She was convicted of bank robbery and served two years of a seven-year prison term before President Jimmy Carter commuted her sentence. Today, she's a married mother living in Connecticut. \"This is all so old,\" she told WCBS-AM radio when asked for a response to Soliah's arrest. \"I don't want to be drawn into all of this.\" Soliah accused of putting bombs under police cars Soliah was indicted in 1976 by a Los Angeles grand jury on charges of conspiracy to commit murder of police officers and possession of explosives for allegedly placing pipe bombs under two police cars. The bombs did not go off. The FBI has also accused her of committing other bombings and bank robberies as a member of the SLA. King said Soliah left the United States at some point and lived in Africa for nine years. A warrant for her arrest drawn up in March said that her parents told the FBI in 1984 that she was living outside California, had a new identity, two children and was married to a man who knew both her true name and fugitive status. It is unclear whether she was married to Peterson at the time. The warrant, which also charged Soliah with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, said that in 1989 she attempted to negotiate a surrender through her lawyer. But those negotiations failed because she requested complete immunity. At least one other former SLA member is still at large -- James Kilgore, Soliah's boyfriend during her SLA days. He was profiled on the same \"America's Most Wanted\" program, but FBI spokeswoman Coleen Rowley said Wednesday she wasn't aware of any leads on Kilgore. The Associated Press contributed to this report. ---------------------------------------"}, {"response": 107, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Tue, Jun 22, 1999 (08:07)", "body": "Guess who the following paragraph reminded me of: \"Everyone liked her. She was very nice, very intelligent and had a great sense of humor.\" [...] Neighbors describe her as a well-spoken and friendly woman, an avid jogger and gardener. \"She seemed very classy,\" said Gary Price, the neighborhood's regular mailman since 1983. End of quote.-"}, {"response": 108, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Jun 22, 1999 (10:37)", "body": "who, alex?"}, {"response": 109, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Tue, Jun 22, 1999 (11:07)", "body": "Uh, I get it. A bit of it fits all of us, and we wished, the other bit would, too. The gardening-jogger-w/-humour thing originally reminded me of our Colorado range raider. Wonder what skeletons she got in her closet. (*shudder*)"}, {"response": 110, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Tue, Jun 22, 1999 (11:09)", "body": "Probably nosy publisher hung to dry, or the like..."}, {"response": 111, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Jun 22, 1999 (11:41)", "body": "*cackle* skeletons, schmeletons! 'sides I talk TOOOOO much to ever keep a secret like that! (but thanks for thinking of me!)"}, {"response": 112, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Tue, Jun 22, 1999 (11:50)", "body": "Please notice, dear Everybody, that \"classy\" basically applies to everybody around this side of town, but Wer (\"A league of his own\") and me (won't ever make the grade...)."}, {"response": 113, "author": "autumn", "date": "Sat, Jun 26, 1999 (22:25)", "body": "ha-ha! Of you two the mailman will say, \"He seemed so fey...\""}, {"response": 114, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Mon, Jun 28, 1999 (06:08)", "body": "?"}, {"response": 115, "author": "stacey", "date": "Mon, Jun 28, 1999 (10:32)", "body": "Murder suspect says he fathered child with intent to kill the infant Ronald Shanabarger confessed to suffocating his infant son June 28, 1999 Web posted at: 8:23 AM EDT (1223 GMT) FRANKLIN, Indiana (AP) -- Ronald L. Shanabarger planned his revenge against his wife for several years: He wanted to father their son and then kill him, police said. Shanabarger told police he planned the crime as a way of exacting punishment on his wife, Amy, who had refused to cut short a vacation to comfort him when his father passed away. \"Shanabarger said he planned to make Amy feel the way he did when his father died,\" according to an affidavit prosecutors filed to support a murder charge. Last Tuesday, just hours after the funeral of his seven-month-old son, Tyler, Shanabarger confessed to his wife that he'd killed their son. A coroner had ruled the infant died from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. The next day, Shanabarger allegedly told police he suffocated his infant son with plastic wrap. He told officers he dreamed up the crime after his father died in 1996. The affidavit said Shanabarger's plan included marrying Amy and getting her pregnant. He then \"allowed time for her to bond with the child, and then took his life,\" the affidavit said. Shanabarger, 30, who begged officers to shoot him after he confessed last Wednesday, is being held without bail. He is due in court Monday. Johnson County Prosecutor Lance Hamner hasn't decided whether to seek the death penalty because the investigation is ongoing. Tyler Shanabarger was seven months old when he was killed \"It's the most bizarre case that I've ever had any dealings with and probably the most bizarre motive I've ever heard of,\" Hamner said Sunday. In his confession, Shanabarger said that on the evening of June 19, he wrapped plastic wrap around his son's head and face, then left the boy's nursery to get something to eat and brush his teeth. Twenty minutes later, he said, he returned, removed the plastic and placed Tyler face down in the crib before he went to bed. Amy Shanabarger, 29, had been working that night at her job as a cashier at a grocery store. When she came home, she went straight to bed, assuming that Tyler was asleep, and found the boy's body the next morning -- Father's Day. Shanabarger, who worked at a tire retreading center, told police he confessed because the image of his son's face -- flat and purplish from rigor mortis -- haunted him. Since then, he's confessed at least three times, Police Chief Harry Furrer said Sunday. Each time, the story has been the same -- that he hatched his plan because he was enraged by his then-girlfriend's refusal to cut short a cruise and return home after his father's death in October 1996. The Shanabargers were married the following May. Detectives, who have interviewed relatives, confirmed that Shanabarger had long resented Amy's refusal to cut the cruise short, Furrer said. \"Their statements substantiate his confession,\" he said. The Rev. Randy Maynard, a volunteer chaplain for Franklin police, accompanied officers to the couple's home in this town south of Indianapolis on Father's Day. While most parents of children who die from SIDS are weeping and consoling each other when authorities arrive, Maynard said Shanabarger was cold, distant and offered no comfort to his sobbing wife. And after Mrs. Shanabarger's parents arrived later that morning, Shanabarger gave his father-in-law a Father's Day gift -- a gift-wrapped commemorative knife -- Maynard said. Shanabarger then passed the knife around, showing it to the officers. \"That really struck me as odd,\" he said. Maynard said he's still troubled by the image of Tyler's tiny face. \"He was a beautiful boy,\" he said. \"Even in death, he was just the most beautiful boy. I'm still getting goose bumps thinking about this guy.\" Shanabarger's father-in-law, Robert Parsons, wears a tiny gold cherub pin to remind him of his grandson, who was born Thanksgiving Day. He won't discuss his son-in-law, but says his daughter, an only child, is devastated. \"I don't want people to just to talk about a six- or seven-month-old infant -- a nameless, faceless infant. He was a little boy, he played, he laughed, he loved. We loved him dearly and that's what this is all about,\" said Parsons, 52. \"We don't want vengeance, but we do want justice.\" Neil S. Kaye, a forensic psychiatrist who specializes in investigating infanticide cases committed by fathers, said he's never heard of a similar crime. \"A lot of times people say this or that crime was just too complicated of a plan to be anything other than a sign of pure wickedness,\" said Kaye, of Wilmington, Delaware. \"But science would say otherwise, that this man was delusional and you have to wonder about his overall mental state, his mental capacity,\" said Kaye."}, {"response": 116, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Feb  7, 2036 (05:36)", "body": "geez louise..... a guy here suffocated his baby son by stuffing a paper towel down his throat. they're having trouble finding a jury to hear the trial. the man said he was drunk when it happened. it took three tries to get all the paper towel out. people are nuts....."}, {"response": 117, "author": "stacey", "date": "Wed, Jun 30, 1999 (12:07)", "body": "that's gross..."}, {"response": 118, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Jul  2, 1999 (00:11)", "body": "i know, but they finally got a jury and the man was convicted with a death sentence tonight (his name is deal) and his son was only 11 weeks old. ok, so like, where was his mother? first, deal said he was cleaning out the baby's mouth, then the news folks said deal wanted the crying to stop. geez.... sick people, uneducated. but that guy who plotted the whole thing is really just plain wacked. alright, can we have some happy news now?"}, {"response": 119, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Fri, Jul  2, 1999 (04:29)", "body": "Like the WWII-collectible (aka bomb) that blew up in a strawberry field near a village about 20 kilometers from here? A happy thing is, there are only strawberry casualties... Another old bomb was found this week beneath railway tracks and properly detonated after evacuating the area. Talking of collectibles: the first KFOR-soldiers killed in the mission died in the attempt of defusing a NATO splitter bomb. More fun to come, as the military will clean out the land mines."}, {"response": 120, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Fri, Jul  2, 1999 (04:31)", "body": "Sorry, but that's as cheerful as it gets around these premises at the moment. .=/"}, {"response": 121, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Jul  2, 1999 (22:31)", "body": "ok, well, i've got some good newsworthy news : a two year old girl in nothing but her diaper was sitting on her porch in texarkana arkansas this morning. her parents were still asleep (how did she get out you ask?). a guy riding a bike snatched her off the porch. a neighbor saw it happen and ran to wake up the parents to call 911. (why didn't he call 911 himself?). they found her this evening and took her to a hospital. it doesn't look like she was harmed. the kidnapper was found several minutes later via helicopter. turns out the man had been seen by the child's parents the night before prowling about the victim's home and the neighborhood. he was asking about the family that lived there. hmmmm....i guess people prowl about yards all the time up there, nothing to worry about. but, i'm glad the baby girl is safe none-the-less and hope that the parents remember to lock the door tonight."}, {"response": 122, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Jul  6, 1999 (15:13)", "body": "hey alexander... strawberries have souls to... *grin*"}, {"response": 123, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, Jul  8, 1999 (12:15)", "body": "Don't tell us! Marcia might use it as another argument against unfortunate people with ideals... And we must, repeat WE MUST, preserve idealism, innocence and protect the weak UNDER A L L CIRCUMSTANCES. Oh, forget the part about the weak, but let's defend for others what we have lost ages ago - a cause we believe in. Gives us something to do, too, for the time being. Can't just sit around and watch the telly till I pass away.- Anyway, ladies and gentlemen - the odds get even, as the youth of the US gets to explain how they feel about things: ------------------------------------------------------ Woman dies two days after traffic fight with teens July 2, 1999 Web posted at: 4:40 AM EDT (0840 GMT) DALE CITY, Virginia (AP) -- A 25-year-old woman who authorities say had her head smashed repeatedly into the street during a traffic argument with two teen-age girls has died from her injuries. Natalie Davis died Thursday, two days after police say she was attacked while driving to a church service with her children, ages 2 and 4, and four other relatives. Prosecutor Paul Ebert said Teresa Dixon, 18, and a 16-year-old girl will now face murder charges. Both suspects were held without bond and a preliminary hearing was set for Aug. 10. Ms. Dixon had been charged with aggravated malicious wounding. Information about the 16-year-old was withheld due to her age, but Ebert said he will seek to try her as an adult. Police say Ms. Davis and her family encountered a car blocking the entrance to the cul-de-sac where they lived Tuesday night. Several girls had gathered around the car to talk. Ms. Davis asked the teens to move the car, but the driver of her car managed to maneuver around it. Two teens followed the family in another car, police Sgt. Kim Chinn said. Words were exchanged, and after a short distance, Ms. Davis and the 16-year-old girl left their cars to argue, Ms. Chinn said. The teen eventually grabbed Ms. Davis by her hair and pounded her head into the pavement, she said. Dixon allegedly joined in, stomping on Ms. Davis' head, police said. One of Ms. Davis' relatives flagged down a police officer. Copyright 1999 The Associated Press. ------------------------------------------------------- Makes the offshore US-watcher wonder who'll score next, and why ARE you folk drawn to violence like moths to light? \"It's the man, not the plastic bag\" and \"It's the teen, not the tarmac\", the next thing after \"It's the trench coat, not the kid\" ? Wow. These are the nineties, that is your society. Tell me more about it at http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/public/read/cultures/27 ."}, {"response": 124, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Jul  8, 1999 (12:35)", "body": "please, please watch the overgeneralizations... I don't believe all Germans were and supported Nazism... yet is was indeed 'your' society... and I'm not sure there were many sensical answers to the question 'why' fifty years ago... perhaps I am willing to believe it may get worse before it gets better (like WWII) and after such 'atrocities' as you just mentioned are so widely rampant, perhaps we will realize the insanity and lunacy involved thus becoming a more tolerant and less violent country... if you have suggestions though... feel free!"}, {"response": 125, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, Jul  8, 1999 (15:38)", "body": "\"feel free!\" - just the thing I've done... ;=} Interesting reply, let's look at it: \"I don't believe all Germans were and supported Nazism\" - but the great majority WAS all faschist, many before and most after the Nazis took over, and there was a great strain of antisemitism, which since the Middle Ages had led to pogroms, though not on as large a scale. So, yes, chauvinism and faschism WAS a general trait of German society since the early thirties (as was a certain mysticism...). Of course not EVERYBODY was a party member or liked the faschists, but these either shut up, emigrated or were \"taken care of\", as we all know. Socialists, union members, devout christians, etc. who were e.g. in state-employment got early retirement (police officers, mayors, bureaucrats) or else. And the people of Germany didn't do anything about it, because the majority liked what they got out of the deal, and any minorities were silenced. \"yet is was indeed 'your' society\" - not likely, Stacey. I wasn't born then, and I do not believe in inheriting guilt and debts from the ancestors. I do derive from the fact that I know about these things and how the mechanics of this worked, and that I live in this historically charged-up area, a certain OBLIGATION to warn, make aware of, flap the clap, mouth off, whatever somebody might call it. Something like a duty, to not let the victims be for nothing - there is a lesson in the story. Gotta learn it, gotta have more people understand something about people. Duty for the Future NOW! (to quote DEVO) Something that might help us all to improve the human condition by changing the way we interact. See the personality in the opposite person, not just some impersonal opposition. Our society, Stacey, is where we live NOW. We are part of a global, cooperating new society. We will have to learn new rules for this; meanwhile, we live in our communities in our respective countries and I guess, yea! we share responsibility with the other folks there to have things work out alright. We work this by voting, saying what's on our mind, participating in the society's rituals of decision-finding. Or just accept things as given. Now think of environmental problems or gun-laws, tax or education problems, and you see what I mean. It is YOUR country, and it is is YOUR society, and yea! again (plus excuse me for shouting, but I feel so dramatic: ) - IT IS YOUR THING TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! Or not, if you're happy with it. \"I'm not sure there were many sensical answers to the question'why' fifty years ago\" - but there were! Look at what was published in the Twenties, and what has happened to the country in the aftermath of WWI, it may not be obvious that things HAD to turn this way or that (I think they never had to), but many things and ideas that the faschists used were widely accepted by most people. Patriotism, the punishing Versailles Treaty, losing parts of the country, losing the army, losing the head-of-state and the monarchy, racism - even based on fake science, unemployment after the big Black Friday crash on Wallstreet - which destroyed lots of German capital invested in the States, inflation (got some old bank notes from that time, made out to billions...)... The Nazis' ideas of a national socialism appealed to many. Empower the lower classes, create jobs, stop war reparations, find a new national identity (in a country that only existed since the end of the French-German war of 1870/71), become a sovereign country with own armed forces again. Heroic ideals, new architecture, a new age. Progress! Wellbeing! (By the way, did you know the Nazis had a BIG purge themselves in the mid-thirties? Killed or degraded the whole more socialist wing, and developed a more mystic programme - that's when the SS came up bigtime.) Think of your country's New Deal era, and how everybody loved state intervention suddenly... Same time, same problem, same solution. Just to serve different means in the end. All based on different interests - the big capital wanted the monarchy back, so did the military and aristocracy (who all hated Hitler as low caste without style, as being pathetic, but nevertheless tried to utilize him for their benefit and got run over on the way). The workers wanted food and homes. The businesses wanted competitio taken care of. Big opportunities for many people - and the party offered even working-class folks a rise to power just by being hard-working and loyal... Afterwards, everybody had good excuses and didn't know about any untoward things at all. Heard about something, perhaps, but seen...? Never! Or look at the McCarthyism in the US. There are some similarities in how the people perceived and supported or ignored these things, and how afterwards nobody really knew a thing about it. Nobody was really responsible, only the bad guy. One (1) person. Even forced Charly Chaplin (!) to leave the States as suspected communist. Repeating patterns... \"perhaps we will realize the insanity and lunacy in"}, {"response": 126, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Jul  8, 1999 (16:13)", "body": "Overgeneralization also makes a statement come across as ignorant and not well thought out. You obviously thought out your response. Here's mine. I do think it will get worse before it gets better. People in our country are fumbling around for answers but refusing to listen to the answers that don't appeal to them. Guns-- can of worms, a citizen's right? the root of all evil? merely a machine? Television -- can of worms, window to a global perspective? mechanism for free thinking creativity? scandal box? sex box? root of all evil? merely a machine? Desintigration of family units -- can of worms, women seeking independence from their formerly oppressive life of home and children? ramifications of a finiancially focused society? people are lazy? the root of all evil? I personally think that the changes that have taken place in this country over the past twenty years with respect to violence cannot be attributed to ONE culprit. Individuals seem to me to feel less responsibility for building a society in which they desire to live and feel less (in any at all) accountability for their actions. In a country that prides itself on its freedoms and rights, the difficulty appears to lie in where one man's freedom violates another man's human rights. We are fortunate to have those principles/ideas that other countries do not have, but crossing those fine lines seems to be a unwanted side affect. I do not like, actually I abhor, statements made generalizing this country as violence accepting... I believe the statement is false and made by people who really have no idea what the society over here believes. If you want to learn something about someone else's life and society, ask questions, don't make offensive statements. In the past 2 1/2 months I've watched an entire city from very up close try and come to terms with an act of extreme violence. I've watched the cycle of mourning and blame and forgiveness and questioning and I've watched people turn to a god to look for answers because they feel so helpless to find them in this reality. When you or anyone else makes statements about 'accepting violence' I know that you are not talking about MY reality and certainly not MY society. When I go home, I return to a televisionless house prompted by a disgust for the horror and ridiculousness I find in even the daily news. To throw up your hands in frustration and not be able to give an answer to the why does not imply acceptance. I believe it implies fatigue and sadness and frustration and fear. Certianly keep this topic open. Everyone is certainly aware of my pet peeve (one of many, to be sure!) and I will continue to call anyone on the overgeneralization bit..."}, {"response": 127, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Jul  8, 1999 (20:00)", "body": "i'll go back and read all of that. so if i repeat ideas presented above, my apologies. i think something we're forgetting is all the good people out there. do you know that the summer before last, i was driving home with some friends and witnessed an assault in broad daylight. we pulled over and called the police, the attacker started to run off, we took the victim and sheltered her. do you know 4 more cars stopped by? and one man took off after the attacker to try to sustain him for the police (the attacker managed to get away). race was not a factor although the attacker was black and t e victim was white. black and white folks were among the mix of witnesses. so i'd like to say that there are good people in the world and in the U.S. and i'd also like to say that there are things that go on here that i don't agree with, but also there are things that go on elsewhere that i don't believe in. but i don't hate the people who are ruled by those governments. and i can't assume that because some things are going bad (which, of course, is highly publicized) makes the whole place rotten."}, {"response": 128, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Aug 27, 1999 (18:06)", "body": "And some beautiful good news to brighten this day... (sorry if it's too long... it's worth reading!) August 26, 1999 Web posted at: 11:05 AM EDT (1505 GMT) SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Her poignant e-mail messages from Kosovo chronicled her family's desperate situation much in the same way that Anne Frank's diaries put a human face on the Holocaust. Now the girl's real name and face are no longer a mystery. \"Adona,\" a 16-year-old ethnic Albanian whose Internet missives were read to thousands of listeners over National Public Radio, flew Wednesday to meet her e-mail pen pal from Berkeley. Kujtesa Bejtullahu kept her identity secret while her family hid from Serbians in the Kosovo capital of Pristina. She shared her thoughts and fears by e-mail with Finnegan Hamill, a 16-year-old Berkeley High School student and Youth Radio reporter. The correspondence began in January after a peace worker who had just returned from Kosovo visited Hamill's church and gave him the address. Bejtullahu's messages often were filled with disturbing and violent accounts of the war. The girl said she regularly saw people being killed, routed from their homes and moved from place to place as they tried to stay alive. In mid-March, the messages suddenly ceased, presumably because the electricity at her family's home had been cut off. Hamill kept a worried vigil as reports of ethnic cleansing in Kosovo increased. Hamill was able to make contact with Adona a few days later over the phone. She told him her family was huddled in their home with little food or water. Wednesday night, Hamill said he had butterflies in his stomach as he met her face-to-face with flowers and a hug. Bejtullahu came to the United States along with three other teens from Pristina to complete her high school education. She is part of a group known as the PostPessimists, which campaigns against ethnic rivalry. While in Berkeley, Bejtullahu will stay with Gretchen Carlson, who heard the girl's messages on the radio. \"I feel differently about Kujtesa, because I heard her words on NPR,\" Carlson said. \"I don't think any woman alive, especially a mother, didn't feel a helplessness at not being able to protect a child in circumstances like that.\" The First Congregational Church of Berkeley has raised $25,000 to support the teens during their stay, but $50,000 more is needed for tuition, clothing and health insurance."}, {"response": 129, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Oct  1, 1999 (10:02)", "body": "The Hunger Site at the U.N..... All you do is click a button and somewhere in the world some hungry person gets a meal to eat at no cost to you. The food is paid for by corporate sponsors. All you do is go to the site and click. But you're only allowed one click per day so spread the word to others. Visit the site and pass the word. http://www.thehungersite.com"}, {"response": 130, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Oct  1, 1999 (11:27)", "body": "And it's legit too!"}, {"response": 131, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Oct  1, 1999 (11:46)", "body": "d'ya think I'd send anything otherwise??? *smile* BTW... what's with the dead dolls on the Spring Cam... they're scary..."}, {"response": 132, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Oct  1, 1999 (11:51)", "body": "What dead dolls?"}, {"response": 133, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Oct  1, 1999 (14:38)", "body": "From the BBC: Japanese officials struggling to contain the worst nuclear accident in the country's history say they believe the situation has now stabilised. More than 300,000 people living in the area have been told they can leave their homes but there is still a 350-metre \"exclusion zone\" around the plant. However, fears persist over the effects of fallout from the accident. Officials told residents caught out in Thursday evening rain showers to wash their clothing and said locally grown vegetables should not be eaten. Radiation levels soared to 15,000 times the normal level just after the accident - schools were shut, train services halted and farmers were warned not to harvest their crops until safety checks had been carried out. But officials say radiation levels outside the plant have now returned to normal, and local residents are no longer at serious risk. They issued the statement after operators drained coolant water and carried out a number of other measures to reduce the risk of contamination resulting from a leak inside the uranium processing plant. The Governor of Ibaraki Prefecture, Masaru Hashimoto, said he had received confirmation at 0615 (2115GMT) that the nuclear chain reaction at the uranium processing plant had stopped. The aftermath of the accident coincided with the arrival on Friday of a second British ship carrying a cargo of plutonium for Japan's nuclear power industry. The Pacific Pintail docked in Takahama, 400km (248 miles) southwest of Tokyo. More than 30 workers at the Tokaimura plant are thought to have been exposed to radiation. Two are in a critical condition and are expected to be given bone marrow transplants. The victims include builders who had been working at the plant, people who live nearby and firemen who helped in the rescue. Human error Officials said workers had caused the accident at the plant by pouring too much uranium solution into a tank. Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi criticised the response to the accident, saying it had taken too long for experts to assess the seriousness of the situation. He also held an emergency meeting of the cabinet which set up a special task force - the first time it has taken such a measure after a nuclear accident. Washington has meanwhile announced that a joint American and Russian team is being sent to Japan. Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiromu Nonaka said it was very likely there had been a \"criticality incident\" at the plant. Criticality is the point at which a nuclear chain reaction becomes self-sustaining. The French nuclear institute said the incident was the 60th in the world since 1945, following 33 such accidents in the United States and 19 in the former Soviet Union. One of the workers reportedly told an official that he had used about 16kg of uranium - nearly eight times the normal amount - during the process just before the accident. Workers normally use up to 2.3kg of uranium in each procedure to prevent a criticality accident, officials said."}, {"response": 134, "author": "mrchips", "date": "Fri, Oct  1, 1999 (22:17)", "body": "This is a really terrific thing. The Hunger Site at the U.N. This is a really cool website. All you do is click a button and somewhere in the world some hungry person gets a meal to eat at no cost to you. The food is paid for by corporate sponsors. All you do is go to the site and click. But, you're only allowed one click per day so spread the word to others. Visit the site and pass the word. http://www.thehungersite.com"}, {"response": 135, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Oct  1, 1999 (22:22)", "body": "Yup...thanks for posting it. Stacey posted it, too. I think I will post it in Drool, also"}, {"response": 136, "author": "mrchips", "date": "Fri, Oct  1, 1999 (22:52)", "body": "Thanks for sending it. I got it from three sources today. I have a feeling that cyber button is going to be punched a lot in the near future. At least, I hope so!"}, {"response": 137, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Oct  1, 1999 (22:57)", "body": "Yes! It is too important to leave unforwarded and unheralded. Thanks for doing your part!"}, {"response": 138, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Oct 31, 1999 (11:06)", "body": "They're legalizing marijuana in Switzerland? You know the Ricola commercial, they had a takeoff on Leno the other night of the guy blowing the huge horn, and he stopped and exhaled smoke."}, {"response": 139, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Tue, Nov  2, 1999 (15:44)", "body": "Well, probably just grant growing certain sorts for fibers or oil (both extremely low on THC). This has happened over the last two-three years in Germany, too. A new cash crop - will feed, clothe and can be used to make paper. I have driven by hemp fields every year since 1996, I think. There's always a farmer somewhere trying it out (like they did with sweet corn and pumpkin in the last few years, too)."}, {"response": 140, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Nov  2, 1999 (17:58)", "body": "I gather hemp cultivation is not illegal in Germany as it is in the US (so we do it in lava tubes here and under grow lights and it is 9' tall when mature!) This Springeur and others in Hawaii moved 1000 miles closer to the Mainland US and our Mother, Spring. (The time change, dontcha know!)"}, {"response": 141, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Nov  2, 1999 (18:25)", "body": "In case I missed anyone with Email, the shooting at the Xerox facility was in Honolulu on Oahu, 5 islands away from us and 200 miles west. Thanks for expressing your concern - I am fine, thank you!"}, {"response": 142, "author": "Isabel", "date": "Wed, Nov  3, 1999 (16:18)", "body": "Just two days ago a sixteen year old in Bavaria shot three people out of his parents house, hurt several others and then killed his sister and himself. It's the first time I heard of something like this happening in Germany..."}, {"response": 143, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Nov  3, 1999 (21:31)", "body": "oh my....."}, {"response": 144, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Nov  9, 1999 (16:04)", "body": "ahhh... seems everyone has been sucked into the bad news... well... READ THIS... GOOD NEWS"}, {"response": 145, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Nov  9, 1999 (16:04)", "body": "High-flying at 100, Ohio man still enjoys getting up there Ralph Charles stands next to his plane November 9, 1999 Web posted at: 2:42 p.m. EST (1942 GMT) SOMERSET, Ohio (AP) -- Ralph Charles has been around airplanes long enough to have known Charles Lindbergh, flown with Eleanor Roosevelt and caught a glimpse of Orville Wright. And at 100, he's still able to enjoy planes from the vantage he loves most: the cockpit. \"When I saw my first airplane, I thought it was like a magic carpet,\" Charles said. \"I still think of planes that way.\" About 300 people showed up Sunday to celebrate his centennial a day early at his Somerset home, about 39 miles east of Columbus. Fellow aviation buffs arrived in 13 planes and two helicopters that flew in to a landing strip on the 23-acre site. Charles had stopped flying in the 1940s at his late wife's request. But he bought a plane two years ago, and received a student pilot's license from the Federal Aviation Administration last year. Now he goes on joyrides and attends aviation events every week. He's probably the nation's oldest student pilot, and perhaps its oldest licensed pilot of any kind. FAA spokesman Roland Herwig said that, as far as he can determine, the agency's oldest fully licensed pilots are both 96. The love affair with flying began long ago. Charles enlisted in the Army during World War I in hopes of learning to fly, but the war ended before he got the chance. His welding skill got him a job at the Rinehart-Whelan Aviation School in Dayton, where he repaired and maintained planes. \"There were maybe 10 pilots in the whole state back then, and I got acquainted with them while working on their planes,\" he said. It was there that he occasionally saw Orville Wright working in the shop, though he never spoke to the aviation pioneer, who lived in Dayton. \"Orville lived in seclusion and didn't like people to know where he lived,\" he said. Charles said he wanted to fly so badly he built his own plane, but didn't know how to fly it. Eventually, he talked Bernard Whelan, one of Wright's first trained fliers, into giving him lessons. \"I had about four hours of training before my first flight,\" Charles said. \"After showing I could take off and land three times with success, they let me go and fly the plane I built.\" He made his share of mistakes -- including a landing made with his gear left up. \"I realized my mistake when I saw the propeller getting shorter,\" he said. In the early 1920s, steel-bodied planes were replacing wooden-bodied aircraft and steel repair experts were in demand. So when Rinehart-Whelan folded, Charles got a job with Consolidated Aircraft at Wright Field. He married in 1925, and said he got through the Depression by building airplanes such as the high-wing two-seater he owns today. He also began flying charter planes based at the Standard Oil hangar in Newark, New Jersey, where Lindbergh kept a plane in the years following his 1927 solo flight from New York to Paris. \"I'd talk to him at times, but this was after his baby was murdered and he was the saddest person you'll ever see,\" Charles said. Eleanor Roosevelt was a passenger on an excursion he flew from Newark in the 1930s while her husband was in office. \"I took her back a box lunch, then went back up and flew the plane,\" he said. Charles went to the Caribbean in 1940 to run a charter service in the Virgin Islands. Three years later, he and his wife, Leona, moved to Columbus, where he tested Helldiver bombers built for the Navy by the former Curtiss-Wright company. He said he stopped flying because Leona was tired of transferring from state to state. But for the roughly 20 years he owned an auto repair shop -- and the years that followed his 1965 retirement -- the thought of flying again stayed with him. \"Imagine not driving a car for 50 years, only worse,\" Charles said. \"Sometimes when I would mow, I would imagine my tractor was a plane and I was rising up into the sky.\" Leona died in 1995 at age 94. They had been married 70 years. Charles, having kept his promise, was ready to return to the skies. Other than a physical exam every six months, he has no restrictions beyond those of other student pilots. \"I'm not allowed to take passengers and I can only fly 25 miles away from home,\" he said. \"But I don't give a hoot. I just enjoy flying.\""}, {"response": 146, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Nov 10, 1999 (18:49)", "body": "that's great!! i hope i'm as active when i'm 100! (not dog years, mind you)"}, {"response": 147, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Nov 12, 1999 (00:22)", "body": "It is a little like lifting the calf each day from the time he is born, and when you are finished you will be able to lift a full-grown bull...but i don't think it works like that."}, {"response": 148, "author": "cfadm", "date": "Thu, Nov 18, 1999 (11:36)", "body": "Bonfire Collapse Kills Five Up To 30 Injured Taken To Area Hospitals At least five college students were killed and several others injured early Thursday after logs they were stacking for an annual bonfire collapsed and crushed them, reports CBS affiliate KBTX-TV in Bryan, Texas. University President Dr. Ray Bowen said up to 30 other individuals were transported to area hospitals with various injuries. As many as 50 Texas A&M university students were on top of the stack of logs when the accident happened, according to university officials. The collapse occurred at about 2 a.m. local time. The bonfire is a yearly event that has been going on since 1909. The bonfire is built prior to the Thanksgiving game with the University of Texas. The Aggies are set to play archrival Texas on Nov. 26, the day after Thanksgiving. The bonfire ceremony usually features performances by the Aggie band, school cheers called \"yells,\" and pep talks by administrators, football players and coaches. But the project hasn't always been trouble-free: One stack collapsed in 1994, but a second was built and ignited. The accident was the third disaster related to the 43,000-student Texas A&M this fall. On Sept. 18, five people were killed in the crash of a plane used by the Aggies Over Texas skydiving club, often used by Texas A&M University students and alumni. On Oct. 10, six college students walking to a fraternity party about two miles west of the campus were killed by a pickup truck driver who had fallen asleep, police said. The victims were four students from Baylor University, one from Texas A&M and one from Southwest Texas State."}, {"response": 149, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Nov 18, 1999 (11:46)", "body": "Tragic. A fun thing turns into a disaster. The sports talk shows are full of it this morning, mostly on http://www.sportsradio1300.com/ on their realaudio server."}, {"response": 150, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Nov 18, 1999 (13:37)", "body": "...even in Hawaii we saw a lengthy report on the news, including comments from the President of the University. Tragic, Indeed!"}, {"response": 151, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Nov 18, 1999 (20:53)", "body": "The BBC Online site has a lengthy story and photographs...terribly sad... I'd rather not cut ans paste to here - this is something which should be read there...I am so sorry. http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_525000/525625.stm"}, {"response": 152, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Nov 19, 1999 (12:34)", "body": "Now eleven dead. Victims: Miranda Adams, a sophomore in biomedical sciences from Santa Fe, Texas Christopher Breen of Austin, Texas -- 1997 graduate Michael Ebanks, a freshman in aerospace engineering from Carrollton, Texas Jeremy Frampton, a senior psychology major from Turlock, California Christopher Lee Heard, a freshman in pre-engineering from Houston, Texas Jamie Hand, a freshman in environmental design from Henderson, Texas Lucas Kimmel, a freshman in biomedical science from Corpus Christi, Texas Bryan McClain, a freshman agriculture major from San Antonio Chad Anthony Powell, a sophomore in computer engineering from Keller, Texas Jerry Self, a sophomore engineering technology major from Arlington, Texas Nathan Scott West, a sophomore oceanography major from Bellaire, Texas"}, {"response": 153, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Nov 19, 1999 (17:52)", "body": "and if you'd like to put faces to the names... http://www.tamu.edu/aggiedaily/students.html"}, {"response": 154, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Nov 21, 1999 (21:35)", "body": "This, from Reuters, belongs somewhere in Spring but I am not sure where...Something is terribly wrong here... Man Jailed for Stealing to Feed 15 Children NAIROBI (Reuters) - A 60-year-old Kenyan pleaded guilty in court to stealing food worth 20 U.S. cents to feed his 15 children and two wives, a local newspaper said on Thursday. Thomas Ogero, a casual laborer, told the court in a preliminary hearing that he stole maize, beans and cabbages from a food kiosk because his family was starving, the East African Standard reported. ``Your honor, you know life is hard and many people are dying of hunger,'' he told magistrate Gladys Ndeda. ``I did not want my 15 children to die that way.''"}, {"response": 155, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Nov 21, 1999 (21:52)", "body": "Penn State Buses Crash; 106 Hurt, Two Killed STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (Reuters) - Two people were killed and 106 injured when four charter buses carrying Pennsylvania State University students and three passenger cars collided early on Sunday, a state police spokeswoman said. Six buses were ferrying students from a field trip in New York City back to the Penn State campus at State College just after midnight when the accident involving four of the buses occurred on Interstate 80 in Kidder Township, Pennsylvania, said Pennsylvania State Police spokeswoman Shannon Yates. Yates said a bus driver and one student were killed and 106 people were injured. Five of the injured are in serious condition. ``Scores of students were taken to about a half dozen hospitals throughout the northeast area of the state,'' said a statement released by Penn State University. Penn State spokesman Alan Janesch said most of the students have been treated and released. More than 100 students were taken to three area churches in White Haven, Pennsylvania, near where the accident occurred, for emergency shelter. The students had been out of state as part of a ``Spend a Day in New York'' trip. School officials said about 280 students were on the buses. Yates said Interstate 80 has been closed while accident investigators at the scene try to determine what caused the crash. ``It was very foggy. Whether that was a factor in the accident, I don't know,'' Yates said. Janesch also cited the foggy conditions. ``The buses apparently hit a very thick patch of fog and put on their emergency flashers,'' School officials said plans were under way for counselors and medical staff to meet with students as they return to campus on Sunday. ``We offer our condolences to the families of the deceased and we want to do everything possible to assist the other students who made this trip,'' said Penn State University president Graham Spanier."}, {"response": 156, "author": "stacey", "date": "Mon, Nov 29, 1999 (15:23)", "body": "And in my quest to bring more good news to the forefront... check out THIS warning you... I cried..."}, {"response": 157, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Nov 29, 1999 (16:18)", "body": "I did as well, and I remember them from the event in Kona...incredible. Thanks for bringing this wonderful story to the attention of readers here."}, {"response": 158, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec  3, 1999 (17:57)", "body": "For those who like their news from WAY outside the Spring...this regarding the Mars landing today from the BBC Online: Nasa engineers are searching for the Mars Polar Lander (MPL). The spacecraft was supposed to have touched down on the surface of the Red Planet at 2015GMT. Final data from the spacecraft suggested all systems were working properly and the entry procedure would go well. But there was no signal from the MPL at 2039GMT, the first opportunity it had to contact mission controllers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, US. The delay began what could be a long and anxious wait for scientists who have spent years working on the $165m probe. Nasa stressed the lack of a call did not mean the spacecraft was lost. \"This is not entirely unexpected,\" said Richard Cook, MPL's Project Manger. \"Obviously we're a little disappointed not to see a signal (right away). But we were prepared for this, and we're going to go ahead and execute our plan as we described it.\" One possibility was that the lander's computer slipped into protective safe mode immediately after landing, in which case it would delay sending its first signal. Another scenario was that the probe did not correctly predict where to point its antenna. As it descended through the atmosphere, the lander had to keep track of every twist and turn to keep its bearing. The first data sent to Earth was supposed to include information about MPL's health and a black and white image of the landing site. Scientists sent MPL to Mars to learn about the planet's climate by studying layers of dust and possibly ice during the 90-day mission. It incorporated Instruments that would measure vapour in the atmosphere and a claw that could collect samples to be cooked and analysed for water. It even had a microphone on board to record the first sounds form another world. Loss of the lander would be a devastating blow to Nasa. Only 10 weeks ago, the lander's sibling spacecraft, the $125m Mars Climate Orbiter, burned up in the planet's atmosphere because of an embarrassing mix-up over English units (pounds, feet and inches) and metric units."}, {"response": 159, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec  3, 1999 (23:22)", "body": "Is this under the heading of \"The Wages of Sin\"??? Retiree Blows Pension on One-Night Stand NAIROBI (Reuters) - A sugar company employee who took early retirement lost his $3,600 pension in a one-night orgy of beer, women and song, Kenyan newspapers reported Thursday. The man, who was unnamed, cashed his 270,000 shilling pension check as soon as he stopped work and headed for a bar. ``Feeling thoroughly liquid and hence unstoppable, he set to conquer a woman from a neighboring country,'' the Kenya Times said. ``The retiree, together with his newfound lover... proceeded to drown other revelers in free beers for hours on end.'' When the bars ran out of beer the couple staggered to a hotel. ``I shall now go for the real thing since the hours seem to be running away,'' the pensioner declared. When he woke, the woman and the last of his pension were gone. She was last seen boarding an early-morning long-distance bus."}, {"response": 160, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Dec  4, 1999 (07:54)", "body": "Yep, he blew it."}, {"response": 161, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Dec  4, 1999 (14:08)", "body": "Probably not the first or last time that a guy will do something like that...Unfortuantely!"}, {"response": 162, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Dec 20, 1999 (21:42)", "body": "stacey, thanks for the father-son story. that's a great thing to see! and that guy deserved what he got. blowing away all that hard earned pension money. geez louise, he'd probably do it again too."}, {"response": 163, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Dec 20, 1999 (22:09)", "body": "...a fool and his money...and all that, no?! Could not resist posting it for all to enjoy (and / learn from)"}, {"response": 164, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Dec 21, 1999 (19:09)", "body": "ok you guys, look up at the sky. you see that huge bright full moon? it's the closest the moon has been to the earth for a whole century! yup, which is why it looks so big. it's beautiful!!"}, {"response": 165, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Dec 21, 1999 (19:33)", "body": "Yup...full story http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/restricted/read/geo/24.27 Just before the moon set behind the snow-crowned Mauna Kea this morning I could have read newspapers by it. Very Bright, indeed!"}, {"response": 166, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Dec 22, 1999 (10:57)", "body": "Wow, that's news outside the Spring for sure, I'll take a look out in Cedar Creek tonight if possible, where it's usually clear skies unfettered by too much city haze."}, {"response": 167, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Dec 22, 1999 (21:57)", "body": "i tried to get a pic of the newly risen moon (when it appeared to be at it's largest). put fresh film in my rewind challenged camera and we'll see after about 22 more frames!"}, {"response": 168, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Dec 22, 1999 (23:18)", "body": "I should get it setting over the snow tomorrow morning as it sinks slowly behind Mauna Kea..."}, {"response": 169, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Dec 23, 1999 (16:56)", "body": "Send Page Last updated: Thursday - 16:23 Judge Allows Wife to Fulfill Adultery Bet LUSAKA (Reuters) - High court judges say a Zambian housewife is free to be adulterous until February 22, 2000, in a bizarre bet to prove she can have a baby, newspapers reported on Wednesday. The marriage of 37-year-old Dorothy Mapani and her 56-year-old husband Effas Ondya has been childless and the couple have accused each other of being infertile, the Times of Zambia newspaper reported. It said Ondya had asked his wife to have sex with other men and conceive by February 22, 2000. He claimed his wife could not conceive and staked $200 that no child would show up within the agreed time. ``There is clear indication that you have allowed your wife to have sex with other men. The bet remains a bet,'' judges Sainet Chiutambo and Joseph Mumba said in a ruling. The pair had approached Zambia's High Court to rule if their union should continue or if they should separate. The papers did not say how long they had been married."}, {"response": 170, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Dec 24, 1999 (17:38)", "body": "wow. so who are the lucky adultees? and then imagine the paternity suits to be filed after. *woohoo*, only in Zambia, i guess!"}, {"response": 171, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec 24, 1999 (18:44)", "body": "I did not know whether to put that under Ree's topic in Travel or not, so I put a really nasty one in there and this out here where more people would see it. Interesting, no?!"}, {"response": 172, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Dec 24, 1999 (22:35)", "body": "indeed! what happened to going to the sperm bank, you know? well, she'd be getting the stuff fresh, no? *snicker*"}, {"response": 173, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec 24, 1999 (22:55)", "body": "Hey, a deal is a deal. *snicker* indeed! No frozen stuff for me - I'd wanna stare the owner straight in the eyes first, and the very least..."}, {"response": 174, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec 24, 1999 (22:58)", "body": "Could also be that the Sperm Bank is what is being carried around by each man over there where refrigeration is scarce. You know, those....(do I gotta draw you a .....?!)"}, {"response": 175, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Dec 25, 1999 (16:55)", "body": "please do, if you ask AM, you'd think i forgot all about that stuff!"}, {"response": 176, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Dec 25, 1999 (17:10)", "body": "Cannot be as bad as all that *lol* I am holding up my etch-a-sketch so you can see what I mean...I am better at the actuality than the drawing, but I remember where everything is and what each likes the best...*sigh* Wolfie, it will come swarming back into your conscious mind just as soon as all of those little ears and eyes grow up and vacate the premises. (Yeah, I know...a difficult trade-off and all that.)"}, {"response": 177, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Dec 25, 1999 (17:34)", "body": "hmmm...."}, {"response": 178, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Dec 25, 1999 (17:43)", "body": "Of course, AM can give you an private show-and-tell session starting with champagne and candle light..."}, {"response": 179, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Dec 27, 1999 (00:39)", "body": "Under the Category of Bah! Humbug! Children Stone Santa Claus Who Ignored Them SANTIAGO, Chile (Reuters) - A group of children in northern Chile stoned and robbed Santa Claus after he ignored their pleas to toss them candies from his truck as he drove past them, local press reported on Thursday. Santa-suited Cristian Parenti, 28 was pelted with rocks by the children as they ran alongside his truck after he refused to share his load of candies, daily Las Ultimas Noticias reported. Some of the youngsters climbed aboard the moving truck and stole toys out of his sack before running away. The 300-pound Parenti was heading to a neighborhood in Tocopilla, 960 miles north of Santiago, to deliver boxes of candies that the local government planned to give out later. The unemployed father, hired by the city to don the Santa outfit, was hit twice in the head, in his chest and in his eye, forcing him to seek medical attention at which time him learned that the glue he used to attach his beard had burned his skin, the paper said. ``They left me full of goose eggs,'' he said."}, {"response": 180, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Dec 27, 1999 (10:11)", "body": "well, did he have candy in his sack? (don't go there marcia *grin*) next time he'll keep extra to deliver on his way to the real destination."}, {"response": 181, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Dec 27, 1999 (12:37)", "body": "Don't BS with little kids. They knew he was a bogus santa and was being mean. Still, I never have stoned Santa (and I would never have taken candy from a stranger - like my Momma said!)"}, {"response": 182, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, Dec 30, 1999 (05:41)", "body": "I think I knew somebody who was a stoned Santa, too..."}, {"response": 183, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Dec 30, 1999 (21:52)", "body": "In the 60's probably most were! *lol*"}, {"response": 184, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jan 14, 2000 (17:39)", "body": "News from W a y outside the Spring: The next total lunar eclipse is coming on January 21, 2000 a Lunar Calculator is located on the site so you can calculate when and how to see it: http://aa.usno.navy.mil/AA/data/docs/LunarEclipse.html"}, {"response": 185, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jan 14, 2000 (17:44)", "body": "btw, Thanksm Maggie, for alerting me to this coming astronomical event *grin* It'll be raining here that night...*sigh* Is Austin really having terrible drought conditions?"}, {"response": 186, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Mon, Jan 17, 2000 (16:23)", "body": "Currently, the sky is overcast 24/7, so I don't expect it to be visible by then - no change in weather expected for Central Europe."}, {"response": 187, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jan 17, 2000 (19:19)", "body": "Sounds like Hilo weather. It has absolutely deluged since the relatives arrived and looks not to clear till they all leave! Kinda curious, isn't it!"}, {"response": 188, "author": "stacey", "date": "Wed, Feb  2, 2000 (13:41)", "body": "the lunar eclipse was groovy here... not as red as in some of the pictures but reddish and intriguing."}, {"response": 189, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Thu, Feb  3, 2000 (09:31)", "body": "What relies Marci? Austin has had a bit of rain lately, but not enough to cure this drought. It's not \"terrible\" but it's pretty bad, I'd say. Where did you watch the eclipse, Stace?"}, {"response": 190, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Feb  3, 2000 (16:52)", "body": "According to weather stats, you are in the 4th (or is it 5th?) year of drought. (Terry)What relies Marci? I wish I knew to what this refers...I could tell you, perhaps!"}, {"response": 191, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Feb  5, 2000 (18:50)", "body": "What Was He Thinking Dept: Man Kills Policeman to Avoid Traffic Penalty FRANKFURT (Reuters) - A German who killed a traffic policeman after he was caught speeding said the killing was a bid to avoid penalty points on his licence. The 45-year-old unnamed assailant, who was arrested earlier this week, said he was worried that penalty points from previous speeding offences would mean he would be stripped altogether of his licence. The attack happened last month on a highway 60 miles northeast of Frankfurt after the policeman used a radar gun to record the speed of the attacker's vehicle. The driver stopped, approached the police car on foot and fired once, hitting the 41-year-old father-of-two in the chest and killing him instantly. The bullet then hit a second policeman in the arm. The radar measurement showed the attacker's vehicle to be travelling at 80 miles per hour in a 63 miles per hour zone."}, {"response": 192, "author": "stacey", "date": "Mon, Feb  7, 2000 (19:16)", "body": "in my driveway Paul... REALLY clear night! bad news Marcia."}, {"response": 193, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Feb  7, 2000 (20:04)", "body": "There is an even better on in Travel/England (but it does not show up on the unread list on main)"}, {"response": 194, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Feb  8, 2000 (11:54)", "body": "MIAMI (CNNSI.com) -- Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Derrick Thomas died Tuesday morning at Jackson Memorial Hospital where he was recovering from a car crash that left him paralyzed from the chest down, a hospital spokeswoman said. Details of his death were not immediately available, said spokeswoman Lorraine Nelson. Thomas, 33, was injured last month when he and two companions were heading to the Kansas City airport to fly to St. Louis for the NFC Championship game. Their car flipped on an icy road. Team president Carl Peterson, who will fly to Miami early this afternoon, offered this statement upon hearing news of Thomas' death: \"It's a devastating tragedy to the Kansas City Chiefs family, the people of Kansas City, the fans of the National Football League and to me personally. Derrick Thomas has been such an important part of the Chiefs family for the past 11 years. He has done so much for this team and our city during his time with us. He had so much love for the game, for his teammates and for our town. Our prayers go out to Derrick's family, to his fellow teammates and to our fans who knew Derrick. A light has gone out.\""}, {"response": 195, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Feb  8, 2000 (11:54)", "body": "... I thought he was doing well... ???"}, {"response": 196, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Feb  8, 2000 (14:53)", "body": "The last any of us heard he was doing ok. Apparently that broken neck was not all that was wrong with him. Being thrown from a crash is not a good thing!"}, {"response": 197, "author": "stacey", "date": "Wed, Feb  9, 2000 (13:16)", "body": "no, it was just crash injuries... he had a heart attack and they could not bring him back. Possible suspects include a massive blood clot..."}, {"response": 198, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Feb  9, 2000 (13:50)", "body": "As I suspect as well. Internal injuries do that."}, {"response": 199, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Sat, Feb 19, 2000 (18:04)", "body": "That guy who attacked police? He snug up to their van, and fired into the windows, killing one, injuring a second. Within the next two weeks, there were many more police officers injured on duty, a unusual high rate for Germany. I believe that there is a certain copy cat effect at play, like with the teenage violence... After the Columbine event, we had some pretty heavy things ourselves, too - on much smaller scale, but still... Knifes or one rifle suffice, as does one victim to qualify for total horror. I just wish the gun control stuff would get through US American congress. You perhaps don't think so, but people in other countries look to what happens around y'all - courtesy of all the news and entertainment companies that sell the coverage to the world - and not few think that some weird crap were rather cool."}, {"response": 200, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Feb 19, 2000 (18:21)", "body": "You will not get an arguement from me on gun control of some sort here. I also wish the media (and I am part of that august tradition) would do their part by not making such a publicity thing out of it. Here, in Hilo, they are finally convicting murderers for running over, bludgeoning and raping a young woman and leaving her to die on Christmas Eve a few years ago. While the verdict was being read, movie deals were being made and script writers were being hired. This is definitely a movie I will avoid at all costs. I dread the thought of copy cat incidents."}, {"response": 201, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Mar  2, 2000 (14:05)", "body": "Arrivederci, Italy! New Zealand Wins America's Cup AUCKLAND, New Zealand (Reuters) - The black-hulled Team New Zealand completed a historic 5-0 America's Cup ``blackwash'' of Italian challengers Prada Thursday to become the first non-American boat to defend the trophy successfully in its 149-year history. New Zealand's boat and its crew beat Prada by 48 seconds in race five of the first-to-five series to ensure the America's Cup would remain at the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron. No non-American team had ever before mounted a successful defense of the Cup since it was first sailed in 1851. The jubilant New Zealand crew members pumped their fists and hugged after crossing the finish line. Support staff spilled on to the multi-million dollar yacht from tender boats. Their disappointed Prada opponents sprayed them with champagne as the two boats docked after the race. Local television estimated that 70,000 people lined the waterfront of Auckland's Viaduct Basin to greet the Team New Zealand sailors. The crowd cheered wildly and boat horns sounded around the city as skipper Russell Coutts and back-up helmsman Dean Barker held the Cup aloft. ``We're looking to hang on to the Cup for a very, very long time,'' Coutts told Television New Zealand. Barker took the helm for race five and outsailed the hapless Italians in pre-start maneuvers. After winning the start in fresh southeasterly winds of 15 knots, the New Zealanders sailed smoothly to protect their lead for the rest of the six-leg, 18.5 nautical mile race in the Hauraki Gulf off Auckland. ``What an amazing feeling to finish this off in five races,'' Barker said. ``For me to have the opportunity is just fantastic,'' said Barker, a former world youth champion who sailed the team's second yacht in training for the past two years. IMPRESSIVE RACE Coutts handed the helm to Barker after taking his team to a commanding 4-0 lead Wednesday to equal U.S. sailor Charlie Barr's record of nine successive America's Cup race wins set between 1899 and 1903. Barker sailed an impressive race in choppy seas and increased his boat's lead to one minute, 13 seconds by the fifth mark as the wind strengthened to more than 20 knots. New Zealand became only the second non-American boat to win the Cup when they beat Young America 5-0 off San Diego in 1995. John Bertrand's Australia II won the Cup away from the United States for the first time when it beat Dennis Conner's Liberty 4-3 in 1983. Prada had been attempting to become the first European team to win the Cup after winning the challengers' series, but were outclassed by a faster boat sailed by a superior crew. New Zealand led at every mark during each of the five races. The clean sweep meant a full nine races will not be needed. In the Louis Vuitton Cup challengers' series final, the Italians had fought back from the brink of defeat to beat Paul Cayard's AmericaOne and ensure that no American boat would contest the America's Cup for the first time. Italian skipper Francesco de Angelis appeared downcast on the final run to the finish line Wednesday and his boat flew a large flag with the words ``Arrivederci New Zealand'' from its mast as it was being towed back to its compound. The $55 million Italian challenge, backed by fashion tycoon Patrizio Bertelli, began to unravel Wednesday after a bad tactical error by de Angelis and tactician Torben Grael handed New Zealand race four. Bertelli later issued an extraordinary statement attacking de Angelis and Grael for their ``suicidal tactics.''"}, {"response": 202, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Mar  4, 2000 (20:36)", "body": "Send Page Last updated: Saturday - 19:59 03/04/2000, EST 'Shocked' Man Sues Bars That Served Him TAMPA, Fla. (Reuters) - A Florida man who said he was shocked by 13,000 volts of electricity after climbing up a transformer in a ``drunken stupor'' has sued six bars and stores that allegedly sold him alcohol. Ed O'Rourke also named Tampa Electric Co. as a defendant in the lawsuit filed on Thursday in Hillsborough County Circuit Court in Tampa. He said the utility did not do enough to prevent him from slipping into a fenced, gated and locked substation and scaling the electrical transformer late one night in May 1996. O'Rourke said he was thrown more than 40 feet from the transformer and burned over 60 percent of his body, leaving him with permanent immobility in his right arm and severe scarring. He is seeking unspecified compensation for emotional and other damages. The lawsuit said O'Rourke is ``unable to control his urge to drink alcoholic beverages'' and that the bars and stores negligently served or sold him alcohol despite his ``continual consumption.'' The owner of The Waterhole Sports Bar, one of those O'Rourke sued, said he remembers the transformer incident but denied that O'Rourke drank at his bar the night it happened. ``Because he was previously thrown out of here because he was writing on the bathroom walls,'' bar owner Bruce Martin told the Tampa Tribune. ``I think it's frivolous. I think it's ridiculous,'' he said of the lawsuit."}, {"response": 203, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Mar  4, 2000 (23:42)", "body": "i suppose if robbers can sue you for getting hurt in your house while they're trying to rob you , than a drunk person can sue the bar he got hurt at. it's a shame!"}, {"response": 204, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Mar  4, 2000 (23:53)", "body": "Crazy! Like Shakespeare said, \"first, kill all the lawyers\" (or something to that effect.)"}, {"response": 205, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Mar  4, 2000 (23:59)", "body": "people are so sue-happy now-a-days....and the \"hurting yourself on purpose while in the grocery aisle at a supermarket\" is craziness! who would want to hurt themselves so they could sue?"}, {"response": 206, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Mar  5, 2000 (00:08)", "body": "Lazy! This is the age of \"Not my fault\" and no responsibility for actions. Check your insurance rates if you think it just affects those who are in the law suit."}, {"response": 207, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Mar  5, 2000 (17:48)", "body": "no we all pay one way or another!"}, {"response": 208, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Mar  5, 2000 (18:06)", "body": "I love the way students take extra stuff and claiming it is paid for by the government as though the government made magic and summoned up money. Well, they do - out of my pocket and yours! We do, indeed, pay for it one way or the other!"}, {"response": 209, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Mar  6, 2000 (21:11)", "body": "Freak Sleigh Accident Kills One SPITZINGSEE, Germany (Reuters) - One person was killed when a giant sleigh built in the shape of a Bavarian beer garden smashed into a cabin at the bottom of a ski slope during a show race in southern Germany Sunday, police said. Fourteen men were riding in the sleigh one of 17 competing for prizes for speed and the most elaborate decorations. The driver apparently lost control at high speed and the sleigh broke apart before crashing into the cabin. ``The sleigh ran off the ski run and we don't know why yet,'' said Horst Hornfeck, head of the mountain police patrol. ``We have one dead, he was killed on the spot, two seriously injured, who were tended to by the emergency doctors and who are probably no longer in critical condition, and four more injured who were transported to hospital,'' Hornfeck said. Police said it was not clear whether the dead man had been a rider or a spectator. The event, which draws about 5,000 people to the Spitzingsee region south of Munich, was cancelled after accident."}, {"response": 210, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Mar  6, 2000 (22:35)", "body": "i've never heard of this event! wow, let's hope they weren't drinking...."}, {"response": 211, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Mar  6, 2000 (22:53)", "body": "I am trying to picture a sleigh which looks like a beer garden. Boggles the mind and you can bet the kids' allowance that they were drinking!"}, {"response": 212, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Mar  7, 2000 (19:27)", "body": "this is true, but i was hoping!"}, {"response": 213, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Mar  7, 2000 (21:27)", "body": "...just wish they had included a picture... If they were drinking they were probably less likely to get injured as they just flop down in the snow full of anti-freeze (this is my burying my head in the sand technique so I do not think of reality.)"}, {"response": 214, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Mar 29, 2000 (17:26)", "body": "Hams Help Get Wounded Boy from High Seas to Hospital In a dramatic situation that is still unfolding in Central America, Amateur Radio operators on the 20-meter Maritime Net have helped get a wounded boy to safety following an attack by what are being called ''pirates.'' The nightmare began the afternoon of March 28 for the family of Jacco van Tuyl, KH2TD, as he and his 13-year-old son Willem, were in inflatable dinghy, not far from their 44-foot sailing sloop. Wife and mother Jannie van Tuyl, KH2TE, remained aboard the sailboat. Jacco van Tuyl said the family had left the San Blas Islands a couple of days ago and was anchored behind a reef with a couple of other sailboats in the vicinity--one at anchor--some 50 miles off the coast of Honduras. The father and son were visiting with acquaintances the other anchored sailboat when Jacco van Tuyl saw four or five men in an open wooden boat come alongside his vessel and board. van Tuyl and his son headed back toward their vessel, but one of the pirates brandished a machine gun when they were about 20 yards away. In ensuing gunfire, the boy was wounded in the abdomen and the dinghy was damaged and flipped over. van Tuyl said the marauders ''got nervous'' and left the scene after taking the damaged dinghy and outboard motor aboard. van Tuyl hauled his injured son, bleeding badly, back to his sailboat and got him aboard. van Tuyl checked into the Maritime Net on 14.300 MHz, seeking urgent assistance. The other two vessels in the vicinity and the van Tuyl's then pulled anchor and headed for Honduras. In the meantime, the family rendered first aid to Willem. Two Amateur Radio-physicians--one believed to be Jim Hirschman, K4TCV--in Florida provided the family with valuable medical advice that van Tuyl thinks helped to keep the youth alive overnight until they could rendezvous with a Honduran Navy vessel that had been alerted by another amateur on the Net. In the US, Clark Lowry, N7AAC, in Arizona, was among those on the Net who contacted the US Coast Guard to render possible assistance. The van Tuyl's vessel arrived this morning off Honduras. After mother and son were taken aboard the Honduran Naval vessel at around 9 AM Wednesday (ET), they were helicoptered to a hospital facility on shore. The boy was reported to be in stable condition but headed for surgery Wednesday afternoon. Ed Petzolt, K1LNC, in Florida was able to phone patch the van Tuyls via Amateur Radio so they could discuss their son's current condition. He was able to call the hospital with the help of information from the US Embassy in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Jacco van Tuyl remains aboard his boat, awaiting further word on his son's condition. The van Tuyls are from the Netherlands and have been sailing all over the world for the past five years, logging some 40,000 miles of travel. Jacco van Tuyl said he and his wife decided to get their Amateur Radio tickets during an extended stay in Guam. Both hold General class licenses. van Tuyl agreed that the decision to get licensed turned out to be a good one."}, {"response": 215, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Mar 31, 2000 (19:15)", "body": "************************************ Usu eruption on TV ************************************ From: James Mori We just finishing watching the eruption (or maybe just the first part) on TV for the last couple of hours. NHK and the other TV stations had the area covered like a sports event, so there were multiple angles of the eruption. Today's show began at 1:10 (local time) and produced a moderate ash eruption with a column that went up about 3000m. The wind was blowing from the west and pushed all the ash to the east. The eruption lasted about 2 hours. It came from a new vent about 1.5 km to the northwest of the summit of Usu in a small valley. This is the area that new cracks had been observed over the last couple of days and was identified as a possible site for an eruption. There were cameras that had a good close view of the vent area so you could see the ash streaming out of the ground and rocks being thrown out to the side. There did not seem to be any immediate seismic precursor to today's eruption. The overall seismic activity was down from yesterday when the eruption began today. There were no audible explosions or felt earthquakes that accompanied the beginning of the eruption. The eruption waxed and waned over the 2 hours and finally seem to end around 3:00 pm. By that time there was only white vapor coming from the vent. There were not any large pyroclastic flows. There were no reported injuries. Over 10,000 people had been evacuated from the immediate area of the volcano."}, {"response": 216, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Apr  2, 2000 (15:31)", "body": "Thief Lifts Nazi Code Machine From UK Spy Center LONDON (Reuters) - A thief out-foxed a former British spy center by walking off with a rare Enigma machine used by the Nazis to send coded messages during World War Two, police said on Sunday. The typewriter-like device, one of only three in the world, was lifted during an open day on Saturday at the once top-secret Bletchley Park estate where the code was broken. ``At some point during yesterday afternoon, the machine was stolen from a display cabinet,'' a police spokesman said. ``There does appear to be quite a large market for World War Two memorabilia and if you are a collector then an Enigma machine and they're very rare in this country -- would be something you would want in your collection.'' Police said the machine, which used revolving drums to encrypt messages, was worth several thousand pounds (dollars) but its historical value is impossible to estimate. ``This is a devastating theft,'' Bletchley Park Trust director Christine Large said. ``Very many people are deeply upset and we are just hoping for its safe return.'' Historians believe the success of the cryptographers at Bletchley Park north of London code-named ``Station X'' during the war in breaking a code that the Germans believed was unbreakable hastened the Allied victory by several years. At its peak, the center employed thousands of people an eclectic mix of mathematicians, linguists and crossword experts who handled millions of German military messages every year. The code-busters included Alan Turing, a mathematician hose groundbreaking work is seen as having paved the way for the modern computer. Bletchley Park's work was so secret that its existence was not revealed until the late 1960s, more than two decades after the war ended. The center was scheduled for demolition but interest in the wartime exploits related by former staff during a reunion in 1991 helped lead to its restoration. ($1-.6271 Pound)"}, {"response": 217, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Apr 18, 2000 (16:38)", "body": "American Men to Sweep First Sporting Oscars LONDON (Reuters) - American men are set to sweep the first sporting Oscars at next month's ceremony in Monaco. Tennis ace Andre Agassi, sprint king Maurice Greene and golfer Tiger Woods are the three nominees for the World Sportsman of the Year title. The winner is to be announced in Monaco on May 25 during a glitzy sport-cum-showbiz ceremony for the first annual Laureus Sports Awards celebrating sporting excellence covering all disciplines and all continents. The presentations will be made at an Oscars type ceremony with Hollywood actors Sylvester Stallone, Samuel L. Jackson, Goldie Hawn and Jeff Bridges among the hosts. The nominations were made by 230 leading sports journalists in more than 75 countries and the final choice will be made by the newly formed World Sports Academy. The Academy includes sporting greats of the past such as American hurdler Ed Moses, German figure skating queen Katarina Witt and British decathlete Daley Thompson. The three Olympic stars attended a launch for the Laureus Sports Awards in London Tuesday. Witt said: ``I find it a great idea that past athletes will select the best current athletes. We are impressed by sporting achievements in other disciplines as we understand best just what goes into creating those achievements.'' Nine awards will be made in Monaco on May 25. The others include a World Sportswoman of the Year title for which tennis player Lindsay Davenport and athletes Marion Jones and Gabriela Szabo are nominated. The Australian rugby union team, Manchester United and the U.S. women's soccer side are the three candidates for World Team of the Year. World Newcomer of the Year will be contested by Spanish golfer Sergio Garcia, American footballer Kurt Warner and tennis player Serena Williams. Agassi, American Tour de France cycle race champion Lance Armstrong and Swedish hurdler Ludmila Engqvist are nominated for the World Comeback of the Year crown. There are also awards for World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability, World Alternative Sportsperson of the Year, Lifetime Achievement and Sport for Good which will go to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to society through sport."}, {"response": 218, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Apr 18, 2000 (20:49)", "body": ""}, {"response": 219, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Apr 18, 2000 (20:51)", "body": "NASA Science News for April 18, 2000 April's Lyrid Meteor Shower : The oldest known meteor shower peaks on the morning of April 22. Bright moonlight will reduce the number of shooting stars that are easy to see, but many meteor enthusiasts will be watching anyway because it's been over 3 months since the last major meteor display. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast18apr_1m.htm"}, {"response": 220, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Apr 20, 2000 (22:08)", "body": "april 22? cool. so who's time zone is that?"}, {"response": 221, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Apr 22, 2000 (16:50)", "body": "I imagine the rest of the story told the rest of the story, but it is usually the same time for all places. It is not until after midnight that the leading side of the earth heads into space and the sunny side is on the lee side. Therefore, after midnight and around 2am local time is the general rule for looking at meteorites. Anyone see anything? We had baseball last night and overcast skies. (I got misted upon!)"}, {"response": 222, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Sat, Apr 22, 2000 (17:22)", "body": "Little Elian was grabbed at gunpoint by INS agents this morning. Chilling pictures. Clinton comes out victorious(?). Comments? Observations?"}, {"response": 223, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Apr 22, 2000 (20:09)", "body": "That poor little kid. It would have terrified me in the middle of the night. What is wrong with these people playing politics with a little boy?! It angers me more than you want to know!"}, {"response": 224, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Apr 22, 2000 (22:04)", "body": "there really shouldn't have been any discussions or fights. the little boy belongs with his father. when i went to work on the 21st, i looked in the sky and saw nothing but dawn. probably too late to see anything...."}, {"response": 225, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Apr 22, 2000 (22:23)", "body": "thanks for thinking to look, though....I looked and saw grey quilt batting. Nary a star of any sort up there."}, {"response": 226, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Apr 22, 2000 (22:29)", "body": "*haha* i'm familiar with the grey quilt batting effect!!"}, {"response": 227, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Apr 22, 2000 (22:35)", "body": "Got that same effect for the total solar eclipse John broadcast from up Mauna Loa for those of us who were so close but yet so far...*sob*"}, {"response": 228, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Apr 22, 2000 (22:37)", "body": "oh dear, we're gonna have to ask the man upstairs to give you a break through the quilt so you can see some of His marvelous works!"}, {"response": 229, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Apr 22, 2000 (22:45)", "body": "He was very good to me for a very long time - saw a 3/4 total solar eclipse from West Virginia, and more lunar eclipses than I can remember (but I have notes on all of them) since moving to Hawaii. Oh, and volcanic fountains, hills formed before my eyes which are now on maps (and were previously holes in the ground or flat land)...acres of new dry land, meteor showers and bollides memorably brilliant. I have been blessed with that...I just wanted to experience a total solar eclipse. But...it was not to be...but I am not giving up yet. There is much more to see and rejoice over, I am sure of that!"}, {"response": 230, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Apr 22, 2000 (22:51)", "body": "oh yes, am glad you have been blessed in such a way. He knows you appreciate the beauty. i'm overwhelmed sometimes with the beauty i see around me. makes me well right up!"}, {"response": 231, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Apr 23, 2000 (00:26)", "body": "Indeed! Are ever so inspired that you create something so you remember it more clearly? I sketch and write about it. David will get those field notes eventually. The best writing was to my Dad, and I have no idea where those letters are."}, {"response": 232, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Apr 28, 2000 (11:21)", "body": "Copyright \ufffd 2000 Ananova Ltd Beer may be better for heart than red wine Beer may be better for your heart than red wine or spirits, according to new research. Vitamin B6 levels in the blood rise after beer consumption and may prevent the build-up of an amino acid connected to cardiovascular disease. But the Dutch team of scientists who carried out the research found increases in blood vitamin B6 levels after drinking red wine and spirits did not have the same effects. The studies in Utrecht monitored the drinking of 11 healthy men aged 44-59 and measured their levels of homocysteine, an amino acid which is affected by diet and found to increase the risk of heart disease. Drinking beer increased levels of vitamin B6 in the blood by 30% with no increase in homocysteine, the research, published in The Lancet, suggested. But homocysteine levels rose by nearly 10% after three weeks of consuming red wine and spirits - an increase linked to a 10-20% increased chance of cardiovascular disease. Dr Henk Hendriks, of the TNO Nutrition and Food Research Institute, said: \"We know that moderate alcohol consumption protects against coronary heart disease and other studies show this may be an effect of the alcohol. \"But other smaller moderating effects on heart disease by alcohol can be observed which may vary between different beverages.\" Mike Benner, head of campaigns for the Campaign For Real Ale, said: \"Most of the recent research into the health effects of alcohol suggest that moderate consumption - moderate being the key word - can have health benefits. \"Most of this research since the mid-90s has concentrated on wine. If there are benefits from drinking beer in moderation then this is good news.\""}, {"response": 233, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, May 10, 2000 (21:34)", "body": "New Mexico amateurs assisting in evacuation Hams in the Los Alamos, New Mexico, area are assisting local authorities and relief agencies in a mass evacuation as a result of wind-driven wildfires. ARRL New Mexico Section Manager Joe Knight, W5PDY, in Albuquerque reports the National Forest Service advised the City of Los Alamos and Los Alamos National Lab on May 10 to evacuate Los Alamos city limits by 5 PM Mountain Time. Knight was not sure how many hams were directly involved in the fire emergency response at this point. ''This affects approximately 12,000 to 15,000 people who will require immediate shelter,'' Knight said. The Red Cross is requesting additional medical personnel, as the evacuation includes hospital patients and staff. Amateur Radio Emergency Service and Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service personnel in Los Alamos have been activated for the past three days as a result of the ongoing fire situation. Knight said three repeaters in the fire zone have been put into use to handle emergency traffic, although the W5PDO Los Alamos Amateur Radio Club repeater at the fire station apparently has been shut down. ARES and RACES teams elsewhere in New Mexico are on standby to assist if needed. Knight reports that winds in the vicinity are currently gusting to 40 MPH and the flames are jumping treetop-to-treetop. ''It's a firestorm,'' Knight said. ''It's a bad situation.'' Standby emergency personnel from the Albuquerque Fire Department have been called to immediate duty, Knight reports, to assist in Los Alamos some 80 miles away. Meanwhile, Knight says the City of Alto, northeast of Ruidoso, already has been evacuated, and a number of houses east of Alto reportedly have been consumed by flames. The fire is spreading rapidly northeast of Ruidoso and already has consumed more than 6000 acres of forest. Citizens have been placed on alert in the Ruidoso area. ARRL Amateur Radio emergency and section personnel will continue to monitor the fire situation in New Mexico."}, {"response": 234, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, May 11, 2000 (00:11)", "body": "Fire Sweeps Whiskey Warehouse LAWRENCEBURG, Ky. (Reuters) - A distillery fire fueled by thousands of gallons of Wild Turkey whiskey destroyed a warehouse and contaminated this central Kentucky city's water supply, authorities said on Tuesday. Three hours after it caught fire, the collapsed warehouse was still spouting flames that were fed by a sea of year-old bourbon contained in between 15,000 and 20,000 55-gallon casks, still operator Keith Phillips told Reuters. ``It was amazing how quickly it burned,'' Phillips said. ''You could hear barrels exploding like gunshots.'' ``The warehouse is gone,'' an Anderson County Sheriff's dispatcher said, who said no one was seriously injured. Phillips said he saw a couple of firefighters helped from the scene after they were overcome by the intense heat. The fire, spread by the blazing alcohol, torched trees and grasslands along the adjacent Kentucky River and damaged a section of Lawrenceburg's water plant, Phillips said. Lawrenceburg officials ordered unnecessary water usage in restaurants and car washes halted temporarily after whiskey run-off poured into the river and forced authorities to stop drawing water through an intake pipe. The cause of the fire was not yet known, but work was being done on the warehouse's electrical system as the distillery prepared to shore up the sagging building. Phillips said there were numerous other warehouses at the facility where the sweet-tasting whiskey was being aged, some as long as 12 years. He said the whiskey that burned up was distilled only last year. In any case, the distillery, the only one where Wild Turkey is made, was still operating and Phillips predicted no shortage of the product."}, {"response": 235, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, May 14, 2000 (15:40)", "body": "At Least 20 Dead, 562 Hurt in Dutch Explosion ENSCHEDE, Netherlands (Reuters) - Rescuers gave up searching a devastated area of a Dutch city for survivors on Sunday after a massive explosion at a fireworks warehouse that killed at least 20 people and injured 562. ``If there's anyone in there now, they would be dead,'' Menno Wagnaar, a police officer in Enschede, told Reuters, referring to wreckage left by Saturday's blast. Police Chief Aart Meijboom told a news conference he could not confirm rumors of tapping being heard from beneath the smoking rubble. ``Last evening at 10 p.m. (2000 GMT) we found someone, but that was the last one,'' he said. Officials said 14 bodies had been recovered and six people were still unaccounted for. Police said they expected the death toll to be at least 20. Four of the dead were firefighters. About 59 people remained in regional hospitals, 10 in intensive care. Around 400 residents of the area had yet to be located. While authorities hoped they were staying with friends or relatives, they appealed for them to come forward and register. City authorities said they still feared for the safety of several thousand people evacuated from the disaster area and were keeping the most severely affected areas cordoned off. Asbestos from the roof of a Grolsch brewery set ablaze next to the fireworks warehouse might be contaminating the area and some roofs of homes were in danger of collapsing, Mayor Jan Mans said. Officials were advising people living in cities north of Enschede, where smoke from the smoldering beer factory was headed, to take precautions against asbestos poisoning by washing clothes carefully and cleaning away dust. However the spread of pollution was not as wide as originally feared, and many of those evacuated from the outer areas may be able to return to their homes as early as Sunday evening, city authorities said. SEARCH FOR CLUES BEGINS Teams of special investigators sought clues as to what triggered the huge detonation, examining blackened, twisted hulks of cars and sifting through the rubble of houses with their bare hands as firefighters extinguished persistent flames. ``The work they are doing is difficult. There are a lot of areas that are still (so) hot that they cannot enter,'' Enschede Deputy Mayor Rinus Althof told reporters. Queen Beatrix and Prime Minister Wim Kok entered the sealed-off disaster area to survey the damage. A Reuters photographer saw the Queen comforting a policewoman on the verge of tears. ``It gets you by the throat... It's breathtaking, being there, as if bombs had fallen on roofs,'' the prime minister told a news conference. Kok said a full investigation would be conducted into the tragedy and pledged virtually unlimited government resources to help rebuild the shattered city. A bank in Enschede opened its doors, offering victims, left only with the clothes they were wearing, an emergency 100 guilders ($41.17) per person. A huge red fireball sent a blast wave across the city of 145,000 people on Saturday afternoon, completely destroying around 400 homes and damaging several hundred more. It was the second of two explosions. An small earlier blast set off hundreds of fireworks and drew people out of their homes to watch them shooting through the sky. After the second blast, people covered in blood sat dazed in the streets. A fire had started earlier outside a warehouse owned by S.E. Fireworks company and spread to the storage area, which held an estimated 100 tonnes of fireworks. HUNDREDS EVACUATED About 2,000 people were evacuated from the area it was not known when many of those living nearest to the fire would be allowed to return. Some 800 people slept overnight in a temporary shelters, but officials said many people were being shifted to other facilities or homes. In a letter to Kok, European Commission President Romano Prodi said he was ``profoundly shocked by the tragic loss of lives in Enschede last night.'' Britain's Queen Elizabeth also wrote to Queen Beatrix expressing sympathy for the tragedy. Fire crews, ambulances and helicopters had sped to Enschede from around the Netherlands and from across the border in Germany, five kms (three miles) away. It was still unclear if the fire and subsequent explosions were linked to other recent blazes in Enschede which officials suspect might have been caused by arson. The warehouse, in the north of Enschede, was a smoldering heap on Sunday and surrounding streets looked like a bombed war zone. Most houses were gutted while fragments of wall or roof survived on others. Smoking hulks of cars lined the streets. Firemen directed water hoses at charred remains of family homes while grey smoke wafted in the air. Television reports said Enschede residents were asking how authorities had allowed the fireworks warehouse to be located in the middle of a residential area housing hundreds of people. A Dutch public prosecutor, identified on German TV as Roelof Manscoc, said the warehouse had been i"}, {"response": 236, "author": "moonbeam", "date": "Wed, May 17, 2000 (03:10)", "body": "Forgive me if this isn't the right place to put this -- it seemed like the best one. I just wanted my friends at the Spring to know that I grew up in Los Alamos, New Mexico -- it is still my family's home and has been for 51 years. My father died there on May 7, and last Wednesday I flew down for his funeral, scheduled for Friday morning... as I was in the air the town was being evacuated, my brother helping my grieving mother pack family pictures and important papers and her cat into the car for a 35-mile trip off \"the hill\" that took 3 hours in bumper-to-bumper traffic as 11,000 people fled for their lives. I'm still pretty shell-shocked from watching so much of what I am go up in flames -- the TV stations covered it 24/7, and we sat glued to the screen in my brother's Albuquerque home as the helicopters sent video back of our old neighborhood burning. I grew up on 36th Street, one of the hardest-hit areas. The fire burned so hot there it looks like a moonscape. Foundations, chimneys, ashes. That's all that's left. And 405 families, many of them people I've known all my life, now homeless. The Albuquerque Journal, http://abqjournal.com/firepage.htm , is doing an incredible job reporting this tragedy."}, {"response": 237, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Wed, May 17, 2000 (11:49)", "body": "What an experience you're going through Nan! My heart goes out to you for going through these two tragedies in such a short time span. Are you in New Mexico now?"}, {"response": 238, "author": "moonbeam", "date": "Wed, May 17, 2000 (14:35)", "body": "I flew back to Utah Sunday night but I'm just here long enough to pack, turn in my grades, and drive back down to NM to spend the summer."}, {"response": 239, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, May  4, 2001 (00:48)", "body": "Are you summering in NM again, Nan?"}, {"response": 240, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Aug 12, 2001 (21:45)", "body": "This week, in a decision that the Mouthpiece Media hyped would \"define\" his Presidency, His Fraudulency played to the Right again, nearly banning federal support for stem cell research by restricting it to only those lines already in use. Too few for any significant scientific break-throughs, most analysts believe. But then we knew he was basically another typical Republican conservative; everybody's still waiting for the \"compassionate\" twin to show up. But like Bush I, II is illin'. from http://www.g21.net/ What are your views on stem cell research? \u0018"}, {"response": 241, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  3, 2001 (23:14)", "body": "Subject: [Syndicate] WTO applauded for insulting Gandhi (and epistolaris@freemail Date: Friday, August 31, 2001 5:16 AM From: Anna Balint To: This message is not commercial August 30, 2001 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE WTO INTRODUCES NEW MEMBER Gold and one meter long, phallus is brand-new technology to control distant workers Anti-WTO impostors have struck again, delivering a lecture about the rights of slavery, the stupidity of Gandhi, and the supremacy of free trade to an enthusiastic crowd of scientists, engineers, and marketing professionals--all of whom thought they were watching an official WTO representative. The 150 experts at the \"Textiles of the Future\" conference in Tampere, Finland heard one Hank Hardy Unruh explain that Gandhi's \"self- sufficiency\" movement was entirely misguided, because it centered around protectionism, and that Lincoln, by outlawing slavery, had criminally interfered with the trade freedom of the South, as well as with slavery's own freedom to develop naturally. Had slavery never been abolished, Unruh said, today's much cheaper system of sweatshops would have eventually replaced it anyhow; following this free-market logic to the end, Unruh declared the Civil War just a big waste of money. Finally, to applause from the highly educated audience, Unruh's business suit was ripped off to reveal a golden leotard with a three-foot-long phallus. The purpose of the \"Management Leisure Suit\", he explained, was to allow managers, no matter where they were, to monitor their distant, impoverished workforces and to administer shocks to encourage productivity--assuring that no \"Gandhi-type situation\" develop again. \"If a group of Ph.D.s cheers at such crudely crazy things, just because it's the WTO saying them, what else can the WTO get away with?\" said Andy Bichlbaum of the Yes Men, the impostors' umbrella group. (The entire PowerPoint lecture is available at www.theyesmen.org/finland/, along with some shots captured by a video crew preparing a film on the Yes Men's activities.) The Yes Men had a similar experience last October with a group of international trade lawyers (www.theyesmen.org/wto/). And in July, a member of the group, again passing as a representative of the WTO, appeared on a major television network show about protest's effect on the market (www.theyesmen.org/tv.html); among other things, he spoke about how the privatization of education will naturally eliminate \"unproductive\" thinkers from the high-school classroom, a long-term solution to the problem of protest. (Because the imposture was not noticed and the Yes Men hope for further appearances, the show's name is being withheld.) In other quarterly developments: A conference session on techniques to counter anti-corporate activism, normally available for $225 to corporate clients, is available to activists for free at rtmark.com/prsa/, thanks to an anonymous donor. At the G8 protests in Genoa, activists distributed one thousand vanity mirrors, which were then used to reflect the sun into the eyes of attacking policemen; this fulfilled RTMark project MIRR, and those who carried it out received a $1,000 anonymous investment. The \"Archimedes Project\" comes on the heels of the medieval catapult attack on the FTAA fortress in Quebec City, for which the workers were awarded $200. For the upcoming IMF protests in Washington, D.C., on September 29, an RTMark investor has offered $500 to any Lacrosse team that harnesses their skills and equipment to throw tear gas canisters back to the police (rtmark.com/fundhigh.html#LACR). A software development kit and book from hactivist.com, entitled \"Child as Audience\", allows anyone to reverse-engineer the Nintendo Gameboy. Because of content that many will find objectionable, RTMark has lent its corporate veil to the project, meaning that any legal flak will be absorbed by the RTMark corporate body rather than by those responsible. The same label that enraged Geffen Records with \"Deconstructing Beck\" is issuing its fourth RTMark-sponsored release, \"A Mutated Christmas,\" a paean to musical sharing illegally assembled from copyrighted holiday music. Promotional copies will be available in late September; press and radio requests should be directed to illegalart@detritus.net. RTMark's primary goal is to publicize corporate subversion of the democratic process. To this end it acts as a clearinghouse for anti-corporate projects. A list of just- added projects is maintained at rtmark.com/new.html. -----Syndicate mailinglist----------------------- Syndicate network for media culture and media art information and archive: http://anart.no/~syndicate to post to the Syndicate list: no commercial use of the texts without permission"}, {"response": 242, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Dec  3, 2001 (14:22)", "body": "What is 'IT'? This mysterious invention, reportedly created by National Medal of Technology Award winner, Dean Kamen, is on everyone's lips and has captured everyone's imaginations. According to published reports, IT has caught the undivided attentions of tech revolutionaries like Apple's Steve Jobs and Amazon.com entrepreneur Jeff Bezos. Dean Kamen Photo Courtesy of US Department of Commerce Alledgedly, these progressive minds are stunned; praise and sheer amazement flow from the lucky few who have seen IT (code name: Ginger). A book deal is already in the works, news magazines are clamoring for information, and the Internet is a flurry of IT chatter. What is IT? Reportedly, we know IT is not medicinal in nature, will be mass produced, will affect cities and the environment, as well as conventions and old-money institutions, and will, (according to the handful of people who have seen it) change lives and trains of thought. IT Speculation naturally shifts to a mode of modern personal transportation, due to Kamen's latest invention, the iBot: A wheelchair that can traverse sand, go upstairs and stand on two wheels with the balance of a ballerina. But that is only speculation. The public does not know what IT is, and won't know until its planned 2002 release. http://www.theitquestion.com/ The curtain in front of IT is up: A two-wheeled, intuitive personal transportation device that won't fall. This super-smart, computer chip-laden machine won't topple with a driver's clumsiness. Instead, it responds to a driver's slight moves and runs on pennies worth of electricity a day. It's called the Segway, travels about three times the speed of walking and is intended for sidewalks and inner-city jaunts."}, {"response": 243, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Dec  3, 2001 (14:22)", "body": ""}, {"response": 244, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Mar  3, 2002 (19:26)", "body": "and some classic irony for you: http://64.4.14.250/cgi-bin/linkrd?_lang=EN&lah=612dab9ed4aadeebaef903a6b57c8732&lat=1015205298&hm___action=http%3a%2f%2fwww%2ereuters%2ecom%2fnews_article%2ejhtml%3bjsessionid%3dWJHQTYKISVWXQCRBAE0CFFA"}, {"response": 245, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Mar  3, 2002 (19:27)", "body": "ne-vuh mind....here's the story--you know that gigantic train wreck in africa (believe it was africa)? well, this guy survived and went on with his travel. on the way home, he took the train. guess what? this one crashed and he died in it."}, {"response": 246, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Mar  3, 2002 (19:29)", "body": "from reuters: CAIRO (Reuters) - A survivor of Egypt's biggest train disaster who escaped with light injuries after jumping off one of the rear carriages died on his return journey Thursday by falling under another train, security sources said. Abdel-Rahim Qenawi, a 22-year-old laborer from the town of el-Maragha about 360 km (225 miles) south of Cairo, escaped from a fire eight days ago which killed about 360 people when it swept through seven carriages of a crowded passenger train. After spending the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha with his family over the past week, he was waiting at Maragha train station to return to Cairo when he slipped under a passing train and was killed, the sources said."}, {"response": 247, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Mar  3, 2002 (19:29)", "body": "(sorry, the train didn't crash, he was ran over--how very sad)"}, {"response": 248, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Mar  3, 2002 (21:48)", "body": "HHis number was up no matter what. This is truly sad. I had not heard of this. Only about the terrible tran burning in India."}, {"response": 249, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Mar  3, 2002 (21:50)", "body": "On a happier note, they are doing their first Spacewalk to work on the Hubble. You can watch on your computer and listen, too http://www.unitedspacealliance.com/live/nasatv.htm"}, {"response": 250, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Mar  6, 2002 (17:58)", "body": "here's another weird one. Coincidence? I think not..... From Reuters today: HELSINKI (Reuters) - Finnish twin brothers, aged 71, were killed in identical bicycle accidents along the same road two hours apart, police said Wednesday. \"This is simply a historic coincidence. Although the road is a busy one, accidents don't occur every day,\" police officer Marja-Leena Huhtala told Reuters. \"It made my hair stand on end when I heard the two were brothers, and identical twins at that. It came to mind that perhaps someone from upstairs had a say in this,\" she said. One twin was hit by a truck and killed while out cycling early Tuesday on the west coast of Finland. Before police had identified the body and informed family members, his brother was killed on his bicycle by a second truck a half-mile down the road."}, {"response": 251, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Jun 13, 2004 (05:27)", "body": "Reagan entombed LOS ANGELES (AP) - Ronald Reagan's body was sealed inside a tomb Saturday at his hilltop presidential library following a week of mourning and remembrance by world leaders and regular Americans."}, {"response": 252, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Dec 31, 2004 (10:58)", "body": "Report says Martha Stewart loses decorating contest in prison Email to a Friend Printer Friendly Version NEW YORK Is Martha Stewart losing her decorating touch in prison? People magazine's Web site reports Stewart and her team of fellow inmates lost a decorating contest at the West Virginia prison where she's being held for lying about a stock deal. It says each team was given 25 dollars worth of glitter, ribbons, construction paper and glue to put together a display depicting \"Peace on Earth.\" The magazine says Stewart's team made paper cranes to be hung from the ceiling. However, it quotes an inmate as saying Stewart's team lost to another one that put together a nativity scene with \"pictures of snow-covered hills and sleds.\""}, {"response": 253, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Jan  4, 2005 (14:54)", "body": "Kimberly Quinn and David Blunkett at the Last Night of the Proms. The pair were lovers for three years and Mr Blunkett's resignation came after claims that he had fast-tracked a visa application by Mrs Quinn's nanny http://www.news.telegraph.co.uk/core/Slideshow/slideshowContentFrameFrag.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/12/15/blunk/upixblunk.xml"}, {"response": 254, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Jan 19, 2005 (08:23)", "body": "Not making the bed kills mites!: [World News]: London, Jan 19: If you are someone who is not bothered about making your bed in the morning, there is good news for you. According to Daily Mail, a new study conducted by researchers at at Kingston University's School of Architecture suggests that the average bed could be home to up to 1.5million dust mites. They can trigger asthma and have also been linked to eczema and a condition called perennial rhinitis, described as being a type of 'year round hayfever'. \"House dust mites feed on scales of human skin so they love to share our beds. The allergens they produce are easily inhaled during sleep and are a major cause of illnesses,\" Pretlove said. \"We know that mites can only survive by taking in water from the atmosphere using glands on the outside of their body. Something as simple as leaving a bed unmade during the day can remove moisture from the sheets and mattress so the mites will dehydrate and eventually die,\" he added. Pretlove has teamed up with a team of entomologists and zoologists from London and Cambridge to develop a computer model showing how factors such as ventilation, insulation and heating can influence mite numbers in houses of different shapes and sizes. As the next stage of their project, they have recruited 36 volunteers from around the UK who have had mite populations of varying sizes introduced into their homes so that researchers can monitor how they respond to different environmental conditions. The mites are placed in tea-bag like 'pockets' which allow them to experience the warmth and moisture of the environment without being able to escape. (ANI) from http://www.newkerala.com/news-daily/news/features.php?action=fullnews&id=61998"}, {"response": 255, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Jan 27, 2005 (03:46)", "body": "Paris, January 27: A scent exuded by young women as a subconscious sex attractant has been synthesised for post-menopausal women, who are finding it is luring men in droves, the British weekly New Scientist says. http://www.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=41238"}, {"response": 256, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Jan 27, 2005 (03:46)", "body": "more from the above cite Forty-four women took part in an experiment to see whether the pheromone -- an odour received by heterosexual men as a sign of mating availability -- worked for females beyond child bearing age. Half the group added a chemical copy of the pheromone to their perfume, while the other added a look alike dummy compound. None of the participants knew whether they were getting the real ingredient or the fake"}, {"response": 257, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Jan 27, 2005 (04:17)", "body": "LOS ANGELES - On the day after the elections in Iraq, public attention in America will turn to a somewhat more banal issue: the trial of Michael Jackson on child molestation charges. http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/todaysfeatures/2005/January/todaysfeatures_January54.xml\u00a7ion=todaysfeatures"}, {"response": 258, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Jan 27, 2005 (08:17)", "body": "Hopefully, it won't move the more important issues off the front page."}, {"response": 259, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Feb  2, 2005 (08:07)", "body": "The Pope has a bad case of the flue, not apparently in grave condition. Tonight is the State of the Union. Democrats are drawing a line in the sand on Social Security: no privatization, now being called \"personalization\" . . . a euphemism. Governor Perry, Coach Mack Brown will be on Sammy and Bob tomorrow. KVET 98,1 FM in the Austin area. The Michael Jackson ordeal is cranking up. Terrell Owens will play in the Superbowl. Emmitt Smith is retiring. He ran for for about 900 yards last year and has about 18,000 overall. Too bad he couldn't have run it up to 20k."}, {"response": 260, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Feb 11, 2005 (08:44)", "body": "What's up with Charles Windsor and this marriage? The departed wife looked like a mistress. And his mistress looks like a wife. And now she is his wife. Why did he marry Diana in the first place? Must have been pressured in to it. Camilla seems stable. Diana wouldn't play along and became a hysteric. Camilla won't become Queen. Why is this? What title is she then?"}, {"response": 261, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Feb 14, 2005 (07:27)", "body": "Saudis defy Valentine's Day ban RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) -- The Saudi woman, swathed in black with only her eyes showing, circled a huge, red teddy bear, wondering if the plastic flowers stuck in the crook of its arm were too tacky. She wanted this Valentine's Day to be perfect. She ordered 100 red roses to be delivered to her husband of a few weeks, bought him the largest-size bar of his favorite chocolate and planned to surprise him with a dinner party at her parents' house. But there was one hitch: She had made the plans for February 12, thinking that was the day the rest of the world marked Valentine's. Her confusion was not a surprise in a country where Valentine's Day is prohibited and religious authorities confiscate red items from gift stores and call the occasion a Christian celebration true Muslims should shun. The woman, like others interviewed for this story, knew she was flirting with the law and spoke on condition of anonymity. The kingdom's attitude toward Valentine's Day is in line with the strict school of Islam followed by the kingdom for a century. Like Valentine's Day, all Christian and even most Muslim feasts are banned in the kingdom, the birthplace of Islam, because they're considered an unorthodox creation Islam doesn't sanction. Beyond the ban, it's a challenge for couples to be together on Valentine's or any other day because of strict segregation of the sexes. Dating consists of long phone conversations and the rare tryst. Men and women cannot go for a drive together, have a meal or talk on the street unless they are close relatives. Infractions are punished by detentions. The muttawa, or religious police, mobilize a few days before February 14, making the rounds of gift and flower shops. As February 14 approaches, the flush of red fades. Every heart, every rose and every item that's red or that suggests love and romance descends underground, to the black market, where its price triples and quadruples. Red flowers are hidden in back rooms. Sheik Ibrahim al-Ghaith, chief of the 5,000-man religious police, told Al-Hayat newspaper his men were \"acting upon instructions to confiscate manifestations\" of Valentine's Day, birthdays and other celebrations. \"The feast of love is based on love and passion and things that are not proper for a Muslim to respond to,\" he told the paper. More: http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/02/13/saudi.valentines.ap/index.html"}, {"response": 262, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Mar  4, 2005 (08:28)", "body": "Martha Stewart is out of the big house and in to her big house. She's getting fitted up for an ankle bracelet later today. Ann \"peeping\" Thompson is stationed outside her mansion this morning. How odd that the network that's running her reality show is all over this story so much. Don Imus gave her a whole boatload of trouble over this. He's calling this \"outrageous\" and \"nothing but a show promo\". This is the big story of the day."}, {"response": 263, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Mar  8, 2005 (11:11)", "body": "BEIRUT, Lebanon - Nearly 200,000 pro-Syrian protesters waved flags, chanted and whistled in a central Beirut square Tuesday, answering a nationwide call by the militant Shiite Muslim Hezbollah group for a demonstration to counter weeks of massive rallies demanding Syrian forces leave Lebanon. Loudspeakers blared songs of resistance and organizers handed out Lebanese flags and directed the men and women to separate sections of the square. Demonstrators held up pictures of Syrian President Bashar Assad and signs saying, \"Syria & Lebanon brothers forever.\" Black-clad Hezbollah guards handled security, lining the perimeter of the square and taking position on rooftops. Trained dogs sniffed for bombs. Large cranes hoisted two giant red-and-white flags bearing Lebanon's cedar tree. On one, the words, \"Thank you Syria,\" were written in English; on the other, \"No to foreign interference.\" The demonstration was in front of U.N. offices. Hezbollah opposes the U.N. resolution drafted by the United States and France last year calling for Syria's withdrawal from Lebanon. from the Natchez Democrat"}, {"response": 264, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Sep  1, 2005 (07:44)", "body": "Survivors are evacuating the shattered city of New Orleans as authorities confront growing lawlessness and desperation days after Hurricane Katrina blasted the US Gulf Coast. Mayor Ray Nagin declared a state of martial law in the city and ordered police to drop their search-and-rescue operations to concentrate on stopping widespread looting and violence. \"We will do what it takes to bring law and order to our area,\" Gov. Kathleen Blanco told reporters. \"I'm furious. It's intolerable,\" she said of the growing crime wave. Gunshots repeatedly rang out and fires flared around the city as looters broke into stores, houses, hospitals and office buildings - some in search of food, others looking for anything of value. They broke windows, tore down security gates and knocked down doors, then hauled away what they could carry or cart. As more National Guard and Army troops headed into the historic city to help with relief efforts, thousands of weary residents waited hours or waded through floodwaters to try to catch rides out of New Orleans, long known as one of the world's most famous tourist destinations. A convoy of some 300 buses began shuttling more than 20,000 people holed up in miserable conditions in the Superdome football stadium to Houston's Astrodome 560km away. The refugees, desperate to escape, pushed and shoved to get on the buses. Tempers flared as they threatened National Guardsmen watching over the evacuation. The first bus to turn up at the Houston stadium arrived unexpectedly early and authorities said later it had apparently been commandeered and driven to Houston with its load of passengers eager to escape a city lacking electricity and fast running short of food and water. People on the bus, some of whom described harrowing conditions in the Superdome, were allowed into the Astrodome, which is installing thousands of cots where Houston's professional baseball and football teams once played. Ray Nagin estimated it would be 12 to 16 weeks before residents could return. A million people fled the New Orleans area before Katrina arrived. But former Mayor Sidney Barthelemy estimated 80,000 had been trapped in the city. Senator Mary Landrieu of Louisiana said she had heard at least 50 to 100 people were dead in New Orleans. In Mississippi, the death toll topped 200 and Governor Haley Barbour described the scene in the state's coastal area as \"just the greatest devastation I've ever seen.\" Hundreds are believed dead in Louisiana and Mississippi after Katrina hit the Gulf Coast on Monday with 225 kph winds and a 9 metre storm surge that trapped many in their homes. US President George W Bush flew over stricken areas on his return to Washington from his Texas vacation and said, \"We are dealing with one of the worst natural disasters in our nation's history.\" \"This recovery will take a long time. This recovery will take years,\" Bush said. His administration declared a public health emergency amid concern about outbreaks of disease and began working with Congress on emergency legislation to assist recovery efforts from the disaster that some officials said rivalled the September 11, 2001, attacks. James Lee Witt, who ran the Federal Emergency Management Agency under President Bill Clinton and oversaw relief after more than 350 disasters, said spending on Katrina's recovery may exceed that of September 11 because the damage was spread out over such a large area. \"The cost is going to be astronomical,\" he said, adding that much of the aid will have to be focused on helping people, rather than repairing infrastructure. Floodwaters did finally stop rising in New Orleans, which is mostly below sea level and was inundated by water from Lake Pontchartrain after levees broke. \"It's not a significant decrease but it's not rising any more,\" said Al Naomi, a senior project manager with the Army Corps of Engineers. \"It will still take a while to get the water out of the city. Some low-income people left homeless in Mississippi and Louisiana expressed frustration with relief efforts. \"Many people didn't have the financial means to get out,\" said Alan LeBreton, 41, an apartment superintendent who lived on Biloxi, Mississippi's seaside road, now in ruins. \"That's a crime and people are angry about it.\" Some fleeing to Houston from the destruction in New Orleans expressed anger they could not join those from the Superdome scheduled to be temporarily housed in the Astrodome. Houston Mayor Bill White said the Astrodome's capacity to provide decent living conditions was limited and that America's fourth most populous city was already providing shelter to numerous refugees in hotels and shelters. \"We're good neighbours here. We know this is a US situation here and we're the closest major city so we have tens of thousands of people that will be here,\" White told CNN. Texas Governor Rick Perry opened the state's public schools to children of people displaced by Katrina. Thousands of people needing the medical care New Orleans w"}]}, {"num": 100, "subject": "Martha Stewart", "response_count": 15, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Mar  7, 2005 (08:59)", "body": "Has Martha Stewart changed? NEW YORK (AP) -- Martha Stewart took up the cause of prisoners' rights during her five months in prison and calls her time behind bars \"life altering and life affirming.\" Other white collar criminals have proclaimed themselves equally transformed after emerging from prison. But are they really? \"If you're changed, then let's see the action,\" said Fred Shapiro, a lawyer who served time for bank fraud in Philadelphia in the 1990s, and went back to prison for a separate episode of white-collar crime 10 years later. \"Everyone says they've changed after they've left prison, but only time will tell.\" Stewart, released Friday after five months in prison for lying about a stock sale, is the latest in a long line of high-profile white-collar convicts -- from junk bond king Michael Milken to hotel queen Leona Helmsley -- who have returned to freedom saying they have been renewed. \"I can completely identify with her comments about prison,\" David Novak said of Stewart. The flight school owner did time for mail fraud in 1997 and today acts as a consultant to other white-collar convicts. \"To this day, I look back at that time as probably the greatest blessing of my life,\" says Novak, of Salt Lake City. \"Not the going to prison part. But the opportunity to be still and reflect upon a lot of the poor judgments I made.\" His assessment is supported by Ellen Podgor, a professor of law at Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia. A prison term \"is mind altering. I don't think it's just for the press what's being said,\" said Podgor, an author of two books on white-collar crime. More: http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/03/06/martha.stewart.ap/index.html"}, {"response": 2, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Mar  7, 2005 (09:04)", "body": "NY Times spin: Cult of Stewart Bounces Back in the Magazine By CONSTANCE L. HAYS Published: March 7, 2005 f there was any question that Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia has been eagerly awaiting the return of its founder and namesake, the coming issue of the magazine Martha Stewart Living lays it to rest. On the cover is a bowl with daffodils, and attached to the binding is a half-cover flap featuring Ms. Stewart, looking cheerful in a pale-blue barn jacket and cradling a chicken. Readers are directed to \"her new monthly column\" on Page 32. \"Welcome home, Martha,\" the headline says. This worshipful focus on Ms. Stewart is a departure from the last two years, when the magazine minimized Ms. Stewart's name on the cover and replaced some features that bore her name with more generic columns. Since Ms. Stewart was convicted last March of conspiracy, obstruction of justice and making false statements about the sale of stock, there has been a debate in and outside Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia over whether to expand the company beyond Ms. Stewart's personality or to rebuild around her."}, {"response": 3, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Mar  7, 2005 (09:05)", "body": "And msnbc.com: Plenty of precedent Stewart, released Friday after five months in prison for lying about a stock sale, is the latest in a long line of high-profile white-collar convicts \ufffd from junk bond king Michael Milken to hotel queen Leona Helmsley \ufffd who have returned to freedom proclaiming themselves changed people. But are they really? What to make of Stewart\ufffds assertion, posted on her company\ufffds web site, that prison \ufffdhas been life altering and life affirming?\ufffd The spotlight and public relations campaign surrounding Stewart, if anything, seems to make those more difficult questions to answer. \ufffdI can completely identify with her comments about prison,\ufffd said David Novak, a flight school owner who did time for mail fraud in 1997, and today acts as a sentencing consultant to other white-collar convicts. \ufffdTo this day, I look back at that time as probably the greatest blessing of my life,\ufffd says Novak, of Salt Lake City. \ufffdNot the going to prison part. But the opportunity to be still and reflect upon a lot of the poor judgments I made.\ufffd Ellen Podgor, a professor of law at Georgia State University in Atlanta, agreed."}, {"response": 4, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Mar  7, 2005 (09:09)", "body": "And Tina Brown weighs in in the NY Sun: For a P.R. Boost, Serve Time, Not Canapes BY TINA BROWN March 3, 2005 The Jail Thing is working so well for Martha Stewart it may become the p.r. strategy of choice for other public figures who have run afoul of the image police. Jennifer Lopez didn't have to go to all the trouble of designing a new fashion line, toiling over a new album, and rebounding into a doleful marriage to Marc Anthony. She should just have stood up in court and said, \"Your Honor, I committed the crime of being on the cover of US magazine with Ben Affleck 100 times too often. My lips were too shiny. I made horrible movies. For my penalty I accept five months in Alderson jail in West Virginia.\" Ditto Bernard Kerik. Why hang around waiting for some fresh embarrassment to surface? Just tell it to a judge: \"Your Honor, I milked the 9/11 aura once too often. I shilled for President Bush on cable shows past the point where I was bearable. I refused to admit that Homeland Security tsar was where my overreach had hit the ceiling. As penance, I will be a stand-up guy and do my 90 days in the image clink more at http://www.nysun.com/article/10055"}, {"response": 5, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Mar  7, 2005 (16:51)", "body": "From Denver Post business columnist Al Lewis: Stewart landed a leading role in a spinoff of \"The Apprentice,\" by reality TV wizard Mark Burnett, who also created \"Survivor.\" This ensures Stewart's hyperbole will continue for years to come - much as it has for Donald Trump - but it also addressed a more pressing matter. \"Her re-entry into society should be stage-managed to the nth degree,\" said Morris Reid of Westin Rinehart, a branding and crisis management firm in New York. \"Who better to stage-manage this than the man who spawned reality TV?\" Reid predicts Burnett will be able to shape Stewart's heroine qualities and curb her unbridled arrogance. He'll likely keep her from saying some of the stupid things she has said in the past, such as referring to her legal troubles as a \"small, personal matter\" and comparing her plight to Nelson Mandela's. Stewart was released this morning from a federal prison in West Virginia nicknamed \"Camp Cupcake,\" where she served five months. Mandela, by contrast, did 27 years in apartheid South Africa. Stewart now faces a five-month home detention on her 153-acre estate 40 miles north of Manhattan. She'll be permitted to leave for 48 hours a week to work, but she'll have to find heels to match her ankle bracelet. \"She has to handle this correctly,\" Reid said. \"The next 12 to 18 months are critical, but I believe she has the right people around her to make sure that she doesn't screw up.\" Stewart also maintains the adoration of her fans, who say her prison sentence makes her seem more human. \"She was a scapegoat for all the other corporate scandals that were going on,\" List said. \"A lot of people did what she was accused of doing, but she was one of the easier people to target.\" Easy to target because she was GUILTY, I say. But, no matter one's view, Stewart has done her time and earned back at least some respect. List has been a Stewart fan for years. And she should be. Stewart's magazines and TV shows have frequently featured Hammond's Candies. And that has helped Hammond's grow sales from about $350,000 when List and her husband bought the business in 1997 to nearly $4 million today. \"Martha Stewart seeks out small, quality companies to work with,\" said List, \"and she always give you credit. ... She's definitely given us national exposure.\" Unfortunately, reality hasn't caught up to all the goodwill from fans and free publicity from the media. Right now, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia stock is trading high on well-wishers, not fundamentals.> Source: http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~130~2743569,00.html"}, {"response": 6, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Mar  7, 2005 (16:59)", "body": "A billion for being in prison. That's living! By Brett Arends Jail has been good to Martha Stewart. The domestic diva emerges this week from ``Camp Cupcake'' with something she didn't have when she went in. A billion dollars. That's right. Stewart, 63, has literally become a billionaire in the clink. It has happened suddenly. According to her company's latest regulatory filings, she owns 29.1 million shares in Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. A year ago it traded around $10. Last spring, when Stewart was convicted, the price sank as low as $8.70. With the company's franchise figure being measured for handcuffs and prison stripes, many wrote the enterprise off. Fast forward to today, and the stock is flying high. Stewart hype, and anticipation of her release this week, is generating wild excitement. At $35.35 the stock has quadrupled since early July. And it values Stewart's stake at a cool $1.03 billion. That's even after she cashed in nearly $13 million worth last year - petty cash, really, to take care of incidentals. If she'd waited she could have made an extra $15 million: She dumped a pile of shares at the lows. But who's counting? Regardless of what the future holds, these are good times at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. In total, company disclosures suggest executives and staff have made an estimated $67 million on share options alone since the company's founder went off to camp. It says something peculiar about U.S. society that Martha can make so much money apparently for being sent to jail. Stock in Stewart's company drifted along at $10 for years when she was a free woman. Even before her stock-trading scandal erupted, in early 2002, it was only around $20. In the next few weeks, she'll get the kind of free publicity that apparently only a scandal can buy. More: http://business.bostonherald.com/businessNews/view.bg?articleid=70912"}, {"response": 7, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Mar  7, 2005 (18:02)", "body": "Friday, March 04, 2005 Martha's Stock Continues to Climb CNN offers a brilliant timeline that compares milestones in the Stewart Saga against MSLO stock price. You can see clearly see how things are already ramping up for MSLO. Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia has already announced plans to have Stewart write a column for the company's flagship Martha Stewart Living magazine. Also filling up her schedule: She's scheduled to star in two television shows next fall and there is talk of plans to launch a clothing line. And all while wearing an ankle bracelet, folks! My next Martha prediction: SOMEONE from Camp Cupcake has probably snagged some of Martha's personal prison items and they will show up on E-Bay within the next week. fropm http://marthastewart.blogspot.com/"}, {"response": 8, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Mar  8, 2005 (08:09)", "body": "Bernie Ebers of Worldcom went on trial today for an $11 billion dollar fraud and the helicopters are circling over Martha Stewarts house. The media and the public are riveted on Martha Stewart. She got weepy yesterday when she was addressing her employees. Kind of touching isn't it?"}, {"response": 9, "author": "cfadm", "date": "Tue, Mar  8, 2005 (10:38)", "body": "Nice shot of homegirl and her new ceo, Susan Lyne. Kind of looks like a younger version of Martha, doesn't it?"}, {"response": 10, "author": "cfadm", "date": "Tue, Mar  8, 2005 (10:42)", "body": "There's even a Martha Stewart victory song"}, {"response": 11, "author": "cfadm", "date": "Thu, Mar 10, 2005 (10:06)", "body": "And the NY Daily News is telling us . . . Knit-wits crave Martha poncho Coming soon to a knitting klatsch near you: a pattern for Martha Stewart's infamous prison-break poncho. The nation's top yarn company will introduce a free \"Welcome Home\" poncho pattern, satisfying crocheters and knitters who took one look at the domestic diva's garment and were hooked. \"There's so much demand for that pattern,\" said Debbie Stoller, author of the popular \"Stitch 'n Bitch: The Knitter's Handbook.\" \"Everyone wants to make it.\" Soon after Stewart boarded a plane to New York wearing the handmade garment, Lion Brand Yarn fielded hundreds of E-mails and calls - the most requests it has ever gotten for a pattern. \"People are saying, 'You read our minds,'\" said Alana Rabinowitz, director of consumer marketing for Lion Brand. The free pattern will be ready Tuesday or Wednesday on the yarn company's Web site (www.lionbrand.com). But for those who need a quicker fix, a knockoff poncho on eBay is going for $152.50. \"There's been so much buzz,\" said Barbara Hillery, founder of the New York City crochet guild. \"Everyone is wondering how to make it.\" Last Friday, do-it-yourselfers across the country logged onto Internet message boards and began pondering the poncho's design. Chatter over the pattern landed crochet near the top of the Yahoo! Buzz Index on Tuesday, with searches on the topic jumping 8% the day after Stewart shared the poncho's origins at her New York offices. It was a going-away present, she told her staff, from a fellow inmate who crochets 12 hours a day with yarn from the prison commissary. \"The night before I left, she handed it to me and said, 'Wear it in good health,'\" Stewart recalled. Staying true to the original design of Stewart's blue-and-tan cape, Lion Brand's first pattern will be crochet. In a few weeks, it will introduce a knit version. Carrie Melago Originally published on March 10, 2005"}, {"response": 12, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Mar 10, 2005 (10:48)", "body": "Martha's Argument in pdf file format shows that she did get treated unfairly and didn't get the right to a Fair Trial. You have to do some digging in this document, but it's there."}, {"response": 13, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Apr 23, 2005 (15:44)", "body": "my friend sent a copy of the pattern for martha's poncho *laugh*"}, {"response": 14, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Apr 23, 2005 (23:36)", "body": "She's going to have her own satellite radio station. That and the reality show."}, {"response": 15, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Aug 18, 2005 (23:19)", "body": "you know, martha is the butt of so many jokes....but you gotta hand it to her, like her or not, she's a shrewd business woman. she's going to be with stern on sirius? *laugh* news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 101, "subject": "Hurricane Katrina and the destruction of New Orleans", "response_count": 118, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Sep  2, 2005 (11:48)", "body": "Watched Nightline (among other news shows) last night and Ted Koppel really laid into the Director of FEMA, as well he should have. I've emailed a Drooler from N.O., who hasn't logged in since last Friday, and I'm hoping she's well away from the area and just without internet. She has a son in Northern California, so maybe she is there and will be able to get email. I'll let you know if/when I hear from her."}, {"response": 2, "author": "mari", "date": "Fri, Sep  2, 2005 (13:16)", "body": "I watched Ted Koppel also, Karen and he was right on, asking the tough questions. Anderson Cooper and Aaron Brown on CNN have been good also. The federal government has completely let the people down. A disgrace. Most of the money and resources have gone to Iraq. Wake Up, America!"}, {"response": 3, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Fri, Sep  2, 2005 (13:25)", "body": "Here in the UK Ive been watching various news reports of the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina, my heart goes out to all those people affected by such a ferocious natural disaster. Sending my thoughts and sincerely hope the Drool Lady is safe."}, {"response": 4, "author": "LisaJH", "date": "Fri, Sep  2, 2005 (13:40)", "body": "Mari, I couldn't agree with you more."}, {"response": 5, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Sep  2, 2005 (14:03)", "body": "It's a total disgrace the way the Fed govt has responded. Yeah, now that Bush is there, you see miles' long convoys ready to pick up people. But the images yesterday were horrific and the reporters on the scene were genuinely shaken by what they saw inside the convention center. I was watching as Bush was briefed by the FEMA chief in Mobile this a.m. Dumbest look I've ever seen on a human being's face during the \"staged\" briefing and \"staged\" accolades by the Alabama governor (\"FEMA has done everything we've asked for.\") Pathetic. New Orleans was one of my favorite cities. :-("}, {"response": 6, "author": "lindak", "date": "Fri, Sep  2, 2005 (15:17)", "body": "Most charities are taking or will be ready to take clothing donations in the next week or so. This is the time of year most people get rid of clothing while changing over closets. Instead of the usual hand-me-down recycle routes-Please consider sending anything you can to the various agencies involved in the relief effort."}, {"response": 7, "author": "Allison2", "date": "Fri, Sep  2, 2005 (16:08)", "body": "Terrible news from NO. Have spent many happy times there. Our great friends are safely in N.Ca but their families have lived in N O for generations and there is probably nothing to go back to. The question in my mind is, did the governor of LA or the mayor of N O request help from the Federal government? Much as I dislike Bush, surely it is the role of the State to to assess the risk and ask for relevant help. Or have I lost the plot?"}, {"response": 8, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Sep  2, 2005 (18:02)", "body": "(Mari) A disgrace. Most of the money and resources have gone to Iraq. Wake Up, America! Can't agree more or say it any better. How about that federal govt cutting the money to the Army Corps of Engineers to shore up the levees. *shaking head* Ok, and are there topic rules here, too?"}, {"response": 9, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Sep  2, 2005 (18:05)", "body": "Sorry, just realized I didn't read all the posts before.. (Karen) I was watching as Bush was briefed by the FEMA chief in Mobile this a.m. Dumbest look I've ever seen on a human being's face during the \"staged\" briefing and \"staged\" accolades by the Alabama governor (\"FEMA has done everything we've asked for.\") Pathetic. Can you get *over* that?!! I happened to stop by a TV at work right at that moment. Was it obvious that he... 1. Had no clue what they were talking about, and 2. Obviously didn't care too much. It was a disgraceful sight. Glad Bush could stop by, oh....4 or 5 days later."}, {"response": 10, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Sep  2, 2005 (18:50)", "body": "(Allison) did the governor of LA or the mayor of N O request help from the Federal government? I can't imagine that the governor did not do so immediately. It is practically de rigeur. As soon as the levees were breached, this turned into a federal emergency and there isn't an emergency preparedness official anywhere who wouldn't know it. The Fed govt's ridiculously delayed response isn't due to any bureaucratic procedural nonsense, e.g., the governor didn't ask for help. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I've heard from Gail and she and her family are fine. She left on Sunday and her husband stayed until after the hurricane hit. She sent me a link to a slideshow of pics taken around the Garden District by a neighbor's daughter immediately after the hurricane so you see the basic damage, boarded up homes, etc. She captioned the pics and said that once she heard about the levees, she hightailed it out of town. I'm going to ask Gail if it is OK to post the link."}, {"response": 11, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Sep  2, 2005 (19:14)", "body": "More on Allison's question - Last night on Nightline, Ted Koppel asked the FEMA director about the people in the convention center. There was one question about the number and how FEMA's estimate was way low. Then the FEMA guy said they had to wait for \"official\" verification to come in that there were, in fact, people at the convention center, as they couldn't take anyone's word for it. Koppel said, \"Don't you people have televisions?\""}, {"response": 12, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Sep  2, 2005 (19:29)", "body": "I just saw on CNN that the Governor called Bush on Wednesday to complain that there wasn't any evidence of Federal help anywhere."}, {"response": 13, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Sep  2, 2005 (19:30)", "body": "And the President himself declared a state of emergency even before Katrina hit (on Sunday) to allow all the federal agencies to start the wheels moving."}, {"response": 14, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Sep  2, 2005 (19:35)", "body": "\"Don't you people have televisions?\" Would be ROTFLMAO if it wasn't so sad and ironic."}, {"response": 15, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Sep  2, 2005 (22:38)", "body": "The pathetic one is Louisanna's Governor Kathleen Blanco. On the Larry King show on Tuesday she was v. reassuring that everything was under control. Contrasted with her press conference and on GMA on Wed.when she became teary and said \"This thing is totally overwhelming\". Is this leadership? Biloxi, and Alabama sought to tackle the security problem first.Miss. Governor said he would deal ruthlessly and agressively with looters. I hate to be hard on my sex, but she is an embarassment. Agree though that someone should have taken her by the hand and given her some guidance. FEMA, anybody. On Wednesday, she did ask for a day of prayer, though."}, {"response": 16, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Sep  2, 2005 (22:44)", "body": "Forgot to add that our small town got 50 refugees today. They are sleeping in armory. They'll be taken care of by the churches. The next town is getting 100. Going to YMCA. Tulsa getting 1000. Houston is saturated.Salvation Army is coordinating the placement. But where is Atlanta?"}, {"response": 17, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Sep  3, 2005 (00:04)", "body": "Governor said he would deal ruthlessly and agressively with looters. How's he going to find them? On the one bit of CNN I've watched, saw a NO cop say that 1/3 of the police force skipped out of town before the storm hit and apparently didn't come back. At least that's what I got from the less than reliable closed captioning on gym TV. Someone at work today suggested a cruise ship would be helpful to evacuate and house people. I expressed skepticism that they would choose to lose the money to do so. They must be all booked. I thought it was a great idea though. Saw some airlines are \"donating\" time and planes to evacuate people. They wanted govt to reimburse them, but FEMA said they'd pay only for gas. Time is volunteer."}, {"response": 18, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Sep  3, 2005 (01:41)", "body": "To add to questions/concerns by Allison and Karen's comments re: timing of asking for help, here's fairly concrete evidence of what was requested by whom and when. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/9/2/22509/76629 There's a PDF of the formal request for help from LA. Also, to point out a few comments below the story in case you don't want to read them all... ---------------------------------------- Um, Bush declared LA and MI disaster areas (4.00 / 4) more than a on Saturday, a day and a half before the hurricane hit. \"The president's emergency declaration authorizes the FEMA to coordinate all disaster relief efforts and to provide appropriate assistance in a number of Louisiana parishes, or counties.\" that from here: http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/breaking_news/12494800.htm And here is Bush's Official Statement... (4.00 / 2) \"These declarations will allow federal agencies to coordinate all disaster relief efforts with state and local officials. We will do everything in our power to help the people in the communities affected by this storm.\" from: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/08/20050828-1.html ----------------------------------------------------------------- Yes this is the paperwork that people think (none / 1) was not filed. Apparently it was. I had a long discussion with a good friend who is in government today and she was under the impression that the paperwork was not filed. The paperwork was filed.... ----------------------------------------- and it points out (4.00 / 2) what they clearly asked for in terms of coordination, supplies and security because of the expected devastation. They can't pretend they didn't know, they can't pretend it wasn't their job. This is black and white proof."}, {"response": 19, "author": "lindak", "date": "Sat, Sep  3, 2005 (09:28)", "body": "I was shocked, along with my husband, on Sunday morning when the mayor of NO said the evacuation was still voluntary. Blanco, on split screen, asked him if he had heard the same things about the storm and the area already declared a Federal disaster area. She told him he needed to get the people out, now! Where were the local and state civil defense people that also mobilize when a federal disaster is declared? Don't they have montly meetings like the rest of the country for worst case scenario evacuations? God bless the people of Houston, OK, and everplace else that has stepped forward to help."}, {"response": 20, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Sep  3, 2005 (10:29)", "body": "Thanks, Linda, for documentation and comments. It's amazing to me that they're trying to put such a ridiculous spin on things (i.e., no one asked us for help) and that anybody is buying it. I suppose someone will point out that in that four-page document, she doesn't specifically ask for food, water or the military. Yet the language is quite clear that the state is asking FEMA to take over. (Dorine) a NO cop say that 1/3 of the police force skipped out of town before the storm hit and apparently didn't come back. Yeah, I saw that too. Probably the governor's fault too for not saying that deserters will be shot. There was a nice piece on a little town west of NO named Houma that had taken in 1000 refugees and was doing it all with volunteer support. Showed the people bringing in clothing, the school admins planning how to incorporate the children, etc. I think I caught Trent Lott in a half-truth last night, while being interviewed by Anderson Cooper. He was asked whether it had been a mistake not to fund the Army Corps of Engineers' projects. He said it was the Washington Post's fault. Excuse me? When did the Washington Post vote in Congress? Which party has been in control of Congress and been against public expenditures for the public good? Gotta cut back that nonessential govt spending. I'm getting rather sick and tired of the pat answer about why it took so long to get the military on site: these people are civilians are had to come from home. Does no one recall that if we were not conducting a war, there would be active-duty, full-time military and reservists who are not sitting at home watching TV and could've been there nearly immediately? There are tons of military bases in that area too! Such misplaced priorities. An administration that excele in spin but not substance. :-("}, {"response": 21, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Sep  3, 2005 (11:34)", "body": "Where would NYC have been w/o Mayor Guiliani and Gov. Pataki? Rudy held the city together ..giving them assurances and comfort. Local gov't officials get the ball rolling. The Mayor of NO holed himself up in the Hyatt and never set foot in the Super Dome. There is enough blame to go around to everyone in the local, state and fed gov't. But reading the posts here last night all I read was that it was the fault of one person . My state is no stranger to natural calamaties and bombings. The mayor and gov. are the first on the scene. In my town when the tornado sirens sound, police drive up and down the streets alerting people to take cover. We have no tornado shelter...but the people who live in trailers or fragile houses can go to the high school. We just don't call on Wash. DC! On a different note, our governor is asking small communities to take in the refugees that can't be housed in Houston, Dallas or San Antonio. Sports arenas are not equipped to house people he said ...and they want to just house them 100 in one place. BTW call you local official and ask them what plan they have to evacuate an entire city and house them. You'll be surprised."}, {"response": 22, "author": "Gails", "date": "Sat, Sep  3, 2005 (13:33)", "body": "My heart goes out to the people who are suffering from Katrina, my family and I'm sure many other are trying to do as much as individual citizens can through donations to the Red Cross and other local agencies trying to get supplies to the region. There seems to be a lot of anger toward the Federal gov't. and FEMA and I too have to scratch my head and wonder what took so long. However, the real issue that needs to be addressed is where over the past 3 or 4 decades has the leadership in the state of Louisana been. If I am remembering what I have read correctly the levee system was built 75 - 80 years ago. They were built to withstand a level 2 or 3 storm. Engineering techniques and building technologies have changed, IMO, the elected officials from the state let their constituency down. They needed to push harder to get what was needed for the safety of the people of the state. What has happened in NO was not a surprize to local & state officials, they knew it was only a matter of time. They also knew that about 1/3 of the population of NO would not voluntarily leave the city in the event of a major storm, yet they didn't make it mandatory until about 36 hours before the storm hit and they had no tranportation available to help people who had n way out. If you go to the various state web sites, both AL & MS have info about Katrina and what should be done, LA has nothing -- you would think it was three weeks ago and not a storm was in sight."}, {"response": 23, "author": "mari", "date": "Sat, Sep  3, 2005 (13:46)", "body": "There was a Congressman from Mississippi on last night, Republican, don't recall his name. Asked about the bureaucratic i dotting and t crossing, he said it was shameful for any government offical to try to hide behind that excuse. This guy has seen his share of hurricanes, floods, etc., and said that if you really want to help someone, you tell them specifically what they need to do to ask for help. I'm not trying to assign sole blame to the President. Clearly there are problems across the board. But I do expect the federal government--no matter which party is in charge--to have an emergency-preparedness plan that can be implemented at the first hint of trouble. Not 3 days after the fact. That's what feds are supposed to do--mobilize vast numbers of troops and material swiftly--in a way that local governments cannot do. I do expect FEMA to take the initiative as it has done in years past--before it was recently swallowed up by the morass that is Homeland Security. I expect the FEMA head to know more than the casual viewer of network news who had been told since early in the week that a crisis was brewing at the convention center and Superdome. I expect more sense out of the head of Homeland Security than a statement blaming the people of NO for not evacuating--desperately poor people with no cars and little money to pay for a hotel even if they could get out and find one. I do expect the President to be on top of things--and not say, as he did on Thursday, \"who knew that the levees wouldn't hold\" when in fact the Army Corps of Engineers had been begging for funding for years to shore up those levees--funding that Bush cut by more than 20% over the past 2 years. And BTW, shame on any past administrations--whether it's Clinton, Bush, or whomever--for similarly ignoring the situation. This country is stretched desperately thin. Most of our troops are overseas and will be for a long time. Public safety programs have been severely slashed--who is going to have the balls to step up to the plate and say, no more tax cuts, and in fact we all need to pitch in and pay more. I got more in \"tax relief\" over the past few years than the average person in NO made. That is just plain wrong."}, {"response": 24, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Sep  3, 2005 (14:03)", "body": "(Gail) If I am remembering what I have read correctly the levee system was built 75 - 80 years ago. All that is part of the crumbling infrastructure that no one in the Federal government will address. I'm sure I've seen several cover stories in Time magazine about the state of our infrastructure (roads, bridges, dams (and levees), etc. States can and have begged for federal money. No one has ignored it. The government hasn't funded the necessary improvements. (Evelyn) My state is no stranger to natural calamaties and bombings. Neither is NO. They've been hit by many hurricanes in the past. But there's a huge difference in the population (actual numbers and density) between your entire state and the region affected here. Oklahoma may have once been a dust bowl, but it isn't below sea level, which gave it a unique set of circumstances. When an area is flattened, as say Biloxi and Gulfport were, you bring in the bulldozers and haul it away. When a city is under water, no city, state or municipal government has the resources to deal with it alone. The governor's letter clearly states their limitations and their 2005 FEMA-approved plans. FEMA would/should know NO's unique needs. That's its job."}, {"response": 25, "author": "frostygirl", "date": "Sat, Sep  3, 2005 (14:30)", "body": "Been watching many reports on the TV today over here and just want to say how sorry I am to see such heartache and destruction over there. I hope and pray that help is at hand soon to help everyone caught up in hurricane Katrina and its aftermath."}, {"response": 26, "author": "Gails", "date": "Sat, Sep  3, 2005 (15:53)", "body": "(Karen)All that is part of the crumbling infrastructure that no one in the Federal government will address We are probably coming to the same point of frustration but from different directions. I am not usually so cynical, but we are not dealing with \"vestal virgins\" in our state and federal legislatures, these people regardless of party affiliation know how to get a deal done and attach the little extras that are going to add something to their districts, keep a major contributor happy, or ensure their re-election. The point I was trying to make is making sure the levees would hold realy didn't matter. The elected officials from Louisana allowed themselves and the citizens to live on borrowed time and didn't push it hard enough. Probably because there was something more important like studying fire ants or seeing why moths are attracted to light. I read somthing awhile back about there being something like 35 billion dollars in pork spending in the US. Somebody from NO should have figured a way to get a slice of that."}, {"response": 27, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Sep  3, 2005 (17:06)", "body": "no offense to anyone here, we are all entitled to our opinions... it sounds like everyone (media, friends and neighbors) is trying to point blame and that is part of the natural grieving process....and we are all benefiting form hindsight--this should have been done and so should this, etc., etc. personally, i'm sick and tired of hearing all of that and just want to see things happening. a lot of people are afraid to leave their homes no matter what threats are made to them. they are secure there and they have no means by which to do anything otherwise. we know that. the best way we can help is to donate to the red cross and to our local charities who are housing the evacuees. it will be a long time before they go home and those organizations are going to need all the help they can get. so let's forget our differences and take care of people the way we, Americans, know how to."}, {"response": 28, "author": "felicityb", "date": "Sat, Sep  3, 2005 (17:10)", "body": "I wouldn't dream of entering into a political discussion on this,but I second what Jenny said. The scale of the destruction was graphically described on Breakfast TV this morning as being equivalent to the whole of the South Coast of England being affected. Made me think. What's so frightening to me is the depiction we're getting in the UK of America(excuse the Englishism)as a Third World country. We've got the Red Cross spokesman and a list of countries sending aid that included Venezuela. Looting,shooting and squalor(I'm quoting). Just as, if not more, shocking than a terrorist attack. Truly awful for everyone. Bush is getting it in the neck over here,like he'd care. He's going to have to declare war on meteorologists(but they got it right) so that leaves God."}, {"response": 29, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Sep  3, 2005 (17:39)", "body": "(Gail)yet they didn't make it mandatory until about 36 hours before the storm hit and they had no tranportation available to help people who had n way out. School buses in a flooded parking lot in NO on Thursday. http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/050901/480/flpc21109012015"}, {"response": 30, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Sep  3, 2005 (17:43)", "body": "Felicity, President Bush declared NO a state of emergency last Sunday. There are lots of people to blame ."}, {"response": 31, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Sep  3, 2005 (20:19)", "body": ""}, {"response": 32, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Sep  3, 2005 (20:19)", "body": "There is such a thing as accountability. I choose not to let what happened stay in the past. Unfortunately, there isn't a Harry \"the buck stops here\" Truman in the White House. :-( Just saw a professor at LSU on CNN. This guy sounded Australian, so he would not likely have any inherent biases. He refuted the claims that the federal government and FEMA had no knowledge of the extent of the potential problems. He said that just last year he held a simulation of the bowl filling up with FEMA, the White House, military and the Army Corps of Engineeers in attendance. He projected the lawlessness and the fires and that approximately 30% of the population (or 300,000) would remain. He said they begged FEMA to preposition supplies for evacuees on the perimeter and a FEMA person sarcastically told him that \"Americans don't live in tents.\" He said not to look within Louisiana for the fault. They've been trying to deal with it since 1999. This guy has credibility and there's a real paper trail here. ********** Gail: Pork will always be a problem. It's a fact of life. For the most part, people vote on the basis of what their congressman will bring home and not in the national interest. :-("}, {"response": 33, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Sep  3, 2005 (21:05)", "body": "I saw that guy on CNN interviewed by Rita Cosby. He said not to look within Louisiana for the fault. Yeah, yeah....A professor at LSU...employed by the state."}, {"response": 34, "author": "slpeg2003", "date": "Sat, Sep  3, 2005 (21:29)", "body": "After the horror unfolding in LA, MS, and AL this week, I think there is enough blame to spread around to all political entities. Gail, I am glad you and your family are safe. Luckily, all of our family and business friends were able to evacuate. No word on DH's company office there yet. I love New Orleans and the Mississippi and Alabama coastlines and hope they can recover as quickly as possible (I'll be at the front of the line to pay N.O. a visit), though I do know that it will take years and it will not ever be just as it was. Meanwhile, here in Houston there are estimates of 100K-200K displaced people, some who evacuated early-20,000 in my county. Everyone is pulling together to help out anyway possible. All conventions for Houston have been cancelled for the Fall (LOL with the mayor daring the Convention groups to sue the city!) There is also a realistic concern that the displaced cannot remain for long on cots in stadiums and convention centers. More reasonable housing options and finding jobs for the displaced has become a necessity. Even here within spitting distance of one of the nations best medical centers, evacuees have died upon arrival and hospitals are now filled. Regardless of federal help, a great emotional and fiscal strain is upon us. A couple of days ago, I ran across this series of articles done in 2002 by the Times-Picayune and found them to be eerily prophetic. http://www.nola.com/washingaway/ I arrived in N.O. a few years back immediately after it had dodged another storm (maybe it was Frances) and my group, many of whom had grown up there, had big discussions about the 'big one'- just like *we* did while living in San Francisco. I don't know if it is possible to be truly prepared for such devastation."}, {"response": 35, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Sep  3, 2005 (22:13)", "body": "temporary housing--something on the news was said about builing trailer parks to house those displaced.....didn't catch the when and where of it. anyone else hear that?"}, {"response": 36, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Sep  3, 2005 (22:38)", "body": "Like Florida with all the hurricanes hitting the same place last year....I read an article in....NYT? One of the FLorida papers?....that many of those people living in the temporary housing of trailers sitting in parking lots (makeshift trailer parks) are *still* there. I think I read some? all? many? don't have air conditioning. Must go back and find that article. Florida Droolers...have you heard about this? I haven't heard about trailers for the newly displaced. Am actually trying not to watch much if any. At my aunt's, can't avoid it as she has it on non-stop....except when we watched some of the Penn State game."}, {"response": 37, "author": "alyeska", "date": "Sat, Sep  3, 2005 (22:55)", "body": "Last year Fema brought in hundreds of park modle mobile homes for people around here who had nowhere to go.They parked them in mobile home parks and vacant lots. Some of them are still there because we can't get anyone to work on the damaged houses. There is so much developement going on that the workers are working there and don't want to be bothered with the small stuff. I hope they have better luck around the gulf coast than we've had here."}, {"response": 38, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Sep  3, 2005 (23:11)", "body": "(Evelyn) Yeah, yeah....A professor at LSU...employed by the state. I can't believe you are dismissing this guy, who happens to be the Deputy Director, LSU Hurricane Center, and Director, Center for the Study of Public Health Impacts of Hurricanes. This was written three years ago: http://hurricane.lsu.edu/_in_the_news/april21_advocate.htm and talks about the simulations they've run and who would be involved. More about where they stood at the end of last year's hurricane season, which is likely the meeting he related on TV: http://www5.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2004-12/lsu-ats121604.php This doesn't look too shabby: http://hurricane.lsu.edu/ http://www.publichealth.hurricane.lsu.edu/"}, {"response": 39, "author": "slpeg2003", "date": "Sat, Sep  3, 2005 (23:56)", "body": "(Dorine)we watched some of the Penn State game LOL.. glad you had a little respite, and they won! I did hear earlier in the week that the mobile home industry was in the doldrums and this would give it a boost. They are the most logical \"quick fix\" for housing but where do you put all of them? I know of many areas where small family farms are being divided up for 'mobile home lots'. (Lucie) Some of them are still there because we can't get anyone to work on the damaged houses. There is so much developement going on that the workers are working there and don't want to be bothered with the small stuff. That's terrible, there will be so many people unemployed down here that I hope they will be willing to work at repairs, too. Most of the new development is on the north shore. But, if it takes 80+ days to drain New Orleans' flooded areas(some of which is low-income housing), much will not be salvageable after being submerged so long:-( Just heard on my local news that FEMA is chartering 3 Carnival cruise ships to house refugees to be docked at different Gulf ports. I heard the NO police chief ask for one to use as a staging area. Has anybody heard more about the Naval hospital ship and aircraft carrier that were dispatched from VA Tues. or Wed. and their estimated arrival? I fear they will be too late, too. Ummm... many coast guard helicopter missions were flown out of Houston's Ellington Field which congress decided to close last month because it had no strategic importance:-( OT William Renquist died tonight:-("}, {"response": 40, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Sep  4, 2005 (00:16)", "body": "(Peggy) Has anybody heard more about the Naval hospital ship and aircraft carrier that were dispatched from VA Tues. or Wed. and their estimated arrival? Thursday."}, {"response": 41, "author": "slpeg2003", "date": "Sun, Sep  4, 2005 (00:33)", "body": "(Karen) Thursday. I knew when it was announced that it would be too long to do much good:-("}, {"response": 42, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Sep  4, 2005 (02:38)", "body": "(Peggy) Has anybody heard more about the Naval hospital ship and aircraft carrier that were dispatched Hadn't heard about it at all 'til now. I was wondering in conversation with someone at work the other day why they couldn't use a Navy hospital ship like they did here with 9/11. Same conversation where the other person wondered why they couldn't use cruise ships to house people. Maybe they should employ everyday citizens like us. Seems we come up with the same ideas....but quicker. (Dorine)we watched some of the Penn State game (Peggy) LOL.. glad you had a little respite, and they won! Pfft!! Yeah they won, but little consulation...they were playing USF fergodssake. How far the mighty have fallen... But, thanks! ;-) (Peggy) They are the most logical \"quick fix\" for housing but where do you put all of them? In parking lots.....literally. Like they did in Florida. (Lucie) Some of them are still there because we can't get anyone to work on the damaged houses. And for some, fighting with insurance to get their $$. Can't rebuild without that either. I think I read recently that FEMA or some agency is going after people down there who apparently were awarded funds that FEMA says they really weren't entitled to. Am curious if that's totally true. I can believe a small percentage."}, {"response": 43, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sun, Sep  4, 2005 (10:34)", "body": "(Mari)Public safety programs have been severely slashed--who is going to have the balls to step up to the plate and say, no more tax cuts, and in fact we all need to pitch in and pay more. Agree and have told my representatives so... On Sept 13 my state will vote on raising tax on gas 22cents to go towards improving roads and bridges. Rural roads are dismal; some bridges only can accomodate one car...others crumbling ,yet I bet the farm that the State Question will be defeated by the public. Some day a school bus is going to go down on one of those bridges and the blame will be on the administration....not the state and heaven forbid , not the people who voted down the State Question."}, {"response": 44, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Sep  4, 2005 (11:03)", "body": "(Evelyn) On Sept 13 my state will vote on raising tax on gas 22cents Ouch, great timing. :-("}, {"response": 45, "author": "mari", "date": "Sun, Sep  4, 2005 (13:11)", "body": "Gail, I'm so glad you and your family are well. (Peggy) Meanwhile, here in Houston there are estimates of 100K-200K displaced people, some who evacuated early-20,000 in my county. Everyone is pulling together to help out anyway possible. Texas and Houston in particular are to be commended. You are doing so much, and the generosity of the people there is heartwarming. Bless you. I am very impressed by your governor, Rick Perry, for his leadership. Too bad he's not a Dem, I'm still trawling for a presidential candidate for '08.;-) The company I work for is providing the meals for the people at the Astrodome and Reliant Park. Last I heard, we have 800 people on the ground in Houston alone, employees from across the region who have chipped in to help. They're preparing and serving 75,000 meals a day. And, as you said, Peggy, this is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the needs of these people in the days and months ahead, for housing, health care, education, etc. (Evelyn)On Sept 13 my state will vote on raising tax on gas 22cents to go towards improving roads and bridges. Rural roads are dismal; some bridges only can accomodate one car...others crumbling ,yet I bet the farm that the State Question will be defeated by the public. It needs to be done. This is decades of neglect and putting things off and trying to get by because the public works budgets have been slashed. You get what you pay for. You either pay now or pay much more later when a catastrophe occurs. Politicians on both sides of the aisle need to start telling it like it is, instead of worrying about re-election on platforms of promised tax cuts. They're so busy trying to keep their jobs that they've forgotten to do their jobs. Who said that? Oh yeah, Michael Douglas in The American President; I knew it sounded too eloquent to have come from my brain.;-)"}, {"response": 46, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sun, Sep  4, 2005 (13:46)", "body": "(Mari)I'm still trawling for a presidential candidate for '08.;-) Huh? I thought it was Bill Richardson from NM? *be still my heart*.... ( I like 'em chubby:-)) (Mari)Politicians on both sides of the aisle need to start telling it like it is, instead of worrying about re-election on platforms of promised tax cuts. Good luck! I'd like to know which pork project NO got in the last bill. Let's face it, repairing the levee is not a v. sexy project . (Nor are roads or bridges).. Mobetta constructing a new Nascar raceway . Let's not forget San Antonio and Dallas. Gov Perry was the first one to step up to the plate. \"If you can bus 'em here, I'll take 'em\""}, {"response": 47, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sun, Sep  4, 2005 (13:52)", "body": "(Evelyn) On Sept 13 my state will vote on raising tax on gas 22cents (Dorine)Ouch, great timing. :-( Well, we're already paying 17cents ....it would only be another nickel... a f-nickel. BTW Karen, I didn't mean to dispute the good professor from LSU creds. My beef is that he white-washed his state gov't. Hey, the guy is low profile for a $20M project. You think the Feds are going to dish out that kind of $$$ on the strength of his paper...regardless how eloquent. Big Money needs Big Names, unfortunately, like a senator who is threatening to vote against a bill others want. Do they still call that horse-trading?"}, {"response": 48, "author": "LisaJH", "date": "Sun, Sep  4, 2005 (14:47)", "body": "Gail, so glad you and your family are okay. Thanks for checking in."}, {"response": 49, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sun, Sep  4, 2005 (15:34)", "body": "Houston and Galveston don't have emergency plans either... From Houston Chronicle: \"In Galveston County, at least 30,000 people do not have transportation to escape the threat of harm in the event of a serious storm. Complicating the evacuation process is that only one major highway goes in and out of Galveston Island.\" \"\"We still haven't been able to really come up with a fine-tuned way, in my opinion, to deal with seniors, special-needs population and the economically disadvantaged,\" Galveston County Judge James Yarbrough said.\" \"Our plan does not have designated shelter areas,\" said Dennis Storemski, Houston's chief of emergency management. \"The city doesn't necessarily plan for that. The Red Cross is responsible for shelters. The Red Cross is the shelter component. FEMA will come in and figure out the long-term housing.\" http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/front/3338725"}, {"response": 50, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Sep  4, 2005 (17:51)", "body": "Sorry, ladies, but the Gail that posted is not the Gail from NO. I don't think she has logged into Drool yet, as she isn't using her own computer and there are a few other priorities."}, {"response": 51, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Sep  4, 2005 (19:30)", "body": "(Evelyn) On Sept 13 my state will vote on raising tax on gas 22cents (Dorine)Ouch, great timing. :-( (Evelyn) Well, we're already paying 17cents ....it would only be another nickel...a f-nickel. Oh, I thought it was an *additional* 22 cents. A nickel's a drop in the bucket at this point. Had a report of $4 a gallon in Queens yesterday, but apparently when people dissed that place, he put it down to $3.59. And to think I was excited I paid $3.04 in NJ yesterday. Mostly in NJ where I drove through was $3.19 or $3.39. Funny though, in NYT today saw that Georgia is postponing raising their gas tax because the pricing's all gotten out of hand. Don't remember which section, will have to go search. But I completely agree with having to raise taxes in general. It'll hurt, but it's needed. Don't think they should've been cut to such a great extent or at all. I don't believe I benefitted a huge amount from it. To top it off, they're still gunning for the permanent repeal of the estate tax. I can't say how completely irresponsible I find that, and at this particular time. Not just because of NO. And to top it off, the administration has been lobbying LA's Rep. Landreaux (sp?) to give her support. Which leads me to my next thought... Gail was upset that LA didn't seem to fight hard enough to get what they needed from the feds. I find that a tad naive. It's a quid pro quo system. The administration isn't going to give you what you want just because you ask repeatedly and determinedly (sp?)for something, say....$$ for shoring up levees and such. If you don't have something they want, ie. something that would benefit a particular interest group they favor or *perhaps* support and a vote for that estate tax repeal and maybe throw in some campaigning for a national candidate to boot when the time comes. Unfortunately the '06 elections are next year and they'll do whatever they have to to get the votes, especially bringing home the pork. Oh and there was some interesting information on FEMA and it's evolution over the years in the Times today (might have been yesterday...I get the Sunday paper in 2 parts on Sat and Sun, and read it all at once, so it might've been part of Sat's paper). It's had it's ups and downs. And while I may not be a Bush supporter (for many reasons that he hasn't been able to help me overcome), I do agree that it was a many pronged failure of government on every level that contributed to this. But he is by no means blameless. I give him credit for admitting there were mistakes and problems. That happens once in a blue mooon....ok, actually once. ;-) And I will say, that while I've never been a Bush supporter, I had a complete turnaround in opinion when he came here a couple of days after 9/11, but that good feeling has been completely squandered by many of his, his administration's, and our Congress' actions since. I was scared shitless on and around 9/11 and between Rudy and he, they helped me feel better. Too bad he did **nothing** to continue to prove himself. I mean, you go to a disaster area, don't bother to go inside the airplane hangar at the airport to talk to some injured people...just the photo op people they arranged outside who walk and talk fine....then make a joke while making your speech. I mean, even Princess Diana hugged those poor little AIDS kids. *sitting down, putting head in hands and shaking it* He has a bizarre habit of smiling and laughing at events and subjects that clearly don't warrant it."}, {"response": 52, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Sep  4, 2005 (19:33)", "body": "Oops, reread my post 3 times and didn't catch that I didn't finish my thought. (Me) The administration isn't going to give you what you want just because you ask repeatedly and determinedly (sp?)for something, say....$$ for shoring up levees and such. If you don't have something they want, ie. something that would benefit a particular interest group they favor or *perhaps* support and a vote for that estate tax repeal and maybe throw in some campaigning for a national candidate to boot when the time comes. If you don't have something they want, they aren't going to do diddly squat to help you. Until it's too late and they have no choice."}, {"response": 53, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sun, Sep  4, 2005 (21:07)", "body": "Anybody see 60 Minutes tonight? I caught the end of the NO segment, but I though I heard an engineer say it wasn't a levee that ruptured, but a canal wall. The African American who is the National Guard general was v. impressive. I'm getting pretty tired of Mayor Nagin and his lame excuses."}, {"response": 54, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Sep  4, 2005 (21:34)", "body": "Missed it, but am going to try to watch the repeat of Meet the Press. I think some refugees or something were interviewed. Just caught a blurb somewhere that made me want to watch it. Will be watching the mailbox weekly for a while for my Time and Newsweeks to help me with the comprehensive coverage of what happened, including why the flooding occurred. And to lighten up a bit...am checking out the MDA telethon, like I never do, as part of it is devoted to Katrina fundraising. Am waiting for my \"new\" crush to come out and sing a song from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, as I heard he and other Bdway show actors are to do with material from their shows. I hope he wears that cute little plaid costume he wears in the show. ;-) Heard he got his hair cut rather short, which may cut down on the cute factor. :-( Funny, I chase all the way to another country to see Colin in person and maybe say 2 words....or verbally spar with him ;-))...with this guy, Ra\ufffdl Esparza, I go to the play once, can see him virtually any night of the week and talk to him all I want after the show....and haven't done the stage door once!! :-O I've got 'til next April unless it closes first. Ok, sorry, threadjack over....back to the heavier discussion. ;-)"}, {"response": 55, "author": "Gussie", "date": "Sun, Sep  4, 2005 (21:46)", "body": "(Evelyn) The African American who is the National Guard general was v. impressive. I only saw part of the show as well. That is Lt. Gen. Russel Honore. He is commander of First U.S. Army based at Ft. Gillem in Atlanta. Normally, he's responsible for overseeing training for all deploying troops on the east coast. I read that he is from Lakeland, LA, and has daughter and other relatives who live in NO Ft. Gillem is also one of the bases that is in process of being shut down permanently per the Realignment and Base Closure Commission."}, {"response": 56, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (07:39)", "body": "General Honore was the only bright spot mentioned by New Orleans Mayor Nagin when he blasted the relief effort. from http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/02/nagin.transcript/ WWL: Did you say to the president of the United States, \"I need the military in here\"? NAGIN: I said, \"I need everything.\" Now, I will tell you this -- and I give the president some credit on this -- he sent one John Wayne dude down here that can get some stuff done, and his name is [Lt.] Gen. [Russel] Honore. And he came off the doggone chopper, and he started cussing and people started moving. And he's getting some stuff done. They ought to give that guy -- if they don't want to give it to me, give him full authority to get the job done, and we can save some people. WWL: What do you need right now to get control of this situation? NAGIN: I need reinforcements, I need troops, man. I need 500 buses, man. We ain't talking about -- you know, one of the briefings we had, they were talking about getting public school bus drivers to come down here and bus people out here. I'm like, \"You got to be kidding me. This is a national disaster. Get every doggone Greyhound bus line in the country and get their asses moving to New Orleans.\" That's -- they're thinking small, man. And this is a major, major, major deal. And I can't emphasize it enough, man. This is crazy. I've got 15,000 to 20,000 people over at the convention center. It's bursting at the seams. The poor people in Plaquemines Parish. ... We don't have anything, and we're sharing with our brothers in Plaquemines Parish. It's awful down here, man."}, {"response": 57, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (07:43)", "body": "wonkette.com: \ufffd Rove and Bartlett devised plan to shift blame to Louisiana and to ignore Democrats' attacks; many Bush advisors spent weekend at Nicole Devenish's wedding in Greece. Chertoff's talking point: \"We will have time to go back and do an after-action report, but the time right now is to look at what the enormous tasks ahead are.\" [NYT] \ufffd Officials point fingers over failures in Gulf Coast. Nagin: \"We're still fighting over authority.\" Hillary calls for independent commission to analyze response. [NYT, WT] \ufffd \"Besieged White House\" forced to balance problems on the Gulf Coast, complexity of Supreme Court drama, and ongoing challenges in Iraq. [WP, WT] \ufffd High death toll anticipated. Michael Leavitt: \"I think it's evident it's in the thousands.\" Chertoff: \"We need to prepare the country for what's coming.\" [WP, NYT, LAT] \ufffd Bush to revisit Louisiana today. Doris Kearns Goodwin: \"These are the kinds of moments when a president gives voice to the country. They're remembered forever, if it's done right.\" [NYT] \ufffd Years of budget cuts and bureaucratic shuffling have left FEMA unprepared. Former official: \"They've taken emergency management away from the emergency managers. These operations are being run by people who are amateurs at what they are doing.\" [LAT] \ufffd Howard Kurtz: \"For once, reporters were acting like concerned citizens, not passive observers. . . Maybe, just maybe, journalism needs to bring more passion to the table -- and not just when cable shows are obsessing on the latest missing white woman.\" [WP]"}, {"response": 58, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (09:11)", "body": "As I read around, there's an ugly, ugly pattern emerging regarding FEMA/Dept of Homeland Security of them turning down offers of help and halting efforts... **Turning down the Canadians.. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/31/235829/261 **Rescues by California swift water rescue teams halted - Hundreds of people in Orleans and Jefferson parishes are rescued by swift water rescue teams from California. However, at the end of the day, FEMA halts further rescues due to supposed security concerns, though no security incidents involving the teams are reported by CNN journalist Rick Sanchez who was embedded with the teams during the rescues. http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0509/01/acd.01.html (You have to scroll down a ways to find the part with Rick Sanchez, though I recommend reading other parts of the transcript. Anderson Cooper seems quite traumatized by all the dead and dying (if you didn't see it yourself, I haven't been watching much myself). ** Security/American Red Cross News breaks that the Red Cross has been kept out of New Orleans by the Department of Homeland Security -Media reports and an announcement on the American Red Cross's own website (page created Friday, September 2nd) explains that the Red Cross has stayed out of New Orleans and not provided food and water to New Orleans residents dying of heat exhaustion and hunger on orders of the Department of Homeland Security. Local American Red Cross CEO, Tom Foley, states to KWY Newsradio in Philadelphia: \"The state Department of Homeland Security in Louisiana asked the Red Cross not to go into the city because they want that message to be, 'You need to leave the city. This isn't going to be a sheltering spot.' \" (Apparently it's the same transcript as above. I remember the Red Cross lady saying the same thing on Sat). Hopefully she/they aren't exaggerating. Oh my, and this one's the kicker. I was reading the transcript of Meet the Press when Mr. Broussard came on. It was probably the most heartbreaking thing I've seen so far in this debacle. The transcript can't begin to convey the depth of emotion he poured out near the end of his interview...so much so they had to stop the interview and go to Haley Barbour. I'm not a cryer, it takes a lot, but my eyes were far from dry watching this poor man. When you get to his interview....make sure to go all the way to the end of it, where he talks about the Emergency Mgmt guy's mother. It's a *fucking* disgrace. All of it. Here's part of what he said... Aaron Broussard on MTP this am. Three quick examples. We had Wal-Mart deliver three trucks of water. FEMA turned them back. They said we didn't need them. This was a week ago. FEMA, we had 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel on a Coast Guard vessel docked in my parish. When we got there with our trucks, FEMA says don't give you the fuel. Yesterday -- yesterday -- FEMA comes in and cuts all of our emergency communication lines. They cut them without notice. Our sheriff, Harry Lee, goes back in, he reconnects the line. He posts armed guards and said no one is getting near these lines http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9179790/ And overall, I, too am puzzled about not using those buses beforehand. There seemed to be no one in place to drive them...no plan I'd guess, which is ridiculous. Did you see about the young kid who took a school bus and drove a bunch of people to safety Saturday, I think it was? Said they might charge him with theft. I hope that isn't true. Can't imagine any court would have the balls to even try that."}, {"response": 59, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (09:49)", "body": "Forgot to give the link where some of those excerpts came...a Katrina timeline... http://www.dkosopedia.com/index.php/Hurricane_Katrina_Chronology What some of the locals think... http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/9/4/152433/0622 Bob Schieffer of CBS News on Face the Nation gives a great editorial, too. Look at the 4th comment down. This links to the whole Newsweek story they excerpt here. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/9/5/02528/13587 (Just click on the link in orange that says \"And people were dying\") This links to the NYT... http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/9/4/233958/0435 Oh and found more of FEMA turning away aid either actively or passively. http://www.timescommunity.com/site/tab1.cfm?newsid=15144436&BRD=2553&PAG=461&dept_id=506035&rfi=6 Here's an interesting back and forth about who dropped the ball and when, mostly focusing on the local level. Some interesting links. Check the end where it talks about why Nagin took so long to declare a mandatory evacuation. Much of what I'm seeing everywhere about who did and didn't do something is a case of CYA and worrying about potential lawsuits from various parties. http://instapundit.com/archives/025328.php Talking about FEMA organization since 9/11. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/9/4/4271/53522 Now in all fairness, I think they did fairly ok with other disasters in the past few years. So what happened here? And the point to doing this would be? http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/9/3/225254/3764 Not surprising, but *shaking head*. http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2005_09/007042.php Another photo op? http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/9/3/223021/8888 Tried to link directly to Americablog, but must be too busy. I'm trying to find a happy story, but having a hard time. I guess the kid with the bus is it. :-( Again to change the subject to a lighter note....got to see my guy Raul Esparza do his Chitty Chitty song, Hushaby Mountain. Must've pretaped earlier in the week. His great hair wasn't cut yet. And he wore that cute costume. :-D If you ever get a chance to hear him sing on Bdwy, do so. He's fabulous live in a variety of settings. Ok, back to the regularly scheduled thread...."}, {"response": 60, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (10:00)", "body": "See the media conference from a couple of fistfulls of press coverage on the Katrina disaster, some of which overlap with Dorine's excellent cites. http://spring.net/yapp-bin/public/read/media/44"}, {"response": 61, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (11:10)", "body": "Thanks, Dorine, for all the links. I'm checking them all out, but this one about Bush's first visit, which seemed totally staged to me, watching it, made me sick: UPDATE: Good God. Laura Rozen passes along the following report from a Dutch reader: There was a striking dicrepancy between the CNN International report on the Bush visit to the New Orleans disaster zone, yesterday, and reports of the same event by German TV. ZDF News reported that the president's visit was a completely staged event. Their crew witnessed how the open air food distribution point Bush visited in front of the cameras was torn down immediately after the president and the herd of 'news people' had left and that others which were allegedly being set up were abandoned at the same time. The people in the area were once again left to fend for themselves, said ZDF. This goes beyond stage management. This is criminal. http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2005_09/007042.php ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ While I agree that people have to focus on getting things done, moving forward and dealing with the aftermath, a post-mortem (for lack of a better word) has to be conducted and accountability has to be established. Where there are incompetent people now, they have to go as they will continue to impede the progress of recovery. That's just logical. I liked Broussard's call for taking a chainsaw to the top of the totem pole. ;-) Sorry I didn't watch Meet the Press yesterday."}, {"response": 62, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (11:10)", "body": "I finally got to those links, Terry. Some great stuff and I see we found some of the same stuff. And two thumbs WAY up to Frank Rich this week. He's a must read on Sundays for me, but somehow missed it yesterday. Thanks for the link, Terry. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/04/opinion/04rich.html?pagewanted=print"}, {"response": 63, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (11:16)", "body": "(Karen) this one about Bush's first visit, which seemed totally staged to me, watching it, made me sick: Was that the one where he was standing around with the other officials while they explained plans to him, or whatever they said, and he had the dumb look on his face? Oh, excellent, just found on MSNBC's website video of the Meet the Press interviews. It has a box in the middle with Free Video. Click to the second one, that's Broussard. You can see how upset he got just in the still. I don't think I can watch again. It was upsetting. To top it off, he talked about this one woman in the nursing home, and I read in the NYT yesterday that possibly 81 people died in a nursing home when it flooded because no one came to get them. I just don't know what to say."}, {"response": 64, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (11:32)", "body": "Broussard and Mayor Nagin were powerful and emotional both in their own ways. Broussard looked like a good ol' boy with his baseball cap and all and in the end he just broke down, cried and buried his head in his hands."}, {"response": 65, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (12:33)", "body": "Mr. Rich has not seen the aerial photo of the parking lot in NO with the school buses on Thursday night.Which Yahoo showed. Those buses could have been dispatched to the nursing home to pick up the residents earlier in the week, when the parking lot was not flooded. Didn't you read the article in the Houston Chronicle that I posted yesterday? (NY Times is far from the scene!)Houston is where the action is now. The article clearly states that there are no plans to evacuate nursing homes in Galveston...this is not just something that happened in Houston. These guys can cry all they want now..but at the time they were they were giving press conferences from the Hyatt . Rudy would have been onsite."}, {"response": 66, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (13:01)", "body": "Maybe he didn't see the photo because it wasn't actually relevant to what he was talking about, which was the response *after* the flooding. I have acknowledged and totally agree that the ball was dropped on what happened before the flooding with the evacuations. I don't get why those buses didn't mobilize either. But that doesn't at all negate that when the scope of the disaster became quickly apparent, that balls were dropped by the feds, whose responsibility it became. Did you read the links about FEMA/DHS turning away help? What's up with that? I don't understand the reluctance to hold the feds accountable as the local/state governments should be. There's a distinct pattern of incompetence, ignorance, malfeasance, and downright dishonesty with this administration and federal government for the past several years resulting in the unnecessary deaths and maiming of tens of thousands of people. Well documented. Why is it so difficult to believe that they couldn't have screwed up again? Then they work so hard to cover it all up. I'm not saying that no other administration has done that, but I think not like this since Johnson/Nixon era. And honestly, I don't remember if I read that Houston Chronicle article. I've read so much lately, have to go back and look. And what does that mean, Houston is where the action is now? And what does that mean the NY Times is far from the scene? In reporting? Or having actual people there to report?"}, {"response": 67, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (13:02)", "body": "There probably isn't a city on earth that has realistic contingency plans that would ensure effective evacuation without loss of life, but that isn't the point. Houston/Galveston too is subject to hurricanes. No argument from me, but the NO has always had a unique and far more dangerous set of circumstances and the warnings and plans did point to all of this happening. People were cognizant and nothing had been done at the federal level, which is what funds these programs. Good point being raised by an MSNBC reporter (can't remember who, as it is on in another room), but he has witnessed disasters all over the world, including the third world, and couldn't believe how NO compares. Echoing again that sentiment that it is incredulous that this is happening in the richest and most advanced nation in the world. But the best part was comparing Bush's leadership duirng this and 9/11, when he sat in the schoolroom. The man may be good communicating with the average Joe, in simple sentences, most of which aren't even sentences, but he has no leadership abilities. Not surprising IMO. Puppets aren't know for leadership."}, {"response": 68, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (13:03)", "body": "(Dorine) Then they work so hard to cover it all up. Gotta have one's priorities."}, {"response": 69, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (13:09)", "body": "(Karen) but he has no leadership abilities And, in fact, ran at least one company into the ground as I recall. And as you can see, FEMA and the other agencies...as well as the White House mind you, was well aware that the local people wouldn't be able to do it without their help. The IEM team will complete a functional exercise on a catastrophic hurricane strike in Southeast Louisiana and use results to develop a response and recovery plan. A catastrophic event is one that can overwhelm state, local and private capabilities so quickly that communities could be devastated without Federal assistance and multi-agency planning and preparedness. http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southcentral/2004/06/09/43008.htm http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=13051 I think the second link is the one that Karen mentioned with the guy from LSU."}, {"response": 70, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (13:15)", "body": "(Karen) he has witnessed disasters all over the world, including the third world, and couldn't believe how NO compares. Echoing again that sentiment that it is incredulous that this is happening in the richest and most advanced nation in the world. That's what many of us at work kept saying last week...how does this happen in the United States of America, of *all* places? It boggles the mind."}, {"response": 71, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (13:39)", "body": "Accoutability? I can't wait for accountability... Wait til they start digging up where all the gov't $$ was diverted that was supposed to go to fixing those canals and levees. Louisianna local and state govt's are cespools. Those guys are going to have something to cry about. I seldom read columnists or bloggers for facts...they just have opinions. Like yours or mine. I'd rather have facts. One wonders ...will the media report the findings of the bi-partisan committee with the same glee that they have blamed the president."}, {"response": 72, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (13:49)", "body": "(Dorine) And, in fact, ran at least one company into the ground as I recall. It's at least three, as I recall. (Evelyn) Louisianna local and state govt's are cespools. So is mine. What's your point? ;-)"}, {"response": 73, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (13:52)", "body": "BTW, we had a mayor who lost his bid for reelection because he couldn't get the snow removed fast enough. Ever since then, not one mayor has shirked his responsbility and those plows and salt trucks on the road even before the first flake falls."}, {"response": 74, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (13:56)", "body": "(Evelyn) Wait til they start digging up where all the gov't $$ was diverted that was supposed to go to fixing those canals and levees. Maybe they'll find it with the 8.8 **billion** dollars missing from Iraq reconstruction funds. :-( If you read some of those blogs, you'll see, at least on Daily Kos, they aren't allowed to post certain things without documentation or some kind of proof to back up assertions. Speculation is a no-no unless it's expressly stated as being someone's opinion. Also, depending on which blog you read, quite a few posters are investigative journalists who worked for significant publications at one time. Matter of fact, one of them I looked at today, that I may have linked, works or worked for the WaPo. media report the findings of the bi-partisan committee with the same glee that they have blamed the president. Um, excuse me, the president has gotten an unprecedented bye from the media during his terms, especially in the lead up to the war, which I find, at the very least, disheartening. If he didn't we wouldn't be in this war, I suspect. It's about time someone truly called him on the ignorance and incompetence repeatedly displayed."}, {"response": 75, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (13:57)", "body": "(Dorine) And, in fact, ran at least one company into the ground as I recall. (Karen) It's at least three, as I recall. I actually thought it was 2, but went with 1 to be safe, so I didn't make him out to be such a horrible boss unnecessarily. ;-)"}, {"response": 76, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (14:06)", "body": "(Evelyn) Louisianna local and state govt's are cespools. (Karen) So is mine. What's your point? ;-) Oh, oh!! Can I join this club? ;-D"}, {"response": 77, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (14:12)", "body": "One Web site, http://www.scipionus.com , is combating the confusion by encouraging users to annotate a Google Map of New Orleans with information about specific locations. Collectively, the community is creating a collaborative map Wikipedia. Anyone with something to add can enter a street address and leave a marker on the map at that location, providing a few lines of text about conditions at that spot. \"Never flooded, typical wind damage, passable street 8-31-05,\" reads one tag. \"Trey and April's We are OK ppl,\" reports another. The site, created by Jonathan Mendez and Greg Stoll, software engineers who work together in Austin, Texas, went up Wednesday afternoon, and already has attracted nearly 300,000 visitors, who've left more than 600 tags."}, {"response": 78, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (14:18)", "body": "did anyone else notice the subtlety that Gen Honeree used when speaking to Jeraldo about why they had to wait to get into NO? and how humble the man is? very rare for a general!"}, {"response": 79, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (14:22)", "body": "*In Lucy mode* \"*My* gov't is squeaky clean\" *snort*"}, {"response": 80, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (14:27)", "body": "I saw Gen Honoree interviewed on 60 Minutes last night. African-American Lt Gen head of the National Guard. Described as a \"John Wayne\" type."}, {"response": 81, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (15:28)", "body": "General Honore just chewed out a reporter at a press conference, he made the Head of Homeland Security (standing next to him) look like a wimp. One woman reporter asked him if New Orleans was secure and he answered (forcefully) \"have you been there lately?\" He quickly walked off in the middle of Chertoff talking and Chertoff stopped mid sentence and trailed behind General Honore."}, {"response": 82, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (15:30)", "body": "Sean Penn fails to help: Rescue attempt by Hollywood actor Sean Penn founders in New Orleans Sun Sep 4, 5:10 PM ET NEW ORLEANS, United States (AFP) - Efforts by Hollywood actor Sean Penn to aid New Orleans victims stranded by Hurricane Katrina foundered badly, when the boat he was piloting to launch a rescue attempt sprang a leak. Penn had planned to rescue children waylaid by Katrina's flood waters, but apparently forgot to plug a hole in the bottom of the vessel, which began taking water within seconds of its launch. The actor, known for his political activism, was seen wearing what appeared to be a white flak jacket and frantically bailing water out of the sinking vessel with a red plastic cup. http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20050904/en_afp/usweatherpennpeople_050904211015 http://www.idontlikeyouinthatway.com/blog/archives/seanpenn1.jpg"}, {"response": 83, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (15:30)", "body": ""}, {"response": 84, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (16:20)", "body": "Bless him for trying. The volunteer efforts are heroic. Mobetta than the blabber-mouth -bloggers."}, {"response": 85, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (17:08)", "body": "If they were praising Bush to the skies, they wouldn't be such blabbermouths would they? ;-) And if this is the best defense to be put up for Bush, to mock the bloggers.....:-/ Poor Sean Penn, it's sadly cute."}, {"response": 86, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (17:16)", "body": "If they were praising Bush to the skies, they wouldn't be such blabbermouths would they? ;-) And if this is the best defense to be put up for Bush, to mock the bloggers.....:-/ *Ditto snorting* here ;-)"}, {"response": 87, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (17:43)", "body": "The best map by far of New Orleans showing all the key elements. http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/national/2005_HURRICANEKATRINA_GRAPHIC/"}, {"response": 88, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (20:20)", "body": "http://www.icerocket.com/katrina A Hurricane Katrina Search Engine for people, messages, the missing."}, {"response": 89, "author": "lindak", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (20:35)", "body": "(Dorine)Echoing again that sentiment that it is incredulous that this is happening in the richest and most advanced nation in the world. That's what many of us at work kept saying last week...how does this happen in the United States of America, of *all* places? It boggles the mind. How does a category 4 hit the richest country in the world? How are 500,000 people displaced and left with nothing within hours? How does it become overwhelming? Katrina's head rolls first in my book."}, {"response": 90, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (20:47)", "body": "The actual storm isn't the least surprising or mind boggling. People being displaced by a hurricane or another natural disaster isn't mind boggling either, it's happened before...just last year for starters. Yeah, if only we could figure out how to steer away those pesky storms. Wonder what ever happened to that plan to feed seeds to a storm and it would dry up and go away or however that worked."}, {"response": 91, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (20:48)", "body": "Have heard that the head of the National Hurricane Center (not a state employee) said he warned them all: Head of Homeland Security and FEMA. Warned them all about the potential for levee breaks too. Can anybody believe Michael Brown's credentials? His last job for the previous nine years was Commissioner of the Arabian Horse Assn and he was asked to resign. Is this the kind of person you put in charge of federal emergency management? But he's from Oklahoma, so I guess he must be qualified. ;-) This isn't a blog report but it isn't the Houston Chronicle either: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0509040342sep04,1,474800.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed"}, {"response": 92, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (20:54)", "body": "If they were praising Bush to the skies, they wouldn't be such blabbermouths would they? ;-) *triple snort* Bloggers come in all flavors;-) Pro and Con. I include all of them. Worthless. (Except the ones that nabbed Dan Rather, of course;-))))"}, {"response": 93, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (20:59)", "body": "(Except the ones that nabbed Dan Rather, of course;-))) LOL! You know, I never liked him either. ;-D"}, {"response": 94, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (21:03)", "body": "Keith Obermann just did a ripping editorial. Called Bush the 21st Century Marie Antoinette. And that's exactly what's been bothering me. The lack of responsibiltiy and accountability at the highest levels, the inability to say \"we blew it.\" When will they put a transcript up?"}, {"response": 95, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (21:17)", "body": "I love Keith. I'll catch the repeat. Just caught the last 5 mins. Never seen him look like that. :-((( I thought he was about to cry. I hope to God the number of dead anticipated is waaaayyy exaggerated. Rudy said that same amount too, after 9/11, but it was significantly lower. There have been whispers that the final number wasn't true."}, {"response": 96, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Sep  6, 2005 (01:04)", "body": "Navy ship nearby underused Craft with food, water, doctors needed orders By Stephen J. Hedges Tribune national correspondent Published September 4, 2005 ON THE USS BATAAN -- While federal and state emergency planners scramble to get more military relief to Gulf Coast communities stricken by Hurricane Katrina, a massive naval goodwill station has been cruising offshore, underused and waiting for a larger role in the effort. The USS Bataan, a 844-foot ship designed to dispatch Marines in amphibious assaults, has helicopters, doctors, hospital beds, food and water. It also can make its own water, up to 100,000 gallons a day. And it just happened to be in the Gulf of Mexico when Katrina came roaring ashore. The Bataan rode out the storm and then followed it toward shore, awaiting relief orders. Helicopter pilots flying from its deck were some of the first to begin plucking stranded New Orleans residents. But now the Bataan's hospital facilities, including six operating rooms and beds for 600 patients, are empty. A good share of its 1,200 sailors could also go ashore to help with the relief effort, but they haven't been asked. The Bataan has been in the stricken region the longest of any military unit, but federal authorities have yet to fully utilize the ship. Captain ready, waiting \"Could we do more?\" said Capt. Nora Tyson, commander of the Bataan. \"Sure. I've got sailors who could be on the beach plucking through garbage or distributing water and food and stuff. But I can't force myself on people. \"We're doing everything we can to contribute right now, and we're ready. If someone says you need to take on people, we're ready. If they say hospitals on the beach can't handle it ... if they need to send the overflow out here, we're ready. We've got lots of room.\" Navy helicopters from the Bataan and Pensacola Naval Air Station in Florida have joined the growing aerial armada of choppers that are lifting hurricane survivors from flooded surroundings and delivering food and water. More will arrive throughout the weekend when the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman and four other Navy ships, including three amphibious assault ships--really mini-aircraft carriers for helicopter use--arrive in the gulf from Norfolk, Va. The USS Comfort, a hospital ship from Baltimore, also is steaming there. The Bataan, though, was already in the gulf when Katrina crossed Florida and picked up new, devastating energy from the warm gulf waters. The ship, sailing near the Texas coastline, had just finished an exercise in Panama and was scheduled to return to its home port in Norfolk on Friday after six weeks at sea. Instead, the ship rode out the hurricane in 12 to 14 foot seas and then fell in behind the storm as it neared the gulf coast. A day after Katrina struck, Navy helicopters arrived from Corpus Christi, Texas, and began survey flights over New Orleans. The initial belief, Tyson said, was that the city had been spared. \"On Monday it was like, `Wow, it missed us, it took a turn east,' and everything eased up,\" Tyson aid. \"It was `Let's open up Bourbon Street, have a beer, let's go party, and understandably so. And then all of a sudden, literally and figuratively, the dam broke, and here we are.\" When the city's levees broke Tuesday, Tyson's pilots were rescuing stranded residents. Communications became muddled as the rescue and humanitarian supply efforts were bogged down by rising water and sketchy information. Tyson, who would get debriefings from returning pilots, had perhaps one of the best vantage points to see what was unfolding. `Like a bad dream' \"It was like a bad dream that you knew you had to wake up from,\" she said. A 135-foot landing craft stored within the Bataan, the LCU-1656, was dispatched to steam up the 90 miles of Mississippi River to New Orleans. It took a crew of 16, including a doctor, and its deck was stacked with food and water. The craft carries enough food and fuel to remain self-sufficient for 10 days. Moving up through the storm's flotsam, the crew couldn't believe the scene. \"We saw a lot of dead animals, dead horses, floating cows, dead alligators,\" said Rodney Blackshear, LCU-1656's navigator. \"And a lot of dogs that had been pets. But no people.\" Near Boothville, La., the storm surge had lifted a construction crane and put it on top of a house. Near Venice, the crew members considered going ashore to examine the damage, but dogs drove them back. \"I didn't want any of my guys in there,\" said Bill Fish, who commands LCUs and who went on the river trip. \"Everything was decimated. It was the storm surge.\" Then the Bataan was ordered to move to the waters off Biloxi, Miss., and LCU-1656 was ordered to return. The landing craft was 40 miles from New Orleans, but it wouldn't be able to deliver its cargo. \"It was a disappointment,\" Fish said. \"I figured we would be a big help in New Orleans. We've got electricity, and the police could have charged up their radios. We've got water, toilets. We've got food"}, {"response": 97, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep  6, 2005 (07:50)", "body": "2005-08-26 18:00 -- 2005-08-29 18:00 Hurricane Katrina"}, {"response": 98, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Sep  6, 2005 (08:48)", "body": "We're starting to sound like the Russians when that big sub with sailors was stuck underwater and they refused all offers of help and equipment, then those sailors died, I think. Maybe they just have nowhere to put it all. EU cites snags in getting Katrina aid to victims BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Transport and other logistics problems are holding up some of the mass of humanitarian aid European countries have offered to the victims of hurricane Katrina, an EU official said on Tuesday. ADVERTISEMENT \"There appear to be some transportation problems,\" Barbara Helfferich, a spokeswoman for the European Union's executive Commission, told a news briefing. She said a Swedish plane laden with aid was waiting to take off but had not got U.S. approval to enter the United States. High-speed pumps offered by Germany had arrived but Helfferich said unspecified \"coordination problems\" in the United States had prevented them from being deployed so far. She said EU authorities had suggested to the United States that aid could be flown in more easily via U.S. army airbases in Europe, such as that in Ramstein, Germany. She did not say if they had received a reply. Twenty-three European countries have offered help to the United States ranging from financial assistance to ready-to-eat meals, blankets, tents and disinfectant supplies. Helfferich said the United States had not agreed to take it all and Britain, which currently holds the presidency of the EU, was negotiating with U.S. authorities on what to deliver. The EU and NATO said on Sunday they had received official requests from the United States to provide emergency assistance for the victims of Katrina, days after it ravaged U.S. cities. The Commission said at the time that the request to it came after several days of discussions and insisted that the EU, which calls itself the world's biggest aid donor, could have acted sooner if asked. President Bush is under fierce criticism for his government's slow response to the hurricane, a disaster which the mayor of New Orleans says may have killed 10,000 in his city."}, {"response": 99, "author": "kolin", "date": "Tue, Sep  6, 2005 (09:25)", "body": "From Globe and Mail Frank Stronach is a Canadian enterpreneur and owner of Magna one of the largest Canadian corporations. Frank Stronach has had wild visions before -- but never one quite like this. This improbable dream involves airlifting evacuees from the devastation of New Orleans to the pampered world of Palm Beach, Fla. -- a vision that involves rich American whites from gated communities opening up to desperately poor American blacks and even includes the construction of a new mobile-home community in Louisiana for more than 300 victims of hurricane Katrina. And so far, he's pulling it off. But then, Frank Stronach once dreamed he could make a better life in Canada than his native Austria could give, and he made it happen to a point where the young man who arrived with $40 in his pocket now regularly pockets more than $50-million in salary as the chairman of Ontario-based Magna International, the $20-billion automobile parts giant he built from scratch. Advertisements He once had a vision that he would live to be 150, and today, as he turns 73, is almost half way there -- about the same point he expects to reach some time this morning on his latest wild scheme. At that point, the final plane will touch down at Palm Beach International Airport, bringing in the last group of evacuees selected by FEMA and the American Red Cross. This will bring the total to approximately 300, although the number may yet be increased to 400, and all will be given medical attention and new clothes courtesy of Palm Beach residents, and then taken to Magna's new training facilities at nearby Palm Meadows. There they will be housed in facilities intended for grooms and thoroughbred trainers, fed at a brand-new state-of-the-art cafeteria and, some time within the next two months, returned to Louisiana to live in a 240-hectare trailer park yet to be built. Mr. Stronach has committed approximately $3-million to the rescue effort, although costs at the moment are purely guesswork. A suitable location for the mobile homes that will be sent from Canada has not been decided and, Mr. Stronach says, he will let the evacuees have significant say in where they go, or whether they even wish to stay together. Last Thursday, Mr. Stronach decided he could no longer wait for slow governments and large organizations to act on the tragedy unfolding along the Gulf Coast. He knew from his own life experience what it was like to be desperately poor and hungry -- \"Those things are burned right into the soul\" -- but could only imagine the danger that the survivors were facing . \"If you have feelings,\" he says, \"you have to start thinking. If you come from the working class, you might say, I can send $100 to the Red Cross, and that's fine, but you also have corporations that could do something special. \"The great thing about a large company that makes a profit is that you have the capability to jump in and be helpful -- right away.\" Mr. Stronach immediately dispatched his assistant, Dennis Mills, to Florida. \"I got this call from Frank,\" says Mr. Mills, who was still in Palm Beach yesterday afternoon, \"and he says 'This is crazy! Let's go!' \"A lot of Canadians have kicked the shit out of Frank Stronach for his crazy ways, but let me tell you, he makes you proud to be a Canadian down here today.\" Mr. Mills, a 16-year Toronto member of Parliament who lost in the 2004 general election to New Democratic Leader Jack Layton, is an organizational legend whose triumphs include helping to bring Pope John Paul II to Canada for World Youth Day and the Rolling Stones to Toronto for the successful SARS relief concert. Mr. Mills immediately began working with FEMA and the Red Cross to cut through the red tape and line up several hundred candidates for the airlift. The first evacuees landed in Montgomery, Ala., where buses picked them up. \"These people were traumatized,\" Mr. Mills says. \"The first planeload of 126 was basically people they'd fished out of the bayou that morning. We had 90-year-olds, kids, pregnant women. We headed straight for Wal-Mart and bought all the food we could carry.\" At Palm Beach, local volunteers mobilized to provide medical care and clothes. \"We had psychiatrists putting on bandages,\" laughs Mr. Mills. \"There were Palm Beach women doing the cooking. The clothing they brought to hand out you couldn't believe -- Holt Renfrew stuff. They brought enough for 10,000 people, let alone 300. I felt like doing a complete wardrobe change myself. \"It was the most unbelievable experience. You would have thought there was no colour at all. I feel like I've just witnessed a miracle.\" The racetrack training facilities are scheduled to be turned over to the horse world in November, and by then Mr. Stronach and Mr. Mills hope to have a suitable location for the promised new community. The thinking at the moment is that the victims would all wish to return to Louisiana, but Mr. Stronach says the decision will be largely left to them. Mr. Stronach is al"}, {"response": 100, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Sep  6, 2005 (10:30)", "body": "Private initiative seems to be making far more headway than the government, but I do keep hearing stories of people/companies being denied access to help. Wal-Mart's doing a great job too. Saw a clip about a very small (and below-median income) Kentucky town named Hazard that put together a four-semi-tractor/trailer truck convoy of supplies and drove them to La. Louisiana has hired the former FEMA chief James Lee Witt to be THE state official. Bet he totally runs the show from now on. Somebody does and the current FEMA doesn't have any competence. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/04/AR2005090401169.html Good article in the Miami Herald about the destruction of FEMA: http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/12569332.htm"}, {"response": 101, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep  6, 2005 (10:47)", "body": "List of stories on FEMA FEMA won't accept Amtrak's help in evacuations FEMA turns away experienced firefighters FEMA turns back Wal-Mart supply trucks FEMA prevents Coast Guard from delivering diesel fuel FEMA won't let Red Cross deliver food FEMA bars morticians from entering New Orleans"}, {"response": 102, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Sep  6, 2005 (11:30)", "body": "For some unknown reason, Terry has opened up another topic about Katrina. To avoid confusion--with postings from here, there and everywhere--please keep your discussion here, on Topic 101. It'll all be in the same place then."}, {"response": 103, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep  6, 2005 (13:33)", "body": "The second topic is for the media responses and articles. Sean Penn gets into rescue act BY NICOLE BODE NEW ORLEANS - Sean Penn took matters into his own hands yesterday, launching a boat in a personal effort to rescue New Orleans families stranded by Hurricane Katrina. The Oscar-winning actor and political activist managed to reach several people who had been trapped in their homes since the hurricane hit Monday. Penn, who was accompanied by his personal photographer and a crew of helpers, brought the victims to dry land - and gave them cash as well. Johnnie Brown, 73, a retired custodian, called his sister on a cell phone after being plucked from his flooded house. \"Guess who come and got me out of the house? Sean Penn the actor. Them boys were really nice,\" he said. Penn later accompanied a few of them to a hospital. Asked what he was doing in the disaster zone, Penn said, \"Whatever I can do to help.\" More: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/gossip/story/343547p-293308c.html"}, {"response": 104, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Sep  6, 2005 (21:36)", "body": "Yes, this is my (*cough*) competent, (*cough*) compassionate (*cough*) leader in action.... Newsview: White House Falls Out of Step By JENNIFER LOVEN, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON - The Bush White House is known for its ability to remain in control of its message and image, sliding out of crises with barely a scratch. Not this time. Despite day after day of appearances by President Bush aimed at undoing the political damage from a poor response to Hurricane Katrina, the White House has not been able to regain its footing, already shaken by the war in Iraq and a death toll exceeding 1,880. The administration on Tuesday struggled to deflect calls for an accounting of who was responsible for a hurricane response that even Bush acknowledged was inadequate. There were increasing calls for the resignation or firing of Michael Brown, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. \"I think it's clear we're in damage control now,\" said Norman Ornstein, political analyst at the American Enterprise Institute think tank. It's a troubling position for Bush, already suffering the lowest approval ratings of his presidency. The mistakes have come one upon the other. Even as Katrina was bearing down on the Gulf Coast that Sunday night and early Monday, Aug. 28-29, and the National Hurricane Center was warning of growing danger, the White House didn't alter the president's plans to fly from his Texas ranch to the West to promote a new Medicare prescription drug benefit. By the time Bush landed in Arizona that Monday, the storm was unleashing its fury on Louisiana and Mississippi. The president inserted into his speech only a brief promise of prayers and federal help. He continued his schedule in California, and he didn't decide until the next day that he should return to Washington. But it took him another day to get there, as he flew back to Texas to spend another night at his home before leaving for the White House. Once the president was in Washington, the criticism only intensified. While a drowned New Orleans descended into lawless misery, Bush delivered remarks from the Rose Garden that were seen as flat and corporate. It was a sharp contrast to the commanding, empathetic president the public rallied around in the days after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. In a television interview, Bush said \u2014 mistakenly \u2014 that nobody anticipated the breach of the levees in a serious storm. Even Monday's trip to the region was a redo, hurriedly arranged by the White House over the weekend after lukewarm response to Bush's first in-person visit to the Gulf Coast last Friday. Bush had raised eyebrows on his first trip by, among other things, picking Sen. Trent Lott (news, bio, voting record), R-Miss. \u2014 instead of the thousands of mostly poor and black storm victims \u2014 as an example of loss. \"Out of the rubbles of Trent Lott's house \u2014 he's lost his entire house \u2014 there's going to be a fantastic house. And I'm looking forward to sitting on the porch,\" Bush said with a laugh from an airplane hangar in Mobile, Ala. [Ed. note- He's such a card, isn't he? :-(] In the same remarks, Bush gave FEMA chief Brown \u2014 the face for many of the inadequate federal response \u2014 a hearty endorsement. \"Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job,\" Bush said. [Ed. note- Should be getting his Freedom Medal any day now. ;-)] Later in Biloxi, Miss., Bush tried to comfort two stunned women wandering their neighborhood clutching Hefty bags, looking in vain for something to salvage from the rubble of their home. He kept insisting they could find help at a Salvation Army center down the street, even after another bystander had informed him it had been destroyed. [Ed. note - Oops!] And at his last stop that day, at the airport outside of New Orleans, Bush lauded the increasingly desperate city as a great town because he used go there and \"enjoy myself \u2014 occasionally too much.\" Unlike his galvanizing appearance in the rubble of the World Trade Center just days after the 2001 attacks, Bush has stayed far from the epicenter of New Orleans' suffering. His only foray into the city was to its edges to watch crews plugging one of the breached levees on Friday. On Monday, he skipped the hardest-hit coastal areas entirely, choosing instead to visit Baton Rouge, the state capital about 80 miles northwest of New Orleans, which sustained no damage. He also went to Poplarville, Miss., to walk the streets of a middle-class neighborhood that seemed to suffer little more than snapped trees, a couple off-kilter carport roofs and a downed power line or two. White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said the president avoided New Orleans to stay out of the way of search-and-rescue operations. \"It's going to be almost impossible to overcome the perception about the president that he didn't show compassion and didn't get control of the policy failures,\" American University political scientist James Thurber said. \"The vivid images that are coming across the television are really destroying his"}, {"response": 105, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Sep  6, 2005 (23:29)", "body": "Holy cow...* trying to stifle inappropriate laughter* Right city, wrong state FEMA accused of flying evacuees to wrong Charleston Tuesday, September 6, 2005; Posted: 9:56 p.m. EDT (01:56 GMT) story.charleston.ap.jpg Dr. Robert Ball, right, waits for evacuees to arrive Tuesday at a Charleston, South Carolina airport. (CNN) -- Add geography to the growing list of FEMA fumbles. A South Carolina health official said his colleagues scrambled Tuesday when FEMA gave only a half-hour notice to prepare for the arrival of a plane carrying as many as 180 evacuees to Charleston. But the plane, instead, landed in Charleston, West Virginia, 400 miles away. It was not known whether arrangements have been made to care for the evacuees or transport them to the correct destination. A call seeking comment from FEMA was not immediately returned. \"We called in all the available resources,\" said Dr. John Simkovich, director of public health for the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control. \"They responded within 30 minutes, which is phenomenal, to meet the needs of the citizens coming in from Louisiana,\" he said. Simkovich said that the agency had described some of the evacuees as needing \"some minor treatment ... possibly some major treatment.\" \"Unfortunately, the plane did not come in,\" Simkovich said. \"There was a mistake in the system, coming out through FEMA, that we did not receive the aircraft this afternoon. It went to Charleston, West Virginia.\" A line of buses and ambulances idled behind him at Charleston International Airport as he described what happened. \"This is a 'no event' for today,\" Simkovich said."}, {"response": 106, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Sep  8, 2005 (18:11)", "body": "Bush had raised eyebrows on his first trip by, among other things, picking Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss. instead of the thousands of mostly poor and black storm victims as an example of loss. \"Out of the rubbles of Trent Lott's house \u2014 he's lost his entire house \u2014 there's going to be a fantastic house. And I'm looking forward to sitting on the porch,\" Bush said with a laugh from an airplane hangar in Mobile, Ala. [Ed. note- He's such a card, isn't he? :-(] I missed this. OMG, could he be worse? Yeah, I suppose so. But think about poor Trent Lott, one of the \"don't call'm refugee\" hurricane folk. White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said the president avoided New Orleans to stay out of the way of search-and-rescue operations. Sure. I'm dumb and I'll believe that one. White House counselor Dan Bartlett said the president and his aides are uncncerned for now about the unrelenting criticism. It's important to be consistent. They've been \"unconcerned\" about me (women) forever."}, {"response": 107, "author": "mari", "date": "Thu, Sep  8, 2005 (22:34)", "body": "Did anyone see Jay Leno Wednesday night? Was in rare form during his monologue. Some bits: Q: What's the difference between FEMA and Social Security? A: With Social Security, you have a chance to get some benefits before you die. Officials in the hurricane-stricken areas are considering re-naming the Gulf of Mexico, the Persian Gulf II, in the hopes that Bush will send troops much faster. Dick Cheney is headed to the stricken area--boy, just what they need, another person requiring emergency medical help. The Vice President pledged to stay in the area until all oil derricks are safe. FEMA will be handing out $2,00 vouchers to each affected family, which they can use however they wish, for example, food, shelter, a tank of gas. Michael Jackson announced that he will perform a benefit concert for residents of the area. He said, \"If I can touch just one child . . .\""}, {"response": 108, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Sep  9, 2005 (09:19)", "body": "The Daily Show, returning from vacation, is in rare form also. John Stewart did one of the best chronologies I've seen of Bush taking several days to get off his vacation. It was reminiscent of the Michael Moore movie Fahrenheit 911 where he showed Bush hesitating to act after 911. Of course this response was so much slower and bungled. http://dailykos.com has some excellent comments today. Worth a read. An example. (it gets even better) Everybody who failed to respond properly to Hurricane Katrina (or \"Corrina,\" as Laura Bush called it yesterday), line up and prepare to take your punishment from Soja Popova: A 93-year-old woman with a \"grip like iron\" fought back against a robber by grabbing him by the testicles. The Lithuanian woman, who says her strong grip [comes from] years of milking goats, held on to the man until police arrived. Soja Popova, from Klaipeda, was shoved to the ground when she opened the door to two young men. But she fought back by grabbing the nearest by the testicles and squeezing \"with all my force as hard as I could.\" She told police: \"He started screaming like an animal and his friend was trying to pull him free, but I have a grip like iron.\" The man's screams of agony and his friend's shouts for the woman to let go alerted neighbors, who called police. Brown, Chertoff, Bush...drop your drawers. - Jon Stewart: The president has vowed to personally lead the investigation into the government's failed response to Katrina? Isn't that a job perhaps someone else should be doing? Samantha Bee: No, not at all, Jon. To truly find out what went wrong, it's important for an investigator to have a little distance from the situation. And it's hard to get any more distant from it than the president was last week. --The Daily Show"}, {"response": 109, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Sep 10, 2005 (01:31)", "body": "FEMA Dumps Brown As Katrina Relief Chief By LARA JAKES JORDAN, Associated Press Writer 30 minutes ago WASHINGTON - The Bush administration dumped FEMA Director Michael Brown as commander of Hurricane Katrina relief efforts Friday, then abruptly scrapped plans to give $2,000 debit cards to displaced storm victims as it struggled to get a grip on the recovery operation. Buffeted by criticism, President Bush stirred memories of the 2001 terror attacks as he hailed the \"acts of great compassion and extraordinary bravery from America's first responders,\" then as now. Brown, who had come to personify a relief operation widely panned as bumbling, will be replaced by Coast Guard Vice Adm. Thad W. Allen. Allen had been in charge of relief, recovery and rescue efforts for New Orleans. The decision to order Brown back to Washington from Louisiana \ufffd he remains as director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency \ufffd marked the administration's latest attempt to assert leadership in the wake of the devastating storm and its aftermath, including the weakest public opinion polls of Bush's time in office. Still, there was fresh evidence of raggedness in the effort when FEMA announced late in the day that it would discontinue a two-day-old program to issue debit cards worth $2,000 to displaced families. Evacuees relocated to Texas, many of whom began receiving cards on Friday, will continue getting them, officials said. Hurricane victims at other locations will have to apply for expedited aid through the agency's traditional route \ufffd filling out information on FEMA's Web site to receive direct bank deposits, FEMA spokeswoman Natalie Rule said. Brown introduced the program on Wednesday, calling it \"a great way to ... empower these hurricane survivors to really start rebuilding their lives.\" At the White House, spokesman Scott McClellan said the decision to reassign Brown had been made by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and that Bush supported it. One Republican welcomed Brown's ouster with unusually sharp language. \"Something needed to happen. Michael Brown has been acting like a private instead of a general,\" said Sen. Trent Lott of Mississippi, whose state was hard-hit by the storm. Senate Democrats, who have been sharply critical of Bush's response to the storm, said the president should not have left Brown as head of FEMA. In a letter to the president, the Democratic leader, Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, and three other members of the leadership called for the dismissal of the FEMA director. He \"simply doesn't have the ability or the experience to oversee a coordinated federal response of this magnitude,\" wrote Reid and Sens. Dick Durbin of Illinois, Chuck Schumer of New York and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan. Separately, Reid and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist opened private discussions over a GOP plan for a congressional committee to investigate the administration's readiness for the storm and reaction to it. Republicans hold a majority in both the House and Senate, and Frist and Speaker Dennis Hastert announced plans this week for a joint panel with more GOP members than Democrats. Reid and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi have said they would boycott the proceedings, calling for an independent commission instead. Bush's public support rose dramatically in the days following the attacks of 2001. He linked that time with the present at a ceremony Friday awarding medals to family members of fire, police and other first responders killed by terrorists four years ago. \"When America has been challenged, there have always been citizens willing to step forward and risk their lives for the rest of us,\" the president said. \"Over the last 11 days in Louisiana and Mississippi and Alabama, we have again seen acts of great compassion and extraordinary bravery from America's first responders.\" Bush said the nation was \"still at the beginning of a huge effort. The tasks before us are enormous. Yet so is the heart of the United States.\" Thus far, the tab for federal relief has reached $62.3 billion, with billions more expected to be needed in the months and years to come. The rising price tag spread nervousness among some lawmakers. Rep. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn., touring a shelter for evacuees in Chattanooga, said the combined cost of recovery and the Iraq War were a good reason to postpone a costly Medicare prescription drug benefit. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., said mere reconstruction of a Gulf Coast area that is home to large numbers of poor black Americans wasn't enough. \"When we rebuild the land ravaged by the winds and the floods, we must rebuild it to be a more just and fair land,\" he said. The government continued to produce reports and declarations testifying to the destructive power of the storm that roared out of the Gulf of Mexico and spread destruction along the coast from Texas to Florida. The Commerce Department declared a fishery failure in the region, an action that makes federal relief funds available t"}, {"response": 110, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Sep 23, 2005 (17:47)", "body": "\"When the hurricane struck, it did not turn [the Gulf Coast] into a third-world country. It revealed one.\" - DANNY GLOVER, in New York City, at Saturday's Jazz at Lincoln Center \"Higher Ground\" benefit for victims of Hurricane Katrina"}, {"response": 111, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Sep 24, 2005 (12:25)", "body": "I know I sent this to several people...glad to know that this topic is still operational. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9368952/ Apparently Mr. Broussard was a little bit confused in his scenario."}, {"response": 112, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Sep 24, 2005 (12:32)", "body": "She was in *that* nursing home. Disgraceful. Ok, the timeline was off. It was still incredibly tragic and I'd like to see those owners fry. And he was still obviously under a lot of pressure."}, {"response": 113, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Sep 24, 2005 (15:29)", "body": "Actually, later they found she died the day of the storm from natural causes. V. sad."}, {"response": 114, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Sep 26, 2005 (23:55)", "body": "As one poster alludes to, the Daily Show couldn't make this shit up...or could have and was beaten to the punch. ;-) http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/9/26/184830/683 (This is an excerpt) Guess Who's a New FEMA Consultant by lost Mon Sep 26th, 2005 at 15:48:30 PDT [From the diaries -- Hunter Update [2005-9-26 21:56:30 by Hunter]: CBS updates: \"Later this evening, CBS News correspondent Gloria Borger spoke with a spokesman for FEMA, Russ Knocke, who confirmed that Brown remains on the FEMA payroll. He also said that technically Brown remains at FEMA as a 'contractor' and he is 'transitioning out of his job.' The reason he will remain at FEMA about a month after his resignation, said the spokesman, is that the agency wants to get the 'proper download of his experience.'\"] Mike Brown. Yeah, that Mike Brown. He's been hired by the agency as a consultant. Bob Scheiffer announced this on CBS News moments ago, stating that Brown annouced his re-hiring to congressional staffers. Guess what he'll be in charge of? SIGH. He will help evaluate how FEMA responded to the disaster. I wish I were making this up. Link to CBS News Blog below. * lost's diary :: :: * Update [2005-9-26 19:38:0 by lost]: Thanks to theboz and all the other Kossacks for this link to the CBS Rita Blog. Sept. 26, 2005 6:44 p.m. (CBS) \ufffd CBS News correspondent Gloria Borger reports that Michael Brown, who recently resigned as the head of the FEMA, has been rehired by the agency as a consultant to evaluate it's response following Hurricane Katrina. Update [2005-9-26 20:6:40 by lost]:karmatipjar posted the link to Keith Olbermann's blog about Brownie's \"new job\": At a meeting with staff of the special House committee looking into Katrina preparations today, the disgraced and displaced former FEMA director said he had rejoined the agency as a consultant to \"provide a review\" of how the agency functioned before, during, and after the storm. This according to two congressional sources. A congressional aide told NBC News nobody's sure \ufffd but it is assumed Brown is being paid by FEMA. He is to testify tomorrow before that House committee, prompting our colleague Howard Fineman to joke that only in Washington would a man on his way to the electric chair be paid to belt himself in. Update [2005-9-26 20:36:41 by lost]: In the interest of full disclosure, miholo alerted us to this AP story which contains this information: Brown is continuing to work at the Federal Emergency Management Agency at full pay, with his Sept. 12 resignation not taking effect for two more weeks, said Homeland Security Department spokesman Russ Knocke. During that time, Brown will advise the department on \"some of his views on his experience with Katrina,\" as he transitions out of his job, Knocke said. ...which seems to indicate that Brown is merely continuing to do whatever the hell it is he did before until he can pack it in. To cont... http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/9/26/184830/683"}, {"response": 115, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Oct  5, 2005 (11:48)", "body": "Eased out of the Big Easy By Jesse Jackson Chicago Sun-Times - October 4, 2005 After his administration's incompetence and indifference had lethal consequences in Katrina's wake, President Bush has been scrambling to regain his footing. He's called for an \"unprecedented response to an unprecedented crisis.\" In religious services at the National Cathedral, he called on America to \"erase this legacy of racism\" exposed by those abandoned in Katrina's wake. He's called on Congress to appropriate more than $60 billion in emergency relief and outlined a recovery program likely to cost up to $200 billion, or nearly as much as the Iraq War. All this has led the press to compare his plans to Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal or Lyndon Johnson's Great Society. Don't fall for it. A close look at the Bush plan reveals that this is a bad deal from a deck stacked against the poor who suffered the most in Katrina's wake. The first clue came from Bush's first act. He issued orders erasing the prevailing wage for work on rebuilding the Gulf, and his administration gave Halliburton a lucrative no-bid contract to begin the work. Then he designated Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana an enterprise zone, and, using emergency authority, waived all worker protections in the region -- protections for equal employment, for minority contractors, for health and safety, for environmental protection. We're learning that when Bush promised to remove the legacy of racism in New Orleans, he meant he'd remove the poor who were victims of that racism. Bush's secretary for Housing and Urban Development, Alphonso Jackson, revealed that to the Houston Chronicle. More: http://www.suntimes.com/output/jesse/cst-edt-jesse04.html"}, {"response": 116, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Dec  3, 2005 (11:46)", "body": "Life flickers in dark New Orleans By Matthew Davis Hurricane Katrina turned New Orleans into a post-apocalyptic city, a scene out of a Hollywood disaster movie. Three months on, what has changed? Parts of central New Orleans look almost normal. The traffic has returned, businessmen in suits meet in restaurants, Starbucks is open for cappuccinos. You can feel the return of order by the re-opened boutiques, the police cars out on patrol and by the fact that no one is driving the wrong way down the freeways any more. At night, Cajun music drifts out of the French Quarter, and on Bourbon Street the dancing girls entertain customers in neon-lit bars. But the darkness also reveals just where \"normal\" ends. Vast swathes of New Orleans are still unlit and uninhabitable - \"nuked\" as residents say. More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4484070.stm"}, {"response": 117, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Aug 30, 2006 (00:44)", "body": "I highly recommend the new Spike Lee documentary on HBO, \"When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in 4 Acts.\" http://www.hbo.com/docs/programs/whentheleveesbroke/?ntrack_para1=feat_main_image It's 4 parts on the Katrina disaster and history of NO among other things. There's more I want to say about it and would like to go back to update on comments said here last year, but too sleepy now."}, {"response": 118, "author": "cfadm", "date": "Mon, Sep 11, 2006 (10:53)", "body": "I saw that on tivo... I'll mark it for recording. Right now there's such a barrage of 911 tv specials. news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 103, "subject": "media coverage of Hurricane Katrina and the Fall of New Orleans", "response_count": 75, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (08:54)", "body": "Flood-control funds short of requests By Andrew Martin and Andrew Zajac WASHINGTON -- Despite continuous warnings that a catastrophic hurricane could hit New Orleans, the Bush administration and Congress in recent years have repeatedly denied full funding for hurricane preparation and flood control. That has delayed construction of levees around the city and stymied an ambitious project to improve drainage in New Orleans' neighborhoods. For instance, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers requested $27 million for this fiscal year to pay for hurricane-protection projects around Lake Pontchartrain. The Bush administration countered with $3.9 million, and Congress eventually provided $5.7 million, according to figures provided by the office of U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.). Because of the shortfalls, which were caused in part by the rising costs of the war in Iraq, the corps delayed seven contracts that included enlarging the levees, according to corps documents. More: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0509010170sep01,1,5853346.story"}, {"response": 2, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (08:57)", "body": "http://www.livejournal.com/users/interdictor/ also at http://mgno.com/ is a newsy blog from a guy who, to this day, remains on the scene in New Orleans from his perch in a downtown office building. Well supplied by a generator, he is cranking out voluminous reports on a daily basis and he has a webcam showing his office. He was getting hugs from a woman sharing his chair when I flipped it on the other night. The Internet stays alive in his building in the midst of all the chaos."}, {"response": 3, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (08:58)", "body": "From former NYT editor Howell Raines: the hurricane blew away entire towns in coastal Mississippi is very much his father's son. George H.W. Bush couldn't quite connect to the victims of Hurricane Andrew, nor did he mind being photographed tooling his golf cart around Kennebunkport while American troops died in the first Iraq war. After preemptively declaring a state of emergency, the younger Bush seemed equally determined to show his successors how to vacation through an apocalypse. On Tuesday, he urged people to stay where they were, even if their evacuation residence might be the leaking-roof, clogged-toilet Superdome. On Wednesday, as he met by intercom with his emergency team and decided to return to Washington, as Pentagon and Homeland Security promised relief by the weekend, intensive-care patients were dying at Charity Hospital in New Orleans. They had languished for two full days because the overworked Coast Guard helicopter crews available in New Orleans did not have time to reach them. The populism of Huey Long was financially corrupt, but when it came to the welfare of people, it was caring. The churchgoing cultural populism of George Bush has given the United States an administration that worries about the House of Saud and the welfare of oil companies while the poor drown in their attics and their sons and daughters die in foreign deserts.> Source: http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-raines1sep01,0,7077142.story"}, {"response": 4, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (09:01)", "body": "Live National Guard radio ops in NOLA via this link: http://216.22.26.45:8002/listen.pls May require winamp."}, {"response": 5, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (09:03)", "body": "http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001051313 \"Yet after 2003, the flow of federal dollars toward SELA dropped to a trickle. The Corps never tried to hide the fact that the spending pressures of the war in Iraq, as well as homeland security -- coming at the same time as federal tax cuts -- was the reason for the strain. At least nine articles in the Times-Picayune from 2004 and 2005 specifically cite the cost of Iraq as a reason for the lack of hurricane- and flood-control dollars....\""}, {"response": 6, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (09:05)", "body": "Great blog from the scene: http://dancingwithkatrina.blogspot.com/"}, {"response": 7, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (09:06)", "body": "http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0901-01.htm Published on Thursday, September 1, 2005 by Knight-Ridder Federal Government Wasn't Ready for Katrina, Disaster Experts Say The slow response to Katrina and poor federal leadership is a replay of 1992's mishandling of Hurricane Andrew by Seth Borenstein WASHINGTON - The federal government so far has bungled the job of quickly helping the multitudes of hungry, thirsty and desperate victims of Hurricane Katrina, former top federal, state and local disaster chiefs said Wednesday. What you're seeing is revealing weaknesses in the state, local and federal levels. All three levels have been weakened. They've been weakened by diversion into terrorism. former Bush administration disaster response manager Eric Tolbert The experts, including a former Bush administration disaster response manager, told Knight Ridder that the government wasn't prepared, scrimped on storm spending and shifted its attention from dealing with natural disasters to fighting the global war on terrorism. The disaster preparedness agency at the center of the relief effort is the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which was enveloped by the new Department of Homeland Security with a new mission aimed at responding to the attacks of al-Qaida. \"What you're seeing is revealing weaknesses in the state, local and federal levels,\" said Eric Tolbert, who until February was FEMA's disaster response chief. \"All three levels have been weakened. They've been weakened by diversion into terrorism.\""}, {"response": 8, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (09:08)", "body": "http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0901-26.htm One of the main reasons New Orleans is so vulnerable to hurricanes is the gradual disappearance of the wetlands on the Gulf Coast that once stood as a natural buffer between the city and storms coming in from the water. The disappearance of those wetlands does not have the name of a political party or a particular administration attached to it. No one wants to play, \"The Democrats did it,\" or, \"It's all Reagan's fault.\" Many environmentalists will tell you more than a century's interference with the natural flow of the Mississippi is the root cause of the problem, cutting off the movement of alluvial soil to the river's delta. But in addition to long-range consequences of long-term policies like letting the Corps of Engineers try to build a better river than God, there are real short-term consequences, as well. It is a fact that the Clinton administration set some tough policies on wetlands, and it is a fact that the Bush administration repealed those policies--ordering federal agencies to stop protecting as many as 20 million acres of wetlands. - Molly Ivins"}, {"response": 9, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (09:09)", "body": "One lasting lesson that has to be drawn from the Gulf Coast's misery is that from now on, the National Guard must be treated as America's most essential homeland security force, not as some kind of military piggy bank for the Pentagon to raid for long-term overseas missions. America clearly needs a larger active-duty Army. It just as clearly needs a homeland-based National Guard that's fully prepared and ready for any domestic emergency. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/02/opinion/02fri1.html"}, {"response": 10, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (09:11)", "body": "Vice President Cheney, who has spent part of August at his home outside scenic Jackson, Wyo., remains there today -- although his spokeswoman, Lea Anne McBride, doesn't call it vacation. \"He's working from Wyoming today,\" McBride told me this morning. So what is his day like in Jackson? Any fly-fishing on the Snake River during his work day? \"He's already had his morning briefings,\" McBride said. \"He'll have some other internal staff meetings.\" Beyond that, McBride said, she would have to check and get back to me. I missed her call back but will try to reach her again. And when is he coming back? \"He will certainly be coming back. I'm not able to tell you the day right now. I don't have that handy.\" http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2005/08/31/BL2005083101127_5.html"}, {"response": 11, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (09:11)", "body": "Networks Won't Retreat From Graphic Coverage NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - While pledging to exercise taste, television news executives said they won't shy away from showing graphic pictures of the grim aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. On Thursday, several outlets -- including NBC, Fox News and CNN -- showed video of people who had died not during the storm but in the days following the hurricane. They included pictures of two people covered in sheets who had passed away outside the convention center in downtown New Orleans, where tens of thousands of people waited for food and water. One, in a wheelchair, held a note with next-of-kin information. At the same time, networks passed on showing the full picture of what had happened, particularly at the convention center. NBC News photojournalist Tony Zumbado captured video of the dead and dying that was so graphic that neither NBC News nor MSNBC would air it. ``I thought I'd seen it all, but I've never seen anything like this,'' Zumbado said on ``NBC Nightly News.'' Zumbado told MSNBC anchor Alison Stewart that there were dead bodies everywhere, including two babies who had died of dehydration. In a report earlier Thursday, Fox News anchor Shepard Smith stood on Interstate 10 amid the devastation and, in one shot, showed the covered body of a man who was dead alongside the highway. More: http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/arts/entertainment-katrina-graphic.html"}, {"response": 12, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (09:13)", "body": "FEMA chief: Victims bear some responsibility Brown pleased with effort: 'Things are going relatively well' Thursday, September 1, 2005; Posted: 11:41 p.m. EDT (03:41 GMT) CNN) -- The director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency said Thursday those New Orleans residents who chose not to heed warnings to evacuate before Hurricane Katrina bear some responsibility for their fates. Michael Brown also agreed with other public officials that the death toll in the city could reach into the thousands. \"Unfortunately, that's going to be attributable a lot to people who did not heed the advance warnings,\" Brown told CNN. \"I don't make judgments about why people chose not to leave but, you know, there was a mandatory evacuation of New Orleans,\" he said. http://www.cnn.com/2005/WEATHER/09/01/katrina.fema.brown/index.html Federal officials who chose not to heed warnings about flood walls breaking and vulnerability need to bear some responsibility also."}, {"response": 13, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (09:14)", "body": "http://weblog.burningbird.net/archives/2005/09/01/a-will-and-a-big-water/ This is a sweet, sweet essay. Recommended read."}, {"response": 14, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (09:15)", "body": "from the above cited essay. Here\ufffds a prediction: come March, 2006, with our help, the towns along the coast will rebuild. A home will replace rubble, and a church will open its doors again. With our care, the bodies will be buried, and those who have suffered loss will be comforted. With our force, we will overcome those who grab gun and seek to cause fear (and in the process find that the \ufffdgangs\ufffd become \ufffdgroups\ufffd and the groups are fewer than our lurid speculations imply). With our support, the casinos and businesses along the coast of Mississippi will be in full swing, and folks will be back at work. And with our hard work and sacrifice, the Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans will be the best. Ever. The city is destroyed. What foolish nonsense. You know, the people that wrote this, they really don\ufffdt know the South, and the people who live by big water. Shelley"}, {"response": 15, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (09:16)", "body": "http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/09/20050902-2.html \"Out of the rubbles of Trent Lott's house -- he's lost his entire house -- there's going to be a fantastic house. And I'm looking forward to sitting on the porch. (Laughter.)\" Give me a break."}, {"response": 16, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (09:17)", "body": "Mayor Nagin on Air America. This was (is) pivotal. http://a901.g.akamai.net/7/901/13186/v002/airamerica.download.akamai.com/13186/aarplace/media/Nagin.mp3"}, {"response": 17, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (09:18)", "body": "http://www.hurricanehousing.org/ 127,136 beds volunteered so far!"}, {"response": 18, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (09:20)", "body": ""}, {"response": 19, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (09:21)", "body": "\"Friday's evacuations began at about 9 a.m., halted for about an hour and then resumed two hours later. At midday, the evacuation was interrupted briefly when school buses rolled up so some 700 guests and employees from the Hyatt Hotel could move to the head of the line to be evacuatedb much to the amazement of those who had been crammed in the stinking Superdome since Sunday. \"How does this work? They (are) clean, they are dry, they get out ahead of us?\" exclaimed Howard Blue, 22, who tried to get in their line. The National Guard made him get back in with the unwashed masses as other guardsmen helped the well-dressed guests with their luggage.\" http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/09/02/national/a102443D45.DTL&feed=rss.news"}, {"response": 20, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (09:21)", "body": "The people who chartered a bus were from the Astor Crowne Plaza. When the buses were commandeered by FEMA those tourists were told to go the convention center. For reasons I don't understand they instead tred to cross a bridge, were turned away by the police -- and fired on -- and spent the night huddled under a freeway overpass. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/02/AR2005090200275_2.html The tourists who got moved to the front of the line at the superdome were from the Hyatt. There is no explanation why they were so special. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/09/02/national/a102443D45.DTL&feed=rss.news"}, {"response": 21, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (09:21)", "body": "Our institutions completely failed us and it is not as if it is the first in the past three years -- this follows Abu Ghraib, the failure of planning in Iraq, the intelligence failures, the corporate scandals, the media scandals. ... Look at him today earlier in the program, this is how Mark Shields must feel looking at [Bush], I'm angry at the guy and maybe it will pass for me. But a lot of people and a lot of Republicans are furious right now. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/political_wrap/july-dec05/bop_9-2.html"}, {"response": 22, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (09:22)", "body": "Kanye West Slams Bush In Live Telethon During NBC's live broadcast of Concert for Hurricane Relief rapper Kanye West, in what appeared to be an impromptu address, told viewers that National Guardsmen were given the unfair order to shoot at African-Americans on the streets of New Orleans. In a stumbling, yet defiant statement, West proclaimed that when African-Americans were caught stealing in New Orleans, they were called looters. However when whites were caught, they were just feeding their families. He was joined by former Saturday Night Live star Mike Myers, who returned to the script, and seemed frustrated by the the rapper's remarks. West then declared \"George Bush doesn't care about black people.\" Before the rapper could complete his statement, NBC producers cut away. More: http://www.kget.com/entertainment/story.aspx?content_id=0E71260D-B9E0-4A4A-8621-7A101016AA7A"}, {"response": 23, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (09:22)", "body": "\"If we can't respond faster than this to an event we saw coming across the Gulf for days, then why do we think we're prepared to respond to a nuclear or biological attack?\" asked former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a Republican. http://www.wwltv.com/sharedcontent/nationworld/katrina/stories/090205ccKatrinawcBushrelief.1a575c4e.html"}, {"response": 24, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (09:22)", "body": "Analysis: Can this actually be happening in America? http://www.wwltv.com/topstories/stories/wwl090205litke.1c58ed95.html"}, {"response": 25, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (09:23)", "body": "from the above cite: Here. Authorities can't make the waters that did that retreat. They can't begin to rebuild the levee or the homes and businesses made uninhabitable, at least not now. They will never be able to restore much of what was washed away in the flood. But if a reporter can interview a man standing outside a looted drugstore, and record his reluctance at having to go inside and steal pads for incontinence, why couldn't someone get medical supplies to the people huddled at the Superdome or the convention center in time, or the buses promised to evacuate them? There are more questions than answers, and will be for years to come. That's the nature of disaster, and its aftermath. They expose our fragility, overwhelm our best intentions, mock our attempts to impose the sense of calm and order that prevails when life proceeds according to some rough plan. Yet, ultimately, that's what is most unsettling about the constant stream of images: The suffering goes on not just for hours, but for days after we should have and could have ended it. And for all the commissions, reports and bravado that passes for preparedness, we didn't. It was a hand we never expected to be dealt."}, {"response": 26, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (09:25)", "body": "The National Guard is refused to let reporters and photographers into the Superdome. http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050903/ts_nm/mayhem_dc \"It doesn't need to be seen, it's a make-shift morgue in there,\" he told a Reuters photographer. \"We're not letting anyone in there anymore. If you want to take pictures of dead bodies, go to Iraq."}, {"response": 27, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (09:26)", "body": "http://www.redcross.org/faq/0,1096,0_682_4524,00.html#4524 Hurricane Katrina: Why is the Red Cross not in New Orleans? * Access to New Orleans is controlled by the National Guard and local authorities and while we are in constant contact with them, we simply cannot enter New Orleans against their orders. * The state Homeland Security Department had requested--and continues to request--that the American Red Cross not come back into New Orleans following the hurricane. Our presence would keep people from evacuating and encourage others to come into the city. * The Red Cross has been meeting the needs of thousands of New Orleans residents in some 90 shelters throughout the state of Louisiana and elsewhere since before landfall. All told, the Red Cross is today operating 149 shelters for almost 93,000 residents. * The Red Cross shares the nation's anguish over the worsening situation inside the city. We will continue to work under the direction of the military, state and local authorities and to focus all our efforts on our lifesaving mission of feeding and sheltering. * The Red Cross does not conduct search and rescue operations. We are an organization of civilian volunteers and cannot get relief aid into any location until the local authorities say it is safe and provide us with security and access. * The original plan was to evacuate all the residents of New Orleans to safe places outside the city. With the hurricane bearing down, the city government decided to open a shelter of last resort in the Superdome downtown. We applaud this decision and believe it saved a significant number of lives. * As the remaining people are evacuated from New Orleans, the most appropriate role for the Red Cross is to provide a safe place for people to stay and to see that their emergency needs are met. We are fully staffed and equipped to handle these individuals once they are evacuated."}, {"response": 28, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (09:26)", "body": "\"The Federal Emergency Management Agency has been accused of being so concerned about the possibility of a terrorist attack that it failed to prepare properly for a much more inevitable natural disaster. After the authorities in Baton Rouge had prepared a field hospital for victims of the storm, Fema sent its first batch of supplies, all of which were designed for use against chemical attack, including drugs such as Cipro, which is designed for use against anthrax. \"We called them up and asked them: 'Why did you send that, and they said that's what it says in the book',\" said a Baton Rouge official.\" -- http://www.guardian.co.uk/katrina/story/0,16441,1561909,00.html"}, {"response": 29, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (09:27)", "body": "WASHINGTON (AP) -- In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Americans must start \"asking tough questions\" about their safety, a House member from Louisiana said in the Democrats' weekly radio address. \"We are engaged in a massive effort under difficult circumstances to save lives and stabilize this crisis so that we may begin to restore our communities,\" Rep. Charlie Melancon said. \"This is job one.\" \"We must also be about the job of asking tough questions, my fellow Americans -- questions about the health of our infrastructure and emergency response capabilities,\" Melancon said. More: http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/09/03/dems.katrina.radio.ap/index.html"}, {"response": 30, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (09:28)", "body": "This is a *year old* National Geographic article: \"It was a broiling August afternoon in New Orleans, Louisiana, the Big Easy, the City That Care Forgot. Those who ventured outside moved as if they were swimming in tupelo honey. Those inside paid silent homage to the man who invented air-conditioning as they watched TV \"storm teams\" warn of a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico. Nothing surprising there: Hurricanes in August are as much a part of life in this town as hangovers on Ash Wednesday. But the next day the storm gathered steam and drew a bead on the city. As the whirling maelstrom approached the coast, more than a million people evacuated to higher ground. Some 200,000 remained, however--the car-less, the homeless, the aged and infirm, and those die-hard New Orleanians who look for any excuse to throw a party. The storm hit Breton Sound with the fury of a nuclear warhead, pushing a deadly storm surge into Lake Pontchartrain. The water crept to the top of the massive berm that holds back the lake and then spilled over. Nearly 80 percent of New Orleans lies below sea level--more than eight feet below in places--so the water poured in. A liquid brown wall washed over the brick ranch homes of Gentilly, over the clapboard houses of the Ninth Ward, over the white-columned porches of the Garden District, until it raced through the bars and strip joints on Bourbon Street like the pale rider of the Apocalypse. As it reached 25 feet (eight meters) over parts of the city, people climbed onto roofs to escape it. Thousands drowned in the murky brew that was soon contaminated by sewage and industrial waste. Thousands more who survived the flood later perished from dehydration and disease as they waited to be rescued. It took two months to pump the city dry, and by then the Big Easy was buried under a blanket of putrid sediment, a million people were homeless, and 50,000 were dead. It was the worst natural disaster in the history of the United States. When did this calamity happen? It hasn't -- yet.\" http://www3.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0410/feature5/"}, {"response": 31, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (09:29)", "body": "AS THE EXTENT of Hurricane Katrina\ufffds devastation became clearer on Tuesday \ufffd millions without power, tens of thousands homeless, a death toll unknowable because rescue crews can\ufffdt reach some regions \ufffd President Bush carried on with his plans to speak in San Diego, as if nothing important had happened the day before. Katrina already is measured as one of the worst storms in American history. And yet, President Bush decided that his plans to commemorate the 60th anniversary of VJ Day with a speech were more pressing than responding to the carnage. A better leader would have flown straight to the disaster zone and announced the immediate mobilization of every available resource to rescue the stranded, find and bury the dead, and keep the survivors fed, clothed, sheltered and free of disease. The cool, confident, intuitive leadership Bush exhibited in his first term, particularly in the months immediately following Sept. 11, 2001, has vanished. In its place is a diffident detachment unsuitable for the leader of a nation facing war, natural disaster and economic uncertainty. Wherever the old George W. Bush went, we sure wish we had him back. from http://www.theunionleader.com/articles_showa.html?article=59884"}, {"response": 32, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (09:30)", "body": "New Orleans: A Geopolitical Prize September 01, 2005 2230 GMT Editor's Note: This article contained a numerical error as originally published and distributed to readers. The error is corrected in the version below. By George Friedman The American political system was founded in Philadelphia, but the American nation was built on the vast farmlands that stretch from the Alleghenies to the Rockies. That farmland produced the wealth that funded American industrialization: It permitted the formation of a class of small landholders who, amazingly, could produce more than they could consume. They could sell their excess crops in the east and in Europe and save that money, which eventually became the founding capital of American industry. But it was not the extraordinary land nor the farmers and ranchers who alone set the process in motion. Rather, it was geography -- the extraordinary system of rivers that flowed through the Midwest and allowed them to ship their surplus to the rest of the world. All of the rivers flowed into one -- the Mississippi -- and the Mississippi flowed to the ports in and around one city: New Orleans. It was in New Orleans that the barges from upstream were unloaded and their cargos stored, sold and reloaded on ocean-going vessels. Until last Sunday, New Orleans was, in many ways, the pivot of the American economy. For that reason, the Battle of New Orleans in January 1815 was a key moment in American history. Even though the battle occurred after the War of 1812 was over, had the British taken New Orleans, we suspect they wouldn't have given it back. Without New Orleans, the entire Louisiana Purchase would have been valueless to the United States. Or, to state it more precisely, the British would control the region because, at the end of the day, the value of the Purchase was the land and the rivers - which all converged on the Mississippi and the ultimate port of New Orleans. The hero of the battle was Andrew Jackson, and when he became president, his obsession with Texas had much to do with keeping the Mexicans away from New Orleans. The fascinating rest of this Stratfor article is at http://www.stratfor.com/products/premium/weekly.php"}, {"response": 33, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (09:31)", "body": "Computer users are being urged to be on guard for a bogus e-mail that pretends to offer news updates about Hurricane Katrina as a means to infect their PCs. The malicious e-mail gives a brief news bulletin on the disaster before urging people to click \"read more\" and be taken to the full story on a website. Yet once on the website, a reader's computer will receive a virus. People are also being told to watch out for fraudulent e-mail scams pretending to raise cash for Katrina victims. more at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4209182.stm"}, {"response": 34, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (09:32)", "body": "Rapes, killings hit Katrina refugees in New Orleans By Mark Egan NEW ORLEANS, Sept 3 (Reuters) - People left homeless by Hurricane Katrina told horrific stories of rape, murder and trigger happy guards in two New Orleans centers that were set up as shelters but became places of violence and terror. ----- \"They killed a man here last night,\" Steve Banka, 28, told Reuters. \"A young lady was being raped and stabbed. And the sounds of her screaming got to this man and so he ran out into the street to get help from troops, to try to flag down a passing truck of them, and he jumped up on the truck's windscreen and they shot him dead.\" ----- People here said there were now 22 bodies of adults and children stored inside the building, but troops guarding the building refused to confirm that and threatened to beat reporters seeking access to the makeshift morgue. People trying to walk out are forced back at gunpoint - something troops said was for their own safety. \"It's sad, but how far do you think they would get,\" one soldier said. \"They have us living here like animals,\" said Wvonnette Grace-Jordan, here with five children, the youngest only six weeks old. \"We have only had two meals, we have no medicine and now there are thousands of people defecating in the streets. This is wrong. This is the United States of America.\" One National Guard soldier who asked not to be named for fear of punishment from his commanding officer said of the lack of medical attention at the center, \"They (the Bush administration) care more about Iraq and Afghanistan than here.\" The Louisiana National Guard soldier said, \"We are doing the best we can with the resources we have, but almost all of our guys are in Iraq.\" More: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N03464940.htm"}, {"response": 35, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (09:33)", "body": "Now nature has done what the Civil War couldn't do. Nature has done what the labor riots of the 1920's couldn't do. Nature had done what \"modern life\" with its relentless pursuit of efficiency couldn't do. It has done what racism couldn't do, and what segregation couldn't do either. Nature has laid the city waste - with a scope that brings to mind the end of Pompeii. Anne Rice, novelist at http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/04/opinion/04rice.html?pagewanted=2&ei=5090&en=ce2f33f8719dba9c&ex=1283486400&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss Read the rest of her story, it's gripping and insightful."}, {"response": 36, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (09:34)", "body": "http://www.armytimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-1077495.php Jessie Jackson riles against calling the \"evacuees\" refugees. But in this article, they're called \"insurgents.\" Good Lord."}, {"response": 37, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (09:37)", "body": "It seems the response to the hurricane on the national scale was beyond incompetent, beyond indifferent, and somewhere approaching the line of ... what, exactly? CrapMcFungled? Jackasstrophic? Neroesque? The top political appointees and candidates, in interview after interview,have decided on their defense. In each specific instance, aid wasn't given because that particular fragment of aid wasn't asked for (or because four or five days after landfall they still didn't know about, oh say, 15,000 evacuees in a major evacuation center.) There are still, today, reports of small communities that haven't yet gotten more than a token amount of aid. The entire argument is beyond insulting. The reason these communities haven't \"requested\" more aid? Because they have no working communications. They have no phones. Police and fire capabilities were all but destroyed, in some areas. Medical capabilities, even worse off. And yet it dawned on nobody, within FEMA or \"Homeland Security\" or anywhere else in this vaunted post-9/11 world, that maybe the flattened counties that nobody could contact and nobody could get information from NEEDED HELP? from http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/9/3/194510/7049"}, {"response": 38, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (09:39)", "body": "\"No one knows how many were killed by Hurricane Katrina's floods and how many more succumbed waiting to be rescued. But the bodies are everywhere: hidden in attics, floating among the ruined city, crumpled on wheelchairs, abandoned on highways. And the dying goes on - at the convention center and an airport triage center, where bodies were kept in a refrigerated truck. Gov. Kathleen Blanco said Saturday that she expected the death toll to reach the thousands. And Craig Vanderwagen, rear admiral of the U.S. Public Health Service, said one morgue alone, at a St. Gabriel prison, expected 1,000 to 2,000 bodies.\" from http://apnews.myway.com/article/20050904/D8CD42BO0.html"}, {"response": 39, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (09:40)", "body": "http://billmon.org/archives/002124.html WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Two key U.S. senators said on Friday they will launch a bipartisan coverup of what they described as an \"immense, but probably unavoidable failure\" of the government response to Hurricane Katrina. Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican who heads the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, and Sen. Joseph Lieberman, the panel's other top-ranking Republican, said they hope to shift as much blame as possible to lower-ranking officials and career federal employees -- ideally at an obscure government agency that few Americans have ever heard of. \"In keeping with recent congressional practice, we will try to shield the president and the senior members of his administration from directly responsibility for this fiasco, although a few token resignations may be required this time around,\" the pair said in a joint statement. \"Our primary focus, however, will be on figuring out how to throw billions of dollars in additional funding to the very same agencies that failed so spectacularly this past week.\" Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist expressed his own support for a cover up, saying it would follow in the \"proud footsteps\" of Congress's refusal to hold anyone accountable for the failure to stop the 9/11 attacks, the completely inadequate investigation into the Abu Ghraib torture abuses, and the Senate Intelligence Committtee's whitewash of administration efforts to cook the intelligence on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Speaker of the House Denny Hastert declined to comment on the hurricane or the proposed Senate investigation, other than to make a loud \"BRRRRRRRR\" sound while pushing a toy bulldozer across a map of New Orleans."}, {"response": 40, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (09:40)", "body": "\"When [FEMA Director] Brown explained how surprised he was that not everyone left the city before the storm, and that FEMA was currently trying to help those who didn't, Koppel shot back, \"Mr. Brown, some of these people are dead. They're beyond your help. Some of these people have died because they needed insulin and couldn't get it ... You say you were surprised by the fact that so many people didn't make it out. It's no surprise to anyone that you had at least 100,000 people in the city of New Orleans who are dirt poor [and couldn't afford to evacuate the city].\" http://www.cjrdaily.org/archives/001787.asp"}, {"response": 41, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (09:41)", "body": "\"[...] Yet little of the most valuable coverage, local radio broadcasting, is available inside New Orleans. Without TV, Internet access, newspapers, and telephones, people are depending on radios\ufffdbattery-powered, in automobiles, or hand-crank\ufffdfor emergency information. But as of Thursday evening, only one station, Entercom's WWL-AM 870, had its own reporters on the air. Clear Channel Communications, which owns roughly 1,200 stations nationwide (about six times more than any other company) owns six stations in New Orleans. The company has been criticized for failing to provide emergency information or expansive coverage during other local disasters in recent years. During the first days of the disaster, none of the Clear Channel stations provided their own reporting on the crisis. One, KHEV, retransmitted audio from WWL-TV. On Friday, the Web sites for Clear Channel's New Orleans stations announced that they had joined other broadcasters in setting up \"United Radio for New Orleans\" and removed the promos for syndicated programs and paid advertisements that had been visible on the site over the previous days.\" http://www.slate.com/id/2125572/"}, {"response": 42, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (09:42)", "body": "http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/nation/3338813 NBC deletes rapper's remark from telethon Kanye West said Bush 'doesn't care about black people' Kanye West's impromptu attack on President Bush during a live telecast Friday night prompted NBC to delete his remark in its West Coast broadcast of the benefit for victims of Hurricane Katrina."}, {"response": 43, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (09:42)", "body": "http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-1764115,00.html \"There seems to me a strong chance that this calamity could be the beginning of something profound in American politics: a sense that government is broken and that someone needs to fix it.\" \"The president... had already opined that nobody had foreseen the breaching of New Orleans\ufffd levees. Earth to Bush: the breaching of the levees had been foreseen for decades. If anyone wanted evidence that this president was completely divorced from reality, that statement was Exhibit A.\""}, {"response": 44, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (09:43)", "body": "Chertoff: Katrina scenario did not exist However, experts for years had warned of threat to New Orleans Defending the U.S. government's response to Hurricane Katrina, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff argued Saturday that government planners did not predict such a disaster ever could occur. But in fact, government officials, scientists and journalists have warned of such a scenario for years. Chertoff, fielding questions from reporters, said government officials did not expect both a powerful hurricane and a breach of levees that would flood the city of New Orleans. (See the video on a local paper's prophetic warning -- 3:30 ) \"That 'perfect storm' of a combination of catastrophes exceeded the foresight of the planners, and maybe anybody's foresight,\" Chertoff said. He called the disaster \"breathtaking in its surprise.\" But engineers say the levees preventing this below-sea-level city from being turned into a swamp were built to withstand only Category 3 hurricanes. And officials have warned for years that a Category 4 could cause the levees to fail. More: http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/03/katrina.chertoff/index.html"}, {"response": 45, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (09:44)", "body": "\"Eventually we're going to have to examine the administration's behavior before, during and after this storm as closely as its history before, during and after 9/11. We're going to have to ask if troops and mat\ufffdriel of all kinds could have arrived faster without the drain of national resources into a quagmire. We're going to have to ask why it took almost two days of people being without food, shelter and water for Mr. Bush to get back to Washington.\" from http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/04/opinion/04rich.html?th&emc=th"}, {"response": 46, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (09:47)", "body": "http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/pdf/face_90405.pdf (Show Transcript) BOB SCHIEFFER: Finally, a personal thought. We have come through what may have been one of the worst weeks in America's history, a week in which government at every level failed the people it was created to serve. There is no purpose for government except to improve the lives of its citizens. Yet as scenes of horror that seemed to be coming from some Third World country flashed before us, official Washington was like a dog watching television. It saw the lights and images, but did not seem to comprehend their meaning or see any link to reality. As the floodwaters rose, local officials in New Orleans ordered the city evacuated. They might as well have told their citizens to fly to the moon. How do you evacuate when you don't have a car? No hint of intelligent design in any of this. This was just survival of the richest. By midweek a parade of Washington officials rushed before the cameras to urge patience. What good is patience to a mother who can't find food and water for a dehydrated child? Washington was coming out of an August vacation stupor and seemed unable to refocus on business or even think straight. Why else would Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert questionaloud whether New Orleans should even be rebuilt? And when he was unable to get to Washington in time to vote on emergency aid funds, Hastert had an excuse only Washington could understand: He had to attend a fund-raiser back home. Since 9/11, Washington has spent years and untold billions reorganizingthe government to deal with crises brought on by possible terrorist attacks. If this is the result, we had better start over."}, {"response": 47, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (09:48)", "body": "http://www.nola.com/newslogs/tporleans/ OUR OPINIONS: An open letter to the President Dear Mr. President: We heard you loud and clear Friday when you visited our devastated city and the Gulf Coast and said, \"What is not working, we\ufffdre going to make it right.\" Please forgive us if we wait to see proof of your promise before believing you. But we have good reason for our skepticism. Bienville built New Orleans where he built it for one main reason: It\ufffds accessible. The city between the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain was easy to reach in 1718. How much easier it is to access in 2005 now that there are interstates and bridges, airports and helipads, cruise ships, barges, buses and diesel-powered trucks. Despite the city\ufffds multiple points of entry, our nation\ufffds bureaucrats spent days after last week\ufffds hurricane wringing their hands, lamenting the fact that they could neither rescue the city\ufffds stranded victims nor bring them food, water and medical supplies... State Rep. Karen Carter was right Friday when she said the city didn\ufffdt have but two urgent needs: \"Buses! And gas!\" Every official at the Federal Emergency Management Agency should be fired, Director Michael Brown especially. In a nationally televised interview Thursday night, he said his agency hadn\ufffdt known until that day that thousands of storm victims were stranded at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. He gave another nationally televised interview the next morning and said, \"We\ufffdve provided food to the people at the Convention Center so that they\ufffdve gotten at least one, if not two meals, every single day.\" Lies don\ufffdt get more bald-faced than that, Mr. President. Yet, when you met with Mr. Brown Friday morning, you told him, \"You\ufffdre doing a heck of a job.\" That\ufffds unbelievable. There were thousands of people at the Convention Center because the riverfront is high ground. The fact that so many people had reached there on foot is proof that rescue vehicles could have gotten there, too. We, who are from New Orleans, are no less American than those who live on the Great Plains or along the Atlantic Seaboard. We\ufffdre no less important than those from the Pacific Northwest or Appalachia. Our people deserved to be rescued. No expense should have been spared. No excuses should have been voiced. Especially not one as preposterous as the claim that New Orleans couldn\ufffdt be reached. Mr. President, we sincerely hope you fulfill your promise to make our beloved communities work right once again. When you do, we will be the first to applaud."}, {"response": 48, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (09:48)", "body": "http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05247/564856.stm The president from Mars Sunday, September 04, 2005 By Dennis Roddy As New Orleans took on the atmospherics of a John Carpenter movie, George W. Bush, a man reluctant to distinguish between desperation and lawlessness, much less make the connection between the two, proved at last he is his father's son. Thirteen years earlier George Bush the Elder saw a black population mired in poverty and alienation riot after a California jury blithely acquitted the posse of Los Angeles cops who beat Rodney King half to death. His response was to deliver an indignant speech about law and order, proving only that he was blind to the nuances of plain justice. Last week, with the poor stranded on rooftops, then huddled, hungry and abandoned inside a leaking stadium and a sweltering convention center, George the Lesser watched in seeming amazement when they ran riot... Bush has shown, first in a distant land, where the corpses are foreign, and from which dead Americans can be smuggled home with photographers banned, and now, inside his own borders, that he has no grasp of how policy and outcome are interconnected."}, {"response": 49, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (09:50)", "body": "http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101329,00.htm It isn't easy picking George Bush's worst moment last week. Was it his first go at addressing the crisis Wednesday, when he came across as cool to the point of uncaring? Was it when he said that he didn't \"think anybody expected\" the New Orleans levees to give way, though that very possibility had been forecast for years? Was it when he arrived in Mobile, Ala., a full four days after the storm made landfall, and praised his hapless Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) director, Michael D. Brown, whose disaster credentials seemed to consist of once being the commissioner of the International Arabian Horse Association? \"Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job,\" said the President. Or was it that odd moment when he promised to rebuild Mississippi Senator Trent Lott's house--a gesture that must have sounded astonishingly tone-deaf to the homeless black citizens still trapped in the postapocalyptic water world of New Orleans. \"Out of the rubbles of Trent Lott's house--he's lost his entire house,\" cracked Bush, \"there's going to be a fantastic house. And I'm looking forward to sitting on the porch.\" Bush seemed so regularly out of it last week, it made you wonder if he was stuck in the same White House bubble of isolation that confined his dad. Too often, W. looked annoyed. Or he smiled when he should have been serious. Or he swaggered when simple action would have been the right move. And he was so slow. Everyone knew on Sunday morning that Katrina was a killer. Yet when the levees broke after the storm, the White House slouched toward action. And this from a leader who made his bones with 9/11. In a crisis he can act paradoxically, appearing--almost simultaneously--strong and weak, decisive and vacillating, Churchill and Chamberlain. This week he was more Chamberlain."}, {"response": 50, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (09:50)", "body": "Sen. Landrieu Threatens to 'Punch' President if He Keeps Hitting Local Response to Katrina By E&P Staff NEW YORK -- Senator Mary Landrieu, the Democrat of Louisiana (whose father was a mayor of New Orleans), appears to have finally found her voice after offering only cautious criticism of the federal relief effort in the hurriance catastrophe earlier in the week. Today she promised to literally \"punch\" anyone, \"including the president,\" who contnued to question the local response to the tragedy, considering the gross federal misconduct. Appearing on ABC's \"The Week\" TV program this morning, Senator Landrieu still appeared to be smarting from President Bush's comments, during his national radio address, that state and local bore a fair share of blame for the slow response. On a copter tour of the area, Landrieu said that if she heard any more criticism from federal officials, particularly about the evacuation of New Orleans, she might lose control. \"If one person criticizes them or says one more thing - including the president of the United States - he will hear from me,\" she said on the ABC program. \"One more word about it after this show airs and I might likely have to punch him. Literally.\" She burst into tears as she looked at a broken levee. \"The President could have funded it,\" she said. \"He cut it out of the budget. Is that the most pitiful sight you have ever seen in your life? One little crane.\" She also referred angrily to comments Bush had made Friday at the New Orleans airport about the fun he had in her city in his younger days. \"Our infrastructure is devastated, lives have been shattered,\" Landrieu said. \"Would the president please stop taking photo-ops?\" Source: http://www.mediainfo.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001054594"}, {"response": 51, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (09:51)", "body": "http://www.rasmussenreports.com/2005/Katrina.htm Fed Response to Katrina Gets Thumbs Down September 4, 2005--Just 28% of Americans give say that the federal government has done a good or an excellent job responding to Hurricane Katrina. Another 25% say the government has done a fair job while 45% say poor. Interest in the story is extraordinarily high. Eighty-eight percent (88%) of Americans say they are closely following news stories about the tragedy, including 59% who are following it \"very closely.\" Forty-seven percent (47%) have made a financial contribution to help the victims of the disaster. Seventy-eight percent (78%) have said a prayer for them. Eighty-five percent (85%) say that the \"disaster in New Orleans and surrounding areas [will] have a major impact on the U.S. economy. Consumer confidence has fallen to its lowest level in more than two years."}, {"response": 52, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (09:51)", "body": ""}, {"response": 53, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (09:52)", "body": "Frank Rich: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/04/opinion/04rich.html?pagewanted=print This administration would like us to forget a lot, starting with the simple fact that next Sunday is the fourth anniversary of the day we were attacked by Al Qaeda, not Iraq. Even before Katrina took command of the news, Sept. 11, 2005, was destined to be a half-forgotten occasion, distorted and sullied by a grotesquely inappropriate Pentagon-sponsored country music jamboree on the Mall. But hard as it is to reflect upon so much sorrow at once, we cannot allow ourselves to forget the real history surrounding 9/11; it is the Rosetta stone for what is happening now. If we are to pull ourselves out of the disasters of Katrina and Iraq alike, we must live in the real world, not the fantasyland of the administration's faith-based propaganda. Everything connects. Though history is supposed to occur first as tragedy, then as farce, even at this early stage we can see that tragedy is being repeated once more as tragedy. From the president's administratio"}, {"response": 54, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (09:53)", "body": "http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/05/opinion/05herbert.html?pagewanted=print September 5, 2005 A Failure of Leadership By BOB HERBERT \"Bush to New Orleans: Drop Dead\" Neither the death of the chief justice nor the frantic efforts of panicked White House political advisers can conceal the magnitude of the president's failure of leadership last week. The catastrophe in New Orleans billowed up like the howling winds of hell and was carried live and in color on television screens across the U.S. and around the world. The Big Easy had turned into the Big Hurt, and the colossal failure of George W. Bush to intervene powerfully and immediately to rescue tens of thousands of American citizens who were suffering horribly and dying in agony was there for all the world to see. Hospitals with deathly ill patients were left without power, with ventilators that didn't work, with floodwaters rising on the lower floors and with corpses rotting in the corridors and stairwells. People unable to breathe on their own, or with cancer or heart disease or kidney failure, slipped into comas and sank into their final sleep in front of helpless doctors and relatives. These were Americans in desperate trouble. The president didn't seem to notice."}, {"response": 55, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (09:53)", "body": "Good God, Terry, I thought I was going overboard with 2 posts with multiple links this morning. Try spreading it out a bit. It's a bit overwhelming to find other topics. But some interesting links and stories, thanks."}, {"response": 56, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (09:53)", "body": "\"When President Bush told \"Good Morning America\" on Thursday morning that nobody could have \"anticipated\" the breach of the New Orleans levees, it pointed to not only a remote leader in denial, but a whole political class. \"The uneasy paradox which so many live with in this country - of being first-and-foremost rugged individuals, out to plunder what they can and paying as little tax as they can get away with, while at the same time believing that America is a robust, model society - has reached a crisis point this week.\" From a BBC Viewpoint piece. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4210674.stm"}, {"response": 57, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (09:54)", "body": "\"For those away from New Orleans - most all of us - in this week of tears and wrenching, words fail. Somehow our heart's reach comes short and we've been left with an aching, pointless inwardness. 'All memory resolves itself in gaze,' poet Richard Hugo wrote once about another town that died. Empathy is what we long for - not sadness for a house we own, or owned once, now swept away. Not even for the felt miracle of two wide-eyed children whirled upward into a helicopter as if into clouds. We want more than that, even at this painful long distance: we want to project our feeling parts straight into the life of a woman standing waist-deep in a glistening toxic current with a whole city's possessions all floating about, her own belongings in a white plastic bag, and who has no particular reason for hope, and so is just staring up. We would all give her hope. Comfort. A part of ourselves. Perform an act of renewal. It's hard to make sense of this, we say. But it makes sense. Making sense just doesn't help.\" -- Richard Ford http://books.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,5277188-99819,00.html"}, {"response": 58, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (09:55)", "body": "http://wiredblogs.tripod.com/sterling/index.blog?entry_id=1211972 Wired's Bruce Sterling plucks out some of the commentary from the world press."}, {"response": 59, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (09:56)", "body": "Some of the links above are truly amazing. It may be worth your while to click on them and learn more than the excerpts."}, {"response": 60, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (09:57)", "body": "Category: ray nagin SEP 05 2005 Daily Briefing -- Katrina: A 'Besieged White House' \ufffd Rove and Bartlett devised plan to shift blame to Louisiana and to ignore Democrats' attacks; many Bush advisors spent weekend at Nicole Devenish's wedding in Greece. Chertoff's talking point: \"We will have time to go back and do an after-action report, but the time right now is to look at what the enormous tasks ahead are.\" [NYT] \ufffd Officials point fingers over failures in Gulf Coast. Nagin: \"We're still fighting over authority.\" Hillary calls for independent commission to analyze response. [NYT, WT] \ufffd \"Besieged White House\" forced to balance problems on the Gulf Coast, complexity of Supreme Court drama, and ongoing challenges in Iraq. [WP, WT] \ufffd High death toll anticipated. Michael Leavitt: \"I think it's evident it's in the thousands.\" Chertoff: \"We need to prepare the country for what's coming.\" [WP, NYT, LAT] \ufffd Bush to revisit Louisiana today. Doris Kearns Goodwin: \"These are the kinds of moments when a president gives voice to the country. They're remembered forever, if it's done right.\" [NYT] \ufffd Years of budget cuts and bureaucratic shuffling have left FEMA unprepared. Former official: \"They've taken emergency management away from the emergency managers. These operations are being run by people who are amateurs at what they are doing.\" [LAT] \ufffd Howard Kurtz: \"For once, reporters were acting like concerned citizens, not passive observers. . . Maybe, just maybe, journalism needs to bring more passion to the table -- and not just when cable shows are obsessing on the latest missing white woman.\" [WP] READ MORE: Media , cable news , dan bartlett , doris kearns goodwin , fema , george w. bush , hillary clinton , howard kurtz , karl rove , katrina , louisiana , michael chertoff , michael leavitt , nicole devenish , ray nagin SEP 02 2005 Nagin's Nightmare: Full Transcript CNN just sent out the full transcript of the New Orleans Mayor's emotional and (understandably) expletive-laden interview on local radio yesterday: \"excuse my French everybody in America, but I am pissed.\" It's after the jump. RELATED: Ray Nagin for President, Anderson Cooper for Secretary of Take No Shit [Wonkette] CNN airs WWL Radio interview with New Orleans Mayor Ray ; This is a rush transcript and may not be in its final format. RAY NAGIN, MAYOR OF NEW ORLEANS: I told him we had an incredible crisis here and that his flying over in Air Force One does not do it justice. And that I have been all around this city, and I am very frustrated because we are not able to marshal resources and we're out-manned in just about every respect. You know the reason why the looters got out of control? Because we had most of our resources saving people, thousands of people that were stuck in attics, man, old ladies. When you pull off the doggone ventilator vent and you look down there and they're standing in there in water up to their freaking necks. And they don't have a clue what's going on down here. They flew down here one time two days after the doggone event was over with TV cameras, AP reporters, all kind of goddamn -- excuse my French everybody in America, but I am pissed. GARLAND ROBINETTE, WWL CORRESPONDENT: Did you say to the president of the United States, \"I need the military in here\"? NAGIN: I said, \"I need everything.\" Now, I will tell you this -- and I give the president some credit on this -- he sent one John Wayne dude down here that can get some stuff done, and his name is General Honore. And he came off the doggone chopper and he started cussing and people started moving. And he's getting some stuff done. They ought to give that guy -- if they don't want to give it to me, give him full authority to get the job done, and we can save some people. ROBINETTE: What do you need right now to get control of this situation? NAGIN: I need reinforcements, I need troops, man. I need 500 buses, man. We ain't talking about -- you know, one of the briefings we had, they were talking about getting public school bus drivers to come down here and bus people out here. I'm like, \"You got to be kidding me. This is a national disaster. Get every doggone Greyhound busline in the country and get their asses moving to New Orleans.\" That's -- they're thinking small, man. And this is a major, major, major deal. And I can't emphasize it enough, man. This is crazy. I've got 15,000 to 20,000 people over at the convention center. It's bursting at the seams. The poor people in Plaquemines Parish. They're air-vacing people over here in New Orleans. We don't have anything and we're sharing with our brothers in Plaquemines Parish. It's awful down here, man. ROBINETTE: Do you believe that the president is seeing this, holding a news conference on it but can't do anything until Kathleen Blanco requested him to do it? And do you know whether or not she has made that request? NAGIN: I have no idea what they're doing. But I will tell you this: You know, God is looking down on all this and if t"}, {"response": 61, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (09:57)", "body": "The above is from the very excellent blog, wonkette.com"}, {"response": 62, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (10:01)", "body": "This from the news conference: Topic 101 of 101: 'Hurricane Katrina and the destruction of New Orleans' Resp 59 of 59: Dorine (gomezdo) Mon, Sep 5, 2005 (08:49) 43 lines Forgot to give the link where some of those excerpts came...a Katrina timeline... http://www.dkosopedia.com/index.php/Hurricane_Katrina_Chronology What some of the locals think... http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/9/4/152433/0622 Bob Schieffer of CBS News on Face the Nation gives a great editorial, too. Look at the 4th comment down. This links to the whole Newsweek story they excerpt here. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/9/5/02528/13587 (Just click on the link in orange that says \"And people were dying\") This links to the NYT... http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/9/4/233958/0435 Oh and found more of FEMA turning away aid either actively or passively. http://www.timescommunity.com/site/tab1.cfm?newsid=15144436&BRD=2553&PAG=461&dept_id=506035&rfi=6 Here's an interesting back and forth about who dropped the ball and when, mostly focusing on the local level. Some interesting links. Check the end where it talks about why Nagin took so long to declare a mandatory evacuation. Much of what I'm seeing everywhere about who did and didn't do something is a case of CYA and worrying about potential lawsuits from various parties. http://instapundit.com/archives/025328.php Talking about FEMA organization since 9/11. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/9/4/4271/53522 Now in all fairness, I think they did fairly ok with other disasters in the past few years. So what happened here? And the point to doing this would be? http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/9/3/225254/3764 Not surprising, but *shaking head*. http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2005_09/007042.php Another photo op? http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/9/3/223021/8888 Tried to link directly to Americablog, but must be too busy. I'm trying to find a happy story, but having a hard time. I guess the kid with the bus is it. :-("}, {"response": 63, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (10:02)", "body": "http://spring.net/yapp-bin/public/read/news/101/since/-365 is where you'll find more discussion of this topic on the Spring. It's Topic 101 of 101: Hurricane Katrina and the destruction of New Orleans"}, {"response": 64, "author": "paul", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (10:04)", "body": "OK Dorine, I'll take a break. And I haven't even had my first cup of coffee yet this morning."}, {"response": 65, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (11:01)", "body": "Some Brits got caught in the Superdome: \"The army told us to stick in a group and for the women to sit in the middle with the men around the outside and to be ready to defend ourselves,\ufffd Mr Nelson, from Epsom, Surrey, said. \ufffdTheir urgency scared us. I sat on the outside, really scared by this point, sitting waiting for God knows what. We waited and waited, I didn\ufffdt sleep. A lot of the girls had been groped.\ufffd Miss Wheeldon, from Carmarthen, South Wales, said that being inside the Superdome was terrifying and that she had been sexually harassed. The atmosphere was extremely intimidating,\ufffd the Lancaster University student said. \ufffdPeople stared at us all the time and men would come up to me and stroke my stomach and bottom. They would also say horrible, suggestive things. The worst time came when there was a rumour that a white man had raped a black woman. We were scared that we would be raped, robbed, or both. People were arguing, fighting and being arrested all the time.\ufffd The \ufffdinternationals, as the army labelled the stranded tourists, were among the few white people in the stadium. Marked out by their skin colour and unfamiliar accents, they were verbally abused, while their luggage made them targets for robbery. from http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,11069-1765482,00.html"}, {"response": 66, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (11:29)", "body": "In the NYT piece which Dorine liked so much: it has also positioned Katrina before a rapt late-summer audience as a replay of the sinking of the Titanic. New Orleans's first-class passengers made it safely into lifeboats; for those in steerage, it was a horrifying spectacle of every man, woman and child for himself. THE captain in this case, Michael Chertoff, the homeland security secretary, was so oblivious to those on the lower decks that on Thursday he applauded the federal response to the still rampaging nightmare as \"really exceptional.\" He told NPR that he had \"not heard a report of thousands of people in the convention center who don't have food and water\" - even though every television viewer in the country had been hearing of those 25,000 stranded refugees for at least a day. This Titanic syndrome, too, precisely echoes the post-9/11 wartime history of an administration that has rewarded the haves at home with economic goodies while leaving the have-nots to fight in Iraq without proper support in manpower or armor. Surely it's only a matter of time before Mr. Chertoff and the equally at sea FEMA director, Michael Brown (who also was among the last to hear about the convention center), are each awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom in line with past architects of lethal administration calamity like George Ten t and Paul Bremer. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/04/opinion/04rich.html?pagewanted=print"}, {"response": 67, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (12:46)", "body": "The Potemkin President http://billmon.org/archives/002126.html That Bush's trip to the hurricane zone would turn into a portable soundstage, complete with props and carefully screened human extras, shouldn't surprise anyone. It's just the way the modern imperial presidency operates in the television age. Nevertheless, the phrase \"Potemkin Village\" inevitably comes to mind -- and not just as a metaphor for this particular tour. Even for a modern imperial president, the bubble that Bush now lives in is impressively impermeable to reality. A portable bunker, in other words. But thinking about the political impact of Hurricane Katrina, it occurred to me that the real Potemkin Village here is Bush himself -- or rather, the mythic image of Bush that was created in the wake of 9/11. New Orleans may, at great cost, be resurrected from the waters. Bush's presidential image, on the other hand, is probably gone for good. For him, at least, this really is the \"anti-9/11.\""}, {"response": 68, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  5, 2005 (12:48)", "body": "Why FEMA Was Missing in Action By Peter G. Gosselin and Alan C. Miller, Times Staff Writers WASHINGTON \ufffd While the federal government has spent much of the last quarter-century trimming the safety nets it provides Americans, it has dramatically expanded its promise of protection in one area \ufffd disaster. Since the 1970s, Washington has emerged as the insurer of last resort against floods, fires, earthquakes and \ufffd after 2001 \ufffd terrorist attacks. But the government's stumbling response to the storm that devastated the nation's Gulf Coast reveals that the federal agency singularly most responsible for making good on Washington's expanded promise has been hobbled by cutbacks and a bureaucratic downgrading. The Federal Emergency Management Agency once speedily delivered food, water, shelter and medical care to disaster areas, and paid to quickly rebuild damaged roads and schools and get businesses and people back on their feet. Like a commercial insurance firm setting safety standards to prevent future problems, it also underwrote efforts to get cities and states to reduce risks ahead of time and plan for what they would do if calamity struck. But in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks, FEMA lost its Cabinet-level status as it was folded into the giant new Department of Homeland Security. And in recent years it has suffered budget cuts, the elimination or reduction of key programs and an exodus of experienced staffers. The agency's core budget, which includes disaster preparedness and mitigation, has been cut each year since it was absorbed by the Homeland Security Department in 2003. Depending on what the final numbers end up being for next fiscal year, the cuts will have been between about 2% and 18%. The agency's staff has been reduced by 500 positions to 4,735. Among the results, FEMA has had to cut one of its three emergency management teams, which are charged with overseeing relief efforts in a disaster. Where it once had \"red,\" \"white\" and \"blue\" teams, it now has only red and white. Three out of every four dollars the agency provides in local preparedness and first-responder grants go to terrorism-related activities, even though a recent Government Accountability Office report quotes local officials as saying what they really need is money to prepare for natural disasters and accidents. \"They've taken emergency management away from the emergency managers,\" complained Morrie Goodman, who was FEMA's chief spokesman during the Clinton administration. \"These operations are being run by people who are amateurs at what they are doing.\" More: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-fema5sep05,0,685581.story"}, {"response": 69, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep  6, 2005 (10:50)", "body": "FEMA stories - do you sense a pattern? FEMA blocks 500-boat citizen flotilla from delivering aid FEMA fails to utilize Navy ship with 600-bed hospital on board FEMA to Chicago: Send just one truck FEMA turns away generators (See entry from 3:32 P.M. by Ben Morris, Slidell mayor) FEMA: \"First Responders Urged Not To Respond\" FEMA won't accept Amtrak's help in evacuations FEMA turns away experienced firefighters FEMA turns back Wal-Mart supply trucks FEMA prevents Coast Guard from delivering diesel fuel FEMA won't let Red Cross deliver food FEMA bars morticians from entering New Orleans"}, {"response": 70, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep  6, 2005 (11:26)", "body": "\"And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this (she chuckled slightly)--this is working very well for them.\" -- Barbara Bush, after touring the Astrodome and visiting with Katrina refugees there."}, {"response": 71, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Sep  6, 2005 (11:57)", "body": "Now Terry....let's not take this quote out of context. BUSH MOM: EVERYONE WANTS TO MOVE TO TEXAS Mon Sep 05 2005 19:52:02 ET Former first lady and mother to President Bush said Monday that evacuees from New Orleans have found a home in Houston. \"Almost everyone I?ve talked to says we're going to move to Houston,\" Barbara Bush told NPR. \"What I?m hearing is they all want to stay in Texas. Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. \"And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this --this is working very well for them.\" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~` These are underpriviled people who wanted to move to Texas where there are more opportunities and who would not have had the means on their own on their to relocate. It's NOT that they were lucky that this catastrophe occured . Mrs. Bush is not mean-spirited. Many of the evacuees on TV have indicated they don't want to return to Louisanna and want to stay in Texas where there are more jobs."}, {"response": 72, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep  6, 2005 (13:32)", "body": "Sean Penn gets into rescue act BY NICOLE BODE NEW ORLEANS - Sean Penn took matters into his own hands yesterday, launching a boat in a personal effort to rescue New Orleans families stranded by Hurricane Katrina. The Oscar-winning actor and political activist managed to reach several people who had been trapped in their homes since the hurricane hit Monday. Penn, who was accompanied by his personal photographer and a crew of helpers, brought the victims to dry land - and gave them cash as well. Johnnie Brown, 73, a retired custodian, called his sister on a cell phone after being plucked from his flooded house. \"Guess who come and got me out of the house? Sean Penn the actor. Them boys were really nice,\" he said. Penn later accompanied a few of them to a hospital. Asked what he was doing in the disaster zone, Penn said, \"Whatever I can do to help.\" More: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/gossip/story/343547p-293308c.html"}, {"response": 73, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Sep  9, 2005 (13:24)", "body": "More media attention than you can imagine. WASHINGTON, January 14, 2002 \ufffd The average net worth of the individual members of the Bush cabinet, including the President and Vice President, was between $9.3 and $27.3 million. That's nearly ten times the average net worth of the cabinet officials who were their immediate predecessors, according to a Center for Public Integrity analysis of executive branch personal financial disclosure forms...Cumulatively, the President, Vice President and cabinet secretaries were worth somewhere between $149 and $434 million. By contrast, the net worth of the same 16 officials from the last year of the Clinton administration was in a range between $14.5 to $45.9 million.\""}, {"response": 74, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Nov  7, 2005 (12:29)", "body": "Hurricane Katrina's toll on New Orleans\ufffdand on America's tattered self-image By DAVID HALBERSTAM READ TOM SANCTON'S ESSAY \"THE RETURN OF THE NATIVE\" The scenes were at once familiar and unfamiliar. Familiar because television has become expert at bringing us news of disasters\ufffdhurricanes being a particular specialty of the medium\ufffdand it does them better than it does any other kind of story. It is all about pictures, something television producers understand brilliantly, and the pictures in this instance were exceptionally powerful and compelling. The producers and television news reporters, in fact, may have become a bit too smooth, and the danger is they risk turning the real and authentic into something that appears programmed and artificial. First, there are the tragedy and the tears; then, in time, the redemption, the rejuvenation, and the gratitude. Even with Katrina the coverage sometimes seemed scripted, as if they had the story down even before the hurricane struck and needed only to find the right local characters from central casting to play their prescribed roles and the right faces in the crowd that were immediately recognizable in their emotions. Worth reading the rest at http://www.vanityfair.com/commentary/content/articles/051107roco02 It's Vanity Fair."}, {"response": 75, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Dec  3, 2005 (11:44)", "body": "The Storm -- An eye-opening look at the bungling and failures at every level of government in the Hurricane Katrina disaster. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/ news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 104, "subject": "Conspiracy Theory", "response_count": 7, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Apr  3, 2002 (08:50)", "body": "Don't worry, I'll dig something up. Here's a website that let's you make up your own theory by inputting in to their text boxes (a concept, a group, a minority, etc.) http://www.cjnetworks.com/~cubsfan/conspiracy.html Confused about how the world works? Why not make sense of it all with a grand conspiracy theory! However, there are just too many of these floating around. Here, courtesy of Turn Left you can come up with a Wacko Right Wing Conspiracy Theory of your very own. Simply enter your selections, click the button at the bottom of the page and print it out. You'll be the hero of your next militia meeting. Have fun, and remember...They are Watching You!"}, {"response": 2, "author": "cfadm", "date": "Mon, Jan 31, 2005 (04:13)", "body": "That site is still there."}, {"response": 3, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Oct  7, 2005 (16:58)", "body": "And still there today. I wonder if they know about Madoc. DB is having a lively conversation on a blog on AOL with those who wish to live in un-reality."}, {"response": 4, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Oct  7, 2005 (21:19)", "body": "y'know, speaking of DB, a while back i saw a show on those peoples DB has been researching. the documentary talked to a bunch of people who were descendents.....it was on late and i fell asleep without watching the whole thing. i want to say mulligans but i'm sure that's not right (you know how you want to say a word but it comes out wrong and for the life of you, you can't figure out where the correct word went?)"}, {"response": 5, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Oct  8, 2005 (18:42)", "body": "Melungeons? !!!"}, {"response": 6, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Oct  8, 2005 (22:09)", "body": "YES! but don't ask me what they said, i just remember somebody interviewing a few folks and thinking about DB and the book he's written!"}, {"response": 7, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Oct 15, 2005 (18:44)", "body": "Hey neat !!! We keeping bumping into them - either the individuals or functions or books newly written about them. He says he won't write another book on them but I'd not put a paper or two of some sort past him. news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 105, "subject": "New Jersey politics", "response_count": 99, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Jul  6, 2006 (19:20)", "body": "From the little bit I've been reading about the NJ governor, I'm starting to like him. ;-)"}, {"response": 2, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jul  6, 2006 (19:23)", "body": "I was just doing a bit of superficial background research on Corzine and came across info about Forrester flip-flopping on stem cell research. Talk about pandering... And Forrester would've been better than Corzine how? Seriously, I'm curious what's so negative about Corzine and positive about Forrester. Beside the obvious. ;-) And according to that NYT article you printed Linda.... Mr. Corzine, who has enjoyed wide support among union leaders in New Jersey and in Washington since his election to the Senate in 2000. Why would he need to pander or play to the unions? He already had their support before he ran for governor."}, {"response": 3, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jul  6, 2006 (19:24)", "body": "Corzine was against the bankruptcy bill, a position I wholly support. Horrible, horrible law."}, {"response": 4, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Jul  6, 2006 (20:00)", "body": "Born in central Illinois, Corzine grew up on a small family farm near Taylorville. After completing high school he attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for his undergraduate degree, where he was a member of the Phi Delta Theta Fraternity, and graduated in 1969. ~~~~~~~~ Wonder if he's related to Dave Corzine who played basketball."}, {"response": 5, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Jul  6, 2006 (20:01)", "body": "I used to go out with a Phi Delt, but your gov graduated before I got there."}, {"response": 6, "author": "lindak", "date": "Thu, Jul  6, 2006 (21:20)", "body": "NJ is back in business. I couldn't stand Doug Forrester and this budget standoff isn't about Dem v. Republican. The revolt in the assembly was by his own party. Dems hold the majority in both the assembly and the senate including the office of the Governor. Corzine had only 13 leglislators to go along with his sales tax increase before the compromise. My beef was that Cody, an excellent intermim Gov. should have been given the nod to run. But JC decided he wanted it and with his money-NJ wasn't about to let him not have his way. Cody was very gracious and said he didn't need to run at this age-he's in his 50's and not old, at all. However, Cody as Pres. of the Senate would have been the likely nominee--until JC started making noises that he was leaving his senate seat to run for Gov. That's politics, but Cody, IMO, based on his performance as acting Gov--was an excellent choice for the job. (Dorine)Why would he need to pander or play to the unions? He already had their support before he ran for governor. Right, they were already on board from his run for Senator."}, {"response": 7, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Jul  6, 2006 (21:40)", "body": "that's a reference to funding pension plans. And there's nothing wrong with committing to funding one's obligations (i.e., pension plans) I would hate to have my tax$$$ go to pay that tatoo guy's pension. Sounds to me like it's a big bloated personnel pit. Hey, anybody can balance a budget by taxing the citizens to death. Not v. creative. Why would he need to pander or play to the unions? He already had their support before he ran for governor. But he has \"higher aspirations\";-) ROTF. Only objection I have to my gov is that he jumps to the teacher's union beckoning call. I haven't been to these other spring topics in years...they're so wordy ...and boring."}, {"response": 8, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jul  6, 2006 (21:46)", "body": "I couldn't stand Doug Forrester and this budget standoff isn't about Dem v. Republican. The revolt in the assembly was by his own party. Actually, I do realize that and did point out that irony in a post that didn't go through awhile ago when my wireless crapped out and didn't bother to repost. That's too bad about Cody if he was that good. Happened in quite a few Senate primary races, I think Ohio was one, most recently. The party machine gets behind someone else and what can they do? What was McGreevey like? Cody, IMO, based on his performance as acting Gov--was an excellent choice for the job But did that automatically make Corzine wrong for the job, or Forrester any more right for the job, since they were what was left? Or did it become a lesser of 2 evils? Right, they were already on board from his run for Senator. I'm still not understanding why support from the unions and his wanting...actually needing by contract to fund the pension funds, is a problem."}, {"response": 9, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jul  6, 2006 (21:49)", "body": "They all jump to someone's beck and call. Some of them are called constituents. (Evelyn) ther spring topics.... they're so wordy ...and boring. So you won't read my posts here then? ;-D"}, {"response": 10, "author": "mari", "date": "Thu, Jul  6, 2006 (21:50)", "body": "Linda, I agree that Cody did an excellent job. I liked his wife too; she really shined a spotlight on postpartum depression, talking about her own experience and how women don't have to be ashamed of those feelings, and advocating for mental health services. They both were aces with me. But I had the impression that they didn't want that public a life. I could be wrong. They certainly never sought it, with him inheriting the job from Gov. Jim \"I am a gay American\" McGreevy.;-)(And ya'll thought NJ was boring.;-) (Karen)Born in central Illinois, Corzine grew up on a small family farm near Taylorville. And became a self-made gazillionnaire. Only in America.;-) As the former head of Goldman Sachs, I figure he knows how to run a business and he knows how to manage money."}, {"response": 11, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jul  6, 2006 (22:05)", "body": "(Mari) I figure he knows how to run a business and he knows how to manage money. That's why I liked Bloomberg for Mayor, though many didn't. I figured we especially needed someone like that just after 9/11 with the financial straits we got into."}, {"response": 12, "author": "lindak", "date": "Thu, Jul  6, 2006 (22:24)", "body": "Just to keep you up to date: The compromise that was reached today was crafted by Cody--last Thursday, and rejected by Corzine who then went ahead and shut down the state. Joe Roberts (Speaker of the House) and Corzine were at odds on how the revenue of the sales tax was to be spent. JR wanted all of it to go to property tax relief. (Actually he wanted no sales tax increase in the first place) Gov said no. My belief is that if he accepted it then he lost control over where the money went, and he had different plans for that money. Cody came up with the compromise of 1/2 to pay the deficit the other 1/2 to property tax. So, why wasn't this OK six days ago? Amazing."}, {"response": 13, "author": "lindak", "date": "Thu, Jul  6, 2006 (22:34)", "body": "(Dorine)The party machine gets behind someone else and what can they do? Exactly what happened here. Sad, really. But the same thing happened on the Republican side for this same race. Doug Forrester also has tons of personal wealth (not in the Corzine category). One really good guy, Brent Shundler, lost the nomination for the same reasons. DF had the money and just out spent the rest of the field. (Dorine)What was McGreevey like? Don't ask;-)I'm sure you know most of this- He stepped down and blamed it on the fact he was a gay American. Bollocks! The fact that he was living with his wife and put his gay lover in charge of homeland security to the tune of 150,000 a year, with no bloody experience, is what did him in. The papers had it and the s**t was going to hit the fan the next day."}, {"response": 14, "author": "lindak", "date": "Thu, Jul  6, 2006 (23:00)", "body": "(Dorine)I'm still not understanding why support from the unions and his wanting...actually needing by contract to fund the pension funds, is a problem. It's not, unless you're going to raise the sales tax to do it at a time when his first priority, according to the man himself, as Governor was to find a way to reduce property taxes and reduce the deficit. The pension funds have been underfunded for years. That's a crime, and should not be allowed, but all of a sudden that became his priority. Bravo to the legislators who had the guts to stand up to him. However its not going to stop, here. We're damn lucky if we get away with just a one percent hike in sales tax."}, {"response": 15, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jul  6, 2006 (23:21)", "body": "Yes, I know all about that stuff with McGreevey (but thanks for updating all those who had no idea ;-)). That's not what meant. I wanted to know what he was like as a Gov in all areas. according to the man himself, as Governor was to find a way to reduce property taxes and reduce the deficit. Yeah, but realistically, how is he going to accomplish both without increasing some kind of revenue to make up for the property tax cuts, yet still reduce the deficit? I don't see how that's financially possible. Isn't that against some law of physics? ;-) And wait a minute, why are the legislators the heroes? They were just as stubborn and unyielding with their demands as you indicated above and both sides compromised in the end. No offense, I'm not feeling too bad for your sales tax hike. We pay anywhere from 7 - 9 1/2% depending on what county you're in (ours is 8.375% - odd amount). I haven't lived a 6% sales tax state in years. *sigh* Those were the days. ;-)"}, {"response": 16, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jul  6, 2006 (23:23)", "body": "And why does your name come out different here?"}, {"response": 17, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Jul  6, 2006 (23:33)", "body": "(Mari) And became a self-made gazillionnaire. Only in America.;-) As the former head of Goldman Sachs, I figure he knows how to run a business and he knows how to manage money. Yup, pretty impressive: His first experience in business was in the Bond Department at Continental-Illinois National Bank in Chicago. He then moved to Bank One, a regional bank in Columbus, Ohio. He worked there until 1975 when he moved his family to New Jersey. There he was hired as a bond trader for Goldman Sachs. Over the years, he worked his way up to Chairman and CEO of the company in 1994 and successfully converted the investment firm from a private partnership to a worldwide publicly traded corporation. He received numerous awards and recognition for his job including being in the TIME magazine Top 50 Technology Executives in 1997. In the Senate, Corzine was a member of the Committees on Banking, Intelligence, the Budget, and Energy and Natural Resources. He co-authored the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, a piece of legislation designed to crack down on corporate malfeasance. He was a supporter of introducing legislation that reforms the 401(k) plan to minimize the risk of investment portfolios. He was a sponsor of the Start Healthy, Stay Healthy Act which expands health care coverage for children and pregnant women. Corzine supported providing a two-year tax break to September 11, 2001 attacks victims to help them recover financially and help grant citizenship to victims that were legal resident aliens. He supported tighter gun control laws, outlawing racial profiling, and subsidies for Amtrak. He was also the chief sponsor, along with U.S. Senator Sam Brownback, of the Darfur Accountability Act, which would apply sanctions on the Sudanese government and create a framework for addressing the genocide occurring in the Darfur region. He was also o e of 23 Senators to vote against the Iraq War Resolution. One of Corzine's earliest acts as governor was to propose a budget that would decrease New Jersey's deficit. Corzine hopes to accomplish this goal mainly through spending cuts [citation needed]. Corzine has called for an increase in the state sales tax (from 6% to 7%) [Ed note: my sales tax is 9%] and an increase in cigarette tax (which would make it the highest of any state in the nation, at $2.75 per pack, but not the highest in the nation altogether, as New York City levies a $1.50/pack tax in addition to New York State's $1.50). Corzine's budget also proposes to cut state financing to higher education by $169 million, leading students of New Jersey state universities to expect future tuition hikes. Rutgers University president Richard L. McCormick has stated that \"the proposed cuts could leave the University with $100 million less than what it requires to operate\". McCormick also specified that \"if the University were to compensate for the funding cuts solely by raising tuition, the tuition would increase by 31 percent\". [1] [2] Other proposed cuts have been to the Governor's School of New Jersey, which provided unique learning opportunities for select high school students each summer. The program has, however, been revived through private contributions, excluding such programs as visual arts. Not all of the Governor's School cuts will be in effect for the summer of 2006. (Evelyn) I would hate to have my tax$$$ go to pay that tatoo guy's pension. So, your governor gets your personal approval for every hire? Wow!! BTW, people like tatoo guy usually don't stay in the system long enough to collect a pension. ;-) It must be nice to live in a state/county/city with 100 percent highly productive governmental employees, no nepotism, no patronage, no federally subsidized pork barrel projects, federally subsidized bottomless pits of welfare funding, etc. Ah...a parallel universe. ;-)"}, {"response": 18, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Jul  6, 2006 (23:35)", "body": "Names? Make sure on the main page of the News conference that it is exactly how you want it. http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/restricted/browse/news/all Just type in what you want and click on the button to the right. Don't worry if you get an error type screen, it will likely go through fine. People can have different names in different conferences."}, {"response": 19, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Jul  6, 2006 (23:37)", "body": "WSJ Today editorial on \"The Jersey Boys\" interesting stats:sources: Census Bureau , Tax Foundation State Rank Property Tax Burden 1 State/Local Taxes 4 State Gov't Debt 10 Business Friendliness 49"}, {"response": 20, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Jul  6, 2006 (23:42)", "body": "I wasn just reading the Broadwayword.com thread Dorine provided. NJ doesn't have sales tax on food or clothing!! Sheesh! Sales tax here in Chicago is 9%. Food (real, not junk varieties) and drugs are taxed at a lower rate, 2%, but clothing gets the full 9%. In fact, fast food places have an extra 1 percent."}, {"response": 21, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Jul  7, 2006 (00:22)", "body": "Meds are taxed???!! They really do take the last drop of blood from you, don't they."}, {"response": 22, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jul  7, 2006 (00:28)", "body": "How and why the extra on fast food places? Our tax on clothing was abolished last year or so for good for up to $110. It used to be a twice a year thing (No Tax Week) to go without taxation on clothes for that amount, but it was made permanent. Corzine does sound quite impressive as a Senator. Didn't know, but love he co-authored Sarbanes-Oxley. Not so great about the educational cuts for universities, but I've lived in several states where that's always on the table unfortunately, including here. Well, after so many years of corruption and malfeasance, I don't see how he can fix it all overnight. It's an ugly painful process."}, {"response": 23, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jul  7, 2006 (00:32)", "body": "With the names...I asking why Linda's was different here than elsewhere."}, {"response": 24, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jul  7, 2006 (00:44)", "body": "Found this at a blog, from Nov '05. Interesting description of the \"machines\" (of ? Is it just another word for local govts?) in ....are these counties? The actual point to the blog was who Corzine would pick for his Senate seat. --As I wrote in reference to Menendez, political corruption and the machine bosses were a key line of attack for the state's Republicans this cycle. With Menendez tied to the Hudson machine and Andrews linked with George Norcross, I have trouble imagining them as Corzine's picks. The others are seen as far more independent. Gill and Codey have both sparred with the Essex machine (Gill much more so). Pallone has tangled a bit with Middlesex boss John Lynch (whose office was raided by the FBI this week). And Rush Holt is squeaky clean, having absolutely zero ties to any machine.-- http://www.mydd.com/story/2005/11/11/135156/56"}, {"response": 25, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Jul  7, 2006 (00:56)", "body": "(Dorine) How and why the extra on fast food places? A \"convenience\" tax. ;-))) (Evelyn) Meds are taxed???! Maybe not the prescription kind, just OTC. (Dorine) With the names...I asking why Linda's was different here than elsewhere. Because she needs to go fix it on the main conference page. 'Machine' is another word for a political organization, with a defined boss and workers whose jobs depend on patronage. BTW, the boss doesn't have to be an elected official. It can be a behind-the-scenes guy, the kingmaker, the guy in the smoke-filled rooms."}, {"response": 26, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jul  7, 2006 (01:02)", "body": "Gotcha. I wasn't sure if they were referring to the local govt, or as you say, the behind-the-scenes people or whichever depending on the locality. Like if one county or locality had a very powerful Dem or Repub organization that had some power, that would qualify, correct?"}, {"response": 27, "author": "lindak", "date": "Fri, Jul  7, 2006 (09:24)", "body": "(Dorine)With the names...I asking why Linda's was different here than elsewhere. LOL, I want to be incognito, here. You blew my cover;-) (Dorine)They were just as stubborn and unyielding with their demands as you indicated above and both sides compromised in the end. Yes, they were and no one is a hero, here. Joe Roberts will probably get his head handed to him, but they at least stood up and forced JC to spend the sales tax revenue on deficit and property tax relief. There was almost no support for the tax hike in the first place. You tell me how we can have casinos bringing in 11.3 billion a year in tax revenue and a huge state lottery, and be this far into debt. It's a mess-not of his making, and won't be easy to fix. But, more taxes, on an already overburdened state is hard to swallow. The assembly and senate approved spending cuts upwards of 2.1 billion, before the shut down-cutting the deficit in half. That's why I'm angry that he shut down the state. Karen was right it was the option that would get the most attention, but he had other ways to go. They need to solve the deficit problem with more cuts. 2.1 billion still leaves tons of money being spent on frivilous programs and dead woods. Use the casino revenue and pay down the deficit, immediately. I find it shameful that they made such huge cuts in higher education. There was plenty of other stuff they could have gone after. (Dorine)No offense, I'm not feeling too bad for your sales tax hike. No offense taken."}, {"response": 28, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jul  7, 2006 (11:47)", "body": "You tell me how we can have casinos bringing in 11.3 billion a year in tax revenue and a huge state lottery, and be this far into debt. How could I make a really good salary (more than I ever have) and still be in debt? It makes headway, but won't erase it overnight. It just keeps up with it. I'm still trying to makeup from being essentially underfunded the past 2 years. Or actually way underfunded for several months 2 years ago. Obviously it's being spent on something. Not saying it's all worthwhile, but it's going out somewhere. How many billions is the budget? (rhetorical question) 11 billion a year toward the workings of a state as large as NJ could be a drop in the bucket. And I'll tell ya, lotteries don't always bring in enough either or don't cover what they were intended all the time. That was a big deal in Florida. Was supposed to go to fill education coffers. Didn't do as much there as they'd hoped and promised, they still don't have enough to build all the schools they need. The phenomenal population growth down there in the past decade or 2 didn't help. It couldn't keep up. And there's no income tax down there. Sales tax is 6-7% depending on county. Gosh, I remember when it was 5% many moons ago. I agree that more taxes on top of all yours are hard to swallow. I get tired when they raise the maintenance charges on my apt seemingly every year to pay for some building repair or whatever, even though I live in one of the nicer bldgs in the neighborhood and want to keep it that way. I don't have a choice other than to move, though mine is actually better than comparable apts in other bldgs. tons of money being spent on frivilous programs and dead woods. There's always pork. At every level of government. No offense taken. I'm glad. :-D *mwah!*"}, {"response": 29, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jul  7, 2006 (11:48)", "body": "Pfft, and putting your last name is real incognito, LOL. ;-)"}, {"response": 30, "author": "mari", "date": "Fri, Jul  7, 2006 (12:20)", "body": "Let's gwet the numbers straight. The casinos do *not* bring in 11.3 billion a year in tax revenue. Nowhere near that. From the state's offical numbers: The 12 Atlantic City casinos generate about $16 million each day in gambling revenue for their operators. During the shutdown, the state has lost about $1.3 million in casino gambling tax revenue per day. So, less than 1/2 billion in annual tax revenue. Not 11 billion. *Big* difference.;-) And, as recently as Tuesday, Roberts was telling Corzine that the \"compromise\" legislation did not have the votes for approval. It was after the casinos and non-essentials were shut down that the public screamed and the legislators came to the table."}, {"response": 31, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Jul  7, 2006 (12:29)", "body": "(Linda) You tell me how we can have casinos bringing in 11.3 billion a year in tax revenue and a huge state lottery, and be this far into debt. You've brought up a major sore point for me: state lotteries! In Illinois, they were instituted to provide additional funding for education (ours is totally state funded and dispersed, not by locale as many people here think). Instead, what the bozos do is reduce the amount of money in the state budget for education so that the lottery money is primary source of funding. It's a total hoax. The portion people pay from their property taxes that is supposed to go toward education is going into a general fund that the state uses for whatever it wants (\"friends and family plan\"). It's a mess-not of his making, and won't be easy to fix. But, more taxes, on an already overburdened state is hard to swallow."}, {"response": 32, "author": "mari", "date": "Fri, Jul  7, 2006 (12:39)", "body": "(Evelyn) Meds are taxed???! (Karen)Maybe not the prescription kind, just OTC. That is correct, over the counter stuff only. No tax on prescription meds, food or clothing. (Dorine) realistically, how is he going to accomplish both without increasing some kind of revenue to make up for the property tax cuts, yet still reduce the deficit? I don't see how that's financially possible. Isn't that against some law of physics? ;-) Dorine, stay in NY. You're too smart to live in NJ.;-) You are right, of course. It's robbing from Peter to pay Paul. Squeeze the balloon in one place and it pops out at another. This is nothing more than political cover for the Dems in the legislature so they can go back to their districts and say, \"look, I got your property taxes reduced\" and get re-elected in November. What's the old expression? You can pay me now, or pay me later, but you'll pay me."}, {"response": 33, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Jul  7, 2006 (12:47)", "body": "(Dorine) I don't see how that's financially possible. Isn't that against some law of physics? ;-) It has a name, actually two names: Reaganomics and Voodoo Economics. ;-)"}, {"response": 34, "author": "lindak", "date": "Fri, Jul  7, 2006 (20:10)", "body": "(Dorine) Pfft, and putting your last name is real incognito, LOL. ;-) LOL, I never touched it. I posted and there it was;-) Thank you Mari on correcting my casino revenue numbers. And where would we (NJ) be without what the casinos do generate? Still in all we should not be in this mess. What about the states with no gambling and surplus on record. Pork? Loads of it."}, {"response": 35, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Jul  7, 2006 (20:35)", "body": "I think you need an amendment to your constitution to make a balanced budget mandatory. We pump our surplus into a \"rainy day fund\" All of us would like to fund higher education to the hilt...hell, make it free. Social programs...let's go wild.... But prudent minds have to prevail. Better float those bonds . Let the games begin;-)"}, {"response": 36, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jul  7, 2006 (21:17)", "body": "The state constitution requires a balanced budget be approved by Saturday, when the new fiscal year starts. http://www.nj.com/newsflash/statehouse/index.ssf?/base/news-20/1151243956121500.xml&storylist=njxgr"}, {"response": 37, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jul  7, 2006 (21:22)", "body": "(Linda) And where would we (NJ) be without what the casinos do generate? Perhaps previous administrations and legislatures would've curbed spending a bit with less revenue. Not saying they would've been out of debt or had various spending programs, just spent less simply because they weren't counting on more."}, {"response": 38, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Jul  8, 2006 (10:01)", "body": "\"The state constitution requires a balanced budget be approved by Saturday, when the new fiscal year starts.\" LOL And it looks like they wanted to add *more* programs despite not having receipts to cover the existing ones. *slapping head*...\"marone\""}, {"response": 39, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jul  8, 2006 (10:54)", "body": "Our state legislature ignores our constitutional mandate, too. And ditto on the spending programs as well as wanting to significantly curtail Medicaid and education."}, {"response": 40, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jul  8, 2006 (13:27)", "body": "Corzine Ends 8-Day New Jersey Shutdown By RICHARD G. JONES and DAVID W. CHEN Published: July 8, 2006 TRENTON, July 8 \ufffd- Gov. Jon S. Corzine signed an executive order early Saturday ending an eight-day government shutdown and resolving an acidic standoff with the Legislature that paralyzed New Jersey, frayed nerves and cost the state millions of dollars. Shortly after New Jersey lawmakers approved a budget Saturday morning, Gov. Jon S. Corzine ended a weeklong state shutdown. The order meant that nearly 100,000 workers including 45,000 state employees could begin returning to their jobs. Although government offices like the Motor Vehicle Commission were not expected to reopen until Monday, the 12 Atlantic City casinos the most high-profile casualties of the shutdown re-opened Saturday morning. Other services including road construction projects, the operation of state parks and state-run beaches were to begin a gradual process of reopening Sunday. The New Jersey Lottery was scheduled to resume sales immediately. The state\ufffds courts, which had been ordered to handle only emergency matters, were expected to resume full services again Monday morning. \ufffdThe lives of the people of New Jersey can now, at long last, begin to return to normal,\ufffd a bleary-eyed Mr. Corzine said shortly after 6 a.m. Mr. Corzine, who was wearing jeans, added that he was working on three hours of sleep. Although Mr. Corzine signed the order, he had not yet signed the $30.9 billion budget that was approved by both houses of the Legislature overnight. He said that he would review the budget carefully and hinted that he might use his line-item veto powers to remove items that he felt were undeserving. \ufffdWe\ufffdre going to do a thorough and professional job,\ufffd Mr. Corzine said. The shutdown was a result of an impasse between Mr. Corzine and the Legislature over the budget for the new fiscal year. Although the impact of the shutdown was blunted early this week by the Independence Day holiday, the budget crisis reached a crescendo Wednesday when the casinos were closed down for the first time in the 28 years that gambling has been legal in Atlantic City. The state lost $1.2 million a day in casino tax revenue and $2 million a day in revenue from the lottery, officials said. On Thursday, the impasse was finally broken when Mr. Corzine reached an agreement with the speaker of the General Assembly, Joseph J. Roberts Jr., on a proposal to raise the sales tax to 7 percent from 6 percent. Under a compromise, Mr. Corzine agreed to use half of the revenue from the increase \ufffd or about $550 million \ufffd to help offset the state\ufffds property tax rates, which are among the highest in the nation. Mr. Corzine also agreed to allow Mr. Roberts to put forth a ballot question for an amendment to the state\ufffds Constitution guaranteeing that the money would be used to offset property tax rates. The governor and the Legislature agreed on additional budget cuts to make up for the money would go to property tax relief. The budget was passed after an all-night debate by the Legislature. The budget votes largely ran along party lines. But one Republican senator, William L. Gormley, of Atlantic County whose constituents were most directly affected by the casino shutdown, joined the Democratic majority in supporting the bill. The budget passed the Senate by a vote of 23-to-17. In the Assembly, where opposition to Mr. Corzine\ufffds tax plan had been the stiffest, the vote was 44-to-35. Six Democrats voted against the budget but Mr. Corzine picked up the support of one Republican, Francis J. Blee, also of Atlantic County. Supporters of the budget had a given tense moment during another Assembly vote shortly after 3 a.m. When the bill to increase the sales tax was being considered, two Democratic Assemblymen from Middlesex County, Joseph Vas and John Wisniewski, refused to immediately cast their votes for the measure in an apparent protest. Without their votes, the Assembly tally in support of the sales tax bill, a lynchpin of the budget , stood at 39-38 for roughly 10 minutes before the men cast their \ufffdyes\ufffd votes. [Ed. note: Making them sweat bullets. :-(] If they had voted no, the measure would have failed. The Assembly\ufffds final vote on the budget, around 5:30 Saturday morning, came about an hour after the Senate\ufffds vote. (Page 2 of 2) \ufffdIt\ufffds been a grueling process, thank God it\ufffds over,\ufffd Mr. Roberts said, moments after the Assembly vote. \ufffdIt\ufffdll be good for the Legislature to have the credibility to get this done and it\ufffds great for the state and the folks who have been inconvenienced and struggled while the state has been shut down.\ufffd Saturday morning\ufffds votes ended the most contentious budget season here in memory. The dispute centered on Mr. Corzine\ufffds plan to use money from the sales tax increase to help close a $4.5 billion deficit. Besides the intensity of the opposition over the sales tax increase, the budget debate was particularly noteworthy because all of the major players, including Mr."}, {"response": 41, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Jul  8, 2006 (15:35)", "body": "\"Mr. Corzine has indicated that he would support a measure by the Legislature to pay state employees for time missed during the shutdown. \" How noble;-)...*but* descriminating.. How about the casino workers and all the people who support the casinos. As long as this is the Big Give-A-Way...that's the least he could do;-) \"Cheap Skate\""}, {"response": 42, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Jul  8, 2006 (16:38)", "body": "ROTF...and they elected this clown? NY TIMES http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/04/nyregion/04corzine.html?ex=1280808000&en=96b91b044852a882&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss"}, {"response": 43, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Jul  8, 2006 (16:43)", "body": "Democratic lawmakers also added about $300 million in spending for special projects on Friday, money that Republicans urged Mr. Corzine to remove through his veto powers. Assemblyman Kevin J. O\ufffdToole, a Bergen County Republican, said that the last-minute additions were an example of 'Democrats behaving badly.' Are these people imbeciles? Don't they know the whole world is watching? They're under a microscope and they open the pork floodgates so quickly? Least they could do is wait until no one is looking? Linda, your Speaker should be hung out to dry for allowing it. Mr. Corzine has indicated that he would support a measure by the Legislature to pay state employees for time missed during the shutdown. Didn't I tell you? *snort* If they didn't, it could affect an 'underfunded' pension calculation or two. ;-) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ From tomorrow's NYT, some very generous words from Mr. Codey (or else it is political expediency) and the blow-by-blow rundown of events: Six Days That Shook New Jersey By DAVID W. CHEN BY LAURA MANSNERUS Published: July 9, 2006 TRENTON, July 8 \u2014 When the clock read 12:01 on July 1, Gov. Jon S. Corzine was at his desk at the State House, Assembly Speaker Joseph J. Roberts Jr. was across the street having a drink at the Trenton Marriott, and New Jersey was only hours from the first government shutdown in its history. For the next six days, and largely out of public view, the state's elected leaders boxed over Mr. Corzine's demand that the sales tax be increased to 7 percent from 6 percent to put the state on sounder financial footing. One Assembly Democrat from South Jersey tried to remove three North Jersey colleagues from the crucial Budget Committee because they refused to align themselves with Mr. Roberts, who himself is from Camden County in the south. Caucus meetings seemed awkward as some lawmakers clustered in cliques based not on the usual factors of friendship or geography, but by their stand on the budget. The impasse led to scenes that were bizarre even by Trenton's relaxed standards. Mr. Corzine, a former co-chairman of Goldman Sachs and a multimillionaire, slept in a cot in his office for three straight days, going to Drumthwacket, the governor's mansion in Princeton, to shower. And for three consecutive mornings, starting on Tuesday, Mr. Corzine demanded that legislators convene at 9 a.m. so that they could listen to him push his budget as fiscally responsible. Senate President Richard J. Codey called it \"home room.\" \"We never thought it through,\" said Assemblywoman Joan M. Quigley, a Democrat from Hudson County, who was a strong supporter of Mr. Corzine's budget. \"No one had Plan B. Nobody had an endgame to this. I would call my husband and say, 'It's like we're still in Iraq, with no way to get out.' \" Not until Thursday afternoon \u2014 when Mr. Corzine walked casually past a throng of surprised lobbyists and reporters and into the office of Mr. Roberts \u2014 did it become apparent that the impasse over the governor's $31 billion budget would soon be over. Along the way, the brinkmanship idled tens of thousands of workers, cost the state of millions of dollars in revenue and threw New Jersey's traditional political alliances into disarray. Mr. Roberts had protested the tax increase, saying that he felt that the government could cut enough spending to make up for the $1.1 billion that the increase was projected to generate. While Mr. Corzine said that he was amenable to a compromise suggested by Mr. Codey to dedicate half of the new revenue to property tax relief, Mr. Roberts did not budge. At 9:30 on July 1, after the deadline for the budget came and went, Mr. Corzine signed an executive order stating that he had to authorize the orderly shutdown of government because the state had run out of money. The next day, Mr. Corzine met with Mr. Roberts, Mr. Codey and about 20 other legislators and staff members at Drumthwacket. By then, it had become clear that Mr. Corzine had in Mr. Codey a reliable ally \u2014 something that could not have been guaranteed last year, when Mr. Corzine, with tens of millions of dollars of his own money at his disposal, essentially pushed Mr. Codey, then the acting governor, out of the governor's race. \"He and I have become very close,\" Mr. Codey said in an interview in the Senate at 4 a.m. on Saturday, as the budget bill was being debated. On Monday, Mr. Roberts issued a belligerent news release, calling for Mr. Corzine to identify the legislators who supported his proposal. A few hours later, Mr. Corzine demanded that the entire Legislature meet at 9 a.m. the next day \u2014 known to the rest of the country as the Fourth of July. His speech on Tuesday lasted 20 minutes, and was greeted by applause two times \u2014 when he entered the Assembly chamber, and when he left. The atmosphere was still mutinous, as symbolized by a flier, circulated by the Assembly Democrats, which criticized Mr. Corzine's proposal and asked, \"Why are we here?\" Assembly Democrats stil"}, {"response": 44, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jul  8, 2006 (17:14)", "body": "While Mr. Corzine said that he was amenable to a compromise suggested by Mr. Codey to dedicate half of the new revenue to property tax relief, Mr. Roberts did not budge. ....Mr. Roberts issued a belligerent news release ....[Roberts] he defiantly declared Ah, refresh my memory......why is Corzine the pariah in this scenario? That Codey's a class act. I think the legislators are more deserving of being vilified in all this. Get rid of those asses. What a bunch of f'ng babies. First one to go should be that Roberts guy. What a boob. Looks like Corzine just sat back and let them make idiots of themselves. I'd like to see that alternate budget. Fascinating, thanks. Loved reading the play-by-play of the subway strike after it was over, too."}, {"response": 45, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jul  8, 2006 (17:18)", "body": "My favorite of all those fools..... Assemblywoman Joan M. Quigley.... It's like we're still in Iraq, with no way to get out.' \" You mean we're aren't? ;-)"}, {"response": 46, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Jul  8, 2006 (17:33)", "body": "While that was going on, Mr. Roberts had in hand a new compromise proposal from Mr. Corzine that would allocate half of the new sales tax revenue to easing the state's property taxes, at least for one year, and perhaps longer. It expanded upon a proposal that Mr. Codey had first made on June 21 Yay!!!!Let's hear it for property tax relief;-)Let'er rip! At least they had los cojones not to let Corzine run amok with the new $$$$ for additional pork...or give a loan to a new girlfriend;-P"}, {"response": 47, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Jul  8, 2006 (17:49)", "body": "Ah, we discussed the loan a couple of days ago. Nothing illegal about it. He paid gift tax on it. And he wasn't governor at the time either. The man's a millionaire. I'd say, if you don't like him in NJ, he can come back to Illinois...but dumping the ex-wife (high school sweetheart) won't play well here. It appears Taylorville is near Springfield, the state capital. (Evelyn) At least they had los cojones not to let Corzine run amok with the new $$$$ for additional pork... You reading some other articles? Or you due for a visit to the eye doctor? It was the state legislators who added the pork. Corzine is on record as wanting all the money from the sales tax increase to go toward reducing the deficit. Waddaya cheering about?"}, {"response": 48, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jul  8, 2006 (19:07)", "body": "...Which again begs the question above.....why is Corzine the pariah in this scenario?"}, {"response": 49, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Jul  8, 2006 (19:29)", "body": "Got me?"}, {"response": 50, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jul  8, 2006 (19:43)", "body": "Or you due for a visit to the eye doctor? You seem to have missed a few bolded sentences. ;-)"}, {"response": 51, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Jul  8, 2006 (20:26)", "body": "Or you due for a visit to the eye doctor? You seem to have missed a few bolded sentences. ;-) Aw...you girls are always so complimnetary.LOL. But not according to the NY Times articles I read...incl the girlfriend one. Hey, I can forgive dumping the HS sweetheart-wife... I always say: a politician's personal life means nothing to me\";-)))))"}, {"response": 52, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Jul  8, 2006 (20:32)", "body": "But there was nothing illegal about the loan, which turned into a gift. All of that was before he was the governor. No improprieties as far as I can see. I don't understand your beef with the guy or why you're coming down on him."}, {"response": 53, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Jul  8, 2006 (20:34)", "body": "As for dumping the wife, I said it wouldn't play well with the central Illinois folk. We did have a senate candidate recently who had to bow out because of some hanky panky..."}, {"response": 54, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jul  8, 2006 (20:41)", "body": "(Karen) All of that was before he was the governor. No improprieties as far as I can see. No actual improprieties, but I can understand critics view on this, as mentioned in the article, where it can give the *perception* of an impropriety, despite the reality. I'm actually having to deal a lot with perception vs. reality issues at work now, so I understand that line of thinking."}, {"response": 55, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Jul  9, 2006 (18:14)", "body": "(Dorine) but I can understand critics view on this Not I. As a private citizen, there shouldn't even be a *perception* of impropriety. Against what standard is he being held? A man giving a gift to a woman with whom he was in a relationship? The amount is beyond flowers, candy or some nominal piece of jewelry that an ordinary person might bestow on a girlfriend, but the man is not an ordinary person. He's a millionaire. Big deal. This is nothing to him, and it was in his private life as a private citizen."}, {"response": 56, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Jul  9, 2006 (19:27)", "body": "A man giving a gift to a woman with whom he was in a relationship? She's not just any woman, but one who is prominent in a union that either he had to deal with or had support from. Not so much an issue as he wasn't Governor, but when he was running and needed their support, I could see if a critic or opponent would want to latch onto that if they could. He did her a favor once, they could say that her/the union's support could possibly be related to that. Doesn't mean I agree with it or think it's right, as there was nothing wrong with it. It's Rovian thinking."}, {"response": 57, "author": "lindak", "date": "Mon, Jul 10, 2006 (12:27)", "body": "Ah, still worshiping at the church of St. Corzine, I see;-) I think I'll go over to the other topic and worship at that other church...the other guy is so much more eye candy than this one;-) (Karen)Ah, we discussed the loan a couple of days ago. Nothing illegal about it. He paid gift tax on it. And he wasn't governor at the time either. The man's a millionaire. No, he did it while running for the Senate...I believe the gift tax was paid only after it came to light running for Gov. He said running for senate the scruitiny wasn't as great. What kind of answer is that? Lots of things are/look legal, but are they really ethical when running for office?...Surely he had to know it wasn't going to look good given her position as the head of that union. Girlfriend or /ex girlfriend. Behaving in a manner not befitting and MP;-) Look, I could care less about who he sleeps with whether or not he leaves his wife or who he gives/forgives bribes/gifts/loans. He's just a governor, to me, nothing more;-) Why should my Speaker be hung out to dry? He'll get the blame, of course, but it was St. Corzine who wanted to raise the sales tax and not be bound by how he spent it in the first place. He stood up to him and that's alright by me. St. Corzine is also allowing a vote, proposed by my Speaker friend, to be on the ballot next fall--that in 2007 , as they reduce the defict that all revenue from the sales tax will go to property tax relief. So, long reaching plans for the money makes me v.v happy. Also, as far as my DH is concerned, another tax has been imposed on the sale of real estate...now the buyer has to pick up the tab. For example if one is buying a, say, 5million factory, office bldg, etc. a new tax on real estates transfers means the buyer picks up the tab for 50,000 that goes to the state. Tax, em, JC, any way you can. (Dorine)That Codey's a class act. Ahmen, and he should be Governor. If he was, we wouldn't have needed this topic."}, {"response": 58, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jul 10, 2006 (12:52)", "body": "(Linda) Why should my Speaker be hung out to dry? Did you read the play by play article? Seems rather obvious. Maybe they all should go and start from scratch. Ahmen, and he should be Governor. If he was, we wouldn't have needed this topic. But I've enjoyed it actually. It's been a stimulating discussion. But interesting you say that. I was thinking while out running yesterday (my iPod was dead, had to think of something to keep my mind off being tired trying to breathe ;-)) about that bit. I did read a couple of things that alluded to Codey dropping out knowing he couldn't compete financially. And he was quite chummy with and helpful to Corzine during all this mess. Who knows... he may have agreed to drop out and made some sort of deal for the future as far as running for office or some other thing if he was supportive of Corzine in his run and during his term(s) in office. He may have positioned himself in some way for the future. Are there term limits for Governor in NJ? I don't think Corzine's a saint, I'm just not convinced he should be such a pariah, especially compared to those boobs in the state assembly."}, {"response": 59, "author": "mari", "date": "Mon, Jul 10, 2006 (13:31)", "body": "All I can say is, it's a huge relief not to have to see the spurned wanna-gamblers being interviewed on TV on the Boardwalk outside the closed casino doors. Typically a woman from South Philly, \"This is awwwwwwful, just terrible. I been comin' here for 27 years and I ain't seen nothing so awwwwwful.\" And a guy from Staten Island, \"Da hell wit Joisey. I'm gawn to Connecticut to gamble from now awn.\" Punctuated numerous times by a hacking smokers' cough. ;-)"}, {"response": 60, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Jul 10, 2006 (15:00)", "body": "(Dorine) Seems rather obvious. To me too. BTW, I don't think any poltician is a saint. But, from what I read, Corzine said the additional tax revenue was going toward deficit reduction. Doesn't sound to me like he was planning on squandering it on anything he wanted. If one is in debt, you pay your creditors. That's how it is supposed to be done. If you don't like *to whom* your state is in debt and therefore disagree with his \"spending\" (repayment is more appropriate a term), that's another story. (Dorine) Who knows... he may have agreed to drop out and made some sort of deal for the future as far as running for office or some other thing if he was supportive of Corzine in his run and during his term(s) in office. After reading the play-by-play article, that immediately came to mind. There's a deal. Corzine in the spotlight now, with national aspirations (??). Codey would then follow him into the governor's seat."}, {"response": 61, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Jul 10, 2006 (15:02)", "body": "(me) If you don't like *to whom* your state is in debt Reminds me of the witch's instruction in HOTPig: \"Look to the boobs\" ;-)"}, {"response": 62, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jul 10, 2006 (15:26)", "body": "Codey would then follow him into the governor's seat. Exactly my thinking."}, {"response": 63, "author": "lindak", "date": "Mon, Jul 10, 2006 (15:56)", "body": "(Dorine)Are there term limits for Governor in NJ? Two, 4 year terms. (Dorine)I don't think Corzine's a saint, I'm just not convinced he should be such a pariah, especially compared to those boobs in the state assembly. He's not a pariah. I just can't stand the man. Thank goodness Cody took him off his high horse several weeks ago when he wanted to tax hospital beds among other things that were all shot down. And the legislature has put back several million that had been cut from higher education--thank goodness. What bothers me is that NJ is only one of 5 states in the country that operates with a deficit. We have the casinos and booming tourism revenue--and we're taxed to the hilt. So, more taxes? Yeah, that'll fix us;-"}, {"response": 64, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Jul 10, 2006 (15:58)", "body": "When you're from Chicago, you think in terms of deals. ;-) The stroke guy (or his representatives) has made a deal with the party machine to take himself off the ballot and the party will put his son on for County Board President. People are outraged. What is he, royalty? During our last primary, there was unprecedented crossover voting and turnout (by Republicans, who really didn't have a viable canditate) to vote against the current board president, who has raised our property taxes big time and who was lying in a hospital paralyzed by a stroke, and for the challenger on the Democratic ticket. But naturally, the city vote managed to get the incumbent back in...as a placeholder now for his son. Makes me ill."}, {"response": 65, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jul 10, 2006 (16:16)", "body": "What bothers me is that NJ is only one of 5 states in the country that operates with a deficit. I think we join you in that club. We have the casinos and booming tourism revenue--and we're taxed to the hilt. Well then you have the people who over the years instituted such spending programs that apparently go over and above that casino and tourism revenue and other revenue to blame, whoever they may be. To be fair, I'd bet as in many other states, market costs have gone up in such programs as Medicaid, which can be a huge drain. It really is here. But sometimes, the revenue just can't keep up with market forces or other forces in various programs, including covering health insurance costs for government workers, etc. Perhaps a slightly less comprehensive insurance plan would help, but the employees would start screaming over that. And then it makes them less competitive to find employees. (And it doesn't help when in the middle of a state government shut down that the state legislature loads the budget up with pork spending that Linda decries, with I imagine the approval of the Speaker)."}, {"response": 66, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jul 10, 2006 (16:21)", "body": "Actually I shouldn't say market costs make Medicaid more expensive though it doesn't help, it's the fact that more people are ending up in the program that hurts the most probably."}, {"response": 67, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Jul 10, 2006 (16:39)", "body": "(Dorine) Actually I shouldn't say market costs make Medicaid more expensive though it doesn't help, it's the fact that more people are ending up in the program that hurts the most probably. And that would be because of one of two reasons: 1. Employers no longer supplying health insurance 2. People being out of work"}, {"response": 68, "author": "lindak", "date": "Mon, Jul 10, 2006 (19:58)", "body": "(Dorine)with I imagine the approval of the Speaker). I really don't too much about that as I don't have loads of info on the details. Interestingly enough the shut down was off the front page this morning-not even on 2 or 3, here. But I'll keep you posted on the spending, and exactly who has proposed/approved of what. (Karen)1. Employers no longer supplying health insurance . They can't afford to. My DH does, and it's killing him."}, {"response": 69, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Jul 10, 2006 (20:24)", "body": "(Karen)2. People being out of work With unemployment at 4.6%???? New Honda plant going up in Indiana... \" Toyota plant \" \" in San Antonio... I'm tired of seeing \"Mechanics Wanted\" signs here and in Texas oil belt. Don't have a skill? Get thee to a Vo Tech school."}, {"response": 70, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jul 10, 2006 (22:41)", "body": "With unemployment at 4.6%???? Do you know how they actually get those figures? It's somewhat of a deception and a toggling with the numbers, both of those employed and unemployed. Many of the jobs being created today are lower paying that may or may not provide health insurance. Even if they do provide it, many times, if it's a smaller place like Linda's husband's place, sometimes they pass so much more of the cost onto the worker rather than eat it themselves. Yeah, the people have a job, but many of them have very little left over, especially with rising transportation, food, and sometimes insurance costs."}, {"response": 71, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Jul 10, 2006 (23:10)", "body": "(Dorine) with I imagine the approval of the Speaker). (Linda) I really don't too much about that as I don't have loads of info on the details. Something doesn't get tacked on a bill without the Speaker's approval/consent. (Karen)1. Employers no longer supplying health insurance . (Linda) They can't afford to. My DH does, and it's killing him. I was only stating the reality of the situation and the reason why Medicaid is being swamped. Of course, it is cost. It goes without saying. (Evelyn) With unemployment at 4.6%???? (Dorine) Do you know how they actually get those figures? It's somewhat of a deception and a toggling with the numbers, both of those employed and unemployed. You're quite right. Moreover, people \"fall off\" the numbers after a certain point. (Dorine) Many of the jobs being created today are lower paying that may or may not provide health insurance. Absolutely. The only Help Wanted signs I see are at Target. ;-)"}, {"response": 72, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Jul 10, 2006 (23:27)", "body": "FYI, skills training is not the issue. It is pay and benefits. Companies can pay less in foreign countries. Absolutely nothing is manufactured in this country anymore and the service sector has set up shop elsewhere too."}, {"response": 73, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jul 11, 2006 (01:04)", "body": "(Linda) What bothers me is that NJ is only one of 5 states in the country that operates with a deficit. You don't have to feel so alone. Actually, over 50% of the states (30) had a projected deficit for FY 2005. http://www.cbpp.org/10-22-03sfp2.pdf (scroll down for the individual state list) And the federal deficit having ballooned in just 5 short years must be blowing Linda's mind. I know it is mine. It was EASILY avoidable. At least to this degree. And regarding Medicaid, one of the more significant reasons for the increase in Medicaid spending is increased entrance of the elderly into the program. And it will only get worse. The percentage of the elderly iz growing and with it is the increased need for long term care in a nursing facility, with which I am extremely familiar. Unless those people have their own money (which some do, but choose to move the funds and property into trusts with children and grandchildren - though getting a bit more difficult to do), they have to apply for Medicaid to cover their nursing home stays. Of course this taxes the state financial resources, as Karen and I mentioned above. Unfortunately I'd have to pay to access this whole article, but it gives you an idea of the states' issues with this program. Health Affairs, 23, no. 2 (2004): 143-154 doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.23.2.143 \ufffd 2004 by Project HOPE Popular Medicaid Programs Do Battle With State Budget Pressures: Perspectives From Twelve States John F. Hoadley, Peter Cunningham and Megan McHugh Many are concerned that growth of state Medicaid and State Children\ufffds Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) spending, along with limited political clout among beneficiaries, make these programs extremely vulnerable in periods of serious state budget constraints. But observations based on Community Tracking Study site visits show that states have thus far largely avoided major cuts that would seriously harm beneficiaries\ufffd access, primarily because programs have more support among coalitions of public officials, health care providers, and local advocates than commonly assumed. However, the limits to this surprising level of support are exemplified by decisions in many states to shelve some planned future expansions indefinitely. http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/abstract/23/2/143?etoc ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ And as this article addresses, the feds could help out a bit more, too. I know that's part of NY's problems with the Medicaid program. They go through it so fast, both federal and state funds and the feds keep wanting to cut more, then the state does because they don't want to use all their money on that. Ugly cycle. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Snippets.... According to the most recent survey from the National Governors Association and the National Association of State Budget Officers (2002), the average increase in state government spending from general funds is projected to be 1.3% both in 2002 and in 2003. In contrast, Medicaid\ufffdthe costliest item for states\ufffdgrew 13.2% during fiscal year 2002. With overall spending rising only slightly, Medicaid inevitably crowded out other state priorities. Beside cutting services, 23 states raised taxes. Taken altogether, their tax hikes totaled more than $8 billion. State aid to local governments was also reduced, adding to the likelihood of service cuts and tax increases at the local level. [...] Note that neither variable reflects the budget problems a state may be experiencing. This is important because aid should not be conditioned on imprudent fiscal behavior. An unavoidable problem in this context is that some fiscal difficulty is the result not of bad fiscal practice but rather of unforeseeable events. [Ed note- I don't know if that last bit applies to NJ, but I thought it interesting. http://www.epi.org/content.cfm/issuebriefs_ib187 I had more to post about unemployment rate formulas, but I'm too sleepy now."}, {"response": 74, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jul 11, 2006 (01:12)", "body": "And as you can see here, the state governments have little choice but to cut programs as they are getting their federal funds nixed as well. http://www.cbpp.org/2-7-05sfp.htm"}, {"response": 75, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Jul 11, 2006 (01:12)", "body": "One of the big flaws in the unemployment figures is that it doesn't count people whose benefits have run out."}, {"response": 76, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jul 11, 2006 (01:30)", "body": "Exactly!, which was the point I was going to bring up, but as you can see, I decided to go to sleep. ;-) I have a couple of things bookmarked on that...for another time. Thought this was an interesting, \"easy\" read on State Fiscal Crises. http://www.cbpp.org/12-8-04sfp.pdf NJ and NY are basically the same, and the most of any except California and Texas."}, {"response": 77, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jul 11, 2006 (01:34)", "body": "Dorine) Many of the jobs being created today are lower paying that may or may not provide health insurance. And in many instances are part-time, forcing people to get more than one job...generally none with insurance for working less hours."}, {"response": 78, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Jul 11, 2006 (09:44)", "body": "Thank you, I didn't know that;-)"}, {"response": 79, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Jul 11, 2006 (10:40)", "body": "Thanks, Dorine, for the links. As for NJ restoring funding to higher ed, I'd have to see how tuition at its schools compared to other states before rendering any opinion. In my state, the U of I (Champaign-Urbana) gets more applicants than it can handle and it is impossible to get in. The cost of tuition isn't even a factor. I'm sure out-of-state students pay through the nose."}, {"response": 80, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Jul 11, 2006 (11:12)", "body": "(Dorine) Actually, over 50% of the states (30) had a projected deficit for FY 2005. If you look at the projected 2006 link/pdf file you posted later, it may appear to be half the states. But read the Notes about the methodology at bottom. Omissions from the table are mainly due to lack of data or incomplete data. It says that only a few states are projected to have a surplus in 2006; those mentioned are Delaware, Hawaii, Virginia and Wyoming. I'm sure it was an oversight that Oklahoma wasn't included. ;-) The deficit figures for Texas and as a (double-digit) percentage of its general fund astonish me, given what I've been reading here about how honky dory it is down there. ;-)"}, {"response": 81, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Jul 11, 2006 (16:49)", "body": "(karen)It says that only a few states are projected to have a surplus in 2006; those mentioned are Delaware, Hawaii, Virginia and Wyoming. I'm sure it was an oversight that Oklahoma wasn't included. ;-) \"I don't know what papers your reading\"....;-))) Oklahoma Governor Signs Tax Cut Bill Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry signs a bill into law that will cut taxes a record $627 million a year when fully implemented. Henry inked the mammoth tax plan today without a bill-signing ceremony that usually occurs with such major legislation. The tax bill is more than four times larger than a then-record $150 million tax-cut plan he signed a year ago and was one of 85 measures that were passed during a three-day special session last week. The others were funding bills, including a record $6.6 billion general appropriations bill as part of a $7.1 billion spending plan. Lawmakers had a huge surplus to work with this year mainly because of a growing economy fed by high energy prices. Under the tax relief package, the top income tax rate will drop from 6.25% to 5.5% over the next three years and to 5.25% in the fourth year if the economy continues to grow. The measure also eliminates the estate tax over the next three years and raises the standard deduction to the federal level over four years, eliminating income taxes for 45,000 families who don't itemize deductions In addition a bunch of $$$went for higher ed..and $3,000. /yr raise for teachers .....whether they're good or bad. I don't know about Texas budget...I only know they have jobs."}, {"response": 82, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jul 11, 2006 (17:54)", "body": "*clap clap* Yeah for the Okies! You are indeed lucky. a growing economy fed by high energy prices. Oil industry? They way we're all getting gouged, it wouldn't be surprising. At least someone's getting some good out of it. Linda, you should move to OK. ;-)"}, {"response": 83, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Jul 11, 2006 (18:54)", "body": "Lawmakers had a huge surplus to work with this year mainly because of a growing economy fed by high energy prices. Yippeee!!! Doing wild and crazy happy dance that someone is benefitting from the outrageous gas prices. You'll recall I never said that corporate PROFITS were down. But that Reagan-era dictum, the \"trickle-down theory\" ain't happening. Corporations have been posting record profits every since... well, I'll leave that part unsaid. And they're doing it by cutting costs (exporting jobs) and getting tax breaks."}, {"response": 84, "author": "mari", "date": "Tue, Jul 11, 2006 (20:05)", "body": "At $75 a barrel and $3.00+ per gallon, yeah, I guess you got a surplus. Glad the rest of us get to help out.;-) Re: exporting jobs. At my office, we call it \"Bangaloring\" as in \"He got Bangalored\" meaning his job moved to that Indian city. Sad."}, {"response": 85, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Jul 11, 2006 (20:31)", "body": "Oil industry? They way we're all getting gouged, it wouldn't be surprising. At least someone's getting some good out of it. Hey, crude costs the same all over. Set by OPEC. Not EXON or Chevron or even Oklahoma;-) Our profit comes from more 'drilling' due to demand; not *your* $$$$$; the oil has always been here and there's more. But it costs a lot to drill...a lot more than exporting it from the Middle East. If you are paying more than me ($2.75/gal). It 's due to your state taxes or extra emission standards mandated by your state. Only a few refineries, for instance, are equipped to produce fuel for California. And then there's refineries...we haven't built one in over 10 yrs. I have one close by...not a pretty sight. Do you want one in your back yard????? It's a complicated issue."}, {"response": 86, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jul 11, 2006 (21:45)", "body": "If you are paying more than me ($2.75/gal). It 's due to your state taxes or extra emission standards mandated by your state. I agree with you there. That's why I always drive to PA to see my family with an almost empty tank of gas....so when I get over the bridge to Jersey, I can fill up the tank for quite a bit less (15-20 cents per gallon). PA is usually close to or at NY price."}, {"response": 87, "author": "mari", "date": "Tue, Jul 11, 2006 (22:25)", "body": "(Evelyn)Our profit comes from more 'drilling' due to demand I understand. What I meant was that at $75/barrel, there's no shortage of entities that want to drill. I saw a guy in Texas on the news the other day that showed how they were re-starting drilling in wells that had been abandoned for years. They had been idle because(and I don't know the technicals) it's more difficult to get the oil out of them, but at today's prices (which the consumer is paying, regardless of who or what caused the jump)it's well worth their while. I'm happy with my hybrid. Getting mpg in the high 20s."}, {"response": 88, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jul 11, 2006 (22:44)", "body": "(Mari) Getting mpg in the high 20s I hope that's not on the highway. ;-)"}, {"response": 89, "author": "mari", "date": "Tue, Jul 11, 2006 (23:00)", "body": "LOL, no that's almost exclusively city driving. You can do better mileage-wise, but this is a good-sized vehicle. I don't do small cars.;-) And, depending on what you buy, you get a federal tax credit for at least half of the add'l cost of the hybrid. It wasn't primarily a cost-savings thing for me, though. It just felt like the right thing to do. I'm one of those people who believes global warming is here *now,* and that oui all have a lot to do with it."}, {"response": 90, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jul 11, 2006 (23:32)", "body": "Did you ever catch An Inconvenient Truth?"}, {"response": 91, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Jul 11, 2006 (23:35)", "body": "(Evelyn) If you are paying more than me ($2.75/gal). It 's due to your state taxes or extra emission standards mandated by your state. Only a few refineries, for instance, are equipped to produce fuel for California. *cough cough* The tax portion is a relative constant. Take a look at the table here: From the Gas Primer section, from 2003 to 2004, the state and local tax portion of a gallon's cost went down, while both \"refining and profits\" and basic crude oil went up. I love pictures! ;-) BTW, the primer is pretty decent. Too bad it hasn't been updated for 2006 data, but it does attribute the cost increases primarily to crude oil prices and \"supply and demand.\" California, as you'll note, has its own unique circumstances. BTW, I try to buy my gas in the burbs, especially in other counties. That way I save maybe 25 cents a gallon, depending on where I am. (Mari) They had been idle because(and I don't know the technicals) it's more difficult to get the oil out of them Costs too much to get out of the ground. Aha! I've figured it out. Raise prices to cut our dependence on foreign oil. Make it cost-effective to drill domestically again. ;-) http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/petroleum/analysis_publications/primer_on_gasoline_prices/html/petbro.html http://www.eia.doe.gov/oil_gas/petroleum/data_publications/wrgp/mogas_home_page.html"}, {"response": 92, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jul 12, 2006 (01:39)", "body": "Pretty pictures! ;-) I'd like to know what the average profit margin is per oil company. I mean, what kind of profit margin do they have with $10 BILLION in profits in *one quarter*. ONE! In *one* company! However, retail prices are likely to remain elevated as long as some refineries remain shut down and the U.S. gasoline market continues to stretch supplies to their limit. *snort* Why would they want to rush to get those refineries back on line and cut into their newfound increase in profits. Thanks, Karen. That primer was interesting and easy to understand. I'm curious how the world supply and prices would be without the war in Iraq. Really, the main answer is to stop relying on it so much."}, {"response": 93, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jul 12, 2006 (01:45)", "body": "(Evelyn) Hey, crude costs the same all over. Set by OPEC. Well only on the crude that comes from the 11 OPEC nations. Not from the crude we drill ourselves. I hope anyway. It better be cheaper domestically. Though, for all I know, our prices are set the same as what we import."}, {"response": 94, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Jul 12, 2006 (09:59)", "body": "(Evelyn) Hey, crude costs the same all over. Set by OPEC. (Dorine) Well only on the crude that comes from the 11 OPEC nations. Is there anyone here who really believes that OPEC operates independently and that US companies' interests are not part of the whole thing?"}, {"response": 95, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jul 12, 2006 (10:17)", "body": "Not really, especially where it concerns the Saudis. But actually, my point was only that the US is not an actual member of OPEC for edification."}, {"response": 96, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Jul 12, 2006 (17:45)", "body": "We only get , I think 5% ,of our oil domestically. (You all who have more time can look up the stats;-) Rest comes from Canada, Venezuela (Citgo), and Mexico. We will never be completely independent. We consume what 25% of world oil??? And climbing. Scandalous. Look at the monstrous cars we drive. I'm with you Mari. My next car will be a hybrid. (Tiny one..saw a cute Prius today)"}, {"response": 97, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jul 12, 2006 (19:26)", "body": "Wow, talk about dependence. The world has the US by the balls....various countries with our energy supply and Asia financially. :-( And China is actually projected to be the biggest (or one of the biggest) drain on the world's energy supply in the coming years. It's already accelerating at a scary rate now from what I've seen. Scandalous. Look at the monstrous cars we drive. Funny you say that. When I was walking down the street in my neighborhood the other day, I was noticing that a large percentage of vehicles were SUV's and thought how ridiculous that was at this point in time for people to buy one and how much trouble we're in somewhat because of them. At least they weren't Hummers. ;-) I feel kinda good at the moment for not contributing to over usage of gas as I don't drive my car to work anymore, so I use the car maybe at most half a dozen times a month, mostly not that far. I have a small car with decent gas mileage as I always have anyway. Though I'm not feeling so good paying those car payments to let it sit there. ;-)"}, {"response": 98, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Jul 13, 2006 (16:36)", "body": "Talking about automobiles.... Chinese Company Intends to Build MG\ufffds in Oklahoma http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/12/business/12cnd-auto.html?_r=1&oref=slogin Nice coup for us. We lost a GM plant recently Dell just built a huge plant in OKC last yr. Okla is business-friendly state. Texas is the best of all; no state income tax!"}, {"response": 99, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jul 13, 2006 (18:48)", "body": "Oooh, hope they build 'em better than they used to. They used to nickel and dime (and occasionally a dollar) you to death. I had a friend who had one years ago. Dell just built a huge plant in OKC last yr. Perhaps not a good move. Their stock dropped today when an analyst downgraded them. I think they warned on earnings recently. I didn't see if their quarterly report is out. Brought much of the market down today if I skimmed correctly. news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 106, "subject": "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World", "response_count": 1999, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Nov  7, 2006 (15:08)", "body": "Hello, everyone! I've been toying with the idea of this topic for quite some time, more so every time I was enraged about a variety of topics in world current events such as the Iraq War, US politics, mistreatment of the environment (which at some points was weekly). I wanted a place to discuss things about the news, politics, and general world events and interests with my regular board friends (and lurkers) in more detail than the usual discussion on the Odds and Ends board I usually hang out on. I hope to get a lot of input from those outside of the US as well. I'll periodically post news I think may be of interest from all over the world. While it may navigate toward it, I don't want it to necessarily be a US-centric topic. I'd like to learn about others thoughts about politics and culture in their countries as well as other countries opinions about us (odd as it may seem ;-)), such as comparing and contrasting health care systems in various countries compared to the US. This place is for spririted discussion. Don't be shy. Welcome and hope to see you around! To begin the festivities, here's something I hope you find as amusing as I have, in a good natured way. http://youtube.com/watch?v=tw3ccbuCEEE"}, {"response": 2, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Nov  7, 2006 (15:38)", "body": "Bloody hell! Ran out to vote and thought I could come back here and post that I was first. But Letterman's Top 10 was a hoot."}, {"response": 3, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Nov  7, 2006 (17:32)", "body": "Love the title, Dorine. I guess this is where all the \"We love Berlusconi\" comments should be. ;-D Loved the top 10, too."}, {"response": 4, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Nov  7, 2006 (17:35)", "body": "I think that was Karen's title suggestion. I was looking to New World Disorder."}, {"response": 5, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Nov  7, 2006 (17:45)", "body": "(Karen) Letterman's Top 10 was a hoot. Poor Barney. :-( Cleaning the glasses on the Letterman PA...LOL!"}, {"response": 6, "author": "Kathryn", "date": "Tue, Nov  7, 2006 (18:12)", "body": "Loved the Letterman Top 10 but also felt acute embarrassment that *this* person is our president."}, {"response": 7, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Nov  7, 2006 (18:51)", "body": "(Kathryn) but also felt acute embarrassment that *this* person is our president. Longest case of embarrassment I've ever had."}, {"response": 8, "author": "BonnieR", "date": "Tue, Nov  7, 2006 (21:40)", "body": "\"The stare\" had me ROTHLMAO...I could see the little wheels spinning and getting nowhere."}, {"response": 9, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Nov  7, 2006 (23:43)", "body": "(Kathryn) felt acute embarrassment that *this* person is our president. That skit really does send the message right on home, doesn't it. Well, after tonight, I pray that my Congress will stop embarrassing me as well (and both parties have been to blame for that, but of course only one had all the power)."}, {"response": 10, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Nov  8, 2006 (10:49)", "body": "Finally a woman Speaker of the House! I have faith that VA will tip the Senate too after the recount. What matters most is that Webb is ahead."}, {"response": 11, "author": "mari", "date": "Wed, Nov  8, 2006 (11:16)", "body": "Moon, I was thinking about you watching those VA returns late last night, and I have a bone to pick: what is it with you and living in states where the elections are always controversial!? ;-) Finally a woman Speaker of the House! I like her. But why has she been vilified in the conservative press and talk radio? Disagreeing with her views is one thing; that's their right. But, my goodness, some of the sewage I've heard spewed on the airwaves is beyond the pale. You'd have thought she was the shoe bomber or something."}, {"response": 12, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Nov  8, 2006 (12:06)", "body": "(Mari), what is it with you and living in states where the elections are always controversial!? ;-) LOL! And let's not forget Italy's last election too. A total sham. There's proof that the people checking the ballots (in Italy it's still done on paper!!!), had hidden in their nails small pencil lead and they crossed out Berlusconi's name and checked Prodi's. I like her. But why has she been vilified in the conservative press and talk radio? Disagreeing with her views is one thing; that's their right. But, my goodness, some of the sewage I've heard spewed on the airwaves is beyond the pale. That's what I want to know too. Pelosi has giant potential and they just want to squash her with the usul tactics of lies and more lies. Just think of that insane idiot she's replacing. I hear she will lead the fight to get rid of Rumsfeld, not a minute too soon! And what of Mrs. Dole's comment about people who vote for the democrats didn't want to win the war in Iraq? There is not one ounce of sanity in that Republican group."}, {"response": 13, "author": "Kathryn", "date": "Wed, Nov  8, 2006 (12:50)", "body": "(Moon) And what of Mrs. Dole's comment about people who vote for the democrats didn't want to win the war in Iraq? Another typical Republican voice heard from along the same lines of \"If one questions the actions of one's leaders, one is automatically acting in an un-American manner\"."}, {"response": 14, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Nov  8, 2006 (12:57)", "body": "Wow, MSNBC has breaking AP news that states Rumsfeld to step down. I won't be able to follow it up til late tonight most likely."}, {"response": 15, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Nov  8, 2006 (13:10)", "body": "(Moon) Just think of that insane idiot she's replacing. You referring to the idiot from my state, whose voters continue to reelect morons, crooks (unless they've been sent to prison) and handpicked, unqualified sons of stroke victims? ;-) I'm thrilled about Pelosi and disgusted by the way she's been discussed by some of the media."}, {"response": 16, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Nov  8, 2006 (13:14)", "body": "I feel for you, Karen, but right now it's time to celebrate because that conceited smug power hungry idiot, Rumsfeld is OUT! From the AP: WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, architect of an unpopular war in Iraq, intends to resign after six stormy years at the Pentagon, Republican officials said Wednesday. Officials said Robert Gates, former head of the CIA under the first President Bush, would replace Rumsfeld. NBC News\ufffd Tim Russert confirmed Rumsfeld\ufffds resignation and the replacement pick. Jon Stewart is mandatory watch tonight."}, {"response": 17, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Nov  8, 2006 (13:35)", "body": "(Moon) Rumsfeld is OUT! And Rumsfeld used to be the congressman from the area where I grew up."}, {"response": 18, "author": "soph", "date": "Wed, Nov  8, 2006 (14:56)", "body": "sorry to butt in in \"internal affairs row\", but i just saw yesterday's colbert and... well.... LLLLOOOOLLLL! so, i have to agree with you moon: (moon) \"Jon Stewart is mandatory watch tonight\" will catch it tomorrow on the web (eventhough they're not on youtube aymore, damn!) btw, interesting GWB video where he announces rumsfeld's quitting at the latimes site"}, {"response": 19, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Nov  8, 2006 (17:17)", "body": "(Sophie) sorry to butt in in \"internal affairs row\", Please don't apologize!! It's exactly one of the things I wanted on this topic, \"external\" input and opinions as well about anything discussed here. :-D"}, {"response": 20, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Nov  8, 2006 (17:18)", "body": "Jon Stewart is mandatory watch tonight. Ha! I thought this was from the AP blurb, too, LOL!"}, {"response": 21, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Nov  8, 2006 (17:28)", "body": "OMG, I didn't realize Dems took the House *AND* the Senate! Yay!! *runs to store for champagne*"}, {"response": 22, "author": "Kathryn", "date": "Wed, Nov  8, 2006 (21:06)", "body": "(Dorine) I didn't realize Dems took the House *AND* the Senate Haven't checked the news in the last hour, but the last I knew Virginia was still an undecided state. The Dems need that one for the majority. Otherwise, it's 50/50, and Cheney's vote would always go to the Rep. side."}, {"response": 23, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Nov  8, 2006 (21:19)", "body": "Webb had done a victory speech, but they just called it in the last 20-30 mins."}, {"response": 24, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Nov  8, 2006 (22:48)", "body": "World welcomes shift in U.S. politics By PAUL HAVEN, Associated Press Writer 17 minutes ago MADRID, Spain - The electoral rebuke for President Bush and the resignation of his defense secretary, both deeply unpopular away from American shores over the Iraq war, was celebrated throughout Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Still, there was concern Wednesday that a Washington power split and a severely weakened Bush might mean uncertainty in crucial areas like global trade talks. On Iraq, some worried that Democrats will force a too-rapid retreat, leaving the country and the region in chaos. Others said they doubted the congressional turnover would have a dramatic impact on Iraq policy any time soon, largely because the Democrats have yet to define the course they want to take. But from Paris to Pakistan, politicians, analysts and ordinary citizens said Wednesday they hoped the Democratic takeover of both Houses of Congress would force Bush to adopt a more conciliatory approach to global crises, and teach a president many see as a \"cowboy\" a lesson in humility. In an extraordinary joint statement, more than 200 Socialist members of the European Parliament hailed the American election results as \"the beginning of the end of a six-year nightmare for the world.\" Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who has consistently railed against the Bush administration, called the election \"a reprisal vote.\" In Paris, American expatriates and French citizens alike packed the city's main American haunts to watch results overnight and early Wednesday, with some standing to cheer or boo as vote tabulations came in. One Frenchman, 53-year-old teacher Jean-Pierre Charpemtrat, said it was about time U.S. voters figured out what much of the rest of the world already knew. \"Americans are realizing that you can't found the politics of a country on patriotic passion and reflexes,\" he said. \"You can't fool everybody all the time \ufffd and I think that's what Bush and his administration are learning today.\" Bush is deeply unpopular in many countries, with particularly intense opposition to the war in Iraq, the U.S. terror holding facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and allegations of Washington-sanctioned interrogation methods that some equate with torture. Many said they thought the big gains by Democrats signaled the beginning of the end of Bush's tenure. In Copenhagen, Denmark, Jens Langfeldt, 35, said he didn't know much about the midterm elections but was opposed to Bush, referring to the president as \"that cowboy.\" In Sri Lanka, some said they hoped the rebuke would force Bush to abandon a unilateral approach to global issues. \"The Americans have made it clear that current American policy should change in dealing with the world, from a confrontational approach, to a more consensus-based and bridge-building approach,\" said Jehan Perera, a political analyst. The Democratic win means \"there will be more control and restraint\" over U.S. foreign policy. Passions were even higher in Pakistan, where Bush is deeply unpopular despite billions in aid and support for President Gen. Pervez Musharraf. One opposition lawmaker, Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, said he welcomed the election result, but was hoping for more. Bush \"deserves to be removed, put on trial and given a Saddam-like death sentence,\" he said. But while the result clearly produced more jubilation than jitters, there were also some deep concerns. In Denmark, Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen told broadcaster TV2 he hoped the president and the new Congress would find \"common ground on questions about Iraq and Afghanistan.\" \"The world needs a vigorous U.S.A.,\" Fogh Rasmussen said. There was also some concern that Democrats, who have a reputation for being more protective of U.S. jobs going overseas, will make it harder to achieve a global free trade accord. And in China, some feared the resurgence of the Democrats would increase tension over human rights and trade and labor issues. China's surging economy has a massive trade surplus with the United States. \"The Democratic Party ... will protect the interests of small and medium American enterprises and labor and that could produce an impact on China-U.S. trade relations,\" Zhang Guoqing of the state-run Chinese Academy of Social Sciences said in a report on Sina.com, one of China's most popular Internet portals. The prospect of a sudden change in American foreign policy could also be troubling to U.S. allies such as Britain, Japan and Australia, which have thrown their support behind the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. Asked whether the resignation of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld signaled a new direction in the war that has claimed the lives of more than 2,800 U.S. troops, Bush said, \"Well, there's certainly going to be new leadership at the Pentagon.\" \"The problem for Arabs now is, an American withdrawal (from Iraq) could be a security disaster for the entire region,\" said Mustafa Alani, an Iraqi analyst for the Gulf Research Center in Dubai. He"}, {"response": 25, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Nov  9, 2006 (10:30)", "body": "In Italy they are discussing dividing Iraq in three. It makes perfect sense to me. Kurds, Sunnis and Shiites. I hope the US gives the plan due consideration. Of course, the Isreali/Palistenian problem will also have to be agressively addressed."}, {"response": 26, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Nov  9, 2006 (10:39)", "body": "Wasn't Iraq in 3 parts until the British moved in? Or was it Saddam who tied it all together with his iron fisted rule?"}, {"response": 27, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Nov 12, 2006 (23:46)", "body": "I always love me my Mr. Rich of the NYT. He's always \"Frank\" and to the point. If you can't access this link and want to read it, I'll post it all or email it to whoever wants it. http://select.nytimes.com/2006/11/12/opinion/12rich.html?em&ex=1163480400&en=1d78cd6cc81d5649&ei=5087%0A"}, {"response": 28, "author": "Kathryn", "date": "Tue, Dec  5, 2006 (17:35)", "body": "As Dorine suggested, continuing some comments here about to help or not to help, that is the question. :-) I think living in a huge city or being alone on the street make differences in one's behavior. There are good sections and bad sections in any town or city, and I wouldn't suggest smiling at people in dangerous areas. On the whole, though, where I live it is more the rule to smile at people as you walk along rather than scowling. However, I certainly behave very carefully when I've been in LA, London, NYC, or any large city on my own. Even so, that doesn't mean one still can't show curtesies to others, like giving up one's seat for an elderly person, helping pick up dropped items, that sort of thing. Of course, common sense has to be used, as well. I'm not condoning acting foolishly to earn a merit badge. ;-)"}, {"response": 29, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Dec  5, 2006 (18:46)", "body": "(Kathryn) I wouldn't suggest smiling at people in dangerous areas. Of course that should be avoided, but I don't go to dangerous areas or good areas at dangerous times as a rule. In fact, I pretty much have a rule about riding the subway after 11 at the latest. I simply ride the subway on my regular travels or to normal areas. Or walk down any regular street to shop or whatever. Or walk in the Park. They ride the subway to go the same places as everyone else. Sometimes they just do nothing but ride. You can always tell at a glance what subway car *not* to ride in as it zooms past you into the station (they come in fast here usually). If you see a car that has *no* people on it (or maybe one or 2), most people will automatically know to head for another car as most likely there's a homeless person in it who is 1)unstable or 2) awake or asleep, most likely laying down on the bench(seats) and smells rather pungent. Or 3) both. I'm sure these issues are much more prevalent in highly populated urban areas vs. ones less populated or even suburban or more rural areas. Even so, that doesn't mean one still can't show curtesies to others, like giving up one's seat for an elderly person, helping pick up dropped items, that sort of thing Oh, absolutely! There was an \"editorial\" in one of our little morning daily papers about giving up seats for the elderly and how it seems so many don't do it. There were some interesting letters in reply. Quite a few people said that many decline (which at least some ask) and many figure that if they wanted a seat, they'd ask. I'm not condoning acting foolishly to earn a merit badge. ;-) No, but sometimes the most innocuous things will set people off. I had one guy once talk at me and virtually yell at me the whole few stops I was on a subway once and all I did was sit down. I was even a ways down the car. Quite frankly, at first, I didn't realize he was directing his comments at me. I've gotten off cars to avoid people like that, too, but it sometimes has to be done right, or they'll get off with you, intentionally or not."}, {"response": 30, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Dec  5, 2006 (18:58)", "body": "I'm moving this over, too... (Mari) Yes, the mentally ill comprises a large portion of our homeless here. The numbers of them on the street really jumped when the laws were changed making it much more diffcult to have someone committed to a mental hospital, due to past abuses of that ability. Not the only cause, the use of drugs is a big part too. The homeless here tend not to be the little girl and her pregnant mum. How is it in the UK And in many instances, the drug and alcohol use is for self-medication because they can't stand taking the medications due to significant side effects, such as weight gain, or can't get the drugs at all. I, too, am curious about the mentally ill are treated in the UK, meaning how are services covered? Under NHS? I was at a party last night with mostly Brits and got into a conversation with one about the NHS, but it was related to more musculoskeletal and medical issues and diagnoses vs. mental health treatment. Can someone in the UK shed some general light on that? Is that one of the covered services? Is it comprehensive? In any event, people's fear of getting involved is often justifed, as those commentators noted. Is that (legitimate, IMO) fear addressed or acknowledged in the show? I figured answers for this might be applicable here, too."}, {"response": 31, "author": "Kathryn", "date": "Tue, Dec  5, 2006 (20:56)", "body": "(Dorine) sometimes the most innocuous things will set people off. Agreed, and I would imagine, if one went through an experience such as you did, one would be leery of doing anything to provaoke any kind of reaction. I do not live in a big city, but, if I did, I'm sure my attitudes would become more self-protective out of necessity. (Dorine) (offering seats to the elderly)Quite a few people said that many decline (which at least some ask) I wonder what \"elderly\" is to some people? Anyone with gray hair? If so, I'd quality. ;-) Every elderly person to whom I've offered my seat has gratefully accepted. (Dorine) and many figure that if they wanted a seat, they'd ask. This is making excuses for shoddy behavior and putting the responsibity on the wrong shoulders, IMO. Many elderly people are easily intimidated and might be afraid of a confrontation developing, as you've mentioned before over something so simple. The younger, healthier people have the responsiblity to be polite and *make* the offer."}, {"response": 32, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Dec  5, 2006 (21:25)", "body": "Every elderly person to whom I've offered my seat has gratefully accepted Again, different worlds. I've asked plenty and they don't often enough (the ones that appear pretty healthy and fit). Sometimes it's just because they're only going a stop or 2. But I think it may be a pride thing that they're still quite able or they just feel good and don't want to sit. I don't know. Ha, matter of fact, occasionally one will ask me if I want to sit. I don't remember if it's because I may have my briefcase or some other stuff with me or they just ask because I'm a woman (the men of course). Speaking of helping people, this one not an elderly person, but yesterday I'm waiting to get on the bus because this seemingly very young (early 20's at the oldest) person in front of me had her ~8-12 month old (I'm bad guessing that age group) in the stroller and was having a hard time getting the kid out, holding him? and trying to fold the stroller. I held the stroller with my foot initially, but then she had such a hard time trying to unlock it to fold it while holding her baby (who was *sound* asleep) that I ended up folding it for her *and* carrying it up the bus steps (it was a tad heavy) while holding my briefcase in the other hand. Now, to be perfectly honest, I wasn't being 100% altruistic. I had a train at Penn Station to catch and I needed to get going. At the rate she was going, we'd have been there another hour (exaggerated of course, but time was a bit of the essence at that point). The poor thing had such a hard time getting settled on the bus trying to hold him and get the big stroller under a seat. Amazingly the bus was quite empty, which is unusual. Funny thing is, she walks over to me 2 rows back and asks if I'll hold the baby until she gets her stuff settled. Can you imagine?! Very trusting of her. He was kind of heavy, too, but after 3 or 4 mins she gets him and we were off. She had a bit of a time getting off the bus, too, but it was easier. She basically dropped the stroller down the stairs. She needed a much lighter, slightly less bulky stroller."}, {"response": 33, "author": "Kathryn", "date": "Tue, Dec  5, 2006 (21:43)", "body": "Ah, you did your Donovan Quick help-with-the stroller audition. :-) This is the kind of thing that should be happening all the time, but it's amazing how many people suddenly become oblivious. Tsk on them. I think it's perfectly acceptable to do something good for someone else that also benefits the person helping. A win-win situation. Have you seen the commercial (can't remember if it's for a bank or investment firm) where a man retrives a doll that's fallen from a baby's stroller, a bystander sees this and later helps someone, who helps someone else....a chain reaction of people being helpful and kind to others. I wish that's how it were in RL. A true gentleman should always offer his seat to a lady....although I'm sure the rules change during commuting time on mass transit in big cities. ;-)"}, {"response": 34, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Dec  5, 2006 (21:50)", "body": "(Kathryn) a man retrives a doll that's fallen from a baby's stroller, a bystander sees this and later helps someone, who helps someone else....a chain reaction of people being helpful and kind to others. Isn't there a movie not dissimilar to this?"}, {"response": 35, "author": "Kathryn", "date": "Tue, Dec  5, 2006 (21:59)", "body": "(Dorine) Isn't there a movie not dissimilar to this? I hope this isn't a trick question because my mind's a complete blank. :-)"}, {"response": 36, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Dec  5, 2006 (22:01)", "body": "Not to completely change the subject, but been wanting to ask this for a while....is anyone following that story about the former Russian spy being killed in London? WHAT a story! Right out of John Le Carre, James Bond or somebody like that. You know the negotiations about movie rights are being planned now."}, {"response": 37, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Dec  5, 2006 (22:03)", "body": "LOL, no trick questions. Just sounds like it's something that would've been a movie. Maybe a feelgood Lifetime movie. :-)"}, {"response": 38, "author": "Kathryn", "date": "Tue, Dec  5, 2006 (22:05)", "body": "The Dec. 11th issue of Newsweek has an article about this and other highly suspicious deaths of people who've criticized the Kremlin. I haven't had a chance to read it yet."}, {"response": 39, "author": "mari", "date": "Tue, Dec  5, 2006 (22:51)", "body": "The \"pass on the good deeds\" movie you're thinking of is Pay it Forward. Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt, Haley Joel Osment. I liked it, but was one of the few.;-)"}, {"response": 40, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Dec  5, 2006 (22:52)", "body": "Thank you, yes!"}, {"response": 41, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Dec  5, 2006 (23:21)", "body": "Moving from News.... (Janet) I find the coldness of Londoners rather strange. On the tube, people will not make eye contact, Not surprisingly, pretty much exactly like NYC. Funny thing now that I think of it, when I was watching Sliding Doors a couple of weeks ago, the scene where GP and John Hannah meet on the tube and he keeps talking to her even though she obviously is uncomfortable and doesn't want to be bothered, bothered me. I even said to my friend that it was rather freaky behavior and he would be thought at the very least annoying if not seriously crazy here. By the same token, occasionally some people \"connect\" across a train car because someone is acting odd or in some other amusing way and occasionally you catch a glance at someone else looking back at you and you're both sort of smiling. Or if someone is very irritating and we are all annoyed and surreptitiously acknowledging that fact with glances. Fascinating dynamics actually."}, {"response": 42, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Dec  5, 2006 (23:52)", "body": "(Kathryn) I think living in a huge city or being alone on the street make differences in one's behavior. It's not the place; it's whether a person has commonsense or not. There are idiotic people everywhere. But there are homeless types hanging out all over the place. Some you get used to seeing. There's a guy who opens the door for everyone at the post office I go to (right smack dab in the middle of city university) and tries to sell you a Streetwise. He's there every day. Or the guys who stand on my off ramps from the expressway... (Kathryn) Even so, that doesn't mean one still can't show curtesies to others, like giving up one's seat for an elderly person... (Dorine) There was an \"editorial\" in one of our little morning daily papers about giving up seats for the elderly and how it seems so many don't do it. No kidding! It's disgusting IMO. Who raised these people? Not only will I give up my seat for the elderly but I'll also give it up for a pregnant woman. Moreover, I'll pop up even faster if there's an able-bodied man/boy sitting next to me. I love to shame them. Did it a few weeks ago for a grey-haired woman (very able BTW) and the kid next to then offerred to give up his. I told her that was my plan. ;-) Quite a few people said that many decline (which at least some ask) and many figure that if they wanted a seat, they'd ask. What a crock! I'm telling you, they were raised by animals. BTW, these same people will ignore a single line at a bank or post office, thinking that all the people must be waiting for Godot or something and walk right up to a clerk or behind the person at the window, starting a new line. Animals, I'm telling ya. (Dorine) occasionally one will ask me if I want to sit. I don't remember if it's because I may have my briefcase or some other stuff with me or they just ask because I'm a woman (the men of course). I never see men giving up their seats anymore. They bury their heads in a newspaper."}, {"response": 43, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Wed, Dec  6, 2006 (04:16)", "body": "(Janet) I find the coldness of Londoners rather strange. On the tube, people will not make eye contact My DH is a daily commuter into London, he won't make either eye contact or spark up a conversation with a stranger on a train or the tube, mostly from an aspect of safety. However, I think that if he saw a woman in genuine distress, but whom was on her own, that he would help. Of course he is London street savvy and would first weigh up the situation at the time. In fact it wasn't all that long ago that I remember reading about a fatal and shocking stabbing which occured on a crowded Glasgow to Paignton train. It was a crowded carriage. The full story can be read at the link below and Ive posted relevent excerpts from the article here. So it would seem that its advisable to be cautious whereever one is travelling. (on the platform) \"He did nothing more than just a look, it cost him his life. The defendant objected to that look and said words to the effect, 'what the f*** are you looking at? I will stab you in a minute'. (on the train) Witnesses told the court how Wood stabbed the student after storming up and down the 10.10 Virgin train from Glasgow to Paignton \"looking for trouble and looking for eye contact\". http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/11/10/utrain110.xml"}, {"response": 44, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Wed, Dec  6, 2006 (04:21)", "body": "Oppss, my first time over at Dorine's topic and Ive stuffed up. I also meant to add this quote in my above post for the relevency of Dorine's comment to my post. (Dorine)Or if someone is very irritating and we are all annoyed and surreptitiously acknowledging that fact with glances."}, {"response": 45, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Wed, Dec  6, 2006 (04:27)", "body": "Oh gawd,Ive stuffed up again, I am sorry Dorine, *tapping my wrists* ;-) I should also have made it clear that I was bringing Janet's quote over from the CF news topic. Not sure if I should have posted over there to make mention that I have moved her quote over to here though? Think I will quit whilst I am still ahead, \"Not\" ;-)"}, {"response": 46, "author": "lindak", "date": "Wed, Dec  6, 2006 (06:09)", "body": "There was/is an ABC Primetime show being advertised for this week. Don't know if it has aired or if it's on tonight. It's called Basic Instincts, and from the looks of the commercials it's all about what people do in public situations. They show people walking by children that are being hit, figths, etc. The premise of the segment is that we will be shocked over our own basic reactions."}, {"response": 47, "author": "slpeg2003", "date": "Wed, Dec  6, 2006 (06:29)", "body": "(Lindak) It's called Basic Instincts It is tonight a 10e/9c http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/"}, {"response": 48, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Dec  6, 2006 (09:29)", "body": "As Sue wrote, you always have to size up the situation and determine whether you could put yourself in danger. If the person looks out of control, yes, you'd walk past, but you might look around to see if there's a cop around or call one if necessary. One thing I've learned is never get between a parent and child. Even when you're attempting to be helpful, they consider you out of line."}, {"response": 49, "author": "slpeg2003", "date": "Wed, Dec  6, 2006 (11:48)", "body": "(Janet) I find the coldness of Londoners rather strange. On the tube, people will not make eye contact, (Dorine) Not surprisingly, pretty much exactly like NYC. Living in the land of big cars, I can only use public transport on vacation. Some of my favorite recent travel moments have come from from talking to people on the Tube or buses in London, vaporetto in Venice, trams in Austria. Maybe people are just nice to tourists- I found that every time we pulled out a map on the bus in Edinburgh, some little old man would pop up and offer to help us find our way;-) I used to be embarrassed when my grandmother or father would strike up a conversation with total strangers. Now I often find myself doing that very thing. (Karen) Who raised these people? Not only will I give up my seat for the elderly but I'll also give it up for a pregnant woman. Moreover, I'll pop up even faster if there's an able-bodied man/boy sitting next to me. I don't know who raised these people, either. I do know that schools nationwide are now adding 'character education' to their curricula, because the students are coming to school without apparent knowledge of manners, respect for others, and ethics (cheating is rampant). They are not learning these things at home or church:-( Love your 'kick them in the cajones' attitude! (Karen) One thing I've learned is never get between a parent and child. Even when you're attempting to be helpful, they consider you out of line I'm surprised Dorine's help was so accepted by the mom on the bus. I have offered help at times and been treated like a potential kidnapper. They won't stop me though from holding open the door for moms with strollers and/or toddlers."}, {"response": 50, "author": "slpeg2003", "date": "Wed, Dec  6, 2006 (11:51)", "body": "Drat, my pseudonym isn't cooperating!"}, {"response": 51, "author": "lindak", "date": "Wed, Dec  6, 2006 (13:20)", "body": "(Karen)Even when you're attempting to be helpful, they consider you out of line. I know it. I've given, what I consider, killer glares to people that seem to be a bit out of control with their children. Granted, a two-year-old's melt down in a mall can sound like someone is killing the child, but when I see a parent hitting a child, it makes my stomach flip. Thanks, for the TV info. Peg"}, {"response": 52, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Dec  7, 2006 (10:41)", "body": "(Peg) They won't stop me though from holding open the door for moms with strollers and/or toddlers. Same here. Takes a few seconds and I'm not in *that* big a hurry."}, {"response": 53, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Dec 13, 2006 (00:41)", "body": "I went to the Mumia thing on Sat night. Walking up to the church I noticed a crowd outside. Two groups, one on the stairs, another just at the edge of the sidewalk in the street in front of them. Both side shouting at one another. The group at the sidewalk had a couple of very large American flags (one the old fashioned kind with the 13 stars in a circle and '76 in the middle) and a good sized banner that said Lynne Stewart, something something, traitor at heart...or something to that effect. She was speaking at the gathering. For those who don't know who Lynne Stewart is, she was the lawyer for Sheik Abdel Rahman (the convicted and jailed plotter of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing). She was herself just last year convicted of aiding and abetting terrorism by passing messages to his followers outside the country. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynne_Stewart I walked through the 2 groups while trying to figure out where I could stand to watch this spectacle and look for anyone else of interest. For all I know ME or someone could've been inside already as it was about 10 of 7 when I got there. There were quite a number of people milling back and forth by the doorway inside. I saw some people standing and staring at all this at the edge of the park across the street and decided that would be safest. Not much of an obvious police presence at first, except for the trailer about 20 yards at the corner where quite a few were just hanging out. People kept asking this kid next to me what was going on, which he got tired of answering after a while. Ironically, he had no idea who Lynne Stewart is, so I told him. He said he was 5 at the time of the bombing. The thing that really struck me about it all as really quite comical was as time went how they all sounded like 5 year olds yelling back and forth at one another. \"You're a Nazi! You're a Nazi!\", and various other things back and forth. I can't tell you how many times I heard the word Nazi that night. One woman who seemed to be a rather obvious Mumia supporter just by looking at her, came out later and got into a yelling match with them and just kept yelling \"punk\" at them. I'm telling ya, it was pretty ridiculous. And I'm not mentioning the half of it. Occasionally, someone on the street with the sidewalk group would take pics. Finally the police did intervene a bit at times, but it was only one guy. I kinda felt sorry for him. Don't know where the others got to. There were about 7-10 people max for each side standing out there at any given time. The people on the steps rotated as some I guess got tired of yelling and went in and others came out. I got there around 10 to 7, left at 7:15 and got the next train home at 7:30."}, {"response": 54, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Dec 16, 2006 (16:00)", "body": "Very funny bit from Colbert. \"You Americans\" should be ashamed. ;-) http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/12/16/colbert-agrees-with-delay/"}, {"response": 55, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Dec 30, 2006 (18:42)", "body": "What a day...begins with the execution of one world leader and ends with the memorial procession of another."}, {"response": 56, "author": "LisaJH", "date": "Tue, Jan  2, 2007 (17:52)", "body": "Thanks, Dorine and Karen, for this topic. Sorry for my tardiness, but I was a little distracted last month, to say the least. ;-) It's been a very odd weekend. I've had my fill of dead guys and the talking heads serving as history revisionists. In any event, I know I've shown this letter to some DDs, but I've often wondered why the Dems didn't use this in 2004 as proof that the powers that be were planning to invade Iraq long before 9/11 happened: http://www.newamericancentury.org/iraqclintonletter.htm"}, {"response": 57, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jan  5, 2007 (21:39)", "body": "In the Odd News of the Day Dept: Bra Slows Bullet Fired Into Air in Florida ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (Jan. 5) - A woman watching New Year's Eve fireworks from a picnic table found out that her bra can do more than lift and support: It also slowed a falling bullet. The .45-caliber bullet struck Debbie Bingham, 46, after someone fired a gun into the air about 20 minutes before midnight. She still needed stitches, but the wound might have been much worse except for the bra strap, police spokesman George Kajtsa said. Bingham, who was in town from Atlanta, said she is thankful for the undergarment, which she said was \"very cheap.\" \"I'd love to have a couple more of those bras,\" she said. Bingham said she was listening to music and enjoying the fireworks with her daughter and son when she felt a sharp pain in her shoulder. Then Solanda Bingham, 30, noticed blood seeping through her mother's white shirt, and they found the bullet lodged halfway into the gold-colored bra. The other half was barely breaking the skin, Bingham told WTSP-TV. Kajtsa described the wound as a \"big scratch with bruising.\" St. Petersburg police were searching for the shooter to determine if the shooting was intentional, Kajtsa said. 01/05/07 17:01 EST"}, {"response": 58, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jan  5, 2007 (22:21)", "body": "Oh and Lisa, thanks for posting that link. I could've used that a couple of months ago when having a debate with a friend of mine when she threw every administration/FOX talking point at me while we were having a lively discussion of the war, WMD (or lack thereof), the administration, etc. You know those talking points: *We needed to strike them before they got us first *No WMD were found because it was sent to (insert rogue country of your choice here) *Iraq/Saddam was involved with 9/11 *Things are better there than is being reported When I respond with the following, I get at least one of 2 responses every time: *Why didn't we attack North Korea instead? We've known they had nuclear technology for certain for a long time. They also have a psycho ruler. *The President said that Iraq/Saddam had nothing to do with 9/11 (after heavily implying they did before the war). *Point out the Downing Street Memos information, including cherry picking intelligence reports for info to fit their policy of going to Iraq *Iraq was being bombed by US and British planes for almost a year up to the start of the \"war\" to goad Saddam into attacking back and providing justification for the war. But he didn't bite. *Conditions in Iraq, especially violence/attacks is underreported *Weapons inspectors were kicked out of the country just before the impending attack even though they weren't finding anything after close to 5 months of looking (which means, how could an attack be imminent if nothing could be found?) *.....and so much more I subsequently sent significant amounts of documentation I've found on the web to back all that up as well as recommend a couple of books I've either read or are reading. The responses I get are usually one or both of the following: 1. A blank stare 2. \"But Clinton didn't....(or did)\" do something (insert random action here such as, kill Osama Bin Laden, have intern sex, etc ) I pride myself on surrounding myself with intelligent, sensible people. I'm flabbergasted to find that I know someone who *still* believes the tripe (talking points) I mentioned above, in the face of facts to the contrary from reliable sources. (though one of the 2 people I had this conversation with in the past 3 months doesn't necessarily apply to this as she was a co-worker and not someone who's a friend or who I would hang out with)."}, {"response": 59, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jan  5, 2007 (22:25)", "body": "just before the impending attack even though they weren't finding anything after close to 5 months of looking (which means, how could an attack be imminent if nothing could be found?) To clarify, the first impending attack is from the coalition, the second refers to Iraq against us."}, {"response": 60, "author": "LisaJH", "date": "Sat, Jan  6, 2007 (16:58)", "body": "I saw this on the web, and thought it was funny and sad at the same time."}, {"response": 61, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jan 11, 2007 (11:16)", "body": "Oooh, how James Bond or John Le Carre.... Updated:2007-01-11 10:04:13 Defense Contractors Warned About Spy Coins By TED BRIDIS AP WASHINGTON (Jan. 11) - Money talks, but can it also follow your movements? Mysterious Coins CIA, AP This device, fashioned to look like a silver dollar, can hold transmitters to track movements of people holding the spy coins. More Coin News : \ufffd State Quarter Program May Include D.C., Territories Talk About It: Post Thoughts In a U.S. government warning high on the creepiness scale, the Defense Department cautioned its American contractors over what it described as a new espionage threat: Canadian coins with tiny radio frequency transmitters hidden inside. The government said the mysterious coins were found planted on U.S. contractors with classified security clearances on at least three separate occasions between October 2005 and January 2006 as the contractors traveled through Canada. Intelligence and technology experts said such transmitters, if they exist, could be used to surreptitiously track the movements of people carrying the spy coins. The U.S. report doesn't suggest who might be tracking American defense contractors or why. It also doesn't describe how the Pentagon discovered the ruse, how the transmitters might function or even which Canadian currency contained them. Further details were secret, according to the U.S. Defense Security Service, which issued the warning to the Pentagon's classified contractors. The government insists the incidents happened, and the risk was genuine. http://money.aol.com/news/articles/_a/defense-contractors-warned-about-spy/20070111063409990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001"}, {"response": 62, "author": "LisaJH", "date": "Thu, Jan 11, 2007 (14:09)", "body": "In light of the President's speech last night, and his passive turn of phrase (about the war) \"mistakes have been made\", I thought this bit of Gail Sheehy's article about George Bush's obesession with winning to be very telling: _______________________________ When Barbara Bush took her 13-year-old son and his best friend, Doug Hannah, to play golf at her Houston club, George would start cursing if he didn't tee off well. His mother would tell him to quit it. By the third or fourth hole he would be yelling \"Fuck this\" until he had ensured that his mother would send him to the car. \"It fit his needs,\" says Hannah. \"He couldn't lose.\" Once, after his mother banished him from the golf course, she turned to Hannah and declared, \"That boy is going to have optical rectosis.\" What did that mean? \"She said, \ufffdA shitty outlook on life.'\" Even if he loses, his friends say, he doesn't lose. He'll just change the score, or change the rules, or make his opponent play until he can beat him. \"If you were playing basketball and you were playing to 11 and he was down, you went to 15,\" says Hannah, now a Dallas insurance executive. \"If he wasn't winning, he would quit. He would just walk off.... It's what we called Bush Effort: If I don't like the game, I take my ball and go home. Very few people can get away with that.\" So why could George get away with it? \"He was just too easygoing and too pleasant.\" Another fast friend, Roland Betts, acknowledges that it is the same in tennis. In November 1992, Bush and Betts were in Santa Fe to host a dinner party, but they had just enough time for one set of doubles. The former Yale classmates were on opposite sides of the net. \"There was only one problem\ufffdmy side won the first set,\" recalls Betts. \"O.K., then we're going two out of three,\" Bush decreed. Bush's side takes the next set. But Betts's side is winning the third set when it starts to snow. Hard, fat flakes. The catering truck pulls up. But Bush won't let anybody quit. \"He's pissed. George runs his mouth constantly,\" says Betts indulgently. \"He's making fun of your last shot, mocking you, needling you, goading you\ufffdhe never shuts up!\" They continued to play tennis through a driving snowstorm. \"George would say, 'Play that one over,' or 'I wasn't quite ready,'\" says Bush-family friend Bo Polk Jr. It is something of an in-joke with Bush's friends and family. \"In reality we all know who won, but George wants to go further to see what happens,\" says an old family friend, venture capitalist and former MGM chairman Louis \"Bo\" Polk Jr. \"George would say, \ufffdPlay that one over,' or \ufffdI wasn't quite ready.' The overtimes are what's fun, so you make your own. When you go that extra mile or that extra point ... you go to a whole new level.\" _______________________________________________ The entire article can be found here: http://gailsheehy.com/Politics/polimain_bush3.html This was first published in Vanity Fair in 2000, and the above excerpt appeared in the latest issue of VF."}, {"response": 63, "author": "LisaJH", "date": "Thu, Jan 11, 2007 (14:21)", "body": "So why could George get away with it? \"He was just too easygoing and too pleasant.\" Ha! I don't think this bit was included in the republished excerpt. Seems a bit incongruous now. ;-)"}, {"response": 64, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jan 11, 2007 (15:55)", "body": "Now he just mostly comes off petulant."}, {"response": 65, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Jan 12, 2007 (10:14)", "body": "Mali film puts West's blueprint for Africa on trial By Nick Tattersall1 hour, 42 minutes ago Africa's poorest are even worse off than they were a quarter of a century ago and despite years of debt relief, humanitarian aid and the goodwill of fund-raising rock stars, the West is to blame. So say the witnesses who line up to testify against Western financial institutions in \"Bamako,\" a scathing film by Mauritanian-born director Abderrahmane Sissako, due to be released in Britain and the United States next month. The plot is simple. Mostly poor Africans who have had no say in how their economies are run plead their case against the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, accusing them of imposing rules that have kept their nations mired in misery. Set in the dusty courtyard of his father's family compound in Mali's capital Bamako, Sissako's fantasy trial gives a voice to the voiceless, those who have felt the effects of measures imposed by Western economists but have had no easy way to reply. \"It's not so much about identifying who is guilty as denouncing the fact that the fate of hundreds of millions of people has been sealed by policies decided outside their universe,\" Sissako says on the Website www.bamako-film.com. It would be easy to dismiss this as a theatrical gesture by an intellectual blaming his continent's ills on outsiders. But what makes Sissako's film compelling is that his roll-call of witnesses are not actors but real local people, including a would-be illegal migrant, an elderly villager and a former minister. One of the first, Madou Keita, is among thousands of young Africans who have undertaken epic journeys across desert and sea to try to get into \"fortress Europe\" and find work. Keita's bid failed when he was shot at by Algerian guards in the Sahara. Former Malian culture minister Aminata Traore also takes the stand, a local hero in Bamako after she employed Malian craftsmen to renovate one of the sprawling city's dirt-strewn neighborhoods in a bid to demonstrate Africa could help itself. \"The world is certainly open to whites but it is not open to blacks,\" she says in her impassioned, unscripted testimony. WHO'S TO BLAME? The film, which opened in West Africa this month after premiering at the 2006 Cannes film festival, takes its broadest swipe at the \"structural adjustment programmes\" championed by the World Bank and IMF during the world recession of the late 1970s and early 1980s. The programmes set conditions such as cutting social expenditure and privatising state-owned enterprises in return for more loans. Critics say such measures cost badly needed jobs, profited only Western companies and left education and public health sorely underfunded. It may only be a fictional trial, but the arguments highlight a fatalistic sense felt by many Africans that the continent is a perpetual victim, once of the slave trade and colonisation, then of the Cold War and now globalisation. It is a debate which arouses strong emotions. Robert Calderisi, a development expert who spent much of his 30-year career at the World Bank and professes a passion for Africa, argues that a \"spiral of pride, anger, poverty and self pity\" has kept it behind the rest of the world. \"Africa has been making its own history since independence and has been largely free of foreign domination since the end of the Cold War,\" he wrote in his 2006 book, \"The Trouble With Africa: Why Foreign Aid Isn't Working.\" \"Adjustment did not fail in Africa; it was never given a fighting chance. Africa was bleeding to death, but instead of worrying about the haemorrhaging, African leaders complained about the pain from the tourniquet,\" Calderisi wrote. DIALOGUE OF THE DEAF \"Bamako\" steers clear of self pity and its criticism is often good-humoured. The trial is punctuated by wry snippets of Malian daily life: at one point a French lawyer defending the West is ripped off as he buys a pair of fake Gucci sunglasses from a street vendor. In another scene, the family sits around the TV in their compound to watch the evening film. It is a Western and one of the most ruthless cowboys is black, an attempt to show that \"the West alone is not responsible for Africa's ills,\" Sissako says. The IMF has taken the criticism on the chin, inviting some of those involved in the film to a recent reception in Bamako when its deputy head, John Lipsky, was in town. \"The movie does give us a strong appreciation of the communication challenges the IMF faces,\" spokeswoman Gita Bhatt said, adding the Fund was now backing programmes in many African nations designed around their own poverty-reduction strategies. \"We've listened to what donors and NGOs have said. And above all we've listened to what the governments and populations of our low-income member countries have said,\" IMF managing director Rodrigo Rato said in a visit to Gabon this month. The film's collaborators do not expect \"Bamako\" to bring about immediate change. But they hope audiences will realize the "}, {"response": 66, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jan 12, 2007 (10:52)", "body": "I was reading through this thinking what an interesting concept it is for the film when I realized I'd seen it at the NYFF. It was interesting, though a bit slow, too. It was interesting to see this trial in someone's yard, like a community gathering."}, {"response": 67, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jan 12, 2007 (10:53)", "body": "Also, I saw an ad somewhere for a show on Monday with the footage that George and Nick Clooney filmed when they were in Darfur. I don't know if it's on CNN or some other channel, nor do I know what time it's on."}, {"response": 68, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jan 16, 2007 (18:39)", "body": "Hee hee. 01 16 2007 Bob Hope Sadly Too Dead to Headline WCHA Dinner After a White House Correspondents Dinner marred by a speech that was actually, tragically funny, the WHCA has taken steps to ensure that never again will the C-SPAN-watching public accidentally crack a smile. This year\ufffds dinner guest of honor: Rich Little. Yeah, the impressionist known for his humorous takes on Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Johnny Carson, and hopefully some people who aren\ufffdt dead. C-SPAN\ufffds Steve Scully, president of the White House Correspondents\ufffd Association, said that this year, he wanted to pick someone who hadn\ufffdt previously headlined the event. The possibility of selecting Little dawned on him in November when watching Little do impersonations on \ufffdThe Late Show with David Letterman.\ufffd We\ufffdve embedded that Letterman appearance after the jump, so you can skip the dinner. If you remember the \ufffd70s, you can skip this post. Little to Head WHCA Big Night [Examiner] (The You Tube Letterman appearance is at the link.) http://wonkette.com/politics/rich-little/bob-hope-sadly-too-dead-to-headline-wcha-dinner-228966.php"}, {"response": 69, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jan 25, 2007 (10:55)", "body": "You know, I was trying to keep quiet with the SOTU speech this week (way to go Webb with the Dem response!). But I read the transcript of the Cheney interview yesterday this blog post refers to and even I had to look twice at what he said. These people really don't care about the people who are their bosses (Us!!) and either really and truly think we're *that* stupid...(I'm on the fence about that sometimes myself)....or they truly are delusional. I'll put the transcript link at the bottom. It's a long interview, but stick with it. Interesting answers from Cheney. Nice snark from the blogger. Dick Cheney On Iraq by BarbinMD Thu Jan 25, 2007 at 06:00:55 AM PST When talking about the war in Iraq, there are at least three things that you can state with absolute certainty: -That the current situation is dire because of the unending sectarian violence. -That the biggest threat comes from the militias and death squads, many that operate within the Iraqi government and security forces. -That the lack of sufficient troop levels from the outset and nonexistent post-war planning led directly to the violence we see today. That is of course, unless you are Dick Cheney. Appearing on CNN with Wolf Blitzer yesterday, Cheney had a different point of view. When Blitzer said that there was a \"terrible situation\" in Iraq today, Cheney replied: No, there is not. There is not. There's problems, ongoing problems, but we have, in fact, accomplished our objectives of getting rid of the old regime, and there is a new regime in place that's been there for less than a year, far too soon for you guys to write them off. They have got a democratically written constitution, first ever in that part of the world. They've had three national elections. So there's been a lot of success. So there you have it. Never mind that 62 U.S. troops and nearly 1400 Iraqis have been killed this month alone, because they had elections last year. When the violence gets to be too much, just remember those waving purple fingers and be assured that we've accomplished our objectives. And what about the greatest threat we face in Iraq today? But the biggest problem we face right now is the danger that the United States will validate the terrorist strategy, that, in fact, what will happen here with all of the debate over whether or not we ought to stay in Iraq, with the pressures from some quarters to get out of Iraq, if we were to do that, we would simply validate the terrorists' strategy that says the Americans will not stay to complete the task -- -- that we don't have the stomach for the fight. That's the biggest threat right now. Who knew? So the next time you blame administration tactics, or the militias and death squads for the never ending violence in Iraq, stop, take a moment and blame yourself. Stop enabling the enemy by looking at the facts! [Ed. Note - Silly wabbits! ;-)] And what was the biggest mistake made in this war (besides starting it)? Ignoring the advice of military commanders that at least 500,000 troops would be necessary for success? Again, against the advice of the military, disbanding Saddam Hussein's army? Not providing proper security for both vital infrastructure and the Iraqi people in the immediate aftermath of the invasion? Nope: Oh, I think in terms of mistakes, I think we underestimated the extent to which 30 years of Saddam's rule had really hammered the population, especially the Shia population, into submissiveness. Damn those Iraqis! If only they had greeted us with flowers instead of being so submissive, why, the mission would have been accomplished years ago But the bottom-line is: We still have more work to do to get a handle on the security situation, but the President has put a plan in place to do that. Yes, they have a plan for victory in Iraq that is going to work this time. Or as the deputy director of national intelligence told the Senate Intelligence Committee yesterday: Security is an impediment...Gains in stability could open a window for gains in reconciliation among and between sectarian groups and could open the possibilities for a moderate coalition that could permit better government,\" How could we ever doubt the \"new way forward\"? http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/1/25/9055/25868 Transcript of CNN interview: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/24/AR2007012401567.html"}, {"response": 70, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jan 25, 2007 (10:56)", "body": "Hmm, the formatting didn't come out like I envisioned or hoped. Oh well."}, {"response": 71, "author": "mari", "date": "Thu, Jan 25, 2007 (12:21)", "body": "we have, in fact, accomplished our objectives of getting rid of the old regime Gee, and here I thought our objective was to get rid of the weapons of mass destruction. :-( It's so arragant--the same type of arrogance that precluded them from listening to their own military . . . on matters of military strategy. (Dorine)These people really don't care about the people who are their bosses (Us!!) It's the arrogance, again . . . and either really and truly think we're *that* stupid...( Every time I hear about Bush's abysmal approval ratings, I say to myself, wait a minute. That means a third of the country is still with him. Hard to believe."}, {"response": 72, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jan 25, 2007 (12:38)", "body": "Gee, and here I thought our objective was to get rid of the weapons of mass destruction. :-( Wait....I thought it was to bring democracy to them. :-/"}, {"response": 73, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jan 25, 2007 (12:47)", "body": "(Cheney) there is a new regime in place that's been there for less than a year, far too soon for you guys to write them off. They have got a democratically written constitution And I just read yesterday that apparently a significant portion of their Parliament doesn't show up to work (ha, I guess even our Congress is guilty of that, though we're a bit more established ;-)) , and even live in other countries, so they can't really conduct any business."}, {"response": 74, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Jan 26, 2007 (00:11)", "body": "I saw the Daily Show. Jon Stewart's take on Cheney's interview was better than the State of the Union. Man, oh man! What a jerk. Loved the part about how Cheney and his family are exempt. (Dorine) these people really don't care about the people who are their bosses (Us!!) Er, that's not really accurate. We're not their bosses. They don't serve at our pleasure. He's elected and that's that. We don't have a democracy. We have a representative democracy. (Mari) Every time I hear about Bush's abysmal approval ratings, I say to myself, wait a minute. That means a third of the country is still with him. Hard to believe. What's harder to believe is how quickly the idiots who voted him back in office turned. Wasn't his four-year demo of ineptitude and embarrassment enough? Weren't their financial losses enough?"}, {"response": 75, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jan 26, 2007 (01:06)", "body": "(Karen) We have a representative democracy. According to the definition I got from Wikipedia.....\"The representatives act in the people's interest\"....I'm not sure we have this either at this point. Not in the last 6 years. Perhaps a fraction of the people's interest...the top 1% and corporations. Because they're sure not representing the poor and middle class. And I stand corrected on the correct type of democracy. Thank you. And I find this part of the Wiki definition interesting.... (the italics merely represent what was a highlighted link in the text) \"A representative democracy that also protects liberties is called a liberal democracy . One that does not is an illiberal democracy . There is no necessity that individual liberties are respected in a representative democracy. For example, \"the United States relies on representative democracy, but [its] system of government is much more complex than that. [It is] not a simple representative democracy, but a constitutional republic in which majority rule is tempered by minority rights protected by law.\"[1]\" It seems many rights have been at the very least squeezed since 9/11. Patriot Act, anyone? What's harder to believe is how quickly the idiots who voted him back in office turned. While I know a couple of people who think the war has been botched, not one of them blame the Commander in Chief (only Rumsfeld or military people) or think it was the wrong thing to do in the first place. I haven't met any of those who turned yet to my knowledge."}, {"response": 76, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jan 26, 2007 (01:23)", "body": "(Karen) We have a representative democracy. According to the definition I got from Wikipedia.....\"The representatives act in the people's interest\"....I'm not sure we have this either at this point. Not in the last 6 years. Perhaps a fraction of the people's interest...the top 1% and corporations. Because they're sure not representing the poor and middle class. And I stand corrected on the correct type of democracy. Thank you. And I find this part of the Wiki definition interesting.... (the italics merely represent what was a highlighted link in the text) \"A representative democracy that also protects liberties is called a liberal democracy . One that does not is an illiberal democracy . There is no necessity that individual liberties are respected in a representative democracy. For example, \"the United States relies on representative democracy, but [its] system of government is much more complex than that. [It is] not a simple representative democracy, but a constitutional republic in which majority rule is tempered by minority rights protected by law.\"[1]\" It seems many rights have been at the very least squeezed since 9/11. What's harder to believe is how quickly the idiots who voted him back in office turned. While I know a couple of people who think the war has been botched, not one of them blame the Commander in Chief (only Rumsfeld or military people) or think it was the wrong thing to do in the first place. I haven't met any of those who turned yet to my knowledge."}, {"response": 77, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jan 26, 2007 (10:02)", "body": "I'm going to bet virtually no one here but me is following the Scooter Libby trial. Two bloggers were allowed into the media room to report on it with the rest of the MSM (Mainstream Media) and have been liveblogging an unofficial and not exactly word for word transcript. It's comprehensive and I can't follow it all because it's time consuming, but what I've read from jury selection to the first few days of testimony have been mostly interesting. I find it of such interest since I have followed the Joe Wilson editorial/Valerie Plame CIA outing story since JW wrote his piece in the WSJ that the justification used in the 2003 State of the Union address for going into Iraq was untrue and based on false documents. I remember reading that Op-Ed and realizing that we were lied to. It was especially disheartening since while I wasn't a proponent of going into Iraq and didn't really see any connection to them and 9/11, I took it on a bit of faith and gave the President/Congress the benefit of the doubt that maybe Saddam really was actively working on WMD programs. (Now who's the Silly Wabbit? ;-)) Fitzgerald (I and others think oddly) didn't actually indict anyone for actually leaking the information, though Libby was for lying about it. What's becoming so fascinating in the first couple days of testimony is how involved the OVP (Office of the Vice Pres) and specifically Cheney himself was involved in trying to discredit Joe Wilson and throwing around the information that his wife was a covert CIA officer (she worked on uncovering WMD acquistion and distribution to and from Iran. Now, conveniently, she got kicked out of the way and the war drums are beating for Iran because of their unclear nuclear program). There was a good article in the WaPo yesterday summarizing the testimony of one of Cheney's aides and her description of the inner workings of what was going on initially. I'll put it in the next post since this has gone on longer than I planned or imagined. Look for the movie (TV-HBO or Film) within 2 years of the current administration leaving. It's probably half written now. ;-) I think it would be completely fascinating. It is now. Also, I'm going to make a guess that Fitzgerald felt he couldn't find a statute to charge any of the leakers under or he didn't feel it was prudent to accuse the VP of anything, at least while he's in office, the least of which would be directing or overseeing this whole smear campaign personally and trying to hide that the CIA info used in the SOTU as justification for the war was a lie. The word Watergate keeps coming to mind more frequently now. That started out small and look what happened."}, {"response": 78, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jan 26, 2007 (10:08)", "body": "I'm putting the whole article simply because I think you have to register to read stuff there. Or you used to. Though I don't know how many people read this topic, so maybe the few that do already are registered. In Ex-Aide's Testimony, A Spin Through VP's PR By Dana Milbank Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, January 26, 2007; Page A01 Memo to Tim Russert: Dick Cheney thinks he controls you. This delicious morsel about the \"Meet the Press\" host and the vice president was part of the extensive dish Cathie Martin served up yesterday when the former Cheney communications director took the stand in the perjury trial of former Cheney chief of staff I. Lewis \"Scooter\" Libby. Flashed on the courtroom computer screens were her notes from 2004 about how Cheney could respond to allegations that the Bush administration had played fast and loose with evidence of Iraq's nuclear ambitions. Option 1: \"MTP-VP,\" she wrote, then listed the pros and cons of a vice presidential appearance on the Sunday show. Under \"pro,\" she wrote: \"control message.\" \"I suggested we put the vice president on 'Meet the Press,' which was a tactic we often used,\" Martin testified. \"It's our best format.\" It is unclear whether the first week of the trial will help or hurt Libby or the administration. But the trial has already pulled back the curtain on the White House's PR techniques and confirmed some of the darkest suspicions of the reporters upon whom they are used. Relatively junior White House aides run roughshod over members of the president's Cabinet. Bush aides charged with speaking to the public and the media are kept out of the loop on some of the most important issues. And bad news is dumped before the weekend for the sole purpose of burying it. With a candor that is frowned upon at the White House, Martin explained the use of late-Friday statements. \"Fewer people pay attention to it late on Friday,\" she said. \"Fewer people pay attention when it's reported on Saturday.\" Martin, perhaps unaware of the suspicion such machinations caused in the press corps, lamented that her statements at the time were not regarded as credible. She testified that, as the controversy swelled in 2004, reporters ignored her denials and continued to report that it was Cheney's office that sent former ambassador Joseph Wilson to Niger to investigate allegations of Iraq's nuclear acquisitions. \"They're not taking my word for it,\" Martin recalled telling a colleague. Martin, who now works on the president's communications staff, said she was frustrated that reporters wouldn't call for comment about the controversy. She said she had to ask the CIA spokesman, Bill Harlow, which reporters were working on the story. \"Often, reporters would stop calling us,\" she testified. This prompted quiet chuckles among the two dozen reporters sitting in court to cover the trial. Whispered one: \"When was the last time you called the vice president's office and got anything other than a 'no comment'?\" At length, Martin explained how she, Libby and deputy national security adviser Steve Hadley worked late into the night writing a statement to be issued by George Tenet in 2004 in which the CIA boss would take blame for the bogus claim in Bush's State of the Union address that Iraq was seeking nuclear material in Africa. After \"delicate\" talks, Tenet agreed to say the CIA \"approved\" the claim and \"I am responsible\" -- but even that disappointed Martin, who had wanted Tenet to say that \"we did not express any doubt about Niger.\" During her testimony, Martin, a Harvard Law School graduate married to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin and a close pal of Bush counselor Dan Bartlett, seemed uncomfortable, shifting in her chair, squinting at her interrogators, stealing quick glances at the jury, and repeatedly touching her cheek, ear, nose, lips and scalp. Martin shed light on the mystery of why White House press secretary Scott McClellan promised, falsely, that Libby was not involved in outing CIA operative Valerie Plame, Wilson's wife. After McClellan had vouched for Bush strategist Karl Rove's innocence, Libby asked Martin, \"Why don't they say something about me?\" \"You need to talk to Scott,\" Martin advised. On jurors' monitors were images of Martin's talking points, some labeled \"on the record\" and others \"deep background.\" She walked the jurors through how the White House coddles friendly writers and freezes out others. To deal with the Wilson controversy, she hastily arranged a Cheney lunch with conservative commentators. And when New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof first wrote about the Niger affair, she explained, \"we didn't see any urgency to get to Kristof\" because \"he frankly attacked the administration fairly regularly.\" Questioned by prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, Martin described how Hadley tried to shield White House spokesmen from the Niger controversy. \"Everybody was sort of in the dark,\" she explained. \"There had been a decision not to have the communicators involved.\" But "}, {"response": 79, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jan 27, 2007 (09:09)", "body": "Here's the NYT article that talks about what I mentioned here: (Cheney) there is a new regime in place that's been there for less than a year, far too soon for you guys to write them off. They have got a democratically written constitution (Me) And I just read yesterday that apparently a significant portion of their Parliament doesn't show up to work (ha, I guess even our Congress is guilty of that, though we're a bit more established ;-)) , and even live in other countries, so they can't really conduct any business. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/24/world/middleeast/24noshow.html?_r=1&oref=slogin"}, {"response": 80, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jan 27, 2007 (14:39)", "body": "Yay for the Appeals Court. This has one of the stupidest (and in a way scariest) arguments (in bold below) I've heard for allowing pollution. And *this* from the *EPA* of all agencies. There are some people (and politicians) that are nuisances also. Should they be eradicated also? Updated:2007-01-27 10:00:51 Judge Rules Against Bush EPA Policy By LARRY NEUMEISTER AP NEW YORK (Jan. 26) - The Environmental Protection Agency must force power plants to protect fish and other aquatic life even if it's expensive, a federal appeals court said in a ruling favoring states and environmental groups. The decision late Thursday by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that it was improper for the EPA to let power plants circumvent environmental laws - for instance, restocking polluted water with new fish instead of paying to upgrade their technology. It said the EPA's decisions must \"be driven by technology, not cost,\" unless two technologies produce essentially the same benefits but have much different costs. \"EPA's goal is to protect fish and the ecosystem while meeting the nation's need for reliable energy sources,\" said Benjamin H. Grumbles, the agency's assistant administrator for water. The agency was reviewing the decision, he said. The ruling drew praise from environmental groups and six states that had sued. \"This decision is a strong and stinging rebuke of the Bush administration's underhanded practice of issuing rule changes to undercut environmental laws,\" Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said in a statement Friday. The other states involved are Rhode Island, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York. They sued after the EPA published regulations in July 2004 describing how power plants must protect aquatic life when they use water from bays, rivers, lakes, oceans and other waterways for cooling. Scientists say fish, larvae and eggs are killed in the water-cooling process, which is used heavily in states with many older, mostly fossil-fuel plants. The appeals court previously rejected arguments that some species are nuisances and require eradication. The court had also dismissed the claim that other species respond to population losses by increasing their reproduction. Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. http://news.aol.com/topnews/articles/_a/judge-rules-against-bush-epa-policy/20070126192509990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001"}, {"response": 81, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Jan 28, 2007 (21:42)", "body": "Ironically funny and sad. They do this thread every week as a wrap up of the week and all the Sunday shows. Someone in there is a big George Clooney fan, so there's usually a few pics of him put in as a side topic. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/1/27/215313/641"}, {"response": 82, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Feb  7, 2007 (10:30)", "body": "Since this moves into the political world, I'm going to post this tidbit about CIC here. Some conspiracists think ABC did a job on this series precisely because it showed a strong (nonmacho) woman president and would be free advertising for Hillary."}, {"response": 83, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Feb  7, 2007 (10:57)", "body": "Wow, that's one thing I never read."}, {"response": 84, "author": "Colleen", "date": "Wed, Feb  7, 2007 (11:58)", "body": "I have to wonder, why offer it up and then smash it to bits?? How unfortunate:-("}, {"response": 85, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Feb  7, 2007 (18:05)", "body": "(Colleen) I have to wonder, why offer it up and then smash it to bits?? How unfortunate:-( If I were a conspiracist, the explanation would be ABC only destroyed the series after pressure was put on it by others."}, {"response": 86, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Feb  7, 2007 (23:05)", "body": "And you might not be incorrect."}, {"response": 87, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Feb  7, 2007 (23:12)", "body": "I don't know where that NJ Politics is now and I'm not going to bother looking since this topic is here, but Linda!... I see your hated billionaire, Democratic govenor is giving you a break on those property taxes you were so unhappy with (assuming he signs it). How 'bout that? N.J. TAKES AX TO PROPERTY TAX AP February 7, 2007 -- TRENTON, N.J. - The state Senate yesterday approved sweeping property-tax relief that would give most homeowners a 20 percent cut beginning this summer, helping reduce the nation's highest property taxes. The legislation, which also would limit future property-tax increases to 4 percent annually, goes to Gov. Jon Corzine for final approval. Corzine didn't say when he would sign the bill, but he hailed its passage. \"Relief is on its way to overburdened property taxpayers in New Jersey, and I think we have reached a turning point with regard to reform,\" Corzine said. Senate Republicans joined Democrats yesterday afternoon to break a stalemate and approve the measure, which has been billed by Democrats as the largest property-tax cut for working families in state history. [Ed note: Perhaps a dubious claim at best. ;-)] \"The people won,\" said Senate President and former Gov. Richard Codey. The legislation had stalled in the Senate on Monday as dissatisfied Republicans withheld votes and three Democrats voted against it. The relief is to take the form of a credit on property-tax bills this summer, but the state will send checks if a credit system cannot be created on time. http://www.nypost.com/seven/02072007/news/regionalnews/n_j__takes_ax_to_property_tax_regionalnews_.htm"}, {"response": 88, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Feb  8, 2007 (10:39)", "body": "I put this over here as I'm not sure where the conversation would go, if anywhere..this topic isn't necessarily just for politics, but any kind of news or interesting stories that aren't artsy. (Evelyn) she was trying to be mumsy, wifey and prez at the same time. (Karen) And that wouldn't reflect reality IYO? I'm putting this article in here not espousing any particular viewpoint about the above exchange, but just to show the irony of that being a topic of interest IRL in light of the news about that Married with Kids female astronaut going after that other female astronaut over a man. The article is discussing the effects of a woman having a high stress career and how well it is or isn't balanced. There's no lamp throwing, but there are reports of plate throwing for Evelyn. ;-) Updated:2007-02-08 08:08:37 Friend Points Out Astronaut's 'Mental Anguish' By RASHA MADKOUR and DAVID CRARY AP CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Feb. 8) - Lisa Nowak chose a juggling act of dauntingly high difficulty: to be an astronaut and a mother of three. Her background - high school valedictorian, Naval Academy graduate, test pilot - seemed to equip her for the challenge. Yet as she and some of her acquaintances acknowledged, the stresses on her and her family were extraordinarily intense. An Astronaut's Fall On Wednesday, transformed from space hero to criminal suspect, Nowak returned to Houston for a medical assessment, a day after she was charged in Florida with attempted murder and attempted kidnapping in what police depicted as a love triangle involving a fellow astronaut. The woman viewed as a role model by the schoolchildren she often addressed was met on the tarmac by police and escorted into a waiting squad car after her release on bail. Her head was covered by a jacket. She faced a medical exam at Johnson Space Center. NASA, at a loss to explain what went wrong, said it would revamp its psychological screening process in light of Nowak's arrest. The review will look at how astronauts are screened for psychological problems and whether Nowak's dealings with co-workers signaled complications. Nowak's children were with her husband, Richard, who works for a NASA contractor. She was being replaced as a ground communicator for the next space shuttle mission in March, a job in which she would talk to the astronauts from Houston during their flight. Some part of any breakdown may defy rational explanation, but those who know Nowak and NASA could sense the stress she was under. Dr. Jon Clark, a former NASA flight surgeon who lost his wife, astronaut Laurel Clark, in the 2003 Columbia disaster, said Nowak provided invaluable support to his family then, at the cost of losing time with her own family. \"She was the epitome of managing a very hectic career, making sacrifices to accommodate her family,\" Clark said in a telephone interview. \"All those stresses can conspire to be overwhelming. ... Clearly she suffered a lot of mental anguish. \"There is a lot of marital stress in the astronaut corps in general - a huge amount,\" Clark said. \"It's not unheard of for things to change into relationships that are beyond professional.\" Clark also said there can be extra pressure on NASA's female astronauts - and the men, like himself, who marry them. \"They made more sacrifices than the 'Right Stuff' guys,\" he said, comparing women astronauts to the original all-male astronaut corps. \"They have to balance two careers - to be a mom and wife and an astronaut. ... You don't come home at night, like most of the male astronauts, and have everything ready for you.\" Clark expressed empathy with Richard Nowak, who separated from his wife a few weeks ago after 19 years of marriage. \"He was a real low-key, go-with-the flow, unobtrusive person,\" Clark said. \"You almost have to be to survive in the realm. ... It was hard on our marriage to have my wife gone all the time, and eventually have her career surpass mine.\" Lisa Nowak grew up in Rockville, Md., where she was co-valedictorian and member of the track team in high school. After graduating from the Naval Academy, she received a master's degree in aeronautical engineering, flew as a test pilot in the mid-1990s while caring for an infant son, and became a full-fledged astronaut in 1998. \"It's definitely a challenge to do the flying and take care of even one child and do all the other things you have to do. But I learned that you can do it,\" she said in a recent interview with Ladies Home Journal. Last July, in the climax of her career, she flew on the space shuttle Discovery, helping operate its robotic arm and winning praise for her performance. However, there were signs of turmoil in her life as she tried to balance her career with raising a teenage son and 5-year-old twin girls. In November, a neighbor reported hearing the sounds of dishes being thrown inside Nowak's Houston home. And she had begun to form a relationship with William Oefelein, a fellow astronaut and father of two whose own marriage ended in d"}, {"response": 89, "author": "mari", "date": "Thu, Feb  8, 2007 (22:46)", "body": "(Dorine)The article is discussing the effects of a woman having a high stress career and how well it is or isn't balanced. My heart goes out to this woman. Who knows what caused her breakdown but having the type of job she had, with the time demands, risk, and stress, combined with raising young children, could not have been easy. Men in her position have always had support systems--i.e., WIVES--who kept the house running, made sure the homework got done, shepherded the kids to all the after-school stuff and doctor's check-ups, enabling the men to work the long hours, do the business travel, do the schmoozing, etc. Two careers can be very rewarding, but it ain't easy; I used to always say to Paul, especially when our son was little, that what we really needed as a family . . . was a wife. She sounds like the quintessential \"good girl\"--always did everything right, always did everyone proud--and one day she snaps. Poor thing. She needs a good lawyer to make sure that the ridiculous laundry list of alleged crimes gets cuts down to something that means no jail time. Sounds like some DA is trying to make a name for himself or herself on this woman's misfortune. I can only hope she has someone in her life to take care of her at this time."}, {"response": 90, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Feb  8, 2007 (23:22)", "body": "what we really needed as a family . . . was a wife Otherwise known as a nanny. ;-) She needs a good lawyer to make sure that the ridiculous laundry list of alleged crimes gets cuts down to something that means no jail time. While I too, thought that some of those charges may not stick and may even be excessive, I wonder if it's really possible to get charges reduced that far. You have to admit, it was a bizarre laundry list of items she had with her. And did spray the woman with pepper spray. And the costumy items. God knows what that love letter they found in her car said, too. All the jokes are way too much though. I was reading an article today, I think about NASA changing or increasing their psych profiling of astronauts, where someone was talking about how she had compartmentalized her life into the different areas of overacheivement, but that it obviously broke down somewhere. Men in her position have always had support systems--i.e., WIVES--who kept the house running, made sure the homework got done, shepherded the kids to all the after-school stuff and doctor's check-ups, enabling the men to work the long hours, do the business travel, do the schmoozing, etc. And comments I read somewhere today made note that if this story were about a man, it might be considered quite macho, but for a woman it's considered something to make light of and make jokes about."}, {"response": 91, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Feb 15, 2007 (00:56)", "body": "This is pretty fascinating. An ethnic Miao man walks inside a huge cave at a remote Miao village in Ziyun county, southwest China's Guizhou province February 12, 2007. The village of Zhongdong, which literally means \"middle cave\", is build in a huge, aircraft hanger-sized natural cave, carved out of a mountain over thousands of years by wind, water and seismic shifts. REUTERS/Jason Lee China's \"last cave dwellers\" refuse to leave Reuters Thursday February 15, 01:53 AM ZHONGDONG, China (Reuters) - For Wang Fengguan, a man's cave is his castle. He lives in a huge one -- and he has no intention of leaving. Neither do any of the other 20 families in his village. \"Where else would we go?\" said Wang, sitting in his house, built in the cave where his family has lived for more than half a century, deep in the poor, remote southwestern Chinese province of Guizhou. \"This is our home. We are used to it,\" he added, in uncertain sounding Mandarin. Wang's village of Zhongdong -- which literally means \"middle cave\" -- is built in a huge, aircraft hanger-sized natural cave, carved inside a mountain over thousands of years by wind, water and seismic shifts. In other parts of China people live in houses tunnelled out of hillsides, but Zhongdong is, the local government believes, the last place in the country where people live year-round in a naturally occurring cave. The villagers are all ethnic Miao people, supposedly related to Southeast Asia's Hmong, and one of several minority groups who live in Guizhou. Getting to the cave is extremely difficult. It takes some four hours to drive there from provincial capital Guiyang, the last hour on a dirt road which clings precariously to the side of a mountain valley, high above a river. But the final way up to Zhongdong is to walk for more than an hour up a steep, rough stone path hewn out of rocks. Everything must come up the path -- food, concrete and even washing machines. The government has built houses for the villagers in a valley below the cave, but they don't want to go, saying the houses are \"not up to standard\" and leak during the heavy rains which characterise Guizhou's damp climate. \"We thought about moving, but we don't want to go,\" said Wang Houzhong, sitting on the floor splitting bamboo to make mats. \"We are China's last cave dwellers,\" he added, axe in hand. \"Life is very bitter for us.\" ROOM FOR OPTIMISM To be sure, life in the village is tough. Villagers say they are lucky to make even 1,000 yuan ($129) per family a year. Women give birth at home, in houses with dirt floors and wood-fired hearths. The nearest hospital is a five-hour walk away. But in the last few years life has improved considerably, they say, somewhat optimistically. Electricity has arrived via wires strung over the mountains, and there is a primary school, which like almost every other building in Zhongdong has no roof. It does not need one as the buildings are deep inside the cave. Four houses now have televisions, some with DVD players, and some have washing machines. Satellite dishes are perched on outcrops at the cave's entrance and there is even mobile phone reception. The school has revolutionised life, villagers say. The children happily chat away in clear, unaccented Mandarin, unlike their parents and grandparents who still struggle with China's official language or don't speak it at all. \"When I was younger, we used to have to walk three hours to school, and then three hours to get back home,\" said Wang Fengguan. \"The new school is great.\" Adult literacy classes are also held. Progress is marked on the household registration forms pinned outside homes, with the Chinese characters for \"has escaped illiteracy\" placed next to the names of adults who have attended class. Daily necessities are still a struggle though. Villagers make the five-hour trek to the county town once a week to buy the things they cannot make or grow, like toothpaste and soap, and to sell their cattle. Water supplies are limited in the dry season. Buckets are set up around the cave to catch drips. Residents are building wells into the cave's floor, and are busy concreting them -- a measure, perhaps, of their commitment to stay in their remote home. ECONOMIC THREAT Exactly when their ancestors moved into the cave, and why, is a subject of debate. Some villagers say they have been there for generations. Others say they only moved in following the chaos that followed the 1949 Communist revolution, to escape bandits. There is a lower cave, too damp for habitation, and an upper cave that also has no residents. But ultimately it may be economics that kills Zhongdong. Already many villagers have left to work in richer parts of the country. Luo Yaomei's three children have all gone, leaving her to bring up their children -- her grandchildren -- in her thatched house blackened by smoke at the cave's entrance. \"None of them want to live here,\" she said. \"Of course the outside world is better,\" Luo added, sadly. (Additional rep"}, {"response": 92, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Feb 28, 2007 (19:42)", "body": "So McCain decided to announce his run for President on Letterman's show taped for tonight. While I would in the future if I thought they were worthy and have in the past voted for Republican Presidential candidates.....*GASP*, shocking to some of you I know!..... and I did used to favor McCain at one time, you'd have to pay me BIG $$$$ to vote for him now and even that might not be enough."}, {"response": 93, "author": "LisaJH", "date": "Thu, Mar  1, 2007 (00:37)", "body": "LOL, Dorine! As for McCain, time to dig out those flipflops!;-)"}, {"response": 94, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Mar  1, 2007 (00:53)", "body": "Ha! Too right, Lisa."}, {"response": 95, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Mar 10, 2007 (23:22)", "body": "I told you it would be easy to find material for The Lives of Others remake, at least here. This stuff going on isn't sounding much different than the Stasi of the 80's or even Russia. Impeaching this guy first is a start, I suppose. Unfortunately time is running out and it's probably the only real one there's even a remote possibility of seeing, but I won't hold my breath. I think I'll just be happy at the moment that Henry Waxman will continue keeping the heat on the issue of the outing of CIA agent, Valerie Plame, with a congressional hearing next week with testimony from the Wilson's and hopefully one of my new heroes, Patrick Fitzgerald (FITZ!!) . [I can here the scoffing from the Bush supporters from here. ;-) But, yes, she was a *covert* (NOC) agent working on nuclear proliferation in Iraq and Iran, who's cover (including the front company) was blown all because her husband had the guts to call out Cheney and the administration on the lies they told to get us to war. I'll be happy to hear some evidence to the contrary.] I've been less fond of the NYT over the past several years, but this is spot on IMO. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/11/opinion/11sun1.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin March 11, 2007 Editorial The Failed Attorney General During the hearing on his nomination as attorney general, Alberto Gonzales said he understood the difference between the job he held \ufffd President Bush\ufffds in-house lawyer \ufffd and the job he wanted, which was to represent all Americans as their chief law enforcement officer and a key defender of the Constitution. Two years later, it is obvious Mr. Gonzales does not have a clue about the difference. He has never stopped being consigliere to Mr. Bush\ufffds imperial presidency. If anyone, outside Mr. Bush\ufffds rapidly shrinking circle of enablers , still had doubts about that, the events of last week should have erased them. First, there was Mr. Gonzales\ufffds lame op-ed article in USA Today trying to defend the obviously politically motivated firing of eight United States attorneys, which he dismissed as an \ufffdoverblown personnel matter.\ufffd Then his inspector general exposed the way the Federal Bureau of Investigation has been abusing yet another unnecessary new power that Mr. Gonzales helped wring out of the Republican-dominated Congress in the name of fighting terrorism. The F.B.I. has been using powers it obtained under the Patriot Act to get financial, business and telephone records of Americans by issuing tens of thousands of \ufffdnational security letters,\ufffd a euphemism for warrants that are issued without any judicial review or avenue of appeal. The administration said that, as with many powers it has arrogated since the 9/11 attacks, this radical change was essential to fast and nimble antiterrorism efforts, and it promised to police the use of the letters carefully. But like so many of the administration\ufffds promises, this one evaporated before the ink on those letters could dry. The F.B.I. director, Robert Mueller, admitted Friday that his agency had used the new powers improperly. Mr. Gonzales does not directly run the F.B.I., but it is part of his department and has clearly gotten the message that promises (and civil rights) are meant to be broken. It was Mr. Gonzales, after all, who repeatedly defended Mr. Bush\ufffds decision to authorize warrantless eavesdropping on Americans\ufffd international calls and e-mail. He was an eager public champion of the absurd notion that as commander in chief during a time of war, Mr. Bush can ignore laws that he thinks get in his way. Mr. Gonzales was disdainful of any attempt by Congress to examine the spying program, let alone control it. The attorney general helped formulate and later defended the policies that repudiated the Geneva Conventions in the war against terror, and that sanctioned the use of kidnapping, secret detentions, abuse and torture. He has been central to the administration\ufffds assault on the courts, which he recently said had no right to judge national security policies, and on the constitutional separation of powers. His Justice Department has abandoned its duties as guardian of election integrity and voting rights. It approved a Georgia photo-ID law that a federal judge later likened to a poll tax, a case in which Mr. Gonzales\ufffds political team overrode the objections of the department\ufffds professional staff. The Justice Department has been shamefully indifferent to complaints of voter suppression aimed at minority voters. But it has managed to find the time to sue a group of black political leaders in Mississippi for discriminating against white voters. We opposed Mr. Gonzales\ufffds nomination as attorney general. His r\ufffdsum\ufffd was weak, centered around producing legal briefs for Mr. Bush that assured him that the law said what he wanted it to say. More than anyone in the administration, except perhaps Vice President Dick Cheney, Mr. Gonzales symbolizes Mr. Bush\ufffds disdain for the separation of powers, civil liberties and the rule of law. On "}, {"response": 96, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Mar 10, 2007 (23:23)", "body": "(Me) This stuff going on isn't sounding much different than the Stasi of the 80's or even Russia. Except maybe the informants. But then again, who knows. ;-)"}, {"response": 97, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Mar 11, 2007 (19:06)", "body": "I have no idea who this guy is and it doesn't really matter, but he gives good snark.... March 07, 2007 Re-Mixed Washington Post Editorials: The Subtextening [original editorial here, various take-downs here] No way! THE Mr. Washington Post?!? THE CONVICTION of I. Lewis Libby on charges of perjury, making false statements and obstruction of justice was grounded in strong evidence and what appeared to be careful deliberation by a jury. But I, the Washington Post, a faceless but omniscient entity hovering over the proceedings, know better. The former chief of staff to Vice President Cheney told the FBI and a grand jury that he had not leaked the identity of CIA employee Valerie Plame to journalists but rather had learned it from them. But abundant testimony at his trial showed that he had found out about Ms. Plame from official sources and was dedicated to discrediting her husband, former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV. It involved no missing white girls, no consensual oral sex, or claims about the book Love Story. So, in the word of Rick from The Young Ones: \"Boh-weeeen!\" The fall of this skilled and long-respected public servant, a true giant of a man whose appetite for gin and tonics at the fancy parties we both used to attend, is particularly sobering because it arose from a Washington scandal remarkable for its lack of substance. Certainly, it's not the kind of substance we look for in numerous articles by John Solomon about campaign finance scandals, loosely defined, or by the careful description of tiara jewels in our society pages. Mr. Wilson was embraced by many because he was early in publicly charging that the Bush administration had \"twisted,\" if not invented, facts in making the case for war against Iraq. We, of course, roundly ignored this patchouli-smelling twat in favor of careful stenography from Pentagon press releases. A bipartisan investigation by the Senate intelligence committee subsequently established that the war was perfectly justified, that Wilson had helped to squirrel away Iraq's WMD to Syria, and had subsequently fomented sectarian strife. The partisan furor over this allegation led to the appointment of special prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald, a troubled foot fetishist who suffered from the tertiary stages of Bush Derangement Syndrome. Yet after two years of investigation, card-carrying Communist Mr. Fitzgerald charged no one with a crime for leaking Ms. Plame's name, or her choice of evening wear or remarkable resemblance to Virginia Madsen. It would have been sensible for Mr. Fitzgerald to end his investigation after learning about Mr. Armitage. Instead, like many Washington special prosecutors before him, he pressed on... but not in a good way in hoping to write a 600-page report about blowjobs like Kenneth Starr before him. Instead, he got all hot and bothered that his investigation was repeatedly lied to in an amateurish cover-up attempt. What a small, petty man. Mr. Wilson's case has besmirched nearly everyone it touched, even living saints like Vice President Cheney and even, amazingly enough, the infallible President who has fruitless, unproductive wars to conduct. Mr. Fitzgerald was, at least, right about one thing: The Wilson-Plame case, and Mr. Libby's conviction, tell us nothing about the war in Iraq. Then again, neither do we until the President sinks below 40% in his approval rating. http://norbizness.com/archives/002087.html"}, {"response": 98, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Mar 22, 2007 (00:06)", "body": "I don't get this reasoning at all. Some twisted logic. He's soooooo cute!! Some pics to run through (17).... http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/0,5538,PB64-SUQ9MjAxOTUmbnI9MQ_3_3,00.html And a video (in German)...there's 20 secs of a man introducing the segment. Knut is ridiculously adorable and amusingly clumsy. Very cute bit at the end with his keeper. And he doesn't like his bottle taken away when he's hungry! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQ35C7BD5eI&mode=related&search = Cuddly polar bear cub better off dead, activist says POSTED: 1828 GMT (0228 HKT), March 19, 2007 Story Highlights \ufffd Cub was ignored by mother, so zookeepers raised him themselves \ufffd Activist: \"Feeding by hand is ... gross violation of animal protection laws\" \ufffd Bear's story sparks controversy among politicians, animal activists BERLIN, Germany (AP) -- Berlin Zoo's abandoned polar bear cub Knut looks cute, cuddly and has become a front-page media darling, but an animal rights activist insisted Monday he would have been better off dead than raised by humans. \"Feeding by hand is not species-appropriate but a gross violation of animal protection laws,\" animal rights activist Frank Albrecht was quoted as saying by the mass-circulation Bild daily, which has featured regular photo spreads tracking fuzzy Knut's frolicking. \"The zoo must kill the bear.\" When Knut -- or \"Cute Knut,\" as the 8.7 kilogram (19 pound) bear has become known -- was born last December, his mother ignored him and his brother, who later died. Zoo officials intervened, choosing to raise the cub themselves. The story prompted quick condemnations from the zoo, politicians and other animal rights groups. \"The killing of an animal has nothing to do with animal protection,\" said Wolfgang Apel, head of the German Federation for the Protection of Animals. Politicians weigh in on bear Greens politician Undine Kurth called the suggestion \"fully unacceptable.\" Petra Pau of the opposition Left Party invoked the widely-reported case of an Italian bear dubbed \"Bruno\" who wandered last year into southern Germany, only to be killed by hunters at the behest of local authorities worried about residents and livestock. \"Berlin is not Bavaria, therefore it will be better for Knut than Bruno,\" Pau said. Albrecht told The Associated Press his beliefs were more nuanced than reported by Bild, though he applauded the debate the article had started. He explained that though he thought it was wrong of the zoo to have saved the cub's life, now that the bear can live on his own, it would be equally wrong to kill him. \"If a polar bear mother rejected the baby, then I believe the zoo must follow the instincts of nature,\" Albrecht said. \"In the wild, it would have been left to die.\" The German animal rights organization \"Four Paws\" argued along similar lines, saying it would not be right to punish the cub for a bad decision made by the zoo. Other activists have also argued that current treatment of the cub is inhumane and could lead to future difficulties interacting with fellow polar bears. \"They cannot domesticate a wild animal,\" Ruediger Schmiedel, head of the Foundation for Bears, told Der Spiegel weekly in its Monday edition. Albrecht cited a similar case of a baby sloth bear that was abandoned by its mother last December in the Leipzig city zoo and killed by lethal injection, rather than being kept alive by humans. But Knut belongs to the Berlin Zoo, and their veterinarian Andre Schuele, charged with caring for him, disagrees. \"These criticisms make me angry, but you can't take them so seriously,\" Andre Schuele said. \"Polar bears live alone in the wild; I see no logical reason why this bear should be killed.\" Schuele also argued that given the increased rarity of polar bears in the wild, it makes sense to keep them alive in captivity so that they can be bred. \"Polar bears are under threat of extinction, and if we feed the bear with a bottle, it has a good chance of growing up and perhaps becoming attractive as a stud for other zoos,\" Schuele said. Knut, who recently posed for a photo shoot with star-photographer Annie Leibovitz for an environmental protection campaign, is scheduled to make his public debut at the zoo later this week or early next week, according to Schuele. Until then, Germans can follow the bear's progress in a vast photo spread and videos of Knut drinking from his bottle, bathing and playing with teddy bears and soccer balls, all available on the zoo's Web site. http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/03/19/polar.bear.ap/index.html"}, {"response": 99, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Mar 22, 2007 (00:20)", "body": "Ah! That You Tube video above is taken from Knut's video podcast. They're in 1 - 4 min segments. The first 2 are too adorable (3 and 4 min ones). I think they have to be downloaded to watch unfortunately, but I don't mind keeping them. http://www.rbb-online.de/_/fernsehen/index_jsp/activeid=3609.html He's so cute learning to play in water. He didn't seem to like being thrown in a little pool at first. He played with a water hose that was turned on like some dogs I've seen."}, {"response": 100, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Mar 22, 2007 (00:42)", "body": "While it's great that everyone is so indignant over the crappy conditions at the VA hospitals, mostly Walter Reed so far, this is nothing new. And it's not like no one could've known. I've been in VA hospitals and I've known people who worked in them (including a brand new one) and there were always complaints of lack of budget for equipment, even to replace equipment well used and in the older ones, not so great conditions. They've been making many of those hospitals operate on a shoestring for a long time. Unfortunately, now the need for them is so exponentially greater than in the fairly recent past. AP: Mold, Leaky Roofs Beset VA Clinics By HOPE YEN, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON - The Veterans Affairs' vast network of 1,400 health clinics and hospitals is beset by maintenance problems such as mold, leaking roofs and even a colony of bats, an internal review says. The investigation, ordered two weeks ago by VA Secretary Jim Nicholson, is the first major review of the facilities conducted since the disclosure of squalid conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. A copy of the report was provided to The Associated Press. Democrats newly in charge of Congress called the report the latest evidence of an outdated system unable to handle a coming influx of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan. Investigators earlier this month found that the VA's system for handling disability claims was strained to its limit. \"Who's been minding the store?\" said Sen. Patty Murray (news, bio, voting record), D-Wash., a member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee. \"They keep putting Band-Aids on problems, when what the agency needs is major triage.\" The review was conducted by directors of individual VA facilities around the country and compiled in a 94-page report to Nicholson. It found that 90 percent of the 1,100 problems cited were deemed to be of a more routine nature: worn-out carpet, peeling paint, mice sightings and dead bugs at VA centers. The other 10 percent were considered serious and included mold spreading in patient care areas. Eight cases were so troubling they required immediate attention and follow-up action. Some of the more striking problems were found at a VA clinic in White City, Ore. There, officials reported roof leaks throughout the facility, requiring them to \"continuously repair the leaks upon occurrence, clean up any mold presence if any exists, spray or remove ceiling tiles.\" In addition, large colonies of bats resided outside the facility and sometimes flew into the attics and interior parts of the building. \"Eradication has been discussed but the uniqueness of the situation (the number of colonies) makes it challenging to accomplish,\" according to the report, which said the bats were being tested for diseases. \"Also, the bats keep the insect pollution to a minimum which is beneficial.\" In other findings: _In Oklahoma City, secondhand smoke from an outside smoking shelter sometimes infiltrated the building through the women's restroom. _Deteriorating walls and hallways were common, requiring repair, patch and paint in 30 percent of patient areas in Little Rock, Ark. _Numerous unspecified \"environmental conditions\" affected the quality of the building in New York's Hudson Valley, with the private landlord repeatedly refusing to fix problems. The VA is taking steps to relocate to another facility. _Roof leaks or mold at facilities such as Hudson Valley; North Chicago, Ill.; Indianapolis; Puget Sound, Wash.; Portland, Ore; and Fayetteville, Ark. Veterans groups said they were concerned about the findings but also appreciated the VA's aggressive efforts to identify problems. \"We now expect these problems to be corrected immediately and not shelved due to insufficient funding or because the proper care and treatment of our wounded veterans is no longer in the national spotlight,\" said Joe Davis, spokesman of Veterans of Foreign Wars. John Gage, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents 150,000 VA workers, added: \"Clearly the problems facing the VA require increased funding as well as better oversight.\" In response, Nicholson this week ordered \"immediate corrective action\" to fix problems, with full accounting provided to the VA. He noted that an overwhelming majority of the issues were normal \"wear and tear\" items. In many cases where there were roof leaks or mold, officials had begun action to order patches or repairs, the department said. In some instances, they were moving to new facilities. \"The level of detail in the reports and the corrective actions enumerated demonstrate your responsiveness to my request,\" Nicholson wrote in an order Monday to VA medical center directors. In interviews, VA officials said they were somewhat reassured by the report, which they said indicated no red flags rising to the level of problems at outpatient facilities at Walter Reed in Washington, D.C., one of the premier facilities for treating those wounded in Iraq and Afg"}, {"response": 101, "author": "Kathryn", "date": "Thu, Mar 22, 2007 (10:17)", "body": "Knut's story is somewhat similar to something that was on PBS a few months ago about a polar bear in Japan. In the later case, the custodian even brought the bear home when it was a cub to be its sole care. The man even had to teach the cub about water and swimming until instinct took over. I don't understand why there should be any doubt about the zoo raising the cub...and I fault the zoo for allowing the brother to die. Obviously, the mother was in a breeding program, and the zoo is responsible for protecting the cubs. It's not like cubs bred in captivity are going to be released in the wild. Re V.A. hospitals: Images from \"Coming Home\" spring to mind. I don't doubt that there are serious problems with many VA hospitals, especially with the numbers of Iraqi casualities, but I must say that the VA hospital in my area and the one my brother goes to in San Diego are excellent."}, {"response": 102, "author": "Kathryn", "date": "Thu, Mar 22, 2007 (10:21)", "body": "Oops, that obviously should be \" U.S. casualties from the Iraqi war\"."}, {"response": 103, "author": "Kathryn", "date": "Thu, Mar 22, 2007 (10:41)", "body": "Sorry for triple post, but I forgot to thank Dorine for the links to the photos and videos of Knut. They are fascinating and wonderful. I've passed the link on to my husband, who loves bears, especially polar bears. So double thanks, Dorine. :-)"}, {"response": 104, "author": "mari", "date": "Thu, Mar 22, 2007 (11:31)", "body": "I'd like to know what \"support our troops\" means. Certain conservatives have bastardized this phrase into some sort of litmus test for patriotism, instead of focusing on the needs of the troops and their families. What I think they really mean is \"support our president's policies,\" and meanwhile our poor boys and girls in uniform are suffering . . . from lack of equipment, lack of planning and foresight at the top, and now lack of adequate medical care at home. It makes my blood boil. Bob Woodruff, the ABC news anchor who was injured so badly last year while covering the war, had an excellent show on a couple of weeks ago, detailing how he came back from his injuries. He stressed the outstanding care he received, and the excellent care being provided in the Army field hospitals and in some flagship facilities stateside. BUT . . . he pointed out how once these poor kids get back to their hometowns, very few VA facilities are equipped to deal with the type and severity of these head injuries and loss of limbs, and the soldiers wind up back-sliding. It makes me furious. \"Support our troops\" indeed."}, {"response": 105, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Thu, Mar 22, 2007 (12:19)", "body": "Thanks,Dorine, for posting Knut's story Awwwe, I saw dear little Knut became a star in his own right on BBC News yesterday ;-) What a sweetie. Whilst I can understand the arguement, that in the wild, nature would take it's natural course........ in Knut's (and others like him) case, he was born in captivity so would have contact with humans anyway. I don't see the Animal Rights Activists reasoning on this one. I am sure there been other cases where animals whom have been hand rared and successfully intergrated back with their fellow species. LOL, Mari, I like the \"Teddy\" species of Bear too ;-)"}, {"response": 106, "author": "McKenzie", "date": "Thu, Mar 22, 2007 (13:14)", "body": "(Mari) What I think they really mean is \"support our president's policies,\" and meanwhile our poor boys and girls in uniform are suffering . . . from lack of equipment, lack of planning and foresight at the top, and now lack of adequate medical care at home. It makes my blood boil. Exactly! These poor soldiers are not even receiving the equipment that they need to do the job that they are being asked to do (tour of duty after tour of duty, after.... in many cases) so it is hardly surprising that the medical treatment they receive at home is substandard in many areas. It really is sickening. I saw the Bob Woodruff show, too & agree that it was quite enlightening. I may be off base, but I do wonder, though, if part of the reason that he received such good care & treatment - back here in the States - was because of who he is and the fact that his situation was so high-profile. The average \"Joe\" definitely doesn't fare as well."}, {"response": 107, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Mar 22, 2007 (13:25)", "body": "I'm so sorry I missed the Bob Woodruff special. I never saw when it was on exactly, but kept seeing references to it in news stories. Maybe I can find it on the web somewhere. He was at the Lincoln Center Barnes and Noble a couple of weeks ago with his book, but it was a night I had somewhere else to be. I really wanted to go."}, {"response": 108, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Mar 22, 2007 (13:32)", "body": "Sad news about John Edwards' wife today. Said they went to have tests after she had pain lifting a chest and then she broke a rib when he hugged her. :-("}, {"response": 109, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Mar 22, 2007 (21:11)", "body": "I'm glad you liked the video podcasts of Knut, Kathryn. I hope your husband likes them, too. I wish I could understand German to know what those people say about him or what the keeper says to Knut. He's just so adorable it makes me want to cry. I read the comments after some article about him online....some British paper's site I think, that the activist's comments were taken out of context and blown out of proportion by the German tabloid, Bild. The poster explained briefly what he said and how it happened, including a link to the article, which I can't read because it's in German."}, {"response": 110, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Mar 22, 2007 (21:20)", "body": "I don't know if a solution to this will actually come to pass soon, but here's hoping this is the start to getting those soldiers home and safe. Ladies, Start Your Engines By: Jane Hamsher Looks like Pelosi did it: http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/22/98746.aspx ************************* \"Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her allies in the House now appear to have the Democratic votes necessary to pass the measure that requires American combat troops to be out of Iraq by Fall 2008 at the latest. Three House liberal leaders have just announced that they are \"letting go\" of their nominal underlings in the Progressive and Out of Iraq caucuses, meaning that they will not pressure them to vote \"nay\" on the grounds that the bill continues funding the war \ufffd notwithstanding the withdrawal date. Also, liberal Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) has also announced that he will go along with Pelosi and vote \"yea.\" That might be just enough to put Pelosi over the top with the 218 votes she needs for passage. For weeks, she has struggled to round up votes from progressives on the left and \"Blue Dogs\" on the right who don't like the idea of a timeline. This is easily the biggest test to date of her leadership.\" *************************** [Ed. note - Below per Jane Hamsher, not me] While it's hard to justify giving Bush another penny for his illegal and immoral war, I'm surprised at the glee I feel knowing that Nancy Pelosi got the votes to finally beat George Bush on an Iraq vote at a time when the abuse of power makes the most paranoid amongst us look rational. Let's hope this is a first step toward restoring some kind of sanity. [Ed. note - Amen.] http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/03/22/ladies-start-your-engines/#comments"}, {"response": 111, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Mar 22, 2007 (21:27)", "body": "(Maureen) I do wonder, though, if part of the reason that he received such good care & treatment - back here in the States - was because of who he is and the fact that his situation was so high-profile. The average \"Joe\" definitely doesn't fare as well. That's exactly what I'd thought as well. Same thing for Time Magazine's Michael Weisskopf who had his hand blown off in Iraq. He wrote a book too, Blood Brothers, about his and several other soldiers' recoveries from injuries. I don't doubt he had some more special treatment as well vs. the average \"Joe\"."}, {"response": 112, "author": "mari", "date": "Thu, Mar 22, 2007 (21:31)", "body": "(Maureen) I do wonder, though, if part of the reason that he received such good care & treatment - back here in the States - was because of who he is and the fact that his situation was so high-profile. Absolutely, and Bob Woodruff said as much in the report. He was very upfront about that, I thought."}, {"response": 113, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Mar 22, 2007 (21:44)", "body": "(Me) While it's great that everyone is so indignant over the crappy conditions at the VA hospitals, mostly Walter Reed so far, this is nothing new. And it's not like no one could've known. I just realized this maybe sounds like I think the general public would know. I was actually referring to all these people in the govt and the military that seem caught so unawares."}, {"response": 114, "author": "mari", "date": "Fri, Mar 23, 2007 (11:48)", "body": "(Dorine)Sad news about John Edwards' wife today. My heart goes out to them. What a gutsy, forthright and upbeat person she is. My goodness, what they have gone through as a family--their son's death, her first cancer diagnosis and now this. Whatever comes their way, they soldier on, with intelligence, courage, and honesty."}, {"response": 115, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Mar 23, 2007 (20:00)", "body": "I must be on a kick about amusing animals this week. I'm not searching for them, but they find me. ;-) Cold lambs get raincoats Last Updated: Friday March 23 2007 09:24 GMT Lambs wearing raincoats Little lambs are jumping for joy after their farmer came up with a new idea for keeping them warm. Farmer John Garnett wanted to move his lambs from their crowded indoor pens to the fields in the Yorkshire Dales. But he was worried that some would die as some nights the temperature has dropped below freezing. So he's fitted the lambs with stylish blue plastic raincoats to protect them from the bad weather as they run around the fields near Skipton. Mr Garnett said: \"Well, the lambs seem to like them and the sheep don't seem to be bothered. \"The farm buildings are filling up with sheep and lambs so we needed to get some out into the fields.\" As well as protecting the lambs from the weather, the jackets have an extra advantage - foxes seem to be confused by the coats and stay away. http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_6480000/newsid_6483200/6483293.stm"}, {"response": 116, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Mar 23, 2007 (20:12)", "body": "near Skipton. Near Skipton?! This might need to be posted on the CF topic, as that's where \"Father\" is set. LOL! (and at the lambs in their raincoats - so cute!!)"}, {"response": 117, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Mar 24, 2007 (00:29)", "body": "Knut makes his debut at the Berlin Zoo.... Knut faces a battery of photographers Photograph: Wolfgang Kumm/EPA Keeper Thomas Doerflein presents the cub at its first public appearance in Berlin zoo Photograph: Franka Bruns/AP He's so handsome.. Knut takes his first walk under the gaze of the public Photograph: Sean Gallup/Getty Images The bear licks his handler's face Photograph: Axel Schmidt/AFP The polar bear seems unfazed by the crowds Photograph: Wolfgang Kumm/EPA More pictures here... http://www.guardian.co.uk/gallery/2007/mar/23/internationalnews?picture=329755943 There's an audio interview (about 2-3 mins) with Kate Connelly (a reporter it seems) about Knut as he's coming out... http://download.guardian.co.uk/sys-audio/Guardian/news/2007/03/23/0323Connollyaudio.mp3 Sounds fun. I'd like to find some video of his coming out. I didn't realize Knut's mom is a retired circus bear. :-("}, {"response": 118, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Mar 24, 2007 (01:10)", "body": "Here's a picture gallery and video at Spiegel Online. Lots of great pics here... http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/0,5538,20321,00.html Video here. If you click on the little magnifying glass, a bigger window opens. The third video is the best. Just a minute or 2. The others are 20 sec blurbs at the 30 sec mark, except the last one is a short blurb at the beginning. http://www.spiegel.de/multimediauebersicht/ There's a short Anderson Cooper video at CNN.com talking about the activist's comments. Left hand side under his pic. http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/03/23/polar.bear.ap/"}, {"response": 119, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Mar 24, 2007 (21:51)", "body": "Upthread Mari mentioned about the apparently confusing or even twisted definitions of \"patriotism\" and \"supporting the troops\" in today's climate. Here's a You Tube clip of Bill Maher during his usual \"rant\" segment which is at the end of the show from last night's show that I only caught the last sentence of. He wasn't ranting though and it wasn't as funny as he usually makes them. He seemed quite serious. One of the blogs I regularly read pointed this out. It wasn't about the army soldiers, but a \"troop\" of a different kind who was trying to keep us safe. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sS45gTnLiI&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Efiredoglake%2Ecom%2F"}, {"response": 120, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Mar 25, 2007 (14:48)", "body": "Yep, it's true....another animal story! I'm sure at least some people here have heard of Koko the gorilla who speaks with sign language...and apparently has a rather large vocabulary of understood spoken words, which I didn't know. This beautiful story is from the artist, Richard Stone, about his meetings with Koko to have her sit for him. I found it so fascinating. It's a long article so I'll post just the link. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=444337&in_page_id=1770&in_page_id=1770&expand=true#StartComments"}, {"response": 121, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Mar 27, 2007 (19:29)", "body": "Coward. Questions on firings shorten Gonzales news conference By Jeff Coen Tribune staff reporter Published March 27, 2007, 2:43 PM CDT Atty. Gen. Alberto Gonzales today cut short a press conference about Internet safety, leaving the room at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in Chicago when reporters questioned him about the firings of U.S. attorneys. The questioning was to have lasted about 15 minutes, but it ended after less than three. Gonzales and Fitzgerald (Tribune photo by Kuni Takahashi) Gonzales defended his handling of the matter before quickly leaving the podium. He was asked about the revelation that he was present for a meeting on the firings, after he had initially said he had had no part in them. \"I've already discussed my involvement in the meeting,\" Gonzales said. \"And my comments at the March 13 press conference. These are all things I have disclosed or discussed yesterday. \"It's all there in the record,\" he said. \"But let me just say this, that certainly even before the disclosure of the memo, what was public out there was the fact that there was this review process.\" Gonzales said he made the decision on the firings, and that he looks forward to working with Congress on the matter, and that he had directed the release of documents on the matter. He said he also directed Justice Department employees to testify about the situation. He was then asked about the decision by a top aide to invoke her 5th Amendment protection. \"I'm not going to comment on the decision by an employee of the department to exercise her constitutional rights,\" he said. After saying he had made the decision on the firings in the fall, he left without taking further questions. That included any question about U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald receiving a mediocre rating in an internal review by the Justice Department. Gonzales was in Chicago as part of his efforts to tout the \"Project Safe Childhood\" campaign. At a discussion earlier in the day, Gonzales said children in particular need to know how to protect themselves on the Internet. And he said parents need to better understand how the Internet works and what sites their children are visiting. Copyright \ufffd 2007, Chicago Tribune http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-070327gonzales,1,2575444.story?coll=chi-news-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true"}, {"response": 122, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Mar 30, 2007 (20:21)", "body": "This is for anyone whose cat(s) may be eating this particular Science Diet brand prescription food. Mine eat the Prescription Feline c/d rather than the m/d thank God...so far. FDA says pet food poison may be in dry food, too - and didn't rule out human food by ChristieKeith Fri Mar 30, 2007 at 08:53:54 AM PDT I'm a contributing editor for Universal Press Syndicate's Pet Connection, a syndicated pet column appearing in around 70 newspapers nationwide. We've been covering the pet food recall story on our blog as well as our column. I just got out of an FDA press conference, where a reporter asked the agency's Dr. Stephen Sundlof if people could be feeding unsafe food to their pets right now, because the FDA won\ufffdt reveal the name of another company - one that makes dry or \"kibbled\" food as well as \"wet\" pet food - that received wheat gluten from the same source Menu did. * ChristieKeith's diary :: :: * The response? \"It is possible, but I think we\ufffdve been following every lead that we can. My sense is that we have gotten most of it under control.\" As soon as we have any information, he assured us this morning, we\ufffdll notify the public. Except for the name of the company, it seems. How about the numbers? asked another attendee. You\ufffdre still saying only 15 confirmed deaths, but some reports are in the thousands. How do you explain the discrepancy? Dr. Sundlof said FDA can\ufffdt confirm any cases beyond those first few in Menu\ufffds test labs, even though they have received over 8800 additional reports, because \"we have not had the luxury of confirming these reports.\" They\ufffdll work on that, he said, after they \"make sure all the product is off the shelves.\" He pointed out that in human medicine, the job of defining what constitutes a confirmed case would fall to the Centers for Disease Control, not the FDA... and there is no CDC for animals. Karen Roebuck of the Pittsburg Tribune-Review, who broke the story earlier this morning that melamine, not aminopterin (a rat poison), had been found in the tested foods, asked if any of the wheat gluten had found its way into the human food supply. The response: \"At this point we are not aware that any of that went into human food.\" They do know the company that supplied the contaminated wheat gluten, and are tracking its shipments, but they aren\ufffdt disclosing the name of the company. They are, however, doing \"100 percent review and sampling of all wheat gluten from China.\" We'll update at PetConnection.com with more reports from the FDA conference throughout the day. UPDATE LATE ON FRIDAY, MARCH 30: From Hills Pet Nutrition, Inc.: \"In accordance with its over-riding commitment to pet health and well-being, Hill's Pet Nutrition, Inc. is voluntarily recalling Prescription Diet m/d Feline dry food from the market. Hill's is taking this precautionary action because during a two-month period in early 2007, wheat gluten for this product was provided by a company that also supplied wheat gluten to Menu Foods. U.S. Food and Drug Administration tests of wheat gluten samples from this period show the presence of a small amount of melamine. Prescription Diet m/d Feline Dry represents less than one half of one percent of all Hill's products.\" Tags: pets, FDA, recall, Recommended, Menu Foods (all tags) http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/3/30/114249/411"}, {"response": 123, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Mar 30, 2007 (20:35)", "body": "No one need question why I'm still single after reading this. ;-DD I'd rather be. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/29/garden/29breakers.html?em&ex=1175400000&en=f54e859fce0273ea&ei=5087%0A"}, {"response": 124, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Apr  2, 2007 (16:48)", "body": "If only they'd show backbone in other areas...Truly amazing though. From the NYT: April 2, 2007 Justices Rule Against Bush Administration on Emissions By DAVID STOUT WASHINGTON, April 2 \ufffd The Supreme Court ruled today, in what amounts to a rebuke of the Bush administration, that the Environmental Protection Agency has the authority to regulate carbon dioxide from automobile emissions, and that it has shirked its duty in not doing so. In a 5-to-4 decision, the court found that the Clean Air Act expressly authorizes the E.P.A. to regulate carbon dioxide emissions, contrary to the E.P.A.\ufffds contention, and that if the agency still insists that it does not want to regulate those emissions, it must give better reasons than the \ufffdlaundry list\ufffd of invalid considerations it has offered so far. Today\ufffds decision is surely not the last word in the continuing debate over the effects of global warming and what can, or should, be done about it. But it was still highly significant in at least two respects. First, the majority brushed aside the Bush administration\ufffds assertion that the Clean Air Act does not treat carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases as \ufffdpollutants,\ufffd and thus does not give the E.P.A. the authority to regulate them. Secondly, the five justices declared that contrary to the administration, Massachusetts and the 11 other states and various other plaintiffs that sued the E.P.A. do indeed have legal standing to pursue their suit. In order to establish standing, a federal court plaintiff must show that there is an injury that can be traced to the defendant\ufffds behavior, and that the injury will be relieved by the action the lawsuit seeks. \ufffdE.P.A.\ufffds steadfast refusal to regulate greenhouse gas emissions presents a risk of harm to Massachusetts that is both \ufffdactual\ufffd and \ufffdimminent,\ufffd \ufffd Justice John Paul Stevens wrote for the majority, citing two standards linked to standing. \ufffdE.P.A. identifies nothing suggesting that Congress meant to curtail E.P.A.\ufffds power to treat greenhouse gases as air pollutants,\ufffd Justice Stevens wrote. Instead, the agency resorted to \ufffdimpermissible considerations\ufffd in rejecting the plaintiffs\ufffd request to regulate those admissions, the justice wrote. \ufffdIts action was therefore \ufffdarbitrary, capricious, or otherwise not in accordance with law,\ufffd \ufffd Justice Stevens went on. Justices Anthony M. Kennedy, David H. Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen G. Breyer joined his decision. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. dissented, along with Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr. The chief justice said his dissent \ufffdinvolves no judgment on whether global warming exists, what causes it, or the extent of the problem.\ufffd Rather, he wrote, the kind of dispute in this case is better resolved by Congress and the executive branch rather than the courts. Contrary to what the majority held, the plaintiffs failed to show a cause-and-effect relationship between global warming and actual injury, the chief justice wrote. For instance, he dismissed as \ufffdpure conjecture\ufffd a plaintiffs\ufffd assertion that Massachusetts is gradually losing its coastal territory to higher sea levels generated by global warming. The majority did not declare that the E.P.A. must find that greenhouse gases are a danger because they contribute to global warming. But the justices said the agency can escape its regulatory duties \ufffdonly if it determines that greenhouse gases do not contribute to climate change, or if it provides some reasonable explanation as to why it cannot or will not exercise its discretion to determine whether they do.\ufffd The tone of the majority opinion seemed to suggest that the E.P.A. would face a high barrier in arguing that greenhouse gases are not harmful. Justice Stevens alluded extensively to scientific findings in recent years attesting to the dangers of the gases, and he noted that the plaintiffs\ufffd affidavits detailing those dangers were not contested. The majority dismissed the E.P.A.\ufffds argument that even if it did have authority to regulate carbon dioxide emissions, it could exercise its judgment in declining to do so. \ufffdPut another way, the use of the word \ufffdjudgment\ufffd is not a roving license to ignore the statutory text,\ufffd the decision stated. Nor was the majority persuaded by the defendants\ufffd arguments that even if carbon dioxide emissions do contribute to global warming, they are but a small part of the worldwide problem. \ufffdAgencies, like legislatures, do not generally resolve massive problems in one fell swoop, but instead whittle away over time, refining their approach as circumstances change and they develop a more nuanced understanding of how best to proceed,\ufffd the majority wrote. In a friend-of-the-court brief of behalf of 18 scientists who specialize in climate issues, Robert B. McKinstry Jr. of Philadelphia and several other lawyers asserted that the E.P.A. had tried to create the impression that there is more uncertainty about global warming than really exists among scientists. \ufffdIt is virtually "}, {"response": 125, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Apr  2, 2007 (16:50)", "body": "In actuality, we now have two branches of government against the third. ;-) I think the justices now need to take on the FDA."}, {"response": 126, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Apr  3, 2007 (01:08)", "body": "Bush administration\ufffds assertion that the Clean Air Act does not treat carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases as \ufffdpollutants,\ufffd You know, I mean....really. How freakin' idiotic. Who believes this shit and the people who spout this crap? Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. dissented, along with Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr Can we call them the Axis of Evil 2? ;-) \ufffdIt\ufffds an historic moment when the Supreme Court has to step in to protect the environment from the Bush administration.\ufffd And quite sad, too, that it's necessary. You know, I don't get it...I mean who doesn't want clean air?"}, {"response": 127, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Apr  3, 2007 (01:08)", "body": "Bugger!!"}, {"response": 128, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Apr  3, 2007 (01:12)", "body": "And to continue the slap down by the courts of poor environmental policy by the Bush administration..... Federal Court Blocks Attempt to Eliminate Wildlife Standards for National Forests Bush administration rule changes rejected March 30, 2007 San Francisco, CA -- A federal judge today rejected the Bush administration's effort to remove key environmental protections from the rules governing the 191-million-acre National Forest System. The ruling, by U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton, invalidates regulations issued by the Bush administration in 2005 that sought to overhaul the land-management planning process for National Forests by eliminating mandatory protections for wildlife and clean water and removing public participation in the process. Among the measures discarded by the Bush administration was a key regulatory guarantee of wildlife viability in the National Forests that had been in place since the Reagan administration. \"The national forest planning rules are like the Constitution for our National Forests, and the Bush administration tried to throw out the Bill of Rights,\" said Trent Orr of Earthjustice who argued the case before Judge Hamilton. \"The Bush rule changes made any wildlife provisions in forest management plans purely aspirational, but the nation's wildlife deserve more than a 'hope and a prayer' planning system.\" Today's ruling found that Bush administration officials had bypassed legally required environmental reviews and endangered species protections in creating a new management system for the National Forests that eliminated enforceable environmental protections from the forest planning process. Judge Hamilton also ruled that the administration had sprung its final forest planning rules on the public without sufficient notice of the \"paradigm shift\" that the rules accomplished. The judge's ruling prohibits the Bush administration from \"implementation and utilization\" of the new forest planning rules. The National Forest Management Act requires the Forest Service to protect wildlife on the national forests and allow citizens to participate in management decisions. The Bush rules invalidated the 1982 standards for national forest management that protected species and required public comment on national forest timber plans. Earthjustice, representing Defenders of Wildlife, The Wilderness Society, the Sierra Club and Vermont Natural Resources Council, filed a legal challenge to the Bush administration rule changes in October 2004. Pete Frost from the Western Environmental Law Center represented Citizens for Better Forestry in a similar case that was also decided in today's ruling. The State of California also filed a lawsuit against the rule changes."}, {"response": 129, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Apr  3, 2007 (01:20)", "body": "The link for above... http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na-forest31mar31,1,2361940.story?coll=la-news-a_section Another take on it... Judge tosses out Bush's national forest rules Regulations were not subjected to environmental reviews or public comment, she rules. By Janet Wilson, Times Staff Writer March 31, 2007 A federal judge on Friday overturned Bush administration regulations for national forests that critics said expedited logging and energy exploration, weakened wildlife protection, and shut the public out of forest planning. U.S. Northern District Court Judge Phyllis Hamilton, based in San Francisco, found that because U.S. Forest Service officials had not conducted required environmental impact reviews of their new policies, nor allowed public comment on \"clearly controversial\" changes, they should be invalidated. If the Forest Service wants to implement the regulations, it must first conduct such reviews, the judge ruled. She declined to say which past regulations should govern forest planning until then. Forestry officials in 2005 invalidated 1982 standards adopted under President Reagan that protected more than 400 wildlife species and required comprehensive environmental review and public comment on forest management plans. In 2001, Bush appointees refused to implement revised forest management rules drawn up under President Clinton. Forest Service spokesman Joseph Walsh on Friday declined to answer questions, including whether the decision would be appealed. Reading a statement, he said, \"The federal government is carefully reviewing today's decision.\" He noted that \"presented with similar circumstances,\" two other federal judges in the last month had agreed with Forest Service officials on how endangered species and environmental planning should be handled. But Tim Preso of Earthjustice, one of the attorneys who filed the lawsuit decided Friday, said the other two decisions involved different rules in specific forests, not policies governing the nation's entire 192-million-acre forest system. Environmentalists said they were thrilled by the ruling, although they expressed some concern that forest policy was being left in limbo. \"I think it's a tremendous decision that vindicates the public's right to participate in national forest management,\" Preso said. When they made the changes in 2005, Forest Service officials said they were streamlining wasteful and time-consuming paperwork and gaining the ability to respond quickly to evolving forest conditions and scientific research. But Sierra Club forest policy specialist Sean Cosgrove said grizzly bears, salmon, spotted owls and other imperiled wildlife populations would have lost key protections if the new rules had been upheld. The Sierra Club and numerous other environmental groups filed lawsuits to undo the rules, and the judge decided them jointly. \"The Bush administration's rules would have undone 20 years of protections for wildlife and clean water,\" Cosgrove said. \"This ruling is a huge victory for all Americans who hunt, fish and enjoy our national forests.\" janet.wilson@latimes.com http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na-forest31mar31,1,2361940.story?coll=la-news-a_section"}, {"response": 130, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Apr  3, 2007 (09:22)", "body": "(Dorine) You know, I don't get it...I mean who doesn't want clean air? I'm sure you meant that as a rhetorical qustion. ;-)"}, {"response": 131, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Apr  3, 2007 (17:50)", "body": "Of course. ;-) And wow, how's this for supporting our troops... The Army is ordering injured troops to go to Iraq At Fort Benning, soldiers who were classified as medically unfit to fight are now being sent to war. Is this an isolated incident or a trend? By Mark Benjamin Pages 1 2 (Photo) George W. Bush greets troops and their families on the tarmac before his departure from Fort Benning, Ga., on Jan. 11, 2007. March 11, 2007 | COLUMBUS, Ga. -- \"This is not right,\" said Master Sgt. Ronald Jenkins, who has been ordered to Iraq even though he has a spine problem that doctors say would be damaged further by heavy Army protective gear. \"This whole thing is about taking care of soldiers,\" he said angrily. \"If you are fit to fight you are fit to fight. If you are not fit to fight, then you are not fit to fight.\" As the military scrambles to pour more soldiers into Iraq, a unit of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division at Fort Benning, Ga., is deploying troops with serious injuries and other medical problems, including GIs who doctors have said are medically unfit for battle. Some are too injured to wear their body armor, according to medical records. On Feb. 15, Master Sgt. Jenkins and 74 other soldiers with medical conditions from the 3rd Division's 3rd Brigade were summoned to a meeting with the division surgeon and brigade surgeon. These are the men responsible for handling each soldier's \"physical profile,\" an Army document that lists for commanders an injured soldier's physical limitations because of medical problems -- from being unable to fire a weapon to the inability to move and dive in three-to-five-second increments to avoid enemy fire. Jenkins and other soldiers claim that the division and brigade surgeons summarily downgraded soldiers' profiles, without even a medical exam, in order to deploy them to Iraq. It is a claim division officials deny. The 3,900-strong 3rd Brigade is now leaving for Iraq for a third time in a steady stream. In fact, some of the troops with medical conditions interviewed by Salon last week are already gone. Others are slated to fly out within a week, but are fighting against their chain of command, holding out hope that because of their ills they will ultimately not be forced to go. Jenkins, who is still in Georgia, thinks doctors are helping to send hurt soldiers like him to Iraq to make units going there appear to be at full strength. \"This is about the numbers,\" he said flatly. That is what worries Steve Robinson, director of veterans affairs at Veterans for America, who has long been concerned that the military was pressing injured troops into Iraq. \"Did they send anybody down range that cannot wear a helmet, that cannot wear body armor?\" Robinson asked rhetorically. \"Well that is wrong. It is a war zone.\" Robinson thinks that the possibility that physical profiles may have been altered improperly has the makings of a scandal. \"My concerns are that this needs serious investigation. You cannot just look at somebody and tell that they were fit,\" he said. \"It smacks of an overstretched military that is in crisis mode to get people onto the battlefield.\" Eight soldiers who were at the Feb. 15 meeting say they were summoned to the troop medical clinic at 6:30 in the morning and lined up to meet with division surgeon Lt. Col. George Appenzeller, who had arrived from Fort Stewart, Ga., and Capt. Aaron K. Starbuck, brigade surgeon at Fort Benning. The soldiers described having a cursory discussion of their profiles, with no physical exam or extensive review of medical files. They say Appenzeller and Starbuck seemed focused on downplaying their physical problems. \"This guy was changing people's profiles left and right,\" said a captain who injured his back during his last tour in Iraq and was ordered to Iraq after the Feb. 15 review. Appenzeller said the review of 75 soldiers with profiles was an effort to make sure they were as accurate as possible prior to deployment. \"As the division surgeon and the senior medical officer in the division, I wanted to ensure that all the patients with profiles were fully evaluated with clear limitations that commanders could use to make the decision whether they could deploy, and if they did deploy, what their limitations would be while there,\" he said in a telephone interview from Fort Stewart. He said he changed less than one-third of those profiles -- even making some more restrictive -- in order to \"bring them into accordance with regulations.\" In direct contradiction to the account given by the soldiers, Appenzeller said physical examinations were conducted and that he had a robust medical team there working with him, which is how they managed to complete 75 reviews in one day. Appenzeller denied that the plan was to find more warm bodies for the surge into Baghdad, as did Col. Wayne W. Grigsby Jr., the brigade commander. Grigsby said he is under \"no pressure\" to find soldiers, regardless of health, to make his unit look fit. The health and welfa"}, {"response": 132, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Apr  5, 2007 (22:50)", "body": "I was thisclose to crying on the train home while reading this Newsweek interview with Elizabeth Edwards in the magazine today. In the magazine it states Jonathan Alter is in remission from cancer (mantle cell lymphoma) diagnosed 4 years ago. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17889146/site/newsweek/"}, {"response": 133, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Apr  5, 2007 (23:04)", "body": "Oh yeah, this made me about cry the other day, too. This little boy's face and sounds were heartbreaking. I don't watch network news, but maybe some of you caught it. It was on several channels it seems. I picked the MSNBC one over the NBC one because NBC used the most manipulative music in the background to tweak emotions. Really annoying. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVcH4oqrgsk&mode=related&search = I have an ex who was in the Army Reserves when I lived in NC 20 years ago. He would go to Ft. Benning 2 wks every summer to be a drill sgt, along with his weekend stint every month. I hope to God he got out of that before this war started and he didn't feel a duty to go back when the war started. Since they have been recruiting to upwards of 42 I think, he would still be just old enough to go on that criteria, if I recall his age correctly."}, {"response": 134, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Apr  8, 2007 (11:37)", "body": "I think some people in higher authority have *way* too much time on their hands. School Renames Easter Bunny 'Peter Rabbit' ABC News (April 7) -- A Rhode Island public school has decided the Easter bunny is too Christian and renamed him Peter Rabbit, and a state legislator is so hopping mad he has introduced an \"Easter Bunny Act\" to save the bunny's good name. 'Political Correctness Gone Wild' \"Like many Rhode Islanders I'm quite frustrated \ufffd by people trying to change traditions that we've held in this country for 150 years, like the Easter bunny,\" Rhode Island State Rep. Richard Singleton told \"Good Morning America Weekend Edition.\" The Easter bunny was scheduled to make an appearance at a craft fair on Saturday at Tiverton Middle School in Tiverton, R.I. But the district's schools Superintendent William Rearick told event organizers to change the bunny's name to Peter Rabbit in \"an attempt to be conscious of other people's backgrounds and traditions.\" Singleton struck back this week by proposing a bill, nicknamed the \"Easter Bunny Act,\" to stop all local municipalities from changing the name of popular religious and secular symbols like the Easter bunny. \"The underlying theme here is serious,\" he said. \"I don't think a superintendent of schools should have the authority to change something we've held so deeply for 150 years.\" 'Not a Religious Symbol' Not everyone in Rhode Island, however, believes the Easter bunny is worth fighting for. \"As a Christian symbol, I would say [the Easter bunny] is not one of those that I would go to the barricades to defend,\" Rev. Bernard Healy, the Catholic Diocese of Providence, R.I., said in a statement. Singleton, however, said the perceived religious symbolism versus its actual religious significance is why it shouldn't be banned. \"The Easter bunny is not a religious symbol,\" he said. \"Why it's being banned doesn't make sense.\" The American Civil Liberties Union has also spoken out the issue. \"Public schools should not be promoting Easter celebrations, and to the extent that the school districts try to avoid that problem they are to be commended,\" Steve Brown, the executive director of the ACLU Rhode Island affiliate, said in a statement. Singleton, however, dismissed the ACLU's comments. \"I don't pay a lot of attention to what the ACLU says quite frankly,\" he said. This is \"political correctness gone wild. 'It's crazy.\" Singleton said the bill is meant to protect all traditional and religious symbols for example, if someone wanted to change \"the name of the menorah to the candelabra.\" The politician isn't positive that Peter Rabbit would have been the right replacement anyway. \"By the way, Peter Rabbit stole cabbages and that's not a good role model for our kids,\" he joked. http://news.aol.com/topnews/articles/_a/school-renames-easter-bunny-peter-rabbit/20070407201309990002?ncid=NWS00010000000001"}, {"response": 135, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Apr  8, 2007 (13:34)", "body": "Singleton said the bill is meant to protect all traditional and religious symbols for example, if someone wanted to change \"the name of the menorah to the candelabra.\" Except that a menorah IS a religious symbol. He can't have it both ways. I say rename the Easter Bunny Mortie. ;-)"}, {"response": 136, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Apr  8, 2007 (13:36)", "body": "This article sounds like it came from The Onion."}, {"response": 137, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Apr  9, 2007 (23:53)", "body": "Another way to tell a war story Frustrated by the public's disconnect, CBS' Allen Pizzey turns to blogging about Iraq. By Matea Gold, Times Staff Writer April 7, 2007 NEW YORK \ufffd Allen Pizzey, a 60-year-old veteran war correspondent who considers himself a bit of a Luddite, never imagined that he would embrace blogging. But the CBS newsman found himself turning to the Web during a recent stint in Baghdad after he noticed the numerous pieces on the network evening newscasts devoted to the pet food recall in the U.S. \"There seems to be an inordinate amount of time spent on what started out as 12 dead pets,\" said Pizzey, who can catch the American newscasts every morning on the Baghdad bureau's grimy television monitors, beamed in via satellite like day-old dispatches from another world. Don't get him wrong: Pizzey is an animal lover. (He and his family have four cats, two dogs and a terrapin at their home in Rome.) But he was disheartened by the disconnect between the horrors of the war and the preoccupations of American viewers. Rather than stew quietly, he vented his concerns in an online reporter's notebook, posted March 22 on CBSNews.com. \"What is depressingly clear is that what seems important here is far removed from what viewers in the U.S. seem to be concerned about,\" he wrote, adding: \"How 12 dead animals in a country the size of the U.S. rates with the sliding scale of mayhem here is what I'm finding hard to gauge. When only 12 human bodies are found on any given morning in Baghdad with marks of the kind of torture the ASPCA would quite rightly have a pet owner in court for, it is judged as 'progress' for the security plan.\" After covering conflicts around the globe for three decades, Pizzey has joined the ranks of television correspondents who have turned to the Internet to convey the messy realities of war that can't be encapsulated in two-minute reports. \"It's nice to be able to have that outlet,\" he said in an interview this week from Rome, back home after a five-week rotation in Iraq. \"One of the things that blogs provide is an opportunity for people who are interested in the news to understand a little bit about what it feels like. I don't think I should personalize everything I do. But if you're sitting in the middle of the kind of horror that is Iraq today, you sort of wonder, 'How do I make these people understand?' \" NBC's Richard Engel, ABC's Terry McCarthy and other network war correspondents also supplement their on-air pieces with extensive online reports. But Pizzey's dispatches are often notable for their frank, personal assessments. They share a common theme: a deep-set frustration that the real story of the war is not getting through. Mike Sims, director of news and operations for CBSNews.com, said he believes stories on the website can strike a more opinionated tone than those that air on television, as long as they're clearly labeled. \"Allen has been there so many times; he's earned the right to give his observations,\" Sims said. \"We think if we clearly let people know what they're getting, that we can do more on the Web than just report the Joe Friday facts.\" Last week, in an essay labeled \"Opinion,\" Pizzey took Republican Sen. John McCain to task for asserting that some neighborhoods in Baghdad were safe enough to stroll through. \"For Senator McCain to claim there are places here where all is well is to woefully minimize the dangers faced by the troops he otherwise so admirably supports,\" he wrote. \" \ufffd Any time Senator McCain wants to walk the streets of Baghdad, unarmed and without a serious security detail, we'd be glad to lend him a camera so he can record his experience.\" Pizzey said he felt compelled to write the piece because McCain \"was talking utter rubbish.\" (In a piece airing Sunday on \"60 Minutes,\" McCain said he misspoke.) He was also motivated by a belief that the media were not skeptical enough in the run-up to the war \ufffd a mistake he does not want to repeat. \"We the media gave the Bush administration a free ride for this war,\" he said. \"We did not question sufficiently the statements made by politicians. I'm as guilty as anybody else. We climbed on board, and that's not what we should do.\" A former newspaper reporter in Africa who joined CBS in 1980, Pizzey is part of the network's core group of correspondents who rotate through Iraq regularly. He said many of his colleagues in the U.S. reporting corps there share a frustration that the war does not get more air time. \"I think that more coverage could and should be given to it,\" he said. \"But I'm not the guy who has to answer to the executives about the ratings. \"The people who run the newscast perhaps think people aren't interested,\" Pizzey added. \"Our job isn't to tell people the news they want to hear, but the news that is. We can't make people care, but we can tell them what's out there.\" matea.gold@latimes.com http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/business/la-et-pizzey7apr07,1,3219749.story?coll=la-headlin"}, {"response": 138, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Apr  9, 2007 (23:57)", "body": "I guess trains don't take pets either in the cabin? I don't know. Well, it's an adventure for all. :-) NYC couple hail cab for 2,400-mile ride Sun Apr 8, 12:14 PM ET NEW YORK - Betty and Bob Matas have retired and are moving to Arizona, but like many New Yorkers they don't drive, and they don't want their cats to travel all that way in an airliner cargo hold. ADVERTISEMENT Their solution: \"Hey, cabbie.\" They met taxi driver Douglas Guldeniz when they hailed his cab after a shopping trip several weeks ago. They got to talking about their upcoming move, and \"we said 'Do you want to come?'\" said Bob Matas, 72, a former audio and video engineer for advertising agencies. \"And he said 'Sure.'\" It was initially a gag, Matas said, but as they talked over the ensuing weeks it became reality. They plan to leave Tuesday on the 2,400-mile trip to Sedona, Ariz., with Guldeniz driving his yellow SUV cab 10 hours a day for a flat fee of $3,000, plus gas, meals and lodging. They're getting a break. The standard, metered fare would be about $5,000 \ufffd each way, according to David Pollack, executive director of the Committee for Taxi Safety, a drivers' group. But city Taxi and Limousine Commission rules direct drivers and passengers to negotiate a flat fare for trips outside the city and a few suburban areas. It's also a good deal for Guldeniz. \"This job is not easy, and I want to do something different,\" said Guldeniz, 45, who has been driving a taxi for two years. \"I want to have some good memories.\" The Matases will ride in relaxed comfort in Guldeniz's sport utility vehicle while their cats ride in the back in their travel cases. A mover will haul their belongings. \"It's a little unusual, but it will be fun,\" said Betty Matas, 71, a retired executive administrative assistant. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070408/ap_on_fe_st/odd_taxi_move;_ylt=Aqv7_oR_.ccppYiEk03Jun.s0NUE"}, {"response": 139, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Apr 11, 2007 (01:12)", "body": "I post this simply because it involves Michael Smerconish, who has come up in conversation regarding the Mumia doc and history. http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/04/10/smerconish-on-imus-i-dont-interpret-it-as-a-racist-statement-per-se/"}, {"response": 140, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Apr 16, 2007 (10:15)", "body": "Oh, poor thing!! Berlin Zoo's polar bear Knut is sick 34 minutes ago BERLIN - The Berlin Zoo's popular polar bear cub, Knut, is not feeling well and had his daily public appearance in front of thousands of visitors cut short Monday after only 30 minutes. The zoo's veterinarian, Andre Schuele, put the 4 1/2-month old cub on antibiotics and said the Knut is \"off stage to get some rest while we watch him closely.\" There was no specific diagnosis \"but he is still a young animal and therefore susceptible to infections,\" Schuele said. \"At the moment he is resting on his blanket and sleeping,\" Schuele said, adding that despite his lethargy Knut did eat his regular meal in the morning. Thousands of people line up each day to see the cub, and his button-eyed face has been a fixture for newspapers, television and the Internet. Born at the zoo on Dec. 5, Knut \ufffd who was rejected by his mother and hand-raised by zookeepers \ufffd rose to fame last month thanks to television and newspaper pictures. So potent is his appeal that zoo attendance has roughly doubled to 15,000 on average daily since his debut, officials said. He has his own blog and TV show and appeared on the cover of Vanity Fair. Veterinarian Schuele did not know if Knut would be strong enough for public appearances in the next days. \"We don't know yet \ufffd the little one is not a machine,\" he said. On the Net: Berlin Zoo: http://www.zoo-berlin.de http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070416/ap_on_re_eu/germany_polar_bear;_ylt=AmLxlejGOhpC0ijUZndBpO_MWM0F"}, {"response": 141, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Apr 17, 2007 (01:45)", "body": "LOL!! This is too funny! Stray shopping carts! Click on the word \"link\" at the end of the post from Dada and there's a bit more to the article he/she posted from bookseller.com http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2007/4/15/173613/916#10"}, {"response": 142, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Apr 17, 2007 (01:51)", "body": "I'm tellin' ya, the stuff you find in the comments section on political blogs (usually open threads). LOL!! This is so cute! Turn off your volume if annoying music with videos gets to you. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0E-0ntoNWo&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eboomantribune%2Ecom%2Fstory%2F2007%2F4%2F15%2F173613%2F916"}, {"response": 143, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Apr 17, 2007 (09:27)", "body": "From the Telegraph: School row over Al Gore film By Liz Lightfoot, Education Editor Last Updated: 6:34am BST 17/04/2007 Parents who claim that an award-winning film on climate change is inaccurate and politically motivated are threatening a legal challenge over the Government's decision to send it to every secondary school. The film by Al Gore, the former US vice-president, won an Oscar for the best documentary this year and Alan Johnson, the Education Secretary, says he wants teachers to use it to stimulate children into discussing climate change and global warming. But a group of parents in the New Forest say the circulation of the film by the Government amounts to political indoctrination and is in breach of the Education Act 2002. Derek Tipp, their spokesman, has urged Mr Johnson to stop the film being sent out. He said: \"The film goes well beyond the consensus view and is not therefore suitable material to present to children who need to be given clear and balanced, factually accurate information.\" http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/04/17/nuni117.xml"}, {"response": 144, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Apr 26, 2007 (19:12)", "body": "I think this is amazing. How wonderful for him. Hawking flies weightless aboard jet By MIKE SCHNEIDER, Associated Press Writer 28 minutes ago CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Free of his wheelchair and tethered only to heart rate and blood pressure monitors, astrophysicist Stephen Hawking on Thursday fulfilled a dream of floating weightless on a zero-gravity jet, a step he hopes leads to further space adventures. The modified jet carrying Hawking, a handful of his physicians and nurses, and dozens of others first flew up to 24,000 feet over the Atlantic Ocean off Florida. Nurses lifted Hawking and carried him to the front of the jet, where they placed him on his back atop a special foam pillow. The jet then climbed to around 32,000 feet and made a parabolic dive back to 24,000 feet, allowing Hawking and the other passengers to experience weightlessness for about 25 seconds. Hawking, a mathematics professor at the University of Cambridge who has done groundbreaking work on black holes and the origins of the universe, has the paralyzing disease ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. The 65-year-old was the first person with a disability to experience the flight by Zero Gravity Corp., which has flown about 2,700 people out of Florida since late 2004 and began offering the flights in Las Vegas this week. \"As you can imagine, I'm very excited,\" Hawking told reporters before the flight. \"I have been wheelchair bound for almost four decades. The chance to float free in zero-g will be wonderful.\" Unable to talk or move his hands and legs, Hawking can only make tiny facial expressions using the muscles around his eyes, eyebrows, cheek and mouth. He uses a computer attached to his wheelchair to talk for him in a synthesized voice by choosing words on a computer screen through an infrared sensor on a headpiece that detects motion in his cheek. He raises an eyebrow to signal \"yes\" and tenses his mouth to the side to indicate \"no.\" \"I want to demonstrate to the public that anybody can participate in this type of weightless experience,\" Hawking said Thursday. Hawking's personal physicians were on hand to make sure nothing went wrong. The physicist was attached to heart, blood pressure and oxygen-measuring monitors during the flight. Medical equipment sufficient for a mini-intensive care unit also was on board, said Dr. Edwin Chilvers, Hawking's personal physician. \"I'm anticipating everything to nothing,\" Chilvers said before the flight. Others on the flight included financial backers of Zero Gravity and passengers who bid a total of $150,000 toward charities to go on the flight. The jet's interior is padded to protect the weightless fliers and equipped with cameras to record their adventure. Normally, the plane conducts 10 to 15 plunges for its passengers, who pay $3,750 for the ride, although that fee was waived for Hawking. On Hawking's flight, the jet made eight parabolic dives. \"We had a wonderful time. It was incredible, far beyond our expectations,\" said Peter H. Diamandis, the chairman and CEO of Zero Gravity, after he exited the jet with Hawking at his side. As a further safety precaution, Zero Gravity founders Peter H. Diamandis and Byron Lichtenberg, who has flown on the space shuttle, were on either side of Hawking so they could lower him to the ground gently at the end of the parabola. Hawking also took a motion sickness pill as a precaution. The astrophysicist hopes the zero-gravity flight is a step toward going on a suborbital flight, which may be offered by private space companies by the end of the decade. \"It's a test to see how well he can handle the g-forces that would be necessary in order to leave the atmosphere,\" said Sam Blackburn, Hawking's assistant. \"That is very much one of the major purposes of this flight.\" On the Net: Stephen Hawking: http://www.hawking.org.uk/ Zero Gravity Corp.: http://www.gozerog.com"}, {"response": 145, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Apr 26, 2007 (19:58)", "body": "Because Disney World is too tame and passe anymore... \"Women's town\" to put men in their place Thu Apr 26, 9:04 AM ET BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese tourism authorities are seeking investment to build a novel concept attraction -- the world's first \"women's town,\" where men get punished for disobedience, an official said Thursday. The 2.3-square-km Longshuihu village in the Shuangqiao district of Chongqing municipality, also known as \"women's town,\" was based on the local traditional concept of \"women rule and men obey,\" a tourism official told Reuters. \"Traditional women dominate and men have to be obedient in the areas of Sichuan province and Chongqing, and now we are using it as an idea to attract tourists and boost tourism,\" the official, surname Li, said by telephone. The tourism bureau planned to invest between 200 million yuan ($26 million) and 300 million yuan in infrastructure, roads and buildings, Li said. \"We welcome investors from overseas and nationwide to invest in our project,\" he added. The motto of the new town would be \"women never make mistakes, and men can never refuse women's requests,\" Chinese media have reported. When tour groups enter the town, female tourists would play the dominant role when shopping or choosing a place to stay, and a disobedient man would be punished by \"kneeling on an uneven board\" or washing dishes in restaurant, media reports said. The project, begun in the end of 2005, was expected to take three to five years to finish. http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070426/od_nm/china_womentown_odd_dc;_ylt=Ag0SClsR7k4jV8yMJU_rv7ms0NUE"}, {"response": 146, "author": "LisaJH", "date": "Thu, Apr 26, 2007 (22:33)", "body": "I saw a clip today on MSNBC of Stephen Hawking in space. He is an amazing man on so many levels. Did any one catch the return of Bill Moyers Journal to PBS last night? The episode focused on how the press basically rolled over on the story leading up to the Iraq war. The show featured the likes of Howard Kurz, Bob Simon, Tim Russert, and Dan Rather. What amazed me the most was how the guys from Knight Ridder got the story right, but no one seemed to care, as it was considered too risky to go out on a limb against the supposed intel. I highly recommend watching it if you get a chance. I thought the show was riveting. http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/btw/watch.html"}, {"response": 147, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Apr 26, 2007 (23:54)", "body": "Oh! I'll have to search for a clip of SH in space. I'd love to see that. Re the Bill Moyers show, today I was reading a post on one the political blogs I read on an almost daily basis about that ( http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/04/26/timmehs-tool-time-redux/#comments) . It also had the link and I was planning to check it out when I could take a chunk of time to watch it. I found out about it too late to watch it on TV. The post was mostly focusing on Tim Russert's place in the scheme of things."}, {"response": 148, "author": "LisaJH", "date": "Fri, Apr 27, 2007 (13:22)", "body": "Yikes, Dorine, about Tim Russert. So much for being just a blue collar guy from Buffalo, and quoting his grade school teacher (a nun) about telling the truth. :-("}, {"response": 149, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Apr 29, 2007 (11:28)", "body": "More chipping away at the old nuance and character of Manhattan. :-(( There's a bridal path in the park near my house, too, and if I'm jogging on them when horses come near I make sure to stop and get off to the side so as not to bother or potentially spook them if they're in a mood. They may be very docile, but don't want to take chances. There is frequently children on them. I do like to jog on the bridle paths in Central Park, too, but they're much wider and easier to avoid the horses. Last Manhattan riding stable shuts after 115 years By Carol Bishopric Sat Apr 28, 4:44 PM ET NEW YORK (Reuters) - Yet another unique New York institution is set to disappear when the last riding stable in Manhattan closes its doors during the weekend. Claremont Riding Academy, said to be the oldest continuously operated stable in the United States, will shut its stable doors at 5 p.m. on Sunday. The stable has been a fixture on the upper west side of Manhattan since it opened as a livery stable in 1892, six years before the automobile began to negotiate city streets. It has operated as a riding academy since the 1920s, giving lessons and renting horses for rides in Central Park. Claremont owner Paul Novograd said he was not at liberty to say whether the building, which is located two blocks west of Central Park on West 89th Street, had been sold. But New York City Parks and Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe said it was widely known that the building was being sold to developers and he understood that it is going to be made into condominiums. The building is a landmark, so it won't be torn down, he added. Several dozen people turned out on Saturday to protest against the stable's closing, but the demonstration was not expected to affect the outcome. On Friday, trainer Karen Feldgus, who has worked at Claremont for more than 18 years, was giving her last lesson at the stable to a group of 10 people who were riding to music. Feldgus began to cry as the music began playing. \"These (horses) are all my best friends. I've ridden all of them,\" she said. Novograd said the horses would go to good homes. Most will be moved to the Potomac Horse Center in Maryland, owned by Novograd. Some are being sold to their riders, and some are being donated to the equestrian program at Yale University. Claremont has a small indoor riding facility and stalls for the 38 horses. Instruction included jumping, dressage and stable management. Horses also could be rented for a ride on the bridle path in Central Park. CHILDREN BIG USERS Novograd estimated that about 60 percent of the stable's riding business involved children. Among reasons for closing the stable, Novograd said, were costs incurred restoring the building and problems with the Central Park bridle path. Benepe said there are no issues with the condition of the path or people using it for other purposes. If anything, he said, the bridle path has been improved over recent years by the Central Park Conservancy, a not-for-profit organization that manages Central Park under a contract with the city. Novograd said bridle paths were being used for running, dog walking and pushing baby strollers, making it difficult for riders. The closing of Claremont does not mean the end of horseback riding in parks in New York City, Benepe said, pointing out that there are riding facilities in the city's other boroughs. And he said the city is exploring the possibility of one or more of its stable operators setting up an operation under which horses could be brought to Central Park by trailer. \"We're obviously not interested in seeing horseback riding leave the park after 150 years,\" Benepe said. Losing Claremont is a blow not only to those who ride there, but to those who believe such changes erode New York's character. Manhattan's Times Square area, once a seedy enclave known for pornographic movies, has been transformed in the last decade or so and now booms with retail stores, restaurants and other attractions that lure throngs of tourists. While the neighborhood is safer and cleaner, detractors say the changes have diluted its character by filling it with stores and chain restaurants that can be found at shopping malls across the United States. Further downtown, famed music clubs like CBGB, a legendary forum for punk and \"new wave\" bands like the Ramones, Blondie and Talking Heads, have closed. And once-gritty areas like the \"meat-packing district,\" named for its history as a center for slaughterhouses and meat plants, have seen influxes of pricey shops and restaurants. Losing Claremont is another thing \"gradually whittling away at the character of New York,\" said Daniel Goldberg, who lives near the stable. \"It's what gives New York its flavor.\" http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070428/us_nm/newyork_stable_dc;_ylt=As3DD_gz6iGQVWNeBDYlxHrMWM0F"}, {"response": 150, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Apr 29, 2007 (11:49)", "body": "Yay for World Peace....or not. April 28, 2007 Terror attacks up, Rice considered hiding the data Posted 1:20 pm In 2004, the State Department\ufffds report on global terrorism showed a decline in international attacks, a result which was hailed by administration officials as proof of the efficacy of the president\ufffds strategy. Soon after, we learned that the State Department cooked the books and undercounted \ufffd by half \ufffd the number of people killed in terrorist attacks. In 2005, the State Department decided it didn\ufffdt want to publish the report on global terrorism anymore. The good news is, due to an outcry, the document is back. The bad news is, well, all of the news is bad. A State Department report on terrorism due out next week will show a nearly 30 percent increase in terrorist attacks worldwide in 2006 to more than 14,000, almost all of the boost due to growing violence in Iraq and Afghanistan, U.S. officials said Friday\ufffd. Based on data compiled by the U.S. intelligence community\ufffds National Counterterrorism Center, the report says there were 14,338 terrorist attacks last year, up 29 percent from 11,111 attacks in 2005. Forty-five percent of the attacks were in Iraq. Worldwide, there were about 5,800 terrorist attacks that resulted in at least one fatality, also up from 2005. The figures for Iraq and elsewhere are limited to attacks on noncombatants and don\ufffdt include strikes against U.S. troops. If, in 2004, an initial report showing a decline in attacks was proof that Bush\ufffds strategy was working, doesn\ufffdt an increase in attacks a few years later necessarily show that Bush\ufffds strategy is failing? As for the politics, Condoleezza Rice reportedly considering hiding the bad news. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her top aides earlier this week had considered postponing or downplaying the release of this year\ufffds edition of the terrorism report, officials in several agencies and on Capitol Hill said. Ultimately, they decided to issue the report on or near the congressionally mandated deadline of Monday, the officials said. Yes, how wonderfully gracious of them. Rice \ufffddecided\ufffd to follow the law after considering a plan not to. I guess we\ufffdre supposed to be grateful? As Kevin Drum put it, \ufffdThey considered postponing a congressionally mandated report because it might be inconvenient for the president\ufffds war policy? Is there some kind of \ufffdpolitical sensitivities\ufffd exemption in the law?\ufffd Maybe it was in one of the signing statements. Of course, the deadline for producing the document was Monday, but Rice instead chose late on a Friday afternoon, beating the deadline by a few days. I can\ufffdt imagine why, can you? [Ed. note: Can you say \"Friday document dump'? I knew you could. :-) ] http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/10651.html#more-10651"}, {"response": 151, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Apr 29, 2007 (11:50)", "body": "Hmmm. I thought I closed the tag."}, {"response": 152, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Apr 29, 2007 (11:59)", "body": "I won't go into how I ran across this, but these are some beautiful and interesting pictures of the Libyan desert this guy took. Click on the slideshow to see them all easiest. http://www.flickr.com/photos/15295652@N00/184404127/in/set-72157594191206777/"}, {"response": 153, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Apr 29, 2007 (12:04)", "body": "The level of my disgust is staggering... From WaPo via Firedoglake.com: http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/04/29/in-the-news/#more-8758 (Other interesting news points highlighted at this post also). *********************** As the winds and water of Hurricane Katrina were receding, presidential confidante Karen Hughes sent a cable from her State Department office to U.S. ambassadors worldwide. Titled \"Echo-Chamber Message\" \ufffd a public relations term for talking points designed to be repeated again and again \ufffd the Sept. 7, 2005, directive was unmistakable: Assure the scores of countries that had pledged or donated aid at the height of the disaster that their largesse had provided Americans \"practical help and moral support\" and \"highlight the concrete benefits hurricane victims are receiving.\" Many of the U.S. diplomats who received the message, however, were beginning to witness a more embarrassing reality. They knew the U.S. government was turning down many allies' offers of manpower, supplies and expertise worth untold millions of dollars. Eventually the United States also would fail to collect most of the unprecedented outpouring of international cash assistance for Katrina's victims\ufffd. More than 10,000 pages of cables, telegraphs and e-mails from U.S. diplomats around the globe \ufffd released piecemeal since last fall under the Freedom of Information Act \ufffd provide a fuller account of problems that, at times, mystified generous allies and left U.S. representatives at a loss for an explanation. The documents were obtained by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a public interest group, which provided them to The Washington Post. In one exchange, State Department officials anguished over whether to tell Italy that its shipments of medicine, gauze and other medical supplies spoiled in the elements for weeks after Katrina's landfall on Aug. 29, 2005, and were destroyed. \"Tell them we blew it,\" one disgusted official wrote. But she hedged: \"The flip side is just to dispose of it and not come clean. I could be persuaded.\" http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/28/AR2007042801113.html?hpid=topnews"}, {"response": 154, "author": "Kathryn", "date": "Sun, Apr 29, 2007 (14:14)", "body": "My grandmother and mother used to horseback ride in Central Park occasionally (most of their riding was done in NJ, though). Any city has to evolve, but it is sad when certain institutions have to disappear. Is there anything left for which this administration ought to be ashamed? When I think there's nothing more it can do to embarrass this country, something else arises. :-("}, {"response": 155, "author": "Colleen", "date": "Wed, May  9, 2007 (15:28)", "body": "I thought this topic would better suit the whole G*D D**N fuel frenzy, so that's why I'm posting here. NO GAS...On May 15th 2007!! I've received so many e-mails regarding this, I have to wonder if something might actually go down. It made my stomach turn yesterday when I forked out $45 for my tank of gas that wasn't even completely filled! I don't drive a behemoth, but, on the other hand, I don't drive a YUGO either ;-) Somewhere in the middle. Maybe we all can make something happen...(what's the symbol for shrugging shoulders and an \"I don't think so\" face?"}, {"response": 156, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, May  9, 2007 (20:50)", "body": "Other than going once a month or six weeks to another state, I almost never need to drive anymore since I've been taking mass transit to work for the past year or so. I only need gas when I go on my trips to PA as noted above. And when I do need gas, I usually make sure to get it in NJ where it's anywhere from 15-20 cents per gallon cheaper than either NY or PA. I get some in NJ for the trip out (which takes about half a tank) and I fill up just before I cross the bridge to NY on the way back."}, {"response": 157, "author": "springnet", "date": "Thu, May 10, 2007 (20:02)", "body": "I'm trying to ride my bike as much as possible around South Austin and downtown, which is a relatively bike friendly town."}, {"response": 158, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, May 10, 2007 (21:43)", "body": "They are trying to encourage more bike riding here also, especially now as it's Bike NYC month, but even as they add more bike lanes, they become mostly blocked by doubleparkers...and cabs picking up/letting off fares. I will say I've never noticed so many people riding bikes as I did this evening around 5th/6th Ave near the Union Square area (14th-19th Sts). I had to keep a more headsup approach whenever I went to cross the avenues or they would've hit me. I didn't notice if they followed the lights or would ride through red lights."}, {"response": 159, "author": "sandyw", "date": "Fri, May 11, 2007 (13:02)", "body": "There was a report on the Canadian national news last night that Vancouver has the highest gas prices in North America, approximately US$4.32 per US gallon. No wonder we cross the border into Washington state for \"cheap\" gas!"}, {"response": 160, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, May 17, 2007 (16:11)", "body": "I find this so interesting. What's even more fascinating is the three different colors of tiger cubs. Dog nurses tiger triplets at Chinese zoo Thu May 17, 3:00 AM ET BEIJING - It's a dog's life for three newborn tiger triplets in eastern China. The cubs, whom officials at the Jinan Paomaling Wild Animal World in Shandong province are so far just calling \"One,\" \"Two\" and \"Three,\" have been nursed by a dog since they were rejected by their tiger mother shortly after birth, said Paomaling manager Chen Yucai. The trio's adoptive mother, a mixed breed farm dog called \"Huani,\" is expected to nurse them for about a month or until their appetites outpace her supply, Chen said. Chen said it is common for Chinese zoos to use surrogate dog mothers to nurse rejected tiger cubs and that Huani has nursed tigers before. In the past, Paomaling put dog urine on their rejected cub's fur to make the surrogate think she was nursing one of her own puppies but the zoo didn't bother with Huani because she seemed not to mind nursing the tigers, he said. \"The family is getting along well and seems to enjoy each other,\" Chen said. **************************** And I just ran across this. How adorable, a cute family portrait. Ok, not to Mari anyway. ;-D"}, {"response": 161, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, May 17, 2007 (16:22)", "body": "So pretty... Here's the link to the slideshow I've been looking at. Hope the link works. I got up to about 50. There's another dog in there, a French bulldog (ugly thing) who's another surrogate for another tiger. None of the tigers in Asian zoos seem to like their offspring it seems (she says in a broad generalization ;-)). http://news.yahoo.com/photos/ss/events/lf/031802zooanimals&curPhoto=1 Lots of interesting animals, including some with offspring. Never knew what a spring hare was, but it's adorable. There's also some funky monkey creature called a loris that apparently is an offshoot in the evolutionary chain from apes. The one picture shows what look to be virtually human looking hands on it."}, {"response": 162, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, May 17, 2007 (16:53)", "body": "I CANNOT applaud these people or give them kudos enough. Did people hear of the protests from UMass students, faculty, etc over the plan to have Andrew Card, former Bush Chief of Staff, receive an honorary degree in public policy at their commencement ceremony next week. When the protests came up, he apparently contacted a couple of unhappy faculty members and this is their editorial about it. Not only do I agree with the sentiment, it's so well-written and without true malice. http://no2card.umassgss.org/2007/05/16/editorial-from-faculty-members-after-phone-call-from-card/ No Degree for Andy Card! Because War Criminals Don\ufffdt Deserve Honorary Degrees Editorial from Faculty Members after Phone Call from Card Card hasn\ufffdt earned UMass honor BY PAULA CHAKRAVARTTY AND STEPHANIE LUCE Hampshire Gazette Everything you read in the news about President Bush\ufffds former White House Chief of Staff Andrew (Andy) Card emphasizes the fact that he\ufffds a \ufffdnice guy.\ufffd But is a reputation for congeniality enough for an honorary doctorate in public policy from UMass Amherst? Card is scheduled to receive this honorary degree at the university\ufffds graduate school commencement exercises on Friday, May 25. We recently had a chance to discuss this with Andy Card himself; he called us after hearing that many people at UMass Amherst are outraged at his honorary degree. Card\ufffds main concern was that he had been unfairly \ufffdpersonally attacked\ufffd as \ufffdintellectually dishonest.\ufffd While acknowledging that we might have differences of political opinion, he asserted repeatedly that he was a man of great personal integrity. \ufffdDo you even know me?\ufffd he asked incredulously. \ufffdHow would you feel if someone said that about you?\ufffd Taken aback by this line of reasoning, we responded by saying that our charge of intellectual dishonesty was based not on his personal attributes but rather on his very public role in misleading the world about the justification for the devastating war in Iraq. Card suggested we should have called him first to ask him about his \ufffdside of the story\ufffd before dragging his name through the mud. We appreciated his willingness to talk to a couple of UMass professors, but this is the same man who is currently refusing to testify in front of the Congressional House Government and Oversight Committee about his knowledge of the leak in the Valerie Plame case. This is also the same man who played a central role in an administration that has acknowledged violating domestic and international law and fundamentally misrepresenting the truth for political gain. It takes astonishing rhetorical magic to transform the very definition of a political act - falsifying evidence to \ufffdmarket\ufffd an ideologically driven war deemed illegal by the international community - into a personal matter. Honoring a public servant most recognized for his role in misleading the public about the war in Iraq is a deeply political decision and, unfortunately for Mr. Card, the UMass community is not buying his magic marketing tricks this time. The protests at UMass are not about \ufffdfreedom of expression\ufffd; there had been few objections to his right to give a talk on campus earlier in the semester, even though many faculty and students disagreed with what Mr. Card had to say. Granting this degree normalizes Card and his role in the Bush administration, rewarding him as if he were just any other public servant from Massachusetts. It reduces falsification and exaggeration, suppression of documents and the coercion of less powerful nations into alternatives along a reasonable spectrum of actions. War and torture become matters of \ufffdpersonal opinion.\ufffd Lying is just \ufffdpart of the job.\ufffd Card seemed genuinely shocked that there would be opposition to this honor, given his commitment to the commonwealth and his humble roots. He told us that he wasn\ufffdt just a White House chief of staff, but had held many \ufffdregular\ufffd jobs in his life, from newspaper delivery boy to McDonald\ufffds employee. We insisted that the growing opposition at UMass had nothing to do with his personal life trajectory, just as recent efforts to revoke an honorary degree given to Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe was not a reflection of his personal shortcomings. Within one week, over 1,200 students, faculty, staff and alumni from the UMass community have signed a petition against Mr. Card\ufffds degree on the basis that he does not meet the \ufffdhigh ethical standards\ufffd that \ufffdexemplify the ideals of the University of Massachusetts.\ufffd The undergraduate and graduate student senates, as well as graduate employees and faculty unions, have passed resolutions against Card\ufffds degree. This week, the faculty senate will vote on a similar resolution. On Thursday, graduate students, at whose graduation Mr. Card would be receiving his degree, held a large peaceful rally demanding that the administration revoke the degree. The protests will continue. In our phone conversation last Thursday, we pleaded with Mr. Card to listen to the UMass community and reconside"}, {"response": 163, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, May 24, 2007 (22:38)", "body": "What adjective(s) is infinitely stronger than appalled and disgusted? Whatever it/they are is what I am. These feelings extend to our do-nothing, capitulating, wimpy-assed Congress (**esp the Democrats**) and their passing of the Iraq War funding bill today. AP: Marines fail to get gear to troops By RICHARD LARDNER 10 minutes ago WASHINGTON - The system for delivering badly needed gear to Marines in Iraq has failed to meet many urgent requests for equipment from troops in the field, according to an internal document obtained by The Associated Press. Of more than 100 requests from deployed Marine units between February 2006 and February 2007, less than 10 percent have been fulfilled, the document says. It blamed the bureaucracy and a \"risk-averse\" approach by acquisition officials. Among the items held up were a mine resistant vehicle and a hand-held laser system. \"Process worship cripples operating forces,\" according to the document. \"Civilian middle management lacks technical and operational currency.\" The 32-page document \ufffd labeled \"For Official Use Only\" \ufffd was prepared by the staff of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force after they returned from Iraq in February. The document was to be presented in March to senior officials in the Pentagon's defense research and engineering office. The presentation was canceled by Marine Corps leaders because its contents were deemed too contentious, according to a defense official familiar with the document. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss it publicly. The document's claims run counter to the public description of a process intended to cut through the layers of red tape that frequently slow the military's procurement process. The Marine Corps had no immediate comment on the document. In a briefing Wednesday, Marine Corps officials hailed their \"Urgent Universal Need Statement\" system as a way to give Marines in combat a greater say in weapons-buying decisions. \"What we all liked about (the urgent requests) is they came from the operators out on the ground and there was always a perceived better way of doing things,\" said Maj. Gen. Dennis Hejlik, who was a commander in Iraq from June 2004 to February 2005. The document lists 24 examples of equipment urgently needed by Marines in Iraq's Anbar province. One, the mine resistant ambush protected vehicle, has received attention as a promising way to protect troops from roadside blasts, the leading killer of U.S. forces in Iraq. After receiving a February 2005 urgent request approved by Hejlik for nearly 1,200 of the vehicles, the Marine Corps instead purchased improved versions of the ubiquitous Humvee. The industrial capacity did not exist to quickly build the new mine resistant vehicles and the more heavily armored Humvees were viewed as a suitable solution, Marine Corps officials said. That proved not to be the case as insurgent elements in Iraq developed more powerful bombs that could penetrate the Humvees. The mine resistant vehicles are now a top priority for all the military branches, which plan to buy 7,774 of the carriers at a cost of $8.4 billion. Brig. Gen. Robert Milstead, chief of Marine Corps public affairs, said cost was not a factor in choosing the Humvee. \"This was not a budgetary decision,\" Milstead said Wednesday. \"You can take that to the bank.\" The internal document, however, states that the cost of building new vehicles was a primary reason the request was denied by the Marine Corps Combat Development Command in Quantico, Va. Needs of the deployed troops are \"competed against funded programs,\" the document states. \"Resistance costs time,\" it adds. \"Unnecessary delays cause U.S. friendly and innocent Iraqi deaths and injuries.\" A second example cited is the compact high power laser dazzler, an inexpensive, nonlethal tool for steering unwelcome vehicles away from U.S. checkpoints in Iraq. The dazzler emits a powerful stream of green light that stops or redirects oncoming traffic by temporarily impairing the driver's vision. In June 2005, Marines stationed in western Iraq filed an urgent request for several hundred of the dazzlers, which are built by LE Systems, a small company in Hartford, Conn. The request was repeated nearly a year later. \"Timely purchase and employment of all systems bureaucratically stymied,\" the document states. Separate documents indicate the deployed Marines became so frustrated at the delays they bypassed normal acquisition procedures and used money from their own budget to buy 28 of the dazzlers directly from LE Systems. But because the lasers had not passed a safety review process, stateside authorities barred the Marines from using them. In January, nearly 18 months after the first request, the Marines received a less powerful laser built by a different company. Titus Casazza, president of LE Systems, criticized the Marine Corps' acquisition process. \"The bureaucrats and lab rats sitting behind a desk stateside are making decis"}, {"response": 164, "author": "Kathryn", "date": "Thu, May 24, 2007 (23:12)", "body": "nothing wrong with appalled and disgusted but adding just of few others: offended, nauseated, repelled, repulsed, revolted, sickened, mortified, outraged"}, {"response": 165, "author": "mari", "date": "Fri, May 25, 2007 (13:47)", "body": "(Dorine)These feelings extend to our do-nothing, capitulating, wimpy-assed Congress (**esp the Democrats**) and their passing of the Iraq War funding bill today. Dorine, I understand your feelings, but PLEASE don't lump the Dems in with the architects of this war. Joe Biden explains in the article below why he voted for the bill. He has a point. Unfortunately, in the current sound-bite climate, there is little room for nuanced discusssion about why you could be against the war, yet vote to fund it (a reason might be to avoid the atrocious situations referenced in your article). Just look at the predictably callous platitudes that McCain and Romney have voiced: Obama, Clinton side with anti-war Democrats By John Whitesides, Political Correspondent AP Sens. Barack Obama Hillary Rodham Clinton earned praise from anti-war activists but criticism from Republicans on Friday for voting against a measure to pay for the Iraq war that sets no timetables for withdrawing U.S. troops. The two leading 2008 Democratic presidential contenders had been under heavy pressure from the party's influential anti-war wing and from other Democratic candidates to oppose the emergency funding bill sought by President George W. Bush. Unlike an earlier funding bill that Bush vetoed on May 1, the bill comfortably passed late on Thursday by both the Senate and House of Representatives was not tied to deadlines for troop withdrawals. Obama and Clinton had refused for days to say how they would vote, but ultimately sided with opponents of the increasingly unpopular war. Liberal advocacy groups like MoveOn.org had warned Democrats who backed the measure of possible political consequences. Republican presidential contenders John McCain and Mitt Romney blasted Obama and Clinton for not supporting U.S. troops -- a criticism certain to linger into next year's general election campaign and the November 2008 vote for the White House. \"I was very disappointed to see Senator Obama and Senator Clinton embrace the policy of surrender,\" said McCain, an Arizona senator who backed the bill. \"This vote may win favor with MoveOn and liberal primary voters, but it's the equivalent of waving a white flag to al Qaeda,\" he said. Two other Democratic senators running for president split their votes on the bill, with Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd voting against it and Delaware Sen. Joseph Biden for it. The votes against the bill, which passed 280-142 in the House and 80-14 in the Senate and is now set for Bush's signature, pleased anti-war groups. Eli Pariser, executive director of MoveOn.org, said no member of Congress who voted for the bill could pretend to be an opponent of the war. \"Senators Obama, Clinton and Dodd stood up and did the right thing -- voting down the president's war policy,\" he said. \"They're showing real leadership toward ending the war, and MoveOn's members are grateful. This bold stand ... won't soon be forgotten.\" Other Democratic contenders like John Edwards, a former senator, and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson had urged Congress and their rivals to reject the measure. Clinton has angered some anti-war Democrats with her refusal to apologize or repudiate her 2002 vote to authorize the war in Iraq. Obama has stressed his early opposition to the war. While initially reluctant to back withdrawal timetables, both Clinton and Obama supported the earlier bill that included them. Analysts said opposing the bill was the safe choice for Democrats in a country that has turned against the war. But the delay in making a decision by Obama and Clinton could make them appear calculating, said Cal Jillson, a political analyst at Southern Methodist University in Texas. \"Neither Hillary nor Obama have been beacons of courage,\" he said. \"People are saying 'Do you guys have the sense of self and the confidence to state a position and then defend it?' And both of them have been hiding in the bushes.\" Clinton, of New York, said she supported the troops but ultimately opposed the bill because \"it fails to compel the president to give our troops a new strategy in Iraq.\" Obama said U.S. troops deserved more. \"This vote is a choice between validating the same failed policy in Iraq that has cost us so many lives and demanding a new one. And I am demanding a new one,\" said Obama, a senator from Illinois. Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and proponent of a plan to partition Iraq into three regions, said Democrats did not have the votes yet to overcome Bush's veto and should face the political reality that troops needed to be funded. \"The president may be prepared to play a game of political chicken with the well-being of our troops. I am not. I will not,\" Biden said."}, {"response": 166, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, May 25, 2007 (15:50)", "body": "I have a great deal more to say on this, but for now.... So what you're saying is that it's ok for them to say essentially, \"If you can't beat 'em, join 'em?\" I'm all for compromise, but what in this scenario did the White House give up?"}, {"response": 167, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, May 26, 2007 (01:56)", "body": "While I don't live there like some here, I've driven in NJ enough to know how true these are. ;-D How To Drive In New Jersey Posted On: 5/25/07 at 12:26 PM 1. You must first learn to pronounce the city name; it is New-erk not New-ark. 2. The morning rush hour is from 5:00 a.m. to noon. The evening rush hour is from noon to 7:00 p.m. Friday's rush hour starts on Thursday morning. 3. The minimum acceptable speed on the turnpike is 85 mph. On the parkway it's 105 or 110. Anything less is considered \"Wussy.\" 4. Forget the traffic rules you learned elsewhere. Jersey has its own version of traffic rules. For example, cars/trucks with the loudest muffler go first at a four-way stop; the trucks with the biggest tires go second. However, in Monmouth county, SUV-driving, cellphone-talking moms ALWAYS have the right of way. 5. If you actually stop at a yellow light, you will be rear ended, cussed out, and possibly shot. 6. Never honk at anyone. Ever. Seriously. It's another offense that can get you shot. 7. Road construction is permanent and continuous in all of Jersey. Detour barrels are moved around for your entertainment pleasure during the middle of the night to make the next day's driving a bit more exciting. 8. Watch carefully for road hazards such as drunks, skunks, dogs, cats, barrels, cones, celebs, rubber-neckers, shredded tires, cell-phoners, deer and other road kill, and the homeless feeding on any of these items. 9. Mapquest does not work here -- none of the roads are where they say they are or go where they say they do and all the Turnpike EZpass lanes are moved each night once again to make your ride more exciting. 10. If someone actually has their turn signal on, wave them to the shoulder immediately to let them know it has been \"accidentally activated.\" 11. If you are in the left lane and only driving 70 in a 55-65mph zone, you are considered a road hazard and will be \"flipped off\" accordingly. If you return the flip, you'll be shot. 12. Do not try to estimate travel time -- just leave Monday afternoon for Tuesday appointments, by noon Thursday for Friday and right after church on Sunday for anything on Monday morning."}, {"response": 168, "author": "LisaJH", "date": "Sun, Jun  3, 2007 (13:32)", "body": "Over the years I've been embarrassed by events which have taken place in my adopted home of Cincinnati: The Larry Flynt and Robert Mapplethorp obscenity trials; Marge Schott's racist comments; the stampede at the Who concert; Jerry Springer's stint as mayor, etc. But the new creation museum truly takes the ignorance cake. :-( I'm still reeling from the fact that at the most recent debate, three Republican Presidential hopefuls raised their hands when asked if the believed in creation over evolution. :-( from Salon: Inside the Creation Museum May 31, 2007 | PETERSBURG, Ky -- The Creation Museum swung open its stegosaurus-guarded gates to the public Monday, and I have to say it's out of this world. For those of us raised in natural history Meccas like the American Museum in New York, the Smithsonian in Washington, or the Field in Chicago, the beautifully designed museum induces an eerie vertigo. All the familiar characters are here: T. rex, giant skeletons of triceratops and apatosaurus, a pterosaur spreading its wings above the crowd, live exhibits of birds, amphibians and reptiles, and the dripping, hooting and chirping soundtrack of the primeval forest. There are also a couple of unfamiliar faces, for a natural history museum, in the tan and finely muscled bodies of Adam and Eve. At the ribbon cutting, Ken Ham, the rugged-faced CEO and president of Answers in Genesis, the nonprofit ministry that built the museum, tells an enthusiastic crowd that the Creation Museum will undo the damage done 82 years ago when Clarence Darrow put William Jennings Bryan on the stand in the famous Scopes trial in Dayton, Tenn. \"It was the first time the Bible was ridiculed by the media in America, and that was a downward turning point for Christendom,\" Ham says. \"We are going to undo all of that here at the Creation Museum. We are going to answer the questions Bryan wasn't prepared to, and show that belief in every word of the Bible can be defended by modern science.\" The Book of Genesis, that famous first chapter of the Bible, which Ham's group has interpreted to claim that the universe was created in six 24-hour days a mere 6,000 years ago, serves as the blueprint for the museum. Astronomy, geology and evolution, as they are commonly understood in mainstream science, have no place here. As Ham later tells me, the conclusions of modern science are not to be trusted, as they are biased by the fickle reasoning of man and a modern antagonism toward faith. On the other hand, he says, the Book of Genesis is true \"from the first word to the last.\" Read the entire article here: http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/05/31/creation_museum/index.html"}, {"response": 169, "author": "Kathryn", "date": "Sun, Jun  3, 2007 (16:40)", "body": "(Ham) The Book of Genesis, that famous first chapter of the Bible, which Ham's group has interpreted to claim that the universe was created in six 24-hour days a mere 6,000 years ago......the Book of Genesis is true \"from the first word to the last.\" Oh...my....god! (figuratively and literally) The entire stance of these people is pitiful."}, {"response": 170, "author": "Kathryn", "date": "Sun, Jun  3, 2007 (16:40)", "body": "so upset I forgot to close tags"}, {"response": 171, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Jun  3, 2007 (19:37)", "body": "I'm glad you posted about that Lisa. I was going to a week or so ago, but got too busy. There was a great editorial or story about it in the LA Times that I wanted to post. I'll go back to find it when I get a chance. (Lisa) I'm still reeling from the fact that at the most recent debate, three Republican Presidential hopefuls raised their hands when asked if the believed in creation over evolution. :-( Talk about really pitiful."}, {"response": 172, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jun  9, 2007 (19:24)", "body": "I find these Everest and other similar pioneers amazing. Now it's done with such sophisticated equipment, though still dangerous, but think about the challenges 60 odd years ago. And how great to own a chalet with a view of Mont Blanc. *sigh* Updated:2007-06-09 12:08:26 Climber Who Helped Blaze Everest Trail Dies By ERICA BULMAN AP GENEVA (June 8) - Ernest Hofstetter, part of the Swiss team that first traced the route to \"The Roof of the World\" used by Sir Edmund Hillary to conquer Mount Everest, has died, his son said Friday. He was 95. Hofstetter, who died June 1 at his French chalet with a view of Mont Blanc, was a member of the Swiss expedition that had to turn back just short of the peak in 1952 but is credited with forging the path that Hillary and Tenzing Norgay used in their successful assault a year later. The path is still used today in climbs to the 29,035-foot peak. Acknowledging the Swiss contribution, Hillary's team sent them a telegram after peaking: \"To you goes half the glory.\" \"He was kind, but he could also be hard. But it's not a softy who climbs Mount Everest,\" his son, Michel Hofstetter, told The Associated Press. The Swiss expedition remains one of the most charming and astonishing feats in mountaineering history: During a weekly get-togethers in a Geneva square, a bunch of climbing buddies hatched the plan to scale Everest. Unexpectedly, the Swiss received from the Nepalese government the permit for 1952, taking it away from the British who had monopolized it the previous 21 years. Hofstetter and his friends surpassed all expectations, although they had a big asset: like Hillary, they also had Norgay, the legendary Sherpa. They conquered the Khumbu Icefall - one of the most dangerous stages of the expedition, which has claimed many lives due to collapsing towers of ice and large crevasses that open without warning. Reaching the broad glacial basin called the Western Cwm, they scaled the huge Lhotse face at 23,620 feet to reach the desolate, wind-swept South Col. While Tenzing and Raymond Lambert forged on, Hofstetter remained with another group at 26,250 feet, ready to try if the pair failed. The story of the climb is full of astounding details. Lambert and Tenzing, for instance, camped at 27,560 feet, despite having forgotten their sleeping bags. The group was also essentially climbing without oxygen because their Swiss-designed sets failed. In the thin air at 26,250 feet, many climbers experience hallucinations and poor judgment. Lambert and Tenzing reached 28,380 feet but were forced back down because of fatigue and bad weather. They came within 650 feet of the summit on May 26, 1952. Presuming George Mallory and Andrew Irvine failed to reach the summit in 1924, the Swiss had climbed higher than anyone before. Hofstetter, who ran a sporting goods store in Geneva, had to persuade his wife to let him go. \"My mother had three children and a business to run,\" said Michel, who was 8 when his father made the climb. \"Still, she let him go. It was a great act of love.\" \"Nowadays, they've got sophisticated instruments and a meteorologist tells climbers whether it's safe to advance,\" Michel said. \"In those days, you simply looked out the tent to see if there were clouds coming in. Hillary's team was more organized than the Swiss. It also had working oxygen equipment, although it weighed significantly more. Hofstetter's expedition was led by Edouard Wyss-Dunant. Others included Rene Dittert, head mountain guide; Gabriel Chevalley, the team's doctor; Rene Aubert; Leon Flory; Lambert; Andre Roch; and Jean-Jacques Asper, now the sole surviving member. A geologist, a botanist and an anthropologist from the Geneva University also participated. All were members of Geneva's local \"L'Androsace\" Alpine club. \"They were very lucky,\" Michel said. \"They didn't have any accidents or frostbite. But it could have easily ended a lot differently.\" Besides Michel, Hofstetter is survived by his other children, Gerard and Catherine, and granddaughter Yasmine. There will be no memorial service. Relatives will scatter the ashes of him and his late wife, Jeanne, together in the mountains of southeastern Switzerland. http://news.aol.com/topnews/articles/_a/climber-who-helped-blaze-everest-trail/20070608205809990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001"}, {"response": 173, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Jun 10, 2007 (00:15)", "body": "I know there must be a couple of poeple here who remember the old Philly Wanamakers! I vaguely remember being in it once when I was 12 or 13 while visiting my aunt, but never went in it in the whole 4 years I lived in Philly 10 years later. I think it was a Lord and Taylor's then. I'd love to hear that organ. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/09/arts/music/09orga.html?em&ex=1181620800&en=54443d8e9cdc3ca1&ei=5087%0A"}, {"response": 174, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jun 11, 2007 (21:30)", "body": "Just something silly I found funny. A \"Skim milk cow.\" What will they find or think of next? Updated:2007-06-04 15:52:10 Researchers Find 'Skim Milk Cows' By ANDREA THOMPSON A genetic trait causes certain cows to produce skim milk. (May 29, 2007) -- In a few years, skim milk may come straight from the cow, it was reported this week. Skim milk is usually produced by taking all of the fat out of regular milk, but in 2001, researchers found a cow that skipped that step. While screening a herd of cows, they found one with a natural gene mutation that makes her produce lower-fat milk than a normal cow. Marge, as researchers later named her, makes milk that has 1 percent fat (as compared to 3.5 percent in whole milk) and is high in omega-3 fatty acids. And remarkably, Marge\ufffds low-fat milk still has the same delicious taste as conventionally produced low-fat milk, according to the report in Chemistry & Industry magazine. The low saturated fat content of Marge\ufffds milk also means that butter made from it is spreadable right out of the fridge, while most butter has to come to room temperature before it can be spread on toast. After researchers found that Marge\ufffds daughters also produced low-fat milk, they surmised that the genetic trait was dominant and planned to breed herds of skim milk-producing cows. (Marge and her offspring live in New Zealand.) ViaLactia, the company that owns Marge, expects the first commercial herd of cows supplying natural low-fat milk and spreadable butter for the market by 2011. But because cows are normally selected for breeding because they give a high milk yield, this new selection criteria could mean the skim milk cows would produce less milk, said Ed Komorowski, technical director at Dairy UK and who is not affiliated with the research\ufffdso more cows could be needed to produce the same amount of milk. And \"normal\" cows wouldn\ufffdt disappear, he told LiveScience, as their milk would still be needed to make fattier products such as cream. The Associated Press contributed to this report. http://reference.aol.com/article/_a/researchers-find-skim-milk-cows/20070530155709990002"}, {"response": 175, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Jun 29, 2007 (09:37)", "body": "I'd post the article's text but the graphics are v. necessary: Check this out: http://www.wired.com/culture/culturereviews/magazine/15-07/st_infoporn"}, {"response": 176, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Jun 29, 2007 (09:41)", "body": "This seems rather on topic given how several of us have been checking one person's twitter periodically: Clive Thompson on How Twitter Creates a Social Sixth Sense Clive Thompson 06.26.07 | 2:00 AM Twitter is the app that everyone loves to hate. Odds are you've noticed people \u2014 probably much younger than you \u2014 manically using Twitter, a tool that lets you post brief updates about your everyday thoughts and activities to the Web via browser, cell phone, or IM. The messages are limited to 140 characters, so they lean toward pithy, haiku-like utterances. When I dropped by the main Twitter page, people had posted notes like \"Doing lunch and picking up father-in-law from senior center.\" Or \"Checking out Ghost Whisperer\" or simply \"Thinking I'm old.\" (Most users are between 18 and 27.) It might seem like blogging taken to a supremely banal extreme. Productivity guru Tim Ferriss calls Twitter \"pointless email on steroids.\" One Silicon Valley businessman I met complained that his staff had become Twitter-obsessed. \"You can't say anything in such a short message,\" he said, baffled. \"So why do it at all?\" They're precisely right: Individually, most Twitter messages are stupefyingly trivial. But the true value of Twitter \u2014 and the similarly mundane Dodgeball, a tool for reporting your real-time location to friends \u2014 is cumulative. The power is in the surprising effects that come from receiving thousands of pings from your posse. And this, as it turns out, suggests where the Web is heading. When I see that my friend Misha is \"waiting at Genius Bar to send my MacBook to the shop,\" that's not much information. But when I get such granular updates every day for a month, I know a lot more about her. And when my four closest friends and worldmates send me dozens of updates a week for five months, I begin to develop an almost telepathic awareness of the people most important to me. It's like proprioception, your body's ability to know where your limbs are. That subliminal sense of orientation is crucial for coordination: It keeps you from accidentally bumping into objects, and it makes possible amazing feats of balance and dexterity. Twitter and other constant-contact media create social proprioception. They give a group of people a sense of itself, making possible weird, fascinating feats of coordination. For example, when I meet Misha for lunch after not having seen her for a month, I already know the wireframe outline of her life: She was nervous about last week's big presentation, got stuck in a rare spring snowstorm, and became addicted to salt bagels. With Dodgeball, I never actually race out to meet a friend when they report their nearby location; I just note it as something to talk about the next time we meet. It's almost like ESP, which can be incredibly useful when applied to your work life. You know who's overloaded \u2014 better not bug Amanda today \u2014 and who's on a roll. A buddy list isn't just a vehicle to chat with friends but a way to sense their presence. Are they available to talk? Have they been away? This awareness is crucial when colleagues are spread around the office, the country, or the world. Twitter substitutes for the glances and conversations we had before we became a nation of satellite employees. So why has Twitter been so misunderstood? Because it's experiential. Scrolling through random Twitter messages can't explain the appeal. You have to do it \u2014 and, more important, do it with friends. (Monitoring the lives of total strangers is fun but doesn't have the same addictive effect.) Critics sneer at Twitter and Dodgeball as hipster narcissism, but the real appeal of Twitter is almost the inverse of narcissism. It's practically collectivist \u2014 you're creating a shared understanding larger than yourself. Mind you, quick-ping media can be a massive time-suck. You also may not want more information pecking at your frayed attention span. And who knows? Twitter's rabid fans (their numbers are doubling every three weeks) may well abandon it for a shinier new toy. It happened to Friendster. But here's my bet: The animating genius behind Twitter will live on in future apps. That tactile sense of your community is simply too much fun, too useful \u2014 and it makes the group more than the sum of its parts. http://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/magazine/15-07/st_thompson"}, {"response": 177, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jul  2, 2007 (23:13)", "body": "Unfuckingbelievable!! Or not so unbelievable really. It's really true. There is to be absolutely no justice for any of these administration criminals. And Libby is a *convicted* criminal. Not just a presumed or so-called one like the rest of them. He got thrown under the bus to protect Cheney, and they returned the favor and gave him his Get Out Of Jail card before he even needed it. The irony is I found this news out on CNN in the train station having just come from seeing a play, Frost/Nixon, about another criminal president."}, {"response": 178, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jul  2, 2007 (23:17)", "body": "And another irony was pointed out as I read across the web, Paris Hilton served more time than Libby did. And she wasn't instrumental in outing a covert CIA spy. How did this country get to this point?"}, {"response": 179, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jul  3, 2007 (01:07)", "body": "And this kinda sums it up for me quite nicely... http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/07/02/late-late-nite-fdl-no-more-words/"}, {"response": 180, "author": "sandyw", "date": "Tue, Jul  3, 2007 (02:10)", "body": "What is an \"excessive sentence\" to me is the black teenager sentenced to something like 10 years for having consensual sex with another teenager. Where is the presidential commutation/pardon when it's really needed."}, {"response": 181, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jul  3, 2007 (08:15)", "body": "Oh! I didn't realize that kid was black."}, {"response": 182, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Jul  3, 2007 (10:53)", "body": "(Dorine) Paris Hilton served more time than Libby did. And she wasn't instrumental in outing a covert CIA spy. How did this country get to this point? *shaking head* Naturally it was done at what would normally be considered a slow news time. The late night pundits are on vacation (reruns). Must check if Stewart and Colbert are working this week or similarly on vacation. But what's going on (in its totality) is criminal. Then I get madder and madder thinking about the ethanol/corn situation/price of milk business. Anything to keep the automakers in business with their internal combustion engine, when the completely electric car was the way to go!! Then milk wouldn't be like $3/gallon."}, {"response": 183, "author": "LisaJH", "date": "Tue, Jul  3, 2007 (11:21)", "body": "(Dorine) Paris Hilton served more time than Libby did. And she wasn't instrumental in outing a covert CIA spy. How did this country get to this point? Dorine, I'm furious as well. My blood pressure goes up every time I think about it. And don't even get me started with the recent Supreme Court decisions. :-( These are dark days. I truly believe our government is broken. I just hope it isn't beyond repair."}, {"response": 184, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jul  3, 2007 (11:23)", "body": "(Karen) Anything to keep the automakers in business with their internal combustion engine, when the completely electric car was the way to go!! Interesting you brought that up. I was going to mention at some point that I finally saw (most of) \"Who Killed the Electric Car?\" the other night. I still need to finish the last little bit, but it's a great documentary. Sad, really. Maybe GM would be doing a lot better if they had put a fraction of the effort to market the electric car that they do for regular ones rather than continue in cahoots with the oil industry. Look where that's gotten them. The oil companies are swimming in more $$$ than you can shake a stick at and GM's losing $$$ hand over fist. Serves them right."}, {"response": 185, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jul  3, 2007 (11:44)", "body": "Again, having seen Frost/Nixon last night, the concept of a President covering up crimes is very fresh in my mind. Especially from the final scene where Nixon finally admits to Frost that he was involved in the Watergate coverup after Frost confronted him with \"new\" evidence during the interview. This tidbit is pointed out in a blog and I will have to read the whole transcript of the interview, or find it on You Tube later.... 1) CNN's Anderson Cooper interviewed Joe Wilson tonight. (Read the transcript). One line struck me: \"[B]y commuting the sentence, I think the president raises the very real suspicion that he's party to the obstruction of justice or the cover-up of the original crime .\" [Ed. note- Their bold highlights, not mine.] But then again, it's most likely another Cheney scheme directed from behind the scenes. Did anyone read that 4 part Washington Post series on Cheney's tentacled, yet subtle and behind the scenes, efforts to direct foreign and domestic policy? Riveting. I mean, I still find myself amazed that my jaw can still drop and my head still shake in disbelief. People make jokes about the shadow presidency of Cheney, well read this, and it won't be such a joke. I'll find the link later."}, {"response": 186, "author": "cfadm", "date": "Tue, Jul  3, 2007 (21:51)", "body": "Yeah, let us know the link."}, {"response": 187, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Jul  4, 2007 (18:04)", "body": "(Dorine) but it's a great documentary. I agree. Shows you that we're still going down the wrong path, supposedly pursuing alternative solutions (ethanol and the ultra expensive hydrogen) that make no economic sense, except to certain vested interests. People make jokes about the shadow presidency of Cheney From Day One, everything about the Bush presidency has reminded me of a very old series of books written by Allan Drury, the Advise and Consent series. It doesn't exactly foreshadow the Bush Admin, but it certainly demonstrates the idea has been around for a long time. Drury wrote in the 1950s and early 1960s, as I recall."}, {"response": 188, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jul  5, 2007 (14:00)", "body": "Well, bless the Washington Post for putting the four-part Cheney series on a nice organized page. That's new since I read it. I didn't see any sidebars before either, though they seem interesting also, the little bit I skimmed over them. They aren't super long, but they aren't real short either. I'll be curious to hear other opinions. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/cheney/?hpid=moreheadlines"}, {"response": 189, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jul  5, 2007 (18:44)", "body": "Hee. Kind of an out of the mouths of babes type statement that kind of says it all from their point of view. (Scott Stanzel is deputy White House press secretary) Pointed out by Daily Kos, among others (the rest of this entry is interesting, too): From today's White House press briefing ( http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/07/20070705.html) , truer words were never spoken: Q Scott, is Scooter Libby getting more than equal justice under the law? Is he getting special treatment? MR. STANZEL: Well, I guess I don't know what you mean by \"equal justice under the law.\""}, {"response": 190, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jul  7, 2007 (20:50)", "body": "Some good choices, I think, though I thought Stonehenge was a no-brainer. 7 new wonders of the world chosen By BARRY HATTON, Associated Press Writer 39 minutes ago LISBON, Portugal - The Great Wall of China, Rome's Colosseum, India's Taj Mahal and three architectural marvels from Latin America were among the new seven wonders of the world chosen in a global poll released on Saturday. Jordan's Petra was the seventh winner. Peru's Machu Picchu, Brazil's Statue of Christ Redeemer and Mexico's Chichen Itza pyramid also made the cut. About 100 million votes were cast by the Internet and cellphone text messages, said New7Wonders, the nonprofit organization that conducted the poll. The seven beat out 14 other nominated landmarks, including the Eiffel Tower, Easter Island in the Pacific, the Statue of Liberty, the Acropolis, Russia's Kremlin and Australia's Sydney Opera House. The pyramids of Giza, the only surviving structures from the original seven wonders of the ancient world, were assured of retaining their status in addition to the new seven after indignant Egyptian officials said it was a disgrace they had to compete. The campaign to name new wonders was launched in 1999 by the Swiss adventurer Bernard Weber. Almost 200 nominations came in, and the list was narrowed to the 21 most-voted by the start of 2006. Organizers admit there was no foolproof way to prevent people from voting more than once for their favorite. A Peruvian in national costume held up Macchu Picchu's award to the sky and bowed to the crowd with his hands clasped, eliciting one of the biggest cheers from the audience of 50,000 people at a soccer stadium in Portugal's capital, Lisbon. Many jeered when the Statue of Liberty was announced as one of the candidates. Portugal was widely opposed to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. Another Swiss adventurer, Bertrand Piccard, pilot of the first hot-air balloon to fly nonstop around the world, announced one of the winners \ufffd then launched into an appeal for people to combat climate change and stand up for human rights before being ushered off the stage. The Colosseum, the Great Wall, Machu Picchu, the Taj Mahal and Petra had been among the leading candidates since January, while the Statue of Christ Redeemer received a surge in votes more recently. The Statue of Liberty and Australia's Sydney Opera House were near the bottom of the list from the start. Also among the losing candidates were Cambodia's Angkor, Spain's Alhambra, Turkey's Hagia Sophia, Japan's Kiyomizu Temple, Russia's Kremlin and St. Basil's Cathedral, Germany's Neuschwanstein Castle, Britain's Stonehenge and Mali's Timbuktu. Weber's Switzerland-based foundation aims to promote cultural diversity by supporting, preserving and restoring monuments. It relies on private donations and revenue from selling broadcasting rights. The U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, or UNESCO, keeps a list of World Heritage Sites, which now totals 851 monuments. But the agency was not involved in Weber's project. The traditional seven wonders were concentrated in the Mediterranean and Middle East. That list was derived from lists of marvels compiled by ancient Greek observers, the best known being Antipater of Sidon, a writer in the 2nd century B.C. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, the Colossus of Rhodes and the Pharos lighthouse off Alexandria have all vanished. On the Net: http://www.new7wonders.com http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070708/ap_on_re_eu/new_seven_wonders;_ylt=Aksm8uJWCxBhppGl3e5od5Cs0NUE"}, {"response": 191, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jul 12, 2007 (21:56)", "body": "Was reading a Reuters article entitled, \"Americans tired of Iraq war, split on withdrawal\" ( http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070712/ts_nm/iraq_usa_people_dc;_ylt=ApyEacCqfWaUehtgNvMbeELMWM0F ) and came across this statement in the middle... Americans were divided over the president's stand..... \"I think he's doing a wonderful job. These people are out to get us and if we back off they'll come after us here,\" said Kessler, a Cincinnati Republican who voted for Bush.\" The depths of my repugnance for the unadulterated ignorance this woman displays at this point knows no bounds."}, {"response": 192, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jul 12, 2007 (21:57)", "body": "Grr. I was distracted by my irritation at her (and others like her...the 26 percenters, I imagine)."}, {"response": 193, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jul 12, 2007 (22:02)", "body": "Sorry, I read further and found another one... But security officer Roshad Lyons, a Democrat, said Iran will take over in Iraq if U.S. troops pull out. \"I don't see any reason to go there and not complete the job. The priority should be getting the (Iraqi) military up and running. It's almost done,\" said Lyons. On what planet or bizarro world is he living on where getting the Iraqi military up and running is almost done?! Obviously reading the news isn't a big priority for him. At the very least, they are part of the problems."}, {"response": 194, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jul 19, 2007 (22:33)", "body": "Since the subject of hybrid cars came up a couple of weeks ago... Hybrid lovers: The Honeymoon May Be Over As the reality of fuel efficiency sinks in, fewer new car buyers are considering a hybrid, according to J.D. Power By CNNMONEY.COM NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The percentage of car shoppers considering hybrid vehicles has declined in the past year, according to a survey released Tuesday by J.D. Power and Associates. Fifty percent of new vehicle shoppers surveyed said they are considering a gasoline/hybrid electric vehicle. That's down from 57 percent last year. \"In the 2006 study, we found consumers often overestimated the fuel efficiency of hybrid-electric vehicles, and the decrease in consideration of hybrids in 2007 may be a result of their more realistic understanding of the actual fuel economy capabilities,\" said Mike Marshall, director of automotive emerging technologies at J.D. Power. Interest in hybrid vehicles declined the most among younger shoppers. Last year, 73 percent of car shoppers between ages 16 and 25 said they were interested in a hybrid vehicle. This year, 60 percent were. Car shoppers also said they were willing to pay an extra $2,396 for a hybrid powertrain while expecting a fuel economy improvement of 18.5 miles per gallon. Meanwhile, consideration for diesel-powered vehicles stands at 23 percent. Last year, only 12 percent of car shoppers considered purchasing one. New clean-diesel models, which have much cleaner exhaust than older versions, have just begun appearing on the market this year along with the low-sulfur diesel fuel needed to run them. Shoppers expected to pay $1,491 extra for a diesel powertrain. They also expected to get about 15 mpg better fuel economy. \"As the automotive industry steadily offers more alternative powertrain/fuel options to consumers, buyer preferences will continue to shift the market in the coming years,\" said Marshall. \" The consumer research company also released an Automotive Environmental Index which ranks auto companies and specific models according to their fuel economy and emissions as determined by data from the Environmental Protection Agency and vehicle owners. Toyota was the highest-ranking car brand in J.D. Power's Automotive Environmental Index, followed by Volkswagen and Honda. This is the second year J.D. Power has released that Index and Toyota has moved up six rank positions since last year. The index is based on a car's emissions as reported by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and its fuel economy as reported by the EPA and by drivers responding to a separate survey by J.D. Power. Of the top 30 vehicles in the J.D. Power index, 10 were hybrids from Ford (Charts, Fortune 500), General Motors (Charts, Fortune 500) and Toyota. Toyota, including its Lexus luxury brand, had more vehicles in the list than any other manufacturer. http://autos.aol.com/article/general/v2/_a/hybrid-lovers-the-honeymoon-may-be-over/20070719145609990001?ncid=AOLCOMMautoDYNLsec000"}, {"response": 195, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jul 20, 2007 (16:44)", "body": "How much havoc can Cheney wreak while he's *officially* President for a few hours? ;-) Bush's Exam Will Leave Cheney in Charge AP Posted: 2007-07-20 16:34:21 Filed Under: Politics WASHINGTON (July 20) - President Bush will have a routine colonoscopy Saturday and temporarily hand presidential powers to Vice President Dick Cheney, the White House said. Press secretary Tony Snow told reporters Friday that Bush will have the procedure at his Camp David, Md., mountaintop retreat. He last had such a colorectal cancer check on June 29, 2002. \"As reported at the time and in subsequent physical exams, absent any symptoms, the president's doctor recommended repeat surveillance in approximately five years,\" Snow said. \"The president has had no symptoms.\" Two polyps were discovered during examinations in 1998 and 1999, while Bush was governor of Texas. That made Bush a prime candidate for regular examinations. For the general population, a colonoscopy to screen for colon cancer is recommended every 10 years. But for people at higher risk or if a colonoscopy detects precancerous polyps, follow-up colonoscopies often are scheduled in three- to five-year intervals. \"Although no polyps were noted in the exam in 2002, age and history would suggest that there's a reasonable chance that polyps will be noted this time,\" Snow said. \"If so, they'll be removed and evaluated microscopically.\" Bush is 61. Snow said results would be available after 48 hours to 72 hours, if not sooner. The procedure will be supervised by Dr. Richard Tubb, the president's doctor. It will be done by a team from the National Naval Medical Center at Bethesda, Md. Because the president will be under the effects of anesthesia, Bush has elected to implement Section 3 of the 25th Amendment to the Constitution, making Cheney acting president until Bush indicates he is prepared to reassume his authority. In 2002, Bush transferred presidential powers to Cheney for more than two hours. During Saturday's transfer of power, the vice president will be at his home on the Chesapeake Bay in St. Michaels, Md., about 30 miles east of Washington, Snow said. The 2002 transfer was only the second time that the Constitution's presidential disability clause was invoked. President Reagan was the first to invoke the Constitution's 25th Amendment since its adoption in 1967 as a means of dealing with presidential disability and succession. The earlier colonoscopy for Bush also was done at the medical facility at Camp David near Thurmont, Md. Bush felt well enough afterward to play with his dogs and take a 4 1/2-mile walk with first lady Laura Bush and then-White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card and Card's wife. Bush then went to the gym for a light workout. The 2002 procedure began at 7:09 a.m and ended at 7:29 a.m. Bush woke up two minutes later but did not resume his presidential office until 9:24 a.m., after Tubb conducted an overall examination. Tubb said he recommended the additional time to make sure the sedative had no aftereffects. AP Medical Writer Lauran Neergaard contributed to this report."}, {"response": 196, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jul 21, 2007 (12:44)", "body": "I thought that Hillary article I mentioned on O&E was in the NYT, but couldn't swear to it. What I do find fascinating is that there are *women* who can't seem to handle the idea of a woman president for mere fact of that candidate being a woman rather than being competent. Women Supportive but Skeptical of Clinton, Poll Says By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE and DALIA SUSSMAN Published: July 20, 2007 Women view Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton more favorably than men do, but she still faces skepticism among some women, especially those who are older and those who are married, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll. Women hold more positive views than men of all the leading Democratic candidates. But winning the support of women, who made up 54 percent of voters in the last presidential election, is especially important to Mrs. Clinton, who has sought to rally them behind her quest to become the nation\ufffds first female president. The poll found that over all, women tend to agree with her on the issues and see her as a strong leader and as a positive role model. All of those polled \ufffd both women and men \ufffd said they thought Mrs. Clinton would be an effective commander in chief, suggesting she has made headway in diminishing concerns that her sex would impede her from leading the nation in wartime. A majority of those polled also said they thought she would win the White House if she captured the Democratic nomination. But the poll also held some warning signs for Mrs. Clinton, 59, the junior senator from New York. Forty percent of voters view her unfavorably, more than for any of the other major candidates for president (although they are not as well known). Neither men nor women fully trust that she is saying what she really believes, the poll found. Mrs. Clinton\ufffds choices as a woman and a political figure have been intensely scrutinized during her 15 years on the national stage, and as she runs for president, the debate about her remains polarizing, politically and culturally. Her role as the first woman to contend so seriously for the White House has also raised questions about how much to trust polling about her. Some polls in other elections have overstated the strength of minority candidates, perhaps because respondents were not being honest about their feelings or changed their minds in the privacy of the voting booth. It is unclear whether a similar phenomenon may occur in the case of a woman. A third of Americans in the poll say most people they know will be \ufffdless likely\ufffd to vote for Mrs. Clinton because she is a woman \ufffd more than twice the number who say her being a woman will make people more likely to vote for her. Still, half of those polled said her sex would not matter. The vast majority of all voters \ufffd more than 80 percent \ufffd think it very likely or somewhat likely that Mrs. Clinton will win the Democratic nomination. More than 60 percent think she is likely to win the presidency. The poll was conducted by telephone across the country from July 9 to July 17 among 1,554 adults. Of those, 1,068 were women, a deliberate oversampling designed to examine the views of different groups of women. The margin of sampling error for all adults and for women is plus or minus three percentage points. Among all registered voters, 46 percent of women have a favorable view of Mrs. Clinton, while 33 percent have an unfavorable view. The rest are undecided. The numbers are opposite for men, with 34 percent having a positive view of her and 47 percent holding a negative one. The support for Mrs. Clinton is most pronounced among unmarried and less affluent Democratic women. More than 8 in 10 working women say she understands their problems. The older the woman, the more negatively she views Mrs. Clinton: 27 percent of those under age 45 view her negatively; 33 percent of those 45 to 64 view her negatively; and 40 percent of those 64 and older view her negatively. \ufffdI like her strength, and I like that she\ufffds been behind the scenes in the White House and knows the process and has the Senate experience,\ufffd Karla Whitt, 32, a small-business owner in Charlotte, N.C., said in a follow-up interview. \ufffdI do like that she is a woman,\ufffd Ms. Whitt added, \ufffdbut that\ufffds not the main thing.\ufffd Marilyn Bielstein, 69, a retired nurse in Gig Harbor, Wash., said flatly, \ufffdI don\ufffdt like her politics, and I don\ufffdt admire her as a woman.\ufffd Ms. Bielstein added, \ufffdI\ufffdve followed her history back to her college days, and I just don\ufffdt trust her. I think she\ufffds a socialist, and I think that\ufffds exactly where she wants to take us.\ufffd A majority of single women view Mrs. Clinton favorably, while married women are split. Thirty-nine percent of married women like Mrs. Clinton \ufffd about as many as like her two closest Democratic rivals, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois and former Senator John Edwards of North Carolina. But 39 percent also view her negatively \ufffd significantly more than have a negative view of Mr. Obama and Mr. Edwards, who are not as well known. Linda Ca"}, {"response": 197, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jul 21, 2007 (14:29)", "body": "(Dorine)reticence isn't all about a woman, it's that particular woman. .....about Hillary exactly mirrored mine about her. (Karen) An excuse. So because I'd have any objections at all about her...or perhaps a woman , they're reduced to \"an excuse\"? Or am I misunderstanding something? I would apply those concerns to any male candidate equally and have."}, {"response": 198, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Jul 21, 2007 (14:33)", "body": "(Dorine) How much havoc can Cheney wreak while he's *officially* President for a few hours? ;-) I don't know why they're making such a big deal over it. He's been president for the past 6-1/2 years. ;-) What I do find fascinating is that there are *women* who can't seem to handle the idea of a woman president for mere fact of that candidate being a woman rather than being competent. Personally, I find it sickening that women think that way, with many acting like they're their husbands' chattal while voting as their husbands do. Women are more than 50% of the population and can't seem to understand their own political power. One one woman on the Supreme Court! A bunch of men making decisions over what women can and cannot do! Women are truly to blame for this situation and I've been saying this for decades. Ms. Bielstein added, \ufffdI\ufffdve followed her history back to her college days, and I just don\ufffdt trust her. I think she\ufffds a socialist, and I think that\ufffds exactly where she wants to take us.\ufffd A socialist! Gimme a break! I want to see Ms. Bielstein's tax return. ;-) Linda Carroll, 59, who lives in Crystal Springs, Miss., and works at an assembly plant, said she supported Bill Clinton and admired Mrs. Clinton for standing by her husband through their marital problems. But Ms. Carroll said she was \ufffdnot ready for a lady president.\ufffd \ufffdI\ufffdm not for this women\ufffds lib stuff,\ufffd she said. Gimme this woman's phone number! Doesn't she see how ludicrous her statement is? An assembly plant worker who isn't for equality? Does she like it if a man standing next to her on the line makes more? \ufffdThere are certain things she has voted on since she has been in Congress that seem to me to lean more toward the Republican view of things, which doesn\ufffdt make me too happy,\ufffd said Ms. Hughes, a retired newspaper columnist. \ufffdI want her to be strong and express strong feelings, not just fit her feelings to that audience at that moment,\ufffd she said. OK, I'll buy this. Valid criticism."}, {"response": 199, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jul 21, 2007 (14:38)", "body": "not just fit her feelings to that audience at that moment, Yes, bingo! Her war stance over the last year is greatly disturbing to me also."}, {"response": 200, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Jul 21, 2007 (14:42)", "body": "(Dorine) So because I'd have any objections at all about her...or perhaps a woman, they're reduced to \"an excuse\"? Not you, personally, but how women are generalizing about her. I think the article you posted backs it up. Excuses and lame ones at that."}, {"response": 201, "author": "Kathryn", "date": "Sat, Jul 21, 2007 (19:16)", "body": "(article) said Ms. Hughes, a retired newspaper columnist. \ufffdI want her to be strong and express strong feelings, not just fit her feelings to that audience at that moment,\ufffd she said. Which is exactly what every politician, male or female, does in order to please the particular audience in front of him/her."}, {"response": 202, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Jul 21, 2007 (20:52)", "body": "(Kathryn) Which is exactly what every politician, male or female, does in order to please the particular audience in front of him/her. And yet only Hillary is being held to this standard."}, {"response": 203, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jul 21, 2007 (21:13)", "body": "That was my exact initial reaction, too, when I read that passage, but there's emphasizing aspects of your views to tailor to a certain audience then there's blatant pandering where one tends to show some contradiction what they say from one day or audience to the next. It's called talking out of both sides of your mouth and not all of them do it. Hillary has done it since the first time she ran for Senate here. And I may express some reservations about her, but I have still voted for her twice. And if she is the nominee, I will vote for her again (unless Gore gets into the race beforehand ;-))), because there isn't a single current Republican candidate I would even remotely consider for President. And as I repeat yet again, I will vote Republican if I feel that's the better person for the job as I have in one or 2 national elections in the past and in local elections as well. It's what you stand for, not what party you're in is what interests me. I just read a poll today or yesterday that a large number of Republicans aren't happy with their candidates either and a high percentage chose \"would consider other candidate\" out of all the choices. Not a ringing endorsement for the GOP."}, {"response": 204, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jul 21, 2007 (21:23)", "body": "I will say it \"out loud\" though, I'll be happy if she wins to get Bill that much closer back to the WH. I think he'd be a fabulous Sec of State and could probably get the world back to a much more peaceful state. I wonder if that actually would be allowed, a former President in a cabinet position. Hmmmm...."}, {"response": 205, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jul 21, 2007 (21:27)", "body": "And I can tell ya, you couldn't pay me enough to vote for any idiot who would pose with people as obviously stupid as that one and with a sign like that (or transport their dog on the roof of their car in a carrier). I didn't realize Chelsea had a Museum of Modern Art. http://www.tmz.com/2007/07/21/mitt-catches-s-t-over-hillary-bashing-sign/"}, {"response": 206, "author": "mari", "date": "Sat, Jul 21, 2007 (23:44)", "body": "Ms. Carroll said she was \ufffdnot ready for a lady president.\ufffd \ufffdI\ufffdm not for this women\ufffds lib stuff,\ufffd she said. Obviously, this person has had a frontal lobotomy and is not fit to vote anyway."}, {"response": 207, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Jul 22, 2007 (18:21)", "body": "(Mari) Obviously, this person has had a frontal lobotomy and is not fit to vote anyway. But will, which is the sad thing."}, {"response": 208, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jul 23, 2007 (13:39)", "body": "Too bad he didn't find it cruddy enough to not take the job. Cheney once considered vice presidency \"cruddy job\" By Steve Holland Mon Jul 23, 8:21 AM ET WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Dick Cheney once considered the vice presidency a \"cruddy job\" but got over his misgivings and went on to be arguably the most powerful No. 2 in U.S. politics, and one of the most heavily criticized. The 66-year-old Cheney's stoic, no-nonsense demeanor and influence in many White House decisions are in stark contrast to his youthful days when he was caught twice for drunk driving in Wyoming and dropped out of Yale University for bad grades. Cheney's life has been chronicled in a fairly sympathetic biography by Stephen Hayes, a writer for The Weekly Standard conservative magazine. He spent nearly 30 hours in one-on-one interviews with the normally reticent Cheney for the book. In his research Hayes found that Cheney in 1996 called the vice presidency a \"cruddy job,\" which his political mentor, President Gerald Ford, had hated. But by 2000 Cheney was persuaded to accept when George W. Bush offered the position. Cheney's role as a behind-the-scenes adviser has fed a left-wing stereotype that he is Bush's dark, brooding puppetmaster and advocate of war and torture, an image the media-averse Cheney has done little to change. \"He is pathologically (but purposefully) secretive, treacherous toward colleagues; coldly manipulative of the callow, lazy, and ignorant president he serves,\" Hendrik Hertzberg, a former speechwriter for Democratic President Jimmy Carter, wrote in The New Yorker. Cheney's insistence that his office did not fall under Bush's executive branch as a way to avoid providing records to a government oversight agency also has drawn fire. Satirical cartoonist Garry Trudeau featured Cheney in his Doonesbury comic strip as in charge of a secretive \"black branch\" of the U.S. government. \"My shirt size is classified,\" the Cheney character says in the strip. The vice president's office shrugs off the criticism. The White House said Cheney remains a close Bush adviser. \"Always has been and will remain so,\" spokeswoman Dana Perino said. After such attacks and his role in pushing the unpopular Iraq war, Cheney's job approval is at a lackluster 30 percent, a recent Gallup poll said. HATRED Former Wyoming Republican Sen. Alan Simpson, a longtime Cheney friend, said the attacks are emblematic of an ugly period in U.S. politics. \"There's so many people that hate the guy, people that hate Dick Cheney just like people who hate George Bush or hate (Democratic presidential candidate) Hillary Clinton. It's a really ugly thing out in the land, not disgust or irritation, but hatred, and it's a whole new ballgame in my time,\" he said. Driving some of the criticism has been a series in The Washington Post describing the backdoor way Cheney persuaded Bush, particularly on approving harsh interrogation methods for captured suspects in the war on terrorism. According to The Post, a foreshadowing of how Cheney would operate came when former Vice President Dan Quayle congratulated him on his new job in early 2001. Quayle advised Cheney he should expect to attend a lot of funerals, a traditional duty of U.S. vice presidents. \"I have a different understanding with the president,\" Cheney told Quayle with a small smile. Presidential historians say Cheney is by far the most powerful vice president in modern U.S. history -- \"He has more power by a factor of maybe 5 or 10,\" says historian Richard Jensen. Cheney might not have gotten as far without Donald Rumsfeld. Rumsfeld was Ford's chief of staff in 1974 and hired Cheney as a deputy despite eyebrows raised over the two drunk driving arrests in the early 1960s. Cheney and Rumsfeld maintain a close bond, and Hayes reported Cheney \"absolutely\" disagreed with Bush's decision to dump Rumsfeld as defense secretary in November after Republicans lost control of the U.S. Congress. http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070723/pl_nm/usa_cheney_dc;_ylt=AmLc0Axxb0nvdKaE9d9OLDvMWM0F"}, {"response": 209, "author": "McKenzie", "date": "Tue, Jul 24, 2007 (13:29)", "body": "(Dorine)I wonder if that actually would be allowed, a former President in a cabinet position. Hmmmm.... Well, if Cheney can be in both the Executive & Legislative branches of government (depending upon what \"top secret\" information he's being asked to cough up on any given day) I really don't see why not ;-)"}, {"response": 210, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Jul 24, 2007 (13:55)", "body": "I don't remember when Dorine's comment was made, but absolutely nothing Constitutionally speaking prevents a president from holding another position, especially an appointed one."}, {"response": 211, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jul 24, 2007 (14:37)", "body": "Well, if Cheney can be in both the Executive & Legislative branches of government *snicker*"}, {"response": 212, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jul 28, 2007 (19:24)", "body": "I vaguely read about the fashion comments from Robin Givhan about Hillary after that debate last week. I didn't read her piece, but it was seems to be quite insulting to comment on her clothing in such a fashion. How come she didn't deconstruct the men's outfits and looks. And again, from a *woman* no less. :-( Ellen Goodman Political fashionbabble By Ellen Goodman, Globe Columnist | July 27, 2007 AMONG the endless reasons I will never run for public office is a deep-seated fear of having my wardrobe subject to the fashion police. Excuse me, the fashion shrinks -- those media monitors who seek deep meaning in every shoe, sexual clues in every hemline, and psychological insights in every shirt collar. Just imagine the casual summer wardrobe that I am modeling so stylishly at this moment. What would the fashionbabblers have to say about my well-worn khaki capris? That they display a certain comfort-first sensibility? Or does that flash of calf reveal a senior citizen insouciance? What of the green polo shirt? Does it symbolize my bond with the Land's End sisterhood? Or my rebellion from the designer-label sophisticate? And what to make of my lime-colored Crocs with their peek-a-boo holes? Do they express a certain post-feminist funkiness? Or do they expose a feminine (if chipped) pedicure? This self-couture-analysis comes in response to the latest piece on Hillary Clinton's attire by The Washington Post's resident fashionista. Robin Givhan's cultural critique began with a holy-moly observation: \"There was cleavage on display Wednesday afternoon on C-Span2. It belonged to Sen. Hillary Clinton.\" Givhan's 750-word plunge into the shirt of the presidential candidate had women throwing up their hands (among other things) all over the blogosphere. Cleavage! Omigod! As one blogger responded, the senator has breasts. Two of them. Details at 11. Only in Washington would a fashion reporter get tips watching C-Span2. But the Post piece managed to make a media mountain out of a half-inch valley. As one of the thousands who have scrutinized the black V-neck top on the Internet, I can attest that it barely (in both senses of the word) fits Wikipedia's definition of cleavage, as in: \"The cleft created by the partial exposure of a woman's breasts, especially when exposed by low-cut clothing.\" Nevertheless, Givhan fashionbabbled the heck out of the V-neck. Clinton's cleavage, she wrote, was a \"small acknowledgment of sexuality and femininity.\" It was \"like catching a man with his fly unzipped.\" It was also a \"teasing display.\" And to wrap things up, she explained: \"To display cleavage in a setting that does not involve cocktails and hors d'oeuvres is a provocation. It requires that a woman be utterly at ease in her skin, coolly confident about her appearance, unflinching about her sense of style.\" Not even Nora Ephron, who wrote a book called \"I Feel Bad About My Neck,\" could have spent more energy deconstructing a neckline. Isn't there, somewhere, a booby prize for covering pulchritude instead of policy? Hillary is not the only female pol to have made more news with what she wore than what she said. Just a few weeks ago, a camera from on high focused down on the chest of Jacqui Smith, the British home secretary, and created what some Brits called the Tempest in a D-Cup. The failed female candidate for president of France, S\ufffdgol\ufffdne Royal, was captured in a bikini looking like an ad for \"French Women Don't Get Fat.\" Meanwhile, Condi Rice has had her high-heeled boots put on the couture couch and Nancy Pelosi has had her suits power-rated. Candidates' wives too -- as Hillary well knows -- have long been subject to scrutiny. Joe Scarborough wins the prize for trash-talking Jeri Thompson, second wife of Fred Thompson. In his best Don Imus voice, Scarborough asked, \"Do you think she works the pole?\" He did not mean Gallup. Yes, men in politics are also subject to fashionbabbling about masculinity. Al Gore was famously mocked for wearing earth tones. Barack Obama was dubbed the pinup in the 2008 swimsuit competition. John Edwards was YouTubed for styling his hair. Even John McCain's V-neck sweater was labeled, at least, \"metrosexual.\" But this is nothing like what happens to women. I do not say this in a lofty, superior voice. Do I notice what a woman wears? You bet. At the CNN/YouTube debate, Hillary was coral in a sea of gray. Watching her campaign, I'm glad she's finally gotten it right -- right colors, right style, right fit. I'd give her clothes the female presidential seal of approval. But is there one? In the end, the question is not whether a candidate can show a hint of breast but whether you can have breasts and be president. It's not a matter of cleavage in fashion but cleavage in the voting population. Does anyone remember what Hillary was talking about on C-Span2? Education. Need I say more? Fashionbabblers of the world, let me remind you of the quote attributed to Sigmund Freud: Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. Some"}, {"response": 213, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jul 28, 2007 (19:37)", "body": "Here's a story about one of those oh so incompetent, useless blogs and how the mainstream media is the only legitimate news source. I check into to this blog fairly often myself. http://www.cjr.org/behind_the_news/how_talkingpointsmemo_beat_the.php?page=1"}, {"response": 214, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Aug  7, 2007 (17:37)", "body": "A related story is on Newsweek's cover this week. Gore: Polluters manipulate climate info By GILLIAN WONG, Associated Press Writer Tue Aug 7, 2:00 PM ET SINGAPORE - Former Vice President Al Gore said Tuesday that some of the world's largest energy companies, including Exxon Mobil Corp., are funding research aimed at disputing the scientific consensus on global warming as part of a campaign to mislead the public. ADVERTISEMENT ExxonMobil, the world's largest publicly traded oil company, rejected the allegation. \"There has been an organized campaign, financed to the tune of about $10 million a year from some of the largest carbon polluters, to create the impression that there is disagreement in the scientific community\" about global warming, Gore said at a forum in Singapore. \"In actuality, there is very little disagreement.\" \"This is one of the strongest of scientific consensus views in the history of science,\" Gore said. \"We live in a world where what used to be called propaganda now has a major role to play in shaping public opinion.\" Gore likened the campaign to that of the millions of dollars spent by U.S. tobacco companies years ago on creating the appearance of uncertainty and debate within the scientific community on the harmful effects of smoking cigarettes. \"Some of the tobacco companies spent millions of dollars to create the appearance that there was disagreement on the science. And some of the large coal and utility companies and the largest oil company, ExxonMobil, have been involved in doing that exact same thing for the last several years,\" Gore said. After the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, made up of the world's top climate scientists, released a report in February that warned the cause of global warming is \"very likely\" man-made, \"the deniers offered a bounty of $10,000 for each article disputing the consensus that people could crank out and get published somewhere,\" Gore said. \"They're trying to manipulate opinion and they are taking us for fools,\" he said. Last year, British and American science advocacy groups accused ExxonMobil of funding groups that undermine the scientific consensus on climate change. The company said the scientists' reports were just attempts to smear ExxonMobil's name and confuse the debate. ExxonMobil spokesman Gantt Walton said Tuesday that the company's financial support for scientific reports did not mean it influenced the outcome of those studies. ExxonMobil believes the risk that greenhouse gas emissions are contributing to climate change warrants taking action to limit them, he said. \"The recycling of this type of discredited conspiracy theory diverts attention from the real challenge at hand: how to provide the energy needed to improve global living standards while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions,\" he said. Gore said that with growing awareness of climate change, the world will see an acceleration in efforts to fight the problem, and urged businesses to recognize that reducing carbon emissions is in their long-term interest. But while Washington should lead by example, he said developing nations also have to play a part. \"Countries like China, just to give an example, which will next year be the largest emitter in the world, can't be excluded just because it's technically a developing country,\" Gore said. \"When you look at the absolute amount of CO2 each year and going forward, China will soon surpass the U.S.\" As its economy expands, China faces an increased risk from the effects of climate change and must find ways to leapfrog old, polluting technologies in ways that can maintain growth, Gore said. In June, the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency said China overtook the United States in carbon dioxide emissions by about 7.5 percent in 2006. China was 2 percent below the U.S. in greenhouse gas emissions in 2005, the agency said. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070807/ap_on_re_as/gore_climate_change;_ylt=AiJwr1xYeh.5Yb8oc7KofUqs0NUE"}, {"response": 215, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Aug 14, 2007 (17:40)", "body": "LOL!!! Short and sweet. Edwards Statement on the Resignation of Karl Rove Aug 13, 2007 2:36 PM Chapel Hill, North Carolina \ufffd John Edwards today released the following statement in reaction to President Bush\ufffds announcement that his senior advisor, Karl Rove, will resign at the end of the month: \"Goodbye, good riddance.\" http://johnedwards.com/news/press-releases/20070813-karl-rove/"}, {"response": 216, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Aug 29, 2007 (17:33)", "body": "Wonder what happens if the dog doesn't spend it all before she dies? Boy, I'd sure like to be the administrator of that trust. ;-) Helmsley's Dog Gets $12 Million in Will Wednesday August 29, 12:45 pm ET Helmsley Dog Gets $12 Million, but Real Estate Billionaire Leaves Nothing to 2 Grandchildren NEW YORK (AP) -- Leona Helmsley's dog will continue to live an opulent life, and then be buried alongside her in a mausoleum. But two of Helmsley's grandchildren got nothing from the late luxury hotelier and real estate billionaire's estate. Helmsley left her beloved white Maltese, named Trouble, a $12 million trust fund, according to her will, which was made public Tuesday in surrogate court. She also left millions for her brother, Alvin Rosenthal, who was named to care for Trouble in her absence, as well as two of four grandchildren from her late son Jay Panzirer -- so long as they visit their father's grave site once each calendar year. Otherwise, she wrote, neither will get a penny of the $5 million she left for each. Helmsley left nothing to two of Jay Panzirer's other children -- Craig and Meegan Panzirer -- for \"reasons that are known to them,\" she wrote. But no one made out better than Trouble, who once appeared in ads for the Helmsley Hotels, and lived up to her name by biting a housekeeper. \"I direct that when my dog, Trouble, dies, her remains shall be buried next to my remains in the Helmsley mausoleum,\" Helmsley wrote in her will. The mausoleum, she ordered, must be \"washed or steam-cleaned at least once a year.\" She left behind $3 million for the upkeep of her final resting place in Westchester County, where she is buried with her husband, Harry Helmsley. She also left her chauffeur, Nicholas Celea, $100,000. She ordered that cash from sales of the Helmsley's residences and belongings, reported to be worth billions, be sold and that the money be given to the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust. Her longtime spokesman, Howard Rubenstein, had no comment. Helmsley died earlier this month at her Connecticut home. She became known as a symbol of 1980s greed and earned the nickname \"the Queen of Mean\" after her 1988 indictment and subsequent conviction for tax evasion. One employee had quoted her as snarling, \"Only the little people pay taxes.\" http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070829/helmsley_s_pooch.html?.v=1"}, {"response": 217, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Aug 30, 2007 (10:44)", "body": "I saw that yesterday. I and some others were wondering yesterday if the brother gets the dog's money when it's gone. Maybe it goes to the foundation also. And the poor chauffeur gets a whole 100K."}, {"response": 218, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Sep  7, 2007 (22:57)", "body": "In the Too Stupid for Words Dept: Airline tells woman her outfit won't fly 20 minutes ago SAN DIEGO - A 23-year-old woman who boarded a Southwest Airlines plane in a short skirt for a flight to Arizona says she was led off the plane for wearing an outfit that was considered too skimpy. Kyla Ebbert said a Southwest employee asked her to leave her seat while the plane was preparing to leave San Diego's Lindbergh Field on July 3. Ebbert, a student who was headed to Tucson for a doctor's appointment, said Friday on NBC's \"Today\" show that the employee told her she would have to catch a later flight. \"You're dressed inappropriately. This is a family airline. You're too provocative to fly on this plane,\" she quoted the employee as saying. \"I said, 'What part is it? The shirt? The skirt? Which part?' And he said the whole thing.\" Ebbert was eventually allowed back on the plane after offering to adjust her sweater but said she was humiliated and embarrassed. \"I felt like everybody was staring at me. They had all heard him lecturing me,\" she told \"Today\" show host Matt Lauer. She appeared on the show in the same short white skirt, white shirt and green sweater that she said she wore on the flight. Chris Mainz, a spokesman for the Dallas-based airline, said a customer service supervisor asked Ebbert to leave the plane and addressed her in the walkway leading back to the terminal, \"away from the other customers.\" The employee felt the outfit \"revealed too much\" but was placated after Ebbert made adjustments that included covering her stomach, Mainz said. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070908/ap_on_fe_st/odd_skirt_squabble;_ylt=Am9Vqh3rqegkSxZMuwsP3QouQE4F"}, {"response": 219, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Sep 16, 2007 (13:11)", "body": "I found this story so sad, yet fascinating. I'd be very interested in seeing that book. Perhaps it will end up in a museum one day. I've been to Dachau, but was strangely not as moved as I thought I would be. The grounds are very spare (or were 16 yrs ago), so it was hard for me to really feel what went on there. Sort of like with the WTC site now. It's simply a construction hole in the ground like any other to simply look at, the difference being I still have the memory of seeing the pile of rubble up close not long after....and the smell. Woman pursues mystery of Dachau album By ARTHUR MAX 49 minutes ago BAD AROLSEN, Germany - Deep in Shari Klages' memory is an image of herself as a girl in New Jersey, going into her parents' bedroom, pulling a thick leather-bound album from the top shelf of a closet and sitting down on the bed to leaf through it. What she saw was page after page of ink-and-watercolor drawings that convey, with simple lines yet telling detail, the brutality of Dachau, the Nazi concentration camp where her father spent the last weeks of World War II. Arrival, enslavement, torture, death \ufffd the 30 pictures expose the worsening nightmare through the artist's eye for the essential, and add graphic texture to the body of testimony by Holocaust survivors. \"I have a sense of being quite horrified, of feeling my stomach in my throat,\" Klages says. Just by looking at the book, she felt she was doing something wrong and was afraid of being caught. Now, she finally wants to make the album public. Scholars who have seen it call it historically unique and an artistic treasure. But who drew the pictures? Only Klages' father could know. It was he who brought the album back from Dachau when he immigrated to America on a ship with more than 60 Holocaust orphans \ufffd and he had committed suicide in 1972 in his garage in Parsippany, New Jersey. The sole clue was a signature at the bottom of several drawings: Porulski. Klages, 47, has begun a quest to discover who Porulski was, and how her family came to be the custodian of his remarkable artistic legacy. The Associated Press has helped to fill in some of the blanks. What unfolds is a story of Holocaust survival compressed into two tragic lives, a tale with threads stretching from Warsaw to Auschwitz and Dachau, from Australia to suburban England, and finally to a bedroom in Florida where a fatherless girl makes a traumatic discovery. It shows how today, as the survivors dwindle in number, their children and grandchildren struggle to comprehend the Nazi genocide that indelibly scarred their families, and in the process run into mysteries that may never be solved. This is Shari Klages' mystery: How did Arnold Unger, her Polish Jewish father, a 15-year-old newcomer to Dachau, end up in possession of the artwork of a Polish Catholic more than twice his age, who had been in the concentration camps through most of World War II? None of the records Klages found confirm that the two men knew each other, though they lived in adjacent blocks in Dachau. All that is certain is that Unger overlapped with Porulski during the three weeks the boy spent among nearly 30,000 inmates of Dachau's main camp. \"He never talked about his experiences in the war,\" said Klages. \"I don't recall specifically ever being told about the album, or actually learning that I was the child of a Holocaust survivor. It was just something I always knew.\" As adults, she and her three siblings took turns keeping the album and Unger's other wartime memorabilia. The album begins with an image of four prisoners in winter coats carrying suitcases and marching toward Dachau's watchtower under the rifles of SS guards. It is followed by a scene of two inmates being stripped for a humiliating examination by a kapo, a prisoner working for the Nazis. One image portrays two prisoners pausing in their work to doff their caps to a soldier escorting a prostitute \ufffd intimated by the seam on her stocking. Another shows a leashed dog lunging at a terrified inmate. The drawings grow more and more debasing. Three prisoners hang by their arms tied behind their backs; a captured escapee is paraded wearing a sign: \"Hurray, I am back again\"; an inmate is hanged from a scaffold; and, in the final image, a man lies on the ground, shot dead next to the barbed-wire fence under the looming watchtower. The album also has 258 photographs. Some are copies of well-known, haunting images of piles of victims' bodies taken by the U.S. army that liberated the camp. Others are photographs, apparently taken for Nazi propaganda, portraying Dachau as an idyllic summer camp. Still others are personal snapshots of Unger with Polish refugees or with American soldiers who befriended him. Barbara Distel, the director of the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site, said Porulski probably drew the pictures shortly after the camp's liberation in April 1945. He used identical sheets of paper, ink and watercolors for all 30 pictures, she said, and he \"w"}, {"response": 220, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Sep 20, 2007 (10:51)", "body": "I am outraged that the senate wants to pass a resolution to get rid of MoveOn.org. They want to stop the truth, they want to intimidate the knowlegeable public. I called my senators this morning and told them too. Why doesn't Obama give an opinion. Giulianni has already said that Hilary has ties with MoveOn."}, {"response": 221, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Sep 20, 2007 (15:54)", "body": "Ridiculous to waste time on this and still defeat a motion to vote on a bill that would give troops 1:1 time at home after deployment. Here's Chris Dodd's website with his comment on the MoveOn.org vote. http://chrisdodd.com/blog/dodd-moveon-ad-votes-senate"}, {"response": 222, "author": "mari", "date": "Thu, Sep 20, 2007 (16:32)", "body": "Time Mag weighs in; too funny. I'll tell ya--Giuliani is surprising me, and not in a good way. I thought he was too much of a no-bullshit guy for this. Wednesday, Sep. 19, 2007 How Dare You! By Michael Kinsley Goodness gracious. oh, my paws and whiskers. Some of the meanest, most ornery hombres around are suddenly feeling faint. Notorious tough guys are swooning with the vapors. The biggest beasts in the barnyard are all aflutter over something they read in the New York Times. It's that ad from MoveOn.org \ufffd the one that calls General David Petraeus, the head of U.S. forces in Iraq, general betray us. All across the radio spectrum, right-wing shock jocks are themselves shocked. How could anybody say such a thing? It's horrifying. It's outrageous. It's disgraceful. It's just beyond the pale ... It's ... oh, my heavens ... say, is it a bit stuffy in here? ... I think I'm going to ... Could I have a glass of ... oh, dear [thud]. Welcome to the wonderful world of umbrage, the new language of American politics. You would not have thought that the likes of Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly would be so sensitive. Sticks and stones and so on. Yet they all seem to have taken one look at that ad and fainted dead away. And when they came round, they demanded \ufffd as if with one voice (or at least as if with one list of talking points) \ufffd that every Democratic presidential candidate must \"condemn\" this shocking, shocking document. The ad is pretty tough, and the pun on the general's name is pretty witless. You could argue that since the verb betray and the noun traitor have the same root, the ad is accusing the head of American forces in Iraq of treason. The ad can also be interpreted \ufffd more plausibly if you consider the rest of the text \ufffd merely as questioning the general's honesty, not his patriotism. But whatever your interpretation of the ad, all the gasping for air and waving of scented handkerchiefs among the war's most enthusiastic supporters is pretty comical. It's all phony, of course. The war's backers are obviously delighted to have this ad from which they can make an issue. They wouldn't trade it for a week in Anbar province (a formerly troubled area of Iraq that is now, thanks to us, an Eden of peace and tranquillity where barely a car bomb disturbs the perfumed silence \ufffd or so they say). These days, mock outrage is used by every side of every dispute. It's fair enough to criticize something your opponent said while secretly thanking your lucky stars that he said it. The fuss over this MoveOn.org ad is something else: it is the result of a desperate scavenging for umbrage material. When so many people are clamoring for a chance to swoon that they each have to take a number and when the landscape is so littered with folks lying prostrate and pretending to be dead that it starts to look like the end of a Civil War battle re-enactment, this isn't spontaneous mass outrage. This is choreography. The constant calls for political candidates to prove their bona fides by condemning or denouncing something somebody else said or to renounce a person's support or to return her tainted money are a tiresome new tic in American politics. They're turning politics into a game of \"Mother, May I?\" Did you say \"Here is my plan for health-care reform\"? Uh-oh, you were supposed to say \"I condemn MoveOn.org's comments on General Petraeus, and here is my plan for health-care reform.\" All this drawing of uncrossable lines and issuing of fatuous fatwas is supposed to be a bad habit of the left. When right-wingers are attacking this habit rather than practicing it, they call it political correctness. The problem with political correctness is that it turns discussions of substance into arguments over etiquette. The last thing that supporters of the war want to talk about at this point is the war. They'd far rather talk about this insult to General Petraeus. It just isn't done in polite society, it seems, to criticize a general in the middle of a war. (Although, when else?) The Republican front runner, Rudy Giuliani, is another tough guy who has seized the opportunity to reveal his easily bruised soft side. He is running TV commercials saying Hillary Clinton \"stood by silently\" while MoveOn.org ran its despicable ad. Another way of saying this would be that she had nothing to do with the ad. But Rudy accuses her of \"joining with\" MoveOn.org and \"attacking\" General Petraeus, although the only evidence he can muster for this accusation is a clip from Clinton telling the general at a hearing that his reports of progress in the war \"really require the willing suspension of disbelief.\" For this, Giuliani demands an \"apology,\" not just to the general but to all American troops in Iraq. He accuses her of \"turning her back\" on America's brave soldiers \"just when our troops need all our support to finish the job.\" When we try to untangle this web of accusation and innuendo, Giuliani appears to be suggesting that it is unacceptable for a Senator to ex"}, {"response": 223, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Sep 20, 2007 (17:13)", "body": "all the gasping for air and waving of scented handkerchiefs among the war's most enthusiastic supporters is pretty comical. Daily Kos has been making fun of all their \"angst\" all week. denouncing something somebody else said or to renounce a person's support or to return her tainted money I was thinking after the Clinton/Hsu thing that every candidate should be allowed one questionable donation/donor, so every one's on a level playing field and no one can claim some kind of ridiculous financial moral superiority over the others. Now more than one.....;-) But Rudy accuses her of \"joining with\" MoveOn.org and \"attacking\" General Petraeus, although the only evidence he can muster for this accusation is a clip from Clinton telling the general at a hearing that his reports of progress in the war \"really require the willing suspension of disbelief.\" I listened to the hearings while cruising up the CA coast on vacation and Hillary pointedly prefaced her quote above with saying how much she respected the General (and the troops) and his service over the years. And believe me, she wasn't the only one who expressed deep skepticism. Wish I could remember name of the last committee member who interviewed Petreus and Crocker, but while she also expressed her respect and support for Petreus and his duties, she went on to very pointedly express disbelief at and ask for an explanation of the lack of accountability for all the money that's been spent (she gave details) on reconstruction and \"supporting the troops\" with little to show for it. Her career had been as an auditor prior to govt service. Thanks, Mari."}, {"response": 224, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Sep 20, 2007 (20:12)", "body": "Thanks, Mari. I am starting to hate Giuliani. I enjoyed reading the Criss dodd blog, thanks, Dorine. This all makes me sick to my stomach, and if Feinstein from CA voted against MoveOn, what can come next? Why don't people protest en-masse? I've been to the anti-war rally in DC and it was a joke, there should be millions out there marching. What makes this youth so apathetic?"}, {"response": 225, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Sep 20, 2007 (23:50)", "body": "I have to say, that I have been continually surprised at the good will for Guiliani outside of NY, but then again I shouldn't be. Now I say that having voted for him once....I think he was mayor already when I moved here. But while I found that he had his significant faults, he was a good mayor for NYC. But knowing his governing style, I knew he was not President material when this talk was thrown around years ago, even while they talked about him running for Senate or Governor. You might call him another \"Decider\". Finesse and diplomacy are not his middle names. He's closer to Bush's style. He's completely full of sh*t."}, {"response": 226, "author": "Moon", "date": "Fri, Sep 21, 2007 (09:49)", "body": "I used to like him. Giulianni turned NYC around for the better. The only thing he has said that makes sense is that there are too many mosques in the US and something should be done. I will add that no one in EU is doing anything about the many mosques there and it is a problem. My solution, for every mosque in the western world there should be a church in the muslim world. That would nip it in the bud. I am happy that Obama was a no-show at the Senater vote against MoveOn.org yesterday. I am beginning to like him more and more."}, {"response": 227, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Sep 21, 2007 (11:14)", "body": "LOL!! Obviously someone has nothing better to do. 'God' apparently responds to lawsuit By NATE JENKINS, Associated Press Writer Thu Sep 20, 11:18 PM ET LINCOLN, Neb. - A legislator who filed a lawsuit against God has gotten something he might not have expected: a response. One of two court filings from \"God\" came Wednesday under otherworldly circumstances, according to John Friend, clerk of the Douglas County District Court in Omaha. \"This one miraculously appeared on the counter. It just all of a sudden was here \ufffd poof!\" Friend said. State Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha sued God last week, seeking a permanent injunction against the Almighty for making terroristic threats, inspiring fear and causing \"widespread death, destruction and terrorization of millions upon millions of the Earth's inhabitants.\" Chambers, a self-proclaimed agnostic who often criticizes Christians, said his filing was triggered by a federal lawsuit he considers frivolous. He said he's trying to makes the point that anybody can sue anybody. Not so, says \"God.\" His response argues that the defendant is immune from some earthly laws and the court lacks jurisdiction. It adds that blaming God for human oppression and suffering misses an important point. \"I created man and woman with free will and next to the promise of immortal life, free will is my greatest gift to you,\" according to the response, as read by Friend. There was no contact information on the filing, although St. Michael the Archangel is listed as a witness, Friend said. A second response from \"God\" disputing Chambers' allegations lists a phone number for a Corpus Christi law office. A message left for that office was not immediately returned Thursday. Attempts to reach Chambers by phone and at his Capitol office Thursday were unsuccessful. ___ Associated Press Writer Anna Jo Bratton in Omaha contributed to this report."}, {"response": 228, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Dec 30, 2007 (16:24)", "body": "Apparently there's nothing that can't be outsourced to India. :-/ World outsources pregnancies to India By SAM DOLNICK, Associated Press Writer ANAND, India - Every night in this quiet western Indian city, 15 pregnant women prepare for sleep in the spacious house they share, ascending the stairs in a procession of ballooned bellies, to bedrooms that become a landscape of soft hills. A team of maids, cooks and doctors looks after the women, whose pregnancies would be unusual anywhere else but are common here. The young mothers of Anand, a place famous for its milk, are pregnant with the children of infertile couples from around the world. The small clinic at Kaival Hospital matches infertile couples with local women, cares for the women during pregnancy and delivery, and counsels them afterward. Anand's surrogate mothers, pioneers in the growing field of outsourced pregnancies, have given birth to roughly 40 babies. More than 50 women in this city are now pregnant with the children of couples from the United States, Taiwan, Britain and beyond. The women earn more than many would make in 15 years. But the program raises a host of uncomfortable questions that touch on morals and modern science, exploitation and globalization, and that most natural of desires: to have a family. Dr. Nayna Patel, the woman behind Anand's baby boom, defends her work as meaningful for everyone involved. \"There is this one woman who desperately needs a baby and cannot have her own child without the help of a surrogate. And at the other end there is this woman who badly wants to help her (own) family,\" Patel said. \"If this female wants to help the other one ... why not allow that? ... It's not for any bad cause. They're helping one another to have a new life in this world.\" Experts say commercial surrogacy \ufffd or what has been called \"wombs for rent\" \ufffd is growing in India. While no reliable numbers track such pregnancies nationwide, doctors work with surrogates in virtually every major city. The women are impregnated in-vitro with the egg and sperm of couples unable to conceive on their own. Commercial surrogacy has been legal in India since 2002, as it is in many other countries, including the United States. But India is the leader in making it a viable industry rather than a rare fertility treatment. Experts say it could take off for the same reasons outsourcing in other industries has been successful: a wide labor pool working for relatively low rates. Critics say the couples are exploiting poor women in India \ufffd a country with an alarmingly high maternal death rate \ufffd by hiring them at a cut-rate cost to undergo the hardship, pain and risks of labor. \"It raises the factor of baby farms in developing countries,\" said Dr. John Lantos of the Center for Practical Bioethics in Kansas City, Mo. \"It comes down to questions of voluntariness and risk.\" Patel's surrogates are aware of the risks because they've watched others go through them. Many of the mothers know one another, or are even related. Three sisters have all borne strangers' children, and their sister-in-law is pregnant with a second surrogate baby. Nearly half the babies have been born to foreign couples while the rest have gone to Indians. Ritu Sodhi, a furniture importer from Los Angeles who was born in India, spent $200,000 trying to get pregnant through in-vitro fertilization, and was considering spending another $80,000 to hire a surrogate mother in the United States. \"We were so desperate,\" she said. \"It was emotionally and financially exhausting.\" Then, on the Internet, Sodhi found Patel's clinic. After spending about $20,000 \ufffd more than many couples because it took the surrogate mother several cycles to conceive \ufffd Sodhi and her husband are now back home with their 4-month-old baby, Neel. They plan to return to Anand for a second child. \"Even if it cost $1 million, the joy that they had delivered to me is so much more than any money that I have given them,\" said Sodhi. \"They're godsends to deliver something so special.\" Patel's center is believed to be unique in offering one-stop service. Other clinics may request that the couple bring in their own surrogate, often a family member or friend, and some place classified ads. But in Anand the couple just provides the egg and sperm and the clinic does the rest, drawing from a waiting list of tested and ready surrogates. Young women are flocking to the clinic to sign up for the list. Suman Dodia, a pregnant, baby-faced 26-year-old, said she will buy a house with the $4,500 she receives from the British couple whose child she's carrying. It would have taken her 15 years to earn that on her maid's monthly salary of $25. Dodia's own three children were delivered at home and she said she never visited a doctor during those pregnancies. \"It's very different with medicine,\" Dodia said, resting her hands on her hugely pregnant belly. \"I'm being more careful now than I was with my own pregnancy.\" Patel said she carefully chooses which "}, {"response": 229, "author": "mari", "date": "Wed, Jan  9, 2008 (13:06)", "body": "From yesterday's (pre NH) NY Times: Women Are Never Front-Runners By GLORIA STEINEM THE woman in question became a lawyer after some years as a community organizer, married a corporate lawyer and is the mother of two little girls, ages 9 and 6. Herself the daughter of a white American mother and a black African father \ufffd in this race-conscious country, she is considered black \ufffd she served as a state legislator for eight years, and became an inspirational voice for national unity. Be honest: Do you think this is the biography of someone who could be elected to the United States Senate? After less than one term there, do you believe she could be a viable candidate to head the most powerful nation on earth? If you answered no to either question, you\ufffdre not alone. Gender is probably the most restricting force in American life, whether the question is who must be in the kitchen or who could be in the White House. This country is way down the list of countries electing women and, according to one study, it polarizes gender roles more than the average democracy. That\ufffds why the Iowa primary was following our historical pattern of making change. Black men were given the vote a half-century before women of any race were allowed to mark a ballot, and generally have ascended to positions of power, from the military to the boardroom, before any women (with the possible exception of obedient family members in the latter). If the lawyer described above had been just as charismatic but named, say, Achola Obama instead of Barack Obama, her goose would have been cooked long ago. Indeed, neither she nor Hillary Clinton could have used Mr. Obama\ufffds public style \ufffd or Bill Clinton\ufffds either \ufffd without being considered too emotional by Washington pundits. So why is the sex barrier not taken as seriously as the racial one? The reasons are as pervasive as the air we breathe: because sexism is still confused with nature as racism once was; because anything that affects males is seen as more serious than anything that affects \ufffdonly\ufffd the female half of the human race; because children are still raised mostly by women (to put it mildly) so men especially tend to feel they are regressing to childhood when dealing with a powerful woman; because racism stereotyped black men as more \ufffdmasculine\ufffd for so long that some white men find their presence to be masculinity-affirming (as long as there aren\ufffdt too many of them); and because there is still no \ufffdright\ufffd way to be a woman in public power without being considered a you-know-what. I\ufffdm not advocating a competition for who has it toughest. The caste systems of sex and race are interdependent and can only be uprooted together. That\ufffds why Senators Clinton and Obama have to be careful not to let a healthy debate turn into the kind of hostility that the news media love. Both will need a coalition of outsiders to win a general election. The abolition and suffrage movements progressed when united and were damaged by division; we should remember that. I\ufffdm supporting Senator Clinton because like Senator Obama she has community organizing experience, but she also has more years in the Senate, an unprecedented eight years of on-the-job training in the White House, no masculinity to prove, the potential to tap a huge reservoir of this country\ufffds talent by her example, and now even the courage to break the no-tears rule. I\ufffdm not opposing Mr. Obama; if he\ufffds the nominee, I\ufffdll volunteer. Indeed, if you look at votes during their two-year overlap in the Senate, they were the same more than 90 percent of the time. Besides, to clean up the mess left by President Bush, we may need two terms of President Clinton and two of President Obama. But what worries me is that he is seen as unifying by his race while she is seen as divisive by her sex. What worries me is that she is accused of \ufffdplaying the gender card\ufffd when citing the old boys\ufffd club, while he is seen as unifying by citing civil rights confrontations. What worries me is that male Iowa voters were seen as gender-free when supporting their own, while female voters were seen as biased if they did and disloyal if they didn\ufffdt. What worries me is that reporters ignore Mr. Obama\ufffds dependence on the old \ufffd for instance, the frequent campaign comparisons to John F. Kennedy \ufffd while not challenging the slander that her progressive policies are part of the Washington status quo. What worries me is that some women, perhaps especially younger ones, hope to deny or escape the sexual caste system; thus Iowa women over 50 and 60, who disproportionately supported Senator Clinton, proved once again that women are the one group that grows more radical with age. This country can no longer afford to choose our leaders from a talent pool limited by sex, race, money, powerful fathers and paper degrees. It\ufffds time to take equal pride in breaking all the barriers. We have to be able to say: \ufffdI\ufffdm supporting her because she\ufffdll be a great president and because she\ufffds a woman.\ufffd Gloria Steinem is"}, {"response": 230, "author": "LisaJH", "date": "Thu, Jan 10, 2008 (15:42)", "body": "Mari, I'm so glad you posted this here. Kudos to Ms. Steinem, who has always been a hero of mine."}, {"response": 231, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jan 21, 2008 (20:45)", "body": "Is anyone watching the Democratic debate tonight? Yeow! Quite lively! Gloves half off. But it's the Obama and Clinton show. Poor Edwards is getting shoved to the side."}, {"response": 232, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jan 28, 2008 (22:16)", "body": "You know, after 7 years, you'd think the guy could say NU-Clee-er correctly. What a f'ng a*hole. Good riddance...in a year."}, {"response": 233, "author": "McKenzie", "date": "Tue, Jan 29, 2008 (12:21)", "body": "(Dorine)What a f'ng a*hole. Good riddance...in a year. That shoe seems to fit... I just can't seem to make myself watch him - he's appalling. Did you happen to catch Bill Maher the other night? He made the comment that there's only one year left & he just hopes that Bush doesn't have one more major \"F**K-up in him.\" Scary thought, indeed."}, {"response": 234, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jan 29, 2008 (13:35)", "body": "Oh thanks, you reminded me I didn't go back to watch his show last week. I missed it."}, {"response": 235, "author": "mari", "date": "Wed, Jan 30, 2008 (11:46)", "body": "John Edwards is quitting the race. I like John; he's a good man. In a less crowded year . . . http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hoAvkYTooNMqpzn8fF_3B76ko8eAD8UG9L300"}, {"response": 236, "author": "cfadm", "date": "Wed, Feb 27, 2008 (13:04)", "body": "Texas looks like it's Hillary's last chance, and she's 2 points behind in the polls. Anyone catch that SNL skit with Obama and Hillary?"}, {"response": 237, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Feb 27, 2008 (14:09)", "body": "I missed the SNL skit. But I was working at Hillary's Headquarters last night and one of the big wigs came to tell us that they are obtimistic by the info they are receiving from Texas and Ohio. I personally spoke to many voters in Spanish last night and they do seem to be supporting Hillary. The odd thing is that in Texas they have the primary vote during the day and voters must come out again at 6:30 PM to vote in the caucus. The primary vote determines 60 percent of the delegates and the caucus 40. So how many old women who voted absentee will be out at night for the caucus vote?:-( Dorine, I applaud the women in Anand India."}, {"response": 238, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Wed, Feb 27, 2008 (14:35)", "body": "Did any UK Ladies feel the earthquake last night? It occurred around 1am. I can't believe I sat here at 1am working on a gif (bad case of insomnia) and didn't even notice any difference apart from the TV stand rattling and creaking, which I was a little spooked by, Crikey!"}, {"response": 239, "author": "lizbeth54", "date": "Wed, Feb 27, 2008 (15:08)", "body": "I'd just gone to bed, and the bed started shaking and the widows rattled. My DH, who was still downstairs, didn't notice anything!"}, {"response": 240, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Wed, Feb 27, 2008 (15:24)", "body": "Thanks, Bethan. it put's my mind at rest that your DH was downstairs and didn't notice anything because I was also downstairs and apart from the TV stand rattling I really didn't notice anything. Ant was upstairs and was awoken by the bed shaking. Not enough for him to fully wake though. I guess the ground floor is more stable than a first floor. We have friends whom live in Hull. Their wardrobes rattled so much they thought they would land on them. My Mum told me a story of a lady whose pet parrot was shaken off it's perch and now the bird won't get back on it's perch, awwweee."}, {"response": 241, "author": "mari", "date": "Wed, Feb 27, 2008 (16:17)", "body": "Anyone catch that SNL skit with Obama and Hillary? You mean the one that satirized the shameful free ride that the media has given to Obama, while being inordinately tough on Hillary? No, didn't see it.;-) But here's Tina Fey's endorsement of Hill: http://tv.popcrunch.com/did-tina-fey-endorse-hillary-clinton-on-saturday-night-live-video/"}, {"response": 242, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Feb 27, 2008 (16:50)", "body": "Thanks, Mari, I needed that. I keep telling them to Ying it. We need Ying in the Whitehouse. :-) Glad to hear the earthquake was not a bad one. I still remember a few from when I lived in LA, phew!"}, {"response": 243, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Mar  3, 2008 (12:14)", "body": "Check this out! It would put me off flying for sure. And kudos to the pilot. (You'll have to sit through an ad) Hope it plays ok. http://news.aol.com/story/_a/pilots-move-averts-possible-plane-crash/20080303094209990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001"}, {"response": 244, "author": "slpeg2003", "date": "Tue, Mar  4, 2008 (16:50)", "body": "(Moon) But I was working at Hillary's Headquarters...in Texas they have the primary vote during the day and voters must come out again at 6:30 PM to vote in the caucus Wish I'd been more involved, now:-( I just came back from voting and running errands. On my way I passed 7 polling places and my precinct was the only one with a live Democratic presence on the perimeter. They were Obama supporters. Didn't see any Hillary signs at all and Obama signs at only 2 precincts. Now,mind you, I live in a very, very republican area and there are 10 Republican candidates running for the nomination for Congressional district 22 seat which is now held by a Democrat for the first time since I moved here 23 years ago! I has been interesting to watch these people clamor over each other trying to establish who is more Christian and/or more conservative. The caucuses start at 7:15 or after all of the voters are through. No one seems to know how long they will go and what to expect. I'll report on that later. Last night's local news had a story about voters being told to show up at 6:30, yet the polls don't close 'til 7 p.m. Some election officials were worried about chaos and overcrowding. I was really disappointed to see that Obama was first and Hillary was last on the ballot in my county with 4 other candidates in between them. I don't know how the order is decided, but the candidates are listed in a different order in other counties. (SueH) I guess the ground floor is more stable than a first floor. We have friends whom live in Hull. Their wardrobes rattled so much they thought they would land on them. Right,the higher you are in a quake the more movement there is. (I've lived with a physicist, lo, these many years;-)) My old auntie did have her china cabniet topple during a big one near San Jose and I once watched waves splash from my pool when I lived near San Francisco. I am glad that there weren't many injuries."}, {"response": 245, "author": "mari", "date": "Tue, Mar  4, 2008 (17:40)", "body": "Good luck with that Texas two-step, Peggy! What a cesspool some of these election processes are. And don't even get me started on superdelegates. Or the Electoral College, for that matter--we never did fix that, after the 2000 fiasco. The entire process needs an overhall, IMO. Jack Nicholson's very clever endorsement of Hillary: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mOa3sXjqE4&eurl=http://movies.aol.com/news/main"}, {"response": 246, "author": "mari", "date": "Tue, Mar  4, 2008 (17:44)", "body": "Saw Ari Fleischer (former press secretary to the prez) on CNN last night. He says Republicans would much rather face Obama in the fall because \"the guy is a blank slate.\" He went on to say that \"there are many more things that will come out about him between now and November, if he's the nominee.\""}, {"response": 247, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Mar  4, 2008 (19:23)", "body": "Gad! I've been saying that for weeks. Lots of R have been voting for O in the primaries for that same reason. :-( Many Dems will not voter for O either come Nov. I would love to see Hillary president and give O Sect. of State and have him try to make something out of the middle East mess. He can even wear his turban. ;-))) Keeping fingers crossed for to night. Go Hillary!!! Jack could have done it earlier, but better late than never."}, {"response": 248, "author": "slpeg2003", "date": "Tue, Mar  4, 2008 (23:06)", "body": "I am just back from my caucus and it was a chaotic. There were 2 precincts sharing my polling place , ergo, 4 caucuses- 2 Rep., 2 Dem. Generally only a handful attend these and sometimes only the Pct. Chairman shows up! Tonight there were hundreds and the vast majority had no idea what to do. No one was available to organize the lines through the parking lot. There was doubt that there would be enough forms for everyone to sign but someone rounded up extras. The precinct chair even had to leave to take the election results to the county. Results- my Pct. went 2 to 1 for Obama but there is a predominantly black neighborhood in the precinct boundaries. The other Pct. which is the remainder of my subdivision voted for Hillary 60% to 40% Obama. For the two precincts 10 delegates for Hillary and 11 delegates for Obama will go to the county caucus. The county caucus will be at the end of the month and there the delegates for the state convention will be chosen. Right now the local news is showing this to be a very tight race at 49% each."}, {"response": 249, "author": "LisaJH", "date": "Wed, Mar  5, 2008 (01:56)", "body": "Woo-hoo! I usually vote absentee, but today I voted in person, and also cast my vote for Hillary! I'm thrilled she picked up three states! Go Hillary! A lot of things were screwed up in Ohio again. A neighboring county wasn't supplied with enough Democrat ballots and people were asked to come back! Sheesh! :-( My precinct is also largely well-healed Republicans, but I know they are fed up with Bush. BTW, I just started reading The Bush Tragedy and it's a fascinating look at what makes W tick. I saw the author on C-Span, and was hooked. Peggy, that Texas Two Step is really odd...but then again so is this whole super delegate business."}, {"response": 250, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Mar  5, 2008 (09:42)", "body": "I checked into CNN around 10 which was calling TX for Obama who was up by around 10 pts at that time. Didn't notice how much of the vote was counted then though. Switched off to watch something else, fell asleep. Then saw the headline this morning at the newsstand at my bus stop that Hil won TX. Amazing! I still haven't read any details yet. I hate when the news calls races so early, as I'm presuming CNN did again last night."}, {"response": 251, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Mar  5, 2008 (09:45)", "body": "Looking at Peggy's post especially, and with Mari, my bafflement and dissatisfaction witht the Electoral College, with systems like those, it's a wonder anyone gets elected in this country."}, {"response": 252, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Mar  5, 2008 (10:13)", "body": "(Moon) Lots of R have been voting for O in the primaries for that same reason. :-( Many Dems will not voter for O either come Nov. I was just reading a political blog from one of the newspapers in Cleveland (I think), where it was talking about the number of R's crossing over to vote D, partially because of local politics, but quite a number said they voted for Hillary since she's perceived weaker against McCain and they'll switch back to R for the national election to vote for him."}, {"response": 253, "author": "Kathryn", "date": "Wed, Mar  5, 2008 (10:53)", "body": "With the Machiavellian twists and turns to voting and politics, I am always amazed that people don't become totally jaded by it all. I respect volunteers who are so passionate about their candidate (whoever it is) and work tirelessly for them."}, {"response": 254, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Mar  5, 2008 (11:04)", "body": "(Kathryn) am always amazed that people don't become totally jaded by it all The irony is that there are more voters than in a long time across many demographics taking part in the process."}, {"response": 255, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Mar  5, 2008 (12:44)", "body": "talking about the number of R's crossing over to vote D, partially because of local politics, but quite a number said they voted for Hillary since she's perceived weaker against McCain and they'll switch back to R for the national election to vote for him. And I love those dumb R. Keep voting for Hillary! She's the one that can beat McCain. Peggy that two-step in Texas is enough to prompt a law suit, IMO. I sopke to many Hillary supporters that voted absentee because they are unable to get out to their precints to vote in person, be they elderly, or sick, or they don't go out afte3r a certain time. All that plays in O favor because of his supposed younger voters. Lisa, thank you big time! Hillary needed Ohio and her speech was perfect. :-)"}, {"response": 256, "author": "slpeg2003", "date": "Wed, Mar  5, 2008 (13:39)", "body": "(Moon) Peggy that two-step in Texas is enough to prompt a law suit, IMO Two-step is a messed up mis-step. The system does need to be changed. It would be much better to have the caucuses after the popular vote is counted and choose the delegates accordingly. The Democratic party made the plans and ordered the materials for this election months ago and at the time had no idea that the turnout would be so huge. Of course when participation is 200 times that of any previous election there are bound to be problems for either side. I could go on ad infinitum about what was wrong with just my Pct. caucus. It was hardly and orderly meeting, and I felt like my friend and I were the only ones there who had any knowledge of Robert's Rules. It didn't do much good after a vocal, bossy lady wes elected to run the meeting, then she just stood there without a clue what to do! I don't think anyone was guilty of fraud, just ineptitude. Here are some links to local stories. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/5593307.html http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/5593307.html Also, I must say that Barack mounted a phenominal telephone campaign. I recieved a recorded message from him and Michele every day this last week. Go Hillary- On to Pennsylvania!!! On a different 'Mad World' subject, I found this story to be remarkable. Buster has a beer and cigarette for his halfway refreshment! http://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=4385601&page=1"}, {"response": 257, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Mar  6, 2008 (15:25)", "body": "Peggy, in Texas lots of voters were disenfranchised because they were not able to go back for the Caucus that night. Lots of older voters, or handicapped voters, etc. Just curious, did you receive any calls for Hillary? Our phone bank from HQ are live people not recorded messages. Mari, we need your help in PA, I hope you have lots of friends you can gather as well. As we speak, field offices are being set up all over PA."}, {"response": 258, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Mar  6, 2008 (16:25)", "body": "In NY they were recorded messages. I got several."}, {"response": 259, "author": "mari", "date": "Thu, Mar  6, 2008 (16:32)", "body": "PA is on the case, Moon! Hill's Philly HQ opened yesterday: BTW, I've been using their computer-based calling system and it works pretty well. This way, you can make calls from home or wherever. Anyone can sign up to make calls anywhere; you just specify the area. (Those poor people in Texas last weekend kept asking me to \"talk slower!\") LOL!"}, {"response": 260, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Mar  6, 2008 (23:37)", "body": "Dems can't win without superdelegates By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 54 minutes ago WASHINGTON - Hillary Rodham Clinton won't catch Barack Obama in the race for Democratic delegates chosen in primaries and caucuses, even if she wins every remaining contest. But Obama cannot win the nomination with just his pledged primary and caucus delegates either, according to an analysis by The Associated Press. That sets the stage for a pitched battle for support among \"superdelegates,\" the party and elected officials who automatically attend the convention and can support whomever they choose. Two months into the voting, Obama can claim the most delegates chosen by voters. Clinton can claim victories in most of the big states. What should a superdelegate do? Unsurprisingly, the two campaigns have different takes on that question. \"It is very difficult to see any scenario that Hillary Clinton would get the nomination in a way that doesn't rip the party apart,\" said Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle, an Obama supporter. \"I think that it would be a terrible mistake for the Democrats to not accept the will of the people who have turned out in primaries and caucuses.\" Clinton spokesman Doug Hattaway said Obama's lead in pledged delegates is \"hardly a mandate.\" \"Some superdelegates will go with (the) pledged delegate count, but many will go with the candidate they think can win,\" Hattaway said. \"We have a very compelling case to make on that front, given that we're winning general election swing states, must-win states and must-win constituencies.\" Clinton won three out of four primaries this week, giving her campaign a much-needed boost after a month of defeats. But she picked up only 12 more delegates than Obama, leaving him with a 140-delegate lead among those won in primaries and caucuses. There are only 614 delegates available in the remaining contests, meaning Clinton would have to win about 62 percent of the them to overtake Obama, according to the AP analysis. That's nearly impossible, given the way Democrats award delegates proportionally. Consider this: Clinton posted a big win in the Ohio primary Tuesday, beating Obama by about 10 percentage points. Her take: nine more delegates than him in the Buckeye State. In the Texas primary, Clinton's margin of victory was smaller, about 3 percentage points, and her net gain was smaller, too: four more delegates than Obama. Obama could wipe out most or all of that advantage if early returns showing him winning in the Texas caucuses hold up. Final results won't be available until the party's county conventions at the end of month. The message to be taken from Clinton's victories, again, depends on which campaign is doing the spinning. \"In order to have a plausible path to the nomination, they needed to score huge delegate victories and cut into our lead,\" Obama campaign manager David Plouffe said in an e-mail to supporters. \"They failed.\" Clinton's campaign pointed to her earlier victories in states like New Jersey, New York and California, and they questioned why Obama couldn't win in Texas and Ohio on Tuesday. \"We think she can bring Ohio in a general election,\" said Harold Ickes, a chief strategist for Clinton. \"We are not sure (Obama) can do that.\" The biggest remaining primary is in Pennsylvania, which will have 158 delegates at stake on April 22. Clinton's team is optimistic about her chances there. She'll be campaigning hard in the state, as will Ed Rendell, Pennsylvania's popular governor, who is an enthusiastic supporter. Obama is expected to win the Wyoming caucuses Saturday and the Mississippi primary next Tuesday, but Clinton is competing in both states to hold down his delegate accumulation. Her advisers acknowledge their past system of focusing on certain states and largely ignoring others \ufffd particularly those holding caucuses \ufffd was a mistake and helped Obama build a significant lead among pledged delegates. Obama has won nominating contests in 27 states and territories, giving him the lead in pledged delegates, 1,360 to 1,220. Even if he wins every remaining pledged delegate \ufffd including 33 that haven't been awarded from previous races \ufffd he will fall short of the 2,025 needed to secure the Democratic nomination. That's where the superdelegates come in, the nearly 800 party and elected officials who will decide the nomination if both candidates stay in the race. Clinton leads in endorsements from superdelegates, 242 to 209. But that lead has shrunk in the past month. Since an AP survey the week of Super Tuesday, Obama has added 53 superdelegates, while Clinton has had a net loss of one. In the overall race for the nomination, Obama has 1,569 delegates, to 1,462 for Clinton, according to the latest AP tally. The lobbying of superdelegates has been fierce, with at least six Clinton superdelegates switching to Obama. So far, none of Obama's superdelegates has strayed, at least not publicly. David Parker, an undecided superdelegate from North Carolin"}, {"response": 261, "author": "Moon", "date": "Fri, Mar  7, 2008 (13:55)", "body": "Donna Brazil was on Hillary's camp when I met her at the DNC meeting in No. VA, now she's on CNN as an Obama supporter even though, she claims to be impartial. :-( Hillary seems to be able to carry the swing states and hold on to the big Dem. ones, she's the one the super delegates should be backing if they want a Dem in the Whitehouse. The red states that O got will vote R. If O gets the Dem nomination, McCain will be the next President."}, {"response": 262, "author": "slpeg2003", "date": "Fri, Mar  7, 2008 (15:32)", "body": "(Moon) Peggy, in Texas lots of voters were disenfranchised because they were not able to go back for the Caucus that night. Lots of older voters, or handicapped voters, etc. Just curious, did you receive any calls for Hillary? I understand about the disenfranchisement. Even my son couldn't caucus due to a rehearsal and there were some who showed up but were unable to stay because it was taking too long. I think it is unreasonable that it takes the better part of one's day to vote. I don't remember getting any call from Hillary's campaign. I was getting at least 10 calls a day, most were pre-recorded messages. Barack's campaign did make live calls to university students and recent grads (registered here) asking for them by name. I confirmed this with the two other neighbors who showed up. I just checked the results for my precinct 285 votes cast in the Dem. primary. Actual votes Obama- 45.80% Clinton- 53.85% Caucus delegates Obama- 6 Clinton-3"}, {"response": 263, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sat, Mar  8, 2008 (11:38)", "body": "From today's Wash Post: Downside of Obama Strategy Losses in Big States Spur General-Election Fears Read the article here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/07/AR2008030703318.html?hpid=topnews"}, {"response": 264, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Mar 24, 2008 (15:50)", "body": "This is a translation from yesterday's Corriere della Sera, Italy's #1 newspaper. I have always admired Magdi Allam, a very intelligent unbiased journalist. I did not know he was under a fatwa. He has just converted to Catholism so now his risk is higher. Magdi Allam Recounts His Path to Conversion Benedict XVI Baptized the Journalist at Easter Vigil VATICAN CITY, MARCH 23, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of Magdi Allam\ufffds account of his conversion to Catholicism. The Muslim journalist was baptized by Benedict XVI at Saturday's Easter Vigil Mass in St. Peter's Basilica. An abbreviated form of this account appeared as a letter to Paolo Mieli, the director of the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. Allam is the paper\ufffds deputy director. The Italian version of the complete text is available at magdiallam.it. * * * Dear Friends, I am particularly happy to share with you my immense joy for this Easter of Resurrection that has brought me the gift of the Christian faith. I gladly propose the letter that I sent to the director of the Corriere della Sera, Paolo Mieli, in which I tell the story of the interior journey that brought me to the choice of conversion to Catholicism. This is the complete version of the letter, which was published by the Corriere della Sera only in part. * * * Dear Director, That which I am about to relate to you concerns my choice of religious faith and personal life in which I do not wish to involve in any way the Corriere della Sera, which it has been an honor to be a part of as deputy director \ufffdad personam\ufffd since 2003. I write you thus as protagonist of the event, as private citizen. Yesterday evening I converted to the Christian Catholic religion, renouncing my previous Islamic faith. Thus, I finally saw the light, by divine grace -- the healthy fruit of a long, matured gestation, lived in suffering and joy, together with intimate reflection and conscious and manifest expression. I am especially grateful to his holiness Pope Benedict XVI, who imparted the sacraments of Christian initiation to me, baptism, confirmation and Eucharist, in the Basilica of St. Peter\ufffds during the course of the solemn celebration of the Easter Vigil. And I took the simplest and most explicit Christian name: \ufffdCristiano.\ufffd Since yesterday evening therefore my name is Magdi Crisitano Allam. For me it is the most beautiful day of [my] life. To acquire the gift of the Christian faith during the commemoration of Christ\ufffds resurrection by the hand of the Holy Father is, for a believer, an incomparable and inestimable privilege. At almost 56 [\ufffd], it is a historical, exceptional and unforgettable event, which marks a radical and definitive turn with respect to the past. The miracle of Christ\ufffds resurrection reverberated through my soul, liberating it from the darkness in which the preaching of hatred and intolerance in the face of the \ufffddifferent,\ufffd uncritically condemned as \ufffdenemy,\ufffd were privileged over love and respect of \ufffdneighbor,\ufffd who is always, an in every case, \ufffdperson\ufffd; thus, as my mind was freed from the obscurantism of an ideology that legitimates lies and deception, violent death that leads to murder and suicide, the blind submission to tyranny, I was able to adhere to the authentic religion of truth, of life and of freedom. On my first Easter as a Christian I not only discovered Jesus, I discovered for the first time the face of the true and only God, who is the God of faith and reason. My conversion to Catholicism is the touching down of a gradual and profound interior meditation from which I could not pull myself away, given that for five years I have been confined to a life under guard, with permanent surveillance at home and a police escort for my every movement, because of death threats and death sentences from Islamic extremists and terrorists, both those in and outside of Italy. I had to ask myself about the attitude of those who publicly declared fatwas, Islamic juridical verdicts, against me -- I who was a Muslim -- as an \ufffdenemy of Islam,\ufffd \ufffdhypocrite because he is a Coptic Christian who pretends to be a Muslim to do damage to Islam,\ufffd \ufffdliar and vilifier of Islam,\ufffd legitimating my death sentence in this way. I asked myself how it was possible that those who, like me, sincerely and boldly called for a \ufffdmoderate Islam,\ufffd assuming the responsibility of exposing themselves in the first person in denouncing Islamic extremism and terrorism, ended up being sentenced to death in the name of Islam on the basis of the Quran. I was forced to see that, beyond the contingency of the phenomenon of Islamic extremism and terrorism that has appeared on a global level, the root of evil is inherent in an Islam that is physiologically violent and historically conflictive. At the same time providence brought me to meet practicing Catholics of good will who, in virtue of their witness and friendship, gradually became a point of reference in regard to the certainty of truth and the solidity of values. To begin with, am"}, {"response": 265, "author": "mari", "date": "Wed, Apr  2, 2008 (12:28)", "body": "Lots of good zingers from them both! McCain, Letterman spar on 'late Show' Wed Apr 2, 6:49 AM ET Republican presidential candidate John McCain good-naturedly sparred with David Letterman on Tuesday night's \"Late Show.\" During his monologue, Letterman joked that the Arizona senator reminded him of \"the guy at the hardware store who makes the keys\" and \"the guy who can't stop talking about how well his tomatoes are doing.\" After Letterman added that McCain looked like \"the guy who points out the spots they missed at the car wash,\" the senator appeared on stage. \"You think that stuff's pretty funny, don't you?\" McCain asked, then added: \"Well, you look like a guy whose laptop would be seized by the authorities.\" McCain also said the host resembled the guy caught smuggling reptiles in his pants, to which Letterman replied, \"Don't knock it if you haven't tried it.\" The candidate also likened Letterman to the manager of a creepy motel, the guy who enjoys watching his swim trunks inflate in a hot tub and the guy about whom neighbors later say, \"He mostly kept to himself.\" Later in the show, the two discussed more serious issues, including the national credit crisis, Iraqi casualties, the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Bear Stearns and accusations that McCain's not a true conservative Republican. \"I think maybe some people think that you ought to have exactly the same position they have on every issue,\" McCain said. The two Democratic candidates have also appeared on the CBS show this year \ufffd Hillary Rodham Clinton in February, and Barack Obama in January."}, {"response": 266, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Apr  5, 2008 (10:13)", "body": "Not thrilled he used the VA as a good example as they had/still have issues with quality care despite, or perhaps because of, their financial system. I knew people who worked at VA's during the Clinton years who complained about budget cuts that made it more difficult to get good equipment to treat patients. Granted they opened a new hospital in our area, but then kept cutting. Op-Ed Columnist Voodoo Health Economics By PAUL KRUGMAN Published: April 4, 2008 Elizabeth Edwards has cancer. John McCain has had cancer in the past. Last weekend, Mrs. Edwards bluntly pointed out that neither of them would be able to get insurance under Mr. McCain\ufffds health care plan. It\ufffds about time someone said that and, more generally, made the case that Mr. McCain\ufffds approach to health care is based on voodoo economics \ufffd not the supply-side voodoo that claims that cutting taxes increases revenues (though Mr. McCain says that, too), but the equally foolish claim, refuted by all available evidence, that the magic of the marketplace can produce cheap health care for everyone. As Mrs. Edwards pointed out, the McCain health plan would do nothing to prevent insurance companies from denying coverage to those, like her and Mr. McCain, who have pre-existing medical conditions. The McCain campaign\ufffds response was condescending and dismissive \ufffd a statement that Mrs. Edwards doesn\ufffdt understand the comprehensive nature of the senator\ufffds approach, which would harness \ufffdthe power of competition to produce greater coverage for Americans,\ufffd reducing costs so that even people with pre-existing conditions could afford care. This is nonsense on multiple levels. For one thing, even if you buy the premise that competition would reduce health care costs, the idea that it could cut costs enough to make insurance affordable for Americans with a history of cancer or other major diseases is sheer fantasy. Beyond that, there\ufffds no reason to believe in these alleged cost reductions. Insurance companies do try to hold down \ufffdmedical losses\ufffd \ufffd the industry\ufffds term for what happens when an insurer actually ends up having to honor its promises by paying a client\ufffds medical bills. But they don\ufffdt do this by promoting cost-effective medical care. Instead, they hold down costs by only covering healthy people, screening out those who need coverage the most \ufffd which was exactly the point Mrs. Edwards was making. They also deny as many claims as possible, forcing doctors and hospitals to spend large sums fighting to get paid. And the international evidence on health care costs is overwhelming: the United States has the most privatized system, with the most market competition \ufffd and it also has by far the highest health care costs in the world. Yet the McCain health plan \ufffd actually a set of bullet points on the campaign\ufffds Web site \ufffd is entirely based on blind faith that competition among private insurers will solve all problems. I\ufffdd like to single out one of these bullet points in particular \ufffd the first substantive proposal Mr. McCain offers (the preceding entries are nothing but feel-good boilerplate). As I\ufffdve mentioned in past columns, the Veterans Health Administration is one of the few clear American success stories in the struggle to contain health care costs. Since it was reformed during the Clinton years, the V.A. has used the fact that it\ufffds an integrated system \ufffd a system that takes long-term responsibility for its clients\ufffd health \ufffd to deliver an impressive combination of high-quality care and low costs. It has also taken the lead in the use of information technology, which has both saved money and reduced medical errors. Sure enough, Mr. McCain wants to privatize and, in effect, dismantle the V.A. Naturally, this destructive agenda comes wrapped in the flag: \ufffdAmerica\ufffds veterans have fought for our freedom,\ufffd says the McCain Web site. \ufffdWe should give them freedom to choose to carry their V.A. dollars to a provider that gives them the timely care at high quality and in the best location.\ufffd That\ufffds a recipe for having healthy veterans drop out of the system, undermining its integrated nature and draining away resources. Mr. McCain, then, is offering a completely wrongheaded approach to health care. But the way the campaign for the Democratic nomination has unfolded raises questions about how effective his eventual opponent will be in making that point. Indeed, while Mrs. Edwards focused her criticism on Mr. McCain, she also made it clear that she prefers Hillary Clinton\ufffds approach \ufffd \ufffdSen. Clinton\ufffds plan is a great plan\ufffd \ufffd to Barack Obama\ufffds. The Clinton plan closely resembles the plan for universal coverage that John Edwards laid out more than a year ago. By contrast, Mr. Obama offers a watered-down plan that falls short of universality, and it would have higher costs per person covered. Worse yet, Mr. Obama attacked his Democratic rivals\ufffd health plans using conservative talking points about choice and the evil of having the government tell you what to do. That\ufffds going to make "}, {"response": 267, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Apr  7, 2008 (14:47)", "body": "I know there are some Hillary volunteers here. Opinions? http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/4/7/10533/63574/492/487686"}, {"response": 268, "author": "mari", "date": "Tue, Apr  8, 2008 (12:10)", "body": "Opinions? About? Calling a halt \"for the good of the party?\" We are perfectly content to let the American Idol season roll on for about 20 weeks. But when it comes to choosing a president, we all of a sudden have ADD?!"}, {"response": 269, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Apr  9, 2008 (19:40)", "body": "Hee hee. Shia/Sunni, Italians/Asians and Hispanics...why pay attention to who's who and where they are. I'll have to admit though, I didn't realize South Philly had or was divesting itself of the Italian majority. Seems it's the same as our Little Italy, with the Asians taking over. Little Italy here is now really one street of a block or 2. http://thinkprogress.org/2008/04/09/mccains-gaffe-on-south-philly/"}, {"response": 270, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Apr 13, 2008 (17:09)", "body": "ROTFL! Wow, that's one superstitious Red Sox fan. NY Yankees remove buried Red Sox jersey By KAREN MATTHEWS Associated Press Writer 9 minutes ago NEW YORK - A construction worker's bid to curse the New York Yankees by planting a Boston Red Sox jersey in their new stadium was foiled Sunday when the home team removed the offending shirt from its burial spot. After locating the shirt in a service corridor behind what will be a restaurant in the new Yankee Stadium, construction workers jackhammered through the concrete Sunday and pulled it out. The team said it learned that a Sox-rooting construction worker had buried a shirt in the new Bronx stadium, which will open next year across the street from the current ballpark, from a report in the New York Post on Friday. Yankees President Randy Levine said team officials at first considered leaving the shirt where it was. \"The first thought was, you know, it's never a good thing to be buried in cement when you're in New York,\" Levine said. \"But then we decided, why reward somebody who had really bad motives and was trying to do a really bad thing?\" On Saturday, construction workers who remembered the employee, Gino Castignoli, phoned in tips about the shirt's location. \"We had anonymous people come tell us where it was, and we were able to find it,\" said Frank Gramarossa, a project executive with Turner Construction, the general contractor on the site. It took about five hours of drilling Saturday to locate the shirt under 2 feet of concrete, he said. On Sunday, Levine and Yankees CEO Lonn Trost watched as Gramarossa and foreman Rich Corrado finished the job and pulled the shirt from the rubble. In shreds from the jackhammers, the shirt still bore the letters \"Red Sox\" on the front. It was a David Ortiz jersey, No. 34. Trost said the Yankees had discussed possible criminal charges against Castignoli with the district attorney's office. \"We will take appropriate action since fortunately we do know the name of the individual,\" he said. A woman who answered the phone at Castignoli's home in the Bronx on Sunday said he was not there. A spokesman for Bronx District Attorney Robert Johnson said Sunday he did not know whether any criminal charges might apply. Levine said the shirt would be cleaned up and sent to the Jimmy Fund, a charity affiliated with Boston's Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. \"Hopefully the Jimmy Fund will auction it off and we'll take the act that was a very, very bad act and turn it into something beautiful,\" he said."}, {"response": 271, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Apr 14, 2008 (19:05)", "body": "\"...you know, it's never a good thing to be buried in cement when you're in New York...\" Good line! LOL! ~~~~~~~~~~~ I'm amazed (not really) by how little play this received here: Clinton supporter Elton John laments U.S. misogyny Thu Apr 10, 2008 12:44pm EDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - British pop star Elton John, playing a fund-raiser for Hillary Clinton in New York on Wednesday, said he was amazed at the misogyny of some in America and he hoped that wouldn't stop her being president. At the fund-raiser which Clinton's campaign manager said raised $2.5 million, John said there was no one more qualified to lead the United States into the next era. \"Having said that, I never cease to be amazed at the misogynistic attitude of some people in this country. And I say to hell with them,\" he said, drawing cheers from the crowd at Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan. \"The reason I'm here tonight is to play music, but more importantly as someone who comes from abroad, and is in America quite a lot of the time (and) is extremely interested in the political process because it effects the whole world.\" \"I've always been a Hillary supporter,\" he said. Introducing him, Clinton recalled that the entertainer had played at the White House at a state dinner when her husband Bill Clinton was president. The New York senator, who is trailing Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, vowed to take her battle for the Democratic nomination to the end of the primary process, saying all the states should have their say. Clinton said she couldn't sing but \"What I want you to know is 'I'm still standing,'\" -- echoing the title of an Elton John song. John opened his set with the track \"Your Song,\" dwelling on the line \"How wonderful life is when you're in the world.\" Other hits he sang included \"Daniel\" and \"Rocket Man.\""}, {"response": 272, "author": "mari", "date": "Tue, Apr 15, 2008 (12:37)", "body": "(Karen)I'm amazed (not really) by how little play this received here You mean by our misogynistic press?:-( I saw that. Love Elton, always have."}, {"response": 273, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Apr 15, 2008 (13:37)", "body": "I did wonder too. If it had been for Obama, it would have been all over. I'm sick of it."}, {"response": 274, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Apr 15, 2008 (14:07)", "body": "Oh, no. Just received this from the Wash Post site: Source: U.S. Strike on Iran Nearing By: Jim Meyers Contrary to some claims that the Bush administration will allow diplomacy to handle Iran\ufffds nuclear weapons program, a leading member of America\ufffds Jewish community tells Newsmax that a military strike is not only on the table \ufffd but likely. \ufffdIsrael is preparing for heavy casualties,\ufffd the source said, suggesting that although Israel will not take part in the strike, it is expecting to be the target of Iranian retribution. \ufffdLook at Dick Cheney\ufffds recent trip through the Middle East as preparation for the U.S. attack,\ufffd the source said. Cheney\ufffds hastily arranged 9-day visit to the region, which began on March 16, included stops in Israel, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman, Turkey, and the Palestinian territories. Tensions in the region have been rising. While Israel was conducting the largest homefront military exercises in its history last week, Israel\ufffds National Infrastructure Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer warned Tehran about expected attacks on the Jewish state. \ufffdAn Iranian attack will prompt a severe reaction from Israel, which will destroy the Iranian nation,\ufffd he said. He predicted that in a future war, \ufffdhundreds of missiles will rain on Israel,\ufffd but added that Iran \ufffdis definitely aware of our strength.\ufffd In addition to long-range missiles Iran has been developing to strike Israel, Israel\ufffds military strategists see the Iranians using terror groups they back like Hamas operating from Palestine and Hezbollah from Lebanon to launch attacks. Iran has supplied Hezbollah with an arsenal that now contains \ufffdtens of thousands of missiles,\ufffd according to the Washington Post. Israel\ufffds recent war exercises, including preparations for chemical and biological weapons attacks, drew a sharp response from Syria which held its own military drills. The Syrian government accused Israel of preparing for a war which Damascus predicted would be begin anytime between May 1 and the end of June. Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently told foreign journalists that Israel needs to confront the threat posed by Iran. Privately he has been telling associates his number one priority is have the Israeli military strike Iran if the U.S. is unwilling. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz disclosed that Israel is concerned that North Korea has transferred technology and nuclear materials to Iran to aid Tehran\ufffds secret nuclear weapons program. Iran remains intransigent to international pressure that it offer full transparency relating to its nuclear program. On Sunday the head of Iran\ufffds nuclear program \ufffdabruptly canceled a meeting with the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, dealing a blow to the U.N. monitor's efforts to investigate allegations that Iran tried to make nuclear arms, an agency official said,\ufffd according to an AP report. \ufffdBut a senior diplomat had told the AP that IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] head Mohamed ElBaradei likely planned to use the meeting with Gholam Reza Aghazadeh, the head of Iran's nuclear program, to renew a request for more information on allegations Tehran had tried to make atomic arms.\ufffd A number of signs indicate that, contrary to the belief President Bush is a lame duck who will not act before he leaves office, the U.S. is poised to strike before Iran can acquire nuclear weapons and carry out the threat of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to \ufffdwipe Israel off the map\ufffd: According to intelligence sources, the administration now rejects the National Intelligence Estimate report issued in December that asserted Iran had halted its nuclear weapons program in late 2003. The French daily Le Monde reported in March that newly surfaced documents show that Iran has continued developing nuclear weapons. In late 2006, U.S. intelligence reportedly intercepted a phone conversation in Iran\ufffds Defense Ministry in which the nuclear weapons program was discussed. The commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East, Admiral William Fallon, resigned in March amid media reports that he broke with President Bush\ufffds strategy on Iran and did not want to be in the chain of command when the order comes down from the President to launch a strike on the Islamic Republic. Democrats suggested he had been forced out because of his candor in opposing Bush\ufffds Iran plans, and Esquire magazine contended that Fallon\ufffds departure signaled that the U.S. is preparing to attack Iran. According to a Tehran-based Iranian news network, Press TV, Saudi Arabia is taking emergency steps in preparing to counter any \ufffdradioactive hazards\ufffd that may result from an American attack on Iran\ufffds nuclear facilities. The Saudi newspaper Okaz disclosed that the Saudi government has approved nuclear fallout preparations, and the Iranian network reported that the approval came a day after Cheney met with the kingdom\ufffds high-ranking officials, further stating that the U.S. \ufffdis now informing its Arab allies of a potential war.\ufffd The American commander in I"}, {"response": 275, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Apr 15, 2008 (18:19)", "body": "Contrary to some claims that the Bush administration will allow diplomacy to handle Iran\ufffds nuclear weapons program, a leading member of America\ufffds Jewish community tells Newsmax that a military strike is not only on the table \ufffd but likely. Same thing Seymour Hersh first reported in the New Yorker 2 (I think) years ago. I think there was a great deal of internal mutiny by the armed forces, and probably among others, that may have put it off then if it was so."}, {"response": 276, "author": "mari", "date": "Wed, Apr 16, 2008 (11:20)", "body": "Again, Karen Heller gets it right. I do agree with Obama that people are bitter; I know I am. WIP's snickers at Clinton underscore gender gap By Karen Heller Philadelphia Inquirer Columnist Oh, the guys were going at her. The other morning on sports radio, the station that calls grown women \"girls,\" they were talking about Hillary Clinton. Specifically, how she didn't turn them on and, graphically, how a certain body part flatlined in response. She's a United States senator. She's the first viable female presidential candidate. And the boys are talking about whether she's hot. As if they would find any 60-year-old woman hot. Or take a female politician seriously. When Don Imus slimed the Rutgers basketball team racially and sexually, he lost his job - well, for eight months. When WIP's morning team denigrates Clinton sexually, no one notices. Understandably, she didn't go on WIP's morning show, which Barack Obama has visited twice, resulting in the staff's major mancrush. Clinton spoke instead with afternoon jock Howard Eskin. Hillary Clinton is right. She's been bashed harder. And some members of the media have been merciless. Her figure has been ridiculed. Her clothing has been criticized for being too dark and serious - as if her male counterparts are partial to pastel frippery. Her voice is deemed too shrill. It can \"grate on some men when they listen to it,\" Chris Matthews once said, like \"fingernails on a blackboard.\" She's been charged with having no sense of humor, which is absurd. If she cries, she's too weak. If she attacks, she's a shrew. What's the male counterpart of shrew? Leader. Clinton has plenty of experience, as a family and children's advocate before becoming first lady and as a senator afterward. But people would rather discuss her hair than her health-care plan, which calls for universal coverage at a cost that is far less than her rival's proposal. It's also true that Barack Obama has been a better campaigner. He's a master orator. He's fresh, a break from the weight of the past. He didn't vote for the Iraq debacle. And his presence in the White House would send a vital message to countries that don't like America these days. They're both serious, qualified candidates. You can like one without maligning the other. Still, people speak about Clinton in a way they never would about Obama. When voters say \"not this woman,\" you have to wonder \"well, then, which one?\" Pennsylvania is dreadful when it comes to electing women. Allyson Schwartz is the lone woman of 19 representatives in Washington. Despite an electorate that is 57 percent female, according to Franklin & Marshall's G. Terry Madonna, the commonwealth hasn't come close to electing a woman senator or governor. \"When I arrived in the state senate in 1991, we doubled the number of women - to four,\" Schwartz said. Then, Pennsylvania ranked 46th in the nation in electing women to the legislature. Today, it's advanced all the way to 43d. There are nine female senators out of 50. Schwartz is none too happy with how Clinton has been treated. \"There's been this willingness to blow up her comments while discounting those made by her male counterparts,\" said Schwartz, a Clinton supporter. \"You hear people say her opponent is a brilliant lawyer who could have done anything. The same can be said for her. They keep pointing to his community service while discounting all her work for families and kids, which diminishes its importance.\" To paraphrase Obama's speech in Philadelphia, gender is an issue that this nation cannot afford to ignore right now. And if we walk away now, if we simply retreat into our respective corners, we will never be able to come together and solve challenges like health care, or education, or the need to find good jobs for every American. Again, I'm just paraphrasing, but it makes you think. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Contact staff writer Karen Heller at 215-854-2586 or kheller@phillynews.com. Post a comment on her blog, The Populist, at http://go.philly.com/populist ."}, {"response": 277, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Apr 16, 2008 (13:02)", "body": "Still, people speak about Clinton in a way they never would about Obama. When voters say \"not this woman,\" you have to wonder \"well, then, which one?\" Amen Despite an electorate that is 57 percent female These kind of numbers kill me. They really show how pathetic women are in supporting their own. Do they just like having men dictate to them ALL the time on ALL issues. Disgusting!!"}, {"response": 278, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Apr 16, 2008 (13:15)", "body": "Here's the url for the original article: http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/17799164.html I wanted to read the comments. Of course, it didn't surprise me to find one comment from a women, who \"considers herself\" to be a \"strong feminist\" who thinks HC has no qualifications. She's the won using the PA voter alias. Here's a good article about how they're finally focusing on gender. They have to. http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/04/08/clinton_women_0408.html"}, {"response": 279, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Apr 16, 2008 (13:50)", "body": "I don't understand it from women either. I get men tell me that they would never vote for a woman, and I remind them that their mother was a woman. I also get women tell me that they won't vote for her because they don't like Bill, and I remind them how unfair it would be if they were judged by the things their husbands did. Those super delegates must take into consideration the Hillary has carried the big democratic states, and some swing states. O has carried the traditional R states that will go to McCain in Nov. If the Dems are serious about taking the White House, they must back Hillary."}, {"response": 280, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Apr 16, 2008 (14:10)", "body": "(Moon) I remind them how unfair it would be if they were judged by the things their husbands did. And these are the women who ask their husbands' permission to do anything or spend anything? And they're probably the same ones who ask their husbands who they should vote for, right? But I do like your arguments, Moon. Must be a first. ;-) (Moon) Those super delegates must take into consideration the Hillary has carried the big democratic states I know. I just don't understand this \"step-aside\" mentality. She's won all the big (read: populated) states. No offense to anyone, but who cares who wins Wyoming. Not only doesn't it have hardly any human population, what it does have pretty much votes Republican anyway. Now, does that mean that Hillary would get those states in the general election vs a Republican white male? Who knows?"}, {"response": 281, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Apr 16, 2008 (15:24)", "body": "(Karen), Now, does that mean that Hillary would get those states in the general election vs a Republican white male? Who knows? Oh, but it would be a change, and maybe, just maybe, Hillary might get those females. But I do like your arguments, Moon. Must be a first. ;-) LOL! You relate to my feminist side? ;-) You won't believe this but one woman in Texas told me it was in the bible not to vote for a woman."}, {"response": 282, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Apr 16, 2008 (17:19)", "body": "\"Hey, Obama boys: Back off already!\" Young women are growing increasingly frustrated with the fanatical support of Barack and gleeful bashing of Hillary. By Rebecca Traister http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2008/04/14/obama_supporters/index.html I also followed the link and read Robin Morgan's endorsement of Hillary (which I hadn't read before) and saw a lot of truth there, too."}, {"response": 283, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Apr 16, 2008 (18:53)", "body": "When I read in the previous article about how the younger women don't see the need to vote for Hillary because they're sure (hah!) they'll see a woman president in their lifetimes, all I can say is selfish bitches!! What about all of us, who really suffered at the hands of a male-dominated workplace? From the Salon article: these cool young customers have embodied their elders' worst nightmare of a generation that takes feminism's victories for granted by throwing over Hillary Clinton for her challenger faster than you can say \"I've got a crush on Obama.\" These young women are way over feminism, we're told, and perceive gender bias to be an antiquated notion. Exactly. I've been railing against this idiotic mentality for years. These women are deluding themselves. [...] Bruch said. \"People talk about him as a secular messiah who will bring us political salvation. There's no sense of what is plausible.\" Or factual. Bruch points to healthcare as an area in which \"Hillary's policy is the more politically progressive one, but this has somehow been ignored, and Obama was projected upon as the progressive redeemer. It's a political fantasy.\" [...] Valenti continued, \"I pinpoint sexism for a living. You'd think I'd be able to find an example. And I hate to rely on this hokey notion that there's some woman's way of knowing, and that I just fucking know. But I do. I just know.\" When it comes to feminism, she continued, so much proof is required to convince someone that sexism exists, \"even when it's explicit and outrageous. So when it's subdued or subtle, you don't want to talk about it.\" \"When the election started, I felt very postfeminist,\" said Wiegand. \"I felt like, I'm a woman and I'd love to have a woman president, but I also have many other issues I care about and the Iraq war is a big one, and I'm not going to make my decision just because I'm a woman.\" But over the course of the campaign, Wiegand said, \"there has been a lot of anger toward Hillary that's felt really intense and misogynistic. The gloating after Iowa was something to behold. And it's made me realize we are still dealing with the gender issue. I don't think we know what to make of women in power, or make of Hillary. I don't think the world is as postfeminist as I was feeling that it was.\" Finally, someone who woke up. Unfortunately, it also says she's an Obama supporter. Pathetic. :-("}, {"response": 284, "author": "slpeg2003", "date": "Thu, Apr 17, 2008 (10:32)", "body": "(Moon) You won't believe this but one woman in Texas told me it was in the bible not to vote for a woman. Believe it? LOL I live in the big fat middle of it! Am forever 'rabble-rousing' my friends who feel guilty when they go away to visit children and grandchildren. Hubby doesn't want to go and makes her feel guilty for leaving him alone! Then there is the group in the area who believe that Eckhardt Tolle's New Earth is blasphemous and are burning up the internet telling everyone- I do wonder if any of them have actually read it. I have given up on trying to talk some sense into them. Might as well try to convince those women of the polygamy sect that 'oui' are not devil-people and that it is NOT proper to marry off 14 year olds to some elder with a sicko libido."}, {"response": 285, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Apr 17, 2008 (18:17)", "body": "Obama superdelegates find their 'sisterhood' questioned By LAURIE KELLMAN, Associated Press Writer 20 minutes ago WASHINGTON - Some female superdelegates backing Sen. Barack Obama are having their \"sisterhood\" questioned, just as some black Democrats have been challenged for their endorsement of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. No one has actually accused Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., of betraying her gender in supporting Obama over Clinton in the race for the party's nomination, but they've let her know they're disappointed. The reason some give: If Clinton does not win the White House this year, no woman will reach that goal in their lifetimes. Klobuchar gets it; her mother, 80, is one of these women. The senator's 12-year-old daughter, meanwhile, supports Obama. Mother's Day, when the three will next spend time together, could be a bit uncomfortable. \"Early on, I had a few people call and say, 'Please don't do this. We don't think it is a good idea for you.' They tended to be donors,\" Klobuchar recalled. \"No one actually yelled at me to my face.\" Superdelegates are members of Congress, elected officials and other party leaders who can back any candidate regardless of the vote in their state or district. For those voters who feel betrayed by their superdelegates, the question isn't so much why they endorsed one Democratic candidate, it's why they rejected the other. Sometimes, the query is coupled with a veiled threat: Don't take your own success for granted. \"There's no question that some of our members are very angry,\" said Ellen R. Malcolm, president and founder of the EMILY's List political action committee, which gives money to female candidates who favor abortion rights. \"They feel that they elect the women and they've gone to bat for the women and they want every single woman to go to bat for every woman candidate,\" she added. Asked whether Klobuchar and fellow freshman Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri, another Obama superdelegate, risk losing their seats over these endorsements, Malcolm said, \"We'll just have to wait and see.\" The issue is so sensitive some superdelegates are remaining neutral until a clear winner emerges. Rep. Carolyn Kilpatrick of Michigan, who is black and a woman, remains uncommitted. Sen. Barbara Boxer of California is avowedly neutral but intimately aware of the conflict. \"My family is divided,\" she said. Exacerbating the situation is the reality that a woman or a black man is poised to capture the party's nomination to an office that's been the province of white men for two centuries. Each candidate represents major constituencies in the party. In the absence of major differences in their policy positions, race and gender loyalty becomes a factor. Among black superdelegates, Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., asked Rep. Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri, a Clinton supporter, earlier this year: \"If it comes down to the last day and you're the only superdelegate ... do you want to go down in history as the one to prevent a black from winning the White House?\" A veteran of the 1960s civil rights struggles, Rep. John Lewis of Georgia, switched from Clinton to Obama in mid-race. Older women particularly feel that Clinton is their only hope of seeing a woman occupy the Oval Office, McCaskill said. One refused to talk with her during a Democratic fundraiser in early April, she said. And some feel simply that it's Clinton's turn, something she's owed. \"I don't know, really, where that comes from, the 'her turn' stuff,\" McCaskill, a former prosecutor and state auditor, said in a recent interview. \"I just don't think we can ever get into the trap of deciding elections based on who's 'turn' it is. \"Nobody ever considered it my turn,\" she added. \"I had to go out and fight for it.\" Former lawmaker Pat Schroeder said the media's focus on Clinton's difficulties \ufffd from the pitch of her laugh to Bill Clinton's affect on her candidacy \ufffd \"have become kind of female legend.\" \"There's a feeling, you know, of sisterhood,\" explains Schroeder, a Clinton supporter who flirted with a presidential bid in 1988. \"There's really a general consensus that (Clinton's) gotten the short end of the stick when it came to media, and you have women knowing all along that women have had a tough go in politics,\" Schroeder added. EMILY's List has spent nearly a quarter-century working to elect women who favor abortion rights to public office, and the majority of female House Democrats have endorsed Clinton. In the Senate, six of the female members have endorsed Clinton, two Obama and two are uncommitted. The group has helped the Obama supporters, too. But Clinton by far is the brightest name on its marquee. \"It is sort of a man bites dog story when the women senators or congresswomen support Senator Obama,\" said Malcolm. Klobuchar tried to explain. Starting on Feb. 5 when her state chose Obama over Clinton 2-to-1, she made perhaps dozens of telephone calls to supporters and Clinton herself, \"so no one would be surprised.\" \"There was no"}, {"response": 286, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Apr 17, 2008 (18:40)", "body": "The senator's 12-year-old daughter, meanwhile, supports Obama. Let's all take our cue from 12-year-olds. \"They feel that they elect the women and they've gone to bat for the women and they want every single woman to go to bat for every woman candidate,\" she added. Another annoying trait. Women are not noted for their loyalty to other women. The mentality is \"I made it on my own.\" As you can see with the following statement: \"Nobody ever considered it my turn,\" she added. \"I had to go out and fight for it.\" These women are stupidly than shit. Men play by these rules. They always have. They just don't get it and are playing into the Obama camp's hand. Fools!"}, {"response": 287, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Apr 18, 2008 (09:48)", "body": "Ongoing nomination fight hurting Clinton more than Obama http://news.yahoo.com/page/election-2008-political-pulse-obama-gains;_ylt=AoSbe9KvQ6psk8I5nhgeIxus0NUE"}, {"response": 288, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Apr 21, 2008 (16:46)", "body": "For the record, this weekend in a 12 hour period, my aunt got 3 candidate calls....2 Clinton, 1 Obama, all recorded."}, {"response": 289, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Apr 23, 2008 (14:12)", "body": "I almost thought this was a joke. Lynchings in Congo as penis theft panic hits capital By Joe Bavier Tue Apr 22, 1:24 PM ET KINSHASA (Reuters) - Police in Congo have arrested 13 suspected sorcerers accused of using black magic to steal or shrink men's penises after a wave of panic and attempted lynchings triggered by the alleged witchcraft. Reports of so-called penis snatching are not uncommon in West Africa, where belief in traditional religions and witchcraft remains widespread, and where ritual killings to obtain blood or body parts still occur. Rumours of penis theft began circulating last week in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo's sprawling capital of some 8 million inhabitants. They quickly dominated radio call-in shows, with listeners advised to beware of fellow passengers in communal taxis wearing gold rings. Purported victims, 14 of whom were also detained by police, claimed that sorcerers simply touched them to make their genitals shrink or disappear, in what some residents said was an attempt to extort cash with the promise of a cure. \"You just have to be accused of that, and people come after you. We've had a number of attempted lynchings. ... You see them covered in marks after being beaten,\" Kinshasa's police chief, Jean-Dieudonne Oleko, told Reuters on Tuesday. Police arrested the accused sorcerers and their victims in an effort to avoid the sort of bloodshed seen in Ghana a decade ago, when 12 suspected penis snatchers were beaten to death by angry mobs. The 27 men have since been released. \"I'm tempted to say it's one huge joke,\" Oleko said. \"But when you try to tell the victims that their penises are still there, they tell you that it's become tiny or that they've become impotent. To that I tell them, 'How do you know if you haven't gone home and tried it',\" he said. Some Kinshasa residents accuse a separatist sect from nearby Bas-Congo province of being behind the witchcraft in revenge for a recent government crackdown on its members. \"It's real. Just yesterday here, there was a man who was a victim. We saw. What was left was tiny,\" said 29-year-old Alain Kalala, who sells phone credits near a Kinshasa police station. (For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: http://africa.reuters.com/ ) (Editing by Nick Tattersall and Mary Gabriel) http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080422/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_congo_democratic_witchcraft;_ylt=AiHn8CDsbS9Z__8zueJcuxus0NUE"}, {"response": 290, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, May  2, 2008 (15:32)", "body": "Being true to my word, I'm bringing the political comments over here: By Kathryn Jean Lopez But what about the president? Why should he perform for the press? I cringed Saturday night, far beyond his Dick Cheney peephole sex joke. Even while he conducted the Marine band I had this nagging feeling he was the butt of a joke to a majority of the room, viewing the president of the United States as a goofball. A goofball is mild. He's been the butt of jokes for nearly 8 painful years. Does this woman not turn on late night television? The president said: \ufffdI love the mixed crowds here.\ufffd I prefer mixed crowds on the Hill, when they actually get something worthwhile done. Like put the economy into the crapper? (my next post) (There were moments Saturday night I worried they weren\ufffdt laughing with him but at him, taking joy in the press-mandated abasement of the president.) Op. cit."}, {"response": 291, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, May  2, 2008 (15:39)", "body": "Just picked one of the articles from this topic, which has been rankling me. What about the skyrocketing food costs here? Bush calls for approval of $770 million in food aid WASHINGTON (AP) \ufffd President Bush called on Congress Thursday to approve $770 million to help alleviate dramatically escalating food prices that threaten widespread hunger and increasing social unrest around the world. In a surprise mid-afternoon appearance at the White House, Bush announced he is asking lawmakers to approve the additional funds for global food aid and development programs. The money is being included in a broader $70 billion Iraq war funding measure for 2009 that the White House sent to Capitol Hill on Thursday. \"In some of the world's poorest nations, rising prices can mean the difference between getting a daily meal and going without food,\" Bush said. \"The American people are generous people and they're a compassionate people. We believe in the timeless truth `to whom much is given, much is expected.'\" The new money comes on top of $200 million Bush ordered released two weeks ago for emergency food aid. Even so, Bush called it \"just the beginning\" of the U.S. effort to help. He said the United States would spend a total of $5 billion this year and next on food aid and related programs. \"America's in the lead, we'll stay in the lead and we expect others to participate along with us,\" he said. The new funds are aimed at meeting immediate needs with direct shipments of food aid, and the White House said the amount would allow for millions more people to get help, But the funds also have long-term aims, boosting U.S. programs to help farmers in developing countries increase productivity and making cash payments to purchase local crops, so communities are less in need of emergency help in the first place. The issue has become more urgent recently because of food shortages and rising prices that, combined with high gas costs and rising home foreclosures, are putting a huge squeeze on families at home and abroad. What has been termed the first global food crisis since World War II has resulted in cries for help from United Nations officials and raised questions about how Bush will respond. Some have blamed the food crisis in part on Bush-backed policies that push food-based biofuels such as ethanol as alternative energy sources. Bush says diverting corn and soybeans into fuel is still a smart approach, though he favors increasing funding for research into eventually using waste byproducts of those commodities rather than the edible portion. The United States is the world's largest provider of food aid, delivering more than $2.1 billion to 78 developing countries last year."}, {"response": 292, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, May  2, 2008 (19:32)", "body": "Even while he conducted the Marine band I had this nagging feeling he was the butt of a joke to a majority of the room, viewing the president of the United States as a goofball. (Karen) A goofball is mild. He's been the butt of jokes for nearly 8 painful years. Does this woman not turn on late night television? I thought she was trying to be ironically understated....er, something. I prefer mixed crowds on the Hill, when they actually get something worthwhile done. (Karen) Like put the economy into the crapper? (my next post) I chuckled thinking she was being sarcastic, or ironic....er, something...again. \"In some of the world's poorest nations, rising prices can mean the difference between getting a daily meal and going without food,\" Bush said. \"The American people are generous people and they're a compassionate people. We believe in the timeless truth `to whom much is given, much is expected.'\" I do love this....trying to guilt Congress (and the American people) into supporting his war funding by throwing in some \"compassion\" for starving people...and not in his own country, as Karen points out, in with this bill. And the one thing that's gotten my goat over the past week, and is yet another in a series of things that has seriously given me pause over Hillary, is her support for that absurd proposal from McCain to give a gas tax moratorium for the summer. I mean if she's going to jump onto a bandwagon on that ridiculousness, I have to seriously, *seriously* question her judgement."}, {"response": 293, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sat, May  3, 2008 (17:26)", "body": "Thanks for the articles, Dorine and Karen. I LOL at the penis one. Isn't Obama's uncle from Congo? ;-) My call to IN this week were balanced. I didn't know there were so many hicks in IN, really! At this point, we must go with the popular vote and allow FL and Mich, Hillary's got those. I'll be at HQ for a final push on Monday. It would be so great if she took IN and NC."}, {"response": 294, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, May 20, 2008 (14:54)", "body": "Sad news re: Sen, Edward Kennedy and his diagnosis of a malignant brain tumor."}, {"response": 295, "author": "sandyw", "date": "Thu, May 22, 2008 (03:36)", "body": "Donkey jailed in Mexico for biting, kicking people THE ASSOCIATED PRESS TUXTLA GUTIERREZ, Mexico - A donkey is doing time in southern Mexico for assault and battery. Police say the animal was locked up at a local jail that normally holds people for public drunkenness and other disturbances after it bit and kicked two men near a ranch in Chiapas state. Officer Sinar Gomez says the donkey will remain behind bars until its owner agrees to pay the men's medical bills. http://www.mytelus.com/ncp_news/article.en.do?pn=oddities&articleID=2924009 ********************************************************************* Considering there have been at least 4 murders of Canadian tourists in Mexico that remain unsolved, it's reassuring to know that the local police are not entirely inept. ;-)"}, {"response": 296, "author": "Moon", "date": "Fri, May 23, 2008 (13:25)", "body": "If you want the democrats to win in Nov. I urge everyone to call their local senators and super delegates and tell them to support Hillary Clinton. It is amazing the type of pressure the O people are putting on them. This makes it so obvious who the candidate to win is...the one who relatively easily wins electoral college: Clinton map: http://www.electoral-vote.com/evp2008/Clinton/Maps/May23.html Obama map: http://www.electoral-vote.com/evp2008/Obama/Maps/May23.html Good article from Philadelphia Inquirer: In most inclusive count, Clinton has the numbers Lost in the excitement of Barack Obama's coronation this week was an inconvenient fact of Tuesday's results: Hillary Clinton netted approximately 150,000 votes and is now poised to finish the primary season as the popular-vote leader. In some quaint circles, presumably, these things still matter. Real Clear Politics keeps track of six versions of the popular-vote total. They are, in ascending order of inclusivity: (1) the popular vote of sanctioned contests; (2) the total of sanctioned contests, plus estimated votes from the Iowa, Nevada, Maine and Washington caucuses; (3) the popular vote plus Florida; (4) popular vote plus Florida and the caucuses; (5) the popular vote plus Florida and Michigan; (6) popular vote plus Florida, Michigan, and the caucus estimates. After Tuesday, Clinton now leads in two of these six counts. If you believe that the most important precept in democratic politics is to \"count every vote,\" then the sixth category is the most inclusive, and here Clinton leads Obama by 71,301 votes. Of course, this includes the Michigan result, where Sen. Obama had removed his name from the ballot. So while it may be the most inclusive, it may not be the most fair. The third and fourth counts - the ones which include Florida - seem more fair. Here, Obama is clinging to a slight lead of 146,786 votes (257,008, with the caucus estimates). However, with Puerto Rico, Montana, and South Dakota remaining, he will almost certainly finish behind her in these counts, likely by a few hundred thousand votes. But could Clinton take over the lead in all of the popular-vote tabulations? Quite possibly. In Puerto Rico's last major election, two million people voted. Let's assume that turnout for this historic vote - Puerto Rico has never had a presidential primary before - will be equal to or greater than that turnout. If Clinton were to win Puerto Rico by 20 points she would pick up at least a 400,000-vote margin. This would allow her to swamp Obama in the popular-vote counts, which include Florida, making her the leader in four of the six permutations of the popular vote. At that point, Obama would be left clinging to the least-inclusive count, which he now leads by 441,558 votes (551,780, including caucuses). To understand how razor-thin this majority is, consider that if the Puerto Rico turnout is slightly larger than we have imagined - or Clinton's margin is slightly greater - then Clinton would finish the primary process leading in every conceivable vote count. With two million voters, a 28 percent victory would put Clinton over the top even in the count, which excludes Florida and Michigan and includes estimates for Obama's caucus victories. It is this looming prospect which explains the tremendous pressure Obama partisans and the media are putting on Clinton to drop out of the race. They want her gone now because they understand that she has an excellent chance of finishing as the undisputed people's choice. Would it matter if Clinton were the undisputed (or even disputed) popular-vote winner? That's hard to say. The question is, matter to whom? The superdelegates will determine the nominee and there's no telling what will sway them. They have no objective criteria from which to make their decisions. But if they were to deny the popular-vote champ the nomination, there is a real question of whether Democratic voters would reconcile themselves to the decision. As it is, much of the talk about Democratic defections in November has been overstated. Partisan voters almost always come home after their candidate loses. The problem arises when a candidate's supporters believe that their guy (or gal) didn't lose. Expect the chorus calling for Clinton's withdrawal to grow louder over the next week, with people insisting that she has no \"path to victory.\" Clinton's path is both obvious and simple: Win the popular vote and force Barack Obama and his cheerleaders to explain why that doesn't matter. E-mail Jonathan Last at jlast@phillynews.com."}, {"response": 297, "author": "Moon", "date": "Fri, May 23, 2008 (18:30)", "body": "From a British correspondant, a validating article: http://www.newstatesman.com/north-america/2008/05/obama-clinton-vote-usa-media"}, {"response": 298, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, May 26, 2008 (22:13)", "body": "LOL, Sandy. Priorities. ;-) I think it's in Mexico that some police officials and officers have been killed as well. Thanks, Moon. I still have to get to the British article you posted. And in the You Can't Write This dept: Pilots run out of fuel, pray, land near Jesus sign Wed May 21, 7:50 PM ET WELLINGTON, New Zealand - It seemed like an almost literal answer to their prayers. When two New Zealand pilots ran out of fuel in a microlight airplane they offered prayers and were able to make an emergency landing in a field \ufffd coming to rest right next to a sign reading, \"Jesus is Lord.\" Grant Stubbs and Owen Wilson, both from the town of Blenheim on the country's South Island, were flying up the sloping valley of Pelorus Sound when the engine spluttered, coughed and died. \"My friend and I are both Christians so our immediate reaction in a life-threatening situation was to ask for God's help,\" Stubbs told The Associated Press on Wednesday. He said he prayed during the ill-fated flight Sunday that the tiny craft would get over the top of a ridge and that they would find a landing site that was not too steep \ufffd or in the nearby sea. Wilson said that the pair would have been in deep trouble if the fuel had run out five minutes earlier. \"If it had to run out, that was the place to be,\" he said. \"There was an instantaneous answer to prayer as we crossed the ridge and there was an airfield \ufffd I didn't know it existed till then.\" After Wilson glided the powerless craft to a landing on the grassy strip, the pair noticed they were beside a 20-foot-tall sign that read, \"Jesus is Lord \ufffd The Bible.\" \"When we saw that, we started laughing,\" Stubbs said. Nearby residents provided them with gas to fly the home-built plane back to base."}, {"response": 299, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, May 26, 2008 (22:16)", "body": "Found this story around the time Sandy posted her animal story and thought this was a nice companion piece, then forgot to post it. I had a cockatiel I tried to teach to talk, but she never really did. And truthfully, I didn't try real hard. Lost parrot tells veterinarian his address Thu May 22, 11:36 AM ET TOKYO - When Yosuke the parrot flew out of his cage and got lost, he did exactly what he had been taught \ufffd recite his name and address to a stranger willing to help. Police rescued the African grey parrot two weeks ago from a neighbor's roof in the city of Nagareyama, near Tokyo. After spending a night at the station, he was transferred to a nearby veterinary hospital while police searched for clues, local policeman Shinjiro Uemura said. He kept mum with the cops, but began chatting after a few days with the vet. \"I'm Mr. Yosuke Nakamura,\" the bird told the veterinarian, according to Uemura. The parrot also provided his full home address, down to the street number, and even entertained the hospital staff by singing songs. \"We checked the address, and what do you know, a Nakamura family really lived there. So we told them we've found Yosuke,\" Uemura said. The Nakamura family told police they had been teaching the bird its name and address for about two years. But Yosuke apparently wasn't keen on opening up to police officials. \"I tried to be friendly and talked to him, but he completely ignored me,\" Uemura said."}, {"response": 300, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, May 29, 2008 (16:21)", "body": "Anti-Hillary Message Says 'Women Go Home' Run Date: 05/27/08 By Caryl Rivers WeNews commentator http://www.womensenews.org/article.cfm?aid=3614 Hillary Clinton's strong presidential bid has broken barriers. But Caryl Rivers cautions that a retro cloud is also following her campaign. College admissions, court rulings, congressional votes, media narratives are all telling women to stay home. -The presidential campaign of Sen. Hillary Clinton has some disturbing messages for uppity women in the United States. The reality that a woman is so close to the top political post in the country--perhaps even the world--has stirred up old ideas about the danger of female power and about woman's proper place in society. The backlash is sending a retro cloud across a number of fronts. I'd been hearing from female friends--some of whom do not support Hillary--that the backlash surprised them. Apparently, they missed the Wall Street Journal story on April 9 by Jonathan Kaufman and Carol Hymowitz, who wrote about the slurs and inflammatory language that many women encountered when the topic of the campaign came up at work, and which they thought had been banished from public discourse. \"Some women worry that regardless of how the election turns out,\" they wrote, \"the resistance to Senator Clinton may embolden some men to resist women's efforts to share power with them in business, politics and elsewhere.\" If Hillary were male, and had garnered so many votes, no one would be calling for a pullout. Worrying Signs Are we heading into a new era of resistance to female gains? There are worrying signs to suggest that the answer is yes. They are not only found in the dust of Hillary's campaign trail, but also in the college admission practices, votes in Congress, Supreme Court decisions. Elite schools are quietly instituting affirmative action policies for white men, so top-scoring women may not be getting into their colleges of choice. U.S. News and World Report, using undergraduate admissions rate data collected from more than 1,400 four-year colleges and universities that participate in the magazine's rankings, found last year that over the previous 10 years many schools are maintaining their gender balance by admitting more men with lower scores than women. \"The fat acceptance envelope is simply more elusive for today's accomplished young women,\" Jennifer Delahunty, the dean of admissions at Kenyon College, wrote in a New York Times op-ed last year. Most disturbing, Delahunty told Time magazine, \"was the reaction of young women. By and large they just assumed this is just how things work. Why aren't they marching in the streets? It isn't fair and women should be saying something about it not being fair.\" What's the Message? What message are girls--and boys--being given? That men and boys will always be allowed to step ahead of women, no matter how accomplished the latter? The U.S. Congress could not even summon enough votes in April for a bill that would allow a woman to sue for sex discrimination at the time she discovered it was happening. Pressures, meanwhile, are intensifying for women to work longer and longer hours as family-friendly policies stall. An ongoing media narrative says that women in good jobs are deserting the workplace because of a traditional pull toward home and family. In a time when affirmative action programs for blacks and other minorities are under attack--limited by the Supreme Court and challenged by new activist groups--special privileges for white males are on the rise. Parents are seeing their high-scoring, talented girls losing out to less able boys, and this comes not just from a few isolated anecdotes. At the same time, the political powers-that-be are sending out a message that discrimination against women in the workplace is no big deal. When an Alabama woman sued Goodyear because she had been paid less than men doing the same work for two decades, the Supreme Court (just after the departure of Sandra Day O'Connor) ruled that she had waited too long to sue. The court said she should have brought her case within six months after her first unequal paycheck--that is, 20 years before she discovered it. You'd think the Congress, which pays lip service to equal pay for equal work, would come racing to remedy this injustice. What happened? The House countered the high court ruling by passing a bill that would permit lawsuits by victims of discrimination when they discover discrimination, not when the discrimination occurred. But it couldn't make it through the Senate. George Bush threatened to veto such a bill if it passed, and John McCain said he opposed it. Media Embraces a Narrative Meanwhile, a media narrative persists that the best and the brightest women are simply going home. They are \"opting out\" and becoming more traditional, feeling the pull of kids, hearth and home, their \"natural\" place. Signs hoisted by hecklers at Clinton rallies --\"Stop running for president and make me a sandwich,\" \""}, {"response": 301, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, May 29, 2008 (16:30)", "body": "In Britain, Rape Cases Seldom Result in a Conviction By Mary Jordan Washington Post Foreign Service Thursday, May 29, 2008; Page A01 LONDON -- After Linda Davies reported to police that her 15-year-old daughter had been raped, it took three months -- plus two dozen phone calls and a threat of legal action -- before police questioned the suspect, a 28-year-old neighbor. \"I gave police his name, address, mobile phone number, car registration -- everything but his passport,\" said Davies, 44, a strong-minded mother of two daughters. \"I was basically begging them. He lived five minutes away from us.\" The suspect was finally arrested but acquitted at a trial in which the judge told the jury that he was \"in a way a man of good character\" because his previous criminal convictions, for possession of stolen goods and marijuana, did not involve violence. Davies was furious at the judge, who also instructed the jurors to ignore the victim's young age, and at police, who lost cellphone records that contradicted the defendant's account. \"This has shattered us,\" Davies said. \"We felt like the whole system was against us.\" Davies said she was stunned to learn that her daughter's case was the rule, not the exception. According to government statistics, only 5.7 percent of rapes officially recorded by police in England and Wales end in a conviction. \"What are they saying?\" Davies asked. \"That 95 percent of women that come forward are telling lies?\" In Britain, a nation whose justice system has been used as a model around the globe, government officials and women's rights activists agree that rape goes largely unpunished. Solicitor General Vera Baird, who oversees criminal prosecutions in England, estimated that 10 to 20 percent of rapes are brought to authorities' attention. According to government figures, 14,000 cases a year are reported and 19 out of 20 defendants walk free. \"There will never be proper female equality and appropriate dignity afforded to one-half of the population if it's possible to rape somebody and get away with it,\" said Baird, one of the highest-ranking women in the British government. Thousands of victims each year once chose not to go to police because of shame, women's advocates say. Now, the advocates say, the bigger reason is that rape victims feel the system is stacked against them. A 2005 report commissioned by the police found a \"culture of skepticism\" in the justice system when it came to rape cases, and recommended shifting the focus from seeking reasons not to believe the accuser to gathering evidence to support the charge. Lisa Longstaff, spokeswoman for the London-based group Women Against Rape, said rape cases are \"not a priority\" for busy police and prosecutors and, as a result, \"so few rapists get locked up that those who do feel unlucky rather than guilty.\" This Story In Britain, Rape Cases Seldom Result in a Conviction Women Criticize Britain's Low Rape Conviction Rate Even some cases that do end in a guilty verdict stir outrage. Last year, a judge sentenced a 24-year-old man to two years in prison for having sex with a 10-year-old after concluding that the girl had \"dressed provocatively.\" Patricia Scotland, England's first female attorney general since the job was created in the 15th century, appealed that sentence. It was increased to four years. Longstaff and others said that despite advances toward equality, sex crimes run up against a persistent societal bias -- pronounced in the male-dominated police and judicial system -- that women have only themselves to blame. Julie Bindel, a feminist activist and writer, said there has been a huge cultural shift since the 1950s and 1960s toward acceptance that unmarried women can have casual sex. But, she said, \"women are allowed that bit more freedom as long as men behave. When men choose not to, it comes right back at women: 'What did you do to stop him? What was it about you that he chose you to rape?' \" A Claim of Mixed Signals In a TV ad paid for by the police of Manchester, England, that began airing this month, a young man and woman are enjoying a pleasant evening, at first. But after they drink alcohol, dance and kiss, the man leads the woman out of the nightclub, yanks her pants down and forces her to have sex against a wall as she cries, \"No. No. . . . Get off of me.\" In the ad, the man is locked up. In real life, according to dozens of interviews with victims and experts, this is exactly the kind of case that ends in an acquittal, if it goes to court at all. Acquittals are often won on the \"mucky sex\" defense -- that the man got mixed signals from the woman and what resulted really wasn't rape. Danielle West, 30, who reported to police that she was raped after a boozy office Christmas party in December 2006, said police seemed uninterested in her case once she said she had been drinking heavily. West, an American who manages a team of Web analysts in London, turned visibly upset as she recounted her story in a quiet corner of a"}, {"response": 302, "author": "Moon", "date": "Fri, May 30, 2008 (16:44)", "body": "This is just about a perfect editorial. And it ends by saying: The race is a long shot but it is not over! May 30, 2008 http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080530/VOICES01/805300306/1161/CUSTOMER06 Editorial: Clinton is top candidate for Dems Editorial Board Argus Leader For the first time in memory, every state will play a role in choosing a nominee for the nation's highest office. Some of those parts are small, but not ours: as one of the last two primary elections, South Dakota Democrats suddenly and improbably find themselves in a starring role. That's an unlikely turn of events, as our state has improbably become a battleground in the long, hard race between two Senators seeking a spot at the top of the Democratic ticket: Barack Obama of Illinois and Hillary Clinton of New York. The process feels similar at times, but the goal of a primary election is different from the race voters will decide in November. Our endorsement also is different. We will judge the candidates in this fall's general election when that time comes. Obama could certainly become one of those candidates in the days ahead - at the time of this writing, his mathematical advantage is considerable. His appeal also is clear, and his campaign has been strong. But Clinton is the strongest Democratic candidate for South Dakota. Her mastery of complex policy detail is broad and deep, and her experience as a senator and former first lady matches that. Measured against her opponent, Clinton is philosophically more moderate. That is likely a good thing for South Dakota. Clinton's energy policy is forward thinking and wise. She advocates a broad federal research initiative to help solve our looming oil crisis. It's a plan that would join university researchers, private industry and individual inventors behind a common goal. Is ethanol part of the answer? Clinton believes it is but not necessarily corn ethanol. That is not precisely the answer South Dakota wants to hear. Corn-based ethanol has been a boon for farmers here. But the simple fact is that she probably is correct. Advances in cellulosic ethanol technologies could render corn ethanol obsolete and wasteful. Happily, South Dakota is poised to be a major player in the push to experiment with other kinds of ethanol. Clinton has demonstrated a real commitment to Native American issues and will have visited several South Dakota reservations before the race is over. Clinton is precisely correct when she says that people outside the region have a poor understanding of the troubling trends on our reservations. Federal attention could help. That includes but is not limited to higher-ranking posts in the federal bureaucracy. Her truly universal health care plan would be welcomed by thousands of South Dakotans. Even on reservations, where health care is nominally universal already, such a plan would be welcome. The federal government would never be allowed to subject everyday Americans to the kind of care Native Americans living on reservations routinely receive. Obama is justifiably credited as a powerful speaker, but Clinton holds her own easily. As those who have attended her South Dakota rallies can attest, she is quick on her feet and energetic. She frames her ideas clearly in speeches and answers questions with genuine directness. Her resilience and determination never should be questioned. She has met or overcome every challenge or roadblock in her way, and there have been many. Her determination to carry the nomination process through to its real conclusion has perhaps earned her a grudging respect from those who would never support her. Clinton might not win this race. In fact, it's a long shot. But whatever some might say, the race is not over, and her name is on the ballot. Win or lose, she's also the best Democratic candidate for South Dakota."}, {"response": 303, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jun  7, 2008 (08:34)", "body": "LOL!! Mari, did you see this in your Philly paper? http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080606/ap_on_hi_te/philadelphia_newspapers_fake_ads;_ylt=AhobvdJ7UqQpkRLWhkwyv.lk24cA"}, {"response": 304, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sun, Jun  8, 2008 (14:24)", "body": "I attended Hillary's event yesterday in DC, it was great to see Bill and Chelsea too. Needless to say she suspended her campaign, she did NOT concede. Karen, there is a huge investigation going on in Chicago on BO. Keep the faith ladies, this ain't over, till Denver. Right now, she's doing what she needs to do. In the words of the honorable Ms. Maya Angelou: \"This is not the first time you have seen Hillary Clinton seemingly at her wits' end, but she has always risen, always risen, don't forget she has always risen, much to the dismay of her adversaries and the delight of her friends........ .....Don't give up on Hillary. In fact, if you help her to rise, you will rise with her and help her make this country the wonderful, wonderful place where every man and every woman can live freely without sanctimonious piety and without crippling fear. Rise, Hillary, Rise. Clinton's lead is from 34.5 million voters (97%) in Primaries. Obama's lead is from 1.1 million voters (3%) in caucuses. This is pretty alarming: http://www.talkleft.com/story/2008/6/2/12307/61275"}, {"response": 305, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Jun 10, 2008 (17:46)", "body": "A Letter from Rosa Park's Granddaughter, Carole A. Parks, Chicago IL. My main regret is that Hillary probably felt compelled to congratulate Barack on the victory he has won, as opposed to the honor he was granted. Other than that, despite the circumstances, I felt buoyed by the speech. I was glad she reminded people of the number and wide diversity of her supporters, the issues she'll continue fighting for, the precedents to these historical campaigns, the bias she ran into, and that of the last 10 presidential elections Bill won two of the three Democratic victories. Most of all, I was glad she left the door open. We made tremendous progress during the under a Democratic president, with a flourishing economy and our leadership for peace and security respected around the world. Just think how much more progress we could have made over the past 40 years if we'd had a Democratic president. Think about the lost opportunities of these past seven years on the environment and the economy, on health care and civil rights, on education, foreign policy and the Supreme Court. Hillary compared the party to a family unified around shared ideals, values and destination which would mean I must identify with a leadership who facilitate favoritism, foul play and public savaging of its own members. Who reward Republicanesque chicanery and marketing over democratic principles and substance. Who would rather protect their own territory than elect a president who could help us all. Hillary also urged us not to dwell on what might have been which is exactly what we must do in the person of Howard Dean. The man is incompetent, a saboteur or both. Retaining him spits in the face of over half those who voted in the primaries. It erodes confidence the DNC will reflect our standards. It conveys contempt for us on the part of the candidate we are called upon to support. It suggests winning the White House is not a DNC priority. Unity is a two-way street. So far, I have seen nothing to indicate the Hillary camp counts any more than it has all along. Replacing Dean with someone amenable to Hillary would be a start. Perhaps I'll see other evidence at the convention. Until then I cannot in good conscience get in the spirit Hillary urged. Others have made it too hollow. She will be blamed for that anyway, no matter what she does, so I might as well remain faithful to the vision that has sustained me so far: Hillary Clinton in the White House."}, {"response": 306, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Jun 10, 2008 (20:17)", "body": "For all the info you may need: http://www.justsaynodeal.com/"}, {"response": 307, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Jun 11, 2008 (12:33)", "body": "BTW, the letter is from Rosa Parks God daughter, my typo."}, {"response": 308, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Jun 12, 2008 (17:48)", "body": "LOL, too many rumors: http://news.aol.com/elections/story/_a/obama-launches-site-to-debunk-rumors/20080612154409990001?icid=100214839x1203913544x1200156562 Read the comments to this article: http://news.aol.com/political-machine/2008/06/12/camille-paglia-s-dirty-talk-about-clinton/"}, {"response": 309, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jun 12, 2008 (22:31)", "body": "Good God, it's like the witch hunts of the Clinton's all over again."}, {"response": 310, "author": "Moon", "date": "Fri, Jun 13, 2008 (12:07)", "body": "I know, Dorine. I did not know so many people hated them. :-( How about O moving the DNC offices to Chicago? And how unbiased is a website you start and control to debunk rumors that might hurt you? LOL! He really wants to take over the world. Judicial Watch Announces List of Washington's \"Ten Most Wanted\" Corrupt Politicians for 2007: 8. Senator BARACK OBAMA (D-IL): A Dishonorable Mention last year, Senator Obama moves onto the \"ten most wanted\" list in 2007. In 2006, it was discovered that Obama was involved in a suspicious real estate deal with an indicted political fundraiser, Antoin Rezko. In 2007, more reports surfaced of deeper and suspicious business and political connections. It was reported that just two months after he joined the Senate, Obama purchased $50,000 worth of stock in speculative companies whose major investors were his biggest campaign contributors. One of the companies was a biotech concern that benefited from legislation Obama pushed just two weeks after the senator purchased $5,000 of the company's shares. Obama was also nabbed conducting campaign business in his Senate office, a VIOLATION OF FEDERAL LAW. http://www.judicialwatch.org/judicial-watch-announces-list-washington-s-ten-most-wanted-corrup"}, {"response": 311, "author": "mari", "date": "Fri, Jun 13, 2008 (15:50)", "body": "I don't blame him for the de-bunking website. John Kerry was waaaaaay too slow to fight back against the smears leveled at him, and they dogged his campaign. Just heard that Tim Russert died. He was a terrific jouralist and a good guy. Only 58."}, {"response": 312, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Jun 13, 2008 (15:58)", "body": "indicted political fundraiser, Antoin Rezko He was just convicted. Rezko bought the lot next door to Obama's mansion at a highly inflated price compared to what Obama paid. It is widely known here that Rezko's purchase included most of the FMV of Obama's. BTW, I just saw that R Kelly was acquited. WTF!!"}, {"response": 313, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jun 13, 2008 (16:01)", "body": "(Moon) I did not know so many people hated them. :-( Not sure if that was clear....the witch hunt is onto Barack and Michelle as it was with the Clinton's when they were in office. I thought it was pretty smart to have that website actually. Judicial Watch took their 10 Most Wanted down. Was curious who else they put on it and why. I'd assume Abramoff might've been in one of the top 2 or 3 spots."}, {"response": 314, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jun 13, 2008 (16:02)", "body": "OH! I missed that R. Kelly verdict. Just wow. That's F'd."}, {"response": 315, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Jun 13, 2008 (16:37)", "body": "No kidding! You have someone testify that she was in a threesome with him and the minor girl and that doesn't seem to be enough? Will have to see what the local news has to say."}, {"response": 316, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jun 13, 2008 (19:16)", "body": "I'm beginning to think the jury system might need some tweaking, but then again, I wasn't too impressed by the judge-only proceedings with our Sean Bell/cops shooting unarmed men case either. Ok, well not just beginning. Those thoughts really started with O.J."}, {"response": 317, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jun 13, 2008 (19:19)", "body": "(me) the witch hunt is onto Barack and Michelle And John McCain is his own worst enemy."}, {"response": 318, "author": "Moon", "date": "Fri, Jun 13, 2008 (23:36)", "body": "Surprised at R Kelly? It's good to be black."}, {"response": 319, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jun 14, 2008 (11:58)", "body": "This is a very long article, so I just posted the first few paragraphs... Media Charged With Sexism in Clinton Coverage By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE and JULIE BOSMAN Published: June 13, 2008 Angered by what they consider sexist news coverage of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton\ufffds bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, many women and erstwhile Clinton supporters are proposing boycotts of the cable networks, putting up videos on a \ufffdMedia Hall of Shame,\ufffd starting a national conversation about sexism and pushing Mrs. Clinton\ufffds rival, Senator Barack Obama, to address the matter. But many in the news media \ufffd with a few exceptions, including Katie Couric, the anchor of the \ufffdCBS Evening News\ufffd \ufffd see little need for reconsidering their coverage or changing their approach going forward. Rather, they say, as the Clinton campaign fell behind, it exploited a few glaring examples of sexist coverage to whip up a backlash and to try to create momentum for Mrs. Clinton. Phil Griffin, senior vice president of NBC News and the executive in charge of MSNBC, a particular target of criticism, said that although a few mistakes had been made, that they had been corrected quickly and that the network\ufffds overall coverage was fair. \ufffdI get it, that in this 24-hour media world, you\ufffdve got to be on your game and there\ufffds very little room for mistakes,\ufffd Mr. Griffin said. \ufffdBut the Clinton campaign saw an opportunity to use it for their advantage. They were trying to rally a certain demographic, and women were behind it.\ufffd His views were echoed by other news media figures. \ufffdShe got some tough coverage at times, but she brought that on herself, whether it was the Bosnian snipers or not conceding on the night of the final primaries,\ufffd said Rem Rieder, editor of American Journalism Review. \ufffdShe had a long track record in public life as a serious person and a tough politician, and she was covered that way.\ufffd Nicholas Lemann, dean of the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University, said: \ufffdI have not had a lot of regretful conversations with high-ranking media types and political reporters about how unfair their coverage of the Hillary Clinton campaign was.\ufffd Among journalists, he added, the coverage \ufffddoes not register as a mistake that must not be allowed to happen again.\ufffd [....] http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/13/us/politics/13women.html?em&ex=1213588800&en=9908612b6e0dd0b2&ei=5087%0A"}, {"response": 320, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jun 14, 2008 (17:56)", "body": "Well, who'd a thunk this would happen? ;-) Am biting my virtual tongue. FRIDAY, June 13, 2008, 3:08 p.m. By Craig Gilbert Clinton delegate to vote for McCain As an avid supporter of Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Democratic primaries, Debra Bartoshevich is not alone in her frustration over Clinton's defeat. She's not alone in refusing to support Barack Obama. And she's not entirely alone in saying she'll vote this fall for Republican John McCain instead. But what makes her unusual is that she holds these views as an elected delegate to the Democratic National Convention in Denver this summer. \"I'm sure people are going to be upset with me. I don't want to lose my national delegate status,\" says Bartoshevich, a 41-year-old emergency room nurse who is a convention delegate, pledged to Clinton, from Waterford in Racine County. Joe Wineke, the chairman of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, reacted with disbelief when first told Friday afternoon that one of his state party delegates is now a McCain supporter. \"Not a delegate? To the national convention?\" asked Wineke, who was getting ready for the start of the state party convention Friday in Stevens Point. \"We have a Clinton national (convention) delegate who says she's voting for John McCain?\" Wineke repeated, for clarification. \"I've never heard of such a thing.\" Wineke said \"almost everybody I know who was for Hillary\" is solidly behind Obama now. As for Bartoshevich, he said, \"my suspicion is she doesn't know what she's getting into\" because \"the delegates to this convention will be very upset.\" Asked if publicly supporting the other party's presidential nominee could affect a delegate's convention status, Wineke said, \"I never thought I'd ever get a question like this.\" After some preliminary checking, the state party chair said he assumed she would remain a delegate. The McCain campaign said that, nationally, it was not aware at this point of any other delegates to the Democratic convention (it may know of an alternate, it said) who have come out for the Republican candidate. In an interview, Bartoshevich expressed lingering unhappiness over the Democratic nominating process, said Clinton was treated unfairly by the party, and said she has deep reservations about Obama's lack of experience and his judgment. \"I'm kind of disenfranchised,\" she said. She said she planned to vote for Clinton at the convention, but in an Obama-McCain match-up in November, \"I will not be voting for Obama. I will cast my vote for John McCain. Said Bartoshevich: \"I just feel you need to have somebody who has experience with foreign matters.\" She said a series of controversial Obama \"associations,\" including but not limited to the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and Chicago developer Tony Rezko, reflected poorly on his judgment. And she echoed the complaints of many of Clinton's most ardent supporters that Clinton was treated unfairly in the nominating process and by the party. \"No self-respecting woman should wish or work for the success of a party that ignores her - that's by Susan B. Anthony,\" said Bartoshevich, referring to the famous suffragist. Bartoshevich called herself a \"devoted Democrat\" who, she said, had never voted for a Republican for president. \"I'm on a lot of the (pro-Clinton) blogs, and so many people, male and female, feel the same way as I do,\" said Bartoshevich, who was listed as a Racine County co-chair for the Clinton campaign and who traveled outside Wisconsin to volunteer for Clinton. \"The Democrats jumped on this wagon of Barack Obama and nobody really knows him.\" Hoping to tap into discontent among Clinton supporters, the McCain campaign is reaching out to them in a variety of ways, including a telephone \"town hall\" meeting Saturday targeted to non-Republican voters. Encouraged by her sister, who has served in Iraq, Bartoshevich signed up as a supporter with \"Citizens for McCain,\" an arm of the campaign targeting Democrats and independents. She said she then got a call from the McCain campaign, which in turn provided her name to a reporter. Polls suggest that Democrats are largely rallying around Obama after a divisive nominating fight, a phenomenon that has occurred in past intra-party fights, say scholars. But it remains to be seen whether Obama is hurt in the fall by any softness among from Clinton's core constituencies, especially white women, and older and lower-income whites. Clinton has not formally \"released\" her pledged delegates, and it would not be unusual, given recent history, for most of them to cast their votes for Clinton at the convention. But she has urged her delegates to help Obama defeat McCain. Professor Byron Shafer, a University of Wisconsin-Madison scholar who is an expert on conventions, said it's the fact that Bartoshevich is a convention delegate, subject to the partisan tendencies and pressures common to party activists, that makes her public support for McCain so unusual. \"The competitive partisan dynamic is usually strong enough that "}, {"response": 321, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Jun 14, 2008 (21:22)", "body": "His views were echoed by other news media figures. \ufffdShe got some tough coverage at times, but she brought that on herself, whether it was the Bosnian snipers or not conceding on the night of the final primaries,\ufffd said Rem Rieder, editor of American Journalism Review. Am horrified! Is that not the \"she asked for\" line used in rape allegations?"}, {"response": 322, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sun, Jun 15, 2008 (16:50)", "body": "I agree, Karen! I am a Clinton Delegate from VA and will not be voting for O. I attended our Natrional Democratic Convention in VA and was disgusted by all the O love. I have not sen any reaching to Hillary voters. At the Convention I met a Nat'l Delegate who has received multiple death threats. She's a Univ. prof. at GW in DC. This is going to Denver. Lots is supposed to come out on O soon. He's horrid. Here's another one: http://www.politickermd.com/kevinagnese/2566/boergers-won-t-commit-voting-obama-november-says-clinton-s-name-must-be-put-nominat"}, {"response": 323, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sun, Jun 15, 2008 (21:50)", "body": "Let's start getting the truth out: June 13, 2008 Surrogates of Senator Hillary Clinton suggested last month that her Democratic rival faced a possible doomsday scenario before the general election, calling it an \"October Surprise\". Naturally, everyone assumed she herself would be instigating Armageddon, and not in October but May. That assumption, however, turned out to be off base. Paula Revere (as Clinton sometimes refers to herself) was more likely dropping a hint, praying there was someone left in the national press corps who could recognize an undressed emperor when he saw one. After all, there was that fraud trial going on in Chicago. Is the U.S. Attorney's office now sitting on a felony indictment against Obama, just waiting for him to lock up the nomination? And what about the two Iraqi agents associated with Tony Rezko? How did those reconstruction funds wind up in the presidential candidate's campaign coffers? And does he really prefer to bank with pimps, as the Chicago Tribune suggested in an article, one that for some inexplicable reason was not picked up by NBC News? While the answers to these intriguing questions may be getting short shrift from the media, you can bet Republican opposition researchers are already versed in the particulars. Moreover, if the G.O.P. is setting a trap, then maybe elected Democratic officials (a.k.a. superdelegates) should be boning up on the Chicago underworld, not lining up at the Bank of Obama ATM machine. For one thing, it's not necessarily written in stone that the presumptive G.O.P. nominee will get voted in at the convention next September. Anyone who assumes McCain is the guy to beat really doesn't appreciate Karl Rove's ability to turn a presidential election on its head. Remember, America's favorite dirty trickster is still out on the lam, probably whistling the old Grateful Dead tune Friend of the Devil as he forages around the Fox News Channel studios each weekday afternoon. In short, there are plenty of good reasons to fret about the future. Surprises, then and now... The term October Surprise dates back to 1980, the year President Jimmy Carter ran for re-election against Ronald Reagan and the first George Bush. By most accounts, he lost as a result of the Iranian Hostage Crisis, and many suspected the Reagan campaign intervened in international affairs to set that ordeal into motion. In fact, many of the names, events and places from yesteryear seem to be popping up again today. Carter, Bush, the spike in oil prices, transitioning Middle East government, a U.S. presidential election... And just like 1980, this year's election cycle began with the assassination of a Bhutto. The daughter of Pakistan's first prime minister was gunned down on December 27, 2007. In 1979, Benazir's father was hanged after a military coup. At the time of the first execution, the CIA was busy in Pakistan outfitting Osama bin Laden and his Islamic jihad to fight the Soviets in Afghanistan. However, most Americans were focussed on Iran in those days. The U.S. backed Shah Reza Pahlavi was overthrown in 1979 after a popular uprising, and in the aftermath, an ayatollah named Khomeini flew in from Paris and tried to take advantage of the situation. Shortly after that, President Carter got a call from Henry Kissinger, asking him to let the deposed shah into the United States for cancer treatment. The embassy staff in Tehran warned Carter that it was no time to play Make a Wish, but Carter did let him in anyway. The Iranians reacted with angry demonstrations (believing the U.S. intended to reinstall Pahlavi) and a group of students stormed the embassy, taking 52 Americans hostage. Although the Pentagon disputes it, two former embassy captives insist that the country's current civilian president, Ahmadinejad, was in charge of that operation. Like a perfectly synchronized Swiss clock, 444 days later and about 20 minutes after Reagan delivered his inaugural speech, the hostages were released. By then, Khomeini and his \"supreme council\" of fellow mullahs had rammed through an Islamic constitution and began purging the country of all those moderate, secular folks responsible for overthrowing the shah in the first place. (Remnants of that group, known as the MEK-NCRI, are holed up in Europe and even maintain a base in Iraq, although the United States and the U.K. bombed them in 2003.) At any rate, Reagan's campaign manager William Casey started selling missiles to the Islamic dictatorship as soon as he was appointed CIA director. In Washington, people wondered. Did the Reagan campaign cut a deal with Khomeini to make sure he wouldn't free the hostages before the November election - hence Carter's October Surprise? Congress held hearings on the subject. Chaired by Indiana Democrat Lee Hamilton, the House committee eventually ruled there was no conspiracy. (Twenty years later, this same congressman would be tapped by President Bush to co-chair the bipartisan 9/11 Commission.) Now fast forwar"}, {"response": 324, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sun, Jun 15, 2008 (21:57)", "body": "While personally, I'm more concerned about his current spiritual leaders, the reality is that this will be yet another thing about Obama that freaks people out. Republicans are sure to focus on this and again, it's not all the things individually, it's the big picture that includes all these things. Yet another indicator of why we need Senator Clinton as our nominee as Obama will have a very hard time winning this election. Subject: Malik Obama confirms his half-brother Barack grew up a Muslim http://web.israelinsider.com/Articles/Politics/12918.htm"}, {"response": 325, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sun, Jun 15, 2008 (22:11)", "body": "I received this email, which might be of interest to many: Million Woman March CALL TO ACTION! We are organizing a Million Women March in Denver to support Senator Clinton and Women's Rights worldwide, with concurrent actions in every state at the same time as the Denver action, and we need everyone's help to make this a reality! Right now, we are in the process of getting Denver permits, and putting State Organizers on the ground in EVERY state. Please visit our webpage for information http://www.millionwomenmarch.blogspot.com or email us directly and get into the movement at risehillaryrise@gmail.com. Please join us in making this a HUGE success... the only thing that can stop us now is ourselves-- if people don't step up and take action to make this a reality!!"}, {"response": 326, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Jun 16, 2008 (13:36)", "body": "More mobster mentality... http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/2008/06/obama-wont-like.html This is very sweet: http://clintondems.com/2008/06/enough/"}, {"response": 327, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Jun 17, 2008 (13:34)", "body": "http://www.spectator.co.uk/melaniephillips/771896/princess-obama-derangement-syndrome.thtml For what it's worth, I'm not a conspiracy buff in general, but even I am disturbed about Obama's many ties to criminals, former terrorists and groups like NOI. I can't imagine either Hillary or John McCain getting away with any of it for even a second."}, {"response": 328, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Jun 17, 2008 (13:49)", "body": "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmikfM4TqAM It's all explained, what a betrayal by the DNC."}, {"response": 329, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Jun 18, 2008 (15:43)", "body": "Not sure if anyone watched the Al Gore endorsement the other night. I couldn't bring myself to it. Lou Dobbs was talking about the fact that Obama's supporters booed when Jennifer Granholm mentioned Hillary's name. Dobbs was talking about how unbelievable it was that people booed and that unity seems so far away at this point. He was talking about the divisive nature of Obama picking Solis-Doyle to be the VP candidate's chief of staff...thus effectively taking any control away from the new VP and putting it into the hands of Solis-Doyle. Lou Dobbs felt that this was a clear cut at HRC and that it was BHO's way of letting HRC know where she stood. Dobbs was really appalled at the lack of concern BHO has for HRC's supporters. I was thinking, \"Amen\". New video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9vHcZLVLSU"}, {"response": 330, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jun 19, 2008 (17:18)", "body": "Interesting analysis. Obama could win vote, lose election Harry Siegel Wed Jun 18, 9:35 PM ET Until 2000, it hadn\ufffdt happened in more than 100 years, but plugged-in observers from both parties see a distinct possibility of Barack Obama winning the popular vote but losing the Electoral College \ufffd and with it the presidency \ufffd to John McCain. ADVERTISEMENT Here\ufffds the scenario: Obama racks up huge margins among the increasingly affluent, highly educated and liberal coastal states, while a significant increase in turnout among black voters allows him to compete \ufffd but not to win \ufffd in the South. Meanwhile, McCain wins solidly Republican states such as Texas and Georgia by significantly smaller margins than Bush\ufffds in 2004 and ekes out narrow victories in places such as North Carolina, which Bush won by 12 points but Rasmussen presently shows as a tossup, and Indiana, which Bush won by 21 points but McCain presently leads by just 11. One possible result: Even as the national mood moves left, the 2004 map largely holds. Obama\ufffds 32 new electoral votes from Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado and Virginia are offset by 21 new electoral votes for McCain in Michigan and New Hampshire \ufffd and despite a 2- or 3-point popular vote victory for Obama, America wakes up on Jan. 20 to a President McCain. According to Tad Devine, who served as the chief political consultant for Al Gore in 2000 and as a senior adviser to John F. Kerry in 2004, \ufffdit certainly is a possibility. Not a likelihood, but it is a real possibility.\ufffd Some observers, such as Joseph Mercurio, a political consultant and pollster who worked on Sen. Joe Biden\ufffds Democratic primary bid, see this as unlikely given the dramatic increase in Democratic Party enrollment and President Bush\ufffds near record-low approval rating. Also skeptical is Nate Silver, a political cult-favorite blogger whose statistical model \ufffd which factors in population change since electoral votes were last allocated in the 2000 census \ufffd shows McCain as more likely than Obama to lose the Electoral College while winning the popular vote. But others, pointing to the competitiveness of the past two elections, predict that this will be another such tight race. If they\ufffdre proven correct, this would be the fourth in the past five elections, making for the most closely contested run of presidential contests since those spanning the popular vote-Electoral College splits of 1876 and 1888. Hank Sheinkopf, president of Sheinkopf Communications and an adviser to Bill Clinton in 1996, warns that such a split \ufffdis anything but impossible.\ufffd While he gives Obama a slight edge in the general election \ufffdbecause he doesn\ufffdt have George Bush riding with him,\ufffd he predicts that \ufffdObama\ufffds going to get big votes for a Democrat in the Southern states but not enough to win any new electoral votes. So it\ufffds a distinct possibility that he could lose the entire South, split the Midwest\ufffd and end up not as president but rather as the second coming of Al Gore. When asked the odds of this playing out, he offers \ufffd50-50.\ufffd Devine points out that Bush\ufffds strategy in 2004 \ufffdwas predicated on massive base turnout\ufffd that pushed up margins in safe states. He doesn\ufffdt \ufffdexpect the McCain campaign to be directed the same way \ufffd using issues like gay marriage on the ballot to get the base to the polls \ufffd so McCain won\ufffdt have the same forces at play to drive out the popular vote.\ufffd Recalling the impact of Ralph Nader\ufffds third-party run in 2000, Devine also wonders if Bob Barr\ufffds Libertarian run might play out differently, costing McCain popular \ufffd but not electoral \ufffd votes, while producing another popular-electoral split. Lloyd M. Green, who served as research counsel to George Bush in 1988, also rates Obama a slight favorite and predicts that, if the Democrat does win, he\ufffdll do so with \ufffdeven larger margins in New York and California than in the last several elections [in 2004, Kerry won the two states by a combined margin of a little more than 2.5 million votes], and yet with all that margin run-up in safe states, this will end up a tight general election.\ufffd In a sentiment also expressed by Sheinkopf and Green, Devine sees little chance of this happening if Obama wins the popular vote by more than 4 points. \ufffdBut if he gets it by 2 or 3 points, it is plausible,\" he said. \"Absolutely.\ufffd Green, who sees \ufffdabout a 20 percent chance\ufffd of Obama winning the popular vote while losing the Electoral College, doesn\ufffdt expect anything resembling a blowout: \ufffdGiven that the only clear and clean majorities [since 1992] were in 1996 and 2004, ... this election will have the ferocity of all recent elections.\ufffd It\ufffds a tough trend to buck, he argued, noting that \ufffdAmericans traditionally change their religious affiliations more often than their party affiliations.\ufffd www.politico.com http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20080619/pl_politico/11182;_ylt=AkYgTRf924H6IV97LDcHViWs0NUE"}, {"response": 331, "author": "Moon", "date": "Fri, Jun 20, 2008 (23:45)", "body": "NY Times Op-Ed Columnist The Two Obamas By DAVID BROOKS Published: June 20, 2008 God, Republicans are saps. They think that they\ufffdre running against some academic liberal who wouldn\ufffdt wear flag pins on his lapel, whose wife isn\ufffdt proud of America and who went to some liberationist church where the pastor damned his own country. They think they\ufffdre running against some na\ufffdve university-town dreamer, the second coming of Adlai Stevenson. But as recent weeks have made clear, Barack Obama is the most split-personality politician in the country today. On the one hand, there is Dr. Barack, the high-minded, Niebuhr-quoting speechifier who spent this past winter thrilling the Scarlett Johansson set and feeling the fierce urgency of now. But then on the other side, there\ufffds Fast Eddie Obama, the promise-breaking, tough-minded Chicago pol who\ufffdd throw you under the truck for votes. This guy is the whole Chicago package: an idealistic, lakefront liberal fronting a sharp-elbowed machine operator. He\ufffds the only politician of our lifetime who is underestimated because he\ufffds too intelligent. He speaks so calmly and polysyllabically that people fail to appreciate the Machiavellian ambition inside. But he\ufffds been giving us an education, for anybody who cares to pay attention. Just try to imagine Mister Rogers playing the agent Ari in \ufffdEntourage\ufffd and it all falls into place. Back when he was in the Illinois State Senate, Dr. Barack could have taken positions on politically uncomfortable issues. But Fast Eddie Obama voted \ufffdpresent\ufffd nearly 130 times. From time to time, he threw his voting power under the truck. Dr. Barack said he could no more disown the Rev. Jeremiah Wright than disown his own grandmother. Then the political costs of Rev. Wright escalated and Fast Eddie Obama threw Wright under the truck. Dr. Barack could have been a workhorse senator. But primary candidates don\ufffdt do tough votes, so Fast Eddie Obama threw the workhorse duties under the truck. Dr. Barack could have changed the way presidential campaigning works. John McCain offered to have a series of extended town-hall meetings around the country. But favored candidates don\ufffdt go in for unscripted free-range conversations. Fast Eddie Obama threw the new-politics mantra under the truck. And then on Thursday, Fast Eddie Obama had his finest hour. Barack Obama has worked on political reform more than any other issue. He aspires to be to political reform what Bono is to fighting disease in Africa. He\ufffds spent much of his career talking about how much he believes in public financing. In January 2007, he told Larry King that the public-financing system works. In February 2007, he challenged Republicans to limit their spending and vowed to do so along with them if he were the nominee. In February 2008, he said he would aggressively pursue spending limits. He answered a Midwest Democracy Network questionnaire by reminding everyone that he has been a longtime advocate of the public-financing system. But Thursday, at the first breath of political inconvenience, Fast Eddie Obama threw public financing under the truck. In so doing, he probably dealt a death-blow to the cause of campaign-finance reform. And the only thing that changed between Thursday and when he lauded the system is that Obama\ufffds got more money now. And Fast Eddie Obama didn\ufffdt just sell out the primary cause of his life. He did it with style. He did it with a video so risibly insincere that somewhere down in the shadow world, Lee Atwater is gaping and applauding. Obama blamed the (so far marginal) Republican 527s. He claimed that private donations are really public financing. He made a cut-throat political calculation seem like Mother Teresa\ufffds final steps to sainthood. The media and the activists won\ufffdt care (they were only interested in campaign-finance reform only when the Republicans had more money). Meanwhile, Obama\ufffds money is forever. He\ufffds got an army of small donors and a phalanx of big money bundlers, including, according to The Washington Post, Kenneth Griffin of the Citadel Investment Group; Kirk Wager, a Florida trial lawyer; James Crown, a director of General Dynamics; and Neil Bluhm, a hotel, office and casino developer. I have to admit, I\ufffdm ambivalent watching all this. On the one hand, Obama did sell out the primary cause of his professional life, all for a tiny political advantage. If he\ufffdll sell that out, what won\ufffdt he sell out? On the other hand, global affairs ain\ufffdt beanbag. If we\ufffdre going to have a president who is going to go toe to toe with the likes of Vladimir Putin, maybe it is better that he should have a ruthlessly opportunist Fast Eddie Obama lurking inside. All I know for sure is that this guy is no liberal goo-goo. Republicans keep calling him na\ufffdve. But na\ufffdve is the last word I\ufffdd use to describe Barack Obama. He\ufffds the most effectively political creature we\ufffdve seen in decades. Even Bill Clinton wasn\ufffdt smart enough to succeed in politics by pretending to renounce politics."}, {"response": 332, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jun 21, 2008 (12:30)", "body": "Fine, but all of this makes McCain a better choice....how?"}, {"response": 333, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sat, Jun 21, 2008 (23:40)", "body": "I cringe of the thought of McCain as the better choice, but he is, IMO. It's the devil you know. I don't trust Obama. He's a crook from Chicago who has caught a free ride from the media. Looking back at this primary and seeing the treatment women have received from the DNC and Obama because they chose to ignore the media outrage at Hillary Clinton and her female supporters, has been an eye opener, and I will not forget in Nov. Obama was selected not elected. McCain is a moderate Republican, he reaches out to Democrats and they know it. He has helped pass more Democratic resolutions in Congress than any other Republican. He is also reaching out to Hillary voters, something Obama has taken for granted, he expects Hillary to deliver them on a silver platter, won't he be surprised when we don't fall in line. Please take a look at this and tell me how you feel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-IrhRSwF9U&feature=related"}, {"response": 334, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Jun 22, 2008 (01:30)", "body": "I'll check out the YouTube later. (Moon) McCain is a moderate Republican, he reaches out to Democrats and they know it. He has helped pass more Democratic resolutions in Congress than any other Republican. He is also reaching out to Hillary voters So he's reaching out and expecting support from the people he seems not to support when it come the issues I'd presume is in their self-interest? And frankly, with the Democrats apparently a bunch of spineless do-almost-nothings, I'd thank McCain very much not to help them out. While I really know little of Obama's position on some issues, I do know that in some things he and Hillary were ideologically joined at the hip for the most part. I'll assume that one of the reasons people supported Hillary was because she is a woman and it's assumed she would've watched our backs on issues important and pertaining specifically to us (women as a whole, not here per se). I've read much recently of McCain having an abominable voting record on women's issues. I've excerpted from just one place I've run across items about it. I'd check out the actual article at the link to get access to links to original articles/posts about some of the issues the writer brings up (including the NARAL website page about McCain and an item about Lily Ledbetter. If you don't know who she is or what her case was, I'd click on her name in blue to find out. I was appalled when the ruling came out). Of course if one is pro-life and pro-abstinence education, etc., I guess McCain's for you. Also, Karen, check out the last line before the comments. ;-) http://firedoglake.com/2008/06/09/mccain-is-wooing-the-wimmins/ John McCain has received a ZERO rating on women's issues every single year from NARAL from 2001 to 2007. A zero. He's against emergency contraception and funding for teen pregnancy prevention programs. He thinks Roe should be overturned. He voted against having health insurers cover birth control. And, as Joe Conason points out, he's not exactly Mr. Candor, including about sex education and contraception use to prevent the spread of AIDS. A reporter followed up by inquiring whether McCain supports sex education that candidly discusses contraception and preventing the spread of AIDS and other disease, or whether he backs President Bush's abstinence-only education program. After a long pause, he said, \"I think I support the president's policy.\" Does he believe that contraceptives help stop the spread of HIV? After another long pause, he replied, \"You've stumped me.\" The words blithering, pandering moh-ron leap to mind here. Equal pay? McCain opposed it, saying Congress shouldn't pass any laws that hold corporations accountable for screwing their female employees. Hell, he didn't even bother to show up for the last vote on this issue. I guess Lily Ledbetter had it coming, eh, Maverick? I've got news for you, pal: it's going to take a helluva lot more than \"education and training\" to make it okay to keep paying women less than men for doing the same damn job. And I'll make my own decisions about what's best for my body with my own doctor, thank you. But if McCain gets elected? Kiss your independent choices goodbye, ladies: He has repeatedly voted to deny low-income women access to abortion care except in cases of rape, incest, or danger to the mother's life (although McCain is now wavering on trying to put these exceptions into the party platform).... What's more, McCain has made it very clear that if he becomes president he will appoint judges in the Scalia, Roberts, Alito mold. His big make it clear that, if given the chance, he'd replace 88-year-old Justice John Paul Stevens with an anti-choice Justice who would tip the scales against Roe v Wade. Throw in an additional anti-choice replacement for the 75-year-old Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and you can kiss the right to choose good-bye for a long, long time."}, {"response": 335, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Jun 22, 2008 (15:57)", "body": "Another on McCain on women's issues I just ran across reading something else. Be sure to read the rest. Feminists for McCain? Not So Much By Katha Pollitt June 19, 2008 This article appeared in the July 7, 2008 edition of The Nation Are there feminist Hillary supporters who hate Obama so much they'll vote for McCain just to show the Democratic Party how ticked off they are? Yes, and I get e-mails from all five of them. Seriously, I'm sure there are female Hillary Clinton voters who will go for John McCain in the general election, but I don't think too many of them will be feminists. Because to vote for McCain, a feminist would have to be insane. Let me rephrase that: she would have to believe that the chief--indeed the only--goal of the women's movement is to elect Clinton, not to promote women's rights. A vote for McCain would be the ultimate face-spiting nose-cutoff. Take that, women's equality! [.....cont'd] http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080707/pollitt"}, {"response": 336, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sun, Jun 22, 2008 (21:16)", "body": "NARAL no longer means anything to me since they endorced O early. Another slap in the face to women, IMO. The men who have ruled in the Congress and the Senate have not passed the \"Equal Rights Amendment\" to me that comes before Roe vs Wade. Also, if McCain wins he will only be in office for 4 years, he will have a hard time passing anything with the Democrats in the majority. Hillary 2012! And, at least McCain has some voting record instead of Mr.Obama \"present\" voting record even Edwards brought that up in a debate. Also, McCain's family is directly affected by his decisions about the war in Iraq, considering that he's the only person in the Senate with a child serving in Iraq, I'd be inclined to say that he has an even greater vested interest in bringing the troops home safely. From Politico: The board viewed Obama\ufffds backtrack on public financing \ufffdas an important issue and also as a test of whether he would put principles he said were important to him above political calculation. And he didn\ufffdt. That tells us something. It doesn\ufffdt tell us everything.\ufffd The Washington Post opined that Obama\ufffds \ufffdeffort to cloak his broken promise in the smug mantle of selfless dedication to the public good is a little hard to take.\ufffd The New York Times\ufffd editorial board, which endorsed Clinton after allegedly leaning toward Obama, wrote that \ufffdObama has come up short\ufffd of \ufffdhis evocative vows to depart from self-interested politics.\ufffd And USA Today, which also did not endorse any candidates, said Obama put \ufffdexpediency over principle,\ufffd was \ufffddisingenuous about his reasons for opting out of public financing\ufffd and proved he\ufffds not a \ufffdreal reformer.\ufffd http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20080621/pl_politico/11242;_ylt=AmV0dacU62VuXcs0b5ZPzeXCw5R4 The pompous ass has even created his own seal, LOL! Have you heard of PUMA: Party Unity My Ass"}, {"response": 337, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Jun 22, 2008 (22:22)", "body": "Also, if McCain wins he will only be in office for 4 years, , he will have a hard time passing anything with the Democrats in the majority. Pfft!!! LOL!!! Like Bush has had a hard time getting anything passed the past 2 years with a Democratic majority led by our good Democratic friends Pelosi and Reid? Ha!! Tell me another one! And that's what I thought about Bush. I mean really, who thought this guy would get another 4 years (to our detriment)? Who thought he'd get there in the first place?! Having a Democratic Congress now isn't doing us any favors at the moment. They might as well be R's for as effective they've been for what a majority was elected for. Also, McCain's family is directly affected by his decisions about the war in Iraq, considering that he's the only person in the Senate with a child serving in Iraq, I'd be inclined to say that he has an even greater vested interest in bringing the troops home safely. Moon, where have you been?! McCain said he could see keeping troops in for 100 years! Those people will likely never stop fighting us. As well they shouldn't as we shouldn't be there in the first place, though of course, I want no more of either side to be killed. http://thinkprogress.org/2008/01/04/mccain-100-years/ http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/02/14/mccain.king/ http://www.google.com/search?q=mccain+100+years+iraq&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a And your own Sen. Webb's son was a Marine in Iraq. Remember the dinner where he was snarky to Bush when asked about his son? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Webb Terse exchange with President Bush On November 28, 2006, at a White House reception for those newly elected to Congress, Webb declined to stand in the line to have his picture taken with the president, whom Webb often criticized during the campaign. The president approached Webb later and asked him, \"How's your boy?\", referring to Webb's son, a Marine serving in Iraq. According to Congressman Jim Moran of Virginia, aides warned the President to be \"extra sensitive about talking to Webb about his son, since Webb's son had had a recent brush with death in Iraq.\"[28] Webb replied \"I'd like to get them out of Iraq, Mr. President.\" Bush responded, \"That's not what I asked you. How's your boy?\" Webb responded, \"That's between me and my boy, Mr. President.\""}, {"response": 338, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Jun 22, 2008 (22:41)", "body": "And, at least McCain has some voting record instead of Mr.Obama \"present\" voting record A crappy one for women's issues, but yes, some voting record. I'm not fond of Obama's lack of experience either to some degree. But longer serving doesn't always mean better. Yes, I read similar pieces to that Yahoo article you posted. And BTW, not only did Hillary vote for the (war) resolution, as opposed to Obama, and not apologize for it as Edwards did (I'll give her credit for sticking to her principles I suppose) , she hasn't been in a rush to get out troops and the problem is we're stuck there now in a quandry of our own making and no one can get them out without dire consequences IMO."}, {"response": 339, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Jun 22, 2008 (22:48)", "body": "I'd like to see what our wonderful Democratic Congressional majority is going to do about issues such as this: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/251/story/41753.html"}, {"response": 340, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Jun 22, 2008 (23:02)", "body": "And one more thing, I am *not at all happy* at Obama regarding his statement of support a couple of days ago on the FISA compromise. Not sure where Clinton stands on this. Those f'ng cowardly Dems. Those people need to grow some..."}, {"response": 341, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jun 23, 2008 (10:06)", "body": "And the campaign (against Obama) begins in earnest. First Obama attack book in the works By JONATHAN MARTIN | 6/23/08 12:25 AM EST The same publisher that distributed the 2004 best-seller that took aim at John Kerry\ufffds Vietnam service is planning a summer release of what\ufffds scheduled to be the first critical book on Barack Obama. [...con'td] http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0608/11263.html"}, {"response": 342, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Jun 23, 2008 (11:09)", "body": "You know, Obama has had a free ride from criticism from the press. He will finally have a chance to put his \"squash rumors\" website to work. (Dorine), Like Bush has had a hard time getting anything passed the past 2 years with a Democratic majority led by our good Democratic friends Pelosi and Reid? Maybe we should work to make sure Pelosi is no longer the house majority leader? ;-) Hillary vote for the (war) resolution, Her husband had been President, and she knew that if Bill had presented something to the Congress like Bush did then, that there was a good reason for the belief of the existence of WoMD in Iraq. Hindsight is golden. Don't get me wrong, I think Bush was the worst thing that could have happened in this country. I worked hard in FL for Kerry/Edwards in the last election. But Obama is someone I don't trust."}, {"response": 343, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jun 23, 2008 (12:14)", "body": "Her husband had been President, and she knew that if Bill had presented something to the Congress like Bush did then, that there was a good reason for the belief of the existence of WoMD in Iraq. That's not a good enough answer. Plenty of people voted no. And with less information than she was probably privvy to. Wasn't she on the Senate Intelligence Committee? You can't tell me those people didn't know the truth behind the scenes. That's a gossipy town/culture. Some Dems didn't want to be perceived as soft on terror. It's been a fabulous boogeyman the R's have used to make the D's vote against their (and our) interests time and again. I don't know that I consider McCain the lesser of 2 evils. I guess I don't care what drugs O took or his sexual proclivities at this point in time, though severe character flaws could be an issue. Not sure what my breaking point would be."}, {"response": 344, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Jun 23, 2008 (13:36)", "body": "LOL, Dorine, I have till Nov. to break you. ;-)"}, {"response": 345, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jun 23, 2008 (14:13)", "body": "LOL, Moon. Maybe we should work to make sure Pelosi is no longer the house majority leader? ;-) That may not be a bad option."}, {"response": 346, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Jun 23, 2008 (19:44)", "body": "http://www.18millionvoices.blogspot.com/ The Purpose of this site is to organize actions in Denver and Nationwide during the Democratic National Convention to support Senator Clinton, celebrate her historic achievement, and advocate for Women's Rights worldwide. Senator Clinton's historic achievement--being the first viable Woman Presidential Candidate--is a milestone for Women's Rights that will be an enduring part of the legacy of Women's Rights forever. As Women's Rights are Human Rights, Senator Clinton's legacy moves us all forward in a path toward human equality. We are 18 million voices dedicated to seeing Senator Clinton reach the next milestone: The White House. We are 18 million distinct and unique voices, coming together in one unified harmony, shouting \"Rise Hillary Rise!!\""}, {"response": 347, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Jun 23, 2008 (20:22)", "body": "An excellent site from Dr. Lynette Long Why the DNC supported OBAMA: HTTP://WWW.LYNETTELONG.COM"}, {"response": 348, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Jun 23, 2008 (20:42)", "body": "I like the Lynnette Long website and her rationale. She really pointed out the hypocrisy. I mean, by what logic do you award Obama any Michigan delegats when he wasn't on the ballot? How do you give him the \"undecided\"? Then are you speaking out of both sides of your mouth and when you say the superdelegates should vote along the lines of the popular vote in their states (even though they were not created for that purpose), and then you have Kerry and Kennedy stating their support of Obama, while Mass went for Hillary? I particular like this part; I stand here to say, I am a token in the greatest country the world has even seen. I hereby declare, I WILL BE A TOKEN NO MORE. I am given one token seat on the nine member United States Supreme Court. I want to see five women on the court, my fair share. Not one less. I have sixteen seats in the one hundred seat United States Senate. I want fifty-two women in the Senate. Not one less. I have seventy-two seats in the four-hundred thirty-five seat House of Representatives. I want two-hundred twenty seats in the House. Not one less. I want my fair share. I do not want what is yours. I want what is mine. This is my pledge to you. I WILL BE A TOKEN NO MORE."}, {"response": 349, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Jun 23, 2008 (21:22)", "body": "Glad you liked it, Karen. How about West VA going 60/40 for Hillary and Sen. Bird coming out for Obama? Ugh! In her site you can also see part of the Sinclair interview. Lynette was at the press conference in DC. How I wish the mainstream media investigated it as they should."}, {"response": 350, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jun 24, 2008 (01:28)", "body": "I didn't agree with that Michigan delegate bit either. A definite WTF? moment. And I did find that a bit suspicious. The half delegate stuff was rather ridiculous also. Honestly, I don't understand the concept of punishing states who want to move their primary date. I've not read a lot about that policy and most likely won't for quite a while."}, {"response": 351, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Jun 24, 2008 (14:31)", "body": "But in Denver there will be a fight to seat every Delegate for FL and MI the way it should. Keeping fingers crossed that everything will turn out as it should. In typical Obama fashion, he bails on his new brilliant idea after one use because people respond negatively to it. The seal is arrogant. The fact that Obama is bailing on it only shows that he is the same old politics...says what people want to hear and that's it. Check out the comments after the article. Despite the fact that HRC isn't in this any more, the comments are still full of people trashing her. It's classic. Unity, hmm... They are making this easier and easier on us. http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/06/23/obama%E2%80%99s-presidential-seal-gone-after-one-use/"}, {"response": 352, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Jun 25, 2008 (22:27)", "body": "This is pretty scary considering that the media is going out of their way to not just protect Obama, but correct him before others see what he's said: http://politicallydrunk.blogspot.com/2008/06/abc-news-washington-post-reports-alter.html Interesting: http://politicalcenter.newsvine.com/_news/2008/06/17/1519881-obamas-unprecedented-attack-on-free-speech-mechanisms-and-results-supplemented"}, {"response": 353, "author": "cfadm", "date": "Mon, Jun 30, 2008 (10:42)", "body": "Hey moon. Hilary and Obama have kissed and made up? Now, who will Obama pick for a running mate. Hillary almost seems inevitable in some ways as the running mate?"}, {"response": 354, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jun 30, 2008 (21:14)", "body": "Not that anyone will read this now especially with all the excitement going on, but we have surplus people. Should the government euthanize them too? It would help stabilize the price and supply of corn since demand would decrease. Government considering euthanizing wild horses By SANDRA CHEREB and SCOTT SONNER, Associated Press Writer 47 minutes ago RENO, Nev. - Federal officials are considering euthanizing wild horses to deal with the growing population on the range and in holding facilities, authorities said Monday. Wild horses have overpopulated public lands and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management can't afford to care for the number of mustangs that have been rounded up, said Henri Bisson, the agency's deputy director. Also, fewer people are adopting the horses, he said. Monday's announcement marks the first time the agency publicly has discussed the possibility of putting surplus animals to death. The agency is also considering whether to stop roundups of wild horses to save money, a move that would be criticized by and from sheep and cattle ranchers who see the mustangs as competition for feed on the open range. \"Our goal is supposed to be about healthy horses on healthy ranges. But we are at the point we need to have a conversation with people about pragmatically what can we do given the financial constraints of our program to meet the goals we have,\" Bisson said. There are an estimated 33,000 wild horses on the range in 10 Western states, Bisson told the organization's National Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board. About half of those are in Nevada. The agency has set a target \"appropriate management level\" of horses at 27,000. About another 30,000 horses are in holding facilities, where most are made available for adoption. But those deemed too old or otherwise unadoptable are sent to long-term holding facilities to live out their lives \ufffd some for 15 to 20 years. The board will consider the alternatives at its next meeting in September. Last year about $22 million of the entire horse program's $39 million budget was spent on holding horses in agency pens. Next year the costs are projected to grow to $26 million with an overall budget that is being trimmed to $37 million, Bisson said. \"We have a responsibility to balance the budget, so we are going to have to make some tough choices,\" Bisson said. Bonnie Matton, president of the Wild Horse Preservation League, said she wasn't surprised by the agency's predicament. \"They really do have a can of worms,\" she said. ___ On the Net: U.S. Bureau of Land Management: http://www.blm.gov"}, {"response": 355, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Jul 15, 2008 (12:40)", "body": "This is a great site: http://contrariancommentary.blogspot.com/ It will all come to a head in Denver. HRC must be on the roll call not just on the ballot for it to count. Of course, O and Pellosi and Co. are trying for Hillary to be only on the ballot. They make me sick. Do they even know the meaning of the word: Democracy?"}, {"response": 356, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Jul 15, 2008 (14:20)", "body": "Senator Barack Obama is only the *presumptive* nominee due to the Super Delegates. He does not have enough pledged delegates to win the nomination. Super Delegates, while supposedly committed to Obama, can switch their support at anytime leading up to a roll call vote at the convention. So it is not locked-down for Obama, which is why he is fighting so hard to avoid a roll call vote at the convention. Here is an interesting website put up by former Obama supporters who are disturbed at how he's has changed his positions on several important issues. http://formerobamasupporters.com/ This is where I found this video on Obama: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hP-YoB5mnZs (very disturbing)"}, {"response": 357, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sat, Jul 19, 2008 (13:55)", "body": "Charles Krauthammer nails it: The Audacity of Vanity: Americans are beginning to notice Obama\ufffds elevated opinion of himself. There\ufffds nothing new about narcissism in politics. Every senator looks in the mirror and sees a president. Nonetheless, has there ever been a presidential nominee with a wider gap between his estimation of himself and the sum total of his lifetime achievements? http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/17/AR2008071701839.html?hpid=opinionsbox1"}, {"response": 358, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sat, Jul 19, 2008 (14:00)", "body": "Sad, but truthful video...from his own mouth http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRXwPqaR4OM&eurl=http://formerobamasupporters.com/2008/07/18/why-we-launched-formerobamasupporterscom/"}, {"response": 359, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jul 21, 2008 (14:16)", "body": "I figure this isn't Colin news, though related...re: Abu Jamal Mumia requesting a new trial. Jailed Black Panther demands retrial 2 hours, 48 minutes ago WASHINGTON (AFP) - Black Panther-turned human rights campaigner Mumia Abu-Jamal has requested a retrial on his conviction of murdering a police officer, after his death sentence was overturned in March, his lawyer said Sunday. ADVERTISEMENT A three-member Philadelphia appeals court on March 27 voted two-to-one to overturn the former radio journalist's death sentence, while upholding his conviction for the 1981 murder of Daniel Faulkner. The court said Abu-Jamal, 54, should face a new sentencing hearing or have his sentence commuted to life in jail. Abu-Jamal, 54, has always claimed his innocence while on death row for 25 years. While in jail, he became a leading campaigner against the death penalty. In his request for a retrial, Abu-Jamal's lawyer Robert Bryan asked for a decision by a full panel of 12 judges, not a three-member court like Philadelphia's. \"Even though the federal court granted a new trial on the question of the death penalty, we want a complete reversal of the conviction,\" he said. \"If unsuccessful, we will proceed to the United States Supreme Court,\" Bryan added. Abu-Jamal has argued that he was denied a fair trial in 1982 because the prosecution barred 10 qualified African-Americans from sitting on the jury, which in the end consisted of 10 whites and two blacks. The Philadelphia appeals court had rejected his arguments on lack of evidence of any racist intent on the part of the prosecution. Mumia Abu-Jamal's death sentence in March was automatically commuted to life in jail, which could be overturned if he is granted a new trial. http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080721/pl_afp/usjusticerights;_ylt=Am3h_jFuVf_TJlSpcTmYu2is0NUE"}, {"response": 360, "author": "mari", "date": "Mon, Jul 21, 2008 (14:28)", "body": "In his request for a retrial, Abu-Jamal's lawyer Robert Bryan asked for a decision by a full panel of 12 judges, not a three-member court like Philadelphia's. So, the rest of the country's citizens go by the established legal procedures concerning a three-judge appeal, but that shouldn't apply to him? What gall. \"If unsuccessful, we will proceed to the United States Supreme Court,\" Bryan added. Anyone can apply to the Supremes, but it doesn't mean they'll hear the case. And I doubt they will. You have to have grounds."}, {"response": 361, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Jul 21, 2008 (14:34)", "body": "Abu-Jamal has argued that he was denied a fair trial in 1982 because the prosecution barred 10 qualified African-Americans from sitting on the jury, which in the end consisted of 10 whites and two blacks. The sitting jury was actually made up of 8 whites and 4 blacks, but one was later kicked off because he/she did something and the other had been threatened in court by MAJ and a prudent person wouldn't have wanted that person to remain during deliberations. Unfortunately, the two alternates were white. Isn't that right, my experts? ;-) \"If unsuccessful, we will proceed to the United States Supreme Court,\" Bryan added. (Mari) Anyone can apply to the Supremes, but it doesn't mean they'll hear the case. Let 'em. Like this Supreme Court is going to lean his way. That'll end it fast enough. ;-)"}, {"response": 362, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Jul 21, 2008 (15:45)", "body": "I don't have any faith in the Supreme Court. They gave us Bush, they also recently overturned a child rape case in favor of the rapist. I think they will take on the Mumia decision."}, {"response": 363, "author": "cfadm", "date": "Mon, Jul 21, 2008 (20:27)", "body": "That's why this election is so critical. One of many reasons."}, {"response": 364, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Jul 23, 2008 (19:38)", "body": "This guy could very well be the next President of the United States, but can't get an op-ed published in the NYT because it's not pro-Obama? WTF? I think we're seeing how easily communist thinking can evolve-it doesn't have to be ill intended at first, it can just come about as the result of blind adoration. It's pretty scary-we should be very concerned (as if we didn't already know that...): http://noquarterusa.net/blog/2008/07/21/ny-times-refuses-to-print-mccains-op-ed-while-analysts-downgrade-them/"}, {"response": 365, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jul 28, 2008 (20:14)", "body": "Moon, you keep saying or implying that Obama isn't trustworthy, so you'd rather have McCain of the 2. I'm not sure where you're thinking that McCain's got a leg up on that front, or has his act together at all. And remember, I was a McCain fan 8-10 yrs ago. http://dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/7/28/165138/698/993/558351 You can click on the orange links to see source material for each item."}, {"response": 366, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Jul 29, 2008 (14:52)", "body": "I have never been a fan of McCain, but I know him. Obama is a pompous self-serving man with no track record, and I don't trust him. I'm still hanging in for Hillary at the Denver convention."}, {"response": 367, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Jul 29, 2008 (14:56)", "body": "What is wrong with BO: http://riverdaughter.wordpress.com/2008/07/26/what-is-wrong-with-barack-obama/"}, {"response": 368, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jul 29, 2008 (15:19)", "body": "And McCain has, by reports a nasty temper, poor command of the issues at hand and a questionable track record on many issues."}, {"response": 369, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jul 29, 2008 (22:16)", "body": "I don't actually disagree that he comes off as pompous at times and narcissistic. I think anyone who runs for president or the leader of any country has a narcissitic streak or even a disorder if you will. Frankly, Clinton had it in spades. The current Bush didn't though IMO. It's not about altruism for the most part. I read about this story in the Enquirer and that no one in the mainstream press was touching it several days ago. Just wow. Apparently these people don't realize condoms are made in the 21st century. :-((( I'd like to think it's not true, but ...... http://news.aol.com/political-machine/2008/07/29/john-edwards-and-the-scandal-nobody-wanted/"}, {"response": 370, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Jul 30, 2008 (13:52)", "body": "That article makes it even more clear to me that Hillary is the one to bet on. From today's Wash Post: President Obama Continues Hectic Victory Tour By Dana Milbank Wednesday, July 30, 2008 Barack Obama has long been his party's presumptive nominee. Now he's becoming its presumptuous nominee. Fresh from his presidential-style world tour, during which foreign leaders and American generals lined up to show him affection, Obama settled down to some presidential-style business in Washington yesterday. He ordered up a teleconference with the (current president's) Treasury secretary, granted an audience to the Pakistani prime minister and had his staff arrange for the chairman of the Federal Reserve to give him a briefing. Then, he went up to Capitol Hill to be adored by House Democrats in a presidential-style pep rally. Along the way, he traveled in a bubble more insulating than the actual president's. Traffic was shut down for him as he zoomed about town in a long, presidential-style motorcade, while the public and most of the press were kept in the dark about his activities, which included a fundraiser at the Mayflower where donors paid $10,000 or more to have photos taken with him. His schedule for the day, announced Monday night, would have made Dick Cheney envious: 11:00 a.m.: En route TBA. 12:05 p.m.: En route TBA. 1:45 p.m.: En route TBA. 2:55 p.m.: En route TBA. 5:20 p.m.: En route TBA The 5:20 TBA turned out to be his adoration session with lawmakers in the Cannon Caucus Room, where even committee chairmen arrived early, as if for the State of the Union. Capitol Police cleared the halls -- just as they do for the actual president. The Secret Service hustled him in through a side door -- just as they do for the actual president. Inside, according to a witness, he told the House members, \"This is the moment . . . that the world is waiting for,\" adding: \"I have become a symbol of the possibility of America returning to our best traditions.\" As he marches toward Inauguration Day (Election Day is but a milestone on that path), Obama's biggest challenger may not be Republican John McCain but rather his own hubris. Some say the supremely confident Obama -- nearly 100 days from the election, he pronounces that \"the odds of us winning are very good\" -- has become a president-in-waiting. But in truth, he doesn't need to wait: He has already amassed the trappings of the office, without those pesky decisions. The Atlantic's Marc Ambinder reported last week that Obama has directed his staff to begin planning for his transition to the White House, causing Republicans to howl about premature drape measuring. Obama was even feeling confident enough to give British Prime Minister Gordon Brown some management advice over the weekend. \"If what you're trying to do is micromanage and solve everything, then you end up being a dilettante,\" he advised the prime minister, portraying his relative inexperience much as President Bush did in 2000. On his presidential-style visit to the Western Wall in Jerusalem last week, Obama left a written prayer, intercepted by an Israeli newspaper, asking God to \"help me guard against pride and despair.\" He seems to have the despair part under control, but the pride could be a problem. One source of the confidence is the polling, which shows him with a big lead over McCain. But polls are fickle allies: A USA Today-Gallup poll released Monday found McCain leading Obama by four percentage points among likely voters. Another reason for Obama's confidence -- the press -- is also an unfaithful partner. The Project for Excellence in Journalism reported yesterday that Obama dominated the news media's attention for a seventh straight week. But there are signs that the Obama campaign's arrogance has begun to anger reporters. In the latest issue of the New Republic, Gabriel Sherman found reporters complaining that Obama's campaign was \"acting like the Prom Queen\" and being more secretive than Bush. The magazine quoted the New York Times' Adam Nagourney's reaction to the Obama campaign's memo attacking one of his stories: \"I've never had an experience like this, with this campaign or others.\" Then came Obama's overseas trip and the campaign's selection of which news organizations could come aboard. Among those excluded: the New Yorker magazine, which had just published a satirical cover about Obama that offended the campaign. Even Bush hasn't tried that. But then again, Obama has been outdoing the president in ruffles and flourishes lately. As Bush held quiet signing ceremonies in the White House yesterday morning, Obama was involved in a more visible display of executive authority a block away, when he met with Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani at the Willard. A full block of F Street was shut down for the prime minister and the would-be president, and some 40 security and motorcade vehicles filled the street. Later, Obama's aides issued an official-sounding statement, borrowing the language "}, {"response": 371, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jul 30, 2008 (14:07)", "body": "She may be the one to bet on, but what's the realistic chance that she will/could become \"the one\"? It would make for a much more interesting convention, that's for sure!"}, {"response": 372, "author": "mari", "date": "Wed, Jul 30, 2008 (16:25)", "body": "Moon. It's over."}, {"response": 373, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Jul 31, 2008 (14:05)", "body": "LOL, Mari, thanks A LOT! ;-D Honestly, it ain't over till Denver. This is a great site to read the latest blogs...book mark it so you can check it out daily :) It updates every day. http://readerarticles.realclearpolitics.com/?period=main"}, {"response": 374, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Jul 31, 2008 (15:12)", "body": "Check out the Doonesbury cartoon strip today: It's a keeper."}, {"response": 375, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jul 31, 2008 (18:41)", "body": "ROTFL!!"}, {"response": 376, "author": "mari", "date": "Thu, Jul 31, 2008 (19:35)", "body": "Good one, Moon!"}, {"response": 377, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Aug  1, 2008 (14:51)", "body": "Excellent! Some people get it; some people obviously don't. Anyway, I got this in the mail today from a cousin: Dear Abby, I am a crack dealer in Beaumont, Texas, who has recently been diagnosed as a carrier of HIV virus. My parents live in Fort Worth. One of my sisters lives in Pflugerville and is married to a transvestite. My father and mother have recently been arrested for growing and selling marijuana. They are financially dependent on my other two sisters, who are prostitutes in Dallas. I have two brothers: one is currently serving a life sentence at Huntsville for the murder of a teenage boy in 1994. My other brother is currently in jail awaiting charges of sexual misconduct with his three children. I have recently become engaged to marry a former prostitute who lives in Longview. She is a part time 'working girl'. All things considered, my problem is this. I love my fianc\ufffd and look forward to bringing her into the family. I certainly want to be totally open and honest with her. Should I tell her about my cousin who supports Barack Obama for President?"}, {"response": 378, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Aug  2, 2008 (01:27)", "body": "LOL, Karen!! Well, Moon, it seems it really is over.... Hillary Clinton asks not to be nominated at Democratic National Convention By MICHAEL SAUL and THOMAS M. DeFRANK DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS Updated Friday, August 1st 2008, 9:59 AM Petitions abound, but Hillary Clinton won't put in for a nomination, insiders say. Sakuma/AP Petitions abound, but Hillary Clinton won't put in for a nomination, insiders say. Hillary Clinton has decided against being nominated for President at the Democrats' Denver convention, but many of her more die-hard partisans may vote for her anyway. A source close to the New York senator confirmed she won't file a formal request to the convention asking to be nominated along with Barack Obama, who eked out the victory in their fierce primary slugfest. \"She is not going to submit the signed request,\" the insider told the Daily News. \"People are still circulating petitions on her behalf, but this is a done deal.\" Party rules stipulate that Clinton must ask in writing to be nominated herself and also submit a petition signed by 300 to 600 delegates. Without her signed request, petitions of support are meaningless. Her nomination would be window dressing because Obama's nomination is assured. But many of Clinton's most ardent boosters believe it's symbolically important to certify her glass ceiling-shattering candidacy with a formal nomination. Nevertheless, delegates can vote for whomever they want during the roll call of the states. Personally and through surrogates, Clinton has counseled her 1,886 delegates to vote for Obama. A source familiar with discussions inside the Clinton camp told The News she may release those delegates when she speaks to the convention on Aug. 26. \"Depending on the dynamics, hundreds of delegates might decide to demonstrate their support and affection,\" a Clinton source speculated. If so, that could be read as a dis to Obama from female Democrats still bruised by Clinton's defeat and resisting her pleas for party unity. Other Clinton backers, however, worry that she could be embarrassed by a roll call because many of her delegates already have switched to Obama. \"Hillary Clinton is 100% committed to helping Barack Obama become the next President of the United States and realizes there are passionate feelings that remain among many of her supporters,\" said Clinton spokeswoman Kathleen Strand. \"No decisions have been made at this time. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2008/07/31/2008-07-31_hillary_clinton_asks_not_to_be_nominated.html"}, {"response": 379, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sat, Aug  2, 2008 (13:53)", "body": "Hillary Plots, Eyes 2012 Bid Friday, August 1, 2008 11:40 AM By: Rick Pedraza With hopes of being chosen as Barack Obama\ufffds vice-presidential running mate dashed, Hillary Clinton has begun the process of carving out her political future. The New York Post reports Clinton met earlier this week at a secret ladies-only dinner in Washington to discuss where she can go from here. After learning she would address the Democratic National Convention on its second night \ufffd traditionally not the night the vice presidential nominee would speak \ufffd Clinton reportedly gathered her female posse together to discuss a possible White House run in 2012. The get-together included some of the top women in Democratic politics, like California Sen. Dianne Feinstein; founder of Emily's List Ellen Malcolm; California Rep. and chair of the New Democrat Coalition Ellen Tauscher; and former Recording Industry Association of America CEO Hilary Rosen, who's now political director of the Huffington Post. \"You could say Hillary met with her homegirls,\ufffd one insider tells The Post. \ufffdThey're all very powerful and important women. It's highly unlikely they were plotting anything around the VP spot because Hillary knows Barack Obama isn't going to pick her. They were probably planning her future.\" Jay Carson, a spokesman for Clinton, did no respond to calls or e-mails from the media, however a representative for Feinstein said, \"It was a personal dinner. They had a couple of glasses of California wine, but the content of the meeting is going to remain between them.\" \ufffd 2008 Newsmax. All rights reserved."}, {"response": 380, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sat, Aug  2, 2008 (13:58)", "body": "So she'll win against McCain in 2012."}, {"response": 381, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Aug  2, 2008 (14:47)", "body": "I'm in the middle of reading a very interesting article/deconstruction of Hillary's campaign in the June or July Vanity Fair (sorry, it's not in front of me and I got them both and are reading both simultaneously). It's written by Gail Sheehy. Very interesting and she made some observations about issues in her campaign that I stated, if not here, to some people as some of the reasons I began to have doubts about her, one in particular. Check it out. Not sure if they put articles on their website."}, {"response": 382, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Aug  3, 2008 (12:18)", "body": "I'm no fan of Maureen Dowd usually, but I was amused at the comparison and must've been written for you especially, Moon. Mr. Darcy Comes Courting By MAUREEN DOWD Published: August 3, 2008 It is a truth universally acknowledged that Barack Obama must continue to grovel to Hillary Clinton\ufffds dead-enders, some of whom mutter darkly that they will not only not vote for him, they will never vote for a man again. Obama met for an hour Tuesday with three dozen top Hillaryites at a hotel here, seeking their endorsement and beguiling their begrudging. He opened the session by saying that he knew there had been frustration about what they saw as sexism during the primary. The Los Angeles Times reported that Hillary die-hards want to enshrine a whine in the Democratic platform about how the primaries \ufffdexposed pervasive gender bias in the media\ufffd and call on party leaders to take \ufffdimmediate and public steps\ufffd to denounce any perceived bias in the future. That is one nutty idea. Perhaps it is because feminists are still so busy cataloging past slights to Hillary that they have failed to mount a vivid defense of Michelle Obama, who has taken over from Hillary as the one conservatives like to paint as a harridan. Before the Obama campaign even had a chance to denounce Ludacris, one of the rappers on the senator\ufffds iPod, Hillary Inc. started to mobilize. Susie Tompkins Buell, a former Clinton bundler, told The New York Observer that Obama had to distance himself, given Ludacris\ufffds new song rooting for Obama to \ufffdpaint the White House black\ufffd and calling Hillary the b-word. Despite Obama\ufffds wooing, some women aren\ufffdt warming. As Carol Marin wrote in The Chicago Sun-Times, The Lanky One is like an Alice Waters organic chicken \ufffd \ufffdsleek, elegant, beautifully prepared. Too cool\ufffd \ufffd when what many working-class women are craving is mac and cheese. In The Wall Street Journal, Amy Chozick wrote that Hillary supporters \ufffd who loved their heroine\ufffds admission that she was on Weight Watchers \ufffd were put off by Obama\ufffds svelte, zero-body-fat figure. \ufffdHe needs to put some meat on his bones,\ufffd said Diana Koenig, a 42-year-old Texas housewife. Another Clinton voter sniffed on a Yahoo message board: \ufffdI won\ufffdt vote for any beanpole guy.\ufffd The odd thing is that Obama bears a distinct resemblance to the most cherished hero in chick-lit history. The senator is a modern incarnation of the clever, haughty, reserved and fastidious Mr. Darcy. Like the leading man of Jane Austen and Bridget Jones, Obama can, as Austen wrote, draw \ufffdthe attention of the room by his fine, tall person, handsome features, noble mien. ...he was looked at with great admiration for about half the evening, till his manners gave a disgust which turned the tide of his popularity; for he was discovered to be proud, to be above his company, and above being pleased.\ufffd The master of Pemberley \ufffdhad yet to learn to be laught at,\ufffd and this sometimes caused \ufffda deeper shade of hauteur\ufffd to \ufffdoverspread his features.\ufffd The New Hampshire debate incident in which Obama condescendingly said, \ufffdYou\ufffdre likable enough, Hillary,\ufffd was reminiscent of that early scene in \ufffdPride and Prejudice\ufffd when Darcy coldly refuses to dance with Elizabeth Bennet, noting, \ufffdShe is tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me.\ufffd Indeed, when Obama left a prayer to the Lord at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, a note that was snatched out and published, part of his plea was to \ufffdhelp me guard against pride.\ufffd If Obama is Mr. Darcy, with \ufffdhis pride, his abominable pride,\ufffd then America is Elizabeth Bennet, spirited, playful, democratic, financially strained, and caught up in certain prejudices. (McCain must be cast as Wickham, the rival for Elizabeth\ufffds affections, the engaging military scamp who casts false aspersions on Darcy\ufffds character.) In this political version of \ufffdPride and Prejudice,\ufffd the prejudice is racial, with only 31 percent of white voters telling The New York Times in a survey that they had a favorable opinion of Obama, compared with 83 percent of blacks. And the prejudice is visceral: many Americans, especially blue collar, still feel uneasy about the Senate\ufffds exotic shooting star, and he is surrounded by a miasma of ill-founded and mistaken premises. So the novelistic tension of the 2008 race is this: Can Obama overcome his pride and Hyde Park hauteur and win America over? Can America overcome its prejudice to elect the first black president? And can it move past its biases to figure out if Obama\ufffds supposed conceit is really just the protective shield and defense mechanism of someone who grew up half white and half black, a perpetual outsider whose father deserted him and whose mother, while loving, sometimes did so as well? Can Miss Bennet teach Mr. Darcy to let down his guard, be more sportive, and laugh at himself? http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/03/opinion/03dowd.html?em"}, {"response": 383, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sun, Aug  3, 2008 (13:18)", "body": "ROTF, Dorine! How dare she cast Mr Darcy black? ;-) Have you seen Obama in a suit? He is so out of place. Any man who can't wear a suit well, can't aspire to the ultimate gentleman. Ms. Dowd got it wrong. Also, McCain is not casting false aspersions on Obama's character. This is a Presidential election. She should stop drinking the koolaid and stop giving Obama a free pass to the White House, if all he has to do is be more sportive and laugh at himself."}, {"response": 384, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sun, Aug  3, 2008 (14:05)", "body": "I forgot to post that I have spoken with people close to Hillary and they denied that Hillary will ask not to placed in nomination at Denver. That's what the Obama people want. In any case we are almost at the Denver Convention next month."}, {"response": 385, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Aug  4, 2008 (16:55)", "body": "Hillary Plots, Eyes 2012 Bid Absolutely nothing in that article to support that article title. People make up the the most outrageous things. Here is the Vanity Fair article, which is v. good: http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2008/08/clinton200808 Patti Solis Doyle told colleagues she believes firmly that Hillary\ufffds showing her vulnerability in New Hampshire brought out the women who saved her there. But Penn insisted she button up. Any further exposure of her human feelings would cost them white male voters. A damned if you do, damned if you don't situation. Lose lose. :-( (VF, page 6) But no matter how impressive her victories in swing states like West Virginia, the super-delegates were not breaking her way. The new Democratic establishment, led by D.N.C. chairman Howard Dean and the increasingly respected Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, just didn\ufffdt want the Clinton circus back in town. I think that pretty much sums up the whys and wherefores. Despite Obama\ufffds wooing, some women aren\ufffdt warming. As Carol Marin wrote in The Chicago Sun-Times, The Lanky One is like an Alice Waters organic chicken \ufffd \ufffdsleek, elegant, beautifully prepared. Too cool\ufffd \ufffd when what many working-class women are craving is mac and cheese. I've always like Carol Marin, a woman with conviction. She resigned the local anchor slot on our NBC affiliate because of ethical reasons. Mgt wanted them to cover more fluff than real news. Interestingly, her co-anchor eventually got another job as an anchor on the ABC affiliate, but she has bounced around."}, {"response": 386, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Aug  4, 2008 (17:39)", "body": "I can't understand why Dean and Pelosi wouldn't want the Clintons back in the White House, but they sure came out against them. A documentary is coming out which shows the blatant cheating that went on in Texas with their caucus. There are two documentaries being done. This is the second one being sponsored by a couple of the PUMA groups.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8t4PKGc2Fw Now they want a full vote in Michigan and Florida; where were they then?: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080803/ap_on_el_pr/obama_delegates Mame Reilly, a Clinton Super delegate said this to me at the RBC meeting in DC: that the full delegation would be seated at the convention...just not when it would help Hillary to have the majority of the primary delegates (which she would have had if they'd seated them in full). The RBC didn't want their decision to give Hillary the majority of the delegates. Sounds so much like the Supreme Court's decision to stop the recount."}, {"response": 387, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Aug  4, 2008 (17:49)", "body": "Also of note, I received an email from Maggie Williams(HRC campaign manager) today, I won't post it all just a relevant part: And although the campaign for the White House is over, there is still work to be done. We need your help calling people across the country to redesignate their 2008 general election contribution to Hillary's 2012 re-election campaign. This effort is important because it will allow Hillary to focus on the issues that matter, electing Barack Obama president and putting her energy towards building stronger majorities in November."}, {"response": 388, "author": "mari", "date": "Tue, Aug  5, 2008 (11:10)", "body": "Hillary was here yesterday to thank her supporters and urge them to open their hearts and pocketbooks to Obama. Rumor du jour: Obama will choose Evan Bayh as his running mate. A rumor, at this point."}, {"response": 389, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Aug  5, 2008 (11:24)", "body": "She was a busy bee yesterday. Bloomberg threw her a party at Gracie Mansion last night, too (not a debt fundraiser they say!). I saw that about Bayh. I have no opinion of Bayh him as I know virtually nothing of him other than his name."}, {"response": 390, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Aug  5, 2008 (11:52)", "body": "Evan Bayh? How would that balance the ticket geographically? He's from Indiana, next door."}, {"response": 391, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Aug  5, 2008 (16:00)", "body": "I haven't read any of this yet, but is this some of the big explosive expose you were waiting for, Moon? http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=27865&s=rcme I read a few comments at this place that linked from AOL.com that alerted me to the article, kinda *interesting* people and comments. http://www.propeller.com/story/2008/08/04/exclusive-the-case-against-barack-obama-interview/?icid=100214839x1207151029x1200352715"}, {"response": 392, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Aug  5, 2008 (16:19)", "body": "Thanks, Dorine! Slowly but surely more exposes will be coming out. And if the Democrats won't see the light by the time Denver comes around, the Republicans will use it to their advantage. Hillary is the electable one. As for O's VP, the better ones have declined. Even Pelosi is making suggestions, LOL!"}, {"response": 393, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Aug  7, 2008 (15:23)", "body": "Obama rejects talk of trouble from Clinton backers By TOM RAUM, Associated Press Writer 41 minutes ago CHICAGO - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on Thursday dismissed suggestions that the nominating convention could be marred by tensions between his supporters and the die-hard backers of Hillary Rodham Clinton. Obama told reporters that their staffs were working out mutually agreeable convention logistics. At the same time, Clinton was assuring her supporters in an online chat that she and Obama were \"working together to make sure it's a big success.\" Neither directly answered questions about whether Clinton's name should be placed in nomination so that her backers could record their votes. Obama clinched the nomination after a sometimes bitter primary contest with Clinton. Amid reports that some Clinton backers hope to raise her profile at the convention or even continue to push her candidacy, Clinton and Obama were publicly trying to ease the strained relations that exist between some of their supporters. Flying home to Chicago, Obama told reporters on his campaign plane that he talked separately this week to Clinton and her husband, the former president, and that they were enthusiastic about having a smooth convention at the end of the month in Denver. \"As is true in all conventions, we're still working out the mechanics, the coordination,\" Obama said. One such issue is whether there will be a convention roll call on Clinton's nomination, he said. \"I'm letting our respective teams work out details,\" he said. Asked if that meant he wouldn't object to her name being placed in nomination and a vote taken, Obama said: \"I didn't say that. I said that they're working it out.\" Clinton has not said whether she will seek a formal vote on her bid for the nomination. For the online chat on her Web site, she wrote that she and Obama will ensure Democrats are \"fully unified.\" Clinton was expected to deliver a prime-time address to delegates on Aug. 26, the second night of the convention. With the delegate roll call planned for the next evening, Obama was set to accept the nomination with a speech on its fourth and final night. \"We will ensure that the voices of everyone who participated in this historic process are respected and our party is fully unified heading into the November election,\" Clinton wrote. \"While no decisions have been made yet, I will make sure that we keep you up to date and involved with all of the convention activity.\" Obama was asked whether allowing Clinton's name to be placed in nomination might lead to a catharsis for the party, an emotional coming together that relieves pent-up stress. \"I don't think we're looking for catharsis. I think what we're looking for is energy and excitement,\" he said. In the Web chat, one person asked Clinton directly: \"Are you truly supporting Sen. Obama and encouraging your supporters to do the same or are you just saying what you have to?\" Clinton insisted she was sincerely behind Obama. Another questioner wanted to know if there was \"any possibility\" her name would be placed in nomination, arguing that doing so \"would at least give your supporters a voice in the choice for the party's nominee.\" She was noncommittal. As to those avid Clinton supporters who still haven't warmed up to him and may even resent him, Obama said, \"We're not talking to those people, we're talking directly to the Clinton campaign people and staff.\" Another participant in the Clinton chat posted a note saying he hopes Clinton becomes Obama's running mate. In her response, Clinton repeated that she will do whatever Obama asks her to do but it is his decision \"and I am going to respect the privacy of that process by not discussing it.\" The Clintons' stance toward Obama's candidacy is being closely scrutinized as the convention nears \ufffd particularly after remarks Bill Clinton made earlier this week during a trip to Africa. Asked whether Obama was prepared to become president, the former president replied, \"You can argue that nobody is ready to be president,\" and said he himself learned a lot in his first year on the job. The remark was widely viewed as tepid and unenthusiastic, particularly in light of Republican candidate John McCain's frequent criticism that Obama is not ready to be president. ___ Associated Press writer Devlin Barrett in Washington contributed to this report. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080807/ap_on_el_pr/clinton_obama;_ylt=ArQZV4TF7G3bbzhLaWQbMQus0NUE"}, {"response": 394, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Aug  7, 2008 (17:26)", "body": "I'm letting our respective teams work out details,\" he said. Asked if that meant he wouldn't object to her name being placed in nomination and a vote taken, Obama said: \"I didn't say that. I said that they're working it out.\" He knows what would happen and he's not going to let it happen. He will allow Hillary to be on the ballot, but not up for roll call. It takes the roll call to make the delegates' vote count. As to those avid Clinton supporters who still haven't warmed up to him and may even resent him, Obama said, \"We're not talking to those people, No you ain't. The Obama/McCain polling is not going the way it should. The DNC should be taking HRC seriously."}, {"response": 395, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Aug  7, 2008 (20:41)", "body": "I was hoping you weren't away yet to see your opinion of that. :-)"}, {"response": 396, "author": "Moon", "date": "Fri, Aug  8, 2008 (22:30)", "body": "I just wanted to let you know what I found out today. I talked to a friend who is good friends with one of HRC's close friends. Apparently, the DNC (Dean, Brazile) have been putting an enormous amount of pressure on HRC to let go of the roll call situation. I guess that yesterday in particular, they met with her and basically told her that she needs to let go of having her name on the ballot or essentially, they will \"make sure\" her career in politics is over-they will \"ruin\" her. I guess various officials have been telling the media things to imply that the Clintons are demanding things when in fact, all HRC wanted was her name on the ballot. These officials have been spinning this to the media in an effort to make her look bad. Lastly, my friend said that HRC is really upset about the whole situation and if she was mad before, she's furious now. However, she is essentially being strong armed and that is rendering her powerless. We can say that she should just give the party the finger and walk, bu the reality is that this is politics and it doesn't work like that. If party officials want to destroy her, they will. They already managed to take the nomination from her despite the fact that she has the popular vote, so the idea that the will of the people would prevail if they attempted to ruin her is naive and idealistic. I want HRC to stay in politics and I want her to do whatever she has to do in order to do so. That does not, however, mean that I have to follow suit or frankly, that she even wants me to (that I can't confirm or deny). Regardless, I just wanted to you to know what I was told... Proof of how against the wall they have HRC-today on POTUS 08, they were talking about how \"bad\" the Clintons are and that they better start campaigning for Obama instead of whining and complaining and that in the end, if they didn't get on board, the people would punish them for it. \"They just need to realize that this party isn't theirs anymore, it's Obama's.\" They guy went on for another minute about how rotten it was for the Clinton's to not be out helping Obama and that if they waited until the end to help and he lost, people would never forgive them for it and blah, blah, blah. I wanted to call the guy and ask him how he could say all that when at the very minute that he was making the comments, HRC was in Nevada campaigning for Obama. It's so frustrating--so very infuriating. Even though she's done everything she's \"supposed to do\", they still manage to fault her. See the big picture before you jump on the bandwagon that she on any level, wants to be in this situation. Imagine how much they wo ld be tearing her limb from limb if she were doing anything less than what she's done thus far. Be mad, but don't be upset with her."}, {"response": 397, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Aug  9, 2008 (00:30)", "body": "See the big picture before you jump on the bandwagon that she on any level, wants to be in this situation. Imagine how much they would be tearing her limb from limb if she were doing anything less than what she's done thus far. Be mad, but don't be upset with her. I'm unclear who here expressed being upset with her over any such thing. Or was that a general plea to the Democratic universe not to be upset with her and not directed at anyone here? Proof of how against the wall they have HRC-today on POTUS 08, they were talking about how \"bad\" the Clintons are and that they better start campaigning for Obama instead of whining and complaining and that in the end, if they didn't get on board, the people would punish them for it I don't know what POTUS O8 is, though I do know what the acronym stands for. Was all this talk before or after the news today, or was it last night?, that Bill is speaking at the convention and Hillary is campaigning for Obama while he essentially takes a break? Seems the Dems finally learned something from the Republicans about dealings in their own party. And looks like that Edwards story I posted about a week and a half ago turned out to be true, with the part about the baby pending tests. Moon, you were a big supporter of Edwards last election as I recall. He was more or less my pick this time. I can't feel worse for Elizabeth."}, {"response": 398, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Aug  9, 2008 (21:31)", "body": "This is for Moon when she's back. Click on the orange highlighted \"said that\" to read the whole piece about McCain's comments. Guess you can't fault him for being honest. He's only human. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/8/9/44713/79788/254/565216"}, {"response": 399, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Aug 12, 2008 (22:31)", "body": "Wasn't it GM who had an electric car before and then recalled and destroyed them? It was in the film, Who Killed the Electric Car, whatever brand it was. Good film. Over 33,000 buyers signed up for GM electric car By Kevin Krolicki Tue Aug 12, 6:03 PM ET DETROIT (Reuters) - In a bid to show the demand for the upcoming all-electric Chevrolet Volt, a proponent of the car has released details of an unofficial waiting list for the vehicle with over 33,000 prospective buyers. Lyle Dennis, a New York neurologist who has emerged as a prominent enthusiast for the battery-powered car from General Motors Corp (GM.N), has been assembling a list of prospective Volt buyers for over a year through his Web site GM-Volt.com. On Tuesday, Dennis released details gleaned from the list showing that 33,411 people had signed up to show their intent to buy a Volt when the rechargeable car is released in 2010. The list shows the highest number of potential Volt buyers in California, Texas, Florida and Michigan. It also includes potential buyers from 46 countries outside the United States. The average price buyers were willing to pay for the car was $31,261 -- substantially less than the $40,000 GM has said it will cost to build the first-generation of the car equipped with a massive lithium-ion battery pack. GM has been racing to finish development of the Volt in time for the planned launch as the centerpiece of its effort to break a costly association with gas-guzzling vehicles at a time when truck sales are tumbling and gas prices remain high. Like most automakers, GM typically keeps its vehicle development programs under tight wraps and shuns publicity. But with the Volt, GM has taken the opposite approach, actively consulting enthusiasts like Dennis and featuring the concept version of the Volt in high-profile advertising, including a television spot broadcast during the Olympics. Dennis, who organized a meeting between enthusiasts called the \"Volt Nation\" and GM executives at the New York Auto Show earlier this year, said he was motivated by a desire to show the Detroit-based automaker that the Volt would have a wide base of buyers from the start. \"If everyone who wanted a Volt could get one, that would be the dream,\" said Dennis. GM, which does not expect to make money on the first-generation of the Volt, has said it will ramp up output slowly when production of the plug-in hybrid starts at a Hamtramck, Michigan plant. A GM spokesman said that the automaker expected an initial shortage for the Volt, similar to the shortages for other hot-selling recent models. \"I don't know if there is any other vehicle or any other technology that has generated this kind of interest because of the state of the market and gas prices,\" said GM spokesman Dave Darovitz. \"We know the demand is going to be there.\" Darovitz declined to discuss pricing for the Volt GM showed off a concept version of the Volt in January 2007 but has retooled the look of the vehicle significantly since then, in part in order to improve its aerodynamics, representatives of the automaker have said. GM is designing the Volt to run for 40 miles on a lithium-ion battery pack that can be recharged at a standard outlet. The Volt will also capture energy from braking, like a traditional hybrid, and feature an on-board engine that will be used to send power to the battery on longer trips. GM is racing Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) to bring the first mass-market, plug-in car to the marketplace. (Editing by Phil Berlowitz) http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080812/tc_nm/volt_list_dc;_ylt=An2paGa7sH0TUbSJ37zh2M.s0NUE"}, {"response": 400, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Aug 15, 2008 (00:21)", "body": "Well, Moon, you got what you wanted at the convention....a roll call for Hillary. Now what?"}, {"response": 401, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Aug 15, 2008 (11:58)", "body": "Isn't it lovely that Obama and his people have agreed to let her name be placed in nomination? When did he become the de facto head of the DNC? Why is there a need then to even have the convention?"}, {"response": 402, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Aug 17, 2008 (21:53)", "body": "I'd be curious on your thoughts especially on this, Moon. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/17/opinion/17rich.html?_r=1&em&oref=slogin And I heard on the radio today that Hillary will pledge her delegates to Obama. After the roll call I presume? Doesn't that kind of just slap her diligent supporters in the face? I understand the point for unity and all, but I think I might be offended a bit at that if I was one of them."}, {"response": 403, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Aug 19, 2008 (11:54)", "body": "Barack's mentor is retiring: http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/1113884,emailweb081808.article?plckCurrentPage=0&sid=sitelife.suntimes.com The comments are hysterical. Illinois politics at their best in the, for example, the Middle Ages, when one expected the oldest son to inherit the family rank. At this point, I'd want to slap our Gov for even suggesting that this guy's son take over as Senate president."}, {"response": 404, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Aug 19, 2008 (21:15)", "body": "Didn't the same thing kind of happen in Alaska politics? Didn't a daughter take the place of her father when he retired, was indicted, something? I'd have to look it up. Well, no need for these now. Perhaps one could say, \"Mission Accomplished!\" They helped anyway. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080819/ap_on_re_us/election_junk;_ylt=Asa4mykRtZlW4eA3dp.6Nsms0NUE"}, {"response": 405, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Aug 21, 2008 (14:21)", "body": "As I have stated before, Obama did not earn those delegates, he cheated and was able to convince the DNC to select him. He was selected not elected. CAUCUS FRAUD - a similar story over and over in different precincts and states: Jeff in Iowa: I live in Davenport, Iowa - Precinct 23. I was the Precinct Captain for Hillary Clinton and began my work for her in Sept. 2007. At that time, I met with the many folks in this precinct, every registered Democratic voter. During that time, I was most fortunate to gain supporters and lose a few . . .mainly to Sen. Edwards. I developed a Team Hillary in this precinct that went door to door from 12/3/07 to caucus night. On caucus night, I was informed that I could not bring authorized Hillary stickers, food, etc into the site. I regrettably complied. From 6-6:30 pm, it appeared as I had expected. Young, old, males, females, hispanics, whites, gay and lesbian friends arriving. Very heavily for Ms. Clinton, a fair amount for Edwards and some stragglers for Obama. During my walks thru the neighborhoods (a very densely populated precinct), I discovered that indeed this was the make-up of my precinct. My mind began to feel victory for my lady. My hard work had paid off! I even overcame the fact that every volunteer at the entrance tables was wearing an Obama sticker. They had NO precinct captain and my friend, the Edwards captain and I were discussing the fact that Obama out of state staff had arrived to pass out stickers and signs to folks. Next, they began to sit at the entrance tables. Hmm. We were barred from doing that! \"Oh well\", we thought. THEN: at 6:50 pm, over 75 people of African American descent came walking in, past the tables and sat in the Obama section. I knew one of them from my canvassing. I knew another one who did not live in this precinct! And aside from the 4 or 5 families that live on Hillandale Road, there are no other black people in this unusually white precinct. (And one of those black couples were in my Hillary section). The results were Obama 3, Clinton, 2, Edwards 1! It was impossible for me to argue since the precinct chair was an Obama supporter from another precinct. A very large bus was seen in the parking lot afterwards carrying these folks back. That momentum gave Obama future victories and I am sure his mastery of the caucus cheat along with his October 2007 meetings with Karl Rove, taught him how to steal this nomination! I think America is worth more than that which is why this lifelong Democrat and exuberant Hillary Clinton supporter will mark \"MCCAIN\" in november! To read more visit this site: CaucusAnalysis Data, Analysis, Articles, Testimonials & Videos INTRODUCTION In two weeks the Democratic Party will formally nominate Barack Obama as its candidate for President of the United States. It's the triumph of fraud. I've spent the past two months immersed in data from the 2008 Democratic caucuses. After studying the procedures and results from all fourteen caucus states, interviewing dozens of witnesses, and reviewing hundreds of personal stories, my conclusion is that the Obama campaign willfully and intentionally defrauded the American public by systematically undermining the caucus process. This site represents the fruits of my research. It's a work in progress, obviously, and also a central repository for a vast array of data: articles and blog posts from around the web, personal emails to me, interviews with witnesses, affidavits and testimonials, campaign communications, and videos of the caucuses themselves. I have elected to make this information public. I hope that it sheds light on the caucus process and inspires reform or total elimination of the caucuses. I also hope it gives pause to those Democrats who believe that Barack Obama is the rightful nominee and that Hillary supporters should just \"get over it.\" I have been a Democrat my entire life, but I will not support the Democratic Party at the cost of democracy. Lynette Long August 2008 http://www.lynettelong.com/CAUCUSFRAUD/"}, {"response": 406, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Aug 21, 2008 (14:33)", "body": "I'm sure by now you've already heard that Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones passed away. This woman was an amazing inspiration and loyal friend to Hillary Clinton. I'd met her at Hillary's HQ and really enjoyed our conversations. Her loss is enormous."}, {"response": 407, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Aug 21, 2008 (14:34)", "body": "(Dorine) Didn't the same thing kind of happen in Alaska politics? Didn't a daughter take the place of her father when he retired, was indicted, something? But it is a way of life here and isn't merely for a basic seat. We're talking handing down the presidency of an entity. Yesterday's headline in the Sun-Times caught my eye in huge letters: NEPOTITIS and was an article written by Carol Marin, who I think has been posted here before. This is the article: http://www.suntimes.com/news/marin/1116348,CST-EDT-carol20.article It explains what happened with the president of Cook County board, who had a stroke before the primaries, yet won. Then handed his seat over to his son, as well as the presidency. People are furious about that one. Now, we have the president of the Ill Senate about to do the same. Read how qualified the son is. Actually, Emil wasn't qualified either. Someone mentioned to me the other day how pitiful it is that, despite having a single party in control of the state, absolutely nothing gets done. Now we, in Cook County, have the highest sales tax in the country and all the politicians are giving themselves huge raises."}, {"response": 408, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Aug 21, 2008 (14:37)", "body": "Moon would like this quote from the article: At the very same moment Barack Obama, an alumnus of the Illinois State Senate and a mentee of President Jones, is campaigning across America in behalf of change we can believe in and a new kind of politics. Here on the homefront we have his mentor playing the same old, cynical game that treats public office like a family entitlement. And the public payroll like a bequest."}, {"response": 409, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Aug 21, 2008 (21:58)", "body": "What is your sales tax, Karen? Do you have county and state sales tax? And does Chicago have a city sales tax?"}, {"response": 410, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Aug 21, 2008 (21:59)", "body": "Oh and are there clothing exemptions like Vermont and PA and here (under ~$100) or just the usual food exemptions? I have no clue what other people pay for stuff like that."}, {"response": 411, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Aug 22, 2008 (10:46)", "body": "Can I just say, I'm sick to death of the incessant mystery over Obama's VP pick. Just pick already! That goes for both of them."}, {"response": 412, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Aug 22, 2008 (11:12)", "body": "10.25% Usual exemptions? Are you kidding? Food and drugs are taxed at a lower rate: 2% And fast food/beverage and restaurants in general are subject to an additional 1% on top of the 10.25%. That's been in effect for quite a long time. Soft drinks (in any form)--thank goodness I don't drink them--are taxed at 13.25%. Evidently ours is considered one of the most complex in the country as well. It starts at 6.25% for the state (and includes a state, county and city component) and then more gets heaped on it."}, {"response": 413, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Aug 22, 2008 (11:47)", "body": "10.25%?!! Holy cow! I think our state is 4.25% or something, then city is 4.25% or close. Works out to 8.50% or so. Things are a hair cheaper on Long Island as they don't have the other 4% on top of the state. But there is the no tax on clothing under $100, or $110, now. We used to have tax holidays for clothes in February and I think a week in the summer, but they made it permanent."}, {"response": 414, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Aug 22, 2008 (12:22)", "body": "All of this and the city just announced that it is facing a $400 million budget deficit and has pledged not to raise property taxes this year. There is such waste and bloat in city/county government here. If only it weren't so..."}, {"response": 415, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Aug 22, 2008 (12:22)", "body": "And, let's not forget, overall corruption. :-("}, {"response": 416, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Aug 22, 2008 (12:48)", "body": "We've got the MTA with yet another budget gap after raising fares in March and they want to do it again next year after promising no more increases for a while. And they want to raise it every 2 years after for a time. Plus they'd been doling out multiple EZ Passes to people (past and present) on the board and they aren't allowed compensation of any sort. Thank God for the Daily News exposing that. The MTA was forced by public opinion to take them back and boy were those board members unhappy about that. Poor babies. We had some sort of property tax refund the last year or 2, but they may recind it. My coworker is complaining they just raised the taxes on the new house she just moved into 6 months ago. The city's tax income has been drastically reduced due to the financial sector's crisis here. And our govenor just called a special legislative session to cut $1 billion out of our state budget, of which NYC seems to not get enough of, especially for the MTA. NY and Chicago seem quite similar, but I think your corruption is so much worse."}, {"response": 417, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Aug 22, 2008 (13:20)", "body": "Our transit fares were increased this year again, as well. The state can't fund its pension obligations and, yet, as the article pointed out has given its own people even higher pensions and then double-dip (having both a state and a county office, plus who knows how much in bribe money). The TV news people do expose after expose and nothing changes. (Dorine) but I think your corruption is so much worse. Yeah! Some distinction. How many of your governors have or are serving prison terms? ;-) I had a lady who worked for me whose husband was a judge, serving time in Duluth."}, {"response": 418, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Aug 22, 2008 (14:26)", "body": "The TV news people do expose after expose and nothing changes. That is depressing. I guess it's not much different here. Speaking of depressing, when the new MTA head came, he said they were going to increase services on some bus and subway lines since they had a surplus, then they raise fares and all of a sudden there's a deficit and they can't implement most of the changes and say they need to raise fares again. Then the Daily News (again!) found out he got a big incremental raise that was built into his contract with one or 2 more due. People didn't take to him getting a raise when they're crying poverty."}, {"response": 419, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Aug 22, 2008 (14:44)", "body": "On top of everything, we have some reverend telling parents/kids to boycott the first day of school (Chicago Public School System) and to register at a suburban one. They've targeted one for the Wilmette/Winnetka, Glencoe area, which would have an excellent academic record and would be a prime example of the inequity of school systems funded by local property taxes. That isn't entirely accurate, as my property taxes go to fund schools in southern Illinois too. Anyway, the Urban League is now suing the state of Illinois. I'd love for our property tax-based education system to be replaced by one on income taxes (now 3% in Illinois) but have a nagging feeling that my property taxes won't go down by much despite that change. It'll be another smoke and mirrors game like money from the state lottery that was supposed to add to the education coffers, but instead allowed the state to divert its funds to waste and cronies, while using the lottery money as its sole source."}, {"response": 420, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Aug 26, 2008 (01:03)", "body": "FYI, in the \"My Daughter Michelle Obama\" video, the photo of the \"apartment\" they lived in sure looked like a house to me. Granted, I'm not from the south side, but that same style exists on the north side and most people call them houses. ;-) If a building like that were subdivided into apartments, it would most likely be against the law."}, {"response": 421, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Aug 26, 2008 (01:32)", "body": "Really? Houses being subdivided are against the law there? Basement apts are illegal here, but that's it. I had it on but didn't watch the video. Or watch her or her brother speak, but I did listen....mostly. Was multitasking. She's an impressive speaker. Those kids were cute. Watched Teddy's though. And the speech. Looks like his hair didn't grow back for the most part where they most likely shaved it for surgery. It was full on one side and mostly long thin strands on the left. I was thinking as I watched him walk on and off the stage, being mildly held by the arm at times, that I'd bet it took almost literally every ounce of his strength to get up there and speak, because he obviously wasn't overly steady. And even just get there. Then, in reading some blog threads about it, several mentioned that apparently no one was sure until almost the last minute if he was going out there. The Boston Globe had a breaking news alert not long before that he was actually going to go on himself. Apparently his MD's were concerned about him being around so many people with his immune system depressed. I'm sure he was buoyed by the energy of the crowd and his desire to give what I'll imagine will be his last hurrah. I'd honestly be shocked if he made it to the inauguration. Maybe even Xmas. Unfortunately. He has a strong will, though it's a wicked type of tumor he has. And I don't remember at all that he can't raise his arms really more than shoulder level. Was he always like that? I never noticed I guess. McCain's the same way IIRC. And what is all that stupid mess with the Clinton delegates....starting a roll call, then stopping it partway through and giving them to Obama?....blah, blah, blah. What a mess. Are they stopping it because they're afraid Obama won't end up with enough delegates after all? Or really, just some kind of appeasement to Clinton's supporters, though I'd be annoyed if it was stopped before my vote was counted if I was there as her supporter. I'm sick of it. Just get on with it one way or the other."}, {"response": 422, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Aug 26, 2008 (09:56)", "body": ""}, {"response": 423, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Aug 26, 2008 (09:56)", "body": "Houses being subdivided are against the law there? More like against code. Houses are zoned for usage. That looked to me like a typical single-family home. For it to be subdivided would require a zoning change, which I would imagine is doubtful. Are they stopping it because they're afraid Obama won't end up with enough delegates after all? No, I would imagine it is because the numbers won't show UNITY! ;-) The Dems want him to be perceived as the overwhelming favorite, which the actual committed delegate numbers wouldn't show. He squeaked out a victory over her, which I still maintain was suspect (engineered by the Republicans and their dirty tricks). I was watching PBS' coverage earlier, when the Kennedy tribute was live, and there were a couple of talking heads (names?) discussing Obama's claim about having Republican support, referring to them as Obamacans, which one would surmise from the crossover vote. Right? Both the talking heads said that he had minimal appeal for Republicans, whereas it was more likely that Democrats would vote Republican."}, {"response": 424, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Aug 26, 2008 (12:03)", "body": "(engineered by the Republicans and their dirty tricks). And how funny, Moon blames the Democrats. Jim Lehrer...on PBS? And Republicans were voting with her in the primaries so they could vote against her in the general election. What a convoluted mess. Why oh why couldn't Al Gore run? :-( If Obama wins, bet Gore will be Energy Sect'y. Actually, he'll still probably get more accomplished in the private sector even then."}, {"response": 425, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Aug 26, 2008 (12:19)", "body": "(Dorine) Jim Lehrer...on PBS? He wasn't one of the talking head experts on public opinion polling. Some woman was moderating at the time. I suppose I might find some hints if I go to their website and investigate. And Republicans were voting with her in the primaries so they could vote against her in the general election. Never heard that one. The Republican strategy would've been to have Rs cross-over and vote for O, so that he would be the Dem candidate, the data showing that O couldn't beat McCain. It wouldn't make sense to promote Clinton support to wreak havoc. If Rs crossed over, it would've been the disenfranchised older female sector that has been Hill's base and doesn't want to wait until Michelle Obama's daughters are of electable age to see a woman in the WH. :-( And it made me seethe to hear everyone (esp Teddy & clan) proclaiming how Obama was going to make health care available to everyone. I seem to recall that was Hill's issue. Talk about banking on people's short memories. Sickening! Anyway, this came up about our incredibly (but acceptable) sexist society: http://www.livescience.com/culture/080825-women-politics.html Click on some of the other links under the article too."}, {"response": 426, "author": "mari", "date": "Tue, Aug 26, 2008 (12:53)", "body": "(Karen)I seem to recall that was Hill's issue. Talk about banking on people's short memories. Sickening! It was her (and Bill's) issue going all the way back to the early days of his first term. Remember, he put her in charge of figuring out a way to do universal health coverage? She and he were crucified for it. I wonder if this is an idea whose time has come, even though every other industrialized nation in the world except us already has it. Have you seen the Republican ads that are playing on women's disappointment over Hillary not getting the nom, trying to drive a wedge and get women to vote Republican? Are they kidding? The R party has never spoken to me about anything I care about as a woman and now they want to talk to me? This is the party whose platforms and policies have fought tooth and nail over abortion rights, reproductive rights, stem cell research, family medical leave, etc.--and they want me to come over to their side? What are they giving me? What am I missing?"}, {"response": 427, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Aug 26, 2008 (13:00)", "body": "And Republicans were voting with her in the primaries so they could vote against her in the general election. I think Moon and I were discussing that a while ago. If it isn't upthread then we were discussing it in email. At the time of the Ohio primary, that's what many people were commenting on one of the websites for the city newspapers were saying they were going to do. I think it was the Cleveland Plain Dealer. I didn't see anyone anywhere say they were crossing over to vote for Obama for that reason. Heh, I saw the headline to that article yesterday, but hadn't read it yet."}, {"response": 428, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Aug 26, 2008 (13:02)", "body": "The R party has never spoken to me about anything I care about as a woman and now they want to talk to me? This is the party whose platforms and policies have fought tooth and nail over abortion rights, reproductive rights, stem cell research, family medical leave, etc.--and they want me to come over to their side? Hello!! Thank you!"}, {"response": 429, "author": "mari", "date": "Tue, Aug 26, 2008 (13:14)", "body": "Hello right back, Do, lol. Actually, they *have* given me something: crippling debt that my grandchildren's children will labor to re-pay.:-( So how are you all feeling about Joe Biden? Living in what's known as the Delaware Valley, I've been seeing him up close for years, and I think he's terrific."}, {"response": 430, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Aug 26, 2008 (13:34)", "body": "Actually, they *have* given me something: crippling debt that my grandchildren's children will labor to re-pay.:-( *snort* I'm ambivalent about Biden. He talks a mean game, but doesn't always follow through and at times turns around and votes against my best interests."}, {"response": 431, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Aug 26, 2008 (14:11)", "body": "(Karen), The Republican strategy would've been to have Rs cross-over and vote for O, so that he would be the Dem candidate, the data showing that O couldn't beat McCain. That is what I said and experienced first hand in VA. Hillary has always been way ahead of McCain in the polls. The Republicans have a chance to beat Obama. The health care issue has always been Hillary thing. Obama is an upstart taking everyone ideas under the Change poster. I'm not a sucker, and I'm not voting for him. It will be my first time voting Republican, and you can blame the undemocratic ways of Howard Dean and Pelosi. What has changed since the House and Senate went to the Democrats? Even Pelosi dropped her Bush impeachment promise. Have they spoken to you, Mari or you Dorine? I also feel it was very wrong of Obama to tell Pres. Clinton what he should speak about, that's unprecedented."}, {"response": 432, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Aug 26, 2008 (14:41)", "body": "What has changed since the House and Senate went to the Democrats? Even Pelosi dropped her Bush impeachment promise. Have they spoken to you, Mari or you Dorine? No, I'll grant you that and I've complained a great deal about it. But they also didn't have a solid majority, it's very slim. I'm still not happy with them. But the party itself still stands for ideals and ideas I ascribe to. Not all of them necessary, but as a whole. I didn't know Clinton was being told what to say....or not say. Wonder if they'll play him off the stage like they do at the Oscars, since he tends to be long winded. I have to go out tonight and must remember to set the recorder for Hillary tonight. I hope there's a more pinpointed schedule out now of at least what general time she'll speak."}, {"response": 433, "author": "mari", "date": "Tue, Aug 26, 2008 (15:47)", "body": "(Dorine)But the party itself still stands for ideals and ideas I ascribe to. Not all of them necessary, but as a whole. That's pretty much how I feel. I can't bite off my nose to spite my face."}, {"response": 434, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Aug 26, 2008 (17:08)", "body": "(Mari) It was her (and Bill's) issue going all the way back to the early days of his first term. Remember, he put her in charge of figuring out a way to do universal health coverage? Yes, I remember, which is why I said it was *her* issue. From what I've heard though she worked well with Teddy at that time (despite the crucifixtion). Wonder when the rift started? (Dorine) I didn't know Clinton was being told what to say....or not say. That was in the news a couple of days ago. He wanted to talk about the economy and how Bush has destroyed what he had built, but the DNC has said he could only talk about UNITY and OBAMA. I guess they don't want people to remember how good the American economy was during a Clinton administration."}, {"response": 435, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Aug 26, 2008 (17:27)", "body": "August 26, 2008 Clinton's Thankless Job By Marie Cocco WASHINGTON -- If there is a political job more fraught with peril than running to become the next commander in chief, surely it is being cast as cheerleader in chief. Hillary Clinton will be damned if she looks too methodically perfect, too much the purveyor of practiced routine and not enough the cheery personification of enthusiasm. She'll also be damned if she's too exuberant, too obviously raising her voice in unbridled exhortation for the team. She will either be deemed too cool or all-too-cagily warm. Clinton can't win Tuesday evening. But then, she knows that. She is set to address the Democratic National Convention in Denver to give the valedictory address of her 2008 campaign -- a race in which she went further than any woman in American history toward the elusive goal of electing a woman to the White House. But this is a speech that is also meant to soothe her bruised supporters and get them to support Barack Obama, a man who -- for not a few of them -- has brazenly overtaken the more-qualified woman to grab the prize and in so doing has writ large the story of their own lives. Clinton is a woman who knows how to lose -- to lose any shred of privacy, to lose face, to lose any expectation of being treated with a modicum of respect by the talking heads in the media and now, to lose a bid for the Democratic presidential nomination that she expected to win. As if to heap insult upon injury, the Obama campaign let it be known that it did not for a minute seriously consider Clinton as a running mate, notwithstanding the 18 million votes she earned during the primaries and her demonstrated ability to win over white, working-class voters who remain cool to Obama and are necessary for victory in the fall. Those 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling that the Obama forces conceded could gain a reference in the party's platform are, apparently, just words. In her 2003 memoir \"Living History,\" this is how Clinton described her reaction to her earliest political loss, during her senior year in high school: \"I ran for student government president against several boys and lost, which did not surprise me but still hurt, especially because one of my opponents told me I was 'really stupid if I thought a girl could be elected president.' As soon as the election was over, the winner asked me to head the Organizations Committee which, as far as I could tell was expected to do most of the work. I agreed.\" The work of the next phase of Clinton's career has been going on doggedly, and often with little notice, since she suspended her campaign on June 7. She's been a campaign emissary for Obama to the Sheet Metal Workers union, to Hispanics and others in New Mexico and Nevada; to older women in South Florida who still haven't quite accepted the loss of what may be for some of them their last chance to see a woman elected president. The June speech Clinton made in departing from the race was, among Democratic activists, \"probably the most seen, talked about, buzzed about speech of the campaign,\" says Mike Lux, a consultant for Democratic interest groups and an Obama supporter. It went over well, even among Obama loyalists. That tends to be how Clinton does things. The public Clinton doesn't usually show hints of the private pain that burns inside. The same cannot be said of some of her supporters, who can be expected to stage at least a few demonstrations of their fury at the outcome of the race, and at what they perceive as repeated displays of disrespect Obama has shown their hero. It is not lost on them that in selecting Joe Biden to be the vice presidential nominee, Obama has chosen a Washington insider who voted in favor of the Iraq War -- two of the sustained attacks on Clinton that Obama used to devastating effect during the primaries. The television cameras will linger on angry and tearful Clinton delegates in the convention crowd. The commentators will no doubt take this as a demonstration of disunity -- and not a few will, of course, blame Clinton. But it is usually the job of the party nominee to build unity once a vanquished rival has conceded and made the right gestures. Unless the loser happens to be a woman. Then it's just like high school, and she must do the work. mariecocco@washpost.com Copyright 2008, Washington Post Writers Group"}, {"response": 436, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Aug 26, 2008 (17:29)", "body": "Gigi Gaston's new film on voter fraud in the 2008 election is an important part of the Democratic Party's debates this week. Was the election won through dirty tricks and fraud? It's a must see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGZFgMNM-UU"}, {"response": 437, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Aug 26, 2008 (17:35)", "body": "Interesting blogs: http://politicallydrunk.blogspot.com/2008/08/emil-jones-to-clinton-supporter.html http://savagepolitics.com/?p=1588"}, {"response": 438, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Aug 26, 2008 (17:43)", "body": "I just received this email from A Hillary Delegate in Denver: Just left the Women Count luncheon which featured Hillary and Chelsea here in Denver. Hillary looked fabulous and sounded strong, and Chlesea stood at her side smiling. There were at least 500 people there and many notables. The message was clear --- the sexism in the media and in the Democratic party needs to be addressed and the Women Count PAC WILL be a watchdog for any repeats of the horrendous treatment Hillary received at the hands of the media, the Obama campaign, and the Democratic Party leadership for our future women candidates. And she urged everyone to support the Women Count PAC because it was as necessary as the suffrage groups of the last century. Many nodded and applauded at that. www.womencount.com A nice tribute was made to Stephanie Tubbs Jones, who was to be a featured speaker at this event. Some words somber, some said with humor about this gracious and and dynamic woman. I always thought that she should have been the campaign's chief spokesperson -- she did a fabulous job for Hillary on the national media. God bless her. I keep hearing about the poor treatment of Hillary delegates and supporters as they walk around town. There appears to be no toleration for anything other than Obama, which is sad to see in the Democratic Party. In all the conventions which I have attended, as a delegate or a volunteer worker, I have never seen nor heard of such in tolerance and disrespect of one candidate's supporters by another candidate. I have been warned twice not to wear any Hillary paraphernelia by colleagues because of the abuse being helped upon us. Sad commentary -- this now becoming \"a change I can't believe in....\""}, {"response": 439, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Aug 26, 2008 (18:24)", "body": "Important to see this proof of the fraud. The documentary, We Will Not Be Silenced, is up on the film website: http://wewillnotbesilenced2008.com/video/index.htm The information in the film is especially jarring for those who were not in caucus states, but it is information that our party must face. There is a reason why half of all Hillary voters are not currently willing to vote for Obama, and this is a big part of it. Unless our party faces the fact that Hillary voters have grievances that go far, far beyond normal bruised feelings, we will be hamstrung, incapable of taking the White House, and will blow down-ticket races with the negative coattails of a candidate who lacks legitimacy. It would be unfair to delegates, both pledged and super, to withhold this otherwise untold story prior to their votes in Denver. This is, oddly, also an opportunity for unity; if the Obama campaign stated forcefully that they played rough in a caucus system that must be abolished, it would heal a lot of wounds. Hillary voters deserve that much."}, {"response": 440, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Aug 26, 2008 (18:27)", "body": "Mike Smerconish is on the MSNBC panel at the moment (6:25p EST)."}, {"response": 441, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Aug 26, 2008 (18:39)", "body": "But it is usually the job of the party nominee to build unity once a vanquished rival has conceded and made the right gestures. Unless the loser happens to be a woman. Then it's just like high school, and she must do the work. Great article!"}, {"response": 442, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Aug 26, 2008 (22:47)", "body": "Interesting. HRC is just starting to speak now, but there's an AP article saying she spoke already and what she said. Yes, I know they get the text beforehand, but it's still strange to report on something that hasn't happened yet."}, {"response": 443, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Aug 26, 2008 (22:49)", "body": "And you know, like with Ted Kennedy and Al Gore, she may end up being as successful if not more and more influential outside of the presidency, at least as far as guiding health care policy. She has the gravitas of being a Senator now rather than just a First Lady."}, {"response": 444, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Aug 26, 2008 (23:03)", "body": "Moon, if Hillary is imploring you not to vote for McCain, why would you just to be spiteful? And she's giving very good reasons not to."}, {"response": 445, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Aug 26, 2008 (23:51)", "body": "She gave a brilliant speech. I loved the emotion and the way she ended it with the famous Harriet Tubman words. Totally caught you at every level. And the part about women's rights. OMG! That couldn't have been any better. Now, I'm listening to the heads regurgitating her speech, and how is that they're (and I'm including the infamous anti-Hillariest Chris Matthews) now saying how valid women's concerns have been and that Obama had better stand behind her. Brian Williams just said that they can't ignore the 18 million cracks in the ceiling. Could someone please playback their commentary of a couple of months ago?"}, {"response": 446, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Aug 26, 2008 (23:56)", "body": "It was a fabulous speech. This is an interesting panel with Nora O'Donnell, Pat Buchanan, Rachel Madow and another man I don't know. I'm sick of all the screaming people behind all the various commentators on MSNBC. It interrupts them and it's distracting to them and me."}, {"response": 447, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Aug 27, 2008 (09:15)", "body": "Moon, are you a PUMA member? Does one become a member or just sort of vaguely follow them?"}, {"response": 448, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Aug 27, 2008 (12:38)", "body": "Yes, I am a Puma. Here is the email I received today from Ricki: ELECTABILITY WATCH (EW) Rasmussen: Obama 44%, McCain 44% McCain gets Bounce during Obama Convention Gallup: Obama 44%, McCain 46% No Bounce for Obama in Post-Biden Tracking This is the first time since Obama clinched the nomination in early June that McCain has held any kind of advantage over Obama in Gallup Poll Daily tracking. All, As we come into the \"home stretch\", please look at the polling, post-Biden. As a mentor of mine used to say, \"Don't get seduced by your own propaganda\". For all the glitter and hoopla in Denver, Obama still is not \"sealing the deal\" with the American voters. IF, and there are lots of ifs. IF the 18 million Hillary voters are accurately represented in Denver (haven't been replaced, threatened or flipped) and vote representing the people who sent them to Denver, and IF the Super Delegates vote for ELECTABIITY, their only job, THEN... IF this could not happen, why are BO and the DNC so afraid of a full open roll call, consistent with proud Democratic tradition? Pledged Delegates and Super Delegates, please think about it. Hillary supporters - in the coming hours, please help them think about it as well. GO GO GO! Ricki I have yet to figure out why sticking to one's beliefs and values should be characterized as \"die-hard\"... 1. DELEGATE HAPPENINGS \ufffd NEW YORK: CHARLES G. STURCKEN, a campaign worker writes, \"To my greatest shock and dismay I have learned that Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney will not be voting for Hillary on the first ballot! She should be ashamed that she is voting contrary to the will of her Democratic constituents. The height of her folly is that she is on a book tour peddling her book, \"Rumors of Our Progress\", about the struggle of women over the past decades !! For shame that she would end up a turncoat ! Shame Shame Shame! I urge all fellow New Yorkers to call her campaign office at 212 - 987 - 5516. OR email her at info@carolynmaloney.com. \ufffd CALIFORNIA: Chris Stampolis DNC member from Calif.\" I signed the official Hillary nomination petition tonite at the Arena. Lots of high profile signers. I expect a roll-call.\" \ufffd KENTUCKY: Olivia Anne Fuchs reporting that \"Team Hillary Kentucky & Hillary's Delegates in Denver stand tall for our girl!\" \ufffd TEXAS: John Grothues: This evening the organizers were making sure that people could sign petitions to nominate Hillary and Obama and for vp Biden. I saw no one discouraging anyone from signing the petition of his or her choice. In fact Obama people were passing the petition to Hillary people and vice versa. It seriously looks like we will get the chance to vote for Hillary. \ufffd ALABAMA: Sarah writes: \"Due to the terrible way that she was treated in this election, by the press, Obama people, NOT counting Fla. and Michigan votes and etc., I myself feel as Bill Clinton, \"This is like a fairytale\"!! No matter how this turns out, watch out, HILLARY WILL come back even stronger than ever, BECAUSE NOW SHE KNOWS WHO HER SUPPORTERS ARE\". \ufffd OHIO: Delegates report consensus that Clinton can not be asked to solve Obama's problem. They say it is up to Obama to make the case for his economic policies and respond to persistent questions about his experience, values, toughness and vision, that no speech from Clinton or anyone else can do for Obama what he most needs to do for himself and has failed miserably, to date. 2. CAUCUS FRAUD: 3% of the total primary voters produced 15% of the total delegates. One person, one vote? Totally distorted totals compounded by rampant fraud? Is this how the Democratic Party chooses a candidate? Apparently. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGZFgMNM-UU THE PROCESS OF FLIPPING DELEGATES: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nROKBU_KlZw&feature=related 3. Judgement?: Matt Hicks writes, \"Early in the campaign and throughout, Senator Obama has made the statements that this election is not about having the experience but the right \"Judgment.\" Not that I am against Joe Biden as V.P., but that Barack never did consider Senator Clinton as his V.P. choice nor even vetted her. Hillary won the popular vote and is the most qualified candidate to be President let alone V.P. This is one more example of Obama's lack of serious judgment and his tacit acknowledgement of his own lack of experience.\" 4. WHY? Tony Parente writes: Last couple of days have made me question even more why I should remain a democrat and not become an independent. For example, why is Obama talking so much about McCain's 7 houses instead of accepting McCain's invitation for town halls to talk about issues the American people care about like jobs and healthcare. The Kennedy's own one or ten houses. Who cares how many houses McCain has. And why is Obama sending out text messages about his VP selection at 3am and then saying it had nothing to do with Hillary's 3am ad? How immature is this? And how has this self proclaimed man of unity going to unite the party and sit across from dictators when he can'"}, {"response": 449, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Aug 27, 2008 (12:46)", "body": "I must say it hurt to watch Hillary last night, so presidential. Those stupid Obama supporters don't know what they threw away. She was fantastic! Did you know that the Obama people are going for a five second delay tonight with Bill's speech? Dorine, I resent the fact that DNC selected the candidate. Have you seen the fraud that was perpetuated by the Obama people in the caucuses? Look at the documentary link I posted above. His delegate numbers are a fraud. I can't trust them, they don't speak for me and they ignored the will of the people. Michelle Obama looked as if she were sitting on a firecraker while Hillary was speaking. She smiles only when she or her husband are mentioned. I bet she hated the ovation Hill received last night."}, {"response": 450, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Aug 27, 2008 (13:19)", "body": "Did you know that the Obama people are going for a five second delay tonight with Bill's speech? They have NO ability to make this happen. They can ask (although I can't imagine they would even try) but it is the networks that do this. Personally, I wouldn't even approach a network to make that request because of how it will look. Michelle Obama looked as if she were sitting on a firecraker while Hillary was speaking. She smiles only when she or her husband are mentioned. I bet she hated the ovation Hill received last night. She did what she was told to do. Her smile was fixed, so plastic. I like to compare MO's mention of the anniversary of women's right to vote vs Hillary's. So much more impact and emotion. When MO mentioned it, I thought it was something she was told to include. Meaningless to her and to her message. Couple that with the part about her daughters' future world. Ugh! Are Americans (principally American women) so stupid and so provincial (or under their husband's thumbs) that they don't realize how pathetic our country is compared to the rest of the world, where women have been heads of state for, what, nearly 30 years? Don't they know that? What is their problem? We're over half the population and don't have anywhere near the representation we should have in government!"}, {"response": 451, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Aug 27, 2008 (13:27)", "body": "So true, Karen! And also ask why the Us still has not passed the Equal Rights Amendment? I care for that more than I care for Roe vs Wade. MO is all about MO it's the Obama theme. :-( I don't believe a word she says, she's not personable. Cindy McCain is in Georgia trying to help that country's people. Here is a comment from and Aol blogger, I happen to agree with: Bridie 7:43AM Aug 27th 2008 Hillary was fantastic, as we all should have expected. You can't blame her for not convincing me to vote for obama. Obama made a huge strategic mistake. He once again demonstrated his arrogance and showed off his inexperience by refusing to bring both President Clinton and Senator Clinton onto his team. More importantly, he is an idiot for believing his own self created mythology. This may be the first time a convention does not create the expected bump in Polls. A truly historic event! His approach so far has been disastrous and the Dems have no one to fault but themselves. The myth that this guy can bring people together is finally seeing the light of day. He doesn't even try when it's hard. This is a guy who has been dependent upon the easy low hanging fruit where he can do nothing and take credit for everything. Pelosi, Reid, Daschle and Dean and all due respect Ted Kennedy, placed a big bet on an unknown, unproven, inexperienced and self fascinated B.S.ing guy with the shallowest resume I have ever see in a presidential candidate."}, {"response": 452, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Aug 27, 2008 (13:32)", "body": "And another thing, Hillary's mention that BO would sign into law a health care that would cover every American made me cringe. That's her baby, that's her right. BO has copied Hillary's plans since the beginning because he has none. He is as ambitious as they come and will stop at nothing to become President. Is that who you want as a President?"}, {"response": 453, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Aug 27, 2008 (13:40)", "body": "he is an idiot for believing his own self created mythology And a mythology it is. He hasn't done sh*t for anyone, even here in Illinois during his short state legislative term. BTW, I do hope the rumors circulating yesterday aren't true about how the roll call would end with the NY delegation and Hillary turning over her state's votes. How humiliating would that be? She wins all the big states (except IL) and then has to turn them over. The DNC honchos should've just shorn her hair, ripped her clothes and branded her with a red C (for competency) and then put her in a hairshirt. She doesn't deserve this."}, {"response": 454, "author": "mari", "date": "Wed, Aug 27, 2008 (13:42)", "body": "(Moon)That's her baby, that's her right. So, Obama can't introduce any improvement because it was already somebody else's idea? Sorry, I don't understand that thinking. You know I was and remain 100% for Hillary, but it's over for now. She will get a high ranking cabinet spot, or if BO bombs in November, she will run again in 2012. Nothing else can be done for now, and nothing is to be gained by spiteful support of McCain. Read the Democratic and Republican platforms and tell me where you think the country's interests are better served. The R platform is diametrcailly opposed to much of what Hillary has spent her career working for. Why would I undermine her work. Yeah, I'm pissed, I really am. I couldn't even watch her speech all the way through becuase I began to cry and get myself upset. But I have to move on."}, {"response": 455, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Aug 27, 2008 (14:13)", "body": "Mari don't misunderstand, it is not about spite. I don't trust Obama, he's a crook, please read up on his Chicago dealings, watch the documentary. I don't want to be part of his hidden agenda. He was selected not elected. That is not democracy. I consider myself an Independent this election. So, Obama can't introduce any improvement because it was already somebody else's idea? What improvements? Please elaborate. His plan doesn't cover every American."}, {"response": 456, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Aug 27, 2008 (14:39)", "body": "Luckily, I don't have to vote for O in my state, as it will deliver with or without me. If I prefer to squander my vote on, say, a write-in, it won't help McCain. I don't trust Obama, he's a crook, please read up on his Chicago dealings I should take offense. NOT! They're all crooks. Can't get elected in Illinois without being totally corrupt. BTW, I had to laugh when David Gregory was interviewing Rahm Emmanuel and said he was part of the Chicago mafia. But he was another Clinton person (like Bill Richardson) who didn't support Hillary. No wonder Bill is still angry."}, {"response": 457, "author": "mari", "date": "Wed, Aug 27, 2008 (16:03)", "body": "What improvements? Health care was the example you used. His plan doesn't cover every American. Which is one of the many reasons I was for Hillary. Sorry, I can't waste my vote. Imagine how different the country (and the world) might be if eight years ago a few more people in a few more precincts had voted for Gore. (And, no I am not putting BO on Gore's level.)"}, {"response": 458, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Aug 27, 2008 (18:32)", "body": "I haven't read all the comments and can't figure out why someone posted something about an energy issue in the middle of them. Hillary Quietly Calls Out Obama On Universal Health Care By: Ian Welsh Wednesday August 27, 2008 1:32 pm http://firedoglake.com/2008/08/27/hilary-quietly-calls-out-obama-on-universal-healthcare/"}, {"response": 459, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Aug 27, 2008 (18:40)", "body": "Richards: \ufffdA woman voting for John McCain would be like a chicken voting for Colonel Sanders.\ufffd By: Blue Texan Wednesday August 27, 2008 9:50 am You probably didn't see it, but that line was delivered by Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood and the daughter of former governor Ann Richards. Not to state the obvious, but the cable news networks suck. I did my best to flip around during the speeches, and at one point, David Gregory and some other air talking head were babbling about the Democrats not attacking -- while on PBS (and right behind them), Kathleen Sebelius was attacking McSame. Unreal. Here's a few of the best moments that the corporate media didn't bother to cover: http://firedoglake.com/2008/08/27/richards-a-woman-voting-for-john-mccain-would-be-like-a-chicken-voting-for-colonel-sanders/"}, {"response": 460, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Aug 27, 2008 (18:42)", "body": "You know, maybe there's some sort of backroom deal a la Tony Blair/Gordon Brown going on we know nothing about. And maybe Hillary will finally be able to work through a health care deal and Obama will help make it happen because he...and the Dems, owe her. Well, and maybe I woke up. ;-)"}, {"response": 461, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Aug 27, 2008 (22:19)", "body": "This is tape delayed an hour or something. I'm reading all his speech comments before he's said them on Firedoglake.com. The time stamps are almost an hour ago. And this speech was supposed to be 10 mins? Heh, heh. I love me some Bill Clinton."}, {"response": 462, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Aug 27, 2008 (22:22)", "body": "Talk about being in one's element. Damn."}, {"response": 463, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Aug 27, 2008 (22:32)", "body": "Oh I get it! MSNBC is lying when it says LIVE. Just switched to PBS and it's Biden on, though even their coverage is about 10mins behind what's being liveblogged. Missed Kerry. Wow, what's up with MSNBC?"}, {"response": 464, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Aug 27, 2008 (23:04)", "body": "5. An UWSider drinks the kool aide with a case of the bitters: H: Ricki: Give it up. It's over. You risk being viewed as disloyal, petulant and unrealistic. Not a great way of being perceived for someone whose intelligence, commitment and leadership have been important community assests.(sic) RRL: By whom (will I be so viewed)? H: Those who remember the McCarthy dead-enders who sabotaged Hubert Humphrey and gave us Richard Nixon. And the 2002 Naderites who aided George Bush. Other examples of Democratic circular firing squad abound. RRL: Wow. That's hardly specific. None of us likes to be chatted about behind our back - I would rather know who specifically is offended so we can have a reasonable discussion. Actually - what an extraordinary response, that you would characterize as McCarthyism, my discussions of a potential nominee representing the Democratic Party with values such as having sat in Rev Wright's church for 20 years, associated with and took money from Bill Ayers and Tony Rezko, stood silent with a smirk on his face at the sexist vicious media, asserted falsely he was consistently against the Irag war, rigged the caucuses to fraudulently gain delegates, etc etc. Let me be clear - this is not the party I have valued and worked for, and Obama is certainly not the nominee who represents the values, judgment and experience I believe Democrats should be proud of. If this is your definition of being disloyal, petulant and unrealistic - well, it takes my breathe away. I find Ricki quite disingenuous here in her responses and doesn't impress me at all."}, {"response": 465, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Aug 27, 2008 (23:16)", "body": "(Karen) Are Americans (principally American women) so stupid and so provincial (or under their husband's thumbs) that they don't realize how pathetic our country is compared to the rest of the world, where women have been heads of state for, what, nearly 30 years? Don't they know that? What is their problem? Were these rhetorical questions? ;-) A naturalized citizen friend of mine was basically saying this exact thing (except for the women part) to me last week. (Moon) Dorine, I resent the fact that DNC selected the candidate. I can't blame you really. Not dissimilar to my feeling over the SCOTUS election decision. Ok, I guess I've multiple posted enough for the night. ;-)"}, {"response": 466, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Aug 28, 2008 (10:49)", "body": "(Dorine) You know, maybe there's some sort of backroom deal a la Tony Blair/Gordon Brown going on we know nothing about. I prefered the backroom dealings when there was more vitriol on the floor. All this smiling and unity crap is giving me early onset diabetes. ;-) (Dorine) I love me some Bill Clinton. Talk about being in one's element. Damn. Yep, the man's a master. Everyone else paled in comparison yesterday, Biden included. Both he and his son were awful speakers. Oh I get it! MSNBC is lying when it says LIVE...Wow, what's up with MSNBC? Who knows? However, I can't really complained because I hardly ever watch anything in real time anymore due to Tivo. I like to be able to FF at all times and will purposely watch something else I have stored so that I can FF. If you want actual live coverage, there is always CSPAN, I think. It may have real gavel-to-gavel coverage, as in times of old."}, {"response": 467, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Aug 28, 2008 (11:10)", "body": "Biden really did suck the air out of the room didn't he. I felt bad for him actually. He must've hated knowing he had to follow Bill."}, {"response": 468, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Aug 28, 2008 (13:49)", "body": "Apparently a lot of lookups on son Beau and his \"mysterious\" ending about not being able to be there for his dad during the final campaign days. Turns out he's a captain in the reserves and is being deployed to Iraq in early October."}, {"response": 469, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Aug 28, 2008 (14:35)", "body": "Yesterday's roll call was a farce. But how else would Obama let her proceed? He wants to control everything and there was no way he wasn't going to get his phony \"Unity\" BS out there. It's important to note that the polls are not advancing in Obama's favor as they should be and as they have traditionally done in the past. Also, did you know that when he found out that he wasn't filling that stadium, he reached out and asked Bruce Springsteen to play after his speech?"}, {"response": 470, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Aug 28, 2008 (14:54)", "body": "SHE DONE HIM RIGHT SEN. CLINTON DELIVERS ALL OBAMA COULD ASK Kirsten Powers NY POST WHY is Hillary Clinton not Barack Obama's running mate? That question had to be on many minds last night as Clinton delivered a rousing endorsement of Obama - a speech that moved between inspiration and attack, hitting every note perfectly. The backdrop was constant carping that Hillary hasn't done enough for the candidate she lost the primary to. Never mind that she has behaved immeasurably better than losing candidates before her who'd won far less support than she did. It's easy to get confused about this, since so many in the anti-Hillary media who hysterically demanded her exit from the race have conveniently edited out from history anything that doesn't fit into their nonsense narrative, as if her campaign invented party discord. Let's review: Hillary Clinton - amid outrage at her behavior - made her concession speech and endorsed Obama five days after the last primary. The way Obama's fans in the media tell it, you'd think she took months. Compare to 1984, when Gary Hart waited nearly a month to concede the race to Walter Mondale. Ted Kennedy, who in the ultimate act of disunity challenged an incumbent Democratic president in 1980, waited until the convention to concede to Jimmy Carter. When Kennedy finally did concede, it was barely distinguishable from a temper tantrum. CBS's Walter Cronkite reported, \"Kennedy leaves the stand, sober, unsmiling. There will be no pictures in tomorrow morning's paper, and none for posterity, of Ted Kennedy holding Jimmy Carter's hand aloft.\" As Steve Kornacki (one of the few reporters to show an interest in accurate historical analogies this campaign season) aptly pointed out in The New York Observer, when Kennedy and Hart were running much farther back in their bids for the nomination - Kennedy was trailing by 1,000 delegates in '80; Hart by 600 in '84 - they didn't get hit by any serious pressure to drop out. Clinton, by contrast, was harassed by media to drop out even as she was winning major states and running neck-and-neck with Obama in the popular vote. When she considered taking the fight to the convention, the idea was greeted with disbelief that she'd be so selfish. Yet Hart and Kennedy both fought on at the convention; Kennedy only conceded after failing to change party rules to his favor. It's this double standard that so enrages Hillary supporters. Obama supporters and party leaders continue to insult Hillary voters - and then seem shocked when so many of them say they're going to vote Republican this year. Nancy Pelosi, underscoring why Congress under her leadership has an approval rating teetering on single digits, lectured female Hillary supporters in an interview this week - telling them to not wallow in defeat. Said the multimillionairess daughter of privilege: \"I think that women, we have to get away from the politics of victim. This is about you go out there and you fight.\" Thanks, Nancy. I'm sure all the working-class women who supported Hillary didn't realize that the real problem is they need to get off their butts and \"go out there and fight.\" But now they know that being disappointed that their candidate didn't win - an emotion plenty of men like, say, Ted Kennedy supporters in 1980 have experienced - is actually just being a whiny \"victim.\" This is why John McCain stands at the ready to scoop up any disaffected Clinton supporters. Just as the Democrats' convention was beginning in Denver, the McCain campaign and the Republican National Committee unleashed four TV ads geared toward Hillary voters. (Her response: \"I am Hillary Clinton and I did notapprove this message.\") The RNC held a press conference with four Democrats who declared their support for McCain since Clinton isn't on the ticket. Proving that truth is stranger than fiction, Hillary die-hards gathered at an RNC -sponsored \"Happy Hour for Hillary\" in Denver. (Clinton was invited, but demurred.) And, with last night's speech, she pulled out all the stops for Obama. She's done all she could - now the ball's in his court."}, {"response": 471, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Aug 28, 2008 (18:03)", "body": "Check this out, principally the second part with Samantha Bee: http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=183498&title=media-analysis-unity And this one, you're going to hate: http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=179256&title=Healing-Clinton-Supporters Hillary Clinton - amid outrage at her behavior - made her concession speech and endorsed Obama five days after the last primary. The way Obama's fans in the media tell it, you'd think she took months. Compare to 1984, when Gary Hart waited nearly a month to concede the race to Walter Mondale. Ted Kennedy, who in the ultimate act of disunity challenged an incumbent Democratic president in 1980, waited until the convention to concede to Jimmy Carter. I saw Lisa Caputo toss those examples (and more) back at Chris Matthews, I think, and he kept asking her why she was laughing at him. He was asking her about what HC's speech beforehand. And, I remember, Lisa Caputo, pretty much exasperated, saying \"gimme a break!\" And then about all those other candidates who didn't endorse their opponents. When she considered taking the fight to the convention, the idea was greeted with disbelief that she'd be so selfish. Yet Hart and Kennedy both fought on at the convention; Kennedy only conceded after failing to change party rules to his favor. It's this double standard that so enrages Hillary supporters. Precisely. :-("}, {"response": 472, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Aug 28, 2008 (19:31)", "body": "(Moon) Also, did you know that when he found out that he wasn't filling that stadium, he reached out and asked Bruce Springsteen to play after his speech? Where did you hear/read that? I did read he asked him to play, but Stevie Wonder is playing in his spot instead. And they did use that Springsteen song, \"The Rising\" after he came out with Biden last night. Is that supposed to be his theme, like \"Don't Stop\" for Bill Clinton, which I noticed they played an instrumental version of when he came out last night."}, {"response": 473, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Aug 28, 2008 (20:49)", "body": "Why is Gore speaking as if he's late, he's late, for a very important date?"}, {"response": 474, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Aug 28, 2008 (21:12)", "body": "LOL! He had a lot of wonky talk to cram in. Why else? ;-)"}, {"response": 475, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Aug 28, 2008 (21:54)", "body": "I finally switched over to CSPAN because the clowns on MSNBC have nothing original to say and decided to give O's speech before he did. What is the matter with these people? (rhetorical) I've seen Jennifer Garner several times (today and yesterday). No Ben though. And today I saw Jin from Lost."}, {"response": 476, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Aug 28, 2008 (22:46)", "body": "Post-convention 'bounce' averages 10 points By ALAN FRAM, Associated Press Writer Thu Aug 28, 7:42 PM ET WASHINGTON - And now comes ... the wait for \"The Bounce.\" One thing presidential candidates hope they'll get from their nominating conventions is a healthy \"bounce\" \ufffd a gain in popularity as measured by public opinion polls. Since both parties' 1964 gatherings, candidates have enjoyed an average 10 percentage point gain in their margin against their opponent, based on calculations from figures provided by The Gallup Poll. But this year could be different with the two conventions almost back-to-back. Presidential hopefuls are usually eager to dampen the bounce their rival will enjoy. It's no coincidence that Republican John McCain is expected to announce his vice presidential running mate as early as Friday, a day after Barack Obama delivers his acceptance speech and the Democratic National Convention ends. The post-convention boost, however, doesn't always last and is hardly predictive of election outcomes. Since 1964, there's been no real difference between the bounce enjoyed by the two parties. Democrats have averaged an 11-point gain, Republicans 9 points. There's also no significant difference in bounces by the party that doesn't hold the White House \ufffd which by tradition holds the year's first convention \ufffd and the incumbent party. The out-of-power party averages an 11-point increase, compared to a 9-point boost for the incumbent party. The biggest boost was the 30-point increase Bill Clinton gained when running for president for the first time in 1992. He never relinquished his lead. The largest for Republicans: the 14-point increases George W. Bush gained in 2000 and that Richard Nixon enjoyed in 1968, and the 13-point bounce Ronald Reagan got in 1980. Clinton and Bush won their first races for president; Nixon, who narrowly lost in 1960, won in 1968 by nearly half a million votes. The smallest bounces were the 4-point drop John Kerry saw in his margin against President Bush in 2004, and the 3-point reduction George McGovern endured in 1972 against President Nixon. Both Democrats lost. These quick popularity boosts don't always mean much. In 1964, President Johnson and Republican Barry Goldwater saw convention bounces of about the same size, while in 1984 Democrat Walter Mondale's 16-point boost was double President Reagan's. Johnson and Reagan won landslides. In 2004 Bush got the smallest GOP bounce measured yet \ufffd 2 points \ufffd and was re-elected. Obama's bounce this year could be limited not only by McCain's expected selection of a running mate, but by the Republican convention itself, which begins four days after the Democrats' ends. But McCain's bounce could also be stifled. Gustav, a storm in the Caribbean, was nearing hurricane strength Thursday and could hit the Gulf Coast early next week, potentially a major distraction. And McCain's acceptance speech next Thursday night will have to compete with the nationally televised opening game of the NFL season, featuring the Super Bowl champion New York Giants."}, {"response": 477, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Aug 28, 2008 (22:47)", "body": "Ben is there, Karen. I saw Jen with I think it was Jessica Alba last night."}, {"response": 478, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Aug 29, 2008 (00:43)", "body": "I don\ufffdt believe that Sen. McCain doesn\ufffdt care what\ufffds going on in the lives of Americans. I just think he doesn\ufffdt know. Why else would he define middle-class as someone making under five million dollars a year? How else could he propose hundreds of billions in tax breaks for big corporations and oil companies but not one penny of tax relief to more than one hundred million Americans? How else could he offer a health care plan that would actually tax people\ufffds benefits, or an education plan that would do nothing to help families pay for college, or a plan that would privatize Social Security and gamble your retirement? It\ufffds not because John McCain doesn\ufffdt care. It\ufffds because John McCain doesn\ufffdt get it. As the young'uns say....Word."}, {"response": 479, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Aug 29, 2008 (09:06)", "body": "One thing I'll say about that speech outside of the content, I can't say I heard a lot of emotion behind it, unlike say, Bill Clinton's speech. I marvelled at that and really felt it, but can't say that about Obama's. But outside of that, it was a very well delivered speech. He's not dull, to me. I await John McCain's speech and all of the Republican Convention. I don't think I've ever watched so much of any convention, Dem or Republican, before."}, {"response": 480, "author": "mari", "date": "Fri, Aug 29, 2008 (09:59)", "body": "I think it's a riot the way the cable commentators are reading tea leaves on the R's VP choice. \"If a plane leaves Alaska and heads toward Ohio . . .\" Is that crafty old McCain about to pull a stunner? LOL, stay tuned."}, {"response": 481, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Aug 29, 2008 (10:35)", "body": "I couldn't come up with a name, but I did see Jessica Alba as well, in a shot with Jennifer. No Ben for me. Wonder if the celebs were told to stay off camera. I think they were too conspicuous four years ago, and Kerry got an image of being supported by too many Hollywood types, which was offputting to many Americans who hold \"family values\" above brains. ;-)"}, {"response": 482, "author": "mari", "date": "Fri, Aug 29, 2008 (10:44)", "body": "Yep, Ben was there, and J-Lo too."}, {"response": 483, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Aug 29, 2008 (11:09)", "body": "Didn't see either, but I had CSPAN on for most of last night's coverage. I'm curious why no one is pointing out the blatant lie, included in most of the speeches about Obama not going to some big-time law firm following graduation and chooseing, instead, to work among the out-of-work steelworkers? He and Michelle worked for Sidley & Austin, probably the biggest in Chicago, the most connected. Yeah, he didn't go to Wall Street, but S&A ain't small potatoes, doing storefront pro bono stuff."}, {"response": 484, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Aug 29, 2008 (11:11)", "body": "McCain chooses Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin for V.P. By LIZ SIDOTI, Associated Press Writer 4 minutes ago DENVER - John McCain tapped little-known Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to be his vice presidential running mate on Friday in a startling selection on the eve of the Republican National Convention. Two senior campaign officials disclosed Mccain's decision a few hours before the Republican presidential nominee-to-be and his newly-minted running mate appeared at a rally in swing-state Ohio. Palin is a self-styled hockey mom and political reformer who has been governor of her state less than two years. Palin's selection shocked numerous Republican officials. In making his pick, Mccain passed over several more prominent prospects who had figured in speculation for months \ufffd Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge among them. At 44, Palin is a generation younger that Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware, who is Barack Obama's running mate on the Democratic ticket. She is three years Obama's junior, as well \ufffd and McCain has made much in recent weeks of Obama's relative lack of experience in foreign policy and defense matters. Palin flew overnight to an airport in Ohio near Dayton, and even as she awaited her formal introduction, some aides said they had believed she was at home in Alaska. She is a former mayor of Wasilla who became governor of her state in December, 2006 after ousting a governor of her own party in a primary and then dispatching a former governor in the general election. More recently, she has come under the scrutiny of an investigation by the Republican-controlled legislature into the possibility that she ordered the dismissal of Alaska's public safety commissioner because he would not fire her former brother-in-law as a state trooper."}, {"response": 485, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Aug 29, 2008 (11:13)", "body": "What an odd choice for McCain. Would love to know the reasoning over some more high profile people. And I thought Nora O'Donnell and her smug self was saying *her* source indicated it was Pawlenty, but maybe I misremember. Maybe she didn't say and I assumed Pawlenty. I saw a picture of Ben (with a beard) sitting at the convention with Jen I thought about posting, but didn't. I didn't see J-Lo, but read she was there."}, {"response": 486, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Aug 29, 2008 (11:15)", "body": "More recently, she has come under the scrutiny of an investigation by the Republican-controlled legislature into the possibility that she ordered the dismissal of Alaska's public safety commissioner because he would not fire her former brother-in-law as a state trooper. This only makes sense is 'fire' should've been 'hire.' Known as a political reformer? Beating an incumbent of her own party? Man, this is a brilliant move."}, {"response": 487, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Aug 29, 2008 (11:16)", "body": "to work among the out-of-work steelworkers I don't understand this. How does a lawyer work among any kind of steelworker?"}, {"response": 488, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Aug 29, 2008 (11:18)", "body": "(karen) More recently, she has come under the scrutiny of an investigation by the Republican-controlled legislature into the possibility that she ordered the dismissal of Alaska's public safety commissioner because he would not fire her former brother-in-law as a state trooper. Oh right! I read about this situation a couple of weeks ago, but didn't pay attention to the gov's name nor make the connection now."}, {"response": 489, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Aug 29, 2008 (11:20)", "body": "Until now rather."}, {"response": 490, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Aug 29, 2008 (11:20)", "body": "What an odd choice for McCain. How? This is intended to balance not only his age, but outlook. She's young! And she's a she, which they're counting on attracting disenfranchised Hillary supporters. Without knowing a whole lot about her specifically, women are going to feel more comfortable with her on the ticket, thinking that their rights will be protected. Not necessarily a valid conclusion, given our history with people like Phyllis Schlaffly (sp?). :-( BTW. in the speeches last night wasn't there a mention of the next president possibly getting to appoint three Supreme Court justices in his first term? Which ones are likely to be retiring? Do you think a deal was struck for Hillary to be named, with a tacit promise to be elevated to Chief if it opens up?"}, {"response": 491, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Aug 29, 2008 (11:24)", "body": "How does a lawyer work among any kind of steelworker? He probably donated a bit of his time to the various outplacement centers, helped them fill out forms, etc. It isn't as though the Gary steel mills ever reopened. I had a college friend who wrote her doctoral dissertation on the leisure activities of those same blue-collar workers. We used laugh about how she was awarded a doctorate on bowling. ;-)"}, {"response": 492, "author": "mari", "date": "Fri, Aug 29, 2008 (11:37)", "body": "Palin is adamantly anti-abortion, a lifelong member of the NRA, and for aggressive drilling in the Alaska wildlife preserve. What a pandering move. Still shame on BO for not picking Hill. (Karen)This only makes sense is 'fire' should've been 'hire.' No, it's fire. He was involved in a bitter child custody dispute with her sister and she wanted him out. (Karen)Do you think a deal was struck for Hillary to be named, with a tacit promise to be elevated to Chief if it opens up? Not chief, but on the Supreme Court, or Secretary of State or Attorney General. Definitely a deal struck; that's the buzz among the Hill folks here in Joisey, for what it's worth."}, {"response": 493, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Aug 29, 2008 (11:46)", "body": "Expecting John Roberts to die/retire relatively soon? Isn't he the youngest of the bunch? Ginsberg (sp?) is one of the next ones out I'd think. Atty General maybe for Hil. I'd think Bill Richardson...or even Bill Clinton for State."}, {"response": 494, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Aug 29, 2008 (11:48)", "body": "While Secretary of State is a good position, she wouldn't be the first female. Attorney General? Who cares? Besides anything in his administration makes her subordinate to him. I'd go with Supreme Court and a promise to be elevated. That's the kind of ground-breaking role she'd take this dive for. Two branches of government headed by women? Yeah, that's the ticket. Merely being Sandra Day O'Connor's successor--refilling the second woman's seat--wouldn't be enough."}, {"response": 495, "author": "mari", "date": "Fri, Aug 29, 2008 (11:49)", "body": "(Do)Expecting John Roberts to die/retire relatively soon? LOL, no, which is why I said *not* \"chief.\" Stevens, the old liberal, is in his '80s and likely to retire, I'd think."}, {"response": 496, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Aug 29, 2008 (11:52)", "body": "Besides, I think Secretary of State has been promised to Oprah. ;-)"}, {"response": 497, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Aug 29, 2008 (11:59)", "body": "Attorney General? Who cares? No, the Atty General's office in the past 7 years is perceived by some as helping the current administration \"justify\" and \"legalize\" torture, localize all power into the Executive Branch and override 4th Amendment protections. In general, stomping on the Constitution rather than upholding it. I'd want someone like Hillary to bring some integrity back to that office and use it to protect our citizens, not spy and spit on them."}, {"response": 498, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Aug 29, 2008 (12:07)", "body": "I'm not arguing it isn't an important position and the one that would deal with the speech's phrase of \"contempt for the Constitution,\" I'm just saying that role isn't high profile enough for her. Plus it has the image going way back of being the president's hired gun. Nope"}, {"response": 499, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Aug 29, 2008 (12:19)", "body": "I wouldn't want the Supreme Court in any capacity. Nobody hears about those people except at the beginning of term and at the end when their decisions are made. I wouldn't want that if I were her."}, {"response": 500, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Aug 29, 2008 (12:28)", "body": "Except if you're working for a legacy. Could anyone but Chelsea Clinton be able to say that my father was president of the US and my mother was a Supreme Court justice or Chief Justice (men have been known to have unexpected, fatal heart attacks, especially at younger ages) ;-)"}, {"response": 501, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Aug 29, 2008 (12:30)", "body": "*snort* Palin's been compared to Quayle already. As a most unqualified VP. Except if you're working for a legacy. If that were the case, I'd rather stay in the Senate. Hard to say what her priorities are."}, {"response": 502, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Aug 29, 2008 (12:35)", "body": "Hmmm...I'm not sure where she fits in here: McCain spokesman Ben Porritt offered, \ufffdMcCain is going to pick a VP based on merit; a proven leader with sound judgment and well rounded experience that will give the public confidence that he/she is able to step in and govern at a moment\ufffds notice.\ufffd"}, {"response": 503, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Aug 29, 2008 (12:35)", "body": "I would say her priorities had to be power (to effect change) and prestige. In the Senate, she's only one of 100. If any health care package gets through Congress, you just know it is going to be labeled the \"Edward M Kennedy Memorial Health Care Bill.\""}, {"response": 504, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Aug 29, 2008 (12:53)", "body": "Palin's been compared to Quayle already. As a most unqualified VP. Apparently that title actually goes to Spiro Agnew."}, {"response": 505, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Aug 29, 2008 (12:53)", "body": "I'd say there are quite a number of Senators, past and present, esp Ted Kennedy, I'd wouldn't characterize as simply \"one of 100\". That might be true with the Health Care Bill, but maybe that's part of her deal. It'll be the Kennedy/Clinton Health Care Bill. I just want to get to the election."}, {"response": 506, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Aug 29, 2008 (12:57)", "body": "Apparently that title actually goes to Spiro Agnew. Someone else mentioned Admiral Stockdale."}, {"response": 507, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Aug 29, 2008 (12:57)", "body": "Of course Ross Perot was no fabulous Pres candidate either. ;-)"}, {"response": 508, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Aug 29, 2008 (12:59)", "body": "But the distinction is \"major\" political party."}, {"response": 509, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Aug 29, 2008 (13:00)", "body": "Is there going to be a VP debate or have they chucked that too? Frankly, it will be no contest again. Tough to choose between personal tragedies/hardships. Apparently she has a son with Down's."}, {"response": 510, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Aug 29, 2008 (13:03)", "body": "Bet Biden would wipe the floor with her. Though not fair for me to say I supposed as I've never heard her say anything."}, {"response": 511, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Aug 29, 2008 (13:06)", "body": "Agnew first was elected governor of MD in 1966, then became VP in '68. His local and/or state experience was minimal. 1957-1961: appointment to the Baltimore County Board of Zoning Appeals 1960: lost election for Judge of the Circuit Court 1962: elected Baltimore County Executive (must be like our county president position) 1966: elected governor"}, {"response": 512, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Aug 29, 2008 (13:16)", "body": "From a Tribune article: The statement also said Palin has challenged the influence of the big oil companies while fighting for the development of new energy sources. \"She leads a state that matters to every one of us - Alaska has significant energy resources and she has been a leader in the fight to make America energy independent,\" he said. As governor, she has raised taxes on the oil industry, pushed ethics legislation amidst corruption investigation of Alaska lawmakers and limited requests for congressional earmarks after Alaska's \"Bridge to Nowhere\" made the state a national laughingstock. ~~~~~~~~ Someone needs to take to a big city hair salon. She needs a makeover badly. ;-)"}, {"response": 513, "author": "Moon", "date": "Fri, Aug 29, 2008 (13:21)", "body": "Could there be a happier Moon? I am thrilled! McCain gets it alright, WORD! I have heard her speak and she does it well. I don't think there will be a problem with Biden. He couldn't touch the age or experience issue with her because of rookie Obama. Frankly, I wasn't impressed with Biden at the comvention. (Karen), I'd go with Supreme Court and a promise to be elevated. I agree. Although, I think Hillary might wish to run against McCain in 2012."}, {"response": 514, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Aug 29, 2008 (13:31)", "body": "(Mari) No, it's fire. He was involved in a bitter child custody dispute with her sister and she wanted him out. BTW, it will be viewed as a positive, a plus, by many women voters. ;-)"}, {"response": 515, "author": "Moon", "date": "Fri, Aug 29, 2008 (13:49)", "body": "Especially since the jerk left/abandoned his spouse."}, {"response": 516, "author": "mari", "date": "Fri, Aug 29, 2008 (14:07)", "body": "(Moon)Frankly, I wasn't impressed with Biden at the comvention. If you'd have seen him close up in action as a prenmier legislator for 30+ years, as I have, you'd be impressed.:-) Can't wait for the VP debate, and yes there will be one, in Missouri I think. I want to listen to this woman and learn more about her. I have to be honest though; I'd find it awfully hard to pull the lever for anyone who is anti Roe v. Wade. IMO, it's a woman's fundamental right."}, {"response": 517, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Aug 29, 2008 (14:21)", "body": "(Mari) I'd find it awfully hard to pull the lever for anyone who is anti Roe v. Wade. IMO, it's a woman's fundamental right. Quite. However, you'd be amazed by all the holier-than-thous out there who simply cannot allow other women to have the choice. I was positively shocked many years to find a friend, who was rabidly anti-abortion (which I attributed to her being Catholic), admit to having had two herself! Hypocrites! (and she suffered no physical ill effects from her own experience and had two daughters when she finally married the jerk)"}, {"response": 518, "author": "Moon", "date": "Fri, Aug 29, 2008 (14:38)", "body": "Equal Rights Amemndment is more important than Roe vs Wade, IMO. And I think this country should establish a Pro-Adoption stance instead of Pro-Abortion. There are too many ignorant young girls out there getting abortions, that's not right. There are plenty of Americans that would happily adopt those babies."}, {"response": 519, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Aug 29, 2008 (14:53)", "body": "(Mari) I want to listen to this woman and learn more about her. I do as well. I don't think anyone adopts a \"pro-abortion\" stance, except simply to have it as an option. There are too many ignorant young girls out there getting abortions, that's not right. Perhaps if the administration had spent more effort and money on promoting safe sex rather than promoting abstinence (and trying to push religion into it through the faith based programs), which was shown to be a failure, there might be less of this problem. That's funny. I don't think there's a lack of American babies to adopt, but many, including several I know, choose to adopt internationally."}, {"response": 520, "author": "mari", "date": "Fri, Aug 29, 2008 (16:34)", "body": "(Karen)I was positively shocked many years to find a friend, who was rabidly anti-abortion (which I attributed to her being Catholic) You may be surprised at how many Catholics are pro-choice. Last poll I saw, it was the (slim) majority. (Moon)Equal Rights Amemndment is more important than Roe vs Wade, IMO. The ERA is in the states' hands--the states that failed to ratify in order for there to be the necesasary number for it to become the law of the entire land. And you live in one of those states that didn't ratify--get going, Moon!;-) And good luck getting McCain-Palin to lead the charge on the federal level. *snort* There are too many ignorant young girls out there getting abortions, that's not right. So who gets to decide who \"deserves\" the right to get an abortion (presumably only those who not \"ignorant or young\"?;-) It must remain safe and legal. My mother used to tell me stories of a close friend of hers who died while having an abortion; this was in the early '50s when it was illegal. Her husband was abusive and she was leaving him and had no means to support another child (she had one young son already). Tragic. I've known women who have had abortions. Not one of them took it lightly. The government needs to keep its nose out of people's personal business, and focus on the huge problems we as a society face."}, {"response": 521, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Aug 29, 2008 (17:05)", "body": "(Mari) You may be surprised at how many Catholics are pro-choice. I might, but the experience I shared here happened a long time ago but epitomized the hypocrisy of her position. Not one of them took it lightly. Absolutely. It isn't anything to take lightly for many reasons. But it should be no one's decision but the woman's herself. In the area of health care, boy, do we need a woman at the top! Besides the ability to choose, you better believe there would be a blood test for breast cancer (like in prostate cancer) and hot flashes would be a thing of the past! ;-)"}, {"response": 522, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Aug 29, 2008 (21:31)", "body": "Some conservative media reaction. Note the comments highlighted are out of context. I haven't read them all completely yet. http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/8/29/125530/561/942/578766"}, {"response": 523, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Aug 29, 2008 (22:15)", "body": "I thought this was an interesting analysis/commentary on Palin and that women's issues will be brought to the front more in this election. It\ufffds Palin By: Jane Hamsher Friday August 29, 2008 8:15 am 13 diggs digg it The desire to cause complete chaos in the Democratic party by nominating Joe Lieberman was overcome, and Sarah Palin is going to be John McCain's running mate. I don't personally think that it was Joe's \"pro-choice\" stance that killed him, he would've sold that out in a heartbeat. It's been obvious that the GOP has been making a play for the female vote ever since Obama won the nomination and it became apparent that he would rather gnaw off his right arm than choose her as a running mate. With the last Rasmussen poll showing that 28% of her voters still won't vote for Obama, there's certainly a lot of opportunity there. I have to say that as a woman, there is something intuitively appealing about her selection, even though I politically disagree with everything she believes in and would never in a million years vote for her. And we're hearing a lot about Obama's support for equal pay and Joe Biden's championing of domestic violence legislation because a large part of the female voting block is in play. I'm still not quite sure why Obama didn't try and lock that vote down by overlooking the personal animosity he and Clinton shared and picking her as his running mate, but he didn't. The chemistry between Obama and Biden is good, and watching them together last night I thought they made an appealing combination. But it also carries risks that McCain decided to exploit. The good news is that women's issues are going to become front and center for this campaign. I haven't seen enough of Palin to know how well she could do against Biden in a debate, but I'm not sure it matters. If she doesn't make some horrible gaffe, what she stands for symbolically will be more important than anything she says. I'd just recommend that if anyone is thinking of going on teevee and tearing her down by saying she doesn't care about the victims of Hurricane Katrina but only cries about her looks, they might want to reconsider. http://firedoglake.com/2008/08/29/its-palin/"}, {"response": 524, "author": "OzFirthFan", "date": "Sat, Aug 30, 2008 (03:14)", "body": "Am I reading this correctly? Moon, are you going to switch from supporting Hillary to supporting McCain, just because he chose a woman as his running mate?? Don't you care that this woman is anti-choice, anti-environment, pro-death penalty, pro-gun and (if my sources are to be believed) nuttier than a Xmas fruitcake??"}, {"response": 525, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Aug 30, 2008 (08:53)", "body": "I think she was going to support McCain even before that, but this appears to help."}, {"response": 526, "author": "mari", "date": "Sat, Aug 30, 2008 (09:49)", "body": "Did I hear David Gergen correctly last night on CNN when he said Palin was a \"skeptic\" on global warming and is in favor of teaching creationism in the public schools? Tell me I didn't hear that. :-("}, {"response": 527, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Aug 30, 2008 (09:54)", "body": "You heard correctly."}, {"response": 528, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Aug 30, 2008 (10:18)", "body": "I heard the global warming comment by either Chris Matthews or Keith Olberman. Not the other. :-( (BTW, have you noticed that Keith Olberman and Lester Holt have identical voices?) Another noticeable change seems to be in those MSN talking heads. I think NBC/Universal Legal has taken the reports of media bias seriously and come down hard. Chris Matthews was falling all over himself to appear PC. Maybe they all had to go to anti-sexism workshop. ;-)"}, {"response": 529, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Aug 30, 2008 (11:51)", "body": "(Sarah) are you going to switch from supporting Hillary to supporting McCain, just because he chose a woman as his running mate? Ever heard: Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned? ;-)"}, {"response": 530, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Aug 30, 2008 (11:56)", "body": "Dailykos.com has a ton on Sarah Palin and her record in Alaska (as well as the wonderful video where she questions what a VP really does...*that's* a video I took time to watch ;-)). It's too much for me to go through and post, I'm already behind schedule today. If you go to dailykos.com and scroll down the main few pages from the past couple of days, you'll find all kinds of commentary and links about her."}, {"response": 531, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Aug 30, 2008 (12:01)", "body": "Also, thanks for joining in Jane! I wish more people chimed in."}, {"response": 532, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Aug 30, 2008 (12:09)", "body": "You know, I'll apologize in advance for offending anyone, but as I said to my aunt (who's a Catholic nun), if a person's main concern or issue in aligning themselves with a Pres/VP candidate is that they're pro-life, then apparently life is very good for them considering the state of this country and the world. Evangelicals energized by McCain-Palin ticket By ERIC GORSKI, AP Religion Writer 2 hours, 1 minute ago Sarah Palin already has energized conservative religious leaders who had fretted that John McCain would pick an abortion rights supporter as his running mate. The Alaska governor was raised in a Pentecostal church and has called herself \"as pro-life as any candidate can be.\" To Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religion Liberties Commission, Palin is \"straight out of veep central casting.\" Land said he had urged the McCain camp to consider the political unknown. Gary Bauer, one of McCain's most enthusiastic evangelical supporters, said the Arizona senator had hit a \"grand slam home run\" and that adding Palin to the GOP ticket is \"guaranteed to energize values voters.\" The 44-year-old mother of five, who led her high school chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, was baptized as a teenager at the Wasilla Assembly of God Church, where she and her family were very active, according to her then-pastor, Paul Riley. She now sometimes worships at the Juneau Christian Center, which is also part of the Pentecostal Assemblies of God, said Brad Kesler, business administrator of the denomination's Alaska District. But her home church is The Church on the Rock, an independent congregation, Riley said. \"The church was kind of a foundation for her,\" said Riley, who said he gave the invocation at Palin's inauguration and had her address students at the church last month. Maria Comella, a spokeswoman for the McCain-Palin campaign, said Palin attends different churches and does not consider herself Pentecostal. As a politician, Palin has sided with the majority evangelical view in opposing gay marriage and expressing a desire to see creationism discussed alongside evolution in schools. During a 2006 debate, she said she was a proponent of teaching both evolution and creationism in schools. She later clarified her stance in an interview with the Anchorage Daily News, saying that she doesn't think creationism needed to be part of the curriculum and that she would not push the state Board of Education to add such alternatives to the state's required curriculum. Not only does Palin oppose abortion as a matter of policy, but she chose to give birth to her youngest child, a son, after a prenatal exam indicated Down syndrome. Studies show that about nine in 10 pregnant women who are given a Down syndrome diagnosis have chosen to have an abortion. \"That will resonate in a big way,\" said Quin Monson, a Brigham Young University professor who studies religion and politics. Focus on the Family founder James Dobson, who initially said he could not vote for McCain but has since opened the door to an endorsement, called Palin \"an outstanding choice that should be extremely reassuring to the conservative base\" of the GOP. Dobson added that the ticket \"gives us confidence he will keep his pledges to voters regarding the kinds of justices he would nominate to the Supreme Court.\" \"It's an absolutely brilliant choice,\" said Mathew Staver, dean of Liberty University School of Law. \"This will absolutely energize McCain's campaign and energize conservatives.\" Staver called Palin a \"a woman of faith who has a strong position on life, a consistent opinion on judges. ... She's the complete package.\" A Pew poll last week showed McCain leading Democrat Barack Obama 68 percent to 24 percent among white evangelical Protestants. But there was little enthusiasm: Only 28 percent of white evangelicals call themselves \"strong\" supporters of McCain, far short of President Bush's numbers four years ago. Many evangelical leaders said McCain helped himself with a solid performance at Pastor Rick Warren's Saddleback Church, where McCain proclaimed, \"I will be a pro-life president.\" Mark Silk, who specializes in religion and politics at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn., cautioned that while evangelical leaders are praising the Palin pick, it might not necessarily trickle down. \"The question is how this will be received by a lot of rank-and-file evangelicals who are just Americans struggling along, going to their megachurches, and care about values,\" Silk said. Some question whether old-guard traditional leaders, like Dobson, hold as much influence as in the past. The evangelical establishment never warmed to former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee's candidacy, but grass-roots evangelicals contributed to his big win in the Iowa primaries. Evangelical leaders got worried when McCain floated the possibility of a vice presidential candidate who supports abortion rights, including Sen. Joe Lieberman or former Homeland Security ch"}, {"response": 533, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Aug 30, 2008 (12:13)", "body": "Forgot to mention that the State of Illinois isn't the only one infected with nepotitis. Saw Luke Russert reporting from the convention floor, giving the truly lame \"young\" people's perspective. :-( Does they realize how embarrassing it is to stand in front of a camera and admit that young people think everything is honky dory for women, while behind him the speakers from the podium are pledging to finally get equal pay for equal work for women?? Talk about juxtaposition. Might as well have had a clown dancing behind him."}, {"response": 534, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Aug 30, 2008 (12:32)", "body": "I've read Luke Russert seems to be out of his element. I just had almost this exact conversation with someone this morning.... 6 things the Palin pick says about McCain Jim VandeHei, John F. Harris 2 hours, 30 minutes ago The selection of a running mate is among the most consequential, most defining decisions a presidential nominee can make. John McCain\ufffds pick of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin says a lot about his decison-making \ufffd and some of it is downright breathtaking. We knew McCain is a politician who relishes improvisation, and likes to go with his gut. But it is remarkable that someone who has repeatedly emphasized experience in this campaign named an inexperienced governor he barely knew to be his No. 2. Whatever you think of the pick, here are six things it tells us about McCain: 1. He\ufffds desperate. Let\ufffds stop pretending this race is as close as national polling suggests. The truth is McCain is essentially tied or trailing in every swing state that matters \ufffd and too close for comfort in several states like Indiana and Montana the GOP usually wins pretty easily in presidential races. On top of that, voters seem very inclined to elect Democrats in general this election \ufffd and very sick of the Bush years. McCain could easily lose in an electoral landslide. That is the private view of Democrats and Republicans alike. McCain\ufffds pick shows he is not pretending. Politicians, even \ufffdmavericks\ufffd like McCain, play it safe when they think they are winning \ufffd or see an easy path to winning. They roll the dice only when they know that the risks of conventionality are greater than the risks of boldness. The Republican brand is a mess. McCain is reasonably concluding that it won\ufffdt work to replicate George W. Bush and Karl Rove\ufffds electoral formula, based around national security and a big advantage among Y chromosomes, from 2004. \ufffdShe\ufffds a fresh new face in a party that\ufffds dying for one \ufffd the antidote to boring white men,\ufffd a campaign official said. Palin, the logic goes, will prompt voters to give him a second look \ufffd especially women who have watched Democrats reject Hillary Rodham Clinton for Barack Obama. The risks of a backlash from choosing someone so unknown and so untested are obvious. In one swift stroke, McCain demolished what had been one of his main arguments against Obama. \ufffdI think we\ufffdre going to have to examine our tag line, \ufffddangerously inexperienced,\ufffd\ufffd a top McCain official said wryly. 2. He\ufffds willing to gamble \ufffd bigtime. Let\ufffds face it: This is not the pick of a self-confident candidate. It is the political equivalent of a trick play or, as some Democrats called it, a Hail Mary pass in football. McCain talks incessantly about experience, and then goes and selects a woman he hardly knows, who hardly knows foreign policy and who can hardly be seen as instantly ready for the presidency. He is smart enough to know it could work, at least politically. Many Republicans see this pick as a brilliant stroke because it will be difficult for Democrats to run hard against a woman in the wake of the Hillary Clinton drama. Will this push those disgruntled Hillary voters McCain\ufffds way? Perhaps. But this is hardly aimed at them: It is directed at the huge bloc of independent women \ufffd especially those who do not see abortion as a make-or-break issue \ufffd who could decide this election. McCain has a history of taking dares. Palin represents his biggest one yet. 3. He\ufffds worried about the political implications of his age. Like a driver overcorrecting out of a swerve, he chooses someone who is two years younger than the youthful Obama, and 28 years young than he is. (He turned 72 Friday.) The father-daughter comparison was inevitable when they appeared next to each other. 4. He\ufffds not worried about the actuarial implications of the age issue. He thinks he\ufffds in fine fettle, and Palin wouldn\ufffdt be performing the only constitutional duty of a vice president, which is standing by in case a president dies or becomes incapacitated. If he was really concerned about an inexperienced person sitting in the Oval Office we would be writing about vice presidential nominee Mitt Romney or Tom Ridge or Condoleezza Rice. There is no plausible way that McCain could say that he picked Palin, who was only elected governor in 2006 and whose most extended public service was as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska (population 8,471), because she was ready to be president on Day One. Nor can McCain argue that he was looking for someone he could trust as a close adviser. Most people know the staff at the local Starbucks better than McCain knows Palin. They met for the first time last February at a National Governors Association meeting in Washington. Then, they spoke again \ufffd by phone \ufffd on Sunday while she was at the Alaska state fair and he was at home in Arizona. McCain has made a mockery out of his campaign's longtime contention that Barack Obama is too dangerously inexperienced to be commander in chief. Now, the Democratic ticket boasts 40 years of national experience (four "}, {"response": 535, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Aug 30, 2008 (12:34)", "body": "It's shaping up to be a fascinating election. Can't wait for the debates."}, {"response": 536, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sat, Aug 30, 2008 (14:01)", "body": "I'm looking forward to the debates too. I've heard Palin speak and she does it well. No ums, ahhs, ughs. also, she is not anti-enviornment. She wants Alaska with all its natural resources to be the alternative fuel state to supply the country. I am also not a Darwinist, and I don't believe that Man evolved from a ape. There is room for all teachings in schools. Why must everyone believe in the Big Bang Theory? IMO, passing the Equal Rights Amendment will take care of Roe vs Wade. Women will finally be in charge. But we must get women into high offices. The DNC selected Obama over Hillary. Obama ignored Hillary eventhough having her as his VP would have, IMO, guaranteed a win. I will not fall in line, never have in my life, as my mother knows and suffers, LOL. A Pro-Adoption program or legislature should be passed nationally. Teenage girls are getting too many abortions, many of them don't even realize they are pregnant until their second trimester, the horror! Contrary to what you believe Dorine, there are not many newborns up for adoption in the US. Sarah, I'm already thinking Hillary 2012. In the meantime: Gov. Sarah Palin A Tenacious Reformer's Swift Rise http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/29/AR2008082903593.html If I do volunteer for McCain at his HQ, I will be wearing my Hillary pin. I know at least two other Hillary VA delegates that will be there."}, {"response": 537, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sat, Aug 30, 2008 (14:12)", "body": "From today's Washington Post: In Israel, A Clash Over Who Is a Jew Ultra-Orthodox Contest Conversions By Griff Witte ASHDOD, Israel -- Yael converted to Judaism in 1992, and for the next 15 years she lived in Israel, celebrating the major holidays and teaching her children about the Jewish faith. But when she and her husband sought a divorce last year, she said, the ultra-Orthodox rabbis in charge of the process had some questions. Among them: Did Yael observe the Sabbath? Did she obey the prohibition on sex during and after menstruation? Dissatisfied with the answers, the rabbis nullified her conversion. Yael did not need a divorce, they ruled, because she had never been married. She had never been married because she had never been Jewish. And because she had never been Jewish, her children were not, either. \"I was in shock. I couldn't believe it,\" said Yael, 43, who would allow only her Hebrew name to be published out of privacy concerns. Blond, blue-eyed and athletic-looking, Yael is baffled by the ordeal. \"My kids grew up Jewish,\" she said. \"They don't know anything else.\" Yael's personal trauma has become a cause for Israeli soul-searching over what it means to be Jewish, a term that carries both religious and ethnic dimensions. The case has set off a roiling debate between those who see themselves as saving Judaism and those whose first priority is to safeguard the Jewish state. On one side are ultra-Orthodox leaders who are using their long-standing dominance of Israel's rabbinical court system -- which has authority over marriages, divorces and conversions -- to tighten restrictions governing who can become Jewish. They see themselves as defending the religious purity of a people who, according to their interpretation of Jewish law, need to live apart from other groups. Those on the other side are much more concerned with demographics: They believe that at a time when the number of Arabs living between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea is poised to surpass the number of Jews, Israel needs all the converts it can get. This group includes secular Jews, but it is led by the religious Zionists, who form the core of the settlement movement in the occupied territories and who feel it is their duty to populate the biblical land of Israel. The stakes have escalated since Yael's conversion was tossed out: When she appealed to the High Rabbinical Court of Israel, it not only upheld the original decision but also threw into doubt the legality of thousands of other conversions. \"There is a cultural war going on between various segments of Jewish society,\" said Benjamin Ish-Shalom, chairman of the Joint Institute for Jewish Studies. A trim man with a philosophical bearing who relishes any discussion of Judaism, he helps administer a government-funded education program for Israelis who need help getting through the rigorous process of conversion. Over the past two decades, Israel has admitted hundreds of thousands of immigrants from the former Soviet Union, over the objections of ultra-Orthodox leaders who spoke out against allowing non-Jews to enter the country. Many of the immigrants lacked the paperwork to prove their Jewish ancestry. Others had fathers or grandparents who were Jewish, but did not qualify as Jewish themselves because Judaism is passed down through mothers. Until now, ultra-Orthodox leaders have not acted as forcefully to invalidate immigrant conversions. To Ish-Shalom, facilitating conversion has been good for the converts, good for Judaism and good for the state. \"Israel needs people. It needs loyal people,\" he said. At the moment, there is rough parity between the Palestinian and Jewish populations in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, according to Eliyahu Ben-Moshe, a demographer and former deputy director of Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics. Because of a high Arab birth rate, Ben-Moshe said, they are expected to establish a clear majority in the coming decades -- a terrifying prospect for Israeli policymakers as the well of diaspora Jews who are willing to immigrate to Israel dries up. The ultra-Orthodox, Ish-Shalom argues, are damaging that effort by requiring converts to heed strict standards. Ultra-Orthodox leaders don't disagree. They believe that God originally expelled the Jews from the land of Israel because of their lack of religious devotion and that the secular nature of the modern Israeli nation is unacceptable. As a result, many are anti-Zionist. \"There's something more important than the state of Israel and Zionism,\" said Moshe Gafni, a member of Israel's parliament who represents the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party. Wearing the customary ultra-Orthodox uniform of black pants and white shirt, Gafni speaks forcefully and with deep conviction: \"Unlike Christians, we Jews are not missionaries. If someone really wants to join the Jewish people, we're going to make it difficult for them.\" Gafni's view is rooted in his interpretation of Jewish law. To him, ther"}, {"response": 538, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Aug 30, 2008 (14:28)", "body": "(Moon) No ums, ahhs, ughs. Colin could never run for public office then. ;-D"}, {"response": 539, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Aug 30, 2008 (14:57)", "body": "So we move from politics to abortion to religion, Moon? All the taboo subjects? ;-)"}, {"response": 540, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Aug 30, 2008 (16:37)", "body": "Apparently the press in Palin's own backyard aren't that thrilled. Even Locals Are Blasting Palin Pick Sat Aug 30, 2008 at 11:00:18 AM PDT http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/8/30/1296/05455/509/580216"}, {"response": 541, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Aug 30, 2008 (17:26)", "body": "She apparently thinks Hillary Clinton was a whiner. In regards to what, I don't know. http://www.newsweek.com/id/156190/output/print"}, {"response": 542, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Aug 30, 2008 (18:13)", "body": "The whining comment was picked up by the media immediately. Heard it yesterday. You might want to click on the video at this link to see her tapdance around the question of unfair media. She actually says \"perceived whining.\" Perceived by whom? I suppose the media. But the answer is pathetic IMO. Women have been working harder to overcome this for longer than she's been alive. http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0808/Palin_on_Clinton.html"}, {"response": 543, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Aug 30, 2008 (18:16)", "body": "Listening to it again, her answer reminded me of the advice given to Victorian women to lay on their backs and think of England. ;-)"}, {"response": 544, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Aug 30, 2008 (20:02)", "body": "Essentially she was telling Hillary to \"man-up\", which incidentally was essentially Mark Penn's advice to her, per the Vanity Fair article anyway. It will be curious to see if she gets similar treatment, though she's not running for the big job and is along for the ride to some degree."}, {"response": 545, "author": "mari", "date": "Sat, Aug 30, 2008 (23:49)", "body": "Essentially she was telling Hillary to \"man-up\", And how dare she tell Hillary to \"work harder!\" In other words, shut up and don't complain. Perceived whining indeed. She's not fit to shine Hill's shoes. Outrageous. (Moon)I will not fall in line And neither will I. If McCain thinks that most woman are going to fall in line and vote against their own self-interests because he put a woman on the ticket, he has another thing coming to him."}, {"response": 546, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Aug 31, 2008 (01:12)", "body": "Dorine asked how the Daily Show was covering the convention and I said they were on a one-day lag. That was true, with the exception of Friday's show because they were able to get in the Sarah Palin announcement. My Tivo also included a couple of minutes of the Colbert Report, which started out with Palin as well. Wish I'd recorded that. (Mari) If McCain thinks that most woman are going to fall in line and vote against their own self-interests because he put a woman on the ticket, he has another thing coming to him. You might want to view this: http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=183521&title=John-McCain-Chooses-a-Running-Mate"}, {"response": 547, "author": "OzFirthFan", "date": "Sun, Aug 31, 2008 (03:37)", "body": "Moon, I am sorry to hear that you are cutting off your nose to spite your face. If you were truly a supporter of the issues that Hillary Clinton stands for, you certainly wouldn't be voting for McCain/Palin. I think it's a shame. And voting against your own self interests doesn't help anyone. If you feel so strongly about Clinton getting shafted by her own party - why not vote for a third party candidate whose platform at least mirrors some of the things Clinton stands for?? That's certainly not going to help the Dems, and at least you're not voting against your own self-interests. As for teaching Creationism in schools, I think it's fine if it's part of a Religious Studies or Philosophy class. It doesn't belong in Science class - it's not a scientific theory or belief in any way. And I'm very much opposed to turning the US into (even more of) a Theocracy. Separation of Church and State is basic to our country's foundations. The founding fathers would be spinning in their graves at some of the things the Republican party does."}, {"response": 548, "author": "OzFirthFan", "date": "Sun, Aug 31, 2008 (03:44)", "body": "On another note, I will say that the US is suffering a decline in its political prospects because of the \"two party\" (practically ONE party now) system. The only way to achieve real progress in the US in politics is, imo, to introduce some kind of \"preferential voting\" system, which allows people to vote for the candidate which they believe represents their interests, without having their vote flushed down the toilet and/or benefit a candidate/party they loathe. Australia has a pretty good (not perfect) form of preferential voting which ensures that there are always more than two parties, and in fact, quite often allows third party and independent candidates to weild a great deal of power under certain circumstances. The Australian Greens Party always has at least a couple of Senators at the federal level, which makes for some interesting debates, I can assure you. (Not to mention that our venerable Greens Senator, Bob Brown stood up and gave GW a serve while he was here over keeping people detained indef nitely without trial in Gitmo! I got to shake Dr. Brown's hand and tell him he was my hero for doing that!) Bob Brown is often the only man in Australia to point out the Emporer's lack of clothes, and I think it's great."}, {"response": 549, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Aug 31, 2008 (09:00)", "body": "(Mari) If McCain thinks that most woman are going to fall in line and vote against their own self-interests because he put a woman on the ticket, he has another thing coming to him. But then again, if their self-interests include being pro-life, anti-environment, against gun control and a belief in creationism vs. evolution, then McCain/she are their candidates. What doesn't jive obviously is that if they were also Hillary supporters, because she has the opposite ideology. Then the question becomes why support Hillary because technically she was against those self-intersts. A word comes to mind I won't mention. Jane, is the political system there ruled by money and special interests as it is here? 3rd party candidates don't have a chance here really as long as those influences are in our system IMO. Except to exist as potential spoilers."}, {"response": 550, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sun, Aug 31, 2008 (14:16)", "body": "I will say that the US is suffering a decline in its political prospects because of the \"two party\" (practically ONE party now) system. I agree. It is shame that people who voted from Nader took votes away from Kerry in the last election, etc. I also have a problem with our court system. I believe there should be a panel of judges to judge criminals not citizens, ie: O.J. results. As for teaching Creationism in schools, do not fear, it will not happen. My problem comes with the teachings of theories in Science class: Evolution and Big Bang are just that, theories, I think it's fair to add Creationism to it. I fear it not. Here is blog from a woman(45), I met at Hillary's HQ, a feminist who after graduating from U.C. San Diego adopted two black toddlers, they were brothers and she wanted to keep them together. It is worth reading: http://www.thesisterhoodofthetravelingpantsuit.blogspot.com/"}, {"response": 551, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sun, Aug 31, 2008 (14:25)", "body": "I will not be pushing McCain/Palin on anybody here, so I'll probably not interrupt the Obama fest anymore. I consider myself an Independent now. Yesterday, I was in the car all day. I listened to POTUS 08 and was able to hear several interviews with people who know Palin. I found one of the interviews to be incredibly interesting. They interviewed an old \"friend\" of hers (more like a mentor)--an independent candidate who ran for governor in 2002. The following is what he had to say about Palin: Apparently, Palin was an active Mom who, after college, worked as a commercial fisher (and union member, which I just can't get over....that this woman said, in a room full of Ohio Republicans--\"My husband is a proud member of the United Steel Workers Union.\"). After she had her kids, she became actively involved in PTA. In 1992, she was elected to the city council, where she served for several years before running for Mayor. She served as Mayor for several years before deciding to run for Lt. Governor in 2002. This guy telling the story ran for Governor in 2002, but lost to the sitting Republican Governor, who was a total crook. Anyway, she lost the race for Lt. Governor, but was immediately appointed to head The Oil and Gas Energy Commission (or something like that). Apparently, the head of the Republican National Committee in Alaska also wanted to be on that commission and had promised that if he was appointed to do so, he would stop working as the head of the state party (the commission was suppo ed to be non-partisan, as AK is 51% independent voters). Anyway, he was ultimately appointed as well, but continued working as the party leader. Palin complained and he said that he would only do so after hours. At some point, Palin discovered that he was still working as the Party leader on state time. She confronted him and told him that he needed to stop. He blew her off. She confront the Governor of AK (Republican--long time Governor) and he blew her off. When no one would take a stand, she resigned her position and filed an ethics complaint with the Attorney General's office (as run by Republicans). About two weeks later, she received notice from the Attorney General that she was being investigated And that they were going to fine her and potentially prosecute her (for something unrelated, but obviously as a threat considering that she was going after the head of the Party for ethics violation). She contacted her friend, the guy telling this story, and he generated a letter and sent it to the Attorney General. The letter basically said that they expe ted an investigation to be conducted of the Governor and the RNC head, and that it needed to be done within ten days. The days later, they received notice that an investigation had been filed. Ultimately, Palin pushed the issue forward until the Attorney General and the head of the RNC were forced to resign. She then ran for Governor in 2006 and kicked the sitting governor's ass, as she ran on a ticket of reform--to get the corrupt Republican politicians out of Alaska. She told Republican Senator Stevens to take his ear marks (potentially corrupt---he has been charged with crimes and I have no doubt that we can thank Palin for helping in that investigation), as she was not interested in his \"bridge to nowhere\". She also took on the big oil companies and imposed the highest wind fall profit tax on them that has ever been recorded in AK history. She took the money that she received back from the oil companies and returned it to residents of AK in the form of rebate checks. She also suspended the gas tax. She worked with Democrats to get a natural gas pipeline bill passed and negotiated with an energy company OUTSIDE of AK (which is unheard of, apparently) to get the contract. Her first day in office, she put the Governor's plan on ebay and sold it. She felt it was excessive and not what the people wanted their taxpayer dollars to go toward. She got rid of her chauffeur (but found him a job somewhere else) and said that she would drive around the state on her own. Since then, she's attended all functions and appointments in her VW Jetta (yes, a non-American car company...and she's a Republican who was a member of the United Steel Workers Union). She also got rid of her domestic staff (but again, found them all jobs), as she said that she had four kids and \"how could they learn how to work\" if they had someone else taking care of the house. \"We ate macaroni and cheese before, and we'll eat it after.\" While she is a social conservative, according to several people who were interviewed, she hasn't governed that way, per se. She is pro-life (I am pro-choice, up to the first trimester) and like HRC and Obama, believes marriage should be between a man and a woman. However, when the state attempted to pass legislation banning domestic benefits to same sex partners, she issued her only veto thus far. So while, she does seem to have issues that she stands for, she seems more concer"}, {"response": 552, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sun, Aug 31, 2008 (14:43)", "body": "My friend who adopted the boys is white, forgot to mention it. I want to leave with a bang: http://riverdaughter.wordpress.com/2008/08/30/saturday-truth-and-consequences/"}, {"response": 553, "author": "maccalinda", "date": "Sun, Aug 31, 2008 (14:51)", "body": "G'Day there Just tuned in...and have been skimming... Forgive me...I may be ignorant to US politics...but am I right in assuming there are politians who are against abortion, but in favour of the death penalty?? whaaat? That doesnt compute. I do wonder what actually goes on in these politicians heads...do they actually believe in this stuff, or is it just a game they all play to get elected...a game they all play that screws with peoples' lives... As I get older, I get more cynical....it sems no matter what side of the fence you sit polically, we are all just pawns in their games...and ambitions... Perhaps they all go into this with stars in their eye..but once they get a glimpse of that pension fund...it all goes out the window... Anyway...enough with the gloom and doom...what I really wanted to say to the anti-choice brigade was, HANDS OFF MY CHOICE TO MAKE MY OWN DECISIONS!!! There...sorry if I offended anyone...but had to get that off my chest... Those anti abortionists...anti choice peopel make me want to scream!! ave a good weekend...!! xx"}, {"response": 554, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Aug 31, 2008 (15:46)", "body": "(Moon) so I'll probably not interrupt the Obama fest anymore. Wot Obamafest? I know I don't moderate this conference but it would appear that, rather than discuss an issue, the person stating a position was attacked. Not the way it should be done. If you don't agree, state why objectively. (LindaMc).but am I right in assuming there are politians who are against abortion, but in favour of the death penalty?? whaaat? That doesnt compute. Of course. Hypocrisy runs rampant. However, it is possible to hold seemingly conflicting views simultaneously if one sees abortion as the killing of an innocent, while the death penalty is for someone far from innocent. Me own view is entirely consistent and can't be faulted as hypocritical in any way. ;-)"}, {"response": 555, "author": "OzFirthFan", "date": "Sun, Aug 31, 2008 (19:16)", "body": "I guess, Moon, that you must believe that Gravity doesn't really exist and that it shouldn't be taught in Science class either, since it, as ALL Scientific principals are, is titled \"the THEORY of Gravity\". Please do not allow the fundamentalist's silly and trite argument that \"Evolution is a theory\" confuse you. Evolution is a scientific theory supported by a shiteload of factual evidence . As is gravity. Evolution and gravity are both real. You may choose to believe that human beings have not evolved from ape-like creatures but the DNA evidence proves that belief to be entirely wrong. We ARE ape-like creatures. Our closest relative on the planet is the bonobo, with whom we share 98.4% of our DNA - that is, 98.4% of our DNA is IDENTICAL to that of the bonobo. That's not a heckuva lot of difference. We're obviously related. Regardless of what you want to believe. Although I think you have every right to believe in whatever mythology you wish to, I do not believe you (or anyone) should be allowed to teach this mythology in schools as FACT or SCIENCE. It isn't either of those things, and I do not want America's children being lied to by their teachers as part of the curriculum. Palin is being investigated, according to Wikipedia and other sources, for firing the AK Public Safety Commissioner for not firing her ex-brother-in-law. While the firing of her ex-bil seems to have justification, there does seem to be some question as to whether she should have fired his boss. She has a history of firing people who don't \"play along\" with her. In fact, as Mayor of Wasilla, she fired the Chief of Police for supporting an opposing candidate. He sued, but his suit was dismissed when the judge ruled that Palin had the right under state law to fire city employees, even for political reasons. So - she fired him for political reasons. Seems to me to be the same ol', same ol' from another Republican. They do what they do for political reasons, and not for the good of their constituency. All that said, she does seem to have done some good in AK. But her experience in governing is very minimal and I truly fear for the country if McCain were to get into power and kick the bucket. It really does send a shiver of fear down my spine. I'm not a big fan of Obama - I would have preferred to see Clinton nominated/elected. Given that hasn't happened, however, I am utterly opposed to a moment longer of Republican rule. The rest of the world is watching, and if another Republican were to get into office, I think they might all close the borders to Americans.... ;-) (Just kidding, but really, the integrity of the US is very much in question these days!) Dorine, any political system anywhere in the world is influenced by money and special interests. It is the nature of the beast. But at least with preferential voting, third party and independent candidates can run and get elected because voting for one of them doesn't give advantage to a party/candidate whom you do not wish to vote for. Please read about preferential voting to understand further: Preferential voting"}, {"response": 556, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Aug 31, 2008 (21:39)", "body": "had the right under state law to fire city employees, even for political reasons Isn't that against a Federal Law of some sort? Ok, I must admit, I must look up what a bonobo is. ;-)"}, {"response": 557, "author": "OzFirthFan", "date": "Sun, Aug 31, 2008 (21:54)", "body": "Sorry - guess I hang out with too many nerds. *lol* Bonobos are also known as \"pygmy chimps\" (though they are not a subspecies of common chimps, but a separate species in their own right). They are the closest biological/genetic relative to humans currently living on the planet."}, {"response": 558, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Aug 31, 2008 (23:21)", "body": "GOP cites Palin's skill, but how relevant is it? By TED ANTHONY, AP National Writer Sun Aug 31, 4:56 PM ET ST. PAUL, Minn. - Wait, now, say the Republicans. You think that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin lacks experience? You think that at 44, with less than two years running the nation's northernmost state, she doesn't have what it takes yet to be a heartbeat away from the presidency? Pshaw. What about the fact that she stood up to embattled Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens? What about her oversight of her state's National Guard contingent? Her experience as a mother? And, hey \ufffd what about the fact that she runs a state that happens to be very close to Russia? Each of these characteristics has been cited by a Republican since Friday as an ingredient in John McCain's conclusion that Palin is qualified to become vice president of the United States. \"She has experience not only in politics but in life,\" former Republican Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee said Sunday on CNN. None of this suggests that Sarah Palin is not a skilled, competent, multitalented public servant. But it means that, in the face of fierce Democratic assertions that she is too green to be elevated to vice president, the GOP is looking for whatever it can to show that's not the case and to bolster her credentials, particularly in national security. And in some cases, the responses from Republicans who showed up on the Sunday morning talk-show circuit to promote Palin's qualifications are unexpected, to say the least. Thompson: \"She's a mother of five children. ... And she has more experience than Barack Obama.\" Sen. Lindsay Graham of South Carolina: \"Governor Palin took on Ted Stevens. If she can take him on, she can take on the Russians.\" Stevens, a Republican senator, is facing corruption charges and running for re-election. Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty: \"Palin is commander-in-chief of the Alaskan National Guard.\" The state's Guard has about 4,000 members. From McCain's wife, Cindy, came a geographic assessment of qualification: \"Alaska is the closest part of our continent to Russia. So, it's not as if she doesn't understand what's at stake here.\" What these traits say about Palin's ability to serve as vice president or, in an emergency, as president is not entirely clear. But the flurry of comments by leading Republicans hint at a flood-the-zone strategy when it comes to Palin, whose gender, Christian faith and conservative chops infused a lively crackle into John McCain's campaign during the weekend between the two national conventions. The GOP has also implied that Democratic reactions to Palin's selection are sexist, particularly since, they contend, her time as Alaska's governor gives her the edge over Barack Obama in executive experience. Obama, 47, has spent almost 12 years in office, all of it as a lawmaker \ufffd eight years as an Illinois state senator and nearly four as a U.S. senator. Palin's total is 12 \ufffd she spent 10 as a city council member and mayor, and nearly two as governor. \"If they want to go down that route, in all candor, she has far more experience than Senator Obama does,\" McCain said Sunday in St. Louis. Democrats insist sexism isn't at play. \"It's not the woman issue at all,\" former Democratic Sen. Tom Daschle of South Dakota said Sunday on CNN. \"There are a lot of other Republican women who could have filled this role if that is what he was looking for\" \ufffd such as Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison or Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, appearing on CBS' \"Face the Nation,\" saw a kindred spirit in Palin's experience as mayor, despite the fact that her town, Wasilla, has about 7,000 people and his had nearly 8 million when 9/11 happened. \"Maybe it's my own background as a mayor and United States attorney, but this whole idea of executive experience to me would really qualify her,\" Giuliani said. He dismissed questions about the size of the town she ran. \"You know why? She had to make decisions. All Sen. Obama has had to do is talk. That's all he does.\" Some of the comments seemed a bit non-sequitur. Russia, for example. Maj. Gen. Craig Campbell, adjutant general of the Alaska National Guard, considers Palin \"extremely responsive and smart\" and says she is in charge when it comes to in-state services, such as emergencies and natural disasters where the National Guard is the first responder. But, in an interview with The Associated Press on Sunday, he said he and Palin play no role in national defense activities, even when they involve the Alaska National Guard. The entire operation is under federal control, and the governor is not briefed on situations. Stephen C. Donehoo, managing director of Kissinger McLarty Associates in Washington, and former military intelligence officer specializing in Latin America: \"No doubt the campaign staff have her hooked up to a fire hose on foreign policy issues,\" said Stephen C. Donehoo, managing director of Kissinger McLarty Associates in Washington and a former military intel"}, {"response": 559, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Aug 31, 2008 (23:30)", "body": "I read about this the other day, with more specifics into what was edited, how and when, but I can't remember exactly where I read it. Sarah Palin Wikipedia edits--fast and furious By Natalie Weinstein, CNET Sat Aug 30, 11:13 PM ET Sarah Palin's life has been abuzz since she was officially selected as John McCain's running mate on Friday. Her Wikipedia page has, likewise, been awash with activity. After well over a thousand edits were made to her page that day, the Wikipedia editors raised the page's protection level to restrict who can make changes, according to the San Jose Mercury News. Meanwhile, The Washington Post reported evidence via Cyveillance that in the days and hours before Friday's announcement, Palin's page was being edited more frequently than those of other potential vice presidential candidates. A clue, perhaps? Her page was specifically garnering the attention of someone identified as \"Young Trigg,\" who made numerous edits deemed favorable by a Wikipedia editor. There has already been much speculation as to who \"Young Trigg\" may be, especially considering Palin's youngest child is named Trig. Wikipedia does have specific rules regarding conflict of interest. However, all it will take to solve the mystery is for someone to track down the identity of \"Young Trigg.\" On a related note, Palin is trending No. 3 and No. 4 on Twitter at the moment. http://news.yahoo.com/s/cnet/20080831/tc_cnet/83011357831002959838;_ylt=AqPTVrmCWSnSDg6nT0d6Fk2s0NUE"}, {"response": 560, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Sep  1, 2008 (00:11)", "body": "(Moon) so I'll probably not interrupt the Obama fest anymore It's only a perceived \"Obamafest\" since there seems to be only one person with a significantly different viewpoint willing to post opinions. I applaud you for it. I have to admit I've learned an quite a lot of new things about you in the last week. I, myself, welcome all viewpoints, to be discussed in a rational, adult manner. In fact, I'm intrigued by varying viewpoints. I think it's a shame that people with opposing views don't seem comfortable with posting, though I do know some of their opinions and views privately. The way I look at it, if these views are something you feel strongly about and are personally comfortable with those opinions, it shouldn't be a problem to support your positions publicly as well. Having the courage of your convictions in essence. To each his own I suppose."}, {"response": 561, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Sep  1, 2008 (09:14)", "body": "Having the courage of your convictions in essence While being open minded of course. :-) Good day, ladies! I'm off to the US Open again. The shots from LA of the hurricane coming ashore are frightening. Can't believe all these reporters, including Anderson Cooper, are standing out in the middle of all that. A camera showing what's going on out a window would work fine for me. I don't need the commentary."}, {"response": 562, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Sep  1, 2008 (13:30)", "body": "It's what every Darwinist loves to profess. Turn on the television, read the magazines, and you will be bombarded with \"scientific information\" regarding the similarities between apes (i.e. monkeys, baboons, etc.) and human beings. Many scientists have, in fact, devoted decades of their lives to studying the behavior of these animals, all with the idea that, yes, these are indeed grandma and grandpa. The notable stories of Jane Goodall and Dianne Fossey living with chimps and gorillas fascinate the public, sparking our minds to believe that the thoughts, behaviors, and communications of these animals are not all that far from our own. Genetic developments in the scientific community have helped reinforce these ideas, or so it seems. What is, however, the truth of the matter? Are we really so similar to our furry friends? \"We also share about 50% of our DNA with bananas and that doesn't make us half bananas, either from the waist up or the waist down.\" [1] Steve Jones Scientist, Evolutionist An exceptional quote to begin with, revealing that specific, pinpointed similarities between two separate species can mean very little. Baboons, according to research, share 90% of their DNA with human beings. Does this, therefore, make them 90% human? The answer, in light of this quote, is absolutely not. Dr. Barney Maddox, a leading genetic genome researcher, also noted concerning man/monkey genetic differences: \"Now the genetic difference between human and his nearest relative, the chimpanzee, is at least 1.6%. That doesn't sound like much, but calculated out, that is a gap of at least 48,000,000 nucleotides, and a change of only 3 nucleotides is fatal to an animal; there is no possibility of change.\" Human Genome Project, Quantitative A Disproof of Evolution, CEM facts sheet. Cited in Doubts about Evolution? And as a writer for the Smithsonian concedes: \"just a few percentage points can translate into vast, unbridgeable gaps between species.\" [2] Simply stated, if we were to take this idea of similarities to determine which animal is most like us, we would come up with dire results. Take, for instance, our number of chromosomes (46). Two of our closest ancestors would be the tobacco plant (48) and the bat (44). Furthermore, because the chromosomes in living matter are one of the most complex bits of matter in the known universe, it would seem logical to assume that organisms with the least number of chromosomes are the end result of millions of years of evolution experimenting to increase complexity in living organisms. Therefore, this would reveal that we started from penicillium with only 2 chromosomes, and slowly evolved into fruit flies (8), and after many more millions of years we became tomatoes (12), and so on, until we reached the human stage of 46 chromosomes. Millions of years from now, if we're fortunate, we may become the ultimate life form, a fern, with a total of 480 chromosomes. Or, again, we could examine the human eye. Anatomically, it is most similar to that of an octopus'. Of course, the theory that the human eye evolved was directly commented by Charles Darwin himself when he said, \"To suppose that the eye with all its inimitable contrivances for adjusting the focus to different distances, for admitting different amounts of light, and for the correction of spherical and chromatic aberration, could have been formed by natural selection, seems, I freely confess, absurd in the highest degree.\" [3] Another argument in relation to man/monkey similarity has to do with language. A chimpanzee named Washoe and a bonobo named Kanzi \"have become famous for their ability to respond to human language in surprisingly complex ways.\" [4] In contrast, however, Robert Seyfarth, one of the most dedicated primate researchers in the world, says, \"You can teach a bear to ride a bicycle in the circus, but it doesn't tell you much about what bears learn to do in the wild.\" And lastly, \"even in the laboratory, no animal has attained anything like true language.\" [4] Regarding Seyfarth, he and his wife, who have performed many notable experiments with vervet monkeys and baboons, came to the conclusion after their latest work that the limitations on intelligence and communication in monkeys are severe.[4] For example, foraging baboons from a troop who have separated themselves so that they're on opposite sides of a forest are known to make barking calls, which have long been thought to be calls of contact to one another. Experiments have revealed, however, that the monkeys are only mourning because they're lost. \"...monkeys don't actually recognize that other monkeys have minds,\" say Seyfarth and his wife.[4] Humans can convey their thoughts and emotions to one another, so that one can sympathize with another who is hurting. Monkeys cannot. While chimps can grieve and certainly show emotions, they do not appear to sympathize with other chimps who are grieved. Conclusion Look into the matter yourself. You are your own scient"}, {"response": 563, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Sep  1, 2008 (13:33)", "body": "You Can't Make a Monkey Out of Us http://www.wired.com/medtech/health/news/2003/03/57892"}, {"response": 564, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Sep  1, 2008 (13:37)", "body": "I don't live my life in Absolutes. I am Pro-Choice up to the first trimester. After that, I am Pro-Adoption. LOL, I feel like I should be running for office now. I do have plenty of opinions on the Economy and Foreign Affairs. I would start by paying more attention to South and Central America and less attention to Africa. Meow."}, {"response": 565, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Sep  1, 2008 (13:39)", "body": "And don't get me started on Islam."}, {"response": 566, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Sep  1, 2008 (20:29)", "body": "And don't get me started on Islam. Believe me, Moon, I know better. ;-) \"We also share about 50% of our DNA with bananas and that doesn't make us half bananas, either from the waist up or the waist down.\" [1] I'm sorry, Moon, but.....LOL!! That's a new one on me. I'd bet some men (or their parts ;-)) have been compared to bananas, but not sure if that's good or bad. ;-D"}, {"response": 567, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Sep  1, 2008 (21:51)", "body": "(Moon) There are too many ignorant young girls out there... (Me) Perhaps if the administration had spent more effort and money on promoting safe sex rather than promoting abstinence (and trying to push religion into it through the faith based programs), which was shown to be a failure, there might be less of this problem. You know a friend keeps telling me Palin is the gift that keeps on giving......I'm starting to agree: So much for abstinence-only education Mon Sep 01, 2008 at 10:35:23 AM PDT http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/1/13540/20367/584/582167 And in all fairness, the highlighted passage above about teenage girls being ignorant, I mean it in the sense of the word that they are lacking knowledge, not being mean and calling them stupid. Proper education about sex goes a long way, or better than \"praying\" or encouraging they won't and don't do anything at all. I'd call the people espousing that viewpoint ignorant, in the not so nice way."}, {"response": 568, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Sep  1, 2008 (22:02)", "body": "I think she wrote this for some people here. Really looking forward to the debate. I'm certain they're tutoring her 24 hrs a day and I do believe she's no dummy. The Lazio Fallacy by MissLaura Mon Sep 01, 2008 at 07:45:23 AM PDT One piece of \"common wisdom\" that's emerged quickly since John McCain chose Sarah Palin as his running mate is that Joe Biden had better be careful not to look like he's beating up on a pretty girl by, you know, knowing more than she does and showing it. Rick Lazio's name is inevitably mentioned, because obviously if Biden knows more than Palin, it will be equivalent to physically getting up in her face. At the same time I'm outraged that the groundwork is being laid for the notion that a woman shouldn't be expected to hold her own in what is, effectively, a job interview, I don't doubt that the danger of this is real for Biden. Why? Because the traditional media has decided it's a landmine for him. That means that, come the vice-presidential debate, this is what they'll be conveying: Sarah Palin has not one shred of a clue about foreign policy, agricultural policy, urban policy? Everyone knew that. But did you check out how Biden was rude enough to make that obvious even to people who know less than Palin? Damn, what a sexist pig that guy is. We saw in the first days of reporting on the DNC exactly how pervasive a media narrative can be even in the face of contradictory facts. If you can't find meaningful division among Democrats, ignore the fact that the people claiming to be PUMAs are actually Republicans. So it would go with Biden debating Palin. So here's my problem with this. How fucking insulting to women and to the nation is this line of thinking? The view of women the pundits and reporters are taking here is that we will rise up en masse in outrage that a man who actually knows more than a woman dares to demonstrate it? Not, mind you, that we'll be faced with a woman who actually knows her stuff and can't get a man to acknowledge her expertise -- no one thinks that's going to happen -- but that we'll be offended on behalf of our gender to have one individual woman's ignorance pointed out. At the same time as the traditional media story will have women as a gender supporting Palin out of their disappointment that Hillary Clinton is not the Democratic nominee, that same story will have women as a gender ignoring the fact that Hillary did pretty damn well in debates against not one but several men, including the aforementioned Joe Biden. This is how dumb they (the women among them included) think we are, that we won't be able to see the massive logical fallacy they're creating out of whole cloth and attributing to us. A few women will fall for that line of bull. But proportionally, fewer women than major media reporters will do so. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/1/10451/48394/398/581344"}, {"response": 569, "author": "OzFirthFan", "date": "Mon, Sep  1, 2008 (22:25)", "body": "Well, Moon, if you refuse to acknowledge scientific facts, there really isn't anything I'm going to say that's going to convince you that you are closely related to apes. The fact remains that we are. All you need to do is to look at a gorilla or a bonobo to see that human beings are indeed, very closely related to them. But people who refuse to acknowledge the truth of this, and who hold onto their mythological beliefs that human beings are \"special\", or that we (humans) co-existed with dinosaurs will persist in those beliefs. And that's fine, but I don't want those superstitions taught as \"science\" or \"facts\" in our schools. If we start teaching Christian beliefs in our schools, we certainly don't have any basis for preventing the teaching of Islamic beliefs in our schools, either. That's just how that cookies crumbles. Personally, I don't want either one taught outside of religion or mythology classes. Your mileage may vary. As for Palin, I think she may be turning out to be just a bit more than the Republican Party bargained for. *lol* There's a rumour going around that \"her\" four-month-old Down Syndrome child is actually her daughter's. I don't know enough about the whole thing to guess if that's true, but that rumour is what forced her to come out with the story that her (17-year-old, unmarried) daughter is now pregnant."}, {"response": 570, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Sep  1, 2008 (22:53)", "body": "I read about that other rumor last night. It seemed so far fetched, but if even parts of the story are true, many questions are begged. From what I've been reading, they vetted her in the barest of terms it seems. McCain only spoke to her once, maybe twice, for an extremely short period beforehand. Scary. If we start teaching Christian beliefs in our schools In our public schools. I went to private Catholic school through high school, so I don't have a problem with that. But then I'm also not a creationist. Hell, I'm not even a believer of organized religion at this point."}, {"response": 571, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Sep  1, 2008 (23:31)", "body": "I'd like to ask the pro-lifers/pro-adoption advocates to consider this scenario and let me know what you think (even though I know I'll get one response if I'm lucky). A 30 year old woman with a 10 year history of significant psychiatric issues (including deep depression), on psych meds, becomes pregnant. During the pregnancy, she has to be taken off her meds, but in order to manage her depression, must undergo ECT (electroshock therapy). Up until the pregnancy, she was living at what was essentially a group home for those with psychiatric issues. She was kicked out of the home when she became pregnant, ending up in a shelter, where she returned to with the baby when she was discharged from the hospital. A visiting nurse was requested for both upon discharge. She has no medical insurance, but applies for Medicaid to cover medical services outside of the hospital after the baby is born, a time consuming process requiring the gathering of quite a number of supporting documents to determine eligibility with no guarantees that she will be accepted to the program. There was obviously no abortion and the baby was not given up for adoption, both for unknown reasons. My questions are: 1. The mother did not abort the baby, considered the (morally) correct course of action by some. How does going through and having the baby benefit the baby and/or the mother? Or even society? 2. The mother did not give the child up for adoption, a valid alternative to aborting or keeping the baby. How does this benefit the baby and/or the mother? Or even society? 3. What options do you think she and the baby have? Should have? What if her Medicaid is not approved? Discuss. :-)"}, {"response": 572, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Sep  1, 2008 (23:39)", "body": "Oh and I forgot to say, she expressed that she did not want to have a baby, but obviously didn't practice abstinence or safe sex."}, {"response": 573, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Sep  1, 2008 (23:57)", "body": "And in all fairness, the highlighted passage above about teenage girls being ignorant, I mean it in the sense of the word that they are lacking knowledge, not being mean and calling them stupid. Even though I didn't make the comment in the first place. ;-)"}, {"response": 574, "author": "OzFirthFan", "date": "Tue, Sep  2, 2008 (03:39)", "body": "Yes, thanks for clarifying Dorine: I am speaking only of public schools, of course. I myself went to Catholic school for seven years, and received religious education in school, which I had/have no problem with, since it was a private, religious school. If you want your children to be taught religion in school, please feel free to enroll them in a private school. I do not wish to have religious beliefs taught as science, however, in public schools. Even in private school, it's really inappropriate to teach children that biblical representations of the \"creation of human beings\" is anything resembling science. But really, if you pay someone to teach your child that in a private school, I guess that's your problem (and your poor child's, who is receiving a second-class education if they are taught that). I'll tell you: the \"Creation Museum\" that was opened in Kentucky last year makes the US the laughingstock of the world. You should see what my friends here in Australia have said about this place. What a joke. Truly, Moon, the so-called \"science\" of creationism is basically non-existent."}, {"response": 575, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Sep  2, 2008 (13:58)", "body": "As I've said I don't live my life by Absolutes. Fossils have been found of yew trees with dinosaur fossils dating back millions of years. It turns out that the Yew tree has not evolved, it is precisely as it is today. It was born perfect? With no need to evolve? Trees are living organisms. I've also never stated that the Theory of Creation should be taught in schools, I do consider it a Theory and many theories are taught in science class, it would just be one more. Islam is not a theory it is a fallacy (waving to Dorine). I also went to Catholic school and was a rebel there as well with my constant controversial questions. I drove one particular priest to almost want to strangle me, LOL! Never fear Jane, things don't change that quickly. Creationism won't be added to the school curriculum. Roe vs Wade will not be overturned either. From Nature Mag: \"Gravitational Theory\" is our explanation of the phenomenon we know as 'gravity'. It is a law of gravity that if you drop an object here, it will fall to the ground, but it is Gravitational Theory that explains how and why this occurs. Gravity is a law, but we understand and explain it through a theory. It is both ; ) Laws are NOT theories. A law is a statement or principle that 'describes' a phenomenon, Theories are coherent, well-substantiated explanations."}, {"response": 576, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Sep  2, 2008 (14:01)", "body": "Dorine, that example of a deranged troubled woman is disturbing. The woman was basically abandoned. She should have been helped and counseled into giving her baby up for adoption."}, {"response": 577, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Sep  2, 2008 (14:24)", "body": "http://partisanreport.com/blog/2008/09/01/loony-leftist-on-the-attack-against-palin-and-its-personal/ On Sarah's pregnancy, some very funny comments."}, {"response": 578, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Sep  2, 2008 (19:19)", "body": ""}, {"response": 579, "author": "OzFirthFan", "date": "Tue, Sep  2, 2008 (20:32)", "body": "Hey! Posting pics can be fun! :-)"}, {"response": 580, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Sep  2, 2008 (20:42)", "body": "LOL!!"}, {"response": 581, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Sep  2, 2008 (20:58)", "body": "To change from politics for a while, I thought this was an interesting article regarding women in the workplace from the NYT: Girl Power at School, but Not at the Office By HANNAH SELIGSON Published: August 30, 2008 I WAS born in 1982 \ufffd about 20 years after the women\ufffds rights movement began. Growing up in what many have called a post-feminist culture, I did not really experience institutional gender bias. \ufffdGirl power\ufffd was celebrated, and I felt that all doors were open to me. When I was in college, the female students excelled academically, sometimes running laps around their male counterparts. Women easily ascended to school leadership positions and prestigious internships. In my graduating class (more than half of which was female) there was a feeling of camaraderie, a sense that we were helping each other succeed. Then I left the egalitarianism of the classroom for the cubicle, and everything changed. The realization that the knowledge and skills acquired in school don\ufffdt always translate at the office is something that all college graduates, men and women, must face. But for women, I have found, the adjustment tends to be much harder. It was certainly hard for me \ufffd I lasted only nine months in my first job out of college. Inspired by my own rocky entrance into the work world, I decided to interview other young women and discovered that many of them, like me, were facing a steep workplace learning curve. What was it, I wondered, that was making our first career steps so wobbly when we had been so accomplished and self-assured in school? Every workplace is different, but certain patterns began to emerge. I experienced and heard of instances when some women, instead of helping a new female colleague, tried to undermine her. Rather than giving \ufffdthe new girl\ufffd the tools to succeed, they might try to sabotage her advancement. I saw some men, raised in a different era, who refused to take young women seriously, focused on their appearance and gave them the least desirable assignments. Even in this day and age, I saw women becoming \ufffdassistant-ized\ufffd\ufffd saddled with all the coffee runs and photocopying. Some workplaces are more sexist than others. A woman should never accept a job offer without first finding out whether the odds are already stacked against her. This background check will assess how a potential employer treats its female employees, how many women are in leadership positions and whether there is a history of pay discrimination or sexual harassment. But outside forces are only part of the story. I have also seen young women \ufffd myself included \ufffd getting in the way of their own success. I have found that we need to build a new arsenal of skills to mitigate some of our more \ufffdfeminine\ufffd tendencies. Having lived in a cocoon of equality in college, we may have neglected these vital, real-world skills. In my own case, I realized that I needed to develop a thick skin, feel comfortable promoting myself, learn how to negotiate, stop being a perfectionist and create a professional network \ufffd abilities that men are just more likely to have already. The more traditionally \ufffdfeminine\ufffd trait of sensitivity, while often appreciated, is not always an asset in the work world. I have spent too much time being rattled by terse e-mail from editors, agents who have told me that I\ufffdd never get a book deal, and bosses who have berated me as not being \ufffddetail-oriented.\ufffd I think that in order to break through any kind of glass ceiling, or simply to get through the day, you have to become impervious to the daily gruffness that\ufffds a part of any job. I used to think that perfection was the pathway to success. Not so, according to women I have interviewed who have reached the apex of their professions. Rather, it can lead to paralysis. Women, I have found, can let perfectionism stop them from speaking up or taking risks. For men, especially if they are thick-skinned, the thought of someone telling them \ufffdno\ufffd tends not to be viewed as earth-shattering. One tactic I\ufffdve found useful in getting over the perfectionist tendency is a shock therapy called soliciting feedback. Not only does it demystify what your boss thinks about you, but it also gives you the data to become a more valuable employee. The other dose of shock therapy I\ufffdve undergone is reprogramming my brain to think that, yes, girls do brag. I\ufffdve indoctrinated myself with the idea that my job is a two-part process. One part is actually doing the work and the second part is talking about it, preferably in bottom-line terms. The old-boys\ufffd club proves that men have long known that a professional network is imperative to success. Women don\ufffdt have as much of a tradition of business networking (\ufffdDo you want to go grab a beer?\ufffd doesn\ufffdt quite roll off our tongues) and, understandably, they may feel awkward or clueless about how to do it. I can tell you that it doesn\ufffdt work to go up to someone and say, \ufffdWill you be my mentor?\ufffd That\ufffds the workplace equivalent of \ufffdWill you be my boyfriend?\ufffd A "}, {"response": 582, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Sep  2, 2008 (20:59)", "body": "http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/31/jobs/31pre.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&em"}, {"response": 583, "author": "OzFirthFan", "date": "Tue, Sep  2, 2008 (21:25)", "body": "\ufffdDo you want to go grab a beer?\ufffd doesn\ufffdt quite roll off our tongues Speak for yourself, Hannah! Some of us know how to offer a guy a beer! ;-)"}, {"response": 584, "author": "OzFirthFan", "date": "Tue, Sep  2, 2008 (23:41)", "body": "Here's a really interesting article about the possible financial implications for Americans of the upcoming election: Economic View"}, {"response": 585, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Sep  3, 2008 (01:02)", "body": "Thanks, Jane. I read that several days ago. Matter of fact, your posting it reminds me I wanted to send it to someone I know who has a degree in Economics and was curious what he thought of it, but I forgot to do it."}, {"response": 586, "author": "OzFirthFan", "date": "Wed, Sep  3, 2008 (18:59)", "body": "Dunno if you guys have heard about this, but apparently a couple of the Republican \"talking heads\" got caught on open mics they didn't realise were open... video clip from MSNBC (link pops up in new window)"}, {"response": 587, "author": "OzFirthFan", "date": "Wed, Sep  3, 2008 (19:32)", "body": "And here's a rather droll, tongue-in-cheek commentary on the selection of Palin: John McCain, Hero"}, {"response": 588, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Sep  3, 2008 (19:55)", "body": "Here's the video with a transcript beneath it, which I was thankful for. I'm not in a noisefree environment and couldn't hear much of what was said clearly. http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2008/09/palin_means_its_over_peggy_noo.html"}, {"response": 589, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Sep  3, 2008 (22:42)", "body": "Oh. My. Goodness."}, {"response": 590, "author": "OzFirthFan", "date": "Wed, Sep  3, 2008 (23:05)", "body": "Just curious. I am watching coverage of the RNC on tv, and during Palin's acceptance speech, they keep showing this blonde woman next to Todd Palin. Who is that woman? Sorry to be so clueless, but I didn't hear her introduced, and I've not seen any graphics identifying her, but the tv crew seems to think she's quite important, as they keep showing shots of her reaction to the speech."}, {"response": 591, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Sep  3, 2008 (23:17)", "body": "i actually didn't notice her. i was switching between that and the Williams sisters match."}, {"response": 592, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Sep  3, 2008 (23:20)", "body": "but even when I did watch, i noticed the kids and dad...and boyfriend, but not her. Maybe Palin's sister?"}, {"response": 593, "author": "mari", "date": "Wed, Sep  3, 2008 (23:51)", "body": "Are you referring to Cindy McCain?"}, {"response": 594, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Sep  4, 2008 (00:07)", "body": "I started to post her then deleted because I didn't notice in shots of her she was near Todd. Just Guiliani."}, {"response": 595, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Sep  4, 2008 (00:25)", "body": "Ah, just saw a clip. Yes, it was Cindy McCain."}, {"response": 596, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Sep  4, 2008 (00:38)", "body": "Attacks, praise stretch truth at GOP convention By JIM KUHNHENN, Associated Press Writer 44 minutes ago ST. PAUL, Minn. - Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and her Republican supporters held back little Wednesday as they issued dismissive attacks on Barack Obama and flattering praise on her credentials to be vice president. In some cases, the reproach and the praise stretched the truth. [Ed note - Don't they all on both sides stretch the truth.] Some examples: PALIN: \"I have protected the taxpayers by vetoing wasteful spending ... and championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress. I told the Congress 'thanks but no thanks' for that Bridge to Nowhere.\" THE FACTS: As mayor of Wasilla, Palin hired a lobbyist and traveled to Washington annually to support earmarks for the town totaling $27 million. In her two years as governor, Alaska has requested nearly $750 million in special federal spending, by far the largest per-capita request in the nation. While Palin notes she rejected plans to build a $398 million bridge from Ketchikan to an island with 50 residents and an airport, that opposition came only after the plan was ridiculed nationally as a \"bridge to nowhere.\" PALIN: \"There is much to like and admire about our opponent. But listening to him speak, it's easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform \ufffd not even in the state senate.\" THE FACTS: Compared to McCain and his two decades in the Senate, Obama does have a more meager record. But he has worked with Republicans to pass legislation that expanded efforts to intercept illegal shipments of weapons of mass destruction and to help destroy conventional weapons stockpiles. The legislation became law last year. To demean that accomplishment would be to also demean the work of Republican Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, a respected foreign policy voice in the Senate. In Illinois, he was the leader on two big, contentious measures in Illinois: studying racial profiling by police and requiring recordings of interrogations in potential death penalty cases. He also successfully co-sponsored major ethics reform legislation. PALIN: \"The Democratic nominee for president supports plans to raise income taxes, raise payroll taxes, raise investment income taxes, raise the death tax, raise business taxes, and increase the tax burden on the American people by hundreds of billions of dollars.\" THE FACTS: The Tax Policy Center, a think tank run jointly by the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute, concluded that Obama's plan would increase after-tax income for middle-income taxpayers by about 5 percent by 2012, or nearly $2,200 annually. McCain's plan, which cuts taxes across all income levels, would raise after tax-income for middle-income taxpayers by 3 percent, the center concluded. Obama would provide $80 billion in tax breaks, mainly for poor workers and the elderly, including tripling the Earned Income Tax Credit for minimum-wage workers and higher credits for larger families. He also would raise income taxes, capital gains and dividend taxes on the wealthiest. He would raise payroll taxes on taxpayers with incomes above $250,000, and he would raise corporate taxes. Small businesses that make more than $250,000 a year would see taxes rise. MCCAIN: \"She's been governor of our largest state, in charge of 20 percent of America's energy supply ... She's responsible for 20 percent of the nation's energy supply. I'm entertained by the comparison and I hope we can keep making that comparison that running a political campaign is somehow comparable to being the executive of the largest state in America,\" he said in an interview with ABC News' Charles Gibson. THE FACTS: McCain's phrasing exaggerates both claims. Palin is governor of a state that ranks second nationally in crude oil production, but she's no more \"responsible\" for that resource than President Bush was when he was governor of Texas, another oil-producing state. In fact, her primary power is the ability to tax oil, which she did in concert with the Alaska Legislature. And where Alaska is the largest state in America, McCain could as easily have called it the 47th largest state \ufffd by population. MCCAIN: \"She's the commander of the Alaska National Guard. ... She has been in charge, and she has had national security as one of her primary responsibilities,\" he said on ABC. THE FACTS: While governors are in charge of their state guard units, that authority ends whenever those units are called to actual military service. When guard units are deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, for example, they assume those duties under \"federal status,\" which means they report to the Defense Department, not their governors. Alaska's national guard units have a total of about 4,200 personnel, among the smallest of state guard organizations. FORMER ARKANSAS GOV. MIKE HUCKABEE: Palin \"got more votes running for mayor of Wasilla, Alaska than Joe Biden got running for presiden"}, {"response": 597, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Sep  4, 2008 (00:44)", "body": "I started reading this Alaskan blogger a few days ago. He's quite amusing. Starts out with Guiliani's speech and on to Palin. http://mudflats.wordpress.com/2008/09/03/here-we-go-rnc-watch-open-thread/"}, {"response": 598, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Sep  4, 2008 (00:58)", "body": "From an AP report, Peggy Noonan trying to \"CYA\" over her \"It's over\" remark off camera on the live mic. UPDATE: Noonan tries to explain her remarks, and says that what's \"over\" isn't, she meant, McCain's campaign, but that what's over is the truth to the belief that \"whatever the base of the Republican party thinks is what America thinks.\""}, {"response": 599, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Sep  4, 2008 (01:01)", "body": "Just ran across her whole explanation of what she said: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122044753790594947.html?mod=todays_columnists"}, {"response": 600, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Sep  4, 2008 (14:11)", "body": "I thought she spoke very well last night. I am looking forward to the debates. From the Wall Street Journal: Focus Turns to Palin Record Governor Pushed Conservative Agenda, but Showed Flexibility http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122048513733097089.html?mod=hpp_us_whats_news"}, {"response": 601, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Sep  4, 2008 (14:54)", "body": "If we start teaching Christian beliefs in our schools In our public schools. Unfortunately, the Chicago Board of Education has been taking over parochial schools that the Archdiocese was about to close and turning them into \"charter\" schools. A masquerade. Public funding of faith-based schools. http://www.substancenews.net/issues/2007/november2007/articles/charter_news/november2007_chicago_news_cics_security.html An outrage to say the least. For me, it was crystallized in a comment made to me by Myra Hart, a retired senior faculty member at Harvard Business School who studies women as entrepreneurs: \ufffdBy and large women believe that the workplace is a meritocracy, and it isn\ufffdt.\ufffd Truer words were never spoken. Nothing has changed. Now getting on the more pressing discussion (I watched Sarah Palin's speech this morning, as I wasn't home last night) (Sarah) during Palin's acceptance speech, they keep showing this blonde woman next to Todd Palin. My favorite images were of Cindy holding Sarah's baby during Rudy's speech. LOL! Maybe she should've pretended to be breast-feeding him. ;-) Regardless, Sarah Palin gave a really good speech last night. I'd heard she was articulate and she does know how to deliver her lines to utmost effect."}, {"response": 602, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Sep  4, 2008 (16:13)", "body": "I, too, am looking forward to the debates. She is articulate, yes. I had to LOL at Todd shoveling the baby into one of the little one's arms so he could take his bow. the Chicago Board of Education has been taking over parochial schools that the Archdiocese was about to close and turning them into \"charter\" schools. A masquerade. Public funding of faith-based schools. So they're keeping the same curriculum, which in a parochial school usually includes some sort of religious classes? What exactly is a \"charter\" school? Is that like a magnet school?"}, {"response": 603, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Sep  4, 2008 (16:30)", "body": "(Dorine) So they're keeping the same curriculum, which in a parochial school usually includes some sort of religious classes? My understanding is that religious classes are held \"before\" or \"after\" official days. Whether they are mandatory I couldn't tell you. What exactly is a \"charter\" school? Is that like a magnet school? Big difference is that they are not part of the Chicago public school system, like a magnet school. Like parochial schools, their teachers are not union. Are their teachers nuns? I don't know."}, {"response": 604, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Sep  4, 2008 (16:36)", "body": "BTW, charter schools exist in many other states and were proposed and endorsed by the AFT. They are regarded as alternative schools and have an accountability for results to the state. However, the difference is how the chartering authority is being used by the State of Illinois, with the mixture of public funding for what are, in essence, nothing more than parochial schools."}, {"response": 605, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Sep  4, 2008 (17:39)", "body": "Last night's Daily Show had to be one of the best I've seen. The opening, which was from the Minneapolis airport/men's room through the contradictory statements (with video) by a number of people was a scream. Then there was the cartoon characterization of Fred Thompson as Foghorn Leghorn and Joe Lieberman as Droopy Dog (?)...really funny stuff. Definitely watch. All the vids are available below. You can stop with Newt. http://www.thedailyshow.com/"}, {"response": 606, "author": "OzFirthFan", "date": "Thu, Sep  4, 2008 (18:41)", "body": "I thought last night's Daily Show was great, too, Karen, though I didn't catch the very beginning. I'll have to go and watch that vid - thanks for the link. Loved the cartoon comparisons, they were spot on and hilarious!"}, {"response": 607, "author": "OzFirthFan", "date": "Thu, Sep  4, 2008 (20:43)", "body": "Palin in her speech last night: I said thanks, but no thanks to that bridge to nowhere . Well, after she was elected, and found that it was no longer politically expedient, anyway. :-/"}, {"response": 608, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Sep  4, 2008 (20:52)", "body": "BTW, charter schools exist in many other states and were proposed and endorsed by the AFT. They are regarded as alternative schools and have an accountability for results to the state. However, the difference is how the chartering authority is being used by the State of Illinois, with the mixture of public funding for what are, in essence, nothing more than parochial schools. Riiiight. I think these are the schools that Jeb Bush was trying to push in Florida using vouchers for kids in poorly rated public schools to go to private schools, or something like that. Or maybe not the same thing at all. I'd have to look it up. It's been too long that I've lived there and paid much attention to what goes on. I've watched a couple of the Daily Show videos. The one with the video bits on Palin and Newt. Very telling that interview with Newt IMO. Also, did anyone see the cuts to him on Sarah during her speech last night? I'd seen all those bits Jon used the comparisons on Palin. On blogs that pointed them all out already. But more fun when put all together. I need to go back and watch the airport men's room bit and cartoon comparisons."}, {"response": 609, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Sep  4, 2008 (20:53)", "body": "(Sarah) Well, after she was elected, and found that it was no longer politically expedient, anyway. :-/ But kept $27 million for it to build the road to nowhere. It ends where the bridge was to begin."}, {"response": 610, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Sep  4, 2008 (20:57)", "body": "Why does Jane come up on the front page where the posted topic list is, but it's Sarah at the actual post? Which is it? Who are you? ;-)"}, {"response": 611, "author": "OzFirthFan", "date": "Thu, Sep  4, 2008 (21:02)", "body": "I'm actually Sarah, but for some unknown reason, the darned message board software keeps insisting that I'm Jane!! Sorry about the confusion. Another background bit about Sarah Palin. She is in favour of \"hunting\" wolves and bears from helicopters in Alaska. Pretty disgusting practice. Here's a link , but please be warned - the video is really distressing if you love animals."}, {"response": 612, "author": "OzFirthFan", "date": "Thu, Sep  4, 2008 (21:09)", "body": "More background on Sarah Palin from a Wasilla resident who has known her since 1992 here"}, {"response": 613, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Sep  4, 2008 (21:20)", "body": "I'm actually Sarah, but for some unknown reason, the darned message board software keeps insisting that I'm Jane!! Sorry about the confusion. Two ways to fix that. Your name in any conference is first controlled by what' on your overall Preference page: http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/restricted/userinfo Easy to fix; just make the change and hit the button. Don't worry if you get a strange result. It will have gone through. Way 2 is via the main page on an individual conference: http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/restricted/browse/news/all/new Right there, toward the top, it says: \"Your full name in this conference is\" Whatever is in the box is how you will be shown. Change it there and hit the button on the right that says Change It. A person can post under different names in conferences."}, {"response": 614, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Sep  4, 2008 (21:30)", "body": "Yeah, won't be watching that hunting video, but I heard about tha I actually just read that letter a couple of hours ago, but I couldn't verify the veracity of the person, so I didn't post about it myself. I try to vet potentially inflammatory and false information such as that letter (with apparently more effort than the McCain team! ;-)), or try to at least post it with a healthy dose of skepticism myself if I can't get much more info. There's no telling if that person is real or not. But some Alaska newspapers and a blog or two have been quite helpful with info."}, {"response": 615, "author": "OzFirthFan", "date": "Thu, Sep  4, 2008 (22:00)", "body": "Thanks for the advice, Karen. I'd already changed it in the first place (userinfo), but changing it through the second link appears to have done the trick. Dorine, that link I posted was from Anne Kilkenny, a woman who lives in Wasilla. As it says in her letter, you can verify that she is who she says she is by googling her name + Alaska. I did so. The letter appears to be 100% genuine. Here's another article which mentions Anne Kilkenny (though her name is misspelled - sloppy journalism, if you ask me!)"}, {"response": 616, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Sep  4, 2008 (22:01)", "body": "The second link overrides the first, but that is where it all starts."}, {"response": 617, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Sep  4, 2008 (22:41)", "body": "Yeah, I knew who she was, though when I read it, I was thinking she could say she was anyone. And some of what she said wasn't news to me as I'd read it either at Alaskan news sites or elsewhere, but she did have some significant detail I hadn't seen yet. I'll admit I didn't read through the entire thing (it was long and I was trying to make dinner at the same time!). I'll finish it and check out your other article tomorrow. From what I've seen/read, Sarah Palin isn't the \"innocent\" hockey mom-of-a-special-needs-kid reformer she's been made out to be so far by some. Just like Obama isn't the pristine agent for change he's made out to be either. And it seems John McCain isn't the \"maverick\" he used to be either when I used to be a supporter of him years ago. And Joe Biden....no surprises there."}, {"response": 618, "author": "Moon", "date": "Fri, Sep  5, 2008 (16:13)", "body": "18 Million Silenced In Denver http://alegrescorner.soapblox.net/showDiary.do;jsessionid=66F18E6004051BFAA7328A6F2FCEA993?diaryId=917 ARKANSAS: \"I was so angry at the sham of a roll call that I just wanted it to be over... \" \"the last time I felt such unbearable group pressure was on a jury\" \" Obama representatives yelling, you'll be sorry\" to \"hold outs\". It was brutal.\" An alternate kept calling out that the state voted 70% for Hillary yet recorded its 47 delegate votes for Obama - \"how could that be?\" CALIFORNIA: Chris Stampolis reports \"I cast my signed vote for Hillary this morning. It will be added to the roll call count for California\". Except, we may never know how California voted... Delegate Ray Panko reports that, \"The California vote was about 230+ for Obama to 160+ for Clinton which did not reflect the state vote. The process was completely controlled by the DNC and the Obama campaign. They had us all vote at breakfast. They took our votes and tallied them. They did this to see how close the numbers would be between Obama and Clinton. The aim was to prevent the public from seeing the closeness of the race. California passed because the Obama/Dean,Nancy Church(DNC) told it to pass. It was a sham, show, farce, gimmick. Overall, the process was reprehensible. Each delegation was told a different story. No one was told the actual rules of the DNC which say delegates are required, in good conscience, to vote on the first ballot a vote that reflects the will of the voters who sent them to the convention. Gloria Allred was prevented from speaking to the California Hillary delegates to inform them of this rule and that it applies regardless of whether or not the candidate releases us or not. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v.. . People understood that pledged delegates would do what they came to Denver to do - vote for one of the nominees to reflect the votes of those who sent them. We expected there to be respect for the 18 million votes and Hillary's historic candidacy. We even thought that Super Delegates would be allowed to do their job - to select the electable Democrat. But that was not to be. Instead, the roll call turned into one chaotic caucus rigged to be sure that the final vote would never be known, without any sublety or reverance for the sanctity of the vote or individual obligations.\" A Super Delegate reported that \"CA \"passed\" without ever recording its votes because the Hillary delegation stood firm and had the vote been given accurately, Hillary would have been temporarily ahead in the roll call\". Clinton delegate and LA attorney Gloria Allred grabbed a napkin from the tables at the California delegation breakfast and wore it as a gag to protest not being allowed to speak at the breakfast. \"I was not elected to be a potted plant,\" Allred said through her gag, holding up DNC rules that say delegates must vote as they are elected. Californnia had 204 delegates pledged to Hillary Clinton, versus 166 for Obama.\" CONNECTICUT: \"I felt blindsided, bullied, mugged. I saw delegates being verbaly arm twisted with threats of loss of positions.\" \"One Obama delegate was bright red, yelling right up in my face\". FLORIDA: Barbara Bassett to Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz: \"Do not be party to the DNC and its efforts to further disenfranchise the voters of our state. Had our votes counted on Jan 29, 2008, we would be looking at the nomination of Senator Clinton. Again if our votes counted on May 31, 2008 we would be looking at the nomination of Senator Clinton... Stand up and say, 'We the People of the great state of Florida vote for Hillary Clinton'. I want to be heard, once during this election. I want to be heard. ONE person, ONE vote. I count, I matter. We voted, we spoke and we look to you to honor the integrity of our vote\"."}, {"response": 619, "author": "Moon", "date": "Fri, Sep  5, 2008 (16:18)", "body": "Clinton aides: Palin treatment sexist: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0908/13129.html"}, {"response": 620, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Sep  5, 2008 (16:44)", "body": "The idea of a convention, with the relevancy of its origins, has passed. Doris Godwin Kearns was talking about how they were not fait accomplis. That it could take 100 or more ballots in the past to select a candidate. This being the case, why even have a convention, except for the free television time, i.e., free advertising? Think how much money would be saved if there weren't primaries either, given that the delegate votes they generate aren't used. A spokeswoman for the National Organization for Women, noting Palin\ufffds opposition to abortion rights and support of other parts of the social conservative agenda, told Politico, \ufffdShe's more a conservative man than she is a woman on women's issues. Very disappointing.\" What her choice cements is the Republican party's emphasis on the ridiculous issue of family values, which is something the federal government shouldn't have anything to do with, by definition, rather than the big issues, like the economy!"}, {"response": 621, "author": "Moon", "date": "Fri, Sep  5, 2008 (17:00)", "body": "I totally agree with you, Karen, on all points. :-)"}, {"response": 622, "author": "OzFirthFan", "date": "Fri, Sep  5, 2008 (18:59)", "body": "Another article on Sarah Palin"}, {"response": 623, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Sep  5, 2008 (20:00)", "body": "(Karen) That it could take 100 or more ballots in the past to select a candidate. Like picking the Pope. Moon, you're confusing me, esp when you agree with Karen on all points yet support that ticket. So if people are calling coverage of Palin treatment, should we tell them to stop whining (for her), \"man up\" and make sure she works harder? ;-) Anyone notice that in younger pictures of Palin, she resembles Britney Spears quite a bit?"}, {"response": 624, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Sep  5, 2008 (20:01)", "body": "Oops, missed a word, plus a typo... So if people are calling coverage of Palin's treatment sexist, should we tell them to stop whining (for her), \"man up\" and make sure she works harder? ;-)"}, {"response": 625, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Sep  5, 2008 (20:08)", "body": "Interesting reasoning on both sides. Most Clinton backers say Palin's too far a stretch By JOCELYN NOVECK, AP National Writer 2 hours, 48 minutes ago Sandy Goodman was deeply disappointed when Hillary Rodham Clinton didn't get the Democratic nomination, then again when she was bypassed for the VP spot. So Goodman, a longtime Florida Democrat, flirted with thoughts of shunning Barack Obama, and perhaps even voting Republican. Then John McCain picked Sarah Palin as his running mate, and suddenly things became clear to Goodman: The Republicans had no place for her. \"Boy, you are sure not talking to ME!\" Goodman, 61, says she thought when she heard Palin's views on issues like abortion rights. Now, Goodman is volunteering for Obama. But then there's Chrissie Peters. The 37-year-old librarian from Bristol, Tenn. has always voted Democratic and supported Clinton. She assumed she'd vote for Obama \ufffd until she saw Palin speak. Now she's voting Republican. \"She was so down-to-earth, a regular person,\" says Peters. \"She hasn't been in politics her whole life, so she isn't jaded or tainted. And I love that she's a mom. Yes, I disagree with some of her positions, but that's what this country is about.\" One of the most intriguing questions about the Alaska governor's sudden arrival on the national scene has been what impact it'll have on women voters \ufffd especially those who supported Clinton. Palin made an overture to those voters in her first speech after being chosen by McCain. Will the pitch work? Evidence so far shows that Palin is not drawing a lot of support from voters outside the Republican base. An ABC News poll released Friday found the selection of Palin makes people likelier to vote for McCain by just 6 percentage points \ufffd half the 12-point margin by which Sen. Joe Biden makes them more likely to support Obama. And as for Clinton supporters, eight in 10 said they'd vote for Obama in November, according to a Gallup Poll conducted last weekend after McCain announced his selection of Palin. Diane Mantouvalos, for one, thinks the numbers are behind the tide. \"We've always been a few weeks ahead of the polls,\" says the founder of the JustSayNoDeal Web site, a clearinghouse for groups of disaffected Clinton supporters seeking to punish the Democratic Party and Obama for what they see as inexcusable treatment of Clinton. Mantouvalos hasn't decided whom she'll support in November. But she believes many former Clinton supporters will end up voting for McCain. And she thinks Palin will help make that happen. \"I was there,\" Mantouvalos says of Palin's convention speech. \"I was blown away. She seemed so confident in her own skin.\" And what about all the issues on which Palin differs so sharply from Clinton? \"Principle trumps issues for this group,\" she says of her and others like her. To Gloria Steinem, the nation's most recognizable feminist, that logic is mystifying. \"Selecting Sarah Palin ... is no way to attract most women, including die-hard Clinton supporters,\" Steinem wrote this week in the Los Angeles Times, arguing that McCain's running mate is seriously underqualified. \"Palin shares nothing but a chromosome with Clinton.\" In an e-mail to The Associated Press, Steinem added: \"I have yet to meet one single human being who was for Hillary and is now for McCain, with or without Palin, but some must exist somewhere.\" Historically, women vote on the issues, not by the gender of the candidate, and since 1980 they've trended Democratic for that reason, says Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University. \"I wouldn't expect that the McCain-Palin ticket will pull in Clinton supporters,\" says Walsh. \"They were supporting her on the issues. Her gender just added to the appeal.\" Whatever appeal gender has for female voters, Obama's campaign is not about to let McCain corner the market. Clinton herself, along with Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano and Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, all are scheduled to campaign for Obama in the coming weeks, particularly where they can vouch for Obama to large female audiences The Washington group EMILY's List, which backs female candidates who support abortion rights, says its own polling shows that a majority of Clinton supporters \ufffd 55 percent \ufffd say Palin's presence on the ticket makes them even less likely to vote McCain. Only 9 percent say it makes that more likely. \"There really couldn't be more of a distance between Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton on the issues and the agenda that Clinton fought so passionately for,\" the group's executive director, Ellen Moran, said in an interview. \"The more (Clinton supporters) are learning about Palin, the more they are coming to the Obama-Biden ticket.\" That's not the case for self-described \"Clinton die-hard\" Amy Goldman. The consultant from Edgewater, N.J. says she'd been leaning toward McCain for a while, but his pick of Palin sealed the deal. \"His pick goes outside the box,\" said Goldman, 52, who like Mant"}, {"response": 626, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Sep  5, 2008 (22:20)", "body": "(Dorine) Moon, you're confusing me, esp when you agree with Karen on all points yet support that ticket. Why is that confusing? I was merely analyzing the history of events. What happened. I don't think it would have an impact on how one votes. And what about all the issues on which Palin differs so sharply from Clinton? \"Principle trumps issues for this group,\" she says of her and others like her. Like I said, the hell hath no fury defense. Historically, women vote on the issues, not by the gender of the candidate, and since 1980 they've trended Democratic for that reason A pitiful lack of data to support such a claim! When it comes to judicial retention, for years, I would only vote Retain for women's names. LOL! At least I had a system. ;-) But I'd say not enough data relative to important positions. No way! Maybe they also needed to ask how many of those women voted the way their husbands did, which would also account for no gender preference. eh? huh?"}, {"response": 627, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Sep  5, 2008 (22:36)", "body": "I didn't really get that whole stopping the roll call thing unlike as I said, it wouldn't have tallied up to enough. Esp since some could've changed their votes to Hillary, correct? There was no point to having the delegates there if they couldn't all represent. You know I don't know what I was reading into the stuff that I didn't understand Moon's comment (I did get why she agreed with you on the convention stuff). My headache's back and it's not important."}, {"response": 628, "author": "Moon", "date": "Fri, Sep  5, 2008 (22:57)", "body": "I totally agree with you, Karen, on all points. :-) Sheesh, Dorine, just to make sure. ;-) I agree with Karen (post 620), that: 1)The idea of a convention, with the relevancy of its origins, has passed. 2)Think how much money would be saved if there weren't primaries either, given that the delegate votes they generate aren't used. 3)...issue of family values, which is something the federal government shouldn't have anything to do with, by definition, rather than the big issues, like the economy!"}, {"response": 629, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Sep  6, 2008 (21:39)", "body": "Someone in an email said to me that Palin doesn't have a problem being questioned by anything. Perhaps, perhaps not. She (and her lawyer) are also using stall tactics in the Troopergate investigation. You'd think she'd want to get it done and over with if there is nothing wrong. http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/09/06/carney/index.html Reading the blue hypertext throughtout the article can be helpful as it's read. If for background on the references if nothing else. And can someone tell me, how does one become mayor of a town with 7000 people that has no debt and leave it with approx $20 million in debt? And that plane mentioned in the speech that was sold on eBay? Ah, nope. It didn't sell there. They ended up hiring a broker to sell it.... at a loss to the state of 500K. Guess I gotta give her credit for trying to get rid of it."}, {"response": 630, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Sep  6, 2008 (21:51)", "body": "http://www.adn.com/opinion/story/516641.html"}, {"response": 631, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Sep  7, 2008 (14:17)", "body": "(Dorine) And that plane mentioned in the speech that was sold on eBay? Ah, nope. It didn't sell there. They ended up hiring a broker to sell it.... at a loss to the state of 500K. Guess I gotta give her credit for trying to get rid of it. I knew about the plane sale before her acceptance speech and noted that she only said that \"I put it on eBay\" which doesn't mean it actually was sold there. In fact, it was listed three times before they had to turn it over to broker. (Dorine) Esp since some could've changed their votes to Hillary, correct? Not on the first ballot. Not having a balloting process ensured several things. First and foremost, it created a public perception that there was overwhelming party unity for BO, when the actual numbers cast would not have shown that. Second, even after delegates were released from their pledged support, there's no way to know how people would vote. Wheeling and dealing and who knows what else could've turned things upside down. The DNC didn't want Hillary to win. Pure and simple. As in days of yore, a convention (and its backrooms) decided on things. Here, the backroom decided things before the convention, which is why I said having a convention is a waste of money."}, {"response": 632, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sun, Sep  7, 2008 (15:41)", "body": "Karen you have the facts. That is exactly what happened. And, as a Hillary delegate from VA who got to appoint the VA Hillary delegates who attended the convention, I can tell you that they were determine to vote for Hillary on the roll call, of course, they did not get that chance. I also attended in DC the meeting for counting the MI and FL votes. One HRC superdelegate from VA who was part of the commission told me that the Hillary Supers had to make the deal they made because of threats that the DNC would take all of them away from Hillary. If the DNC had acknowledge the votes to Hillary, she would have won the delegate count because of how well she did with the rest of the primaries. I have been very involved from the start and I just can't fall in line. Nobama! LA Times, September 4 2008 The \"unity\" convention in Denver is over. But some Hillary Rodham Clinton delegates are back home in California stewing over what they describe as pressure from Barack Obama allies to create a false image of overwhelming support for the Democratic presidential nominee. The complete article can be viewed at: http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-trailunity2008sep04,0,5635151.story"}, {"response": 633, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Sep  7, 2008 (15:43)", "body": "noted that she only said that \"I put it on eBay\" Yes, I did see that after, though she was heavily implying she sold it there. McCain himself seems to be playing it up though (perhaps by mistake?) as he said while campaigning in the past couple of days that it was \"sold on eBay, for a profit.\" I don't know how stopping a roll call in the middle shows party unity. Just the opposite to me. there's no way to know how people would vote. Didn't I basically say that before? That they'd stop it to prevent Hillary from ending up with more? I was thinking about the whole primary election process last night in the shower (such relaxing subjects I think about ;-)). I don't understand why the primaries have to be so dragged out. Just have a primary on one day and have a runoff of the candidates that get over a certain percentage. If only one does, then that's the nominee. Or just use the one who wins flat out. I understand why delegates were necessary in the days before, say the phone, or even the telegraph, but it should be based on people's votes and that's it at this point. And even if they did still have them, there should be a uniform method of distribution....and NO caucuses. Either have every state give all delegates to the winner, or all states divide the delegates proportionally based on the percentage of votes as some already do. And I never did understand that ridiculousness of punishing 2 states for moving their dates. So what? (that's a rhetorical question) That shouldn't even be an option. What's the point of having people vote if the delegates don't count in the current system, esp if the delegates are considered so important. And esp if only one of the main candidates participates. They shouldn't have a choice not to. And if only one of the main ones participate, the votes shouldn't count anyway as it's not fair nor a true representation of what the other candidates might have had in competition. It's all too ridiculous. Well, I don't contribute and I'm not getting any of that money if they didn't use it, so if they want to waste it on a convention, whatever."}, {"response": 634, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Sep  7, 2008 (15:49)", "body": "(Moon) Nobama! Then don't vote, Moon (can't believe I said that). I'd rather see people not happy with Obama not vote for him and not give McCain any extra voting help to maintain the status quo in the country/our place in the world. Or godferbid, make matters worse, if that's possible."}, {"response": 635, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sun, Sep  7, 2008 (16:18)", "body": "I need to suport a woman on the ticket, Dorine. As you know, I don't care for Bush, never did. I have been a Dem all my life. An independant thinker who grew up in a conservative Republican household. Fear not, McCain is not Bush. By voting for McCain/Palin, I am voting in protest of the DNC, and I am voting for Hillary in 2012. Nobama!"}, {"response": 636, "author": "OzFirthFan", "date": "Sun, Sep  7, 2008 (19:06)", "body": "I can't believe you're determined to vote for McCain just because Palin has a vagina, Moon. Why not just write in Hillary Clinton's name instead? Clinton herself wouldn't want you to vote for McCain/Palin. You are cutting off your nose to spite your face. There are plenty of ways to both vote for a woman and not give your vote to Obama which do not included voting against your own interests."}, {"response": 637, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Sep  7, 2008 (20:44)", "body": "Even though McCain told Bob Schieffer on Face the Nation this morning that she'd go on his show, seems there's a different plan that apparently Glenn Greenwald of Salon pegged yesterday... When they decide in a couple of weeks that Palin is ready to do so, she'll go and sit down with Brit Hume or Larry King or Charlie Gibson or some other pleasant, accommodating person who plays a journalist on TV and have a nice, amiable, entertaining chat about topics that are easily anticipated. Having been preceded by all sorts of campaign drama about her first interview and the excitement that she's not up to the task, her TV appearance will be widely touted, score big ratings, and will be nice entertainment for the network that presents it. and his update today: It's not prescience when you simply describe the bleeding obvious. If I were a McCain adviser and wanted to have Palin sit with someone who is perceived as a \"journalist\" while knowing that no damage could possibly occur, I'd pick Charlie Gibson, too. There are many, many other equally good alternatives, but when it comes to wretched passivity and sycophantic establishment worship, the former \"Good Morning America\" host -- whose career was built on oozing amiability and inoffensiveness -- is as good as it gets."}, {"response": 638, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sun, Sep  7, 2008 (20:54)", "body": "Sarah, the only way to guarantee Hillary runs in 2012 is to vote for McCain/Palin, I can wait 4 years. I further explained my need to vote for them on my other post. I am a rebel with a cause. Let's leave it at that. I look forward to the debates. Let the Circus begin."}, {"response": 639, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Sep  8, 2008 (14:42)", "body": "NYT - Op-Ed Columnist A Heartbeat Away By WILLIAM KRISTOL Published: September 7, 2008 Should voters be alarmed by a relatively young or inexperienced vice-presidential candidate? No. Since 1900, five vice presidents have succeeded to the presidency during their term in office: Teddy Roosevelt in 1901, Calvin Coolidge in 1923, Harry Truman in 1945, Lyndon Johnson in 1963, and Gerald Ford in 1974. Teddy Roosevelt took over at age 42, becoming our youngest president, and he\ufffds generally thought to have proved up to the job. Truman was V.P. for less than three months and had been kept in the dark by Franklin Roosevelt about such matters as the atom bomb \ufffd and he\ufffds generally thought to have risen to the occasion. Character, judgment and the ability to learn seem to matter more to success as president than the number of years one\ufffds been in Washington. Did McCain think Palin his very best possible successor? Perhaps not. Did Barack Obama think Biden the absolute cream of the Democratic crop? Perhaps not. They undoubtedly thought highly enough of their running mates to have confidence in their ability to take over their administration in case of incapacity or death. I think most voters will accept that basic judgment. But \ufffd shocking to say! \ufffd both Obama and McCain also took political considerations into account in making their selections. One thing McCain undoubtedly had in mind was Obama\ufffds failure to pick Hillary Clinton. As The Times\ufffds Patrick Healy reported Friday, \ufffdIf the election remains close, the next president could very well be picked by what Chris Lehane, a Democratic strategist, calls \ufffdWal-Mart Moms\ufffd \ufffd white working women with children living in the exurbs and in rural parts of battleground states. ...\ufffd McCain didn\ufffdt just pick a politician who could appeal to Wal-Mart Moms. He picked a Wal-Mart Mom. Indeed, he picked someone who, in 1999, as Wasilla mayor, presided over a wedding of two Wal-Mart associates at the local Wal-Mart. \ufffdIt was so sweet,\ufffd said Palin, according to The Anchorage Daily News. \ufffdIt was so Wasilla.\ufffd A Wasilla Wal-Mart Mom a heartbeat away? I suspect most voters will say, No problem. And some \ufffd perhaps a decisive number \ufffd will say, It\ufffds about time. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/08/opinion/08kristol.html?_r=1&ei=5070&emc=eta1&oref=slogin"}, {"response": 640, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Sep  8, 2008 (15:29)", "body": "The Dem convention really was his last hurrah it seems. :-(( They may plan a return, but I'd be shocked to see it, though more power to him if he does. Kennedy Plans January Return To Senate By Kathleen Hunter, CQ Staff Mon Sep 8, 11:44 AM ET Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, who made a brief return to the national stage during last month's Democratic convention, will not return to the Senate this year as he battles a brain tumor, his office has announced. Some of Kennedy's friends and supporters privately had expressed hope that Kennedy, D-Mass., could resume his legislative duties this week , as Congress returns from a five-week summer recess that included the two parties' national conventions. Kennedy, 76, made a dramatic on-stage appearance at the Democratic convention in Denver, where he was honored with a video tribute. \"As Senator Kennedy said two weeks ago in Denver, he intends to be on the floor of the United States Senate next January when we begin to write the next great chapter of American progress,\" said Kennedy spokesman Anthony Coley. \"Sen. Kennedy's doctors are pleased with his progress so far and have recommended that he continue to work from home through the fall.\" Kennedy \"will be in touch with his staff, colleagues, and others via video conferencing from his home in Hyannis Port.\" Coley added. Kennedy has been recuperating from June brain surgery and undergoing chemotherapy and radiation to treat a malignant brain tumor that doctors diagnosed May 20, three days after he suffered a seizure at his family compound on Cape Cod. He has returned to the Senate just once since his diagnosis - on July 9 -- to cast a vote that ensured Democratic victory on a bill blocking a cut in Medicare payments to physicians (PL 110-275). An early supporter of Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., Kennedy, chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, would play an important role in any Obama effort to dramatically expand health insurance coverage -- a career-long legislative goal of the Massachusetts senator. During his absence, Kennedy has deputized senior members of his committee to act as chief on-site negotiators on a few pieces of major legislation. http://news.yahoo.com/s/cq/20080908/pl_cq_politics/politics2945041;_ylt=AtPc7yIHdn0Re8OULvOAGAus0NUE"}, {"response": 641, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Sep  8, 2008 (22:53)", "body": "I'm making no statement in posting this and have no idea what ideological bent this writer has, if any, as I know of her, but couldn't tell you if I've read anything of hers. I just ran across it reading something else and thought it would be of interest since we've talked about sexism during the campaign(s). What's Fair Game With Sarah Palin? By Anne E. Kornblut Sunday, September 7, 2008; B01 Watching Gov. Sarah Palin explode onto the national scene over the last week got me thinking back to a cold evening earlier this year, just before the New Hampshire primary. I was half-listening to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton speak at an auditorium when a strange noise interrupted the event: two young men shouting, in muffled voices, \"Iron my shirt!\" At first, Clinton seemed as taken aback as the rest of the audience, unsure of what was going on. Then she saw the yellow \"Iron My Shirt!\" sign one of the young men held, figured out what was being shouted and brushed the interruption aside. \"Ah, the remnants of sexism, alive and well,\" she said, then continued with her remarks. When security officers removed the young men from the audience, I joined several other reporters in following them outside to find out who the hecklers were and what had motivated them to make such a spectacle. Little did we know that the bizarre incident was a precursor of what was to come -- of the debate over sexism, feminism and the role of women in public life that would emerge as one of the defining aspects of the 2008 campaign. My fellow reporters and I never really did resolve the mystery of the \"iron my shirt\" episode; the two young men refused to give us their names and offered strangely vague reasons for being there. But we were put on notice that night: Gender politics was going to be a part of this race in ways that no one could foresee. After following Clinton on the campaign trail for more than two years, I have been watching the Palin story with some wariness -- especially the conservative charges that the treatment she's received has been overwhelmingly sexist. With each new development, I keep wondering: What if? What if, back in the 1990s, Clinton had announced the pregnancy of an unmarried, teenaged daughter? Would the Republicans have declared it an off-limits family matter and declined to judge her, or would it have turned into a national scandal that hurt her chances as she decided to pursue her own career in elected office? What if, instead of the GOP's new vice presidential candidate, Clinton had been the one to run for national office without any international experience to speak of? (After all, Clinton's rivals diminished the relevance of her eight years as first lady, saying they counted for little on her r\ufffdsum\ufffd.) And what if Clinton had rejected questions about her record by calling such lines of questioning sexist? What if she had refused to name any national security decisions she had made, as a spokesman for Sen. John McCain did on Palin's behalf last week, on the grounds that the question was unfair? What if, simply, the roles had been reversed? Howard Wolfson, Clinton's former communications director, said he is confident that the Republicans \"would have attempted to destroy her\" if she were in Palin's shoes -- as, in fact, some Republicans tried to do to Clinton throughout the 1990s, and were preparing to do again if she had won the Democratic nomination this year. At the same time, Wolfson said, Republican attempts \"to defend Palin from sexism lost a fair amount of credibility when Carly Fiorina refused to acknowledge that her party had ever been sexist toward Hillary Clinton.\" (Fiorina, the former Hewlett-Packard chief turned McCain economic adviser, told a \"hear-me-roar\" press conference with other Republican women Wednesday that Republicans were not responsible for any mistreatment of Clinton.) I have had my share of major disagreements with Wolfson over the last few years, but on this one, he is probably right. It may seem a pretty pointless exercise -- envisioning the \"would haves\" if Clinton and Palin had somehow swapped roles, parties and lives. But it is a useful tool as a reporter, a way of contemplating what is fair game now by comparing it with what was fair game then. Even the issue of \"Would you ask a man the same question\" (raised so indignantly last week by senior McCain adviser Steve Schmidt and former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani) falls slightly short, simply because there are so few templates for female candidates running for higher office -- and the ones who have, including Clinton, Palin and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, have tried to use their roles as mothers and women as part of the overall package in ways that men do not. That is not to say that every awkward detail of Palin's personal life is an acceptable target -- or that Democrats, reporters and bloggers ought to pursue Palin in all of the aggressive ways that Clinton has been grilled for most of her political life. It is also not to su"}, {"response": 642, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Sep  8, 2008 (23:18)", "body": "This is almost becoming like shooting fish in a barrel. But I guess the joke will be on me (and many of the rest of us) if they win. I actually wasn't going to post it, but I rethought that after thinking that it's not just her out there, but McCain standing right by her side (I saw it on the news!) endorsing inaccurate information, if by no other manner than standing there proud as can be and not correcting her. I'm sure their people will make sure that information mistake isn't repeated. The other thing that disturbs me about it, is I'd bet virtually no one in that audience knew enough about those institutions to know she was not correct. http://mudflats.wordpress.com/2008/09/08/fannie-mae-and-freddie-mac-who-are-they-asks-palin/ [As a side note, watching a Daily Show repeat from the Thursday Barack gave his speech. Doing a satirical Barack Obama story and starts out with a Lion King parody. It's hysterical!]"}, {"response": 643, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Sep 11, 2008 (14:47)", "body": "Biden Finally Admits Hillary Would Be Better VP. It so pisses me off that suddenly everyone is so kind to HRC--now that they need our votes. Where were these jerks six months ago? Yeah, she is qualified--more qualified than either Biden or Obama! http://alegrescorner.soapblox.net/showDiary.do;jsessionid=69E3F54AB045175500550C7BB3A0D214?diaryId=985"}, {"response": 644, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Sep 11, 2008 (14:53)", "body": "Fresh blood for the vampire A beady-eyed McCain gets a boost from the charismatic Sarah Palin, a powerful new feminist -- yes, feminist! -- force. Plus: Obama must embrace his dull side. By Camille Paglia http://www.salon.com/opinion/paglia/2008/09/10/palin/"}, {"response": 645, "author": "OzFirthFan", "date": "Thu, Sep 11, 2008 (20:33)", "body": "And yet... many, many women see Sarah Palin very clearly for what she is... Women Against Sarah Palin"}, {"response": 646, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Sep 11, 2008 (23:29)", "body": "So I guess Palin's interview is being spread all over. Some was on ABC News tonight I read..?? and the rest here: Watch Charles Gibson's exclusive interviews with Gov. Sarah Palin tonight on \"Nightline.\" Tune in Friday for more on \"Good Morning America \" at 7 a.m. ET. See more on \"World News\" and \"20/20,\" which will broadcast a one-hour special edition at 10 p.m. ET/9 p.m. CT. I guess the first part is online already around the web."}, {"response": 647, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sat, Sep 13, 2008 (12:52)", "body": "This explains it all so very well, it is a must read: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/will-bower/my-history-of-puma-from-i_b_125878.html"}, {"response": 648, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Sep 13, 2008 (13:48)", "body": "(Sarah) And yet... many, many women see Sarah Palin very clearly for what she is... Of course they/we do. And your point? (Dorine) So I guess Palin's interview is being spread all over. Totally confusing. Guess it is being done for ratings purposes. I only saw the first excerpts of Gibson's interview on Nightline a couple of nights ago, but have recorded last night's 20/20. Guess I'll have to resign myself to not seeing all of it, as I can't be bothered to figure which parts are airing and when. Good PUMA piece, Moon. I've been reading the comments as well. These political sites generate huge commentary. 300+ comments!"}, {"response": 649, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Sep 13, 2008 (15:10)", "body": "I taped the Nightline, which I need to watch and watched most of the 20/20. I didn't see the others. Interesting article. I do agree about getting rid of Pelosi. She's useless for many reasons. I have no particular opinion on Brazile and Dean, so they can go to for all I care. Interesting reading about voter disenfranchisement in Texas. Sounds just like Florida in 2000 in the general. And who knew that FL and MI would actually end up mattering? If Hillary had come out stronger on Super Tuesday as she expected, frankly the whole issue about FL and MI delegates would've been moot. And she probably would've been the nominee, despite any backroom machinations by the DNC. Personally, I think they should've left the FL and MI delegates not count. Or at least MI, since Obama wasn't even on the ballot. That's stupid to guess that Obama would've had a certain amount. I don't remember who was or wasn't on the ballot in FL. As I said here before (or maybe in an email to someone instead), I think all states should have uniform voting and delegate distribution procedures and get rid of caucuses altogether. Maybe just have the nominating vote on one day (with a subsequent runoff if necessary), then get on with campaigning for the general."}, {"response": 650, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Sep 13, 2008 (15:20)", "body": "I happened to start reading this a couple of days ago and only got to the second page so far. Very interesting insight into strategy. Shows copies of a few memos/emails. http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200809/hillary-clinton-campaign"}, {"response": 651, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sun, Sep 14, 2008 (15:22)", "body": "Dorine, Obama sued to have his name taken of the ballot in MI, all the others had their names on the ballot. The DNC had the nerve to give Obama some of Hillary's MI votes. Obama's name was on the FL ballot which Hillary won by a nice margin, the DNC gave her only half her FL votes. I was at the meeting in DC, it was a a low day for Democrats. Deals done behind close doors, threats made... Re: Super Tuesday, there was so much fraud going on with Obama's people. I keep telling you that he's not the real nominee. Hillary even won the popular vote. It's all a fraud perpetuated by the DNC and I will not fall in line. As I've said before, I'm too close to it. All Obama has ever wanted was to be President, he's been working at it since the beginning, how many times has he changed his opinions on issues just to be popular? He has a hidden agenda and I pray that he does not win in Nov."}, {"response": 652, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sun, Sep 14, 2008 (15:49)", "body": "How could they have really picked this guy over Hillary? Another must read: http://michellemalkin.com/2008/08/26/fighting-back-against-obamas-thugs/"}, {"response": 653, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Sep 14, 2008 (16:02)", "body": "(Moon) Obama sued to have his name taken of the ballot in MI, all the others had their names on the ballot. John Edwards had his name taken off as well. Both removed their names because the DNC told everyone to do so. Frankly I don't quite understand why those states had primaries before Iowa's caucases or why the DNC would even make up such a rule, when it had no power over the states' election boards which set the dates. The DNC's rule IMO was an absurdity. But the issue is quite moot."}, {"response": 654, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sun, Sep 14, 2008 (16:07)", "body": "Veteran's Affairs Chief Crumbles Under Pressure From Congress It seems that Veterans Affairs Secretary Peake can't hold his own against Congressional Democrats. They put so \"much pressure\" on him that he reversed his own decision and will now let groups like ACORN and MoveOn.org invade the VA facilities with voter registrants. Who do you think is behind this? Obama of course. You know the guy who pays ACORN to commit voter fraud and pays front companies for their work on get-out-the- vote work. It isn't bad enough he used ACORN to cheat with the civilian vote, now he is going to use groups to cheat with the veteran vote. And of course, the asshat has this to say: Obama issued a statement saying, \"I commend Secretary Peake's decision today. The key will be implementation. We must ensure that the VA's doors are open to non-partisan groups, as well as state and local government agencies, to enable veterans to register to vote in a timely fashion, complete absentee ballots, and receive rides to the polls.\" I have to use the VA for medical services since I am a 100% totally, permanently disabled female Navy veteran. In my opinion, this is a violation of my right to privacy. I don't want to be bombarded by voter registrants while I am sitting in a facility I feel is already hostile towards me. I have been waiting nearly ten years to get my hands fixed which are getting progressively worse, and the VA won't fix them. Nope I was told nada, no way but I have to put up with non-partisan groups trying to sign me up to vote because Peake is a coward! Non-partisan groups\ufffd.you mean ACORN, which claims to be non-partisan but generally will run screaming from the sight of a Republican. We know they have not been non-partisan this year as they have worked almost exclusively for Obama from February 2008 to May 2008. I even called my Congressman, Todd Tiahrt, his office hung up on me in Washington, DC, not interested. Senator Brownback's office in DC, said \"we will tell the Senator.\" and I got the brush off from Senator Pat Robert's office in DC too. I did get one of Roberts constituent representatives in Wichita, KS to give a damn! She asked me to write a letter that will be sent to the Senator in DC. The short and long of this is Obama should not be allowed to bring his \"non-partisan groups\" (ACORN) into a facility that is meant for veterans especially since we have to receive out medical treatment there. And we want to receive it in PEACE! By NancyA Email: susanunpc@gmail.com On September 12, 2008 at 12:59 AM in Acorn, Barack Obama, Current Affairs, Veterans Administration, Voter Fraud"}, {"response": 655, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sun, Sep 14, 2008 (16:11)", "body": "(Karen), John Edwards had his name taken off as well. Both removed their names because the DNC told everyone to do so. Yes it did tell them too. But in MI the ballot went out with all their names on it except Obama because he sued to have his removed. Edwards's votes were given to Obama at the DNC meeting. It is quite moot now, but that doesn't mean I don't remember what went on. How our democratic votes were taken away by the DNC."}, {"response": 656, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Sep 14, 2008 (16:46)", "body": "(Moon) It is quite moot now How the MI delegates got apportioned is certainly moot, but my reference was to the lack of logic between a state setting a date for a primary and a party organization telling people they couldn't run in those primaries. There was an automatic disenfranchisement of those states' delegates, one that the delegates and candidates had no opportunity to control. When a state decides to hold its primary election is that state's right. It would seem to me that the DNC has to follow what the states do in setting their own calendar. This is an example of the tail wagging the dog. Not recognizing those states' delegates doesn't seem like an option to me and it isn't as though the DNC was going to pay to hold a primary in those states out of its own pocket. That's the moot point to which I referred."}, {"response": 657, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Sep 14, 2008 (17:11)", "body": "I don't say often that I won't consider what a media person on either side may say, but sorry, I won't pay attention to Michelle Malkin. I don't think MI should have counted as it was or should've had a do-over. And being the state's choice when to have their primary (or apparently not), how could the DNC's wishes supersede that? And why did the state listen?"}, {"response": 658, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Sep 14, 2008 (17:17)", "body": "What's also moot IMO, is that if the race hadn't been so close and had ended up in Hillary's favor by a large margin, it's likely it wouldn't have mattered what happened with FL and MI anyway and most likely this discussion wouldn't be on the table."}, {"response": 659, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Sep 14, 2008 (17:28)", "body": "(Moon) He has a hidden agenda Which would be? You've alluded to things before, but are there specifics that I've missed somewhere? I'll be willing to listen, but I don't take esoteric allusions very seriously without some backup."}, {"response": 660, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Sep 14, 2008 (22:36)", "body": "I found this an interesting article on Sarah Palin. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/14/us/politics/14palin.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&hp"}, {"response": 661, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Sep 14, 2008 (22:45)", "body": "And I found this interesting because I posited the same questions this columnist did within the first 4 paragraphs in an email to a few people yesterday after reading about one of Palin's stump speeches earlier that day where people chanted, \"Drill, baby, drill\". http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/14/opinion/14friedman.html?em"}, {"response": 662, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Sep 15, 2008 (01:11)", "body": "\ufffdI\ufffdm still proud of Sarah,\ufffd she added, \ufffdbut she scares the bejeebers out of me.\ufffd The Wasilla High School yearbook archive now doubles as a veritable directory of state government. Two great lines! Really, what's the big deal? She replaced the good old boy network with the good old girl network. And...??? Another confidante of Ms. Palin\ufffds is Ms. Frye, 27. She worked as a receptionist for State Senator Lyda Green before she joined Ms. Palin\ufffds campaign for governor. Now Ms. Frye earns $68,664 as a special assistant to the governor. Her frequent interactions with Ms. Palin\ufffds children have prompted some lawmakers to refer to her as \ufffdthe babysitter,\ufffd a title that Ms. Frye disavows. Wonder what that works out to be per hour? ;-) Great op-ed piece, Dorine! With a perfect last line: There is no strong leader without a strong country. And posing as one, to use the current vernacular, is nothing more than putting lipstick on a pig. This culture-war strategy (i.e., one without any real substance) is killing us. :-("}, {"response": 663, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Sep 15, 2008 (12:36)", "body": "(Dorine),I don't think MI should have counted as it was or should've had a do-over. Both MI and FL had come up with independent means to redo the vote, and guess who was against it? Obama of course, how democratic of him. Dorine, we will all find out whay his hidden agenda is if he gets to be President. He ain't no Mr. Deeds. There are so many reasons why this article is interesting. The social dynamics of history have a way of repeating themselves. Not to mention, the article examines the kinds of qualities one might expect from Biden's leadership. Unlike HRC, his stances on important issues appear to be rooted in fear versus conviction or doing the right thing: http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/08/23/biden-and-anita-hill-revisited/?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss Wow: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TG4fe9GlWS8"}, {"response": 664, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Sep 15, 2008 (13:42)", "body": "Dorine, we will all find out whay his hidden agenda is if he gets to be President. He ain't no Mr. Deeds. No, I bet he's not, but in other words, you don't know, you're just throwing stuff out there?"}, {"response": 665, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Sep 15, 2008 (17:27)", "body": "LOL, Dorine, moi? From all that I have experienced in this corrupt campaign run by the DNC, I have become a seer. :-D Believe it or not, BO has a hidden agenda. Call me agent 0069. ;-)"}, {"response": 666, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Sep 15, 2008 (18:08)", "body": "Woo! I'm looking at aerial footage of Hammond, IN, where the Little Calumet River has overflowed. A church was underwater!"}, {"response": 667, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Sep 15, 2008 (20:30)", "body": "*snort* http://iowapolitics.com/index.iml?Article=135972 That is awful about all the other damage outside of TX, too. Amazing. And sorry, Peggy! I forgot you where you live! Glad to hear you had some precautions in place and can get by ok. Can't believe the unbelievable devastation in Galveston. Was watching on the Today Show today. Looks like when Andrew went through South Florida. Or a tornado. I was also amazed last night or this morning to hear that rescue crews were brought supplies by the public since they had none themselves."}, {"response": 668, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Sep 15, 2008 (22:05)", "body": "Since this is the Pile It on Palin topic... \ufffdSarah knows how to field-dress a moose. I know how to castrate a calf. Neither of those things has anything at all to do with this election. But since we know so much about Sarah\ufffds special skills, I wanted to make sure you knew about mine too,\ufffd she said. \ufffdWhen I saw her get up and talk about all these earmarks, I said \ufffdWait a minute, what\ufffds going on here? Did I wake up in a parallel universe?\ufffd *snort snort* BTW, I've actually been in Indianola. What galls me about the earmarks (and technically a removed earmark but nonreturned Federal dollars) is the money went into a general infrastructure fund and they built a Road to Nowhere, when our bridges and roads are falling apart. Talk about government waste. Shame shame! Is this because she now believes it should be handled by the HR people? ;-) Palin won't meet with 'Troopergate' investigator By GENE JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer 22 minutes ago ANCHORAGE, Alaska - A campaign spokesman says Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin won't speak with an investigator hired by lawmakers to look into the firing of her public safety commissioner. McCain campaign spokesman Ed O'Callaghan told a news conference Monday that the governor, the Republican nominee for vice president, will not cooperate as long as the investigation \"remains tainted.\" He said he doesn't know whether Palin's husband would challenge a subpoena issued to compel his cooperation. The campaign insists the investigation has been hijacked by Democrats. It says it can prove Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan was fired because of insubordination on budget issues \ufffd not because he refused to fire a state trooper who had divorced Palin's sister. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/palin_troopergate"}, {"response": 669, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Sep 15, 2008 (22:55)", "body": "But she professed to being so open to assisting them previously (B.V.P - Before nomination for VP). ;-) The campaign insists the investigation has been hijacked by Democrats. Funny how one of the people on the commission voting to issue the subpoenas was a Republican (granted the other 2 were democrats and the 2 opposing were R's)."}, {"response": 670, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Sep 16, 2008 (15:26)", "body": "Wow, they really don't want it to continue. What's the problem if there's nothing wrong? Got to give credit to Stevens, at least he asked for a fast trial date to get his mess done and over with quickly before the election, esp as he couldn't seem stop it. But then his position isn't quite so important. Lawmakers sue to stop 'Troopergate' probe of Palin By STEVE QUINN, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 37 minutes ago JUNEAU, Alaska - Five state Republican lawmakers want a judge to stop an investigation into Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's firing of a public safety commissioner. A bipartisan oversight committee had unanimously approved an inquiry into whether Palin, now the Republican vice presidential nominee, dismissed the commissioner because he wouldn't fire her ex-brother-in-law, a state trooper. In Anchorage Superior Court on Tuesday, three state representatives and two state senators sued to stop the investigation. Palin had said months ago that she welcomed the inquiry. The lawsuit called the investigation \"unlawful, biased, partial and partisan.\""}, {"response": 671, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Sep 16, 2008 (15:43)", "body": "Going to court has worked for them before. :-("}, {"response": 672, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Sep 17, 2008 (12:20)", "body": "My bank looks like it's the next to go and looks likely to be bought out. Moved my $$ yesterday to another bank just in case they sink without help. With finance crisis, hands-off era over More oversight lies ahead, no matter who's in the Oval Office. By Peter Grier | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor from the September 17, 2008 edition Reporter Peter Grier tells why Congress has been so quiet lately about any plans to tighten oversight of Wall Street. [Audio link at link below] Washington - The great financial shakeout of 2008 \ufffd one of the most dire US fiscal crises of modern times \ufffd is likely to change permanently the relationship between Wall Street and Washington. Already Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has overshadowed New York's titans of finance with his decisions as to which institutions will get government aid and which will not. If things don't get worse, history may credit Mr. Paulson with helping to pull the economy back from the brink, as financier J.P. Morgan did in the Bankers' Panic of 1907. Beyond that, a long period of Washington laissez faire toward financial markets may well be at an end. The details of regulation could be different, depending on which candidate wins the White House this fall. But more US oversight seems inevitable. \"We need to restructure the system to reduce the chance of having another crisis,\" says Douglas Elmendorf, a senior fellow in economic studies at the Brookings Institution. Financial regulators may win access to more internal information from financial institutions, allowing them to better judge the risks they are running. They may also look for ways to control derivatives, financial instruments backed by mortgages or other types of assets, which have become complex \"to the point of absurdity,\" in Mr. Elmendorf's words. There's a sense that Washington needs to modernize a system of financial oversight rooted in government entities founded after the Great Depression. \"We have an archaic financial regulatory system ... it really needs to be rebuilt,\" Paulson told reporters at the White House on Sept. 15. The US needs a balance between regulation and market discipline, added Paulson, who last spring proposed a package of tougher regulations for investment banks, including giving more oversight powers to the Federal Reserve. The crisis management of the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve appeared to have stabilized markets, at least for the short term. Though the Dow Jones Index fell over 500 points on Sept. 15, the sell-off was orderly and could have been worse, according to analysts. But major Asian and European bourses also suffered sell-offs and the fate of the insurance giant American International Group remains in question, following the Lehman Brothers' bankruptcy and the sale of Merrill Lynch to the Bank of America. By declining to use government funds to help Lehman, Washington ensured the financial crisis would enter a new and perhaps decisive phase. But it was the right step to take, said some analysts. While Bear Stearns collapsed quickly, Lehman's problems have developed over time. Any firm that stands to lose money due to interrconnections with Lehman may have only itself to blame. Or, such firms may have been counting on a government bailout. \"To the extent that there were any major players in the market not prepared for Lehman Brothers' demise, that would be the clearest signal that moral hazard had begun to sink into the market. So it was the right decision to not step in with financial guarantees for Lehman,\" says Benn Steil, senior fellow and director of international economics at the Council on Foreign Relations. Looking forward, Washington may need to set up a temporary new agency capable of buying and selling the toxic mortgage-backed assets that are dragging down Wall Street firms, said former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker in a Sept. 15 speech. Such an agency would be similar to the Resolution Trust Corporation, the US-backed clearinghouse that helped move the nation through the savings-and-loan crisis of the 1980s. But others say Washington shares some blame for the current crisis. Under longtime head Alan Greenspan, the Federal Reserve stood by while the housing market overheated, charges University of Maryland economic historian David Sicilia. Nor did the Fed talk about regulating derivatives or hedge funds until it was too late, in Sicilia's view. http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0917/p01s02-usec.html"}, {"response": 673, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Sep 17, 2008 (12:42)", "body": "(Karen) Going to court has worked for them before. :-( *sigh* Yes. This certainly is speaking to that. And as pointed out here, apparently D's don't learn from past mistakes. :-( http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/16/233624/270/872/601202"}, {"response": 674, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Sep 17, 2008 (14:10)", "body": "They're too afraid to come off as the bad guys, bringing legal muscle. The Rs don't seem to care and it has been successful. Do you let the system work or work the system? The answer seems obvious."}, {"response": 675, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Sep 17, 2008 (17:09)", "body": "Never fear this time. Obama knows how to work the system. Great article: A Feminist's Argument for McCain's VP By Tammy Bruce In the shadow of the blatant and truly stunning sexism launched against the Hillary Rodham Clinton presidential campaign, and as a pro-choice feminist, I wasn't the only one thrilled to hear Republican John McCain announce Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate. For the GOP, she bridges for conservatives and independents what I term \"the enthusiasm gap\" for the ticket. For Democrats, she offers something even more compelling - a chance to vote for a someone who is her own woman, and who represents a party that, while we don't agree on all the issues, at least respects women enough to take them seriously. Whether we have a D, R or an \"i for independent\" after our names, women share a different life experience from men, and we bring that difference to the choices we make and the decisions we come to. Having a woman in the White House, and not as The Spouse, is a change whose time has come, despite the fact that some Democratic Party leaders have decided otherwise. But with the Palin nomination, maybe they'll realize it's not up to them any longer. Clinton voters, in particular, have received a political wake-up call they never expected. Having watched their candidate and their principles betrayed by the very people who are supposed to be the flame-holders for equal rights and fairness, they now look across the aisle and see a woman who represents everything the feminist movement claimed it stood for. Women can have a family and a career. We can be whatever we choose, on our own terms. For some, that might mean shooting a moose. For others, perhaps it's about shooting a movie or shooting for a career as a teacher. However diverse our passions, we will vote for a system that allows us to make the choices that best suit us. It's that simple. The rank bullying of the Clinton candidacy during the primary season has the distinction of simply being the first revelation of how misogynistic the party has become. The media led the assault, then the Obama campaign continued it. Trailblazer Geraldine Ferraro, who was the first Democratic vice presidential candidate, was so taken aback by the attacks that she publicly decried nominee Barack Obama as \"terribly sexist\" and openly criticized party chairman Howard Dean for his remarkable silence on the obvious sexism. Concerned feminists noted, among other thinly veiled sexist remarks during the campaign, Obama quipping, \"I understand that Sen. Clinton, periodically when she's feeling down, launches attacks as a way of trying to boost her appeal,\" and Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen in a television interview comparing Clinton to a spurned lover-turned-stalker in the film, \"Fatal Attraction,\" noting, \"Glenn Close should have stayed in that tub, and Sen. Clinton has had a remarkable career...\". These attitudes, and more, define the tenor of the party leadership, and sent a message to the grassroots and media that it was \"Bros Before Hoes,\" to quote a popular Obama-supporter T-shirt. The campaign's chauvinistic attitude was reflected in the even more condescending Democratic National Convention. There, the Obama camp made it clear it thought a Super Special Women's Night would be enough to quell the fervent support of the woman who had virtually tied him with votes and was on his heels with pledged delegates. There was a lot of pandering and lip service to women's rights, and evenings filled with anecdotes of how so many have been kept from achieving their dreams, or failed to be promoted, simply because they were women. Clinton's \"18 million cracks in the glass ceiling\" were mentioned a heck of a lot. More people began to wonder, though, how many cracks does it take to break the thing? Ironically, all this at an event that was negotiated and twisted at every turn in an astounding effort not to promote a woman. Virtually moments after the GOP announcement of Palin for vice president, pundits on both sides of the aisle began to wonder if Clinton supporters - pro-choice women and gays to be specific - would be attracted to the McCain-Palin ticket. The answer is, of course. There is a point where all of our issues, including abortion rights, are made safer not only if the people we vote for agree with us - but when those people and our society embrace a respect for women and promote policies that increase our personal wealth, power and political influence. Make no mistake - the Democratic Party and its nominee have created the powerhouse that is Sarah Palin, and the party's increased attacks on her (and even on her daughter) reflect that panic. The party has moved from taking the female vote for granted to outright contempt for women. That's why Palin represents the most serious conservative threat ever to the modern liberal claim on issues of cultural and social superiority. Why? Because men and women who never before would have considered voting for a Republican"}, {"response": 676, "author": "OzFirthFan", "date": "Wed, Sep 17, 2008 (20:48)", "body": "Tammy Bruce is no feminist - she's a Republican shill - she's the equivalent of a \"log cabin Republican\". She describes herself as a \"life-long Democrat\", but she's voted for Reagan and Bush I, and she has recently stated in her blog that she is registered as \"Decline-to-State\" (in other words, she's a closet Republican). She sold out to Fox and the Republican party, imo. Sorry - not buying, Moon. You can drink the koolaid if you choose, but I know the lesser of two evils when I see it, and in this case, it's BHO."}, {"response": 677, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Sep 18, 2008 (13:29)", "body": "It kind of boogles the mind that a feminist could vote for Reagan dnd the Bushies. :-( Was owning a gun that important? From an LA Times blog: Joe Biden calls it 'patriotic' for the wealthy to pay more taxes Democrats have been loudly complaining about John McCain, Sarah Palin and other Republicans routinely misrepresenting Barack Obama's tax plan by asserting the Democrat would raise the levies that Americans hate to pay across the board. In a true shocker, even a Fox News anchor gave a McCain aide flack on the matter earlier this week. Obama's running mate, Joe Biden, today sought -- in his inimitable way -- to stress that the Democratic platform calls for increasing income taxes only for those making more than $250,000 a year. But in the process, he delivered a line sure to be mocked far and wide by the GOP. \"You got it,\" he said on ABC's \"Good Morning America\" when his interviewer noted that Obama was targeting the affluent. \"It's time (for the well-off) to be patriotic.\" (See the clip below.) Already, the Republican National Committee has sent off an e-mail flagging the quote. And we're betting it shows up quickly as a laugh line in McCain and Palin stump speeches. [UPDATE: Right on cue, Palin scoffed at Biden's comment as she and McCain stumped late this morning in Iowa. Telling her typically adoring crowd what the Delaware senator had said, she parried that raising taxes isn't about patriotism, it's \"about killing jobs and hurting small businesses and making things worse.\"] [UPDATE II: McCain, taking the stage after Palin, said of raising taxes in tough times: \"It's not a badge of honor. It's just plain dumb.\"] -- Don Frederick"}, {"response": 678, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Sep 18, 2008 (14:44)", "body": "First a commission to study things, then this. Yeah, that would really fix the problem. Clueless... McCain says would fire SEC chairman Thu Sep 18, 2008 12:34pm EDT CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (Reuters) - Republican White House hopeful John McCain said on Thursday he would, as president, fire U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox for failing in his oversight of Wall Street. The Arizona senator also called for a new Mortgage and Financial Institutions (MFI) trust to work with regulators and the private sector to strengthen financial institutions that are weak before they become insolvent. \"For troubled institutions this will provide an orderly process through which to identify bad loans and eventually sell them,\" McCain said at a rally in Iowa."}, {"response": 679, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Sep 18, 2008 (15:55)", "body": "Sarah, the koolaid will not be drunk by me, LOL. The Obama Dems are drunk on it. Please pick another drink. Tang? ;-) The mysgery deepens. This is something else they were discussing on POTUS 08. Journalists were shocked that this wasn't being discussed by main stream media, though they admitted that the MSM is so far in Obama's pocket, it would be unlikely to receive much coverage. http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/obama-and-the-annenberg-files-the-mystery-deepens/"}, {"response": 680, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Sep 18, 2008 (23:19)", "body": "(Moon) The Obama Dems Always been a plain ole Dem myself. One that voted Repub in a presidential race....once. I remember I asked what POTUS 08 was, but don't remember if and what you may have answered. Is that a radio show? Obama was the head of a business that failed? Well no wonder he appears unqualified. Bush was the head of 3 failed businesses (right?) and look where he ended up. Obama needs to go get some more of that experience to be more qualified for President. ;-D"}, {"response": 681, "author": "mari", "date": "Fri, Sep 19, 2008 (09:13)", "body": "POTUS=President Of The United States"}, {"response": 682, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Sep 19, 2008 (11:08)", "body": "Thank you, but I know what it stands for. I just want to know what this POTUS O8 she listens to is."}, {"response": 683, "author": "Moon", "date": "Fri, Sep 19, 2008 (12:39)", "body": "Potus 08: http://www.xmradio.com/onxm/channelpage.xmc?ch=130"}, {"response": 684, "author": "Moon", "date": "Fri, Sep 19, 2008 (12:43)", "body": "The music is a little dorky, but the video really is interesting. It's amazing this guy was chosen over HRC. Absolutely incredible. http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2008/09/when_obama_bragged_about_the_c.html"}, {"response": 685, "author": "Moon", "date": "Fri, Sep 19, 2008 (12:52)", "body": "This is too funny: Barack Obama, the lead Presidential Democratic Party candidate, is for banning all guns in America . He is considered by those who have dealt with him as a bit more than just a little self-righteous. At a recent rural elementary school assembly in East Texas , he asked the audience for total quiet. Then, in the silence, he started to slowly clap his hands once every few seconds, holding the audience in total silence. Then he said into the microphone, 'Children, every time I clap my hands together, a child in America dies from gun violence.' Then, little Richard Earl, with a proud East Texas drawl, pierced the quiet and said: ''Well, dumb-ass, stop clapping!'"}, {"response": 686, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Sep 19, 2008 (13:09)", "body": "Sounds like a joke, Moon, not something that actually happened."}, {"response": 687, "author": "Moon", "date": "Fri, Sep 19, 2008 (13:13)", "body": "I know that, Karen. Did I say it actually happened? LOL! I thought this was the thrashing Palin topic. ;-))))) It made me laugh and I thought I would share."}, {"response": 688, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Sep 19, 2008 (13:26)", "body": "Okie doke. I wasn't sure. Saw this morning that Todd has refused to obey his subpoena. I would hope that people understand what it shows about the candidate, i.e., that she (and her family and friends) think they are above the law."}, {"response": 689, "author": "Moon", "date": "Fri, Sep 19, 2008 (13:33)", "body": "Well at least the media doesn't think they are above the law like Obama. Lehman Brothers: Obama's Rezko-Auchi conflict of interest By Andrew Walden Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama was quick to blame the bankruptcy of Wall Street giant Lehman Brothers on Republicans' \"failed philosophy\". Obama's September 15 comments were repeated throughout the media\ufffdyet reporters have not noted Obama's glaring conflict of interest\ufffdthe Lehman debt owed to a bank owned by the financier who loaned millions of dollars to Tony Rezko. Jockeying among the other debtors seeking repayment under Chapter 11 bankruptcy rules is BNP Paribas, a large French bank whose largest single private shareholder is Nadhmi Auchi's General Mediterranean Holdings (GMH). BNP Paribas is owed $250 million by Lehman. Nadhmi Auchi is an Iraqi whose Baathist ties go back to 1959. A formerly high-ranking official in Iraq's Oil Ministry, Auchi left Iraq at the end of the 1970s. His wealth then grew exponentially as a procurer of arms for Saddam Hussein's government during the Iran\ufffdIraq war. He is now one of the richest men in Britain. Saddam Hussein in 1995 selected BNP, which later merged with Paribas, as the sole conduit bank handling Oil-for-Food transactions. This Clinton-era arrangement was changed in 2001 by the incoming Bush administration. Auchi was also a key financial backer for Chicago political fixer and dual US-Syrian citizen Tony Rezko. This writer explained the complex web of relationships in an August 24 article titled, \"Iraqi Billionaire Threatens Reporters Investigating Rezko Affair\": A secret $3.5 million loan from an Auchi company to key early-money Barack Obama fundraiser Antoin Rezko was exposed while Rezko was awaiting trial on fraud and money-laundering charges earlier this year. Rezko's bail was revoked and police showed up banging on the doors of his Wilmette Chicago mansion to drag him off to jail early in the morning of January 28th. Auchi's loan to Rezko had come on May 23, 2005 but had not been disclosed to the Court as required in his bail agreement. Three weeks later, on June 15, 2005, Rezko's wife assisted the Obamas in the purchase of their South Chicago mansion by purchasing a next-door undeveloped lot being sold with the house. According to the Times of London, \"Mr. Rezko's lawyer said his client had 'longstanding indebtedness' to Mr. Auchi's General Mediterranean Holding (GMH). By June 2007 he owed it $27.9 million. Under a Loan Forgiveness Agreement described in court, M. Auchi lent Mr. Rezko $3.5 million in April 2005 and $11 million in September 2005, as well as $3.5 million transferred in April 2007. That agreement provided for the outstanding loans to be 'forgiven' in return for a stake in the 62-acre Riverside Park development.\" Rezko's relationship with Barack Obama goes back to at least 1990, when Obama's law firm did work relating to thousands of now-decaying Rezko apartment units in South Chicago. Rezko was a key early-money fundraiser in Obama's state Senate campaigns and his failed run at the U.S. Congress. According to The Times of London, \"Mr. Auchi first met Mr. Rezko after the 2003 Iraq war and they have a business relationship.\" At the time Auchi was facing the possibility of extradition to France. The Times of London explains: \"Mr Auchi was convicted of corruption, given a suspended sentence and fined \ufffd1.4 million in France in 2003 for his part in the Elf affair, described as the biggest political and corporate scandal in post-war Europe. He, in a statement from his media lawyers, claims he is appealing against the sentence.\" In 2003, Nick Cohen of the UK Guardian wrote: Allow me to introduce you to Nadhmi Auchi. He was charged in the 1950s with being an accomplice of Saddam Hussein, when the future tyrant was acquiring his taste for blood. He was investigated in the 1980s for his part in alleged bribes to the fabulously corrupt leaders of post-war Italy. In the 1990s, the Belgium Ambassador to Luxembourg claimed that Auchi's bank held money Saddam and Colonel Gadaffi had stolen from their luckless peoples. In 2002, officers from the Serious Fraud Squad raided the offices of one of Auchi's drug companies as part of an investigation of what is alleged to be the biggest swindle ever of the (British National Health Service). With allegations, albeit unproven, like these hanging over him, wouldn't you think that British MPs would have the sense to stay away? One might think Obama would also stay away, but in truth it is only the US media who are ducking this story. While ideological bias and a predisposition towards inanity might explain some of the media ignorance, the August 24 article cites another cause: Working for Auchi\ufffd attorneys from London law firm Carter-Ruck have for several months been flooding American and British newspapers and websites with letters demanding removal of material they deem \"defamatory\" to their client. In its June 28 edition, British satirical magazine Private Ey"}, {"response": 690, "author": "Moon", "date": "Fri, Sep 19, 2008 (13:35)", "body": "Article from Savagepolitics.com"}, {"response": 691, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Sep 19, 2008 (14:03)", "body": "Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama was quick to blame the bankruptcy of Wall Street giant Lehman Brothers on Republicans' \"failed philosophy\". Obama's September 15 comments were repeated throughout the media\ufffdyet reporters have not noted Obama's glaring conflict of interest\ufffdthe Lehman debt owed to a bank owned by the financier who loaned millions of dollars to Tony Rezko. This is nothing more than a \"six degrees.\" In the world of finance, one doesn't even need six steps. Irrelevant. Points to nothing. And you know I'm no Obama-ite."}, {"response": 692, "author": "mari", "date": "Fri, Sep 19, 2008 (14:20)", "body": "Barack Obama, the lead Presidential Democratic Party candidate, is for banning all guns in America. Sounds sensible to me."}, {"response": 693, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Sep 19, 2008 (14:43)", "body": "I thought this was a bit interesting (and long) in light of some discussions about Social Security solvency plans and the financial market crisis I had recently. http://www.businessweek.com/investor/content/sep2008/pi20080918_216336.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index+-+temp_news+%2B+analysis"}, {"response": 694, "author": "Moon", "date": "Fri, Sep 19, 2008 (15:08)", "body": "What is relevant is: how will Obama's relationship with Rezko and Auchi affect his policy towards Lehman Brothers. There is nothing wrong with owning a hand gun or rifle, if one goes through with the permits. I don't like the idea of selling machine guns. Most criminals get those weapons on the black market."}, {"response": 695, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Sep 19, 2008 (15:14)", "body": "There is nothing wrong with owning a hand gun or rifle, I'm sure the parents of or the actual kids (if they could) killed might disagree with you after they've shot themselves or their friends/relatives mistakenly with a (legal) gun found in a drawer or cabinet. While it is constitutionally legal, I do think that's something that should be amended. We don't have/need a militia anymore, the purpose of that amendment. Also, I think the permit process needs some serious tightening if it does end up staying on the books. Agreed about the criminals."}, {"response": 696, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Sep 19, 2008 (15:15)", "body": "Oh and thanks for the POTUS 08 clarification. Didn't occur to me it could be satellite radio."}, {"response": 697, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Sep 19, 2008 (20:13)", "body": "(Moon) What is relevant is: how will Obama's relationship with Rezko and Auchi affect his policy towards Lehman Brothers. Huh? There is no Lehman Brothers anymore. (Dorine) While it is constitutionally legal, I do think that's something that should be amended. We don't have/need a militia anymore, the purpose of that amendment. As I recall the Supreme Court just ruled earlier this summer that the Second Amendment guaranteed the right to bear whatever bloody arms you have, despite the fact that we don't have militias anymore. It didn't matter to them."}, {"response": 698, "author": "OzFirthFan", "date": "Sun, Sep 21, 2008 (07:52)", "body": "In order to prohibit gun ownership, a repeal of the 2nd amendment would be required. Although I believe that the majority of Americans are in favor of some type of gun control, I doubt we'd be able to get a repeal of the 2nd amendment through in my lifetime. I cannot believe that the husband of a VP candidate is getting away with ignoring a subpoena. Then again, the Bush administration have always held the Justice department in complete contempt - I guess I shouldn't expect any better from \"Bush-Lite\" & Co.... And lastly, I remembered this quote, and it reminded me of someone - \"If Facism ever comes to the US it will be wrapped in a flag and carrying a cross\" \ufffdSinclair Lewis 1935"}, {"response": 699, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Sep 21, 2008 (11:30)", "body": ""}, {"response": 700, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Sep 21, 2008 (11:30)", "body": "(Sarah) a repeal of the 2nd amendment would be required. Although I believe that the majority of Americans are in favor of some type of gun control, I doubt we'd be able to get a repeal of the 2nd amendment through in my lifetime. Yes, it would require a repeal, in actuality a new amendment that overturns the 2nd. That requires first a two-thirds votes in the House and Senate (ain't gonna happen) and then three-fourths of the states must affirm (again, ditto). ~~~~~~~~~~ Very typical. Bail out businesses but provide no help for regular people (well, directly, at least). From the AP: Paulson resists calls for added help in bailout By MARTIN CRUTSINGER, AP Economics Writer Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Sunday that the nation's credit markets remain frozen and Congress must move quickly to pass a $700 billion bailout package for financial firms. But key Democrats said the legislation needs changes to provide better protections for taxpayers and homeowners in danger of losing their homes. \"The credit markets are still very fragile right now and frozen,\" Paulson said in an interview on NBC's Meet the Press. \"We need to deal with this and deal with it quickly.\" Paulson made the rounds of the television talk shows to stress the need for speed in getting the bailout package approved. The administration spent the weekend negotiating the details of the proposal with members of Congress with the expectation that it can be passed in the next week. Paulson said that \"it pains me tremendously to have the American taxpayer put in this position but it is better than the alternative.\" Paulson and President Bush have argued that the alternative would be credit markets that remain frozen, meaning that businesses will fail because they can't get the loans they need to operate and the economy will grind to a halt because consumers, who account for two-thirds of economic activity, won't be able to get the credit they need to keep spending. On Saturday, Bush said the White House is ready to work with Congress to quickly enact legislation to allow the government to purchase hundreds of billions of dollars worth of bad debt linked to the collapse of the housing market. The administration proposal would be the biggest government intervention since the Great Depression. It would dole out huge sums of money to financial firms to purchase their holdings of bad mortgage-backed securities so that these firms can resume normal lending operations. The bad mortgage debt has been at the heart of the current credit crisis which hit more than a year ago but erupted with special ferocity in the past two weeks forcing extraordinary government actions. Two weeks ago, the government seized control of the nation's two largest mortgage companies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and then last week, it took control of the country's largest insurance company, American International Group Inc. The measure that the administration sent up to Congress on Saturday is a mere three pages in length. While Paulson emphasized the need for speed, Democrats said Sunday that they could do it quickly while also adding necessary protections for taxpayers and help for people facing the threat of mortgage foreclosures. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., appearing on ABC's \"This Week,\" said if all of this help was being directed to Wall Street there was also a need to provide help for people on Main Street. But Paulson, also appearing on ABC, said, \"We need this to be clean and to be quick.\" Paulson resisted suggestions being made by Democrats that the program be changed to include further relief for homeowners facing mortgage foreclosures and to include an additional $50 billion stimulus effort. Some Democrats have also suggested capping compensation of executives at firms who get the bailout help. Paulson said he was concerned that debate over adding all of those proposals would slow the economy down, delaying the rescue effort that is so urgently needed to get financial markets moving again. \"The biggest help we can give the American people right now is to stabilize the financial system,\" Paulson said. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said that he believed there would be changes to Paulson's plan and that agreement could still be reached quickly. Schumer said that he was pushing to get a provision where the government would receive stock warrants in return for the bailout relief and for creation of a government oversight board to supervise the huge operation, which under Paulson's plan would be run out of the Treasury Department. He said Paulson seemed receptive to changes when he had discussed his ideas with him. \"I have told him ... we need changes related to housing, we need to put the taxpayer first ahead of bondholders, shareholders,\" Schumer said on \"Fox News Sunday.\" However, Republican lawmakers said that the Democratic efforts risks slowing down a measure that was urgently needed. \"This would be the most serious financial crisis th"}, {"response": 701, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Sep 21, 2008 (12:49)", "body": "Yay for those *fiscal conservative* Republicans running the show over the past majority of a decade!"}, {"response": 702, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Sep 21, 2008 (14:06)", "body": "Yeah, but they haven't raised taxes. ;-)"}, {"response": 703, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Sep 22, 2008 (00:09)", "body": "*snort* Isn't it wonderful that Palin \"rejected\" the \"Bridge to Nowhere\", but so kindly kept $25 million taxpayer dollars to build the \"Road to Nowhere\", which apparently will be quite useful anyway.... Ketchikan Mayor Bob Weinstein said the 3.2-mile road will be useful for road races, hunters and possibly future development. But with no bridge to serve it, that's probably about it. \"I think it will be good for recreational things like a 5K and a 10K,\" Weinstein said. \"And instead of people walking through brush, it may be used for hunting in the area.\" You're welcome Alaska!"}, {"response": 704, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Sep 22, 2008 (00:22)", "body": "Pact on Debates Will Let McCain and Obama Spar By PATRICK HEALY Published: September 20, 2008 The Obama and McCain campaigns have agreed to an unusual free-flowing format for the three televised presidential debates, which begin Friday, but the McCain camp fought for and won a much more structured approach for the questioning at the vice-presidential debate, advisers to both campaigns said Saturday. Mr. Obama, shown in Florida on Friday, won an agreement for the first debates to be about foreign policy and national security. At the insistence of the McCain campaign, the Oct. 2 debate between the Republican nominee for vice president, Gov. Sarah Palin, and her Democratic rival, Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., will have shorter question-and-answer segments than those for the presidential nominees, the advisers said. There will also be much less opportunity for free-wheeling, direct exchanges between the running mates. McCain advisers said they had been concerned that a loose format could leave Ms. Palin, a relatively inexperienced debater, at a disadvantage and largely on the defensive. [Ed. note (being kind) - Awwww, poor thing....} The wrangling was chiefly between the McCain-Palin camp and the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates, which is sponsoring the forums. Commission members wanted a relaxed format that included time for unpredictable questioning and challenges between the two vice-presidential candidates. On Wednesday, the commission unanimously rejected a proposal sought by advisers to Ms. Palin and Senator John McCain of Arizona, the Republican presidential nominee, to have the moderator ask questions and the candidates answer, with no time for unfettered exchanges. Advisers to Mr. Biden say they were comfortable with either format. Both campaigns see the four debates as pivotal moments in a presidential race that is not only extraordinarily close but also drawing intense interest from voters; roughly 40 million viewers watched the major speeches at the two parties\ufffd conventions. The upheaval in the financial markets has recast the race in recent days, moreover, which both sides believe will only heighten attention for the debates. A commission member said that the new agreement on the vice-presidential debate was reached late Saturday morning. It calls for shorter blocks of candidate statements and open discussion than at the presidential debates. McCain advisers said they were only somewhat concerned about Ms. Palin\ufffds debating skills compared with those of Mr. Biden, who has served six terms in the Senate, or about his chances of tripping her up. Instead, they say, they wanted Ms. Palin to have opportunities to present Mr. McCain\ufffds positions, rather than spending time talking about her experience or playing defense. While the debates between presidential nominees are traditionally the main events in the fall election season, the public interest in Ms. Palin has proved extraordinary, and a large audience is expected for her national debate debut. Indeed, both the McCain and Obama campaigns have similar concerns about the vice-presidential matchup in St. Louis: that Ms. Palin, of Alaska, as a new player in national politics, or Mr. Biden, of Delaware, as a loquacious and gaffe-prone speaker, could commit a momentum-changing misstep in their debate. The negotiations for the three 90-minute debates between the men at the top of the tickets were largely free of brinksmanship. Neither side threatened to pull out, and concerns about camera angles and stagecraft were minor. [there's more....] http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/21/us/politics/21debate.html?_r=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&oref=slogin"}, {"response": 705, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Sep 22, 2008 (00:46)", "body": "Ketchikan Mayor Bob Weinstein said the 3.2-mile road will be useful for road races, hunters and possibly future development. Yeah, I think I mentioned this total waste of money before. Criminal when the roads and infrastructure in cities across America is crumbling....literally!"}, {"response": 706, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Sep 22, 2008 (01:52)", "body": "Using the money for it's been mentioned before, but I didn't know exactly what they were going to do with this expensive dead end road. If that was in something previously I missed it. Speaking of crumbling infrastructure, I saw a few days ago the rebuilt bridge that collapsed in Minnesota just reopened."}, {"response": 707, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Sep 22, 2008 (10:47)", "body": "Right, I didn't post about the road's use (didn't know - all I saw was a pic showing how useless it was). The fact that the earmark money (which eventually lost its earmark when it became the poster child for pork) went into Alaska's general transportion/infrastructure fund was criminal. Smoke and mirrors. No bridge but you get to keep the money too. Insanity. Yeah, saw how the Minnesota bridge reopened. We have bridges and highway overpasses in the city in worst shape than the Minnesota one."}, {"response": 708, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Sep 22, 2008 (10:49)", "body": "Yikes! Actually ours probably in the best shape either, though a several have had tarps all over them for I think years, with no discernible work done. Maybe at night when I don't see it. One bridge has been worked on noticeably for years, I can only wonder when they'll finish."}, {"response": 709, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Sep 22, 2008 (11:42)", "body": "You know, I may seem insulting when I post this bit and my comments, but you know what, the specifically white women referred to in this article who believe this, IMO frankly deserve to be insulted. Because they insult me as a woman and as an American. It just shows the extreme ignorance of (some) women in this country if this is the case. Or they just don't care and have some other agenda. I bolded the passages that offended me. Really, people like this shouldn't be allowed to vote. To say that you have the same ideology is one thing. To say their platform (which I consider anti-woman) says that they have a better understanding of women is ridiculous IMO. I guess if women in general feel women's rights are to be pushed back to the dark ages, then well, ok. I guess they do have a good understanding of women. http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20080922/pl_politico/13714;_ylt=AuBcD4USWt5AHJ5oFUYitfqs0NUE Exclusive: McCain closes huge gap on key question for women David Paul Kuhn Mon Sep 22, 6:15 AM ET Since picking Sarah Palin as his running mate, John McCain has obliterated what had been a 34-percentage-point deficit in a poll of likely women voters on the question of which candidate has a \ufffdbetter understanding of women and what is important\ufffd to them. In this latest poll, conducted Sept. 11-15, age remained a key determinant in response to the question about women\ufffds concerns. Young women, ages 18-34, chose the Obama/Biden ticket as more empathetic to their needs, while women aged 35-64 went for McCain/Palin. Unlike black and Hispanic women, White women saw McCain and Palin as most understanding of their concerns. About one in four women who supported Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in the primaries now said McCain and Palin have a better grasp of women\ufffds needs than Obama and his running mate, Sen. Joe Biden."}, {"response": 710, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Sep 22, 2008 (12:01)", "body": "Executive bailout compensation? Limits on it? From my money?? I'm aghast that it would even be on the table! Democrats want pay limits, loan aid in bailout By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS and MARTIN CRUTSINGER, Associated Press Writer Senate Democrats are proposing to add government help for homeowners and limits on executive compensation to the government's $700 billion financial bailout of Wall Street. A draft of the plan obtained Monday by The Associated Press shows that Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd also wants the government to get a stake (Ed note: good move) in the companies helped by the unprecedented rescue. The measure would end the program at the end of next year, instead of creating a two-year initiative as the Bush administration has requested. It also would add layers of congressional oversight (Ed note: unnecessary , including an emergency board to keep an eye on the program with two House and Senate appointees."}, {"response": 711, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Sep 22, 2008 (12:07)", "body": "You think oversight is unnecessary? I don't think there should be layers, but some rather than none would be prudent I'd think."}, {"response": 712, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Sep 22, 2008 (18:50)", "body": "Mind boggling. I can't believe this number keeps going so far up and up. And that the number is getting out. China toxic milk sickens 53,000 as scare spreads http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/chinafoodsafetychild;_ylt=AlsJbAUeyu_qwXc40_PCJ2.s0NUE"}, {"response": 713, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Sep 22, 2008 (22:35)", "body": "(Dorine) You think oversight is unnecessary? Congressional. They're worthless. Let the Fed provide oversight. It's the only institution out there with the credentials, true fiscal integrity, and a minimal political motivations."}, {"response": 714, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Sep 22, 2008 (22:36)", "body": "Or maybe give it to a specifically created, limited-purpose board made up of former Fed governors or similar."}, {"response": 715, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Sep 23, 2008 (19:36)", "body": "I would tend to favor the latter."}, {"response": 716, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Sep 23, 2008 (23:33)", "body": "From George Will of all people. McCain Loses His Head By George F. Will Tuesday, September 23, 2008; Page A21 \"The queen had only one way of settling all difficulties, great or small. 'Off with his head!' she said without even looking around.\" -- \"Alice's Adventures in Wonderland\" Under the pressure of the financial crisis, one presidential candidate is behaving like a flustered rookie playing in a league too high. It is not Barack Obama. Channeling his inner Queen of Hearts, John McCain furiously, and apparently without even looking around at facts, said Chris Cox, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, should be decapitated. This childish reflex provoked the Wall Street Journal to editorialize that \"McCain untethered\" -- disconnected from knowledge and principle -- had made a \"false and deeply unfair\" attack on Cox that was \"unpresidential\" and demonstrated that McCain \"doesn't understand what's happening on Wall Street any better than Barack Obama does.\" To read the Journal's details about the depths of McCain's shallowness on the subject of Cox's chairmanship, see \"McCain's Scapegoat\" (Sept. 19, Page A22). Then consider McCain's characteristic accusation that Cox \"has betrayed the public's trust.\" Perhaps an old antagonism is involved in McCain's fact-free slander. His most conspicuous economic adviser is Douglas Holtz-Eakin, who previously headed the Congressional Budget Office. There he was an impediment to conservatives, including then-Rep. Cox, who, as chairman of the Republican Policy Committee, persistently tried and generally failed to enlist CBO support for \"dynamic scoring\" that would estimate the economic growth effects of proposed tax cuts. In any case, McCain's smear -- that Cox \"betrayed the public's trust\" -- is a harbinger of a McCain presidency. For McCain, politics is always operatic, pitting people who agree with him against those who are \"corrupt\" or \"betray the public's trust,\" two categories that seem to be exhaustive -- there are no other people. McCain's Manichaean worldview drove him to his signature legislative achievement, the McCain-Feingold law's restrictions on campaigning. Today, his campaign is creatively finding interstices in laws intended to restrict campaign giving and spending. (For details, see The Post of Sept. 17, Page A4; and the New York Times of Sept. 20, Page One.) By a Gresham's Law of political discourse, McCain's Queen of Hearts intervention in the opaque financial crisis overshadowed a solid conservative complaint from the Republican Study Committee, chaired by Rep. Jeb Hensarling of Texas. In a letter to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, the RSC decried the improvised torrent of bailouts as a \"dangerous and unmistakable precedent for the federal government both to be looked to and indeed relied upon to save private sector companies from the consequences of their poor economic decisions.\" This letter, listing just $650 billion of the perhaps more than $1 trillion in new federal exposures to risk, was sent while McCain's campaign, characteristically substituting vehemence for coherence, was airing an ad warning that Obama favors \"massive government, billions in spending increases.\" The political left always aims to expand the permeation of economic life by politics. Today, the efficient means to that end is government control of capital. So, is not McCain's party now conducting the most leftist administration in American history? The New Deal never acted so precipitously on such a scale. Treasury Secretary Paulson, asked about conservative complaints that his rescue program amounts to socialism, said, essentially: This is not socialism, this is necessary. That non sequitur might be politically necessary, but remember that government control of capital is government control of capitalism. Does McCain have qualms about this, or only quarrels? On \"60 Minutes\" Sunday evening, McCain, saying \"this may sound a little unusual,\" said that he would like to replace Cox with Andrew Cuomo, the Democratic attorney general of New York who is the son of former governor Mario Cuomo. McCain explained that Cuomo has \"respect\" and \"prestige\" and could \"lend some bipartisanship.\" Conservatives have been warned. Conservatives who insist that electing McCain is crucial usually start, and increasingly end, by saying he would make excellent judicial selections. But the more one sees of his impulsive, intensely personal reactions to people and events, the less confidence one has that he would select judges by calm reflection and clear principles, having neither patience nor aptitude for either. It is arguable that, because of his inexperience, Obama is not ready for the presidency. It is arguable that McCain, because of his boiling moralism and bottomless reservoir of certitudes, is not suited to the presidency. Unreadiness can be corrected, although perhaps at great cost, by experience. Can a dismaying temperament be fixed? georgewill@wash"}, {"response": 717, "author": "mari", "date": "Thu, Sep 25, 2008 (17:40)", "body": "Analysis: Bush holds Washington blame-free By TERENCE HUNT, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON (AP) \ufffd How did it happen, America's grave financial crisis? President Bush offered a bunch of explanations but held Washington completely blameless, painting a picture of a government standing innocently on the sidelines as the economy went off the rails. Somehow, under Bush's scenario, the country wound up at the precipice of \"a long and painful recession\" at a time when, apparently, the Congress, the White House, the regulators and the Fed were doing exactly what they were supposed to be doing. Now that the economy has tanked, Bush says the federal government is responding with \"decisive action.\" Shouldn't the people in charge have been doing that before everything became such a mess? \"Our entire economy is in danger,\" Bush said in an address to the nation Wednesday night. Nowhere in his 13-minute speech did the president suggest that the people in Washington who are supposed to keep an eye on the economy missed a step, failed to raise alarms or hesitated to intervene. The guilty parties in Bush's script were overseas lenders flush with cash, American borrowers reaching for more than they could afford, easy credit terms, a banking system eager to cooperate and too much optimism about rising home values. Bush spoke vaguely about investment banks that \"found themselves saddled with\" toxic assets and banks that \"found themselves\" with questionable balance sheets. The economic collapse \ufffd well, it happened. \"The gears of the American financial system began grinding to a halt,\" Bush said, talking to the country as if he were an economics professor in a freshman course. But now, there's plenty of action with federal takeovers and bailouts that have reshaped America's financial industry and left the concept of free enterprise in the dust. On Capitol Hill, key Republicans and Democrats reported agreement in principle Thursday on the outlines of a bailout package and prepared to show it to Bush for his endorsement of their changes to the plan. Bush is a sharp-elbows politician, fiercely partisan and combative. The eight years of his presidency are filled with no-holds-barred, blame-game, finger-pointing attacks on Democrats. But not on Wednesday night. Not when Bush desperately needs Democratic votes to pass the $700 billion (that's with a b) plan to buy distressed assets from financial institutions to shore up the banking system and unlock the nation's severe credit crunch. He could not risk offending Democrats because so many Republicans are balking at his proposal. Bush held his tongue and spoke instead of the spirit of bipartisan cooperation between Democrats and Republicans. He invited presidential rivals John McCain and Barack Obama to an extraordinary White House meeting with congressional leaders on Thursday to find a way forward. Appearing before the nation Wednesday night, the president had a formidable challenge to persuade anxious Americans to swallow the bitter medicine of digging in their pockets to pay for a rescue package that could exceed the advertised costs and soar beyond $1 trillion. The painful truth is, no one knows how big the price tag will be. Across the country, Americans are losing their homes or watching neighbors fall into mortgage foreclosure. Small businesses can't borrow money. But the answer from Washington is to bail out the titans on Wall Street, not the people on Main Street. Americans are anxious and angry and the politicians know it. Bush's argument is that rescuing the huge financial companies will preserve America's overall economy and help consumers and businesses get the credit they need. That is a tough sell. Democrats demanded \ufffd and got \ufffd the administration's acceptance of limits on the pay of executives whose companies would be rescued. McCain has said he would fire the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission, which is supposed to oversee Wall Street, but the White House has shot that down. In his address, Bush said Americans \"deserve clear answers\" about how the whole crisis happened. But government accountability was not among them. Borrowers and lenders? They got the presidential spotlight. \"Easy credit, combined with the faulty assumption that home values would continue to rise, led to excesses and bad decisions,\" Bush said. \"Many mortgage lenders approved loans for borrowers without carefully examining their ability to pay. Many borrowers took out loans larger than they could afford, assuming that they could sell or refinance their homes at a higher price later on.\" But whose job is it to regulate the questionable lending? That would be the government. And Bush is in charge of it. Bush came into office eight years ago complaining that he had inherited a recession. It was brief and mild. When he delivered his speech Wednesday night, Bush had 118 days left before the next president is sworn in on Jan. 20. When Bush leaves, his successor will inherit a problem of histori"}, {"response": 718, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Sep 25, 2008 (23:05)", "body": "Bush's argument is that rescuing the huge financial companies will preserve America's overall economy and help consumers and businesses get the credit they need. Well, they failed me and my bank taking so long and handed JPM Chase a beaut of a deal on a silver platter, so I say pox on every last one of them. From what I'm reading initially, there was a run on the bank since 9/15 (including me truthfully) and liquidity became an issue so the FDIC \"came to the rescue\". WM people were way quiet after saying just last week they had enough $$ to go for over a year or so. Ironically I put my $$ in Chase."}, {"response": 719, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Sep 25, 2008 (23:59)", "body": "Realistically, no bank has the deposits on hand to deal with a run."}, {"response": 720, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Sep 26, 2008 (00:10)", "body": "Then it's fraud I'd think as they said they did. And if it's not, then it's some lame excuse for the FDIC to run in. Someone was making a point and maybe doing someone a favor at the same time perhaps. *snort* I read that on Anderson Cooper's show where a panel was talking about the bailout, etc, that one of them called Bush a \"high-functioning moron\". On national TV! I hope it's true and there's video somewhere."}, {"response": 721, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Sep 26, 2008 (00:28)", "body": "Fraud is a bit strong. The banking system is backed by faith, just like our money. \"In faith we trust,\" They took off the designation of a silver certificate years ago. ;-) And if it's not, then it's some lame excuse for the FDIC to run in. I'm not quite following what you're saying. However, once the FDIC comes in to cover the insured deposits, then the bank has already failed. But it is still going to take some time before you get your money from the FDIC. I read that on Anderson Cooper's show where a panel was talking about the bailout, etc, that one of them called Bush a \"high-functioning moron\". On national TV! I don't think that's the only time that has occurred. It's just more frequent."}, {"response": 722, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Sep 26, 2008 (00:32)", "body": "I've never heard of anyone saying it, out loud, on national TV. But could be. Re the FDIC taking over, yes, that I'm aware of, but the FDIC won't have to do anything in this instance, they turned around and sold it immediately. And after Chase bid on it in April and were turned down, now they get it for a song...and clean, I believe."}, {"response": 723, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Sep 26, 2008 (00:37)", "body": "This is the part that fascinates me if even remotely true, though how could they not know... But the seizure and the deal with JPMorgan came as a shock to Washington Mutual\ufffds board, which was kept completely in the dark: the company\ufffds new chief executive, Alan H. Fishman, was in midair, flying from New York to Seattle at the time the deal was finally brokered, according to people briefed on the situation. And of course.... Mr. Fishman, who has been on the job for less than three weeks, is eligible for $11.6 million in cash severance and will get to keep his $7.5 million signing bonus, according to an analysis by James F. Reda and Associates. WaMu was not immediately available for comment."}, {"response": 724, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Sep 26, 2008 (00:37)", "body": "Ooops, from here... http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/26/business/26wamu.html?hp"}, {"response": 725, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Sep 26, 2008 (10:14)", "body": "Okay, now I understand what you're talking about. I thought it was related to something you said last week... But as for fraud, that has yet to be determined. Have any official financial filings been falsified? Also, there's a difference in declaring bankruptcy and being seized or taken over by the regulators. As for its BOD being shocked? Doesn't shock me. I've yet to encounter a BOD that takes its oversight responsibilities seriously. For more than 25 years, they've successfully avoided any measure to be held accountable. Meetings are merely a way to pick up a spare $30K a pop for the good old boy network. The only part that I believe will be challenged (and probably successfully this time) is the guy's exec comp package. Washington Mutual publicly insisted that it could remain independent, but the giant thrift had quietly hired Goldman Sachs about two weeks ago to identify potential bidders. But nobody could make the numbers work and several deadlines passed without anyone submitting a bid. But as panic gripped financial markets last week after the collapse of Lehman Brothers, WaMu customers started withdrawing their deposits. It is the panic (customer withdrawals) that escalates a situation beyond what is capable of being worked out."}, {"response": 726, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Sep 26, 2008 (10:38)", "body": "I think if they'd been more open and the wrangling on the bailout pkg perhaps so many people wouldn't have gotten so edgy and run. Communication goes a long way. I read also that the FDIC stepped in on a Thursday, which is unusual as they usually do takeovers on Fridays, because of media leaks that might encourage a run. If there was already a run as they say, what was another day going to matter? The ironic thing is both me and my coworker took our $$ to Chase. I don't like them, but it wouldn't have mattered anyway. They're possibly the lesser of several banking \"evils\" for me around here. I can't believe the deal Chase got. They are jumping up and down that they saved so much. I understand some generalities in the difference between bankruptcy and being seized. As far as the board goes, I'll presume they'll have sold all their stock and weren't *that* unaware."}, {"response": 727, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Sep 26, 2008 (10:53)", "body": "I think if they'd been more open and the wrangling on the bailout pkg perhaps so many people wouldn't have gotten so edgy and run. Communication goes a long way. Doubtful. Ever seen the movie Noble House or read the book? People mistake some activity at a bank and cause a run, which eventually leads to the collapse of numerous institutions, where no problems had existed. No one sits back and does nothing where his/her money is concerned. what was another day going to matter? Panic and huge panic. I can't believe the deal Chase got. They are jumping up and down that they saved so much. As did BOA and Barclays... cents on the dollar"}, {"response": 728, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Sep 26, 2008 (11:29)", "body": "I did read Noble House...the whole series actually, but it's been so long I remember none of it. Ah, I see, if there was a panic, there'd not be anything good for Chase to buy."}, {"response": 729, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Sep 26, 2008 (11:36)", "body": "And pfft! I'll have 3 Chase Visa cards now when they switch over my WaMu one. Just opened one last week when I moved $. I think Chase has bought every bank I've ever had a credit card with."}, {"response": 730, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Sep 26, 2008 (11:39)", "body": "And interesting, just read WaMu will probably declare bankruptcy. Now this I don't understand. So the bits that are left as WaMu are what will be bankrupt?"}, {"response": 731, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Sep 26, 2008 (11:40)", "body": "LOL! Not exactly, but panic spreads and would infect other institutions that were relatively alright. As I said, no financial institution, no matter how sound, can withstand a run. No one has that kind of ready cash. They do maintain the required levels of reserves, but that is only a fraction of what owuld be necessary to pay off all their depositors."}, {"response": 732, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Sep 26, 2008 (11:42)", "body": "Now this I don't understand. So the bits that are left as WaMu are what will be bankrupt? Yep. They sold off what they could (@ market, which ain't much) and the rest will go via the bankruptcy judge."}, {"response": 733, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Sep 26, 2008 (11:46)", "body": "They do maintain the required levels of reserves, but that is only a fraction of what owuld be necessary to pay off all their depositors. As does the FDIC, though I read they were low on reserves, but between that and the great deal of liability in WaMu is why they were brokers but never really took ownership, correct? The thing that still surprises me is I could imagine the shockwaves it would cause to let a bank like this fail at this point, but it couldn't help itself anymore I guess."}, {"response": 734, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Sep 26, 2008 (12:02)", "body": "As does the FDIC, though I read they were low on reserves We're talking about different things here: what the FDIC actually has as funding (its reserves) and what are called \"required reserves\" for commercial banks. Those are pledged assets equal to a certain percentage of certain deposit accounts. The assets are pledged, like collateral but not. but between that and the great deal of liability in WaMu is why they were brokers but never really took ownership, correct? ??? Not following again."}, {"response": 735, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Sep 26, 2008 (12:13)", "body": "Oh wait, they did take ownership, but sold it right off without having to cover deposits themselves."}, {"response": 736, "author": "mari", "date": "Fri, Sep 26, 2008 (12:23)", "body": "(Dorine)I read that on Anderson Cooper's show where a panel was talking about the bailout, etc, that one of them called Bush a \"high-functioning moron\". I saw it. It was Paul Begala. They were talking about Bush's address on the finanical crisis, and all of them--Paul plus the two Republicans, Gloria Borger and Ed Rollins, who is a GOP strategist--commented on how hopeless he sounded and how no one in the Congress in his own party respects him any more. Then Begala called him a high functioning moron; neither of the others disagreed. In fact, Rollins kept shaking his head as he then discussed Sarah Palin's latest performance with Katie Couric, lamenting that she was so ill prepared. You can read about Palin's interview here; I saw it and couldn't beleive what I was hearing. John McCain has chosen as his #2--Rain Man! :-( http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/26/us/politics/26watch.html?ref=television"}, {"response": 737, "author": "mari", "date": "Fri, Sep 26, 2008 (15:33)", "body": "Even conservatives are calling for Palin to scram. http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MDZiMDhjYTU1NmI5Y2MwZjg2MWNiMWMyYTUxZDkwNTE ="}, {"response": 738, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Sep 26, 2008 (16:34)", "body": "I've only seen snippets of Katie Couric's interview, like the part where Sarah couldn't find the right word (mock). LOL! And there was another interesting moement, when Katie asked her for a specific instance where McCain had backed any form of regulation. Sarah said she'd have to get back to her. Holy moly! McCain can\ufffdt repudiate his choice for running mate. He not only risks the wrath of the GOP\ufffds unforgiving base, but he invites others to second-guess his executive decision-making ability. Barack Obama faces the same problem with Biden. The Dems wouldn't have this problem if they'd put Hill at the top of the ticket and BO as her VP. Except for his alleged ulterior motives and Islamic ties for Moon, they'd be so far ahead of McCain and anybody he choose."}, {"response": 739, "author": "mari", "date": "Fri, Sep 26, 2008 (17:25)", "body": "Well, I strongly disagree with this conservative writer that BO \"faces the same problem with Biden.\" Oh, please. He doesn't belong in the same sentence with Palin! C'mon. The man knows more about foreign policy that the other three put together. Of course I agree that Hill should have had the nom, but that's old news. I'm done, and I refuse to moan about it any longer which plays right into the R's gameplan. You don't think the R's wouldn't be blasting away at Hill now if she were on the Dem ticket? LOL!"}, {"response": 740, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Sep 26, 2008 (17:37)", "body": "They'd be blasting away, but no one would have a shot that she couldn't handle the current economic crisis. That's all I'm saying."}, {"response": 741, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Sep 27, 2008 (01:39)", "body": "Nice work if you can get it... WaMu CEO could get $13.65 mln for 18 days work http://www.reuters.com/article/governmentFilingsNews/idUSN2632102320080926"}, {"response": 742, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Sep 27, 2008 (11:16)", "body": "As the article indicates, Chase doesn't seem to be concerned. It is not liable for the payout. Which would leave it with the bankrupt shell entity, the BHC. Seems like he'd have to stand in line with other creditors to get paid. Good luck! But on the other hand, he isn't to blame for the problems nor did he stand a chance to turn things around once deposits started to go. I see that the AIG CEO wouldn't take his $22 million severance package."}, {"response": 743, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Sep 27, 2008 (11:40)", "body": "An excellent example of how the good old boy network still functions is the deal given to WaMu former's CEO. If anyone should've been fired for cause, he should've been on the poster, front and center, but the official filing said it was for a reason \"other than cause.\" Here's a fairly decent analysis of the severance packages: http://blog.riskmetrics.com/2008/09/will_wamu_executives_pay_get_a.html"}, {"response": 744, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sat, Sep 27, 2008 (13:13)", "body": "I'm catching up here. Interesting article, Karen. Now on the economy: Senator Clinton: We need some kind of an entity like the old HOLC, the Homeowners Loan Corporation. To be prepared we should start working on the legislation now to try to get something like that up and going so we can have one place in the government to do these mortgage modifications and try to replicate the success that we had 70 years ago. It has not escaped notice that Senator Clinton is providing real leadership on the economic and housing crisis. If anyone missed it, hooray for Bill Clinton who made sure everyone knew that it is Hillary who is out front with sensible, real solutions. Had the country listened over a year ago when she called for a 90 day moratorium on foreclosures as that local financial institutions could do work outs to allow people to keep their homes, preserve their communities and pay realistic rates, we might never have reached this crisis. Some people might not have made as much money through speculation and risk taking, but we would have had a countrywide spasm of true compassion and common sense. My recollection is that BO flicked off the idea and said the wrong people would benefit. Anyway...here we are in a crisis, few people have clean hands and it looks as though the bandits are going to make out like bandits. Can anyone explain why a first step toward fiscal sanity would not be, as Senator Clinton proposed, an immediate moratorium on primary home foreclosures coupled with a requirement that for any financial institution to receive federal bailout funds, it must renegotiate loans for the express purpose of keeping people in their homes at reasonable rates and responsible transparent terms, terms which can be established by a non-partisan group of economists with a working deadline of 10 days. Big financial institutions suffering from cash flow problems? Let the executives with a salary of over x$ take a few weeks of pay deferment so that these firms do not go under, yet the people at the top feel some of the pinch and take some responsibility for the risks they took, if not personally than institutionally. Real people would benefit, localities would not face the dire consequences of vacant properties and tax loss, and the general public would understand that the priorities of the government are to help them and their communities. Consumer confidence wold be restored. No new bureaucracies would be required. Print the regulations, re-assign compliance personnel, and activate Congressional oversight. Would that be so bad or hard? At least as a first step?"}, {"response": 745, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sat, Sep 27, 2008 (13:18)", "body": "I am confused about the response to McCain's decision to work at his day job until this economic crisis has been resolved. I can't understand how doing your job somehow becomes a political move. If these candidates worked at \"real\" jobs where they pulled a paycheck based on their actually showing up to work, this would be a non-issue. If the company was falling apart and potentially looking at chapter 11, the company officials would be expected to be at work until the crisis was resolved--not campaigning for themselves to take a new job. This is so annoying. It really is irritating that we pay for these politicians to fly around and campaign for themselves. They've been getting paychecks all along, thanks to our tax dollars. Basically, Obama has been getting paid for two years to campaign for president. He's spent his entire time in the senate, getting paid well, receiving excellent health benefits and not worrying about paying his bills. Mr. Hope and Change appears to have no guilt for taking ou tax dollars while he campaigns for a new job. Yet, when McCain wants to work for his money, Obama calls it a political move. I call it caring about the company that you work for--and wanting to keep your job. I have no doubt that if it were HRC, she would be back in Washington, too--would have been there, rather, from day one. Hillary 2012"}, {"response": 746, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Sep 27, 2008 (15:06)", "body": ""}, {"response": 747, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Sep 27, 2008 (15:06)", "body": "I think my new favorite topic... Up to 10,000 staff at the New York office of the bankrupt investment bank Lehman Brothers will share a bonus pool set aside for them that is worth $2.5bn \ufffd1.4bn), Barclays Bank, which is buying the business, confirmed last night.... A spokesman for Barclays said the $2.5bn bonus pool in New York had been set aside before Lehman Brothers filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United States a week ago. To which I have to respond, so what? Set aside? Give me a break. A bonus for doing what? Running a 150+ year old firm into the ground. Someone needs to amend the dictionary definition of 'bonus'. The firm is in bankruptcy and it has creditors. One would think that bonus pool could pay off quite a number of its legitimate creditors. Instead, the write-off will continue down the food chain. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/fury-at-25bn-bonus-for-lehmans-new-york-staff-937560.html http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/banking_and_finance/article4795072.ece"}, {"response": 748, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Sep 27, 2008 (16:36)", "body": "(Moon) I can't understand how doing your job somehow becomes a political move. Please, Moon. Probably because he'd been little to none on his day job anytime recently? Certainly no more or less than BO. Was it not important enough to attend to previously? That goes for any and all politicians IMO (including Hillary!). I don't know how any of them campaign and do their \"day jobs\". And now conveniently, he was too busy for a debate?, which to me is a perfect time to hear what he has to say. t really is irritating that we pay for these politicians to fly around and campaign for themselves. They've been getting paychecks all along, thanks to our tax dollars. Basically, Obama has been getting paid for two years to campaign for president. McCain and HRC weren't doing the same thing during the primaries?"}, {"response": 749, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Sep 27, 2008 (16:43)", "body": "Yet, when McCain wants to work for his money.... I call it caring about the company that you work for--and wanting to keep your job. I apparently missed this the first time around, but I have to just LOL!!!! at that statement."}, {"response": 750, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Sep 27, 2008 (16:52)", "body": "I see Palin was down in your neck of the woods, sort of, Mari and Linda. I have no problem with people being able to identify with her, but as far as being able to match those to actual policies might be a bit harder. It seems this woman is unaware that Palin cut the budget for special-needs children by 62% in Alaska in the last year. But in all fairness, perhaps they don't get a lot of special needs kids? Though makes you wonder why the budget would be so big in the first place then. \"I think she can relate to the common mom,\" said Olsen-Liney, who has a 3-year-old son with a neurological disorder that prevents him from speaking. \"I like the fact that [she's] somebody who recognizes that not enough is done for special-needs children.\" http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_update/20080927_Palin_grabs_a_seat_at_the_bar.html"}, {"response": 751, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Sep 27, 2008 (23:53)", "body": "Time to party! http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/us_elections/article4837644.ece"}, {"response": 752, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Sep 28, 2008 (00:49)", "body": "Duh!! http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/27/business/27sec.html?em"}, {"response": 753, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sun, Sep 28, 2008 (13:34)", "body": "Sorry Dorine, but even on the campaign trail HRC went to Washington to vote on important issues. That's the first job. I don't get the joke. 9Karen), One would think that bonus pool could pay off quite a number of its legitimate creditors. Instead, the write-off will continue down the food chain. I agree. There must be some reason not available to us mere mortals as to why this is allowed to continue with this crisis? All those stupid journalist can't take away time from criticizing Sarah Palin to crank out articles on this very important subject? Or is this what Capitolism 101 is all about? :-("}, {"response": 754, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Sep 28, 2008 (18:05)", "body": "BTW, Tina Fey did another stint on SNL last night as Sarah Palin being interviewed by Katie Couric. If you missed it, I would imagine they've got it on YouTube."}, {"response": 755, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Sep 28, 2008 (19:10)", "body": "I wasn't making a joke. And going back to vote is one thing and something they all should've done. There's not a vote everyday, I don't think, and they weren't there everyday. My point is you kept singling out BO for campaigning instead of doing his day job, yet he did no different than anyone else. Whether any or all of them got back to vote on all they should, I don't know off the top of my head and I'm not bothering to go look up on what votes they all missed. It wasn't a situation that McCain had to \"suspend his campaign\" and skip the debate (which BTW, did you see all his talking points mistakenly faxed to the media by his communications person about it?). Plus when he was there, he reportedly had no significant contribution to make that couldn't be done over the phone. And it's funny he had to \"suspend his campaign\" and ditch Letterman, but didn't have to rush out so fast to not talk to Katie Couric at the time he was supposed to be with Letterman......and then not leave until the following morning. There are trains to DC probably every hour or so if he didn't feel like dealing with traffic. ;-)"}, {"response": 756, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Sep 28, 2008 (19:25)", "body": "SNL Toooooo funny! http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/clips/couric-palin-open/704042/"}, {"response": 757, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Sep 28, 2008 (19:31)", "body": "All those stupid journalist can't take away time from criticizing Sarah Palin to crank out articles on this very important subject? Because focusing on a woman \"Who Is Clearly Out Of Her League\" (and by proxy, questioning McCain's judgement since he picked her), who could be one heartbeat away from the presidency, isn't remotely important. No, not at all. Seems to me, the journalists could do both. I'd like to think they could multitask."}, {"response": 758, "author": "sandyw", "date": "Sun, Sep 28, 2008 (22:03)", "body": "Thanks Dorine for the SNL link. Way tooo funny!"}, {"response": 759, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Sep 29, 2008 (14:01)", "body": "My point is you kept singling out BO for campaigning instead of doing his day job, yet he did no different than anyone else. BO has been running for President for years now, considering that he is a new senator, I would say that took a lot out of his day job. I grant you that Sarah appears out of her league for now, but you know what? I have faith in her. She seems to be a quick learner, and I am willing to give her the benefit of the doubt, why? Maybe because I am thrilled to have a woman held in high regard by the Republican party. Is that a sign of change? Hell yes! Yes, I have faith in her as a woman to come through for me. She will learn what she needs to learn, she will work twice as hard to get it right. She is the Gov. of the biggest state in the nation. She can speak in public, she reads the monitor well, she wears skirts and heels, and she wants to lead. If I were in her position, I know what I would do, and I would come through. Have faith in your female representative. FGS, we've had Bush for 8 years!!!"}, {"response": 760, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Sep 29, 2008 (14:03)", "body": "Gov. Blunt Statement on Obama Campaign\ufffds Abusive Use of Missouri Law Enforcement JEFFERSON CITY - Gov. Matt Blunt today issued the following statement on news reports that have exposed plans by U.S. Senator Barack Obama to use Missouri law enforcement to threaten and intimidate his critics. \ufffdSt. Louis County Circuit Attorney Bob McCulloch, St. Louis City Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce, Jefferson County Sheriff Glenn Boyer, and Obama and the leader of his Missouri campaign Senator Claire McCaskill have attached the stench of police state tactics to the Obama-Biden campaign. \ufffdWhat Senator Obama and his helpers are doing is scandalous beyond words, the party that claims to be the party of Thomas Jefferson is abusing the justice system and offices of public trust to silence political criticism with threats of prosecution and criminal punishment. \ufffdThis abuse of the law for intimidation insults the most sacred principles and ideals of Jefferson. I can think of nothing more offensive to Jefferson\ufffds thinking than using the power of the state to deprive Americans of their civil rights. The only conceivable purpose of Messrs. McCulloch, Obama and the others is to frighten people away from expressing themselves, to chill free and open debate, to suppress support and donations to conservative organizations targeted by this anti-civil rights, to strangle criticism of Mr. Obama, to suppress ads about his support of higher taxes, and to choke out criticism on television, radio, the Internet, blogs, e-mail and daily conversation about the election. \ufffdBarack Obama needs to grow up. Leftist blogs and others in the press constantly say false things about me and my family. Usually, we ignore false and scurrilous accusations because the purveyors have no credibility. When necessary, we refute them. Enlisting Missouri law enforcement to intimidate people and kill free debate is reminiscent of the Sedition Acts - not a free society.\ufffd http://governor.mo.gov/cgi-bin/coranto/viewnews.cgi?id=EkkkVFulkpOzXqGMaj&style=Default+News+Style&tmpl=newsitem"}, {"response": 761, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Sep 29, 2008 (14:19)", "body": "I just watched the SNL clip. Wow, even Katie gets ripped. Sad state, and sad times to be a woman? ;-) Go men!"}, {"response": 762, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Sep 29, 2008 (14:36)", "body": "(Moon) Maybe because I am thrilled to have a woman held in high regard by the Republican party. But it's becoming increasing apparent they don't feel that way now themselves. She is the Gov. of the biggest state in the nation. In acreage maybe. Our mayor governs a comparable amount of people in just one of our boroughs, let alone probably 5 square blocks. She can speak in public, she reads the monitor well, she wears skirts and heels, and she wants to lead. *shakes head*"}, {"response": 763, "author": "Kathryn", "date": "Mon, Sep 29, 2008 (14:53)", "body": "I wouldn't automatically back a candidate just because she was a woman. She needs to be the right woman."}, {"response": 764, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Sep 29, 2008 (14:55)", "body": "Don't shake your head, think of Bush! ;-) Dorine, you are speaking of a small group of R that don't want her. IMO, it's the group that would have a problem with any woman. LOL, yes, I do know that it's in acreage only. Still it looks good on paper. ;-) But that gives her an advantage on Energy policies because of the oil, wind and natural gas resources. Energy is one of the lead issues today and Sarah does have experience there. Biden might know his foreign policies, but that can be learned. I'm looking forward to the debate. This is an excellent explanation for the current economic crisis. Watch it to the end: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5tZc8oH--o"}, {"response": 765, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Sep 29, 2008 (14:57)", "body": "Kathryn, if all goes as planned, the right woman will run in 2012. :-)"}, {"response": 766, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Sep 29, 2008 (15:11)", "body": "(Kathryn) I wouldn't automatically back a candidate just because she was a woman. She needs to be the right woman I just said the same thing almost verbatim to my boss and co-worker. Citing Pelosi as well. A bad woman can do more damage than not having one at all IMO. I am thinking of Bush! ;-D (Moon) Still it looks good on paper. ;-) Hee. Biden might know his foreign policies, but that can be learned. And was learned over 29 years, not 6 weeks."}, {"response": 767, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Sep 29, 2008 (15:30)", "body": "But Biden is also much older. It can be learned. Pelosi is out of control. But she's turning into an old fox. Did you hear her speech today? LOL, she touched on some R's nerves. The bill might have passed. Now back to making adjustments. Wachovia bought by Citibank? I did not see that coming. A few weeks ago I was ready to close my Citibank account and transfer all to my Wachovia account! I can't bear to look at the stocks value. :-("}, {"response": 768, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Sep 29, 2008 (15:49)", "body": "I worked for Wachovia for 2 1/2 yrs in their student loan dept and MasterCard dept 23 yrs ago in Winston-Salem. I can't listen to much at work. The stock closed at 10 on Friday, down to 8.30 or so pre-market today and I think opened at 92 cents. There's going to be 4 major banks standing and that's it at the rate it's going."}, {"response": 769, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Sep 29, 2008 (17:32)", "body": "Can you believe they didn't pass the bailout bill? Shoot! I should've waited another day to buy Apple. Thought I'd gotten it for a bargain last week. :-( I'm aghast! (Dorine) There's going to be 4 major banks standing and that's it at the rate it's going. But that's not a new concept. Everyone thought that would've already been the case by now. What's driven me crazy is that there were supposed to be far few \"brick and mortar\" establishements, as we got more and more electronic. No need to ever have to go into a bank. Yet, there are 4 banks on every single block around here and more being built. That has gone completly counter to projections. I'm still aghast about Congress. Evidently those representatives don't have any constituents with money tied to the market."}, {"response": 770, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Sep 29, 2008 (17:51)", "body": "Up until the 1980s, interstate bank wasn't allowed. First it opened up regionally via state reciprocity legislation, but then went national in the mid-1990s."}, {"response": 771, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Sep 29, 2008 (17:55)", "body": "From one of the AP articles about today's markets and Congressional inertia: But Wall Street found further reason for worry overseas, as the fallout from U.S. economic problems kep spreading. Three European governments agreed to inject Fortis NV with a $16.4 billion bailout. Fortis, with has headquarters in Brussels, Belgium and Utrecht, Netherlands, is Belgium's largest retail bank. The British government, meanwhile, said it is nationalizing mortgage lender Bradford & Bingley, which has a $91 billion mortgage and loan portfolio. It was the latest sign that the credit crisis has spread beyond the U.S. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/wall_street"}, {"response": 772, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Sep 29, 2008 (18:12)", "body": "McCain is blaming Obama for the bill's defeat, but all you have to do is look at the actual votes by party and state. It's f**king amazing! Why haven't any of the analysts written this up yet? http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/110/house/2/votes/674/ Alaska: 1 vote; 1 no Arizona: 8 votes; 8 votes no Texas: 32 votes; 23 votes no vs Illinois: 19 votes; split evenly Delaware: 1 vote; 1 vote yes McCain evidently has no cloud whatsoever with his colleagues. Must be because they view him as a maverick. The states that really stick out to be are Texas, Florida, Georgia, Arizona and California...heavy retirement areas. Makes no sense to me."}, {"response": 773, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Sep 29, 2008 (20:25)", "body": "McCain has stated that he's not afraid to make enemies in Washington. Did you see the video I posted from youtube? It explains so much. I'm trying to keep calm during this disaster, but DH is furious. Can Congress plese work together? Can this partisanship end? Can someone shoot Pelosi?"}, {"response": 774, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Sep 30, 2008 (01:35)", "body": "McCain has stated that he's not afraid to make enemies in Washington. Yay, that's the spirit. Way to get things done! How mavericky. ;-)"}, {"response": 775, "author": "mari", "date": "Tue, Sep 30, 2008 (08:39)", "body": "Yay, that's the spirit. Way to get things done! How mavericky. ;-) Yeah, a lot of good his DC photo op did, and his \"rushing back to Washington\"--it was his own party that defeated this! From the NY Times: \"In the end, only 65 Republicans \ufffd just one-third of those voting \ufffd backed the plan despite personal pleas from President Bush and encouragement from their presidential nominee, Senator John McCain. By contrast, 140 Democrats, or 60 percent, voted in favor, many after voicing grave misgivings. Their nominee, Senator Barack Obama, also backed the bill.\" \" . . . lawmakers on both sides pointed to an outpouring of opposition from deeply hostile constituents just five weeks before every seat in the House was up for election as a fundamental reason that the measure was defeated. House members in potentially tough races and those seeking Senate seats fled from the plan in droves.\" And apparently the R's are more concerned with getting re-elected than they are about doing the right thinhg, dare I say it, the mavericky thing.;-) Go to this link for a map you can click on to see exactly how they voted by state: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/30/business/30cong.html?ref=politics"}, {"response": 776, "author": "raditto", "date": "Tue, Sep 30, 2008 (09:40)", "body": "I try to stay away from this topic, because I am so sick of partisan politics, on both sides of the aisle. Both Republicans and Democrats are responsible for the mess our economy is in these days, and for either side to blame the other is disingenuous. For Democrats to blame Bush is the height of hypocracy. Wall Street is in the mess it is in almost entirely because of the abuses at Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. The abuses at Freddie and Fannie actually began because of looser lending standards and regulatory pressure on banks to make loans to iffy borrowers begun during the Clinton administration. (The looser standards were intended to help increase homeownership among all Americans.) It took 15 years to get to where we are today. During that time, Chris Dodd and Barney Frank consistently opposed efforts to tighten standards and oversight at Fannie and Freddie. Bush actually began asking for new regulatory reform of Fannie and Freddie in 2003, but Congress always defeated his proposals. In 2005, after Alan Greenspan warned of exactly what is happening today, McCain was one of three sponsors of another reform act, which was again defeated. Republicans are not blameless, by any means. Many Congressional Republicans sided with the Democrats in defeating the various bills designed to straighten out this mess years ago, before it got to where it is today. They did so because Fannie and Freddie were big campaign contributors, on both sides of the aisle. I am not a fan of John McCain (nor George Bush), but I do know something about economics and the mess we're in now. I could go into much more detail, but I think I've said enough."}, {"response": 777, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Sep 30, 2008 (11:44)", "body": "Looks like there's now going to be a serious push to extend term limits so Bloomberg can run again. God knows I pray so, because I can't imagine this city in the financial shape it's in and headed for being run by anyone but a great business man. He was so great to have after 9/11."}, {"response": 778, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Sep 30, 2008 (12:23)", "body": "Thanks you Peggy. That is exactly what the youtube video I posted explains. And it was unforgivable for Pelosi to present the bill with that partisan speech in a time in which bi-partisanship should rule. Dorine, I agree about Bloomberg. I am also a fan a Cuomo(son) fan. I lived in NYC during Dinkins and he was the worst mayor ever! Even walking in the Theatre District at night was dangerous then. Giuliani had so much to clean up after him and did an excellent job."}, {"response": 779, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Sep 30, 2008 (12:26)", "body": "Family Upset Obama Wears Their Son\ufffdfs Bracelet NewsBusters is reporting in their article: Family Told Obama NOT To Wear Soldier Son\ufffdfs Bracelet\ufffdc Where is Media? that the family of Sergeant Ryan David Jopek whose name is on the bracelet Senator Obama wears does not want him speaking about their son in public. The father Brian Jopek stated in a radio interview that the family even asked Senator Obama to stop wearing his son\ufffdfs bracelet. Radio host Glenn Moberg of the show \ufffdgRoute 51\ufffd\ufffd asked Mr. Jopek, a man who believes in the efforts in Iraq and is not in favor of Obama\ufffdfs positions on the war, what he and his ex-wife think of Obama continually using their son\ufffdfs name on the campaign trail. Jopek began by saying that his ex-wife was taken aback, even upset, that Obama has made the death of her son a campaign issue. Jopek says his wife gave Obama the bracelet because \ufffdgshe just wanted Mr. Obama to know Ryan\ufffdfs name.\ufffdh Jopek went on to say that \ufffdgshe wasn\ufffdft looking to turn it into a big media event\ufffdh and \ufffdgjust wanted it to be something between Barack Obama and herself.\ufffdh Apparently, they were all shocked it became such a big deal. Senator Obama\ufffdfs inability to even remember Sergeant Jopek\ufffdfs name during the debate made it appear that the bracelet was just a political prop. However, now with news that the family doesn\ufffdft even want their son\ufffdfs bracelet worn by the Senator, and are upset that Senator Obama uses Sergeant Jopek name in public, makes this appear to be an incredibly cold callous political move. http://purplepeoplevote.com/2008/09/28/family-upset-obama-wears-their-sons-bracelet/"}, {"response": 780, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Sep 30, 2008 (12:29)", "body": "http://www.justsaynodeal.com/acorn.html"}, {"response": 781, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Sep 30, 2008 (12:32)", "body": "Possible Change of Heart. Rezko talked with prosecutors, Chicago Tribune article: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-rezko-flip28sep28,0,5691387.story"}, {"response": 782, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Sep 30, 2008 (12:35)", "body": "This manipulation is a little too communist for me. I know that sounds extreme, but seriously, this is insane. http://www.iris.org.il/blog/archives/2887-CBS-News-Erases-Moderate-Quotes-from-Palin-Transcript.html Governor Sarah Palin has given two mainstream media interviews. In both, she made multiple statements about the importance of multilateralism in foreign policy. In both, these comments were deleted by the news organizations. After both interviews, a furor has broken out afterwards because of her hawkishness. At two points in the video (2:58 and 5:39), segments have been removed from the official transcript. Here are the missing pieces of the transcript: (2:58) Couric: What, specifically, in your view, could be done to convince the new government in Pakistan to take20a harder, tougher line against terrorists in that country? Palin: At a time when new leadership comes in, that is the opportunity to forge better, tighter, more productive relationships and that's what we'll take advantage of with new leadership in the US and in Pakistan. And I'm sure that President Zardari, too, will agree with us as we commit to the support that Pakistan needs, that other nations in the region need, in order to win this war on terrorism. (3:32) (5:39) Couric: But what lessons do you think you have learned as you've watched this unfold in terms of implementing the democracy and the challenges inherent in that goal? Palin: Well, one is that America cannot be counted on to do this solely, to be the savior of every other nation, but we need friends and we need allies and we need this nation-building effort and we need to forge new alliances, and that is what a new election will provide opportunity to do. Couric: What happened if the goal of democracy, Governor Palin, doesn't produce the desired outcome, for example in Gaza, the US pushed hard for elections and Hamas won. Palin: Especially in that region, though, we have got to protect those and support those who do seek democracy and do seek protections for the people who live there. And you know, we're seeing today, in the last couple of days here in New York, a speaker, a President of Iran, Ahmadinejad, who would come on our soil and e xpress such disdain for one of our closest allies and friends\ufffdIsrael\ufffdand we're hearing the evil that he speaks. And if hearing him doesn't allow Americans to commit more solidly to protecting the friends and allies that we need, expecially there in the Mideast, then nothing will. If Americans are not waking up to understand what it is that he represents, then nothing is going to wake us up and we will be lulled into some kind of false sense of security that perhaps Americans were a part of before 9/11.(7:25) What do each of these three Palin answers have in common? They portray her as a foreign policy moderate who seeks multilateral coalitions with allies and who advocates for human rights, caring about better lives for Middle Easterners. Interestingly, ABC News also edited out the same kind of moderate, multilateralist comment in order to more effectively promote the misinformation that Palin was advocating a new, warmongering approach to Russia. Katie Couric clearly hasn't learned much from the previous CBS News scandal, Rathergate. Technical note: There may have been further editing of each of the two interviews. In both instances, we only know about the modifications because of sloppy editing. In one, the transcript is the smoking gun for the discrepancies; in the other it is the video. Here's an analytics perspective on the deletions: In the Gibson (ABC News) interview: 7 instances were deleted of \"allies\" 5 instances were deleted of \"countries\" 5 instances were deleted of \"democracies\" In the Couric (CBS News) interview: 4 instances were deleted of \"allies\" 3 instances were deleted of \"democracies\" 3 instances were deleted of \"friends\" 3 instances were deleted of \"nations\" (A few word variants were included.)"}, {"response": 783, "author": "mari", "date": "Tue, Sep 30, 2008 (12:41)", "body": "The current crisis can't be attributed to any one thing. I wish it were that easy. There is plenty of blame to go around. Credit was too easy. Interest rates remained artificially low for far too long, and some are now blaming Grennspan for that. I remember traveling in California a few years back and coming across a traffic pile-up in a residential neighborhood. Turns out people were lining up to put in bids to buy houses that were not yet built-- bidding wars to overpay by hundreds of thousands of dollars beyond the asking price, that's how sure these people were that the value of what they were trying to buy would continue to grow by leaps and bouns, outpacing their debt. This is what happened in Florida and elsewhere, too. Remember \"house flipping\"? You can't lay that blame on poor folks trying to buy a house. Blame the bankers too for packaging up the bad debt into investment vehicles offering way inflated rates of return. That's how Bear Stearns, Merrill Lynch and Lehman Brothers got burned. No one or no \"side\" is blameless. So how are we going to fix it?"}, {"response": 784, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Sep 30, 2008 (12:48)", "body": "How will we fix it? There are 300 million Americans, the debt is 700 billion. Russell Crowe on Leno last night suggested the Governmwent pay each American a million dollars to ease the hardship and help their debts. Bloody hell, I loved it! LOL! Why not?"}, {"response": 785, "author": "mari", "date": "Tue, Sep 30, 2008 (13:49)", "body": "Why not you ask? One reason might be that 300 million times 1 million is 300 TRILLION. Stick to acting, Russell, your math sucks. One other factor in this mess that I should have mentioned is the rates of personal bankruptcies, which are fueling a lot of the mortgage foreclosures. And the number one reason for personal bankruptcies? Medical bills and lack of medical coverage! But, hey, let's rant about socialism as a reason to not offer universal coverage. Hey, I have coverage, hooray for me and the hell with everybody else! In fact, cut my taxes and I'll follow you anywhere! Don't look now, but we *all* are \"everybody else.\""}, {"response": 786, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Sep 30, 2008 (14:03)", "body": "(Moon) This manipulation is a little too communist for me. I know that sounds extreme, but seriously, this is insane. Not the first time at all and not just CBS. Quite a number of times from various places on other subjects/interviews. The White House website has made adjustments on things, too."}, {"response": 787, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Sep 30, 2008 (14:49)", "body": "I can\ufffdt believe I am posting today of all days, but ... (Peg) but I do know something about economics Fortunately, so do I. ;-) Your recap of salient points however is strictly partisan, displaying the current Republican spin and time-honored tradition of attempting to \ufffdshare\ufffd blame when the overwhelming evidence points it squarely at oneself. The abuses at Freddie and Fannie actually began because of looser lending standards Neither actually makes loans, but you know that. However, I\ufffdll take it that you meant to cite Fannie and Freddie\ufffds dubious accounting practices, which were all fueled by a desire for senior management bonuses. Who hasn\ufffdt seen that one before? Paper profits or paper capitalization (where none exists) to ensure that the big boys achieve their performance goals and therefore get their bonuses? It always boils down to corporate greed, which seems to flourish during Republican Administrations, which can be counted on to stand aside and \ufffdlet the markets work.\ufffd None of that pesky regulation or oversight to interfere. (Peg) regulatory pressure on banks to make loans to iffy borrowers begun during the Clinton administration. Why not go back to the Community Reinvestment Act (a Carter initiative), where affordable home ownership started? Or maybe even back to Roosevelt\ufffds (another Dem) programs? In my view, the goals of the CRA are fine and epitomize the social conscience of the Democratic party. Why shouldn\ufffdt banks, which have taken deposits from a given community, also be required to lend out to the same? That\ufffds all it is attempting to achieve. How a bank actually carries it out is another issue. No one forces a bank to lend to noncreditworthy individuals. Banks are only motivated by profit. When they don\ufffdt have decent spreads in other sectors, then they take on risk. Abuses took place at the least regulated entities: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, plus the Wall Street investment banks. Not a shocker IMO. Good article here, which I think puts many of the comments into context and provides dates and names: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/09/AR2008060902626.html (Peg) Bush actually began asking for new regulatory reform of Fannie and Freddie in 2003, but Congress always defeated his proposals. In 2005, after Alan Greenspan warned of exactly what is happening today, McCain was one of three sponsors of another reform act, which was again defeated. The Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005 died in a Republican-controlled committee. This is your example? Sorry, but I cannot give any credence to McCain attaching his name to any reform package, when one of his chief economic advisors (term used loosely) is Phil Gramm, a major architect of the deregulated, hands-off Wall Street environment."}, {"response": 788, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Sep 30, 2008 (16:28)", "body": "While I don't know if it's accurate, I read yesterday that calls into Congress yesterday from constituents averaged 300 to 1 against the bill. The Bailout Defeat: A Political Credibility Crisis By MICHAEL SCHERER / WASHINGTON 2 hours, 51 minutes ago There was a lack of trust, a loss of confidence, a popular revolt. Nearly every major political leader in the U.S. supported the $700 billion financial-bailout bill. The President. The Vice President. The Treasury Secretary. The Chairman of the Federal Reserve. The Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Democratic and Republican nominees for President. The Democratic and Republican leadership of the House and Senate. All of them said the same thing: vote yes. But a majority of those politicians anointed by the Constitution to reflect the will of the people voted no. This is a remarkable event, the culmination of a historic sense of betrayal that Americans have long felt for their representatives in Washington. The nation's credit crisis on Monday exposed a much deeper and more fundamental problem: a crisis of political credibility that now threatens to harm our nation further, should the markets freeze up and more companies begin to fail, as many experts predict. The problem has been growing for years. Roughly 28% of Americans approve of President Bush. Roughly 18% of Americans approve of Congress. Now those low numbers and majority of bad feelings have manifested themselves in the starkest of terms. Asked to take a leap of faith regarding a dizzyingly complex problem, a critical mass of voters refused to trust their leaders, turning down the medicine that was offered. And so the politicians who are most exposed to popular whims have run for cover. With an election on the horizon, 95 House Democrats and 133 House Republicans opposed the bill. Some portion voted no for clearly ideological reasons. But many more were simply doing what politicians do - responding to the will of the people. An analysis by statistician Nate Silver, who runs FiveThirtyEight.com, made this clear. Of the 38 incumbent members of Congress from both parties who are considered vulnerable in the coming election, 30 voted against the bill (eight supported it). By contrast, members of Congress from relatively safe districts were evenly divided - 197 for it to 198 against it. \"What this showed more than anything else was that not even members of Congress can ignore a switchboard system of Capitol Hill that is so totally jammed,\" said Peter Sepp, a conservative opponent of the bill with the National Taxpayers Alliance. If the experts are right, the nation now risks great financial hardship, because there was no one to stand up and explain the situation. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 778 points on the news. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson warned Monday afternoon that car loans and student loans were likely to tighten. Other economists have warned of the possibility of widespread corporate failures and unemployment, if the short-term credit markets freeze up. Bank failures, or mergers, are likely to continue. The taxpayer costs of federal insurance on deposits could increase. In a worst-case scenario, economic historians may find that all of Paulson's predictions come true, leaving the cost to the Federal Government far greater than the risky $700 billion investment in the private sector. If this comes to pass, the historians will find many people to blame: Paulson and President Bush for failing to explain the plan better. The House leadership for failing to whip enough votes. Even the presidential candidates for failing to use their bully pulpit to force the issue. But those historians should not forget that roots of the failure predate the vote on Monday, and even the mistakes of Wall Street. Years ago, the trust between the people and their politicians was broken. Credibility was lost. The reserve of goodwill went bankrupt. And when they needed it most, our nation's leaders found that they had squandered their ability to exert influence over the people who chose them to lead. View this article on Time.com"}, {"response": 789, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Sep 30, 2008 (17:37)", "body": "Mari? If 300 million people get 1 million each, it totals 300 million. I wrote this letter to Obama and have called several senators and representatives expressing this view: URGENT READ IMMEDIATELY To: Senator Obama Re: Economy Bailout There are plans for a 700 billion bailout bill. There are 300 million Americans. I suggest making two separate 2 Bills. One that will help Main Street (middle and lower middle class directly and immediately): 1. Give 300 million Americans one million dollars each with the stipulation that the money goes to pay off their mortgages, their credit cards, autos, and outstanding bills. 2. If they want to buy a home, it must be paid in cash, same for a car, home improvements, etc. 3. Pay up Retirement Funds. The other Bill should help out Wall Street, obviously, that amount should be much less than 700 billion dollars. * Taking into consideration that the 300 million amount will be less than that when one considers a big part of that number are children. It is a win/win situation. Americans will feel that their government really cares about them. And Wall Street would have its bailout."}, {"response": 790, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Sep 30, 2008 (17:41)", "body": "I urge everyone here to call or fax their Senators and Representatives with my message. Americans want the bailout to include them directly, not indirectly through Wall Street. This is your chance to get involved."}, {"response": 791, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Sep 30, 2008 (18:30)", "body": "I forgot to add: 4. Pay off college loans. I truly see this as a win/win situation."}, {"response": 792, "author": "slpeg2003", "date": "Tue, Sep 30, 2008 (19:04)", "body": "(Moon) If 300 million people get 1 million each, it totals 300 million. Sorry Moon, but if 300 million people get $1 each it equals $300 million."}, {"response": 793, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Sep 30, 2008 (19:24)", "body": "See that's why we need oversight. LOL, OK, I'm ready to work it down 50 thousand each household. Still, I'd rather have the bailout go mostly to the people."}, {"response": 794, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Sep 30, 2008 (23:01)", "body": "Family Upset Obama Wears Their Son's Bracelet An update to that: http://www.startribune.com/29863889.html?elr=KArksDyycyUtyycyUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU Could be just damage control."}, {"response": 795, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Sep 30, 2008 (23:03)", "body": "Just take out all those kids and that should help. ;-) I knew I wasn't concentrating on everything about that plan properly. ;-D Work isn't the best place for me to ponder US economic resolutions. ;-)"}, {"response": 796, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Sep 30, 2008 (23:03)", "body": "bugger."}, {"response": 797, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Sep 30, 2008 (23:07)", "body": "I just now realized if elected, Palin would be President of the Senate with tiebreaking abilities. *shudders*"}, {"response": 798, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Sep 30, 2008 (23:18)", "body": "Looks like Bloomberg will make it official he wants another term. While I by no means agree with everything he's done or said, I was speaking with a friend tonight who doesn't like him because of his policies encouraging significant and in some cases, reckless, building, but agreed that it's a good idea to keep him in for one more go 'round considering our situation. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/bloomberg_third_term;_ylt=Ap02iPrzAEu4ATvsum2du4as0NUE"}, {"response": 799, "author": "raditto", "date": "Wed, Oct  1, 2008 (01:51)", "body": "(Karen)It always boils down to corporate greed, which seems to flourish during Republican Administrations Of course it all boils down to greed, on the part of corporations, politicians, and even some homeowners who treated their homes like cash machines and way overextended themselves (I'm referring to people who did such things as refinance or take out home equity loans to replace their perfectly good appliances with stainless steel, or their perfectly good countertops with granite just to keep up with the latest trends), but I disagree that it flourishes only during Republican administrations. As an example of greed during a Democratic administration, look no further than Franklin Raines and Jim Johnson (both Democrats) the CEO's of Fannie Mae from 1991-98 (Johnson) and 1999-2004 (Raines). That spanned all of the Clinton administration (and parts of the Bush administrations). Both received bonuses in the millions of dollars during a time when Fannie Mae was engaging in some creative accounting practices. (Karen)In my view, the goals of the CRA are fine I agree. The problem wasn't the CRA, it was broadening of it that caused problems, which is why I don't go back to its enactment under Carter. (Karen)No one forces a bank to lend to noncreditworthy individuals. No one holds a gun to anyone's head, but the rewrite of the CRA rules in 1995 made it so that banks had quotas for the level of diversity in their loan portfolios. The quotas included quotas on income level of people receiving the loans. If a bank wanted to expand or merge, it needed a good CRA rating, so banks began making riskier loans to meet those quotas. Not all banks were interested in expanding or merging, of course, so not all banks made risky loans. You could argue, of course, that it was greed that made banks want to expand. It took years for the economy to get to where it is today, years that included both Republicans and Democrats in power, and I still say it is disingenuous for either side to blame the other. There is plenty of blame to go around, to politicians of both parties, to Wall Street, to homeowners who took out loans they knew they couldn't afford, but pointing fingers is not the way to solve the problem. If politicians (of both parties) spent as much time and energy actually trying to solve problems as they do trying to pass the blame, maybe there wouldn't be as many problems to solve."}, {"response": 800, "author": "mari", "date": "Wed, Oct  1, 2008 (13:48)", "body": "So I was sitting here contemplating what to do with my $1 bailout money from the Crowe-Moon plan, when I came across this very good, down to earth explanation of what failure to fix this thing means in very practical terms. Op-Ed Columnist Rescue the Rescue By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN NEW YORK TIMES I was channel surfing on Monday, following the stock market\ufffds nearly 800-point collapse, when a commentator on CNBC caught my attention. He was being asked to give advice to viewers as to what were the best positions to be in to ride out the market storm. Without missing a beat, he answered: \ufffdCash and fetal.\ufffd I\ufffdm in both \ufffd because I know an unprecedented moment when I see one. I\ufffdve been frightened for my country only a few times in my life: In 1962, when, even as a boy of 9, I followed the tension of the Cuban missile crisis; in 1963, with the assassination of J.F.K.; on Sept. 11, 2001; and on Monday, when the House Republicans brought down the bipartisan rescue package. But this moment is the scariest of all for me because the previous three were all driven by real or potential attacks on the U.S. system by outsiders. This time, we are doing it to ourselves. This time, it\ufffds our own failure to regulate our own financial system and to legislate the proper remedy that is doing us in. I\ufffdve always believed that America\ufffds government was a unique political system \ufffd one designed by geniuses so that it could be run by idiots. I was wrong. No system can be smart enough to survive this level of incompetence and recklessness by the people charged to run it. This is dangerous. We have House members, many of whom I suspect can\ufffdt balance their own checkbooks, rejecting a complex rescue package because some voters, whom I fear also don\ufffdt understand, swamped them with phone calls. I appreciate the popular anger against Wall Street, but you can\ufffdt deal with this crisis this way. This is a credit crisis. It\ufffds all about confidence. What you can\ufffdt see is how bank A will no longer lend to good company B or mortgage company C. Because no one is sure the other guy\ufffds assets and collateral are worth anything, which is why the government needs to come in and put a floor under them. Otherwise, the system will be choked of credit, like a body being choked of oxygen and turning blue. Well, you say, \ufffdI don\ufffdt own any stocks \ufffd let those greedy monsters on Wall Street suffer.\ufffd You may not own any stocks, but your pension fund owned some Lehman Brothers commercial paper and your regional bank held subprime mortgage bonds, which is why you were able refinance your house two years ago. And your local airport was insured by A.I.G., and your local municipality sold municipal bonds on Wall Street to finance your street\ufffds new sewer system, and your local car company depended on the credit markets to finance your auto loan \ufffd and now that the credit market has dried up, Wachovia bank went bust and your neighbor lost her secretarial job there. We\ufffdre all connected. As others have pointed out, you can\ufffdt save Main Street and punish Wall Street anymore than you can be in a rowboat with someone you hate and think that the leak in the bottom of the boat at his end is not going to sink you, too. The world really is flat. We\ufffdre all connected. \ufffdDecoupling\ufffd is pure fantasy. I totally understand the resentment against Wall Street titans bringing home $60 million bonuses. But when the credit system is imperiled, as it is now, you have to focus on saving the system, even if it means bailing out people who don\ufffdt deserve it. Otherwise, you\ufffdre saying: I\ufffdm going to hold my breath until that Wall Street fat cat turns blue. But he\ufffds not going to turn blue; you are, or we all are. We have to get this right. My rabbi told this story at Rosh Hashana services on Tuesday: A frail 80-year-old mother is celebrating her birthday and her three sons each give her a present. Harry gives her a new house. Harvey gives her a new car and driver. And Bernie gives her a huge parrot that can recite the entire Torah. A week later, she calls her three sons together and says: \ufffdHarry, thanks for the nice house, but I only live in one room. Harvey, thanks for the nice car, but I can\ufffdt stand the driver. Bernie, thanks for giving your mother something she could really enjoy. That chicken was delicious.\ufffd Message to Congress: Don\ufffdt get cute. Don\ufffdt give us something we don\ufffdt need. Don\ufffdt give us something designed to solve your political problems. Yes, Hank Paulson and Ben Bernanke need to accept strict oversights and the taxpayer must be guaranteed a share in the upside profits from all rescued banks. But other than that, give them the capital and the flexibility to put out this fire. I always said to myself: Our government is so broken that it can only work in response to a huge crisis. But now we\ufffdve had a huge crisis, and the system still doesn\ufffdt seem to work. Our leaders, Republicans and Democrats, have gotten so out of practice of working together that even in the face of this system-threatening meltdow"}, {"response": 801, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Oct  1, 2008 (16:59)", "body": "I'm all for a fix, but not throwing $$ willy nilly at it...at my expense. I've paid enough."}, {"response": 802, "author": "maccalinda", "date": "Wed, Oct  1, 2008 (22:21)", "body": "Interesting conversations you are having over here... I know very little of your US politics... but will comment from my own domestic Ozzie situation... Not wishing to be doom and gloom, but I still think its gunna get a lot worse before it gets better...We've been building a house of cards of years... All we've heard about was the housing industry for years... How fast it was growing...the government kept giving incentives for building homes, propping up the industry...if the building industry was booming, then that was treated as their major economic GDP indicator that the economy is doing ok...But I kept screaming, no no no!! Its a bubble that will burst... I foresaw things coming unravelled 3 or 4 years ago and started putting our 'house' in order.... You could see it at the shopping centre...everyone spending...prices rising/less discounting, therefore obviously more consumer demand. From friends & complete strangers I repeatedly heard things like: \"oh I only need to pay the interest on my mortgage - you DONT bother with the principle!! You're an idiot if you pay back the actual debt!!\" huh?? The psyche of the general masses has changed...over generations our values have changed...certainly there's less responsibility in people than past generations, with the government having to always accept the blame and fix it.....but it's not just governments... Yes, they allowed it to happen...but it wasnt hard to figure out..or foresee... In fact I think the politicians are so disconnected from the general public they were miles behind the eight ball. Any mother who shops for her family on a weekly basis could tell the government the inflation rate certainly was NOT cruising at 2% !! So by the time the government tries to swing into action, the horse has already bolted... As echoed before, Liberal/Labour ( our Oz parites) has spent so much time, energy & money disagreeing with each other and mud slinging at each other, they have lost the ability to govern...if they ever actually had any in the first place!! Yes, they have to fix it now...yes, they need more fingers on the pulse to foresee things perhaps...but this has been happening for a lot longer than anyone cares to admit...they can put a band aid on it for the time being...but then everyone needs to undergo a huge mind-shift in the way they live their lives...or it will just keep on happenng... My other theory is: things happen for a reason....and in the world of ying vs yang...somebody out there is profiting by this...whether its money, power or religion...someone will do well out of this crisis...and I do wonder if this wasnt an accident... Getting off soapbox nooow....aaahhh....such a long way to faallll!!!"}, {"response": 803, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Oct  1, 2008 (23:40)", "body": "(LindaMc)You could see it at the shopping centre...everyone spending...prices rising/less discounting, therefore obviously more consumer demand. A very good thing if not done mostly or only on credit for people truly unable to afford it. Thanks, Mari. That TF column was interesting. (LindaMc) somebody out there is profiting by this...whether its money, power or religion...someone will do well out of this crisis. Just said that to someone today buying a house that's one step from foreclosure. He looked at it as he's saving someone from the final credit death knell of foreclosure while he gets a house at a really good price. A kind of twisted win-win situation, if you work real hard to accept that. ;-) Hopefully keeps away any guilt for some."}, {"response": 804, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Oct  1, 2008 (23:41)", "body": "(LindaMc) yes, they need more fingers on the pulse to foresee things perhaps...but this has been happening for a lot longer than anyone cares to admit. Warren Buffett pegged all this about 5 yrs ago from what I read."}, {"response": 805, "author": "maccalinda", "date": "Thu, Oct  2, 2008 (00:59)", "body": "Dorine: A very good thing if not done mostly or only on credit for people truly unable to afford it. Oh heck no...all on credit!! A friend of mine told me they were over spending by $1000 per month, using credit, got another credit card to pay the first credit card...when I asked her how they would cope with this, well, she said, we have the capital in our house to back us up...!!?? and I don't think she's alone in thinking that..."}, {"response": 806, "author": "maccalinda", "date": "Thu, Oct  2, 2008 (01:02)", "body": "The tag to this story is my friend got herself in credit card for over $50,000...then extended the mortgage to pay the cards out...BUT hasnt cut the cards up yet...and so the cycle continues!!!"}, {"response": 807, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Oct  2, 2008 (10:16)", "body": "Yeah, a different story, though the actual spending part is still the good part of it."}, {"response": 808, "author": "Moon", "date": "Fri, Oct  3, 2008 (10:57)", "body": "Oh, my... you betcha! ;-) LOL! I can't imagine ever becoming friends with Palin, but she did what she had to do last night. My protest vote still stands."}, {"response": 809, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Oct  3, 2008 (11:34)", "body": "Damn, had a feeling I should've taken a chance on Wachovia (WB) 3 days ago when it was a buck or so. :-(((("}, {"response": 810, "author": "slpeg2003", "date": "Fri, Oct  3, 2008 (12:59)", "body": "(Moon) Oh, my... you betcha! ;-) LOL! I can't imagine ever becoming friends with Palin, but she did what she had to do last night. My protest vote still stands. LOL...Doggone it, Moon. Ya kno' I would more likely be 'Miss Winky-Dinky's' friend than vote for her or the current train wreck of the McCain campaign. She didn't make any great flubs and I'm sure she made the Joe-six-packs out there proud. However, I don't want Joe-six-pack for my president or vice president! The folksy verbage made me cringe. Does she really talk like that or does she just 'want to be my friend'- I prefer mr. Rogers;-)))"}, {"response": 811, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Oct  3, 2008 (17:04)", "body": "(Peggy) She didn't make any great flubs She apparently hasn't a clue what an \"Achilles heel\" is though. Probably thought it was one of those mainstream media gotchas! God, was I turned off by her delivery. If she winked one more time or rolled her eyes I thought I was going to barf. Biden was in the worst possible position because if he went after her or was patronizing everyone would be bitching about it today. But I think he came off as extremely knowledgable, whereas she was ulta content-lite. And back to our regularly scheduled program: (Moon) And it was unforgivable for Pelosi to present the bill with that partisan speech I can't believe how you've fallen into lockstep with the Republican spin on this, having heard Pelosi's words. According to credible members and the parts that have been shown on TV, there's absolutely nothing outrageous in what she said. It was like minus 8 on the Richter scale of rhetoric. Pelosi is being made the scapegoat and that doesn't sit well with me. (Moon) Possible Change of Heart. Rezko talked with prosecutors, Chicago Tribune article: The real target is our governor (whose name I won't even try to spell). So don't get your hopes up, Moon. They're positively salivating for the current governor to be the previous governor's cellmate in prison. (George Ryan is currently serving a sentence). That would be the third governor to serve time in my lifetime. ;-) (Karen)It always boils down to corporate greed, which seems to flourish during Republican Administrations (Peg) but I disagree that it flourishes only during Republican administrations. It has existed during other administrations, but it flourishes under Republican ones because, by definition, they\ufffdre laissez-fairing and deregulating the heck out of everything. Should the oversight and regulatory structure change with an evolving financial world? Absolutely. It must. But voluntary self-regulation by the SEC could only be a Republican invention or should I say smokescreen? The Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999 (Gramm\ufffds bill) you\ufffdll say was signed by Clinton. True, but it was veto-proof in the Republican-controlled Congress. I guess he could\ufffdve just left it on his desk, unsigned, for the requisite number of days... (Peg) As an example of greed during a Democratic administration, look no further than Franklin Raines and Jim Johnson (both Democrats) the CEO's of Fannie Mae from 1991-98 (Johnson) and 1999-2004 (Raines). Excellent examples. They should be drawn and quartered. (Peg) The problem wasn't the CRA, it was broadening of it that caused problems, Yes and no. The broadening in and of itself would not necessarily have landed us in this situation. There\ufffds no way to predict that another administration (not like a Bush one) wouldn\ufffdt have nipped it in the bud before it could overwhelm the financial foundation of the country. (Peg) the rewrite of the CRA rules in 1995 made it so that banks had quotas for the level of diversity in their loan portfolios. The quotas included quotas on income level of people receiving the loans. If a bank wanted to expand or merge, it needed a good CRA rating, so banks began making riskier loans to meet those quotas. Not all banks were interested in expanding or merging, of course, so not all banks made risky loans. You could argue, of course, that it was greed that made banks want to expand. Realistically speaking, there will always be greed and abuse and bankers who think the way to do things is to falsify records or mislead people about their loans. I seem to remember being taught about the 3 or 4 Cs of lending. That must be part of an older, out-of-date curriculum. From what I can see, however, most don\ufffdt abuse the system. Responsible bankers kept close control over their credit to riskier applicants. BTW, I like stainless steel appliances. Always have. We had a stainless built-in oven and cooktop in our 1956 era house. My mother was way ahead of the trend curve. ;-)"}, {"response": 812, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Oct  3, 2008 (17:46)", "body": "BTW, I got rather irate when Sarah appropriated the phrase \"never again\" which has been the slogan for the Holocaust for as long as I can remember. But then again, she \"loves\" Israel. *rolling my eyes and winking*"}, {"response": 813, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sat, Oct  4, 2008 (13:09)", "body": "Karen, I've had a problem with Pelosi since she sideswiped Hillary for a new kid with big ambitions and no experience. The point with Rezko and Obama does not sit well with me. Obama's free media pass does not sit well with me. He has always gotten a free ride. Who on Earth is editor of the Harvard Law Review and does not write a single article? I don't trust him, period. I preferred Sarah at the Convention. I am not a fan of \"folksie\" as you know by now by my previous high flung opinions. I thought the VP debate was even. And when she started with her betcha, Joe six pack, wink thing... well I hated it. My vote is still a protest vote. This is Obama's election to lose. I have never seen anything like this. Even the emails I get from MoveOn.org have exceeded in their \"Big Brother\" pro-Obama stance. A very scary thought. :-("}, {"response": 814, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Oct  4, 2008 (19:29)", "body": "(Moon) My vote is still a protest vote. Yes, I have understood that fact. But I wouldn't be trying to justify with support of anything McCain-Palin. Not necessary. Letterman went nuts last night on McCain and Palin. Brian Williams was a guest and he characterized it as using Palin as a pi\ufffdata. ;-) Before he came out, he had a bunch of video bits, where they restrung together words from the debates so that she would say things like \"You betcha, I'm not qualified for this job.\" It was hysterical. Obviously, Dave is doing this because McCain bowed out at the last minute and then was found to be lying. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZsO7dZ__iw Dave made a blatently sexist comment during the Brian Williams segment. He said somethng about how she'd be worrying about her hair during a crisis and you could hear the audience's unease."}, {"response": 815, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Oct  5, 2008 (10:45)", "body": "Yet another very funny SNL political sketch! This time on the Biden/Palin debate. With Queen Latifah. http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/clips/vp-debate-open-palin-biden/727421/"}, {"response": 816, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Oct  5, 2008 (11:45)", "body": "An interesting tidbit from Daily Kos.... I was reminded of this gem reported by John Dickerson at Slate on August 25: The McCain campaign was working hard to drive a wedge in the Clinton coalition. Since Obama picked Joe Biden as his running mate, the McCain team has released two Hillary-themed ads. One claims Clinton was passed over for the No. 2 spot because she spoke the truth about Obama. In the second, a former Clinton supporter says she's voting for McCain. \"If we get them we win; if we don't we lose,\" says a top McCain aide of the Clinton supporters. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ And what to look forward to per WaPo: McCain Plans Fiercer Strategy Against Obama (\"You're going to learn a lot\" in next week's debate, Sen. John McCain promised supporters in Pueblo, Colo. [Ed. note - He says, channeling Moon ;-)] ) By Michael D. Shear Washington Post Staff Writer Saturday, October 4, 2008; Page A01 Sen. John McCain and his Republican allies are readying a newly aggressive assault on Sen. Barack Obama's character, believing that to win in November they must shift the conversation back to questions about the Democrat's judgment, honesty and personal associations, several top Republicans said. With just a month to go until Election Day, McCain's team has decided that its emphasis on the senator's biography as a war hero, experienced lawmaker and straight-talking maverick is insufficient to close a growing gap with Obama. The Arizonan's campaign is also eager to move the conversation away from the economy, an issue that strongly favors Obama and has helped him to a lead in many recent polls. \"We're going to get a little tougher,\" a senior Republican operative said, indicating that a fresh batch of television ads is coming. \"We've got to question this guy's associations. Very soon. There's no question that we have to change the subject here,\" said the operative, who was not authorized to discuss strategy and spoke on the condition of anonymity. [Cont'd here... http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/03/AR2008100303738.html?hpid=topnews ] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ And a snippet of commentary from Gail Collins, NYT..... \"Palin is, in many ways, a genuine heir to the women\ufffds liberation movement of the 1970s, which tried to make sure that future generations of American women would grow up feeling they had every right to compete with men for all the best rewards and adventures the world had to offer. She never seems to have had a single doubt that she could accomplish whatever she set her mind to. When she got involved in politics, she used the time-honored male route of cultivating powerful mentors, then pushing them out of the way at the first possible opportunity. When she was governor, she did what very few female politicians do, and ignored all the subsidiary issues in order to put all her bets on one big policy payoff in the form of a new state energy policy. Then, somehow, she concluded that her success in clawing her way to the top of Alaska\ufffds modest political heap meant she was capable of running the United States. This entire election season has been a long-running saga about the rise of women in American politics. On Thursday, it all went sour. The people boosting Palin\ufffds triumph were not celebrating because she demonstrated that she is qualified to be president if something ever happened to John McCain. They were cheering her success in covering up her lack of knowledge about the things she would have to deal with if she wound up running the country.\" http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/04/opinion/04collins.html"}, {"response": 817, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Oct  5, 2008 (12:19)", "body": "(Dorine) Yet another very funny SNL political sketch! This time on the Biden/Palin debate. With Queen Latifah. That was excellent, especially the talent segment. No matter what they said initially, I knew they'd be using Tina at every opportunity (save the weekend she was at the Emmys) up until the election. I even noticed they're using clips of her to promote the news show that will be in prime time, after The Office. They were cheering her success in covering up her lack of knowledge about the things she would have to deal with if she wound up running the country.\" Sort of like Latifah said. Unless she totally screwed up or embarassed herself, then you *must* declare the debate a tie."}, {"response": 818, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Oct  5, 2008 (12:23)", "body": "Unless she totally screwed up or embarassed herself, then you *must* declare the debate a tie. Boy, talk about holding the bar low."}, {"response": 819, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Oct  5, 2008 (12:27)", "body": "Exactly, expectations were so low for her. I like how Tina stated her ulterior motives for those who haven't figured them out, especially the \"can I call you Joe\" bit at the beginning and the Israel part."}, {"response": 820, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sun, Oct  5, 2008 (14:29)", "body": "I watched Letterman's Palin's bashing with a capital B. His remarks were repeatedly sexist. Is this all about McCain canceling and Palin not wanting to go on his show? He came off as a real AO. Making pints of her inexperience and not mentioning the junior Senator running for the #1 spot with NO experience, was so partisan, I could not believe it. I did not expect it. The SNL skit was funny. In the real debate, I wondered why Biden took the first question and was also the last to close? That is not supposed to happen. (\"You're going to learn a lot\" in next week's debate, Sen. John McCain promised supporters in Pueblo, Colo. [Ed. note - He says, channeling Moon ;-)] ) Dorine, too little too late? But I welcome it. (Karen), But I wouldn't be trying to justify with support of anything McCain-Palin. Not necessary. Point taken. Thank you!"}, {"response": 821, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sun, Oct  5, 2008 (15:15)", "body": "This is yet another muck up by Acorn people. I've read of at least 5 other states having problems with very irregular voter registration applications. Guess they are hoping to overwhelm the system and keep it from being discovered. Lake County is the same place in IN that caused problems in the primary. Times of Northwest Indiana: County rejects large number of invalid voter registrations Lake County Republican Chairman John Curley wants a federal investigation into hundreds of voter registrations bearing fictitious signatures or the names of dead and underage people. \"Fraudulent applications are the workings of ACORN groups operating from Milwaukee and Chicago who are getting out the vote for Obama. I'm Republican, but I want everyone who should vote to vote. But I want a clean election,\" Curley said at a Wednesday news conference. Lake County elections officials acknowledged they have found problems and had to reject a large portion of the 5,000 registration forms turned in recently by the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN, an activist group that conducted registration drives across the county this summer. An ACORN spokesperson couldn't be reached Wednesday for comment. Telephones to ACORN offices in Gary, Indianapolis, Chicago and Milwaukee were reported to be disconnected\ufffd http://nwi.com/articles/2008/10/02/news/lake_county/doc5399904569d23a75862574d600010e55"}, {"response": 822, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Oct  5, 2008 (18:06)", "body": "That's interesting. Not sure where I read it now as it was a week or so ago, but I read Rep party was sending out Get Out the Vote Registration applations to people and putting the incorrect address of the district to send it to which causes the registration to be delayed or not done at all if it's not passed on to the correct district. I don't know if that's how it works, but that's what I read."}, {"response": 823, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Oct  5, 2008 (18:20)", "body": "I have to say that one thing that really rankled (sp?) me on debate night, was Sarah Palin was dragging her 5 month old out again under all those lights and noise at a late hour. Of course I should be used to it judging by all the mothers (mostly young ones) I see around town shopping til 10 or 11 at night with their real little ones in strollers."}, {"response": 824, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Oct  6, 2008 (13:16)", "body": "What about parents that take their babies to loud action movies? As a lifelong Democrat, I always thought it was the Republicans who were messing with the vote count. In 2004 I worked from sunrise till the polls closed in a black precint in Miami to help out and make sure every vote counted. That precint had had a precedent in the 2000 election for turning away voters. This year I have witness things from the Democrats side that have left me in shock and has basically turned me Independent. ACORN, MoveOn.org and the DNC have overstepped democratic boundaries."}, {"response": 825, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Oct  6, 2008 (13:58)", "body": "(Moon) What about parents that take their babies to loud action movies? The movies, period. The Democrats figured it worked for the Republicans....."}, {"response": 826, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Oct  6, 2008 (14:20)", "body": "And why wouldn't the Democrats be corrupt, they chose Obama. They're taking after him. :-( You're right, the movies, period."}, {"response": 827, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Oct  6, 2008 (14:25)", "body": "(Dorine) The Democrats figured it worked for the Republicans..... But they're nowhere near as good as Republicans at this game. I'm continually amazed at how much better their spin is and their tactics (and, yes, I do know the difference between a strategy and a tactic - LOL!)"}, {"response": 828, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Oct  6, 2008 (15:00)", "body": "(Karen) But they're nowhere near as good as Republicans at this game. Bingo! And then get knocked for their tactics by anyone and everyone while the other side does it and everyone buys it hook, line and sinker."}, {"response": 829, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Oct  6, 2008 (15:21)", "body": "If you didn't watch all of SNL this weekend, you should watch this skit which was really good, especially the yuppie couple: http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/clips/c-span-bailout/727521/ Also this article: Politics and Palin lure viewers to \"SNL\" Mon Oct 6, 2008 9:30am EDT By Paul J. Gough NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - The politics-fueled ratings train of \"Saturday Night Live\" keeps rolling along this election season with Tina Fey's impersonations of Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin luring viewers. \"SNL\" averaged a 7.4 household rating/18 share in the metered market overnights, Nielsen Media Research said on Sunday afternoon. That's within a tenth of a rating point of its September 13 premiere, which itself was the highest-rated show since December 14, 2002, when Al Gore and Phish appeared. \"SNL\" is up 49 percent in the metered markets compared with the first four weeks of last season, as well as up 42 percent this past Saturday compared to episode No. 4 last season. As expected, Saturday's show was heavy on the politics, spoofing the recent debate between Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and Democrat Joe Biden. For the third time this season, Tina Fey portrayed Palin. Cast member Jason Sudeikis was Biden, and surprise guest Queen Latifah sat in as moderator Gwen Ifill. Once again, Fey showed that she has cornered the market on Palin impersonations, and her insistence that the GOP ticket would be all \"mavericky\" gained wide traction on the Web where it could be seen in numerous video postings. Another funny moment that seemed to strike a chord with audiences was Fey (as Palin) thanking \"third graders of Gladys Wood Elementary, who were so helpful to me in my debate prep.\" While the rest of the late-night shows have struggled to find their footing following the 2007/2008 writers strike, \"SNL\" has been on a roll ever since it took on Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and others at the end of last season. The show's success with political satire only got bigger and better in September, when \"SNL\" opened early with a special appearance by Fey as Palin. \"Clearly, 'Saturday Night Live' and Tina Fey's spot-on creation of Sarah Palin is now a part of this election season,\" said ABC News political director David Chalian. \"It does show a frame through which a lot of people see these candidates.\" Ifill, who drew controversy before the debate with reports she was writing a book about the rise of African American politicians including Barack Obama, did not escape the satire. Twice Latifah mentioned the book and the publication date, once Inauguration Day and the other Election Day, and said that it was available for preorder. Also on the firing line were Biden and Scranton, Pa., the beleaguered northeastern Pennslyvania city that has been invoked by Biden (who grew up there). \"They did equal-opportunity bashing,\" said CNN political analyst Gloria Borger, noting that it wasn't just Palin who was the target of humor on \"SNL.\" Reuters/Hollywood Reporter."}, {"response": 830, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Oct  6, 2008 (16:03)", "body": "Congress opens hearings on financial meltdown By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS, Associated Press Writer 2 minutes ago Days from becoming the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history, Lehman Brothers steered millions to departing executives even while pleading for a federal rescue, Congress was told Monday. As well, executives who feared for their bonuses in the company's last months were told not to worry, according to documents cited at a congressional hearing. One executive said he was embarrassed when employees suggested that Lehman executives forgo bonuses, and cracked: \"I'm not sure what's in the water.\" The first hearing into what caused the nation's financial markets to collapse last month, precipitating a $700 billion bailout, opened with finger-pointing and glimpses into internal company documents from Lehman's chaotic last hours. Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said the giant investment bank was \"a company in which there was no accountability for failure.\" Lehman's collapse set off a panic that within days had President Bush and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson asking Congress to pass the rescue plan for the financial sector. Richard S. Fuld Jr., chief executive officer of Lehman Brothers, declared to the committee \"I take full responsibility for the decisions that I made and for the actions that I took.\" He defended his actions as \"prudent and appropriate\" based on information he had at the time. \"I feel horrible about what happened,\" he said. Waxman questioned Fuld on whether it was true he took home some $480 million in compensation since 2000, and asked: \"Is that fair?\" Fuld took off his glasses, held them, and looked uncomfortable. He said his compensation was not quite that much. \"We had a compensation committee that spent a tremendous amount of time making sure that the interests of the executives and the employees were aligned with shareholders,\" he said. Fuld said he took home over $300 million in those years \ufffd some $60 million in cash compensation. Waxman read excerpts from Lehman documents in which a recommendation that top management should forgo bonuses was apparently brushed aside. He also cited a Sept. 11 request to Lehman's compensation board that three executives leaving the company be given $20 million in \"special payments.\" \"In other words, even as Mr. Fuld was pleading with Secretary Paulson for a federal rescue, Lehman continued to squander millions on executive compensation,\" Waxman said before Fuld appeared as a witness. The government let Lehman go under Sept. 15, only to bail out insurance giant American International Group the next day, in a cascading series of financial shocks and failures that put Washington on track for the multibillion-dollar rescue starting the end of that week. Waxman described that plan as a life-support measure. \"It may keep our economy from collapsing but it won't make it healthy again,\" he said. That sentiment echoed on Wall Street, where the Dow Jones industrials sank below 10,000 on Monday for the first time in four years. Investors fear the crisis will weigh down the global economy and the bailout won't work quickly to loosen credit markets. The rescue plan, now law, was so rushed that the usual congressional scrutiny is only coming now, after the fact. \"Although it comes too late to help Lehman Brothers, the so-called bailout program will have to make wrenching choices, picking winners and losers from a shattered and fragile economic landscape,\" said Rep. Tom Davis of Virginia, the committee's senior Republican. Waxman said that in January, Fuld and his board were warned the company's \"liquidity can disappear quite fast.\" Despite that warning, he said, \"Mr. Fuld depleted Lehman's capital reserves by over $10 billion through year-end bonuses, stock buybacks, and dividend payments.\" Waxman quoted Fuld as saying in one document, \"Don't worry\" to the suggestion that executives go without bonuses. That suggestion came from Lehman's money management subsidiary, Neuberger Berman. Waxman quoted George H. Walker, President Bush's cousin and a Lehman executive who oversaw some Neuberger Berman employees, as responding with a dismissive tone to the idea of going without bonuses. \"Sorry team,\" he wrote to the executive committee, according to Waxman. \"I'm not sure what's in the water at 605 Third Avenue today.... I'm embarrassed and I apologize.\" Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., said: \"I wonder how he sleeps at night.\" Fuld said in his statement that the company did everything it could to limits its risks and save itself. \"In the end, despite all our efforts, we were overwhelmed, others were overwhelmed, and still other institutions would have been overwhelmed had the government not stepped in to save them,\" he said. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081006/ap_on_go_co/meltdown_lehman"}, {"response": 831, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Oct  6, 2008 (21:40)", "body": "I'm glad you posted that article, Karen. I read it and just couldn't get around to posting it. And in the meantime, at the end of last week, Lehman employees laid off were informed their severance payments and insurance were being cut off immediately."}, {"response": 832, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Oct  7, 2008 (21:11)", "body": "OMG! OMG! I had to pause the debate. My mind is reeling within the first 10 minutes, as John McCain mentioned the founder of eBay in the answer to who would you appoint Sec of the Treasury. This \"common person\" approach has gone way too far."}, {"response": 833, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Oct  7, 2008 (21:16)", "body": "In O's first answer, he mentioned the equivalent of the WPA, which not only would it put people to work but our roads and bridges really need overhauling. How better to get that done than with the unemployed?"}, {"response": 834, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Oct  7, 2008 (21:44)", "body": "I just got home and had to tape it. I'll have to read coverage tomorrow and watch tomorrow night."}, {"response": 835, "author": "mari", "date": "Tue, Oct  7, 2008 (21:54)", "body": "John McCain mentioned the founder of eBay in the answer to who would you appoint Sec of the Treasury. eBay laid off 10% of its workforce yesaterday! Way to go, John, LOL. Er, my friend.;-)"}, {"response": 836, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Oct  7, 2008 (22:54)", "body": "my friend.;-) *throws back a swig of Chardonnay during drinking game*"}, {"response": 837, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Oct  7, 2008 (22:59)", "body": "No, no, no! You can only take a swig on 'maverick.' ;-) The drivel factor was in the double digits, when McCain was talking about any domestic issues. My eyes are tired after rolling around in their sockets most of the night. :-("}, {"response": 838, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Oct  7, 2008 (23:20)", "body": "You can only take a swig on 'maverick.' ;-) *snort* That was the other night with Palin/Biden. My liver can only take so much of this and there's another one of these next week. ;-)"}, {"response": 839, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Oct  7, 2008 (23:34)", "body": "My liver can only take so much of this A shout-out to all livers!"}, {"response": 840, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Oct  7, 2008 (23:59)", "body": "Instead of Meg Whitman (from eBay), I'd like to throw Debbie Fields' name into the ring of possible Treasury Secretaries. ;-) But wikipedia is already updated with tonight's reference. Amazing that technology. ;-) She earned a Bachelor of Economics from Princeton University where she was a member of the student organization Business Today. She received an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1979. Career Before eBay, Ms. Whitman was with toymaker Hasbro Inc., overseeing global management and marketing of two of the world's best-known children's brands, Playskool and Mr. Potato Head. Prior to Hasbro, Meg was president and CEO of Florists Transworld Delivery (FTD), the world's largest floral products company. In previous years, she held executive positions at the Stride Rite Corporation and at the Walt Disney Company. Meg also worked for eight years at Bain & Company's San Francisco office, where she was a vice president. She began her career in 1979 at Procter & Gamble in Cincinnati, Ohio. Ms. Whitman also serves on the boards of the eBay Foundation, Procter & Gamble and DreamWorks Animation. Philanthropy Whitman has donated more than $30 million to her alma mater, Princeton University. The donation has allowed the construction of the university's sixth residential college, Whitman College, which opened in Fall 2007. Political activities Whitman has made numerous political donations to various candidates and PACs. While these have gone to both Republican and Democratic beneficiaries, the donations seem to be weighted to Republican politicians such as Orrin Hatch, Charles Pickering, and George Allen. Whitman was a supporter of former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney's presidential campaign in 2008 and was on his \"National Finance Team\". She was also listed as Finance co-chair of Romney's campaign exploratory committee. After Romney stepped out of the race, Whitman joined John McCain's presidential campaign as a national co-chair. She has political ambitions of her own and is considering a run for Governor of California in the 2010 election. Whitman was also named as a dark horse candidate for the Vice Presidential slot in McCain's 2008 presidential bid. At the Republican National Convention (2008), Whitman gave a speech about what presumptive presidential nominee McCain would do in his first one hundred days in office if elected President of the United States."}, {"response": 841, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Oct  8, 2008 (09:17)", "body": "Our tax dollars hard at work saving the economy... After Bailout, AIG Execs Head to California Resort Rescued by Taxpayers, $440,000 for Retreat Including \"Pedicures, Manicures\" By BRIAN ROSS and TOM SHINE October 7, 2008\ufffd Less than a week after the federal government committed $85 billion to bail out AIG, executives of the giant AIG insurance company headed for a week-long retreat at a luxury resort and spa, the St. Regis Resort in Monarch Beach, California, Congressional investigators revealed today. \"Rooms at this resort can cost over $1,000 a night,\" Congressman Henry Waxman (D-CA) said this morning as his committee continued its investigation of Wall Street and its CEOs. AIG documents obtained by Waxman's investigators show the company paid more than $440,000 for the retreat, including nearly $200,000 for rooms, $150,000 for meals and $23,000 in spa charges. [cont'd] http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=5973452&page=1"}, {"response": 842, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Oct  8, 2008 (10:26)", "body": "Yeah, effing incredible! Obama specifically mentioned that one last night."}, {"response": 843, "author": "mari", "date": "Wed, Oct  8, 2008 (11:55)", "body": "I've been to that St. Regis resort. Right outside of Laguna Beach. Gorgeous. Those bastards. Does it bug anyone else when McCain says he knows how to get bin Laden--but apparently he hasn't shared that \"knowledge\" with anyone? Some of these are pretty funny: Campaign Comedy: Tuesday's late-night TV wrap-up By LYNN ELBER, AP Television Writer Political debates inform voters \ufffd and provide material for late-night TV show hosts. \"Tonight's presidential debate took place in Nashville, Tenn. Which is perfect, because the economy right now is like a bad country music song: `I lost my girl, I lost the house, the dog died,'\" Jay Leno said on NBC's \"Tonight Show.\" Although \"Tonight\" and other shows were taped before Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama met Tuesday night \ufffd Jon Stewart of Comedy Central's \"The Daily Show\" labeled it a \"space-time continuum problem\" \ufffd the jokes wouldn't be stopped. \"Tonight's presidential debate was a town hall forum,\" said Stephen Colbert on Comedy Central's \"The Colbert Report.\" \"See, that allows the candidates to go around the media filter and lets regular Americans ask the questions that the candidates can ignore to deliver their stump speeches.\" Obama took one for the \"Tonight\" show. \"It's a town hall format, which is John McCain's favorite way to speak to crowds. As opposed to Barack Obama's favorite way, a sermon on a mount,\" Leno quipped. McCain's age proved a subject that never gets old. \"The second presidential debate is tonight, and beforehand John McCain said that the `gloves are coming off.' Then McCain said, `But don't worry, the diaper is staying on,'\" quipped Conan O'Brien on NBC's \"Late Night.\" With the debate format, \"the candidates can walk around freely,\" noted Craig Ferguson on CBS' \"The Late Late Show.\" \"McCain prepared by putting new tennis balls on his walker.\" Meanwhile, Sarah Palin, the Republican vice presidential candidate, was holding fast as a late-night mainstay. \"In Boca Raton, Fla., yesterday, a woman who looked like Sarah Palin caused a near-riot when she walked into a diner for breakfast,\" Leno said. \"After a minute or two, people finally realized it wasn't her when she started answering questions.\" \"Is there anything this woman can't make sound folksy?\" Stewart said of Palin. \"`And let's not forget about that doggone genocide in Rwanda!'\" \"In a recent speech, Sarah Palin referred to Afghanistan as `our neighboring country.' Then she promised to find Osama bin Laden in the mountains of Toronto,\" O'Brien said. And Palin starred atop CBS \"Late Show\" host David Letterman's list of Top 10 Signs You Are Watching a Bad Debate: \"It's 90 minutes of folksy phrases and winking.\" The economy and the current president didn't escape skewering. \"The bad news : The Dow dropped 500 points today. The good news : I didn't know there were 500 left,\" said Colbert. \"President Bush's response to the economic crisis was to meet with small business owners at a soda shop in San Antonio, Texas, this week. The bad news : The small business owners are now General Motors, General Electric, Century 21,\" offered Leno. O'Brien's take: \"President Bush gave a speech today about the economy and he said that he believes that `anyone who makes bad decisions should fail.' Then Bush looked around the room and said, `Hey, why did it get so quiet in here?'\""}, {"response": 844, "author": "marlena", "date": "Wed, Oct  8, 2008 (12:46)", "body": "I have been following the discussions here for a long time about the upcoming presidental election but I have stayed out of it. I am so furious right now I just can't anymore. Palin has me seeing red along with her maverick(what's his name again?) When I read about her accusations about Obama and then someone shouts \"Kill him.\" Mrs. Betty Crocker(and IMO her lifestyles and views are just that a crock of s**t)has gone to far. This woman has no brains. Doesn't she realize that Obama has a family? There are so many crazy people out there that would think nothing of harming him or his children. Is it just me or are McCain and Palin prejudice against other races. How about last night when again McCain would not look at Obama and called him that man instead of addressing him properly. IMO these two have got to go. They must walk slowly out of this race and I'll carry the big stick to swat them both. Where will I swat them to? McCain into a nursing home for retired veterans where he can swap old war stories and Palin right back to Alaska where she can hunt,wink and give those 3rd graders extra credit. BTW I have great respect for our military both past and present and I mean no disrespect to these men and women when I talk about a nursing home for retired veterans. As I said before I am just very angry. Lastly, IMO if any woman deserves to be the first woman in the White House it is Hillary. Not that doggone Palin."}, {"response": 845, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Oct  8, 2008 (13:44)", "body": "Lastly, IMO if any woman deserves to be the first woman in the White House it is Hillary. Not that doggone Palin. Amen! Every time I hear any of them speak I think of Hillary. Marlene, you can blame the DNC for selecting Obama over Hillary. It is well documented. The debate was boring and the only new thing out was McCain's plan to buy out those outstanding mortages. I think Obama will win in Nov. as I've said before, it is his to lose. But I'm still dreaming of Hillary 2012."}, {"response": 846, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Oct  8, 2008 (13:55)", "body": "(Mari) Does it bug anyone else when McCain says he knows how to get bin Laden--but apparently he hasn't shared that \"knowledge\" with anyone? Porter Goss, former head of the CIA, said he knew where he was, but what came of that? ;-) (Marlene) Is it just me or are McCain and Palin prejudice against other races. They may not personally be, but it's used to encourage fear among other things, so people won't vote for Obama. Like Bush used Iraq and 9/11 before the 2004 election."}, {"response": 847, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Oct  8, 2008 (14:00)", "body": "Marlene, join a few others in the Commiseration Corner. ;-) I know exactly what you mean about watching McCain. I found it incredibly difficult to last night. He seemed totally programmed and out of touch. Obama looked human and relaxed next to him. Watching McCain pace around, with gibberish coming out of his mouth and his few, flat attempts at humor and unconcealed lack of respect for his opponent, was painful, doggone it!"}, {"response": 848, "author": "mari", "date": "Wed, Oct  8, 2008 (16:35)", "body": "(Karen)Watching McCain pace around, with gibberish coming out of his mouth and his few, flat attempts at humor and unconcealed lack of respect for his opponent, was painful, doggone it! He reminded me of those grumpy old men who live on your block and who are always shouting at the kids, \"get off my lawn!\" Obama came off as the guy who would be a cool, level head in a crisis, and not just last night, but in the way he's conducted himself over the past weeks. Contrast with Grandpa Chicken Little who had to \"rush back\" to DC to \"settle\" the financial crisis."}, {"response": 849, "author": "OzFirthFan", "date": "Thu, Oct  9, 2008 (07:26)", "body": "The Daily Show was priceless tonight. Am now watching Bill Maher's new show and shouting at the tv every time his disingenuous Republican-apologist spouts off some utter bullsh*t (actually Janeane Garafolo and I are shouting in unison). OMG - Rosanne looks so thin!!"}, {"response": 850, "author": "OzFirthFan", "date": "Thu, Oct  9, 2008 (07:34)", "body": "And can I say - John McCain doddering around on that stage and whispering and repeating himself, etc. made himself look like he is so old he's farting dust!! He was absolutely CREEPY - esp when he was trying to touch that poor woman in the audience - if I were her, I'd have shouted at him to get his creepy old-man hands off me. He really was creeping me out."}, {"response": 851, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Oct  9, 2008 (16:02)", "body": "(Sarah) OMG - Rosanne looks so thin!! Unbelievable! She looked really great. She looks like someone's cool grandma or aunt."}, {"response": 852, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Oct 13, 2008 (16:20)", "body": "AGain, lots of progress on a male issue. First you have a easy blood test for prostate cancer, then Viagra, now this. Absolutely no progress on female issues. You'd think companies would want to cash in on developing a cure for hot flashes or similar. But no, make women suffer from hormonal changes. Hair today, gone tomorrow -- and this is why Sun Oct 12, 6:56 PM ET Gene detectives on Sunday said they had netted two genetic variants that, together, boost the risk of male baldness sevenfold. The two variants are located on a stretch of DNA on Chromosome 20, according to a study carried out on 1,125 men of European descent. \"These variants are present in one in seven Caucasian men and provide novel insights into the cause of this common and sometimes distressing condition,\" the team said. Previous research has determined that male pattern baldness -- also known as androgenic alopecia -- has a highly genetic origin. Heritability accounts for 80 percent of cases. The study, published online by the journal Nature Genetics of the British-based Nature Publishing Group, was carried out by a multinational team from Britain, Iceland, Switzerland and the Netherlands. One of the lead researchers, Tim Spector of King's College London, said the findings raised questions as to the evolutionary origins of baldness and opened up new paths for cures for hair loss. \"The strong genetic basis of hair loss is odd, as any evolutionary advantage is unclear,\" said Spector in a press release. \"Clearly, most men know if they are bald or not. But early prediction before hair loss starts may lead to some interesting therapies that are more effective than treating late-stage hair loss.\" (...) Given the feasibility of gene therapy in human follicles, our results may point to an intriguing new potential target for the treatment of hair loss in men and possibly women.\" By coincidence, a separate study also published in the same journal, reported that scientists had isolated a group of stem cells in mice that can repopulate and maintain all cell types of the hair follicle. Androgenic alopecia can have a big social impact as it affects a man's self-image. Baldness is also associated with an array of health problems, including coronary heart disease and hypertension in men and polycystic ovarian syndrome and insulin resistance in women. The reasons are unclear, but one theory is that some of the genes involved in hair loss also play a role in the molecular mechanisms for these diseases. The newly-identified variants on the p11 stretch of Chromosome 20 add to telltale genes, located in the X chromosome, that are receptors for the hormone androgen."}, {"response": 853, "author": "slpeg2003", "date": "Mon, Oct 13, 2008 (16:42)", "body": "(Karen) But no, make women suffer from hormonal changes I agree. I was part of the hormone replacement revolution and they were great. Sadly, the real cost of those miracle drugs was not known for years. I am sick and tired of the incessant ED commercials for Viagra and Cialis. Sheesh you'd think that a huge percentage of American men have a problem. I don't believe it for a minute. Surely by now those with a problem are aware that such drugs exist."}, {"response": 854, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Oct 13, 2008 (16:46)", "body": "I'd say the industry has joined forces to insure that men continue to be and look virile, whereas women should be allowed to turn into old hags, with an ever-ready crop of nubile babes available that only have one period a year. Talk about your conspiracies. ;-)"}, {"response": 855, "author": "mari", "date": "Tue, Oct 14, 2008 (11:39)", "body": "Sen. Clinton says 2nd White House run is unlikely Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton puts the chances of her running for president again at near zero \ufffd slightly higher than the chances she gives for becoming Senate majority leader or a Supreme Court justice. In an interview aired Tuesday on \"Fox & Friends\" on the Fox News Channel, Clinton, D-N.Y., was asked the chances, on a scale of 1 to 10, that she would be the next majority leader in the Senate. \"Oh, probably zero,\" she said. \"I'm not seeking any other position than to be the best senator from New York that I can be.\" Being nominated to the Supreme Court? \"Zero,\" Clinton said. \"I have no interest in doing that.\" Running for president again? \"Probably close to zero,\" she said. \"There's an old saying: Bloom where you're planted.\" The former first lady, who was elected to the Senate in 2000 and re-elected in 2006, said she looked forward to working as a senator with a Barack Obama administration"}, {"response": 856, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Oct 14, 2008 (13:41)", "body": "Hillary had also stated on Larry King that she would not run for president. I can't think of another woman as qualified for the job. Her fan base will help her make the right decision if McCain is elected."}, {"response": 857, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Oct 14, 2008 (13:54)", "body": "Hillary supporters who go along with this really need to take a step back. If we support this behavior (support Obama), how can we complain about what was done to Hillary? It's the same thing as before, Obama's campaign sets the tone and apparently it's still acceptable to treat the female candidate in a derogatory manner. Being supportive of women's issues is more than talk--it's about actions--it's about treating female candidates with the same respect as we treat the male candidates. http://www.comcast.net/data/fan/html/popup.html?v=888620113"}, {"response": 858, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Oct 14, 2008 (13:56)", "body": "Forgot to add that Biden has had quite a few \"Bush\" moments on the campaign trail, but nobody picks up on it. Once again, unfair treatment."}, {"response": 859, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Oct 14, 2008 (14:02)", "body": "Larry Summers comments are outragious and he is an BO economic advisor: Larry Summers: 3 Strikes, You're OUT! http://thenewagenda.net/2008/10/12/larry-summers-3-strikes-youre-out/"}, {"response": 860, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Oct 14, 2008 (14:13)", "body": "Biden has had quite a few \"Bush\" moments on the campaign trail, but nobody picks up on it. Once again, unfair treatment. I've seen items about them. Don't remember where, but you and I are aware, so someone must be picking them up. If you mean more mainstream media, couldn't tell ya."}, {"response": 861, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Oct 14, 2008 (14:26)", "body": "Frankly, I am not surprised HC would say those things in public. Of course she can't reveal whatever promises were made. Now, I guess if she gets one of those positions people will continue to gripe that she's a liar. Totally damned if you do and damned if you don't. :-( Every night I have to check out Anderson Cooper's 10 Most Wanted: Culprits of the Collapse. He names names. The first three were fairly obvious: 10. Joe Cassano (from AIG) 9. Lehman Brothers CEO Dick Fuld 8. Chris Cox - SEC Chairman and last night was my old pick: Phil Gramm!! Dah man! You can watch the videos here: http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/category/culprits-of-the-collapse/ and this is an excellent recap of Phil's influential life: http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2008/07/foreclosure-phil.html"}, {"response": 862, "author": "mari", "date": "Tue, Oct 14, 2008 (14:31)", "body": "(Moon)If we support this behavior (support Obama), how can we complain about what was done to Hillary? Hoo boy, and *that* might mean getting over it and moving on and voting for the person whose ideology matches Hillary's almost exactly. Don't wanna do that, no sirree.;-) Biden has had quite a few \"Bush\" moments You're not specific, but if the question is, has Joe had some foot-in-mouth moments? Of course, that's what makes him Joe and people who live in my area know that about him. BUT--it it always an intelligent, informed foot. Unlike Bush, whose doozies come from . . . well, not from an informed, intelligent place. Big difference. And don't get me started on Palin and her downright ignorance on the issues. Her candidacy is an affront. Did you see her drop the puck at the Flyers opener on Saturday? She was booed off the ice. LOL, tough Philly crowd."}, {"response": 863, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Oct 14, 2008 (14:42)", "body": "And don't get me started on Palin and her downright ignorance on the issues. Her candidacy is an affront. Also including both she and McCain publically encouraging hatred and ignorance in others."}, {"response": 864, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Oct 14, 2008 (22:17)", "body": "I was just rereading more carefully the stuff I skimmed over.... (Moon) Being supportive of women's issues is more than talk--it's about actions Obviously you aren't talking about McCain. *Or* Palin (the irony!)."}, {"response": 865, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Oct 14, 2008 (22:27)", "body": "And for the record, I don't agree at all with Obama supporters with those T-shirts. Despicable. (Mari) Unlike Bush, whose doozies come from . . . well, not from an informed, intelligent place. Truer words....."}, {"response": 866, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Oct 14, 2008 (23:03)", "body": "McCain apparently has his own dubious associates... http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/10/14/154348/28/122/630428"}, {"response": 867, "author": "OzFirthFan", "date": "Tue, Oct 14, 2008 (23:53)", "body": "It's McCain's \"presidential transition team\", Dorine. I don't think they're ever going to actually be assembled, no less ever do any work..."}, {"response": 868, "author": "OzFirthFan", "date": "Tue, Oct 14, 2008 (23:54)", "body": "hmmmm"}, {"response": 869, "author": "OzFirthFan", "date": "Tue, Oct 14, 2008 (23:56)", "body": "Let's try it this way...."}, {"response": 870, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Oct 15, 2008 (13:02)", "body": "Sarah, don't sweat the small stuff. This election is Obama's to lose. Put your champagne bottle in the fridge. (Moon) Being supportive of women's issues is more than talk--it's about actions This election as some want to believe is not about abortion. That is not the single woman's issue at there. I'm more concerned with the blatant discrimination of women. I experienced it when I was working for Hillary and it's strong for Palin too. Here is a new Feminist site, Non-Partisan for once: http://thenewagenda.net/2008/10/12/chewing-the-fat-with-ophelia/ (Dorine), McCain apparently has his own dubious associates... And that's all that matters, right? Does anyone in BO camp give a fig about his dubious associates? :-( Mari Re: Biden, this is just one of the recent ones: Biden garbles Depression history Joe Biden's denunciation of his own campaign's ad to Katie Couric got so much attention last night that another odd note in the interview slipped by. He was speaking about the role of the White House in a financial crisis. \"When the stock market crashed, Franklin Roosevelt got on the television and didn't just talk about the princes of greed,\" Biden told Couric. \"He said, 'Look, here's what happened.'\" As Reason's Jesse Walker footnotes it: \"And if you owned an experimental TV set in 1929, you would have seen him. And you would have said to yourself, 'Who is that guy? What happened to President Hoover?'\""}, {"response": 871, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Oct 15, 2008 (13:20)", "body": "My friend's mother is running for office in Indiana, she's there helping out with her campaign, they are all democrats. My friend is a Hillary supporter and we spent a lot of time together working for Hillary. She was called a racist for supporting Hillary by Obama supporters at a Hillary ralley we attended together. My white friend who had adopted and raised two black boys. Her vote for McCain, is also a protest vote. She sent me this email she received from one of her friend. I'm glad people are starting to ask questions. From a friend who used to be FOR Obama: About six months ago, I started thinking 'where did the money come from for Obama'. I have four daughters who went to college, and we were middle class, and money was tight. We (including my girls) worked hard and there were lots of student loans.I started looking into Obama's life. Where has the money come from? Around 1979 Obama started college at Occidental in California. He is very open about his two years at Occidental. He even admits that he tried all kinds of drugs and was wasting his time. Even though he had a brilliant mind, did not apply himself to his studies. 'Barry' (that was the name he used during his early years) had two roommates during this time, Muhammad Hassan Chandoo and Wahid Hamid, both Muslims from Pakistan. During the summer of 1981, after his second year in college, he made a 'round the world' trip. Stopping to see his mother in Indonesia; next to Hyderabad in India; three weeks in Karachi, Pakistan where he stayed with his roommate's family; then off to Africa to visit his father's family. Where did he get the money for this trip? Nether I, nor any one of my children would have had money for a trip like this when they were in college. When he came back he started school at Columbia University in New York . It is at this time he asks everyone to call him Barrack - not Barry. Do you know what the tuition is at Columbia? It's not cheap, to say the least. Where did he get money for tuition? Student Loans? Maybe. After Columbia, he went to Chicago to work as a Community Organizer for $12,000 a year. Why Chicago? Why not New York? He was already living in New York By 'chance'(?) he met Antoin 'Tony' Rezko, born in Aleppo, Syria, and a real estate developer in Chicago. Rezko was convicted of fraud and bribery th s year, (nice guy?). Rezko, was named 'Entrepreneur of the Decade' by the Arab-American Business and Professional Association'. About two years later, Obama entered Harvard Law School. Do you have any idea what tuition is for Harvard Law School? Where did he get the money for Law School? More student loans? After Law school he went back to Chicago. Rezko offered him a job, which he turned down. But, he did take a job with the law firm Davis, Miner, Barnhill & Galland. Guess what? That's the firm that represented 'Rezar', which is Rezko's firm. Rezko was one of Obama's first major financial contributors when he ran for office in Chicago. In 2003, Rezko threw an early fundraiser for Obama which Chicago Tribune reporter David Mendelland claims was instrumental in providing Obama with 'seed money' for his U.S. Senate race. In 2005, Obama purchased a new home in the Kenwood District of Chicago. He paid $1.65 million for the place. While paying off all those previous student loans (?) - Where did he get the money for the property? On the same day Rezko's wife, Rita, purchased the adjoining empty lot. TheLondon Times reported that Nadhmi Auchi, an Iraqi-born Billionaire loaned Rezko $3.5 million three weeks before Obama purchased this new home. Obama has met Nadhmi Auchi many times with Rezko. Now, we have Obama running for President. Valerie Jarrett, was Michele Obama's boss. She is now Obama's chief advisor and he does not make any major decisions without consulting with her first. Where was Jarrett born? Ready for this? Shiraz, Iran! Do we see a pattern here? Or am I just stupid? On May 10, 2008 The Times reported that Robert Malley, an advisor to Obama, was 'sacked' after the press found out he was having regular contacts with 'Hamas'. The same Hamas that controls Gaza and is connected with Iran and terrorism. Oh, and by the way, remember Obama's college roommates, the Muslims who where from Pakistan? They are now in charge of all those 'small' internet campaign contributions coming in for Obama. Where is that money coming from? The middle class in this country? Or could it be from the Middle East? And a final tidbit. On September 7, 2008, The Washington Times posted a verbal slip that Obama made on the 'This Week' TV show with George Stephanapoulos. Obama, when talking about his religion said, 'My Muslim faith'. When questioned about this, it was stated, 'he made a mistake'. Some mistake! I got all of the above information on-line. If you would like to check it Wikipedia, encyclopedia, Barack Obama; Tony Rezko; Valerie Jarrett: Daily Times - Obama visited Pakistan in 1981; The Washington Times - September 7, 2008; The Time"}, {"response": 872, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Oct 15, 2008 (13:24)", "body": "LOL! Hmm, maybe he's thinking of high-def radio with a built-in time warp. ;-)"}, {"response": 873, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Oct 15, 2008 (13:24)", "body": "This election as some want to believe is not about abortion. That is not the single woman's issue at there. Nor was I insinuating or meaning that it was with my comment. Both McCain and Palin have bad policy/vote histories on a variety of women's issues. And that's all that matters, right? Does anyone in BO camp give a fig about his dubious associates? :-( I'm not sure of your point. To clarify....does anyone in BO's camp care about McCain's associations or his own (BO's) associations? McCain (Republicans) seemed to think pointing out Obama's dubious associations was the tactic du jour last week since nothing else was working. I was just pointing out that McCain seems to think dubious associations from long ago should be a deal breaker, while he has his own connections of questionable quality (who are currently involved with him). Personally, I think there are other things to worry about."}, {"response": 874, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Oct 15, 2008 (13:38)", "body": "Speaking of dubious associations, what most people don't understand is the makeup of the area Obama lives in. Hyde Park is the area surrounding the U of Chicago. It is a unique enclave on the South Side, made up of U people and old-time liberals, going way, way back. Beautiful old homes there (think Leopold and Loeb). Because Ayers is involved in educational reform, it would be natural for them to have some contact. Moreover, their kids would go to the U of C's lab school."}, {"response": 875, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Oct 15, 2008 (13:54)", "body": "Isn't the Washington Times the Moonie-owned, right wing publication? During the summer of 1981, after his second year in college, he made a 'round the world' trip. Stopping to see his mother in Indonesia; next to Hyderabad in India; three weeks in Karachi, Pakistan where he stayed with his roommate's family; then off to Africa to visit his father's family. Where did he get the money for this trip? Nether I, nor any one of my children would have had money for a trip like this when they were in college. During the summer of '91, before my final year of college/internship, I took a summer trip around Europe for 3 months on money I saved working at my parttime/occasionally fulltime on class breaks job (@6.00/hr) while going to school. I financed with a credit card with a $1500 credit line I got especially for the trip plus a few hundred dollars sent by relatives. We budgeted $25 dollars a day (sometimes went over or under) and slept in mostly hostels or cheap housing. Afterward, I went back to school for 9 months (paid for by student loans as with the rest of my education) and was only able to work 3 months in a parttime job during that time. As far as paying for something like that, when there's a will, there's a way. (Reminds me of Frozen River! ;-)) I find nothing unusual about Obama's trip. I ran into a number of Australians of my age traveling the world for a year who would get odd jobs to support their trip. And they went *everywhere*. And as far as Obama at Harvard, I would think there are financial options available for him as a minority and for all we know, he got grants, scholarships and or loans. The Times reported that Robert Malley, an advisor to Obama, was 'sacked' after the press found out he was having regular contacts with 'Hamas'. The same Hamas that controls Gaza and is connected with Iran and terrorism. And Hillary had to do the same thing for one of her advisors playing both ends against the middle on something Hillary was publically against (will admit I've forgotten the specifics)."}, {"response": 876, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Oct 15, 2008 (14:05)", "body": "(Dorine), Isn't the Washington Times the Moonie-owned, right wing publication? I don't know who owns it, but I'm all for equal time, and so far this election has been an Obama love fest. You do know that he's in the process of buying a half-hour same time slot on each mayor network so he can speak to all just days before the election? He has a $$$ cow. Is that fair and democratic? What EVER happened to equal time? And why am I the only one bothered by this? Karen, no one has brought up Ayers. So he's the communist that lives in the \"in\" chic part of town? The '60's was a time to be radical. Of course, bombing and killing was not the way to go about it. IMO."}, {"response": 877, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Oct 15, 2008 (14:07)", "body": "(Dorine), I find nothing unusual about Obama's trip. Of course not. ;-) Please make another batch of koolaid."}, {"response": 878, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Oct 15, 2008 (16:44)", "body": "He has a $$$ cow. Which is a problem, why? Is that fair and democratic? If he didn't opt for public financing, indeed it is. What EVER happened to equal time? Nothing? McCain is free to buy time as well."}, {"response": 879, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Oct 16, 2008 (00:22)", "body": "Was there ever a better example of letting men be in charge of decisions affecting a woman? John McCain showing his cynicism when he talked about exceptions based on the \"supposed\" the health of the mother. Oh man!! (Moon) So he's the communist No, he's not a communist. A radical, yes. that lives in the \"in\" chic part of town? No, I'd never characterize Hyde Park as being the \"in\" or \"chic\" part of town. It is merely the area around the university and would have a disproportionate number of intellectuals living there of all stripes. Milton Friedman got the Nobel Prize for economics and he was from the U of C. He was the biggest advocate of free markets. Despite being a libertarian, Reagon glommed onto his work. Hyde Park would be more like Cambridge, Mass, but is only a neighborhood. The '60's was a time to be radical. Of course, bombing and killing was not the way to go about it. IMO."}, {"response": 880, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Oct 16, 2008 (02:33)", "body": "I think this might sum it up for many people... My 401(k) is down $21,000 since the end of September. And John McCain thinks I should be worried about William Ayers. http://www.courant.com/news/opinion/editorials/hc-webpitts1015.artoct15,0,3144917.story"}, {"response": 881, "author": "marlena", "date": "Thu, Oct 16, 2008 (06:32)", "body": "Did anyone happen to watch the new political thriller yesterday called \"The Shootout at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue?\" The stellar cast included a newcomer to the movie industry called Joe the Plumber. Joe's performance was so outstanding he is being sought after for exclusive interviews. Sadly, Joe can not be found as he seems to have suddenly taken a vacation to some remote island. I need to find some humor in this presidental election before severe depression sets in. It doesnt't look like DH will be retiring for awhile because our 401(k)is also down so much that even if the ecomony was to improve right now, (which we know will not happen) it will take at least 7 years to build it up to where it was before September. Right now the economy is my #1 concern. I am going to be 50 next month, and I have just watched all the capital gain we have earned over many years go right down the toilet. It's a good thing we didn't just invest in stocks. IMO, I think Obama will do more for the middle class than McCain who seems to be out of touch with reality. BTW Obama did talk about equal pay for woman last night. As the saying goes, Actions Speak Louder than Words, so if he wins it will be a wait and see situation."}, {"response": 882, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Oct 16, 2008 (10:29)", "body": "(Dorine), Isn't the Washington Times the Moonie-owned, right wing publication? (Moon) I don't know who owns it, but I'm all for equal time BTW, my question was more rhetorical as I did know about them. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Washington_Times"}, {"response": 883, "author": "mari", "date": "Thu, Oct 16, 2008 (12:16)", "body": "When the stock market crashed, Franklin Roosevelt got on the television and didn't just talk about the princes of greed,\" Biden told Couric. LOL, Moon, that is such an insignificant gaffe. It hurts no one. But it is pretty funny.:-) Where has the money come from? I know a lot of people who did the \"backbacking through Europe\" thing right after college and they didn't have a pot to piss in. When you're 22, you live cheap and it doesn't bother you. (Dorine)And as far as Obama at Harvard, I would think there are financial options available for him as a minority Of course. And coupled with his intellect, probably every school in the Ivy League was after him. I wouldn't be surprised it he got a full ride. Besides, most schools come up with some sort of financial package when they offer you admission, and depending on your grades and financial situation it could be scholarships, loans, grants, or a combo of all three. (Karen)Was there ever a better example of letting men be in charge of decisions affecting a woman? John McCain showing his cynicism when he talked about exceptions based on the \"supposed\" the health of the mother. Oh man!! Yeah, that's it, John, women are manipulating the definition of \"health\" just so they can get more abortions. Here's the transcript and I find his responses very offenisive: OBAMA: We can find some common ground, because nobody's pro-abortion. I think it's always a tragic situation. We should try to reduce these circumstances. SCHIEFFER: Let's give Sen. McCain a short response... McCAIN: Just again... SCHIEFFER: ... and then... McCAIN: Just again, the example of the eloquence of Sen. Obama. He's \"health for the mother.\" You know, that's been stretched by the pro-abortion movement in America to mean almost anything. That's the extreme pro-abortion position, quote, \"health.\""}, {"response": 884, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Oct 16, 2008 (12:18)", "body": "Is that fair and democratic? (Dorine)If he didn't opt for public financing, indeed it is. How about Obama's U-turn on public financing? LOL! His whole career is based on changing his mind when it suits him personally. I have a problem with that, when it is a very ambitious politician who does it. What EVER happened to equal time? (Dorine), Nothing? McCain is free to buy time as well. That's not the point. On Oct. 29th NBC and CBS are moving around their schedules to fit BO half-hour infomercial, as if we didn't get enough of them already!!! IMO, they should not allow his time if McCain can't buy the same. Karen, Radical chic = Communist. And, whatever views McCain might have had on women's issues, the fact that he picked a women as his VP is sending a message. This is an excellent reminder of some of the nice things the Obama's said about the Clintons: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsUnw5RDYoA"}, {"response": 885, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Oct 16, 2008 (12:24)", "body": "LOL, Moon, that is such an insignificant gaffe. It hurts no one. But it is pretty funny.:-) I know. But Bush is bag full of insignificant gaffes and I still cringe. (Mari), I know a lot of people who did the \"backbacking through Europe\" thing right after college and they didn't have a pot to piss in. When you're 22, you live cheap and it doesn't bother you. Yes, Europe. But Barry went to see his mother in Indonesia; next to Hyderabad in India; three weeks in Karachi, Pakistan where he stayed with his roommate's family; then off to Africa to visit his father's family. When he returned from that trip he asked to be called Barack."}, {"response": 886, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Oct 16, 2008 (12:32)", "body": "they should not allow his time if McCain can't buy the same. Again, McCain is free to do the same. Why do you keep insinuating he can't? And at one point, it appears McCain may have intended to use public financing also. http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/06/how-mccains-pub.html"}, {"response": 887, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Oct 16, 2008 (12:38)", "body": "But Barry went to see his mother in Indonesia; next to Hyderabad in India; three weeks in Karachi, Pakistan where he stayed with his roommate's family; then off to Africa to visit his father's family. He was smart! Saved money staying with people he knew. Wish I'd been so lucky. I ran out of money and had to have a friend wire me enough money to last the last couple of days and have enough to somehow get from JFK back to Philly on my return (which I had *no* idea how I was going to do that when I walked off the plane -- I paid for some type of shuttle bus to take me about 45 min north and luckily got hold a friend at the last minute to take me the rest of the way). the fact that he picked a women as his VP is sending a message. A not very good one considering which woman he picked."}, {"response": 888, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Oct 16, 2008 (15:45)", "body": "(Mari) Here's the transcript and I find his responses very offenisive Not just the words, but he made little air quotes with his fingers to demonstrate that he didn't buy it. (Moon) Karen, Radical chic = Communist. Not to me, honey. I studied history. Communism is something very specific to me. For example, all communists are socialists. But not all socialists are communists. ;-)"}, {"response": 889, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Oct 16, 2008 (16:11)", "body": "(Mari), I know a lot of people who did the \"backbacking through Europe\" thing right after college (Moon) Yes, Europe. But Barry went to see his mother in Indonesia; next to Hyderabad in India; three weeks in Karachi, Pakistan where he stayed with his roommate's family; then off to Africa to visit his father's family. When he returned from that trip he asked to be called Barack. You go where you have an interest. I studied European History, so I went to Europe. But many people I know went to Israel. Not everyone has to go to Europe. If he was going to Indonesia, then it makes sense to explore that area of the world. And, if you're going to visit mom in Indonesia and dad in Kenya and a roomie's family from Pakistan, then you might as well do a bit of India as well. Look at a map. ;-) I'm not sure what his travel planning is indicating to you, Moon, other than making the most of one's travel dollars."}, {"response": 890, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Oct 16, 2008 (17:21)", "body": "(Karen), You go where you have an interest. I studied European History, so I went to Europe. But many people I know went to Israel. Not everyone has to go to Europe. Shit, I'm zipping it up. My point is NOT coming across, LOL! Or maybe the koolaid has been refreshed? ;-) Exit Barry enter Barack. (Moon) Karen, Radical chic = Communist. (Karen), Not to me, honey. Well honey, let me enlighten you on the new generation of European communist/socialists, they are radical chic or as Evelyn calls them limousine liberals. I know plenty of them in Italy and France and Spain and England. Sheesh, I didn't think I had to explain that. Karen, there's an article in today's Wash Post Style section on Hyde Park, Chicago. One man quoted said he doesn't consider himself from Chicago, he's from Hyde Park. LOL! they should not allow his time if McCain can't buy the same. Again, McCain is free to do the same. Why do you keep insinuating he can't?"}, {"response": 891, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Oct 16, 2008 (17:28)", "body": "they should not allow his time if McCain can't buy the same. (Dorine), Again, McCain is free to do the same. Why do you keep insinuating he can't? You're kidding, right? Have you seen the campaign funds that BO has in comparison to McCain? Not only is the media biased and totally in the tank for BO but now, CBS and NBC are accommodating their schedules to air a half-hour BO infomercial?"}, {"response": 892, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Oct 16, 2008 (18:20)", "body": "(Moon) Exit Barry enter Barack. OK, so? Many children grow into their given names. Plus you have to take into consideration where he grew up. Here, in an urban area, lots of kids have African derived names or names that come from who knows what. But Obama was raised by his grandmother in Kansas, right? I doubt you'd find the same situation there. Sheesh, I didn't think I had to explain that. You didn't. I know what all those things are and certainly know what a limousine liberal ls. However, weren't we discussing Bill Ayers and his old assocites? We're talking the radicals of the 1960s and 70s. They weren't communists, merely radicals, war protesters and more anarchists than anything. I tend to be more specific in terminology and not bandy about those labels incorrectly. One man quoted said he doesn't consider himself from Chicago, he's from Hyde Park. LOL! I can believe that and it is very much true of university towns. The academic staff identifies more with the university than the geographic area. Their view is insular and they hardly venture out. Here's the article, with a photo gallery: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/15/AR2008101503728.html Uncommon Ground Yes, Obama Lives There. But Chicago's Hyde Park Is a Place All Its Own By Peter Slevin Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, October 16, 2008; C01 CHICAGO No American president has been elected from a place quite like Hyde Park, the home of Sen. Barack Obama. Among the community's notable features are a university famous for intellectualism, a pair of 1960s Weather Underground radicals famous for being unrepentant and a bloc of voters famous for choosing Sen. John Kerry over President Bush by 19 to 1. Judging by the swift demonization, Obama might as well live at the corner of Liberal and Kumbaya. Republican strategist Karl Rove placed Hyde Park alongside Cambridge, Mass., and San Francisco in a triad of leftist tomfoolery. The Weekly Standard, recalling Obama's description of former Weatherman Bill Ayers as merely \"a guy who lives in my neighborhood,\" asked who lives in a neighborhood like that. Hyde Park in real life is not so easily typecast. The political ethic is proudly progressive on matters of race and social justice, yet the community is anchored by the University of Chicago, an incubator for some of the nation's most influential conservatives, from Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia to Nobel Prize-winning free marketeer Milton Friedman. Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan lives within four blocks of Obama's $1.6 million home, as do former Weather Underground members Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn. Yet so does Richard Epstein, a prominent libertarian law professor who is quick to say he is friends with Scalia and Ayers -- and once tried to hire Dohrn. \"I don't consider myself a Chicagoan,\" Epstein explains. \"I consider myself a Hyde Parker.\" To be a Hyde Parker, dozens of residents say, is to choose to live in a community that considers variations of race, creed, wealth and politics to be a neighborhood selling point, like bicycle paths or broadband in a far suburb. Finishing breakfast at the Valois Cafeteria, retired utility worker Dwight Lewis points to a woman selling StreetWise, a newspaper written by homeless people. \"You've got people who have nothing to people who have everything,\" he says. \"You've got people living on the street to people who have homes worth several million dollars.\" For Hyde Park's most famous resident, who wants to be seen as distinctive but unthreatening, his chosen turf represents the political eclecticism and sense of post-racial possibility at the heart of his personality and campaign. Yet as Obama is learning, the narrative cuts both ways. To no one's surprise, Sen. John McCain and his supporters have pushed the idea, echoed by early surveys, that Obama is a risky choice, that he is somehow just too exotic, too erudite -- and did we mention naive? He bodysurfs in Hawaii, he orders green tea ice cream in Oregon, he writes his own books in deft prose, his name is Barack Obama. \"This is not a man who sees America as you and I do, as the greatest force for good in the world,\" says Gov. Sarah Palin, McCain's tart-tongued running mate, who grounds her own narrative in the recently paved roads of an Alaskan town 1/500th the size of Chicago. Palin would no doubt beg to differ, but Obama friend and lifelong resident Valerie Jarrett puts it this way: \"Hyde Park is the real world as it should be. If we could take Hyde Park and we could help make more Hyde Parks around our country, I think we would be a much stronger country.\" Blueprint of Diversity Mainstream, as mainstream is commonly defined, is not Hyde Park. The average white metropolitan resident lives in a neighborhood 80 percent white and only 7 percent black, says Northwestern University professor Mary Pattillo, who calls Hyde Park \"anomalous for whites.\" Census tracts in the exurbs and the countryside tend to be even whiter. By c"}, {"response": 893, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Oct 16, 2008 (19:44)", "body": "(Karen), They weren't communists, merely radicals, war protesters and more anarchists than anything. I tend to be more specific in terminology and not bandy about those labels incorrectly. Once again, you're kidding right? All those radical groups loved Gramci, and Carl Marx. The radical group Briggate Rosse in Italy is one example. I tend to be more specific in terminology and not bandy about those labels incorrectly. Another BB? ;-)"}, {"response": 894, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Oct 16, 2008 (19:48)", "body": "Karl Marx quotation: Anyone who knows anything of history knows that great social changes are impossible without feminine upheaval. Social progress can be measured exactly by the social position of the fair sex, the ugly ones included. I always got a kick out of that one. :-D"}, {"response": 895, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Oct 17, 2008 (10:28)", "body": "*snort* Joe the Plumber, so worried about more taxes under Obama, owes over $1100 in back taxes. `Joe the Plumber,' Obama Tax-Plan Critic, Owes Taxes Ryan J. Donmoyer \ufffd Thu Oct 16, 6:17 pm ET (Bloomberg) -- ``Joe the plumber,'' the Toledo, Ohio, man whose complaints about Barack Obama's tax plan were highlighted by John McCain in the final presidential debate, owes the state of Ohio almost $1,200 in back income taxes. According to records on file with the Lucas County Court of Common Pleas, the state filed a tax lien against Samuel J. Wurzelbacher for $1,182.98 on Jan. 26, 2007, that is still active. Wurzelbacher was thrust into the national spotlight this week when he told Obama he worried that the Illinois senator's proposals to roll back Bush administration tax breaks for Americans earning more than $250,000 would prevent him from buying a plumbing business that would earn between $250,000 and $280,000 a year. McCain, an Arizona Republican senator, pointed to the exchange during the debate last night when he turned to the camera and said, ``I will not stand for a tax increase on small- business income.'' Directly criticizing Obama, he added, ``what you want to do to `Joe the plumber' and millions more like him is have their taxes increased and not be able to realize the American dream of owning their own business.'' Today, at a rally in Downingtown, Pennsylvania, McCain said ``the real winner last night was `Joe the plumber.''' On Oct. 12, as Obama was campaigning door-to-door in suburban Toledo, Wurzelbacher confronted the Democratic presidential nominee about his tax plan. `American Dream' ``Do you believe in the American dream?'' Wurzelbacher asked before asking about the tax increase. ``I'm being taxed more and more for fulfilling the American dream.'' Wurzelbacher's home telephone number is unlisted, and efforts to reach him by calling his neighbors and family were unsuccessful. Attempts to reach Wurzelbacher at the plumbing company where he works were also unsuccessful. The address on the lien and other records for him matched the address published by the Toledo Blade, which also noted the lien. Wurzelbacher told ABC's ``Good Morning America'' program today that high earners shouldn't be ``penalized for being successful.'' The state of Ohio places a lien on real property after several steps to try to collect a tax debt, according to John Kohlstrand, a spokesman for the Ohio Department of Taxation who said he couldn't discuss any specific case. Delinquency Notice If a delinquency notice goes unheeded, the Department of Taxation issues a billing notice, Kohlstrand said. If that is ignored, a more formal assessment notice is sent. Failing to appeal an assessment or losing an appeal puts the debt into the hands of the state attorney general for collection. The attorney general typically sends a collection notice and simultaneously files a lien. ``The taxpayers may not necessarily know about the lien,'' Kohlstrand said, although they would receive other notices. In Wurzelbacher's case, the lien indicated that the notice was sent to a previous address in Toledo. Ray Ann Estep, section chief for revenue-recovery services for the Ohio attorney general, said Wurzelbacher's lien was filed six months after the Department of Taxation certified the debt for collection. ``Unfortunately, sometimes people don't resolve their debts as quickly as we would like them to,'' she said. Obama's Plan In addition to tax credits and a proposal that would allow Wurzelbacher to avoid paying capital-gains taxes if he ever sold the business he wants to acquire for a profit, Obama has proposed allowing the top two tax rates of 33 percent and 35 percent to revert to what they were during the Clinton administration, or 36 percent and 39.6 percent, respectively. In 2007, the 33 percent bracket applied to taxable income exceeding $195,851. Under Obama's proposal, Wurzelbacher would face about $900 more in taxes if he netted $280,000 of income from his new business and had to pay an extra 3 percentage points on the amount over $195,851, said Gerald Prante, a senior economist at the Tax Foundation, a Washington research group that is examining both candidates' plans. ``His average tax burden, the final bill he pays to the IRS isn't going to go up much if he's just making $280,000 a year,'' Prante said. He would face higher marginal tax costs to expand the business beyond that, he said. Not Taxable Income It's far more likely that the $280,000 Wurzelbacher told Obama he'd earn would be in the form of gross receipts and not taxable income, said Steven Bankler, a certified public accountant in San Antonio, who counts plumbers and other trade professionals as his clients. According to an analysis by Dun & Bradstreet on Wurzelbacher's employer, A. W. Newell Corp., the plumbing and heating contractor has annual sales of $510,000. If Wurzelbacher bought the company, by the time he took proper business deductions, Bankler said, he'd be left wi"}, {"response": 896, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Oct 17, 2008 (12:02)", "body": "Apparently Obama responds about Ayers on Smerconish's show yesterday. I haven't listened to it yet. http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/10/10/9256/0615/320/626146"}, {"response": 897, "author": "mari", "date": "Fri, Oct 17, 2008 (12:42)", "body": "(Moon)IMO, they should not allow his time if McCain can't buy the same. Sorry, but McCain chose to take public funds for his campaign--to the tune of $84 million, that's our taxpayer money--whereas Obama figured, correctly, that he could raise more by going with private funds. They both had the same choice. Disputing this is like saying I can't buy a car unless you can afford one too, even though I earned more money and managed it better. And, whatever views McCain might have had on women's issues, the fact that he picked a women as his VP is sending a message. It has sent the message that he will do anything to try to get elected, choosing a sorely unqualified running part and potentially putting the country in great danger. But Barry went to see his mother in Indonesia; next to Hyderabad in India; three weeks in Karachi, Pakistan where he stayed with his roommate's family; then off to Africa to visit his father's family. So by staying with family, it was actually cheaper than doing Europe.:-)"}, {"response": 898, "author": "mari", "date": "Fri, Oct 17, 2008 (12:45)", "body": "When he returned from that trip he asked to be called Barack. So you're saying, what? That he became militant? That he became a Muslim? That he \"pals around with terrorists? That he's *gasp* an Arab?! Here's a link to the SNL skit on the Crazy McCain Rally Lady, and there's also a link there to a clip from the actual rally and the real lady. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/16/snls-crazy-mccain-rally-l_n_135463.html"}, {"response": 899, "author": "mari", "date": "Fri, Oct 17, 2008 (12:48)", "body": "(Dorine)*snort* Joe the Plumber, so worried about more taxes under Obama, owes over $1100 in back taxes. It gets better: CBS News is reporting that Joe may be related to, wait for it . . . Charles Keating! LMAO! http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/10/17/usnews/whispers/main4527926.shtml"}, {"response": 900, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Oct 17, 2008 (12:53)", "body": "It's far more likely that the $280,000 Wurzelbacher told Obama he'd earn would be in the form of gross receipts and not taxable income, said Steven Bankler, a certified public accountant in San Antonio, who counts plumbers and other trade professionals as his clients. See? That's the part that people don't get. People think 'gross' and not 'after deductions.' I did like the part about how Joe the Plumber doesn't even have a plumbing license. ;-)"}, {"response": 901, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Oct 17, 2008 (13:00)", "body": "Speaking of SNL, I heard last night that Palin is going to make an appearance tomorrow. People are wondering if she's going to portray Tina Fey. I mean, Halloween is coming up soon. ;-)"}, {"response": 902, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Oct 17, 2008 (13:16)", "body": "I thought McCain opted out of public funding as well. Oooh! Didn't know the Keating connection."}, {"response": 903, "author": "Moon", "date": "Fri, Oct 17, 2008 (18:32)", "body": "I think it's disgusting to spend so much money on a campaign when there are so many people dying of hunger in the world, and Americans are suffering too. What's the total so far for Obama? IMO, there should be a cap of 75 million per candidate running for President. (Mari), So you're saying, what? That he became militant? That he became a Muslim? That he \"pals around with terrorists? That he's *gasp* an Arab?! I am not going to deny Obama's Islamic past in Indonesia. I am not going to deny that he was a follower of Rev. Wright, who's mentor is Farrakahn from the Nation of Islam. I am not going to deny that he knew Ayers and received money from him. I am not going to deny his many associations with Rezko the crook, which benefited him in underhanded and illegal ways. I am not going to deny the fact that he let the Clintons be branded racists during the primaries, and that he never came to Hillary's defense when the media were blatantly sexist against her. \"Bros before hoes\" is only one example. I truly think Obama will be a disaster for this country. The only bright light is that he can pick up the phone and ask Hillary what she would do. ;-) No hard feelings, but I won't be posting here any longer. I'm not trying to change anyone's mind and if I want to read more Obama love, all I have to do is read my Wash Post or NYT or turn on the TV. I am happy you are all so convinced by Obama. How I wish we could all be happy together celebrating a Hillary victory. Maybe in 2012. ;-) Arrivederci!"}, {"response": 904, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Oct 17, 2008 (18:59)", "body": "Arriverderci, Moon, but I don't think anyone here has ever pronounced a love for Obama as opposed to being more against McCain/Palin and/or what has presented and represented himself as. Speaking for myself, I just want someone to save my country and I don't see McCain doing it. Of course, when the Democrats took the (very slim) majority in Congress, I was hoping and expecting the same thing which hasn't so much come to pass."}, {"response": 905, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Oct 17, 2008 (23:54)", "body": "Evidently today both Chicago papers printed their presidential endorsements. Both were for Obama. That may not seem all that significant. However, for the Chicago Tribune, it was historic. First time ever that it came out for a Democrat. [I guess they're not overly concerned about Barry/Barack or his terrorist associates.]"}, {"response": 906, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Oct 18, 2008 (13:25)", "body": "However, for the Chicago Tribune, it was historic. First time ever that it came out for a Democrat. I was fascinated to read that."}, {"response": 907, "author": "mari", "date": "Mon, Oct 20, 2008 (12:30)", "body": "As if I needed to be insulted yet again by his campaign . . . http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/19/campaign.wrap/ Asked if Gov. Sarah Palin has become a drag on his ticket, McCain said, \"As a cold political calculation, I could not be more pleased. She has excited and energized our base. She is a direct counterpoint to the liberal feminist agenda for America.\""}, {"response": 908, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Oct 20, 2008 (13:58)", "body": "Liberal feminist agenda? :-( How totally sad. Am reminded of something I heard recently about the percentage of women in government in European countries. Half of the Netherlands' ministers are women. I never cease to be amazed that Americans *think* they're so progressive when all the numbers show the opposite."}, {"response": 909, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Oct 20, 2008 (18:45)", "body": "McCain said, \"As a cold political calculation, I could not be more pleased. If I hadn't seen it on cnn.com, I'd have truly thought this was a joke. A piece from The Onion even."}, {"response": 910, "author": "marlena", "date": "Tue, Oct 21, 2008 (14:46)", "body": "\"Actions Speak Louder Than Words\" A picture of McCain after the debate in New York. He started to go the wrong way and had to turn around. Is this the man we want running our Country? Scary Thought!"}, {"response": 911, "author": "marlena", "date": "Tue, Oct 21, 2008 (15:24)", "body": "I meant to put Scary Thought, IMO. I don't want to insult anyone's political views. But, IMHO if we can't have Hillary, I sure don't want McCain and Palin. Too bad Colin was not born in the old USA or he could be our 3rd presidental candidate. Just picture him on the campaign trail with Mrs. Bumble leading the way. I am so sick of this election. I can't wait until it's over."}, {"response": 912, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Oct 21, 2008 (15:43)", "body": "(Marlene) Too bad Colin was not born in the old USA or he could be our 3rd presidental candidate. Then you'd really have a socialist. LOL!"}, {"response": 913, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Oct 22, 2008 (00:40)", "body": "Jon Stewart on Palin in his stand-up act. http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2008/10/jon_stewart_to_sarah_palin_exp.asp"}, {"response": 914, "author": "mari", "date": "Wed, Oct 22, 2008 (11:13)", "body": "Remember how Al-Qaeda issued a recorded message from Bin Laden right before the 2004 election? I wonder when the shoe will drop this time around. According to this, they're hoping McCain wins; keeps our image abroad more tarnished: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/22/al-qaeda-supporters-endor_n_136779.html"}, {"response": 915, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Oct 22, 2008 (15:50)", "body": "A quite long, but interesting article on the journey of Palin to VP nom. http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/10/27/081027fa_fact_mayer"}, {"response": 916, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Oct 22, 2008 (16:46)", "body": "Must be exhausting to be the Obama some think he is. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/10/22/12551/762/628/638050"}, {"response": 917, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Oct 22, 2008 (19:04)", "body": "(Dorine) Must be exhausting to be the Obama some think he is. LOl! Not to mention that the Democratic machine here must have missed that one as well. Heard on the csr radio this afternoon a confirmed item that Grant Park has been booked for his acceptance rally. I guess there isn't a ballroom big enough to hold all his supporters here. ;-)"}, {"response": 918, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Oct 22, 2008 (23:15)", "body": "What happens if it rains? Not much could be seen under a tent. At least for people there."}, {"response": 919, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Oct 23, 2008 (23:44)", "body": "IMO, this tells me McCain expects to lose. McCain might skip his own election-night party By BETH FOUHY, Associated Press Writer 2 hrs 26 mins ago NEW YORK \ufffd Republican John McCain is not going to make his election night remarks in the traditional style \ufffd at a podium standing in front of a sea of campaign workers jammed into a hotel ballroom. Oh, the throng of supporters will hold the usual election night party at the Biltmore Hotel in Phoenix on the evening of Nov. 4. But the Republican presidential nominee plans to address another group of supporters and a small group of reporters on the hotel lawn; his remarks will be simultaneously piped electronically to the party inside and other reporters in a media filing center, aides said. Aides said Thursday that the arrangement was the result of space limitations and that McCain might drop by the election watch party at some other point. Only a small press \"pool\" \ufffd mostly those who have traveled regularly with the candidate on his campaign plane, plus a few local Arizona reporters and other guests \ufffd will be physically present when McCain speaks. Thomas Patterson, a government professor at Harvard's Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy, called the arrangement \"unusual\" but said the campaign may simply be bowing to the reality that the candidate's remarks are geared toward the televised audience rather than those in the hall. \"Addressing your supporters election night is one of those traditions in politics, like where you choose to launch your campaign,\" Patterson said. \"Why wouldn't you want the energy of the crowd? And if you're going to lose, you almost need it even more.\" With just 12 days left in the presidential contest, most polls show the Arizona senator trailing Democrat Barack Obama nationally and in most battleground states, although a new AP-GfK poll showed the race tightening a bit in the last few days. Obama, by contrast, plans to address a giant outdoor celebration election night in Chicago's Grant Park. The event is free and open to the public, but the campaign was charging media organizations a hefty fee for close-in spots on the camera risers and platforms and for cable and wireless Internet at those spots. The Obama campaign was also charging news organizations $935 per person for a spot in its press filing center, as opposed to $695 per person at the McCain gathering. But as Obama spokesman Bill Burton pointed out, \"Anyone credentialed for our filing center will also be able to watch the event live and in person, unlike the McCain event.\" ___"}, {"response": 920, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Oct 24, 2008 (00:23)", "body": "(Dorine) What happens if it rains? Don't northern cities hold outdoor rallies for their Superbowl champs? I seem to remember one of those here over 20 years ago. However, I have also heard rumors of using the United Center, which is where the Bulls play."}, {"response": 921, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Oct 24, 2008 (09:26)", "body": "Don't northern cities hold outdoor rallies for their Superbowl champs? Yes. They'll continue if it snows I think, but not sure about rain."}, {"response": 922, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Oct 25, 2008 (12:53)", "body": "I can't get over the number of robocalls I've been getting recently, especially just this morning, from both sides. The Palm Beach Board of Elections must have my NY number in their database for some reason (haven't voted there since 2000) since several of the calls are stating they're calling on behalf of the parties in Florida. Have had both Hillary Clinton and Biden's wife this morning."}, {"response": 923, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Oct 25, 2008 (13:33)", "body": "Democrats headed toward big gains in House, Senate By DAVID ESPO, AP Special Correspondent David Espo, Ap Special Correspondent \u2013 Sat Oct 25, 7:24 am ET WASHINGTON \u2013 Democrats are on track for sizable gains in both houses of Congress on Nov. 4, according to strategists in both parties, although only improbable Southern victories can produce the 60-vote Senate majority they covet to help them pass priority legislation. A poor economy, President Bush's unpopularity, a lopsided advantage in fundraising and Barack Obama's robust organizational effort in key states are all aiding Democrats in the final days of the congressional campaign. \"I don't think anybody realized it was going to be this tough\" for Republicans, Sen. John Ensign, chairman of the party's senatorial campaign committee said recently. \"We're dealing with an unpopular president (and) we have a financial crisis,\" he added. \"You've got Republican incumbent members of the Congress\" trying to run away from Bush's economic policies, said Maryland Rep. Chris Van Hollen, who chairs the House Democratic campaign committee. \"And they can't run fast enough. I think it will catch up with many of them.\" Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California predicted recently that Democrats would win at least 14 House seats in Republican hands. But numerous strategists in both parties agreed a gain of at least 20 seems likely and a dozen or more GOP-held seats are in doubt. Only a handful of Democratic House seats appear in any sort of jeopardy. They spoke only on condition of anonymity, saying they were relying on confidential polling data. In the Senate, as in the House, only the magnitude of the Democratic gains is in doubt. New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, head of the Democratic committee, said his party would have to win seats in \"deeply red states\" to amass a 60-seat majority, but added, \"We're close.\" Obama's methodical voter registration efforts in the primary season and his current get-out-the-vote efforts are aiding Democratic candidates in several Southern races. They start with North Carolina, where GOP Sen. Elizabeth Dole trails in the polls, and include Georgia and Mississippi, where Sens. Saxby Chambliss and Roger Wicker respectively are in unexpectedly close races. \"Overall, I think Obama will help us in the South because, first, his economic message resonates with Southerners, both white and black, and obviously there will be an increased African-American turnout,\" Schumer said. Also in a close race is the Republican leader, Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, although that is not a state where Obama has made much of an effort. Compounding Republican woes, the same economy that has soured voters on their candidates is causing some of the nation's wealthiest conservative donors to stay on the campaign sidelines. Freedom's Watch, a conservative group that once looked poised to spend tens of millions of dollars to help elect Republicans, had spent roughly $3 million as of midweek. Its largest single contributor is Sheldon Adelson, a billionaire with gambling interests in the United States and China. Democrats hold a 51-49 majority in the current Senate, counting two independents who vote with them. In the House, Democrats have 235 seats to 199 for Republicans, with one vacancy. It has long been apparent that Democrats would retain control of both houses of Congress, and in recent weeks, the party's leaders have mounted a concerted drive to push their Senate majority to 60. That's the number needed to overcome a filibuster, the technique of killing legislation by preventing a final vote. If Obama were to win the White House, it would be the Republicans' last toehold in power. In reality, Ensign noted this week that even if Democrats merely draw close to 60 seats, they will find it easier to pick up a Republican or two on individual bills and move ahead with portions of their agenda that might otherwise be stalled. Democrats are overwhelmingly favored to pick up seats in Virginia, New Mexico and Colorado where Republicans are retiring. Additionally, GOP Sens. John Sununu of New Hampshire, Norm Coleman of Minnesota and Gordon Smith of Oregon are in jeopardy. So, too, Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens, whose fate may rest on the outcome of his corruption trial, now in the hands of a jury in a courthouse a few blocks from the Capitol. Even if they win all four of those races \u2014 a tall order \u2014 Democrats would be two seats shy of 60 and looking South to get them. In the House, Democrats are so flush with cash that they have spent nearly $1 million to capture a seat centered on Maryland's Eastern Shore that has been in Republican hands for two decades. It is one of 27 races where the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has spent $1 million or more \u2014 a total that the counterpart Republican group has yet to match anywhere. \"We've had to hold most of our resources for the final two weeks and that's beginning to make a difference,\" said Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma, chairman of the GOP H"}, {"response": 924, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Oct 25, 2008 (14:38)", "body": "a lopsided advantage in fundraising That can easily be explained by the projected votes of the electorate. It is not a cause but an effect of all the foregoing."}, {"response": 925, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Oct 25, 2008 (17:41)", "body": "Yeah, I want these people ruling my country. http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/25/palin.tension/index.html"}, {"response": 926, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Oct 27, 2008 (11:41)", "body": "Have you seen this: http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/cc65ed650d"}, {"response": 927, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Oct 27, 2008 (12:05)", "body": "I apparently can't play it at work. I read a reference to it somewhere recently."}, {"response": 928, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Oct 29, 2008 (17:52)", "body": "Joe the Plumber may get a record deal Move over Sanjaya and tell William Hung the news : Joe the Plumber is being pursued for a major record deal and could come out with a country album as early as Inauguration Day. \"Joe\" \ufffd aka Samuel Wurzelbacher, a Holland, Ohio, pipe-and-toilet man \ufffd just signed with a Nashville public relations and management firm to handle interview requests and media appearances, as well create new career opportunities, including a shift out of the plumbing trade into stage and studio performances. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1008/15072.html"}, {"response": 929, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Oct 29, 2008 (18:01)", "body": "LOL!! [Obama] Transcript: That's why he's spending these last few days calling me every name in the book. Lately, he's called me a socialist for wanting to roll back the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans so we can finally give tax relief to the middle class. By the end of the week, he'll be accusing me of being a secret communist because I shared my toys in Kindergarten."}, {"response": 930, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Oct 31, 2008 (13:45)", "body": "Yeah, I saw that the other night. An even funnier interview was maybe the day before when Jon interviewed the actual Socialist Party candidate and how he gave answers about how absolutely nothing BO is putting forward constitutes real socialism. ;-)"}, {"response": 931, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Oct 31, 2008 (14:02)", "body": "I really should've made it more of a point to watch The Daily Show when I was home. The only time I remember is on Fridays when it's not on. I knew he'd be on a roll with the election."}, {"response": 932, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Oct 31, 2008 (14:19)", "body": "Ooops! I went looking for the video on the Daily Show website and couldn't find it. Brian Moore was on Colbert. Here it is: http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/189688/october-28-2008/socialist-candidate-for-president---brian-moore But here is one that speaks to one of my favorite issues: http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=189749&title=John-McCain's-Air-Quotes"}, {"response": 933, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Oct 31, 2008 (14:33)", "body": "They were talking about, or rather demonstrating the air quotes when talking about McCain and women's issues on Bill Maher's show last week. It was one of the best shows in a while (with Tim Robbins, Matthew Dowd and Carol Leifer)."}, {"response": 934, "author": "slpeg2003", "date": "Fri, Oct 31, 2008 (15:32)", "body": "(Karen) But here is one that speaks to one of my favorite issues: Which one? The sophomoric, unpresidential use of air quotes or the belittling of women's health issues by a prick? Thanks for the link, I had missed that Daily Show but had seen McPain's air quotes several times. My first reaction being, WTF does he think he's doing, surely that won't work when dealing with world leaders nor terrorists! Spot on with the sarcasm concerning the man's \"health issue\" upon finding himself raped and impregnated!"}, {"response": 935, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Oct 31, 2008 (16:32)", "body": "Since we were talking about evolution as theory (or not ;-)) vs. creationism, I thought this view from the Catholic Church was quite an interesting way to look at it. I'm not as up on my Catholic Church doctrine as I used to be. ;-) Pope sees physicist Hawking at evolution gathering 1 hr 58 mins ago VATICAN CITY (Reuters) \ufffd Pope Benedict told a gathering of scientists including the British cosmologist Stephen Hawking on Friday that there was no contradiction between believing in God and empirical science. Benedict, who briefly met the wheelchair-bound physicist at an event hosted by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, described science as the pursuit of knowledge about God's creation. \"There is no opposition between faith's understanding of creation and the evidence of the empirical sciences,\" the pontiff said. \"Galileo saw nature as a book whose author is God.\" The Catholic Church found the 17th-century astronomer Galileo guilty of heresy for insisting the earth revolved around the sun. It did not rehabilitate him until 1992. Hawking is a guest at the week-long event, which will explore the theme: \"Scientific Insights into the Evolution of the Universe and of Life.\" In an interview with Reuters last year, Hawking said he was \"not religious in the normal sense.\" \"I believe the universe is governed by the laws of science,\" he said. \"The laws may have been decreed by God, but God does not intervene to break the laws.\" The Catholic Church teaches \"theistic evolution,\" which accepts evolution as scientific theory. Proponents see no reason why God could not have used an evolutionary process in forming the human species. The Pontiff admired the technology that allows Hawking to speak through a voice synthesizer. Hawking is crippled by a muscle disease and has lost the use of his natural voice. Hawking, author of the best-selling \"A Brief History of Time,\" will speak about the origin of the universe at the closed-door event. (Writing by Phil Stewart; Editing by Catherine Bosley)"}, {"response": 936, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Nov  1, 2008 (00:30)", "body": "Eagleburger Blisters Palin: \"Of Course\" She's Not Ready October 31, 2008 12:39 AM A former Republican Secretary of State and one of John McCain's most prominent supporters offered a stunningly frank and remarkably bleak assessment of Sarah Palin's capacity to handle the presidency should such a scenario arise. Lawrence Eagleburger, who served as Secretary of State under George H.W. Bush and whose endorsement is often trumpeted by McCain, said on Thursday that the Alaska governor is not only unprepared to take over the job on a moment's notice but, even after some time in office, would only amount to an \"adequate\" commander in chief. \"And I devoutly hope that [she] would never be tested,\" he added for good measure -- referring both to Palin's policy dexterity and the idea of McCain not making it through his time in office. (Listen to audio below.) The remarks took place during an interview on National Public Radio that was, ironically, billed as \"making the case\" for a McCain presidency. Asked by the host whether Palin could step in during a time of crisis, Eagleburger reverted to sarcasm before leveling the harsh blow. \"It is a very good question,\" he said, pausing a few seconds, then adding with a chuckle: \"I'm being facetious here. Look, of course not.\" Eagleburger explained: \"I don't think at the moment she is prepared to take over the reins of the presidency. I can name for you any number of other vice presidents who were not particularly up to it either. So the question, I think, is can she learn and would she be tough enough under the circumstances if she were asked to become president, heaven forbid that that ever takes place? \"Give her some time in the office and I think the answer would be, she will be [pause] adequate. I can't say that she would be a genius in the job. But I think she would be enough to get us through a four year... well I hope not... get us through whatever period of time was necessary. And I devoutly hope that it would never be tested.\" The indictment of Palin was all the more biting because both she and McCain have held Eagleburger up repeatedly during the past several weeks as evidence that the Republican ticket has firm standing and support within foreign policy circles. (In fact, McCain conferred with Eagleburger by phone just this week, on matters pertaining to national security.) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/31/eagleburger-blisters-pali_n_139524.html"}, {"response": 937, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Nov  1, 2008 (00:34)", "body": "Your request is being processed... Seth Colter Walls Seth Colter Walls walls@huffingtonpost.com | HuffPost Reporting From DC Become a Fan Get Email Alerts from this Reporter Eagleburger Tries To Walk Back \"Stupid\" Palin Criticism October 31, 2008 05:42 PM Appearing on Fox News on Friday, former Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger awkwardly fell on his sword, entirely taking back his previously critical assessment of Sarah Palin's readiness to serve as president, which was given to NPR on Thursday night. As the Huffington Post noted earlier, Eagleburger's endorsement of McCain is frequently cited by the Republican nominee. But clearly, the opinions of President George H.W. Bush's Secretary of State were less welcome on the subject of Palin, whom Eagleburger had said was \"of course\" not \"prepared to take over the reins of the presidency.\" Later, in his NPR interview, Eagleburger said, \"Give her some time in the office and I think the answer would be, she will be [pause] adequate.\" By Friday afternoon, however, Eagleburger was more eager to chastise himself than Palin. \"You are witnessing something quite unique: a man who is about to talk to you while he has his foot in his mouth,\" Eagleburger said when asked if his NPR quotes had been taken out of context. \"I made a serious mistake yesterday. I was quoted correctly,\" Eagleburger said. \"I wasn't thinking when i said it -- in fact, I was discussing foreign policy, and this was in that context, and I was just plain stupid, and if I had given the flim-flam artist Barack Obama some success with this I am deeply apologetic.\" It was a fine performance, but the Fox News host proceeded to take Eagleburger's retraction too far, resulting in another moment in which Eagleburger belittled Palin. Host Stuart Varney asked, \"You do feel that she's a quick learner and would be good as vice president given a few days?\" To which Eagleburger paused and said, \"A few days? No.\" Later, however, he did argue that Palin has \"made it clear she's a quick learner,\" despite the fact that \"she didn't know anything about foreign affairs, nor should she have on the basis of what she had done.\" Winding up his extended apology, Eagleburger made clear, \"I have done my best and I apologized to the McCain people.\" http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/31/eagleburger-tries-to-walk_n_139842.html"}, {"response": 938, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Nov  1, 2008 (14:32)", "body": "Was discussing these exact sentiments in this article at work and on facebook this week. I've lost count of the people who are contemplating moving elsewhere in the world should McCain win. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/01/us/politics/01angst.html?ex=1383278400&en=cf2b998dcbec9fba&ei=5124&partner=facebook&exprod=facebook"}, {"response": 939, "author": "marlena", "date": "Sat, Nov  1, 2008 (17:07)", "body": "Great article, Dorine! It makes me feel better that I'm not the only one obsessed over this election. DH spoke to some people at work who are racist (it's hard to believe these people still exist)but anyway they say they are voting for Obama. It still makes you think though. And then we have those undecided voters. I'm getting nervious, too."}, {"response": 940, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Nov  2, 2008 (01:37)", "body": "Looks like tomorrow for a little while I might be going to work a phone bank for GOTV calls for Obama. The things I have to do to returning a favor for asking to use someone's extra guest spot for the new Bond film screening. ;-)"}, {"response": 941, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Nov  2, 2008 (01:39)", "body": "*continues to pray for edit function* ;-)"}, {"response": 942, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Nov  4, 2008 (10:43)", "body": "Record number of voters expected to deluge polls By DEBORAH HASTINGS, AP National Writer \ufffd 26 mins ago AP \ufffd Voting problems surfaced in several areas early Tuesday when people turned out in droves as balloting commenced along the Eastern Seaboard and in mid-Atlantic states. Voters needed to use paper ballots because of problems with electronic voting machines in some New Jersey precincts. And in New York, Board of Elections spokeswoman Valerie Vazquez-Rivera said many people began lining up as early as 4 a.m. at some polling places to avoid long lines, leading to erroneous reports that some sites were not opening on time. Poll worker John Ritch in Chappaqua, N.Y., said: \"By 7:30 this morning, we had as many as we had at noon in 2004.\" Gov. Ed Rendell urged voters in Pennsylvania to \"hang in there\" as state and country officials braced for a huge turnout. More than 160 people were lined up to vote by the time polls opened at First Presbyterian Church in Allentown. \"I could stay an hour and a half at the front end or three hours at the back end,\" joked Ronald Marshall, a black Democrat. In several counties surrounding Virginia's capital city of Richmond, voters and elections officials reported paper jams on some machines and balky touch-screen machines in some localities had local registrars considering paper ballots. At one precinct in Richmond, hundreds of people encircled a branch library by 6 a.m., the scheduled opening of the polls. But the line grew for another 25 minutes before the poll workers opened the doors. They said the librarian who had a key to the polling place had overslept. Despite the delay under a steady drizzle, voters cheered as the doors opened at 6:25 a.m. In Chesapeake, approximately 1,000 voters stood in line to vote, and some people reported malfunctioning machines. Independent election monitors reported problems at two dozen polling places throughout the state. The State Board of Elections scheduled a briefing for midmorning. In Ohio, a state which has had voting problems in the past, Franklin County Board of Elections spokesman Ben Piscitelli said officials again were dealing with typical glitches, like jammed backup paper tapes on voting machines. \"We're taking care of things like that,\" Piscitelli said. \"But there's nothing major or systemic.\" Lawsuits alleging voter suppression already had surfaced in Virginia, a hotly contested state. A judge refused late Monday to extend poll hours or add voting machines to black precincts in some areas. The NAACP, in a federal lawsuit, demanded those changes, saying minority neighborhoods would experience overwhelming turnout and there weren't enough electronic machines. U.S. District Judge Richard Williams denied the motion for a preliminary injunction, but ordered election officials to publicize that people in line by 7 p.m., the polls' closing time, would be allowed to cast ballots. Republican John McCain's campaign sued the Virginia electoral board hours before polls opened, trying to force the state to count late-arriving military ballots from overseas. McCain, a former POW from the Vietnam War, asked a federal judge to order state election officials to count absentee ballots mailed from abroad that arrive as late as Nov. 14. Lawsuits have become common fodder in election battles. The 2000 recount meltdown in Florida was ultimately decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. What is uncommon about Tuesday's contest is the sheer number of voters expected to descend on more than 7,000 election jurisdictions across the country. Voter registration numbers are up 7.3 percent from the last presidential election. \"We have a system that is traditionally set up for low turnout,\" said Tova Wang of the government watchdog group Common Cause. \"We're going to have all these new voters, but not a lot of new resources. The election directors just have very little to work with.\" http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081104/ap_on_el_pr/voting_problems"}, {"response": 943, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Nov  4, 2008 (10:44)", "body": "I think that article also adds to the answer to Allison. Alliteration!"}, {"response": 944, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Nov  4, 2008 (10:51)", "body": "World hopes for a 'less arrogant America' By WILLIAM J. KOLE and MATT MOORE, Associated Press Writers \ufffd Tue Nov 4, 7:21 am ETBERLIN \ufffd A world weary of eight years of George W. Bush was riveted Tuesday by the drama unfolding in the United States. Many were inspired by Barack Obama's focus on hope, or simply relieved that \ufffd whoever wins \ufffd the current administration is coming to an end. From Berlin's Brandenburg Gate to the small town of Obama, Japan, the world gears up to celebrate a fresh start for America. In Germany, where more than 200,000 flocked to see Obama this summer as he moved to burnish his foreign policy credentials during a trip to the Middle East and Europe, the election dominated television ticker crawls, newspaper headlines and Web sites. Hundreds of thousands prepared to party through the night to watch the outcome of an election having an impact far beyond America's shores. Among the more irreverent festivities planned in Paris: a \"Goodbye George\" party to bid farewell to Bush. \"Like many French people, I would like Obama to win because it would really be a sign of change,\" said Vanessa Doubine, shopping Tuesday on the Champs-Elysees. \"I deeply hope for America's image that it will be Obama.\" Obama-mania was evident not only across Europe, where millions geared up for all-night vigils, but even in much of the Islamic world, where Muslims expressed hope that the Democrat would seek compromise rather than confrontation. The Bush administration alienated Muslims by mistreating prisoners at its detention center for terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and inmates at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison \ufffd human rights violations also condemned worldwide. \"I hope Obama wins (because) of the need of the world to see the U.S. represent a more cosmopolitan or universal political attitude,\" said Rais Yatim, the foreign minister of mostly Muslim Malaysia. \"The new president will have an impact on the economic and political situation in my country,\" said Muhammad al-Thaheri, 48, a civil servant in Saudi Arabia. Like so many around the world, he was rooting for Obama \"because he will change the path the U.S. is on under Bush.\" Nizar al-Kortas, a columnist for Kuwait's Al-Anbaa newspaper, saw an Obama victory as \"a historic step to change the image of the arrogant American administration to one that is more acceptable in the world.\" Yet John McCain was backed by some in countries such as Israel, where he is perceived as tougher on Iran. Israeli leaders, who consider the U.S. their closest and most important ally, have not openly declared a preference. But privately, they have expressed concern about Obama, who has alarmed some by saying he would be ready to hold a dialogue with Tehran. Taking a cigarette break on a Jerusalem street corner, bank employee Leah Nizri, 53, said Obama represented potentially frightening change and voiced concern about his Muslim ancestry. \"I think he'll be pleasant to Israel, but he will make changes,\" she said. \"He's too young. I think that especially in a situation of a world recession, where things are so unclear in the world, McCain would be better than Obama.\" Even in Europe, McCain got some grudging respect: Germany's mass-circulation daily Bild lionized the Republican as \"the War Hero\" and running mate Sarah Palin as \"the Beautiful Unknown.\" In Berlin, Republicans Abroad organized a \"November Surprise Election Party\" to watch live \"how the Republican ticket McCain/Palin comes from behind and leaves the 'liberal elite media' in Europe and the United States puzzled.\" British Prime Minister Gordon Brown clung to convention by refusing to say which candidate he wants to see win. Regardless of the outcome, he told Al-Arabiya television while on a tour of the Gulf, \"history has been made in this campaign.\" In Baghdad, a jaded Mohammed al-Tamimi said he didn't think U.S. policy on Iraq would change. Even so, \"we hope that the new American president will open a new page with our country.\" Kenyans made their allegiance clear: Scores packed churches on Tuesday to pray for Obama, whose late father was born in the East African nation, and hailed the candidate \ufffd himself born in Hawaii \ufffd as a \"son of the soil.\" \"Tonight we are not going to sleep,\" said Valentine Wambi, 23, a student at the University of Nairobi. \"It will be celebrations throughout.\" Kenyans believe an Obama victory would not change their lives much but that hasn't stopped them from splashing his picture on minibuses and selling T-shirts with his name and likeness. Kenyans were planning to gather around radios and TV sets starting Tuesday night as the results come in. \"We will feast if Obama wins,\" said Robert Rutaro, a university president in neighboring Uganda. \"We will celebrate by marching on the streets of Kampala and hold a big party later on.\" In the sleepy Japanese coastal town of Obama \ufffd which translates as \"little beach\" \ufffd images of him adorned banners along a main shopping street, and preparations for an electi"}, {"response": 945, "author": "mari", "date": "Tue, Nov  4, 2008 (11:27)", "body": "At one precinct in Richmond, hundreds of people encircled a branch library by 6 a.m., the scheduled opening of the polls. But the line grew for another 25 minutes before the poll workers opened the doors. They said the librarian who had a key to the polling place had overslept. Allison, any more questions?;-) I voted before going to work this morning, and although crowded, there were no long lines and I was in and out in 10 minutes. I think it all depends on how well organized your polling site is and more importantly, how many voters there are assigned to each polling place. I read this morning that in PA, they recommend no more than 1,200 voters to be assigned to each site; if that were actually carried out across the country, you wouldn't see these lines. I don't get it. Are the resources not allocated properly? On a very positive note, people are keenly interested and are voting in droves."}, {"response": 946, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Nov  4, 2008 (11:33)", "body": "\"We have a system that is traditionally set up for low turnout,\" said Tova Wang of the government watchdog group Common Cause. \"We're going to have all these new voters, but not a lot of new resources. The election directors just have very little to work with.\" Perhaps they'll seriously reassess if voter turnout remains high, though I don't see that happening honestly."}, {"response": 947, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Nov  4, 2008 (11:42)", "body": "This has to be the most unusual election in my memory. It has to be the first year I haven't been inundated by mailings. I haven't received one piece of mail about ANY candidate for ANY elected office. Not a one. Only one robo-call the other day."}, {"response": 948, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Nov  4, 2008 (11:48)", "body": "One more thing about differences in elections between the US and UK. When they have a General Election, are they only voting for their member in Parliament? In the US, you can be voting for tons of people/things. From soup to nuts. The ballot starts out with the Federal portion: the president and one's congressional reps (i.e., congressman and senator), then it will proceed to State positions (from governor, state treasurer, state congressional seats) onto county/municipal offices (county clerk, water district commissioners, etc.). As I said before, here in Illinois, we also elect judges, but not all states do."}, {"response": 949, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Nov  4, 2008 (12:00)", "body": "We had judges as well. It has to be the first year I haven't been inundated by mailings. I haven't received one piece of mail about ANY candidate for ANY elected office. Not a one. Only one robo-call the other day. Completely the opposite for me. Though virtually all of the mail/calls were for Florida voters, where I haven't voted since absentee for the 2000 election. Guess I'm still on their rolls. For whatever reason in I hadn't registered here despite not having lived in FL for a year and a half at that point."}, {"response": 950, "author": "Allison2", "date": "Tue, Nov  4, 2008 (12:15)", "body": "(Karen)When they have a General Election, are they only voting for their member in Parliament? The answer to that is usually, yes. I have seen A US ballot paper. A few years back one of my students showed me her ballot paper (she was mailing her vote) - it was huge! However we do not use machines - just paper. I wonder if the machines themselves slow the process?"}, {"response": 951, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Nov  4, 2008 (12:20)", "body": "My friend (who's British and not become a citizen and can't vote) has been doing a lot of work for Obama by canvassing in PA, calling all over the country just said she saw this.... I am watching MSNBC and they are showing lines in some states which are taking hours maybe will take 6 to 8 hour wait. They are saying how broken this system is."}, {"response": 952, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Nov  4, 2008 (12:22)", "body": "(Allison) I wonder if the machines themselves slow the process? I was thinking in line this morning that paper might be a whole lot quicker. Part of the delays in the last election in some states were the new touchscreen machines that didn't work right, and I think people weren't trained well enough on them. Some had to be taken out of service which would increase lines."}, {"response": 953, "author": "McKenzie", "date": "Tue, Nov  4, 2008 (12:31)", "body": "(dorine)\"I am watching MSNBC and they are showing lines in some states which are taking hours maybe will take 6 to 8 hour wait. They are saying how broken this system is.\" That's the part that scares the hell out of me - that not enough people will be willing stand in line that long. This is too important not to stick it out, no matter how long. My husband & I voted early this morning before work - only a couple of people ahead of us."}, {"response": 954, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Nov  4, 2008 (12:31)", "body": "Just back from voting. It actually took longer because my name wasn't listed in the roll book for my precinct. It has been there for over 10 years and I voted this past primary season. Am disgusted. My vote is considered \"provisional.\" As usual, the desks are staffed with morons, especially this young guy who was arrogance personified. They were pushing people to the paper balloting. No wait either on the touch-screen. I asked to use the touch-screen and the guys were still trying to get me to use paper, showing me how \"easy\" it now is. Said only a couple of people had used the touch-screen. Bizarre. However, at the end, I did experience some tech difficulty in getting to \"cast\" my ballot, but I called the techie girl over and she got it to the right point. The two guys there were utterly useless. The women at the desk were more concerned about doing it right, while the guys were \"let's do it this way, the only way we know.\" No lines at my polling place."}, {"response": 955, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Nov  4, 2008 (12:50)", "body": "Said only a couple of people had used the touch-screen. Maybe people were concerned with their votes getting lost and having to deal with morons, so did paper instead to make it easier."}, {"response": 956, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Nov  4, 2008 (14:09)", "body": "There's a former Drooleur who teaches at George Mason Univ. Virginia by georgia10 Tue Nov 04, 2008 at 11:00:02 AM PST Florida, Ohio...Virginia? Early reports indicate that Virginia may be the state plagued by voting issues this time around. At one precinct in Richmond's north end, hundreds of people encircled a branch library by 6 a.m., the scheduled opening of the polls. But the line grew for another 25 minutes before the poll workers opened the doors. They said the librarian who had a key to the polling place had overslept. [...] In Chesapeake, approximately 1,000 voters stood in line to vote, and some people reported malfunctioning machines. Pollard said paper ballots were brought into one polling place in Henrico County, in suburban Richmond. In Petersburg, the wrong machines were delivered to a polling place. Pollard said reports of optical scanning machines not recording votes were likely the result of the wet weather. And it gets worse: At George Mason University in Fairfax, Provost Peter N. Stevens wrote in a campus e-mail that a hacker had entered a message into the university system stating the Election Day had been rescheduled. There are also reports that Virginia voters are receiving deceptive phone calls telling them to go to the wrong polling place. Meanwhile, there is already an effort underway to seek to extend voting hours in Virginia by two hours. More on that story as it develops."}, {"response": 957, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Nov  4, 2008 (14:11)", "body": "Ignore The Exit Polls by DemFromCT Tue Nov 04, 2008 at 09:57:57 AM PST You haven't seen any yet. In fact, you won't see them until after 5 pm EST. The people that run them are in a hermetically sealed environment. But even after they get around and start leaking after 5 pm, ignore them. They do not tell you what you think they tell you (so saith Inigo Montoya). But even when you ignore that and want to look at them, Read This First ( http://www.pollster.com/blogs/looking_for_presidential_exit.php) . It's from Mark Blumenthal and explains what you will be seeing. You'll learn about how they are done, how they are handling early voters, what to make of what you see on TV... and maybe even a little bit of what exit polls are for (and they are not to call the races.) ;-P Added: Nate Silver's Top 10 reasons To Ignore The Exit Polls, also based on Mark's work."}, {"response": 958, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Nov  4, 2008 (14:29)", "body": "How Long Are You Willing To Wait In Line To Vote? by BarbinMD Tue Nov 04, 2008 at 06:50:03 AM PST Yesterday, CNN's Jack Cafferty asked viewers how long they'd be willing to wait in line to vote. Here are some of my favorite answers: My whole day is devoted to this one moment in history, i never want to look back and regret that i was not involved in one of the most important moments in United States history. Considering that there are some that wait ....and sometimes fight a lifetime for the opportunity to vote, I will wait happily for as long as it takes to vote for my chosen candidate. I urge everyone to do the same! You take your pick: A few hours, or a few years. I\ufffdll be voting tomorrow. Guaranteed. I\ufffdve already waited 8 years. One day is nothing. Even though I\ufffdm 9 and 1/2 months pregnant and Obama will win California with or without my vote, I\ufffdll wait in line as long as it takes. This election is too important to miss, and I don\ufffdt care how long and uncomfortable the wait is - I\ufffdm voting. It would be a lot more uncomfortable for me to sit by for the next four years knowing that I let my voice go unheard. I think if the veterns can do 3 one year tours of duty in Iraq, I can wait on line 24 hours if it will help get them home. I am prepared and willing to wait all day. I have cleared my calendar to make sure I can spend the whole day. And the time I don\ufffdt spend waiting or voting, I will spend poll watching and holding signs. This is far too important not to make a personal sacrifice to make sure my vote counts. And, as an Army wife, one day of work loss is meaningless compared to the days my husband has and will spend on deployment. To all within the sound of your voice: Get out and vote! http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/11/4/9502/47563/225/651666"}, {"response": 959, "author": "mari", "date": "Tue, Nov  4, 2008 (14:31)", "body": "Early reports indicate that Virginia may be the state plagued by voting issues this time around. Last time it was Florida. Is anyone else getting the feeling that the common denominator in these \"problem\" voting states is . . . Moon???!!! ;-)"}, {"response": 960, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Nov  4, 2008 (14:40)", "body": "(Mari) Is anyone else getting the feeling that the common denominator in these \"problem\" voting states is . . . Moon???!!! ;-) *snort* She has been rather AWOL for the past couple of days. Getting things in (dis)order?"}, {"response": 961, "author": "mari", "date": "Tue, Nov  4, 2008 (14:49)", "body": "(Karen)I asked to use the touch-screen and the guys were still trying to get me to use paper, showing me how \"easy\" it now is. You should report that to your local election watchdog, since the touchscreen was in fact available. (Do)I was thinking in line this morning that paper might be a whole lot quicker. Possibly quicker in voting time in problem areas, but how are they going to count all those paper ballots and ensure the integrity of the count? It's gonna be a long night . . .I may leave work early and take a nap so I can stay up. This is always a big night for me.;-) I really think it comes down to the local polling place management, and realistic allocation of polling machines based on the voter registration numbers. My process not only went smoothly but, reading upside down at check-in, I could see that they had received and already logged my son's absentee ballot. Re: lengthy ballots. Yep, in my area, we were voting for president, senator, congress-person, township council members, plus numerous local ballot issues (e.g., funding for local projects). Many areas also have state-wide issues on the ballot (like the California gay marriage thing)."}, {"response": 962, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Nov  4, 2008 (15:44)", "body": "(Mari) but how are they going to count all those paper ballots and ensure the integrity of the count? They get fed right into an OCR type machine and are read on the spot. What I see is probably the delay when the data are batch processed. That type is never a real-time system. We had only two local issues on which to vote: a new constitutional convention and a specific referendum to provide for statewide recall of any elected official, the latter is targeted at our governor."}, {"response": 963, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Nov  4, 2008 (16:19)", "body": "Long lines greet voters as polls are deluged By DEBORAH HASTINGS, AP National Writer 23 mins ago AP \ufffd Voters line up to cast their ballots in Edmond, Okla., during the general election, Tuesday, Nov. 4, Lines stretched around buildings and crossed city blocks as people waited to cast ballots in the historic presidential race between Barack Obama and John McCain. Touchscreen voting machines malfunctioned in some precincts, yet voting Tuesday appeared to go smoothly overall. The biggest trouble was big crowds. But folks seemed to take it in stride. \"People are happy and smiling,\" Sen. Benjamin Cardin said as he voted at a Maryland school. \"People are very anxious to be voting. They really think they are part of history, and they are.\" In the East, electronic machine glitches forced some New Jersey voters to cast paper ballots. In New York, eager voters started lining up before dawn, prompting erroneous reports that some precincts weren't opening on time. In the West, Californians also faced long lines, but voting went smoothly. In Orange County, south of Los Angeles, about 400 people were on hand to treat problems with the county's all-electronic voting system, said Brett Rowley of the registrar's office. \"We've got paper ballots as a backup,\" he said. Heavy rain plunged a handful of Los Angeles polling places into the dark, forcing some to move voting booths outside until electricity was restored. Voting didn't stop. Election officials predicted turnout rates as high as 80 percent in California, the country's most populous state and the highest holder of electoral votes. In Virginia, State Board of Elections executive secretary Nancy Rodrigues said she expected 75 percent of the state's registered voters to cast ballots by Tuesday night. Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell urged voters to \"hang in there\" as state and country officials braced for a huge turnout in that hotly contested state. More than 160 people were lined up when the polls opened at First Presbyterian Church in Allentown. \"I could stay an hour and a half at the front end or three hours at the back end,\" joked Ronald Marshall, a black Democrat. Hundreds converged on polling precincts in Missouri, another crucial battleground state. Norma Storms, a 78-year-old resident of Raytown, said her driveway was filled with cars left by voters who couldn't get into nearby parking lots. \"I have never seen anything like this in all my born days,\" she said. \"I am just astounded.\" In some places the wait was longer than two hours. \"Well, I think I feel somehow strong and energized to stand here even without food and water,\" said Alexandria, Va., resident Ahmed Bowling, facing a very long line. \"What matters is to cast my vote.\" Some voting advocates worried that \ufffd tolerant voters or no \ufffd the nation's myriad election systems could stagger later in the day, when people getting off work hit the polls. \"We have a system that wasn't ready for huge turnout,\" said Tova Wang of government watchdog group Common Cause. \"People have to wait for hours. Some people can do that. Some people can't. This is not the way to run a democracy.\" Ohio, which experienced extreme voting delays in the last hours of the 2004 election, had some jammed paper problems in Franklin County. \"We're taking care of things like that,\" said elections spokesman Ben Piscitelli. \"But there's nothing major or systemic.\" Perhaps the most bizarre barrier to voting was a truck that hit a utility pole in St. Paul, Minn.'s Merriam Park neighborhood. The accident knocked power out for about 90 minutes to two polling locations. Joe Mansky, Ramsey County's elections manager, said voting continued at those sites. Election judges said the ballots were kept secure at one of the locations until the power was restored and the ballots could be run through an electronic machine, while a backup generator kicked in at the other site. Late Monday, McCain's campaign sued the Virginia electoral board, trying to force the state to count late-arriving military ballots from overseas. No hearing has been set. McCain, the Republican candidate and a POW during the Vietnam War, asked a federal judge to order state election officials to count absentee ballots mailed from abroad that arrive as late as Nov. 14. Lawsuits have become common fodder in election battles. The 2000 recount meltdown in Florida was ultimately decided by the Supreme Court. What is uncommon about Tuesday's contest is the sheer number of voters expected to descend on more than 7,000 election jurisdictions across the country. Voter registration numbers are up 7.3 percent from the last presidential election. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081104/ap_on_el_pr/voting_problems"}, {"response": 964, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Nov  4, 2008 (16:20)", "body": ""}, {"response": 965, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Nov  4, 2008 (18:55)", "body": "Some polls are closing in minutes now in the East. Have the networks called it yet? ;-)"}, {"response": 966, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Nov  4, 2008 (19:11)", "body": "I'm surprised any results yet. Obama wins Vermont, McCain Kentucky [per AP]"}, {"response": 967, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Nov  4, 2008 (19:57)", "body": "\"People are very anxious to be voting. They really think they are part of history, and they are.\" Statements like this drive me nuts. Perhaps if they had voted last time around, things might have been different. :-( On my way to the grocery store, I ran into a middle-aged couple frantically looking for the polling place. Evidently they've never visited the place before."}, {"response": 968, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Nov  4, 2008 (19:57)", "body": "How the hell can CNN project anything with 1%?!!"}, {"response": 969, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Nov  4, 2008 (19:59)", "body": "Evidently they've never visited the place before. *shakes head* I did say to someone today that maybe somehow this will spur people to be more dilligent in the future about voting by virtue of how important this election has been. Then I dismissed that for a couple of reasons."}, {"response": 970, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Nov  4, 2008 (20:02)", "body": "Here we go boys and girls!!......several battleground states just closed polls."}, {"response": 971, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Nov  4, 2008 (20:36)", "body": "I meant to mention earlier an observation.... Someone pointed out at the phone bank yesterday something I did notice, but hadn't really put together articulately.....Obama supporters were quiet pleasant to speak to and the McCain supporters were at the most terse, at the least rude. I was hung up on a number of occasions, but overall I didn't even need to hear them say they were for McCain, I knew when they were extremely short or terse. Says a lot to me about many people who support McCain. If you don't support my candidate, that's ok, but no need to be rude. Wow, voter turnout in VA 80%? I heard it may be the same in CA. Unbelievable and unheard of."}, {"response": 972, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Nov  4, 2008 (20:38)", "body": "Ok, please explain....PA, 0% in, MSNBC calling Obama. Only 2 counties shaded."}, {"response": 973, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Nov  4, 2008 (21:36)", "body": "Not so sure why what John King is saying about who wins what counties in PA for example, and their site is showing something different. Hmmmmm."}, {"response": 974, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Nov  4, 2008 (22:01)", "body": "Anyone see this? It was kind of odd. Funeral in Phoenix by kos Tue Nov 04, 2008 at 06:40:41 PM PST CNN reports that attendees at McCain's \"victory rally\" have been cut off from the news. So unless they're checking their Blackberries and iPhones, they don't know the race is over. Update by MissLaura: This was emblematic of the McCain-Palin campaign's approach to information: Dana Bash is reporting on CNN from the campaign party. The campaign party where they have turned off the news and are just listening to Hank Williams Jr. as every possible path to a McCain victory is cut off. And then, right at the end of the segment, someone must have noticed CNN was discussing this, and suddenly CNN comes on the screens at the party. Seriously, that's it in a thumbnail: Hide facts until someone catches you, then switch course like nothing's going on."}, {"response": 975, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Nov  4, 2008 (22:25)", "body": "That Grant Park gathering is unfreakinbelievable. What a contrast to the McCain gathering."}, {"response": 976, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Nov  4, 2008 (23:26)", "body": "January 20th can't come fast enough."}, {"response": 977, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Nov  4, 2008 (23:51)", "body": "You like the view of Grant Park? David Gregory initially identified it as on the South Side. Ummm, it's downtown."}, {"response": 978, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Nov  5, 2008 (00:05)", "body": "*snort* I heard him admit he was wrong about where it is."}, {"response": 979, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Nov  5, 2008 (00:21)", "body": "Joe brought his mom out! How awesome! She's too adorable."}, {"response": 980, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Nov  5, 2008 (00:28)", "body": "I didn't hear it, as I changed back to CNN. Was that Oprah in the crowd? The camera kept going to this blonde woman, who kind of looked familiar, who wasn't really looking in the same direction as the man next to her. Eventually, I changed my focus to the person behind and in between them and thought it looked like Oprah. There were different sections at Grant Park, one of which required a ticket of admission."}, {"response": 981, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Nov  5, 2008 (00:28)", "body": "I'm surprised the city didn't set off fireworks. They do it at the drop of a hat."}, {"response": 982, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Nov  5, 2008 (00:35)", "body": "So the smart money is on Rahm Emmanuel to be his Chief of Staff. That would be Josh from West Wing. ;-) I saw that Rahm won his seat again today."}, {"response": 983, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Nov  5, 2008 (00:46)", "body": "Yes, Oprah and Steadman. Jesse Jackson, too. And I read Brad Pitt was there, though not sure if true. Linda's daughter on her Facebook page said \"rioting\" (happy rioting!) happening up at her school (she's one of my friends on Facebook...surprise Linda!). Someone else in East Village I know said lots of cheering and firecrackers in the streets. And the people in Harlem!....it's like New Year's in Times Square. Noticed David Gregory seemed nonplussed by the large cheering crowd at the White House."}, {"response": 984, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Nov  5, 2008 (00:48)", "body": "That would be Josh from West Wing. ;-) Ha. I read a piece a week ago about how the last episodes of West Wing seemed to foretell the type of race that we ended up happening. Can't remember where I read it, but will post if I can find it. Almost a bit eerie how prescient it was."}, {"response": 985, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Nov  5, 2008 (01:05)", "body": "I didn't notice Steadman. Saw Jesse but didn't think it necessary to mention him. ;-)"}, {"response": 986, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Nov  5, 2008 (01:13)", "body": "*snort* I almost didn't, but color me Patron Saint of Mentioning the Obvious. ;-)"}, {"response": 987, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Nov  5, 2008 (01:16)", "body": "Hey Evelyn! Your honey Bill R lost the goatee. I kinda liked it myself. Welcome back! *assumes you're lurking* ;-)"}, {"response": 988, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Nov  5, 2008 (01:20)", "body": "No, I don't think she does. She could go blind if she does. ;-)"}, {"response": 989, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Nov  5, 2008 (01:27)", "body": "Well, what an exciting day. An electric buzz all day around town."}, {"response": 990, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Nov  5, 2008 (02:10)", "body": "Worldwide newpaper front pages... http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/11/5/04621/2283/311/653622"}, {"response": 991, "author": "OzFirthFan", "date": "Wed, Nov  5, 2008 (06:26)", "body": "Absolutely pissed here - four sheets to the wind. Have had drinks with various and sundry in celebrations. President-elect Barach Hussein Obama - how good does that sound? This is the first time in about 8 years that I have been proud of my country-of-birth!"}, {"response": 992, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Nov  5, 2008 (10:10)", "body": "I was texting a bunch of people last night myself that I'm finally proud again to call myself an American."}, {"response": 993, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Nov  5, 2008 (13:03)", "body": "Hello American girls!!! Kumbaya my Lord! Praise be to Allah! (Mari) Is anyone else getting the feeling that the common denominator in these \"problem\" voting states is . . . Moon???!!! ;-) (Karen), *snort* She has been rather AWOL for the past couple of days. Getting things in (dis)order? LOL! Hell yes! Everything is back in order. I'm into the happy vibe, I smell it in the air. I'm looking forward to all the great things to come. I trust everything will be righted with the House and Senate in tow. I'm done feeling blue about Hillary and I'm ready to be happy again. Kumbaya my Lord! When Farrakan said that Obama was the Messiah, I admit it, I was skeptical, but now? I can no longer be blind to all the love. Love is all around us today ladies, I can smell it. It's a happy feeling. And I am truly into it. Kumbaya my Lord! I look forward to peace and prosperity. :-D"}, {"response": 994, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Nov  5, 2008 (13:36)", "body": "Oh, Moon. ;-)"}, {"response": 995, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Nov  5, 2008 (14:15)", "body": "Can you believe this? From the AP: California voters approve gay-marriage ban By LISA LEFF, Associated Press Writer Lisa Leff, Associated Press Writer 9 mins ago LOS ANGELES \ufffd Voters put a stop to same-sex marriage in California, dealing a crushing defeat to gay-rights activists in a state they hoped would be a vanguard, and putting in doubt as many as 18,000 same-sex marriages conducted since a court ruling made them legal this year. The gay-rights movement had a rough election elsewhere as well Tuesday. Ban-gay-marriage amendments were approved in Arizona and Florida, and Arkansas voters approved a measure banning unmarried couples from serving as adoptive or foster parents. Supporters made clear that gays and lesbians were their main target. But California, the nation's most populous state, had been the big prize. Spending for and against Proposition 8 reached $74 million, the most expensive social-issues campaign in U.S. history and the most expensive campaign this year outside the race for the White House. Activists on both sides of the issue saw the measure as critical to building momentum for their causes. \"People believe in the institution of marriage,\" Frank Schubert, co-manager of the Yes on 8 campaign said after declaring victory early Wednesday. \"It's one institution that crosses ethnic divides, that crosses partisan divides. ... People have stood up because they care about marriage and they care a great deal.\" With almost all precincts reporting, election returns showed the measure winning with 52 percent. Some provisional and absentee ballots remained to be tallied, but based on trends and the locations of the votes still outstanding, the margin of support in favor of the initiative was secure. Californians overwhelmingly passed a same-sex marriage ban in 2000, but gay-rights supporters had hoped public opinion on the issue had shifted enough for this year's measure to be rejected. \"We pick ourselves up and trudge on,\" said Kate Kendell, executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights. \"There has been enormous movement in favor of full equality in eight short years. That is the direction this is heading, and if it's not today or it's not tomorrow, it will be soon.\" The constitutional amendment limits marriage to heterosexual couples, nullifying the California Supreme Court decision that had made same-sex marriages legal in the state since June. Similar bans had prevailed in 27 states before Tuesday's elections, but none were in California's situation \ufffd with about 18,000 gay couples already married. The state attorney general, Jerry Brown, has said those marriages will remain valid, although legal challenges are possible. Elsewhere, voters in Colorado and South Dakota rejected measures that could have led to sweeping bans of abortion, and Washington became only the second state \ufffd after Oregon \ufffd to offer terminally ill people the option of physician-assisted suicide. A first-of-its-kind measure in Colorado, which was defeated soundly, would have defined life as beginning at conception. Its opponents said the proposal could lead to the outlawing of some types of birth control as well as abortion. The South Dakota measure would have banned abortions except in cases of rape, incest and serious health threat to the mother. A tougher version, without the rape and incest exceptions, lost in 2006. Anti-abortion activists thought the modifications would win approval, but the margin of defeat was similar, about 55 percent to 45 percent of the vote. \"The lesson here is that Americans, in states across the country, clearly support women's ability to access abortion care without government interference,\" said Vicki Saporta, president of the National Abortion Federation. In Washington, voters gave solid approval to an initiative modeled after Oregon's \"Death with Dignity\" law, which allows a terminally ill person to be prescribed lethal medication they can administer to themselves. Since Oregon's law took effect in 1997, more than 340 people \ufffd mostly ailing with cancer \ufffd have used it to end their lives. The marijuana reform movement won two prized victories, with Massachusetts voters decriminalizing possession of small amounts of the drug and Michigan joining 12 other states in allowing use of pot for medical purposes. Henceforth, people caught in Massachusetts with an ounce or less of pot will no longer face criminal penalties. Instead, they'll forfeit the marijuana and pay a $100 civil fine. The Michigan measure will allow severely ill patients to register with the state and legally buy, grow and use small amounts of marijuana to relieve pain, nausea, appetite loss and other symptoms. Nebraska voters, meanwhile, approved a ban on race- and gender-based affirmative action, similar to measures previously approved in California, Michigan and Washington. Returns in Colorado on a similar measure were too close to call. Ward Connerly, the California activist-businessman who has led the crusade again"}, {"response": 996, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Nov  5, 2008 (15:13)", "body": "No, I actually didn't believe it. Supporters made clear that gays and lesbians were their main target. As opposed to who else they'd be targeting? Californians overwhelmingly passed a same-sex marriage ban in 2000, Wonder what the margin was. The state attorney general, Jerry Brown, has said those marriages will remain valid, although legal challenges are possible. Grandfathered in?"}, {"response": 997, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Nov  5, 2008 (16:36)", "body": "Wow! I'm having a hard time believing it too. Good, it's done. Now if only they spent some time and money to try to legalize pot. I hate the double standards with Alcohol. Oh, no, am I taking about double standards again? LOL! Kumbaya my Lord!"}, {"response": 998, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Nov  5, 2008 (17:36)", "body": "Our despised governor is going to have a field day appointing successors. There's a strong rumor that he'll appoint himself or maybe even his wife to Obama's senate seat. Now he also gets to handpick one for Rahm, who must lives somewhere in the Lakeview area. Obama picks Clinton alum Emanuel chief of WH staff Associated Press Writers David Espo And Nedra Pickler, Associated Press Writers \ufffd 10 mins ago WASHINGTON \ufffd President-elect Barack Obama pivoted quickly to begin filling out his new administration on Wednesday, selecting hard-charging Illinois Rep. Rahm Emanuel as White House chief of staff while aides stepped up the pace of transition work that had been cloaked in pre-election secrecy. Several Democrats confirmed that Emanuel had been offered the job. While it was not clear he had accepted, a rejection would amount to an unlikely public snub of the new president-elect within hours of an electoral college landslide. With hundreds of jobs to fill and only 10 weeks until Inauguration Day, Obama and his transition team confronted a formidable task complicated by his anti-lobbyist campaign rhetoric. The official campaign Web Site said no political appointees would be permitted to work on \"regulations or contracts directly and substantially related to their prior employer for two years. And no political appointee will be able to lobby the executive branch after leaving government service during the remainder of the administration.\" But almost exactly one year ago, on Nov. 3, 2007, candidate Obama went considerably further than that while campaigning in South Carolina. \"I don't take a dime of their money, and when I am president, they won't find a job in my White House,\" he said of lobbyists at the time. Because they often have prior experience in government or politics, lobbyists figure as potential appointees for presidents of both parties. On the morning after making history, the man elected the first black president had breakfast with his wife and two daughters at their Chicago home, went to a nearby gym and visited his downtown offices. Aides said he planned no public appearances until later in the week, when he has promised to hold a news conference. As president-elect, he begins receiving highly classified briefings from top intelligence officials Thursday. In offering the post of White House chief of staff to Emanuel, Obama turned to a fellow Chicago politician with a far different style from his own, a man known for his bluntness as well as his single-minded determination. Emanuel, he was a political and policy aide in Bill Clinton's White House. Leaving that, he turned to investment banking, then won a Chicago-area House seat six years ago. In Congress, he moved quickly into the leadership. As chairman of the Democratic campaign committee in 2006, he played an instrumental role in restoring his party to power after 12 years in the minority. Emanuel maintained neutrality during the long primary battle between Obama and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, not surprising given his long-standing ties to the former first lady and his Illinois connections with Obama. The day after the election there already was jockeying for Cabinet appointments. Several Democrats said Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, who won a new six-year term on Tuesday, was angling for secretary of state. They spoke on condition of anonymity, saying they were not authorized to discuss any private conversations. Kerry's spokeswoman, Brigid O'Rourke, disputed the reports. \"It's not true. It's ridiculous,\" she said in an interview. Announcement of the transition team came in a written statement from the Obama camp. The group is headed by John Podesta, who served as chief of staff under former President Clinton; Pete Rouse, who has been Obama's chief of staff in the Senate, and Valerie Jarrett, a friend of the president-elect and campaign adviser. Several Democrats described a sprawling operation well under way. Officials had kept deliberations under wraps to avoid the appearance of overconfidence in the weeks leading to Tuesday's election. They said the group was stocked with longtime associates of Obama, as well as veterans of Clinton's White House. Quite apart from transition issues, Obama's status as an incumbent member of Congress presents issues unseen since 1960, when John F. Kennedy moved from the Senate to the White House. The Senate is scheduled to hold a postelection session in two weeks, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi held a news conference Wednesday to reinforce her call for quick action on a bill to stimulate the economy. That places Obama in uncharted territory \ufffd a president-elect, presumably first among equals among congressional Democrats. Yet his and their ability to enact legislation depends almost entirely until Inauguration Day on President Bush's willingness to sign it. Obama's running mate, Sen. Joe Biden, was elected to a new six-year term from Delaware on Tuesday and he must resign before he can be sworn in as vice president"}, {"response": 999, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Nov  5, 2008 (22:35)", "body": "Our despised governor is going to have a field day appointing successors. There's a strong rumor that he'll appoint himself or maybe even his wife to Obama's senate seat. Did you hear that scenario come up on CNN last night with regards to Stevens dropping/getting kicked out on votes or by Senate and saying Palin could pick herself to replace him?"}, {"response": 1000, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Nov  5, 2008 (23:59)", "body": "I especially enjoyed the last line. Sarah Palin, freeloader. Also. by Kagro X Wed Nov 05, 2008 at 01:30:05 PM PST Dansac has already introduced you to today's version of the story, but I feel compelled to revisit an earlier call on this in order to restate a now obvious theme: Sarah Palin is The Chiseler Supreme. What a really, truly unpleasant experience has been our exposure to the two insta-celebrities created by the McCain campaign. These two grubbers, Joe the Plumber and Sarah Palin, became the perfect symbol for everything that was wrong with and ingenuine about modern Republicanism. Joe griped endlessly about taxes even as it turned out he was ducking them, and groused that Obama's \"socialism\" would mean there was no incentive to work hard and succeed in earning more than $250,000 a year, even as he shopped around for an agent and a Nashville recording contract. (And excuse me -- what?! A recording contract? Based on what, Mr. Hard Work?) Meanwhile, there was Sarah griping about pork and wasteful spending even as she tried to rip off the Feds for the Bridge to Nowhere, rip off the state for her per diem, and rip off the campaign for her clothes (and her husband's, and her family's). Yes, in the few short weeks we knew her, Sarah Palin turned out to have more hands in more pockets than we could keep track of. She and Joe were the perfect pair. Instantly famous but for no good reason, pushy, greedy, and all the while cheating behind the scenes, and cheating on the very issues about which each of them complained that regular Americans were getting a raw deal from the elite. Good riddance. I get enough of that crap from Reality TV as it is. It's like a whole election nearly went down the wrong pipe. Thank God the country coughed them back up. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/11/5/13299/2125/387/654555"}, {"response": 1001, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Nov  6, 2008 (00:23)", "body": "(Dorine) Did you hear that scenario come up on CNN last night with regards to Stevens dropping/getting kicked out on votes or by Senate and saying Palin could pick herself to replace him? No, but she'll have to select someone. He can't serve from prison. On the news tonight, our governor said that he wasn't interested in taking Obama's seat, but they showed the names of a bunch of political hack possibilities, including the former garbage man-president of the state senate Emil Jones, who is retiring and giving his seat to his son. I swear it never stops... The funny thing about our governor is that the leader of the opposition is his father-in-law, a big-time political fixer. In some respects, the gov the right thing and now he's being crucified."}, {"response": 1002, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Nov  6, 2008 (00:24)", "body": "You know, I always hate it when convicted felons are re-elected. How can people actually do that? How stupid are they? Have they no respect for the law?"}, {"response": 1003, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Nov  6, 2008 (00:32)", "body": "Gossip, gossip, gossip!! http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/11/5/194551/287/976/651932 (Karen) He can't serve from prison. David Gergen said he's got a decent case on appeal. (Maybe not go to prison?) I followed it a bit and it was botched by prosecutors to some degree. Not sure when sentencing is. Gergen I think also said Harry Reid said there's no way Stevens will be allowed to serve when Congress reconvenes should he win. Not sure how that'll work, but maybe in the end won't have to. I'm shocked it's so close as the number showed he was behind by election day. In Alaska, why should they respect the law when their leaders don't seem to?"}, {"response": 1004, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Nov  6, 2008 (01:06)", "body": "I'm not singling out Alaskans, as this kind of thing has happened in various other parts of the country."}, {"response": 1005, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Nov  6, 2008 (01:12)", "body": "Oh I know. Not sure why I didn't just generalize. I was thinking about what/who I know about in such situations and the Alaska one obviously popped right into my head."}, {"response": 1006, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Nov  6, 2008 (01:16)", "body": "They haven't decided Minnesota's race with Al Franken yet, have they? I'd like to see him get it. Of course, I don't live in Minnesota. But if they can elect a wrestler, what's wrong with a smart political satirist?"}, {"response": 1007, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Nov  6, 2008 (01:17)", "body": "As a diversion.... just WOW! Jogger runs mile with rabid fox locked on her arm Wed Nov 5, 7:51 pm ET PRESCOTT, Ariz. \ufffd Authorities in Arizona say a jogger attacked by a rabid fox ran a mile with the animal's jaws clamped on her arm and then drove herself to a hospital. The Yavapai County sheriff's office said the woman told deputies she was on a trail near Prescott on Monday when the fox attacked and bit her foot. She said she grabbed the fox by the neck when it went for her leg but it bit her arm. The woman wanted the animal tested for rabies so she ran a mile to her car with the fox still biting her arm, then pried it off and tossed it in her trunk and drove to the Prescott hospital. The sheriff's office says the fox later bit an animal control officer. He and the woman are both receiving rabies vaccinations."}, {"response": 1008, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Nov  6, 2008 (13:42)", "body": "The group is headed by John Podesta, My son was a paid intern last year at the Podesta Group Lobbying Firm. It belongs to John and his brother Tony. Dorine, you really hate Sarah Palin. After such a misogynist year in politics, I frankly can't be part of it. She's done well enough so far in Alaska and she'll probably be hitting the books and following Int'l politics now. It's time to let the anger go. He's won, feel the love. Kumbaya my Lord."}, {"response": 1009, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Nov  6, 2008 (14:16)", "body": "so she ran a mile to her car with the fox still biting her arm, then pried it off and tossed it in her trunk and drove to the Prescott hospital. Remember those old fox pieces they wore in the '30s and '40s, where the fox was biting its own tail? ;-) Now, that's a woman who should be running for higher office."}, {"response": 1010, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Nov  6, 2008 (14:23)", "body": "she'll probably be hitting the books and following Int'l politics now. I just said to a couple of people yesterday. you really hate Sarah Palin I will answer this later, but I don't hate her, just what she was put up to represent. It's time to let the anger go. I'm gathering this is you speaking in front of the mirror. ;-)"}, {"response": 1011, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Nov  6, 2008 (14:26)", "body": "(Moon) she'll probably be hitting the books and following Int'l politics now. ((me) I just said to a couple of people yesterday. Didn't finish my thought. I was saying to them that if she would go out into the world a bit and learn some things, I could see her potentially becoming a very formidable candidate on a more national level by the next election. Depends what's going on with the country by then and how Obama's doing."}, {"response": 1012, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Nov  6, 2008 (19:37)", "body": "(Karen), Now, that's a woman who should be running for higher office. Hell, yes! She can out fox them all! (Dorine), I'm gathering this is you speaking in front of the mirror. ;-) No... I'm feeling the love remember? Must I cue Kumbaya again. My DH is sick of it already, LOL! So I'm alternating with \"Can't you feel the love tonight\"... There are no winks because it's absolutely true. :-) I too believe that we will be seeing Sarah Palin in the future. She's a good public speaker, she just needs to work on the other stuff which frankly can be learned."}, {"response": 1013, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Nov  6, 2008 (21:09)", "body": "Too funny, both of these... http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/11/6/153146/946/1019/655973 http://wonkette.com/404231/your-lengthy-guide-to-the-insane-mccain-palin-cold-war"}, {"response": 1014, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Nov  6, 2008 (23:31)", "body": "(Karen) They haven't decided Minnesota's race with Al Franken yet, have they? I think I read that it's a likely runoff the way it was going and might not be decided til Dec. Remember those old fox pieces they wore in the '30s and '40s, where the fox was biting its own tail? ;-) I have one in storage that was my grandmother's. A bit worn looking it is. (Moon) Must I cue Kumbaya again. I'd rather you didn't. ;-) Not a big fan of Can You Feel The Love Tonight either."}, {"response": 1015, "author": "OzFirthFan", "date": "Fri, Nov  7, 2008 (02:19)", "body": "That story about the rabid fox - discovered that today and sent it to my brother, because Prescott, Az is our hometown. *lol* I wonder if I know that woman?? The Minnesota Senate race is delayed because a count that close triggers an automatic recount. But the Republican candidate was leading by a few hundred votes at the end of the first count. I'd love to see Al Franken win, if only because it would cause Bill O'Reilly's head to explode the first time he had to say \"Senator Franken\". ;-)"}, {"response": 1016, "author": "Moon", "date": "Fri, Nov  7, 2008 (12:28)", "body": "(Dorine), Not a big fan of Can You Feel The Love Tonight either. Neither am I, but I can belt it in true Broadway style. ;-) I'm sure there's a nice Beach Boys song I can replace it with. :-) Franken would be fun to have around DC."}, {"response": 1017, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sun, Nov  9, 2008 (17:25)", "body": "This is for the believers: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/07/AR2008110702896.html?nav=hcmoduletmv And if you want more, the front page of the Wash Post is all about ObamaNation. All yours to check out the love. Kumbaya, my Lord!"}, {"response": 1018, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Nov 10, 2008 (16:21)", "body": "Thank you, Moon. ;-) Oh my... http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=palin"}, {"response": 1019, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Nov 10, 2008 (17:09)", "body": "Beyond definition 1.1, I'd say they're stretching it. (v) to abandon one's principles for short term gain Shouldn't this be called \"to McCain\"? Read the misogynistic stuff here: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=hillary+clinton"}, {"response": 1020, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Nov 10, 2008 (17:32)", "body": "Oh my, again. The first half dozen are from 3-4 years ago. What was going on then for all the hatin'?"}, {"response": 1021, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Nov 10, 2008 (17:46)", "body": "If there is one thing I/we have learned from this election it's that in this country, it's OK to be sexist, but it's not OK to be racist. As a woman, I know that we have gone backwards. :-("}, {"response": 1022, "author": "mari", "date": "Tue, Nov 11, 2008 (11:15)", "body": "I saw Palin's interview with Matt Lauer on the Today Show this morning. I really do think she's been treated poorly by the McCain staff. Even before the campaign ended, saying they had nothing to work with, that she had no knowledge of national or international affairs, calling her a \"whack job,\" likening her to the Beverly Hillbillies at Neiman Marcus. Now they're leaking the stuff about not knowing Africa was a continent, etc., etc. It may be all true, but would they criticize a male running mate so publicly? What back-stabbers. They're all trying to cover their asses about why they lost, scurrying to put the word out that it was her fault, not theirs (or their boss's.) They knew (or should have known) what they were getting. The blame is on whomever chose her, and that starts right at the top. And I don't think she's the only reason they lost."}, {"response": 1023, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Nov 11, 2008 (12:50)", "body": "Just skimmed over a transcript (note spelling of Saks): http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=news-000002985073 (Mari) I really do think she's been treated poorly by the McCain staff. Agreed, especially in the final days and aftermath, but my jaw dropped open when I read the comments about how she wanted to speak before McCain's concession speech. Maybe she's never watched election night coverage before? A VP candidate speaking? WTF is she thinking, except possibly one more chance for me to shine. Definitely CYA behavior by the party drones."}, {"response": 1024, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Nov 13, 2008 (21:22)", "body": "Without going back to search, did someone here call possible Sec. of State for HRC?"}, {"response": 1025, "author": "mari", "date": "Fri, Nov 14, 2008 (11:55)", "body": "Yep, that was me, a couple of months ago. He owes her. Plus, she'd do a superb job. IMO, State is the highest profile appointment. Not sure if I'd want that job, these days anyway, but what a outstanding choice she'd be."}, {"response": 1026, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Nov 14, 2008 (12:20)", "body": "State is the highest profile appointment Exactly! It would be almost like being President, on foreign policy. I'm curious if that's the deal they made. ;-)"}, {"response": 1027, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Nov 14, 2008 (12:21)", "body": "From the No S**t, Sherlock! Dept: AP NewsBreak: Gulf War vet health research lacking http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081114/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/gulf_war_illness;_ylt=AnSC_UhMX1yIquZQNBGEtsSs0NUE"}, {"response": 1028, "author": "Moon", "date": "Fri, Nov 14, 2008 (15:17)", "body": "http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/13/us/politics/15clinton.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin I would Hill as Sect. of State, it is the most important cabinet post, IMO. I see O is also meeting with McCain, would love him as Sect. of Defense, what an improvement over that maniac Rumsfeld. There is also talk of making Howard Dean Sect. of Health (guess he'll take care of the healthcare revolution), and Donna Brazile as the DNC Chair."}, {"response": 1029, "author": "Moon", "date": "Fri, Nov 14, 2008 (15:23)", "body": "Independent scientists have declared that the symptoms of veterans of the 1991 Gulf War do not constitute a single syndrome. They have pointed to pesticide, used to control insects, and pyridostigmine bromide pills, given to protect troops from nerve agents, as probable culprits for some of the varied symptoms. That's disgusting. They are used as guinea pigs. The WW2 Vets, have they suffered as much?"}, {"response": 1030, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Nov 15, 2008 (00:28)", "body": "what an improvement over that maniac Rumsfeld. Did you miss something, Moon? I think he resigned awhile ago. ;-) the symptoms of veterans of the 1991 Gulf War do not constitute a single syndrome. They have pointed to pesticide, used to control insects, and pyridostigmine bromide pills, given to protect troops from nerve agents, as probable culprits for some of the varied symptoms. Chemical weapons, too.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_War_syndrome (scroll down to Chemical Weapons section)"}, {"response": 1031, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Nov 15, 2008 (00:53)", "body": "(Moon) The WW2 Vets, have they suffered as much? As I recall, WWI was far worse in sheer numbers of casualties and medical/psychological impact."}, {"response": 1032, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sat, Nov 15, 2008 (13:08)", "body": "(Dorine), Did you miss something, Moon? I think he resigned awhile ago. ;-) I know that, and it was a happy day, but he was still a maniac, and we are still suffering for his shortcomings."}, {"response": 1033, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Nov 15, 2008 (18:27)", "body": "he was still a maniac, and we are still suffering for his shortcomings. Can't disagree."}, {"response": 1034, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Nov 16, 2008 (10:37)", "body": "Frank Rich: Election junkies in acute withdrawal need suffer no longer. Though the exciting Obama-McCain race is over, the cockfight among the losers has only just begun. The conservative crackup may be ugly, but as entertainment, it\ufffds two thumbs up! http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/16/opinion/16rich.html?_r=1&oref=slogin"}, {"response": 1035, "author": "OzFirthFan", "date": "Mon, Nov 17, 2008 (21:56)", "body": "Hillary Clinton accepts role of Secretary of State, according to the Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/17/hillary-clinton-secretary-of-state"}, {"response": 1036, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Nov 17, 2008 (22:11)", "body": "So the Guardian has the *inside* word? Hmmmm Saw a piece on TV about how difficult it will probably be to vet her and Bill for the office, especially given the foreign donations to his Global Initiative foundation. There was a specific dealing involving a Canadian mining guy and Kazakhstan that looks like it will likely cause huge problems, plus some Saudi ones. However, if the Saudi connections didn't bother anybody about the Bush administration, I don't know..."}, {"response": 1037, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Nov 17, 2008 (22:12)", "body": "Obama can easily fill that promise to have a Republican in his administration by giving the Treasury job to Volcker."}, {"response": 1038, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Nov 17, 2008 (23:54)", "body": "Hey, the lady who ran with the rabid fox is going to be on Letterman next. Can't wait!"}, {"response": 1039, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Nov 18, 2008 (02:52)", "body": "(Karen) Saw a piece on TV about how difficult it will probably be to vet her and Bill for the office, especially given the foreign donations to his Global Initiative foundation. Saw similar in the NYT this morning. For real about the fox woman?!"}, {"response": 1040, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Nov 18, 2008 (02:59)", "body": "Vetting The Clintons by Scout Finch Mon Nov 17, 2008 at 01:50:04 PM PST Talk is heating up that Hillary Clinton may become the next Secretary of State. Since word leaked out Obama and Hillary met in Chicago, neither camp has moved to dispel the rumors. Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton have kept their conversations tightly held, but that silence has only convinced some associates that the prospect is serious. \ufffdNo one has called to say, \ufffdDon\ufffdt get too far on this,\ufffd \ufffd said James Carville, a longtime Clinton friend and adviser. \ufffdA silent phone\ufffds sometimes as much of an indication as a ringing phone.\ufffd The NYT also reports Team Obama is vetting Bill Clinton. Obama advisers are discussing what Mr. Clinton would need to do to avoid a conflict of interest with the duties of his wife, who is said to be interested in the post. \ufffdThat\ufffds the first and most important hurdle,\ufffd said a senior adviser to Mr. Obama. \ufffdHe does good work. No one wants it to stop, but a structure to avoid conflicts must be thought of.\ufffd Bill Clinton seems to be encouraging the idea: Speaking at an economic conference in Kuwait, Mr. Clinton openly acknowledged the possibility. \ufffdIf he decided to ask her and they did it together, I think she\ufffdll be really great as a secretary of state,\ufffd he said. \ufffdShe worked very hard for his election after the primary fight with him, and so did I, and we were very glad that he won.\ufffd Hillary Clinton as SoS is a win-win. And given the fact Obama has repeatedly talked of admiring Lincoln's ability to bring even his most bitter rivals into his administration, it makes perfect sense. It gives her an important role in the Obama administration, continues to build her foreign policy cred, and will keep her out of Senate meddling and Obama's hair. As Bill Clinton notes, Hillary worked hard for Obama after the primary and would be a great Secretary of State. But, he also sneaks in a comment about how hard he worked... apparently angling for his own reward. It would seem the only thing standing between Hillary Clinton and Secretary of State is... Bill Clinton. Update with clarification: I do not believe that Bill Clinton is angling for any sort of a formal job with the administration. I do believe it is possible some symbolic gesture may be made toward him by the Obama administration. That is all. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/11/17/0279/4449/967/662119"}, {"response": 1041, "author": "OzFirthFan", "date": "Tue, Nov 18, 2008 (03:37)", "body": "Hey Karen, What was the name of the woman with the rabid fox? That's my home town (Prescott, AZ - actually, I heard it was in the Chino Valley, which is nearby), so I'm wondering if I might know her... ;-) Personally, I'd love to see Bill Clinton as Australian Ambassador, but then, I'm a bit biased. ;-) The Aussies absolutely adore him, though. Wonder if they'd consider divorce for her to get SoS? Do you think that would be enough \"distance\" between them?"}, {"response": 1042, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Nov 18, 2008 (11:52)", "body": "There's a small edited version up at the Late Show site: http://lateshow.cbs.com/latenight/lateshow/dave_tv/highlights/index/php/bigshowhighlight.phtml When Animals Attack! Fox attack survivor Michelle Felicetta tells her true story while Emma Thompson just fakes it. It's a shame as they cut out the blow-by-blow account of what happened, although they have included Emma Thompson's entrance later. She never mentions specifically the place, only that it was a canyon area. Prescott was mentioned at one point. Maybe when she talked about going to the hospital. Think I'll check YouTube to see if anyone has the whole thing up. Found a reference to the attack occurring at Granite Mountain."}, {"response": 1043, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Nov 18, 2008 (18:35)", "body": "Hillary might reject State offer Hillary Rodham Clinton isn\ufffdt certain she would accept the Secretary of State post even if Barack Obama offers it to her, several people close to the former first lady say. Press reports that portray Clinton as willing to accept the job \ufffd once the Obama transition team vets Bill Clinton\ufffds philanthropic and business ventures \ufffd are inaccurate, one Clinton insider told Politico. \ufffdA lot of the speculation and reporting is out ahead of the facts here,\ufffd said the person, who requested anonymity. \ufffdShe is still weighing this, independent of President Clinton's work.\ufffd Clinton, the person said, remains deeply \ufffdtorn\ufffd between the possibility of serving in Obama\ufffds cabinet and remaining in the Senate to \ufffdhelp pass health care and work on a broad range of domestic issues.\ufffd That comment jibes with what others close to Clinton have been saying since the Secretary of State chatter began last week: that Clinton is conflicted and the deal far from done, despite screaming headlines in outlets including the U.K.\ufffds Guardian newspaper claiming the offer was made and accepted. Most of the speculation about Clinton\ufffds frame of mind in the last few days has been off-base, sources say, because she\ufffds played her cards close to the vest, consulting only her husband and two or three kitchen cabinet advisers. \ufffdWe\ufffdve gotten rid of all the other idiots,\ufffd joked one Clinton confidant, a reference to the Clinton campaign\ufffds propensity for leaks. The Clinton camp\ufffds effort to downplay her interest in the post might simply reflect her need to create an alternative storyline if the deal falls apart for other reasons, including the possibility that insurmountable problems arise during the vetting process, Democrats not connected with Clinton cautioned. Another possible motivation: Pushing back against the perception that she\ufffds at the mercy of Obama\ufffds team. \ufffdEverybody wants to be perceived as being in the driver\ufffds seat,\ufffd said a top Democratic official. \ufffdShe\ufffds no different.\ufffd Obama isn\ufffdt likely to make a formal offer of the post to Clinton unless he\ufffds given assurances that Bill Clinton\ufffds global charitable foundation won\ufffdt create future conflicts of interest with foreign governments. The Clinton Foundation has earned praise for its efforts to eradicate AIDS, malaria and poverty in Africa. But it could prove problematic if the former president continues to arrange donations from foreign countries at the same time that his wife serves as secretary of state. Obama\ufffds vetting team expressed similar concerns about Bill Clinton\ufffds overseas fundraising when Hillary Clinton was briefly considered for the vice-presidency. http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20081118/pl_politico/15738;_ylt=Ap7VAXmFXGtpbgamD6ysX4Ss0NUE"}, {"response": 1044, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Nov 18, 2008 (18:56)", "body": "Obama isn\ufffdt likely to make a formal offer of the post to Clinton unless he\ufffds given assurances that Bill Clinton\ufffds global charitable foundation won\ufffdt create future conflicts of interest with foreign governments. LOL! He wants her... he wants her NOT. ;-) Saw Letterman last night. The fox incident was worse than I thought. Kuddos to MichelleF. Now Emma Thompsom, did you see her thighs? Very unflattering outfit. Should be discussed at O&E. ;-)"}, {"response": 1045, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Nov 18, 2008 (19:48)", "body": "Yeah, Emma looks to have put on a few pounds. Thought I heard on news that Bill has offerred to turn over all the financial records for the foundation."}, {"response": 1046, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Nov 18, 2008 (19:59)", "body": "Bill has offerred to turn over all the financial records for the foundation. I was reading a comment somewhere that Bill knew she was going to run for President so one would think he'd have made sure not to have such issues."}, {"response": 1047, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Nov 18, 2008 (20:01)", "body": "Another FU from BushCo by mcjoan Tue Nov 18, 2008 at 01:42:05 PM PST The Bush administration has given the incoming Obama team (and the American people) yet another middle finger. First they announced--on Election Day, the day the American people decisively rejected \"drill, baby, drill\"--that they were putting huge swaths of Utah's most beautiful and fragile canyonlands under the auction block. Now they think they've figured out a way to make their policy of \"rape the land first, don't bother with the questions ever\" permanent. It's hard to come up with a word other than despicable to describe what the Washington Post reports about the outgoing Bushies: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/11/18/123318/49/279/662807"}, {"response": 1048, "author": "OzFirthFan", "date": "Tue, Nov 18, 2008 (21:02)", "body": "Karen: Found a reference to the attack occurring at Granite Mountain. Interesting! I've hiked at Granite Mountain heaps of times. (It's not a very big \"mountain\" - more like a butte, really. I don't ever remember hearing about rabies in any of our wild animals in the area, I hope this isn't the beginning of a trend. There are a fair few bats in that region, though, so they could have transmitted it. Glad I didn't run into any rabid wildlife when I lived there! There are mountain lions in that region, as well as bobcats, raccoons, skunks and of course, a ton of coyotes. I don't remember seeing many foxes, though. Looks like Obama's named Eric Holder for Attorney General: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7736639.stm"}, {"response": 1049, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Nov 18, 2008 (23:39)", "body": "(Dorine) I was reading a comment somewhere that Bill knew she was going to run for President so one would think he'd have made sure not to have such issues. When you win an election, you don't have to go before the Senate and get its approval. (Sarah) I don't ever remember hearing about rabies in any of our wild animals in the area The woman mentioned that the fox kind of smelled like a skunk. Could be the fox got rabies from it. She knew something was off because animals generally steer clear of humans. As it showed in the joke animation, the fox was just standing there and, as she tried to back away, it walked up to her and bit her toe first."}, {"response": 1050, "author": "OzFirthFan", "date": "Wed, Nov 19, 2008 (07:42)", "body": "Definitely unnatural behavior for a fox not to run away from a human being. Almost always an indicator of some sort of disease - glad to hear the woman was so level-headed. I used to do skunk and bat rescue (in San Diego) and had the series of five (preventative) shots for rabies - it's not that bad these days, you can get it in the arm or hip (as opposed to the stomach, as used to be required), and it's about like a tetanus shot (I actually found it to be less painful than my last tetanus)."}, {"response": 1051, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Nov 19, 2008 (15:39)", "body": "(Karen) When you win an election, you don't have to go before the Senate and get its approval. Of course, but things of his would be dug up and used against them both at some point, to at the least distract her (as was done with Clinton/Lewinsky) and taint her as well."}, {"response": 1052, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Nov 20, 2008 (14:08)", "body": "I have a feeling that Hillary would have preferred to be Sect. of Health. The health care issue is so important to her. There was a chance for her to be the health tzar. Obama is playing a game with her. Kumbaya my Lord!"}, {"response": 1053, "author": "OzFirthFan", "date": "Fri, Nov 21, 2008 (07:53)", "body": "Actually, Moon, I wouldn't mind seeing Hillary as Sec of Health, but Sec of State gives her a much better shot at becoming POTUS later..."}, {"response": 1054, "author": "Moon", "date": "Fri, Nov 21, 2008 (15:49)", "body": "Hill would be a great SoS. It is the most prestigious post to be had. I just hope O makes that announcement soon. I don't think Hill will run at 68."}, {"response": 1055, "author": "Moon", "date": "Fri, Nov 21, 2008 (16:00)", "body": "Clinton accepts Obama secretary of state offer: NY Times WASHINGTON (Reuters) \ufffd New York Sen. Hillary Clinton has accepted an offer from President-elect Barack Obama to become U.S. secretary of state, joining her former Democratic rival to help guide U.S. foreign policy, the New York Times said on Friday. The newspaper quoted two Clinton associates who said she came to her decision after additional discussions with Obama about the nature of her role as the top U.S. diplomat and his foreign policy plans. \"She's ready,\" one of the sources told the newspaper, which posted the report on its website. Clinton emerged as a frontrunner for the secretary of state job late last week, transfixing a country which had seen her compete hard against Obama to win the Democratic nomination for the presidency. Obama clinched that nomination in June and then beat Republican John McCain in the November 4 election. Democratic Party sources have recently said Clinton, was on track to be nominated, with an official announcement expected after the November 27 Thanksgiving holiday. http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081121/pl_nm/us_usa_obama_clinton"}, {"response": 1056, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Nov 21, 2008 (16:18)", "body": "The NYT story: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/22/us/politics/22obama.html?_r=1&hp Interesting. I didn't know she was disenchanted to some degree with her role and reception in the Senate."}, {"response": 1057, "author": "Moon", "date": "Fri, Nov 21, 2008 (17:12)", "body": "Considering that most/all endorsed O, I can understand her disenchantment. Reid has been condesending to her now as well. He makes me sick. This country should be happy and proud to have her as SoS."}, {"response": 1058, "author": "mari", "date": "Fri, Nov 21, 2008 (17:25)", "body": "Here's what I've heard: she wanted to lead the Senate charge on health care, and then Ted \"Lazarus\" Kennedy said, not so fast, I ain't dead yet, that's my baby. The other day he said he wanted her to head his \"working committee\" on health care. Gee, thanks a lot. Supposedly BO will announce her as SOS after Thanksgiving. They are still dotting the i's and crossing the t's on vetting Bill C's Foundation's financial arrangements with foreign donors. It will be a shame to see him have to curtail that work; his foundation has done a helluva job, especially in places like Atrica, where a $10 mosquito net makes the difference between a kid living and dying, and putting the strong arm on the U.S. drug manufacturers to donate or sell at very low cost their HIV medications. But Hillary will do a great job. She has her work cut out for her. Lots of fences to mend, and some badly-needed changes in direction to be made. And honestly, with the country just about broke and in debt up to our eyeballs, I have to wonder how much health care is going to be achieved in the next few years."}, {"response": 1059, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Nov 22, 2008 (09:12)", "body": "Interesting also.... \"Talking Points Memo has an interesting take on the Clinton nomination. Hillary still owes $7.5 million to various vendors for her campaign.....$5.4 million of that is owed to Mark Penn for services rendered. While she has nearly cut her debt in half since June, all fundraising would have to end if she accepts the position. Obama is considering Clinton for secretary of state. As a Cabinet member Clinton would face fundraising restrictions to retire her vendor debt. A 2001 advisory opinion by the federal Office of Special Counsel said a federal employee who still had a campaign debt would be prohibited from \"personally soliciting, accepting or receiving political contributions.\" Clinton could name an agent from her campaign committee to continue to organize and hold fundraising events to retire the debt. Clinton would be limited to attending a fundraising event and simply stating her appreciation to donors.\" http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/11/21/18312/761/285/664851"}, {"response": 1060, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sat, Nov 22, 2008 (12:05)", "body": "Thank you, Dorine. I hope I'm not the only one here thinking that BO still hates her. He owes her and will offer SoS, but don't you believe it would have been his first choice. They are still dotting the i's and crossing the t's on vetting Bill C's Foundation's financial arrangements with foreign donors. Double standards. Bill Clinton's organization has been doing outstanding work, as Mari said. BO has yet to release anything on his foreign contributions. He wants to put his cabinet through an ethics standard that he himself can not pass. But what the hell, he's got the power, he knows how to use it. Kumbaya and all that jazz."}, {"response": 1061, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Nov 22, 2008 (14:59)", "body": "(Moon) but don't you believe it would have been his first choice. May be, but really, so what? She'll get it in the end and I think she's a fabulous choice. I'm certain that was part of a deal struck way back when, when it came up here before. I don't expect them to be best buds or even like each other. Politics make strange bedfellows. As long as they're effective, they could poke each other with pins daily for all I care."}, {"response": 1062, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sat, Nov 22, 2008 (15:24)", "body": "LOL, what? Take out the voodoo doll, you think? ;-) Frankly, I don't care either, just make the bloody announcement already."}, {"response": 1063, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Nov 23, 2008 (16:58)", "body": "Have you seen this? http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081120/od_afp/ushistoryeducationoffbeat You can take the quiz here: http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx I did pretty well. Only missed 3. A little too esoteric for me. ;-)"}, {"response": 1064, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Nov 23, 2008 (20:11)", "body": "I saw the story, but didn't have time to take the quiz at the time."}, {"response": 1065, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Nov 23, 2008 (20:22)", "body": "It's multiple choice, not essay. ;-)"}, {"response": 1066, "author": "marlena", "date": "Mon, Nov 24, 2008 (11:34)", "body": "Interesting quiz! I missed 6. Most were questions about the economy. My brain must be on economic overload from reading too much recent news."}, {"response": 1067, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Nov 24, 2008 (11:57)", "body": "vg, Marlene! Well above average, that's for sure. BTW, there are a couple of reasons why I would do well on this quiz, one being I majored in History. ;-)"}, {"response": 1068, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Nov 30, 2008 (10:31)", "body": "I'm not sure how his charitable Foundation is working, but if well, I hope these arrangements don't become detrimental to the work and those who benefit from it. Officials: Obama set to introduce Clinton Monday * Buzz Up * Send o Email o IM * Share o Digg o Facebook o Newsvine o del.icio.us o Reddit o StumbleUpon o Technorati o Yahoo! Bookmarks * Print By BETH FOUHY, Associated Press Writer Beth Fouhy, Associated Press Writer \ufffd 17 mins ago Featured Topics: * Barack Obama * Presidential Transition Obama: 'Coming together to overcome adversity' Play Video AP \ufffd Obama: 'Coming together to overcome adversity' * Hillary Clinton Slideshow: Hillary Clinton * Obama to name Clinton secretary of state on Mon. Play Video Video: Obama to name Clinton secretary of state on Mon. AP * With Obama, will the US turn green ? Play Video Video: With Obama, will the US turn green ? AFP In this Nov. 21, 2008 file photo, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., attends AP \ufffd In this Nov. 21, 2008 file photo, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., attends a memorial ceremony for \ufffd A deal with Bill Clinton over his post-White House work helped clear the way for Hillary Rodham Clinton to join President-elect Barack Obama's national security team as secretary of state, reshaping a once-bitter rivalry into a high-profile strategic and diplomatic union. Obama was to be joined by the New York senator at a Chicago news conference Monday, Democratic officials said, where he also planned to announce that Defense Secretary Robert Gates would remain in his job for a year or more and that retired Marine General James M. Jones would serve as national security adviser. The officials requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly for the transition team. To make it possible for his wife to become the top U.S. diplomat, the officials said, former President Clinton agreed: _to disclose the names of every contributor to his foundation since its inception in 1997 and all contributors going forward. _to refuse donations from foreign governments to the Clinton Global Initiative, his annual charitable conference. _to cease holding CGI meetings overseas. _to volunteer to step away from day-to-day management of the foundation while his wife is secretary of state. _to submit his speaking schedule to review by the State Department and White House counsel. _to submit any new sources of income to a similar ethical review. Bill Clinton's business deals and global charitable endeavors had been expected to create problems for the former first lady's nomination. But in negotiations with the Obama transition team, the former president agreed to several measures designed to bring transparency to those activities. \"It's a big step,\" said Sen. Richard G. Lugar of Indiana, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who said he plans to vote to confirm Clinton. The former president long had refused to disclose the identities of contributors to his foundation, saying many gave money on condition that they not be identified. Lugar said there would still be \"legitimate questions\" raised about the former president's extensive international involvement. \"I don't know how, given all of our ethics standards now, anyone quite measures up to this who has such cosmic ties, but ... hopefully, this team of rivals will work,\" Lugar said. Obama's choice of Hillary Clinton was an extraordinary gesture of good will after a year in which the two rivals competed for the Democratic nomination in a long, bitter primary battle. They clashed repeatedly on foreign affairs. Obama criticized Clinton for her vote to authorize the Iraq war. Clinton said Obama lacked the experience to be president and she chided him for saying he would meet with leaders of nations such as Iran and Cuba without conditions. The bitterness began melting away in June after Clinton ended her campaign and endorsed Obama. She went on to campaign for him in his general election contest against Republican Sen. John McCain. Advisers said Obama had for several months envisioned Clinton as his top diplomat, and he invited her to Chicago to discuss the job just a week after the Nov. 4 election. The two met privately Nov. 13 in Obama's transition office in downtown Chicago. Clinton was said to be interested and then to waver, concerned about relinquishing her Senate seat and the political independence it conferred. Those concerns were largely resolved after Obama assured her she would be able to choose a staff and have direct access to him, advisers said. Remaining in the Senate also may not have been an attractive choice for Clinton. Despite her political celebrity, she is a relatively junior senator without prospects for a leadership position or committee chairmanship anytime soon. Some Democrats and government insiders have questioned whether Clinton is too independent and politically ambitious to serve Obama as secretary of state. But a senior Obama adviser has said the president-elect ha"}, {"response": 1069, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Nov 30, 2008 (10:32)", "body": "Wow, talk about being half awake and poor copyediting on my part.... :-(("}, {"response": 1070, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sun, Nov 30, 2008 (12:34)", "body": "As I've said before, Obama has not been put through what he's doing to Bill Clinton. Kumbaya! The former president long had refused to disclose the identities of contributors to his foundation, saying many gave money on condition that they not be identified. OK, I was one of them. ;-) I want to know about Kumbaya's foreign donations, who are they, which countries are they from... double standards. But I knew that. Clinton's organization has done so much good in the world, and Kumbaya is putting a big dent in what he can do. F total power freak, but I knew that."}, {"response": 1071, "author": "mari", "date": "Mon, Dec  1, 2008 (13:21)", "body": "Footage of Hillary's SOS acceptance speech: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4640300n&tag=centerColumn;centerColumnContent"}, {"response": 1072, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Dec  1, 2008 (13:29)", "body": "Ah, there was speculation about whether he'd give her time to say something as he hasn't for some of his other picks, but I couldn't see how he couldn't, her of all people. Yay for the official nomination."}, {"response": 1073, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Dec  1, 2008 (13:34)", "body": "Thank you Mari. She's so well spoken and so \"presidential.\""}, {"response": 1074, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Dec  1, 2008 (13:58)", "body": "(Moon) As I've said before, Obama has not been put through what he's doing to Bill Clinton. A president doesn't have to vetted by a Senate subcommittee."}, {"response": 1075, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Dec  1, 2008 (15:01)", "body": "I know, Karen. But not even the Media care to put him through it. He's a smart man, right know, the best defense is offense and as long as he keeps scoring, everyone is happy. No questions asked. ;-)"}, {"response": 1076, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Dec  1, 2008 (15:20)", "body": "Constitutionally, the Media isn't required to. ;-)"}, {"response": 1077, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Dec  1, 2008 (18:55)", "body": "LOL, you're absolutely right. They pick and chose their battles. ;-)"}, {"response": 1078, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Dec  1, 2008 (20:12)", "body": "Gosh, it was only yesterday that I remember sitting in a booth at Balthazar's, arguing with someone about whether we were in a recession or not. Seems it officially started last December..."}, {"response": 1079, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Dec  2, 2008 (01:34)", "body": "*snort* Believe me, I'd already planned to point that out tomorrow....er, later. ;-D"}, {"response": 1080, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Dec  2, 2008 (12:35)", "body": "Finally, banging on these guys' heads with a sledgehammer has paid off or the PR firm they've hired, says cynically me: Ford says CEO will work for $1 to get loans By TOM KRISHER and KIMBERLY S. JOHNSON, AP Auto Writers Tom Krisher And Kimberly S. Johnson, Ap Auto Writers 7 mins ago DETROIT \ufffd Ford Motor Co. will tell Congress that it plans to return to a pretax profit or break even in 2011 when the Detroit Three automakers' CEOs appear before lawmakers this week to request $25 billion in government loans. Ford CEO Alan Mulally said he'll work for $1 per year if the company has to take any government loan money. After grilling the CEOs at hearings last month, Congressional leaders demanded plans from the automakers by Tuesday to show that they will survive if they get federal funds. The plan Ford submitted said the company will cancel all management employees' 2009 bonuses and will not pay any merit increases for its North American salaried employees next year. The company also said it will sell its five corporate aircraft. The CEOs of all three Detroit automakers were harshly criticized during last month's hearings for flying to Washington in separate corporate jets. Mulally said in an interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday that Ford will give much more detail to Congress than it did previously, and the company will emphasize the steps it has taken to cut its labor costs with the United Auto Workers union. Mulally said Ford will seek $9 billion as its share of the loan money but may not need to use it. The Dearborn-based company has said it has enough cash to make it through next year without assistance. As part of the plan submitted to Congress, Ford said it does not anticipate a liquidity crisis in 2009, \"barring a bankruptcy by one of its domestic competitors or a more severe economic downturn that would further cripple automotive sales.\" The loan would provide a safeguard against worsening conditions, the company said. The company said it will accelerate plans to roll out electric vehicles as part of its plan. \"We are going to do that across our product line,\" Mulally said in the interview. The first plug-in vehicle will be a Transit Connect small van for commercial use in 2010 and a car the size of the Ford Focus compact the following year. Ford also said it will accelerate plans for hybrid gas-electric vehicles. Mulally said he will encourage automakers and parts suppliers to join forces to develop new battery technologies in the U.S. for future electric cars so the country doesn't rely on foreign batteries. \"We don't want to trade oil for batteries,\" he said. Ford's plan calls for an investment of up to $14 billion to improve fuel efficiency over the next seven years. The company said would improve the overall efficiency of its fleet by an average of 14 percent in 2009. The CEOs of the Detroit Three are scheduled to appear before congressional committees Thursday and Friday. Chrysler LLC and General Motors Corp. have said they are perilously low on cash and need the government loans to survive the recession and the worst auto sales environment in 25 years. GM and Chrysler were to submit their plans to Congress later in the day. The CEOs were skewered on their first visit in November, when lawmakers criticized them for high labor costs and products that aren't competitive with foreign automakers. \"I think we learned a lot from that experience,\" Mulally said in the interview, adding that the CEOs were there last time to discuss the progress of the industry, not a plan for viability. Ford's new plan is 32 pages long, plus an appendix, and it includes much detail that was lacking during the first visit. The company says its plan to achieve profitability or break even by 2011 is based on industrywide sales estimates of 12.5 million units in 2009, 14.5 million in 2010 and 15.5 million in 2011. The seasonally adjusted annual sales rate dropped to 10.6 million vehicles in October. Ford shares rose 25 cents, or 9.8 percent, to $2.80 in midday trading. Ford's plan said it will reduce its number of dealers by 606 to 3,790 by the end of the year. It will also trim the number of major sourcing suppliers it uses to 750 from 1,600. Ford reiterated its intention to offload Volvo, by either selling the Swedish automaker or spinning it off into a separate company. Since 2007, Ford has sold its Jaguar, Aston Martin and Land Rover lines. It also sold most of its stake in Madza."}, {"response": 1081, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Dec  2, 2008 (13:53)", "body": "See, to a certain extent PR-driven. But practically, they weren't going to get a dime if they didn't publicly make amends. From another AP article: General Motors Corp., Ford and Chrysler LLC said they would refinance their companies' debt, cut executive pay, seek concessions from workers and find other ways of reviving their staggering companies. The Big Three executives also are offering a series of mostly symbolic moves to burnish their images, badly tattered after they arrived in Washington D.C. last month on three separate private jets to plead for a federal lifeline for their struggling companies. All three companies offered separate plans for hearings that will be held Thursday and Friday. That approach the auto executives took last month led Democratic congressional leaders to declare they didn't come prepared to justify their pleas and they told them to go back home and ready a new plan. This week, the automakers are going out of their way to show deference to lawmakers and a willingness to flog themselves for past mistakes. \"I think we learned a lot from that experience,\" Ford CEO Alan Mulally told The Associated Press in an interview. Mulally said he'd work for $1 per year if his firm had to take any government loan money. The company's plan also says it will cancel all management employees' 2009 bonuses, scrap merit increases for its North American salaried employees next year, and sell its five corporate aircraft. And for this week's appearances here, all three company chiefs will skip the lavish travel arrangements. Mulally is coming by car [Ed note: I believe they got the idea from SNL] from Detroit for this week's second round of congressional hearings on government help for the Big Three. GM Chief Rick Wagoner will drive a Chevrolet Malibu hybrid sedan for the 520-mile trek from Detroit to Capitol Hill, spokesman Tony Cervone said Tuesday. And Chrysler LLC CEO Robert Nardelli won't travel by corporate jet, but a spokeswoman declined to elaborate on his travel plans, citing security reasons. The unions were preparing to make sacrifices as well. United Auto Workers leaders summoned local union leaders from across the country to an emergency meeting Wednesday in Detroit to discuss concessions the union could make to help auto companies get government loans. U.S. automakers are struggling to stay afloat heading into 2009 under the weight of an economic meltdown, the worst auto sales in decades and a tight credit market. General Motors, Ford and Chrysler went through nearly $18 billion in cash reserves during the last quarter, and GM and Chrysler have said they could collapse in weeks. Meanwhile, the auto companies released new sales numbers that underlined the punishing business environment facing the Big Three. Ford said its November U.S. light vehicle sales tumbled 31 percent amid a continued slump in consumer spending and tight credit markets. Sales at Toyota, Japan's No. 1 automaker, fell 34 percent despite its extension of zero-percent financing on a dozen vehicles. Ford's blueprint said it would invest $14 billion over the next seven years to boost its vehicles' fuel-efficiency, and improve the overall efficiency of its fleet by an average of 14 percent next year. And Ford is calling for a new partnership among automakers, parts suppliers and the government to develop new battery technologies domestically, so the U.S. doesn't have to rely on foreign batteries \ufffd as it now does on foreign oil \ufffd to power its cars. GM will outline efforts to negotiate swapping some of the company's debt for equity stakes in the automaker, either shares or warrants for them, said two people briefed on the company's plan. With eight separate brands, GM will also discuss efforts to shed brands but it would prefer to sell them instead of shutting down Pontiac, Saturn or Saab, said one of the people briefed on the plan. Killing off brands, like GM did with Oldsmobile in 2004, would require cash the company doesn't have, the person said. The people briefed on GM's preparations didn't want to be identified because the plan hadn't been completed. Chrysler is expected to outline changes that would include a swap of debt in the company for equity stakes and reductions in some vehicle models, according to a person who was briefed on the plan. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the discussions were private. GM, according to its quarterly report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, owes creditors $45 billion and it must pay more than $7.5 billion early in 2010 to a UAW-administered trust fund that will take over retiree health care payments. Ford owes more than $26 billion, with $6.3 billion due to its UAW trust fund at the end of 2009. Chrysler, a private company, does not have to open its books, but its CEO, Nardelli, has said it would be difficult for the company to make it without federal aid. All three likely are negotiating with the UAW for delays in payments to the trusts. The companie"}, {"response": 1082, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Dec  4, 2008 (14:23)", "body": "I am disappointed that the Obamas did not chose to place their girls in public school. There is an excellent one a few blocks from the White House. My friends who have girls at Sidwell were informed that they will have to change their drop-off schedule. No one is allowed to be around when the O girls get dropped off."}, {"response": 1083, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Dec  5, 2008 (23:46)", "body": "What does that mean, no one around? How far is around? I'm surprised by this.... Caroline Kennedy interested in NY Senate seat By DEVLIN BARRETT and BETH FOUHY, Associated Press Writers 1 hr 7 mins ago WASHINGTON \ufffd Caroline Kennedy is interested in the Senate seat that would open once Hillary Rodham Clinton becomes secretary of state, according to a close relative who says the powerful Kennedy clan is fully behind her rising to the office previously held by her uncle. \"I know she's interested,\" Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Friday. \"She spent a lot of her life balancing public service with obligations to her family. Now her children are grown, and she is ready to move onto a bigger stage.\" Once Clinton is confirmed to President-elect Barack Obama's cabinet, New York Gov. David Paterson will appoint someone to fill the seat for two years. The Kennedy family's connections and history cannot force Paterson to choose Caroline, who is the daughter of President John F. Kennedy. But the family's strong support could increase pressure on Paterson to choose her above lesser-known contenders. Seeking the Senate seat would also be a significant departure from the life that she has lived until now, zealously guarding her family's privacy \ufffd and her own. Robert Kennedy said the family would come out en masse for her if she does get the appointment and has to run for election in 2010. \"If she runs, you will see more Kennedys than you have ever seen in your life,\" he said. An environmental lawyer who took himself out of consideration for the Senate seat earlier this week, Robert Kennedy said he has spoken to his cousin about the position and is one of \"many, many people\" urging her to seek it. He also offered a policy rationale for her in the role: education. \"She's probably one of the leading advocates in the nation on public education. She feels a lot of the issues she's worked on are in danger of being shunted aside because of the economic crisis,\" he said. Democrats said Caroline Kennedy and Paterson have already spoken about the Senate seat, and she is interested. After two New York Democrats said Kennedy and the governor are expected to meet privately to discuss the matter Saturday, the governor's spokesman said they do not have a meeting planned. Kennedy is the niece of Edward and Robert Kennedy. Robert Kennedy held the New York seat from 1965 until his assassination in 1968. Edward Kennedy has been a senator from Massachusetts since 1963. As a prominent member of the Kennedy clan, Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg is the kind of high-profile, historic figure who could overshadow many other New York politicians hoping to be Paterson's choice. The governor has said he is in no rush to make a decision, and Clinton is not giving up the seat before she is confirmed as President-elect Barack Obama's secretary of state. \"The governor has not yet reached out to any potential candidates,\" said Paterson's spokesman, Errol Cockfield. \"He has been approached by several candidates. Any discussions related to that selection are private and the governor will not comment about speculation before a decision is made.\" Whoever Paterson appoints would serve for two years and then have to run in a special election in 2010, along with Paterson and New York's senior senator, Charles Schumer. The candidate would then have to run again in 2012. Kennedy has strong connections to incoming Obama administration officials \ufffd though Obama transition spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter insisted they were not involved in any way with the search for the next U.S. senator from New York. As a prominent booster of Barack Obama's presidential bid, Kennedy spent much of 2008 taking bigger steps onto the public stage. As famous as she is, she always has been viewed as almost painfully shy. She met her husband, Edwin Schlossberg, while working at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. They married in 1986 and have three children. She made a splash in early 2008 by writing an op-ed column for The New York Times declaring her support for Obama, saying he had the potential to be as inspirational to Americans as her father was in the 1960s. She also spoke at the Democratic National Convention. She then hit the campaign trail with Obama, and worked on the vice-presidential search that eventually settled on Joe Biden. Caroline Kennedy is easily the most famous contender for Clinton's Senate seat, but there are plenty of others. New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is widely known in the state. Paterson could also pick Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown or Tom Suozzi, a Long Island elected official. There are also a number of House members in the running, including Reps. Carolyn Maloney, Kirsten Gillibrand, Steve Israel, Brian Higgins, Nydia Velazquez and Jerrold Nadler. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081206/ap_on_el_se/kennedy_senate_seat"}, {"response": 1084, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Dec  7, 2008 (17:17)", "body": "Typing Without a Clue By TIMOTHY EGAN Published: December 6, 2008 The unlicensed pipe fitter known as Joe the Plumber is out with a book this month, just as the last seconds on his 15 minutes are slipping away. I have a question for Joe: Do you want me to fix your leaky toilet? I didn\ufffdt think so. And I don\ufffdt want you writing books. Not when too many good novelists remain unpublished. Not when too many extraordinary histories remain unread. Not when too many riveting memoirs are kicked back at authors after 10 years of toil. Not when voices in Iran, North Korea or China struggle to get past a censor\ufffds gate. Joe, a k a Samuel J. Wurzelbacher, was no good as a citizen, having failed to pay his full share of taxes, no good as a plumber, not being fully credentialed, and not even any good as a faux American icon. Who could forget poor John McCain at his most befuddled, calling out for his working-class surrogate on a day when Joe stiffed him. With a r\ufffdsum\ufffd full of failure, he now thinks he can join the profession of Mark Twain, George Orwell and Joan Didion. Next up may be Sarah Palin, who is said to be worth nearly $7 million if she can place her thoughts between covers. Publishers: with all the grim news of layoffs and staff cuts at the venerable houses of American letters, can we set some ground rules for these hard times? Anyone who abuses the English language on such a regular basis should not be paid to put words in print. Here\ufffds Palin\ufffds response, after Matt Lauer asked her when she knew the election was lost: \ufffdI had great faith that, you know, perhaps when that voter entered that voting booth and closed that curtain that what would kick in for them was, perhaps, a bold step that would have to be taken in casting a vote for us, but having to put a lot of faith in that commitment we tried to articulate that we were the true change agent that would progress this nation.\ufffd I have no idea what she said in that thicket of words. Most of the writers I know work every day, in obscurity and close to poverty, trying to say one thing well and true. Day in, day out, they labor to find their voice, to learn their trade, to understand nuance and pace. And then, facing a sea of rejections, they hear about something like Barbara Bush\ufffds dog getting a book deal. Writing is hard, even for the best wordsmiths. Ernest Hemingway said the most frightening thing he ever encountered was \ufffda blank sheet of paper.\ufffd And Winston Churchill called the act of writing a book \ufffda horrible, exhaustive struggle, like a long bout of painful illness.\ufffd When I heard J.T.P. had a book, I thought of that Chris Farley skit from \ufffdSaturday Night Live.\ufffd He\ufffds a motivational counselor, trying to keep some slacker youths from living in a van down by the river, just like him. One kid tells him he wants to write. \ufffdLa-di-frickin\ufffd-da!\ufffd Farley says. \ufffdWe got ourselves a writer here!\ufffd If Joe really wants to write, he should keep his day job and spend his evenings reading Rick Reilly\ufffds sports columns, Peggy Noonan\ufffds speeches, or Jess Walter\ufffds fiction. He should open Dostoevsky or Norman Maclean \ufffd for osmosis, if nothing else. He should study Frank McCourt on teaching or Annie Dillard on writing. The idea that someone who stumbled into a sound bite can be published, and charge $24.95 for said words, makes so many real writers think the world is unfair. Our next president is a writer, which may do something to elevate standards in the book industry. The last time a true writer occupied the White House was a hundred years ago, with Teddy Roosevelt, who wrote 13 books before his 40th birthday. Barack Obama\ufffds first book, the memoir of a mixed-race man, is terrific. Outside of a few speeches, he will probably not write anything memorable until he\ufffds out office, but I look forward to that presidential memoir. For the others \ufffd you friends of celebrities penning cookbooks, you train wrecks just out of rehab, you politicians with an agent but no talent \ufffd stop soaking up precious advance money. I know: publishers say they print garbage so that real literature, which seldom makes any money, can find its way into print. True, to a point. But some of them print garbage so they can buy more garbage. There was a time when I wanted to be like Sting, the singer, belting out, \ufffdRoxanne ...\ufffd I guess that\ufffds why we have karaoke, for fantasy night. If only there was such a thing for failed plumbers, politicians or celebrities who think they can write. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/07/opinion/07egan.html?em"}, {"response": 1085, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Dec  8, 2008 (13:04)", "body": "(Dorine) I'm surprised by this.... In hindsight though it makes sense, especially when viewed through Machiabellian lenses. ;-)"}, {"response": 1086, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Dec  8, 2008 (13:14)", "body": "Jon's automaker/Congress segment last Thursday was priceless. You may need to watch the videoclip from the entire episode, as this is missing is outcry at the very end to give them their money, which apparently is now going to happen from today's headlines: http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=212876&title=Clusterf#@k-to-the-Poor-House---Bean-on-a-Plate-Edition"}, {"response": 1087, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Dec  8, 2008 (14:23)", "body": "Iraqi Women, Fighting for a Voice Activists Confront Dual Powers of Religion, Tribalism By Sudarsan Raghavan Washington Post Sunday, December 7, 2008 IRBIL, Iraq -- Hawjin Hama Rashid, a feisty journalist in bluejeans and a frilly blouse, had come to the morgue in this Kurdish city to research tribal killings of women. \"A week doesn't pass without at least 10,\" the morgue director said, showing Rashid pictures of corpses on his computer screen. First, a bloated, pummeled face. Next, a red, shapeless, charred body. \"Raped, then burned,\" the director said. Then, another face, eyes half-closed, stab wounds below her neck. Rashid leaned closer to the screen. It was the bloody corpse of her best friend, Begard Hussein. Hussein had complained to police about her ex-husband, who had threatened to kill her if she refused to annul their divorce. Rashid had wanted to publish a photograph of her friend's body after she was killed in April, but officials said none existed. \"They lied to me,\" Rashid said as she left the morgue, her sorrow fusing with anger. From the southern port city of Basra to bustling Irbil in northern Iraq, Iraqi activists are trying to counter the rising influence of religious fundamentalists and tribal chieftains who have insisted that women wear the veil, prevented girls from receiving education and sanctioned killings of women accused of besmirching their family's honor. In their quest for stability in Iraq, U.S. officials have empowered tribal and religious leaders, Sunni and Shiite, who reject the secularism that Saddam Hussein once largely maintained. These leaders have imposed strict interpretations of Islam and enforced tribal codes that female activists say limit their freedom and encourage violence against them. \"Women are being strangled by religion and tribalism,\" said Muna Saud, a 52-year-old activist in Basra. Read it all here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/06/AR2008120602289.html I have always said that Saddam H was not perfect, but at least Iraq was secular. His cabinet members were mixed religions. Bush was mighty stupid to invade. As usual women are the top victims. :-("}, {"response": 1088, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Dec  8, 2008 (16:17)", "body": "Sounds like Afghanistan."}, {"response": 1089, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Dec  8, 2008 (19:15)", "body": "Exactly. And Iraq was not that way with SH. Bush was very stupid to lessen the US presence in Afghanistan. I feel for those women."}, {"response": 1090, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Dec  9, 2008 (11:18)", "body": "Ill. Gov. arrested in Obama successor probe By MIKE ROBINSON, Associated Press Writer Mike Robinson, Associated Press Writer 13 mins ago CHICAGO \ufffd Federal authorities arrested Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich Tuesday on charges that he brazenly conspired to sell or trade the U.S. Senate seat left vacant by President-elect Barack Obama to the highest bidder. Blagojevich also was charged with illegally threatening to withhold state assistance to Tribune Co., the owner of the Chicago Tribune, in the sale of Wrigley Field, according to a federal criminal complaint. In return for state assistance, Blagojevich allegedly wanted members of the paper's editorial board who had been critical of him fired. A 76-page FBI affidavit said the 51-year-old Democratic governor was intercepted on court-authorized wiretaps over the last month conspiring to sell or trade the vacant Senate seat for personal benefits for himself and his wife, Patti. Otherwise, Blagojevich considered appointing himself. The affidavit said that as late as Nov. 3, he told his deputy governor that if \"they're not going to offer me anything of value I might as well take it.\" \"I'm going to keep this Senate option for me a real possibility, you know, and therefore I can drive a hard bargain,\" Blagojevich allegedly said later that day, according to the affidavit, which also quoted him as saying in a remark punctuated by profanity that the seat was \"a valuable thing \ufffd you just don't give it away for nothing.\" The affidavit said Blagojevich also discussed getting a substantial salary for himself at a nonprofit foundation or an organization affiliated with labor unions. It said Blagojevich also talked about getting his wife placed on corporate boards where she might get $150,000 a year in director's fees. He also allegedly discussed getting campaign funds for himself or possibly a post in the president's cabinet or an ambassadorship once he left the governor's office. He noted becoming a U.S. senator might remake his image for a possible presidential run in 2016, according to the affidavit. And he allegedly said a Senate seat would also provide him with corporate contacts if he needed a job and present an opportunity for his wife to work as a lobbyist. \"I want to make money,\" the affidavit quotes him as saying in one conversation. The affidavit said Blagojevich expressed frustration at being \"stuck\" as governor and that he would have access to greater resources if he were indicted while in the U.S. Senate than while sitting as governor. U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald said in a statement that \"the breadth of corruption laid out in these charges is staggering.\" \"They allege that Blagojevich put a for sale sign on the naming of a United States senator,\" Fitzgerald said.\" Among those being considered for the post include U.S. Reps. Danny Davis and Jesse Jackson Jr. Blagojevich also was charged with using his authority as governor in an attempt to squeeze out campaign contributions. His chief of staff, John Harris, also was arrested. Corruption in the Blagojevich administration has been the focus of a federal investigation involving an alleged $7 million scheme aimed at squeezing kickbacks out of companies seeking business from the state. Federal prosecutors have acknowledged they're also investigating \"serious allegations of endemic hiring fraud\" under Blagojevich. Political fundraiser Antoin \"Tony\" Rezko who raised money for the campaigns of both Blagojevich and Obama is awaiting sentencing after being convicted of fraud and other charges. Blagojevich's chief fundraiser, Christopher G. Kelly, is due to stand trial early next year on charges of obstructing the Internal Revenue Service. According to Tuesday's complaint, Blagojevich schemed with Rezko, millionaire-fundraiser turned federal witness Stuart Levine and others to get financial benefits for himself and his campaign committee. Federal prosecutors said Blagojevich and the chairman of his campaign committee have been speeding up corrupt fundraising activities in the last month to get as much money as possible before the end of the year when a new law would curtail his ability to raise contributions from companies with state contracts worth more than $50,000. According to the affidavit, agents learned Blagojevich was seeking $2.5 million in campaign contributions by the end of the year, with a large part allegedly to come from companies and individuals who have gotten state contracts or appointments. Blagojevich took the chief executive's office in 2003 as a reformer promising to clean up former Gov. George Ryan's mess. Ryan, a Republican, is serving a 6-year prison sentence after being convicted on racketeering and fraud charges. A decade-long investigation began with the sale of driver's licenses for bribes and led to the conviction of dozens of people who worked for Ryan when he was secretary of state and governor. FBI spokesman Frank Bochte said federal agents arrested the governor and Harris simultan"}, {"response": 1091, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Dec  9, 2008 (11:33)", "body": "Saw that. Wasn't he just participating at that sit-in at that factory?"}, {"response": 1092, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Dec  9, 2008 (14:49)", "body": "U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald said in a statement that \"the breadth of corruption laid out in these charges is staggering.\" But one got away... with it... ;-0"}, {"response": 1093, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Dec  9, 2008 (15:05)", "body": "Oh, Moon! ;-) Chicago politics is never dull. What's interesting to me is how the other side in this (which now has ALL) the power has gone after him. Yes, this is corruption, but you have no idea how long it took to indict George Ryan and his corruption resulted in the loss of lives."}, {"response": 1094, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Dec  9, 2008 (18:44)", "body": "Karen, all I can is... Al Capone! ;-) Inauguration? Follow All the Bouncing Balls: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/08/AR2008120803769.html Who doesn't love a ball?"}, {"response": 1095, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Dec  9, 2008 (18:54)", "body": "*hee hee* As in The Untouchables movie: The Chicago Way"}, {"response": 1096, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Dec 11, 2008 (00:59)", "body": "I thought this was a funny post about the Gov from the forum on a real estate site (of all places) I read sometimes.... It's very bipartisan in Chicago - Repub Gov in jail, now the Dem. This quote from the NYTImes article about sums it up: \"For example, according to the affidavit, Mr. Blagojevich discussed whether he could strip a Chicago children\ufffds hospital of $8 million in state money after a hospital executive declined to make a $50,000 contribution. He also discussed withholding state assistance from the financially struggling Tribune Company, which owns The Chicago Tribune, unless the newspaper dismissed unfriendly editorial writers.\" http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/09/us/politics/10Illinois.html?hp I mean, wow. This is like for a caricature of a bad guy in some disney film. When he laughs, does he go \"Muhahahahaha\"?"}, {"response": 1097, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Dec 11, 2008 (16:43)", "body": "t's very bipartisan in Chicago - Repub Gov in jail, now the Dem. When this one serves his time, it'll be even-Steven: two Dems and two Republicans (Dorine) When he laughs, does he go \"Muhahahahaha\"? No, actually, he has a very boyish voice. BTW, I just passed by the window factor, as its on Goose Island. On the radio, one of the stations was playing a Blagojevich version of the Lou Bega Mambo No 5 song. It's on YouTube...hysterical http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9eDA4rP_hA"}, {"response": 1098, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sun, Dec 14, 2008 (16:12)", "body": "Washington Post Sunday, December 14, 2008; Woman Blinded by Spurned Man Invokes Islamic Retribution TEHRAN -- Ameneh Bahrami once enjoyed photography and mountain vistas. Her work for a medical equipment company gave her financial independence. Several men had asked for her hand in marriage, but the hazel-eyed electrical technician had refused them all. \"I wanted to get married, but only to the man I really loved,\" she said. Four years ago, a spurned suitor poured a bucket of sulfuric acid over her head, leaving her blind and disfigured. Late last month, an Iranian court ordered that five drops of the same chemical be placed in each of her attacker's eyes, acceding to Bahrami's demand that he be punished according to a principle in Islamic jurisprudence that allows a victim to seek retribution for a crime. The sentence has not yet been carried out. The implementation of corporal punishments allowed under Islamic law, including lashing, amputation and stoning, has often provoked controversy in Iran, where many people have decried such sentences as barbaric. This case is different. Tehran journalist Asieh Amini, who writes about human rights and opposes the sentence, said protest has been muted because people have been moved by Bahrami's story. \"It's hard not to get emotional over what has happened to her,\" Amini said. Bahrami, 31, said she has fought long and hard to obtain what she views as justice. \"At an age at which I should be putting on a wedding dress, I am asking for someone's eyes to be dripped with acid,\" she said in a recent interview, as rain poured against the windows of her parents' small apartment in a lower-middle-class neighborhood of Tehran. \"I am doing that because I don't want this to happen to any other women.\" Some officials also said the punishment would be a deterrent. Full article here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/13/AR2008121302147.html?nav=hcmodule"}, {"response": 1099, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sun, Dec 14, 2008 (16:16)", "body": "Washington Post Foreign Service Sunday, December 14, 2008; 3:04 PM Bush Defends Iraq War During a Farewell Visit Iraqi Journalist Hurls Two Shoes at Bush During Press Conference With Al-Maliki BAGHDAD, Dec. 14 -- Arriving in Baghdad today for a farewell visit, President Bush staunchly defended a war that has taken far more time, money and lives than anticipated, saying the conflict \"has not been easy\" but was necessary for U.S. security, Iraqi stability and \"world peace.\" But during a press conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Bush received a taste of the immense resentment many Iraqis feel toward his policies: Just after Bush finished his remarks and said \"Thank you\" in Arabic, an Iraqi journalist took off his shoes and hurled them both at Bush, one after the other. The incident lent an air of chaos and farce to a trip intended to highlight improving security conditions in the war-torn country. \"This is a farewell kiss!\" the man, identified as Muntadar al-Zaidi, a reporter with the Cairo-based network Al Baghdadia Television, yelled as he threw the shoes. Bush had to duck out of the way, and narrowly missed being hit, according to on-scene reports. Maliki reached out his hand to shield the president. Zaidi started to yell \"Dog, dog!\" as he was surrounded by security agents, who tackled him to the floor and began to beat him. Zaidi was later removed from the ornate room where the press conference was taking place. Bush was not injured and joked about the incident. \"All I can report is it is a size 10,\" he said. Zaidi was seated in the second row of seats, about 12 feet from Bush's lectern. Zaidi, colleagues said, was kidnapped by Shiite militiamen last year and was later released. Throwing a shoe at someone is considered the worst possible insult in Iraq, and is meant to show extreme disrespect and hatred towards someone Bush landed in Iraq Sunday under a veil of secrecy for his fourth and presumably final stop as president in a war zone that will be central to defining his turbulent presidency. Air Force One landed in Baghdad at around 4 p.m. local time after a 10-1/2 hour overnight flight from Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington. Bush was scheduled to meet with U.S. troops and Iraqi leaders about a recently completed security agreement, which calls for the withdrawal of U.S. forces by 2011. After meeting with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani at Salam Palace, Bush hailed the security agreement as \"a reminder of our friendship and as a way forward to help the Iraqi people realize the blessings of a free society.\" \"The work hasn't been easy, but it has been necessary for American security, Iraqi hope, and world peace,\" Bush said, adding: \"I am just so grateful that I had a chance to come back to Iraq before my presidency ended.\" Bush's praise for the security agreement is particularly remarkable given that the U.S. administration spent years dismissing proposals for withdrawal timelines as dangerous admissions of defeat. The agreement came after months of hard bargaining by Iraqi leaders, who insisted on a firm date for the removal of U.S. troops. Bush and his aides characterize the agreement as a sign of improvement, and Bush said earlier this week that the fight in Iraq was nearing \"a successful end.\" His last visit comes against a backdrop of declining violence across Iraq, which the Bush Administration attributes to a buildup of thousands of reinforcements last year. U.S. commanders have also credited the lower levels of violence to a ceasefire by anti-American Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr and to the Sunni Awakening, in which former insurgents and tribal leaders turned their weapons against Sunni extremists. Full article here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/14/AR2008121401170.html?hpid%3Dtopnews&sub=AR"}, {"response": 1100, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sun, Dec 14, 2008 (16:18)", "body": "So according to Islamic Law, Bush will now be able to throw 2 size 10 shoes at the reporter? ;-)"}, {"response": 1101, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Dec 14, 2008 (16:23)", "body": "Throwing a shoe at someone is considered the worst possible insult in Iraq, and is meant to show extreme disrespect and hatred towards someone Interesting, never knew this. Why two? An eye-for-an-eye is the OT ratio. The Koran doubles it?"}, {"response": 1102, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Dec 14, 2008 (17:19)", "body": "The guy threw 2 shoes at Bush so seems fair. ;-) Hysterical. Did anyone see the video? He really whipped them at him. Bush is quick, gotta give him that."}, {"response": 1103, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Dec 14, 2008 (17:48)", "body": "OK, I must have glossed over that section. Thought he heaved only one."}, {"response": 1104, "author": "mari", "date": "Mon, Dec 15, 2008 (12:55)", "body": "(Do)He really whipped them at him. Bush is quick, gotta give him that. He sure did duck mighty quickly. Good reflexes. And I have to give him this-- he was funny about it: \"I can confirm that they were size 10.\" LOL! The late night comics will have a field day. And I'm sure Frank Caliendo will have a spot on impression, \"What we have here is a shoe-ification.\";-) I remember when the statue of Saddam fell, all those people slapping the fallen statue with their shoes."}, {"response": 1105, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Dec 15, 2008 (13:38)", "body": "LOL, not a country for me, with my shoe fetish. ;-) The M and their idiocies never surprise me."}, {"response": 1106, "author": "mari", "date": "Tue, Dec 16, 2008 (11:56)", "body": "The late-night shows on the shoe-throwing incident: Letterman: I don't think President Bush has dodged anything like that since, well, the Vietnam War. Leno: Looks like we finally found something President Bush is good at - dodgeball! Ferguson: The shoe-throwing incident has made Sarah Palin want to be president even more. Free shoes! You betcha! Conan: He's being hailed as a hero in Iraq... when he dies he'll be greeted in heaven by 172 podiatrists."}, {"response": 1107, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Dec 16, 2008 (15:03)", "body": "The man who threw the shoes is now a famous hero in Muslim countries. Poor them."}, {"response": 1108, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Dec 22, 2008 (21:40)", "body": "Today's Wash Post: Somalis' Choice: Join Islamists or Flee U.S.-Backed Invasion Failed to Thwart Takeover DADAAB, Kenya -- By the time Mohamed Abdi Ibrahim decided to leave Somalia, life in the southern city of Kismaayo had become, as he put it with consummate understatement, \"complicated.\" Young men there had long shouldered AK-47 assault rifles and joined clan militias. But as an Islamist militia known as al-Shabab took control this year, it had become a place where boys were paid $50 to throw bombs, soccer fields served as militia training camps, and Islamist leaders walked into classrooms to take names of potential recruits. Ibrahim and two friends fled several months ago, just after the Shabab began beating people not attending Friday prayers and just before the group publicly stoned to death a 13-year-old girl it had convicted of adultery. The options for young men like them, it seemed, had narrowed to two: sign up or run. \"For us, it was not good to join,\" said Ibrahim, a lanky 22-year-old who fled to this overflowing refugee camp across the Kenyan border. \"Because if we join one side, the other side will hunt us and kill us.\" The scenario now unfolding in Somalia is the one a U.S.-backed Ethiopian invasion nearly two years ago had been intended to thwart: a takeover by radical Islamists. At the time, Ethiopian forces ousted a relatively diverse Islamic movement that had briefly gained control of the capital, Mogadishu. In its place, they installed a transitional government headed by a warlord who allowed the United States to launch counterterrorism operations in the moderate Muslim nation. But the policy backfired, inspiring a relentless insurgency of clan militias and Islamist fighters that has left Somalia's first central government since 1991 near collapse. On Sunday night, advisers and supporters of President Abdullahi Yusuf -- who has been accused of obstructing a possible political compromise to help end the insurgency -- said that he would resign Monday, although as with everything in Somalia, the situation remained fluid. The two-year insurgency has energized the most radical Islamist faction, the Shabab -- \"youth\" in Arabic -- which the United States has designated a terrorist organization. Rallying young men with anti-Ethiopian rhetoric and a promised ticket to paradise, the group advanced this year across much of southern Somalia, including the capital, Mogadishu. Analysts predict the Shabab will extend its control after the Ethiopians withdraw, which they have promised to do within weeks. The United States and the United Nations are now supporting a political settlement that shifts power from Yusuf and his circle to an opposition coalition that includes some of the Islamist leaders cast as extremists two years ago, as well as clan leaders who had been excluded by Yusuf's government. Backers of the Djibouti agreement hope that the Ethiopian withdrawal, along with the political deal, will rob the Shabab of its cause. But the situation on the ground -- and in swelling refugee camps such as this one -- suggests that the group is only gaining strength. Full article here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/21/AR2008122102340.html You know how I feel about this situation and Islam. I am censoring myself here."}, {"response": 1109, "author": "Moon", "date": "Fri, Dec 26, 2008 (12:08)", "body": "Viagra? Can it get any more insane? Those poor women! Now they even have to worry about aging War lords and their libido. I am so totally disgusted. The Wash Post today: Little Blue Pills Among the Ways CIA Wins Friends in Afghanistan The Afghan chieftain looked older than his 60-odd years, and his bearded face bore the creases of a man burdened with duties as tribal patriarch and husband to four younger women. His visitor, a CIA officer, saw an opportunity, and reached into his bag for a small gift. Four blue pills. Viagra. \"Take one of these. You'll love it,\" the officer said. Compliments of Uncle Sam. The enticement worked. The officer, who described the encounter, returned four days later to an enthusiastic reception. The grinning chief offered up a bonanza of information about Taliban movements and supply routes -- followed by a request for more pills. For U.S. intelligence officials, this is how some crucial battles in Afghanistan are fought and won. While the CIA has a long history of buying information with cash, the growing Taliban insurgency has prompted the use of novel incentives and creative bargaining to gain support in some of the country's roughest neighborhoods, according to officials directly involved in such operations. In their efforts to win over notoriously fickle warlords and chieftains, the officials say, the agency's operatives have used a variety of personal services. These include pocketknives and tools, medicine or surgeries for ailing family members, toys and school equipment, tooth extractions, travel visas, and, occasionally, pharmaceutical enhancements for aging patriarchs with slumping libidos, the officials said. \"Whatever it takes to make friends and influence people -- whether it's building a school or handing out Viagra,\" said one longtime agency operative and veteran of several Afghanistan tours. Like other field officers interviewed for this article, he spoke on the condition of anonymity when describing tactics and operations that are largely classified. Officials say these inducements are necessary in Afghanistan, a country where warlords and tribal leaders expect to be paid for their cooperation, and where, for some, switching sides can be as easy as changing tunics. If the Americans don't offer incentives, there are others who will, including Taliban commanders, drug dealers and even Iranian agents in the region. The usual bribes of choice -- cash and weapons -- aren't always the best options, Afghanistan veterans say. Guns too often fall into the wrong hands, they say, and showy gifts such as money, jewelry and cars tend to draw unwanted attention. \"If you give an asset $1,000, he'll go out and buy the shiniest junk he can find, and it will be apparent that he has suddenly come into a lot of money from someone,\" said Jamie Smith, a veteran of CIA covert operations in Afghanistan and now chief executive of SCG International, a private security and intelligence company. \"Even if he doesn't get killed, he becomes ineffective as an informant because everyone knows where he got it.\" The key, Smith said, is to find a way to meet the informant's personal needs in a way that keeps him firmly on your side but leaves little or no visible trace. \"You're trying to bridge a gap between people living in the 18th century and people coming in from the 21st century,\" Smith said, \"so you look for those common things in the form of material aid that motivate people everywhere.\" Among the world's intelligence agencies, there's a long tradition of using sex as a motivator. Robert Baer, a retired CIA officer and author of several books on intelligence, noted that the Soviet spy service was notorious for using attractive women as bait when seeking to turn foreign diplomats into informants. \"The KGB has always used 'honey traps,' and it works,\" Baer said. For American officers, a more common practice was to offer medical care for potential informants and their loved ones, he said. \"I remember one guy we offered an option on a heart bypass,\" Baer said. For some U.S. operatives in Afghanistan, Western drugs such as Viagra were just part of a long list of enticements available for use in special cases. Two veteran officers familiar with such practices said Viagra was offered rarely, and only to older tribal officials for whom the drug would hold special appeal. While such sexual performance drugs are generally unavailable in the remote areas where the agency's teams operated, they have been sold in some Kabul street markets since at least 2003 and were known by reputation elsewhere. \"You didn't hand it out to younger guys, but it could be a silver bullet to make connections to the older ones,\" said one retired operative familiar with the drug's use in Afghanistan. Afghan tribal leaders often had four wives -- the maximum number allowed by the Koran -- and aging village patriarchs were easily sold on the utility of a pill that could \"put them back in an authoritative position,\" the official "}, {"response": 1110, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Dec 26, 2008 (22:43)", "body": "I'm virtually speechless, yet find that fascinating."}, {"response": 1111, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sat, Dec 27, 2008 (13:34)", "body": "I find it totally sexist. The CIA is proud of the fact that by offering viagra: \"... we could do whatever we wanted in his area.\" This election has brought home the fact that being sexist is acceptable and this example by our own CIA just makes the case stronger. As I said, I am disgusted. Why don't they just give them TVs and porno DVDs? That should keep them busy enough for the CIA to do what they want in the area. ;-)"}, {"response": 1112, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Dec 27, 2008 (15:50)", "body": "Well, Moon, the women aren't in a position of power or influence, so I can see how they would be male-centric incentives. I don't have an issue with that aspect. I had more of a problem thinking that the women might've been glad their husbands (or others) would have issues that would preclude them from sex at any time. The women could get a break maybe, but unfortunately, I'm sure it becomes more empowering to the males, single or married, to do what they want, when they want with women. I'm sure pornos and TV's are against their religion. ;-)"}, {"response": 1113, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sun, Dec 28, 2008 (14:00)", "body": "I'm sure pornos and TV's are against their religion. ;-) No kidding! They might not be such rabid haters/killers otherwise. And I agree with you about the women who were probably very happy that their husbands were no longer bothering them, poor them! They probably don't know what an orgasm is unless it's self induced. That action by the CIA is so despicable."}, {"response": 1114, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Dec 30, 2008 (00:12)", "body": "I still haven't figured out if I want to throw up a little or a lot. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/28/AR2008122800481.html?hpid=sec-politics"}, {"response": 1115, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Dec 30, 2008 (10:20)", "body": "This article comes from the Dept of Stating the Obvious.... It continues to boggle my mind that this guy managed to get 8 years in office, let alone 4. Talk about people with blinders on and if those people are happy with how things have turned out in the end, more power to them I guess. Will look forward to this issue showing up in my mailbox. Is Vanity Fair biased against him. Yep. Is any of what was said below untrued. Very doubtful given the information already out there. Ex-Bush aides say he never recovered from Katrina Tue Dec 30, 6:59 am ET AP - WASHINGTON \ufffd Hurricane Katrina not only pulverized the Gulf Coast in 2005, it knocked the bully pulpit out from under President George W. Bush, according to two former advisers who spoke candidly about the political impact of the government's poor handling of the natural disaster. \"Katrina to me was the tipping point,\" said Matthew Dowd, Bush's pollster and chief strategist for the 2004 presidential campaign. \"The president broke his bond with the public. Once that bond was broken, he no longer had the capacity to talk to the American public. State of the Union addresses? It didn't matter. Legislative initiatives? It didn't matter. P.R.? It didn't matter. Travel? It didn't matter.\" Dan Bartlett, former White House communications director and later counselor to the president, said: \"Politically, it was the final nail in the coffin.\" Their comments are a part of an oral history of the Bush White House that Vanity Fair magazine compiled for its February issue, which hits newsstands in New York and Los Angeles on Wednesday, and nationally on Jan. 6. Vanity Fair published comments by current and former government officials, foreign ministers, campaign strategists and numerous others on topics that included Iraq, the anthrax attacks, the economy and immigration. Lawrence Wilkerson, top aide and later chief of staff to former Secretary of State Colin Powell, said that as a new president, Bush was like Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee whom critics said lacked knowledge about foreign affairs. When Bush first came into office, he was surrounded by experienced advisers like Vice President Dick Cheney and Powell, who Wilkerson said ended up playing damage control for the president. \"It allowed everybody to believe that this Sarah Palin-like president \ufffd because, let's face it, that's what he was \ufffd was going to be protected by this national-security elite, tested in the cauldrons of fire,\" Wilkerson said, adding that he considered Cheney probably the \"most astute, bureaucratic entrepreneur\" he'd ever met. \"He became vice president well before George Bush picked him,\" Wilkerson said of Cheney. \"And he began to manipulate things from that point on, knowing that he was going to be able to convince this guy to pick him, knowing that he was then going to be able to wade into the vacuums that existed around George Bush \ufffd personality vacuum, character vacuum, details vacuum, experience vacuum.\" On other topics, David Kuo, who served as deputy director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, disputed the idea that the Bush White House was dominated by religious conservatives and catered to the needs of a religious right voting bloc. \"The reality in the White House is \ufffd if you look at the most senior staff \ufffd you're seeing people who aren't personally religious and have no particular affection for people who are religious-right leaders,\" Kuo said. \"In the political affairs shop in particular, you saw a lot of people who just rolled their eyes at ... basically every religious-right leader that was out there, because they just found them annoying and insufferable. These guys were pains in the butt who had to be accommodated.\" http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081230/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_advisers_speak_out"}, {"response": 1116, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Dec 31, 2008 (13:17)", "body": "From today's Wash Post: Tonight's 'Leap Second' Is Hot Tocking Point This weary/manic/glorious/tragic/bizarre year will last one second longer than you think. As 2008 circles the drain, here comes the pithy news item about the \"leap second.\" It's exactly what it sounds like. Tonight, timekeepers will slide an extra second into the world's clock. Tick tock tick tock TICK TOCK. It will happen here, in Washington, a stroke before 7 p.m. The clock on the front lawn of the Naval Observatory will linger at 18:59:59 for two seconds instead of one. Then it will proceed, as if nothing happened, to 19:00:00. Most computer clocks and cellphones will take note of this. You will not. Perhaps you should. This minor quirk might soon vanish in a tussle of global proportions. The Brits want to keep the leap second. The United States and the world's other major powers want to dispose of it, thereby erasing the risk it poses to global telecommunications and navigation. But if we get rid of the leap second, we effectively cut our ties to the sun. \"It would be a really bold cultural step to cut that link of maybe 5,000 years of history of measuring time,\" Royal Observatory timekeeping curator David Rooney says from London, where tonight, in the dying moments of 2008, BBC Radio will add a seventh pip (tone) to its traditional six-second countdown to the next hour, and where pennies will be removed from Big Ben's pendulum to slow it slightly in the final hour before midnight Greenwich Mean Time. Tick tock tick tock TICK TOCK. The leap second is a relic from the 1970s. Physicists whipped up this artificial hiccup to keep atomic clocks, which are reliably steady, aligned with the rotation of the Earth, which is slowing at a rate of two-thousandths of a second per day. So every now and then (1998, 2005, today) we allow the planet to catch up so that the sun remains highest at noon instead of, say, 11:59 a.m. A leap second is kind of like a leap year, in that both are attempts at dicing cosmic progression into whole numbers: years made of days and days made of seconds. An extra day is notable. An extra second is nothing. Right? It's one-86,400th of a day. It's several billionths of a 75-year lifetime. It's a blink. It's also a wedge between new and old, micro and macro, between the severity of atomic precision and the romance of looking heavenward. Tick tock tick tock TICK TOCK. Of course, it could be 700 years before atomic time and solar time diverge by as much as an hour. As author Douglas Adams once said, it will be someone else's problem. \"Today, most countries change one hour between summer and winter, and this creates no problem to people,\" says Elisa Felicitas Arias, a marker of time at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures in Paris, which sets the standard for the world's atomic clocks. \"In the future -- many, many hundreds of years -- perhaps man will be faced with the decision of making some change, but at the moment I think we can live without the leap second, and we can live better without the leap second.\" Living better. Because of a second. But an extra second is nothing, right? In a second, the Earth rotates a quarter-mile at the equator. In a billionth of a second, light travels one foot. Both of these matter when you turn on the GPS in your car. You know where you are because of a second. Don't get too familiar with it. Eventually we must redefine the length of the second or deal with the hassle of more frequent leap seconds -- maybe occurring monthly a thousand years from now -- due to the constant deceleration of the Earth's rate of rotation, according to Dennis McCarthy, retired director of time at the Naval Observatory, which controls one-third of the world's atomic clocks. \"We're operating with a second that is not consistent with the way the Earth is rotating at this moment,\" McCarthy says. \"We could change the length of a second, but then you'd be changing all sorts of things -- the meter is defined in terms of the length of a second -- and it would be a terrible thing to do. The easiest thing now is to begin to make plans for how to get along without the leap second. We owe it to future generations to start thinking of a better way.\" Our way, right now, is delightfully tangled in our own quest to perceive and to measure. The immutable atomic standard is married, for better or worse, to the Earth's ever-changing rate of rotation. This paradox might soon be history if the International Telecommunication Union, based in Geneva, decides to abolish the leap second at its conference in 2011. For now, though, we have a whole second more of 2008. It won't lengthen our lives but it will lengthen today, as we define a \"day,\" and this year, as we define a \"year,\" even though it holds us back one second, meaning we will die a smidgen earlier -- but not sooner -- than if no one had messed with the clocks. Tick tock tick tock TICK TOCK."}, {"response": 1117, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Dec 31, 2008 (13:31)", "body": "(Dorine) I still haven't figured out if I want to throw up a little or a lot. I know. I saw a Condie segment on the CBS Sunday Morning Show last week and she was saying those things. Amazingly, no one I've encountered will admit to having voted for him in the last election. Talk about your ghost voters!"}, {"response": 1118, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Dec 31, 2008 (14:26)", "body": "I think it's Laura's comments that make me more ill."}, {"response": 1119, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Dec 31, 2008 (16:05)", "body": "Laura is a non entity. It makes me laugh that her official portrait has her sitting with a book. In the White House tour show, she proudly shows off her library and her books, all 40 or so, what a laugh! Come over to my house Laura dear and check out my library! But she certainly went around promoting that book with Jenna. I remember her mother-in-law Barbara went around the country promoting reading and literacy."}, {"response": 1120, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Dec 31, 2008 (16:13)", "body": "(Moon) Laura is a non entity. Totally my point. Wasn't she a librarian in a past life? While I never really heard about her causes as First Lady too much, wasn't her thing on fighting illiteracy too? Or she was so quiet maybe she wasn't promoting anything."}, {"response": 1121, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Dec 31, 2008 (16:20)", "body": "(Dorine) While I never really heard about her causes as First Lady too much, wasn't her thing on fighting illiteracy too? It's especially poignant when a family suffers from it first hand. ;-)"}, {"response": 1122, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Jan  1, 2009 (15:49)", "body": "Amazingly, no one I've encountered will admit to having voted for him in the last election. Me, Me.... Me is a Republican , have voted for \"W\" twice and would do so again:-))))))) *You* knew that.....;-) Happy NY..and thank you in advance for the warm welcome;-)"}, {"response": 1123, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jan  1, 2009 (19:52)", "body": "*cough* Evelyn posted on this topic??! Wow. It is a New Year. ;-) Thank you, dear. You are welcome anytime. :-D"}, {"response": 1124, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jan  2, 2009 (12:40)", "body": "Seems many of the Republicans are getting out of Dodge for during the inaugural festivities. http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20090102/pl_politico/16987"}, {"response": 1125, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Jan  2, 2009 (12:47)", "body": "I think that is normal. Happens with either party."}, {"response": 1126, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jan  2, 2009 (13:39)", "body": "I think it said in the article, with Clinton, they had anti-inaugural parties both times, or something like that."}, {"response": 1127, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Jan  2, 2009 (18:57)", "body": "Interesting concept, although it would be *another* tax as the gasoline taxes wouldn't go down or be eliminated. :-( Man, our potholes are awful now. Oregon looks at taxing mileage instead of gasoline PORTLAND, Ore. \ufffd Oregon is among a growing number of states exploring ways to tax drivers based on the number of miles they drive instead of how much gas they use, even going so far as to install GPS monitoring devices in 300 vehicles. The idea first emerged nearly 10 years ago as Oregon lawmakers worried that fuel-efficient cars such as gas-electric hybrids could pose a threat to road upkeep, which is paid for largely with gasoline taxes. \"I'm glad we're taking a look at it before the potholes get so big that we can't even get out of them,\" said Leroy Younglove, a Portland driver who participated in a recent pilot program. The proposal is not without critics, including drivers who are concerned about privacy and others who fear the tax could eliminate the financial incentive for buying efficient vehicles. But Oregon is ahead of the nation in exploring the concept, even though it will probably be years before any mileage tax is adopted. Congress is talking about it, too. A congressional commission has envisioned a system similar to the prototype Oregon tested in 2006-2007. The National Commission on Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing is considering calling for higher gas taxes to keep highways, bridges and transit programs in good shape. But over the long term, commission members say, the nation should consider taxing mileage rather than gasoline as drivers use more fuel-efficient and electric vehicles. As cars burn less fuel, \"the gas tax isn't going to fill the bill,\" said Rep. Peter DeFazio of Oregon, a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. The next Congress \"could begin to set the stage, perhaps looking at some much more robust pilot programs, to begin the research, to work with manufacturers.\" Gov. Ted Kulongoski has included development money for the tax in his budget proposal, and interest is growing in a number of other states. Governors in Idaho and Rhode Island have considered systems that would require drivers to report their mileage when they register vehicles. In North Carolina last month, a panel suggested charging motorists a quarter-cent for every mile as a substitute for the gas tax. James Whitty, the Oregon Department of Transportation employee in charge of the state's effort, said he's also heard talk of mileage tax proposals in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida, Colorado and Minnesota. \"There is kind of a coalition that's naturally forming around this,\" he said. Also fueling the search for alternatives is the political difficulty of raising gasoline taxes. The federal gas tax has not been raised since 1993, and nearly two dozen states have not changed their taxes since 1997, according to the American Road & Transportation Builders Association. In Oregon's pilot program, officials equipped 300 vehicles with GPS transponders that worked wirelessly with service station pumps, allowing drivers to pay their mileage tax just as they do their gas tax. Whitty said the test, which involved two gas stations in the Portland area, proved the idea could work. Though the GPS devices did not track the cars' locations in great detail, they could determine when a driver had left certain zones, such as the state of Oregon. They also kept track of the time the driving was done, so a premium could be charged for rush-hour mileage. The proposal envisions a gradual change, with manufacturers installing the technology in new vehicles because retrofitting old cars would be too expensive. Owners of older vehicles would continue to pay gasoline taxes. The difference in tax based on mileage or on gasoline would be small \ufffd \"pennies per transaction at the pump,\" Whitty said. But the mileage tax still faces several major obstacles. For one, Oregon accounts for only a small part of auto sales, so the state can't go it alone. A multistate or national system would be needed. Another concern is that such devices could threaten privacy. Whitty said he and his task force have assured people that the program does not track detailed movement and that driving history is not stored and cannot be accessed by law enforcement agencies. \"I think most people will come to realize there is really no tracking issue and will continue to buy new cars,\" Whitty said, noting that many cell phones now come equipped with GPS, which has not deterred customers. Others are worried that a mileage tax would undermine years of incentives to switch toward more fuel-efficient vehicles. \"It doesn't seem fair,\" said Paul Niedergang of Portland, that a hybrid would be taxed as much as his Dodge pickup. \"I just think the gas tax needs to be updated.\" Lynda Williams, also of Portland, was not immediately sold on the idea but said it was worth consideration. \"We all have to be open-minded,\" she said. \"Our current system just"}, {"response": 1128, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jan  2, 2009 (20:20)", "body": "I think it's an interesting idea, too, but can't see how that would work in the end. I say just raise the gas taxes flat out, esp if they haven't been raised in a long time. Since our MTA is in such dire straits, they keep bringing up putting tolls on the East River bridges (59th St Bridge, Williamsburg, Manhattan, Brooklyn bridges). It most likely won't pass, but the thought of the traffic that would get backed up trying to get onto those bridges....Oy! It would back traffic up in approaching neighborhoods in Queens and Brooklyn significantly IMO if things worked well, but godferbid someone's EZ Pass doesn't work. Disaster. All those East River bridges are only 2 lanes each way the whole way vs. the multiple toll lanes and gates on the bridges across the Hudson that already have tolls. The mind reels."}, {"response": 1129, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Jan  2, 2009 (23:47)", "body": "Tolls on bridges? Why bother? Here, we sell off our money-making assets (like toll bridges) to private companies for a pittance, just so the city politicos can put another relative on the payroll. The latest and greatest asinine move was last month's sale of the city's parking meters for--get this--75 years! Meter parking is naturally going to be increased, yet the city couldn't seem to do this itself. A couple of good blog pieces on the Trib's site called Clout Street, talking about this issue. The comments made by the alderman and then the mayor are beyond belief. And it is apparent that no one understands the concept of the time value of money, discounted cash flows, etc. Loved one of the comments about how the city's economist (should be budget director) must have gone to a Chicago public school. http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/clout_st/2008/12/aldermen-deba-1.html#more http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/clout_st/2008/12/mayor-scoffs-at.html#more"}, {"response": 1130, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jan  3, 2009 (01:12)", "body": "Oooh! Them are some hoppin' mad people at that first link. Rightly so. Love the guy honest enough to say he doesn't read what he votes on. No different than Congress. Quite a number admitted they voted for the Patriot Act without reading it."}, {"response": 1131, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Jan  3, 2009 (09:56)", "body": "Robbing Peter to pay Paul is pretty much what they're doing. Plus. on the news last night, the city announced more budget problems, as transfer taxes (when real estate is sold isn't at the level projected in the budget. So you know they're going to go through this lump-sum payment even faster. When I heard on the news earlier last month, I couldn't believe it. A 75-year lease on something that generates revenue for such a paltry sum. (Dorine) Love the guy honest enough to say he doesn't read what he votes on. Then you love the governor's father-in-law. ;-)"}, {"response": 1132, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jan  3, 2009 (10:21)", "body": "You know, I try to understand the conflicts in this area of the world (Israel/Gaza/Lebanon) and the ideology behind it, and everytime I think I get a handle on it, more violence erupts and everyone puts in their 2 cents. I like Glenn Greenwald's stuff (and even he can be a bit more prolific in pieces that I don't get all the way through). I thought this was interesting (yet actually not a new discussion) over the public's opinions and policymakers' opinion (private vs. public). I figured Karen, if no one else, might find this interesting. I'm not sure why the people there can't just pick some land and live on it. Peacefully. (The article is in the link near the top of the page) I thought the 4th comment was interesting, though nothing new I suppose."}, {"response": 1133, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jan  3, 2009 (10:23)", "body": "We're getting real hurt on the transfer taxes (or lack of them), too. They're raising our property taxes 7% now, though Bloomberg didn't want to take away the $400 rebate check we were due again this year (as in the past several years). Mine just came in the mail 2 days ago. But of course my maintenance charges for my apt are going up in February, partially to help cover the increase. :-(("}, {"response": 1134, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jan  3, 2009 (10:24)", "body": "Oops, I forgot the link for the Salon/Glenn Greenwald article.. http://letters.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/01/02/israel/view/?show=all"}, {"response": 1135, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Jan  3, 2009 (10:45)", "body": "\"The Nation\" has some surprisingly interesting articles re: the above which one doesn't find anyplace else."}, {"response": 1136, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Jan  3, 2009 (10:58)", "body": "While I have no intention of getting into a debate about the article, I continue to find this view disturbing: This Rasmussen Reports poll -- the first to survey American public opinion specifically regarding the Israeli attack on Gaza Since when is retaliation when under attack oneself not a country's right? http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123085925621747981.html?mod=googlenews_wsj I see on the news people protesting the \"targeting\" of civilians. Excooooooooose me! Do I see these same people protesting when a suicide bomber straps on his pack and boards an Israeli bus? (Dorine) I'm not sure why the people there can't just pick some land and live on it. Peacefully. Because they were told not to, back in 1948."}, {"response": 1137, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jan  3, 2009 (11:09)", "body": "While I haven't read through any of The Nation articles on the Israel/Gaza conflict, I find this article to be too true...get him outta there. http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090112/alterman?rel=hp_currently"}, {"response": 1138, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Jan  3, 2009 (12:33)", "body": "After all, New York's senior senator, Charles Schumer, bears a significant responsibility for the onset of the financial crisis on Wall Street, owing to his eagerness to demand weaker and weaker regulation for the people writing the checks to fund his political ambitions. Again thanks to excellent Times reporting, we know that Schumer, as a member of the Banking and Finance Committees, took steps to \"protect industry players from government oversight and tougher rules.... Over the years, he has also helped save financial institutions billions of dollars in higher taxes or fees.\" ... This in \"The Nation\"???? For a minute there I thought I was reading \"The Weekly Standard\";-) Actually, I think Charlie Rangel is v. entertaining. As is Blago. You gotta love these guys for their chutzpah."}, {"response": 1139, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sat, Jan  3, 2009 (13:11)", "body": "I hate what is happening in Gaza. As usual, I feel for the women and children. I'm sick of the men and their stupid wars. On a different note: GOP Vows to Block Franken From U.S. Senate Republicans will filibuster any attempt to seat Minnesota Democrat Al Franken when Congress convenes next week, Texas GOP Sen. John Cornyn warned his Democratic colleagues Friday. It was the latest salvo in the war of words touched off this week when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., suggested Franken was drawing near to clinching a victory \ufffd despite the fact that as many as 2,000 votes are uncounted and numerous legal challenges loom. \"At this stage, it appears that Franken will be certified the winner by the State Canvassing Board,\ufffd a statement from Reid\ufffds office declared Tuesday. \ufffdWe're keeping abreast of the situation and will make a decision with regard to Senate action at the appropriate point in the process.\" That statement drew a sharp rebuke from GOP leaders. \ufffdThe American people will see right through Harry Reid\ufffds crass partisan power grab,\ufffd Ken Blackwell, who is a leading contender for the GOP chairmanship, told Newsmax. \ufffdHe wants to manufacture a filibuster-proof majority to push through his liberal agenda.\ufffd Cornyn, the new chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, left little doubt Republicans would fight any attempt to make a Franken victory appear a foregone conclusion by seating him early. \ufffdI can assure you there will be no way that people on our side of the aisle would agree to seat any senator provisionally or otherwise unless there is a valid election certificate and all legal issues with regard to who got the most votes is finally decided,\ufffd Cornyn told reporters during a conference call Friday. Cornyn said he is confident that no Republican would cross the aisle to support seating someone whose election victory has not yet been formally certified. Doing so, he said, would cause \ufffddamage to the Senate and its reputation as an institution,\ufffd adding, \ufffdIt would be a recipe for chaos.\ufffd Minnesota officials hope to complete their recount by Saturday, and will review ballot challenges on Monday. They could declare a winner Tuesday. Legal challenges are likely to drag on for weeks, however. \ufffd 2009 Newsmax. All rights reserved."}, {"response": 1140, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Jan  3, 2009 (13:14)", "body": "(Evelyn) You gotta love these guys for their chutzpah. Not when you've been living with this type of thing all your life. There's nothing unique or entertaining about it from here."}, {"response": 1141, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Jan  3, 2009 (13:52)", "body": "(Karen)Not when you've been living with this type of thing all your life For starters :how about not voting for them ."}, {"response": 1142, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Jan  3, 2009 (14:15)", "body": "I don't."}, {"response": 1143, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Jan  3, 2009 (14:19)", "body": ""}, {"response": 1144, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Jan  3, 2009 (14:20)", "body": "Let me add that the Republicans here are equally bad. I've voted for the non-\"connected\" candidates in pretty much all of the important primary elections. They just can't beat the \"connected\" guys because of the entrenched machine politics and patronage system that makes it possible for these guys to get elected. I think no one cam run/be elected or should be appointed if they have a relative, who is living off the public trough. With the people here, politics is the family business. Sickening."}, {"response": 1145, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Jan  3, 2009 (14:58)", "body": "(Karen)They just can't beat the \"connected\" guys because of the entrenched machine politics and patronage system that makes it possible for these guys to get elected. Oh dear. Makes me *queasy * when I think......"}, {"response": 1146, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jan  3, 2009 (15:34)", "body": "Well, the stuff about Rangel has just come to light recently. We haven't had an election where he's running yet. Just wait. Though, perhaps the people in his district don't care. I'm not in it. I was watching CNN at the gym, talking about the new developments of feet on the ground in Gaza. This is all f'ng nuts! \ufffdThe American people will see right through Harry Reid\ufffds crass partisan power grab,\ufffd Ken Blackwell, who is a leading contender for the GOP chairmanship Yeah, like a give a flying fig what this crook says, of all people. I can't believe that Coleman/Franken fight is so close. What are those people smokin' up there? ;-)"}, {"response": 1147, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Jan  3, 2009 (15:48)", "body": "(Dorine) talking about the new developments of feet on the ground in Gaza. This is all f'ng nuts! No, it's not. It's the next logical step toward ending the senseless bombing. If you didn't put \"feet on the ground,\" then the bombing--on both sides--would go on and on. This way, you remove the source of Hamas' reign (and rain) of terror in the form of bombs and missiles directed at Israeli civilians."}, {"response": 1148, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jan  3, 2009 (15:56)", "body": "Doesn't matter, it's all nuts."}, {"response": 1149, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sat, Jan  3, 2009 (18:31)", "body": "Maybe Hussein Obama will meet them in a tent in the desert and get something done? (Evelyn), Makes me *queasy * when I think...... Exactly!!!"}, {"response": 1150, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jan  3, 2009 (19:26)", "body": "That's what he's got Hillary for. ;-)"}, {"response": 1151, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jan  3, 2009 (19:32)", "body": "(me) Doesn't matter, it's all nuts. I want to clarify that I'm not taking sides, or making judgements either way, I just simply think it all needs to stop and it just all seems so crazy. Just like in boxing....go back to your corners and stay there. No one needs to come back out fighting. Live and let live. I need to do much more reading of their history to make any comprehensive comments or opinions."}, {"response": 1152, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jan  3, 2009 (20:36)", "body": "IL-Sen: Reid allegedly opposed African American appointees by kos Sat Jan 03, 2009 at 01:32:41 PM PST It's not as if Illinois doesn't have a history of electing African Americans to the Senate. In fact, it has sent two. Days before Gov. Blagojevich was charged with trying to sell President-elect Barack Obama's U.S. Senate seat to the highest bidder, top Senate Democrat Harry Reid made it clear who he didn\ufffdt want in the post: Jesse Jackson, Jr., Danny Davis or Emil Jones. Rather, Reid called Blagojevich to argue he appoint either state Veterans Affairs chief Tammy Duckworth or Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, sources told the Chicago Sun-Times. Sources say the Senate majority leader pushed against Jackson and Davis \ufffd both democratic congressmen from Illinois \ufffd and against Jones \ufffd the Illinois Senate president who is the political godfather of President-elect Barack Obama \ufffd because he did not believe the three men were electable. He feared losing the seat to a Republican in a future election. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/1/3/16123/99120/556/679835"}, {"response": 1153, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jan  3, 2009 (20:42)", "body": "This Iraq war has gone on too long. The military is really scraping.... :-( http://www.kcra.com/family/18398827/detail.html"}, {"response": 1154, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Jan  3, 2009 (20:47)", "body": "Of course I don't put any credibility in blogs. But one has to wonder why they don't let the people of Illinois make that decision. To let the majority leader make that decision is mimiking Venezuela and Russia tactics."}, {"response": 1155, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jan  3, 2009 (20:58)", "body": "Weelllll....because you don't read such blogs, you don't see that when they report on something, the good ones will universally include links in their piece as a citation of where they got their info, most times from a mainstream source, or wherever the main source is. As in the above link, if you read it from the Daily Kos site at my link, whatever is in orange in the body of the post, is the link to the source. For the one above, it was the Chicago Sun-Times. http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/blagojevich/1360191,harry-reid-blagojevich-jesse-jackson-010209.article"}, {"response": 1156, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jan  3, 2009 (21:01)", "body": "Obviously, when I cut and paste here, while I could include the links in the body like they do, frankly, it's too much work. I'd have to go to the Austen tutorial to figure out how. I'd rather provide the link to where I found it so people can go there and find the links themselves. Also, many mainstream newspapers such as WaPo, NYT, LA Times, Seattle PI, etc, will include such links in pieces, though I think more in editorials/columns/features, etc rather than in news pieces."}, {"response": 1157, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Jan  3, 2009 (21:19)", "body": "Tammy Duckworth isn't qualified. Let her start at the ground floor level, not as a senator. However, what is interesting is the spin. It is obvious that Reid wanted a woman to fill that seat by encouraging either Duckworth or Lisa Madigan (whose father is another big-time pol, Speaker of the Ill House Mike Madigan). Why emphasize that he didn't want an African-American? Again, women apparently don't count to the media, who are writing these articles. Women are more than 50 percent of the population and are grossly underrepresented in Congress. BTW, when Obama submitted names for his replacement, four of the five were women (Duckworth and Madigan were on the list) and the fifth was a white male. Duckworth gives them points in the female, veteran and disabled categories."}, {"response": 1158, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jan  3, 2009 (21:29)", "body": "Didn't Duckworth run for something and lose at some point?"}, {"response": 1159, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Jan  3, 2009 (21:31)", "body": "BTW, the aforementioned Danny Davis is technically *my* congressman. He runs unopposed. I've never seen him anywhere around here. :-( Under no circumstances should Emil Jones be named. Period. No way, Jose! And Jesse Jr...please, no."}, {"response": 1160, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Jan  3, 2009 (21:34)", "body": "Didn't Duckworth run for something and lose at some point? Yep, she ran in '06 to get Henry Hyde's seat and lost. That district is pretty Republican and you would've thought it was takable given how the '06 results turned out Reps across the country. She's director of Vet Affairs for the state. Haven't a clue if she's done squat but, as there's no funding for Vet Affairs, what has she presided over?"}, {"response": 1161, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jan  3, 2009 (21:36)", "body": "(Me) when I cut and paste here, while I could include the links in the body like they do, Also, when I post pieces by at least Daily Kos, frequently they have a portion of the source material pasted in, in a shaded box at their site. I can't format like they do to differentiate, so it looks like they're writing it all themselves when I post it here. I guess I could italicize or put quotes around it, but lots of italics are hard to read, and I think sometimes the quote marks are missed. I don't know how to do it differently. Just another reason I tend to put the link so it can be read better there."}, {"response": 1162, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sun, Jan  4, 2009 (11:16)", "body": "Like I said, Karen, let the people of Illinois pick the next Senator..not Harry Reid whom I just saw on Meet the Press; if HR ever says he's your friend...watch your back. *Running to find conservative blogs*...with links to conservative newspapers of course;-)"}, {"response": 1163, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Jan  4, 2009 (11:23)", "body": "As long as it's not Free Republic, I'll read it. ;-D I'm with you there on Harry Reid. Get rid of him and Pelosi, or at least out of their top jobs."}, {"response": 1164, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Jan  4, 2009 (11:49)", "body": "All of a sudden, our cost-conscious elected officials are saying that special elections cost money. Yet they think nothing of wasting tons of money on a daily basis and mortgaging the city or county's future. However, there is going to be a special election to fill Rahm's seat. I guess somebody is willing to pay for a congressional district special election but not one that is statewide. But really, when it comes down to it, why waste teh money, when the results are inevitable."}, {"response": 1165, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sun, Jan  4, 2009 (15:09)", "body": "And here I step in to remind everyone that both FL and MI had come up with private funds to redo their primary vote, but BO refused because he knew that Hillary would have won both, and she would have been the nominee and our new President. BO=Chicago style politics, that's what the people want, now let's live with it. (Dorine), Get rid of him and Pelosi, or at least out of their top jobs. But since BO owes them for their early support, they will keep their jobs/power. The people have spoken. Or as a sage friend of mine from New Zealand says, the same people who put Bush over the top to win his second term voted for BO. LOL!"}, {"response": 1166, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Jan  4, 2009 (16:49)", "body": "Holy cow about Bill Richardson dropping out!! Your honey, Evelyn... though I liked him, too."}, {"response": 1167, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sun, Jan  4, 2009 (17:02)", "body": "Va. governor Timothy M. Kaine Kaine to Become DNC Chairman. He will operate in part-time capacity until 2010, when he'll take over the job full-time. That's another one that wants to be POTUS. He was in BO's pocket early in the primary. Wash Post: By Michael D. Shear New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson has withdrawn his name from consideration as commerce secretary for President-elect Barack Obama, citing an ongoing investigation about business dealings in his state. Richardson, 61, who competed unsuccessfully for the Democratic presidential nomination, was secretary of energy and U.N. ambassador during Bill Clinton's presidency, and also the first high-profile Latino named to Obama's Cabinet. But a grand jury in New Mexico is currently looking into charges of \"pay-to-play\" in the awarding of a state contract to a company that contributed to Richardson. The importance of the inquiry was apparently dismissed when Richardson was first nominated. But it may have taken on more weight in light of the \"pay-to-play\" allegations involving Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. \"It is with deep regret that I accept Governor Bill Richardson's decision to withdraw his name for nomination as the next Secretary of Commerce,\" the president-elect said in a statement released early this afternoon. \"Governor Richardson is an outstanding public servant and would have brought to the job of Commerce Secretary and our economic team great insights accumulated through an extraordinary career in federal and state office. \"It is a measure of his willingness to put the nation first that he has removed himself as a candidate for the Cabinet in order to avoid any delay in filling this important economic post at this critical time.\" Obama added that he would \"move quickly to fill the void left by Governor Richardson's decision.\" Richardson said in a statement that: \"Let me say unequivocally that I and my Administration have acted properly in all matters and that this investigation will bear out that fact. But I have concluded that the ongoing investigation also would have forced an untenable delay in the confirmation process. Given the gravity of the economic situation the nation is facing, I could not in good conscience ask the President-elect and his Administration to delay for one day the important work that needs to be done.\" In the statement, first obtained by MSNBC and later released by the presidential transition office, he added: \"I appreciate the confidence President-elect Obama has shown in me, and value our friendship and working partnership. I told him that I am eager to serve in the future in any way he deems useful. And like all Americans, I pray for his success and the success of our beloved country.\" The decision is the first serious political hit for one of Obama's Cabinet nominees and comes just as confirmation hearings begin next week. Richardson said he would remain governor of New Mexico \"for now.\" The probe in New Mexico involves questions about a California firm, CDR Financial Products, and its president, David Rubin. The grand jury in Albuquerque is looking into whether the firm was given a contract with the New Mexico Finance Authority because of pressure from Richardson. CDR made $1.48 million advising the authority on interest-rate swaps and refinancing of funds related to $1.6 billion in transportation bonds issued by the agency, state officials confirmed. The firm and Rubin together gave $100,000 to two Richardson organizations shortly before winning those contracts. The probe into the donations was said to be \"highly active\" around the middle of last month, according to two sources familiar with the investigation, which is being conducted by the FBI and federal prosecutors. In mid-December, Richardson spokesman Gilbert Gallegos, said the governor was \"aware of questions surrounding some financial transactions at the New Mexico Finance Authority\" and expected state officials to cooperate fully. Gallegos declined further comment. CDR's attorney, Richard Beckler, declined to answer questions several weeks ago. \"CDR has always tried to abide by these byzantine campaign finance regulations and is cooperating fully with this investigation,\" Beckler said in a telephone interview with a Post reporter on December 15."}, {"response": 1168, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sun, Jan  4, 2009 (17:44)", "body": "Terry McAuliffe will be running for Gov of VA. He was part of Hillary's campaign. I plan to work for him. He lives near me in No. VA and understands that the mindset that Richmond politicians offer has to change."}, {"response": 1169, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sun, Jan  4, 2009 (20:05)", "body": "Holy cow about Bill Richardson dropping out!! Your honey, Evelyn... though I liked him, too. They better not delve too closely on several of newly elected/appointed cabinet officials. No one rises to the top as a \"Mother Teresa\" stereotype. Politics is not a clean sport. Let me set the record straight here. I did not vote for Comrade Obama, but he has been elected prez , he represents my country and I owe his office my respect. I don't want him or his cabinet investigated any further; it will only dilute their status domestically and abroad. Election-time is over. (Hear that Dorine?;-) We need leadership and if it's tainted somewhat from the past, I don't care; what they do from now on is what counts. IMO"}, {"response": 1170, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Jan  4, 2009 (20:34)", "body": "I owe his office my respect. He has to earn it too. Every President does IMO. Or at least not disrespect you (and all of us) as a citizen during his tenure. Something that can't be said for the last one as time came to pass. I can turn on O just the same. If investigations happen prior to being confirmed, all the better and doesn't reflect as poorly as if they were already in the position IMO. I don't remember when they nom'd Richardson, but if they had an inkling this was happening, I'd like to think they wouldn't have nom'd him. Bad form and poor vetting also. (Evelyn) No one rises to the top as a \"Mother Teresa\" stereotype. Politics is not a clean sport. Too, too true. It's a matter of lesser evils I suppose."}, {"response": 1171, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jan  5, 2009 (00:49)", "body": "(Me) Or at least not disrespect you (and all of us) as a citizen during his tenure Well, in retrospect, the govt disrespects us often, but there are limits that were well passed. Can't say I find this too impressive out of the starting gate....my question is, why nominate him then? http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/01/obama-team-feel.html"}, {"response": 1172, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Jan  5, 2009 (09:46)", "body": "\"Democratic leaders, however, plan to afford Burris few, if any, privileges even if he were to come to the Capitol with the proper credentials.\" Isn't this like pushing him \"to the back of the bus\"? Poor guy..all he did was say:\"Yes\". http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gUvQkRopntRBnfYyaz06sD89bwnQD95H0ED00 (Note: AP , not a blog;-)"}, {"response": 1173, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Jan  5, 2009 (09:59)", "body": "Nice of the Prez to give the obamas an Air Force I. Mr Clinton didn't give him one. Pres Bush had to use a donor's corporate plane. New York Times http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/04/do-they-call-it-air-force-one-elect/"}, {"response": 1174, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Jan  5, 2009 (10:02)", "body": "Moon , you aren't giving the Obamas a v. warm welcome in Washington. I saw the anti-Israel protesters in front of the Hay Adams Hotel on TV. Not v. nice manners;-)"}, {"response": 1175, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Jan  5, 2009 (10:48)", "body": "(Evelyn) Nice of the Prez to give the obamas an Air Force I. I saw a piece on CBS Sunday Morning yesterday all about transitions and lame ducks. Evidently it is customary for the sitting president to send a military jet to pick up the pres-elect. And, as this NYT article says, it is only Air Force One if the president is onboard."}, {"response": 1176, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jan  5, 2009 (11:03)", "body": "(Karen)it is only Air Force One if the president is onboard. So even though it's got the presidential seal on it, if the Pres isn't on it, it's not AF1? What is it then? Just a jumbo plane?"}, {"response": 1177, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Jan  5, 2009 (12:34)", "body": "From the second paragraph: The Boeing 757-200 airplane bore the distinctive blue-and-white colors and the words \ufffdUnited States of America\ufffd of the familiar Air Force One, though any plane from the Air Force\ufffds SAM fleet \ufffd for Special Air Mission \ufffd is Air Force One only if the president is aboard, and for 16 days that remains George W. Bush"}, {"response": 1178, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Jan  5, 2009 (12:37)", "body": "Don't you remember the Harrison Ford movie, when he gets into the other plane, the pilot changes his call sign to AF1? ;-)"}, {"response": 1179, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jan  5, 2009 (12:57)", "body": "I'm sure I'm one of the few people to have not seen it. I'll put it in my Netflix cue though as I see it referenced periodically."}, {"response": 1180, "author": "mari", "date": "Mon, Jan  5, 2009 (13:01)", "body": "(Karen)Don't you remember the Harrison Ford movie, when he gets into the other plane, the pilot changes his call sign to AF1? ;-) And when he kicks the baddies off, literally, he tells them to \"get off my plane!\" Now we have Clint Eastwood as Walt Kowalski telling people to \"get off my lawn!\" LOL!"}, {"response": 1181, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jan  5, 2009 (13:04)", "body": "*puts Air Force One in Netflix cue to watch online*"}, {"response": 1182, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jan  5, 2009 (13:05)", "body": "er, queue. :-) And \"Buh bye!\" On to January 20th.... http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/04/opinion/04rich.html?em"}, {"response": 1183, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Jan  5, 2009 (13:08)", "body": "Or Mick Jagger: \"Get off of my cloud\" ;-) It is one of the very few action films I like"}, {"response": 1184, "author": "mari", "date": "Mon, Jan  5, 2009 (13:08)", "body": "(Evelyn)he has been elected prez , he represents my country and I owe his office my respect. I agree with this attitude. You know I disliked most of Bush's policies, but I never ever rooted for him to fail. Why would I? How would that benefit me as a citizen? I always felt it was in my best interest for the prez to do well. Re: use of Air Force One and military fleets: too bad they couldn't give the O's a place to live until 1/20. \"Blair House is booked.\" Okaaaaayyyyy . . . Ahh, am sure they're not roughing it at Hay Adams."}, {"response": 1185, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jan  5, 2009 (13:24)", "body": "er, queue. :-) And \"Buh bye!\" On to January 20th.... http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/04/opinion/04rich.html?em"}, {"response": 1186, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jan  5, 2009 (13:28)", "body": "I tried to put a comment at the above re: Congress giving a big helping hand to our problems, Dems and Repubs alike, but they were closed to new comments. \\ (Mari) but I never ever rooted for him to fail. Why would I? How would that benefit me as a citizen? Of course not, me neither. I never voted for him, but I always hoped his term would work out better than I expected (and for a while, it did, for many others much better than myself). Unfortunately quite the opposite happened."}, {"response": 1187, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Jan  5, 2009 (14:08)", "body": "Oh dear, if you start trotting out Frank Rich ,Dorine, I shall have to dig up Newt Gingrich, Pat Buchanan ...all the ole GOP boys;-) Or do you want Michelle Malkin, Ann Coulter, Rush... Take your pick."}, {"response": 1188, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jan  5, 2009 (14:33)", "body": "I've trotted out Frank before. ;-) I don't mind Newt and Pat. I find Pat quite entertaining on MSNBC. Those chicks are another matter. ;-) Ann Coulter and (her friend) Bill Maher are doing the first in a series of interviews at Radio City. Can't remember if I posted the link before. I just noticed we don't get Gore and the others do. I'd rather than than Ariana Huffington, et al. Even at the cheapest, $50, might be a bit too much for my blood. Though the one with Carville and Rove could be interesting. I can wait for Coulter to be on Maher's show. http://www.speakerseries2009.com/"}, {"response": 1189, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Jan  5, 2009 (14:58)", "body": "Agree 100% with Frank Rich: He is not a memorable villain so much as a sometimes affable second banana Exactly. I've always felt he was a puppet, with Cheney & Co. pulling the strings. GB doesn't have the brain matter to call any of the shots. That is why I sent most of you guys the Advise and Consent DVD, hoping it might entice you to read the series of books--as well as for the parallels with confirming a Sec of State. You start to pity him until you remember how vast the wreckage is. It stretches from the Middle East to Wall Street to Main Street and even into the heavens, which have been a safe haven for toxins under his passive stewardship. Agree, except that I've never pitied him. To my knowledge, no one held a gun to his head, forcing him to run for president. Moreover (as stated later), they guy doesn't seem to grasp the harm he's done to the country. Perhaps if I only had a couple years to live and had taken all my money out of the stock market I might feel differently. But even before the bottom fell out, who couldn't see the irreparable harm his (or someone's) policies were doing to the country. On the issue of respect, there is a certain amount that goes *with* the office, otherwise, I'd say respect has to be earned. However, from the beginning of this president's term, he did nothing to keep mine."}, {"response": 1190, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Jan  5, 2009 (15:15)", "body": "Evelyn, I don't need to welcome BO, he might have had some protesters, but he had a big Kumbaya crowd too. ;-) Jeb Bush has future plans to run for senate and eventually for President, so get ready. I know him and his wife. They used to be neighbors of mine in Miami before he ran for Gov. He's not stupid."}, {"response": 1191, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Jan  5, 2009 (15:15)", "body": "I like Leon Panetta. He's got a nice smile and good sense of humor. But \"change\"??? However, from the beginning of this president's term, he did nothing to keep mine. C'mon....he never had a chance on this board...in 2000 or 04. Pure and simple...he was the wrong party. At least I'm giving the little Chicago Community Organizer a fighting chance...for a few weeks anyway;-) But always the office. That's only good manners;-) So why are they storming the US Embassy and burning Bush's picture in Beirut. Jeeze , he only has days to go. Think they'll start burning Comrade Obama's after the 20th?"}, {"response": 1192, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Jan  5, 2009 (15:19)", "body": "(Evelyn) Pure and simple...he was the wrong party. Pure and simple...he is a moron."}, {"response": 1193, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Jan  5, 2009 (15:28)", "body": "(Evelyn) I shall have to dig up Newt Gingrich, Pat Buchanan ...all the ole GOP boys;-) Please do. I prefer specifics, rather than generalized statements."}, {"response": 1194, "author": "mari", "date": "Mon, Jan  5, 2009 (15:45)", "body": "(Evelyn) Pure and simple...he was the wrong party. Not for me, because that doesn't matter. This is what I was trying to say before about rooting for a president who may not have been one's choice. Think they'll start burning Comrade Obama's after the 20th? Why \"Comrade?\" Anyway, it's starting already. Was listening to Glenn Beck this morning (I expose myself to all sides:-) and he was saying, nya, nya, I told you so to anyone who thought the problems of the Middle East would be over because the U.S. elected a president whose father was a Muslim, and he further criticized O for not \"speaking out\" about the Gaza situation. I think I was reacting to Beck's comments when I wrote that I believed in wishing for the prez's success regardless of one's political stripe. Some of these people can't wait for O to fail. Sick, shortsighted, and self-defeating."}, {"response": 1195, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Jan  5, 2009 (16:08)", "body": "(Beck) he was saying, nya, nya, I told you so to anyone who thought the problems of the Middle East would be over because the U.S. elected a president whose father was a Muslim What kind of simple-minded people would think that? he further criticized O for not \"speaking out\" about the Gaza situation. Uh, we only have one president at a time."}, {"response": 1196, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jan  5, 2009 (16:18)", "body": "Pure and simple...he was the wrong party. Absolutely not. I'm not that shallow. I have voted Republican before and would again if I felt that was the better person."}, {"response": 1197, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Jan  5, 2009 (16:39)", "body": "Oh please. I *know* ...you\"re a centrist. At least I admit I vote Republican I don't know Glen Beck. But let me tell you about Keith Oberman.... every side has a zealot."}, {"response": 1198, "author": "mari", "date": "Mon, Jan  5, 2009 (16:46)", "body": "(Karen)What kind of simple-minded people would think that? That's much of talk radio--everything is black or white, and over-simplified. You're for us or against as. No gray areas allowed. There were people on the IPMWL blog who said thank goodness O was elected, so he can overturn MAJ's conviction. LOL! The naivete and stupidity are stunning, so people like that do exist. Uh, we only have one president at a time. Of course. It's so slanted, let's start blaming him for \"not doing anything\" before he's even in a position to do something. As I said before, there are people who relish the thought of their opponents failing. Sort of like shooting yourself in the foot, IMO, but I guess they have to fill their air time for the next 4 or 8 years."}, {"response": 1199, "author": "mari", "date": "Mon, Jan  5, 2009 (16:49)", "body": "(Evelyn)I don't know Glen Beck. He has a nationally syndicated radio show. Also is on MSNBC sometimes (or used to be). Maybe he's on Fox now. But let me tell you about Keith Oberman.... every side has a zealot. I don't agree with Olbermann all the time. Do you always agree with Coulter, Rush, etc.?"}, {"response": 1200, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jan  5, 2009 (16:59)", "body": "Not sure I'm understanding the Leon Panetta pick, but actually haven't read anything in detail either for now."}, {"response": 1201, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Jan  5, 2009 (20:01)", "body": "Evelyn, you would like Glen Beck. I find him levelheaded and reasonable. Not on MSNBC, maybe Fox. he further criticized O for not \"speaking out\" about the Gaza situation. (Karen), Uh, we only have one president at a time. Sorry but I think BH who speaks with the \"President Elect\" sign in front of his podium, acting Presidential, should have made a comment. The Middle East is a serious political issue that will not go away, and many are hoping that BO will make a difference. BO is taking the easy way out on this issue today and that is wrong."}, {"response": 1202, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Jan  5, 2009 (20:17)", "body": "(Moon) \"President Elect\" sign in front of his podium, acting Presidential, should have made a comment. The sitting president already made comments. For all of you who believe in courtesy and respect, it wouldn't do for the country to speak to the world with two voices. whatever the message."}, {"response": 1203, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jan  5, 2009 (20:28)", "body": "(Moon re Jeb Bush) They used to be neighbors of mine in Miami before he ran for Gov. He's not stupid. I never thought him stupid at all, but I left Florida finally for good about a year before he took office. How did you feel he did as Gov, Moon? He's supported some things I liked (work on Everglades restoration, ban offshore drilling) and some things I really disliked (Terry Schiavo issue)."}, {"response": 1204, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Jan  5, 2009 (20:39)", "body": "The liberals say he commented loud and clear on Mumbai,and should on Gaza. Of course they are all cheering for Palestine. Figure that one out. I can't. Go to \"The Nation\". They're braying. George W. is getting the blame anyway, LOL, for siding with Israel..what crap. Cause I don't know why he did that either; it's not like he owes the Jewish vote and donors. Obama does. Moon, I'll search out Glen Beck, thanks. I seldom listen to talk radio. Only when I'm driving long distances. Not sure I'm understanding the Leon Panetta pick... Don't ask Diane Feinstein...she's pissed that she wasn't consulted. What a bunch of prima donnas. So he doesn't have intel experience..either does the Prez-elect...they'll learn on the job."}, {"response": 1205, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jan  5, 2009 (21:07)", "body": "I'm not a big fan of Keith Olberman myself. Or at the very least I can only take him in small doses. He's gets a bit over-the-top for me. I prefer Rachel Maddow (who has Pat Buchanan on her show as a regular, I believe). I don't watch any of those shows regularly. And believe it or not, I used to watch that Fox show with Brit Hume and the panel very frequently, though not in quite a while. And I used to watch Tucker Carlson's show, too. Though really because I thought he was cute. ;-P But I believe he didn't really believe in some of that ridiculousness he spouted sometimes. It was just for a job. (Evelyn) So he doesn't have intel experience..either does the Prez-elect I wouldn't expect Obama to in that, though I expect the people he surrounds himself to. Hope LP won't be O's \"Heckuva job, Brownie!\" guy."}, {"response": 1206, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Jan  5, 2009 (21:38)", "body": "(Dorine), How did you feel he did as Gov, Moon? No complaints. Terry Schiavo should have been left to her family. I think that in some cases euthanasia is the sensible and humane way to go. Jeb's wife is Mexican, and it would be nice to have a latina as the First Lady. Evelyn, Glenn Beck has a TV show on Fox. The liberals say he commented loud and clear on Mumbai,and should on Gaza. Exactly!!! As I said before, he's taking the easy way out, and I'm not happy about it."}, {"response": 1207, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Jan  5, 2009 (23:23)", "body": "(Evelyn) The liberals say he commented loud and clear on Mumbai,and should on Gaza. (Moon) Exactly!!! As I said before, he's taking the easy way out, and I'm not happy about it. Not at all the same. There isn't--or wasn't--anything the US would be doing about a situation in India. Comdemning terrorism? That's what his statement was all about. It didn't interfer in another country's affairs or attempt to dictate a US policy. Totally different."}, {"response": 1208, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Jan  6, 2009 (10:20)", "body": "(karen)It didn't interfer in another country's affairs or attempt to dictate a US policy That's what I said in the first place. I don't know why Pres Bush had to go and back Israel. Let them duke it out on their own. What's in it for him? A lot of protests and assault on the embassy in Beirut. Jimmy Carter ,that loon, must be saying:\"I told you so\"."}, {"response": 1209, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jan  6, 2009 (10:27)", "body": "I can't figure out why our mayor had to show up there. Yes he needs the Jewish base here to help him get him the 3rd term (if that option is upheld in court), but there's a significant Arab or Arab sympathizing vote here as well. Not sure why he couldn't just stay home."}, {"response": 1210, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Jan  6, 2009 (10:34)", "body": "*shaking head*"}, {"response": 1211, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jan  6, 2009 (10:36)", "body": "at??"}, {"response": 1212, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Jan  6, 2009 (17:25)", "body": "(karen)It didn't interfer in another country's affairs or attempt to dictate a US policy And this time is different? Since when has the US not tried? The US has always supported Israel over the Arab States. Of course now the US is a major presence in Iraq, so things are changing, but either way, the US is a major player in the Middle East. So I still think that BO should have commented. I pray Hillary will be able to do something to bring some peace to the area."}, {"response": 1213, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Jan  6, 2009 (18:52)", "body": "Feinstein Furious Over Panetta Pick Sen. Diane Feinstein is reportedly fuming that Barack Obama picked Leon Panetta as his new CIA Director and never consulted with her. Feinstein, the incoming chairwoman of the Senate intelligence committee, issued a sharp statement Monday that was a thinly veiled criticism of the pick. The statement made it clear that she had expected a career intelligence professional \ufffd unlike Panetta, who has no intelligence expertise whatsoever \ufffd to be leading the CIA. \"I was not informed about the selection of Leon Panetta to be the CIA Director,\ufffd\ufffd Feinstein said. \ufffdI know nothing about this, other than what I've read,\" said Senator Feinstein, who will chair the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence in the 111th Congress. \"My position has consistently been that I believe the agency is best served by having an intelligence professional in charge at this time.\" Panetta could face tough questions at his nomination hearing about his background in intelligence. A former senior CIA official who advises Obama defended the surprise choice of Panetta, whose only military and intelligence experience is a two-year stint in the mid-1960s as a U.S. Army lieutenant. The official told the Associated Press that Panetta had been a consumer of CIA intelligence when he was at the White House. The source said Panetta was selected for his administrative, management and political skills that will allow him both to control and advocate for the agency. The official added that Panetta will rely on the expertise of CIA officers to balance his lack of personal intelligence experience. Veterans of the CIA were caught off guard by the selection. \"I'm at a loss,\" said Robert Grenier, a former director of the CIA's counterterrorism center and 27-year veteran of the agency who now is managing director of Kroll, a security consulting company. The lack of intelligence experience puts Panetta at \"a tremendous disadvantage,\" Grenier told The Associated Press in an interview. \"Intelligence, by its very nature, is an esoteric world. And right now the agency is confronted with numerous pressing challenges overseas, and to have no background is a serious deficit. I don't say that he can't succeed. It may be that he can compensate for the obvious deficit.\" Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., ranking member of the committee, raised the specter of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 in questioning Panetta's experience after reports surfaced that Obama had tapped the former congressman and White House chief of staff to head the CIA. \ufffdJob number one at the CIA is to track down and stop terrorists,\" Bond said in a statement reported by The Hill Web site. \"In a post-9-11 world, intelligence experience would seem to be a prerequisite for the job of CIA Director.\" Bond said that he will refrain from judging Panetta immediately, but he warned Obama and Panetta that he \"will be looking hard at Panetta\ufffds intelligence expertise and qualifications.\ufffd \ufffd 2009 Newsmax. All rights reserved."}, {"response": 1214, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Jan  6, 2009 (20:56)", "body": "BOb is v. astute to put his own man at the head of that agency. George W should have canned George Tenet , a Clinton appointee, when he came into office. He certainly didn't serve the president well. On the other hand, the Dems have been braying that intel has been 'politicized' under GB...so what do they call Panetta?"}, {"response": 1215, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Jan  6, 2009 (21:04)", "body": "Diane Feinstein gets even... Burris rejected; Senate bid wins crucial support \"Does the governor have the power, under law, to make the appointment? And the answer is yes,\" said Feinstein, chairwoman of the Senate Rules Committee, which judges the credentials of senators\" http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090107/ap_on_go_co/senate_burris"}, {"response": 1216, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jan  6, 2009 (22:16)", "body": "You watch, Jeb is waiting for the right time to make a grab for the golden ring. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090107/ap_on_el_se/florida_senate_bush"}, {"response": 1217, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jan  6, 2009 (22:21)", "body": "Not a bad idea at all, esp when O may have a health reform plan he wants to sell. Definitely a friendly and familiar face. CNN: Gupta approached about surgeon general post By NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press Writer \ufffd Tue Jan 6, 6:25 pm ET CNN correspondent approached for surgeon general Play Video AP \ufffd CNN correspondent approached for surgeon general WASHINGTON \ufffd President-elect Barack Obama has approached CNN's chief medical correspondent, Sanjay Gupta, to be the country's next surgeon general, the cable network said Tuesday. CNN said it has kept Gupta from reporting on health care policy and other matters involving the incoming Obama administration since learning he was under consideration for the post. Two Democrats with knowledge of the discussions over the surgeon general spot said Gupta was under consideration but cautioned there was not yet a final decision on who would fill the post. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media on the matter. Obama's transition office did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Gupta hosts \"House Call\" on CNN, contributes reports to CBS News, and writes a column for Time magazine. He is a neurosurgeon and is on the faculty at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta. During the Clinton administration, he was a White House fellow and special adviser to then-first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton. The surgeon general typically isn't heavily involved in shaping an administration's policy, but it can be a very effective bully pulpit. Past surgeons general have proved instrumental in battling tobacco and AIDS. Having such a well-known TV personality could bring the surgeon general attention not seen since C. Everett Koop help the position under President Ronald Reagan. Koop is best known for pushing to make AIDS a public health issue rather than a moral issue, and Reagan faced pressure to fire him. Koop has said Reagan never interfered. CNN said Gupta would not comment on the discussions and released a statement that said, \"Since first learning that Dr. Gupta was under consideration for the surgeon general position, CNN has made sure that his on-air reporting has been on health and wellness matters and not on health care policy or any matters involving the new administration.\" CBS News is a unit of CBS Corp.; CNN is owned by Time Warner Inc. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090106/ap_on_go_pr_wh/surgeon_general"}, {"response": 1218, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jan  7, 2009 (00:45)", "body": "[W]e\ufffdre leaving [the Israeli/Palestinian situation] in a lot better shape than we found it . . . [I]n terms of changing the conversation in the Middle East about democracy and values, this Administration will be judged well . . . I think generations pretty soon are going to start to thank this President for what he\ufffds done. This generation will. - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, two weeks ago http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/6/155633/2217/81/672150 (Bush Administration's Greatest Hits)"}, {"response": 1219, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jan  7, 2009 (00:48)", "body": "You know reading through that thread I posted the link to, I have to LOL at some of them, at their audacity. Mind boggling. A couple of my favorites so far are from Cheney (not caring what people think) and Barbara Bush. Props for brutal honesty I guess."}, {"response": 1220, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Jan  7, 2009 (10:16)", "body": "(Dorine)O may have a health reform plan he wants to sell. Definitely a friendly and familiar face. Not to me he ain't. I never look at CNN. Cute smile though and I'm all for diversity. No comments on Daily Kos. I won't give them my \"click\""}, {"response": 1221, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jan  7, 2009 (10:21)", "body": "LOL!!"}, {"response": 1222, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jan  7, 2009 (13:10)", "body": "I'm just speechless... Joe the Plumber to become war correspondent TOLEDO, Ohio \ufffd Joe The Plumber is putting down his wrenches and picking up a reporter's notebook. The Ohio man who became a household name during the presidential campaign says he is heading to Israel as a war correspondent for the conservative Web site pjtv.com. Samuel J. Wurzelbacher (WUR'-zuhl-bah-kur) says he'll spend 10 days covering the fighting. He tells WNWO-TV in Toledo that he wants to let Israel's \"'Average Joes' share their story.\" Wurzelbacher gained attention during the final weeks of the campaign when he asked Barack Obama about his tax plan. He later joined Republican John McCain on the campaign trail. At one stop, he agreed with a McCain supporter who asked if he believed a vote for Obama was a vote for the death of Israel. ___ Information from: WNWO-TV, http://www.nbc24.com/"}, {"response": 1223, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Jan  7, 2009 (17:18)", "body": "I like the picture of the 5 presidents http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090107/ap_on_go_pr_wh/the_presidents__club Class. Never has been done before. Hope it sets a precedent."}, {"response": 1224, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jan  7, 2009 (19:14)", "body": "I found it impressive to look at as well."}, {"response": 1225, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jan  7, 2009 (19:18)", "body": "Wow. Doesn't this sound like an episode of 24 or a big budget movie? Unbelieveable. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090107/ap_on_re_as/as_pakistan_india"}, {"response": 1226, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jan  7, 2009 (19:28)", "body": "I read about this poor skier, but hadn't seen the pictures til now. What an incredibly freak accident. (5pics) http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2009/0106091vail1.html"}, {"response": 1227, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Jan  8, 2009 (19:32)", "body": "Those pictures are funny, but, poor guy! A lesson to be learned for sure. \"Kill them,\" replied the handler. Gunshots then rang out, followed by cheering that could be heard over the phone. \"Inflict the maximum damage,\" they said. That is so sick. Why are we closing Guantanamo Bay? White man's burden is it?"}, {"response": 1228, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jan  8, 2009 (20:11)", "body": "LOL, love this! Why didn't I think of this... London Journal Atheists Send a Message, on 800 British Buses By SARAH LYALL Published: January 6, 2009 LONDON \u2014 The advertisement on the bus was fairly mild, just a passage from the Bible and the address of a Christian Web site. But when Ariane Sherine, a comedy writer, looked on the Web site in June, she was startled to learn that she and her nonbelieving friends were headed straight to hell, to \u201cspend all eternity in torment. This message \u2014 except the \u201cprobably\u201d \u2014 has been approved by Richard Dawkins, scientist and author of \u201cThe God Delusion.\u201d That\u2019s a bit extreme, she thought, as well as hard to prove. \u201cIf I wanted to run a bus ad saying \u2018Beware \u2014 there is a giant lion from London Zoo on the loose!\u2019 or \u2018The \u201cbits\u201d in orange juice aren\u2019t orange but plastic \u2014 don\u2019t drink them or you\u2019ll die!\u2019 I think I might be asked to show my working and back up my claims,\u201d Ms. Sherine wrote in a commentary on the Web site of The Guardian. And then she thought, how about putting some atheist messages on the bus, as a corrective to the religious ones? And so were planted the seeds of the Atheist Bus Campaign, an effort to disseminate a godless message to the greater public. When the organizers announced the effort in October, they said they hoped to raise a modest $8,000 or so. But something seized people\u2019s imagination. Supported by the scientist and author Richard Dawkins, the philosopher A. C. Grayling and the British Humanist Association, among others, the campaign raised nearly $150,000 in four days. Now it has more than $200,000, and on Tuesday it unveiled its advertisements on 800 buses across Britain. \u201cThere\u2019s probably no God,\u201d the advertisements say. \u201cNow stop worrying and enjoy your life.\u201d Spotting one of the buses on display at a news conference in Kensington, passers-by were struck by the unusual message. Not always positively. \u201cI think it\u2019s dreadful,\u201d said Sandra Lafaire, 76, a tourist from Los Angeles, who said she believed in God and still enjoyed her life, thank you very much. \u201cEveryone is entitled to their opinion, but I don\u2019t like it in my face.\u201d But Sarah Hall, 28, a visitor from Australia, said she was happy to see such a robust example of freedom of speech. \u201cWhatever floats your boat,\u201d she said. Inspired by the London campaign, the American Humanist Association started running bus advertisements in Washington in November, with a more muted message. \u201cWhy believe in a god?\u201d the ads read, over a picture of a man in a Santa suit. \u201cJust be good for goodness\u2019 sake.\u201d Although Australian atheists were refused permission to place advertisements on buses saying, \u201cAtheism: Sleep in on Sunday mornings,\u201d the British effort has been striking in the lack of outrage it has generated. The Methodist Church, for instance, said it welcomed the campaign as a way to get people to talk about God. Although Queen Elizabeth is the head of the Church of England, Britain is a deeply secular country with a dwindling number of regular churchgoers, and with politicians who seem to go out of their way to play down their religious beliefs. In 2003, when an interviewer asked Tony Blair, then the prime minister, about religion, his spokesman, Alastair Campbell, interjected, snapping, \u201cWe don\u2019t do God.\u201d After leaving office, Mr. Blair became a Roman Catholic. More recently, Nick Clegg, a member of Parliament and the leader of the Liberal Democrats, announced that he was an atheist. (He later downgraded himself to agnostic.) David Cameron, leader of the Conservative Party, alluded to a popular radio station when he joked that his religious belief was like \u201cthe reception for Magic FM in the Chilterns: it sort of comes and goes.\u201d Still, since Sept. 11, 2001, religion has played an ever more important role in public discussions, said Mr. Dawkins, the best-selling author of \u201cThe God Delusion,\u201d with the government increasingly seeking religious viewpoints and Anglican bishops still having the automatic right to sit in the House of Lords. \u201cAcross Britain, we are used to being bombarded by religious interests,\u201d he said, \u201cnot just Christians, but other religions as well, who seem to think that they have got a God-given right to propagandize.\u201d Next week, the Atheist Bus Campaign plans to place 1,000 advertisements in the subway system, featuring enthusiastic quotations from Emily Dickinson, Albert Einstein, Douglas Adams and Katharine Hepburn. An interesting element of the bus slogan is the word \u201cprobably,\u201d which would seem to be more suited to an Agnostic Bus Campaign than to an atheist one. Mr. Dawkins, for one, argued that the word should not be there at all. But the element of doubt was necessary to meet British advertising guidelines, said Tim Bleakley, managing director for sales and marketing at CBS Outdoor in London, which handles advertising for the bus system. For religious people, advertisements saying there is no God \u201cwould have been misleading,\u201d Mr. Bleakley said. \u201cSo as not to fall foul o"}, {"response": 1229, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Jan  8, 2009 (20:39)", "body": "WTF . Who cares?"}, {"response": 1230, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jan  8, 2009 (20:48)", "body": "I do. It's different. You see religious sayings on signs, esp in the South and Midwest. I never see anything like that. And I agree with them."}, {"response": 1231, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jan  8, 2009 (23:31)", "body": "Sarah Palin says.... http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0109/17217.html \u201cI did see that Tina Fey was named entertainer of the year and Katie Couric\u2019s ratings have risen,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd I know that a lot of people are capitalizing on, oh I don\u2019t know, perhaps some exploiting that was done via me, my family, my administration. That\u2019s a little bit perplexing, but it also says a great deal about our society.\u201d Um, didn't SP appear on SNL with Tina Fey to help capitalize and exploit herself as a spoof?"}, {"response": 1232, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jan  9, 2009 (00:08)", "body": "Was just rereading... (Evelyn) George W should have canned George Tenet , a Clinton appointee, when he came into office. He certainly didn't serve the president well. He got the Medal of Freedom. I guess the President didn't feel poorly served."}, {"response": 1233, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Jan  9, 2009 (10:41)", "body": "And was criticized for it. He shudda given him a gold watch. Um, didn't SP appear on SNL with Tina Fey to help capitalize and exploit herself as a spoof? Everyone else does it for altuism? Some people thought she was a good sport. I didn't see it. People 's religion or non means nothing in my life. I just don't want anyone to criticize me for mine or trash others'. Was just rereading... Oy, I wish I had that luxury;-)"}, {"response": 1234, "author": "Moon", "date": "Fri, Jan  9, 2009 (11:21)", "body": "From today's Wash Post, since we are on the subject: Palin Pummels the Press She's back: Sarah Palin, still smarting over coverage of her vice-presidential run, calls the media's reporting on her family \"very scary\" and says there may be \"a class issue\" that explains the more sympathetic treatment of Caroline Kennedy. The Alaska governor also took a swipe at Katie Couric over the CBS interview in which Palin stumbled badly, saying: \"Katie, you're not the center of everyone's universe.\" Palin did her venting Monday with John Ziegler, a conservative radio talk show host turned filmmaker, who posted excerpts online to promote a forthcoming DVD titled \"Media Malpractice: How Obama Got Elected.\" \"I think this woman was assassinated by the media,\" he said yesterday. By turns aggravated and bemused, Palin complained in the video that her press office is still getting calls about rumors that she is not the mother of her infant son. She called this \"quite absurd,\" saying she is \"frustrated that I wasn't believed that Trig was really my son. \"When did we start accepting as hard news sources bloggers, anonymous bloggers especially? It's a sad state of affairs in the world of the media today, mainstream media especially, that they're going to rely on bloggers, anonymous bloggers, for their hard news information.\" Mainstream news outlets reported the rumor in September only after John McCain's campaign revealed the pregnancy of Palin's teenage daughter Bristol, citing the chatter about Trig as the reason for the disclosure. Atlantic blogger Andrew Sullivan -- who is hardly anonymous -- has questioned why Palin would not release medical records to prove she is the boy's mother, but has also posted information supporting her account. Although her campaign brushed aside most inquiries on the subject, Palin asked: \"What is the double standard here, why reporters would choose to believe lies, reporters especially not just taking one extra step to get to the facts . . . Is it sexism? What is it that drives someone to believe the worst and perpetuate the worst, in terms of gossip and lies?\" Palin also objected to reports that Bristol and her fiance, Levi Johnston, are \"high school dropouts and they're going to just look for government handouts to raise their child and stuff, nothing could be further from the truth. And I've asked some in the media to correct that, and they haven't corrected it, and that gets frustrating.\" Palin contacted People magazine, the Associated Press and the Anchorage Daily News last week. She said Johnston -- who, according to the Anchorage paper, recently quit his job as an apprentice electrician -- is taking a high school correspondence course, and that Bristol is still a student. Palin was hit by an avalanche of coverage after her surprise nomination in August, some of it critical of her Alaska record and her qualifications for the vice presidency, and some of it more personal, questioning how she could handle the job with five children. Tina Fey's \"Saturday Night Live\" impersonation cemented an impression of her as a bit of a ditz. Ziegler showed Palin a clip of Fey saying, \"I believe marriage is meant to be a sacred institution between two unwilling teenagers.\" Her reaction: \"Cool, fine, come attack me, but when you make a suggestion like that that attacks a kid, that kills me.\" Palin questioned whether Kennedy's bid for an appointment to the Senate \"will be handled with kid gloves,\" and if so, \"we will perhaps be able to prove that there is a class issue here\" when contrasted with the scrutiny of her campaign. Kennedy, of course, is not running for vice president but to be one of 100 lawmakers, and has drawn critical coverage lately for a series of halting interviews. Palin criticized the McCain camp's decision to send her back for a second round with Couric, and tried to explain why she declined to name a single publication she reads. Palin said she interpreted Couric's question as \"Do you read, what do you guys do up there,\" but conceded: \"Perhaps I was just too flippant in my answer back to her.\" Couric made no reference to Alaska in her question, asking, \"What newspapers and magazines did you regularly read before you were tapped for this?\" Asked by Ziegler how she would have fared as Barack Obama's running mate, Palin accused the press of ideological \"hypocrisy,\" saying: \"I think they would have loved me as a candidate . . . You would have seen an absolutely different and . . . much prettier profile of Sarah Palin and the Palin family and my administration.\" Would she do it again? \"That's a darned good question,\" Palin said, before concluding that she would. But she doesn't want people in the \"lower 48\" being \"sucked into believing what too many in the mainstream media want them to believe.\" Ziegler, whose film will be sold online next month, said Palin was \"very concerned about appearing whiny\" before the 50-minute sitdown at her Wasilla home. He said he found her Republican convention spe"}, {"response": 1235, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jan  9, 2009 (12:22)", "body": "(Evelyn) And was criticized for it. Rightly so. He didn't deserve it. He helped Cheney, et al, sell the Iraq War. Um, didn't SP appear on SNL with Tina Fey to help capitalize and exploit herself as a spoof? Everyone else does it for altuism? Some people thought she was a good sport. I didn't see it. Um, the point was that she was implying criticism of people exploiting her/her image (Tina Fey/Katie Couric) and she was a party to it appearing on SNL herself. I just don't want anyone to criticize me for mine or trash others'. Certainly. Anymore than I want religions and their followers telling me they're better than anyone else and that their way is the right/only way."}, {"response": 1236, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jan  9, 2009 (12:44)", "body": "Tina Fey's \"Saturday Night Live\" impersonation cemented an impression of her as a bit of a ditz. She was doing just fine on that count by herself. She didn't need Tina Fey's help. Though I don't think she's as stupid as she looked at times. Couple that with her ambition and she's quite scary."}, {"response": 1237, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jan  9, 2009 (13:34)", "body": "It is a new dawn in the govt. I'm glad to see they're working so fast to correct a most egregious decision by the Supreme Court. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090109/ap_on_go_co/pay_equity"}, {"response": 1238, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Jan  9, 2009 (14:27)", "body": "(Wash Post)\"MSNBC's Keith Olbermann, \"she literally let out a shriek and, pointing to his photograph, declared, 'THAT guy is EVIL!' \" Nah, *that* would be a compliment, IMO ...KO is just an asshole. (Dorine)He didn't deserve it. He helped Cheney, et al, sell the Iraq War. The et al ...I'm sure you mean \"the Congress\"."}, {"response": 1239, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jan  9, 2009 (14:35)", "body": "All of them, Bush, Cheney, Rice, Powell, that Homeland Security guy....and Congress. Sell it to us.....the people of the US/World)."}, {"response": 1240, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Jan  9, 2009 (18:14)", "body": "He has to bend to the left... http://www.guardian.co.uk:80/world/2009/jan/08/barack-obama-gaza-hamas esp after this vote: From \"the Nation\" http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/395300?rel=hp_picks"}, {"response": 1241, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Jan  9, 2009 (18:15)", "body": "Think maybe they all invested with Madaoff...???? http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jan/09/goodwill-hunting-for-gowns/"}, {"response": 1242, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jan 10, 2009 (00:38)", "body": "(The Nation) And Obama? I'll take that on tomorrow. There's good news -- and, some really bad news. (Hint: the bad news is named Dennis Ross.) I'll have to read tomorrow. I'm intrigued as I have no idea who Dennis Ross is. Those people shopping at Goodwill might want to check out Filene's Basement, too. I've gotten a couple of good party gowns there at an *extremely* reasonable cost."}, {"response": 1243, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Jan 10, 2009 (10:45)", "body": "(The Nation)Hint: the bad news is named Dennis Ross.) \"The Nation\" probably doesn't like him because at one time he was a foreign analyst for FOX NEWS, but hey, so was their honey ,David Corn and Susan Echrich. But he has been a negotiator for Bush and Clinton.Considered a conservative Mid East scholar. V. reasonable . Inpeccable creds. Which is more than one can say for \"The Nation\""}, {"response": 1244, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Jan 10, 2009 (10:47)", "body": "http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1823145,00.html"}, {"response": 1245, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Jan 10, 2009 (17:44)", "body": "Quote of the Week:Roland Burris \"\"There was certainly no pay-to-play involved, because I don't have no money,\" The inference being that if he had money....perhaps....;-) I do think Blago outfoxed them all. Love it."}, {"response": 1246, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Jan 10, 2009 (20:19)", "body": "Hey Mari....in the \"already starting column\" ...here's one from one of yours Paul Krugman ,from the NYTimes ( tanking for lack of subscribers) http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/05/is-obama-relying-too-much-on-tax-cuts/?scp=4&sq=paUL%20KRUGMAN&st=cse He don't like Mr Obama's Recovery Plan."}, {"response": 1247, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Jan 11, 2009 (00:38)", "body": "from the NYTimes ( tanking for lack of subscribers) Actually, in what's becoming (or has been) a crisis with many newspapers (and an increasing # of magazines), they are losing print subscribers to online readers, but more importantly losing beaucoup ad $$$. Just read this morning the Seattle PI is going to fold totally or go online only in 60 days if they don't get increased funds. And massive cuts of writers/reporters along merging content and operations with other publications continue to go on. And before I even read it, I know Krugman is calling for a much larger recovery plan. I'd tend to consider what he says....he did get a Nobel Prize for economics. ;-) Doesn't mean he's always right, but I'd at least listen closely."}, {"response": 1248, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Jan 11, 2009 (00:40)", "body": "And massive cuts of writers/reporters along merging content and operations with other publications continue to go on. I mean across the board, not just the Seattle P-I."}, {"response": 1249, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Jan 11, 2009 (01:16)", "body": "I have 2 things to thank Bush for... Creating several new marine sanctuaries (though not completely protected, it's a start) and this, if true... http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_ISRAEL?SITE=NCASH&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT"}, {"response": 1250, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Jan 11, 2009 (10:23)", "body": "My friend just emailed this to me....more people who are \"natural enemies\" should learn to live so peacefully together. The cat and rat are adorable together. (this is the note that is forwarded along with it) This is a video of a homeless man in Santa Barbara and his pets. They work State Street every week for donations. The animals are pretty well fed and are mellow. They are a family. The man who owns them rigged a harness up for his cat so she wouldn't have to walk so much (like the dog and himself). At some juncture the rat came along, and as no one wanted to eat anyone else, the rat started riding with the cat and, often, on the cat! The dog, will stand all day and let you talk to him and admire him for a few chin scratches. The Mayor of Santa Barbara filmed this clip and sent it out as a holiday card. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D85yrIgA4Nk"}, {"response": 1251, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Jan 11, 2009 (11:03)", "body": "(Dorine) he did get a Nobel Prize for economics. ;-) I wouldn't place much stock in that."}, {"response": 1252, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Jan 11, 2009 (11:37)", "body": "Hence my disclaimer about him being right. ;-)"}, {"response": 1253, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sun, Jan 11, 2009 (11:44)", "body": "(Dorine) he did get a Nobel Prize for economics. ;-) (Karen)I wouldn't place much stock in that. Pssst... Nobel Peace Prize 1994"}, {"response": 1254, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Jan 11, 2009 (11:45)", "body": "Oooh, I didn't remember him getting one."}, {"response": 1255, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Jan 11, 2009 (12:15)", "body": "It's the economics prize that I (and many others) don't place in the same category."}, {"response": 1256, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Jan 11, 2009 (14:39)", "body": "Why is that? Is it the criteria, the selection committee.....?"}, {"response": 1257, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Jan 11, 2009 (15:06)", "body": "I don't envy Obama at all. Where does he (and his new staff and the new Congress) really go from here? (Couldn't help posting him, Evelyn. ;-) He calls it like it is, week after week.) http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/11/opinion/11rich.html?_r=1&em"}, {"response": 1258, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sun, Jan 11, 2009 (15:45)", "body": "(Couldn't help posting him, Evelyn. ;-) He calls it like it is, week after week.) Yeah, yeah..and week after week it's the same ole mierde in his column too. So much for: \"Let's all get along\"now. Question: what is he (and *you*;-) going to do after Jan 20th? You are both going to have to find another tema . Doesn't take a genius to see why the NY Times is in trouble, does it? Not all their readership is transferring online. They keep recycling the same ole stuff from the same *old* columnists who have run out of fresh ideas and ovservations. But if it makes you feel any better go on. Hey, we all have to get our Drool -dues worth;-D"}, {"response": 1259, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Jan 11, 2009 (16:35)", "body": "and week after week it's the same ole mierde in his column too. Well, I don't know what to say. You (and others) may not like it or agree, but he's not making it up. He's just cataloguing what happened and where we are. And you're right, it's been a big pile of you know what. Plain and simple. ;-) I can't help it our guy and his peeps f'd up massively. (Our guy meaning he's the President for all of us, no matter who voted for him) Rich is equal opportunity, he gets on liberals' cases also. what is he (and *you*;-) going to do after Jan 20th? He will do the same, call it how it is. I will watch what Obama does and complain vociferously if I'm not happy with what I see, as I have consistently with our most recent Democrat controlled Congress. Doesn't take a genius to see why the NY Times is in trouble, does it? Not all their readership is transferring online. Ok, who do you think they are and where are they going? And why?"}, {"response": 1260, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sun, Jan 11, 2009 (17:46)", "body": "Getting worse... Where is the UN? http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/ml_israel_white_phosphorus"}, {"response": 1261, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jan 12, 2009 (16:10)", "body": "Same place they were when we used it? For \"illumination\" of course. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4440664.stm"}, {"response": 1262, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Jan 13, 2009 (17:25)", "body": "Oh, no... The Time Clock Has Run Out: Israel Ready to Strike Iran Informed sources in Washington tell Newsmax that Israel indeed will launch a strike against Iran\ufffds nuclear facilities soon \ufffd possibly in just days as President George W. Bush prepares to leave office. The reason: The time clock has begun to run out. Iran is close to acquiring a nuclear device under the control of its radical president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Mohamed ElBaradei said in June that Iran would have a nuclear weapon in as little as six months. That six-month period has passed. Reports of Israel\ufffds decision to imminently launch strikes, although unconfirmed, would seem to contradict the Bush stance outlined in a front-page New York Times story last week, which asserted that Bush rejected a plea from Israel last year to help it raid Iran\ufffds main nuclear complex. The Times said Israel was rebuffed after it requested from the U.S. specialized bunker-busting bombs that it needs to attack Iran\ufffds nuclear complex at Natanz. The U.S. also reportedly nixed permission to the Israeli warplanes to fly over Iraqi territory to reach Iran. Israel\ufffds requests to the U.S. for military assistance came as the Jewish state was reportedly angry over a U.S. intelligence assessment in late 2007 that concluded Iran had effectively suspended its development of nuclear weapons. But an investigative report circulated by IAEA chief ElBaradei late last year disclosed that Iran was continuing to carry out uranium enrichment and had already established 6,000 centrifuges for enriching uranium, of which 3,800 were then in operation. American intelligence officials now estimate that the figure is 4,000 to 5,000 centrifuges, enough to produce about one weapon\ufffds worth of uranium every eight months or so, according to the Times. The IAEA report estimated that Iran has obtained two tons of enriched uranium since its enrichment program was restarted at Natanz two years ago. Last year 100 Israeli jets took part in an exercise over the eastern Mediterranean that was interpreted as a dress rehearsal for a possible attack on Iran. And on Sept. 6 Israel launched an air attack against a site in Syria believed to be a nuclear-related facility containing material delivered by North Korea. Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton predicted that Israel would stage a raid against Iran's nuclear facilities if Barack Obama won the presidential election. Bolton stated that he believed the Israeli attack would take place sometime between the day after Obama's win and his inauguration on January 20. In an interview with FOX News, Bolton reasoned that Israel wouldn\ufffdt be able to hold off a strike on Iran any longer than that given Obama\ufffds more conciliatory approach to Iran. The Israeli government \ufffdwould have to make a judgment whether to [strike] during the remainder of President Bush\ufffds term in office or wait for his successor,\ufffd Bolton added. William Perry, U.S. Secretary of Defense under President Bill Clinton, said that Obama would face a major crisis in his first few months in office over Iran\ufffds nuclear weapons program. Perry, speaking at a foreign policy conference on Jan. 8, said that Iran is \"moving inexorably toward becoming a nuclear power\" and \ufffdit seems clear that Israel will not sit by idle while Iran takes the final steps toward becoming a nuclear power.\" And former CIA officer Robert Baer, author of the new book \ufffdThe Devil We Know: Dealing with the New Iranian Superpower,\ufffd told Newsmax in October that Iran was at that time probably months, if not weeks, away from war with Israel. The repercussions of an Israeli attack are not clear. Though Arab states remain openly hostile to Israel, many who belong to the Sunni branch of Islam fear the rise of a nuclear Iran, a nation dominated by Shiite imams. Gulf states like Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have been quietly pressing the U.S. to take action against Iran \ufffd and may secretly root for an Israeli attack. But Iran, even without nuclear weapons, is a regional power. If attacked, they are likely to press proxy terror groups like Hamas and Hezbollah to launch offensives against Israel and possibly the U.S. Iran has warned in the past that it would launch a \ufffdmissile blitz\ufffd against Gulf states if it is attacked. And last July a senior Iranian official said the Islamic Republic would destroy Israel and 32 U.S. military bases in the Middle East if Iran is attacked over its nuclear program. \ufffdIsrael and 32 U.S. military bases in the region would not be out of the reach of our missiles and would be destroyed,\" the semi-official Fars News Agency quoted Mojtaba Zolnour as saying in a speech. Zolnour is the deputy of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's representative in Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards. Even more ominously, Iran has reportedly carried out missile tests for what could be a plan for a nuclear strike on the U.S. \ufffd 2009 Newsmax. All rights reserved."}, {"response": 1263, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Jan 13, 2009 (17:29)", "body": "I'm curious to see how much slack the press will BHO once he takes the office. I got an email from moveon.org to train me to become an BHO lobbyist. I'm to be his little private soldier on the ready to email, write, call, demonstrate: to do whatever it takes to pass the O agenda. I have never seen anything like what moveon has done in this election. Big Brother anyone? :-("}, {"response": 1264, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Jan 13, 2009 (20:48)", "body": "Barrack having dinner with George tonight . (not that one...annuder....)also with Larry Kudlow (one of my fave shows) who did not host his show tonight because.... http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2009/01/obama_dines_with_conservative.php"}, {"response": 1265, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Jan 13, 2009 (20:51)", "body": "From SLATE ( liberal website;-)): Christopher Hitchens : On Hill and Bill.... http://www.slate.com/id/2208425/?GT1=38001"}, {"response": 1266, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jan 13, 2009 (22:32)", "body": "Speaking of Christopher Hitchens, that reminds me I wanted to post an article of his in Vanity Fair in one of the last 2 issues. Very amusing take on his efforts at better health/more exercise. I may not always agree with his politics (though do on religion sometimes), I enjoy his writing (and speaking). Did you, Evelyn, or anyone see it? I'll look for it later. I don't recall posting already anyway. (Moon) I'm to be his little private soldier on the ready to email, write, call, demonstrate: to do whatever it takes to pass the O agenda. I have never seen anything like what moveon has done in this election. Um, where were you the last 8-10 years when the Republicans (and Karl Rove) were masters of it. The Dems/liberal organizations just finally got their acts together and caught on."}, {"response": 1267, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Jan 14, 2009 (10:06)", "body": "Let 'er r ip, Mickey... http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/79536/Rourke-Bush-was-in-the-wrong-place-at-the-wrong-time *snort* Maybe I'll have to see \"The Wrestler\" after awl . Dorine,I don't read \"Vanity Fair\" , or at least buy it. (And I don't see Sean Penn, Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins movies either;-)"}, {"response": 1268, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jan 14, 2009 (11:41)", "body": "But you like Christopher Hitchens, right?"}, {"response": 1269, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jan 14, 2009 (12:37)", "body": "I'm presuming all of Washington (and probably everywhere else) must employ undocumented workers as household help. I think this comes up with an appointee at least once an administration. They do thorough background checks. Do these people when they accept the positions think this stuff won't be found out?"}, {"response": 1270, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Jan 14, 2009 (14:05)", "body": "Sorry Micky, this shit is not about Christians and Muslims. It's about fundamental Muslims and the world. It's about Palestinians and the Jews. It's about a phoney prophet named Mohammed and his hateful suras in the Koran. (me), I got an email from moveon.org to train me to become an BHO lobbyist. I'm to be his little private soldier on the ready to email, write, call, demonstrate: to do whatever it takes to pass the O agenda. I have never seen anything like what move.on has done in this election. Big Brother anyone? :-( (Dorine), Um, where were you the last 8-10 years when the Republicans (and Karl Rove) were masters of it. The Dems/liberal organizations just finally got their acts together and caught on. Totally different! Karl Rove who was the genius behind getting Bush elected, IMO, never sent emails to regular people asking them to do all the things move.on is doing to promote an O agenda. If he had something to do, he turned to the politicians."}, {"response": 1271, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Jan 14, 2009 (14:11)", "body": "Re: undocumented workers: I have always made them sign a document that states that they will report their income to the IRS. I pay them, they report it and pay their taxes directly. The ones from Central and South America in my experience are trust worthy and hard workers. Most of them are practicing Catholics and would never steal, etc."}, {"response": 1272, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Jan 14, 2009 (19:40)", "body": "(Dorine)They do thorough background checks. Do these people when they accept the positions think this stuff won't be found out? From what I read the Obama transition team knew about this and didn't think it would make a difference. What arrogance! And then there's that whiny, sniveling Harry Reid saying it was only a \"hiccup\". What an embarassment he is. Well, it's not a \"hiccup\". The guy will be the boss of the IRS, fergodsake. However, that being said, I *do* want him confirmed...because he's good at what he does and I want him to get on with it. So *I*can pay my taxes ."}, {"response": 1273, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jan 17, 2009 (13:26)", "body": "An update on the atheist bus ads in Britain. I'd like to think people use it as a platform for openmindedness and open discussion rather than taking offense. http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20090116/ts_csm/oatheist"}, {"response": 1274, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jan 17, 2009 (13:27)", "body": "(Evelyn) From what I read the Obama transition team knew about this and didn't think it would make a difference. What arrogance! Well, it's always made a difference before. That's stupid. Harry Reid saying it was only a \"hiccup\". What an embarassment he is. Can't agree more with you here."}, {"response": 1275, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sat, Jan 17, 2009 (13:45)", "body": "On Jan. 6 some 800 British red \"bendy\" buses carried the sign: \"There is probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.\" Hear that Muslims? ;-)"}, {"response": 1276, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Jan 17, 2009 (15:11)", "body": "I saw that article yesterday and thought of you, but decided not to post it... knew you would The headline word I read is Unruffled which I think is Brit-speak for \"Who cares\";-D (Dorine) ...think people use it as a platform for openmindedness and open discussion rather than taking offense. Open discussion???From a bus banner??? *snort*You're kidding. Like: \"Oh I just saw this sign on the bus that said there is no God\" Jeeze, maybe I should look into this\".. C'mon."}, {"response": 1277, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jan 17, 2009 (16:01)", "body": "That's the spirit!! :-/"}, {"response": 1278, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jan 17, 2009 (16:05)", "body": "I didn't know there were acceptable and unacceptable ways of spurring on discussion. Even in middle age, I still learn something new everyday. ;-)"}, {"response": 1279, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jan 17, 2009 (20:49)", "body": "Linda Mc....you know who this person is? Australian singer-songwriter Emma Sophina Did you hear on your news that she was on that plane? http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2009/01/16/2009-01-16_australian_songwriter_emma_sophina_sings.html"}, {"response": 1280, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jan 17, 2009 (21:05)", "body": "I was reading in one of the plane stories that some guy from the Bronx was one of the first 911 callers after hearing a boom and seeing the plane in trouble. It just occurred to me that the planes from there sometimes take off and head south, in the opposite trajectory as illustrated, literally right over my apt bldg. Had it happened when they were flying that way, he may have been able to make JFK as it's just 5 miles south of me (I live equidistant between both airports). The Jamaica Bay is right there too, if he couldn't quite make the runway. I'm wondering if the outcome and injuries might have been much worse even if he could've landed at the airport. I was reading an article today that said something I didn't know....our Port Authority of NY/NJ, which runs/owns the airports, kill thousands of birds a year to avoid incidences such as these. Sometimes they scare them away and also put some kind of oil on eggs so they don't hatch. :-( And I did read of at least one person interviewed who was in a NY hospital with hypothermia. I'd imagine more then."}, {"response": 1281, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Jan 17, 2009 (21:55)", "body": "(Dorine)I didn't know there were acceptable and unacceptable ways of spurring on discussion. Even in middle age, I still learn something new everyday. ;-) Not \"acceptable or unacceptable\" just \"realistic\". And you're not middle age;-D"}, {"response": 1282, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Jan 17, 2009 (21:56)", "body": "Closing"}, {"response": 1283, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Jan 18, 2009 (01:27)", "body": "(Evelyn) And you're not middle age;-D Speaking of realistic....by most scales, I'm technically middle aged. ;-) And I'm ok with that. :-D"}, {"response": 1284, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Jan 18, 2009 (01:54)", "body": "Wow. http://cbs11tv.com/national/plane.crash.hudson.2.909513.html There'a video of it landing too, but I can't get a link that will copy."}, {"response": 1285, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Jan 19, 2009 (11:14)", "body": "From the NYT: January 17, 2009 The Films Are Green, but Is Sundance? By MICHAEL CIEPLY PARK CITY, Utah \ufffd If it were possible to cleanse the planet by watching a movie, this would be the place to do it. In 2006 this city\ufffds showcase event, the Sundance Film Festival, forged what promises to be an enduring link between the cinematic arts and things environmental with a debut screening of \ufffdAn Inconvenient Truth,\ufffd the Al Gore documentary about global warming that went on to win an Academy Award. This time around the festival \ufffd which opened on Thursday and runs through Jan. 25 \ufffd has a schedule that\ufffds greener than Fifth Avenue on St. Patrick\ufffds Day. At least seven movies with strong environmental themes are set for world premieres here, culminating with the closing-night film, \ufffdEarth Days.\ufffd A documentary by the director Robert Stone, \ufffdEarth Days\ufffd is billed by festival programmers as \ufffdthe history of our environmental undoing,\ufffd seen through the eyes of nine people who helped to initiate the modern eco-movement, including Stewart Udall, the former secretary of the interior, and the biologist Paul Ehrlich. Still, a stroll here this week down Main Street \ufffd where a dozen idling trucks were unloading supplies and equipment, while an oversize band bus, with trailer in tow, spewed fumes outside a soon-to-be-busy party site \ufffd framed the obvious quandary: how can you cram some 46,000 people, roughly equivalent to a fifth of Hollywood\ufffds total work force, into a pretty little mountain town without contributing mightily to the problems your films hope to solve? The airlift alone should give pause to the likes of Mr. Udall, or to the makers of \ufffdNo Impact Man,\ufffd a documentary about the effort by a New Yorker, Colin Beavan, and his family to live for a year without making a net environmental impact. \ufffdI think one of the lessons I learned in making this film is, I don\ufffdt think there is such a thing as being truly green,\ufffd Justin Schein, who directed \ufffdNo Impact Man\ufffd with Laura Gabbert, said while standing outside its first Sundance screening on Friday morning. \ufffdIt\ufffds about asking the questions.\ufffd Los Angeles to Park City is about 692 miles by the old wagon route, though most visitors seem to come by air through Salt Lake City \ufffd many by private jet. According to a report last year by Flight Options, a transit firm based in Cleveland, the Sundance festival helped make Salt Lake City the nation\ufffds No. 2 destination for fuel-guzzling private flights, behind West Palm Beach, Fla. Even freeloading journalists could take a charter flight this year: Expressjet was offering a select group of reporters free rides on a 41-seat plane from Los Angeles on Friday. If Expressjet found takers, the flight would get its passengers here in plenty of time for the Sunday evening screening of \ufffdCrude,\ufffd about the struggle between Ecuador\ufffds indigenous people and the Chevron Corporation over toxic oil waste left behind by the makers of petroproducts like those that fly the planes, not to mention those fueling the limousines and rental cars that make the nearly 40-mile run to Park City from the Salt Lake airport. Utility officials said there was no way to determine how much extra wattage was being poured into the valley for the festival\ufffds spotlights and the strings of colored bulbs lining Park City\ufffds streets. \ufffdPinpointing use for one city,\ufffd said Margaret Oler, an information officer with Pacificorp, which provides power to the area, \ufffdcan be pretty difficult.\ufffd Outside the Filmmakers Lodge, a central gathering spot for Sundance participants, a sign assured festivalgoers: \ufffdElectricity used for all venues and theaters is offset by clean, renewable wind energy.\ufffd It explained that the energy for the festival\ufffds official screenings comes through Rocky Mountain Power\ufffds Blue Skies program, which provides wind-powered electricity. On Sunday evening, green.msn.com and Self magazine plan to join Greenhouse, a New York City nightclub using environmentally sustainable materials, in sponsoring what they called a big, \ufffdecofriendly\ufffd party for \ufffdCrude\ufffd at the Sky Lodge in Park City. In what could be seen as a bit of excess, \ufffdCrude\ufffd is actually being celebrated by two such gatherings. The other was a Friday night tent party sponsors billed as \ufffdthe biggest eco-bash in Sundance history.\ufffd Supposedly, Sting, Danny DeVito and Lindsay Lohan were among those scheduled to enjoy the \ufffdfull open bar all evening,\ufffd in honor of four films: \ufffdCrude\ufffd; \ufffdThe End of the Line,\ufffd about fished-out oceans; \ufffdDirt! The Movie,\ufffd about the exhaustion of our soil; and \ufffdBig River Man,\ufffd about an endurance athlete who sets out to swim the Amazon, braving predators and toxic waste. \ufffdThe Cove,\ufffd about environmental watchdogs dogging dolphin wranglers in Japan, is to get its own party on Sunday, under the sponsorship of Ben Silverman, the co-chairman of NBC Entertainment, among others. But on Wednesday, before a single party began, ecofriendly or otherwise, the dirt was already piling up here. The crew of one truck along Main"}, {"response": 1286, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Jan 19, 2009 (12:51)", "body": "Sounds like something that Amnesty Intl needs to make a doc about: Iraqi shoe thrower to seek Swiss asylum: lawyer By FRANK JORDANS \ufffd 7 hours ago GENEVA (AP) \ufffd A Swiss lawyer working on behalf of the Iraqi journalist who threw shoes at U.S. President George W. Bush said Monday his client will seek political asylum in Switzerland. Geneva-based lawyer Mauro Poggia said Muntadhar al-Zeidi's life is in danger if he stays in Iraq. Al-Zeidi has been detained in an Iraqi jail awaiting trial since he was seized by guards after his Dec. 14 outburst at a joint news conference in Baghdad by Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. \"He is in danger over there,\" Poggia told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Monday. \"He's also in danger in other Muslim countries because people who support his action could try to make him a martyr.\" Al-Zeidi's gesture of anger at Bush turned the employee of a minor TV station into a national hero to many Iraqis fed up with America's six-year presence in the country. But concern has been raised about his safety after allegations that he had been severely beaten and tortured in detention. Poggia said any harm caused to al-Zeidi could trigger violent protests in Iraq. \"I think it's in the interest of the current Iraqi government that nothing happens to Mr. al-Zeidi,\" he said. The lawyer said he was contacted earlier this month by al-Zeidi's relatives because of Switzerland's reputation as a safe, neutral country. Geneva is the seat of the Red Cross movement and the European headquarters of the United Nations. \"My client needs to make his request at the Swiss embassy in Baghdad when he is released,\" said Poggia. \"But we don't know when he will be able to do that because he still hasn't gone to trial.\" Al-Zeidi, 30, had been due to face a trial last month on a charge of assaulting a foreign leader, but the court date was postponed after his defense filed a motion to reduce the charges to simply insulting Bush. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iOE4dE7uVORfakOB9pl5geqqp1YgD95Q5KAG0"}, {"response": 1287, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Jan 19, 2009 (13:04)", "body": "What a sweet ticket! He gets to leave that mess in Iraq and go live in Switzerland? LOL! He's a genius! Did anyone see the \"We R One\" concert yesterday? Can we feel the love? I was so happy to see black artists not rapping!!! You can do it guys, keep it up. What I got from the program was a sense that America and Americans are back, heads held high and proud. I pray to God that it is so. Kumbaya my Lord and all that jazz. ;-)"}, {"response": 1288, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jan 19, 2009 (14:33)", "body": "people who support his action could try to make him a martyr.\" That's right, kill the guy because you like something he did. I hope they give him asylum and a medal. I saw the first part of the concert, but was rather bored. When the Navy Glee Club or whatever came out, I went back to the infinitely more interesting football game."}, {"response": 1289, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Jan 19, 2009 (14:48)", "body": "people who support his action could try to make him a martyr.\" (Dorine) That's right, kill the guy because you like something he did. Yes, because martyrdom is a good thing. Ask they guys who strap on explosive vests. Oh wait... you can't. ;-)"}, {"response": 1290, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jan 19, 2009 (14:49)", "body": "Funnily enough, I was pondering this very thing an hour or so ago driving around in the snow. Mr. President, it's cold outside Sat Jan 17, 9:17 pm ET It's cold, maybe even freezing. Sometimes it snows. So why do we have to have a huge outdoor event to inaugurate a new president on January 20? Our first president, George Washington, was smart enough to get himself inaugurated on a more balmy April 30, 1789. What went wrong? In short, the Constiution did it. Inaugurations used to be held in March to give electors four months to cast their ballots. But the Twentieth Amendment to the Constitution changed the date to Jan. 20, and Franklin D. Roosevelt's second swearing-in ceremony in 1937 was the first held on the new date. FindLaw says a report from the Senate Committee on the Judiciary offered some reasons for the change: \"[W]hen our Constitution was adopted there was some reason for such a long intervention of time between the election and the actual commencement of work by the new Congress.... Under present conditions [of communication and transportation] the result of elections is known all over the country within a few hours after the polls close, and the Capital City is within a few days' travel of the remotest portions of the country.... \"Another effect of the amendment would be to abolish the so-called short session of Congress.... Every other year, under our Constitution, the terms of Members of the House and one-third of the Members of the Senate expire on the 4th day of March.... Experience has shown that this brings about a very undesirable legislative condition.\" In other words, that's an awfully long lame-duck session, and we now have airplanes and 24-hour news and the Internet \ufffd in 2008, we knew Obama would be the next president by 11pm ET. As the 2000 election reminded us, we don't always know who's going to president by the end of election night. And in the days of yore, presidents had to physically move to the nation's capital without the help of FedEx, super highways and United hubs. Getting our president to work on time \ufffd that seems a worthwhile amendment. And not to worry: President-elect Obama says a chilly weather report won't deter him from the traditional outdoor ceremony. So if you're headed to D.C. to catch the big show for yourself, you might want to take some advice from Karin Tanabe at the Huffington Post, who has clearly been debating \"what to wear?\" for quite some time: \"So what does one wear to be sandwiched between total strangers for hours while craning your neck to see a Jumbotron in sub-zero weather? Clothing you never want to see again. Don't mind if a reveler accidentally flamb\ufffds your parka? Then by all means wear it. And then throw another one on top for good measure. Spent your entire month's salary on stilettos so fabulous you had them sewn to your feet? It's time to cut them off and wear the sensible shoes favored by nuns and your Aunt Mildred.\" Even if you're cold and not-so-comfortable, it's always a special moment watching a new leader say these famous words: \"I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of the President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.\" http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/20090117/pl_ynews/ynews_pl207"}, {"response": 1291, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Jan 19, 2009 (14:49)", "body": "Oh, I Tivo'd it. There was no way in hell I was going to sit through cheesy Josh Grogan and some of the other stuff, including the Navy Glee Club, Fleming and a long Garth Brook set. ;-) I even FF Tom Hanks. But I did like the fast pacing. DC should have more concerts, it has a great background."}, {"response": 1292, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jan 19, 2009 (14:51)", "body": "But martyring themselves isn't the same scenario. I understand it's a good thing, and I'd understand if they'd kill him in prison in the course of torturing him for it, then of course he'd be a martyr, but not getting out and just have someone kill you randomly on purpose."}, {"response": 1293, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Jan 19, 2009 (15:38)", "body": "(Dorine) But martyring themselves isn't the same scenario. It doesn't matter whether one does it on one's own volition or at someone else's hand. What this article shows is that this guy doesn't want to be a martyr, i.e., he's scared and is seeking refuge (again, a shoutout to certain activists Brits) but is willing to stand up and throw his shoes, shoulder to shoulder with his countrymen. Hmmmm...."}, {"response": 1294, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Jan 19, 2009 (15:54)", "body": "Did anyone see the \"We R One\" concert yesterday? Me. In the background. I liked it. Esp he Glee club:-))) Nice to see the Obama family enjoying themselves. I liked Michelle's outfit, and of course, you *know* I love her hair style:-)))) Eager to see her wardrobe for tomorrow. She wears clothes well. (Karen)...he's scared and is seeking refuge Ayyyyy, pobrecito. Too late, LOL. Hey, under Saddam he would have been hung. Jail is a trip."}, {"response": 1295, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Jan 19, 2009 (16:03)", "body": "Uh oh...now we know Hill was an afterthought.... She won't be happy.... http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2009/01/61592900/1"}, {"response": 1296, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Jan 19, 2009 (16:04)", "body": "You're right Evelyn. He has to be responsible for his actions, period. Be a man you asinine ninny. I liked Michelle's outfit yesterday, for once, I don't like her style. Oscar de la Renta created Hillary's gown for tomorrow night."}, {"response": 1297, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Jan 19, 2009 (16:08)", "body": "Please no one here doubt that Hillary was Obama's choice for anything. In 2000 Gore won and Bush took office, in 2008 Hillary won but Obama is taking office. It's pay back, period."}, {"response": 1298, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jan 19, 2009 (16:28)", "body": "(Moon) Please no one here doubt that Hillary was Obama's choice for anything. My guess/assumption has been that at some point, they made a deal, like Blair and Brown. And before Biden was the VP nominee, it was said he would be a front candidate for State. I liked his answer in the New Yorker as to why he would pick the VP job, or not."}, {"response": 1299, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jan 19, 2009 (16:30)", "body": "Oh, and I forgot to ask, how is the Obama/Hillary scenario payback for Gore/Bush? One set was in the same party. Who's getting paid back?"}, {"response": 1300, "author": "mari", "date": "Mon, Jan 19, 2009 (16:39)", "body": "(Moon)In 2000 Gore won and Bush took office, in 2008 Hillary won but Obama is taking office. Huge diference, not the same thing at all. In 2000, Gore won the popular vote for President. Hill never got that far. Sheesh. I saw some of the concert, will catch the rest tonight, as I DVR'ed it. (Evelyn)I liked it. Esp he Glee club:-))) I liked them too. I have a soft spot for those in our military."}, {"response": 1301, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jan 19, 2009 (16:57)", "body": "Oh my.... I would've been drinking *heavily* if I was on that after it continued to Charlotte. I couldn't have stood the stress of wondering what's next and when. Now it makes one wonder if the bird story was true. Passengers report scare on earlier US Airways Flight 1549 By Abbie Boudreau and Scott Zamost CNN Special Investigations Unit (CNN) -- Two days before US Airways Flight 1549 crashed into the Hudson River, passengers on the same route and same aircraft say they heard a series of loud bangs and the flight crew told them they could have to make an emergency landing, CNN has learned. Steve Jeffrey of Charlotte, North Carolina, told CNN he was flying in first class Tuesday when, about 20 minutes into the flight, \"it sounded like the wing was just snapping off.\" \"The red lights started going on. A little pandemonium was going on,\" Jeffrey recalled. He said the incident occurred over Newark, New Jersey, soon after the plane -- also flying as Flight 1549 -- had taken off from LaGuardia Airport in New York. \"It seemed so loud, like luggage was hitting the side but times a thousand. It startled everyone on the plane,\" Jeffrey said. \"We started looking at each other. The stewardesses started running around. They made an announcement that 'everyone heard the noise, we're going to turn around and head back to LaGuardia and check out what happened.' \"I fly about 50 to 60 times per year, and I've never heard a noise so loud,\" he said. \"It wasn't turbulence, it wasn't luggage bouncing around. It was just completely like the engine was thrown against the side of the plane. It just -- it didn't shake the plane but it shook you out of the seat when you're drifting off, it really woke you up. And when it happened again, everyone just started looking at each other and there was a quiet murmuring around the plane, and you could feel the tension rising just in looking. \"I remember turning to my [business] partner and saying, 'I hope you got everything in order back home, life insurance and everything, because that didn't sound good.' \" Jeffrey said he sent a text message to his wife about a \"scary, scary noise on the plane. Doesn't sound right. They're flying back to LaGuardia to check it out. I'll call you when we land. I love you.\" He added, \"About 10 minutes later when we never made the turn, we kept going, that's when the pilot came on and explained -- I wish I could remember the words -- I remember him using air, compression and lock -- I'm not sure the right order, but he made it sound like the air didn't get to the engine and it stalled the engine out, which he said doesn't happen all the time but it's not abnormal.\" Expert Aviation Consulting, an Indianapolis, Indiana, private consulting firm that includes commercial airline pilots on its staff, said the plane that landed in the Hudson was the same one as Flight 1549 from LaGuardia two days earlier. Photo See images from the rescue in last week's crash \ufffd \"EAC confirms that US Airways ship number N106US flew on January 13, 2009, and January 15, 2009, with the same flight number of AWE 1549 from New York's LaGuardia Airport to Charlotte Douglas [International] Airport in North Carolina,\" Expert Aviation said in a statement to CNN. The company said it checked with contacts in the aviation industry to confirm that it was the same plane. The National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the crash, did not return calls regarding this matter Monday. It has released the tail number of the downed Airbus A-320, which is N106US. The Federal Aviation Administration referred CNN to US Airways. US Airways would not confirm that the Flight 1549 that took off January 13 was the same plane that splashed into the Hudson two days later. Valerie Wunder, a US Airways spokeswoman, said: \"US Air is working with the National Transportation Safety Board in this investigation.\" She would not comment on any other details, including Tuesday's flight, though she did confirm US Airways is looking into it. Jeffrey told CNN that US Airways earlier Monday confirmed to him that the Tuesday incident occurred aboard the plane that crashed. John Hodock, another passenger on the Tuesday flight, said in an e-mail to CNN: \"About 20 minutes after take-off, the plane had a series of compressor stalls on the right engine. There were several very loud bangs and fire coming out of the engine. The pilot at first told us that we were going to make an emergency landing, but after about five minutes, continued the flight to Charlotte.\" In an interview, Hodock said the pilot \"got on the intercom and said they were going to have to make an emergency landing at the nearest airport. But then, only five to 10 minutes later, the pilot came back on and said it was a stalled compressor and they were going to continue to Charlotte.\" A third passenger, who did not want her named used, also said she heard a \"loud banging sound\" on the right side of the plane. She said she heard the pilot say the \"compresso"}, {"response": 1302, "author": "mari", "date": "Mon, Jan 19, 2009 (17:19)", "body": "(Dorine)Now it makes one wonder if the bird story was true. Why wouldn't it be? They'd have no reason to make that up. Possibly the earlier problem made the engine more vulnerable to failure when the birds subsequently flew in."}, {"response": 1303, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jan 19, 2009 (17:23)", "body": "If it was the same plane, and perhaps it wasn't checked at all or well enough after the first incident and kept flying, and it happened again. The consequences would be expensive at the least. Not disimilar to what happened with the Alaska Airlines crash years ago. I'm not saying I believe that, I'm just saying it's not outside the realm of possibility at all."}, {"response": 1304, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Jan 19, 2009 (17:23)", "body": "\"Mrs. Obama has an equally close relationship to her hairdresser, Rahni Flowers, a man she\ufffds known since high school and who has styled her hair for 18 years. Transition aides confirm that Mrs. Obama will be flying in Mr. Flowers to help with her hair and makeup for the inauguration festivities. \" http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/01/state-of-the-fi.html *Love* her hairstyle."}, {"response": 1305, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jan 19, 2009 (17:29)", "body": "Cute. Obama's got a excellent sense of humor. And makes sense!!"}, {"response": 1306, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Jan 19, 2009 (18:36)", "body": "Saw bits on TV yesterday. live performance version http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Xkw8ip43Vk&NR=1 animated http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HplZ_taHXLM&feature=related"}, {"response": 1307, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Jan 19, 2009 (21:34)", "body": "(Dorine), scenario payback for Gore/Bush? One set was in the same party. Who's getting paid back? Bush POTUS, Gore Nobel Prize/ ;-)))) Not same party, no payback. (Mari), Huge diference, not the same thing at all. In 2000, Gore won the popular vote for President. Hill never got that far. Sheesh. Sheesh, says I. FL and MI. Hill finished as the primary winner, causcus went to O because of all the fraud. Please don't make me get into that again. Take my word for it. Hill was sabotaged by O and the DNC. It's behind us now. I'm over it, but I know the truth. Kumbaya. It's time to feel the love. Cue in new \"America\" song from Opra's show today. ;-)"}, {"response": 1308, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jan 19, 2009 (23:00)", "body": "Poor baby!....not. http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Inauguration/wireStory?id=6684751"}, {"response": 1309, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jan 19, 2009 (23:14)", "body": "I'm not sure if it's something to brag about when Hillary finished as a primary winner in MI where technically she was the only major candidate on the ballot. That's not saying a lot. Your opinion on this Slate article? http://www.slate.com/id/2188985/pagenum/2 In this, and other pieces I've read, I get the impression Hillary and her peeps got too confident that they were going to win, gambled that things were going to turn out a certain way and when they didn't, weren't equipped to deal with the fallout. Contrast that to Gore, much as I hate what happened to him, ultimately his decisions in the fight after the election sealed his loss. It could've turned out differently had he done some things differently. I can't speak to the caucuses. That whole system baffles me and should be gotten rid of. All states should be on the same playing field in a federal election IMO."}, {"response": 1310, "author": "mari", "date": "Tue, Jan 20, 2009 (00:58)", "body": "(Moon)It's behind us now. I'm over it LOL, I've never seen anyone less \"over\" something. She lost. O ran the smarter campaign. Hill's people put all their eggs into the big state basket, while O quietly went about sweeping up elsewhere. That's why his numbers added up and hers didn't. Her people fucked up."}, {"response": 1311, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jan 20, 2009 (01:29)", "body": "Hee. http://punditkitchen.com/2009/01/14/political-pictures-obama-th/ Never heard of this site, but some funny things. http://punditkitchen.com/"}, {"response": 1312, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Jan 20, 2009 (10:10)", "body": "Poor baby!....not. Cruel. Sad, really :-(((((((((( I'm scrolling through the old stuff folks....Borrrrrrrriing. As the only Republican around, it's from now on that matters. Not 2000-2009. I love Michelle's coat and dress. Pl someone find the designer and description. The fabric looks like it has an overlay of design. Can't tell about her shoes...but kudos for wearing high heels even though she towers over everyone. Earrings , Moon? You're my jewelry girl. Liked the way the Prez took Michelle's hand as they went into the White House. V. endearing. Nice that all the commentators pay tribute to MLK and say BO wouldn't be here today but for his efforts...so true. But pl. someone should say a kind word about his grandmother who brought BO up while his mum was excavating in archeological gigs atound the world. LOL....Let's hear it for grandmothers!!"}, {"response": 1313, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Jan 20, 2009 (10:23)", "body": "After being a subscriber for more yrs than I can count and before then I bought them at the newstand in college, I quit both \"Newsweek\" and \"Time\"this yr. The constant Bush -bashing was nauseating as was their obvious devotion to lib ideology w/o printing an opposite view. Obviously , other subscribers agree with me. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/18/AR2009011802181_pf.html (Washington Post)\"The rival editors are turning out weeklies that are smaller, more serious, more opinionated and, though they are loath to admit it, more liberal. \""}, {"response": 1314, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jan 20, 2009 (10:25)", "body": "(Evelyn) Sad, really :-(((((((((( For all the pain he's helped cause other people around the world....not. I was being mild. He deserves no sympathy. it's from now on that matters Sounds like the views of some who wish to sweep all the misdeeds and crimes of the (soon to be) former administration under the rug with no investigation (which should've happened earlier anyway). No consequences. Why have a justice system? Or laws? Or a Constitution? Let everyone who's committed crimes go. Prisons are overcrowded anyway. Can't believe the women are wearing short skirts. And didn't realize Michelle was as tall, if not a bit taller than Bush (with heels)! Interesting to see Dustin Hoffman in the VIP section. Must have a can of hair spray in his bouffant hairdo."}, {"response": 1315, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Jan 20, 2009 (10:29)", "body": "A Latino (Lebanese !) rescues the NY Times with $250M....LOL \"The Times Co. reported having about $46 million in cash and $1.1 billion in debt in September. A $400 million loan expires in May.\" http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/090120/ny_times_slim.html?.v=2"}, {"response": 1316, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jan 20, 2009 (10:34)", "body": ""}, {"response": 1317, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jan 20, 2009 (10:35)", "body": "Trying again"}, {"response": 1318, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Jan 20, 2009 (10:37)", "body": "(Dorine)Sounds like the views of some who wish to sweep all the misdeeds and crimes of the (soon to be) former administration under the rug with no investigation ... So wrong...so sad. Just someone who is valiantly trying to bring us altogether. As I think the host of this topic would want to do. I could take you on and comment on each of your accusations. But it's not my style."}, {"response": 1319, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jan 20, 2009 (10:39)", "body": "(Evelyn) Obviously , other subscribers agree with me. I quit them both because I can't keep up with reading them on a regular basis and read them online if at all. The NYT is close to next as I read it online 99.9% of the time. Still wondering why I decided to subscribe to Vanity Fair. Takes forever to read one (but it was $12 a year!). (I did buy my aunt a gift subscription to Time though ;-))."}, {"response": 1320, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jan 20, 2009 (10:49)", "body": "I'm all for accountability. I'm not sure why that's a dirty word. I mean, my God, they spent over $70 million dollars to go after Clinton for lying about....a blowjob!!! That hurt almost no one (at least physically or economically). And of all the things that have happened over the past 8 years, that hurt so many other people in many ways, virtually nothing was addressed. Isn't that way outta wack? More time was spent on hearings on baseball players taking steroids. :-(( Clinton lied, which was very bad judgement. But had there not been a concerted effort to find anything to get him on, it wouldn't have been found out and he would've been no different than any other cheating husband (who was leader of the country ;-)). I could take you on and comment on each of your accusations. I wouldn't complain. And I have to say, I'm thrilled, yet completely surprised to see Ted Kennedy made it. Looks like he lost a bit of weight."}, {"response": 1321, "author": "mari", "date": "Tue, Jan 20, 2009 (10:58)", "body": "Michelle Obama wearing Isabel Toledo The Associated Press WASHINGTON - Michelle Obama is wearing a sparkling gold sheath dress with matching coat by Cuban-born American designer Isabel Toledo on the day her husband will be inaugurated as president. Barack Obama is wearing a red tie and white shirt with his suit Tuesday morning. Toledo, who just a few years ago unsuccessfully tried to infuse more modern style into the venerable Anne Klein label, is considered among the more avant garde U.S. designers. Michelle Obama has been noted for choosing unexpected fashion designers, including Narciso Rodriguez, Zero + Maria Cornejo and Chicago designer Maria Pinto."}, {"response": 1322, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jan 20, 2009 (10:58)", "body": "Just someone who is valiantly trying to bring us altogether. As I think the host of this topic would want to do. I thought this was for discussion and debate. I have no problems bringing people together and I think we're all on the same page of looking ahead and starting a new day, but it's imperative not to forget how we (the US and other parts of the world) got where we are now, too. I am all for hearing other points of view and the reasoning behind it. That's my view anyway."}, {"response": 1323, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jan 20, 2009 (11:05)", "body": "(Evelyn) As the only Republican around You're not really, just the only one willing to say anything. :-) Well, another one has been to busy to really say anything at all anywhere for quite a while. Can't believe the Supremes are out only in their robes, no coats. Hope they have long johns on. Not even scarves. :-(( Didn't really think about it, but as they just said on CNN, one of the few events all 3 branches of govt gathered in one place. The security must be astronomical."}, {"response": 1324, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Tue, Jan 20, 2009 (11:09)", "body": "Ant and I are watching the coverage on BBC News 24. History in the making before us and it sure gives a welcome break from watching wall to wall financial doom and gloom with the British Banks, being reported over here :-(( Congratulations Obama!"}, {"response": 1325, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Jan 20, 2009 (11:10)", "body": "Thank you Mari...I'm noticing that she also has complimenting gloves ...(I'm a leather -coordinating -glove -gal, eh Karen?) Shoes???? I do love her hair (which I have copied:-))) Anybody see a fur coat??? LOL Lots of pretty scarves. Where are our little girls?"}, {"response": 1326, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jan 20, 2009 (11:12)", "body": ""}, {"response": 1327, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jan 20, 2009 (11:20)", "body": "(Evelyn) I love Michelle's coat and dress. Pl someone find the designer and description After I think the Dem Convention, or maybe the election speech....wherever Michelle wore an outfit not many liked, I met up with a couple of (female) neighbors getting off the train and of course everyone was talking about that night. They were saying how practically appalled they were that people they worked with were talking so much about what she was wearing rather than what a momentous occasion it was. When I said that comments about her dress were about the third thing anyone in our office said about that night, they looked at me like I had two heads. I guess their heads would explode here. Wow, Bush Sr. isn't walking so good. I thought he was still jumping out of planes. He looks pretty bad actually and uncomfortable."}, {"response": 1328, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jan 20, 2009 (11:30)", "body": "There're the kids. They look great. The one Bush dtr isn't a blonde anymore. Aretha has a windmill attached to her hat, but I like it strangely. Was there always so much bulletproof glass up there before?"}, {"response": 1329, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Jan 20, 2009 (11:31)", "body": "I like Hillary's coat...color ..style, not v. flattering. Lovely welcome for the Clintons. 14 degrees...burrrrr. Spectators using feet and hand warmers. Little girls precious. Such poise."}, {"response": 1330, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jan 20, 2009 (12:50)", "body": "What a beautiful day there (cold not withstanding)! Fabulous speech! Very inspirational and uplifting. Interesting that he became President before taking the oath per the Constitution. Too bad the oath got a bit messed up. Not quite smooth. Wonder if John Roberts was nervous."}, {"response": 1331, "author": "mari", "date": "Tue, Jan 20, 2009 (13:12)", "body": "Evelyn, check out the gloves:"}, {"response": 1332, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Jan 20, 2009 (13:40)", "body": "Isn't she stunning? Earlier Laura had purple gloves to go with her lavender suit and coat. I'm looking at the luncheon...they're pouring white wine to go with the seafood puff pastry. I like Michelle's sweater. Her mom has a beautiful pink twead suit. I can see where she gets her sense of style. GW's farewell speech to his staff at the airbase is private; no cameras. Wasn't Rev Lowery's (sp?)invocation inspiring? Imagine he is 87 yrs old...what a day for him. Juan Williams at Fox News became v. emotional recalling Rev Lowry's sentiments and what an era he has lived through. Fox News has the best coverage split sreen. The other network anchors like to hear themselves talk. Chris Wallace is so unpretentious."}, {"response": 1333, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jan 20, 2009 (14:06)", "body": "I haven't minded some of the talk. I've learned some interesting things today. Just watching Bush's plane take off to TX. It really is a cool sight to see up close, esp since it's so big and know the \"Leader of the Free World\" is in it. Watched it come in and takeoff with Clinton years ago when he came to Palm Bch's airport to have a rally...right there next to the tarmac! I enjoyed Rev Lowery and the music from Yo-Yo Ma, etc."}, {"response": 1334, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Jan 20, 2009 (14:13)", "body": "http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/obamas_fashion Ok..Laura's suit and coat were dove grey (not good...she should have had a little color) Michelle's shoes were colored ; I hope to match the gloves;-) Hooray! at last ...colored shoes !I'm so sick of mis-matched outfits . Can't wait for tonight's ball."}, {"response": 1335, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jan 20, 2009 (14:56)", "body": "(Evelyn) The other network anchors like to hear themselves talk. It's not the case with CNN, but started switching around a bit with MSNBC and while Obama's getting his gifts and making his remarks at the lunch, CNN is quiet and on MSNBC KO and Chris Matthews are chattering through the whole thing. And the camera isn't even staying on O. :-((( That was terribly annoying."}, {"response": 1336, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jan 20, 2009 (14:57)", "body": "Holy crap!! Did Kennedy have a seizure???!!"}, {"response": 1337, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Jan 20, 2009 (14:59)", "body": "(Mari), LOL, I've never seen anyone less \"over\" something. Well to prove my point, I will abstain from commenting again, on things that I have documented throughout the primaries here. C'est fini! I was very happy to see the very nice welcome the Clintons received. I think people were sending Hillary their love. I don't like Michelle's outfit. It's too busy, rhinestones in the morning? Loved the elegant outfit she wore on Sunday at the concert. But 'm n ot a fan of her style. Sen. Kennedy has been rushed to the hospital."}, {"response": 1338, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Jan 20, 2009 (15:04)", "body": "Also, I don't like the new poet laureate. I don't care for contemporary poetry, but Maya was so much better. Can you imsgine what the old poets could have done today? Blake, Dickinson, Frost..."}, {"response": 1339, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jan 20, 2009 (15:04)", "body": "You know, I hope Kennedy makes it. But I was thinking (but didn't post) when I made comments about being surprised that he made it today, that I thought it was sheer will that got him to this day. So the President goes through the parade in the car? He doesn't get out to walk? I guess it would be too tough to secure. But it would be so hard to see him in the car. They should have a Popemobile-like vehicle for events like that. You can see through that and it's secure."}, {"response": 1340, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Jan 20, 2009 (15:07)", "body": "I also want say how happy I am that we have a new President!"}, {"response": 1341, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Jan 20, 2009 (15:11)", "body": "Bush's Legacy: Conservatives Were Betrayed \"This administration has had a good, solid record, and I'm very proud of it. I tell people I leave town with a great sense of accomplishment and my head held high.\ufffd \ufffdGeorge W. Bush, Jan. 13, 2009 As the 43rd president waves goodbye to Washington, relatively few Americans share his proud assessment of his own presidency. George W. Bush leaves the White House with one of the lowest approval ratings in history. According to Gallup, only Richard Nixon and Harry Truman, who suffered the double whammy of a bad economy and the unpopular Korean War, had lower approval ratings when they left the White House. Today, Bush\ufffds legacy to his successor is two unresolved wars, a global image that is deeply tarnished, and the greatest economic crisis in modern times. Conservatives who backed Bush in two successive elections have little to show for their efforts. Bush, in fact, has decimated the Republican brand. Bush oversaw the greatest increase in discretionary social spending in history as the federal government usurped new powers in its war on terror. He placed the United States on a global interventionist path for the elusive goal of \ufffddemocracy.\ufffd Ronald Reagan would not be able to recognize the party he knew, which espoused limited government, protection of personal liberty, and the idea that the U.S. should lead globally by example rather than by force. The best that can be said of President Bush is that he kept America\ufffds homeland safe. During his watch, we did not experience another terror attack on U.S. soil after Sept. 11. It is a laudable fact, but one that came at enormous financial cost and an erosion of personal freedoms. Still, for all the talk about al-Qaida\ufffds weakened state, Osama bin Laden remains at large despite Bush\ufffds pledge to capture him \ufffddead or alive.\ufffd And if a major terror attack were to take place under the new Obama administration, his supporters will be quick to pin the blame on the Bush regime. Voters\ufffd bitter memories of George Bush may soften with time. As Truman\ufffds example suggests, presidencies often appear quite different once placed in a historical context. On the other hand, if the economic crisis worsens or another major terror attack happened soon after Bush departs the White House, he may be \ufffdHooverized\ufffd \ufffd with a generation of Democratic politicians running successfully against his memory as they did against Herbert Hoover whose policies were linked to the Great Depression. There\ufffds no escaping the fact that Bush presided over one of the most tumultuous, and least popular, presidencies of modern times, in large part because of the Iraq war. The U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq have come at enormous cost in terms of blood and national treasure. About 4,200 Americans have died, and more than 30,000 have been wounded. The U.S. has spent more than $800 billion on the Iraq effort, with estimates of the ultimate cost as high as $4 trillion. The war was justified on the legitimate evidence, first offered by the Clinton administration, that Saddam Hussein was intent on developing weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons. Hussein had flouted agreements with the United Nations, and his riddance was a desirable goal. But almost from the beginning, the war was flawed. The American occupiers quickly fired the entire Iraqi military, leaving not only a tremendous vacuum of authority but also turning loose trained military professionals to join terror cells and paramilitary groups who would work to undermine the U.S. efforts. Some Pentagon military advisers suggested the U.S. military force was too light to accomplish the goal of both invading Iraq and stabilizing the country. Bush and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld strongly resisted deploying a larger force. And as casualties mounted in the early part of the war, the administration continued to resist sending additional troops. Only after the 2006 elections did Bush sign off on the surge that added 30,000 troops in the spring of 2007, under the command of Gen. David Petraeus. The surge helped, as did a more aggressive policy to pay off Iraqi Sunnis who turned against al-Qaida \ufffd the so-called \ufffdAnbar Awakening.\ufffd Another ingredient: U.S. and Iraqi authorities rounded up tens of thousands of likely dissidents and imprisoned them. The effect of this action may be short lived, as many of these agitators eventually will be released. But the immediate impact of the surge has been good. By the end of 2008, U.S. troop deaths dropped to an average of 14 per month, down from 100 a month two previous years. Still, the likelihood is that such calm will not prevail once American troops are removed and the goal of establishing a stable democracy in an Arab state may still prove elusive. It should be remembered that, sometime after the invasion, the raison d\ufffdetre of the war changed from removing Saddam from power and stopping his weapons of mass destruction program to a dreamy plan of creating a democracy in"}, {"response": 1342, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jan 20, 2009 (15:13)", "body": "I wasn't too fond of that poet laureate either. I didn't like her reading much. Thank goodness the Rev after her made up for it."}, {"response": 1343, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Jan 20, 2009 (15:21)", "body": "I didn't like her reading much. But I liked her hair;-) And Cindy McCain's coat: Aqua with patent leather boots. What style."}, {"response": 1344, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Jan 20, 2009 (15:30)", "body": "Cindy McCain has loads of style. Don't like what Mrs. Biden is wearing either, with those boots and shot skirt she looks like a go-go dancer. Very out of place."}, {"response": 1345, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Jan 20, 2009 (15:32)", "body": "Isn't DC impressive? I love the architecture and the history."}, {"response": 1346, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jan 20, 2009 (15:46)", "body": "It's a shame they're running so behind. The sun's getting blocked by buildings in quite a number of places along the route."}, {"response": 1347, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Jan 20, 2009 (16:04)", "body": "What's the deal on Mrs Biden. They keep calling her \"Dr\"...Phd in what? (Moon)...short skirt she looks like a go-go dancer. She's how old? \"Mutton dressed -up as a lamb\";-) He's walking up Penn Ave with Michelle!!!"}, {"response": 1348, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jan 20, 2009 (16:06)", "body": "\"Biden later returned to school for her doctorate degree, studying under her birth name, Jill Jacobs.[16] She received a Doctor of Education in educational leadership from the University of Delaware in 2007.[6][22] Her dissertation Student Retention at the Community College: Meeting Students' Needs was published under the name Jill Jacobs-Biden.[22]\" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jill_Biden"}, {"response": 1349, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Jan 20, 2009 (16:11)", "body": "Michelle's shoes are great. They are my type: pointy toes and med. styletto heel. I have lots like that, even small styletto heel like the ones she wore on Sunday."}, {"response": 1350, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jan 20, 2009 (16:49)", "body": "So the parade's going to be practically in the dark."}, {"response": 1351, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jan 20, 2009 (17:58)", "body": "I thought this was kinda cool. The spot that look like dirt spots are masses of people. Hope this comes out."}, {"response": 1352, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jan 20, 2009 (18:01)", "body": "Actually, this is kind of fun. You can scan back and forth across the mall and zoom in. http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2009/44.president/inauguration/mall.satellite/"}, {"response": 1353, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Jan 20, 2009 (19:12)", "body": "I hope this is not what we're in for.... ....because I do like him"}, {"response": 1354, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jan 20, 2009 (19:44)", "body": "Coolest National Anthem version evah! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRvVzaQ6i8A"}, {"response": 1355, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Jan 20, 2009 (19:48)", "body": "Thought the same re: bling in the morning, plus what kind of looked like a hideous brocade...or couch fabric as some are calling it: Michelle Obama picks yellow for inauguration dress Tue Jan 20, 2009 5:27pm EST By Jill Serjeant LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Michelle Obama, hailed by many as America's new style icon, officially took her place on the world stage on Tuesday wearing an outfit in the nontraditional color of yellow and set fashionistas atwitter. The new U.S. first lady, 45, chose a sparkling sheath dress and matching coat in a yellow-gold hue by Cuban-born American designer Isabel Toledo for the presidential swearing-in ceremony. She matched it with a wide diamante necklace. What she will wear to the formal inaugural ball later on Tuesday remained a tightly held secret. But her choice is expected to provide clues to her future balancing act as glamorous first lady in a time of deep recession. Michelle Obama, a former lawyer, has been credited with bringing a chic, youthful style to U.S. politics and for mixing comfortable chain store garments from the likes of Gap and J. Crew with edgier new designers like Chicago's Mario Pinto and Narciso Rodriguez. Initially seen as slightly aloof, she won hearts in June by wearing an affordable $148 black and white off-the-rack dress for an appearance on the popular female TV chat show \"The View.\" It sold out nationwide overnight. Her swearing-in outfit was a departure from the red, white or blue tones often adopted by U.S. female politicians on high-profile occasions. Yellow is traditionally seen in many parts of the world as a symbol of hope and optimism, style experts said. 'RADIATED HOPE AND OPTIMISM' \"Yellow is the color of optimism and confidence and hope ... The whole ensemble radiated hope and optimism,\" Mandi Norwood, a former editor at Mademoiselle magazine who is writing a book on Michelle Obama's style, told Reuters But Obama's choice did not get a universal thumbs up. An online poll on the Us Weekly celebrity magazine site showed 55 percent of readers hated the outfit and 44 percent loved it. Bonnie Fuller, former editor in chief of Glamour magazine, called it \"bold\" but wondered, \"Is she walking around in inaugural upholstery?\" Fuller wrote in a blog on the www.huffingtonpost.com Web site that she had heard one observer quipping that the first lady was \"wearing a couch.\" New York-based designer Toledo said the coat and dress were made of Swiss wool lace, backed with netting for warmth on the bitterly cold Washington morning, and lined in French silk. \"I wanted to pick a very optimistic color, that had sunshine,\" Toledo told New York Times fashion critic Cathy Horyn on Tuesday. \"I wanted her to feel charmed, and in that way would charm everybody.\" With home foreclosures and layoffs plaguing Americans across the United States, fashion commentators expect Obama to go for understated glamour at the 10 inauguration galas she will attend, wearing nothing too glitzy or frivolous. Dressing down too much could attract as much criticism as extravagance. Former first lady Rosalynn Carter was criticized during the 1970s oil crisis for wearing her previously worn, off-the-rack gown to the 1977 inaugural ball. In 1981, Nancy Reagan was deemed \"too Hollywood\" with her white, one-shoulder, lace satin sheath with crystal beads. Los Angeles Times fashion critic Booth Moore doubted Michelle Obama would take the Rosalyn Carter line for her inaugural ball dress. \"At least for one night, we want our first lady to be more glamorous than the rest of us. We don't want her to be Secondhand Rose, but we don't want her to be Marie Antoinette either. The secret to Obama's sartorial success so far has been walking the line between the two. Here's hoping she continues to do so,\" Moore wrote on Tuesday. Obama is already considered an ambassador for American fashion. She was listed in Vanity Fair's magazine's \"10 of the World's Best Dressed People\" in both 2007 and 2008 and has drawn numerous comparisons with Jacqueline Kennedy. \"It's not only about the way she dresses, but also the way she will conduct her life. The eyes of the world will be on her. She will have a big impact,\" designer Oscar de la Renta told U.S. fashion bible Women's Wear Daily."}, {"response": 1356, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jan 20, 2009 (19:58)", "body": "an affordable $148 black and white off-the-rack dress That kind of item isn't called affordable in my world. Question for tonight is....hair up or down? I happened to be watching when this when it occurred. Al Roker was like a kid. Very cute. http://www.dailykostv.com/v/000159.html"}, {"response": 1357, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Jan 20, 2009 (20:28)", "body": "(Dorine)I happened to be watching when this when it occurred. Al Roker was like a kid. As I remember Barbara Bush broke ranks to go over and hug Al Roker. Obama just gave him a wave. I don't care what anyone says...I thought she looked stunning today and bling is fine anytime of day, IMO. \"Swiss wool lace, backed with netting for warmth on the bitterly cold Washington morning, and lined in French silk. \" And just for the record I don't want my first lady to buy off the rack. That's for peasants like me."}, {"response": 1358, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Jan 20, 2009 (20:31)", "body": "I've been reading the text of the inaugural address. I had a problem with some of the comments, but I'll get to them at a later time.Today is a time to be positive;-) The best part IMO was his references to God and scripture. This is a man who is comfortable with religion in the public aquare. I admire that;shows self assurance and core values, IMO"}, {"response": 1359, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Jan 20, 2009 (20:35)", "body": "She's wearing a white off- the -shoulder gown...hair down. But he keeps preaching...hey, Barack...lighten up...Time to party! Designer???"}, {"response": 1360, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jan 20, 2009 (20:40)", "body": "As I remember Barbara Bush broke ranks to go over and hug Al Roker. I guess that'd be about right and then some. He did say he waited for 12 years. It was a cute exchange though. I'm so annoyed they cut off their dance. They were just starting to get into a groove! Great song for the first dance. I thought the gown was a bright yellow. Hmmm. CNN said they were going to have the Michelle Obama fashion show. LOL, they were contrasting Bush and Obama. Said Bush liked to be in bed and O likes to go out a lot and late. Bet the Secret Service is going to love him. They've gotten off easy the past eight years."}, {"response": 1361, "author": "mari", "date": "Tue, Jan 20, 2009 (21:11)", "body": "Hey, that first ball was a par-tay! O was gettin' down to Stevie Wonder and Sting. On the first dance, he looked like he was afraid of stepping on her gown, which is very long. Beyonce sounded great. \"At last . . \""}, {"response": 1362, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jan 20, 2009 (21:17)", "body": "Grrr..... I missed them talking online about the designer of the dress. Not sure I really love, love it though. Jill Biden loves red."}, {"response": 1363, "author": "mari", "date": "Tue, Jan 20, 2009 (21:19)", "body": "Inaugural gown designer is Jason Wu: http://www.thefrisky.com/post/246-the-moment-youve-all-been-waiting-for-michelle-obamas-inauguration-nigh/"}, {"response": 1364, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jan 20, 2009 (21:23)", "body": "LOL at Don King on ABCnews.com! His jacket, Louisa!"}, {"response": 1365, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jan 20, 2009 (21:27)", "body": "It just said on CNN that the Youth Ball cost $75 and most others cost $150. I'd totally pay that to go. I didn't know you could just buy tix. The Neighborhood Ball tix were around $25 they said."}, {"response": 1366, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Jan 20, 2009 (21:28)", "body": "Yeah, the First Couple really got into it at the Neighborhood Ball. Liked the way everyone got on stage and he danced with several people. He really is a good dancer. I like her gown, but she is so tall and slender I think she should have selected a sheath with one shoulder. Goddess-like, LOL. Somewhere I saw an Oscar de la Renta that she was considering. I haven't seen Hill...have you Moon?"}, {"response": 1367, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jan 20, 2009 (21:36)", "body": "Lots of discussion on ABCnews.com with ....I'm not sure who those women are....about Jill Biden's boots. Says there's lots of talk on the internet if they were appropriate for her or not. They say ok. Say she has great legs/body, can get away with it. I had NO idea Jill Biden was 57. Hope I look half that good then. Thanks for the designer, Mari."}, {"response": 1368, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jan 20, 2009 (21:57)", "body": "Lots of discussion on ABCnews.com with ....I'm not sure who those women are....about Jill Biden's boots. Says there's lots of talk on the internet if they were appropriate for her or not. They say ok. Say she has great legs/body, can get away with it. I had NO idea Jill Biden was 57. Hope I look half that good then. Thanks for the designer, Mari. Wow, how does one (as a Marine) get picked to dance with the Leader of the Free World? God love her."}, {"response": 1369, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jan 20, 2009 (22:03)", "body": "Michelle's having to pick and adjust the dress bottom too much. I couldn't wear that. I couldn't be bothered to worry about it all night and fuss over it."}, {"response": 1370, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Jan 20, 2009 (22:57)", "body": "Yeah, I noticed that she is constantly adjusting the bottom. Bad choice. Kind of looks like a cotillion dress to me."}, {"response": 1371, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Wed, Jan 21, 2009 (05:05)", "body": "Was impressed how they got out of their armoured cars and walked along part of Pennsylvania Ave to acknowledge and wave at the crowd. Must have been a security nightmare though. Feel sorry for Ted Kennedy having a seizure."}, {"response": 1372, "author": "mari", "date": "Wed, Jan 21, 2009 (10:59)", "body": "Michelle is trying to support the new, young American designers; both she wore are, significantly, immigrants. I applaud her. The old guard designers don't need the help. Jill's boots: I see an increasing number of fashion forward people wearing them around here, and yes, well into their '50s. (Do)I had NO idea Jill Biden was 57. LOL, did you think he'd pick a young trophy bimbo? She *does* look amazing, a very pretty woman. She's Joe's 2nd wife, but they've been married forever; the first was killed in a car crash when the two eldest boys were babies (and in the car with her). Unbearably tragic. Jill has raised those kids from young."}, {"response": 1373, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Jan 21, 2009 (12:48)", "body": "The dress today at church...not so hotsy:-((("}, {"response": 1374, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Jan 21, 2009 (13:01)", "body": "I too applaud Michelle for picking new designers. She looked great in her gown, Cotillion look et al. ;-) I love wearing boots. My comment was on her choice of short skirt with the boots, which made her look like a go-go girl. Not the right choice for the day. She looked great in her red gown. I am less and less a fan of Biden's. I don't trust that smile. (Evelyn), bling is fine anytime of day, IMO. I agree! Bling is fine anytime of day, but that was a big rhinestone piece. I object to rhinestones in the day. Beyonce sang beautifully, but that gown with the pointy breasts, LOL. Now her husband JayZ, can we say no talent/what the hell is the deal? I still don't like Mariah Carey, never got her, that trill in here voice, very smaltzy. Shakira looked fantastic, she has an interesting voice. Dorine, I had the chance to go to two of the Balls. It would have been too much of a hassle. Too many people, all the bridges were closed till 7PM. I don't do crowds very well."}, {"response": 1375, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jan 21, 2009 (13:11)", "body": "Yeah, I knew about Jill, just had no idea of her age. I didn't see any of the celebrities/singers. I don't blame you, Moon."}, {"response": 1376, "author": "mari", "date": "Wed, Jan 21, 2009 (14:15)", "body": "(Moon)My comment was on her choice of short skirt with the boots That's the new look, though, short dress or coat with boots, knees exposed. I thought she pulled it off fine: Her red gown at the balls was by Reem Acra, whose work as I recall was worn by several of the celebs at the Golden Globes."}, {"response": 1377, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Jan 21, 2009 (14:20)", "body": "Mari, I like the look. I just did not think it was appropriate for the yesterday. And while on the subject, her coat looked old. ;-D"}, {"response": 1378, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jan 21, 2009 (15:42)", "body": "Old style, or old in her closet for a while? How could you tell the latter? I'd love to know what was on under the coat in detail. I love how she has on an obvious thick wool coat and Michelle's got this thin looking sheath coat in the frigid weather. I love how Michelle and Barack were just striding up the Ave yesterday though she was making me cold just to look at her. Though one commentator made a good point, she is from Chicago. Still....the sacrifices for fashion I guess. ;-)"}, {"response": 1379, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jan 21, 2009 (15:53)", "body": "Yay, welcome to the real world (re the salaries)...... Obama freezes salaries of some White House aides By JENNIFER LOVEN, AP White House Correspondent Jennifer Loven, Ap White House Correspondent \ufffd 1 hr 34 mins ago http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090121/ap_on_go_pr_wh/obama_executive_pay"}, {"response": 1380, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Jan 21, 2009 (17:43)", "body": "It's not just the aides that should get the freeze. How about Congress? You can see her outfit at the post inauguration luncheon. Must be a pic somewhere. I think it was a plaid skirt."}, {"response": 1381, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Jan 21, 2009 (18:02)", "body": "How about Congress? He has no authority to do so."}, {"response": 1382, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Jan 21, 2009 (18:52)", "body": "Just the aides? How strange. I almost forgot to mention the biggest faux-pas of the night! Pres. O not wearing tails! He did not wear the jacket. He wore a tuxedo jacket instead. He probably thinks he's updating the \"look?\" But it did not work. I noticed JayZ had the same wrong look. Please don't touch a classic style, guys. No one in the media has enough style or class to even comment on it. grrrr"}, {"response": 1383, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Jan 21, 2009 (19:05)", "body": "I saw on the news how the J. Crew apparel worn yesterday by the Firth Fam is not available in stores or to the public. I had no idea that J. Crew did custom work or haute couture. ;-)"}, {"response": 1384, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Jan 21, 2009 (21:26)", "body": "I saw that too. But I like the idea coming from J Crew."}, {"response": 1385, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jan 21, 2009 (21:43)", "body": "Does that mean J Crew will be having tent shows at Fashion Week now? ;-) Now I understand the origin of the \"affordable\" J Crew outfits. Congress votes themselves raises...or not."}, {"response": 1386, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jan 21, 2009 (22:03)", "body": "Bet they feel kinda stupid... Obama takes presidential oath again after stumble WASHINGTON \ufffd After the flub heard around the world, President Barack Obama has taken the oath of office. Again. Chief Justice John Roberts delivered the oath to Obama on Wednesday night at the White House \ufffd a rare do-over. The surprise moment came in response to Tuesday's much-noticed stumble, when Roberts got the words of the oath a little off, which prompted Obama to do so, too. Don't worry, the White House says: Obama has still been president since noon on Inauguration Day. Nevertheless, Obama and Roberts went through the drill again out of what White House counsel Greg Craig called \"an abundance of caution.\" This time, the scene was the White House Map Room in front of a small group of reporters, not the Capitol platform before the whole watching world. \"We decided that because it was so much fun ...,\" Obama joked to reporters who followed press secretary Robert Gibbs into the room. No TV camera crews or news photographers were allowed in. A few of Obama's closest aides were there, along with a White House photographer. Roberts put on his black robe. \"Are you ready to take the oath?\" he said. \"Yes, I am,\" Obama said. \"And we're going to do it very slowly.\" Roberts then led Obama through the oath without any missteps. The president said he did not have his Bible with him, but that the oath was binding anyway. The original, bungled version on Tuesday caught observers by surprise and then got replayed on cable news shows. It happened when Obama interrupted Roberts midway through the opening line, in which the president repeats his name and solemnly swears. Next in the oath is the phrase \" ... that I will faithfully execute the office of president of the United States.\" But Roberts rearranged the order of the words, not saying \"faithfully\" until after \"president of the United States.\" That appeared to throw Obama off. He stopped abruptly at the word \"execute.\" Recognizing something was off, Roberts then repeated the phrase, putting \"faithfully\" in the right place but without repeating \"execute.\" But Obama then repeated Roberts' original, incorrect version: \"... the office of president of the United States faithfully.\" Craig, the White House lawyer, said in a statement Wednesday evening: \"We believe the oath of office was administered effectively and that the president was sworn in appropriately yesterday. Yet the oath appears in the Constitution itself. And out of the abundance of caution, because there was one word out of sequence, Chief Justice John Roberts will administer the oath a second time.\" The Constitution is clear about the exact wording of the oath and as a result, some constitutional experts have said that a do-over probably wasn't necessary but also couldn't hurt. Two other previous presidents have repeated the oath because of similar issues, Calvin Coolidge and Chester A. Arthur. __ Associated Press writer Phil Elliott contributed to this report. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090122/ap_on_go_pr_wh/obama_oath_do_over"}, {"response": 1387, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jan 21, 2009 (22:11)", "body": "Way, way, way, way long overdue. Obama to sign order shutting Gitmo in a year By LARA JAKES and DAVID ESPO, Associated Press Writers Lara Jakes And David Espo, Associated Press Writers \ufffd 8 mins ago WASHINGTON \ufffd President Barack Obama will begin overhauling U.S. national security policy Thursday with orders to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center, review military trials of terror suspects and end harsh interrogations, two government officials said. Together, the three executive orders and a presidential directive will reshape how the United States prosecutes and questions al-Qaida, Taliban or other foreign fighters who pose a threat to Americans. A senior Obama administration official said the president would sign an order Thursday to shutter the Guantanamo prison within one year, fulfilling his campaign promise to close a facility that critics around the world say violates domestic and international detainee rights. The aide spoke on condition of anonymity because the order has not yet been issued. A draft copy of the order, obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press, notes that \"in view of significant concerns raised by these detentions, both within the United States and internationally, prompt and appropriate disposition of the individuals currently detained at Guantanamo and closure of the facility would further the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States and the interests of justice.\" An estimated 245 men are being held at the U.S. naval base in Cuba, most of whom have been detained for years without being charged with a crime. The administration already has received permission to suspend the trials at Guantanamo for 120 days pending a review of the military tribunals. Two other executive orders and a presidential directive also are expected Thursday, according to the administration official and an aide to a House Republican lawmaker who was briefed on the plans Wednesday by White House counsel Greg Craig. They include: _An executive order creating a task force that would have 30 days to recommend policies on handling terror suspects who are detained in the future. Specifically, the group would look at where those detainees should be housed since Guantanamo is closing. _An executive order to require all U.S. personnel to follow the U.S. Army Field Manual while interrogating detainees. The manual explicitly prohibits threats, coercion, physical abuse and waterboarding, a technique that creates the sensation of drowning and has been termed a form of torture by critics. However, the administration also is planning a study of more aggressive interrogation methods that could be added to the Army manual, a second Capitol Hill aide said. _A presidential directive for the Justice Department to review the case of Qatar native Ali al-Marri, who is the only enemy combatant currently being held on U.S. soil. The review will look at whether al-Marri has the right to sue the government for his freedom, a right the Supreme Court already has given to Guantanamo detainees. The directive will ask the high court for a stay in al-Marri's appeals case while the review is ongoing. The government says al-Marri is an al-Qaida sleeper agent. The House Republican aide was not authorized to discuss the plans publicly and spoke only on condition of anonymity. Where the detainees would be housed if not at Guantanamo has become a point of contention for Obama as he grapples with the already thorny legal issue. The White House late Wednesday said Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will host Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and national security adviser James Jones at the State Department on Thursday in a closed-door meeting to be followed by an address by Obama and Clinton to department employees. The Guantanamo draft obtained by the AP requires a review of each detainees' case to decide whether they should be returned to their home countries, released, transferred elsewhere or sent to another U.S. prison. At least three military prisons \ufffd at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., Camp Pendleton, Calif., and Charleston, S.C. \ufffd could house some of the Guantanamo detainees, according to a second senior administration official who also spoke on condition of anonymity. Also under consideration, the official said, is the Supermax prison in Florence, Colo., which houses convicted 9/11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui and Olympic bomber Eric Rudolph. House Republican leader John Boehner said he's open to options, \"but most local communities around America don't want dangerous terrorists imported into their neighborhoods, and I can't blame them.\" \"The key question is where do you put these terrorists,\" Boehner said Wednesday. \"Do you bring them inside our borders? Do you release them back into the battlefield? If there is a better solution, we're open to hearing it.\" Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., has long contended the U.S. can handle relocating the detainees \"just as it has handled the worst"}, {"response": 1388, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jan 21, 2009 (23:36)", "body": "My friend and I were talking about Obama tonight when all of a sudden he asked a question about \"Sarah\". I asked Sarah who? He LOL and said I'd already forgotten about her (sorta true). I told him about her recent whining over people \"using her\" to further themselves (Katie Couric/Tina Fey) and I remarked that we'd not heard the last of her yet. She should've taken her own sage advice to Hillary and man up on that. Now this... Palin to media: Leave my kids alone By RACHEL D'ORO, Associated Press Writer \ufffd Wed Jan 21, 6:31 pm ET ANCHORAGE, Alaska \ufffd Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is going on the offensive against news organizations and bloggers she says are perpetuating malicious gossip about her and her children. But political observers say the former Republican vice presidential candidate can't have it both ways: trotting out the children to showcase her family values, then trying to shield them from scrutiny. Palin's criticism also raises questions about her motivations because she has said she is open to a presidential run in 2012. \"I think she's positioning herself. She's attacking the media as a way to generate support among a base she hopes will support her,\" said Leonard Steinhorn, a professor of communications at American University in Washington and an expert on the presidency. Palin shied away from interviews during the campaign, although her children often accompanied her on her travels, including her oldest daughter, Bristol, who was pregnant at the time. But in recent weeks, she has personally reached out to media outlets such as People magazine and The Associated Press to complain about information she claimed is wrong. She slammed reports that 18-year-old Bristol Palin and the teen's fiance are high school dropouts. The governor insists the two are not dropouts because they enrolled in correspondence courses. The couple last month had a son \ufffd the governor's first grandchild. The governor said she is speaking out to set the record straight, not because of any political aspirations. \"It's all about the family,\" she said. \"I'm wired in a way that I can take the criticism. I can take the shots. But any mother would want to protect their children from lies and scandalous reporting.\" In a Jan. 5 interview with conservative filmmaker John Ziegler, Palin also questioned whether Caroline Kennedy's quest for a New York Senate seat was as heavily scrutinized as her vice presidential campaign. When her comments were reported, she chastised journalists for taking her remarks \"out of context to create adversarial situations.\" Steinhorn is not alone among experts who believe the first-term governor is trying to keep her name in the spotlight. A newcomer to national politics when she was nominated, Palin energized the Republican base but also attracted intense criticism that she had little substance. Palin \"does seem to have ambitions, and this is one way of staying in the public eye,\" said Janis Edwards, an associate professor of communication studies at the University of Alabama and an expert on women candidates. One of Edwards' classes monitored Palin's role in a project called \"The Palin Watch.\" Palin's grievances include what she calls \"false stories\" such as a talk show host's suggestion that she helped Levi Johnston get a job in Alaska's North Slope oil fields, circumventing eligibility rules since he does not have a high school diploma. Johnston's father, an engineer for an oil-field services company, has said his position accounted for any help Levi received in getting the apprenticeship job. Palin also lashed out at bloggers and others perpetuating Internet rumors that her 9-month-old son, Trig, is actually Bristol Palin's child from a secret previous pregnancy. Her decision to strike back at news organizations seems to contradict the governor's earlier statements on how politicians should respond to media coverage. Months before she was named John McCain's running mate, Palin attended a leadership forum in Los Angeles and was asked her opinion on then-Sen. Hillary Clinton's allegations that she was being unfairly treated by the media during the primaries. Palin said Clinton did herself a disservice to even mention it. The governor said it bothered her to hear Clinton \"bring that attention to herself on that level.\" Palin said her opinion has not changed since the March 2008 event and insisted that defending her children is her only motivation. \"I'm not whining about the treatment of the press, but I am calling reporters on the family aspect of this,\" she said. \"I think it's unprecedented in some respects what I have seen with my children.\" It's not unprecedented. The children and spouses of high-profile politicians always draw attention. Early in President George Bush's first term, his twin daughters, Jenna and Barbara, made headlines after an embarrassing run-in with the law for underage drinking. So did Kitty Dukakis, the wife of former Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis, when she was treated for alcohol"}, {"response": 1389, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Jan 22, 2009 (09:55)", "body": "\"AP But any mother would want to protect their children from lies and scandalous reporting.\" What's wrong with that. What *is* painful, is that AP report. The only people quoted are the ones who want to continue to denegrate Sarah Palin; never These people are still consumed with hate ...it has become a part of their DNA. As it has for many ....not quoted. They are to be pitied;-D"}, {"response": 1390, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Jan 22, 2009 (10:06)", "body": "Apparently, she wasn't going to be appointed by Gov Patterson.. CAROLINE'S KAPUT QUITS SENATE BID AFTER GOV SOURS ON HER TO REPLACE HILL http://www.nypost.com/seven/01222009/news/politics/carolines_kaput_151351.htm"}, {"response": 1391, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jan 22, 2009 (10:21)", "body": "Ah yes, St. Sarah the Hypocrite. Am I a saint? Of course not, but I don't pretend to be someone I'm not. Do I hate her (such a strong word)? No, I can't be bothered to care that much about her. And I don't agree with picking on her kids now that she's out of the spotlight, but then again, I'm not sure she's taking the right tack in dealing with it either. I mean, does anyone really care how her SIL got his job regardless if it's being reported on or not? I had just about forgotten about her, but it seems she won't let me. ;-) Last night I heard the excuse was because of her uncle, though the first thing I said when my neighbor told me was it's probably because he was going to pick Cuomo. I wish he'd pick already, though have got to hand it to him for keeping his cards very close to his vest."}, {"response": 1392, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Jan 22, 2009 (11:02)", "body": "(Dorine) Last night I heard the excuse was because of her uncle In what way? (SP) \"I'm not whining about the treatment of the press, but I am calling reporters on the family aspect of this,\" she said. \"I think it's unprecedented in some respects what I have seen with my children.\" LOL at how the AP gave specific examples."}, {"response": 1393, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jan 22, 2009 (11:23)", "body": "\"I think it's unprecedented...\" I LOL too at the AP saying flat out.....No, it's not. Caroline said she was going to spend more time with her uncle, which then led me to believe that (not surprisingly) the seizure was indicative of a grave condition and he'd be not long for this world. Esp if he had as bad a seizure as some have said. But now, just reading AP/Yahoo today, they've reversed saying it was personal *not* related to him. I almost posted last night's story, then didn't obviously. I should have. It seems her myriad of PR people can't get their stories straight."}, {"response": 1394, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Jan 22, 2009 (11:55)", "body": "Caroline said she was going to spend more time with her uncle Not a reason anyone should believe. It seems her myriad of PR people can't get their stories straight. I saw reports earlier from an unauthorized source that she was going to withdraw her name. Then there was a more affirmative statement or comments from Patterson that she was still a candidate. So I didn't bother to post the first. Her PR people haven't issued anything until this a.m."}, {"response": 1395, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jan 22, 2009 (12:13)", "body": "So who put out last night she was withdrawing because of her uncle? I only skimmed it and didn't pay attention to who was being sourced."}, {"response": 1396, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jan 22, 2009 (12:15)", "body": "I didn't totally buy the uncle story, but it was plausible as I noted above. Maybe he told her not to use him as an excuse if she wanted to drop out for whatever reason she is."}, {"response": 1397, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Jan 22, 2009 (12:19)", "body": "What I saw yesterday had an \"unnamed\" source, someone close. Also, I don't recall it mentioned the uncle at all, just that she was planning on withdrawing her name. No reasons given."}, {"response": 1398, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Jan 22, 2009 (13:18)", "body": "It will be interesting to see where the detainees at Guantanamo are re-located. Kansas said:\"No thank you\". Ft. Leavenworth has too many children and families on the base. I say send them to Vermont; I am sure Senators Bernie Sanders and Patrick Leahy would win re-election on that move."}, {"response": 1399, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jan 22, 2009 (14:04)", "body": "When I got in at 9:30 last night, the uncle story was going around. Like I said, I should've posted it."}, {"response": 1400, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Jan 22, 2009 (14:08)", "body": "Not a new article, but am amazed but how little support there is for his comments. Actually, no I shouldn't be surprised. Yet it will be interesting to see if there is any outcry to appoint another woman to that seat, analogous to the crap that Bobby Rush (IL) mumbled. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0109/17399.html"}, {"response": 1401, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jan 22, 2009 (14:20)", "body": "Ha, I found a reference to it in a quote from the NYT found on Daily Kos (knew I wasn't nuts). The Daily News or AP had the same story. But now, all the articles, including the NYT have been altered because the article at the link given doesn't have this wording. The original story saying she was withdrawing for \"personal reasons\" was posted on DK at 4:19 and updated sometime before I got home, but it doesn't specify when. \"On Wednesday she called the governor, David Paterson, who is making the selection of who should succeed Senator Hillary Clinton. Her concerns about Senator Edward M. Kennedy\ufffds deteriorating health (he was hospitalized after a seizure during the inaugural lunch on Tuesday ) prompted her decision to withdraw, this person said. Coping with the health issues of her uncle, with whom she enjoys an extraordinarily close bond, was her most important priority; a situation not conducive to starting a high profile public job. She was planning to issue a statement on Wednesday evening.\" http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/1/21/19113/8479/194/687292"}, {"response": 1402, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jan 22, 2009 (14:27)", "body": "Well, all I can say about Caroline Kennedy is she, like Sarah Palin for VP, was obviously unqualified for the job, woman or not. And I had to laugh as I'd seen before about Mrs. Palin voicing her opinion on the treatment of Caroline Kennedy and realized she had no freakin' idea what she was talking about (again). As the article states, Caroline got a once and twice over by the press here, which brought to the forefront that she was not in anyway qualified for the job (except maybe her name). Period."}, {"response": 1403, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jan 22, 2009 (15:19)", "body": "(Karen) Not a new article, but am amazed but how little support there is for his comments. Actually, no I shouldn't be surprised. I found most people's comments there sensible and logical. What are you surprised (or not surprised) about? It was a stupid piece."}, {"response": 1404, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Jan 22, 2009 (16:37)", "body": "(Dorine)And I had to laugh as I'd seen before about Mrs. Palin voicing her opinion on the treatment of Caroline Kennedy and realized she had no freakin' idea what she was talking about (again). *shrugging and rolling eyes* Why am I not suprised, LOL"}, {"response": 1405, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Jan 22, 2009 (18:12)", "body": "My own theory on Caroline Kennedy is that she couldn't stand the heat. She's a Kennedy...royalty! How dare the media question her credibility, her background (\"my family... you know. ..her finances! And she knew it wouldn't let up.. No sir, you'd never find her going on SNL. All so beneath her."}, {"response": 1406, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Jan 22, 2009 (19:13)", "body": "Caroline: Taxes, Nanny...Marriage.... http://www.nypost.com/seven/01222009/news/politics/carolines_kaput_151351.htm Like I said: Couldn't take the hot seat."}, {"response": 1407, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Jan 22, 2009 (20:45)", "body": "\"In recent weeks, the media gossip Web site Gawker and Vanity Fair have published rumors that Kennedy's marriage was in trouble.\" Your \"Vanity Fair\", Dorine...so it must be true;-)) http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090123/ap_on_re_us/caroline_kennedy Rumors...but I can't seem to find it....is that she was having an affair with Arthur Sulzberger, Jr. ."}, {"response": 1408, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Jan 22, 2009 (21:12)", "body": "I thought it was known that Caroline was separated from her husband? Andrew Cuomo would be my choice from NY. Re: the new administration: Oath of office - poorly executed Parade - late & in the dark Biden - inappropriate remarks Madame Secretary - priceless I'm not happy about Guantanamo closing. Perfect place to keep terrorists. Did you know that their own countries don't want them back? I'm with you Evelyn, send them to Vermont (as much as I love that state), waving to Howard Dean.;-)"}, {"response": 1409, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jan 22, 2009 (21:57)", "body": "Old news. I thought they split up long ago, unless they got back together at some point. I don't recall seeing anything about an affair, but I wasn't following stuff about her either. (Evelyn) My own theory on Caroline Kennedy is that she couldn't stand the heat. That's true, she didn't want her finances and other business made public, but also she also came across quite badly when she finally was interviewed. She had the majority of the public's support until that point, then it was downhill from there. I thought Cuomo wanted to run for Governor so was a bit surprised to see his hat in the ring. There are still 2 other women candidates that have support."}, {"response": 1410, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Jan 22, 2009 (22:05)", "body": "If your current Gov has plan to run, he would want Cuomo out of the way. ;-)"}, {"response": 1411, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jan 22, 2009 (22:07)", "body": "(Evelyn) No sir, you'd never find her going on SNL. All so beneath her. Well, maybe being a Kennedy she would have the class to at least not whine later about the people benefitting from getting popular at her expense when she was a participant."}, {"response": 1412, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jan 22, 2009 (22:31)", "body": "And I was wondering if Aretha Franklin was really going to sing or lip synch. Famed quartet played inauguration to taped music Washington \ufffd Millions of viewers heard a recording of the dulcet tones played by a celebrated quartet of musicians at President Barack Obama's inauguration rather than the notes the group actually played. Carole Florman, a spokeswoman for the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, says the weather was too cold for the instruments to stay in tune. Cellist Yo-Yo Ma, violinist Izhak Perlman, pianist Gabriella Montero and clarinetist Anthony McGill made the decision on Inauguration Day Tuesday to use an audio tape of their performance that they had laid down two days earlier. Florman says the musicians \"very insistant on playing live until it became clear that it would be too cold,\" making it impossible for the instruments to hold tune. People sitting near them could hear the musicians play, but their instruments were not amplified. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090123/ap_on_go_pr_wh/inauguration_recorded_music"}, {"response": 1413, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jan 22, 2009 (22:32)", "body": "Since we were just talking about Castro... http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090123/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/cb_cuba_fidel_castro"}, {"response": 1414, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jan 22, 2009 (22:40)", "body": "I started to post earlier that I was very surprised when it first came out that Kennedy was looking for the Senate seat as she's always been known as an extremely private and shy person. I thought that maybe she was being pushed, but was curious by whom andabout what was said that finally pushed her over the edge to do it. I still don't know, but I'm curious. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2009/01/22/2009-01-22_senate_bid_by_caroline_kennedy_started_p-2.html"}, {"response": 1415, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Fri, Jan 23, 2009 (04:41)", "body": "says the weather was too cold for the instruments to stay in tune. I was wondering about this, am not surprised at all. It's a wonder their fingers could operate, too."}, {"response": 1416, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jan 23, 2009 (09:21)", "body": "Well, it's Gillibrand for Hillary's seat. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2009/01/22/2009-01-22_who_is_kirsten_gillibrand_new_york_congr.html"}, {"response": 1417, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jan 23, 2009 (10:10)", "body": "(Sue) It's a wonder their fingers could operate, too. I was in pain watching their unexposed fingers. I think my fingers are much more sensitive to extreme cold than they used to be. I just discovered in our recent frigid snap they can't be out of gloves nearly that long without gloves or being covered by pockets or something."}, {"response": 1418, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Jan 23, 2009 (10:29)", "body": "( Moon)I'm not happy about Guantanamo closing. Perfect place to keep terrorists. Report: Ex-Gitmo detainee joins al-Qaida in Yemen By MAGGIE MICHAEL, Associated Press Writer Maggie Michael, Associated Press Writer 1 hr 9 mins ago CAIRO, Egypt \ufffd A Saudi man who was released from Guantanamo after spending six years inside the U.S. prison camp has joined al-Qaida's branch in Yemen and is now the terror group's No. 2 in the country, according to a purported Internet statement from al-Qaida. The announcement, made this week on a Web site commonly used by militants, came as President Barack Obama ordered the detention facility closed within a year. The Yemen branch \ufffd known as \"al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula\" \ufffd said the man, identified as Said Ali al-Shihri, returned to his home in Saudi Arabia after his release from Guantanamo about a year ago and from there went to Yemen. The Internet statement, which could not immediately be verified, said al-Shihri was the group's second-in-command in Yemen and his prisoner number at Guantanamo was 372. \"He managed to leave the land of the two shrines (Saudi Arabia) and join his brothers in al-Qaida,\" the statement said. Documents released by the U.S. Defense Department show that al-Shihri was released from the facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba in November 2007 and transferred to his homeland. The documents confirmed his prisoner number was 372. Saudi Arabian authorities would not immediately comment on the statement. A Yemeni counterterrorism official would only say that Saudi Arabia had asked Yemen to turn over a number of wanted Saudi suspects who fled the kingdom last year for Yemen, and a man with the same name was among those wanted. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak to the press and would not provide more details. Al-Shihri was stopped at a Pakistani border crossing in December 2001 with injuries from an airstrike and recuperated at a hospital in Quetta for a month and a half, according to the Defense Department. Within days of his release, he became one of the first detainees sent to Guantanamo. Al-Shihri allegedly traveled to Afghanistan two weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks, provided money to other fighters and trained at an urban warfare at a camp north of Kabul, according to a summary of the evidence against him from U.S. military review panels at Guantanamo Bay. An alleged travel coordinator for al-Qaida, he was also accused of meeting extremists in Mashad, Iran and briefing them on how to enter Afghanistan, according to the Defense Department documents. Al-Shihri, however, said he traveled to Iran to buy carpets for his store in Riyadh. He said he felt Osama bin Laden had no business representing Islam, denied any links to terrorism and expressed interest in rejoining his family in Saudi Arabia. ____ Associated Press Writer Ahmed al-Haj in San'a, Yemen, contributed to this report. WSJ had an editorial....\"It's must easier fighting terrorism when your a candidate\" ....and you don't have 300 million people to protect."}, {"response": 1419, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Jan 23, 2009 (10:31)", "body": "((Dorine)Well, maybe being a Kennedy she would have the class to at least not whine later So far I haven't seen any indication of class ....but we shall see."}, {"response": 1420, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jan 23, 2009 (10:41)", "body": "Well, strangely I was thinking the same thing as I wrote it last night. ;-) Wishful thinking."}, {"response": 1421, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Jan 23, 2009 (10:41)", "body": "Details on the inaugural ball attire: WSJ: Style section ...Mr Obama opted for American-made evening attire, with a classic tuxedo by Chicago suit maker Hart Schaffner Marx. \"Mrs Obama does no make her style choices alone. She appears to rely heavily on Ikram Goldman, the owner of the high -end Ikram boutique in Chicago to steer her toward designers and runway looks that would work for her. \" The sparkle on her gown were Swarovski crystal flowers for a \"dream like' effect."}, {"response": 1422, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jan 23, 2009 (10:48)", "body": "Apparently there's quite the brouhaha about ticket holders who couldn't get access to the Inauguration. The Inauguration committee and Dianne Feinstein are working on compensation of some type and an investigation of what happened, but people are not happy with the \"compensation\", esp as it's inaugural items they already got with the packets their tix came in. Boy am I glad I didn't go."}, {"response": 1423, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Jan 23, 2009 (10:52)", "body": "Russian Tycoon Lebedev Buys London's Evening Standard \"On Wednesday, the Evening Standard said Lebedev fell \"in love\" with the paper when he was working as a spy at the embassy in London, where he studied British newspapers. \" http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/21/AR2009012103651.html With luck perhaps one of our Muslim detainees , who is sprung from Guantanamo, might buy the New York Times."}, {"response": 1424, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jan 23, 2009 (11:06)", "body": "I have no objection to locking up legitimate prisoners somewhere else, but Guantanamo came to represent an America I have been embarrassed by and not been proud of, like Abu Gharib, and I'll be glad to see it gone."}, {"response": 1425, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Jan 23, 2009 (11:07)", "body": "Uh oh....she's in trouble already... DAVE PICKS GILLIBRAND AS LIBERAL DEMS HOWL http://www.nypost.com/seven/01232009/news/politics/dave_picks_gillibrand_as_liberal_dems_ho_151502.htm She's prettier than Hill or Caroline though...like her hair:-))))"}, {"response": 1426, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Jan 23, 2009 (11:11)", "body": "(Dorine)I have no objection to locking up legitimate prisoners somewhere else, but Guantanamo came to represent an America I have been embarrassed by and not been proud of, like Abu Gharib, and I'll be glad to see it gone. So....it's not the substance you object to...just the geographical symbolism. Interesting."}, {"response": 1427, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jan 23, 2009 (11:14)", "body": "It's been a blight on our reputation for a number of reasons. As I said, I have no objection to locking up *legitimate* terrorist prisoners, which some of them haven't been. I also don't agree with basically throwing them in there without charges or trying them for years at a time. We're the first to bitch about other countries doing that around the world, like China, yet we've been doing it. Makes us no better than them."}, {"response": 1428, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Jan 23, 2009 (11:44)", "body": "with a classic tuxedo by Chicago suit maker Hart Schaffner Marx Oh gosh, are they still around? I'm pretty sure its building was turned into loft space ages ago. She appears to rely heavily on Ikram Goldman, the owner of the high -end Ikram boutique Hmmm, not in their beloved Hyde Park. In the Gold Coast, right off Michigan Ave, on Chicago Ave and Rush. List of designers: http://ikram.com/About/Designers/tabid/42/Default.aspx http://www.thestyleinsider.com/nwcn/2009/01/take-a-peek-inside-ikram-a-michelle-obama-favorite"}, {"response": 1429, "author": "mari", "date": "Fri, Jan 23, 2009 (12:43)", "body": "I don't have strong feelings one way or the other about who is the next Senator from NY, as I don't live there, but I've been appalled at how Gov. Patterson has handled it. First, he had \"anonymous\" aides of his leaking stuff about taxes and nannies (with no substantiation), and then later in the afternoon saying \"he wasn't going to pick her anyway.\" You don't handle things that way during a vetting process! No class whatsoever. Mayor Bloomberg was right when he urged all a halt to Patterson's circus weeks ago. Just get on with it. Patterson doesn't strike me as the sharpest tool in the box and this confirmed it. As for Caroline, I was surprised at the attacks from Sarah Palin. Caroline came under close scrutiny in the media, I thought, with the mocking of her verbal ticks and criticism of how unprepared she seemed to answer questions. I'm not saying those weren't valid criticisms, but for Palin to deny they even occurred citing Caroline as liberal royalty is absurd, and seems unkind and churlish. Furthermore, if she did come under less scrutiny than Palin did, well no kidding, the two situations are not comparable. Palin was running for the 2nd highest office in the land, with the American people having the task of deciding on her candidacy. Caroline put her hat in the ring for a Senate job, one that would be decided not by the voters, but by one person, the governor."}, {"response": 1430, "author": "mari", "date": "Fri, Jan 23, 2009 (12:58)", "body": "The Yemen branch \ufffd known as \"al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula\" \ufffd said the man, identified as Said Ali al-Shihri, returned to his home in Saudi Arabia after his release from Guantanamo about a year ago So he got out on Bush's watch? I don't understand the point here, as it seems the existence of Gitmo wasn't enough to keep him off the streets so to speak. So who exactly is Gitmo holding, if not this guy who seems like a very dangerous character? Personally, I wouldn't have closed Gitmo And I certainly wouldn't have signed an order to close until I knew how many of the prisoners Europe was willing to take (yeah, I won't hold my breath;-). A few said they'll step up, like Switzerland, but elsewhere there's been back-pedaling aplenty. Ok, Sarkozy, Merkel, Berlusconi, put up or shut up."}, {"response": 1431, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jan 23, 2009 (13:15)", "body": "(Mari) Mayor Bloomberg was right when he urged all a halt to Patterson's circus weeks ago. He's just pissed off because it was his campaign team working with her and pushing her for the job, then she didn't get it. But I agree, I had the same attitude awhile back...just pick someone. I don't want to hear the Gov made his choice, then didn't, then did but isn't telling...yada, yada."}, {"response": 1432, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jan 23, 2009 (13:16)", "body": "Well, it's not like Gitmo's closing tomorrow. The order gives them a year to figure all this out and they've already been looking."}, {"response": 1433, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Jan 23, 2009 (13:26)", "body": "(Mari) So he got out on Bush's watch? LOL! It has to close, as mainly a symbol of change. There will be other means to ensure those taken into custody aren't subject to methods and practices that embarass this country anymore."}, {"response": 1434, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Jan 23, 2009 (13:32)", "body": "(Karen)There will be other means to ensure those taken into custody aren't subject to methods and practices that embarass this country anymore. Like saying \"please\" and \"thank you\"..reading them the Miranda rights on the battle field? Good luck I bet Israel would take them."}, {"response": 1435, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Jan 23, 2009 (13:47)", "body": "Why? To show their appreciation for the US-backed openly democratic elections that installed and legitimized Hamas? I doubt it."}, {"response": 1436, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Jan 23, 2009 (13:49)", "body": "BTW, saying please and thank you isn't the issue. Should I go find a website with pics from Abu Gharib?"}, {"response": 1437, "author": "Moon", "date": "Fri, Jan 23, 2009 (13:51)", "body": "Oh, why bother. Bring back the firing squad. I'm for no tolerance. They blew up and kill too many innocent people to worry about the rights of a few terrorists. I'm very Jewish in this: eye for an eye. Condoleezza Rice Signs with William Morris Agency NEW YORK \ufffd Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has made a key step in her post-Bush administration career: The William Morris Agency announced Wednesday that it has signed her as a client. The former professor and Stanford University provost was in the Bush administration since its beginning, first as national security adviser and then as secretary of state. Her appointment ended Tuesday afternoon, after Barack Obama was sworn in as president. Although most other members of the Bush administration, save Karl Rove, might have trouble finding such a wide-ranging deal, Rice found a strong market among talent agencies. \"It was certainly a competitive situation,\" said Jim Wiatt, chairman and CEO of William Morris. \"She was very thorough about the process and who she would feel most comfortable with and who would be speaking on her behalf.\" It's unlikely that Rice will turn up as a talking head on television, however. The deal includes William Morris representation for books, lecture appearances, and philanthropic initiatives, as well as business initiatives in media, sports, and communications. Wayne Kabak, co-chief operating officer of William Morris, said Rice's well-rounded resume appealed to the agency. In addition to her political career, Rice is an accomplished concert pianist ,as well as a big-time National Football League fan. \"It's more than just books, it's much more than just lectures,\" Kaback said. \"We're here to help her create and enhance an agenda that is very important to her in her post-government career.\" That agenda will include philanthropic efforts involving classical music and college educations for disadvantaged students, as well as initiatives to help U.S. children become global citizens. In support of those efforts, Rice might appear on camera, but she won't be traveling the well-worn path as a news or policy analyst. \"She's not interested in being a shadow secretary of state,\" Kabeck said. \"It's not her goal to go on morning talk shows the day after something happens. That's not what she wants to do.\" Reuters/Hollywood Reporter \ufffd Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved"}, {"response": 1438, "author": "mari", "date": "Fri, Jan 23, 2009 (14:11)", "body": "Europe slow to offer new home to Gitmo inmates . . . Diplomatic and security officials across Europe acknowledge that in the Obama era their nations risk exposure of double standards \ufffd complaining of American injustice, but presuming that ex-Guantanamo prisoners are too hot to handle themselves. . . . http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i3x2Wp33GZKiqg8Y7aJxUQzS2oAwD95T0IK86"}, {"response": 1439, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Jan 23, 2009 (14:29)", "body": "\"Obama era\" ? Not like Kumbaja diplomacy? ? That carpet dealer turned terrorist leader in Yemen is one of the detainees that had no *proven* background of being a terrorist and therefore could not be detained.(Which Dorine refered to) There are three classes of prisoners there. I think he would have been in Class 1 and therefore elegible to be released. Considered dangerous, but cannot be proven. Stay tuned."}, {"response": 1440, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Jan 23, 2009 (14:30)", "body": "Diplomatic and security officials across Europe acknowledge that in the Obama era their nations risk exposure of double standards \ufffd complaining of American injustice, but presuming that ex-Guantanamo prisoners are too hot to handle themselves. Ha! You see the difference between the \"old way\" and the \"smart way\" to deal with issues."}, {"response": 1441, "author": "Moon", "date": "Fri, Jan 23, 2009 (14:49)", "body": "I only hope that this makes the West really come together and agree to give those terrorists no tolerance period. A rethinking is in order. (Evelyn), Not like Kumbaja diplomacy?? Yeah! You're quoting me! Sending you big love."}, {"response": 1442, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jan 23, 2009 (15:02)", "body": "Unfortunately, it's likely that some became radicalized as a result of their imprisonment."}, {"response": 1443, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jan 23, 2009 (15:09)", "body": "(Evelyn) Not like Kumbaja diplomacy?? It's gotta be better than the Bush \"diplomacy\". ;-)"}, {"response": 1444, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jan 23, 2009 (16:16)", "body": "(Evelyn) it's not the substance you object to...just the geographical symbolism I think I answered this sufficiently?....not just geographical."}, {"response": 1445, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Jan 23, 2009 (16:16)", "body": "I am hoping Prez O will seek a middle ground and not be guided by the left-wing of his party. These are dangerous enemy combatants. (Dorine)Unfortunately, it's likely that some became radicalized as a result of their imprisonment. That's \"The Nation's\" chant. And perhaps that could be: I can't prove the opposite overtly \\and either can you. But in all probability they wouldn't have been taken prisoners if they hadn't been deemed dangerous. Bringing in hard evidence could compromise underground sources. And if the latter are revealed...who is going to want to cooperate with our intelligence. It's not a black/white issue; intelligence seldom is."}, {"response": 1446, "author": "mari", "date": "Fri, Jan 23, 2009 (17:15)", "body": "(Evelyn)It's not a black/white issue; intelligence seldom is. I agree with you, and that's what makes these problems so dicey. I am hoping Prez O will seek a middle ground and not be guided by the left-wing of his party. I think he is more centrist than not. And he won't be afraid to act, as he apparently just authorized missile strikes agaisnt al-Qaeda in Pakistan. tp://www.abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=6718124&page=1"}, {"response": 1447, "author": "mari", "date": "Fri, Jan 23, 2009 (17:16)", "body": "Sorry, don't know why it cut off: http://www.abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=6718124&page=1"}, {"response": 1448, "author": "Moon", "date": "Fri, Jan 23, 2009 (18:19)", "body": "Obama has always talked about Pakistan as a problem. Now that's he's Pres he has access to what's going on and he's reacting. (Dorine)Unfortunately, it's likely that some became radicalized as a result of their imprisonment. No more excuses please."}, {"response": 1449, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jan 23, 2009 (19:40)", "body": "(Evelyn) It's not a black/white issue; intelligence seldom is. Absolutely. About released prisoners from Gitmo: http://mediamatters.org/items/200901230002"}, {"response": 1450, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jan 23, 2009 (19:51)", "body": "You know, it will be interesting to see what kind of info comes out of State and the Pentagon (and govt in general) in the future. We've been lied to so much over the past several years about everything from Iraqi troop strength ready to take over to WMD's, that it's hard to tell what's good info or not anymore. And refresh my memory.....how many times have we killed Al-Qaeda's #2 in Iraq? ;-) Hee.... http://mediamatters.org/items/200901230012?f=i_latest"}, {"response": 1451, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jan 23, 2009 (20:20)", "body": "I'm in the middle of reading something I may post later, but it's begging the question from me that if people are saying that Bush's policies, whether one believes they have infringed on our civil rights and eroded Constitutional protections or not, have.....made us safer, kept us safe, etc......how can you be so sure? How do you know they just haven't tried again yet here? How do you know they aren't regrouping/training elsewhere and when they're ready they'll try something again? If so, Bush's policies could have had nothing to do with it. The one tenet of Al Qaeda known long ago is they learn from previous experiences and look for another way to acheive their goal. How can you be so sure that anything or much of anything they've put into place has made a difference other than to increase the ability to use surveillance to further their own means against people they see as their enemies here (such as the media). I'm just saying that as I have always found it a very specious argument as it took Al Qaeda 8 years to strike back at the WTC after the first time and it's not like they didn't know something was coming then without all the new infringing policies. Certainly I'm glad nothing has happened, but I don't see how that means that anything that's been implemented has made any difference for most people other than to make it a pain in the ass to travel by plane. And for a while, it was a pain in the ass to get into a theater as they searched everyone's bags (which they generally don't do anymore except to keep you from bringing in your own snacks and water bottles ;-))."}, {"response": 1452, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jan 23, 2009 (21:21)", "body": "(Karen)There will be other means to ensure those taken into custody aren't subject to methods and practices that embarass this country anymore. (Evelyn) Like saying \"please\" and \"thank you\"..reading them the Miranda rights on the battle field? Good luck I missed addressing this.... the Geneva Convention. While technically the prisoners are not representing a country (and I'm not completely sure they have to or it's some vague loophole or reasoning the Bush Admin used not to apply it), there's no reason the principals couldn't apply. And funny, reading that piece that I was talking about posting, Scarborough used practically this exact phrase... reading them the Miranda rights on the battle field? . Is that some Republican talking point I missed somehow?"}, {"response": 1453, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jan 23, 2009 (22:14)", "body": "Even the Secretary of Defense has thought Gitmo should close... http://mediamatters.org/items/200901230005?f=h_latest"}, {"response": 1454, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Jan 23, 2009 (22:37)", "body": "Dorine....if I see \"mediamatters\" or \"Dailykos\"or any other pol blog...I don't even bother to click on it. At best they are inflamatory and serves the audience who reads them well, because that is what the audience likes. But not me. I'm not going to retaliate either , by quoting some conservative blog... I consider them all a waste of my time which is precious to me. So I don't get your point and can't comment."}, {"response": 1455, "author": "Moon", "date": "Fri, Jan 23, 2009 (22:57)", "body": "the Geneva Convention. That was war. What is going on now with the terrorist that blow themselves up in markets or by schools, etc. that's different. The game has changed, the world should understand this."}, {"response": 1456, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jan 24, 2009 (00:50)", "body": "The point............................ Also, The Wall Street Journal noted in a December 3, 2008, article that Gates \"was one of the first senior members of the Bush cabinet to push publicly for the Guantanamo prison's closure, but his calls largely fell on deaf ears.\" Similarly, in a December 17, 2008, interview with PBS' Charlie Rose , highlighted by Think Progress, Gates said of Guant\ufffdnamo, \"I would like to see it closed. And I think it will be a high priority for the new administration.\" You're always quoting items from both of these places, neither of them *blogs*, so I thought they might be acceptable. Even if those passages were pointed out on one of *those blogs*. Otherwise, I have been rendered speechless by your response for the time being. Please.....talk amongst yourselves."}, {"response": 1457, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Jan 24, 2009 (11:15)", "body": "Like I've said before, I only read mainstream media. But FYI, I've *heard* Robert Gates , Colin Powell, several retired gnerals, etc on CR and Sunday morning talk shows say the same. And while I maintain their right to say so, I don't have to agree. ."}, {"response": 1458, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Jan 24, 2009 (11:19)", "body": "(Moon)Now that's he's Pres he has access to what's going on and he's reacting. Exactly, now he's getting the highest level of intel reports. He knows what could befall the country; it must be daunting to know that he has to protect 300 million people. Not just jump to the guidelines from The Nation, moveon.org, Dailykos, and the other George Soros' groups from the far left. Hey, if someplace happens, it's not their ass that would be on the line. He really has my sympathy...and prayers."}, {"response": 1459, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Jan 24, 2009 (12:01)", "body": ""}, {"response": 1460, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Jan 24, 2009 (12:27)", "body": "(Dorine) I have always found it a very specious argument Precisely. Lacks foundation and logic. The equivalent of cause and no effect. ;-) (Evelyn) And while I maintain their right to say so, I don't have to agree. Of course you don't....but it does beg the question of why you're shooting the messenger."}, {"response": 1461, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Jan 24, 2009 (15:36)", "body": "(Evelyn) And while I maintain their right to say so, I don't have to agree. (Karen)Of course you don't....but it does beg the question of why you're shooting the messenger. Moi??? Who am I shooting? I'm even for gun control;-)"}, {"response": 1462, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Jan 24, 2009 (16:19)", "body": "The messenger, i.e., the media or websites providing info. If you reserve the right to disagree--which everyone does--with \"nonleftist\" sites/news sources, then why even bother to (a) put them forward for any purpose and (b) knock the others as not worth your time. Seems to me that all messengers are DOA in your book. ;-)"}, {"response": 1463, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Jan 24, 2009 (16:48)", "body": "I repeat: I only read mainstream media....incl. far lefty ones (\"The Nation\"). I do not have to agree with everything I read: left, right or centrist. I make up my own mind...like many people I'm a hybrid (ie :some from Column A....some from Column B) I repeat: I do not read blogs. (Karen)Seems to me that all messengers are DOA in your book. ;-) They are not DOA, because all of them never get there;-)"}, {"response": 1464, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Jan 24, 2009 (20:14)", "body": "Uh oh...Joe won't like this... \"Mr. Emanuel is arguably the second most powerful man in the country and, just a few days into his tenure, already one of the highest-profile chiefs of staff in recent memory\" From New York Times , (not a blog);-) http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/25/us/politics/25emanuel.html?_r=2&hp"}, {"response": 1465, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Jan 24, 2009 (20:26)", "body": "Two ex-Guantanamo inmates appear in Al-Qaeda video From Google... http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hZfIcWnHqBz4kQR90lC_pXaHeW4Q Hey, 11% isn't bad;-)"}, {"response": 1466, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jan 24, 2009 (20:35)", "body": "My aunt just brought up an interesting point. Caroline Kennedy has been known as Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg for however long she's been married. But with all the press about the Senate vacancy, she was only known as Caroline Kennedy again. Schumer the unseen hand in NY Senate choice By MICHAEL GORMLEY, Associated Press Writer \ufffd 52 mins ago ALBANY, N.Y. \ufffd Democratic insiders say the selection of Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand to fill New York's vacant U.S. Senate seat showed the pivotal influence of senior Sen. Charles Schumer. Gov. David Paterson selected the little-known congresswoman over candidates Caroline Kennedy, backed by President Barack Obama and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and Andrew Cuomo, backed by Hillary Rodham Clinton and former President Bill Clinton. But at the news conference introducing Paterson's choice Friday, one big smile gave it all away, and it was on the Schumer's face. \"Schumer was pushing her, he was really pushing,\" said a Democrat on Saturday who was told by Paterson that Schumer favored Gillibrand. The Democrat was familiar with the inner workings of Paterson's selection but spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak publicly about the process. Schumer insisted he was neutral in the seven weeks since the Senate seat was opened by Hillary Clinton's secretary of state nomination. \"Each one of them would make an excellent senator,\" Schumer said in December, declaring he would not back any individual. Publicly, Paterson's process was, by all accounts, moving toward a coronation for Kennedy, daughter of slain President John F. Kennedy. She was praised by Bloomberg and by Obama, whom she had given an early and critical endorsement in last year's presidential primaries. But internally, Paterson always had Gillibrand high on his list. And by the time he attended Tuesday's inauguration of Obama, Paterson started to focus on her, according to the Democrat who spoke Saturday. She had been inspired by Hillary Clinton, worked on the former first lady's 2000 Senate campaign, and has many of the same qualities: Unflappable, a bright and focused attorney, a work horse in devouring information on issues, and well-schooled in the retail politics that gets New Yorkers elected. Then came Wednesday. Back in New York, a chaotic few hours began in the afternoon with Kennedy's viability as the front-runner questioned, then dashed. Kennedy told Paterson she was rethinking her interest in the seat. She mentioned a new and pressing personal issue. Meanwhile, Paterson had dinner with his closest advisers to try to finish the job by his self-imposed deadline of Saturday after a process that was becoming increasingly criticized as out of control. Paterson was sending mixed signals, even though he supposedly had already settled on Kennedy. As Paterson dined in a Manhattan restaurant, Gillibrand's chances grew. For Paterson, she started to seem much like Schumer was before he was a star, when he toppled Republican Sen. Alfonse D'Amato in 1998. Gillibrand is also young for the job at 42. Back at their offices, phone lines and Blackberries were burning up between Paterson and Kennedy camps. Shortly after midnight, after bouncing between rethinking her commitment and saying she was still in, Kennedy transmitted her shocking withdrawal, an e-mail to Paterson and reporters that said she was leaving for personal reasons. By Thursday morning, all the public attention shifted to Cuomo, who Paterson \ufffd true to a secretive process that drew criticism \ufffd didn't even confirm was under consideration until Tuesday. Appointing Cuomo, however, would require naming a new attorney general. And besides, Paterson has said he wanted to appoint a woman. The other women in contention were all from New York City. And Gillibrand, from Columbia County south of Albany, was the upstate woman who would fix Paterson's New York City-centric, all-male 2010 ticket. Paterson placed a midday call to Gillibrand on Thursday, told her she was the likely choice, but he still wanted to check with others one last time. The last call, by this time just before 2 a.m. Friday, was to Gillibrand. She would be New York's next senator. After she screamed in excitement loud enough to be heard over the phone by others in the room, she thanked him and accepted. Schumer ran the Senate Democrats' national campaign efforts in two successful elections, and he says Gillibrand has the qualities of a winner. \"I found women candidates run better and win more easily,\" he said Friday at Gillibrand's news conference. \"But above all, talent, ability, work ethic are the most important attributes for the U.S. Senate, and Kirsten Gillibrand fits that bill. \"She's a go-to person,\" Schumer said. \"She will get it done.\" Two years ago, she took on entrenched incumbent Republican Rep. John Sweeney, who had deep ties to the GOP in New York. She upset him in a brawl considered one of the nastiest campaigns in the country. Last fall, she faced the mi"}, {"response": 1467, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Jan 25, 2009 (22:13)", "body": "Slideshow of \"behind the Scenes\" photos of the Obamas on Inauguration Day. Love them. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/24/new-private-obama-picture_n_160570.html And of the kids on that day. Love how Malia loves to document so much with her camera. They are just beyond cute. What a great family. And LOL GW Bush all up in Sasha's face! http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/20/sasha-and-malia-obama-ina_n_159499.html"}, {"response": 1468, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jan 26, 2009 (22:56)", "body": "I thought this was a pretty funny take on the Inauguration from the Guardian. I don't know what end of the spectrum the Guardian falls on, so I guess read it....or don't. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jan/26/charlie-brooker-obama-inauguration"}, {"response": 1469, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jan 27, 2009 (23:22)", "body": "As I believe I said before, print subscriptions and print ads are declining, but doesn't mean they're losing all of their audience... According to Nielsen, 40 million people in the United States visited at least one of the top 10 newspaper sites in December, a 16 percent increase over the previous year. The New York Times remains the top newspaper site, with 18 million unique visitors in December, an increase of 6 percent. USA Today and The Washington Post follow. http://tech.yahoo.com/news/ap/20090127/ap_on_hi_te/tec_techbit_newspaper_sites"}, {"response": 1470, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Jan 28, 2009 (10:20)", "body": "\"The New York Times remains the top newspaper site, with 18 million unique visitors in December, an increase of 6 percent. Pssst...it's free;-D (won't help that $400M debt)"}, {"response": 1471, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Jan 28, 2009 (10:24)", "body": "This is free speech??? Democrats Launch Petition Against Rush Limbaugh Tuesday, January 27, 2009 By Melanie Hunter-Omar (Updates with Limbaugh's response; more from DCCC.) (CNSNews.com) \ufffd The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has launched an online petition for readers to express their outrage at conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh for saying last week that he wanted President Barack Obama to fail. The petition includes a 19-second sound byte of Limbaugh, saying, \ufffdIf I wanted Obama to succeed, I\ufffdd be happy the Republicans have laid down. I don\ufffdt want this to work. So I\ufffdm thinking of replying to this guy, say \ufffdokay, I\ufffdll send you a response, but I don\ufffdt need 400 words, I need four: I hope he fails.\ufffd\ufffd On Tuesday, in a note at the top of his Web site , Limbaugh responded to the Democrats' petition: \"I am greatly puzzled. Why would the Democrats petition against me if I am doing such terrible damage to the GOP? \" Last Friday, Obama advised Republicans to stop listening to Limbaugh if they wanted to get along with Democrats and the administration. \ufffdYou can\ufffdt just listen to Rush Limbaugh and get things done,\ufffd Obama said to Republican leaders who met with the president to talk about the stimulus package. On his radio program, Limbaugh noted that just as he wants Obama to fail, Obama wants Limbaugh to fail. DCCC Executive Director Brian Wolff, blogging on the DCCC Web site, said Limbaugh has given Democrats \"a preview of the outrageous Republican attacks that are on the way against President Obama and every Democrat working for change.\" According to Wolff, \"Limbaugh's cheap shot at President Obama might be the first by the Republican attack machine this year but we know that it won't be the last. We need every grassroots Democrat to show Rush Limbaugh and all of the Republicans what they're up against if they start attacking President Obama and Democrats who are working to end the failed GOP policies of the last eight years. \"Tell Rush what you think of his attacks on President Obama. We'll send him your comments,\" Wolff wrote. \ufffdCreating real change requires every American stand strong against Rush Limbaugh's attacks -- and all of the other partisan attacks from desperate Republicans that are on the way. Let's start right here and now.\ufffd As CNSNews.com has reported, some Democrats are talking about reinstating the Fairness Doctrine, a federal regulation that required equal time for the expression of different political views on the public airwaves. Critics of the move, including many Republicans, say Democrats want to re-impose the Fairness Doctrine to force an end to conservative talk radio. http://cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=42616 That's what Hugo Chavez does in Venezuela."}, {"response": 1472, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Jan 28, 2009 (10:46)", "body": "Gaaaaaagh..... From Tulsa World: Fallin files bill to keep Gitmo detainees out of Oklahoma By JIM MYERS World Washington Bureau Published: 1/27/2009 6:14 PM Last Modified: 1/27/2009 6:14 PM WASHINGTON \ufffd U.S. Rep. Mary Fallin introduced a bill Tuesday designed to bar the transfer of Guantanamo Bay detainees to Oklahoma, and Sen. Jim Inhofe revealed plans to lead a fact-finding trip to the facility in Cuba next week. Fallin filed her bill in response to President Obama\ufffds order to shut down the detention center within a year. A list put together two years ago of potential transfer sites for those now being held at Guantanamo included Fort Sill. Critics of Obama\ufffds decision fear that 2007 list could be revived. (my bolds) \ufffdGuantanamo Bay holds some of world\ufffds most dangerous criminals, including Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks,\ufffd\ufffd said Fallin, R-Okla., adding that holding such terrorists in a secure offshore location makes good sense. \ufffdGranting mass murderers the kind of rights they would be afforded on American soil is as wrongheaded as it is dangerous, and I will continue to oppose any plans to move these men into the United States.\ufffd She said her legislation would bar use of federal funds to transfer detainees to Oklahoma. Her legislation is co-sponsored by the other four Oklahomans in the House: Republican Reps. John Sullivan, Frank Lucas and Tom Cole and Democratic Rep. Dan Boren. Inhofe raised the Guantanamo issue Tuesday during a hearing with Defense Secretary Robert Gates, telling Gates that he and other opponents of Obama\ufffds decision want to be heard. Inhofe aide Matt Dempsey later said the senator plans to visit the facility Monday. http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=298&articleid=20090127_298_0_WASHIN40148 NIMBY!!!"}, {"response": 1473, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jan 28, 2009 (11:11)", "body": "(Evelyn) Pssst...it's free;-D So? You said (or insinuated) they were losing readers. I might cancel my subscription, but I'll still read it online. Unless they changed it when I wasn't looking, it wasn't all free. You needed to pay for online access for some areas like Op-Ed stuff, just like the WSJ, some of which must be paid for, unless they changed that, too ($99/yr is the offer I get in the mail all the time). The NYT is selling their stake in the Red Sox I see today, too. They're going to have a tag sale next. ;-) I don't understand what makes it such a big deal where those detainees are held, at least anymore than any other prisoners. Do you think they have some special powers that they may get out easier than other prisoners? Is it fear that some terrorist friends of theirs are going to come try to break them out? I'm not trying to be snarky, I'm just trying to figure out why it really matters where they go as long as they're locked up. If a prison, say a max security prison in another state was closed down for whatever reason and they had to transfer those prisoners somewhere, and some came to Ft. Sill or some other place near you, would that be a problem as well? What if they did it without announcing it? Would you even know the difference? I used to listen to Rush years ago. I ignore what he says. He's a waste of air."}, {"response": 1474, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Jan 28, 2009 (12:56)", "body": "I used to listen to Rush years ago. I ignore what he says. He's a waste of air. You are missing the point. I don't listen to talk radio, nor to Olberman, but I defend their right to voice their opinions. And I wish the President hadn't taken him on by name...it so diminishes his stature. I don't want my president telling me not to listen to his oppositon. Terrorists are not the same as ordinary 'run-of- the- mill\" prisoners. IMO All of the scenarios that you concocted are plausible. FYI Ft. Sill does not have a prison. I say re-activate Alcatraz. Besides that's in Nancy Pelosi's district:-)))"}, {"response": 1475, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Jan 28, 2009 (13:02)", "body": "So? You said (or insinuated) they were losing readers. I might cancel my subscription, but I'll still read it online. LOL. So do I. WSJ :that $99. is just for newbie subscription. I now pay $299. Worth every penny Right before my TIME subscription expired they were offering it to me for $12..... 52 weeks! Sad. I still cancelled:-))))"}, {"response": 1476, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jan 28, 2009 (15:07)", "body": "I enjoyed this snarkiness (snarkyness?)... http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0109/18053.html"}, {"response": 1477, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jan 28, 2009 (15:09)", "body": "(evelyn) WSJ :that $99. is just for newbie subscription. I now pay $299. *whispers* Pssst, I'll tell you a secret....if you cancel, in a short amount of time, they'll send you an offer for $99 to rejoin. ;-) I've never paid more than that for it."}, {"response": 1478, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Jan 28, 2009 (16:29)", "body": "I've never paid more than that for it. I did too...but that was before new boss... Rupert Murdoch. Now one has to wait six months before re-subscribing and ...it's gone up to $119. Can't wait that long. Amazon has re-subscription for $249."}, {"response": 1479, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Jan 28, 2009 (16:32)", "body": "What;s so snarky about Roger Simon? (he's one of Chris Matthew's faves) Has he looked at that stimulus package? Know the percentage of job recovery in it?"}, {"response": 1480, "author": "mari", "date": "Wed, Jan 28, 2009 (17:26)", "body": "On his radio program, Limbaugh noted that just as he wants Obama to fail, Obama wants Limbaugh to fail. The ramifications for Obama failing are enormous; for Limbaugh failing, they're non-existent. This hyper-partisan stuff has to stop. It serves no one except the media whores who fan the flames to boost their audience numbers or sell their books. In my opinion, the worst of it all started with Limbaugh and talk radio, and was then followed by the 24-hour \"news\" stations, in particular Fox News, and now some of the blogs. Now the other \"side\" is copying their tactics, though talk radio remains largely conservative. We used to have civil, intelligent political discourse. Now, it's who can shout the loudest, dig their heels in the most, and spout the most strident rhetoric. They whip people up, beyond the point of ever hoping to find common ground. I think people are sick of it. I am."}, {"response": 1481, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Jan 28, 2009 (17:39)", "body": "(Dorine) I don't know what end of the spectrum the Guardian falls on Have you forgotten that Colin used to do its crosswords? ;-) (Evelyn) This is free speech??? Yes, as a matter of fact it is. People sign petitions everyday for a wide range of subject matter. No one has booted him off the air. No one has organized a boycott (very free market tactic BTW) against his advertisers."}, {"response": 1482, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jan 28, 2009 (17:42)", "body": "What;s so snarky about Roger Simon? I don't know his stuff well as I only read it periodically, so I don't know if this is his style, but this piece was full of snark and very amusing."}, {"response": 1483, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Jan 28, 2009 (17:45)", "body": "It would be great to have a healthy discourse, but it has to start with our leaders. To have an opposition is healthy and democratic. I have not forgotten that Obama threw 2 newspapers off his plane because they were not sucking up to him. There is a precedence, be ready for more. Gitmo should not close, but the move.on org people would hit the streets if O did not do it. Dorine, you really are into the Obama family? I puke at the love ."}, {"response": 1484, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jan 28, 2009 (17:53)", "body": "I missed this post... (Evelyn) FYI Ft. Sill does not have a prison. Well, I'd imagine they'd build one vs. letting them run amok. ;-) I don't listen to talk radio, nor to Olberman, but I defend their right to voice their opinions. I don't either (partially because I'm not in a car more than 2 or 3 times a month now and Air America's changed all the shows I liked) and I defend it as well, but is it really all that different than large special interest groups (or just large groups of the public at large) protesting/boycotting someone's show to get them fired because they were offended by or simply didn't like something that was said?"}, {"response": 1485, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Jan 28, 2009 (17:56)", "body": "(Mari)though talk radio remains largely conservative. Libs have tried, but Sirius failed. And the media is non-partisan? This hyper-partisan stuff has to stop c' mon...this is a talk show, fergawdsake... His audience is miniscule. He only represents himself ...not the whole party. Why doesn't anybody ever say anything about the MSNBC crowd: Matthews, Olberman, and of late Maddow...and all the slobbering underlings that appear nightly to demonize any Republican legislator who dares to disagree with their ideology. The media somehow keeps quiet about them. by the 24-hour \"news\" stations, in particular Fox News, And MSNBC is lily-white non-partisan? Well, you know my feelings on blogs....on either side. We used to have civil, intelligent political discourse. Historically, I don't think there has been. But I do think in this media-centric society it's worse. OKay....anybody else?....;-)"}, {"response": 1486, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jan 28, 2009 (17:57)", "body": "(Moon) Dorine, you really are into the Obama family? ???? Oh! The pictures? I enjoy seeing obviously happy families esp on an exciting day. To have an opposition is healthy and democratic. Funny, didn't seem that Bush and his cabal saw it that way at all. I struggle to think Obama is cut from the same cloth. But time will tell."}, {"response": 1487, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jan 28, 2009 (17:59)", "body": "OKay....anybody else?....;-) Well, I'm off to Speed the Plow again (if I don't fall on my behind on ice), so I'll be takin' a break.....so to speak. ;-)"}, {"response": 1488, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Jan 28, 2009 (18:05)", "body": "PS During the primaries FOX NEWS was the only channel that was fair to Hillary; by her own admission . Somehow, no one complained about them then."}, {"response": 1489, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Jan 28, 2009 (18:15)", "body": "You're right, Evelyn. Fox News was the only one I watched. I never would have imagined that Fox would be the fairest one. I also like Bill O' \"pin head\" segment. For women and Hillary supporters: http://www.nolimits.org/?sc=e.20090128&utm_source=e.20090128&utm_medium=e Dorine, the inauguration was over kill kumbaya. Why would I want to see even more pictures?"}, {"response": 1490, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jan 28, 2009 (18:29)", "body": "Because you're not the only one here? ;-)"}, {"response": 1491, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jan 28, 2009 (18:37)", "body": "Please, by all means, make life easier and discourage kids from working and studying harder.... http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20090128/us_time/08599187426600"}, {"response": 1492, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Jan 28, 2009 (18:57)", "body": "Wait that's my school system and I can defend it. In schools around the US an A = 90 to 100, in Fairfax County an A = 94 to 100. When the GPA's are defined the kids in VA are in a disadvantage. All we want to do is equal the field. As it is, the Board of Education will not change the grading system, it will only allow one point more for AP courses and some Honors. The Fairfax County school system is one of the best and toughest in the US. My son attends Langley HS, yes, that Langley. And I've been part of the Fairgrade change group."}, {"response": 1493, "author": "mari", "date": "Wed, Jan 28, 2009 (20:10)", "body": "My school district here grades the same as yours, A=94. B = 86 to 93. That's fairly common here. Nobody complains. Too much emphasis on grades, IMO, and on whether or not Junior will get into Harvard."}, {"response": 1494, "author": "mari", "date": "Wed, Jan 28, 2009 (20:25)", "body": "c' mon...this is a talk show, fergawdsake... His audience is miniscule. So why is he a household name and why do his pronouncements make the national news if he's just a poor l'il guy. Why doesn't anybody ever say anything about the MSNBC crowd You can't mean me, because I've been critical of MSNBC, including Matthews and especially Olbermann during the primaries. On the other hand, I don't recall your ever being critical of a conservative media outlet, figure, or even point of view, lol, but maybe I'm wrong. I try to be fair and balanced.;-) But I do think in this media-centric society it's worse. I agree, and the 24-hour news stations started it. They don't have enough real \"news\" to fill 24/7--or at least the type of news that keeps viewers watching. So we get news mixed in with talking heads, and \"facts\" have morphed into opinion. Reporters, real journalists, have been replaced by personalities. And the more you shout the bigger your ratings. During the primaries FOX NEWS was the only channel that was fair to Hillary Doesn't sway me, or change my opionion of Fox as very biased. And if they gave Hill a break it was because they correctly recognized Obama as the real threat in the general election."}, {"response": 1495, "author": "mari", "date": "Wed, Jan 28, 2009 (20:36)", "body": "(me)Too much emphasis on grades, IMO, and on whether or not Junior will get into Harvard. Moon, I didn't mean to sound disdainful of your concerns. I do understand that the parents are responding to what they feel is an unfair situation; I wanted to point out that a lot of school districts are in the same boat. I seem to recall that the college apps allow for differences in high school GPA measurements, though. And I still think there's too much emphasis on grades. However, once the balance of power shifts--and there are fewer students competing for more open slots, instead of many students competing for few slots--and this will happen in this awful economy--then the colleges can go suck it.;-)"}, {"response": 1496, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jan 28, 2009 (22:39)", "body": "You know many colleges stopped using SAT or ACT's as admission criteria, so if they don't use grades, what do they use? How can they be evaluated? Even I get points for my yearly work evaluation. There has to be some scale of some sort."}, {"response": 1497, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jan 28, 2009 (23:16)", "body": "(Evelyn) c' mon...this is a talk show, fergawdsake... His audience is miniscule. LOL, perhaps you minimize his influence a bit too much. Just grabbed this comment off someone's Facebook page. They were talking about the House passing the stimulus plan, and no Rep voting for it....hee. \"....there's no upside to voting for the plan. If it doesn't work, they can say \"I told you so.\" If it does, no one will care how they voted on it. And this way, they escape the wrath of the Republic party leadership, i.e., Rush Limbaugh.\""}, {"response": 1498, "author": "mari", "date": "Thu, Jan 29, 2009 (07:27)", "body": "(Dorine)many colleges stopped using SAT or ACT's as admission criteria The overwhelming majority require SAT or ACT scores. Those aren't going away."}, {"response": 1499, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jan 29, 2009 (10:02)", "body": "True they aren't going away, but there are a good amount that don't require it, or only require for certain reasons such as from being out of state, not making a certain GPA, scholarships. http://www.fairtest.org/university/optional Also now the College Board is allowing students to send only their best scores over time. http://thenews.choate.edu/2009/01/23/Features/New_SAT_Score_Policy_for_2.php Still stressful. But again I ask, what are the options for grading and admission criteria without grades and SAT's?"}, {"response": 1500, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Jan 29, 2009 (10:19)", "body": "(Mari)So why is he a household name and why do his pronouncements make the national news if he's just a poor l'il guy He is *now*. His pronouncements made national news because the President brought it up. Only raises his viewership....and puts the president in the \"whiners\" column:-( Which I don't like; I want him to stay presidential, which I know he is. Next he'll be telling me not to read the WSJ because their lead editorial dissected the stimulus package as to the small % going to job creation. The guy [Rush] is all over the tube even the busines channels; which is the only daytime tv I look at. (Dorine)Just grabbed this comment off someone's Facebook page. ROTF...so now we not only have *blogs* quoted on this topic, but *Facebook* Too?? Dios mio!;-)"}, {"response": 1501, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Jan 29, 2009 (10:45)", "body": "Gee, I heard of Rush Limbaugh way before Obama used his name."}, {"response": 1502, "author": "mari", "date": "Thu, Jan 29, 2009 (11:00)", "body": "(Dorine)True they aren't going away, but there are a good amount that don't require it, or only require for certain reasons With a few exceptions (and it seems more a geographical thing), the schools on that list are not what are considered to be among the best schools in the country and I'm not just talking Ivy League, I mean the top 100 or so. I see few of themon that list. I support the SATs--they're a leveler. Everybody takes pretty much the same test. And all the good schools look at a lot of things, SATs, high school curriculum and grades, extracurricular, etc."}, {"response": 1503, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jan 29, 2009 (11:02)", "body": "Are you kidding, Evelyn? Rush has been big for *years*. He was a prominent conservative talk show host when I used to listen to him and that was over 11 yrs ago. Thought you'd like that Facebook quote. My point is everyone and anyone knows who Rush is and what he represents. From his Wiki entry: On August 1, 1988, after achieving success in Sacramento and drawing the attention of a former president of ABC Radio, Edward F. McLaughlin, Limbaugh moved to New York City and began his national radio show. His show debuted just weeks after the Democratic National Convention, and just weeks before the Republican National Convention. Limbaugh's radio home in New York City was the talk-format station WABC-AM, 770 AM, and continues to this day as his flagship station.[4] 1990s The program gained in popularity and moved to stations with larger audiences eventually growing to over 650 radio stations nationwide. When the Republican Party won control of Congress in 1994, one of the first acts by many freshmen (calling themselves the \"Dittohead Caucus\") was to award Limbaugh the title of \"honorary member of Congress\" in recognition of his support of their efforts during this period.[11] Humor columnist and journalist Lewis Grossberger acknowledged that Limbaugh had \"more listeners than any other talk show host\" and described Limbaugh's style as \"bouncing between earnest lecturer and political vaudevillian\".[12] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rush_Limbaugh"}, {"response": 1504, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Jan 29, 2009 (11:21)", "body": "What I'm trying to say is that Rush L is an entertainer...he is not a 'journalist'..he has a talk *show*.He is not an elected representative of the Republican Party. Any more than Michael Moore was. (Where is he BTW) Did I tar all the Dems with MM comments? Or Jimmy Carter's comments? Or Nancy Pelosi's for that matter. Ignore the guy [Rush], I say. The president has got to quit being so thin-skinned. Incidents like this will come up again. Glimpses were prominent during the primaries. He kept commenting on Sean Hannity. He didn't like cartoonists bring up his big ears. Actually, the interview with Bill O'Reilly went over well. Obama took Bill with a sense of humor. There was a convivial spirit between them. Bill likes the President personally; has said so. Would never make a comment like Rush's. If I was Emmanuel, who has yrs of political experience, I would tell the prez to lay -off... he's bigger than this."}, {"response": 1505, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Jan 29, 2009 (13:34)", "body": "(Mari), I do understand that the parents are responding to what they feel is an unfair situation; I wanted to point out that a lot of school districts are in the same boat. I seem to recall that the college apps allow for differences in high school GPA measurements, though. Yes, colleges are supposed to check that info before they evaluate a college application, but what if they don't? Then our kids in the toughest grading system are penilized. As you feel that the SAT is the leveler/equalizer, I also want the grading system to be equal across the nation. BTW, UVA is one that is considering dropping the SAT's."}, {"response": 1506, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Jan 29, 2009 (14:32)", "body": "The payback is starting: Obama\ufffds Bill Hands ACORN $5.2 Billion Bailout A rising chorus of GOP leaders are protesting that the blockbuster Democratic stimulus package would provide up to a whopping $5.2 billion for ACORN, the left-leaning nonprofit group under federal investigation for massive voter fraud. Most of the money is secreted away under an item in the now $836 billion package titled \ufffdNeighborhood Stabilization Programs.\ufffd Ordinarily, neighborhood stabilization funds are distributed to local governments. But revised language in the stimulus bill would make the funds available directly to non-profit entities such as ACORN, the low-income housing organization whose pro-Democrat voter-registration activities have been blasted by Republicans. ACORN is cited by some for tipping the scales in the Democrats' favor in November. According to Fox news, Sen. David Vitter, R-La., could appear to be a \ufffdpayoff\ufffd for community groups\ufffd partisan political activities in the last election cycle. \ufffdIt is of great concern to me,\ufffd Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., tells Newsmax. \ufffdI think our government has stayed strong because we\ufffdve had a two-party system, we have had robust debate, people have felt that it was one man-one vote. They are privileged and grateful that they have that ability to cast that vote. And when something is done to belittle or diminish that, it is of great concern to me.\ufffd Regarding ACORN, Blackburn added, \ufffdAdditional funds going to these organizations that have tried to skew that system, it causes me great concern and I believe that it causes many of my colleagues great concern.\ufffd The three-term congressman stopped short of suggesting the \ufffdneighborhood stabilization\ufffd money is a power grab by Democrats seeking partisan political advantage. But radio talk giant Rush Limbaugh did not. Limbaugh warned his listeners Tuesday: \ufffdI\ufffdll tell you what\ufffds going on here: We, ladies & gentlemen, we\ufffdre funding Obama and the Democrats\ufffd army on the street. We are funding the forces of the Democrat party\ufffds re-election.\ufffd Blackburn echoed the concerns of Republican leaders who object that the bloated package lacks the short-term stimulus a cut in payroll or sales taxes would provide. According to Matthew Vadum of the Capitol Research Center, the stimulus package now under consideration includes: $1 billion stashed away in Community Development Block Grant money that ACORN often vies for successfully. $10 million to develop or refurbish low-income housing, a specialty of ACORN\ufffds. $4.19 billion to stave off foreclosures via the Neighborhood Stabilization Program. Vadum states the current version of the bill would allow nonprofits to compete with cities and states for $3.44 billion of the money. Some $750 million, however, would be exclusively reserved for nonprofits such as ACORN, which is actually an umbrella organization for over 100 progressive organizations. Regarding the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, Vadum writes in American Spectator: \ufffdAlthough ACORN operatives usually get their hands on such funds only after they have first passed through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development or state and local governments, the new spending bill largely eliminates these dawdling middle men, making it easier to get Uncle Sam's largess directly into the hands of the same people who run ACORN's various vote fraud and extortion rackets. And the legislative package provides these funds without the usual prohibition on using government money for lobbying or political activities.\ufffd The charges of partisan political payback appear to be resonating in part due to Obama\ufffds longstanding association with partisan get-out-the-vote operations. He was endorsed by ACORN, and during the campaign paid an ACORN affiliate $832,600 to get-out-the-vote assistance. Early in his career, he led a voter drive for an ACORN-affiliated group called Project Vote. It\ufffds not the first time ACORN has been entangled in a bailout controversy. In September, House Republicans objected that the original $700 billion bailout package included $100 million for ACORN \ufffd a tiny fraction of the sums for ACORN now being considered in the stimulus package. \ufffd 2009 Newsmax. All rights reserved."}, {"response": 1507, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Jan 29, 2009 (16:56)", "body": "Thanks Moon. But naughty, naughty FOX News for delving into the 'belly of the beast'."}, {"response": 1508, "author": "mari", "date": "Thu, Jan 29, 2009 (17:32)", "body": "Obama\ufffds Bill Hands ACORN $5.2 Billion Bailout If I hadn't read the article carefully, I would have thought that the money was going directly to ACORN as that's what their headline says. It's not. Italics are mine: $1 billion stashed away in Community Development Block Grant money that ACORN often vies for successfully. (So they have to vie for the money, along with others.) $10 million to develop or refurbish low-income housing, a specialty of ACORN\ufffds. (And there are many other such specialists.) $4.19 billion to stave off foreclosures via the Neighborhood Stabilization Program. Vadum states the current version of the bill would allow nonprofits to compete with cities and states for $3.44 billion of the money. Some $750 million, however, would be exclusively reserved for nonprofits such as ACORN, which is actually an umbrella organization for over 100 progressive organizations. Again, not just them. It's very sloppy, slanted reporting. And you're talking about approx. 1/2 of 1% of the total stimulus amount, to put it into perspective."}, {"response": 1509, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jan 29, 2009 (17:33)", "body": "(Evelyn) What I'm trying to say is that Rush L is an entertainer...he is not a 'journalist'..he has a talk *show*. Ok, that may be. I'm not sure what classifying him has anything to do with what we've been talking about. Bottom line, he's been a highly influencial force in and for the Republican Party. He's been as much of a propaganda machine for them as Fox News has over the years. That's it, he's none of those things you mentioned...he's a machine mouthpiece. ;-)"}, {"response": 1510, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jan 29, 2009 (17:34)", "body": "(Mari) It's very sloppy, slanted reporting. Consider the source. ;-)"}, {"response": 1511, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jan 29, 2009 (17:34)", "body": "(Evelyn) What I'm trying to say is that Rush L is an entertainer...he is not a 'journalist'..he has a talk *show*. Ok, that may be. I'm not sure what classifying him has anything to do with what we've been talking about. Bottom line, he's been a highly influencial force in and for the Republican Party. He's been as much of a propaganda machine for them as Fox News has over the years. That's it, he's none of those things you mentioned...he's a machine mouthpiece. ;-)"}, {"response": 1512, "author": "mari", "date": "Thu, Jan 29, 2009 (17:40)", "body": "You know, there's a lot of good stuff in the stimulus package. Today I was reading about provisions for people who have lost their jobs during the current downturn through 2009 that would help them pay to continue their medical coverage from their former employer, by subsidizing some of the cost. Otherwise, many of these people--working folks with families--would go without health insurance. Another provision would potentially help people like me who--like 80% of other Americans who will not get retiree medical benefits from their company when they retire--would be permitted to continue the coverage under COBRA until they're Medicare eligible. That would help a whole lot of working people. The critics would throw the baby out with the bathwater."}, {"response": 1513, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Jan 29, 2009 (19:49)", "body": "Mari, I only see one way to get it done and that's national healthcare. If the Gov. starts with a little bathwater here and a little there, the baby will shrivel up in all that bathwater. ;-) (Dorine), Consider the source. ;-) ROTF! Just keeping it real. I love playing advocat du diable."}, {"response": 1514, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jan 29, 2009 (20:34)", "body": "LOL, I didn't mean you! I meant Newsmax."}, {"response": 1515, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Jan 29, 2009 (20:38)", "body": "(Dorine)Bottom line, he's been a highly influencial force in and for the Republican Party. Well, that's *your* bottom line. Not mine And if such, he's been recently elevated as such. Do you really think all the Republican congressmen who voted nay for this sad bill all listened to Rush before they voted? (Mari)Today I was reading about provisions for people who have lost their jobs during the current downturn through 2009 that would help them pay to continue their medical coverage from their former employer, by subsidizing some of the cost. Otherwise, many of these people--working folks with families--would go without health insurance Mari, I agree, all the provision are v. noble. I'm all in favor of /comunity development /social programs. But why don't they make this two bills: First a bonfide stimulus package to create jobs .Let's do the infrastucture, tax assistance (payroll!) Next one: to alleviate the ills of the country."}, {"response": 1516, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Jan 29, 2009 (20:48)", "body": "And since Paul Krugman is often quoted on this topic. I want to quote another economist from the Washington Post today: Martin Feldstein An $800 Billion Mistake By Martin Feldstein Thursday, January 29, 2009; A19 As a conservative economist, I might be expected to oppose a stimulus plan. In fact, on this page in October, I declared my support for a stimulus. But the fiscal package now before Congress needs to be thoroughly revised. In its current form, it does too little to raise national spending and employment. It would be better for the Senate to delay legislation for a month, or even two, if that's what it takes to produce a much better bill. We cannot afford an $800 billion mistake. Start with the tax side. The plan is to give a tax cut of $500 a year for two years to each employed person. That's not a good way to increase consumer spending. Experience shows that the money from such temporary, lump-sum tax cuts is largely saved or used to pay down debt. Only about 15 percent of last year's tax rebates led to additional spending. The proposed business tax cuts are also likely to do little to increase business investment and employment. The extended loss \"carrybacks\" are primarily lump-sum payments to selected companies. The bonus depreciation plan would do little to raise capital spending in the current environment of weak demand because the tax benefits in the early years would be recaptured later. Instead, the tax changes should focus on providing incentives to households and businesses to increase current spending. Why not a temporary refundable tax credit to households that purchase cars or other major consumer durables, analogous to the investment tax credit for businesses? Or a temporary tax credit for home improvements? In that way, the same total tax reduction could produce much more spending and employment. Postponing the scheduled increase in the tax on dividends and capital gains would raise share prices, leading to increased consumer spending and, by lowering the cost of capital, more business investment. On the spending side, the stimulus package is full of well-intended items that, unfortunately, are not likely to do much for employment. Computerizing the medical records of every American over the next five years is desirable, but it is not a cost-effective way to create jobs. Has anyone gone through the (long) list of proposed appropriations and asked how many jobs each would create per dollar of increased national debt? The largest proposed outlays amount to just writing unrestricted checks to state governments. Nearly $100 billion would result from increasing the \"Medicaid matching rate,\" a technique for reducing states' Medicaid costs to free up state money for spending on anything governors and state legislators want. An additional $80 billion would be given out for \"state fiscal relief.\" Will these vast sums actually lead to additional spending, or will they merely finance state transfer payments or relieve state governments of the need for temporary tax hikes or bond issues? The plan to finance health insurance premiums for the unemployed would actually increase unemployment by giving employers an incentive to lay off workers rather than pay health premiums during a time of weak demand. And this supposedly two-year program would create a precedent that could be hard to reverse. A large fraction of the stimulus proposal is devoted to infrastructure projects that will spend out very slowly, not with the speed needed to help the economy in 2009 and 2010. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that less than one-fifth of the $50 billion of proposed spending on energy and water would occur by the end of 2010. If rapid spending on things that need to be done is a criterion of choice, the plan should include higher defense outlays, including replacing and repairing supplies and equipment, needed after five years of fighting. The military can increase its level of procurement very rapidly. Yet the proposed spending plan includes less than $5 billion for defense, only about one-half of 1 percent of the total package. Infrastructure spending on domestic military bases can also proceed more rapidly than infrastructure spending in the civilian economy. And military procurement overwhelmingly involves American-made products. Since much of this military spending will have to be done eventually, it makes sense to do it now, when there is substantial excess capacity in the manufacturing sector. In addition, a temporary increase in military recruiting and training would reduce unemployment directly, create a more skilled civilian workforce and expand the military reserves. All new spending and tax changes should have explicit time limits that prevent ever-increasing additions to the national debt. Similarly, spending programs should not create political dynamics that will make them hard to end. The problem with the current stimulus plan is not that it is too big but that it delivers too little ex"}, {"response": 1517, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jan 29, 2009 (21:01)", "body": "(Evelyn) Well, that's *your* bottom line. Not mine And if such, he's been recently elevated as such. Perhaps for you personally, but otherwise, it just isn't the case. Did you read his whole Wiki page? It's even missing stuff that I can see. Do you really think all the Republican congressmen who voted nay for this sad bill all listened to Rush before they voted? I'm really baffled by your take on this/him. He doesn't function to influence Congress. They use him to influence the public. The same as Fox News."}, {"response": 1518, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Jan 29, 2009 (21:06)", "body": "OBAMA BOOM AT FOXNEWS... RATINGS SOAR... NIGHT OF 1/28/09... VIEWERS... FOXNEWS OREILLY 3,891,000 FOXNEWS HANNITY 3,034,000 FOXNEWS BECK 2,306,000 FOXNEWS SHEP 2,299,000 FOXNEWS GRETA 2,155,000 MSNBC OLBERMANN 1,581,000 CNN COOPER 1,559,000 CNN KING 1,420,000 CNN BLITZER 1,490,000 CNNHN GRACE 1,435,000 MSNBC MADDOW 1,398,000"}, {"response": 1519, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jan 30, 2009 (01:42)", "body": "(WaPo) The plan is to give a tax cut of $500 a year for two years to each employed person. That's not a good way to increase consumer spending. Experience shows that the money from such temporary, lump-sum tax cuts is largely saved or used to pay down debt. Only about 15 percent of last year's tax rebates led to additional spending. I just read a while ago in the NY Daily News that he doesn't want to give it lump sum for just that reason... On the tax side, the big ticket item is a $500-per-worker ($1,000 per couple) tax cut for two years for anyone making less than $100,000 a year ($200,000 per couple). The government would simply not withhold as much as it does now, leaving workers with an extra $20 a month or so in their paychecks. The theory is that, while workers would stuff the money under the mattress if handed to them in a lump, they'll spend it if it's spread over 24 months in smaller chunks. http://www.nydailynews.com/money/2009/01/28/2009-01-28_obamas_stimulus_bill_allout_effort_to_pr.html"}, {"response": 1520, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jan 30, 2009 (01:51)", "body": "Computerizing the medical records of every American over the next five years is desirable, but it is not a cost-effective way to create jobs. Granted it's not a public works project, but someone's gotta sell, set-up and train all those hospitals, clinics and MD offices how to use it. If nothing else, it's an important component of health care reform. I'm too tired to think about it anymore tonight."}, {"response": 1521, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jan 30, 2009 (09:38)", "body": "(WaPo) A large fraction of the stimulus proposal is devoted to infrastructure projects that will spend out very slowly, not with the speed needed to help the economy in 2009 and 2010. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that less than one-fifth of the $50 billion of proposed spending on energy and water would occur by the end of 2010. I don't know, speed may not be a feasible variable. Our resident financial wiz could speak to that better I suppose. The Daily News (or Brookings Institute) take: \"The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that about two-thirds of the stimulus money - or $526 billion - will be spent by September 2010, or over the next 20 months. That's almost $1 billion in new spending or tax cuts, every day, for 20 months - and it won't end there. A healthy chunk of cash is reserved for 2011, when many economists say we could still be in a recession.\" (link in previous post) Also: \"And laid-off workers - no matter how high their previous incomes - will qualify for Medicaid under Obama's plan. \" I'll reserve judgement on this. Sounds great in theory, but Medicaid money runs out now just on the people who actually do qualify with current rules (including the non-resident aliens). We've been looking at drastic cuts in Medicaid on the state and fed level (and that also begins to affect whether I have a job at some point to a degree), though I understand that some more Medicaid $$ is supposed to be forthcoming in this bill, but didn't realize it would include those with higher incomes. And there's so much fraud to boot. At what point do those with higher incomes become ineligible? If they get other jobs? Bureaucracy now isn't the most efficient in this system. I feel for the workers for the state having to process all the new accounts. I'm very ambivalent on this issue. And the subsidizing 2/3rds of COBRA is a real gift. In relation to the point above, if you have COBRA eligibility, you shouldn't be able to qualify for Medicaid. But as a matter of curiousity, I'm curious which would actually cost the govt more. One would think subsidizing COBRA. I went without COBRA for 2-3 yrs because I couldn't afford it or afford to buy my own insurance through an employer offer while I had a job that didn't pay for it. \"Alternatively, if laid-off workers want to pay to maintain their health benefits under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1986, better known as Cobra, the feds will pay two-thirds of the cost. Now, they pay none\""}, {"response": 1522, "author": "mari", "date": "Fri, Jan 30, 2009 (09:42)", "body": "The plan to finance health insurance premiums for the unemployed would actually increase unemployment by giving employers an incentive to lay off workers rather than pay health premiums during a time of weak demand. Huh? That makes no sense at all. If I'm an employer in dire straits, I'm going to lay you off out of necessity regardless of whether your post-employment medical premiums are subsidized by the government. It's a ridiculous argument. That's not a good way to increase consumer spending. Experience shows that the money from such temporary, lump-sum tax cuts is largely saved But it's not a lump sum, it's a reduction in the amount withheld from your paycheck. Did this guy even read the bill?"}, {"response": 1523, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jan 30, 2009 (09:59)", "body": "And the subsidizing 2/3rds of COBRA is a real gift. Actually, in a way, it seems to be almost a test start to having nationalized health care. That's an interesting concept I'll have to ponder at a later point."}, {"response": 1524, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Jan 30, 2009 (10:54)", "body": "(Dorine) if you have COBRA eligibility, you shouldn't be able to qualify for Medicaid. Let's leave Medicaid for the poor who need it the most. Not all the stray straphangers. I'm for a separate bill to incorporate the entire wish list."}, {"response": 1525, "author": "Moon", "date": "Fri, Jan 30, 2009 (15:43)", "body": "(Dorine), LOL, I didn't mean you! I meant Newsmax I knew that. If I'm a source, it would not be for politics. ;-))) I say don't wait, start the Health Care revolution now."}, {"response": 1526, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jan 30, 2009 (15:53)", "body": "Yay! $700B bailout impact tough to assess, auditors say By DANIEL WAGNER, AP Business Writer \ufffd 2 hrs 7 mins ago http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090130/ap_on_bi_ge/gao_bailout_oversight And I'll be curious to see McCain's ideas for his stimulus plan. McCain: Obama needs to consult on stimulus By Steve Holland \ufffd Fri Jan 30, 12:41 pm ET http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090130/pl_nm/us_usa_stimulus_mccain"}, {"response": 1527, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jan 30, 2009 (15:56)", "body": "How exciting! Alaskans brace for Redoubt Volcano eruption By DAN JOLING, Associated Press Writer \ufffd Fri Jan 30, 7:32 am ET http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090130/ap_on_re_us/alaska_volcano"}, {"response": 1528, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Jan 30, 2009 (16:19)", "body": "Martin Feldstein - An $800 Billion Mistake - The writer, an economics professor at Harvard University, is president emeritus of the National Bureau of Economic Research Economics is soooooooo unscientific and possibly the safest profession on the earth, as no one is ever held accountable. (Feldman) Experience shows that the money from such temporary, lump-sum tax cuts is largely saved or used to pay down debt. Only about 15 percent of last year's tax rebates led to additional spending. I can't be bothered to check if he made the same argument in prior years when this was put forward by Rs as a means to stimulate spending. Instead, the tax changes should focus on providing incentives to households and businesses to increase current spending. Why not a temporary refundable tax credit to households that purchase cars or other major consumer durables, analogous to the investment tax credit for businesses? Or a temporary tax credit for home improvements? Tax credits for those with money, analogous to giving loans to people who don't need them. Since most people aren't sitting on $30K in cash, ready to plop down on a car, then you're talking about increasing personal debt. Puhleez, don't people have enough of that? For those who click on links, a great \"Word\" segment on Colbert. Click on the second box for \"The Word - The Audacity of Nope\" http://www.colbertnation.com/home"}, {"response": 1529, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jan 30, 2009 (16:43)", "body": "Ann Coulter and Evelyn are on the same page. I do think Obama should've completely left off mentioning Rush though. Coulter: Double Standard for Liberal Pundits; Calls Olbermann a '57-Year-Old Woman Trapped in a Man's Body' By Jeff Poor (Bio | Archive) January 30, 2009 - 13:25 ET Being an outspoken conservative in the media has proven dicey lately, as the Democrat-controlled Congress and White House are working toward seeing an $819 billion stimulus bill signed into law. According to Ann Coulter, there has been a double standard applied to those outspoken conservatives. Coulter appeared on the Fox News Channel's \"America's Newsroom\" on Jan. 30 to promote her new book, \"Guilty: Liberal \ufffdVictims' and Their Assault on America\" currently second on The New York Times Bestseller's list in only its second week. \"I think it's just another reminder of how the left hates free speech,\" Coulter said. \"It really is strange how they go after speakers like this. I mean, there is no campaign by conservatives to shutdown Keith Olbermann. In fact, I wish more Americans would listen to him - to see the face of the left, the only 57-year-old woman trapped in a man's body to host his own TV show.\" She also noted the unprecedented use by President Barack Obama of Rush Limbaugh's name to encourage congressional Republicans to vote for the stimulus proposal. \"It's revealing, telling, a little bit shocking, that the president has identified this leading practitioner of First Amendment speech and attacking him by name,\" Coulter said, adding that she hoped President Obama had ulterior motives. \"My Machieavellian explanation, that I wish were true, but I don't think is true - is this stimulus bill is so completely insane,\" Coulter said. \"It will be such a disaster that Obama is hoping the Republicans will stop it somehow. And he will gin them up to oppose this stimulus bill, not make it this massive government takeover of every industry in America, because he is not going to be a successful president if this stimulus bill goes through as it's written now. And it looks like it's going to - with a majority Democrat House and Senate.\" Earlier this month, Obama responded to Limbaugh's opposition to the stimulus and urged GOP members of Congress to ignore the talk show host. That prompted MoveOn.org to launch an advertisement attacking Limbaugh - asking constituents if they \"were with Obama or Limbaugh\" in support of the stimulus bill awaiting a vote in the U.S. Senate. http://newsbusters.org/blogs/jeff-poor/2009/01/30/coulter-double-standard-liberal-pundits-calls-olbermann-57-year-old-woman"}, {"response": 1530, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jan 30, 2009 (16:51)", "body": "LOL at Colbert!!! Classic. Thanks, Karen!"}, {"response": 1531, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jan 30, 2009 (17:44)", "body": "LOL, certainly worth pondering... http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2009/01/john_boehner_stealing_jobs_fro.html"}, {"response": 1532, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jan 31, 2009 (18:21)", "body": "*snort* \" The Obama administration has asked for more time to straighten things out, and the Senate voted unanimously to postpone the deadline for four months. This shows that legislators of good will (Democrat Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia and Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas) can work in a bipartisan manner when the issue at hand is every American\ufffds God-given right to television reception. Then the bill moved to the House, where quick action required permission of a two-thirds majority. For once, the Republicans got a chance to make their presence felt, and they instantly sprang into action and refused to allow anybody to do anything. This shows you why Nancy Pelosi always seems a little irritable. How could the Republicans not be worried about this? A disproportionate number of the endangered TV viewers are senior citizens. Bill O\ufffdReilly\ufffds entire audience is in danger!\" http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/31/opinion/31collins.html?_r=1&ref=opinion"}, {"response": 1533, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jan 31, 2009 (18:43)", "body": "This article is loosely summarizing both sides of the debate of several issues in D.C. this week. Have highlighted the debate about Rush. \"Rush Limbaugh Is the Leader of the Republican Party He sure is: The party has lost its way, and only Rush speaks the truth. He's not just a bomb thrower. Look at this eminently reasonable op-ed in the Wall Street Journal. The new president, so well-known for his unflappability, sure seems irritated by Rush. Obama's always mentioning him. He sure is, alternate version: I couldn't agree more. Rush Limbaugh is the leader of the Republican Party. He is both the ideological center and spiritual touchstone of all that the party can and forever will be. Any smart Republican would do well to consult Rush before speaking out against the president. Rush is an extremely powerful man. He is also good-looking. Oh, stop it, he is not: Rush is an entertainer. That's it. The Republican Party just elected Michael Steele, a dynamic African-American, to lead his party. (Forget about the whole scarlet letter thing for a minute.) In the House, Republicans were united in a way they haven't been for ages. Republicans aren't idiots. We know what Obama is up to with the Rush-bashing, and we can get past the cheap trick and sell our ideas to the country on their merits. Plus, is the change-we-can-believe-in president really so rattled that he defines all opposition as coming from the most abrasive member of the opposition? I thought it was George Bush who was always trying to frighten people.\" http://www.slate.com/id/2210095?nav=wp"}, {"response": 1534, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jan 31, 2009 (19:16)", "body": "Switzerland to consider hosting Guantanamo inmates Wed Jan 21, 2009 8:49pm GMT By Emma Thomasson ZURICH (Reuters) - Switzerland is ready to consider taking in detainees from the U.S. prison for terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba if that helps to shut it down, the Swiss government said on Wednesday. \"For Switzerland, the detention of people in Guantanamo is in conflict with international law. Switzerland is ready to consider how it can contribute to the solution of the Guantanamo problem,\" the government said in a statement. Switzerland said it welcomed the expressed intention of U.S. President Barack Obama to close the prison and would investigate security and legal implications of possibly taking in detainees. Hours after taking office on Tuesday, Obama ordered military prosecutors in the Guantanamo war crimes tribunals to ask for a 120-day halt in all pending cases. The camp is widely seen as a stain on the United States' human rights record under the administration of George W. Bush. European governments, which for years have called for the camp to be closed, are under pressure to help find a home for around 245 remaining detainees. The camp has held more than 750 captives since opening in 2002, most without trial. Under Bush, Washington tried in vain to persuade its allies, in particular in the 27-nation European Union, to take in inmates who cannot go back to their home country and who the United States does not want to accept either. Switzerland, which is not a member of the EU, has historically attracted refugees from trouble spots around the world and is home to international humanitarian organizations like the Red Cross and U.N. refugee agency. But its reputation for tolerance has been threatened by the rise of the right-wing Swiss People's Party (SVP), and its campaigns against immigration. The SVP condemned the government overture as giving \"free rein for terrorists.\" Portugal was the first EU state to say it would accept detainees and France has said it is ready to do so as well, but others are less enthusiastic. EU foreign ministers will discuss the issue at a meeting on January 26. EU Justice Commissioner Jacques Barrot welcomed on Wednesday Obama's plans to freeze military trials at Guantanamo. \"I am delighted that one of the first actions of President Obama was to turn the page on this sad episode of Guantanamo prison,\" he said in a statement. \"For me, this is very symbolic. In a lawful state, everybody should enjoy the right to defense.\" (Additional reporting by Marcin Grajewski in Brussels; editing by Elizabeth Piper) http://uk.reuters.com/article/usTopNews/idUKTRE50K4K120090121"}, {"response": 1535, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jan 31, 2009 (20:13)", "body": "(Evelyn) Not just jump to the guidelines from The Nation, moveon.org, Dailykos, and the other George Soros' groups from the far left. Have to go back to this discussion as I was rereading.... I'm not sure how you can diss the things you purport not to read. I can diss some of the far right-wing stuff such as RedState.org, Newsmax and FreeRepublic.org...as I actually will read them from time to time myself. And furthermore, I don't read any of the sites above that you reference (except Daily Kos), nor have I ever cited them as I recall, because why??? I don't read those. I don't even know what a George Soros group is. And why do I read Daily Kos? To give me information....succinctly.....from original sources of mainstream media (like Media Matters.org!), and yes, other blogs, who often base their pieces on....wait for it....mainstream media. Do they give their opinions also? Yes. Do they summarize things for me with informaton that is generally coherent, informed and with little to no spin? Yes. And I'll agree or disagree with them. I read places that inform me, not incite me and feel that as a discerning individual, I can gauge which is which. I certainly don't expect agreement on many things here, even among those with like ideology, but I expect an informed debate on both sides. :-))"}, {"response": 1536, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jan 31, 2009 (20:17)", "body": ".from original sources of mainstream media (like Media Matters.org!), It's easier to proofread after it's been posted in bigger type... So before someone gets up in arms...just to clarify as I didn't type that right... I'm not saying that Media Matters is mainstream media, I'm saying they also use mainstream media as the basis of their postings or discuss mainstream media itself, with examples, as in the links I posted quite a number of posts ago."}, {"response": 1537, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jan 31, 2009 (20:35)", "body": "Some opinion with nods to mainstream media (MM from now on) from Glenn Greenwald at Salon on Guantanamo. Friday Jan. 23, 2009 08:35 EST The newest fear-mongering campaign from the Right and the media (Updated below - Update II - Update III -Update IV - Update V - Updated VI) The latest fear-mongering campaign in the U.S. -- this one devoted to scaring Americans that they will be slaughtered if Guantanamo is closed and Terrorism suspects are brought into the U.S. for real trials -- is now in full swing. [.....] http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/01/23/al_qaeda/"}, {"response": 1538, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jan 31, 2009 (20:59)", "body": "I was reminded reading the above post, that the abbrev is generally MSM, not MM. And another thing to note that I thought about putting earlier, at least in Daily Kos, and now Glenn Greenwald, if they post something incorrectly, and are flagged about it (as from a NYT writer in GG's case), they will admit they were wrong and correct it."}, {"response": 1539, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jan 31, 2009 (21:33)", "body": "Ok, last of this tonight... Glenn published the entire email conversation with Scott Shane of the NYT when Scott objected to some stuff GG wrote. I thought Glenn's thoughts on this were pertinent in view of what's been discussed recently: GG: \"As for your broader points: I'm always a little baffled when establishment journalists claim there is a \"parasitical\" relationship between them and bloggers. What that usually means -- though you're somewhat vague about what you mean by it -- is that bloggers, for free, feed off the hard work of journalists. In fact, many bloggers do original research -- \"journalism\" by any measure -- which establishment journalists frequently use, often without credit. In fact, the piece of mine that you're complaining about has some of that in it, as do many others posts, from me and lots of others bloggers. Additionally, as numerous NYT people will be happy to tell you, a significant strategy for newspapers is to generate online traffic from bloggers. Lots of bloggers -- even just single, stand-alone bloggers -- have readerships comparable in size to mid-sized newspapers. When bloggers of that sort link to your articles, even if it's to say things that you disagree with, that helps to sustain the newspaper business model. The relationship may be parasitical (I actually think it's a lot more complementary than that), but if it is parasitical, it's reciprocally so. Finally, I'm well aware of the distinction between fact reporting and opinion journalism. I don't think that reporters should include opinions in their articles and my criticisms aren't based on the expectation that what reporters write should be grounded in my own views. My criticisms are always grounded in the complaint that relevant facts aren't included, or are distorted, in order to promote a subjective narrative [for instance, my objection today (though it turned out to be inaccurate) [Ed. note - show me *any* right wing blog/MSM/anything, TV or print, that will admit that] was that you failed to include a relevant fact in your article: that there are already numerous terrorists in U.S. prisons]. It's just a cliche -- a defense mechanism -- for reporters to claim condescendingly that those who criticize their work simply don't understand what journalists are supposed to do. I understand what your role is supposed to be. My criticisms are that the role isn't being fulfilled.\" http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/01/23/al_qaeda/index1.html"}, {"response": 1540, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Jan 31, 2009 (22:44)", "body": "I'm not sure how you can diss the things you purport not to read. I. don't. read. blogs. And you are taking me out of context. I was referring to the President who has to throw the lefties a bone now and then. I don't care what you read ....or don't. Including my posts;-)"}, {"response": 1541, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sun, Feb  1, 2009 (15:02)", "body": "And I don't want Guantanamo closed. When humans behave like monsters are they still human? I think not. I believe in human rights is not monster rights."}, {"response": 1542, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Feb  1, 2009 (15:39)", "body": "You know I read all your posts, Evelyn. :-) I read everyone's posts. I don't have to agree, but I read them. (Moon) I believe in human rights is not monster rights. Well, unfortunately, the US became what they condemn in other countries with regards to human rights and it has to stop. You seem to assume that everyone in there should be or deserves to be. Even the former prosecutor from there has said people have been in there for years without anyone really knowing if they've actually done anything wrong. I guess your feeling is that everyone in our prisons are deserving as well, though as we all know, that has turned out not to be the case. Unfortunately some spent many, many years in prison wrongly before that came to light. You know I'm an eye for an eye kind of person as well, Moon. In that regard I believe in the concept of a death penalty for certain crimes, but I will say that anymore it's hard to believe in a system that isn't really working. And for the 5 known terrorists at Guantanamo, who were directly involved in 9/11, let them rot...somewhere. But thanks to overzealousness, it's become a representation of everything the US has always said it was against."}, {"response": 1543, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sun, Feb  1, 2009 (16:51)", "body": "(Dorine), Unfortunately some spent many, many years in prison wrongly before that came to light. Like the two that were released and are now Al-Kaida? You know I'm an eye for an eye kind of person as well, Moon. Good, so we see eye to eye. ;-D IMO, when that system doesn't work is because action wasn't taken swiftly."}, {"response": 1544, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Feb  1, 2009 (16:54)", "body": "We don't know what they did before, if anything at all. Though I was talking about our people not people in Guantanamo."}, {"response": 1545, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Feb  1, 2009 (16:56)", "body": "We don't know what they did before, if anything at all. And according to the former Gitmo prosecutor, neither do they for many of them. And if they don't know, they shouldn't treat them like animals. Or monsters as you put it. That's what trials and evidence is for an apparently the research to get to that point wasn't done on many of them. Have you read about that?"}, {"response": 1546, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Feb  1, 2009 (16:58)", "body": "Either way, we'll agree to disagree. ;-D"}, {"response": 1547, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sun, Feb  1, 2009 (17:01)", "body": "Treating prisoners like animals? Frankly, Scarlet... Now being a monster... promoting the death of innocents or Jihad in the name of Allah. If they are treated like animals in prison that's already too much consideration. Eye for an eye."}, {"response": 1548, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Feb  2, 2009 (10:04)", "body": "Is a top Dem stirring Daschle trouble? \"But Daschle did not inform the Obama transition team of his tax liabilities until weeks after Obama announced Daschle\ufffds nomination. \" http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20090202/pl_politico/18271 What a pal! Not to tell his boss. Of course he'll sail through...because he's \"indispensable\". Hiccup #2."}, {"response": 1549, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Feb  2, 2009 (17:24)", "body": "What an idiot."}, {"response": 1550, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Feb  2, 2009 (21:19)", "body": "No, we are for rubber-stamping that behavior."}, {"response": 1551, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Feb  3, 2009 (13:15)", "body": "Oops....Another \"hiccup\" \"She proposed more money to bring an additional 1,000 cases against high-income tax cheats and to boost by 42 percent the audits of corporations that try to dodge taxes\" obviously she didn't consider herself a \"tax-dodger\" Obama's performance czar has tried to improve IRS By MICHAEL J. SNIFFEN \ufffd Jan 8, 2009 WASHINGTON (AP) \ufffd Nancy Killefer, the management consultant chosen by President-elect Barack Obama to make federal agencies work better for the public, has a lot of experience trying to improve the agency taxpayers love to hate, the Internal Revenue Service. The longtime senior partner at the giant global consulting firm McKinsey & Co. has previously worked at the Treasury to modernize the IRS and on a public-private oversight board to push the tax agency to more aggressively pursue corporate and high-income tax cheats. Killefer returns to government to take a new White House job Obama created \ufffd chief performance officer \ufffd to make federal programs more efficient and more responsive to those they serve and to help eliminate those that don't work. With the 55-year-old mother of two at his side, Obama told a news conference Wednesday that Killefer's goal will be no less than to \"restore the American people's confidence in their government, that it's on their side, spending their money wisely to meet their family's needs.\" Killefer was astute enough not to promise overnight success. \"Most of the operational issues that the government faces today have developed over decades and will take time to address,\" she told the news conference. \"But there is an urgency to begin now.\" Key people who worked with her during when she served as the Clinton administration's assistant treasury secretary for management during 1997-2000 were quick to praise her skills. \"She's got a good understanding of how government works and what the challenges are,\" said John Koskinen, now the conservator trying to overhaul Freddie Mac. As deputy Office of Management and Budget director for management under Clinton, Koskinen worked with her on Treasury Department reforms. Later, he also worked with her to be sure Treasury and IRS computers weren't flummoxed by the new millennium's arrival in 2000. While serving as chief financial officer and chief operating officer for the Treasury and its 160,000 employees, Killefer led a major modernization of the IRS. But even an experienced financial expert like Killefer is susceptible to tax errors: Four years ago, the District of Columbia slapped a $946 tax lien on her home for a few months until she paid back unemployment compensation tax for her personal employees. As he left office, Clinton named Killefer to a five-year term on the IRS Oversight Board, a group of outside experts and internal officials that Congress established after taxpayer mistreatment scandals came to light in the late 1990s. The board was to regularly assess IRS practices and spending for Congress, but as its chairman in 2004, Killefer went further. On behalf of the board, she presented Congress an alternative IRS budget to the one submitted by President George W. Bush. She proposed more money to bring an additional 1,000 cases against high-income tax cheats and to boost by 42 percent the audits of corporations that try to dodge taxes. And she said the extra spending would ensure IRS could continue to answer at least eight of every 10 calls from individuals taxpayers seeking help. \"That's encouraging,\" said Adam Hughes of OMB Watch, a private group that scrutinizes federal management. Her message addressed the trends in IRS enforcement that OMB Watch found disturbing, Hughes said. From a management reform perspective, Hughes was also pleased by the advice Killefer gave Harvard Business School students in 2004. She told the students that consultants need to focus on operational people below the CEO and get to know them as people. \"Sit on your hands if you have to, but consulting is 75 percent listening,\" she said. Hughes said that attitude would help, because federal workers now think top officials don't listen to them and set up irrelevant performance management systems. Killefer arrived at McKinsey in 1979 with a new MBA in finance from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Secretive as a spy agency, McKinsey never divulges its client lists, but Killefer has said she was drawn to consumer and retail industries and has served clients in packaged goods, hotels, restaurants, pharmaceuticals and other businesses. When she returned to McKinsey she shifted her emphasis. She now heads the firm's public sector practice, which in the United States primarily works with the federal government, McKinsey spokeswoman Yolande Daeninck said. Even with that high-powered job, Killefer told the Harvard students she rarely worked weekends and always made time for her family: husband Robert Cumby, who is a Georgetown University economics professor, and a teenage son and daughter. But she could afford an enviable suppo"}, {"response": 1552, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Feb  3, 2009 (13:18)", "body": "What gets me is that these people *knew* when they were nominated that they had evaded taxes and chose not to tell the President. What nerve...how disrespectful . Dashcle should withdraw his name . This is the man who is going to reform our health system??? Lord save us."}, {"response": 1553, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Feb  3, 2009 (13:34)", "body": "He just has.... Daschle withdraws as nominee for HHS secretary http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/daschle_taxes"}, {"response": 1554, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Feb  3, 2009 (14:54)", "body": "They both withdrew now. Smart moves."}, {"response": 1555, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Feb  3, 2009 (17:59)", "body": "How dare they embarass the President!"}, {"response": 1556, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Feb  3, 2009 (18:06)", "body": "Right! Or themselves for that matter. Though I guess they were past that point. ;-)"}, {"response": 1557, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Feb  3, 2009 (19:07)", "body": "Wasn't sure if this would fit on O&E, so I didn't put it there, though I wanted as many people as possible at Drool to see this. I don't know who all reads here, or doesn't OMG, HYS-terical! I was cryin'. You have to move through the pictures as cued in the letter. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/4344890/Virgin-the-worlds-best-passenger-complaint-letter.html"}, {"response": 1558, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Feb  3, 2009 (19:21)", "body": "The item on the left looks like polenta over a tomato and oily pesto sauce on top. The other looks like hummus and ? Never would I have thought it was dessert, especially since it was the starter. Odd."}, {"response": 1559, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Feb  3, 2009 (19:33)", "body": "Did you go through the rest? Talk about mystery foods."}, {"response": 1560, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Feb  3, 2009 (19:38)", "body": "Well, this is refreshing.... Obama blames himself for mishandling Daschle AP \ufffd 1 hr 27 mins ago WASHINGTON \ufffd President Barack Obama is taking responsibility for mistakes in the handling of the tax controversy that led to Tom Daschle's withdrawal as President Barack Obama's nominee to be health and human services secretary, saying: \"I screwed up.\" Full Story\ufffd http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/daschle_taxes"}, {"response": 1561, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Feb  3, 2009 (19:50)", "body": "Well, this is refreshing.... What...throwing himself on the sword? Dirtbag -Daschle , I say."}, {"response": 1562, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Feb  3, 2009 (19:53)", "body": "What...throwing himself on the sword? Obama?"}, {"response": 1563, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Feb  3, 2009 (19:53)", "body": ""}, {"response": 1564, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Feb  3, 2009 (20:08)", "body": "I think it's refreshing that Obama admitted a mistake so the process can move on. Quite a novel concept from the recent past."}, {"response": 1565, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Feb  3, 2009 (21:41)", "body": "(Dorine)Quite a novel concept from the recent past. I can't recall any tax evaders in the Bush cabinet nominees. But in the not too recent...there was Clinton and Zoe. And as I remember, it was cruel just letting her hang out there . Cut your losses, and move on."}, {"response": 1566, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Feb  3, 2009 (21:53)", "body": "You're missing the point. It's not the tax evaders. Zoe?"}, {"response": 1567, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Feb  4, 2009 (10:00)", "body": "Zo\ufffd Baird From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia \"Zo\ufffd Eliot Baird (born 1952) is an American lawyer. She is the President of the Markle Foundation. The Markle Foundation focuses on how to accelerate the use of information technologies to address critical public needs, particularly in the areas of health and national security. She was Bill Clinton's first unsuccessful nominee for attorney general in 1993. Baird withdrew her name from consideration for the attorney general position when it was learned that she had hired illegal aliens to serve as her chauffeur and nanny, and neglected to pay their social security taxes. She paid $2,900 in fines for the infractions.[1] [my italics] She was general counsel and senior vice president of Aetna (1992 - 1996).[2]. Previously she worked as counselor and staff executive at General Electric Company (1986-1990)and was a partner at the law firm O\ufffdMelveny & Myers, Washington, DC (1981-1986). From 1980 till 1981 she was Associate Counsel to President Jimmy Carter. She also worked as Attorney-Advisor at the Office of Legal Counsel at the U.S. Department of Justice, (1979-1980). She earned a B.A. in political science in 1974 and a J.D. in 1977 from the Boalt Hall School of Law at UC Berkeley.[2] She clerked to the Honorable Albert C. Wollenberg, U.S. District Judge, Northern District of California (1977-1978). Prior Government Positions: Department of Defense, Technology and Privacy Advisory (TAPAC) Committee (2003 \ufffd 2004) (appointed by ....\" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zo%C3%AB_Baird"}, {"response": 1568, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Feb  5, 2009 (14:16)", "body": "Cheney Warns of New Attacks Former Vice President Dick Cheney is blasting the fledgling administration of Barack Obama, arguing that its policies dealing with terrorism and international foes are na\ufffdve and dangerous, making it all the more likely that terrorists will succeed in their next attempt at killing Americans, according to a report in Politico. Simply by closing Guantanamo Bay\ufffds detention camp for terrorists, Cheney said, Obama inadvertently will aid enemies eager to make another attack on the United States. Another major attack on this country \ufffd perhaps even using biological or nuclear materials \ufffd is very likely in the next few years, Cheney said. \ufffdI think there\ufffds a high probability of such an attempt,\ufffd Cheney said. \ufffdWhether or not they can pull it off depends whether or not we keep in place policies that have allowed us to defeat all further attempts, since 9/11, to launch mass-casualty attacks against the United States.\ufffd Cheney opined that the inevitable attack will be \ufffda 9/11-type event where the terrorists are armed with something much more dangerous than an airline ticket and a box cutter \ufffd a nuclear weapon or a biological agent of some kind\ufffd that is set off in an American city. In a wide-ranging interview with Politico, Cheney emphasized the usefulness of the interrogations at Gitmo while lambasting the policies emerging from the new administration. \ufffdWhen we get people who are more concerned about reading the rights to an al-Qaida terrorist than they are with protecting the United States against people who are absolutely committed to do anything they can to kill Americans, then I worry,\ufffd Cheney said. Concentrating on the merits of Gitmo, Cheney described it as a first-class operation, noting that one of the painful lessons learned was the penchant for those detainees who were released to return to their terrorist roots. He noted that 61 of the inmates who were released from Guantanamo during the Bush administration had \ufffdgone back into the business of being terrorists.\ufffd He also characterized the remaining 200 or so remaining detainees as \ufffdhard core\ufffd cases that were even more likely to be repeat offenders. Releasing the prisoners or ramping up their due process would be unwise, Cheney charged. \ufffdThe United States needs to be not so much loved as it needs to be respected. Sometimes, that requires us to take actions that generate controversy. I\ufffdm not at all sure that that\ufffds what the Obama administration believes,\ufffd he said. Cheney defended the hard-line tactics of the Bush administration as responsible for the safety of the country after 9/11. \ufffdIf it hadn\ufffdt been for what we did \ufffd with respect to the terrorist surveillance program, or enhanced interrogation techniques for high-value detainees, the Patriot Act, and so forth \ufffd then we would have been attacked again,\ufffd he said. \ufffdThose policies we put in place, in my opinion, were absolutely crucial to getting us through the last seven-plus years without a major-casualty attack on the U.S.\ufffd Protecting the country\ufffds security is \ufffda tough, mean, dirty, nasty business,\ufffd he said. \ufffdThese are evil people. And we\ufffdre not going to win this fight by turning the other cheek.\ufffd \ufffd 2009 Newsmax. All rights reserved."}, {"response": 1569, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Feb  5, 2009 (14:40)", "body": "Cheney....that bastion of truth and patriotism."}, {"response": 1570, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Feb  5, 2009 (17:33)", "body": "I know, Dorine. I'm not a fan, but I find truth in what he says on Guantanamo. I'm waiting to see what happens in Iraq after the election results are announced. Democracy is something being forced on those tribal sects. Our Government has to realize it sooner or later."}, {"response": 1571, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Feb  5, 2009 (17:43)", "body": "(Dorine)Cheney....that bastion of truth and patriotism. *I* think so. Voted for him twice. And what's more ,I would vote for him again."}, {"response": 1572, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Feb  5, 2009 (23:02)", "body": "LOL!!! Someone I know sent posted this on his Facebook page a few days ago, but I forgot about it til I just ran across it again elsewhere. http://www.theonion.com/content/news/cheney_dunk_tank_raises_800"}, {"response": 1573, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Feb  5, 2009 (23:15)", "body": "(Me) Cheney....that bastion of truth and patriotism. Yes, who can forget these Greatest Hits of Truth and Patriotism.....(though I did off the top of my head rather well until brought to my attention again ;-)). \"This from the man who went to war with the people of Iraq after we were attacked by Al Qaeda. This from the man who shot a \"friend\" in the face -- and then \"graciously\" accepted his friend's apology.\""}, {"response": 1574, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Feb  5, 2009 (23:18)", "body": "Oh and I forgot, what can be more patriotic than ordering the outing a spy (and yes, she was covert, working on nuclear arms proliferation in the middle east) and then more truthful by throwing a minion under the bus to take the fall for it all (who did so willingly I'm so sure)."}, {"response": 1575, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Feb  5, 2009 (23:33)", "body": "(Moon) I find truth in what he says on Guantanamo. And on the other side of the coin.... Seton Hall Law: Department of Defense Wrong Again on guant\ufffdnamo \ufffdRecidivism\ufffd The Seton Hall Center for Policy and Research has issued a report which rebuts and debunks the most recent claim by the Department of Defense (DOD) that \ufffd61, in all, former Guant\ufffdnamo detainees are confirmed or suspected of returning to the fight.\ufffd Professor Denbeaux of the Center for Policy & Research has said that the Center has determined that \ufffdDOD has issued 'recidivism' numbers 43 times, and each time they have been wrong\ufffdthis last time the most egregiously so.\ufffd Denbeaux stated: \ufffdOnce again, they\ufffdve failed to identify names, numbers, dates, times, places, or acts upon which their report relies. Every time they have been required to identify the parties, the DOD has been forced to retract their false IDs and their numbers. They have included people who have never even set foot in Guant\ufffdnamo\ufffdmuch less were they released from there. They have counted people as 'returning to the fight' for their having written an Op-ed piece in the New York Times and for their having appeared in a documentary exhibited at the Cannes Film Festival. The DOD has revised and retracted their internally conflicting definitions, criteria, and their numbers so often that they have ceased to have any meaning\ufffdexcept as an effort to sway public opinion by painting a false portrait of the supposed dangers of these men. \"Forty-three times they have given numbers\ufffdwhich conflict with each other\ufffdall of which are seriously undercut by the DOD statement that 'they do not track' former detainees. Rather than making up numbers \ufffdwilly-nilly\ufffd about post release conduct, America might be better served if our government actually kept track of them.\ufffd ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Seton Hall University School of Law, New Jersey\ufffds only private law school, and a leading law school in the New York metropolitan area, is dedicated to preparing students for the practice of law through excellence in scholarship and teaching, with a strong focus on clinical education. The Center for Policy and Research enables students to gain practical experience while engaging in research and analysis that promotes respect for the rights of individuals worldwide. The students examine primary sources pertaining to national security law and practices of the U.S. government, as well as the reliability of forensic evidence for criminal investigations and prosecution. Seton Hall Law is located in Newark, NJ and offers both day and evening degree programs. For more information, visit http://law.shu.edu . http://law.shu.edu/administration/public_relations/press_releases/2009/shl_defense_dept_wrong_on_gtmo.htm"}, {"response": 1576, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Feb  5, 2009 (23:41)", "body": "I just discovered if you go to the link above, on the right side under contact information, is a link to the pdf file of his actual detailed report about what's posted above. I don't know if it's possible to link a pdf file directly. From the beginning of the report on page 2: PROPAGANDA AS TERRORISM: RECIDIVISM BY THE NUMBERS Time and time again, the Department of Defense, the Executive Branch, and other government officials have claimed publicly that Guant\ufffdnamo Bay detainees who have been released have \ufffdreturned to the battlefield\ufffd where they have then been re-captured or killed. On January 13, 2009, during a press conference the Department of Defense provided its 43rd attempt to report on the number of detainees released from Guantanamo who returned to the battlefield. This latest report alleges that 61 detainees have returned to the battlefield. This report seeks to examine the last numbers. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. The 43rd attempt to enumerate the number of detainees who have returned to the battlefield is false by the Department of Defense\ufffds own data and prior reports. 2. In each of its forty-three attempts to provide the numbers of the recidivist detainees, the Department of Defense has given different sets of numbers that are contradictory and internally inconsistent with the Department\ufffds own data. 3. The Department of Defense does not keep track of released detainees nor does it follow their post release conduct. 4. The Department of Defense\ufffds previous statements about the post release conduct of former Guantanamo detainees were produced in writing in July 2007 and May 2008. 5. The January 13, 2009 press statement identifies no names, dates, places nor any conduct by released detainees. The raw numbers that are cited are unsupported, inconsistent with all other statements and appear to be presented to support the internal Department of Defense purposes."}, {"response": 1577, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Feb  6, 2009 (10:21)", "body": "Oh and I forgot, what can be more patriotic than ordering the outing a spy (and yes, she was covert, working on nuclear arms proliferation in the middle east) and then more truthful by throwing a minion under the bus to take the fall for it all (who did so willingly I'm so sure). \"I am so sure\"...LOL... Won't cut it, pal. Prove it."}, {"response": 1578, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Feb  6, 2009 (10:36)", "body": "You first. I've done more than my share on more than one occasion. ;-)"}, {"response": 1579, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Feb  6, 2009 (12:56)", "body": "*snort* But, ..but, ..*I'm* not the one making the accusation;-)"}, {"response": 1580, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Feb  6, 2009 (13:38)", "body": "Oops! Panetta takes back remarks on detainee rendition http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090206/ap_on_go_co/cia_panetta Panetta to foreign countries:\"On your honor\"...\"Cross your heart\";-)))"}, {"response": 1581, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Feb  6, 2009 (13:38)", "body": "Sorry"}, {"response": 1582, "author": "Moon", "date": "Fri, Feb  6, 2009 (13:53)", "body": "Dorine, at this point I believe in \"guilty until proven innocent\" for any suspect in Guantanamo. I am a very sanguine anti-terrorist person and I won't give the secularist/agnostic limosine liberals another thought. They don't understand Jihad, how could they?"}, {"response": 1583, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Feb  6, 2009 (15:55)", "body": "*I'm* not the one making the accusation;-) I'm not making an accusation either. ;-)"}, {"response": 1584, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Feb  6, 2009 (15:59)", "body": "(Moon) at this point I believe in \"guilty until proven innocent\" for any suspect in Guantanamo. I am a very sanguine anti-terrorist person and I won't give the secularist/agnostic limosine liberals another thought. They don't understand Jihad, how could they? Ok, fine. Whatever. Quoting Cheney and his BS is another matter."}, {"response": 1585, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Feb  6, 2009 (16:15)", "body": "Panetta takes back remarks on detainee rendition http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090206/ap_on_go_co/cia_panetta Um, that's not what the article says unless I missed something. Was that the title on the article when you posted this?"}, {"response": 1586, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Feb  6, 2009 (16:53)", "body": "Yup. Here's essentially the same article...from AP Panetta takes back rendition remarks http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/feb/06/panetta-takes-back-remarks-detainee-rendition/ \"Panetta told the committee that the Obama administration will continue to hand foreign detainees over to other countries for questioning, but only if it is confident the prisoners will not be tortured in the process...\""}, {"response": 1587, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Feb  6, 2009 (17:15)", "body": "Well, then I've missed some previous statements, I'm not understanding a connection or the article title is incorrect. Because prosecuting for CIA interrogations and extraordinary rendition are 2 different subjects. Or it's just a very poorly written article. I'm doing some googling later to see if I understand some connection."}, {"response": 1588, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Feb  6, 2009 (17:19)", "body": "Oh, ok, I found what remarks they meant in the 2nd page that I just skimmed over because I didn't find what they were talking about on pg 1. It's a badly written article then. The bit about the statements that were retracted should've been up in the front of the article. Thanks."}, {"response": 1589, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Feb  6, 2009 (17:51)", "body": "(Dorine) Oh and I forgot, what can be more patriotic than ordering the outing a spy (and yes, she was covert, working on nuclear arms proliferation in the middle east) and then more truthful by throwing a minion under the bus to take the fall for it all (who did so willingly I'm so sure). (Evelyn) Prove it. The chief of staff to Cheney did this all on his own and then gets his prison sentence commuted. I'm laughing so hard my sides are aching."}, {"response": 1590, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Feb  6, 2009 (17:52)", "body": "The definition of patriot should be rewritten."}, {"response": 1591, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Feb  6, 2009 (18:41)", "body": "Actually, I forgot about Rove and even Bush involvement in the Plame saga. No bastions of truth themselves. And you know, I followed that trial daily, frequently while it was occurring, through unofficial transcripts and reports from people in the room, as well as many media reports and magazine articles. I know what went on and I don't have to prove anything. It's already been proven by people trained and paid to do so. Plus....(singing).....Goo - gle, a little dab will do ya! ;-)"}, {"response": 1592, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Feb  6, 2009 (19:30)", "body": "Someone sent me this on email and I thought it rather amusing.... Dear World, The United States of America, your quality supplier of ideals of liberty and democracy, would like to apologize for its 2001-2008 service outage. The technical fault that led to this eight-year service interruption has been located. Replacement components were ordered Tuesday, November 4th, 2008, and have begun arriving. Early test of the new equipment indicate that it is functioning correctly and we expect it to be fully operational by mid-January. We apologize for any inconvenience caused by the outage and we look forward to resuming full service and hopefully even improving it in years to come. Thank you for your patience and understanding, The USA"}, {"response": 1593, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Feb  6, 2009 (20:24)", "body": "Reading back... (some article from somewhere) Instead, the tax changes should focus on providing incentives to households and businesses to increase current spending. Why not a temporary refundable tax credit to households that purchase cars or other major consumer durables, analogous to the investment tax credit for businesses? Or a temporary tax credit for home improvements? (Karen) Tax credits for those with money, analogous to giving loans to people who don't need them. Since most people aren't sitting on $30K in cash, ready to plop down on a car, then you're talking about increasing personal debt. Puhleez, don't people have enough of that? I've only skimmed headlines the past week. Isn't this pretty much what ended up in the bill? Or what's been talked about this week?"}, {"response": 1594, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Feb  6, 2009 (21:08)", "body": "Go ahead and laugh...but watch those sides;-) Scooter Libby was wrongly sentenced under the \"guise\" that he lied to a jury . Had nothing to do with the outing of Valerie Plame, which Armitage already had confessed to Fitzgerald."}, {"response": 1595, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Feb  6, 2009 (21:13)", "body": "Despicable...how can the we stand by and watch this happen. \"The Togo-flagged Tali aid ship was reported to have set off from the Lebanese port of Tripoli on Tuesday carrying 50 tonnes of medical supplies, food, clothing and toys for Gaza\" Israel seizes Gaza-bound aid ship http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7871874.stm Heartless! Cut the aid to Israel, I say."}, {"response": 1596, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Feb  6, 2009 (21:21)", "body": "(Moon)..I won't give the secularist/agnostic limosine liberals another thought. They ... Moon, you always phrase your thoughts so colorfully; I compliment you. \"You should publish\"!"}, {"response": 1597, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Feb  6, 2009 (21:43)", "body": "(Evelyn) Cut the aid to Israel, I say. Them's fightin' words. :-O \"You should publish\"! As long as it's not in a blog. Then she won't read it, Moon. ;-)) Had nothing to do with the outing of Valerie Plame, No, he didn't have talks with Judith Miller or Tim Russert. No, nada to do with it. ;-)"}, {"response": 1598, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Feb  6, 2009 (21:50)", "body": "Oh, and Matthew Cooper from Time."}, {"response": 1599, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Feb  6, 2009 (22:31)", "body": "Those octuplet doctors need to have their licenses taken away. There's no excuse unless she totally made up some story for them and they didn't know better. And frankly take away licenses for the ones that inseminated her with any eggs after the 2nd one, if not the first. I find it really hard to believe that they truly found her to be an appropriate candidate for further procedures and children, psychologically, by her own admission and apparently her medical records. Nor at times, physically. Bet they were just greedy bastards. How did she pay for this? Long-term disability? You don't get great insurance coverage on workers comp, do you? I feel sorry for those kids. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-octuplets6-2009feb06,0,1342962.story"}, {"response": 1600, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Feb  6, 2009 (23:31)", "body": "Libby's assertion that the information came from Russert and was only gossip was central to his claims that he did nothing wrong because if he instead had learned the information from government officials he might be in trouble for leaking classified information. At Libby's trial, several government witnesses -- among them an under secretary of State, a senior CIA official, Libby's CIA briefing officer, and a senior aide to Cheney -- said they informed Libby that Plame was a CIA officer. Testifying as a prosecution witness, Russert said that although he and Libby did indeed speak on July 10, 2003, they never discussed Plame during their conversation. Libby is also alleged by prosecutors to have lied to the FBI and a federal grand jury in claiming that when he mentioned Plame's name to two reporters -- Matthew Cooper, then of Time magazine, and Judith Miller, then of The New York Times -- he was careful to point out to them he was simply repeating rumors that he had heard from Russert. Cooper and Miller testified that Libby stated no such qualifications to them in telling them about Plame. Libby also testified to the federal grand jury that when Russert purportedly told him about Plame, he had absolutely no memory of having heard the information earlier from anyone else, including Cheney, and was thus \"taken aback\" when Russert told him. In his opening argument, Fitzgerald, referring to Libby's conversation with Russert on July 10, said: \"You can't be startled about something on Thursday [July 10] that you told other people about on Monday [July 7] and Tuesday [July 8].\" Former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer testified as a prosecution witness that on July 7, 2003, Libby told Fleischer, \"Ambassador Wilson was sent by his wife. His wife works for the CIA.\" Fleischer testified that Libby referred to Wilson's wife by her maiden name, Valerie Plame. \"He added it was hush-hush, on the Q.T., and that most people didn't know it,\" Fleischer said Libby told him. http://news.nationaljournal.com/articles/021907nj1.htm"}, {"response": 1601, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Feb  6, 2009 (23:41)", "body": "There is a good point though, how did Rove and Armitage get a \"get out of prosecution free\" card? I guess because Fitgerald could never get to the bottom of it all because of the obfuscation/obstruction of justice IIRC, where Libby played his part well."}, {"response": 1602, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Feb  7, 2009 (00:37)", "body": "The army said the crew of the ship would be questioned by police, while all humnitarian goods found on board would be transferred to Gaza by land Gee, was there any country in the world that would accept a boatload of Jews, fleeing from Europe before, during or after WWII? Heartless doesn't even begin to describe it. More like anti-semitism."}, {"response": 1603, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Feb  7, 2009 (10:56)", "body": "Gee, was there any country in the world that would accept a boatload of Jews, fleeing from Europe before, during or after WWII? I apply the same words to that ...despicable and heartless. Every country should be ashamed that allowed to happen. More like anti-semitism. I know, whenever one disagrees with the policy/actions of a country they are smeared. Same with...if one disagrees with any of O's policies, then one is anti-black. It's a current strategy and so unfair."}, {"response": 1604, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Feb  7, 2009 (11:06)", "body": "off to see Lucia di Lammermoor today live on satellite from the Met. With Anna Nebrebko and Rolando Villazon...whoopee! Her first performance since she gave birth in September. Actually, the opera premiered last Tuesday, I think. (I'd give a small part of my soul to be there live.) They are hotties in the world of opera... LOL. Bet I bored you...(next time I'll say *OPERA* and you can scrool), but opera is my real passion. And I've been looking forward to this all year."}, {"response": 1605, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Feb  7, 2009 (11:57)", "body": "I know, whenever one disagrees with the policy/actions of a country they are smeared. The BBC buried the relevant part at the very end, which I posted above...if you bothered to read it through. Instead, it led with Israel seizing humanitarian aid, which it wasn't, thereby inflaming the situation and intentinally misleading most. I call that anti-semetic. Same with...if one disagrees with any of O's policies, then one is anti-black. Better to just call anything he does socialist, right?"}, {"response": 1606, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Feb  7, 2009 (12:53)", "body": "A far more balanced report: http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/02/05/mideast/05mideast-423682.php"}, {"response": 1607, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sat, Feb  7, 2009 (13:43)", "body": "It's hard to find any balanced reports to do with the mess in the Middle East. I often read the Italian and French papers to get their POV as well. Hard to escape the biased world. :-( \"You should publish\"! (Dorine), As long as it's not in a blog. Then she won't read it, Moon. ;-)) LOL, I'm with Evelyn on blogs. Who has all that time? I've learned thanks to my DH to be concise and colorful. ;-D It's hard to keep up with his erudition."}, {"response": 1608, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Feb  7, 2009 (17:22)", "body": "(Moon) Who has all that time? I don't get the impression that time, or lack of it, is her concern in respect to them. ;-))"}, {"response": 1609, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Feb  7, 2009 (19:04)", "body": "While I'm kind of surprised to read this in the Washington Post Op-Ed page, it really does address the material points of much of the discussion here in the past couple of weeks. I had to LOL when I read that first quote from him a few days ago. Ironic statement actually, in light of doing so much to guarantee an almost universal lack of respect. Mr. Cheney's Blind Spot The former vice president still doesn't recognize the damage done by his terrorism policies. Saturday, February 7, 2009; Page A12 \"THE UNITED States needs to be not so much loved as it needs to be respected.\" So declared former vice president Dick Cheney in an interview this week with Politico. Mr. Cheney is right -- which is why he should be apologizing rather than defending the extreme Bush administration policies on detention and interrogation that he championed. Mr. Cheney asserted that the administration's antiterrorism policies may have been unpopular but were necessary, and he offered sweeping and unverifiable pronouncements about their effectiveness. \"If it hadn't been for what we did -- with respect to the terrorist surveillance program or enhanced interrogation techniques for high-value detainees, the Patriot Act and so forth -- then we would have been attacked again,\" Mr. Cheney claimed. Characteristically self-assured, Mr. Cheney perpetuated the myth that abiding by the rule of law puts the country in danger. In a thinly veiled attack on the Obama administration, he scoffed at those who are \"more concerned about reading the rights to an al-Qaeda terrorist than they are with protecting the United States against people who are absolutely committed to do anything they can to kill Americans.\" This is not only a mischaracterization of Mr. Obama's position, it is a false choice. The Bush administration deserves credit for shepherding the United States through seven years without another attack, but it may be decades before information is declassified that could shed light on whether this can be attributed to such practices as waterboarding and the lawless detention of suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay. Indeed, military and intelligence officials from Republican and Democratic administrations have suggested that they probably cannot, and they have repeatedly argued that traditional intelligence-gathering techniques are sufficient to thwart the kinds of attacks Mr. Cheney warns against. They have also stressed that the coercive techniques advanced by Mr. Cheney produce unreliable information from prisoners desperate to avoid further agony. [Ed. note - My emphasis] Most profoundly, Mr. Cheney fails to recognize the damage these policies have done to the country's reputation at large. They have alienated even once-stalwart allies, and they have played into the hands of terrorist leaders, who use the sordid images from Abu Ghraib and tales of abuse at secret CIA prisons overseas as political ammunition to recruit the next wave of suicide bombers and foot soldiers. Thanks to Mr. Cheney and his allies, global respect for the United States is at a low point. Part of the mission of preventing attacks must be to repair that damage. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/06/AR2009020603175.html"}, {"response": 1610, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sat, Feb  7, 2009 (20:07)", "body": "Dorine, all's fair in love and war? \"Guilty until proven innocent\" is my terrorist ethic."}, {"response": 1611, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Feb  7, 2009 (20:44)", "body": "Yes, Moon. I understand. ;-)"}, {"response": 1612, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Feb  7, 2009 (21:02)", "body": "\"Part of the mission of preventing attacks must be to repair that damage.\" We shall have to wait and see if that strategy is correct, won't we. I am not so sure. Wonder who wrote that..some blogger???;-) BTW i don't read blogs , Facebook, Spacebook ,... whatever...: a)They are narcissistic: \"Who cares what you think?\" (Rhetorical \"you\", of course;-)) b)I don't want to devote my time to read :a) c) I don't have to give any reasons:-))))))) Opera was fantastic, but Rolando Villazon was ill and some new Polish tenor had to sub for him'Piotr Beczala. Interesting stage interpretation as a Victorian ghost story. Worked. Better to just call anything he does socialist, right? You no like when I call you Comrades?;-))) Testy, testy,,,;-)"}, {"response": 1613, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Feb  7, 2009 (21:21)", "body": "\"Part of the mission of preventing attacks must be to repair that damage.\" (Evelyn) We shall have to wait and see if that strategy is correct, won't we. Very true. But considering that after the militaristic \"War on Terror\" began (in Iraq), terrorist attacks worldwide increased (please feel free to Google those stats - Condie Rice tried hard to keep them unreleased, and did for a while but failed in the end). I suppose there's always room for improvement. :-) Wonder who wrote that..some blogger???;-) *snort*"}, {"response": 1614, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Feb  8, 2009 (02:22)", "body": "The Senate \"compromise\".... February 06, 2009 What the Senate's cut: Funds for states and schools Here're the cuts, according to Sen. Leahy's office. Based on this list, the governors who've been the strongest supporters of the stimulus bill, because it offered them some relief in a terrible budget year, will cry the loudest. Schools, environmental programs and broadband expansion projects also take a hit. Billion dollar cuts $40 billion State Fiscal Stabilization $16 billion School Construction $7.5 billion of State Incentive Grants $5.8 billion Health Prevention Activity $4.5 billion GSA $3.5 billion Higher Ed Construction (Eliminated) $3.5 billion Federal Bldgs Greening $2.25 Neighborhood Stabilization (Eliminate) $2 billion broadband $2 billion HIT Grants $1.25 billion project based rental $1 billion Head Start/Early Start $1.2 billion in Retrofiting Project 8 Housing $1 billion Energy Loan Guarantees Million dollar cuts $100 million FSA modernization $50 million CSERES Research $65 million Watershed Rehab $30 million SD Salaries $100 Distance Learning $98 million School Nutrition $50 million aquaculture $100 million NIST $100 million NOAA $100 million Law Enforcement Wireless $50 million Detention Trustee $25 million Marshalls Construction $100 million FBI Construction $300 million Federal Prisons $300 million BYRNE Formula $140 million BYRNE Competitive $10 million State and Local Law Enforcement $50 million NASA $50 million Aeronautics $50 million Exploration $50 million Cross Agency Support $200 million NSF $100 million Science $300 million Fed Hybrid Vehicles $50 million from DHS $200 million TSA $122 million for Coast Guard Cutters, modifies use $25 million Fish and Wildlife $55 million Historic Preservation $20 million working capital fund $200 million Superfund $165 million Forest Svc Capital Improvement $90 million State & Private Wildlife Fire Management $75 million Smithsonian $600 million Title I (NCLB) http://washingtonbureau.typepad.com/washington/2009/02/what-the-senates-cut-funds-for-states-and-schools.html"}, {"response": 1615, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Feb  8, 2009 (02:26)", "body": "And here, you can see the requests for funds from Governors for your specific city in the Mainstreet Economic Recovery Report http://www.usmayors.org/mainstreeteconomicrecovery/stimulussurveyparticipants.asp"}, {"response": 1616, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sun, Feb  8, 2009 (11:08)", "body": "Good! Cut some more, I say! Suuuueeeeeeeeee;-)"}, {"response": 1617, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Feb  8, 2009 (11:17)", "body": "Are you serious? Wow. I guess you don't want any of the jobs created in your town they're looking for."}, {"response": 1618, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sun, Feb  8, 2009 (11:29)", "body": "\"Wish lists\"....I saw the list in my newspaprer. Actually, the paper was critical of most of them. \"Amtrak Feasibility\"...please. Many of these projects are state responsibility...not the feds. Many are social funds, don't belong in this bill. Debate them separately. FYI I am glad NIH didn't take a hit. NEA, yes."}, {"response": 1619, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Feb  8, 2009 (11:44)", "body": "Many of these projects are state responsibility...not the feds. By definition, they would be, i.e., state responsibiltiy. But that's the whole point. Only the Federal govt would have the money to kickstart the economy, just as only the Federal govt has the money to bail out the private sector too."}, {"response": 1620, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Feb  8, 2009 (11:54)", "body": "(Evelyn) Debate them separately. Ok. Then which should be included? What kind of projects stay in, and which in a separate bill? Though at the rate their going with this one, years would go by before they got to voting on the second one with all the other stuff."}, {"response": 1621, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Feb  8, 2009 (13:20)", "body": "I think that only the projects that create immediate jobs and/or relief to hurting people/sectors should be included, with the remainder either dealt with separately (e.g., debated and passed individually) or included in the normal budget process (i.e., building renovations for the Commerce Dept.)"}, {"response": 1622, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sun, Feb  8, 2009 (14:42)", "body": "Ditto!"}, {"response": 1623, "author": "mari", "date": "Mon, Feb  9, 2009 (13:25)", "body": "(Evelyn)Many of these projects are state responsibility...not the feds. But the states (and the cities) are hurting so badly. And the local level is where the money has the best chance of being put to use right away, in saving jobs, projects, etc. This Senate compromise bill is sad. But, hey, let's cut taxes. I'll make sure I don't spend that extra $10 a week all in one spot.:-( Many are social funds, don't belong in this bill. Debate them separately. Where they'd never pass, thanks to Republicans. Obama now has the good will of most of the American people behind him who recognize the need for swift action. You strike whem the iron is hot."}, {"response": 1624, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Feb  9, 2009 (14:02)", "body": "(Mari)Obama now has the good will of most of the American people behind him who recognize the need for swift action. You strike whem the iron is hot. Oh I agree on the good will....62% is nothing to sneaze about. http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/obama_administration/daily_presidential_approval_index And personally, I like him. But this bill is not his bill...it's a Nancy Pelosi House bill. And Personally, I don't like her;-) I don't think he would not have written this bill in the current form. And in the current form, the bill only has support of 38% of the people. Big diff. http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/business/economic_stimulus_package/support_for_stimulus_package_falls_to_37 Like I said yesterday...pass the components of the bill that strictly have to do with job creation and stimulating the economy. With assistance to the unemployed. http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/obama_administration/february_2009/62_want_stimulus_plan_to_have_more_tax_cuts_less_spending The other section ....later. You know, Mari...I don't want him to fail. He's my president too. But I feel he will with this bill. But what do I know, LOL....Not even the brainy econs do. .... seems to be a crap -shoot"}, {"response": 1625, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Feb  9, 2009 (14:57)", "body": "IMO, Obama should sit down with McCain and see what can be done. I would make McCain his rep with the GOP. He needs a maverick to get this bill passed, and some pork should be trimmed, asap. It needs to pass."}, {"response": 1626, "author": "mari", "date": "Mon, Feb  9, 2009 (14:58)", "body": "(Evelyn)you know, Mari...I don't want him to fail. He's my president too. I know you feel that way, and I appreciate that. For the record, I don't like Pelosi *or* Reid either. But what do I know, LOL....Not even the brainy econs do. .... seems to be a crap -shoot It truly is uncharted territory. Hey, what do I know, too. My gut tells me tax cuts aren't the way. And you're right about the economists. Nobody knows nuthin.'"}, {"response": 1627, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Feb  9, 2009 (18:02)", "body": "(Mari) I don't like Pelosi *or* Reid either. Me, three."}, {"response": 1628, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Feb  9, 2009 (18:57)", "body": "Me, four."}, {"response": 1629, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Feb  9, 2009 (19:56)", "body": "Honestly, I didn't make this up.....Comrades;-) http://www.newsweek.com/id/183663"}, {"response": 1630, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Feb  9, 2009 (21:34)", "body": "News conference: V. eloquent. My question would have been: \"Mr President, you speak of the ideological rigidity in Washington...why did you pick the most partisan, ideological rigid person in Washinton, Nancy Pelosi, to write that bill for you.\" Also...he keeps saying that Republicans only want tax cuts.... Wrong! They want infrastructure spending in addition to tax cuts. But in general...he did v. well....a little long.. Every answer was a mini-speech. (Soft-ball questions...) But I thought he did v. well."}, {"response": 1631, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Feb 10, 2009 (01:07)", "body": "I'm posting this for the sake of discussion and opinions. I have no opinion yet as I only skimmed parts of it. I heard someone on Rachel Maddow's show, Sen. Nelson maybe?, explain his opposition to the school construction idea. Op-Ed Columnist The Destructive Center By PAUL KRUGMAN Published: February 8, 2009 What do you call someone who eliminates hundreds of thousands of American jobs, deprives millions of adequate health care and nutrition, undermines schools, but offers a $15,000 bonus to affluent people who flip their houses? A proud centrist. For that is what the senators who ended up calling the tune on the stimulus bill just accomplished. Even if the original Obama plan \ufffd around $800 billion in stimulus, with a substantial fraction of that total given over to ineffective tax cuts \ufffd had been enacted, it wouldn\ufffdt have been enough to fill the looming hole in the U.S. economy, which the Congressional Budget Office estimates will amount to $2.9 trillion over the next three years. Yet the centrists did their best to make the plan weaker and worse. One of the best features of the original plan was aid to cash-strapped state governments, which would have provided a quick boost to the economy while preserving essential services. But the centrists insisted on a $40 billion cut in that spending. The original plan also included badly needed spending on school construction; $16 billion of that spending was cut. It included aid to the unemployed, especially help in maintaining health care \ufffd cut. Food stamps \ufffd cut. All in all, more than $80 billion was cut from the plan, with the great bulk of those cuts falling on precisely the measures that would do the most to reduce the depth and pain of this slump. On the other hand, the centrists were apparently just fine with one of the worst provisions in the Senate bill, a tax credit for home buyers. Dean Baker of the Center for Economic Policy Research calls this the \ufffdflip your house to your brother\ufffd provision: it will cost a lot of money while doing nothing to help the economy. All in all, the centrists\ufffd insistence on comforting the comfortable while afflicting the afflicted will, if reflected in the final bill, lead to substantially lower employment and substantially more suffering. But how did this happen? I blame President Obama\ufffds belief that he can transcend the partisan divide \ufffd a belief that warped his economic strategy. After all, many people expected Mr. Obama to come out with a really strong stimulus plan, reflecting both the economy\ufffds dire straits and his own electoral mandate. Instead, however, he offered a plan that was clearly both too small and too heavily reliant on tax cuts. Why? Because he wanted the plan to have broad bipartisan support, and believed that it would. Not long ago administration strategists were talking about getting 80 or more votes in the Senate. Mr. Obama\ufffds postpartisan yearnings may also explain why he didn\ufffdt do something crucially important: speak forcefully about how government spending can help support the economy. Instead, he let conservatives define the debate, waiting until late last week before finally saying what needed to be said \ufffd that increasing spending is the whole point of the plan. And Mr. Obama got nothing in return for his bipartisan outreach. Not one Republican voted for the House version of the stimulus plan, which was, by the way, better focused than the original administration proposal. In the Senate, Republicans inveighed against \ufffdpork\ufffd \ufffd although the wasteful spending they claimed to have identified (much of it was fully justified) was a trivial share of the bill\ufffds total. And they decried the bill\ufffds cost \ufffd even as 36 out of 41 Republican senators voted to replace the Obama plan with $3 trillion, that\ufffds right, $3 trillion in tax cuts over 10 years. So Mr. Obama was reduced to bargaining for the votes of those centrists. And the centrists, predictably, extracted a pound of flesh \ufffd not, as far as anyone can tell, based on any coherent economic argument, but simply to demonstrate their centrist mojo. They probably would have demanded that $100 billion or so be cut from anything Mr. Obama proposed; by coming in with such a low initial bid, the president guaranteed that the final deal would be much too small. Such are the perils of negotiating with yourself. Now, House and Senate negotiators have to reconcile their versions of the stimulus, and it\ufffds possible that the final bill will undo the centrists\ufffd worst. And Mr. Obama may be able to come back for a second round. But this was his best chance to get decisive action, and it fell short. So has Mr. Obama learned from this experience? Early indications aren\ufffdt good. For rather than acknowledge the failure of his political strategy and the damage to his economic strategy, the president tried to put a postpartisan happy face on the whole thing. \ufffdDemocrats and Republicans came together in the Senate and responded appropriately to the urgency this moment demands,\ufffd he declar"}, {"response": 1632, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Feb 10, 2009 (01:24)", "body": "Newsweek Plans Makeover to Fit a Smaller Audience http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/09/business/media/09newsweek.html?em"}, {"response": 1633, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Feb 10, 2009 (09:41)", "body": "So GM is letting go of 10K people. It amazes me how so many companies are just lopping off massive amts of employees....just like that! My question is, if these people are so expendable, what were they doing in their jobs anyway? Was there really enough work to go around? The ones for GM are salaried positions, so I imagine that's not any factory workers, except management. I know some of the bigger pharmaceutical companies who have let employees go were quite employee heavy (esp in the field) and it was overkill with the amount of reps they had. But they don't lay off so suddenly. They can tell a quite a ways in advance if and when they need layoffs which is dependent on their pipeline (or lack thereof). Getting a no-go from the FDA on a new drug while in the midst of ramping up staff for a new launch is the only time I think they'd have layoffs more suddenly."}, {"response": 1634, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Feb 10, 2009 (10:18)", "body": "Oh dear....:-(( Looks like Tom got his last laugh;-) From Bloomberg... Ruin Your Health With the Obama Stimulus Plan: Betsy McCaughey Feb. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Republican Senators are questioning whether President Barack Obama\ufffds stimulus bill contains the right mix of tax breaks and cash infusions to jump-start the economy. Tragically, no one from either party is objecting to the health provisions slipped in without discussion. These provisions reflect the handiwork of Tom Daschle, until recently the nominee to head the Health and Human Services Department. Senators should read these provisions and vote against them because they are dangerous to your health. (Page numbers refer to H.R. 1 EH, pdf version). The bill\ufffds health rules will affect \ufffdevery individual in the United States\ufffd (445, 454, 479). Your medical treatments will be tracked electronically by a federal system. Having electronic medical records at your fingertips, easily transferred to a hospital, is beneficial. It will help avoid duplicate tests and errors. But the bill goes further. One new bureaucracy, the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology, will monitor treatments to make sure your doctor is doing what the federal government deems appropriate and cost effective. The goal is to reduce costs and \ufffdguide\ufffd your doctor\ufffds decisions (442, 446). These provisions in the stimulus bill are virtually identical to what Daschle prescribed in his 2008 book, \ufffdCritical: What We Can Do About the Health-Care Crisis.\ufffd According to Daschle, doctors have to give up autonomy and \ufffdlearn to operate less like solo practitioners.\ufffd Keeping doctors informed of the newest medical findings is important, but enforcing uniformity goes too far. New Penalties Hospitals and doctors that are not \ufffdmeaningful users\ufffd of the new system will face penalties. \ufffdMeaningful user\ufffd isn\ufffdt defined in the bill. That will be left to the HHS secretary, who will be empowered to impose \ufffdmore stringent measures of meaningful use over time\ufffd (511, 518, 540-541) What penalties will deter your doctor from going beyond the electronically delivered protocols when your condition is atypical or you need an experimental treatment? The vagueness is intentional. In his book, Daschle proposed an appointed body with vast powers to make the \ufffdtough\ufffd decisions elected politicians won\ufffdt make. The stimulus bill does that, and calls it the Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research (190-192). The goal, Daschle\ufffds book explained, is to slow the development and use of new medications and technologies because they are driving up costs. He praises Europeans for being more willing to accept \ufffdhopeless diagnoses\ufffd and \ufffdforgo experimental treatments,\ufffd and he chastises Americans for expecting too much from the health-care system. Elderly Hardest Hit Daschle says health-care reform \ufffdwill not be pain free.\ufffd Seniors should be more accepting of the conditions that come with age instead of treating them. That means the elderly will bear the brunt. Medicare now pays for treatments deemed safe and effective. The stimulus bill would change that and apply a cost- effectiveness standard set by the Federal Council (464). The Federal Council is modeled after a U.K. board discussed in Daschle\ufffds book. This board approves or rejects treatments using a formula that divides the cost of the treatment by the number of years the patient is likely to benefit. Treatments for younger patients are more often approved than treatments for diseases that affect the elderly, such as osteoporosis. In 2006, a U.K. health board decreed that elderly patients with macular degeneration had to wait until they went blind in one eye before they could get a costly new drug to save the other eye. It took almost three years of public protests before the board reversed its decision. Hidden Provisions If the Obama administration\ufffds economic stimulus bill passes the Senate in its current form, seniors in the U.S. will face similar rationing. Defenders of the system say that individuals benefit in younger years and sacrifice later. The stimulus bill will affect every part of health care, from medical and nursing education, to how patients are treated and how much hospitals get paid. The bill allocates more funding for this bureaucracy than for the Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Force combined (90-92, 174-177, 181). Hiding health legislation in a stimulus bill is intentional. Daschle supported the Clinton administration\ufffds health-care overhaul in 1994, and attributed its failure to debate and delay. A year ago, Daschle wrote that the next president should act quickly before critics mount an opposition. \ufffdIf that means attaching a health-care plan to the federal budget, so be it,\ufffd he said. \ufffdThe issue is too important to be stalled by Senate protocol.\ufffd More Scrutiny Needed On Friday, President Obama called it \ufffdinexcusable and irresponsible\ufffd for senators to delay passing the stimulus bill. In truth, this bill needs more scrutiny. The health-ca"}, {"response": 1635, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Feb 10, 2009 (10:59)", "body": "Well, this article doesn't give me enough detail to really express any comprehensive opinion pro or con about it. I'd have to read more about Daschle's ideas in his book or elsewhere and what provisions are/would be in the stimulus bill. I don't really have the time to be commenting so much now, but being in the healthcare industry as long as I have, watching it evolve to its current form and straddling both the clinical and business sides of it previously and in my current job I'll say one thing.....changing the healthcare system itself is only part of the solution. *People need to take more responsibility for themselves and their health.* There is a noted lack of accountability on the patient's fault for not making sometimes even basic efforts to maintain their health properly then expecting the healthcare system to fix them....at no cost or further responsibility to them. Does it sound like I have a \"blame the victim\" mentality? Indeed I do. Because some people need to be blamed. Part of saving the healthcare system has to include a huge attitude adjustment by the general public about their expectations and responsibilities. I could go on and on. Too bad Leslie is pretty much too busy anymore to pop by. I'd like to hear her take, but I'm 95% sure we have many of the same views in that respect."}, {"response": 1636, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Feb 10, 2009 (11:00)", "body": "There is a noted lack of accountability on the patient's fault Accountability on the patient's part, I meant."}, {"response": 1637, "author": "mari", "date": "Tue, Feb 10, 2009 (11:25)", "body": "One of the best features of the original plan was aid to cash-strapped state governments, which would have provided a quick boost to the economy while preserving essential services. But the centrists insisted on a $40 billion cut in that spending. LOL at Krugman's use of \"centrists.\" O was feisty last night. Until now, he's been too nice. I liked when he said maybe I should have sent them a bill with no tax cuts, then they could have put some in and taken credit for it. Hang in there, Barack, yeah, it's business as usual along party lines, sickening. I agree with him 100% that only the federal government is big enough to sufficiently spend our way out of this mess and into true stimulus. And along the line of what Krugman wrote: Philly now has a $1 billion deficit and it's not from profligate spending. This is a direct result of investment losses to the city's pension funds, plus reduced tax revenue from lost jobs. If our mayor, a really good guy (and early Hillary supporter), even cuts the budget by 10%, we stand to lose 1,000 police officers, hundreds of firefighters, and vital emergency response services. The big cities are gettin' killed here. And these \"centrists\" want to give somebody a tax deduction for buying a house, at a time when the credit markets ars still so frozen that no one will lend them the money to buy anyway."}, {"response": 1638, "author": "mari", "date": "Tue, Feb 10, 2009 (11:28)", "body": "Yet the bill treats health care the way European governments do Are there any UK people here or other Europeans, or Canadians who would stand up and say I'll trade my system for the U.S.'s system? I betcha . .. not. They'd be crazy to."}, {"response": 1639, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Feb 10, 2009 (12:18)", "body": "One new bureaucracy, the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology, will monitor treatments to make sure your doctor is doing what the federal government deems appropriate and cost effective. Medicare is supposed to be instituting a policy that they won't pay hospitals/facilities whose patients require extra treatment as a result of developing pressure wounds or infections while in the facility for other treatment. I don't know if it went into effect yet or not."}, {"response": 1640, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Feb 10, 2009 (12:42)", "body": "Another thing for healthcare reform, stop giving drug companies govt $$$ handouts."}, {"response": 1641, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Feb 10, 2009 (12:58)", "body": "I am not willing for my Fed $$$ to bail-out California's liberal largesse or others who fall in that category. I come from a conservative state whose banks were not involved in devious investments /loans... Whose mortage companies did not liberally pedal houses to anyone... Yes, we have a deficit..mostly because oil is down. But we are not desperate. evelyn *proud centrist* ;-) FYI many UKers and Canadians carry private health insurance on top of paying for NH just so they can control their own medical care and not be at the mercy of the government."}, {"response": 1642, "author": "mari", "date": "Tue, Feb 10, 2009 (13:15)", "body": "(Evelyn)I come from a conservative state whose banks were not involved in devious investments /loans... Whose mortage companies did not liberally pedal houses to anyone... \"My\" state didn't do that either. But I'm not a State-an. I'm an American. I am not willing for my Fed $$$ to bail-out California's liberal largesse Where's the largesse in the proposed bills? FYI many UKers and Canadians carry private health insurance on top of paying for NH And I would love to hear from anyone of them on this board--not trying to draw anyone into our arguments, just a simple yes/no--whether they'd give up their system for ours."}, {"response": 1643, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Feb 10, 2009 (13:23)", "body": "I am not willing for my Fed $$$ to bail-out California's liberal largesse or others who fall in that category. Didn't the first bailout already do that?"}, {"response": 1644, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Feb 10, 2009 (14:05)", "body": "(Evelyn)I come from a conservative state whose banks were not involved in devious investments /loans... Whose mortage companies did not liberally pedal houses to anyone... Not this time directly, as the originators of the scheme, but can we hear it for Penn Square, another devastating crisis, full of slick schemers. That one took down some of the biggest in the country and originated from a shopping mall in OKC."}, {"response": 1645, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Feb 10, 2009 (14:47)", "body": "Pssst....you \"accidentally\";-) forgot to give a date on when that occured.... we've learned...nice if other states did too.... Tulsa World ...Feb 10th \"It confirmed what we had been hearing anecdotally from our members \ufffd that in Oklahoma business is good, that banks are making loans, that the banks welcome the increase in Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. coverage. It just reinforced our belief that it's good to be in Oklahoma,\" Hazelton said Monday in a phone interview\" http://www.tulsaworld.com/business/article.aspx?subjectid=51&articleid=20090210_51_E3_Basedo80981&archive=yes Of course, you understand, our economy revolves around oil and gas.... which is down:-((((( But have no fear...Comrades....the stimulus package will pass; it will be rammed down people's throats. http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/business/economic_stimulus_package/50_say_stimulus_plan_likely_to_make_things_worse"}, {"response": 1646, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Feb 10, 2009 (15:00)", "body": "Awwwww!! I've always been a koala freak. Koala rescued from Australia's wildfire wasteland HEALESVILLE, Australia \ufffd The koala moved gingerly on scorched paws, crossing the blackened landscape as the fire patrol passed. Clearly in pain, the animal stopped when it saw firefighter David Tree following behind. \"It was amazing, he turned around, sat on his bum and sort of looked at me with (a look) like, put me out of my misery,\" Tree told The Associated Press on Tuesday. \"I yelled out for a bottle of water. I unscrewed the bottle, tipped it up on his lips and he just took it naturally. He kept reaching for the bottle, almost like a baby.\" The team called animal welfare officers as it resumed its patrols on Sunday, the day after deadly firestorms swept southern Victoria state. \"I love nature, and I've handled koalas before. They're not the friendliest things, but I wanted to help him,\" Tree said. Tree says he's spoken to wildlife officials, and the koala, nicknamed Sam, is doing fine. And he, it turns out, is a she. The rescue was one small bright moment in Australia's wildfire tragedy. Thousands of acres (hectares) have been burned out, almost 1,000 homes destroyed and more than 180 people killed. Countless animals were killed in the disaster, which hit farming and forest regions to the north and east of the Victoria state capital of Melbourne, and many more fled in panic. The Royal Society for the Protection of Animals said it was establishing shelters to care for thousands of pets and livestock affected by the disaster. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090210/ap_on_re_au_an/as_australia_wildfires_koala_rescue"}, {"response": 1647, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Feb 10, 2009 (15:04)", "body": ""}, {"response": 1648, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Feb 10, 2009 (15:10)", "body": "Pssst....you \"accidentally\";-) forgot to give a date on when that occured.... No, I didn't. It is irrelevant to the argument. As I recall, the country is still called the United States of America. The effect of Penn Square's fraudulent practices affected institutions all over the world. Yet I don't recall anybody claiming that his/her local bank didn't participate and, therefore, a bailout shouldn't take place."}, {"response": 1649, "author": "sandyw", "date": "Tue, Feb 10, 2009 (15:58)", "body": "(Mari) And I would love to hear from anyone of them on this board--not trying to draw anyone into our arguments, just a simple yes/no--whether they'd give up their system for ours. I'm Canadian and no, I would not want to give up our health care system for the one in the USA. But, our system is hardly perfect. We have a great deal to learn and adopt from other countries. As with most government run organizations, ours is filled with inefficiancies and waste. This of course results in \"insufficient funding\" which means there are terrible waits for high tech tests and surgery. By and large though, we are all in it together. Just because you have money doesn't (necessarily) mean you have better or quicker access to services. (There are always a few exceptions but I won't gon't into a long story here.)"}, {"response": 1650, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Feb 10, 2009 (16:59)", "body": "Sandy, does one have the option to subscribe to a private insurance? Of course, still paying the extra taxes for the national health care. There are Canadians who come to the US for their medical care. Tests, diagnosis etc. I have met some at MDAnderson Cancer Center."}, {"response": 1651, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Feb 10, 2009 (17:04)", "body": "(Sandy) there are terrible waits for high tech tests and surgery. As I've been reading about more and more is, are these tests and surgeries actually useful and necessary. Just read an article about certain scans for back problems aren't truly worth the cost per outcome. Unfortunately, testing is done here so frequently as it....brings in $$ and is used for MD's CYA since we're such a litigious society as well. That's not to say they are completely unnecessary, but there is some overutilization for the outcomes that are obtained in some instances."}, {"response": 1652, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Feb 10, 2009 (17:28)", "body": "is used for MD's CYA since we're such a litigious society as well. do you blame them? Tort Reform!! If I want a test, I don't want anyone to tell me I can't have it....even if I pay for it. Heard Tim Geithner today ....in front of Baking Committee and taking Q&A V. impressive. But not enough for the DOW: down 381. No details??? Why did you do it, Tim? Don't they ever learn from Hillarycare? Bah!"}, {"response": 1653, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Feb 10, 2009 (17:35)", "body": "(Evelyn) .in front of Baking Committee Who's the chairman of this committee....Sara Lee or the Pillsbury Dough Boy? :-D do you blame them? That's a murky road to go down. Expensive for doctors for the malpractice insurance that's for sure. That's definitely something Leslie could speak to as that practice's business specializes in high risk patients."}, {"response": 1654, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Feb 10, 2009 (17:40)", "body": "If I want a test, I don't want anyone to tell me I can't have it....even if I pay for it. If you pay for it, be my guest. If you have a spare 4-5 figures lying around for medical tests, go for it. If Medicare/Medicaid (or any other non-commercial insurance) is paying for it, that affects me as a taxpayer, I might not be right there with you on that. Frankly, I think people over a certain income bracket, regardless of their age, shouldn't be eligible for Medicare."}, {"response": 1655, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Feb 10, 2009 (17:45)", "body": "Expensive for doctors for the malpractice insurance that's for sure. That's definitely something Leslie could speak to as that practice's business specializes in high risk patients. Didn't we already email for about two weeks on this very subject already. Flogging that old horse some more. I'm gonna call the SPCA. ;-) Frankly, I think people over a certain income bracket, regardless of their age, shouldn't be eligible for Medicare. Me too."}, {"response": 1656, "author": "sandyw", "date": "Tue, Feb 10, 2009 (17:56)", "body": "(Evelyn) Sandy, does one have the option to subscribe to a private insurance? There are organizations that are testing this in the courts but so far, no you cannot purchase separate insurance to pay for anything that is covered by medicare either in whole or in part. Nor can you pay for it directly yourself. Additional insurance that people buy is for things not covered or only partially covered by medicare. Those are the rules but for whatever reason, which I fail to understand, they are circumvented. My sister, when she was living in Alberta, paid $$ to queue jump and get an MRI done months earlier than if she had had to wait under the normal system. I don't know how the lab got away with charging her. Similarly, my son here in BC paid to get in to see a specialist earlier than if he had waited for a medicare appointment. Again, doctors are not permitted to charge extra for services provided by medicare so I don't know how he got away with it. There is such anger at the long waits that I can see a time when \"for profit\" services are almost inevitable. But for the moment the idea of a two-tier system (public side by side with private) is an anathma to most Canadians. The idea that those with money can have better or faster health services than those without money, just doesn't sell politically."}, {"response": 1657, "author": "sandyw", "date": "Tue, Feb 10, 2009 (18:02)", "body": "(me) Additional insurance that people buy is for things not covered or only partially covered by medicare. I know that doesn't make sense after what I said just previously but there are some things that insurance/you can pay for when medicare pays for part. For example, here in BC medicare will pay for some or all of our prescription drugs after a deductible which is based on family income. You can get insurance to cover the excess. However, there is supposed to be no \"extra billing\" for doctors' fees, hospital ward fees, MRI's, x-rays, blood tests and the like."}, {"response": 1658, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Feb 10, 2009 (18:04)", "body": "As I was saying this morning, they need to stop the drug company involvement. Ain't really gonna happen, but needs to. * FEBRUARY 9, 2009, 8:55 P.M. ET Drug Makers Fight Stimulus Provision By ALICIA MUNDY WASHINGTON -- The drug and medical-device industries are mobilizing to gut a provision in the stimulus bill that would spend $1.1 billion on research comparing medical treatments, portraying it as the first step to government rationing. The fight over the provision is highlighting the tensions behind President Barack Obama's plan to overhaul the health-care system. The administration hopes to expand coverage while limiting use of treatments that don't work well, but any efforts that might reduce coverage are politically sensitive. The House version of the stimulus package sent shudders through the drug and medical-device industry. In a staff report describing the bill, the House said treatments found to be less effective and in some cases more expensive \"will no longer be prescribed.\" A Senate version backed by Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D., Mont.) doesn't mention cost as a subject to be studied. And the industry won a battle to add the word \"clinical\" in describing the research -- adding to the implication that the comparison studies won't look at bang for the buck. The final language is likely to be hammered out later this week in a House-Senate conference committee. Mr. Obama is under pressure to find long-run health-cost savings as projections show that Medicare spending is on track to severely deplete the federal budget. \"Without question, we're headed for more of a public and private push for which medicines work best at the lowest cost in particular patients,\" said Mark McClellan, former Medicare and Medicaid chief under President George W. Bush. The $1.1 billion in research funding would be doled out to the National Institutes of Health and other government bodies. \"We should focus on producing the best unbiased science possible,\" said Rep. Henry Waxman (D., Calif.), a strong proponent of the House language. Mr. Obama supported research into comparative effectiveness during his campaign. Administration officials and leading Democrats in Congress say the idea will help government programs direct their dollars to treatments that are worth the money. Officially, drug and device makers don't object to that sentiment. But they warn of a slippery slope where the government ends up axing useful treatments just because they cost too much. They have lined up patient groups that get industry funding to lobby Capitol Hill. A coalition called the Partnership to Improve Patient Care includes the lobbying arms of the drug, device and biotechnology industries as well as patient-advocacy groups and medical-professional societies. Coalition spokesman David Di Martino says the research envisioned in the House bill may be used \"in an inappropriate manner that may limit treatment options for patients.\" A public-relations firm that is part of one of Washington's most influential lobby shops, Barbour Griffith Rogers, is representing the coalition. A major goal is to give industry a seat at the table when federal officials decide what to research with the $1.1 billion. Companies \"want to control the data, how it is reviewed, evaluated, and whether the public and government find out about it and use it,\" said Harry Selker, a Tufts University professor who directs its clinical-research program. That also worries Jerry Avorn of Harvard Medical School, a frequent drug-industry critic. Comparative research \"has the potential to tell us which drugs and treatments are safe, and which ones work,\" he said. \"This is not information that the private sector will generate on its own, or that the industry wants to share.\" Michael Cannon of the libertarian Cato Institute said comparative effectiveness research \"isn't going to do any good because the industry will defund it as soon as it presents a threat.\" When the government's Agency for Health Research Quality suggested in 1995 that there were too many unnecessary back surgeries, doctors and industry groups attacked the conclusion. Mr. Cannon noted that Congress at the time slashed the agency's budget and stripped its authority to make medicare-payment recommendations. \"They almost killed AHRQ,\" said Dr. Avorn. \"The memory of their near-death experience hasn't been forgotten.\" Dr. McClellan, the former Medicare chief, said effectiveness research can be useful but shouldn't assume pricey medicines are automatically bad. \"The goal isn't to avoid expensive drugs, it's to get more value for our health-care spending,\" he said. \ufffdJacob Goldstein contributed to this article. Write to Alicia Mundy at alicia.mundy@wsj.com http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123423024203966081.html?mod=loomia&loomia_si=t0:a16:g2:r1:c0.0855652:b0"}, {"response": 1659, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Feb 10, 2009 (18:08)", "body": "(Sandy) The idea that those with money can have better or faster health services than those without money, just doesn't sell politically. Pffft! And it's our way of life here! no \"extra billing\" for doctors' fees, hospital ward fees, MRI's, x-rays, blood tests and the like. Like here. Providers take whatever the Medicare schedule will pay...and like it! It's why some doctors stop taking Medicare pts. But we have supplemental insurance here that will cover some but not always all of the difference. Medicaid will do that as well for the eligible. Thanks for your input, Sandy. :-)"}, {"response": 1660, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Feb 10, 2009 (18:09)", "body": "In Italy you can pay to go to a private clinic, but over all they Health care system works. I am an American who has had free coverage in Italy. I was thrown from a spooked horse and broke 5 ribs. Hospital stay, x-rays and tests to make sure my lungs were not punctured all free. Here, I pay a fortune in health care for my family. :-( But Obama has said that he wanted the same Health care for Americans that the Congress has? That's the one I want. Has he given up on that or was it a lie?"}, {"response": 1661, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Feb 10, 2009 (18:27)", "body": "Well, even if we get that type of insurance that Congress has, it's not happening overnight, or all at once. Or it shouldn't IMO. It needs to be platformed in. Look what a disaster it was to implement Medicare Pt D. Plus the fact there was just tooooo much information for many seniors to absorb, at least without help. They got through the kinks of Med D, but that was rough."}, {"response": 1662, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Feb 10, 2009 (19:01)", "body": "Hee. Fair and balanced..... Love the wrong date for the WSJ cite, too. Hee. Tue, Feb 10, 2009 2:36pm ET Fox passes off GOP press release as its own research -- typo and all Summary: In purporting to \"take a look back\" at how the economic recovery plan \"grew, and grew, and grew,\" Fox News' Jon Scott referenced seven dates, as on-screen graphics cited various news sources from those time periods -- all of which came directly from a Senate Republican Communications Center press release. A Fox News on-screen graphic even reproduced a typo contained in the Republican press release. [cont......] http://mediamatters.org/items/200902100019"}, {"response": 1663, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Feb 10, 2009 (19:17)", "body": "Interesting on what Evelyn posted this morning... The pertinent wording directly from the bill is included in the section that comes after what I pasted here, at the link. Not sure if it's not a matter of semantics, but why not just be wholly accurate. And that Kim chick. Honey, healthcare is already rationed, under HMO's. Tue, Feb 10, 2009 6:55am ET Limbaugh repeats health IT falsehood from Bloomberg \"commentary\" on House recovery bill Summary: Rush Limbaugh repeated a falsehood in a Bloomberg \"commentary\" by Betsy McCaughey that claimed that under a provision in the House-passed economic recovery bill, \"[o]ne new bureaucracy, the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology, will monitor treatments to make sure your doctor is doing what the federal government deems appropriate and cost effective. The goal is to reduce costs and 'guide' your doctor's decisions.\" In fact, the provisions McCaughey referenced address establishing an electronic records system such that doctors would have information about their patients \"to help guide medical decisions at the time and place of care.\" [....] On the February 9 broadcast of Premiere Radio Networks' The Rush Limbaugh Show, Limbaugh repeated McCaughey's falsehood, [....] On the conservative blog Wizbang, Kim Priestap also referenced the commentary in a February 9 post: Read all of Betsy's article and then pass it on to everyone you know . Rush has been all over this today to bring it to people's attention. Call your senators and representatives . Currently, phone calls to Capitol Hill are 100 to 1 against the bill . We need to do more. This is why Barack Obama is going all over the country scaring the American people into believing that our economy could collapse if the bill isn't passed. He wants this made into law before anyone knows that nationalized -- and rationed -- health care will be the result. If you have a loved one with a serious medical condition, this will be detrimental to his or her life. [Emphases in original.] By 10:40 p.m. ET, the Drudge Report linked to McCaughey's commentary using the headline \" 'National Coordinator of Health Information Technology' Slipped in to Stimulus...\": [cont...] http://mediamatters.org/items/200902100001?f=h_latest"}, {"response": 1664, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Feb 10, 2009 (19:26)", "body": "I'm enjoying the comments thread for that item I posted above. http://mediamatters.org/discuss/200902100001"}, {"response": 1665, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Feb 10, 2009 (20:18)", "body": "It's a shame, but as I said this morning, it's not just about fixing the healthcare system itself, people need to get with the program of being more responsible for themselves. And yes, providers as well. Not a new concept really, but it's become most imperative. Sobering results for cost-cutting Medicare project By LINDSEY TANNER, AP Medical Writer 1 hr 39 mins ago, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2009. \ufffd CHICAGO \ufffd An ambitious effort to cut costs and keep aging, sick Medicare patients out of the hospital mostly didn't work, a government-contracted study found. The disappointing results show how tough it is to manage older patients with chronic diseases, who often take multiple prescriptions, see many different doctors and sometimes get conflicting medical advice. The study showed just how hard it is to change the habits of older patients and their sometimes inflexible doctors. And it points up the challenges the Obama administration will face in trying to reform health care for an aging nation. [....] The only way you can really do it is by changing patients' behavior and by changing physicians' behavior, and both things are really hard to do,\" said study author Randall Brown, a researcher at Mathematica Policy Research Inc., in Princeton, N.J., which was hired to evaluate the programs. Often, these patients need to stop smoking, or lose weight, exercise more, eat healthier foods \ufffd a challenge even for generally healthy people. Those changes are especially tough for sick, older patients who often are set in their ways. \"The same thing with physicians,\" Brown said. \"A lot of them feel like they know how to take care of patients, so why do they need a nurse calling up and asking them why the patient isn't on some certain medication?\" [cont....] http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090210/ap_on_he_me/med_medicare_disappointment"}, {"response": 1666, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Feb 10, 2009 (21:57)", "body": "(Dorine)Frankly, I think people over a certain income bracket, regardless of their age, shouldn't be eligible for Medicare They already pay a higher premium according to income. But abolish it.....Good luck! AARP is a v. big voting block. And I can just see Arlen Spector and Teddy Kennedy going for that one."}, {"response": 1667, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Feb 10, 2009 (22:58)", "body": "(Evelyn) They already pay a higher premium according to income. Please explain your meaning. I agree that trying to alter that coverage most likely wouldn't happen. AARP is very influential on many things, but then it turns out not always in their customers' best interest. There was some issue over their support of Med Part D IIRC and then this: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/19/us/19insure.html I hate UnitedHealth Care. Thank God Cuomo has gone after them in NY. We get a number of patients who have AARP insurance for their supplemental insurance with Medicare as primary, but we don't take it for our services (though we take some United HealthCare policies). Actually I'm not sure if that's because that's not part of their coverage or we just don't take them for reimbursement because it doesn't pay anything. (If anyone's wondering, I'm a licensed Occupational Therapist who doesn't really practice anymore, currently works on the marketing side of a home health care company and at one time was a drug rep.)"}, {"response": 1668, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Feb 11, 2009 (09:55)", "body": "(Evelyn) They already pay a higher premium according to income. Please explain your meaning Exactly what I said. Not everyone pays the same premium. After a certain amount that one reports to the IRS, one's premium is adjusted to that amount. I don't know what the income level is. I don't have time right now to look it up. Many lefties have the same view about Social Security as you and Karen have about Medicare. Cut it off if at retirement if you saved too much and have a high retirement income. Socialism??? Nah;-)"}, {"response": 1669, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Feb 11, 2009 (13:23)", "body": "Here you go: Scale of Medicare premiums according to income. http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/10161.html#premium"}, {"response": 1670, "author": "mari", "date": "Wed, Feb 11, 2009 (14:39)", "body": "( (Sandy)By and large though, we are all in it together. Thanks for your input, Sandy. The sentiment above used to be characteristic of most Americans, too, I think, and there are still some of us who feel that way. Moon, I'm glad the Italians took care of you for zero spend. I have no idea what type of plan you have here, but I am guesstimating that it costs you upwards of $20,000 per year to cover your family. Thank God you can afford it. I went to in interesting presentation this morning on O's health care proposals in the stiumulus package and got some facts: --It is not a \"single-payer\" plan ala Canada or UK or most other places. I believe I predicted this months ago, because O did not campaign on a sginle payer model. --If you currently have group coverage (e.g., though your employer), you can keep it. --If you don't, you'd be able to buy into a national group plan that would look like the plan that Federal employees have. And they couldn't refuse you based on pre-existing conditions. Not sure what the premium-sharing structure would be, but it would be less expensive than trying to buy the coverage on your own. --Children would have to be covered, by law. Adults can go without, if they want to risk it. There's lots more, like what happens if you lose your job, but that's a real high level look."}, {"response": 1671, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Feb 11, 2009 (15:01)", "body": "Many lefties have the same view about Social Security as you and Karen have about Medicare. Having managed my mother's care (principally the financial end), I had first-hand knowledge of how Medicare was administered, including the Supplemental insurance. A lot of that has changed. When I said above a certain income level, I am talking about that top brackets. People who really don't need it. The vast number of retired people, who have saved all their lives and are living on SS and/or pension income aren't going have an annual income of over $213K (individual) or $426K (couples). Remember Warren Buffet saying that it was silly to extend Medicare to people like him? Perhaps people like (and there aren't many) refuse to use it, except as I recall insurance companies won't continue regular policies on those who qualify for Medicare."}, {"response": 1672, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Feb 11, 2009 (15:04)", "body": "From that link: Since 2007, higher income beneficiaries have been paying a larger percentage of their Part B premium based on income they reported to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). In 2009, higher income beneficiaries will pay a monthly premium equal to 35, 50, 65 or 80 percent of the total cost, depending on what they reported to the IRS. However, the law affects less than 5 percent of Medicare beneficiaries, so most people will continue to pay the standard premium without an income-related adjustment. So, even the govt is saying that about 95% of all Medicare recipients are in the first bracket: Individuals with a MAGI of $85,000 or less Married couples with a MAGI of $170,000 or less"}, {"response": 1673, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Feb 11, 2009 (15:21)", "body": "Adults can go without, if they want to risk it. Won't work unless everyone is required to join,as I understand from Health Gurus. I prefer Hill's plan with the above stipulation, which in the primaries O objected to. I don't know what the late,lamented Tom Daschle thought of this. Forgot to say that Paul Krugman, Dorine's honey, was on The Jim Lehrer Hour last night. ...criticizing poor Tim's plan. I say there was nothing there to critique."}, {"response": 1674, "author": "mari", "date": "Wed, Feb 11, 2009 (15:46)", "body": "(Dorine)Honey, healthcare is already rationed, under HMO's. Of course it is, and not just under HMOs. It's the managed care plans as well which reprlesent the lion's share of employer sponsored plans (where most of us are covered). And what youfound below is unconscionable. Look at how he twisted it. And now they are duping people into calling their Congressperson to vote no, which is against most people's self-interest. Rush Limbaugh repeated a falsehood in a Bloomberg \"commentary\" by Betsy McCaughey that claimed that under a provision in the House-passed economic recovery bill, \"[o]ne new bureaucracy, the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology, will monitor treatments to make sure your doctor is doing what the federal government deems appropriate and cost effective. The goal is to reduce costs and 'guide' your doctor's decisions.\" In fact, the provisions McCaughey referenced address establishing an electronic records system such that doctors would have information about their patients \"to help guide medical decisions at the time and place of care.\" [....] On the February 9 broadcast of Premiere Radio Networks' The Rush Limbaugh Show, Limbaugh repeated McCaughey's falsehood"}, {"response": 1675, "author": "mari", "date": "Wed, Feb 11, 2009 (15:49)", "body": "(Evelyn)Won't work unless everyone is required to join Ha! It's the American way. \"Don't force me to do anything.\" I'd imagine that the eventual goal is to cover everyone, and this is the first baby step. God knows if it will ever happen, but bless the people who are trying. They are doing God's work. I say \"Down with the obstructionists.\" I wonder if Rush Limbaugh has to worry about health coverage."}, {"response": 1676, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Feb 11, 2009 (19:46)", "body": "LOL. Well, as the resident conservative (aka in some circles Obstructionist;-) I disagreee, but in the spirit of friendship ...I respect your opinion. That's the \"American Way\"....and moreover...my style:-)))))))"}, {"response": 1677, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Feb 12, 2009 (02:06)", "body": "But, of course....:-((((( http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090212/ap_on_re_us/octuplets"}, {"response": 1678, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Feb 12, 2009 (10:05)", "body": "C'mon...Those wee ones need help. I don't mind my tax $$$$ to help children. evelyn *the (heartless) conservative*;-)"}, {"response": 1679, "author": "mari", "date": "Thu, Feb 12, 2009 (11:31)", "body": "(Evelyn)(aka in some circles Obstructionist;-) LOL, I thought you were a centrist!:-) No, I would define obstructionist as members of Congress who: --Force enough compromises in the stimulus bill to make it too weak to succeed. --Then, having negotiated these compromises, won't even vote for it. --Which will allow them to run against the \"collapsed Democratic economy\" in 2010 and 2012."}, {"response": 1680, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Feb 12, 2009 (14:36)", "body": "(Evelyn) I don't mind my tax $$$$ to help children. Well, there's no choice now, but I do mind when they really shouldn't exist in the first place. Not like it was an \"Oops!\" occurrence."}, {"response": 1681, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Feb 12, 2009 (14:37)", "body": "Not like it was an \"Oops!\" occurrence. And frankly, in the 21st Century, there should lots less of these, too."}, {"response": 1682, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Feb 12, 2009 (15:23)", "body": "For you blog readers out there. You know who you are. ;-)) Obstructionists.....Truth in \"advertising?\" http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/2/12/14848/9748/995/696661"}, {"response": 1683, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Feb 12, 2009 (15:40)", "body": "Some interesting thoughts in this piece referencing the info that Rush L and friends were twisting about health information in that bill (the 4th paragraph in the shaded area at the link caught my eye): \"These talking heads have been joined by drug companies (read: PhRMA) and makers of medical devices, who have activated their army of DC lobbyists, because these measures could lead to research that would prove some of PhRMA\u2019s expensive drugs just don\u2019t work much better than less expensive treatments. This is, in every sense of the phrase, a manufactured controversy. To make things more puzzling, both the House and Senate versions of the bill have almost equal amounts money in them for health IT and comparative effectiveness research. The right is, on the surface, trying to get provisions that the House and Senate agree on removed during the conference. That\u2019s a pretty tough task. So, why go after a few small provisions in the recovery package that are already agreed on? And why go after health care in general, when there would seem to be far juicier targets? This is mostly a long game. In the short term, the right hopes to provide political cover, so Republicans and moderates can use these measures as excuses to vote against final passage of the bill. In the long term, though, this is laying the groundwork for the larger health care fight. [....] It\u2019s important to recognize this as the opening salvo against health care reform.\" [...] http://www.theseminal.com/2009/02/11/the-conservative-lobbyist-shell-game/"}, {"response": 1684, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Feb 12, 2009 (18:03)", "body": "(Mari)Then, having negotiated these compromises, won't even vote for it. Hey, you've got Snow, Collins and Specter...what else do you want?;-) 'sides, they just might be following their constituents' wishes. Something which Spector's didn't get. http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/opinion/s_611273.html"}, {"response": 1685, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Feb 12, 2009 (18:36)", "body": "(Mari), --If you don't, you'd be able to buy into a national group plan that would look like the plan that Federal employees have. And they couldn't refuse you based on pre-existing conditions. Not sure what the premium-sharing structure would be, but it would be less expensive than trying to buy the coverage on your own. --Children would have to be covered, by law. Adults can go without, if they want to risk it. This would be for me. Are teenagers not included? Only children? Even the Universities require health coverage for their students. Something needs to be done, asap. The political game has to be abandoned for the good of the people. A cut I would suggest: sell Amtrack to the private sector."}, {"response": 1686, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Feb 12, 2009 (19:36)", "body": "I would guess children would include up to 18. Isn't that legal adulthood?"}, {"response": 1687, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Feb 12, 2009 (20:01)", "body": "Tsk, tsk, O..... http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/11/opinion/11wed2.html?_r=1"}, {"response": 1688, "author": "mari", "date": "Thu, Feb 12, 2009 (22:13)", "body": "(Evelyn)'sides, they just might be following their constituents' wishes. Something which Spector's didn't get. So, based on one letter to a newspaper, you are able to conclude that one letter is representative of Spector's constituents!? Evelyn, Obama won PA by 11 percentage points. Those are people Spector has pledged to represent in the Senate, not just those who voted Republican, and not just those who organize phone and letter writing campaigns that purport to represent \"the people of PA.\" The voters sent their message in November; I'd say Spector knows exactly what he's doing. why did you even give your word while so many Pennsylvanians voiced their opposition that your Washington, D.C., phone line was constantly busy? *If* the line was busy, how does this letter writer know that the calls weren't in favor of the bill? Is she bugging his phone?;-) It sanctions religious discrimination Huh? and establishes controversial health care provisions that will lead to more government control over health care decisions and less control by doctors and individuals. Just as I thought; like a sheep this letter writer heeded the clarion call from Limbaugh, based on the above lies he's spreading, which have been debunked here."}, {"response": 1689, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Feb 12, 2009 (22:21)", "body": "Those are people Spector has pledged to represent in the Senate, not just those who voted Republican Moreoever, Spector was not up for reelection this past November. Therefore, he can't claim any sort of mandate from his state's voters. His constituents haven't had a chance to \"throw the bum out\" yet. ;-)"}, {"response": 1690, "author": "mari", "date": "Thu, Feb 12, 2009 (23:12)", "body": "Moreoever, Spector was not up for reelection this past November. Not sure of your point. He represents PA in the Senate regardless of when he was re-elected or when he faces re-election. And PA went heavily for Obama. O needs to keep his case in front of the American people. He's the best ammunition he has. Depending on what poll you look at his handling of the economy has the support of upwards of 2/3 of the public. They may not be the people who make noise, or listen to talk radio, or read the Drudge Report, but they voted, and they trust him. Of course, no prez's numbers stay high forever. He needs to strike while the iron is hot."}, {"response": 1691, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Feb 12, 2009 (23:33)", "body": "(Karen) Moreoever, Spector was not up for reelection this past November. I'd think more that he's positioning himself for reelection in 2010, esp if polling shows PA residents are highly in favor of this bill (no matter their party)."}, {"response": 1692, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Feb 12, 2009 (23:55)", "body": "(Mari) Not sure of your point. He represents PA in the Senate regardless of when he was re-elected I was reinforcing your argument about PA's vote in the last election. He can't claim to be representing the people since they haven't voted for him (and his positions) since 2004. I particularly liked O's comment in his television appearance, when he reminded Congress that their games are affecting their constituencies. One of the pundits challenged the R-bloc to turn down any stimulus money in their districts/states. See how long those guys stay in office. ;-)"}, {"response": 1693, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Feb 12, 2009 (23:55)", "body": "(Dorine) I'd think more that he's positioning himself for reelection in 2010 Absolutely."}, {"response": 1694, "author": "marlena", "date": "Fri, Feb 13, 2009 (06:59)", "body": "I am so sad and in shock about the crashing of Flight 3407. This happened close to home as I live about 10 miles from the Buffalo Niagara International Airport. The local news has been covering this story all night and I pray that those surviving families find the courage to get through this catastrophe. One of the women on that plane was coming to visit her sister here in Buffalo and her husband died on 9/11. I can't even imagine what she is going through having lost both her brother-in-law and her own sister to plane crashes."}, {"response": 1695, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Feb 13, 2009 (10:54)", "body": "Hee, hee...I knew that letter would get a rise out of 'youse'. Ooops...gotta go run and listen to Rush;-D"}, {"response": 1696, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Feb 13, 2009 (17:20)", "body": "A little bit of history on Betsy McCaughey, the one who mischaracterized the IT health information bit: During the middle of the Clinton health care reform, she published an article in The New Republic claiming to have closely read the legislation and finding therein alarming clauses that would prevent you from going outside the plan for care, and forbidding individuals to pay the doctor they wanted. It was all based on nonsense, easily refuted by reading Section 3 of the legislation, which said, \ufffdNothing in this Act shall be construed as prohibiting the following: (1) An individual from purchasing any health care services.\ufffd But her article and her similar fictitious follow-up (for which The New Republic ultimately apologized) made her a conservative star in the fight against health care reform. Sure enough, she was soon tapped to join the NY ticket as Lt. Governor to George Pataki, who beat Mario Cuomo to become the first Republican Governor of New York since the 70s. There, her rise to the top became\ufffd weird, and somewhat disturbing. There was the Medicaid reform portfolio that never really went anywhere. Th re was the fight with the Speaker of the Assembly\ufffd in the lobby. There was the \ufffdWhat the holy heck is going on here?\ufffd State of the State address where she, from her raised platform behind Gov. Pataki, stood up\ufffd for the entire speech. (Cue crazy, tinkly piano music). Suffice to say, Pataki dropped her from the ticket, and she ran against him first as a Democrat and then on the Liberal party line. Now, she\ufffds a staffer at a conservative think tank and, with the race for a Republican challenger to the New York Governor in 2010 wide open, she\ufffds suddenly back in the spotlight. The script looks identical \ufffd do a \ufffdclose reading\ufffd of health care legislation that sounds scary but turns out to be entirely fraudulent, get hailed by the noise machine, and parlay that exposure to\ufffd to\ufffd to be continued, I guess. Hey, it worked last time! http://healthcare.change.org/blog/view/betsy_mccaugheys_scary_stories_about_health_care_what_needs_to_be_done"}, {"response": 1697, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Feb 13, 2009 (17:29)", "body": "Well, Specter may be out on his butt come Nov 2010 anyway.... http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09042/948258-84.stm U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter's vote for the Senate stimulus bill is stimulating long-festering Republican opposition to his re-election. Mr. Specter, whose term expires next year, was one of three GOP senators who voted for the Senate version of the economic recovery measure. The vote prompted Meakem, the CEO of the former Internet firm FreeMarkets, to declare his determination to play a still unspecified role in ousting the veteran Republican in the 2010 GOP primary. \"There will be a Republican primary fight for Specter's Senate seat in 2010,\" the entrepreneur and conservative talk show host said in a statement, \"and I am going to be actively involved in electing someone who will do what's right for Pennsylvania taxpayers, not the Washington lobbyists.\" For more about Specter and PA politics analysis, with poll numbers... http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/2/13/121744/042/598/697066"}, {"response": 1698, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Mon, Feb 16, 2009 (10:56)", "body": "This sentence beggers belief! A truck driver used a laptop whilst driving and subsequently ramming into the back of a car, killing all 6 occupants. He was sentenced of the lesser charge,'careless driving' rather than 'dangerous driving'. Sentence to only 3 years in prison. I am speechless. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/staffordshire/7888653.stm"}, {"response": 1699, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Feb 16, 2009 (11:29)", "body": "I know someone who's from B'ham area with a similar last name as that family (one letter off, though has relatives with the last name that spelling). Hope they weren't related somehow. A funny tribute by Hall and Oates on The Daily Show back in Dec when Alan Colmes was leaving Hannity and Colmes on Fox. http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=213369&title=Hall-&-Oates-Pay-Tribute-to-Alan-Colmes&byDate=true Apparently someone in Australia tracked down the name and My Space profile of that Australian arson suspect in custody and several (basically hate) groups have been started on Facebook to vent, protest hiding his identity, etc. There's a story in the press there that the people who post things like his pic and address could be in trouble. People are protesting that his name shouldn't be hidden as murderers/rapists, etc are identified there already, and the judge has pretty much agreed, esp as it's already out there and isn't practical at this point to try to suppress his name."}, {"response": 1700, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Feb 16, 2009 (11:55)", "body": "(Sue) He was sentenced of the lesser charge,'careless driving' rather than 'dangerous driving'. Sentence to only 3 years in prison. I am speechless. I can't seem to find anything that gives me a clear understanding of the difference between careless and dangerous, except the maximum sentence and that careless only recently became a charge that brought you before the courts. (Dorine) A funny tribute by Hall and Oates on The Daily Show back in Dec when Alan Colmes was leaving Hannity and Colmes on Fox. Yeah, I saw that when it aired. There have been a couple of great segments on both Hannity and Rush lately, including one where all these Republican congressmen backpedal on Rush's significance to the party. I'd look for it, but I know the one person who says Rush isn't relevant won't click on it anyway. So why bother. ;-)"}, {"response": 1701, "author": "Allison2", "date": "Mon, Feb 16, 2009 (12:09)", "body": "(Karen)I can't seem to find anything that gives me a clear understanding of the difference between careless and dangerous, except the maximum sentence and that careless only recently became a charge that brought you before the courts. The new charge is causing death by careless driving - Careless Driving has always been an offence. The trouble with Dangerous Driving as a charge is that you have to prove that the driver was not only driving dangerously but drove in that way and was reckless of the danger. In the case of the driver Sue mentioned, I think the problem was that they could not be certain that he was actually looking at the laptop when he struck the other car. What would have been the reaction if he had been eating an apple, pressing a button on his CD player, being distracted by a rear seat passenger? These are things we all do all the time - his was an extreme example of that behaviour."}, {"response": 1702, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Feb 16, 2009 (12:29)", "body": "Thank you, Allison. Yes, I knew that 'careless' has always existed, only that since 2008 there was a change in the law so that it could be adjudicated. From the vague articles, I guessed it had to be a matter of no witnesses or other evidence to prove he was looking at the laptop at precisely that time."}, {"response": 1703, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Mon, Feb 16, 2009 (12:50)", "body": "Thanks for clarifying, Allison. All the same though, what kind of message is this sentence giving out!"}, {"response": 1704, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Feb 16, 2009 (13:02)", "body": "The stimulus bill has created jobs before even being signed! Look at all the people getting jobs just to determine recipients and hand out the money. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/stimulus_states States face competing priorities for stimulus cash By BETH FOUHY, Associated Press Writer Mon Feb 16, 9:18 am ET NEW YORK \u2013 It may sound like a nice problem for states \u2014 figuring out how to spend the billions in infrastructure funding they'll receive as part of President Barack Obama's economic stimulus plan. But the task is more complicated than it seems, as state officials try to set priorities while managing competing pressures from communities, watchdog groups and federal regulators over how the money is allocated. Under the plan Obama is expected to sign into law early this week, states will divide $27 billion to build and repair roads and bridges. That is less than half the $64 billion in projects states told the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials late last year that they had ready to go. The law also requires that half the money be spent on projects that have been vetted by the federal government and deemed \"ready to go\" in 120 days, as a way to jolt the economy and create jobs. That means state officials are under pressure to make decisions quickly on which projects to fund and which to bypass. While many states have made their lists of \"ready-to-go\" infrastructure projects available online for public review, others have resisted, in part because the limited stimulus funding means only a fraction of the projects will receive money. Watchdog groups say it's likely that state officials fear angering constituents if a project appears on a wish list and then is struck from the final allocation. \"There will be huge internal battles in states about priorities,\" said Phineas Baxandall of the Public Interest Research Group. In California, for example, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's office rejected a request by The Associated Press for a detailed list of \"ready-to-go\" projects. The AP sought the information under the California Public Records Act, but the governor's office last week said the documents were internal drafts, adding \"disclosure would chill critical communications to and within the Governor's Office, thereby harming the public interest.\" The sheer volume of money directed toward state projects has fueled calls for transparency, with journalists, interest groups and others demanding a full accounting of which projects receive the funding, which are rejected, and why. Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick addressed that sentiment last week when he named a local real estate developer to oversee bidding for the stimulus money. Patrick also set up a new Web site with information on every project that receives the money. \"I don't want to send a mistaken impression there are pet projects,\" Patrick said. The governor appeared with the state's attorney general, Martha Coakley, who also will help track the stimulus funds. \"An ounce of prevention in handling the money is worth a pound of grand jury investigations and civil litigation down the road,\" Coakley said. Mindful of the accelerated timetable they face, states are moving quickly to develop mechanisms for identifying priority projects and disbursing funding for them. Some have created oversight commissions while others are leaving decisions to state transit officials. Some are required by law to involve state legislators, while legislators in states that don't require their participation are pressing to have input. Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, a Democrat, has retained a former U.S. diplomat as a temporary, unpaid \"infrastructure czar.\" But the Republican-controlled Senate, concerned that Strickland could try to push stimulus funding through the state's Controlling Board instead of through the legislature, has drawn up a separate \"spending blueprint\" for the federal stimulus money. Alabama Gov. Bob Riley, a Republican, has hired two former state finance officials to oversee the stimulus money. New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch, a Democrat, tapped a former attorney general to manage the funds, while Wisconsin Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle established a state Office of Recovery and Reinvestment led by the president of a local electric utility and a vice chancellor of the University of Wisconsin. In Virginia, Gov. Tim Kaine, a Democrat, is taking a grass-roots approach, setting up a Web site seeking input from residents, local governments and community groups as to how the money should be spent. Nearly 600 suggestions poured in on the first day alone, state officials said. In Colorado, 11 transportation commissioners will determine which projects to fund, in part based on recommendations from local governments and city planners around the state. No vote of the legislature is needed to spend the money. Legislative input also is not required in Maine, but state lawmakers have pressed for involvement and Democratic Gov. John Baldacci says he will seek th"}, {"response": 1705, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Feb 16, 2009 (13:21)", "body": "Thought this might be of interest since some of us use this site to look for Colin's stuff. I don't remember if I read that they'd been sued, too. Pirate Bay copyright test case begins in Sweden (Reuters) * Posted on Mon Feb 16, 2009 12:36PM EST STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - A copyright test case involving one of the world's biggest free file-sharing websites that could help music and film companies recoup millions of dollars in lost revenues started on Monday in Stockholm. Four men linked to The Pirate Bay were charged early last year by a Swedish prosecutor with conspiracy to break copyright law and related offences. Companies including Warner Bros., MGM, Columbia Pictures, 20th Century Fox Films, Sony BMG, Universal and EMI are also asking for damages of more than 100 million crowns ($12 million) to cover lost revenues. Sites like The Pirate Bay allow people to download songs, movies and computer games without paying and the trial is being closely watched to see to what extent the entertainment industry can protect copyright against Internet users. \"This is not a political trial, it's not about shutting down a people's library and it's not a trial that wants to prohibit file sharing as a technique,\" said Monique Wadsted, a lawyer representing Warner Brothers, Columbia, MGM and other major media and computer games companies. \"It's a trial regarding four individuals that have conducted a big commercial business making money out of others file sharing ... copyright protected works.\" The accused -- Peter Sunde, Gottfrid Svartholm Warg, Fredrik Neij and Carl Lundstrom -- denied the charges. The group that controls The Pirate Bay, launched in 2003, says that since no copyrighted material is stored on its servers and no exchange of files actually takes place there, they cannot be held responsible for what material is being exchanged. The prosecution says that by financing, programing and administering the site, the four men promoted the infringement of property rights by the site's users. The trial could last as long as three weeks and the four accused face up to two years in jail if convicted. (Reporting by Simon Johnson; Editing by Louise Ireland) http://tech.yahoo.com/news/nm/20090216/tc_nm/us_sweden_piratebay"}, {"response": 1706, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Mon, Feb 16, 2009 (13:31)", "body": "(Dorine)I know someone who's from B'ham area with a similar last name as that family (one letter off, though has relatives with the last name that spelling). Hope they weren't related somehow. I sincerely hope not too, Dorine."}, {"response": 1707, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Feb 16, 2009 (14:05)", "body": "Tracking the stimulus should be a priority job. I guess that's the fuss the conservatives were making. Maybe there is too much money allocated? We'll know soon enough if the job market changes. In Italy a man went to trial for murdering his wife (chopping her with a knife), he always maintained his innocence and although there was proof against him, it was not enough to convince the jury. He was declared innocent. A few months after he was freed, he walked into a police station and confessed to the murder to unburden himself, but because he had been declared innocent he could not be re-tried, he knew that. Such is the law. :-("}, {"response": 1708, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Feb 16, 2009 (14:15)", "body": "I don't like this: Hillary's Incredible Shrinking Cabinet Role Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is finding that her job description is dissolving under her feet, leaving her with only a vestige of the power she must have thought she acquired when she signed on to be President Obama\ufffds chief Cabinet officer. Since her designation: # Vice President Joe Biden has moved vigorously to stake out foreign policy as his turf. His visit to Afghanistan, right before the inauguration, could not but send a signal to Clinton that he would conduct foreign policy in the new administration, leaving her in a backup role. # Richard Holbrooke, the former Balkan negotiator and U.N. ambassador, has been named special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan. He insisted on direct access to the president, a privilege he was denied during much of the Clinton years. # Former Sen. George Mitchell, D-Maine, negotiator of the Irish Peace Accords, was appointed to be the administration\ufffds point man on Arab-Israeli negotiations. # Samantha Powers, Obama\ufffds former campaign aide, who once called Hillary Clinton a \ufffdmonster,\ufffd has been appointed to the National Security Council as director of \ufffdmultilateral affairs.\ufffd # Gen. James L. Jones, Obama\ufffds new national security adviser, has announced an expansion of the membership and role of the security council. He pledges to eliminate \ufffdback channels\ufffd to the president and wants to grow the council\ufffds role to accommodate the \ufffddramatically different\ufffd challenges of the current world situation. # Susan Rice, Obama\ufffds new United Nations ambassador, insisted upon and got Cabinet rank for her portfolio, and she presumably also will have the same kind of access to Obama that she had as his chief foreign policy adviser during the campaign. So where does all this leave Secretary of State Clinton? While sympathy for Mrs. Clinton is outside the normal fare of these columns, one cannot help but feel that she is surrounded by people who are, at best, strangers and, at worst, enemies. The competition that historically has occupied secretaries of State and national security advisers seems poised to ratchet up to a new level in this administration. Hillary\ufffds essential problem is that she is an outsider in the current mix. She was the adversary in the campaign, and Rice and Powers \ufffd at the very least \ufffd know it well, having helped to run the campaign that dethroned her. Can they \ufffd and she \ufffd be devoid of bitterness or at least of normal human trepidation? Not very likely. The fact is that the power of the secretary of State is not statutory, nor does it flow from the prestige of the post\ufffds occupant. Former Gen. Al Haig, once supreme commander of NATO and chief of staff to President Nixon, found that out when he was undercut as secretary by the White House troika of Mike Deaver, James Baker, and Ed Meese. Bill Rogers, Eisenhower\ufffds attorney general and Nixon\ufffds California confidant, found himself on the outs from the moment he became secretary of State, with Henry Kissinger soaking up all the power through his direct access to Nixon as national security adviser. The power of the secretary of State flows directly from the president. But Hillary does not have the inside track with Obama. Rice and Powers, close advisers in the campaign, and Gen. Jones, whose office is in the White House all may have superior access. Holbrooke and Mitchell will have more immediate information about the world\ufffds trouble spots. So what is Hillary\ufffds mandate? Of what is she secretary of State? If you take the Middle East, Afghanistan, and Pakistan out of the equation, what is left? One would have to assume that the old North Korea hands in the government would monopolize that theater of action. What, precisely, is it that Hillary is to do? The question lingers. And for this she gave up a Senate seat? \ufffd 2009 Newsmax. All rights reserved."}, {"response": 1709, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Feb 16, 2009 (17:31)", "body": "\"Hillary's Incredible Shrinking Cabinet Role \" (Moon)I don't like this: Too early to tell. Moon, she's no 'shrinking violet\"; I'm sure she'll have her say. After all, she's the head of a big department. Now Joe.....I wouldn't be so sure he'll be that influential. At the prez's press conference, I thought Joe was dismissed as an \"annoyance\". Even the reporters had a good laugh."}, {"response": 1710, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Feb 16, 2009 (17:49)", "body": "I agree with Evelyn re Hillary. There has been so much damage and there are so many things complex things that need addressed foreign policywise around the world pretty much immediately and she's only one person. I thought it wise to have special envoys go where she can't be at the same time. The thought that she was being slighted never entered my mind."}, {"response": 1711, "author": "mari", "date": "Tue, Feb 17, 2009 (12:13)", "body": "(Moon)We'll know soon enough if the job market changes. Most of the \"experts\" say things are going to get worse before they get better. IMO, we haven't bottomed out yet. The market is down another 3% today so far, and more companies are announcing big layoffs. Saw Hillary on the tube this moring. She's in Japan, then heading to China, Korea and Indonesia. Sadly, there are enough trouble spots in the world to go around. And you're using \"Newsmax\" as a source again, Moon, they are sowers of discontent. Did anyone see the SNL skit last week on the Republican leadership meeting? Dan Ackroyd played John Boehner. Hysterically funny."}, {"response": 1712, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Feb 17, 2009 (12:32)", "body": "(Mari) Did anyone see the SNL skit last week on the Republican leadership meeting? Dan Ackroyd played John Boehner. Hysterically funny. Yep, although I'd reserve hysterically funny for a sketch much later with Alex Baldwin playing a video game with his two sons. While not political, it was outrageously funny."}, {"response": 1713, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Feb 17, 2009 (13:58)", "body": "(Mari)And you're using \"Newsmax\" as a source again, Moon, they are sowers of discontent. It's opinion...just like Paul Krugman at the NYT; who often makes his appearance on this topic;-)"}, {"response": 1714, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Feb 17, 2009 (14:42)", "body": "It's opinion...just like Paul Krugman at the NYT; who often makes his appearance on this topic;-) Well, unfortunately, Moon provided neither the authors with it, nor a link to it, so I went to the site and Evelyn is right about this piece, it is a commentary piece by Dick Morris and Eileen McGann. Considering it's partially from Dick Morris, Mari's comment is still appropriate IMO. I don't know if he's a pundit especially for them, or they bought the rights to run a syndicated column from him. Here's his archive at Newsmax: http://www.newsmax.com/morris/archive/"}, {"response": 1715, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Feb 17, 2009 (17:22)", "body": "Makes no difference....it's still an opinion. Why is it that when a liberal website is quoted here, the information is taken as doctrine and when a conservative commentary is made, the author is a buffoon. *no winkie*"}, {"response": 1716, "author": "mari", "date": "Tue, Feb 17, 2009 (17:51)", "body": "I didn't say he was a buffoon. I conveyed that sources should be considered when posting opinion pieces."}, {"response": 1717, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Feb 17, 2009 (18:01)", "body": "Because on more than one occasion, conservative pieces (at least in the more recent past) have been shown to be less than....accurate..... in what they were conveying. I'm not saying that liberal pieces are completely accurate all the time, but I see much less evidence that it occurs and overall tend to be more fact based. Spin is one thing, overt misrepresentation and completely twisting of facts is another. There are several websites devoted to uncovering and pointing out errors, misrepresentations and lies in the media for all to see. For those who wish to see."}, {"response": 1718, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Feb 17, 2009 (18:03)", "body": "There are several websites devoted to uncovering and pointing out errors, misrepresentations and lies in the media for all to see. Pointing out errors on *both* sides."}, {"response": 1719, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Feb 17, 2009 (18:13)", "body": "You know, in this day and age, it behooves us all, no matter our ideology, to do a little due diligence when reading anything out there at all. Especially in these times and this day and age. Taking anything at face value anymore should be considered passe. As I was saying... *cough* Politico\ufffds David Rogers Catches Republicans Lying About High-Speed Rail, Won\ufffdt Call Them Liars http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2009/02/politicos_david_rogers_catches_republicans_lying_about_high_speed_rail_wont_call_them_liars.php And hope that Burris hightails it back to IL in a hurry. What an idiot."}, {"response": 1720, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Feb 17, 2009 (19:14)", "body": "(Dorine)but I see much less evidence that it occurs and overall tend to be more fact based. As usual...V. objective observation here....;-(((( I conveyed that sources should be considered when posting opinion pieces. Like no one ever gives an opinion w/o a source."}, {"response": 1721, "author": "maccalinda", "date": "Tue, Feb 17, 2009 (19:23)", "body": "Dorine: You know, in this day and age, it behooves us all, no matter our ideology, to do a little due diligence when reading anything out there at all. Sure does...often I flip thru cable news services - Skjy Australia, CNN, BBC, Asian News...all reporting on the same subject matter, yet all with a different angle...different opinion...different agenda to shove down our gullible throats... Call me a cynic...but I NEVER accept anything at face value...no matter what side of the fence one sits, everyone has their own interest at stake...and will write, read and interpret things accordingly...or perhaps I'm just getting old ....'creak'..."}, {"response": 1722, "author": "mari", "date": "Tue, Feb 17, 2009 (20:05)", "body": "Like no one ever gives an opinion w/o a source. The point is that Dick Morris is an avowed Hillary hater, and would love to take her down. Look at that list of detrimental articles he's written about her at the link Dorine posted. He's the one who said he'd leave the country (oui should be so lucky) if she won the presidency. And it was Dick Morris who first cried \"racist\" when Bill Clinton likened O's campaign to Jesse Jackson's. So when an article by Dick Morris is posted that belittles her 3 weeks into the job and basically says she has no influence and a friend cites it and says it concerns her . . . well I'm not going to pretend that this is coming from an objective source."}, {"response": 1723, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Feb 17, 2009 (21:11)", "body": "He didn't belittle her..., but I'm not going to take his side since I 'm not a fan of his either. But what he said is basically true...there are so many 'czars \" in that West Wing that they must be falling over each other. There's a Czar for the Middle East, there's a Czar for Israel etc. Formerly, the Sec of State was in charge...and I'm sure she will. But that's not the point I wish to make... it's not an individual I'm talking about and you know it. There have been many degrogatory articles and just opinions here made on President Bush, and on my candidates...that did not give a source. To the great hilarity of all concerned, I might add. But if there is just one article or opinion on your candidate...different story. I have not criticized Mr Obama or his wife here...though I remember many remarks about Cindy McCain and Sarah Palin..to great hilarity. To say nothing of Laura Bush However, you will not discourage me. I will continue to give me views and if you don't like them...you can always scroll. As I often do."}, {"response": 1724, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Feb 17, 2009 (23:43)", "body": "(Evelyn) However, you will not discourage me. I will continue to give me views I would be highly disappointed if you didn't continue. Really. Whether I agree with you on things or not. If seemingly reliable information is found by you that contradicts anything posted, by all means, post it. And that goes for anyone. In regards to things I've posted in the past few weeks as a retort to news or other items posted, is it my fault that Dick Cheney was lying through his teeth about released Guantanamo detainees. Or that Rush Limbaugh and that other woman were perpetrating misperceptions about the healthcare bill on the largely unsuspecting public? And the same for the bit above? Really, I'm thankful for the people who actually track this stuff for me, and us. And I'm thankful for Google. ;-) As you saw recently, I'm not above criticizing someone on \"my\" side, ie. Reid and Pelosi. And as I've said repeatedly, I'll be the first one to criticize O should I feel it's warranted. Actually I have already. If not here, then in conversations. Just because all those envoys are deployed around the world instead of Hillary, as you say, the Sec of State is usually in charge, and guess what, they have phones (and Skype!) to keep in contact. Nothing is saying she's not directing the show. But, she's one person for a multitude of immediate needs and can't be physically everywhere at once. They have their reasons. Only time will tell her real role and influence."}, {"response": 1725, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Feb 18, 2009 (00:12)", "body": "Well here's an opinion man that tried some facts in a mainstream publication. Does he get \"A\" for effort? If someone finds this is incorrect, let us know. George Will makes up facts in his column denying global warming.\ufffd Feb 16th, 2009 at 3:35 pm In the Washington Post yesterday, conservative columnist George Will chastised Energy Secretary Stephen Chu for \ufffddoomsaying\ufffd about global warming, arguing that concerns about climate change are just \ufffdeco-pessimism.\ufffd As evidence to support his point, Will claimed that \ufffdaccording to the University of Illinois\ufffd Arctic Climate Research Center, global sea ice levels now equal those of 1979.\ufffd But, as TPMmuckraker notes, the Arctic Climate Research Center (ACRC) quickly disputed Will\ufffds claim: We do not know where George Will is getting his information, but our data shows that on February 15, 1979, global sea ice area was 16.79 million sq. km and on February 15, 2009, global sea ice area was 15.45 million sq. km. Therefore, global sea ice levels are 1.34 million sq. km less in February 2009 than in February 1979. This decrease in sea ice area is roughly equal to the area of Texas, California, and Oklahoma combined. In its statement, the ACRC added that \ufffdIt is disturbing that the Washington Post would publish such information without first checking the facts.\ufffd Washington Post editorial page editor Fred Hiatt told TPMmuckraker that \ufffdhe\ufffdd try to respond to questions about the editing process later today.\ufffd They have yet to hear back from him. Update: Slamming Will's column, Ezra Klein wrote, \"Sadly, our political pundits have outsourced their scientific research to an intern charged with a superficial skim of Newsweek covers.\" He added, \"I look forward to [Will's] correction.\" http://thinkprogress.org/2009/02/16/will-global-warming/"}, {"response": 1726, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Feb 18, 2009 (10:08)", "body": "I am not petulant and I will not go away...however, be assured.. \"My courage always rises with any attempt to intimidate me\" ;-)"}, {"response": 1727, "author": "mari", "date": "Wed, Feb 18, 2009 (12:12)", "body": "(Evelyn)I have not criticized Mr Obama or his wife here...though I remember many remarks about Cindy McCain and Sarah Palin..to great hilarity. To say nothing of Laura Bush Hey, I'm the one who's always been complimentary of Laura B. I don't recall ever saying anything negative about Cindy McC either. Palin is different; she was running for office which makes her fair game. And you should feel free to criticize the big O. I will, when he does something I don't like. \"My courage always rises with any attempt to intimidate me\" LOL, and that is part of your charm!:-)"}, {"response": 1728, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Feb 18, 2009 (13:22)", "body": "Speaking of St. Palin........tax dodger? http://www.adn.com/palin/story/693695.html"}, {"response": 1729, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Feb 18, 2009 (14:13)", "body": "\"My courage always rises with any attempt to intimidate me\" Courtesy of Jane Austen. I pinched that from Lizzie. Speaking of St. Palin........tax dodger? That might even qualify her to join the cabinet."}, {"response": 1730, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Feb 18, 2009 (14:25)", "body": "Why not? She can't be worse than Burris I bet."}, {"response": 1731, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Feb 18, 2009 (14:56)", "body": "I went to an extremely interesting meeting last night of people wanting to participate in the grassroots of healthcare reform. An interestingly diverse group with people from several countries. We watched a DVD of a Frontline PBS special on healthcare systems around the world, which I thought was so timely in light of the conversation here last week. I'll post more at another time. It was interesting too, in how both the show and the comments from people begat a huge range of questions, in my mind anyway."}, {"response": 1732, "author": "mari", "date": "Wed, Feb 18, 2009 (16:55)", "body": "Since we were talking about Arlen Spector and his vote for the stimulus package, here's a good article on him and his vote: \"It's very politically perilous. The right wing is out for my scalp.\" His switchboard flooded. \"One of my senior Republican colleagues told me, 'I'm proud of you.' I asked why didn't he vote for it. 'I might get a primary fight.' Know what? I'm getting a primary fight. There are a lot of Republicans who were glad to see the agreement reached without their fingerprints.\" http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/39701907.html"}, {"response": 1733, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Feb 18, 2009 (17:21)", "body": "Good on him. And I loved his point that relates to an item I posted a while back, where McCain was upset with the bill as it was and was going to present his own. Judging by Specter's comments, it doesn't appear he had a \"viable\" one or one at all. Did you read all the comments? In-ter-es-ting."}, {"response": 1734, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Feb 18, 2009 (21:41)", "body": "He's too old to run again anyway. Let some younger guy in."}, {"response": 1735, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Feb 18, 2009 (22:13)", "body": "(Evelyn) He's too old to run again anyway. Isn't Sen. Byrd like....90? Not that he isn't too old perhaps. Just sayin'."}, {"response": 1736, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Feb 19, 2009 (00:25)", "body": "We were discussing student grades before, though not exactly in this context. But has it really ever been that different? I don't think in my lifetime. But maybe it is worse. It's been too long since I've been in school. Though I can't think I really ever subscribed to the \"A\" for effort rule. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/18/education/18college.html?em=&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1235020470-0wDCAibziC3Ww4EMhRQ2CQ"}, {"response": 1737, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Feb 19, 2009 (09:10)", "body": "Mr. Greenwood said. \ufffdWhat else is there really than the effort that you put in?\ufffd Uh....the result? Professor Brower said professors at Wisconsin emphasized that students must \ufffdread for knowledge and write with the goal of exploring ideas.\ufffd Way too vague for these kids. ;-) On another note, anybody here watch Lie to Me, a series on Fox with Tim Roth. The best part of the show is the examples they show of public figures' facial expressions, which indicate various emotions, including lying. The people used to demonstrate go across the board and you might see some very familiar moments. I recommend this show highly."}, {"response": 1738, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Feb 19, 2009 (09:24)", "body": "Talk about rude awakenings when these kids get into the real world with jobs with no company loyalty to its employees, favoritism and paying as little as possible for a great deal of work. I wanted to see that Tim Roth show. Maybe I can catch it online somewhere. Fox does that with their shows I think. Or some of them anyway maybe."}, {"response": 1739, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Feb 19, 2009 (09:58)", "body": "Back when I was in college, professors told you how grading was done. I don't recall a percentage for \"showing up\" or \"reading the material.\" It was all done on the basis of one's exams (midterm and final) and any written submissions or papers one had to write. Professors could care less if one showed up or \"tried.\" When did all of that change? FYI, they have used Bill Clinton's \"I have never had sex with...\" bit several times. Condie Rice's facial expressions have also been used numerous times. Many very current, which is why I put this discussion on this board and not on Drool, because of its political nature."}, {"response": 1740, "author": "mari", "date": "Thu, Feb 19, 2009 (11:07)", "body": "(Karen)Professors could care less if one showed up or \"tried.\" When did all of that change? I don't think it has, judging by my son's courses. At the start of every course (that I'm aware of), he's gotten a clear list of what comprises the final grade, and the percentage weight that each has: midterm, final, quizzes, term papers, group projects, any other written assignments, oral presentations, etc. I don't recall ever seeing \"showing up for class\" or \"trying hard\" on any list.;-) If any prof is not giving their students a clear list upfront, then they are leaving themselves open for the kids who think that they should get extra points just for showing up. These are the same kids who probably got trophies in Little League even though they came in last place because godferbid society doesn't \"recognize\" their \"achievements.\" The only exception I'd allow for would be if a kid is truly on the cusp of two grades, i.e., a C+ or B-. If he/she showed up, participated in class, etc., I'd probably give them the higher grade."}, {"response": 1741, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Feb 19, 2009 (13:14)", "body": "(Mari) These are the same kids who probably got trophies in Little League even though they came in last place because godferbid society doesn't \"recognize\" their \"achievements.\" Or is guaranteed a part in the school play because everyone who trys out gets in. In my day, you had to have talent and my school was large enough that it could be extremely difficult to get in."}, {"response": 1742, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Feb 19, 2009 (19:32)", "body": "LOl Insurrection on the Chicago Board of Trade Let's hear it for Rick Santelli.Yeah, let's vote on the housing plan. I heard it this morning on CNBC...but on Hardball tonight he said his Blackberry is frozen now with emails...guess on which side??? ...and I don't think all those guys at the monitors are millionaires either as one comment stated. http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1039849853"}, {"response": 1743, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Feb 20, 2009 (00:33)", "body": "That shouting was annoying. But..... I don't think the mortgage bailout should include those who took out mortgages plainly and obviously unaffordable at the time and were approved by mortgage lenders who obviously knew it. In that respect, he's right, you're encouraging bad behavior. If their circumstances are no different now than when they took out the loan, they need to sell it themselves (unlikely), give up the house/condo or make some other arrangements. Rent a more affordable apt or home and rent out the home they can't afford that someone else may be able to. But certainly help those whose financial status changed because of changes in employment or significant adjustments to pensions or other income earning means."}, {"response": 1744, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Feb 20, 2009 (01:35)", "body": "Despicable. BofA is on my shitlist at the moment for pulling crap like this with fees on my VISA card and turning it into a cash advance no less! Thank God I don't actually bank with them. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090219/ap_on_re_us/bank_fees_jobless_benefits"}, {"response": 1745, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Feb 20, 2009 (01:38)", "body": "By appointing a special envoy, is Hillary undercutting herself? ;-) http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090220/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/as_clinton_koreas"}, {"response": 1746, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Feb 20, 2009 (02:24)", "body": "Re: mortgages, this is what I'm talkin' about... http://www.nydailynews.com/money/2009/02/19/2009-02-19_city_torn_on_mortgage_plan_debate_rages_.html If I didn't know this was real, I'd have thought this a foreign film script if someone told me about it. It's reality show fodder, that's for sure. http://www.nydailynews.com/money/2009/02/17/2009-02-17_spurned_mistress_drives_chinese_business.html"}, {"response": 1747, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Feb 20, 2009 (09:39)", "body": "Thank you Bill: Clinton to Obama: Talk optimistically on economy WASHINGTON \ufffd It used to be gospel in the nation's power center: Presidents didn't talk publicly about what the markets were doing. The notion was that anything a president said on this subject could be too easily misinterpreted, sending Wall Street into a dive. Now, former President Clinton says he thinks President Barack Obama should talk more optimistically about the prospects that the nation will recover from its current deep economic woes. Clinton said he wants Obama to assure the people that America will surmount this problem. But at the same time, the former president said in an interview broadcast Friday on ABC's \"Good Morning America\" that \"I like the fact that he didn't come in and give us a bunch of happy talk.\" He also said he believes \"you will see some good economic news form the stimulus fairly soon.\" For his part, Obama has said he thinks the country will get past the recession, but that it will be a long slog. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090220/ap_on_go_pr_wh/clinton_obama_economy C'mon Barack,time to inflate that hope balloon . We need some cheering-up."}, {"response": 1748, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Feb 20, 2009 (09:50)", "body": "(Dorine)\"That shouting was annoying. LOL. That's Rick Santelli. That's my crowd at CNBC. I say look at the original mortgage application.. See who lied. See if anyone checked the income tax returns. Don't just give the $$$$ out willy-nilly across the board. Uh, uh... being naive won't cut it. In yesterday's local paper there was a blurb asking citizens what the mortgage package would do for them. One Generation X-er said the tax credit of $7500 was nice, but he wished the government would have given him a down payment instead. Some people think they *deserve* it just by taking up space."}, {"response": 1749, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Feb 20, 2009 (10:11)", "body": "See who lied. See if anyone checked the income tax returns. Don't just give the $$$$ out willy-nilly across the board. Exactly. A former WAMU mortgage rep said she and others were pressured (forced?) to write loans they knew were obviously bad. Can't remember now if she did, then felt bad about it and quit, or didn't do it and was fired/not fired, or did it then lost her job when they went under. That woman in the NY Daily News article whose payment went from $3500 to $5000 got an adjustable rate mortgage apparently, because that's what people do who get larger loans (perhaps than their income will allow). I know someone with a big one, interest only too from what I understand. That woman and her 3 kids could either try to qualify for a fixed rate loan, though unlikely now, sell it, find another roommate, and/or rent out the whole thing and rent herself a decent sized place for literally half to a third less than what she's paying for that house. Problem is, landlords do credit checks too and if her credit is shot, then her options are more limited, but I don't think enough to warrant needing a shelter yet."}, {"response": 1750, "author": "mari", "date": "Fri, Feb 20, 2009 (11:40)", "body": "I saw Santelli last night; they re-ran his rant. I honestly don't know what the right thing to do is, and he didn't offer any solutions that I recall.;-) Maybe the bank bailout money will take time to work (it's only been since December, right?) but right now I don't see the banks loosening up their credit, which is partly what is stalling the markets. I think they are waiting for the government (um, that would be you and me) to take all their bad loans off their books. Or nationalize:-( C'mon Barack,time to inflate that hope balloon. I think he's caught in between; he needed to be dire to get the stimulus stuff passed, but now maybe the markets could use some happy talk. I do salute him for laying it on the line, depressing though that is. But jeez, we are below the 6-year low already this morning, down another 2% since yesterday's close."}, {"response": 1751, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Feb 20, 2009 (11:41)", "body": "Remember the inaugural poem? Few apparently do By HILLEL ITALIE, AP National Writer 45 mins ago NEW YORK \ufffd Millions watched Elizabeth Alexander read a poem last month at President Barack Obama's inauguration. But few, so far, have wanted to buy it. Nielsen BookScan, which tracks about 75 percent of sales, says Alexander's \"Praise Song for the Day: A Poem for Barack Obama's Presidential Inauguration\" has sold just 6,000 copies so far. The poem was published Feb. 6 as a paperback by Graywolf Press with an announced first printing of 100,000 copies. The inaugural reading by Alexander, a highly regarded poet, apparently lacked the spark of predecessor Maya Angelou, whose \"On the Pulse of the Morning\" \ufffd read at President Bill Clinton's 1993 inaugural \ufffd became a million seller. Alexander was just the fourth inaugural poet, following Robert Frost, Angelou and Miller Williams. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090220/ap_en_ot/inaugural_poem"}, {"response": 1752, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Feb 20, 2009 (11:56)", "body": "(Dorine) and I don't think all those guys at the monitors are millionaires either as one comment stated. A seat on the CBOT ain't cheap, although I think the Merc is more. However, I'm sure the price has gone down considerably. (Dorine) bank fees jobless benefits As I skim the article, this is not much different from the fees they would've paid if they cashed a check at a currency exchange. These are used by people without bank accounts, who have always had to pay fees to cash checks, get money orders, etc."}, {"response": 1753, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Feb 20, 2009 (12:06)", "body": "That was Evelyn for your first reference. ;-) No, it's more like getting fee'd for using their ATM's when you bank elsewhere. I was thinking the unemployment debit card was filtered through those participating banks which if you used the debit card at one of those banks (or the one yours goes through), it would be like using their own debit card. I've never heard of debit cards for unemployment benefits. BofA does fee you to death though even if you have some kind of account with them. WAMU didn't do that and so far Chase doesn't seem to."}, {"response": 1754, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Feb 20, 2009 (12:25)", "body": "Sorry, Do, re misquote. From the article: They also provide at least one way to tap the money at no charge, such as using a single free withdrawal to get all the cash at once from a bank teller. But the banks benefit from human nature, as people end up treating the cards like all the other plastic in their wallets. [...] The U.S. Department of Labor allows the fees as long as states create a way for recipients to get their money for free, spokeswoman Suzy Bohnert said. \"Beyond that, the individual decides how to manage his drawdowns using the debit card,\" she said in an e-mail."}, {"response": 1755, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Feb 20, 2009 (12:32)", "body": "such as using a single free withdrawal to get all the cash at once from a bank teller. Yes, because I want to walk around NYC with $400 cash in my wallet. ;-)"}, {"response": 1756, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Feb 20, 2009 (12:40)", "body": "Then you go put in your bank. Like I said, this is analogous to cashing govt checks at a currency exchange. Bank income is heavily dependant on fees. There is a way to avoid them, but people want the convenience. Convenience has always had a price."}, {"response": 1757, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Feb 20, 2009 (12:49)", "body": "people want the convenience. Ooh, don't get me started on banks charging for the convenience of paying online....or through the phone on an automated system rather than having to utilize a teller or actual person on the other line, as well as GMAC charging different amounts to pay online depending on which method you pay (credit card/electronic check/debit). A pet peeve of mine. I have no problem with some other fees mind you."}, {"response": 1758, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Feb 20, 2009 (13:01)", "body": "I'm only referring to these unemployment comp debit cards. As far as I'm concerned this issue is entirely bogus. If you have a way of getting your money out for free, then you have no basis for complaining. As for walking around with money, people with bank accounts obviously can deposit it. [Are there not, like three banks, on every single block these days?] People without bank accounts have always had to walk around with the money and have lived by paying cash all their lives."}, {"response": 1759, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Feb 20, 2009 (13:54)", "body": "Well, if they can get direct deposit, I don't understand why they just don't do that and have to deal with a debit card at all. Maybe not all states have that. There's something missing from that system or story. These people can't possibly be that dumb. Being the eternal optimist in pessimist's clothing that is. ;-)"}, {"response": 1760, "author": "mari", "date": "Fri, Feb 20, 2009 (15:02)", "body": "Some interesting commentson the Santelli rant. This one is fairly typical: Where was the outrage when we dropped 800 billion to bail out the banks? http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/20/rick-santelli-tea-party-time/?ref=opinion"}, {"response": 1761, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Feb 20, 2009 (16:17)", "body": "(Mari)Or nationalize:-( Gaaagh...don't use that \"N\" word. The market went ballistic when Greenspan said it. Regs, ok. \"Where was the outrage when we dropped 800 billion to bail out the banks?\" Actually, Rick was furious then too...with Ken Lewis and the dude from Lehman, Fuld(?) who lied to everybody. But this one is my favorite of the comments. \"Rick Santelli is heir to this legacy laced with racist overtones...\" \"Note the promo before the rant in the video link at CNBC. CNBC has an upcoming special entitled The Rise of America\ufffds New Black Overclass. Fear mongering, it\ufffds worked before so let\ufffds try it again. It\ufffds back to the 1970s for the GOP and their rabid white ethnics\" You *know* they were going to get Rick Santelli with a racial smear. Probably Bob Pisani, too. *shaking head* I don't even know if Rick's a Republican. I know Mark Haynes & Erin Burnett on \"Squawk Box\" & Power Lunch are Dems."}, {"response": 1762, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Feb 20, 2009 (16:33)", "body": "Market down today : 100 pts. I do think if he threw the market a bone it would have something to cheer about. Who in their right mind wants to invest...what is he going to do with dividends? Tax 20%,? 28% ?35%? Corporate tax? Down? Up? Energy : windfall profits tax??? Too many ??????? out there. I know, I know...he just came in the door. But meanwhile...."}, {"response": 1763, "author": "Moon", "date": "Fri, Feb 20, 2009 (18:03)", "body": "I am one of those suckers that is hanging on with the Market. Can't bare to look at it. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton named a special envoy for North Korea on Friday but warned the communist nation that ties with the United States will not improve unless it stops threatening South Korea. I think it's a good idea. It's after her visit, so she knows what might be accomplished there. I just wish she would get to the Middle East. Why is John Kerry there instead?"}, {"response": 1764, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Fri, Feb 20, 2009 (18:59)", "body": "Moving over from Firthology, for further discussion. (LindaMc)..if a mere housewife like me could see what was on the horizon, why didnt the governments and bankers etc... Where do I start! denial, greed, wrecklessnes......................."}, {"response": 1765, "author": "mari", "date": "Fri, Feb 20, 2009 (20:20)", "body": "Here's O's press secretary responding to Santelli: http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=12139329&ch=4226716&src=news"}, {"response": 1766, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Feb 20, 2009 (20:55)", "body": "(Moon)Why is John Kerry there instead? He went to Gaza ... to talk to Hamas????"}, {"response": 1767, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Feb 20, 2009 (21:06)", "body": "And here's Santelli's response to O's Press Sec \"Santelli took the critique in stride, saying Gibbs had hardly offered tough words. \"I think this is terrific that this has been opened up to national debate,\" Santelli said in an MSNBC interview shortly after Gibbs' daily briefing wrapped up. \"I think it's wonderful he invited to me to the White House. I'm really not big on decaf, though. I think I'd prefer tea\" http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D96FI8300&show_article=1 Meanwhile CNBC is making the most of the publicity... One can join the 'Santelli's Tea Party' by adding your comments. Apparently the rant was heard around the world. The rant clip has the highest viewership ever on CBBC http://www.cnbc.com/id/29283701 Reminds me of Sidney's Lumet's movie \"Network\"...remember? \"I'm mad as hell, and I'm not goin to take it anymore\""}, {"response": 1768, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Feb 21, 2009 (08:51)", "body": "Moon, I wouldn't be too concerned about Hillary's diluted influence in foreign affairs. On CR last night Richard Holbrook (just retured from Afghanistan)said he was in constant communication with \"Secretary Clinton\" throughout his trip. (BTW I like her new \"do\"; softer, not as severe as when she was campaigning)"}, {"response": 1769, "author": "mari", "date": "Sat, Feb 21, 2009 (09:54)", "body": "(Evelyn)Reminds me of Sidney's Lumet's movie \"Network\"...remember? \"I'm mad as hell, and I'm not goin to take it anymore\" I do remember it, I loved that film. But I'm not sure why Rick Santelli or anyone else for that matter should be \"mad as hell\" at this point. The details of the housing plan will be announced on March 4 (or 5?). Until then, people like him are just shooting their mouths off and becoming youtube stars on the strength of their ability to shout louder than anyone else. It's the new American past-time: yell first, think later (or maybe never):-( I watch the Today Show in the morning and today they had on their regular real estate contributor. She understood the details and felt many more people would be helped by the plan than what what the Santellis are saying because he simply hasn't taken the time to read the plan. And this lady has no ax to grind. A guy who wrote in saying \"I did everything right, I'm not facing foreclosure but it's tough to pay the mortgage, no one wants to give me a refinance, etc.\" She said hang in there until the details are announced in March because there's going to be refinancing provisions for anyone whose mortgage exceeds 31% of income. You know, this housing rescue plan does not affect me (thank my lucky stars), so I really shouldn't care. But I'm getting damned tired of these media types who don't do their basic homework before spouting off an opinion. And I have no sympathy for people from the stock exchange trading floor bitching that they have to bail out people who were \"irresponsible.\" LOL! Kettle, meet pot."}, {"response": 1770, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Feb 21, 2009 (10:32)", "body": "It's the new American past-time: Pssst...Always has been;-) And ,this is C.N.B.C. Not Fox Business News;-) The details of the housing plan will be announced on March 4 (or 5?). So why announce it now? Is this the new Tim Geithner routine...\"I'll give you the details later\" Serves them right. Poor PR, I say."}, {"response": 1771, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Feb 21, 2009 (10:44)", "body": "(Mari) But I'm getting damned tired of these media types who don't do their basic homework before spouting off an opinion. Not doing their due diligence, eh? ;-) Actually, neither do some members of congress, by their own admission."}, {"response": 1772, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Feb 21, 2009 (12:38)", "body": "(Moon) I am one of those suckers that is hanging on with the Market. Can't bare to look at it. Neither can I, but I'd hate to characterize myself as a sucker. We, the average investor, have no choice. Added to that, making effective changes in one's retirement/401(k) plans is like trying to turn the Titanic on a dime. Unless you want to cement in those losses by selling, then you have to sit tight and pray."}, {"response": 1773, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Feb 21, 2009 (13:13)", "body": "We were talking about high end fashions in the current economy.... http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123517153386836823.html"}, {"response": 1774, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sat, Feb 21, 2009 (14:19)", "body": "(Moon)Why is John Kerry there instead? (Evelyn), He went to Gaza ... to talk to Hamas???? See even you are surprised. O sent him. Moon, I wouldn't be too concerned about Hillary's diluted influence in foreign affairs. (Evelyn), On CR last night Richard Holbrook (just retured from Afghanistan)said he was in constant communication with \"Secretary Clinton\" throughout his trip. Of course, what is he to say? Believe me, Clinton is the one doing the calling. O sent him too. This smells of not trusting her. (Mari) But I'm getting damned tired of these media types who don't do their basic homework before spouting off an opinion. It's a habit they started during the primary O lovefest, or don't you remember? It's hard to find unbiased media. The reason I post from Newsmax here is to give the other POV."}, {"response": 1775, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Feb 21, 2009 (15:16)", "body": "I'm sure this will get \"misinterpreted\" somewhere that it only took a few months for Obama's handouts, etc to cause the deficit to balloon and look how \"low\" it was under Bush. Watch. Obama Bans Gimmicks, and Deficit Will Rise By JACKIE CALMES Published: February 19, 2009 WASHINGTON \ufffd For his first annual budget next week, President Obama has banned four accounting gimmicks that President George W. Bush used to make deficit projections look smaller. The price of more honest bookkeeping: A budget that is $2.7 trillion deeper in the red over the next decade than it would otherwise appear, according to administration officials. The latest on President Obama, the new administration and other news from Washington and around the nation. Join the discussion. The new accounting involves spending on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Medicare reimbursements to physicians and the cost of disaster responses. But the biggest adjustment will deal with revenues from the alternative minimum tax, a parallel tax system enacted in 1969 to prevent the wealthy from using tax shelters to avoid paying any income tax. [....] http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/20/us/politics/20budget.html"}, {"response": 1776, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Feb 21, 2009 (16:01)", "body": "Moon)Why is John Kerry there instead? (Evelyn), He went to Gaza ... to talk to Hamas???? (Moon)See even you are surprised. O sent him. LOL.I forgot the winkie, Moon. I don't think he did. ...or at least I didn't do the due diligence Oh my...Love that term, BTW...didn't hear of it til this year. Sounds like Mrs Bennett: \"Do you have any due diligence to do this afternoon?\""}, {"response": 1777, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Feb 21, 2009 (16:03)", "body": "(Dorine)I'm sure this will get \"misinterpreted\" somewhere that it only took a few months for Obama's handouts, etc to cause the deficit to balloon and look how \"low\" it was under Bush. Watch. He's the Prez now...it's his deficit, like it or not. His recession and bailout too.:-D"}, {"response": 1778, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Feb 21, 2009 (16:03)", "body": "Closing"}, {"response": 1779, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Feb 21, 2009 (16:10)", "body": "closing"}, {"response": 1780, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Feb 24, 2009 (16:11)", "body": "Yeaaaaay. Nice to see the market closing over 200 pts. Thank you, Ben. Shows what a few kind words and little optimism will do:-)))))"}, {"response": 1781, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Feb 24, 2009 (16:50)", "body": "YEEESSSS!!! (if true) Officials: US troops to leave Iraq by August 2010 By PAMELA HESS and ANNE GEARAN, Associated Press Writer 34 mins ago WASHINGTON \ufffd The United States plans to withdraw most of its troops from Iraq by August 2010, 19 months after President Barack Obama's inauguration, according to administration officials. The withdrawal plan would fulfill one of Obama's central campaign pledges, albeit a little more slowly than he promised. He said he would withdraw troops within 16 months, roughly one brigade a month from the time of his inauguration. The officials said they expect Obama to make the announcement this week. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the plan has not been made public. The U.S. military will leave behind a residual force, between 30,000 and 50,000 troops, to continue advising and training Iraqi security forces, the two officials said. Also staying beyond the 19 months will be intelligence and surveillance specialists and their equipment, including unmanned aircraft, they said. A further withdrawal will take place before December 2011, the period by which the U.S. agreed with Iraq to remove all American troops. A senior White House official said Tuesday that Obama is at least a day away from making a final decision. He further said an announcement on Wednesday was unlikely, but he said that Obama could discuss Iraq during a trip to North Carolina on Friday. About 142,000 U.S. troops are in Iraq, roughly 14 brigades, about 11,000 above the total in Iraq when President George W. Bush announced in January 2007 that he would \"surge\" the force to put down the insurgency. He sent an additional 21,000 combat troops to Baghdad and Anbar province. Although the number of combat brigades has dropped from 20 to 14, the U.S. has increased the number of logistical and other support troops. A brigade is usually about 3,000 to 5,000 troops. Obama's campaign promise to withdraw troops in 16 months was based on a military estimate on what would be an orderly pace of removing troops, given the logistical difficulties of removing so many people and tons of equipment, a U.S. military official said. The 19-month strategy is a compromise between commanders and advisers who are worried that security gains could backslide in Iraq and those who think the bulk of U.S. combat work is long since done. The White House considered at least two other options to withdraw combat forces \ufffd one that followed Obama's 16-month timeline and one that stretched withdrawal over 23 months, the AP reported earlier this month. Some U.S. commanders have spoken more optimistically in recent months about prospects for reducing the force. Maj. Gen. Michael Oates, who commands U.S. forces in central and southern Iraq, told reporters earlier this month that he believed the gains in stability in that area were now irreversible. According to officials, Obama had requested a range of options from his top military advisers, including one that would have withdrawn troops in 16 months. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had recently forwarded withdrawal alternatives to the White House for Obama's consideration. In addition to the U.S. troops to be withdrawn, there is a sizable cadre of contractors who provide services to them who would pack their bags as well. There were 148,050 defense contractor personnel working in Iraq as of December, 39,262 of them U.S. citizens. There are more than 200 U.S. military installations in Iraq. According to Army officials interviewed by the Government Accountability Office, it can take up to two months to shut down small outposts that hold up to 300 troops. Larger entrenched facilities, like Balad Air Base, could take up to 18 months to close, according to the GAO. As of Monday, at least 4,250 members of the U.S. military had died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. More than 31,000 have been injured. Congress has approved more than $657 billion so far for the Iraq war, according to a report last year from the Congressional Research Service. ___ Associated Press writers Robert Burns, Lolita C. Baldor, Steven Hurst, Anne Flaherty, Richard Lardner and Pauline Jelinek contributed to this report. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090224/ap_on_go_pr_wh/iraq_withdrawal"}, {"response": 1782, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Feb 24, 2009 (17:49)", "body": "He has to, if he's going to send 17,000 troops to Afghanistan. For now.... Where else are they going to come from?"}, {"response": 1783, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Feb 24, 2009 (18:37)", "body": "Afghanistan was always were we should have been in mass force. I hope to see it happen. Now for Iraq... the sooner we leave the sooner the Sunnis and Shiites can have their Civil(if only they knew the meaning of the word), War. Those poor Kurds."}, {"response": 1784, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Feb 25, 2009 (00:04)", "body": "FACT CHECK: Obama glosses over complex realities By CALVIN WOODWARD and JIM KUHNHENN, Associated Press Writers WASHINGTON \ufffd President Barack Obama's assurance Tuesday that his mortgage-relief plan will only benefit deserving homeowners appears to be a stretch. Even officials in his administration, many supporters of the plan in Congress and the Federal Reserve chairman expect some of that money will go to people who should have known better than to buy that huge house. The president glossed over a number of complex realities in delivering his speech to Congress and a nation hungry for economic salvation. A look at some of his assertions: OBAMA: \"We have launched a housing plan that will help responsible families facing the threat of foreclosure lower their monthly payments and refinance their mortgages. It's a plan that won't help speculators or that neighbor down the street who bought a house he could never hope to afford, but it will help millions of Americans who are struggling with declining home values.\" THE FACTS: If the administration has come up with a way to ensure money does not go to home buyers who used bad judgment, it hasn't announced it. Defending the program Tuesday at a Senate hearing, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said it's important to save some of those people for the greater good. He likened it to calling the fire department to put out a blaze caused by someone smoking in bed. \"I think the smart way to deal with a situation like that is to put out the fire, save him from his own consequences of his own action but then, going forward, enact penalties and set tougher rules about smoking in bed.\" Similarly, the head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. suggested this month it's not likely aid will be denied to all homeowners who overstated their income or assets to get a mortgage they couldn't afford. \"I think it's just simply impractical to try to do a forensic analysis of each and every one of these delinquent loans,\" Sheila Bair told National Public Radio. ___ OBAMA: \"We have already identified $2 trillion in savings over the next decade.\" THE FACTS: Although 10-year projections are common in government, they don't mean much. And at times, they are a way for a president to pass on the most painful steps to his successor, by putting off big tax increases or spending cuts until someone else is in the White House. Obama only has a real say on spending during the four years of his term. He may not be president after that and he certainly won't be 10 years from now. ___ OBAMA: \"Regulations were gutted for the sake of a quick profit at the expense of a healthy market. People bought homes they knew they couldn't afford from banks and lenders who pushed those bad loans anyway. And all the while, critical debates and difficult decisions were put off for some other time on some other day.\" THE FACTS: This may be so, but it isn't only Republicans who pushed for deregulation of the financial industries. The Clinton administration championed an easing of banking regulations, including legislation that ended the barrier between regular banks and Wall Street banks. That led to a deregulation that kept regular banks under tight federal regulation but extended lax regulation of Wall Street banks. Clinton Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, later an economic adviser to candidate Obama, was in the forefront in pushing for this deregulation. ___ OBAMA: \"In this budget, we will end education programs that don't work and end direct payments to large agribusinesses that don't need them. We'll eliminate the no-bid contracts that have wasted billions in Iraq, and reform our defense budget so that we're not paying for Cold War-era weapons systems we don't use. We will root out the waste, fraud and abuse in our Medicare program that doesn't make our seniors any healthier, and we will restore a sense of fairness and balance to our tax code by finally ending the tax breaks for corporations that ship our jobs overseas.\" THE FACTS: First, his budget does not accomplish any of that. It only proposes those steps. That's all a president can do, because control over spending rests with Congress. Obama's proposals here are a wish list and some items, including corporate tax increases and cuts in agricultural aid, will be a tough sale in Congress. Second, waste, fraud and abuse are routinely targeted by presidents who later find that the savings realized seldom amount to significant sums. Programs that a president might consider wasteful have staunch defenders in Congress who have fought off similar efforts in the past. ___ OBAMA: \"In the last eight years, (health insurance) premiums have grown four times faster than wages. And in each of these years, 1 million more Americans have lost their health insurance\" THE FACTS: The number of uninsured grew by 7 million from 2000 to 2007, the latest year for which Census figures are available, meaning Obama's claim would be true if had been talking about averages. But it's n"}, {"response": 1785, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Feb 25, 2009 (09:55)", "body": "\"Clinton Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, later an economic adviser to candidate Obama, was in the forefront in pushing for this deregulation. \" He sings a different song almost nightly on the Larry Kudlow show. \" Similarly, the head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. suggested this month it's not likely aid will be denied to all homeowners who overstated their income or assets to get a mortgage they couldn't afford. \"I think it's just simply impractical to try to do a forensic analysis of each and every one of these delinquent loans,\" Sheila Bair told National Public Radio.\" :-((((( So much for accountability ...to say nothing of responsibility. I'm surprised the AP is the source of this news clip...they have consistently been such cheerleaders of the president. ___"}, {"response": 1786, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Feb 25, 2009 (09:56)", "body": "shoot..."}, {"response": 1787, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Feb 25, 2009 (10:00)", "body": "(Moon)Afghanistan was always were we should have been in mass force. I hope to see it happen. I wish he'd give Richard Holbrooke a chance a diplomacy first (Gawd! I'm getting to sound like \"The Nation\") I just don't want a repeat of \"Charlie Wilson's War\".Remember? The generals asked for 30-40K troops and he's sending 17K. We're doing it \"on the cheap\"again. I hope the president listens to his good friend Colin Powell."}, {"response": 1788, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Feb 25, 2009 (17:43)", "body": "Is there a fact check for Jindal's claim to be turning down the federal stimulus money offered to his state? From what I've seen, he's only turning down the $98 million for temporary unemployment comp. That's a pittance relative to the total headed for Louisiana: $3.8 billion."}, {"response": 1789, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Feb 25, 2009 (17:56)", "body": "He didn't say he was turning it all down. Only the programs that the state can't sustain in 3 yrs ."}, {"response": 1790, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Feb 25, 2009 (18:00)", "body": "So, turning down 2.5% (and that is all it is) is hardly anything he should be holding up as an example of his fiscal prudence."}, {"response": 1791, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Feb 25, 2009 (18:05)", "body": "No one is against job creation with infrastructure. That's what this bill is supposed to do . He just doesn't want to raise taxes later on to meet expenses that would occur once this 2.5% expires. Makes sense to me. At least it shows he read the bill;-D"}, {"response": 1792, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Feb 25, 2009 (18:14)", "body": "Mountain meet molehill"}, {"response": 1793, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Feb 25, 2009 (19:44)", "body": "Huh?"}, {"response": 1794, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Feb 26, 2009 (10:14)", "body": "Wall St Journal The 2% Illusion Take everything they earn, and it still won't be enough. \"The bottom line is that Mr. Obama is selling the country on a 2% illusion. Unwinding the U.S. commitment in Iraq and allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire can't possibly pay for his agenda. Taxes on the not-so-rich will need to rise as well.\" http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123561551065378405.html?mod=djemEditorialPage You don't have to answer this. I'm inured. Bottom line: Go ahead and spend everything before the gov't takes it all. Buy the Jimmy Choos, eat at that Michellin *** restaurant,take that trip...go ahead. Uncle Sam is gonna take care of you when it's gone.;-P What the hell! :-(((((("}, {"response": 1795, "author": "mari", "date": "Thu, Feb 26, 2009 (12:26)", "body": "I liked what one of the PA congressmen said yesterday. \"The people who put us into this ditch are now the same ones complaining about the size of the dump truck.\" Bobby Jindal is running for president, and what he says is politically motivated. Plus, there's a provision in the law that says a state's legislature can overrule a governor's refusal of funds, so it's real easy being a refusenik when you know it will have no consequences. Hey, Ahh-nuld said he'll gladly take any money that Bobby doesn't want. And I think it's rich that Bobby is tsk tsking federal expenditures when his state has been the recipient of federal funds/taxpayer generosity to the nth degree in recent years. Also, his bit about how his parents paid the hospital bill out of their own pockets when he was born was a slap at people with no health coverage. When my mother in law passed away, we came across the hospital bill from my husband's birth. He's not *that* much older than BJ, and the bill for a 10-day hospital stay was $125, including $15 for nursery care of the baby! I know people made a lot less then, but there is no way that the average family's income has kept proportionate pace with the cost of health care. Paying that bill out of one's own pocket would be ruinous for most family's today. One of the conservative columnists really blasted Jindal's rebuttal on Jim Lehrer's show, saying it made the R party seem more out of touch than ever. And he thought it was pathetic that they didn't come up with a member of Congress to do the rebuttal."}, {"response": 1796, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Feb 26, 2009 (12:51)", "body": "Go ahead, make my day. You can go on quoting Barney Frank and Chris Dodd too. Like they're lily-clean...*snort* Sooner or later they're goin to run out of people to blame. Like I said, I'm inured."}, {"response": 1797, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Feb 26, 2009 (12:54)", "body": "Almost forgot: \"Comrades\"!!"}, {"response": 1798, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Feb 26, 2009 (14:41)", "body": "(Evelyn) Sooner or later they're goin to run out of people to blame My turn.....huh?"}, {"response": 1799, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Feb 26, 2009 (16:30)", "body": "Evelyn, do you agree the country is basically in the shithole, to put it bluntly? If you don't like the ideas being proposed to raise money, because money must be raised, how do you see it happening, without raising some taxes, probably across the board (by at the least letting some tax cuts expire)? The top 1% have had significantly disproportional tax cuts and allowances vs others in the past 8 years. I'll take it that in Clinton's era, you considered taxes were disproportionately high? But he left the country in much better shape than the way he found it. That must've been a bad thing somehow. Do you agree with the concept of any kind of universal medical care/single payer system healthcare. I'll guess you have good insurance. If you think everyone should be eligible for at least basic healthcare, how do you see it being funded? (Me) If you think everyone should be eligible for at least basic healthcare, how do you see it being funded? I, myself, first think they need to stop paying subsidies for managed Medicare/Medicaid plans that cost more to administer than straight Medicare/Medicaid and redirect it to the straight plans or to some kind of basic care for those that aren't covered at all. Ironically the managed plans cost more to administer, yet generally allow less services or reimburse at a lower rate. Guess where that extra $$ goes."}, {"response": 1800, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Feb 26, 2009 (18:00)", "body": "\"However, while 69% of Republicans and 59% of unaffiliated voters say tax cuts help the economy, only 43% of Democrats agree. Seventy percent (70%) of GOP voters and 54% of unaffiliateds say tax increases hurt the economy, a view shared by only 22% of Democrats. The plurality of Democrats (40%) say tax increases are good for the economy. A majority of investors favor tax cuts and oppose tax increases. http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/business/taxes/51_say_tax_hike_on_those_earning_over_250_000_is_a_good_move I find that people who are looking for a hand-out are in favor of taxing anybody, except themselves. All they're looking for is their income tax refund. Which I think should be cancelled if the country is in such a \"shithole\" as you colorfully put it. I oppose any single payer gov't run healthcare system (national health) like they have in Sweden;-) Though I do believe there has to be some reform in the system I always said I liked most of Hill's plan. Comrades!!! spend, spend, spend!!"}, {"response": 1801, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Feb 26, 2009 (23:21)", "body": "(Evelyn) I find that people who are looking for a hand-out are in favor of taxing anybody, except themselves. All those businesses/corporations who have benefited and continue to benefit from tax cuts/loopholes come to mind. Or gotten TARP $$. Which would include anyone who got a Bush tax cut I'd presume. Is that who you were referring to? \"However, while 69% of Republicans and 59% of unaffiliated voters say tax cuts help the economy Judging by all the tax cuts given out in the past 2-3 years at least, that obviously did no good, it shows these people have barely a clue. And what about those lovely surplus checks, that helped all of a couple of months tops. Big deal. Gives what amounts to a statistical bump up. As noted here before, most people would/did horde the $$ or pay bills, which does nothing for the economy. But then again O said he planned to give tax cuts to the middle and lower class, so go figure. And I can't say I completely agree with the tax incentives for buying cars/houses, etc. Tax incentives for developing or buying solar energy and some other alternative energy sources is something I do support if it would give those options a boost as they in the long run will help us save energy and hopefully $$. Seventy percent (70%) of GOP voters and 54% of unaffiliateds say tax increases hurt the economy How would anyone know if we haven't had any in the past 8 years? All they're looking for is their income tax refund. I'll be looking in the mailbox for mine soon. I'm not necessarily against getting less of a refund, or really none at all if the $$ is not wasted as it has been with the Iraq War and/or put toward something more useful. Sure I love to get a refund, but if I don't get it, I don't get it. I just plan accordingly. I understand there's going to be a certain amount of waste of my money in government spending, just as there is in the private sector. I'm not sure you answered my question of where you think we'd should get more $$ or how you think we can get out of the hole. I'm not sure that presenting quotes of the obvious really answers anything. A majority of investors favor tax cuts and oppose tax increases. I can only LOL at the striking obviousness of this, which really renders it meaningless to me in the scope of this discussion. I'm not saying I completely agree with the spend, spend, spend ideology, but then again, I'm a follower to some degree of the \"gotta spend money to make money\" point of view, too. And certainly, finance isn't my forte. (Evelyn) I always said I liked most of Hill's plan. Refresh my memory if you would, I don't remember what her plan was."}, {"response": 1802, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Feb 27, 2009 (10:13)", "body": "(Evelyn) I always said I liked most of Hill's plan. (Dorine)Refresh my memory if you would, I don't remember what her plan was. You're kidding. I don't have the time. Google it. But speaking of Hill..... I guess now that she's not the senator from NY she doesn't have to play nice to the Jewish community.... Jewish Leaders Blast Clinton Over Israel Criticism Zuckerman, Lawmakers, Local Jews Say Secretary Of State Not The Hillary Clinton They Used To Know Hillary Pressuring Israel To Speed Up Aid To Gaza http://wcbstv.com/national/hillary.clinton.israel.2.945238.html Maybe your tax refund check can go towards the $900 M to rebuild Gaza. I bet \"The Nation\" will like that. Stay tuned; I'll let you know;-)"}, {"response": 1803, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Feb 28, 2009 (11:46)", "body": "With regard to Obama's budget, he asked for the world basically knowing he wasn't going to get it and it would be torn down some. He addressed that concept at his first press conference after working on the stim bill. He said he learned not to go in with exactly what he wanted, but to go in with more because the Congress would counter him no matter what he presented. It's the same game one plays with salary negotiations. Each side goes in with a number (one highball and the other lowball) and comes to a compromise in the middle (hopefully)."}, {"response": 1804, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Feb 28, 2009 (12:04)", "body": "Bolds are mine. Bush a four-letter word at CPAC By ANDY BARR | 2/28/09 9:44 AM EST Conservatives aren\ufffdt sure who\ufffds the Republican presidential frontrunner in 2012. They disagree over how sharply to attack President Barack Obama and on the question of whether a back-to-basics approach is the path back to majority. But if there\ufffds one thing those attending the annual Conservative Political Action Conference this week agree on, it is this: They don\ufffdt want another George W. Bush. Few come out right out and say it, but they don\ufffdt have to. There\ufffds no nostalgia for the past eight years, no tributes to Bush and no sessions dedicated to exploring his presidency. Indeed, for a president who publicly embraced conservative principles, there is little evidence that the movement returns the sentiment. When the subject of the 43rd president has come up at CPAC\ufffdwhere he spoke each year of his presidency\ufffdit\ufffds usually been in an unflattering context. Conservative icon Newt Gingrich, the former House Speaker, railed against the \ufffdBush-Obama continuity in economic policy\ufffd and the \ufffdBush-Obama big spending program\ufffd in a speech Friday. \"We had big spending under Bush and now we have big spending under Obama,\" Gingrich said. \"And so now we have two failures.\" He wasn\ufffdt the only high-profile conservative taking shots at the former president. \ufffdI wish the president would have laid [a stimulus package] out before he left office, so that in September, October, November, December, there would have been a stimulus plan,\ufffd former Gov. Mitt Romney (R-Mass.) said Friday in an interview with POLITICO, adding that the GOP has yet to come up with unified policy proposals or a clear, positive voice. Former Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-Ark.), like Romney an unsuccessful candidate for president in 2008, pointed to the Bush administration\ufffds failed response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005. \ufffdYou know what kind of conservatives we need most? Competent conservatives,\ufffd Huckabee said in a speech Thursday. \ufffdIt\ufffds when we lose our competence, that Americans lose their confidence.\ufffd \ufffdWe\ufffdre no longer Reagan\ufffds shining city on a hill, we are the ruined city by the sea,\ufffd he added. While the 9,000 registered attendants represented the top turnout in the conference\ufffds history, the series of speeches, panels, meeting, dinners and parties was dominated by questions about the direction of the conservative movement and the Republican Party in the post-Bush era. The absence of two of the party\ufffds most recognizable conservatives, Gov. Sarah Palin (R-Alaska) and Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-La.), only added to the uncertainty since CPAC has traditionally served as an early proving ground for GOP presidential contenders and their ideas. \ufffdWe are fast becoming a regional party, not a national party,\ufffd Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) warned the conference. \ufffdThere is another name for a regional party, it\ufffds a minority party.\ufffd Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) added that \ufffdthe American people walked away from us, so now we\ufffdre in the wilderness.\ufffd While it was obvious that Bush failed to leave a model of governance for conservatives to follow, it was equally clear that there are competing visions for how Republicans can recover. Rep. Connie Mack (R-Fla.) said the House Republicans \ufffdhave found out the way to regain the majority is to go back to our old ways.\ufffd Pence said that while the GOP does need to adopt new technology and ideas, it really needs to \ufffdget back to basics.\ufffd \ufffdWe need to be willing to fight for freedom, free markets and traditional family values,\ufffd he said. Other speakers warned audiences that they needed to rethink their priorities in order to come back to power. Joe Scarborough, a former Republican congressman and current host of MSNBC\ufffds \ufffdMorning Joe,\ufffd warned the GOP against becoming the party of resistance and urged conservatives to tone down their rhetoric against Obama. \ufffdWe have to present alternatives, we can\ufffdt just say no,\ufffd he said. \ufffdThere is an alternative to everything we hear from the White House every single day, but we can\ufffdt just say no.\ufffd He added: \ufffdWe\ufffdre not going to win votes and we\ufffdre not going to win elections by calling Barack Obama a communist.\ufffd But various scenes from the conference suggested that won\ufffdt be so simple. When House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) called the president\ufffds $787 billion stimulus a \ufffddown payment on a new American socialist experiment,\ufffd the audience exploded in enthusiastic response, just as it did when Cliff Kincaid, the editor of Accuracy in Media, suggested that Obama is not an American citizen. Obama, of course, wasn\ufffdt the only pin cushion at the conference\ufffdother frequent targets included House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner. Gingrich singled out Geithner as \ufffdpart of the Bush group.\ufffd Despite the disappointments of the Bush era, CPAC's leader, American Conservative Union President David A. Keene, urged conservatives to remain hopeful and to continue to elect conservative"}, {"response": 1805, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Feb 28, 2009 (13:52)", "body": "The George Will comments I posted about a little while back and generated a large amount of controversy is addressed by the WaPo's ombudsman. The hallowed mainstream media at work: The Heat From a Global Warming Column by Ombudsman Sunday, March 1, 2009; Page A13 Opinion columnists are free to choose whatever facts bolster their arguments. But they aren't free to distort them. The question of whether that happened is at the core of an uproar over a recent George F. Will column and The Post's fact-checking process. [....] http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/27/AR2009022702334.html"}, {"response": 1806, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Mar  1, 2009 (02:56)", "body": "This piece is long, but quite detailed. Not at all dissimilar to what happened with the Dan Rather/60 Mins story on Bush and the Air National Guard from what I read. Highly coordinated and speedy media response. Too speedy. Ya gotta love it....no? \"But was Santelli\ufffds rant really so spontaneous? How did a minor-league TV figure, whose contract with CNBC is due this summer, get so quickly launched into a nationwide rightwing blog sensation? Why were there so many sites and organizations online and live within minutes or hours after his rant, leading to a nationwide protest just a week after his rant? What hasn\ufffdt been reported until now is evidence linking Santelli\ufffds \ufffdtea party\ufffd rant with some very familiar names in the Republican rightwing machine, from PR operatives who specialize in imitation-grassroots PR campaigns (called \ufffdastroturfing\ufffd) to bigwig politicians and notorious billionaire funders. As veteran Russia reporters, both of us spent years watching the Kremlin use fake grassroots movements to influence and control the political landscape. To us, the uncanny speed and direction the movement took and the players involved in promoting it had a strangely forced quality to it. If it seemed scripted, that's because it was. What we discovered is that Santelli\ufffds \ufffdrant\ufffd was not at all spontaneous as his alleged fans claim, but rather it was a carefully-planned trigger for the anti-Obama campaign. In PR terms, his February 19th call for a \ufffdChicago Tea Party\ufffd was the launch event of a carefully organized and sophisticated PR campaign, one in which Santelli served as a frontman, using the CNBC airwaves for publicity, for the some of the craziest and sleaziest rightwing oligarch clans this country has ever produced. Namely, the Koch family, the multibilllionaire owners of the largest private corporation in America, and funders of scores of rightwing thinktanks and advocacy groups, from the Cato Institute and Reason Magazine to FreedomWorks. The scion of the Koch family, Fred Koch, was a co-founder of the notorious extremist-rightwing John Birch Society. As you read this, Big Business is pouring tens of millions of dollars into their media machines in order to destroy just about every economic campaign promise Obama has made, as reported recently in the Wall Street Journal. At stake isn\ufffdt the little guy\ufffds fight against big government, as Santelli and his bot-supporters claim, but rather the \ufffdupper 2 percent\ufffd\ufffds war to protect their wealth from the Obama Adminstration\ufffds economic plans. When this Santelli \ufffdgrassroots\ufffd campaign is peeled open, what\ufffds revealed is a glimpse of what is ahead and what is bound to be a hallmark of his presidency. \" http://www.playboy.com/blog/2009/02/backstabber.html"}, {"response": 1807, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Mar  1, 2009 (02:57)", "body": "And I didn't emphasize you should go the link and read the entire piece."}, {"response": 1808, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Mar  1, 2009 (03:00)", "body": "And commentary from where I found it: \"If this article is correct, then CNBC has staged the news, not just a single incident, but a whole string of discussions and programs that have been at the center of CNBC's programming since Santelli's staged rant. And from the evidence -- including the fact that the website used to organize the so-called tea party was created well in advance by the same right wing sources who orchestrated the Obama-Ayers story -- it appears that at least some of those involved were in on the scam.\""}, {"response": 1809, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Mar  1, 2009 (03:18)", "body": "Oops!! Somebody got their signals crossed. Louisiana to seek New Orleans-Baton Rouge passenger rail line from federal stimulus pot that Jindal called wasteful by Robert Travis Scott, The Times-Picayune Saturday February 28, 2009, 8:00 AM BATON ROUGE - Louisiana's transportation department plans to request federal dollars for a New Orleans to Baton Rouge passenger rail service from the same pot of railroad money in the president's economic stimulus package that Gov. Bobby Jindal criticized as unnecessary pork on national television Tuesday night. The high-speed rail line, a topic of discussion for years, would require $110 million to upgrade existing freight lines and terminals to handle a passenger train operation, said Mark Lambert, spokesman for the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development. Jindal on Tuesday delivered the official Republican Party response to President Barack Obama's address to Congress. He criticized the stimulus package passed by the Democratic-majority in Congress and the president and noted examples of projects that he found objectionable. \"While some of the projects in the bill make sense, their legislation is larded with wasteful spending,\" Jindal said. \"It includes ... $8 billion for high-speed rail projects, such as a 'magnetic levitation' line from Las Vegas to Disneyland.\" [....] http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2009/02/louisiana_to_seek_new_orleansb.html"}, {"response": 1810, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Mar  1, 2009 (10:26)", "body": "I'm don't always agree with what he says, but he is saying here exactly what I said about Hillary and her envoys around the world, just much wordier. ;-) There's just too much to be done by one person at the same time. Op-Ed Columnist Super (Sub) Secretaries By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN Published: February 28, 2009 It is way too soon to say what policy breakthroughs Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will be known for at the State Department. But she has already left her mark bureaucratically. She has invented new diplomatic positions that say a great deal about the state of foreign policy in these messy times. I would call them \ufffdThe Super Sub-Secretaries of State.\ufffd Mrs. Clinton has appointed three Super Sub-Secretaries \ufffd George Mitchell to handle Arab-Israel negotiations, Richard Holbrooke to manage Afghanistan-Pakistan affairs and Dennis Ross to coordinate Iran policy. The Obama team seems to have concluded that these three problems are so intractable that they require almost full-time secretary of state-quality attention. So you need officials who have more weight and more time \ufffd more weight than the normal assistant secretary of state so they will be taken seriously in their respective regions and will have a chance to move the bureaucracy, and more time to work on each of these discrete, Gordian problems than a secretary of state can devote in a week. Some scoff that this approach is a sign of weakness on Mrs. Clinton\ufffds part. I\ufffdd hold off on that. If she can manage this diplomatic A-team, Mrs. Clinton\ufffds experiment could make a lot of sense. It is a much more disorderly world out there. After the 1973 Arab-Israel war, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger set the gold standard for mediation by negotiating the disengagement agreements between Israel and Egypt and Israel and Syria \ufffd the first real peace accords ever struck between those parties. But Mr. Kissinger had it easy. He basically needed to forge an agreement between one pharaoh (Anwar Sadat), one military dictator (Hafez Assad) and one overwhelmingly powerful prime minister (Golda Meir), whose Labor Party then totally dominated Israel. All three of Kissinger\ufffds interlocutors could speak for their people and deliver and sustain any agreements. That is not true today in the main theaters of conflict where the parties are either failing states with multiple power centers \ufffd Afghanistan, Pakistan and Palestine \ufffd or strong states with governments so fractious and hydra-headed that they border on paralyzed \ufffd Israel and Iran. The political struggles in these societies are so virulent today that until they are defused, it will be very difficult to make any deals between them. That is why you need sub-secretaries of state. So George Mitchell is, in effect, \ufffdSuper Sub-Secretary of State for Nurturing a Coherent Palestinian Authority and a Coherent Israeli Negotiating Position So That the Two Might One Day Be Able to Strike a Deal Again.\ufffd Richard Holbrooke is \ufffdSuper Sub-Secretary of State for Bringing Coherence to the Afghan and Pakistan Governments So That They Can One Day Be Internally Stable and United Against the Taliban and Al Qaeda.\ufffd And Dennis Ross is \ufffdSuper Sub-Secretary of State for Amassing Global Leverage on the Incomprehensibly Byzantine Iranian Government So That It Will Terminate Its Nuclear Weapons Program.\ufffd In the cold war, the world was divided between East and West, and the Soviet Union could be counted on to aid, prop up and sometimes deliver the weaker states in its orbit. Today, the world is divided between \ufffdthe regions of order\ufffd and \ufffdthe regions of disorder,\ufffd and the regions of disorder are big enough and disorderly enough that they each require their own super sub-secretary of state to manage the chaos and mobilize the coalitions. \ufffdThe world today can be much better understood if you think of it from the perspective of regions and not states,\ufffd said Gen. Jim Jones, President Obama\ufffds national security adviser. And the regions of disorder are likely to multiply as the world\ufffds economic crisis metastasizes. \ufffdAs we look at 2009, on every issue, with the single exception of Iraq, everything is worse,\ufffd said Ian Bremmer, co-author of \ufffdThe Fat Tail,\ufffd about the biggest risks facing the world\ufffds decision-makers. \ufffdPakistan is worse. Afghanistan is worse. Russia is worse. Emerging markets are worse. Everything big out there is worse, and some will be made even worse by the economic crisis.\ufffd There is a geopolitical storm coming, concluded Bremmer, \ufffdand it is not priced into the market yet.\ufffd Did anyone notice that the State Department issued a travel advisory for Mexico last week, warning that \ufffdRecent Mexican Army and police confrontations with drug cartels have resembled small-unit combat ... Large firefights have taken place in many towns and cities across Mexico ... During some of these incidents, U.S. citizens have been trapped.\ufffd That is Mexico, not Pakistan! \ufffdAs the effects of the economic crisis spread and viable states become weak states and weak states be"}, {"response": 1811, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Mar  1, 2009 (10:27)", "body": "http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/01/opinion/01friedman.html?_r=1"}, {"response": 1812, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Mar  1, 2009 (13:10)", "body": "(Evelyn) (Evelyn) I always said I liked most of Hill's plan. (Dorine)Refresh my memory if you would, I don't remember what her plan was. (Evelyn) Google it. And I did. Here's one analysis I found... http://www.thehealthcareblog.com/the_health_care_blog/2008/02/an-analysis-o-1.html I remembered that it was said Obama's and Hil's plan weren't that different. And I don't see a tremendous difference except that at one point, I don't think O's plan covered everyone. What parts did you like that you referred to vs. O's plan? What parts didn't you like about her plan?"}, {"response": 1813, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sun, Mar  1, 2009 (15:16)", "body": "(Dorine) What parts did you like that you referred to vs. O's plan? What parts didn't you like about her plan *snort*Is this a Q&A? I like that Hill forces everyone to join. Not voluntary. Like Romney's plan in Ma. (PS I didn't go to your links; busy day)"}, {"response": 1814, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Mar  1, 2009 (18:08)", "body": "There's no one here from MA, right? I've only read about the MA system in a peripheral way, but I thought I read that since they require you to join, they'll fine you if you don't. What I don't know is, why don't some people pay? Is it still too much? Or they just don't want to. I wonder what the minimum amount to join is. If some don't pay because they can't, how can they pay fines? I'll have to read up on that. I also read that it's costing significantly more than they anticipated."}, {"response": 1815, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Mar  2, 2009 (01:02)", "body": "Was just rereading: (Evelyn) And ,this is C.N.B.C. Not Fox Business News;-) It appears they are more like Fox than anyone knew. ;-)"}, {"response": 1816, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Mar  2, 2009 (09:29)", "body": "(Dorine)Was just rereading: (Evelyn) And ,this is C.N.B.C. Not Fox Business News;-) (Dorine)It appears they are more like Fox than anyone knew. ;-) ROTF Reminds me of a cat my DIL had. When reprimanded, he would go off and sulk....then come back and bite her. No offense. I know you like cats;-)"}, {"response": 1817, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Mar  2, 2009 (21:49)", "body": "Rush has to be totally lovin' all this attention. These people really are brilliant at media manipulation. http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/02/what-to-do-about-rush/"}, {"response": 1818, "author": "mari", "date": "Tue, Mar  3, 2009 (10:54)", "body": "Also on Sunday, G.O.P. party chair Michael Steele said, \ufffdI\ufffdm the de facto leader of the Republican Party\ufffd and \ufffdRush Limbaugh is an entertainer,\ufffd I think I've heard this \"he's just an entertainer\" line before.;-) And here's an update: this morning, Michael Steele had to apologize to RL for his comments. *shaking head*"}, {"response": 1819, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Mar  3, 2009 (13:23)", "body": "How can any inteligent person think that Democracy would work with Muslims? 8-Year-Old Girl Married Off to 47-Year-Old Man For every step forward women make, there are inevitable reminders that women and girls around the world still suffer unspeakable injustices and inequalities. Take the case of an 8-year-old girl in Saudi Arabia, who was recently married off to a 47-year-old man in order to settle her father's debts. Despite her mother's vehement disagreement with the marriage, the child was married off anyway, because it turns out that mothers in Saudi Arabia do not have the same rights as fathers. When the girl's mother took her case to the Saudi courts, a top cleric refused to annul the marriage, arguing, \"A girl aged 10 or 12 can be married. Those who think she's too young are wrong and they are being unfair to her.\" The case is hardly unique: According to Human Rights Watch, child marriage is common across parts of the Middle East and Africa. http://www.lemondrop.com/2009/02/10/8-year-old-married-off-to-47-year-old-man/"}, {"response": 1820, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Mar  3, 2009 (15:51)", "body": "I didn't hear Rush...but I don't know what the uproar is all about. He wants \"Obama's policy to fail.\" He's for capitalism, pro-life, marriage between a man and woman, Etc. So? That's treason? Did you ever hear any liberal say they wanted Pres Bush's policies to fail? Were you enraged? Should I be about Rush? Is that like hoping the Taliban would win? I heard that one from libs. Or Hamas to win ? Where is the hue and cry there? Whoopi Goldberg's filthy remarks at the Tony comparing Bush to her pubic hair. Nice? *shaking head*;-)"}, {"response": 1821, "author": "mari", "date": "Tue, Mar  3, 2009 (16:35)", "body": "Did you ever hear any liberal say they wanted Pres Bush's policies to fail?Is that like hoping the Taliban would win? Or Hamas to win ? Whoopi Goldberg's filthy remarks Not any liberal who was representing the Democratic Party. That's the difference. He's for capitalism Ok . . . pro-life I'm pro-choice. marriage between a man and woman So is Obama, but frankly I could not care less. People in your own party are saying this is a big embarrassment for them. Me, I should be gleeful, but I'm not made that way."}, {"response": 1822, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Mar  3, 2009 (16:36)", "body": "You'll see this clip all over the news tonight... White House Knocks Jim Cramer For Calling Obama Budget \"Greatest Wealth Destruction By a President http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/cnbc/white_house_knocks_jim_cramer_for_calling_obama_budget_greatest_wealth_destruction_by_a_president_110203.asp Read the comments. I have to concur that WH's minimizing people by name over their right of free speech is at best unseemly and dangerous. Are we going to be subjected to this for the next 4-8 yrs. Trashing anyone who disagrees with his policies? Shows insecurity, IMO. *shaking head*, again;-)"}, {"response": 1823, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Mar  3, 2009 (16:40)", "body": "Not any liberal who was representing the Democratic Party. That's the difference. Who more than: Howard Dean? Nancy Pelosi? Harry Reid? Not to mention the Honorable Vice President.... Rush does not represent the Republican Party. And he hasn't called the President a liar.....so far."}, {"response": 1824, "author": "mari", "date": "Tue, Mar  3, 2009 (16:49)", "body": "Who more than: Howard Dean? Nancy Pelosi? Harry Reid? Not to mention the Honorable Vice President.... There's criticsm, which is everyone's right, and then there's stating the hope that the policies of a man in office 4 weeks will fail. You can't see the difference? Your Cramer link doesn't open for me."}, {"response": 1825, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Mar  3, 2009 (17:02)", "body": "pro-life (Mari), I'm pro-choice. I'm pro-adoption. Too many people stupid enough not to know how to use birth control or not using it thinking how easy it is to get an abortion. Society does not have it right. I'm giving Obama a chance, but something is not working because stocks keep falling. I'm not happy with all the obstructionism right now."}, {"response": 1826, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Mar  3, 2009 (17:40)", "body": "There's criticsm, which is everyone's right, and then there's stating the hope that the policies of a man in office 4 weeks will fail. You can't see the difference? LOL. Nope. Criticism is criticism *regardelss* if the time frame. Sorry. And moreover, it's always a right"}, {"response": 1827, "author": "mari", "date": "Tue, Mar  3, 2009 (19:35)", "body": "regardelss* if the time frame. It's irresponsible for a political party leader to wish failure on the president. They can disagree, and criticize, but to wish failure on the person who has the collective interests of Americans as his job is despicable. That's wishing failure on us all. Ok, how's this: you win, Rush! Obama fails and we are in worse shape than 1929. You win! Ok, now tell me what you won. Moon, I hate to tell you this, but we are in for a long siege. IMO, we'll be lucky if we can start to climb out of this in the next two years. The problems are systemic and they sure didn't develop overnight. And they won't be solved overnight. The U.S. economy is a big ship to turn around. This is years and years of neglect and fiscal irresponsibility coming home to roost."}, {"response": 1828, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Mar  3, 2009 (20:15)", "body": "Ohgawd...:-((((((( I'm givng up *hope* for Lent. The bottom line, Mari, is that the market doesn't like uncertainty and they see no plan for \"growth\" in the future. He doesn't care about the stock market, but people are losing their savings daily. Listening to tonight's business channels...(Bloomberg, too) they see the new carbon & trade regime as a tax that will be passed on to the consumer... another nail in the coffin. I know these are campaign promises that he wants enacted , and I concur with some of them, but he should focus on the economy first."}, {"response": 1829, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Mar  3, 2009 (20:25)", "body": "\"The Nation\" is forecasting \"Economically Driven Violence\" \"As people lose confidence in the ability of markets and governments to solve the global crisis, they are likely to erupt into violent protests or to assault others they deem responsible for their plight, including government officials, plant managers, landlords, immigrants and ethnic minorities. \" http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090316/klare A revolution!!"}, {"response": 1830, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Mar  3, 2009 (23:43)", "body": "Did you ever hear any liberal say they wanted Pres Bush's policies to fail? Not really. Well, on second thought, if you're talking about the policies of torture and those that eroded civil liberties and breaking down of the Constitution....then, yes. Were you enraged? As an American citizen, of course. Should I be about Rush? Yes, you know why? He doesn't give two hoots about you or any other plain ole citizen Republican. It's the people who make him money and give him power he cares about. He's got millions. He's taken a hit I'm sure, but he's not in danger of losing that Palm Beach house of his. What does he care about the rest of the peons. And maybe Oxycontin. ;-) Is that like hoping the Taliban would win? I heard that one from libs. As you said to me once.....prove it. I'd like to see the context of a comment like that."}, {"response": 1831, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Mar  4, 2009 (00:09)", "body": "*gasp* I just noticed Evelyn posted a blog link that wasn't attached to a mainstream publication (Mediabistro) !! I'm proud of you! (Evelyn) I have to concur that WH's minimizing people by name over their right of free speech is at best unseemly and dangerous. Gibbs was asked about Cramer by name. It's not like he pulled his name out of the air to criticize. I didn't find anything particularly inflammatory about what the WH said either. They just basically dismissed his comments really. Also, Jim Cramer is quite inconsistently correct. I followed his views last fall when things started falling apart and he was very, very wrong about a number of things. Not that he wasn't the only one, mind you. And I read those comments. Some of those people are......interesting...to say the least."}, {"response": 1832, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Mar  4, 2009 (10:11)", "body": "(Dorine)He doesn't give two hoots about you or any other plain ole citizen Republican. Prove it!;-)"}, {"response": 1833, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Mar  4, 2009 (10:18)", "body": "Uh oh....it's not just the Republicans that he's offending.... From THE TELEGRAPH (blog!) President Barack Obama just plain rude to Britain. Don't call us in future. Why couldn't President Obama have put on more of a show for his British guests? He looked like he simply couldn't be bothered. Number 10 may be content that they just about got away with the visit to the Oval Office yesterday, as Andrew Porter reports from Washington. But on this side of the Atlantic the whole business looked pretty demeaning. The morning papers and TV last night featured plenty of comment focused on the White House's very odd and, frankly, exceptionally rude treatment of a British PM. Squeezing in a meeting, denying him a full press conference with flags etc. The British press corps, left outside for an hour in the cold, can take it and their privations are of limited concern to the public. But Obama's merely warmish words (one of our closest allies, said with little sincerity or passion) left a bitter taste with this Atlanticist. Especially after his team had made Number 10 beg for a mini press conference and then not even offered the PM lunch. We get the point, sunshine: we're just one of many allies and you want fancy new friends. Well, the next time you need something doing, something which impinges on your national security, then try calling the French, or the Japanese, or best of all the Germans. The French will be able to offer you first rate support from their catering corps but beyond that you'll be on your own. When it comes to men, munitions and commitment you'll soon find out why it pays to at least treat the Brits with some manners. http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/iain_martin/blog/2009/03/04/president_barack_obama_just_plain_rude_to_britain_dont_call_us_in_future \"Hey, Barack, You're not in S. Chicago anymore;-)\" So much for making friends with our allies..... The 201 comments are interesting too."}, {"response": 1834, "author": "mari", "date": "Wed, Mar  4, 2009 (12:36)", "body": "He's addressing a joint session of Congress as we speak. What more do you want? Also, Brown has been outspoken in blaming the U.S. for the current trobules in the world economy. And maybe he's right. But maybe O doesn't like that, even though it wasn't on his watch. Plus isn't Brown very unpopular at home and will soon be replaced?"}, {"response": 1835, "author": "mari", "date": "Wed, Mar  4, 2009 (12:47)", "body": "the market doesn't like uncertainty and they see no plan for \"growth\" in the future. Give it time fergodsake! And I disagree that there's no plan for \"growth.\" There will be growth--in education, in health care, in infrastructure, in green technology, etc. The money will start flowing. The more immediate need is trying to loosen up the credit markets. He doesn't care about the stock market, but people are losing their savings daily. No kidding, I'm one of them. But how can you say he doesn't care? Because he said he's not slavishly looking at it every minute? The markets would do better to follow that lead and not be thrown by every blip. That's what erodes confidence and our economy is built on confidence. We're up about 125 pts today, but wait until the unemployment figures come out on Friday--it will be back down. It's pure emotion."}, {"response": 1836, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Mar  4, 2009 (13:37)", "body": "(Dorine)Plus isn't Brown very unpopular at home and will soon be replaced? Perhaps, you are right, good manners don't matter anymore. As one of the comments stated: It's not the person one honors, but the office of Prime Minister. I dispised Bill, but had he come into a room, I would have stood -up immediately. He represented a v. venerable office, IMO. But hey, what do I know? There will be growth--in education, in health care, in infrastructure, in green technology, etc. The money will start flowing. ... Start the novena."}, {"response": 1837, "author": "mari", "date": "Wed, Mar  4, 2009 (14:06)", "body": "It's not the person one honors, but the office of Prime Minister. And he's been honored: the first foreign leader to be received at the White House (Sarkozy wanted it but didn't get it); an address to Congress (only 4 PMs have given one). This seems to be a tempest in a teapot stirred up by a media that's mad it didn't get a photo op in the Rose Garden. Talk about fiddling while Rome burns. People who are bound and determined to find fault will undoubtedly always succeed in doing so. Start the novena. It's my audacity of hope.;-)"}, {"response": 1838, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Mar  4, 2009 (14:59)", "body": "LOL, ladies! It is a sad state of affairs. After 9/11 the stocks also tumbled, we were in a crisis, but it was all turning around after one year. This time it will take longer, but unless we all show support for O's plan and get moving on it, it will drag on and on."}, {"response": 1839, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Mar  4, 2009 (15:42)", "body": "It's my audacity of hope.;-) He's banking on that. And actually, I want his fiscal policy to succeed too , the job creation part..it's his cultural social policies I have a problem with...at this time. Too much, too soon. But he's a master salesman, and he won, so he can call the shots. Little me is only a small voice:-)))"}, {"response": 1840, "author": "sandyw", "date": "Wed, Mar  4, 2009 (16:30)", "body": "http://www.cbc.ca/cp/Oddities/090304/K030406AU.html LOL"}, {"response": 1841, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Mar  4, 2009 (17:16)", "body": "LOL!! At least they didn't change to something with DNR! :-O"}, {"response": 1842, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Mar  4, 2009 (17:21)", "body": "After 9/11 the stocks also tumbled, we were in a crisis, but it was all turning around after one year. So completely different circumstances. I agree this hour to hour watch of stocks is not good. I had a friend/co-worker that even in good times, used to check her pension/403B/stock accounts daily, multiple times and she drove herself nuts. Well, if what I read and heard is true, the bank/financial world is much worse than we know and actually a number of big institutions still standing are supposedly already actually insolvent, but we aren't being told to avoid complete panic. Don't know if Karen has heard any such things or believes it."}, {"response": 1843, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Mar  4, 2009 (17:58)", "body": "Of course if one doesn't have an investments, \"it don't mean a thing\"."}, {"response": 1844, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Mar  4, 2009 (19:39)", "body": "What \"don't mean a thing?\""}, {"response": 1845, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Mar  4, 2009 (19:56)", "body": "Kennedy to Receive Honorary Knighthood From Queen Elizabeth II By Kevin Sullivan and Debbi Wilgoren Washington Post Foreign Service Wednesday, March 4, 2009; 3:28 PM LONDON, March 4 -- Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) has been chosen to receive an honorary knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II, the British Foreign Office said. The honor was formally announced in Washington Wednesday by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, during his address to a joint session of the U.S. Congress. With Vice President Biden and House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Ca.) looking on from the podium, Brown praised Kennedy's role in bringing peace to Northern Ireland after generations of civil strife, and his decades of work to strengthen health care and education opportunities in the United States and around the globe. \"Northern Ireland today is at peace, more Americans have health care, children around the world are going to school,\" Brown said. \"And for all these things, we owe a great debt to the life, and courage, of Senator Edward Kennedy.\" Lawmakers rose to their feet to applaud. Kennedy, 77, is battling brain cancer and was not in the House chamber for Brown's speech. The British premier said the two spoke by phone Tuesday night. ad_icon The senior senator from Massachusetts is one of the best-known American politicians in Britain, and the patriarch of the U.S. family that most closely resembles political royalty. His father, Joseph P. Kennedy, was the U.S. ambassador to Britain in the years leading up to World War II. Two of his older brothers, President John F. Kennedy and senator and presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, were assassinated in 1963 and 1968, respectively. Kennedy, who since his brothers' deaths has been the patriarch of the nation's leading liberal family, has served in the Senate since 1962, longer than any other current lawmaker except Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.). He had surgery to remove a malignant brain tumor June 2. Experts have said that patients with his form of cancer often die within months of diagnosis, but surgery can help them survive for several years. The senator gave a stirring address at the Democratic National Convention in August and attended President Obama's inauguration in January. But he had a seizure at a luncheon following the inaugural ceremony. Kennedy has stayed involved in legislative issues in recent months, including efforts to reform health care and improve mental health treatment options in the United States, but has mostly stayed out of public view. Honorary knighthoods are generally given as recognition of achievement in various fields, from politics to sports. The vast majority of them go to British citizens. Kennedy joins a select group of Americans who have received the honor. According to Buckingham Palace, fewer than 100 U.S. citizens have received honorary knighthoods since the queen took the throne in 1952. They have included former presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, generals Norman Schwarzkopf and Tommy Franks, Henry Kissinger, Bob Hope, Steven Spielberg and Bill Gates. Last month, the British Embassy announced that former senator John W. Warner (R-Va.), would be similarly honored. Kennedy will not be able to officially use the title \"Sir,\" according to a spokesman for Britain's Cabinet Office, which oversees the honors system. Brits who are knighted by the queen are entitled to that moniker, but people given honorary knighthoods are not, the spokesman said. Such protocol details did not stop Brown from using the title informally Wednesday morning, extending greetings \"on behalf of the British people\" to \"Sir Edward Kennedy\" during his speech. Wilgoren reported from Washington. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/04/AR2009030400651.html?hpid=sec-world"}, {"response": 1846, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Mar  4, 2009 (20:33)", "body": "What \"don't mean a thing?\" Huh? They don't care. Heard a goody tonight: China doesn't tax capital gains. Also: Dominion Resources: good stock. \"Obama resistant\" LOL. Is that new favorable P/E ratio?????"}, {"response": 1847, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Mar  5, 2009 (00:46)", "body": "(Evelyn) They don't care. You mean if we aren't invested with their stock, they don't care about us? What kind of investments? I'm not trying to be funny (or dense), but I'm not clear on what you've been trying say with your replies to that. I found this link in the Health/Well pages of the NYT. I tell ya, healthcare today.... http://www.rd.com/living-healthy/41-secrets-for-your-next-doctor-visit/article75920.html"}, {"response": 1848, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Mar  5, 2009 (09:14)", "body": "Apparently the interpretative Dow fixation has its source in Fox News. You've got to see this. Click on the \"Dow Knows All\": http://www.thedailyshow.com/ Actually, you should watch the entire show as it was all about the economy and financial. Good segment on Santelli too. BTW, the bottom fell out of the markets the day after the Supreme Court ruled on Bush v. Gore and the recovery took more than a year. (Dorine) but I'm not clear on what you've been trying say with your replies to that. You're not the only one."}, {"response": 1849, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Mar  5, 2009 (09:50)", "body": "That was yesterday, and I don't remember what we were talking about...and I never re-read....nevah! BTW, the bottom fell out of the markets the day after the Supreme Court ruled on Bush v. Gore and the recovery took more than a year. Entirely different circumstance... Market has gone down 3000 pts since January... Entirely different circumstance;-)"}, {"response": 1850, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Mar  5, 2009 (10:01)", "body": "More from THE TELEGRAPH (These guys won't let go...now Michelle...) Huh? Was 'Lady Macbeth' behind Barack Obama's snub of Gordon Brown? http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/james_delingpole/blog/2009/03/05/was_lady_macbeth_behind_barack_obamas_snub_of_gordon_brown Hey Mari, you better tell Mr Delingpole what you told me...he's not buying. Think maybe he belongs to Fox News???;-))))))) (which you all like to blame derogatory remarks about the Prez)"}, {"response": 1851, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Mar  5, 2009 (10:05)", "body": "(Evelyn) That was yesterday, and I don't remember what we were talking about...and I never re-read....nevah! Convenient. :-) I didn't remember that about the Dow and Bush vs. Gore. Re: Karen's post about the Daily Show, didn't realize Santelli was supposed to be on, too, but was pulled. http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/3/4/233611/2413/967/704833"}, {"response": 1852, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Mar  5, 2009 (10:06)", "body": "You know, all this crap against the Obamas, it's the Clintons all over again. :-((("}, {"response": 1853, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Mar  5, 2009 (10:11)", "body": "March 3, 2009 Op-Ed Columnist A Moderate Manifesto By DAVID BROOKS You wouldn\ufffdt know it some days, but there are moderates in this country \ufffd moderate conservatives, moderate liberals, just plain moderates. We sympathize with a lot of the things that President Obama is trying to do. We like his investments in education and energy innovation. We support health care reform that expands coverage while reducing costs. But the Obama budget is more than just the sum of its parts. There is, entailed in it, a promiscuous unwillingness to set priorities and accept trade-offs. There is evidence of a party swept up in its own revolutionary fervor \ufffd caught up in the self-flattering belief that history has called upon it to solve all problems at once. So programs are piled on top of each other and we wind up with a gargantuan $3.6 trillion budget. We end up with deficits that, when considered realistically, are $1 trillion a year and stretch as far as the eye can see. We end up with an agenda that is unexceptional in its parts but that, when taken as a whole, represents a social-engineering experiment that is entirely new. The U.S. has never been a society riven by class resentment. Yet the Obama budget is predicated on a class divide. The president issued a read-my-lips pledge that no new burdens will fall on 95 percent of the American people. All the costs will be borne by the rich and all benefits redistributed downward. The U.S. has always been a decentralized nation, skeptical of top-down planning. Yet, the current administration concentrates enormous power in Washington, while plan after plan emanates from a small group of understaffed experts. The U.S. has always had vibrant neighborhood associations. But in its very first budget, the Obama administration raises the cost of charitable giving. It punishes civic activism and expands state intervention. The U.S. has traditionally had a relatively limited central government. But federal spending as a share of G.D.P. is zooming from its modern norm of 20 percent to an unacknowledged level somewhere far beyond. Those of us who consider ourselves moderates \ufffd moderate-conservative, in my case \ufffd are forced to confront the reality that Barack Obama is not who we thought he was. His words are responsible; his character is inspiring. But his actions betray a transformational liberalism that should put every centrist on notice. As Clive Crook, an Obama admirer, wrote in The Financial Times, the Obama budget \ufffdcontains no trace of compromise. It makes no gesture, however small, however costless to its larger agenda, of a bipartisan approach to the great questions it addresses. It is a liberal\ufffds dream of a new New Deal.\ufffd Moderates now find themselves betwixt and between. On the left, there is a president who appears to be, as Crook says, \ufffda conviction politician, a bold progressive liberal.\ufffd On the right, there are the Rush Limbaugh brigades. The only thing more scary than Obama\ufffds experiment is the thought that it might fail and the political power will swing over to a Republican Party that is currently unfit to wield it. Those of us in the moderate tradition \ufffd the Hamiltonian tradition that believes in limited but energetic government \ufffd thus find ourselves facing a void. We moderates are going to have to assert ourselves. We\ufffdre going to have to take a centrist tendency that has been politically feckless and intellectually vapid and turn it into an influential force. The first task will be to block the excesses of unchecked liberalism. In the past weeks, Democrats have legislated provisions to dilute welfare reform, restrict the inflow of skilled immigrants and gut a voucher program designed for poor students. It will be up to moderates to raise the alarms against these ideological outrages. But beyond that, moderates will have to sketch out an alternative vision. This is a vision of a nation in which we\ufffdre all in it together \ufffd in which burdens are shared broadly, rather than simply inflicted upon a small minority. This is a vision of a nation that does not try to build prosperity on a foundation of debt. This is a vision that puts competitiveness and growth first, not redistribution first. Moderates are going to have to try to tamp down the polarizing warfare that is sure to flow from Obama\ufffds \ufffdber-partisan budget. They will have to face fiscal realities honestly and not base revenue projections on rosy scenarios of a shallow recession and robust growth next year. They will have to take the economic crisis seriously and not use it as a cue to focus on every other problem under the sun. They\ufffdre going to have to offer an agenda that inspires confidence by its steadiness rather than shaking confidence with its hyperactivity. If they can do that, maybe they can lure this White House back to its best self \ufffd and someday offer respite from the endless war of the extremes. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/03/opinion/03brooks.html?_r=1 David Brooks is my kind of centrist, moderate conservat"}, {"response": 1854, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Mar  5, 2009 (10:18)", "body": "(Dorine)Convenient. :-) Let me explain... It's really not convenient... I don't have as much time to re-read as you have;-)))"}, {"response": 1855, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Mar  5, 2009 (14:57)", "body": "The Dow Knows All on Daily Show....LOL!! (Karen) you should watch the entire show as it was all about the economy and financial. Good segment on Santelli too. That segment, CNBC Gives Financial Advice, was very funny as well."}, {"response": 1856, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Mar  5, 2009 (15:37)", "body": "Hope that worked. (Me) Also, Jim Cramer is quite inconsistently correct. I followed his views last fall when things started falling apart and he was very, very wrong about a number of things. Not that he wasn't the only one, mind you. Think Jon Stewart was a lurker yesterday? ;-)) The timing of his bit illustrating this was....well, timely."}, {"response": 1857, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Mar  5, 2009 (18:13)", "body": "Last night on The Kudlow Report there was a columnist from The Financial Times who wrote a column entitled... \"Stock Market to Obama: I'm Just Not into You\" V. timely;-)"}, {"response": 1858, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Mar  5, 2009 (18:18)", "body": "LOL! The stock market seems not to be into anyone or anything at the moment."}, {"response": 1859, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Mar  5, 2009 (18:39)", "body": "closing tag \"Stock Market to Obama: I'm Just Not into You\" Talk about shifting blame. As far as I know, Obama is not traded on any of the exchanges."}, {"response": 1860, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Mar  5, 2009 (19:03)", "body": "\"Stock Market to Obama: I'm Just Not into You\" Addendum: How wrong can a title be? The market is really *in* to Obama to the tune of how many billions of dollars. How much is the govt's stake in Citigroup? 30+% By anyone's defintion, they're \"in\" to Obama. Big time."}, {"response": 1861, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Mar  5, 2009 (19:19)", "body": "LOL I don't think you're getting it...."}, {"response": 1862, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Mar  5, 2009 (20:29)", "body": "Putting this out seems like a good way to encourage a run on banks. :-( FDIC warns US bank deposit insurance fund could tank Thu Mar 5, 1:20 pm ET WASHINGTON (AFP) \ufffd The US government is warning banks that its deposit insurance fund could go broke this year as bank failures mount. The head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Sheila Bair, in a letter to bank chief executives dated March 2, defended the FDIC's plan to raise fees on banks and assess an emergency fee to shore up the fund and maintain investor confidence. Bair acknowledged the new fees, announced Friday, would put additional pressure on banks at time of financial crisis and a deepening recession, but insisted they were critical to keep the insurance fund solvent and protect. \"Without these assessments, the deposit insurance fund could become insolvent this year,\" Bair wrote. The FDIC chief said in the letter that the rapidly deteriorating economic conditions raised the prospects of \"a large number\" of bank failures through 2010. \"Without substantial amounts of additional assessment revenue in the near future, current projections indicate that the fund balance will approach zero or even become negative,\" she wrote. The FDIC last Friday announced it would impose a temporary emergency fee on lenders and raise its regular assessments to shore up the rapidly depleting deposit insurance fund that insures individual customer deposits up to 250,000 dollars. A week ago the FDIC reported a sharp depletion of the deposit insurance fund in the fourth quarter due to actual and anticipated bank failures, to 19 billion dollars from 34.6 billion in the third quarter. The FDIC said it had set aside an additional 22 billion dollars for estimated losses on failures anticipated in 2009. http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090305/bs_afp/financeeconomyusbankinggovernment"}, {"response": 1863, "author": "cfadm", "date": "Thu, Mar  5, 2009 (20:38)", "body": "Wow, this is the hottest topic on Spring!"}, {"response": 1864, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Mar  5, 2009 (20:42)", "body": "Isn't that unconscionable? Our own Sheila Bair? Larry Kudlow remarked on that just a few minutes ago. Charlie Schumer's similar remark is what caused the run on Indybank in Ca. last year. \"The FDIC last Friday announced it would impose a temporary emergency fee on lenders and raise its regular assessments to shore up the rapidly depleting deposit insurance fund that insures individual customer deposits up to 250,000 dollars. \" A rep from the small cummunity banks , who are not insolvent, are outraged at this...say they can't afford it. As it is FDIC insurance costs them plenty. Oy.."}, {"response": 1865, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Mar  5, 2009 (21:29)", "body": "Wow, that Daily Show on Santelli/CNBC is the \"talk of the town\". I guess just like his slapdown of the CNN Crossfire people on their show was a few years ago. A recap from the Columbia Journalism Review: What follows is a five-and-a-half-minute sacking of CNBC\ufffda list of embarrassing clips of the network\ufffds talking heads getting it very, very wrong followed by black screens reporting what happened to their predictions. It\ufffds hilarious, starting with the slam of Jim Cramer\ufffds infamous defense of Bear Stearns less than a week before it essentially collapsed. Cramer also gets hit for telling investors to buy stocks at the top of the market even though he admits they\ufffdre overvalued (to his credit, Santelli has slammed Cramer on the same thing). I was glad to see the especially terrible Larry \ufffdGoldilocks\ufffd Kudlow come in for a kick in the pants, too. Now, I\ufffdll point out that these are selective clips taken from thousands of hours of broadcast time. It\ufffds impossible to be on live television that long without screwing up. We all get that. But what makes this so interesting is what Stewart does to pierce the CNBC bubble on several different things that make the network so disliked by business journalists generally: Its lack of a line between opinion and reporting (and lack of disclosure about who\ufffds a reporter and who\ufffds not). Its Siamese-twin closeness to Wall Street. Its rah-rah rooting for the stock markets. Its inanity in interviews that too often veers into sycophancy. On the other hand, if there is a discomfort among the business reporters with CNBC, it might be because the network\ufffds bad practices are only extreme manifestations of wider cultural problems in their profession. [....] Believe me, this Daily Show segment is buzzing around financial circles today. At least financial journalism circles. I\ufffdve already received emails from multiple reporters about it, including this one from a prominent business journalist: \"I think you\ufffdll find that CNBC is really despised by financial journalists for a host of reasons. Problem is that nobody, myself included, will say so for the record.\" http://www.cjr.org/the_audit/daily_show_eviscerates_santell.php#comments"}, {"response": 1866, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Mar  5, 2009 (21:42)", "body": "Just as an FYI, before someone starts quoting this guy and his group on either side of a debate, keep his background in mind. http://www.conservatives4patientrights.com/ On February 26, The Wall Street Journal reported that Richard Scott, \"the former chief executive of HCA Inc,\" had formed the non-profit organization Conservatives for Patients' Rights as part of a \"lobbying campaign[] to derail or modify\" President Obama's health care proposals, and quoted Scott saying: \"What you see is when the government gets involved, you run out of money and health care gets rationed.\" The Journal failed to note, however, that according to a July 26, 1997, Los Angeles Times article, Scott resigned \"as chairman of Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp. amid a massive federal investigation into the Medicare billing, physician recruiting and home-care practices of the nation's largest for-profit health care company.\" On December 15, 2000, Forbes reported that HCA -- The Heathcare Company, formerly Columbia/HCA Healthcare, \"pleaded guilty to a variety of fraud charges. It admitted to bilking various government programs and agreed to pay a total of $840 million in fines and penalties.\" Forbes also re orted that \"Scott was forced to resign in the wake of the initial fraud charges in 1997.\" In contrast to the Journal, the Politico noted on March 3 that \"[p]ro-health reform activists also have begun circulating information in an effort to discredit Scott,\" citing the December 2000 Forbes article on Scott's resignation and HCA's subsequent plea. Politico further reported that HCA \"eventually paid over $880 million to reach a settlement with the Justice Department in 2002 on the charges.\" According to a December 18, 2002, Justice Department press release, \"When added to the prior civil and criminal settlements reached in 2000, this settlement would bring the government's total recoveries from HCA to approximately $1.7 billion.\" http://mediamatters.org/items/200903030027?f=s_search"}, {"response": 1867, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Mar  5, 2009 (22:59)", "body": "(Me) Ya gotta love it....no? Alas, no! It appears something was wrong with the Playboy Santelli rant story. When I didn't hear more about it in the next day or so, I thought there might be. http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2009/03/update-santelli-stares-down-playboy/ This isn't where I first read about it. I read several of the pieces linked after the article, but put this link in as I was amused by Playboy puns interspersed in the the comments."}, {"response": 1868, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Mar  6, 2009 (09:29)", "body": "(Mitch McConnell) This would take health care decisions out of doctors and patients and place them in the hands of another Washington bureaucracy.\" I'm so sick (ha!) of seeing this talking point/tagline. Guess what? Unless you're on some super duper commercial plan (or whatever the members of Congress have), at least some of the decisions are already out of the hands of Doctors and patients. I can't speak for straight Medicaid plans universally as they vary from state to state. http://www.politico.com/politico44/perm/0309/senator_vows_health_care_compromise_18944a21-9a16-4959-9663-12db7399d73c.html"}, {"response": 1869, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Mar  6, 2009 (10:09)", "body": "Anybody that disagrees with this administration (or Dorine;-)) is wrong????? Whatever happened to respecting other people's opinions? It's not like they're throwing green custard pies...;-)"}, {"response": 1870, "author": "mari", "date": "Fri, Mar  6, 2009 (11:36)", "body": "LOL! Evelyn, did you play the Daily Show bit on Santelli and CNBC? Jon Stewart and his writers are a treasure."}, {"response": 1871, "author": "mari", "date": "Fri, Mar  6, 2009 (11:55)", "body": "A good primer on the bear market. Worth 5 minutes of your time to read. http://news.yahoo.com/s/bw/20090306/bs_bw/0911b4123026586146"}, {"response": 1872, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Fri, Mar  6, 2009 (12:38)", "body": "I watched the news coverage of the Mandelson, green custard, incident. He was lucky it wasn't something toxic. Totally amazed at the lack of security.The woman simply walk away with those around looking on. Video footage here. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7928946.stm"}, {"response": 1873, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Mar  6, 2009 (13:07)", "body": "Thanks Mari. Interesting link. \"Biderman says he'll know corporations are getting confident once they start buying back their own shares and acquiring other companies. Right now they show no such bravado\" Jeffrey Immelt (GE) bought a ton of his stock back one day and the next day the price went down. Same with Chesapeake:-(((( Often a smoke screen, I find. All kinds of critiques out there. Some seniors who relied on IRAs for partial income have had to go out and find a job. I still don't see where the growth is going to occur, if they keep taxing the corporations. Luckily energy prices are down. Gives folks some extra $$$$. (Sue)The woman simply walk away with those around looking on. Shocking. He remarked that it could have been paint. Or acid!"}, {"response": 1874, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Fri, Mar  6, 2009 (13:26)", "body": "(Evelyn)Shocking. He remarked that it could have been paint. Or acid! Absolutely. Gordon Brown joked about the incident at the conference on carbon emissions. IMO, not only the lack of security in the first instant, but also their complacency in dealing with this is sending out a dangerous message. The woman should have been arrested and either cautioned or charged for assault."}, {"response": 1875, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Fri, Mar  6, 2009 (13:31)", "body": "Incidentally, this week there were protesters outside the office where my husband works, protesting at Goodwin's astronomical pension, totally appalling, but don't get me started :-( Anyway, thankfully the demo turned out to be a damp squid. But, at least his employer arranged for a good police presence to offer protection for staff."}, {"response": 1876, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Fri, Mar  6, 2009 (13:34)", "body": "Just heard on the news. Scotland Yard are investigating, but so far there have been no complaints. John Prescott has said the lack of action is appalling, or words to that effect."}, {"response": 1877, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Mar  6, 2009 (14:43)", "body": "(Mari) Jon Stewart and his writers are a treasure. Agreed. The entire show was brilliant. From Dorine's link to the Columbia Journalism Review (is that a worthless blog?) on the second page: And as Stewart said in his interview later in the show with Joe Nocera of the Times: Don\ufffdt they have, is there, has there been any responsibility for CNBC, Bloomberg, for any of these organizations to be ahead of this in any way? Watch this segment. In fact, watch the whole show. There\ufffds another segment that blows up the idiocy of the blabber (including, prominently, from CNBC\ufffds Cramer, who now calls Obama a \ufffdBolshevik\ufffd) about Obama causing the stock-market crash (it has nothing to do, of course, with our cratering financial system/economy) and that the Dow signals Americans\ufffd disapproval of his presidency despite poll ratings that show he\ufffds popular. And the Nocera interview. And the Moment of Zen. Watch it all. BTW, I meant exactly what I posted before and *did* understand the cutsy article title by the FT guy. It was just wrong, wrong, wrong. The stock market isn't a Gallup poll. As I've always said, I've never met an economist who has lost his job due to bad forecasts. Financial analysis is equally nebulous. In fact, I'm certain there's a dart board in most financial analysts offices with all sorts of cliched reasons why anything happens. I still don't see where the growth is going to occur, if they keep taxing the corporations. Tax, tax, tax, tax, tax. Haven't the past 8 years shown you that reducing taxes on corporations doesn't promote growth. Also, I don't know why you're asking where the growth is going to occur as the US shipped all its business overseas during the past administration."}, {"response": 1878, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Mar  6, 2009 (15:11)", "body": "Anybody that disagrees with this administration (or Dorine;-)) is wrong????? To what are you specifically referring to? Respecting an opinion doesn't mean you have to agree with it. Or that it is actually right. On either side."}, {"response": 1879, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Mar  6, 2009 (19:05)", "body": "Respecting an opinion doesn't mean you have to agree with it. Exactly. But Rick Santelli and Jim Cramer, CNBC and Bloomberg have a right to say what they want...as do you. As does Jon Stewart or Bill Maher, or Bill O'reilly, Hannity, Rush, al Franken, Chris Marrhews, olberman, Maddow...who else? Who else? oh yes... moi ;-) W/o being :wrong!"}, {"response": 1880, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Mar  6, 2009 (19:20)", "body": "(Karen)BTW, I meant exactly what I posted before and *did* understand the cutsy article title by the FT guy. It was just wrong, wrong, wrong *shaking head*"}, {"response": 1881, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Mar  6, 2009 (19:24)", "body": "Sue , what those guys need is to carry some prtection...mace...a gun? Gun stores have seen a spike in business. Folks are scared. http://www.wctv.tv/news/headlines/40865102.html"}, {"response": 1882, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Mar  6, 2009 (21:08)", "body": "BTW i think short- selling should be outlawed, Comrades. I bet Chavez doesn't allow it ;-) Arriba Venezeula!"}, {"response": 1883, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Mar  6, 2009 (23:37)", "body": "I agree about short selling actually."}, {"response": 1884, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Mar  7, 2009 (00:30)", "body": "BTW i think short- selling should be outlawed Sounds like regulation to me or government interference in free markets."}, {"response": 1885, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Mar  7, 2009 (00:44)", "body": "But Rick Santelli and Jim Cramer, CNBC and Bloomberg have a right to say what they want...as do you. They have a right to say anything they want. It doesn't necessarily make them right."}, {"response": 1886, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Mar  7, 2009 (00:46)", "body": "And do you mean Bloomberg the channel or the mayor? Because, no, the mayor doesn't have the right to say what he wants."}, {"response": 1887, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Sat, Mar  7, 2009 (07:08)", "body": "(Evelyn)Sue , what those guys need is to carry some prtection...mace...a gun? or cf spray. I can't get over watching the woman simply walk away from an assault, incredulous."}, {"response": 1888, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Mar  7, 2009 (10:12)", "body": "That is kind of amazing in this day and age."}, {"response": 1889, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Mar  7, 2009 (10:17)", "body": "Butterfly is on today's Met Satellite. Playing in a theatre nr you. I'm off."}, {"response": 1890, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Mar  7, 2009 (11:13)", "body": "But Rick Santelli and Jim Cramer, CNBC and Bloomberg have a right to say what they want...as do you. I guess they do have the right to say it, though if time shows they are rather consistently incorrect with their opinions or base their opinions on flawed data/facts, then I suppose I have the right not to listen and think they're wrong. And I don't have to respect their answers/opinions, but only their right to say it. An example for me is George Will in that column on global warming that got all the press recently with his incorrect fact(s). I have the right to express my opinion that I think the world is flat, too, but at the least, I'd sound quite silly doing so."}, {"response": 1891, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Mar  7, 2009 (11:15)", "body": "if time shows they are rather consistently incorrect with their opinions or base their opinions on flawed data/facts Or give flawed opinions on solid data/facts, I don't have to respect that either."}, {"response": 1892, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Mar  7, 2009 (17:28)", "body": "(Dorine)I have the right to express my opinion that I think the world is flat, too, but at the least, I'd sound quite silly doing so. Not to me;-) if time shows they are rather consistently incorrect with their opinions or base their opinions on flawed data/facts Or give flawed opinions on solid data/facts, I don't have to respect that either I have a little secret to tell you, Dorine. *No one* is correct 100% of the time. Nor is *anyone* consistently incorrect. I mean, as they say, even a broken clock is right twice a day;-D"}, {"response": 1893, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Mar  8, 2009 (00:23)", "body": "Speaking of clocks, don't forget to move clocks forward tonight (though I'll imagine by the time most people read this as it's late here, most will have done it)."}, {"response": 1894, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Sun, Mar  8, 2009 (10:51)", "body": "Police finally catch up with and arrest the custard thrower. What took them so long............. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7931185.stm"}, {"response": 1895, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Mar  9, 2009 (12:18)", "body": "Again, business subverts the game plan to create new jobs by focusing on short-term revenue. Low stock prices are enabling companies to buy up others and then eliminate more jobs. :-( Merck buying Schering-Plough in a $41.1B deal TRENTON, N.J. \ufffd Merck & Co. is buying Schering-Plough Corp. for $41.1 billion in a deal that gives Merck key new businesses, access to a promising pipeline of new products and the chance to further cut costs, including eliminating about 16,000 jobs. Merck hopes the cash-and-stock deal helps it better compete in a drug industry facing slumping sales, tough generic competition and intense pricing pressures. The deal announced Monday would unite the maker of asthma drug Singulair with the maker of allergy medicine Nasonex and form the world's second-largest prescription drugmaker. Merck and Schering are already partners in a pair of popular cholesterol fighters, Vytorin and Zetia, although concerns about safety and effectiveness have hurt sales. Shares of the two companies traded furiously after the announcement, with Schering's shares skyrocketing and Merck's dropping, typical for a company doing a big acquisition. At midday, Schering shares jumped $2.53, or 14.4 perent, to $20.16, and Merck shares fell $2.19, or 9.6 percent to $20.55. The deal comes only a few weeks after Lipitor maker Pfizer Inc. agreed to pay $68 billion for drugmaker Wyeth. Merck and Schering-Plough, along with most of their rivals, are eliminating thousands of jobs and restructuring operations to cut costs. \"There'll be no immediate changes\" in staffing, Merck spokeswoman Amy Rose told The Associated Press. \"Eventually, we anticipate an approximate 15 percent reduction in the combined company's headcount,\" implying nearly 16,000 fewer jobs. The deal also would let Merck do the same thing Pfizer is trying to do with its acquisition \ufffd diversify into a more broad-based health care company. Merck is a top maker of pills and vaccines, and acquiring Schering-Plough will add strength in the prized area of biologic drugs, which are made from living cells. It will also give Merck one of the world's biggest animal health businesses and a sizable consumer health division that includes products such as allergy pill Claritin, Dr. Scholl's foot products and the Coppertone sun-care line. Merck Chairman and CEO Richard Clark told The Associated Press the company will be \"well-positioned for sustainable growth through scientific innovation.\" Big drugmakers are facing slumping sales as the blockbuster drugs of the 1990s lose patent protection, complicated by a dearth of new drugs. Schering-Plough, however, has patent protection for key products until the middle of the next decade and what is considered one of the best product pipelines. Still, analyst Steve Brozak of WBB Securities said the deal is mainly about Merck \"buying revenue and buying earnings.\" \"It's a good short-term fix, but it unfortunately makes it more complicated for the long term,\" Brozak said. He said it will now be more difficult for Merck to continue its strategy of buying or licensing the few promising experimental compounds available from small biotech companies, many of which are on the verge of shutting down amid the recession and credit crunch. Brozak said he thinks the next big move likely will be a large drugmaker, perhaps J&J itself, acquiring a medical device maker. J&J already has a huge business in that field and lost a heated battle three years ago to acquire heart implant maker Guidant to Boston Scientific. Merck and Schering-Plough said the deal will save them about $3.5 billion per year after 2011 and will boost earnings in the first full year after the deal closes. Combined with their current restructuring, they expect a total of $5.95 billion in annual savings after 2011. \"We'll double Merck medicines in (late-stage development) to 18,\" Clark added. Schering-Plough CEO Fred Hassan said in an interview that Nasonex, Pegintron for hepatitis, cancer drug Temodar, the Nuvaring contraceptive and the two cholesterol drugs all have patent protection until 2014 or later. The two companies had a combined $47 billion in revenue in 2008, nearly as much at the largest drugmaker, Pfizer Inc., which posted $48.42 billion last year. Pfizer expects late this year to acquire Wyeth, which would add more than $20 billion in revenue. Merck has about 55,200 employees and Schering-Plough, which grew significantly with its November 2007 acquisition of Dutch biopharmaceutical company Organon BioSciences NV, has about 50,800. Schering-Plough shareholders will get $10.50 in cash and 0.5767 Merck shares for each Schering-Plough share they own. That's a 34 percent premium to Schering-Plough's closing stock price Friday. Stock would cover 56 percent of the deal's funding, with the other 44 percent in cash: $9.8 billion in existing cash balances and $8.5 billion in financing committed by JPMorgan Chase & Co., the companies said. The small amount being borrowed \ufffd barely 20 "}, {"response": 1896, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Mar  9, 2009 (14:10)", "body": "On thing though, the pharma companies have been too rep heavy for a long time, and now especially that a number of their best sellers are going to be going generic soon, or have gone already with nothing new in the pipeline. They don't need all those people. Plus, doctors have been giving less and less access to reps over the past 5 years or so (which has somewhat ruined it for others, including me a now non-drug rep who still needs access). Why pay people all that money (including cars/commissions) to be less and less effective at marketing? Fortunately while I was there, I had my territory to myself. My company didn't do the pods thing (3 or 4 people assigned to the same territory/offices) and I did very well on my own. I always hated the concepts of pods. First of all it would mean I'd have to split the commission for my area and my doctors didn't want to be bothered once a week about the same thing with nothing new to say. And they didn't need my samples that often. My company did something like it after I left, but not sure if that helped them or not. I can't argue that those big companies made a ton of money with all those people, but it's just too much now. It's sad for them, but it was overkill to begin with."}, {"response": 1897, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Mar  9, 2009 (14:22)", "body": "And the pharma contractions have been accelerating over the past several years as pipelines dry up. Roche and Genentech look to be next. It's not exactly short term as many of these companies are years from having much new, if anything, either because nothing is coming out or the stuff they developed has gotten snagged up in the FDA approval process or been outright rejected. Plus it's no guarantee that drug will do well even if it does come out. My old company created a division (after I left) when they had a product to be sold only to hospitals, but it did so poorly (because of issues with the drug mostly) that they folded that division after 2 years. They didn't have thousands of employees, but still, not all were absorbed, and some left before. They just bought another company last year, too, because they needed more stuff in their \"toolboxes\"."}, {"response": 1898, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Mar  9, 2009 (17:48)", "body": "Again, business subverts the game plan to create new jobs by focusing on short-term revenue. \"create new jobs\"...have you seen the lay-offs of the pharma companies...and not just reps. Research is going to the dogs; they can't afford it. All healthcare stocks are in the toilet. They have no idea where the administration is going. Who wants to buy stock in any of them? \"short term revenue\"......ha, I wish."}, {"response": 1899, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Mar  9, 2009 (18:16)", "body": "Research is going to the dogs; they can't afford it. Excuse while I fall on the floor laughing that they can't afford research."}, {"response": 1900, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Mar  9, 2009 (18:37)", "body": "(Dorine) the pharma companies have been too rep heavy for a long time That may be so, but one general rule about cost cutting is that you don't cut your salesmen, your revenue producers. Ideally they should pay for themselves many times over. Obviously, if you buy another company's product line, the existing sales force can rep it too, creating the efficiencies. However, the first focus of cost cutting is typically overhead and customer service areas which would be duplicative, then actual operations people who put out the products...before sales would get hit. That is what I meant by this move subverting the idea of job creation. (Dorine) Excuse while I fall on the floor laughing that they can't afford research. Make room for me on that floor. ;-) ."}, {"response": 1901, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Mar  9, 2009 (19:13)", "body": "(Karen) That may be so, but one general rule about cost cutting is that you don't cut your salesmen, your revenue producers. Ideally they should pay for themselves many times over. Obviously, if you buy another company's product line, the existing sales force can rep it too, creating the efficiencies. They have too many revenue \"producers\" already. They can spare some. Especially if they have much less access than they used to or are in a market with heavy managed care coverage which limits rxs. The big pharma co's oversaturated the market. You don't need 3-4 people to sell the same product to the same places, esp if they don't let you in to begin with. In other businesses I might agree more. And yes, sometimes they do keep the reps from the company sucked up for a short time, only until everyone is trained on the new products or til they figure out where a market is even more oversaturated with reps. Re: $$ for research, unless you're one of the small companies betting the farm on one product to come to market (where they almost universally have to align themselves with a bigger company for marketing bodies), the big guys have more than enough $$ for many things. They make cuts to prop up share prices in the face of declining revenue from expected patent expirations, drugs selling less than expected or drugs taken off the market or slapped with the dreaded black box, plain and simple."}, {"response": 1902, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Mar  9, 2009 (19:16)", "body": "(Me) (where they almost universally have to align themselves with a bigger company for marketing bodies), Or hire a contract sales rep company to act as their own force (aka Rent-a-Reps ;-))."}, {"response": 1903, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Mar  9, 2009 (19:35)", "body": "Well, I broke out my book, The Truth About Drug Companies - How They Deceive Us and What To Do About It by Marcia Angell, MD, and turned to Chapter 3, How Much Does the Pharmaceutical Industry Really Spend on R&D? [Her italics] There's too much for me to quote right now, but any R&D costs that one reads about can be inflated by surreptitiously adding in various types costs that are actually marketing/promotional in nature (but not labeled as such) and by other various accounting \"manipulations\". Also, some R&D costs are tax deductible. Bottom line though, marketing costs are the bulk of pharma expenditures. There was a healthcare forum done through Times Talks (NYT) last Tues including the author above, but I accidentally bought theater tix for the same night and couldn't go."}, {"response": 1904, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Mar  9, 2009 (19:52)", "body": "Also, I have a book called The Big Fix - How the Pharmaceutical Industry Rips Off American Consumers (2003) by Katharine Greider. Chapter 3 is, You Say Profits, I Say R&D. Says essentially the same things in a little bit different way."}, {"response": 1905, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Mar  9, 2009 (20:45)", "body": "So go buy stocks in these companies, if you think they're making so much $$$ now. Roll off the floor...you're losing time ;-)"}, {"response": 1906, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Mar  9, 2009 (21:23)", "body": "if you think they're making so much $$$ You're right...Merck's 32.74% '08 profit margin left them practically broke. Schering should be crying poverty with a 9.70% '08 profit margin. Though Merck's stock price is off almost 50% over 52 wks (down almost 2$ today) and Schering's actually up 2.44% over 52 wks. You'd have to pay me to buy stock now."}, {"response": 1907, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Mar 10, 2009 (09:18)", "body": "You'd have to pay me to buy stock now. Our Fearless Leader says not to hide your $$$under the mattress...buy, buy, buy."}, {"response": 1908, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Mar 10, 2009 (09:33)", "body": "I am buying, just not stocks. ;-)"}, {"response": 1909, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Mar 10, 2009 (09:52)", "body": "Bigger apparently isn't better, as far as R&D goes anyway. http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/mar2009/tc2009039_020072.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index+-+temp_top+story"}, {"response": 1910, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Mar 10, 2009 (13:04)", "body": "(Dorine) They have too many revenue \"producers\" already. They can spare some. Not disputing that they may have too many salespeople, just that it isn't typically where one cuts costs. Also my main criticism is with buying another \"big\" pharma company for its product line - the short-term approach to increasing revenues. (Evelyn) Our Fearless Leader says not to hide your $$$under the mattress...buy, buy, buy. I would if I had any left. Bigger apparently isn't better, as far as R&D goes anyway. Told you. Cuts in \"operations\"! R&D is much better in small companies or offshoots of the biggies that are managed entirely as separate entities."}, {"response": 1911, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Mar 10, 2009 (13:52)", "body": "Obama, taking on unions, backs teacher merit pay By PHILIP ELLIOTT, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON \ufffd President Barack Obama embraced merit pay for teachers Tuesday in spelling out a vision of education that will almost certainly alienate union backers. A strategy that ties teacher pay to student performance has for years been anathema to teachers' unions, a powerful force in the Democratic Party. These unions also are wary of charter schools, non-traditional educational systems that they believe also compete with traditional schools for tax dollars. Obama, however, also spoke favorably of charter schools, saying that where they work, they should be encouraged. He did acknowledge in his speech to the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce that his proposals could meet heavy resistance in the education establishment. \"Too many supporters of my party have resisted the idea of rewarding excellence in teaching with extra pay, even though we know it can make a difference in the classroom,\" he said, delivering the first major education speech of his presidency. \"Too many in the Republican Party have opposed new investments in early education, despite compelling evidence of its importance.\" [...] Sounds like socialism to me. ;-) http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090310/ap_on_go_pr_wh/obama_education"}, {"response": 1912, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Mar 10, 2009 (17:26)", "body": "DJIA up 379 points or more than 5 percent. Must mean that Wall Street loves Obama now. ;-)"}, {"response": 1913, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Mar 10, 2009 (17:30)", "body": "Here you go, Dorine. You've talked about this idiocy before and it looks like the gravy train may be ending...finally! Obama budget chief firm on Medicare Advantage cuts By MATTHEW PERRONE WASHINGTON (AP) \ufffd President Obama's budget chief isn't sugarcoating his message to health insurance executives: the party is over. White House Budget Director Peter Orszag said Tuesday the government will no longer overpay companies that offer Medicare Advantage plans, the privately run portion of the government health program for seniors. For more than 10 years, companies like Humana Inc. and UnitedHealth have defended their plans, pointing out they offer lower premiums and extra benefits compared with government-run Medicare. More than 10 million of the 44 million seniors in Medicare receive care through the plans. But Orszag reiterated what industry executives have long known: the government spends significantly more money on Medicare Advantage than its own plan. When private insurers first entered the Medicare program in the late 1990s, many lawmakers assumed companies would lower costs with their managed-care strategies. More than a decade later, though, the government spends about $1.30 on Medicare Advantage patients for each dollar it spends on patients in traditional Medicare, Orszag said, speaking at the America's Health Insurance Plans' annual conference. He added that the cost burden falls on taxpayers as well as patients in regular Medicare, who pay higher premiums. \"I believe in competition. I don't believe in paying $1.30 to get a dollar,\" Orszag told conference attendees, including representatives from Aetna Inc., WellPoint Inc. and Cigna Corp. The group's president, Karen Ignagni, said insurers would offer alternative proposals for controlling Medicare costs and hoped the White House would consider them. Orszag's address came less than a week after President Obama kicked off his health reform effort with a massive summit at the White House. In his remarks to more than 100 health care experts and stakeholders, Obama said he is willing to compromise on details to reach his overall goal of improving care and covering more people. As one of the interest groups that helped derail the Clinton health reform effort in the early '90s, gaining health insurers' cooperation is critical. But Orszag showed little intention of compromising on the Medicare Advantage issue. In his previous job as director of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, Orszag frequently warned lawmakers that the ballooning cost of Medicare was among the greatest threats to the nation's long-term economic health. Under President Obama's recent budget proposal, Medicare Advantage companies would have to compete to offer their services in different parts of the country. The government payment for each region would be based on the average bid submitted by companies, saving $177 billion over 10 years, according to the White House. Under the existing system, payments are calculated annually using a preset formula. Worries about the plan have sent shares of health insurers nosediving over the past several weeks, as investors were concerned about the effect on the insurers' profitable Medicare Advantage business. Orszag reiterated Tuesday that the best chance to solve the country's current health care predicament is to eliminate billions of dollars worth of wasteful spending. He pointed out that different regions of the country spend vastly different sums on seniors in Medicare, without showing much difference in health outcomes. The budget director cited figures from researchers at the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy, who for decades have documented unnecessary care in the U.S. Researchers there have estimated that about 30 percent of U.S. health care spending, or $700 billion, could be eliminated without hurting the quality of care. Orszag assured executives that insurers are not the only group being asked to change how they do business. As part of his economic stimulus package, Obama provided $1.1 billion in funding for research comparing the effectiveness of various medical treatments. By rewarding physicians for using the most efficient practices, the administration hopes to reduce health care costs. \"We are pushing hard on changing incentives for providers so that we are rewarding better care and not more care,\" Orszag said. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hxSSKHYVRQGfWQ9E7uRh0GW7rvZgD96RC92O1"}, {"response": 1914, "author": "mari", "date": "Tue, Mar 10, 2009 (17:34)", "body": "Speaking of the S word . . . and this guy is a Republican. LaHood Hits Back Hard Against Charges Of \"Socialism,\" \"Obama Recession\" Secretary of Transportation Ray Lahood hit back hard on Monday to charges from White House critics that President Barack Obama's economic policies -- focused on leveraging government spending to stimulate demand -- had exacerbated the recession and constituted a form of socialism. In an interview with the Huffington Post, LaHood, one of the few Republican members of the Obama administration, scoffed at the recent talking points emanating from the congressional leaders of his own party. His voice rising at times with emotion, the transportation czar tackled first the notion that the president was a socialist in disguise. \"I don't agree with it,\" LaHood said. \"If you go out and interview these people working on this road in Maryland... these people are thrilled. They are thrilled that they are working in March on a good paying job building roads, which is what they were trained to do. That's going to be happening all over America. So the idea that this is socialism -- it is not socialism, it is economic development. \"It is going to provide an economic engine around communities all over American for jobs; good paying jobs; and help people pay their bills. I don't call that socialism.... We are the model for the world when it comes to infrastructure. We are the model for the interstate system. I don't call that socialism. Our $40 billion [for the Department of Transportation]: not socialism. It is good paying jobs that is going to drive the economies in a lot of states and a lot of communities.\" LaHood's comments come amidst a growing chorus of GOP critics claiming that Obama is engineering a government takeover of the nation's main economic organs. The theme has found its way into mainstream political dialogue as well. In an interview last week with the New York Times, Obama was asked bluntly whether he is a socialist. The president initially brushed the question off, then called the reporters back after the interview ended to supplement his response. \"It was hard for me to believe that you were entirely serious about that socialist question,\" Obama told the Times' scribes. \"I did think it might be useful to point out that it wasn't under me that we started buying a bunch of shares of banks.\" Perhaps more importantly, public opinion polls suggest that a large proportion of Americans are open both to additional stimulus spending as well as government intervention to revamp insolvent banks. Faced with these numbers, Republican strategists have deployed a separate strategy: portraying the president, with each passing day, as more and more responsible for the current crisis. Asked about this line of attack, replete with phrases like the \"Obama recession,\" Secretary LaHood offered a similarly ardent rebuke. If blame is to be cast, he declared, it can only, at this point, lie with the previous White House. \"This is not an Obama recession,\" he said. \"He inherited all of this. He inherited a $1 trillion dollar debt. He inherited the recession. He inherited the lousy stock market. All of this was inherited. The guy has been in office a little over a month and what he has tried to do is listen to every economist he could listen to. And he put in place some opportunities to get people to work quickly through the transportation bill portion of it, to help the banks, and to help the real estate industry. And it is going to take time.\""}, {"response": 1915, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Mar 10, 2009 (17:36)", "body": "I am for Teacher Merit Pay. (Evelyn), BTW i think short- selling should be outlawed (Karen), Sounds like regulation to me or government interference in free markets. The easy way out would be to make it temporary, \"In times of crisis\" thing. I strongly agree that short-selling should be outlawed. It's a disservice to the country at a time of crisis, very unpatriotic. Now this theory on the Rush is new. Just blame Obama: Gingrich: Obama's Bipartisan Sham Sunday, March 8, 2009 Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Sunday that the controversy surrounding Rush Limbaugh is nothing more than a political maneuver orchestrated by the Obama White House to distract from its economic failures. It is \"a deliberate strategy by the White House,\" to distract from the massive, $410 billion Congressional spending bill laden with 9,000 earmarks, Gingrich said. He specifically cited the \"intense partisanship\" of Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel as the mastermind of the Limbaugh/GOP attack. Earlier in the week, Gingrich compared Emanuel to the dirty tricksters who ran the Nixon White House. \"I think what they did with the whole Rush Limbaugh thing - they can't defend signing the 9,000 earmarks, they can't defend an energy-tax increase, they can't defend [Treasury Secretary Timothy F.] Geithner's failure to pay his income taxes, so they decide, 'Let's have a fight over Rush Limbaugh.' It is the exact opposite of what the president promised ... to focus on large things, not small things,\" Gingrich said. \ufffdThe president promised to focus on large things, not small things; he promised to bring us together, not divide us,\ufffd Gingrich continued. \ufffd\ufffd It has to trouble you to have that level of intense partisanship as chief of staff if we're going to in fact come together as a country. And I just think either Emanuel's got to change, or the president's got to understand he is--he is going to have a very partisan regime.\ufffd Gingrich said that Limbaugh is not the head of the Republican Party; he\ufffds a radio personality. \ufffdNo, it's like saying does Chris Matthews help or hurt the Democratic Party? The fact is he has a large audience, he--the audience believes him, the audience calls their members, the audience has an effect,\ufffd\ufffd Gingrich said. \ufffdHe's (Limbaugh) not the leader of the Republican party. And Michael Steele's one of the leaders. Bobby Jindal, who you had on recently, is one of the leaders. Sarah Palin's one of the leaders. Eric Cantor's a rising new leader. Paul Ryan's a--I mean, there are tons of leaders in the Republican Party. It is a deliberate strategy by the White House.\ufffd \ufffd 2009 Newsmax. All rights reserved."}, {"response": 1916, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Mar 10, 2009 (17:39)", "body": "The stock market went up today because Citi group posted gains. Now let's get the stimulus package signed and start getting things back on track."}, {"response": 1917, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Mar 10, 2009 (17:43)", "body": "Fabulous about the managed Medicare plans, but I'll be cautiously optimistic that it won't work out better for the insurers in the end still. Obama was asked bluntly whether he is a socialist. The president initially brushed the question off, then called the reporters back after the interview ended to supplement his response. \"It was hard for me to believe that you were entirely serious about that socialist question,\" Obama told the Times' scribes. \"I did think it might be useful to point out that it wasn't under me that we started buying a bunch of shares of banks.\" *snort*"}, {"response": 1918, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Mar 10, 2009 (18:10)", "body": "Must mean that Wall Street loves Obama now. ;-) They love Citi. And so do I. Now I'm waiting to love BOA;-) \"The president initially brushed the question off, then called the reporters back\" Thin skin. \"Get over it.\" (Newt)\ufffdNo, it's like saying does Chris Matthews help or hurt the Democratic Party\" He's quoting me. 'cept I threw in Olberman and Maddow. I, too, am in favor of Merit Pay for Teachers. And school vouchers for DC schools."}, {"response": 1919, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Mar 10, 2009 (18:26)", "body": "Gingrich said that Limbaugh is not the head of the Republican Party; he\ufffds a radio personality. Uh oh! Newt is going to have apologize like Michael Steele. They love Citi. You're going to have to make up your mind. When the market is down, they hate Obama and are afraid of him. But when it is up, it is because of a single stock, which (psssst) is partially owned by the govt now. Sorry, you can't have it both ways."}, {"response": 1920, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Mar 10, 2009 (18:30)", "body": "I am for Teacher Merit Pay Merit pay for anybody is the antithesis of socialism."}, {"response": 1921, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Mar 10, 2009 (18:54)", "body": "Not sure why this is a \"surprise\" when I read last Thursday or Friday that a type of paperwork had been filed with the court that was highly indicative that he was going to plead guilty this Thursday. Maybe it was only in the NY papers. Madoff to plead guilty, could face up to 150 years By LARRY NEUMEISTER and TOM HAYS, Associated Press Writers 15 mins ago NEW YORK \ufffd In a courtroom surprise, it was revealed Tuesday that Bernard Madoff will plead guilty Thursday to securities fraud, perjury and other crimes, knowing that he could face up to 150 years in prison for one of the largest frauds in history. The revelation came as prosecutors unveiled an 11-count charging document against the 70-year-old former Nasdaq chairman, and as his lawyer, Ira Sorkin, told a judge that Madoff planned to plead guilty this week without a plea deal. [....] http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090310/ap_on_bi_ge/madoff_scandal"}, {"response": 1922, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Mar 10, 2009 (19:00)", "body": "So explain to me how Citi bank can be turning an $8.3 Billion projected profit in the first quarter when they just had a very recent handout resulting in a 36% government stake. What did they need our help for then? And on short selling from the same article: \"Reports also surfaced Tuesday that federal regulators are considering a proposal to reinstate the \"uptick rule,\" which proponents say helps protect companies from excessive short-selling, when investors bet a stock will drop. The rule expired in 2007.\" http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090310/ap_on_bi_st_ma_re/wall_street"}, {"response": 1923, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Mar 10, 2009 (19:08)", "body": "I enjoyed this list... http://www.balloon-juice.com/?p=18443"}, {"response": 1924, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Mar 10, 2009 (19:23)", "body": "Officials: Afghanistan Taliban leader was at Gitmo AP http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gepueqQ9a2V5zxXES7DoGnVhSFHwD96REJ1G0 \"He told the tribunal that he intended to return to a peaceful life in Afghanistan. \"I want to go back home and join my family and work in my land and help my family,\" he said, according to a U.S. military transcript of the hearing\" Aw, shucks...let 'em all go."}, {"response": 1925, "author": "mari", "date": "Tue, Mar 10, 2009 (19:25)", "body": "(Newt)Michael Steele's one of the leaders. Bobby Jindal, who you had on recently, is one of the leaders. Sarah Palin's one of the leaders. LOL! Steele, Jindal, Palin. The axis of drivel. I think calling Rush a Party leader is actually far less silly than calling O a socialist . . . or saying he pals around with terrorists."}, {"response": 1926, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Mar 10, 2009 (19:32)", "body": "(Dorine) So explain to me how Citi bank can be turning an $8.3 Billion projected profit in the first quarter (a) the market is willing to take anything, including an internal memo (i.e., unaudited) (b) the increase was in operating profit, before writedowns. Dum dum dum... These banks aren't having any problems generating operating profits."}, {"response": 1927, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Mar 10, 2009 (21:38)", "body": "A funny way to tell it like it is....:-) http://www.broadwayworld.com/board/readmessage.cfm?thread=992563&boardname=off&dt=2&boardid=2"}, {"response": 1928, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Mar 10, 2009 (21:45)", "body": "I toyed with the idea a while ago of going to this, but in the end I decided it was more $$ than I wanted to spend on someone who I see on TV everyweek with someone who'll be his guest eventually and in such a large hall. In a smaller place I might have rethought going. But I pointed out this quite amusing line to my officemates as my favorite: \ufffdWho put two wars on a credit card?\ufffd Maher asked. \ufffdThere is this debt because George Bush spent money like a pimp with a week to live.\ufffd Coulter, Maher spar at Radio City Michael Calderone \ufffd Tue Mar 10, 9:29 am ET NEW YORK \ufffd Bill Maher couldn\ufffdt have asked for a better act to follow. Maher took the stage at the Radio City Music Hall Monday after Ann Coulter \ufffd with whom he\ufffdd spend the rest of the night debating \ufffd had held forth for 15 minutes on the sins of liberals. The applause for Maher was huge \ufffd exactly as one might expect in not-exactly-blood-red midtown Manhattan. \ufffdIf we were having this debate in Springfield, Mo., it would be different,\ufffd Maher said. But even in mostly hostile territory, Coulter was no shrinking violet. When moderate Mark Halperin brought up Meghan McCain\ufffds swipes of Coulter on The Daily Beast from earlier in the day \ufffd the daughter of the would-be president called her \ufffdoffensive, radical, insulting, and confusing all at the same time\" \ufffd Coulter said it didn\ufffdt bother her. And Coulter dealt with the occasional boos while debating with Maher over stem cell research, Iraq and of course, the 44th president \ufffd all while delivering her own blows on everyone from Timothy Geithner to Nancy Reagan. Coulter began her remarks by noting that it was once OK for the media to mock a candidate\ufffds middle name \ufffd as when James Danforth Quayle was the GOP\ufffds VP candidate in 1988. \ufffdDoesn\ufffdt the middle name \ufffdHussein\ufffd in a Democrat reinforce the impression of the Democrats being soft on Islamic terrorism?\ufffd Coulter said, adding that she finds it \ufffdhilarious\ufffd when Republicans toss it around. Coulter talked said liberals are always first to be offended \ufffd and are \ufffdmasters of finger-waving indignation.\ufffd She didn\ufffdt hold back on the media, either. \ufffdOvernight, the media went from being watchdogs for the people to guard dogs for the government. That\ufffds with the exception of Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann, who are lapdogs of the government,\ufffd she said. \ufffdTime magazine got the ball rolling by comparing Obama to Jesus Christ,\ufffd Coulter said moments later. \ufffdSo I lost a bet: They do know who Jesus Christ is.\ufffd Coulter riffed on the media\ufffds comparisons of Obama not only to Jesus, but also to Lincoln, asking: \ufffdDid Lincoln do blow mostly in high school or did he wait until college?\ufffd That\ufffds where Maher picked up when he got his 15-minute shot. \ufffdTo start off, George Bush did a lot more blow than Obama ever did,\ufffd Maher said. \ufffdPlease don\ufffdt ruin the only thing I like about him.\ufffd Maher, the host of HBO\ufffds \ufffdReal Time,\ufffd aimed at the other side \ufffd such as congressional Republican indignation about debt. \ufffdWho put two wars on a credit card?\ufffd Maher asked. \ufffdThere is this debt because George Bush spent money like a pimp with a week to live.\ufffd Maher got applause for any shots at Bush, as when he mentioned Obama\ufffds quoting of Voltaire \ufffd \ufffdno George W. Bush, that\ufffds not a Harry Potter character.\ufffd He used the term \ufffdbimbo\ufffd to describe Bush, Quayle and Sarah Palin. And Maher attacked those who consider themselves \ufffdreal Americans,\ufffd by claiming that \ufffdif it wasn\ufffdt for the two coasts, this country would have been sold off to China thirty years ago.\ufffd While Coulter criticized the MSNBC hosts, Maher took on Rush Limbaugh. \ufffdWe all say crazy s--t when we\ufffdre high,\ufffd Maher said. \ufffdI think it\ufffds interesting that he is now the undisputed leader of the Republican Party. It shows how clueless they are. They went looking for the future and they found radio.\ufffd Following the opening statement and remarks, Halperin sat down with both Coulter and Maher and began asking about Monday\ufffds news that Obama had ended the Bush-imposed limits on embryonic stem cell research. That led to the two battling over Nancy Reagan, who has come out in support for Obama\ufffds decision. \ufffdNancy Reagan was so madly in love with Ronald Reagan,\ufffd Coulter said, \ufffdif you told her that we could bring Ronald Reagan back to life, cure Alzheimer\ufffds by disemboweling everyone in this audience, she would say \ufffddo it.\ufffd\ufffd Maher: \ufffdSo you\ufffdre saying Nancy Reagan, the patron saint of the Republican party ... \ufffd Coulter: \ufffdShe\ufffds not the patron saint of the Republican party.\ufffd Maher: \ufffdShe\ufffds somebody you revere. ... You\ufffdve just said she\ufffds bats--t crazy.\ufffd Coulter responded that it\ufffds funny to see liberals \ufffd who once chided Reagan for following astrology \ufffd now trying to bring her into a science debate. \ufffdI never saw her as a seer of technology,\ufffd she added. The two went on to debate evolution, Iraq and whether Wall Street is full of liberal Democrats, as Coulter claimed. But even the two political opposites had something in common \ufffd that is, in addition to enjoying talking in front of a big audience a"}, {"response": 1929, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Mar 10, 2009 (22:52)", "body": "(Ann)That\ufffds with the exception of Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann, who are lapdogs of the government,\ufffd she said. More than just lapdogs.... As someone said: \"And nightly they have multiple Obamagasms. \" As do many others......;-D (Bill Maher is appearing here next month...a few blocks away.) I see that he's appearing with Ann in Chicago tomorrow . Perhaps we'll get a report;-)"}, {"response": 1930, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Mar 10, 2009 (23:09)", "body": "Bill's out your way for his standup act?"}, {"response": 1931, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Mar 10, 2009 (23:51)", "body": "Coulter, Maher spar at Radio City I saw that on the marquee for the Chicago Theater when I was downtown on Sunday, during my \"dinner break\" ;-)"}, {"response": 1932, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Mar 11, 2009 (10:49)", "body": "Timothy Geithner was on a Special Edition of Charlie Rose last night. Best presentation I've heard from him. Really,he should hire Charlie to field him questions every time. IMO all presentations need an \"Everyman\"; not the reporters at the daily White House briefing who often throw those gotcha questions which are embarassing to me. I know some of you might enjoy them, but I don't . It demeans the profession IMO. (And while I'm speaking of the \"professional behavior\"...see my next post.) I hope you can catch last night's program. While I didn't agree with the premise of everything he said, I can see how he is connecting the dots. His courteous non- snarky responses(which seems to be in style these days;-) had a lot of clarity and detail, w/o the attitude of \"We won...cram it!\";-) Being quoted this AM on the Business channels I can live with a lot of what he said. 'sides...He's the Only Show in Town;-)LOL"}, {"response": 1933, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Mar 11, 2009 (10:56)", "body": "From SALON. COM Heads should roll President Obama's clumsy, smirky staff is sinking him -- and resurrecting a deflated GOP! Plus: Lay off Rush! And a Brazilian diva, up close and electric By Camille Paglia Mar. 11, 2009 | Free Barack! Yes, free the president from his flacks, fixers and goons -- his posse of smirky smart alecks and provincial rubes, who were shrewd enough to beat the slow, pompous Clintons in the mano-a-mano primaries but who seem like dazed lost lambs in the brave new world of federal legislation and global statesmanship. Heads should be rolling at the White House for the embarrassing series of flubs that have overshadowed President Obama's first seven weeks in office and given the scattered, demoralized Republicans a huge boost toward regrouping and resurrection. (Michelle, please use those fabulous toned arms to butt some heads!) First it was that chaotic pig rut of a stimulus package, which let House Democrats throw a thousand crazy kitchen sinks into what should have been a focused blueprint for economic recovery. Then it was the stunt of unnerving Wall Street by sending out a shrill duo of slick geeks (Timothy Geithner and Peter Orszag) as the administration's weirdly adolescent spokesmen on economics. Who could ever have confidence in that sorry pair? And then there was the fiasco of the ham-handed White House reception for British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, which was evidently lacking the most basic elements of ceremony and protocol. Don't they read the \"Iliad\" anymore in the Ivy League? Check that out for the all-important ritual of gift giving, which has cemented alliances around the world for 5,000 years. President Obama -- in whom I still have great hope and confidence -- has been ill-served by his advisors and staff. Yes, they have all been blindsided and overwhelmed by the crushing demands of the presidency. But I continue to believe in citizen presidents, who must learn by doing, even in a perilous age of terrorism. Though every novice administration makes blunders and bloopers, its modus operandi should not be a conspiratorial reflex cynicism. Case in point: The orchestrated attack on radio host Rush Limbaugh, which has made the White House look like an oafish bunch of drunken frat boys. I returned from carnival in Brazil (more on that shortly) to find the Limbaugh affair in full flower. Has the administration gone mad? This entire fracas was set off by the president himself, who lowered his office by targeting a private citizen by name. Limbaugh had every right to counterattack, which he did with gusto. Why have so many Democrats abandoned the hallowed principle of free speech? Limbaugh, like our own liberal culture hero Lenny Bruce, is a professional commentator who can be as rude and crude as he wants. Yes, I cringe when Rush plays his \"Barack the Magic Negro\" satire or when he gratuitously racializes the debate over Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb, who is a constant subject of withering scrutiny for quite different reasons on sports shows here in Philadelphia. On the other hand, I totally agree with Rush about \"feminazis,\" whose amoral tactics and myopic worldview I as a dissident feminist had to battle for decades. As a student of radio and a longtime listener of Rush's show, I have gotten a wealth of pleasure and insight from him over the years. To attack Rush Limbaugh is to attack his audience -- and to intensify the loyalty of his fan base. If Rush's presence looms too large for the political landscape, it's because of the total vacuity of the Republican leadership, which seems to be in a dithering funk. Rush isn't responsible for the feebleness of Republican voices or the thinness of Republican ideas. Only ignoramuses believe that Rush speaks for the Republican Party. On the contrary, Rush as a proponent of heartland conservatism has waged open warfare with the Washington party establishment for years. And I'm sick of people impugning Rush's wealth and lifestyle, which is no different from that of another virtuoso broadcaster who hit it big -- Oprah Winfrey. Rush Limbaugh is an embodiment of the American dream: He slowly rose from obscurity to fame on the basis of his own talent and grit. Every penny Rush has earned was the result of his rapport with a vast audience who felt shut out and silenced by the liberal monopoly of major media. As a Democrat and Obama supporter, I certainly do not agree with everything Rush says or does. I was deeply upset, for example, by the sneering tone both Rush and Sean Hannity took on Inauguration Day, when partisan politics should have been set aside for a unifying celebration of American government and history. Nevertheless, I respect Rush for his independence of thought and his always provocative news analysis. He doesn't run with the elite -- he goes his own way. President Obama should yank the reins and get his staff's noses out of slash-and-burn petty politics. His own dignity and prestige are on the line. If he "}, {"response": 1934, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Mar 11, 2009 (11:15)", "body": "I've only skimmed the Paglia piece. Interesting. Rush Limbaugh is an embodiment of the American dream Does that include his being a drug-shopping Oxycontin/Vicodin addict who got away with a lesser sentence than he advocated at one time for similar people/situations?"}, {"response": 1935, "author": "mari", "date": "Wed, Mar 11, 2009 (12:36)", "body": "It is \"a deliberate strategy by the White House,\" to distract from the massive, $410 billion Congressional spending bill laden with 9,000 earmarks, Gingrich said. How hypocritical of Gingrich to speak of a bill that is \"laden\" with earmarks. The earmarks are about 1% of the total bill. Furthermore, 40% of the earmarks were requested by Republicans. Moreover, one senator, the Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) had $76 million of the earmarks! That's 14% of thr total for one guy. So let's not point fingers over who has what, Newt. Also, earmarks seem to have become a dirty word, but they're not all bad or a misuse. It's how congressional members get money out to their districts. As Jon Stewart says, \"I get all excited over cheap populism.\" ;-)"}, {"response": 1936, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Mar 11, 2009 (13:53)", "body": "Also, earmarks seem to have become a dirty word, but they're not all bad or a misuse. It's how congressional members get money out to their districts. But it doesn't mean that he approves. My district is getting a ton of money too, and I don't approve. \"Taking advantage of a crisis\"."}, {"response": 1937, "author": "mari", "date": "Wed, Mar 11, 2009 (14:44)", "body": "It's only 1% of the budget, but it's received a disproportionate focus. Again, cheap populism. I'll have to trust Sen. McConnell et. al to spend it wisely.;-)"}, {"response": 1938, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Mar 11, 2009 (16:15)", "body": "I don't care if it's .o5%..it's the principal. What's the percentage of infrastructure/jobs...I've heard everything from 15% to 45%. Both too low. And the rest?"}, {"response": 1939, "author": "mari", "date": "Wed, Mar 11, 2009 (17:10)", "body": "Are you confusing it with the economic recovery act? Anyway, here's the appropriations bill that was signed today, i.e., the government's budget bill. If you click on each section, e.g., agriculture, health, etc., you can see what was in the 2008 budget vs. how much Bush requested for 2009, and how much was approved for 2009: http://appropriations.house.gov/"}, {"response": 1940, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Mar 11, 2009 (19:42)", "body": "CABLE NEWS RACE TUES., MARCH 10, 2009 FOXNEWS O'REILLY 3,212,000 FOXNEWS HANNITY 2,376,000 FOXNEWS BECK 2,331,000 FOXNEWS BAIER 2,274,000 FOXNEWS SHEP 2,044,000 FOXNEWS GRETA 1,965,000 CNN COOPER 1,214,000 CNN KING 1,185,000 MSNBC MADDOW 1,041,000 CNNHN GRACE 986,000 MSNBC OLBERMANN 928,000 ~~~~~~~~~~ Ha! Chris Matthews didn't even make it. I heard him debating (if you want to call it that) Ari Fleischer (*sigh*, handsomer than ever)tonight. What a clown. I only hope he gets dropped by NBC."}, {"response": 1941, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Mar 11, 2009 (21:05)", "body": "Rather timely in light of today's discussion: President Obama mocked the irony of earmarkers protesting earmarks (virtually all of them Republican): \"I also find it ironic that some of those who rail most loudly against this bill because of earmarks actually inserted earmarks of their own \ufffd and will tout them in their own states and their own districts.\" President Obama pointed out that Democrats were the ones to begin reforming the process: \"In 2007, the new Democratic leadership in Congress began to address these abuses with a series of reforms that I was proud to have helped to write. We eliminated anonymous earmarks and created new measures of transparency in the process, so Americans can better follow how their tax dollars are being spent.\" And President Obama emphasized that not only did the earmark era flourish under the GOP, it concluded with indictments and convictions. \"Any earmark for a for-profit private company should be subject to the same competitive bidding requirements as other federal contracts. The awarding of earmarks to private companies is the single most corrupting element of this practice, as witnessed by some of the indictments and convictions that we\ufffdve already seen.\" http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/3/11/144711/294/579/707247 (with video)"}, {"response": 1942, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Mar 11, 2009 (21:10)", "body": "And while I think this is from last week, I think Evelyn is a secret poster there. ;-) http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/3/6/13825/22156/520/705288"}, {"response": 1943, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Mar 11, 2009 (21:18)", "body": "And this is interesting in talking about \"types\" of earmarks, good and bad. \"I think we need a new term that applies to the GOP-type of earmark - special interest projects that are often snuck in at the last minute, without discussion or debate. As opposed to the so-called \"earmarks\" of which the GOP complains now - transparent, useful and acutely needed to repair our schools, communities, infrastructure and manufacturing base. All earmarks are not created equal.\" http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/3/2/221237/9111/866/703909"}, {"response": 1944, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Mar 11, 2009 (21:22)", "body": "This might be a little more comprehensive explanation, but still the same as above. This guy's a better writer though. And it does touch on Mari's points today. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/2/27/1215/85012/281/702476 I'll be without a computer a good bit of tomorrow, so I figure this will keep you busy til I get back. ;-)"}, {"response": 1945, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Mar 11, 2009 (21:28)", "body": "Don't you remember? I don't read Daily Kos links ; so I'll never know. \"President Barack Obama said he will crack down on future spending for congressional pet projects before signing an \ufffdimperfect\ufffd $410 billion spending measure stuffed with thousands of them. \" http://news.yahoo.com/s/bloomberg/awjntxtaagws;_ylt=AieknJjx77AD42iTQ4.7HMis0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTJkNDc3ZDZwBGFzc2V0A2Jsb29tYmVyZy8yMDA5MDMxMS9hd2pudHh0YWFnd3MEcG9zAzIEc2VjA3luX3RvcF9zdG9yeQRzbGsDb2JhbWFzaWduc3Nw Optimum word here: future If he's The Great Earmarks Enforcer Why didn't he veto the bill if it was so imperfect Hypocrisy, I say. \"Do as I say......blah, blah\""}, {"response": 1946, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Mar 11, 2009 (21:44)", "body": "And this goes to the discussion of tax cuts vs. no tax cuts to stimulate growth. I haven't read the pdf yet. Before the Bush Recession Supply Side Tax Cuts Failed to Deliver Jobs and Growth Between 2001 and 2007 SOURCE: AP/Ron Edmonds By Joshua Picker | February 23, 2009 Download this report (pdf) In his final days in office, President George W. Bush told the American Enterprise Institute: [T]he benefits of the tax cuts have been obscured by the recent economic crisis, no question about it. But when they finally take a look back at whether or not tax cuts were effective or not, it\ufffds hard to argue against 52 uninterrupted months of job growth as a result of tax policy. And so my hope is, is that after this crisis passes\ufffdand it will\ufffdthat people continue to write about and articulate a public policy of low taxes. This and other efforts of the \ufffdBush Legacy Project\ufffd to rehabilitate the last administration\ufffds job creation image and defend its tax cuts ignore the stark reality that the Bush administration\ufffds tax policies fostered the weakest jobs and income growth in more than six decades, and ignored alarming labor market trends in minority communities. This record of anemic job creation was accompanied by sluggish business investment and weak gross domestic product growth that characterized the period after the Bush tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 went into effect. Yet conservatives continue to argue for another round of permanent tax cuts similar to those of the Bush administration. Even if all of the Bush tax cuts are allowed to expire as scheduled, the projected cost of the Bush tax cuts to the federal budget over the next ten years is $3.9 trillion, an average of 1.4 percent of the country\ufffds total economic activity (GDP) per year. Those asking for more permanent tax cuts continue to justify the cost, claiming tax cuts create jobs. But their analysis ignores what actually happened during the economic cycle that began in March 2001 and ended in December of 2007\ufffdwhich almost exactly coincides with the Bush presidency and the implementation of the Bush tax cuts. This period registered the weakest jobs and income growth in the post-war period. Overall monthly job growth was the worst of any cycle since at least February 1945, and household income growth was negative for the first cycle since tracking began in 1967. Women reversed employment gains of previous cycles. And for African Americans, the worst job growth on record was matched by an unprecedented increase in poverty. Given this incredibly weak record, it is astounding that some conservative members of Congress held up\ufffdand eventually voted against\ufffdthe Obama administration\ufffds economic stimulus and recovery package because it did not contain additional permanent tax cuts. The anemic Bush economic cycle directly contradicts the idea that those tax cuts delivered broad-based economic growth and job creation\ufffdnever mind the promise of long-term economic growth so quickly squelched by the onset of the recession beginning in December 2007. This paper will examine the jobs, income and poverty legacy wrought by supply-side ideology over the course of the Bush presidency. This review is important not least because conservatives continue to pitch supply-side remedies as valid alternatives to the Obama recovery package amid a worsening recession. And beyond the economic recovery, the upcoming fiscal 2010 and 2011 federal budget debates will prominently feature questions about whether to extend some or all of the Bush tax cuts. The evidence in this paper demonstrates that conservative rhetoric about the job creation potential of supply-side tax cuts does not match up to the anemic Bush-era record. Download this report (pdf) http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/02/bush_recession.html"}, {"response": 1947, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Mar 11, 2009 (21:48)", "body": "so I'll never know. I find that sad to limit yourself. Even I read everything, on both sides. I may not like it or agree, but I inform myself of what's being said anyway. It just makes what some people say about us correct IMO. I don't completely disagree with you on the hypocrisy and is noted by myself and others. (If you read the links, you'd know that) It's not the first time for him either."}, {"response": 1948, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Mar 11, 2009 (21:52)", "body": "Fight....it's a real fight!! Funny thing is, Limbaugh is most likely right on some of it anyway. Limbaugh Calls Gingrich A \ufffdFly-By-Night Operator\ufffd Who \ufffdYou Can\ufffdt Depend On\ufffd And \ufffdWill Sell You Out\ufffd This past Sunday on Meet the Press, former House Majority Leader Newt Gingrich took a shot at Rush Limbaugh, saying that anyone who doesn\ufffdt want President Obama to succeed is \ufffdirrational.\ufffd Today, Limbaugh responded on his radio show. \ufffdYou know, I\ufffdm frankly getting tired of talking about Newt,\ufffd Limbaugh began. \ufffdI mean, it\ufffds a pointless exercise.\ufffd He then ripped Gingrich for being a typical \ufffdfly-by-night,\ufffd finger-in-the-wind politician who can\ufffdt be trusted: They are fly-by-night operators, and most of them stand for nothing until they see a poll about what the American people want, and then they go out and try to say one way or another what the American people want while trying to falsely hold onto an ideology at the same time \ufffd and you can\ufffdt count on them. You can\ufffdt depend on them. They will sell you out; they will throw you overboard to save themselves, faster than anything. And they\ufffdll use you on their way up as often as they can at the same time. Limbaugh claimed that Gingrich is simply jealous of his influence. \ufffdI know that Newt would give his whatever to have what I\ufffdve got,\ufffd he said. \ufffdSo would any of these other critics of mine. \ufffd Newt Gingrich wishes they were running TV ads against him. But they\ufffdre running TV ads against me. So I love it. I\ufffdm up for it.\ufffd Listen here: Gingrich is looking \ufffdseriously\ufffd at a 2012 run for the presidency. How far can Newt get if the leader of the Republican Party won\ufffdt give him his blessing? http://thinkprogress.org/2009/03/09/limbaugh-gingrich-fight/#comments"}, {"response": 1949, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Mar 11, 2009 (21:59)", "body": "Well, to each her own. Live and let live. Etc. I'll respect your.....reticence.... to read such material. :-)"}, {"response": 1950, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Mar 11, 2009 (22:05)", "body": "WOW! Those poor kids. All that pressure they didn't ask for. I didn't know there were breakup rumors. Last I heard they were possibly secretly married. Alaska Gov. Palin's daughter's, boyfriend break up By RACHEL D'ORO, Associated Press Writer 16 mins ago WASILLA, Alaska \ufffd Levi Johnston and Bristol Palin, the teenage daughter of Gov. Sarah Palin, have broken off their engagement, he said Wednesday, about 2 1/2 months after the couple had a baby. Johnston, 19, told The Associated Press that he and 18-year-old Bristol Palin mutually decided \"a while ago\" to end their relationship. He declined to elaborate as he stood outside his family's home in Wasilla, about 40 miles north of Anchorage. He also said some details of the breakup, rumors of which had been swirling on the Internet, were inaccurate. Bristol Palin said in a statement that she was devastated about a report on Star magazine's Web site that quoted Levi's sister, Mercede, as saying Bristol \"makes it nearly impossible\" to visit the teenagers' infant son, Tripp. The baby was born Dec. 27. \"Unfortunately, my family has seen many people say and do many things to `cash in' on the Palin name,\" said the statement, which was issued through the governor's political action committee. \"Sometimes that greed clouds good judgment and the truth.\" SarahPAC spokeswoman Meghan Stapleton did not immediately respond to calls seeking further information. The governor's spokesman, Bill McAllister, declined comment. Sarah Palin revealed her daughter's pregnancy just days after being named John McCain's running mate on the Republican presidential ticket. She had said in December that her daughter and Johnston \"are committed to accomplish what millions of other young parents have accomplished, to provide a loving and secure environment for their child.\" In an interview that aired on Fox News last month, Bristol Palin said her fiance saw the baby every day and described him as a \"hands-on\" dad. Johnston and Palin had said they were considering a summer wedding. \"We both love each other,\" he told the AP in October. \"We both want to marry each other. And that's what we are going to do.\" ___ Associated Press writer Anne Sutton in Juneau contributed to this report. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090312/ap_on_re_us/bristol_palin"}, {"response": 1951, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Mar 11, 2009 (22:14)", "body": "I just had a twisted thought... What if the baby isn't really Levi's, but they trotted him out because he was rather photogenic and scrubbed up real nice vs whoever the real dad could be? Surely that would've gotten out though. I'm also curious if she would've even had the baby if her mom hadn't been jonesing for the VP job. Yeah, I know."}, {"response": 1952, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Mar 12, 2009 (10:36)", "body": "(me)so I'll never know. (Dorine)I find that sad to limit yourself. Even I read everything, on both sides. I may not like it or agree, but I inform myself of what's being said anyway. It just makes what some people say about us correct IMO. \"My faults according to your calculations are heavy indeed\" But there is a stubborness about me tha can never bear to be firghtened at the will of others\" courtesy of Jane Austen"}, {"response": 1953, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Mar 12, 2009 (10:51)", "body": "oops..forgot the ;-) FYI I don't read blogs on either the \"right or left\" I know I'm missing great literature...(albeit narcissistic), but i just don't have as much time as you. However, others, enjoy it, I'm sure...so I'm not being judgmental;-))) But if posts aren't too long, I do read them. (Keep them pithy...getting ready for Twitter) psst... That American Progressive group that continues to beat up on Pres Bush is leftie too. *Tolerant evelyn*"}, {"response": 1954, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Mar 12, 2009 (11:06)", "body": "Here they goooooooo Corporate oil booms in low-tax Switzerland \"Swiss cantons are free to set their own tax rates. For example in Zug, corporate tax is about 16 percent but can fall as low as 9.5 percent for companies that do most of their business outside Switzerland. That compares with an average global corporate tax rate of 25.9 percent, according to consultancy KPMG. {Ed note: US rate is 35%...and Timmy says it will rise after the recession ends) http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssEnergyNews/idUSL312427120090312?feedType=RSS&feedName=rbssEnergyNews&rpc=22"}, {"response": 1955, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Mar 12, 2009 (12:35)", "body": "This is cute...Lighthearted ... Who is Gail Collin? A NYT blog....Happy?;-) A CONVERSATION Talking between columns March 11, 2009, 6:47 pm Obama\ufffds To-Do List By David Brooks and Gail Collins Gail Collins: David, remember when the early Clinton administration got trapped by its own little economic crisis and James Carville grouched that if there was reincarnation, he wanted to be reborn as the bond market because then \ufffdyou can intimidate everybody\ufffd? I think I want to come back as a moderate Republican. A club so exclusive it could hold a meeting in a Capitol elevator. But these days, nothing moves unless they\ufffdre happy. Stimulus packages hang on two senators from one of the most underpopulated states in the nation. And even the hardly-moderates are getting into the act. The appropriations bill seems to be all about Thad Cochran from Mississippi. Want to fix the health care system? It\ufffds all up to Grassley of Iowa. These days, nothing moves unless moderate Republicans are happy. I was so impressed when you reported having been summoned to the White House by top members of the administration who wanted to convince you that they were moderates, too. More so, since I have it on good authority that one of those four unnamed Obamites was the man himself. Cool to have the president ask you to come over for a long policy discussion. So very much cooler not to mention it. Fess up. And once we\ufffdve gotten that out of the way, let\ufffds get down to the problem at hand. I know you\ufffdre very upset about the scope of Obama\ufffds proposals. You think he\ufffds trying to do too much at once. What would you want him to drop from the to-do list? Health care reform? Energy? Global warming? Education? Obviously the banks and the economy have to be on top, but what good is it if we finally stagger out of the current crisis with a health care system that\ufffds still draining our resources and making our manufacturers unable to compete with companies overseas? Or so dependent on foreign oil that the next crisis in the Middle East sends us reeling right back into an economic slump? Or with a school system that\ufffds not training our kids for the jobs of the future? I say, go for it all and get all you can while the getting\ufffds good. But then of course who cares what I think? I\ufffdm not a moderate Republican. Although for the right price, I might be willing to convert. David Brooks: Gail, you wouldn\ufffdt be so light-hearted about becoming a moderate Republican if you knew about the rewards that come with it: a complete collection of the novels of William Weld, an Elliot Richardson blow-up doll, an autographed photo of the semi-annual Olympia Snowe-Susan Collins thumb-wrestling match. Actually, I\ufffdm not that kind of moderate Republican. I\ufffdm more the Teddy Roosevelt-Alexander Hamilton-David Cameron kind \ufffd sort of testosterone driven but with a sweet, nurturing side. The president is taking his eye off the ball if he spends hours every day working on health care, education and energy. As for what policies I\ufffdd drop from the to-do list because of the crisis, at this point I\ufffdd have to say all of them. For years, I\ufffdve been reading alarmed commentators like Martin Wolf of The Financial Times and thinking them a bit on the outer edge of pessimistic thought. Now I am not so sure. Now I think this economic crisis could be like nothing we\ufffdve seen in our lifetimes. Big-name economists are talking seriously about another depression. In that context, I don\ufffdt think we can do anything but fixate on this. That is, I think the president should spend 50 percent of his time on the banking crisis, 25 percent of his time on getting our allies to coordinate with a global stimulus package and 25 percent of his time beginning work on a second round of stimulus. He\ufffds taking his eye off the ball if he spends hours every day working on health care, education and energy. Worse, he adds uncertainty into the market. If by summer the crisis has passed, then he should go back to the long-term stuff. But the world is too uncertain just now. If the economy collapses, history will judge him very harshly for having a budget process that is on an entirely separate track from his crisis-response process. You ask if the Big Man himself was one of my four unnamed sources for my column last week. I actually wasn\ufffdt clear on the ground rules for some of those conversations, so I decided to play it safe. Let\ufffds just say when I say I speak to senior administration officials, I take the meaning of the word \ufffdsenior\ufffd very seriously, and I now have a very cool autographed copy of a chart showing non-defense discretionary spending as a percentage of gross domestic product. It\ufffds signed, \ufffdTo Comrade Brooks\ufffd and then there\ufffds a name underneath.[Ed note :my bolds] Gail Collins: David, Theodore Roosevelt isn\ufffdt my specialty. (He\ufffds got too many groupies already. I prefer the unpopular presidents. If you want to know anything about Grover Cleveland, call any time, day or night.) But I\ufffdm pretty sure if T.R. were running the show "}, {"response": 1956, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Mar 12, 2009 (17:47)", "body": "Jim Cramer is braving Jon Stewart on The Daily Show tonight. Can't miss TV! ;-) I'll give props to him if he actually goes and doesn't wuss out like Santelli did."}, {"response": 1957, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Mar 12, 2009 (20:31)", "body": "*runs to set DVR* Stewart hammers Cramer on `The Daily Show' 1 hr 1 min ago NEW YORK \ufffd Jon Stewart hammered Jim Cramer and his network, CNBC, in their anticipated face-off on \"The Daily Show.\" In an interview taped Thursday afternoon that went far beyond its allotted time, Stewart repeatedly chastised the \"Mad Money\" host and CNBC for putting entertainment above journalism. He also accused the financial news network of willfully ignoring corporate dishonesty. For his part, Cramer disagreed with Stewart on a few points, but mostly agreed that he could have done a better job foreseeing the economic collapse. Cramer called himself a \"fan of the show\" and said his network was \"fair game\" to Stewart's criticism. \"The Daily Show\" otherwise cloaked their headline-grabbing feud in humor, calling it \"the weeklong feud of the century.\" The episode airs 11 p.m. EDT Thursday on Comedy Central."}, {"response": 1958, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Mar 13, 2009 (00:47)", "body": "Props to Jim Cramer! I actually only saw 2 minutes of it, but he did ok. Well played (from what I saw). This bit is for Evelyn to ignore. ;-) I find the mild snark quite funny. Be sure to go to the link to click on the orange \"We Surround Them\" which takes you to Glenn Beck's site. I don't disagree with most of his principles for the most part actually, except for a couple. Not sure of the point of all of it though. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/3/12/205227/892/990/707877 URGENT: Ultraconservatives Rally; Possible Surrounding Imminent by Hunter Thu Mar 12, 2009 at 07:50:19 PM PDT An urgent reminder to our liberal, moderate, and not-conservative-enough readers: please keep in mind that Friday is 'We Surround Them' day, the day when newsperson Glenn Beck, noted not-Hollywood not-celebrity Chuck Norris, and a collection of ultrapatriotic Randian nobodies are going to flex their muscles and show all of America the tremendous power of their particular brand of ultra-conservative movement. I believe this power will manifest itself primarily through outdoor barbecues, but nobody's been very clear on that. And the barbecues have something to do with resisting socialism, where socialism is defined as... well, that's not really been made too clear either, but I think it has something to do with the Bush tax cuts being allowed to expire, or making fun of Sarah Palin one too many times."}, {"response": 1959, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Mar 13, 2009 (00:52)", "body": "Looks like RNC Chair Steele is toast. That's what he gets for rastlin' with Rush. ;-) Actually, it's for coming out and speaking his truth on pro-life vs. pro-choice (which contradicts his previous statements on it). Or it was the last straw anyway."}, {"response": 1960, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Mar 13, 2009 (01:06)", "body": "(Dorine) Props to Jim Cramer! I actually only saw 2 minutes of it, but he did ok. Well played (from what I saw). You only saw two minutes. You need to see the whole thing which should be up on the site or there will be a replay soon. Cramer came off as a total fool, mainly for agreeing to appear on the show. Jon said things on behalf of all the people who put their trust in the markets (the long-term view) and blasted CNBC for sitting back and not exposing what they knew was going on. He showed video of Cramer in another interview admitting to doing all those things (like short selling) because the SEC was stupid and wouldn't figure it out. Jon was blunt and rationale. Cramer was hardly on point and trying to be \"likeable.\" Jon handled it very well. http://www.businessweek.com/investing/insights/blog/archives/2009/03/brawl_street_jo.html?chan=top+news_top+news+index+-+temp_news+%2B+analysis"}, {"response": 1961, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Mar 13, 2009 (01:22)", "body": "(Karen) Cramer came off as a total fool, mainly for agreeing to appear on the show. Hey, at least he showed up. More than Santelli did, that wuss. I think he should get credit for putting himself out there to take more blatant criticism and ridicule (and I'm not saying he didn't deserve it) to his face. More than many would do. And in the part I saw, he didn't come out defending himself like an arrogant a*hole (though I think he did on the Today Show the other day, right?). It was by far the calmest I've ever seen him. ;-) I can't judge Cramer on the content at the moment. Now when I see the whole thing, I may have a revised opinion, but I won't change that I give him props for showing up. Isn't there a bit more than what they showed on the broadcast? Isn't that why Jon said to watch more at their website?"}, {"response": 1962, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Mar 13, 2009 (09:41)", "body": "(Dorine) Hey, at least he showed up. More than Santelli did, that wuss. I think he should get credit for putting himself out there to take more blatant criticism and ridicule (and I'm not saying he didn't deserve it) to his face. More than many would do. From what I've seen, he was the one who made it an issue, by going on all the NBC shows to rail against the Daily Show, when it was about all about the network. (Dorine) And in the part I saw, he didn't come out defending himself like an arrogant a*hole No, by then it was futile. BTW, it was very uncomfortable to watch. You had to wonder why he would go on. I got no satisfaction watching him squirm, but did admire the JS's comments and qusetions. On the website, there will be more than what was on the show. It had to be edited down because it was too long."}, {"response": 1963, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Mar 13, 2009 (10:42)", "body": "I'm sorry, but that woman in this story did have a choice on the second house. Just don't sign! Shop around more! It's not like she'd have been homeless. She already had one house. I can't feel so sorry for people like that. Why was it so imperative her son lived next door. If there were more details maybe I'd have a different opinion. Though that doesn't absolve the banks, if the allegation is true. NAACP says bank giants steered blacks to bad loans By JESSE WASHINGTON, AP National Writer Jesse Washington, Ap National Writer \ufffd 1 hr 21 mins ago The NAACP is accusing Wells Fargo and HSBC of forcing blacks into subprime mortgages while whites with identical qualifications got lower rates. Class-action lawsuits were to be filed against the banks Friday in federal court in Los Angeles, Austin Tighe, co-lead counsel for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, told The Associated Press. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090313/ap_on_re_us/naacp_mortgage_discrimination"}, {"response": 1964, "author": "mari", "date": "Fri, Mar 13, 2009 (11:25)", "body": "(Karen)it was very uncomfortable to watch. You had to wonder why he would go on. I got no satisfaction watching him squirm, but did admire the JS's comments and qusetions. Agreed. He was basically telling Cramer, whose interests to you represent? What kind of reporting is it that cheerleads AIG, Bear Stearns, Citi, etc.--some places that are/were leveraged 35-1--and then turns around and airs a rant that places the entire blame on the mortgage holders, as if *they* single-handledly caused the collapse? The type of \"reporting\" that accepts at face value, unchallenged, the bullshit their CEOs see fit to peddle during their interviews with CNBC? Jon asked who is looking out for the interests of the average 401(k) investor who has seen his/her wealth evaporate while no one was minding the store on these shenangians? As I watched, I was thinking that Jon and his writers are doing the type of work that investigative reporters used to do, and are supposed to be doing."}, {"response": 1965, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Mar 13, 2009 (11:55)", "body": "And, it would now appear that the *revered* WSJ should get widespread exposure for its recent survey of economists who give Obama a failing grade. (The survey was cosponsored by NBC!) Turns out the economists are primariily conservative and most have supported McCain's economic policies. This is getting a lot of play on consdervative media outlets, which shall go unnamed. But as I've said repeatedly, I've never heard of an economist being fired for getting anything wrong. Back to Bernie. So Madoff goes to jail. He's old and won't likely serve long enough to suit most people. But what I found interesting is that the sentencing order says he is supposed to make restitution. I wonder how that is going to happen. What percentage will swindled investors get back? I can't imagine anyone is going to be able to dig up all $65 billion, no matter how many liquidation sales they have."}, {"response": 1966, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Mar 13, 2009 (16:26)", "body": "This bit is for Evelyn to ignore. ;-) You're catching on.LOL Not to interrupt your party... Uh oh...he won't be happy.... Obama's Poll Numbers Are Falling to Earth By DOUGLAS E. SCHOEN and SCOTT RASMUSSEN*** \" \"Polling data show that Mr. Obama's approval rating is dropping and is below where George W. Bush was in an analogous period in 2001\" ***Mr. Schoen, formerly a pollster for President Bill Clinton, is the author of \"Declaring Independence: The Beginning of the End of the Two Party System\" (Random House, 2008). Mr. Rasmussen is president of Rasmussen Reports, an independent national polling company"}, {"response": 1967, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Mar 13, 2009 (16:44)", "body": "Here's a video defending Jim Cramer: http://www.thestreet.com/video/?bcpid=1243645856&bctid=16457618001 I don't watch Jim or Jon Can't stand Cramer's fist pounding or Jon Stewart's \"know -it- all \"face."}, {"response": 1968, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Mar 13, 2009 (17:24)", "body": "\"Polling data show that Mr. Obama's approval rating is dropping and is below where George W. Bush was in an analogous period in 2001\" Gee, was the economy in the toilet during that \"analogous period in 2001\" and the prognosis for far worse to come? No. What a totally worthless comparison, but I expect most people would notice the irrelevance of it from the get-go."}, {"response": 1969, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Mar 13, 2009 (20:29)", "body": "Numbers are numbers."}, {"response": 1970, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Mar 13, 2009 (20:40)", "body": "Left wing conspiracy going into action..... The new left-wing conspiracy From Politico, Dorine....your fave... \"The project began last year as a launching pad for attacks on John McCain, but failed to raise money for television advertisements, and served in the later days of the presidential campaign as a platform for disseminating opposition research critical of his policy plans. ...\" LOL That's what they do in Venezuela. When your policies don't sell themselves,....deciminate the opposition. Scary. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0309/19846.html"}, {"response": 1971, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Mar 14, 2009 (00:33)", "body": "Numbers are numbers. But is 'analogous' a number? Maybe I missed the Great Depression of 2001. Go figure. Also from Politico: Media critics pile on Cramer, CNBC By: Michael Calderone March 13, 2009 09:54 PM EST When Robert Gibbs was asked Friday about Jon Stewart's grilling of CNBC \"Mad Money\" host Jim Cramer, the White House press secretary flashed a smile, and told reporters that he \"enjoyed it thoroughly.\" Gibbs reaction to the Thursday \"Daily Show\" interview isn't surprising, given that he and President Obama have been complaining a lot lately about the white noise of \"cable chatter\" in the midst of financial crisis. But is the public also ready to tune out the talking heads? Media critics, at least, seem to be. Variety proclaimed Thursday's \"Daily Show\" interview\ufffdwhich followed an eight-minute monologue last week in which Stewart bashed CNBC for \ufffdcheap populism\ufffd and bad predictions\ufffd \"the most foolish appearance by someone whose name sounded like 'Cramer' since 'Seinfeld' went off the air,\" while others called it \"a beat-down\" (The Chicago Tribune); \"a massacre\" (Huffington Post); and a \"remarkable public service [in] gutting Cramer\" (The Baltimore Sun). A certain amount of Schadenfreude could be expected when the loudest guy in the room pipes down, and accepts blame\ufffdand Cramer admitted to being \"wrong\" four times on Thursday night. But much of the piling on seemed to be less about Cramer than about how cable news\ufffdand particularly cable business news\ufffdcovers serious topics in what are, for most Americans, serious times. \"You knew what the banks were doing, and yet were touting it for months and months,\" Stewart said. \"The entire network was. And so now to pretend that this was some sort of crazy, once-in-a-lifetime tsunami that nobody could have seen coming is disingenuous at best and criminal at worst.\" The never publicity-shy Cramer skipped a scheduled appearance Friday on \"Morning Joe\" that was billed as his first chance to discuss the \"Daily Show\" debate; host Joe Scarborough noted on Twitter that Cramer \"had a late night.\" And TVNewser reported that MSNBC asked producers to leave the Stewart-Cramer interview out of their shows, with CNBC hosts also saying little about the interview. That's a far cry from CNBC's initial reaction to Rick Santelli's rant on the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange last month. At that time, the business network\ufffdas well as NBC and MSNBC\ufffdcontinued hyping the incident for days, while the CNBC website highlighted classic Santelli rants on \ufffdbefore the reporter, who now seems to be somewhat under wraps, canceled a scheduled interview on the \"Daily Show.\" \"CNBC produces more than 150 hours of live television a week that includes more than 850 interviews in the service of exposing all sides of every critical financial and economic issue,\" said CNBC spokesperson Brian Steel in statement Friday. \"We are proud of our record and remain committed to delivering coverage in real-time during this extraordinary story and beyond.\" Chris Roush, who teaches business journalism at the University of North Carolina, said that when it comes to covering the economic crisis on cable, \"the more that CNBC allows its reporters and anchors to state their opinions instead of simply reporting facts, the more it will hurt CNBC in the long run.\" The increasingly opinionated dispatches from CNBC's stars parallels MSNBC\ufffds shift during the 2008 campaign to more aggressively opinionated commentary, and could similarly overshadow the actual reporting done by the business network\ufffds rank-and-file. Even so, Roush contends that incorporating opinion into reporting on business different than doing the same with political coverage. \"When you state an opinion and you're wrong\" in business news, \"you cause people to lose millions or billions of dollars,\" said Roush. \"Stating opinion with business news is extremely dangerous. Stating politics in political news is not as dangerous because people know that the person is stating their political viewpoint.\" And while political prognostications are more subjective, Cramer talking up Bear Stearns stock days before it tanks is a quantifiable mistake. Still, viewers have at times grown weary of cable television's need for heated political debate shows\ufffdmost notably, following Stewart's October 2004 appearance on CNN's \"Crossfire.\" There, Stewart told hosts Tucker Carlson and Paul Begala that they should \"stop hurting America.\" \"I'm here to confront you,\" Stewart said, \"because we need help from the media and they're hurting us.\" Stewart was declared the victor by many in the media after that appearance, and less than three months later CNN pulled the plug on the 22-year-old right-left shout-fest. Upon \"Crossfire's\" cancelation, network president Jon Klein noted the Stewart critique, telling the Washington Post that \"he made a good point about the noise level of these types of shows, which does nothing to illuminate the issues of the day.\" Carlson, reached Friday, describe"}, {"response": 1972, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Mar 14, 2009 (11:20)", "body": "\"I'm here to confront you,\" Stewart said, \"because we need help from the media and they're hurting us.\" I'd be a whole lot more impressed if Jon Stewart had *confronted* Rep. Barney Frank and Sen Dodd from the government ...on their part of the fiscal meltdown...to say nothing of Sen Dodd's questionable;-)special mortage he got from Countrywide or his impetuous remark about Indybank in Califronia that caused the run. Cramer is the new Rush. And what about the press secretary Robt Gibbs remarks yesterday about \"enjoying\" that show. What pettiness!...with all the problems confronting this country...a WH press secretary taking on a TV show personality who dared to criticize the president. Lacks class...my Ari never would have stooped to that. As Paglia said last week...\"Chicago bare-knuckled pugilism\"."}, {"response": 1973, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Mar 14, 2009 (11:26)", "body": "Wen Voices Concern Over China's U.S. Treasurys \"We have lent a huge amount of money to the U.S., so of course we are concerned about the safety of our assets. Frankly speaking, I do have some worries,..\" Please. No one tell him that he's funding senior citizen community centers and ACORN http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123692233477317069.html"}, {"response": 1974, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Mar 14, 2009 (12:17)", "body": ""}, {"response": 1975, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Mar 14, 2009 (12:20)", "body": "And what about the press secretary Robt Gibbs remarks yesterday about \"enjoying\" that show. He was asked. Isn't *he* entitled to an opinion and to state it? Besides, that's all he said. I'd be a whole lot more impressed if Jon Stewart had *confronted* Rep. Barney Frank and Sen Dodd from the government ...on their part of the fiscal meltdown. It would be nice if you stayed somewhat on point."}, {"response": 1976, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Mar 14, 2009 (13:30)", "body": "(Karen)he* entitled to an opinion and to state it? And so do I . And what about the press secretary Robt Gibbs remarks yesterday about \"enjoying\" that show. (karen)He was asked. Isn't *he* entitled to an opinion and to state it? Besides, that's all he said. No he didn't: From the CHICAGO SUN-TIMES Gibbs said, \"the President and I talked earlier in the day yesterday about watching it. I forgot to email and remind him that it was on, so I don't know if he's seen it. I enjoyed it thoroughly -- (laughter) -- despite, even as Mr. Stewart said, that it may have been uncomfortable to conduct and uncomfortable to watch. I thought it was -- I thought somebody asked a lot of tough questions, and I am not surprised that the video of Mr. Cramer's appearance doesn't appear on CNBC's web site today.\" http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2009/03/obamas_gibbs_said_he_enjoyed_j.html The fool blabbed on as he does every day at those briefings."}, {"response": 1977, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Mar 14, 2009 (13:48)", "body": "who cares?"}, {"response": 1978, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Mar 14, 2009 (14:04)", "body": "\"Stewart's a comedian and Cramer is a showman,\" said Robert Howell, professor at Dartmouth University's Tuck School of Business. \"If anybody takes seriously anything that (Cramer) says, they're stupid.\" http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090314/ap_on_en_tv/meltdown_financial_reporters"}, {"response": 1979, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Mar 14, 2009 (14:09)", "body": "Again, try to stay on point."}, {"response": 1980, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Mar 14, 2009 (14:21)", "body": "From today's UK TELEGRAPH Barack Obama's aides admit errors are making him less popular ...... \"A source close to Mr Obama's top team telephoned this newspaper last week to say that White House officials now regard it as \"a mistake\" to have returned the bust of Winston Churchill that the British government loaned George W. Bush - a story first reported by The Sunday Telegraph - and then to have sent the prime minister home with a gift of 25 DVDs after his visit to Washington. ....... \"Clearly it was a mistake, and they want people to know that they know that,\" the source said. \"There is a collective desire to learn from the experience. They pride themselves on attention to detail. They didn't have their eye on the ball... they all know they've got to do better.\" .....The veteran Newsweek political columnist Howard Fineman, previously an enthusiastic cheerleader, delivered a withering verdict under the headline \"The Turning Tide\", which concluded: \"Obama still has the approval of the people, but the establishment is beginning to mumble that the president may not have what it takes.\" ........ (Warren Buffet) \"Job one is to win the war, the economic war. Job two is to win the economic war - and job three,\" he said. \"You can't expect people to unite behind you if you're trying to jam a whole bunch of things down their throat\" You can read the rest at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/4991247/Barack-Obamas-aides-admit-errors-are-making-him-less-popular.html I must say that I admire them for apologizing. Those stupid DVDs...did someone go to Walmart to pick those up at the last minute. How provincial."}, {"response": 1981, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Mar 14, 2009 (15:07)", "body": "Since you can't bother to watch the actual program and make comments on the content, I'll give you this quote: \"You know, we're both snake oil salesman to a certain extent,\" Stewart said. \"But, we do label this show as snake oil here. Isn't there a problem selling snake oil as vitamin tonic and saying that it cures impetigo, etc., etc. etc.?\" Jon Stewart's program was directed at CNBC. He made that very clear. Evidently you don't seem to understand the larger issue and continually shooting the messenger is getting beyond tiresome."}, {"response": 1982, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Mar 14, 2009 (15:32)", "body": "(Evelyn) Lacks class...my Ari never would have stooped to that. No he was too busy with Chris Matthews the other day continuing to perpetrate the myth/lie that Saddam was involved with 9/11. Check the video out."}, {"response": 1983, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Mar 14, 2009 (15:36)", "body": "I wasn't insinuating that Chris Matthews was perpetrating that also, quite the opposite as he was calling Ari out on some things. Also, I can't go back to copy your post now, but can you show the Rasmussen poll that specfically shows numbers on O's popularity. I went to Rasmussen's site to look for it and I saw a headline that O was up +9 points."}, {"response": 1984, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sat, Mar 14, 2009 (15:52)", "body": "LOL, ladies! I'm catching up on this topic. And now for the future comedic relief of our late night TV hosts, Bush has announced that he will do a speaking tour. ;-)"}, {"response": 1985, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Mar 14, 2009 (16:17)", "body": "(Dorine) No he was too busy with Chris Matthews the other day continuing to perpetrate the myth/lie that Saddam was involved with 9/11. I heard it the other day. It was sad. It was pitiful. Such inanities out of Ari Fleicher's mouth. You could tell Chris M was exasperated with Fleicher's inability to answer questions. Sounded petulant on Ari's part. Hardly what one would expect from a former spokesperson for a president. (Moon) And now for the future comedic relief of our late night TV hosts, Bush has announced that he will do a speaking tour. ;-) LOL! You sure they're not confusing it with Will Farrell's Bway show, which is airing on HBO tonight. Done live."}, {"response": 1986, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Mar 14, 2009 (18:06)", "body": "No, he really is. I forget where I read the first one is. I forgot the HBO show of that was this weekend and forgot to DVR. I passed by the theater yesterday with all the digital/control room trucks parked all down the street for it with the wires funneled into the theater."}, {"response": 1987, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Mar 14, 2009 (18:22)", "body": "I watched Ari with Chris Matthews and thought he did admirably...was proud of him:-D He showed *Matthews* some manners...\"Do you always interrupt the guests on your show'? It was Matthews who was frothing at the mouth (literally & figuratively , the guy is always spitting)And it was *he* IMO who looked \"pitiful\" . C'mon Ari *hosed* him. Hey, put your comments on the TELEGRAPH website..I only posted what they said about Obama today. Let's see what happens at the G-20. I bet those guys won't jump over the hoops for him like his henchmen in Congress. Anyway, I'm finished for today. I just finished my tax material:_))))and am celebrating....taking myself out for dinner. Wanna come???? ;-)"}, {"response": 1988, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Mar 14, 2009 (18:29)", "body": "Yeah, try defending the logic that Bush kept this country safe since there hadn't been attack since 9/11. But the converse that the attack happened while he was in office can't be attributed to his Administration. Irrational. Illogical. Ari got all uppity when Chris presented that little bit of logic to him. It was sad how petulent Ari became. Ever take a logic course?"}, {"response": 1989, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Mar 15, 2009 (02:46)", "body": "(Evelyn) Here's a video defending Jim Cramer: http://www.thestreet.com/video/?bcpid=1243645856&bctid=16457618001 Golly, just can't imagine why thestreet.com would have a video defending Jim Cramer....can you? ;-) Their CEO just announced yesterday he was stepping down. \"TheStreet.com NASDAQ: TSCM is a financial company and website started in 1996 by Jim Cramer and registered on the NASDAQ Stock Market. ...TheStreet.com arguably is still best known for its free, flagship site, and the direct, in-your-face tone of some of its reporters and contributors. Its most popular features include: Top 10 Stocks; You Ask, Cramer Answers; Jim Cramer's Portfolios of the Week; ...Board member Cramer remains one of the company's commentators... ...Many investors worry about the over-dependence of TheStreet.com on Jim Cramer, according to investing columnist Henry Blodget.[4] Cramer promotes TheStreet.com on his TV show Mad Money and is one of the main contributors to TheStreet.com's paid subscription and free content.\" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TheStreet.com"}, {"response": 1990, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Mar 15, 2009 (02:59)", "body": "(Evelyn) When your policies don't sell themselves,....deciminate the opposition. Does \"your side\" look in the mirror much? ;-)"}, {"response": 1991, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Mar 15, 2009 (11:54)", "body": "And, Chris Matthews wasn't the one to bring up the Bush Administration's claim to fame regarding 9/11. Matthews related what he'd been taught in boy scouts about leaving a camp ground in better condition than you found it and asked whether he could make the same comment about the country. It was Ari who hemmed and hawed and finally grasped at his only straw about the country not having been attacked. He set himself up."}, {"response": 1992, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Mar 16, 2009 (21:58)", "body": "Pffft! Washington Monthly March 15, 2009 CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS NOT DUE.... Wall Street had a nice little rally this week, but former White House Press Secretary Dana Perino hopes President Obama doesn't get too much credit. Former White House spokesperson Dana Perino said on Sunday that the Bush administration, while presiding over the start of the current recession, nevertheless deserved some credit for the modest uptick that Wall Street experienced this past week. Appearing on CSPAN's Washington Journal, the last of Bush's press secretaries said it was \"not a secret\" that the current economic mess started under her boss's watch. But, she cautioned, the public had yet to realize the full extent to which the past president's policies \"alleviat[ed] the downturn.\" Take, for instance, the improvement in the Dow Jones Industrial average this week. \"You were just speaking earlier about the possibility that since we had a little bit of a better week on Wall Street does that spell a turnaround?\" Perino said. \"Can all the credit go specifically to President Obama? Well, I would say no. We are just going to have to take a while to let all of this settle down and let the policies that our administration and the new administration are trying to put in place have a chance to work.\" I see. Just so we're clear, here's a helpful guide to the rules of market watching, as they relate to partisan politics: When the market went down on Bush's watch before the 2008 elections, this was Bill Clinton's fault. When the market went down on Bush's watch between November 2008 and January 2009, this was Barack Obama's fault. When the market went down during Obama's first seven weeks in office, this was definitely Barack Obama's fault. And when the market rallies on Obama's watch during the second week in March, George W. Bush deserves at least some of the credit. I'm glad Perino helped set the record straight. Putting aside whether watching Wall Street is a useful guide to measuring the strength of economic policies -- it clearly isn't -- the point to remember is that positive developments are evidence of Republican wisdom, and negative developments are evidence of Democratic failure. Remember when you were a kid and someone told you, \"I'll flip a coin -- heads I win, tails you lose\"? It's kind of like that. \u2014Steve Benen 12:25 PM Permalink | Trackbacks | Comments (41) http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_03/017299.php"}, {"response": 1993, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Mar 17, 2009 (09:47)", "body": "Putting aside whether watching Wall Street is a useful guide to measuring the strength of economic policies -- it clearly isn't Agreed. Never has been and shouldn't be considered one. Remember when you were a kid and someone told you, \"I'll flip a coin -- heads I win, tails you lose\"? It's kind of like that. *hee hee* Exactly. And to change course radically, this is beyond revolting: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article5922459.ece"}, {"response": 1994, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Mar 17, 2009 (10:21)", "body": "Thank you, Mr President.... From POLITICO March Madness: W.H. on defense \"Republicans were gaining traction with their charge that President Barack Obama\ufffds proposed tax hikes would hurt small businesses. So no surprise when the White House threw an event on Monday\ufffds schedule to extol the administration\ufffds plans to funnel stimulus funds to entrepreneurs. \" http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=1152C48F-18FE-70B2-A8EE70E52D295480"}, {"response": 1995, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Mar 17, 2009 (14:16)", "body": "chicagotribune.com A little hardball might be just the medicine AIG needs David Greising March 17, 2009 The last time Edward Liddy faced a vexing compensation issue, as chief executive of Northbrook-based Allstate Corp., he cut costs with all the finesse of a blunderbuss: He axed 6,000 of Allstate's highest-paid agents. That was then; this is now. As head of insurance giant American International Group, which is 80 percent owned by taxpayers, Liddy seems to be going all wobbly on compensation issues. Liddy is going ahead with $165 million in bonuses. That is the first payment of $492 million due to employees in a unit of AIG that would have put the company out of business last year had the U.S. government not come through with $173.3 billion in bailout money. But those AIG traders were promised fat bonuses. And Liddy, who was brought in to clean up the mess the traders and product managers made, has decided the bonuses must be paid. Outside lawyers have told him so. \"Quite frankly, AIG's hands are tied,\" Liddy, AIG's chief executive, wrote in a letter Saturday to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. What ever happened to the Liddy who went after Allstate agents a decade ago like a scythe through chaff? No cautious legal counsel stopped him then. The agents sued. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued\ufffdtwice. Liddy fought those lawsuits, and Allstate has won at every stage. Michael Lieder, the lawyer who represents the 6,000 Allstate agents, is struck by Liddy's newfound respect for the power of employment contracts. \"The positions he is taking at AIG are in direct conflict with the positions he was taking with regard to our clients,\" Lieder said. This time around, a little of the old Ed Liddy would go a long way toward arriving at what is right for AIG and the taxpayers who essentially own the company. Liddy likely has the power to fire AIG's bonus babies on the spot. Employed as they are on at at-will basis, he can simply let the whole lot of them go, say compensation experts familiar with AIG's structure. Not that Liddy should let them all go. After all, he does need some of them to wind down the derivatives business and its toxic tide of assets. Some he needs, others he does not. And since he can get by without all of them, then virtually none should feel secure. That's why most of them, perhaps all of them, should be willing to forgo their bonuses in order to save their jobs. Liddy need not make any threats. He merely needs to take the traders and product managers at AIG Financial Products Group and explain the facts of post-bailout life. \"He can say, 'Hey, I know we had an agreement, but times are changing. The klieg lights are on. I'm not going to fire anyone, but something has to change,' \" said Brian Tobin, practice leader at Hay Group, a firm specializing in compensation and human resources consulting. It's true the times have changed since those employments contracts were written in early 2008. Motorola, Continental Airlines and Applied Materials are among struggling companies where top executives are ripping up their contracts and giving back pay. A growing number of companies are reclaiming bonuses from executives who puffed up financial results. A move against the bonus babies at AIG would merely extend a growing trend. The AIG employees know Liddy's history. They know he can play hardball. They also know this is no time to start a job hunt in the derivatives business with three scarlet letters\ufffdAIG\ufffdon their r\ufffdsum\ufffds. If this sounds tough-minded, it is and it should be. After all, these are the traders who ran the business that broke the company that helped wreck the economy. If they still want a bonus after all they have done, a little hardball from Liddy is the least they should expect. http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/columnists/chi-tue-greising-aig-liddy-0317-mar17,0,1566068.column"}, {"response": 1996, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Mar 17, 2009 (23:53)", "body": "Retention payments to people who are no longer employed? Sounds like a fraudulent payment to me. Don't know why it continues to surprise me at how morally bankrupt these people are. :-( The gall! It knows no ends. I say name the names of the recipients like dead-beat dads. And print their addresses too. And I won't apologize like Grassley. Cuomo Details Million-Dollar Bonuses at A.I.G. By LOUISE STORY Seventy-three employees were paid more than $1 million in the latest bonuses at the insurance giant American International Group, according to the New York attorney general, Andrew M. Cuomo. The attorney general provided new details on Tuesday about some of the $165 million in bonuses that A.I.G. paid out last week in a letter sent to Representative Barney Frank, the chairman of the House Committee on Financial Services. \ufffdA.I.G. made more than 73 millionaires in the unit which lost so much money that it brought the firm to its knees, forcing a taxpayer bailout,\ufffd Mr. Cuomo wrote in the letter. \ufffdSomething is deeply wrong with this outcome.\ufffd Mr. Cuomo did not name the bonus recipients, but the numbers are eye-popping, given A.I.G.\ufffds fragile state. The highest bonus was $6.4 million, and six other employees received more than $4 million, according to Mr. Cuomo. Fifteen other people received bonuses of more than $2 million, and 51 people received bonuses of $1 million to $2 million, Mr. Cuomo said. Eleven of those who received \ufffdretention\ufffd bonuses of $1 million or more are no longer working at A.I.G., including one who received $4.6 million, he said. A.I.G., which is now 80 percent owned by the government, paid out the so-called retention payments, saying the bonuses were needed to persuade workers to remain at its financial products unit. But the payouts have caused a public furor, and the White House said on Monday that the Treasury would write new requirements about the bonus money in the next $30 billion that it provides to the insurance giant. Already, the government has given A.I.G. $170 billion. Amid the fury, Democratic lawmakers proposed three separate bills on Tuesday that would tax the bonuses if A.I.G. refused to rescind them voluntarily. Republicans channeled their anger into attacking the rest of Mr. Obama\ufffds economic plan, especially the huge economic stimulus bill that will cost the government almost $800 billion over the next two years. Senator Richard Shelby, Republican of Alabama, questioned whether Mr. Geithner should resign. \ufffdI don\ufffdt know if he should resign over this,\ufffd Mr. Shelby said, adding that he \ufffdworks for the president of the United States. But I can tell you, this is just another example of where he seems to be out of the loop. Treasury should have let the American people know about this.\ufffd Mr. Frank said that it was \ufffdtime to exercise our ownership rights.\ufffd \ufffdI think we should be suing to get the bonuses back as the owner,\ufffd he said of A.I.G. Bonus recipients should have been told, he said, that they had not performed as expected and did not deserve a payout. Mr. Frank also questioned the need for retention bonuses in this economy, saying \ufffdIt is hardly a tough market for hiring people with financial expertise.\ufffd Mr. Cuomo subpoenaed A.I.G. on Monday for the names of the people who shared in the new bonus pool. He said the fact that 11 people who received some of the money were no longer at A.I.G., raised questions about whether the bonuses were truly for retention purposes. Mr. Cuomo may be able to use a state law about fraudulent conveyance to force A.I.G. to rescind the bonuses. Mr. Cuomo would have to show that A.I.G. was undercapitalized when it paid the bonuses and that the people who received the bonuses did not earn them. \ufffdI understand they have contracts,\ufffd Mr. Cuomo said in an interview on Monday. \ufffdThat\ufffds not necessarily determinant because a lot has happened since that contract was signed.\ufffd A.I.G. altered some of its practices last fall after discussions with Mr. Cuomo. The company canceled about $160 million in planned expenses for conferences as well as $600 million in payouts in deferred compensation plans after Mr. Cuomo threatened to sue. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/18/business/18cuomo.html"}, {"response": 1997, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Mar 18, 2009 (00:09)", "body": "The mind reels, eh? Larry King's show had a good segment about this with Ariana Huffington and Ben Stein. And I have to agree with them, Obama and Co. are letting this stuff get outta hand."}, {"response": 1998, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Mar 18, 2009 (00:48)", "body": "It all goes back to the kind of deals that were made before handing out the money. The government owns, what, 80% of AIG. If any one entity owned a quarter of that, they'd be calling all the shots: replacing the board, its management, etc. And this issue of being \"contractually obligated,\" gimme a break. Place the company in bankruptcy and those contracts would be smoke. Think of all the companies that followed this method to reneg on their pension obligations."}, {"response": 1999, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Mar 18, 2009 (01:13)", "body": "That's what I was thinking. They were giving out the money to retain \"good\" people (who promptly left with the $$) and didn't want to encourage lawsuits?! Since when did a company care about its employees suing them (unless it's for sexual harrassment or EEOC violations? news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 107, "subject": "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World  (Part 2 - A Madder World)", "response_count": 1999, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Mar 18, 2009 (13:07)", "body": "In case the note above was missed: I'm clueless on this starting topics stuff. ;-) Yay, a new Mad World Topic is needed! And so soon. Thanks to everyone for your participation!"}, {"response": 2, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Mar 18, 2009 (19:02)", "body": "How appropriate a subtitle these days. ;-) From one of the many AIG bonus articles: Liddy said that on Tuesday, he had \"asked those who have received retention payments in excess of $100,000 or more to return at least half of those payments.\" Some have \"already stepped forward and returned 100 percent,\" he added. Asked by Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., whether he would turn over the names of individuals who received the money, as well as the amounts, he said he would do so only if assured the information not be made public. When Frank said he might seek a subpoena, Liddy said he was concerned about the safety of the employees and their families, and read aloud from a death threat received by one of them. Ah, why be askeered for their safety if they did nothing wrong."}, {"response": 3, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Mar 18, 2009 (21:54)", "body": "I want them to move on from this debacle. I bet Liddy is sorry he came out of retirement to take this $1./yr job, only to be grilled by those slugs. I'm not into finger-pointing....blame-games only feed the ego of self-centered people who want to feel important and above it all. Dodd facing fresh political firestorm http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20090318/pl_politico/30833 It serves no purpose ...and $168M is a drop in the $170B that AIG got. Free Timmy and let him get on with the plan to buy the toxic assets of the banks. The sooner they get that plan going and yes ,get the next stimulus package in place, the sooner the economy will start to recover. Banks first; then housing. Now is no time to change Treasury Secs I say. He's got a full plate; let him focus."}, {"response": 4, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Mar 18, 2009 (21:55)", "body": "sorry"}, {"response": 5, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Mar 19, 2009 (08:58)", "body": "From what I've been reading, Dodd looks like he may be toast in the next election."}, {"response": 6, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Mar 19, 2009 (09:47)", "body": "I want them to move on from this debacle. When a bunch of rich people get more money, it is time to leave it alone and move on, but other things deserve investigation. From what I've been reading, Dodd looks like he may be toast in the next election. He's been blaming it on some unnamed people from Treasury, who advised against the provision because of \"lawsuits.\" *rolling eyes* I would imagine it will all come out today as to the source."}, {"response": 7, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Mar 19, 2009 (09:50)", "body": "Looks like you and O are on the same page, Evelyn: \" I know Washington's all in a tizzy, and everybody is pointing fingers at each other, and saying it's their fault, the Democrats' fault, and the Republicans' fault. Listen: I'll take responsibility. I'm the President. We didn't draft these contracts. We've got a lot on our plate. But it is appropriate when you're in charge to make sure that stuff doesn't happen like this, so we're going to do everything we can to fix it. So for everybody in Washington who's busy scrambling to try to figure out how to blame somebody else, just go ahead and talk to me, because it's my job to fix these messes even if I don't make them. But what's just as important is that we make sure we don't find ourselves in this situation again, where taxpayers are on the hook for losses in bad times, and all the wealth that's generated in good times goes to those who are at the very top of the income ladder.\""}, {"response": 8, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Mar 19, 2009 (10:14)", "body": "Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac execs getting bonuses too? When did the definition of bonuses lose its meaning from producing agreed-upon or better-than-targeted results? Surely these aren't signing bonuses, like in the NBA. It isn't as if the job market is tough and you have to lure really good people away from positions. Lots of out of work people. Lots of management people who have been forced to take separation packages over the last decade. So retention can't be an issue. This is perversity writ large. :-( http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/18/AR2009031803188.html?hpid=topnews"}, {"response": 9, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Mar 19, 2009 (12:05)", "body": "You gotta wonder if these \"business\" reporters actually know how businesses operate. Big wigs don't move offices unless they're getting better digs. Other departments might be moved into smaller spaces to save money. Also, does Citigroup own the building? Are they planning on leasing out the vacated space here or wherever the consolidated ops come from? With so much downsizing, I would expect to see tons of vacant space but little demand for it in Manhattan. Bailed-Out Citi Plans $10M CEO Office Citi, Which Has Received $45B in Govt. Funds, Will Spend $10M on NYC Exec Offices By ZUNAIRIA ZAKI ABC News Business Unit March 19, 2009\ufffd Citigroup, which has received $45 billion in taxpayer bailout money, plans to spend $10 million on new offices at its Park Avenue headquarters for CEO Vikram Pandit and his deputies. A Citi source confirmed the renovation plans to ABC News, which were first reported by Bloomberg News. The source added that the renovation is part of an overall effort to cut costs by consolidating offices. Last month, Pandit testified before Congress about the way his company is using taxpayer dollars received through the Troubled Asset Relief Program. \"The American people are right to expect that we use TARP funds responsibly, quickly and transparently to help American families, businesses and communities,\" he said. Earlier this year, Citigroup reversed a decision to buy a $50 million corporate jet under pressure from the government. The Citi source likened the $10 million in office renovations to refinancing a home: You need to put money down so you can save money over time. Permits for the renovations were filed in September 2008, according to the source. \"This office space consolidation is part of a global effort to create greater operating efficiencies and generate millions of dollars in savings in the years ahead,\" Citi told ABC News in a statement. \"Through this project, senior executives in our corporate headquarters are moving from two floors to smaller, simpler offices on a single floor.\" \"These changes, combined with greater use of shared work spaces and alternative work arrangements, will double the overall occupancy rate on the remaining floor,\" the company added. \"In addition, based on estimates made when the project was initiated, we expect to generate savings in the next few years well in excess of the project costs compared to our current utilization of headquarters executive space.\" Bloomberg reported that the company plans to spend at least $3.2 million for basic construction, such as wall removal, plumbing and fire safety, but that the overall cost would be at least three times as high. [Thain filler] According to Bloomberg, plans for Citi's renovations on file with the city specify the installation of at least one Sub-Zero Inc. refrigerator and icemaker, \"premium grade\" millwork and a Madico Inc. \"Safety Shield 800\" blast-proof window film. The project includes 17 private offices, each with space for administrative assistants, two conference rooms and open areas with \"soft seating.\" [Ed note: hardly damning specs] http://abcnews.go.com/Business/Economy/story?id=7121558&page=1"}, {"response": 10, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Mar 19, 2009 (12:12)", "body": "I don't think they only started to owe the back taxes since January 20th. But maybe it was one of those corporate tax reduction things. ;-) From Reuters: Some bailed-out companies owe U.S. taxes-lawmaker Thu Mar 19, 2009 10:19am EDT WASHINGTON, March 19 (Reuters) - Some top recipients of U.S. bailout money owe the federal government more than $220 million in unpaid taxes, a U.S. lawmaker said on Thursday. Representative John Lewis, a Democrat who heads the U.S. House of Representatives Ways and Means oversight subcommittee, said 13 bailed-out companies owe the federal government taxes. Two of them owe more than $100 million each. Lewis said that the firms, which he did not name, signed statements at the time of receiving federal aid stating that they owed no federal taxes. Lewis said the revelation raises further questions about the bailout program. http://www.reuters.com/article/americasRegulatoryNews/idUSWEN620420090319"}, {"response": 11, "author": "mari", "date": "Thu, Mar 19, 2009 (17:25)", "body": "Ex-Bush admin official: Many at Gitmo are innocent By ANDREW O. SELSKY, Associated Press Writer SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico \ufffd Many detainees locked up at Guantanamo were innocent men swept up by U.S. forces unable to distinguish enemies from noncombatants, a former Bush administration official said Thursday. \"There are still innocent people there,\" Lawrence B. Wilkerson, a Republican who was chief of staff to then-Secretary of State Colin Powell, told The Associated Press. \"Some have been there six or seven years.\" Wilkerson, who first made the assertions in an Internet posting on Tuesday, told the AP he learned from briefings and by communicating with military commanders that the U.S. soon realized many Guantanamo detainees were innocent but nevertheless held them in hopes they could provide information for a \"mosaic\" of intelligence. \"It did not matter if a detainee were innocent. Indeed, because he lived in Afghanistan and was captured on or near the battle area, he must know something of importance,\" Wilkerson wrote in the blog. He said intelligence analysts hoped to gather \"sufficient information about a village, a region, or a group of individuals, that dots could be connected and terrorists or their plots could be identified.\" Wilkerson, a retired Army colonel, said vetting on the battlefield during the early stages of U.S. military operations in Afghanistan was incompetent with no meaningful attempt to discriminate \"who we were transporting to Cuba for detention and interrogation.\" Navy Cmdr. Jeffrey Gordon, a Pentagon spokesman, declined to comment on Wilkerson's specific allegations but noted that the military has consistently said that dealing with foreign fighters from a wide variety of countries in a wartime setting was a complex process. The military has insisted that those held at Guantanamo were enemy combatants and posed a threat to the United States. In his posting for The Washington Note blog, Wilkerson wrote that \"U.S. leadership became aware of this lack of proper vetting very early on and, thus, of the reality that many of the detainees were innocent of any substantial wrongdoing, had little intelligence value, and should be immediately released.\" Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Vice President Dick Cheney fought efforts to address the situation, Wilkerson said, because \"to have admitted this reality would have been a black mark on their leadership.\" Wilkerson told the AP in a telephone interview that many detainees \"clearly had no connection to al-Qaida and the Taliban and were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Pakistanis turned many over for $5,000 a head.\" Some 800 men have been held at Guantanamo since the prison opened in January 2002, and 240 remain. Wilkerson said two dozen are terrorists, including confessed Sept. 11 plotter Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who was transferred to Guantanamo from CIA custody in September 2006. \"We need to put those people in a high-security prison like the one in Colorado, forget them and throw away the key,\" Wilkerson said. \"We can't try them because we tortured them and didn't keep an evidence trail.\" But the rest of the detainees need to be released, he said. Wilkerson, who flew combat missions as a helicopter pilot in Vietnam and left the government in January 2005, said he did not speak out while in government because some of the information was classified. He said he feels compelled to do so now because Cheney has claimed in recent press interviews that President Barack Obama is making the U.S. less safe by reversing Bush administration policies toward terror suspects, including ordering Guantanamo closed. The administration is now evaluating what to do with the prisoners who remain at the U.S. military base in Cuba. \"I'm very concerned about the kinds of things Cheney is saying to make it seem Obama is a danger to this republic,\" Wilkerson said. \"To have a former vice president fearmongering like this is really, really dangerous.\""}, {"response": 12, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Mar 19, 2009 (17:49)", "body": "Just like I've been saying (and reading) for quite a while."}, {"response": 13, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Mar 19, 2009 (18:02)", "body": "Wilkerson said, because \"to have admitted this reality would have been a black mark on their leadership.\" Because God forbid they'd have to admit...*gasp*....a *mistake*! Heinous people."}, {"response": 14, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Mar 19, 2009 (18:12)", "body": "I said that ages ago ...let them all go. Now looks like it will happen Gitmo inmates could be released in US http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=89075\u00a7ionid=3510203"}, {"response": 15, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Mar 19, 2009 (18:16)", "body": "From what I've been reading, Dodd looks like he may be toast in the next election. Of course that's a long way off and he's got lots of time to 'cover-up his....\" I just came from a lecture by Paul Gigot (Op Ed WSJ) and he agrees with you, however. Along with Murtha. I don't know what scandal he's involved in. Can't keep up nowdays, LOL."}, {"response": 16, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Mar 19, 2009 (19:03)", "body": "Re Murtha, same thing as many of them. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/16/AR2009031601393.html?hpid=topnews"}, {"response": 17, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Mar 19, 2009 (19:45)", "body": "*yawn* Note to self: Must send this to son who graduated from Penn State."}, {"response": 18, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Mar 20, 2009 (00:34)", "body": "AIG is making sure employees are watching their backs. http://gawker.com/5175745/aig-corporate-securitys-tips-for-surviving-an-angry-mob I enjoyed many of the comments."}, {"response": 19, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Mar 20, 2009 (01:00)", "body": "More on Dodd and his lack of candor. http://gawker.com/5175448/chris-dodd-is-a-liar?skyline=true&s=i And this is interesting to note re foreign recipients of AIG bonus $$: http://gawker.com/5175726/british-con-men-exempt-from-aig-tax Jim Cramer Can't Quit Jon Stewart http://gawker.com/5175094/jim-cramer-cant-quit-jon-stewart"}, {"response": 20, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Mar 20, 2009 (10:20)", "body": "I ddidn't watch the president on Leno. Youtube probably has it. anything important?...I seldom watch Leno"}, {"response": 21, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Mar 20, 2009 (16:57)", "body": "Other than the Special Olympics remark, you mean? I didn't see it either and only heard the remark through a sleepy haze on the radio alarm."}, {"response": 22, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Mar 20, 2009 (17:11)", "body": "I saw it on Youtube. Funny; good sense of humor Other than the Special Olympics remark, you mean? Pfft. I don't pick-up on that stuff. I know he doesn't intend it as a mean remark. I was glad he defended Tim though. Waiting to see if The Daily Show has Senator Dodd on ."}, {"response": 23, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Mar 20, 2009 (17:19)", "body": "I know he doesn't intend it as a mean remark. No, exactly, but as I said to someone today, I think he sometimes forgets he's President and he has to watch how he says certain things now. I wouldn't have thought anything of it had one of my friends said it I'm sure."}, {"response": 24, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Mar 20, 2009 (20:32)", "body": "Back to the drawing board I say... Auditors project deeper deficits for Obama budget By ANDREW TAYLOR, Associated Press Writer \ufffd 18 mins ago WASHINGTON \ufffd President Barack Obama's budget would produce $9.3 trillion in deficits over the next decade, more than four times the deficits of Republican George W. Bush's presidency, congressional auditors said Friday. The new Congressional Budget Office figures offered a far more dire outlook for Obama's budget than the new administration predicted just last month \ufffd a deficit $2.3 trillion worse. It's a prospect even the president's own budget director called unsustainable. In his White House run, Obama assailed the economic policies of his predecessor, but the eye-popping deficit numbers threaten to swamp his ambitious agenda of overhauling health care, exploring new energy sources and enacting scores of domestic programs. The dismal deficit figures, if they prove to be accurate, inevitably raise the prospect that Obama and his Democratic allies controlling Congress would have to consider raising taxes after the recession ends or else pare back his agenda. By CBO's calculation, Obama's budget would generate deficits averaging almost $1 trillion a year of red ink over 2010-2019. [.....] http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090321/ap_on_go_pr_wh/obama_budget"}, {"response": 25, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Mar 20, 2009 (20:59)", "body": "And there's more stimulus packages to go. \"But Obama insisted on Friday that his agenda is still on track. \"What we will not cut are investments that will lead to real growth and prosperity over the long term,\" Obama said. \"That's why our budget makes a historic commitment to comprehensive health care reform. That's why it enhances America's competitiveness by reducing our dependence on foreign oil and building a clean energy economy\" I'm placing my bet on higher taxes. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090321/ap_on_go_pr_wh/obama_budget"}, {"response": 26, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Mar 20, 2009 (22:18)", "body": "I don't necessarily have a problem with that to some degree. Let those tax breaks given over the last decade expire. Let corporations start paying their fair share. Let the IRS actually collect the corporate taxes they are owed that haven't been paid. Of course frankly, the taxes should probably be imposed because the US has spent a bizillion dollars on a war we shouldn't have been in and not put it where it needed to go. It's gotta be made up somehow. The day of reckoning is at hand for that ill conceived folly among other things. Not one of us really and truly sacrificed anything. It's coming."}, {"response": 27, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Mar 21, 2009 (11:03)", "body": "Let corporations start paying their fair share. Let the IRS actually collect the corporate taxes they are owed that haven't been paid. More than 35%? Music to their ears. I can see the tsunami of industry moving back to Ohio. Now maybe collecting taxes from members of Congress and his cabinet who have been (ahem) remiss might help. And just in cases you haven't read: Obama's moving troops to Afghanistan. To paraphrase James Carville: \"It's his budget....\""}, {"response": 28, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Mar 21, 2009 (12:46)", "body": "I can see the tsunami of industry moving back to Ohio. They didn't do it over the past 8 years. In fact, that's when they all moved overseas."}, {"response": 29, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Mar 21, 2009 (17:21)", "body": "I forgot the ;-) There's a reason they left...35% corporate tax with more to come apparently. Though Tim said \"after the recession\". Ireland has 12% Hungary 16% Slovakia (where I visited last yr and there are industrial parks all over)19% http://www.taxfoundation.org/publications/show/1466.html Ultimately the cost is passed on to the consumer anyway. Soooooo."}, {"response": 30, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Mar 21, 2009 (17:54)", "body": "Hungary 16% Slovakia (where I visited last yr and there are industrial parks all over)19% Huh? The reason there are industrial parks is because the labor is dirt cheap. Always good to compare onself to emerging, post-Soviet bloc countries. How about Mexico and Guatamala? What's their corporate tax rate? It has always been about the labor cost. Cheap labor, not taxes."}, {"response": 31, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Mar 21, 2009 (18:54)", "body": "Cheap labor, not taxes. Exactly. I heard someone talking the other night, can't remember who, but they were saying about the corporate tax cuts given with the idea of the companies creating jobs....except they didn't. They \"kept\" the money and sent jobs overseas since it was a pittance compared to here."}, {"response": 32, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Mar 21, 2009 (19:06)", "body": "(Evelyn) There's a reason they left...35% corporate tax with more to come apparently. So, if I understand correctly from what you're saying, is that after all the tax breaks corporations got over the past several years, that their tax rate ended up at 35%. Then it would follow that the tax rate was greater prior to that. Am I reasoning that correctly?"}, {"response": 33, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Mar 21, 2009 (19:07)", "body": "Labor and materials are the two biggest costs. They also relocate production facilities to these countries because they can pollute the hell out of those countries and use materials and practices outlawed in this country, you know, like lead paint or child labor."}, {"response": 34, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Mar 21, 2009 (23:12)", "body": "I have no comment about it at the moment. Just thought this interesting. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0309/20299.html"}, {"response": 35, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Mar 21, 2009 (23:37)", "body": "Look! A liberal critical of O's financial guys (and by extension, O). Not a rare occurrence on this side of the aisle. Bet he won't be apologizing either. ;-) Paul Krugman | New York Times Blog March 20, 2009, 9:05 am AIG Preliminary thoughts on the tax bill: 1. It\u2019s not the way you should make policy \u2014 it\u2019s clumsy, and it will punish some innocent parties while letting the most guilty off scot-free 2. But \u2014 there wasn\u2019t much alternative at this point. And for that I blame the Obama people. I\u2019ll leave to others the question of who knew or should have known that the bonus firestorm was coming; but it\u2019s part of a pattern. At every stage, Geithner et al have made it clear that they still have faith in the people who created the financial crisis \u2014 that they believe that all we have is a liquidity crisis that can be undone with a bit of financial engineering, that \u201cgovernments do a bad job of running banks\u201d (as opposed, presumably, to the wonderful job the private bankers have done), that financial bailouts and guarantees should come with no strings attached. This was bad analysis, bad policy, and terrible politics. This administration, elected on the promise of change, has already managed, in an astonishingly short time, to create the impression that it\u2019s owned by the wheeler-dealers. And that leaves it with no ability to counter crude populism."}, {"response": 36, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sun, Mar 22, 2009 (11:05)", "body": "but they were saying about the corporate tax cuts given with the idea of the companies creating jobs....except they didn't. There's lots of misinformation out there, Comrades;-) If the administration wants to cap all bank executive salaries, they can certainly restrict corporate tax reduction to firms that expand, increase jobs and most importantly ,locate in the US...perhaps even tie-in tax reduction to states that have highest unemployment, with oversight. Labor and materials are the two biggest costs I won't argue there...v. important, non-union. But a lot of what you say is generalizing and impassioned rhetoric;-) (Krugman)\"that financial bailouts and guarantees should come with no strings attached. \" This is simply not true. I still support Tim;give him a chance. Sometimes I think it's just me and the President, LOL."}, {"response": 37, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sun, Mar 22, 2009 (21:22)", "body": "Reid seeks to clarify stimulus rule on casinos \"LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Nevada Sen. Harry Reid has sent a letter to President Barack Obama asking for clarification to a provision that restricts casinos from using federal stimulus funds\".... http://www.krnv.com/Global/story.asp?S=10043348 And he's the leader in the Senate. Lord Save Us."}, {"response": 38, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Mar 23, 2009 (10:50)", "body": "Well, well, well....here's The Great Statesman, Maxine Waters, piling on the President..., \"'Well, you know, they've got some explaining to do and I think the president is going to have to clarify to the American public what took place between Treasury and Mr. Dodd. Obviously there was, appears to have been, some kind of agreement that they would protect the AIG from having to give those bonuses. I don't know who said what and when. Chris Dodd said he wrote the language but that he was pressured practically by Treasury. Maybe the president is not up to speed on what is going on. But I think it is going to have to be clarified.'\" http://www.politico.com/blogs/glennthrush/0309/Obama_has_some_explaining_to_do_Waters_says.html \"...the president not up to speed...\"How dare she!! Think Jon Stewart will have her on the show?;-) Nah! Though he and others;-) hammered & sickled Rick Santelli and all he did was disagree with the stimulus package."}, {"response": 39, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Mar 23, 2009 (11:11)", "body": "Think Jon Stewart will have her on the show?;-) Maybe, maybe not, but Bill Maher already did 2 wks ago, though this news wasn't out and he would've brought it up if it had. She did say things were much worse than anyone knew though."}, {"response": 40, "author": "mari", "date": "Mon, Mar 23, 2009 (14:32)", "body": "(Evelyn)I still support Tim;give him a chance. Sometimes I think it's just me and the President, LOL. LOL, I'm still onboard, too. Maybe today's plan announcement will help, though once again, it won't happen overnight. And banks and other \"private partners\" being asked to invest will want all sorts of guarantees. . . like don't tell me what kind of bonuses I can pay. Will be politically unpopular. The big O better don his kevlar vest, and buy one in every color.;-) There was an excellent show on NBC last night, taking you through the mortgage mess step by step. Banks made all sorts of commissions to sell the subprime mortgages--even falsifying applicants' wage data to get it through the underwriters. Some even had the underwriters reporting to the sales departments--no objectivity there. Then they'd sell them to Wall Street (e.g., Bear Stearns, Lehman, etc.) who in turn would package them into \"mortgage securities\" and sell them to various investors (e.g., pension funds, 401(k)s), etc. No one was looking at the viability of the underlying mortgages. Mortgage apps from people earning $1,300 per month were falsified to read $9,300 per month. Or just jamed through underwriting--anything to get the sale and the commission. Greedy bastards."}, {"response": 41, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Mar 23, 2009 (15:21)", "body": "there was a similar doc on CNBC a few weeks ago called \"House of Cards\" with David Faber, great financial reporter. Not only banks made commissions, but so did mom 'n pop mortgage companies in California. They hired salesman off the street, fergodsake. One was a guy who went from being a pizza delivery man to a multi -K $$$ a week mortgage broker. WSJ warned of this scam yrs ago. http://www.realestatejournal.com/buysell/mortgages/20050721-anders.html \"Skeptics worry that this easy-credit euphoria could end with a real-estate crash and waves of problem loans. Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan warned in June that housing prices in some areas appeared \"unsustainable,\" adding that he was concerned about \"the dramatic increase in the prevalence of interest-only loans.\" In a recent Wall Street Journal survey of 56 leading economists, 11 named a possible housing bust as their biggest worry for the economy.\" But 45 of the leading econs obvioulsy missed it!! Don't tell me Congress didn't know what was going on. But as a country we govern under the habitual practice of \"IF it ain't broke, don't fix it\". And then by panic...witness the recent \"mob rule\" law to tax bonuses *retroactively*!"}, {"response": 42, "author": "mari", "date": "Mon, Mar 23, 2009 (15:30)", "body": "(Evelyn)Not only banks made commissions, but so did mom 'n pop mortgage companies in California. Absolutely, I shouldn't have just said banks. They talked about Countrywide last night, and something else called People's Choice, just to name two. (Evelyn)But as a country we govern under the habitual practice of \"IF it ain't broke, don't fix it\" And then by panic...witness the recent \"mob rule\" law to tax bonuses *retroactively*! . I completely agree on both counts. Thanks for the '05 WSJ article. Terrible."}, {"response": 43, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Mar 24, 2009 (15:30)", "body": "From O&E (Dorine)No continuation of the Duplicity interview on CR tonight. It's all about the economy. I'm taping as it looks interesting anyway. The one columnist from the NYT, Andrew-something was on Bill Maher last Friday. Your friend Paul Krugman wasn't happy with Mr Obama. But then he never is, unless one totally agrees with him. A v. narrow-minded individual:\"My way or your *wrong*!! Andrew Sorkin, Financial reporter for NYT. Junk asset plan\"could\" work. Depends if investors are enchanted with getting in partnership with the government; afer last week, there are doubts out there. I say:\"Muzzle Congress\"."}, {"response": 44, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Mar 24, 2009 (21:13)", "body": "I'm not making a judgement on the content of the first, I just LOL at the snarkiness and I agree with the sentiment of the second. GOP overwhelmed by kos Tue Mar 24, 2009 at 02:20:04 PM PDT So today we've seen Republicans try out their new line of attack: that Obama is throwing out \"too many ideas\" on the economy, with little cohesion. A DNC spokesman fires back: \"I guess when you have no new ideas, anything more than zero must seem overwhelming.\" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ President Obama confronts the filter, round two by Jed Lewison Tue Mar 24, 2009 at 05:52:57 PM PDT Paraphrasing a comment by Chris Kofinis on 1600 earlier today, here's a translation of the message President Obama is delivering to his Republican critics: \"We gave you guys 8 years to screw up this country -- can you at least give us 8 months to start fixing it?\""}, {"response": 45, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Mar 24, 2009 (21:15)", "body": "(Evelyn) Your friend Paul Krugman wasn't happy with Mr Obama. But then he never is, unless one totally agrees with him. A v. narrow-minded individual:\"My way or your *wrong*!! Can't call him my friend as I don't read him often enough to have an opinion of him. I knew he hasn't been happy with much of the economic policy of late. And BTW, what if he's really right?"}, {"response": 46, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Mar 24, 2009 (21:49)", "body": "*Some people*;-) might say he's being irresponsible and unpatriotic;-; (The Great One)can you at least give us 8 months to start fixing it?\" I admire his optimism:-D GOP overwhelmed by kos LOL I wondered when Marcos Mocoso was going to surface again."}, {"response": 47, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Mar 24, 2009 (22:01)", "body": "*Some people*;-) might say he's being irresponsible and unpatriotic;-; Krugman? How? By disagreeing? The (at least highest profile) people who said people like that were unpatriotic are fortunately retired from public service. ;-) Thought you'd appreciate comments from Kos. ;-)"}, {"response": 48, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Mar 25, 2009 (10:14)", "body": "Thought you'd appreciate comments from Kos. ;-) LOL..Hate to disappoint you... I scrolled through the narrative. Sorry;-) You just didn't get my quote, Comrade."}, {"response": 49, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Mar 25, 2009 (11:48)", "body": "What narrative? I only posted those snippets that they had posted. There was no narrative or link. My comment about appreciating Kos was facetious as well. ;-)"}, {"response": 50, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Mar 25, 2009 (12:27)", "body": "From O&E, Note to Karen: if this belongs back there, pl. move it. Julianne Moore To Play Hillary Clinton by Peter Knegt (Updated 17 hours, 13 minutes ago) I saw that yesterday but opted not to post it. (Karen)but I see that Peter Morgan is up to his usual: Why do you that? I liked \"The Queen\". Wow! What a line-up of actors who wanted to play Bill. Philip seymour Hopkins? He's have to lose a little weight. Question: Wonder who is going to play Monica?"}, {"response": 51, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Mar 25, 2009 (12:30)", "body": "That's a movie, it should be O&E."}, {"response": 52, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Mar 25, 2009 (14:39)", "body": "*shrugging shoulders* Eh! Can't be bothered."}, {"response": 53, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Mar 26, 2009 (19:37)", "body": "Et tu Rahm....? From THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE Rahm Emanuel's profitable stint at mortgage giant Short Freddie Mac stay made him at least $320,000 \"....On Emanuel's watch, the board was told by executives of a plan to use accounting tricks to mislead shareholders about outsize profits the government-chartered firm was then reaping from risky investments. The goal was to push earnings onto the books in future years, ensuring that Freddie Mac would appear profitable on paper for years to come and helping maximize annual bonuses for company brass. The accounting scandal wasn't the only one that brewed during Emanuel's tenure...\" http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/obama/chi-rahm-emanuel-profit-26-mar26,0,5682373.story"}, {"response": 54, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Mar 27, 2009 (12:30)", "body": "Tired of the Sunnies, Shitites and Kurds? Welcome to the warring histories of the Pastuns, the Uzbecks, the Tajiks and the Hazara Shiites of Afghanistan.... WASHINGTON TIMES: ..... \"The Holbrooke-Petraeus-Clinton faction, according to the sources, prevailed. The result is expected to be a major, long-term military and civilian program to reinvent Afghanistan from one of the most backward, least developed nations to a relatively prosperous democratic state. \" ...... http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/mar/26/inside-the-ring-23718486/"}, {"response": 55, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Mar 28, 2009 (12:19)", "body": "Well, that is the thing at this point. It will be all for naught if they don't get a handle on our \"friends\" Pakistan. Apparently this guy didn't appreciate all of Eleanor Roosevelt's or any other First Ladies contributions over the years or think they had much of a \"historic role\". Rep. Issa pushing to limit first lady\ufffds power to \ufffdprotect\ufffd her \ufffdhistoric role.\ufffd Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and his conservative allies are pushing for legislation that would limit the first lady\ufffds ability to do substantive policy work. Issa had originally proposed the bill last year, in fear of Bill Clinton moving back in to the White House. But he insists the bill is only about ensuring \ufffdtransparency\ufffd for the work of first ladies, adding, \ufffdWe are trying actually to protect the historic role of the first lady.\ufffd Or, as Gawker summed up Issa\ufffds proposal in its headline, \ufffdCongressman Wants Michelle Obama To Shut Up And Look Pretty.\ufffd http://thinkprogress.org/"}, {"response": 56, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Mar 28, 2009 (12:50)", "body": "\"first lady\ufffds ability to do substantive policy work.\" Depends what one means by \"policy\". First ladies aren't elected, but they certainly have made great contributions."}, {"response": 57, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Mar 28, 2009 (14:00)", "body": "Exactly!"}, {"response": 58, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Mar 28, 2009 (19:30)", "body": "*ACORN* ...at best a little ham-fisted...or perhaps the guillotine.... \"The Obama administration's constant bashing of CEOs and capitalism, the circus atmosphere in Connecticut where ACORN has been sponsoring tours of the homes of AIG executives, and the confrontations that have occurred are modern versions of the Place de la Concorde circa 1793-94. \" http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/mar/27/uncle-sams-heavy-hand/"}, {"response": 59, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sun, Mar 29, 2009 (16:43)", "body": "Gives new meaning to the word: Contrived Obama Town Hall Questioners Were Campaign Backers http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2009/03/27/obama_town_hall_questioners_we.html?hpid=topnews so much news....so little time....;-("}, {"response": 60, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Wed, Apr  1, 2009 (03:13)", "body": "History in the making here today. Pres O has just walked into No 10. I will be glued to the TV today. Moreso, to monitor news re:protestor disturbances. Unfortunately, DH works close by to the hot spots,he doesn't get to stay at home, business as usual for him :-( Double edged sword to watch history in the making, but I will be glad when G20 has left town."}, {"response": 61, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Wed, Apr  1, 2009 (07:19)", "body": "The customised tank seen in this footage is right outside my DH's building. He took a photo of it from his office window. His street is thankfully now blocked off and guarded by Police. Yikes. From TV coverage there are significant crowds outsid whom look a little restless. Leaflets are being distributed saying 'hang the bankers' and the like. Your's very nervous :-( http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7976444.stm"}, {"response": 62, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Wed, Apr  1, 2009 (07:21)", "body": "From TV coverage there are significant crowds outsid whom look a little restless significant crowds are gathered outside Bank Of England. I saw some crowd jostling. Must be a nightmare for the Police on the ground. Thank goodness DH no longer works in Threadneedle Street Branch, which is right across a narrow road from B of E. Not too good for those poor colleagues today and tomorrow looks to promise more of the same :-("}, {"response": 63, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Wed, Apr  1, 2009 (07:52)", "body": "Here are some scenes from this mad, mad, mad London, today. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7975851.stm"}, {"response": 64, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Wed, Apr  1, 2009 (09:08)", "body": "I knew this would happen. Protests turned nasty. Protestors entered RBS Threadneedle Street, smashed windows, Smoke bombs, protestors trying to get inside bank. V.V.worrying."}, {"response": 65, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Apr  1, 2009 (09:48)", "body": "(Sue) Your's very nervous :-( As soon as I logged on this morning and saw the headline, I immediately thought of Ant."}, {"response": 66, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Apr  1, 2009 (09:54)", "body": "Thank you Sue. We're getting footage of the protests on our television this morning. I'm thinking of you all."}, {"response": 67, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Wed, Apr  1, 2009 (09:58)", "body": "So far Ant's building is safe, but I will not deny I am very worried and keeping a close track of movements via the news coverage here. He has to navigate Liverpool Street tonight. I won't breath easy until he is home safe Shocking seeing scenes unfolding of RBS Threadneedle Street being trashed. Thankfully the building is empty today, though I didn't know that when the story first broke. A couple of protesters got onto the roof but it sounds like it was mainly small offices on the ground floor which were penetrated. Kinda scary seeing smoke coming from an upper window, but I think it might have been a smoke bomb which was lobbed into the building. Graffiti on walls, and items from inside the office have been stolen (Computers) and a chair was lobbed through a window. It's been reported some protesters are wearing Police Uniform, those caught have been arrested and take away. Riot Police on horseback are now controlling the crowds. Sheesh! and I am sure there will be more to come tomorrow. A group of hoodie protestors were seen trying to enter the cordoned off part of Bishopsgate, nearer to where Ant works. Police gave chase by hoodies escaped. I feel for the Police and their families, very worrying. http://uk.news.yahoo.com/21/20090401/tuk-g20-protesters-clash-with-police-6323e80.html"}, {"response": 68, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Wed, Apr  1, 2009 (10:03)", "body": "Thanks, Karen and Evelyn. The protesters are now chanting and protesting at being penned in after trashing RBS building. Apparently there are concerns as to the legality of holding them in as to their right to protest. The protesters say all they want is the right to move further up the road. Yeah and to cause more chaos! Sheesh,What about the right of those whom have to carry out their normal working day. I am not against peaceful protest, but............."}, {"response": 69, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Wed, Apr  1, 2009 (10:14)", "body": "On another note, Pres 'O', enters #10. Interesting video http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/video_and_audio/default.stm"}, {"response": 70, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Wed, Apr  1, 2009 (10:47)", "body": "first picture is of protesters attacked RBS Threadneedle Street. Following security warning, DH's building has now been evacuated, goodness knows what's going to happen next. Thankfully he is on his way home now. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1166349/Protests-turn-violent-thousands-anti-capitalists-converge-Bank-England-G20-riot.html"}, {"response": 71, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Apr  1, 2009 (10:51)", "body": "Obviously the UK doesn't do what we do here with protesters....give them permits and pen them up blocks away from the meetings. Glad Ant got out of there. Reminds me of the World Trade Organization riots in Seattle 10 years ago."}, {"response": 72, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Wed, Apr  1, 2009 (11:00)", "body": "(Dorine)Obviously the UK doesn't do what we do here with protesters....give them permits and pen them up blocks away from the meetings. Heaven forbid the UK would worry it would infringe the protesters rights, pfftt. I am shocked the front line police were not more suitably armoured. My heart goes out to those guys on the front line and their families whom must be very worried. I know the banks are culpable, the RBS is one of the main villains, and don't get me started on the monitory gluttony of Fred Goodwin! but the Government is also culpable, and Gordon Brown still hasn't publically apologised for their part in this mess! Irresponsible reporting, in sighting anger and hatred, is also to blame for today's events. The Press are also culpable."}, {"response": 73, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Apr  1, 2009 (11:03)", "body": "They aren't anywhere near the meeting at 10 Downing, and the article did say there were barricades at the Old Lady of Threadneedle St, just in cases. But the focus on RBS is warranted from the British perspective, as it would be like people in the US converging on AIG."}, {"response": 74, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Wed, Apr  1, 2009 (11:05)", "body": "However culpable the RBS, IMO, there is no excuse for the violent scenes I witness via the news channel today. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7977063.stm"}, {"response": 75, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Apr  1, 2009 (11:06)", "body": "pen them up blocks away from the meetings. Well, to be honest, I don't actually agree with this policy. At least keeping them so far from the action. There were at least a couple of competing protesting factions of Pro-Israelis ( Anti-Iran) and Pro-Palestinians during a UN meeting where I think Armidinijhad was speaking a few years ago. They penned them up several blocks away, and then over a block too from where the UN was, so really no one by the UN bldg could see or probably hear them. I think the protesters have every right to be near what they're protesting (though perhaps in a penned area), esp as they were given the permits. I don't agree they should be able to run amok and be a danger to others though."}, {"response": 76, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Wed, Apr  1, 2009 (11:11)", "body": "(Dorine)I think the protesters have every right to be near what they're protesting (though perhaps in a penned area), esp as they were given the permits. I don't agree they should be able to run amok and be a danger to others though. Totally agree. I am not against protests, but, unfortunately these events usually attract the non peaceful faction (thugs). The protests started out peacefully today, but a minority usually turn nasty, which, IMO, tarnishes and clouds the message the protesters are trying to make."}, {"response": 77, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Apr  1, 2009 (11:14)", "body": "I had no problem with the protesters doing their thing at all...it was the tremendous bitch it became to get around anywhere in midtown by every means of transportation for almost a week that got me because of security with major throughways and surrounding streets being blocked off as travel routes for dignitaries)."}, {"response": 78, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Apr  1, 2009 (11:15)", "body": "there is no excuse for the violent scenes I witness via the news channel today. Of course not, but unfortunately there are always some people hellbent on causing trouble. I wouldn't try to rationalize their motives and was only giving some perspective, as the US news hasn't been focused on the financial situation in other countries. We have enough problems here and some may not know why the protestors have targeted RBS."}, {"response": 79, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Apr  1, 2009 (11:15)", "body": "Ah, I was writing while you posted and didn't see your response before submitting. Yes, I agree while it creates attention to be more violent, it is a smear on the message credibility at times."}, {"response": 80, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Wed, Apr  1, 2009 (11:19)", "body": "(Karen)We have enough problems here and some may not know why the protestors have targeted RBS. I understand :-) Whilst RBS are guilty, no question about it. Other banks are equally as culpable, but they don't get the same coverage. Of course 'Fred the Shred' Goodwin and his extortionate pension, hasn't helped matters. Lord Myners has a lot to answer for too. IMO! I really mustn't start, gotta watch the BP ;-("}, {"response": 81, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Apr  1, 2009 (11:21)", "body": "I will say one thing though, I admire much of Europe's willingness to participate in small and especially large scale protests of any kind. I admire their passion to get involved, as happened here in the 60's, like with the anti-Iraq war protests several years ago (although a lot of good it did). We don't get involved like that anymore for the most part, including myself honestly, and it saddens me some. The last I saw was just after the Prop 8/gay marriage ban was passed. Good size demonstrations in NY/CA (SF I think). I know some people who went to the demonstrations and I was proud to see it. I think Moon went to some gathering on the DC Mall a couple of years ago for something. Not sure if I remember that correctly."}, {"response": 82, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Apr  1, 2009 (11:31)", "body": "(Dorine) I think Moon went to some gathering on the DC Mall a couple of years ago for something. It was an anti-war protest that coincided with the big book fair on the Mall."}, {"response": 83, "author": "marlena", "date": "Wed, Apr  1, 2009 (11:54)", "body": "I did not know what was happening in the news today until I logged unto Drool. I hope and pray that all of our Drool members and families in the UK are kept safe. I'm really sorry Sue. This is a difficult time for you and I just want you to know I'm thinking of you."}, {"response": 84, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Wed, Apr  1, 2009 (11:58)", "body": "Thank you. Marlena. I'm feeling calmer now. Ant is now home safe and well and downing a strong cuppa tea ;-) But we can't help wondering what tomorrow will bring."}, {"response": 85, "author": "mari", "date": "Wed, Apr  1, 2009 (12:02)", "body": "Glad to hear Ant is safely on his way home, Sue. The police have an extraordinarily difficult job to do. I wonder that these G-meetings take place in city centers. As Dorine posted, there were terrible riots in Seattle, Italy had lots of trouble a year or so ago, and now London. I think they need to go to a mountaintop retreat;-), if only to minimize risk to the rank and file employees, bystanders, and police."}, {"response": 86, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Apr  1, 2009 (12:13)", "body": "Yes, perhaps the scenery would be soothing. ;-)"}, {"response": 87, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Apr  1, 2009 (13:21)", "body": "I have no problem with the protesters doing their thing at all I don't either, but no one has a right to participate in violent behavior, and put others in danger. PS I even marched for ERA* ...a million yrs ago, LOL. It was fun... we went by bus. Hey, it was a party. *For our British friends. Equal Rights Amendment . Equal Rights for women. (Didn't do much good...)"}, {"response": 88, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Apr  1, 2009 (13:32)", "body": ""}, {"response": 89, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Apr  1, 2009 (13:35)", "body": "sorry... It's a pci of our President and Michelle at Buckingham Palace featured on Yahoo now. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090401/ap_on_re_eu/eu_obama Michelle looks so pretty. What engaging smiles they have."}, {"response": 90, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Wed, Apr  1, 2009 (13:41)", "body": "LOL, this is so, cute ;-)"}, {"response": 91, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Wed, Apr  1, 2009 (13:45)", "body": "Oh My, just seen an updated TV report. There was an attempt to set fire to Threadneedle RBS. Police were inside and were able to extinguish the fire."}, {"response": 92, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Apr  1, 2009 (13:52)", "body": "Thanks Sue, that's the pic I was trying to post. LOL. Didn't realize they were so tall. The Queen looks so tiny. I wonder what she carries in that purse in her own house. Police were inside and were able to extinguish the fire. Are the police allowed to use mace in such circumstances?"}, {"response": 93, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Wed, Apr  1, 2009 (13:57)", "body": "(Sue)Police were inside and were able to extinguish the fire. (Evelyn)Are the police allowed to use mace in such circumstances? I believe they are. When reports first came through I was shocked to see the Police standing back and apparently letting the protesters smash windows and enter the building. One brave (peaceful) protester asked the thugs to stop, he said it's a peaceful protest. Of course the thug ignored him and proceeded to set light to the office blinds. Sadly, I believe, it was naive to believe the protest would remain peaceful today. A protester on the TV has described the violence and damage as justified! beggars belief!"}, {"response": 94, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Wed, Apr  1, 2009 (13:59)", "body": "Apparently Pres 'O' gave the Queen an ipod as a present, awe. It's nice to see some peace and harmony from today :-)"}, {"response": 95, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Wed, Apr  1, 2009 (14:12)", "body": "An effigy of a banker is now being burnt outside Bank Of England. Talks of it escalating again! This aint over yet, worryingly so :-("}, {"response": 96, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Wed, Apr  1, 2009 (14:13)", "body": "My opinion about this now is bring in the army!"}, {"response": 97, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Wed, Apr  1, 2009 (14:34)", "body": "Russell Brand was in amongst the crowd. Why am I not surprised. http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Showbiz-News/Russell-Brand-Joins-G20-Protest-Outside-Bank-Of-England-Ahead-Of-Summit/Article/200904115253399?lpos=Showbiz_News_Article_Related_Content_Region_4&lid=ARTICLE_15253399_Russell_Brand_Joins_G20_Protest_Outside_Bank_Of_England_Ahead_Of_Summit"}, {"response": 98, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Apr  1, 2009 (15:01)", "body": "One has to wonder how many of those \"protesters\" are passionate about the cause (whatever it is!) and how many are unemployed, on the dole, and looking for some excitement. I've seen some of those London marches in Soho and wondered:\"Don't these people have jobs?\" I doubt they can get nr the American Embassy in Mayfair."}, {"response": 99, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Wed, Apr  1, 2009 (15:10)", "body": "One has to wonder how many of those \"protesters\" are passionate about the cause (whatever it is!) and how many are unemployed, on the dole, and looking for some excitement. Agree. IMO, if that is the case (cynic me) they are biting the hands that feeds them. The workers (including bankers) at least pay taxes to pay benefits/Dole! BTW, Not forgetting the sad news and loss of life from the North Sea Helicopter crash near Aberdeen today. RIP"}, {"response": 100, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Apr  1, 2009 (15:27)", "body": "how many are unemployed, on the dole, and looking for some excitement. Perhaps unemployed and just mad as hell? I agree the cause may not even affect them directly. I have no problem with Russell Brand being there. He may support the protest, but not the violence per se. Being there observing and being there participating are 2 different things. If I wasn't such a chicken s***, I would love to get near events like this to observe them first hand. But violence is a bad scene for sure."}, {"response": 101, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Apr  1, 2009 (16:16)", "body": "One protester gives his reasons... Protesters focused the Royal Bank of Scotland because it was bailed out by the British government after a series of disastrous deals brought it to the brink of bankruptcy. Still, its former chief executive Fred Goodwin \ufffd aged just 50 \ufffd managed to walk off with a tidy annual pension of 703,000 pounds ($1.2 million) \ufffd just as unemployment in Britain is at 2 million and rising. \"Every job I apply for there's already 150 people who have also applied,\" said protester Nathan Dean, 35, who lost his information technology job three weeks ago. \"I have had to sign on to the dole (welfare) for the first time in my life. You end up having to pay your mortgage on your credit card and you fall into debt twice over.\" http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090401/ap_on_re_eu/g20_protests"}, {"response": 102, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Wed, Apr  1, 2009 (16:50)", "body": "One protester gives his reasons... Reasons to protest peacefully, yes. But there is no justification for the violence today."}, {"response": 103, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Apr  2, 2009 (08:49)", "body": "Quelle horreur! ;-) http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1888962,00.html"}, {"response": 104, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Apr  2, 2009 (09:05)", "body": "I guess chalk another one up for Comedy Central for saying what really should be said. Colbert, Mocking Beck, Goes Where 'NYT' Would Not By Greg Mitchell Published: April 01, 2009 3:20 PM ET NEW YORK (Commentary) Was it another Jon Stewart vs. Jim Cramer take down? Another case of a fake newsman going where the mainstream press dared not go? It was shocking last night to watch the usually pro-right-wing Stephen Colbert faux persona lay into Fox News' TV host Glenn Beck without an ounce of sympathy. It came just one day after that New York Times front page profile of Beck aired only a small portion of his dirty laundry and mainly treated him as just another popular entertainer. Colbert, on the other hand, expressed (albeit with his usual twinkle and silly Halloween coda) all of the passion, and skill, shown by Stewart when he went after Cramer. He was not just foolin' around. Something obviously got to him. Perhaps it was a part left out of the Times' piece, which covered Beck's new \"9/12\" movement without mentioning that Beck had attacked 9/11 families and said he was \"sick\" of hearing about it and them. The Colbert punch line: \"The 9-12 project is not for families directly affected by 9/11 -- just people building their careers on it.\" Compare this to the Times' treatment of Beck as largely a voice for \"conservative populist anger\" with his \"moral lessons\" and \"passion\" and \"outrage.\" Yes, the Times did bring up the \"rodeo clown\" aspect of Beck and his musings about FEMA camps. But the truly toxic Beckisms were ignored, and they go well beyond calling Obama a \"Marxist\" and Hillary Clinton a \"stereotypical bitch.\" Who can forget (beyond the Times reporters) when he asked the Muslim U.S. congressman to \"prove to me that you are not working with our enemies.\" Now, will Beck go on Colbert's show, a la Jim Cramer? One doubts it, but watch Beck's show tonight for any quick response. All this comes on the heels of the new Rasmussen poll showing that 1 in 4 Americans now see the Comedy Central late-night shows as \"viable\" news outlets. And today The Onion won a Peabody Award for its videos mocking cable news. Not an April Fools joke, folks! See full Colbert video at our blog: http://www.eandppub.com Greg Mitchell (gmitchell@editorandpublisher.com) is editor. His new book, his ninth, is \"Why Obama Won.\" http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003957744"}, {"response": 105, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Apr  2, 2009 (10:07)", "body": "I never watch Beck so I don't know what the hell Comedy Central is talking about. Nor do I watch Colbert....ever. Have watched Stewart a few times....*shrugging shoulders* Eh, You have to be a hard-nosed lefty to appreciate his predatorial interviews of conservatives. His MO seems to be \"Search & Destroy\" Now, will Beck go on Colbert's show, a la Jim Cramer? Why should he? *rolling eyes*"}, {"response": 106, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Apr  2, 2009 (10:10)", "body": "On a more important note:-)))) TIME has a great gallery of pics of Michelle's outfits in London. http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1888971,00.html Oh , and I like her new pulled back hair style . Jason Wu can really dress her. Oh, I could lift 10 lbs weights all day and never have upper arms like hers...."}, {"response": 107, "author": "mari", "date": "Thu, Apr  2, 2009 (11:21)", "body": "Here's the pic I like:"}, {"response": 108, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Apr  2, 2009 (11:28)", "body": "OMG! The moon has passed in front of the sun and I've been pitched into total darkness!"}, {"response": 109, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Apr  2, 2009 (12:02)", "body": "I love that one , Mari. Hadn't seen it.I suppose they were posing for a pic. Thanks. But not everyone did... http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20090402/wl_time/08599188896200 I beg to differ with the writer...not to have returned an obvious affectionate gesture ..and stood there paralyzed-stiff...would have been a put-down to the Queen."}, {"response": 110, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Thu, Apr  2, 2009 (12:15)", "body": "LOL and Awe, it's cute, good to see the 'human' touch with the Queen."}, {"response": 111, "author": "mari", "date": "Thu, Apr  2, 2009 (13:33)", "body": "I thought it was very sweet also. Was thinking about how many presidents and PMs the Queen has seen come and go. She is such a rock, a constant, bless her. How old is Gordon Brown, BTW? His wife is young and attractive. Britain has certainly shown wonderful hospitality."}, {"response": 112, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Thu, Apr  2, 2009 (13:43)", "body": "According to Wikipedia, Gordon was born 20 February 1951(age 57)"}, {"response": 113, "author": "mari", "date": "Thu, Apr  2, 2009 (14:15)", "body": "Thanks, Sue. Seems things were calmer today?"}, {"response": 114, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Thu, Apr  2, 2009 (14:27)", "body": "Much calmer today, thanks, Mari. A protester collapsed and died yesterday. Police are investigating but it's thought there are no suspicious circumstances. The Police raided a squat near by and arrested a number of the protesters thought to be involved in violence and criminal damage to RBS"}, {"response": 115, "author": "mari", "date": "Thu, Apr  2, 2009 (15:21)", "body": "For Evelyn: from now on, Silvio needs to bring his pals to the birthday parties.;-)"}, {"response": 116, "author": "mari", "date": "Thu, Apr  2, 2009 (15:22)", "body": "Glad to hear it, Sue."}, {"response": 117, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Apr  2, 2009 (15:44)", "body": "What's wrong with that picture? Hmmm... Yes, I've got it! Does that look like a bunch of guys working on fixing the global economy? Or does it look like a bunch of guys, seeing the strippers come out to perform? ;-)"}, {"response": 118, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Apr  2, 2009 (16:29)", "body": "I suppose they were posing for a pic. Thanks. But not everyone did... http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20090402/wl_time/08599188896200 Oh I'm sorry, was the link to the Michelle touching the Queen story I posted in #103, to the original Time article I found through the same Yahoo story (that you linked to instead later in 109), not good enough information? Is Time on the blacklist of links you won't read either? ;-)"}, {"response": 119, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Apr  2, 2009 (17:06)", "body": "(Dorine)Is Time on the blacklist of links you won't read either? ;-) LOL.Cute. You couldn't resist, could you;-)*shaking head* But you are maligning me....I didn't realize you had posted the same story. Actually,Yahoo had picked it up from TIME.... .....one of my favorite periodicals;-D (Mari)Britain has certainly shown wonderful hospitality. I was thinking the same thing. Hard to top that one. Oh, I love the pic of The Three Muskateers.I tried to post it earlier. I only wished they could have included the US Benefactor ,President Hu, And PM Brown. But nice that the market went up on the news of the G-20 $1.T boost from the IMF to the World Bank. Gives the world hope."}, {"response": 120, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Apr  2, 2009 (18:51)", "body": "An update on all that touchy feeliness... Michelle Obama charms queen away from protocol AP * Buzz Up * Send o Email o IM * Share o Delicious o Digg o Facebook o Fark o Newsvine o Reddit o StumbleUpon o Technorati o Yahoo! Bookmarks * Print Raw Video: Obama's meet with Queen Play Video AP \ufffd Raw Video: Obama's meet with Queen * Obamas meet Queen Elizabeth II Slideshow:Obamas meet Queen Elizabeth II * Michelle Obama Stylin' in London Play Video Video:Michelle Obama Stylin' in London ABC News * Michelle Obama And The Queen Hug It Out Play Video Video:Michelle Obama And The Queen Hug It Out CBS 3 Philadelphia Michelle Obama, wife of U.S. President Barack Obama, left, walks with Britain's AP \ufffd Michelle Obama, wife of U.S. President Barack Obama, left, walks with Britain's Queen Elizabeth II at \ufffd By JENNIFER QUINN, Associated Press Writer Jennifer Quinn, Associated Press Writer \ufffd Thu Apr 2, 2:15 pm ET LONDON \ufffd Michelle Obama's meeting with Queen Elizabeth II began with a handshake and ended in a hug. The first lady arrived Wednesday with President Barack Obama. After separate meetings on the eve of the G-20 summit, the couple attended an evening reception for world leaders hosted by the queen. Mrs. Obama clearly made an impression with the 82-year-old monarch \ufffd so much that the smiling queen strayed slightly from protocol and briefly wrapped her arm around the first lady in a rare public show of affection. It was the first time Mrs. Obama \ufffd who is nearly a foot taller \ufffd had met the queen. The first lady also wrapped her arm around the monarch's shoulder and back. A Buckingham Palace spokesman who asked not to be identified because of palace policy said he could not remember the last time the queen had displayed such public affection with a first lady or dignitary. \"It was a mutual and spontaneous display of affection,\" he said. \"We don't issue instructions on not touching the queen.\" When the former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating put his arm around the queen in 1992, the tabloids dubbed him the \"Lizard of Oz.\" When his successor, John Howard, was accused of doing the same, a spokesman insisted: \"We firmly deny that there was any contact whatsoever.\" In 2007, President George W. Bush gave the queen a sly wink during a visit she paid to the United States. The Daily Mail said the \"two women clearly took to each other.\" Wednesday's reception was followed by a dinner at Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Downing Street home, where the leaders' spouses were joined by notable British women, including \"Harry Potter\" author J.K. Rowling and Olympic gold medal runner Kelly Holmes. \"Michelle walks in and she is as she seems,\" Holmes told reporters Thursday. \"So warm, engaging, a beautiful, beautiful lady \ufffd and I quickly got my photo in the middle of her and Sarah Brown,\" the prime minister's wife. Mrs. Obama also seemed to win over the often feral British press. The last time a first lady made such a hit in Britain was last year with French President Nicolas Sarkozy's wife, the former fashion model and songwriter Carla Bruni. But on Thursday, London's Times newspaper had moved on, writing \"Carla who?\" The BBC described Mrs. Obama as her husband's co-star rather than supporting act \ufffd appropriate for a Harvard-educated lawyer. Mrs. Obama visited an all-girls school in north London on Thursday afternoon. She told the 240 girls about growing up on Chicago's south side, and urged them to think of education as \"cool.\" \"I never cut class. I liked being smart. I liked getting A's,\" she said. \"You have everything you need. Everything you need to succeed you already have right here.\" At the end of the visit, Mrs. Obama doled out hugs to the students, and was swarmed by them \ufffd to the extent that some Secret Service agents stepped nervously forward. Earlier Thursday, Mrs. Obama attended a performance at the Royal Opera House with the other spouses and guests. The program included music by Handel and a dance performance by Ballet Black, a troupe set up to give performing opportunities to black and Asian classical dancers. Wearing a bright teal blue dress by Jason Wu \ufffd who designed her inauguration gown \ufffd and a sweater by Junya Watanabe, Mrs. Obama posed for photographs with Sarah Brown, Therese Rein, wife of Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso's wife Chikako Aso, and Laureen Harper, who is married to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, on the stage of the opera house. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090402/ap_on_re_eu/g20_michelle_obama"}, {"response": 121, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Apr  2, 2009 (19:00)", "body": "Yikes, for once I forgot to edit an article. Ugh. I hate that. (Evelyn) Actually,Yahoo had picked it up from TIME... I know, Yahoo's where I got it. ;-) Stories on Yahoo disappear over time as well as condense material from their sources, so occasionally I prefer to copy it from the original. Except AP. I never copy or really even link to AP. They're real sticklers about copyrighted material being copied elsewhere without permission. I like how conservative yet very classy Michelle has looked there so far. Carla Sarkozy was the same, as I recall, on their first visit there."}, {"response": 122, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Apr  3, 2009 (00:23)", "body": "I tell ya, Mother Nature is a wonder. I love the incredibly mundane name it's been given. Huge Sea Worm Captured in Britain AOL posted: 1 HOUR 26 MINUTES AGO (April 2) - Staff at a British aquarium have captured a massive sea worm that had been terrorizing other aquatic life. For months, the 4-foot-long creature -- which staffers call \"Barry\" -- had been devastating coral reef at Newquay's Blue Reef Aquarium, the Daily Mail newspaper reported Tuesday. The menacing monster also apparently injured a Tang fish. Initially, aquarium workers weren't sure what was harming the coral, which in some cases was cut in half. After weeks with no clues, they decided to take the display apart to see if they could find the culprit, the Mail reported. Workers laid bait traps, which were mysteriously destroyed in the night, as the glutton apparently devoured the fish hooks right along with the bait. Finally, staffers spotted the tropical worm, which bit through a 20-pound fishing line before staffers were able to successfully remove it from the tank. The creature is covered with nasty bristles that sting and can cause permanent numbness in humans, the newspaper said. \"It really does look like something out of a horror movie,\" Matt Slater, the aquarium's curator, told the Mail. \"It's over 4 feet long with these bizarre-looking jaws.\" Slater said he suspects Barry arrived as a baby in a shipment from another aquarium. The worm now lives in his own tank. http://news.aol.com/article/giant-sea-worm/412269?icid=webmail|wbml-aol|dl1|link3|http%3A%2F%2Fnews.aol.com%2Farticle%2Fgiant-sea-worm%2F412269"}, {"response": 123, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Apr  3, 2009 (00:25)", "body": "Hmmmm, the link to post the pic is invisible. Not even an X box. Click on the link. You have to see it. That's part of what makes the story so interesting."}, {"response": 124, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Fri, Apr  3, 2009 (08:03)", "body": "Wednesday was a difficult day for me, which was made easier by the support and kind words posted here and emails of support which I received :-) I just wanted to say a heart felt 'Thank You', Ladies :-) Ant has told me his office still has extra security and barricades surrounding the building, which is comforting to know. Two people have been charged. The anger towards RBS and Sir Fred has now moved to Edinburgh today. The week of G20 demonstrations will move to Edinburgh today when protesters target the annual shareholder meeting of Royal Bank of Scotland, where the row over Sir Fred Goodwin's pension will result in the bank's pay policies being voted down. http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/apr/03/rbs-goodwin-protest-shareholder-meeting Problematic thing is, RBS workers, such as my DH, whom have kept their heads down, worked hard through the years, are seemingly being vilified and punished for the gluttony and selfish attitude of a few RBS workers, whom should know better. I guess,that's life :-("}, {"response": 125, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Fri, Apr  3, 2009 (08:05)", "body": "of a few RBS workers Amendment to above, I should also say and a few RBS executives! It sickens me, sorry, just had to vent."}, {"response": 126, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Fri, Apr  3, 2009 (08:08)", "body": "The G20 protests, which have caused two days of disruption in London, will continue when protesters from People and Planet, a network of student campaigners, will simultaneously converge on the AGM in Edinburgh and the bank's London offices in Bishopsgate. [Ed Note: Oh great, my DH's office! :-( ] The campaign group said last night the protest was designed to highlight the bank's investment in fossil fuels which, it claimed, make it the UK bank with largest investments in oil, gas and coal projects."}, {"response": 127, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Fri, Apr  3, 2009 (08:08)", "body": "Opss"}, {"response": 128, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Apr  3, 2009 (09:07)", "body": "protesters from People and Planet, a network of student campaigners...to highlight the bank's investment in fossil fuels Bandwagaon jumpers. The press is there, so why not. :-("}, {"response": 129, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Apr  3, 2009 (12:57)", "body": "Nice video of Pres Obama & Michelle being greeted by Pres Sarkozy & Carla. http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=12803081&ch=4226714&src=news Can't see Michelle's coat...is it flowered??? Hope not."}, {"response": 130, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Fri, Apr  3, 2009 (13:02)", "body": "More terrible news. I know there are New York Ladies here. I sinerely hope no one here or their families are involved or affected by this. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7982313.stm"}, {"response": 131, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Apr  3, 2009 (13:06)", "body": "It is an emsemble, although Carla's ensemble dress looks more interesting"}, {"response": 132, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Apr  3, 2009 (13:12)", "body": ""}, {"response": 133, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Apr  3, 2009 (18:00)", "body": "Oh .... I like *both* outfits . Thanks Michelle's is v. pretty. Love the hot pink, with maybe a solid dress underneath. Actually, that grey number looks a little matronly for Carla."}, {"response": 134, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Apr  4, 2009 (10:31)", "body": "Another icon newspaper on the chopping block.... Times co. threatens to shut down Globe http://www.boston.com/business/ticker/2009/04/times_co_threat.html Comments are interesting....."}, {"response": 135, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Apr  4, 2009 (10:54)", "body": "My favorite is #24. More bandwagon jumping... when the real problem boils down to two cliched sayings: (1) why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free and (2) closing the barn door after the horses have left. These are failures of management, who probably haven't had their salaries frozen for years or made any concessions in their compensation packages."}, {"response": 136, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Apr  4, 2009 (12:22)", "body": "I thought #25 was interesting. What union hasn't gotten a raise in 7 yrs? Please."}, {"response": 137, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Apr  4, 2009 (12:56)", "body": "Hope this comes out...it did on the practice page.*crossing fingers* Prez and First Lady attending a cultural event in Baden Baden. Looks like an official reception to me.. Another pretty dress. Yahoo had lots of pics in their gallery. http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/slideshow/photo//090404/481/3ca9e44aca0547159f341a4a920c0a05/#photoViewer=/090404/ids_photos_wl/r65830454.jpg A few with Hill who looks v. pretty in pink pants suit."}, {"response": 138, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Apr  4, 2009 (21:08)", "body": "Love that dress and her hair. You can tell they're having a blast. I hope he works out in the end. I really like them."}, {"response": 139, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Apr  4, 2009 (21:20)", "body": "http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090405/ap_on_bi_ge/nytimes_globe Insiders say Globe threat a warning to newspapers Boston Newspaper Guild president Daniel Totten told the Globe the concessions could include pay cuts, the end of company pension contributions and the elimination of lifetime job guarantees. The Guild is the Globe's biggest union, representing more than 700 editorial, advertising, and business employees. Lifetime job guarantees?! Say what?!"}, {"response": 140, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Apr  4, 2009 (21:51)", "body": "Silvio Berlusconi's top 10 gaffes and pranks Silvio Berlusconi, Italy\ufffds prime minister, prides himself on his ability to connect with ordinary people. But he has developed a reputation after making a string of gaffes on the world stage. After his latest mis-step at the G20 conference in London, which earned him a rebuke from the Queen, we count down our favourite Berlusconi moments. 1. Silvio Berlusconi missed a symbolic Nato photo and a ceremony for fallen soldiers because he was too busy talking on his mobile phone. 2. April 2009 Days earlier, he was accused of embarrassing his country by yelling a greeting at US President Barack Obama and earning a rebuke from the Queen during an official G20 photo shoot in London. Footage of the Italian prime minister becomes a YouTube hit in Italy, with one clip posted on the website titled \ufffdBothersome Berlusconi, reproached by the Queen.\ufffd 3. March 2009 The 72-year-old self-made billionaire said his response to the global economic crisis was different to that of President Obama because \ufffdI\ufffdm paler\ufffd. \ufffdI\ufffdm paler because it\ufffds been so long since I went sunbathing. He\ufffds more handsome, younger and taller,\ufffd said the media mogul. Also accused of being racist, or at least gauche, in November 2008 when he hailed then President-elect Obama as \ufffdhandsome, young and also suntanned\ufffd. Mr Berlusconi accused his critics of lacking a sense of humour, and a few days later repeated the observation about Mr Obama\ufffds mixed-race skin tone. 4. January 2009 Mr Berlusconi caused outrage by saying that although he was considering deploying 30,000 troops to Italy\ufffds cities, there would never be enough soldiers to protect Italy\ufffds many \ufffdbeautiful girls\ufffd from rape. 5. January 2007 Mr Berlusconi said to a former showgirl and men\ufffds magazine model, Mara Carfagna: \ufffdI\ufffdd go anywhere with you, even to a desert island. If I weren\ufffdt already married, I would marry you straight away.\ufffd His wife, Veronica Lario, reacted by writing a letter published on the front page of La Repubblica newspaper calling for a public apology. She duly received one. Mr Berlusconi later made Miss Carfagna his equal opportunities minister. 6. July 2003 Caused a political row at the start of Italy\ufffds EU presidency by referring to a German MEP, Martin Schulz, who criticised him for his alleged links to the mafia, as a \ufffdconcentration camp guard\ufffd. He told the German: \ufffdI know that in Italy there is a man producing a film on Nazi concentration camps - I shall put you forward for the role of Kapo (a guard chosen from among the prisoners) - you would be perfect.\ufffd He later claimed he had been joking and had been thinking of a character from the popular TV series Hogan\ufffds Heroes, set in a Second World War POW camp. 7. 2006 Offended China by declaring: \ufffdRead the black book of Communism and you will discover that in the China of Mao, they did not eat children, but had them boiled to fertilise the fields.\ufffd Later conceded: \ufffdIt was questionable irony ... because this joke is questionable.\ufffd 8. Boasted that he had had to \ufffddust off my playboy charms\ufffd to convince Finland\ufffds female prime minister to set up the EU Food Safety Authority in Parma, Italy, rather than in Finland. Added the observation that: \ufffdParma is synonymous with good cuisine. The Finns don\ufffdt even know what prosciutto is.\ufffd 9. He advised investors in New York to relocate to Italy because the secretaries were better looking than their American counterparts. \ufffdAnother reason to invest in Italy is that we have beautiful secretaries... superb girls.\ufffd He also told the New York stock exchange: \ufffdItaly is now a great country to invest in... today we have fewer communists and those who are still there deny having been one.\ufffd 10. During a group photo of EU leaders in 2002 he made the Italian horned \ufffdcuckold\ufffd gesture with his hand behind the head of the Spanish foreign minister, suggesting he was being cuckolded. Mr Berlusconi said he was \ufffdjust joking\ufffd and was trying to amuse a group of boy scouts who were nearby, but the gesture was felt to be out of place at an international summit. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/5106644/Silvio-Berlusconis-top-10-gaffes-and-pranks.html"}, {"response": 141, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Apr  4, 2009 (23:42)", "body": "Lifetime job guarantees?!... Just like tenure You'd think The Telegraph would have more to do than count My Silvio's gaffes. Next thing you know they'll be doing Joe Biden's;-)"}, {"response": 142, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Apr  4, 2009 (23:59)", "body": "That would be funny."}, {"response": 143, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Apr  5, 2009 (00:02)", "body": "(Dorine) Lifetime job guarantees?! Say what?! That's insane. No one has that, except tenured profs and maybe postal employees. It's been done away with for over 20 years."}, {"response": 144, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Apr  5, 2009 (00:17)", "body": "Postal employees don't have it either...now. Or certain levels don't."}, {"response": 145, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Apr  5, 2009 (00:19)", "body": "And of course, I know there is tenure for teachers, but for virtually any other job, no. Though actually, I'd have to say many/most union jobs have been considered lifetime guarantees. Ever try to get rid of union employees....the ones that are bad employees and deserve to be gotten rid of? Damn near impossible."}, {"response": 146, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Apr  5, 2009 (00:59)", "body": "Am guessing most people in the US mildly familiar with the etiology of this bit...calls for do over for the US Senate election in Alaska since Ted Stevens lost after the corruption trial with a subsequent conviction was found to be poorly handled by the Justice Dept, was overturned in the last week and won't be retried. Top 10 elections that needed do-overs by Jed Lewison Sat Apr 04, 2009 at 06:20:05 PM PDT In the spirit of the demand by Sarah Palin and the Alaska GOP that there by a do-over of November's U.S. Senate election, here's the top 10 elections that should have been done-over: 10. Gore-Bush, 2000: Because even though Gore won, Bush somehow became president. 9. Kerry-Bush, 2004: Because the media didn't grow a spine until Hurricane Katrina happened in 2005. 8. FL-16, 2004: Because voters didn't know that Mark Foley was into underage pages. 7. TX-GOV, 1994: Because if Bush hadn't won that election, he'd never have become president, and America would be a better, stronger country. 6. GA-SEN, 2002: Because Max Cleland deserved another shot at that worthless chickenhawk, Saxby Chambliss. 5. ID-SEN, 2002: Because Larry Craig deserved a shot at running as who he really is. 4. FL-STATE HOUSE DISTRICT 32, 2006: Because Bob Allen waited until after the election to offer a cop $20 for the right to perform fellatio. 3. LA-SEN, 2004: Because voters didn't know that David Vitter was one of the DC Madame's most prominent clients. 2. Republican primary, New Hampshire, 2008: Because independents in New Hampshire didn't know McCain was stupid enough to pick Palin as VP. 1. McCain-Obama, 2008: Because if the NH primary were done over, there's no way McCain would have been the GOP nominee. Of course, this is just one top 10 list. There've got to be many more that should be added to the docket... http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/4/4/716571/-Top-10-elections-that-needed-do-overs"}, {"response": 147, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Apr  5, 2009 (01:04)", "body": "Color me surprised....NOT. (Same people who did the study and reported on the bogus numbers, reports and press releases about released Gitmo detainees.) Newark, NJ - Today Seton Hall Law delivered a report establishing that military officials at the highest levels were aware of the abusive interrogation techniques employed at the detention camp at Guant\ufffdnamo Bay (GTMO), and misled Congress during testimony. In addition, FBI personnel reported that the information obtained from inhumane interrogations was unreliable. [Ed. note - *cough*] Professor Mark Denbeaux, Director of the Seton Hall Law Center for Policy and Research, commented on the findings: \"Who knew about the torture at GTMO? Turns out they all did. It's not news that the interrogators were torturing and abusing detainees. We've got FBI reports attesting to this. But now we've discovered that the highest levels knew about the torture and abuse, and covered it up. \"Abu Ghraib was the flashpoint and provoked the FBI to formally hand its reports to the DOD, which in turn forced the DOD to respond with what became known as the Schmidt Report. Schmidt's investigation was essentially a whitewash, but, ironically, the abuse was so pervasive that his team turned up still more incidents. To conceal the problems documented by both the FBI and the military, the DOD published an incomplete, sanitized report, culminating in Schmidt testifying before Congress that there was no torture or abuse at GTMO. \"Five generals were either complicit in the abusive interrogation techniques or were central figures in their cover-up. They concealed these practices from Congress, to which they are ultimately accountable. They undermined our democracy, and undercut America's claim to the moral high ground in the fight against terror.\" http://law.shu.edu/administration/public_relations/press_releases/2009/shl_students_reveal_generals_4109.htm"}, {"response": 148, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Apr  5, 2009 (01:52)", "body": "Doesn't the first third of this sound a bit like money laundering in essence? Treasury working overtime to undo Congressional restrictions by David Waldman Sat Apr 04, 2009 at 09:02:02 AM PDT WaPo reports that Treasury and other administration officials are actively seeking ways around Congressional restrictions on the use of TARP and other extraordinary assistance funds for executive bonuses. And once again, the excuse for going out of their way to make sure execs get our their money is that they're concerned that firms won't participate in the free money giveaways unless their executives are allowed to skim fat wads of it right off the top and pocket them. How does it work? \" The administration believes it can sidestep the rules because, in many cases, it has decided not to provide federal aid directly to financial companies, the sources said. Instead, the government has set up special entities that act as middlemen, channeling the bailout funds to the firms and, via this two-step process, stripping away the requirement that the restrictions be imposed, according to officials.\" Sound strangely familiar? \" In one program, designed to restart small-business lending, President Obama's officials are planning to set up a middleman called a special-purpose vehicle -- a term made notorious during the Enron scandal -- or another type of entity to evade the congressional mandates, sources familiar with the matter said.\" Ah, what a perfect solution! Add Enron accounting to the already toxic mix of meltdown, bailout and bonus embarrassment. Sigh. Are we really going to have to put limiting instructions in the appropriations bills, now? Prohibit the use of funds in appropriations bills for use in establishing these work-around entities? Or perhaps we should take it out of the hides of the people who have such hardons for giving this money away. You want the bonuses paid? To these guys who make a hundred times what you make? Fine. No funds from the appropriations bills may be used to pay the salaries of any government official whose work involves establishing or administering such entities. There's another good idea in the article, too: \" Congress has exempted the Treasury from applying the restrictions in a fourth program, which aids lenders who modify mortgages for struggling homeowners.\" That's an interesting approach. What about using bonuses as a carrot? You're exempt from the restrictions if you hold a significant number of residential mortgages, and agree to some formula whereby you agree to renegotiate them such that distressed homeowners are relieved. I think it's a fair bet that people would be a little less outraged about the bonuses if it wasn't also the case that the same execs pocketing the money are squeezing homeowners to death and driving them out of their homes. And here's a random, but disappointing note: \" At first, when the initiative was being developed last year, the Bush administration decided to apply executive-pay limits to firms participating in this program. But Obama officials reversed that decision days before it was unveiled on March 3 and lifted the curbs, according to sources who spoke on condition of anonymity because the discussions were private.\" Ouch. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/4/4/716492/-Treasury-working-overtime-to-undo-Congressional-restrictions"}, {"response": 149, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sun, Apr  5, 2009 (10:42)", "body": "Moving on ..changing the subject... I like this one... Pretty cheeky...LOL/"}, {"response": 150, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sun, Apr  5, 2009 (10:54)", "body": "Hope this one comes out here; it did on the practice pad... Michelle in Prague.. I found this write-up somewhere else.. \" Having apparently been warned about Prague's omnipresent cobblestones, Mrs. Obama wore flat shoes. She also wore a black Michael Kors skirt, matching Alaia Azzedine cardigan and white Moschino top on a chilly morning that slowly warmed into a beautiful spring day.\" Actually the least favorite outfit for me...I don't go in for big bows. Yahoo has a good slide show of them in Prague. Having just been there, it was fun to relive locations. One of the First Lady at the Jewish Quarter is especially moving."}, {"response": 151, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sun, Apr  5, 2009 (11:06)", "body": "I hadn't seen this one... From THE TELEGRAPH Rioters force Michelle Obama and Carla Bruni to cancel Strasbourg cancer hospice visit How disappointing. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/5105467/Rioters-force-Michelle-Obama-and-Carla-Bruni-to-cancel-Strasbourg-cancer-hospice-visit.html \"Some 1,000 protesters chanted and waved banners outside the hospice, accusing the leaders' wives of being \"spoiled tools of capitalism\", according to one banner. When violence broke out around 100 officers responded by throwing flash bombs and volleys of tear gas into the crowds\" Bet they were glad to get outta Strasbourg."}, {"response": 152, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Apr  5, 2009 (11:07)", "body": "Really, who gives a rat's ass what she wears? Most of it is pretty pedestrian IMO, which is likely the point, but not worth my time/effort. Apparently there are still vestiges of the \"lifetime employment guarantee\" at the Globe. This article says 430 of 1,400 union employees have that guarantee status, so it is not part of every union contract that has employees at the paper or has been phased out. Anyway, 1,400 isn't total employees either. Some of them have already taken paycuts, but greedy management still gave themselves raises and bonuses. Yeah, must have been for creating a dynamic future business plan for their comapny. *rolling eyes* Whatever happened to lead by example? Disgusting http://www.boston.com/ae/media/articles/2009/04/05/union_employees_open_to_concessions_but_demand_management_cuts_as_well/?p1=Well_MostPop_Emailed5"}, {"response": 153, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Apr  5, 2009 (11:28)", "body": "(Karen) Whatever happened to lead by example? Disgusting The bull market and booming capitalism, tax policies and other legislation that favor the top 1% and corporations with virtually no restrictions. Have I left anything out? ;-) Kind of a given an inch, take a mile philosophy on the management side. Or the, if I can get away with it (giving myself a raise/new office decor/etc) without spending a dime of my own money, why not? philosophy. It's because they had to make the \"hard decisions\" that they get the \"reward\". :-("}, {"response": 154, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Apr  5, 2009 (11:40)", "body": "I can go both ways ;-)). Am amazed to realize either A) the Obama's are so tall, or B) most of Europe's leaders are \"short\". Sarkozy and Carla always seemed taller to me. I had read about the cancelled Cancer Hospital visit. It is a shame. My friend's gfriend got out of town (Strasbourg) just in time. She lives there (with her family when not at her apt in Nice) and flies back and forth to here every couple of months. She left there Friday morning. Good timing. I don't know if she lives near any of the \"excitement\" going on."}, {"response": 155, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Apr  5, 2009 (12:16)", "body": "(Dorine) Have I left anything out? ;-) Should've said it was a rhetorical question, but you did leave out probably the most important factor - the rise of the MBA and its quick-fix, short-term focus."}, {"response": 156, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sun, Apr  5, 2009 (16:29)", "body": "Really, who gives a rat's ass what she wears?.... Comrade, \"Have you forgotten how to scroll?\";-)"}, {"response": 157, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sun, Apr  5, 2009 (16:41)", "body": "Well, looks like this is the end of the European fashiion show...:-((( In Prague, Michelle Obama visits cathedral, Jewish cemetery 05 April 2009, 20:02 CET (PRAGUE) - US First Lady Michelle Obama toured Prague's hulking Saint Vitus Cathedral and historic Jewish Cemetery on Sunday as her husband met with European leaders. Wearing a black skirt and a white blouse with a big bow, she visited the brooding cathedral that looms over the Czech capital from the grounds around Prague Castle. In front of the castle, the US president gave his wife a quick peck on the cheek before taking to the podium before a rapturous crowd of 30,000 to give his only public speech on the third leg of his maiden tour to Europe. Launching into his speech, he said: \"Today, I am proud to stand here with you in the middle of this great city, in the center of Europe. And ... I am also proud to be the man who brought Michelle Obama to Prague.\" After her husband left for his first summit with EU leaders, the First Lady headed to Prague's Jewish quarter to tour the Jewish Cemetery, one of the city's most noted sites. At the cemetery, she first visited the historic Pinkas Synagogue, which has the names of 80,000 Holocaust victims from Czechoslavakia inscribed on its walls. In line with the Jewish tradition, Michelle deposited a wish on a small piece of folded paper near the grave of Rabbi Loew (1525-1609), who inspired the Golem of Prague legend. Obama then returned to the United States, leaving her husband to continue his trip on to Turkey, the final leg of his first trip outside North America since taking office in January. [my bolds] http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/1238954522.12 Wonder why she didn't go to Turkey...she's missing the Hagia Sophia. Oh, hey..... maybe she's getting more clothes and fly back to Turkey. Hope so."}, {"response": 158, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sun, Apr  5, 2009 (16:42)", "body": "sorry"}, {"response": 159, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Mon, Apr  6, 2009 (08:03)", "body": "Awful news from Italy. At least 50 people have been killed in a powerful earthquake that struck central Italy, near to Rome. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7984867.stm"}, {"response": 160, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Apr  6, 2009 (09:40)", "body": "http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L6566682.htm Italy muzzled scientist who foresaw quake Source: Reuters By Gavin Jones 06 Apr 2009 11:22:00 GMT ROME, April 6 (Reuters) - An Italian scientist predicted a major earthquake around L'Aquila weeks before disaster struck the city on Monday, killing dozens of people, but was reported to authorities for spreading panic among the population. The first tremors in the region were felt in mid-January and continued at regular intervals, creating mounting alarm in the medieval city, about 100 km (60 miles) east of Rome. Vans with loudspeakers had driven around the town a month ago telling locals to evacuate their houses after seismologist Gioacchino Giuliani predicted a large quake was on the way, prompting the mayor's anger. Giuliani, who based his forecast on concentrations of radon gas around seismically active areas, was reported to police for \"spreading alarm\" and was forced to remove his findings from the Internet. Italy's Civil Protection agency held a meeting of the Major Risks Committee, grouping scientists charged with assessing such risks, in L'Aquila on March 31 to reassure the townspeople. \"The tremors being felt by the population are part of a typical sequence ... (which is) absolutely normal in a seismic area like the one around L'Aquila,\" the civil protection agency said in a statement on the eve of that meeting. \"It is useful to underline that it is not in any way possible to predict an earthquake,\" it said, adding that the agency saw no reason for alarm but was nonetheless effecting \"continuous monitoring and attention\". As the media asked questions about the authorities' alleged failure to safeguard the population ahead of the quake, the head of the National Geophysics Institute dismissed Giuliani's predictions. \"Every time there is an earthquake there are people who claim to have predicted it,\" he said. \"As far as I know nobody predicted this earthquake with precision. It is not possible to predict earthquakes.\" Enzo Boschi said the real problem for Italy was a long-standing failure to take proper precautions despite a history of tragic quakes. \"We have earthquakes but then we forget and do nothing. It's not in our culture to take precautions or build in an appropriate way in areas where there could be strong earthquakes,\" he said. AlertNet news is provided by"}, {"response": 161, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Apr  6, 2009 (09:43)", "body": "Looks like ther is another bonus \"bru-ha-ha\" coming down the road http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20090403-707525.html Mortgage giants Fannie (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE) expect to pay about $210 million in retention bonuses to 7,600 employees over a year and a half, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday. The top retention bonus for any individual executive under the plan will total $1.5 million during the 18 months ending in early 2010, according to the report, which cited a letter from the mortgage firms' regulator."}, {"response": 162, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Apr  6, 2009 (10:30)", "body": "BTW, I'm not an evangelist on the art of scrolling like others."}, {"response": 163, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Apr  6, 2009 (10:35)", "body": "A retention bonus is different than a merit or reward bonus. If they had it in contracts at the start of their employment, and are still working there when it's due to be paid out, they're entitled. If they're new retention bonuses, because they can't keep or get people otherwise, I reserve judgement for now as I haven't read the details, but on the face of it, I don't necessarily have a problem. Depends on who's getting it."}, {"response": 164, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Apr  6, 2009 (10:45)", "body": "From what I read about the Fannie & Freddie retention bonuses before, these are recent. Evidently, those companies feel that the people they need to work in their world are so unique. *rolling eyes*"}, {"response": 165, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Apr  6, 2009 (11:38)", "body": "Well, this is a switch. Interesting as I didn't know they were overseas. Sallie Mae to shift 2,000 jobs to U.S. from overseas Reuters 57 mins ago NEW YORK (Reuters) \ufffd Student loan company Sallie Mae plans to move its overseas operations back to the United States, creating 2,000 domestic jobs, in what analysts called an attempt to curry favor with the Obama administration. SLM Corp, as the company is legally known, said on Monday it plans to add staff over the next 18 months in call centers, information technology and operations support across the United States. Analysts called the move a bid to build political capital in Washington as the Obama administration plots major changes to the student loan market. The administration has proposed a 2010 budget that could hurt Sallie Mae's business by shifting all federal student loans into a program administered by the Department of Education. Michael Taiano, analyst at Sandler O'Neill & Partners in New York, said of Sallie Mae's maneuver, \"Will it help them overturn Obama's budget proposal? I don't think so.\" The company is likely hoping that moving jobs back to the United States will earn it goodwill from the administration, Taiano said, putting Sallie Mae in a better position when the details of the student loan program are worked out. \"It probably doesn't hurt to build up political capital, and bringing jobs back to the U.S. certainly does that,\" he said. Albert Lord, Sallie Mae chief executive, said in a statement, \"The current economic environment has caused our communities to struggle with job losses. They need jobs, and we will put 2,000 of them into U.S. facilities as soon as we possibly can.\" The company did not immediately disclose the location of the overseas operations to be shut down. Sallie Mae employs more than 8,000 people in the United States. It has struggled during the credit crunch to finance the loans it makes to students. Sallie Mae shares were up 25 cents, or 4.7 percent, at $5.60 in morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange. The shares have fallen 39 percent this year. (Reporting by Elinor Comlay; Editing by Derek Caney and John Wallace) http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090406/us_nm/us_salliemae_jobs"}, {"response": 166, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Apr  6, 2009 (12:42)", "body": "Officials say 91 dead, 1,500 hurt in Italy quake http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090406/ap_on_re_eu/eu_italy_earthquake Moon...I hope none of your friends/relatives are nr this area."}, {"response": 167, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Apr  6, 2009 (14:59)", "body": "(Linda) They felt three sharp hits at 3:30am and were far enough away to only have things fall off shelves, etc, but no structural damage. Wow, it was strong enough to wake them up though? Or were they already up? I guess falling stuff would wake me up, maybe. Glad they're ok."}, {"response": 168, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Apr  6, 2009 (20:01)", "body": "Summers' Takeaway... April 6, 2009 A Rich Education for Summers (After Harvard) By LOUISE STORY Lawrence H. Summers plays down his stint in the hedge fund business as a mere part-time job \ufffd but the financial and intellectual rewards that he gained there would make even most full-time workers envious. Mr. Summers, the former Treasury secretary and Harvard president who is now the chief economic adviser to President Obama, earned nearly $5.2 million in just the last of his two years at one of the world\ufffds largest funds, according to financial records released Friday by the White House. Impressive as that might sound, it is all the more considering that Mr. Summers worked there just one day a week. Much is known about Mr. Summers\ufffds days in Washington and Cambridge, but little attention has been paid to his two years in New York, from late 2006 to late 2008, advising an elite corps of math wizards and scientists devising investment strategies for D. E. Shaw & Company. Mr. Summers said in an interview that his experience at Shaw, however brief, gave him valuable insight into the practical realities of Wall Street, insight he is now putting to use in shaping economic policy in the White House. \ufffdI have a better sense of how market participants sort of think and react to things from sort of listening to the conversations and listening to the way the traders at D. E. Shaw thought,\ufffd he said. Mr. Summers and Shaw executives say his role there was to be a sounding board for Shaw\ufffds traders. But interviews with friends and former colleagues suggest that Mr. Summers\ufffds role at D. E. Shaw was wider and more complex. Mr. Summers, these people say, was a marquee hire, a prized spokesman for Shaw. He routinely made himself available for private consultations with Shaw\ufffds clients, an attractive perk for investing with the firm, as one client put it. Mr. Summers, who taught economics and public policy at Harvard while advising Shaw, also met with investors in the United States, as well as in the cash-rich Middle East and Asia. He spoke at industry conferences, mixing with officials from public pension funds, endowments and other large institutions with many billions of dollars to invest. While at Shaw, Mr. Summers also peered into the inner workings of the $2 trillion hedge fund industry, which the Obama administration is now relying on to buy billions of dollars of worrisome assets from the nation\ufffds beleaguered banks. Some of his critics worry that such ties raise questions about whether the government\ufffds ever-changing effort to bolster the financial industry will benefit Wall Street in general, and hedge funds in particular, at the expense of taxpayers. \ufffdThis is what might be called contamination,\ufffd said Andrew Sabl, an associate professor of public policy at the University of California, Los Angeles. \ufffdDid Summers spend so much time with the hedge fund, or its investors, sovereign wealth funds and so on, that he started to think like them?\ufffd Mr. Summers joined the hedge fund world after his tempestuous, five-year term as the president of Harvard came to an unhappy end in February 2006, after a statement he made that women might lack an intrinsic aptitude for math and science. It was at that time, to the surprise of some colleagues, that Mr. Summers seriously contemplated his options on Wall Street in part because he believed his chances to return to a prominent position in Washington had dimmed, friends say. Although he once compared finance to ketchup sales, Mr. Summers discussed job possibilities with Goldman Sachs, long considered the premier Wall Street bank, and with Citigroup, where Robert E. Rubin, Mr. Summers\ufffds predecessor as Treasury secretary, had become a senior adviser. Then a young Harvard graduate named Julius Gaudio, whom Mr. Summers had met at alumni events, raised another possibility: D. E. Shaw, where Mr. Gaudio is a managing director. As part of Shaw\ufffds rigorous screening process \ufffd the firm accepts perhaps one out of every 500 applicants \ufffd Mr. Summers was asked to solve math puzzles. He passed, and the job was his. In a rare interview, David E. Shaw, who founded the firm in 1988 above a communist book shop in Greenwich Village, put it simply: Mr. Summers is \ufffda brilliant, brilliant guy.\ufffd That is from a former computer science professor at Columbia who now spends his time researching areas like treatments for cancer, while others run his hedge fund day-to-day. D. E. Shaw does not like to talk about what goes on inside its modish headquarters near Times Square. There, esoteric trading strategies are imagined, sketched on whiteboards and modeled on supercomputers by an elite corps of math wizards and scientists, most of them unknown to the outside world. It is nothing like a button-down Wall Street brokerage firm. Jeans, sweatshirts and sandals are common. The firm has not one, but two libraries, where textbooks on computer coding are stacked near academic finance journals dating to the 1960s. For a time, the d\ufffdcor in"}, {"response": 169, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Apr  6, 2009 (20:06)", "body": "Sorry... meant to add... \"Go for it Larry, before The Big O takes it all away....\" http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/06/business/06summers.html?_r=1&ref=us&pagewanted=print"}, {"response": 170, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Apr  6, 2009 (23:29)", "body": "\"Go for it Larry, before The Big O takes it all away....\" He can't go for anything until he steps down from this job. It required him to divest his hedge fund interests, if I read it right."}, {"response": 171, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Apr  7, 2009 (08:49)", "body": "\"Mr. Summers, these people say, was a marquee hire, a prized spokesman for Shaw. He routinely made himself available for private consultations with Shaw\ufffds clients, an attractive perk for investing with the firm, as one client put it. \" I dunno......if this passes the smell-test;-) Some people last night on a Bloomberg panel said he should give $$$$ back. Whoa! \"Hedge Funds\" are a like the plague these days..."}, {"response": 172, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Apr  7, 2009 (09:01)", "body": "Every high profile consultant in firms like that did the same thing. Standard business. The difference is, he actually seemed to work for it unlike many others who seem to just collect a paycheck for associating their names with the firm for positions like that. Gave them cache without having to do much. I don't see what was wrong with that. He actually seems to be much smarter than most of the people who do that."}, {"response": 173, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Apr  7, 2009 (10:06)", "body": "\"The difference is, he actually seemed to work for it unlike many others who seem to just collect a paycheck for associating their names with the firm for positions like that\" Read it again... a \"marquee hire\"...to entice people to invest in Shaw's hedge fund. Hey, I'm all for capitalism...nothing wrong with earning $$$ ...not hypocrisy though;-)Don't start trashing Wall St , CEOs & hedgies now that you're sitting in the WH."}, {"response": 174, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Apr  7, 2009 (11:04)", "body": "I read it and I stand by my remarks. \"Marquee hires\" are usually hired for the name only (as I said), not necessarily that they'll do any kind of work, though they may do an occasional meet and greet. From the impression I got in the article, he was very involved in not only meeting and greeting whenever they asked, he also was very into the learning the nuts and bolts of it."}, {"response": 175, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Apr  7, 2009 (11:26)", "body": "Some people in the financial world say they have more confidence in the White House\ufffds plans because of Mr. Summers\ufffd time at D. E. Shaw. Pretty much all the economic advisors and Treasury bigwigs have worked on Wall Street, including top management positions. Personally, I would agree. The knowledge is vital and criticizing this guy because he actually knows the nuts and bolts of the biz is nuts. Slamming someone with knowledge??? *shaking head* Yeah, better to appoint a political hack. (Dorine) \"Marquee hires\" are usually hired for the name only You're quire right. Standard practice and includes the big law firms as well."}, {"response": 176, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Apr  7, 2009 (13:21)", "body": "Oh I have no trouble with people making money legally...I'm the capitalist, remember? My beef is that after being one of \"them\", he now sits and derides the same group he was part of."}, {"response": 177, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Apr  7, 2009 (13:30)", "body": "Well here's a thought to appease the Left. REVIEW & OUTLOOK APRIL 7,2009 An Idea for Mr. Summers He could pay higher taxes\ufffdif he thought that \"Larry Summers, the White House economic guru, is taking some hits from the left after his official disclosure forms revealed late last week that he got rich thanks to the financial industry he is now charged with reviving and reregulating. The appearance-of-a-conflict-of-interest crowd isn't happy that Mr. Summers earned $5.2 million last year working for the beneficent hedge fund, D. E. Shaw & Co. He also made a bundle in speaking fees, including $135,000 for a single appearance for Goldman Sachs. That must have been some stemwinder, though we're confident Goldman figures it didn't overpay given Mr. Summers's later White House prominence. We've got nothing against getting rich, though it is worth noting that Mr. Summers will pay Bush-era tax rates on his Wall Street windfall profit. So if the man who would still like to be Federal Reserve Chairman is looking to make a gesture of political solidarity with the middle-class masses, here's an idea: Honor your principles, and pay taxes on that income at Bill Clinton-Barack Obama rates. Mr. Summers could simply calculate his taxes for 2008 based on what he'd pay if President Obama's tax proposals had been law. Thus his top marginal income tax rate would rise from 35% to 39.6%, plus the phase outs in deductions and exemptions, which would make the rate roughly 41.6%. Mr. Summers could write a check to the IRS for the difference. And of course he wouldn't forget to deduct any charitable giving at only 28 cents on the dollar, rather than 35 or 41.6 cents. Mr. Obama likes to say it's the \"era of responsibility,\" and if that's true then we assume Mr. Summers will want to lead by example. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123905884295394797.html"}, {"response": 178, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Apr  8, 2009 (02:16)", "body": "Love this line... \"AP shakes fist at Google. Tells Internet to get off its damn lawn,\" US newspaper owners are \"mad as hell\" AFP by Chris Lefkow \ufffd Tue Apr 7, 10:10 pm ET WASHINGTON (AFP) \ufffd US newspaper owners, their advertising revenue evaporating, their circulation declining and their readership going online to get news for free, are fighting mad. The enemy? Websites that use their stories without paying for them. \"We are mad as hell, and we are not going to take it any more,\" said the chairman of the Associated Press, a cooperative of over 1,400 US newspapers, borrowing a line from the anchorman character in the 1976 movie \"Network.\" \"We can no longer stand by and watch others walk off with our work under misguided legal theories,\" Dean Singleton said at a meeting this week of the Newspaper Association of America (NAA) in San Diego, California. Singleton's battle cry came just a few days after News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch launched a broadside against Internet giant Google, whose Google News website is one of the most popular news aggregators on the Internet. \"Should we be allowing Google to steal all our copyrights?\" asked Murdoch, the owner of newspapers in Australia, Britain and the United States, where his holdings include The Wall Street Journal and New York Post. \"Thanks, but no thanks,\" the News Corp. chairman said. Robert Thomson, the managing editor of The Wall Street Journal, used even harsher language than his boss in describing the situation. \"There is no doubt that certain websites are best described as parasites or tech tapeworms in the intestines of the Internet,\" Thomson said in an interview with the newspaper The Australian. \"It's certainly true that readers have been socialized -- wrongly I believe -- that much content should be free,\" he said. \"And there is no doubt that's in the interest of aggregators like Google who have profited from that mistaken perception.\" The salvos by Singleton, Murdoch and Thomson appear to have been uncoordinated but they reflect rising anger among an industry facing a deepening crisis. Two newspapers, the Rocky Mountain News of Denver, Colorado, and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, have shut down in recent weeks and several big newspaper groups have declared bankruptcy, including the Tribune Co., publisher of the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times and other dailies. Hearst Corp., owner of the San Francisco Chronicle, has threatened to shut down the paper unless unions agree to major staff cuts and The New York Times Co. has threatened to close the Boston Globe unless unions there do the same. According to the NAA, last year was the worst ever for the US newspaper industry with print advertising revenue falling 17.7 percent and even online advertising revenue dropping -- by 1.8 percent. The decline in print advertising revenue has been exacerbated by the global recession but the more fundamental problem according to media analysts is that the business model that has sustained the industry for decades is broken. The counter-attack by US newspaper owners has met with a mixed reaction from analysts, with some saying it's about time they went on the legal offensive to defend copyright and others saying they're wasting their time. \"What the AP is doing now, like many newspapers, is too little too late in recognizing the threat of the Internet,\" said Tom McPhail, professor of media studies at the University of Missouri, St. Louis. \"The court system is too slow for their needs and purposes,\" McPhail told AFP. \"They need a short term victory and that isn't going to happen.\" Peter Kafka, writing on his blog MediaMemo, derided the efforts. \"AP shakes fist at Google. Tells Internet to get off its damn lawn,\" read the headline on a post Kafka wrote about the AP threat to go after websites that use its content or that of its member newspaper without permission. A Google lawyer, Alexander Macgillivray, on Tuesday defended the practice of linking to newspaper articles from Google News, saying it was driving traffic to newspaper websites and providing them with advertising revenue. Google chief executive Eric Schmidt walked into the lion's den himself on Tuesday, appearing before the assembled newspaper executives in San Diego just a day after the AP chairman issued his rallying cry. Schmidt said the reality is the \"vast majority\" of readers are going to opt for news for free and that newspapers should see Google as a partner and not as a rival as they try to increase their online advertising revenue. \"We have to embrace what users want together and by doing that I think we can win big,\" he said. http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090408/lf_afp/usmediaindustrynewspapersinternetgoogle_20090408021655"}, {"response": 179, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Apr  8, 2009 (02:21)", "body": "To get back to Summers... Some of his critics worry that such ties raise questions about whether the government\ufffds ever-changing effort to bolster the financial industry will benefit Wall Street in general, and hedge funds in particular, at the expense of taxpayers. \ufffdThis is what might be called contamination,\ufffd said Andrew Sabl, an associate professor of public policy at the University of California, Los Angeles. \ufffdDid Summers spend so much time with the hedge fund, or its investors, sovereign wealth funds and so on, that he started to think like them?\ufffd Inherently, there's nothing wrong with thinking like them. In fact, it should be considered a big bonus. Can't see how there can be critics yet, when there's no plan to criticize so far, but yes, there could be a potential for those concerns down the road I suppose."}, {"response": 180, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Apr  8, 2009 (10:16)", "body": "apparently, you haven't read the lefty blogs.. my sources ;-) say they are livid Here's what the mother of all lefty mags have to say.... http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090420/scheer?rel=hp_picks (Dorine)Inherently, there's nothing wrong with thinking like them. That has to be qualified; I think Professor Sabl means that it would inspire a \"bias\"on Summer's part. I don't think Summer is dishonest. But personally, I want the hedge funds reined in."}, {"response": 181, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Apr  8, 2009 (14:14)", "body": "Mr. Obama likes to say it's the \"era of responsibility,\" and if that's true then we assume Mr. Summers will want to lead by example. What a bunch of hooey. So if the man who would still like to be Federal Reserve Chairman is looking to make a gesture of political solidarity with the middle-class masses, here's an idea: Honor your principles, and pay taxes on that income at Bill Clinton-Barack Obama rates. Principles? Huh? Do they think he's an ideologue? I really doubt it. In another article, he was referred to as a \"quant.\" This is a guy who just works the numbers. He's not tied to any philosophy but a task. I doubt he cares either way, but is challenged by working the numbers. Who better to regulare this esoteria than someone who understands it and can design systems to catch and deal with abuse. I don't understand the innuendo of dishonesty, conflict of interest, etc. (Dorine) In fact, it should be considered a big bonus. Precisely what I've been saying. \"What the AP is doing now, like many newspapers, is too little too late in recognizing the threat of the Internet,\" said Tom McPhail, professor of media studies at the University of Missouri, St. Louis. Like I wrote before: Horse, barn door. ;-)"}, {"response": 182, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Apr  8, 2009 (17:47)", "body": "Any comments on \"The Nation\" article???? Me thinks it was a little inflammatory."}, {"response": 183, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Apr  9, 2009 (20:54)", "body": "Haven't gotten to it yet, but will."}, {"response": 184, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Apr 11, 2009 (12:21)", "body": "Now here's a deal... Time to cough-up girls.... Take your pick of prizes... Hillary Clinton supporters to auction 'American Idol' finale tickets to help retire campaign debt BY David Saltonstall DAILY NEWS SENIOR CORRESPONDENT Friday, April 10th 2009, 4:00 AM She was once America's biggest loser, but now she wants to send you to \"American Idol\" - for a price. Friends of Secretary of State Clinton are trying to raise money to retire her old presidential campaign debt, and they're doing it by raffling \"fantastic prizes\" for a handful of lucky supporters - including two tickets to next month's \"American Idol\" finale. \"You and a guest will watch live as the 'American Idol' judges make their final comments and decisions on this year's most anticipated season finale!\" James Carville, a longtime Clinton adviser, wrote in a breathless e-mail Thursday to loyal Clintonistas. The other prizes? There's a day in New York with former President Bill Clinton. If that doesn't thrill you, you can opt to head to Washington for lunch with Carville and fellow Democratic guru Paul Begala. \"We will talk about politics, you will get to tour all the amazing sites D.C. has to offer, and who knows what else could happen!\" wrote Carville, hinting that maybe - just maybe - a sitdown with Clinton could be in the offing. There is no cost to enter the online contest, but organizers are clearly hoping to raise big bucks, with calls for donations included in the e-mail. The former First Lady conceded defeat to primary challenger and now-President Obama last June, leaving behind a pile of campaign debt that stands at about $6 million, records show. Like any sitting cabinet member, Clinton is allowed to continue raising money to retire old debt. But federal ethics laws prohibit her from personally soliciting donations. That job now apparently falls to Carville.The Fox-produced show does not sell the tickets, but gives them all away. The ducats were not given to Camp Clinton by Fox or its parent, News Corp., a representative of media mogul Rupert Murdoch said."}, {"response": 185, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sun, Apr 12, 2009 (10:44)", "body": "WRAPUP 4-Warships track U.S. hostage floating to Somalia http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSN1134689120090412 Pay the ransom!"}, {"response": 186, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sun, Apr 12, 2009 (10:59)", "body": "http://www.nypost.com/seven/04122009/news/nationalnews/glamour_first_164080.htm \"Michelle Obama is the nation's first first lady to add a full-time makeup artist to her traveling entourage, according to stylists who have worked with presidential wives over the past 16 years\" I'd have one too if the whole world was looking at me. I've always liked her hair; especially the one at the palace. Talking about make-overs...Hill is looking v. v. glam these days. During the campaign she looked haggard. Grueling schedule."}, {"response": 187, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sun, Apr 12, 2009 (15:54)", "body": "He's free! AP \" Administration officials say President Barack Obama approved the military operation that rescued a U.S. captain held hostage by Somali pirates. The officials say Obama ordered the Defense Department to use military resources to rescue Richard Phillips from a lifeboat off the Somali coast. The officials discussed this information on the condition of anonymity because they were not yet authorized to disclose the president's decision-making process. Obama praised the captain for his bravery and courage. The president also said the United States needs help from other countries to deal with the threat of piracy and to hold pirates accountable.\" http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iqznz3bUMKIUbrDYAUHHuMQ4vyJAD97H45GO1"}, {"response": 188, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Apr 12, 2009 (16:14)", "body": "What Daily News is that Hillary/American Idol story from. There's no link."}, {"response": 189, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Apr 12, 2009 (16:16)", "body": "(Evelyn) During the campaign she looked haggard. Grueling schedule. Trying to make peace with the rest of the world is a walk in the park by comparison I'm sure. ;-) I haven't seen her in weeks."}, {"response": 190, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Apr 12, 2009 (16:17)", "body": "I Googled it: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2009/04/10/2009-04-10_hil_places_her_debts_on_idol.html"}, {"response": 191, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sun, Apr 12, 2009 (17:33)", "body": "Trying to make peace with the rest of the world is a walk in the park by comparison I'm sure. ;-) You talkin' to me? She was all over the place (in the background)during the Europe jaunt; (with hairdresser, ya/ think?;-)Maybe Michelle \"shared\". I remarked to someone that she certainly took a lowlier spot than she would have as a former first lady; don't know why she took that job. Though I'm grateful it wasn't Joe. Who said he was given a *choice*. Yeah, sure."}, {"response": 192, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Apr 12, 2009 (22:28)", "body": "(Evelyn) You talkin' to me? Just playin' with ya. I imagine she's super busy and it's grueling in its own right with her new job. As I said, I can't remember the last time I saw her. Maybe right after she took the job 3 months ago. I can't say if she looks better or worse. While Joe does come off kind of buffoonish in public sometimes, I know he's got a good handle on foreign policy, so I wouldn't have been worried about him very much. Only during press conferences. ;-) Evelyn, Frank Rich discussed Summers today in more detail than I'd read about and seems concerned with potential conflicts of interest as well, from what I can tell. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/12/opinion/12rich.html?pagewanted=1&em Thanks, Karen."}, {"response": 193, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Mon, Apr 13, 2009 (03:15)", "body": "Excellent news! The Maersk Alabama's Capt Phillips has been rescued safely from the Somalian Pirates. Gotta hand it to US Navy, a stellar job. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7996213.stm"}, {"response": 194, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Apr 13, 2009 (08:40)", "body": "I see a TV movie of the week coming next year."}, {"response": 195, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Apr 13, 2009 (10:04)", "body": "Frank Rich is harder on Summer than I was. My beef is his hypocrisy which Frank didn't touch."}, {"response": 196, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Apr 13, 2009 (10:16)", "body": "I don't have time to reread now, but I got the impression that he was so hard on him addressing exactly that hypocrisy."}, {"response": 197, "author": "mari", "date": "Mon, Apr 13, 2009 (11:25)", "body": "So glad Capt. Phillips is free! I had a bad feeling about it as the days dragged on. Nice to see something end well."}, {"response": 198, "author": "mari", "date": "Mon, Apr 13, 2009 (11:28)", "body": "(Evelyn)I remarked to someone that she certainly took a lowlier spot than she would have as a former first lady Yeah, here's hoping for a major world crisis, so she can get to show her mettle. *fingers crossed* ;-) ;-)"}, {"response": 199, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Apr 13, 2009 (13:03)", "body": "You think she'll get credit? I wonder. This is a v. egocentric WH IMO."}, {"response": 200, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Apr 13, 2009 (16:01)", "body": "Bo!! *snort* Yeah, he promised \"the kids\" a dog. ;-)"}, {"response": 201, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Apr 13, 2009 (17:04)", "body": "Catching up here. Portuguese Water dogs is one of my favs. My friends in Miami have one since 1991, and it was love at first sight. Berlusconi has been an angel and great leader for the people of Aquila. He deserves high praise for his quick actions. Almost 300 dead and they keep finding bodies. I don't have any relatives there, but I have been there. There is a fantastic castle built by the Spaniards, but I have had no word on its condition. The other monuments and the Cathedral... it is a shame. A terrible tragedy. That whole area is prime for earthquakes, Umbria and Toscany too. :-( Obama did not bow to Queen Elizabeth, but he bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia, that is wrong."}, {"response": 202, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Apr 13, 2009 (23:41)", "body": "Those are beautiful dogs. Bo looks fun! He was going to get a rescue dog, but now will give a donation to ...the DC Humane Society or something similar. Forget which one I read now. I didn't get the bowing thing, though I only got a quick glance at a pic."}, {"response": 203, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Apr 14, 2009 (00:46)", "body": "(Me) I see a TV movie of the week coming next year. I was wrong. A reality show. :-((( http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090413/ts_alt_afp/entertainmentsomaliapiracyusshipping_20090413222206"}, {"response": 204, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Apr 14, 2009 (01:30)", "body": "LOL! Reality shows are cheaper."}, {"response": 205, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Apr 14, 2009 (08:22)", "body": "True dat!"}, {"response": 206, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Apr 14, 2009 (10:02)", "body": "LOL! Reality shows are cheaper. And not as easy to \"fictionalize\". I can't see Hollywood being kind or even *true* to the military. They would rather revel in Mai Lai-like events."}, {"response": 207, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Apr 14, 2009 (13:26)", "body": "Here's the video with the bow: http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/Obama_bow_king/2009/04/08/201193.html?s=al&promo_code=7DA6-1"}, {"response": 208, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Apr 14, 2009 (13:29)", "body": "When or how often has Hollywood not been kind to the military in the past?"}, {"response": 209, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Apr 14, 2009 (14:10)", "body": "Oh Please...let me count the ways. Of recent times..only Private Ryan of the big films. And no VN films that I can remember I can just see the movie focusing on.... 'pre-emptive shooting\", not \"reading the pirates their Miranda Rights\"...blah, blah, blah..."}, {"response": 210, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Apr 14, 2009 (15:29)", "body": "(Dorine) When or how often has Hollywood not been kind to the military in the past? If your script is nice to the military--portrays them in the best possible light--then they'll give you the stars and the moon in terms of access, support, etc. If negative, slightly critical, wrong image, etc, then bupkis."}, {"response": 211, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Apr 14, 2009 (15:31)", "body": "LOL! Reality shows are cheaper. And not as easy to \"fictionalize\". But fictonalizing takes a writer, one has to pay. Reality shows are all about the money. They're cheap, cheap, cheap. No need to pay actors according to union scale. This isn't about bias, slants, prejudicial leanings, etc. Why does everything have to be about that. Getting really sick of that attitude."}, {"response": 212, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Apr 14, 2009 (17:55)", "body": "That's your perception It's not an *attitude*,IMO, it's the truth."}, {"response": 213, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Apr 14, 2009 (20:58)", "body": "(Karen) If your script is nice to the military--portrays them in the best possible light--then they'll give you the stars and the moon in terms of access, support, etc. If negative, slightly critical, wrong image, etc, then bupkis Right. But I wasn't asking in reference to what kind of actors/stars they'd get. Just the tone. It's not like the military have always been saints and should be always portrayed in a positive light if it's not true. I was basically asking if (or how often) Evelyn thought the military was portrayed in what she thought was an unkind light, basically wrongly."}, {"response": 214, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Apr 14, 2009 (21:41)", "body": "Bo!! Slideshow of a bunch of pics introducing Bo to the media. Lots of repeats, but new ones interpersed. Gorgeous dog. http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Obama-family-picks-Portuguese-water-dog/ss/events/pl/041209obamadog"}, {"response": 215, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Apr 15, 2009 (10:02)", "body": "April 15th Nationwide Tax Day Tea Party ! Get your protest signs ready! Get out and march!"}, {"response": 216, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Apr 15, 2009 (11:03)", "body": "LOL!!! Where's the winkie? ;-)"}, {"response": 217, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Apr 15, 2009 (11:12)", "body": "That's your perception It's not an *attitude*,IMO, it's the truth. I have a right to my opinion, don't I? But I hadn't realized that when you do it is a \"truth.\" Nationwide Tax Day Tea Party ! What utter silliness, obviously engineered by Repubs with nothing better to do than stir up trouble. The only ones who should be protesting are those making over $250K, but there will be plenty of idiots (Joe the Plumber types) who don't get it. :-( Better they should dump their tea on Wall Street, the source of everyone, who used to have \"savings\" and \"investments\" for retirement, etc., real problems. Deception, subterfuge, obfuscation. Sickening."}, {"response": 218, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Apr 15, 2009 (11:18)", "body": "I think most *stars* get paid about $250K for stints on these reality shows. Blagojevich to star in 'Celebrity' Impeached Illinois governor set for reality TV By MICHAEL SCHNEIDER They may want to name it \"I'm a Disgraced Public Figure... Get Me Out of Here.\" Impeached Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich is set to star in NBC's upcoming summer reality skein \"I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here,\" the Peacock confirmed Tuesday. But there's a catch: A federal judge must first give his OK. According to the Chicago Tribune, which first broke the story, Blagojevich's attorney has asked a judge handling the corruption case against the former governor to loosen his travel restrictions. That's because Blagojevich would be required spend time on Costa Rica, where the show will take place and air live this summer on NBC. Since his departure from the Illinois gubernatorial job, Blagojevich has maintained a very public profile, having just served as a guest host on Chicago's WLS talk radio station. \"Based on the hit U.K. reality show, \"I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!\" is a groundbreaking live series event premiering June 1 and stripped over four weeks in June,\" NBC said in a statement. \"Ten celebrities of various backgrounds will be dropped into the heart of the Costa Rican jungle to face challenges designed to test their skills in adapting to the wilderness and to raise money for their favorite charities. Rod Blagojevich will be a participant on the show pending the court's approval.\" http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118002427.html?categoryid=1043&cs=1 [Ed note: I wonder what Rod's charity is. But I'd bet it is one Patty set up. *snort*]"}, {"response": 219, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Apr 15, 2009 (12:46)", "body": ""}, {"response": 220, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Apr 15, 2009 (12:47)", "body": ""}, {"response": 221, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Apr 15, 2009 (12:48)", "body": "Anti-Obama 'tea party' protests mark US tax day by Sebastian Smith Sebastian Smith 1 hr 16 mins ago NEW YORK (AFP) \ufffd Critics of President Barack Obama marked national tax day Wednesday with \"tea party\" protests that Republicans are calling the birth of a grassroots opposition, but Democrats dismiss as a fraud. [Ed note: a synonym for truth] Organizers promised hundreds of protests across the country against taxes and Obama's big-spending budget proposals. Obama says his budget will jump start the economy out of recession, but protesters warn the country will instead sink beneath its debt burdens. The demonstrations, styled on the famous 1773 Boston Tea Party revolt against British colonial taxes, came as Americans rushed to meet the annual deadline for filing income tax returns. Protests were to feature dumping of teabags, iced tea and other tea-related stunts. But despite the catchy theme and revolutionary-era symbolism, there were questions about whether the scattered Republican forces would be able to ensure a significant turnout. Organizer Eric Odom said protests would take place in almost 800 cities. Calling it \"a new day for the freedom movement,\" he estimated that tens of thousands would take to the streets. Dick Armey, chairman of the conservative Freedom Works group, described the tea parties as \"the shot across the bow as taxpayers defend themselves against out of control government spending.\" But Democrats scathingly attacked the tea parties as an imitation grass roots movement manufactured by fringe elements of the right. The tea parties \"have been largely a creation of the same gang that already ran conservatism off the rails,\" wrote David Waldman on the liberal Daily Kos politics blog. Meanwhile, Obama was to meet with working families to \"discuss the unprecedented action his administration has taken to give tax cuts to the Americans who need them, while jump-starting growth and job creation in the process,\" the White House said. The man credited with sparking the protests is CNBC television commentator Rick Santelli, who called in February for a \"tea party\" to oppose government bailouts for mortgage defaulters. The clip of Santelli's angry outburst has been viewed on YouTube more than a million times. The protests stand out for the use of Web-savvy marketing, something barely seen in John McCain's unsuccessful battle for the White House against Democrat Obama. Odom described Wednesday as the birth of a new Republican movement able to match Obama's formidable support network. \"New leaders will come into play, new coalitions will form, new tax groups will be born, and a new energy will surround us all across the country,\" Odom wrote. \"A completely new face will be put on a movement that has suffered at the hands of attempted top down control and old school political hacks over the years.\" But Democrats were working overtime, well in advance of the protests, to dismiss them as irrelevant. Criticism ranges from allegations that the protests are a political con staged by corporations, to poking fun at Republicans' seemingly innocent vow to go \"tea-bagging\" -- a word that in slang signifies a sex act. http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090415/ts_alt_afp/uspoliticstaxprotest"}, {"response": 222, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Apr 15, 2009 (13:16)", "body": "I read last night, this is no true grassroots operation....lobbyists behind it. Lots of $$ and organization behind it. \"And Think Progress: Despite these attempts to make the \"movement\" appear organic, the principle organizers of the local events are actually the lobbyist-run think tanks Americans for Prosperity and Freedom Works. The two groups are heavily staffed and well funded, and are providing all the logistical and public relations work necessary for planning coast-to-coast protests\" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Corporate Lobbyists Raising Money For Tea Parties By: Jane Hamsher Monday April 13, 2009 7:16 am Teabaggers are having a hard time coming to terms with the fact that \"grassroots\" demonstrations aren't orchestrated by corporate lobbyists. Understandable -- if you didn't have any experience organizing a demonstration that didn't have millions in free PR from Fox News and well-funded GOP fat cats providing a national infrastructure, you wouldn't know the difference. They seem to be particularly upset about links I sent out yesterday on Twitter (using the teaparty hashtags #tcot and #teaparty) regarding a report by Lee Fang at Think Progress documenting the involvement of corporate lobbyists FreedomWorks in organizing the teabaggers. FreedomWorks is run by ladies' man (and registered lobbyist) Dick Armey, and if they're not \"organizing\" the Tea parties, it's news to them. From the FreedomWorks website: \" With your help, we have been able to organize hundreds of Taxpayer Tea Parties across the country, from Santa Barbara, California to Amarillo, Texas, and all the way to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. [] If you are not able to organize or attend a Taxpayer Tea Party, you can still help the cause by donating or buying a t-shirt. You can also spread the word via email, facebook and word of mouth. If you would like to post updates on tea parties in your state, or if you\u2019d like to get in touch with other people planning tea parties, visit our Tea Party HQ. We have created an interactive Google map that you can use to locate a tea party near you!\" The \"donation\" for the Tea Parties page goes to -- you guessed it -- the FreedomWorks Foundation. The \"thank you\" lettter is signed by Matt Kibbe, President & CEO, who cut his teeth working for Lee Atwater . He was behind the attempt to get Ralph Nader put on the ballot in Oregon in 2004, prompting a complaint to the FEC of illegal collusion with the GOP. FreedomWorks was launched [as] a GOP version of MoveOn. \"We believe that hard work beats daddy's money,\" said Dick Armey at the time. Armey seems to be a bit irony challenged -- Steve Forbes is on the FreedomWorks board. As Krugman notes, their money comes from the Koch, Scaife, Bradley, Olin and other reliable funders of right wing infrastructure including Exxon Mobil. I don't know which is sadder -- the fact that the Teabaggers don't understand that it would be impossible for them to do what they're doing without this kind of infrastructure behind them, or the fact that they're being manipulated by the very people they appear to be raging against who are only looking to channel their anger for their own purposes. Whatever. Glenn Reynolds seems to have blown a gasket over the whole thing today, and that's always a good thing. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ And: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/4/14/719949/-Its-official:-GOP-is-the-tea-bag-party"}, {"response": 223, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Apr 15, 2009 (13:23)", "body": "From an interview on Fox Business News' show with Stuart Varney, this interview excerpt... Varney: There are thousands of parties and you're saying is the nature of this fraud? Leser: Well, if you look back at it. The Chicago tea party.com website was actually created or registered in August of 2008 that's long before Obama was president had a chance to enact any of his policies. This has actually been in the works for a very long time. It's being portrayed as something recent and spontaneous and it's anything but that. [Ed. note - I read this previously several other places in the past couple of weeks.] I would ask them, where were they during the last 28 years, 20 of which when we had a Republican administration in office that ran up massive deficits. Varney: It's only in the last two or three months, or six weeks that the extent of this problem has emerged. The extent of congressional spending the extent of the deficit, the impending huge tax increases that we face. It's only become apparent in the last six weeks, during which time we've had a Democrat Congress and a Democrat in the White House. Leser: I can't let you get away with that one, Stuart... It's amazing to me that any Republican with a straight face would try and talk about fiscal responsibility. Republicans have absolutely no credibility on fiscal responsibility. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ For the rest of the"}, {"response": 224, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Apr 15, 2009 (13:24)", "body": "Oops... for the rest of the transcript and video of the interview between Stuart and Steve Leser, the Editor of OpEdNews, go here: http://crooksandliars.com/john-amato/lesser-tea-parties-these-tax-day-tea-pa"}, {"response": 225, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Apr 15, 2009 (13:59)", "body": "This upsets me more than that ridiculous tea protest. From the AP: Afghans Stone Women Protesting Sex Law KABUL (April 15) -- A group of some 1,000 Afghans swarmed a demonstration of 300 women protesting against a new conservative marriage law on Wednesday. The women were pelted with small stones as police struggled to keep the two groups apart. The law, passed last month, says a husband can demand sex with his wife every four days unless she is ill or would be harmed by intercourse \ufffd a clause that critics say legalizes marital rape. It also regulates when and for what reasons a wife may leave her home alone. Women's rights activists scheduled a protest Wednesday attended by mostly young women. But the group was swamped by counter-protesters \ufffd both men and women \ufffd who shouted down the women's chants. Some picked up gravel and stones and threw them at the women, while others shouted \"Death to the slaves of the Christians!\" Female police held hands around the group to create a protective barrier. The government of President Hamid Karzai has said the Shiite family law is being reviewed by the Justice Department and will not be implemented in its current form. Governments and rights groups around the world have condemned the legislation, and President Barack Obama has labeled it \"abhorrent.\" Though the law would apply only to the country's Shiites \ufffd 10 to 20 percent of Afghanistan's 30 million people \ufffd it has sparked an uproar by activists who say it marks a return to Taliban-style oppression. The Taliban, who ruled Afghanistan from 1996-2001, required women to wear all-covering burqas and banned them from leaving home without a male relative. Shiite backers of the law say that foreigners are meddling in private Afghan affairs, and Wednesday's demonstrations brought some of the emotions surrounding the debate over the law to the surface. \"You are a dog! You are not a Shiite woman!\" one man shouted to a young woman in a headscarf holding aloft a banner that said \"We don't want Taliban law.\" The woman did not shout back at the man, but told him: \"This is my land and my people.\" Women protesting the law said many of their supporters had been blocked by men who refused to let them join the protest. Those who did make it shouted repeatedly that they were defending human rights by defending women's rights and that the law does not reflect the views of the Shiite community. Fourteen-year-old Masuma Hasani said her whole family had come out to protest the law \ufffd both her parents and her younger sister who she held by the arm. \"I am concerned about my future with this law,\" she said. \"We want our rights. We don't want women to just be used.\" As the back-and-forth continued, another demonstration of Shiite women who said they support the law began. \"We don't want foreigners interfering in our lives. They are the enemy of Afghanistan,\" said 24-year-old Mariam Sajadi. Sajadi is engaged, and said she plans to ask her husband's permission to leave the house as put forth in the law. She said other controversial articles \ufffd such as one giving the husband the right to demand sex from his wife every fourth day \ufffd have been misinterpreted by Westerners who are anti-Islam."}, {"response": 226, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Apr 15, 2009 (14:05)", "body": "IMO, those Shiite women were forced by their husbands to speak in favor. The Shiites are now the majority rule in Iraq thanks to Bush. Saddam Hussein who was a Sunni tolerated even the Christians, in fact some of his cabinet were Christians. Bush has turned back the clock in that country. The US should have been concentrating in Afghanistan and the Taliban instead of pulling out troups for Iraq. I feel for those women. Impeach Bush and Cheney! Or stone them."}, {"response": 227, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Apr 15, 2009 (14:21)", "body": "I agree, Moon, that's awful. Saw that this morning. Impeach Bush and Cheney! Huh????"}, {"response": 228, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Apr 15, 2009 (17:07)", "body": "No huh, about it, Dorine. Is it too late to impeach? It's their fault we abandoned Afghanistan and created the Iraq disaster. Would you prefer to stone them? I'm up for it. You know where they would be in Dante's inferno."}, {"response": 229, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Apr 15, 2009 (17:27)", "body": "Oh dear....all of a sudden only Liberals can protest. LOL. FYI it wasn't only Repubs...saw some Dems there as well who are protesting the riduculous budget. I seem to remember...vaguely....people braying around here about the debt...No mo' Had a wonderful time at the Tea Party. Perfect spring day. Band playing, flags flying, buntings on the stands,the ice cream truck, college kids ,moms with strollers. And of course, the Tea Party tee shirts ...people voicing their opinions. As American as it gets. Made me appreciate democracy. \"There\ufffds not a lot of countries, of course, that afford their people that, that type of right. It\ufffds a great thing.\ufffd"}, {"response": 230, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Apr 15, 2009 (17:34)", "body": "Deception, subterfuge, obfuscation. Sickening. Oh dear...strong words. No use getting sick over this. Besides, not nicey to make fun of my cause...I don't denigrate yours;-((( (Karen)But I hadn't realized that when you do it is a \"truth.\" To me it is. I don't speak for anyone else. (Dorine)I read last night, this is no true grassroots operation....lobbyists behind it. Lots of $$ and organization behind it. Probably, ...that's bad? But I didn't see no George Soros Hedge Fund types around...;-) I guess they're busy funding lib causes...;-)"}, {"response": 231, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Apr 15, 2009 (18:37)", "body": "Probably, ...that's bad? It's fraudulent for one thing. (Moon) Is it too late to impeach? Um, Moon, yes...yes, it is."}, {"response": 232, "author": "Kathryn", "date": "Wed, Apr 15, 2009 (18:39)", "body": "Isn't the purpose of impeachment to bring to trial and, if found guilty, to ultimately remove from office ????? Those two men are no longer in office."}, {"response": 233, "author": "Kathryn", "date": "Wed, Apr 15, 2009 (18:40)", "body": "Oops, this time you beat me to the draw, Dorine. :-)"}, {"response": 234, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Apr 15, 2009 (19:14)", "body": "Probably, ...that's bad? It's fraudulent for one thing. How do you know they were funded by lobbyists or organizations? (Pl , no Daily Kos.) At least they didn't hire protesters!!(NIMBY anyway;-) I had a wonderful day...only having my Drool friends with me would have made it better;-D"}, {"response": 235, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Apr 15, 2009 (19:20)", "body": "LOL, Kathryn. Moon, I completely agree with your sentiment, but what's done is done now (with regard to Cheney and Bush). They should be brought to The Hague, then maybe stoned ;-), but that's a whole 'nother conversation. FYI it wasn't only Repubs...saw some Dems there as well who are protesting the riduculous budget I have nothing against protests, or even protests against the debt, when genuine. And some of those people are genuine. Actually many of them are genuine, except some of them have no freakin' clue what they're talking about nor have any clue what's on some of the stupid signs they're carrying. A lot of them are Joe the Plumbers, and we all know how astute he was. Though just like that guest on the FBN show I posted about earlier, I'm curious where all these same poor, disgruntled people (and I guess you, since you say you support these \"tea parties\") were over the past 8 years as the debt was being racked up. Nary a peep. It didn't happen a few months ago."}, {"response": 236, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Apr 15, 2009 (19:21)", "body": "I posted stuff from all over how that's know who funded it. If you read it, you'll know too."}, {"response": 237, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Apr 15, 2009 (19:28)", "body": "Or how about this.... I was going to post excerpts from this earlier, but now I'll just post the link for the whole thing. http://washingtonindependent.com/38533/tea-party-activists-tax-day-events-will-attract-silent-majority In it, among many links in blue (that I'm sure you'll feel free to ignore also ;-)), is this .... http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/13/opinion/13krugman.html?em from where this excerpt comes: \"Last but not least: it turns out that the tea parties don\ufffdt represent a spontaneous outpouring of public sentiment. They\ufffdre AstroTurf (fake grass roots) events, manufactured by the usual suspects. In particular, a key role is being played by FreedomWorks, an organization run by Richard Armey, the former House majority leader, and supported by the usual group of right-wing billionaires. And the parties are, of course, being promoted heavily by Fox News. But that\ufffds nothing new, and AstroTurf has worked well for Republicans in the past. The most notable example was the \ufffdspontaneous\ufffd riot back in 2000 \ufffd actually orchestrated by G.O.P. strategists \ufffd that shut down the presidential vote recount in Florida\ufffds Miami-Dade County.\""}, {"response": 238, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Apr 15, 2009 (19:29)", "body": "I posted stuff from all over how that's know who funded it. I'm not sure what I meant to take out or leave in this sentence, LOL!!"}, {"response": 239, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Apr 15, 2009 (19:50)", "body": "(Me) A lot of them are Joe the Plumbers Was just rereading today's comments and OMG, I totally skipped over, Karen, that you made a Joe the Plumber reference, too, regarding the protesters. Ha!"}, {"response": 240, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Apr 15, 2009 (19:50)", "body": "Good?"}, {"response": 241, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Apr 15, 2009 (20:30)", "body": "(Dorine)Actually many of them are genuine, except some of them have no freakin' clue what they're talking about nor have any clue what's on some of the stupid signs they're carrying. A lot of them are Joe the Plumbers, and we all know how astute he was. Not a v. kind statement about the populists...coming from \"the elite\"????????;-) PS Joe was right! Wealth distribution! and I guess you, since you say you support these \"tea parties\") were over the past 8 years as the debt was being racked up ah yes, .... the good ole days when we were only $1.T in debit;-)) Sorry...Am now signing off....Opera takes precedence ...don't be offended ;-)\"Lucia di Lammermoor\" coming on PBS with Ana Netrebko, gorgeous Russian soprano...Don't miss it. \"Rabble -Rouser -evelyn\" as one of our lurking friends calls me.LOL. My socialist son's warning: \"Pl don't get arrested mom\". Wonnnnnderful day:-))))"}, {"response": 242, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Apr 15, 2009 (21:09)", "body": "I went to the final dress rehearsal for that last fall. Loved that one. Enjoy! ah yes, .... the good ole days when we were only $1.T in debit;-)) The point being...of course....that at least you...and I'll bet a good amount of those people out there now, weren't out there then. The material questions being....why not? And why now? Is there a limit over which it's inspiring to protest publically? One 1T didn't cut it, I guess. That was ok. Now 10T (which I'm not happy with either) is another matter. If you do get arrested, I'm sure the mug shot would be priceless. :-D"}, {"response": 243, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Apr 15, 2009 (21:11)", "body": "Not a v. kind statement about the populists...coming from \"the elite\"????????;-) If common sense and critical thinking makes me elite (and perhaps a socialist, too!) I'm proud to wear that banner. :-)"}, {"response": 244, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Apr 15, 2009 (22:05)", "body": "I will say, that there is something that bothers me about Obama's supporters, who worked for his campaign locally and have formed a local branch of his Health Care advocacy group that I joined. They've had several meetings, only one of which I could go to since most of the time they give extremely short notice that they're occurring. But the thing I learned there is that there are 2 plans, Obama's and the Baucus plan. They keep saying we need to call and write this person and that person asking for support for Obama's plan. Except, I'm not sure I can fully support his plan (or Baucus' for that matter), until there's more of an actual..... plan. I can't totally get behind any of the ideas yet, since they're more concepts than plans. I know what'd I'd like to see as a result of any reform, but until some kind of details form, I can't get super involved, unless it's actively supporting healthcare reform vs. no reform at all. That is what I'm totally behind him on. No more status quo. And back to protests, I have nothing at all against people protesting. Matter of fact, I think there was way too little of it for any cause and too much complacency over the past 6-8 years."}, {"response": 245, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Apr 16, 2009 (10:03)", "body": "(Dorine)One 1T didn't cut it, I guess. That was ok. Now 10T (which I'm not happy with either) is another matter. $1 T. manageable @2% growth which is really what most econs are predicting. Even at 4 % which is the WH predictable $9-10T goes on for generations. I'm with you on the Health Plans...devil is in the details. I still like Hill's plan best and Romney's.. even if Mass. is going broke with it. But we will get a redesign of some kind. Read this article which son sent me ...bu Dr. Atul Gwande in the NYer A bit optimistic, but gives good historical perspective. He was on CR one night. http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/01/26/090126fa_fact_gawande?currentPage=all"}, {"response": 246, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Apr 16, 2009 (10:34)", "body": "While I'm not saying we shouldn't be cognizant of, nor help the Afghan women, we'd better look in the mirror and clean up our own house first. This is appalling, though I've read some about this before. http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/07/31/military.sexabuse/index.html It's great you like Hill's plan, but really, is that an option anymore? Is that on the table in some form at this point? If not, and potentially won't be, there's no need to reference it anymore. I need to read more on what MA's plan ended up, but yes, it is breaking them. I read yesterday they just worked initially to cover everyone first, then figure out the cost containment part later. Not sure I thought that was the brightest idea, but I need to read more."}, {"response": 247, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Apr 16, 2009 (10:36)", "body": "And actually, if I remember correctly, wasn't HRC and O's plans extremely similar? Isn't that what was said during the campaigns? Effectively, there is no Hill plan anymore. She's got other things to do."}, {"response": 248, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Apr 16, 2009 (10:54)", "body": "But the ideas are still there and can be incorporated into a consensus. She didn't copyright them;-) I need to read more on what MA's plan ended up, but yes, it is breaking them. Raise taxes. Isn't that NY is doing?Raising taxes...and The Donald wants to move, LOL If states want to expand benefits, the residents should pay for such, IMO; why expect other states to cover their bills, whose citizens don't enjoy them."}, {"response": 249, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Apr 16, 2009 (14:03)", "body": "During the campaign Obama copied Hillary's plan except that it did not cover everyone. I've said and even posted here that Obama should have sat with McCain and let McCain trim some of that pork, it would have presented a Bi-partisan united front. They should be brought to The Hague, then maybe stoned ;-) I still can't believe they were not impeached. I certainly signed every petition I saw. I was thinking of the Hague too."}, {"response": 250, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Apr 16, 2009 (15:08)", "body": "that it did not cover everyone. That's right, that's the difference I keep forgetting. What I really need to research about both is single payer vs. public/private insurance options. And honestly, I think I've tended toward single payer. The problem is, everyone (insurance co's, providers, patients) will have to give up or alter something in the current system to make the new system work. That includes you and me, and Joe Blow down the street. Sacrifices will have to be made and I honestly don't think any of them will be willing to (and I won't elaborate right now on where I think each entity should make the greatest alterations). Everyone gets a piece of the pie now. The pie itself has to shrink where everyone gets less or has to contribute more in some way. IMO. ;-)"}, {"response": 251, "author": "mari", "date": "Thu, Apr 16, 2009 (15:28)", "body": "$1 trillion in debt? Much higher. That's the cost of the Iraq war alone, and it's a conservative estimate. Bush kept the funding off the books, funding it via \"emergency\" supplements rather than through the usual budgetary process, so it wasn't reflected in his budgets. But I believe we still owe it.;-) Must ask China.;-) There were no tea parties in Philly or NJ; we're too busy going to work every day and paying taxes.;-) Honestly, if I hadn't read it here, I wouldn't have known what it was."}, {"response": 252, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Apr 16, 2009 (16:05)", "body": "Actually, there was one in Philly. :-) Found a link this morning to a blog with pics from there that I thought about posting, but hadn't decided yet. Now I will, in a little while."}, {"response": 253, "author": "mari", "date": "Thu, Apr 16, 2009 (16:26)", "body": "It got no news coverage that I could see. Nothing in the papers, nothing on the evening news. A non event."}, {"response": 254, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Apr 16, 2009 (16:28)", "body": "Go through these pics in the first link. Some of the signs are funny. And ironic if you think about it. http://phillybits.blogspot.com/2009/04/yes-its-true-philadelphia-was-heavily.html http://www.philebrity.com/2009/04/15/from-the-desk-brendan-james-walsh-big-wet-tea-bag-decends-on-love-park/ I thought the caption on this was rather priceless http://www.philebrity.com/2009/04/15/more-readers-cameraphone-tea-bag-aerial-view-reveals-small-possibly-poisonous-red-white-and-blue-shrub/ Honestly, I don't disagree with the sentiment of being upset over budget spending, high taxes, etc. It's the hypocrisy that NOW it's a bad thing. Again, where were all these people over the past even few years. Because going from a surplus to a debt in the first place wasn't bad enough (having been dug out of the debt hole we were in the from that previous administration)? And I read last night that the proposed tax changes will still keep people at a level 10% lower than during Reagan's time."}, {"response": 255, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Apr 16, 2009 (16:31)", "body": "(Mari) Nothing in the papers, nothing on the evening news. A non event. Well, when you see how many were there, or not there as the case may be, I'm not surprised. Though not even the local Fox station was there? Philly's very Democratic? The PTB couldn't get enough local support. That's actually a good thing to investigate. Where the larger protests were."}, {"response": 256, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Apr 16, 2009 (16:39)", "body": "(Evelyn) Isn't that NY is doing?Raising taxes... Some, but I don't smoke (and raise those to the roof as far as I'm concerned, maybe eveyone will quit). Nor eat a lot of junky sugary stuff (though I think that's off the table now). And my property taxes are spread between all of us in my building. But they ARE raising the MTA fares by beaucoup bucks and cutting service on top of that. That's what I'm up in arms about."}, {"response": 257, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Apr 16, 2009 (16:51)", "body": "I don't know what people are so upset about taxes anyway for...at the rate we're going, no one's going to be working, so no one will have any taxes to pay with no real money coming in. ;-D"}, {"response": 258, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Apr 16, 2009 (17:48)", "body": "(Moon)that it did not cover everyone. Dorine)That's right, that's the difference I keep forgetting Big diff...if there's no mandate , it won't work. He made a point of criticizing Hill for that...but I agree. Single payer....noooooooo. A non event. I had a good time;-D"}, {"response": 259, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Apr 16, 2009 (17:58)", "body": "I still can't believe they were not impeached. They would have to find The Blue Dress :-D"}, {"response": 260, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Apr 16, 2009 (19:12)", "body": "(Dorine)at the rate we're going, no one's going to be working, so no one will have any taxes to pay with no real money coming in. ;-D Oh dear...now,don't be so despondent. As I tell my family ..\"be indispensable in your job, you are a good worker, and they can't do w/o you\":-) I am v. optimistice about the future of the economy of our country. I have great faith in Tim's bailout plan for banks. LOL..of course it's probably me & the President. But we'll get through this. Of course who's gonna buy those toxic assets...is the $63K question."}, {"response": 261, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Apr 16, 2009 (19:47)", "body": "(Me), I still can't believe they were not impeached. (Evelyn), They would have to find The Blue Dress :-D Wow, so now Iraq is a great big BJ? ;-) Clinton should have said from the start that it was a private topic between him and his wife. NEVER should the American people have gotten to know about it. I felt so bad for Hillary, that was a private affair between man and wife. He should not have lied, but he should not have been in a position to lie either. The lies of WOMD as an excuse to invade a country is impeachable, IMO. Iraq was better off with Saddam Hussein. Now on to Obama, he wants to get our rail system in order, and I'm all for it. We are so far behind EU and Japan. There are jobs to be had there."}, {"response": 262, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Apr 16, 2009 (20:17)", "body": "(Evelyn) \"be indispensable in your job, you are a good worker, and they can't do w/o you\":-) Nice sentiment, but old fashioned. It was true at one time. Unfortunately, I know first hand that's utter BS. Both of my own experiences and most recently a friend at the Met among quite a number of others. Very, very few people are indispensible and many excellent workers lose jobs for no other reason than to save $$. Or some due to job politics. Of course the economy will get better, to some degree, it always does. Just depends on how well, how fast. And how far it will go to bottom out first. But I just hope that ALL the policymakers pull together and take advantage of this opportunity to reboot many things that need rebooting, and do it for the public, not just private good. At least make it a win-win situation for everyone. It's an opportunity that won't (I hope) come again in my lifetime. (Moon) Clinton should have said from the start that it was a private topic between him and his wife. NEVER should the American people have gotten to know about it. Ken Starr and the rest of the Repubs who dug and dug for dirt on him would never have let that be it, and obviously didn't. Have you read any books on how much digging they had to do to get something on him? If only half the effort was made to do something good in this world instead. Unfortunately Bill is his own worst enemy and made it worse by lying and trying to hide it once it came out. Just throw it out there, say you're sorry and move on. Betcha no one would've cared in several months. Frankly, no one should've cared in the first place as it was. But then again, to me, that didn't give Ken Starr, et al the reason or right to spend $72 million of our $$ trying to get that out of him. What a freakin' waste. Those fiscally responsible repubs again. Spending our hard earned money on BS. Just like the Iraq War (though in all fairness, many Dems.... including St. Hillary.... are guilty of that as well for letting it happen, along with the public). Now on to Obama, he wants to get our rail system in order, and I'm all for it. We are so far behind EU and Japan. There are jobs to be had there. Just like Eisenhower with the Interstate highway system in the 50's. But they need to make that train travel much more efficient and accessible than it is now."}, {"response": 263, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Apr 16, 2009 (20:26)", "body": "Knew that would stir you all up on a dull day.....;-))))"}, {"response": 264, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Apr 16, 2009 (20:46)", "body": ""}, {"response": 265, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Apr 16, 2009 (20:48)", "body": "Crap. I'll repost if you delete the above, Karen, please. (Evelyn) Big diff...if there's no mandate , it won't work. He made a point of criticizing Hill for that...but I agree. Single payer....noooooooo. Why not? I haven't decided yet myself. I think I'm leaning to public/private. My ideal on the surface would be....everyone should have access to basic and preventative healthcare. For anything above and beyond that...dialysis, surgeries (at least elective), anything elective really that isn't needed for emergency diagnostic purposes at the very least, should be covered by private insurance that people get either through work or on their own. This is just my initial thoughts and there's so much to consider. The main thing that I think needs to happen (but I have truly no confidence that it will)....and I've said this before, is that there needs to be a tremendous shift in attitude and expectations on the part of each and every individual about their own health and their own responsibility for it. Now I see the concept of it creeping into an increasing number of articles that even remotely touch on healthcare reform, as well as those that focus on a variety of completed studies on various aspects of treatment. Basically what it comes down to is healthcare frequently can't help those who don't help themselves. It was a philosophy I imparted to my patients and especially in rehab it's true. I can give them the tools, equipment and exercises, but it was up to them to do the actual work and help to get themselves better, to maximize their potential. I couldn't do it for them. Unfortunately, people expect the magic pill to make them all better, and it doesn't frequently work that way. And the system can't continue to afford that attitude. *steps off soapbox*"}, {"response": 266, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Apr 16, 2009 (20:54)", "body": "(Evelyn) Knew that would stir you all up on a dull day.....;-)))) *snort* You rabblerouser, you!"}, {"response": 267, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Apr 16, 2009 (21:12)", "body": "(Evelyn) If states want to expand benefits, the residents should pay for such, IMO;why expect other states to cover their bills, whose citizens don't enjoy them. I don't quite understand the etiology of this comment. Did I miss something? What states are expecting other states to cover their bills? What type of services?"}, {"response": 268, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Apr 16, 2009 (21:52)", "body": "This is a long piece, but I think worth copying here. I found this very logical and reasoned. And actually, what I found rather notable about it, is this is the second piece I've read in 2 days that mentions Mumia protests, and he's done it twice here. I don't remember where I read the other article that mentioned Mumia. For those inclined, in the original article I've copied, there are a number of links highlighted in orange that may be of interest for further reading, for clarification, etc. Atrios: \"All fun aside, there's obviously nothing wrong with the right attempting to engage in protest politics. The problem is that it was never clear what they were protesting. So far Obama has cut taxes for most of the population and... well, that's it. The protests of \"The Left\" have long been mocked for lacking message discipline. That criticism has often been fair. The difference is that our side's protests generally have a single point (\"don't do this stupid fucking war in Iraq\") which gets hijacked by a bunch of other causes when the speakers hit the stage. But the teabaggers... honestly, I still have no idea what it was about. I mean, I know it was about tribal allegiance against Barack Mumia Saddam Obama III. But it wasn't actually about anything else.\" Now's as good a time as any to take a break from mocking the teabaggers in favor of a more serious look at what they accomplished yesterday. I've never made a secret for my distaste of most street protests, and of groups like Code Pink that think they are accomplishing anything with their street theater. But when I set out to write Taking on the System, my book on effective organizing in the 21st century, I had to dig deep to figure out why I didn't like them, and how to differentiate the usual ineffective ANSWER-organized protests with those that actually had a positive effect (e.g. the Jena Six and pro-immigration protests of a few years ago). I finally determined that for a protest to be effective it needed to: 1. be novel and/or unexpected 2. have a sympathetic, singular, and media-friendly message 3. provide great visuals 4. tap into a hot-button and timely issue. The usual leftist protests fail most of these, falling into the worst, cartoonish stereotypes. They feature a mishmash of causes and issues, with no unifying theme. Is the protest about the Iraq War? Or Palestine? Or American imperialism? Or freeing Mumia? Or legalizing marijuana? Or blah blah blah blah? Who the heck knows? Who the heck cares? This is a classic clip from the Daily Show after one such protest: Stewart: On Saturday, a 100,000 strong peace march descended on Washington seeking to crystallize America's dissatisfaction with the war into one single idea. Clip of young male speaker: Peace! Stewart: Okay. Clip of male speaker: Justice! Stewart: (pause) Fine. Clip of male speaker: Environmental protection! Stewart: (pause, confused look on face) Clip of male speaker: No racism! Stewart: (dumb-founded, and then says in Valley Girl-like voice) Dude! I didn't hike from Oberlin for this. There's nothing novel, new, or interesting about these protests, making them easy to ignore. We've seen them a million times, the visuals are easily mockable, with the dreads and the stupid puppets and whatnot. And not only are they patently ridiculous, but we saw just how ineffective they were during the Bush years. No one gave a damn about them, not the media, not powers-that-be (in either party), and certainly not the public. It wasn't the protest movement that moved the Democratic Party left on Iraq, it was Joe Lieberman's loss in his Democratic primary in 2006. Prior to that, Rahm Emanuel, as head of the DCCC, was telling Democratic candidates to steer clear of the war. After that primary, the Dems fully embraced ending the war in their campaigns and won huge that fall. In other words, the anti-war cause was best served via electoral politics. After Lieberman's loss, not even the media could ignore the saliency and validity of the anti-war position. \"Patriotism\" could no longer be used to silence anti-war voices, we had helped mainstream them. So now conservatives are out in the cold, far from the levers of power. They are feeling marginalized, ignored, powerless. We know the feeling. It wasn't long ago that we were there. But instead of adopting the tactics that best served liberals on our way back to power, conservatives seemed to have learned the exact wrong lesson, adopting our most ineffective ones. And having decided to do street protests, rather than learn from the people that have done effective street protests (like the pro-immigration forces), they decided to go the Code Pink/ANSWER route. So looking at our list above: 1. be novel and/or unexpected Other than anti-abortion protests, the Right doesn't really do protests. Their instinct is to laugh at the hippies out on the streets, not take to the streets themselves. So yeah, these were kind of new and unexpected. Give them a point. 2. have a "}, {"response": 269, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Apr 16, 2009 (22:10)", "body": "Not sure why she thinks turning the US newspapers into Izvestiya is such a hot idea. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/04/16/obama-appointee-suggests-radical-plan-newspaper-bailout/ But critics say her proposal would spell an end to the independent media and make journalists reliant lapdogs. Funny, I thought it was this way already to a large degree with current corporate ownership. The decline of print journalism and the rise in online journalism, or \"journalism\" is a big theme running through the new film, State of Play (v.g. by the way)."}, {"response": 270, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Apr 16, 2009 (23:42)", "body": "I can't possibly disagree more with this statement from Obama: \"This is a time for reflection, not retribution,\" Obama said. \"We have been through a dark and painful chapter in our history. But at a time of great challenges and disturbing disunity, nothing will be gained by spending our time and energy laying blame for the past.\" http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090417/pl_afp/usattackspoliticstorture_20090417030812"}, {"response": 271, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Apr 17, 2009 (10:55)", "body": "I don't read Daily Kos..links or copy/paste material. Sorry"}, {"response": 272, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Apr 17, 2009 (11:20)", "body": "You really don't have to keep repeating that. We get it. But other people do, at least sometimes."}, {"response": 273, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Apr 17, 2009 (11:42)", "body": "Sorry. AAA"}, {"response": 274, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Apr 17, 2009 (13:08)", "body": "Well, certainly no need to be sorry. :-) Better watch out, the new type of identity theft... but not to take your money, it's for advocacy. This paper is from somewhere in Mass. It was a bit of a fluke they found out. Published: April 13, 2009 03:21 am Elderly used as front in letter-writing campaign 'Grass-roots' effort looks more like Astroturf By Ken Johnson kjohnson@eagletribune.com Across Massachusetts, senior citizens are writing letters to newspapers demanding that their representatives in Congress protect a form of health insurance called Medicare Advantage. At least that's what newspaper editors are supposed to think. Some of those seniors are unaware that they have sent any such letters to newspapers. Some of them hadn't even heard of Medicare Advantage. \"I did not write a letter to the editor. It's not from me,\" said Gloria Gosselin, 75, of Lawrence. Gosselin's name was on one of three strikingly similar letters touting the Medicare Advantage program that were sent to The Eagle-Tribune. [.....cont...] http://www.eagletribune.com/punews/local_story_103032149.html"}, {"response": 275, "author": "Moon", "date": "Fri, Apr 17, 2009 (15:00)", "body": "(Dorine), (though in all fairness, many Dems.... including St. Hillary.... are guilty of that as well for letting it happen, along with the public). Excuse me, but her husband had just finished 2 terms as President, and she knew that the President is privy to secret information. She trusted that Mr Bush was giving out information that left no doubt as to Iraq having WOMDs because her husband would not have gone to Congress and the American people unless there was proof positive. Re: our rail system: if we are to up then standards as in EU and Japan, that means high/speed rail. The US would highly benefit from it. And many jobs will be created. Re: Healthcare: we need to Socialized it. As I've posted here, I've had nothing but good experiences in Europe with the system."}, {"response": 276, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Apr 17, 2009 (15:09)", "body": "I'm not one of the seniors to be contacted, nor do I subscribe to Medicare Advantage, but I know people in my church who do. IMO the administration is trying to pay for national type health care over the backs of these folks . Medicare Advantage picks up the 20% Medigap that Medicare doesn't pay; at a minimum premium. A real help to lower middle class seniors on fixed incomes who can't afford Medigap premiums which can be hefty,and do not qualify for Medicaid. Medicare Advantage is not a rip-off as as Jules Stein of the Center for Medicare Advocay implies. Perhaps they would like to subsidize the Medigap premiums in lieu of political contributions."}, {"response": 277, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Apr 17, 2009 (16:54)", "body": "Excuse me, but her husband had just finished 2 terms as President, and she knew that the President is privy to secret information. She trusted that Mr Bush was giving out information that left no doubt as to Iraq having WOMDs because her husband would not have gone to Congress and the American people unless there was proof positive. That's your story and your stickin' to it! ;-D Well, excuse me ;-)), but apparently some other people still felt the need to vote \"no\". And why would they have any more info than she did? Because, of course, no one knows anything in Washington about what's going on unless the President (and Colin Powell) tells them."}, {"response": 278, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Apr 17, 2009 (18:06)", "body": "Pssst. They all got the same intel;-) Incl intelligence committees ,UK & Russia ...American people unless there was proof positive. Moon, FYI there's never \"proof positive\" in intel assessments. They get thousands of reports a day; some conflicting A v. amorphous business."}, {"response": 279, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Apr 17, 2009 (19:45)", "body": "FYI there's never \"proof positive\" in intel assessments. They get thousands of reports a day; some conflicting And we found out later the Admin cherry picked what they wanted of that info to support the plan they already had to attack."}, {"response": 280, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Apr 17, 2009 (20:59)", "body": "And we found out later the Admin cherry picked what they wanted of that info to support the plan they already had to attack. And where did you get that info....\"from something you read\"? From someone who wrote a book for profit? ..someone in the Bush administration who had been passed over for promotion? Someone who was perhaps fired? ...maybe an \"unidentifed source\"? Dissect your sources for the rea son of divulging that information. Did George Tenet say that? Anyone who was in the inner circle? As much as I enjoy Bob Woodward books, if you look closely... He never gives verifiable footnotes to his conversations . There were mistakes made in the administration...but I've never been convinced that the president maliciously lied . But I know others have that opinion And I respect their right to do so."}, {"response": 281, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Apr 17, 2009 (21:02)", "body": "And where did you get that info....\"from something you read\"? Where have you been the last 8 years? It came out in the British press."}, {"response": 282, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Apr 17, 2009 (21:02)", "body": "There was a play written about it. Stuff Happens."}, {"response": 283, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Apr 17, 2009 (21:04)", "body": "Someone in the UK, help me out here. Save me some time having to go back and look this stuff up."}, {"response": 284, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Apr 17, 2009 (21:09)", "body": "Nevermind. It was the Downing Street Memos. I can't believe I couldn't remember the name of these off the bat. They could be considered modern day Pentagon Papers. That guy risked his life getting copies of those memos. Just like Daniel Ellsberg. \" a remark attributed to Richard Dearlove (then MI6 head) that \"the intelligence and facts were being fixed [by the U.S.] around the policy\" of removing Saddam Hussein from power, which was taken to show that US intelligence on Iraq prior to the war was deliberately falsified, rather than simply mistaken.[3] As this issue began to be covered by American media (Los Angeles Times on page 3 May 12, 2005, Washington Post on page 18 May 13, 2005[4]), two other main allegations stemming from the memo arose: that the UN weapons inspection process was manipulated to provide a legal pretext for the war, and that pre-war air strikes were deliberately ramped up in order to soften Iraqi infrastructure in preparation for war, prior to the October U.S. Senate vote permitting the invasion.[5] Some elements of the U.S. media have portrayed the document as faked or fraudulent, and Dana Perino referred in her daily White House press briefing on December 4, 2008 to the fact that the Bush administration has \"debunked\" the document previously. The British have tacitly validated its authenticity (as when Tony Blair replied to a press conference question by saying \"that memorandum was written before we then went to the United Nations.\"[6])\""}, {"response": 285, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Apr 17, 2009 (21:10)", "body": "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downing_Street_memo"}, {"response": 286, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Apr 17, 2009 (21:26)", "body": "And then related to this passage: \"The Foreign Secretary said he would discuss this with Colin Powell this week. It seemed clear that Bush had made up his mind to take military action, even if the timing was not yet decided. But the case was thin. Saddam was not threatening his neighbours, and his WMD capability was less than that of Libya, North Korea or Iran. We should work up a plan for an ultimatum to Saddam to allow back in the UN weapons inspectors. This would also help with the legal justification for the use of force.\" Well, Saddam did let the inspectors back in. They weren't finding anything and something like 2-3 days prior to the start of the bombing campaign (\"shock and awe\"!!) the inspectors were told to leave by the US govt or they could be killed when the bombing started. They wanted to stay, but that wasn't an option as far as the US was concerned. The bombing was happening anyway. I'm not going over to the bookcase to look in my book for the exact timeline now, written by one of the lead inspectors on the ground at that time. I do tend to read a bit more information than found in blogs."}, {"response": 287, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Apr 17, 2009 (21:43)", "body": "And can't believe I forgot about this website that I used in a debate with someone else several years ago. The page I'm linking to includes the pdf of the actual memos and a host of other associated documentation. There's a lot of interesting reading there. I've at least skimmed a great deal of it at one time or another. http://downingstreetmemo.com/related.html#DODIGF040507 An interview with the journalist who broke the story. I strongly suggest reading it. http://downingstreetmemo.com/msmith-interview.html I'm done on this for now. There's plenty to keep people busy."}, {"response": 288, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sat, Apr 18, 2009 (00:57)", "body": "(Evelyn), There were mistakes made in the administration...but I've never been convinced that the president maliciously lied. Thanks Dorine for post looking up and posting the info. Also, let's not forget that Bush Jr wanted to show up daddy and get Saddam Hussein. At least his father knew not to go into Iraq, he knew that if he toppled SH what would come after would be much worse. I wish Jr had had his father's intelligence report. But Jr listened only to Cheney and Rumsfeld. :-("}, {"response": 289, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Apr 18, 2009 (09:51)", "body": "Downing Street Memo Originals Destroyed The so-called Downing Street Memo - which was presumed to be authentic when Bush administration critics began touting it last month as evidence the president committed impeachable crimes - is actually a manually recreated copy - with the source of the memo now admitting he retyped the document before destroying the originals. British reporter Michael Smith, who broke the memo story in the London Times on May 1, revealed to The Associated Press over the weekend that \"he protected the identity of the source he had obtained the documents from by typing copies of them on plain paper and destroying the originals Smith's admission means there's now no independent way to determine the accuracy of the Downing Street Memo, i.e., whether he made any typos or transcription errors that could have changed the memo's meaning. The revelation has conjured up memories of the CBS News forged document scandal last year, where anchorman Dan Rather argued that damaging records he obtained from President Bush's National Guard file were essentially accurate, even though they had been faked by his source. While British officials hadn't disputed the authenticity of the Downing Street Memo, a senior member of the Blair government who reviewed the memo in light of reporter Smith's admission could say only that its contents \"appeared authentic.\" That official, however, requested anonymity, refusing to make an on-the-record endorsement of the memo's accuracy. New questions about the authenticity of the Downing Street Memo come at a particularly awkward time for Democrats in America. Only last week, House Democrats staged a mock impeachment hearing based on the re-created document. Former presidential candidate John Kerry announced on June 2 that he intended to confront Congress with the Downing Street Memo, believing at the time that the document's authenticity was beyond reproach. \"I think it's a stunning, unbelievably simple and understandable statement of the truth and a profoundly important document that raises stunning issues here at home,\" he told a reporter. Last week, a Kerry aide said his boss was sending a letter to President Bush demanding that he answer questions about the fake memo http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2005/6/20/105038.shtml"}, {"response": 290, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Apr 18, 2009 (10:32)", "body": "Was just looking in my bookcase to see which Bob Woodward books I have and forgot I had this: http://www.amazon.com/Hoodwinked-Documents-that-Reveal-Bush/dp/1565849027 Apparently in later printings, they changed the back cover description, as what's in the Editorial Review is not like what's on mine, except for the list of documents, to which they've also added one. My copy says: \"As the world concludes that President Bush had little justification for his war on Iraq, Hoodwinked makes publicly available for the first time the primary source documents that show how intelligence on Iraq was consistently distorted, manipulated, and ignored by the administration. Compiled by National Security Archive analyst John Prados, these documents are reproduced, fully annotated, and placed in the context of a detailed narrative of the events leadig up to the conflict. Expanded sections examines the four most contentious issues: the Iraqi nuclear program, unmanned aerial vehicles, uranium from Niger, and the question of Saddam Hussein's link to Al Qaeda and 9/11. Via these \"smoking gun\" documents, parados offers readers a firsthand view of what may be the biggest government deception since Watergate, bringing out incontrovertible eveidence that we were had. \" The list of the documents at the link above is the same except mine doesn't list the first one. It's an incredibly dense and detailed read. It took me a while to get through it and it's hard to assimilate it all. I just opened up to pages 98-99 where they talk about the DOE and a couple of other agencies doing their assessments of the aluminum centrifuges that were supposed to be so critical to their WMD program. Tenet practically contorted himself to use that info for justification to attack when it showed that the tubes were actually the wrong size and that while yes, in some time they could possibly be modified for a weapons program, there was no way it was happening anytime soon and there was no immediate danger as the govt indicated."}, {"response": 291, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Apr 18, 2009 (10:32)", "body": "And don't forget the highly organized and coordinated propaganda program run by the Defense Dept and the White House using the media and their stable of military analysts, who knew they were being lied to at times and in turn lied themselves to us, all in order to keep their access to the govt for their businesses. It's a very, very long article that took me days to read in the paper. It was at least 2 full pages of that little print inside, plus a good amount on the front page. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/washington/20generals.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2 There's also a sidebar at the NYT site on: How the Pentagon Spread Its Message Audio, video and documents that show how the military\ufffds talking points were disseminated. * Excerpts From Selected Documents * All Documents Released (Department of Defense Web Site) So, in conclusion, it appears to be a little bit more than *opinion* that *all* those people lied through their teeth about the war. Unfortunate, to say the least. On a side note, did anyone ever watch the amazing documentary, Fog of War? I highly recommend it. There are parts in it of excerpts of tapes recorded in the White House of Lyndon Johnson and Robert McNamara talking about various aspects of the Vietnam War that almost mirror some things that were happening in the Iraq War (troop buildups/strategy/propaganda). It was almost as if you could replace McNamara with Rumsfeld and Johnson with Bush or Cheney. Scary actually, because one would've thought the US had learned something from what happened in Vietnam and not let it happen again. The music from Philip Glass was pretty awesome, too."}, {"response": 292, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Apr 18, 2009 (10:39)", "body": "*snort* Hate to tell you, Evelyn, you're rather predictable. I was reading some stuff last night about them being destroyed and the Newsmax reference and thought to myself, she'll point that out if saying nothing else. Because really, what else is there to say? Also, so what if they're destroyed. The AP has the pdf's of the copies up. I read 4 1/2 of them last night. The copies exist out there. \"Following the advice of company lawyers, Michael Smith, the journalist who first reported on the Downing Street Memo, has said that he protected the identity of his source by reproducing all documents and returning the 'originals' back to the source. In some cases, a document was retyped from a photocopy, and the photocopy destroyed.[43] This has led some to question the document's authenticity, but no official source has questioned it, and it has been unofficially confirmed to various news organizations, including the Washington Post, NBC, The Sunday Times, and the LA Times. Several other documents obtained by Smith, and treated similarly (see below), were confirmed as genuine by the UK Foreign Office. [44]\" \"According to CNN, currently classified documents which were dated at the same month as the Downing Street memo, March 2002, were uncovered in Iraq, and contained evidence that Russian intelligence notified Iraq about the \"determination of the United States and Britain to launch military action.\"[48]\""}, {"response": 293, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Apr 18, 2009 (10:45)", "body": "You read the interview with the journalist, right? This explains the copies/originals. We can presume the original originals are still intact I suppose. (Michael Smith) \"A: I was given the first six documents in September 2004. I have referred to these documents as the originals because they were the first documents that I was given. But these were of course not the \"originals\" of the actual documents. They were photocopies of the original documents. Such documents have to be registered and the source could not have walked off with them without being found out. Quite apart from that there were a number of different copies of the documents in circulation within government. There was always more than one copy of each of the original documents held by the government. For instance, the Straw letter to Blair was marked strictly personal. But there would still have to have been at least two copies of it, one held by Blair's office and one by Straw's.\""}, {"response": 294, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Apr 18, 2009 (10:48)", "body": "You know what? It's a hard pill to swallow and I'd imagine disillusioning. I never thought I'd see something like this happen outside of movies."}, {"response": 295, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Apr 18, 2009 (10:51)", "body": "Guess it was my turn to stir up the nest on a slow day with: And we found out later the Admin cherry picked what they wanted of that info to support the plan they already had to attack. ;-)"}, {"response": 296, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Apr 18, 2009 (11:55)", "body": "Ok, for the sake of argument, let's say the Downing St Memos aren't real. Or even don't exist. What is real and does is exist is the transcript of Hans Blix's UN testimony on March 7, 2003 where he says they found *nothing* so far of a credible WMD program. Wasn't that the reason given to go to war? Because they could launch a missile in 45 mins to hit it's neighbors? The \"mushroom cloud\" and all that? But they were finding *nada*....2 wks before the invasion. They'd been looking since November when they were allowed back in. Regardless of what the intel said or didn't say, if there was nothing at that point found, there was no reason to attack at that particular time, if at any time at all. Plain and simple."}, {"response": 297, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Apr 18, 2009 (12:31)", "body": "Let's see what happens.... Obama: Like families, govt to make hard choices By WILL LESTER, Associated Press Writer 41 mins ago WASHINGTON \ufffd Families are making tough decisions about their money and so too will their government, President Barack Obama said Saturday, promising that spending cuts are coming \ufffd and soon. At a Cabinet meeting Monday, the president will ask department and agency heads for specific proposals for trimming their budgets. \"If we're going to rebuild our economy on a solid foundation, we need to change the way we do business in Washington. We need to restore the American people's confidence in their government \ufffd that it is on their side, spending their money wisely, to meet their families' needs,\" Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address, released while he attended the Summit of the Americans in Trinidad. To help achieve his goal of an efficient government, Obama announced the appointment of Jeffrey Zients, a founder and managing partner of the investment firm Portfolio Logic, as chief performance officer. Zients, who also will serve as deputy director for management of the Office of Management and Budget, will work to streamline processes and cut costs. On that front, Obama gave notice he wants to act quickly. \"In the coming weeks, I will be announcing the elimination of dozens of government programs shown to be wasteful or ineffective,\" he said. \"In this effort, there will be no sacred cows and no pet projects. All across America, families are making hard choices, and it's time their government did the same.\" Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is ending consulting contracts to create new seals and logos that, Obama said, have cost the department $3 million since 2003. Obama also cited Defense Secretary Robert Gates' plan to overhaul contracting procedures and eliminate billions in wasteful spending and cost overruns. The president praised Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Carl Levin, D-Mich., who are leading the effort in Congress. Republicans have kept up a steady stream of criticism of Obama's spending, both of his $787 billion stimulus plan and his $3.6 trillion budget proposal. \"Earlier this week, President Obama said that we need to get serious about fiscal discipline by trimming waste in the federal budget,\" Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said in the GOP address. \"Republicans couldn't agree more. We want to work with the president to get our financial house back in order.\" \"It's irresponsible to borrow more than all previous American presidents combined. And it must stop if we want to get our economy moving again,\" McCarthy said. \"When will all this spending and borrowing end?\" Obama said he's determined to try to cut costs. \"That is why I have assembled a team of management, technology and budget experts to guide us in this work,\" he said, \"leaders who will help us revamp government operations from top to bottom and ensure that the federal government is truly working for the American people.\" Along with Zients at chief performance officer, Obama named Aneesh Chopra, currently the technology secretary for Gov. Tim Kaine of Virginia, as the country's chief technology officer. On Feb. 3, Nancy Killefer withdrew her candidacy to be the first chief performance officer for the federal government, saying she didn't want her mishandling of payroll taxes on her household help to become a distraction for the administration. Killefer was one of several Obama choices for top positions who have dealt with tax problems. ___ On the Net: Obama address: http://www.whitehouse.gov McCarthy address: http://www.youtube.com/RepublicanConference Portfolio Logic: http://www.portfoliologic.com http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090418/ap_on_go_pr_wh/obama_economy;_ylt=Ap7IKSsh9UFH4nam4VNvGc2s0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTJmdmNrZnE4BGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMDkwNDE4L29iYW1hX2Vjb25vbXkEY3BvcwM1BHBvcwMxMQRzZWMDeW5fdG9wX3N0b3J5BHNsawNvYmFtYWxpa2VmYW0 -"}, {"response": 298, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Apr 18, 2009 (12:39)", "body": "(me) Tenet practically contorted himself to use that info for justification to attack when it showed that the tubes were actually the wrong size and that while yes, in some time they could possibly be modified for a weapons program, there was no way it was happening anytime soon and there was no immediate danger as the govt indicated. Hey!! Somebody give that man a medal for his successful work leading us up into the war! Oh wait, they did. :-((("}, {"response": 299, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Apr 18, 2009 (13:43)", "body": "Dorine, Dorine....you're giving me narratives...not hard core proof . No NYT, no Hans Blix \"said\"... I didn't say there were WMDs, I said I am convinced Pres. Bush did not maliciously lie. If the proof was there, I am sure Rep. Conyers would have acted on it long ago while Bush 43 was in office. Now,.... I'm going to go to the movies and out to dinner...so I want you to keep looking for ... The Blue Dress See you later;-)"}, {"response": 300, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Apr 18, 2009 (19:14)", "body": "I didn't say there were WMDs You didn't say it, but the Bush Administration did. Hence this whole discussion about going to war. http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/03/07/sprj.irq.un.transcript.blix/index.html Conyers and others tried, and as became a pattern throughout the rest of both his terms, Bush, et al, refused to comply with the requests. Why not? Did they have something to hide? \"On 5 May 2005, Congressman John Conyers sent a letter to President Bush signed by 89 of his colleagues demanding an explanation of the revelations in the memo. No specific White House response to the letter was ever made publicly. In response to the Bush Administration's refusal to answer the congressional delegation's questions, Conyers et al. have given serious consideration to sending a fact-finding mission to the UK.[8] Conyers initially requested 100,000 signatures from citizens (a petition) to request that President Bush answer the questions in his letter. The letter has been getting between 20,000 and 25,000 signatures a day, which was boosted by MoveOn.org joining the campaign on 9 June. By 13 June 2005, the letter had received over 540,000 signatures from citizens, and more congressmen had signed on, bringing the total to 94.[9] As of 16 June 2005, over 100 congressmen had signed the letter, including then-Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. On June 16, 2005; Conyers presided over a hearing or forum on the Downing Street memo in a basement room in the Capitol where Joseph C. Wilson and Cindy Sheehan among others testified.[10][11][12] The House Republican leadership did not allow Conyers to use an official hearing room and compelled him to hold the hearing in the basement because the hearing was unofficial.\" I said I am convinced Pres. Bush did not maliciously lie. And this is it a nutshell. You don't want to believe it, so you won't. It is indeed your prerogative. I, of course, wanted and believed every bit of it to be true, simply because I'm a dirty, stinkin' liberal who disliked Bush for no reason whatsoever except his party affiliation, didn't use any kind of critical thinking or do a significant amount of reading from various sources about anything and believed everything that Bush critics told me is true. Conversely, a lot of people are convinced Jesus Christ was the Messiah, too. And I'd say the evidence about that is a helluva lot less convincing or evident than something like the Downing Street Memos. Actually, don't get me started on the concept of religion and believing or not believing things to be true. ;-)) It's also a lot easier for you to accuse me of not finding \"proof\" and make me work at finding more things (which has been relatively easy to do) rather than actually coming up with any counterargument or proof to the contrary, with the exception of a weak piece from Newsmax, of all places. I have to find NYT, WaPo, etc pieces as what you consider credible sources.....and you come up with .....Newsmax. Hardly on par with the others, would you say? And I know, if you had some other argument or \"proof\" to the contrary that was credible, you wouldn't hesitate to post it. I can only gather that it's because as I said before, there's not much more of a counterargument to be made. And I don't understand by what you mean by more narratives vs. proof, but I suspect just more attempts at obfuscating the fact that you have found nothing else to counter the other info that isn't refutable in some way. Believe what you want to believe if it makes you feel better. Denial is a drug cheaper and safer than Oxycontin. I'm off to make a yummy Pacific salmon dinner, have some wine and watch a bunch of BBC TV things I've been saving. Had a great afternoon in Central Park, playing frisbee on a most beautiful day and will now relax with some good food and entertainment."}, {"response": 301, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Apr 18, 2009 (19:26)", "body": "You know on second thought....I don't really believe in the concept of gravity, that the earth is round, or that E=mc(squared). I haven't seen Sir Isaac Newton's, Einstein's or any of the early philosophers' actual writings where they determined these things to be true. I've only seen it written about in textbooks and other sources (don't know that I've ever read it in the NYT)....and not even reproductions of the writings at that! Just narratives on the subjects. ;-))"}, {"response": 302, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Apr 18, 2009 (19:27)", "body": "God love ya, Evelyn. You are a great sport and you're the only one sticking your neck out here with opinions like those. I truly admire that (even if I don't agree with you). :-D"}, {"response": 303, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Apr 18, 2009 (20:52)", "body": "Now...now...it's only Drool you know. We're not at the UN. I take it all with great humor,and I never take offense no matter how many \"shoes\" come my way..., LOL. Actually, don't get me started on the concept of religion and believing or not believing things to be true. ;-)) Believe me, I won't;-) But you better stay on topic .....I got knuckles rapped a few months ago... To a happier subject.. Loved \"State of Play\". Thanks for recommending. Thanks also to Working Title, Tim Bevins and Eric Fellner. Edge of seat movie. Russell Crowe...what a star! Never duplicates a role. Helen Mirren steals every scene she's in. Poor Ben Affleck, he did his best, but he was out of the league on this one; didn't think he made a credible Congressman. I'm off to make a yummy Pacific salmon dinner, have some wine Oh, that's what I made for Easter (poached in Cab Blanc)..though really I was \"fished-out\" after Lent. Went well with Vouvray."}, {"response": 304, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sun, Apr 19, 2009 (14:13)", "body": "LOL, Evelyn. Did you wear a blue dress for Easter? ;-) (Dorine), You know on second thought....I don't really believe in the concept of gravity, that the earth is round, or that E=mc(squared). I haven't seen Sir Isaac Newton's, Einstein's or any of the early philosophers' actual writings where they determined these things to be true. I've only seen it written about in textbooks and other sources (don't know that I've ever read it in the NYT)....and not even reproductions of the writings at that! Just narratives on the subjects. ROTF, Dorine! My kind of gal! Add believing in the Theory of Evolution to that list. ;-) And to add that History text books are written by the winners, there is a lot of one sided approach to history that is taught in schools, shame on them."}, {"response": 305, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Apr 19, 2009 (14:26)", "body": "(Evelyn) Now...now...it's only Drool you know. We're not at the UN. No, it is not Drool. I don't know why you persist in thinking it is."}, {"response": 306, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sun, Apr 19, 2009 (14:44)", "body": "We-el it's a message topic in bold letters on the Drool screen,(not a separate website like the other listed \"offerings\", nor listed by Terry on the Spring conferences, hosted by a revered Drool member;-) with only Drool members posting.... Soooo, ergo, a Drool topic.......to me;-) (I don't speak for anyone else.) *evelyn wearing her favorite blue dress*;-)"}, {"response": 307, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Apr 19, 2009 (14:52)", "body": ""}, {"response": 308, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Apr 19, 2009 (15:27)", "body": "Given that I am host of Drool, what I say is the answer. This is fact, not opinion. This is not Drool. I do not know why this is such a problem for you to comprehend or maybe I do. End of discussion."}, {"response": 309, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sun, Apr 19, 2009 (15:40)", "body": "End of discussion. Okey, dokey...:-))).. makes no diff to me. *I* did not initiate the discussion"}, {"response": 310, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Apr 19, 2009 (15:49)", "body": "*I* did not initiate the discussion Again, not factual."}, {"response": 311, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Apr 19, 2009 (19:16)", "body": "Well, ironically Evelyn did agree with you at one point when she refused to post here before....because she didn't go outside of Drool, IIRC. I'm glad to have her participation at whatever she calls it, even if she pushes my buttons. ;-)) Evelyn, I'm giving you a new nickname....Timex. ;-D (I think I'd like to use that for my next pet's name, but people might think I treat it poorly and it keeps hanging on.) (Moon) Add believing in the Theory of Evolution to that list. ;-) *slaps forehead* Of course! How could I forget that. LOL."}, {"response": 312, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Apr 19, 2009 (19:37)", "body": "(Dorine) because she didn't go outside of Drool LOL! Thanks for reminding me of her frequent response when asked to take a comment to Mad World: \"donn't go outside of Drool\" So, she did recognize it as not Drool. ;-)"}, {"response": 313, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sun, Apr 19, 2009 (19:53)", "body": "Oh you girls...LOL. Pile it on! My error: Mad World is *on* the Drool page. You flatter me for requesting my presence on this topic; I thought you would want the conservative viewpoint. You know....Fair and Balanced???? However, pivotal question comes to mind: Does one have to be a member of ( Drool Darlin') to post on Mad World? Replete with password etc. A simple yes or no will suffice.... And if no...why doesn't Terry have it with the Politics agenda??? I see Karen posts there. I don't see Dorine, however."}, {"response": 314, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Apr 19, 2009 (19:57)", "body": "Pile it on? I was defending you! :-D I think I may have been to the Politics one to browse a long time ago, when I was seeing what else was on Spring. People talk in it?"}, {"response": 315, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Apr 19, 2009 (20:10)", "body": "(Evelyn) Mad World is *on* the Drool page. Correction: a link is on the Drool page, as there is to amazon.com, the Jennifer Ehle website, and many others, none of which I would also call \"Drool.\" (Dorine) I think I may have been to the Politics one to browse a long time ago, when I was seeing what else was on Spring. Didn't you choose News because the content was going to be eclectic and not just politics?"}, {"response": 316, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Apr 19, 2009 (20:13)", "body": "Yes, I did."}, {"response": 317, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sun, Apr 19, 2009 (21:40)", "body": "People talk in it? Yeah...you'll love it. They all think like you do;-) Thank you for \"defending\" me, ole sparring pardner....i do v. well as a solo, me thinks. (Karen)Correction: a link is on the Drool page, as there is to amazon.com, the Jennifer Ehle website, and many others, none of which I would also call \"Drool.\" i acknowledged that...those are websites, not posting topics. But pl. answer my question: Yes or no on posting on Mad World: does one have to be a Drool Darlin'? Ecleclectic and not just politics? eclectic is right...anything from salmon for dinner (how was it BTW?), to Michelle's shoes... to derivatives!! Reminds me of the Ramble Board on Pemberley.com. Moon, do you still post there? Hey, beats culling for Durham restaurants on Google any day;-D Back to Little Dorrit. This series must have cost a bomb to film. All those locations. See ya' tomorrow."}, {"response": 318, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Apr 20, 2009 (11:45)", "body": "(Evelyn) i do v. well as a solo, me thinks. Okee dokee. :-) Salmon dinner, v. good. With Trader Joe's Garlic Aioli Mustard I made into a sauce and a side of (Trader Joes!) Garlic Basil Linguini and a New Zealand Savignon Blanc. Yum! I forgot about that Pemberley place. I used to go there for a while a number of years ago. Question: Does anyone know how or if it's possible to capture/copy images online that are in Adobe Flash? There have some pics I wanted to post here last night and other topics at other times, but right clicking didn't work. I didn't want to post the link to the site as I didn't need to point out all the pics, just a few."}, {"response": 319, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Apr 20, 2009 (12:49)", "body": "New Zealand Savignon Blanc. Yum! Oh purrrfect...I've had that, mobetta than Vouvray. Oh for Trader Joe's."}, {"response": 320, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Apr 20, 2009 (14:11)", "body": "Moon, do you still post there? No. It's a great site Pemberley, but I prefer my good friends here.:-)"}, {"response": 321, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Apr 20, 2009 (20:44)", "body": "Evelyn) i do v. well as a solo, me thinks. Okee dokee. :-) But I do appreciate it. Might have to call on you some time for support...911! Ya' never know around here...;-) LOL XXX Bwah!"}, {"response": 322, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Apr 20, 2009 (20:48)", "body": "Pulitzer's are out. I bolded a few things that have come up as discussion topics or somewhere...in the Drool/Mad World vicinity. ;-)) Papers win Pulitzers for bringing down gov, mayor By DEEPTI HAJELA, Associated Press Writer \ufffd 26 mins ago NEW YORK \ufffd Two newspapers hit hard by a historic downturn won Pulitzer Prizes on Monday for exposing sex scandals that brought down a governor and a big-city mayor, in what was hailed as a victory for old-fashioned watchdog journalism at a time when the industry's very survival is in question. The New York Times received five Pulitzers in all, including one for being the first to report that then-Gov. Eliot Spitzer was a client of a high-priced call girl ring \ufffd a discovery that led to his resignation. The Detroit Free Press won for obtaining a cache of steamy text messages that destroyed then-Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's political career. Three Pulitzers were awarded for coverage of Barack Obama's historic election. But in a surprising turn, not one prize was handed out for the other big story of 2008 \ufffd the financial meltdown. Some suggested it could be a criticism of the press for not sounding enough of a warning before the crisis. \"If I had to guess, I feel like there is going to be some reluctance to give prizes for after-the-fact reporting no matter how good it is, period,\" said Dean Starkman, managing editor of Columbia Journalism Review's The Audit, which focuses on the business press. The awards were announced after one of the most depressing years ever for the newspaper industry, with layoffs, bankruptcies and closings brought on by the recession and an exodus of readers and advertisers to the Internet. Many of Monday's winners were among the hardest hit; in fact, one of the winners, a reporter in Arizona, was laid off a few months ago. \"These are tough times for America's newspapers, but amid the gloomy talk, the newspaper winners and the finalists are heartening examples of the high-quality journalism that can be found in all parts of the United States,\" said Sig Gissler, administrator of the prizes. \"It's quite notable that the watchdog function of journalism is underscored in this year's awards. The watchdog still barks, and the watchdog still bites.\" Despite a rule change that allowed online-only news organizations to compete for Pulitzers this year for the first time, none of the 65 entries won any prizes. However, the Pulitzer Board said online content played a role in several of the winning entries. [Ed. note - I wish they'd elaborated on exactly how that content played a role] In a measure of how bad things have gotten, the Detroit paper less than a month ago cut back home delivery to three days a week. Similarly, the Metro staff that broke the Spitzer story at The New York Times has since been cut back, and Metro was eliminated as a standalone section and folded into the main news part of the paper six days a week. The Las Vegas Sun won the Pulitzer for public service for exposing a high death rate among construction workers on the Las Vegas Strip. Alexandra Berzon described how the rush to build quickly and at highly congested work sites led to deadly shortcuts. Her work led to changes in workplace conditions. \"The fact that this series stopped people from dying on Las Vegas Strip construction projects is the most important part of what we did,\" said Managing Editor Michael J. Kelley. The Free Press was honored in the local reporting category for helping to expose an extramarital affair between the mayor and his chief aide. Kilpatrick pleaded guilty to perjury, lost his office and served 99 days in jail after the text messages made it clear he had lied under oath in denying the affair while testifying in a lawsuit. The judges also awarded a second Pulitzer in local reporting, honoring the East Valley Tribune of Mesa, Ariz., for revealing how a sheriff's focus on immigration enforcement endangered investigations of other crimes. Paul Giblin, one of the reporters who wrote the prize-winning series, was laid off in January. \"It is kind of sad,\" Giblin said. \"I wish I was still at the Tribune. I'd have a party with them right now.\" The only multiple winner besides The New York Times was the St. Petersburg Times. It was honored for national reporting for fact-checking what the candidates said during the 2008 White House campaign, and for feature writing for Lane DeGregory's story on a neglected girl who was unable to talk or feed herself. The presidential race also figured in the Pulitzer awarded in commentary: Eugene Robinson of The Washington Post was honored for his columns on Obama's run for the White House. The prize for editorial cartooning went to Steve Breen of The San Diego Union-Tribune, which was sold last month to a private equity firm after its advertising plunged and employees were forced to take unpaid furloughs. No Pulitzers were awarded for coverage of the biggest financial crisis since the Depression, even though five finalists \ufffd including The "}, {"response": 323, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Apr 21, 2009 (09:50)", "body": "I hope the Pulitzer Prize for the NYT translates into better ad revenew. That's where the $$$ is apparently, and it's tanking. Among them was Times columnist Paul Krugman, who was commended for his \"prophetic columns\" on the economic perils. I hope it's not too \"prophetic\"; he don't like Timmy's plan, and that's all we have to hang on to. I also saw that Jon Meacham's book on John Adams won; a great read, I've given it for graduation gifts (whether they ever read it , one wonders) Thanks."}, {"response": 324, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Apr 21, 2009 (13:34)", "body": "Ron Paul: Legalize Marijuana and Reduce Crime Rep. Ron Paul declares that the federal war on drugs is a failure and legalizing marijuana would reduce the prison population and in effect the crime rate. \ufffdI think we should look at the federal drug war, and I would say the federal drug war has failed so we should reject it,\ufffd the Texas Republican, who ran for president last year, told CNN. \ufffdWhen I talk about changing the law, I want to go back to a constitutional approach to a problem like this, and that is through the states. \ufffdUp until 1937 there wasn\ufffdt even a law against marijuana, and at that time they just passed a law to tax it. So we\ufffdve had an experience in this country where we didn\ufffdt have all these laws, but it was regulated by the states. \"Alcohol is legalized by the federal government but it\ufffds regulated by state laws.\ufffd Paul said he is particularly disturbed by the federal government\ufffds efforts to override state laws allowing some people to legally obtain medicinal marijuana, as has happened in California. \ufffdThey\ufffdll pass a law that says that sick people can use it. So people who are dying with AIDS or cancer are getting benefit from marijuana. Then the federal government comes in and says we don\ufffdt care about the state law, and they just override it and put people into prison for this. \ufffdWe have over 500,000 people that never committed a violent crime in prison for drug use, and there are mandatory jail sentences under these conditions. \"This makes no sense. It\ufffds so expensive, and it hasn\ufffdt achieved anything.\ufffd Paul included other drugs in the discussion when he said: \ufffdWe\ufffdre creating a monstrous legal problem costing hundreds of billions of dollars and putting people in prison who should be treated as sick people. They shouldn\ufffdt be treated as criminals. \ufffdThe problems we have is because the price for these drugs is about a thousand times greater than it would be\ufffd if they were legal and regulated. \ufffdWe\ufffdve created most of the problems for ourselves,\ufffd he added, \ufffdand these drug wars are a consequence of our policies.\ufffd Newsmax Ron Paul was satirized in Sacha Cohen \"Bruno\" film. Look it up on Youtube, very funny."}, {"response": 325, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Apr 21, 2009 (17:21)", "body": "\ufffdThe problems we have is because the price for these drugs is about a thousand times greater than it would be\ufffd if they were legal and regulated. Aren't jail sentences for the *dealers*, not the recreational user; which I agree should not be criminalized. Absurd."}, {"response": 326, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Apr 21, 2009 (18:19)", "body": "(Evelyn) I hope the Pulitzer Prize for the NYT translates into better ad revenew. Missing a winkie? Has absolutely no connection to ad revenue. Only #'s....numbers of subscribers if not how many papers sold overall. Just like magazines. They base ad rates on forcasting a certain number of subscriptions. And TV bases ad rates on # of viewers. Web sites sell ads based on page views. Quality and awards aren't variables. It's all dependent on the number of people who use your product in some capacity."}, {"response": 327, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Apr 21, 2009 (18:27)", "body": "(Evelyn) Aren't jail sentences for the *dealers*, not the recreational user In NY, you can go to jail for years, simply for possession of a relatively miniscule amount.....the Rockefeller laws. I think I mentioned in passing here they are looking to repeal them this year. No idea what drug laws are in other states."}, {"response": 328, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Apr 21, 2009 (18:39)", "body": "I'm watching it play out and not sure if it's even on the national news at all, but I'm giving a heads up about the following: Jane Harman, Alberto Gonzales, illegal wiretapping, AIPAC. If nothing comes of it, so be it. If it becomes something, don't say you never heard there is a connection between all of them. Though this is all I'm mentioning for now. Want to know more, Google. :-)"}, {"response": 329, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Apr 21, 2009 (20:49)", "body": "It's all dependent on the number of people who use your product in some capacity. I know that....that's why they are practically giving away magazine subscriptions to increase the readership for ads."}, {"response": 330, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Apr 22, 2009 (10:39)", "body": "(Me) It's all dependent on the number of people who use your product in some capacity. (Evelyn) I know that....that's why they are practically giving away magazine subscriptions to increase the readership for ads. But no one's picking up a newspaper or magazine because of awards. It's content and even more specifically, how fast they can get that content. In the case of papers, the decline is attributed to readers going online for news because it's updated faster/more frequently. They say the older demographic is the one sticking with print while all the other demos get the majority of their news/information online. Re magazines, speaking for myself, I have let all my subscriptions go because I wasn't keeping up with them anymore, it was expensive...and can read them online should I choose, where I tend to get most of my info anyway. In that respect, I'm in line with my age demographic. I do still get my NYT weekend subscription, though I mostly wonder why as I read little of the print ediition and not a lot online. I guess because I can take the NYT Magazine with me and read it over several days on buses and trains."}, {"response": 331, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Apr 22, 2009 (13:23)", "body": "I've also stopped my mag sub. and the one for the Wash Post. I also read online. Going green. Bad news, I read that Borders might close. To celebrate Earth Day, I just bought a beautiful red handbag made from vegan leather. Waving to Livi~~~~"}, {"response": 332, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Apr 22, 2009 (13:32)", "body": "I can't take my desktop on planes or anyplace I have to wait...thus I subscribe. So are you into Kindle from amazon?"}, {"response": 333, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Apr 22, 2009 (14:40)", "body": "No, no Kindle for me yet. I have a work blackberry now, so I sometimes read the news and check email on it on short hops around, or waiting in the train station to go home. I forgot, I do still get Vanity Fair. I do like to take that mag on trains, though since they're so heavy, I rip them apart and take bits at a time. I do also read the free daily newspapers if I can find one. They aren't very big. Yeah, I read a while ago that Borders either was headed for or had filed bankruptcy. Or maybe they were looking for a buyer in lieu of bankruptcy if possible."}, {"response": 334, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Apr 22, 2009 (18:47)", "body": "The Freddie Mac CFO was a neighbor of yours, Moon? When I saw the news this a.m., it only said Fairfax county, but I heard Vienna on the news a little while ago and one article said Hunter Mill estates. Now, this item has the makings of a potential thriller movie a la The Intl."}, {"response": 335, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Apr 22, 2009 (18:56)", "body": "I heard Reston and Fairfax this morning, but I thought of you also, Moon."}, {"response": 336, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Apr 22, 2009 (19:04)", "body": "There's a movie in here somewhere as well. State of Play 2? ;-) Pelosi Said She Knew Harman Was Wiretapped By Edward Epstein, CQ Staff Wed Apr 22, 1:40 pm ET Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday that she was first informed in a confidential briefing a few years ago that Rep. Jane Harman had been recorded by spy agencies, but that she couldn't tell Harman or anyone else about it. Pelosi said the briefing from intelligence agencies was usual practice in the Capitol, where top congressional leaders are always told when a member of Congress pops up during the course of secret investigations. Pelosi wouldn't comment on the substance of the briefing about Harman. \"I was not in a position to raise it with Jane Harman. All they said was that she was wiretapped,\" said Pelosi, who said she couldn't remember if the secret briefing took place in 2005 or 2006. \"When you are briefed on something it isn't your role to share it with anybody else,\" said Pelosi, who served on the Intelligence Committee for a decade until she entered the House Democratic leadership about six years ago. \"Even if I wanted to share it with her I would not have had the liberty to share it with her,\" she added at a roundtable sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor. Congressional Quarterly reported April 19 that National Security Agency eavesdroppers heard Harman agreeing in 2005 to an appeal from a suspected Israeli agent to intervene in an effort to reduce espionage-related charges lodged against two former officials of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, Washington's most powerful pro-Israel organization. The New York Times published a similar front-page story Monday, adding that Harman was told in the conversation that Haim Saban, a wealthy Democratic donor, would threaten to withhold political contributions to Nancy Pelosi, also a California Democrat, unless Harman was tapped to head the House Intelligence panel. CQ confirmed that account in its \"SpyTalk\" blog Wednesday. Harman has launched a media offensive to dispute the sources' accounts, and has written to the Justice Department demanding that it release all transcripts of any recorded conversations. And Pelosi said the threat of a cutoff in donations never happened. \"Haim Saban has been a friend of mine for many years,\" she said, adding that their friendship and political partnership persisted even though they disagreed on some issues, such as the war in Iraq. \"Many, many of Jane's friends talked to me about her being named chair, but never in a threatening way,\" Pelosi added. The speaker defended Harman. \"I have great confidence in Jane Harman. She is a patriotic American,\" she said. Since Pelosi named Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas, as Intelligence chairman after Democrats took back the House in 2006, accounts have differed as to why Harman didn't get the post she sought. Some said it was because Pelosi and Harman differed on Iraq. Others said the two Californians had never been close. And now the latest reports raise the spectre of financial pressure on Pelosi. The speaker said none were true and that the real reason was much more mundane. Pelosi said Democratic caucus rules provide that a member can be the party's top-ranking Intelligence member for two terms. Harman had reached that limit when Democrats won the 2006 election, she said. \"The only reason Jane was not chosen is because she already had two terms. It had nothing to do with wiretaps or Iraq,\" she said. On another topic, Pelosi reiterated her support for a \"truth commission\" to look into interrogation techniques used in the George W. Bush administration against suspected terrorists, but said those investigated by the panel should not get blanket immunity from possible prosecution. On Tuesday, President Obama said some officials who developed the policy for harsh interrogation could face prosecutions. \"My thinking has long been that we should have a truth commission. But I think we should be more selective in granting immunity,\" she said. Pelosi said she supports the House Judiciary Committee looking into the interrogation issue. Some Democrats in Congress have called for impeachment proceedings against Jay Bybee, a federal appeals court judge in California, who as a Bush administration official was an author of the so-called \"torture memos.\" Pelosi said before she decides whether to support an impeachment probe she wants more information. \"It's important to get the facts from his confirmation hearings,\" Pelosi said, referring to President Bush's nomination of Bybee to the federal bench. Before that, Bybee had served in the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel, where the memos authorizing tough interrogation techniques were written. \"But I do think that the legal opinions issued by the Office of Legal Counsel did not serve our country well or represent its values,\" Pelosi added. http://news.yahoo.com/s/cq/politics3100474;_ylt=Am81vRQ5eXPcJFBlwiAdfbCs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTJoOTRpcmFiBGFzc2V0A2NxLzIwM"}, {"response": 337, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Apr 22, 2009 (19:06)", "body": "Perhaps a fashion show Livia shouldn't have missed. ;-) http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/queens/2009/04/22/2009-04-22_ratinfested_yards_site_stirs_catcalls.html"}, {"response": 338, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Apr 22, 2009 (19:48)", "body": "LOL, Dorine, too bad Livi didn't think of it first. ;-) Yes, he lived in Vienna, not far from me. I do wonder why he did it? In Miami, my neighbors were the sports guys. Heat, Marlins, Dolphins. Once, I was behind OJ in my local supermarket line, creeped me out. He tried to be friendly too."}, {"response": 339, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Apr 22, 2009 (20:24)", "body": "(Moon) I do wonder why he did it? If it wasn't for personal reasons (nonwork related), then something is about to be disclosed about Freddie Mac. Maybe a little embezzlement on top of all the normal, everyday greed. Or it wasn't suicide but murder? Like I said, a movie. ;-)"}, {"response": 340, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Apr 22, 2009 (21:26)", "body": "then something is about to be disclosed about Freddie Mac. That was my first thought."}, {"response": 341, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Apr 23, 2009 (09:22)", "body": "Speaking of Amazon Kindle....yeah, I'll be running right out to get one. Amazon's Kindle 2 Retails for Nearly Double Its Cost * By Patricia Resende, newsfactor.com - Wed Apr 22, 2009 3:37PM EDT http://tech.yahoo.com/news/nf/20090422/tc_nf/66123"}, {"response": 342, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Apr 23, 2009 (16:11)", "body": "Waving to Evelyn, Berlusconi is a genius: Italy earthquake town L'Aquila to host G8 summit: Berlusconi http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article6153912.ece I'm so happy! Such a good call! The G8 protesters are stumped, they don't know what to do now. Heehee."}, {"response": 343, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Apr 24, 2009 (08:55)", "body": "Just a little more of that non-lying updated 1:46 p.m. EDT, Fri October 5, 2007 Bush: 'This government does not torture' WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush on Friday defended his administration's methods of interrogating terrorism suspects, insisting, \"This government does not torture people.\" [Ed. note - Um, yes, yes it seems we did.] [snip] Bush said his administration sticks to \"U.S. law and our international obligations.\" [Ed note - Um, no, it seems we didn't] http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/10/05/bush.torture/index.html"}, {"response": 344, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Apr 25, 2009 (11:34)", "body": "From indieWire: The Collison of Politics, Celebrity and the Media: Barry Levinson Goes To \ufffdPoliWood\ufffd by Peter Knegt \ufffdIn the most simplistic way, it\ufffds really about the collison of politics, celebrity and the media,\ufffd Barry Levinson told indieWIRE about his new documentary \ufffdPoliWood,\ufffd premiering next Friday night as part of the Tribeca Film Festival. \ufffdBasically, how they collide and how they feed off one another. That\ufffds the theme of the piece.\ufffd More specifically, the piece uses interviews with a variety of high-profile celebrities and political figures (from Anne Hathaway to Ellen Burstyn to Sting), exploring the influence Hollywood has over today\ufffds political process. Levinson is attempting to exemplify the exceedingly thin line between politician and actor, and news and entertainment. \ufffdI think it\ufffds interesting to watch, and it can pose a lot of questions,\ufffd Levinson said of the film in an interview earlier this week at the SoHo Grand Hotel in New York City. \ufffdOr you might just enjoy it on a level of watching all of these people navigate these channels for ninety minutes.\ufffd The film came together a few weeks before the Democratic National Convention. \ufffdThere was no preconceived notion of exactly what it was going to be about,\ufffd Levinson recalled of the film\ufffds origins. \ufffdIt was simply to follow the events as they unfolded and see where that went, and then allow the piece to begin to direct itself in a way. I didn\ufffdt want to impose any ideas upon it intially. I wanted to let it breathe on its own and then see what happens. And then I began to see how these things begin to intersect with one another.\ufffd Documentary was not always something Levinson has aspired to take on. \ufffdIt just came up,\ufffd he said. \ufffdI\ufffdve always been interested in politics, I\ufffdve always been interested in entertainment, and I\ufffdve always been interested in the media.\ufffd Levinson has exemplfied this in much of his narrative work, from \ufffdWag The Dog,\ufffd about a spin-doctor and a Hollywood producer who join efforts to fabricate a war in order to cover-up a presidential sex scandal, to \ufffdMan of the Year,\ufffd which folows a comedian who decides to run for president, and a computerized voting machine malfunction gets him elected. \ufffdWith this film I could see what it was really like,\ufffd Levinson said in respect to his previous work.\ufffd How absurd does it, in fact, become?\ufffd What it has become, it seems, is that everything has been turned into entertainment. \ufffdThat has become the rule,\ufffd Levinson explained. \ufffdWhy politics has to be entertaining, I don\ufffdt know. But it has to be, because its on television all the time. So therefore, there\ufffds an upside/downside to that, naturally. We will frivolize a lot of very important issues and we will find a way to distract from the main issues. Because sometimes a distraction is more entertaining than the real issue. So what we do is constantly move away from what\ufffds sometimes the essentials, onto the non-essentials. Because the non-essentials are more interesting to us. You watch it happen constantly. I mean you can watch recently and see how much time has been spent on Obama shaking hand with Chavez. Was he shaking hands with him? Was he smiling? Should he have been smiling? Does that show weakness? I mean, look how much time we spent on a visual of that. That has no relevance to anything. It\ufffds nonsense. We\ufffdve taken these silly things that may e entertaining and made it an essential. That\ufffds frightening.\ufffd What Levinson also finds frightening is the political division in America, where issues that should never fall into the left/right, Democrat/Republican divide, do. \ufffdI mean, the idea that education or arts in the schools has become a political issue seems insane,\ufffd he argued. \ufffdIt\ufffds like, what, we\ufffdre opposed to music programs in school? Does that have to do with being a Republican or a Democrat? We are facing a potential catastrophe in terms of our environmental issues, and it becomes a left or right issue? I always say to someone who says that no one has really confirmed that there\ufffds global warming: \ufffdWell, guess what, what happens if there really isn\ufffdt global warming? What would be the downside? We cleaned up the environment for no reason? Oh my god! How can that be political? It became that because it\ufffds much more entertaining.\ufffd\ufffd For \ufffdPoliwood,\ufffd the biggest challenge for Levinson was a different kind of division. \ufffdThe challenge is to bring all these elements together and have some cohesiveness, without imposing too much on the piece,\ufffd he explained. \ufffdI want it to be free and loose with people meandering into things and talking about stuff. There\ufffds a casualness about it. But at the same time, it can\ufffdt be so casual and so meandering that it\ufffds all over the place. So you have to be able to give it a little more coherence, without ultimately beginning to bend it one way or another.\ufffd An interesting footnote to the film came a few weeks ago, when Kal Penn - best known as an actor on televison series \ufffdHouse\ufffd and in movies like \ufffdHarold and Kumar\ufffd and \ufffdThe Nam"}, {"response": 345, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Apr 26, 2009 (12:19)", "body": "I know some people won't bother to click on the link for whatever reason, but watching the Dublin FF interview, with its mention of Abba, reminded me of this Daily Show piece on \"Socialism in Sweden.\" Benny is interviewed in part 2, but you should watch both. They are a riot. http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=225113&title=The-Stockholm-Syndrome http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=225126&title=The-Stockholm-Syndrome-Pt.-2"}, {"response": 346, "author": "mari", "date": "Mon, Apr 27, 2009 (14:44)", "body": "Monday, April 27, 2009 Karl Rove, conservative Republicans, and Susan Collins opposed money spent on pandemic preparedness by John Aravosis (DC) on 4/27/2009 10:01:00 AM Now that we're in the middle of a public health emergency, the media might want to be asking the Republicans some questions about this: When House Appropriations Committee chairman David Obey, the Wisconsin Democrat who has long championed investment in pandemic preparation, included roughly $900 million for that purpose in this year's emergency stimulus bill, he was ridiculed by conservative operatives and congressional Republicans.... [T]he arguments former White House political czar Karl Rove advanced in February to frame opposition to the stimulus package Obey crafted in the House.... Rove specifically complained that Obey's proposal included \"$462 million for the Centers for Disease Control, and $900 million for pandemic flu preparations.\" Who helped lead the charge against emergency disease preparedness in the Senate? None other than Maine Republican Susan Collins, who Joe has always argued is a conservative in moderate's clothing: Famously, Maine Senator Susan Collins, the supposedly moderate Republican who demanded cuts in health care spending in exchange for her support of a watered-down version of the stimulus, fumed about the pandemic funding: \"Does it belong in this bill? Should we have $870 million in this bill No, we should not.\" Even now, Collins continues to use her official website to highlight the fact that she led the fight to strip the pandemic preparedness money out of the Senate's version of the stimulus measure. This part is especially bad: Obey and other advocates for the spending argued, correctly, that a pandemic hitting in the midst of an economic downturn could turn a recession into something far worse -- with workers ordered to remain in their homes, workplaces shuttered to avoid the spread of disease, transportation systems grinding to a halt and demand for emergency services and public health interventions skyrocketing. Indeed, they suggested, pandemic preparation was essential to any responsible plan for renewing the U.S. economy."}, {"response": 347, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Apr 27, 2009 (17:53)", "body": "From AOL news : No Saudi Women Allowed on Television, in Print The same Saudi Arabian clerics who two months ago said it was okay for men to marry 10-year-old girls are now trying to ban ALL women from appearing in print and TV media. In a letter to new Information Minister Abdul Aziz al-Khoja the clerics called images of women in popular newspapers and magazines \"obscene,\" and decried music and dancing on television. Images of women on television, said the clerics, are \"a sign of growing 'deviant thought,'\" whatever that means. The letter said the country was trying to \"westernize\" Saudi women by \"reducing their rights to a question of removing veils, wearing makeup and mixing with men ... There is no doubt that this is religiously impermissible.\" We wonder what images the media will use to replace the ones of women. Is there a long waiting list of male models in Saudi Arabia waiting to get their big break? Saudi women lack a variety of basic rights, including the ability to drive cars. And even Arab women who come to the U.S. find it difficult to take advantage of their relaxed rights. In Dearborn, Mich., which has the largest Arab-American population in the U.S., many worry about whether they're following the lifestyle of a good Muslim woman by going out unaccompanied by a male or listening to the radio. There may be hope in sight. Saudi King Abdullah Bin Abdul-Aziz earlier this month appointed the first woman to a ministerial post. And Arab females both here and in the Middle East are starting to have a say in what goes on in their culture -- on blogs. Some, like blogger Saudi Eve, are even as bold as to write about romance and religion. A whole list of others, some in English and other in Arabic, can be found here: http://saudiblogs.blogspot.com/"}, {"response": 348, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Apr 27, 2009 (18:10)", "body": "Another reason my DH is proud to be Italian: Cruise ship fends off pirate attack with gunfire An Italian cruise ship with 1,500 people on board fended off a pirate attack far off the coast of Somalia when its Israeli private security forces exchanged fire with the bandits. A great story. Read it here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090426/ap_on_re_eu/piracy"}, {"response": 349, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Apr 27, 2009 (18:34)", "body": "Interestingly, their private security was Israeli."}, {"response": 350, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Apr 27, 2009 (21:39)", "body": "Yeah....the mayor didn't know. I'm sure there's a bridge someone can sell me. Apparently the White House, for all their computer savvy, has never heard of Photoshop. :-((((( I'm so glad I wasn't anywhere near there to see it. I'd probably have freaked. Those poor people down there. Planes Create 'Total Panic' in Manhattan By SARA KUGLER,AP posted: 1 HOUR 1 MINUTE AGO http://news.aol.com/article/low-flying-planes-create-total-panic/447862?icid=webmail|wbml-aol|dl3|link3|http%3A%2F%2Fnews.aol.com%2Farticle%2Flow-flying-planes-create-total-panic%2F447862"}, {"response": 351, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Apr 28, 2009 (14:07)", "body": "That was in bad taste. Thanks, Dorine! So Mari, PA now has a new Democratic senator?"}, {"response": 352, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Apr 28, 2009 (14:55)", "body": "He's pulling a Lieberman, but is doing it ahead of time rather than look like the sore loser Lieberman was. At least he's leaping all the way across the aisle rather than sitting on the philosophical middle (Independent), not that I'd necessarily have a problem with that. But he was going to lose the Repub primary big, from the way it was looking."}, {"response": 353, "author": "mari", "date": "Tue, Apr 28, 2009 (15:43)", "body": "Analysis: Specter defection shrinks GOP's reach By CHARLES BABINGTON \ufffd 29 minutes ago WASHINGTON (AP) \ufffd With Sen. Arlen Specter's switch to the Democrats, the Republican Party is in serious danger of being viewed as strictly Southern and solidly conservative, an identity that might take years to overcome. Specter's move, which rocked Congress and the political world Tuesday, is the latest blow to Republicans, especially in the Northeast where the GOP has been reduced to a scant presence in the House and a dwindling influence in the Senate. But his defection has symbolic and immediate ramifications for the GOP nationwide. While Barack Obama was cruising to the White House last fall, Republicans were losing long-held Senate seats in Alaska, New Mexico, North Carolina and Virginia. A moderate Republican lost his seat in Oregon, and the same seems almost certain to happen when Minnesota's long recount is settled. In the House, Republicans have suffered deep losses in the last two elections, especially in the Northeast. Congressional Republicans' base is shrinking, leaving them with strongholds only in the South and parts of the mountain West. With the departure of each centrist, including Pennsylvania's Specter, the party also appears more firmly right-of-center. For the foreseeable future, that is a recipe for continued minority status in Congress and for uphill bids for the presidency. \"By the process of subtraction, the Republican Party is getting more conservative,\" said Rutgers University political scientist Ross Baker. \"They are losing disaffected people. Obama's candidacy put that into overdrive.\" In the 1980s and early 1990s, the nation's political realignment favored the GOP. Voters in many of the 11 former Confederate states ousted Democrats by the dozens, no longer accepting the old odd-bedfellows alliance of Southern conservatives and more dominant Northern liberals. With the Northeast still home to many GOP centrists, or \"Rockefeller Republicans,\" the realignment pinched Democrats hard. In more recent years, however, the tide has reversed. Moderate-to-liberal voters in the Northeast and Pacific West felt increasingly at odds with the national Republican Party, and they began electing more Democrats to local and federal posts. The result is a shrinking and increasingly right-leaning GOP. Specter said Tuesday, \"the Republican Party has moved farther and farther to the right.\" \"I've found myself increasingly at odds with the Republican philosophy,\" he said. Still reeling from their 2008 losses, Republican leaders now have new problems to confront."}, {"response": 354, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Apr 28, 2009 (16:06)", "body": "(Dorine)He's pulling a Lieberman, but is doing it ahead of time rather than look like the sore loser Lieberman was. At least he's leaping all the way across the aisle rather than sitting on the philosophical middle (Independent), not that I'd necessarily have a problem with that. That's not fair (am I shocked??;-) Joe Liberman does caucus with the Dems."}, {"response": 355, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Apr 28, 2009 (18:42)", "body": "(Dorine) He's pulling a Lieberman, but is doing it ahead of time rather than look like the sore loser Lieberman was. But what guarantees are there that he'll win a Dem primary? Could be a deal was made that he'll run unopposed on the Dem slate. At least he's leaping all the way across the aisle rather than sitting on the philosophical middle (Independent) He says it is philosophical, but is it? How \"at odds\" has he been in the past, oh, eight years with the Admin?"}, {"response": 356, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Apr 28, 2009 (19:43)", "body": "(Karen).. \"at odds\" has he been in the past, oh, eight years with the Admin? His last election wasn't exactly a landslide...lots of Republican $$$$$ went into his coffer to make it. Anyway, at 79 he should hang it up; let a young'un take over."}, {"response": 357, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Apr 28, 2009 (20:08)", "body": "Look's like this journalist was looking into a crystal ball... \" You did beat Pat Toomey in a primary back in 2004, by a mere two points, but I doubt that would happen again, if only because so many moderate Pennsylvanians in recent years have left the GOP and signed up with the Democrats. Hundreds of thousands have switched teams. Those were your people; in 2010, they won\ufffdt be eligible to participate in the primary and help you survive another blood feud.\" \" And some liberals are probably still ticked about the way you questioned Anita Hill during the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings in 1991 (although today\ufffds 35-year-old Democratic voter probably couldn\ufffdt care less about that episode, since said voter was only in high school at the time).\" \"But if you really want to win another six-year term in 2010, keep your title as Pennsylvania\ufffds senior senator, and hike that tenure percentage to 42 at the age of 86, you\ufffdve got to weigh the obvious benefits of renouncing your troubled affiliation with the GOP. Think opportunistically, just as you did way back in \ufffd65, when you left the Democrats because you saw the opening to run for Philadelphia D.A. as a Republican. \" LOL. He does seem to be a little opportunistic chameleon. And will be 86 at the end of his next term as senator! http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/americandebate/40957872.html"}, {"response": 358, "author": "mari", "date": "Tue, Apr 28, 2009 (22:03)", "body": "I've generally been lukewarm on Spector, agreeing with him on a number of things, disagreeing on others. Am sure I voted for him at some point when I lived in PA. When he was DA of Philly, maybe. He is a moderate, and I think he honestly believes the R party has become too radical right. BTW, Evelyn, he went to U OK (before moving on to U of P). My son just texted me that they have 4 \"probable\" cases of swine flu at UD. They are waiting for CDC confirmation, and are setting up add'l health clinics. The 4 kids appear to have \"mild\" symptoms and will recover, thank God."}, {"response": 359, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Apr 28, 2009 (22:42)", "body": "(Karen) Could be a deal was made that he'll run unopposed on the Dem slate. Appears so. http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/labor/pa-gov-rendell-promised-specter-hed-be-unopposed-in-dem-primary/#comments (Evelyn) Look's like this journalist was looking into a crystal ball... I only skimmed through that article initially....that print was practically microscopic...that's painful to try to read! ;-) Did he also mention whether his crystal ball said that perhaps it was because he's been trailing Toomey by double digits for weeks and was most assuredly going to lose the Rep primary unless there was a massive turnaround? Which probably wasn't going to happen, due to in part, what he says above about voters switching parties themselves. Was going to post other links to stories here, but I think all the recent ones are about Specter and are interesting on their own and together. Just go here: http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/"}, {"response": 360, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Apr 28, 2009 (22:45)", "body": "His last election wasn't exactly a landslide...lots of Republican $$$$$ went into his coffer to make it. *cough* Lieberman *cough*"}, {"response": 361, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Apr 29, 2009 (01:35)", "body": "What's the difference between this and any other flu? (Suppose I need to read up more on it) More easily transmitted? I never understood the West Nile Virus stuff, too. I'm guessing Swine Flu is not carried by birds or mosquitos, eliminating the need to be sprayed on with chemicals like we were for West Nile (here anyway)."}, {"response": 362, "author": "mari", "date": "Wed, Apr 29, 2009 (08:14)", "body": "Was just listening to the news and they said the biggest diff is that there's no vaccine for this one. They did point out that thousands of people die here each year from regular old flu."}, {"response": 363, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Apr 29, 2009 (09:57)", "body": "(Mari)I've generally been lukewarm on Spector, agreeing with him on a number of things, disagreeing on others. \"Ditto\" I'm a moderate, so generally I liked him, (esp on Anita Hill;-) But still think he's too old to run again. His last election wasn't exactly a landslide...lots of Republican $$$$$ went into his coffer to make it. (Dorine)*cough* Lieberman *cough* LOL...Including my piddling pesos."}, {"response": 364, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Apr 29, 2009 (10:02)", "body": "That's kind of what I'm wondering. Is it just an \"off-season\" flu that happens to have no vaccine? I'm curious if this just transmits faster, because otherwise, I don't see the reason this would be big news. There was something really odd and seemingly quite virulent going around in Jan, a bunch of people I know got it as well as people they worked with, but it wasn't in the news and it didn't appear to be a flu. Literally virtually everyone I've ever known has gotten sick after getting the flu shot (which is why I don't and haven't gotten the flu anyway). I know a lot of people who don't get the flu shot and don't get sick either for whatever reason. It's all pretty random I think."}, {"response": 365, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Apr 29, 2009 (10:11)", "body": "Sweet! Photoshop would've been a tad cheaper. Apr 29, 2009 9:11 am US/Eastern FAA Memo: Feds Knew NYC Flyover Would Cause Panic Threatened Federal Sanctions Against NYPD, Secret Service, FBI & Mayor's Office If Secret Ever Got Out Furious Obama Apologizes: \"It Will Never Happen Again\" CBS News Interactive: Sept. 11 And Since Reporting Marcia Kramer NEW YORK (CBS) \u2015 A furious President Barack Obama ordered an internal review of Monday's low-flying photo op over the Statue of Liberty. CBS 2 HD has discovered the feds will have plenty to question. Federal officials knew that sending two fighter jets and Air Force One to buzz ground zero and Lady Liberty might set off nightmarish fears of a 9/11 replay, but they still ordered the photo-op kept secret from the public. In a memo obtained by CBS 2 HD the Federal Aviation Administration's James Johnston said the agency was aware of \"the possibility of public concern regarding DOD (Department of Defense) aircraft flying at low altitudes\" in an around New York City. But they demanded total secrecy from the NYPD, the Secret Service, the FBI and even the mayor's office and threatened federal sanctions if the secret got out. What are your feelings on federal officials demanding the NYC flyover be kept secret by the NYPD and the mayor's office? \"To say that it should not be made public knowing that it might scare people it's just confounding,\" Sen. Charles Schumer said. \"It's what gives Washington and government a bad name. It's sheer stupidity.\" The flyover -- apparently ordered by the White House Office of Military Affairs so it would have souvenir photos of Air Force One with the Statue of Liberty in the background -- had President Obama seeing red. He ordered a probe and apologized. \"It was a mistake. It will never happen again,\" President Obama said. The cost of the frivolous flight was about $60,000 an hour and that was just for Air Force One. That doesn't include the cost of the two F-16s that came along. The flight by the VC-25, a modified Boeing Co. 747, and two F-16 fighter jets cost $328,835, Air Force spokeswoman Vicki Stein said. That includes $300,658 for the larger plane, which flew a three-hour mission, and about $28,178 for the F-16 jets, which flew 1.8 hours each, Stein said in an e-mailed statement. The NYPD was so upset about the demand for secrecy that Police Commissioner Ray Kelly vowed never to follow such a directive again and he accused the feds of inciting fears of a 9/11 replay. \"Did it show an insensitivity to the psychic wounds New York City has after 9/11? Absolutely. No questions about it. It was quite insensitive,\" Kelly said. The mayoral aide who neglected to tell Mayor Michael Bloomberg about it was reprimanded. http://wcbstv.com/topstories/air.force.one.2.996457.html"}, {"response": 366, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Apr 29, 2009 (12:49)", "body": "(Mari) He is a moderate, and I think he honestly believes the R party has become too radical right. Saw a clip of his announcement yesterday and the opportunism is quite evident in this shocking statement: I am not prepared to have my 29-year record in the United States Senate decided by the Pennsylvania Republican primary electorate--not prepared to have that record decided by that jury, the Pennsylvania Republican primary electorate. The mayoral aide who neglected to tell Mayor Michael Bloomberg about it was reprimanded. LOL! The guy was keeping it a secret, as required. ;-)"}, {"response": 367, "author": "mari", "date": "Wed, Apr 29, 2009 (13:13)", "body": "(Karen)the opportunism is quite evident in this shocking statement Hey, at 117 years old, I guess he figures he's beyond having to BS, LOL! What I meant by my earlier statement is that his 30-year record in the Senate shows genuine and clear differences with where the R Party has been headed. Yes, his switch is opportunistic--so what? It's not inconsistent with his record, so I have no problem with it. PA lost over 200,000 registered Republicans to the Dems during the last election--most of them from the moderate Philly suburbs. That group is Specter's bread and butter. If those moderates are no longer in the Party, then he has no shot at winning a Republican primary. Plus Michael Steele threatened to cut off Party campaign funds after Spector voted for the stimulus bill. Wow."}, {"response": 368, "author": "mari", "date": "Wed, Apr 29, 2009 (13:15)", "body": "Dorine, you asked what's different about this flu. From Rear Adm. Anne Schuchat, CDC's interim science and public health deputy direct, speaking to the Senate Homeland Security Committee: She said the strain is particularly worrisome because \"it's a virus that hasn't been around before. The general population doesn't have immunity from it.\" People have various levels of protection against other more common types of flu because they are exposed to it over time, and that protection accumulates. She suggested that some older people might have more resistance to this particular strain than younger people because its traits might resemble outbreaks of decades ago."}, {"response": 369, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Apr 29, 2009 (14:19)", "body": "Thanks, Mari. That does make sense."}, {"response": 370, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Apr 29, 2009 (23:03)", "body": "(Mari) They did point out that thousands of people die here each year from regular old flu. I know. They're acting like there's a Typhoid Maria epidemic or similar."}, {"response": 371, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Apr 30, 2009 (00:03)", "body": "That's why I keep asking why this is so special. WHO has up'd their pandemic scale to 5, the highest it could go. And apparently it had never been at 4 til they raised it yesterday or the day before. Mubarek ordered all the pigs slaughtered in Egypt (how biblical!) to prevent the spread, but I wondered how he knew they had anything to spread. The farmers all ganged up and stopped the govt trucks coming to get the animals and turned them away saying they were poor and uneducated and they were coming to take all they had to make a living. The trucks were turned away last I read. Not sure how many farms that happened on. What an incredible waste of food. I had how people kill animals senselessly without blinking. I could see if this is Ebola or similar, but only one person in the US has died so far."}, {"response": 372, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Apr 30, 2009 (21:04)", "body": "David Broder in the WASHINGTON POST Specter the Defector An opportunistic move by one of the most opportunistic politicians of modern times. But I haven't signed on the WP. Anybody else have it?"}, {"response": 373, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Apr 30, 2009 (21:05)", "body": "Sorry"}, {"response": 374, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Apr 30, 2009 (21:28)", "body": "Specter the Defector By David S. Broder Thursday, April 30, 2009 It's been more than four decades since Arlen Specter, senator from Pennsylvania, earned the nickname \"Specter the Defector.\" With his decision this week to leave the Republican Party, he confirmed that it is indeed an accurate description of his political character. I was a kid reporter for the New York Times back in 1965, when Specter's flip-flopping first attracted attention, and the report I filed recounts the circumstances that led to his unflattering nickname. Specter, then a Democrat, had been an assistant district attorney in Philadelphia, and he harbored an ambition to run against his lackluster boss, James Crumlish. The Democratic bosses of Philadelphia were not encouraging Specter because, as one of them told me, \"We don't want another young Tom Dewey,\" the reform-minded New York prosecutor who launched himself into the governorship and two presidential nominations by sending a string of prominent officeholders of both parties off to jail. So Specter, with the encouragement of such prominent Pennsylvania Republicans as Sen. Hugh Scott and Gov. William Scranton, said he would run against Crumlish on the GOP ticket. To hedge his bets, and to help himself gain Democratic votes, he waited until he won the race to change his party registration. Over the decades since, Specter has become one of the senior Republican senators and the best Republican vote-getter in Pennsylvania. But his frequent defections from GOP orthodoxy, not just on abortion but also on labor issues, taxes and spending, have made him vulnerable to challenge in the state's Republican primary. Former representative Pat Toomey, a right-wing ideologue, came close to upsetting Specter in the 2004 primary, and next year, Toomey looked to be a better-than-even-money bet to knock off the incumbent. On one level, Specter's decision is symptomatic of the narrowing of the GOP spectrum, a sign of the increasing dominance of that shrunken party by its most conservative, Southern-accented members. There are no Republican House members left in New England. A traditionally Republican House seat in Upstate New York has flipped to the Democrats, and both coasts, the Southwest and the upper Midwest are increasingly voting for Democrats. That is why Republicans have lost their majority and their veto power over legislation in the House and why they may soon lose the ability to filibuster and delay Democratic measures in the Senate, after Specter's switch and once Al Franken finally claims the Minnesota seat. But much as Specter's decision reflects an increasingly serious weakness in the Republican Party, there is no escaping the fact that it is also an opportunistic move by one of the most opportunistic politicians of modern times. The one consistency in the history of Arlen Specter has been his willingness to do whatever will best protect and advance the career of Arlen Specter. In 2004, when some in the GOP caucus challenged his elevation to the chairmanship of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Specter assured them that he would not use the post to block any of President Bush's Supreme Court nominees. And despite his sometimes liberal record, he voted for both Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito. Just a few weeks ago, when he was still calculating how he might survive a Republican primary against Toomey, he announced that -- despite his friendship with labor -- he would not support the so-called card check legislation that is the No. 1 priority of the unions. This is the man who now has the strongest claim upon the Democratic nomination in Pennsylvania. Specter has been welcomed to the Democratic Party by President Obama and Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, the most influential Democrat in Harrisburg. That makes it unlikely that Specter will face any serious challenge in next year's Senate primary. And, if his health holds up, he will be a strong favorite against Toomey in the November election. So, once again, Specter is likely to reap political rewards from his maneuvering. But the Democrats should be open-eyed about what they are gaining from his return to his original political home. Specter's history shouts the lesson that he will stick with you only as long as it serves his own interests -- and not a day longer. davidbroder@washpost.com Nice guy, huh?"}, {"response": 375, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, May  1, 2009 (00:20)", "body": "(Evelyn) Nice guy, huh? Specter, I'm guessing you mean."}, {"response": 376, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, May  1, 2009 (00:43)", "body": "Nice guy, huh? When did he ever give that appearance? Certainly not when he was questioning Anita Hill? The one consistency in the history of Arlen Specter has been his willingness to do whatever will best protect and advance the career of Arlen Specter. I think the Pa Dems should run their own candidate and show this slimeball the door. He's shown he has no principles. Enough is enough. The world does not revolve around Arlen Specter."}, {"response": 377, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, May  1, 2009 (10:45)", "body": "(Karen)I think the Pa Dems should run their own candidate They certainly won't get any opposition from the Repubs in Pa...they're a dying breed up there."}, {"response": 378, "author": "mari", "date": "Fri, May  1, 2009 (11:56)", "body": "A politician who's an opportunist? Shocking!;-)"}, {"response": 379, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, May  1, 2009 (16:42)", "body": "Didn't realize today was the anniversary of \"Mission Accomplished\" in Iraq. I had to LOL at this exchange between John Cole, the NYT ombudsman and the Public Editor. Potato - Potatoe? http://www.balloon-juice.com/?p=20658"}, {"response": 380, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, May  1, 2009 (19:47)", "body": "This \"manufacturered\" news stuff has got to stop. All to fill the airways of a 24-hr news cycle. From the AP: Swine flu may be less potent than first feared The swine flu outbreak that has alarmed the world for a week now appears less ominous, with the virus showing little staying power in the hardest-hit cities and scientists suggesting it lacks the genetic fortitude of past killer bugs. President Barack Obama even voiced hope Friday that it may turn out to be no more harmful than the average seasonal flu. In New York City, which has the most confirmed swine flu cases in the U.S. with 49, swine flu has not spread far beyond cases linked to one Catholic school. In Mexico, the epicenter of the outbreak, very few relatives of flu victims seem to have caught it. A flu expert said he sees no reason to believe the virus is particularly lethal. And a federal scientist said the germ's genetic makeup lacks some traits seen in the deadly 1918 flu pandemic strain and the more recent killer bird flu. Still, it was too soon to be certain what the swine flu virus will do. Experts say the only wise course is to prepare for the worst. But in a world that's been rattled by the specter of a global pandemic, glimmers of hope were more than welcome Friday. \"It may turn out that H1N1 runs its course like ordinary flus, in which case we will have prepared and we won't need all these preparations,\" Obama said, using the flu's scientific name. The president stressed the government was still taking the virus very seriously, adding that even if this round turns out to be mild, the bug could return in a deadlier form during the next flu season. New York officials said after a week of monitoring the disease that the city's outbreak gives little sign of spreading beyond a few pockets or getting more dangerous. All but two of the city's confirmed cases so far involve people associated with the high school where the local outbreak began and where several students had recently returned from Mexico. More than 1,000 students, parents and faculty there reported flu symptoms over just a few days last month. But since then, only a handful of new infections have been reported \ufffd only eight students since last Sunday. Almost everyone who became ill before then are either recovering or already well. The school, which was closed this past week, is scheduled to reopen Monday. No new confirmed cases were identified in the city on Friday, and Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the outbreak in New York had so far proved to be \"a relatively minor annoyance.\" In Mexico, where swine flu has killed at least 15 people and the confirmed case count has surpassed 300, the health secretary said few of the relatives of 86 suspected swine flu patients had caught the virus. Only four of the 219 relatives surveyed turned up as probable cases. As recently as Wednesday, Mexican authorities said there were 168 suspected swine flu deaths in the country and almost 2,500 suspected cases. The officials have stopped updating that number and say those totals may have even been inflated. Mexico shut down all but essential government services and private businesses Friday, the start of a five-day shutdown that includes a holiday weekend. Authorities there will use the break to determine whether emergency measures can be eased. In the Mexican capital, there were no reports of deaths overnight \ufffd the first time that has happened since the emergency was declared a week ago, said Mayor Marcelo Ebrard. \"This isn't to say we are lowering our guard or we think we no longer have problems,\" Ebrard said. \"But we're moving in the right direction.\" The U.S. case count rose to 155 on Friday, based on federal and state counts, although state laboratory operators believe the number is higher because they are not testing all suspected cases. Worldwide, the total confirmed cases neared 600, although that number is also believed to be much larger. Besides the U.S. and Mexico, the virus has been detected in Canada, New Zealand, China, Israel and eight European nations. There were still plenty of signs Friday of worldwide concern. China decided to suspend flights from Mexico to Shanghai because of a case of swine flu confirmed in a flight from Mexico, China's state-run Xinhua News Agency reported. And in Hong Kong, hundreds of hotel guests and workers were quarantined after a tourist from Mexico tested positive for swine flu, Asia's first confirmed case. Evoking the 2003 SARS outbreak, workers in protective suits and masks wiped down tables, floors and windows. Guests at the hotel waved to photographers from their windows. Scientists looking closely at the H1N1 virus itself have found some encouraging news, said Nancy Cox, flu chief at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Its genetic makeup doesn't show specific traits that showed up in the 1918 pandemic virus, which killed about 40 million to 50 million people worldwide. \"However, we know that there is a great deal that we do not u"}, {"response": 381, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, May  2, 2009 (00:12)", "body": "There was a kind of snarky piece in the Metro paper today about the flu (swine and other animal named) that I wanted to see if I could find online to post here. I, too, thought the reaction seemed so over the top compared to what was happening. It's why I kept asking what was supposed to be so special about this, like it was the second coming of the plague. Hillary's a busy, busy bee. Her Rival Now Her Boss, Clinton Settles Into New Role By MARK LANDLER Published: May 1, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/02/world/02clinton.html?_r=1&pagewanted=1&partner=rss&emc=rss"}, {"response": 382, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, May  3, 2009 (02:41)", "body": "Buffett dispenses gloom at Berkshire fest Reuters By Jonathan Stempel And Lilla Zuill Sat May 2, 5:07 pm ET OMAHA, Nebraska (Reuters) \u2013 Warren Buffett told a record crowd at a somber annual meeting of his Berkshire Hathaway Inc that first-quarter operating profit fell and the company's book value declined 6 percent, as the recession hurt many of the company's businesses and investments. Operating profit fell about 12 percent from a year earlier to $1.7 billion, as most of Berkshire's businesses were \"basically down,\" Buffett told an estimated 35,000 people at the meeting in downtown Omaha. The decline in book value results in part from falling stock prices and higher losses on derivatives contracts, and comes on top of a 9.6 percent decline last year, the biggest drop since Buffett began running the company in 1965. Buffett acknowledged that Berkshire will probably lose money on derivatives tied to the credit quality of junk bonds, though he still expects to make money on a much larger and longer-term derivatives bet that stock prices will rise. Berkshire's cash stake fell to about $22.7 billion on March 31 from $25.5 billion at year end, Buffett said. Berkshire expects to report results on May 8. The outlook punctuated a meeting that had a decidedly more serious and somber tone from years past as many investors expressed worries about the economy, Berkshire's investments, and how long the 78-year-old Buffett plans to stay on the job. Half the questions were pre-screened by journalists, providing a tougher and more substantive dialogue with Buffett and his 85-year-old vice chairman, Charlie Munger. Berkshire's stock has fallen 39 percent since December 2007, but Buffett said no stock buybacks are planned because Berkshire's share price is not \"demonstrably below\" the company's intrinsic value. Profit fell 62 percent last year. Buffett offered a gloomy forecast for parts of the economy and Berkshire itself, saying some units are laying off workers as managers \"look at the reality of the current situation.\" He also said massive federal efforts to stimulate activity could pay off, at a possible cost of higher inflation. \"It has been a very extraordinary year,\" Buffett said. \"When the American public pulls back the way they have, the government does need to step in.... It is the right thing to do, but it won't be a free ride.\" DERIVATIVES Buffett said housing prices have yet to stabilize broadly, that retailers may be under pressure for a \"considerable period of time,\" and that he would not buy most U.S. newspaper companies \"at any price.\" He also said that in insurance, which comprises about half of Berkshire's operations, the earnings power \"was not as good last year as normal\" and \"won't be as good this year.\" Buffett had transformed Berkshire from a failing textile maker into a company with close to 80 businesses that sell such things as Geico car insurance, paint, ice cream and underwear. Buffett is often considered the world's greatest investor, but recent missteps have prompted speculation the world's second-richest person has lost his touch. Berkshire still has three internal candidates to replace him as chief executive, including one the board could appoint immediately if the occasion arose. Buffett said the four candidates to replace him as chief investment officer failed in 2008 to outperform the Standard & Poor's 500, which fell 38 percent that year. But he said the candidates' performance has been \"modestly to significantly better than average\" over 10 years, and that he was confident they could repeat that in the next 10 years. Marc Rabinov, a shareholder from Melbourne, Australia, who said he was attending his 13th meeting, called succession a \"big problem.\" But he added: \"They are very good at being able to assess character, and that's the most important thing about who replaces him.\" Much of the worry about Berkshire has focused on Buffett's use of derivatives in making long-term bets on the direction of stocks and junk bonds, and which have so far resulted in billions of dollars of paper losses. While Buffett still expects the contracts tied to equity stock indexes to make money, he said \"we have run into far more bankruptcies in the last year than is normal.\" He said he now expects the contracts tied to credit defaults, which mature between 2009 and 2013, will show a loss before investment income, and perhaps after as well. Buffett distinguishes his derivatives from others, given that he collects billions of dollars of premiums upfront to invest and posts little collateral. He called other derivatives \"a danger to the system. There is no question about that.\" CONFIDENCE IN BANKS Buffett expressed confidence in Wells Fargo & Co, one of Berkshire's biggest investments, saying it has \"by far the best competitive position\" of any large U.S. bank. He noted that Wells Fargo shares fell below $9 earlier this year, and that at that price, \"If I had (to) put all of my net worth into stock, that would "}, {"response": 383, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, May  3, 2009 (17:22)", "body": "Tsk, tsk on Silvio. Berlusconi's wife wants divorce: reports AFP by Ljubomir Milasin Ljubomir Milasin \u2013 1 hr 14 mins ago ROME (AFP) \u2013 Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's long-suffering wife Veronica Lario is to seek a divorce after running out of patience with his roving eye, newspapers reported on Sunday. The 72-year-old Berlusconi himself refused to comment on the details of the reports but acknowledged that he was going through a \"painful\" period in his private life after nearly 30 years of marriage. A government source later stressed that Berlusconi had not been asked to react to \"a concrete event, such as divorce papers\". \"Veronica's choice: Farewell Silvio,\" said the frontpage headline of La Stampa while the rival la Repubblica led with the headline: \"I've decided, I want a divorce,\" with both papers quoting close friends. The two papers both said that Lario had contacted a divorce lawyer and given instructions to proceed towards a separation as quickly as possible. Italian news agency ANSA later echoed the reports. The reports said she had been particularly infuriated by her husband's decision to attend an 18th birthday party in Naples last week for the blonde daughter of one of his business associates even though he never went to any of his own children's coming-of-age parties. \"My marriage is over. I can't stay with someone who cavorts with minors,\" Lario was quoted as saying by one of her friends. \"I read in the papers about how he has been hanging around a minor -- because he must have known her before she was 18 -- and how she called him 'Papa' and about their meetings in Rome and Milan. \"This is no longer acceptable. How can I stay with such a man,\" she was quoted as saying in La Stampa. The reports come only three days after Lario wrote an open letter to newspapers saying that her husband's well-known penchant for pretty women was a source of \"suffering\". \"I want it to be clear that I and my children are the victims and not accomplices in this situation. We must put up with it and that makes us suffer,\" she wrote in a letter splashed across the Italian press. The letter, the second such public outburst from Veronica, dealt mainly with Berlusconi's choice of candidates from his People of Freedom party to stand in European Union elections set for June. Some are reportedly pretty young women with no political experience, including a television actress and a former Miss Italy candidate. Berlusconi had reacted to the letter by saying his wife should not believe the \"left-wing press\" but he acknowledged on Sunday that his marriage was going through a rocky period. \"This is a painful personal episode which should remain private and it does not seem to me to be right to be talking about it,\" he told the Italian media. Opposition reaction was swift and blunt. Said Mario Adinolfi, a member of the main opposition Democratic Party's ruling council: \"Let's leave the hypocrisy behind and say it clearly: Berlusconi's divorce is a political issue and an opportunity for the PD. \"The person who knows him best says 'he's not right' or 'he is cavorting with minors'. \"Can you imagine (US President Barack) Obama hit with such a blow by Michelle, or (French counterpart Nicolas) Sarkozy suffering in the same way from Carla Bruni, without any public and political debate?\" The couple married in 1980 and have three children, all in their 20s. The 52-year-old Lario is a former stage actress who is 20 years Berlusconi's junior and his second wife. The pair, who are rarely seen in public together, have long had a tempestuous relationship. In January 2007, Berlusconi issued a public apology to Lario after she learned through the press of his verbal dalliance with a pretty young lawmaker. \"Please forgive me, and take this public testimony... as an act of love, one among many,\" he said after Lario wrote an open letter to the daily La Repubblica demanding he show contrition. http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090503/ts_afp/italypoliticsberlusconipeople_20090503200706"}, {"response": 384, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Wed, May  6, 2009 (11:06)", "body": "I too feel strongly about this and sincerely hope some good comes out of Joanna's meeting with Gordon and that he hasn't given a load of the Government spin. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8036036.stm"}, {"response": 385, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, May  6, 2009 (11:13)", "body": "I have great respect for the Gurkhus who have always fought bravely in the British army...but why does that brigade want to settle in the UK? Political asylum?"}, {"response": 386, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Wed, May  6, 2009 (12:37)", "body": "I have always believed political asylum to be their reason for wanting to settle in the UK. I can accept the Government doesn't want to 'open the flood gates' but these guys fought alongside the UK army risking their lives for the UK. The Government have allowed asylum to less worthy cases."}, {"response": 387, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, May  6, 2009 (12:57)", "body": "(Sue) I have always believed political asylum to be their reason for wanting to settle in the UK. I can find absolutely nothing to this effect. The word asylum enters into discussions only because the case goes before the \"Immigration and Asylum Board.\" From my gleanings, the basis of this movement has to do with your nationalized benefits (health care, etc.), which they want (and most would consider they've earned) but that the rules were changed, making it impossible for most Ghurkas (and there aren't many anymore) to meet. The courts overturned that law, but the government has yet to act on it. There seems to be widespread support for honoring the Ghurkas' history and sacrifice, so I would imagine there will be a satisfactory result. Read that Ghurkas protected Harry in Afghanistan just recently."}, {"response": 388, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Wed, May  6, 2009 (13:15)", "body": "(Sue) I have always believed political asylum to be their reason for wanting to settle in the UK. I can find absolutely nothing to this effect. The word asylum enters into discussions only because the case goes before the \"Immigration and Asylum Board.\" My bad then. I just believe these guys have fought for the UK (my country) and shouldn't be so easily sidelined as seems to be the case with the present government!"}, {"response": 389, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, May  6, 2009 (15:17)", "body": "I don't no much about Ghurkas, but as long as they are not Muslim.... ;-) I do know about Berlusconi, and his always absent \"actress\" wife, the one who wrecked his first marriage. His wife is never seen in public with him, has never acted as his \"First Lady\" either. She's just a gold digger who wants a divorce. It has been a complete set up that incident in Naples. Good news is that the Italian people are on his side."}, {"response": 390, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, May  6, 2009 (18:28)", "body": "(Sue) My bad then. I just believe these guys have fought for the UK (my country) and shouldn't be so easily sidelined as seems to be the case with the present government! No argument from me. They've been a valued and valorous part of your army for such a long time. Surely, the idiot argument that it would create some sort of precedent for other foreign nationals who have been members of the military is silly. Had they been from a Commonwealth country, the 20 year service rule wouldn't have applied at all. Your courts have thrown out the requirement. But the issue is not that they are being persecuted in Nepal."}, {"response": 391, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, May  6, 2009 (18:29)", "body": ".... umm...to my knowledge"}, {"response": 392, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, May 11, 2009 (00:36)", "body": "Just posting this to save it for future comments I hope to get back to. There's a number of things posted in the last couple of weeks I wanted to comment on, but been putting it off for various reasons. Health groups offer $2 trillion in cost savings AP By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR and PHILIP ELLIOTT, Associated Press Writers Sun May 10, 9:00 pm ET WASHINGTON \ufffd President Barack Obama's plan to provide medical insurance for all Americans took a big step toward becoming reality Sunday after leaders of the health care industry offered $2 trillion in spending reductions over 10 years to help pay for the program. Hospitals, insurance companies, drug makers and doctors planned to tell Obama on Monday they'll voluntarily slow their rate increases in coming years in a move that government economists say would create breathing room to help provide health insurance to an estimated 50 million Americans who now go without it. With this move, Obama picks up key private-sector allies that fought former President Bill Clinton's effort to overhaul health care. Although the offer from the industry groups doesn't resolve thorny details of a new health care system, it does offer the prospect of freeing a large chunk of money to help pay for coverage. And it puts the private-sector groups in a good position to influence the bill Congress is writing. Six major groups plan to deliver a letter to Obama and pledge to cut the growth rate for health care by 1.5 percentage points each year, senior administration officials said Sunday. They spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to sketch the offer before full details are revealed at a White House event scheduled for Monday. Obama has offered an outline for overhauling the health care system, and he wants Congress to work out the details and pass legislation this year. His plan would build on the current system in which employers, government and individuals share responsibility for paying the cost and care is delivered privately. The government would play a stronger role by subsidizing coverage for many more people and spelling out stronger consumer protections. \"We cannot continue down the same dangerous road we've been traveling for so many years, with costs that are out of control, because reform is not a luxury that can be postponed, but a necessity that cannot wait,\" Obama said in prepared remarks the White House released Sunday. \"That is why these groups are voluntarily coming together to make an unprecedented commitment.\" The industry groups are trying to get on the administration bandwagon for expanded coverage now in the hope they can steer Congress away from legislation that would restrict their profitability in future years. Insurers, for example, want to avoid the creation of a government health plan that would directly compete with them to enroll middle-class workers and their families. Drug makers worry that in the future, new medications might have to pass a cost-benefit test before they can win approval. And hospitals and doctors are concerned the government could dictate what they get paid to care for any patient, not only the elderly and the poor. Obama has courted industry and provider groups, inviting their representatives to the White House. There's a sense among some of the groups that now may be the best time to act before public opinion, fueled by anger over costs, turns against them. It's unclear whether the proposed savings will prove decisive in pushing a health care overhaul through Congress. There's no detail on how the savings pledge would be enforced. And, critically, the promised savings in private health care costs would accrue to society as a whole, not just the federal government. That's a crucial distinction because specific federal savings are needed to help pay for the cost of expanding coverage. Indeed, costs have emerged as the most serious obstacle to Obama's plan. The estimated federal costs range from $1.2 trillion to $1.5 trillion over 10 years, and so far Obama has only spelled out how to get about half of that. Administration officials would not say Sunday how much they think Obama's plan will ultimately cost, but they indicated they were confident it can be paid for. A reduction of 1.5 percentage points a year in the rate of increase in costs may not sound like much, but administration officials said it amounts to slowing the current 7 percent annual increase in costs by about one-fifth. That's significant when health care spending keeps running far ahead of inflation year after year. They estimated, for instance, that five years from now, such private cost curbs could save a family of four an average of $2,500 a year in health care costs. Administration officials said they didn't expect all the saving strategies to be announced Monday, nor did they have access to specifics on how the groups reached their estimates and analysis. But the initial reaction was positive. \"While serious questions remain about the details, AARP believes the"}, {"response": 393, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, May 11, 2009 (09:33)", "body": "STIMULUS WATCH: Early road aid leaves out neediest AP By MATT APUZZO and BRETT J. BLACKLEDGE, Associated Press Writers 10 mins ago WASHINGTON \ufffd Counties suffering the most from job losses stand to receive the least help from President Barack Obama's plan to spend billions of stimulus dollars on roads and bridges, an Associated Press analysis has found. Although the intent of the money is to put people back to work, AP's review of more than 5,500 planned transportation projects nationwide reveals that states are planning to spend the stimulus in communities where jobless rates are already lower. One result among many: Elk County, Pa., isn't receiving any road money despite its 13.8 percent unemployment rate. Yet the military and college community of Riley County, Kan., with its 3.4 percent unemployment, will benefit from about $56 million to build a highway, improve an intersection and restore a historic farmhouse. Altogether, the government is set to spend 50 percent more per person in areas with the lowest unemployment than it will in communities with the highest. The AP reviewed $18.9 billion in projects, the most complete picture available of where states plan to spend the first wave of highway money. The projects account for about half of the $38 billion set aside for states and local governments to spend on roads, bridges and infrastructure in the stimulus plan. The very promise that Obama made, to spend money quickly and create jobs, is locking out many struggling communities needing those jobs. The money goes to projects ready to start. But many struggling communities don't have projects waiting on a shelf. They couldn't afford the millions of dollars for preparation and plans that often is required. \"It's not fair,\" said Martin Schuller, the borough manager in the Elk County seat of Ridgway, who commiserates about the inequity in highway aid with colleagues in nearby towns. \"It's a joke because we're not going to get it, because we don't have any projects ready to go.\" The early trend seen in the AP analysis runs counter to expectations raised by Obama, that road and infrastructure money from the historic $787 billion stimulus plan would create jobs in areas most devastated by layoffs and plant closings. Transportation money, he said, would mean paychecks for \"folks looking for work\" and \"folks who want to work.\" \"That's the core of my plan, putting people to work doing the work that America needs done,\" Obama said in a Feb. 11 speech promoting transportation spending as a way to expand employment. Also, Congress required states to use some of the highway money for projects in economically distressed areas, but didn't impose sanctions if they didn't. States can lose money, however, if they don't spend fast enough. The AP examined the earliest projects announced nationwide, the ones most likely to break ground and create jobs first. More projects are continually being announced, and some areas that received little or no help so far may benefit later. The Obama administration could also encourage states to change their plans. To determine whether there was a disparity in where the money would go, the AP divided the nation's counties into four groups by unemployment levels. The analysis found that, no matter how the early money is measured, communities suffering most fare the worst: _High-unemployment counties, those in the top quarter of jobless rates, are allotted about 16 percent of the money, compared with about 20 percent for areas least affected by joblessness. _In low-unemployment counties nationwide, those in the bottom quarter of jobless rates, the federal government is spending about $89 a person compared with $59 a person in the worst-hit areas. _In counties with the largest populations, the government is spending about $69 a person in areas with the lowest unemployment and $40 a person in places with the greatest job need. The analysis also found that counties with the highest unemployment are most likely to have been passed over completely in the early spending. Among them: Wheeler County, Ore.; Steuben County, Ind.; Macon County, Ga.; and Crowley County, Colo. Many others are getting minimal help in this round: Vermillion County, Ind.; Lapeer County, Mich.; Presidio County, Texas; Tallahatchi County, Miss. Those counties still will benefit from job creation elsewhere in their states, said Lana Hurdle, a Transportation official overseeing the agency's stimulus money. \"Even if you have to drive to it, it's better than no job,\" Hurdle said. Joel Szabat, who also oversees the stimulus for the Transportation Department, said the agency presses states to build projects in struggling areas but does not normally consider how much money is going to each county. Presented with AP's findings, he said: \"I will be going back to ask our folks to do this kind of analysis, the overall amount for the projects.\" \"Our goal, and I think it is a goal that will be achieved, is that you will see that a fair sha"}, {"response": 394, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, May 20, 2009 (13:51)", "body": "Loved how the Kansas congressman said that Fort Leavenworth (the max security military prison on US govt land) wasn't equipped to handle them. *rolling eyes* I don't see how he even has a say on a military prison. Maybe the fort itself should be closed down entirely. I know of many states that have had military installations closed down and would welcome the biz. Senate votes to block funds for Guantanamo closure By ANDREW TAYLOR, Associated Press Writer \ufffd 20 mins ago WASHINGTON \ufffd In a major rebuke to President Barack Obama, the Senate voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to block the transfer of Guantanamo detainees to the United States and denied the administration the millions it sought to close the prison. The 90-6 Senate vote \ufffd paired with similar House action last week \ufffd was a clear sign to Obama that he faces a tough fight getting the Democratic-controlled Congress to agree with his plans to shut down the detention center and move the 240 detainees. The vote came as FBI Director Robert Mueller told Congress that bringing Guantanamo detainees to the United States could pose a number of risks, even if they were kept in maximum-security prisons. Mueller's testimony to a House panel put him at odds with the president and undercut the administration's arguments for shuttering the facility. \"The concerns we have about individuals who may support terrorism being in the United States run from concerns about providing financing, radicalizing others,\" Mueller said, as well as \"the potential for individuals undertaking attacks in the United States.\" Last month, Obama asked for $80 million for the Pentagon and the Justice Department to close the facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, by January. In the eyes of the world, the prison has come to exemplify harsh U.S. anti-terror tactics and detention without trial for almost all of its inmates, most of whom were captured in Afghanistan. The administration put its Democratic allies in a difficult spot by requesting the Guantanamo closure money before developing a plan for what to do with its detainees. Obama is scheduled to give a major address Thursday outlining in more detail his plans for Guantanamo, but it's already clear that many in Congress have little appetite for bringing detainees to U.S. soil, even if the inmates would be held in maximum-security prisons. In recent weeks, Republicans have called for keeping Guantanamo open, saying abuses at the facility are a thing of the past and describing it as a state-of-the-art prison that's nicer than some U.S. prisons. And they warn that terrorists who can't be convicted might be set free in the United States. \"The American people don't want these men walking the streets of America's neighborhoods,\" Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., said Wednesday. \"The American people don't want these detainees held at a military base or federal prison in their backyard, either.\" In another development Wednesday, a federal judge said the United States can continue to hold some prisoners at Guantanamo indefinitely without any charges. Obama's new Pentagon policy chief, Michele Flournoy, said it's unrealistic to think that no detainees will come to the United States, and that the government can't ask allies to take detainees while refusing to take on the same burden. \"When we are asking allies to do their fair share in dealing with this challenge we need to do our fair share,\" Flournoy told reporters. Obama ally Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., pointed out that not a single prisoner has ever escaped from a federal \"supermax\" prison and that 347 convicted terrorists are already being held in U.S. prisons. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, among the few Republicans joining former GOP presidential nominee John McCain of Arizona in calling for Guantanamo to be closed, scoffed at the idea that the government can't find a way to hold Guantanamo prisoners in the United States. Graham noted that 400,000 German and Japanese prisoners were held during World War II. \"The idea that we cannot find a place to securely house 250-plus detainees within the United States is not rational. We have done this before,\" Graham said. \"But it is my belief that you need a plan before you close Gitmo.\" While allies such as Durbin have cast the development as a delay of only a few months, other Democrats have made it plain they don't want any of Guantanamo's detainees sent to the United States to stand trial or serve prison sentences. Despite the setback, some Democrats said Obama should not be underestimated. \"The president's very capable of putting together a plan that I think will win the approval of a majority of members of Congress,\" said moderate Nebraska Democrat Ben Nelson. \"I can't imagine that he won't.\""}, {"response": 395, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, May 20, 2009 (14:59)", "body": "I know of many states that have had military installations closed down and would welcome the biz. I doubt it. No body wants them.NIMBY. Maybe yours. Think Schumer is going to take them in Camp (now Fort) Drum? Why doesn't Durbin take them at Fort Sheridan? ...they have 90 acres to build a supermax prison there. That's a kiss of death for a politician's addition to his/her re-election resume."}, {"response": 396, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, May 20, 2009 (16:48)", "body": "Senate votes to block funds for Guantanamo closure There's a word for these people that begins with a P, that I shall not use, but does apply IMO."}, {"response": 397, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, May 20, 2009 (17:24)", "body": "I doubt it. The fort itself. Besides, why spend the money to build when you already have a facility. Wasteful spending. Fort Sheridan was closed. Most of the land was sold to developers and is probably some of the most valuable RE owned by the military. Sort of like Presidio land. It is contiguous to Highland Park, highly affluent area and along the lakefront. Glenview Naval Air Station was also closed and is now almost a new town in and of itself, called The Glen."}, {"response": 398, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, May 20, 2009 (17:55)", "body": "Or Alcatraz...I hear the view is terrific. Actually, I say give 'em a green card and a one-way ticket to San Francisco;-)"}, {"response": 399, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, May 21, 2009 (00:49)", "body": "This kind of sums it up for me on the prisoner subject. And brings up some of the same subjects and questions I have. I forgot about that Supermax prison in CO, but I did remember all the famous criminals there. World's Dumbest Talking Point Gets Traction by Cenk Uygur Wed May 20, 2009 at 01:25:36 PM PDT For weeks now, Republicans have been talking about how we can't bring Guantanamo detainees to the US as if we'd be bringing them in for a picnic. They have pretended that bringing them to the US is the same thing as releasing them out in the middle of Kansas or Oklahoma (or right by Ground Zero as the dumbass Peter King suggested). We've talked about this on our show from time to time to mock them mercilessly, but I didn't bother writing about it because who would be dumb enough to believe this inane talking point? Well, now we have our answer. Almost the entire Senate. They just voted 90-6 to say that the Obama administration cannot have the funds they need to close Gitmo and bring the detainees for trial here in the US. Rep. King was outraged at the idea that the people who carried out 9/11 would be tried near Ground Zero. Where the hell else would they be tried? That's where the crime happened. That's how our system works. Where are we supposed to try them - on Mars? Well, the Bush administration came up with the novel idea of turning our military base at Guantanamo Bay into a legal version of Mars. And since it's been ongoing for almost eight years now, everybody seems to find that a credible solution. But that's crazy. The United States cannot create a legal black hole where we put anyone we don't like and hold them there indefinitely. That was the whole problem with the Bush administration and Gitmo in the first place. ...... So, let's get to the main and most obvious point here - bringing detainees to America does not mean we release them in America. The people who planned and carried out the first World Trade Center bombing are now in the United States! Everyone, panic! Oh no, that's right, they're locked up in a Supermax prison in Colorado, from which they will never emerge. Problem solved. Why is that so hard to understand? FBI Director Robert Mueller testified today in Congress that if they are even held in a prison in the US, they could radicalize the other prisoners. Here are some of the other prisoners at the Supermax in Colorado - the Oklahoma City bomber Terry Nichols, World Trade Center bombers Ramzi Yousef and the Blind Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, the Unabomber Ted Kaczynski, the Olympic Park bomber Eric Rudolph. Who are the Gitmo detainees going to radicalize, the Unabomber? This is absurd. If we're going to try people for crimes they have committed against the United States, of course we have to try them in the United States. We have plenty of prisons that are completely secure and that they have absolutely no chance of breaking out of and that they can spend the rest of their lives in. http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/5/20/733714/-Worlds-Dumbest-Talking-Point-Gets-Traction"}, {"response": 400, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, May 21, 2009 (09:57)", "body": "This kind of sums it up for me on the prisoner subject. And brings up some of the same subjects and questions I have. Sorry, I dont read Daily Kos articles..."}, {"response": 401, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, May 21, 2009 (10:02)", "body": "You know, I had a disclaimer line that said I was posting it knowing at least one person wouldn't read it. Then decided to delete it because that's been pretty well covered and it seemed unnecessary for me to point it out, again. Obviously I was wrong."}, {"response": 402, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, May 21, 2009 (10:33)", "body": "We-ell I was only trying to be polite in telling you why I didn't answer your queries. It's OK if you mention me by name: Evelyn, don't read\" \"or you won't like this....or\"E. don't waste your time\" etc. I always look at the end of an article for the provenance before i waste my time. Give me credit....geeze...at least I read the topic."}, {"response": 403, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, May 21, 2009 (15:29)", "body": "Thank you. :-) at least I read the topic. Well, only maybe the topic name depending on the post. ;-)"}, {"response": 404, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, May 23, 2009 (10:42)", "body": "Someone on this topic said that some states would welcome some extra money.... now here's one that could use it. Arnold Schwarzenegger to sell off San Quentin to ease budget crisis http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article6289694.ece Prime real estate.Look at that view"}, {"response": 405, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, May 23, 2009 (12:16)", "body": "Unfortunately, it's not a seller's market. I'd be surprised if they got that much for either, or even got viable bids."}, {"response": 406, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, May 23, 2009 (16:33)", "body": "....even got viable bids. I mean....How about the Feds for our alleged terrorists? I bet California would take $80M in a minute and would relish the jobs potential. You know....\"Cells with a view\""}, {"response": 407, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, May 23, 2009 (17:29)", "body": "How about the Feds for our alleged terrorists? Housing them there (and in the Supermax prison, noted in the piece above you said you won't read), was my first thought actually. Assuming they have the room."}, {"response": 408, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, May 23, 2009 (18:14)", "body": "My links are from mainstream papers:-D They house 5000 prisoners...600 on death row. Surely theres' room for 240. Other states don't want them. Not even Kansas when Kathleen Sibelius was governor...of course now that she's in the cabinet.......... Diane Feinsteing said Alcatraz was one of our \"historical treasures\" *rolling eyes.*"}, {"response": 409, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, May 23, 2009 (18:34)", "body": "Why should the Federal govt buy another prison, when it already has its own. Like I said, use existing federally owned facilities."}, {"response": 410, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, May 23, 2009 (23:32)", "body": "Does anyone here really care if they bring any of those people to appropriately maximum security prisons in their states? If so, why? I don't care with regards to here, honestly. What makes the Gitmo prisoners any different than any other criminals in those places? Especially since we have terrorists in our prisons already. Including the first WTC bombers."}, {"response": 411, "author": "sandyw", "date": "Sun, May 24, 2009 (00:44)", "body": "The thing is that as far as I know, none of the prisoners has actually been convicted of anything so presuming they are innocent until proven guilty, I don't think we can call them criminals. In fact, I think most of the prisoners have not even been charged with any crimes. Most have been held for 8 years without due process. We have a similar situation here in Canada with our \"security certificates\". Several individuals have been held in jail based on national security interests but they are not permitted to defend themselves against the accusations nor even see the evidence. There are no easy solutions to either situation but I feel personally diminished by my country's actions which fly in the face of everything democracy means to me."}, {"response": 412, "author": "sandyw", "date": "Sun, May 24, 2009 (00:47)", "body": "(me) I don't think we can call them criminals oops .... I mean, I don't think I can call them criminals."}, {"response": 413, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sun, May 24, 2009 (08:58)", "body": "Hard to overrule that 90-6 vote in the Senate not to house those alleged terrorists in the states. Some of those guys are up for re-election in '10 Bagram anyone? We have prisoners there. Also how about twisting a few arms of their home countries to receive them back. BTW Yemen said they would take them. (Bet they would spring to stay in Gitmo)"}, {"response": 414, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, May 24, 2009 (11:22)", "body": "Op-Ed Columnist When Did Cowboys Get Wimpy? By GAIL COLLINS Published: May 22, 2009 Out of all the problems we have run into in dealing with the giant hairball that is known as the Bush War on Terror, one of the weirdest is the reaction to President Obama\ufffds plan to close down Guant\ufffdnamo. In the rank of threats to public safety, putting the Guant\ufffdnamo inmates in maximum-security prisons in the United States has got to come in way behind, say, making it easy for customers to purchase firearms at gun shows. But to hear the howls coming from Congress, you\ufffdd think the Obama administration was planning to house the prisoners in suburban preschools. \ufffdTerrorists. Coming soon to a neighborhood near you,\ufffd warned a Republican Web video, which mixed pictures of accused terrorists with road signs in states where the G.O.P. predicted they might be sent. In another production, the occasionally loyal opposition resurrected the infamous \ufffdDaisy\ufffd countdown ad to show a little girl picking petals off a flower while the president prepares to close Gitmo. \ufffdTo bring the worst of the worst terrorists inside the United States would be cause for great danger and regret in the years to come,\ufffd snarled Dick Cheney in his \ufffdno middle ground\ufffd speech. Although really, for the sake of the national mental health, it might be better if we all just ignore the former vice president until he agrees to undergo therapy. Forget I ever mentioned it. Instead, consider the case of Hardin, Mont., a community of 3,400 people just down the road from the place where Custer made his Last Stand. Lately, things have not been going any better for Hardin than they did for the general. Unemployment is rife. \ufffdYou go look at our downtown, there\ufffds many closed businesses ... you\ufffdll see drunks laying in the street. It\ufffds not a pretty sight,\ufffd the head of the town\ufffds economic development authority told National Public Radio. The town built a $27 million, 464-bed prison under the theory that other parts of the state would pay to have Hardin look after their problem residents. But it\ufffds been empty since it was declared open for business nearly two years ago, and the construction loans are in default. So, with the town council\ufffds enthusiastic support, Hardin volunteered to take the Guant\ufffdnamo prisoners. It\ufffds unlikely that the White House would have accepted the offer, but it was certainly an example of pluck and you\ufffdd think everyone would give Hardin three cheers. Instead, Montana\ufffds Democratic senators went ballistic. \ufffdWe\ufffdre not going to bring Al Qaeda to Big Sky Country \ufffd no way, not on my watch,\ufffd said Max Baucus. \ufffdIf these prisoners need a new place, it\ufffds not going to be anywhere near The Last Best Place,\ufffd said Jon Tester. This shows us two things: 1) Montana has given itself many nicknames. 2) Montanans are more easily frightened than Manhattanites. Think about it. New Yorkers live in the top terror target in the nation. This week four new would-be terrorists were arrested for plotting to blow up synagogues in the Bronx. On the same day, President Obama announced that the first Guant\ufffdnamo prisoner to be tried in the United States would be coming to court in Lower Manhattan. Even though it appears the guys involved in the Bronx case were deeply, deeply inept, this is still not the kind of news package you want to hear. But nobody had a fit over it. \ufffdBottom line is we have had terrorists housed in New York before,\ufffd said Senator Charles Schumer. New Yorkers aren\ufffdt the only ones who have learned to calmly resist both international terrorism and national hysteria. The small town of Florence, Colo., has a 490-bed high-security facility known as Supermax, which houses 33 terrorists, including Ramzi Yousef, who led the first World Trade Center bombing; the failed shoe-bomber Richard Reid; and Zacarias Moussaoui, convicted of conspiring in the Sept. 11 attacks. The local residents seem fine with it, possibly because they know the prisoners spend 23 hours a day in their cells, which are made of poured concrete and furnished with concrete tables and bunks. Nobody escapes from maximum-security prisons. But even if they did, who would you rather have on the lam in your neighborhood \ufffd a native of Afghanistan whose history suggests an affinity for jihad? Or a resident of your own state whose history suggests an affinity for breaking into people\ufffds houses, tying them up and torturing them? The nation, as we all know, is divided into crowded states and empty states, and I was always under the impression that folks in the empty places were particularly brave and self-reliant. Those of us who live in the crowded parts have many good qualities, but we are not necessarily all of pioneer stock, given the critical importance we assign to restaurants that deliver at 2 in the morning. Who knew we were tougher than Montanans? http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/23/opinion/23collins.html?_r=1&ref=opinion"}, {"response": 415, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, May 24, 2009 (11:39)", "body": "(Sandy) I don't think we can call them criminals. In fact, I think most of the prisoners have not even been charged with any crimes. Most have been held for 8 years without due process. That's quite true. Some of these people it turns out were just victims of bounty hunters and pissed off neighbors. And even the ones that did do something, do not deserve indefinite detention without due process, or a flawed process such as the military tribunals that were stopped by the Supreme Court in the end due to the Hamdan case because they, among other things, violated federal and international law. Bagram = Gitmo 2 (actually it was there before Gitmo if I'm not mistaken). It needs to go too. That's the amazing thing about it. It's no different, but didn't get the attention of Gitmo. No pics I guess. (Evelyn) Some of those guys are up for re-election in '10 Of course and nothing else matters. Apparently esp common sense on their or the public's parts. Well people are freaked out thanks to the wonderful Rep propaganda campaign (including dragging out that git, Cheney)."}, {"response": 416, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sun, May 24, 2009 (12:56)", "body": "Cuba's prisons are full of political dissidents. Some of them were turned in by pissed of neighbors who coveted a property or money. I care more for those people than I do for the Gitmo prisoners who are there for a reason, whether they have been charged or not. Because they have not been charged, some politicians have been talking about releasing some of those prisoners to their family members in VA, where there is a big Muslim population. I don't want them here. Trouble is sure to follow. I also wish the world would consider South and Central America as much as they do Africa."}, {"response": 417, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, May 24, 2009 (13:26)", "body": "(Dorine) Does anyone here really care if they bring any of those people to appropriately maximum security prisons in their states? Nope. I checked and the only Federal prison in Illinois is at Marion, which used to be a supermax facility and was renovated and downgraded to medium security in 2006. Interestingly, it was built to replace Alcatraz and the worst of the worst were housed here, including convicted mobsters and spies. Now the Colorado facility is the only supermax in the country. By design, the higher security prisons have been built in the middle of Nowheresville, USA. Arguments for creating a detention center in any populated area are specious, inflammatory, irrational and a complete waste of everybody's time. BTW, love the NY Times op-ed piece. But to hear the howls coming from Congress, you\ufffdd think the Obama administration was planning to house the prisoners in suburban preschools. LOL! If you want to politicize the decision, just put them in a state that is has voted Republican and would continue to do so no matter what. Also how about twisting a few arms of their home countries to receive them back. So they can release them the next day? *scratching head*"}, {"response": 418, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, May 24, 2009 (14:00)", "body": "the Gitmo prisoners who are there for a reason, whether they have been charged or not. What makes you so certain they're any different than the Cuban prisoners. Excellent example BTW, of wrongly imprisoned people."}, {"response": 419, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sun, May 24, 2009 (14:13)", "body": "In my Archie Bunker style: the Muslim prisoners in Gitmo are not political dissidents, were any of them living in Israel? I think not. Do they oppose the US? Yes. And I do believe they are there for a reason, whether they'd been charged or not."}, {"response": 420, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, May 24, 2009 (14:43)", "body": "My point was...political dissidents = wrongly accused."}, {"response": 421, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sun, May 24, 2009 (14:43)", "body": "(Me)Also how about twisting a few arms of their home countries to receive them back. (Karen)So they can release them the next day? *scratching head* scratch all you want , some people;-) consider them innocent, and want them released in Virginia to their families For the record: I want Gitmo closed (as did GWB). And I want it given to Fidel , so he can house his political dissents there. I am sure he would appreciate the good fortune; it's a staate-f the- art venue. Think that would make the ACLU happy???? (Karen)If you want to politicize the decision, just put them in a state that is has voted Republican and would continue to do so no matter what. LOL.Not-so secret agenda creeping out;-) Remember that some of those 90 votes were Dems too."}, {"response": 422, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, May 24, 2009 (15:14)", "body": "as did GWB Maybe he really did, but he had a funny way of showing it. He said that in June 2006. What did he/his administration do to work toward that goal since then? Obama's in, what, a few weeks and he's at least announcing it's going to close within a definite time period (and we'll see if that timeline stays). At least this administration is making an effort. What effort was made previously aside from lip service?"}, {"response": 423, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sun, May 24, 2009 (16:12)", "body": "Dorine, I don't think your point can be used for the Muslims in Gitmo. (Evelyn), For the record: I want Gitmo closed (as did GWB). And I want it given to Fidel , so he can house his political dissents there. Please no. No more gifts for Fidel."}, {"response": 424, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, May 24, 2009 (17:27)", "body": "(Karen)If you want to politicize the decision, just put them in a state that is has voted Republican and would continue to do so no matter what. LOL.Not-so secret agenda creeping out;-) I said If. But I'm not. My position has always been put them in an appropriate and existing Federal facility. There is only one such place: the Colorado one. There's no reason to buy a new place, build a new place or lease a new place. Or put them in Wyoming. By census count, there isn't enough population to rate a congressional district, but constitutionally it has to have at least one representative. Cheney can guard them. I'd feel a whole lot more safe if he stood watch. ;-)"}, {"response": 425, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, May 26, 2009 (09:31)", "body": "He's killed 2 birds with one stone....a Hispanic and a woman. And relatively young as well. AP sources: Obama picks Sotomayor for high court AP By BEN FELLER, Associated Press Writer 28 mins ago WASHINGTON \ufffd President Barack Obama tapped federal appeals judge Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court on Tuesday, officials said, making her the first Hispanic in history picked to wear the robes of a justice. If confirmed by the Senate, Sotomayor, 54, would succeed retiring Justice David Souter. Two officials described Obama's decision on condition of anonymity because no formal announcement had been made. Administration officials say Sotomayor would bring more judicial experience to the Supreme Court than any justice confirmed in the past 70 years. A formal announcement was expected at midmorning. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090526/ap_on_go_su_co/us_obama_supreme_court;_ylt=Al0d08ZPxwdDJLk7CDXBQ4Cs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTJudXE0c24xBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMDkwNTI2L3VzX29iYW1hX3N1cHJlbWVfY291cnQEY3BvcwMxBHBvcwMxBHNlYwN5bl90b3Bfc3RvcnkEc2xrA3Nvbmlhc290b21heQ- -"}, {"response": 426, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, May 26, 2009 (10:05)", "body": "But did she pay her taxes;-)"}, {"response": 427, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, May 26, 2009 (14:26)", "body": "I don't know anything about her, but I like the choice."}, {"response": 428, "author": "mari", "date": "Tue, May 26, 2009 (15:49)", "body": "Sonia is an historic choice! What an exciting selection not only for Hispanic women, but for anyone who raised themselves up from poverty and challenging life circumstances to excel at the highest levels. From a Bronx housing project to Princeton and Yale, and now the highest court, and she brings a wealth of judicial experience with her. A quintessentially American success story."}, {"response": 429, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, May 26, 2009 (15:55)", "body": "You won't get any hits from me....a Catholic, Newyorkican woman :-)))) And as my Senator Coburn said: \"She deserves a fair and open hearing and a dignified confirmation\"."}, {"response": 430, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, May 26, 2009 (16:08)", "body": "\"Newyorkican\" This term puzzles me. I always thought it was \"Newyorican\" (New-Yo-Reecan). That's what I've heard people say here anyway. Maybe I misheard them all these years. Or it's not spelled as it sounds."}, {"response": 431, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, May 26, 2009 (17:42)", "body": "Pronounced with a silent \"k\",(Nuyurican) but spelled with it. (Leave the \"yo\" out of it...we're not from the 'hood;-) http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2009/05/67275855/1 Or at least that's how yahoo spelled it today too."}, {"response": 432, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, May 27, 2009 (00:30)", "body": "Nuyurican Ah yes, I've seen this."}, {"response": 433, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, May 27, 2009 (11:32)", "body": "Wonder if the people who run our Puerto Rican Day parade have already called her to invite her to be co-Grand Marshall for the parade in a couple of weeks. Don't remember who it is this year. Obama High Court Choice Poses Political \ufffdPeril\ufffd for Republicans By James Rowley and Kim Chipman May 27 (Bloomberg) -- By nominating Circuit Judge Sonia Sotomayor to be the first Hispanic justice on the U.S. Supreme Court, President Barack Obama all but dared Senate Republicans to risk alienating Latinos by trying to block her confirmation. Sotomayor, 54, whose upbringing by a single, Puerto Rican mother in New York City public housing is the basis of what Democrat Obama called \ufffdan inspiring life\ufffds journey,\ufffd may be a difficult political target for Republicans. After losing the 2008 elections, the party is seeking to appeal to women and to Hispanics, the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. electorate. Senator Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat designated by the White House to spearhead the confirmation effort, said the nomination will be \ufffdmore a test of the Republican Party\ufffd than of Sotomayor. Republicans \ufffdoppose her at their peril,\ufffd he said. \ufffdThe risk here is not just that they could be seen as anti-Latino or anti-woman, but just more anti, the party of no,\ufffd said pollster Michael Dimock, associate director of the Washington-based Pew Research Center. Hispanics make up potent voting blocs in such states as Florida, California, Texas and New York. Support among Hispanic voters enabled Obama to carry North Carolina, Nevada, Colorado and New Mexico in the presidential election, when he garnered 65 percent of the Latino vote. [cont'd....] http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601070&sid=antcPk557oGw&refer=home"}, {"response": 434, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, May 27, 2009 (13:29)", "body": "Media hype, and inflamatory rhetoric from the infamous Charles Shumer ...what was your word yesterday, Dorine...a git ? She's going to get confirmed; she won't be \"Borked\" And I will say that the Republicans will afford her more courtesy than some of the Democrats to the first Italian-American that was nominated to the Supreme Court. And to his family...that was a circus! Moreover.. It didn't seem to alienate the Italian -Americans vote. Though some of my friends of Italian heritage were offended I maintain that every president has the right to appoint the nominee of his choice with the \"advice and consent of the Senate\". But that doesn't mean that the opposition party cannot conduct an appropriate,fair, dignified hearing . Beisdes it was the Dems in 2003 that derailed the nomination of Judge Miguel Estrada to the US Court of appeal by Pres Bush. http://spectator.org/blog/2009/05/26/sotomayors-radical-legal-group Didn't hurt tham then. FYI the Republican Hispanic National Assembly sent an email yesterday heralding her accomplishments and congratulating her."}, {"response": 435, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jun  2, 2009 (16:42)", "body": "GOP carrying out strategy to oppose Sotomayor Posted 1d 7h ago WASHINGTON (AP) \ufffd Republican Senate leaders won't call U.S. Supreme Court nomineeSonia Sotomayor a racist. But they're not opposing Rush Limbaugh and Newt Gingrich doing so to rile up the out-of-power party. This is part of the strategy being cobbled together by Republican lawmakers and officials to oppose Sotomayor, an appeals court judge and the first Hispanic nominated to the Supreme Court. While some of Sotomayor's past comments could pose a challenge for President Obama's nominee, elected leaders are navigating a tricky question of how to object without alienating the nation's fast-growing \ufffd and increasingly politically active \ufffd Hispanic population. For now, it appears Republican lawmakers will urge respect. But they won't prevent talk-show host Limbaugh from calling Sotomayor a \"racist\" or former House Speaker Gingrich from saying she's a \"Latina woman racist.\" The two-sided strategy would allow Limbaugh and Gingrich \ufffd who hold tremendous sway among the Republican faithful \ufffd to do the political attacks while those facing election can avoid potential backlash if they derail a historic nomination. http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/judicial/2009-06-01-republicans-sotomayor_N.htm?csp=34"}, {"response": 436, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jun  2, 2009 (16:48)", "body": "Classy. Tuesday, June 02, 2009 Group friendly to GOP equates Sotomayor with Klan by John Aravosis (DC) on 6/02/2009 12:59:00 PM The Council of Conservative Citizens, a southern group that has been wooed by former GOP Senate leader Trent Lott and current GOP presidential hopeful Haley Barbour, has a doctored photo on its Web site of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor in KKK garb. The CCC also calls Sotomayor \"whitey hating.\" The ADL says that the CCC is an \"extremist group\" that is \"squarely within Southern racist traditions.\" The Southern Poverty Law Center calls the CCC \"brazenly racist.\" More from SPLC on the CCC: \"[A] hate group that routinely denigrated blacks as \"genetically inferior,\" complained about \"Jewish power brokers,\" called homosexuals \"perverted sodomites,\" accused immigrants of turning America into a \"slimy brown mass of glop,\" and named Lester Maddox, the baseball bat-wielding, arch-segregationist former governor of Georgia, 'Patriot of the Century.'\" The ADL and the SPLC both note that former GOP chairman, and current GOP presidential hopeful, Haley Barbour spoke to a CCC gathering after the scandal that ensued when Trent Lott's associations with the group were revealed (in other words, Barber knew full well what the group was about and he still wooed them). Someone needs to ask Republican party chair Michael Steele, who is himself black, what he thinks of the Council of Conservative Citizens, of Haley Barbour wooing them, and of the CCC comparing Sotomayor to the Klan. http://www.americablog.com/2009/06/group-friendly-to-gop-equates-sotomayor.html"}, {"response": 437, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Jun  2, 2009 (17:57)", "body": "Classy. No. Rubbish! Moreover part of WH spin. There are radicals (ie Move on.org types) in all parties. (They who took a full page ad in the NYT calling General Betrayous ) Moderates (in either party;-)don't pay attention to such."}, {"response": 438, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jun  2, 2009 (18:08)", "body": "(Evelyn) There are radicals (ie Move on.org types) in all parties. Really?! 8-O Moreover part of WH spin. Um....wha? 'Splain, please."}, {"response": 439, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Jun  3, 2009 (10:02)", "body": "In keeping with the new WH buzz term : \"unfortunate choice of words\" ;-) From THE ATLANTIC Gingrich Explain-ogizes For \"Racist\" Comment http://politics.theatlantic.com/2009/06/gingrich_explain-ogizes_for_racist_comment.php However, I know what he and Ms Sotomayor meant by their remarks. Neither deserved the inflamatory responses by the media....and don't get me started about those far-out blogs and politico groups. I could quote remarks from such opinioniated hot-heads as Olberman, Maddow...and to say the least, that loon ex Pres Carter. But I consider it an insult to your intelligence to post such. They do not represent the Democratic Party. A waste of my time and yours. Don't fall into that camp. You're better than that."}, {"response": 440, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jun  3, 2009 (17:23)", "body": "I'll thank you for saying I'm better than that. Problem is, I'm not sure what \"that\" is? I'm not sure what you're upset about, exactly. I don't understand... don't get me started about those far-out blogs and politico groups. About what exactly? Fringe right wing groups that doctor images of SCOTUS candidates to wear KKK gear? The original BTW... http://cofcc.org/?p=5135 Sure there are fringe groups on either side. I could quote remarks from such opinioniated hot-heads as Olberman, Maddow...and to say the least, that loon ex Pres Carter. I don't agree with them all the time, esp Olberman when he gets really worked up. He can get a little out of control which does no one any good. Maddow is generally quite level headed. I have no opinion really on Carter. Are you saying I should not point out that Gingrich and Limbaugh are calling her racist, which is quite inflammatory? My only point in any of this is to show the contrast between the reports of Congress members open statements of conciliation vs opposition out there that is less than conciliatory (and may or may not be the voice of the Congressional opposition). Not like it wouldn't make sense. I was making no judgements or not intending to sound judgemental (well, except for the \"Classy\" comment on that pic and rightly so IMO. That would be ridiculously tacky from either side). I don't always agree with everything I post, but put it out there to be informative, on either side. Are you saying there's a WH media conspiracy about something? I'm not saying there's not (it's not uncommon), I just don't understand what it would be about."}, {"response": 441, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Jun  3, 2009 (18:01)", "body": "Is that all they've got on her? Calling her a racist? LOL!"}, {"response": 442, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jun  3, 2009 (18:10)", "body": "Exactly. Still, it's rude."}, {"response": 443, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jun  3, 2009 (18:12)", "body": "Not sure how I ran across this, but thought it was interesting. A bit long, but stick with it. http://onthemedia.org/transcripts/2009/05/29/01"}, {"response": 444, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Jun  3, 2009 (21:51)", "body": "Rubbish! I've never received a fundraising request based on any inflamatory remark. And I wouldn't ,even if I did receive such. Gingrich has apologized for the remark ,and probably in the hearings she will explain the inference of her comments. On The Jim Lehrer News Hour last night they announced that in the Pew Poll t she has almost the same favorable rating as Sam Alito had at this stage; 49% vs 52% for the latter. He didn't exactly *sail* through, and neither will she, but she'll make it But remember what the Dems put the Italian American nominee through in the process; it was not their finest hour. And for someone who didn't vote for either Roberts or Alito on the basis of ideology , Pres Obama, for all his charm ,has some nerve insisting that she be confirmed rapidly."}, {"response": 445, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jun  3, 2009 (22:57)", "body": "I've never received a fundraising request based on any inflamatory remark. I don't think they just come out and ask for it like that (well, I suppose some do), but as it says they bank on people supporting them with $$ through donations for a group that espouses a particular viewpoint/ideology (racist or otherwise), the pundits who sell their books, give Q&A's, donate to like-minded politicians, buy magazines and newspapers that espouse the view that person favors, etc. And you wouldn't give, but there's plenty who would and have. I thought she had a higher favorable rating than that, but I hadn't been paying attention. Actually, I don't remember what Alito went through at all (when there's a Polish or Scottish candidate I'll perk up and pay attention more ;-)). Whatever the assuming somewhat minor attention I paid to his process is long forgotten. I don't even remember 98% of the details of the Thomas hearings and I did follow that quite a bit. By August recess doesn't seem *that* rapid."}, {"response": 446, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Jun  4, 2009 (00:40)", "body": "hot-heads as Olberman, Maddow I don't think I've ever heard anyone ever refer to Maddow as a hot-head, except maybe by someone who has never watched/heard her. Pres Obama, for all his charm ,has some nerve insisting that she be confirmed rapidly. I believe that request is de rigeur."}, {"response": 447, "author": "mari", "date": "Thu, Jun  4, 2009 (08:43)", "body": "How were Italian Americans insulted by the Alito hearings? What did the Dems \"put him through\" that other nominees didn't face?"}, {"response": 448, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Jun  4, 2009 (09:47)", "body": "From today's WASHINGTON POST David Broder: \"Based on the Obama precedent, the White House can hardly complain if Republicans push beyond the question of Sotomayor's qualifications and examine her values -- and her biases. Someday, the Senate may again be satisfied to examine only professional credentials, recognizing the uncertain dynamics of a nine-person bench. But while the Bork and Obama precedents live, that is not likely. \" http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/03/AR2009060303237.html"}, {"response": 449, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jun  4, 2009 (10:01)", "body": "the White House can hardly complain if Republicans push beyond the question of Sotomayor's qualifications and examine her values -- and her biases. I don't believe anyone here has said or implied that examining all that should not be done. It's the extreme rhetoric that is unnecessary and uncalled for. Also, Obama was on target with his (5%) reservations about Roberts as his voting record while on the SCOTUS has attested to."}, {"response": 450, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Jun  4, 2009 (10:07)", "body": "I'm sorry I can't answer everyone's questions/comments online. There's only one of me and three of you, LOL. I just don't have the time to devote to writing lost posts.(or read them;-) But you all have my phone #, so call me some evening . I can talk faster:-)"}, {"response": 451, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Jun  4, 2009 (11:37)", "body": "Gosh, it took me all of two seconds to Google this Alito thing, and the culprit was Chris Matthews, who misrepresented a document and injected the whole Italian-American aspect to it. Read the whole thing: http://mediamatters.org/research/200511010009 Love Howard Dean's line near the end: \"All I'm trying to say is, you know, this guy is not the best prosecutor since sliced bread.\" Frankly, after the Harriet Meirs stunt the WH pulled, who wouldn't go after any subsequent candidates."}, {"response": 452, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jun  4, 2009 (11:40)", "body": "(Karen) after the Harriet Meirs stunt That was insulting to the institution of the SC as well as the fellow justices I thought."}, {"response": 453, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Jun  4, 2009 (11:51)", "body": "That was insulting to women. It was a stunt, so that the WH could say it had tried to nominate a woman to replace Sandra Day O'Connor but the Senate wouldn't have it. Then the WH could go ahead and nominate whomever it really wanted, knowing that the Senate wasn't going to place itself in the bad guy role by continuing to raise a fury over another candidate."}, {"response": 454, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Jun  4, 2009 (11:52)", "body": "I can't imagine anybody not seeing through the Meir play."}, {"response": 455, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Jun  4, 2009 (12:39)", "body": "I don't read Media Matter, sorry. It's the hearings you want to find...not Media Matter. LOL about your perception of Harriet Meirs nom.*shaking head* you always come back to GWB. So transparent . And Howard Dean...another loon. FYI her nomintation was not popular with the Conservatives and it was *they* who asked for her nomination to be cancelled."}, {"response": 456, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jun  4, 2009 (12:41)", "body": "Because she couldn't have been less qualified and everyone knew it. They'd have been laughingstocks to take that nomination seriously."}, {"response": 457, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Jun  4, 2009 (12:49)", "body": ""}, {"response": 458, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Jun  4, 2009 (12:51)", "body": "Howard Dean was speaking in his capacity as chairman of the DNC. The uproar about Harriet Meirs was unanimous. Like I said it was a stunt. \"Oh, we tried to nominate a woman, but who we wanted wasn't good enough.\" *sniff sniff* Two sseconds later, they put up their real nominee. Talk about being transparent."}, {"response": 459, "author": "mari", "date": "Thu, Jun  4, 2009 (13:10)", "body": "I don't read Media Matter, sorry. But Media Matters confirms that this was a Chris Matthews problem, not a problem with anything that Democratic elected officials did or said. If you don't read MM, fine, but maybe you can link to an acceptable source that supports the notion that his heritage was denigrated. It's the hearings you want to find...not Media Matter. I have found the hearings transcript simply by googling \"Alito hearings transcript.\" Where in the transcript is Alito's heritage denigrated?"}, {"response": 460, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Jun  4, 2009 (14:40)", "body": "Howard Dean was speaking in his capacity as chairman of the DNC. Worse! I never considered him to be representative of the party. I don't think the new administration likes him either. Witness his conspicuous absence at the innauguration & other festivites.Don't blame them. Your'e new leader is not shrill....ahem*sane*"}, {"response": 461, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jun  4, 2009 (15:11)", "body": "I guess this is what you're referring to. In some other quick reading, there's also some evidence that it wasn't just Raum, but the DLC (Democratic Leadership Council) who were against Dean as well. The Clintons (and I believe Raum) are strong members in that group. IIRC, the DLC and DNC had been competing for power over the Dem party. Or something like that. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/democratic-party/the-decline-of-dean.html"}, {"response": 462, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Jun  4, 2009 (16:29)", "body": "I'm not talking about now, but then, during the Alito confirmation hearings. It would be appropriate for him to speak on behalf of the party at that time, just as Michael Steele now speaks for the Big-Tent-of-Welcome-to-the-Fold Republicans."}, {"response": 463, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Jun  4, 2009 (16:48)", "body": "Then ....*Now...* In the party ...*Out* of the party... He's a loser. I like Michael Steele...he's gentlemanly-like....not shrill. Got off to a shaky start...but he's doing OK. Loved the repartee at the WH dinner(they're friends, BTW)"}, {"response": 464, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Jun  4, 2009 (17:17)", "body": "I liked the President's speech. Looks like we're hug-hug/ kiss-kiss with Muslims. \"Keep your friends close, but keep......\" Wonder where he stayed. I stayed at the Mena House an Oberoi hotel next to the Pyramid at Giza. Fabulous."}, {"response": 465, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jun  4, 2009 (20:33)", "body": "(Evelyn) He's a loser. Um, Obama won using his strategy. That doesn't look or sound like a loser to me. Steele's a boob, but I actually like him. He's not really so much one of them and it shows in what he says. His true feelings keep popping through in his attempts to tow the party line. At the same time he's an opportunist. Will say anything to keep his top dog status."}, {"response": 466, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Jun  4, 2009 (20:54)", "body": "His true feelings keep popping through in his attempts to tow the party line. some people think that is like trying to find middle ground; instead of ramming through with no exceptions. Ok by me. At the same time he's an opportunist Carpe diem/ OK by me. But I like Tim Kane too. I'm so easy to get along with:-)))))))"}, {"response": 467, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jun  4, 2009 (21:17)", "body": "some people think that is like trying to find middle ground; He very well may be, and that's ok with me, but not ok so much with the people (in power and further on the right) he speaks for."}, {"response": 468, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jun  4, 2009 (21:48)", "body": "BTW, I'm guessing you're still poring through those Alito transcripts looking for the Italian-American bashing by the Dems in the hearings. :-)"}, {"response": 469, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Jun  5, 2009 (07:54)", "body": "LOL. Just the bashing of SA who happened to be an IA. And then there's the lynching of Clarence Thomas....... But you wouldn't remember that.....er, too young;-)"}, {"response": 470, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jun  5, 2009 (09:25)", "body": "But you wouldn't remember that.....er, too young;-) Not even 20 yrs ago? LOL, I'm not *that* young!... even though I may look it. ;-D (In my dreams :-))."}, {"response": 471, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jun  5, 2009 (09:51)", "body": "I think this might be more appropriate here... Has anyone seen that movie, Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism? The documentary about Fox News. I finally got around to seeing it. OMG, was that painful (yet somewhat fascinating) to watch. Matter of fact, I couldn't watch it all at one sitting. Took me 3 times. Part of it I think was because Fox News shows are so shrill and to have tons of clips all concentrated in one 90 min film (broken up by moments of commentary) was just sensory overload. Plus, I think being reminded of some of the BS they spewed was quite disheartening as well. I'm of course well aware of their style and tactics, but to see it all presented concentrated at once was just too much. That being said, I did at one time watch Brit Hume's show on Sunday and during the week for quite a while, and at times Hannity and O'Reilly's shows, just to see what they had to say. (Also listened to Limbaughs show years ago for a while). And last thing....that Hannity and O'Reilly are total asses, but gotta give 'em credit, they're damn good at what they do (deceiving the public -including flat out lying - and distorting information)."}, {"response": 472, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Jun  5, 2009 (10:36)", "body": "Anybody doing a documentary on MSNBC? I'd have to bring a barf-bag;-) I want to see the doc on VALENTINO; THE LAST EMPEROR A documentary portrait about the legendary fashion designer Valentino Garavani Depicts the behind-the scene of the great fashion house. Was just thinking...I know why people don't want to post here. No one has to time to document resource material for anything they say. Really. I blow you all away, but not everyone wants to be that rude;-))))LOL"}, {"response": 473, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Jun  5, 2009 (11:01)", "body": ""}, {"response": 474, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Jun  5, 2009 (11:02)", "body": "Wow! I'm not sure anyone has had that high opinion of themselves since Arami."}, {"response": 475, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jun  5, 2009 (12:22)", "body": "(Evelyn) I'd have to bring a barf-bag;-) I'll lend you the one I used. ;-) No one has to time to document resource material for anything they say. Well, as Karen and Mari (and myself) have shown just this week, it takes mere seconds to minutes to Google virtually any information you want. Please! Blow us away! :-D It's not being rude. It's called debating. MSNBC was brought up in clips and an interview from....their CEO or someone like that. I forget now. Plus, MSNBC isn't even remotely as influential (for promoting an agenda and ignorance if nothing else) as Fox has been. That's one of the points brought up in it. Fox was so successful at getting ratings that other outlets, including MSNBC have made steps to copy it in various ways, unfortunately. I mention the Valentino one on Q&E. I only mentioned Outfoxed here because of it's obvious political connections."}, {"response": 476, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jun  5, 2009 (12:26)", "body": "No one has to time to document resource material for anything they say. Because we're all so busy poring through all the personal and professional minutiae of Colin's life. ;-)"}, {"response": 477, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Jun  5, 2009 (15:05)", "body": "LOL. Which is a lot more fun. Though, I'm not doing much \"poring\" these days. Well, as Karen and Mari (and myself) have shown just this week, it takes mere seconds to minutes to Google virtually any information you want. But, but....I'm not as talented as you, Karen and Mari...you know that. I'm just honored to be in your company;-) Still, I don't get no credit around here for trying. evelyn, *the poor Newyorkican on Drool*"}, {"response": 478, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jun  5, 2009 (15:20)", "body": "Still, I don't get no credit around here for trying. *cough, cough!* I think you need to rethink that statement (and perhaps the length of your sideburns should you have any? ;-))"}, {"response": 479, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Jun  5, 2009 (16:11)", "body": "LOL...do stray hairs on chinny -chin-chin count;-) Hey lookee, lookee....I might have to look at the ole boy after awl http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090605/ap_on_en_tv/us_tv_colbert_in_iraq"}, {"response": 480, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jun  5, 2009 (20:09)", "body": "I guess this is the aforementioned Steele trying to work the middle ground. *cough* ;-)) Steele On Sotomayor: \ufffdGod Help You If You\ufffdre A White Male Coming Before Her Bench\ufffd Last week, while guest-hosting Bill Bennett\ufffds radio show, RNC Chairman Michael Steele urged Republicans to stop \ufffdslammin\ufffd and rammin\ufffd\ufffd Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor with personal attacks. Instead, Steele argued that conservatives should \ufffdmove on to the substance of the conversation about what this woman believes, why she believes it.\ufffd But just one week later, while hosting the same show, Steele couldn\ufffdt help but paint Sotomayor as a racist. \ufffdGod help you if you\ufffdre a white male coming before her bench,\ufffd declared Steele before agreeing with a caller who who wanted the GOP to raise questions about her \ufffdcharacter\ufffd: http://thinkprogress.org/2009/06/05/steele-sotomayor-white-male/ And from last week: \ufffdI\ufffdm excited that a Hispanic woman is in this position,\ufffd Steele said. He added that instead of \ufffdslammin\ufffd and rammin\ufffd\ufffd on Sotomayor, Republicans should \ufffdacknowledge\ufffd the \ufffdhistoric aspect\ufffd of the pick and make a \ufffdcogent, articulate argument\ufffd against her for purely substantive reasons. Steele warned that because of the attacks, \ufffdwe get painted as a party that\ufffds against the first Hispanic woman\ufffd picked for the Supreme Court. \ufffdWe don\ufffdt need to play this the way the Democrats have played it in the past,\ufffd Steele said, adding that Republicans can\ufffdt do this because they don\ufffdt have the \ufffdliberal media\ufffd on their side, the way Dems did. Said Steele: \ufffdMSNBC will rip everything we have to say up into shreds.\ufffd Steele didn\ufffdt mention Rush Limbaugh and Newt Gingrich, the two leading proponents of the racially-loaded attacks on Sotomayor. It\ufffds a reminder of Steele\ufffds predicament: He knows how badly these attacks are damaging the party and how neatly they play into the hands of Dems, but he can\ufffdt call out the leading figures launching those attacks, because that risks infuriating the base and feeding the meme that the GOP is hopelessly divided. [Ed note - what did I tell ya] http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/republican-national-committee/steele-gop-needs-to-stop-slammin-and-rammin-on-sotomayor/"}, {"response": 481, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jun  5, 2009 (20:13)", "body": "Oh and btw, Evelyn, the reason I find time to get info as backup.....because I google....and I read blogs, who do the work of aggregating the news and information for me from various mainstream and other sources. Why should I do all the work of finding stuff when they'll do it for me?!"}, {"response": 482, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Jun  5, 2009 (20:42)", "body": "Hey, it's Friday night, Dorine.... Time to play. Let's take the weekend off.... Anybody find what Michelle is wearing in Paris? I didn't even know she was on the trip. Didn't see her at Dresden this morning. Hill looked good at the mosque yesterday, though , in Cairo."}, {"response": 483, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jun  5, 2009 (20:43)", "body": "The weather here is too crappy to play anywhere but here."}, {"response": 484, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Jun  7, 2009 (09:44)", "body": "Evelyn thought Obama had nerve asking for a SCOTUS confirmation by August, which seems plenty of time for something like that to me. But I think his more highly ambitious agenda of getting a health care reform bill on his desk by Oct 1 is a lot more than nervy. I really don't agree with it it yet, esp seeing even so far how things are playing out. This column gives a time time for various reform related issues til then. EXCLUSIVE: The Finance Committee's Health Care Timeline I was given an internal Finance Committee memo today that offers the clearest look yet on the Congress's timetable for health-care reform. Staffers in various Senate offices affirmed that the dates sync with the schedule they've been given. The document, as you might expect, has the most information on the Finance Committee's efforts, but it outlines the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee's schedule, the legislation being built in the House, and Congress's overall goal: A bill on the president's desk by Oct. 1. The Finance Committee: According to the memo, Finance will meet next week to discuss the issues where it sees an emergent consensus. These include delivery system and insurance market reforms -- \"80-90% of the bill,\" the memo says. The author also outlines the \"3 major sticking points\": Public plan, employer pay or play, and financing. [cont'd] http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2009/06/exclusive_the_finance_committe_1.html"}, {"response": 485, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Jun  7, 2009 (10:20)", "body": "To quote Mark Darcy, \"This really is the most incredible shit.\" Gingrich: Americans \ufffdsurrounded by paganism.\ufffd bidenfire On Friday, Newt Gingrich, Mike Huckabee, and Oliver North visited Rock Church in Hampton Roads, Virginia to give a three-hour long lecture on \ufffdRediscovering God in America.\ufffd The speakers warned the audience about the \ufffdcontinuing availability of abortion, the spread of gay rights, and attempts to remove religion from American public life and school history books.\ufffd The Virginia-Pilot reported that Gingrich argued that, while Christianity is the foundation of American citizenship, Americans are experiencing a period where they are being \ufffdsurrounded by paganism\ufffd: GINGRICH: I am not a citizen of the world. I am a citizen of the United States because only in the United States does citizenship start with our creator. [...] I think this is one of the most critical moments in American history. We are living in a period where we are surrounded by paganism. Huckabee also equated America\ufffds victory against the British in the Revolutionary War with the right-wing\ufffds success in the Proposition 8 fight in California as being miracles \ufffdfrom God\ufffds hand.\ufffd http://thinkprogress.org/2009/06/06/gingrich-paganism/ http://hamptonroads.com/2009/06/huckabee-gingrich-urge-political-engagement-va-beach"}, {"response": 486, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sun, Jun  7, 2009 (14:36)", "body": "(Karen)Evelyn thought Obama had nerve asking for a SCOTUS confirmation by August,... *scratching head* Yeah? Did I say that? I remember saying he had a nerve asking everyone to vote for Sotomayor since he didn't vote for either Ailto or Roberts. I didn't think I put a timetable on it...makes no diff to me. But Dorine, your \"incredible shit\" is somebody else's belief. What's wrong with people voicing their opinions of the current culture? It's OK...no \"skin off your nose\" on that one."}, {"response": 487, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sun, Jun  7, 2009 (14:44)", "body": "FLOTUS in Normany... Dress by Michael Kors, coat by Narciso Rodriquez, metallic Jimmy Choo shoes with lantern heels, Givenchy belt. How clever to add the French touch. Question to our resident fashionista: Moon, what are lantern heels I love this stuff.:-))))"}, {"response": 488, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sun, Jun  7, 2009 (16:49)", "body": "LOL, Evelyn. Just got your SOS. 'Lantern' is the name Jimmy Choo uses for the shoe, maybe because the heel reflexes like an outdoor lantern, go figure: Here it is. Very nice."}, {"response": 489, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sun, Jun  7, 2009 (17:40)", "body": "You always come through with style, Moon. Thanks. I like her taste in clothes and shoes. Though I'd never wear a striped tee shirt ($10 on sale @The Gap), and flower sweater; she can pull it off. Nancy Reagan looking v. fragile. They were so sweet to her at the unveiling of RR statue at the Rotunda. I follow all this stuff on C-Span."}, {"response": 490, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Jun  7, 2009 (19:37)", "body": "(Evelyn) I didn't think I put a timetable on it.. Well, you said... Pres Obama, for all his charm ,has some nerve insisting that she be confirmed rapidly. He asked she be confirmed by the August recess, which you equated to rapidly by your statement IMO. Christianity is the foundation of American citizenship, Uh, since when is religion of any kind in my country a foundation, or anything at all, of citizenship??? Since when does religion have any place per se in history books? And where is it not being included and where does he feel it should be? If it's relevant, fine, if it's not relevant to the events, it shouldn't be in there. Plus I find his problem with paganism rich coming from the Christian hypocrite. I have some other problems with his statements and inferences and other things of this ilk in general, but I'll leave it here. As someone in the comments noted, how is Christianity lacking in America when someone's falling over a church everytime they turn around in not a small number of places. I have 2 churches and 3 synagogues within a literal 6 block radius. That's a lot I realize, but this country doesn't lack churches IMO."}, {"response": 491, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sun, Jun  7, 2009 (20:52)", "body": "Glad your're keeping track of what i say...LOL. Thanks. I take it back, I don't care. I not going to defend Newt or his opinions. I don't care. But why is he a hypocrite? Married 2/3 times? So? Lighten-up, Dorine;-)"}, {"response": 492, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jun  8, 2009 (09:26)", "body": "Aw, I think too many people being a bit too light is partially how we're in the state we're in today. :-) But as you request: Stephen Colbert shaves head for US troops in Iraq AP By KIM GAMEL, Associated Press Writer 1 hr 7 mins ago BAGHDAD \ufffd It's official. Stephen Colbert has declared victory in the war in Iraq. But the top U.S. commander in the country says not so fast. Colbert, wearing a camouflage suit and tie, brought \"The Colbert Report\" \ufffd Comedy Central's political satire in which he plays a conservative TV pundit \ufffd to hundreds of U.S. troops at Camp Victory, the U.S. military headquarters on the western edge of Baghdad. He drew rousing applause from the uniformed audience when he poked fun at the fact that many of them have been deployed to Iraq multiple times and could end up in Afghanistan as soon as the U.S. effort there accelerates. \"It must be nice here in Iraq because I understand some of you keep coming back again and again,\" he said during the taping of the first show on Sunday. \"You've earned so many frequent flyer miles, you've earned a free ticket to Afghanistan.\" But the loudest roars came when his first guest, Gen. Ray Odierno, accepted a videotaped order from President Barack Obama to shave Colbert's head. The towering, bald general started the job with an electric razor, although a stylist finished it off. The back-and-forth was humorous, but it took on serious undertones as Colbert sought to cast a spotlight on the declining attention paid to the 6-year-old war in Iraq. Colbert, who traveled to Iraq from Kuwait on Friday on board a military transport plane, has said he was spurred to make the trip when he noticed economic news coverage eclipsing reports from Baghdad. The four shows, which were being taped in the domed marble hall at Saddam Hussein's former Al Faw Palace, will air Monday through Thursday next week at 11:30 p.m. EDT. Claiming the war must be over because nobody's talking about it anymore, Colbert invoked the power of cable television to \"officially declare we won the Iraq war.\" He offered a list of successes and commentary to bolster his point. They included finding weapons of mass destruction, which was deemed \"easier than we thought,\" and telling the troops that President Barack Obama should deploy them to the struggling General Motors. However, his first guest, Odierno, disagreed the war has ended. \"We're not quite ready to declare victory,\" he said. \"Things are moving forward but again, it's about bringing long-term stability.\" Colbert, who sat at a desk propped up by sandbags painted to simulate an American flag, responded by asking Odierno if he can bring long-term stability to the United States when he's done in Iraq. He also joked about the economic crisis, congratulating a soldier in the audience who recently got his college degree while serving in Iraq for being the lone 2009 graduate with a job. Colbert has promoted the trip for weeks but because the military urged caution, he only trumpeted a vague trip to \"the Persian Gulf.\" He showed a clip claiming he himself didn't know his destination until he got off the plane and somebody threw a shoe at him. That was a reference to a December news conference at which an Iraqi journalist threw a shoe at then-President George W. Bush. He also made fun of himself with a previously taped skit that showed him arriving at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, in a stretch limousine for a \"the full 10 hours\" of basic training, which included him struggling to do push-ups and sit-ups. Odierno later told him he had too much hair to be a soldier, prompting the crewcut. \"Definitely the highlight was seeing him sacrifice his hair,\" said Spc. Ryan MacLeod, 35, of Greenville, South Carolina. Former Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain also made a surprise appearance in a videoclip in which he thanked the troops for their service and reminded them to clean their muskets. Celebrities have frequently traveled to Iraq to entertain the troops. But the series of half-hour shows \ufffd dubbed \"Operation Iraqi Stephen: Going Commando\" \ufffd mark the first time anyone has broadcast a taped show from Iraq from a tour intended to entertain U.S. troops. USO senior official John Hanson said the production faced a major setback when a sandstorm grounded the crew on Saturday, forcing it to cancel plans for an outing. Both the character Colbert (silent \"t\") and the real Colbert (pronounced \"t\"), a Catholic family man, are ardent supporters of the troops. He has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the Yellow Ribbon Fund (a charity that assists injured service members and their families), and he's a board member of DonorsChoose.org, which is raising money for the education of children of parents in the military. The trip came about when former Assistant Secretary of Defense Bing West suggested it after an interview last July on \"The Colbert Report.\" The show sent about 30 production workers, about a third of the show's regular staff, to Iraq."}, {"response": 493, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Jun  8, 2009 (10:04)", "body": "Atta girl! thank you. You must have read my mind, I was going to ask those of you who watch Colbert to tell me when his Iraq show was on...or as he says my \"Bob-Hopeing trip\""}, {"response": 494, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jun  8, 2009 (10:31)", "body": "I think he's on all this week, or Mon-Thurs, not sure if he's on Fridays."}, {"response": 495, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Jun  8, 2009 (14:45)", "body": "Colbert week to watch. Conan as usual is awful. I miss Leno. Now, great news on the EU front! The right has won in all the EU countries which had elections this past weekend. The push to the right has come about because Europeans are not happy with all the illegals from Muslims countries coming through Africa."}, {"response": 496, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Jun  8, 2009 (15:45)", "body": "Always the classy lady... Laura Bush Endorses Sotomayor http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rLWquRy4GY&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Ebreitbart%2Etv%2F%3Fp%3D356083&feature=player_embedded"}, {"response": 497, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Jun  8, 2009 (18:43)", "body": "(Moon)Now, great news on the EU front! The right has won in all the EU countries which had elections this past weekend. Great news indeed. Clean sweep! LOL, while the US moves to the left. \"Some right-leaning parties said the results vindicated their reluctance to spend more on company bailouts and fiscal stimulus to combat the global ec http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090608/ap_on_re_eu/european_electionsonomic crisis.\" And they don't even have GM! Silvio must be v. happy. Even Spain! Is Zapatero out?..I hope."}, {"response": 498, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Jun  8, 2009 (18:47)", "body": "No, neither Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert has programs on Fridays, except during the conventions, when it went Tues-Friday, as I recall. Anyway, Stephen was doing his \"Where in the Gulf\" thing for months, where he'd spin a wheel and you'd get a little tidbit about some country. (Moon) Conan as usual is awful. I miss Leno. So true. I watched the first show and that was it. Nothing to tempt me. Thought I'd put the link up here, as this is really funny. I received an audio version of this via email. Click on #37, the Homicide Phone Call. Evidently this guy loves to put on telemarketers. It is brilliant. http://www.tommabe.com/videos.php Dumbass Parking isn't bad either. ;-)"}, {"response": 499, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Jun  9, 2009 (09:45)", "body": "FLOTUS in London! Cute wrtie-up Fish and chips for the First Lady: Michelle Obama takes her daughters to traditional English pub for \ufffd7.95 dinner http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1191620/Fish-chips-First-Lady-Michelle-Obama-takes-daughters-English-pub-7-95-dinner-London-tour-continues.html I like her belt..I read it's a Sacai ..??? She wore it on the cover of ESSENCE magazine. Dress is from Talbot's on sale , BTW Wow...I can see where Michelle gets her sense of style."}, {"response": 500, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Jun  9, 2009 (09:46)", "body": "Sorry...here's the website: http://photos.essence.com/galleries/may_essence_issue_first_lady_michelle_obama__mom#129071"}, {"response": 501, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jun  9, 2009 (10:04)", "body": "Guess I'd better padlock the doors. Or better yet, run for my life. And esp don't go to work since that'll get me even closer. They're here, they're here! Ok, well, only one so far, but still, it's one of *them*. ;-) http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090609/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_guantanamo_detainee;_ylt=AmUCZk5SKjI7V70Pe8TFt3Ws0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTJuaGZyajduBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMDkwNjA5L3VzX2d1YW50YW5hbW9fZGV0YWluZWUEY3BvcwMxBHBvcwMyBHNlYwN5bl90b3Bfc3RvcnkEc2xrA2p1c3RpY2VkZXB0MQ- - That dress she wore to the pub couldn't be less flattering. Even with that belt. Granted it seems like a poor paparazzi shot, but still. In one of those pics at the Daily Mail, it shows Malia, I think, sitting with her back to the window. I'm shocked they'd let any of them sit by a window. I'm sure it wasn't bulletproof."}, {"response": 502, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Jun  9, 2009 (11:46)", "body": "If you read the caption, I think they say Malia is not pictured. But aren't those windows bullet-proof. \"He's\" not the problem. You're safe from poor lil' Ahmed;-) It's his friends and co-horts...some in the US that could be security threats. FBI might have a reason for not endorsing this \"endeavor\". Read below: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=105128523 FBI really doesn't know how many deranged people could want to take vindication for such...INYBY or mine."}, {"response": 503, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Jun  9, 2009 (11:47)", "body": "I don't care for the look or the dress. Good news : in Italy so many regions that have always been left/Communist have turned to the right in the last elections. And that includes Umbria! LOL! It is not a happy day for the Firths. ;-)"}, {"response": 504, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Jun  9, 2009 (13:59)", "body": "OK, where'd they get the money to repay? I'd be concerned over their real financial health and motivation, as is alluded to in this AP article: 10 big banks get OK to repay $68B in bailout money By DANIEL WAGNER and STEVENSON JACOBS, AP Business Writers Daniel Wagner And Stevenson Jacobs, Ap Business Writers \ufffd 1 hr 55 mins ago WASHINGTON \ufffd The Treasury Department has approved 10 of the nation's largest banks to repay $68 billion in government bailout money. The department on Tuesday said the banks, which were not named, will be allowed to repay the money they received from the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program created by Congress last October at the height of the financial crisis. The banks have been eager to get out of the program to escape government restrictions such as caps on executive compensation. All eight banks that took TARP money and last month passed government \"stress tests\" confirmed that they received permission to repay the bailout funds. They are: JPMorgan Chase & Co., American Express Co., Goldman Sachs Group Inc., U.S. Bancorp, Capital One Financial Corp., Bank of New York Mellon Corp., State Street Corp. and BB&T Corp. Morgan Stanley did not pass the government test, but on Tuesday said it had raised enough capital quickly and was approved to repay its TARP money. Northern Trust Corp. was not among the 19 banks subjected to stress tests, but the company said it also had received permission to repay the bailout funds. Experts say allowing 10 banks to return $68 billion in bailout money illustrates some stability has returned to the system but caution that the crisis isn't over. Some worry the repayments could widen the gap between healthy and weak banks. Stocks zigzagged after the Treasury's widely expected announcement. In midday trading, the Dow Jones industrial average dropped about 30 points. Broader indices were mixed. More than 600 banks nationwide have received nearly $200 billion in TARP money and 22 smaller banks already have repaid it. \"These repayments are an encouraging sign of financial repair, but we still have work to do,\" Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said in a statement. But some analysts warned that strong performance at the largest banks might obscure greater dangers in the broader banking industry. Smaller banks are still saddled with billions of dollars in risky commercial real estate loans, which could cause heavy losses depending on the speed of economic recovery. And large banks continue to hold the toxic, mortgage-backed assets at the heart of the financial crisis. Longtime bank analyst Bert Ely called the repayments a positive sign for the banking sector but not a reason to celebrate. He noted that three of the nation's biggest banks \ufffd Citigroup Inc., Wells Fargo & Co. and Bank of America Corp. \ufffd are still tied to the bailout. The repayments show \"that some of the major players have strengthened and will be able to ride out the crisis. The question is how will the other banks manage. It's not even clear the recession is bottoming out,\" Ely said. Even the banks permitted to repay the bailout funds are still dependent on government support, including debt guarantees from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and credit lines from the Federal Reserve. The firms now have the right to purchase the warrants Treasury holds in their firm \"at fair market value.\" Besides Treasury's potential income from the sale of the warrants, the 10 banks already have paid dividends on the preferred stock totaling about $1.8 billion over the last seven months. Testifying before a Senate panel Tuesday, Geithner said the value of the warrants for banks permitted to repay TARP funds are in the \"several billion dollar range.\" Treasury spokesman Andrew Williams said the banks can begin repaying immediately \ufffd \"as soon as they figure out where to send the check.\" Dividend payments received for all TARP participants are about $4.5 billion to date, according to Treasury. The amounts the banks could repay are: \ufffd JPMorgan: $25 billion \ufffd Morgan Stanley: $10 billion \ufffd Goldman Sachs: $10 billion \ufffd U.S. Bancorp: $6.6 billion \ufffd Capital One: $3.6 billion \ufffd American Express: $3.4 billion \ufffd BB&T: $3.1 billion \ufffd Bank of New York Mellon: $3 billion \ufffd Northern Trust: $1.6 billion \ufffd State Street: $2 billion The push to repay the funds comes a month after \"stress tests\" of the nation's 19 largest financial firms found that 10 needed to raise $75 billion more to protect against future losses. All of those banks, including Citigroup, Wells Fargo and Bank of America, had submitted plans by late Monday to bolster their capital cushions that were enough to help them survive a deeper recession, the Fed said. The other nine institutions had to prove they could raise enough private capital without federal guarantees before they could return the money. So far, 16 of the 19 banks have raised $75.2 billion, mostly by selling common stock. [Ed note: They've diluted the value of the stock even further.] Regulators"}, {"response": 505, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Jun  9, 2009 (17:43)", "body": "OK, where'd they get the money to repay? Bonds & Preferred. Sallie Mae and Wells Fargo sold bonds last month. Great interest and some short term . The motivation is obvious. I don't know how they can stop them."}, {"response": 506, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Jun 10, 2009 (00:46)", "body": "Neither of those two are on the list. The article says the banks issued more stock from their treasury, a dilutive effect."}, {"response": 507, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Jun 10, 2009 (10:01)", "body": "Today's"}, {"response": 508, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Jun 10, 2009 (10:07)", "body": "sorry... Today's WASHINGTON POST reports that the banks were able to raise capital . I am sure common stock was part of that capital Though financial stocks have been improving and haven't shown signs of being \"diluted\" http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/09/AR2009060900891.html?nav=rss_business \"The list of banks granted permission to repay the government was longer than many financial analysts had expected, in part because banks have been able to attract billions of dollars in new capital from private investors following the conclusion of government stress tests\" The way I read it is that the financial strategy is working . LOL. But what do I know;-)"}, {"response": 509, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Jun 10, 2009 (10:16)", "body": "Given that the article I posted did say they issued more common stock..."}, {"response": 510, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Jun 10, 2009 (13:10)", "body": "AP Fiat closes deal to take bulk of Chrysler's assets Not enough to tempt me... I'm shopping for a new car and for the first time in my life I'm not buying an American car. UAW has taken enough of my tax $$$."}, {"response": 511, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jun 10, 2009 (14:30)", "body": "I don't know how many other companies do, but Honda has American plants. Still American made, if not designed."}, {"response": 512, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Jun 10, 2009 (14:44)", "body": "\"Two-thirds of \"foreign imports\" are, in fact, built in the United States in nonunion shops, where it costs at least $2,000 less in labor to build each vehicle.\" ...\"The UAW, for its part, has tried to unionize the international plants in the South, to no avail. Its membership is down 17 percent from 2007, to 464,910 \ufffd the lowest since the Great Depression. \" http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/1205/p01s04-usec.html So I would still be supporting the American worker vs a total import."}, {"response": 513, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jun 10, 2009 (15:56)", "body": "You know, I think I'll worry more about these nuts rather than friends of foreign terrorists. http://www.splcenter.org/blog/2009/06/10/holocaust-museum-shooter-had-close-ties-to-prominent-neo-nazis/"}, {"response": 514, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jun 10, 2009 (16:08)", "body": "I'm posting this mostly for the amusing comments comparing us to corrupt Chicago-land politics. And guess who comes out smelling better? ;-) http://www.balloon-juice.com/?p=22378"}, {"response": 515, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Jun 11, 2009 (09:28)", "body": "V. sad about the killing at the Holocaust Museum Unrelenting hatred ,be it religious, political, ethnic,ideological.. leads people to violent behavior...And there is so much of it around. All you have to do is read the blogs, talk radio, yes, Keith Olberman. Why does he always have to end his program with \"...days since Mission Accomplished\". This guy makes a living out of mocking and hatred for anyone who doesn't agree with him. Funny??? Sick."}, {"response": 516, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jun 11, 2009 (09:54)", "body": "This guy makes a living out of mocking and hatred for anyone who doesn't agree with him. Thanks for singling out Olberman. Because Glenn Beck, Bill O'Reilly, Limbaugh and Hannity are saints, of course."}, {"response": 517, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jun 11, 2009 (09:59)", "body": "I saw yesterday London's having a transit strike. I'm feeling for you all. I know what it's like."}, {"response": 518, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Jun 11, 2009 (11:52)", "body": "Because Glenn Beck, Bill O'Reilly, Limbaugh and Hannity are saints, of course. OReilly isn't in that category, if you listened to him. His program is not all politics..takes on pedophiles and child porn big time. Limbaugh is talk radio , which I mentioned, and so are the others. They have just transferred their style to Tv. I don't know Glen Beck..but don't think he feeds on hate ."}, {"response": 519, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Jun 11, 2009 (12:10)", "body": "(Dorine) I'm posting this mostly for the amusing comments comparing us to corrupt Chicago-land politics. And guess who comes out smelling better? ;-) LOL! Sounds to me like you guys could just get rid of your legislature and its salaries and save some money. ;-) Nice of him to take time to go over there. He has been actively supporting the troops for a long time and makes a pitch for an organization called DonorsChoose, where you can pick projects that support school projects for the military's children. The link is on his website: http://www.donorschoose.org/donors/leadershipboard.html?category=94"}, {"response": 520, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Jun 11, 2009 (16:29)", "body": "Thank you. Nice man IRL. I don't look at his show though. His humor never hits me . These overseas shows must have different writers."}, {"response": 521, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jun 11, 2009 (16:48)", "body": "(Evelyn) His humor never hits me . LOL!! The irony of this amuses me, yet doesn't surprise me. :-) OReilly isn't in that category, if you listened to him. His program is not all politics..takes on pedophiles and child porn big time. Limbaugh is talk radio , which I mentioned, and so are the others. They have just transferred their style to Tv. I don't know Glen Beck..but don't think he feeds on hate . I have listened/watched all of them at one time or another as well as following what they say in other media accounts. Hate is their M.O. as well as preying on people's fears, manipulation of facts and disinformation."}, {"response": 522, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Jun 11, 2009 (17:36)", "body": "These overseas shows must have different writers. Huh? You mean locals? You must be kidding. BTW, I saw Lora's son's name on the credits this week. Hate is their M.O. as well as preying on people's fears, manipulation of facts and disinformation. Exactly how I would characterize it."}, {"response": 523, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Jun 11, 2009 (17:44)", "body": "Hate is their M.O. as well as preying on people's fears, manipulation of facts and disinformation. You forgot to add IMO ;-) Your perceptions , of course, which you are entitled to. Remember ....your \"perceptions\" are other people's beliefs, which they ,as citizens, are guaranteed too;-D OK....anybody else????"}, {"response": 524, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Jun 11, 2009 (18:33)", "body": "Yeah, the nutjobs have to have their leaders or \"entertainment\" as well."}, {"response": 525, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Jun 11, 2009 (18:42)", "body": "Regardless of where these people come from (radio) or if you call them \"entertainment,\" the fact (not opinion) is that they reside on a NEWS channel. It is called Fox News. Not Fox Family. Not Fox Comedy. IMO (you did see that didn't you, IMO) that makes all the difference."}, {"response": 526, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jun 11, 2009 (21:57)", "body": "Hate is their M.O. as well as preying on people's fears, manipulation of facts and disinformation. (Evelyn) You forgot to add IMO;-) No I didn't. ;-) It's has been documented any number of places when facts are distorted or outright ignored and I just watched a whole documentary about FOX doing each one of the things above. And there are a number of websites (that *some* people don't read ;-D) that do keep track of things I list above from everywhere, not just FOX. I've only seen the Monday Colbert Report so far. That was v.v. funny! Obama crackin' on his ears, LOL! I look forward to watching the rest. I wondered if Lora's son would be going. Though he doesn't necessarily need to go to write I'd think. They took 30 people with them, but I wasn't thinking writers."}, {"response": 527, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Jun 11, 2009 (22:42)", "body": "LOL. You two are so righteous;-) Funny. Good thing I don't take you seriously."}, {"response": 528, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Jun 11, 2009 (23:28)", "body": "(Dorine) I've only seen the Monday Colbert Report so far. That was v.v. funny! Actually, I thought Monday's the least funny show, except for Obama's message. There are messages from others. One guest message last night fell v. flat, but I liked Wednesday's show best. Really good guest. v. funny. And I love his boot camp films."}, {"response": 529, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jun 12, 2009 (00:07)", "body": "I'll check the rest out this weekend hopefully."}, {"response": 530, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jun 12, 2009 (00:08)", "body": "(Evelyn) LOL. You two are so righteous;-) Funny. I know, we're cards, ain't we? ;-D"}, {"response": 531, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jun 12, 2009 (00:22)", "body": "Sometimes (well, maybe more) I really hate my city government. :-(( Their goose is cooked! City to kill at least 2,000 geese near LaGuardia, JFK over bird strike fears By Lisa L. Colangelo DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER Thursday, June 11th 2009, 5:51 PM The city and Port Authority are mounting an all-out war on Canadian geese, vowing to wipe out at least 2,000 birds living within a five-mile radius of the airports. \"The serious dangers that Canada geese pose to aviation became all too clear when geese struck US Airways Flight 1549,\" Mayor Bloomberg said Thursday in announcing the aggressive plan. \"The incident served as a catalyst to strengthen our efforts in removing geese from - and discouraging them from nesting on - city property near our runways.\" Federal wildlife officials will be dispatched to net and euthanize the molting birds over the next few weeks at 40 city parks and other locations near LaGuardia and Kennedy airports. In addition, the Port Authority will train and arm supervisors to shoot the birds in an emergency situation. Over the past six years, more than 1,200 geese have been netted and gassed on nearby Rikers Island in an effort to reduce the population and potentially dangerous collisions with planes. But after a bird strike forced Flight 1549 to land in the Hudson River, there were calls for tougher measures. Deputy Mayor Ed Skyler said the city will contract with the U.S. Agriculture Department to round up the geese and share the cost with the Port Authority. \"They have experience at Rikers,\" Skyler said. \"They know how to do it as humanely as possible.\" Geese will be targeted at Flushing Meadows Corona Park and Fort Totten. Skyler said the feds will work with the Parks Department to figure out the least disruptive time to remove the geese. \"Research has shown that resident Canada geese in several New York studies stay within five miles of a particular location and that 74% of wildlife strikes occur at or near the airport,\" said Martin Lowney, director of the USDA Wildlife Services program in New York. Port Authority Executive Director Chris Ward said the agency is also installing a trial bird radar program and hiring a second wildlife biologist to investigate other ways to cut the bird population. Federal Aviation Administration officials said there have been 77 goose strikes in the city over the past 10 years. http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2009/06/11/2009-06-11_their_goose_is_cooked_city_to_kill_at_least_2000_geese_near_laguardia_jfk_in_bir.html#ixzz0IBc80fHl&D"}, {"response": 532, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jun 12, 2009 (00:23)", "body": "Forgot to add, sometimes I hate humans, too."}, {"response": 533, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Jun 12, 2009 (01:01)", "body": "Can't remember who was on what night, but the Deputy Prime Minister was v.g. and the packing USO boxes bit with Tom Hanks was v.g. Tonight's ride with the Thunderbirds was hilarious. Just watching him walk up to the jet with his rolling carryon bag! LOL! I liked that tonight's included a segment that more representative of his usual fare: Tip of the Hat, Wag of the Finger and it wasn't military-centric, as all the other bits have been."}, {"response": 534, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jun 12, 2009 (02:24)", "body": "Very cute. Obama writes girl a note for missing school AP By RYAN J. FOLEY, Associated Press Writer 1 hr 31 mins ago GREEN BAY, Wis. \ufffd Ten-year-old Kennedy Corpus has a rock-solid excuse for missing the last day of school: a personal note to her teacher from President Barack Obama. Her father, John Corpus of Green Bay, stood to ask Obama about health care during the president's town hall-style meeting at Southwest High School on Thursday. He told Obama that his daughter was missing school to attend the event and that he hoped she didn't get in trouble. \"Do you need me to write a note?\" Obama asked. The crowd laughed, but the president was serious. On a piece of paper, he wrote: \"To Kennedy's teacher: Please excuse Kennedy's absence. She's with me. Barack Obama.\" He stepped off the stage to hand-deliver the note \ufffd to Kennedy's surprise. \"I thought he was joking until he started walking down,\" Kennedy said after the event, showing off the note in front of a bank of television cameras. \"It was like the best thing ever.\" The fourth-grader at Aldo Leopold elementary in Green Bay already knew what she was going to do with the note: frame it along with her ticket to the event. She said she'd make a copy for her teacher. Kennedy said she had never seen Obama before. \"He's really nice,\" she said."}, {"response": 535, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Jun 12, 2009 (09:53)", "body": "Yeah...that Town Hall exchange was funny. He doesn't always need a teleprompter;-) I bet she gives the teacher a copy and frames the original. Forgot to add, sometimes I hate humans, too. LOL...Gotta quit that hate-stuff, Dorine. (I'm gonna keep reminding you; we're happy, remember?;-) ...it wasn't military-centric, as all the other bits have been. He did say at the beginning that he wasn't going to pander. But hey, Just the fact that's he *went* to Iraq is complimentary enough. I'll watch the other shows this weekend too. Nice change for all those shows. I'm so tired of the SOS"}, {"response": 536, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Jun 12, 2009 (10:36)", "body": "He did say at the beginning that he wasn't going to pander. Huh? That is what he does. He has said every night to guest that it was \"pandering is his job.\" I expect you've missed his irony."}, {"response": 537, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jun 12, 2009 (10:52)", "body": "(Karen) LOL! Sounds to me like you guys could just get rid of your legislature and its salaries and save some money. ;-) The Daily News likes your thinking! http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2009/06/12/2009-06-12_its_time_to_punish_the_albany_knuckleheads_join_our_dont_pay_the_bums_campaign.html"}, {"response": 538, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jun 12, 2009 (13:27)", "body": "Boy is this a gift. The irony of this column showing up now in light of our conversation. Think Krugman's a lurker here? ;-)) Also, Evelyn, don't point out it's only his opinion, please. :-) That means nothing to me as a response. The Big Hate By PAUL KRUGMAN Published: June 11, 2009 Back in April, there was a huge fuss over an internal report by the Department of Homeland Security warning that current conditions resemble those in the early 1990s \ufffd a time marked by an upsurge of right-wing extremism that culminated in the Oklahoma City bombing. Conservatives were outraged. The chairman of the Republican National Committee denounced the report as an attempt to \ufffdsegment out conservatives in this country who have a different philosophy or view from this administration\ufffd and label them as terrorists. But with the murder of Dr. George Tiller by an anti-abortion fanatic, closely followed by a shooting by a white supremacist at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the analysis looks prescient. There is, however, one important thing that the D.H.S. report didn\ufffdt say: Today, as in the early years of the Clinton administration but to an even greater extent, right-wing extremism is being systematically fed by the conservative media and political establishment. Now, for the most part, the likes of Fox News and the R.N.C. haven\ufffdt directly incited violence, despite Bill O\ufffdReilly\ufffds declarations that \ufffdsome\ufffd called Dr. Tiller \ufffdTiller the Baby Killer,\ufffd that he had \ufffdblood on his hands,\ufffd and that he was a \ufffdguy operating a death mill.\ufffd But they have gone out of their way to provide a platform for conspiracy theories and apocalyptic rhetoric [Ed note - i.e., playing on people's fears] , just as they did the last time a Democrat held the White House. And at this point, whatever dividing line there was between mainstream conservatism and the black-helicopter crowd seems to have been virtually erased. Exhibit A for the mainstreaming of right-wing extremism is Fox News\ufffds new star, Glenn Beck. Here we have a network where, like it or not, millions of Americans get their news \ufffd and it gives daily airtime to a commentator who, among other things, warned viewers that the Federal Emergency Management Agency might be building concentration camps as part of the Obama administration\ufffds \ufffdtotalitarian\ufffd agenda (although he eventually conceded that nothing of the kind was happening). [Ed. note - i.e., preying on people's fears and disinformation] But let\ufffds not neglect the print news media. In the Bush years, The Washington Times became an important media player because it was widely regarded as the Bush administration\ufffds house organ. Earlier this week, the newspaper saw fit to run an opinion piece declaring that President Obama \ufffdnot only identifies with Muslims, but actually may still be one himself,\ufffd and that in any case he has \ufffdaligned himself\ufffd with the radical Muslim Brotherhood. [Ed. note - i.e., manipulation of facts and disinformation] And then there\ufffds Rush Limbaugh. His rants today aren\ufffdt very different from his rants in 1993. But he occupies a different position in the scheme of things. Remember, during the Bush years Mr. Limbaugh became very much a political insider . Indeed, according to a recent Gallup survey, 10 percent of Republicans now consider him the \ufffdmain person who speaks for the Republican Party today,\ufffd putting him in a three-way tie with Dick Cheney and Newt Gingrich. So when Mr. Limbaugh peddles conspiracy theories \ufffd suggesting, for example, that fears over swine flu were being hyped \ufffdto get people to respond to government orders\ufffd \ufffd that\ufffds a case of the conservative media establishment joining hands with the lunatic fringe. [Ed. note - i.e., ....oh, you get the picture ;-)] It\ufffds not surprising, then, that politicians are doing the same thing. The R.N.C. says that \ufffdthe Democratic Party is dedicated to restructuring American society along socialist ideals.\ufffd And when Jon Voight, the actor, told the audience at a Republican fund-raiser this week that the president is a \ufffdfalse prophet\ufffd and that \ufffdwe and we alone are the right frame of mind to free this nation from this Obama oppression,\ufffd Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader, thanked him, saying that he \ufffdreally enjoyed\ufffd the remarks. Credit where credit is due. Some figures in the conservative media have refused to go along with the big hate \ufffd people like Fox\ufffds Shepard Smith and Catherine Herridge, who debunked the attacks on that Homeland Security report two months ago. But this doesn\ufffdt change the broad picture, which is that supposedly respectable news organizations and political figures are giving aid and comfort to dangerous extremism. What will the consequences be? Nobody knows, of course, although the analysts at Homeland Security fretted that things may turn out even worse than in the 1990s \ufffd that thanks, in part, to the election of an African-American president, \ufffdthe threat posed by lone wolves and small terrorist cells is more pronounced than in past years.\ufffd A"}, {"response": 539, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jun 12, 2009 (14:30)", "body": "A review of Colbert's shows from Iraq with comparisons to Bob Hope's shows. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/12/arts/television/12watch.html?em"}, {"response": 540, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Jun 12, 2009 (19:44)", "body": "LOL...Paul Krugman is a columnist.... \"Columnist \ufffd A person who writes a regular column giving a personal opinion.\" http://nie.brownsvilleherald.com/newspaperterms.htm I have nothing more to add. Actually, I consider him a liberal \"blabberer\". That is, a blogger with creds. IMO, of course ;-) (NYT)Today\ufffds troops are hardly starved for entertainment... Oh but they are. Nothing beats live entertainment. Gives them someplace to go besides their barracks to go on the computers; a touch of home. Kudos to Colbert."}, {"response": 541, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jun 12, 2009 (22:26)", "body": "Oops I missed! One more time... But, of course. The more I read, the more I realize health care reform will be a sham. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090613/ap_on_go_co/us_senate_disclosures"}, {"response": 542, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Jun 13, 2009 (10:28)", "body": "Oh I'm confident we'll get some kind of fix that will have consensus. Perhaps not a permanent one this time around, but like Medicare, it can have improvements as it progresses. Everyone seems to be on board . The biggest hurdle seems to be $$$$$ w/o raising personal taxes. He never should have boxed himself into that one. There's just not enough tax $$ from those earning over $250K to cover."}, {"response": 543, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Jun 13, 2009 (10:35)", "body": "Well, if POTUS and SoS are excited about the vote in Iran, I guess, I am too...:-( From Reuters Obama \"excited\" by Iran's robust election debate\" http://www.reuters.com/article/vcCandidateFeed1/idUSTRE55B4SG20090612"}, {"response": 544, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sat, Jun 13, 2009 (14:08)", "body": "Colbert and crew (with Rob) was in Iraq at the time of the WHCD. Excellent shows. Now my 2 cents. I like Glenn Beck and I think you would like him too Evelyn. And I can't put Bill O'Reilley down because during the Pres. primaries, he was fair to Hillary and he was impartial. Nothing to do with what CNN were doing at the time. Changing subject: I wonder what Obama will do about that bogus election in Iran? A is not giving up the power."}, {"response": 545, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sat, Jun 13, 2009 (14:18)", "body": "Interesting article, thanks Evelyn! But he can not be so naiveas to think that there is a debate going on in Iran, LOL! The voting results are a fraud. :-("}, {"response": 546, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Jun 13, 2009 (14:39)", "body": "(Moon)The voting results are a fraud. :-( I know that , and so does he. But this way he can take some credit that extending his hand to Iran had an impact. Really, I wish we would just face up to the fact that Iran and North Korea are not going to give up their nukes. It's an illusion to think we are going to change their minds. And no one seems to be concerned that Pakistan has nukes. Put up the anti-ballistic missiles and get on with it. LOL I do remember Hillary commenting how fair FOX had been . And it seems to me that everyone around here was for Hillary and no one made a comment re: FOX and fairness at the time."}, {"response": 547, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sat, Jun 13, 2009 (14:49)", "body": "Wait... I did comment here at the time that I only watched Fox News because they were fair to Hillary. That's when I started watching Glenn Beck. And no one seems to be concerned that Pakistan has nukes. India is."}, {"response": 548, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jun 13, 2009 (14:53)", "body": "Great, they were fair to Hillary. But for 98% of the other time and on other topics they have a well documented history of distorting facts, flat out lying and the aformentioned playing on people's fears. And the beloved Bill O'Reilly has told people to \"shut up\" countless times on his show. Isn't he a real sweetie? ;-)"}, {"response": 549, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jun 13, 2009 (14:57)", "body": "Oh yeah, and on Iran, of course O knew things weren't right and that was his way of putting it out there without saying so. Looking forward to the debate? LOL. His way of saying he hopes the opposition puts up a fight. All that is so bogus. And cutting off phone and text service, Skype and social media sites like Facebook. No, nothing to see here, move along. :-(("}, {"response": 550, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jun 13, 2009 (15:22)", "body": "You know, many times I don't go looking for stuff like this, *at all*, but these bits just keep falling into my lap as I surf. I don't make this stuff up, truly (nor do people like Krugman). I don't have to. This is a contrast between what Pres O said and how Hannity on his show distorted what was said.... President Obama: If you actually took the number of Muslim Americans, we'd be one of the largest Muslim countries in the world. Sean Hannity: He honors the national day of prayer behind closed doors. Now, on his Middle East apology tour, the President calls the U.S. a \"Muslim nation.\" President Obama: We do not consider ourselves a Christian nation, or a Jewish nation, or a Muslim nation. We consider ourselves a nation of citizens, who are bound by ideals. Sean Hannity: The same president who insists the U.S. is not a Christian nation is now calling us a Muslim nation."}, {"response": 551, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Jun 13, 2009 (15:57)", "body": "I don't understand your postings on 549 and 550? Where did this all come from? Are you well? I'm concerned."}, {"response": 552, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jun 13, 2009 (16:07)", "body": "I don't understand what confuses you. I'm following up two different conversations on here, on Iran and Fox content being less than honest. Seems kinda clear cut to me. *scratches head* I'm fine thanks, though a bit tired from a short night's sleep and sitting in Central Park for 6 hrs (from 7am) for Shakespeare in the Park tix (pray it doesn't rain tonight!). ;-)"}, {"response": 553, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Jun 13, 2009 (16:26)", "body": "Uh oh, I have an idea Moon isn't going to like this... Prrrrretty daring... this is the larger version, but it's Photo Shop and I didn't think it would copy here. http://mrs-o.org/?paged=2 Running to light candles for dry balmy night, in Central Park:-)))) Tell us how it goes..."}, {"response": 554, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sat, Jun 13, 2009 (16:39)", "body": "LOL, Evelyn, that outfit is awful. Not even youthful looking, just a mess. I'm following you, Dorine, but the media in general play with quotations to suit them at the time. The important issue with Fox was that they were fair with Hillary."}, {"response": 555, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Jun 14, 2009 (00:36)", "body": ""}, {"response": 556, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sun, Jun 14, 2009 (11:40)", "body": "\"She's likes her...she really likes her...\" (Hope she didn't wear that little flower number) Michelle Obama, girls get rare London palace tour By NANCY ZUCKERBROD, Associated Press Writer Nancy Zuckerbrod, Associated Press Writer 1 hr 29 mins ago LONDON \ufffd First came the hug, then a guided tour of Buckingham Palace. First Lady Michelle Obama, on a visit to London last week, got permission from Queen Elizabeth II for a guided tour of the palace with her daughters, Sasha and Malia. They were shown around the queen's official residence and its gardens and the queen herself greeted them afterward, according to a royal source who spoke on condition of anonymity because the meeting was private. In April, during a visit to Britain with her husband, Michele Obama made a warm impression on the queen \ufffd so much so that the monarch strayed from protocol and briefly wrapped her arm around the first lady in a rare public show of affection. The first lady also put her arm around the monarch. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090614/ap_on_re_eu/eu_britain_michelle_obama"}, {"response": 557, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Jun 15, 2009 (12:01)", "body": "Like Tiananmen Sqare all over again... On Yahoo Huge pro-reform rally defies crackdown threats Such brave people ."}, {"response": 558, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jun 15, 2009 (14:05)", "body": "Absolutely!"}, {"response": 559, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Jun 15, 2009 (14:18)", "body": "This is when the United Nations should step in. It's a useless and expensive organization paid for by our tax dollars. Shut it down. And Obama's silence? What's he waiting for?"}, {"response": 560, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Jun 15, 2009 (14:31)", "body": "(Moon)And Obama's silence? What's he waiting for? Agree... These poor people need to know the free world is behind them. ...we did it for China and more recently Georgia. Yesterday on Meet the Press Biden gave a *weak* endorsement..."}, {"response": 561, "author": "mari", "date": "Mon, Jun 15, 2009 (15:48)", "body": "(Moon)And Obama's silence? What's he waiting for? Agree... Because at this juncture no moderate politician in Iran will back a movement sanctioned by the U.S. They'd have to oppose it for political cover. C'mon. Our \"support\" has to come in the back door through diplomatic channels. Plus the ayatollahs control what happens; their president doesn't wield the real power there. It's a theocracy, remember?"}, {"response": 562, "author": "mari", "date": "Mon, Jun 15, 2009 (15:52)", "body": "Bless him, he's taking his case right to the docs; Godspeed, Barack: Obama presses doctors to back health care overhaul By CHARLES BABINGTON, Associated Press Writer CHICAGO \ufffd President Barack Obama asked skeptical doctors Monday to get behind an overhaul of the nation's health care system, declaring the system a \"ticking time bomb\" for the federal budget that could force the entire nation to \"go the way of GM.\" The difficulty of his sales job was evident when he said he was against limiting awards in malpractice lawsuits, a top priority for doctors. That statement brought him a smattering of boos \ufffd a remarkable public response to a popular president accustomed to cheering audiences. Flying to his hometown to speak at the annual meeting here of the American Medical Association, Obama struck back at critics of his efforts to reshape the health care delivery system to bring skyrocketing health care costs under control and expand coverage to the millions of uninsured. He had his sharpest rhetoric yet for those critics, calling them \"naysayers,\" \"fear-mongers\" and peddlers of \"Trojan horse\" falsehoods who should be ignored. He warned interest groups and lobbyists not to use \"fear tactics to paint any effort to achieve reform as an attempt to socialize medicine.\" The president directly took on criticism from former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, though not by name. On Sunday, Romney, widely expected to consider another run at the White House in 2012, called Obama's support for creating government-sponsored insurance as an option alongside private coverage a \"Trojan horse\" for a single-payer system like Britain's. \"When you hear the naysayers claim that I'm trying to bring about government-run health care, know this: they are not telling the truth,\" Obama said. Even before Obama spoke, Republicans offered push-back. GOP Rep. Tom Price of Georgia \ufffd a former orthopedic surgeon \ufffd accused Obama of pushing a \"government takeover\" of health care. Speaking to reporters on a conference call organized by the Republican National Committee, Price contended that a committee established within Obama's administration to study the effectiveness of various medical treatments would turn into a \"rationing board\" to overrule doctors and deny patients care. And Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., and other Republicans introduced legislation to ban the rationing of care on such a basis.The economic stimulus legislation that passed over the winter provides funding for \"comparative effectiveness research,\" and the GOP proposal would block the government from using the results to \"deny coverage of an item or service\" in a federal health care program. The president said for the first time publicly that health care reform, including covering the almost 50 million Americans who have no insurance, would cost about $1 trillion over 10 years. \"That's real money, even in Washington,\" he said. \"But remember: That's less than we are projected to have spent on the war in Iraq. And also remember: Failing to reform our health care system in a way that genuinely reduces cost growth will cost us trillions of dollars more in lost economic growth and lower wages.\" Aides have said previously that the administration wants to keep the cost around $1 trillion, while also acknowledging it might go higher. Obama said he's \"open\" to requiring all Americans to have health insurance, stressing that the plan would permit assistance for those who cannot afford it on their own. A \"health care exchange\" would be set up to provide additional options for the uninsured. \"A big part of what led General Motors and Chrysler into trouble,\" he said, \"were the huge costs they racked up providing health care for their workers \ufffd costs that made them less profitable and less competitive with automakers around the world.\" \"If we do not fix our health care system,\" Obama said, \"America may go the way of GM \ufffd paying more, getting less, and going broke.\" Obama has taken steps in recent days to outline just where money for the overhaul could be found. For instance, he wants to cut federal payments to hospitals by about $200 billion and cut $313 billion from Medicare and Medicaid over 10 years. He also is proposing a $635 billion in tax increases and spending cuts in the health care system as a \"down payment\" for his plan. Obama traveled to Chicago to talk to the 250,000-physician group in hopes of persuading doctors not to fight him. The nation's doctors, like many other groups, are divided over the president's proposals. He drew hearty applause with a focus on the particular concerns of the medical profession: telling them any system that relies on them \"to be bean-counters and paper-pushers\" is out of whack and that his push to investigate best-practices and eliminate unnecessary procedures \"is not about dictating what kind of care should be provided.\" But the malpractice issue is the most provocative with this audience. Doctors chafe at the rising and eye-popping costs of mal"}, {"response": 563, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Jun 15, 2009 (17:28)", "body": "\"Instead, he said, without offering specifics, that expensive \"excessive defensive medicine\" can be curbed in other ways. \" Like? He's bowing to the trial lawyers like he did to the UAW. Hey, it pays to float($$$$) the winning candidate."}, {"response": 564, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jun 15, 2009 (17:52)", "body": "(Mari) Plus the ayatollahs control what happens; their president doesn't wield the real power there. It's a theocracy, remember? And how amazing is it that Khamenei finally made a turnaround and agreed publicly to look into the issue. Whether anything comes of it in the end there's no telling as it's quite unprecedented."}, {"response": 565, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Jun 15, 2009 (18:12)", "body": "\"The notion that 'defensive medicine' is leading to higher health care costs is not supported by empirical data or academic literature,\" Les Weisbrod, president of the American Association for Justice, said after Obama's speech. Not supported by the facts, eh? But I suppose it is his \"opinion\" that it is not supported by the facts. *shaking head*"}, {"response": 566, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jun 15, 2009 (18:13)", "body": "ABC News to air Obama interview on health care AP Mon Jun 15, 11:54 am ET NEW YORK \ufffd ABC News will present a prime-time interview with President Barack Obama on health care issues next week. The special will air June 24 at 10 p.m. Eastern, on two-hour tape delay. Charles Gibson and Diane Sawyer will moderate the White House discussion with a live audience, also taking questions submitted by viewers. After a break for local news, the discussion will continue on \"Nightline.\" That morning, Sawyer will interview Obama for \"Good Morning America.\" Gibson will anchor that evening's edition of \"World News\" from the White House Blue Room. Obama has been carefully doling out access to broadcast networks. NBC had big ratings with its inside peek at the White House. Obama has also given interviews to CBS' \"Face the Nation\" and \"60 Minutes.\""}, {"response": 567, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Jun 15, 2009 (19:25)", "body": "Godspeed to Obama. I want Socialized medicine in the US. (Mari) Plus the ayatollahs control what happens; their president doesn't wield the real power there. It's a theocracy, remember? And the West must fear stepping on their toes because they retaliate with bombings and killing innocent people. So our leaders don't speak out? That's not right."}, {"response": 568, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Jun 15, 2009 (20:44)", "body": "Yeay! He did it! AP on Yahoo... Obama: Iranian voters' voices should be heard 1 hr 3 mins ago WASHINGTON \ufffd President Barack Obama on Monday said Iranian voters have a right to feel that their ballots matter and urged the investigation into vote-rigging allegations to go forward without additional violence. Obama said reports of violence that followed Iranian elections trouble him and all Americans. Peaceful dissent should never be subject to violence that followed weekend elections that gave President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a second term, he said. \"It would be wrong for me to be silent on what we've seen on the television the last few days,\" Obama told reporters at the White House. Obama said he had no way of knowing whether the results are valid \ufffd the United States, he noted, had no election monitors in the country \ufffd but he added that it is important that the voters' choices be respected. Hundreds of thousands marched in central Tehran. Gunfire from a pro-government militia killed one man and wounded several others while the government cracked down on dissent. An Associated Press photographer saw at least one demonstrator killed and several others with what appeared to be serious injuries. The march came as Iran's most powerful figure, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, ordered an investigation into vote rigging against reform leader Mir Hossein Mousavi. \"I am deeply troubled by the violence I've been seeing on TV,\" Obama said. Obama said he would continue to engage the Middle East nation, even if Ahmadinejad's re-election is upheld. Obama said the United States must work with the country to prevent a nuclear arms race in the region. He emphasized that he disagrees with Ahmadenijad's \"odious\" beliefs and said the United States has serious disagreements with Iran's foreign policy. Yet, he said, the United States has a broader interest in stopping Iran from developing nuclear weapons or exporting terrorism. The president was careful not to wade too deeply into Iran's domestic politics, recognizing \"sometimes, the United States can be a handy political football.\" He said it's up to Iran to determine its own leaders but that the country must respect voters' choice. However, Obama praised protesters and the nation's youth who question results that showed Ahmadinejad winning a second term in a landslide. \"The world is watching and is inspired by their participation, regardless of what the ultimate outcome of the election was,\" he said. Obama's remarks came at the end of an Oval Office meeting with Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi. ~~~~~~~~ I didn't know Silvio was here:-)))) I doubt v. much if we get Euro-care. There will be some kind of expanded medical medicine by consensus to include the people who don't have insurance . Everyone seems to be on board for that one."}, {"response": 569, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Jun 15, 2009 (21:03)", "body": "Somehow I get the feeling The Liberal Left doesn't like PM Netanyahu. Why do they always side with the Palestinians? From THE NATION Bibi's Media Manipulations By Neve Gordon June 11, 2009 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is beginning to sweat. Notwithstanding the agreement between President Barack Obama and Netanyahu on issues such as the recognition of Israel as a Jewish state and the insistence that the Palestinians renounce violence, there are currently points of serious contention between the two leaders. These include Obama's position that the two-state solution is the only way to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, his demand that Israel stop building settlements and his intimation that all the settlements are illegal. Other points of strife include Obama's call for regional nuclear nonproliferation (which, in effect, assumes that Israel's nuclear capacity will be part of the negotiations with Iran), his recognition of the plight of Palestinians, including the refugees, and his claim that Hamas is a legitimate rather than a terrorist organization. So far Obama's challenges to Israel have been theoretical, and the only substantive demand that Washington has made involves the 100 or so Jewish outposts in the West Bank. Reiterating President Bush's directive, Obama recently asked Netanyahu to begin dismantling the outposts. Legally the outposts are just like the 121 settlements (that is, they are all illegal), only the outposts were built following the 1993 Oslo accords and, as opposed to the settlements--which are now home to close to half a million Jews or about 7 percent of Israel's citizenry--almost all the outposts are extremely sparsely populated with fewer than a dozen people in each one. Netanyahu did not refuse, but instead of carrying out the job, he decided to put on a show. Last week, the government sent troops to dismantle two outposts. The television networks were invited to cover the event, and that evening viewers watched how a group of settlers struggled against the most powerful military in the Middle East. Within hours of the news broadcasts, the settlers had already rebuilt the outposts, and thus today we are, once again, back to square one. The perceptive viewer understands that the government and the settlers are staging the events, using the media to broadcast them to the world. The images of lawless fundamentalists fighting the military convey a clear message to the audience at home: if Netanyahu dares to dismantle the outposts, the settlers will not only topple his government but there will be blood. More specifically, the not-so-latent inference is that if Netanyahu goes ahead with Washington's directive, he will be responsible for a civil war. While all of the major news networks provided a similar narrative, Channel Two, the most popular news provider, dedicated fourteen minutes of prime time to the issue. In the segment, a reporter is shown interviewing a Jewish settler named Araleh from Karnei Shomron in the West Bank about the dismantling of Jewish outposts. The two men are standing on a mountain ridge overlooking Palestinian fields that had been set on fire. The settler asserts that, \"This is the price tag.... People need to know that if they dismantle anything in Judea and Samaria, there is a price.\" He then looks at the horizon and asks, \"Do you see all these mountains?\" and immediately responds, \"They are all ours.\" When the reporter inquires what the settlers will do if a nearby outpost is dismantled, Araleh exclaims that they (the government) will not destroy it, and then adds, \"They might destroy a little shack in the outpost to send pictures to the nigger in the United States.\" The crux of the matter is that this pathetic racist settler is right: the images of troops dismantling a few outposts and the forceful resistance are all part of a well-choreographed spectacle that is being produced specifically for Washington. Otherwise why remove only two outposts at a time instead of forty at once and getting the job done? And why invite the networks to cover the events and not to dismantle the outposts by surprise in the early morning hours when the settlers are not ready? The answer is straightforward: Netanyahu wants Obama to think that Israel will end up in a civil war if the White House stands firm. The question now is whether Obama will back off or whether he will he have the courage to make Netanyahu dismantle both the outposts and the settlements. If Obama hesitates, Israel will become a full-blown apartheid regime, while if he remains bold he will probably be remembered as the president who helped save Israel from itself. To do so he will have to make Netanyahu sweat much more. About Neve Gordon Neve Gordon teaches politics at Ben-Gurion University, Israel http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090629/gordon"}, {"response": 570, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jun 15, 2009 (21:26)", "body": "(Evelyn) I doubt v. much if we get Euro-care. Damn straight we won't. That would mean every player would get much less of the pie, esp docs, so it won't happen."}, {"response": 571, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jun 15, 2009 (21:37)", "body": "I saw on CNN, while President A was making his re-election speech, that the council has 3 days to certify the results. I didn't realize how many votes there were either. I wonder what kind of voting machines they have or everything's by hand (hint: I didn't read the whole article yet ;-)). Speed of Iran vote count called suspicious AP By JASON KEYSER, Associated Press Writer \ufffd 49 mins ago CAIRO \ufffd How do you count almost 40 million handwritten paper ballots in a matter of hours and declare a winner? That's a key question in Iran's disputed presidential election. International polling experts and Iran analysts said the speed of the vote count, coupled with a lack of detailed election data normally released by officials, was fueling suspicion around President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's landslide victory. Iran's supreme leader endorsed the hard-line president's re-election the morning after Friday's vote, calling it a \"divine assessment\" and appearing to close the door on challenges from Iran's reformist camp. But on Monday, after two days of rioting in the streets, he ordered an investigation into the allegations of fraud. Mir Hossein Mousavi, Ahmadinejad's reformist challenger, claims he was robbed of the presidency and has called for the results to be canceled. Mousavi's newspaper, Kalemeh Sabz, or the Green Word, reported on its Web site that more than 10 million votes were missing national identification numbers similar to U.S. Social Security numbers, which make the votes \"untraceable.\" It did not say how it knew that information. Mousavi said some polling stations closed early with voters still in line, and he charged that representatives of his campaign were expelled from polling centers even though each candidate was allowed one observer at each location. He has not provided evidence to support the accusations. His supporters have reported intimidation by security forces who maintained a strong presence around polling stations. Observers who questioned the vote said that at each stage of the counting, results released by the Interior Ministry showed Ahmadinejad ahead of Mousavi by about a 2-1 margin. That could be unusual, polling experts noted, because results reported first from Iran's cities would likely reflect a different ratio from those reported later from the countryside, where the populist Ahmadinejad has more support among the poor. Mousavi said the results also may have been affected by a shortage of ballot papers in the provinces of Fars and East Azerbaijan, where he had been expected to do well because he is among the country's Azeri minority. He said the shortage was despite the fact that officials had 17 million extra ballots ready. Interior Ministry results show that Ahmadinejad won in East Azerbaijan. The final tally was 62.6 percent of the vote for Ahmadinejad and 33.75 for Mousavi \ufffd a landslide victory in a race that was perceived to be much closer. Such a huge margin also went against the expectation that a high turnout \ufffd a record 85 percent of Iran's 46.2 million eligible voters \ufffd would boost Mousavi, whose campaign energized young people to vote. About a third of the eligible voters were under 30. Ahmadinejad, who has significant support among the poor and in the countryside, said Sunday that the vote was \"real and free\" and insisted the results were fair and legitimate. \"Personally, I think that it is entirely possible that Ahmadinejad received more than 50 percent of the vote,\" said Konstantin Kosten, an expert on Iran with the Berlin-based German Council of Foreign Relations who spent a year from 2005-06 in Iran. Still, he said, \"there must be an examination of the allegations of irregularities, as the German government has called for.\" But Iran's electoral system lacks the transparency needed to ensure a fair election, observers said. International monitors are barred from observing Iranian elections and there are no clear mechanisms to accredit domestic observers, said Michael Meyer-Resende, coordinator of the Berlin-based Democracy Reporting International, which tracked developments in the Iranian vote from outside the country. He noted that the election was organized and overseen by two institutions that are not independent, the government's Interior Ministry and the Guardian Council, a 12-member body made up of clerics and experts in Islamic law who are closely allied to the supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Meyer-Resende said that to be sure of the results announced by the Interior Ministry, it must release data all the way down to the level of each polling station. One of the central questions was how 39.2 million paper ballots could be counted by hand and final results announced by authorities in Tehran in just over 12 hours. Past elections took at least twice as long. A new computerized system might have helped speed the process in urban centers, where most Iranians live, though it is unclear if that system was extended to every small town and village. And each ballot "}, {"response": 572, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jun 15, 2009 (22:34)", "body": "Well, The American Conservative seems to elaborate on Mari's point earlier about Obama reaction. The President of the United States is not and must not be seen as a partisan in the elections of other nations. No matter the party and no matter the country, their cause is not and cannot be the same as his. For another thing, such a symbolic display of solidarity in the absence of action would be interpreted, correctly, as worse than doing and saying nothing. Nothing would please his domestic enemies more than to be able to mock his empty symbolism and falsely impute Islamist sympathies to him, and nothing would suit Mousavi\ufffds enemies more than to be able to tie Mousavi to the United States through that symbolic identification. While we\ufffdre at it, it would be seen as an attempt to use worldwide sympathy for the movement in question to bolster himself politically while doing absolutely nothing for the people with whom he supposedly sympathizes. It would give the regime the pretext of treating Mousavi as an American lackey. They may do this in any case, but Washington need not enable or provide justificatio for this. The administration\ufffds wait-and-see approach is the right one http://www.amconmag.com/larison/2009/06/15/political-colors/"}, {"response": 573, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jun 15, 2009 (23:28)", "body": "Tweets from Iran and pics. Multiple deaths apparently. http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/06/livetweeting-the-revolution.html#more"}, {"response": 574, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Jun 16, 2009 (10:04)", "body": "(Dorine) I wonder what kind of voting machines they have or everything's by hand On CR last night Roger Cohen (NYT) reported on the phone from Tehran. There were four other Middle East scholars on the show . The consensus is that no one really knows who won...it could be President A. \"Voting Machines\"..don't think so. Try hand ballots which in some instances they ran out of. \"The administration\ufffds wait-and-see approach is the right one\" I am v. happy with his pronouncements yesterday. The US doesn't have to align itself with Mousavi, but we do with people who want their votes to count. And that is what BO statement said. Wasn't so \"wait and see\" on Saturday...remember I posted that article ... And my comment was if he was happy, I guess I would be too."}, {"response": 575, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jun 16, 2009 (10:42)", "body": "Back to healthcare for a moment.... (Evelyn) I doubt v. much if we get Euro-care. (Me) Damn straight we won't. That would mean every player would get much less of the pie, esp docs, so it won't happen. It's possible some form will happen, but I'll bet so riddled with loopholes as to be almost not worth it except for the ability to make the statement that something was done. But then again, in 1999 when the Prospective Payment System for nursing homes was put into effect, a variety of entities experienced some negative effects (mass job losses/facility closings/limitations in patient care/manipulation of patient care to ensure maximum reimbursement) all for the common good of saving Medicare money in the end. Eventually, facilities figured out how to work the system along with there being much tweaking on the part of Congress because some of the cuts in reimbursement turned out to be quite draconian. One of the things that I think it achieved though to some degree was to reign in the billing excesses from the fee-for-service days. At the same time, that created some scenarios regarding maximizing reimbursement that I found quite disillusioning as an altruistic clinician. I went to a meeting one night about healthcare reform and watched this. I mentioned it very briefly here a couple of months ago. It was very interesting to see how various countries utilize healthcare. As you can read (and see if you watch it), they aren't perfect systems, but people are helped and in general it costs less to provide that care proportionally than here. I highly recommend watching it. It's only an hour. (Watch Online link at top of page). http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/sickaroundtheworld/countries/"}, {"response": 576, "author": "mari", "date": "Tue, Jun 16, 2009 (12:10)", "body": "From today's Philly Inquirer; these guys conducted a poll 3 weeks ago: Iran vote may be accurate An independent effort to take the pulse of the country's electorate found that Ahmadinejad was poised to win reelection handily. By Ken Ballen and Patrick Doherty The election results in Iran may reflect the will of the Iranian people. Many experts are claiming that the margin of victory of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was the result of fraud or manipulation, but our nationwide public opinion survey of Iranians three weeks before the vote showed Ahmadinejad leading by a ratio of more than 2-1 - greater than his actual apparent margin of victory in Friday's election. While Western news reports from Tehran in the days leading up to the voting portrayed an Iranian public enthusiastic about Ahmadinejad's principal opponent, Mir Hossein Mousavi, our scientific sampling from across all 30 of Iran's provinces showed Ahmadinejad well ahead. Independent and uncensored nationwide surveys of Iran are rare. Typically, pre-election polls there are either conducted or monitored by the government and are notoriously untrustworthy. By contrast, the poll undertaken by our nonprofit organizations from May 11 to May 20 was the third in a series over the past two years. Conducted by telephone from a neighboring country, the field work was carried out in Farsi by a polling company whose work in the region for ABC News and the BBC has received an Emmy award. Our polling was funded by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. The breadth of Ahmadinejad's support was apparent in our pre-election survey. During the campaign, for instance, Mousavi emphasized his identity as an Azeri, a member of the second-largest ethnic group in Iran, after Persians. Our survey indicated, though, that Azeris favored Ahmadinejad 2-1 over Mousavi. Much commentary has portrayed Iranian youths and the Internet as harbingers of change in this election. But our poll found that only a third of Iranians even have access to the Internet, and 18- to 24-year-olds were the strongest voting bloc for Ahmadinejad. The only demographic groups in which our survey found Mousavi leading or competitive with Ahmadinejad were university students and graduates, and the highest-income Iranians. When our poll was taken, almost a third of Iranians were still undecided. Yet the baseline distributions we found mirror the results reported by the Iranian authorities, indicating the possibility that the vote is not the product of widespread fraud. Some might argue that the professed support for Ahmadinejad in our poll simply reflected fearful respondents' reluctance to provide honest answers to pollsters. Yet the integrity of our results is confirmed by the politically risky responses Iranians were willing to give to a host of questions. For instance, nearly four of five Iranians - including most Ahmadinejad supporters - said they wanted to change the political system to give them the right to elect Iran's supreme leader, who is not currently subject to popular vote. Similarly, Iranians chose free elections and a free press as their most important priorities, virtually tied with improving the national economy. These were hardly politically correct responses in a largely authoritarian society. Indeed, consistently among all three of our surveys over the past two years, more than 70 percent of Iranians also expressed support for providing full access to weapons inspectors and a guarantee that Iran will not develop or possess nuclear weapons, in return for outside aid and investment. And 77 percent of Iranians favored normal relations and trade with the United States, another result consistent with our previous findings. Iranians view their support for a more democratic system, with normal relations with the United States, as consonant with their support for Ahmadinejad. They do not want him to continue his hard-line policies. Rather, Iranians apparently see Ahmadinejad as their toughest negotiator - the person best positioned to bring home a favorable deal, rather like a Persian Nixon going to China. Allegations of fraud and electoral manipulation will serve to further isolate Iran, and are likely to increase its belligerence and intransigence against the outside world. Before other countries, including the United States, jump to the conclusion that the Iranian presidential elections were fraudulent - with the grave consequences such charges could bring - they should consider all independent information. The fact may simply be that the reelection of Ahmadinejad is what the Iranian people wanted. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ken Ballen is president of Terror Free Tomorrow: The Center for Public Opinion, a nonprofit that researches attitudes toward extremism. Patrick Doherty is deputy director of the American Strategy Program at the New America Foundation. The groups' poll consisted of 1,001 interviews, and its margin of error was plus or minus 3."}, {"response": 577, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jun 16, 2009 (14:35)", "body": "It may be, but according to this, just before the election Ballen indicated it he thought it could be much closer, with a run off. I guess not having a lot of confidence in his own poll? http://www.huffingtonpost.com/taylor-marsh/iran-pre-election-polling_b_214452.html This is the liveblog via Twitter of that event she mentions. The first half dozen lines refer to the election. http://www.taylormarsh.com/2009/06/08/liveblogging-iran-pre-election-public-opinion-results/"}, {"response": 578, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jun 16, 2009 (14:48)", "body": "I had read elsewhere that the outcome could be so as Ahmadinijad could've lost Tehran, because of the concentration of younger, more educated voters who tended to be the opposition supporters, but won the outer regions since there's less of that demographic there. I suspect this is their equivalent of our 2004 election in many ways, but we didn't turn violent when Kerry lost (surprisingly to many)."}, {"response": 579, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Jun 16, 2009 (14:59)", "body": "Somehow I get the feeling The Liberal Left doesn't like PM Netanyahu. Why do they always side with the Palestinians? This is only a select, but very vocal, bunch of self-loathing Jews and/or Israelis that the media loves to publish as reprsentative. Read Deshowitz on the subject."}, {"response": 580, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Jun 16, 2009 (18:11)", "body": "What got me from the article in The Nation was that the author was a professor at Ben _Guerion university in Israel. *I* say, he's not being v. loyal Anyway, I have a problem , as you know ,with people who aren't loyal to their patria and criticize it abroad any chance they get. The Nation as a whole is v. critical of the Israeli cause. Read Deshowitz on the subject. Where? The poll that The Philly paper quotes is one that was discussed last night. But i think it was taken in May. In the last two weeks (they said) Moussavi gained popularity. I have that PBS Healthcare show on my DVR from last year! IMO we have to take \"baby steps\" with expanded health care. It will improve incrementally...like Medicare has. Government run care isn't that great, I can tell you from experience. And the services mostly deal with people who are healthy. The guys at the VA have a hard time getting adequate care etc. Competition always helps."}, {"response": 581, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Jun 16, 2009 (19:59)", "body": "Dershowitz on Neve Gordon: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull&cid=1162378347880 Competition always helps. No, it does not. Examples: telcoms and cable companies. You see your rates go down...ever????"}, {"response": 582, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Jun 16, 2009 (21:00)", "body": "Yes, my phone bill has even with AT&T. I pay less with landline, international, wireless and DSL Premium than I paid for landline alone. Remember when you paid by the minute and only called long distance in the evenings and Sundays when the rates were lower ? Some cable has gone up if you subscribe singularly, but still there are deals out there if you \"bundle\". Wow Dershowitz sure doesn't like Gordon. But what motivation does Gordon have when he has a job in Israel and yet hates the country?"}, {"response": 583, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jun 17, 2009 (01:28)", "body": "(Evelyn) Government run care isn't that great, I can tell you from experience. And the services mostly deal with people who are healthy. Is there any way you could be a little bit more specific on what you mean \"govt run\"? Are you talking about Medicare? Can you be any more specific about what services aren't so hot that you may be referring to? You mention the VA, is that what you refer to? The reason I ask is basically so I can know whether to agree with you or not, or simply be informed regarding your statement about dealing with healthy people mostly. The VA is being so poorly run in many areas, but I don't know that competition would make a difference in their case per se. IMO we have to take \"baby steps\" with expanded health care. This is what I keep saying to people when the subject comes up."}, {"response": 584, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Jun 17, 2009 (09:41)", "body": "Closing tags This is what I keep saying to people when the subject comes up Good for you! Govern run care. VA, Military. And my Native-American friends tell me the Indian Health Service is not so great either. I don't think there are any other gov't run medical services. Medicare comes from the Fed, but it's also state run and outsourced to private insurance companies in different areas of the country. . Different states cover different procedures and costs. ie...New York Medicare is a bear to deal with. My DHbecame ill in NY 8 months before he died Medicare refused to pay for the ambulance to take him to the airport from 2 wks in hospital; even with physician's orders because he was on 24 hr oxygen. I tried appealing, unsucessfully, and finally gave up and settled with the ambulance company. Some states will allow more than 2 weeks rehab in a nursing facility.; some cut you off. I'm not complaining...just explainin';-) Hey: \"Life is a series of compromises\"; there you are...your thought for the day. LOL"}, {"response": 585, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Jun 17, 2009 (10:23)", "body": "closing tag But what motivation does Gordon have when he has a job in Israel and yet hates the country? Let me be clear. People are free to criticize their country, but the man's degrees, etc., are irrelevant to me. One can be book smart and street stupid. This man and others, like good old Noam, are naive. Who is talking about goverment run care? The health care reform plans put the government into the insurance companies' role, as an alternative provider. I see no difference from one bureaucracy to another. Anyone who has ever dealt with an insurance company denying them coverage would know that."}, {"response": 586, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jun 17, 2009 (10:24)", "body": "What's the difference between Fed run and gov't run? Actually, both Medicare and Medicaid are federally funded programs with Medicaid being administered by individual states. Medicare services/rules are uniform across the country. The subsidized managed Medicares still get Fed money, not state, but yes, are managed by private insurance co's which is where differences in coverage may occur over and above the basic Medicare coverage that all are entitled to though they can limit where you get those services. Those insurance co's (not the state) can be much more limiting and makes it difficult for providers like my company to provide enough proper services or any at all if we don't have a contract with them. And yes, those plans are definitely a bear for patients and families to deal with, esp when medical issues become more chronic and comprehensive. It's very much a shame. Yes, Medicare is limited for ancillary services such as home health aides, transport, getting labs done, etc. That's why a lot of people have dual coverage with Medicaid (here anyway) because Medicaid will cover the difference or a larger chunk. Or there's the Medigap plans, too, though at least here, I think straight Medicaid is better. I think NY (straight) Medicaid pays for everything under the sun, or so it seems. I know all about how it works in rehab in nursing facilities (in many states) having worked in literally dozens all over. I could go on for days. It's not the state that dictates your stay. It's the insurance you have and facilities. The facilities do a lot of manipulation to max out reimbursement. There's a variety of reasons why one could be cut off or the converse, kept there longer than necessary. I've seen it work both ways. But that's a much longer discussion. Hey: \"Life is a series of compromises\"; With healthcare for sure, that's the truth."}, {"response": 587, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Jun 17, 2009 (11:21)", "body": "The guys at the VA have a hard time getting adequate care etc. All because of lack of funding."}, {"response": 588, "author": "mari", "date": "Wed, Jun 17, 2009 (11:38)", "body": "The current health care system is unsustainable. Period. We can't fix the economy without fixing health care. And the employer-based system, which is where most of us get our coverage, is unsustainable if we can't get the costs under conrol. Lots of companies are cutting back on coverage and will start to eliminate it because they can't afford it and it's making them completely uncompetitive. Many have already eliminated retiree medical coverage, meaning if you retire before you're Medicare eligible, you're shit out of luck. After working all your life. How's them apples? Did you know that the #1 reason for personal bankruptcies is lack of health insurance? People are going broke trying to pay their medical bills. These are working people. Was listening to Kathy Sebelius head of HSS talking about this the other day. She said what I've said as far back as pre-election: the public plan which doesn't have to be run by the government. You can have nonprofit cooperatives. A public plan could be offered along with private ones (competition!) through an insurance purchasing pool, where individuals and small businesses (and maybe even big ones) could opt for coverage. Opponents would have you believe that a \"public plan\" is the same as a government plan. Nope. Doesn't have to be."}, {"response": 589, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Jun 17, 2009 (15:55)", "body": "(Dorine) I think NY (straight) Medicaid pays for everything under the sun, or so it seems. And then there's Medi-Cal . No wonder they're broke. Massachusetts seems to have a successful program. At least all the citizens are happy. Taxes go up; sure, but one has to expect that. Everyone should be compelled to buy insurance..just like car insurance for a license. Mari, my friends who retired and had to get private insurance stayed with Cobra or AARP at 50. There are many coverages..including some reasonable premiums if you up the deductible. Takes some researching. Non-profit coops seems to be taking on a life. But utimately, one has to read the fine print. *Glorious rhetoric* alone doesn't cut it."}, {"response": 590, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jun 17, 2009 (16:21)", "body": "(Mari) Did you know that the #1 reason for personal bankruptcies is lack of health insurance? Yes! Lots of companies are cutting back on coverage One of the big selling points of my company to employees (and quite unheard of anymore I think), was the no-cost to us insurance. That changed the beginning of this year. I had the best plan so I had to start paying. If I'd dropped down to the lower plan, I wouldn't have had to, but then some things would've been limited. Many have already eliminated retiree medical coverage Is this like a medical pension of some sort? I also saw that bit from Sebelius the other day and wasn't so sure about all that. It's something I need to read and understand more about. I keep coming back in my head to public basic care for all and for more complex issues, private coverage."}, {"response": 591, "author": "mari", "date": "Wed, Jun 17, 2009 (16:33)", "body": "(Evelyn)Everyone should be compelled to buy insurance..just like car insurance for a license. I agree. my friends who retired and had to get private insurance stayed with Cobra or AARP at 50. COBRA is only good for 18 months. Major Medical AARP for 50-64 is not available in NJ (or many other states). They only offer hospital indemnity insurance--just covers room and board, nothing else. Here's another kicker that more people are just waking up to: If you have your child under your employer health insurance, most plans will only let you cover the child until age 19, unless they're a full time student in which case you can keep them on until age 25. Presumably, after college or high school they can get coverage under *their* employer. But in this economy? Only 25% of college grads this year have found jobs. The big hole in relying on employer-sponsored coverage is that . . . you have to have an employer!;-) I have so many friends whose kids are in this boat. *Glorious rhetoric* alone doesn't cut it. No, of course not. But let's see the plan first. I applaud O for giving this a top priority. I hope he can succeed where Hillary and Bill could not because they lacked consensus 15 years ago. But now, more are on board. Will still be a tough slog and I hope to God it's not so watered down once every special interest group gets its fingerprints on it. Insurance companies hate it."}, {"response": 592, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Jun 17, 2009 (16:42)", "body": "Everyone should be compelled to buy insurance..just like car insurance for a license. Proof of insurance is required to get plates, permits, renew your license, etc., yet I'm required to buy \"uninsured drivers\" insurance here as well. When I had COBRA coverage, it was only for one year. Maybe it has been extended, which would make sense given the situations. If finding (and getting) insurance is soooooooo easy, then why are more than 40 million Americans doing without. I don't think it is because they can't read the print of any size."}, {"response": 593, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Jun 17, 2009 (17:33)", "body": "When I had COBRA coverage, it was only for one year. Maybe it has been extended My son was out of a job for 2 yrs and kept COBRA (guess who paid?;-)) (Karen)then why are more than 40 million Americans doing without. I don't think it is because they can't read the print of any size. Many don't want to pay anything ; esp the young....who are never sick. They ran into that prob in Mass. That number is inflated, I hear. The folks who really needed it get Medicaid. It's the ones who fall in between the cracks that we want to insure. I'm not for subsidizing folks who make three digits or even $88K (Mari)Major Medical AARP for 50-64 is not available in NJ (or many other states). Move! It's cheap...doctors hate it like they do Medicare, because they don't reimburse enough. In most big cities doctors only take quota of Medicare. I had a hard time finding a Primary Care Physician when I moved 2 yrs ago. (Mari)The big hole in relying on employer-sponsored coverage is that . . . you have to have an employer!;-) I have so many friends whose kids are in this boat. Yup...was like that when my sons graduated too. And we bought hospital insurance for them from Allstate. Older son went on 'n 'on'n on to grad scholl and we paid too. (somebody)hope he can succeed where Hillary and Bill could not because they lacked consensus 15 years ago. But now, more are on board. It was v. dictatorial & it lacked details. V. obscure. This WH crowd is more savy (read: not nearly as arrogant;-) Both sides are smarter:-))) Sorry this is so long...but I'm the only one around:-((((("}, {"response": 594, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jun 17, 2009 (17:45)", "body": "Last time I was eligible for COBRA several years ago, I believe it was 18 mos. I didn't take it as I couldn't afford it. I wasn't workin'!! (Evelyn) doctors hate it like they do Medicare, because they don't reimburse enough. And HMO's. Make your posts as long as you want. I don't scroll through. ;-D"}, {"response": 595, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Jun 17, 2009 (20:26)", "body": "Everyone should be compelled to buy insurance..just like car insurance for a license. I disagree. I think it is every citizen's right to have health care coverage for free. Let the Gov. legalize pot and sell it. Let us raise cigarette taxes, and alcohol taxes and use that money for it. Let the superfluous pay for the necessary."}, {"response": 596, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Jun 18, 2009 (10:12)", "body": "I had health coverage for free. Which was OK, as long as you're healthy, or one can't afford otherwise. I'm all in favor of medical care for the underserved. Now I want \" choice\" vs regimentation; I don't mind paying \"fee for service\". Nothing beats \"choice\", let me tell you."}, {"response": 597, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Jun 18, 2009 (11:31)", "body": "And that will probably happen. In Europe with socialized medicine, there are still private clinics one can go to if you want to pay. There is a choice."}, {"response": 598, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Jun 18, 2009 (11:37)", "body": "(Moon)there are still private clinics one can go to if you want to pay. My friends in UK take out private insurance for \"choice\": treatment, doctors, hospitals. Not cheap, but remember what I said about \"compromises\". Cut back somewhere else."}, {"response": 599, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Jun 18, 2009 (12:00)", "body": "The cut back should be me cutting back all the money I pay for health insurance."}, {"response": 600, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Jun 18, 2009 (12:14)", "body": "Many don't want to pay anything; esp the young....who are never sick...That number is inflated, I hear. If that helps you sleep at night... I'm always amazed at the beneficence of those who never had to pay for their health insurance."}, {"response": 601, "author": "mari", "date": "Thu, Jun 18, 2009 (12:39)", "body": "(Evelyn)My son was out of a job for 2 yrs and kept COBRA (guess who paid?;-)) Your son's former employer was generous. The law states they only need to offer it for 18 months, but emplioyers can be more magnanimous--few are--than what the law requires. (Dorine)didn't take it as I couldn't afford it. I wasn't workin'!! Of course you couldn't! I pay over $1,500 per year to cover just myself (most employers require an employee contribution--few free rides left unless you're in a union). If I add in what my company contributes, it's well over $6,000 per year, just for one person. For COBRA, you'd be paying that full $6,000. Not many unemployed people can afford that. Now, under Obama's Recovery Act, the government is now subsidizing 65% of that (for a 9-month max) for people who were laid off from 9/08 through 12/09. After that, who knows, unless Congress extends it. At least this is somewhat of a helping hand for working people who have been so hurt by this recession. I'm tellin' ya--I like the big O. He is trying. Move! Now there's practical solution.;-) I just checked their website and plugged in about a half dozen states at random--no AARP major medical offered. Yeah, I even checked OK."}, {"response": 602, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jun 18, 2009 (13:18)", "body": "(Mari) I'm tellin' ya--I like the big O. He is trying. LOL, Leslie doesn't share your sentiment, I'll tell ya. Ran into her the other night and had a brief conversation where I mentioned healthcare was being discussed here and too bad she didn't have time to join in. She said I didn't want to get her started, but I did anyway. :-O Oh boy, I may have been right, LOL!! She was like a racehorse out of the gate on it. But, she's coming at it all from a medical business perspective and what she/her practice stands to lose in the end with this reform ($$). She's not happy with the excessive price tag this is seemingly going to cost as well. I can't say I agreed with her on everything she said (except the part about needing to see an increase in social/personal responsibility in the whole process and the final reform), but it was interesting to hear her point of view. Basically, too, she's thinking this reform will end up like credit card reform also, sounds great, less filling...if you know what I mean. She sent me a WSJ article to read that I haven't gotten into yet. I'll post it another time."}, {"response": 603, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Jun 18, 2009 (13:53)", "body": "LOL. Hey, I'm mild compared to Leslie;-) She doesn't want to come on here...do you blame her? I'm the only chump;-)LOL. I do think O is trying...as long as he puts potential solutions out there to be discussed , not hamfisted through. I know folks who have the AARP insurance.Doctors hate it. The Cadillac insurance is the premium Blue Cross.Pricey. Hey you get what you pay for. Ya' think you'll be able to walk into any private hospital carrying your little government insurance card in your clammy little hand ? Get thee to Bellevue;-) The $9. T debt is obscene; the only ones who seem concerned were the ones at the Tea Party."}, {"response": 604, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jun 18, 2009 (14:05)", "body": "Not that she doesn't want to, just no time. I didn't realize how much that practice had grown til she mentioned it the other night, plus she does a variety of things after work, too (though not screenings so much as I rarely see her). She did mention you, Evelyn, and admiring your chutzpah for posting here though. ;-D Re: AARP...if you need home care here (after a hospitalization or not) and have it as your secondary insurance, you're out of luck. You'll only get what Medicare or whatever your primary insurance will cover."}, {"response": 605, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Jun 18, 2009 (14:17)", "body": "(Dorine)She did mention you, Evelyn, and admiring your chutzpah for posting here though. ;-D Chutzpah?...ROTF ,you mean \"boba\" ! The insults, sarcasm and snarkiness goes a little over the top at times ...but as I said, I blow it all away. I know that deep down inside you like me;-D Homecare is v. expensive, Dorine. I don't have it as a secondary either. I'm at the mercy of the Mr Obama;-)"}, {"response": 606, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jun 18, 2009 (15:05)", "body": "I found this very interesting and his opinion seems to be echoing the concerns that I have mentioned here about the reform ending up as basically a sham in the end because no one wants to give up their share of the pie. I found his story about how CA insurance companies have been getting around the mandate that premiums can be increased only a limited amount per year very interesting. Quite clever, yet so simple. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/6/18/744056/-Without-a-Public-Option,-Its-Not-Really-Reform"}, {"response": 607, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jun 18, 2009 (16:01)", "body": "And I wonder whether health reform will stop this kind of behavior. Ties into Mari's comments about health care bills causing personal bankruptcies. http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-rescind17-2009jun17,0,3508020,full.story"}, {"response": 608, "author": "mari", "date": "Thu, Jun 18, 2009 (17:13)", "body": "Good article, Dorine. Proponents of a public plan seized upon the hearing, saying it showed why access to healthcare cannot be left to private insurance companies. The insurance companies are their own worst enemy. I'm glad they got blasted from both sides of the aisle. They want a seat at the table but the way some of them have conducted business is unconscionable. People paid premiums in good faith and had their coverage cancelled when they needed it most. A disgrace. Another problem with trying to get isurance on your own is they don't want to cover pre-existing conditions. Insurance companies want people who don't need insurance. :-( I'm hoping that competition from a public plan will put a stop to this nonsense."}, {"response": 609, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Jun 18, 2009 (17:41)", "body": "And I'm sure it will. Competition can alter people's behavior. Of course they are a for-profit business, and have shareholders to answer to. Perhaps it's the shareholders' fault for wanting dividends and profits;-) Enter: Co-op non-profit... But I digress.... Love this jacket. She uses belts over jackets.(Note to self, must get some belts) Yesterday at a Volunteer Award ceremony"}, {"response": 610, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jun 18, 2009 (19:06)", "body": "(Evelyn) Of course they are a for-profit business, and have shareholders to answer to. I can't speak for other not-for-profits, but I can tell you our board of directors are not happy at the moment and might as well be shareholders. We just had some more layoffs this week. Don't let anyone tell ya that because healthcare is always needed that jobs in that industry are safe. I like the belt/shirt color."}, {"response": 611, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Jun 18, 2009 (20:43)", "body": "(Dorine)but I can tell you our board of directors are not happy at the moment and might as well be shareholders No job is safe in this climate; healthcare or not. DIL was laid-off from Houston hospital. But why is your board of directors not happy? Any reason? Not enough reimbursements?"}, {"response": 612, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jun 18, 2009 (20:47)", "body": "Losing money, period. It's do or die time for my job, too. Not sure the time frame."}, {"response": 613, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jun 18, 2009 (21:52)", "body": "This is starting to take a nosedive fast, all in the name of bipartisanship (F that!) and expediency (why is there such a quick time table?). The employer taxes bit is one thing that got Leslie's goat and I see where she's coming from on that. Democrats pare back subsidies in health care bill AP By DAVID ESPO, AP Special Correspondent \ufffd 23 mins ago WASHINGTON \ufffd Key Senate Democrats, bidding for bipartisan support on health care, pared back subsidies designed to make insurance more affordable on Thursday and floated a compromise that rules out direct government competition against private insurers. Despite the cost-cutting, the proposal backed by Sen. Max Baucus, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, requires most individuals to purchase coverage and forbids insurance companies from denying it on the basis of pre-existing medical conditions. The brief outline did not specify how the government's costs would be covered, although Baucus and many Republicans favor a tax on certain employer-provided health benefits. The Montana Democrat has said he intends to hold the cost of the legislation to about $1 trillion, well below the $1.6 trillion estimate the Congressional Budget Office made of an earlier set of options. Across the Capitol, Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee privately circulated a list of possible tax increases to pay for expanded health care. They ranged from raising the Medicare tax, slapping a 10 percent tax on a can of sweetened drink, raising the alcohol tax, imposing a new tax on employers equal to 3 percent of payroll and taxing employer-provided health insurance benefits above certain levels. Also under consideration was a value added tax, a sort of national sales tax, of up to 1.5 percent or more, with housing, education, financial services and medical care potentially exempt. House Democrats were expected to unveil an outline of their own to expand health coverage on Friday, although several officials said they did not plan to include mention of the tax increases under consideration. Taken together, the developments reflected an eagerness by congressional Democrats in both houses to meet a self-imposed deadline of having health care legislation to the floor of both houses of Congress by summer. President Barack Obama has made the issue one of his top priorities. Neither the Senate Finance Committee outline nor the list of tax options under review by House Democrats was made public. The Associated Press obtained copies of both. \"There's no doubt in my mind we're going to get a bipartisan bill,\" Baucus told reporters as he emerged from a meeting with a small group of Republicans he referred to as a \"coalition of the willing.\" The senior Republican on the Finance Committee was not nearly as bullish. \"I'm still at the table. I wouldn't be at the table if I didn't think there was some hope for it,\" said Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa. \"But tomorrow it could be an entirely different story.\" According to a 10-page outline that described the proposal, federal subsidies would be available to help families up to 300 percent of poverty, or $66,000, purchase insurance. An earlier proposal set the level at 400 percent of poverty, or $88,000. At the same time, the new outline could require higher out of pocket costs from individuals because companies would be permitted to offer policies that cover less of an insured's anticipated medical costs than was earlier proposed. Many Democrats want the government to be able to offer insurance in competition with the private industry, a provision they say would hold down costs. But most Republicans are opposed. The outline presented at meeting with Republicans left the matter open, but suggested creation of nonprofit co-ops to offer insurance, rather than the government. The co-ops could accept federal loans for startup operations, but would have to repay the money. Similarly, the outline leaves open the question of requiring larger employers to provide insurance. As an alternative, it suggests requiring companies to pay a portion of the cost of insurance for lower income workers not offered coverage at work. While Baucus supports a tax on health benefits, Obama opposed it in last year's presidential campaign and attacked his rival, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., for proposing it. Administration officials have refrained from criticizing it in recent weeks, but organized labor is opposed, fearing it would mean higher taxes for some of its members. Congressional aides say Democrats are eager to exempt union contracts from the proposed tax, but Republicans want to include them. In its most recent form, the proposal would impose a tax on plans in which the combined employer and employee premiums are above about $17,000. That would raise an estimated $270 billion over a decade, less if union-negotiated plans were exempt. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090619/ap_on_go_co/us_health_overhaul;_ylt=Ai65845kPwsheCPx18LolvSs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTJqZGdpc2JwBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMD"}, {"response": 614, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jun 18, 2009 (23:52)", "body": "(Me) Losing money, period. From a variety of reasons... - state Medicaid cuts - having too many cases with HMO's/managed Medicares/Medicaids and not enough straight Care/Caids - decreased reimbursement from HMO's, etc. - poor internal management (for too long) of cases to maximize reimbursement and cut losses and/or shift potential losses (ie, chronic cases) to programs with better reimbursement. - poor intake management (taking everything to get a leg up on competition including obvious money losers rather than being more discerning) - lots of competition"}, {"response": 615, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Jun 19, 2009 (10:04)", "body": "And more Medicaid and Medicare cuts are in the pipeline I read. Folks on chemo are going to get hit. Medicare doesn't want to pay for infusion of chemo drugs..and want the drugs at the cost price to the hospital. Hospitals say, they lose $$$ now. Doctors (who take Medicaid) tell me it's a pro bono deal. They lose $$$. Raising taxes is a given. I said that when the guy was running. You people kept telling me \"only for those earning over $250K.\" Ha! He shouldn't have boxed himself in . I understand."}, {"response": 616, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jun 19, 2009 (12:25)", "body": "(Evelyn) Folks on chemo are going to get hit. They already do as well as others on other infusion treatments like IV antibiotics. If they want to go home for it, they're looking at potentially thousands of dollars a day for the meds alone. The insurance pays for the nurse and other services, but they still have to pay for the drugs somehow and they aren't covered much if at all. So they have to stay in a facility usually. Occasionally a deal is worked out with certain pharmacies and sometimes the hospital."}, {"response": 617, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Jun 19, 2009 (17:03)", "body": "House targets Fed in Bank of America investigation By ANNE FLAHERTY, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON \ufffd A House panel has subpoenaed documents that lawmakers say could shed new light on Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's role in Bank of America's acquisition of Merrill Lynch. The subpoena comes ahead of a hearing next week in which Bernanke is scheduled to testify. Lawmakers have accused Bernanke and President Bush's treasury secretary, Hank Paulson, of pressuring Bank of America Corp. Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis into the deal and urging him to keep quiet about Merrill's financial problems. Not divulging that information would have violated Lewis' fiduciary duty to the bank's shareholders. Lawmakers also have questioned whether Lewis threatened not to go through with the merger in order to squeeze money from the government. Bank of America ultimately received $45 billion from the government's bank bailout program, $20 billion of which was tied to its acquisition of Merrill Lynch. The subpoena is the second of its kind by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Last week, chairman Rep. Ed Towns, D-N.Y., and ranking member Darrell Issa, R-Calif., said the panel had reviewed documents that proved the merger was a \"shotgun wedding\" that came at the expense of the taxpayer. \"The question may be ... who was holding the shotgun?\" Towns asked at a June 11 hearing. In one e-mail reviewed by committee staff, Bernanke said he thought Lewis' threat to pull out of the deal was a \"bargaining chip\" and \"we do not see it as a very likely scenario at all.\" In testimony before the committee, Lewis said publicly for the first time that his job was threatened after he expressed second thoughts about the merger. Lewis said then-Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson and federal regulators made clear that if the bank reneged on its promise they would force his ouster and that of board members at the bank. \"What gave me concern is that they gave that threat to a bank in good standing,\" Lewis told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. \"So it showed the seriousness with which they thought that we should not\" back out. Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke also pledged government aid to Bank of America to help absorb the losses, Lewis said. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_bank_of_america"}, {"response": 618, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Jun 19, 2009 (17:52)", "body": "Forgot to post this, Stephen did a really funny bit on Silvio a couple days ago: http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/230970/june-17-2009/alpha-dog-of-the-week---silvio-berlusconi"}, {"response": 619, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Jun 20, 2009 (11:00)", "body": "Cute. But did they have to find such an ugly pic of Silvio? Think that's really him \"starker\"? He's done this before..remember the one i found for someone's b'day? wonder how long before Stephen's hair grows back. I miss the long black locks."}, {"response": 620, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Jun 20, 2009 (11:40)", "body": "The guy standing up is Mirek Topolanek, the former Czech prime minister."}, {"response": 621, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jun 20, 2009 (19:25)", "body": "They (pharma) are getting something out of this (or at least not losing anything). What is it? Someone will dig hard enough to find out. Eventually, when it's too late I'm sure. Baucus, White House in deal with drug industry AP by DAVID ESPO, AP Special Correspondent 17 mins ago WASHINGTON \ufffd The pharmaceutical industry agreed Saturday to spend $80 billion over the next decade improving drug benefits for seniors on Medicare and defraying the cost of President Barack Obama's health care legislation, capping secretive negotiations involving key lawmakers and the White House. \"This new coverage means affordable prices on prescription drugs when Medicare benefits don't cover the cost of prescriptions,\" Sen. Max Baucus, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said in a statement announcing the accord. The deal marked a major triumph for Baucus as well as the administration. Obama praised the deal. \"The agreement by pharmaceutical companies to contribute to the health reform effort comes on the heels of the landmark pledge many health industry leaders made to me last month, when they offered to do their part to reduce health spending $2 trillion over the next decade,\" Obama said. \"We are at a turning point in America's journey toward health care reform.\" Baucus, a Montana Democrat, has been negotiating with numerous industry groups for weeks as he tries to draft legislation that meets Obama's goal of vastly expanding health coverage, has bipartisan support and does not add to the deficit. Baucus' announcement said drug companies would pay half of the cost of brand-name drugs for seniors in the so-called doughnut hole \ufffd a gap in coverage that is a feature of many of the plans providing prescription coverage under Medicare. Other officials said wealthier Medicare beneficiaries would not receive the same break, but there was no mention of that in the statement. In addition, the entire cost of the drug would count toward a patient's out-of-pocket costs, meaning their insurance coverage would cover more of their expenses than otherwise. Billy Tauzin, president and CEO of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), said, \"Millions of uninsured and financially struggling Americans are depending on us to accomplish comprehensive health care reform this year. Today, America's pharmaceutical research and biotechnology companies are signaling their strong support for these critically important efforts.\" While none of the changes in the prescription drug program would directly lower government costs, several officials also said the industry agreed to measures that would give the Treasury more money under federal health programs. In particular, officials said drug companies would likely wind up paying pay higher rebates for certain drugs under Medicaid, the program that provides health care for the poor. Those funds would be used to help pay for legislation expanding health insurance for millions who now lack it. One official said the deal was agreed to late Friday night when Tauzin called Baucus. The senator's statement said the White House was involved in the agreement. It was not clear what leverage the agreement would give Baucus with other health care providers with whom he is in negotiations. But at a minimum, the agreement served as an effective counter to impression that the drive to enact health care legislation was sputtering. The disclosure of negotiations came near the end of an up-and-down week for the administration and its allies on health care. Congressional Budget Office estimates showed early versions of two major Senate bills were either too costly or failed to make a large enough dent in the ranks of the uninsured. Republicans seized on the reports as evidence that Democrats were losing traction. They leapt again when it was disclosed that House Democrats were considering a wide array of tax increases to finance their legislation, including an income tax surcharge, a tax on employers based on the size of their payroll and a value-added tax, a form of a national sales tax. House Democrats on Friday unveiled draft legislation they said would cover virtually all of the nation's nearly 50 million uninsured but it came without a price tag or an indication of how it would be paid for. Major provisions of the 850-page measure would impose new responsibilities on individuals to obtain coverage and on employers to provided it. It also would end insurance company practices that deny coverage to the sick and create a new government-sponsored plan to compete with private companies. Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said she hopes the legislation can clear the House before lawmakers leave for their annual August vacation. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090620/ap_on_go_co/us_health_overhaul;_ylt=ApHLSw.wErrYMDGje6MZ2Fes0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTJrZjZnb210BGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMDkwNjIwL3VzX2hlYWx0aF9vdmVyaGF1bARjcG9zAzMEcG9zAzEwBHNlYwN5bl90b3Bfc3RvcnkEc2xrA2JhdWN1c3doaXRlaA- -"}, {"response": 622, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jun 20, 2009 (19:34)", "body": "Data like this is exactly why I've been skeptical on healthcare reform of late and illustrates a bit my comments about various entities not giving up their piece of the pie. http://www.lavidalocavore.org/diary/1937/why-american-policy-sucks"}, {"response": 623, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jun 20, 2009 (19:36)", "body": "And keep in mind, that data is from just one quarter (Q109). The mind reels."}, {"response": 624, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Jun 20, 2009 (22:46)", "body": "And they didn't even list the UAW;-)"}, {"response": 625, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jun 20, 2009 (23:45)", "body": "I didn't honestly get past the healthcare companies to see who else is on it."}, {"response": 626, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Jun 21, 2009 (11:01)", "body": "And they didn't even list the UAW;-) Perhaps because they didn't spend $1 million or more for lobbying in one quarter. That was the criteria and methodology or did you scroll over it as well as the signficance of the entire list?"}, {"response": 627, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Jun 21, 2009 (11:07)", "body": "Quite a good piece on the young people (estimated at 30% of the uninsured) without health insurance on CBS News the other night. I didn't get the sense that they didn't feel they needed it, but that they couldn't afford it and their employers weren't providing. The insurance companies have named this group (19-29 year olds) the \"young invincibles.\" You can read and watch the vid here: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/06/20/eveningnews/main5100607.shtml?tag=stack"}, {"response": 628, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sun, Jun 21, 2009 (14:41)", "body": "Well I did google and found this... \"In 2008 alone, the UAW gave $4,161,567 to the Democratic Party, including Barack Obama.\" http://osmoothie.com/2009/06/10/uaw-gives-23-million-to-democratic-party-receives-55-of-chrysler-175-of-gm-and-billions-of-dollars/ Not that I blame them. I would sell a kidney if my job was at stake. He rescued them. Now we'll see if he has to rescue them again."}, {"response": 629, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Jun 21, 2009 (14:46)", "body": "The list Dorine posted was for lobbying members of Congress, not political contributions to a party. I'm sure those corporations also gave a gazillion through various and sundry ways to the RNC."}, {"response": 630, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Jun 21, 2009 (14:47)", "body": "Somehow in all this talk of the UAW, the point of my post was lost. :-(("}, {"response": 631, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Jun 21, 2009 (14:50)", "body": "And I love it, the article Evelyn googled happens to be written by Newt, of all people."}, {"response": 632, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Jun 21, 2009 (15:03)", "body": "But then, no matter about that or the UAW. The comments are quite interesting at that link I posted. Someone broke down the #'s and figured out the total figures would = $84,000 per each of the 535 members of Congress. And that's just one quarter! We do need some serious campaign reform. And also, if you really look at it, not only was the PHRMA lobbying group the top contributor, look how many others are from individual pharma co's as well. And they say they came to some kind of deal to help out with covering drugs in the donut hole of Med D coverage? As I mentioned before, they have to be getting something for it (tax breaks maybe?). There's no way they'd be so magnanimous after spending all that money lobbying Congress. They aren't so generous."}, {"response": 633, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Jun 21, 2009 (15:04)", "body": "Someone broke down the #'s and figured out the total figures would = $84,000 per each of the 535 members of Congress. And that's just one quarter! In healthcare only."}, {"response": 634, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Jun 21, 2009 (16:41)", "body": "(Evelyn) Well I did google... I suppose you're looking for applause, well, you also need to find things on the same subject. (Dorine) Somehow in all this talk of the UAW, the point of my post was lost. :-(( Not to those who read it. ;-) (Dorine) As I mentioned before, they have to be getting something for it (tax breaks maybe?) Extensions on patents, plus prohibiting the ability to import drugs from, say, Canada. That was a huge one they got."}, {"response": 635, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Jun 21, 2009 (17:26)", "body": "I actually find this hysterical. From Montana, of all places, a state that boasts about its individualism. LOL! City asks applicants for Internet passwords By MATT GOURAS, Associated Press Writer - Fri Jun 19, 2009 HELENA, Mont. - Job applicants with the city of Bozeman are finding that their private Internet discussions and pictures may not be so private after all. The city is asking job seekers for the user names and passwords to Internet social networking or Web groups to which they belong. The decision is sparking an outcry from those who say the policy goes way too far. The issue has spawned hundreds of comments on Web forums and sharp criticism from legislators and the ACLU. \"I liken it to them saying they want to look at your love letters and your family photos,\" said Amy Cannata, with the American Civil Liberties Union of Montana. \"I think this policy certainly crosses the privacy line.\" The city argues that it only uses the information to verify application information \ufffd and says it won't hold it against anyone for refusing to provide it. City officials say such checks can be useful, especially when hiring police officers and others in a position of public trust. Bozeman officials have been hammered with e-mails and phone calls ever since KBZK-TV of Bozeman reported the policy on Wednesday, including an excerpt from the city application form that states \"Please list any and all current personal or business Web sites, web pages or memberships on any Internet-based chat rooms, social clubs or forums, to include, but not limited to: Facebook, Google, Yahoo, YouTube.com, MySpace, etc.\" Bozeman City Commissioner Jeff Rupp said he was unaware city officers had implemented the policy, and expects the city commission will be talking about it. But Rupp said it is not as bad as it sounds since applicants are not scored negatively for refusing to answer the question. \"I can tell you I would not provide it in an application I submit,\" Rupp said. \"I have been told repeatedly it is not scored, and the application is not discarded if not provided.\" Rep. Brady Wiseman, a Bozeman Democrat, led the state's fight against the Patriot Act when the Legislature issued a harsh critique of the federal act, arguing it trampled civil liberties and put the government into a position of snooping on citizens. Wiseman said Bozeman now is going too far. \"Asking for passwords is over the line,\" Wiseman said. \"I think that this notion opens up a whole new line of debate on privacy.\" The intense pressure generated in just a couple days is hitting the city hard. Bozeman City Attorney Greg Sullivan told the Bozeman Daily Chronicle Thursday that the city may look at changing the policy so that they could view an applicant's social networking sites without asking for login information. One option would be to have an applicant add the city as a \"friend\" on such sites as Facebook. \"We've already began that discussion,\" Sullivan said. Cannata, with the ACLU, said her organization has not found another government body that asks for such information. And even though the ACLU has not done a full legal analysis, she said the Bozeman policy doesn't pass the smell test. \"It's one thing, and I think totally reasonable, if someone has a public profile to go check it out,\" Cannata said. But private groups and profile could reveal information employers could not legally base hiring decisions on, such as a person's religion, she added. \"Are they going to go in and look at those things?\" Cannata said. \"And even if they don't intend to look at those things, it's still there for them to see.\" http://tech.yahoo.com/news/ap/20090619/ap_on_hi_te/us_internet_background_checks"}, {"response": 636, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Jun 21, 2009 (17:55)", "body": "I saw that! I can't believe that anyone would have the sense to give them that info. I'd give them all fake info. Or set up fake accounts (under my name, but that are virtually inactive) and give them passwords to those. What a can of worms that opens up."}, {"response": 637, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Jun 21, 2009 (18:32)", "body": "Bozeman City Commissioner Jeff Rupp said he was unaware city officers had implemented the policy Really on the ball! ;-) The city argues that it only uses the information to verify application information Anybody buying this one? Is it cheaper than hiring someone to do background checks? *snort*"}, {"response": 638, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sun, Jun 21, 2009 (19:35)", "body": "We do need some serious campaign reform. ROTF Foolish antelope. That's campaign rhetoric. Do you really think all those congressmen are going to give up all that cashola ? Who's gonna finance those campaigns? Who's gonna buy those seats in the senate?"}, {"response": 639, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Jun 21, 2009 (19:46)", "body": "No, I certainly don't think they will at all (I could use that 84K a quarter, too ;-)). But I still think it's needed. A pipe dream for sure."}, {"response": 640, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sun, Jun 21, 2009 (21:11)", "body": "The same with lobbyists. \"K\" Street is here to stay. Some of those congressmen's wives and relatives are lobbyists, fergodsake. *shaking head* Hopeless."}, {"response": 641, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Jun 21, 2009 (23:30)", "body": "They aren't really lobbyists, all of them. Just on the payroll. ;-)"}, {"response": 642, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jun 22, 2009 (09:03)", "body": "Can't say I agree or disagree with all of this as I haven't read it all so far, but I don't disagree with the first point at the moment. 5 keys to getting health care deal Politico http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0609/23995.html"}, {"response": 643, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jun 22, 2009 (09:14)", "body": "I don't think you can even say competition is driving people away from the VA. Incompetence is. Not the only place. Some other states people were getting HIV or Hepetitis or something from colonoscopies. Or something like that (not looking it up now). Even when they were admonished by the VA administration to in general straighten up their acts, they did nothing to improve things it turns out. But Karen was right about the funding. Been a problem for a long time. Newspapers: VA in Penn. botched cancer treatments http://www.philly.com/philly/news/homepage/20090622_Phila__VA_errors_went_uncorrected_for_years.html"}, {"response": 644, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jun 22, 2009 (09:21)", "body": "Could they finally be growing some? I have been skeptical of the co-ops, with good reason IMO, depending on how it/ they're set up. Democrats may go it alone on gov't insurance plan AP By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR, Associated Press Writer 1 hr 1 min ago WASHINGTON \ufffd Democrats generally are standing behind their position that a health care system overhaul must include a government-sponsored plan that would be available to middle-class workers and their families. A key Democrat, New York Sen. Charles Schumer, said this option now seems even more of a necessity in view of unsuccessful behind-the-scenes attempts to get a deal with Republicans on nonprofit co-ops as an alternative to a public plan. Schumer told The Associated Press Sunday night that those efforts have proved frustrating, saying that he and his Democratic colleagues now may have to go it alone. The co-ops were seen as perhaps the last hope for compromise on the notion of a public health care option, a contentious issue that threatens any remaining prospects of bipartisan support for President Barack Obama's sweeping plan to remake the health care system. \"I don't think I could say with a straight face that this (co-op proposal) is at all close to a nationwide public option,\" Schumer, D-N.Y., told The Associated Press on Sunday. \"Right now, this co-op idea doesn't come close to satisfying anyone who wants a public plan.\" The public plan that most Democrats envision would be offered alongside private plans through a new kind of insurance purchasing pool called an exchange. Individuals and small businesses would be able to buy coverage through exchanges, but eventually businesses of any size might be able to join. Proponents say the option of a public plan in the marketplace would put a brake on costs and check the power of insurers. But Republicans, insurers and many business leaders say a government plan could drive private insurance companies out of business. \"The most important thing for us to make sure is that we do increase coverage to a basic plan for more Americans and the way we're going to do that is starting with where people get most of their health care, and that's their employer,\" House Minority Whip Eric Cantor, R-Va., said Monday. \"We've got to be sure to make it so those employers can keep their health care costs down.\" Cantor, appearing on ABC's \"Good Morning America,\" said that \"a government plan, no matter what you call it, will increase costs\" and limit choices. Two recent news media polls have found public support for a government plan, even if many people are unsure about its implications. The most recent survey, a New York Times-CBS News poll released Sunday, found that 72 percent supported the idea, including half of those who identified themselves as Republicans. \"The polling data backs up our subjective view that to make health care reform work, you need a public option,\" said Schumer. Schumer's role is important because he had been acting as an intermediary between liberal Democrats and moderates who are trying to strike a deal on the issue with Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee. Of the five House and Senate committees working on health care, Finance is the only one that appears to have a chance at reaching a bipartisan agreement. Schumer said Finance Republicans had rejected several proposals designed to beef up the suggested nonprofit insurance co-ops. These included setting up a national structure for the co-ops, $10 billion in government seed money, power to negotiate payment rates to medical providers nationwide and creation of a presidentially appointed board of directors. Without \"dramatic\" changes, Schumer said he would oppose the co-ops deal and urge other Democrats to do so as well. The Finance Committee compromise could be unveiled as early as this week. Senators were forced to start again last week because initial cost estimates were well above their 10-year, $1 trillion target. The next few weeks will be pivotal in the debate. Democrats want to push ahead as far as they can before the July 4 congressional recess. Over the break, comments from constituents could determine whether Congress sticks to its goal of passing legislation this summer. Both sides are nervous. Some Democrats say they doubt the plan has enough Democratic support to clear the Senate. \"I think there's a lot of concern in the Democratic caucus,\" Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said Sunday on CNN's \"State of the Union.\" Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, the top Republican on the Finance Committee, said lawmakers are rethinking their wish list, which includes coverage for all and slowing the rate of medical cost increases \ufffd goals that may be in conflict. \"So we're in the position of dialing down some of our expectations to get the costs down so that it's affordable and, most importantly, so that it's paid for because we can't go to the point where we are now, of not paying for something when we have trillions of dollars of debt,\" said Gras"}, {"response": 645, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Jun 22, 2009 (09:36)", "body": "(AP)Democrats may go it alone on gov't insurance plan (Diana Feinstein)\"I think there's a lot of concern in the Democratic caucus,\" Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said Sunday on CNN's \"State of the Union.\" \"Even when they were admonished by the VA administration to in general straighten up their acts, they did nothing to improve things it turns out.\" They're a gov't entity. V. difficult to fire a civil service employee. (Dorine)But Karen was right about the funding. Been a problem for a long time. All government hospitals are short of funds. Horror stories from the Indian Health Service Hospitals. Shortage of physicians for one thing. Most of the times one sees a PA or Nurse Practioner. Healthcare assistants are the wave of the future. I see them now for colds, sinus etc. They can prescribe most meds in some states."}, {"response": 646, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Jun 22, 2009 (13:58)", "body": "I read this in my morning WSJ and just found the article online. Iran's Web Spying Aided By Western Technology \"The infiltration of Iranian online traffic could explain why the government has allowed the Internet to continue to function -- and also why it has been running at such slow speeds in the days since the results of the presidential vote spurred unrest. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124562668777335653.html#mod=rss_Today's_Most_Popular Now there's a cause for LaBB."}, {"response": 647, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jun 22, 2009 (14:35)", "body": "(Evelyn) \"Even when they were admonished by the VA administration to in general straighten up their acts, they did nothing to improve things it turns out.\" They're a gov't entity. V. difficult to fire a civil service employee. It wasn't about firing people. It was about following the proper policies and procedures in a number of facilities. All government hospitals are short of funds. Many hospitals period are short of funds, too. We had 2 in Queens close at the beginning of the year and another in the city a year or so ago. Even after consolidation into larger entities, some still can't survive."}, {"response": 648, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Jun 22, 2009 (16:33)", "body": "It was about following the proper policies and procedures in a number of facilities Think that scares the staff? There are too many hospitals. Esp private hospitals that specialize in procedures (hips, knees)and surgeries (heart) that bring in the most money. Leaving gall bladders , hernias , hemorrhoids and ERs to the general hospitals. Big article in WSJ last week."}, {"response": 649, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jun 23, 2009 (13:59)", "body": "This pretty much puts in a nutshell the reservations I've had with those healthcare co-ops. \"As envisioned, the co-op proposal would create a bunch of member operated plans around the country, none of which would have the clout to compete with private insurance or really lower prices with providers and drug companies. [Ed. note - So why bother then?] Also, another note of caution: A co-op is a legal structure. In a co-op, members of the co-op are legally liable for the co-op. That means that if a co-op was, say, sued for doing something wrong, its members might be liable for the legal bills and damages.\" http://blog.healthcareforamericanow.org/2009/06/12/a-co-op-for-the-public-option-lets-talk-principles/ Sen. Kay Hagan is apparently upset the private insurers might lose some business with a public option. \"Hagan worries that such a federally run insurer may prompt companies to drop their private plans, or prompt individuals to run to a cheaper alternative, and destabilize the insurance market.\" http://www.news-record.com/content/2009/06/22/article/hagan_says_she_wants_a_health_bill_that_can_pass"}, {"response": 650, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Jun 23, 2009 (16:47)", "body": "\"Hagan worries that such a federally run insurer may prompt companies to drop their private plans, or prompt individuals to run to a cheaper alternative, and destabilize the insurance market The president addressed this issue in this mornings news conference. If you are happy with your insurance..[ (me)as 73% or the people are] they you don't have to take the fed's insurance The federally run plan is bound to be a bare-bones health care, with limitations; similar to some HMO's, PPO and some v. low-cost premium insurances . Some folks might like to have a choice of doctors, hospitals and accessibility to tests etc. The option is there. Only one hospital in our area will take Community Care (a Medicare Advantage) because they reimburse at a loss to the hospital."}, {"response": 651, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jun 23, 2009 (17:11)", "body": "Only one hospital in our area will take Community Care (a Medicare Advantage) because they reimburse at a loss to the hospital. Of course, because it's nothing but an HMO (federally subsidized). The federally run plan is bound to be a bare-bones health care, with limitations; similar to some HMO's, PPO and some v. low-cost premium insurances . Some folks might like to have a choice of doctors, hospitals and accessibility to tests etc. The option is there. On basic care, there shouldn't be limitations IMO. The question then becomes, what's \"basic\" care? But I've been an advocate of a plan like that with more catastrophic/chronic care requiring some other kind of policy. Perhaps publically funded, perhaps not."}, {"response": 652, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Jun 23, 2009 (20:05)", "body": "Euro-Care."}, {"response": 653, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jun 23, 2009 (23:37)", "body": "Ok."}, {"response": 654, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Jun 24, 2009 (07:59)", "body": "These are perilous times. I understand. He wants to cut down on entitlements to pay for ObamaCare. I'd rather he raised my taxes. Too many folks rely on entitlements for their sole income."}, {"response": 655, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Jun 24, 2009 (12:38)", "body": "FLOTUS is in Californai this week Mrs. O is in California this week to kick off the 2009 National Conference on Volunteering and Service. Joined by the first lady of California, Maria Shriver Mrs. O spoke at the conference wearing a sleeveless dress that combined print and texture. Above: Mrs. O wears the Reid dress by Rachel Roy Dunno if I go for this one. Original price $1195. But one website has it on sale for $575."}, {"response": 656, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jun 24, 2009 (13:03)", "body": "I like it. But not the price. Guess Old Navy or wherever it was isn't cuttin' it anymore."}, {"response": 657, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jun 24, 2009 (15:20)", "body": "Is anyone following the story on Mark Sanford, Republican SC Governor (whose name was bandied about for 2012 Pres race), who up and disappeared for 5 days without telling anyone where he was going, including staff and wife apparently? Have no idea what TV news is or is not saying. This guy's kind of nuts. First decides to turn down stimulus money for his state, but is court ordered to take it. Then, he disappears for 5 days...to Argentina! Because of an affair with an Argentinian woman started over an email! *runs to make buttered popcorn and watch replay of news conference on FOX (where they conveniently mislabel him a Dem)*"}, {"response": 658, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Jun 24, 2009 (16:39)", "body": "(Dorine) news conference on FOX (where they conveniently mislabel him a Dem) LOL! Naturally. Yeah, I started picking up on him yesterday, when his staff were staying he was \"on walkabout\" on the Appalachia Trail. Didn't know it (the trail) went all the way down to Argentina. Old Navy *snort* Close, it is and was J. Crew."}, {"response": 659, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jun 24, 2009 (18:42)", "body": "LOL, I didn't think that was right, but nothing else was coming to mind. :-) I'm enjoying some of the comments at Firedoglake on Sanford: \"It is easy to understand how the staff and all could have mixed up Ar-gen Tina and Ap-a-la-chan Trail. So similar.\" \"I think it is outrageous that Sanford outsourced his adultery to a foreigner.\" \"Sanford was so overflowing with Family Values he needed to share them with another family, far away in the Argentine!\" \"I\ufffdm so glad that only gays can destroy the institution of marriage.\" \"Sanford\ufffds killing the Dow today. I thought only Obama could do that?\" and of course the obvious... \"Don\ufffdt Cry for Me Argentina!\" As they also noted, his poor family. How humiliating for his wife and for the kids, since he disappeared for Father's Day. I see a rumor some paper down there was sitting on the story about him and his mistress. No idea if that's so or not."}, {"response": 660, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Jun 24, 2009 (20:25)", "body": "My favorite line: I went down to Argentina....it's a beautiful city, you know\" Yeah...sure. He went down there to do some sightseeing! Another one...\"I started to go hiking, but then changed my mind\" He's toast....finished. Should resign from office. Republicans aren't as tolerant about \"it's his private life\"as Democrats were about Clinton and all his affairs before running for president. Never mind while in office. I will say , at least Sanford was a little more discreet and went to another continent. But not only were his actions immoral, but there is direliction of duty involved. He is the head of his state and should be on call all the time. I agree ...he's irrational; career-suicidal. Investigations are sure to follow...whose money did he use for the high-dollar air ticket? Kudos to his wife, for not standing next to him at the news conference. The ultimate humiliation for a woman. I'm glad she threw him out. First inkling of something \"rotten\"was when she said she didn't know where he was and \"didn't care\"!"}, {"response": 661, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Jun 24, 2009 (20:25)", "body": "\"Don't Cry for Me, Argentina\" LOL! Good one. Can't wait to see Stephen tonight, as this is SC, his home state. Should be great. BTW, this is why ALL political parties need to get off the family values soapbox. Not one of these jerks can pass the scrutiny. They're all hypocrites of the highest degree. Why anybody follows a politician or party professes to stand for family values is beyond me. Politics and families (or values for that matter) don't mix and shouldn't. I've held this view consistently for yonks."}, {"response": 662, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Jun 24, 2009 (20:32)", "body": "He's never been popular with the \"family values\" guy. A political maverick. The Family Values crowd will throw him out. What's wrong with family values? If you don't profess such, why hit-up on people who do? They don't do me any harm; anymore than atheists, or no-family -values folks. Let people profess what they want, I say. I ....don't....care..."}, {"response": 663, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jun 24, 2009 (20:47)", "body": "What's wrong with family values? She's not talking about family values in general or per se. If you don't profess such, why hit-up on people who do? Really....you don't get what she's saying? Or are you just playing?"}, {"response": 664, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jun 24, 2009 (21:10)", "body": "Republicans aren't as tolerant about \"it's his private life\"as Democrats were about Clinton and all his affairs before running for president. Never mind while in office. Yeah, Larry Craig and David Vitter got raked over the coals by their Republican colleagues for their indiscretions. Not. He definitely should resign for dereliction of duty. What's worse, is if his Lt. Gov did know and considered himself in charge, then didn't tell anyone. I bet this isn't the end of this story."}, {"response": 665, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Jun 24, 2009 (22:03)", "body": "I bet this isn't the end of this story. That's what I said. Neither Craig nor Vitter got a free pass. No one excused their behavior as being \"private life\". When one runs for public office, one doesn't have a \"private life.\" Period. Only the tax cheats seem to get away with it. No I'm not \"playing\". If family values means a lot to people then they have the right to subscribe / vote for a candidate that professes such. Personally, it's no biggie with me. I prefer honesty & integrity."}, {"response": 666, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jun 24, 2009 (22:34)", "body": "they have the right to subscribe / vote for a candidate that professes such But that's kind of the point, or a point. The candidates shouldn't be professing such."}, {"response": 667, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jun 24, 2009 (22:35)", "body": "Someone will have to let me know how O does on his town hall tonight. I'm recording as I'm all over the house doing things before going away for a few days and being out tomorrow night. I can't watch the TV at the same time."}, {"response": 668, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jun 24, 2009 (23:06)", "body": "LOL!! An anonymous reader writes: Subject: Inside word from Sanford It was a slight miscommunication between Sanford and his staff. He told them he'd be \"spiking some Argentina tail,\" and they thought he'd said, \"hiking the Appalachian trail.\" It was an honest mistake. I think they handled it well...family values and all."}, {"response": 669, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jun 24, 2009 (23:23)", "body": "(Evelyn) He's never been popular with the \"family values\" guy. A political maverick. I'm not sure why or where you came to this opinion, but apparently someone doesn't agree with your assessment. Sanford Affair a Blow to GOP Values Brand June 24, 2009 04:59 PM ET By Dan Gilgoff South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford's admission today that he had an extramarital affair strikes another blow to the GOP's brand as the party of family values, particularly in a region of the country\ufffdthe Deep South\ufffdthat has become ever more critical to Republicans, who've lost ground recently in the Northeast and the West. Outside South Carolina, \"Sanford is most well known in states like North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, which are growing more competitive for Democrats,\" says Cornell Belcher, a Democratic pollster who worked for Barack Obama and the Democratic National Committee during the 2008 campaign season. \"This is devastating for the Republican Party in the very region where it has to make gains.\" Fast on the heels of an admitted affair by Nevada Sen. John Ensign\ufffdanother emblem of the GOP's values brand\ufffdSanford's announcement also makes it harder for the national Republican Party to maintain credibility with the values voters who've been most loyal to it. \"As far as the Republicans go, this raises the issue of how marriage is treated by political leaders,\" says Wendy Wright, the president of the conservative group Concerned Women for America. Belcher, the Democratic pollster, says the recent string of Republican sex scandals is redolent of the run-up to the 2006 midterm elections, when former House Leader Tom DeLay resigned after being indicted in a campaign finance investigation and Florida Rep. Mark Foley was caught sending lewd text messages to young male congressional pages. Both were Republicans, and Belcher, who was then pollster for DNC Chair Howard Dean, watched the Republican advantage on values issues shrink from more than 20 percentage points to around 5 points over the course of the '06 election cycle. The Democrats won 31 seats in the House, regaining control of the chamber. Belcher says he has not conducted national polls since last year's election. \"But at this point, when it comes to values, the Republican brand has deteriorated more, and their hopes of making gains in the coming midterms has to be dramatically undermined,\" he says. \"My guess is that we've now gone from a tossup on values with the Republicans to [Democrats] having at least a 4- or 5-point advantage.\" Sanford, who was considered a potential 2012 White House contender, has long been a darling of \"pro-family\" religious conservatives. In the 2008 election, Christian right activists who were unenthusiastic about the Republican presidential field tried unsuccessfully to draft him as a presidential candidate. http://www.usnews.com/blogs/god-and-country/2009/06/24/sanford-affair-a-blow-to-gop-values-brand.html"}, {"response": 670, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jun 24, 2009 (23:26)", "body": "Family Research Council removes Sanford\ufffds picture from Values Voters Summit website. Previously, the website for the Family Research Council\ufffds Values Voters Summit 2009 featured a picture of South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, advertising that he was a potential speaker. But Pam Spaulding points out that following Sanford\ufffds announcement of an affair, his picture was quickly removed from the website. http://thinkprogress.org/2009/06/24/sanford-frc-website/ (there are before and after pictures of the website in question at the link)"}, {"response": 671, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jun 24, 2009 (23:31)", "body": "I thought this was an interesting comment at the NYT in an interesting piece about politicians surviving sex scandals. \"Of course Demos have been caught in sex scandals, but there is a key difference: Dems don\ufffdt lecture Repubs re. their lack of Christian values and morals, whereas GOPsters can hardly draw a breath between their harangues damning Demos as immoral. And isn\ufffdt it a blast and a half that it\ufffds always the most puffed up GOP blowhards that are the most often caught. Such fun to see each one of these monumental hypocrites hoist with his own petard.\" http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/24/how-do-politicians-survive-sex-scandals/"}, {"response": 672, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jun 24, 2009 (23:33)", "body": "BTW, I only had to google \"sanford family values\" to find such info. http://news.google.com/news?q=sanford+family+values&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&ei=eOxCStXjNIKJtge47JiXCQ&sa=X&oi=news_group&resnum=1&ct=title"}, {"response": 673, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jun 24, 2009 (23:43)", "body": "Ah, I see. This sheds light on his maverick reputation. http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/s/mark_sanford/index.html"}, {"response": 674, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Jun 25, 2009 (09:53)", "body": "The burning question is: Who leaked the emails, which came from Sanford's private email account ,to the SC Carolina newspaper. Apparently , they had them for a year and couldn't confirm them. Also; Who tipped off the newspaper that Gov Sanford was coming into Hartsfield airport in Atlanta ...instead of the Columbia SC airport. Could be inside job: \"Morning Joe\"."}, {"response": 675, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jun 25, 2009 (10:02)", "body": "They had them from December I read."}, {"response": 676, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Jun 25, 2009 (10:32)", "body": "@#$% One of those links shut down my window and I've lost all my comments/responses. *sniff sniff* Anyway, the NYT excerpt you posted, Do, pretty much says everything I had in response. \"Of course Demos have been caught in sex scandals, but there is a key difference: Dems don\ufffdt lecture Repubs re. their lack of Christian values and morals, whereas GOPsters can hardly draw a breath between their harangues damning Demos as immoral. And isn\ufffdt it a blast and a half that it\ufffds always the most puffed up GOP blowhards that are the most often caught. Such fun to see each one of these monumental hypocrites hoist with his own petard.\" Amen, sistah! Also, BTW, Larry Craig served out his term."}, {"response": 677, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Jun 25, 2009 (10:35)", "body": "What I find incongruous is that the party that rails against Big Government holds the banner for family values and morals, areas which are and should always remain outside legislation."}, {"response": 678, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jun 25, 2009 (10:56)", "body": "it\ufffds always the most puffed up GOP blowhards that are the most often caught Even with some of the Dems. Spitzer was an even much bigger blowhard than Guiliani. I guess it's the play harder, fall harder scenario. Or Icarus, or whatever. :-)"}, {"response": 679, "author": "mari", "date": "Thu, Jun 25, 2009 (11:58)", "body": "(Evelyn)But not only were his actions immoral, but there is direliction of duty involved. He is the head of his state and should be on call all the time. As a citizen, it's the dereliction of duty that to me is the deciding factor on whether he's fit to continue. His affair is a private, family ordeal, though very ironic for someone who called for Clinton's impeachment. I understand the wife kicked him out 2 weeks ago. Could be inside job That's what I think and it goes to whether or not he was accessible. I think someone on his staff dropped the dime on him. I think there were people who knew exactly where he was. Had to be. There are so many of these hypocrites getting caught. My question is: when people vote for \"family values\" what is it they are voting for? I'm not trying to be snarky, I just want to understand. (Karen)What I find incongruous is that the party that rails against Big Government holds the banner for family values and morals, areas which are and should always remain outside legislation. The most horrible example of government intrusiveness: Terri Schiavo. The FL legislature passed a law to force them to keep her alive and Jeb Bush championed it."}, {"response": 680, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jun 25, 2009 (12:40)", "body": "(Mari) My question is: when people vote for \"family values\" what is it they are voting for? I'm not trying to be snarky, I just want to understand. Mainly, or for starters, they want a candidate who is pro-life (anti-abortion), pro-abstinence (pre-marital) and anti-gay rights (in order to preserve the sanctity of marriage, of course)."}, {"response": 681, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jun 25, 2009 (12:43)", "body": "Here are the titles of the breakout sessions of that Family Values Voter conference where Sanford was to possibly speak. (Excuse the capitals, I just cut and pasted, no editing to small letters) * SPEECHLESS - SILENCING THE CHRISTIANS * THUGOCRACY - FIGHTING THE VAST LEFT WING CONSPIRACY * DEFUNDING PLANNED PARENTHOOD * ACTIVISM AND CONSERVATISM: FIT TO A TEA (PARTY) * THE THREAT OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION * OBAMACARE: RATIONING YOUR LIFE AWAY * MARRIAGE: WHY IT'S WORTH DEFENDING AND HOW REDEFINING IT THREATENS RELIGIOUS LIBERTY * THE NEW MASCULINITY * WAIT NO MORE: FINDING FAMILIES FOR WAITING KIDS * TURNING THE TIDE IN YOUR GENERATION http://www.valuesvotersummit.org/"}, {"response": 682, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jun 25, 2009 (12:46)", "body": "Sorry, here's the link with the descriptions of all the sessions. There's even an anti-feminism one. http://www.valuesvotersummit.org/schedule"}, {"response": 683, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jun 25, 2009 (14:50)", "body": "Rachel Maddow interviewed the reporter from The State, who had the Sanford emails and found him at the airport. \"Some very interesting revelations: 1. Smith said The State received the Sanford e-mails in December from an anonymous source, though she hadn't had them the entire time. 2. Because of the e-mails, Smith had a hunch that Sanford might be in Argentina. As a result, she decided to drive to Atlanta and wait outside the gate where a flight from Argentina would land. 3. Sanford was surprised when he saw Smith and took several minutes to compose himself before claiming that he had initially intended to go hiking, but instead went to Argentina to enjoy the coast. 4. Smith did not confront Sanford about the e-mails at the airport, and Sanford did not confirm an affair. 5. After interviewing Sanford at the airport, The State communicated with Sanford's office about the existence of the e-mails. So here's the question raised by Maddow: if The State hadn't been in possession of the e-mails (which they apparently received anonymously, which could have explained why they hadn't been published earlier), would we ever have found out that Sanford had gone to Argentina -- and the reason why? Or, as seems probable, would Sanford and his office have continued their stream of lies concerning the his whereabouts and availability to act as governor?\" http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/6/25/746533/-Maddow:-E-mails-may-have-forced-Sanfords-hand"}, {"response": 684, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jun 25, 2009 (15:05)", "body": "I post this finding it is one of the worst loading websites I've ever been to. Social conservatives fall from moral high ground Republicans retreat from values claims By S.A. Miller (Contact) | Thursday, June 25, 2009 http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jun/25/social-conservatives-fall-from-moral-high-ground/"}, {"response": 685, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Jun 25, 2009 (15:42)", "body": "(Dorine)I post this finding it is one of the worst loading websites I've ever been to. Really? I get it via email and never have a problem. Good quotes in that article. A couple of guys don't reflect the who party. ...but instead went to Argentina to enjoy the coast. I posted my remarks on that one yesterday;-) (Mari)My question is: when people vote for \"family values\" what is it they are voting for? I'm not a single issue voter, so I wouldn't know. None of the ones Dorine posted fit me. Sorry. Actually, I'm a hybrid. There are some good Democratic viewpoints that I agree with: Joe Lieberman. Mostly I dispise their righteousness and intolerance for anyone who doesn't fall inline. And all of their blogs;-D"}, {"response": 686, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Jun 25, 2009 (16:28)", "body": "Well, if the stadiums and Bowls did it...why not? New York Subway Goes the Way of Lehman Brothers http://www.minyanville.com/articles/INTC-GE-KO-Budget-bcs-New/index/a/23274/from/yahoo LOL.I can hear the directions now... \"You get on at Procter and Gamble, change at Cambell Soup and get off at Heinz Ketchup.\""}, {"response": 687, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jun 25, 2009 (17:28)", "body": "(Evelyn) A couple of guys don't reflect the who party. Come on. The point of the article (and my posting it) is not about \"a couple of guys\". Surely you got that."}, {"response": 688, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Jun 25, 2009 (18:20)", "body": "(Evelyn), \"You get on at Procter and Gamble, change at Cambell Soup and get off at Heinz Ketchup.\" For what it's worth, a new Monopoly game, LOL!"}, {"response": 689, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jun 26, 2009 (00:27)", "body": "The subway stops were the only thing left. There are ads in all the stations on the walls, on the side of subway cars, plastered all over the inside of Penn Station (giant poster size) and the bars of the turnstiles."}, {"response": 690, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Jun 26, 2009 (09:23)", "body": "I hope they left Grand Central unscarred by those dreadful posters."}, {"response": 691, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jun 26, 2009 (09:58)", "body": "For all the money they spent restoring it, I'd certainly hope so."}, {"response": 692, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Jun 26, 2009 (10:42)", "body": "Thanks to Jackie Kennedy who had it declared a landmark in the 60's. Otherwise it was have suffered the same fate as Penn Station that was torn down in the name of progress. Paris made a spectacular museum out of their RR station no longer used, but no, we demolish."}, {"response": 693, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jun 27, 2009 (01:21)", "body": "Well, Penn Station was to be restored to its original glory, glass roof and all and renamed Moynihan Station, but I think that's pretty much dead in the water now due to funding issues."}, {"response": 694, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Jun 27, 2009 (10:21)", "body": "Sanford Wife Shocked by Argentine Trip By BRUCE SMITH,AP SULLIVANS ISLAND, S.C. (June 26) - South Carolina first lady Jenny Sanford sat in her oceanfront living room Friday, recalling how her husband repeatedly asked permission to visit his lover in the months after she discovered his affair. South Carolina first lady Jenny Sanford said she learned about her husband's affair in January, when she found a letter from him to the other woman. \"I've done everything in my power possibly to keep him from going to see her and to really make sure she was off the table, including asking him to leave,\" she said in an interview Friday. Click through to read more about the scandal. \"I said absolutely not. It's one thing to forgive adultery; it's another thing to condone it,\" Jenny Sanford told The Associated Press during a 20-minute interview at the coastal home where she sought refuge with their four sons. They were her first extended comments on the affair. She said that when her husband, Gov. Mark Sanford, inexplicably disappeared last week, she hoped he was hiking on the Appalachian Trail, as his staff told those who inquired about his absence. That he had dared to go to Argentina to see the other woman left her stunned. \"He was told in no uncertain terms not to see her,\" she said in a strong, steady voice. \"I was hoping he was on the Appalachian Trail. But I was not worried about his safety. I was hoping he was doing some real soul searching somewhere and devastated to find out it was Argentina. It's tragic.\" The Sanfords had separated about two weeks ago. She said her husband told the family that he wanted some time away to work on writing a book and clear his head. The first lady said, \"I had every hope he was not going to see her.\" \"You would think that a father who didn't have contact with his children, if he wanted those children, he would toe the line a little bit,\" she said. Sanford, who is staying at the official residence in Columbia, returned Wednesday to end days of speculation on his whereabouts, publicly confess his cheating and emotionally apologize. Jenny Sanford, a Georgetown-educated, former Wall Street vice president, did not stand next to her husband Wednesday during his pained public confession. Sanford said she discovered her husband's affair early this year after coming across a copy of a letter to the mistress in one of his files in the official governor's mansion. He had asked her to find some financial information, she said, not an unusual request considering her heavy involvement in his career. She would not comment on what was in the letter except to say \"enough to figure out an affair was going on.\" She felt \"shocked and obviously deeply hurt. I didn't think he had it in him,\" she said. \"It's hard to find out your husband is not who you thought he was.\" The first lady said she confronted her husband immediately, and he agreed to end the affair. She said she wasn't sure Friday whether he had done so. \"I guess that's what we will have to see. I believe he has,\" she said. \"But he was down there for five days. I saw him yesterday and he is not staying here. We'll just see what kind of spirit of reconciliation he has himself.\" The governor declined to discuss details of the letter and how he handled it with his wife. \"This goes into the personal zone,\" Sanford said Friday. \"I'd simply say that Jenny has been absolutely magnanimous and gracious as a wonderful Christian woman in this process.\" Jenny Sanford cried at the end of the interview, and said the couple have been to counseling. \"When I found out in January, we both indicated a willingness to continue working on the marriage, but there's not room for three people in a marriage,\" she said. \"I've done everything in my power possibly to keep him from going to see her and to really make sure she was off the table, including asking him to leave.\" About an hour after Jenny Sanford talked of her pain and feelings of betrayal, her husband brushed aside any suggestion he might immediately resign, citing the Bible and the story of King David \ufffd who continued to lead after sleeping with another man's wife, Bathsheba, having the husband slain, then marrying the widow. \"What I find interesting is the story of David, and the way in which he fell mightily \ufffd fell in very, very significant ways, but then picked up the pieces and built from there,\" Sanford told members of his cabinet in a session called so he could apologize to them in person and tell them the business of government must continue. Meanwhile, questions grew about a trip to Argentina he took last summer. While Sanford has agreed to reimburse the state for part of a more-than $8,000 tab that enabled him to see the mistress, state officials indicated they never intended a South American economic development trip to hold meetings in Argentina. That was only done at the governor's behest, said Kara Borie, a spokeswoman for the state Commerce Department. Sanford spokesman Joel Sawyer said he did "}, {"response": 695, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Jun 27, 2009 (11:17)", "body": "\"Jenny Sanford, a Georgetown-educated, former Wall Street vice president, \" With Lazard Freres as VP of M&A, no less. \"....recalling how her husband repeatedly asked permission to visit his lover in the months after she discovered his affair. \" The cheek of him. He has to be deranged. Wealthy in her own right. Why does she put up with this slug."}, {"response": 696, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Jun 27, 2009 (11:28)", "body": "Since it is now public, she won't. They're done. She doesn't need him anymore. I'm sure that when she initially found out about it, she thought she could end it and keep it all private, which wouldn't harm any national plans they had. I looked up Sullivan Island. It is part of Charleston county. Must be right off the coast of Charleston."}, {"response": 697, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Jun 27, 2009 (11:57)", "body": "She seems like a classy lady who wanted to keep her marriage vows ...for whatever reason...children, \"national plans\", religion (she's RC)... I hope she doesn't write a book."}, {"response": 698, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Jun 27, 2009 (12:36)", "body": "Today's WSJ. I have the hard copy and just found it online. SEX AMERICANA Infidelity is no longer a career-killer for politicians. But weirdness, mendacity and ineptitude just might be. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204120604574252223853818460.html Who doubts that part of the considerable popular appeal of President Barack Obama is that he is an evidently decent family man; a husband clearly in love with his wife and devoted to his daughters. Polls still show that overwhelming majorities of voters believe character is important to their assessment of a politician\ufffds appeal. Personally, I think if you lie to your spouse, you're going to lie to the public. But lying/cheating , as long as one doesn't get caught, seems to have public approbation today. I suppose I'm too old-fashioned. LOL, but I'm working on it:-))))"}, {"response": 699, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Jun 30, 2009 (18:48)", "body": "Coleman Concedes to Franken in MN Senate Race: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/capitol-briefing/2009/06/minn_supreme_court_declares_fr.html?hpid=artslot Happy to have another comedian in DC. ;-)"}, {"response": 700, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jun 30, 2009 (18:53)", "body": "*Finally* A bit of levity... http://news.aol.com/article/obama-duck-phone-ring-tone/550066?icid=main|main|dl3|link3|http%3A%2F%2Fnews.aol.com%2Farticle%2Fobama-duck-phone-ring-tone%2F550066"}, {"response": 701, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jul  1, 2009 (17:49)", "body": "Can't wait til this issue of VF shows up in my mailbox! http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0609/24392.html"}, {"response": 702, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Jul  1, 2009 (18:06)", "body": "That rag sheet! I dumped VF after the vitriolic article on Bill by Dee Dee Myers husband, of all people. Talk about back- stabbing."}, {"response": 703, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jul  1, 2009 (18:07)", "body": "Was that in the last year? I think I may have read it."}, {"response": 704, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Jul  1, 2009 (20:30)", "body": "Bwaaah I want this stone-colored jacket...grey belt is Givenchy This afternoon at some United Health Care event"}, {"response": 705, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Jul  1, 2009 (20:34)", "body": "A few night's ago at a luau on the WH lawn. Is this Sasha or Malia? I get them mixed up."}, {"response": 706, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jul  1, 2009 (21:20)", "body": "That dress in the last pic does nothing for her. It's one step away from a housedress, just remove the lace. I can't keep the kids straight."}, {"response": 707, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Jul  2, 2009 (11:32)", "body": ""}, {"response": 708, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Jul  2, 2009 (11:32)", "body": "(Dorine) It's one step away from a housedress LOL! But you're right. Hideous and the lack isn't helping. As for the kids, since they're always referred to as S&M, that would mean S is the older one. They go in order. This is obviously the older one pictured. Look how tall she is."}, {"response": 709, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Jul  2, 2009 (12:52)", "body": "And it gets worse...in this pic the dress has a dippy hem in the back. Look how tall she is. And she's only 12. But look at the parents."}, {"response": 710, "author": "mari", "date": "Thu, Jul  2, 2009 (13:01)", "body": "Actually, Malia is the older girl. Just think: M comes before S and Malia came before Sasha. Nice kids, and seemingly very unaffected."}, {"response": 711, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Jul  2, 2009 (13:24)", "body": "How odd? I always hear them referred to as S&M, although when I think about it, O said that M&S had earned their dog. Parents always go in order."}, {"response": 712, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jul  2, 2009 (15:11)", "body": "Anybody see the WaPo scandal today? And the funny part is a lobbyist of all people blew the whistle."}, {"response": 713, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jul  2, 2009 (17:05)", "body": "An item about this on some blog caught my eye simply because I saw the name Beaker (you know, the muppet :-)). I have no inkling of who this guy is and I didn't watch, or rather didn't listen to the video. I just played it to get a good look at his face to see if he did really look like Beaker as is said. And he does, LOL!! (Beaker is probably my favorite muppet). Also, I had to LOL at what it says he called the bloggers he's upset with. He sounds like a complete doof (to say the least). http://www.businessinsider.com/dennis-kneale-flips-out-calls-bloggers-dickweeds-2009-7"}, {"response": 714, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jul  2, 2009 (20:05)", "body": "Kurtz is kind of a dweeb. HOWARD KURTZ WONDERS IF BLACK WOMEN CAN COVER MICHELLE OBAMA OBJECTIVELY. http://www.prospect.org/csnc/blogs/tapped_archive?month=07&year=2009&base_name=howard_kurtz_wonders_if_black"}, {"response": 715, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jul  3, 2009 (09:52)", "body": "It sickens me that the Obama administration is pulling this crap, too. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/white-house-watch/obamas-bogus-new-excuse-for-se.html"}, {"response": 716, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jul  3, 2009 (16:57)", "body": "I should start a poll on reasons why Sarah Palin is quitting her governorship. Before the real reason eventually comes out in the news. Very curious."}, {"response": 717, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Jul  3, 2009 (19:44)", "body": "(Dorine) It sickens me that the Obama administration is pulling this crap, too. Sometimes it is hard to stop the cogs in a bureaucracy. Before the real reason eventually comes out in the news. You mean before she announces she is running for a senate seat or something higher? ;-)"}, {"response": 718, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jul  3, 2009 (20:04)", "body": "No way. I don't believe for a sec she's quitting in the middle of a first term to run for higher office. Who in their right mind would take her seriously? Esp for Pres. No need to resign now for that. She just wouldn't need to run again in 2010. And why resign at all to run for anything? Almost no one else does. Something smells fishy and it ain't the COHO salmon."}, {"response": 719, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jul  3, 2009 (20:05)", "body": "Oh and by the way, I believe she said she was going to continue outside of government."}, {"response": 720, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jul  3, 2009 (20:09)", "body": "And to go further....if she's going to run for higher office, why not just say so now. Did anyone watch the video? Rambling. I truly thought she was using all her might not to cry at certain points, too."}, {"response": 721, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Jul  3, 2009 (21:14)", "body": "No, I didn't watch the video, so I can't comment on how it looked. Fighting back tears. Hmmmm (Dorine) I don't believe for a sec she's quitting in the middle of a first term to run for higher office. Middle? Her term ends next year. She got elected in 2006. I'd say that she wants a national (DC) office, so when she does run she can say she had as much national experience as Obama. From a NYT article: Ms. Palin is one of a number of Republican governors who are considering seeking the presidential nomination in 2012 and whose terms expire in 2010. Many Republican strategists have argued that it would be very difficult for someone to run for governor in 2010 and turn around immediately, while running a state, to run for president in 2012. Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota announced last month that when his term expires in 2010 he would not seek re-election, as he considers a presidential bid. However, leaving office in the middle of a term is highly unusual. Ms. Palin\ufffds decision set off a round of speculation among her critics and bloggers that another embarrassing scandal may be about to unfold. It also empowered critics in both parties who said that this episode would only serve to reinforce doubts among many Americans about her stability, political competence and fortitude. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/04/us/politics/04palin.html?ref=global-home"}, {"response": 722, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jul  3, 2009 (21:57)", "body": "No, she wasn't quite to tears. It was more her voice and the expression. She was talking kind of fast, too. She's got 18 months left. Not the exact middle, but not just a hop, skip and a jump from end of term either. I'm telling you, I'm convinced she's not heading for higher office. Why not just say so? Why quit this job early? Also, Andrea Mitchell said her sources said she's out of politics. It was also a Friday news dump. On a holiday weekend no less. And to top it off, there are rumors in Alaska of a pending federal indictment. Could be all talk. Time will tell. She's already been shown to be highly ethically challenged in Alaskan politics. Until this, I'm certain she was looking at higher office."}, {"response": 723, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Jul  3, 2009 (23:43)", "body": "The holiday weekend. That convinces me as well. Another big shoe will drop. Wonder if her husband will go on I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Whatever... ;-)"}, {"response": 724, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Jul  4, 2009 (00:51)", "body": "I saw some footage and her answering a question. She seemed more excited than anything. At least that's how I'd categorize her behavior."}, {"response": 725, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jul  4, 2009 (01:00)", "body": "She didn't take any questions at the press conference, so I don't know what you saw."}, {"response": 726, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jul  4, 2009 (08:02)", "body": "Wonder if Michelle will dress down a bit, so as not to appear to flashy in comparison. Or maybe she won't care. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090704/ap_on_re_eu/eu_russia_us_first_ladies"}, {"response": 727, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Jul  4, 2009 (11:18)", "body": "(Dorine, I think)And to top it off, there are rumors in Alaska of a pending federal indictment. Could be all talk. Time will tell. She's already been shown to be highly ethically challenged in Alaskan politics. LOL. At least you hope so;-D Why dump on her so much. Why not give her a chance before indicting her?*shaking head* I detect a little obsession here;-) I am sure FLOTUS will do us proud ; as she always does:-))))))"}, {"response": 728, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jul  4, 2009 (11:30)", "body": "I detect a little obsession here;-) I consider it my duty as an American to make sure she gets nowhere near a higher office. Not in her present state anyway. And she has done virtually nothing to earn my respect. Except maybe raise a bunch of clean, healthy kids. Why not give her a chance before indicting her? No skin off my nose. I'm just repeating what's out there. There's something rotten in Denmark with her."}, {"response": 729, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Jul  4, 2009 (11:54)", "body": "Saw a list of Top 10 reasons Palin was resigning. My favs were: -- After 30 months as governor, she's cracking under the stress of protecting the U.S. from Russia. -- She doesn't want her tenure as governor to overshadow her experience as mayor of Wasilla."}, {"response": 730, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Jul  4, 2009 (12:38)", "body": "LOL. Tough crowd here:-) Just remember...in a week...there will be Sonia to run over the coals:-) \"I consider it my duty......\";-D"}, {"response": 731, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Jul  4, 2009 (12:42)", "body": "Of course you could add: --She found the view of Argentina from her frontyard so alluring that she had to hit the Appalachian Trail"}, {"response": 732, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Jul  4, 2009 (13:55)", "body": "\"Just you wait, 'enry 'iggins, just you wait! You'll be sorry, but your tears'll be too late!..... \" Just saw \"My Fair lady\" in summer theatre last week...."}, {"response": 733, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Jul  5, 2009 (11:14)", "body": "From her Facebook page: And though it's honorable for countless others to leave their positions for a higher calling and without finishing a term, of course we know by now, for some reason a different standard applies for the decisions I make. Implies that she too is leaving for a higher calling.\" Wonder what that might be. I've never thought I needed a title before one's name to forge progress in America. I am now looking ahead and how we can advance this country together with our values of less government intervention, greater energy independence, stronger national security, and much-needed fiscal restraint. I hope you will join me. Now is the time to rebuild and help our nation achieve greatness! Head of the RNC? No, that has a title. ;-)"}, {"response": 734, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sun, Jul  5, 2009 (14:47)", "body": "Interesting to see how anything Sarah says or does attracts media attention. I've never seen a former candidate get such notice. John Kerry certainly didn't."}, {"response": 735, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Jul  5, 2009 (14:52)", "body": "She held a press conference."}, {"response": 736, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Jul  5, 2009 (15:22)", "body": "As for John Kerry, he didn't resign and is serving out his term in office."}, {"response": 737, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sun, Jul  5, 2009 (18:13)", "body": "You mean he ran again. Obama resigned after two yrs. Senator Burris was the lucky successor."}, {"response": 738, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Jul  5, 2009 (18:38)", "body": "You're really off point again. Why am I not surprised? So let me make it crystal. She gets attention because she calls attention to herself. She resigned from her office. She (or someone on her staff) updated her Facebook to seek further attention."}, {"response": 739, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Jul  5, 2009 (18:57)", "body": "(Evelyn) Interesting to see how anything Sarah says or does attracts media attention. Um, excuse me, she puts herself out there just as much. Matter of fact, I keep forgetting about her then she pops up with something to say again. And you know, supposedly she couldn't take the heat of the media anymore (if I heard her correctly in the middle of that word salad of a press conference)........what happened to that self-proclaimed \"pitbull with lipstick\" who basically told Hillary to man-up about her complaints about media sexism?? Hillary's been taking some intense media criticism since 1992 and survived and still had the balls to run for President and take more (though she did complain about the sexism). Sarah wishes she had the balls and class of Hillary's pinky finger."}, {"response": 740, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Jul  5, 2009 (19:07)", "body": "From her Facebook page: And she's Twittered 3 times since Friday, supposedly. Head of the RNC......she strikes me as a female Michael Steele. Somehow not the change I think the party would be looking for. Actually, I don't think she said she couldn't take the heat of the media anymore, that was extrapolation from pundits, etc ....she didn't say why exactly she's quitting....but regardless, she did complain about the media and the rest of my statement stands. Funny Top 10 reasons, esp She found the view of Argentina from her frontyard so alluring that she had to hit the Appalachian Trail (SP) for some reason a different standard applies for the decisions I make. Um, no Sarah, we hold you to the same standards. You just don't meet them sometimes and don't like it when people tell you so."}, {"response": 741, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sun, Jul  5, 2009 (21:41)", "body": "(Dorine)Sarah wishes she had the balls and class of Hillary's pinky finger. Well, er....Hill might have monster balls ,now that you mention it...(nasty rumors about that one for years)...she's a little more feminine than Hill and has *killer* legs:-D"}, {"response": 742, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Jul  5, 2009 (21:49)", "body": "she's a little more feminine than Hill and has *killer* legs: All qualities I look for in a (female) candidate for any office...as well as whether they seem cool to have a beer with. ;-) An amusing, mildly snarky opinion piece on Sarah... http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/04/opinion/04collins.html?_r=2&ref=opinion"}, {"response": 743, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Jul  5, 2009 (22:44)", "body": "(Dorine) Funny Top 10 reasons, esp She found the view of Argentina from her frontyard so alluring that she had to hit the Appalachian Trail Thank you. ;-) she didn't say why exactly she's quitting....but regardless, she did complain about the media and the rest of my statement stands. She has been complaining about the cost ($$$) to Alaska of responding to all these inquiries into ethics violations, misuse of power, etc. But resigning wouldn't necessarily end those investigations or shouldn't."}, {"response": 744, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jul  6, 2009 (00:24)", "body": "Seems to me if they can afford to give refunds of over $3K to each resident of Alaska from oil profits, they can afford some bills from investigations."}, {"response": 745, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jul  6, 2009 (00:36)", "body": "(Karen) As for John Kerry, he didn't resign and is serving out his term in office. (Evelyn) You mean he ran again. He was re-elected in 2002, ran and lost the Presidential race in 2004 (without resigning), continued to serve until re-election in 2008."}, {"response": 746, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Jul  6, 2009 (01:15)", "body": "Not that it had anything to do with my point, Obama resigned *after* he'd won the presidency. He didn't resign in order to run, just as Hillary didn't or McCain or anyone else in recent memory."}, {"response": 747, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jul  6, 2009 (08:14)", "body": "I was simply clarifying. I was making nor supporting a point."}, {"response": 748, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Jul  6, 2009 (10:25)", "body": "Well, I see the Monday Morning Mauling of Sarah continues...LOL MSMBC is covering Sa-rah! all day today . And from Wasilla *drum roll* that famous objective reporter: Andrea Mitchell is giving us minute by minute reporting. ROTF Morning Joe had interesting takes on all her options. Methinks Joe knows more than he's say;-) But I digress ...."}, {"response": 749, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Jul  6, 2009 (10:27)", "body": "And from Russia with love.... Here they come.... Love that they took those cute girls. Russians are big family people, they'll love that."}, {"response": 750, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Jul  6, 2009 (10:45)", "body": "(Dorine) I was simply clarifying. I was making nor supporting a point. My additional point wasn't directed at yours. And thank you for spelling out Kerry's terms and their dates. Well, I see the Monday Morning Mauling of Sarah continues. Right, blame the media when they interviewed maulers like Karl Rove and Mike Huckabee yesterday."}, {"response": 751, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jul  6, 2009 (11:35)", "body": "(Evelyn) Morning Joe had interesting takes on all her options. Such as?"}, {"response": 752, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Jul  6, 2009 (12:22)", "body": "The blogs aren't talking about Joe's options?;-) Have to listen to him then. Actually, he's been on other shows this morning . Kerry ...Gore, the Bore....ye-ah;-) How about FLOTUS' dress. She's such a style-setter. Everyone is copying her belts over cardies, mini-jackets etc. Have to be slim though...and no tum-tum."}, {"response": 753, "author": "mari", "date": "Mon, Jul  6, 2009 (12:27)", "body": "(Karen)Right, blame the media when they interviewed maulers like Karl Rove and Mike Huckabee yesterday. And throw in George Will for good measure. Most of the \"mauling\" came from her own party. But getting back to the *substance* of what she did, Evelyn, what do you thnk she has in mind? I thought the \"lame duck\" excuse was well, lame. Most everyone who holds an office is a lame duck at some point."}, {"response": 754, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jul  6, 2009 (13:47)", "body": "(Evelyn) The blogs aren't talking about Joe's options?;-) Have to listen to him then. Actually, he's been on other shows this morning . No time for blogs today. I watch very little tv anymore and esp no daytime tv."}, {"response": 755, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Jul  6, 2009 (14:49)", "body": "(Mari)Most of the \"mauling\" came from her own party. Not as overt as Maureen Dowd and others on MSNBC.And lets not mention the blogs. Today's WSJ has an article citing the bloggers (by name!)who have ridiculed the poor Down-Syndrom baby. Now that's cruel. However, the most unforgivable is the back-stabbing from the McCain campaign thugs...trying to blame her for their own ineptness. Mari, I think she would like to position herself as a conservative voice out there , outside of politics. Rush, Hannity ...they have more sway than any pol. Hey, the night she was on SNL was the highest rating in 15 yrs for that show. IMO any network would give her a show. Probably FOX News would be her best bet. She has a huge following with right -wing conservatives (I belong to the moderate Republicans, remember???;-)including union workers and other working-class. I view her as Howard Dean was to the Dems. Most cringed at his outrageous rants.But she raises tons of money and is a voice of populism ; so is Huckabee. She has tons of debt..could go on a speaking tour and easily erase it. Books, newspaper columns, . She's a rock star and why not get paid as one instead of having to take the s*** and not get compensated. Now I gave you my views...my opinion. They aren't facts, so pl don't massacre me. LOL.(Only kidding, I know that's not your MO) But I really don't have time to go and research to websites for resource to back-up what I'm saying. It's just a composite."}, {"response": 756, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Jul  6, 2009 (15:57)", "body": "Today's WSJ has an article citing the bloggers (by name!)who have ridiculed the poor Down-Syndrom baby. Now that's cruel. I've looked for it and cannot find it. I saw references in one article to the bloggers who have touched on improprieties with her job. That is all. the night she was on SNL was the highest rating in 15 yrs for that show. You're forgetting to give Tina Fey her due. But I really don't have time to go and research to websites for resource to back-up what I'm saying. It's just a composite. In other words, it is worthless."}, {"response": 757, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jul  6, 2009 (15:57)", "body": "A breakdown of the \"millions\" of dollars she complained about for investigations of those ethics complaints (including one she brought against herself). Her legal bills totaled around $600,000. http://www.adn.com/palin/story/850854.html?pageNum=3&&mi_pluck_action=page_nav#Comments_Container Which WSJ article were you referring to, Evelyn? There are 2 on the most read or emailed list there. Is it the top one? trying to blame her for their own ineptness. I don't know how much ineptness was on their part, but it was obvious she was not devoid of that quality herself. How do you know none of that article is true? Just because it's in VF? Are you not going to read it? Is it out already? I don't have mine yet. :-( I think my subscription is to automatically renew. She was a godsend for SNL. And I really don't like Maureen Dowd much."}, {"response": 758, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jul  6, 2009 (16:00)", "body": "(Evelyn) It's just a composite. In other words, it is worthless. In all fairness, she gave what Mari asked for, her opinion/supposition based on what anyone knows at this point, which is not much."}, {"response": 759, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Jul  6, 2009 (16:12)", "body": "Am referring to broad-stroked generalizations that don't seem to mesh with fact. Bet the WSJ article is only print. *snort*"}, {"response": 760, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Jul  6, 2009 (16:13)", "body": "And for someone who *won't* read blogs, she'll accept what the WSJ says is in a blog but not you."}, {"response": 761, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Jul  6, 2009 (16:13)", "body": "I really don't think there is anything to fear with Sarah's decision. We'll know soon enough if she has a plan. But I don't think America will vote her into office any time soon."}, {"response": 762, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Jul  6, 2009 (17:07)", "body": "(Me)But I really don't have time to go and research to websites for resource to back-up what I'm saying. It's just a composite. (Karen)In other words, it is worthless. LOL. Yes. I've always said that anything I post is worthless. Esp my opinions That's the only thing you seem to concur with me:-(((( (karen)Bet the WSJ article is only print. *snort* LOL. Right ....as usual. I only get the print WSJ. The article was on pg. 3 But later when I have a time I'll cite the names. None I recognized. I agree Moon. She's not electable any time soon. She's young , but she has a voice and there's a group out there listening."}, {"response": 763, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jul  6, 2009 (17:15)", "body": "If you give the title of the article we can look for it at their site. They're probably the Alaska bloggers, one who used to post anonymously until a few months ago an Alaskan politician who was criticized by her dug up info on her and she was outed by name (and address??). Another blogger who said SP was headed for indictment was on MSNBC or something I think yesterday. I think her name was Shannon or Sherilyn or something like that."}, {"response": 764, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Jul  6, 2009 (18:09)", "body": "Yeah..Shannyn Moore. The other one is Sarah \"hate-blogger\"Linda Lellen Bliegel \"Several days ago, a photo appeared on a blog showing Gov Palin holding a baby with the super-imposed head of a conservative talk-show host. \" ...\"Ms Bielel said the photo was intended as a parody of the talk-show host and in no way meant to disparage Trig which 'never even crossed my mind'\" Don't these people have other things to do except sling this mud around. Even if true. Sick. GRowing Criticism at Home Took Toll on Palin pg 3 WSJ."}, {"response": 765, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Jul  6, 2009 (18:10)", "body": "Kellen middle name."}, {"response": 766, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Jul  6, 2009 (18:17)", "body": "PS to Mari: Next time you want my opinion....email me;-)))"}, {"response": 767, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jul  6, 2009 (18:36)", "body": "(Me) Another blogger who said SP was headed for indictment Correction...said there were rumors of an indictment, not that there actually was one. Hey! No fair with the emailing! :-) You know, I hadn't heard a peep about that cartoon (that I have to track down as I haven't seen it) until all the brouhaha over her resignation. Trig...the baby she used as a prop during a convention at an ungodly hour for a baby to be up, in a hypersensory environment with screaming crowds, blasting music and bright lights? I'm sure the cartoon had to be more offensive. ;-)"}, {"response": 768, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Jul  6, 2009 (18:55)", "body": "Ya know, you can't just take these people at their word about making fun of a special needs baby. Apparently, it was the same photo that Letterman's people used and put Dave's head on the kid and no one said 'boo.' In this case, a local conservative talk show host's head was pasted on. No one was making fun of the baby. Interesting that these \"hate Sarah\" bloggers are local. But they must have East Coast liberal lefty establishment ties. ;-) Here's the blog of Linda Kellen Biegel, who was raising funds to investigate Palin. Love her entry about \"Gardening.\" LOL! http://www.divasblueoasis.com/ This Poor Me/Sarah defense is typical and I ain't buying it for a second. Nice entry at Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/akmuckraker/palin-blasts-local-blogge_b_221113.html"}, {"response": 769, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Jul  6, 2009 (18:59)", "body": "You know she has no support when... http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/06/fox-news-contributor-rips_n_226370.html"}, {"response": 770, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jul  6, 2009 (22:06)", "body": "I like that Linda. Did you read her front page? Loved 2 things... 1. She pointed this out.. Among those Wonkette posts was a little gem under the title \"win of the afternoon\"...they highlighted a comment from Alaska Girl: \"She didn't finish her term as mayor, stepping down to run for Lt. Governor. She didn't finish her term on the petroleum board ethics panel, she resigned in protest and then ran for Governor. She doesn't want the office, she just likes running for office. She doesn't want (can't actually) accomplish anything, she just wants to talk about it.\" That was absolutely correct. However, before that, Sarah Palin left the Wasilla City Council only one year into her second three-year term in order to take the Mayor's job. And, if you go all the way back, it took her five years and five colleges to get a Journalism degree. Quitting before the job is done is her modus operendi. and 2., she pointed out the same thing I did yesterday.... --In Palin's resignation speech, she continued her steady drumbeat of whining about the media, bloggers, the internet...everyone who has criticized her or made her life difficult. Yet, during the campaign, she reamed Hillary Clinton for her \"whining\" about the press: [Ed note - shows video of said whining] ``````````````````````````` Linda also has that fabulous fuscia pic on her front page. I have one in my kitchen window and didn't know what it was, but the blooms are the same. Mine's scrawny in comparison. She isn't the blogger that was outed. She's on Mudflats, a blog I really like and discovered after SP was announced as the VP candidate. Daily Kos pointed out the Liz Trotta piece earlier today, joking she apparently didn't get the memo not to criticize SP, but I didn't bother to watch the video they had, mainly because I don't know LT. I just did now. That guy tried desperately to deflect her criticism."}, {"response": 771, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jul  6, 2009 (22:12)", "body": "*snort* A comment from a WaPo chat today: Arlington, Va.: Given that President Obama is in Russia at the moment, I wonder if he can see Sarah Palin's house from there? And a comment on a NYT column today: Austin, TX July 6th, 2009 6:23 am Dear Mr. Douthat, I think a more reasonable view of what happened to the Governor is that she is the \"victim\" of the type of cut-throat politics that her party polished, pushed and perfected. If you feel she was not treated fairly (this is what I think you are hinting at in your column), then look at the predecessors, such as the \"Swift Boat Veterans\" smear campaign against John Kerry, or the Ken Starr Whitewater investigation that morphed into voyeurism, even the \"Willie Horton\" ads against Michael Dukakis. If the party of \"No\" looks in the mirror, or the Governor was to look in the mirror, they may see the more recent examples of baiting the traps that they may have fallen into themselves. I think of her rallies where people called out and said Obama was Muslim, was a traitor, and used racial epithets and she did nothing to stop them. I also think of the constant push on ties to \"terrorists\", the focus on a preacher for a church he attended for a time, and other prying tactics used incessantly during the campaign. I look at the fact that we, the people, did not force her to run, accept the nomination, or have the interviews with Katie Couric and Charles Gibson. Even more to the point, we did not force her to bring her children to the convention in St. Paul, nor did we force her to appear on \"Saturday Night Live\" just before the election in multiple cameo roles (opening skit, the news desk with singing and dancing, etc.) http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/06/opinion/06ross.html"}, {"response": 772, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Jul  7, 2009 (10:18)", "body": "How about Mr Douthat 's column? (who was on Morning Joe yesterday. He's the other conservative writer for NYT (young fella...recently hired was on CR ) along with David Brooks I never heard those racial epithets at her rallies. Perhaps the writer attended some; I only saw them on TV."}, {"response": 773, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jul  7, 2009 (10:39)", "body": "How about Mr Douthat 's column? What about it? Not sure what you're asking. BTW, no one on any blog I was at said anything about Morning Joe or his comments. So I still don't know what he was saying. I read about the behavior of participants at those rallies last year."}, {"response": 774, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Jul  7, 2009 (11:15)", "body": "Linda also has that fabulous fuscia pic on her front page. I have one in my kitchen window and didn't know what it was, but the blooms are the same. Mine's scrawny in comparison. It's mainly an outdoor plant. This is the first year I haven't hung up a hanging basket of one someplace in the yard, although I use several of the autumnale variety in planters. I also like one to use the Gartanmeister, a more upright one with peachy/coral flowers and really dark leaves, in planters as well. Fuchsia is actually a bush. One of the sites says our overheated homes are too warm for them to overwinter. Maybe I should try as mine is far from that. ;-) http://www.bachmans.com/tipsheets/indoor_plants/Fuchsias_print.cfm http://www.squidoo.com/fuchsia-plant (Dorine) I read about the behavior of participants at those rallies last year. I saw it several times last year in video clips from her rallies, with interviews of individuals attending, with her encouraging the cries."}, {"response": 775, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Jul  7, 2009 (13:12)", "body": "Peoople said hateful things about Romney being a Mormon too. Blogs and some far left periodicals. So not approving of Obama having been a Muslim is not a shocker. But I never heard of Palin being even peripherally involved in racial slurs...not even in mainstream media. And I am sure if she had ,it would have been trumpeted. They certainly were looking for anything to pin on her. Perhaps in blogs."}, {"response": 776, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Jul  7, 2009 (13:34)", "body": "Perhaps on video."}, {"response": 777, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Jul  7, 2009 (15:04)", "body": "Fact is that McCain was loco crazy to have picked Sarah as his VP mate. If he wanted a female R, there is one congresswoman from Minn. who would have been perfect (forget her name). She's been interviewed on CNN, etc. She's intelligent and has experience and is known. I don't think that Sarah has enough fans or backing to be a problem in the future. She's no longer worth discussing. Romney, I don't take Mormons seriously."}, {"response": 778, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Jul  7, 2009 (15:08)", "body": "You're not referring to that nutjob Michele Bachman, are you?"}, {"response": 779, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jul  7, 2009 (15:35)", "body": "OMG, not her. She is crazy. Fact is that McCain was loco crazy to have picked Sarah as his VP mate. Yet you supported and defended them both at one point IIRC so I'm guessing that was ok with you, at the time anyway. But I don't disagree with your statement. She's no longer worth discussing. If she hadn't continued saying things in the media (and the media would stop bringing up people like her not-future-son-in-law talking about her), I would have continued to have forgotten about her."}, {"response": 780, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Jul  7, 2009 (16:38)", "body": "Romney looks better to me every day; I didn't support him either first time around. But at least he's a seasoned business man. The economy sucks. Market down again today. Investors have no confidence and neither does business. Where's the growth going to come from? 4% this year? In your dreams. And now they talk of Stimulous II. Ha! Had they included more jobs the first time instead of padding it with all kinds of social programs , things might be different."}, {"response": 781, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Jul  7, 2009 (16:55)", "body": "Oh news pics of FF in Moscow... Hope they're in order...."}, {"response": 782, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Jul  7, 2009 (16:59)", "body": "http://mrs-o.org/storage/RTR25ED1.jpg?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1246977621596\" > Nursing College at St Dimitry Sisters of Mercy in Moscow. \"What might appear to be a print is in fact thousands of embroidered french knots, representative of Jason Wu's fine craftsmanship. The bright blues of the Matryoshka doll in Mrs. O's hands, a gift from her hosts, pop against the graphic black and white of her dress\""}, {"response": 783, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Jul  7, 2009 (17:00)", "body": "Sorry...I pushed my luck...LOL. They are all Getty photos, BTW"}, {"response": 784, "author": "mari", "date": "Tue, Jul  7, 2009 (17:11)", "body": "(Evelyn)I think she would like to position herself as a conservative voice out there , outside of politics. Rush, Hannity ...they have more sway than any pol. . . Probably FOX News would be her best bet. Ok, I can see Fox giving her a show. But wouldn't she have to become more schooled on the issues? Just a little bit?;-) However, the most unforgivable is the back-stabbing from the McCain campaign thugs...trying to blame her for their own ineptness. There's a lot of that in the Vanity Fair article. The aides weren't solely to blame, IMO. There's a lot of the \"poor me\" about her, and oui saw that again in the resignation speech. She has tons of debt..could go on a speaking tour and easily erase it. Books, newspaper columns, . She's a rock star and why not get paid as one instead of having to take the s*** and not get compensated. People who voted for her have a right to expect that she would have completed her term. That's what she pledged to them. No one enters public life thinking they're going to get rich quick. This is what will hurt her the most if and when she throws her hat in the presidential ring. Being a quitter, bailing out when the going got tough, etc. I don't blame her for wanting to erase her debt and rake in some bucks, but IMO she should have waited another 18 months. BTW, I do appreciate your worthwhile opinions, Evelyn!"}, {"response": 785, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jul  7, 2009 (17:49)", "body": "And now they talk of Stimulous II. Krugman said he didn't think it was big enough the first time around."}, {"response": 786, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Jul  7, 2009 (20:20)", "body": "(Mari)People who voted for her have a right to expect that she would have completed her term. That's what she pledged to them. I do agree with you there. I was disappointed too. After all 18 months isn't an eternity. Ok, I can see Fox giving her a show. But wouldn't she have to become more schooled on the issues? Just a little bit?;-) . You are kind:-))) She needs a *lot* of coaching , but she's got charisma and that part isn't learned. The part of my opinions....Thanks, but I'll stick with emails on that one Esp. on next week's supreme court nom. But you already know what I think:-))))))"}, {"response": 787, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jul  8, 2009 (00:00)", "body": "But you already know what I think:-)))))) About Sotomayor? I don't and guess I won't from what you say."}, {"response": 788, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jul  8, 2009 (00:01)", "body": "And to add, I have zero opinion of her. I still haven't read up on her."}, {"response": 789, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jul  8, 2009 (00:50)", "body": "Thanks for the fuscia links, Karen! Very helpful. Maybe I'll get something eventually resembling a bush some year. Transplanting to a bigger pot may help come to think of it. But then it wouldn't fit on my kitchen windowsill. Well, I can only guess a Fox gig wouldn't be too stressful for her. Since announcing that she would resign as governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin (R) has been blaming her decision on the \ufffdmain stream media\ufffd and political operatives who accused her of \ufffdall sorts of frivolous ethics violations.\ufffd However, last year, Palin pointedly criticized Hillary Clinton during the presidential election for complaining about \ufffdexcess criticism\ufffd and being put under \ufffda sharper microscope\ufffd: PALIN: When I hear a statement like that coming from a woman candidate with any kind of perceived whine about that excess criticism or you know maybe a sharper microscope put on her, I think, \ufffdMan that doesn\ufffdt do us any good \ufffd women in politics, women in general wanting to progress this country.\ufffd I don\ufffdt think it bodes well for her, a statement like that. Because, again, fair or unfair, it is there, I think that\ufffds reality, and I think it\ufffds a given. I think people can just accept that she is going to be under the sharper microscope. So be it. I mean, work harder, prove yourself to an even greater degree that you\ufffdre capable, that you\ufffdre going to be the best candidate, and that of course is what she wants us to believe at this point. [shows video of statement] http://thinkprogress.org/"}, {"response": 790, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jul  8, 2009 (00:52)", "body": ""}, {"response": 791, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jul  8, 2009 (09:11)", "body": "I have never understood why they publicize stuff like this. Can't they just fix it in silence and not give anyone any hope or ideas? http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090708/ap_on_go_co/us_federal_buildings_security"}, {"response": 792, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Jul  8, 2009 (09:55)", "body": "Lookeee they're in Rome,,with President of Italy. What's his name Moon?"}, {"response": 793, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jul  8, 2009 (10:10)", "body": "Earlier I was trying to post a really nice pic of O and Silvio, but the URL didn't seem right. You can maybe catch it still here... http://news.yahoo.com/ Silvio looks like he came from Madame Tussaud's though."}, {"response": 794, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Jul  8, 2009 (13:49)", "body": "Italy's President is Napolitano, a card carrying Communist. :-( Michele Bachman has always been articulate and well informed. I didn't know she was crazy? ;-) She would have been a much better choice for McCain. Love Michelle's pointed flats, I have a thing for pointed shoes. Hated the round toe fad. Also she wears her belt high and gives the outfits an empire waist look, it works well. BTW, Berlusconi commented on the Guardian article that Bethan posted on the CF topic, he said that the UK should step aside for Spain, since the UK has a lower Per Capita Income than Italy and their GNP is also lower than Italy's. I did find that Guardian criticism stupid and uninformed."}, {"response": 795, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Jul  8, 2009 (17:40)", "body": "I know there are lurkers out there who didn't vote for The Guy...so this one's for you. Others skip it; you'll hate it, but it's clever & funny. http://www.youtube.com:80/watch?v=3CAX3aJCoDg Particularly poignant for me since I just saw \"Little Night Music\" last Friday night at Summer Theatre."}, {"response": 796, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Jul  8, 2009 (20:56)", "body": "Nice to have a little fair assessment from a confirmed card-carrying liberal... Salon.com Camille Paglia Dear Camille, Just wondering. Do you still think Sarah Palin is ready for the big stage? James L. Somers Good question! And very timely after Palin's shock resignation as governor of Alaska this past Fourth of July weekend. I assume that family priorities -- personal as well as financial -- had become all-consuming. Given her success with finalizing the massive Alaska pipeline project, I think Palin should have stuck it out, but of course she is master of her own fate. What certainly was blameworthy was the chaotic and rushed statement itself. Something so politically consequential needed more careful composition and rehearsal. Why provide more fodder for the vultures and harpies of the Northeastern media? Unfortunately, it's pretty obvious that Palin still lacks that cadre of trusted pros who are the invisible elves behind every successful national politician -- the assistants who gather and vet material and who filter proposals and plan logistics. In a way, this is part of her virtues -- her complete freedom from routine micromanagement and business as usual. She does her own thing with seat-of-the-pants gusto. It's why she remains hugely popular with the Republican grass-roots base -- as I know from listening to talk radio. Callers coming fresh from her rallies are always heady with infectious enthusiasm. Of course you'd never know that from reading hit jobs like Todd Purdum's sepulchral piece on Palin in the current Vanity Fair. Scurrying around Alaska with his notepad, Purdum still managed to find comically little to indict her with. Anyone with a gripe is given the floor; fans are shut out. This exercise in faux objectivity is exposed at key points such as Purdum's failure to identify the actual instigator of Palin's extravagant clothing bills (a crazed, credit-card-abusing stylist appointed by the McCain campaign) and his prissy characterization of Palin's performance at the vice-presidential debate as merely \"adequate.\" Hey, wake up -- Palin cleaned Biden's clock! By the end, Biden was sighing and itching to split. Whether Palin has a national future or not will depend on her willingness to hit the books at some point and absorb more information about international history and politics than she has needed to know in her role as governor. She also needs a shrewder, cooler take on the mainstream media, with its preening bullies, cackling witches, twisted cynics and pompous windbags. The Northeastern media establishment is in decline, and everyone knows it. Palin should not have gotten into a slanging match with David Letterman or anyone else who has been obsessively defaming her or her family. Let surrogates do that stuff. The vicious double standard is pretty obvious. Only the tabloids, for example, ran the photos of a piss-drunk Chelsea Clinton, panties exposed, falling into her car outside London clubs a few years ago. If Chelsea had been the scion of Republican bigwigs, those tacky scenes would have been trumpeted from pillar to post in the U.S. as signals of parental failures or turmoil in clan Clinton. As a Democrat, I detest the partisan machinations that have become standard in Northeastern news management and that are detectable in editorial decisions at major metropolitan newspapers nationwide. It's why I, like a host of others, have shifted my news gathering to the Web. http://www.salon.com/opinion/paglia/2009/07/08/reader_letters/ Her opinion, of course;-)"}, {"response": 797, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jul  8, 2009 (21:53)", "body": "Interesting viewpoint. Apparently her answer to the initial question is a \"no\". Though she was quite diplomatic about it. Why is it only about the \"Northeastern media\" for her? Don't remember anything about that stuff with Chelsea I wonder what her sources for news on the web are that she prefers to use. She apparently isn't using the Evelyn-acceptable mainstream print papers from what she implies. My VF finally came in the mail today. I'll read it over the weekend. There's a number of interesting topics in it in addition to the Sarah Palin article, including one on Heath Ledger, who's on the cover."}, {"response": 798, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jul  8, 2009 (21:54)", "body": "She apparently isn't using the Evelyn-acceptable mainstream print papers from what she implies. I apologize, I forgot my winkie. :-)"}, {"response": 799, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jul  8, 2009 (23:33)", "body": "you'll hate it Why do you think that?"}, {"response": 800, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Jul  9, 2009 (10:12)", "body": "Don't remember anything about that stuff with Chelsea I don't either...but just reinforces what she says about the US media bias. It's\"hands-off\" family except the Bush twins and Palin kids. Nauseating. She apparently isn't using the Evelyn-acceptable mainstream print papers from what she implies. LOL. Thanks for the winkie, but I narrow it even further....has to be WSJ, Wash Times, or Christian Science Monitor. Dvid Brooks in NYT...:-) Also CR amd PBS News Hour on air. Interesting interview with Roger Altman last night on CR. I will say I'm glad the video didn't include David Gregory & Jim Leher as the \"clowns\"; they are fair . But they left out Bill Moyer, Judy Woodruff and Gwen Ifill. IMO, of course;-)"}, {"response": 801, "author": "mari", "date": "Thu, Jul  9, 2009 (11:28)", "body": "Oh I remember the Chelsea Clinton photos. When she was a student at Oxford. Her boyfriend had to hold her up. Don't recall where I saw them though. (Evelyn)It's\"hands-off\" family except the Bush twins and Palin kids. Naw, the Bush twins were actually arrested for underage drinking, but I honestly don't recall any pics of them in that state. Do you? They may exist, but the media, rightly, did not jump on them. It was reported, and then quickly forgotten because it was a family matter. In any event, I never thought less of the families becuse of the kids' hijinks. I think any parent can sympathize. The Clintons and the Bushes always strove to protect their girls' privacy, and for the most part they succeeded. Their daughters have all turned out very well, a credit to their families. The eldest Palin daughter is more out there. She was a part of the campaign, and she posed for a cover and photo spread in People mag recently to talk about teen pregnancy. I'm fine with that--BUT when you willingly court the media, you invite both the good and the bad, and leave yourself open to becoming a commodity. If you shun the spotlight and fly under the radar, you tend to be left alone."}, {"response": 802, "author": "mari", "date": "Thu, Jul  9, 2009 (12:29)", "body": "Also, was any politician's child more in the media's crosshairs than JFK Jr.? They hounded him. Media camped outside his apartment. Followed him and his girlfriend, later his wife, all around. Always digging for dirt. He couldn't show a hair on his head without it being reported. Where was the \"U.S. media bias\" then? I honestly don't understand this \"poor me\" whining and the perpetuation of the \"us vs. them\" mentality. It's not helpful."}, {"response": 803, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Jul  9, 2009 (12:36)", "body": "The unmarried pregnancy was blasted first by the blogs. Thanks to the two bimbos from Alaska. The teen pregnancy bit came after all that publicity. Of course, the parents could have said :No interviews ,period. When Chelsea and Bush twins were college age the media was more conosiderate with family privacy and they weren't competing with the internet and blogs. Anyway...that's my opinion;-)"}, {"response": 804, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Jul  9, 2009 (12:41)", "body": "I agree about whining and being \"thin-skinned\" about any opposing views/comments . ie...the President's constant zingers about FOX. Get over it! No one forced him to take the job. And wanting to curb Talk Radio...hey , he's not Hugo Chavez.... Yet;-)"}, {"response": 805, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jul  9, 2009 (13:05)", "body": ""}, {"response": 806, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jul  9, 2009 (13:07)", "body": "Thanks to the two bimbos from Alaska. And do you recall reading about that then, about these bloggers? If it was just the bloggers you don't read (let alone ones from Alaska), how would you even have know she was pregnant? Did you even know there were 2 bimbos (and even more) from Alaska writing about anything then?"}, {"response": 807, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jul  9, 2009 (13:11)", "body": "The unmarried pregnancy was blasted first by the blogs Sure, blame the blogs. No one would've noticed otherwise. ;-) And why would anyone pay attention to her pregnancy at all, pray tell? Not the irony of it vs. her mom's stated platform on abstinence I'm sure."}, {"response": 808, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jul  9, 2009 (13:29)", "body": "Actually, what was put out by the blogs was that Trig was actually Bristol's baby, so to counteract that, the McCain/Palin campaign put out a press release stating Bristol was currently pregnant."}, {"response": 809, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Jul  9, 2009 (14:16)", "body": "George Clooney is in Aquila with Bill Murray today. It seems that Clooney is opening a movie theater there and has brought the new Wes Anderson film to show. They were touring the earthquake rubble area."}, {"response": 810, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Jul  9, 2009 (15:20)", "body": "I \"read it somewhere\" that the bimbo bloggers broke the news of Bristol preggers. Anyway...here's two outfits I have missed.... OOOOh, I like that. A little too sedate. Too much like Talbot's stuff. It's by Isaac Miza....(whatever his name it..the guy from Target)"}, {"response": 811, "author": "mari", "date": "Thu, Jul  9, 2009 (15:26)", "body": "(Evelyn)When Chelsea and Bush twins were college age the media was more conosiderate with family privacy and they weren't competing with the internet and blogs. They still didn't leave JFK Jr. alone. Or his mother. Nowadays anybody can blog, tweet, or snap pics with their cell phones. And the mainstream media has really lowered its newsworthy standards to compete. Wall to wall Michael Jackson coverage? Ehhhh . . . the President's constant zingers about FOX. Get over it! Does he really? I haven't heard that, but LOL! Love the one-shouldered outfit. I like the purple too. In Aquila today, she's in yellow."}, {"response": 812, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Jul  9, 2009 (15:57)", "body": "(Evelyn), It's by Isaac Miza....(whatever his name it..the guy from Target) ROTF! The guy from Target? If he had known he wold be known as the guy from Target, he might not have done it. ;-) Some of his Oscar gowns have been my fav's. Publicity and the kids: it goes with the public persona of the parents and the media attention. Most of the kids end up using the media later on anyway. Jenna Bush and her book comes to mind. And Caroline K coming out for senator, even if it did not go her way."}, {"response": 813, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jul  9, 2009 (16:34)", "body": "I \"read it somewhere\" that the bimbo bloggers broke the news of Bristol preggers. Perhaps you read it incorrectly or your source was not accurate. The thing the bloggers were saying was what I noted before. It was also known in that community already that she was pregnant. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/republican_race/2008/09/01/2008-09-01_bristol_palins_pregnancy_was_an_open_sec.html http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1837862-1,00.html http://www.adn.com/sarah-palin/story/513141.html And an article that briefly touches on things that Mari, you and I mentioned today about Presidential children in the media, also mentioning the Palin/Bush kids momentarily. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/01/AR2008090102305.html"}, {"response": 814, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Jul  9, 2009 (19:09)", "body": "Saw my first bumper stick today.... Bankrupt America"}, {"response": 815, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Jul  9, 2009 (19:11)", "body": "Bankrupt America \"Yes We Can\""}, {"response": 816, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jul  9, 2009 (19:15)", "body": "America's been bankrupt for a while. The Chinese have been owning us. ;-)"}, {"response": 817, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jul  9, 2009 (19:16)", "body": "Oh, wait, did it mean financially or morally? ;-)"}, {"response": 818, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jul 10, 2009 (15:43)", "body": "I'd pay $5 a month for the NYT online without getting the print edition. I pay much more than that now for the weekend only paper. NY Times considers charging for website access 16 hours ago NEW YORK (AFP) \ufffd The New York Times Company is considering charging a fee for access to its website, and has begun asking its print edition subscribers how such a charge would affect their subscriptions. In a survey targeting existing subscribers, the media company said it was \"considering charging a monthly fee of five dollars to access its content, including all its articles, blogs and multimedia.\" The survey then asks: \"How likely would you be to pay a 2.50 dollar monthly fee -- which would be a 50 percent discount for home delivery subscribers -- for continued, unlimited access to nytimes.com?\" At present, users can access all content on the nytimes.com website for free, but the company has experimented with access charges before. In 2005, it launched Times Select, which charged a fee for access to some opinion and editorial content, but it shut the program down two years later. The proposal described by the survey Thursday suggested a much broader attempt to increase revenue for the media company, amid falling profits across the industry. Company spokeswoman Catherine Mathis said that a monthly access fee was only one possibility being considered. \"We are doing research on a variety of scenarios,\" Mathis told AFP. The survey Thursday seemed designed to gauge the effect of additional charges on The New York Times' existing print subscription base, asking subscribers to respond to a series of assertions about possible fees. Respondents were asked to click on a range of options from \"strongly agree\" to \"strongly disagree\" in response to statements including: \"I would gladly pay for access to nytimes.com in order to support the Times' quality journalism\" and \"I think it is wrong for The New York Times to charge anyone for access to nytimes.com.\""}, {"response": 819, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Jul 12, 2009 (18:00)", "body": "This is so sad! Zoo May Close, Euthanize Animals Budget Cuts Threaten Boston Zoo POSTED: 9:14 pm EDT July 10, 2009 UPDATED: 7:19 pm EDT July 11, 2009 BOSTON -- The Franklin Park Zoo, the only Boston institution of its kind, may be forced to close and euthanize some of its animals, zoo officials said Friday. http://www.thebostonchannel.com/money/20021259/detail.html"}, {"response": 820, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sun, Jul 12, 2009 (19:36)", "body": "That's uncalled for. I am sure other zoos would be happy to take them. Making up $4M. is not insurmountable through private donors/foundations. Where is PETA ? Instead of going after women who wear furs."}, {"response": 821, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jul 14, 2009 (21:32)", "body": "*snort* Serves him right. Mr. I Was Unconfirmed For A Judgeship Because of My Apparent Racial Bias. What a git. He something else stupid to her too as an inference, though not sure where I saw it. http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2009/07/14/sotomayor-surprises-sessions/"}, {"response": 822, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jul 14, 2009 (21:46)", "body": "That is...he *said* something else stupid to her...."}, {"response": 823, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Jul 15, 2009 (09:51)", "body": "\"seeking to discredit Judge Sonia Sotomayor\ufffds judicial philosophy, \" I have watched the hearings and I wouldn't say Sen Sessions was *discrediting* her philosophy. Instead he was asking for \"clarification\"; isn't this what hearings are about? And he wasn't stupid unless you were put-off by his southern accent;-)"}, {"response": 824, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jul 15, 2009 (16:44)", "body": "This seems up Evelyn's alley. :-) http://www.bvonstyle.com/2009/07/13/michelle-obama-fashion-repeat/?icid=webmail|wbml-aol|dl1|link4|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bvonstyle.com%2F2009%2F07%2F13%2Fmichelle-obama-fashion-repeat%2F"}, {"response": 825, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Jul 15, 2009 (17:51)", "body": "Hey, I didn't like her on the campaign trail either. In fact , for a while the \"Handlers\" hid her; too abrasive. I like to think that she is more rested now and relaxed;-) anyway...here are some new outfits I hadn't seen (Wonder how long she can keep this up...it would become tiresome to me) I like the Ghana one the best. The chartreuse skirt is from J. Crew and sweater is Liz Clayborne. Nice how she moves from designer to middle class stuff."}, {"response": 826, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Wed, Jul 15, 2009 (18:01)", "body": "Getting reports on Sky News of some entrances to Capitol building being sealed off due to gun shots?"}, {"response": 827, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jul 15, 2009 (20:53)", "body": "(Evelyn) Hey, I didn't like her on the campaign trail either. In fact , for a while the \"Handlers\" hid her; too abrasive. I like to think that she is more rested now and relaxed;-) Funny, this isn't the comment I was expecting. I posted it because of the fashion....her willingness to re-wear things, and your interest in her fashions.... not whether she was liked or not. Hmmmm..."}, {"response": 828, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Jul 15, 2009 (22:36)", "body": "I was refering to a sentence in the article...not your posting. Yes, I am intensely interested in her fashions....hey, she's setting them. She doesn't repeat them too often. Thanks."}, {"response": 829, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jul 29, 2009 (18:14)", "body": "That silly \"news\" channel... Fox News graphics department has shaky grasp of Mideast geography http://mediamatters.org/blog/200907270040 I found the comments rather entertaining."}, {"response": 830, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jul 29, 2009 (18:22)", "body": "Can someone in the UK answer this (or anyone from any non-US country)... With your single payer/universal health care, are people who are chronically ill covered indefinitely and with no limits on the types of treatments given for those such as diabetics on dialysis and cancer patients on long-term recurrent chemo txs. I asked someone from the UK last week, when we were discussing health care systems here and around the world, if patients who are on longterm treatments on NHS continue indefinitely and doesn't it become a financial drag on that health system? (I found his answer rather ludicrous...they just stop treating them at some point). Is the NHS going broke? I'd swear I read or heard that somewhere."}, {"response": 831, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Aug  4, 2009 (00:15)", "body": "It truly boggles the mind.... \"As mcjoan wrote earlier, during the second quarter alone, AHIP, the health insurance industry's political arm, has bankrolled anti-reform efforts to the tune of at least $133 million. To put the insurance industry's largesse in perspective, they spent about as much in the second quarter as the Bush-Kerry campaigns spent in the 2004 general election combined and 50% more than the Obama campaign's quarterly average.\" http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/8/3/761425/-Reform-allies-blast-GOP,-health-insurance-industry It\ufffds not like the industry has been inert. But the insurers have played the inside game, spending about $40 million on an army of lobbyists and lavishing campaign contributions on Democrats and Republicans to kill the public option. In all, the health industry spent $133 million in the second quarter alone, more than a million bucks a day. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0809/25709.html I recommend this and many of mcjoan's stories... http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/8/3/761171/-Healthcare-RoundupWhats-Ahead Just giving the link because of all the hyperlinks embedded http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/8/3/761171/-Healthcare-RoundupWhats-Ahead"}, {"response": 832, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Aug  6, 2009 (00:10)", "body": "I have to LOL against my will at this. August 5, 2009 GOP turns tables on Democrats Posted: August 5th, 2009 05:00 PM ET From CNN Political Editor Mark Preston WASHINGTON (CNN) \u2014 National Republicans turned the tables on their political counterparts Wednesday by redirecting angry telephone calls coming into their switchboard to the Democratic National Committee. The DNC released a Web video early in the morning accusing the GOP of inciting mob activity at town hall meetings. At the end of the video, the DNC instructs people to call the Republican National Committee to express outrage. Callers who dial the RNC's main number to voice their concern about the DNC's charges are told to press 1, which sends them to the DNC's main switchboard. DNC spokesman Brad Woodhouse described the RNC's redirection as a \"neat trick,\" but said it just further proves the Democrats' point about the GOP. \"The RNC is inciting angry mobs to shout out legitimate discussion at public events across the country and now they want to ignore people who deplore their tactics,\" Woodhouse said. \"Republicans don't want to have a discussion about the future of health care reform \u2013 they want to shout out \u2013 and now completely ignore \u2013 anyone who disagrees with them.\" RNC spokeswoman Gail Gitcho dismissed the DNC's charge and accused Democrats of \"trying to divert attention from the widespread opposition to President Obama's government-run health care experiment. \"The fact is many Democrats are opposed to the president's plan, including many Democrats in Congress,\" she said. \"We wanted to make sure that callers who believe only 'rabid extremists' are opposing the president's health care plan have the opportunity to express those concerns to the DNC.\" http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/08/05/gop-turns-tables-on-democrats/#more-63234"}, {"response": 833, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Aug 13, 2009 (21:41)", "body": "I'm no longer an Eagles fan. :-( QB Michael Vick signs 2-year deal with Eagles AP By ROB MAADDI, AP Sports Writer Rob Maaddi, Ap Sports Writer \ufffd 16 mins ago PHILADELPHIA \ufffd Michael Vick is back in the NFL, landing a job with the Philadelphia Eagles. \"He signed with the Eagles,\" agent Joel Segal told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Thursday. He said it was a two-year deal. Vick, once the NFL's highest-paid player, has not played since 2006. The former Atlanta Falcons quarterback was convicted in August 2007 of conspiracy and running a dogfighting operation, and served 18 of a 23-month sentence in federal prison. He also was suspended indefinitely by the NFL. Commissioner Roger Goodell conditionally lifted Vick's suspension on July 27, allowing him to sign with a team, practice and play in the last two preseason games. Once the season begins, Vick can participate in all team activities except games, and Goodell said he would consider Vick for full reinstatement by Week 6 (Oct. 18-19) at the latest. The Eagles went to the playoffs last season under quarterback Donovan McNabb, and are still looking for their elusive first Super Bowl win. The team, though, is a surprise landing point for Vick. It was among 26 clubs that said there was no interest in Vick, but that may have changed when backup Kevin Kolb strained a knee ligament earlier this week. Kolb's injury isn't serious and he's expected to return next week. The Eagles also have veteran A.J. Feeley. When news of Vick's signing circulated in the press box during the first half of the Eagles' preseason opener against New England, even the team's public relations staff seemed surprised. ___"}, {"response": 834, "author": "mari", "date": "Fri, Aug 14, 2009 (19:33)", "body": "Not sure what the Eagles had in mind with this. Most fans here (not all) are pissed! My own take: I think they did it as a favor to Donovan McNabb. I seem to think they went to Syracuse together (Donovan would have been a senior, Vick a freshman) and I think he saw himself as a mentor. And I think their mothers are friends. Plus, DM said today that he lobbied for it. This way, MV can ease his way back into the NFL, and catch on with another team next year, now that the Eagles have broken the ice. We sure don't need another QB. Am watching a replay of the press conference now. Tony Dungy is vouching for him."}, {"response": 835, "author": "sandyw", "date": "Fri, Aug 14, 2009 (21:54)", "body": "I for one would love to see the day when we could hold up all our celebrities, athletes, movie stars etc. as paragons of virtue and role models for truth, fairness and clean living. Sadly, I live in Canada and although it's lovely it's still not Utopia. Some people are just not very nice. But the man has paid the price for his misdeeds and I think he should be allowed to earn a living to the best of his ability. In fact, seeing him on the field will be a reminder of what he did wrong which may be better than never hearing about it or him again."}, {"response": 836, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Aug 14, 2009 (22:20)", "body": "(Sandy) I for one would love to see the day when we could hold up all our celebrities, athletes, movie stars etc. as paragons of virtue and role models for truth, fairness and clean living. I don't care if he's some shmuck that lived down the street. What he did was despicable. (Sandy) But the man has paid the price for his misdeeds and I think he should be allowed to earn a living to the best of his ability. In fact, seeing him on the field will be a reminder of what he did wrong which may be better than never hearing about it or him again. Living in obscurity, working as a short order cook would be more appropriate to me. Working again in a high profile job, with a high profile team, making more $$ in a week than I make in a year even if he was being paid the lowest wage for his position in the NFL is too good for him. He's bankrupt? BFD. Cleaning stables or working with animals in some way, being forced to deal with animals in a compassionate manner, everyday, to remind him of what he did is what he deserves IMO. Sound judgemental? Yep. And I'm ok with that. He's a heinous individual. People who can do that to animals also tend not to treat humans properly either."}, {"response": 837, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Aug 14, 2009 (22:41)", "body": "(Sandy) In fact, seeing him on the field will be a reminder of what he did wrong Could you please explain your reasoning here? Thank you for commenting. :-)"}, {"response": 838, "author": "sandyw", "date": "Sat, Aug 15, 2009 (18:12)", "body": "(Me) In fact, seeing him on the field will be a reminder of what he did wrong (Dorine)Could you please explain your reasoning here? Well, my reasoning is that anytime he steps on the field someone is saying \"Oh yah, he's the despicable skunk who was so cruel to his dogs. Such a heinous individual shouldn't be allowed the same privileges as other people.\" And if that message gets across to one person who might have followed his lead, well it's worth it. I'm not trying to defend him or his actions in the least. I agree that he is the lowest of the low. It's just that society/courts have decided that 18 months in jail is an appropriate punishment for what he did and I don't see continuing to punish him. It's not illegal to be pond scum :-)"}, {"response": 839, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Aug 16, 2009 (18:37)", "body": "White House appears ready to drop 'public option' AP By PHILIP ELLIOTT, Associated Press Writer Philip Elliott, Associated Press Writer \ufffd 32 mins ago WASHINGTON \ufffd Bowing to Republican pressure and an uneasy public, President Barack Obama's administration signaled Sunday it is ready to abandon the idea of giving Americans the option of government-run insurance as part of a new health care system. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_health_care_overhaul;_ylt=AkjzdhrwMz3tiaXHBrUlJaes0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTM1dG9ncGIzBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMDkwODE2L3VzX2hlYWx0aF9jYXJlX292ZXJoYXVsBGNwb3MDMQRwb3MDMgRwdANob21lX2Nva2UEc2VjA3luX3RvcF9zdG9yeQRzbGsDd2hpdGVob3VzZWFw ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If this is true, it's come to pass as I said. \"Healthcare reform\" in the US is a sham. For now anyway. If they pass something now on the understanding it's the first step of a complete overhall, I would feel better about it, but then again, I can't think of anything particularly meaningful now to even vote on. But with a dropping of a public option (in lieu of going whole hog on a single payer system) and the deal the White House/the Senate made with the pharma industry (yet again) for starters, I'm not sure what the point is to continue this charade. Forget it this year and try again next year. I hope to be proved wrong in the future and pray this is some sort of \"bigger plan\" with a capital P. I'd love to know Sen. Kennedy's thoughts on how this is progressing. The irony that he should be in significantly declining health and increasing unable to participate while his career cause is now front and center is almost mindboggling. I've argued against it often enough when the following has been said to me, but it's true, there's a significant amount of stupid Americans in this country. And they revel in it. The mainstream media as a whole at this point is doing none of them or anyone any favors either on this subject by neglecting to give factbased, reasoned reporting and actually doing a service of educating people on what is really in these bills being brought up on the Hill and what is really being proposed. They choose to listen to and broadcast vapidness and outright lies from people like Sarah Palin (who was for End of Life Care counseling in Alaska before she was against it this week), Newt Gingrich, members of Congress, etc. Are there people out there who have valid criticisms of the reform? Absolutely. Unfortunately the media almost universally chooses not to focus on them. They choose to focus on the people on Medicare, Medicaid or who have military insurance who decry the \"socialistic\"/govt run public option and literally scream about it at Town Hall meetings (though granted, some of them are plants). They themselves are on such govt run plans, but are too stupid to realize it because they listen to their party leaders (and whoever) without doing any kind of due diligence themselves. I know people have sometimes little time to watch much news and feel they have to rely on the mainstream media to get their information, but at this point, as with their own health, it's time to start taking personal responsibility for the information they take in and should be more discerning of the sources they choose to use for that purpose. *steps off soapbox* (*wonders to self...does anyone notice I'm madder than a wet hen?*)"}, {"response": 840, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Aug 16, 2009 (20:13)", "body": "Forgot to say thank you, Sandy, for your reply. LOL, no, it's definitely not illegal to be pond scum (though maybe it should be ;-)), but I will just have to agree to disagree with you about MV. He was on 60 Minutes tonight and forgot to watch it. Though can't say it was necessarily Must See Tv for me either. I'll catch it online if I'm so inclined."}, {"response": 841, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Aug 24, 2009 (20:24)", "body": "Sad. :-( Well not for them I guess. Healthcare insurers get upper hand Obama's overhaul fight is being won by the industry, experts say. The end result may be a financial 'bonanza.' By Tom Hamburger and Kim Geiger August 24, 2009 Reporting from Washington - Lashed by liberals and threatened with more government regulation, the insurance industry nevertheless rallied its lobbying and grass-roots resources so successfully in the early stages of the healthcare overhaul deliberations that it is poised to reap a financial windfall. The half-dozen leading overhaul proposals circulating in Congress would require all citizens to have health insurance, which would guarantee insurers tens of millions of new customers -- many of whom would get government subsidies to help pay the companies' premiums. \"It's a bonanza,\" said Robert Laszewski, a health insurance executive for 20 years who now tracks reform legislation as president of the consulting firm Health Policy and Strategy Associates Inc. Some insurance company leaders continue to profess concern about the unpredictable course of President Obama's massive healthcare initiative, and they vigorously oppose elements of his agenda. But Laszewski said the industry's reaction to early negotiations boiled down to a single word: \"Hallelujah!\" The insurers' success so far can be explained in part by their lobbying efforts in the nation's capital and the districts of key lawmakers. The bills vary in the degree to which they would empower government to be a competitor and a regulator of private insurance. But analysts said that based on the way things stand now, insurers would come out ahead. \"The insurers are going to do quite well,\" said Linda Blumberg, a health policy analyst at the nonpartisan Urban Institute, a Washington think tank. \"They are going to have this very stable pool, they're going to have people getting subsidies to help them buy coverage and . . . they will be paid the full costs of the benefits that they provide -- plus their administrative costs.\" One of the Democratic proposals that most concerns insurers is the creation of a \"public option\" insurance plan. The industry launched a campaign on Capitol Hill against it, grounded in a study published by the Lewin Group, a health policy consulting firm that is owned by UnitedHealth Group. The lobbyists contended that a government-run plan, which would have favorable tax and regulatory treatment, would undermine private insurers. Opposition increased this month when boisterous critics mobilized at town hall meetings held by members of Congress home for the August recess. The attacks, supplemented by conservative critics on talk radio and other forums, drew national attention. Leading insurers, including UnitedHealth, urged their employees around the country to speak out. Company \"advocacy hot line\" operations and sample letters and statements were made available to an army of insurance industry employees in nearly every congressional district. Some insurers supplemented the effort with local advertising, often designed to put pressure on specific members of Congress. Late in the spring, Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina -- the home state of several conservative Blue Dog Democrats -- prepared ads attacking the public option. Leading Democrats have fought back, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) last month calling the industry \"immoral\" for its past treatment of customers and suggesting insurers were \"the villains\" in the healthcare debate. Still, recent support for the public option has declined, and the stock prices of health insurance firms have been rising. Undermining support for the public option wasn't the only gain scored by insurance lobbyists. In May, the Senate Finance Committee discussed requiring that insurers reimburse at least 76% of policyholders' medical costs under their most affordable plans. Now the committee is considering setting that rate as low as 65%, meaning insurers would be required to cover just about two-thirds of patients' healthcare bills. According to a committee aide, the change was being considered so that companies could hold down premiums for the policies. Most group health plans cover 80% to 90% or more of a policyholder's medical bills, according to a report by the Congressional Research Service. Industry officials urged that the government set the floor lower so insurers could provide flexible, more affordable plans. \"It is vital that individuals, families and small-business owners have the flexibility to choose an affordable coverage option that best meets their needs,\" said Robert Zirkelbach, spokesman for America's Health Insurance Plans, the industry's Washington-based lobbying shop. Consumer advocates argue that a lower government minimum might quickly become the industry standard, placing a greater financial burden on patients and their families. \"These are a bad deal for consumers,\" said J. Robert Hunter, a former Texas insurance commissioner "}, {"response": 842, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Aug 24, 2009 (21:18)", "body": "\"UnitedHealth spent the most, $2.5 million in the first half of 2009, and hired some of Washington's most prominent political players, including Tom Daschle, the former Senate majority leader who served as an informal health policy advisor to Obama.\" Wasn't he nominated to be Secretary of Health & Human Services under the Obama administration til some tax problems surfaced? So along with being a tax evader he also seems to be deficient in loyalty."}, {"response": 843, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Aug 24, 2009 (21:46)", "body": "Yeah, though I think I did read somewhere around that time that he did have some industry ties that may not have seemed kosher for the position he would be in. Or maybe if he couldn't beat 'em, he'd join 'em."}, {"response": 844, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Aug 26, 2009 (08:11)", "body": "I'll guess by the time anyone reads this they'll know Ted Kennedy died. What an immense loss, especially at this time. I'd like to think a healthcare reform would be in a different place now had he been able to really contribute to the fullest."}, {"response": 845, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Aug 27, 2009 (13:19)", "body": "And Eunice Shriver dying just a week or so ago. How awful for everyone in that family."}, {"response": 846, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Aug 27, 2009 (14:47)", "body": "There was a picture from Eunice Shriver's funeral I wanted to post, but apparently forgot. It's of one of the (great?) granddaughters putting her hand to Sargent Shriver's face like she's comforting him while he's sitting in one of the church pews. It was adorable and a little heartbreaking at once. I'll go back and look for it later."}, {"response": 847, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Aug 27, 2009 (17:27)", "body": "Here it is. She's like a living doll."}, {"response": 848, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Aug 28, 2009 (10:03)", "body": "He has Alzheimer's; must be almost mid- ninety. I think the little girl's grandmother is the one who wrote the book explaining Alzheimer's to children."}, {"response": 849, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Aug 28, 2009 (11:00)", "body": "Maria Shriver was one of the people behind the Alzheimer's Project, a multi-part series on HBO. She hosted the and narrated the segment entitled \"Why Grandpa(?) Doesn't Know Me\" (or something like that). There were some lovely stories with children who actively provided companionship for their afflicted grandparents."}, {"response": 850, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Aug 28, 2009 (18:21)", "body": "\"What's Happening to Grandpa\" I saw her interviewed on The Today Show."}, {"response": 851, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Aug 28, 2009 (18:56)", "body": "\"Grandpa, Do You Know Who I Am?\" http://www.hbo.com/alzheimers/ I missed one because it had two parts and I only DVR'd one. Guess I'll have to watch it online."}, {"response": 852, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Aug 28, 2009 (20:21)", "body": "I quoted the name of the book, not the TV series. I know there were many parents and grands who found the book most inspiring and helpful. A devastating disease."}, {"response": 853, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Aug 29, 2009 (12:23)", "body": "Anyone watching the Kennedy funeral? Beautiful. Loving his son Teddy's eulogy."}, {"response": 854, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Aug 29, 2009 (12:29)", "body": "Man, Patrick's shouting his eulogy as it goes on."}, {"response": 855, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Aug 29, 2009 (15:52)", "body": "V. impressive. Placido Domingo and Yo Yo Ma together performing the Panis Anglelicus was memorable . Never have heard them together. I missed the soprano who sang the Ave Maria ..I think it was Susan Graham from the Met. Three of the finest artists from today's classical world Great music from pre-guitar Catholicism."}, {"response": 856, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Aug 29, 2009 (18:22)", "body": "Yes, it was Susan Graham. They're running waaaaayyyy behind on stopping at the Capitol and on to Arlington. They were supposed to be at the Capitol almost 2 hrs ago. Sen Byrd is out front waiting for them with the staffers. Even the public is there. He is looking frail. In a wheelchair. And they say it's pretty hot there today."}, {"response": 857, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Aug 29, 2009 (18:50)", "body": "I have to say, I'm not sure that I knew Bobby Kennedy was buried at Arlington very close to JFK. And I've been there several times. If I did know, I'd completely forgotten."}, {"response": 858, "author": "mari", "date": "Tue, Sep  8, 2009 (16:47)", "body": "I was/am deeply offended by the attacks on the President over this education speech. The far right will credit him for nothing. I feel sorry for the children whose parents refused to let them hear this message, and in turn what that parental message sent to the kids. Staying in School and the 'Socialist Agenda' By E.J. Dionne | September 8, 2009; 1:30 PM ET Washington Post We have just gone through one of the most shameful episodes of the young Obama presidency -- shameful because of the behavior of the right wing, shameful because the media played into an extremist agenda, shameful because we proved that our political system has become so dysfunctional that a president gets punished for doing the right thing. Upon Barack Obama\ufffds election, even my most conservative friends who supported John McCain said Obama could do a world of good for poor children in the country by stressing the importance of education, hard work, staying in school and taking responsibility. Yes, those are often thought of as conservative values. But when Obama proposed to do just that on the first day of school, the far right -- without asking any questions or seeking any information -- decided to pounce, on the theory that everything Obama did should be attacked relentlessly as part of some secret and dangerous ideological agenda. Out popped Jim Greer, the Florida Republican chairman, who accused the president of trying to \ufffdindoctrinate America's children to his socialist agenda.\" In a normal world, the media would have asked Greer for proof of such a wild charge and, since he didn\ufffdt have any, his press release would have gone into the circular file. But, no, the media is so petrified of being criticized for being \ufffdliberal\ufffd that it chose to take a lunatic charge seriously and helped gin up this phony controversy. The only rationale for assailing Obama was a single line in a long memo from the Department of Education listing eight steps that students could take to further their goals. It listed the categories for those goals as \ufffdpersonal, academic, community, country.\" Far from encouraging students to fight for a political agenda, the guidelines emphasized that teachers should focus on \ufffdpersonal and academic\ufffd goals. Then came the \ufffdcontroversial\ufffd sentences: \ufffdWrite letters to themselves about what they can do to help the president. These would be collected and redistributed at an appropriate later date by the teacher to make students accountable to their goals.\" In validating their decision to allow the madcap right to dominate several news cycles with their attacks on Obama, many reporters and commentators kept repeating that all this was the fault of that single sentence written by Education Department \ufffdbureaucrats\ufffd -- as if this sentence was reason enough to give wide publicity to an outright lie about what Obama was up to. In context, it was absolutely clear that the supposedly offending sentence was in no way about politics. But just to make sure, the Education Department rewrote the passage to clarify that the students\ufffd letters should focus on their \ufffdshort-term and long-term education goals.\ufffd Yes, it would have been nice if the Ed Department had used such a sentence in the first place. (In general, it would be nice if memos of this sort were written in plain English.) But nothing in the original document justified the paranoia the far right let loose. And, of course, Obama\ufffds speech was not at all \ufffdpolitical\ufffd in any conventional definition of that word. It was about highlighting the importance of individual achievement. Here is an example of the president\ufffds \ufffdsocialist\ufffd propaganda, from the text of his speech: I\ufffdve talked a lot about your government\ufffds responsibility for setting high standards, supporting teachers and principals, and turning around schools that aren\ufffdt working where students aren\ufffdt getting the opportunities they deserve. But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world -- and none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities. Unless you show up to those schools; pay attention to those teachers; listen to your parents, grandparents and other adults; and put in the hard work it takes to succeed. And that\ufffds what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education. I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself. If that\ufffds \ufffdsocialist,\ufffd then Barry Goldwater, Ronald Reagan and just about every parent in America are \ufffdsocialists.\ufffd Oh, yes, and after reading the president\ufffds remarks, the aforementioned Jim Greer, the Florida GOP chairman, declared: \ufffdIt's a good speech. It encourages kids to stay in school and the importance of education, and I think that's what a president should do.\ufffd But not a word of apology for helping set off a dishonest and destructive episode that led who knows how many parents to keep their kids home today or to forbid them from listening to a president urging the"}, {"response": 859, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Sep  9, 2009 (02:05)", "body": "I'd like to say it boggles the mind, but at this point, perhaps I'm becoming inured to this type of ridiculousness from people who promote such distorted agendas and the media that eggs it on, as well as the people who exist from day to day \"without asking any questions or seeking any information\". Ignorance breeds contempt. On the other hand, it all incenses me."}, {"response": 860, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Sep  9, 2009 (10:24)", "body": "I realize that you must be offended, Mari. I was too when George Bush's speech was criticized . That seems to be the MO for the opposition. I listened on C-Span and found the speech v. inspiring. However, let's role the tape some .. The president's political advisers met with the Education Secretary and suggested that a component be added to the lesson plan accompanying the speech: Clarence Page today explains it better than I can: \" The Education Department didn't help matters with the darkly suggestive wording that someone, dare I say, stupidly included in a set of classroom activites posted on the department's web site to accompany the speech. It suggested that students \"write letters to themselves about what they can do to help the president\"..A WH spokesman acknowledged that the original was 'inartfully worded'. Translattion from government-ese: Somebody messed up.\" \"Out went the old wording. The updated version asks students to write letters to themselves about how they can achieve their short-term and 'long-term education goals'\" Good. The speech went on TV to rave reviews. The Florida Republican chairman was on TV last night on the Leher Report and said he found the speech excellent and yes, his children would view it. On \"Face the Nation\" Sunday Education Arne Duncan acknowledged that some of the materials provided to local school officials were poorly worded and may have lead to some confusion about the speech's goals. Now: Imagine the hoop-la from the liberal left if such materials would have accompanied a speech by George Bush. Case closed. But remember folks: \"Dissent is the highest form of patriotism\" Or does that only apply to liberals. ;-)"}, {"response": 861, "author": "mari", "date": "Wed, Sep  9, 2009 (10:48)", "body": "(Evelyn)I was too when George Bush's speech was criticized . Which one? Bush didn't come in for heavy criticism from the left until well into his term. The right pounced on O from the start. It suggested that students \"write letters to themselves about what they can do to help the president\".. That is a very innocuous statement and you know it was meant in the context of education, improving youself, working hard, helping the country by succeeding in your life, making a contribution. Only those who would willfully misinterpret it would take exception. The \"oops\" from the WH and Duncan went overboard; there was nothing to be sorry about. Another example of O bending over backwards to meet halfway with people who have no intention of meeting him anywhere. The Florida Republican chairman was on TV last night on the Leher Report and said he found the speech excellent and yes, his children would view it. With no regret expressed over the trouble he caused. Shouldn't he have asked for a copy f the sppech to review before he shot his dumb mouth off? No, shout first, ask questions later. \"Dissent is the highest form of patriotism\" This isn't honest dissent. It's about manipulating public opinion no matter the cost to the country. It's about teaching kids that it's ok to blow off the president and disrespect the office because you don't like him. The radical right will continue to self destruct."}, {"response": 862, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Sep  9, 2009 (14:01)", "body": "Some people will dispute your perception of honest dissent. I understand your disappointment.....believe me,I was there for 8 yrs. It's a sinking feeling. At least no Republican has called the president a liar from the House floor. Now that was disrespect for the office. No president ever gets all of his policies through Congress easily. He's going to have to get used to it."}, {"response": 863, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Sep  9, 2009 (21:59)", "body": ""}, {"response": 864, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Sep  9, 2009 (22:03)", "body": "(Evelyn) At least no Republican has called the president a liar from the House floor. Now that was disrespect for the office. It appears you are incorrect."}, {"response": 865, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Sep 10, 2009 (10:32)", "body": "I know...last night when I heard the heckler, I though \"Yikes!\" I spoke too soon. But Rep Wilson did apologize immediately. More than Senator Kennedy (RIP)or Speaker Pelosi ever did. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/sep/10/gop-lawmakers-heckling-draws-fire/?source=newsletter_must-read-stories-today_more_news_carousel And Pres Bush (43) is still ahead of him by one ...*and* a shoe;-) Still , it was a shocking display of bad manners, disrespect and inexcusable."}, {"response": 866, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Sep 10, 2009 (17:43)", "body": "That's m'boy.... Berlusconi says is best leader in Italy's history \"why Italians like me and I have 68.4 percent of approval and admiration,\" said Berlusconi, who has been elected three times and is now the longest-serving leader in Italian post-war history.\" http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSTRE5894RC20090910"}, {"response": 867, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Sep 10, 2009 (17:44)", "body": "\"You like me! You really like me!! ;-D"}, {"response": 868, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Sep 10, 2009 (18:15)", "body": "Italians really do like him. Except Livia and her cavaliere husband. Every chance he gets he tries to put B down in interviews. No Italian leader has had those kinds of approval ratings ever. Go Silvio, annoy the hell out of Colin & Co! LOL I was surprised to receive an email from my son's highschool asking if we would allow him to see Obama's speech!? Since when? It's not as if he's Bin Laden. What a ridiculous world we are living in."}, {"response": 869, "author": "mari", "date": "Wed, Sep 30, 2009 (12:18)", "body": "Good article from Salon. Can't believe anyone would defend this old pig. Reminder: Roman Polanski raped a child http://www.salon.com/mwt/broadsheet/feature/2009/09/28/polanski_arrest/index.html"}, {"response": 870, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Sep 30, 2009 (13:15)", "body": "Damn it. I just spent a ton of time typing up a response (in between work stuff) and it disappeared. &*^*&^*%*%!!!"}, {"response": 871, "author": "mari", "date": "Wed, Sep 30, 2009 (17:42)", "body": "Poor Do. :-("}, {"response": 872, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Oct  1, 2009 (14:58)", "body": "All is not as it seems, Mari. I don't condone it, but the girl looked much older, she looked 18, plus she was wearing a outfit that would not be suitable for a 13 year old. She told him she was 18, she did the drugs. Her mother sent her to get a film role. The whole thing is screwed up but as I said, but it's not just a case of rape case. He was also a victim of one of the worst crimes ever committed in the US. He has paid his dues. He's not some sort of pervert that we must fear."}, {"response": 873, "author": "mari", "date": "Thu, Oct  1, 2009 (17:27)", "body": "She \"looked older?\" So, it would be ok to drug, rape and sodomize an 18 year old? She told him no, pled with him to stop, repeatedly. I am not insensitive to the tramua in his life. It's heartbreaking. But many millions of people have endured the murder of loved ones or survived the Holocaust without becoming rapists. What dues did he pay? Having to live in France and suffer snooty Parisian waiters for the past 30 years? No one is above the law. He chose to run. Now he's caught. The fact that many years have passed does not change his crime. Here's an interesting quote from an interview he gave Martin Amis, a year after fleeing: \ufffdIf I had killed somebody, it wouldn\ufffdt have had so much appeal to the press, you see? But\ufffd f\ufffding, you see, and the young girls. Judges want to f\ufffd young girls. Juries want to f\ufffd young girls. Everyone wants to f\ufffd young girls!\ufffd Uh, even if you have to take them by force, right RP? Pig."}, {"response": 874, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Oct  1, 2009 (17:57)", "body": "I certainly don't condone what happened, but the \"justice\" system that Slate (Salon?) writer spoke so passionately about did not appear to mete out the punishment one would think for this crime in the first place. First off, because he pled way down to a much lesser charge (which also threw out the drug charges). Then they ordered him to a 90 psych eval, which was suspended while he....wait for it....went out of the country!, to finish a film! Strangely (or not), he came back at that point to do that eval. Then, they let him out....wait for it....early! After 42 days. Then he ran, after he thought they were going to give him a harsher sentence than had been bargained for (probably probation and/or extremely short jail time). I'm curious how much time he thought he was going to end up with. A short 6 mos to a year could've freaked him out for all anyone knows, which doesn't seem that much considering. I also frankly am of the mindset that if the victim wants that part of it to be done with at this point, so be it. She's a middle aged woman and if she's ok with him not being punished for it at this point, I'm ok with that. There are people who forgive people's murderers too, believe it or not and advocate for various things on the criminals' behalf. If they're ok with it, who am I to say otherwise, esp after an extended period of time? If the woman in RP's case felt the civil suit settlement was the end of it, ok. And really, at this point, unless they give him the sentence he was going to get originally after the plea bargain, how could they even address it clearly now? Throw him in jail for however long for the act of fleeing before the sentence was given, fine. I find it all a bit hypocritical at this point on the justice side. I've read the excuses that he couldn't be apprehended sooner because of a variety of BS reasons. I really am very curious as to why now. Oh right I remember a plausible explanation, the Swiss are being more cooperative probably in light of their settlement with the US over helping people with tax evasion and such in their banks. Remember that woman who had been in one of those domestic terrorist groups and found \"hiding\" as a years married housewife in Minnesota or some such place? Maybe she turned herself in? I think she ended up serving like 2 yrs or something? I can't remember if originally she escaped from jail, or escaped prior to sentencing like him or prior to conviction? Anyone know who I mean? I can't remember her name or I'd look her up. I think she served some time, they let her go, then took her back when they discovered they let her go a bit early by mistake."}, {"response": 875, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Oct  1, 2009 (17:58)", "body": "Of course everyone will realize above I meant a 90-day psych eval. :-)"}, {"response": 876, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Oct  1, 2009 (18:52)", "body": "It was either leave the US or be charged. He left. As I've said, all is not what it seems, her mother dropped her off, she was dressed to seduce, she told him she was 18, she did the drugs. It's a case of she said he said, IMO. But she did go to see him to get a movie part, let's not be naive, she's not the first one to F or be sodomized for a role. I see it as a big publicity stunt by the mother. I don't condone what he did, but there are two sides to this story. \ufffdIf I had killed somebody, it wouldn\ufffdt have had so much appeal to the press, you see? But\ufffd f\ufffding, you see, and the young girls. Judges want to f\ufffd young girls. Juries want to f\ufffd young girls. Everyone wants to f\ufffd young girls!\ufffd That is the sick/sad truth of this modern world. He was only stating the obvious. :-("}, {"response": 877, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Oct  1, 2009 (19:04)", "body": "A nude photograph of the actress Brooke Shields aged 10 has been removed from a Tate Modern exhibition on police advice. http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/visual_arts/article6856148.ece?&EMC-Bltn=CAIDIB"}, {"response": 878, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Oct  1, 2009 (20:32)", "body": "It was either leave the US or be charged. It was either leave the US or be charged. Moon, he was already charged, copped a plea, and convicted. He was awaiting final sentencing. But she did go to see him to get a movie part, let's not be naive, she's not the first one to F or be sodomized for a role. And the sad part is it still continues to happen on a daily basis. Wasn't it a fashion designer who was just sentenced to like a bazillion yrs in jail for preying on young women wanting to be models? And in a similar case to Polanski, James Barbour, a Broadway actor just went through the same thing and I think got a slap on the wrist. I don't think he got jail time. That I'll look up."}, {"response": 879, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Oct  1, 2009 (21:47)", "body": "Here's the bit about James Barbour from Wikipedia. He got a little jail time. In April 2006, Barbour was arrested and charged with sex abuse and sodomy for having inappropriate relations with a female minor four years prior.[16][17][18] In the Fall of 2006, he was indicted by a grand jury in New York for said crime.[19][20][21][22][23] In January 2008, Barbour pleaded guilty to two misdemeanour counts of endangering the welfare of a minor in exchange for a lesser sentence of 60 days in jail and three years probation. Also, in accordance with his plea bargain, Barbour, under oath, made a public allocution admitting to his felonious acts.[24][25][26] On February 29, 2008, Barbour began his sixty-day jail sentence at Rikers Island and three years probation.[27] And the NY Times summary http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/04/nyregion/04actor.html?ref=nyregion I do have to admit I'm curious about something. In both this and the Polanski case, why were they allowed to plea down if the crimes were so bad?"}, {"response": 880, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Oct  1, 2009 (23:03)", "body": "All I can say is assuming Polanski makes it back to the US, I'd hate to be the presiding judge. What a circus that will be."}, {"response": 881, "author": "Moon", "date": "Fri, Oct  2, 2009 (13:33)", "body": "(Dorine), I do have to admit I'm curious about something. In both this and the Polanski case, why were they allowed to plea down if the crimes were so bad? I'll let Polanski answer that one: \ufffdIf I had killed somebody, it wouldn\ufffdt have had so much appeal to the press, you see? But\ufffd f\ufffding, you see, and the young girls. Judges want to f\ufffd young girls. Juries want to f\ufffd young girls. Everyone wants to f\ufffd young girls!\ufffd The sick/sad truth of the modern world. Why do you think the internet porn industry is so huge? And one of the most popular subject: young school girls. :-("}, {"response": 882, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Oct  2, 2009 (14:40)", "body": "Ok, now this is really stupid. This is the first time I've read any specifics on how much he'd have had to go to jail for which made him run. From an AP report: \"However, he was released after 42 days by an evaluator who deemed him mentally sound and unlikely to offend again. The judge responded by saying he was going to send Polanski back to jail for the remainder of the 90 days and that afterward he would ask Polanski to agree to a \"voluntary deportation.\" Polanski then fled the country, on Feb. 1, 1978, the day he was scheduled to be sentenced to the additional time.\" http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091002/ap_en_mo/eu_switzerland_polanski What an incredible doof. The guy gets a gift (not to the victim obviously) of pleading down with a slap on the wrist sentence and he chooses to run.... from an extra 48 days in jail?? I guess he completed the \"voluntary deportation\" part of the sentence. And now he'll probably get more than that for skipping out. That's something."}, {"response": 883, "author": "mari", "date": "Fri, Oct  2, 2009 (15:24)", "body": "To say she asked for it (by her dress, her mother's actions, etc.) implies that she had it coming to her. And that is so wrong, IMO. Victims have been subjected to that macho, misogynistic argument forever. No wonder relatively few decide to come forward. Their actions are put on trial--not the bastard who raped them. Of course the woman (now adult) wants no part of it. Her privacy is destroyed. Plus she received a financial settlement from him. He brought this on himself. He drugged and raped a child. Then he ran away to avoid being subject to the law. But now he is so lawyered up that I doubt he will ever have to come back. His attorneys will tie this up for years, whatever it takes. If you have enough money you can buy enough justice."}, {"response": 884, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Oct  2, 2009 (16:32)", "body": "(Mari) Then he ran away to avoid being subject to the law. Yeah, the brutal 90 days in jail (or the 48 extra days). Amazing. He'll come back. Too much made of this now. The prosecutor would look like a laughing stock after all this if he didn't make sure he got back. Whatever happens it'll probably be reduced to time served for however long it takes him to deal with this. Of course the woman (now adult) wants no part of it. Her privacy is destroyed. Plus she received a financial settlement from him. If that works for her at this point in time, that works for me."}, {"response": 885, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Oct  2, 2009 (18:37)", "body": "(Mari) Of course the woman (now adult) wants no part of it. Her privacy is destroyed. Plus she received a financial settlement from him. (Dorine) If that works for her at this point in time, that works for me. She has no part of it. It was a criminal case, not civil. Besides, he pled out to a lesser offense. It was over. She was totally done, after giving testimony. Nothing about what will go one with the extradition, sentencing, or imprisonment has anything to do with her. Requires nothing of her. She has no further obligations to do or say anything in conjunction with his case. Maybe Roman's lawyers covered every eventuality in her payoff papers and they can require she speak as a \"character witness\" at sentencing. LOL! All the crying about the judge's improper behavior (or renegging on the deal) is nonsense. Deals are struck between the prosecution and defense and presented to the court, when agreement has been reached. Just as a judge can vacate a jury's decision, he can deem a plea unacceptable. Could be the judge figured out that there would be outrage at time served or 42 days for rape, though no longer the charge on the table."}, {"response": 886, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Oct  2, 2009 (19:29)", "body": "(Karen) Just as a judge can vacate a jury's decision, he can deem a plea unacceptable. Right, but if it's true in that AP piece, the judge just wanted to give him the full 90 days. And it says he fled on the day of his final sentencing. The lower charge was standing and final, but the sentence was potentially changing, correct? I don't know what the sentencing range was for that particular charge. I'm just rather amazed that all the ire is directed at Polanski and his crime (and rightly so), yet none at the \"justice\" system that was basically giving him a slap on the wrist or had up until that point. And that same justice system that waited until 2005 to put out an international warrant for him. Yeah, they were really workin' on getting him back up until then."}, {"response": 887, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Oct  2, 2009 (20:16)", "body": "the judge just wanted to give him the full 90 days. Within his rights. Evidently the judicial misconduct has to do with an ex parte conversation with the prosecutor. http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-09-30/polanskis-lost-alibi/?cid=hp:beastoriginalsR1"}, {"response": 888, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Oct  2, 2009 (21:07)", "body": "(Karen) She has no part of it. It was a criminal case, not civil. Besides, he pled out to a lesser offense. It was over. She was totally done, after giving testimony. This isn't true, not everywhere anyway. In regular proceedings, a variety of people can speak on behalf or the opposite about the convicted to the court prior to sentencing that the judge can take into account or ignore. The victims of Bernie Madoff were virtually (but not literally) lined up around the block for the chance to speak about him before sentencing. They picked 10 to represent I believe. \"The court shall consider the risk assessment report and presentence reports, if any, including any victim impact statement and criminal history, and allow arguments from the prosecutor, the defense counsel, the offender, the victim, the survivor of the victim, or a representative of the victim or survivor, and an investigative law enforcement officer as to the sentence to be imposed.\" http://apps.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=9.94A.500"}, {"response": 889, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Oct  2, 2009 (21:10)", "body": "Yeah, I saw that about that guy. I don't believe his claim now that he lied for a second. I find his excuse BS and non-sensical."}, {"response": 890, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Oct  3, 2009 (00:12)", "body": "(Karen) She has no part of it. It was a criminal case, not civil. Besides, he pled out to a lesser offense. It was over. She was totally done, after giving testimony. (Dorine) This isn't true, not everywhere anyway. In regular proceedings, a variety of people can speak on behalf or the opposite about the convicted to the court prior to sentencing that the judge can take into account or ignore. Obviously you're not reading what I wrote, as I mentioned the \"character witness\" portion of the sentencing hearing in my first posting on this matter. She isn't required to do it. The key words are \"allow.\" She isn't required to speak. Frankly, given his fleeing the country, I doubt anything anybody would say matters, if he actually makes it into a court room."}, {"response": 891, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Oct  3, 2009 (00:26)", "body": "I didn't say I believed this guy but that was what Polanski's people and the doc are claiming. Anyway, this is what Marcia Clark says in conclusion: But Polanski wasn\ufffdt willing to risk any time waiting in prison while his lawyer figured it out. No doubt, any improper sentence would\ufffdve been set aside, but that doesn\ufffdt mean Polanski would get the benefit of his bargain, either. Generally speaking, a judge is never bound to accept a plea bargain he doesn\ufffdt approve of. Judge Rittenband could legally have let Polanski withdraw his plea and either set the case for trial or set new terms for the plea bargain and see if Polanski would accept them. If the director had agreed to do more time, it certainly wouldn\ufffdt have been because he thought he deserved it. His statements both then and now show he doesn\ufffdt think what he did was any big deal. According to him, \ufffdno one got hurt.\ufffd"}, {"response": 892, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Oct  3, 2009 (20:03)", "body": "(Karen) Frankly, given his fleeing the country, I doubt anything anybody would say matters, if he actually makes it into a court room. Yes. His statements both then and now show he doesn\ufffdt think what he did was any big deal. According to him, \ufffdno one got hurt.\ufffd I read last night that the woman was awarded $500K in that settlement, but she and her lawyer were fighting 2 years later to get the money as he hadn't paid. It's not known for sure if he did finally, but with interest, the amount would be $600K."}, {"response": 893, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Oct  5, 2009 (14:05)", "body": "(Mari), To say she asked for it (by her dress, her mother's actions, etc.) implies that she had it coming to her. And that is so wrong, IMO. Victims have been subjected to that macho, misogynistic argument forever To clear this up. Her mother set her up. Her mother knew what would happen. IMO, it is the mother who should go to jail. She sent her daughter to a Hollywood party dressed to seduced, told her she should fake her age to 18 if asked. That's wrong. And when the daughter came back without a promised film role, the mother decides for publicity. She's despicable. I don't agree with the macho/misogynistic argument, but it is obvious her mother was counting on it. :-( According to him, \ufffdno one got hurt.\ufffd True."}, {"response": 894, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Oct  6, 2009 (17:06)", "body": "Need a new O&E topic. So forgive my faux-pas. Dorine, please ask them if it might show on BBC/America. The late night saga continues, this was funny: http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/b147625_david_lettermans_drama_may_be_craig.html"}, {"response": 895, "author": "Moon", "date": "Fri, Oct  9, 2009 (12:26)", "body": "OK, I'm in shock, you know what I'm talking about. He must really be the Messiah/Devil if things just keep going to him with no effort. Wow. But to keep things in perpective, they gave it to Arafat too. ;-) It is a indeed a mad, mad, mad, mad world."}, {"response": 896, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Oct  9, 2009 (12:32)", "body": "I have to admit I don't think it's a great choice at this point. I understand their reasoning, but I'd have liked to have seen it even a year down the road to see what fruits his labor will bear. Something more concrete that his efforts made a difference."}, {"response": 897, "author": "mari", "date": "Fri, Oct  9, 2009 (13:29)", "body": "I am very proud of him. Obama's remarks on winning Nobel Peace Prize By The Associated Press (AP) \ufffd 17 minutes ago Text of President Barack Obama's remarks at the White House Friday on winning the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize, as provided by the White House: OBAMA: Good morning. Well, this is not how I expected to wake up this morning. After I received the news, Malia walked in and said, \"Daddy, you won the Nobel Peace Prize, and it is Bo's birthday!\" And then Sasha added, \"Plus, we have a three-day weekend coming up.\" So it's good to have kids to keep things in perspective. I am both surprised and deeply humbled by the decision of the Nobel Committee. Let me be clear: I do not view it as a recognition of my own accomplishments, but rather as an affirmation of American leadership on behalf of aspirations held by people in all nations. To be honest, I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who've been honored by this prize \ufffd men and women who've inspired me and inspired the entire world through their courageous pursuit of peace. But I also know that this prize reflects the kind of world that those men and women, and all Americans, want to build \ufffd a world that gives life to the promise of our founding documents. And I know that throughout history, the Nobel Peace Prize has not just been used to honor specific achievement; it's also been used as a means to give momentum to a set of causes. And that is why I will accept this award as a call to action \ufffd a call for all nations to confront the common challenges of the 21st century. These challenges can't be met by any one leader or any one nation. And that's why my administration has worked to establish a new era of engagement in which all nations must take responsibility for the world we seek. We cannot tolerate a world in which nuclear weapons spread to more nations and in which the terror of a nuclear holocaust endangers more people. And that's why we've begun to take concrete steps to pursue a world without nuclear weapons, because all nations have the right to pursue peaceful nuclear power, but all nations have the responsibility to demonstrate their peaceful intentions. We cannot accept the growing threat posed by climate change, which could forever damage the world that we pass on to our children \ufffd sowing conflict and famine; destroying coastlines and emptying cities. And that's why all nations must now accept their share of responsibility for transforming the way that we use energy. We can't allow the differences between peoples to define the way that we see one another, and that's why we must pursue a new beginning among people of different faiths and races and religions; one based upon mutual interest and mutual respect. And we must all do our part to resolve those conflicts that have caused so much pain and hardship over so many years, and that effort must include an unwavering commitment that finally realizes that the rights of all Israelis and Palestinians to live in peace and security in nations of their own. We can't accept a world in which more people are denied opportunity and dignity that all people yearn for \ufffd the ability to get an education and make a decent living; the security that you won't have to live in fear of disease or violence without hope for the future. And even as we strive to seek a world in which conflicts are resolved peacefully and prosperity is widely shared, we have to confront the world as we know it today. I am the commander in chief of a country that's responsible for ending a war and working in another theater to confront a ruthless adversary that directly threatens the American people and our allies. I'm also aware that we are dealing with the impact of a global economic crisis that has left millions of Americans looking for work. These are concerns that I confront every day on behalf of the American people. Some of the work confronting us will not be completed during my presidency. Some, like the elimination of nuclear weapons, may not be completed in my lifetime. But I know these challenges can be met so long as it's recognized that they will not be met by one person or one nation alone. This award is not simply about the efforts of my administration \ufffd it's about the courageous efforts of people around the world. And that's why this award must be shared with everyone who strives for justice and dignity \ufffd for the young woman who marches silently in the streets on behalf of her right to be heard even in the face of beatings and bullets; for the leader imprisoned in her own home because she refuses to abandon her commitment to democracy; for the soldier who sacrificed through tour after tour of duty on behalf of someone half a world away; and for all those men and women across the world who sacrifice their safety and their freedom and sometimes their lives for the cause of peace. That has always been the cause of America. That's why the world has always looked to America. And th"}, {"response": 898, "author": "sandyw", "date": "Fri, Oct  9, 2009 (14:47)", "body": "I am optimistic that one day Obama will truly deserve this honour but at this point I think it is very premature. What has he actually accomplished? I am also inclined to think that it is inappropriate to award the honour to the leader of a country that is actively at war, regardless of whether that war is \"just\"."}, {"response": 899, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Oct 13, 2009 (12:16)", "body": "AP Newsbreak: Nobel jury defends Obama decision By IAN MacDOUGALL and KARL RITTER, Associated Press Writers \u2013 19 mins ago OSLO \u2013 Members of the Norwegian committee that gave Barack Obama the Nobel Peace Prize are strongly defending their choice against a storm of criticism that the award was premature and a potential liability for the U.S. president. Asked to comment on the uproar following Friday's announcement, four members of the five-seat panel told The Associated Press that they had expected the decision to generate both surprise and criticism. Three of them rejected the notion that Obama hadn't accomplished anything to deserve the award, while the fourth declined to answer that question. A fifth member didn't answer calls seeking comment. \"We simply disagree that he has done nothing,\" committee chairman Thorbjoern Jagland told the AP on Tuesday. \"He got the prize for what he has done.\" Jagland singled out Obama's efforts to heal the divide between the West and the Muslim world and scale down a Bush-era proposal for an anti-missile shield in Europe. \"All these things have contributed to \u2014 I wouldn't say a safer world \u2014 but a world with less tension,\" Jagland said by phone from the French city of Strasbourg, where he was attending meetings in his other role as secretary-general of the Council of Europe. He said most world leaders were positive about the award and that most of the criticism was coming from the media and from Obama's political rivals. \"I take note of it. My response is only the judgment of the committee, which was unanimous,\" he said, adding that the award to Obama followed the guidelines set forth by Alfred Nobel, the Swedish industrialist and inventor of dynamite, who established the Nobel Prizes in his 1895 will. \"Alfred Nobel wrote that the prize should go to the person who has contributed most to the development of peace in the previous year,\" Jagland said. \"Who has done more for that than Barack Obama?\" Aagot Valle, a left-wing Norwegian politician who joined the Nobel panel this year, also dismissed suggestions that the decision to award Obama was without merit. \"Don't you think that comments like that patronize Obama? Where do these people come from?\" Valle said by phone from the western coastal city of Bergen. \"Well, of course, all arguments have to be considered seriously. I'm not afraid of a debate on the peace prize decision. That's fine.\" In Friday's announcement, the committee said giving Obama the peace prize could be seen as an early vote of confidence intended to build global support for the policies of his young administration. The left-leaning committee whose members are appointed by the Norwegian Parliament lauded the change in global mood wrought by Obama's calls for peace and cooperation, and praised his pledges to reduce the world stock of nuclear arms, ease U.S. conflicts with Muslim nations and strengthen the U.S. role in combating climate change. However, the decision stunned even the most seasoned Nobel watchers. They hadn't expected Obama, who took office barely two weeks before the Feb. 1 nomination deadline, to be seriously considered until at least next year. The award drew heated derision from Obama's political opponents in the Republican party, and was even questioned by some members of Obama's own Democratic party, who wondered what the president had done to merit the $1.4 million honor. Michael S. Steele, chairman of the Republican National Committee, said naming Obama showed \"how meaningless a once honorable and respected award has become.\" In a fundraising letter, Steele wrote that \"the Democrats and their international leftist allies want America made subservient to the agenda of global redistribution and control. And truly patriotic Americans like you and our Republican Party are the only thing standing in their way.\" Columnist Thomas Friedman wrote in the New York Times that Obama \"has not done anything yet on the scale that would normally merit such an award.\" Even in Europe, where Obama is hugely popular, many editorials and pundits questioned what he had done to deserve the award. \"Scrap the Nobel Peace Prize,\" foreign affairs commentator Bronwen Maddox wrote in The Times of London. \"It's an embarrassment and even an impediment to peace. President Obama, in letting the committee award it to him, has made himself look vain, a fool and dangerously lost in his own mystique.\" Yet Obama was humble in acknowledging the prize. \"Let me be clear: I do not view it as a recognition of my own accomplishments, but rather as an affirmation of American leadership on behalf of aspirations held by people in all nations,\" Obama said Friday in the White House Rose Garden. \"To be honest, I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who've been honored by this prize.\" Nobel Committee member Inger-Marie Ytterhorn noted that the president didn't greet the news with joy. \"I looked at his face when he was on TV and confirmed "}, {"response": 900, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Oct 21, 2009 (13:23)", "body": "I have been in Europe the past three weeks and their papers reflected surprise at the choice. Even though the President is hugely popular. But, I have to agree with John McCain . \ufffdI congratulate President Obama on receiving this prestigious award. I join my fellow Americans in expressing pride in our president on this occasion,...\ufffd Polanski is a creepy pig ;how can anyone condone the actions of this man. Good to be back."}, {"response": 901, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Oct 21, 2009 (13:54)", "body": "Welcome back, Evelyn!! Hope you had fun."}, {"response": 902, "author": "mari", "date": "Wed, Oct 21, 2009 (15:47)", "body": "Welcome home, Evelyn! I've missed you."}, {"response": 903, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Oct 21, 2009 (20:45)", "body": "Thank you all....Glorious trip. But it's good to be home....I guess, LOL."}, {"response": 904, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Oct 22, 2009 (00:41)", "body": "OMG, what a fabulous story. Made me tear up. http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4696315n"}, {"response": 905, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Oct 23, 2009 (13:04)", "body": "I think this is a wonderful family portrait of the O's. http://news.aol.com/article/official-white-house-obama-family/733531"}, {"response": 906, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Oct 23, 2009 (15:22)", "body": "So he'll get no time for running for all that time? Polanski could face two years prison if extradited By Sam Cage and Lisa Jucca Sam Cage And Lisa Jucca \ufffd 1 hr 22 mins ago ZURICH (Reuters) \ufffd Film director Roman Polanski could face two years in prison if extradited to the United States after fleeing sentencing in California on child sex charges in 1978, the Swiss justice ministry said. \"The United States want him to be extradited for sexual intercourse with a minor. This carries a maximum sentence of two years under U.S. law ,\" justice ministry spokesman Folco Galli said on Friday. The United States had formally asked Switzerland to extradite Polanski, the ministry said earlier, adding it would reach a decision based on a hearing and information provided by Polanski's lawyer, but that there was no deadline. \"If he agrees voluntarily to the extradition, the process can be concluded rapidly,\" Galli said. \"If he fights it all the way, it will take months and months.\" Polanski will be able to appeal against any extradition decision to the Swiss Federal Criminal Court and, in the last instance, the Federal Supreme Court, the ministry said. The 76-year-old Oscar-winning director, who holds dual French and Polish citizenship, was arrested to comply with a U.S. warrant when he flew into Switzerland on September 26 to receive a lifetime achievement award at a film festival. Polanski fled the United States when he was due to be sentenced for having unlawful sex with a girl aged 13. U.S. judicial sources have said the extradition process is complex and could take years if Polanski challenges it. A Swiss court this week rejected a bid by Polanski for release on bail, saying the risk that he would flee was too high. Polanski's lawyer Herve Temime told Reuters that his client's strategy remained unchanged. \"Mr. Polanski will continue to fight this extradition request and demand that he be freed,\" he said. TURBULENT LIFE Polanski was originally indicted on six charges, including rape, for having sex after plying the girl with champagne and drugs. He pleaded guilty to a single count of having sex with a minor and spent 42 days in prison undergoing psychiatric tests. But he fled the United States before the case was concluded because he believed a judge would sentence him to up to 50 years behind bars despite a plea agreement for time already served. The Swiss ministry noted that Polanski had admitted to unlawful sex with a minor during the U.S. investigation: \"He is wanted by the U.S. authorities with a view to passing sentence for this offence,\" it said. U.S. law changed on July 1, 1977, reducing the maximum sentence Polanski could face for this offence to two years, the ministry said. \"Although Polanski committed the offence before this date, he was not due for sentencing until after July 1, 1977, meaning that sentencing according to the new law applies,\" said Galli. Polanski has avoided countries such as Britain that have extradition treaties with the United States, but he repeatedly visited Switzerland, where he owns a chalet in the mountain resort of Gstaad, though he was only arrested on this occasion. He has never returned to Los Angeles, where his pregnant wife, actress Sharon Tate, was murdered by followers of Charles Manson in 1969. Polanski was born in Paris to Polish-Jewish parents in 1933. His mother died in the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz. His first full-length feature, \"Knife in the Water\", won a number of awards, and his reputation grew with \"Repulsion\", his study of a woman terrified by sex who becomes a murderer. Polanski, who is married to the French actress Emmanuelle Seigner and has two children with her, scored huge hits in the United States with his 1968 horror thriller \"Rosemary's Baby\" and his 1974 corruption thriller \"Chinatown\". He won his first and only Best Director Oscar in 2002 for \"The Pianist\", the story of a Polish-Jewish musician who sees his world collapse with the outbreak of World War Two. (Additional reporting by Jason Rhodes in Zurich and Elizabeth Pineau in Paris; Editing by Kevin Liffey)"}, {"response": 907, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Oct 26, 2009 (20:47)", "body": "World Series! Phillies vs. Yankees! So Mari, what should the bet be....cheesesteaks vs cheesecake like the mayors? Cheesesteak vs. our best pizza? I'd like my cheesesteak from Jim's on South Street thanks. Steak and Whiz, no onions. :-D"}, {"response": 908, "author": "mari", "date": "Tue, Oct 27, 2009 (13:04)", "body": "(Dorine)cheesesteaks vs cheesecake like the mayors? Cheesesteak vs. our best pizza?I'd like my cheesesteak from Jim's on South Street thanks. Steak and Whiz, no onions. :-D Ok, a Jim's \"whiz/wit'out\" for you if the Yanks win. If the Phils win, and in keeping with the cheese theme, I'll take a box of goodies from Ferrara's on Grand St., to include: Sfogliatella, Baba Ricotta, and Cannoli. *Heaven*! I've got tix for Sunday night's game! We went to Game 3 of the National League Championship series vs. the Ddodgers. Did you hear the \"You took steroids!\" chants whenever Manny Ramirez was up? We were just warming up for A-Rod.:-) I would say let the best team win, but that would be the Yankees, so I'll just say, let's have a great Series!:-)"}, {"response": 909, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Nov  4, 2009 (21:51)", "body": "*sniff, sniff* Is that Cheese Whiz I smell?? ;-)"}, {"response": 910, "author": "mari", "date": "Thu, Nov  5, 2009 (00:07)", "body": "Yes I guess it is. But you have to come down here to get it.;-) Congrats."}, {"response": 911, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Nov  5, 2009 (08:30)", "body": "I would be happy to actually. Thanks!"}, {"response": 912, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Nov 13, 2009 (07:01)", "body": "Americans in the hinterlands can rest easy now. NY is steppin' up to the plate to take not just some Gitmo detainees, but the worst ones. Wonder how I'll sleep at night. AP Source: Gitmo 9/11 suspects to NY for trial By DEVLIN BARRETT, Associated Press Writer \ufffd 4 mins ago WASHINGTON \ufffd Self-proclaimed Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other Guantanamo Bay detainees will be sent to New York to face trial in a civilian federal court, an Obama administration official said Friday. The official said Attorney General Eric Holder plans to announce the decision later in the morning. The official is not authorized to discuss the decision before the announcement, so spoke on condition of anonymity. Bringing such notorious suspects to U.S. soil to face trial is a key step in President Barack Obama's plan to close the terror suspect detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Obama initially planned to close the detention center by Jan. 22, but the administration is no longer expected to meet that deadline. It is also a major legal and political test of Obama's overall approach to terrorism. If the case suffers legal setbacks, the administration will face second-guessing from those who never wanted it in a civilian courtroom. And if lawmakers get upset about notorious terrorists being brought to their home regions, they may fight back against other parts of Obama's agenda. The New York case may also force the court system to confront a host of difficult legal issues surrounding counter-terrorism programs begun after the 2001 attacks, including the harsh interrogation techniques once used on some of the suspects while in CIA custody. The most severe method \ufffd waterboarding, or simulated drowning \ufffd was used on Mohammed 183 times in 2003, before the practice was banned. Holder will also announce that a major suspect in the bombing of the U.S.S. Cole, Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, will face justice before a military commission, as will a handful of other detainees to be identified at the same announcement, the official said. It was not immediately clear where commission-bound detainees like al-Nashiri might be sent, but a military brig in South Carolina has been high on the list of considered sites. The actual transfer of the detainees from Guantanamo to New York isn't expected to happen for many more weeks because formal charges have not been filed against most of them. The attorney general has decided the case of the five Sept. 11 suspects should be handled by prosecutors working in the Southern District of New York, which has held a number of major terrorism trials in recent decades at a courthouse in lower Manhattan, just blocks from where the World Trade Center towers once stood. Holder had been considering other possible trial locations, including Virginia, Washington, DC, and a different courthouse in New York City. Those districts could all end up conducting trials of other Guantanamo detainees sent to federal court later on. The attorney general's decision in these cases comes just before a Monday deadline for the government to decide how to proceed against 10 detainees facing military commissions. In the military system, the five Sept. 11 suspects had faced the death penalty, but the official would not say if the Justice Department would also seek capital punishment against the men once they are in the federal system. The administration has already sent one Guantanamo detainee, Ahmed Ghailani, to New York to face trial, but chose not to seek death in that case. At the last major trial of al-Qaida suspects held at that courthouse in 2001, prosecutors did seek death for some of the defendants. Mohammed already has an outstanding terror indictment against him in New York, for an unsuccessful plot called \"Bojinka\" to simultaneously take down multiple airliners over the Pacific Ocean in the 1990's. Some members of Congress have fought any effort to bring Guantanamo Bay detainees to trial in the United States, saying it would be too dangerous for nearby civilians. The Obama administration has defended the planned trials, saying many terrorists have been safely tried, convicted, and imprisoned in the United States, including the 1993 World Trade Center bomber, Ramzi Yousef. Mohammed and the four others \ufffd Waleed bin Attash, Ramzi Binalshibh, Mustafa Ahmad al-Hawsawi and Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali \ufffd are accused of orchestrating the attacks that killed 2,973 people on Sept. 11, 2001. Mohammed admitted to interrogators that he was the mastermind of the attacks \ufffd he allegedly proposed the concept to Osama bin Laden as early as 1996, obtained funding for the attacks from bin Laden, oversaw the operation and trained the hijackers in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The charges against the others are: \ufffd Bin Attash, a Yemeni, allegedly ran an al-Qaida training camp in Logar, Afghanistan, where two of the 19 hijackers were trained. Bin Attash is believed to have been bin Laden's bodyguard. Authorities say bin Laden selected him as a h"}, {"response": 913, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Nov 13, 2009 (10:06)", "body": "I hope ...keep all of them there... permanently ...safe and sound. (But, so far,by what I hear, it's only for the trial):-((((("}, {"response": 914, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Nov 13, 2009 (10:24)", "body": "They can go to the Supermax jail in CO after the trial where all the other big terrorists are (Unabomber, 1st WTC bombers, etc)."}, {"response": 915, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Nov 13, 2009 (10:45)", "body": "*snort* Oh...so, NY is just \"stepping up to the plate\" for the trail. Big Deal Is it definite that they're going to the \"hinterland \" of Co? I thought Co didn't want them. They can go to Ca....they're hungry for $$$$."}, {"response": 916, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Nov 13, 2009 (11:37)", "body": "Who knows where they'll ultimately end up.....hell, perhaps? ;-) But CO has had that Supermax jail there for years with the highest security, so I don't think they're worrying about it. As I said, the first WTC bombers, the Unabomber and I forget now who else is there. I think everyone there is in solitary confinement. If the 9/11 Gitmo people should get the death penalty (if that's even an option), CA won't want them either. Death row inmates cost more to house than the regulars."}, {"response": 917, "author": "Moon", "date": "Fri, Nov 13, 2009 (14:28)", "body": "They should be sent to a State that will not chicken out of the death sentense. IMO, Death row should last no longer than two weeks. Save tax payers money."}, {"response": 918, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Nov 13, 2009 (17:40)", "body": "(Dorine)CA won't want them either. Death row inmates cost more to house than the regulars. They're Federal prisoners, the state gets paid for their \"lodging\". Your tax $$$$$$:-)))"}, {"response": 919, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Nov 13, 2009 (18:27)", "body": "States would not get paid for Federal prisoners held in a Federal facility, like Supermax. Only if they're housed in local facilities."}, {"response": 920, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Nov 13, 2009 (18:48)", "body": "Well, though she's right about me..us...paying for them if their Federal prisoners, correct? This conversation reminded me of Timothy McVeigh. I couldn't remember for sure if he was convicted of federal crimes and possibly at the Supermax in CO (he was), so I looked him up. On his Wikipedia page, there was a link to an article about use of isolation as a punishment and I found this bit interesting. I didn't know there were more Supermax prisons around the country. I wonder why the \"big name\" criminals are all at the same one (though the guy they refer to in the article -not a big name, to me anyway- is in one in PA). \"Gawande turns up shocking facts: The feds built the first Supermax prison in 1983. By the end of the 1990s there were 60 of them. There are now 25,000 inmates in Supermax prisons, and another 50,000 to 80,000 in \"restrictive segregation units\" that are pretty close to solitary confinement. The Supermax idea was sold on the hope of reducing prison violence. As Gawande admits, it makes intuitive sense: \"If the worst of the worst are removed from the general prison population and put in isolation, you'd expect there to be markedly fewer shankings and attacks on corrections officers.\" But it didn't work. Studies of the violence rate show no correlation between the use of isolation and reduced violence, perhaps because prison violence has real causes such as overcrowding.\" Read more: http://www.esquire.com/the-side/richardson-report/federal-prison-reform-033109#ixzz0Wmoy0kMu"}, {"response": 921, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Nov 13, 2009 (18:52)", "body": "their = they are. Sheesh. The Supermax in CO is this ADMAX according to this. I haven't read the whole entry to see if they explain the difference between this one and other Supermax's. \"The U.S. government houses a number of convicted terrorists, gang leaders, spies and similar prisoners in a Supermax prison known as ADMAX, the Federal administrative maximum security prison in Florence, Colorado, west of Pueblo. Al-Qaeda terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui was sentenced to life without parole at Florence upon his conviction on May 4, 2006. Residents also include Theodore Kaczynski, a terrorist otherwise known as the Unabomber who once attacked via mail bombs, Robert Hanssen, American FBI Agent turned Soviet spy, Terry Nichols, an accomplice to the Oklahoma City bombing, and Richard Reid, an Islamic fundamentalist jailed for life for attempting to detonate explosive materials in his shoes while on board an aircraft.\" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supermax"}, {"response": 922, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Nov 15, 2009 (02:15)", "body": "Looks like the Gitmo people might be headed to a Drooler's neck of the woods. I'm quite confused over the line that states that the only Supermax prison is in CO in contrast to an article linked to above that states there are multiple ones. Source: Illinois prison eyed for Gitmo inmates AP By TAMMY WEBBER, Associated Press Writer \ufffd 31 mins ago CHICAGO \ufffd The Obama administration may buy a near-empty prison in rural northwestern Illinois to house detainees from Guantanamo Bay along with federal inmates, a White House official said Saturday. The maximum-security Thomson Correctional Facility, about 150 miles west of Chicago, was one of several evaluated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, and emerged as a leading option to house the detainees, the official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because a decision has not been made. President Barack Obama wants alleged terrorism suspects from the controversial military-run detention center in Cuba to be transferred to U.S. soil so they can be prosecuted for their suspected crimes. Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn has been hinting at a possible new use for Thomson, and he issued a statement saying he would hold a news conference Sunday to outline those plans. Quinn's spokeswoman Marlena Jentz did not return a phone message from the AP Saturday. Thomson was built by the state in 2001 with 1,600 cells, but budget problems prevented it from fully opening, and it now houses about 200 minimum-security inmates. It is unclear how many Guantanamo detainees \ufffd many held without charges since the beginning of the war in Afghanistan \ufffd would be transferred to Illinois or when. Obama initially planned to close the Guantanamo Bay prison by Jan. 22, but the administration is no longer expected to meet that deadline. If the Federal Bureau of Prisons buys the facility, it would be run primarily as a federal prison, but a portion would be leased to the Defense Department to house a limited number of Guantanamo detainees, the White House official said. Perimeter security at the site would be increased to surpass that at the nation's only Supermax prison, in Florence, Colo., the official said. Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the Senate's second-highest-ranking Democrat, said in a statement Saturday he would support the plan. He said the prison would house fewer than 100 Guantanamo detainees and would have a \"significant positive impact on the local economy\" by generating more than 3,000 jobs. Thomson Village President Jerry Hebeler said the move would generate desperately needed revenue for the town of about 500 residents near the Mississippi River. \"It's been sitting there for eight to nine years and our town is like a ghost town,\" Hebeler said of the prison, adding that a tavern recently closed and a planned housing development fell through. \"Everybody moved or got different jobs.\" Some lawmakers opposed the idea of terrorism suspects being brought to Illinois. U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk, a Northbrook Republican running for Obama's old Senate seat, circulated a letter among elected officials asking them to write to Obama opposing the plan, saying bringing Guantanamo prisoners to the state would make it a target for terrorist attacks. U.S. Rep. Don Manzullo, whose district includes Thomson, said he adamantly opposed the proposal and that he has consistently joined with a majority of his colleagues \"in fighting efforts to bring these terrorists onto our shores ... where they could one day be released into our communities.\" Guantanamo Bay \"is set up to house these dangerous terrorists, and they should stay there,\" said Manzullo, an Egan Republican who serves on the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade. Illinois Rep. Jan Schakowsky, a Democrat, said Kirk and other Republicans were \"pandering to irrational fears\" and that closing the Guantanamo Bay facility would strengthen national security because al-Qaida used it as a recruiting tool. Phone and e-mail messages left with Jim O'Connor, a spokesman for Illinois Sen. Roland Burris, were not immediately returned. Thomson is not the only U.S. town that had hoped to lure Guantanamo detainees. Officials in Marion, Ill., Hardin, Mont., and Florence, Colo., also have said they would welcome the jobs that would be generated. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091115/ap_on_re_us/us_illinois_prison_obama;_ylt=AogWxbES0ilCt5srNIxcYmGs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTM2aWRrOXRuBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMDkxMTE1L3VzX2lsbGlub2lzX3ByaXNvbl9vYmFtYQRjcG9zAzIEcG9zAzUEcHQDaG9tZV9jb2tlBHNlYwN5bl90b3Bfc3RvcnkEc2xrA3NvdXJjZWlsbGlubw- -"}, {"response": 923, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sun, Nov 15, 2009 (13:35)", "body": "Saw that last night...Il.can use the $$$ too. I know that the Fed prisons are not operated with state money, but the people who work there do live in that state...earn salaries and pay taxes. So indirectly, the state does benefit. Assuming of course, that they are convicted;-) Anyone see Attorney General Holder's interview with Jim Lehrer on The News Hour on Friday night? Interesting....mystifying and in some ways even disturbing."}, {"response": 924, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Nov 15, 2009 (13:42)", "body": "No, I didn't see it. Why do you say that? Wonder if Jim Lehrer has interviews on his website like Charlie Rose. At this point, I'd bet any and every state can use the $$."}, {"response": 925, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sun, Nov 15, 2009 (14:53)", "body": "No, I didn't see it. Why do you say that? I am sure it's on the PBS website. I TiVo nightly. Best newscast on TV. Margaret Warner, and Jim are great. Always unbiased and no \"gotchas\". You would have to see it..I didn't take notes and I wouldn't want to misquote him."}, {"response": 926, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Nov 15, 2009 (19:00)", "body": "(Dorine) Looks like the Gitmo people might be headed to a Drooler's neck of the woods. And, as you can see from the article, the people here want it and aren't ranting and carrying on like fools. Toward the end of the article, it even mentions the facility at Marion, which would also want them. I'm quite confused over the line that states that the only Supermax prison is in CO in contrast to an article linked to above that states there are multiple ones. CO's is entirely supermax, while only portions of existing facilities are maintained at that level."}, {"response": 927, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Nov 15, 2009 (19:16)", "body": "Officials in Marion, Ill., Hardin, Mont., and Florence, Colo., also have said they would welcome the jobs that would be generated. I think Hardin, MT is the place they built some new prison that was going to be run by some slick outside security company that turned out to be run by frauds and/or criminals. It was empty for a while until they got these people, now they're back where they started. (Karen) CO's is entirely supermax, while only portions of existing facilities are maintained at that level. Got it."}, {"response": 928, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Nov 16, 2009 (00:29)", "body": "A terrorism trial's myths By Andrew Cohen Saturday, November 14, 2009 It's official. Sooner rather than later, Khalid Sheik Mohammed, an al-Qaeda leader who by all accounts spearheaded planning for the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, will stand trial in a federal civilian court near the scene of the crime. A Mohammed trial for Sept. 11 crimes -- the case might actually be styled United States v. Mohammed -- could be one of the biggest legal landmarks in American history. It's not surprising that bringing one of the \"faces of terror\" to within blocks of Ground Zero would generate a lot of fear, trepidation and political hysteria. So let's try to separate sizzle from steak. Here are six myths about Mohammed and his trial that ought to be destroyed: -- One: Mohammed's lawyers are going to rely on the fact that he was waterboarded to get his case dismissed. Fact: Ain't gonna happen. Depending on who is running the show (Mohammed wanted to represent himself at his military tribunal at Guantanamo Bay), it's likely that the government's post-capture treatment of Mohammed will be a factor in the trial. But it won't determine the outcome, especially if the government does not seek to introduce any of Mohammed's post-torture statements to jurors. The fact that the feds are bringing him to New York to stand trial indicates that they have plenty of other evidence that they can use to get their conviction. -- Two: Mohammed's judge won't be able to find an impartial jury. Fact: Media saturation has made jury selection in America a perversion of what it once was. Judges and lawyers no longer even pretend that they are seating jurors who don't have preconceived notions about a case. All they ask of jurors is that they be able to set aside their pre-judgments and fairly evaluate the evidence shown at trial. Under this low standard, Mohammed will get a jury, and, after he's convicted, the jury's verdict almost certainly will be upheld on appeal if the defense challenges its fairness. ad_icon -- Three: Trying Mohammed in New York will significantly raise the risk of another terrorist attack there. Fact: No one can determine how big that increased risk would be. But New York has long been able to safely host trials of terrorism suspects -- including the trial that followed the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center -- and its security systems are among the world's finest. I have seen, during the Zacarias Moussaoui trial in 2006, just how intense security can be in terrorism cases. It's awe-inspiring. -- Four: The transfer of Mohammed to a federal civilian court is a concession of defeat by the government and a soft-on-terror approach to suspects. Fact: The Bush administration tried to prosecute these people in military tribunals but wasn't able to come up with a set of rules that were deemed constitutional. As a result, six years after Mohammed was apprehended, he still hasn't been convicted. A civilian trial is the best chance of ensuring conviction and sentencing. I don't consider that a defeat. I consider it progress. We are one step closer to the end of this guy's story. Remember, too, that the Republican senators who are crying loudest now about this civilian trial were the ones who precluded the use of military tribunals by insisting that they be constitutionally unfair to defendants. -- Five: Mohammed will be acquitted on some technicality endorsed by a federal judge. Fact: After eight years of reporting on terrorism law, I am not aware of any judge, anywhere, who is eager to pervert the law to give Mohammed a break. The idea that the federal courts are soft on terrorism is unfair to the hundreds of jurists who have repeatedly endorsed government policy on terrorism, both before and after the 2001 attacks. Capital murder suspects get off on \"technicalities\" (read: constitutional rights) far less often than you see in prime time. And even if Mohammed is somehow acquitted, which isn't going to happen, the feds will then immediately pick him up and put him back in the military brig. -- Six: Mohammed will turn his trial into political theater. Fact: Yes, he will try. But he will mostly fail. There are many rules in place to ensure that Mohammed behaves in court. There is upside here, too. It seems likely, given Mohammed's in-court conduct at Guantanamo Bay, that he will proudly declare in front of judge and jury his allegiance to al-Qaeda and his involvement in the Sept. 11 attacks. If this occurs, it will make it easier for jurors to convict him and for the appellate courts to endorse his sentence. The writer is chief legal analyst for CBS News. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/13/AR2009111303586.html?hpid=opinionsbox1"}, {"response": 929, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Nov 16, 2009 (10:11)", "body": "These are all speculations..not certainties. We shall see what transpires."}, {"response": 930, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Nov 16, 2009 (11:35)", "body": "Before I get jumped on...;-) \" *i* shall see what transpires\""}, {"response": 931, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Nov 16, 2009 (13:23)", "body": "Giuliani believes the trial should not be held in NYC. He fears other attacks as did happen after the first World Tower trial. I agree with him. The trial should not be in NYC."}, {"response": 932, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Nov 16, 2009 (13:42)", "body": "Funny, I was just coming on here to comment about Giuliani. I could care less what Giuliani thinks....a guy who didn't listen to the FBI and experts who told him to put the Emergency Ctr in Bklyn, not under the WTC where he put it, because it was a prime target. As a result of his stellar judgement to ignore them, he literally almost lost his life and the life of the (now known corrupt) police commisioner he appointed. And to top it off, he either instituted or left in place the police and fire dept communication systems that were not compatable, highly likely to have contributed to an unknown number of NYPD/NYFD deaths/injuries. Yeah, I give a shit what Giuliani thinks."}, {"response": 933, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Nov 16, 2009 (14:28)", "body": "LOL, Dorine. Tell me how you really feel. ;-) Granted he has made mistakes, but I believe he learned from them. I still think it's dagerous to hold the trials in NYC."}, {"response": 934, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Nov 16, 2009 (14:40)", "body": "but I believe he learned from them Excuse me while I get back off the floor from laughing so hard. ;-) It's always dangerous and we're always a target. Just another day..... That being said, I'm not too keen on how much the security will cost. The city's already hurting for $$. Glad I don't have to really be downtown too much. Where would you suggest they have it? I think the logical choice would be D.C."}, {"response": 935, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Nov 16, 2009 (15:02)", "body": "LOL! There are maybe more Muslims in the DC tri-State area than NYC. I think not. The trial should be close to the prison, so that would be Chicago. Waving to Karen. ;-)"}, {"response": 936, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Nov 16, 2009 (16:27)", "body": "LOL, Dorine. Tell me how you really feel. ;-) LOL Besides he's member of the *other* party;-) Running for gov???? against Patterson???? , (Dorine) I'm not too keen on how much the security will cost. The city's already hurting for $$. According to the Mayor they're broke. They'll probably send the bill to DC like Boston did for Kennedy's funeral."}, {"response": 937, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Nov 16, 2009 (17:16)", "body": "(Evelyn) Besides he's member of the *other* party;-) Running for gov???? against Patterson???? I'm not shallow enough to dislike someone simply for their party. Just for their viewpoints. *snort* Patterson....he'll be lucky to make it out of the gate. If he even ultimately runs. Guiliani would be a horrible govenor. That being said, he did do some good things for the city, but he doesn't have the personality for the guv. According to the Mayor they're broke. I keep reading about the huge bonuses some Wall Street people are getting this year, so if they start spending more (and having bigger paychecks to take taxes out of), that'll help I suppose."}, {"response": 938, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Nov 16, 2009 (17:56)", "body": "Escape From New York A new study says taxes are driving people away. In the Empire Center study, two of the top states to send taxpayers to New York\ufffdIllinois and Michigan\ufffdwere also among the worst population losers overall. Greener pastures that drew New Yorkers included states like Florida, North Carolina and Pennsylvania, in addition to the usual suburban locales of New Jersey and Connecticut. Liberals continue to insist that they can raise taxes ever higher without any effect on behavior, but the New York study is one more piece of evidence that this is a destructive illusion http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703574604574499772371161800.html?mod=rss_Today's_Most_Popular Best to be young and poor, I guess."}, {"response": 939, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Nov 16, 2009 (17:59)", "body": "Oops the dog must have eaten the first part of the article.... \"An old saying goes that the time to live in New York is when you're young and poor, or old and rich\ufffdotherwise, you're better off somewhere else. That wisdom is getting an update this week from a study by the Empire Center for New York State Policy that shows middle-class people leaving the state in droves. Between 2000 and 2008, the Empire State had a net domestic outflow of more than 1.5 million, the biggest exodus of any state, with most hailing from New York City. The departures also have perilous budget consequences, since they tend to include residents who are better off than those arriving. Statewide, departing families have income levels 13% higher than those moving in, while in New York County (home of Manhattan) the differential was even more severe. Those moving elsewhere had an average income of $93,264, some 28% higher than the $72,726 earned by those coming in. In 2006 alone, that swap meant the state lost $4.3 billion in taxpayer income. Add that up from 2001 through 2008, and it translates into annual net income losses somewhere near $30 billion. That trend is part of a larger march for New York: In 1950 the state accounted for 19% of all Americans, but by 2000 that number had fallen to 7%. The city's main saving grace has been its welcome mat for foreign immigrants, who have helped to replace some of those who flee. As the study's authors, E.J. McMahon and Wendell Cox, suggest, no single reason can be fingered for a million migrants seeking their fortunes across state lines, but one place to start is New York's notorious state and local tax burden. According to the Tax Foundation, between 1977 and 2008, New York has ranked first or second in the country for its state-local tax burden compared to the U.S. average. In the years considered by the Empire Center study, New York's state and local tax burden ranged between 11% and 12% of income. The peak year for taxes, 2004, was followed by the peak year for departures\ufffdas New York lost nearly 250,000 people to other states in 2005. And that's before another big tax hike this year. That pattern is consistent with the annual migration patterns, showing that highly taxed and economically lackluster states were most likely to end up in residents' rear view mirrors. According to the annual study by United Van Lines, states like New York, New Jersey, Michigan and Illinois have been big losers in recent years. \" ..........."}, {"response": 940, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Nov 16, 2009 (23:45)", "body": "Jon Stewart did a great piece on The Daily Show tonight on Giuliani's hypocrisy where 9/11 terrorists are concerned comparing his views from 2006 and now. I don't know how long it takes them to get clips up on their site."}, {"response": 941, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Nov 17, 2009 (00:37)", "body": "Yes, the taxes here are horrible. I actually in concept don't have a problem with higher taxes if I thought we were getting value back. But we don't in many cases. Especially with the MTA (Metropolitan Transit Authority. A lot of people move out of NYC in search of better public schools and more housing space/land for the dollar. Or maybe even cheaper private schools, if there is such a thing."}, {"response": 942, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Nov 17, 2009 (09:25)", "body": "Especially with the MTA (Metropolitan Transit Authority Charge more $$$$ Other countries do ...have better service and they're cleaner!"}, {"response": 943, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Nov 17, 2009 (11:56)", "body": "They already have! We don't get our money's worth for the most part with service interruptions, esp during the weekends. I feel very bad for tourists who come on the weekend when many trains are not running, running on other routes or skipping stations. I have to do some massive planning and rerouting to get around then, it is almost impossible for them to. One weekend recently, every single line but one was rerouted or interrupted for work. We have many brand new trains that are very clean. At one point it was discovered the MTA kept 2 sets of books. And don't get me started on the MTA's'union."}, {"response": 944, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Nov 18, 2009 (09:57)", "body": "And don't get me started on the MTA's'union I will repeat what I have heard here: \"They're only trying to make a living wage.\""}, {"response": 945, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Nov 18, 2009 (11:01)", "body": "Heard from whom or where? Them? ;-)"}, {"response": 946, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Nov 18, 2009 (12:39)", "body": "You!"}, {"response": 947, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Nov 18, 2009 (13:33)", "body": "I find it almost impossible to believe I'd say something like that about them of all people. Find the facts: Something smells about the MTA-union wage arbitration Editorials Saturday, August 22nd 2009, 7:55 PM The Metropolitan Transportation Authority was ideally positioned to negotiate a contract that was fair to transit workers and protected straphangers - except the brass fled from their duty. Rather than fight to protect gains hard won after the Transport Workers Union's illegal 2005 strike, MTA Chairman Dale Hemmerdinger and former CEO Elliot Sander prematurely threw the matter into arbitration, presented, by all indications, a confused case and wound up getting the public's clock cleaned. The sequence of events and the questions of who did what why are murky at best. But a rising odor suggests that the agency and its political masters used arbitration as a cover for giving the TWU a sweet deal. There's the fact that Sander and Hemmerdinger went to arbitration without consulting the MTA board. There's the fact that the MTA's law firm bowed out, feeling that it was not allowed to engage fully. There's the fact that the MTA bounced all over the place on wage demands and suddenly withdrew its major request for contract reform - a provision that would have allowed for computerized train operation - after arbitration was well under way. There's TWU President Roger Toussaint's charge that Mayor Bloomberg gave his blessing to 4% annual hikes. And there's Bloomberg's denial - plus City Hall's assertion that he intervened with Gov. Paterson to prevent Sander from boosting pay that much. Accountability, please. New York must know what happened. The powers that be are determined to stay undercover. Which is why we thank and support former MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow for demanding answers under the freedom-of-information law. He has asked for all the inside documents, along with those relating to any communications with the governor's office. The MTA must turn all the records over, regardless of whether they are covered by the open-government law. The public must get the full story of the great train robbery. Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2009/08/23/2009-08-23_find_the_facts_something_smells_about_the_mtaunion_wage_arbitration.html#ixzz0XEltLsPO"}, {"response": 948, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Nov 18, 2009 (13:39)", "body": "And at the same time, it's more than absurd what salaries and perks the MTA managers and board members get that are forbidden in their contracts. That adds up to a pretty penny, too. All we get are higher fares."}, {"response": 949, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Nov 18, 2009 (14:42)", "body": "Some say it's better to rent in Manhattan than own. So is it cheaper to live in London?"}, {"response": 950, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Nov 18, 2009 (15:36)", "body": "Yes, now it is better to rent than own."}, {"response": 951, "author": "mari", "date": "Wed, Nov 18, 2009 (16:18)", "body": "I'd have thought with the real estate downturn, that now would be a time to pick up something more realistically priced. Anyway, I don't like New York being criticized. They face challenges that few other areas do--whether it's terrorism, absorbing new immigrants (both legal and not) with the enormous amounts of $$$$$$ they cost, etc."}, {"response": 952, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Nov 18, 2009 (18:08)", "body": "Well, the mantra of the day seems to be: \"Tax the rich some more\". Ya' know....re-distribution of wealth and all that stuff. ;-)"}, {"response": 953, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Nov 20, 2009 (09:06)", "body": "I was actually looking at govt job listings last week. Most of them were for people with finance backgrounds (IRS, jobs that deal with large dept budgets). State, local budget cuts a \"time bomb\" for U.S. jobs Reuters 42 mins ago NEW YORK (Reuters) \ufffd Budget shortfalls pose a direct threat to millions of U.S. jobs, many in the private sector, as state and local governments lay off workers and cut spending on contracts and other business services, a think tank said on Thursday. State and local governments will have to raise taxes and cut spending in the current and next two fiscal years to cover shortfalls totaling $469 billion, according to an Economic Policy Institute report. The think tank -- where White House adviser Jared Bernstein spent years developing ideas found in the $787 billion economic stimulus plan he oversees -- said the U.S. government must give states and cities $150 billion in direct budget relief to save between 1.1 million and 1.4 million jobs. \"Given the fragility of the economy, already high unemployment and the magnitude of the budget shortfalls, it is clear that we cannot afford inaction,\" the report said, calling the gaps \"a ticking time bomb for the economy.\" While many economists believe the worst recession in decades ended recently, cities' budget deficits are expected to continue at least through 2012. \"The low point for cities typically comes 18 months to 24 months after the low point for the recession,\" said Christopher Hoene, research director for the National League of Cities, at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. on Thursday. States, too, face future hardship, with the National Governors Association recently saying they are at the beginning of a \"lost decade\" of budget struggles. Those struggles will trickle out to the private sector, EPI said. According to its estimates, for every dollar of budget cuts, more than half the jobs and economic activity lost will be in the private sector. When asked at the Brookings meeting about the aid their cities need most, four mayors representing both political parties and cities large and small said the federal government must make credit more available to small businesses. \"I'm not looking for a sugar high,\" said Mayor Scott Smith, a Republican from Mesa, Arizona, about direct federal aid that could be withdrawn after a short time. \"On Main Street the credit market is completely shut off.\" If banks were to lend again to small businesses in her town of Bowling Green, Kentucky, then businesses would hire more people, increasing the city's income tax and job fee collection for years, said Democratic Mayor Elaine Walker. SPENDING CUTS SLASH NUMBERS OF WORKERS State governments, too, have had to lay off workers, shedding 26,000 jobs from October 2008 to last month, according to the Labor Department. But nearly one-third of state spending goes to public provisions such as infrastructure, which is usually awarded to private contractors, said EPI, which says it is an independent nonprofit nonpartisan institute that researches the impact of economic trends and policies on workers. Direct government services, such as fire departments and education, also affect the private sector through supply orders. Bernstein, speaking at the Brookings meeting, said that without the stimulus plan passed in February, job losses would have been deeper. When indirect spending is taken into consideration -- on things such as equipment for the roads projects in the bill -- the stimulus was responsible for more than 1 million jobs, he said. The plan has already allocated about $144 billion in relief to state and local governments, which has likely saved at least 360,000 jobs, EPI said. Most of that money has gone to state governments and has yet to reach cities and counties. Cities have only seen direct help through community development block grants to combat blight and police force funding. They also will soon receive grants for energy efficiency. And while they would like to see credit flowing, the mayors said they also need some direct stimulus. \"I have no complaints, other than I can't use a dime for budgetary challenges,\" said Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, about the stimulus. \"On one day we could announce ... in the morning a new grant opportunity from the federal government and later that afternoon announce more layoffs and service cutbacks. The public is confused,\" he said. (Reporting by Tom Ryan; Additional reporting by Lisa Lambert in Washington; Editing by James Dalgleish) http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20091120/pl_nm/us_usa_economy_states_jobs;_ylt=Akp52ZFdAiRgHnBYy2yYpWus0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTM4a25xaWtiBGFzc2V0A25tLzIwMDkxMTIwL3VzX3VzYV9lY29ub215X3N0YXRlc19qb2JzBGNwb3MDMQRwb3MDMwRwdANob21lX2Nva2UEc2VjA3luX3RvcF9zdG9yeQRzbGsDZnVsbG5ic3BzdG9y"}, {"response": 954, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Nov 20, 2009 (10:08)", "body": "\"I have no complaints, other than I can't use a dime for budgetary challenges,\" said Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, about the stimulus He has two choices: Cut the budget or raise taxes. If the FEd govt has no input into their budget, why should they be part of the solution?"}, {"response": 955, "author": "mari", "date": "Fri, Nov 20, 2009 (15:16)", "body": "He has two choices: Cut the budget or raise taxes. Nutter has already cut the budget and now he's down to bone. A number of libraries throughout the city have been closed. It's the poor kids who will suffer."}, {"response": 956, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Nov 20, 2009 (16:29)", "body": "Completely closed up or hours reduced/some days closed?"}, {"response": 957, "author": "mari", "date": "Fri, Nov 20, 2009 (16:39)", "body": "Completely closed."}, {"response": 958, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Nov 20, 2009 (17:52)", "body": "Well then he has to raise taxes. People wouldn't mind if they knew it was going to libraries or some public benefit; not to build another stadium or state of the art jail. Every state/city has had to cut back. Even my city, which is not in dire need, is cutting the police force....\"just in cases\", before the shortfall becomes too overwhelming."}, {"response": 959, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Nov 27, 2009 (20:00)", "body": "This story gets better every minute....now the WH admits this couple even met the president... Doubt Michaele would have made it if she hadn't been such a beautiful blonde. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_state_dinner_uninvited_guests;_ylt=AqEqDHhnUry913uzGK43VLas0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTNldGhhbXVlBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMDkxMTI4L3VzX3N0YXRlX2Rpbm5lcl91bmludml0ZWRfZ3Vlc3RzBGNwb3MDMQRwb3MDMgRwdANob21lX2Nva2UEc2VjA3luX3RvcF9zdG9yeQRzbGsDc2VjcmV0c2Vydmlj"}, {"response": 960, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Nov 27, 2009 (20:32)", "body": "*Somebody's* getting so fired. A bunch of somebodies."}, {"response": 961, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Dec 13, 2009 (14:34)", "body": "Evelyn, your honey's getting beat up. Italian Premier Berlusconi punched in the face AP Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi leaves Duomo's square with blood on his face after a political party meeting in Milan Reuters \ufffd Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi leaves Duomo's square with blood on his face after a \ufffd By FRANCES D'EMILIO, Associated Press Writer \ufffd 10 mins ago ROME \ufffd Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi was punched in the face at the end of a rally on Sunday by a man holding a small statue in his hand, leaving the 73-year-old media mogul with a bloodied mouth and looking stunned, police said. The 42-year-old man accused of attacking Berlusconi in Milan as he signed autographs was immediately taken into custody. TV showed the stunned leader with blood under his nose, on his mouth and under one eye being lifted to his feet by aides after the attack. Berlusconi was hustled into the back of a car, but he immediately got out, apparently in an effort to show he was not badly injured. After looking out into the crowd, the premier, without saying a word, was pulled back into the vehicle. The attack occurred after Berlusconi had just finished delivering a long, vigorous speech at the rally to a crowd of applauding supporters from his Freedom People party at about 6:30 p.m. Officials at Milan's police headquarters, speaking on customary condition of anonymity, said the premier was conscious and apparently not badly injured. They said the attacker was wielding a miniature statue of Milan's Duomo, the city's gargoyled cathedral and symbol, but couldn't say what the souvenir was made of. Berlusconi's spokesman, speaking by telephone from the emergency room from San Raffaele hospital where the premier was taken, told Sky TG24 TV that doctors had decided to keep the premier in the hospital overnight for observation. \"We'll see what the doctors say tomorrow morning,\" spokesman Paolo Bonauiti told Sky. The exams of his jaw area included a CT scan, Bonaiuti said. Police identified the man they were questioning as Massimo Tartaglia, 42. They said Tartaglia didn't have any criminal record. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091213/ap_on_re_eu/eu_italy_berlusconi;_ylt=Ahrzzo3bfahpSdX.HTVXLtOs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTNuYjBscjV1BGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMDkxMjEzL2V1X2l0YWx5X2Jlcmx1c2NvbmkEY2NvZGUDbW9zdHBvcHVsYXIEY3BvcwM0BHBvcwMxBHB0A2hvbWVfY29rZQRzZWMDeW5faGVhZGxpbmVfbGlzdARzbGsDaXRhbGlhbnByZW1p"}, {"response": 962, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sun, Dec 13, 2009 (14:55)", "body": "Oh, mio Dio, Poor baby. Them Italians really take their politics seriously, don't they."}, {"response": 963, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Dec 14, 2009 (14:41)", "body": "Taking this over here (Dorine) Re. House to house Vs apt to apt trick or treating.....no one outside of NYC lives in apts? ;-) Of course they do, but not like the Manhattan doorman-attended bldgs, except to a limited degree. We have high rises with doormen, of course, and kids wouldn't be allowed to gain entry and run amuck in the hallways, knocking on doors. I watched some program that showed kids in LA being chauffered around, house to house, by their parents."}, {"response": 964, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Dec 14, 2009 (15:07)", "body": "Can't speak for other buildings, but in mine generally at least one parent goes along. Plus u know I was playing and wasn't in complete disagreement with your sentiment."}, {"response": 965, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Dec 18, 2009 (09:45)", "body": "The three wealthiest states are down at the bottom of the Happiness Barometer? What's going on ? http://www.livescience.com/culture/091217-happy-state-list.html"}, {"response": 966, "author": "mari", "date": "Fri, Dec 18, 2009 (11:43)", "body": "LOL, very different from their survey just last month. http://www.livescience.com/culture/091110-fifty-happy-states.html"}, {"response": 967, "author": "mari", "date": "Fri, Dec 18, 2009 (11:48)", "body": "Here's more from your source: \"Happy States are Wealthy and Tolerant.\" http://www.livescience.com/culture/091110-happy-states.html Of course no one takes these \"polls\" seriously. I have to say: I've been poor in my life, and I've been comfortable, and I'm much happier being comfortable, LOL! Having seen both sides of the coin, I'm very thankful for what I have, and never take it for granted."}, {"response": 968, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Dec 18, 2009 (11:57)", "body": "The data were taken pre-Katrina, so even the study people believe the \"happiest\" state (Louisiana) no longer would be. ;-)"}, {"response": 969, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Dec 18, 2009 (17:48)", "body": "Can't wait for next month's poll Watch this space:-D"}, {"response": 970, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Dec 20, 2009 (20:34)", "body": "I often wonder if stuff like this is real, but it is funny:"}, {"response": 971, "author": "OzFirthFan", "date": "Sun, Dec 20, 2009 (21:39)", "body": "LOL!!! I have to pass that one along to a few people. It's hilarious! Thanks Karen."}, {"response": 972, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Dec 20, 2009 (22:06)", "body": "LOL!!! *shakes head*"}, {"response": 973, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Dec 21, 2009 (09:54)", "body": "One has to wonder what \"John\" would have said if it had been the other way around. The rat."}, {"response": 974, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Dec 24, 2009 (09:35)", "body": "A different take on Xmas traditions...and why not?! LOL! I think 99% of the commenters need a bit of a sense of humor. The Boston Globe (Susan Levin for The Boston Globe) Have yourself a twisted little Christmas By Clif Garboden December 24, 2009 MY CHILDHOOD Christmas memories include a three-foot-diameter silver-plastic wreath with a red Styrofoam reindeer leaping through its center that my father won as a door prize at some neighborhood bar. The thing was beyond garish, way past hideous. It redefined tacky, and Pop knew it. So each December, we faithfully hung it above the couch, right below the likewise traditional/likewise low-taste aluminum-foil \u201cHappy Holidays\u2019\u2019 sign. Sometimes we hung beer cans on our Christmas tree. Mostly we did these things to tease my mother, who, we sensed, had confused Christmas with a religious occasion fraught with sacred traditions. When Mom hung a more tasteful wreath from the living room ceiling fixture, we improvised a game keeping score as we aimed balls of crumpled-up wrapping paper at its center. We invented our own traditions, the unifying theme of which was making fun of things other people had been convinced to hold dear. No shrink-wrapped off-the-rack Hallmark holiday for us. As an adult, with a family and living room of my own, I\u2019ve done my best to keep those values alive. When my son, Phil, was about 2, we sent out a photo card showing him trashing a miniature manger display with a two-headed-dragon action figure. Sacrilege? I beg your tinsel-tangled pardon. As far as celebrating the birth of Christ is concerned, the sacrilege boat sailed a long time ago - long before \u201cGrandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer\u2019\u2019 retired the label.Look at it this way: whatever its one-time significance, Christmas is largely a secular celebration reliant on packaged traditions - talking cards, inflatable lawn snowmen, special-edition M&Ms - contrived to stimulate the marketplace. But why buy when you can do it yourself? Who wants to celebrate someone else\u2019s holiday? Do it your way and steal Christmas back from the holiday hucksters. Trim your tree in high-concept kitsch. Back when you could still get Polaroid film, I would shoot pictures of our tree, before and after trimming, and then hang the instant prints on the tree itself. I found that quarter-inch reel-to-reel audio tape was an only fair substitute for garland unless I personalized it by recording something on it first. To this day I festoon our tree with a 40-second track of my infant son\u2019s colic cry. (Those are technologically dated examples, but you get the idea.) And as my family decorates the tree, we always listen to, not carols or even the Atco Records \u201cSoul Christmas\u2019\u2019 anthology (classic concept-kitsch though it is), but the Beatles\u2019 \u201cPlease Please Me\u2019\u2019 album. Continuing the monster-in-the-manger theme, the kids and I annually desecrate our table-top porcelain Dickensian Village with Godzilla and Mothra figures, axe-wielding Lego guys and dismembered Nutcracker dolls, hoards of plastic ants, blood-dripping snowmen, and simulated house fires. We call it Calamityville. Even the kitchen can be yours again. Traditional cut-out cookies take on renewed energy when you mutate them. Drape half a rectangle of rolled dough over the edge of a cutting board and stamp out the outline of half of a given cookie cutter, leaving the shape unfinished at the fold. Then turn the dough around so the cut half hangs over the edge and complete the shape using a different cutter (carefully matching the points where the two cuts intersect, of course). You\u2019ve got a reindeer head atop a Christmas tree, a Santa torso on a half-star, an combo angel/gingerbread boy. Experiment. Don\u2019t go for cute; seek the ridiculous. Remember, this is all about scaring Aunt Mildred at Boxing Day tea.Of course, those are my family\u2019s home-grown rituals, offered here as inspiration. To make Christmas yours, you need to come up with some things your family does that nobody else exactly understands. So trim your tree with travesty; deck your halls with disrespect; croon your own carol. Embrace the season without fea of breaking any molds. Celebrate December 25 as if you owned it. Christmas is for everybody, but it doesn\u2019t have to be the same for everybody. Clif Garboden is a Boston-area freelance writer. http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2009/12/24/have_yourself_a_twisted_little_christmas/?comments=all"}, {"response": 975, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sun, Dec 27, 2009 (21:11)", "body": "Comment: \"Can you even imagine the UPROAR it would cause if this paper (or any other) chose to run a similar story about Hanukkah or Kwanzaa??? Don't worry, THAT will NEVER happen.\" Says it all. Christians are wimps."}, {"response": 976, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Dec 27, 2009 (22:07)", "body": "Seniors worry about Medicare Advantage cuts AP By MATT SEDENSKY, Associated Press Writer \ufffd Sun Dec 27, 10:24 am ET MIAMI \ufffd Insurers constantly caution seniors that their Medicare Advantage perks such as hearing aids, dental payments and even gym memberships will fizzle if Democrats get their way and cut government subsidies for them. But tens of billions of Medicare dollars funneled through insurers also pay for extras that never reach beneficiaries: multimillion-dollar salaries, executive retreats in Hawaii, Scotland and Cancun, and massive expenditures on marketing to lure more customers to the privately administered Advantage plans that serve as an alternative to government-provided Medicare. The government-subsidized benefits that seniors on Advantage plans receive \ufffd often at premiums lower than Medicare premiums \ufffd are real, and are legitimately in danger in some cases if Democrats succeed in their health care overhaul. Medicare Advantage subsidies are on the chopping block to pay for the overhaul. Though there are marked differences between House and Senate versions, both bills would lower payments to private Medicare Advantage plans, which on average cost the government 14 percent more than traditional Medicare. The harshest critics of the Advantage program say patients are exchanging hassle-free coverage for a plan with cheap perks that may ultimately deny them necessary treatment. \"They're giving special benefits that are valuable,\" said Mary Johnson, policy analyst for The Senior Citizens League, a nonpartisan, 1.2-million-member group. \"But what people don't understand are the trade-offs.\" Though AARP \ufffd which lends its name to a Medicare Advantage plan \ufffd and other senior advocacy groups support the Advantage cuts, it is likely that at least some seniors will see their premiums rise, benefits cut or plans close. \"I get too upset over it,\" said 71-year-old Charlotte Casey of Miramar, Fla., who is on an Advantage plan through Coventry Health Care. \"The seniors are going to get the worst of it.\" Casey first enrolled in a Humana plan, but she dropped it over problems with its prescription drug coverage. She plans to switch from her current plan, too, because her primary care doctor will no longer be covered and she'd have to travel farther for non-emergency hospital services. She has had to fight for payment sometimes, but overall she says it is the best fit for her because she doesn't need a costly MediGap plan to cover what traditional Medicare would not. \"Regular Medicare is the best one, but you have to pay for a supplement,\" she said. \"With this, sometimes you want something and they don't want to give it to you.\" Despite the belief that Advantage plans offer broad savings for seniors, a Government Accountability Office report last year found wide differences depending on the plan, including home health service costs that could be up to 84 percent more than traditional Medicare. A half-million Advantage enrollees were in plans with no co-pay for hospital stays. But a roughly equal number were in plans with high hospital co-pays and no limits on out-of-pocket inpatient expenses, potentially costing patients thousands more. The disparity was greatest for some of the sickest seniors, those who return to the hospital within 60 days of discharge, the GAO found. Under traditional Medicare, those patients would not pay any deductible. Under many Advantage plans, the deductibles can be steep. Many of the perks offered by Advantage plans are relatively cheap. Vision coverage cost insurers $3.37 a person each month, on average, according to 2007 filings with the government. Hearing coverage cost less than a dollar. \"The little stuff, the nickle-and-dime stuff, it's good,\" said John Arline, who was faced with a huge bill for his 84-year-old grandfather Mervyn Urquhart earlier this year. \"But people don't need coverage for the nickle-and-dime stuff.\" Urquhart, though suffering from Alzheimer's disease, is a reasonably healthy engineering retiree living in Wheatley Heights, N.Y. After treatment for a stomach virus and deep vein thrombosis in January, he was so weak from time in a hospital bed that doctors agreed he needed rehabilitation and physical and occupational therapy. His Advantage plan turned him down, even though Medicare covers such treatment. Arline and other relatives footed the roughly $12,000 bill for rehab. With it, Urquhart is now able to walk, to feed himself and to live a fairly normal life. \"They violated this patient's rights,\" Arline said. \"They did that because it was cheaper.\" Insurers participating in the Advantage program responded to inquiries by Senate Democrats that led to a report this month providing some fuel in their fight against the subsidies. The companies reported, on average, spending more than 15 percent of premium revenues on profits, marketing and corporate expenses, nearly 10 times the rate of traditional Medicare. Meanwhile, Advantage companies were paying for multimil"}, {"response": 977, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Dec 28, 2009 (11:52)", "body": "Medi-gap insurance (which pays the 20% that Medicare doesn't pay)is expensive for seniors on fixed,limited incomes that rank above the poverty level. The latter get a Medicaid allowance. Hey, the gov't cuts Medicare $830 B and you don't expect benefits to be cut? Puhleeze."}, {"response": 978, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Dec 28, 2009 (23:12)", "body": "I have no problem with $$ for Medicare Advantage being cut. I'm not a particular fan of that concept. Or perhaps it's the execution...M.O.....method of delivery (or mechanism of action as we used to say in the pharma biz) that I'm not fond of."}, {"response": 979, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Dec 29, 2009 (10:17)", "body": "Here we have Medicare Advantage called \"Community Care\", an HMO. Yes, it had limitations but every subscriber I know is happy with it. I don't know anything about the \"execution\" or providers; just the members who are contented with the medical services available. Saves them a bunch of $$$$$ ."}, {"response": 980, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Dec 29, 2009 (19:52)", "body": "Yes, it had limitations but every subscriber I know is happy with it. How many of those had catastrophic illnesses or have chronic conditions? If they need hospital/rehab/long term placement....do those plans measure up to straight M'care in terms of options available. Of course, some plans are better than others. But it's the type of things people need to think about depending on their own situations. Not just how many pairs of eyeglasses and other things they provide. If the rx plans work well costwise with their regimen (ie, can take generic vs. needing brand drugs), that's, of course, an added bonus. the members who are contented with the medical services available. Saves them a bunch of $$$$$ . I have nothing against that and I am glad the plans can provide other things that straight Medicare doesn't cover such as glasses, hearing aids, etc.....BUT, at what cost in other areas. After they skim their administrative costs off and then provide (or deny) other services, how much profit margin are those companies making that could be going to providing more services to make denials or restrictions on services less likely like with regular Medicare. I've always said, managed care is great for the healthy."}, {"response": 981, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Dec 29, 2009 (20:25)", "body": "And another reason Medicare (and Medicaid) are in such trouble...fraud. We (and every home care agency) are going through a tremendous audit mandated by the federal govt on dually eligible patients (Medicare/Medicaid). It boggles the mind how much $$ and manpower the company must've spent so far to get the information together to send to CMS (Center for Medicare/Medicaid Services). I mean the literal forests of paper we must've used for copies to send out to CMS first, then make copies to be sent to Univ of Mass, the entity who deals with claims after they've been denied (and no one doubts there will be denials) and finally copies to keep on record so we know exactly what was sent to one, if not both of them. There are rumors the govt has hired a ton of people to review the info we send them and have incentives for the number of claims they find in error. To top it off, the state OMIG (Office of Medicaid Inspector General) is expected inhouse in Feb."}, {"response": 982, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Dec 29, 2009 (20:28)", "body": "This is the article that reminded me to mention the fraud aspect, too. I've heard stories of this from people myself, though with smaller ticket items. Senior-citizen volunteers fight Medicare fraud AP By MATT SEDENSKY, Associated Press Writer \ufffd Tue Dec 29, 4:25 pm ET MIAMI \ufffd The first box that arrived at Shirley Shupp's door was filled with braces to help with her arthritis. Then came a motorized scooter, just like the one the 69-year-old already owned. She hadn't asked for any of it \ufffd but Medicare was apparently footing the bill. \"There was just something that wasn't right about it,\" the Houston woman said. So Shupp contacted her local Senior Medicare Patrol, which did its own research and then referred the matter to investigators. The equipment, worth thousands of dollars, was returned, the case was handed over to prosecutors and the perpetrators were charged with Medicare fraud. The Senior Medicare Patrol is one of the least-known forces in the government's effort to eliminate such fraud, which drains billions of dollars a year. But it is seen as a valuable part of the Obama administration's bid to overhaul health care and bring down costs. The 4,700 senior citizen volunteers who serve as the government's eyes and ears have been credited with saving taxpayers more than $100 million since 1997. The program relies on elderly people to apply a lifetime's worth of common sense and skepticism. \"They can tell when something just doesn't feel right to them,\" said Anne Gray, who works on the SMP program in Santa Ana, Calif. The patrol, which evolved from another program founded in 1995, now has at least one unit in every state. SMP sends its volunteers to senior centers, retirement communities and elsewhere to encourage Medicare beneficiaries to guard their personal information, beware of too-good-to-be-true offers on medical equipment and carefully review their benefit statements. The patrol also collects tips on potential scams and fields calls from senior citizens who believe their Medicare accounts have been fraudulently billed. When all they have is a whiff of something fishy, SMP participants often keep probing until they have enough information to send on to the FBI and investigators with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. \"It really is detective work,\" said Barbara McGinity, director of the SMP in Houston. Patrol volunteers have witnessed all kinds of schemes. There are fly-by-night clinics where patients endure multiple tests at the hands of staff members with dubious credentials. Patients may be followed home from the hospital by companies selling home health services, scooters, glucose monitors or psychotherapy. Often, senior citizens are persuaded to give up their personal information with an offer of something they need, such as transportation to kidney dialysis appointments. \"They get their number and they pass it around,\" Gray said. \"They have a ring where they're selling it.\" Beneficiaries may have no idea their identities have been wrongly used unless their accounts are frozen for unusual activity or they try to obtain something the government already bought for them, such as a pricey hospital bed or wheelchair. The Obama administration says eliminating Medicare fraud is key to overhauling the health care system. But agents and prosecutors tackling the issue are relatively sparse. The patrol helps fill in the gaps. \"There is no substitute for beneficiaries and on-the-ground resources to help us know where fraud is occurring and where problems are arising,\" said Kimberly Brandt, who oversees Medicare anti-fraud efforts at CMS. All told, scam artists are believed to have stolen about $47 billion from Medicare in the 2009 fiscal year, nearly triple the toll a year earlier. Medicare spokesman Peter Ashkanaz said that since the Justice Department and Health and Human Services formed a task force after President Barack Obama took office, charges have been filed against 103 defendants in cases involving more than $100 million in Medicare fraud. For every Medicare thief the senior citizen volunteers successfully pursue, McGinity said, it seems there are dozens more. \"Sometimes we feel like we're really beating our heads against the wall,\" she said. ___ Associated Press writer Jennifer Kay in Miami contributed to this report. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091229/ap_on_bi_ge/us_medicare_patrol"}, {"response": 983, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Dec 29, 2009 (20:33)", "body": ""}, {"response": 984, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Dec 29, 2009 (20:33)", "body": "(Me) How many of those had catastrophic illnesses or have chronic conditions? If any do, they may be in this type program. We have a Medicaid long term/chronic illness program. But then again, Medicaid pays for almost anything and everything in NY state. That will be changing, too, from what I understand. http://healthplans.hcpro.com/content/HEP-229212/Mr-President-Use-the-Scalpel However, by using a chainsaw on Medicare Advantage, the president is also slashing payments to a subset of plans called special needs plans (SNPs). SNPs were created under the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 as a way to bring managed care to seriously chronically ill beneficiaries who are institutionalized, dually eligible, and suffer from severe and disabling chronic conditions. Congress has since established specific chronic condition SNPs that focus on such high-cost ailments as end-stage renal disease, chronic heart failure, dementia, cancer, HIV/AIDS, stroke, and chronic lung diseases. SNPs are under the Medicare Advantage umbrella because the plans feature private entities (health insurers and disease management companies) that provide care coordination for chronically ill Medicare beneficiaries. One of the largest providers of SNPs is XLHealth, a disease management company based in Baltimore. XLHealth's Care Improvement Plus offers SNPs to chronically ill beneficiaries with diabetes, heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and end-stage renal disease."}, {"response": 985, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Dec 29, 2009 (20:37)", "body": "FYI Most old folks have chronic conditions ...different varieties and on different levels. I don't have statistics of the country at large, I'm just telling you what I know *first hand*. They like their local Medical Advantage. No one is too excited about its demise however... Hey, that law doesn't go into effect til 2014. There could be changes in Congress by then and that component could be revoked. I tried to report a fraud (to me) once to the state Medicare office; they could have cared less."}, {"response": 986, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Dec 29, 2009 (21:08)", "body": "FYI Most old folks have chronic conditions ...different varieties and on different levels. Sorry, too blanket. And perhaps I was almost \"jargoning\" you. By chronic, I mean conditions that require chronic treatment, that has at least moderate impact on activities of daily living/ambulation. Even if it's diabetes (esp those with amputations), renal disease (likely on dialysis), significant spinal issues, cardiac or pulmonary issues (esp those that require O2 or frequent rest periods), etc. I wasn't necessarily thinking of someone with chronic orthopedic (back/hip/knee) issues or the like, unless they are such that the person is somewhat debilitated. I don't have statistics of the country at large, I'm just telling you what I know *first hand*. I wasn't asking about the country at large. I copied your statement and was asking you in direct relation to your statement, which was....of the people you know that you mentioned. Are they relatively healthy? Or do you not know them that well? I tried to report a fraud (to me) once to the state Medicare office; they could have cared less. Really?? What did they say? Or not say? Though, in a way not totally surprising. It's gone on forever with no one much caring until it's an election year or a big budget issue. ;-) They have cracked way down on DME companies, but they still find loopholes or are just very aggressive until they get caught."}, {"response": 987, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Dec 29, 2009 (21:10)", "body": "DME= Durable Medical Equipment."}, {"response": 988, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Dec 30, 2009 (09:31)", "body": "My dear little friend;-)....when one gets to a Medicare \"certain age\", no one is completely healthy. Only my Jazzcercise/Aerobic crowd can boast of that. And some of them have back/knee issues. What did they say? Courteously: \"Thank you.\" Dorine, I'm done with Medical Advantage. I'm just telling you what I hear from my Starbuck's Senior coffee crowd. Let's pick another topic"}, {"response": 989, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Dec 30, 2009 (18:24)", "body": "Only my Jazzcercise/Aerobic crowd can boast of that. And some of them have back/knee issues. You've managed to answer my question. In a roundabout way. ;-) It's a discussion everyone should be having at this point. :-) How 'bout them......???? I don't know. Who's in the playoffs? Probably not the Steelers and definitely not the Dolphins, so I'm not paying a whit of attention to it all. ;-)"}, {"response": 990, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Dec 31, 2009 (10:23)", "body": "It's a discussion everyone should be having at this point. :-) *snort* Not me;-) (I 've told you everything I know)"}, {"response": 991, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Jan  1, 2010 (15:14)", "body": "Scary.....From Bumberg News : Mayo Clinic in Arizona to Stop Treating Some Medicare Patients \"The Mayo Clinic, praised by President Barack Obama as a national model for efficient health care, will stop accepting Medicare patients as of tomorrow at one of its primary-care clinics in Arizona, saying the U.S. government pays too little. ....\" http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aHoYSI84VdL0 Maybe they should switch to Medicare Advantage;-D"}, {"response": 992, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Jan  1, 2010 (15:17)", "body": "oh crap. Too much champ...."}, {"response": 993, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jan  2, 2010 (11:36)", "body": "It's not that new of a concept. I can only speak for here, but that kind of action has happened for years, whether at clinics or individual/group offices. But then overhead here is generally very high here compared to other areas. Now I haven't noticed specifically that there's a change in Medicare reimbursement payments scheduled for Jan 1 or anytime soon, but when they have come up before, Congress has at times in the past put a hold on the cuts as MD's threatened to do just that, stop seeing Medicare pts. And some did anyway. Here I tend to find more that MD's/clinics will cut out people with mananged care plans. Not just because of the size of reimbursement, but the significant time it takes administratively to get that money in the end (through repeated denials, appeals, etc). It depends what kind of services the office/business has really. Certain companies we deal with to concurrently treat patients only want managed care because the cost of the IV drugs they provide services with are either not at all or just minimally covered by Medicare/Medicaid. In that case (with Medicare/Medicaid), the patient generally has a giant co-pay. This is all in home health care. At times they have the option to go to a skilled nursing facility for 2-3 weeks to have the treatment, but most people don't want to do that. I'd need to know more info about the clinic itself to understand a bit better their reasoning. Maybe it is simply because of the rates and increasing costs, but it's possible they had a grant(s) that they used to help run the place that's no longer available to provide certain services that was utilized by Medicare pts more, but for whatever reason they feel they need to continue to provide them. Or not. It's quite different in my job. I'm told to market primarily for business involving Medicare/Medicaid pts as our total of pts with managed care is too high to maintain a certain level of revenue (we are a non-profit, too). Skilled nursing facilities also generally want M/M pts, though we're expecting some big Medicaid cuts at some point, so we will probably be scrutinizing them more closely soon, too."}, {"response": 994, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jan  2, 2010 (12:11)", "body": "This is an interesting article highlighting attempts at Medicare reform historically. It's kind of long. I'll just link. http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Stories/2009/November/03/medicare-pilot-projects.aspx A quick blurb: \"Vladeck included the program in President Bill Clinton's attempt at a sweeping Medicare overhaul in 1997 as part of the Balanced Budget Act. \" And on a trivial note, Medicare changes can and have affected me personally and professionally, after the above BBA that took effect in 1999. It's how I ended up in NY, the only place I could get a job quick. I was doing travel staffing in CT at the time and NY was the only place that had anything. It was in an area I hadn't worked in before (and only studied in school), but I took it or I was about to be literally jobless and homeless as they provided the housing and the job. NY was a demonstration state, so they'd started the program a year to 18 mos earlier and providers had some kinks worked out and systems in place to maximize reimbursement in the new structure. So Happy Anniversary to me. Moved to NYC 11 yrs yesterday. Moved here out of necessity, but since I'd wanted to live here anyway and thought I never would, it worked out. :-)"}, {"response": 995, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Jan  2, 2010 (12:28)", "body": "At least the people in Arizona can easily cross the border, move (establishing residency) and get cheap (and apparently quite good) health care in Mexico. I can't beleive how many news segments I've seen about retirees moving to Mexico for health care. I think Colbert or Stewart had a segment too. Boy, what does that say about this \"great\" country? :-("}, {"response": 996, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jan  2, 2010 (19:59)", "body": "(Karen) I've seen about retirees moving to Mexico for health care. Interesting. I've never seen about them moving there. Just people going there for medicines and treatments."}, {"response": 997, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Jan  2, 2010 (22:07)", "body": "Lots of meds , dental and cosmetic. Methinks I would scrub floors to have treatment here. Though I know medics who won't take generics. But that's another topic. I think Colbert or Stewart had a segment too. Authorities on the subject....."}, {"response": 998, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Jan  2, 2010 (22:31)", "body": "Canadian patients give Detroit hospitals a boost. http://www.britannica.com/bps/additionalcontent/18/31791887/Canadian-patients-give-Detroit-hospitals-a-boost Written in 2008. Probably has changed this past year. After looking at Stewart and Colbert...they are no doubt going on down to Mexico."}, {"response": 999, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Jan  2, 2010 (22:41)", "body": "Here's the CBS Nightly News report: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=5993096n&tag=contentMain;contentBody Something from PBS this month: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/health/july-dec09/mexico_12-28.html This isn't the old go-down-to Mexico for some treatment. This is retirees buying oceanside homes for cheap and getting excellent health care at little cost. In the meantime, some retirees are taking advantage of the insurance offered by the Mexican government's social security system, called IMSS, or IMSS. For only $300 a year, Americans who can establish residency are offered an array of medical services with no deductible. And the Daily Show video: http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-november-30-2009/american-refugees-seek-health-care-in-mexico San Miguel Allende has always held an allure for me...."}, {"response": 1000, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Jan  3, 2010 (00:26)", "body": "Scrub floors? Presumes that (1) you can find enough floors to scrub to pay for health care services in this country and (2) you knew years in advance to scrub those extra floors, as no hospital is going to provide the service without cash upfront. Sad, putting the onus on the people. Like it's their fault they can't afford. :-( Anyway, it seems appropriate that we're outsourcing health care, as just another example of things Americans can't provide or make."}, {"response": 1001, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Jan  3, 2010 (00:48)", "body": "I'll check out those videos tomorrow. I'm shocked Mexico lets people do that. (Evelyn) Methinks I would scrub floors to have treatment here. These people aren't doing that, but are getting in line in the middle of the night for help. I saw a story somewhere once where events like this happen in fairgrounds (including in stables). This is a long article and rather depressing to think this happens in the US. I am curious what people in rural areas in other countries do about getting these services, if they get them. http://abcnews.go.com/US/wirestory?id=9465113&page=1 Of course people need good access and a way to pay for it, but perhaps so many wouldn't need it so badly if as I continue to say, healthcare reform in any from will have extreme difficulty working if many people don't change some things as is said in the article. \"It's changing beliefs,\" Graham says. \"It's educating people about what is health.\" \ufffd\ufffd\ufffd"}, {"response": 1002, "author": "OzFirthFan", "date": "Sun, Jan  3, 2010 (05:36)", "body": "I am so glad to live in a country that offers single payer health care. I really hope that the US can manage to make the necessary changes to provide an acceptable level of health care to all of its citizens, regardless of income level."}, {"response": 1003, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sun, Jan  3, 2010 (11:05)", "body": "Just for the record: There are many components in the current health care bill that are worthy: I'm in favor health care for people who fall through the cracks. And subsides for those who truly can't afford it. The ones below poverty level have Medicaid . Massachusetts seems to be a workable program. My friends there like it. Sadly some cost-cutting measures were not addressed: Buying insurance across state lines Mal-practice reform. I am willing to pay more income taxes instead of cutting benefits on fixed-income seniors (Like home health, home physio-therapy ...) Cutting payments to physicians who might deny care/quota to seniors I'm glad you are happy with single payer, Sarah. I know many who aren't. Right now we have a deficit problem...which probably you don't in Canada. Those are my opinions; I respect yours;-)"}, {"response": 1004, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Jan  3, 2010 (11:16)", "body": "I love when people only \"know\" people who support their own opinions. *snort* Frankly, I'm more with the original Howard Dean position on what's supposed to be health-care reform. Bunch of sniveling sellouts! No public option. Fines on people who don't have health insurance. All I see is benefits to insurance companies so that they can pay their executives billions of dollars. That's my opinion."}, {"response": 1005, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Jan  3, 2010 (11:42)", "body": "(Evelyn) Sadly some cost-cutting measures were not addressed: Or killed...public option!! (Sarah) I am so glad to live in a country that offers single payer health care. Unfortunately that's beyond DOA here. The insurance industry (among others) made sure of that. They made sure the public option wasn't any option, too. They're batting 1000. Haha Karen. I didn't read the comments again before I posted this and now just before hitting submit I see you and I are on the same wavelength. Sniveling sellouts is being kind."}, {"response": 1006, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Jan  3, 2010 (11:43)", "body": "Sniveling sellouts Harry Reid...we're glaring at you!! (among others)"}, {"response": 1007, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Jan  3, 2010 (11:48)", "body": "(Evelyn) Right now we have a deficit problem...which probably you don't in Canada. She's in Australia (and is American!! ;-))). But then again, practically the whole world has some sort of universal health care but us. Massachusetts seems to be a workable program. My friends there like it. They may like it, but from what I understand cost containment is a big problem. It's been going broke if I understand correctly."}, {"response": 1008, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Jan  3, 2010 (12:29)", "body": ""}, {"response": 1009, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Jan  3, 2010 (12:30)", "body": "(Dorine) But then again, practically the whole world has some sort of universal health care but us. No kidding. Bet that would garner a stadiumwide chant of \"U-S-A! U-S-A!\" ;-) So much to be proud of."}, {"response": 1010, "author": "sandyw", "date": "Sun, Jan  3, 2010 (15:27)", "body": "(Evelyn) Right now we have a deficit problem...which probably you don't in Canada. Canada has serious financial issues with our health care system too. And we often have long waits for tests like MRI's and for elective surgery like joint replacements. Our system is not perfect but I wouldn't trade it for the US system either. I was talking with a young woman when I was in Idaho this past summer and she was caught in a real dilemna. She knew she had a health problem but she couldn't afford health insurance. But if she saw a doctor about it without insurance, she would never be able to get insurance in future to cover the problem. So she chose not to see a doctor. I thought that was so sad."}, {"response": 1011, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sun, Jan  3, 2010 (15:36)", "body": "I love when people only \"know\" people who support their own opinions. *snort* I get your point. :-(((((("}, {"response": 1012, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Jan  3, 2010 (16:34)", "body": ""}, {"response": 1013, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Jan  3, 2010 (16:34)", "body": "(Sandy) She knew she had a health problem but she couldn't afford health insurance. But if she saw a doctor about it without insurance, she would never be able to get insurance in future to cover the problem. So she chose not to see a doctor. I thought that was so sad. Incredibly so and you have no idea of the first-hand (no friends) knowledge I have of predicament and how prevalent it is."}, {"response": 1014, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Jan  3, 2010 (17:25)", "body": "Poor woman. Definitely a damned if you do and damned if you don't scenario."}, {"response": 1015, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sun, Jan  3, 2010 (19:45)", "body": "Sandy) She knew she had a health problem but she couldn't afford health insurance. But if she saw a doctor about it without insurance, she would never be able to get insurance in future to cover the problem. Pre-existing condition will no longer be a determent from getting insurance. That will go into effect immediately. Not like the rest of the bill which goes into effect in 2014 My city has \"Neighbor for Neighbor\" & OU University which treats anyone w/o insurance. Doesn't Idaho?"}, {"response": 1016, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Jan  3, 2010 (21:32)", "body": "(Evelyn) Pre-existing condition will no longer be a determent from getting insurance. That will go into effect immediately. The demise of the pre-existing condition is one good thing about the bill's proposal, though who knows if it will make the final cut of the bill. There's still haggling to be done by the House and Senate together. Also, who knows when it will actually pass let alone go into effect. My city has \"Neighbor for Neighbor\" & OU University which treats anyone w/o insurance. Doesn't Idaho? Maybe it depends on where she lives (rural vs. more urban-by Idaho standards). Did you read at least some of that AP (through ABC News) article I posted a link to? I can't see why people who would have access to facilities anywhere that treat people who have no insurance would wait in line from literally the middle of the night to see someone if that was an option anywhere. Granted most of those people didn't want to see MD's (even though some seriously needed to) and specialists are less likely to see people without insurance. What is Neighbor for Neighbor? (Karen) Fines on people who don't have health insurance If this was in effect today, I'd be eligible for that fine starting next month. It's unlikely I can afford COBRA with my current plan. As it is, I've had to downgrade my plan twice in the last 2 yrs to keep my contribution down. (Sandy) Canada has serious financial issues with our health care system too. Is anything being considered to rectify that?"}, {"response": 1017, "author": "sandyw", "date": "Mon, Jan  4, 2010 (00:20)", "body": "(Sandy) Canada has serious financial issues with our health care system too. (Dorine) Is anything being considered to rectify that? We've had study after study done about reforming the system but so far nothing much has happened other than some contracting out e.g. hospital housekeeping and food services. And the long waits are due to rationing of services. There has been steady pressure to allow for-profit clinics and doctors but it really hasn't taken hold yet. There are a few in operation now and fighting through the courts. One of the odd things about Canada's system is that we allow some organizations to pay for health care services. For example, Workers' Compensation, insurance companies and hockey teams can pay to get priority for specialist's appoinments, MRI's, and surgery for injured workers to get them back on the job sooner. But, if you're self-employed and get injured, you are out of luck. What it does mean though is that there is already a for-profit aspect of our system. The government also pays for-profit firms set fees to perform lab tests, x-rays etc. and that works very well. But, any thought of increasing the for-profit component of the system has people clamouring that they don't want a \"U.S. style system\" which is the great bogeyman to those of us north of the border. The two are anything but synymous. I think there has to be a better way than either of our two systems and I would really like to know more about those in other countries that provide universal coverage."}, {"response": 1018, "author": "OzFirthFan", "date": "Mon, Jan  4, 2010 (05:06)", "body": "Australia's system has its problems, of course (any system does), but it really is head and shoulders above the US in terms of providing health care for everyone. We also have the for-profit component (in that there is supplementary health care available, offering \"more\" and \"better\" health care for those who can afford it in private hospitals). If you make more than (I think it's) $65k per year, you must sign up for private health care, or you pay a premium on your taxes towards Medicare. If you do sign up for private coverage, you don't have to pay the premium, and the price of the private health care is offset by the government. It's a bit complex, but it does seem to work."}, {"response": 1019, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Jan  4, 2010 (10:10)", "body": "Neighbor for Neighbors: my favorite charity. http://www.neighborforneighbor.org Every city has one. Of course it's tough if you live in a rural area...but municipal hospitals do treat the poor gratis. In poor areas nurse-practioners and PAs are utilized. I see them when I can't get in to see a MD and they are great. PAs can prescribe. Like i said, there are many components of this bill that are necessary. But some, no one even knows about. What it does mean though is that there is already a for-profit aspect of our system That is my hope, anyway. Blue Cross is not going to go away. Besides, they remove some of the burden of too many patients on the NHS."}, {"response": 1020, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Jan  4, 2010 (10:33)", "body": "(Dorine) The demise of the pre-existing condition is one good thing about the bill's proposal, though who knows if it will make the final cut of the bill. And can you imagine how high a premium the insurance companies will charge? Boogles the mind. (Dorine) If this [fines] was in effect today, I'd be eligible for that fine starting next month. The whole aspect of fining the uninsured reminds me of the Medicare Part D sweetheart deal made with the pharmaceutical companies. No ability to negotiate discounts. Here, they've added new enrollees with punitive measures. This is not like auto insurance, which is elective. You can't choose not to live but you can choose not to drive. Which does bring up the niggling point... If everyone is required to have car insurance, why do I still need (forced by state law) to buy \"uninsured motorist\" coverage? Thanks, Sarah and Sandy, for the details on your country's system. Always interesting to me."}, {"response": 1021, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jan  4, 2010 (11:06)", "body": "Ugh. Wish to respond more, but too much for blackberry. Did almost include comment re increased cost potential for pre-existing condition as that occurred to me, too. Can't accuse the insurance industry of doing something extra for nothing, or even just a little. Don't get me started again on that no negotiating clause for Medicare for drugs. WHAT a gimme to the pharma industry. Evelyn, you're concerned re Medicare cuts...well, Medicare would have more $$ if the govt was allowed to get cheaper prices for drugs. You might want to point that out to your Congressmen when you implore them not to cut services and ask them to change that policy in this healthcare \"reform\" process. More later..."}, {"response": 1022, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Jan  4, 2010 (12:46)", "body": "(Dorine)WHAT a gimme to the pharma industry. Evelyn, you're concerned re Medicare cuts...well, Medicare would have more $$ if the govt was allowed to get cheaper prices for drugs. I really don't want to get you started... But..... From LA Times: Senate health debate hits snag over imported drugs http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-na-health-senate11-2009dec11,0,1002684.story \"Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) temporarily halted consideration of the healthcare bill after three days of inconclusive debate on an amendment by Sens. Byron L. Dorgan (D-N.D.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.). The provision would allow pharmacies and wholesalers to import drugs from countries with safety standards comparable to America's\" Unsavory deal with pharma \" Pharma offered to give up $80 billion in revenue in exchange for an understanding that the government would not push for deeper concessions. \" http://www.examiner.com/x-30890-Sarah-Palin-Examiner~y2010m1d4-An-unsavory-deal-with-pharma I think the AMA got a deal too, but I can't find it. I remember when they were all invited to the WH. AARP too, if they would support the healthcare bill. Yeah, sure like Seniors are going to say: \"Medicare cuts: Being them on\""}, {"response": 1023, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Jan  4, 2010 (13:25)", "body": "Going back to another subject, I watched the HBO dcoumentary on Roman Polanski. While I understand that one man interviewed has recanted, said he lied about having advised the judge, the fact that the guy who actually was to prosecute the case, Roger Gunson, has stood behind the defense attorney, says a lot to me. Sure looks like judicial misconduct to me. A shame how this whole thing was handled. :-("}, {"response": 1024, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Jan  4, 2010 (19:04)", "body": "Check this out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7T-bXFApaXI He even got Stephen Schwartz's authorization to use the music."}, {"response": 1025, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Jan  4, 2010 (20:45)", "body": "Change your surname name, Ruthie."}, {"response": 1026, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jan  5, 2010 (06:44)", "body": "(Sarah) We also have the for-profit component (in that there is supplementary health care available, offering \"more\" and \"better\" health care. This sort of basic concept is what I was leaning toward for quite a while (when it was clear single payer would never be an option).....a govt provided system of basic care for all along with a private component for more complex issues. I hadn't really contemplated whether it would be using \"for profit\" facilities or not. But there'd have to be a mechanism in place where premiums couldn't go so high as to price people (or most) out of the program entirely. And thanks, Sandy, for your input. Have you seen the PBS Frontline show on healthcare systems around the world? I think I linked to it on this topic some time ago. Here it is: Five Capitalist Democracies and How They Do It http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/sickaroundtheworld/countries/ You can watch the whole show online from a link on the home page: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/ \ufffdsickaroundtheworld/"}, {"response": 1027, "author": "sandyw", "date": "Tue, Jan  5, 2010 (14:48)", "body": "Thanks Dorine for the links to what other countries provide. I'm in the midst of de-Christmasing and preparing for a trip to Maui so I won't have time to look at it until I get back. More about the for-profit component of Canada's system: Most provinces do not cover such things as physiotherapy, massage, natuaropathis doctors and durable medical supplies. There is also limited coverage for prescription drugs except for the poor and elderly. These are typically covered by employers' Extended Health Care plans or private coverage purchased through insurance companies or Blue Cross."}, {"response": 1028, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jan  6, 2010 (00:07)", "body": "Re importation of drugs. That's been a non-starter for quite a while. If they ever do seriously pass anything related to it, it'll probably only include drugs hardly anyone uses (said with a healthy dose of cynicism). If Medicare was allowed to negotiate bulk rates like any other entity (drug wholesalers, etc), then reimportation would be unnecessary. The whole scenario is utterly ridiculous. Re Roman Polanski, I didn't realize there was someone on the prosecutor's side who was supportive of the defense. Thanks for the reminder about the film. I believe it's been in my Netflix queue. Have a fun trip, Sandy!"}, {"response": 1029, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jan  6, 2010 (18:29)", "body": "There is an AP update that says they did ask for sentencing in absentia. Polanski hearing could bring new defense strategy By Jill Serjeant \ufffd Tue Jan 5, 5:02 pm ET LOS ANGELES (Reuters) \ufffd Lawyers for fugitive director Roman Polanski return to a Los Angeles court on Wednesday and are expected to detail their next steps in a bid to resolve a 30-year-old sex charge against the Oscar-winning maker of \"The Pianist\". The Los Angeles-based lawyers for Polanski declined on Tuesday to discuss their intentions, but the hearing, which was scheduled unexpectedly, follows a suggestion by a California appeals court last month that Polanski could ask to be sentenced in absentia on a 1977 charge of having unlawful sex with a 13 year-old. Polanski, 76, is under house arrest in Switzerland fighting extradition to the United States. He fled the United States before sentencing in 1978, but after pleading guilty, and spent most of the past 30 years living and working in France. A California appeals court in December denied Polanski's bid to have the unlawful sex case dismissed due to alleged judicial misconduct. But the court said the misconduct claims were \"extremely serious\" and an \"in absentia\" sentencing could help resolve what it called \"one of the longest-running sagas\" in the state's criminal justice history. The Los Angeles District Attorney's office said Wednesday's hearing was requested by Polanski's lawyers, who first asked for a closed-door conference on an \"undisclosed topic\". \"We told the judge that we believed that any conference should be in open court. The judge agreed and scheduled the conference\" for Wednesday, said district attorney's office spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons. Loyola Law professor Laurie Levenson, who has closely followed the Polanski case, said the director's lawyers may be pondering a change in strategy. \"They may make a request for him to be sentenced in absentia. They may want to feel out the court to see what would happen if he came back. They may plan to petition the California Supreme Court,\" she said. \"This is a great game of chess with neither side knowing what the other side's next move is.\" Levenson said the appeal court's suggestion of a sentencing hearing in Polanski's absence \"is not the perfect solution for either side, but I think the court at least wants it to be something that is considered.\" Judicial sources said such a request would likely have to come from Polanski himself and would result in a full-scale formal sentencing hearing in open court at a later date. Swiss officials have said they will make a decision on extradition in early 2010. Under current California law, Polanski faces a maximum two years behind bars on his guilty plea, but his lawyers may likely argue for a lesser sentence. Polanski is married and has two children. His other movies include \"Rosemary's Baby\" and \"Chinatown\", and his latest film \"The Ghost Writer\" will get its premiere at the Berlin Film Festival in February. (Editing by Mohammad Zargham)"}, {"response": 1030, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Jan  9, 2010 (18:06)", "body": "A California appeals court in December...said the misconduct claims were \"extremely serious\" See! The prosecutor backs up all Polanski's attorney's charges. In fact, they filed a joint complaint about the judge to a state commssion. What both of these guys say in the documentary is amazing. \"They may make a request for him to be sentenced in absentia. They may want to feel out the court to see what would happen if he came back. Ha! See if you like or can live with the sentence before you return. If not, tie up the courts in Europe so you don't have to come back."}, {"response": 1031, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Jan 13, 2010 (13:34)", "body": "Here are the two segments from Dave's show last night: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/13/leno-victims-unit-letterm_n_421600.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/12/letterman-mocks-leno-reca_n_421002.html"}, {"response": 1032, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Jan 14, 2010 (11:01)", "body": "Am moving this discussion here: (Dorine) Interesting legal discussion re: Conan vs. NBC at THR. Yes, it was plus the comments section, of which only one or two persons sounded like they knew how a contract dispute would be adjudicated. I don't think that's right for Letterman to bring Jay's wife into the jokes. Dave would use her name when mimicking Jay. In a high pitched voice, he'd say, \"Mavis, bring me a can of 10-40 weight oil\" or similar. Maybe Dave just likes to say her name. Thinks it has a funny ring to it. Who knows? He doesn't say anything bad about her. But Dave is really only jabbing at Jay and the suits at NBC. Last night's Top 10 list was messages left on Jeff Zucker's phone and he kept putting up a pic of Zucker, talking about how he knew the guy when he was in his 20s, working on the Today Show. Last night was really no different (except for the segment with Kiefer Sutherland in a dress). It is so focused on the NBC mess. Far more entertaining than anything at NBC. I didnt' even check to see what Conan said, as he wasn't funny the other nights. BTW, epic fail on the Make Conan Look Bad scenario (thus far). Epic? You're juding something like a suggested scenario as an epic fail. Have I said they're doing it? I said it could be done. But maybe they're not smart enough to figure out how."}, {"response": 1033, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jan 14, 2010 (12:38)", "body": "Epic fail is a commonly used slang phrase for failure. Once Conan put out that letter, NBC lost their chance to make Conan look bad if they wanted to. I'm simply commenting on the scenario u posted on what u would do and what NBC should do (or maybe would do - can't remember exact phrase). I saw a Letterman bit Nikki Finkke posted last night but nothing about what u said above. Am sure it's around somewhere. I thought Conan was amusing about it for what I saw last night. Update is Zucker madder than wet hen, wants to \"ice\" Conan, keep him off air for several years and give Jay back The Tonight Show completely."}, {"response": 1034, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jan 14, 2010 (12:40)", "body": "Oh and that's good that Dave isn't making Mavis the object of the jokes."}, {"response": 1035, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Jan 14, 2010 (12:57)", "body": "Once Conan put out that letter, NBC lost their chance to make Conan look bad if they wanted to. Has the fat lady sung? I read the Late Show Wars link you posted from NYU or whatever it was. I didn't see anything about Leno forcing Johnny off. That he negotiated a deal, while permanent guest host, before Letterman did, isn't exactly sneaky or underhanded. Quite smart actually. In the movie, who came off worse? Or as the bad guy(s)? The network execs, who think they can have it all, seem delusional. The situation hasn't changed one iota. Dave told his side of the story and how NBC offered him a prime time show, but that Johnny Carson advised him to walk. So, in essence, Dave is telling Conan to walk. But he is gleefully waiting to see what NBC tries next. You've got to watch Letterman. He's having the best time. And it goes on and on and on..."}, {"response": 1036, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jan 14, 2010 (13:51)", "body": "I know that link didn't have anything about that hence why I said I thought I remembered getting that impression from the movie, but would have to go back and watch it. At this point, the only person who's going to make Conan look bad is Conan, and it would b a stretch to have that happen. It's been tried in the court of public opinion to this point and Conan is the clear winner up til now. Unfortunately they wanted their cake...and pie...and cupcake and to eat them all, too. I know. Letterman hates NBC so much (forget the names he just called them aside from twits). and to see them obviously F-up is quite the high for him. Schaudenfrade (sp?) is quite the drug, esp in entertainment business. I'm waiting for him to say \"Karma's a bitch.\" In the movie, who came out worse?? Jay (and his mgr) and NBC. I'm sure they're checking all closets in the rooms when anyone network people meet to discuss it now. ;-)"}, {"response": 1037, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jan 15, 2010 (23:55)", "body": ""}, {"response": 1038, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jan 16, 2010 (00:00)", "body": "I really like her podcast, The Business. I listen to it weekly. I learn a lot about the entertainment business and supplements other stuff I read very well. Judging by this and what I'd been saying based on what I read anywhere, I think I had a firm grasp on the scenario as it evolved. I've seen the # anywhere from 25-40 million in the last 24 hrs. Tallying the NBC Damage by Kim Masters With a deal nearly done for Conan O\ufffdBrien to leave NBC, Kim Masters assesses the cost to the network\ufffdboth in dollars and in the reputations of those who remain. From the start, there was only one logical outcome: NBC was going to have to pay Conan O\ufffdBrien a lot of money to leave . Now the company is said to be coughing up about $30 million, putting an end to what may well be the greatest march of folly in television history. NBC has had its own freaky and very expensive version of a Shakespearean drama. The king (of late night) was pushed prematurely off his throne, the order of the television universe was disturbed and a great deal of extravagant drama (and comedy) ensued. Now that the king is returning to his throne, the total cost, counting everything, could run more than a couple of hundred million dollars. One studio executive says there can be no doubt of the damage done to Jay Leno\ufffds reputation: \ufffdYou can\ufffdt be the butt of so many jokes and not pay a price.\ufffd That\ufffds the estimate made by a former NBC Universal executive who is including everything from the cost of building Conan O\ufffdBrien\ufffds new Tonight Show studio in Los Angeles to the cost of paying him off Adding the damage to primetime ratings, and to revenue from affiliates and NBC-owned local stations, . \ufffdIt\ufffds easily over $200 million,\ufffd he says. Despite NBC Universal sports chief Dick Ebersol\ufffds too little, too late counterattack on O\ufffdBrien in the New York Times, O\ufffdBrien waged an enormously successful public relations war . Meanwhile, Leno has been getting shellacked, not just on everyone else\ufffds late-night show but even on his own show, in a paddling administered by Jimmy Kimmel on Thursday night. \ufffdI\ufffdm getting beat up in the press,\ufffd he lamented in his monologue Friday. \ufffdYou know it\ufffds bad when Tiger Woods calls to offer you PR advice.\ufffd As a result of this fracas, O\ufffdBrien\ufffds ratings have soared\ufffdpast his timeslot rival David Letterman\ufffds, and past Leno\ufffds in primetime. It\ufffds only temporary, of course, but it punctuates this episode nicely. NBC has damaged Leno in all of this, raising the possibility that once he returns to The Tonight Show, he will not be able to beat Letterman and whatever other competition happens to materialize. One studio executive says there can be no doubt: \ufffdYou can\ufffdt be the butt of so many jokes and not pay a price.\ufffd The price might be that Leno, who has always enjoyed a nice-guy reputation, also seems to be exposing a different side of himself. He came out fighting during his monologue on Friday\ufffd\"Even Letterman is taking shots at me. Usually he's just taking shots at interns.\" But jokes like that may not serve him well in the long run. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Times speculates that Jimmy Fallon could emerge as the victor who will succeed Leno when (if) he finally retires. Perhaps that prospect is pleasing to Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels. You might think Michaels would have been piqued to see his former prot\ufffdg\ufffd O\ufffdBrien knocked from his perch (Michaels proposed O\ufffdBrien for the post-Tonight Show slot in 1993). But he\ufffds remained silent and in the shadows during this episode, perhaps because he is said to have been miffed because he was not made an executive producer when O\ufffdBrien got The Tonight Show. (Michaels does produce Fallon\ufffds show.) Leno isn\ufffdt the only member of the NBC Universal family to be damaged in this process. CEO Jeff Zucker has been mercilessly mocked\ufffdeven in Maureen Dowd\ufffds column. With Universal chief Ron Meyer emerging as the hero in the saga and Jeff Gaspin having proved that he is capable of running those profitable NBC Universal cable channels very handily, the question asked\ufffdand asked, and asked again\ufffdis what purpose Zucker serves. Even if they weren\ufffdt already planning to be rid of Zucker, what can the owners-in-waiting at Comcast make of him now? \ufffdIf I were those guys I\ufffdd be simply appalled,\ufffd says one former studio chairman. We always figured Zucker would finally be done once the Comcast deal closes (though that will take months). All they can do is hope that the Zucker-inflicted damage will be contained until then. As for Zucker, he\ufffdll walk away with a much bigger check than Conan. And he is seemingly impervious to shame. My colleague Jacob Bernstein heard from a source that Zucker is likely to appear in the audience Sunday night when NBC broadcasts the Golden Globe awards. Regardless of whether Zucker attends, Ricky Gervais, the comedian who's hosting the show, is likely to have a laugh with this one. \"Ricky loves Conan,\" says a person with business ties to the British funnyman. \"All the comedians love Conan, they a"}, {"response": 1039, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Jan 16, 2010 (09:40)", "body": "\"One studio executive says there can be no doubt of the damage done to Jay Leno\ufffds reputation: \ufffdYou can\ufffdt be the butt of so many jokes and not pay a price.\ufffd Not if you don't like Conan O'Brien in the first place. Go Jay!"}, {"response": 1040, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jan 16, 2010 (11:57)", "body": "I think he'll do better than at 10, but I do question, if Jay has so many fans, why did his ratings tank so? I can speak personally to say that I was excited to see Jay move to 10, to an hour where I could really watch it. But I couldn't stick with it after 2 or 3 shows that first week. It, and he, was awful. I am apparently not the only one who thought that. Maybe enough people will come back with getting back to the late night format, though unless it's someone I really want to see as a guest on, it won't be me. Though I'd still rather see him than Conan. And I'll imagine his ratings will be really high right after he comes back, at least for a time. Time will tell if he holds it, though I suspect even lower ratings for him historically in that slot will still be better than whatever Conan's show did."}, {"response": 1041, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jan 16, 2010 (12:33)", "body": "Late Night Wars: What Price Will NBC, Leno and Zucker Pay? You don\ufffdt have a mess like the Late Night Wars without fallout. Winners and losers are inevitable. Winners: pugnacious Jimmy Kimmel; NBC Universal consigliere Ron Meyer, who helped to broker the settlement; and Conan O\ufffdBrien, who may have lost The Tonight Show, but walks away with his dignity intact, public support and $30 million. Losers: Jay Leno, who wins a Pyrrhic victory as he takes back his old job, but may lose ratings and popularity in this messy slag-fest; and NBC, which lost hundreds of millions in the long run. As for NBC Universal chief Jeff Zucker, who plans to attend the Golden Globes Sunday, many wonder how long new NBC Universal owner Comcast will hang onto him. Kim Masters surveys the NBC damage. [Ed. Note - links to article I posted above} by Anne Thompson, posted to TV on January 15, 2010 at 6:53pm PST | Permalink | Comments (3) http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/2010/01/15/late_night_wars_what_price_will_nbc_leno_and_zucker_pay/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_content=Twitter"}, {"response": 1042, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jan 16, 2010 (12:48)", "body": "A little more \"detail\"..... [.....] Instead of a prolonged and ugly battle, NBC has given in to Team Conan who've insisted their guy exits only with a lot of cash and freedom. How much cash? \"Zucker's NBC spin puts it at $25 million. But it's a lot closer to $40 million than $25 million,\" my insider says. \"And Conan was adamant that NBC take care of the people close to him -- [executive producer] Jeff Ross and the staff who moved out to Los Angeles.\" According to the pact, Conan leaves The Tonight Show on January 22nd, and The Jay Leno Show ends its 10 PM primetime run on February 12th when NBC starts its coverage of the Vancouver Winter Olympics through February 28th. That Monday, Leno commences his Tonight Show do-over. Conan, meanwhile, is free to go anywhere and compete with Jay. This is that Ron Meyer-negotiated deal (which I first reported yesterday at 3 PM). The Universal Studios president/COO was asked to step in secretly by WME agents Ari Emanuel when Team Conan and NBC were so far apart they weren't even on speaking terms. \"They [NB Universal] were lucky to have Ron.\" I'm told the deal might close as soon as Saturday. And NBC's PR nightmare will end. Or will it? In his Friday night monologue, Conan defended himself against NBC sports czar Dick Ebersole's very public (and inappropriate) takedown: \"In the press this week, NBC has been calling me every name in the book. In fact, they think I\ufffdm such an idiot, they now want me to run the network.\" [......] http://www.deadline.com/hollywood/jeff-zucker-threatens-to-ice-conan-ill-keep-you-off-the-air-for-3-12-years/"}, {"response": 1043, "author": "OzFirthFan", "date": "Sat, Jan 16, 2010 (17:02)", "body": "Actually, Dorine, from the stats I saw yesterday (and I didn't bookmark them, so not linking them here, but I'll look and see if I can find them later), Conan's numbers were better than those for Leno's 10pm show. As I've said several times, I think Leno at the helm of the Tonight Show will sink, slowly but surely, into obscurity. I'm quite sure there are a number of people who, although they didn't particularly love Conan (or perhaps even watch his show) will refuse to watch Leno now, in light of this stuff up. It's far less likely to boost Leno's numbers than to hurt them, imo."}, {"response": 1044, "author": "sandyw", "date": "Sat, Jan 16, 2010 (17:27)", "body": "I love Leno, hate Conan. I did watch both shows a few times when they first changed time slots but that was it. But, I'll go back to watching Leno once he's back on The Tonight Show. As I understand it, Leno had about 5 million viewers on both the Tonight Show and his prime time show. The problem is that other shows in the 10 pm slot were doing much better. Conan lost viewers for the Tonight Show and consistently trailed Letterman while Leno had consistently beat Letterman. To me, it is all about the numbers and I couldn't care less who looks good and who doesn't."}, {"response": 1045, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jan 16, 2010 (18:01)", "body": "(Sarah) Conan's numbers were better than those for Leno's 10pm show. Yes. I wasn't comparing the 10pm show to Conan. I was saying (or trying to) that even if Leno's #'s drop when he goes back to 11:30 lower than what he was used to in that slot historically, it is still probably going to be higher than Conan's over the past 7 months. He may need another interview of Hugh Grantian proportions to catapult him to where he was again, but I don't know by how much he was beating Letterman. Or maybe he'll do just fine out of the box ad infinitum. Time will tell. As I've said several times, I think Leno at the helm of the Tonight Show will sink, With which I don't think I disagreed and I believe agreed with. (Sandy) As I understand it, Leno had about 5 million viewers on both the Tonight Show and his prime time show. Yeah, I saw that, too, but only once and I don't remember where, so I wasn't sure how accurate it was. I was surprised as I didn't know other types of shows at 10pm had even bigger audiences. I saw a stat that Leno's 10 pm show lost up to 48% of the previous audience in some markets, but overall was in the 25-40% range. Talk about epic fail if that's so. I could see why the affiliates were so hot and bothered. They lost a fortune."}, {"response": 1046, "author": "OzFirthFan", "date": "Sat, Jan 16, 2010 (22:03)", "body": "@Sandy: Not true. Conan's numbers recently are better than Leno's were before he retired, according the the chart I saw yesterday. I just wish I could remember where I saw it so I could post it here... Leno's numbers on his prime time show were low, which is the reason this whole mess started. The affiliates were threatening to drop the NBC feed because it was costing them ad revenue for their news programs, which they rely on heavily"}, {"response": 1047, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Jan 17, 2010 (01:57)", "body": "Conan's numbers recently are better You mean since the debacle or before all that started? I did read his ratings have ballooned since all this mess. And regarding ratings, part of Conan's argument is that he didn't have enough time to get ratings up to speed (only 7 months) and that Jay wasn't an instant success out of the box when he took over. I forget now how long it took for Jay to show some good results. \"And Conan was adamant that NBC take care of the people close to him -- [executive producer] Jeff Ross and the staff who moved out to Los Angeles.\" Found a Page Six item in the NY Post today that says the complete opposite... http://www.nypost.com/p/pagesix/conan_stiffed_us_staffers_say_09HWtZQc2Jc4BYmw7dg2hK"}, {"response": 1048, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Jan 17, 2010 (02:02)", "body": "I popped in to post this and got distracted. I didn't see it, but will have to look on NBC.com or Hulu or You Tube. Did anyone see this? `SNL' lampoons late-night mess with sketch NEW YORK \ufffd \"Saturday Night Live\" has entered the late-night fray, lampooning the mess involving Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien. \"SNL\" opened Saturday's show with a sketch featuring cast member Bill Hader as O'Brien and Darrell Hammond as Leno, brought together on CNN's \"Larry King Live.\" O'Brien was portrayed as somewhat humorless, while Leno needed to be cut off from automatically going into a monologue routine. Jason Sudeikis made a cameo as a giggling David Letterman, perpetually throwing pencils at the camera. \"SNL\" is close to the late-night shuffle and not just because it shares NBC as a network. \"SNL\" creator Lorne Michaels was executive producer of \"Late Night with Conan O'Brien\" before O'Brien took over the \"Tonight\" show. Michaels also produces O'Brien's replacement: \"Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.\" http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100117/ap_en_tv/us_tv_leno_o_brien_snl;_ylt=ArsHNtq7O_VHxmIdci6HZxCs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTFranRwOWJmBHBvcwMxNjYEc2VjA2FjY29yZGlvbl9lbnRlcnRhaW5tZW50BHNsawNzbmxsYW1wb29uc2w -"}, {"response": 1049, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Jan 17, 2010 (10:15)", "body": "Here it is! This is where I got the impression that Carson was pushed out. This was in the film. And I found this quite by accident following a link on Chris Chibnall's (UK TV writer/playwright) on Twitter. I knew I didn't make it up in my head, coupled with the fact that many comments I've read after some of the Jay/Conan stories referenced the same thing. \"Leno\ufffds manager gets impatient and schemes to push Johnny Carson out of his own show. According to Bill Carter of The New York Times \ufffd the Journalist Of Record in the late-night wars \ufffd NBC was in no rush to push Johnny Carson towards retirement. Despite their concerns about his aging audience, competition from younger hosts, and the fact that CBS and others were actively courting Leno to host his own competing 11:30 show, they were apparently confident that he\ufffdd make that choice on his own before long. So Leno\ufffds manager, Helen Kushnick, planted an embarrassing unsourced front-page screaming-headline story in the New York Post about the network\ufffds frustrations with Carson and their desire to hand The Tonight Show to Leno, his obvious successor, as soon as possible. Carson was so steamed about the headline that he didn\ufffdt even want to stick around for his 30th anniversary with the show, nor did he bother to inform NBC in advance that he\ufffdd be using a routine presentation in front of an auditorium of NBC affiliat s to announce his speedy departure. Carter reported that Leno had asked his manager point-blank if she\ufffdd been involved in the Post story, and that she\ufffdd lied to him. He also says that their relationship was a deeply complicated one, and suggests that Jay had long-since lost interest in digging too deeply into how she got things done.\" [.....] The rest of the link is some interesting analysis of the Jay/Conan war. http://ihnatko.com/2010/01/14/jay-leno-the-self-styled-forrest-gump-of-late-night/"}, {"response": 1050, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jan 21, 2010 (12:52)", "body": "NBC: Conan O'Brien reaches $45M exit deal By FRAZIER MOORE, Ap Television Writer \ufffd 16 mins ago NEW YORK \ufffd Conan O'Brien told NBC good riddance Thursday in a $45 million deal for his exit from \"The Tonight Show,\" allowing Jay Leno to return to the late-night program he hosted for 17 years. Under the deal, which came less than eight months after O'Brien took the reins from Leno, O'Brien will get more than $33 million, NBC said. The rest will go to his 200-strong staff in severance. Compensation for O'Brien's staff and crew was the final hurdle in negotiations. O'Brien was said to have been \"dug in\" on the issue out of concern for the workers, while NBC said this week that it had already agreed to pay \"millions of dollars to compensate every one of them\" and deemed it a public relations \"ploy.\" On Wednesday night's show, speaking of a push to get a severance deal for his staff from NBC, O'Brien joked, \"At first they thought I was gullible. They said the staff would be taken to a big farm, where they'd be allowed to run free forever.\" O'Brien's final show will be Friday, with Tom Hanks scheduled to appear as well as Will Ferrell \ufffd his first guest as \"Tonight\" host last June. Reruns of \"Tonight\" with O'Brien had already been scheduled for next week. It was unclear how NBC will fill the two-week gap after that, before beginning its Olympics coverage. Leno will return to \"Tonight\" on March 1. \"In the end, Conan was appreciative of the steps NBC made to take care of his staff and crew, and decided to supplement the severance they were getting out of his own pocket,\" his manager, Gavin Polone, told The Wall Street Journal. \"Now he just wants to get back on the air as quickly as possible.\" O'Brien will be free to start another TV job after Sept. 1, NBC said in its statement, released Thursday, which confirmed that \"under terms of an agreement that was signed earlier today, NBC and O'Brien will settle their contractual obligations and the network will release O'Brien from his contract.\" There has been much speculation on where he might go next. ABC (which airs \"Nightline\" and \"Jimmy Kimmel Live!\") has said it wasn't interested, while Fox, which lacks a network late-night show, expressed appreciation for his show \ufffd but nothing more. Comedy Central has also been mentioned. A spokesman for O'Brien said he would be unavailable for comment. O'Brien landed the \"Tonight\" show after successfully hosting \"Late Night,\" which airs an hour later, since 1993. But he quickly stumbled in the ratings race against his CBS rival, David Letterman. Under Leno, the \"Tonight\" show was the ratings champ at 11:35 p.m. Eastern, but he proved an instant flop with his experiment in prime time. Last week NBC announced that the five-hour vacancy in prime time left by Leno will be filled by scripted and reality fare calculated to bring NBC affiliates a more robust lead-in audience for their local news than Leno had been delivering. A provisional slate of shows will include new and veteran NBC dramas, a comedy panel series produced by Jerry Seinfeld and \"Dateline NBC.\" It had been no secret that the 46-year-old O'Brien was scoring puny ratings numbers on \"Tonight,\" averaging 2.5 million nightly viewers, compared with 4.2 million for Letterman's \"Late Show,\" according to Nielsen figures. It was even more obvious that \"The Jay Leno Show,\" airing weeknights at 10 p.m. Eastern, was a disaster. Mostly justified by the network for its bargain-basement production budget, it not only was critically slammed, but also found a disappointing popular reaction. It has averaged 5.3 million nightly viewers since its fall debut \ufffd about the same number that watched Leno's final \"Tonight\" season, in a time slot when far fewer viewers are available. By comparison, the season's top-rated 10 p.m. network drama, CBS' \"The Mentalist,\" has an average audience of 17 million. But few observers expected the abrupt upheaval that erupted publicly just two weeks ago, when two Web sites posted unsourced stories that the 59-year-old Leno's show would soon be canceled or moved into O'Brien's late-night domain. Days later, NBC executives unveiled a plan to restore Leno to 11:35 p.m. with a half-hour program, then slide O'Brien's \"Tonight Show\" to 12:05 a.m., followed by \"Late Night With Jimmy Fallon,\" also pushed back a half-hour. Disgruntled affiliate stations, which have lost viewers and advertising revenue for their late local newscasts since \"The Jay Leno Show\" premiered, appeared to spur NBC's sudden changes. The 210 local NBC stations saw their late news audience drop, on average, by 25 percent in November compared with the previous year among desirable 25- to 54-year-old viewers, with the Leno experiment costing the stations collectively $22 million over a three-month period, according to the research firm Harmelin Media. In a clear vote of no confidence, some rebellious stations were threatening to drop \"The Jay Leno Show\" and air their own programming. The network had been "}, {"response": 1051, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Jan 21, 2010 (12:59)", "body": "He'll probably join the other comedians at Comedy Central."}, {"response": 1052, "author": "LisaJH", "date": "Thu, Jan 21, 2010 (13:39)", "body": "I think Conan is a class act for wanting to help his staff who followed his move to the West Coast. They were the ones who really got the short end of the stick. That being said, I really don't enjoy Conan very much...and I can't stand Leno. I remember when Jay was a decent comedian, prior to subbing for Johnny Carson. What happened to the funny Leno? He lost me with the dancing Itos and the Jay Walking."}, {"response": 1053, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jan 21, 2010 (19:34)", "body": "I have to admit I'm both appalled and amused at the Jay Walkers. You know the saying about car wrecks...."}, {"response": 1054, "author": "cfadm", "date": "Wed, Feb  3, 2010 (07:12)", "body": "I loved that final sendoff skit with Will Farrell and his pregnant wife (she gave birth later that night) doing the Freebird riff, cowbell and all."}, {"response": 1055, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Feb  7, 2010 (18:02)", "body": "People kid on Obama for using teleprompters (which he didn't need in his clearly knowledgeable off the cuff grasp of the issues in the Q&A session with House Republicans a couple of weeks ago, but Sarah was using a tried and true method for giving herself a bit of a help with answers that were pre-screened. I watched 10 or 15 min of her speech and that was all I could take. She was practically reading her speech and not at all well at that. I feel bad for the people who paid almost $500 to hear that. Well, maybe not so much. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/stefan-sirucek/did-palin-use-crib-notes_b_452458.html"}, {"response": 1056, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Feb  8, 2010 (00:29)", "body": "Auction #3: Stephen's Portrait from The Colbert Report is nearly at $17K now. BTW, there's a matching donation from AT&T and each auction has benefited different charities: http://cgi.ebay.com/Stephens-Portrait-from-The-Colbert-Report_W0QQitemZ200433782898QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item2eaac8d072"}, {"response": 1057, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Feb  8, 2010 (00:29)", "body": "If anybody is thinking about bidding, there's free shipping. ;-)"}, {"response": 1058, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Feb  8, 2010 (11:55)", "body": "I feel bad for the people who paid almost $500 to hear that. Well, maybe not so much. Noble of you to feel badly;-)...but they interviewed folks who were there and they were glad they had attended. Perhaps it was only the people from the Huffy -Puffy blog who weren't."}, {"response": 1059, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Feb  8, 2010 (13:01)", "body": "Perhaps it was only the people from the Huffy -Puffy blog who weren't. I don't think they went. they interviewed folks who were there and they were glad they had attended. Glad they felt it worth it, but it says a lot about them."}, {"response": 1060, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Feb  8, 2010 (14:37)", "body": "LOL. Dorine, I like your tolerance for other people's views.*shaking head*"}, {"response": 1061, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Feb  8, 2010 (16:50)", "body": "I tolerate a person's right to have those views. I don't have to (nor do I) tolerate actual viewpoints especially those born of fear, ignorance, racism, lack of common sense and introspection, laziness, etc. I am proud to say that I do not tolerate viewpoints that illustrate and continue to perpetuate the continued dumbing down of America."}, {"response": 1062, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Feb  8, 2010 (16:50)", "body": "Or continual dumbing down of America."}, {"response": 1063, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Feb  8, 2010 (17:23)", "body": "This is an excellent illustration of such viewpoints I do not tolerate. And from a US Representative, too! \"The *cult* of multiculturalism?\" Are you kidding me?? My favorite is still the viewpoint espoused in the paragraph before the last line. http://www.citybeat.com/cincinnati/blog-1177-tea-party-speaker-revive-jim-crow.html"}, {"response": 1064, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Feb  8, 2010 (17:59)", "body": "LOL You're so funny."}, {"response": 1065, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Feb  8, 2010 (18:10)", "body": "Good. I was worried there for a minute you might take me too seriously. ;-)"}, {"response": 1066, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Feb  8, 2010 (18:29)", "body": "That Colbert painting is up to 17, 500 on 62 bids with 5 hrs left. The $ is going to a good cause IMO."}, {"response": 1067, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Feb  8, 2010 (20:59)", "body": "Holy cow! Official tells US health insurer to justify 39 pct rate hike AFP Mon Feb 8, 4:53 pm ET WASHINGTON (AFP) \ufffd US Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on Monday called on a health insurance company to publicly explain why it raised premiums for some customers by 39 percent. \"With so many families already affected by rising costs, I was very disturbed to learn through media accounts that Anthem Blue Cross plans to raise premiums for its California customers by as much as 39 percent,\" or 15 times faster than inflation, Sebelius said in a letter that was faxed to the insurer. The rate hikes were \"even more difficult to understand\" in the light of soaring profits at Anthem Blue Cross's parent company, WellPoint Incorporated, Sebelius said. Wellpoint earned 2.7 billion dollars in the last quarter of 2009, she said, calling on the insurance company to \"provide a detailed justification\" for the increase. \"As we continue the health insurance reform debate in Washington, this announcement reminds us that too many Americans can be left with unaffordable insurance each time the rates or rules change in the private market,\" Sebelius said. Last month, plans to reform the US health care system hit a wall when the election of a Republican to the Senate Massachusetts seat long held by Ted Kennedy robbed the Democrats of their 60-vote supermajority in the Senate. President Barack Obama vowed during his campaign for the White House to reform health care and make coverage accessible to the 47 million Americans who currently do not have any, and to make coverage less of a financial drain on US workers. Last year, the insurance industry issued a report saying that health care reforms would lead to significantly higher insurance premiums. Obama dismissed the report as \"bogus\". http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/healthusinsuranceeconomy;_ylt=AoYSih3z74Jx9q6gBJu0y7qs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTN0dHVmYzVoBGFzc2V0A2FmcC8yMDEwMDIwOC9oZWFsdGh1c2luc3VyYW5jZWVjb25vbXkEY2NvZGUDbW9zdHBvcHVsYXIEY3BvcwM0BHBvcwMxBHB0A2hvbWVfY29rZQRzZWMDeW5faGVhZGxpbmVfbGlzdARzbGsDb2ZmaWNpYWx0ZWxs"}, {"response": 1068, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Feb  8, 2010 (21:03)", "body": "And this woman is a fool to take him back. http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100208/en_nm/us_sheen"}, {"response": 1069, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Feb  9, 2010 (08:39)", "body": "My attorney friends always collect those fees beforehand. Happens everyday."}, {"response": 1070, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Feb  9, 2010 (20:10)", "body": "Yes, unfortunately it does and it doesn't surprise me much. From that legal section in THR I posted an article from before, an update on what Conan had in his contract for leverage for his pay-to-go-away day. February 09, 2010 Conan's 'Tonight Show' contract revealed By Matthew Belloni If there was one big mystery in the Great Late-Night Fiasco of 2010, it was whether NBC actually specified in Conan O'Brien's contract that \ufffdThe Tonight Show\ufffd had to begin at 11:35 p.m. This seemingly small detail was of crucial importance to O\ufffdBrien, who ended up exiting the network rather than accepting NBC\ufffds offer to move him and \ufffdTonight\ufffd to 12:05 a.m. -- a potential violation of his deal, which was never made public. But we've finally tracked down a copy of the O\ufffdBrien contract, and -- lo and behold -- NBC did define \ufffdTonight\ufffd as the series that airs at 11:35 as far back as 2002. However, what may have emboldened NBC to move the program anyway was the absence of that key language from later amendments to the deal. Here's the backstory: http://www.thresq.com/2010/02/conan-contract-revealed.html"}, {"response": 1071, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Feb 10, 2010 (16:39)", "body": "And on the topic of dumbing down America. This is on a billboard in MN: What a scary thought."}, {"response": 1072, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Feb 10, 2010 (17:29)", "body": "Hahaha. I read about that. I wonder who put it up."}, {"response": 1073, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Feb 10, 2010 (23:10)", "body": "Something for those concerned about Medicare cuts to ponder: http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/10/having-it-both-ways-on-medicare/"}, {"response": 1074, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Feb 10, 2010 (23:13)", "body": "That being said, something has to be done. It can't go on like it is."}, {"response": 1075, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Feb 11, 2010 (10:26)", "body": "That picture has been circulating around since the Christmas Day bombing attempt over Detroit,Moon. A scary day that was. We were lucky...thanks to a brave alert Dutch passenger. (Not to John Brennan and his team:-((( Not just Medicare...but Medicaid need a fix. As well as *all* the social programs out there. Incl SS, and all those community give-a-ways."}, {"response": 1076, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Feb 11, 2010 (18:26)", "body": "Right you are Evelyn. There is much to fix and I just wish the opposition (ahem), would sit down to work together with the administration. Of course, this is an election year and the political BS game goes on. :-("}, {"response": 1077, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Feb 11, 2010 (22:07)", "body": "The opposition is miniscule, m'dear. Remember, we're the minority party. The Dems (ahem)control both the legislative and excutive branch of the gov't. POTUS can pass this if he marshalls his *own* party behind him. There is much common ground ; Senator Judd Gregg (NH)was on Chris Matthews tonight and clearly stated each one. Let's just pass each component one bill at a time with tranparency instead of incorporating them in that 2000 page legislative proposal that no one apparently has read. This way the American electorate would know how their legislator voted on *each* item."}, {"response": 1078, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Feb 12, 2010 (18:44)", "body": "This was actually the second part of a two-part report by John Oliver. Must watch TV: http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-february-11-2010/the-apparent-trap"}, {"response": 1079, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Feb 12, 2010 (18:57)", "body": "OMG, I can't get past Jon's stuff for laughing so hard!...and I've been sick all week so it's making me cough, too (though good for getting the gunk out of my lungs). Must go back later."}, {"response": 1080, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Feb 12, 2010 (18:57)", "body": "Or this one: http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/264134/february-11-2010/the-word---political-suicide"}, {"response": 1081, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Feb 12, 2010 (22:06)", "body": "Thanks for those, Karen, though the Colbert site isn't loading for me at the moment. But LOL!!! at the other one. And you know, that bit with Dog the Bounty Hunter describing his experience at the hospital sounds almost verbatim to what my friend's sister told me a couple of weeks ago about her very recent experience in Canada when she fell and broke her arm (w/ cast from mid-humerus to fingers). She said they didn't once ask her about payment or insurance. Just fixed her up in a reasonable amount of time and sent her on her way. The hospital got their address from her husband and sent a bill later, which apparently wasn't enough to break the bank."}, {"response": 1082, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Feb 23, 2010 (16:24)", "body": "This is taking bad sportsmanship to new levels: http://blog.zap2it.com/thedishrag/2010/02/olympian-evgeni-plushenko-awards-himself-platinum-medal.html All those years of bloc voting and rigged results in skating and he now has some nerve."}, {"response": 1083, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Feb 26, 2010 (00:41)", "body": "A friend of mine is a fan of his and we were going back and forth about it where I told her he was clearly a sore loser. Even on the medal stand. He stood there with such indignation. She kept insisting that he did a quad and he other guy made a mistake. I did mention the virtually constant bobbling he did on his landings, but she wasn't having it. Thanks for that article. I wanted to explain how the 2 programs were different and judged accordingly, but it was a bit much to go into on FB. I'll send this blog post to her."}, {"response": 1084, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Feb 27, 2010 (12:21)", "body": "I am completely amazed how an earthquake that far south and so far away could affect not just Hawaii (which may not be quite as surprising), but the coastline of the continental US and Canada, which is so NE of Chile. And maybe Japan, so far away! Nature is wonderous, isn't it? Granted it just may be high surf at the US/Canada, but still. I have a friend in San Diego. I'll have to see if he'll be able to see the effects. I used to know people in HI, but no idea if they're still there. If I still lived in WA state, I'd be heading out to the coast. This will make a great word problem in physics classes. West coast of U.S., Canada in tsunami advisory AP \ufffd Motorists line up near a gasoline station early Saturday, Feb. 27, 2010, in Ewa Beach, Hawaii. Hawaii \ufffd EWA BEACH, Hawaii \ufffd A tsunami advisory has been extended to include the states of Oregon and Washington and parts of Alaska, as well as coastal British Colombia. The Pacific Tsunami center had earlier included the coast of Californa and some Alaskan islands in its advisory after a tsunami was generated by a powerful earthquake off Chile. An advisory is the lowest level alert. The West Coast Alaska Tsunami Warning Center says that a tsunami advisory means there is a possibility of strong localized currents but no significant inundation is expected. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below. EWA BEACH, Hawaii (AP) \ufffd A tsunami threatened the Pacific Rim on Saturday, with an 8.8-magnitude earthquake off Chile sending potentially deadly waves across the ocean at the speed of a jetliner. Hawaii woke residents with sirens, alerting them to the waves. A tsunami warning \ufffd the highest alert level \ufffd was issued earlier for the island chain. Boats and people near the coast were being evacuated. Hilo International Airport, located along the coast, was closed. Residents lined up at supermarkets to stock up on water, canned food and batteries. Cars lined up 15 long at several gas stations. The first waves were expected at 11:19 a.m. Saturday (4:19 p.m. EST; 2119 GMT). Most Pacific Rim nations, awaiting further data, did not order evacuations but advised people in low-lying areas to be on the lookout. In Tonga, however, police and defense forces have begun a mass evacuation from low-lying coastal areas as they warned residents that tsunami waves about three feet (one meter) high could wash ashore within three hours. \"I can hear the church bells ringing to alert the people,\" National Disaster Office deputy director Mali'u Takai told The Associated Press. \"We will move up to 50,000 people to the interior and away from the coasts.\" Waves 6 feet (1.8 meter) above normal hit near Concepcion, Chile shortly after the quake. Unlike other tsunamis in recent years, emergency officials along the Pacific have hours to prepare and possibly evacuate residents. \"We've got a lot of things going for us,\" said Charles McCreery, the director of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, which issues warnings to almost every country around the Pacific Rim and to most of the Pacific island states. \"We have a reasonable lead time. \"We should be able to alert everyone in harm's way to move out of the evacuation zones,\" he said. A warning was also in effect for Guam, American Samoa, Samoa and dozens of other Pacific islands. American Samoa Lt. Gov. Aitofele Sunia activated emergency services and called on residents of shoreline villages to move to higher ground. Police in Samoa issued a nationwide alert to begin coastal evacuations. The tsunami is expected to reach the islands Saturday morning. Meanwhile, disaster management officials in Fiji said they have been warned to expect waves of as high as 7.5 feet (2.3 meters) to hit the northern and eastern islands of the archipelago and the nearby Tonga islands. A lower-grade tsunami advisory was in effect for the coast of California and an Alaskan coastal area from Kodiak to Attu islands. Tsunami Center officials said they did not expect the advisory would be upgraded to a warning. Waves were likely to hit Asian, Australian and New Zealand shores within 24 hours of Saturday's quake. A tsunami wave can travel at up to 600 mph, said Jenifer Rhoades, tsunami program manager at the National Weather Service in Washington, DC. After the sirens are sounded in Hawaii, people in coastal areas, such as tourist-filled Waikiki, would then be instructed on a possible evacuation. The sirens will also be sounded again three hours prior to the estimated arrival time. McCreery said he didn't know how big the waves will be, but expected them to be the largest to hit Hawaii since 1964. \"If you're in an evacuation zone, police or civil defense volunteers would instruct you to evacuate, or instructions will come out over the radio and TV,\" said Shelly Ichishita, spokeswoman for the state's civil defense. If coastal areas are evacuated, visitors in Waikiki would be moved to higher floors in their hotels, rather than moved"}, {"response": 1085, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Feb 27, 2010 (12:56)", "body": "I'd love someone to take a picture of a tsunami as it approaches land. I mean does it just look like a surfer's wave, but maybe longer?"}, {"response": 1086, "author": "Leah", "date": "Sat, Feb 27, 2010 (13:15)", "body": "(Dorine) If I still lived in WA state, I'd be heading out to the coast. I understand the curiosity. Problem is, how close to the coast would be 'close enough'? (evacuation and all that goes with it)"}, {"response": 1087, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Feb 27, 2010 (13:24)", "body": "I know that coastline well and where to get above the fray. One of the campgrounds I stayed at there is on a 50 ft bluff, which should be plenty high (the waves in HI, a more direct route, are supposed to reach only 8 ft I read - or maybe that's what hit French Polynesia). Also, Ruby Beach has a long curvy walkway to the beach from the parking lot that runs on a decline and has views of the beach through the trees on the way without having to get right down to the beach. And Cape Flattery (most northwestern point of the continental US) is high above the sea, too. I wouldn't want to be right on the beach there anyway this time of year as they have big storms that blow giant dead trees up on shore (though it's highly picturesque after the storm). Matter of fact they have signs at various public beaches saying \"Beach Logs Kill\" with a picture of a girl running from a big log, LOL. I have pics of all of that stored away, not scanned, otherwise I'd post."}, {"response": 1088, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Feb 27, 2010 (13:44)", "body": "Here's an idea of Ruby Beach with the logs and seeing through the trees on the way down. http://www.visitusa.com/washington/images/olympic-nationalpark/ruby-beach.jpg http://www.portangelesbb.com/images/SecondBeach.jpg This is the view I spoke of. http://www.psbl.com/terry/images/ruby_beach.jpg http://ibelievedandspoke.com/images/IMG_0628%20Ruby%20Beach%20at%20Olympic.jpg Not the greatest pics of Kalaloch, but you get the idea. http://farm1.static.flickr.com/203/519126631_ee69944f4b.jpg?v=0 http://www.lowfares.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/Olympic-National-Park.jpg Cape Flattery. http://www.virginmedia.com/images/cape-flattery-washington-state_paul-gayler.jpg This has all my favorite spots to visit there, including Cape Flattery. http://www.blankinship-web.com/oly-penn/index.htm Thus ends the WA travelogue for today."}, {"response": 1089, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Feb 27, 2010 (13:48)", "body": "Ooh! Sorry, one more. One of the Beach Logs Kill! signs. They remind me of a B-movie horror film poster. LOL. http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1045/1143414938_42aea9e288.jpg"}, {"response": 1090, "author": "Leah", "date": "Sat, Feb 27, 2010 (14:14)", "body": "Some great pics. The place looks serene - almost as though nothing can challenge its existance."}, {"response": 1091, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Feb 27, 2010 (14:37)", "body": "I just had an email from a friend in Waipahu,Oahu ; she lives on a hill and said she expected some friends who live on the beachfront to evacuate to her place. She's supposed to call me this afternoon. Worrying situation."}, {"response": 1092, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Feb 27, 2010 (15:07)", "body": "Thank goodness they have somewhere friendly to go. Wonder what it's like to evacuate from those areas. Wonder if it gets bogged down in traffic like South Florida with hurricane warnings. Turns the 2 major highways out of that area (and through much of the state) into parking lots. Hope they get there ok."}, {"response": 1093, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Feb 27, 2010 (15:18)", "body": "POTUS has warned all Americans to heed the tsunami warning of local officials. I assume the west coast. But American Samoa and Guam aint got no hills. On Yahoo. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_us_chile_earthquake/print"}, {"response": 1094, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Feb 27, 2010 (17:45)", "body": "Was watching CNN and MSNBC at the gym. They were both showing feeds from the HI tv stations with cameras trained at various points. Interesting to see all the people parked on both sides of the road on a mountainside to wait it out. Some were at some lookout point that people usually watch surfers from. It was at Diamond Head now that I think of it. It was like a giant tailgate party minus the grills. ;-) I just walked in. Maybe I'll go turn on the tv to see what's up now since I looked 45 mins ago. The waters were just noticeably receding then. Funny though that many reports of the greater changes were taking place in Hilo, yet none of the cameras were there unfortunately."}, {"response": 1095, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Feb 27, 2010 (17:53)", "body": "Hawaii dodged the bullet From Yahoo: Tsunami expert: `We dodged a bullet' 4 mins ago HILO, Hawaii \ufffd A official at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center says Hawaii \"dodged a bullet\" after a major earthquake sent powerful waves roiling around the Pacific. It still will be about an hour before officials will be willing to give an all-clear in Hawaii, but there were no immediate reports of major damage around the Pacific rim. just tidal surges that reached up to about seven feet in some island chains. Gerard Fryer, a geophysist for the tsunami center, defended the decision to urge evacuations of coastal areas, saying \"better safe than sorry.\" THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below. HONOLULU (AP) \ufffd A tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Chile swept ashore in Hawaii on Saturday, but the initial waves did not appear to cause significant damage. The first waves looked more like an extreme fluctuation in the tide than the giant tsunami that Hawaii and the rest of the Pacific Ocean were bracing for after the magnitude-8.8 quake devastated Chile. The wave began affecting Hilo Bay on the Big Island just before noon local time. Water began pulling away from shore, exposing reefs and sending dark streaks of muddy, sandy water offshore. Water later washed over Coconut Island, a small park off the coast of Hilo. The tsunami was causing a series of surges that were about 20 minutes apart, and the waves arrived later and smaller than originally predicted. The highest wave at Hilo measured 5.5 feet high, while Maui saw some as high as 6 feet. No major damage was immediately reported, but scientists cautioned the waves would continue into the afternoon. The tsunami raced across the Pacific Ocean in terrifying force after the quake hit Chile hours earlier, giving Hawaii officials had ample time to get people out of the potential disaster area. Sirens blared in Hawaii to alert residents to the potential waves. As the waves expected arrival drew near, roads into tourist-heavy Waikiki were closed off. Police patrolled main roads, telling tourists to get off the streets. Authorities even flew overhead in Cessna blaring warnings to people to get out of the potential danger zone, and residents in Honolulu lined up at supermarkets to stock up on food and batteries. Cars lined up 15 long at several gas stations. The tsunami fear was not unique to Hawaii. The waves hit California, but barely registered a notice amid stormy weather. No injuries or property damage are reported. Authorities reported unusual tidal surges to the south of Santa Monica, in San Diego. A tsunami warning \ufffd the highest alert level \ufffd was in effect for Hawaii, Guam, American Samoa, Samoa and dozens of other Pacific islands. An advisory \ufffd the lowest level \ufffd includes California, Oregon, Washington state, parts of Alaska, and coastal British Colombia. The Navy was moving more than a half dozen vessels Saturday to try to avoid damage from the tsunami. A frigate, three destroyers and two smaller vessels were being sent out of Pearl Harbor and a cruiser out of Naval Base San Diego, the Navy said. In Tonga, where nine people died in a Sept. 29 tsunami, police and defense forces began evacuating tens of thousands of people from low-lying coastal areas as they warned residents that waves about three feet (one meter) high could wash ashore. \"I can hear the church bells ringing to alert the people,\" National Disaster Office deputy director Mali'u Takai said."}, {"response": 1096, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Feb 27, 2010 (18:13)", "body": "Seems like it ended up a non-event in HI as I watch now on CNN/MSNBC. Good thing."}, {"response": 1097, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Feb 27, 2010 (18:13)", "body": "LOL! Didn't see your post before I did mine."}, {"response": 1098, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Feb 27, 2010 (18:24)", "body": "And here I thought I was the only one who scrolled through long posts;-)"}, {"response": 1099, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Feb 27, 2010 (19:48)", "body": "Ha, I didn't even scroll. I just started typing when the box came up. I thought it was a post I already read until I saw it wasn't after mine posted. I *never* scroll through yours. :-D"}, {"response": 1100, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Feb 27, 2010 (21:05)", "body": "You know what's amazing so far, that for as huge as that earthquake was in Chile, relatively few lives have been lost compared to big earthquakes of recent years in China and Haiti. Only around 250 so far in Chile."}, {"response": 1101, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Mar  3, 2010 (21:33)", "body": "Everybody and their brother that I follow at Twitter tweeted or retweeted about this today. I really enjoyed seeing all the old ones come back again (well, except for Jim Carrey who I think is new to this group). Unfortunately, they all show how horrible of an Obama impression Fred Arminsen does (and Maya Rudolph as Michelle). Advocacy group gathers SNL all-stars to turn financial regulation push into laughs http://tinyurl.com/y858umj And the direct link to the video. There's a short behind the scenes video at this link also. http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/f5a57185bd/funny-or-die-s-presidential-reunion"}, {"response": 1102, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Mar  4, 2010 (19:27)", "body": "Par for the course for them. Not the first time. Leaked documents reveal GOP plan to use scare tactics to raise money 1 hr 3 mins ago National GOP leaders are doing damage control today after a Politico scoop lifted the curtain on the party's plan to tap voters' \"fear\" in the coming campaign season. The PR problem started when an absent-minded attendee at the Republican National Committee (RNC) confab on February 18 in Boca Grande, Florida, left a 72-page document from its 2010 strategizing session in a hotel room. Today, Politico reporter Ben Smith's expose is making headlines. The memo tracks the fundraising presentation that RNC Finance Director Rob Bickhart delivered to the RNC's $2,500-a-head annual retreat. The best path to victory in 2010, the document advises, is for Republican candidates to depict themselves as the best hope for resisting the \"trending toward socialism\" taking shape in a Democrat-dominated Washington. And the document doesn't shy from making its points graphically. MSNBC showed the images this morning on \"Morning Joe\": The presentation portrays the Obama administration as \"The Evil Empire,\" including the now-infamous image of President Obama made over in the makeup Heath Ledger used in his performance as the Joker in the 2008 Batman movie \"The Dark Knight.\" House Speaker Nancy Pelosi appears as Cruella De Vil from \"101 Dalmatians,\" and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is the witless cartoon dog Scooby-Doo. The memo candidly confirms that the aim of such caricature is to amp up \"fear\" among the GOP's conservative base. The memo also makes fun of major RNC donors, categorizing some as \"ego-driven\" and easily pacified with \"tchochkes\" (a Slavic word for toys). The embrace of harsh rhetoric and the swipes at the large donor set seem to signal the GOP establishment's growing comfort with employing tactics associated with the activist Tea Party movement\ufffdand with plying Tea Party sympathizers for cash. Of course, it isn't unusual for parties out of power to court controversy and play with fire to rile up donors and grass-roots activists. The RNC has caught heat for fundraising tactics in the past, most recently when it was caught sending out fake census forms to raise money. And Democrats have shown a demagogic streak in the past, depicting George W. Bush and Dick Cheney as Bond-like supervillains and playing up alleged GOP plans to kill Social Security to rally voters behind a popular entitlement program. When asked by Yahoo! News if the leaked presentation reflects a coordinated effort to appeal more to the Tea Party movement, RNC spokesman Doug Heye replied that the group's chairman, Michael Steele, \"was recently invited by Tea Party activists to a meeting, which he was happy to do. Following the meeting, it was clear those in the meeting shared a common goal: stopping the Obama/Pelosi/Reid agenda.\" As for plans to further that alliance with the inflammatory material in the memo, Heye reiterated what he'd told Politico earlier: \"The language and the imagery will not be used in any capacity in the future.\" There's no question that the Obama-as-Joker image\ufffdlong a familiar icon at Tea Party rallies\ufffdis a toxic association for the GOP establishment. Oddly enough, though, that image's origins can be traced to the activist left. As revealed by the Los Angeles Times last year, the image was created by a supporter of Rep. Dennis Kucinich, a University of Illinois student named Firas Alkhateeb, who told the Times that he uploaded the photo onto his Flickr page, and a conservative activist promptly snatched it up. Such are the odd convergences of movement politics. However, the RNC may have more trouble distancing itself from the equation of Democratic policy with socialism, however, since Michael Steele is credited with originating that meme in the health care debate. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/20100304/ts_ynews/ynews_ts1217;_ylt=ApeRTBqgwOS8sdpY0OoKJuys0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTFpcHM2bzFvBHBvcwMzNwRzZWMDYWNjb3JkaW9uX21vc3RfcG9wdWxhcgRzbGsDbGVha2VkZG9jdW1l"}, {"response": 1103, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Mar  4, 2010 (20:26)", "body": "Oh c'mon Dorine...is this the best you can come up with ? I've been exceedingly polite not to bring up any of the current Dem faux pas. Really....*rolling eyes*"}, {"response": 1104, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Mar  4, 2010 (20:37)", "body": "Hey, bring 'em on. I'm thick skinned. I don't staunchly defend candidates in my party when it's clear they have done something illegal/immoral/unethical, etc. (If you saw what I post to my FB page, you'd know that ;-)). I'm thrilled that Rangel has finally relented his silly idea of keeping his post. And it's been clear for quite some time that that Gov of mine has been clearly over his head to say the least and I can't believe he and people in his admin were so stupid to do anything even close to illegal coming on the heels of that Spitzer debacle and the State House Speaker's issues as well. And thank God the Federal judge didn't hold up getting rid of that state Rep (mine! from Queens!) when his colleagues pushed him out after he was convicted of beating up his girlfriend. And I probably voted for him! Ugh. You won't catch me defending elected officials if they've clearly done something wrong. I'm not a 25-percenter. ;-)"}, {"response": 1105, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Mar  4, 2010 (20:41)", "body": "Oooh, just saw this right after I posted above. Another person has quit the Paterson administration. If the Spokesman quit, it's literally a matter of time (days?) before Paterson's toast. http://www.aolnews.com/politics/article/ny-governor-david-patersons-top-spokesman-quits-amid-scandal/19383832?icid=main|main|dl1|link4|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aolnews.com%2Fpolitics%2Farticle%2Fny-governor-david-patersons-top-spokesman-quits-amid-scandal%2F19383832"}, {"response": 1106, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Mar  5, 2010 (09:36)", "body": "LOL. Sorry, I don't have the time to be your daily sparring partner. Besides, that's not my style. You know that. XXXXXXXXXXX;-)"}, {"response": 1107, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Mar 18, 2010 (15:08)", "body": "So what is going on with the Health care vote? They keep moving the date. Keeping fingers crossed for a speedy pass. Kara DioGuardi's father is running for office in NY. She's been on the talk shows announcing it."}, {"response": 1108, "author": "mari", "date": "Thu, Mar 18, 2010 (16:20)", "body": "Moon, I was just on a conference call with Hewitt re: health care. They could vote as early as Sunday."}, {"response": 1109, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Mar 18, 2010 (18:17)", "body": "Thanks, Mari. Kuchinich (sp?) announced he was supporting HC reform! He gave a very articulate explanation too. It is a must for the consevative Republicans to hear. Click and scroll down: http://www.aolnews.com/healthcare/article/house-democrats-on-track-for-vote-on-940-billion-health-care-bill/19404776"}, {"response": 1110, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Mar 18, 2010 (18:18)", "body": "Two must reads. How health care will reduce deficit: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/18/AR2010031801153.html?hpid=topnews And, student loans too: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/18/AR2010031802289.html?hpid=topnews"}, {"response": 1111, "author": "Moon", "date": "Fri, Mar 19, 2010 (11:53)", "body": "So now it looks like the reform will pass in the House, but not the Senate and it might be up to the Supreme Court. Heaven Forbid!!! Just found out that Scalia will be the speaker at my son's high school graduation in June. And I sat next to Sonia Sotomayor at a pizzeria in DC a couple of weeks ago. My future lawyer son snuck a pic on his phone and immediately texted it to hia law school friends, lol."}, {"response": 1112, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Mar 21, 2010 (01:47)", "body": "Ok, my (Republican) friend just posted this link a little while ago on her FB page with this comment.... http://www.sullivan-county.com/wcva/lilley_obamacare.htm \"Mr. Obama, his family, our senators, their families and our congressmen and their families are exempt from the very Health Care Plan they are fighting desperately to shove down our throats. If it is so good for the American people, why are they choosing to exempt themselves?\" \"Some very troubling provisions in this bill.......such as rationing cancer treatment based on age, and on, and on.\" What's wrong with what she posted in relation to the vote tomorrow?? Anyone? Bueller?"}, {"response": 1113, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Mar 21, 2010 (01:49)", "body": "I should clarify to say what's wrong with the info at the link she posted in relation to tomorrow's vote?"}, {"response": 1114, "author": "mari", "date": "Sun, Mar 21, 2010 (09:41)", "body": "Wy post this nonsense? It's not true, I can tell you that just by glancing down the list. It even talks about the public option--which has been out of the bill for eons. Desperate scare tactics."}, {"response": 1115, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Mar 21, 2010 (10:34)", "body": "I know, right? And she does the same job I do (matter of fact was my boss for a very short time several years ago). Besides that, that is addressing the bill HR 3200 from last year, not the ones being voted on today. There are some elements I believe from 3200 into the one for today, but still. I had told her that this guy seemed like he was a bit too close to the fringe and I couldn't take 99% of it seriously, but she didn't agree with that of course. The multiple references to ACORN is what tipped me off that this guy wasn't to be taken seriously. I wrote that and a couple of other things to her, but then decided to erase it as it gets difficult to get into more lengthy discussions about various points on FB vs. a forum like this."}, {"response": 1116, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Mar 21, 2010 (10:49)", "body": "Just for reference, here's the text to the bill (HR 4872) http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h4872/text And a summary of each section: http://www.opencongress.org/articles/view/1738-Summary-of-the-HCR-Reconiliation-Bill -"}, {"response": 1117, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Mar 21, 2010 (11:01)", "body": "First and foremost every American should know that Mr. Obama, his family, our senators, their families and our congressmen and their families are exempt from the very Health Care Plan they are fighting desperately to shove down our throats. Seems this misrepresentation can be traced to someone at the WSJ: http://www.factcheck.org/2010/01/congress-exempt-from-health-bill/"}, {"response": 1118, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Mar 21, 2010 (11:55)", "body": "Thanks! I'll post that to her. I was again rereading that link she sent originally and it just riles me up! The ignorance of it! Or misrepresentation of the items at the very least. And she just said this: \"And, even the Chief Actuary at HHS cannot provide a cost analysis before the vote. The CBO did predict savings, but that was before the change made regarding Medicare. The vote will be today anyway... and we are supposed to think one of the main objective's is to cut the deficit? They believe the American people are stupid, which admittedly, is not so far-fetched. \" While I don't totally disagree about the stupid Americans part, posting that original link didn't do her any favors in that argument."}, {"response": 1119, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Mar 21, 2010 (12:45)", "body": "And, even the Chief Actuary at HHS cannot provide a cost analysis before the vote. Did she have the same concerns with all the legislation proposed by the Bush administration? Running up deficits didn't bother jer a couple of years ago, why now? we are supposed to think one of the main objective's is to cut the deficit? No, we are supposed to think it will provide health care reform, not pave roads or subsidize farmers or pardon Wall Street crooks."}, {"response": 1120, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sun, Mar 21, 2010 (14:30)", "body": "My DH writes for one of Italy's leading daily paper. He wrote an article about healthcare in today's paper and he's been getting emails non-stop. In Italy people don't understand why Americans would be against this very needed reform. But as he has explained it has also to do ignorance. And the \"socialist\" threat. The Republicans are also saying that if it passes, those who vote in favor will be out of office come election time. Here we go again with the scare tactics. Obama has stated that he would like everyone to have the same heath coverage as they do in Congress. I'm sure that it is a lot better than the one I pay for now. So what's wrong with that? Why don't Republicans want us to have the their same coverage? I'm sick of the political game, and I can opnly hope that the reform passes, and the people vote those selfish AH out of office."}, {"response": 1121, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Mar 21, 2010 (15:13)", "body": "(Moon) The Republicans are also saying that if it passes, those who vote in favor will be out of office come election time. Here we go again with the scare tactics. Funny you say that, she said the same thing... \"Another thing I like- many, not all, of the bozo's who do vote for the bill, may be sealing their fate to lose re-election come November.\" Needless to say, she gave up finally. Funnily, I asked for the specifics regarding that cancer provision she was upset about, said she found it but had to go take a shower (conveniently) and never came back to it, all the while telling me I hadn't given her specifics about what I liked in the bill (which I did list verbatim from the bill summary I linked to) other than saying some things good were better than nothing. Too bad I can't link to it for you to read for yourselves. Would be much easier to see how the conversation went."}, {"response": 1122, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Mar 21, 2010 (15:46)", "body": "HuffPo reports Nancy Pelosi reportedly making her way to Capital Hill carrying the same gavel used in 1965 to pass Medicare."}, {"response": 1123, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sun, Mar 21, 2010 (18:43)", "body": "Good luck charm. May it work."}, {"response": 1124, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Mar 22, 2010 (15:07)", "body": "How they voted. See who you must vote out of office for voting no: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/politics/votes/house/healthcare/"}, {"response": 1125, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Mar 23, 2010 (10:11)", "body": "Uh oh...lots to read. Just popping in to say :\"Hello\" Hope you all bought Big Pharma and Hospital stocks. They led the Dow yesterday. Thanks to Mr Obama's deal with Big Pharma ...there are no caps on prices, and provisions that favored generic drug makers also got cut out. All good news for Pfizer , Merck ,Eli Lilly . (Who also give fat dividends). The reform plan will cost dug companies $85 B over 10 yrs, but offset by money from all those new customers. Hospitals will provide more preventice and less emergency care..Health Magangement Ass., Tenet and Community Health Services will get more patients who have insurance. Just like Christmas...and just think...it won't cost anyone a dime;-D\\ Whooooopeeeeee! Don't know if people can buy insurance across state lines in this bill..you know, competition."}, {"response": 1126, "author": "mari", "date": "Tue, Mar 23, 2010 (15:06)", "body": "(Evelyn)Hope you all bought Big Pharma and Hospital stocks. They led the Dow yesterday. LOL, we did! Good thing I didn't listen to Cramer on CNBC who was shouting the sky is falling last week and to sell, sell, sell. Jeez, 32 million new customers . . . it ain't rocket science.;-) Don't know if people can buy insurance across state lines in this bill..you know, competition. Was just on a conference call with some Congressional liasons and this was brought up. The answer is yes, the law requires that at least two multi-state qualified health plans will be offered."}, {"response": 1127, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Mar 23, 2010 (16:36)", "body": "You mean now you can buy AARP? Have been thinking all day of other companies that will gain... GE makes hospital equipment....CT Scans etc Stryker and Medtronic make implants, stents, knee and hip replacements. Might as well cash in on this bill. Might help for the rise in dividend and capital gains tax you'll have to pay. Now if they only would have included litigation reform. That might have helped keep health costs down. But no such luck. Lawyers have a lock on such."}, {"response": 1128, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Mar 23, 2010 (17:54)", "body": "\"What does health insurance reform actually mean for me?\" To help, we've put together some of the key benefits from health insurance reform. Let's start with how health insurance reform will expand and strengthen coverage: This year, children with pre-existing conditions can no longer be denied health insurance coverage. Once the new health insurance exchanges begin in the coming years, pre-existing condition discrimination will become a thing of the past for everyone. This year, health care plans will allow young people to remain on their parents' insurance policy up until their 26th birthday. This year, insurance companies will be banned from dropping people from coverage when they get sick, and they will be banned from implementing lifetime caps on coverage. This year, restrictive annual limits on coverage will be banned for certain plans. Under health insurance reform, Americans will be ensured access to the care they need. This year, adults who are uninsured because of pre-existing conditions will have access to affordable insurance through a temporary subsidized high-risk pool. In the next fiscal year, the bill increases funding for community health centers, so they can treat nearly double the number of patients over the next five years. This year, we'll also establish an independent commission to advise on how best to build the health care workforce and increase the number of nurses, doctors and other professionals to meet our country's needs. Going forward, we will provide $1.5 billion in funding to support the next generation of doctors, nurses and other primary care practitioners -- on top of a $500 million investment from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Health insurance reform will also curb some of the worst insurance industry practices and strengthen consumer protections: This year, this bill creates a new, independent appeals process that ensures consumers in new private plans have access to an effective process to appeal decisions made by their insurer. This year, discrimination based on salary will be outlawed. New group health plans will be prohibited from establishing any eligibility rules for health care coverage that discriminate in favor of higher-wage employees. Beginning this fiscal year, this bill provides funding to states to help establish offices of health insurance consumer assistance in order to help individuals in the process of filing complaints or appeals against insurance companies. Starting January 1, 2011, insurers in the individual and small group market will be required to spend 80 percent of their premium dollars on medical services. Insurers in the large group market will be required to spend 85 percent of their premium dollars on medical services. Any insurers who don't meet those thresholds will be required to provide rebates to their policyholders. Starting in 2011, this bill helps states require insurance companies to submit justification for requested premium increases. Any company with excessive or unjustified premium increases may not be able to participate in the new health insurance exchanges. Reform immediately begins to lower health care costs for American families and small businesses: This year, small businesses that choose to offer coverage will begin to receive tax credits of up to 35 percent of premiums to help make employee coverage more affordable. This year, new private plans will be required to provide free preventive care: no co-payments and no deductibles for preventive services. And beginning January 1, 2011, Medicare will do the same. This year, this bill will provide help for early retirees by creating a temporary re-insurance program to help offset the costs of expensive premiums for employers and retirees age 55-64. This year, this bill starts to close the Medicare Part D 'donut hole' by providing a $250 rebate to Medicare beneficiaries who hit the gap in prescription drug coverage. And beginning in 2011, the bill institutes a 50% discount on prescription drugs in the 'donut hole.' Nancy-Ann DeParle Director, White House Office of Health Reform"}, {"response": 1129, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Mar 23, 2010 (19:53)", "body": "This year, this bill starts to close the Medicare Part D 'donut hole' by providing a $250 rebate to Medicare beneficiaries who hit the gap in prescription drug coverage. And beginning in 2011, the bill institutes a 50% discount on prescription drugs in the 'donut hole Thank you, Mr Obama. Buy Big Pharma! What a windfall! You can't lose:-)))))))"}, {"response": 1130, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Mar 23, 2010 (21:10)", "body": "Why would that b any different for phrma than now other than govt paying for donut hole drugs partially rather than people out of pocket? And btw, we have ur friend Mr Bush to thank for the initial big gimme to phrma....no govt discounts. And his rx drug discount cards plan served to have drug companies jack up prices by cost of discount."}, {"response": 1131, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Mar 24, 2010 (00:15)", "body": "I thought this was kind of cool...Obama's healthcare speech with handwritten corrections. http://www.flickr.com/photos/61139623@N00/4456618289/sizes/o/"}, {"response": 1132, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Mar 24, 2010 (09:50)", "body": "discount cards plan served to have drug companies jack up prices by cost of discount Your opinion? Fact? Blogs?;-) Besides. All I said was: \"Buy Pharma\"....I want you to make $$$$ on this bill, Dorine;-D Hold the health insurance companies though. Watch this space....."}, {"response": 1133, "author": "mari", "date": "Wed, Mar 24, 2010 (12:00)", "body": "For me, it's a moral issue. It's the right thing to do. I was so proud of the Catholic nuns (representing 60 orders and 60,000 nuns nationwiwide) who broke with the bishops over the weekend in backing the bill, saying, and I quote, \"This the REAL pro-life stance, and we as Catholics are all for it.\" That got a lot of press, and provided some political cover for those who needed it. And, as Evelyn pointed out, I think this will be good for many sectors of the economy. And if I have to pay more in taxes on investment income, so be it--at least I *have* investment income, at least I *have* capital gains, both of which mean that the economy is moving forward and I'm still ahead financially even with the taxes. What a happy problem that is. We are our brothers keepers."}, {"response": 1134, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Mar 24, 2010 (13:44)", "body": "Oh I agree with you....as you well know. I understand this new bill will allow illegals to *buy* health insurance. A must. Keep them out of the ER which means everyone's premiums get raised. In fact, my socialist son tells me that the four components of the bill originally were in the Republican plan in answer to Hillarycare. There are some good components...sadly nothing to contain healthcare costs. It's just the MO in which it was passed that galls me. Sleazy payolas. Backroom deals. Moving figues around. This is transparency? This is change? My f riends, this is \"business as usual\". The American people aren't stupid. And that is not the Republican spin. There are Dems and Independents that are having \"buyer's remorse\" I was just reading that it was John McCain that wanted to import drugs. But nooooooo. Hey, if you give those Congressmen enough goodies, they'd sell the Capitol to the Iranians. Anyone can pass a bill that way; let alone sign it."}, {"response": 1135, "author": "mari", "date": "Wed, Mar 24, 2010 (15:39)", "body": "The old adage holds true: \"Laws are like sausages: if you like them, don't watch them being made.\" To believe anything else is to be naive. The legislative process ain't pretty, but yes, this is how things get done. The simple fact is that every President has had to do some \"horse trading\" to get legislation passed. I look at \"what's the greater good?\" And in this law's instance, the answer to me is clear. Reportedly, many of the the worst gimmies will be eliminated via the Reconciliation bill that they hope to sign by end of week."}, {"response": 1136, "author": "OzFirthFan", "date": "Wed, Mar 24, 2010 (16:41)", "body": "It's a start, at least. Socialised medicine is a *good* thing - I can tell you from experience. Congratulations to the US on joining the 20th century (it's only 10 years into the 21st now). Let's hope things continue to progress - one big step would be in kicking some of those damned so-called \"health insurance\" companies to the kerb. Because a \"for profit\" company isn't going to be all that interested in doing its best to ensure people receive the best possible medical care, let's face it. Seriously though - congratulations!"}, {"response": 1137, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Mar 24, 2010 (16:42)", "body": "(Me) discount cards plan served to have drug companies jack up prices by cost of discount (Evelyn) Your opinion? Fact? Blogs?;-) I was a drug rep for a drug company when it was passed/enacted. I tended to follow what was going on in relation to it."}, {"response": 1138, "author": "mari", "date": "Wed, Mar 24, 2010 (17:22)", "body": "Yes, it is a start. Not perfect by a long shot, but a start. It gives us a framework and something to build on. I salute the Prez for a)taking it on, and b)getting it done. At considerable political risk."}, {"response": 1139, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Mar 24, 2010 (17:36)", "body": "Anything other than a \"smoking gun\" (the memo from mamagement to jack up prices) surely won't accepted as fact. ;-)"}, {"response": 1140, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Mar 24, 2010 (17:38)", "body": "Blue Cross ain't going to go away. I am confident there will always be deals;like there was this time. And then of course, it doesn't take effect immediately ....and who knows there might be a change in government by then. Even in \"socialized medicine\" countries, one can always subscribe to private plans that will give a person choice. And not be dependent on the government healthcare."}, {"response": 1141, "author": "OzFirthFan", "date": "Wed, Mar 24, 2010 (18:35)", "body": "In Australia, Evelyn, you can get private insurance coverage -- but it's based on the assumption that you are entitled to medicare. There's no such thing as \"not being dependent on government healthcare\". To the best of my knowledge, if you don't have medicare, you can't get private healthcare here."}, {"response": 1142, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Mar 24, 2010 (19:09)", "body": "I've had Blue Cross/ Blue Shield and any little excuse they could come up with not to pay they did, and my premiums went up every year, that was ridiculous and wrong. Other insurance companies did the same. This reform is a step in the right direction. Plus, it does not cover abortions. If you want to drive a car you must have car insurance, if you have a mortgage, you must have house insurance. Americans accept that, so what's the problem with paying health insurance?"}, {"response": 1143, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Mar 24, 2010 (21:05)", "body": "so what's the problem with paying health insurance? I concur. But the opposition thinking is that one has a choice in the first two instances (one doesn't have to drive a car or own a home etc)but the gov't isn't giving people a choice on health insurance. 16 K IRS agents will make sure you do. However, listening to NPR this aft one caller said that in Mass. the healthy/young would rather pay the fine and take insurance once they get sick."}, {"response": 1144, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Mar 24, 2010 (22:07)", "body": "The govt isnt making sure u get health insurance. Pay the fine and don't get it. Simple as that. Just like I'm choosing not to for the moment (bcause of cost of it). I just have no fine at the moment, which frankly would be cheaper per yr."}, {"response": 1145, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Mar 24, 2010 (22:09)", "body": "And one has to have a car if there is no available mass transit."}, {"response": 1146, "author": "OzFirthFan", "date": "Wed, Mar 24, 2010 (22:13)", "body": "It's not a fine, Evelyn, it's a tax. A health tax. And it's paid by every single citizen in every single developed country except the US, practically, and you know what? Our health costs, per capita, are lower than yours. And our infant mortality rate is lower and our life expectancy is higher. So a change is in order, whether it's the \"perfect system\" or not - it's highly likely to be better than the present system."}, {"response": 1147, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Mar 24, 2010 (22:43)", "body": "(Moon) Americans accept that, so what's the problem with paying health insurance? Well, car insurance paid is generally considerably less a percentage of income than health insurance when paid out of pocket and not through work coverage. I went to a slightly longer than 90 min meeting last night to explain details in the new law. It was an overload of information and we barely scratched the surface IMO. Hopefully I'll get to information we discussed by the end of the weekend. I didn't even take notes on it all, so honestly I'll miss a lot I'm sure. They say they plan to have a series of informational meetings that I hope I can get to."}, {"response": 1148, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Mar 24, 2010 (22:44)", "body": "Actually, Sarah, with the new mandate, we do call it a fine. At least that's how we referred to it last night and no one corrected us."}, {"response": 1149, "author": "OzFirthFan", "date": "Thu, Mar 25, 2010 (01:28)", "body": "Ah yes - my bad. I didn't realize what she was referring to - seems that people who opt out of paying for insurance are fined. Here in Oz you get insurance (medicare) regardless, and if you earn more than a certain amount you either get private health care (which is more of a \"gap coverage\"), or pay an extra amount in taxes. But your \"base\" health care is covered, no matter what. It's an entitlement. I prefer the approach that every citizen is entitled to basic health care. And I don't mind the fact that some of what I pay goes to subsidize those who can't afford to pay."}, {"response": 1150, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Mar 25, 2010 (09:54)", "body": "Hey, I'm the only Republican here (a centrist one at that..with a foot in each camp.Those who know me will attest to that ) and I really don't have as much time as you have online....so I can't answer everybody. Sorry. Sarah, I forget where you are currently living & ...but here we have to call it a fine,something about the Constitution can't force people by such a tax. (Sarah, I think) And I don't mind the fact that some of what I pay goes to subsidize those who can't afford to pay. Actually, in the US that occurs as well. Higher insurance premiums , and US fed funds do go to pay for ER visits from those who don't have insurance. Which, BTW , aren't the indigent. They have Medicaid. Often, they are illegals, or the pariahs who choose not to pay for insurance. I won't even go into the car insurance vs. health. Ludicrous. Let's see now....who else."}, {"response": 1151, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Mar 25, 2010 (16:55)", "body": "car insurance vs. health. Ludicrous. It's accepted, period. Basic health care for everyone in the long term will cost the Gov less for obvious reasons. What we need now is for the AMA to open up to more doctors. Back to the old supply and demand. More doctors would make their fees go down. Of course, that opens up to debate the extreme high cost of Medical School with their closed numbers. That should all go hand in hand with the reform."}, {"response": 1152, "author": "sandyw", "date": "Thu, Mar 25, 2010 (22:58)", "body": "We in Canada have had the \"pleasure\" of hosting Ann Coulter recently and I just have to ask - Do people really take her seriously? Is she a thought leader in the U.S.?"}, {"response": 1153, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Mar 26, 2010 (06:51)", "body": "Just had a longer answer that I accidentally erased on the phone. Short answer, more fringe Republicans I wager, but probably some less than that far right. Thought that appearance was cancelled at last minute for security reasons."}, {"response": 1154, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Mar 26, 2010 (10:22)", "body": "Ann Coulter has a following in the US on the right just as some far -Left Wing members favor some of their more liberal members. Every country has extremes....including Israel which I just left 5 days ago. That's called \"democracy\", Sandy."}, {"response": 1155, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Mar 26, 2010 (17:04)", "body": "(Moon) What we need now is for the AMA to open up to more doctors. Back to the old supply and demand. More doctors would make their fees go down. Of course, that opens up to debate the extreme high cost of Medical School with their closed numbers. That should all go hand in hand with the reform. Actually, more of the problem is that not enough MD's are choosing primary care instead of other specialties like radiology, GI, cardiology, etc. They choose those to pay off the massive school loans. There is talk of creating incentives to choose primary care instead."}, {"response": 1156, "author": "Moon", "date": "Fri, Mar 26, 2010 (20:07)", "body": "Glad to hear it, Dorine. A talented primary care MD is very hard to come by. Coulter was boycotted in Ottawa, Canada. Student protesters made it all happen."}, {"response": 1157, "author": "maccalinda", "date": "Fri, Mar 26, 2010 (22:28)", "body": "I don't know if I'm right putting this here...but feel a NEED to share...for the benefit of others. It's RE: these internet romeos that scam lonely hearts. This week, I caused a very dear friends world to fall apart and heart be broken when I exposed her internet love of 2 mths to be one of those romance scammers. This one in particular is of the Nigerian scams that are going around. To try and be brief, she met him on a dating site. His photo was stolen from a Hawaiian models site. Claimed he was living in Australia but was in UK caring for sick mother, in need of surgery. The romance 'blossomed' with cards and long phone calls and hints of marriage, when he got back home. His homecoming was postponed many times...next week, next week.... then the inevitable story - I need to pay my mothers medical bills, but I can't access my Australian funds...if I could only pay the bills, I could come home to you darling...and have that wonderful rosy future we had planned together. Her friends had growing suspicions but didnt want to hurt her or cause a rift. But finally this week, I'd had enuf, found out enough details from her to scour the net and search for him. Took me most of the night but found him on romancescam.com ...with a scamming history going back 5 yrs....and many victims So I guess my motivation for writing this, is, ladies & gents, beware...and to all friends of these people, don't be afraid to be honest to your friends if you suspect they are getting into that sort of situation...I felt terrible at the time...but it very nearly cost my friends thousands of dollars....so it is worth the risk... I hope Im not out of place writing this here?? cheers"}, {"response": 1158, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Mar 26, 2010 (22:51)", "body": "Thanks. That's good information. If someone had said something sooner, she'd most likely not have listened and even run faster toward him."}, {"response": 1159, "author": "maccalinda", "date": "Fri, Mar 26, 2010 (23:58)", "body": "Exactly right Dorine...she did react negatively to one person who suggested it was a scam....so I quietly found out names and details from her, thru conversation, then did my homework on the net before hand...then the proof was undeniable. Underhanded and sneaky...I felt awful doing it...but in hindsight ... it's worked out well, fortunately....and it was thanks to the other victims who have posted their experiences to prevent others from doing the same."}, {"response": 1160, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Sat, Mar 27, 2010 (05:42)", "body": "Thanks, for the information, Linda. I have a UK friend whom may consider internet dating. Are there 'safe' sites or is it all a bit of a lottery?"}, {"response": 1161, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Mar 27, 2010 (10:24)", "body": "You are to be applauded, Linda, for being a great friend and putting in all the time and effort on her behalf. It's always sad to hear such stories. But lonely women have fallen victim to such schemes for ages. This is just another variation of an old con. :-("}, {"response": 1162, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Mar 27, 2010 (10:57)", "body": "You are a true friend indeed, Linda. I hope she appreciates all your efforts. Someone less caring would have just ignored the whole saga."}, {"response": 1163, "author": "maccalinda", "date": "Sun, Mar 28, 2010 (03:44)", "body": "It's the worry of confronting your friend and losing your friend in the process...that made it such an uncomfortable thing to do...felt like such betrayal. I think Sue, most dating sites are a bit of a lottery... Even found the guy on Facebook, under a different name - one of many...and warned all his friends - all ladies, of course...and reported him. It's scary that if you don't take precaution with your privacy settings on things like Facebook, these guys can 'watch' you and figure you out...then hook you in...my friend kept talking about her soul mate and love on FB...and he could see she was falling hook line & sinker... On investigation, it seems her had dozens of women 'on-the-go' at one time... Sounds too organised to be just one person IMO. Thanks for your thoughts ladies..."}, {"response": 1164, "author": "maccalinda", "date": "Sun, Mar 28, 2010 (03:47)", "body": "BTW Sue, another friend found her husband on RSVP.com...and they are expecting their first child now...he is a wonderful guy...so it can work for many...but my friend was VERY private and VERY careful & select before she actually went on a date with anyone...good luck to your friend..."}, {"response": 1165, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Sun, Mar 28, 2010 (05:42)", "body": "Thanks, Linda. I know of a person whom found her second husband quite late in life (after her family grew up) through internet dating. She is now happily married. Her experience was a success, but it's good to be aware of the dangers. I will pass on the information."}, {"response": 1166, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Mar 31, 2010 (21:44)", "body": "Obama is really not thrilling me today. Between the ridiculous energy policy and several other things, he'd better get his act together or I'll be ready for .....who's the next in line Dem expected to run for POTUS??"}, {"response": 1167, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Apr  1, 2010 (17:04)", "body": "I'm sure POTUS is worried;-D"}, {"response": 1168, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Apr  1, 2010 (19:26)", "body": "Whatever."}, {"response": 1169, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Apr  2, 2010 (15:02)", "body": "Too funny... A doctor in Orlando posted this sign on his door.... http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/os-mount-dora-doctor-tells-patients-go-aw20100401,0,6040296,full.story Hope you doctor doesn't ask you;-)"}, {"response": 1170, "author": "OzFirthFan", "date": "Fri, Apr  2, 2010 (19:21)", "body": "I sincerely hope ALL of his patients voted for Obama. :-) What an idiot."}, {"response": 1171, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Apr  2, 2010 (19:36)", "body": "Oh Sarah...Im sure no one took it seriously. But a lot of these medics are pretty incensed. They have been accustomed to ordering tests and procedures that they think would benefit the patient in the correct diagnosis. Now there will be panels that will utlimately approve such."}, {"response": 1172, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Apr  2, 2010 (23:58)", "body": "(Evelyn) They have been accustomed to ordering tests and procedures that they think would benefit the patient in the correct diagnosis. And many of them are instead practicing defensive medicine in case of a lawsuit. Of course there are already \"panels\" (usually of one) at any private insurance company approving such. And sometimes I think the right hand doesn't know what the left is doing. Saw a denial for treatment letter today, dated yesterday denying the patient's stay and treatment and an authorization letter written a few days before authorizing his treatment through April 4th. The April 1st letter is clearly written as if the other one with auth didn't already exist. I did find that sign pretty amusing to be honest, regardless if he meant it or not. Don't like the sentiment at all, and as the ethics guy in the article said, could be quite ethically sticky a position to publicly proclaim, but I was amused how he said it. So rude almost, so blunt. And if I told you how it works in my line of work to maximize reimbursement (including creative notewriting - which believe me they don't teach you in school), it might make your head spin."}, {"response": 1173, "author": "mari", "date": "Sat, Apr  3, 2010 (09:44)", "body": "Now there will be panels that will utlimately approve such. There's nothing in the new law that expands this beyond where it already is today. Like Sarah Palin's \"death panels.\" LOL."}, {"response": 1174, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Apr  3, 2010 (10:45)", "body": "Re: \"Death Panels: Just a eupehmism ,for they still do have \"end of life counseling sessions\". The VA has had them for yrs, I am told. Not my cuppa' ;-) Panels that approve or dis have been around for a long time; HMO's/PPo's have them. Actually, Medicare often refuses to pay for a procedure/treatment. That's why one has to sign a form that says in the event your provider doesn't pay the patient has to. But it has never been extended to private practices."}, {"response": 1175, "author": "mari", "date": "Sat, Apr  3, 2010 (11:52)", "body": "Don't you think the term \"death panels\" is demagoguery? Sounds like if you have a sniffle, they're going to take you out back and start shooting.;-) That's not what this is, at all. And you're right, it's not new. That's why one has to sign a form that says in the event your provider doesn't pay the patient has to. Evelyn, I've had to routinely sign such forms with private insurance, for pretty much everything other than doctors office visits and presciptions. They want to make sure they'll get paid in case your insurance doesn't cover it, or cover it in full."}, {"response": 1176, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Apr  3, 2010 (13:05)", "body": "(Mari)\"death panels\" is demagoguery? Sounds like if you have a sniffle, they're going to take you out back and start shooting.;-) LOL. I never took it that lightly. \"Death Panels\"always applied to Seniors who were ill. Gaaaaagh;-) Yes, patients formerly had to sign forms, but in the new bureauocracy (AKA \"New World Order\";-) doctors would have to first get approval from \"Big Brother\";-)."}, {"response": 1177, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Apr  3, 2010 (14:03)", "body": "(Evelyn) Re: \"Death Panels: Just a eupehmism ,for they still do have \"end of life counseling sessions\". The VA has had them for yrs, I am told. Not my cuppa' ;-) But oh so needed. So much wasted $$ on treatments for clearly terminal patients (including multiple rehospitalizations). May sound cruel, but I'm telling you, had to deal with many such cases at the hospital my company dealt with who clearly should've gone on hospice instead trying to be saved. Hospice is a dirty word at that place. The doctors and social workers rarely bring it up. They have a palliative care program that while it did grow some, was still criminally underused, mainly because there was not enough support (or maybe even awareness) of it. Though I think the program suffered a setback when the director died of recurring cancer. So much wasted resources in such cases. (Evelyn) Panels that approve or dis have been around for a long time; HMO's/PPo's have them. Exactly my point from above.... Of course there are already \"panels\" (usually of one) at any private insurance company approving such. \"Death Panels\"always applied to Seniors who were ill. Why just seniors? Under 65'ers die everyday, too. doctors would have to first get approval from \"Big Brother\";-). Could you please cite where this is spelled out? Don't tell me you don't have time."}, {"response": 1178, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Apr  3, 2010 (14:12)", "body": "but in the new bureauocracy (AKA \"New World Order\";-) doctors would have to first get approval from \"Big Brother\";-). Hate to tell you, that's what HMO's/private insurance/managed Medicare-Medicaid have always done. It's called pre-authorization (note the example I gave above with the denial/approval letters). Again, nothing new."}, {"response": 1179, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Apr  3, 2010 (14:55)", "body": "Yes, far better to rely on individuals/panels at insurance companies who are pressured or incentivized to deny doctor-recommended care to preserve the company's bottom line. For-profit health care and patient interest are usually at odds."}, {"response": 1180, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Apr  3, 2010 (14:59)", "body": "LOL at your name!!"}, {"response": 1181, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Apr  3, 2010 (15:05)", "body": "LOL at your name!! For-profit health care and patient interest are usually at odds. I just said basically exactly that to a (Candian) coworker last week when talking about the healthcare reform law. She's been working here just 18 mos. Reform also won't work (as I've said numerous times) without individuals changing lifestyles and expectations regarding their health and healthcare as well."}, {"response": 1182, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Apr  3, 2010 (15:23)", "body": "May sound cruel,... It is. Between my family and a clergy member, yes. Government. No. Sorry."}, {"response": 1183, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Apr  3, 2010 (15:36)", "body": "doctors would have to first get approval from \"Big Brother\";-). Could you please cite where this is spelled out? Don't tell me you don't have time. \"I read it someplace\" ;-)"}, {"response": 1184, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Apr  3, 2010 (16:39)", "body": "(Evelyn) It is. Between my family and a clergy member, yes. Of course. But not your doctor??? The one who's working with you on your health?? I'm not sure you actually know what you're talking about re: end of life counseling and death panels. Or rather what it all really means. I'm seeing a skewed view of this that really makes no sense."}, {"response": 1185, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Apr  3, 2010 (17:03)", "body": "May sound cruel,... It is. Between my family and a clergy member, yes. Actually, no, it's not cruel. If someone's in the hospital for the third time in a month, or been in for weeks and even days, etc, and clearly is terminal, the doctor damn well better be talking to you about options, it's his job....with family of course if there is any....and clergy if so desired. It's no different than them stating all the options for any treatment as well as possible side effects/repercussions. It's cruel to prolong suffering by not stating all options. It's cruel to give someone hope when there's none. And should the patient be over 65 on that socialistic program called Medicare, it drains the coiffers of that unnecessarily, which the last time I checked, added costs to the government which is something you and my other Republican friends complain about."}, {"response": 1186, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Apr  3, 2010 (17:05)", "body": "Per your favorite, WSJ: \" The cost of caring for patients who are near death accounts for a big piece of the government's medical spending. [Ed. note - As I alluded to above] But a furor over a provision for government-paid counseling to plan for end-of-life care is steering lawmakers away from the issue. Tucked inside a sweeping House bill to overhaul the health system is a provision that would require Medicare to pay physicians to counsel patients once every five years. During those sessions, doctors could discuss how patients can plan for such end-of-life decisions as setting up a living will, obtaining hospice care or establishing a proxy to make their health decisions when they are unable to do so. [Ed note - What is wrong with this concept?? There isn't any legal adult in the US of sound mind (or anywhere else that has such types of provision), who shouldn't be doing this.] The end-of-life counseling provision in the House bill is expected to cost a few billion dollars over the next decade. But health policy experts say it could lower medical spending by reducing end-of-life medical care that patients don't want. Opponents say the provision shows that architects of the health-care overhaul want to ration seniors' care. Democratic lawmakers say no part of the House bill calls for rationing care. Physician counseling would be voluntary. \" http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125012322203627701.html If you're not sick, there's no need to consult your doctor about it, unless you need an explanation of what extraordinary measures means and the implication of having them administered (such as the legal issues having to do with a respirator turned off). But surely, if you're chronically ill, stable or not, you'd want to discuss some things with your doctor. Or not, whatever, but no one is telling you you have to."}, {"response": 1187, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Apr  3, 2010 (17:16)", "body": "\"I read it someplace\" ;-) I always give you links. ;-)"}, {"response": 1188, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Apr  3, 2010 (18:57)", "body": "Too long , Dorine. Cut it shorter."}, {"response": 1189, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Apr  3, 2010 (19:41)", "body": "*sighs*"}, {"response": 1190, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Apr  3, 2010 (21:08)", "body": "Actually, I was thinking about the doctor joining in on my \"end of life couseling session\"... ...if it's Jeremy Northam, bring him on;-)"}, {"response": 1191, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Apr  4, 2010 (00:45)", "body": "LOL! Too right."}, {"response": 1192, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Apr  8, 2010 (09:50)", "body": "Nice"}, {"response": 1193, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Apr  8, 2010 (09:51)", "body": "Forgot to say this is the official First Family photo"}, {"response": 1194, "author": "mari", "date": "Thu, Apr  8, 2010 (12:37)", "body": "Beautiful pic. Thanks, Evelyn."}, {"response": 1195, "author": "cfadm", "date": "Thu, Apr  8, 2010 (21:13)", "body": "Makes sense Dorine."}, {"response": 1196, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Apr 13, 2010 (22:23)", "body": "They are a most photogenic family, aren't they? And now for something completely different... Doctor shortage? 28 states may expand nurses' role AP By CARLA K. JOHNSON, Ap Medical Writer \ufffd 45 mins ago CHICAGO \ufffd A nurse may soon be your doctor. With a looming shortage of primary care doctors, 28 states are considering expanding the authority of nurse practitioners. These nurses with advanced degrees want the right to practice without a doctor's watchful eye and to prescribe narcotics. And if they hold a doctorate, they want to be called \"Doctor.\" For years, nurse practitioners have been playing a bigger role in the nation's health care, especially in regions with few doctors. With 32 million more Americans gaining health insurance within a few years, the health care overhaul is putting more money into nurse-managed clinics. Those newly insured patients will be looking for doctors and may find nurses instead. The medical establishment is fighting to protect turf. In some statehouses, doctors have shown up in white coats to testify against nurse practitioner bills. The American Medical Association, which supported the national health care overhaul, says a doctor shortage is no reason to put nurses in charge and endanger patients. Nurse practitioners argue there's no danger. They say they're highly trained and as skilled as doctors at diagnosing illness during office visits. They know when to refer the sickest patients to doctor specialists. Plus, they spend more time with patients and charge less. \"We're constantly having to prove ourselves,\" said Chicago nurse practitioner Amanda Cockrell, 32, who tells patients she's just like a doctor \"except for the pay.\" On top of four years in nursing school, Cockrell spent another three years in a nurse practitioner program, much of it working with patients. Doctors generally spend four years in undergraduate school, four years in medical school and an additional three in primary care residency training. Medicare, which sets the pace for payments by private insurance, pays nurse practitioners 85 percent of what it pays doctors. An office visit for a Medicare patient in Chicago, for example, pays a doctor about $70 and a nurse practitioner about $60. The health care overhaul law gave nurse midwives, a type of advanced practice nurse, a Medicare raise to 100 percent of what obstetrician-gynecologists make \ufffd and that may be just the beginning. States regulate nurse practitioners and laws vary on what they are permitted to do: \ufffd In Florida and Alabama, for instance, nurse practitioners are barred from prescribing controlled substances. \ufffd In Washington, nurse practitioners can recommend medical marijuana to their patients when a new law takes effect in June. \ufffd In Montana, nurse practitioners don't need a doctor involved with their practice in any way. \ufffd Many other states put doctors in charge of nurse practitioners or require collaborative agreements signed by a doctor. \ufffd In some states, nurse practitioners with a doctorate in nursing practice can't use the title \"Dr.\" Most states allow it. The AMA argues the title \"Dr.\" creates confusion. Nurse practitioners say patients aren't confused by veterinarians calling themselves \"Dr.\" Or chiropractors. Or dentists. So why, they ask, would patients be confused by a nurse using the title? The feud over \"Dr.\" is no joke. By 2015, most new nurse practitioners will hold doctorates, or a DNP, in nursing practice, according to a goal set by nursing educators. By then, the doctorate will be the standard for all graduating nurse practitioners, said Polly Bednash, executive director of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. Many with the title use it with pride. \"I don't think patients are ever confused. People are not stupid,\" said Linda Roemer, a nurse practitioner in Sedona, Ariz., who uses \"Dr. Roemer\" as part of her e-mail address. What's the evidence on the quality of care given by nurse practitioners? The best U.S. study comparing nurse practitioners and doctors randomly assigned more than 1,300 patients to either a nurse practitioner or a doctor. After six months, overall health, diabetes tests, asthma tests and use of medical services like specialists were essentially the same in the two groups. \"The argument that patients' health is put in jeopardy by nurse practitioners? There's no evidence to support that,\" said Jack Needleman, a health policy expert at the University of California Los Angeles School of Public Health. Other studies have shown that nurse practitioners are better at listening to patients, Needleman said. And they make good decisions about when to refer patients to doctors for more specialized care. The nonpartisan Macy Foundation, a New York-based charity that focuses on the education of health professionals, recently called for nurse practitioners to be among the leaders of primary care teams. The foundation also urged the removal of state and federal barriers preventing nurse practitioners from providi"}, {"response": 1197, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Apr 14, 2010 (12:09)", "body": "\"I feel that we get more time with the nurse practitioner,\" Nunez said. \"The doctor always seems to be rushing off somewhere.\" That's for sure. For ordinary medical issues, I prefer so see a NP."}, {"response": 1198, "author": "mari", "date": "Wed, Apr 14, 2010 (12:10)", "body": "Interesting article, Do. My sister is in the Masters program at Penn and will receive her nurse practitioner certification later this year. (She's been a nurse for 25+ years.) I saw a nurse practitioner at my last GYN check-up and was very satisfied with her care and with the amount of time spent with me. There's a 2-month wait to see the docs in that practice, but I was able to get an appt. with her in less than 2 weeks. They will be increasingly prevalent as time goes on and as the shortage of primary care docs worsens. The pay level for primary care is so much lower than for specialists; no wonder young docs don't want to go into it. Was just reading an article that said out of the average Penn MD graduating class of 160, only 3 to 5 go into primary care."}, {"response": 1199, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Apr 14, 2010 (12:25)", "body": "(Mari)There's a 2-month wait to see the docs in that practice, but I was able to get an appt. with her in less than 2 weeks. Two weeks! I can usually get one same day for NPs if I request it. PAs take a little longer. I predict that there will only be NPs for family practice in the nr future. Not even PAs want to do that one."}, {"response": 1200, "author": "mari", "date": "Wed, Apr 14, 2010 (12:38)", "body": "(Evelyn)Two weeks! I can usually get one same day for NPs if I request it. For primary care, yes, but for GYN/specialty care, there's still a wait here."}, {"response": 1201, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Apr 14, 2010 (18:54)", "body": "So does the patient pay a reduced wait with the nurse vs the doctor? My kids' babysitter in Miami decided to become to a nurse, all I can say is... I would not want her to be my nurse! Yikes. I have no problems with PhD's and MD's certification, but it should be stated upfront. Obviously the preface doctor is not the same. We need more MDs in the US, so the AMA should let some EU and South/Central America MDs in to do the equivalency."}, {"response": 1202, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Apr 14, 2010 (18:54)", "body": "That should be reduced rate. Freudian slip, lol."}, {"response": 1203, "author": "mari", "date": "Thu, Apr 15, 2010 (12:06)", "body": "I don't know if there is a difference in what is billed from within a given practice if you see the nurse practitioner vs. a doctor. Dorine would probaby kow. I'd guess that they bill from a diagnosis code (e.g., \"office visit, illness\") without regard to who rendered the service. Obviously the cost of services vary greatly by venue; an ER visit can easily run 10X the cost of the same services provided by an urgent care center. Just read an aritcle on this yesterday about someone who was treated for a finger sprain: $1,500 from the ER, vs. about $150 from urgent care. (Moon)We need more MDs in the US The greatest need is for more primary care docs."}, {"response": 1204, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Apr 15, 2010 (12:18)", "body": "(Mari) I'd guess that they bill from a diagnosis code (e.g., \"office visit, illness\") without regard to who rendered the service. From a cost accounting/billing standpoint, the person rendering the service can most certainly be built into the system. At a law firm, partners bill out at different rates than associates. At my old place of employ, programmers from different divisions billed out at different rates. On the receipt from one of my doctors, there are various levels of office visit to check off from limited to comprehensive to emergency. I don't see why unique codes identifying the provider couldn't be included, with their own rate."}, {"response": 1205, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Apr 15, 2010 (14:25)", "body": "I agree with you, Karen. But will they do it? (Mari), The greatest need is for more primary care docs. Let those in. There are plenty in EU, and South/Central America. Last summer in Mexico, my son saw the GP doctor which makes calls at the hotels. His bad case of poison ivy was treated and cured. He had been under a doctor's care in the US that did not cure him. His friend was driving him home and got into a car accident. My son was told to sit on the grass by the responding police officer because he was in pain. He sat on poison ivy. He didn't know, until a mother that has stopped her car to offer help told him to stand up. He went to the ER and after 5 hours and two cat scans was released with a $9000.00 bill. He went back after a few days for poison ivy treatment. It did nothing for him, and he was in pain until that blessed GP in Mexico gave him the right cure."}, {"response": 1206, "author": "mari", "date": "Thu, Apr 15, 2010 (14:36)", "body": "Apparently under Medicare, the NP can bill under the physician's number (and rate) if certain conditions are met (e.g., the doc is in the immediate area and can be called upon quickly if needed). If not, Medicare pays 85% of the physician rate. I have a call into a friend in our benefits office to see if it's the same under private insurance (i.e., non-Medicare, non-socialized medicine;-) I'm just curious."}, {"response": 1207, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Apr 15, 2010 (15:19)", "body": "I saw a PA in Dermatology and the Medicare statement gave her name under the doctor's supervision (not!) at a reduced rate. PS she was also worthless ...didn't know the diagnosis of the rash and when I asked if she could consult the doctor (down the hall), she said I would have to make an appt with him (2 months away) But she billed anyway and Medicare paid....go figure."}, {"response": 1208, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Apr 15, 2010 (16:36)", "body": "There are physician's assistants and nurse practioners (who go to nursing school and then get their master's and/or Ph.D.'s). Completely different."}, {"response": 1209, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Apr 15, 2010 (21:20)", "body": "After doing some googling, this is one of the most succinct answers I found of the differences/similarities. \"The job tasks are identical, each can perform those procedures they have been educated to perform, and which meet the physicians protocols. Salaries are essentially the same in most areas. In some areas of the country where they are more familiar with NPs they seem to pay NPs slightly more, but in areas where they are more familiar with PAs the opposite is true. The most significant difference is that NPs in some states can work independently from physicians, where PAs work under the authority of a physician in all US states and territories. There are many states in the US where an NP must also be in a collaborative relationship with a physician.\""}, {"response": 1210, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Apr 15, 2010 (21:25)", "body": "My aunt is a retired NP (and nurse midwife). She was a big help to me over a number of years, writing me rxs (or giving me samples) if I needed them and saving me trips to the MD office (and $$). I was seriously looking into PA programs about 13 yrs ago, but decided against it for mostly financial reasons (of being in school full time)."}, {"response": 1211, "author": "mari", "date": "Fri, Apr 16, 2010 (11:42)", "body": "Heard back on my NP reimbursement question. Most private insurance is following the Medicare schedules--reimbursement at 85% of the doc's rate, although some are still paying at 100%."}, {"response": 1212, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, May  3, 2010 (20:13)", "body": "I know nothing about British politics, but after reading the posts on the \"Colin Firth *News*\" topic re: this subject (ahem)..... I say :\"Go Conservatives\"! ;-D"}, {"response": 1213, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Tue, May 11, 2010 (14:36)", "body": "The 'Squatter' (according to Colin's friend, Nick, has left the house.End or an era"}, {"response": 1214, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Tue, May 11, 2010 (14:43)", "body": "Great ariel views of Buck House. I hope Lizzie has a recorder, she'll be missing Corrie ;-)"}, {"response": 1215, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Tue, May 11, 2010 (14:57)", "body": "An emotional and strong resignation speech from Gordon. Thought his wife looks relieved."}, {"response": 1216, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Tue, May 11, 2010 (15:27)", "body": "Sky News just reported Cameron is now officially the new PM. Feel sad for Gordon Brown."}, {"response": 1217, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, May 11, 2010 (16:11)", "body": "Yahoo reported : \"Conservative David Cameron became Britain's new prime minister on Tuesday after he accepted the invitation from Queen Elizabeth to form a new government\" http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/us_britain_election;_ylt=AjoyGOAW0Se03l4eqjxsLSWs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTNqdG9rMTlmBGFzc2V0A25tLzIwMTAwNTExL3VzX2JyaXRhaW5fZWxlY3Rpb24EY2NvZGUDbW9zdHBvcHVsYXIEY3BvcwMxBHBvcwMzBHB0A2hvbWVfY29rZQRzZWMDeW5fdG9wX3N0b3J5BHNsawNmdWxsbmJzcHN0b3I - Question: Does that mean the Queen made the decision? He's v. handsome:-)))"}, {"response": 1218, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Tue, May 11, 2010 (16:20)", "body": "(Evelyn)He's v. handsome:-))) LOL, Evelyn (Evelyn)Question: Does that mean the Queen made the decision? Not exactly. Gordon Brown visited the Queen to resign and he recommends she sends for the leader of the other party (Conservative) David Cameron to form a Government. Cameron hot foots it to the Palace, theoretically kisses the Queen's hand and Voila! we have a new PM."}, {"response": 1219, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Tue, May 11, 2010 (16:22)", "body": "Should have began with, after much negotiation Cameron got the backing of the Lib Dems to form a coalition Government. Gordon Brown admitted defeat, visits the Queen to resign..............."}, {"response": 1220, "author": "mari", "date": "Tue, May 11, 2010 (16:50)", "body": "Best wishes to our UK friends. Does the Duputy PM (I take it Clegg gets that position) actually have any pull?"}, {"response": 1221, "author": "mari", "date": "Tue, May 11, 2010 (16:51)", "body": "Sorry for the repeat. Was just trying to spell Deputy correctly.;-)"}, {"response": 1222, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Tue, May 11, 2010 (16:57)", "body": "(Mari)Does the Duputy PM (I take it Clegg gets that position) actually have any pull? Not confirmed just yet, as far as I know."}, {"response": 1223, "author": "lizbeth54", "date": "Tue, May 11, 2010 (18:03)", "body": "Nick Clegg confirmed as Deputy PM (hey, I called it over an hour ago!). Gordon Brown did not have a Deputy, so it's a post that can be downgraded or upgraded. But Clegg would be in charge of the country when the PM goes on his hols, or takes paternity leave."}, {"response": 1224, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, May 11, 2010 (21:18)", "body": "So Deputy PM functions as our Vice President? He doesn't make policy; supports the president's and is in charge when the Pres leaves the country. Thank you Bethan and Sue.I'm learning a lot. All v. exciting, methinks. I join Mari....congrats."}, {"response": 1225, "author": "felicityb", "date": "Wed, May 12, 2010 (03:07)", "body": "The cabinet makes policy and only the Prime Minister has power of veto if there is disagreement(well that's how I read it). Deputy PM is historically given the role to satisfy members of the Party in power whose views may differ,or if you like, to redress the balance. eg: Tony Blair(New Labour) John Prescott(Old Labour). They can, in alot of cases, be rather ineffectual as they are without any specific Department. It was the only position Clegg could have taken in the Cabinet. Anyway..it has been so engrossing and very frustrating..I can imagine Peter Morgan is writing the screenplay now. That twist with Brown announcing he will stand down as leader of the Labour Party and the Lib Dems negotiating with the machiavellian Peter Mandleson etc behind the Tories backs. William Hague going from affable negotiator to a steely,'This is our final offer'. All the while the leaders of the respective parties sit in rooms at various locations in Westminster phoning or meeting each other. Extraordinary. now for the hard stuff...."}, {"response": 1226, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Wed, May 12, 2010 (03:08)", "body": "Re: the role off the Deputy PM,this should explain, Evelyn http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deputy_Prime_Minister_of_the_United_Kingdom It is exciting and also, perhaps a little daunting (depends on one's Political leanings) as there hasn't been a Hung Parliament and/or Coalition Government for (I believe) over 30 years. Question is, can the Tories and Lib Dems make it work. Only time will tell."}, {"response": 1227, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Wed, May 12, 2010 (03:09)", "body": "LOL, Felicity. You beat me to it."}, {"response": 1228, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Wed, May 12, 2010 (03:10)", "body": "(Felicity)Anyway..it has been so engrossing and very frustrating..I can imagine Peter Morgan is writing the screenplay now LOL, yeah and place your bets for whom might play Nick Clegg ;-D"}, {"response": 1229, "author": "felicityb", "date": "Wed, May 12, 2010 (04:26)", "body": "Hot off the press and just waiting for Nick(ers) to show up at No 10(traffic V bad)Cammo already there..probably had outriders.. 'As part of the deal the Lib Dems have agreed to accept Conservative plans to replace the Trident nuclear weapons system, something they'd vehemently opposed until now. They've also agreed to the Tory cap on immigrants coming to the UK from outside the EU, and shelved their own plans for an amnesty for some illegal immigrants already here.'"}, {"response": 1230, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Wed, May 12, 2010 (05:36)", "body": "\"Nick(ers)\", too funny, love it."}, {"response": 1231, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Wed, May 12, 2010 (07:11)", "body": "(Evelyn)He's v. handsome:-))) I might not agree with all their policies, but I gotta say, the Tory/Lib Dems lot are on the whole better looking than the Labour bunch ;-)"}, {"response": 1232, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, May 12, 2010 (09:50)", "body": "(Felicity)Anyway..it has been so engrossing and very frustrating..I can imagine Peter Morgan is writing the screenplay now (Sue) yeah and place your bets for whom might play Nick Clegg ;-D Except if he's now so disillusioned by their apparent caving on the only issue that meant anything to him. Did he not just state: Colin Firth said: 'As a once-committed Labour voter I, like so many, have been appalled by the abandonment of the values they advocated while in opposition. 'For me, their conduct on asylum alone is reason enough never to be able to contemplate voting for them again.' As Felicity has posted above, the Lib Dems have given in on the immigration/asylum issues for a seat at the table."}, {"response": 1233, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, May 12, 2010 (09:54)", "body": "Thank you gals, for all the info and links. I found this interesting: \"Given that there is no constitutional office of Deputy Prime Minister, with the position being recreated on a case by case basis, the person who holds the post has no official residence. As a cabinet minister however they may have the use of a grace and favour London residence and country house. \" That residence is owned by the Crown! I will say, if any country can make this work, you can."}, {"response": 1234, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Wed, May 12, 2010 (10:34)", "body": "Karen)Except if he's now so disillusioned by their apparent caving on the only issue that meant anything to him. Did he not just state: LOL, yes. I wasn't aware of those details when making little quip ;-) Both Nick(ers) and Cameron looked relaxed together during their first joint press conf in Downing Street garden. Nice location. Early days, and I am a natural sceptic, but if their body language is anything to go by, then it looks promising."}, {"response": 1235, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, May 12, 2010 (10:55)", "body": "Coalition governments always involve the strangest of bedfellows. As I recall, the Lib Dems won like 56 seats, compared to the 300ish of the two major parties. Each needed those 56 seats to have a majority, but as is typical, any fringe group is likely to hold antithetical views to the major parties."}, {"response": 1236, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Wed, May 12, 2010 (12:01)", "body": "(Evelyn)I will say, if any country can make this work, you can. Here's this afternoon's press conf I referred to earlier. Would love to know Colin's thoughts re: Lib Dems compromise on immigration. The compromiise gets my vote. I will come out and say, their original policy on immigration was one of the reasons I didn't mark an X on their spot. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/election_2010/8676607.stm"}, {"response": 1237, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Wed, May 12, 2010 (12:08)", "body": "More from the press conf under editors choice on RH side. Check out the video where Cameron squirmed when a Jurno pointed out to both Cameron called Clegg a 'joke' (before he knew he needed Clegg on his side before their Coalition was formed) ;-)"}, {"response": 1238, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Wed, May 12, 2010 (12:13)", "body": "Third in a row, but the Beeb vids might not be available overseas. Here is the full conf from U Tube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bu0BNXhW8fE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqqq45mFOSo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEMFJalLl7E"}, {"response": 1239, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, May 12, 2010 (12:47)", "body": "\"After it became clear Labour could not reach an agreement with the Lib Dems that would have allowed them to remain in power\" Interesting, since I would think Labor and Lib Dems would have more in common. Youtubes came through fine. PM Cameron sounds v. convincing that they will work together. But I've not hear a word from Mr Clegg:-((( I wish them luck. Thanks for the links."}, {"response": 1240, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, May 12, 2010 (12:48)", "body": "sorry"}, {"response": 1241, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Wed, May 12, 2010 (13:00)", "body": "(Evelyn)But I've not hear a word from Mr Clegg:-((( First U tube video, Nick speaks speaks 9 mins 48 in."}, {"response": 1242, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, May 12, 2010 (13:06)", "body": "Thank you ladies for all the info. Congrats on the change. 'As part of the deal the Lib Dems have agreed to accept Conservative plans to replace the Trident nuclear weapons system, something they'd vehemently opposed until now. They've also agreed to the Tory cap on immigrants coming to the UK from outside the EU, and shelved their own plans for an amnesty for some illegal immigrants already here.' Blew Colin away, poor baby. ;-) In any case, the Lib Dems can now hold either party hostage since they need their coalition to govern, an ideal place to be for them. That said, they accepted those key issues of the Tories, which are IMO, important to the Nat'l security of the country. I quite like Cameron. This is fascinating Cameron appears to be related to the Queen: Cameron is a direct descendant of George I, George II, George III, and King William IV (great \ufffd 5 grandfather) and his mistress Dorothea Jordan (and thus fifth cousin, twice removed of Queen Elizabeth II). As an illegitimate descendant of William IV, Cameron is not in the line of succession to the British throne. He is the nephew of Sir William Dugdale, once the chairman of Aston Villa Football Club, and Birmingham-born documentary film-maker Joshua Dugdale is his cousin. In May 2009, tabloid newspaper The Sun published a discovery by amateur genealogist Tony Andrews that Labour politician Harriet Harman is related to David Cameron through her aunt's marriage to his great uncle. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_cameron#Personal_life"}, {"response": 1243, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Wed, May 12, 2010 (13:13)", "body": "(Moon)That said, they accepted those key issues of the Tories, which are IMO, important to the Nat'l security of the country. I quite like Cameron. I agree. I am liking Cameron more than I did before, but this is their honeymoon period. Will be interesting to see how they handle things in the coming months. It's gonna be tough. But I do feel re-energised by the change and I was Labour before."}, {"response": 1244, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, May 12, 2010 (13:15)", "body": "(Moon) Blew Colin away, poor baby. ;-) No, he threw him under the bus. LOL! Bet Colin is rueing the coffee klatch photo op now. ;-) Interesting, since I would think Labor and Lib Dems would have more in common. True, but Labour received what amounts to a vote of no confidence. Nobody was going to join forces with them. Too unpopular."}, {"response": 1245, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Wed, May 12, 2010 (13:17)", "body": "Interesting find, Moon, on the genealogy of Mr Cameron. So perhaps Lizzie allowed him to kiss her hand for real ;-)"}, {"response": 1246, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Wed, May 12, 2010 (13:18)", "body": "(Moon) Blew Colin away, poor baby. ;-) No, he threw him under the bus. LOL! Bet Colin is rueing the coffee klatch photo op now. ;-) Play with fire........;-D"}, {"response": 1247, "author": "mari", "date": "Wed, May 12, 2010 (14:36)", "body": "(Karen)Bet Colin is rueing the coffee klatch photo op now. ;-) You're not kidding. And the lesson is: stick to acting."}, {"response": 1248, "author": "lizbeth54", "date": "Wed, May 12, 2010 (15:23)", "body": "The Lib Dems have given up on their immigration policy (the idea of a general amnesty to illegal immigrants was a vote loser, anyway) but their policy on asylum is a separate issue and they may not have conceded this (we're only getting broad-brush reports at the moment re. the level of agreement between Lib and Con). http://www.libdems.org.uk/immigration_and_asylum.aspx Lib Dem's policy statement Allow asylum seekers to work. Asylum seekers are not allowed to work (apart from exceptional circumstances after a year) while their claim is being processed, despite the fact it can take years. They are forced to live on state handouts, even though many are skilled people. It also fuels anger among some sections of the public. We would allow asylum seekers to work two months after making an application and benefits would only be paid if they could not find work. This would reduce spending on benefits, increase tax revenue, help integration, lower community tensions and greatly reduce dependence on welfare and social housing. Give responsibility to an independent agency. It is time to take the politics out of asylum. The Liberal Democrats would take responsibility away from the Home Office and give it to a Canadian-style independent agency, making decisions free from political considerations. Currently, a quarter of decisions are overturned on appeal. In Canada, it is less than 1%. We would fast-track asylum claims which are obviously well-founded and front load resources into making high quality initial decisions. Increase European cooperation. We would push for EU-wide cooperation on asylum to help share the burden proportionally between member states. End deportation of homosexual asylum seekers. The Liberal Democrats will end the deportation of asylum seekers to countries where they face imprisonment, torture or execution because of their sexual orientation or gender identification."}, {"response": 1249, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, May 12, 2010 (15:45)", "body": "\"End deportation of homosexual asylum seekers\" Is that true...or just political rehetoric. (Karen)but Labour received what amounts to a vote of no confidence. Nobody was going to join forces with them. Too unpopular \"Throw the incumbents out\"....seems to be the hue and cry. I sorta felt sorry for Brown when he announced his resignation: \"No one knows what it's like to be a Prime Minister\" Of course no one puts a gun to their heads to take the job either."}, {"response": 1250, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, May 12, 2010 (15:51)", "body": "(Bethan) but their policy on asylum is a separate issue and they may not have conceded this The information Felicity posted talked about two separate issues on which the Lib Dems caved: a cap on immigrants coming from non-EU countries and the amnesty for illegals. I would assume that they'd drop the \"asylum seeker\" description and just call them immigrants for purposes of the press releases to make it more palatable. But I have no time for reading at your link so they may still be different."}, {"response": 1251, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, May 12, 2010 (19:08)", "body": "(Evelyn) Of course no one puts a gun to their heads to take the job either. He made a deal with Blair and waited a loooonnng time for that job, only now to see it vanish a relatively short time later. I, too, await the movie version of the latest developments from Peter Morgan. ;-) And speaking of whom, will be seeing his 3rd in the Blair trilogy films, The Special Relationship, about Blair and Clinton at HBO tomorrow night. It's on HBO weekend after next or Memorial Day weekend I think. \"End deportation of homosexual asylum seekers\" (Evelyn) Is that true...or just political rehetoric. I did a double take on that, too. More than troubling if true. The simple thought of it is troubling. Sounds like Iranian, or the like, policy."}, {"response": 1252, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, May 12, 2010 (19:48)", "body": "Maybe this will be helpful as research for the script. ;-) http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2010/05/the-conservative-libdem-agreement-reading-between-the-lines.html?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=fanpage&utm_campaign=pbs"}, {"response": 1253, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, May 12, 2010 (20:12)", "body": "Sorry, hit the link above and posted this on O&E. Can you erase the other, Karen, please? Thnx. I have a question regarding placing cameras in public places. Our mayor has gone over to London to check out their camera system. http://wcbstv.com/cbs2crew/mayor.bloomberg.london.2.1686910.html I honestly don't consider having a system of cameras in public places a bad thing on the face of it. Your thoughts?? Also you all in the UK? Was it considered popular, unpopular, a wave of indifference?? A friend on FB posted the link and her friend made a remark that included ..\"POLICE STATE!\" As I said, it doesn't inherently bother me (especially in the subways now that they're closing token booths). They most likely wouldn't stop crime anywhere unless someone was watching the feeds and on their toes, but at least maybe there's a chance it could help solve the crime afterward."}, {"response": 1254, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, May 12, 2010 (20:12)", "body": ""}, {"response": 1255, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, May 12, 2010 (20:38)", "body": "Some interesting pics of Brown's last hurrah basically. http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/gallery/2010/may/12/gordon-brown-labourleadership?picture=362535527 I will say I almost fell off the bike at the gym after work yesterday when I saw the news on CNN (am mostly deprived of internet during the day now). Didn't see this coming, but I hadn't been following closely. The last that was on my radar was that at some point, Brown was stepping down, but didn't see it coming so soon."}, {"response": 1256, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, May 12, 2010 (23:37)", "body": "They are forced to live on state handouts, even though many are skilled people. Whoever thinks that the immigrants who have work skills can not find a job are delusional. They are not the ones who live on state handouts. Dorine, I have nothing to hide from those street monitoring cameras, nothing to lose but everything to gain. The world has changed because of the Muslim fanatics whose sole purpose in life is to convert or kill."}, {"response": 1257, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, May 13, 2010 (00:37)", "body": "Before I forgot, you have to watch this clip from the Daily Show: http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-may-12-2010/back-in-black---glenn-beck-s-nazi-tourette-s I've never laughed so hard watching anything on TV. Sue, I can't recall if you can view any vids from the Comedy Channel, but they've been features on your elections for the past several nights called Clustershag to 10 Downing. You might get a chuckle out of them. Either do a search or go back through the last few days."}, {"response": 1258, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, May 13, 2010 (00:41)", "body": "Well, while I agree with the nothing to lose and everything to gain, I wasn't thinking in terms of Muslims or anyone like that. I was thinking of everyday street crime. We've had numerous crimes that were caught on cameras which helped sometimes (and sometimes didn't if the angle or focus was bad) with regards to solving them. There was a big story in the papers a few weeks ago when it was confirmed that several hundred booth operators were getting laid off and quite a number of booths in many stations were closing about all the cameras that are installed in the subways that don't work for various reasons. While they may or may not do anything to stop a crime in progress, they may help ID someone who committed one. Unfortunately having MTA workers in the booths didn't do much of anything as a crime deterrent, as one poor woman who was raped in a subway station can attest to. The operator saw she was in trouble and she pleaded with him to help, but he apparently was not allowed to go out of the booth to help her (or anyone in trouble like that). He was supposed to call/buzz the police, but by the time they got there it was too late."}, {"response": 1259, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, May 13, 2010 (00:43)", "body": "The link has an Error 404 msg, Karen."}, {"response": 1260, "author": "felicityb", "date": "Thu, May 13, 2010 (01:32)", "body": "(Bethan)we're only getting broad-brush reports at the moment re. the level of agreement between Lib and Con That's true. And I'm sure there will be much to dismay both sides when the details emerge. But I think the general lumping together of Immigrants and Asylum seekers is the norm. Jeremy Paxman,Chief Rottweiller TV interviewer, brushed off Caroline Lucas' attempts to explain the difference in one I saw. It may still be on the menu..but I wouldn't be surprised if it was fobbed off with them setting up a small commitee to look into the problem. Maybe Nick(ers) could do it. He can't go everywhere with Dave can he? The Dave and Nick show is certainly being relished by the cynical hacks over here. They were quite off balance while the negotiations were going on...now they are really going for it. Anyway..it's nice that you over there are interested and chipping in with comments. Thanks. CCTV mania with cameras everywhere was so 15 years ago! But there was enormous outcry at the time and people covering them up,disconnecting them, vandalising them etc etc. But they are everywhere,or at least there are notices they are everywhere and sometimes there is no actual camera. Sort of an Alarm box with nothing in it. They can be useful to catch criminals in the act but don't know what the stats are re their effectiveness as a deterrent. Of course it's the cameras you don't know about that are the worrying ones.But they are a way of life now."}, {"response": 1261, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, May 13, 2010 (10:16)", "body": "(Dorine) The link has an Error 404 msg, Karen. I just checked it and it worked for me. If not, go to http://www.thedailyshow.com/ and click on the second vid, which is Lewis Black. If you do it after today's show then you'll need to search. (Felicity) But I think the general lumping together of Immigrants and Asylum seekers is the norm. One is a subset of the other. (Felciity) CCTV mania with cameras everywhere was so 15 years ago! Totally different issue but the big outrage here is red light cameras. Groups are taking municipalities to court to get them removed. ;-)"}, {"response": 1262, "author": "mari", "date": "Thu, May 13, 2010 (11:16)", "body": "Thanks, ladies, for answering so many questions on the election and the process. I've learned a lot. It may seem like it dragged on, but honestly, as an outsider, I am impressed that they got it done so quickly. As I said before, wishing you the best of everything--you deserve it. I watched Mr. Brown's speech on TV and couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for him, although my DH said, the next time you see him he'll look 10 years younger. So true. Check out before and after pics of Clinton, Bush, even Mr. O is looking a lot grayer already. I often marvel that people want these extremely difficult jobs. (Moon)I have nothing to hide from those street monitoring cameras, nothing to lose but everything to gain. What Moon said!"}, {"response": 1263, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, May 13, 2010 (12:35)", "body": "I just watched the fist part of the link, Pariah;-)...who is this man...is he a comedian? Did he take over from John Stewart? Is he auditioning for Keith O.'s job;-) (Felicity)But they are a way of life now. Bingo!How true! I say:\"Get over it\". I'm sick of this \"privacy\" crap."}, {"response": 1264, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, May 13, 2010 (14:16)", "body": "That is Lewis Black, he's a standup comedian. He used to be on the Daily Show as a regular and now only appears sporadically."}, {"response": 1265, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, May 13, 2010 (19:21)", "body": "Glen Beck is out of control. LOL. thanks, Karen. Increase European cooperation. We would push for EU-wide cooperation on asylum to help share the burden proportionally between member states. Why would that happen when the other European nations are having the same problems with illegal immigrants? In Italy they arrive from Africa in every port. It is a huge political problem."}, {"response": 1266, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, May 13, 2010 (20:03)", "body": "Glen Beck is out of control. LOL But why doesn't anybody ever say the same about Keith Olbermann .... Chris Matthews...or Ed Schulz ,and the rest of the MSNBC crowd. Is MSNBC sacrosanct? Why pick on FOX...just because they're beating the pants off the ratings of all other stations on cable? Absurd."}, {"response": 1267, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, May 13, 2010 (23:25)", "body": "Glen Beck is out of control. LOL (Evelyn) But why doesn't anybody ever say the same about Keith Olbermann .... Chris Matthews...or Ed Schulz ,and the rest of the MSNBC crowd. Glen Beck is so not even on the same plane as those others. You have watched and listened to him, right? Why pick on FOX...just because they're beating the pants off the ratings of all other stations on cable? Absurd. See my question above. Yeah, sure FOX may be picked on... for I'd say more reasons than ratings."}, {"response": 1268, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, May 14, 2010 (09:17)", "body": "(Evelyn) Why pick on FOX... Did you even listen to the absurdities coming out of Glen Beck's mouth in this video clip? Besides being absurd and categorically false and misleading, they're meant to inflame and incite. That is what is abhorrent about Fox."}, {"response": 1269, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, May 14, 2010 (09:57)", "body": "Ever look at MSNBC? Try it; with a barf -bag."}, {"response": 1270, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, May 14, 2010 (10:01)", "body": "I asked, did you even watch the clip?"}, {"response": 1271, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, May 14, 2010 (10:16)", "body": "(Bethan) they look alike (apparently), have European wives, speak another language and both have 3 sons. Apparently Clegg speaks five languages! And Moon will be quite interested in his family background, i.e., Russian nobility. Not as impressive as Cameron being an illegitimate descendent of King George I, but not too shabby. Reading his bio made me feel so inferior. He had done more by age 20 than...oh, never mind. ;-) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Clegg"}, {"response": 1272, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Fri, May 14, 2010 (10:28)", "body": "Interesing link. Karen. Psst, Peggy, he's a sea goat ;-)"}, {"response": 1273, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Fri, May 14, 2010 (10:29)", "body": "Should perhaps explain my last comment. Meaning he's a Capricorn like Peggy, Me and my DH as it happens ;-)"}, {"response": 1274, "author": "Moon", "date": "Fri, May 14, 2010 (12:41)", "body": "I like Clegg too. In 2008 it was reported that while at university, Clegg had joined the Cambridge University Conservative Association between 1986 and 1987, with contemporary membership records citing an \"N. Clegg\" of Robinson College. (At the time, Clegg was the only person of that name at Robinson.) However, Clegg himself later maintained he had \"no recollection of that whatsoever.\" Evelyn, Fox News were the only ones that gave Hillary a fair coverage during the primaries. I don't forget it. I don't watch the news, I get my news from the papers or online."}, {"response": 1275, "author": "Moon", "date": "Fri, May 14, 2010 (12:42)", "body": "I like Clegg too. In 2008 it was reported that while at university, Clegg had joined the Cambridge University Conservative Association between 1986 and 1987, with contemporary membership records citing an \"N. Clegg\" of Robinson College. (At the time, Clegg was the only person of that name at Robinson.) However, Clegg himself later maintained he had \"no recollection of that whatsoever.\" LOL, good try. ;-) Evelyn, Fox News were the only ones that gave Hillary a fair coverage during the primaries. I don't forget it. I don't watch the news, I get my news from the papers or online."}, {"response": 1276, "author": "Moon", "date": "Fri, May 14, 2010 (12:43)", "body": "I went back to check, but I had closed the quotation. sorry"}, {"response": 1277, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, May 14, 2010 (16:25)", "body": "(Pariah)I asked, did you even watch the clip? Of course ;I would have admitted it if I hadn't. But, for starters, I don't watch GB. He comes on at 4 PM here and I don't look at daytime TV til 5; when I do watch Fox Evening News with Bret Baier and BRit Hume, at times.. I Tivo The Jim Lehrer News Hour on PBS and watch it til 7PM. When I Tivo Kudlow Financial Report. Had enough of my TV viewing? ;-) As far as the tape goes. I have heard from a Lurker that the GB clip on the Comedy Hour was grossly ,surgically edited. They took bits and pieces of what he said and strung it together. Why am I not surprised? Really, I would think one would get information from a source other than a clip from a comedy show ...which is like SNL."}, {"response": 1278, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, May 14, 2010 (16:32)", "body": "Evelyn, Fox News were the only ones that gave Hillary a fair coverage during the primaries. I don't forget it. And on more than one occasion she commended Fox for being the only network that had been \"fair and balanced\" during the primaries and election. Mr Obama had a good interview with Bill, and recently with Bret Baier. They asked pertinent questions but were courteous and respectful. But didn't do the Katie Couric cutesy frothing bit. I get news from several sources, but in depth from the WSJ."}, {"response": 1279, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, May 14, 2010 (20:46)", "body": "You gotta watch this....I'm telling ya' New Jersey really has a winner for a governor http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsdqfVA3fqk No obfuscation there....."}, {"response": 1280, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, May 15, 2010 (10:32)", "body": "I'm told that the URL I posted last night is no longer available on Youtube due to copyright claim of the NJ \"Star Ledger\". But here it is on the S-L videos archive... http://videos.nj.com/star-ledger/2010/05/gov_christie_calls_s-l_columni.html The comments are priceless."}, {"response": 1281, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, May 15, 2010 (12:05)", "body": "(Evelyn) As far as the tape goes. I have heard from a Lurker that the GB clip on the Comedy Hour was grossly ,surgically edited. I don't read lurkers' comments. They took bits and pieces of what he said and strung it together. Nothing was \"strung together.\" Each instance of an inappropriate Nazi reference stood on its own and was ridiculed. Puhleez!"}, {"response": 1282, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, May 15, 2010 (12:20)", "body": "Each instance of an inappropriate Nazi reference stood on its own and was ridiculed. Puhleez! By a blogger....or \"Comments\";-) Still , it was re-played on a Comedy Show for their agenda. You take the clips on SNL historically serious???"}, {"response": 1283, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, May 15, 2010 (12:36)", "body": "(Evelyn) Still , it was re-played on a Comedy Show for their agenda. You take the clips on SNL historically serious??? I'm not sure how this equates as a comparison. What clips do they show on SNL? (which I found funnier than I've found it in who knows how many years with Betty White on, as an aside. ;-)). I had to LOL at Christie. I know nothing of him as a governor, but I enjoyed the snarkiness in the reply. Glenn Beck needs no editing from Comedy Central or anywhere else to make him come off as a nutjob. Personally, I think it's an act, but again, he needs no editing to make him look/sound bad."}, {"response": 1284, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, May 15, 2010 (13:30)", "body": "In style, I will give you that GB is somewhat over dramatic (Jim Cramer-ish). As he said in an interview :\"Who looks at CR\";-) But in the times I have watched GB, in substance he is spot on. You would agree if you weren't a liberal. Now, Howard Dean...there's a trip. One can only look at the contortions of his face when he pontificates and flashing eyes to observe that this man is certifiably insane. Should not be allowed to circulate in public; I notice that the current admninistration has kept him under wraps. Smart move, Mr President."}, {"response": 1285, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, May 15, 2010 (13:30)", "body": "(Evelyn) By a blogger....or \"Comments\";-) Huh? By the satiric commentary of the comedian Lewis Black. (Evelyn) You take the clips on SNL historically serious??? What clips? Huh? It's a sketch comedy show. No clips. (Dorine) I'm not sure how this equates as a comparison. Probably in the same way Al Gore's cause could be likened to Joseph Goebbels. (Dorine) Glenn Beck needs no editing from Comedy Central or anywhere else to make him come off as a nutjob. Agreed. Jon himself started off one of his shows a month or so ago, doing a parody of Glenn's own show. It was ultra bizarro."}, {"response": 1286, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, May 15, 2010 (13:33)", "body": "But does JS do Keith O/Rachel , Chris or any other loon-liberal- showman."}, {"response": 1287, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, May 15, 2010 (13:47)", "body": "(Evelyn) But does JS do Keith O/Rachel , Chris or any other loon-liberal- showman. By \"do,\" do you mean does Jon Stewart engage in sexual activities with the aforementioned trio? I don't know. The Daily Show does include MSNBC people (and a lot of CNN) when it examines coverage of various news stores. Just recently, I remember JS showing Rachel Maddow and his disappointment in how she followed the pack with some ridiculous or trivial story angle. Wish I could recall which news story was on the block."}, {"response": 1288, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, May 15, 2010 (14:03)", "body": "Not everyone is enamored with Al Gore the way you all are. Personally , I think he is a nice man...but, also a hypocrite and opportunist. He has just purhased a $9 Million dollar house (mansion?) in Montecito, Ca. *next door* to Dennis Miller....who did a hilarious sketch on Bill O's the other night on how he was going to welcome him to the neighborhood. On Fox and Friends the next morning Trace Adkins , AG's former neighbor in Nashville, talked about his pick-up's Big Carbon bumper sticker. BTW \"do\" in my part of the heartland doesn't have the same vulgar connotation that it obviously has in Chicago;-)"}, {"response": 1289, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, May 15, 2010 (16:57)", "body": "I only used Al Gore as an example of something GB had said. Just because some people don't like AG or his policies, likening him to Joseph Goebbels is wrong."}, {"response": 1290, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, May 15, 2010 (18:31)", "body": "Lighten up. Some comparisons are made as a hyperbole. I thought it was funny. Hey, they called George Bush a lot worse. Actually, I watched GB this afternoon. Good program. He had a panel of Dads reviewing a new book on the importance of a father in a child's life. The fathers had all undergone chemotherapy. They related stories of how their children had given them strength and brought the family closer together. There is some dad's organization that focuses on this."}, {"response": 1291, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sat, May 15, 2010 (18:33)", "body": "(Karen), By \"do,\" do you mean does Jon Stewart engage in sexual activities with the aforementioned trio? I don't know. LOL, now it's getting interesting. ;-)"}, {"response": 1292, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, May 15, 2010 (21:58)", "body": "For our UK friends... I know that the UK can't always access NY Times articles...so I am copying one of my favorite columnists from the NY Times... Glimmers of Hope By DAVID BROOKS If you\ufffdre elected president or prime minister in pretty much any country in the developed world today, you\ufffdre faced with the same set of challenges: to reduce national deficits without choking off a fragile recovery; to trim the welfare state and raise taxes while still funding the things that lead to long-term growth; to try to enact brutally painful measures at a time when voters don\ufffdt trust their leaders; to do it at a time when politics are polarized and a hundred different interest groups have the ability to block change. The chances that the world\ufffds leaders are going to be able to do these things successfully are between slim and none. It\ufffds hard enough to figure out the right mix of spending cuts and tax increases. It\ufffds nearly impossible to build a political majority willing to enact them. Sometime over the next decade or so, the world will probably suffer from another series of crushing fiscal crises with significant economic pain and maximum political turmoil. But, occasionally, there\ufffds a ray of hope. Occasionally, a country stumbles into a political arrangement that may help it avert a crisis. And that\ufffds what\ufffds happened in Britain. Britain has all the fiscal problems that plague most developed nations. British households are carrying more debt than those in any other rich country: 170 percent of annual income. British general government debt is surging \ufffd not at Greek levels yet, but getting there. The political culture is brutally adversarial. The political extremes are strong. The Conservative Party didn\ufffdt win this month\ufffds election outright because 5 percent of voters preferred the anti-immigrant parties. Moreover, the election produced no clear-cut result. That would seem to make it harder to undertake the sort of necessary painful changes. Yet over the past few days, many British analysts are coming to the wary conclusion that something good may have happened. David Cameron, the Conservative leader, was forced to confront the fact that even in the best possible circumstances, the Conservatives could get only 36 percent of the vote. He was faced with the possibility that the two other parties might form a permanent anti-right coalition. But as Daniel Finkelstein of The Times of London has pointed out, Cameron seized the problem and made it an opportunity. By cutting a deal with the Liberal Democrats, he has built a center-right coalition. In so doing, he has changed the nature of his own party, and the nature of the Liberal Democrats, his coalition partner. If he had a small majority, he would have been hostage to his most ideological members. As it is, he has potentially weakened the strong partisans in both parties, empowered the pragmatists who are better-suited to coalition politics and created a less polarized political climate. Matthew Parris, also of The Times of London, writes that watching Cameron and Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrats\ufffd leader, \ufffdwas like witnessing a coup. Millions of viewers will have shared my impression almost of watching two men staging a putsch against their own parties, against the entire British political system, and against the ingrained assumptions of more than a century of parliamentary government.\ufffd Parris sees the potential for a softening of the normal adversarial culture, a strengthening of the sort of leader who likes compromise and a weakening of the sort that detests it. The two parties are now in an economically conservative, socially liberal embrace that they hope will last for five years. The parties disagree on many things (immigration, Europe, electoral reform), but they tend to agree on the need for fiscal restraint. The efforts to control debt will be strengthened by having a broad coalition behind them. The political pain will be shared. Cameron has the opportunity to look less like a party leader and more like a national leader. Today\ufffds coalition will compel the Tories to formulate policies in new ways, and lodge them closer to the center of the electorate. It helps that the Conservative government has already moved to a more communitarian \ufffdBig Society\ufffd governing philosophy. No longer purely free market, the Tories emphasize rebuilding social bonds. That means they speak less about slashing government as a matter of principle and more about improving it and decentralizing power. This little platoons approach has left- and right-wing variants and has the potential to break down the old ideologies. Of course, it all could fail. The parties could reject the implant. In U.S. terms, it\ufffds like a marriage between Marco Rubio (The Tory base) and the accumulated wisdom of the Ivy League (the Liberal Democrats). But Cameron and Clegg are nothing if not flexible. The entire political class understands what needs to be done. The financial markets will insist on some serious budgeta"}, {"response": 1293, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, May 18, 2010 (19:38)", "body": "Get the F outta here!! The people who would spend money on one of these speeches are indeed the very people P.T. Barnum spoke of. Bristol Palin to hit speakers' circuit AP By BECKY BOHRER, Associated Press Writer \ufffd Tue May 18, 8:27 am ET JUNEAU, Alaska \ufffd Bristol Palin is hitting the speakers' circuit and will command between $15,000 and $30,000 for each appearance, Palin family attorney Thomas Van Flein said Monday. Van Flein confirmed a report by celebrity news website RadarOnline that the daughter of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has signed with Single Source Speakers. He added her exact fees will depend on factors such as which group she's addressing and what she must to do prepare. Bristol Palin, 19, is listed on the speaking group's website as available for conferences, fundraisers, special events and holidays, as well as women's, youth, abstinence and \"pro-life\" programs. Her fee is denoted by four question marks, meaning \"Call to discuss!\" The same designation is given to New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees. A message left late Monday for Ron Miller, with Single Source Speakers, was not immediately returned. Bristol Palin was thrust into the spotlight as a pregnant teen during her mother's unsuccessful campaign for vice president in 2008. She had son Tripp that year and has since spoken about abstinence and the challenges of life as a young single mother. Van Flein said Bristol Palin will be selective in the speeches she gives. He said he believes she's interested in expanding her message beyond teen pregnancy to include her experiences on the campaign trail and in the media spotlight; her parenting approach; and her outlook on life. Bristol Palin lives in Anchorage and works in a physician's office, Van Flein said. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100518/ap_on_en_ot/us_people_bristol_palin"}, {"response": 1294, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, May 18, 2010 (19:43)", "body": "Forgot to comment on this the other day... (Evelyn) Just call us optimists...LOL You mean you and conservative NYT columnists? ;-) I have no opinion about Cameron or the new govt set up at this point as I'm not familiar enough with the platforms and policies espouse."}, {"response": 1295, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, May 18, 2010 (21:14)", "body": "Evelyn) Just call us optimists...LOL You mean you and conservative NYT columnists? ;-) You mean, one has to be a \"conservative\" to hope the Cameron/ Clegg administration will work?"}, {"response": 1296, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, May 18, 2010 (22:31)", "body": "No, but I have no idea if what he's saying is accurate or representative of what may come with that administration, since as I said I know nothing about them. I was merely observing that it was conservatives being optimistic about other conservatives, which isn't surprising. Like sticks with like. What I do know, is that apparently there were enough voters who have reservations about at least Cameron as he did not get a decisive victory. I have no opinion otherwise."}, {"response": 1297, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, May 18, 2010 (22:35)", "body": "Looks like Arlen Spector's Lieberman like party shift didn't work out so well for him."}, {"response": 1298, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, May 18, 2010 (23:18)", "body": "(Dorine) Looks like Arlen Spector's Lieberman like party shift didn't work out so well for him. The state's Republicans didn't wnnt him, now the state's Democrats have also shown they don't want him. The guy's pathetic."}, {"response": 1299, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, May 19, 2010 (11:02)", "body": "He's too old. What is pathetic, is that he should have retired a long time ago when he was at the top of his political career. Dorine, so a conservative gov't doesn't get a chance to fix the problems in a country....even with a Lib Dem co-hort?"}, {"response": 1300, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, May 19, 2010 (19:12)", "body": "Dorine, so a conservative gov't doesn't get a chance to fix the problems in a country....even with a Lib Dem co-hort? Of course they do. I don't believe I've implied otherwise. I was just commenting on the \"us\" while sort of implying I was curious who \"us\" is."}, {"response": 1301, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, May 20, 2010 (00:56)", "body": "Don't know that I love the dress itself (it looks a bit stiff - like it's holding her up in a way), but adore the color. http://tinyurl.com/36sct5l"}, {"response": 1302, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, May 20, 2010 (10:39)", "body": "The question is what is the first lady of Mexico wearing? A horror! I like Michelle's dress, the glittery look is in. Her hair looks great too."}, {"response": 1303, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, May 20, 2010 (11:44)", "body": "FLOTUS looks v. elegant. But dress cut too high under the arms. The little bubble spilling over distracts the overall look. I would have sent it back for alterations."}, {"response": 1304, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, May 20, 2010 (12:14)", "body": "State dinner chef tweets about 'day of creation' By DARLENE SUPERVILLE and NANCY BENAC (AP) \ufffd 16 hours ago WASHINGTON \ufffd \"Got my fingers crossed there are no hitches.\" And with that tweet, Rick Bayless, a Chicago chef adored by President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama for his way with Mexican food, dashed to the White House to finish preparations for Wednesday's state dinner for Mexican President Felipe Calderon and his wife, Margarita Zavala. The same could be said for the entire White House staff \ufffd anxious to pull off a flawless event after Obama's first state dinner six months ago was overshadowed by an uninvited husband-and-wife couple who somehow slipped through security. As guests streamed in, Mrs. Obama and the president greeted the Mexican first couple on the North Portico of the White House. Mrs. Obama wore a one-shoulder, shimmery, royal blue floor-length gown, with a wide silver belt and dangling silvery earrings, while Margarita Zavala arrived in a plum-colored gown with a squarish neckline bordered in blue. About 200 guests had coveted invitations for the four-course dinner in the East Room, complete with a celebrity contingent that included Whoopi Goldberg, Eva Longoria Parker, George Lopez and Olympic speedskater Shani Davis. Goldberg said it felt like she was \"coming home after a long drought.\" She explained she'd been a frequent visitor during the Clinton years, but during the eight years of George W. Bush's presidency, \"I wasn't here.\" Lopez proudly announced he'd been told he was sitting with the president. \"They didn't tell me which one,\" he joked. Longoria Parker talked policy, saying it was an important time to be holding such a dinner with Mexican leaders, given the hot temperatures over immigration right now. \"You can't have these states doing their own punitive laws,\" she insisted, referring to the tough immigration law approved in Arizona. A larger group of guests was arriving later in the evening for dessert and after-dinner entertainment inside a big white tent on the South Lawn, where Grammy Award winner Beyonce and the Mexican singing duo of Rodrigo y Gabriela were set to perform. The dinner was a coming-out party of sorts for new White House social secretary Julianna Smoot, who gave a quick wave and sprinted away when reporters called out for her to stop and chat. Smoot's predecessor, Desiree Rogers, resigned earlier this year; she'd been criticized for her high-profile approach to the job. After the gate-crashing incident, the White House promised tighter security this time around \ufffd and they delivered. One woman was turned away because she didn't have proper ID, but she and her husband returned about an hour later and got in. Kathryne Mudge said her husband, Arturo Valenzuela, an assistant secretary of state, was supposed to bring the necessary identification. \"We tried to be extra careful, but my husband is the absent-minded professor,\" she said. Bayless, guest chef for the dinner at the invitation of Mrs. Obama, arrived in Washington two days early to start getting ready. Dinner opened with a salad of jicama with oranges, grapefruit and pineapple, followed by herb green seviche of Hawaiian opah. The main course of Oregon wagyu beef came with a Oaxacan black mole sauce that Bayless says uses more than 20 ingredients and takes days to come together. Grilled green beans and black bean tamalon will accompany the main course. Chocolate cajeta tart with toasted homemade marshmallows was on the dessert menu, along with a graham cracker crumble made with honey from the White House beehive and goat cheese ice cream. Herbs, radishes and lettuces from Mrs. Obama's garden on the South Lawn were used for the meal. The two presidents and their wives were sitting at a rectangular head table, with guests at a mix of rectangular and round tables draped in three shades of Mayan blue to simulate rippling water. Bouquets of fuchsia flowers, including roses and orchids, and prickly pear cactus were made into centerpieces. Guests will eat off from the Clinton china. Another 104 guests were joining the party for after-dinner entertainment in a tent decked out with tiered seating and a dance floor. Guests walking into the room will get the feel of Monarch butterflies in flight. The White House said that decor was chosen to honor Calderon's birthplace of Michoacan, Mexico, where the butterfly's annual migration from Canada ends each spring. \"GR8 cooking w WH staff yesterday,\" Bayless tweeted early Wednesday. \"Remarkable their organization, knowledge of protocol.\" That protocol, by the way, includes no tweets from the White House kitchen. The duo of Rodrigo Sanchez and Gabriela Quintero formed in Mexico City but moved to Dublin after becoming frustrated with the late '90s Mexican music scene. They are known for dueling acoustic guitar instrumentals that blend heavy metal sounds with Latin rhythms. The Obamas' first state dinner, for India's prime minister last November, was notable for it"}, {"response": 1305, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, May 20, 2010 (21:17)", "body": "Zero menu, IMO I don't like Black Mole sauce, Black Beans ,marshmallows,honey or chocolate."}, {"response": 1306, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, May 20, 2010 (21:33)", "body": "You don't like marshmallows? Or chocolate??? Oh my."}, {"response": 1307, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, May 21, 2010 (10:37)", "body": "Except for toffee or with a cup of tea. But never at the end of a heavy meal. The whole menu sounded like a \"Tagamet\" fest anyway."}, {"response": 1308, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Jun  1, 2010 (13:26)", "body": "After 40 years??? Who does that? (Reuters) - Former Vice President Al Gore and his wife, Tipper, have decided to separate after 40 years of marriage, they announced on Tuesday. The Gores, in an e-mail message confirmed by their office, said the decision was made \"after a great deal of thought and discussion.\" \"This is very much a mutual and mutually supportive decision that we have made together following a process of long and careful consideration,\" they said. \"We ask for respect for our privacy and that of our family, and we do not intend to comment further.\" Al Gore, a Democrat, who was Bill Clinton's vice president for eight years, narrowly lost the presidency to Republican George W. Bush in 2000 and won a Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 for his work against global climate change. During the Democratic National Convention in 2000, the Gores exchanged a long, passionate kiss on stage that became famous."}, {"response": 1309, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Tue, Jun  1, 2010 (16:03)", "body": "Anyone going to watch Fergie on Oprah tonight? (is it tonight)? Apparently she blames her wheeler dealing of access to her Ex, on the booze. Yeah, right. I have no sympathy."}, {"response": 1310, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Tue, Jun  1, 2010 (16:03)", "body": "make that booze."}, {"response": 1311, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Jun  1, 2010 (16:18)", "body": "After 40 years??? Who does that? And they just bought that gazillion dollar house in Santa Barbara? Maybe she got tired of \"yawning\";-) The guy is borrrring. I've always liked Tipper. Poor Fergie.The tabloids will crucify her."}, {"response": 1312, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Tue, Jun  1, 2010 (17:24)", "body": "(Evelyn)Poor Fergie.The tabloids will crucify her. Yeah, but she brought it upon herself, what ever possessed her, desperation I guess. I can't feel sorry for her."}, {"response": 1313, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jun  1, 2010 (17:54)", "body": "(Evelyn) Poor Fergie.The tabloids will crucify her. \"Poor\" being the operative word, eh? In a bit of a money crunch I guess. But my first thought to your tabloids comment was Sue's exactly, she's done it to herself. And I agree, the Booze Defense is laughable. I don't have anything at all against her, but it was a ridiculously stupid move."}, {"response": 1314, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Jun  1, 2010 (18:04)", "body": "It *was* stupid....but I repeat: Poor Fergie. For thinking she could get away with such esp since she's a celebrity. And the press seems to salivate for anything derogatory they can write about her;she never had a chance. I am sure people get away with this all the time. Perhaps not for cash, but for football tickets to the Superball, resort vacations, blah, blah. And they don't get caught. It's not like she stole the money. I won't join the madding crowd hurling stones at her. Embarassiing for her girls though."}, {"response": 1315, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jun  1, 2010 (18:13)", "body": "(Evelyn) Embarassiing for her girls though. I completely agree with this. And the press seems to salivate for anything derogatory they can write about her;she never had a chance. I don't see why she deserves one after doing something so stupid, esp as you say, she's a celebrity. A massive lapse in judgement (and apparently desperation) that I see no reason to get a pass from anyone (tabloids or otherswise) for. The best she can do is own up and move on."}, {"response": 1316, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Jun  1, 2010 (21:03)", "body": "Fergie, should have been a good little wife to the prince and not incite princess Di to party in discos, etc. She should be ashamed of herself. I say lock her up. And after 40 years they break up? I bet Al met some blond in CA. Stinks of midlife crisis to me."}, {"response": 1317, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Jun  1, 2010 (21:10)", "body": "Im telling ya', this is a tough crowd;-))))"}, {"response": 1318, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jun  1, 2010 (23:19)", "body": "Fergie, should have been a good little wife to the prince and not incite princess Di to party in discos, etc. She should be ashamed of herself. I say lock her up. Well now, Moon, LOL!! They were very young and thrown into very highly warped lifestyle from what they were used to. I can't fault either one of them there for the most part. They had a serious learning curve to overcome. It's a different story now, though locking her up might be a tad harsh. ;-) I actually was wondering which of them (Al or Tipper) was having the \"crisis\", though in a rather sexist way I was leaning toward Al."}, {"response": 1319, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Jun  1, 2010 (23:20)", "body": "And that story that the $$ was for a friend....pfft!!"}, {"response": 1320, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Wed, Jun  2, 2010 (01:22)", "body": "(Evelyn)And the press seems to salivate for anything derogatory they can write about her;she never had a chance. But no one forced a gun to her head. She has always been known to live life to the excess, at last that's her public persona. As Dorine said,her Celebrity status is all the more reason to keep her nose clean. There must have been other ways to raise the cash. She is not alone with being cash strapped during these difficult times, and a lot of people do not have her advantageous connections. I'm saving my pity for her girls. I'm not a Royalist devotee, Fergie obviously didn't give it a second thought as to how her actions would impact on Andrew's role as Special Trade Ambassador. It might not just be those close to her she has damaged. I do agree though, the Royal's perhaps should have paid her off better in a divorce settlement, if nothing else, to keep her quiet. (Evelyn)Im telling ya', this is a tough crowd;-)))) LOL, ;-)"}, {"response": 1321, "author": "mari", "date": "Wed, Jun  2, 2010 (08:14)", "body": "I agree Fergie was stupid and reckless beyond belief, but I don't like the fact that she was entrapped. Why did this tabloid have to run a sting operation on her, and lure her into it? Re: the Gores. I feel sad for them, as I like them both. They were together since they were 16. Once the kids are grown and on their own, some long-term couples find they no longer have much in common."}, {"response": 1322, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Wed, Jun  2, 2010 (08:44)", "body": "(Mari)Why did this tabloid have to run a sting operation on her, and lure her into it? That's the 'Screws of the world' for ya ;-)"}, {"response": 1323, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Wed, Jun  2, 2010 (10:03)", "body": "Horrifying, shocking news from Cumbria today. I hope no one here is caught up in this. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/10216589.stm"}, {"response": 1324, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Jun  2, 2010 (10:53)", "body": "There's no safe place anymore...Cumbria isn't exactly an inner city. Once the kids are grown and on their own, some long-term couples find they no longer have much in common. Like starting all over again. Takes work. Some people aren't willing to do that. We're a disposable society; marriage included."}, {"response": 1325, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Jun  2, 2010 (12:22)", "body": "(Mari) Once the kids are grown and on their own, some long-term couples find they no longer have much in common. It could be they wanted to split many years ago, but stayed together for the politics and the kids."}, {"response": 1326, "author": "janet2", "date": "Wed, Jun  2, 2010 (13:02)", "body": "Sickening news from Cumbria. The death toll has now risen to 12."}, {"response": 1327, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Wed, Jun  2, 2010 (13:08)", "body": "and 3 critical. I have heard some of the eye witness accounts, absolutely awful. What with the bad coach crash the other week and now this, Cumbria can't cut a break."}, {"response": 1328, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Jun  2, 2010 (13:28)", "body": "Re: Cumbria, terrible tragedy, was the gunman a local or foreigner? (Dorine), They were very young and thrown into very highly warped lifestyle from what they were used to. I can't fault either one of them there for the most part. Di was young not Fergie. Di knew her place, she was the future Queen, she had been put through training before her marriage, she grew up in the beautiful Spencer estate, she knew what was at stake. Fergie's father worked for the Queen, Fergie was not new to that world. Who can forget those photos of her getting her toes licked, and she was topless too. She had no respect for her husband and her daughters then, she gets no pity from me. Rabble is as rabble does."}, {"response": 1329, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Wed, Jun  2, 2010 (13:37)", "body": "A local cab driver, Moon. According to press reports he was a loner. After his shooting spree he returned home and shot his Mother."}, {"response": 1330, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Jun  2, 2010 (15:45)", "body": "I saw in some of the reports that the cab driver had an argument with several others the night before add they've interviewed the drivers, yet haven't said what the argument was all about."}, {"response": 1331, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Jul  1, 2010 (16:12)", "body": "Poor Tipper, how embarassing. Now it's on the ABC News site."}, {"response": 1332, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Jul  1, 2010 (17:53)", "body": "oops...forgot the link http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/al-gore-sex-abuse-case-reopened-portland/story?id=11059203"}, {"response": 1333, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Jul  2, 2010 (12:31)", "body": "FRom Daily Mail: Chelsea Clinton set to be married on historic Astor estate with Barack Obama as a guest - but Al Gore will NOT attend This is cute: \"Speaking at a summit in Washington Bill Clinton recently said: 'She told me the other day, she said, 'Dad the only thing you gotta do is walk me down the aisle and you need to look good.' 'So I said 'Well, what's your definition?' 'And she said: 'Oh, about 15 pounds.' So I'm halfway home.' \" http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1291515/Barack-Obama-attend-Chelsea-Clintons-wedding--scandal-plagued-Al-Gore-not.html?ito=feeds-newsxml"}, {"response": 1334, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jul 24, 2010 (11:29)", "body": "I thought this was an interesting perspective on blogging vs. traditional media, especially considering some of our discussions here and the viewpoints of blogging as unreliable vs. seeing the traditional media \"on a pedestal.\" (At the risk of seemingly hitting people over the head with a hammer, the second paragraph is total sarcasm/snark.) http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2010/07/24/anonymity/index.html"}, {"response": 1335, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Jul 24, 2010 (12:41)", "body": "Did you see the list of blogs this guy reads ? Dios mio!"}, {"response": 1336, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jul 24, 2010 (13:21)", "body": "Um, yeah...so?"}, {"response": 1337, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sun, Jul 25, 2010 (10:54)", "body": "Um, yeah,so.... who has this kind of time? I barely get my newspapers & Drool read."}, {"response": 1338, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Jul 25, 2010 (11:38)", "body": "So of all the things you took time to actually read, you scrolled down to see what his reading list was..listed at least halfway down the page on the opposite side of the article?? LOL."}, {"response": 1339, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sun, Jul 25, 2010 (16:41)", "body": "Yeah...and *along* with the article , the list wasn't worth it either;-)"}, {"response": 1340, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Jul 25, 2010 (17:09)", "body": "But if you didn't have time to read it, how would you know?? ;-)"}, {"response": 1341, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Jul 25, 2010 (17:10)", "body": "Question.... Does anyone think BP has done all they could to stop/clean up the oil spill as well as help those affected?? Someone said that in a FB conversation I had the other day and was just curious if that's a general consensus."}, {"response": 1342, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Aug 25, 2010 (13:00)", "body": "One of the player's in the Iranian Women's soccer team lost her scarf during a game, and panic ensued on the field. Her team menbers rushed to her and help her get the scarf back on her head. I am rotally disgusted. Those poor girls play like this in those dessert conditions: What was worse was watching the panic and fear in their faces as they rushed to her their team mate with her scarf. I feel for those women. :-( I hope that poor girl will not get stoned for it."}, {"response": 1343, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Aug 25, 2010 (13:01)", "body": "Ah, typing too fast, excuse the errors."}, {"response": 1344, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Aug 25, 2010 (18:00)", "body": "I'm in amazement they're allowed to play at all, scarves or not."}, {"response": 1345, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Aug 26, 2010 (11:11)", "body": "Glass half full logic. ;-)"}, {"response": 1346, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Aug 30, 2010 (14:56)", "body": "From Today: The Corriere della Sera:(I put it through google translation): Rosy Bindi (ed note: who is a senator from the left) : the dignity of humiliated Italian women Gaddafi show in Rome with the hostess , \"Islam should be the religion of Europe\" Five models recruited by an agency for the lesson on the Koran three convert ROME - \"Islam should become the religion of all Europe . \" Thus, the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi on Sunday afternoon in Rome apostrophized the almost 500 girls convened for a lesson on the Koran. The Libyan leader arrived in the morning in the capital to celebrate the second anniversary of the signing of the treaty of friendship between Italy and Libya , has distributed copies of the Koran to 487 girls ( there were 47 children , but for them there was no time ) , who met with divided in two groups . Three girls, two Italian and one Spanish , were presented with the veil because they converted to Islam , a decision that Gaddafi has sealed a \"rite fast , \" a small ceremony of initiation. The three outputs are converted , including the latest , all together, without any declaration . All wore the traditional Muslim chador , which, however, came from his hair. A few minutes later , a fourth girl came out again with a completely black Muslim veil . According to a hostess present for the meeting , however, this would not be converted to view the arrival of Gaddafi, but had long since embraced the Islamic religion . Gaddafi has linked the idea of a Europe of Turkey's Islamic European Union, and spoke to Muhammad, \"last prophet \" , while Jesus is the penultimate . The girls were able to make some questions , however, banned the political or ' uncomfortable '(read the report of the day in the story of a ' infiltrated 'between the hostess). The rest of the long article is here: http://www.corriere.it/cronache/10_agosto_29/gheddafi-roma-cavalli-amazzoni-tenda-beduina_fed80874-b344-11df-ac3b-00144f02aabe.shtml"}, {"response": 1347, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Aug 30, 2010 (20:49)", "body": "In AOL news : Iran Calls French First Lady a 'Prostitute' Over Stoning Issue http://www.aolnews.com/world/article/iran-state-media-call-french-first-lady-carla-bruni-sarkozy-a-prostitute/19613627 They're very good at demeaning women, those schmucks. A pox on them."}, {"response": 1348, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Aug 31, 2010 (19:21)", "body": "I would think she could care less what Iran calls her and wouldn't see fit to even acknowledge it."}, {"response": 1349, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Sep  6, 2010 (21:30)", "body": "OMG, this is so adorable!! I wonder if he/it works on children as well. :-D http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCnAjel02lM"}, {"response": 1350, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Nov 17, 2010 (13:16)", "body": "Royal wedding: 50 things you may not know about Kate Middleton and Prince William: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/royal-wedding/8139417/Royal-wedding-50-things-you-may-not-know-about-Kate-Middleton-and-Prince-William.html Janet, I am baffled that you don't think Charles was highly educated. He's been rigurously educated since he was 7. http://www.britainexpress.com/royals/charles2.htm"}, {"response": 1351, "author": "janet2", "date": "Wed, Nov 17, 2010 (13:21)", "body": "Well, he may have attended the best schools etc, but does that mean that he is highly educated? He strikes me as being a bit thick, lol!"}, {"response": 1352, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Nov 17, 2010 (15:14)", "body": "We'll agree to disagree. His opinions on architecture and his organic farming makes him very forward thinking, IMO. I also think he would be a good king."}, {"response": 1353, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Fri, Nov 19, 2010 (11:07)", "body": "Back to Prince William. I love that he said he hauled the engagement ring in a rucksack with him around Kenya just before he Proposed. He said he was a little worried as he would have been in a lot of trouble if he had lost it."}, {"response": 1354, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Fri, Nov 19, 2010 (13:52)", "body": "Some interesting facts in the Royal wedding: 50 things. Thanks for posting it, Moon. So, Kate is a sea goat too."}, {"response": 1355, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Fri, Nov 19, 2010 (13:58)", "body": "Three in a row, but here goes. Just been reported on the news Prince Charles has admitted for the first time that Camilla could become Queen when he takes the throne. At the time of his marriage he maintained she would keep the title of Princess Consort. A man whom can't keep his word. Just another reason why I believe Prince Charles would not make a good King."}, {"response": 1356, "author": "Moon", "date": "Fri, Nov 19, 2010 (13:58)", "body": "And she's allergic to horses?! That must be hard. ;-)"}, {"response": 1357, "author": "Moon", "date": "Fri, Nov 19, 2010 (14:00)", "body": "Sue, don't fret it. The Camilla issue is not decided. The public opinion will have much to say."}, {"response": 1358, "author": "janet2", "date": "Fri, Nov 19, 2010 (15:06)", "body": "He knew the British public wouldn't accept Queen Camilla at the time of his marriage-He's a bit naive to think we would now. He should allow the throne to pass to William on his mother's death. The monarchy would be devalued, even more than it has been already, otherwise."}, {"response": 1359, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Fri, Nov 19, 2010 (16:17)", "body": "I agree, Janet."}, {"response": 1360, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Nov 19, 2010 (16:51)", "body": "(Moon) I am baffled that you don't think Charles was highly educated. He's been rigurously educated since he was 7. (Janet) Well, he may have attended the best schools etc, but does that mean that he is highly educated? Technically he might be highly educated, but that doesn't equate to intelligence. I think Prince Charles has earned the throne. He's probably done more public service than anyone else his age. In marrying Diana, he was attempting to do what was right for the family, which didn't work out in this day and age. As for how history will treat him, I suspect he might come off better than, say, another Bertie, a king-in-training for a ridiculously long time (his mother being Victoria), Edward VII. He led a fairly dissolute life. One of his mistresses was the great great grandmother of Camilla. ;-)"}, {"response": 1361, "author": "mari", "date": "Fri, Nov 19, 2010 (17:14)", "body": "For you fans of Charles, he's interviewed tonight by Brian Williams on Dateline NBC."}, {"response": 1362, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Fri, Nov 19, 2010 (17:17)", "body": "Curiously enough I watched a programme about Charlie boy tonight which has deepended my opinion. I would have thought Princess Anne is equal to Charles with regards to puclic duties.Pity his duty to his Diana fell so woefully short.He could have picked a better match.IMO he picked a bride whom he hoped would turn a blind eye to his daliances with Camilla. I would much prefer to see William as King,whom,if the interview I saw the other day is anything to go by, will be more in touch with the people."}, {"response": 1363, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Fri, Nov 19, 2010 (17:23)", "body": "Ha! Mari, I believe thats the interview in which he mentioned the Queen Camilla thing, which, for the record,Clarence House have denied saying it still stands she will remain Princess Consort."}, {"response": 1364, "author": "janet2", "date": "Fri, Nov 19, 2010 (18:10)", "body": "No matter what Clarence House says now, she has the legal right to be Queen Consort, and I believe Charles will push for that when the time comes. -Big mistake!!"}, {"response": 1365, "author": "janet2", "date": "Fri, Nov 19, 2010 (18:56)", "body": "Loved this-but if you're a Royalist and easily offended, perhaps you shouldn't look, lol! http://www.eclectech.co.uk/camillaqueen.php"}, {"response": 1366, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Sat, Nov 20, 2010 (04:33)", "body": "LOL, that is too cruel,Janet, but funny."}, {"response": 1367, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sat, Nov 20, 2010 (12:14)", "body": "Queen Camila will not matter. It's King Charles who will and should inherit. Diana was chosen for Charles and he agreed to the match. Wrong as it was. I am not a Diana fan, I am not a Camila fan. I have my King and he's Juan Carlos of Spain. I don't think William is ready to be King."}, {"response": 1368, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Nov 20, 2010 (12:31)", "body": "(Moon) It's King Charles who will and should inherit. That brings up an interesting point. He's so well-known all over the world as Charles, but would he want to be Charles III? The Charleses don't exactly have a great reputation."}, {"response": 1369, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sat, Nov 20, 2010 (13:47)", "body": "I thought I read somewhere years ago that he might go for another George? It will be interesting to see."}, {"response": 1370, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Nov 20, 2010 (14:29)", "body": "The Son Also Rises: Should William be king? By GREGORY KATZ, Associated Press \ufffd 51 mins ago LONDON \ufffd King Charles or King William? Royal wedding bells have reignited the debate over whether Prince Charles should step aside to let his more popular son William be king. Many are pushing the idea as the nation buzzes over the announcement of William's engagement to longtime girlfriend Kate Middleton. They argue that Charles' standing suffered irreparable harm when his marriage to Princess Diana fell apart and seamy details of his affair with Camilla Parker Bowles went public. Others say he is, at 62, simply too old to start an effective reign after his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, dies. It's more than an academic question: the queen is 84 years old, albeit in seemingly excellent health. There's little question who'd win a popularity contest between the aging prince, who has alienated many Britons, and the charismatic young man who reminds many of his late mother, Diana. And Camilla, whom Charles married eight years after Diana's death, is not loved by the public, while William's fiancee, Kate Middleton, is cresting in popularity. So perhaps it's surprising that many Britons seem to prefer to leave the line of succession as it stands. \"Why change the rules now?\" said Henrietta Jones, 64, a retiree. \"William has to wait his turn just like everyone before him. I think Charles really does have what it takes to be king and I think he honestly deserves it.\" But she admitted a certain ambivalence about Charles and his prospects as monarch: \"Honestly, he is who he is and we have to deal with that.\" The support for leaving the established order in place reflects a go-slow approach to change and modernization in Britain, where reforms of traditional institutions like the House of Lords have proceeded slowly. Centuries of tradition suggest Charles should be next on the throne and his would-be subjects seem unwilling to challenge that despite his marital misadventures. The public is less forgiving in its attitude toward Camilla. She is still seen by some as the \"other woman\" in the ill-fated Charles and Diana fairy tale. Charles' suggestion, made in a U.S. television interview broadcast Friday, that she might one day take the title of queen \ufffd something many in Britain oppose \ufffd was front page news in the British tabloids Saturday. Constitutional experts like professor and author Vernon Bogdanor point out that even if Charles were extremely unpopular there is no easy way to alter the line of succession, which is not designed to bend to public opinion or respond to the whims of tabloid newspaper editors. There is no precedent in modern British history of a would-be king stepping down or being passed over so his son could accede to the throne. \"People often talk about that possibility, but we live in a parliamentary monarchy and any arrangement to change the succession has to go through Parliament, not just in Britain, but in other parliaments, including Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica and others,\" he said. \"You can't just decide to skip a generation, it's not going to happen.\" He said altering the succession would undermine the principle of constitutional monarchy, which is based on the concept that determining who ascends to the throne is not a matter of individual choice. \"It would raise the argument of who is best suited to be head of state, which having a constitutional monarchy avoids,\" he said, pointing out that when King Edward VIII abdicated in 1936 so that he could marry Wallis Simpson, an American divorcee, that decision required the approval of Parliament. Current rules of succession are based on a series of constitutional developments in the 17th and 18th centuries, including the 1689 Bill of Rights and the 1701 Act of Settlement that, among other things, confirms Parliament's role in setting succession policy. There is little doubt that Britain's unruly tabloid newspaper editors would prefer to have a young king with a chic, photogenic queen, but the decision is not in their hands, even if they can produce unscientific call-in surveys suggesting that William is \"the peoples' choice.\" If the queen wanted the throne to go straight to her grandson rather than her son \ufffd and there has been no indication whatsoever that this is the case \ufffd succession rules mean that she would not have the power to make that happen unilaterally. Such a decision would also involve British \"realms\" \ufffd places as diverse as Canada and the Tuvalu islands in the Pacific \ufffd where the queen is the nominal head of state. Any change in the succession procedures would have a direct impact on those realms because it would mean that William, not Charles, would next assume that role. Still, some Britons believe the monarchy would be reinvigorated by having a youthful king untarnished by scandal when the queen's reign is over. \"William would make a much better king,\" said social worker Kayla Healey, 25, from Brighton on Britain's south coast. \"I understan"}, {"response": 1371, "author": "janet2", "date": "Sat, Nov 20, 2010 (15:19)", "body": "He could chose any of his given names, which if I remember, are Charles Philip Arthur George."}, {"response": 1372, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Nov 20, 2010 (15:32)", "body": "\"William would make a much better king,\" said social worker Kayla Healey, 25, from Brighton on Britain's south coast. \"I understand that the rule of succession is a long-standing tradition in our monarchy, but these are modern times and it makes more sense to have a modern succession.\" Is there anything logical--or that makes sense--in this response? *snort* (Janet) which if I remember, are Charles Philip Arthur George LOL! Yes, who could forget that string of names from Diana's flubbing them during her vows."}, {"response": 1373, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sun, Nov 21, 2010 (14:03)", "body": "the charismatic young man who reminds many of his late mother, Diana. Ugh, that is reason enough for me to delay his taking the throne. I've never been a Diana fan. I'm happy it would take so much to break from tradition."}, {"response": 1374, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Dec  2, 2010 (15:00)", "body": "Take that Evolutionist: NASA research finds a life form that on the molecular level is unlike all others on Earth. The bacterium, found in a lake in California, is strong evidence that life may not have evolved from a single common ancestor. http://link.email.washingtonpost.com/r/C7I8XW/5C2URD/D4QOBJ/IGY8HC/69NTN/B7/h"}, {"response": 1375, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Dec  2, 2010 (23:34)", "body": "Moon, do you have vacation plans to Kentucky anytime?? ;-)"}, {"response": 1376, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Dec  4, 2010 (10:20)", "body": "This woman is a case study in poor lending, like the mortgage one: http://finance.yahoo.com/college-education/article/111460/is-the-college-debt-bubble-ready-to-explode I also skimmed over the first page of comments and have to agree that: (1) Study abroad? (2) $50K/year for a sociology degree that won't provide the annual income necessary to pay it off (3) Can't afford, go to a cheaper school"}, {"response": 1377, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sat, Dec  4, 2010 (14:24)", "body": "I have two in college and one in Law school, depressing article, Karen. :-( Dorine, I'll be in Kentucky if: 1. I'm invited by George Clooney to his parent's house. 2. I have a horse running in the Derby."}, {"response": 1378, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Dec  7, 2010 (13:34)", "body": "Sending love to Julian Assange. May he have a back up plan because this \"Stalinist Style\" hunt against him is massive. Long live WikiLeaks!"}, {"response": 1379, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Dec  7, 2010 (16:54)", "body": "Hear! hear!"}, {"response": 1380, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Dec  7, 2010 (16:57)", "body": "And oh my gosh, poor Elizabeth Edwards just passed away. They said yesterday it was weeks. Sad."}, {"response": 1381, "author": "sandyw", "date": "Tue, Dec  7, 2010 (18:25)", "body": "She faced a great deal of adversity with such grace."}, {"response": 1382, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Dec  7, 2010 (20:32)", "body": "I strongly suspect Julian Assange will be Time's Man of the Year. Or would be if they likely would succumb to US govt pressure not to, or the thought of govt pressure. And they'd be as cowardly as the rest of the people cutting off Wikileaks (like PayPal, MasterCard, Visa, all the hosting sites, etc) if they didn't do it should they be inclined to. Of course we'd probably never know one way or the other if they had chosen him, but didn't run with it."}, {"response": 1383, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Dec  7, 2010 (20:37)", "body": "LOL, about a minute after I wrote above I ran across something that said Mr. Assange is leading the Time mag poll asking for votes for candidates for Person of the Year. I had no idea. Just a logical leap for me to assume he would/could be."}, {"response": 1384, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Dec  7, 2010 (20:41)", "body": "From the Guardian blog ....What delicious irony (hypocrisy?). The comment at the end is theirs not mine, but it was exactly what I thought. 5.30pm: With perfect timing an email arrives from Philip Crowley at the state department: The United States is pleased to announce that it will host Unesco's World Press Freedom Day event in 2011, from 1-3 May in Washington, DC. Ironic? Read the next paragraph from the press release: The theme for next year's commemoration will be 21st Century Media: New Frontiers, New Barriers. The United States places technology and innovation at the forefront of its diplomatic and development efforts. New media has empowered citizens around the world to report on their circumstances, express opinions on world events, and exchange information in environments sometimes hostile to such exercises of individuals' right to freedom of expression. At the same time, we are concerned about the determination of some governments to censor and silence individuals, and to restrict the free flow of information. We mark events such as World Press Freedom Day in the context of our enduring commitment to support and expand press freedom and the free flow of information in this digital age. Shameless. You really could not make it up. http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/blog/2010/dec/07/wikileaks-us-embassy-cables-live-updates/print"}, {"response": 1385, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Dec  7, 2010 (21:24)", "body": "Moon)Sending love to Julian Assange. May he have a back up plan because this \"Stalinist Style\" hunt against him is massive. Long live WikiLeaks! (Dorine)Hear! hear! I feel sorry for Hillary and our President. She has worked so hard. Put on such a brave face, but you could see the humiliation."}, {"response": 1386, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Dec  7, 2010 (21:56)", "body": "I was very glad to read some and/or about some of those cables. I was glad to know the tack that Obama took with regards to Iran in actuality vs. what was being said. So...... she worked hard trying by giving directions to spy on UN personnel, against the law. Can't say I feel particularly sympathetic on that. I haven't read anything that makes me feel particular sympathy for her at all, not that I wouldn't if I see something. I haven't read it all."}, {"response": 1387, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Dec  7, 2010 (22:19)", "body": "So...... she worked hard trying by giving directions to spy on UN personnel, against the law. But then again, they probably all do it (all countries I mean)."}, {"response": 1388, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Dec  7, 2010 (22:42)", "body": "That's what diplomats do. Still....it makes it for difficult for her to gain the confidence of foreign heads of state if they know what they tell her will be spilled all over the front pages world wide. IMHO she is doing her best for the country in difficult times. My hat is off to her."}, {"response": 1389, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Dec  7, 2010 (23:03)", "body": "This is an interesting article if the info is accurate regarding the charges against Assange. I don't see how even coercion applies here. If anything, the women are/were attemtping to coerce him into having an STD test (which I don't blame them for wanting testing). This is total ridiculousness. The investigation was dropped the first time around. http://www.reuters.com/article/comments/idUSTRE6B669H20101207"}, {"response": 1390, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Thu, Dec  9, 2010 (16:20)", "body": "Charles and Camilla under attack. So Mr Firth, do you approve of breaking the law now! http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/theroyalfamily/8192767/Tuition-fees-protesters-attack-car-carrying-Prince-Charles-and-the-Duchess-of-Cornwall.html"}, {"response": 1391, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Thu, Dec  9, 2010 (16:22)", "body": "I should explain, which is pretty much what TPS was endorsing!"}, {"response": 1392, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Thu, Dec  9, 2010 (17:15)", "body": "Following on from my post on Colin Firth...Treasury office and Supreme Court badly vandalised (windows smashed, graffiti) phone boxes smashed, bricks, snooker balls, golf balls, all manner of missiles thrown at the police. Protesters then went down Oxford Street and trashed shop windows. Charles and Camilla's car got caught up in the riots. Just seen video footage on the news, its quite shocking. The whole protest is an absolute disgrace."}, {"response": 1393, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Dec  9, 2010 (19:15)", "body": "Horrible behavior. I'm surprised by the lack of security for the Prince, Sue! A big crowd is hard to miss. I do know that the tuition in the UK is nothing compared to the US. :-( Students just take it here. I'd love to see some peaceful demonstrations here. In Milan, student protesters attacked patrons at the opening night of La Scala two days ago. They were protesting changes in the education system. Maybe the Brits got the idea from them?"}, {"response": 1394, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Thu, Dec  9, 2010 (19:28)", "body": "Horrible behavior. I'm surprised by the lack of security for the Prince, Sue! Exactly, Moon! Someone's head will roll for that one. I'm sure Liz won't be amused. Can you believe one of the back windows of the car was open about a good inch. They showed footage of 4 riot vans waiting outside the venue which apparently Camilla and Charles left in at least one of those. Windows blackened out. The riots were shocking to watch. I guess from my personal viewpoint, at least they are leaving the bankers alone whilst they have a go at the politicians ;-) At least Ant should move offices early next year and not be working in such a high public profile building, it can't come a moment too soon. But, as Janet said, the riots are shadowing more important issues."}, {"response": 1395, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Thu, Dec  9, 2010 (19:35)", "body": ""}, {"response": 1396, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Thu, Dec  9, 2010 (19:44)", "body": "As I head up to Bedfordshire, here are some images of Westminster under seige today. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1337088/TUITION-FEES-VOTE-PROTEST-Charles-Camillas-car-attacked-thousands-students-descend-Parliament.html and some video footage. Apparently an eye witness reported their car became detached from their security outriders and the security car following them. I would say the Prince and Camilla can count themselves lucky coming out of that with no more than a battered car. http://news.yahoo.com/video/world-15749633/23431085 http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3268159/Charles-Camillas-car-is-attacked-in-London-as-students-protest.html"}, {"response": 1397, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Thu, Dec  9, 2010 (19:46)", "body": "Sorry for another post, but here is a better video of the incident. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-11954333"}, {"response": 1398, "author": "janet2", "date": "Thu, Dec  9, 2010 (19:48)", "body": "(Moon)Maybe the Brits got the idea from them? The Lib Dem leader is under fire for his complete turnaround re student fees since the General Election. Amazing how a taste of power can turn your head:-( -I expect him to do a Winston Churchill and jump ship soon;-)"}, {"response": 1399, "author": "janet2", "date": "Thu, Dec  9, 2010 (19:55)", "body": "At least nine police officers were seriously injured as mask-wearing anarchists hijacked the final tuition fees protest and turned yet another peaceful demonstration into chaos. I have read reports that police cutbacks have resulted in less manpower to monitor the activities of the anarchists planned actions."}, {"response": 1400, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Dec  9, 2010 (20:57)", "body": ""}, {"response": 1401, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Dec  9, 2010 (20:58)", "body": ""}, {"response": 1402, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Dec  9, 2010 (21:22)", "body": "Trying for the third time. Italics not closing and couldn't figure what I missed. (Sue)pretty much what TPS was endorsing! What's TPS? Will put the rest in another post."}, {"response": 1403, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Dec  9, 2010 (21:25)", "body": "(Moon) Students just take it here. Think you missed something. ;-) http://crooksandliars.com/john-amato/students-protest-tuition-hikes-californ University of California students protest 32 percent tuition increase http://articles.cnn.com/2009-11-19/us/california.tuition.protests_1_tuition-increase-angry-students-ucla-building?_s=PM:US"}, {"response": 1404, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Dec  9, 2010 (21:28)", "body": "Oh and left out my other comment that that it's a shame the protests were so out of hand. I, too, was surprised at the apparent lack of security for Charles and Camilla."}, {"response": 1405, "author": "slpeg2003", "date": "Thu, Dec  9, 2010 (23:42)", "body": "(Dorine) What's TPS? Colin's production: The People Speak As a member of the Kent State generation, I can sympathize with the student's desire and need to protest these large, sudden tuition hikes, but I abhor the violence and vandalism. (Over here we are used to paying tuitions and some are exhorbitant, but to have a 200% increase is terrible) Attacking Charles and Camilla is stupid. They have no connection to the political decision. When hoodlums are wreaking havoc, it is much more difficult for the police to maintain control and innocents are more likely to be caught in the melee:-(( (Moon) In Milan, student protesters attacked patrons at the opening night of La Scala two days ago. They were protesting changes in the education system. Maybe the Brits got the idea from them? This is the first I've heard of this. They attacked patrons??"}, {"response": 1406, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Dec  9, 2010 (23:46)", "body": "Is there to be a DVD version of TPS? I must see this."}, {"response": 1407, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Fri, Dec 10, 2010 (05:12)", "body": "Dorine, might be worth making inquiries with Karen whom I sent a disc of TPS too. This is as I understand it. The upper limit Uni's are now allowed to charge has leaped from around the \ufffd3000 mark to \ufffd9000. However, the Government have arranged a loan where the students do not have to pay back until they earn an annual salary of \ufffd21,00. This threshold will rise annually in line with inflation. If they don't find employment then they don't need to pay back the loan. The loan is wiped after 30 years if it hasn't been paid back. As Janet has said, what has angered the students is the Lib Dem's turnaround since the election. At the time Clegg campaigned that the threshold would not be raised. His excuse now is that if his party had got into power things would be different, but his hands are pretty much tied as Lib Dems are the weaker part of a Coalition (or words to that effect). I can understand the Students feel like they have been sold a pony and been sold out, but Clegg does make a good point. His party didn't win and thus are in a weaker position. There are no excuses for the violent protests. The People Speak was like watching a piece of political propaganda rather than a 'lesson in history'. The view was very left wing. Viewers were encouraged to make their voice heard by authority by whatever means, legal or otherwise. Participants such as McKellen and Knightly actually suggested breaking the law. Throughout the programme news coverage of numerous UK violent protests (G20 in Central London being used in the opening sequence and again later in the programme) were used as examples of how 'freedom of speech' has been demonstrated n the past. In a nutshell, the way I see it, Firth and his croonies were advocating violent protest. My problem with the programme, apart from I don't agree with violent protest, is would Firth and his 'Lovies' actually protest on the streest,amongst the masses and practising what they preech? My view of Firth has sunk dramatically since TPS."}, {"response": 1408, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Fri, Dec 10, 2010 (06:00)", "body": "and to add, what really pisses me off. This morning on the news, yet again, the head of one of the student groups whom organised their riot, erm protest, were condemning the police violence, saying they provoked the students. From the live footage I watched yesterday this is bullsh*t.The cameras filmed at least one group of protesters breaking up slabs of reinforced concrete which they found at nearly building works, The concrete had steel spikes sticking out and some protesters were hurling this at the Police,not to mention snooker and golf balls, fire crackers and fireworks, paint balls so the Police couldn't see through their helmets. Agh! I really must watch my BP, it's a boiling point."}, {"response": 1409, "author": "lizbeth54", "date": "Fri, Dec 10, 2010 (07:34)", "body": "I mentioned that my son was at a function in Westminster, which ended about 10.30pm. He got talking to a group of students while waiting for the tube to go home, nice well-behaved \"middle-class\" students. They were very upset about the behaviour of a small minority who disrupted the peaceful nature of the protest. They said that this group were not bona fide students, just yobbos who hated the police. They were upset about the attack on Prince Charles's car because they realised that they would be tarred with the same brush - as irresponsible hooligans. They were actually wondering whether it was worthwhile organising demonstrations as they always backfired and were hijacked by undesirable elements. The police also used \"kettling\" to keep them confined in a small space, and took their photos as they were \"released\". They were very worried about this."}, {"response": 1410, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Fri, Dec 10, 2010 (08:13)", "body": "The police also used \"kettling\" to keep them confined in a small space, and took their photos as they were \"released\". They were very worried about this. I am getting sick and tired of the 'nice well-behaved' Students bleating and playing the innocent game. C'mon, there's been enough coverage of recent riots to give a clue as to how things might go. Don't go if you can't stand the heat or the repercussions, simple."}, {"response": 1411, "author": "janet2", "date": "Fri, Dec 10, 2010 (08:36)", "body": "Come on Sue, surely, in a democracy, the students (or anyone for that matter) have a right to peaceful protest. -It's not their fault a lunatic minority take over and turn it into a riot. I don't doubt a few students became involved, but they're not all hooligans fgs. The police should be monitoring these groups to prevent such occurrences in future. It's well documented that they will infiltrate and cause trouble wherever, whenever."}, {"response": 1412, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Fri, Dec 10, 2010 (08:46)", "body": "(Janet) Come on Sue, surely, in a democracy, the students (or anyone for that matter) have a right to peaceful protest. Peaceful protest, yes, but they are naive, in light of recent protests, if they thought yesterday would come off peacefully. My point is, if they were worried about being kettled and having their photo taken then why go. BTW, I can think of more deserving and vulnerable causes whom will be feeling the effects of the cutbacks. The students are not the only ones."}, {"response": 1413, "author": "janet2", "date": "Fri, Dec 10, 2010 (09:25)", "body": "I'm sorry, but oui're going to have to agree to disagree on this one. Although the increases don't apply in Scotland(where Scottish, as opposed to foreign students, don't pay any fees, but that may change soon), I can imagine how my boys would feel if they were asked to repay around \ufffd9000 per year for, in their case, a 5 year course. There are of course widespread cutbacks, but this is the cause closest to their hearts (and pockets!) I have to say that if I was a student affected in this way, I'd be out there with them."}, {"response": 1414, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Fri, Dec 10, 2010 (09:46)", "body": "Fair enough, Janet. I don't necessarily not have sympathy with the plight or should I say, fight of the Students. But, my sympathies are elsewhere with the more vulnerable in society whom, it's rumoured, will be facing equally, if not more so, devasting cutbacks. I do however totally abhor the violent scenes I watch unfold on the TV yesterday. Perhaps I am more emotional caught up in it than I would otherwise have been, that is having had a loved one (whom had no option but to turn up for work) too close for comfort near to the violence of the G20 protests. It brings it home when I know his building had literally 5 minutes to evacuate because of fears they would be under attack!"}, {"response": 1415, "author": "janet2", "date": "Fri, Dec 10, 2010 (09:52)", "body": "It must have been awful for those in the vicinity. My only experience of mob trouble was, coincidentally in London, when my eldest son was a baby. We were on the tube when a group of football hooligans jumped on our train to escape rival fans who were in pursuit. -Very scary, esp given our location:-(("}, {"response": 1416, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Fri, Dec 10, 2010 (10:05)", "body": "(Janet)My only experience of mob trouble was, coincidentally in London, when my eldest son was a baby. We were on the tube when a group of football hooligans jumped on our train to escape rival fans who were in pursuit. -Very scary, esp given our location:-(( Oh my, that does sound very scary. No escape on a moving train. (Janet)It must have been awful for those in the vicinity. Yeah, it wasn't good. Their building had already been targeted earlier in the day when a military tank was able to drive right outside by protesters. They were lucky, the tank could have been used to ram the glass front doors to the building and heaven knows what may have happened if it had been followed by a mob of angry protesters because the police presence was at the more central location. So, my then seeing on TV the trashing of the Threadneedle Street office, smoke pouring from the windows. You can imagine it wasn't pleasant when Ant called to warn me they had received a security warning for his building to prepare to evacuate immediately because insider info came through it was thought there was a splinter group of protesters whom they believed were heading their way in order to infiltrate their office. As I say, his move to another company in a different (less vulnerable) location early (we hope) in the New Year, can't come soon enough. In the meantime we shall just have to hold our breath and keep ingers crossed the Protester's attention will be diverted elsewhere than the banks and corporate. My fear now is, from the Policing fiasco of yesterday it will give more power to the anarchists to reap more and worse havoc on various locations of Central London simultaneously. Worrying times."}, {"response": 1417, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Dec 10, 2010 (10:25)", "body": "(Dorine)I, too, was surprised at the apparent lack of security for Charles and Camilla. Seems like the royals did have professional protection with guns. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1337478/ROYAL-CAR-ATTACK-Protection-officers-drew-weapons-Camilla-hit-ribs-rioter.html"}, {"response": 1418, "author": "janet2", "date": "Fri, Dec 10, 2010 (11:45)", "body": "Seems like the royals did have professional protection with guns. They always do. In this case, the problem was that the mob managed to surround the car. Whoever was in charge of security will be out of a job I think."}, {"response": 1419, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Dec 10, 2010 (11:51)", "body": "The pics of Charles and Camilla take me back to 2000, when they were at the same theater as we were, but they didn't arrive together. People in the lobby knew they were coming though as the paparazzi were waiting. Interesting discussion. Protest is fine. Violent protest is a whole different animal. It takes real organization to ensure a protest doesn't turn violent or allow outsiders to cause trouble. Of course, C& C have nothing directly to do with any govt decisions, but they're viewed as a symbol not only of the government but as people who aren't affected in any significant way by program cutbacks and other austerity measures."}, {"response": 1420, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Fri, Dec 10, 2010 (12:05)", "body": "Apparently one of the protesters shouted at Charles, \"it's your government\". Correction, it's his Mother's government ;-) I agree, I believe there is a place for peaceful protest. It can be useful and can get results. The sit ins at Cambridge and a few other colleges are a good idea, IMO and lessen the chance for opportunist anarchists to take over a protest rally. IMO, the anarchists and thugs have latched on to the student protests as they can blend in more than say a rally for Pensioners protesting over their cutbacks.... The students just need to come up with a plan of action reducing the chance of it being hijacked so they can get their message across without the risk of alienating the support they have."}, {"response": 1421, "author": "janet2", "date": "Fri, Dec 10, 2010 (12:48)", "body": "(Sue)The students just need to come up with a plan of action reducing the chance of it being hijacked so they can get their message across without the risk of alienating the support they have. I agree. Campus based protests would seem to be the way forward. Taking to the streets in the current climate is turning the country against them, however valid their case is."}, {"response": 1422, "author": "Moon", "date": "Fri, Dec 10, 2010 (12:55)", "body": "(Sue), This is as I understand it. The upper limit Uni's are now allowed to charge has leaped from around the \ufffd3000 mark to \ufffd9000. However, the Government have arranged a loan where the students do not have to pay back until they earn an annual salary of \ufffd21,00. This threshold will rise annually in line with inflation. If they don't find employment then they don't need to pay back the loan. The loan is wiped after 30 years if it hasn't been paid back. That is so civilized! In the US, the student is to start paying off the loan 6 months after graduation, regardless of job or not. I would trade places with your system in a heartbeat. Can you imagine $50K a year tuition for 7 years? And that's only for one student. This system is so screwed up! Dorine, CA and UCLA (my alma mater), are always ahead. So a peaceful protest there does not surprise, it's expected. Fact is, that in order for it to be effective it has to be organized on a National level. That has not happened. Peggy look here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/07/italy-arts-protests-riots-scala"}, {"response": 1423, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Dec 10, 2010 (13:12)", "body": "(Sue) However, the Government have arranged a loan where the students do not have to pay back until they earn an annual salary of \ufffd21,00. This threshold will rise annually in line with inflation. If they don't find employment then they don't need to pay back the loan. The loan is wiped after 30 years if it hasn't been paid back. When I was in school, it was common for students to declare bankruptcy to wipe out their obligations, but that loophole was closed a long time ago. My older sister didn't have to repay her student loans because she taught in an inner city school and that took care of her debt. I paid for school myself, with scholarships, loans and by working. I went to a school I could afford. I paid back my loans to the penny."}, {"response": 1424, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Fri, Dec 10, 2010 (13:34)", "body": "Precisely Moon and Karen. The fee's threshold used to be just over a \ufffd3,000 cap with the loan paid back when the Graduate earns over \ufffd15,00o. The Protesters group argue the Government are not revealing the full facts, but they (protesters) don't stipulate the apparently missing information. Though they vaguely mentioned interest kicks in from the word go."}, {"response": 1425, "author": "slpeg2003", "date": "Fri, Dec 10, 2010 (14:04)", "body": "(Karen) I paid back my loans to the penny. My DH did the same with his loans to covering living expenses. We took the full 10 years to repay (interest rate was so low) and he still has the receipt showing that it was paid in full. My goal was to be able to put our kids through university without having them saddled with debt upon graduation. We were able to to that, but my son-in-law had to borrow. He's in law school now and borrowing to pay for that AND the payments due on his undergraduate loans. the Government have arranged a loan where the students do not have to pay back until they earn an annual salary of \ufffd21,000 I am not aware of US school loans where the payback is tied to one earning a certain income. There are still 'forgivness' programs for inner city teaching, though. Janet- How terrifying to be trapped on a train with the hooligans. My son was just in a play, \"Among the Thugs\", about the English football gangs and their culture. It was a fascinating but disturbing (scary) reinactment of the pack mentality and ensuing actions of those football fans. Even after seeing this, I don't really understand the phenomenon, but yesterday's riots reminded me of the football thugs. Sue- I am glad that Ant is OK and will be changing his work soon."}, {"response": 1426, "author": "janet2", "date": "Fri, Dec 10, 2010 (14:05)", "body": "I know if my youngest son, who starts Uni next year, thought he would have a debt of \ufffd40000+, it would put him off going. By any standards, the increase in fees is incredible. The fear is that the unis will become elitist, with Mummy and Daddy paying the rich kids fees. Of course, Cameron, Clegg and most of the Coalition Government are millionaires-they don't give a toss:-("}, {"response": 1427, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Dec 10, 2010 (15:01)", "body": "(Peggy) I am not aware of US school loans where the payback is tied to one earning a certain income Comfortable ability has never been prerequisite. ;-) Wage garnishment has always been their first weapon of repayment."}, {"response": 1428, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Dec 13, 2010 (13:52)", "body": "Really? Is no one on the people's side? Provision of nation's health-care overhaul ruled unconstitutional: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/13/AR2010121302420.html?wpisrc=nl_natlalert"}, {"response": 1429, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Dec 13, 2010 (19:25)", "body": "\"Really? Is no one on the people's side?\" Provision of nation's health-care overhaul ruled unconstitutional: \"Overall, 52 percent of those polled oppose the overhaul to the health-care system; 43 percent are supportive of it. \" http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/13/AR2010121302420.html?wpisrc=nl_natlalert"}, {"response": 1430, "author": "mari", "date": "Mon, Dec 13, 2010 (20:23)", "body": "Most members of the public have no idea what health care reform is really about, so polls are meaningless. Once the provisions start kicking in--and people benefit from things like no pre-existing condition exclusions, ability to cover their children up to age 26, 100% coverage for preventive care--all coming in January 2011--the numbers will change. And the ruling today will have no impact. The administraton expected it. This will be tied up in court for years. Meanwhile, the provisions will go into effect, on schedule. And the lawyers will get even richer."}, {"response": 1431, "author": "janet2", "date": "Mon, Dec 13, 2010 (21:13)", "body": "Will this healthcare reform cost the taxpayer more than private healthcare? Or is it aimed at those who cannot afford cover? I know our Health Service is criticised often, but thank goodness ability to pay doesn't impact on treatment offered."}, {"response": 1432, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Dec 14, 2010 (10:15)", "body": "Will this healthcare reform cost the taxpayer more than private healthcare? It's free!, Janet. China's paying for it;-)"}, {"response": 1433, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Tue, Dec 14, 2010 (17:13)", "body": "So, the Firth has turned! in a manner of speaking ;-) http://www.chiswickw4.com/default.asp?section=info&page=conceleb242.htm"}, {"response": 1434, "author": "janet2", "date": "Tue, Dec 14, 2010 (19:00)", "body": "Not at all surprised-in fact I'm surprised that he is not more forthright in his statement. However, I think the couples may be friends, so that has probably tempered his comments. Simple fact is if NC hadn't supported the increase, he would no longer be Depute Prime Minister. So much for principles:-("}, {"response": 1435, "author": "sandyw", "date": "Tue, Dec 14, 2010 (19:26)", "body": "(Janet) So much for principles:-( It is a sad fact of political life I'm afraid. I believe many individuals enter the political forum with the highest principles and the best intentions only to find that compromises are required. With the party system we have in Canada, and in Britain as well I think, an MP must follow the party line or be ejected from the caucus. When the MP's own beliefs or the wishes of his constituents conflict with the party line, he/she is in an impossible position. One compromise leads to another until there is little integrity left and getting re-elected is the foundation of all decision making."}, {"response": 1436, "author": "janet2", "date": "Tue, Dec 14, 2010 (19:40)", "body": "I understand that would be the case normally, but he is Depute Prime Minister in a Coalition Government, of which his party is very much the minority member. The Lib Dems will never be a majority party in the UK, unless there is a major shift by voters (which is very unlikely) so this is his only chance for real political power. However, he's paid a high price, and lost a great deal of support from Lib Dem voters in constituencies."}, {"response": 1437, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Dec 14, 2010 (20:10)", "body": "Just getting here, what a day I've had! My friends in Rome are so upset. My DH says is like Italy in the '70's: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1338461/Riot-Rome-Silvio-Berlusconi-survives-Italian-premier-just-THREE-votes.html?ito=feeds-newsxml"}, {"response": 1438, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Dec 14, 2010 (20:52)", "body": "Oh Moon, how awful. National upheaval? Or is it just Rome. Pure anarchy. I can't bear to see the churches on the Populo Piazza desecrated. Been meaning to ask you who is this Umberto Bossi. There was a full page write-up in yesterday's WSJ. He's v. tough on immigration; big problem in Italy I gather."}, {"response": 1439, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Dec 15, 2010 (15:43)", "body": "First of all, Evelyn, you will be happy to know that Berlusconi's government survived the crisis by a vote in Parliament. Even the leftist La Repubblica, took a poll and Berlusconi won. Second, Umberto Bossi is the head of La Lega Nord, which is the Northern League, center right and for small business, he's gaining votes everyday and of course is aligned with Berlusconi. Third, the protest happened in every major city. Truly horrible. Vandals everywhere. http://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/2010/12/14/guerriglia-urbana-nel-centro-di-roma/81925/ If they go to vote again in March, I believe Berlusconi and Bossi will take most of the votes. The Italian people are sick of the vandals."}, {"response": 1440, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Dec 15, 2010 (17:20)", "body": "Thank you. I've been following my sweetie ;-)Silvio's results and know he won...albeit narrowly. But hey, a win's a win! ( Much to YKW and his side kick's chagrin who were probably rooting for the lefties)"}, {"response": 1441, "author": "janet2", "date": "Wed, Dec 15, 2010 (22:58)", "body": "I though SB was unpopular not just with the Left, with because of the sleaze etc etc etc. +Rumours he bought some of his backers in the votes:-("}, {"response": 1442, "author": "janet2", "date": "Thu, Dec 16, 2010 (07:34)", "body": "Been reading up on Berlusconi-can't believe how many lives this guy has. The Statute of Limitations certainly has worked for him on numerous occasions, together with very good lawyers:-( His comments about women defy belief too. -Don't think he'd ever get my vote-what a piece of work!"}, {"response": 1443, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Dec 16, 2010 (10:03)", "body": "But what a smile....who could resist him;-)))"}, {"response": 1444, "author": "janet2", "date": "Thu, Dec 16, 2010 (10:15)", "body": "Me!!! ;-)) I think he looks like a sleazeball."}, {"response": 1445, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Thu, Dec 16, 2010 (10:16)", "body": "Have to agree with you Janet"}, {"response": 1446, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Dec 16, 2010 (11:36)", "body": "Hey, lighten up;-)))) Even sleazballs have their charm."}, {"response": 1447, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Thu, Dec 16, 2010 (11:41)", "body": "You reckon? ;-)"}, {"response": 1448, "author": "janet2", "date": "Thu, Dec 16, 2010 (11:47)", "body": "If I were one of the many females he's insulted, I know how I'd wipe that smile off his face-it would involve my Size 5 boots;-)))"}, {"response": 1449, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Dec 16, 2010 (12:32)", "body": "LOL, Janet. (Your not- so- secret- weapon.) Listen, I'm not going to throw stones at any other country's sleazeball, we've got Bill. And *everyone* loves Bill! ('cept maybe for Hil;-)"}, {"response": 1450, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Dec 16, 2010 (15:45)", "body": "I'm not happy with the way \"Viagra\" Berlusconi has been comporting himself. But the fact is that his coalition Government is the best one for Italy now. The judges have let all the vandals be released from jail today. Need I say that the judges all belong to the left?"}, {"response": 1451, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Dec 18, 2010 (08:17)", "body": "Here's hoping that the U.S. Senate does the right thing today."}, {"response": 1452, "author": "cfadm", "date": "Fri, Dec 24, 2010 (10:22)", "body": "Looks like it was a triple win for the nation, DADT, START, and 9/11 Responders."}, {"response": 1453, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Dec 24, 2010 (18:54)", "body": "Indeed, who'da thunk it?"}, {"response": 1454, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Jan  5, 2011 (18:36)", "body": "Gee what a surprise? Who didn't see that coming? Oh, wait, I know GW Bush. This is not good news : Anti-American Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr made a surprise return to Iraq on Wednesday, ending nearly four years of self-imposed exile in Iran. Sadr's return comes just two weeks after Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, also a Shiite, cobbled together a unity government to begin a second term. Support from a bloc of Sadr loyalists in Iraq's parliament pushed Maliki past the threshold needed to form his cabinet. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/05/AR2011010500724.html?wpisrc=nl_natlalert"}, {"response": 1455, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jan  6, 2011 (17:42)", "body": "Al-Maliki will do anything, including make deals with the devil to stay in power (with US help). You think Bush Admin didnt' see it coming? Question is (perhaps rhetorically) ...did they care?"}, {"response": 1456, "author": "Moon", "date": "Fri, Jan  7, 2011 (18:47)", "body": "I think that GW Bush did not see it coming. He's a war criminal, IMO. During the war in Kuwait, his father was smart enough to realize that it was better to leave Saddam Hussein in Iraq instead of going after him. He knew that Saddam, a Suni, had a tight control on the more radical Shiites. It would have been Civil War to do so. HELLO!!!!! In his cabinet, Saddam also had Coptic advisers, one of them, Tareq Assiz was often a guest on Nightline. Have you seen what happened in Egypt to the Coptic Christians recently? Slaughtered by the Shiites as they were leaving church services? No one can convince me that Islam is a religion of peace. Just read the suras in the Koran. :-("}, {"response": 1457, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sat, Jan  8, 2011 (16:52)", "body": "It is starting: Back in Iraq, Cleric Muqtada al-Sadr Declares 'We Reject America' NAJAF, Iraq - An anti-American cleric whose militia was once the nemesis of U.S. troops in Iraq said Saturday that his followers were still resisting the U.S. enemy with all means. But Muqtada al-Sadr, now a formidable force in Iraqi politics and not just a militia leader, tempered his fiery words by saying the new Iraqi government should be given a chance to get American forces out of the country in a \"suitable\" way. In his first speech since returning from almost four years of self-imposed exile in Iran, the 37-year-old cleric whose Shiite militias once battled U.S. troops and terrorized Iraqi Sunnis stopped short of explicitly urging violence against Americans. But he left open the possibility that some 50,000 U.S. troops in Iraq could be targeted before they are set to leave at the end of this year. \"Let the whole world hear that we reject America. No, no to the occupier,\" al-Sadr said during his 35-minute speech in Najaf, a holy Shiite city about 100 miles south of Baghdad. \"We don't kill Iraqis - our hands do not kill Iraqis. But we target only the occupier with all the means of resistance,\" he added. \"We are still resisters and we are still resisting the occupier militarily and culturally and by all the means of resistance.\" Al-Sadr has long branded the U.S. military as occupiers in Iraq, and Washington considers him a security threat. Yet after winning 40 seats in March parliamentary elections - and taking eight top leadership posts in the new government - al-Sadr's political muscle makes him a force that cannot be ignored. Addressing an adoring and frenzied crowd of thousands, al-Sadr called the U.S., Israel and Britain \"our common enemies.\" \"Maybe during the past few days and months, we forgot the resistance and the expel of the occupier as we were busy with politics,\" al-Sadr said. \"Our aim is to expel the occupier with any means. The resistance does not mean that everyone can carry a weapon. The weapon is only for the people of the weapons\" - fighters. U.S. Embassy spokesman David J. Ranz brushed off al-Sadr's remarks. \"We listened to the speech, but heard nothing new,\" Ranz said. A security agreement between Washington and Baghdad requires all U.S. forces to be out of Iraq by the end of the year. Although both al-Maliki and the Obama administration have maintained the roughly 50,000 U.S. troops will leave by then, officials in both nations have acknowledged that Iraq is not yet ready to protect its borders from possible invasion. That's led to widespread speculation that al-Maliki ultimately will ask a small number of American forces to remain. Al-Sadr rose to power after the March 2003 invasion and has since been revered by poor Iraqi Shiites. His Mahdi Army gunmen were a formidable foe of American troops and Iraqi government forces between 2004 and 2008, but al-Sadr fled to Iran in 2007 under threat of arrest for allegedly killing another cleric. Although absent from Iraq for four years, he has maintained strict control over the political and military wings of his movement from his base in Iran. It's not clear whether al-Sadr will remain in Iraq or return to Iran. Followers and detractors hung on his words, delivered outside his ancestral home, for signs of where he plans to take his political movement. \"We are like crazy people who lost their father for a while,\" said shop owner Samir Atwan, who closed his store in the Baghdad slum of Sadr City to join the black-clad thousands who thronged outside the cleric's ancestral home in Najaf, 100 miles (160 kilometers) south of the capital. Atwan said he slept on the street in Najaf for three days in hopes of seeing al-Sadr. \"All these people left their jobs and their shops,\" he said. Nearby, a blind man led a crowd of young men who waited hours in the cool January morning amid cries of \"Yes, yes, to our leader.\" It was only with al-Sadr's support - and with the blessing of Iran - that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was able to muster enough support from former opponents to win a second term in office after his political party fell short in the March elections. The alliance was surprising to Iraq's political observers, and especially to Sadrists who were crushed by al-Maliki's security forces in Baghdad and the southern port city of Basra. But Iranian leaders pushed for the detente that gave al-Sadr new sway over al-Maliki and led Iraq's Sunni minority to fear they would remain without a voice in the new government. In the Sunni-dominated Baghdad suburb of Azamiyah, Majid al-Adhami watched with apprehension the speech he described as \"directed to his followers rather than to the Iraqi people.\" \"He came from abroad with a message from his masters that he will continue what he and his followers used to do,\" said al-Adhami, 57, a retiree and father of five. \"He's saying now that I used to control the street and now I'm controlling both the street and politics.\" Associated"}, {"response": 1458, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Tue, Jan 11, 2011 (07:12)", "body": "Shocking footage of the floods in Queensland and now heading towards Brisbane. I hope all Oz Droolers and their families are safe?"}, {"response": 1459, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Jan 11, 2011 (10:11)", "body": "Drool has (or had) a Brisbane Drooler, CatheyP, who made her way to London for 3DOR. I haven't heard from her for awhile."}, {"response": 1460, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Jan 18, 2011 (14:36)", "body": "Please call your local representatives today and implore them to: Save our health care - Vote NO on H.R. 2 Send emails too. Tomorrow, House Republicans led by John Boehner will vote on the repeal of health reform -- moving to end the law that keeps insurance companies in check. From denying coverage to children with pre-existing conditions, to pursuing profits with no accountability, to raising rates arbitrarily on families and businesses and canceling coverage when people get sick -- insurers could return to promoting their own financial health at the expense of those seeking care. And with repeal estimated to add $230 billion to the deficit over the next 10 years, the Republicans' first agenda item delays our economic recovery and does nothing to create jobs. Repealing the Affordable Care Act is bad for our health, our economy, and our country -- and Speaker Boehner needs to know where we stand. Call him now at 202-225-6205. Tell him to stop playing political games and end the wasteful, hurtful repeal of health reform."}, {"response": 1461, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sat, Jan 22, 2011 (16:25)", "body": "I'll continue: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/8272438/The-Caligulan-court-of-Silvio-Berlusconi-laid-bare.html My take, after his divorce, Silvio has gone viagra-gaga. I'm not happy about it, I hate it. But if you read that article, you will see how even parents are throwing their daughters in front of him for money. It's all about money. Those women disgust me too. What is worse, IMO, is the judges wire taping conversations and spying on him without any authorization! That is pure espionage and totally illegal. And, in the surveys taken, Berlusconi, the people seem to be on his side. LOL, it will take a lot more to topple him."}, {"response": 1462, "author": "janet2", "date": "Sat, Jan 22, 2011 (19:21)", "body": "How can such a character be defended? - Where are his advisors? He's the PM FGS!! Sorry, but have no sympathy for the randy old goat:-(("}, {"response": 1463, "author": "OzFirthFan", "date": "Sat, Jan 22, 2011 (20:58)", "body": "I am repulsed by that man. He is absolutely disgusting, without an ounce of charm. I find it hard to imagine what any woman would find attractive about him. Calling him a pig is an insult to pigs."}, {"response": 1464, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sun, Jan 23, 2011 (14:43)", "body": "He may be hated internationally but in Italy: Silvio Berlusconi's party gaining support despite scandals http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/23/silvio-berlusconi-poll-party-support I told you, he will prevail."}, {"response": 1465, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sun, Jan 23, 2011 (15:14)", "body": "Go Silvio , Go. Il Popolo della Libert\ufffd,..."}, {"response": 1466, "author": "janet2", "date": "Sun, Jan 23, 2011 (15:36)", "body": "No great surprise:-( He's still a sleazebag, and the Italian public obviously aren't great judges of character, more's the pity."}, {"response": 1467, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sun, Jan 23, 2011 (18:51)", "body": "I think I can speak much better for the Italian people, since I am a citizen, Janet, when I say that his Government is preferable to the leftist one. The fact that the Catholics in Italy support him after his abominable behavior is telling. The Italians are also disgusted by the actions of the courts, as I have explained in a previous post."}, {"response": 1468, "author": "janet2", "date": "Sun, Jan 23, 2011 (19:05)", "body": "If he's the best of a bad bunch-unlucky for Italy:-("}, {"response": 1469, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Jan 25, 2011 (14:10)", "body": "Last night Charlie Rose was the guest on The Colbert Show. Nothing remotely political. Take a look, as Charlie would say. ;-) http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/372018/january-24-2011/charlie-rose"}, {"response": 1470, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Feb  5, 2011 (12:27)", "body": "I think this qualifies as Mad world stuff..... \"Some people balked when it was announced that for $200, folks get tickets to attend the Super Bowl \ufffd from outside Cowboys Stadium. But that was the face value. Plaza Party tickets for Sunday's game as of late last week were going for around $330 on the secondary market.\" Meanwhile Forida is gloating....."}, {"response": 1471, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Feb  5, 2011 (13:23)", "body": "The plaza tickets were covered in Thursday's Sports Report (or spore rapport): http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/373358/february-03-2011/sport-report---super-bowl-edition and the Bill O'Reilly part of this is priceless: http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/373357/february-03-2011/crisis-in-egypt---anderson-cooper---bill-o-reilly"}, {"response": 1472, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Feb  5, 2011 (19:41)", "body": "I had to laugh when I saw this article. This is exactly here now. People did it here anyway without the snow. We were joking about it at work this week. The picture of this neighborhood is exactly what mine looks like, minus the woman in the chair (if it's the same pic I saw when I opened the article). http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110205/ap_on_re_us/us_winter_weather_parking_spats"}, {"response": 1473, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Feb  5, 2011 (21:23)", "body": "Thought I'd posted a link to another article about dibs a day or so ago, with hundreds of hysterical comments. (maybe it was on O&E) Slashing tires isn't all people will do if you take a shoveled out spot. Many talked about keying cars. Actually, the city has an ordinance covering dibs, and it's illegal. Heard on the news last night that the city said it won't be enforcing the statute. \"Chair Free Chicago,\" The Chicago paper's article started with this bozo. Handing out flyers??? Talked to a guy who was digging out a spot last night while walking the dog. I noticed that he had a chair sitting on the snow. I mentioned that all the houses on the block had garages in the alley (which was unpassable) and he pointed to his and said his didn't and that others had more than one car. Really, who needs more than one car where I live?"}, {"response": 1474, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Feb  5, 2011 (21:25)", "body": "Here's the other article. Different guy: http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_localto/20110203/ts_yblog_localto/should-chicagoans-be-allowed-to-use-furniture-to-save-their-shoveled-out-parking-spots-in-the-winter-opposing"}, {"response": 1475, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Feb  5, 2011 (22:05)", "body": "I don't do dibs, but then again, I fear moving my car to go somewhere that isn't mass commutable (or very easily so).......so I don't. Fortunately it isn't often I need to take my car, but I do feel a bit restricted in a way."}, {"response": 1476, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Feb  9, 2011 (06:31)", "body": "A (figurative) noose is tightening? Prosecutors: Berlusconi to stand trial AP By COLLEEN BARRY, Associated Press Colleen Barry, Associated Press \ufffd 29 mins ago MILAN \ufffd Italian prosecutors on Wednesday requested that Premier Silvio Berlusconi stand trial over accusations he paid for sex with a 17-year-old girl, then used his influence to try to cover it up. The prosecutors filed their request in Milan. A judge must now decide whether to accept the prosecutors' request and indict the 74-year-old leader, or dismiss it. In Italy, it's illegal to pay for sex with a woman under the age of 18. Berlusconi has denied wrongdoing. Dozens of his supporters rallied against the prosecution's decision, some waving Italian flags in a demonstration across the street from the Milan courthouse entrance. In a surreal backdrop to the soap opera-like story, Berlusconi himself was giving a news conference in Rome on his plans to relaunch the Italian economy with great public works when word of the indictment request came down. The prosecutors are seeking an immediate trial because they believe there is overwhelming evidence against the premier. The procedure allows prosecutors to skip the preliminary-hearing phase and go straight to court. They allege that Berlusconi paid for sex with a Moroccan girl nicknamed Ruby, who has since turned 18, then used his influence to get her out of police custody when she was detained for the suspected theft of euro3,000 ($4,103), allegedly fearing her relationship to him would be revealed. Ruby ultimately was released into the custody of a Berlusconi aide who also is under investigation. The premier's supporters say he made the call to avoid a diplomatic incident because Berlusconi believed at the time that the girl was the niece of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. His defense maintains the case should be handled not by the Milan prosecutors but by a special tribunal set up to deal with alleged offenses committed by public officials. The prosecution said in a statement that they didn't believe the alleged crime was committed in the exercise of Berlusconi's institutional duties."}, {"response": 1477, "author": "janet2", "date": "Wed, Feb  9, 2011 (13:17)", "body": "Not sure if this is the correct place to post, but this lady definitely qualifies as a Supergran:-)) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2LqPcpUzO0"}, {"response": 1478, "author": "janet2", "date": "Wed, Feb  9, 2011 (13:25)", "body": "The premier's supporters say he made the call to avoid a diplomatic incident because Berlusconi believed at the time that the girl was the niece of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. 2 As we would say in Scotland, \"Aye, right;-)))\""}, {"response": 1479, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Feb  9, 2011 (15:43)", "body": "More detail explanations, from The Guardian copied on AOL: http://www.aolnews.com/discuss/2011/02/09/prosecutors-seek-quick-start-to-silvio-berlusconi-trial-on-sex-c#gcpDiscussPageUrlAnchor A recent poll conducted for Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera showed that public support for his People of Freedom party increased from 27.6 percent to 30.2 percent in December. Support for center-left parties, meanwhile, fell by around 2 percentage points. That surprising result could be due to the fact that voters realize Berlusconi is the only viable leader capable of lifting the country out of its economic malaise. The parties of the center-left are hopelessly fragmented, and any left-leaning coalition would likely implode soon after taking office. Read the comments below. People are still for him. They know there is no real alternative. I am totally disgusted with Berlusconi. I want a woman Prime Minister and he has quite a few very qualified ones in his party. Enough of the boys club."}, {"response": 1480, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Feb  9, 2011 (16:09)", "body": "All the business journals say that w/o him Italy is destined to go the way of Ireland and Portugal economically and will have to be bailed -out by the EU. A country needs a leader who understands business . Government agencies can't do it alone;-D"}, {"response": 1481, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Feb  9, 2011 (17:01)", "body": "Well, to follow on Moon's point, are there no women who are business capable?"}, {"response": 1482, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Feb  9, 2011 (17:13)", "body": "As we've learned from Hillary Clinton, being qualified and capable are not enough. Hillary was so much more than Obama and look what happened. I like Letizia Moratti who is the mayor of Milan and from Berlusconi's party. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letizia_Moratti"}, {"response": 1483, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Feb 10, 2011 (15:10)", "body": "-4\ufffd here. Last night went down to-11\ufffd. Up in northern part of the state went to-24\ufffd North Pole Alaska was a balmy 16;-)"}, {"response": 1484, "author": "slpeg2003", "date": "Tue, Feb 15, 2011 (14:39)", "body": "This just in Berlusconi To Stand Trial In Prostitution Case www.npr.org Italy's prime minister faces charges that he paid for sex with a minor and then tried to cover it up in a sex scandal that has outraged women across Italy. Berlusconi's trial is set to begin April 6 and will be heard by a panel of three judges \u2014 all of them women... http://www.npr.org/2011/02/15/133769009/Italian-Women-Protest-Over-Berlusconi-Scandal?sc=fb&cc=fp"}, {"response": 1485, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Feb 15, 2011 (16:21)", "body": "Karen, if would post pic that I sent you via e-mail, it would be so \u00e0 propros. ;-)"}, {"response": 1486, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Feb 16, 2011 (13:04)", "body": "This says it all: Bunga has 2 months to find dirt on the three female judges, let's see how it plays out."}, {"response": 1487, "author": "slpeg2003", "date": "Wed, Feb 16, 2011 (16:15)", "body": "ROTFL!"}, {"response": 1488, "author": "janet2", "date": "Wed, Feb 16, 2011 (16:22)", "body": "Just about sums him up!:-)"}, {"response": 1489, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Feb 16, 2011 (18:14)", "body": "Woman Held as Brooklyn Sex Slave Think twice before you move in with a stranger on Craigslist: A 27-year-old woman from Wisconsin reportedly moved to share an apartment in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn that was advertised on Craigslist, and wound up being held captive as a sex slave. The perpetrator, 45-year-old John Hopkins, has been arrested and faces charges of rape, assault, and unlawful imprisonment with a bail set at $350,000. The Brooklyn district attorney said Hopkins offered the woman free home and board if she cooked and cleaned for him. He allegedly paid for her plane ticket to New York and picked her up at the airport, but when she arrived at his home on February 4, he forced her to call him \"master.\" The victim told police she was handcuffed to a radiator, beaten, bound, gagged, and raped repeatedly. She reported that she was allowed to leave the apartment at least once, but was immediately handcuffed when she returned. She eventually called her mother in Wisconsin who then called the NYPD, who reportedly found the victim in the fetal position on a bed with a whip and ball-gag nearby. Read it at CBS-NY She actually left the apt and came back? How desperate is she? And what an idiot! I don't get it."}, {"response": 1490, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Feb 18, 2011 (23:20)", "body": "First Egypt, now Wisconsin!!"}, {"response": 1491, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Feb 19, 2011 (02:14)", "body": "LOL!"}, {"response": 1492, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Feb 23, 2011 (13:23)", "body": "Glad you got your mayor, Karen. Let's hope he doesn't come down on the \"dibs\" people;-)"}, {"response": 1493, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Feb 24, 2011 (14:32)", "body": "(Evelyn) Let's hope he doesn't come down on the \"dibs\" people ;-) Since the snow has all melted away, it's not like anybody is going to care until the next huge snowfall. Beside, he's got much more important things to worry about. Rahm's answer to all the whiners about \"dibs\" would be just take the FU attitude. ;-) On another note, I am baffled how I got an email in my junk folder with this subject line: Karen and Oliver, Your 2011 Transunion, Equifax and Experian Credit-Scores On Us I can only think of three entities that have my dog's name and am ruling out the vet as a seller of info. *shaking my fist at Petco and PetSmart*"}, {"response": 1494, "author": "janet2", "date": "Fri, Mar 11, 2011 (16:26)", "body": "Dreadful situation in Japan. Very worrying that the cooler of a nuclear reactor has failed. Shades of Chernobyl-I remember that time very well. I was in early stage of pregnancy when the fallout came down over Scotland. We weren't told till much later the danger of being outside during heavy rainfall at that time (which I was)."}, {"response": 1495, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Mar 11, 2011 (19:42)", "body": "(Janet) Very worrying that the cooler of a nuclear reactor has failed. Radiation levels 1000 times normal! Yikes!"}, {"response": 1496, "author": "janet2", "date": "Fri, Mar 11, 2011 (19:52)", "body": "Never mind the increase in childhood cancers in the UK and rest of Europe,since Chernobyl, our lambs are still restricted because of the Caesium-137 levels on grazing land. I believe they keep much of the info from us, for fear of panic. I do hope this can be contained."}, {"response": 1497, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sat, Mar 12, 2011 (10:28)", "body": "http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2011-03-11/hillary-clinton-on-middle-east-womens-revolution/?cid=bs:archive2 An important step."}, {"response": 1498, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Sat, Mar 12, 2011 (13:22)", "body": "Crikey! yes, the Japanese nuclear explosion is a concern. I had forgotten about Chernobyl. I hadn't realised there were still restrictions, Janet. Blimey. Just as well I don't eat lamb."}, {"response": 1499, "author": "janet2", "date": "Sun, Apr 10, 2011 (07:46)", "body": "It may not be the right place, but I just had to post this:-) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rynvewVe21Y"}, {"response": 1500, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Apr 10, 2011 (10:07)", "body": "Very cute. The cat looks just like the one who lives downstairs."}, {"response": 1501, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Apr 10, 2011 (11:01)", "body": "That is so sweet!"}, {"response": 1502, "author": "janet2", "date": "Sun, Apr 10, 2011 (12:16)", "body": "Isn't it just? Put a smile on my face. Also, it's a beautiful sunny day here in Scotland. -Life is good:-)"}, {"response": 1503, "author": "janet2", "date": "Thu, Apr 14, 2011 (22:34)", "body": "Clever HG, turning the tables on the tabloid 'journalists' I'm surprised at the lack of coverage of this in the media: http://www.newstatesman.com/newspapers/2011/04/phone-yeah-cameron-murdoch Although I didn't really expect Sky to cover it;-))"}, {"response": 1504, "author": "janet2", "date": "Mon, Apr 18, 2011 (14:19)", "body": "(Moon)I'm referring to our Western traditions. I'm happy you've clarified that. However, the countries I mentioned are classed as monarchies, whether you agree or not. (Moon) And I will out myself, my family as well as my husband's is an old noble and titled one. Well, now I understand(but don't agree with) your defence of power by birthright:-)"}, {"response": 1505, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Apr 19, 2011 (20:03)", "body": "(Janet) A muslim extremist group wants permission to stage a protest in London on the day of the wedding. Unbelievable! A protest of what specifically? If any of us wanted to chat during the wedding festivities, this would be the place I suppose??"}, {"response": 1506, "author": "janet2", "date": "Tue, Apr 19, 2011 (20:24)", "body": "The want to burn the Union Jack, images of the crown and effigies of the Royal couple. This is the same group which burned poppies on Armistice Day. I don't understand why they even want to live in the UK, if they hate everything we stand for:-(( BTW, permission has been denied, but I guess they'll try anyway:-("}, {"response": 1507, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Apr 23, 2011 (00:24)", "body": "Posting this since we were talking about the actor who had an affair blocking his name from being publicized. Not only is the practice secretive, it's sexist as well. Mr. X: British courts shield stars in sex cases AP By PAISLEY DODDS, Associated Press LONDON \ufffd A topless model has juicy details of a six-month affair with a married soccer star. A prostitute wants to dish the dirt about a sex romp with a British actor. But British courts have gagged the women and journalists from reporting the lurid details or the men's identities. The cases are the latest in a series of British court orders issued to protect the privacy of public figures \ufffd usually men involved in extramarital affairs. Press freedom and legal advocates say the public figures \ufffd and the mostly male judges issuing the gag orders \ufffd are abusing and misinterpreting European human rights law. They ask what would happen if everyone were allowed to stop everyone else from talking about them. \"Middle-class male judges will usually rule in favor of chaps who have the bad luck of a mistress who kisses and then tells,\" said Geoffrey Robertson, a human rights lawyer. \"The problem is that the law is incoherent and being interpreted by judges behind closed doors. \"Tiger Woods' reputation may have been unsullied had he lived in England.\" In the United States, freedom of speech is protected under the First Amendment and often trumps privacy arguments. In Europe, however, the law is interpreted by judges who can balance privacy concerns over the concept of open justice and freedom of speech. More than 30 public figures have won gagging orders since 2008 in Britain. In the latest case, Justice David Eady granted an order Wednesday to prevent a topless model and reality show contestant from revealing the details of her affair with a Premier League soccer star to the press or the public. Eady is known for upholding several libel rulings for celebrities and others. Richard Spearman, an attorney representing The Sun tabloid, argued that the principle of open justice should prevail. Lawyer Hugh Tomlinson, meanwhile, said his soccer star client should be protected against having the media report allegations of the affair. The press and the public were ordered to leave the court minutes into the two-and-a-half hour hearing. Max Clifford, a public relations expert who represents the topless model, said she never wanted to sell her story. She simply told the soccer star that reporters had started asking about their relationship and the player's agent then went to the courts to prevent the media from publishing his name, Clifford said. Pictures of the model \ufffd and her name \ufffd were widely publicized in the British press. \"The orders are totally sexist,\" says Clifford. \"It's all about men stopping women from talking. He gets to keep his privacy while she loses hers.\" Only three of the 30 recent privacy injunctions were obtained by women and most of the orders came from male judges. Experts also say many judges have used the privacy article to curtail the power of the British tabloids. In a separate case, Eady also issued a final \"contra mundum\" order Wednesday \ufffd effectively a worldwide ban_ against details of a man's private life being published. Legal experts say they've rarely heard of such an order being issued in a privacy case and say it is doubtful such an order would be upheld in foreign courts. To illustrate how many basic details newspapers couldn't publish about both these cases, The Times ran nearly a full-page story Thursday riddled with thick black lines as a visual device. Readers struggled to make out basic sentences because of the redactions. Other papers issued lengthy commentaries against the rulings. Eady's court clerk Richard Trout told The Associated Press that the judge doesn't take questions from the press, and hung up when the AP asked to speak directly to the judge. In another recent case, Justice Nicholas Blake issued a gagging order that blocked a prostitute from revealing details about her alleged romp with a well-known married British actor who's been in at least one blockbuster film. (Yes, we know who it is but can't tell you.) The actor's name has appeared on several websites since the injunction was granted. The same prostitute also allegedly had sex with England soccer star Wayne Rooney. The Human Rights Act of 1998 protects the right to family, privacy and freedom of expression but up until recently, there were few gag orders issued in Britain out of privacy concerns. Although there has never been a specific English common law right to privacy, the British government has sometimes asked editors to show restraint in reporting on private or sensitive royal matters. Editors agreed to back off from publishing details about the private life of Wallis Simpson, the American divorcee who scandalized Britain and prompted Edward VIII to abdicate the throne in 1936. France, too, has embraced privacy protections for politicians and other public figures. "}, {"response": 1508, "author": "janet2", "date": "Sat, Apr 23, 2011 (17:13)", "body": "I don't understand why the details haven't been released overseas. In virtually every case, the gagging orders only apply in the UK. In fact, I remember some years ago, the details of such an injunction were published in the Herald, a Glasgow broadsheet, since it wasn't covered under Scots Law. The Londoncentric lawyers hadn't thought of that, lol! I wonder how that works in the current cases? Kelvin MacKenzie, former editor of The Sun, was interviewed on TV the other day and he said he hoped that the details would be published overseas. He said there were 29 such injunctions involving figures and stories that would shock the nation."}, {"response": 1509, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Apr 23, 2011 (17:47)", "body": "\"The orders are totally sexist,\" says Clifford. \"It's all about men stopping women from talking. He gets to keep his privacy while she loses hers.\" It sure seems to be the case. Don't they publish the names of prostitutes' customers in newspapers in some areas of the country? Or has that only been a threat never carried out?"}, {"response": 1510, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sun, Apr 24, 2011 (11:00)", "body": "Move over Syria and Libya...here comes the Royal Wedding. http://royalwedding.yahoo.com/"}, {"response": 1511, "author": "janet2", "date": "Thu, Apr 28, 2011 (17:56)", "body": "In honour of the big wedding on Friday, use your royal wedding guest name. Start with either Lord or Lady. Your first name is one of your grandparents' names. Your surname is the name of your first pet, then the name of the street you grew up on. I'm Lady Constance Calley of Lamont:-)"}, {"response": 1512, "author": "janet2", "date": "Thu, Apr 28, 2011 (18:23)", "body": "Is Donald Trump a serious contender for President? G*d help us-he'll use his clout to take over the rest of Scotland!;-(("}, {"response": 1513, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Apr 28, 2011 (18:34)", "body": "Take the last two digits of the year in which you were born, now add the age you will be this year, and the result will be 111 for everyone...! (Moon)Trump was a HUGE Hillary supporter in 2008. (Mari), So, now I'm supposed to give this megalomaniac a lifetime pass? Uh uh. Bob Schieffer from CBS News just called him out. Glad to see someone in the major media show some backbone. Are you kidding? Everyone is calling him out and picking on him. Trump even has his own insult hashtag on tweeter there's so much of it. Yes, that was idiotic. But could it be true, that it has not been shown before? In any case, Obama acted quickly thanks to Trump. How I wish he acted quickly on so many other things, ie, oil prices, etc. Trump is the only Republican that stands a chance to get the Hillary women's vote because they remember that Trump understood what was going on with Hillary and Obama during the primaries. I know of lots of people who supported Obama who wish we now had Hillary for POTOS instead, but guess what, those idiots didn't get it then."}, {"response": 1514, "author": "janet2", "date": "Thu, Apr 28, 2011 (18:41)", "body": "(Moon)Take the last two digits of the year in which you were born, now add the age you will be this year, and the result will be 111 for everyone...! Very clever!"}, {"response": 1515, "author": "janet2", "date": "Thu, Apr 28, 2011 (18:54)", "body": "My son has explained it-pretty simple really. Subtract your age from the current year, and you're left with your year of birth!"}, {"response": 1516, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Apr 28, 2011 (19:53)", "body": "Can we say filthy swine: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/28/gaddafi-troops-rape-viagra-libya_n_855216.html"}, {"response": 1517, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Apr 28, 2011 (20:39)", "body": "Obama acted quickly thanks to Trump. Quickly????? ;-) Two -plus yrs into office? C'mon. With all the problems facing this country.... he had to go on the Oprah Show to make it official! I'm glad Trump is around to go into his face.... I say : \"Keep going\""}, {"response": 1518, "author": "mari", "date": "Fri, Apr 29, 2011 (14:09)", "body": "(Janet)Is Donald Trump a serious contender for President? Not by any serious-minded person. He gave a speech last night in Las Vegas, dropping the f bomb and the mother f bomb all over the place. Classy. Very presidential. What a sad state of affairs. (Moon)Obama acted quickly thanks to Trump. \"Thanks?\" For distracting the country with a completely bogus issue? The birth certificate that Obama released during his 2008 campaign *is* Hawaii's official cert. What nonsense this all is. And it will be never be enough; now he's questioning his academic credentials. Trump just makes crap up to see how many gullible people he can get to believe it to further his own megalomaniacal aims. It's insulting to the president and it's insulting to me as a citizen."}, {"response": 1519, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Apr 29, 2011 (15:06)", "body": "Rumors always persist. I can remember the Dems questioning President Bush's service record being question....Foster's suicide was said to be construed by the Clinton's .....911 was organized either by President Bush or the Jews. I feel your pain, Mari. I was in your shoes for eight yrs during the Bush administration. Dems hurled crap all at him too....any chance they could get. Just part of the deal."}, {"response": 1520, "author": "janet2", "date": "Fri, Apr 29, 2011 (16:07)", "body": "*Evelyn)Dems hurled crap all at him too....any chance they could get. Not just Dems. Just about everyone else outside of the US too, lol;-))"}, {"response": 1521, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Apr 29, 2011 (17:55)", "body": "I try not to criticize foreign nationals elected officials. And I never do my own when I leave the country. Not my style."}, {"response": 1522, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, May  1, 2011 (23:56)", "body": "HOLY F'NG COW!! Osama Bin Laden is DEAD!!"}, {"response": 1523, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, May  2, 2011 (01:40)", "body": "Next: Someone has to produce the official, long-form death certificate."}, {"response": 1524, "author": "OzFirthFan", "date": "Mon, May  2, 2011 (01:55)", "body": "LOL Karen! A friend of mine just posted this to his facebook profile: FOXNEWS REPORTS: Obama Administration Kills Homeless Religious Man with Kidney Disease."}, {"response": 1525, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, May  2, 2011 (02:43)", "body": "The celebration continues in DC. What a great day! God bless JSOC and all the brave soldiers. Finally!"}, {"response": 1526, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, May  2, 2011 (08:44)", "body": "Between Twitter, my Facebook page and here, if I see one more Birth Certificate joke..... ;-) It really is too easy. LOL, Sarah!!"}, {"response": 1527, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, May  2, 2011 (09:35)", "body": "Wrong ,Sarah! FOX is in party mode. I've been listening all morning:-)))) That headline is from the proles @ THE NATION. BC not needed. Pics of body for your wall coming soon."}, {"response": 1528, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, May  2, 2011 (09:56)", "body": "http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/05/02/timeline-tip-leads-usama-bin-laden/ A tip in August led to his capture... I knew you'd want the Timeline from FOX. I give you more later...now that I know you are so interested in FOX NEWS:-D"}, {"response": 1529, "author": "raditto", "date": "Mon, May  2, 2011 (10:05)", "body": "As the mother of a son who has been on active duty since 2001, I can only say thank you to our intelligence service and our military. A special big thanks to the members of Special Forces and Seal Team 6. Those Special Forces troops are a breed apart, unbelievably well-trained and dedicated. My son is not in Special Forces, and does not usually deploy with Special Forces units, but he just returned this weekend from a 6 1/2 month deployment to Iraq with a Special Forces unit. In the previous three times he deployed to Afghanistan, I at least had some idea of where he was and what he was doing, but not on this deployment with the Special Forces unit. Everything has been very top secret, and will remain that way, as he had to sign a document that he would not talk about anything concerning his deployment...where he was, what he was doing, anything that happened, for 75 years. He couldn't even tell us when he would be coming home, so we couldn't be there to welcome him hone. I can tell you, it is extremely hard not to know where your kid is for that long, and not to be able to communicate with them when you want. So this whole thing is very personal to me."}, {"response": 1530, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, May  2, 2011 (10:08)", "body": "Our big thanks to your son for serving his country, Peggy. There is no greater honor . My DH was in the first units of Special Forces; a special group of people indeed, but they have tremendous back-up and your son was one of them."}, {"response": 1531, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, May  2, 2011 (10:11)", "body": "From O&E (Sarah)Why should some woman, half a world away, who has absolutely nothing to do with our country have this power?? For starters, she give you some class."}, {"response": 1532, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, May  2, 2011 (10:11)", "body": "I like this one: The girl married her Prince. The bad guy is dead. It's a real Disney weekend. Burial at sea is perfect."}, {"response": 1533, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, May  2, 2011 (10:22)", "body": "(Evelyn) A tip in August led to his capture... I knew you'd want the Timeline from FOX. Funny, my (apparently almost fringe) Republican friend/debating opponent on all things political just told me on Facebook that the tip was from 4 yrs ago from a Guantanemo prisoner. Can you guys get your stories straight? LOL. ;-) Thank you to your son, Peggy! I can't imagine how difficult a \"radio silence\" was. And yay for Navy Seals!"}, {"response": 1534, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, May  2, 2011 (11:03)", "body": "Osama has a pop star niece- Wafah Bin Laden. Her US manager begged her to change her name. She chose Debbie Bin Laden Lol."}, {"response": 1535, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, May  2, 2011 (11:45)", "body": "*shaking head* Hey, Dorine quit reading Facebook and blogs. Tune into CNN at least. I just put my flag out. Cars are flying flags here in Tulsa. I love the chants and pics from Times Square . Were you there????ROTF! Some from DC too. Moon, I thought of Princess Catherine and how two days later she would have been wiped off the front pages. Instead they made all the papers on Saturday. Everyone was happy, happy....except for the Drool Downers!"}, {"response": 1536, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, May  2, 2011 (11:53)", "body": "(Evelyn) *shaking head* Hey, Dorine quit reading Facebook and blogs. Tune into CNN at least. What are you talking about?? and blogs. Perhaps I should pass on your post to my friend/your ideological compatriot. You should see the stuff she sends me (and from where) to boost her points and ideology (Ay dios mio as you would say, LOL). And I did have my fill of CNN last night. Yeah, I ran out of my house at 11:30 at night to take a trip into the city. ;-)"}, {"response": 1537, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, May  2, 2011 (12:04)", "body": "Latest Livia tweet: Watching CNN News is utterly depressing. Same lavel as Berlusconi's channels in Italy. Information for dumb. Idiot. That's all she can say?"}, {"response": 1538, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, May  2, 2011 (12:06)", "body": "What the hell does that even mean? Is that English?"}, {"response": 1539, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, May  2, 2011 (12:13)", "body": "Apparently yesterday was the anniversary of the confirmation announcement of Hitler's death (1945), the 8th year anniversary of *cough* \"Mission Accomplished\" (although nothing to do with OBL) and the 1 year anniversary of the failed attempt to bomb Times Square. May 1st is a busy day in history."}, {"response": 1540, "author": "janet2", "date": "Mon, May  2, 2011 (12:18)", "body": "(Evelyn)For starters, she give you some class. No winkey. So by that argument, the US has no class either;-)) I am happy that he is dead, obviously, but have grave concerns about retaliation by the cells operating in various countries. Very worrying indeed. I understand now why The Royal Honeymoon was cancelled at the weekend."}, {"response": 1541, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, May  2, 2011 (12:18)", "body": "It was also the beatification of Pope John Paul II."}, {"response": 1542, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, May  2, 2011 (12:24)", "body": "Oh right! And he'll probably be canonized on that date in the future, too. ;-) Yeah, I'll be seeing soldiers more regularly in the train stations now (among other places) I presume."}, {"response": 1543, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, May  2, 2011 (12:44)", "body": "Excellent suggestion from Richard Roeper (assuming it was his idea) on Twitter... Richard Roeper Suggestion for Time's Person of the Year: The Navy SEAL. 16 minutes ago"}, {"response": 1544, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, May  2, 2011 (12:49)", "body": "Ha, can you imagine being him? Man Accidentally Live-Tweets Osama bin Laden Raid (No, It Wasn\u2019t \u201cThe Rock\u201d) IT consultant Sohaib Athar was just \u201ctaking a break from the rat-race by hiding in the mountains with his laptops\u201d in the Pakistani town of Abbottabad when he described, in 140 characters or less, a helicopter hovering overhead and a \u201chuge window shaking bang\u201d\u2014accidentally live-tweeting the U.S. raid that ended a decade-long manhunt and killed Osama bin Laden. It\u2019s clear from Athar\u2019s tweets (@ReallyVirtual) that he had no idea what was going down\u2014as evidenced by his reference to the \u201cabbottabad helicopter/UFO\u201c\u2014but the unusual presence of helicopters and Taliban disclaimer suggested to him that whatever was happening, it \u201cmust be a complicated situation.\u201d UFO, not so much; situation, definitely. Nor was Athar the only one to discuss the raid on Twitter before President Obama\u2019s announcement last night. Keith Urbahn, Donald Rumsfeld\u2019s Chief of Staff, tweeted several hours later: \u201cSo I\u2019m told by a reputable person they have killed Osama Bin Laden. Hot damn.\u201d Dwayne \u201cThe Rock\u201d Johnson seems to have been among the first to know, as well. Around the same time as Urbahn, Johnson tweeted: \u201cJust got word that will shock the world \u2013 Land of the free\u2026home of the brave DAMN PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!\u201d His time as a Space Marine must have earned him some friends in the military. May 2nd, 2011 10:43 AM Tags: osama bin laden, terrorism, Twitter by Valerie Ross in Crime & Punishment, Technology Attacks! | 0 comments | RSS Kalmbach Publishing Co. Copyright \u00a9 2011, Kalmbach Publishing Co. http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/discoblog/2011/05/02/man-accidentally-live-tweets-osama-bin-laden-raid-no-not-the-rock/"}, {"response": 1545, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, May  2, 2011 (12:54)", "body": "I don't know about other outlets, but ones I saw didn't ID the ship OBL was buried from. Maybe those outlets didn't know yet, but this is one of the rare times that I think that all info is too much. They're going to be a big target from now on. http://www.tmz.com/2011/05/02/osama-bin-laden-uss-carl-vinson-dead-burial-aircraft-carrier/"}, {"response": 1546, "author": "janet2", "date": "Mon, May  2, 2011 (12:59)", "body": "Osama bin Laden dead: followers warn of 'another 7/7' Osama bin Laden\ufffds death could prompt another major terrorist attack similar to the 7/7 bombings in London after the al-Qaeda leader was shot dead by US forces, according to Islamic extremists. By Nick Collins 12:49PM BST 02 May 2011 While his role in planning and coordinating al-Qaeda activity had lessened in the past decade as the group spread across the world, bin Laden remained an inspirational figurehead for Islamic extremists. Anjem Choudary, the radical Muslim preacher and former UK leader of the banned al-Muhajiroun organisation, said attacks on domestic soil, accompanied by an escalation of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, could follow within days. Bin Laden\ufffds supporters in Britain loved him \ufffdthe way they care about their own parents\ufffd, the sharia law lecturer said. Choudary, who acts as spokesman for the extremist Muslims Against Crusades group, said: \ufffdI think Britain is more likely to face a 7/7 today than ever. \ufffdRather than dampening the spirits of those who are today engaged in jihad physically around the world ... his death will merely act as an incentive to prove to the world that the death of anyone will not affect them."}, {"response": 1547, "author": "mari", "date": "Mon, May  2, 2011 (13:10)", "body": "(Peg)it is extremely hard not to know where your kid is for that long, and not to be able to communicate with them when you want I can't even imagine, Peg. I feel tremendously grateful to the members of the military and to the families of those deployed. They make an incredible sacrifice every day. Well done to the special ops people and the intelligence community for finally nailing OBL. And to our government for never giving up the hunt. I don't feel celebratory, though; retaliation is likely, and this will cointinue to be on ongoing struggle. But there was no choice. We can't be cowed, and I try to take confidence from the fact that many attempts have been disrupted already. Everybody, stay alert and stay safe."}, {"response": 1548, "author": "janet2", "date": "Mon, May  2, 2011 (13:16)", "body": "Anyone seen the (alleged) pic of his body on the net? Not sure if it's genuine, but it's certainly gruesome:-("}, {"response": 1549, "author": "mari", "date": "Mon, May  2, 2011 (13:24)", "body": "(Moon)Idiot. That's all she can say? What a snob. Hey, Livia, change the effin' channel. Or better yet, turn it off--you're too smart for TV anyway, right? Actually, I've been waiting for her to tweet that we're barbarians because we implemented capital punishment without giving him a fair trial first.:-( Janet there's a faked pic of a dead OBL that's been circulating for years now. May be the same one."}, {"response": 1550, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, May  2, 2011 (13:29)", "body": "No, but I read Sky News showed it. I read it's not pretty, too."}, {"response": 1551, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, May  2, 2011 (13:31)", "body": "I'm also of a mixed mind whether it should be shown. I think some won't believe til they see him, but it may infuriate even more. They have with Saddam and his sons, but this is a whole other level. I'm waiting for Al-Qaeda to confirm actually."}, {"response": 1552, "author": "mari", "date": "Mon, May  2, 2011 (13:46)", "body": "Osama bin Laden corpse photo is fake Image of bloodied man picked up by British newspapers has been circulating online for two years Amelia Hill guardian.co.uk, Monday 2 May 2011 12.03 BST Article history An image purporting to show Osama bin Laden's bloody corpse, right, is a composite of two separate images, left and centre. Photograph: twitpic An image apparently showing a dead Osama bin Laden broadcast on Pakistani television and picked up by British newspaper websites is a fake. The bloodied image of a man with matted hair and a blank, half-opened eye has been circulating on the internet for the past two years. It was used on the front pages of the Mail, Times, Telegraph, Sun and Mirror websites, though swiftly removed after the fake was exposed on Twitter. It appears the fake picture was initially published by the Middle East online newspaper themedialine.org on 29 April 2009, with a warning from the editor that it was \"unable to ascertain whether the photo is genuine or not\". The Daily Mail was one of the newspaper websites to publish the fake picture of Osama bin Laden's body. Since then, however, the image has been claimed as genuine on a number of conspiracy forums and used to substantiate claims that the terrorist responsible for the 9/11 bombings had been killed. The Guardian was one of the few sites to hold back from using the manipulated image on its front page, reporting the picture's existence in its live blog but questioning its legitimacy. The image is based on a genuine photograph of Bin Laden taken in 1998 and used by the Reuters news agency. On Twitter, a composite including the other photograph used to make the image was posted by @HannahMarbina and other users showed how easy it was to find the image already online with a simple search."}, {"response": 1553, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, May  2, 2011 (13:47)", "body": "Yeah, I was just going to say, maybe it was the fake. I've not seen it either and won't bother I think."}, {"response": 1554, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, May  2, 2011 (13:47)", "body": "Che Guevara's body was shown. I hope the will show his as well. It's the closure we all need, not future conspiracy theories. Mari, the sad thing is, her DH probably feels the same way. :-( Andy's Mazol of the week is the Navy Seals. Now let's go and kill the rest of the fundamentalist leaders. I hope the N Seals make all the covers."}, {"response": 1555, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, May  2, 2011 (13:50)", "body": "(Me) No, but I read Sky News showed it. I read it's not pretty, too. I was answering Janet that I hadn't seen the pic, not that I didn't believe it was a fake. But thanks for the story, Mari! :-)"}, {"response": 1556, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, May  2, 2011 (13:57)", "body": "White House Officials Debate Releasing Photographs of Bin Laden\u2019s Corpse May 02, 2011 10:55 AM The Obama administration has photographs of Osama bin Laden\u2019s dead body and officials are debating what to do with them and whether they should be released to the public, officials tell ABC News. \u201cThere\u2019s no doubt it\u2019s him,\u201d says a US official who has seen the pictures and also reminds us that OBL was 6\u20194\u201d. The argument for releasing them: to ensure that the public knows and can appreciate that he's dead. There is of course skepticism throughout the world that the US government claim that it killed bin Laden is true. The argument against releasing the pictures: they\u2019re gruesome. He has a massive head wound above his left eye where he took bullet, with brains and blood visible. In July 2003, the US government released photographs of Saddam Hussein\u2019s dead sons Uday and Qusay Hussain but not until after they\u2019d been touched up by a mortician, making them look not quite real. http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2011/05/white-house-officials-debate-releasing-photographs-of-bin-ladens-corpse-1.html"}, {"response": 1557, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, May  2, 2011 (14:06)", "body": "Try saying Abbottabad 10 times real fast. ;-)"}, {"response": 1558, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Mon, May  2, 2011 (14:09)", "body": "Osama bin Laden\ufffds death could prompt another major terrorist attack similar to the 7/7 bombings in London ............. My concern too, Janet. Especially as the enquiry verdict is due to be announced tomorrow."}, {"response": 1559, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, May  2, 2011 (14:18)", "body": "I wonder how often this occurs? Ever? http://www.thewrap.com/media/column-post/no-mr-bin-laden-new-york-times-drops-honorific-26970"}, {"response": 1560, "author": "janet2", "date": "Mon, May  2, 2011 (14:40)", "body": "Wouldn't this have applied to all recent mass murderers, ie Saddam Hussein, Slobodan Milosevec etc?"}, {"response": 1561, "author": "felicityb", "date": "Mon, May  2, 2011 (14:43)", "body": "That Wrap link Do posted threw up one of those your computer is infected poxy security things. Anyway..I've been trying to absorb this news without becoming either hysterical or flippant..very hard. What does it really mean? Does it mean Al Qaeda will cease. No. So it's like catching and disposing of a mass murderer? Yes. Justice done..yes in a direct way. Stop troops being in Afghanistan? they were being pulled out anyway.Just lighting the touch paper for a world of trouble, deadly as in many more people will die. Almost certainly. That's not to say Bin Laden shouldn't have had to pay the price for the death,havoc and destruction he caused. just that I can't imagine he hasn't made a contingency plan in the event of his death in this manner. Just like a Royal Wedding,once all the celebrating has stopped it will still go on. Still, I mean it, the Seals did their job,but I can't feel there's any cause for prolonged celebration. This isn't the end. There is no end, while the brainwashed fanatics are still out there(see the IRA) So May day bank holidays have always flung up a bit of bother. I remember watching the snooker finals way back when, to be interrupted by this http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/8659297.stm The Iranian hostage seige.The UK version of the Seals at work.Though needless to say,not the same adversary or quite as momentous."}, {"response": 1562, "author": "janet2", "date": "Mon, May  2, 2011 (14:47)", "body": "I agree completely with everything you've said Felicity. I won't sleep well tonight knowing that there are those among us plotting death and destruction."}, {"response": 1563, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, May  2, 2011 (15:01)", "body": "(Felicity) Stop troops being in Afghanistan? they were being pulled out anyway. For the UK I guess. but I can't feel there's any cause for prolonged celebration. What's prolonged? We've waited 10 years for this. I think a day or even maybe 2 to focus on a celebration is relatively short. Especially for the NY, DC and PA. And a bit less time to wait for the UK for 7/7. But yes, I said similar things last night elsewhere, but it had to be done nonetheless. There's intense symbolism tied up with him, if nothing else. Sorry about the link. Clearly I didn't get that. But I have a mac, so I'm not so susceptible to bugs like that I believe."}, {"response": 1564, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, May  2, 2011 (15:02)", "body": "(Janet) I won't sleep well tonight knowing that there are those among us plotting death and destruction. You will probably never sleep then."}, {"response": 1565, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Mon, May  2, 2011 (15:04)", "body": "(Janet)I agree completely with everything you've said Felicity. Ditto"}, {"response": 1566, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, May  2, 2011 (15:10)", "body": "(Janet) Wouldn't this have applied to all recent mass murderers, ie Saddam Hussein, Slobodan Milosevec etc? Apparently not."}, {"response": 1567, "author": "janet2", "date": "Mon, May  2, 2011 (15:17)", "body": "Come on Dorine, you know what I mean. The focus in the coming days will be on potential retaliation, and any right minded person would be concerned. Something big will happen soon:-("}, {"response": 1568, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, May  2, 2011 (15:23)", "body": "Relatively soon, I wouldn't be surprised. I will continue to get up and go to work just as I have every other day (on subways and buses). I've lived with this for 10 yrs of varying intensity of warnings and police/national guard movts around the city. I can see how others might be a bit more alarmed, but it's not something I'll lose sleep over. It'll happen when it happens and I'll hope that I and none of my friends here and around the world get caught in it. That's all I can do."}, {"response": 1569, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, May  2, 2011 (15:25)", "body": "One thing I'll say, I'm glad he's not around anymore to use as a political lightning rod and to be used for political fear mongering. Though even in death, I'll bet it won't be the end."}, {"response": 1570, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, May  2, 2011 (15:41)", "body": "My biggest concern is that it will be nuclear at some point in time."}, {"response": 1571, "author": "janet2", "date": "Mon, May  2, 2011 (16:06)", "body": "My biggest concern is for my children. They've grown up with this, and it's not going away:-( We in the UK grew up with what is euphemistically called 'The Troubles' in N. Ireland, and the daily toll of deaths was awful. Around 3500 men, women and children died. Just a few weeks ago a young policeman was murdered by a breakaway group. How great it would be to live in a world without war, division and hate:-("}, {"response": 1572, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, May  2, 2011 (16:45)", "body": "Nice thought, but unfortunately the world has never been like that."}, {"response": 1573, "author": "janet2", "date": "Mon, May  2, 2011 (17:23)", "body": "Of course the world has never been like that. We can but dream. The threat from terrorists in our country is so much harder to handle, practically and emotionally, than fighting a war with a known enemy. I don't think the war on terrorism can ever be won, sadly."}, {"response": 1574, "author": "PeggyM", "date": "Mon, May  2, 2011 (17:42)", "body": "I'm very glad they got him- I know this might cause another attack somewhere but we were on a high danger alert anyway when he was alive & it can't be a reason for allowing Muslim terrorist leaders to remain alive. Maybe it would be better not to show such open pleasure at his death but I'm glad he has been buried at sea so there will be no shrine. I agree with you Dorine that the biggest worry is nuclear. Peggy, I so feel for you. Your son must be very brave & you must be equally brave to cope with not knowing where he is. I have particular rapport with you because my 2nd son is a member of the Honourable Artillery Company, the City of London's territorial regiment. They have specialist training like the SAS & have been involved in Afghanistan & had one loss. I was so worried that he might have to go but they only sent men who had no young children. Now he is too old & his role is training the new recruits so I am very happy."}, {"response": 1575, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, May  2, 2011 (17:45)", "body": "Dow Jones closed lower: \"The news creates some uncertainty but it also removes some uncertainty,\" said Mike Schenk, vice president of economics and statistics for the Credit Union National Association. \"It affects markets because it affects psyches, so it will have some positive effects, at least in the short-term. There are some concerns about retribution and we're already seeing warnings on travel, so that reminds us that the world is still a dangerous place, and those messages could have a negative effect on market confidence.\" ~~~~~~~~~~~ Uh,oh...\"fear mongering\", and not even from a politician , imagine that???? ;-)"}, {"response": 1576, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, May  2, 2011 (17:45)", "body": "The same thing in Spain with the Basque separatists. OBL is dead and those fundamentalists will continue with their hatred. They are disgusting, till the very end, using a woman as a shield. The world needs to move quickly and in unity to eliminate the rest of the top players. I hope this will inspire the oppressed citizens of Syria, Lybia, Egypt, etc One thing is clear, Pakistan is not a friend to the US, duh."}, {"response": 1577, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, May  2, 2011 (17:54)", "body": "That's not really fear mongering, but ok. I think the oppressed citizens of those countries have been inspired for a while before and without OBL's death. Pakistan is not a friend to the US, duh. Duh, is right, but not at all surprising to those paying attention over the past 10 yrs."}, {"response": 1578, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, May  2, 2011 (18:03)", "body": "But I hope it will inspire them to go further, it's at a stand still right now."}, {"response": 1579, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, May  2, 2011 (18:06)", "body": "How much further can they go in Libya? They're in the middle of a civil (*cough* international) war. The Egyptians tossed their leader and are waiting for new elections. Syria may need to push their leader out a bit harder, but he's said he'll leave (and is probably stalling)."}, {"response": 1580, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, May  2, 2011 (19:27)", "body": "He'll leave...there's a bullet (or two) waiting for him too. Dorine...new info coming out on the intel of the op. Your friend might be right....it was from Guantanamo interrogations. Watch this space."}, {"response": 1581, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, May  2, 2011 (19:31)", "body": "Yeah, actually earlier I read the Wikileaks copy of the report where the info came from. Ever tried to read one of those detainee briefing reports? Yikes. Very dense reading. I'm watchin'. ;-)"}, {"response": 1582, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, May  2, 2011 (19:43)", "body": "I guess I should be thanking Pres. Bush, too, for his torture methods to enable this info to have been gotten at Gitmo."}, {"response": 1583, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, May  2, 2011 (20:42)", "body": "No, you have to thank Mr Obama for continuing the mission set out by President Bush; v. brave of him to make the call....glad he didn't listen to his base, who kept telling him to use \"diplomatic means\". And thank Leon Panetta for getting the CIA , State and Pentagon together to execute this mission. A Big Day for America."}, {"response": 1584, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, May  2, 2011 (20:51)", "body": "That wasn't from me actually. Those are the words and sentiments of my Republican friend I spoke of."}, {"response": 1585, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, May  2, 2011 (21:19)", "body": "Well then pass *my* sentiments on to her/him."}, {"response": 1586, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, May  2, 2011 (23:42)", "body": "OMG, is Colbert on fire tonight on OBL, LOL! I taped Jon Stewart."}, {"response": 1587, "author": "janet2", "date": "Tue, May  3, 2011 (10:19)", "body": "Five men have been arrested at Sellafield Nuclear Power Plant, under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. No link to Al Qaeda mentioned."}, {"response": 1588, "author": "felicityb", "date": "Tue, May  3, 2011 (12:21)", "body": "(Dorine)My biggest concern is that it will be nuclear at some point in time. How right you are Do..."}, {"response": 1589, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, May  3, 2011 (12:31)", "body": "Well, I was reading some stuff over the weekend including a couple of Gitmo detainee files from Wikileaks and there was mention of Al Qaeda trying to have nuclear material in their possession to use as needed, so it was fresh in my mind."}, {"response": 1590, "author": "mari", "date": "Tue, May  3, 2011 (14:06)", "body": "Apparently they seized a lot of stuff from that \"mansion\" he was staying in--computer drives, storage devices, etc. Some good intelligence has to come out of that, though we may never hear specifics."}, {"response": 1591, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, May  3, 2011 (14:13)", "body": "True, Mari. And now the US can give our allies that info too for them to prevent anything in the future that might relate to their countries. The threat now is from independent idiots with nothing better to do because they hate their lives so much. I was disgusted to read about the young child they used as a bomb last week. And of course, Osama would use his wife as a shield. Cowards."}, {"response": 1592, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, May  3, 2011 (14:53)", "body": "I'm frankly amazed at all the celebration, back-patting and cheering. As far as I'm concerned, the killing was strictly symbolic: the guy who ordered the 9/11 activities and other terroriest activities and has evaded a 10-year manhunt, costing this and other nations thousands of lives and billions of dollars. It isn't like terrorism is going to stop. Cut off the head and twenty more will grow."}, {"response": 1593, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, May  3, 2011 (17:34)", "body": "(Dorine)My biggest concern is that it will be nuclear at some point in time. That's always been the risk. Which is why we have to stay friends with Pakistan even though we know they're screwing us. Hillary put on a brave face yesterday thanking them for help in finding OBL."}, {"response": 1594, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, May  3, 2011 (18:38)", "body": "(Pariah) the killing was strictly symbolic: Of course it was, but a huge symbol. Bin Laden himself made him a symbol with all the tapes he put out. I can't blame anybody and completely understand. Hillary thanked them for what? What the hell did they do?"}, {"response": 1595, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, May  3, 2011 (20:19)", "body": "Hillary thanked them for what? What the hell did they do? Nothing. She was trying to play nice, and not be confrontational, but they know we know what frauds they are."}, {"response": 1596, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, May  3, 2011 (20:50)", "body": "Gotcha. Uh, oh. The story of what happened is changing already. Shades of Jessica Lynch (and a bit of Pat Tillman). Actually Jessica Lynch came straight to mind yesterday ready the increasingly detailed account of what went on. I did fleetingly wonder if that was the real story. It sounded *so* good."}, {"response": 1597, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, May  4, 2011 (01:32)", "body": "What's the new story?"}, {"response": 1598, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, May  4, 2011 (09:31)", "body": "WH talks too much too soon. They need some help on crisis management. As someone on this topic said:\"Can't you people get your story straight\"?;-) ACLU, Human Rights Watchers etc are getting ready to pounce. They're playing into their hands as we speak. Everything doesn't have to be \"transparent\". It's OK to have secrets, and not jepordize future captures."}, {"response": 1599, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, May  4, 2011 (10:30)", "body": "Discretion can be the better part of valor at times. Not sure why they had to rush some story out rather than the right story."}, {"response": 1600, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, May  4, 2011 (12:14)", "body": "I was just thinking....I can see a movie in the making with Sean Penn taking the lead . Can't you just see him getting out of the helicoptor and storming the compound ....in desert fatigues, of course. And carrying a gun.... Now let's see who else could be part of that courageous Navy Seals group....hmmmmmm ROTF."}, {"response": 1601, "author": "mari", "date": "Wed, May  4, 2011 (12:34)", "body": "Well, I think the facts are emerging because the SEALs are back in the US and have been debriefed. But honestly, did anyone really think they were going to take him alive? For what purpose? A trial? He repeatedly boasted and gloated about his guilt. And what other country (I can count them on about one hand) would be so honest and transparent as to \"correct\" the earlier reports? I think at this point, the less said, the better. And I seriously hope we do not release photos."}, {"response": 1602, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, May  4, 2011 (12:39)", "body": "I'm wary of photos also."}, {"response": 1603, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, May  4, 2011 (12:44)", "body": "And yes, there are those that say that he should've been caught for trial like Milosovic, but I read today that the statute of limitations is past for 9/11 for them and we aren't a signatory to it."}, {"response": 1604, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, May  4, 2011 (14:10)", "body": "No way, a trial for OBL is just what he would have wanted. All that publicity, hell no. I don't even think he deserved a Muslim buriel rite. He did not deserve it. I read he had money sewed into the jacket wore, to be ready to move at any minute. I hope they show that ugly photo. They blew his brains out, people can chose to see it or not."}, {"response": 1605, "author": "janet2", "date": "Wed, May  4, 2011 (14:20)", "body": "There will be criticism no matter the decision made. There are concerns that showing it will enrage the extremists and cause more atrocities. Also, showing the pic/video confirms nothing to those who don't believe he was killed, since they will argue that anything can be photoshopped nowadays."}, {"response": 1606, "author": "mari", "date": "Wed, May  4, 2011 (14:39)", "body": "CBS News is now reporting that the President has said the photos will not be released. IMO, it's for the best."}, {"response": 1607, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, May  4, 2011 (16:48)", "body": "They need to shut the hell up at this point. Now the story is going for this angle... AP source: bin Laden thought going for a weapon By KIMBERLY DOZIER and ERICA WERNER, Associated Press Kimberly Dozier And Erica Werner, Associated Press \ufffd 17 mins ago WASHINGTON \ufffd U.S. officials tell The Associated Press that the Navy SEALs who stormed Osama bin Laden's compound shot and killed him after they saw him appear to lunge for a weapon. The officials, who were briefed on the operation, say several weapons were found in the room where the terror chief died, including AK-47s and personal side arms. The officials also say a U.S. commando grabbed a woman who charged toward the group. The fear, the officials say, is that she might have been wearing a suicide vest. The Navy SEAL pulled the woman away from his fellow SEALs. The officials further say the two dozen SEALs involved in the operation are back at their home base outside Virginia Beach, Va., and that the extensive debriefing they underwent is complete. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below."}, {"response": 1608, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, May  4, 2011 (16:48)", "body": "Hooray..I don't want them released either; macabre."}, {"response": 1609, "author": "janet2", "date": "Fri, May  6, 2011 (13:15)", "body": "The Scottish National Party has secured an historic overall majority in the elections for the Scottish Parliament. Big losers were the LibDems. Next stop a referendum on independence:-)"}, {"response": 1610, "author": "janet2", "date": "Fri, May  6, 2011 (13:16)", "body": "BTW, the SNP has no connection with BNP. SNP is a socialist party which wants full independence for Scotland."}, {"response": 1611, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, May  7, 2011 (15:31)", "body": "Was it expected that the AV NO vote would win? Is it good or bad for Scotland to want full independence. Can an independent Scotland sustain itself?"}, {"response": 1612, "author": "janet2", "date": "Sat, May  7, 2011 (20:28)", "body": "It wasn't expected that the NO vote would win. Scottish Nationalists want Scotland to be a sovereign state within the European Union. I see no reason why Scotland can't sustain itself. Westminster will, of course, say we cannot."}, {"response": 1613, "author": "janet2", "date": "Sat, May  7, 2011 (20:34)", "body": "Sorry, I should have said it wasn't expected that the YES vote would win! Apologies, it's very late here and I've had a very busy and stressful few days, and am suffering brain fatigue:-("}, {"response": 1614, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, May 24, 2011 (16:57)", "body": "Saudis Arrest Woman Leading Right-to-Drive Campaign RIYADH, Saudi Arabia \ufffd The government of Saudi Arabia moved swiftly to extinguish a budding protest movement of women claiming the right to drive, a campaign inspired by uprisings across the Arab world demanding new freedoms but at risk Monday of foundering. Manal al-Sharif, 32, one of the campaign organizers, was detained Sunday in the eastern city of Dammam for up to five days on charges of disturbing public order and inciting public opinion by twice driving in a bid to press her cause, said her lawyer, Adnan al-Saleh. Ms. Sharif was arrested after two much-publicized drives last week to highlight the Facebook and Twitter campaigns she helped organize to encourage women across Saudi Arabia to participate in a collective protest scheduled for June 17. The campaigns, which had attracted thousands of supporters \ufffd more than 12,000 on the Facebook page \ufffd have been blocked in the kingdom. Ms. Sharif\ufffds arrest was very likely intended to give others pause before participating in the protests in a country where a woman\ufffds public reputation, including her ability to marry, can be badly damaged by an arrest. Read it all here: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/24/world/middleeast/24saudi.html?_r=2&emc=eta1"}, {"response": 1615, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, May 24, 2011 (18:33)", "body": "By Wendell Potter Wendell Potter is a health insurance industry whistleblower and author of 'Deadly Spin: An Insurance Company Insider Speaks Out on How Corporate PR Is Killing Health Care and Deceiving Americans' May 19th, 2011 7:04 PM Insurance Industry Flack Screws Up, Points Us to Report We Really Should Read By Wendell Potter I turned 43 a couple of weeks after I joined CIGNA in 1993. One of the birthday gifts from my new colleagues was a framed three-word quote by E. B. White: \"Be obscure clearly.\" We laughed and laughed. It was an inside joke -- and a perfect present for an HMO PR guy who more than a few times had to be obscure when responding to media inquiries. Reporters always wanted more information than I dared give them, but I had to give them something. Hence the need to follow White's sage advice. That quote, by the way, was in Elements of Style, the classic 1959 book on writing that White coauthored with William Strunk Jr. White was not actually recommending obscure writing. He was just saying that if for some reason you felt you could not tell the whole truth, if there was no choice but to be obscure, at least use the active voice and proper grammar while doing it. Successful flacks know how to use a variety of public relations tricks to obscure the truth -- being selective in the disclosure of information, for instance, or using statistics in misleading ways. Or pointing the finger of blame at someone else or \"reframing\" the issue about which reporters are asking. I have kept that framed quote all these years. Now, though, I'm thinking it would have a better home in the office of the chief flack for the health insurance industry. Yesterday, Robert Zirkelbach, spokesman for America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) took aim at the health care advocacy group Health Care for America Now (HCAN). HCAN took issue with AHIP's assertion that the average profit margin for health insurance firms is just 4.4 percent. Zirkelbach did not explain how he came up with that figure, but considering the fact that the big for-profit insurers had significantly higher margins than 4.4 percent last year (according to Yahoo! Finance), AHIP's calculations must have included the insurers that, at least in theory, don't make profits at all, like the so-called nonprofit Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans. In a memo to editors and reporters Thursday afternoon, HCAN took issue with the 4.4 percent figure and accused AHIP of trying to pull the wool over journalists' eyes. \"AHIP's focus on profit margins is misleading and designed to protect their massive income by shifting attention away from their return on equity -- a key measure of profits as a percentage of the amount invested,\" HCAN's executive director, Ethan Rome, wrote. \"That return is a phenomenal 16.1 percent as of today. By that measure, health insurers are ranked fourth highest of the 16 industries in the health care sector. The health insurance industry has a higher return for investors than cell phone companies, beer companies, mortgage companies, life insurance companies, TV broadcasters, drug store companies, or grocery stores.\" Zirkelbach, the health insurers' flack, responded in a Reaganesque, \"there you go again,\" fashion. \"Shocking,\" he wrote. He said Health Care for America Now had \"released yet another deceptive, ideologically based attack on health plan profits. The data continue to show that this is an efficient, low-margin industry. It's time for them to get over the fact that the American people rejected the government-run plan and to start focusing on what's really driving health care cost growth.\" So what are the \"real drivers\" of health care costs? Zirkelbach sent reporters a link to a chart on AHIP's blog called \"Putting Health Plan Profits in Perspective.\" The chart shows, surprise, surprise, that health plan profits of $13.1 billion pale in comparison to those real drivers. The biggest such driver by far, according to AHIP's chart, is \"defensive medicine\" as practiced by doctors worried about getting sued, followed closely by \"fraud and abuse in the entire system.\" The source of that chart, according to AHIP, is an October 2009 white paper by Thomson Reuters entitled, \" Where Can $700 Billion be Cut Annually from the U.S. Health Care System?\" The title of the report is hyperlinked, but when you click on it, you get a page of gobbledygook. I actually searched for the report and read it closely. Guess what? There is no such chart in the Thomson Reuters white paper and no breakdown of cost drivers as depicted by AHIP. In fact, had AHIP executives actually read the paper, they surely would not have brought it to the attention of the media. The insurance industry does not fare well at all. A major point of the Thomson Reuters paper is that up to $700 billion that we spend on health care in the U.S. is wasted and that a big reason for that waste is our multi-payer system of private health insurance companies. \"Health care providers must deal with d"}, {"response": 1616, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, May 24, 2011 (18:51)", "body": "Have you seen the Liger? http://cheatsheet.tumblr.com/post/5768149039/an-african-lion-and-a-manchurian-tiger-have-given"}, {"response": 1617, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jun 24, 2011 (22:07)", "body": "Fingers crossed the NY State Senate does the right thing tonight with the Same Sex Marriage Bill. A potential party in the Village tonight! And a wedding for me to go to next year. :-)"}, {"response": 1618, "author": "janet2", "date": "Fri, Jun 24, 2011 (22:42)", "body": "Was shocked to read that 12 year old girls can marry( with parental consent) in several US states:-("}, {"response": 1619, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jun 24, 2011 (22:51)", "body": "I didn't know that. Yuck. Maybe in Utah. But YAY, NY State Senate!! And thanks to Gov. Cuomo. So LONG overdue. In historic vote, New York Senate approves gay marriage, 33-29 http://tinyurl.com/5u4qm55"}, {"response": 1620, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jun 24, 2011 (23:25)", "body": "The Empire State Bldg in Pride colors. Too bad I'm out of town this weekend to get a pic myself. http://soupsoup.tumblr.com/post/6888769044/neighborhoodr-newyork-new-york-passes-same-sex"}, {"response": 1621, "author": "mari", "date": "Sat, Jun 25, 2011 (09:16)", "body": "(Janet)Was shocked to read that 12 year old girls can marry( with parental consent) in several US states:-( Several? I only see one, MA. It's 18 pretty much everywhere, dropping to 16 or 17 with parental consent. http://topics.law.cornell.edu/wex/table_marriage"}, {"response": 1622, "author": "janet2", "date": "Sat, Jun 25, 2011 (12:13)", "body": "I didn't find the info there, it was on Enotes. Not sure of the accuracy, but it listed several."}, {"response": 1623, "author": "janet2", "date": "Sat, Jun 25, 2011 (12:22)", "body": "Here's the link: I wonder how many of the 'underage' marriages take place each year? http://www.enotes.com/everyday-law-encyclopedia/marriage-marriage-age"}, {"response": 1624, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Jun 25, 2011 (13:12)", "body": "Anything under the legal age (usually 18) seems to require at a minimum parental consent and for certain ages (15 or 16) a court order: http://www.usmarriagelaws.com/search/united_states/teen_marriage_laws/index.shtml http://marriage.about.com/cs/teenmarriage/a/teenus.htm MA law stems from common law, i.e., yours, Janet ;-) But parental consent is required. http://marriage.uslegal.com/age-requirements/ Code Section Ch. 207\ufffd7, 24, 25 Minimum Legal Age with Parental Consent Male: not specified; Female: not specified Minimum Legal Age Without Parental Consent Male: 18; Female: 18 Comments No statutory provision for minimum age with consent. Common law prevails. If parent deserted or incapable of consent, not necessary to obtain consent."}, {"response": 1625, "author": "janet2", "date": "Sat, Jun 25, 2011 (14:35)", "body": "Still seems crazy that parents could allow a child to marry:-("}, {"response": 1626, "author": "mari", "date": "Sat, Jun 25, 2011 (22:22)", "body": "The source I cited is Cornell University Law Schhol--Ivy League, one of the best in the country. I'd trust their info over enotes.;-) I wonder how many of the 'underage' marriages take place each year? I'd imagine very few. MA is a very progressive state and sometimes these laws are a holdover from olden times. You know, you sail over on the Mayflower and you're expected to set up house right away.;-)"}, {"response": 1627, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sun, Jun 26, 2011 (16:15)", "body": "LOL, Mari. This is just as horrible, if not more since there is no consideration for life: Afghan Girl Tricked Into Carrying Bomb, Officials Say By ALISSA J. RUBIN Published: June 26, 2011 KABUL, Afghanistan \ufffd Insurgents tricked an 8-year-old girl in a remote area of central Afghanistan into carrying a bomb wrapped in a cloth and then detonated the bomb remotely when she was close to a police vehicle, the Afghan authorities said Sunday. Only the girl was killed in the blast, which occurred in Uwshi Village of Charchino District, said Fazal Ahmad Shirzad, the police chief of Uruzguan Province. Mr. Shirzad said he believed that the girl was completely unaware that the bag that she had been given by Taliban insurgents held a bomb. The girl\ufffds body was later \ufffdtaken to a nearby security check post and the police called her relatives, \ufffd he said. In Logar Province in southeastern Afghanistan, the death toll in the bombing that occurred Saturday at a hospital in a small town rose to 37 as people who were severely injured by the blast died, said Mohammed Zarif Naibkhail, the director of public health for the province. Another 53 people were injured. \ufffdThe casualties are actually way higher than that but the local villagers rushed to the hospital right after the explosion and took the bodies of their relatives to their own villages,\ufffd he said. Four NATO soldiers were also killed Sunday. Two were Spanish troops who died when an improvised explosive device detonated in Badghis Province in western Afghanistan, according to the Spanish Defense Ministry. A soldier also died in southern Afghanistan and a soldier died in eastern Afghanistan, according to a NATO statement. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/27/world/asia/27afghanistan.html?_r=1&smid=tw-nytimes&seid=auto I really feel for the Afghani women now that the US troops will be leaving. We should have concentrated our military efforts there instead of sidetracking to Iraq which was much better off with Saddam Hussein. Thank you idiot Bush!"}, {"response": 1628, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sun, Jun 26, 2011 (19:49)", "body": "Who did not see this coming?: Chaos in Yemen Creates Opening for Islamist Gangs ADEN, Yemen \ufffd The ancient port city of Aden is now virtually surrounded by roving gangs of Islamist militia fighters \ufffd some linked to Al Qaeda \ufffd who have captured at least two towns, stormed prisons and looted banks and military depots in southern Yemen. Yet the Yemeni government, still busy fighting unarmed protesters farther north, has done little to stop these jihadists. Members of the military, the police and local officials have fled their posts across much of southern Yemen. The country\ufffds American-trained counterterrorism unit has not been deployed. It is no surprise that many Yemenis believe the president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, intended it all to happen. Asked whether the jihadists could soon attack or even overwhelm this strategic coastal city of 800,000, Gen. Muhammad al-Somli \ufffd the one commander who has made any serious effort to fight them \ufffd said, \ufffdI cannot rule anything out.\ufffd The governor of neighboring Abyan Province, Saleh al-Zawari, who fled almost a month ago after militants captured the provincial capital, said the area would turn into \ufffdanother Taliban state like Afghanistan\ufffd if something were not done soon. Yemeni government officials blame the rising chaos on the political crisis, which has kept Mr. Saleh\ufffds forces in Sana, the capital. But interviews with local people here suggest that Mr. Saleh himself \ufffd now recovering in Saudi Arabia from wounds suffered in an attack on his palace mosque \ufffd is at the root of the problem. His government, based in the north, has for years carried out brutal and discriminatory policies toward the people of south Yemen. The northern military commanders who dominate his army are widely hated and increasingly isolated here, incapable of carrying out the kind of counterinsurgency operations that could ease the crisis. And given the long history of backdoor collusion between Al Qaeda and Yemen\ufffds security agencies, it is impossible to know whether Mr. Saleh or his surrogates are actively encouraging the jihadists as a scare tactic, or merely tolerating them. The United States is now urging Mr. Saleh to cede power so that the current political stalemate can come to and end, but it was not clear whether that would happen anytime soon. The attacks have grown increasingly bold. On Friday, a suicide car bomber here in Aden killed three soldiers and a civilian, and wounded a dozen others. On Wednesday, at least 40 prisoners, including some Qaeda members convicted in a plot to attack the United States Embassy in Sana, escaped after a daring raid by gunmen on a prison in the town of Mukalla, 300 miles to the east, local officials said. The militants\ufffd expansion is a serious concern for the United States, which has twice been made a target by Al Qaeda\ufffds Yemen-based branch. So far, the American military has relied on airstrikes aimed at militant leaders, with mixed success. Thousands of refugees have streamed into Aden in recent weeks, telling shocking stories of the heavily armed jihadists who in late May captured the city of Zinjibar, a provincial capital less than an hour\ufffds drive from here. The jihadists have delivered speeches calling for Islamic rule from mosque loudspeakers, the refugees say. Their members include men speaking in Saudi, Iraqi, and Sudanese accents. They carry white banners with the words \ufffdAnsar al Sharia\ufffd on them \ufffd a name that Qaeda leaders identified this year as an alternate name for their own organization in Yemen. Many residents of Zinjibar say they were appalled by the Yemeni military\ufffds quick retreat from the town and other areas in Abyan Province, just north and east of here. \ufffdThese Al Qaeda people \ufffd they are mostly kids, young men,\ufffd said Ali Omar al-Qurshi, 49, camped out on the cement floor of a school in Aden along with several hundred other displaced people. \ufffdAre you telling me the army can\ufffdt defeat them? It\ufffds a very strange thing. Honestly, we feel Ali Abdullah Saleh is behind it.\ufffd Some officials from the town said that they had no choice but to leave, and they denied that they had received orders to do so. \ufffdIt was a war \ufffd they came with so many armed men,\ufffd Mr. Zawari, the governor of Abyan Province, said as he sat in an empty hotel lobby here. \ufffdThey took advantage of the situation. Everything is divided now, the government, the army.\ufffd Zinjibar is now an eerie and silent wasteland, the refugees say, its houses shattered by artillery and machine guns, its streets full of the dead. Dogs have begun to feed on the corpses. Only a few young men stayed on, guarding their family houses against theft. The same is true of some other villages in the area, and of Jaar, a town seized by Islamist militants in March. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/27/world/middleeast/27yemen.html?smid=tw-nytimes&seid=auto"}, {"response": 1629, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sun, Jun 26, 2011 (21:06)", "body": "We should have concentrated our military efforts there instead of sidetracking to Iraq which was much better off with Saddam Hussein. Difficult to defend Saddam Hussein's treatment of women... She recalled how a deaf and mute male relative was held by his penis and mocked in front of women and children. At other times, men would be lined up and threatened with beating unless they started running. Pregnant women were handcuffed even as they gave birth and guards stopped other women from helping one woman give birth, even when the baby was stuck between her legs, she said http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2005/dec/07/iraq.jonathansteele1 Others http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_Saddam_Hussein's_Iraq http://www.alterinter.org/article170.html?lang=fr"}, {"response": 1630, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jun 27, 2011 (20:08)", "body": "(Evelyn) Difficult to defend Saddam Hussein's treatment of women... True, but still no reason to involve ourselves in a war there."}, {"response": 1631, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Jun 27, 2011 (20:13)", "body": "That wasn't the point......but, you are entitiled to your opinion."}, {"response": 1632, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Jun 28, 2011 (15:48)", "body": "The treatment of women in Arab countries is appalling, nothing new there. And once troops leave the area the treatment of women will be even worse, if that's possible. Fact is we invaded Iraq, and we were defending ourselves with the help of an international coalition in Afghanistan."}, {"response": 1633, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Jun 28, 2011 (20:22)", "body": "Like I told Dorine, Moon....everyone is entitled to their own opinion..... But..... \"If Saddam Hussein were still in power, this year's Arab uprisings could never have happened\" http://www.slate.com/id/2289587/ Now go at it...I'm done;-)"}, {"response": 1634, "author": "janet2", "date": "Wed, Jun 29, 2011 (03:36)", "body": "Wonder what he's been up to? http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2741405/posts"}, {"response": 1635, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Jun 29, 2011 (09:46)", "body": "Interesting. But the comments are always the best part of these reports."}, {"response": 1636, "author": "janet2", "date": "Wed, Jun 29, 2011 (12:24)", "body": "Apparently he's acknowledged two children, but they will not be in the line of accession. Shades of Camilla/Diana I wonder?"}, {"response": 1637, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jun 29, 2011 (13:07)", "body": "(Evelyn) But the comments are always the best part of these reports. Especially so considering with that particular website."}, {"response": 1638, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Jun 29, 2011 (14:26)", "body": "(Evelyn),Like I told Dorine, Moon....everyone is entitled to their own opinion..... And that includes not ignoring facts. ;-) \"If Saddam Hussein were still in power, this year's Arab uprisings could never have happened\" Sorry, but no one can guarantee that. That area has been fermenting for years. And I truly believe that if we had concentrated on Afghanistan instead of abandoning them for Iraq to the Taliban, it could have been the democracy to inspire the others. Next you'll say that the women's protest and driving in Saudi Arabia which is prohibited, is linked to SH? I think not."}, {"response": 1639, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Jun 29, 2011 (14:53)", "body": "Maybe we're just not getting Michele Bachmann. When she confuses the founding fathers for people who did NOT own slaves, and confuses John Wayne for John Wayne Gacy and Concord, New Hampshire for Concord, Massachusetts, maybe she's not really wrong, per se... maybe she just knows history differently. Maybe she even knows it better than we do. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/29/kimmel-michele-bachmann-america_n_886690.html"}, {"response": 1640, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Jun 29, 2011 (15:54)", "body": "Aw c'mon, Moon...Not fair...Nit-picking which Huff-Po loves to do. I know, it's open season for conservative women who dare to run for office. Joe Biden is the King of Gaffes and everyone just blows it off. Even the Prez when he was running for office made a few boo-boos. Your facts? \"Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts.\" \ufffd Daniel Patrick Moynihan"}, {"response": 1641, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Jun 29, 2011 (16:09)", "body": "A friend whose sons both live in Minnesota say Michele Bachman is brilliant. I wonder why all these brilliant women play the populist stupid American role? Another one is that Gretchen Carlson on Fox, who graduated like cum laude from Stanford and studied at Oxford. Yet she plays dumb, average American on TV? Why do they do that? Makes me ill."}, {"response": 1642, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jun 29, 2011 (16:37)", "body": "As I said to someone yesterday, Michelle Bachmann is another one of those women politicians who give women a bad name."}, {"response": 1643, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Jun 29, 2011 (16:44)", "body": "As I said to someone yesterday, Michelle Bachmann is another one of those women politicians who give women a bad name. oh please... Only liberal women are not only indefatigable ...but most importantly... *infallible*. They speak ex cathedra *rolling eyes* \"As we have daily proof\""}, {"response": 1644, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Jun 29, 2011 (17:10)", "body": "(Evelyn) They speak ex cathedra (channeling Gretchen Carlson) Why can't you just speak in good old American English. *rolls eyes* Fergodsake! ;-)"}, {"response": 1645, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Jun 29, 2011 (17:43)", "body": "LOL et cum spiritu tu Ohhhhh"}, {"response": 1646, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jun 29, 2011 (17:47)", "body": "I never said anything about categorizing them as liberal or anything else! Is it my fault what ideology the most vocal and well known of those who have really been embarrassing have been in the past several years? I don't care where on the partisan divide they come from ...I'll call them like I see them. Even the liberal ones. But show me one in the last few years on par with Nutjob Bachmann, Quitter Palin and the doofy witch Tea Partier from Delaware."}, {"response": 1647, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Jun 29, 2011 (20:32)", "body": "Dios mio ! (Spanish is my first language!)** Pl Ex Cathedra watch your language... (You're not on Facebook, ya know;-) **(Pl somebody tell me...Moon? ....how do i do the Spanish inverted ! I must be correct for EC;-) or she'll flame me too."}, {"response": 1648, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Jun 30, 2011 (18:03)", "body": "\"Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts.\" Are you reminding yourself, Evelyn? ;-) (Evelyn), (Pl somebody tell me...Moon? ....how do i do the Spanish inverted ! Set your PC to the English Int'l keyboard, then apply the codes. Here they are: http://tlt.its.psu.edu/suggestions/international/accents/codeint.html"}, {"response": 1649, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jun 30, 2011 (19:50)", "body": "How do you set to the Int'l keyboard?"}, {"response": 1650, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Jun 30, 2011 (20:44)", "body": "Thank you...seems easier on the iPhone. I thought I could do like \ufffd. Using the alt key and numbers on the right. Perhaps there is a website somewhere that one can do that. On the iPhone Spanish keyboard(thanks again Moon) they even correct my spelling, LOL. They do in English too."}, {"response": 1651, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Jun 30, 2011 (20:52)", "body": "PS. Just for the record. Listen girls, I come to Drool for laughs and to have fun, not for a \"jihad.\" Not my style to be adversarial. Which is why I don't like this topic. On the other hand I don't like being assaulted or my beliefs belittled. I'm a nice person :-))) Don't make me change."}, {"response": 1652, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jun 30, 2011 (21:46)", "body": "(Karen) I wonder why all these brilliant women play the populist stupid American role? Another one is that Gretchen Carlson on Fox, who graduated like cum laude from Stanford and studied at Oxford. Yet she plays dumb, average American on TV? Why do they do that? Those are rhetorical questions, right?"}, {"response": 1653, "author": "Moon", "date": "Fri, Jul  1, 2011 (15:48)", "body": "Aww, Evelyn, we are just having fun and venting here. As you know. ;-D Dorine, for the Int'l keyboard you must go through your \"computer\" and into the language tab."}, {"response": 1654, "author": "janet2", "date": "Fri, Jul  1, 2011 (15:51)", "body": "On my PC, it's thru Control Panel."}, {"response": 1655, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jul  1, 2011 (17:19)", "body": "I have a Mac. Didn't think about it being PC specific, though I'm sure there's a Mac equivalent somewhere. I do have a PC laptop I rarely use."}, {"response": 1656, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Jul  1, 2011 (20:09)", "body": "(Moon)Aww, Evelyn, we are just having fun and venting here. As you know. ;-D I know. But you have to understand that although other people's \"opinions\" might differ from yours are they are not necessarily wrong. And are not worthy of derision and vitriol....or any kind of ridicule. People who do that only embarass *themselves*....you are better than that."}, {"response": 1657, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Jul  1, 2011 (21:21)", "body": "And what is the verdict on opinions based on less than factual information? I'm talking in general, not necessarily here. How are they considered valid? Just because someone expresses one (an opinion)? *jonesingforphilosophicaldiscussionwithfriendsknowinganswermostlikelynotforthcoming*"}, {"response": 1658, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Jul  2, 2011 (12:18)", "body": "And what is the verdict on opinions based on less than factual information? Depends on the source of the \"factual information\". Blogs, Huffington Post, Media Matters, AP, UP, Reuters, NY Times, Washington Times, NYer, NY Review of Books, Slate magazine, Salon,National Review, NBC, FOX, CBS,NPR,CNN, *Any*politician, Michael Moore, Sean Penn,George Clooney, *any* actor or Drooler;-) Get the drift? NO Leon Panetta...maybe;-)"}, {"response": 1659, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jul  2, 2011 (12:46)", "body": "Depends on the source of the \"factual information\" I see your point, but really, a *true* fact is a fact no matter where or who it comes from. When facts are distorted or manipulated to fit an agenda is perhaps more where you're coming from with that statement. But then, I expect people to be discerning and use critical thinking to help parse the information they receive instead of take it spoonfed by any media so their opinions can be as fully informed as possible. If someone bases an opinion on information that is partially or completely untrue, that undermines the validity of the opinion (IMO! ;-)) and is certainly open for disagreement. All opinions are open for disagreement, but not all uninformed/misinformed opinions are open to complete reverence and respect.... IMO. And opinions don't have to be set in stone. They can/do change either over time and/or with the accumulation of (new or old) knowledge and information. And thank you for your response. :-) So, how 'bout those outfits of Kate's in Canada?? She recycles from other events. I like that. And I don't mean repurpose a new outfit from 3. She just wears the same outfit more than once."}, {"response": 1660, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Jul  2, 2011 (13:44)", "body": "Facts are facts, regardless of source. But I have to disagree with your list of credible sources because you include (I'm sure you've guessed it) Fox. Let me tell you why. A couple of weeks ago, I was at the neighborhood dogpark and the discussion turned to politics. Lots of people in my area tend to be liberal (not leftists, commies or socialists, but liberal). One man with two Boston Terriers is a noted conservative (note that I didn't use any derisive term for said poltical leaning) and people all know it and don't like to get into political discussions with him. Anyway, the subject was most likely taxes and spending and he stated that Obama was responsible for running up a debt larger than all past presidents combined. Said it was a FACT. No one asked his source. Imagine my shock when a week or so later Jon Stewart does a piece on the claims made on Fox that have been debunked by an independent fact-checking org. The list ran on and on and my ears pricked up when I heard that particular statement read off verbatim as NOT TRUE. Yet this man clearly believes it and tosses it around without blinking an eye."}, {"response": 1661, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Jul  2, 2011 (14:05)", "body": ".....independent fact-checking org. Which one? I meant to add Bill OReilly, Beck, Matthews, Olberman (RIP),Maddow, Shultz, Lawrence ODonnell , MSNBC, Joe and Mika, CNN boys... All of them throw these facts around and let's not get started on figures. Manipulation of the latter is the new world order. I liked Kate's dresses. And I felt sorry for Halperin. I saw that segment....he was goaded on by Joe, Mika ...they were all complicit. But he uttered the \"word\" and had to take the hit."}, {"response": 1662, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jul  2, 2011 (14:41)", "body": "Politifact.org. Pulitzer Prize winning. From the St. Petersburg Times. http://www.politifact.com/ (They ding Obama, too, so it should be ok)"}, {"response": 1663, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Jul  2, 2011 (14:59)", "body": "Thanks, Dorine, for providing the source. Here is Politifact's annotated list of the false Fox News statements, which included \"two 'Lie of the Year' awardees, five Pants on Fires and 14 False ratings.\" LOL! And the notorious statement made at my dogpark was from: Sarah Palin: \"Look at the debt that has been accumulated in the last two years. It's more debt under this president than all those other presidents combined.\" \ufffd False (June 1, 2011) http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2011/jun/22/jon-stewarts-politifact-segment-annotated-edition/"}, {"response": 1664, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Jul  2, 2011 (16:25)", "body": "Aw, come on...pols , all of em ...even POTUS manipulate facts. Latest: \"Medicare under the Republican plan is going to strip your grandmother of her benefits...\" WRONG! The plan doesn't start until yrs from now. Affecting the people who are 55 and under. His healthcare bill (starting in 2014)is going to cut Medicare $536 Billion (give or take a few bil). But he doesn't count that. Bless him;-) Sarah (Bless her!) is not even running for prez. Besides pols in primaries promise all kinds of \"hope and change\";-);-);-) Bless him."}, {"response": 1665, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sat, Jul  2, 2011 (16:39)", "body": "Links that are posted here give the source. I know better than stating my opinion as a fact when discussing politics, and I don't believe I ever have. If politicians make gaffes, or speak as if they know what they're saying and the facts contradict them, well it's fine to point that out, and that includes Biden. And I stand by what I wrote: \"If Saddam Hussein were still in power, this year's Arab uprisings could never have happened\" Sorry, but no one can guarantee that. That area has been fermenting for years. And I truly believe that if we had concentrated on Afghanistan instead of abandoning them for Iraq to the Taliban, it could have been the democracy to inspire the others. I also believe that Bush and Cheney should be in prison. And that Hillary Clinton should be president. That's my opinion. And I'm not embarrassed by my opinions. And I never meant to insult anyone's opinion. I don't believe I criticized your opinion or anyone else. I only expressed my opinion. There's room for all. You are a nice person, Evelyn, and so are the ladies that post here."}, {"response": 1666, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jul  2, 2011 (23:14)", "body": "(Evelyn) But he doesn't count that. Bush didn't count the Iraq War costs (nor Afghanistan if I'm not mistaken) into any of the budgets either (and it's still not). \" The price tag has drawn criticism not only because prewar projections by the White House were closer to $50 billion, but because of the manner in which the bill was budgeted: through supplemental requests, often with little time for congressional oversight or full disclosure of how the money is allocated. \ufffdIt\ufffds a question of budgetary integrity and the degree to which you are doing this outside the normal budgetary process in a way that lacks sufficient oversight,\ufffd says CFR Chair in International Economics Douglas Holtz-Eakin, former director of the Congressional Budget Office. \" http://www.cfr.org/economics/cost-iraq-war/p11943 Must be a President's (or someone's) prerogative to conveniently leave out some numbers here and there. Where I'm glad that there are going to be Medicare cuts is to the Medicare Advantage programs. The govt is paying private companies 14% more per person over regular Medicare costs to administer. Why not just have everyone on regular Medicare and save money? And theree's supposed to be a provision to fight fraud harder, which is also a good thing. There is too much of that. Sarah (Bless her!) is not even running for prez. Which clearly makes that guy appear even more ignorant, quoting someone who's clueless and really doesn't matter in the scheme of political things (so far). (Moon) I also believe that Bush and Cheney should be in prison. They should be hauled before the ICC right behind Milosevic and Gaddafi (if they can get him there)."}, {"response": 1667, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sun, Jul  3, 2011 (12:13)", "body": "I understand , Moon. There are some who hold the belief that Pres Bush, Cheney, the Israelis, and the Jewish Lobby all merged to mastermind 9/11 With corresponding sources (books, pamphlets, documentaries by Michael Moore???) to prove it. Also ,others say the Republicans planted the Blue Dress. With same type of sources as above. You can find anything to prove an opinion. I'll telling ya, we have horns!"}, {"response": 1668, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sun, Jul  3, 2011 (12:19)", "body": "(Dorine)Why not just have everyone on regular Medicare and save money? There are some seniors who fall through the cracks, can't qualify for Medicaid and can't affored the Medicare 20% co-payment. Medicare Advantage takes care of the latter and those seniors don't have to pay the co-insurance. They pay a copayment every time they go to see a medical practitioner. (Dorine)Where I'm glad that there are going to be Medicare cuts is to the Medicare Advantage programs. No! I think it should be Home Health;-D"}, {"response": 1669, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Jul  3, 2011 (13:09)", "body": "Why do you say that about home health?? It is being affected significantly here, but by Medicaid reimbursement changes. (Dorine)Why not just have everyone on regular Medicare and save money? (Evelyn) There are some seniors who fall through the cracks, can't qualify for Medicaid and can't affored the Medicare 20% co-payment. Medicare Advantage takes care of the latter and those seniors don't have to pay the co-insurance. They pay a copayment every time they go to see a medical practitioner. I'm not sure exactly what you're saying. Are you saying it functions as a supplemental insurance or has that component? A Medigap program? If so, then no, it's not. Medicare Advantage is simply a Medicare HMO/PPO."}, {"response": 1670, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Jul  3, 2011 (14:12)", "body": "I'll say one thing about being a patient with a Medicare Advantage plan if you come to where I work, because of whatever the reimbursement rate is for at least 2 of the ones that we take (Oxford/MediBlue), you won't get the same amount of therapy that you would if you had straight Medicare. My OT therapy is limited to a half hour and PT an hour per day (a potential decrease of up to 45 mins for me and 20 mins for PT). Also, the plan will decide when they want to cut you off from therapy and subsequently send you home. From my perspective, it's also extra paperwork vs regular Medicare. It's great for people who don't have catastrophic illnesses. I hate when severe stroke patients come in with it, because they don't get all they need."}, {"response": 1671, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sun, Jul  3, 2011 (14:25)", "body": "Medicare Advantage is simply a Medicare HMO/PPO. True. But the person does not make any insurance payment. MA gets a gov't subsidy for the people who can't afford to take insurance and don't qualify for Medicaid. I don't know how else to explain this. It's fair and the people who go into it know what it is. You excluded, Home Health is a boon-doggle. There's on on every corner. Both my parents were clients and it was a waste of time & mooney. I see them come to my condo area and the loll around walking the clients down the street. If it's raining they just sit and chat. You excluded, of course. They are ripping off the gov't. I plan to tell that to Sen Coburn (AKA Dr No;-) when he comes to a town hall here next week. Put it on the list to cut. As far as I'm concern they are equivalent to the Wheelchair scooters that Medicare apparently pays for at The Scooter Store on TV Scandalous."}, {"response": 1672, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sun, Jul  3, 2011 (15:18)", "body": "All this talk about Medicare, when it should all be universal healthcare!!! (Evelyn), You can find anything to prove an opinion. True. But a person has to be discerning when bombarded with \"proofs.\" Such things as invading Iraq because Bush said they had WOMD, and not letting NATO and UN in Iraq at the time, finish their search. In the end, no WOMD were found. But many innocents were dead. And, our troops were being pulled from Afghanistan, where the Int'l coalition had fallen apart because our allies did not approve of the Iraqi invasion. I know, we will never agree on this, Evelyn. In this case, we each believe in different facts. ;-D"}, {"response": 1673, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Jul  3, 2011 (16:30)", "body": "I haven't done home care in about 11 yrs (though yes, I worked for a home care company for several years in the business end). I agree some home therapists are crap. Some aren't (and you're right it wasn't me). I went above and beyond frankly in many cases. Wish I hadn't sometimes in retrospect. I could've gotten my paperwork done a bit sooner rather than spending an entire Sunday every week doing it and the patients would've still had decent therapy. Home care is necessary for many people, esp in this city if people don't want to stay in nursing homes (there are only so many beds), but I am more than aware that the ethics of it all get stretched. Believe me, I *know*. It's in every setting. Frankly, more MD's should be aware of home care and order it for patients before they fall and break something. It's a lot cheaper for the healthcare industry in that respect to keep someone home and work on strengthening and balance than to pay for surgeries, inpatient nursing and therapy after they fall....and potentially have to stay in long term care significantly more dependent than they were. And home care doesn't consist of just therapy. There are home health aides/home attendants, too (which Medicare covers for 20 hrs/wk with M'caid picking up more - though not nearly as much as they used to starting this year). Unfortunately there's been fraud with some agencies billing for falsified visits, etc. They had a big sweep a couple of years ago with quite a few agencies here who were getting false documentation for aides, faking billing, things like that. Home care services are being cut from Medicaid already, which has been a bit of a problem from a discharge plan standpoint, especially for the people 80-85+, who live alone in multifloor walkups, which is a big chunk of our patient load. I can't speak about the scooters, but I know that it's significantly harder to get specialized wheelchairs for patients through Medicare/Medicaid. Just the paperwork to start with. I was just reading some business blog where it was discussing healthcare and someone made a comment that most of the ills of the healthcare system would be solved financially if no illegal immigrants were treated (for free)."}, {"response": 1674, "author": "janet2", "date": "Sun, Jul  3, 2011 (17:25)", "body": "I know nothing of the options of healthcare(or not) in the US, but I'm just glad we have the NHS, even with its shortcomings, here in the UK. My 26 year old son recently had his appendix removed, and has problems with his liver now, and all tests etc are done free of charge. Obviously, we have the option of private healthcare too."}, {"response": 1675, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sun, Jul  3, 2011 (17:30)", "body": "The illegals go to the emergency room except for some church sponsored clinics. Here Catholic Charities runs a medical and dental clinic and takes anyone legals and illegals. They are about to get introuble because it is against the law. I tutor Hispanic children that get medical care . I feel that PT (which is essential for recovery) should be given in a rehab center with a proper protocol under supervision. They could run a van with the funds they would save cutting down on individual in-home personnel. Moon, dear, Congress was briefed on the pre-war intel, and g ave consent. They're screaming now because they were not consulted for the Libya conflict, as they were for Iraq."}, {"response": 1676, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sun, Jul  3, 2011 (17:38)", "body": "Obviously, we have the option of private healthcare too. Which many of my friends in the UK and Canada have; they can see whom they want w/o prior permission at their decretion. They don't have to seek approval to see a consultant (specialist)or wait for their turn for treatment or surgery. Of course, they have to pay monthly insurance fees in addition to the extra taxes. Some clinics in Montana and Wisconsin accept Canadian insurance. Canadians are often treated by specialists there. AS they are at MD Anderson and Sloan -Kettering Cancer Centers."}, {"response": 1677, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sun, Jul  3, 2011 (17:48)", "body": "They can also get meds , treatments and tests that are not available under the NHS guidelines. Which is understandable since there is just a certain amt of government funds available."}, {"response": 1678, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Jul  3, 2011 (17:55)", "body": "Moon, dear, Congress was briefed on the pre-war intel, and g ave consent. The same bad, manipulated, cherry picked pre-war intel that said there were WMD making facilities? The same bad pre-war intel that said Saddam was trying to buy yellowcake uranium for bombmaking that the CIA & Administration knew at that point was fake? I have another Republican friend that uses this same (flawed IMO) reasoning when she tries to defend the war justification. I think I might have some sourced facts for you... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niger_uranium_forgeries Initial doubts The classified documents detailing an Iraqi approach to purchase yellowcake uranium from Niger were considered dubious by some analysts in U.S. intelligence, according to news accounts. By early 2002, separate investigations by both the CIA and the US State Department had found the documents to be inaccurate. Days before the Iraq invasion, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) voiced serious doubt on the authenticity of the documents to the U.N. Security Council, judging them counterfeit. [edit] \"Sixteen Words\" controversy in 2003 State of the Union In his January 2003 State of the Union speech, U.S. President George W. Bush said, \"The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa.\"[2] This single sentence is known now as \"Sixteen Words\".[3] The administration later conceded that evidence in support of the claim was inconclusive and stated, \"These sixteen words should never have been included.\" The administration attributed the error to the CIA.[4] In mid-2003, the U.S. government declassified the 2002 National Intelligence Estimate, which contained a dissenting opinion published by the U.S. Department of State stating that the intelligence connecting Niger to Saddam Hussein was \"highly suspect,\" primarily because State Department's intelligence agency analysts did not believe that Niger would be likely to engage in such a transaction due to a French consortium which maintained close control over the Nigerien uranium industry.[5] According to The Washington Post, when occupying troops found no evidence of a current nuclear program, the statement and how it came to be in the speech became a focus for critics in Washington and foreign capitals to press the case that the White House manipulated facts to take the United States to war. The Post reported, \"Dozens of interviews with current and former intelligence officials and policymakers in the United States, Britain, France and Italy show that the Bush administration disregarded key information available at the time showing that the Iraq-Niger claim was highly questionable.\" [6] With the release of the 2002 NIE report, the Bush administration was criticized for including the statement in the State of the Union despite CIA and State Department reports questioning its veracity. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ And I've posted, with documentation (I have a whole book on it from one of the inspectors) when this subject came up before, that the UN inspectors on the ground at the time the war started and were not finding any evidence of a WMD program were told to get out immediately or they were going to be hit when the bombing started, planned within a couple of days. And they should be screaming about Libya. There's no way in hell we should be involved."}, {"response": 1679, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Jul  3, 2011 (18:32)", "body": "I wanted to put this in different post I feel that PT (which is essential for recovery) should be given in a rehab center with a proper protocol under supervision. They could run a van with the funds they would save cutting down on individual in-home personnel. (I'm sure you meant to include OT in that sentence as well. :-)) Well, actually, I highly recommend some home care for at least short periods of time after d/c from a rehab facility for a safety evaluation to start with, or if nothing else. We have no idea what a person's home looks like, they are at times not the best historians and it's very possible that there are physical safety issues (loose throw rugs, wires about, hoarding) that need addressing that could potentially land them back in the hospital. Also, in my case, I have a lot of patients from Chinatown who live in multifloor walkups and have non-standard bathtubs, that are significantly taller than regular ones and are not infrequently in their kitchen or out in some other room in the common hallway. There is no way I can practice that with them in the facility. I can't even order any equipment for them (such as a shower chair) and be assured that, A) a standard or any kind of shower chair would even fit in the tub and B) they can get in the tub in the first place. Also, my scheduled time with patients rarely allows me to do most kinds of community reentry activities that the patient has been accustomed to doing prior to admission to the hospital and they have a reasonable expectation of doing again. It's much easier to help them after seeing what they need to be doing first hand and where so I can make adaptations and help them make adjustments to their routine to, at the least, save them some energy so they can get what they need to do done. It's a shame that we no longer are paid for doing home evals prior to the patient being d/c'd from the inpatient setting. That was soooo useful in prepping them to get home and we could zero in on certain things depending on what we found at the home. Or we could hold the d/c if we found a very unsafe living situation as happened from time to time. Do I think every patient needs home care? No. Many of mine do though, even if just for a short time. And also, with orthopedic and stroke patients, I always tell them that they should go to outpatient therapy within 2 weeks of discharge, after a short period of home care because they'll have access to better equipment than they'd get with home therapy. Glad you'd like to put a bunch of therapists out of work. Had you given it any thought at the time in 1997 and felt the same way, I'd have you to thank for supporting the OBRA law of 1997 which changed the Medicare reimbursement structure (esp for therapy) for nursing homes (or SNF's, skilled nursing facilities) and cost me and a ton of therapists our jobs. I was at a facility in CT working with about 25 other therapists and as of Dec 31 I was suddenly out of a job (along with half the therapy staff) with virtually nowhere to go (I was doing contract work, they paid for my housing and going to my house in FL was not an option at that time because there were NO jobs in Florida either after that). I ended up in NY working a contract with kids despite having no experience, but they provided housing. I lasted a month in that job because I picked up chicken pox from one of the kids...and I hated it. I did home care for a while after that."}, {"response": 1680, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Jul  3, 2011 (18:40)", "body": "But Janet, hasn't the NHS been having financial difficulty?"}, {"response": 1681, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sun, Jul  3, 2011 (19:00)", "body": "(Evelyn), Moon, dear, Congress was briefed on the pre-war intel, and g ave consent. They're screaming now because they were not consulted for the Libya conflict, as they were for Iraq. (Dorine), The same bad, manipulated, cherry picked pre-war intel that said there were WMD making facilities? The same bad pre-war intel that said Saddam was trying to buy yellowcake uranium for bombmaking that the CIA & Administration knew at that point was fake? Thanks for the link, Dorine. I had a problem with then NY Senator Hillary Clinton voting in Congress. But I understood her reasoning. Her husband had been president, and she assumed Bush had the correct intel on WMD, because she knew that Bill would have never started a war or invaded a country without ABSOLUTE proof. (Janet), I know nothing of the options of healthcare(or not) in the US, but I'm just glad we have the NHS, even with its shortcomings, here in the UK. It's crazy not to have it here. I see it as a human's right issue."}, {"response": 1682, "author": "janet2", "date": "Sun, Jul  3, 2011 (20:45)", "body": "(Dorine)But Janet, hasn't the NHS been having financial difficulty? Not as such, but the way it operates is changing in England and Wales. The new government plan to give more powers to GPs(local general practices), rather than the local Healthcare Trusts. Doesn't apply in Scotland, so there may be others here to know more about the proposed changes than me. There is also the issue of 'Postcode Lottery', where a treatment/drugs may be funded by one authority, by denied by another."}, {"response": 1683, "author": "janet2", "date": "Mon, Jul  4, 2011 (10:35)", "body": "Apologies for the grammatical errors in my last post- I didn't get much sleep last night:-("}, {"response": 1684, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jul  4, 2011 (10:56)", "body": "Didn't notice. So there are regional \"trusts\" that administer the funds and services for a certain area? (Evelyn) I tutor Hispanic children that get medical care In what? And where? I feel that PT (which is essential for recovery) should be given in a rehab center with a proper protocol under supervision. I can tell you firsthand that sometimes it's no better than anywhere else (at least in skilled nursing facilities). There are bad/mediocre therapists everywhere. Probably not so much at the bigger rehab institutions though, such as these... http://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals/rankings/rehabilitation ."}, {"response": 1685, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Jul  4, 2011 (11:08)", "body": "Optimum word\" Proper supervision. Evelyn) I tutor Hispanic children that get medical care In what? And where? A state program for children:Sooner Care also a community medical care unit Shusterman Center at the university. I think everyone should have access to medical care. Mandated and Means Tested. So there are regional \"trusts\" that administer the funds and services for a certain area? Probably like the state grants for Medicaid that the Ryan plan wants. Let the states allocate the funds from the Feds and administer it."}, {"response": 1686, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Jul  4, 2011 (11:38)", "body": "A state program for children:Sooner Care also a community medical care unit Shusterman Center at the university. Yes, but in what subject/area are you tutoring them in? English? Math? Spanish? ;-) So there are regional \"trusts\" that administer the funds and services for a certain area? (Evelyn) Probably like the state grants for Medicaid that the Ryan plan wants. Let the states allocate the funds from the Feds and administer it. I was thinking they were more along the lines of the Medicare regional fiscal intermediaries we already have. Optimum word\" Proper supervision. Unfortunately it's a matter of you take who you can get depending on where you work."}, {"response": 1687, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Jul  4, 2011 (13:31)", "body": "Yes, but in what subject/area are you tutoring them in? English? Math? Spanish? ;-) LOL. After school program. Only little guys...3rd and 4th grades . Reading and math (\"times tables\".) Hey, learning to read is hard. Number conscepts is worse. None of their parents speak English and can't help with homework so that's where we come in as a volunteer. There are six of us. I speak in English except when they don't comprehend a word then I tell them the meaning in spanish. Not all are illegals, but most have only been here a few yrs. They're smart , but have a comprehension problem. I miss them during the summer."}, {"response": 1688, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jul  6, 2011 (23:49)", "body": "I know it's said people have shorter attention spans for reading, but this seems to be a tad excessive for brevity. This was the whole article at Yahoo News... Actor Hugh Grant says he has been called as a witness by the police into the hacking scandal AP \ufffd Wed, Jul 6, 2011 LONDON (AP) \ufffd Actor Hugh Grant says he has been called as a witness by the police into the hacking scandal. http://news.yahoo.com/actor-hugh-grant-says-called-witness-police-hacking-151445832.html"}, {"response": 1689, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Jul  7, 2011 (09:46)", "body": "Sorta taints him, doesn't it? All people will remember is Hugh Grant= Hacking scandal. I wonder if they will print any dismissal."}, {"response": 1690, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jul  7, 2011 (12:43)", "body": "Not at all actually. He's the one who wiretapped one of the reporters who admitted doing the wiretapping scheme. http://tonicgossip.com/2011/04/13/hugh-grant-secretly-taped-news-of-the-world-reporter/"}, {"response": 1691, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Jul  7, 2011 (14:40)", "body": "Heroic. Sweet revenge. Wonder how he knew which tabloid they repped. (Where do you find these obscure websites, Dorine.)"}, {"response": 1692, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jul  7, 2011 (17:15)", "body": "Google. :-)"}, {"response": 1693, "author": "janet2", "date": "Thu, Jul  7, 2011 (17:51)", "body": "The News of the World is being closed down by Rupert Murdoch- I guess they're jumping before being pushed! -Shameful 'journalism'!!"}, {"response": 1694, "author": "lafn", "date": "Thu, Jul  7, 2011 (21:02)", "body": "The surprise to me is that they had a 2.66 million readers, and employed 200 staff. Some people must have like that trash."}, {"response": 1695, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Jul  7, 2011 (21:44)", "body": "No different than the National Enquirer I suppose."}, {"response": 1696, "author": "janet2", "date": "Fri, Jul  8, 2011 (01:05)", "body": "Although I intensely dislike NOW, it is still a newspaper, of sorts. The NQ is more of a comic book, lol!;-)"}, {"response": 1697, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Jul  8, 2011 (10:08)", "body": "The NQ is more of a comic book, lol!;-) How true. Seriously. Although i must admit I read it when I'm in the supermarket queue. Some alien from outer space is always about to invade us. However, they did break the John Edwards case."}, {"response": 1698, "author": "mari", "date": "Fri, Jul  8, 2011 (11:01)", "body": "(Ev)However, they did break the John Edwards case. Yep, and the Enquirer has actually broken a lot of stories which traditional outlets initially declined to cover--Edwards, Limbaugh, Dole, OJ Simpson, etc. Here are some. They may not be pretty, but I don't think I'd put them in the NOW category: http://www.newworldorderreport.com/News/tabid/266/ID/2732/7-Stories-The-National-Enquirer-Actually-Got-Right.aspx"}, {"response": 1699, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Jul  8, 2011 (17:43)", "body": "I didn't even know Dole had been married before, nevermind a mistress. didn't they break the Lewinsky story too?"}, {"response": 1700, "author": "janet2", "date": "Sat, Jul  9, 2011 (06:57)", "body": "It looks as though the NOW scandal is just at the beginning. Some papers are referring to it as Britain's Watergate. David Cameron will be a worried man, with his links to some of the main players. I wonder what the (hopefully) retrieved email archive will show?"}, {"response": 1701, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Sat, Jul  9, 2011 (09:14)", "body": "Certainly interesting watching the news reports. I am not a fan of NOW but I feel sorry for the regular staff of the paper. I don't believe for a minute Rekekah Brookes didn't know what was going on, I mean, c'mon, she must have wondered why vast sums of money were being paid. She should have gone. I hope Murdoch doesn't get his BskyB deal."}, {"response": 1702, "author": "janet2", "date": "Sat, Jul  9, 2011 (09:20)", "body": "She will go Sue. And she'll not be the last. This is going to be far reaching, and apparently other newspapers aren't lily white either:-("}, {"response": 1703, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Sat, Jul  9, 2011 (09:52)", "body": "Yeah, her days must be numbered. Remember Robbie Collin's film reviewer whom hardly every had a good word to say regarding Colin's performances over the years, with TKS being the exception. Anyway, Robbie works for NOW, some of his tweets since the closure have been quite amusing. https://twitter.com/#!/robbiereviews"}, {"response": 1704, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Sat, Jul  9, 2011 (09:52)", "body": "or rather rather, Robbie worked for NOW ;-)"}, {"response": 1705, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Jul  9, 2011 (09:58)", "body": "They're Here! http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_ROYAL_TOUR_CALIFORNIA?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-07-08-19-28-44 I hope they give her a meal."}, {"response": 1706, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Jul  9, 2011 (10:04)", "body": ""}, {"response": 1707, "author": "janet2", "date": "Sat, Jul  9, 2011 (17:18)", "body": "She is incredibly thin-similar to Diana shortly after her marriage to Charles. Let's hope she hasn't lost weight for same reason:-("}, {"response": 1708, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Jul 10, 2011 (12:12)", "body": "Oh look! Colin attended the FAFTA LA bash last night: Have gone through a number of pics from a Yahoo slideshow and most of the women celebs were very conservative in their choice of dresses in terms of skin and cleavage. Getty's gallery: http://www.gettyimages.com/Search/Search.aspx?EventId=118785228&EditorialProduct=Royalty"}, {"response": 1709, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sun, Jul 10, 2011 (13:13)", "body": "Oh thanks , Boss. Wonderful pictures. Lots of nice surpises...Stephane Fry, I just saw GuGu in \"Larry Crowne\" (pardon the expression;-) Rita wilson's gown...vintage? She looks vintage in it. Love the pic of the Duke and Duchess working the crowd. What is that red & orange thing over Delaney's shoulder? A socker scarf? Jennifer Lopez always a stand-out But the prettiest one of the bunch is the Duchess of Cambridge."}, {"response": 1710, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Jul 10, 2011 (13:37)", "body": "I thought Blake Lively and Maria Bello looked stunning. Most great really, except J-Lo. Not that appropriate with that cutout dress. It wasn't the Grammy's."}, {"response": 1711, "author": "janet2", "date": "Sun, Jul 10, 2011 (13:46)", "body": "Kate must have been wearing v. high heels-she looks around the same height as William, and he's around 6'4\"."}, {"response": 1712, "author": "janet2", "date": "Sun, Jul 10, 2011 (13:48)", "body": "BTW, Nicole Kidman's posture is awful in these pics:-("}, {"response": 1713, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Jul 10, 2011 (14:20)", "body": "I want to say I read they were platform Jimmy Choo's that made her that much taller."}, {"response": 1714, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Jul 10, 2011 (14:42)", "body": "Did you see the headshot of Stephen Fry? He looks awful! J-Lo brought her mother. ;-) But I agree, the cutout dress wasn't very appropriate. One-shouldered with midriff covered would've been better. At the Grammys that would be considered 'conservative'. Rita's dress looks matronly, but I'd choose that over va-va-vooomy, as she wore to Obama's dinner at the Ambassador's home. Nicole Kidman's posture is probably so bad because she always has to bend down to people. ;-) With her high heels, she's taller than William (and hence Kate). Dress does nothing for her. Judd Apatow's wife Leslie Mann looks fab, as does Zooey Deschanel, Maria Bello, Other horrible ones were Kristin Chenoweth and Cat Deeley, who has shown she can wear anything and make it look gorgeous on So You Think You Can Dance twice a week, EXCEPT the dress she wore last night. Chenoweth is so petite and that dress made her look chunky! But for the What Was She Thinking Award, it would have to go to Dana Delaney:"}, {"response": 1715, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sun, Jul 10, 2011 (14:42)", "body": "Janet, I thought the same, but didn't want to be critical. Happens with those v. tall girls. They have to stoop over to talk to we shorties. She is too beautiful to get round-shouldered so early. I doubt if J Lo has anything \"appropriate\". LOL I still think she's a knock-out ."}, {"response": 1716, "author": "slpeg2003", "date": "Sun, Jul 10, 2011 (18:12)", "body": "Anyone recognize this dress? I have no idea who Katie Sole is but she removed the 'dickey' I agree with all of the comments so far. J-Lo ugh."}, {"response": 1717, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Jul 10, 2011 (18:40)", "body": "LOL! She didn't remove the dickey (unless she bought the dress from one of the charity auctions the Style Icon donated her GCC dreck to. BTW, do you think the Hanks are on a first-name basis with the Royal Family? They're like at every dinner. Wonder if they could be classified as stalkers. ;-)"}, {"response": 1718, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Jul 10, 2011 (18:42)", "body": "Looked her up. Katie Sole is a producer of reality TV (Housewives of NYC, Supernanny and It's Me or the Dog)."}, {"response": 1719, "author": "slpeg2003", "date": "Sun, Jul 10, 2011 (20:00)", "body": "(Pariah) do you think the Hanks are on a first-name basis with the Royal Family? They're like at every dinner I had the same thought! What's the count? Three or four times since mid-May? LOL no wonder I never heard of her. I have never watched any of those shows and probably would not know the producer's name even if I did (watch)."}, {"response": 1720, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Jul 10, 2011 (23:18)", "body": "(Evelyn) What is that red & orange thing over Delaney's shoulder? A socker scarf? Tigger's tail. ;-)"}, {"response": 1721, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Jul 10, 2011 (23:21)", "body": "(Karen) Did you see the headshot of Stephen Fry? He looks awful! I thought so, too. Looks like he gained quite a bit of weight back. And long hair does nothing for him."}, {"response": 1722, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Tue, Jul 19, 2011 (14:58)", "body": "Watching highlights of the Phone Hacking select committee. Both Murdoch's are in the hot seat. Murdoch is struggling with the probing questions. Have you watched it Janet? RM was also physically attacked by an intruder. Compelling stuff."}, {"response": 1723, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Tue, Jul 19, 2011 (15:01)", "body": "and if they ever make a film of this, Geoff Rush would make a dead ringer for RM."}, {"response": 1724, "author": "janet2", "date": "Tue, Jul 19, 2011 (17:39)", "body": "Sue, I watched it live. Four hours in total I think. I was just thinking that the whole debacle would make a great film, and I'm sure a great deal more has still to come out. One of the whistleblowers has been found dead. No suggestion it was other than drink/drugs problems, but it just adds to the intrigue. Can't believe that idiot disturbed the proceedings. The security was simply awful, and could have had a far worse outcome."}, {"response": 1725, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Jul 19, 2011 (18:05)", "body": "Isn't the guy that was found dead, the one Hugh Grant interviewed?"}, {"response": 1726, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Tue, Jul 19, 2011 (18:45)", "body": "Re:the guy who died. Apparently he had a drink/drug problem, but the timing of his death is rather, curious. Is it just me or does anyone else think the security lapse with the pie throwing protestor was rather odd. How the hell can it not be noticed someone quirting aftershave onto a plate moving from thier 4th row seat into position to spalt RM. Something isnt right with that picture."}, {"response": 1727, "author": "janet2", "date": "Tue, Jul 19, 2011 (19:09)", "body": "HG interviewee was Paul McMullan. Unbelievable security lapse, esp. given the ongoing threat of terrorist attacks."}, {"response": 1728, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Wed, Jul 20, 2011 (07:14)", "body": "Janet, PM's question time is pretty interesting. Tom Watson is a force to be reckoned with, good for him."}, {"response": 1729, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jul 20, 2011 (07:37)", "body": "I'm sorry I couldn't watch any of it. Periodically checking into my Twitter feed definitely made it sound really interesting. And that was before the pie throwing and left hook by Wendy. The pie guy is apparently some comedian. Sounds like his girlfriend wasn't amused. She broke up with him by Twitter after telling him it wasn't funny (in a terse, but amusing manner)."}, {"response": 1730, "author": "janet2", "date": "Fri, Jul 22, 2011 (15:04)", "body": "Dreadful news about the bombing and shooting in Norway. The gunman opened fire at a youth camp, and shot the poor kids as they tried to flee, some shot as they swam away. Absolutely sickening."}, {"response": 1731, "author": "janet2", "date": "Fri, Jul 22, 2011 (15:10)", "body": "The piece of scum has murdered at least 30 14-18 year olds. Brave guy!"}, {"response": 1732, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Fri, Jul 22, 2011 (15:15)", "body": "Oh My! I knew there was the bombing in Oslo but didn't realise about the shooting until just now. Absolutely horrific for those poor kids and their families. Have they caught the gunman, Janet?"}, {"response": 1733, "author": "Moon", "date": "Fri, Jul 22, 2011 (15:19)", "body": "Absolutely horrible! Can you imagine those terrorists planning this and gloating happily at the loss of innocent lives? I abhor them. Down with Islam!"}, {"response": 1734, "author": "janet2", "date": "Fri, Jul 22, 2011 (15:31)", "body": "They have captured the lone gunman. The island looks tiny, and there were around 500 youths at the summer camp. I can't begin to think how the poor kids must have felt, knowing they were trapped on the island."}, {"response": 1735, "author": "janet2", "date": "Fri, Jul 22, 2011 (15:37)", "body": "Moon, although it's pretty obvious that Islamic extremists have carried out the atrocities, oui can't blame every Muslim, any more than oui could blame every Catholic for the murders in Northern Ireland and England. Or, of course, Protestants for murders in the Catholic community."}, {"response": 1736, "author": "felicityb", "date": "Fri, Jul 22, 2011 (15:53)", "body": "A murderer is a murderer and religion is not an excuse."}, {"response": 1737, "author": "janet2", "date": "Fri, Jul 22, 2011 (16:38)", "body": "Exactly. Sadly, I fear that there is no likelihood of ridding the world of these extremists in our lifetime."}, {"response": 1738, "author": "janet2", "date": "Fri, Jul 22, 2011 (16:54)", "body": "Initial reports said the gunman was tall. blond and Nordic looking, Official statement says he is Norwegian, Probably an Islamic convert:-("}, {"response": 1739, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jul 23, 2011 (09:19)", "body": "(Moon) Down with Islam! The guy was a Christian fundamentalist. Ironic, ain't it? ;-)"}, {"response": 1740, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sat, Jul 23, 2011 (10:59)", "body": "True. I should have waited for all the info. Still, it is no secret the way I feel about Islam and it's distorted followers. Last night I watched Of Gods and Men. The news is still developing in Oslo. There is no place safe on Earth. :-("}, {"response": 1741, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jul 23, 2011 (13:48)", "body": "(Moon) Islam and it's distorted followers And clearly distorted followers are not limited to Islamists."}, {"response": 1742, "author": "janet2", "date": "Sat, Jul 23, 2011 (14:18)", "body": "Not all followers of Islam are extremists. Many abhor the atrocities carried out in the name of Allah. Right wing extremists have been responsible for atrocities in various parts of the world, Oklahoma City is an horrific example."}, {"response": 1743, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jul 23, 2011 (14:31)", "body": "(Janet) Many abhor the atrocities carried out in the name of Allah. Unfortunately, what some critics of Islam/Islamists say is that because the moderate/pacifist members could be considered complicit (or just in the same league) simply for not being more speaking out more vociferously against the extremists and their violence. One of my friends here has that point of view. (She's also a wingnut -to my recent realization- and watches FOX News regularly and believes they tell the whole truth..etc. ;=))"}, {"response": 1744, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jul 23, 2011 (14:32)", "body": "I really should proofread (or proofread better) when I make edits before posting. :-/"}, {"response": 1745, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jul 23, 2011 (14:33)", "body": "Sorry, and when I say one of my friends \"here,\" I mean in NY."}, {"response": 1746, "author": "janet2", "date": "Sat, Jul 23, 2011 (15:09)", "body": "After such a depressing 24 hours, I saw a truly wonderful heart-warming sight this afternoon. A young girl pushing her doll in a buggy(stroller). Nothing unusual in that. She was being pushed in her wheelchair by her Grandad. The buggy kept going off to the side, and he kept putting it back on course;-)) I shed a tear."}, {"response": 1747, "author": "janet2", "date": "Sat, Jul 23, 2011 (15:10)", "body": "Sorry, the winkie should have been :-))"}, {"response": 1748, "author": "janet2", "date": "Sat, Jul 23, 2011 (15:16)", "body": "I know what your saying Dorine, and I agree to a extent, However, many probably don't speak out for fear of reprisals. I now this was the case in Northern Ireland during the 'Troubles'. Some people there were forced to take part or face the consequences. A relative of a friend of mine was ordered to deliver explosives. He refused and they threatened to kneecap him. He went ahead, was caught, imprisoned, and branded a terrorist."}, {"response": 1749, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Sat, Jul 23, 2011 (15:44)", "body": "Sleep Apnea clinic, yes, I could see him going solo for that. Dorine, would one normally stay more than one night, if the Doctor's felt it medically necessary?"}, {"response": 1750, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Sat, Jul 23, 2011 (15:44)", "body": "Ops! sorry, wrong topic"}, {"response": 1751, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jul 23, 2011 (17:01)", "body": "(Janet) However, many probably don't speak out for fear of reprisals. Exactly. And I can't blame them to some extent, but I can't be completely unsympathetic to the view that it doesn't help if they don't speak up. Peer pressure can be useful, but the reaction from those criticized can be highly extreme. It's a catch-22."}, {"response": 1752, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jul 23, 2011 (18:00)", "body": "I'll move sleep apnea discussion over here... My aunt wssn't scared about the sleep apnea, just wanted a decent night's sleep. She got a CPAP machine/mask and sleeps great now, though it took some time to find a mask that fit best for her. I know someone else who snored like no one I've ever heard snore because of his sleep apnea. He got a machine, too, and it helped as I recall. And yes, true, untreated severe sleep apnea can cause an increase in heart issues among other things."}, {"response": 1753, "author": "lizbeth54", "date": "Sat, Jul 23, 2011 (18:23)", "body": "My DH used to snore,very loudly and wake up, and got a CPAP machine. He now sleeps soundly and doesn't snore at all. Worked perfectly for him. There's a new model coming out, which apparently is even easier to use."}, {"response": 1754, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Jul 23, 2011 (18:45)", "body": "A new model machine or mask? My aunt has had the same machine all along (maybe a year?), but is on her 3rd variety of mask. Apparently there are dozens of masks, perhaps some only for certain types of machine. And she sleeps so much better since she got it, all through the night. Doesn't feel constantly exhausted and not needing naps now that didn't do much good anyway (she's 84 btw)."}, {"response": 1755, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Jul 25, 2011 (15:51)", "body": "A must read article: Inside the Mind of the Oslo Murderer In his 1,500-page manifesto, Anders Behring Breivik slides alarmingly from a legitimate concern about the rise of Islam in Europe to propose 'terror as a method for waking up the masses.' When bombs exploded on Friday in a compound of government office buildings in the heart of Oslo, I assumed, as did pretty much everyone, that the perpetrators were Islamic terrorists. But over the course of the day\ufffdas the bombings were overshadowed by the gunning down of dozens of young people at a Labor Party youth camp on a nearby island, Ut\ufffdya\ufffdit emerged that these atrocities were not the work of an international jihadist organization. Instead, the perpetrator was a 32-year-old Oslo native named Anders Behring Breivik. He was motivated by a hostility to multicultural policies that, in his view, are leading his country down the path to Islamization. His response was a murderous rampage that has taken the lives of at least 92 people. It came as stunning news that Norway had been attacked by a blond, blue-eyed, anti-Islamic terrorist. It should not have been: Several of us who have written about the rise of Islam in Europe have warned that the failure of mainstream political leaders to responsibly address the attendant challenges would result in the emergence of extremists like Breivik. But I was stunned to discover on Saturday that Breivik was a reader of my own work, including my book \"While Europe Slept: How Radical Islam Is Destroying the West from Within.\" In comments posted in 2009 on a Norwegian blog, document.no, Breivik expressed admiration for my writings, but criticized me for not being a cultural conservative (although he was pleased that I was not a Marxist, either). Later on Saturday came news of a 1,500-page manifesto, entitled \"2083: A European Declaration of Independence,\" that Breivik had recently written and posted online. The first half, in which he indicts the European cultural elite for permitting Islam to take root in Europe, makes it clear that he is both highly intelligent and very well read in European history and the history of modern ideas. In the second half he describes himself as having revived the Knights Templar. He also outlines in extreme detail how he and his fellow anti-jihadists can acquire weapons, ammunition and body armor and thereupon proceed to use \"terror as a method for waking up the masses\" to the danger posed by Islam. This makes it clear he is completely insane. In his manifesto, which is written in such good English that one wonders whether he had the assistance of a native speaker, Breivik quotes approvingly and at length from my work, mentioning my name 22 times. It is chilling to think that blog entries that I composed in my home in west Oslo over the past couple of years were being read and copied out by this future mass-murderer in his home in west Oslo. It is also chilling to see the way he moves from a legitimate concern about genuine problems to an unspeakably evil \"solution.\" In bombing those government buildings and hunting down those campers, Breivik was not taking out people randomly. He considered the Labor Party, Norway's dominant party since World War II, responsible for policies that are leading to the Islamization of Europe\ufffdand thus guilty of treason. The Oslo bombing was intended to be an execution of the party's current leaders. The massacre at the camp\ufffdwhere young would-be politicians gathered to hear speeches by Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and former Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland\ufffdwas meant to destroy its next generation of leaders. During the hours when I thought that Oslo had been attacked by jihadists, I wept for the city that has been my home for many years. And I hoped Norwegian leaders would respond to this act of violence by taking a more responsible approach to the problems they face in connection with Islam. When it emerged that these acts of terror were the work of a native Norwegian who thought he was striking a blow against jihadism and its enablers, it was immediately clear to me that his violence will deal a heavy blow to an urgent cause. Norway, like the rest of Europe, is in serious trouble. Millions of European Muslims live in rigidly patriarchal families in rapidly growing enclaves where women are second-class citizens, and where non-Muslims dare not venture. Surveys show that an unsettling percentage of Muslims in Europe reject Western values, despise the countries they live in, support the execution of homosexuals, and want to replace democracy with Shariah law. (According to a poll conducted by the Telegraph, 40% of British Muslims want Shariah implemented in predominantly Muslim parts of the United Kingdom.) Muslim gay-bashing is driving gays out of Amsterdam. Muslim Jew-bashing is driving Jews out of Gothenburg, Sweden. And let's not forget about the shameful trials of politician Geert Wilders in the Netherlands and historian Lars Hedegaard in Denmark, which demons"}, {"response": 1756, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Jul 25, 2011 (17:05)", "body": "Horror!: Afghan Militants Hang 8-Year-Old After his father refused to meet demands to provide them with a police vehicle, Afghan militants hanged an 8-year-old boy Sunday. Afghan President Hamid Karzai condemned the hanging in a statement Sunday. \"This action is not permitted in any culture or any religions,\" he said, demanding that local authorities hunt down the militants and arrest them. The action comes amid much strife between the Taliban and their opposition, following the assassination of Ahmed Wali Karzai, the president's half-brother, last week. The country's formal handover of security to Afghan forces also took place Sunday, with ceremonies in Kabul and Panjshir province, the fifth and sixth areas to be transferred out of foreign control. http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2011/07/24/afghan-militants-hang-8-year-old-boy.html"}, {"response": 1757, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Jul 27, 2011 (12:09)", "body": "Nonpolitical (so don't be afraid to watch) and hysterical: http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/393043/july-25-2011/vaginal-puppeteering-vs--d--k-scrub"}, {"response": 1758, "author": "janet2", "date": "Wed, Jul 27, 2011 (12:14)", "body": "Don't think it works outside US Karen:-("}, {"response": 1759, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Jul 27, 2011 (12:18)", "body": "Maybe there's a You Tube post of it."}, {"response": 1760, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Jul 27, 2011 (12:59)", "body": "I've found the parody commercial, but not the whole segment that showed the three real ones: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulr1AlRBx2w"}, {"response": 1761, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Thu, Jul 28, 2011 (16:54)", "body": "and hacking claims for NOW get's much worse. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-14332689"}, {"response": 1762, "author": "janet2", "date": "Sat, Jul 30, 2011 (17:18)", "body": "I'm sure it'll come out in the wash that all the Red Tops were at it. Hopefully oui'll get a much more honest press after this. I hope the amnesty idea doesn't go ahead-this is too serious an issue to let the criminals(and that's what they are) get off scot free!"}, {"response": 1763, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Aug  2, 2011 (14:40)", "body": "Well any comments on the kindergarten shenanigans in DC? Who the hell can vote for O after he's proven not to be able to stick to his promises? And there's noway in hell I'm voting for a Republican, so I'm hoping some democrat will challenge him. I doubt it will be Hillary, and I can't blame her."}, {"response": 1764, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Aug  2, 2011 (17:08)", "body": "I'm spitting mad to say the least. I agree with u about Obama, but as my friend said I might vote for a Republican because at least I'd know what I was getting. As opposed to a Republican in Dem clothing."}, {"response": 1765, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Aug  2, 2011 (19:34)", "body": "It's known as wanting to be re-elected ;(aka the independent vote) C'mon, where else is the left going to go?"}, {"response": 1766, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Aug  3, 2011 (11:09)", "body": "This is cute. Putin singing Blueberry Hill at a children's charity in St Petersburg. Movie stars are in the audience. I spotted Goldie Hawn, Sharon Stone and others. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdcowE5qpxU"}, {"response": 1767, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Aug  5, 2011 (21:06)", "body": "Poor Italy. But look who wants his country to adopt a balanced budget amendment http://blogs.forbes.com/afontevecchia/2011/08/05/berlusconi-confirms-italy-moving-toward-balanced-budget-amendment/"}, {"response": 1768, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Aug  5, 2011 (22:08)", "body": "I thought of you when I saw that before."}, {"response": 1769, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Sat, Aug  6, 2011 (18:57)", "body": "London's burning, or at least it's not looking good in Tottenham :-( http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/6/newsid_4094000/4094928.stm"}, {"response": 1770, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Aug  6, 2011 (19:46)", "body": "Perhaps this is the link you were looking to post. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-14434318 The one you posted is from the riots in Oct 1985."}, {"response": 1771, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Sat, Aug  6, 2011 (19:49)", "body": "LOL, ops! getting late here, but I am glued to the TV, its kicking off, big time,, down Tottenham High Road tonight."}, {"response": 1772, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Sat, Aug  6, 2011 (20:52)", "body": "It's pretty bad, sounded like a BBC reporter was being 'forcibly' removed by some protesters, the studio presenter pulled the interview away from him (live on the scene). Sky News have just said they have pulled their camera crews out over safety fears. Shops are being looted, as well as private homes. It sounds horrendous."}, {"response": 1773, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Sun, Aug  7, 2011 (06:55)", "body": "The aftermath from last night. Shocking. So far no statement from Cameron pathetique. Met statement was equally pathetique. The results of what has turned into a 'Nanny State'. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-14435251"}, {"response": 1774, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Aug  7, 2011 (08:16)", "body": "A Downing Street spokesman and the Home Secretary had something to say. Not enough? I'm curious to see the details of the initial incident."}, {"response": 1775, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Sun, Aug  7, 2011 (08:53)", "body": "A basic outline. The flare, as I understand it, started Thursday when Police stopped a man, from the black community, in a taxi. The guy was armed and fired at Police, injuring a policeman, or so it was thought. It seems the bullet lodged in his radio and saved him. But, the police reacted and shot the armed man, killing him. Unknown at this stage who fired the first shots. The Tottenham community have been told a police inquiry is taking place and the police refuse to comment any further. As you can imagine there have since been heightened tensions. Yesterday, what began as a 'peaceful' protest out side Tottenham Police Station, took place. It was from there a couple of police cars were then suddenly set upon and the protest escalated resulting in the riots. There have been unsubstantiated reports that just prior to the escalation of the protest a 16 year old girl approached the police and was aggressively hit with a truncheon."}, {"response": 1776, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Aug  7, 2011 (09:18)", "body": "That's more than I've seen in any report. I was curious if he was black, but figured so. But he was the driver or passenger?"}, {"response": 1777, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Sun, Aug  7, 2011 (09:26)", "body": "According to the BBC and various news reports, Mark Duggan a passenger. More info here. My heart goes out to the innocent victims from this mess. People's businesses and their homes (many lived above their businesses) have been looted and in some cases burnt to the ground. One guy interviewed said he had lost everything. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-14423942"}, {"response": 1778, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Sun, Aug  7, 2011 (09:33)", "body": "Daily Mail have reported Mark Duggans as being a gangster, but I don't put much credence in the DM. My Parent's-in law-are visiting rels in West London for the weekend and weren't aware of the reports early this morning. We have warned them not to venture near to Tottenham."}, {"response": 1779, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Sun, Aug  7, 2011 (09:44)", "body": "Finally, Home Office Minister has made a statement. But, where's Boris Johnson when there's a crisis."}, {"response": 1780, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Sun, Aug  7, 2011 (16:58)", "body": "Now rioting in Enfield. Doesn't sound good from Twitter reports"}, {"response": 1781, "author": "lizbeth54", "date": "Mon, Aug  8, 2011 (05:18)", "body": "Summer madness. Unemployed, disaffected youth. I must say I'm not impressed by the fact that our PM, so-called deputy PM, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Mayor of London, are all off on their hols at the same time. Even small companies ask their employees to stagger their leave. And couldn't they set an example (and help the local tourist industry) by holidaying in Scotland or Nothumberland or Devon? I mean, they're not in power for ever, so it doesn't seem too much of a \"sacrifice\" to stay in this country for a few years. I can't see people in the tourist industry who work hard to drum up trade for Britain being impressed by photos of David Cameron swanning around Tuscany. If everyone took one holiday in this country it would help the economy!"}, {"response": 1782, "author": "janet2", "date": "Mon, Aug  8, 2011 (06:02)", "body": "(Bethan)If everyone took one holiday in this country it would help the economy! I now take short breaks in the UK, as well as my holiday abroad. However, the majority of families can only afford one holiday, so I'm sure most people would opt for abroad and the sun. The weather in Scotland this past week has been dreadful, and the cost of staying in a hotel anywhere in the UK is far more than a holiday on the continent where the sun(usually) always shines. Doesn't DC holiday in Cornwall? (Can't believe I'm supporting this man!)."}, {"response": 1783, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Mon, Aug  8, 2011 (08:17)", "body": "(Janet)Can't believe I'm supporting this man!). LOL, Janet, what is the world coming too ;-D"}, {"response": 1784, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Mon, Aug  8, 2011 (13:37)", "body": "Violence started up again in Hackney and I saw a news report tonight there is trouble in Lewisham. This is awful for the people in those communities. The Government and Police need to get a grip. Bring on the tear gas and water cannons, IMO. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-14450248"}, {"response": 1785, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Mon, Aug  8, 2011 (14:39)", "body": "Looking very bad in Peckham, a commercial premises has been set on fire and is terribly close to houses. The lawlessness is getting very frightening. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-14450248"}, {"response": 1786, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Mon, Aug  8, 2011 (16:17)", "body": "Anyone in UK watching the news tonight? Violence is escalating. Buildings on fire in Croydon and Peckham. Trouble now moved to Clapham. When is this going to end. Cameron needs to return from his holiday and make a statement."}, {"response": 1787, "author": "mari", "date": "Mon, Aug  8, 2011 (17:09)", "body": "Am praying for everyone's safety, Sue. It's so distressing to see opportunistic thugs looting and vandalizing, and making a bad situation worse."}, {"response": 1788, "author": "frostygirl", "date": "Mon, Aug  8, 2011 (17:23)", "body": "Sue Ive been watching the news and I can see the smoke from Croydon from my upstairs window!!Thank goodness at the moment I'm far enough away! Its mindless vandalism and looting with a total disregard for normal people who live in these areas and who are being distressed and even losing their homes total total madness..."}, {"response": 1789, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Mon, Aug  8, 2011 (17:35)", "body": "Cameron has finally decided to cut short his holiday in Tuscany and is returning tonight and has an emergency meeting with COBRA tomorrow. Am beginning to wonder, could there be a terrorist element to this. Oh My, Jenny. I hope the trouble doesn't come in your direction. Frightening enough to witness on TV. The fire at the furniture shop in Croydon looks awful and has spread to other buildings. There are several fires now. We have relatives living in West London, Feltham and Hounslow area so keeping our fingers crossed the trouble won't shift in their direction. The Police just can't keep up with the thugs. Time to bring in the army, me thinks."}, {"response": 1790, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Mon, Aug  8, 2011 (17:41)", "body": "Riots spread to Birmingham and on Twitter someone claims Newcastle too. Glad I live in the countryside. Though the way this is going, who knows."}, {"response": 1791, "author": "janet2", "date": "Mon, Aug  8, 2011 (17:43)", "body": "Can't believe there's terrorist involvement-just anarchists hijacking a peaceful protest. Not dissimilar to what happened during the student protests earlier this year."}, {"response": 1792, "author": "slpeg2003", "date": "Mon, Aug  8, 2011 (17:44)", "body": "(Jenny) I can see the smoke from Croydon from my upstairs window!! That's scary, Jenny! I hope it will all end soon and not get closer to you. Gina's in the area too:-( This is sensless and mindless mob mentality. I doubt they even think about why they are doing this. Most disturbing to me is the rioters lack of a sense of right and wrong. Am I right in assuming tha most of these areas are economically disadvantaged?"}, {"response": 1793, "author": "janet2", "date": "Mon, Aug  8, 2011 (17:47)", "body": "(Peggy)in assuming tha most of these areas are economically disadvantaged? I would say so, but have there ever been riots in affluent areas, why would there be?"}, {"response": 1794, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Mon, Aug  8, 2011 (17:47)", "body": "Most are, apart from Westfield Shopping Center, West London (Shepherds Bush) was attacked last night, but the Police were quick to act on that one."}, {"response": 1795, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Mon, Aug  8, 2011 (17:48)", "body": "close tags"}, {"response": 1796, "author": "janet2", "date": "Mon, Aug  8, 2011 (17:49)", "body": "closing tags (I tried your way Karen!)"}, {"response": 1797, "author": "frostygirl", "date": "Mon, Aug  8, 2011 (17:52)", "body": "I think where the riots started you could say they were economically disadvantaged but the areas that have been targeted tonight i wouldn't particulary put that tag upon them. Its just mob mentality maybe spread by social networks?? I'm about 12 miles away from Croydon tucked away in a little village so hopefully safe enough but its still very worrying. My son is working tonight and I will be happy when he is safely indoors with me in approx 15 mins!"}, {"response": 1798, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Aug  8, 2011 (17:56)", "body": "And the UK has so many social programs that these people benefit from. Free medical care, free education, a v. generous dole program. Senseless."}, {"response": 1799, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Aug  8, 2011 (18:00)", "body": "Have any of these programs taken a big cut since Cameron came to office?"}, {"response": 1800, "author": "janet2", "date": "Mon, Aug  8, 2011 (18:02)", "body": "I agree that our government provides fairly well for those out of work, but in many socially deprived areas, there is an 'underclass', where whole families have never worked, and have no expectation of doing so, I guess this adds a bit of excitement to their otherwise pointless lives Sad, but true:-("}, {"response": 1801, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Mon, Aug  8, 2011 (18:02)", "body": "According to Twitter the riots have hit Ealing."}, {"response": 1802, "author": "janet2", "date": "Mon, Aug  8, 2011 (18:07)", "body": "Cameron has started a major review of benefits, which will target those on long-term sick, forcing many back to work, and also caps all benefits at \ufffd26.000 per annum($42.000) Not many families receive this amount, I believe."}, {"response": 1803, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Mon, Aug  8, 2011 (18:24)", "body": "BBC confirmed Ealing now being hit. Car on fire, restaurant hit and Tesco's raided. How long before it moves to Hammersmith and Chiswick"}, {"response": 1804, "author": "frostygirl", "date": "Mon, Aug  8, 2011 (18:25)", "body": "I agree Janet for many this is seen as a bit of excitement! Just heard on the news that the looting has spread to Woolwich which has always been a place that you could label as 'financially disadvantaged' even when I was a small child but then there wasn't the senseless looting that is going on now. A reporter said that the young people seemed 'fearless' when entering shops and running away with clothing electrical goods etc. This once again makes the young people of this country look bad which is so sad for teenagers like my two sons one of whom has worked hard in a supermarket all day to earn his money and PAY for the clothes he wears...this really makes me mad:("}, {"response": 1805, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Mon, Aug  8, 2011 (18:37)", "body": "Is your son back safe, Jenny? It's a few bad apples (they are like vermin) whom spoil it for the rest."}, {"response": 1806, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Mon, Aug  8, 2011 (18:39)", "body": "Apparently Ealing Shopping Centre now on fire."}, {"response": 1807, "author": "janet2", "date": "Mon, Aug  8, 2011 (18:48)", "body": "If this was to continue for any length of time, I wonder if Colin may consider a move away from London?"}, {"response": 1808, "author": "frostygirl", "date": "Mon, Aug  8, 2011 (19:03)", "body": "Yes thanks Sue he is home. Hearing all sorts of rumours about my local high street and Bromley my nearest shopping centre which is less than 5 miles away. Looting everywhere it seems. Not sure what I'm going to wake up to tomorrow. Something serious needs to be done and I'm not sure it can wait for this meeting at 9am with the PM tomorrow. What a sad vision of the UK being transmitted around the world..."}, {"response": 1809, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Mon, Aug  8, 2011 (19:08)", "body": "Chalk Farm is getting it now. Is any area safe? If I were Colin and the riots continued I would re-consider my living arrangements."}, {"response": 1810, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Mon, Aug  8, 2011 (19:10)", "body": "Relieved to hear your son is home, Jenny. (Jenny)Something serious needs to be done and I'm not sure it can wait for this meeting at 9am with the PM tomorrow I agree. Why wait, they need something extra on the streets now, not tomorrow. Surely they could pull in the territorials or something. The fall out from this will be horrendous and where does it end."}, {"response": 1811, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Mon, Aug  8, 2011 (19:13)", "body": "Bloody H*ll, this is a post from 'W4' forum. Sounds terrible in Ealing. Topic: Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Rioting and looting.. Posted by: Julain Pavey Date/Time: 08/08/11 23:58:00 Ealing...One street,all cars have been smashed to bits. And youths trying to storm homes. This is serious stuff now. One lady says she has called the Police after people have stormed her house. But no Police have turned up. What the hell is going on"}, {"response": 1812, "author": "janet2", "date": "Mon, Aug  8, 2011 (19:31)", "body": "This sounds a lot more serious and widespread than riots of previous years. Keep you and yours safe everyone:-("}, {"response": 1813, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Mon, Aug  8, 2011 (19:38)", "body": "Yep. According to Twitter, riots now heading to Acton. Not good."}, {"response": 1814, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Mon, Aug  8, 2011 (19:41)", "body": "From the Mirror. A woman jumps from a window to escape fire, just yards up the road from the furniture store fire in Croydon. http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2011/08/08/london-riots-terrified-woman-jumps-from-burning-building-115875-23330390/"}, {"response": 1815, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Aug  8, 2011 (20:00)", "body": "I read a tweet earlier today there was rioting in Islington, but wasn't in a position to confirm it. Seems more than just simple bandwagon behaviour at this point."}, {"response": 1816, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Mon, Aug  8, 2011 (20:05)", "body": "Many areas affected. Here is the map of places hit so far in London. Now Liverpool is being affected. http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?msid=207192798388318292131.0004aa01af6748773e8f7&msa=0&ll=51.558503,-0.055275&spn=0.114195,0.298691"}, {"response": 1817, "author": "janet2", "date": "Mon, Aug  8, 2011 (20:13)", "body": "The use of mobile phones being suggested as a reason for the widespread rioting, with youths encouraging others to participate via BBM, etc."}, {"response": 1818, "author": "janet2", "date": "Mon, Aug  8, 2011 (20:15)", "body": "Why the hell aren't parents getting their kids home, and away from the riots?! They must know what they're up to:-(("}, {"response": 1819, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Mon, Aug  8, 2011 (20:16)", "body": "Yep, blackberrys and the social networks. I am a little surprised the powers that be haven't brought down the internet and mobile phones, such as they did during the 7/7 attacks. This almost feels like terrorist territory now."}, {"response": 1820, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Mon, Aug  8, 2011 (20:17)", "body": "I really must go to bed, but I doubt I would sleep. This thing will probably go on til 5am or later."}, {"response": 1821, "author": "janet2", "date": "Mon, Aug  8, 2011 (20:19)", "body": "Dianne Abbott (MP)has just appeared on TV pleading for parents to get their children home. I'm sure the biggest majority involved will be surprisingly young. The parents have to take some responsibility for their children's actions,"}, {"response": 1822, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Aug  8, 2011 (20:32)", "body": "(Sue) This almost feels like terrorist territory now. While I understand your concern, this type of rhetoric doesn't help anything, especially as there's no evidence of such. If you consider any violence to be terrorism, then I guess that's what you may mean. That word is really thrown around a lot these days, not always with reason. Social media or no, if people didn't feel strongly about it (or something), I find it hard to believe people would choose to participate. It is rather unreal though for a non-third world, unoppressed country."}, {"response": 1823, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Mon, Aug  8, 2011 (20:32)", "body": "Agree, Janet. But it seems more organised that kids going on a jolly. Apparently youths get out of posh cars which pull into various areas and load up the cars with loot."}, {"response": 1824, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Aug  8, 2011 (20:34)", "body": ""}, {"response": 1825, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Aug  8, 2011 (20:35)", "body": "I'll delete the last with the wrong quote when I find the email that tells me how to do so. ;-) What I meant was.. (Me) I find it hard to believe people would choose to participate. Or so many, quite so violently and widespread."}, {"response": 1826, "author": "janet2", "date": "Mon, Aug  8, 2011 (20:43)", "body": "(Dorine)I find it hard to believe people would choose to participate. Doesn't surprise me, sadly. These are mainly unemployed young people, poorly educated with no future to talk of. This is an exciting episode in their pretty worthless lives."}, {"response": 1827, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Mon, Aug  8, 2011 (20:47)", "body": "Doesn't surprise me either. I wonder whether Colin still endorses Protests (which invariably lead to riots)"}, {"response": 1828, "author": "janet2", "date": "Mon, Aug  8, 2011 (20:51)", "body": "There is nothing wrong with peaceful protests-they don't always lead to riots. It depends very much on the reason for the protests, and the area in which they take place. David Cameron should hang his head in shame. He has been woefully inadequate as the leader of our country, not only in this instance. Perhaps it's time for another General Election."}, {"response": 1829, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Aug  8, 2011 (20:55)", "body": "(Janet) These are mainly unemployed young people, poorly educated with no future to talk of. Exactly my point (in the preface to what I highlighted) and what I was alluding to about them feeling strongly (or angry) about something enough to do something like this."}, {"response": 1830, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Aug  8, 2011 (20:58)", "body": "(Janet) Perhaps it's time for another General Election. One can basically be called anytime, right? You don't have to wait for a specific time like we do, correct? Protests (which invariably lead to riots) Um, no, they don't."}, {"response": 1831, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Aug  8, 2011 (21:01)", "body": "This reminds me that I finally watched the DVD of that staged reading about protesting (and rioting) that Colin and others did a while ago. It was so long ago that I actually would need to watch it again to make any pointed comments about it, but I didn't find it particularly offensive or inciting or anything else negative really. Again, I can't give detailed commentary until I watch it again, but I didn't have a problem with it or the subject."}, {"response": 1832, "author": "janet2", "date": "Mon, Aug  8, 2011 (21:05)", "body": "Many of these youths are unemployed because they don't want to work, and they rarely attended school, hence they have no qualifications. They belong to an underclass where their entire family lives on benefits. I worked in a deprived area of Glasgow with exactly these problems. What is the solution? - I don't really know. A large Sainsburys Depot (distribution centre) is now ablaze. I'm sure there'll be deaths before the night is over:-("}, {"response": 1833, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Mon, Aug  8, 2011 (21:09)", "body": "OMG! it looks bad 750 people work there, they just said on the Beeb. Apparently Bristol is now affected too. Fires in Liverpool."}, {"response": 1834, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Aug  8, 2011 (21:12)", "body": "....if people didn't feel strongly about it (or something), I find it hard to believe people would choose to participate But not participate in vandalism. Small shop owners who are only trying to eke out a living don't deserve to be looted and be robbed of their livlihood to satisfy some envious thugs. Besides government can't make jobs."}, {"response": 1835, "author": "janet2", "date": "Mon, Aug  8, 2011 (21:12)", "body": "A General Election can be called anytime, but the maximum length of a government is 5 years. Interestingly, the Conservatives want to bring in a fixed term of 5 years. Don't know when/if it will become law. Currently, a vote of no confidence can be held, which, if upheld, would force a GE."}, {"response": 1836, "author": "janet2", "date": "Mon, Aug  8, 2011 (21:22)", "body": "Just had a horrible thought. During this time when police resources are stretched to the limit(and there are plans to cut police numbers in the capital by 2000), this would be a time when terrorists could strike. Very depressing:-("}, {"response": 1837, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Aug  8, 2011 (21:22)", "body": "(Me) ....if people didn't feel strongly about it (or something), I find it hard to believe people would choose to participate (Evelyn) But not participate in vandalism. Why? Not the first time in history. Won't be the last. Hell, people commit vandalism when their favorite sports team wins or loses (usually wins, which I am lost to understand). Same kind of stuff. I just ran across this article and was basically what I was getting at (in questioning the motivation of these peoople). Is there some underlying current of anger, partially because of the austerity measures, that frankly has been ignored by the higher classes (and that can mean middle class, too)? I'm not saying they're justified by any means, but this seems to be getting too widespread to be just all bandwagon behavior. Some of them are just jumping on a bandwagon, sure, there always is, but this is A LOT. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/aug/08/context-london-riots"}, {"response": 1838, "author": "janet2", "date": "Mon, Aug  8, 2011 (21:34)", "body": "I understand your point Dorine. There have been a number of riots in Greece following the extreme austerity measures and tax rises brought in to solve the country's financial meltdown. However, I do believe that the vast majority in London, etc are just enjoying the ride:-("}, {"response": 1839, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Aug  8, 2011 (21:58)", "body": "There is never an excuse for vandalism, IMO. Which is why the Tahrir Sq protests were taken so seriously by the world. Vandalism just tunes off any sympathy the populace have for a protest/cause. According to what I read this started out as a peaceful protest in front of a police headquarters and then some others came along and started the car burning and looting."}, {"response": 1840, "author": "slpeg2003", "date": "Mon, Aug  8, 2011 (22:38)", "body": "(Janet)Many of these youths are unemployed because they don't want to work, and they rarely attended school, hence they have no qualifications. They belong to an underclass where their entire family lives on benefits. I worked in a deprived area of Glasgow with exactly these problems. What is the solution? - I don't really know. Janet, we have the same over here amd my DD teaches in an extermely low income school. Unfortunately, many parents have no idea how to parent and they are too concerned with their next meal, next fix, or boyfriend to teach their children ethical behavior. The ones who try to do it right are fighting an uphill battle against the unsavory elements in their community. I don't have an answer either, but hope someone can find a solution."}, {"response": 1841, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Aug  8, 2011 (22:43)", "body": "I didn't say there was an excuse for it. I just said that people participate in it if they feel strongly about something. While watching that DVD I referenced before, I wouldn't say I was against it historically, consistently. Vandalism just tunes off any sympathy the populace have for a protest/cause. Some/many times, indeed. I can only imagine (or hope!) that the government/police, etc are freaking out thinking about next year's Olympics and how bad this must look that they can't control this. Way to make the world feel safe in your backyard."}, {"response": 1842, "author": "slpeg2003", "date": "Mon, Aug  8, 2011 (22:59)", "body": "I thought about next Summer's Olympics, too. I have not yet heard any news of calling in the military. Is there a similar entity to the U.S. National Guard? I read several reports of overwhelmed police not getting to calls, etc."}, {"response": 1843, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Aug  8, 2011 (23:00)", "body": ""}, {"response": 1844, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Aug  8, 2011 (23:44)", "body": "I've been wondering exactly the same thing about the military/Nat'l Guard."}, {"response": 1845, "author": "janet2", "date": "Tue, Aug  9, 2011 (08:39)", "body": "(Dorine)I just said that people participate in it if they feel strongly about something. I think the complete opposite is the case. They don't feel particularly strongly about anything, but are simply following the mob mentality. The many decent people in these areas despair of the destruction of the communities."}, {"response": 1846, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Tue, Aug  9, 2011 (08:42)", "body": "These thugs on the streets are not rioting for a cause, they are rioting because they can get away with it. Heartening to see communities are working together to clear up."}, {"response": 1847, "author": "janet2", "date": "Tue, Aug  9, 2011 (08:44)", "body": "The government have drafted in police from 26 other British forces, to cope with potential trouble tonight. The same government who plan to reduce police staffing levels throughout the country. The party of law and order my ar*e!!"}, {"response": 1848, "author": "lesleycdix", "date": "Tue, Aug  9, 2011 (09:18)", "body": "Well said, Janet. Police have been drafted in from S. Wales, hope we don't get trouble tonight. Embarrassing isn't it that the police rep. who has to face press [huh] scrutiny over this, is actually temporary and third choice, post hacking scandals. Feel sorry for him."}, {"response": 1849, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Tue, Aug  9, 2011 (09:22)", "body": "Agree, Janet. Exactly, Lesley. Cameron didn't address the other areas of the UK whom were affected last night. He brings in police from 26 other British Forces, doesn't take Einstein to work out the scum will simply move to the under policed areas."}, {"response": 1850, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Aug  9, 2011 (09:43)", "body": "I have not yet heard any news of calling in the military. I think in the Uk the Nat'l Guard is called the Territorial; isn't it? DC said he didn't want to call them; instead he's putting 16,000 extra police on the streets and possibility of using plastic bullets. (Per Yahoo ) On BBCA last night they mentioned that the marginal tax rate in the UK is 60% and sales tax is 20%. They didn't say how many do not pay any taxes. I can tell you there would be riots in this country too if we ever came to those numbers."}, {"response": 1851, "author": "lesleycdix", "date": "Tue, Aug  9, 2011 (09:48)", "body": "The Territorials are part-time army volunteers, week-end soldiers, if you like."}, {"response": 1852, "author": "janet2", "date": "Tue, Aug  9, 2011 (10:06)", "body": "I believe most of those involved are mindless idiots, who wouldn't know anything about the British economy. They're enjoying themselves. Some have been interviewed, and seemed to think it was an excuse to steal drink, get pissed, and cause mayhem. Others have been filmed giggling, generally larking about and talking on their mobile phones to their 'friends':-("}, {"response": 1853, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Tue, Aug  9, 2011 (10:30)", "body": "Just seen reports of Kingston being targeted. Hope you are OK, Peggy M?"}, {"response": 1854, "author": "mari", "date": "Tue, Aug  9, 2011 (10:51)", "body": "(Sue)He brings in police from 26 other British Forces, doesn't take Einstein to work out the scum will simply move to the under policed areas. Do your police not use tear gas or water cannons? Since the police were vastly overwhelmed by the numbers of thugs. Bravo to the people initiating clean-ups. I know everyone feels terribly for the people whose livelihoods have been ruined. It's always the majority of law-abiding people who suffer. Like I said orginally, opportunistic thugs."}, {"response": 1855, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Tue, Aug  9, 2011 (11:29)", "body": "This could be good news, sorry, I know I shouldn't joke about Ealing Studios being targeted and it would be a real shame to lose it for the memory of the good films which were made there, Lavender Hill mob, you name it ............... Topic: Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Chiswick High Road Posted by: Maggie Dodge Date/Time: 09/08/11 16:00:00 Apparently there has been trouble at Ealing Studios, not sure why they would choose there, but someone who works there has been contacted and advised not to go in because of it."}, {"response": 1856, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Tue, Aug  9, 2011 (11:31)", "body": "(Mari)Do your police not use tear gas or water cannons? Since the police were vastly overwhelmed by the numbers of thugs. Not as a matter of course, but one would think the Police need to start thinking along those lines. From what I heard they are not even armed with rubber truncheons. Bit weird because they do have truncheons,if they are not made of rubber then what, are they made of padding so as not to harm the scumbags? Ridiculous."}, {"response": 1857, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Aug  9, 2011 (11:56)", "body": "(Lesley) The Territorials are part-time army volunteers, week-end soldiers, if you like. That is what our National Guard is as well. Finally have read all the posts in this topic. Phew! I hope all of my Drool ladies and their families/dear ones can remain unharmed. As with any riot, there is underlying cause and opportunism running in tandem. When an incident ignites a peaceful protest (often, I'm afraid, police overreaction), then it is quite easy for mayhem to take over and spread nonsensically. Was just checking a certain person's twitter and don't see anything. Strange... Thought all forms of protest was the answer. :-("}, {"response": 1858, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Tue, Aug  9, 2011 (11:59)", "body": "(Karen)Was just checking a certain person's twitter and don't see anything. Strange... Thought all forms of protest was the answer. :-( Yeah, I checked too. I guess now wouldn't be a good time to air Firth's 'The People Speak'"}, {"response": 1859, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Tue, Aug  9, 2011 (12:01)", "body": "There are rumblings Chiswick may get targeted tonight. The Firth's should be careful what they wish for re protests. My blood still boils when I think of TPS. To say I wasn't impressed would be an understatement."}, {"response": 1860, "author": "slpeg2003", "date": "Tue, Aug  9, 2011 (12:44)", "body": "So messed up! http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14458424"}, {"response": 1861, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Aug  9, 2011 (12:47)", "body": "I just saw there' s a curfew or something because of some kind of rioting in Philadelphia. It seems it has speed here. Apparently a giant warehouse full of dvd's from one of Britain's largest distributors plus several smaller distributors lost pretty much everything at a huge loss. But apparently the masters of the films are safe. It's in an article in The Guardian, but can't get a URL on my phone to post it."}, {"response": 1862, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Tue, Aug  9, 2011 (12:47)", "body": "Good news, Ealing Studios is OK. There was a minor break in in one of the annexe buildings, but otherwise all is fine."}, {"response": 1863, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Aug  9, 2011 (12:47)", "body": "That would be it has spread here. Damn u, autocorrect."}, {"response": 1864, "author": "slpeg2003", "date": "Tue, Aug  9, 2011 (12:50)", "body": "I saw that Phildelphia news last night. It was described as roving flash mobs."}, {"response": 1865, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Aug  9, 2011 (12:51)", "body": "Hope u don't blow through 140 posts in 4 or 5 hrs. Won't be home before then to start another topic."}, {"response": 1866, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Aug  9, 2011 (12:52)", "body": "But why? Solidarity(however misguided)?"}, {"response": 1867, "author": "mari", "date": "Tue, Aug  9, 2011 (13:01)", "body": "(Dorine)That would be it has spread here. No, one has nothing to do with the other. That happened one night last week, when a roving mob of about 10 (might have been less) started knocking down people in Center City and beat up a couple. Mayor Nutter acted quickly. Prompt increased police presence in the affected area, strict curfew of 9 p.m. for minors (one hoodlum was 11 years old!), late night hours extended for recreation centers. Then he took to the pulpits on Sunday (literally) and told people to get their kids under control or the police would. I love when he told absentee fathers that they were nothing more than sperm donors. I believe they've caught most of the perps."}, {"response": 1868, "author": "PeggyM", "date": "Tue, Aug  9, 2011 (13:10)", "body": "Just had a phone call cancelling my bridge game this evening - the police have advised Wimbledon Bridge Club to close as they are expecting riots in Wimbledon. It's getting very close to home - I live only two miles from Wimbledon. It's time they used hoses - I think it's a government decision , not a police one."}, {"response": 1869, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Tue, Aug  9, 2011 (13:23)", "body": "(Sue)Good news, Ealing Studios is OK. There was a minor break in in one of the annexe buildings, but otherwise all is fin (Dorine)That would be it has spread here. Damn u, autocorrect. ??"}, {"response": 1870, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Aug  9, 2011 (13:25)", "body": "Well that had that emergency meeting this morning. Did they twiddle their thumbs? A film/tv writer/critic I follow on twitter and who lives in chiswick said as of 4:30, dumped of probe there were false (and posted pics of Chiswick High Road)."}, {"response": 1871, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Aug  9, 2011 (13:26)", "body": "I had a typo, Sue, in my post about Philly."}, {"response": 1872, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Tue, Aug  9, 2011 (13:33)", "body": "LOL, I see. You mean Ian Wylie from Chiswick, Dorine? Yeah, nice pix of the High Road."}, {"response": 1873, "author": "lizbeth54", "date": "Tue, Aug  9, 2011 (14:23)", "body": "Then he took to the pulpits on Sunday (literally) and told people to get their kids under control or the police would. I love when he told absentee fathers that they were nothing more than sperm donors. I believe they've caught most of the perps. (Mari) Good for him. It all starts with appalling parenting: absentee fathers from day one, women having several children by different fathers, and living by choice on social security. Broken, violent homes. By our liberality, and our benefits culture, we have created an underclass, who grow up without any moral code or good examples."}, {"response": 1874, "author": "janet2", "date": "Tue, Aug  9, 2011 (14:43)", "body": "I say again this has nothing to do with protests:-( These are mindless individuals causing mayhem because they want, and are able to."}, {"response": 1875, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Tue, Aug  9, 2011 (14:48)", "body": "Whilst I agree with some of your sentiments, Bethan, I don't see broken homes as the sole catalyst. There are some single Mum's of several children whom bring up exemplary behaved children. I feel it's to do with this expectation of 'entitlement'. These kids speak of wanting respect. They don't seem to understand that one has to 'earn' respect, it's not a given."}, {"response": 1876, "author": "janet2", "date": "Tue, Aug  9, 2011 (15:00)", "body": "I agree many single mums do bring up their children brilliantly, but the ones who have multiple partners/children and expect the state to support them are at the root of the problem. These children have poor self esteem, and feel the world owes them something. There have no family values, and no continuity of care-they're bound to fail and end up on drugs and/or in jail. I've seen it all too often, and my colleagues and I could pick out the primary age (elementary school) kids who would end up in trouble."}, {"response": 1877, "author": "Allison2", "date": "Tue, Aug  9, 2011 (15:44)", "body": "I have spent the day dealing with rioters from Enfield and Tottenham. The vast majority had previous convictions for a number of different sorts of crimes. Only a few were of good character. They were also mostly over 18 years old - not children. A sizeable proportion were there from other parts of London which seems to show that the Blackberry connection resulted in these people following the mob to where the action was. Quite a few had jobs. Not great jobs but were in work of some sort. The general picture was of the looting and riots being the result of criminality - certainly not of protest. I do not know if this day was typical of other areas but it was interesting. These were mostly those who were found on premises. The major culprits, particularly the arsonists have yet to be found."}, {"response": 1878, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Aug  9, 2011 (16:10)", "body": "Allison, are you doing this as a social worker volunteer? a giant warehouse full of dvd's from one of Britain's largest distributors plus several smaller distributors lost pretty much everything at a huge loss I read that was the Sony warehouse. One wonders if they will rebuild in that spot. The temptation would be to grab the insurance money and build overseas."}, {"response": 1879, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Aug  9, 2011 (16:14)", "body": "of course, this is the DM, but there is a picture. \"This is the shocking moment a young man is apparently forced to hand over all of his clothes after appearing to be stripped naked during lawless riots overnight. Internet rumours last night claimed that on top of the widespread destruction across London and Birmingham, people were having their clothes removed by looters as police attempted to contain the criminality\" Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2024001/UK-riots-2011-London-Birmingham-people-forced-strip-naked-street.html#ixzz1UZ3qr6Co"}, {"response": 1880, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Aug  9, 2011 (17:10)", "body": "Can follow the cleanup efforts: http://twitter.com/#!/search?q=%23riotwombles"}, {"response": 1881, "author": "PeggyM", "date": "Tue, Aug  9, 2011 (17:16)", "body": "On a lighter note: markdarcylegal Mark Darcy BL Dear home sec -definitely saw hugh in riot footage of the arndale centre...please arrest him immediately but certainly before BJones 3."}, {"response": 1882, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Aug  9, 2011 (18:50)", "body": "Surely this will not help at all. Matter of fact, will give potential justification to some as far as their concerned I'd bet. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/aug/09/mark-duggan-police-ipcc (Me) a giant warehouse full of dvd's from one of Britain's largest distributors plus several smaller distributors lost pretty much everything at a huge loss (Evelyn)I read that was the Sony warehouse. Yes, this is the story I read and couldn't link earlier. http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/aug/09/british-film-distributors-warehouse-fire?INTCMP=SRCH (Sue) You mean Ian Wylie from Chiswick, Dorine? Yep. (Allison) Quite a few had jobs. Not great jobs but were in work of some sort. Guess they took a sick day. ;-) What was the age range you saw, Allison?"}, {"response": 1883, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Aug  9, 2011 (18:51)", "body": "Christ, I need to go back to school to study grammar."}, {"response": 1884, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Aug  9, 2011 (19:40)", "body": "Back from a few days away and just had to check in here. I'm thinking of my friends in the UK. I hope you all stay safe. It's a shame how a few bad apples can influence so many. What is wrong with youth today? And what does the PM think debating the riots it in Parliament will do?"}, {"response": 1885, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Aug  9, 2011 (22:20)", "body": "I created a new topic early since there seems to be a lot of discussion on Mad World for now and I didn't want it to run out when I wasn't going to be around. So keep an eye on posting on the correct one for now (PART 2, not Part 3). Thanks and enjoy!"}, {"response": 1886, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Aug  9, 2011 (22:28)", "body": "This... A member of Britain's parliament has called for RIM to suspend BlackBerry Messenger within the UK while the riots continue. While RIM is cooperating with law officials, it's not clear if they will actually bend to this request. Because of this... http://www.zdnet.com.au/hacking-becomes-latest-weapon-in-uk-riots-339320136.htm"}, {"response": 1887, "author": "lizbeth54", "date": "Wed, Aug 10, 2011 (06:30)", "body": "LOL! http://www.thespoof.co.uk/news/spoof.cfm?headline=s1i99064 Reports are coming in from Chiswick that a band of rowdy yoga mums have looted the artisan bakery and made off with all the walnut and sun blushed tomato bread. The angry mob, wearing pink pashminas to cover their faces, were seen to perform several sun salutations on the pavement before moving along to Fired Earth where they ransacked the National Trust paint samples and stuffed Limited Edition Provencal Tiles into straw baskets. Fears of more disturbances this evening have prompted Chiswickian Rupert Agincourt, a Merchant Banker and neighbour of actor Colin Firth, to \"get a few chaps together\" in order to defend Turnham Green against further marauding attacks. The Defenders Of Turnham Green vigilante meeting will take place at sundown on the terrace of Carluccio's in Chiswick High Road (excellent lemon drizzle cake BTW). Rupert Agincourt will be urging the men of Chiswick to defend the normally civilised and sedate neighbourhood against \"these rampaging mindless thugs.\" \"These women are out of control\" said Mr Agincourt\" they are armed with rolled up copies of Horse And Hound, pumped up on Gin and Tonic and spend the afternoons cruising Chiswick High Road in their Volvo XC90s.\" Fellow Bedford Park resident Sir Dickie Hedge-Trimmer, who was at Latymer Upper with Hugh Grant, has also put his considerable weight behind Rupert Agincourt's campaign: \"The women of Chiswick claim they are bored and demand all the latest gadgets but that is no excuse for rioting in the streets and looting shops\" said an angry Sir Dickie."}, {"response": 1888, "author": "lizbeth54", "date": "Wed, Aug 10, 2011 (07:08)", "body": "The solution? A school in deprived inner city Hackney with an exceptional record of success. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/8341428/Mossbourne-Academy-A-tale-of-high-expectations.-.-.-and-no-excuses.html Certainly the \ufffdno excuses\ufffd culture and discipline is at the heart of its success. A thick, indelible, non-negotiable line is drawn. Each lesson begins with students pledging to \ufffdretain an inquiring mind\ufffd. There are same-day detentions. There are also compulsory after-school and weekend clubs for under-achievers. There is an insistence on good manners and meticulous uniform. There is setting in all key subjects. At the top end, Mossbourne\ufffds first generation of sixth-formers is excelling. Ten have offers from Cambridge, including two places to read medicine. These are not \ufffdtoken\ufffd but real offers around the \ufffdtwo As, two A-stars\ufffd bracket. There are a further 55 offers from the Russell Group universities. Nothing socially engineered about this: on the contrary, gifted young people from unprivileged backgrounds are doing it properly. Hard graft. High aspirations. Proper teaching. The work ethic verges on evangelical. Sixth-formers are scrupulously polite but are anxious to return to their books. They are also quietly dismissive of quotas of lower grade offers for poorer students. Among them is Rosie Gilbert, who has an offer of one A-star and two As to read geography at Newnham College, Cambridge."}, {"response": 1889, "author": "slpeg2003", "date": "Wed, Aug 10, 2011 (07:31)", "body": "(Allison) The general picture was of the looting and riots being the result of criminality Thank you Allison for your report. It is a bit of comfort to hear that most of the perps are not young teenagers on the loose. But what to do with the criminals and prevent further mindless rioting and looting... The Spoof story is funny. The angry mob, wearing pink pashminas to cover their faces ... or repurposed burkas:-) Good for Mossbourne Academy! It is another example of educators having to teach manners and ethics which in the past have been learned from one's parents."}, {"response": 1890, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Wed, Aug 10, 2011 (08:08)", "body": "This is very heartening and the other side of the coin of social media. Through SM people have come together to help clear up the mess from the riots. I watched a lovely news item on BBC breakfast this morning. Here is the text http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-14462058"}, {"response": 1891, "author": "janet2", "date": "Wed, Aug 10, 2011 (08:52)", "body": "Plenty of decent people out there, thank goodness!"}, {"response": 1892, "author": "janet2", "date": "Wed, Aug 10, 2011 (13:43)", "body": "Dreadful news about the three young men mown down by rioters."}, {"response": 1893, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Wed, Aug 10, 2011 (14:07)", "body": "Yes, it's awful and the elderly gentleman in Ealing whom was badly attacked and who's life is hanging in the balance. He suffered head injuries."}, {"response": 1894, "author": "felicityb", "date": "Wed, Aug 10, 2011 (14:30)", "body": "It is dreadful news from Birmingham but I have yet to read anything that really explains who killed them. Max Hastings..maybe raving righty..writes in the Mail http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2024284/UK-riots-2011-Liberal-dogma-spawned-generation-brutalised-youths.html Discuss. Meanwhile in my small select village with no discernable underclass, my house was burgled yesterday afternoon by presumably disaffected youth intent on depriving my daughtr, who they may well be at school with next year, of her ipod. Still..lucky they didn't leave the door open and let the dog run out and kill herself. So my point...lots of horrible things out there and lots of theories but I tend to agree with Max Hastings on just the one point...too much liberal dogma."}, {"response": 1895, "author": "janet2", "date": "Wed, Aug 10, 2011 (14:50)", "body": "Sorry about your break-in Felicity:-( Well, I'm no raving righty, but I have to say I agree with just about everything he says! There is a sizeable underclass in every British city. I am delighted that, since retiring, I don't have to deal with these types on a day to day basis."}, {"response": 1896, "author": "janet2", "date": "Wed, Aug 10, 2011 (14:53)", "body": "Re the three deaths in Birmingham. A car has been impounded and one man arrested. It seems they were trying to protect their property and were run over deliberately. The police are treating the deaths as murder."}, {"response": 1897, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Aug 10, 2011 (15:21)", "body": "I say lock 'em all up and throw away the key. They'll get lots of state benefits for a long,long time. Glad I don't own RIM stock. It's been going down the toilet anyway. Iphone and Android has been eating their lunch."}, {"response": 1898, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Wed, Aug 10, 2011 (15:38)", "body": "Sorry also to hear of your break in, Felicity. I know from my Parent's-in-law's experience, it's horrible to feel someone has broke in and invaded your home. My PIL were lucky not to be hurt because the robbers were still inside the house when PIL returned. Father in law saw them escape over a fence and run past him as they escaped. PIL lost a lot of sentimental jewelery which can never be replaced. On the subject of the riots. Colin's ex friend, Nick Clegg has said he backs the idea of evicting from social housing those prosecuted from the riots. He said why should the Government support those living in social housing when their actions, in the case of arson, have meant others have lost their homes and businesses. I concur with Mr Clegg on this one."}, {"response": 1899, "author": "janet2", "date": "Wed, Aug 10, 2011 (15:54)", "body": "Sounds great idea in theory, but where will they live-on the streets? Crazy thing is that very few of those convicted will end up in jail, since they're so overcrowded already. They know they'll just get a slap on the wrist:-("}, {"response": 1900, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Wed, Aug 10, 2011 (16:13)", "body": "I share your questions, Janet. I feel it could be a better idea to tag them for several years, make them do community service, again for several years, not months, and reduce their benefits (for those on social)."}, {"response": 1901, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Aug 10, 2011 (16:39)", "body": "Sorry to hear about the break-in, Felicity. Disgusting that BA (no longer such a B, eh?) was the victim of bandwagonism."}, {"response": 1902, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Aug 10, 2011 (17:20)", "body": "How awful, Felicity. I'm sorry to hear it. Drastic measures should be taken. I'm with you, Evelyn, prison and throw away the key. Changing the subject. This is a must read: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/08/07/hillary-clinton-2012-calls-grow-with-anger-at-obama-debt-capitulation.html"}, {"response": 1903, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Aug 10, 2011 (18:07)", "body": "Wishful thinking.... Listen, she would have done the same thing....they all want to be re-elected, and are playing to the Independent voter. Where else are those whining-cats at the Met going to go? Very few have spine...they all want to keep their jobs. Pure and simple"}, {"response": 1904, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Wed, Aug 10, 2011 (18:17)", "body": "Regarding the riots. If some of those going to court today are anything to go by, they are not exactly 'disaffected youths'. They have jobs, one a teaching assistant whom mentors the young (heaven help them), a graphic designer, a scaffolder, a student an 11 year old..... http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/aug/10/london-riots-school-assistant-pleads-guilty"}, {"response": 1905, "author": "lizbeth54", "date": "Wed, Aug 10, 2011 (19:03)", "body": "I saw one news item where an off duty Sky Reporter actually stopped a female looter and asked why she was doing it, and she replied \"to get back what I've paid in taxes\". General lowering of standards. Re. eviction from social housing, as Janet says, where will they live? On the streets? Nobody wants them. And if their benefits are cut, they'll become even more \"feral\" (current buzz word). I'm afraid our benefits culture, and irresponsible breeding and parenting,and restrictions on disciplinary measures ( smacking is a criminal offence) have created an underclass that is unemployable, and contributes nothing to society."}, {"response": 1906, "author": "lizbeth54", "date": "Thu, Aug 11, 2011 (05:27)", "body": "http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/aug/10/uk-riots-liberal-right-parent This is an excellent article, especially David Lamy's comments. I know that a lot of Asian fathers in the inner cities are worried because their right to discipline their sons seems to have been taken away from them. I realise that in some cases this would mean taking the strap to them but if it prevents hulking great 15 to 16 year olds being drawn into the drug/gang/street culture, failing at school etc, prevention is better than cure. Many children actually threaten to report their parents if disciplinary action is taken."}, {"response": 1907, "author": "janet2", "date": "Thu, Aug 11, 2011 (08:53)", "body": "There is a problem in parts of Glasgow where Asians youths from affluent families tear around in their high performance cars, being aggressive to locals. Several years ago, a young white boy from their area was kidnapped, beaten, set on fire and left to die. The perpertrators all came from 'good families', and their families aided their escape from the UK. There was very little coverage of the crime:-( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Kriss_Donald They are in the minority, of course, since most Asian (by that I mean Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi) children do very well at school, and have few behavioural problems."}, {"response": 1908, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Aug 11, 2011 (10:25)", "body": "and their families aided their escape from the UK. Their families should have been thrown out. But I see from the Wiki account that the guys were successfully extradited from Pakistan and served trial and convicted to life sentences."}, {"response": 1909, "author": "janet2", "date": "Thu, Aug 11, 2011 (11:47)", "body": "(Karen)Their families should have been thrown out What about their human rights?;-)"}, {"response": 1910, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Thu, Aug 11, 2011 (12:24)", "body": "LOL ;-)"}, {"response": 1911, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Aug 11, 2011 (13:18)", "body": "(Janet) What about their human rights?;-) Ha! You're lucky I didn't write their families should've been set on fire. ;-) Served trial? Obviously a condensed version of stood trial and served time."}, {"response": 1912, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Aug 11, 2011 (17:04)", "body": "In the old days, there was so much respect for the parents. Now some kids murder their parents for money. :-("}, {"response": 1913, "author": "janet2", "date": "Thu, Aug 11, 2011 (20:56)", "body": "Watching World Weather Forecast-105 degrees in Dallas! I think I'll stick with the upper 60s in Scotland, lol!"}, {"response": 1914, "author": "slpeg2003", "date": "Thu, Aug 11, 2011 (22:06)", "body": "I was in Dallas for 3 weeks and the temps got up to 111F. Houston has been a few degrees cooler than Dallas but our heat index is higher due to the higher humidity. It was 90F with 100% humidity early yesterday. Haven't had any rain in months. I just had the yardmen pull out a bunch of dead plants today- even the sprinklers can't save them from this heat and drought. I would love to be in Scotland right now and back here for the winter! I am sure you wouldn't want my air conditioning bill either, Janet;-)"}, {"response": 1915, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Aug 12, 2011 (08:15)", "body": "Interesting article in the Guardian titled something like \"in courtrooms across the country, little leniency.\". They're running 24 hrs and throwing the book at most. Not sure why parents or even duty magistrates are surprised. Sorry, can't link this one off the phone."}, {"response": 1916, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Aug 12, 2011 (09:27)", "body": "Watching World Weather Forecast-105 degrees in Dallas! I think I'll stick with the upper 60s in Scotland, lol! Oh it's not soooo bad . Scorchy afternoons, but pleasant mornings and evenings. And hey, we don't get 20 inches (50cm) of snow . One can always got out of the driveway;-)"}, {"response": 1917, "author": "janet2", "date": "Fri, Aug 12, 2011 (11:12)", "body": "Too true Evelyn! Re 24 hour courtroom sessions, Prior to the riots, there were already plans for those sentenced to 6 months or less to have non-custodial sentences to ease the burden. So where will those convicted go?"}, {"response": 1918, "author": "janet2", "date": "Fri, Aug 12, 2011 (11:15)", "body": "Sorry for the bad grammar, my keyboard is playing funny b*ggers, continually deleting text and moving the cursor around. Anyone any ideas what could be causing this?-it's doing my head in!!!"}, {"response": 1919, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Aug 12, 2011 (17:05)", "body": "That was my exact question, Janet, where they'd all go?"}, {"response": 1920, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Aug 12, 2011 (17:58)", "body": "J-a-i-l. I hope DC doesn't capitulate in giving more \"social programs\". You're taxed enough. They can learn new skills ( or *a* skill) incarcerated and not live in council housing."}, {"response": 1921, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Aug 12, 2011 (18:20)", "body": ""}, {"response": 1922, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Aug 12, 2011 (18:25)", "body": "Right, we know that. The point is, the jails can't handle all the influx, as Janet alluded to and I figured they would have a hard time handling so many new cases, esp so quickly. Maybe they should start sending them to Australia again. ;-) This is the article I mentioned this morning http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/aug/11/uk-riots-courtrooms-country?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487 A related article http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/aug/12/uk-riots-courts-warning"}, {"response": 1923, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Aug 12, 2011 (19:06)", "body": "An array of not latch-key kids involved. http://tinyurl.com/3zgj4f2"}, {"response": 1924, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Aug 12, 2011 (20:47)", "body": "Bill the parents for the objects they stole. There is something deeply hypocritical about middle-aged politicians condemning teenagers as though these sorts of crimes have never happened before.\" That's a shocking statement from a responsible citizen. If true those pols should have been locked up too. Three cheers for the mother who turned in her daughter. That's courage. I told my sons if you ever get arrested on a protest march don't expect support from us. You're on your own."}, {"response": 1925, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Aug 12, 2011 (20:58)", "body": "Bill the parents for the objects they stole Great idea!"}, {"response": 1926, "author": "slpeg2003", "date": "Fri, Aug 12, 2011 (22:47)", "body": "(Evelyn)I told my sons if you ever get arrested on a protest march don't expect support from us. That's a bit harsh, unless they were looting and rioting. Protest marches are sometimes necessary, but criminality isn't. (I suspect the Boston Tea Party was criminality, though) I participated in one protest march- against the Kent State shootings. At my \u00fcber conservative university there were less than 10 of us (including my German prof) and we were generally ignored and looked upon and weird. It was peaceful and no laws were broken."}, {"response": 1927, "author": "lizbeth54", "date": "Sat, Aug 13, 2011 (05:41)", "body": "Bill the parents for the objects they stole It's the parents - or parent, they rarely have two - who are the problem. In several cases they were sending in theie children (too young to be charged) to do the looting. In one deeply depressing interview, one looter said he stole to buy nappies (and other things I didn't recognise, toys, brandname clothing perhaps) for his son. His face was covered but he sounded all of sixteen."}, {"response": 1928, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Sat, Aug 13, 2011 (06:13)", "body": "Bethan, He said he stole the whole 'Johnson's' set, as in Johnson's baby products."}, {"response": 1929, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Aug 13, 2011 (09:56)", "body": "(Dorine)That's a bit harsh, unless they were looting and rioting. Protest marches are sometimes necessary Not if I was paying for the tuition. I don't send kids to college to \"find themselves\" or to \"support causes\", necessary or un...; I send them to get an education and get off my payroll. I, too, marched for ERA, but only after I was long gone from college and not dependent on my parents."}, {"response": 1930, "author": "slpeg2003", "date": "Sat, Aug 13, 2011 (10:00)", "body": "Evelyn, that was me, not Dorine;-)"}, {"response": 1931, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Aug 13, 2011 (10:56)", "body": "Really???? Apologies...sounded like Dorine."}, {"response": 1932, "author": "slpeg2003", "date": "Sat, Aug 13, 2011 (13:06)", "body": "Really! Dorine didn't attend an ultra conservative So. Baptist University;-) Besides she's too young to have been protesting in 1970."}, {"response": 1933, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Aug 13, 2011 (13:18)", "body": "*snort* (Peggy) Protest marches are sometimes necessary (Evelyn) Not if I was paying for the tuition. What if they were protesting significant tuition hikes as they did in CA and the UK (without any violence)?"}, {"response": 1934, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Aug 13, 2011 (13:22)", "body": "I mean if they hadn't had any violence, which unfortunately there was in those instances."}, {"response": 1935, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Aug 13, 2011 (14:25)", "body": "(Dorine) What if they were protesting significant tuition hikes Kids whose parents were paying their tuition wouldn't be protesting. ;-) Rajinder Claire, who was representing several alleged rioters, said defendants who would normally be released on bail were being routinely remanded in custody. \"The decisions seem to be being taken in a routine manner without enough consideration for the distinct factors of each case,\" he told reporters Distinct factors! *snort*"}, {"response": 1936, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Aug 13, 2011 (16:28)", "body": "If those parents said they wouldn't pay even more after the increase and the students had to quit, I bet some of those kids would be protesting. Punishments too punitive?? A number of the comments were interesting. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/aug/13/manchester-police-sorry-looter-sentence"}, {"response": 1937, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Aug 13, 2011 (16:29)", "body": "Convenient timing. http://www.slashfilm.com/banksy-creates-tv-special-antics-roadshow/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+slashfilm+%28%2FFilm%29"}, {"response": 1938, "author": "janet2", "date": "Sat, Aug 13, 2011 (17:36)", "body": "I think the courts have been told to hand down severe sentences across the board. A mother of two young children was sentenced to five months imprisonment for handing stolen goods-a pair of shorts. She didn't take part in the riots. A tad severe I think, given that paedophiles have been given non-custodial sentences and done community service instead. The whole criminal justice system has to be reviewed now-it's just not working!"}, {"response": 1939, "author": "janet2", "date": "Sat, Aug 13, 2011 (18:02)", "body": "Sorry, should have read 'handling' stolen goods."}, {"response": 1940, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Aug 13, 2011 (21:04)", "body": "(Dorine) What if they were protesting significant tuition hikes Kids whose parents were paying their tuition wouldn't be protesting. ;-) LOL AS a matter of fact there were hikes during their college yrs. (one was almost a career student) and we just paid it. If one doesn't pay ,it just diminishes the quality of the education which is why they're there."}, {"response": 1941, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Aug 14, 2011 (10:03)", "body": "A demographic breakdown of the accused rioters. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/8698443/UK-riots-suspected-looters-statistics-and-court-cases.html"}, {"response": 1942, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Aug 14, 2011 (10:34)", "body": "The charts are fascinating because they will expose how few people were sentenced to overly harsh sentences. In the case of \"handling stolen goods,\" only 10 people were arrested for that. It wasn't widespread. Can't believe there is a specifc charge of \"possessing a black balaclava\"! One person was charged with that. But the vast majority were burglary (40%), violent disorder (14.6%), burglary other than dweeling (4%) and violent disotder and arson with intent to intent to endanger life (4%). Those cases comprise nearly two-thirds of those arrested and arraigned."}, {"response": 1943, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sun, Aug 14, 2011 (10:42)", "body": "I'm glad they listed the names and ages. Scary at the number of 'children\". They should throw the book at the ones in late 30s and 40s."}, {"response": 1944, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Aug 14, 2011 (11:22)", "body": "(Karen) The charts are fascinating because they will expose how few people were sentenced to overly harsh sentences. Is there a chart somewhere that gives sentences, too? I may have missed that. On the UK wide view chart, where is that one lone dot all the way at the top of the country?"}, {"response": 1945, "author": "PeggyM", "date": "Sun, Aug 14, 2011 (14:35)", "body": "The lone dot is Glasgow, or Glasgow area. The southern most dot is probably Southanmpton but could be Winchester. Daughter-in-law #2 is a magistate in Southampton but they are on holiday so she's not involved. I don't understand why \"children\" under 18 cannot be named when they can be married at 16. I can see, as some columnists have suggested,that the way MPs,Lords,Councillors & civil servants have abused their priveliges & been on the gravy train ,& the banker's bonuses, is very galling, especially to people who have nothing, but that is no excuse for violence & arson. I am totally against all forms of protests which involve people gathering together to march or demonstrate. It is not necessry in a democracy & it invariably attracts extremists. I don't know about the rest of the country but some areas of London are dominated by gangs & by drugs & the police have not been able to stamp this out. I was carjacked in Croydon 10 years ago, I was driving home from a bridge match at 11pm & stopped at traffic lights in the main London road. Two masked men with guns (could have been fake but who was I to argue)made ne get out of the car & drove away leaving me on the pavemant.A bus had stopped at the lights behind me & I tried to get assistance from the driver ( who was black) but he just stared at me & then drove on. I eventually got help from a passerby who rang the police for me. I got the car back several weeks later but nobody was prosecuted . I subsequently heard that Croydon is a notorious area for unlawful activities & I think it is frightening that so much is going on which the police can't handle. I am glad that David Cameron has got this American advisor."}, {"response": 1946, "author": "janet2", "date": "Sun, Aug 14, 2011 (14:44)", "body": "Well done, Peggy for knowing where Glasgow is on the map! You'd be amazed how few English know where any Scottish cities are, or where the border is:-)"}, {"response": 1947, "author": "janet2", "date": "Sun, Aug 14, 2011 (14:45)", "body": "Not so sure about the American advisor Peggy. Our police operate in such a different way."}, {"response": 1948, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sun, Aug 14, 2011 (15:46)", "body": "Not so sure about the American advisor Peggy. Our police operate in such a different way. maybe they can learn something."}, {"response": 1949, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Aug 14, 2011 (17:10)", "body": "How awful, Peggy! I would be frightened out of my wits if I ever got carjacked. Many years ago, when I was right out of college and kids went downtown to the clubs/bars, there was a standing instruction not to stop at stop signs in this one neighborhood just west of the clubs enroute to the highway. They weren't carjacking at that time, but smashing and grabbing purses off seats. Oddly enough I live within walking distance of that interseccton now, but the projects (council blocks) have finally been torn down. However, freedom of assembly and speech are key tenets of a democracy and they are very much necessary still."}, {"response": 1950, "author": "PeggyM", "date": "Sun, Aug 14, 2011 (17:50)", "body": "I know vey well where Glasgow is, Janet - my late husband's paternal grandparents were Scottish - from Brechin, but it was I who started our annual visit to the Scottish Highands & islands in the 70s because I fell in love with Gavin Maxwell & his otters. That started a passion for Scotland &, over the years ,we covered all the West Highland coast from Kintyre to Cape Wrath, the North coast,most of the islands from Arran to Shetland & even bits of the East Coast & & there is nowhere in the world where I would rather be than the West Highlands & islands. I have never had any desire to linger in Glasgow though I am a great admirer of Charles Rennie McKintosh."}, {"response": 1951, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sun, Aug 14, 2011 (18:41)", "body": "The Age of Outrage, on Europe's social unrest: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/14/opinion/sunday/Cohen-age-of-outrage.html?_r=1"}, {"response": 1952, "author": "janet2", "date": "Sun, Aug 14, 2011 (18:57)", "body": "(Peggy)I have never had any desire to linger in Glasgow Why is that Peggy?"}, {"response": 1953, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Aug 14, 2011 (18:58)", "body": "(PeggyM)I am totally against all forms of protests which involve people gathering together to march or demonstrate. It is not necessry in a democracy Whatever do you mean?? I consider it a lynchpin of democracy. it invariably attracts extremists. Who do what? I'll presume you speak exclusively of the UK. I'm sorry to hear you were a victim of such a crime, Peggy. That is awful. My family on one side is from Scotland (Galbraith). It's the only side of the family I identify with (though it is not my last name - wanted to change it once in 6th grade, but as I filled out school papers with my name, realized I liked the much shorter name I had). I've been there once for 4 days, but have always wanted to come back for longer. Especially for the Edinburgh Festival again."}, {"response": 1954, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Aug 14, 2011 (19:03)", "body": "Also, thanks for locating the dot. ;-) It seemed too far north to me for Glasgow. I've only been to Glasgow after taking a bus from Edinburgh to the airport there. The bulk of my time was spent in Edinburgh and a day trip to Inverness."}, {"response": 1955, "author": "janet2", "date": "Sun, Aug 14, 2011 (19:08)", "body": "Edinburgh is a bit mad a festival time, it has to be said. Great atmosphere, but I prefer to visit when things are not so frenetic. However, Glasgow is a beautiful city, which is often overlooked by tourists in favour of the capital, although this has been changing of late. Glasgow means Dear Green Place, and has over 90 parks within the city boundary. Added to this are numerous museums, with free entry. Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, where I am a volunteer guide, is the most visited museum outside London. A city well worth visiting:-)"}, {"response": 1956, "author": "slpeg2003", "date": "Sun, Aug 14, 2011 (21:00)", "body": "(Janet) Edinburgh is a bit mad a festival time, it has to be said. Great atmosphere, but I prefer to visit when things are not so frenetic. I am not sure I would like the crowds at the Fringe, but someday I'd like to see the Tattoo. I really enjoyed Edinburgh in September (after the crowds had left) on my last visit. I must put Glasgow on my list. I rode through it on a bus tour to Loch Lomond and Sterling Castle. (Dorine)I'm sorry to hear you were a victim of such a crime, Peggy. That is awful Me, too. How terrifying that must have been!"}, {"response": 1957, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Aug 15, 2011 (09:19)", "body": "I think the US has to take a lesson from what happened in London this past week. Philadelphia has enforced a curfew to stop the Flash Mobs which are spreading throughout the country. That's a start. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/197892/20110815/philadelphia-curfew.htm That's a start;of course jobs are the answer. But there has to be other steps before that comes to fruition. Training...maybe force kids to train for something. Maybe Israel has the answer. But handing out money to stay unemployed isn't...hasn't worked ."}, {"response": 1958, "author": "mari", "date": "Mon, Aug 15, 2011 (11:27)", "body": "Mayor Nutter isn't messing around, and I applaud him. But you have to have backing from the community, which he does. It speaks to what Bill Bratton (who I think is/was being considered for the top job in London?) brought to NYC: zero tolerance. Once you stop following up on \"minor\" crimes--a break-in here, vandalism there, prostitues hanging about--it's a very slippery slope. Perps lose the fear of getting caught. Then it escalates. But I know big city police forces are stretched to the limit, and that's a problem."}, {"response": 1959, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Aug 15, 2011 (11:50)", "body": "(Evelyn) Philadelphia has enforced a curfew to stop the Flash Mobs which are spreading throughout the country. That's a start. A new curfew law was passed a couple of weeks ago here. There have been flash mob incidents at the beaches, especially the big one near me. During the heat wave, the city was crtiicized for early closures. Throughout the summer there has been a huge police presence at the beach: on foot, ATV and horseback. It has made a difference and people interviewed on the news all expressed their gratitude for it, said they feel safe on the beach again. http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2011/07/28/new-curfew-for-chicago-children-passes-city-council/ Rahm has said the new curfew will be enforced."}, {"response": 1960, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Aug 15, 2011 (15:40)", "body": "If a few cities make an example, it will filter down to the rest of the country. They interviewed a police official from the Uk on television this am, and he said part of the reason police are hesitant to go after these thugs with force even when they're looting is because they risk losing their jobs. All you need is one misinterpreted video and there goes your job. It's a fine line."}, {"response": 1961, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Aug 15, 2011 (16:29)", "body": "He also said the images of these riots could ruin UK's chances of aquiring new industry:\"Imagine the board of Sony meeting and finding images of Asians being beaten in the streets....think they will want to rebuild that distribution center in London\"? Apparently \"inquiry commissions\" have been brutal on police hitting or arresting gang youths. What are they suppose to say:\"Please and thank you?\""}, {"response": 1962, "author": "janet2", "date": "Mon, Aug 15, 2011 (17:59)", "body": "To say that 'Asians were being beaten in the streets' gives a skewed view of the riots. There were rioters of all colours. This was not a case of one ethnic group attacking another. They were attacking whole communities, indiscriminately.."}, {"response": 1963, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Aug 15, 2011 (18:09)", "body": ". Weren't the 3 men who were killed trying to protect some Asian businesses? And not some mosque? Anyway, he felt the \"board in Japan\" would see it as racial. You tell 'em Janet;-)"}, {"response": 1964, "author": "janet2", "date": "Mon, Aug 15, 2011 (18:24)", "body": "The three men killed were Asian, killed by people of Jamaican origin I believe. An elderly white man was beaten to death elsewhere because he was trying to put out a fire. Not, as far as I know, because of his colour."}, {"response": 1965, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Mon, Aug 15, 2011 (18:31)", "body": "All talk? http://news.yahoo.com/cameron-riot-hit-uk-must-reverse-moral-collapse-231015878.html"}, {"response": 1966, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Aug 15, 2011 (21:03)", "body": "Seems to me both pols are just \"all talk\". Difficult to change a culture. Like I said, Israel has the answer; mandatory military service for all citizens over 18. I remember speaking to a young gal who was guarding our hotel and she didn't seem to mind. They test and give them a skill. Mostly, they learn discipline."}, {"response": 1967, "author": "janet2", "date": "Tue, Aug 16, 2011 (05:12)", "body": "Not in the best of taste, but made me smile, in a wry way: THE RIOTERS PRAYER Our father, who art in prison, My mum knows not his name, Thy riots come, read it in the Sun, In Birmingham, as it is in London, Give us this day our welfare bread And forgive us our looting, As we're happy to loot those who defend stuff against us, Lead us not into employment But deliver us free housing, For thine is the telly, The Burberry & the Bacardi, Forever and ever...innit !!"}, {"response": 1968, "author": "janet2", "date": "Tue, Aug 16, 2011 (05:12)", "body": ""}, {"response": 1969, "author": "PeggyM", "date": "Tue, Aug 16, 2011 (08:23)", "body": "Janet, I haven't got it in for Glasgow but don't chose to spend my holidays visiting cities. I go to Scotland to get away from it all & to enjoy the fantastic scenery & the wild life . (Dorine)I consider it a lynchpin of democracy. I am not saying I would ban demonstrations- I just don't agree with them. We have too many in London. Roads have to be closed & this causes a great deal of inconvenience to residents & visitors, huge numbers of extra police are employed at considerable expense to the tax payer & , however peaceful the intentions of the organisers, trouble makers & anarchists are attracted to them, many of them high on drugs & it is all too easy for things to get out of control. It has happened twice recently & many innocent people have suffered"}, {"response": 1970, "author": "janet2", "date": "Tue, Aug 16, 2011 (09:12)", "body": "Peggy, the beauty of Glasgow is that within half and hour, you can be on the banks of Loch Lomond, Some evenings, we go for a drive just to see the sun set there:-)"}, {"response": 1971, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Aug 16, 2011 (09:54)", "body": "Flash mob hits a convenience store in Maryland..nice orderly crowd though, no violence...only stole what they wanted to eat and drink at the moment. Notice the girl who politely picks up a bag of chips that falls on the floor. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nationnow/2011/08/a-super-mellow-but-still-criminal-flash-mob-in-maryland.html"}, {"response": 1972, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Aug 16, 2011 (11:22)", "body": "Much more pleasant to click on another vid at that site of a flash mob (spontaneous-looking, highly choreographed dance routine at a public venue) at the Marin Farmers Market. Pity how the term has changed from something quite fun and entertaining to scary lawlessness."}, {"response": 1973, "author": "janet2", "date": "Tue, Aug 16, 2011 (11:24)", "body": "I've heard the crowds at the Harrod's sale can get quite aggressive too!;-)"}, {"response": 1974, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Thu, Aug 18, 2011 (22:00)", "body": "I imagine people heard the news about Gerard Depardieu, but did anyone see the video that has gone viral with Anderson Cooper breaking up with laughter in the middle of his piece on The Ridiculist about it? If you want to skip most of the plethora of puns, skip to about 2:30 in and it's where he really loses it. Very funny. Hope I never see GD sitting near me at a restaurant again. I might lose my appetite. http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/2011/08/18/video_cooper_loses_it_on_cnn_over_depardieus_plane_pee/"}, {"response": 1975, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Aug 22, 2011 (18:19)", "body": "South Dakota schools cut costs with 4-day week: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_SHRINKING_SCHOOL_WEEK?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-08-21-16-05-46"}, {"response": 1976, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Aug 23, 2011 (10:36)", "body": "Jihadist: Kill David Letterman A poster on an al-Qaeda message board has called on U.S. muslims to cut out David Letterman\ufffds tongue and \ufffdbreak his neck\ufffd after the late-night host made a joke about terrorists. \"Is there not among you a Sayyid Nosair al-Mairi ... to cut the tongue of this lowly Jew and shut it forever?\" the poster, who went by Umar al-Basrawi, asked. (Al-Mairi killed Jewish Defense League founder Meir Kahane in 1990; Letterman is not Jewish.) Al-Basrawi was particularly angered by jokes Letterman had made about Osama bin Laden and Muhammad Ilyas Kashmiri, an al-Qaeda operative who was killed June 3. When it learned of the threat, the NYPD notified CBS and Letterman at his suburban home; the department may also provide a police detail when Letterman comes to New York City. Read it at New York Post August 18, 2011 6:47 AM"}, {"response": 1977, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Tue, Aug 23, 2011 (11:45)", "body": "That's nuts. Surely not the first such joke he's made?"}, {"response": 1978, "author": "mari", "date": "Tue, Aug 23, 2011 (12:52)", "body": "Did you see Dave's monologue on this threat? Worth digging up."}, {"response": 1979, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Aug 23, 2011 (15:08)", "body": "It's on my DVR, will watch tonight. But how crazy are those people?"}, {"response": 1980, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Aug 24, 2011 (22:17)", "body": "Oh, man. Not good news about Steve Jobs resigning."}, {"response": 1981, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Fri, Aug 26, 2011 (15:26)", "body": "Watched news reports of Hurricane, Irene. Keep safe anyone in the US in it's path."}, {"response": 1982, "author": "mari", "date": "Fri, Aug 26, 2011 (17:03)", "body": "Thanks, Sue. Every time they show that \"likely path\" map, it seems the red line goes right through my yard.:-( We are stocked up, extra water, flashlight batteries, etc. One of my friends joked that if we lose power, we may actually have to talk to our husbands, LOL."}, {"response": 1983, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Fri, Aug 26, 2011 (17:38)", "body": "LOL, love your humour in the face of adversity, Mari. Strange things happen. One of my favourite Aunt's sadly passed away today, her name was Irene."}, {"response": 1984, "author": "grasspatch", "date": "Sat, Aug 27, 2011 (07:08)", "body": "So sorry to hear that, Sue. I hope she made a goodly age. I'll be thinking of all my east coast friends a relatives today. Stay safe."}, {"response": 1985, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Sat, Aug 27, 2011 (12:16)", "body": "Thanks, Lorna. She was 89 years young. Huge age diff between the youngest born (my Mum) and the eldest. A couple more months and she would have been 90. I will miss her terribly, we were close."}, {"response": 1986, "author": "slpeg2003", "date": "Sat, Aug 27, 2011 (13:30)", "body": "Sue, I am sorry for your loss. Aunts are special people IMO."}, {"response": 1987, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Sat, Aug 27, 2011 (16:59)", "body": "Thanks for your thoughts, Peggy. Speaking of another 'Irene', watching the news channels tonight. Unprecedented for NY Transit to be shut down. Anyone here from NC? I know there are a few ladies from the NJ and NY areas. Thinking of you and keep safe. Fingers crossed for you all."}, {"response": 1988, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Aug 27, 2011 (17:07)", "body": "Moon, judging by the radar map I just looked at, you're getting the brunt of it at the moment. Mari and Linda should be getting hit by some heavy rain now it looks like. It's been raining on an off here all morning (lightly on at the moment). Sorry to hear about your aunt, Sue. I have only one left who lives in PA and visit regularly who has to have a hip replaced next month. I worry about it, but she can't function as well now."}, {"response": 1989, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Sat, Aug 27, 2011 (17:22)", "body": "Oh goodness, sorry, I forgot about Washington. Moon, hope you are tucked up safe. Maureen is in NJ. Spoke to her on the phone around 30 minutes ago, she said the heavy rain hadn't reached the yet. I am sorry to hear about your Aunt's hip, Dorine. It's a difficult one, I know. My Aunt had dementia and for the last few months of her life she lived in a Nursing Home. A week ago, one morning she complained of a headache, the Nursing home just gave her two paracetamol, by the afternoon she was in a coma in hospital. She had suffered a Cerebral Hemorrhage and never recovered. I take comfort that Ant and I visited her a month ago (we no longer live local to her), we had a lovely chat and a laugh and I gave her a big hug and kiss as we left. She looked very tired and I guess, deep down, I had a hunch then, I wondered whether I would see her again :-("}, {"response": 1990, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Aug 27, 2011 (20:37)", "body": "http://www.flickr.com/photos/mtaphotos/6086067149/ As someone commented time for a flash -mob dance"}, {"response": 1991, "author": "janet2", "date": "Sat, Aug 27, 2011 (20:50)", "body": "Has NY really been evacuated? I can't believe so many people would leave, and where will they all go?"}, {"response": 1992, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Aug 27, 2011 (22:32)", "body": "2 hospitals were evacuated that are in a designated zone with high possibility for flooding. (Never knew there was a such a thing here.) Some were being transferred to the hospital I work in. Never saw that at home in Florida where I lived. Moon? Did that happen where you were? Maybe with Andrew? I know all residents of several nursing homes in Coney Island and other beach areas were evacuated to other facilities. I know Fire Island was closed, but not sure if everyone absolutely left. I heard residents of a beach town on Long Island didn't all leave (one of my former bosses lives there, but no idea if he left). I think many others just stayed in other parts of the city or Long Island or NJ where flooding may not have been as possible, though drainage in many places here tend to be fair and our ground is saturated already from a big rain a week or 2 ago that caused a lot of flooding. And some didn't leave. I haven't really been watching the news (only so much one can take), so I have no idea who didn't leave where. I doubt a big percentage left."}, {"response": 1993, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Aug 27, 2011 (22:35)", "body": "A friend of mine was in Grand Central earlier and said it looked like a good place to film a zombie movie being so deserted. I was tempted to drive over to the city for a bit to see what wasn't going on, but didn't bother (didn't want to lose good parking space ;-))."}, {"response": 1994, "author": "janet2", "date": "Sat, Aug 27, 2011 (22:47)", "body": "They're filming a zombie movie in the centre of Glasgow right now, and it's causing major upheaval with road closures, etc. Great publicity for our city, but not so good for commuters etc."}, {"response": 1995, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Aug 27, 2011 (22:53)", "body": "Unless it shifted in the past couple of hours, the center of the storm is supposed to pass roughly about 3 miles from my apt. The profile pic on my FB page is a pic of the eye/eyewall of Hurricane David going directly over my house in Florida years ago. It was very defined. I don't know if it'll be light when the eye gets here, or if it will be well defined. Will Smith and the Men in Black shoot didn't endear themselves to the city residents when he parked his massive 2-story star trailer near where they were filming and took up so much room. They complained so much he had to move it."}, {"response": 1996, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sat, Aug 27, 2011 (22:57)", "body": "http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/28/nyregion/some-residents-of-rockaway-peninsula-stay-put-as-irene-nears.html?src=mv&ref=nyregion"}, {"response": 1997, "author": "mari", "date": "Sun, Aug 28, 2011 (11:20)", "body": "So sorry to hear about your aunt, Sue. I know how badly I felt when my dear aunt died; she was like a 2nd mother to me. My condolences. (Janet)Has NY really been evacuated? I can't believe so many people would leave, and where will they all go? Just those living in the lowest lying areas, and as you can see from the video that Dorine posted, many did not heed the warning. About 1 million people were evacuated from the South Jersey shore areas. In the greater Philadelphia area, there are almost 500,000 people without power. Luckily, we did not lose power, but my son is without. Some severe flooding in some areas; several deaths."}, {"response": 1998, "author": "PeggyM", "date": "Sun, Aug 28, 2011 (11:54)", "body": "It must be a nightmare but hope the worst is over- glad to read it's been downgraded from hurricane to severe storm."}, {"response": 1999, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Aug 28, 2011 (11:58)", "body": "Haven't heard from LindaK. In one of her recent posts, she mentioned something about moving, so I wondered if they had moved back to the shore area. Anyone know? news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 108, "subject": "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World  (Part 3 - The Maddest World Yet!)", "response_count": 91, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Aug 28, 2011 (14:52)", "body": "I get that impression, too, about Linda. Her DD had a post on FB last night about being at the shore, but wasn't sure if they were with Linda's mom or in their own place. I didn't lose power, but had a bit of a leak in the corner of the living room where there are 2 windows. Has a history of leaking there, but just did a big, almost yearlong fix on the roof because of many leaks previously all over, but clearly whatever they did, didn't fix this one. A tree down the street fell on 2 neighbors cars. My super and I were just joking that people keep going up to it and taking pics like it's a tourist attraction."}, {"response": 2, "author": "pianoblues", "date": "Sun, Aug 28, 2011 (16:34)", "body": "Thanks,for your kind words, Mari. My Aunt couldn't have children, we spent many a happy holiday with her and my Uncle. She was like a second Mum to me :-) Hope all is well for Linda? Thank goodness the Hurricane didn't hit as hard as they expected. Very sad about the 11 year old boy losing his life and others."}, {"response": 3, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sun, Aug 28, 2011 (18:21)", "body": "What a crazy week. Earthquakes, and then Irene, which luckily, was only a tropical storm by me. Lots of rain and heavy winds, but we did not lose electricity. I'm happy to hear all DD's are fine. And, sorry about your aunt, Sue."}, {"response": 4, "author": "janet2", "date": "Sun, Aug 28, 2011 (18:36)", "body": "Glad the storm abated before it hit NYC etc, but sad that it cost some lives. Apparently the tail end of the storm will hit Scotland by the weekend. No big deal, but the weather has been pretty awful of late, and it would have been nice to get some sun before Autumn arrives:-("}, {"response": 5, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Aug 31, 2011 (10:14)", "body": "Text from LindaK: They are bone dry! ...only house in the neighborhood that didn't take in water in the basement. No phone service. Texts OK.Move going smoothly. (Note to Boss: I still don't have phone on all the time. Really, don't like cell phones ! But will be better at Newark next time:-)))))"}, {"response": 6, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Aug 31, 2011 (10:39)", "body": "(Dorine) A tree down the street fell on 2 neighbors cars. My super and I were just joking that people keep going up to it and taking pics like it's a tourist attraction. I know exactly what that looks like. During one of our violent storms last month, a big tree fell about a block away. There was a car parked right in front of it, so it landed right smack dab on it, then it took out four cars across the street. If there hadn't been a tree across the street, it would no doubt have damaged the homes. The tree wasn't removed for several days, but it attracted a lot of neighborhood attention and kids were climbing all over it and their parents taking pictures."}, {"response": 7, "author": "janet2", "date": "Thu, Sep 15, 2011 (17:43)", "body": "Very strange ... http://talesfromthelou.wordpress.com/tag/grangemouth/"}, {"response": 8, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Oct  1, 2011 (12:22)", "body": "Interesting article: http://news.yahoo.com/amanda-knox-three-countries-three-different-portrayals-104209170.html However, I did watch the Lifetime movie made a year or so about her and I didn't think it was flattering at all. In fact they portrayed her as uncaring and unsympathetic, leaving it wide open that she was certainly capable of committing the murder."}, {"response": 9, "author": "mari", "date": "Sat, Oct  1, 2011 (14:11)", "body": "And everyone knows Lifetime movies are rooted in truth.;-) She was interrogated for 12 hours--and all that time was denied a lawyer or an interpreter. The victim's alleged DNA found on the knife was, upon the recent review, found to be . . . wait for it . . . a morsel of rye bread. Key material from the scene was left to sit in the apartment for 6 weeks, then handled hamfistedly, even stepped on--and allowed into evidence. This was on 20/20 last night. Beyond sloppy. Unforgiveable. So two kids have been sitting in jail for years, and I can't even imagine what Meredith's family have gone through while these clowns botched the whole thing, having to relive the pain through appeals, studies, media sensationalism. What a circus. I'm reminded of my comment the other week that Livia never criticizes the Italian judicial system. This part from your linked article is interesting; maybe she's afraid she'd be tossed in jail. Italy is a sunny place, but free speech is rather chilled. The nation was ranked 79th in press freedom in 2009. . . . journalists in Italy covering cases like the Kercher murder must rely on tips from individual lawyers. . . Adding to the selective information download, journalists in Italy approached the case with a casual attitude toward facts. If a lawyer said something - anything - it was broadcast or printed, subject to debate, but rarely if ever an official correction."}, {"response": 10, "author": "slpeg2003", "date": "Sat, Oct  1, 2011 (14:27)", "body": "That story is very interesting. It just shows how information can be manipulated to arouse different opinions. I didn't see the lifetime show. I watched the 20/20 special last night and she was portrayed as a victim of the over zealous prosecutor trying to save face (he was recently convicted of \"abuse of office\" regarding a previous case). http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article6999196.ece There is a serious lack of forensic evidence and motive to convict her, at least by U.S. standards. I really feel terribly sorry for Meredith Kercher's family, too. They have suffered so much and it is still unresolved. I think I'll look into this book \"The Monster of Florence\" which is discussed in this blog. http://keithridgway.com/tag/giuliano-mignini/ Both authors were interviewed by Elizabeth Vargas for the 20/20 story."}, {"response": 11, "author": "mari", "date": "Sat, Oct  1, 2011 (15:42)", "body": "(PeggY)over zealous prosecutor trying to save face (he was recently convicted of \"abuse of office\" regarding a previous case). Oh yes, I forgot about that. And he's still practicing. As for lack of motive, now the prosecutor is saying she kiled \"for no reason\" which apparently gets you the heaviest sentence over there. He admitted to Elizabeth Vargas that he no longer believes the stuff he threw against the wall earlier. I really feel terribly sorry for Meredith Kercher's family, too. They have suffered so much and it is still unresolved. IMO, the other guy convicted, Rudy Guede, is the man. But yes, my heart goes out to Meredith's family. To see your child abused and slaughtered like that. It's unspeakable. Poor people."}, {"response": 12, "author": "Aberdeen", "date": "Sat, Oct  1, 2011 (22:00)", "body": "The whole Amanda Knox situation is a terrible fiasco. That idiot prosecutor sees sex cults in bushes. He's an arrogant a-hole and perpetual liar! His career, such as it is, is on the line so he will fight tooth and nail to uphold her unjust conviction while he appeals his own conviction for abuse of power. What a joke he is! Sadly this joke has innocent young people rotting in jail and a murdered girl without justice. Italy seems to have trial by public opinion which was fostered by sensationalism in the press before the trial. Meanwhile that chick in Florida gets off Scot free after not reporting her daughter missing for a month....among who knows what else she did! Where is the justice?"}, {"response": 13, "author": "janet2", "date": "Sun, Oct  2, 2011 (14:59)", "body": "Although some of the evidence against her appears to be disputed, her behaviour in the immediate aftermath of the murder was rather bizarre. She's not the innocent little girl her family are portraying her as, I don't think."}, {"response": 14, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Oct  2, 2011 (17:27)", "body": "(Janet) Although some of the evidence against her appears to be disputed, her behaviour in the immediate aftermath of the murder was rather bizarre. But behavior (odd, I would agree) shouldn't be the basis for a conviction. There should be solid and undisputed evidence."}, {"response": 15, "author": "janet2", "date": "Sun, Oct  2, 2011 (18:33)", "body": "A botched investigation it would seem, but why implicate another in the crime, why did she and her co-accused change their stories, and also switch off their mobiles around the same time? Also, a friend of Melanie gave evidence that Knox said Melanie had died of loss of blood before this had been mentioned by the police."}, {"response": 16, "author": "janet2", "date": "Mon, Oct  3, 2011 (08:25)", "body": "Sorry, Meredith."}, {"response": 17, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Oct  3, 2011 (11:27)", "body": "(Janet) but why implicate another in the crime, why did she and her co-accused change their stories, and also switch off their mobiles around the same time? None of these things are avidence. There were witnesses and no physical evidence, not to mention lack of motive. In my country and yours, a person could not be convicted of murder without those things being established \"beyond a shadow of a doubt.\" I can't speak for the Italian justice system because it is not based on the same precepts."}, {"response": 18, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Oct  3, 2011 (11:27)", "body": "Ooops... Should read \"there were NO witnesses...\""}, {"response": 19, "author": "janet2", "date": "Mon, Oct  3, 2011 (11:51)", "body": "Isn't it beyond reasonable doubt? I still believe she knows more than she's saying, guilty or not."}, {"response": 20, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Oct  3, 2011 (12:08)", "body": "Yes, that is the phrase. Still early here (woke up late). But doesn't change anything. (Janet) I still believe she knows more than she's saying, guilty or not. Regardless, she shouldn't be convicted of a crime if she didn't commit it or was a party to it (an accessory or in a conspiracy to do it). Also, it seems rather doubtful to me that she does know more. Presumably one would keep silent in order to protect someone. Who would she be protecting at this point other than herself?"}, {"response": 21, "author": "janet2", "date": "Mon, Oct  3, 2011 (12:30)", "body": "Has her previous behaviour been covered in the US press? Not that it would make her guilty obviously, but her character does not appear to be that put forward by her parents. A former workmate says she laughed hysterically when she found out he was Jewish, screaming,\" My people killed your people!.\" Very disturbing behaviour:-( She has admitted she took drugs on the night of the murder, and has changed her story several times. Who knows what she was capable of?"}, {"response": 22, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Oct  3, 2011 (12:45)", "body": ""}, {"response": 23, "author": "janet2", "date": "Mon, Oct  3, 2011 (15:58)", "body": "They've both been cleared."}, {"response": 24, "author": "janet2", "date": "Mon, Oct  3, 2011 (16:57)", "body": "And now the media circus begins...."}, {"response": 25, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Oct  3, 2011 (17:00)", "body": "Another example of the American press not standing 100% behind Amanda is that Barbie journalist from Newsweek, who wrote the book, and was the one consulted by Winterbottom and Colin."}, {"response": 26, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Oct  3, 2011 (21:46)", "body": "In all of this, who is thinking of the poor girl that died. That said, If the evidence is not conclusive, she had to be released. I heard that Donald Trump paid her legal fees?! Italians are 50/50 on her guilt/innocence."}, {"response": 27, "author": "mari", "date": "Tue, Oct  4, 2011 (11:41)", "body": "(Moon)If the evidence is not conclusive, she had to be released. The jury had two options to aquit: determining there wasn't evough evidence to uphold the conviction, or finding that Amanda and Raffaele did not commit the crime. They chose the latter, clearing them completely. I heard that Donald Trump paid her legal fees?! If that were true, I think he would have paid for a charter flight to get her home asap, and that didn't happen; she flew commercial. Where's our star tweeter on this situation? http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/oct/04/amanda-knox-meredith-kercher-media The Italian media, cowed, lazy and compliant, allowed a bullying prosecutor to frame Knox and Sollecito for the Kercher murder"}, {"response": 28, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Oct  4, 2011 (13:10)", "body": "In the apt, the police found lots of sexual toys drugs, it seems that Amanda was VERY sexually active(W)! Lots of men had been in her house. ;-)"}, {"response": 29, "author": "slpeg2003", "date": "Tue, Oct  4, 2011 (14:34)", "body": "(Moon)In the apt, the police found lots of sexual toys drugs, it seems that Amanda was VERY sexually active(W)! Lots of men had been in her house. ;-) Winkie = sarcasm? A vibrator (which she claimed was a bon voyage gag gift) and more than a couple of boyfriends makes one a she witch? Oh, and I forgot the pot!"}, {"response": 30, "author": "janet2", "date": "Tue, Oct  4, 2011 (14:39)", "body": "This is what disturbs me-she brought various strange men back to the flat. Meredith didn't approve, not surprisingly. I know how my daughter would feel in that situation, and put drugs into the mix, anything could, and apparently did, happen:-(( I still feel she was involved in some way, although most probably not in the actual murder. I really feel for the Kercher family-the agony goes on."}, {"response": 31, "author": "mari", "date": "Tue, Oct  4, 2011 (14:41)", "body": "The Madonna/whore complex, and the Italians seem to be big on it. You have to read this: http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-burleigh-knox-20111004,0,2921659.story In person, in prison and in the media, the woman convicted by an Italian court of murder \ufffd and now exonerated \ufffd was subjected to all manner of outlandish, misogynistic behavior."}, {"response": 32, "author": "slpeg2003", "date": "Tue, Oct  4, 2011 (15:04)", "body": "(Janet) I still feel she was involved in some way, although most probably not in the actual murder. Really? I don't think she had anything to do with it. The prosecutor needed a suspect and, voila!, he created \"luciferina\" \u2014 a she-devil \u2014 capable of a special, female duplicity Thanks Mari for the Nina Burleigh articles."}, {"response": 33, "author": "janet2", "date": "Tue, Oct  4, 2011 (17:40)", "body": "The prosecutor is an idiot, obviously, with his ranting comments He didn't help the prosecution case at all. I still believe she knows far more than she is letting on, but oui'll never know the full . -Would you let your daughter room with her?"}, {"response": 34, "author": "janet2", "date": "Tue, Oct  4, 2011 (17:41)", "body": "*full story-my PC's playing up:-("}, {"response": 35, "author": "janet2", "date": "Tue, Oct  4, 2011 (17:43)", "body": "The prosecutor didn't need a suspect, they had Guede."}, {"response": 36, "author": "mari", "date": "Wed, Oct  5, 2011 (00:13)", "body": "No, Amanda and Raffaele were arrested first. Guede wasn't arrested until further examination of the crime scene where they found his prints. The prosecutors and police then had to save face to avoid the embarrassment of a) admitting that they arrested the wrong people (Mignini was already under indictment) and b) previously and repeatedly failing to prosecute Guede in a series of break-ins with a knife. It's all here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/04/knox-acquittal-only-possible-verdict"}, {"response": 37, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Oct  5, 2011 (14:59)", "body": "PERUGIA, Italy \ufffd From the beginning, it was a case of contradictions, and the questions did not end with the verdict that freed Amanda Knox. The acquittal of the American and her ex-boyfriend in the murder of her British roommate left open the core mystery of whether anyone \ufffd other than the lone man still behind bars \ufffd took part in the brutal killing. But it also begged questions that stretch back to the early days of the investigation into the 2007 death of Meredith Kercher. Why did Knox initially tell prosecutors she was in the apartment that night and had to cover her ears to drown out her friend\ufffds screams as she was brutally attacked by a man Knox falsely accused? There was also a purported burglary at the apartment that night \ufffd staged, prosecutors alleged, by the killers to derail the investigation. Who staged it and why? And then there was the alibi of Knox\ufffds ex-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, whose conviction was also overturned Monday. He claimed he was at home working on his computer the night of Nov. 1, 2007, yet police testified there was no sign he had used it that evening. Monday\ufffds verdict, reversing Knox and Sollecito\ufffds 2009 murder convictions, didn\ufffdt answer any of those questions. And it\ufffds unlikely the appeals court\ufffds written explanation of its decision \ufffd due within 90 days \ufffd will shed much light, likely rendering the sensational case a mystery for years to come. On the core question of who killed Kercher, there may yet be further legal wrangling. A third defendant, Rudy Hermann Guede of the Ivory Coast, was convicted in a separate trial of sexually assaulting and stabbing Kercher, and his 16-year prison sentence \ufffd reduced on appeal from an initial 30 years \ufffd was upheld by Italy\ufffds highest court in 2010. Guede, a small-time drug dealer who fled Italy after the killing and was extradited from Germany to face the charges, acknowledged he was in Kercher\ufffds room the night she died but said he didn\ufffdt kill her. Guede said he believed Knox and Sollecito did, but offered no evidence to back up his claim. The high court ruling upholding his sentence said Guede didn\ufffdt act alone, though it didn\ufffdt name Knox or Sollecito as his accomplices. \ufffdThe courts agree he wasn\ufffdt acting alone,\ufffd the victim\ufffds brother, Lyle Kercher, told a news conference Tuesday. \ufffdIf those two are not the guilty parties, then who are the guilty people?\ufffd Guede\ufffds lawyer Valter Biscotti said he would seek to reopen the case for his client in light of the acquittals of Knox and Sollecito. He refused any further comment. AP http://www.suntimes.com/news/nation/8040460-418/amanda-knox-verdict-leaves-list-of-questions.html"}, {"response": 38, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Oct  5, 2011 (15:01)", "body": "Her prison time was actually for defamation. She accused a guy who was innocent, he had witnesses. Horrible business, but people should not make her out to be a victim. The real victim is dead."}, {"response": 39, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Oct  5, 2011 (16:11)", "body": "(Moon) Her prison time was actually for defamation Her time served was applied to the defamation charge after the fact."}, {"response": 40, "author": "Moon", "date": "Fri, Oct  7, 2011 (00:13)", "body": "They had the Amanda Lifetime movie on tonight caught a bit and I really believe she was involved somehow. I feel for the victim."}, {"response": 41, "author": "janet2", "date": "Fri, Oct  7, 2011 (05:48)", "body": "I would seem, from their,comments, that Meredith's family feel the same."}, {"response": 42, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Oct  7, 2011 (10:25)", "body": "(Moon) They had the Amanda Lifetime movie on tonight caught a bit and I really believe she was involved somehow. I feel for the victim. Didn't I tell you? So much for the complaints that all American media made her out to be innocent."}, {"response": 43, "author": "janet2", "date": "Fri, Oct  7, 2011 (12:01)", "body": "To be fair, most seem to believe her to be innocent, although one article I read, I think in a Chicago newspaper, was more impartial, and some of the comments on the article were really vicious in their condemnation of the author."}, {"response": 44, "author": "lindak", "date": "Sun, Oct  9, 2011 (21:07)", "body": "I suggest reading The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston. It's based on aerial murders that took place over a 20+ year span in Perugia. He finished it just as Amanda Knox was arrested. He, himself, was fleeing Florence and Magnini. If you want some hard core insight on just how diabolical the prosecutor Magnini is-read that book. No surprise that he's been indicted for his evidence and witness tampering in the serial murder case---yet was allowed to prosecute the Knox case. The book is a good read, and Preston goes on to explain about how everyone makes money...most especially the newspapers. He also predicted that she would be found guilty and then set free on the appeal, because that's the way of Italian justice-or lack of. My brother left the book behind and I happened upon it. Fascinating to see the similarities played out in the book regarding one case, while the first Knox trial was underway."}, {"response": 45, "author": "lindak", "date": "Sun, Oct  9, 2011 (21:08)", "body": "that should be serial murders."}, {"response": 46, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Oct 10, 2011 (12:37)", "body": "The Monster of Florence killed in Florence, not Perugia. Usually couples."}, {"response": 47, "author": "mari", "date": "Tue, Oct 11, 2011 (17:11)", "body": "At this point, I'd say enough of my tax dollars have been wasted on this murderer. http://news.yahoo.com/court-turns-down-philly-da-cop-killing-case-141921477.html?bouchon=504,pa"}, {"response": 48, "author": "lindak", "date": "Tue, Oct 11, 2011 (20:47)", "body": "(Moon) The Monster of Florence killed in Florence, not Perugia. Usually couples. Yes, the serial murders were in Florence and the Knox case in Perugia, but Magnini was the prosecutor in both. And his actions in both were similar -despicable-leading to his own indictment. Just when you think it's over, MAJ case rears it's ugly head, yet, again;-("}, {"response": 49, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sat, Oct 15, 2011 (02:33)", "body": "Berlusconi won the confidence vote again. Livia is in Milan and some guy called her a communist because she was quite vocal in her disgust. Lol."}, {"response": 50, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sat, Oct 15, 2011 (13:58)", "body": "In Rome, the left never keeps a protest peaceful, shame on them: Police fire tear gas as protesters riot in Rome ROME (AP) \ufffd Italian police fired tear gas and water cannons Saturday in Rome as violent protesters turned a demonstration against corporate greed into a riot, smashing shop and bank windows, torching cars and hurling bottles. The protest in the Italian capital, which left dozens injured, was part of the \"Occupy Wall Street\" demonstrations against capitalism and austerity measures that went global Saturday. Tens of thousands nicknamed \"the indignant\" marched in major cities across Europe, as protests that began in New York linked up with long-running demonstrations against government cost-cutting and failed financial policies in Europe. Heavy smoke billowed into the air in downtown Rome as a small group broke away from the main demonstration and wreaked havoc in streets close to the Colosseum. Clad in black with their faces covered, protesters threw rocks, bottles and incendiary devices at banks and Rome police in riot gear. Some protesters had clubs, others had hammers. They destroyed bank ATMs, set trash bins on fire and assaulted at least two news crews from Sky Italia. TV footage showed police in riot gear charging the protesters and firing water cannons at them. Several police forces and protesters were injured, including one man trying to stop the protesters from throwing bottles. TV footage showed a young woman with blood covering her face, while the ANSA news agency said one man had lost two fingers when a firecracker exploded. In the city's St. John in Lateran square, police vans came under attack, with protesters hurling rocks and cobblestones and smashing the vehicles. One police van was set ablaze, but the two people inside were able to abandon the vehicle. Peaceful demonstrators who could not leave the square climbed up the staircase outside the Basilica, one of the oldest in Rome. Rome Mayor Gianni Alemanno blamed the violence on \"a few thousand thugs from all over Italy, and possibly from all over Europe.\" He said some Rome museums were forced to close down because of the violence. Some protesters also trashed offices of the Defense Ministry and set them on fire, causing the roof to collapse, reports said. Police were out in force as up to 100,000 protesters had been expected a day after Premier Silvio Berlusconi barely survived a confidence vote in Parliament. Italy, which has a national debt ratio second only to Greece in the 17-nation eurozone, is rapidly becoming a focus of concern in Europe's debt crisis. \"People of Europe: Rise Up!\" read one banner in Rome. Some peaceful demonstrators turned against the violent group and tried to stop them, hurling bottles, Sky Italia and ANSA said. Others fled, scared by the raw violence. ANSA said four people from an anarchist group were arrested early Saturday morning, with police seizing helmets, anti-gas masks, clubs and hundreds of bottles from their car. Elsewhere, bright autumn sunshine and a social media campaign brought out thousands across Europe. In Frankfurt, continental Europe's financial hub, some 5,000 people protested at the European Central Bank, and some were setting up a tent camp aiming at permanently occupying the green space in front of the ECB building. Wikileaks founder Julian Assange spoke to about 500 demonstrators outside St. Paul's cathedral in London, calling the international banking system a \"recipient of corrupt money.\" U.K. police contained most London demonstrators in the streets around the cathedral, near the city's financial district. Protesters erected tents and asked supporters to bring them blankets, food and water as they settled down for the evening. Several hundreds more marched in the German cities of Berlin, Cologne and Munich and the Austrian capital of Vienna, while protesters in Zurich, Switzerland's financial hub, carried banners reading \"We won't bail you out yet again\" and \"We are the 99 percent.\" In Brussels, thousands of marched through the downtown area chanting \"Criminal bankers caused this crisis!\" They pelted the stock exchange building with old shoes then marched on to the European Union sector. Protesters also accused NATO, which has its headquarters in Brussels, of wasting taxpayer money on the wars in Libya and Afghanistan, saying that one European soldier deployed to Afghanistan costs the equivalent of 11 high school teachers. In Helsinki, around 300 activists held a peaceful, creative rally with homemade signs and stalls full of art and food. In Spain, the Indignant Movement established the first around-the-clock \"occupation\" protest camps in cities and towns across the country beginning in May and lasting for weeks. Six marches were converging Saturday on Madrid's Puerta del Sol plaza just before dusk. Portuguese angry at their government's handling of the economic crisis were protesting in downtown Lisbon later. Portugal is one of three European nations \ufffd the others being Greece "}, {"response": 51, "author": "janet2", "date": "Sat, Oct 15, 2011 (20:34)", "body": "I see nothing wrong with protests in a democracy, however, extreme minorities will often hijack the proceedings. Shame on them!"}, {"response": 52, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sat, Oct 15, 2011 (21:40)", "body": "I am thrilled to have people out there peacefully protesting. It's about time. Those troublemakers should be locked up. I hope they catch them."}, {"response": 53, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Oct 16, 2011 (11:24)", "body": "A quote from the president of the NYSE, \"let them eat cake.\" ;-)"}, {"response": 54, "author": "janet2", "date": "Thu, Oct 20, 2011 (20:57)", "body": "So, Gaddafi is dead- apparently, unless is was one of his lookalikes. Can't agree with the way it was done however, parading him around the streets before shooting him. Better for him to be put on trial, as would happen in a civilised society."}, {"response": 55, "author": "lesleycdix", "date": "Fri, Oct 21, 2011 (03:27)", "body": "I agree with you Janet. I celebrate the capture of a tyrant, but cannot indulge in cheering the death of anyone. This is reminiscent of the initial televised bombing in the Gulf war. The studio presenters were whooping and yelling. Only Tony Benn pointed out that people were dying. Whilst I wholeheartedly applaud the return to democracy, I cannot support the triumphal gloat that the media [and members of the U.K. government] are encouraging. A civilised society encourages fairness and compassion, and that means trial not state murder. His murderers have, for fanatics, turned Gaddafi into the martyr he once promised to be. [As I was writing this, the father of a girl killed in the Locherbie [sp?] bombing was making exactly this point on breakfast TV. He felt the outcome had not served the cause of justice for him or his daughter.]"}, {"response": 56, "author": "janet2", "date": "Fri, Oct 21, 2011 (12:35)", "body": "I agree completely Lesley. The photos on the front pages of virtually all the newspapers are disgusting-why expose our children to this? There's a watershed on TV, and the news bulletins warn of any upsetting images, but this is in our face, whether we, or our children, want to see it or not. It's just not civilised:-( We should not stoop to his level."}, {"response": 57, "author": "Aberdeen", "date": "Fri, Oct 21, 2011 (13:37)", "body": "The ironic thing with this tyrant was that the west vacillated between trying to persecute him on one hand and befriend him on the other hand depending on what suited their needs of the day and whether or not he took his meds. There are lots of pictures of Berlesconi, Rice, Blair and others happily meeting with this clown every time he had a change of heart and then bombing him when the country became unstable due to rebellion. Politics is a truly disturbing and dirty business. The man should not have been assassinated as seemingly happened after capture but rather tried and executed becuase a lot of vital information might have been lost.He was crazy for sure, perhaps crazy like a fox, but still brutal."}, {"response": 58, "author": "Aberdeen", "date": "Fri, Oct 21, 2011 (13:39)", "body": "Oops, \"because\"...typo! I just hope whoever succeeds him isn't as bad."}, {"response": 59, "author": "Moon", "date": "Fri, Oct 21, 2011 (14:07)", "body": "The devil you know. I'm not sure democracy is possible in the Middle East. That said, G was a terrorist responsible for the Pam Am disaster, and I'm glad he's dead. The way in which the media is handling it is horrible. IMO, it will incite other barbarians to more attacks on the West."}, {"response": 60, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Oct 21, 2011 (14:37)", "body": "Somewhat on a par with how Mussolini was disposed."}, {"response": 61, "author": "janet2", "date": "Fri, Oct 21, 2011 (15:00)", "body": "I remember my father telling us as children that he had seen Mussolini and his girlfriend strung up(he was an Allied Soldier)."}, {"response": 62, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sat, Oct 22, 2011 (16:09)", "body": "My DH did mention that about Mussolini. Horrible."}, {"response": 63, "author": "janet2", "date": "Tue, Nov  8, 2011 (00:01)", "body": "The end of an era? http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/8873137/Italian-Prime-Minister-Silvio-Berlusconi-in-negotiations-to-hold-together-governing-coalition.html"}, {"response": 64, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Nov  9, 2011 (20:50)", "body": "I'll miss the olde boy. He provided lots of color in an otherwise dull group of pols. And Italy's huge social -state debt is not his entire fault."}, {"response": 65, "author": "cfadm", "date": "Thu, Nov 10, 2011 (13:48)", "body": "test."}, {"response": 66, "author": "springnet", "date": "Thu, Jan 17, 2013 (02:37)", "body": "test"}, {"response": 67, "author": "cfadm", "date": "Mon, Jan 21, 2013 (03:39)", "body": "test"}, {"response": 68, "author": "janet2", "date": "Wed, Feb 20, 2013 (17:16)", "body": "Will he ever go away??: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/feb/20/silvio-berlusconi-tax-letter"}, {"response": 69, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Feb 27, 2013 (17:59)", "body": "Apparently not. Saw this and had to look up this \"George Clooney of the Vatican\"! Oldies like me might refer to him as the real Father Ralph deBricasssart. ;-) Leading Catholic Blogger Sees More Evidence That The Pope Is Gay Adam Taylor | Feb. 27, 2013, 2:31 PM | 8,730 | 62 Pope Benedict XVI will officially retire at 8 p.m. tomorrow, but his retirement package is raising a few eyebrows \ufffd and resurrecting rumors about his sexuality. Rather than decamp to some monastery in Germany as many expected, Benedict will instead stay living in the Vatican. CNN reports he will be living in the Mater Ecclesiae (Mother of the Church) building, which formerly housed a cloistered convent in the Vatican gardens. He will be referred to as the \"emeritus pope\" and keep wearing the white \ufffd though he will lose his trademark red shoes, perhaps wearing a pair of \"handcrafted brown loafers\" instead, the WSJ reports. One detail that has caused particular scrutiny is that the Pope will continue to live with his trusted secretary Archbishop Georg Ganswein, who will also be head of the new Pope's household \ufffd from the sounds of it, working two jobs. The Vatican denies that Ganswein working for both the old Pope and the new Pope will cause any conflict of interest. But there's a more scandalous question as well, as put forward by Andrew Sullivan, perhaps the best-known Catholic blogger in America, today: So Benedict\ufffds handsome male companion will continue to live with him, while working for the other Pope during the day. Are we supposed to think that\ufffds, well, a normal arrangement? Sulivan, a gay man himself, has raised the question of the Pope's sexuality before (he doesn't suggest that the Pope has acted upon his sexual urges, we should note). In 2010 he wrote that \"it seems pretty obvious to me ... that the current Pope is a gay man,\" and went on to describe his reasoning: When you look at the Pope's mental architecture (I've read a great deal of his writing over the last two decades) you do see that strong internal repression does make sense of his life and beliefs. At times, it seems to me, his gayness is almost wince-inducing. The prissy fastidiousness, the effeminate voice, the fixation on liturgy and ritual, and the over-the-top clothing accessories are one thing. But what resonates with me the most is a theology that seems crafted from solitary introspection into a perfect, abstract unity of belief. It is so perfect it reflects a life of withdrawal from the world of human relationship, rather than an interaction with it. Of course, this kind of work is not inherently homosexual; but I have known so many repressed gay men who can only live without severe pain in the world if they create a perfect abstraction of what it is, and what their role is in it. Sullivan isn't exactly alone in his suspicions. He points towards a book by Angelo Quattrocchi (playfully titled \"The Pope is Not Gay\") that he felt reached similar conclusions. In addition, former Benedictine monk-priest and author Richard Sipe claims to have spoken to a number of Roman clerics and members of the Roman press corps who were \"convinced\" that Benedict XVI was gay. Of course, it doesn't help the rumors that Ganswein has become something of a star in his own right. He's been dubbed the \"The George Clooney of the Vatican,\ufffd and appeared on the cover of the Italian Vanity Fair under the headline \ufffdIt\ufffds no sin to be good looking.\ufffd Donatella Versace has even dedicated a menswear collection to him. Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/benedict-xvi-to-live-with-georg-ganswein-2013-2#ixzz2M8vzqmJC"}, {"response": 70, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Feb 27, 2013 (19:41)", "body": "That guy is no Father Ralph deBricasssart. Not nearly attractive enough. He's just ok. I did read Sullivan's piece earlier today, but the picture they had of him was a side view and I couldn't get a good sense of his looks. The whole mess with the Pope resigning is just too bizarre."}, {"response": 71, "author": "janet2", "date": "Wed, Feb 27, 2013 (20:35)", "body": "I bought a calendar of very handsome priests (Calendario Romano) when I was in Rome a few years ago. The Vatican has no problem with it(surprisingly) but the Head Teacher at the Roman Catholic school where I worked asked me to remove it from the staffroom:-))"}, {"response": 72, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Wed, Feb 27, 2013 (22:56)", "body": "Ok, the calendar is kind of....odd."}, {"response": 73, "author": "Aberdeen", "date": "Thu, Feb 28, 2013 (14:37)", "body": "Catholicism still has such an archaic attitude about sex and sexual orientation. They, and some other religions, need to pull their heads out of the 10th century. I don't care about priestly orientation but I do care about their integrity and honesty and this is spoken by one who is FAR from being religious."}, {"response": 74, "author": "janet2", "date": "Thu, Feb 28, 2013 (20:59)", "body": "Speaking as someone who has no religious beliefs, so I have no axe to grind so to speak, I do think it unfair to single out Catholicism regarding such attitudes. However, this is a very difficult period for the Catholic Church, and it's not over yet. The most senior Catholic in the UK, Cardinal O'Brien (no relation!) has resigned with allegations of impropriety still to be addressed. Rumour is that a major investigation into blackmail and other issues at the Vatican precipitated the Pope's decision to stand down. This will run and run. I do feel for those, such as my DH, who are devout believers."}, {"response": 75, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Mar  1, 2013 (22:46)", "body": "And my aunt, the nun. She told me the other day that the Holy Spirit will help guide them and sort it out. I asked her where the Holy Spirit disappeared to to let them get in this mess to begin with."}, {"response": 76, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Mar  5, 2013 (11:10)", "body": "How appalling, including amazon's insufficient response! Critics Demand Amazon Donation for Selling T-Shirts that Promote Abuse By Elise Sol\ufffd, Shine Staff Retail giant Amazon was asked to make a \"substantial donation\" to a woman's refuge on Saturday night after its UK website offered T-shirts for sale promoting rape and violence against women. The T-shirts, which were also manufactured and sold in the U.S., included slogans were spun off the phrase, \"Keep Calm and Carry On\", a famous British propaganda slogan and included shirts that read: \"Keep Calm and Hit Her\", \"Keep Calm and Rape a Lot\" and \"Keep Calm and Rape Them\" for $23\ufffd$26. By mid-morning Saturday, Amazon had received hundreds of angry complaints and removed the pages, but Harriet Harman, the shadow Culture Secretary who called on Amazon to make the donation, told The Independent that the decision to sell the merchandise was \"absolutely outrageous\" and that \"Domestic violence and sex offenses are not something people should make money out of. [Amazon's] supposed to be a public company. My suggestion is they give all profits they made from it to a women's refuge.\" She also added that Amazon could make a \"substantial donation\" to End Violence Against Women and Women's Aid. More on Yahoo! Shine: Urban Outfitters' Curse-word Filled Holiday Catalog Sparks Outrage On Saturday, Michael Fowler, the founder of Solid Gold Bomb, the Melbourne, Australia based company that produces the T-shirts in both the United States and Oxford, issued an apology on his company's website that in part read: \"No words can express how I feel about what has occurred and in no way do I condone or promote this serious issue. I will offer a more in depth explanation of cause to explain what and how this occurred. Both myself and our company and it's associated Solid Gold Bomb brand have never had any intention of the spread of violent slogans or even poor taste humor t-shirts. This was a computer error of my creation and I accept my responsibility in the matter.\" Fowler further explained that the shirts were merely a result of a computer glitch, saying they were created by an \ufffdautomated process\ufffd that \ufffdrelied on both computer based dictionaries and online educational resources ie. verb lists\ufffd to generate a parody of \ufffdKeep Calm.\ufffd Amazon UK\ufffdThese were subsequently scripted to position themselves on t-shirts and the associated product data was derived simply from the product name and the 16 word combinations like \ufffdOn\ufffd and \ufffdOff\ufffd and \ufffdHim\ufffd or \ufffdHer\ufffd and so forth,\ufffd wrote Fowler. \ufffdNear all of these combinations either work or don\ufffdt work and are certainly non-offensive such as \ufffdDream On\ufffd and \ufffdDance Off\ufffd and so forth.\ufffd He also said \"These items sat online and on non-indexed servers for the last year and myself and our company had no idea of the issue\" and that \ufffdAs a father, husband, brother and son, I would never promote such product in our company and it was clear to see this when looking across the millions of t-shirts that we offer or can produce on demand. Had these items ever sold, we would have immediately pulled the series and are doing so on our own and Amazon channels worldwide.\ufffd The company may have also had \"no idea\" that they sold other T-shirts that read: \"Keep Calm and Knife Her,\" \"Keep Calm and Choke Her,\" and \"Keep Calm and Grope On.\" Amazon.com did not return Shine's calls for comment but an Amazon UK spokesperson said that the \"Keep Calm and Hit Her\" T-shirts were \"not available for sale.\" In addition, none of the other shirts in question were available by Sunday afternoon. Solid Gold Bomb had also removed its Facebook and Twitter accounts but on Sunday a new page on Facebook called \"Solid Gold Bomb Sucks\" with an Amazon logo serving as its profile picture surfaced with 33 likes so far and calls for the public to boycott the brand. Other critics are taking to Amazon's website and Twitter account posting messages such as \"Advocating violence against women is unacceptable. This product perpetuates sexism and is absolutely despicable.\" The former labor deputy leader John Prescott tweeted: \"First Amazon avoids paying UK tax. Now they're making money from domestic violence.\" And Sophie Bennett, the campaigns and policy officer for human rights organization Object said: \"These T-shirts are not harmless fun. The are dangerous and intimidating. In promoting rape and normalizing abuse, they create a context in which violence against women is acceptable.\" Whether Amazon will make things (somewhat) right with a donation remains to be seen. http://shine.yahoo.com/healthy-living/critics-demand-donation-from-amazon-for-selling-t-shirts-that-promote-abuse-171433415.html"}, {"response": 77, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Mar  6, 2013 (14:33)", "body": "Well, I suppose she could have been stopping herself from saying dog, as that would be totally rude to say about a gift that was clearly intended for the baby: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/kate-middleton/9913485/Kates-slip-of-the-tongue-may-have-given-away-babys-sex.html"}, {"response": 78, "author": "janet2", "date": "Wed, Mar  6, 2013 (19:32)", "body": "Whether or not it was a slip of the tongue, I am of the old school, and would never want to know the sex before birth. I have heard parents-to-be referring to their expected child by name in the early months of the pregnancy. I just don't like it! I have yet to be a grandmother, but really hope my children don't want to know-it would be near impossible to keep it from close family. My niece didn't tell me directly about her last child, but from her comments, it was patently obvious she was having a boy."}, {"response": 79, "author": "slpeg2003", "date": "Wed, Mar  6, 2013 (19:43)", "body": "The 'darling'? I didn't know with the first child until a few hours before he was born but found out the second was a girl with the 4 month ultrasound. I did not bother me."}, {"response": 80, "author": "janet2", "date": "Wed, Mar  6, 2013 (19:50)", "body": "With my last child, I found out accidentally at 20 weeks when I had a detailed scan. I glanced over at the wrong time, and saw irrefutable evidence of a boy. It was so difficult to keep it to myself for the next 4+ months, since my DH, like me, preferred not to know in advance."}, {"response": 81, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Mar  7, 2013 (22:01)", "body": "Grillo is a breath of fresh air: http://world.time.com/2013/03/07/italys-beppe-grillo-meet-the-rogue-comedian-turned-kingmaker/"}, {"response": 82, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Mar 10, 2013 (11:22)", "body": "He looks kind of crazed in that picture. Like a mug shot of those celebrities who went on a drug or alcohol binge and got unruly in public."}, {"response": 83, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sun, Mar 10, 2013 (11:56)", "body": "As you can imagine, the press hates him. He wants to take away their comfy subsidy. And why should the Italian Gov give them money? Did you know we have almost 1000 congressmen/senators? Plus senators for life. In a country with 60 million, ridiculous! There's another big bulk of government money. Let's start cutting there."}, {"response": 84, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Sun, Mar 10, 2013 (12:27)", "body": "And actually, someone like him is exactly what we need here. More than one of him actually. I suppose we had that with Ralph Nader and Ross Perot, but our 3rd party candidates did nothing more than siphon off some votes (especially Ralph Nader) from a more viable candidate. I'd love to see our entrenched 2-party system upended (hopefully for the better), but not sure if that would happen in my lifetime. I think at least initially, someone like NY Mayor Bloomberg (who even IMO has overstayed his welcome - I did vote for him twice, but not the 3rd time), who could self-finance a campaign and not be beholden to special interests as he did for mayor, would be the one to break through."}, {"response": 85, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Mar 10, 2013 (12:51)", "body": "(Moon) Did you know we have almost 1000 congressmen/senators? Cuttig down the number of aldermen (and their paid staffs/expenses) surfaced recently as a way of reducing the cost of local govt. From a Better Government Association Article (Dec 10, 2010) \"Should Chicago Cut the Size if its City Council? BGA Analysis does the Math\" Chicago has 50 Aldermen and 2,851,268 people as a population, while New York has 51 Aldermen and 8,391,881 people as a population. Each Alderman in Chicago represents an average of 57,000 citizens and earns a salary of $110,000 with an additional $176,800 for staff. From the date, you can see that idea went nowhere. Patronage, all the other hangers-on and their corrupt friends ensure the status quo, but also reducing the city council membership is viewed as concentrating more power with the mayor."}, {"response": 86, "author": "janet2", "date": "Mon, Mar 11, 2013 (18:46)", "body": "Shocking:-(("}, {"response": 87, "author": "Aberdeen", "date": "Mon, Mar 11, 2013 (19:59)", "body": "Ain't that the truth. Leonora knew whereof she spoke. The trillions hidden by the wealthy of every nation could pay off all country's national debts if they paid even a minimal % tax rate. They fuss over the rates they pay on the wee bit that they don't hide but what they do hide is astronomical. Warren Buffet admits he pays a lower % than his secretary and that is only on what he declares minus the loopholes. Hoarded money only helps the hoarder. Meanwhile the poor get poorer."}, {"response": 88, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Mar 11, 2013 (21:24)", "body": "It really makes me sick. It's such an obvious solution, a start anyway. Dorine, I also blame Nader for giving us Bush. I don't think the US would be in such a mess with Gore."}, {"response": 89, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Mar 13, 2013 (18:23)", "body": "Jorge Mario Bergoglio Sounds Italian to me. ;-)"}, {"response": 90, "author": "janet2", "date": "Wed, Mar 13, 2013 (18:46)", "body": "His parents are Italian immigrants."}, {"response": 91, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Mar 13, 2013 (19:09)", "body": "Yes, I am aware of that. news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 11, "subject": "stupid things in the news", "response_count": 264, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "drymartini", "date": "Sat, Dec 28, 1996 (17:05)", "body": ""}, {"response": 2, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Dec 28, 1996 (17:21)", "body": ""}, {"response": 3, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Wed, Oct 15, 1997 (22:50)", "body": ""}, {"response": 4, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Oct 16, 1997 (09:38)", "body": "Yeah, it's way too broad."}, {"response": 5, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Feb  3, 1998 (14:24)", "body": "More stupid things in the news dept: the whole Lewinksy affair. Had too much? Will it ever end? The media and net seem obsessed with it and it's actually seemed to boost Clinton's job approval rating and interest in his programs."}, {"response": 6, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Feb  3, 1998 (18:16)", "body": "No, no. Don't take sex and scandal out of the headlines... Why, I'd just DIYIYIYE (Scarlett O'Hara)"}, {"response": 7, "author": "pmnh", "date": "Tue, Feb  3, 1998 (18:51)", "body": "karla faye is dead... guess it's safe to walk the streets again... (makes you proud to be a texan, don't it? we kill 'em better than anybody else...)"}, {"response": 8, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Feb  3, 1998 (19:09)", "body": "Not especially proud, it wasn't a great moment for Texas. It shows emphatically that there's no such thing as clemency in Texas. She erred, no doubt, but she changed and went out as graciously as circumstances would allow."}, {"response": 9, "author": "pmnh", "date": "Tue, Feb  3, 1998 (19:27)", "body": "i agree- 'twas only my half-assed attempt at mockery... really got to me, actually... i don't believe in capital punishment, of course, under any circumstances (not even sting)... but this really made me ill... makes me ashamed (did you hear the crowd cheering?)..."}, {"response": 10, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Feb  4, 1998 (14:53)", "body": "crowd, you mean, lynch mob. I heard it live on local tv. The Fox affiliate carried it last night. Did anyone catch the story on Ira Einhorn, the hippie guru from the 60s and 70s Philadelphia scene, who killed his girlfriend and split to France and was just found after 14 years on the run? It was on Dateline NBC the other night and there's a website that's pretty informative. Check out http://www.amgot.org/holly.htm This page recounts this amazing, bizarre tale of a 60s/70s hippie flower child gone awry and the demise of a beautiful, poetic woman."}, {"response": 11, "author": "stacey", "date": "Wed, Feb  4, 1998 (17:18)", "body": "gary davis' execution was handled in much the same, unsavory manner... Coloradoans were none too proud of that one. the monkey problem in Ito, Japan. Now THERE's a story."}, {"response": 13, "author": "pmnh", "date": "Thu, Feb  5, 1998 (01:04)", "body": "yeah, what is the nature of ito's monkey problem? (are they like driving pick-up trucks and voting and stuff, like they do around here?)"}, {"response": 14, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Feb  5, 1998 (17:13)", "body": "no. they are entering people's homes and attacking them (by biting ankles) three foot monkeys attacking people in the street and in the markets. experts (?!?!?!) figure they are seeking food but don't understand the aggression. individuals are beating them off with sticks and shooting blanks but it doesn't seem to be working."}, {"response": 15, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Feb  5, 1998 (22:08)", "body": "Kind of like the cat problem in Australia? Cats have been made illegal in Australia because they were eradicating about 100 endangered species a day."}, {"response": 16, "author": "pmnh", "date": "Thu, Feb  5, 1998 (22:26)", "body": "(guess that precludes stacey's ever going australian)... the ankle-biting monkey thing is really cool... perhaps they're approaching the situation with the wrong attitude... could have real growth industry potential... can think of several practical applications for these animals (having recently spoken with my ex-wife)..."}, {"response": 17, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Feb  6, 1998 (12:54)", "body": "*smile*"}, {"response": 18, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Mar  2, 1998 (01:39)", "body": "Any stupid thangs in the news lately?"}, {"response": 19, "author": "pmnh", "date": "Mon, Mar  2, 1998 (04:37)", "body": ""}, {"response": 20, "author": "autumn", "date": "Tue, Mar  3, 1998 (13:15)", "body": "There was that girl in New England who shoplifted some merchandise totaling $103. She claimed that since some of it was on sale, the total was actually $97, which made her eligible for the lesser offense of theft under $100. It worked for her, anyway!"}, {"response": 21, "author": "zx6rider", "date": "Tue, Mar  3, 1998 (14:33)", "body": "Welcome to New England! And ya'll though Texas justice was strage..."}, {"response": 22, "author": "autumn", "date": "Tue, Mar  3, 1998 (15:27)", "body": "Where in NE are you, Gena?"}, {"response": 23, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Mar  4, 1998 (06:58)", "body": "Did I mention how Jerry Springer got busted from politics and thus got into shock tv? He wrote a bad check to a prostitute."}, {"response": 24, "author": "zx6rider", "date": "Wed, Mar  4, 1998 (12:41)", "body": "I'm in Massachusetts, where if you're a Kennedy you get away with murder (literally), but they'll comb the earth looking for you if you're a dead beat dad."}, {"response": 25, "author": "pmnh", "date": "Wed, Mar  4, 1998 (23:48)", "body": "my god... are you referring to chappaquidick? (been a long time since i've heard that dredged up... don't attend many chamber mixers these days, though)... and- speaking of dead beat dads- what IS ol' newt up to, anyway?"}, {"response": 26, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Mar 10, 1998 (11:56)", "body": "Don't say you werent' warned department: From: 13011516@32045.com Date: Mon, 09 Mar 98 23:40:06 EST To: Friend@public.com Subject: Sanctuary.... SACRED LAND-SACRED SKY SANCTUARY As the mellininum comes to an end, so does the time that certain land areas and populations have left. A look at the El Nino storms and rain patterns show the areas of the USA THAT WILL BE GONE. There are areas left where it will be safe for you and your family...send for the maps of these areas....the maps are free to land buyers through my buyer represented land company--SANCTUARY. ... SANCTUARY also can provide for your security needs, personal body guards to bullet resistant vehicles-such as Explorers, Suburbans, and normal street cars. We also have qualified police instructors for any and all type of carriable weapons. ... ONE HINT--Florida, California, land touching the Mississippi river, the Atlantic or Pacific oceans, New York City, DC, vast areas of Texas, and the gulf area are as good as gone...if you live in these areas this info is a must."}, {"response": 27, "author": "autumn", "date": "Tue, Mar 10, 1998 (12:24)", "body": "Wow, that's beyond alarmist...those people are scary!"}, {"response": 28, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Mar 10, 1998 (12:50)", "body": "But they can't spell millenium!"}, {"response": 29, "author": "pmnh", "date": "Tue, Mar 10, 1998 (23:04)", "body": "kirt the computer geek told me once that he'd had a vision in a dream, pretty much describing what was depicted above... in his version, though, he'd been chosen by these sort of alien space gods to inform the people of earth re: the pending catastrophe, and to then lead the \"select\" (those heeding the warning) into a new millenium of human-alien-kirt brotherhood or something... of course, he was far less paranoid then..."}, {"response": 31, "author": "drool", "date": "Wed, Mar 11, 1998 (01:00)", "body": "DON'T BE TO AMUSED, LAST YEAR I HAD A DREAM {in the condensed version here) WERE I SAW A MULTITUDE OF PEOPLES LIVING ON SHIPS OF EVERY KIND. I (in my dream) WAS ON A SMALL ISLAND AND AS I WATCHED THESE BOATS LEAVING I FELT VERY SAD FOR THEM. AND I AM NOT IN THE LEST BIT AN ALARMEST. IT WAS VERY SCARY AND I AWOKE IN FLOOD OF SWEAT. I WOULD IMAGINE THAT I AM NOT THE ONLY ONE TO HAVE DREAMS AS THIS..... OR AM I??? MAKE YOU WONDER?, DROOL"}, {"response": 32, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Mar 11, 1998 (07:49)", "body": "Did you see Titanic that night before you went to bed, drool?"}, {"response": 33, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Mar 11, 1998 (07:54)", "body": "Kitchen manager is *spreading all caps*."}, {"response": 34, "author": "autumn", "date": "Wed, Mar 11, 1998 (14:39)", "body": "Yes, but can he spell \"millenium\" correctly?"}, {"response": 36, "author": "drool", "date": "Thu, Mar 12, 1998 (02:00)", "body": "TERRY Acutually ,if you read my scriblings at a slower speed,you would notice I had the dream a year ago.I did not even know who leanardo de'crapio was, and the movie wasn't even out. don't you know how to read freind? or did I spell it wrong? drool"}, {"response": 37, "author": "pmnh", "date": "Thu, Mar 12, 1998 (02:26)", "body": "(kirt?)"}, {"response": 38, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Mar 12, 1998 (07:59)", "body": "Well, then I stand corrected drool. Those caps threw me I guess. I wonder if we have a dreams topic somewhere."}, {"response": 39, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Thu, Mar 12, 1998 (08:59)", "body": "that would really be cool!"}, {"response": 40, "author": "LaughingSky", "date": "Fri, Mar 13, 1998 (09:11)", "body": "It's been a month or so, ago, since I saw this on the news, but it was one of those stories that made you think, \"Well, DUH...!!!\" Marine life is , apparently, washing up on the shores of the Atlantic, being found to have tumors. Scientists are \"working hard to solve this mystery\"... Excuse me...mystery? I wonder if the \"hard-working\" scientists have made any connection to this event with the toxic chemicals that we are dumping into our waterways? I figure that it will take years and years of spending our tax dollars to come up with that answer..."}, {"response": 41, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Mar 13, 1998 (12:23)", "body": "From: http://www.sightings.com/political/clinton2.htm CLINTON HAS A CLONE!!!!! By Sherman H. Skolnick Long whispered about, a file now has surfaced from the KGB, the secret police of the former Soviet Union. Several commentators have the file and are silent cowards. Some declare the death of network broadcaster Brit Hume's son is linked to this. Was it murder or suicide? The KGB file shows that the person identified as or calling himself William Jefferson Clinton has an exact double, except for a few details such as a recently removed mole and distinctive private parts. Hey: Do Paula Corbin Jones and Monica Lewinsky know the truth? For some 70 years, Russian scientists have perfected ways to create doubles. Mass media items about animal clones may be the way the press fakers skirt around the truth. And who publicly condemned the idea of manufacturing humans? Why, the alleged Clinton. (Which \"Clinton\" made the public statement?) The KGB file details the relationship of the alleged Clinton -- actually the alleged CLINTONS, plural -- with the Czechoslovak Communist Party Chief's son in Prague and at Oxford. The KGB threw junior off a roof to his death (the file gives the grisly details) because he discovered about the clone. The file, step by step, gives the chronology of how the alleged Clinton was groomed from an early age by both the CIA and the KGB. Useful was his split personality syndrome which often makes \"Clinton\" forget who he is and makes him not know murder from love. With young \"Clinton\" supposedly under =his= wing, the CIA Station Chief in London went along, hoping to unravel KGB methods, the file asserts. The alleged Clinton was tracked as he attended anti-war rallies in Europe -- set up by the American CIA but actually by KGB. Sort of a series of Chinese trick boxes. ...and much, much more."}, {"response": 42, "author": "drool", "date": "Fri, Mar 13, 1998 (17:05)", "body": "Has anyone noticed the recent hype about asteroids. Think there trying to get us ready for the worst. I remember all the hype about earthquakes and then, one day while watching the world series my apartment began to rumble. 7.1 '88 Loma Prieta, I was living in frisco. that scared the crap out of me. good thing I wasn't on I 180 or the bay bridge when it hit. funny thing I don't even like baseball that much. saw some really ugly s--t in that one. drool"}, {"response": 43, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Mar 13, 1998 (17:58)", "body": "We have a whole Asteroid! topic here. No one can seem to find it, it's lost in space right now."}, {"response": 44, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Mar 13, 1998 (18:01)", "body": "correct me if I'm wrong but... that quake was not during the world series, in fact the nation debated on whether or not to have the world series after such a tragedy... I only remember because I wrote an editorial about the debate (that was back in my sports reporting days!)"}, {"response": 45, "author": "drool", "date": "Sat, Mar 14, 1998 (19:23)", "body": "Terry, You know I don't really remember the game all that much. i do remember running into the parking lot a watching as the telephone poles swayed back and fourth, and feeling the asphalt rolling under my feet like waves in the ocean. I am sure I stand corrected, thank you.... drool"}, {"response": 46, "author": "pmnh", "date": "Sun, Mar 15, 1998 (03:50)", "body": "there was a game scheduled that evening... (a's & giants, series on the bay, '89, right?)... it occurred just minutes before gametime, and al michaels (on hand to do the game) basically covered the thing for abc... guess the debate centered on whether or not to move the series in the aftermath, because of the possibility of aftershocks... was postponed for awhile, if i remember correctly, but continued on the bay without further incident (esp. from the giants, who were swept)..."}, {"response": 47, "author": "drool", "date": "Wed, Mar 18, 1998 (17:48)", "body": "I was wacthing the game in progress. I am not much of a sports fan but I remember that a pitch was thrown just before it {the quake} started. I was to busy fighting fires and pulling people out of fallen buildings to remember anything else about the game. I was in the army there at the time. If anyones interested I have a lot of storys and pictures of that one. DROOL.... P.S. Would this be a good topic. IE. {how I survied a natural disater}? or something like that... I could be the host you know. Two quakes, three huricanes, five tornados, ect.. I just realized I don't know how to pick were to live to get away for these events.. hahahahahahahah..,..."}, {"response": 48, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Mar 19, 1998 (09:49)", "body": "yikes! certainly deserves its own topic or at least it sure doesn't fit with 'stupid things in the news' as a kid I was in two tornados. Both scary, both destructive. One earthquake (barely felt anything). I cannot imagine the scale and scope of some of the events you're talking about and I hope talking about them will be the closest I ever come to experiencing such awesome powers of nature!"}, {"response": 49, "author": "autumn", "date": "Thu, Mar 19, 1998 (11:42)", "body": "My region is pretty free of natural disasters/weather extremes: too far east for tornadoes, too far north for hurricanes, not a tectonic plate in sight, nice mix of sun and rain (usually)...now if only we weren't the #1 cancer state in the union..."}, {"response": 51, "author": "autumn", "date": "Fri, Mar 20, 1998 (13:36)", "body": "In Maryland, half the people diagnosed with lung cancer don't even smoke, so hey, what the hell?"}, {"response": 52, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Mar 20, 1998 (17:26)", "body": "all those cars... close proximity. (or just bad luck)"}, {"response": 53, "author": "pmnh", "date": "Fri, Mar 20, 1998 (22:16)", "body": "(probably all those low-salt, low-fat diets... classic sign of fast-food deprivation)..."}, {"response": 55, "author": "autumn", "date": "Sat, Mar 21, 1998 (21:26)", "body": "Actually they say it's the jet stream funneling all your exhaust fumes, pollution, etc. across the continental US and dumping it over the stretch of coastline from Virginia to New York (we're smack dab in the center). It's just being in the wrong place at the wrong time. :-("}, {"response": 56, "author": "LaughingSky", "date": "Mon, Mar 23, 1998 (18:54)", "body": "Just heard on the news, tonight, where two biologists in CA are \"looking into\" the possibility that all of those deformed frogs/marine life with tumors \"could be a result of toxins in the water from chemicals\". Hmmm... where have I heard that, before..."}, {"response": 57, "author": "autumn", "date": "Mon, Mar 23, 1998 (19:00)", "body": "Wow, what a revelation! What was their first clue?? (heavy sarcasm)"}, {"response": 59, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Thu, Jun  4, 1998 (18:09)", "body": "Man Injured When Bathroom Blows Up (June 4, 10:55 am) WEST ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - A West St. Paul man was severely injured when his bathroom blew up. Robert Orenstein, 29, was in critical condition with burns this morning at Regions Hospital in St. Paul. Fire officials said Orenstein was hurt Wednesday morning when he tried to clean himself with gasoline. Vapors from the gasoline were ignited by candles and incense Orenstein was burning in the bathroom. The force of the flash fire blew out all of his apartment windows and moved the bathroom walls. Fire damage was limited to the bathroom."}, {"response": 60, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Jun  5, 1998 (08:59)", "body": "Ouch! at least glad to hear it wasn't something he ate."}, {"response": 61, "author": "autumn", "date": "Fri, Jun  5, 1998 (21:32)", "body": "Read in tonight's paper about a guy who eluded the police on foot and apparently climbed a tree. Police were stymied until his cell phone started ringing above their heads."}, {"response": 62, "author": "stacey", "date": "Mon, Jun  8, 1998 (09:25)", "body": "duh!"}, {"response": 63, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Wed, Jun 10, 1998 (20:10)", "body": "Pat Robertson warns of hurricane for Gay Days By The Associated Press Virginia Beach, Va. -- Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson said Orlando, Fla., should beware of hurricanes after allowing Gay Days to be held there last weekend. ``I would warn Orlando that you're right in the way of some serious hurricanes, and I don't think I'd be waving those flags in God's face if I were you,'' Robertson said Monday on ``The 700 Club,'' his Christian Broadcasting Network talk show. Robertson also said the widespread practice of homosexuality ``will bring about terrorist bombs, it'll bring earthquakes, tornadoes and possibly a meteor.'' Gay organizations sponsor the annual Gay Days in Orlando. The flags Robertson referred to have a rainbow design and flew from downtown utility poles during the celebration. Robertson said his warning ``is not a message of hate. This is a message of redemption.'' Mitch Rosa, president of Hampton Roads Pride, a regional gay rights group, laughed when he heard of Robertson's remarks. ``I feel sorry for him, I really do,'' Rosa said. ``... If he's worried about a hurricane, he should worry first about his own roof.'' ``Politicians who take their marching orders from Pat Robertson ought to consider finding a new meteorologist,'' said Barry Lynn, director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, which monitors Robertson's statements."}, {"response": 64, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Thu, Jun 18, 1998 (23:30)", "body": "A Holiday Greeting Networks Won't Air: Shoppers Are \"Pigs\" Still, One Activist pursues \"Buy Nothing Day\"; a Call To Cut Up Credit Cards By Robert Berner Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal Picture the Scene: Katie Couric and Willard Scott all bundled up and cozy on Thanksgiving morning, watching the Cat in the Hat and Spider man float above Macy's department store. Cut to a commercial: An animated pig superimposed on a map of North America smacks its lips and says: \"The average North American consumes five times more than a Mexican, 10 times more than a Chinese person, and 30 times more than a person from India... Give it a rest. Nov. 28 is Buy Nothing Day. Can't see it happening? Neither can the networks. That's what's driving Kalle Lasn crazy. For five years now, the former advertising executive turned anticonsumerism activist has been waging a grassroots campaign against Christmastime commercialism. His strategy: Attack Christmas shopping one day at a time, beginning with the season kickoff on the day after Thanksgiving. Each year, Mr.Lasn calls for a 24-hour shopping moratorium on the Friday, which he has dubbed Buy Nothing Day. The commercial trashing commercialism is just his way of reaching the masses. Not Ready for Prime-Time But the Big Three networks aren't having any of it. \"We don't want to take any advertising that's inimical to our legitimate business interests,\" says Richard Gitter, vice president of advertising standards at General Electric Co.'s NBC network, which refused to take the 30-second spot. Westinghouse Electric Corp.'s CBS, in a letter rejecting the commercial, went as far as to say that Buy Nothing Day is \"in opposition to the current economic policy in the United States.\" Nevermind that few viewers would even see the commercial if it did air: Mr. Lasn's budget for the one network commercial is about $15,000, enough for only the worst of slots. Not surprisingly, the networks have also refused Mr.Lasn's repeated requests to run his 30-second spot encouraging viewers to participate in \"TV Turn-off Week.\" \"I came from Estonia where you were not allowed to speak up against the government,\" says the 55-year-old Mr.Lasn, whose family fled to the West in advance of the Russian takeover in 1944. \"Here I was in Norht America, and suddenly I realised you can't speak up against the sponsor. There's something fundamentally undemocratic abour our public airways.\" A Clear-Cut Case After working in advertising in Tokyo in the late 1960s, Mr. Lasn moved to Canada and became a documentary filmmaker. It was in the 1980s that his activist streak got sparked while he was watching a local forestry company's commercial promoting clear-cutting as \"forest management.\" Outraged, he put together his own TV ad documenting the downside of clear-cutting and the need to save old-growth trees. But local TV stations \"refused to sell us the air time even as they were running the other side's campaign,\" he says. In 1989, Mr.lasn founded the Media Foundation in Vancouver, British Columbia. The group -- which he says had revenue of $500,000 last year and has five full-time employees -- produces alternative advertising for student and environmental gourps, including on antiautomobile commercial for Greenpeace. The foundation also publishes a quarterly magazine called Adbusters that sells for $5.75 a copy and, according to Mr. Lasn, has 40,000 subscribers. The magazine lambastes advertising's effect on popular culture and includes lampoons of famous ads: One parody of Camel cigarettes features a cartoon character called \"Joe Chemo\"; a jab at Calvin Klein's Obsession campaign shows a slender model seductively caressing a toilet, vomiting; and a \"Big Mac Attack\" ad displays a man on an operating table, hooked up to a heart monitor aglow with the Golden Arches. Mr. Lasn counts among his supporters the Foundation for Deep Ecology, a San Francisco environmental group that says it has given him four $25,000 grants; the Centre for a New American Dream in burlington, Vt., which espouses eliminating debt and living simply in the tradition fo Henry David Thoreau; and the like-minded Northwest Earth Institute in Portland, Ore., which plans to hit the streets in Buy Nothing Day to issue \"Christmas Gift Exemption\" vouchers. The biggest Buy-Nothing celebration is planned for Seattle. There, organisers will cut up their credit-cards outside of downtown's West Lake Center mall. Entertainment will be provided by a group of elderly women called the Raging Grannies, who will perform to the tune of \"Down by the Riverside\" their song, \"I Ain't Going to Run Up Debt No More.\" And Vicki Robin, author of the book \"Your Money or Your Life,\" will be dressed as a doctor, dispensing medical advice on the materialistic malady known as \"affluenza.\" As for the snorting-pig commercial, at least some consumers will get to see it: For the third year in a row, Cable News Network Headline News has agreed to air the ad, and Mr. Lasn as paying $10,0"}, {"response": 65, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Thu, Jun 18, 1998 (23:36)", "body": "hi wer! *hug*"}, {"response": 66, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Thu, Jun 18, 1998 (23:38)", "body": "how's my favorite bayou-turned-desert babe?"}, {"response": 67, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Thu, Jun 18, 1998 (23:40)", "body": "this desert babe is going back to the bayou. (might be leaving today!!!!!)"}, {"response": 68, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Thu, Jun 18, 1998 (23:43)", "body": "ain't gonna be any cooler, hon... heat index up to 115 expected here tomorrow..."}, {"response": 69, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Thu, Jun 18, 1998 (23:46)", "body": "shoot, that's a cold wave, the highest so far here has been 164, and that ain't no lie! It's been 130 or so on the average! *whew*"}, {"response": 70, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Thu, Jun 18, 1998 (23:49)", "body": ""}, {"response": 71, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Thu, Jun 18, 1998 (23:50)", "body": "i keep telling myself that but......"}, {"response": 72, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Thu, Jun 18, 1998 (23:57)", "body": "imagine 164 in the bayou..."}, {"response": 73, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Thu, Jun 18, 1998 (23:59)", "body": "don't even think it!"}, {"response": 74, "author": "stacey", "date": "Wed, Jun 24, 1998 (16:07)", "body": "stupid, albeit sad, thing in the news... 27 y.o. grad student blading down Flagstaff mountain in Boulder, CO... trailing behind friend's car bumper... let go to catch the majority of the swing turn and descent... slammed head on into a car coming up the hill... killed instantly... stupid... needless... (FABULOUS news you're on your way home Wolf!!!) (it might be hot, but at least it's your own damn neighborhood's 'hot')"}, {"response": 75, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Wed, Jun 24, 1998 (16:53)", "body": "ST HELENA, South Africa, June 22 (Reuters) - The witch hunt began in the mud-caked hut of a wizened soothsayer. It ended with an angry crowd of neighbours and friends casting Makgobo Setumu out of the village she had known all her life. ``They threatened to burn me. I had to leave my property, my house, my cows,'' said the frail grandmother who four years ago fled to St Helena, better known as ``Witches' Hill.'' Setumu and six others were accused of using supernatural powers to kill a six-year-old girl. Despite their pleas of innocence, they were banished from their homes. ``There is witchcraft, but I am no witch,'' Setumu said, tugging at a faded shawl as she stooped to patch her two-room hut with a cement-like mixture of dirt and cow manure. There are no road signs to St Helena -- a dusty, remote village born from the ancient superstitions that still grip modern-day South Africa. Set among the cacti and parched plains of the Northern Province, St Helena is one of five safe havens for victims of witch purgings and their families. The 30 or so families who live here have no running water or electricity. They are shunned by a nearby village. Some are lucky to own a cow, while others depend on charity to survive. ``This place is very dry and we can't grow enough to eat,'' said Setumu, adding she often relies on a neighbour for food. The Northern Province is reputed to be the witchcraft capital of South Africa where 1,000 cases of witch purgings were reported to police and other authorities last year. The so-called crimes ranged from conjuring up lightning storms, turning people into zombies or causing mysterious deaths. Sometimes a witch hunt is used to settle an old score or to discredit a political rival or a business competitor. Most victims are banished from their homes, which are then set on fire to exorcise the evil spirits dwelling inside. Many are burnt alive according to beliefs that fire will destroy the soul and prevent the witch from sending her spirit back to seek revenge on the killers. Since the early 1990s, more than 300 people have been killed in the Northern Province after being singled out as witches. Those who escape end up in places like St Helena with little hope of returning home. ``They do not have a life. They are just surviving,'' says Pinkie Mbowane, chair of the public education committee of South Africa's Gender Equality Commission. Despite what has happened, St Helena's residents have not abandoned their beliefs in supernatural forces, she said. ``When they get drunk and argue, they sometimes accuse each other of being witches. They say, 'If you were not a witch, you would not be here'.'' The Gender Commission is criss-crossing the province, gathering victims' testimony to pressure lawmakers for tougher sanctions against witch purgings. About 300 km (185 miles) west of St Helena in a schoolhouse on the outskirts of Tzaneen, the commission listened to 30 men and women tell their horrific stories. Phakula Mdabazi, a plump mother of two and a traditional healer, recalled the day in her village when a neighbour's two sons died within a short time of each other. Villagers often consult traditional healers, known as sangomas or inyangas, who scatter bones or use mirrors to sniff out a witch. Sometimes the healers are themselves blamed for evil happenings. In Mdabazi's case, her neighbours consulted several sangomas to ferret out the witch. A few days later, a gang of youths marched to Mdabazi's thatched hut and soaked it in petrol. ``I just saw flames and I ran outside. All my property burned and I lost everything,'' she said. ``I don't know why they suspected me but people believe I am a witch because I am a healer,'' Mdabazi said. Dan Ndlottu, president of the Traditional Healers Association in Northern Province, said 200 of his members have been falsely accused of witchcraft since 1995. Some healers are unscrupulous, accepting up to 3,000 rand ($549) to help settle a dispute by accusing someone's rival of witchcraft, he said. ``It is because of money they do such things,'' said Ndlottu, dressed in a crisp white shirt, pressed slacks, leather loafers and carrying a cellular phone. He said healers should be certified to prevent such abuses and also blamed chiefs for not curbing the villagers' urge to kill. ``I do believe there is witchcraft,'' he told the panel. ``I can't say how, but since I was born I have believed.'' When the Gender Commission ends its work in a few months, its report will be the latest in a long line of studies and inquiries. The issue peaked in 1996 when the Ralushai report proposed new laws to deal with witch purgings but little progress was made, said Anthony Minnaar, a political science professor who has published several papers on the deadly practice. ``People in authority don't acknowledge that it is a widespread problem. They think it's just isolated incidents,'' Minnaar said. It is illegal to name or punish alleged sorcerers in South Africa but prosecutors"}, {"response": 76, "author": "riette", "date": "Wed, Jun 24, 1998 (18:41)", "body": "Don't talk about South Africa - I love that country, and my heart bleeds for its people. It seems to me that it's not just white against black anymore, but white against white, black against black. It really saddens me."}, {"response": 77, "author": "jgross5", "date": "Wed, Jun 24, 1998 (20:51)", "body": "My heart bleeds for all people. People like to talk. Sometimes they like to talk about South Africa. It really doesn't sadden me that my heart really doesn't bleed for all people. But I do like non-censorship. That whole attitude of non-censorship. Freedom (and the feeling of freedom) to talk is a gooooood thing, eh? **smile** My heart bleeds for people who take things too seriously. They tend to overdo it in the accusation department. Like those uptight nutty guys who accuse people of censoring people. *smile*"}, {"response": 78, "author": "riette", "date": "Thu, Jun 25, 1998 (08:09)", "body": "That's really unfair, Jim Gross. I think you're very intelligent, but you seem to have your mind bent on misinterpreting the things I say - does it give you pleasure to do so? You fool around with me alot, but you're sometimes even quicker at telling me off. I don't mind that, except when I feel I really don't deserve it. So, if there is anything at all that you like about me, could you just say so right now? I think it should have been obvious that I wasn't attacking Wer for talking about South Africa or the problems they are having. 'Don't talk to me about S.A. did not mean', 'I don't allow you to', it meant, 'I agree', 'I find it sad'. It was a way of expressing something I felt when reading Wer's response, and a complete generalization which had absolutely nothing to do with the article itself, but with the overall picture down there; if you don't like my responses, that's fine by me, but if they don't please you in the way you think they ought to, then why don't you simply ignore them? Sorry if that sounds harsh - I just get a little upset, because at times I feel like you have this fixed picture of me in your head . . . me with a little square moustache and a khaki suit, right hand raised in the air."}, {"response": 79, "author": "jgross5", "date": "Thu, Jun 25, 1998 (12:14)", "body": "Riette, you said: \"that's really unfair\" \"you seem bent on misinterpreting the things I say\" \"does it give you pleasure to do so?\" \"you're even quicker at telling me off\" Don't your statements, above, imply that you felt I knew your meaning (\"I agree\" \"I find it sad\") because you felt that your meaning was obvious to me, therefore it was, and therefore I was deliberately attacking you for supposedly attacking wer? If I misinterpreted your statement (\"Don't talk about South Africa\"), wouldn't it be unfair of you to accuse me of those statements you made (in the first paragraph of this response)? It wouldn't be unfair of you if you thought it was obvious to me what you meant when you said \"Don't talk to me about South Africa\". Is it true that you believe that if a person is intelligent, then they will not misinterpret what you say if you feel that your meaning is obvious? If that belief is one you hold, I would like to question the fairness of that belief. There's this story about Albert Einstein: he rode his bicycle home to lunch from work, at Princeton University. On his way back to work after lunch, he fell off his bike. Some students rushed up to him to help him back on his bike and to ask him if he was okay. Einstein was confused. He couldn't remember if he had eaten lunch and was on his way back to work, or if he was on his way home to eat lunch. So he asked the students what time it was. They told him, and he said, \"oh, okay, then I should ride this way, back to work.\" What's obvious to most people, wasn't obvious to Einstein, and what's obvious to you or me may not be obvious to another person, even if they're the genius of the century. First of all, I made a mistake, which was that I misinterpreted your meaning. Second of all, I could have simply questioned your statement, to see from you what your meaning for it was, but I didn't do that, which was my next mistake. One thing you could have done was to ask me if I misunderstood your original statement (\"Don't talk about South Africa\"), and then, in your next sentence, let me in on its meaning. We both misinterpreted the other person. I misinterpreted your original statement, and you misinterpreted my reply to mean that I understood exactly what you meant and was deliberately using it against you by knowingly twisting your meaning around on you and accusing you of attacking wer. Is that a fair assessment of what occurred? Another interesting question is why did the misinterpretations happen? Did I picture you in a Nazi outfit? Do I do that? You said that is what makes you upset (that at times you feel I have that fixed picture of you in Nazi getup in my head). Wouldn't it be natural for you to turn aggressive towards me if you had that image of me having a Nazi image of you? I think what may have led to my misinterpretation of your original statement, is that I thought I had noticed a pattern in some of your responses over the last couple months---and these were only the ones that looked like aggressive responses---that pattern was that it seemed to me that you had a tendency to start your responses off with a bashing of the other person, and then shift into words that were more accommodatingly friendly, or at least no longer nearly so aggressive. That may've been what triggered my misinterpretation. On the other hand, other people who don't know you, might have also misinterpreted your original statement. I would like to know how others in Spring feel about this whole episode, including whether they misinterpreted or not your \"Don't talk about South Africa\" statement. We're a community here, and we can use that to our advantage by being also, at times, a community of inquiry and group learning. It could be considered constructive, helpful, but only if it's completely voluntary, on one's own initiative and free choice. Two people can very easily lock horns and develop their own preferential blindspots that can head in a destructive direction. Community (or group) feedback can help minimize the distortions by enlarging the perspective. How do y'all feel about this? Sometimes misinterpretations just happen, in the same way that we error by being human, by being not perfect. A request that you made of me, Riette, was for me to say to you what I like about you, as a way to make you feel better about having received from me something you felt you didn't deserve. I'm not into that. I'm into understanding what's going on. Where are the errors being made? Correcting those errors so that they stay corrected can lead people to feel better about themselves, if it's all done in an atmosphere that's conducive to free and informed choices being made. How does that sound?"}, {"response": 80, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Jun 25, 1998 (13:48)", "body": ""}, {"response": 81, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Thu, Jun 25, 1998 (16:03)", "body": ""}, {"response": 82, "author": "riette", "date": "Thu, Jun 25, 1998 (16:24)", "body": "So much for branching out . . ."}, {"response": 83, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Thu, Jun 25, 1998 (17:09)", "body": "that's okay, this here tree is big enough for all of us to swing amongst the branches..."}, {"response": 84, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Jun 25, 1998 (19:40)", "body": "shall we make a tire swing?!?!"}, {"response": 85, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Thu, Jun 25, 1998 (23:07)", "body": "we shall, we shall! (wanna sit in my lap again, little girl?)"}, {"response": 86, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Jun 30, 1998 (21:09)", "body": "WooWoo!"}, {"response": 87, "author": "riette", "date": "Wed, Jul  1, 1998 (01:40)", "body": "I can't help but notice that every time you say Woo Woo it's dark. Were you bitten by Wolf at any point? 'Cos I'm getting worried about all this howling going on at night - gives me shivers down my spine . . ."}, {"response": 88, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Wed, Jul  1, 1998 (01:50)", "body": "gives me shivers, too... especially when she does it in my lap..."}, {"response": 89, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Wed, Jul  1, 1998 (02:01)", "body": "(HINT-HINT)"}, {"response": 90, "author": "riette", "date": "Wed, Jul  1, 1998 (05:04)", "body": ""}, {"response": 91, "author": "stacey", "date": "Wed, Jul  1, 1998 (07:29)", "body": ""}, {"response": 92, "author": "riette", "date": "Wed, Jul  1, 1998 (07:54)", "body": ""}, {"response": 93, "author": "stacey", "date": "Wed, Jul  1, 1998 (13:33)", "body": "Happens in America all the time."}, {"response": 94, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Wed, Jul  1, 1998 (13:37)", "body": "in fact, it's almost that time again..."}, {"response": 95, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Wed, Jul  1, 1998 (23:39)", "body": "not here, unless we get a few good showers....(imagine that, with the water table only two inches beneath the soil)"}, {"response": 96, "author": "riette", "date": "Thu, Jul  2, 1998 (05:39)", "body": "Where do you live, Wolf? The Amazon jungle?"}, {"response": 97, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Thu, Jul  2, 1998 (12:20)", "body": "similiar...dem Louisiana bayous..."}, {"response": 98, "author": "riette", "date": "Thu, Jul  2, 1998 (12:58)", "body": "How do you know all this, Wer?! You must have a HUGE telescope and a bionic ear!"}, {"response": 99, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Thu, Jul  2, 1998 (17:58)", "body": "no joke, he pays attention, eh?"}, {"response": 100, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Thu, Jul  2, 1998 (23:42)", "body": "and, it's not like it's my choice..."}, {"response": 101, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Thu, Jul  2, 1998 (23:45)", "body": "am back now, had some probs with the server...."}, {"response": 102, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Fri, Jul  3, 1998 (00:15)", "body": "PARIS (CNN) -- A sacred eternal flame at the Arc de Triomphe honoring France's war dead was extinguished Tuesday night by apparently intoxicated World Cup fans from Mexico, sparking outrage in France. Paris police officials told Reuters that a male Mexican soccer fan put out the flame by pouring an unidentified liquid on it and was arrested on charges of offending the dead and being drunk in public. But a member of the Committee for the Flame, speaking anonymously to The Associated Press, said two Mexicans -- one male, one female -- urinated on the flame. A statement from the French Defense Ministry said the flame, which has been burning since 1921, was \"soiled\" in an \"unspeakable act.\" The alleged perpetrators were released without any charges being filed. \"I just hope they were drunk,\" said Genevieve Senechal, spokeswoman for Anciens Combattants, an association of French war veterans, \"That wouldn't excuse them, but at least then it might not have been premeditated.\" On Wednesday, French and Mexican officials, along with about 20 war veterans, attended a ceremony to relight the flame. Mexico's ambassador to France, Sandra Fuentes, laid a wreath, saying she wanted to attend the ceremony to express her regrets. However, plans to play the Mexican national anthem during the ceremony were canceled after protests from French military officials. The flame burns over the remains of an unnamed French soldier killed in World War I. Members of the Committee for the Flame and police stand guard day and night. Incidents involving the flame are rare. However, last October, an Australian was arrested for using it to cook an egg."}, {"response": 103, "author": "riette", "date": "Fri, Jul  3, 1998 (01:21)", "body": "Yes, the football hooliganism really is very unpleasant. We've had neo-nazi demonstrations, the works. And that over a little leather ball! How obsessed can a person be?!"}, {"response": 104, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Jul  3, 1998 (08:12)", "body": "Lots of people have been killed/crushed to death in soccer melees. It's insane."}, {"response": 105, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Fri, Jul  3, 1998 (10:56)", "body": "that happens at concerts too"}, {"response": 106, "author": "xumeu", "date": "Fri, Jul  3, 1998 (12:03)", "body": "About Opera Browser 3.21 I`ve been using Opera as a registred customer for about four days; In these few days these are my conclusions: 1/Opera 3.21 is a very fast browser. Moreover you can do it faster if you don\ufffdt want to download photos or colours. It is faster than Internet Explorer and Netscape. 2/Good value for money.It is not free like the ones from the major companies but you pay a reasonably price. If you are a student you can get a 50% of discount!!. 3/It offers the possibility to open severals windows at the same time. Now the cons: 1/The download screen is very poor. You do not know how many time will it take to download something. 2/The mail option is also very poor: It has been designed to be used with an other e-mail program. 3/The feauters for the news are just o.k. Spain-03.06.98"}, {"response": 107, "author": "riette", "date": "Fri, Jul  3, 1998 (18:03)", "body": "And the biggest pro you forgot, Carlos!!! You managed to get to the spring!!!! Make sure you come back and stay - we just love new participants. If you're willing to take a bit of time to browse, you'll have a he\ufffd\ufffd of a lot of fun here, and on the other conferences. Once you get to know us you'll love and hate us!"}, {"response": 108, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sat, Jul  4, 1998 (01:21)", "body": "we're just that kind of folks..."}, {"response": 109, "author": "riette", "date": "Sat, Jul  4, 1998 (01:27)", "body": "Think between the two of us we've already scared him off. Just his luck to have found US here! CARLOS, come back here!!!! There ARE some nice people here, promise!!! carlos?"}, {"response": 110, "author": "wer", "date": "Wed, Jul 15, 1998 (12:07)", "body": "Netizens whose appetites for real-life drama have been whetted by Jennicam and last month's live Internet birth now have something else to look forward to: Two teenagers are planning to Webcast the loss of their virginity next month. It was unclear Wednesday whether the site, which Internic lists as registered to a Toluca Lake, Calif. company called First Time Productions, actually is what it purports to be -- a site put up by two 18-year-old lovebirds. Neither the couple's lawyer nor officials at First Time Productions could immediately be reached for comment. \"Diane\" and \"Mike,\" both age 18, whose real names were not released, plan to have their first sexual encounter on Aug. 8, and the event will be broadcast on their Web site, ourfirsttime.com, their lawyer told Reuters on Tuesday."}, {"response": 111, "author": "riette", "date": "Wed, Jul 15, 1998 (14:24)", "body": "\ufffdVomiting Visciously\ufffd Vain, horny little buggers."}, {"response": 112, "author": "autumn", "date": "Fri, Jul 17, 1998 (21:15)", "body": "I read in USA Today (so it has to be true!) that these are really 30-something porn stars out to make a buck."}, {"response": 113, "author": "riette", "date": "Sat, Jul 18, 1998 (01:08)", "body": "\ufffdVomiting Visciously\ufffd Greedy Ar$eholes."}, {"response": 114, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Jul 18, 1998 (01:32)", "body": "Their faces are all blacked out on the website, I wonder if that will be the case during the live webcast of this teenybopper de-virgination event."}, {"response": 115, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Jul 18, 1998 (01:41)", "body": "And then there is the news about the Spice Girl that quit. The one that can't sing, can't act or can't dance. I guess she has to prove she can't do something else and make more millions at it. Like give self help advice. It gives the talentless of the world help. Actually, I shouldn't be so harsh, the girls are amusing and entertaining. If you were a spice girl, what would be your spice name?"}, {"response": 116, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Jul 18, 1998 (03:37)", "body": "joey skaggs, media manipulating artist (see www.stopbiopeep.com) sent me this last night re: ourfirsttime.com (for those that don't know of msr. skaggs he's rather infamous for perpetuatung media scams, e.g., \"Stop Biopeep\" protest against chicken bioengineered to make the meat addictive; \"Fat Squad Commandos\" to follow you around, making sure you stick to your diet; \"Baba Wa Simba\", a healer who traveled the world teaching people a new therapy which heals the 'wounded animal inside us all' -- the therapy involved roaring and acting like a lion. All his stories have been picked up and run as true events before being exposed as hoaxes.) July 16, 1998 For More Information Contact: Joey Skaggs, Artist/Media Activist 212-254-7878 Numerous journalists and individuals have contacted me in the last 24 hours to ask if I am responsible for the live virgin lovefest that's about to take place on the Internet at . I'm not. But here's my take on it: It's a scam. It's an ad. It's porno. Somebody's doing this for money. And it's so obvious that I can't believe the attention the media is giving this story. If I'm wrong, I'll eat my shorts -- on the Internet. Even I might have given the media more credit than this. This is a blatant example of advertising and marketing executives taking advantage of the media's vulnerability to yank-the-wanky, more-to-cum stories. And the media is obliging by helping to promote large scale participatory voyeurism. They should know better. They've bought into their one of their own tease tactics -- \"Will they or won't they? Tune in August 4!\" Hey guys, let's question the intent of this promotion. It's so obviously transparent. The identities of the two kids are vague and withheld. They look like they are straight from central casting. The site is sophisticated and slick. It's really a sophomoric attempt at culture jamming. And they've got a lawyer spokesperson. (The latter should be enough of a clue right there. Because in my book \"lawyer\" is synonymous with \"liar\"). And if that's not enough, they've resorted to planting a controversy within a hoax -- one of my tactics -- suggesting that \"individuals and religious groups\" are spamming them, trying to shut them down. This is an attempt to deflect serious questioning of their basic premise. Suddenly the media is reporting these allegations without smelling the rotten fish here. So, what exactly is the media helping them sell? Everybody needs to question the intent of this \"news\" item. Because essentially what we're getting here is media masturbation. It amuses me to see a hoax used as a form of advertising and marketing. But this is nothing new. Mainstream advertisers have traditionally co-opted new trends and alternative culture, i.e., beatniks, hippies, punks, Gen X'ers... and turned the \"alternative\" into the mainstream. Their tactic is to clone cultural trappings so they can be perceived as hip and trendy and thereby appeal to a non questioning consumer audience. I call it \"faux-radical\" advertising. They're using subversive advertising techniques for mainstream advertising on the Internet, attracting mainstream media. Here's a good example -- the Neiman Marcus cookie recipe meme. A woman thought she bought the Neiman Marcus chocolate chip cookie recipe for $2.50. When she got her credit card bill, she'd been charged $250. She called to protest but was told there was no mistake and that she could not have a refund because she already had the recipe. To get revenge she posted the recipe on the Internet, making it free and available to the public. This urban legend was widely reported by the press. The reality is that the Neiman Marcus marketing department created this story and posted it on the Internet themselves to generate controversy for the purpose of attracting name recognition. Soon I expect to see mainstream advertisers creating their own anti-billboard billboards to advertise their products. But I have confidence that people will see right through to the heart of this advertising ploy. Which doesn't do anything to help the already tarnished image of the media these days. This co-opting of culture jamming techniques just makes the artists/activists job more challenging. But, unfortunately, this doesn't worry me. It seems the media is slow to learn. That's my take on it. Enough said. Stay tuned. *****************"}, {"response": 117, "author": "autumn", "date": "Sun, Jul 19, 1998 (11:57)", "body": "I would be Bookish Spice. Not entirely flattering, but there it is."}, {"response": 118, "author": "riette", "date": "Sun, Jul 19, 1998 (15:36)", "body": "ha-ha!!! I'd call myself Stoopid Spice."}, {"response": 119, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sun, Jul 19, 1998 (22:30)", "body": "guess I'd be Hairy Spice or Grumpy Spice or Bitter Spice..."}, {"response": 120, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sun, Jul 19, 1998 (23:48)", "body": "Two days ago, the headline news carried on the front-page of every local and regional newspaper across the nation was not only the President's ongoing investigation regarding Lewinsky, Microsoft's monopoly, or the impact of El Nino on agriculture - the headlines announced to the world that two purported virgins were going to lose their virginity live in front of the world on the Internet. The self-proclaimed virgins named themselves, \"Mike and Dianne.\" They said they were going to make history and consummate their relationship after a loving courtship that was also to be followed live on the Internet. However, \"Mike and Dianne\" have fallen short of being coined, \"Internet Legends,\" and will be remembered as nothing more than master con-artists who not only ATTEMPTED to dupe an Internet leader in \"IEG,\" but average citizens around the world who were genuinely interested in the plight of these to reported love birds. \"IEG\" can EXCLUSIVELY report that those behind \"OURFIRSTTIME.COM\" had attempted to mastermind a plot to not only MANIPULATE the WORLDWIDE MEDIA, MISLEAD the PUBLIC, STEAL MILLION'S of DOLLARS in SITE ADMISSION FEE's from the POCKET'S of HARD WORKING VIEWERS AROUND the GLOBE-but in their own word's, \" . . . in tribute to Orson Welles and the 60th anniversary . . . this worldwide hoax will be bigger than his 'War of the Worlds as we tell the world we will consummate our relationship at 8PM sharp-the same time War first began to play on the radio back in 1938.'\" On their web site, the alleged virgins answered the repeated question, \"Is it real?\" with the word, \"YES.\" However, as smart as selecting \"IEG\" was for \"MIKE and DIANNE,\" it would also lead to their fall from grace. As the mastermind behind this massive media hoax dreamed of sitting on a white sandy beach, sucking down a drink with an umbrella in it, thinking about the estimated five million dollars in revenue to be generated and reading about his scam on the cover Time Magazine. \"IEG\" had their staff not only looking into how to resurrect the most beautiful site for these lovebirds, but also to look into the authenticity of the event. Soon, the man who called himself, \"Oscar Welles,\" checked into a $144 a night room with a double-bed at Holiday Inn in Glendale, California, with a woman called, Lydia Rawlings [after \"IEG\" exposed them they fled the hotel room without checking out] -- was having his intentions dissected in a swank high-tech conference room in Seattle-\"IEG\" headquarters. It was here, last night, that \"IEG\" officials discovered the truth behind \"MIKE and DIANNE,\" a truth that not only horrified them, but angered them for what is nothing less than an assault on society and those who relish the Internet. And for no other reason than to create havoc, those behind the hoax directed their site to DISNEY.COM. \"IEG\" has provided Disney executives with this information. Who is \"OSCAR WELLES,\" the man who bragged to family and friends he'd go down in history along side \"ORSON WELLES?\" His name is Kenneth Tipton. Tipton was once indicted on obscenity violations for selling videos such as \"Hale Mary.\" His legal defense cost him everything he had and to this day blames the \"religious right\" for what he claims was, \" . . . an overzealous criminal prosecution.\" For simplification, we will refer to them as they so deservingly do, \"THE SCAMMERS.\" How they did it: The Scammers issued a press release, a form of an advertisement that costs very little. The press release invited Internet users to a web site to view, \"Mike and Dianne\" living until the big day when they would lose their virginity on the net. But here's what Mr. Tipton, or the SCAMMERS, EXCLUSIVELY told \"IEG\" was really planned for the site, on a daily basis they would keep viewers updated: The couple would pretend to intend to lose their virginity. They would go get AIDS tests. The couple would discuss how excited they were. On the big day - the day the couple claimed they would lose their virginity - the web site would no longer be free. The web site would cost $5.00 per person. Then, when the moment comes to do the deed in front of the audience paying five bucks a connection, the couple would abstain. \"Nobody has any intention of having sex,\" said Tipton. \"You won't even see them naked. Christ, I wouldn't be surprised to find out Dianne lost her virginity years ago in the back-seat of a Chevy.\" Mr. Tipton said that he, and the Scammers who worked with him, pulled this ploy for two basic reasons: (I) to make money; and (ii) to get back at the \"religious right.\" It was Tipton who added the Welles mystique to the game plan. \"We needed a peg,\" added Tipton. \"I wanted to link it to another great historical hoax.\" When \"IEG\" and the Scammers first talked, neither Mr. Tipton, nor his other Scammers, told \"IEG\" the true story; they fed the same misrepresentations to \"IEG\" as they did the world. Based on what \"IEG\" thought was the truth, \"IEG\" agreed to host the Scammers' web site. But, \"I"}, {"response": 121, "author": "riette", "date": "Mon, Jul 20, 1998 (01:15)", "body": "ha-ha!!! That's so funny! Almost a pity it didn't work!"}, {"response": 122, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Jul 20, 1998 (10:15)", "body": "So there's still an opening for two first time virgins to \"do it\" on the net. Anyone here qualify?"}, {"response": 123, "author": "riette", "date": "Mon, Jul 20, 1998 (11:02)", "body": "Eh, almost."}, {"response": 124, "author": "autumn", "date": "Mon, Jul 20, 1998 (22:36)", "body": "I am a non-practicing virgin."}, {"response": 125, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Tue, Jul 21, 1998 (00:13)", "body": "umm, our kids, but they ain't even old enough..."}, {"response": 126, "author": "riette", "date": "Tue, Jul 21, 1998 (05:33)", "body": "I'm sure Terry is still a virgin. He looks so sweet and innocent on the spring cam . . ."}, {"response": 127, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Jul 21, 1998 (06:27)", "body": "Aw, gee. Keep spreading *that* rumor."}, {"response": 128, "author": "riette", "date": "Tue, Jul 21, 1998 (07:14)", "body": "TERRY IS A VIRGIN, EVERYONE!!!!!!! Who is going to deflower him?"}, {"response": 129, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Jul 21, 1998 (12:20)", "body": "Wow, these rumors get better all the time."}, {"response": 130, "author": "riette", "date": "Tue, Jul 21, 1998 (12:52)", "body": "Well, it's easy to be cocky (ha-ha!!!!!, so to speak!!) when one is ten thousand miles away!"}, {"response": 131, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Jul 21, 1998 (15:31)", "body": "Keep dreamin'"}, {"response": 132, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Tue, Jul 21, 1998 (23:15)", "body": "or maybe Eyeore Spice... looks like Terry gets to be Hard Spice..."}, {"response": 133, "author": "riette", "date": "Wed, Jul 22, 1998 (01:30)", "body": "No, Purity Spice . . ."}, {"response": 134, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Jul 22, 1998 (05:48)", "body": "Which spice girl name did you say you would have Riette?"}, {"response": 135, "author": "riette", "date": "Wed, Jul 22, 1998 (06:35)", "body": "I thought about Stoopid Spice, but if I carry on teasing you, I might have to change it to . . . Dead Spice?"}, {"response": 136, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Wed, Jul 22, 1998 (22:49)", "body": "I don't know, Riette, I think this one of these possibly fits you... Direct Spice Blatant Spice Smart Arse Spice Artist Spice (although it reminds me of Artist Smurf...) Spice Blend"}, {"response": 137, "author": "riette", "date": "Thu, Jul 23, 1998 (01:20)", "body": "How am I to understand this? You think me direct, blatant, smart (but only around the arse), artistic and a blend of other nasty things? Why, thank you - I do what I can . . . HA-HA!"}, {"response": 138, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Thu, Jul 23, 1998 (10:41)", "body": "in a friendly teasing sort of way... usually, at times, much like me, very much so as it is your profession and I didn't say it was a nasty blend... You're welcome - don't we all... *wink*"}, {"response": 139, "author": "riette", "date": "Thu, Jul 23, 1998 (13:06)", "body": "ha-ha!!! I'll have to return that, won't I? So here are my spice names for you: Darn Spice Dry Spice Spew Spice Peculiar Spice Delicious Spice (not only profession-wise)"}, {"response": 140, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Thu, Jul 23, 1998 (13:12)", "body": ""}, {"response": 141, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Jul 23, 1998 (13:15)", "body": "And tiramisu spice"}, {"response": 142, "author": "riette", "date": "Thu, Jul 23, 1998 (16:07)", "body": "What is tiramisu spice? Because you musn't flatter Wer - he doesn't like it. Right, Wer?"}, {"response": 143, "author": "riette", "date": "Thu, Jul 23, 1998 (16:09)", "body": "TERRY: Big Boss Spice Purity Spice Party Spice Naughty Spice Spicey Whiskers"}, {"response": 144, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Jul 23, 1998 (16:29)", "body": "Hey thanks, Swiss Spice!"}, {"response": 145, "author": "riette", "date": "Thu, Jul 23, 1998 (19:40)", "body": "\ufffdROAR\ufffd Nevva Evva call me Swiss - it is a direct insult..."}, {"response": 146, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Jul 23, 1998 (21:35)", "body": "Ooops, sorry!"}, {"response": 147, "author": "riette", "date": "Fri, Jul 24, 1998 (02:51)", "body": "ha-ha!! No problem, Terry, I didn't really take offence."}, {"response": 148, "author": "riette", "date": "Fri, Jul 24, 1998 (02:52)", "body": "It was the kind of insult like if I were to call you Winter boss instead of Spring boss."}, {"response": 149, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Jul 24, 1998 (05:36)", "body": "Um that bad!"}, {"response": 150, "author": "riette", "date": "Sat, Jul 25, 1998 (04:10)", "body": ""}, {"response": 151, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sat, Jul 25, 1998 (11:10)", "body": ""}, {"response": 152, "author": "riette", "date": "Sat, Jul 25, 1998 (12:39)", "body": "Holy $hit, there are some sick people in the world!"}, {"response": 153, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Sep  3, 1998 (04:12)", "body": "BUILDING COMMUNITY FOR BUSINESS SITES see topic 3 in the vc conference. I post this because we're looking for a model to support the Spring. I would appreciate it if folks would help me evaluate some of these strategies."}, {"response": 154, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Thu, Sep  3, 1998 (08:42)", "body": "I keep trying..."}, {"response": 155, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Sep  3, 1998 (09:46)", "body": "You do. And I really appreciate your superhuman efforts to keep this place pumped up. I saw something you did last night and thought, wow, what's this new option? I've got to try it."}, {"response": 156, "author": "riette", "date": "Thu, Sep  3, 1998 (11:14)", "body": "I'll go find it."}, {"response": 157, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Fri, Sep  4, 1998 (01:45)", "body": "Well, did ya?"}, {"response": 158, "author": "riette", "date": "Fri, Sep  4, 1998 (03:43)", "body": "Wait!!! Haven't looked properly, so won't express an opninion yet!! I'll have more time over the weekend, so be patient! Demanding little cook!"}, {"response": 159, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Sep  4, 1998 (11:33)", "body": "wait! what's the new option? i did the scholar thing and looked at the search. what else? huh? huh? huh? *tail wagging, tongue hanging out, ears forward*"}, {"response": 160, "author": "autumn", "date": "Fri, Sep  4, 1998 (22:39)", "body": ""}, {"response": 161, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Sep  7, 1998 (18:48)", "body": ""}, {"response": 162, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Mar  6, 2000 (10:53)", "body": ""}, {"response": 163, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Mar 15, 2000 (14:20)", "body": ""}, {"response": 164, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Mar 15, 2000 (14:23)", "body": "BIZARRE NEWS - Wednesday, March 15, 2000 Reaching out to 188,700 Bizarre News readers around the globe Greetings Fellow Bizarros: Every time I write about an infirmity, we get a ton of e-mail suggesting that I am an insensitive clod. While this might be true, I just have to tell you about the weirdest disease on this planet; Tourettes Syndrome. For those of you who are not familiar with this affliction, this is a disease whereby a person has an uncontrollable tic. The tic most often is a verbal tic where the person swears uncontrollably. So imagine if our President was misfortunate enough to have this affliction. A speech might go something like this: ********************************** Greetings Fellow (douche bag) Americans: I speak to you (shit, turd-face, bastards) tonight about a grave (asshole) problem facing our nation (f*$#in' jerkoffs). The NRA wants to have me shot... ********************************** Now, I have only met one person who definitely had this. When I first met TZ, the editor of Laffaday, I thought he had it. I am not convinced he is free from the disease and all you have to do is spend 15 minutes with him before a string of obscenities fill within earshot. The person who had the disease was Seth Lipschitz. With a name like Lipschitz, having the disease was almost secondary. You could always count on good old Lipschitz to make an impression. I wonder what he is doing now? What kind of profession could accommodate him? What about an air traffic controller? Priest (or Rabbi in his case)? Someone told me Seth had become a Mambo instructor in Chicago, but this seems highly unlikely. So, I ask you gentle readers, what kind of profession do you think someone with Tourette's should have? Send me your suggestions (mailto:Lewis@BizarreNews.com) as to what Seth's occupation should be. Anyway, we have a great issue for you so I hope you enjoy. Bizarrely yours, Lewis ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ +---------------------- BIZARRE BOOKS ---------------------+ Real Books... Unreal Titles! Teach Yourself Sex; 1951 [For the slow learner.] Teach Yourself Alcoholism; 1975 [For the folks who couldn't teach themselves sex.] How To Become a Schizophrenic; 1992 [For folks who read too many \"How to\" books.] How To Avoid Huge Ships; 1993 [.....?] How To Abandon Ship; 1942 [I assume it's the companion to \"How To Avoid Huge Ships.\"] How To Do It; or, Directions for Knowing or Doing Everything Needful; 1864 [Just in case we missed anything.] *** -------------------- The New Beer Diet --------------------- A bizarre ad campaign is being waged by the People For The Ethical Treatment Of Animals. It seems that they take issue with the consumption of milk that is extracted from animals (except \"Mother's milk). The ads claim that people should switch from milk to beer because it has a much lower fat content. MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) has waged a counter campaign stating that this is a ridiculous diet that will kill thousands of people on the highways of America. [Ahh, you gotta love political correctness gone mad.] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ --------------- If Thy Left Hand Offend Thee --------------- SEATTLE, WA - Sam Ketterling has recently petitioned the court to have a local surgeon cut off his left hand although there is no physical reason to do so. In 1908 a German neurologist discovered a disorder called Alien Hand Syndrome whereby a person loses control of one's hand. Ketterling said in court papers that his hand was trying \"to kill him\" and that it was only because his right hand was stronger that he could rest the left hand away from his throat. The court denied Ketterling's request after acknowledging this rare condition. ---------------Cab Drivers Have Larger Posteriors----------- A study in London yields surprising results about the size of the rear of a taxi driver's brain. Due to the amount of driving this profession entails, the brains of London cab drivers grow and adapt to help them store a detailed mental map of the city. According to new research, drivers of the famous London black taxis who had their brains scanned were found to have unusually large development in one area of the hippocampus; the part of the brain which deals with navigation which is critical for learning. \"One particular region of the hippocampus, the posterior or back, was bigger in the taxi drivers,\" researcher Dr Eleanor Maguire told the BBC. The scientists at the University College of London also found that the hippocampus grew even more as the drivers spent longer on the job. [Proctologist Study? Just a thought.] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ---------- Internet Newest Playground for Losers ----------- CYBERSPACE - Inhabitants from the lower end of the social food chain have a new home on the internet. Appropriately named LoserNet, this hip new site for the hopeless features gripping diaries like \"The Loser Living Upstai"}, {"response": 165, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Mar 16, 2000 (14:04)", "body": "Surgeons Restore Texas Boy's Arm Torn Off by Tiger HOUSTON (Reuters) - A 3-year-old Texas boy whose arm was ripped off above the elbow by a caged pet tiger had the limb successfully reattached in overnight surgery, hospital officials said on Thursday. Surgeons at Houston's Memorial Hermann Children's Hospital worked for nine hours through the night to restore the arm to Jayton Tidwell. ``It will be weeks or months before it is known whether or not Jayton will have full use of the reimplanted arm,'' a hospital statement said. The boy lost his arm in the Houston suburb of Channelview, where his uncle Larry Tidwell keeps a Bengal tiger. The boy stuck his arm through one of the gaps in the tiger's chain-link cage and the animal ripped it off about midway between shoulder and elbow, a Harris County sheriff's deputy told the Houston Chronicle. While a neighbor and Tidwell's wife coaxed the animal to one side of the cage, Tidwell's son went inside to retrieve the arm, the newspaper said. They packed the severed limb in ice and Channelview Emergency Medical Services took it to the hospital with the boy. Hospital officials said the boy was awake and alert when he arrived about 7:30 p.m. EST (0030 GMT on Thursday) Wednesday. ``As he was being evaluated and prepared for surgery, he was able to read a storybook with a member of the child life staff,'' the hospital statement said. The surgical team headed by orthopedic trauma specialist Dr Mark Henry began work about 10 p.m. EST (0300 GMT on Thursday) and continued until the arm was reattached about 7 a.m. EST (1100 GMT) on Thursday, the hospital said."}, {"response": 166, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Mar 18, 2000 (13:01)", "body": "Bizarre news for March 18, 2000 +-------------------- BIZARRE PATRONS ---------------------+ Say Your Prayers Apollonia - Patron Saint of toothaches. Fiacre - Patron Saint of venereal disease and taxi drivers. Gengulf - Patron Saint of unhappy marriages. Vitus - Patron Saint of comedians and mental illness. Matthew - Patron Saint of accountants. Bernardino of Siena - Patron Saint of advertising executives. Luke - Patron Saint of butchers. Marin de Porres - Patron Saint of hairdressers. Joseph of Arimathea - Patron Saint of grave diggers and funeral directors. [According to The Best Book of Lists; Carlton Books, 1999] *** ----------- Man Gets 10 Months For Mooning judge ----------- RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. - A man recently gave graphic expression to his contempt of court received 10 months in jail for mooning a judge. Robert White, 50, who is unemployed, was representing himself on a disorderly conduct charge Wednesday for allegedly causing a disturbance at a hospital. White objected that he was being tried in a \"kangaroo court\" and began using foul language, witnesses said. Then he dropped his pants, bent over and gave Municipal Judge Dennis Sutterfield a view of his rear end. Sutterfield cited White for contempt. The judge said it was the first time in his 14 years on the bench that he had been mooned. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ --------- Political Correctness From Head To Toe? ---------- PARIS, France In an unusual case of discipline, French officials have made it illegal for Muslim schoolgirls to wear the traditional scarves over their heads called the \"hijab.\" The \"hijab\" is a prescribed Muslim scarf that encourages modesty. When asked why this extraordinary step had been taken, an official proclaimed, \"While it is true that these girls do not smoke or drink and have the lowest teen pregnancy rate in the country, wearing these scarves disrupts the national character of our school system. It is not like wearing a cross or a Star of David where these things remain hidden.\" [I'd say France has a lot to worry about if scarves disrupt the social fabric.] ----- Florida Considers Possible Secretary Of Barbecue ----- Tallahassee, Florida has experienced its latest legislative epiphany. House Bill 1737 proposes a new (and slightly odd) cabinet post: Secretary of Barbecue. The governor's appointee would have the daunting responsibility of promoting the enjoyment of barbecue and barbecue culture. State Representative George Albright, who filed this task said, \"It's a serious subject. Barbecue is big business in this state.\" Coincidentally, he also owns two barbecue restaurants. Possible candidates for the posting can expect to serve a one-year term for no pay. [The fringe benefit is all the deep-fried pig skin you can eat.] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ----------------- With Friends Like These ------------------ BRISBANE, Australia - A recent party turned gruesome after a group of drunken Aussies decided to perform a makeshift operation on their drunken friend. The operation? You guessed it; a circumcision. They did not even use a knife, for one was not available so they used a broken beer bottle. The \"patient\" was so drunk he slept through the operation and was rushed to the hospital bleeding, but still passed out. The \"friends\" were charged with unlawful wounding. [I wonder if this guy's friends were women.] ------------------ Like Father; Like Son ------------------- NEW ORLEANS, LA - A recent court case has brought father and son together after a thirty year estrangement. 71-year-old Rene Puissance failed a Breathalyzer test after a head on collision with another drunk driver. The driver of the other vehicle was Harold Porter, a 31-year-old out of work boilermaker who took the name of his adopted father after the divorce and remarriage of his mother. [As fate would have it, they were meant to meet, apparently head-on!] ------------- British Thieves Bungle Burglary -------------- SOUTH SHIELDS, England - Three armed robbers planning to raid a travel agency, missed their intended target and burst into the optician's office next door, waving a knife and an imitation sawed-off shotgun. Realizing they were in the wrong office, they made a hasty exit and finally made it to the travel agent's. They demanded to know where the safe was but lost their nerve and, instead of a large haul of travelers checks, they ended up with a whisky bottle full of mostly foreign coins donated to charity. Their getaway car then ran out of gas and they abandoned it, leaving behind obvious clues which quickly led to their arrest. [Robin Hood these guys are not.] Classic Bizarre Moments from the Archives *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* Doctors in Milwaukee tried for seven days to cure a patient's painful hiccups with assorted therapies, including drugs and acupuncture, to no avail. According to the medical journal The Lancet, the man tried some marijuana in hopes of relieving some o"}, {"response": 167, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Mar 20, 2000 (16:12)", "body": "**************** BIZARRE STORY OF THE WEEK ***************** ---------------Cab Drivers Have Larger Posteriors----------- A study in London yields surprising results about the size of the rear of a taxi driver's brain. Due to the amount of driving this profession entails, the brains of London cab drivers grow and adapt to help them store a detailed mental map of the city. According to new research, drivers of the famous London black taxis who had their brains scanned were found to have unusually large development in one area of the hippocampus; the part of the brain which deals with navigation which is critical for learning. \"One particular region of the hippocampus, the posterior or back, was bigger in the taxi drivers,\" researcher Dr Eleanor Maguire told the BBC. The scientists at the University College of London also found that the hippocampus grew even more as the drivers spent longer on the job. ********************** WEEKLY TRIVIA *********************** WHAT ARE THE THREE LARGEST ISLANDS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN? Sicily, Sardinia, and Cyprus. WHAT ARE THE ODDS OF HAVING AN EAR OF CORN WITH AN ODD NUMBER OF ROWS OF KERNELS? Zero. There are always an even number of rows."}, {"response": 168, "author": "CherylB", "date": "Mon, Mar 20, 2000 (16:28)", "body": "I have to find the news story about the woman who just missed being hit by a falling wild turkey next to the PPG building in downtown Pittsburgh. Did you know that mongrel dogs worldwide average about 30 lbs. in weight."}, {"response": 169, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Mar 20, 2000 (17:36)", "body": "Amazing! Now I have learned something new and the day is not an entire waste! *laugh* Thanks! I did not know....especially about the turkey..!"}, {"response": 170, "author": "CherylB", "date": "Mon, Mar 20, 2000 (18:35)", "body": "It was in the \"Pittsburgh Post-Gazette\"; I'll post the details when I find them."}, {"response": 171, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Mar 22, 2000 (14:31)", "body": ""}, {"response": 172, "author": "CherylB", "date": "Wed, Mar 22, 2000 (16:41)", "body": ""}, {"response": 173, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Mar 22, 2000 (16:44)", "body": ""}, {"response": 174, "author": "CherylB", "date": "Wed, Mar 22, 2000 (16:50)", "body": "It could be. The turkey was showing off is flying prowess for the females, didn't look where he was flying, and smack -- right into Philip Johnson's tribute to the product produced by Pittsburgh Plate Glass."}, {"response": 175, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Mar 22, 2000 (17:17)", "body": "Enough said?! Body Piercing Betrays Suspected Smuggler ISTANBUL (Reuters) - A Turkish court Tuesday remanded in custody a British woman whose intimate body piercing set off airport metal detectors that led to the discovery of heroin strapped to her chest, newspapers said. Alison Mary McKinnon, 37, was remanded on drug smuggling charges. Tall, blonde and dressed in black, McKinnon covered her face with her arms as a narcotics police squad escorted her past the press and inside an Istanbul courtroom. The charges, linked to what police said was 6.6 pounds of heroin bound to her body, carry a jail term of up to a 30 years but sentences can often be greatly reduced. British consulate officials said McKinnon appeared calm. They said she had told them she was not a heroin user. Her family in Britain had been notified of her arrest but had not decided on a course of action. Turkish newspapers reported that it was McKinnon's body piercing which activated metal detectors at Istanbul airport and gave her away. Police said they body-searched her and found heroin bandaged to her chest. ``Her piercing did her in,'' the mainstream Hurriyet daily said. McKinnon's destination was Britain. It was her first trip to Turkey, which is a key transit point for drug trafficking to Europe from Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan."}, {"response": 176, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Mar 22, 2000 (17:20)", "body": "The turkey could have seen his own reflection in the glass and thought it was a rival male. Birds do that, you know...! (Actually, some human ones, too...)"}, {"response": 177, "author": "CherylB", "date": "Wed, Mar 22, 2000 (17:36)", "body": "You're right, on both counts. The body piercing story is right up there with the man who that he'd rob small stores with his face masked, but otherwise in the nude. He felt it would make him more difficult to discribe, if there were clothes to indentify him. People could, however, identify him by his moles and other distinguishing physical characteristics. I don't even want to begin to think about that police line-up."}, {"response": 178, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Mar 22, 2000 (17:49)", "body": "LMHO...too terrible to contemplate - or too funny *lol* Gotta be really out there to think of something like that...!"}, {"response": 179, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Mar 22, 2000 (17:50)", "body": "Go read the snake story in SpringArk...it's right up there with these guys!"}, {"response": 180, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Mar 25, 2000 (14:10)", "body": "Bizarre News +---------------------- Bizarre Laws ----------------------+ ILLINOIS You may be arrested for vagrancy if you do not have at least one dollar bill on your person. It is a felony offense to eavesdrop on your own conversation. You must contact the police before entering the city in an automobile. The English language is not to be spoken. Law forbids eating in a place that is on fire. Chicago, Il. It is an offense to feed whiskey to a dog. Chicago, Il. It is legal to protest naked in front of city hall as long as you are under seventeen years of age and have legal permits. Chicago, Il. It is illegal for anyone to give lighted cigars to dogs, cats, and other domesticated animals kept as pets. Zion, Il. *** ------------ Scissors Sewn Up In Woman's Chest ------------- GEORGETOWN, Guyana - In a perfect example of how a day can go from bad to worse, Roman Soman, 43, was recently admitted to state-run Georgetown Hospital after her husband had attacked her with an ice pick and a knife. When the X-rays were developed the doctors found the silhouette of a pair of surgical scissors which had apparently been sewn up inside her body during a chest operation 10 years earlier. Despite the hospitals insistence that instruments are counted before and after every surgery, an official investigation has begun and a compensation suit is pending. Soman is having an operation to operate to remove the scissors. [Since the first attempt didn't quite cut it, they're going to take another stab at it.] --------------- Jesus Causes Acne Down Under --------------- CANBERRA, Australia - The folks down under really get into the Easter spirit. A local candy maker thinks that he has an exceptional idea. Enter; Sweet Jesus Chocolate. The chocolate crucifix with a Christ figure that \"bleeds\" red jelly when bitten into has caused quite a controversy. The creator defended his actions to critics and said, \"People who are offended by the icon have lost touch with reality. A Sweet Jesus crucifix will remind them that Easter is more than three days on the beach.\" --------------- Don't Forget the Motor City ---------------- DETROIT, MI - One of the most bizarre airplane hijack attempts recently occurred on a flight from New York to Detroit. The incident did not make national news, but we have uncovered it in a local paper. A man jumped out of his seat, brandished a gun and declared, \"This is a hijack, take me to Detroit.\" When the stewardess informed him that the plane was already heading to Detroit, the man sat down without another word. He was arrested immediately after the plane landed. [Is it me, but who WANTS to go to Detroit?] ------------------ No Breast; No Marriage ------------------ CAIRO - A man filed suit in an Egyptian Court to get his marriage annulled because he had recently discovered, after 20 months of marriage, that his wife only had one breast. He accused his wife of deliberately misleading him by omitting the fact that she was born without her right breast. He argued that this compromised her femininity, and could pose potential health risks during pregnancy. A medical examiner was consulted and reported that she was perfectly healthy and able to fulfill her marital obligations. Puzzled about the 20 month discovery time? Some couples in rural Egypt practice conservative sex, and generally do not take off all of their clothes. ------- Blind Beauty Contest Judge Sees Inner Beauty ------- EDMONTON - The Miss Alberta Beauty Contest selected a blind judge in order to fulfill their new emphasis on personality, and intelligence over bathing suit aesthetics. Harold Grace who had lost his vision some fifteen years earlier was just as surprised to be asked, but he felt he could sense their personalities based on how they sounded. \"When a contestant was answering a question I would listen to how they would project their answer, the emphasis in their voice and the firmness of their tone,\" he replied. Bathing suits and evening gowns were replaced by interviews, and written exams. Grace currently works at the Canadian National Institute for the Blind. [No Braille jokes please.] -------------- What's In My Pants This Time? --------------- PARIS - Bizarre news is pleased to bring you yet another tale from the \"or are you just happy to see me\" file. In addition to our previously reported snapping turtles, spiders, and lizard melange, French police caught a man trying to smuggle a 16 inch boa from Columbia into Roissy Airport via his underpants. Security dogs deftly recognized the reptilian scent, and the snake was confiscated. The boa was outlawed as an endangered species which the man wanted to add to his personal reptile collection. [I wonder if the authorities bothered to check if the snake had one eye or two when they pulled it out?] Classic Bizarre Moments from the Archives *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* A man in Dublin is suing the Bank of Ireland for damages after he lit himself on fire. John Coffey was denied a $2900 loan by ba"}, {"response": 181, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Apr  1, 2000 (14:02)", "body": "------------------------ STUPID CRIMINAL STORIES ------------------------ * A Tustin, CA woman, apparently angry that a truck was moving too slowly in traffic, pulled up alongside it in her car, held an aluminum baseball bat out the window, and took several swipes at the truck as both were moving down the highway. Police who arrested her noticed her personalized license plate read \"PEACE 95.\" When one of the arresting officers asked about the tag, she told him she got it because she thought there was so much violence going on in today's society. * A Bridgeport, Connecticut man had a very short career with the state police force. He was arrested his first day on the job, just after typing his name into a computer. The man was being trained to use the system that holds records of outstanding police warrants. The system matched the man's name and birth date to a warrant charging him with passing bad checks. He was arrested on the spot. * A man in Vienna, Austria who made over 40,000 obscene phone calls over a three-year period was finally caught when he left his own home number with one of the victims. The woman says the man called her nearly every day for almost six months. She was able to get his number by telling him she was busy at the moment and would return his call when she had more time to talk. * A suspect in a robbery was arrested at Florida's Miami Shores Country Club, where he had been hiding from police in a tree next to the golf course. He gave himself away when he called out to a golfer who hit his ball into the rough, \"Hey, your ball is over there.\" * Two animal rights activists holding an illegal demonstration against pigs being sent to a slaughterhouse in Bonn, Germany were rudely interrupted. During their protest, 2,000 pigs burst through a barbed wire fence and trampled both activists to death."}, {"response": 182, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Apr  1, 2000 (16:09)", "body": ""}, {"response": 183, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Apr  1, 2000 (16:36)", "body": ""}, {"response": 184, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Apr  2, 2000 (17:20)", "body": ""}, {"response": 185, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Apr  4, 2000 (19:16)", "body": "certainly was an attention getter and probably responsible for their share of road accidents! my fave ads are the messages from God (have you read my best seller? there will be a test) that we posted somewhere......"}, {"response": 186, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Apr  5, 2000 (00:48)", "body": "I think I posted them in screwed 163 (my screwed topic - as in if you have made it on The Spring you have a screwed topic named for you *lol*). I think they were billboards in and around Los Angeles, and I am sure I saw some of them when i was there a few years ago - the God ones, not these."}, {"response": 187, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Wed, Apr  5, 2000 (06:11)", "body": "I know this guy and his wife in Austin, Jan and Neil, and they do most of the billboards around town. They're doing the new ballpark now, the one for the new minor league team, the Round Rock Express."}, {"response": 188, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Apr  5, 2000 (10:55)", "body": "How do you like what they are doing?"}, {"response": 189, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Wed, Apr  5, 2000 (12:33)", "body": "Haven't got the full info - but a pig is standing for Mayor of London. it's actually a desperate attempt by british farmers to get their plight noticed. But the pig is definitely marked as a paid upcontender for the fight."}, {"response": 190, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Apr  5, 2000 (15:38)", "body": "Hmmm... what if the pig wins? In a pig's eye will take on a whole new meaning!"}, {"response": 191, "author": "Ann", "date": "Wed, Apr  5, 2000 (17:37)", "body": "Useless trivia: St. Paul Minnesota used to be called \"Pig's Eye\". (Named after a Frenchman who lived there and was known as Pig's Eye."}, {"response": 192, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Apr  5, 2000 (17:42)", "body": "Unreal! No such thing as useless trivia. I created \"News that doesn't fit\" in the News conference for stuff not stupid enough to go here. Thanks for aiding and abetting my addiction to trivia."}, {"response": 193, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Apr  5, 2000 (17:44)", "body": ""}, {"response": 194, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Wed, Apr  5, 2000 (18:33)", "body": ""}, {"response": 195, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Thu, Apr  6, 2000 (06:30)", "body": ""}, {"response": 196, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Thu, Apr  6, 2000 (06:38)", "body": "Just testing, because these servers /tmp areas have been getting pretty full and this is first topic I come to when I log in. The rest of the server has a lot of room."}, {"response": 197, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Apr  6, 2000 (11:52)", "body": "Idumped things from your hard drive - as much as I could. We need to know what to do that will help. Good to see some posting this morning!"}, {"response": 198, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Apr  6, 2000 (16:13)", "body": "Perhaps unlinking a bunch of topics might be a good idea. I put news in News and what I did today in Today, but they show up here, as well. Might that not add to the over load?"}, {"response": 199, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Apr 11, 2000 (20:03)", "body": "Boring Brotherhood Comes Out LONDON (Reuters) - Stand up and be counted as long as you do it quietly. From Sydney to Bombay, from London to New York, it is time for the dull men of the world to have a truly tedious celebration they now have their own proudly turgid Web site. Once you have passed the tough entrance test Is grey your favorite color? Ever had an urge and not been able to get over it? then the Washington-based National Council of Dull Men is ready to accept you into the boring brotherhood on dullmen.com. And April provides plenty of reasons to wear down your friends with some truly tedious celebrations it is soon to be National Folding Road Maps Week and, if that is not exciting enough, then how about Check Your Batteries Day? But at least dull men have been given a guide on the most lugubrious conversational gambits when if, by some miracle, they are invited to a dinner party. If conversation dries up, why not try telling your fellow guest ``Did you know that Heinz Ketchup leaves the bottle at a speed of 25 miles a year?'' If that fails, then why not inform them that an ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain or warn them that nutmeg can be extremely poisonous if injected intravenously. And once the excitement of dining out has worn off, there are some scintillating daily pastimes observing the sap drip on a maple tree, tractor spotting, enjoying the muzak while elevator riding or the well-worn classic watching paint dry. And you cannot beat feedback from grateful readers. Dullmen.com has now been able to build up a comprehensive data base of airport luggage carousels and give intrepid travelers the one piece of information they really needed to know do the carousels go clockwise or counterclockwise. It is eager to reassure dull men who are brave enough to venture abroad ``so there will be no surprises when you land.''"}, {"response": 200, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Apr 11, 2000 (20:05)", "body": "Probably shoulda put the above piece in Travel 20 / England, but no one goes there anymore...*sigh* (not to England - to the website!)"}, {"response": 201, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Apr 17, 2000 (16:06)", "body": "Russian Bullfighter Survives Debut BARCELONA, Spain (Reuters) - A former Russian air force captain survived his debut as a bullfighter in Spain on Sunday, but was savaged by the country's notoriously critical fans. Cushions rained down on the sand of the Monumental arena in Barcelona and spectators whistled their disapproval after Roman Karpoukhine sank his sword into a young bull three times before having to kill the wounded animal with a knife stab to its neck. Karpoukhine, 32, claimed to be the first Russian to take up the cape and sword in Spain where he has studied between shifts as a warehouse worker. Visibly nervous, he fought in a navy blue costume similar in color to the uniform of his previous career in the Russian air force. He left Russia amid the country's economic chaos. ``What a fight!'' a dazed-looking Karpoukhine said as he left the arena. Assistants told him he might improve in his next bullfight, but the Russian did not say whether he planned to face a bull again."}, {"response": 202, "author": "CherylB", "date": "Wed, Apr 19, 2000 (17:24)", "body": "What would Ernest Hemmnigway have had to say about that, er, spectacle."}, {"response": 203, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Apr 19, 2000 (17:27)", "body": "He would have been aghast, no doubt, as he thought of bullfighting as a rite of passage and somewhat sacred."}, {"response": 204, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Wed, Apr 19, 2000 (20:19)", "body": "He liked to exagerate his own exploits. He wanted to be a hero very badly."}, {"response": 205, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Apr 19, 2000 (20:34)", "body": "..and lacked the courage to do it right, I'm afraid. There have been many psychologists analyzing him since he is dead and cannot defend himself."}, {"response": 206, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Wed, Apr 19, 2000 (20:40)", "body": "Yep, Papa took a hit on biography, that's where I got that. But it was narrated by his grand daughter in part."}, {"response": 207, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Apr 19, 2000 (23:13)", "body": "Still not a totally unbiased profile of the man if his granddaughter narrated. I think we need more distance to determine his character with greater clarity."}, {"response": 208, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Apr 21, 2000 (14:12)", "body": "Watch This Space And Win Bigger Breasts VIENNA (Reuters) - An Austrian television station is offering women a breast enlargement operation in a bid to boost viewing numbers for its tabloid program. Interested viewers must send a photograph of themselves to the program, ``Check It,'' together with a few sentences on why they want to enhance their bust. Thomas Gauss, editor-in-chief of private ATV television, said the winner would be chosen by viewers. The program targets the 12-29 age group. ``There'll be only one winner, but of course two silicone implants,'' Gauss told Reuters. The prize is worth 70,000 schillings ($5,000)."}, {"response": 209, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Fri, Apr 21, 2000 (17:49)", "body": "Good luck in the contest."}, {"response": 210, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Apr 21, 2000 (18:19)", "body": "I'm not entered... Wonder who will air the results...Howard Stern?!"}, {"response": 211, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Apr 21, 2000 (18:34)", "body": "Man Fearing Gators Tapes Himself to Tree TAMPA, Fla. (Reuters) - A man who became lost in a Florida swamp during a trip to photograph alligators was rescued by police after taping himself high up in a tree to ensure the reptiles didn't attack him while he slept. Gemini Wink, 26, of Louisville, Kentucky, was still taped to a tree limb 40 feet (12 meters) off the ground when Hillsborough County deputies found him late Saturday night, sheriff's deputies said on Wednesday. ``The deputies arrived and helped him get down,'' sheriff's office worker Vilma Bean said. ``He'd been up there several hours.'' Wink, who was visiting friends in Tampa, set out on his alligator trek using duct tape to mark his trail. After taking shots of an alligator Wink realized he was lost and found himself in waist-deep water with night falling. Fearing an alligator attack, Wink climbed a tree, secured himself with duct tape and resolved to sleep there. His friend grew worried when Wink did not return and called sheriff's deputies. Meanwhile, Wink heard noises from a nearby house and yelled for help. Someone at the house heard his cries and also called deputies, who launched a search. With a helicopter overhead and police dogs sniffing his trail, Wink continued to call out. Deputies found him about 400 yards (meters) from his friend's home, untaped him and drove him back. ``I'll definitely visit again, I'll probably stay out of the swamps,'' Wink told the Tampa Tribune from Louisville."}, {"response": 212, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Sun, Apr 23, 2000 (02:46)", "body": "Duct tape is *so* useful. It just leaves a sticky mess behind."}, {"response": 213, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Apr 23, 2000 (12:45)", "body": "What did we use before duct tape??!! Amazingly adaptable by thieves, kidnappers and gaffers, too!"}, {"response": 214, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Apr 23, 2000 (12:50)", "body": "Speaking of stupid things in the news, I shall be away for most of the day at softball games...and egg-hiding activities...*sigh*"}, {"response": 215, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Apr 23, 2000 (14:02)", "body": "Makes you wonder what they did before we got to meddling: Sex Videos Teach Pandas to Copulate BEIJING (Reuters) - A Chinese research institute is showing low libido giant pandas videotapes of others of their extinction-threatened species copulating in hopes of prodding them to mate. It appears to be working, a Chinese panda expert said on Friday. ``As part of the pandas' education, we make those which are sexually inept watch videos of other pandas having sex,'' said Zhang Hemin, director of China Giant Panda Research and Conservation Center in the southwestern province of Sichuan. ``This has proved to be effective,'' Zhang told Reuters in a telephone interview. The center's extensive panda sexual reproduction program has reduced the number of its impotent males to 60 percent from 80 percent, he said. Zhang said the center, which has 46 pandas, about half of them males, constantly finetunes a program aimed at reviving China's population of pandas, which produces few young in captivity and is declining in the wild."}, {"response": 216, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Sun, Apr 23, 2000 (14:34)", "body": "Panda Porn. They could try duct taping them together if this fails."}, {"response": 217, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Apr 23, 2000 (14:40)", "body": "*lol*"}, {"response": 218, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Apr 23, 2000 (17:34)", "body": "or artificial insemintation...."}, {"response": 219, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Apr 23, 2000 (18:04)", "body": "Where's the fun in that?"}, {"response": 220, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Apr 23, 2000 (21:50)", "body": "i know but it would solve the problem *grin*"}, {"response": 221, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Apr 23, 2000 (21:53)", "body": "Yeah...it would. *sigh* Where's the foreplay? Somebody needles you?!"}, {"response": 222, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Apr 23, 2000 (21:54)", "body": "haha...maybe mr panda isn't excited by ms panda. they need to find him a bar!"}, {"response": 223, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Apr 23, 2000 (21:55)", "body": "(i gotta go, work in the morning and i didn't realize how late it is) g'night! *HUGS*"}, {"response": 224, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Apr 23, 2000 (21:57)", "body": "G'night - I gotta go eat supper..."}, {"response": 225, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Apr 23, 2000 (23:02)", "body": "I'm back but nobody else is awake..."}, {"response": 226, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Mon, Apr 24, 2000 (07:03)", "body": "Yep, I was asleep."}, {"response": 227, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Apr 24, 2000 (12:59)", "body": "That is not unusual, but not unheard of. There is company who is here even if nothing ever appears on the topics... (checking my crystal ball)"}, {"response": 228, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Apr 24, 2000 (16:09)", "body": "...uh...yeah...sumpthin like that..."}, {"response": 229, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Apr 24, 2000 (16:20)", "body": "Couple Seized With Cocaine in Bible MEDELLIN (Reuters) - A husband and wife were seized at a Colombian airport on Good Friday as they tried to smuggle almost seven pounds (3 kg) of cocaine hidden in the pages of a Bible on to a flight bound for Mexico, police said. The couple, in their late 50s, were arrested at Rionegro airport on the outskirts of the northwest city of Medellin, the former power base of the infamous cocaine mob run by Pablo Escobar. ``Our suspicions were aroused when we picked up the Bible and saw how heavy it was,'' regional police chief Col. Ruben Carillo told reporters. He said the couple had also concealed an unspecified quantity of the drug in the heels of their shoes and the lining of their clothes. Colombia is the world's leading cocaine producer with an annual output estimated at 520 tons."}, {"response": 230, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Apr 25, 2000 (19:21)", "body": "Judges Tough on Mother, Easy on Ectoplasm NEW YORK (Reuters) - Order in the court? Jailing a woman with a newborn baby for a traffic offense and allowing testimony from a 500-year-old spirit are just two stories recounted in the National Law Journal's ``Stupid Judge Tricks,'' a compendium of injudicious judicial behavior. The weekly Journal issued its third annual list on Monday to mark Law Day, May 1. The new mother, appearing before Judge Fred Heene of the San Bernardino, California, County Court, asked for more time to complete community service for a previous traffic violation. She said she had not put in enough time because her doctor had ordered her to stay in bed in the final stages of her pregnancy. But Heene sentenced her to 44 days in jail. ``I have a 7-day-old baby at home,'' the woman reportedly complained. ``Ma'am, you should have thought of that a long time ago,'' Heene reportedly replied. More other-worldly was what the Journal called the ``novel'' approach of Judge J. Michael Flournoy of the Coconino County, Arizona, Superior Court at a 1995 pretrial hearing in a slander case. Citing press accounts, the Journal said Flournoy allowed his courtroom lights to be dimmed as the audience sang the Beatles song ``In My Life,'' which refers to ``people and things that went before.'' Then a medium took the witness stand and channeled the testimony of a 15th-century Englishman. ``The spirit wanted the case to settle, and Judge Flournoy noted that it promptly did,'' the Journal said."}, {"response": 231, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Apr 25, 2000 (19:25)", "body": "Snoring Prisoner Stabbed to Death DUBLIN (Reuters) - A prisoner was stabbed to death in an Irish jail over Easter after his snoring drove a cellmate into a violent rage, newspapers reported Tuesday. Thomas Brady, 22, was stabbed with a sharpened table knife as he slept in his cell at Dublin's Mountjoy prison early on Easter Sunday. He was rushed to a hospital but could not be saved. ``The Gardai (police) have told me that Thomas was stabbed in his sleep because he was snoring,'' the victim's father told The Star newspaper. Police said they were questioning a man over the killing but did not disclose his identity."}, {"response": 232, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, May  2, 2000 (14:14)", "body": "Prostitutes, Dogs Found in Prison BOGOTA (Reuters) - They made their own booze, hired prostitutes and kept Rottweilers as pets ... until the police retook control of Colombia's largest prison from the inmates. In a massive weekend raid on the Modelo penitentiary, police said on Monday they discovered a private sauna and gym, distilleries, drugs and dogs. And there were weapons everywhere. Police were also surprised to find 511 women in the all-male prison, allegedly prostitutes hired to stay for several days to offer their services to inmates. National Police Chief Rosso Jose Serrano described the prison as a hotbed of corruption and a center of extortion, kidnapping, drug trafficking and prostitution. Inmates hid radios, cellular phones, and computers in their cells, which police said they used to manage criminal bands outside the prison. ``In each wall there was a false tile or brick and behind that tile (there was) a radio, a weapon, marijuana, ammunition,'' Serrano said. One inmate, a leader of the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), enjoyed a sauna and a private gym in his cell, police said. He has been ordered transferred to another prison. The massive sweep of the prison came after 25 inmates were killed in bloody clashes between rival gangs in the penitentiary in a 12-hour battle on Thursday. The search of the overcrowded prison also yielded 35 firearms including two AK-47 assault rifles -- nearly nine pounds (four kg) of explosives, knives and grenades."}, {"response": 233, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, May  8, 2000 (13:30)", "body": "British anarchists plan mass \"moon\" at monarchy LONDON, May 8 (Reuters) - British anarchists said on Monday they were planning a series of demonstrations, including a mass baring of backsides, to protest against the British monarchy. On their website, the Movement Against the Monarchy (MAM) said they planned the first ever mass public \"mooning\" outside Buckingham Palace. \"We want 2,000 bare butts,\" said the MAM site. A spokesman for MAM, Steve Edwards, 53, said the protest would be a \"cheeky\" way of gaining the monarchy's attention and would make a change from violent disorder. \"We would like to see the monarchy got rid of and we do think that we could only get rid of the monarchy as they did in Russia and France,\" said Edwards, who has been arrested 33 times, mainly for public order offences. \"If you get rid of the monarchy, the rest of the in-bred establishment will follow,\" he added. Police said they were aware of the planned protests. \"We are aware of the potential for demonstrations to take place later this year. It is too early to speculate whether there will be violence. Any demonstrations will be policed appropriately and proportionately,\" a police spokeswoman said. MAM, which plans the mooning protest on June 3, also plans to attend the Queen Mother's 100th birthday on August . \"Hell if we're paying for it we might as well be there,\" MAM said. MAM would not only be targeting the monarchy but planned to gatecrash a banquet at London's Bankside Arts Centre on May 11 which they believe Prime Minister Tony Blair and pop star Madonna will be attending. Members of MAM took part in this month's Mayday anti-capitalist demonstrations in London, which degenerated into running battles with the police. Edwards said he thought protesters who had destroyed a McDonald's restaurant during the riots had behaved in an \"exemplary\" fashion. \"We're all in favour of property damage,\" Edwards added."}, {"response": 234, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, May  8, 2000 (13:56)", "body": "Policeman wronged by fertility rite Pouring buckets of water on young women is an Easter Monday tradition in Poland. But a policeman was not amused when two teenagers also went after him. 'Wet Monday' is the day when young Polish men pour water on young girls and women in a fertility rite dating to pagan times. Often, other people in the street are also drenched. Police detained the young men in the southern city of Wroclaw after they drenched an officer and threw stones at him, taking the Wet Monday custom a bit too far. Police increased their presence in the streets to prevent Wet Monday excesses, but the only reported intervention was the one in Wroclaw."}, {"response": 235, "author": "moonbeam", "date": "Mon, May  8, 2000 (15:01)", "body": "Police in Albuquerque, N.M., say Edward Hall, 50, stole a utility trailer from a Home Depot store by hitching it to the back of his pickup truck and driving away. A few miles from the store, it came loose and crashed beside the road, so he went back to the store and stole a second one. The second also came loose and crashed just 75 yards from the first. As a Bernalillo County Sheriff's deputy investigated the crashes, Hall clipped the deputy's parked patrol car with, yes, a third trailer as he drove by. A chase ensued as Hall tried to get away -- at a mere 25 mph, \"probably because he knows the trailers, at high speeds, don't stay on very well,\" a detective said. Hall was charged with possession of burglary tools, three counts of unlawful taking a motor vehicle, and leaving the scene of an accident. (AP)"}, {"response": 236, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, May  8, 2000 (15:49)", "body": "He shoulda been charged for more than that - like the cost of the trailers and the things he smashed into. I trust he is not still on active duty..."}, {"response": 237, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, May 10, 2000 (23:15)", "body": "Birthday Photo Betrays Peeping Tom STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Women bathers at a nudist beach in Sweden tracked down a peeping tom who spied on them with binoculars and camera after his wife published his name and photograph in the local paper to mark his 50th birthday. The newspaper Hallards Nyheter at Varberg on Sweden's west coast, which carried the birthday message, reported Tuesday that the man had been charged with breach of the peace."}, {"response": 238, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, May 13, 2000 (14:26)", "body": "This should be required reading to get an e-mail account. Whoever decided to create this note and forward it on should receive some type of Humanitarian Award. It would be hopeful, yet doubtful, that this will clean up some of the junk that comes across the net. 1. Big companies don't do business via chain letter. Bill Gates is not giving you $1000, and Disney is not giving you a free vacation. There is no baby food company issuing class-action checks. MTV will not give you backstage passes if you forward something to the most people. You can relax; there is no need to pass it on \"just in case it's true\". Furthermore, just because someone said in the message, four generations back, that \"we checked it out and it's legit\", does not actually make it true. 2. There is no kidney theft ring in New Orleans. No one is waking up in a bathtub full of ice, even if a friend of a friend swears it happened to their cousin. If you are hell-bent on believing the kidney-theft ring stories, please see: http://urbanlegends.tqn.com/library/weekly/aa062997.htm And I quote: \"The National Kidney Foundation has repeatedly issued quests for actual victims of organ thieves to come forward and tell their stories. None have. That's \"none\" as in \"zero\". Not even your friend's cousin. 3. Neiman Marcus doesn't really sell a $200 cookie recipe. And even if they did, we all have it. And even if you don't, you can get a copy at: http://www.bl.net/forwards/cookie.html . Then, if you make the recipe, decide the cookies are that awesome, feel free to pass the recipe on (without the fake story please). 4. If the latest NASA rocket disaster(s) DID contain plutonium that went to particulate over the eastern seaboard, do you REALLY think this information would reach the public via an AOL chain-letter? 5. There is no \"Good Times\" virus. In fact, you should never, ever, ever forward any email containing any virus warning unless you first confirm it through an actual site of an actual company that actually deals with viruses. Try: http://www.norton.com/ And you cannot get a virus from a flashing IM or email, you have to download it....ya know, like, a FILE! 6. If your cc: list is regularly longer than the actual content of your message, you probably already have it stored in your old 8088, Franklin, or Adam computer. 7. If you still absolutely MUST forward that 10th-generation message from a friend, at least have the decency to trim the eight miles of headers showing everyone else who's received it over the last 6 months. It sure wouldn't hurt to get rid of all the \" \" or that begin each line. Besides, if it has gone around that many times we've probably already seen it anyway. 8. Craig Shergold (or Sherwood, or Sherman, etc.) in England is not dying of cancer or anything else at this time and would like everyone to stop sending him their business cards. He apparently is also no longer a \"little boy\" either. 9. The \"Make a Wish\" foundation is a real organization doing fine work, but they have had to establish a special toll free hot line in response to the large number of Internet hoaxes using their good name and reputation. It is distracting them from the important work they do. 10. If you are one of those insufferable idiots who forwards anything that promises \"something bad will happen if you don't\", too late... you're a lost cause already! 11. The CEO Proctor & Gamble has NEVER been a guest on any of the TV talk shows to proclaim P&G's allegiance to Satan...even Sally Jesse's (see for yourself at: http://www.sallyjr.com/faq.html) . All the disclaimers to this fact are posted on the various shows web sites. This is one of the longest running hoaxes anywhere...way before email was ever known by most people. (For a complete list of the info, ref: http://www.pg.com/rumor/ ) P&G is NOT a satanic organization, although I'm sure Satan sure is smiling over all the prolific emails that, says it is and probably says thanks to all the 'lost souls' who pass this garbage on ! 12. I am not even gonna touch the red spiders in the commode, the hypodermic needles in the theater seats, the car headlights/gang hoax, etc, etc, etc..... Bottom Line... composing e-mail or posting something on the Net is as easy as writing on the walls of a public restroom. Don't automatically believe it until it's proven false...ASSUME it's false, unless there is proof that it's true. --Kramer Wetzel, Fishing Guide to the Stars http://www.astrofish.net"}, {"response": 239, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, May 19, 2000 (19:00)", "body": "NEVER MIND THE PRICE OF GAS - GET IN THE CAR, WE'RE LEAVING Travel experts say Americans will hit the road in record numbers this Memorial Day weekend, regardless of the high price of gasoline. The American Automobile Association says it will be the 10th straight year of increased Memorial Day holiday travel, with 34.4 million Americans expected to travel 100 miles or more from home. That's up 3 percent from last year, and 31 percent from the 1991 holiday weekend. Most of those travelers -- 28.4 million -- will be going by car, light truck or recreational vehicle, even though AAA's pre-holiday Fuel Gauge Report shows self-serve regular gasoline averaging $1.465 per gallon nationally, 30.8 cents higher than last Memorial Day."}, {"response": 240, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, May 19, 2000 (19:02)", "body": "Internet Hoax -- Time To Clean Out The Web! A nice and tidy Internet hoax traveling around is \"Internet Cleaning Day.\" This e-mail states that there is going to be a national day of cleaning to help speed up the World Wide Web. The message usually includes something about disconnecting servers, hard drives, monitors, etc. from the Internet. The e-mail is not true. There is no such thing as \"Internet Cleanup Day.\" Anyway, I'm sure they don't do Windows."}, {"response": 241, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, May 22, 2000 (14:40)", "body": "Internet Hoax -- When Bananas Bite Back! A relative of mine introduced me to this one. In this hoax, the e-mail states that the deadly disease \"necrotizing fasciitis\" has somehow found its way onto bananas being shipped from Costa Rica. In case you don't know, necrotizing fasciitis is better known as \"flesh-eating\" bacteria. The story goes on to state that the FDA won't admit anything to avoid a panic. Nice of them, huh? This is totally bogus! The author attempts to use the clout of the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) as proof. The CDC has this Web site posted to refute the claim: http://www.cdc.gov/od/oc/media/pressrel/r2k0128.htm"}, {"response": 242, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, May 22, 2000 (14:44)", "body": "WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM OUR FRIENDS! Police in Oakland, California spent two hours attempting to subdue a gunman who had barricaded himself inside his home. After firing ten tear gas canisters, officers discovered that the man was standing beside them, shouting out to give himself up. WHAT WAS PLAN B??? An Illinois man, pretending to have a gun, kidnapped a motorist and forced him to drive to two different automated teller machines. The kidnapper then proceeded to withdraw money from his own bank account. SOME DAYS, IT JUST DOESN'T PAY! Fire investigators on Maui have determined the cause of a blaze that destroyed a $127,000 home last month - a short in the homeowner's newly installed fire prevention alarm system. \"This is even worse than last year,\" said the distraught homeowner, \"when someone broke in and stole my new security system...\" THE GETAWAY! A man walked into a Topeka, Kansas Kwik Shop and asked for all the money in the cash drawer. Apparently, the take was too small so he tied up the store clerk and worked the counter himself for three hours until police showed up and grabbed him. DID I SAY THAT??? Police in Los Angeles had good luck with a robbery suspect who just couldn't control himself during a lineup. When detectives asked each man in the lineup to repeat the words, \"Give me all your money or I'll shoot\", the man shouted, \"That's not what I said!\" OUCH, THAT SMARTS!! A bank robber in Virginia Beach got a nasty surprise when a dye pack designed to mark stolen money exploded in his Fruit-of-the-Looms. The robber apparently stuffed the loot down the front of his pants as he was running out the door. \"He was seen hopping and jumping around with an explosion taking place inside his pants,\" said police spokesman Mike Carey. Police have the man's charred trousers in custody. ARE WE COMMUNICATING?? A man spoke frantically into the phone, \"My wife is pregnant and her contractions are only two minutes apart!\" \"Is this her first child?\" the doctor asked. \"No, you idiot!\" the man shouted, \"this is her husband!\" NOT THE SHARPEST KNIFE IN THE DRAWER!! In Modesto, CA, Steven Richard King was arrested for trying to hold up a Bank of America branch without a weapon. King used a thumb and a finger to simulate a gun but unfortunately he failed to keep his hand in his pocket."}, {"response": 243, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, May 23, 2000 (16:40)", "body": "Internet Hoax -- Cockroaches and ATMs This is nasty! Supposedly, a woman came into the hospital with a lesion on her tongue. Apparently, she had licked an envelope, and a cockroach egg became imbedded in her tongue. During the exam, the cockroach (this is gross) emerged from her tongue, much to the horror of the nurse, doctor, or whoever \"witnessed\" the event. OK, even I must admit this is so stupid, anyone who actually believes this needs help. Ewwww!!!!"}, {"response": 244, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, May 24, 2000 (14:00)", "body": "Darwin Winner -- Cobra Kills Moron! Wayne Roth, 38, was bitten by his friend's pet cobra. He refused to go to the hospital, saying \"I'm a man, I can take it.\" He then went to a local bar for drinks. Cobra venom is very slow acting but quite potent. Wayne died within a few hours. He later went on to win the 1997 Darwin Award, having qualified by committing a fatal stupidity."}, {"response": 245, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, May 25, 2000 (11:46)", "body": "KLINGERMAN VIRUS' HYSTERIA The \"deadly sponges in the mail\" hoax resulted in the evacuation of a West Palm Beach, Florida neighborhood on Monday. A woman called the police after receiving a blue envelope, thinking it might contain the rumored virus. After evacuating the woman and some of her neighbors, the bomb squad examined the blue envelope, which turned out to be a sweepstakes entry from Publisher's Clearinghouse. http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bldrumbeat.htm"}, {"response": 246, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, May 25, 2000 (12:04)", "body": "Even Killers Can Sue Convicted serial killer Peter Moore won nearly 13,000 pounds in damage from a couple of family friends who were supposed to look after his home in North Wales. The couple sold off Moore's belongings, including some prized gnomes, and refused to give him any of the cash from the sale. The fact that Moore was jailed for life for his crimes may have had something to do with the couple's attitude. The judge in the theft cash awarded Moore damages and said he could claim legal costs. The couple did not appear in court."}, {"response": 247, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, May 26, 2000 (21:28)", "body": "(AP)A Texas death row inmate reportedly tried to auction off five seats to his execution on eBay. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram said Michael Toney's sales pitch was on the Web site for several hours Wednesday before being removed by managers of the San Jose, Calif.-based company. The 34-year-old Toney -- who was convicted of killing three people near Fort Worth in a 1985 bombing attack -- said in his listing that he wanted the money to establish a trust for his two estranged daughters. Condemned killers in Texas are allowed to have five witnesses at their execution. Usually, they invite family members or friends. State prison spokesman Glen Castleberry said even if someone had bid on the offer, they would not have been allowed to attend the execution, \"period, end of story.\" An execution date for Toney has not been set. He's currently appealing his conviction."}, {"response": 248, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, May 26, 2000 (22:21)", "body": "News of the Weird LEAD STORIES * In March, Milwaukee lawyer Robin Shellow agreed to settle the slander lawsuit filed by former client James Hermann, stemming from a statement she made on his behalf at his 1996 sentencing for armed robbery. To help explain his behavior to the judge, Shellow said Hermann was a heroin user, but Hermann said he was merely a cocaine addict and that to hear himself described as a heroin user gave him post-traumatic stress disorder resulting in lessened \"self-confidence, self-esteem and self-image.\" * In April, the Orange County (Calif.) Register revealed that human tissue banks, which are widely believed by the donating public to be either government- or non-profit-operated, are highly profitable commercial concerns, with annual revenues of $500 million and rising. Today, a cadaver \"donated to science\" actually brings up to $200,000 for tissue banks and their contractors. The companies argue that if they paid for cadavers, the costs would rise to tissue recipients (who range from blind people receiving corneas to makeup models who want fuller lips). ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Who Cares? The I Am Hurt Corp. lawyer-referral company filed a lawsuit in Edmonton, Alberta, in March against a competing lawyer who advertises his phone number, 428-HURT. And in November, a New York grand jury indicted three principals in a Maryland distributing company for fraudulently substituting common fish eggs for caviar. And in March, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a complaint against four Georgetown University law students, accusing them of recommending an obscure stock on an Internet bulletin board and then exploiting people who bought that stock, even though the buyers put their money down apparently knowing nothing about the stock except that these anonymous strangers recommended it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Entrepreneurial Spirit * Exciting New Products: the Vast-ity Belt, which contains a microchip that flashes and beeps when the wearer has eaten too much at a meal (from Piero De Giacomo of Bari, Italy); The Gooser, a computer program that automatically inflates lawyers' billed hours (according to a November federal indictment against the developer, a Wayne, Pa, consultant); and sliced peanut butter, packaged like single slices of cheese, from researchers at Oklahoma State University. * Latest from the Restaurant Industry: A Nazi-themed restaurant called The Third Reich (with Gestapo-clad waiters) has been open for about a year in downtown Seoul, to little criticism, perhaps because of South Korea's minuscule Jewish population. However, an unaffiliated eatery called Jail (with a prison motif) in Taipei, Taiwan, was forced to apologize in January for including Holocaust prison scenes on its walls. Yet another Taipei theme restaurant opened in January, built on a smokestack at the city's biggest garbage incinerator, with picturesque views of trucks bringing in the trash. * In London, England, in December, a completely automated tavern, Cynthia's Cyberbar, opened, featuring a robot that mixes drinks perfectly and carries on recorded conversations to simulate a friendly bartender. * New York City psychotherapist Marilyn Graman recently offered a $9,600-per-person set of classes that she describes as \"a step-by-step intensive program designed to lead (a woman) down the aisle.\" According to a December Philadelphia Inquirer report, the course covers 276 hours over six months, full of such tips as how a woman can visualize herself as a wife and how to make your closet \"man ready,\" but she offers no nuptial guarantee. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Chutzpah * Wilhelm Krumwiede asked the Nebraska Supreme Court in December to rule that his estranged (and possibly dead) wife is also liable for the $120,000 in legal fees he has amassed defending the charge that he murdered her. (She has been missing since 1995, but in two trials, Krumwiede has not been convicted.) And in December, after estranged wife Cora Caro was arrested in Ventura County, Calif., and charged with murdering three of her four children, she demanded $550,000 from her husband (the kids' father) as a \"loan\" from the future division of the community property in order to fund her expectedly elaborate defense. * In November, testifying before the state gaming commission in Indianapolis, principals of Caesars Indiana apologized for falling far short of the commission rule requiring that 10 percent of casino contracts go to minority businesses. Caesars said it had greatly improved over 1998's dismal one-half of 1 percent, but then revealed that that improvement was produced by counting its major engineering firm as minority-owned because its owner claims to be 1/16th American Indian. * Ronald Bell Jr., 18, was convicted of murder in Shalimar, Fla., in March; part of the evidence against him was "}, {"response": 249, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jun  3, 2000 (17:43)", "body": "Man Pays Victim's Husband in Fondling Case LUSAKA (Reuters) - A Zambian hotel supervisor who touched a woman employee's breasts has been ordered by a court to pay her husband nearly $300 in compensation, The Post newspaper reported Thursday. The paper said Bertha Kosamu told the court she was ironing in the hotel laundry room when her supervisor, Obert Siyankalanga, reached from behind and slipped his hand into her blouse, touching her breasts. ``I clobbered him on the head with the iron to ward off his unwanted advances,'' said the 24-year-old Kosamu, pointing at deep scars on Siyankalanga's head and face. Judge Alfred Shilibwa found Siyankalanga guilty of defilement and interference in a marriage, ruling that the victim's husband and not the victim required compensation. ``There is evidence of sexual harassment and defilement. Bosses should not intimidate their workers in the manner adopted by the accused,'' Shilibwa told the court."}, {"response": 250, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jun 10, 2000 (19:13)", "body": "Suck-And-Sniff Narco Lollipops Seized BOGOTA (Reuters) - Even die-hard chocoholic and candy addicts may draw the line at the latest ``treat'' dished up by Colombian narco-traffickers cocaine-filled lollipops. Police at Bogota airport seized late Thursday a package of 215 ``Bon-Bon-Bum'' lollies destined for New York and discovered the traditional bubble-gum centers had been replaced with drugs. Each lollipop was filled with around 3/4 ounce of pure cocaine, worth as much as $7,000 once cut and sold on U.S. streets. Col. Mauricio Agudelo, head of Bogota airport police, said a total of about 10 pounds of cocaine was concealed in the candies, which had been made in the northwest city of Medellin, the former powerbase of Pablo Escobar's notorious drug mob. ``This is the first time we have seen this method being used. This is just another sign of the inventiveness of Colombia's drug traffickers,'' Agudelo said. In the past, police have seized Colombian cocaine packed in the stems of export-ready flowers, mixed with cement and shaped into concrete fence posts and even combined with plastic compounds and made into dog kennels. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration estimates Colombia provides up to 80 percent of the world's cocaine and up to two-thirds of the high grade heroin sold in the United States. Genuine Bon-Bon-Bum lollipops, manufactured by Cali-based Colombina SA, are sold throughout the world."}, {"response": 251, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jul  1, 2000 (12:30)", "body": "From the Tallahassee (Florida) Police Department: STUPID CRIMINAL STORIES --------------- * A prison inmate in Honolulu, Hawaii walked away from a work detail just five months shy of finishing an eight-year sentence. The fugitive apparently couldn't wait for parole because he wanted to get married to his longtime girlfriend. The pair never got to go on their honeymoon because an employee at the marriage license bureau alerted police when lover-boy tried to use his prison ID to apply for the marriage license. * A career criminal in Portland, OR hatched a scam to earn some easy pocket cash. He printed up some phony charity raffle tickets and made quite a bundle selling them around town. Police received numerous complaints, but were never able to crack the case until the man sold one of the phony tickets to someone who already had cause to be a bit suspicious of him - his parole officer. * A computer hacker in Fort Collins, CO discovered a security flaw in an Internet company's e-commerce Web site. The hacker threatened to reveal the weakness publicly unless the company paid him thousands in cash, along with a new Volvo station wagon. He was busted when he gave the target company his name and home address for delivery of the Volvo. * A man in Chester, SC was arrested on a weapons charge after he pretended to be shot. The convicted felon fired a .22-caliber rifle out the window of his house and then put ketchup on his head and lay on the floor. The man's wife called 911 when she found him, and deputies responded. He told deputies the shooting was a joke, but federal law makes it illegal for convicted felons to handle or fire guns. * A Detroit shoplifting suspect was crushed to death after fleeing the store's security guards. As the guards spotted the woman and approached her, she made a break for it and hid in the store's trash compactor. The woman was crushed after workers who were loading trash into the compactor started the machine. They had been on a break when the woman hid inside the machine and didn't notice she was there until they restarted it. * A bride-to-be in Prestonburg, KY didn't show up at the church for her wedding, but it wasn't because she got cold feet. In fact, it was because she had hot fingers. The woman had been jailed for shoplifting her wedding gown and several other accessories from a local bridal shop. * A Wesley Chapel, FL man suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound while working on his car. Apparently, the repairs involved drilling a hole into the car's exhaust pipe. The man couldn't find a drill, but he was able to lay his hands on a pistol, so he decided to try to shoot the hole instead. His aim apparently wasn't any better than his idea, and the bullet ricocheted back at him."}, {"response": 252, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jul  4, 2000 (16:34)", "body": "------------ Crash and Burn for Copycat Failure ------------ SACRAMENTO, California - A 17-year-old copycatter did not demonstrate the agile reflexes of a feline when he fell through the ceiling of two stores that he was trying to rob. The boy was allegedly trying to emulate an infamous \"rooftop robber\" who is believed to have committed more than 40 crimes in California. According to Placer County Sheriff Department Lt. Rick Armstrong, \"The first store had bars on the doors and windows so the boy couldn't get out. So he went onto the ceiling of the next store and fell 20 feet to the floor.\" It should be safe to say that becoming a Roofer is definitely not in the boys future."}, {"response": 253, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jul  4, 2000 (16:35)", "body": "---- Iran Transsexual Unhappy With Experience As Woman ----- TEHRAN - An Iranian man who recently had a sex change to become a woman wants to reverse the operation because she finds life as a woman insufferable in Iran, a newspaper said on Monday. The 25-year-old Maryam, formerly Mehran, underwent a sex change last year, despite strong parental opposition. But she soon regretted the decision, finding it difficult to cope with \"restrictions\" surrounding a woman's life in the conservative Islamic society. While almost everything else in Iran is illegal, sex change operations are, but there are no provisions for would-be transsexuals to test out their new identity first."}, {"response": 254, "author": "CherylB", "date": "Thu, Jul  6, 2000 (17:57)", "body": "Police arrested Patrick Lawrence, a 22 year old white male, resident of Dacula, GA, in a pumpkin patch at 11:38pm Friday. Lawrence will be charged with lewd and lascivious behavior, public indecency, and public intoxication at the Gwinnett County courthouse on Monday. The suspect allegedly stated that as he was passing a pumpkin patch, he decided to stop. \"You know, a pumpkin is soft and squishy inside, and there was no one around here for miles. At least I thought there wasn't,\" he stated in a phone interview from the Lawrenceville jail. Lawrence went on to state that he pulled over to the side of the road, picked out a pumpkin that he felt was appropriate to his purposes, cut a hole in it, and proceeded to satisfy his alleged \"need\". \"I guess I was just really into it, you know?\" he commented with evident embarrassment. In the process, Lawrence apparently failed to notice the Gwinnett County police car approaching and was unaware of his audience until officer Brenda Taylor approached him. \"It was an unusual situation, that's for sure,\" said officer Taylor. \"I walked up to (Lawrence) and he's...just working away at this pumpkin.\" Taylor went on to describe what happened when she approached Lawrence. \"I just went up and said, \"Excuse me sir, but do you realize that you are making love to a pumpkin?\" He got real surprised, as you'd expect, and then looked me straight in the face and said, \"A pumpkin!? Damn...is it midnight already?\""}, {"response": 255, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jul  8, 2000 (18:55)", "body": "+---------------------- Bizarre Laws ----------------------+ Arkansas The Arkansas River can rise no higher than to the Main Street bridge in Little Rock. Arkansas must be pronounced \"Arkansaw\" A law provides that school teachers who bob their hair will not get a raise. A man can legally beat his wife, but not more than once a month. Oral sex is considered to be sodomy. Alligators may not be kept in bathtubs."}, {"response": 256, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jul  8, 2000 (18:57)", "body": "TORONTO - A study recently published in \"PsychologyBulletin,\" finds homosexual men and women are more likely to be left- handed than their heterosexual counterparts. Canadian researchers say these findings indicate sexual orientation, like handedness, may be determined before birth. A statistical analysis of 20 studies involving more than 23,000 men and women had found that gay men were 34 percent more inclined toward left-handednesss than non-gay men while the chances were even greater among homosexual women, where they were 91 percent more likely to be left-handed than heterosexual women."}, {"response": 257, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jul  8, 2000 (18:58)", "body": "-------- Retiree Drives Across Country In Golf Cart -------- SOMEWHERE BETWEEN CONNECTICUT AND CALIFORNIA - What do you do if you're a retiree from California with nothing better to do with your time? If you're George Bombardier you take cross-country road trips in a golf cart. Bombardier lives in a trailer and can't do much with his emphysema and heart problems so for the past few years he has been driving to Connecticut in a golf cart to see his kids. Among the amenities he carries with him are a television, radio, tape player and makeshift bed. This most recent trip will make his fourth circuit in two years. [Bizarre News readers will not be surprised to learn that old George is also a divorcee.] ---------- Who Wants Jet Boots? We Want Jet Boots! --------- MOSCOW - You would think these little gems came out of Japan, but the inventor of the world's first gasoline-powered boots is Roman Kunikov, one of the professors at a prominent Russian engineering institute. The boots incorporate one-foot pistons that strap along the calf and fire downward after the wearer steps down, pushing a metal plate away from the bottom of the shoe - and the wearer up into the air. Tests have shown that wearers can achieve speeds of up to 25 mph. \"A person can move with significant jumps or strides,\" said Kunikov, \"there have not been any accidents so far.\" [Is is just me, or can the rest of you not wait for these things to hit the market?]"}, {"response": 258, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Sep  1, 2000 (14:18)", "body": "-------------- STUPID CRIMINAL STORIES --------------- * A company called \"Guns For Hire\" stages gunfights for Western movies and other events. One day, a middle-aged woman in Austin, TX called to inquire if they could kill her husband. She was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison. * This guy wasn't a criminal as far as we know - but he sure was stupid. A very macho colonel in the Ivory Coast army bought a magic belt that would supposedly protect him from bullets. The colonel had one of his soldiers fire several bullets at him to test the belt. He died instantly. * Two Jacksonville, FL brothers convinced a dentist into letting them chop off his finger. They would claim it was an accident and the three would split the insurance money. The dentist at first agreed, but quickly changed his mind. The brothers became infuriated, held the dentist down and forcibly cut off his index finger. The dentist could no longer practice and collected over one million dollars. When the brothers tried to extort money from the dentist, he reported them to the FBI. They were promptly arrested. * An inebriated man in Hopedale, MA stood naked in his front yard one night and began shooting at cars that passed by. Finally someone called the police. When the officer passed by, the drunk shot at his car also. The policeman got out of the car. In an attempt to escape, the man jumped on the back of the officer's German shepherd. The dog became angry and viscously attacked the man while the officer handcuffed him. * A Peeping Tom was arrested in Newport News, VA. The pervert had left his lip prints on the window. A few days later, he returned to the apartment complex where he was arrested for indecent exposure. The officer lifted the lip print from the window and the state crime lab made a positive match. The man is now behind bars. * Police reported that a man walked into a Burger King in Ypsilanti, MI, flashed a gun and demanded cash. The clerk turned him down because he said he couldn't open the cash register without a food order. When the man ordered onion rings, the clerk said they weren't available for breakfast. The man, frustrated, walked away. * A thief in California, after robbing a bank, ran out in the middle of a busy street to try to blend in to escape from the police who were chasing him. So, the crook ran into the middle of a group of runners. What the thief didn't know was that the group of joggers was actually a group of police academy recruits out for a morning run. Guess who got caught? * In Seattle WA, some employees of Boeing Aircraft stole a large life raft that is used on the 747. They went to the river and inflated it. Shortly thereafter, the Coast Guard showed up. The thieves didn't know that a locator beacon signal was activated when the raft was inflated. They no longer work for Boeing."}, {"response": 259, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Oct  1, 2000 (17:55)", "body": "--------------- STUPID CRIMINAL STORIES --------------- * An 18-year-old thrill seeker got a little carried away while robbing a branch of Bank of America in Sacramento, CA recently. As he was leaving with the loot, the man turned to bank personnel and yelled, \"I'm goin' to Lake Tahoe!\" -- an apparent salute to the famous \"I'm goin' to Disneyworld\" television ads. The man then hopped into his waiting limo -- yes, he was using a rented limo for a getaway car -- and told the driver to take him to Lake Tahoe. The limo driver realized what was going on and alerted his company dispatcher, who called the cops. Needless to say, the suspect never made it to Tahoe. He was arrested just outside the Sacramento city limits. * A somewhat meticulous drug dealer in Victoriaville, Canada ran into trouble in the course of his carefully run crack cocaine business. It seems that when the dealer delivered a package to a customer, he added local sales tax to the purchase price. One of the man's customers was so incensed by the extra charges that he actually complained about it to Victoriaville police. It wasn't tough for the cops to track their man down, since the dealer had also provided an itemized and signed sales receipt for each purchase. * A couple in Chula Vista, CA went on a shoplifting spree at a local discount store, swiping a variety of items from the store's shelves, and hiding them in the baby carriage they were pushing. The haul got so big that the carriage finally collapsed, spilling the couple's baby onto the store floor, along with the loot. The baby wasn't injured, but the commotion attracted the attention of store security officers, who made a quick arrest. * A Sullivan, NY man was charged with forcing another motorist off the road, even though he wasn't in the car at the time of the accident. Several friends had tried to talk the drunken man out of driving home after a party, but he drove off anyway. Police say the man stopped at an intersection, then made an abrupt right turn, falling out of the car in the process. The car rolled on, causing several drivers to swerve out of the way and forcing one woman's car completely off the road. The man was charged with DWI, failure to keep right, and driving without a seat belt. * An Oklahoma City man, who had a court date on a marijuana possession charge, had trouble finding a parking space, so he decided to park in the police lot. Not a good idea. Two plainclothes police officers approached the man and asked him to move his car, but he refused, another not-so-good idea. When the officers asked to see the man's identification, he went back to the car to look for his driver's license. While rummaging through the glove compartment, the man pulled out several bags of pot, which was bad idea number three. The cops arrested the man on the spot, and he's now facing two marijuana possession charges. And by the way, the license the man was looking for was in his pants pocket the entire time. * An extortionist in Osaka, Japan sent anonymous letters to several large Japanese drug companies, demanding money and threatening serious consequences if his conditions weren't met. The case was cracked when a clerk at an Osaka convenience store found one of the blackmailer's originals that he had left behind in the store's copy machine. Police reviewed tapes made by the store's security camera and were able to quickly identify and arrest the suspect. * A Washington, NC man was charged with voter fraud after voting more than once in the state's May 2nd primary election. Elections officials say the man voted twice -- once in his own name, and once using the name of his father, who died in 1995. He might have pulled it off, if a volunteer at the voting booth hadn't noticed the man was already wearing a small \"I voted\" sticker on his lapel."}, {"response": 260, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Nov  1, 2000 (12:27)", "body": "--------------- Stupid Criminal Stories --------------- * A prison inmate in Honolulu, HI walked away from a work detail just five months shy of finishing an eight-year sentence. The fugitive apparently couldn't wait for parole because he wanted to get married to his longtime girlfriend. The pair never got to go on their honeymoon, though -- an employee at the marriage license bureau alerted police when loverboy tried to use his prison ID to apply for the marriage license. * A man carrying a television set hailed a cab in Los Angeles and told the driver he needed to get to Ohio in a hurry. The trip went well until the cab reached Topeka, Kansas, where a sheriff's deputy stopped the cabbie for speeding. During the stop, the deputy noticed the passenger was acting jumpy and had an unusually tight grip on his TV. An investigation revealed the TV set had ten pounds of marijuana hidden inside. * A Richmond, VA woman was arrested and charged with robbing a branch of Bank of America. The woman admitted the robbery, and told police she needed cash for an overdue mortgage payment. In true stupid criminal fashion, the bank that held the woman's mortgage was the same one she had robbed, and she was easily recognized. * A Philadelphia, PA man was arrested for robbery recently. As officers were preparing the paperwork on the arrest, they noticed the man intently chewing his fingernails. Or at least that's what they thought. Turns out the man was trying to chew off his fingerprints so he couldn't be identified. The cops stopped him before he was able to finish the job. * A woman in Oroville, CA who had been the victim of a recent burglary decided to join a local Neighborhood Watch group. The woman could hardly believe her eyes when she arrived for her first meeting - the hostess was wearing a dress that had been stolen in the recent robbery. As the victim wandered around the house, she discovered the rest of her missing furniture and household goods. The woman left the party and alerted police, who dropped by the Neighborhood Watch meeting to arrest the hostess. * A public works employee in Hartford, CT began supplementing his income by moonlighting as a drug dealer. Hartford police arrested the man after they overheard him making drug deals over a radio frequency that city vehicles share with the police department."}, {"response": 261, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Nov  1, 2000 (21:15)", "body": "Students Arrested for Pumpkin Thefts BATON ROUGE, La. (Reuters) - At least eight college students were facing theft charges after being caught with more than 350 pumpkins and other Halloween decorations filched from homes in south Baton Rouge, city police said on Tuesday night. The cache included 332 pumpkins, most of them carved, and plastic jack-o'-lanterns, 24 scarecrows, nine ghosts, eight skeletons and one straw broom, police said. \"We had a lot of families come by tonight looking for their pumpkins and decorations,\" Lt. Frances Schenk said. \"What upset all of us was the little kids who were crying because their decorations had been stolen,\" she said. \"It ruined Halloween for a lot of them.\" The students, believed to be freshmen at Louisiana State University, were booked on charges of misdemeanor theft and illegal possession of stolen goods. One of the eight also was booked on charges of possessing a small amount of marijuana and drug paraphernalia, police said. \"The biggest question now is what we're going to do with all the pumpkins that don't get claimed,\" Schenk said. \"It looks like there's enough here to make pies for everybody in south Louisiana.\""}, {"response": 262, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Nov  9, 2000 (20:27)", "body": "+-------------------- Bizarre Lawsuits --------------------+ A University of Idaho freshman suffered fractured vertebrae, abrasions and severely bruised buttocks when the dormitory window that he was mooning a group of friends through shattered. The young man and his parents sued the school for $470,000 per cheek. When Minnesota State Bank of St. Paul president Michael Brennan flushed the toilet in the executive washroom, he was blasted with a geyser of 200 to 300 gallons of raw sewage. He sued the city and a construction company that neglected to inform anyone they shut off the sewer line for $50,000 to cover his humiliation and embarrassment. A 25-year-old mortuary driver was cited for driving alone in a High Occupancy Vehicle lane. The man appeared in court and explained to the judge that he was transporting four dozen corpses at the time and wasn't alone. The judge didn't buy it and the mortuary driver was forced to pay a \"stiff\" fine. A $35 million lawsuit was filed in New York State Supreme Court against Motorola. Ronald Silber claimed Motorola should be held liable for the injuries they sustained when another car collided with them because the driver lost control of the car while reaching for her cell phone."}, {"response": 263, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Fri, Jan 19, 2001 (09:29)", "body": "Temptation Island, episode 2. tv."}, {"response": 264, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Sat, Jan 20, 2001 (10:38)", "body": "Online learning communities, a new topic in the vc (virtual community) conference, with a mention of the Austen community as learning community and other examples. I hope this prompts a discussion. (as the the new President is about to be sworn in)"}, {"response": 265, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Sat, Jan 20, 2001 (10:50)", "body": "As I watched the swearing in, I created a topic on politics for the Bush Presidency."}, {"response": 266, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Sat, Jan 20, 2001 (10:54)", "body": "Marci's geo conference features some interesting space news about a new nuclear engine that will slash travel times to Jupiter and a scrubbed Soviet freighter mission to Mir. Marci posts this stuff regularly."}, {"response": 267, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Tue, Jan 23, 2001 (19:00)", "body": "Wow, they caught the \"Texas Seven\" right in Stacey's backyard, our Stacey! Don't miss: http://search.npr.org/cf/cmn/cmnpd01fm.cfm?PrgDate=01/23/2001&PrgID=5 January 23, 2001 HOUR TWO: P. J. Mark - Senior Correspondent at Inside.com Scott Kirsner - Contributing Editor at \"Wired\" magazine It's \"secret\" code-name is Ginger. It's been seen by only a few people. It's a mystery invention by a well-respected, though reclusive, scientist. But what is It? No one knows for sure, but that hasn't stopped the media from massive speculation. Is it a motorized scooter, a personal transport device, a high-tech unicycle? Join Juan Williams and guests as they look at what \"Ginger\" may be and whether it warrants all the media hype Discuss more in science topic 33."}, {"response": 268, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Tue, Jan 30, 2001 (07:43)", "body": "Let's talk about survivor again in the tv conference. Meet me there."}, {"response": 269, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Tue, Jan 30, 2001 (13:40)", "body": "g home for some pix of my recently finished pool at http://www.wholetech.com/images/pool.html"}, {"response": 270, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  3, 2001 (19:37)", "body": "Just got out of the pool. Too bad the holiday's drawing to a close, it's been really fun. news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 12, "subject": "media appearances of springeurs", "response_count": 127, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Mar  2, 1998 (01:39)", "body": "This might come into play when we get bigger. When we grow up. Someday. Who knows, could even happen now."}, {"response": 2, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Aug 17, 1999 (00:21)", "body": "Karen has been on Jeopardy."}, {"response": 3, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Aug 17, 1999 (08:43)", "body": "cool!"}, {"response": 4, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Aug 17, 1999 (12:34)", "body": "Yeah, she came in second to someone who was a real 'ringer'...she \"done good!\" And, I have the video tape....*grinning evilly*"}, {"response": 5, "author": "mrchips", "date": "Sat, Aug 21, 1999 (17:34)", "body": "I qualified for Jep in 1987, but never got the call. If they don't call within six months, one must requalify. Have not had another opportunity. I did interview Alex Trebek on KPOI-FM (Honolulu). That's how I got the courtesy sitting at the contestant search. They nearly never put radio people who help them find contestants on the show. Then again, most don't qualify, either. But even if they do, they'd rather not put them on and have the local listeners/viewers think something was rigged. Remembe Ralph Fiennes (sorry Marcia, but Wolf is drooling) as Charlie Van Doren in \"Quiz Show.\" (great flick!)"}, {"response": 6, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Aug 21, 1999 (18:00)", "body": "Congrats, John, I never knew! But, I am not surprised in the least. I should have put Alex on my top 5 male Babes - I really enjoy him...from the anonymity of the LR couch. And, Yes, good movie...(For Wolf, I forgive you anything.)"}, {"response": 7, "author": "mrchips", "date": "Sat, Aug 21, 1999 (22:01)", "body": "Alex is tall, tan, trim, dignified in bearing, impressive without being imperious--although occasionally he sounds imperious, obsequious and ostentatious on the show when no one rang in and he says \"that was the VERY FAMOUS....\" (especially in the opera category)! Of course, it's pretty damn easy to be brilliant when you have the answer cards in your hand! :-) Actually, he looks in person like a retired tennis pro."}, {"response": 8, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Aug 21, 1999 (22:08)", "body": "I still like him - an intellectual snob I can deal with. He is 6th on my top 5 list."}, {"response": 9, "author": "mrchips", "date": "Sun, Aug 22, 1999 (00:02)", "body": "I still like him, too. In fact, I wouldn't mind being on the receiving end of his \"VERY FAMOUS\" spiel."}, {"response": 10, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Aug 22, 1999 (00:16)", "body": "This is true...*sigh*"}, {"response": 11, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Aug 22, 1999 (20:48)", "body": "i think he's funny to watch. he blurts out the answers like he's saying \"and you didn't know that?\""}, {"response": 12, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Aug 22, 1999 (21:36)", "body": "It's part of his boyish charm, I think!"}, {"response": 13, "author": "mrchips", "date": "Sun, Aug 22, 1999 (22:19)", "body": "I like the way he says \"Yeah\" in an almost disgusted, clipped tone when someone answers an easy question."}, {"response": 14, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, Sep 23, 1999 (13:51)", "body": "Yeah"}, {"response": 15, "author": "mrchips", "date": "Thu, Sep 23, 1999 (14:14)", "body": "Does my twice weekly radio program count as a \"media appearance?\" It's on the worldwide web."}, {"response": 16, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Sep 23, 1999 (14:35)", "body": "Most assuredly! Do tell the good people when and the URL for listening...they forget from week to week! 11am - 2pm Austin time, is it? and can be heard on http://www.webradio.com/kwxx/"}, {"response": 17, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Sep 23, 1999 (14:36)", "body": "Oh yes, that is Saturdays and Sundays...."}, {"response": 18, "author": "mrchips", "date": "Thu, Sep 23, 1999 (14:38)", "body": "11-4 Sat. CDT, 11-3 Sun. after time change will be 10-3 Sat. 10-2 Sun. CST (Austin time)"}, {"response": 19, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Sep 23, 1999 (16:10)", "body": "thanks, John. I am in telnet and terry asked for the information in internet broadcasting. I can do it unless you get there first...!"}, {"response": 20, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Sep 23, 1999 (16:45)", "body": "Post a reminder Friday night if you care to, just the night before it's on!"}, {"response": 21, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Sep 23, 1999 (16:53)", "body": "One or the other or both of us will do!"}, {"response": 22, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Mon, Sep 27, 1999 (12:25)", "body": "I run a banana boat disguised as music mag. superstar has a weekly show on Radio X in Frankfurt ( http://www.radiox.de ; sorry, no webcasting YET - mail them, and request that! radiox@inm.de ). Our show superstar rotation is hosted by editors and co-writers. More infos in http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/restricted/read/music/59"}, {"response": 23, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Sep 29, 1999 (18:35)", "body": "thanks!"}, {"response": 24, "author": "mrchips", "date": "Wed, Sep 29, 1999 (21:05)", "body": "Cool, Alexander ...you're on radio X, I'm on \"double X\""}, {"response": 25, "author": "riette", "date": "Fri, Oct  1, 1999 (03:21)", "body": "Which is where you both, no doubt, belong...."}, {"response": 26, "author": "riette", "date": "Fri, Oct  1, 1999 (03:21)", "body": "the X-waves...."}, {"response": 27, "author": "mrchips", "date": "Fri, Oct  1, 1999 (11:36)", "body": "In my case, maybe the \"ex\" waves..."}, {"response": 28, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Oct  1, 1999 (13:06)", "body": "Is there something you are trying to tell us?!"}, {"response": 29, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Fri, Oct  1, 1999 (13:56)", "body": "How mysterious of you, John! Perhaps a new show idea? Or an old acquaintance called upon you? BTW, how fitting I rate only one \"X\" and you two... wonder what Springizen would qualify for XXX ..."}, {"response": 30, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Fri, Oct  1, 1999 (13:57)", "body": "... on the other hand, don't tell me. I can guess myself. Some things better be left unsaid."}, {"response": 31, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Fri, Oct  1, 1999 (13:58)", "body": "Though, hehe, that'd be quite an idea... What kinda broadcast would that be!"}, {"response": 32, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Oct  1, 1999 (14:07)", "body": "Fascinating, Alexander...continue thinking with your fingers, but give more details...my mind is racing to places it has not been for a while!"}, {"response": 33, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Mon, Oct 11, 1999 (17:28)", "body": "Shops with a lot of capital-lettered Xes on the door?"}, {"response": 34, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Mon, Oct 11, 1999 (17:30)", "body": "Talking triple-X and ZZ Top the other day, there's a new CD out now (or soon), which is called - if I decifered the poster correctly - just \"XXX\"."}, {"response": 35, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Oct 11, 1999 (17:41)", "body": "Hard to believe, but I have never been in a shop with XXX on it...or even one X. Is that for lots of kisses? or X-rays? Hmmm....?"}, {"response": 36, "author": "mrchips", "date": "Mon, Oct 11, 1999 (21:22)", "body": "There is no such thing as XXX, except in clothes sizes and of course, moonshine. There is no more \"X\" in the movies. It is NC-17. The porno industry, which does not submit its films for ratings, uses XXX strictly as a marketing ploy. Some of my favorite art/literary movies have been sold under the specious XXX banner, such as \"Shakespeare in Lust,\" \"Pride and Priapics,\" \"Sense and Sensuality,\" \"Withering Heights,\" \"Ivan's Ho,\" \"Rumpleforeskin\"..."}, {"response": 37, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Oct 11, 1999 (21:31)", "body": "Great titles! Dontcha wonder what else creative minds like those have conjured up for entertainment!"}, {"response": 38, "author": "mrchips", "date": "Mon, Oct 11, 1999 (21:34)", "body": "Those titles are all mine. Now, I need to make the films."}, {"response": 39, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Oct 16, 1999 (00:21)", "body": "For Real??? You have talents you have not yet used (that I am aware of...) How smart thou art!"}, {"response": 40, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Oct 16, 1999 (00:24)", "body": "Just a reminder that John will be on KWXX tomorrow morning/afternoon depending on where you lived - 11-4 Sat. CDT, 11-3 Sun. after time change will be 10-3 Sat. 10-2 Sun. CST (Austin time) Broadcast over the Internet http://www.webradio.com/kwxx/"}, {"response": 41, "author": "mrchips", "date": "Tue, Oct 19, 1999 (23:46)", "body": "Two of my poems (both lighter pieces...) have just been web published in _Poetry_Now_ e-zine. Let me say for the record (since Marcia thinks I should) that the first one is a parody of Walt Whitman (who was gay). I wrote it with what if he were writing poetry now in mind. It does not reflect my own sexuality. OK, enough for disclaimer...here's the URL: http://www.poetrynow.org/Volume%20II%20poetry.htm"}, {"response": 42, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Oct 20, 1999 (00:00)", "body": "Thanks for posting it here. The more to appreciate your talents. (Some guys will not go into a Poetry Conference for fear of losing their .... dakines!"}, {"response": 43, "author": "mrchips", "date": "Wed, Oct 20, 1999 (01:13)", "body": "It's safer than drool."}, {"response": 44, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Wed, Oct 20, 1999 (11:22)", "body": "Dakines? Where's da diction...?"}, {"response": 45, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Oct 20, 1999 (14:47)", "body": "(In local Hawaiian pidgin there is no diction...) Poor John - ANY place is safer than Drool...!"}, {"response": 46, "author": "mrchips", "date": "Wed, Oct 20, 1999 (18:28)", "body": "Alexander, \"da kine\" is a catch-all phrase in Hawaii Creole English (pidgin) which can mean any person, place, thing, or concept. But the context in which it is used is crucial. Almost always, when a pidgin speaker says \"da kine,\" a listener well-versed in pidgin knows exactly to what the speaker is referring. In Marcia's case, she was talking about \"dick-tion.\" As for diction, in HCE \"pidgin,\" the consonant blend \"th\" is pronounced \"d\" at the beginning or in the middle of a word and \"t\" at the end. English Pidgin this dis that dat further furdah mother maddah father faddah third turd fourth fort width wit length da kine"}, {"response": 47, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Oct 20, 1999 (19:20)", "body": "Beautiful, John...*lol* Indeed, you caught the very essence of my comment but so...um...presentably...Mahalo, bra'"}, {"response": 48, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Tue, Nov  2, 1999 (14:25)", "body": "A kind of what bra? \"Wonda-bra\", or \"wonder(ful), bro'\"?"}, {"response": 49, "author": "mrchips", "date": "Wed, Nov  3, 1999 (00:13)", "body": "\"Bra\" or \"Brah\" is short for \"Braddah,\" (brother), which is how locals here informally address males (either familiar or unfamiliar) in pidgin. So the wonderful \"bro\" is more appropriate than the \"wonda-bra.\" Speaking about bras, how about that heavy-duty number Britney Spears has been sporting? She claims to not have a boob job, but if that's the case, why does she suddenly need a steel-belted radial bra, Brah?"}, {"response": 50, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Nov  3, 1999 (11:48)", "body": "...Child-bearing is the only other reason I know about..."}, {"response": 51, "author": "Isabel", "date": "Wed, Nov  3, 1999 (15:10)", "body": "Don't they sell some kind of gymnastics-intrument with which you could increase your breast-width in the U.S.? I think they showed something like this on TV ( That's what we learn about America! *grin*)"}, {"response": 52, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Nov  3, 1999 (15:24)", "body": "Width, yes - opens up the rib cage. Size, NO!"}, {"response": 53, "author": "Isabel", "date": "Wed, Nov  3, 1999 (16:05)", "body": "Oooh!"}, {"response": 54, "author": "Isabel", "date": "Wed, Nov  3, 1999 (16:08)", "body": "...i think I've got enough \"rib cage width\"...."}, {"response": 55, "author": "mrchips", "date": "Wed, Nov  3, 1999 (18:50)", "body": "If Britney Spears is pregnant (she is just 17)...the tabloid press would certainly not miss that."}, {"response": 56, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Nov  3, 1999 (19:28)", "body": "Could she be augmenting or whatever and holding the augmentation in her steel-belted radials?!"}, {"response": 57, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Nov 21, 1999 (15:46)", "body": "The 10th annual Big Island Invitational Basketball Tournament (BIIBT) will be held this coming week Friday thru Sunday at the Hilo Civic Auditorium (also known as the Afook-Chinen). Cincinnati and U of Arkansas will be playing and their games will be televised on Fox Sports West on Saturday and on all Fox Sports nationally on Sunday 5pm our time (9pm Austin time). Maybe I will be on National TV since my place to sell T-shirts is just inside the foyer from the playing floor and I stand against the archway to watch on occasion. I have seen myself on replays. Watch if you dare, but it is your chance to see where I hang out for the Basketball season. You will most certainly not see the UH-Hilo Vulcans play. We are not in their (Cincinnati's or Arkansas')bracket and the NCAA only allows a few exhibition games... But you will see my friends. I know just about every local who attends by name"}, {"response": 58, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Nov 21, 1999 (15:46)", "body": "Oh, and you will see John, as well...*grin*"}, {"response": 59, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Nov 22, 1999 (09:12)", "body": "Will you wear something distinctive and tell us what it is so we can find you easier? And will you post the game times?"}, {"response": 60, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Nov 22, 1999 (14:05)", "body": "I will do that. I just listened to our coach being interviewed on the radio. Saturday's game begins at 5pm HST (9pm Austin time)...but I will verify that with John to be certain. I believe I will be in white top since it will stand out from the \"team color\" shirts which will be everywhere. Will let you know about that, as well. I know I will have tinsel garlands in my hair (braided like a halo - I do it every year)"}, {"response": 61, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Nov 22, 1999 (16:41)", "body": "Actually, white altoghther would be the best...Look for me. Sunday I will be all in red."}, {"response": 62, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Nov 22, 1999 (23:00)", "body": "Carry a banner and hold it up and let us know what you write. If you use the letters of the network that broadcasts the game and work in some clever phrase you'll be sure to get some major airtime."}, {"response": 63, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Nov 23, 1999 (12:44)", "body": "Not sure I want them Zooming in on me quite that tightly as they usually do with banner-carriers. I am not an exhibitionist - more like a timid back-row person. But, looking at the benches where the teams sit, my doorway is off to the left of the picture and I get in the picture quite regularly. I will be there and I am sure you will be able to see me leaning against the doorway. Last night during practice we were at the Civic creating an enlarged media room and I got to see a backboard smashed (by on of our hotdoggers). I have added several interesting pieces to my \"rock\" collection! I will probably be walking with messaged back of the scorers' table between the team seats ior behind the media table where John will be holding forth. I just may go to see him - just because so you know who he is. This sounds like fun...!"}, {"response": 64, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Nov 23, 1999 (14:13)", "body": "Paul, will you tape it and broadcast the good parts over the Spring Cam... so I can see it too!?!"}, {"response": 65, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Nov 23, 1999 (14:17)", "body": "I was afraid someone was gonna say that...*grin*"}, {"response": 66, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Nov 24, 1999 (11:51)", "body": "Sure thing, ti."}, {"response": 67, "author": "stacey", "date": "Wed, Nov 24, 1999 (14:24)", "body": "yeah!!!"}, {"response": 68, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Nov 24, 1999 (14:33)", "body": "(fortunately, she asked him to save the \"good parts\"....*whew* Guess I wiggled off the hook again *grin*)"}, {"response": 69, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Nov 25, 1999 (00:09)", "body": "To see all UHHilo Vulcan games on the Vulcan Sports Network, go to http://uhhilo.rivals.com/ They will webcast the games which are not covered by Fox (and perhaps the ones which are, as well). More stuff there than I ever knew about UHHilo Vulcans! Oh, and there is a very impressive Fox Sports uplink \"trailer\" parked beside the Civic tonight. They will have two up and two down cameras all fed out by fiber optics which was installed yesterday. 50 pro scouts have registered...the list goes on and on. Tomorrow more news, I hope!"}, {"response": 70, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Nov 25, 1999 (00:34)", "body": "Game times listed as Austin time (CST) 11/26 4pm - Cincinnati vs Cleveland (All times Austin time) 6:30pm - Rhode Island vs Santa Clara 9pm - Arkansas vs Washington 11:30pm - Iowa State vs UHHilo 11/27 Game times (teams depending on the outcome of the previous day's play) 4pm 6:30pm 9pm (televised by Fox Sport West) 11:30pm 11/28 12:30 pm last game in elimination games 3:30 pm - Consolation game 6pm - Third place game 8:30pm - Championship game (televised on all Fox sports networks"}, {"response": 71, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Nov 25, 1999 (07:30)", "body": "I set TIVO to record these times: 11/26 5:30 - 7:30 pm Cinn vs Cleve 11/27 6:30 - 7:00 pm 8:00 - 8:30 pm 11/28 8:30 - 10:00 pm Championship game It's on channel 637 on DirectTV"}, {"response": 72, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Nov 25, 1999 (12:50)", "body": "If anyone misses this it is because they were not paying attention *lol* I think we covered all the bases on the Big Island Invitational!"}, {"response": 73, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Nov 26, 1999 (10:51)", "body": "Time changes for the Big Island Invitational on FOX Game times listed as Austin time (CST) 11/26 4pm - Cincinnati vs Cleveland (televised by Fox Sport Wext) 6:30pm - Rhode Island vs Santa Clara 9pm - Arkansas vs Mercer (Televised by Fox Sport West) 11:30pm - Iowa State vs UHHilo 11/27 Game times (teams depending on the outcome of the previous day's play) 4pm 6:30pm (televised by Fox Sport West) 9pm (televised by Fox Sport West) 11:30pm 11/28 12:30 pm last game in elimination games 3:00 pm - Consolation game 5:30pm - Third place game 8:00pm - Championship game *time changed*(televised on all Fox sports networks) 6:30pm - Rhode Island vs Santa Clara 9pm - Arkansas vs Mercer (Televised by Fox Sport West) 11:30pm - Iowa State vs UHHilo 11/27 Game times (teams matchups depending on the outcome of the previous day's play) 4pm 6:30pm(televised by Fox Sport West) 9pm (televised by Fox Sport West) 11:30pm 11/28 12:30 pm last game in elimination games 3:30 pm - Consolation game 6pm - Third place game 8:30pm - Championship game (televised on all Fox sports networks All UHhilo Games available on the internet at \">VULCANS"}, {"response": 74, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Nov 26, 1999 (10:54)", "body": "Oops, SORRY VULCANS"}, {"response": 75, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Nov 26, 1999 (11:03)", "body": "Time changes for the Big Island Invitational on FOX Game times listed as Austin time (CST) 11/26 4pm - Cincinnati vs Cleveland (televised by Fox Sport Wext) 6:30pm - Rhode Island vs Santa Clara 9pm - Arkansas vs Mercer (Televised by Fox Sport West) 11:30pm - Iowa State vs UHHilo 11/27 Game times (teams depending on the outcome of the previous day's play) 4pm 6:30pm (televised by Fox Sport West) 9pm (televised by Fox Sport West) 11:30pm 11/28 12:30 pm last game in elimination games 3:00 pm - Consolation game 5:30pm - Third place game 8:00pm - Championship game *time changed*(televised on all Fox sports networks) 6:30pm - Rhode Island vs Santa Clara 9pm - Arkansas vs Mercer (Televised by Fox Sport West) 11:30pm - Iowa State vs UHHilo 11/27 Game times (teams matchups depending on the outcome of the previous day's play) 4pm 6:30pm(televised by Fox Sport West) 9pm (televised by Fox Sport West) 11:30pm 11/28 12:30 pm last game in elimination games 3:30 pm - Consolation game 6pm - Third place game 8:30pm - Championship game (televised on all Fox sports networks All UHhilo Games available on the internet at \">VULCANS"}, {"response": 76, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Nov 26, 1999 (11:59)", "body": "I am wearing all black with a black tournament shirt. John will not be broadcasting for TV - just local radio, but will be doing stats so you just might see him - at least on the Vulcan hot link above."}, {"response": 77, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Nov 26, 1999 (18:27)", "body": "Sit by the green cooler (or whatever it is) in the first row all the way on the end. The camera shows this every time down the court. Otherwise, we'll never see you. Man, what a small gym! And the top team in the nation is playing (Cinncy); they look they're going to jump out of the gym."}, {"response": 78, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Nov 26, 1999 (18:28)", "body": "Green Cooler, Marci!"}, {"response": 79, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Nov 27, 1999 (11:39)", "body": "Ok Terry. All white today....I know the green cooler - it sits just in front of where the extra bleachers are. I will go there. I knew our gym would appear small - especially with the huge wide-angle lenses they have on their cameras. Cincinnati was amazing. They clobbered Rollie Massamino's Cleveland State 91-56 We played terribly and was very happy it was only on the internet. Today: 4pm Austin time, Cleveland State vs Rhode Island 6:30pm Cincinnati vs Santa Clara 9pm Arkansas vsIowa State (should be the best game today) 11:30 pm Mercer vs UHHilo."}, {"response": 80, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Nov 27, 1999 (14:38)", "body": "For the incredibly curious or terminally bored, Marci hunting should be aided by noting that I am clad in a long-sleeved white top and tan pants. Gold wreath in my hair. Happy hunting for Marci and other locals - like John...Rollie Massimino is easy to find. He is having apoplexy on the sidelines...but all coaches seem to do that!"}, {"response": 81, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Nov 28, 1999 (11:29)", "body": "Today I am in cranberry with a fluffy silver wreath in my hair. I cannot stand by the green water coolers because it is in the way of traffic flow and where spectators are not allowed. I did sit and stand behind the one at the stage end for a while yeaterday during the Cinncy game. Big game to day for the championship game is Iowa State vs Cincinnati at 8pm Austin time. I will be there and so will Fox, and rivals.com. We play Cleveland State and Rollie Massimino at 8:30 this morning for who gets the booby prize...I have no doubt it will be us. See you there. Aloha!"}, {"response": 82, "author": "stacey", "date": "Mon, Nov 29, 1999 (09:54)", "body": "Did anyone see Marcia or John??"}, {"response": 83, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Nov 29, 1999 (12:09)", "body": "Terry has been silent for 2 days on it, so I surmise he has not had time to look at the tapes. I stood against the wall 4 feet behind the green water cooler for most of the championship game yesterday. The day before I walked the entire length of the gym to the end with the cheerleaders dressed in black and even sat where I was fairly obvious. Unfortunately, John, at the media table, was probably invisible. He wore a black shirt last night and a bluish-grey-white patterned shirt the day before.I am s re I could pick me out of the mob-scene. Alas, I could not hang around the water coolers because they were right next to where the players sit and the trainer works. Security would have whisked me away in a second!"}, {"response": 84, "author": "stacey", "date": "Mon, Nov 29, 1999 (14:07)", "body": "But that certainly would've made the television camera cuts!!"}, {"response": 85, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Nov 29, 1999 (15:07)", "body": "I would think so. Even with the masses surrounding me. Terry surely has the option of pause, rewind, slo-mo forward, freeze-frame. I was backed up against a gray-painted wall abutment so I was not lost in the crowd. Wearing what most else were wearing - some variety of maroon, only I had one of those bottle-brush looking silver tinsel garlands entwined with holly around my head like a Halo. People came by and talked to me. The day before that, when I was in white top and tan slacks with gold halo in y hair, I was at the end with the Cincinnati cheerleaders in black and sat on those bleachers or else leaned abainst a similar wall abutment as I did yeaterday. Surely I am not that difficult to discern, and I am sure they were zeroed in my line of sight during a lot of the free-throws yesterday. What I was wearing might have looked brown on the telly...but I should have been noticable with the silvery halo!"}, {"response": 86, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Nov 30, 1999 (06:45)", "body": "I looked, twice on the tape, slow motioning and everything but I couldn't spot you! I tried!"}, {"response": 87, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Nov 30, 1999 (14:11)", "body": "Ok...I understand how difficult it can be...and my real big time effort to be visible was on the last day when your TIVO did not tape. Oh well, Next time. Thanks for the expenditure of so much energy...I hate disappointing you...*sigh*"}, {"response": 88, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Nov 30, 1999 (14:15)", "body": "Actually, my 12 minutes of fame were subject to the producer and director in the uplink \"truck\" with all the little tv monitors (one per camera). I was indeed being video-taped, but the guy in the truck decided what you would see at any given moment from the 6 or so cameras sprinkled around the floor. I wonder if anyone tried the internet feed to rivals.com. They seemed to have one camera down with mike man and one up. No way to tape that one. I did not think to tape the one on Sunday just in case... wonder if anyone did..."}, {"response": 89, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec 10, 1999 (23:23)", "body": "The third issue of The Hawaii Journal to which John Burnett is a contributing writer is found at http://hawaiijournal.com/"}, {"response": 90, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Dec 14, 1999 (20:44)", "body": "Good piece on growing hemp in Hawaii this morning on NPR, today was the inauguration of the first plot of industrial hemp. Did you hear about that?"}, {"response": 91, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Dec 14, 1999 (22:03)", "body": "Not in the that particular journal, but it has been discussed for at least 20 years. Guys even run on the Hemp ticket in elections, wear shirts made of the stuff, jackets, pants, hats.... Is is very strong - much like flax, but if you want to raise hemp for fiber it will fall under the poppyseed growers litigation, I am sure. Strictly regulated and only a few allowed to do it legally. Meanwhile \"everyone\" in the back woods of the volcano and Puna districts is growing their own and some for other peop e as well. Cash only. They bought large items such as $60,000 trucks and more expensive than that houses for cash. Now there is a law that any transaction over $10,000 must be in a traceable form - not just cash. Our bumbling bureaucrats blunder again."}, {"response": 92, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Dec 14, 1999 (22:06)", "body": "Just enquired of the other house inhabitant and he said it was on Oahu and the neighbors were furious - in a residential area...but this was some time ago. I will check and let you know. (Read: I'm gonna ask John!)"}, {"response": 93, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Dec 14, 1999 (22:49)", "body": "John reports: The first industrial hemp plot in Hawaii will be in Whitmore Village,Oahu, just north of Wahiawa on land that used to be former Dole Pineapple land. The Navy is hoping that the stuff is not psychoactive as the plot abuts the Naval Communication Station which serves all the Eastern Pacific fleet. State Representative Cynthia Thielen (R-Kailua, O`ahu) was the driving force behind legislation that made this plot possible. The plot is used by a company which uses hemp flowers in herbal shampoo...they plan to sell the fibers overseas to companies that make products, including clothes, from the fibers."}, {"response": 94, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Dec 15, 1999 (00:32)", "body": "The American flag, made out of hemp. The Constitution. The Declaration of Independence. Why do you think they've withstood the rigors of time?"}, {"response": 95, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Dec 15, 1999 (20:22)", "body": "You do not have to sell me on the virtues of Hemp fiber. The banner headline and feature article in the local newspaper this morning is State plants legal hemp. The URL for this strange newspaper is http://hilohawaiitribune.com/ But, they do not have this article online yet. Apparently it is a UH Manoa project to grow it. Induustrial hemp of this sort is a non-haluciogenic cousin of the more imfamous pot. George Washington grew it on his land...(not pot!)"}, {"response": 96, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Dec 16, 1999 (13:44)", "body": "I hear the Hawaii plot is surrounded by razor wire, even though the thc content of these plants is miniscule."}, {"response": 97, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Dec 16, 1999 (14:26)", "body": "Yup - the newsapaer said 12' high cyclone fence topped with razor wire and round the clock infrared surveillance. Never under estimate the stupidity of kids looking for a cheap high!"}, {"response": 98, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Dec 16, 1999 (14:38)", "body": "John Burnett will be calling the games on KSFS radio for Augustana College in the Coconut Coast Classic Tournament (Basketball) You can hear his most excellent play-by-play style by tuning in on the Internet at http://www.ksfs.com/ This is the schedule I posted on the Booster VClub news page: *Coconut Coast Classic* : UHHilo will host this 5th Annual AmeriSports Tournament on December19 through December 21 at the Civic. The Tournament begins on Sunday with three women's games: 10am = North Dakota vs Huntingdon. Noon = Southwest State vs Ashland. 2 pm = Augustana vs Gannon. Men's competition begins at 4pm with Ashland vs Truman State. 7pm = North Dakota vs UHHilo. Monday's games with the women's games first are: 9 am = North Dakota vs Ashland. 11 am = Southwest State vs Gannon. 1 pm = Huntingdon vs Augustana. Men's games follow at 3 pm = North Dakota vs Ashland. 5 pm = Nebraska-Omaha vs UHHilo. The Tournament ends with a single game on Tuesday 4 pm = Nebraska-Omaha vs Truman State. All times HST. For Austin time add 4 hours."}, {"response": 99, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Dec 17, 1999 (08:50)", "body": "Southwest State? SW Texas State or ?"}, {"response": 100, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec 17, 1999 (13:49)", "body": "Would you believe: Southwest State University 1501 State Street Marshall, MN 56258"}, {"response": 101, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec 17, 1999 (13:50)", "body": "They are the Mustangs, too. I wonder what they are southwest of?!"}, {"response": 102, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Dec 20, 1999 (17:16)", "body": "John Burnett is at this moment broadcasting on the Internet from Hilo's Civic auditorium - women's Basketball between Augustana and Huntingdon http://www.ksfs.com/ Click on Listen Live on the lower left."}, {"response": 103, "author": "stacey", "date": "Mon, Dec 20, 1999 (17:38)", "body": "Cool! I hear him, I hear him!"}, {"response": 104, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Dec 20, 1999 (18:25)", "body": "From Hilo! And I can hear the tractor and truck ads from Sioux Falls, SD... Fantastic."}, {"response": 105, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Dec 21, 1999 (10:25)", "body": "did he have a touch of a cold yesterday?? sounded stuffy occasionally"}, {"response": 106, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Dec 21, 1999 (12:46)", "body": "That is what I am guessing although he can sound that way anyway (lots of smokers outside the Civic stand in the doorway to watch the game as they smoke and it gets sucked in - which is one of the reasons I did not attend the games.) Have never discussed his adenoids with him..."}, {"response": 107, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Dec 22, 1999 (15:02)", "body": "John Burnett is doing overtime today on http://www.webradio.com/kwxx/ He will be on till 7 PM Austin time."}, {"response": 108, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Dec 23, 1999 (18:31)", "body": "Gosh, another half hour, will have to tune in!"}, {"response": 109, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Dec 23, 1999 (18:51)", "body": "The guy he was subbing for yesterday a[ppeared today so all I had to listen to of John was the pre-recorded 6 hr show he did the day before. As I listened we emailed back and forth - it is fascinating to be listening to the guy you are writing Email to. He said it takes about 3/4 to an hour to tape all the intros and spots for a 6 hour show. He must be REALLY good at this (he IS!!!) He will not be back on internet till Saturday and Sunday at his usual places unless someone else gets sick."}, {"response": 110, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec 24, 1999 (22:43)", "body": "Tomorrow and Sunday John will be broadcasting from Hilo oh KXWW from 10am til 4mp on the internet http://www.webradio.com/kwxx/"}, {"response": 111, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Dec 25, 1999 (00:10)", "body": "Correction on the hours listed above. KWXX will only be four hours (10 am to 2 pm Austin time). My mistake. Sorry. http://www.webradio.com/kwxx/"}, {"response": 112, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Dec 30, 1999 (20:53)", "body": "And John will be with us on New Year's Day again on that same station."}, {"response": 113, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Dec 31, 1999 (09:28)", "body": "Any big Millenium Celebrations planned for the Islands, you guys are kind of like the last place to see the New Century right?"}, {"response": 114, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec 31, 1999 (11:48)", "body": "Actually, Samoa is the last before the dateline - and Guam... To give you some idea of what new Years' Eve os like here, everyone sells fireworks - from the biggest grocery stores to vacant lot lean-tos. Aerial works are banned and the officials have confiscated 14 TONS of illegal fireworks - sky rockets mostly. The militaryu on Oahu usually sets off big displays for the populace as they have ordnance experts in house. We will have the usual ones = each family setting off thousands of dollars worth at heir own homes. You'd have to be deaf and blind and not breathing to miss the show. Earlier on before this evening's bangup sendoff, we will have an early basketball game (we won last night) preceeded by a big tailgate party with live music. John will be broadcasting the game (keeping this on -topic!) I see that Austin is going to be celebrating big time! Hauoli Makahilki Hou, Terry!!!"}, {"response": 115, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec 31, 1999 (12:13)", "body": "Just heard that Guam is on the other side of the dateline (was changed several years ago) and they had no problems. Gonna watch the rest of the world very carefully!"}, {"response": 116, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Mar 24, 2000 (22:44)", "body": "Media appearances continue for John. He does all of the UHHilo Vulcan Basketball and baseball games live on radio, and I have a prize video of a game from the Kona baseball field wherein we whupped TCU in a super game. John was his amazing self, as usual. He still does daily 6am-noon shows and on weekend he does radio live and on the internet http://www.webradio.com/kwxx/ from 6-10 am HST or 10am - 2pm Austin time. He continues to write for the Hawaii Island Journal and has a regular column on the music scene here in the Islands. Great stuff, as always. He is also doing the local newspaper articles for the upcoming Annual Fund Drive. He is a busy man but they are not paying him what he is worth (like others I know...)"}, {"response": 117, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Mar 24, 2000 (22:49)", "body": "John will be on tomorrow in Austin on http://www.webradio.com/kwxx/ from 10am till 2 pm. Listen and enjoy!"}, {"response": 118, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Mar 24, 2000 (22:53)", "body": ""}, {"response": 119, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Mar 24, 2000 (22:56)", "body": "Oh yeah, he is also working on his thesis. For one wandering around Spring (it is very lonely tonight), U"}, {"response": 120, "author": "ommin", "date": "Fri, Mar 24, 2000 (23:57)", "body": "Everyone is incredibly quiet today. Hardly anyone responding - must be sunspots! Hi Marcia I am on cause I shan't be able to go on so much for a few weeks. My 'relis' from U.K. arrive tomorrow. I shall try and read quickly though to see if I can store up."}, {"response": 121, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Mar 25, 2000 (11:41)", "body": "Hi Anne - welcome to this part of the Spring. Happy houseful. Last night it was even worse - but that WAS your today =) Very quiet, indeed!"}, {"response": 122, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Mon, Mar 27, 2000 (00:08)", "body": "Hope we see more of you Anne."}, {"response": 123, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Mar 27, 2000 (12:09)", "body": "I'll work on it...She posts in Geo and other places so I would hope we can keep her active now that she has her ISP problems fixed. Anne has many interest which fill fit very nicely into Spring...after she finished being the gracious hostess for the visiting \"relis.\" Good luck, Dear!"}, {"response": 124, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Wed, Mar 29, 2000 (13:25)", "body": "Hello Anne!"}, {"response": 125, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Apr 27, 2000 (13:51)", "body": "The Merrie Monarch Festival of Modern and Ancient Hula will be televised on the internet on http://www.merriemonarchlive.com/live.html Starting at 7pm HST (midnight CST) tonight they will choose Miss Hawaii Hula, the best single dancer in ancient and modern hula Friday, same times, they will choose the Halau (group from a school) men and women separately - in Hula kahiko (ancient) Saturday night - the best of all and most lovely - same time the modern or Hula awana. If you want to see 5 hours of the best of Hula in the entire world with Halaus from California, TEXAS, and Australia as well as from Hawaii, tune in. It is held in Hilo and the place is hopping!"}, {"response": 126, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jul  3, 2000 (22:36)", "body": "From: \"John Burnett\" Subject: I'm on KNWB online now Date: Mon, 03 Jul 2000 16:02:26 GMT I am now \"live\" (pre-recorded voice tracks) daily on intenet 6 am to 10 am Hawaii time M-F, 6-noon Sat. Hawaii time). Station is KNWB Hilo, a rock/AC hybrid format called \"Classic Hits.\" That translates to: 11 am to 3 pm M-F, 11 am - 5 pm Sat. Central Daylight Time and 9 am to 1 pm M-F, 9 am to 3 PM Sat., Pacific Daylight time http://www.webradio.com on top of page at \"launch\" type in KNWB and hit \"go\" button. Our Hawaiian station, KWXX, which I'm on completely live on weekends, is webradio's 8th most popular station nationally. Aloha, John Burnett KWXX/KNWB, Hilo, HI"}, {"response": 127, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Sep  4, 2000 (15:51)", "body": "Aloha all, This URL sounds seriously better than WEBRADIO for listening to KWXX. Much better audio quality, less buffering. We also hope to have KNWB-FM on it soon. I am on from 6 am to noon Saturday and 6 to 10 am Sunday HST on KWXX (6 to 10 am M-F and 6 am to noon Sat. on KNWB, which, unfortunately, is pre-recorded, or voice-tracked for you \"industry folks\"). Since recipients of this e-mail live in several different time zones you need to do the math if you care to listen. AOL users need to cut and paste URL. You may also need Windows Media Player. http://www.streamaudio.com/listen?station=KWXX John Burnett news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 13, "subject": "coming and going", "response_count": 92, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "autumn", "date": "Thu, Jun 18, 1998 (05:23)", "body": "We're heading for New England Friday. Won't be back till July 3--I'm going to have internet withdrawal pains, I'll be jonesin', lemme tell you!"}, {"response": 2, "author": "stacey", "date": "Wed, Jun 24, 1998 (21:10)", "body": "in the very physical sense, we have moved! the actual parade of boxes took place last Friday night but there has been a whirlwind up my butt making me unpack like a fiend! And gardening!!! And the start of summer school! And the start of an unpaid internship! And, and, and..."}, {"response": 3, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Wed, Jun 24, 1998 (22:13)", "body": "and Wolf is back in her bayou..."}, {"response": 4, "author": "jgross5", "date": "Thu, Jun 25, 1998 (01:56)", "body": "And I'm back in my poopoo pooing."}, {"response": 5, "author": "jgross5", "date": "Thu, Jun 25, 1998 (03:04)", "body": "Response 4 had me wondering 'what is wrong with this picture?' Here's the rewrite: And I'm back in my pooh-pooh poohing."}, {"response": 6, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Jun 26, 1998 (00:41)", "body": "*laugh* *giggle*"}, {"response": 7, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Fri, Jun 26, 1998 (04:31)", "body": "not winnie-the-poohing?"}, {"response": 8, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Sat, Jun 27, 1998 (04:28)", "body": "what's wrong with poopoo pooing? we all get the trots sometime or other......"}, {"response": 9, "author": "stacey", "date": "Wed, Jul  1, 1998 (02:09)", "body": "'specially after 2 1/2 lbs of cherries!"}, {"response": 10, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Wed, Jul  1, 1998 (03:23)", "body": "you know it!"}, {"response": 11, "author": "jgross5", "date": "Fri, Jul  3, 1998 (05:18)", "body": "Back on Thursday afternoon, June 25, my computer freezes up on me. I couldn't get into the internet provider's homepage (Flashnet). I call their tech support over 20 times in the last week. And I have only one phone line, making things alot more difficult to try things that they suggest. They suggest I do all sorts of things, which I do.....nothing works. They suggest I get more hard drive space and more RAM. I do, and $260 later I'm still locked out. Last thing they said yesterday was, they would send me the Explorer browser on diskette. I called Paul this morning, to get on Spring.net, but didn't hear back from him after a few hours. So I called this other local provider (ComNetix) cuz they had a cheap setup fee ($5.95), and their monthly fee is only $16.95 (unlimited hours), and the person answering said he could get me up and running, even though I have a 486 computer, with windows 3.1, and no CDROM. So I tell him I'll pay ComNetix right then and there (instead of using their 'first 2 weeks free deal') if he can get me up and online in the ComNetix office on Brazos Street. He says 'sure'. So, at 2:15 this afternoon, I drive my computer over and my monitor cuz he didn't have an extra monitor. There's only one person there---and his english, I had trouble understanding about 15% of it (very Asian accent). It took him 2 hours straight, nonstop, to get me online, but he did it. That's my dumb story....what a week....every day, flash.net tech support would tell me with total confidence that each suggestion would take care of the problem. And A&R Computing would tell me that my new hard drive would be ready the next day---on Friday, Saturday, and Monday they told me that (they were right, on Monday). Every day I thought I'd be back online either that day or the very next day. Story my that's dumb.....that's story my dumb..... Dumb and Dumber. ....and dumbest.... All my email (sent and received) from before June 26 was lost. Three of 'em I hadn't even opened yet. Flashnet thinks it happened when Netscape was re-installed with the new internet provider---ComNetix's specially configured version of Netscape 3.03 The exorcist has just now laid me down in the manger beside Emma Bovary and I hope to wake up tomorrow morning in Haiphong under the weight of my guardian angel's compulsive freaking out over cracked or soldered wings and the fallen moon."}, {"response": 12, "author": "pmnh", "date": "Fri, Jul  3, 1998 (06:12)", "body": "wow... (that's kinda surreal)... had some of the same problems with netscape when i first went online (crashing, losing data, etc...), but my provider (nextlink) was far more responsive (thank god)... explorer pretty much solved my problems... think maybe it's a superior format for compu-morons (like me)... and i've gotten so used to it i never use netscape anymore... (and that guardian angel sounds a lot like my mother, by the way)..."}, {"response": 13, "author": "riette", "date": "Fri, Jul  3, 1998 (15:52)", "body": "Thank God Mum isn't a guardian angel."}, {"response": 14, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Jul  5, 1998 (11:23)", "body": "Sorry, leplep, I was swamped at work and we're not really in the dial up biz in Austin, just Bastrop County. So apologies for my inattention. I'm glad you're back up and making a terrific contribution here."}, {"response": 15, "author": "jgross", "date": "Sun, Jul  5, 1998 (23:53)", "body": "Very good to hear from you, Terry. Wondered what it was. Just figured you were doing something like setting up a top secret virtual video link-up between the White House and interstellar communities that the current administration was interested in consulting with. Heard that in other galaxies they drink heavy margaritas that look inside people.....because they're so Bud dry."}, {"response": 16, "author": "riette", "date": "Mon, Jul  6, 1998 (08:48)", "body": "\ufffdsmile\ufffd"}, {"response": 17, "author": "stacey", "date": "Mon, Jul  6, 1998 (18:39)", "body": "guess I'll have to re-send my super groovy email... (to where???)"}, {"response": 18, "author": "stacey", "date": "Mon, Jul  6, 1998 (18:41)", "body": "actually, I suppose I should be honest and explain, the message wasn't really necessarily 'super groovy' just a collection of bemused blabberings sent in response to your oh-so-freshy-freshy message."}, {"response": 19, "author": "autumn", "date": "Sun, Jul 12, 1998 (15:07)", "body": "We'll be in the DC area all week, lounging by the pool/hot tub while my husband works. Hope you all have a great week."}, {"response": 20, "author": "riette", "date": "Sun, Jul 12, 1998 (21:31)", "body": "Ugh, you lucky girl! Hope you will be reporting about a wonderful week when you read this."}, {"response": 21, "author": "pmnh", "date": "Mon, Jul 13, 1998 (01:47)", "body": "goin' thoreau-in'"}, {"response": 22, "author": "riette", "date": "Mon, Jul 13, 1998 (07:04)", "body": "huh? Americans aren't really into English, are they?"}, {"response": 23, "author": "pmnh", "date": "Mon, Jul 13, 1998 (08:04)", "body": "don't really know (i'm a texan)"}, {"response": 24, "author": "riette", "date": "Mon, Jul 13, 1998 (12:45)", "body": "wow!! YOU a Texan!?! Boy, does TV give one a wrong impression of places and their inhabitants, or what?!"}, {"response": 25, "author": "stacey", "date": "Mon, Jul 13, 1998 (18:35)", "body": "frighteningly enough Riette, I am also a native Texan (albeit enjoying the heck out of the Rocky Mountain region at the moment!)"}, {"response": 26, "author": "riette", "date": "Mon, Jul 13, 1998 (20:12)", "body": "]:-OOOO . . . . jaw on the ground effect. And the Italian blood? Where does that come in?"}, {"response": 27, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Mon, Jul 13, 1998 (20:22)", "body": "you knew i was a native texan, didnt you?"}, {"response": 28, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Jul 13, 1998 (20:58)", "body": "I'm from Missouri, went to 1st and 2nd grade in Texas though."}, {"response": 29, "author": "stacey", "date": "Mon, Jul 13, 1998 (21:09)", "body": "Italian blood... 50% from my father (first generation American... if'n that means he was the first one BORN in the US.) my mother is 2nd generation American (above standards withstanding), her bloodline is French Canadian with some strange mix of Irish blood. So I'm really a Heinz 57, but Texas is where I was born and raised (for the most part)."}, {"response": 30, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Jul 13, 1998 (23:12)", "body": "50% Norwegian on my dads side (Walhus) 50% German on my moms side (Frauenthal)"}, {"response": 31, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Jul 13, 1998 (23:14)", "body": "well i'm definately NOT a texan. am of german blood, but i would say that i fit the definition of a Heinz 57 (from dad's side, irish, indian, spanish)"}, {"response": 32, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Jul 13, 1998 (23:14)", "body": "terry, how'd you sneak that in before me? (stacey, i didn't even notice your heinz 57 reference until i hit submit!)"}, {"response": 33, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Jul 13, 1998 (23:15)", "body": "I dunno, actually I read yours then posted. Maybe the clock changed. Mystery!"}, {"response": 34, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Jul 13, 1998 (23:17)", "body": "that's strange, cuz when i hit submit and it brought up what was said, yours beat mine, hmmmmm....."}, {"response": 35, "author": "riette", "date": "Tue, Jul 14, 1998 (06:56)", "body": "Whole bunch of Texans here!!! Whole, whole bunch a' mixed salads too. Wolf, you still speak German?"}, {"response": 36, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Jul 14, 1998 (18:29)", "body": "Ich bin Auslander und spechen nicht gut Deutsch! Parla italiano perche la mia familia e Italiana!"}, {"response": 37, "author": "riette", "date": "Tue, Jul 14, 1998 (20:00)", "body": "Deutsch kann man gar night spechen . . . man kann's aber spucken!! AND what tha fu\ufffdk?!?!"}, {"response": 38, "author": "riette", "date": "Tue, Jul 14, 1998 (20:00)", "body": "You still visit Italy from time to time?"}, {"response": 39, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Jul 14, 1998 (21:11)", "body": "never been..."}, {"response": 40, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Tue, Jul 14, 1998 (21:47)", "body": "Lo siento, pero yo no hablo alemanes..."}, {"response": 41, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Jul 14, 1998 (22:15)", "body": "el burro sabe mas que tu!"}, {"response": 42, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Jul 15, 1998 (00:09)", "body": "ok you guys!! i speaka no italiano and hablo no espanol, aber, Ich sprechen Deutsche nich mier so gut!"}, {"response": 43, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Jul 15, 1998 (00:10)", "body": "oh yeah, and i'm leaving again on saturday for two weeks. gotta class to take for the job."}, {"response": 44, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Wed, Jul 15, 1998 (03:23)", "body": "The burro thinks(knows, understands) more than I do? Aw, Stace... Have fun in Ohio, Wolf! ps...I hope, Stace, on reflection, that you were speaking of Eyeore..."}, {"response": 45, "author": "riette", "date": "Wed, Jul 15, 1998 (06:30)", "body": "Your job sounds like and interesting one, Wolf. Is Ohio more decent than the desert?"}, {"response": 46, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Jul 15, 1998 (14:41)", "body": "Which class wolfie?"}, {"response": 47, "author": "stacey", "date": "Wed, Jul 15, 1998 (18:07)", "body": "twas Eyeore of whom I spoke..."}, {"response": 48, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Jul 15, 1998 (18:54)", "body": "intermediate pricing: quantitative techniques *barf*"}, {"response": 49, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Wed, Jul 15, 1998 (23:45)", "body": "Quantitative Techniques?!? I think you've been holding out on us..."}, {"response": 50, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Jul 16, 1998 (01:39)", "body": "yeah right. just a big fancy name for trend analysis for pricing contracts and stuff. we don't really use it in our job (anyway, it's preprogrammed in the excel programs) but it IS a requirement for our certification."}, {"response": 51, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Thu, Jul 16, 1998 (02:19)", "body": "I see, I always inventory with Statistical Analysis..."}, {"response": 52, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Jul 16, 1998 (03:29)", "body": "yeah, well, that's probably figured in there somewhere! i dunno, it's my last class (next to a level course) required for my certification. then, they probably will send me all over the place as we are very limited on the people we can send based on their qualifications."}, {"response": 53, "author": "wer", "date": "Thu, Jul 16, 1998 (03:33)", "body": "my, aren't you just little miss important!!!"}, {"response": 54, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Jul 16, 1998 (03:37)", "body": "you have no idea! *wink*"}, {"response": 55, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Jul 16, 1998 (03:38)", "body": "well, i'm ready to fall over. sorry, but can't stay and chat any longer (been transcribing recorded meetings all day, oh, and these weren't done in secret!)"}, {"response": 56, "author": "wer", "date": "Thu, Jul 16, 1998 (03:38)", "body": "oh, I gots lots of ideas..."}, {"response": 57, "author": "wer", "date": "Thu, Jul 16, 1998 (03:39)", "body": "so, did you keep copies so's you can post 'em?"}, {"response": 58, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Jul 16, 1998 (03:40)", "body": "haha!!"}, {"response": 59, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Jul 16, 1998 (03:40)", "body": "these are soap opera material, let me tell you!"}, {"response": 60, "author": "wer", "date": "Thu, Jul 16, 1998 (03:41)", "body": "so, you gonna tell me what colors, or not?"}, {"response": 61, "author": "wer", "date": "Thu, Jul 16, 1998 (03:42)", "body": "if they're that good, add them to the storybook..."}, {"response": 62, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Jul 16, 1998 (03:45)", "body": "man, they'd make their own story, As the Contract Turns. well, for the colors, i wanted to see how 7FFFD4 would look, didn't want anything really bright, but am just experimentin', you know? g'night (and thanks for your help!)"}, {"response": 63, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Jul 16, 1998 (03:47)", "body": "just to ease your curiosity, there are a lot of uhs, ums, you know, as i was saying, so what you're saying is, my thing is... basically a lot of words and not much substance! Oh, and there is that nice jolt you get when someone coughs or sneezes unexpectantly right into the mike!!"}, {"response": 64, "author": "wer", "date": "Thu, Jul 16, 1998 (03:48)", "body": "g'night! (and safe trip!!!)"}, {"response": 65, "author": "autumn", "date": "Sat, Jul 18, 1998 (02:59)", "body": "Hope you're having fun at your class, Wolf! (My husband took the pricing course at Wright-Pat AFB when we were dating). We just got back from Vienna (VA) where he took the Cost Reimbursement course. Have you taken any courses from Mgt Concepts? The area is great for doing stuff with kids, we tag along every year when he goes."}, {"response": 66, "author": "riette", "date": "Sat, Jul 18, 1998 (06:18)", "body": "I hate Austria. They refuse to let me into the country just because I tried to sneak in four years ago - I mean, is there no such thing as forgiveness and goodwill towards your fellowmen in that country?! I did say I was sorry!"}, {"response": 67, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Jul 18, 1998 (06:34)", "body": "They actually keep track of something you did four years ago. Can't imagine you being such a menace to Austrian culture, you look so sweet in your picture."}, {"response": 68, "author": "riette", "date": "Sat, Jul 18, 1998 (09:31)", "body": "I don't look that sweet when I get caught in the boot of a car with my whole face black and dirty, and pretending I don't know how I got there in the first place."}, {"response": 69, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Tue, Jul 21, 1998 (14:48)", "body": "*cough cough*. I have a job in London, starting tomorrow. So, I'm moving to my Dad's place, where I don't have internet access :/ Which, unforrtunately, means that I won't be here that often. Probably on the weekend, etc., when I will catch up on everything that's been going on. I hope you all have a wonderful time without me, and enjoy life without me whinging :-) Speak to you all soon Lots of love, ~Mike ooo...if the world ends or something, and you need to get in touch with me, there's always the telephone. +44 1708 753602 *smooches* ~Mike"}, {"response": 70, "author": "riette", "date": "Tue, Jul 21, 1998 (15:12)", "body": "Great news, Mike! And in London! You lucky thing! \ufffdSIGH\ufffd We'll miss you."}, {"response": 71, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Jul 21, 1998 (17:24)", "body": "Can't you get a little terminal set up for telnetting ... that can be done very cheaply, Mike. What will you be doing there?"}, {"response": 72, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Tue, Jul 21, 1998 (18:23)", "body": "I@m disappearing out of the door right now. catch you all soon! lots of love, ~+Mike"}, {"response": 73, "author": "autumn", "date": "Sat, Jul 25, 1998 (03:04)", "body": "Be sure to let us know all about your job! And whether or not your dad's sinks have one or two water taps!"}, {"response": 74, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Aug  2, 1998 (02:43)", "body": "hey guys! Autumn: (the pricing course stunk, but i made it through). no management courses, just level i and ii things and this finished up the latter for me. guess i'll be going back to the desert sooner than i expected :( mike: great job on the new job....we will miss your voice around here, do look into investing in something so you can visit more often...."}, {"response": 75, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Aug  2, 1998 (22:51)", "body": "Yeah, Mike, we don't want anyone to \"go away\"; we're becoming such a close knit little virtual family here."}, {"response": 76, "author": "riette", "date": "Wed, Aug  5, 1998 (19:48)", "body": "Yes, quite. Glad you're back, Wolf. And glad to be back myself. It is strange the thing about coming and going. I looked forward to my England trip so so much, and then on Wednesday I had to take my guinea-piggies to the zoo-shop where they would look after them for me. And I was totally upset over leaving them like that, and didn't want to go anymore. I can't understand why that happened or how, because before I knew it the guy in the shop offered me a handkerchief, and his shoulder to cry on, and I was obliged to accept both, and it was just absolutely awful - I' sure he thought I was mad as a hare. I thought I was crying about the guinea-piggies, but then afterwards on the way home, once my head became clearer, I realized that I was upset over the idea of missing them, because it means that I have become set in my ways. It was the first time in my life that I found the going very difficult. Which must mean that I have 'rooted' here, and I never intended to. What a strange week. Spending time one one's own can be so difficult - forces you to face up to your true state of being. Forces you to face your real face. And now you must all think me mad as a hare. That happens."}, {"response": 77, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Fri, Aug 28, 1998 (02:03)", "body": "I'm going off for a little while...promise to check my e-mail for the important stuff but I'm all messed up inside and it's unfair for me to hang around right now... love you guys"}, {"response": 78, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Aug 28, 1998 (02:15)", "body": "will miss you terribly. please, which address will you be taking your mail?"}, {"response": 79, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Fri, Aug 28, 1998 (02:17)", "body": "any"}, {"response": 80, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Fri, Aug 28, 1998 (02:30)", "body": "Kitchen, i think you should stay but if you feel like you have to leave, then please come back ASAP."}, {"response": 81, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Aug 28, 1998 (02:57)", "body": "you know we're here for you, right? no one here will judge you. *hugs*"}, {"response": 82, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 28, 1998 (05:18)", "body": "I'm with wolfie ... you're such a vital part of this community, and you've got a lot of folks who care about you here. Hope you stick around or at worst come back real soon."}, {"response": 83, "author": "riette", "date": "Fri, Aug 28, 1998 (06:16)", "body": "Thinking of you, muffin."}, {"response": 84, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Jan  8, 1999 (19:54)", "body": "ok, i'm going. yup. got another class but it's the one i've already warned you about. anyway, i'll be out tomorrow through mid-feb. will try to log in once in awhile at the library *grin* so you all don't cry too much!!"}, {"response": 85, "author": "wer", "date": "Fri, Jan  8, 1999 (19:55)", "body": "if you drive through Austin, stop at the restaurant!!!"}, {"response": 86, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Jan  8, 1999 (19:58)", "body": "the only part of austin i get to see is the interstate. am too chicken to feel my way around the town. BUT, maybe i'll be able to visit after i get settled in. what's the name of it again?"}, {"response": 87, "author": "wer", "date": "Fri, Jan  8, 1999 (19:59)", "body": "Little Italy"}, {"response": 88, "author": "wer", "date": "Fri, Jan  8, 1999 (19:59)", "body": "phone 345-5761"}, {"response": 89, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Jan  8, 1999 (20:01)", "body": "duh!! is it easy to get to?"}, {"response": 90, "author": "wer", "date": "Fri, Jan  8, 1999 (20:08)", "body": "for the most part...it's in the nortwest part of town... it's between MoPac and Loop 360"}, {"response": 91, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Jan  8, 1999 (21:47)", "body": "ok. thanks!"}, {"response": 92, "author": "autumn", "date": "Sun, Jan 10, 1999 (18:00)", "body": "Good luck, Wolfie! news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 14, "subject": "Asteroid!", "response_count": 23, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Mar 12, 1998 (18:01)", "body": "Oct 26 2028. 1997 xf11. xf11 for short. That Thursday at 1:30 am. It's like the one that hit us 65 million years ago, 6 miles in diameter, 6 times the size of the one heading for us now. It will take four more years to figure out exactly whether it will hit us or not. No one knows for sure yet. Chances are it will miss us."}, {"response": 2, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Thu, Mar 12, 1998 (22:25)", "body": "see my post somewhere--there's a sister topic called the spring as a whole and pointers to somewhere else....."}, {"response": 4, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Aug 20, 1998 (06:36)", "body": "Asteroids? Y2K? Did you think these were problems? From: acharya@artnet.net Subj: Antarctica Ice Cap Meltdown From: DrKanya@webtv.net Date: Mon, 10 Aug 1998 18:41:34 -0400 (EDT) From: Joseph Gill Subject: UPDATE FROM DRUNVALO MELCHIZEDEK Dear People, What is happening in Antarctica is far different than you suspect (your article below). The apron around this continent is melting as a result of numerous underwater volcanoes now going off (causing El Nino ) and they are a result of the Sun's recent upsurge of energy levels also causing magnetic anomalies. The apron around Antarctica while not adding much to water levels as it already is in the water, it will no longer hold the ice cap in place. NOVA had a recent show on how they, after drilling 4 miles down through ice in central Antarctica found a 10 inch layer of warm mud on the bedrock, caused by an under cap volcano. When the apron is far enough gone the entire cap the size of the USA and part of Canada 20,000 feet thick will slide into the ocean causing huge waves. Please note the ancient beach terrace on Maui at 1100 feet elevation. This is NOT the first time this has happened, remember the Peri Reis Map. Ocean water levels will rise 400 to 600 feet after one week of world swashing. This is even a more urgent problem than is Y2K. Cordially Joseph Gill, Geologist For Further reading SEE: http://www.millersv.edu/~columbus/data/art/LUNDE01.ART http://www.ciesin.ee/OTHER/webserver-nt/msg00063.html http://www.mind.net/aware/pirireis.htm http://www.kent.net/paranormal/anomalies/piri_reis.html"}, {"response": 5, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Thu, Aug 20, 1998 (16:42)", "body": "can you swim real good, Wolf?"}, {"response": 6, "author": "riette", "date": "Fri, Aug 21, 1998 (01:30)", "body": "Holy $hit!!! Just hope my flat on the Namibian coast doesn't get flooded. I've only had the damned thing for two years, and stayed in it only once!!! Geeeee, life is so bloody unfair at times!"}, {"response": 7, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 21, 1998 (09:44)", "body": "Where is the Namibian Coast? And do you have a caretaker for it when you're away?"}, {"response": 8, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Aug 21, 1998 (18:36)", "body": "yeah, got the doggie paddle down pretty good, wer!"}, {"response": 9, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Nov 11, 1998 (08:38)", "body": "a meteor storm that could wipe out all kinds of satellites coming Nov. 17 to a sky near you. Actually, the predictions are that not much will happen, but NASA is taking it seriously. For more info: http://www-space.arc.nasa.gov/leonid/"}, {"response": 10, "author": "riette", "date": "Thu, Nov 12, 1998 (14:12)", "body": "cool cool cool!!!"}, {"response": 11, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Dec  2, 1998 (06:28)", "body": "Dimly related to this topic, but it's armagedonal. There is a big story on page 1 of today's Wall Street Journal about the August 11, 1999 eclipse in Europe. - The story centers on the Cornwall area of southern England where the eclipse will first touch land. - The English are worried that 1 million people may show up in area that has only 3 decent sized roads and 100,000 hotel beds. - A brief quote: \"Particularly unpredictable are the roving bands of druids, numerologists and various New Age devotees who will want to see what John Parkinson, a professor in Sheffield calls an \"end-of-the-world experience.\" After all, what could be more irresistibly cosmic than the millennium's last full solar eclipse, at 11:11 A.M. on Aug 11, in a remote land immersed in Celtic lore and legend?\""}, {"response": 12, "author": "TIM", "date": "Wed, Dec  2, 1998 (10:53)", "body": "How about if it took place on Nov. 11"}, {"response": 13, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Dec  3, 1998 (06:23)", "body": "Maybe Ree or Mike could go and give us an on the scene report."}, {"response": 14, "author": "riette", "date": "Fri, Sep 24, 1999 (09:40)", "body": "I was in England on the day of the eclipse - though not in Cornwall. It was pretty unspectacular; a cloud moved in front of the moon just as it eclipsed the sun."}, {"response": 15, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Sep 24, 1999 (16:06)", "body": "Wow, an unspectacular on the scene report! Maybe the next one in a hundred years will be more exciting."}, {"response": 16, "author": "riette", "date": "Mon, Sep 27, 1999 (04:02)", "body": "I think it also has something to do with Europe's position - or whatever. The mood moves in front of the sun, and that's that. Down in Africa it is quite a different scene. As it moves in front of the sun, the darkness literally rushes towards you, and then rushes back again - it is rather frightening, but exciting."}, {"response": 17, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Mon, Sep 27, 1999 (11:55)", "body": "Same disappointment here. I reported on this in the Film topic in Collecting, I think. I saw shortly a thin slice of the solar eclipse, but besides this, the sky was overcast the whole time. Not enough to see to shoot a pic, or the like (wanted to trick-film it with a Super-8 camera...)."}, {"response": 18, "author": "riette", "date": "Mon, Sep 27, 1999 (14:34)", "body": "Do yourself a favour, and go FAR south when the next eclipse happens. You'll be amazed."}, {"response": 19, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Sep 29, 1999 (18:58)", "body": "if you are heading south...avoid wherever I happen to be. Divine intervention precludes my ever seeing a solar eclipse - perhaps I am paying for all the fantastic lunar ones I have seen here...!"}, {"response": 20, "author": "riette", "date": "Fri, Oct  1, 1999 (03:23)", "body": "ha-ha! Piont taken!"}, {"response": 21, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Fri, Oct 15, 1999 (15:49)", "body": ";=}"}, {"response": 22, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Feb  8, 2000 (19:25)", "body": "Straight off of MSN News : THE ASTEROID 2000 BF19 was just discovered Jan. 28 by the University of Arizona\ufffds Spacewatch Project, and cited as a potential threat only Monday. The University of Pisa\ufffds Andrea Milani issued what he called a \ufffdscientifically urgent\ufffd appeal for further observations. He said he received further data Monday night, from the University of Arizona\ufffds Jim Scotti as well as from the Australian National University\ufffds Rob McNaught. The recalculated path came no closer to Earth than 3.5 million miles during the next 50 years, Milani reported in e-mail messages to the Cambridge Conference Network. Milani said one of the lessons learned from the case of 2000 BF19 was that \ufffdeverything should be given with an uncertainty.\ufffd The asteroid was never thought to be all that much of a threat: Milani\ufffds preliminary assessment showed a 1-in-a-million chance of collision. In comparison, NASA estimates the \ufffdbackground risk\ufffd of an asteroid impact \ufffd that is, the chance that a not-yet-discovered kilometer-wide (0.6-mile-wide) space rock might collide with Earth \ufffd at between 1 in 100,000 and 1 in a million. Moreover, this asteroid is thought to be much less than a kilometer wide. That takes it out of the category that scientists say could cause a global catastrophe on Earth. As a result, the asteroid never rated higher than a zero on the Torino scale, which was devised to rate the risks posed by near-Earth objects. Two years ago, the first such asteroid alert caused quite a stir, particularly since it came during the publicity buildup for two Hollywood Movies, \ufffdArmageddon\ufffd (about a killer asteroid) and \ufffdDeep Impact\ufffd (about a killer comet). More recent alerts have been greeted much more calmly. Even though the risk of collision was astronomically remote at best, Gareth Williams of the Minor Planet Center at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory said every call for additional observations had to be taken seriously. \ufffdSooner or later one of these things will be announced, and further observations won\ufffdt eliminate them\ufffd as a potential threat to Earth, he told MSNBC. In the past, amateur astronomers have played a big role in gathering additional data about the orbits of asteroids so that they could eventually be excluded as a threat. But BF19, currently in the constellation Cancer, is already too dim for most amateur telescopes to pick up, and getting fainter every night. That\ufffds why it was important for Milani to pass the word quickly to professional asteroid-watchers. --------------- interesting, huh?"}, {"response": 23, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Feb  8, 2000 (19:54)", "body": "Interesting! There is lots of \"stuff\" out there. Don't worry about it... I noticed that I posted in this Topic and I did not remember that it existed. Seems we overlap Geo 24 in here but we cover eclipses and stuff out there better ;)"}, {"response": 24, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Mar 22, 2000 (18:25)", "body": "Space Science News for March 22, 2000 The Earth's magnetosphere is being buffeted by high-speed solar wind particles from a coronal hole straddling the center of the Sun's disk. The solar wind velocity has increased from 350 to 600 km/s during the past 12 hours. Follow the action at http://www.spaceweather.com MORE SPACE SCIENCE NEWS : #1 Curiouser and Curiouser: The exotic world of gamma-ray astronomy has taken yet another surprising turn with the revelation that half the previously unidentified high-energy gamma ray sources in our own galaxy actually comprise a new class of mysterious objects. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast23mar_1m.htm #2 Solar Cycle Update: Is the real Y2K problem just starting? The solar cycle appears to be on schedule for a peak in mid-2000. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast22mar_1m.htm news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 15, "subject": "sex, lies and presidential politics", "response_count": 13, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Mar 14, 1998 (00:03)", "body": "Kathleen Willey has heated up. It will be on 60 Minutes Sunday. She says Clinton put her hand on his crotch."}, {"response": 2, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Mar 15, 1998 (13:33)", "body": "They're supposedly doing *two* segments on 60 Minutes on Kathleen Willey today."}, {"response": 3, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Mar 16, 1998 (13:46)", "body": "Willey dropped her bombshell on 60 Minutes in a chat with Ed Bradley. The collective nation were spellbound for a while. So here's the deal. She goes to Clinton. Not her boss. But Clinton. Horny old Bill. And she's a hot looking boomer type. And she got a job. So, now, four years down the road when the book deals and interviews start getting into 5 or 6 figures she decides to convert all this into the big bucks. The Gore 2001 steamroller picks up more steam. The time came. The deal was cut. The Republic continues on it's dizzying spiral toward absurdity."}, {"response": 4, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Mar 17, 1998 (00:14)", "body": "to quote a famous springuer... sheesh!"}, {"response": 5, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Mar 17, 1998 (00:34)", "body": "And did you catch the part about when he pressed her to him, that there was a Starbucks coffee cup in the way? Now, is this taking product placement to new heights? What would you have done Stacey? Starbucks or Willie?"}, {"response": 6, "author": "pmnh", "date": "Tue, Mar 17, 1998 (05:59)", "body": "(follow bette's advice... don't ask for the moon (when you can have the star(buck)s))..."}, {"response": 7, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Mar 17, 1998 (15:16)", "body": "don't like Starbuck's coffee, it's usually too roasted tasting, albeit on a plane it probably HAS been too roasted! don't find our esteemed leader all that attractive, physically or intellectually. Guess it would've been a decaf night at home for me!"}, {"response": 9, "author": "stacey", "date": "Mon, Mar 23, 1998 (22:03)", "body": "(i was only given two options)"}, {"response": 11, "author": "stacey", "date": "Mon, Mar 23, 1998 (23:27)", "body": "fair enough"}, {"response": 13, "author": "stacey", "date": "Mon, Mar 23, 1998 (23:37)", "body": "shall i send it again?"}, {"response": 15, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Mar 24, 1998 (15:24)", "body": "fair enough *grin*"}, {"response": 17, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Mar 24, 1998 (15:42)", "body": "uhoh. have you caught Mike's ailment? (are you at work already?)"}, {"response": 19, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Fri, Sep 15, 2000 (10:28)", "body": "I think this fits in here ...... http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/aponline/20000915/aponline003728_000.htm Bush Party: Tape Appears Real By Karen Gullo Associated Press Writer Friday, Sept. 15, 2000; 12:37 a.m. EDT POMONA, Calif. \ufffd\ufffd George W. Bush's campaign said Thursday that a videotape mysteriously mailed to an Al Gore confidant appeared to be an authentic copy of the Texas governor's debate rehearsal. The FBI is investigating how the tape and other material may have reached the Washington office of former Rep. Tom Downey, who had been helping Gore prepare for debates. The Gore campaign immediately turned the mystery package over to the FBI after getting it Wednesday. \"It appears that whoever obtained that tape did so in some sort of unethical way,\" Bush spokeswoman Karen Hughes told reporters. \"The only people who would have had authorized access to that tape were the most senior members of our campaign.\" Hughes refused to speculate on whether the tape may have been stolen or how it may have been obtained. Bush officials said there was no evidence of a break-in, although the FBI will investigate the possibility. The tape showed Bush rehearsing with Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., who played Gore in rehearsals at Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas, about a month ago, Hughes said. The package, which was postmarked Austin, Texas, where the Bush campaign is headquartered, also included a stack of documents that appeared to be debate preparation materials. Hughes said she didn't know whether the documents were authentic. \"It's less clear about that,\" she said. \"They appear to be Xerox copies of legitimate documents from the campaign.\" Hughes said that those who had legitimate access to the tapes included herself, campaign manager Joe Allbaugh and top advisers Karl Rove and Mark McKinnon, Bush's ad man. None of these people would have sent the material to the Gore campaign, she said. Whoever obtained the tapes, she said, is \"someone outside of our campaign.\" An attorney for Bush, Ben Ginsberg, reviewed the tape Thursday and concluded it was authentic, Hughes said. Asked if the campaign was compromised, Hughes said: \"I certainly hope not. Mr. Downey appears to have handled it in an appropriate fashion.\" Downey, who said he didn't view much of the tape, said he will no longer work with Gore on his debate preparation. Gore, appearing Thursday on the \"Late Show with David Letterman,\" made his first public comments on the mystery, but did not bite at the talk show host's suggestion it was \"a dirty trick\" setup by the Bush camp. Downey \"did exactly the right thing, and I'm proud of him,\" Gore said. \ufffd Copyright 2000 The Associated Press news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 16, "subject": "Weather talk", "response_count": 22, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "stacey", "date": "Mon, Apr 13, 1998 (10:02)", "body": "sunny, kinda warm (it's only 8am) This topic coulda been really fun this past month when our weather went from 70s and sunny to 30s and snowing in about 3 hours, three different times!"}, {"response": 2, "author": "autumn", "date": "Mon, Apr 13, 1998 (21:45)", "body": "Sunny and warmish today, about 65. The kids played outside all afternoon, and the air has that good earthy smell...."}, {"response": 3, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Apr 14, 1998 (00:22)", "body": "Gorgeous day! I rented a convertible and had a blast!"}, {"response": 5, "author": "autumn", "date": "Sun, Apr 19, 1998 (18:35)", "body": "50 degrees, rainy & chilly here....and we just put the screens in the windows the other day!"}, {"response": 6, "author": "stacey", "date": "Mon, Apr 20, 1998 (01:12)", "body": "sunny and nice today... no snow!"}, {"response": 7, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Apr 20, 1998 (09:34)", "body": "Cold and sunny. 70s predicted all week. The wildflowers are peaking out. Yellow, purple, white, what a profusion of colors are in my yard!"}, {"response": 8, "author": "stacey", "date": "Mon, Apr 20, 1998 (10:08)", "body": "(man, I was tanked last night when I checked in. Sorta fearful bout what I posted) sunny. WARM. All the snow is gone ('cept in the really shady corners!)"}, {"response": 9, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Wed, Jan 13, 1999 (19:19)", "body": "Mare's tails and mackerel skies, never long wet and never long dry."}, {"response": 10, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Jan 14, 1999 (06:33)", "body": "It's chilly, willy."}, {"response": 11, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Jan 14, 1999 (14:54)", "body": "kinda chilly here too... a cloudy."}, {"response": 12, "author": "autumn", "date": "Fri, Jan 15, 1999 (16:56)", "body": "It's not the heat, it's the humidity..."}, {"response": 13, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Jan 15, 1999 (17:41)", "body": "no humidity here..."}, {"response": 14, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Sep 15, 1999 (08:18)", "body": "On Hurricane Floyd: Forecasters expect the storm to stay just off Florida's Atlantic coast, then move past the Georgia coast and make landfall in North Carolina early Thursday. Floyd is three times as large as 1992's Hurricane Andrew, which killed 30 people and caused $25 billion to $35 billion in damage to south Florida. The latest sustained winds were reported at 140 mph, 15 mph less than Monday. But forecasters consider the change a fluctuation, not an indication of any weakening. \"If it's a little bit weaker than yesterday, that's a little bit like the difference of being run over by a freight train or being run over by a semitruck,\" said Max Mayfield of the National Hurricane Center. \"Neither prospect is good.\""}, {"response": 15, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Sep 15, 1999 (16:22)", "body": "Finally found this. Any way we could link all of these weather topics together? I never found this one until I hunted for your post mentioned on the linked ones in News and Geo. Thanks for putting this visual one. The only ones I could find are h u g e and I did not think we needed that slowing down Spring."}, {"response": 16, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Wed, Apr  5, 2000 (15:24)", "body": "It was snowing in the UK yesterday - in April so bad in the West county that they were without power for 24 hours. Where I am it laid until lunchtime. Today we have had bright sunshine, warm enough to go our without a coat. No wonder our bodies are confused!"}, {"response": 17, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Thu, Apr  6, 2000 (07:33)", "body": "It's a real transition state here, warm, hot and cool days with no predictability. My pool was 75 degrees last week on 89 degree days and this week it's 68 degrees and we're having 70 degree days. The forecast is 82 today, 83 Friday and 77 Saturday and breezy with a few clouds. No rain. I guess the rain prediction earlier in the week blew off. Maruti and the gang are putting siding on the Cedar Creek house."}, {"response": 18, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Thu, Apr  6, 2000 (07:41)", "body": "And then Sunday is supposed to be 78 and Monday back up to 80 with a 20% rain chance. Friday looks like the most likely swimming day."}, {"response": 19, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Apr  6, 2000 (18:04)", "body": "Can't figure if this stuff should be double posted or not. Geo's weather topic is linked to News 32. Strange."}, {"response": 20, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Apr  6, 2000 (18:08)", "body": "Terrym, are you still pounding nails, or are you just supervising and paying now? I hope it is they way you want it after all this...!"}, {"response": 21, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, May  4, 2001 (00:49)", "body": "We're heading in to a rainspell here in Austin, good time for our Cedar Creek bonfire!"}, {"response": 22, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Nov  1, 2002 (16:49)", "body": "Coldest Halloween on record (128 years) in Denver yesterday... B took Kendall to three houses and we holed up with friends eating pizza, drinking cider and greeting all the teenagers that braved the cold dressed as 'snowboarders' for candy!"}, {"response": 23, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Nov  1, 2002 (21:36)", "body": "Time for another bonfire, probably Sunday. news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 17, "subject": "Live from LA, it's suicide on the freeway!", "response_count": 45, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, May  2, 1998 (10:06)", "body": "One of the busiest LA interchanges was held up for an hour, costing S Cal economy well into 7 figures. They cut away from a kids cartoon show to show it, the four year olds needed to see this obviously! The guy did it because he was opposed to HMOs, and if you're in LA, the best way to get attention is to get in a freeway chase (a la OJ). The HMO refused to pay his Viagra subscription, one rumor has it. So the kiddies go from happy smurfland to blood and brains all over. Not pretty is it?"}, {"response": 2, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Sat, May  2, 1998 (11:02)", "body": "that's disgusting. who needs to see that anyway, kids or adults.....geez!"}, {"response": 3, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, May  2, 1998 (11:45)", "body": "It's the new way, everyone sees everything with no discrimination. Sad indeed."}, {"response": 4, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Sat, May  2, 1998 (12:37)", "body": "and they wonder why kids are killing each other!"}, {"response": 5, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Sat, May  2, 1998 (16:17)", "body": "i sometimes think that the news media nowadays is living by that old saying, \"It's easier to get forgiveness than permission.\""}, {"response": 6, "author": "autumn", "date": "Sat, May  2, 1998 (16:19)", "body": "And why people are getting rid of their TV sets! (a' la stacey) If I want to read the Nat'l Enquirer I'll buy one in the supermarket check-out line..."}, {"response": 7, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Sat, May  2, 1998 (20:11)", "body": "hey, we got rid of j. springer here, so......."}, {"response": 8, "author": "stacey", "date": "Mon, May  4, 1998 (10:09)", "body": "wow Paul, I had no idea journalism (generalization) had sunk that low. Is this sweeps week or something?"}, {"response": 9, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, May  4, 1998 (12:31)", "body": "Next week is, there are about a dozen programs that will be broadcast in 3d, you'll need glasses. Details will be posted in the tv conference."}, {"response": 10, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, May  5, 1998 (09:53)", "body": "more suicides in 3D?"}, {"response": 11, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sat, May  9, 1998 (11:33)", "body": "I'd watch that...not sure I'd want my kids to watch, though..."}, {"response": 12, "author": "riette", "date": "Fri, Jul  3, 1998 (19:06)", "body": "Hope it gives you the fright of your life, muffin!"}, {"response": 13, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sat, Jul  4, 1998 (01:05)", "body": "You're mad at me, aren't you?"}, {"response": 14, "author": "riette", "date": "Sat, Jul  4, 1998 (10:39)", "body": "Would I call you muffin if I were mad at you?"}, {"response": 15, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sat, Jul  4, 1998 (13:28)", "body": "That would imply that I knew if you liked muffins or not..."}, {"response": 16, "author": "riette", "date": "Sat, Jul  4, 1998 (14:10)", "body": "I eat muffins by the hundreds - what does that imply?"}, {"response": 17, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sat, Jul  4, 1998 (14:12)", "body": "that I really need to watch being around you warm and covered in butter?"}, {"response": 18, "author": "riette", "date": "Sat, Jul  4, 1998 (14:14)", "body": "Sure as he\ufffd\ufffd! Raw, cold, warm, buttery, jammy, crumbly, hard, soft, puffy - you just watch it, babe!"}, {"response": 19, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sat, Jul  4, 1998 (14:16)", "body": "uhoh...I'm usually all of those at once..."}, {"response": 20, "author": "riette", "date": "Sat, Jul  4, 1998 (14:26)", "body": "yum yum! That's why you're so irresistable . . . Come here, let me taste ya!"}, {"response": 21, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sat, Jul  4, 1998 (14:41)", "body": "*sigh*"}, {"response": 22, "author": "riette", "date": "Sat, Jul  4, 1998 (14:49)", "body": "That sure says it all - don't worry, I won't come near you."}, {"response": 23, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sat, Jul  4, 1998 (15:47)", "body": "methinks you misinterpret..."}, {"response": 24, "author": "riette", "date": "Sat, Jul  4, 1998 (17:45)", "body": "you thinks?"}, {"response": 25, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sat, Jul  4, 1998 (17:52)", "body": "well, when my feelings let me..."}, {"response": 26, "author": "riette", "date": "Sat, Jul  4, 1998 (18:06)", "body": "\ufffdeyebrow\ufffd Pretty sharp. Wer, could you tell me please why you created this topic? Don't you find it kinda eerie here?"}, {"response": 27, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sat, Jul  4, 1998 (18:47)", "body": "didn't create it...just play around in it...kinda like a cemetery..."}, {"response": 28, "author": "riette", "date": "Sun, Jul  5, 1998 (02:49)", "body": "SHIVERS!!!"}, {"response": 29, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Jul  5, 1998 (07:23)", "body": "I started this topic, little did I know."}, {"response": 30, "author": "riette", "date": "Sun, Jul  5, 1998 (18:36)", "body": "YOU?! Little did we all know what depth and darkness lurked within our Spring King."}, {"response": 31, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Jul  6, 1998 (10:46)", "body": "No darkness lurking here!"}, {"response": 32, "author": "riette", "date": "Mon, Jul  6, 1998 (13:42)", "body": "Just great depths! Great name for a topic though."}, {"response": 33, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Jul  6, 1998 (13:55)", "body": "Yep, the name rocks."}, {"response": 34, "author": "stacey", "date": "Mon, Jul  6, 1998 (14:46)", "body": "Riette... unfortunatly (IMHO) the name springs from a real live TV broadcast of a man's successful suicide attempt. Guess the video media thought the suspense was worth capturing live and when the distraught (for lack of a real insightful word) decided to follow through, the gory scene was broadcast all around the country. the name has merit, but i don't believe the broadcast did."}, {"response": 35, "author": "riette", "date": "Mon, Jul  6, 1998 (17:34)", "body": "WHAT?! They put a person's suicide on TV?!!?!?!?! What kind of a sick thing is that to do?! And what kind of people watch that?!?! God help us."}, {"response": 36, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Jul  6, 1998 (20:35)", "body": "LA people, a lot of 'em kids. Because they interuppted a kids tv show to bring you a live suicide. This is America, honey, the land of OJ, and Monica, and the Truman show. It's gotten, in some parts, where people demand all the news, no matter how obscene, as it happens. We been Simpsonized."}, {"response": 37, "author": "riette", "date": "Tue, Jul  7, 1998 (02:38)", "body": "That stinks."}, {"response": 38, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Nov 11, 1998 (07:55)", "body": "According to the always-amusing News Blues site http://www.newsblues.com the situation isn't good at all in LA: http://www.newsblues.com/Stations/kabc.htm"}, {"response": 39, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Apr  2, 2002 (12:53)", "body": "i can say that now that i'm living here, we get to watch this stuff all the time. one guy even led police to his house. like, what did he think, home was base like in the game of tag? *laugh*"}, {"response": 40, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Apr 11, 2002 (20:13)", "body": "we've got a pursuit going on right now! nothing exciting going on but the news is concentrating on this thing....the guy's getting away but being careful in the process...very weird."}, {"response": 41, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Apr 12, 2002 (06:43)", "body": "How often do you have these in LA, daily? It's a pretty common occurence isn't it?"}, {"response": 42, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Apr 15, 2002 (18:14)", "body": "very common. only some do they choose to air the whole thing. anyway, they only showed an hour of this, the guy turned himself in after another hour on the lam!"}, {"response": 43, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Apr 15, 2002 (18:14)", "body": "i just don't wanna be on the road in the middle of one of these."}, {"response": 44, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Apr 15, 2002 (21:40)", "body": "Exactly! But there is no off-hours on the freeways. Perhaps they need to construct a dead end (sorry!)"}, {"response": 45, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Apr 15, 2002 (22:10)", "body": "*LAUGH* the best time, i think, is in the wee hours of the morning (like 2 AM) but then you have to contend with the drunks and strung out. still, i have encountered mostly courteous folks. but nearly got run over this morning (and i drive a suburban and this little tinted car tried to pull into my lane with me right next to him--please tell me how he didn't see me--windows too dark?) news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 18, "subject": "science in the news", "response_count": 95, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Oct 28, 1997 (09:16)", "body": "U.S. biophysicist admits passing secrets to Russia WASHINGTON (Reuter) - U.S. biophysicist Theodore Hall, the youngest member of the Los Alamos team that developed the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki in 1945, admits in a new book that he passed nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union. Statements from Hall, who is now 71 years old and living in Cambridge, England, appear in a new book, ``Bombshell: The Secret Story of America's Unknown Atomic Spy Conspiracy.'' The book, published by Times Books/Random House, arrives in bookstores this week and will be officially released Oct. 1. Statements from the book were released Sunday. In over 100 hours of interviews with the book's authors, foreign correspondents Joseph Albright and Marcia Kunstel of the Cox Newspapers, Hall told of his concern about a possible U.S. monopoly on nuclear weapons and said he felt no remorse about sharing information with the Soviets, since they were U.S. allies at the time. FBI and National Security Agency documents cited in the book show that Hall was the target of an FBI espionage investigation in the 1950s and 1960s, but was never charged. No comment was immediately available Sunday from the FBI or the Justice Department. ``During 1944, I was worried about the dangers of an American monopoly of atomic weapons if there should be a postwar depression,'' Hall is quoted as saying. ``To help prevent that monopoly I contemplated a brief encounter with a Soviet agent, just to inform them of the existence of the A-bomb project.'' Hall said he anticipated a very limited contact, but things turned out differently. ``Now I am castigated in some quarters as a traitor, although the Soviet Union at the time was not the enemy but the ally of the United States; the Soviet people fought the Nazis heroically, at tremendous human cost, and this may well have saved the Western Allies from defeat,'' he said. He said some people had even argued that he changed the course of history with his action. ``Maybe the 'course of history', if unchanged, would have led to atomic war in the past 50 years -- for example the bomb might have been dropped on China in 1949 or the early fifties,'' he said. ``Well, if I helped to prevent that, I accept the charge.'' Hall, then 18, was recruited from Harvard University -- where he was active in radical student politics -- in 1943 to become the youngest physicist at the Los Alamos bomb laboratory in New Mexico. He was made part of the team that worked on implosion experiments that led to the invention of ``Fat Man,'' the bomb dropped on Nagasaki in August 1945. ``In 1944 I was nineteen years old -- immature, inexperienced and far too sure of myself,'' Hall told the authors. ``I recognize that I could easily have been wrong in my judgment of what was necessary, and that I was indeed mistaken about some things, in particular my view of the nature of the Soviet state.'' ``But in essence, from the perspective of my 71 years, I still think that brash youth had the right end of the stick. I am no longer that person; but I am by no means ashamed of him.'' Hall suffers from kidney cancer and Parkinson's disease. He worked for most of his scientific career as a research biophysicist and expert on electron microscopy at Cambridge University's prestigious Cavendish Laboratory. The book contained many details of Hall's espionage activities, including his recruitment in 1948 of two more American atomic scientists codenamed ``Anta'' and ``Aden'' to join the network of U.S. scientists spying for the Soviet Union, two informants whose identities have never been revealed."}, {"response": 2, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Tue, May  5, 1998 (22:35)", "body": "anyone want to say anything about the discoveries of angiostatin and endostatin regarding cancer? anyone here working in that field? i for one am happy about the news, as i have a long history of cancer in my family."}, {"response": 3, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Fri, May  8, 1998 (12:34)", "body": "http://cnn.com/TECH/space/9805/06/space.explosion/index.html"}, {"response": 4, "author": "NICK", "date": "Wed, May 13, 1998 (23:22)", "body": "MY FATHER IN LAW JUST DIED OF CANCER FOUR WEEKS AGO. HE HAD IT FOR TWO YEARS. HE JUST WENT DOWNHILL. THE DOCTORS SAID IT WAS TOO LATE TO TRY ANY EXPERIMENTAL DRUGS OR ANYTHING. HE DIED AT 82. THEY SAID HE WAS TOO OLD. HE HAD OTHER PROBLEMS TO BOOT. ITS ASHAME THOUGH. IT SEEMS LIKE SCIENCE IS ON THE VERGE OF MANY NEW BREAKTHROUGHS NICK"}, {"response": 5, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Jun  2, 1998 (18:06)", "body": "my sympathies nick, I hope your father's 82 years were full of quality life!"}, {"response": 6, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Tue, Jul  7, 1998 (20:19)", "body": "Environmentalists are ringing the alarm bell about the fate of the Tibetan antelope, saying the demand for the animals' precious cashmere wool in the world fashion market has led to a deadly threat by poachers who are hunting down the animal, sometimes killing hundreds of them at a time. http://cnn.com/TECH/science/9807/05/tibetan.antelope/index.html"}, {"response": 7, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Tue, Jul  7, 1998 (20:21)", "body": "A human skull believed to be between 100,000 to 200,000 years old is being hailed as an important discovery in the evolution of humankind. Scientists believe it may be a link between the transition from Homo erectus, sometimes described as the hand-axe culture, to the earliest modern humans. http://cnn.com/TECH/science/9807/05/s.africa.skull/index.html"}, {"response": 8, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Wed, Jul 22, 1998 (21:52)", "body": "Researchers clone first mammals from adult cells using new technique NEW YORK (CNN) -- Researchers in Honolulu have successfully cloned five generations and more than 50 identical mice, using a new technique they say can be applied to other mammals. http://cnn.com/HEALTH/9807/22/cloning.report/index.html"}, {"response": 9, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Wed, Jul 22, 1998 (21:55)", "body": "A sheep cloning how-to, more or less http://cnn.com/TECH/9702/24/cloning.explainer/index.html"}, {"response": 10, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Wed, Jul 22, 1998 (21:58)", "body": "Astronomers observe a \"cannibal\" pulsar stealing matter from companion star CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (CNN) -Using X-ray telescopes, astronomers have observed for the first time a so-called \"millisecond\" pulsar in the process of cannibalizing a companion star. http://cnn.com/TECH/space/9807/22/cannibal.pulsar/index.html"}, {"response": 11, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Wed, Jul 22, 1998 (22:00)", "body": "Scientists make plans for seeking life beyond Earth MOUNTAIN VIEW, California (AP) -- Scientific discussion of extraterrestrial life has moved beyond the question of whether it exists to where and how we should look for it. http://cnn.com/TECH/space/9807/21/new.worlds.ap/index.html"}, {"response": 12, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Wed, Jul 22, 1998 (23:41)", "body": "great selection of mind candy, ratthing!"}, {"response": 13, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Jul 23, 1998 (10:29)", "body": "Wow, great stuff. I don't have time to look now, but tonight I'll check it out."}, {"response": 14, "author": "riette", "date": "Thu, Jul 23, 1998 (17:26)", "body": "Cool. Ray, I saw a programme on BBC the other day where they said there might me a chance that Dolly wasn't a clone at all."}, {"response": 15, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Thu, Jul 23, 1998 (17:50)", "body": "yes, that was one of the very exciting things about the current mouse clonings. In the case of Dolly, the original paper that described the technique used to create her left out some genetic tests that would have demonstrated whether she was a true clone or simply the product of a mistake in the lab. when the authors of this new mouse paper first submitted it for publication, it was rejected on the grounds that there were no tests conclusively demonstrating that the new mousies were actual clones. so the workers went back to the lab, made a whole mess o' mousies, and did the genetic tests. the results were conclusive and accepted for publication: the same tecque used to create Dolly did in fact work for creating cloned mice. these results suggest that Dolly is probably a real clone, and, most importantly, that the technique used to one her is effective!"}, {"response": 16, "author": "riette", "date": "Thu, Jul 23, 1998 (20:59)", "body": "I find the bits I read from time to time about gene technology scary and exciting at the same time. One that excited me was about the possibility of 'growing' limbs and things (don't know it that has to do with gene technology or what, so forgive me). I think it must be horrible to lose and arm or leg - would it not be wonderful if they could just grow you a new one? You think that will happen in our lifetime, Ray? Oh, and I saw this programme about organ transplant, and doctors seemed optimistic that in time they would be able to do head transplants. In fact one doctor did it with monkeys (which I find horribly cruel). But again, when you think that people who are in wheelchairs could be helped, it is a great vision to have. What scares me about gene technology is the idea that it can and may well get into the wrong hands. Imagine people like Hitler (thank God that bastard's dead) being cloned."}, {"response": 17, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Thu, Jul 23, 1998 (22:50)", "body": "one of the creepier things i read about one time had to do with the fact that someone had developed a method to develop reptile embryos without heads! the implication was that one could have a headless clone created of oneself, thus insuring a steady supply of replacement organs. the technology already exists! messing with genetic materials is very very dangerous. i personally feel it is more dangerous than nuclear power."}, {"response": 18, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Fri, Jul 24, 1998 (00:27)", "body": "done in England with frogs, Ray... little headless hoppers...had to stop the research... and, no, have know idea where I read about it..."}, {"response": 19, "author": "riette", "date": "Fri, Jul 24, 1998 (03:59)", "body": "God, that's disgusting. Why not just figure out how to grow organs? If they can grow limbs, than surely that should come next?"}, {"response": 20, "author": "autumn", "date": "Fri, Jul 24, 1998 (23:15)", "body": "Good point!"}, {"response": 21, "author": "riette", "date": "Sat, Jul 25, 1998 (05:24)", "body": "Thank you, thank you? Sorry to go off the topic, Ray, I just want to ask Autumn something quickly: Autumn, didn't Juliette's picture come out wonderfully in art? Did she take a look? Tell her I want MORE please!"}, {"response": 22, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Jul 25, 1998 (08:08)", "body": "Ray, where do you get your science news?"}, {"response": 23, "author": "riette", "date": "Sat, Jul 25, 1998 (08:40)", "body": "He MAKES it!"}, {"response": 24, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Sat, Jul 25, 1998 (12:01)", "body": "oh i wish! most of it comes from cnn.com. i also subscribe to Science News, a wonderful little weekly magazine that summarizes all sorts of scientific findings. every major news site on the web has a science section, so the news is not hard to find! www.sciencenews.org"}, {"response": 25, "author": "riette", "date": "Sat, Jul 25, 1998 (13:45)", "body": "So what exactly do you do, Ray? Do you teach science? Do you sit in a lab, doing experiments all day? Do you make exciting discoveries and write difficult theories down? Must be so cool having such a brainy job."}, {"response": 26, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Sat, Jul 25, 1998 (15:06)", "body": "the history of my career is oh-so weird. here it is in a nutshell: * right now I am a consultant with EDS in san antonio, texas working in the area of knowledge management * prior to that i was a technical consultant and chief knowledge officer for a small telecommunications firm in san antonio * prior to that i was a postdoctoral research fellow at a large biomedical institution. i did research on the neurochemistry of depression and anxiety. also did research related to the genetics of alzheimer's disease. * prior to that i was a graduate student and did research on the neuroanatomy and neurochemistry of analgesia and reinforcement. i also studied evolutionary biology and philosophy. so i used to sit in labs all day buy not any more. now i sit in meetings all day (haha!). i have taught for the past 11 years and continue to teach biology, philosopy, and information technology courses around san antonio. my research efforts right now are directed toward artificial intelligence, specifically the development of intelligent agents that can surf and index the web, diagnose mental diseases, and befriend lonely people! I really do enjoy my job with EDS, but it is highly hectic and i really have no control over my own schedule. my dream job would be to be a faculty member at some school or institute where i could continue my AI research and teach."}, {"response": 27, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sun, Jul 26, 1998 (00:13)", "body": "which languages do you prefer for AI?"}, {"response": 28, "author": "riette", "date": "Sun, Jul 26, 1998 (02:03)", "body": "Oh wow, that sounds so cool! And where is your AI research going at this point? I mean, what are your visions for the future, say, like in 100 years from now?"}, {"response": 29, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Jul 26, 1998 (09:20)", "body": "Have you approached UT or any other colleges yet?"}, {"response": 30, "author": "autumn", "date": "Sun, Jul 26, 1998 (22:42)", "body": "Did you meet your fiancee through your work?"}, {"response": 31, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Mon, Jul 27, 1998 (18:03)", "body": "ooooh! good questions! my AI coding usually takes place using C, C++, Lisp, Perl. i use a lot of libraries written in C, and work extensively with the SOAR expert system. my vision for the future is that we will have machines like the HAL 9000 computer in \"2001\" within the next 50 years. i am certain of this, but dont think that I will have anything much to do with it. I havent approached any colleges yet for a couple of reasons: 1) faculty jobs are few and highly competitive 2) they dont pay very well. i am paid extremely well with EDS and would have a tough time going back to making $30-$40 per year!"}, {"response": 32, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Mon, Jul 27, 1998 (23:39)", "body": "I wish I made $30-$40 per year... do you read PC AI, Ray? if so, what do you think of it? and, think we (meaning of course, you...) could write a genetic algorythmic conference and/or participant? or, what sort of expert system direction would you like to see the Spring take? (unfortunately(?), I think the fuzzy logic topic on here should be in Philosophy...)"}, {"response": 33, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Wed, Jul 29, 1998 (22:03)", "body": "whoops, make that $30K-$40K per year! i do read PC AI. i really do not get that much out of it myself, tho i do like the ads that are in it. I definitely think that most of the AI topics we discuss here on line should be crosslinked between multiple confs, like science and philosophy. AI is not just one field and is very multidisclipinary."}, {"response": 34, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Wed, Jul 29, 1998 (23:48)", "body": "the k's were implied in my response, also..."}, {"response": 35, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Jul 30, 1998 (07:25)", "body": "Do you know how to crosslink a topic, Ray?"}, {"response": 36, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Thu, Jul 30, 1998 (10:59)", "body": "ummmmm, nope, but i am certain that it is in a manual somewhere on armindale's web site or on the WeLL."}, {"response": 37, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Jul 30, 1998 (11:29)", "body": "It's easy, just create the topic. Say you create a topic called biological warefare in science and it's topic 22. Then go to politics and type li science 22 If it doesn't work for, just ask wer to do it as cfadm It should work if you own the topic."}, {"response": 38, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Thu, Jul 30, 1998 (21:59)", "body": "thanks, terry!"}, {"response": 39, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Jul 31, 1998 (05:31)", "body": "No sweat, just for fun I linked this topic to news. I went to news and typed li science 5 (or whatever the topic number was in science)."}, {"response": 40, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Fri, Jul 31, 1998 (10:09)", "body": "Studies point to space as origin of life's seeds WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Three studies published Thursday cast more light on how life originated on Earth, painting a picture in which space dust provided the seeds, and a warm, volcanic environment supplied the incubator. http://cnn.com/TECH/space/9807/30/origins.reut/index.html"}, {"response": 41, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Fri, Jul 31, 1998 (10:12)", "body": "Galileo resumes beaming science data to Earth PASADENA, California (AP) -- The Galileo spacecraft touring the moons of Jupiter is again sending science data back to Earth after a glitch that forced a shutdown last week. http://cnn.com/TECH/space/9807/30/galileo.ap/index.html"}, {"response": 42, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Jul 31, 1998 (13:48)", "body": "Forgot to pay it's long distance bill?"}, {"response": 43, "author": "riette", "date": "Wed, Aug  5, 1998 (12:54)", "body": "What are we talking about? Long distance bill? For what, Terry? Is my phone bill suddenly going to shoot up for clicking on the hyperlinks - note the fancy new word in my vocabulary?"}, {"response": 44, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Aug  5, 1998 (18:36)", "body": "scroll back a bit"}, {"response": 45, "author": "riette", "date": "Thu, Aug  6, 1998 (02:20)", "body": "Oh, okay, I'm with you again. And relieved."}, {"response": 46, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Thu, Aug  6, 1998 (11:02)", "body": "i'm glad you're back, riette!"}, {"response": 47, "author": "riette", "date": "Thu, Aug  6, 1998 (11:36)", "body": "Thank you, Ray - glad you're back too. How was your business trip?"}, {"response": 48, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Thu, Aug  6, 1998 (23:00)", "body": "my trip went really well, actually. of course i spent most of the time in meetings, but some of them were actually fun and productive. the biggest thing that happened was that i have officially become a member of the EDS Government Consulting Group, which means (hopefully) some more money!"}, {"response": 49, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Aug  6, 1998 (23:22)", "body": "Mo' money! Yo, Ray."}, {"response": 50, "author": "riette", "date": "Fri, Aug  7, 1998 (02:04)", "body": "Great! Congratulations, Ray! You're going to be and MMM from now on. A More Money Man."}, {"response": 51, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Sat, Aug  8, 1998 (15:00)", "body": "Scientists on quest for deep sea mud (ENN) -- Scientists aboard the world's largest scientific drill ship, the JOIDES Resolution, are getting ready to study a cold-water current that today is 100 times the size of the mighty Amazon River. http://cnn.com/TECH/science/9808/06/joides.yoto/index.html This is a cool story because it reflects the enormous complexity of the weather systems of the earth. THe Deep Western Boundary Current (DWBC) is a massive current of cold water that circulates through the Southern Ocean and into the Pacific. Scientists are hoping to correlate it's stregth, temperature, and direction with global climate changes, and they will be using the sand the DWBC pushes around as an indicator of it's strength, temp, and direction."}, {"response": 52, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Sat, Aug  8, 1998 (15:05)", "body": "Scientists map evolution of phytoplankton (ENN) -- Evolving into diverse forms over billions of years, tiny one-celled marine plants and bacteria have interacted with the changeable physics and chemistry of the land and sea to stabilize the relative concentrations of Earth's atmospheric gases, according to a report in the recent issue of the journal Science. This is a very cool story reflecting how important phytoplankton is to the world ecology. The things we are doing to the environment are affecting phytoplankton, and there is no way to predict what will come of this!"}, {"response": 53, "author": "riette", "date": "Sat, Aug  8, 1998 (16:21)", "body": "That sounds very interesting indeed. I find the whole thing about ecology quite fascinating, though I don't have a perfect understanding of how it works. On the farm where I grew up partly, ecology was very important, and alot of my granddad's work consisted of making sure that the balance between plant and animal remained perfect - he always said that even small errors in keeping the balance (over grazing, high or low mortality rates, and such things) could result in serious problems."}, {"response": 54, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Sat, Aug  8, 1998 (23:33)", "body": "well dont feel bad riette, because no one has a complete understanding of how these things work! i also grew up in a farm and ranch setting, and to this day i am amazed at how my grandparents were able to maintain both a productive set of crops and keep a stock of animals going. it is a set of knowledge that predates written human history, and modern science is just now trying to come to grips with it. another good example of how delicate ecosystems can be is illustrated when an outside species invades an new and foreign environment by accident. a classic example is that of the goddamn fireants we have here in texas. fireants were introduced to this country from south america via boatloads of soil. now the goddamn things have invaded virtually every part of the southern U.S. and have brought many native species close to extinction. two of these species are ones that i grew up with and have fond memories of from childhood: red ants and the horned lizard (aka \"horny toads\")."}, {"response": 55, "author": "riette", "date": "Sun, Aug  9, 1998 (02:47)", "body": "Horny toads!! Think we have a few on the spring too! We had this weird bird plague on the farm once. Tiny birds, called 'vink' - but I don't know what they're called in English. Anyway, there were so many of them, they'd snap the branches of trees like twigs when they all descended at once to sit in the trees. It was really disgusting, and their crap clogged up the water pumps and everything. In the end it got so bad that my granddad and the men made many catapults out of desperation, and gave everyone these - women and children included. Because all ne had to do was to shoot into the air with a biggish stone, and the birds would fall two at a time. I did it once, a bird fell, and I was so sorry for the poor thing, I nursed it back to health - which Granddad didn't find particularly helpful. But it was awful. I'm not sure how he got rid of the birds in the end, but it was a disgusting business, and he had thousands of rands of damage, and the farm took almost two years to recover from the plague."}, {"response": 56, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Aug  9, 1998 (08:41)", "body": "Where was this, Riette?"}, {"response": 57, "author": "riette", "date": "Sun, Aug  9, 1998 (14:04)", "body": "Have you got a map of Namibia in your hand? Well, it was in the north east, close to the border, and on the border of Hereroland, a small Herero 'country' in Namibia. Beautiful, absolutely beautiful flat land with savannah fields, leopard, lion, zebra, springbok, kudu, oryx, duiker, porcupine, warthog, poisonous snakes, ostrich, etc.etc.etc. A wonderful place to grow up, I can tell you. Where did you grow up, Terry?"}, {"response": 58, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Aug 10, 1998 (07:49)", "body": "Chautauqua, Illinois and St. Louis, MO, with a brief spell in Texas (1st grade)."}, {"response": 59, "author": "riette", "date": "Mon, Aug 10, 1998 (09:23)", "body": "Was it a nice place to grow up?"}, {"response": 60, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Aug 10, 1998 (12:31)", "body": "It was a wonderful place, a fairybook sort of town (Chautauqua)."}, {"response": 61, "author": "riette", "date": "Mon, Aug 10, 1998 (17:30)", "body": "In what sense? Were the houses made of chocolate?"}, {"response": 62, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Aug 11, 1998 (07:21)", "body": "Chautauqua was a little summer town nestled between two majestic bluffs on both sides and by the Mississippi River on the other side. There was only one road leading to it, and a dinky train ran along the river. We packed off for Chautauqua every summer of my childhood. The place had everything a kid could dream about. Tennis, roque, croquet, swimming, community sing and movies nearly every night, hiking, fencing, archery, baseball, basketball, etc. etc. The open air movie theater turned into a nondenominational Sunday School on Sunday morning. It was everything America should be, and isn't. A real community, centered around kids."}, {"response": 63, "author": "riette", "date": "Tue, Aug 11, 1998 (07:52)", "body": "That sounds fabulous. Do you ever go back there now, Terry? And how far is it from Austin? Is there a bus/train one can catch to go there? See, I'm thinking of places to visit when I go to the spring party in Austin next year - I want to stay for a week or ten days if I can, and see what there is to see in the area. How about art? Are there any art galleries to visit? But these thing have to be a bus/train journey away - I don't drive, I'm ashamed to say. One doesn't need to in Switzerland, that's why."}, {"response": 64, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Aug 11, 1998 (07:57)", "body": "It's several hundred miles to the North in another state, Illinois. So it's a major outing. But there is so much to do and see right here in central Texas. It would be impossible to cover this territory in any short period of time!"}, {"response": 65, "author": "riette", "date": "Tue, Aug 11, 1998 (11:55)", "body": "So what is there to see in central Texas? You want to go open a topic in travel, and tell me more about the sights and sounds of Texas? Don't want to muck up Ray's topic, but I would love to know what to expect."}, {"response": 66, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Aug 11, 1998 (12:21)", "body": "Sure, I'll open it later! In travel."}, {"response": 67, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Aug 12, 1998 (17:32)", "body": "I am the proud owner of one of these camcorders: Sony halts camera that can see through clothes Copyright \ufffd 1998 Nando.net Copyright \ufffd 1998 Reuters News Service TOKYO (August 12, 1998 09:36 a.m. EDT http://www.nandotimes.com ) - Electronics giant Sony Corp. said Wednesday it had halted shipments of some video cameras after finding they could be used for filming more of their subjects than meets the eye. Some versions of the Handycam have infrared technology which lets users shoot at night or in darkness in a \"night shot\" mode. But magazine reports revealed that when the special feature is used in daylight or a lighted room with a special filter it can \"see through\" clothing -- underwear can show up, especially on those lightly dressed, and people wearing swimsuits look almost naked. A Sony spokesman said the first the company knew of the camera's surprise feature was when reporters started asking for comments on the \"new way\" of using the camera. Sony technicians then experimented and confirmed that the technology had the unintended capability. \"When we developed this feature for the Handycam, we were thinking of people filming night views -- their children sleeping, or perhaps the nocturnal behavior of animals,\" the spokesman said. Concerned at the possibility of less innocent users taking advantage of the technology, Sony has modified the camera so the \"night shot\" mode only works in the dark. Shipment of the new versions have already begun, replacing the original ones, which hit the market in March and had sold around 180,000 units in the domestic market by the end of July, the spokesman said. It sold 870,000 of the original cameras worldwide by the end of June, including 400,000 in North America and 290,000 in Europe. The spokesman said it is now shipping the modified version overseas. He denied local media reports that it had asked stores to remove the original versions from their shelves. The company declined to confirm retail prices, but media reports said the cameras range from $684 to $1,368 in Japan."}, {"response": 68, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Aug 12, 1998 (17:50)", "body": "Will I get a knock at my door? How hilarious. I must test this."}, {"response": 69, "author": "riette", "date": "Thu, Aug 13, 1998 (07:15)", "body": "You're really into technology and equipment, aren't you, Terry? BTW, thank you for helping me with the picture-thing. Haven't manage a single successful one again, but I'm sure I'll get the hang of it. Thank you."}, {"response": 70, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Aug 13, 1998 (10:45)", "body": "You only need to put your url in quotes to make it work. I went in as super user and fixed all your minor little booboos in 'art'. You were a hair breadth away from getting it perfect."}, {"response": 71, "author": "riette", "date": "Thu, Aug 13, 1998 (14:04)", "body": "\ufffdBIG BIG BIG HUG\ufffd Oh, sorry! Did I hug your wind out?"}, {"response": 72, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Aug 13, 1998 (15:06)", "body": "No, I have too much of a wind surplus, it felt good though. Just make sure your images are gifs or jpegs that end with .gif or .jpg. You can img src a url that ends with .htm or .html."}, {"response": 73, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Thu, Aug 13, 1998 (20:30)", "body": "terry: POST THOSE PICTURES!"}, {"response": 74, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Fri, Aug 14, 1998 (01:39)", "body": "especially if'n you can get Stacey in front of that camera..."}, {"response": 75, "author": "riette", "date": "Fri, Aug 14, 1998 (04:46)", "body": "What pictures?"}, {"response": 76, "author": "riette", "date": "Fri, Aug 14, 1998 (04:46)", "body": "Hey, Ray!!"}, {"response": 77, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 14, 1998 (09:54)", "body": "Which pictures?"}, {"response": 78, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Fri, Aug 14, 1998 (10:06)", "body": "any pictures you can capture from your Sony camera."}, {"response": 79, "author": "riette", "date": "Fri, Aug 14, 1998 (12:30)", "body": "Oh, I almost forgot! Terry's Tantalizing Tool!"}, {"response": 80, "author": "riette", "date": "Fri, Aug 14, 1998 (12:30)", "body": "Ray, I thought you were going to post us your photo."}, {"response": 81, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Fri, Aug 14, 1998 (12:43)", "body": "oh yeah, i will try to do that today!"}, {"response": 82, "author": "riette", "date": "Fri, Aug 14, 1998 (13:44)", "body": "That'll make my day."}, {"response": 83, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Aug 15, 1998 (23:11)", "body": "I've got to get the right filter first."}, {"response": 84, "author": "riette", "date": "Sun, Aug 16, 1998 (02:44)", "body": "Oh, I know just what you mean..."}, {"response": 85, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Fri, Aug 21, 1998 (17:18)", "body": "New \"night vision\" auto system detects faraway people, animals in the dark August 20, 1998 WASHINGTON (AP) -- A man on the side of the road changing a tire, a deer or dog darting into the street -- all hazardous and potentially deadly confrontations for a driver at night whose sight is limited to what is illuminated by his headlights. http://cnn.com/TECH/science/9808/20/night.visioncar.ap/index.html"}, {"response": 86, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Fri, Aug 21, 1998 (17:20)", "body": "More wet, dry areas worldwide in recent decades August 20, 1998 WASHINGTON (AP) -- Regions of Earth experiencing unusually wet or dry conditions have increased over the past 20 to 30 years, researchers say in a report that will add to the debate over global warming. http://cnn.com/TECH/science/9808/20/wet.dry.ap/index.html"}, {"response": 87, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Fri, Aug 21, 1998 (17:21)", "body": "Milky Way reportedly ripping apart neighbor galaxies August 19, 1998 WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The Milky Way's gravitational pull is ripping apart two smaller neighbor galaxies, astronomers in Australia announced Wednesday. http://cnn.com/TECH/space/9808/19/dueling.galaxies.reut/index.html"}, {"response": 88, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Fri, Aug 21, 1998 (17:27)", "body": "Magic of Perfect Shuffles S. Brent Morris likes to say that he\ufffds the only person with a doctorate in card shuffling. A mathematician at the National Security Agency (the world\ufffds largest employer of mathematicians) in Fort Meade, Md., he is also a showman, specializing in card tricks. Morris demonstrated a number of feats of legerdemain at last month\ufffds Mathfest in Toronto http://www.sciencenews.org/sn_arc98/8_1_98/Mathland.htm"}, {"response": 89, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Aug 21, 1998 (19:41)", "body": "well, that's why i never see horny toads anymore. hate those fireants. they're so aggressive."}, {"response": 90, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Sat, Sep 12, 1998 (22:47)", "body": "Alien species push native animals near extinction September 10, 1998 Webposted at 6:35 PM EDT CARDIFF, Wales (Reuters) - All is not well in the animal kingdom and man is to blame for introducing rogue species into the environment, scientists said on Thursday. http://cnn.com/TECH/science/9809/10/science.animals.reut/index.html"}, {"response": 91, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Sat, Sep 12, 1998 (22:50)", "body": "Global Surveyor finds mysteries on a Martian moon September 12, 1998 Web posted at: 10:17 a.m. EDT (1417 GMT) LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Phobos, the larger of Mars' two small moons, is covered in hip-deep dust formed by meteoroid impacts over millions of years, according to images captured by the orbiting Mars Global Surveyor. http://cnn.com/TECH/space/9809/12/martian.moon.ap/index.html"}, {"response": 92, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Sat, Sep 12, 1998 (22:53)", "body": "Oldest extraterrestrial debris offers clues to early conditions on Earth September 10, 1998 Webposted at 2:20 PM EDT (AP) -- It's old dirt, but it's old dirt that scientists can't get enough of. Cosmic grit that survived a fiery ride from space 1.4 billion years ago has been discovered in a layer of sandstone in Finland, offering a glimpse of conditions on Earth during the earliest stages of life's formation. http://cnn.com/TECH/space/9809/10/cosmic.grit.ap/index.html"}, {"response": 93, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Sat, Sep 12, 1998 (22:54)", "body": "Global Surveyor finds mysteries on a Martian moon September 12, 1998 Web posted at: 10:17 a.m. EDT (1417 GMT) LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Phobos, the larger of Mars' two small moons, is covered in hip-deep dust formed by meteoroid impacts over millions of years, according to images captured by the orbiting Mars Global Surveyor. http://cnn.com/TECH/space/9809/12/martian.moon.ap/index.html"}, {"response": 94, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Aug 12, 2001 (17:12)", "body": "The World's No.1 Science & Technology News Service New evidence for vCJD risk from lamb 15:02\ufffd 03\ufffdAugust \ufffd01 Andy Coghlan New experiments suggest sheep eaten by British consumers in the early 1990s might have been infected with BSE. The fear is that if people have eaten infected sheep, they might develop variant Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease (vCJD), the human equivalent of mad cow disease. BSE-infected sheep could pose a greater human health risk than infected cattle. So far, the assumption has been that sheep cannot naturally contract BSE. Scrapie, the sheep equivalent of mad cow disease, is not thought to pose any risk to humans. Researchers at the Institute for Animal Health (IAH) at Compton in Berkshire injected mice with liquefied brain tissue from 3000 sheep diagnosed with scrapie in the early 1990s. The preliminary results suggest that some of these sheep might in fact have been suffering from BSE. \"If BSE did spread to sheep it would be serious,\" says a spokesman for the UK Food Standards Agency, which has issued a bulletin warning of the early results. \" continued at http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991115"}, {"response": 95, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Feb  3, 2002 (09:02)", "body": "More support for the vegetarian cause. news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 19, "subject": "Holly Maddux ... innocent victim of hippy madman", "response_count": 27, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Aug 20, 1998 (08:23)", "body": "Holly Maddux, a smart, sensitive young lady from small-town Tyler, Texas, got caught up in the social movements of the 1970s. She met a self-appointed guru, Ira Einhorn, who \"learned the appealing buzz-words but who deluded himself with his own mystic.\" She ended up dead in a trunk in his closet, he was just found after 14 years on the run hiding out in France with his Swedish girlfiend, Anika Floden. In one of the most bizarre trials of the century, France has denied extradition and Ira Einhorn spends his time in a sleepy French village, surfing the net, sipping the regions fine wines and thumbing his nose at the American legal system. Our own Steven Levy wrote a book about it, now out of print. And now an \"internet posse\" is tracking Einhorn, determined to keep track of Einhorn the next time he breaks loose and goes on the run. Arlen Spector has been called to task by Holly's family for vouching for Einhorn when he was bailed out of the Philadelphia jail years ago. Spector, Einhorn's defense attorney, is now in total denial and evasion. There are many more facets that you can find from Levy's book (if you can find it) and from this website: http://www.amgot.org/holly.htm which is the source of the above quotation. This was all brought to light a couple of days ago on Dateline NBC. Hippie murder mystery. The Holly Maddux/Ira Einhorn ongoing saga To quote ces: I'm in Philadelphia, and I'd say just about everyone here is rightously furious about the French decision not to return Ira. The state has passed a new law saying Einhorn can be retried. That might convince a French appeals court to order him shipped back to the states. If/when that happens, it's gonna be the biggest news story of the year here. end ces quote From the Philly News site, which has a huge stash of material on this case: Internet buff had cyber cops on hunt for fugitive The Ira Einhorn mystery intrigued at least one computer nerd, who urged on the Internet the creation of a ``cyberposse'' to find the fugitive. The nerd said he was inspired to anger by Steven Levy's book, ``The Unicorn's Secret: Murder in the Age of Aquarius.'' ``The effect this book had upon me was sadness and anger,'' the unidentified man said. ``Sadness that a woman like Holly Maddux had her skull smashed into pieces against the floor for merely wanting to live her life. Anger that a hypocritical and phony `radical leader of the '60s, cum '70s New-Age Voice,' could brutally beat to death a woman who finally chose to not let him dominate her life, and with the help of others, walk away, fully capable of continuing his violence upon others. ``If the federals cannot or will not apprehend him, it seemed to me that it should be possible to utilize the resources of the 'net to locate him and see that he is held responsible for his crimes. ``The posse needs you. Time to git outta the bunkhouse and saddle up. Let's figure out how to do it together.'' Local man-about-town Harry Jay Katz, a friend of Einhorn's, recalled in a 1984 Daily News interview what he said to his pal before to his trial: ``Ira, picture this, you're an aging hippie with body odor, no socks, still wearing a dashiki, and you're supposed to go before a jury of your peers and tell them you didn't kill a little gentile cheerleader from Texas.' ``Ira was motivated to flee by one basic word -- fear.''"}, {"response": 2, "author": "riette", "date": "Fri, Aug 21, 1998 (02:34)", "body": "Weird that people can go THAT nuts."}, {"response": 3, "author": "autumn", "date": "Mon, Aug 24, 1998 (22:19)", "body": "Sounds like a sad tale. He's not the guy waiting for us in the justice conference, is he?"}, {"response": 4, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Aug 25, 1998 (02:21)", "body": "Nope, we haven't found him/her yet. What about poor Flodin? She's so disullusioned by this guy. Maybe she wants to be a victim or an enabler. What do you think?"}, {"response": 5, "author": "autumn", "date": "Wed, Aug 26, 1998 (12:34)", "body": "Co-dependent big time."}, {"response": 6, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, May  9, 1999 (23:21)", "body": "NBC is doing a minseries on this, part two is tomorrow night. They had the first two hours tonight detailing the events up to the murder, and tomorrow night is the discovery of the body and Einhorn's flight. Someone on the WELL got email that was copied to Ira Einhorn in France, so his email address is known: Cecilia (hex@well.com) Mon May 3 '99 (09:22) 4 lines In an e-mail from Jack Sarfatti, an Ira Einhorn is copied (among MANY others). Is this the same guy, you think? Ira Einhorn I see Steve Levy is listed in the credits as a consultant."}, {"response": 7, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, May 22, 1999 (14:24)", "body": ""}, {"response": 8, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, May 30, 1999 (16:46)", "body": "France To Return Counterculture Guru Einhorn To U.S. By Thierry Leveque PARIS (Reuters) - France's Supreme Court ruled Thursday that U.S. counterculture guru Ira Einhorn should be sent back to the United States to stand trial for the murder of his girlfriend in Philadelphia 22 years ago. The decision left one final hurdle before Einhorn is extradited -- the approval of Prime Minister Lionel Jospin, which is expected to be granted as a matter of routine. Einhorn, 58, jumped bail and went into hiding 17 years ago, just before he was to be tried in connection with the murder of Helen ``Holly'' Maddux, whose decomposed body was found in a trunk in his Philadelphia apartment in 1979, some 18 months after she disappeared. He was captured in France in 1997, living with his Swedish-born wife Annika under the assumed name of Mallon in the southwestern village of Champagne-Mouton. A student anti-war activist and leftist leader in the 1960s, Einhorn has insisted he was framed and did not murder Maddux. But a Philadelphia court convicted him in absentia and sentenced him to life imprisonment in 1993. Asked by U.S. law enforcement authorities to send Einhorn back to Philadelphia, a Bordeaux court rejected the request in December 1997 on the grounds that he would not get a new trial. Under French law, anyone convicted in absentia is entitled to a retrial. The Pennsylvania General Assembly passed special legislation granting him a new trial, and U.S. officials pledged he would not face execution -- another potential stumbling block in France, where there is no capital punishment. The Bordeaux court then reversed itself, saying the extradition request could go forward. Thursday's Supreme Court decision upheld the lower court's ruling. There was no written decision. The long legal struggle has been painful for Maddux's family and for Pennsylvania authorities, who worked for years to track Einhorn down and bring him home to face justice."}, {"response": 9, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sun, May 30, 1999 (21:12)", "body": "Wow."}, {"response": 10, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, May 31, 1999 (14:56)", "body": "Ira's leash is getting tighter. Will he run again?"}, {"response": 11, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Jun  3, 1999 (10:21)", "body": "where's he gonna go with all the HUGE publicity internationally?"}, {"response": 12, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Jun 10, 1999 (11:51)", "body": "From Sarfatti@well.com Thu Jun 3 13:53:55 1999 Date: Tue, 01 Jun 1999 23:43:05 -0700 From: Jack To: \"newphysics@mail.msr-wetware.com\" , Ira Einhorn , \"los.angeles@fbi.gov\" , Not See Nick , Stephen Schwartz , etc. (I cut out a bunch of addresses) Subject: Re: [newphysics] 3 self-duping Jews - Stop Posting this stuff to Newphysics For the record note: Nick Herbert wrote: \"Saul-Paul Sirag is a True Scientist. Altho I find many of Max Weiss's views despicable, I count Weiss also among the few authentic seekers of Truth. I am honored to be called \"friend\" by both these courageous souls.\" Note especially Nick Herbert's words \"I count Weiss also among the few authentic seekers of Truth. I am honored to be called \"friend\" by both these courageous souls.\" True Nick also wrote \"And in this next post I explicitly distance my views from Max's.\" But given the whole pattern it does not ring true. Nick also forwarded the following from an alleged friend of Weiss's. Why? Nick you really do seem, from the hate-crime literacture reproduced below, to have become a Jew-hating Nazi tool of the Serbian Secret Police as Stephen Schwartz, reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle, now in Bosnia, strongly suspects. What the hell is going on here? Please explain. Why are you doing this? Why are you attacking your old friend Ira Einhorn. You also say you are in contact with alien extra-terrestrials that you have sex with. Are you testing The First Ammendment a la Lenny Bruce? Is your real purpose only childish mischief as you lapse into senility in your sixties, or, is it, as Schwartz thinks, more sinister since Ira Einhorn was deeply involved in counter-intelligence having to do with the Yugoslavs in the period 1977 to 1979 because of Andrija Puharich? nick herbert wrote: > > > forwarded to me by Max Weiss>>>> > > The FBI is not the only American law-enforcement agency which is > frustrated by the unwillingness of Bill Clinton to say \"no\" to the > Israelis. Israel continues to be the hideout of choice for Jewish > criminals of all sorts fleeing from justice. A Jew commits a murder or a > rape or some other serious crime in the United States, and if he's > worried about being caught and punished he simply catches the next > flight to Israel. That country has a custom of refusing to extradite any > Jewish criminal wanted for an offense against non-Jews in another > country. Once a Jewish criminal reaches Israel, he is safe from > prosecution and can thumb his nose at the world, no matter how heinous > his crime. > > A recent example of this is the case of Maryland Jew Samuel Sheinbein. > In September 1997 Sheinbein and another Jew, Aaron Needle, killed a > non-Jewish teenaged neighbor, Alfredo Tello, in an argument over drugs. > After the two Jews had bludgeoned, stabbed, and strangled Tello, they > slashed his throat. Then they cut Tello's body up with a power saw, and > burned some of the parts. When the Maryland police came looking for him, > Sheinbein got some money from his wealthy parents and hopped the next > flight to Israel. He's been there ever since. The Israelis consider it > immoral to turn a Jew over to Gentiles to be punished, and they have > refused all requests by Maryland authorities for his extradition. Just > over two weeks ago, on February 25, the Supreme Court of Israel handed > down a final ruling against efforts to extradite Sheinbein. The Israelis > say they will put Sheinbein on trial in Israel for the murder of Alfredo > Tello. So far they haven't gotten around to it. And if they ever do, > don't bet on a conviction. > > Another recent case of this sort of thing is that of Dror Goldberg, a > Jew who committed an especially vicious murder in Houston, Texas. On > November 27 of last year the 20-year-old Goldberg walked into a wig shop > near his Houston apartment, pulled out a knife, and began stabbing and > slashing the two owners and a clerk. The owners survived the attack, but > the 54-year-old clerk died of her wounds. Police familiar with > Goldberg's past activities suspect that it was a thrill killing: he > simply wanted to kill someone with a knife to see what it felt like. > Goldberg was arrested, but, like Sheinbein, he has wealthy parents. His > parents put up bail to get him out of jail, and now Houston police say > they have reason to believe that Goldberg has fled to Israel to escape > prosecution. > > Now, let me tell you, if it were any country but Israel the U.S. > government wouldn't tolerate this sheltering of criminals who have > murdered U.S. citizens. At the very least diplomatic relations would be > cut off and economic sanctions would be imposed. But of course, Israel > gets special treatment. Israel can do no wrong, not only in the eyes of > the Clinton government, but in the eyes of virtually every government > the United States has had in the last 50 years. When Jews in the United > States collaborated in the theft of nuclear materials from a U.S. > nuclear fuel processing plant and t"}, {"response": 13, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Jul 13, 2001 (21:08)", "body": "From today's Philadelphia Daily News : To avoid justice, Ira goes for the throat Lame suicide attempt delays return to face murder rap By THERESA CONROY conroyt@phillynews.com OF ALL THE YELLOW-BELLIED, attention-seeking, flamboyant antics. Instead of boarding a waiting plane to Philadelphia yesterday to face justice for killing his girlfriend Holly Maddux, fugitive Ira Einhorn took a knife to his neck, cut a superficial slit in his throat, then - in classic Einhorn style - held a rambling press conference as blood trickled from the wound. More on website: http://dailynews.philly.com/content/daily_news/2001/07/13/local/iraa13c.htm"}, {"response": 14, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Jul 20, 2001 (22:07)", "body": "Einhorn is back in US custody on US soil. And being interviewed on 20/20 in about 20 minutes."}, {"response": 15, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Aug 12, 2001 (14:59)", "body": "Friday August 10 5:08 PM ET Einhorn Threatens Fast Over U.S. Jail Diet By David Morgan PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Ira Einhorn, the former hippie guru recently jailed for murder in the United States after spending 20 years on the lam in Europe, says he will fast behind bars to protest what he calls an unhealthy prison diet. In a one-page handwritten statement received by Reuters on Friday, Einhorn, 61, described himself as ``subclinically both diabetic and hypoglycemic,'' saying he cannot maintain his health on sugar-rich foods given to inmates at Pennsylvania's Graterford prison near Philadelphia. ``I will not eat food that I know makes me sick. I would rather die,'' he said in the August 8 dated statement. http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010810/ts/crime_einhorn_dc_1.html Some people would rather that he die."}, {"response": 16, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 31, 2001 (13:16)", "body": "posted on the yahoo boards, someone who got Ira Einhorn's \"last email\" Looks like this will be the last email I get from Ira Einhorn for at least \"a while\". If he really gets a new trial it will be quite an affair, I'm sure. From: To: , Cc: , , , Subject: Clarification and CBS Date: Monday, July 16, 2001 2:48 PM A general thanks for the help and good wishes you six have sent my way in the recent past: 1. I certainly had suicide in mind, but that is not what I did. 2. I acted politically out of rage at learning about the fact - impeccable source - that a fix was on and that I was being traded to the UNITED STATES for commercial purposes: Credit Lyonaise affair to be specific. 3. My wounds were not superficial - My neck has 26 grafts and 6 stitches and I cut myself over 30 times. 4. I lost pints of blood. 5. That I could walk around and do an interview still amazes me, my wife, lawyer et. al. here. 6. A half hour after an emergency operation, surrounded by 40 gendarmes, I was still out of it, BUT I was told I was going to be put in an ambulance, taken to Roissy(Paris) wherein an airplane waited on the tarmac and flown back to the USA. 7. Five minutes later, I was told the decree of extradition was suspended 8. My wife visited me and brought me up to date and left for home. 9. It dawned on me I should be back to my old regime with the suspension of the decree and it also dawned on the man in charge who when asked told me I was free to go. 10. To make it easier, I hitched a ride with the police who normally guard me. 11. At 11:00 that night I pounded on my door, surprising my wife and neighbors who were there with her and helped man the ever ringing phone, giving a number of interviews in French and English. 12. The present situation is very complicated and can't be explained simply. 13. CBS spent the afternoon with me and 2-3 minutes should result on the Tuesday night news. 14. Wednesday, my wife Annika is 50 and supporters and friends will gather around a gigantic table, seating 49, to celebrate and then many will camp out here in a ring of support. 15. Thursday at 3:00, Annika and I will give a press conference with my lawyer, the International president of SOS RACISM who is a member of the European parliament and others. 16. I am living in what only can be called an armed camp, surrounded by a ring of gendarmes, riot squads, Paris antiterrorist police, the intelligence service and a customs post, so that they can stop and search my wife for illegal cigarettes and tobacco(me) in a car the size of a postage stamp. 17.? Ira http://inq.philly.com/content/inquirer/2001/07/19/national/19EINHORN.htm French police lead Ira Einhorn from his home in Champagne-Mouton, France. He is expected to be flown by U.S. officials to Philadelphia tonight. (AFP/PATRICK BERNARD) By Andrea Gerlin INQUIRER STAFF WRITER CHAMPAGNE-MOUTON, France - Twenty years after he fled the United States to avoid a murder trial in the killing of his girlfriend, Ira Einhorn today was taken into custody by French authorities and put aboard a plane to Philadelphia. He was scheduled to arrive at Philadelphia International Airport around 2 a.m. tomorrow. He was then to be driven under heavy guard to Graterford Prison in Montgomery County. Einhorn, 61, a once-prominent counterculture and anti-war activist, lost his last bid for freedom when the European Court of Human Rights today refused to delay his extradition from France. Shortly after 2 p.m. Philadelphia time today, French police escorted Einhorn from his stone house in this village in southwestern France and bundled him into a gray Peugeot for the four-hour drive to Charles de Gaulle airport near Paris, where U.S. authorities were waiting. The plane took off at 7:25 p.m., Philadelphia time. Einhorn's Swedish-born wife, Annika, his constant companion through 14 years in hiding, did not travel to the airport; she said good-bye to him through a car window and waved as the police convoy pulled away from the house. The normally loquacious Einhorn was silent as he was led away. Asked if he had anything to say, he shook his head. Earlier in the day, after the European court announced its decision, Einhorn had emerged from the house to again proclaim his innocence. \"I will be happy to go to the U.S. if the court gives me a new trial,\" he said. He and his lawyers said they doubted he would get a new trial, and they denounced Philadelphia District Attorney Lynne Abraham as a \"fanatic of the death penalty.\" Einhorn is wanted for the murder of Holly Maddux, whose body was found in a steamer trunk in the couple's Powelton Village apartment in 1979. He was convicted in absentia of first-degree murder in 1993, but the Pennsylvania legislature passed a law permitting a new trial after France refused to extradite him because he had not been present at his trial. Maddux's family and U.S. officials said they were encouraged by the apparent end of the 20-year effort to find Einhorn and bring him to the United States."}, {"response": 17, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Sep  8, 2001 (11:52)", "body": "September 7, 2001 Einhorn Lawyer to Seek New Trial By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 7:01 p.m. ET PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- A lawyer for convicted murderer Ira Einhorn said Friday he would file papers next week to seek a new trial, while the former fugitive engaged in a combative exchange with a prosecutor. Einhorn appeared in an American courtroom for the first time in more than 20 years at a hearing to formally notify him of his right to petition for a new trial. He was convicted of murder in absentia in 1993 in the death of his live-in lover, Holly Maddux. When prosecutor Joel Rosen asked Einhorn if he understood the hearing's purpose, Einhorn refused to answer and instead demanded of Rosen, ``I'd like to ask you a question.'' The prosecutor immediately turned to Judge Webster Keough, who had warned attorneys that the hearing was a formality, and was not being held to consider legal issues. ``I didn't need you to apprise me of my rights,'' Einhorn continued. ``I thought the ball was in my court; that's what your boss said,'' he said, referring to District Attorney Lynne Abraham, who had said it was up to Einhorn to petition for a new trial -- or serve out his life sentence. Asked again whether he understood his rights and the deadlines, Einhorn said he would not answer questions from Rosen. Defense attorney Norris Gelman quickly said his client understood the prosecutor's stated deadline. Einhorn has until Sept. 18 to decide -- 60 days since his extradition from France. Gelman said he planned to file the request Wednesday. The attorney said later that he did not know what question Einhorn had wanted to ask. As for the exchange, Gelman said, ``It's Ira.'' Rosen said he did not want the case to be come a circus and was not affected by the exchange. ``This was just another homicide defendant; one in a million, that's all,'' he said. Einhorn, 61, was charged with the 1977 bludgeoning death of Maddux but disappeared before trial in 1981. He was discovered living in the French countryside in 1997 and battled extradition for years. He was returned to Philadelphia on July 20 after Pennsylvania officials promised France that Einhorn could have a new trial if he wanted one and would not face the death penalty if convicted."}, {"response": 18, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (16:13)", "body": "Einhorn Requests New Trial By MICHAEL RUBINKAM, Associated Press Writer PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Convicted killer Ira Einhorn and his lawyer have made two legal moves that they believe will vindicate the former hippie guru who was on the lam for 20 years before being returned to the United States this summer. Einhorn requested a new murder trial Wednesday, and his lawyer asked the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to determine whether the law granting him such a proceeding is constitutional. His lawyer, Norris Gelman, said Einhorn wants a trial ``where he can be present, proffer a defense, (and) have his name cleared and vindicated.'' Einhorn, 61, was charged with the 1977 bludgeoning death of his former lover, Holly Maddux, whose mummified body was found stuffed in a trunk in the couple's apartment in 1979. Einhorn disappeared before a scheduled trial in 1981, and he was convicted in absentia 12 years later and sentenced to life in prison. French officials did not want him to return to Pennsylvania because he had been convicted and sentenced in absentia; the law giving him a new trial was passed to get French authorities to cooperate. Gelman said at that time that the law is unconstitutional because the Legislature may not grant someone a new trial; he said only the judiciary has that power. ``I want the Supreme Court to make the ruling because their ruling will be beyond challenge. We want a new trial that counts,'' Gelman said Wednesday. Gelman admitted to some legal risk, noting that if the Supreme Court does take the case and rules the law invalid, Einhorn ``doesn't get a new trial (and) has to face that music.'' That would mean Einhorn's conviction and life sentence would stand. A spokeswoman for District Attorney Lynne M. Abraham declined comment on the twin filings, saying the district attorney's office hadn't seen the paperwork. On Friday, Einhorn appeared in an American courtroom for the first time in more than 20 years at a hearing to formally notify him of his right to petition for a new trial. The former fugitive had a combative exchange with a prosecutor, saying at one point: ``I didn't need you to apprise me of my rights"}, {"response": 19, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Jul 18, 2002 (22:31)", "body": "Former Hippie Guru Laments U.S. Attitudes on Crime Wed Jul 17,10:55 AM ET By David Morgan HOUTZDALE, Pa. (Reuters) - Ira Einhorn, the former hippie guru who in September will be tried a second time in one of Philadelphia's most infamous murder cases, is disappointed by the way Americans treat people accused of serious crimes. \"We're overboard about the victim,\" Einhorn lamented in an interview at the state prison where he is observing his first anniversary behind bars after 20 years on the run in Europe. The rest at http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20020717/lf_nm/crime_einhorn_dc_1"}, {"response": 20, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Oct  7, 2002 (13:10)", "body": "Oct 7, 2002 9:33 am US/Eastern (AP)-(Philadelphia)-The prosecution in the Ira Einhorn murder trial says it will wrap up its case by Tuesday or Wednesday and shortly thereafter, jurors will hear from Einhorn himself. Prosecutor Joel Rosen plans two or perhaps three more days of testimony, mostly related to the recovery and analysis of the body of victim Holly Maddux. The defense case could begin as early as Wednesday, and Einhorn is expected to take the stand not too long after that. Prosecutor Rosen is looking foward to the opportunity to cross-examine the one-time fugitive. He says it will be a challenge. Einhorn's attorney William Cannon says Einhorn's testimony is Einhorn's idea. Prosecutor Rosen knows this is the wildcard in what he believes is an otherwise solid case."}, {"response": 21, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Oct  7, 2002 (13:14)", "body": "What a long strange trip it's been for Einhorn, witnesses PHILADELPHIA (AP) - \"Let me take you back to the 1970s ...\" As each witness for the prosecution took the stand last week in the long-awaited murder trial of former counterculture guru Ira Einhorn, those are the words with which the assistant district attorney began his questioning. Phrases such as \"We were dialoguing\" and \"It was too much negativity for me\" likely haven't been taken down by a court stenographer with such frequency for quite some time. Responses differed and memories varied in recalling those days of free love and free spirits in West Philadelphia's funky Powelton Village neighborhood in the '70s, when Einhorn was the city's head hippie and Holly Maddux was his delicately beautiful girlfriend who sold baked goods at the local food co-op and dabbled in art. \"It was a time when people were trying to be different and were trying different things,\" said Kathryn Keegan, who first met Einhorn in 1970 and worked with him on an event called \"Sun Day\" in 1978 to promote solar energy. Some witnesses smiled wistfully as they recollected the community of artists, activists and eccentrics who worked and shopped in the Ecology Food Co-operative, lived in the Job Chillaway communal house and showed their art at Penelope and Sisters all-women's gallery on South Street, a college hangout of bars and T-shirt shops that was then a bohemian enclave. Other witnesses were more matter-of-fact, recounting events as if recalling the life of another person, and still others remembered precious little from those heady days of expanded consciousness and the substances that often went along with it. Einhorn hobnobbed with counterculture icons like Jerry Rubin and Abbie Hoffman, organized \"be-ins,\" was involved in the city's first Earth Day in 1970, and ran for mayor as a \"planetary enzyme - catalyst for change.\" He also made friends of Philadelphia's business and civic leaders, many of whom were character witnesses at his bail hearing after Maddux's body was found in March 1979, 18 months after she disappeared, in a trunk in Einhorn's closet. He fled on the eve of his 1981 trial, living throughout Europe under assumed names until he was tracked in 1997 to a French village where he was living in a country cottage with his Swedish wife. A French appeals court allowed the extradition in July 2001 after receiving assurances that Einhorn's 1993 conviction in absentia would be vacated. Einhorn, 62, seems occasionally amused with the blast-from-the-past parade of former friends and neighbors. He puts on his glasses as witnesses enter the courtroom with a gesture of recognition or tiny grin at the sight of people he hasn't seen in 25 years or more. \"We were part of a peace movement, we were into nonviolent behavior, we were into civil rights and we were involved in the hippie lifestyle,\" said Barbara Kubiak, who with her husband George, were believed to be the last to see Maddux alive. The Kubiaks went to see the just-released \"Star Wars\" with the recently-separated couple on the evening before Maddux vanished. \"At that time, Ira and Holly were part of a counterculture. It was open sexually \ufffd they were not into a monogamous relationship. They would have relationships with other people but (it was) mostly Ira,\" she testified. \"She said she was trying to be free and open the way Ira wanted her to be,\" Keegan testified an upset Maddux told her after Einhorn left a party with another woman. Most of Einhorn's old friends and neighbors have clearly assimilated into the mainstream, looking comfortable in jackets and ties - much more so than the defendant himself - while a few are clearly on the same long, strange trip they embarked upon 30 years ago. One witness who sublet Einhorn's apartment in the mid-1970s had difficulty answering some of the questions posed by both sides, then scratched his head, turned to Judge William Mazzola and said, \"Can I ask a question?\" The startled judge replied, \"Whoa, whoa, whoa,\" to stop his question from continuing, which amused the courtroom audience and the witness, who chuckled and repeated, \"Whoa, whoa, whoa.\" Several witnesses remembered Maddux and her bruises all too well, though in 1977 - just four years after Roe vs. Wade legalized abortion - when feminism and women's rights were gathering steam. \"She was stoic when she talked about what happened to her,\" said Penny Jeannechild, who taught a women's assertiveness training class in which Maddux was briefly enrolled. \"I told her she didn't have to take that from anyone.\""}, {"response": 22, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Oct  7, 2002 (13:22)", "body": "In depth: http://www.courttv.com/onair/shows/mugshots/indepth/einhorn/"}, {"response": 23, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Oct  9, 2002 (07:59)", "body": "http://www.crimelibrary.com/classics/einhorn/index.html http://www.courttv.com/onair/shows/mugshots/indepth/einhorn/ Chitwood testifies in alleged killer's trial Wednesday, October 9, 2002, 6:38 AM PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- The defense will begin presenting its case Wednesday in the trial of Ira Einhorn, the counterculture guru charged with murdering his girlfriend in Philadelphia 25 years ago. Prosecutors wrapped up their case against Einhorn Tuesday by calling Portland Police Chief Michael to the stand. Chitwood was the final witness in the prosecution's case against Einhorn, who is charged with bludgeoning Holly Maddux because she wanted to break up with him. The trial is being held in Philadelphia. Chitwood was a Philadelphia homicide detective when he found her corpse in a steamer trunk in his closet 18 months after Einhorn said she went to the store and never returned."}, {"response": 24, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Oct 14, 2002 (17:36)", "body": "PHILADELPHIA -- Ira Einhorn, the former hippie guru on trial for allegedly killing his girlfriend in 1977, testified Monday that other people had access to the couple's apartment and that he was surprised when police found her body in his closet. Police searched the apartment in 1979 and found the mummified remains of Holly Maddux in a steamer trunk. \"When I finally found out it was Holly, I broke up for days. It ripped me to pieces,\" the 62-year-old Einhorn told a packed courtroom. http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-einhorn1014oct14,0,3950838.story?coll=sns-ap-nation-headlines"}, {"response": 25, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Oct 17, 2002 (10:48)", "body": "PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A jury on Wednesday began deliberating the fate of Ira Einhorn, the former hippie guru accused of killing his girlfriend in 1979. Einhorn's attorney said during his closing argument that the discovery of the mummified corpse in the apartment the couple once shared is \"just a piece of circumstantial evidence\" that doesn't prove his client's guilt. \"It doesn't mean at all that Ira Einhorn is responsible for her murder,\" William Cannon said. Prosecutor Joel Rosen said the evidence of Einhorn's guilt is overwhelming. Jurors deliberated more than an hour Wednesday before retiring for the day. They were to resume their work Thursday. Einhorn, 62, is accused of killing Holly Maddux of Tyler, Texas, 25 years ago because she wanted to end their turbulent five-year relationship. Her remains were found in a steamer trunk in the closet of their Philadelphia apartment in 1979, 18 months after she disappeared. He could get life in prison if convicted. Cannon said that there is a lack of physical evidence tying Einhorn to the crime, and that Maddux's bludgeoning death would have left bloodstains in the apartment. The lack of blood suggests she was killed somewhere else and later placed in the trunk, Cannon said. Einhorn has denied killing Maddux and maintains the body was put there to frame him. He has accused the CIA of setting him up because of his research into the agency's \"psychic warfare\" experiments. \"There were people who simply didn't like Ira Einhorn, people who were capable of doing something about it and, I suggest, did something about it,\" Cannon said. Rosen called those allegations ridiculous. \"It is so laughable and so ludicrous, it is so outrageous, you should be offended,\" he said. \"If a woman wasn't brutally murdered, you would almost laugh at it.\" Prosecutors had Einhorn read to the jury from his poems and diary entries, in which he wrote \"to kill what you love when you can't have it seems so natural\" and \"violence always marks the end of a relationship.\" Prosecutors also called the former owner of a bookstore who said Einhorn once asked for a \"how-to\" book on mummification. Einhorn jumped bail weeks before his trial was set to begin in 1981, and lived in Europe under assumed names until he was found in France in 1997. He was convicted in absentia in 1993, a verdict that was set aside to clear the way for his extradition in 2001. Cannon said Einhorn fled the country because he believed he would not get a fair trial."}, {"response": 26, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Oct 17, 2002 (18:39)", "body": "Guilty Thursday, October 17, 2002 ADVERTISEMENT PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Ira Einhorn, a 19'70s hippie guru who fled to Europe and lived like a country squire after being charged with murder, was convicted Thursday of killing his girlfriend and stuffing her corpse in his closet a quarter-century ago. The 62-year-old Einhorn showed no emotion upon hearing the first-degree murder verdict, which brought an automatic sentence of life without parole and smiles to the family of his victim, 30-year-old Holly Maddux. After the verdict, the district attorney and the judge mocked Einhorn and his role as an Age of Aquarius wise man. Judge William Mazzola called him \"an intellectual dilettante who preyed on the uninitiated, uninformed, unsuspecting and inexperienced people.\" One juror, Tracy Garett, said he was angry Einhorn couldn't be given the death penalty. \"He had a warped mind,\" Garett said. \"Even on the stand, it was like he thought he was God.\" Defence lawyer William Cannon said Einhorn would appeal. The verdict, reached after 2\ufffd hours of deliberations, capped a stunning fall for the counterculture figure who once held \"be-in\" events. After fleeing the country, Einhorn lived in the south of France for years, appearing on television shows as he fought extradition and posing naked in his garden for Esquire magazine."}, {"response": 27, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Oct 19, 2002 (17:28)", "body": "The best sum up is by Steven Levy, who obviously had a front row seat. Oct. 18 \ufffd Twenty-five years and 37 days after Ira Einhorn crushed Holly Maddux\ufffds skull and stuffed her in a trunk, the former hippie boulevardier, with his hair shorn now and decked in a clubby blue blazer, sat next to his lawyer to hear his fate. The suspense wasn\ufffdt exactly overwhelming. As his lawyer, William Cannon, later explained, it\ufffds tough to defend a client when his former girlfriend is discovered in mummified form in his closet 18 months after her disappearance. That job is tougher still when the jury learns that your client almost murdered two other women under similar circumstances\ufffdthey wanted to leave him, he didn\ufffdt want them to leave unharmed. complete story at http://www.msnbc.com/news/823085.asp news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 2, "subject": "Your Spring Anniversary", "response_count": 30, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Mar  2, 1998 (01:33)", "body": "When I figger out when I had the idea for the Spring, I'll let y'all know, it was about ten years ago. It might have been in the shower. I'll start digging through some old papers and stuff. When did you first check in to the Spring? Check back here on your anniversary!"}, {"response": 2, "author": "autumn", "date": "Tue, Mar  3, 1998 (13:46)", "body": "Does that mean we'll contact you in the shower on your anniversary, terry? (wink, wink) I'm not certain of my exact anniversary, but I'll say August 1997; it's been about 6 months I guess (still a newbie!)"}, {"response": 4, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Sun, Mar  8, 1998 (21:45)", "body": "can't remember mine, december 96?"}, {"response": 5, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Mar 13, 1998 (18:15)", "body": "wow... guess I've been around here awhile! I think January of '96 you turned me on to Telnet but maybe that was the hotspring???"}, {"response": 6, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Mar 13, 1998 (18:19)", "body": "That was then hot.spring.com, which was the Sun box over at Outreach communications. Then we switched to www.spring.com. boyce may be the oldest living springeur besides me. All the early stuff is still around at http://www.spring.com/~dbii/forum if you want to trip through the past."}, {"response": 7, "author": "stacey", "date": "Mon, Mar 16, 1998 (18:12)", "body": "nah... I prefer the here and now (with a little fantasizing thrown in for good measure!)"}, {"response": 8, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Mar 16, 1998 (18:32)", "body": "Funny, mention boyce and he shows! His ears must have been burning up."}, {"response": 9, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sun, Apr 18, 1999 (14:34)", "body": "try it again!!!"}, {"response": 10, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Apr 24, 1999 (12:57)", "body": "hey, i'm 10!!"}, {"response": 11, "author": "riette", "date": "Fri, Sep 24, 1999 (08:07)", "body": "Think I've been here for about 18 months now."}, {"response": 12, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Mon, Sep 27, 1999 (11:59)", "body": "Oh, but you hafta count the 8 weeks off you were in Africa... ;=}"}, {"response": 13, "author": "riette", "date": "Mon, Sep 27, 1999 (14:32)", "body": "That's easy. How will you calculate yours??"}, {"response": 14, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Sep 27, 1999 (19:11)", "body": "i have no idea how long i've been here!"}, {"response": 15, "author": "riette", "date": "Tue, Sep 28, 1999 (04:16)", "body": "forever probably"}, {"response": 16, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Sep 28, 1999 (09:32)", "body": "lemme see... i had to figure this out before once... Autumn of '95 I believe... Paul, does that sound right? were you at MR by then??"}, {"response": 17, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 28, 1999 (09:45)", "body": "Scratches head, do you know how bad at dates I am? What is your earliest posting here? It's still here somewhere!"}, {"response": 18, "author": "riette", "date": "Tue, Sep 28, 1999 (13:29)", "body": "Wow, 4 years!! That must be a record!"}, {"response": 19, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Sep 28, 1999 (14:32)", "body": "Paul's been here over ten..."}, {"response": 20, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Sep 29, 1999 (10:20)", "body": "Yep I hold the record, the first user to sign up was Bernie P. I believe. I could look at the archives, which anyhone can get to."}, {"response": 21, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Sep 29, 1999 (12:49)", "body": "my Anniversary is this month in 1997...or was it before that...hmmm..."}, {"response": 22, "author": "riette", "date": "Wed, Sep 29, 1999 (13:25)", "body": "You've been here longer than me? Yeah? What a pity we didn't get to know each other sooner, girl! Terry, and what happened to Bernie P.?"}, {"response": 23, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Sep 29, 1999 (13:37)", "body": "I don't know, he lives in SF, when we first started he sent $100 to support it and he only posted maybe once or twice."}, {"response": 24, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Sep 29, 1999 (14:17)", "body": "Oh Ree...I know...I know!!! (running to make up for lost time...)"}, {"response": 25, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Sep 29, 1999 (21:08)", "body": "how do we look at the archives?"}, {"response": 26, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Sep 29, 1999 (21:40)", "body": "I know where the drool ones are...but not the Spring ones...!"}, {"response": 27, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Sep 29, 1999 (22:30)", "body": "align=\"left\"> I think they're in http://www.spring.net/~dbii/forum That's the kind of video we used run on the Spring, stuff I shot around Austin, they're still in my video archives. Click on conferences. Or better. http://www.spring.net/~dbii/forum/confs"}, {"response": 28, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Sep 29, 1999 (22:33)", "body": "http://www.spring.net/~dbii/forum/confs/confs.html Dig that watery background. This is from 1994. The Spring was formed March 20, 1989. We went live on the web March 20, 1994."}, {"response": 29, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Sep 29, 1999 (22:55)", "body": "Methinks there is a lot in there I don't need to read right now...I will wait till I am past the personal stuff...and can read it objectively! Thanks! and, lovely picture...very nice (was that you?)"}, {"response": 30, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Sep 30, 1999 (08:06)", "body": "Nope, not me. It was the scene one day at Hamilton Pool."}, {"response": 31, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Oct  1, 1999 (19:10)", "body": "...ah...! (sorry it was not you - looked delightful!) news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 20, "subject": "Online News Sources - best of the rest", "response_count": 3, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Sep  3, 1998 (04:42)", "body": "Microsoft, Yahoo, Excite, Crayon and others all have personalized services where they will pull news sources together for you on one page. News sent via email through Infobeat: http://www.infobeat.com And there are these sources: http://totalnews.com/ http://www.news-real.com The Microsoft site is: http://home.microsoft.com"}, {"response": 2, "author": "pmnh", "date": "Tue, Nov 10, 1998 (19:20)", "body": "(god bless you molly) from today's star-telegram: Newt Gingrich: So many words, so little space AUSTIN -- When I think of Newt Gingrich, the words that come to mind are `sick, pathetic, traitor, ideological, cheat, steal, insecure, bizarre' and `radical.' The reason those particular words come to mind is because they are the ones that Gingrich himself recommended to his fellow Republicans. In a 1990 advisory put out by GOPAC, Gingrich's political action committee, Republican candidates were advised to use these words to describe their Democratic opponents -- no matter who the Democrats were or what their records. The memo further advised that many aspired to the effectiveness of Gingrich's rhetoric and that these were the favorite words that he `always' used against his opponents. That's really quite special, when you think about it. Gingrich's political signature was a teeth-rattling meanness that he could never overcome. Time and again he would vow to behave like a statesman, and within days -- sometimes within minutes -- out would flash such an ugly meanness of spirit that it could make you gasp. It was like the black-gloved hand in `Dr. Strangelove.' Hyperbole is a fine rhetorical device, but one always wondered what Gingrich would say if he ever encountered something actually evil. In the fall of '94 he told a group of lobbyists (whom he was, to put it bluntly, shaking down at the time) that his election strategy was to portray Clinton Democrats as \"the enemy of normal Americans\" and as proponents of \"Stalinist measures.\" You win elections by polarizing people with that kind of extreme rhetoric; but as Gingrich's party has learned to its cost, you can't govern that way, and you can't build a party. The politics of division does not work as well as the politics of inclusion. The most interesting thing to me about watching Gingrich was the way he always accused other people of doing what he had done himself. The shrinks call that \"projection,\" and it is truly striking in Gingrich's case how often he would level some accusation at President Clinton that turned out to be a clinically accurate description of his own behavior. I suppose this goes back at least as far as his attacks on Jim Wright for what Gingrich claimed were dubious methods of selling a book; of course, it later turned out that Gingrich has made `exactly the same arrangements' to sell his own book. He seemed never to grasp that pointing the finger at someone else might cause people to examine his own behavior. When he attacked Speaker Tom Foley about the House banking set-up, saying it was the worst example of corruption in history, Gingrich himself had kited 22 checks through the system, compared with Foley's two. You must admit that he never let his own failings stop him from setting himself up as a moral arbiter about everyone else. Gingrich not only posed as champion of \"family values\" -- he moved his whole party into carrying on about \"the family\" as though it were a sacred institution. (This observation is not original with me, but like many people who seem to think that \"the family\" means a '50s `Father Knows Best' arrangement, Gingrich himself was the child of divorce. His stepfather clearly emotionally abused the young Gingrich, and his sister is now a lesbian activist.) Yet in the most famous act of cruelty in his life, Gingrich was pushing a divorce from his first wife while she was in the hospital for cancer treatment. She later sued him for failing to pay his child support on time and was reduced to depending on her church to make up for the money. Gingrich is not close to his daughters. But again, he never seemed to think that any of this made him ineligible to judge others or even be, as he once described himself, \"the definer of civilization.\" In what I think was the most memorably awful moment of his speakership, Gingrich used his power against poor, crippled children. At stake was the Supplemental Security Income that goes to poor children with conditions such as spina bifida so their families can care for them at home instead of dumping into public institutions, which are far more expensive. This program had been expanded to cover emotionally damaged children, and word spread on the right wing that some of these kids were not really sick but just had learning disabilities. Gingrich took this untrue report and went on, in a speech to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, to claim that not only were poor people coaching their children on how to fake craziness, but they were beating them if they did not succeed. \"They're being punished for not getting what they call crazy money or stupid money,\" said the speaker. \"We are literally having children suffering child abuse so they can get a check for their parents.\" There was never any evidence of this extreme claim. This SSI program was abolished under \"welfare reform.\" The consequences were so dreadful that it has since been partially reinstated, with a new review process for the handi"}, {"response": 3, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Nov 11, 1998 (06:19)", "body": "Whew, well said by our good 'ol Austin gal Molly. Buh bye Newt, or should I say good riddance. news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 21, "subject": "Links to the Spring, where have you seen 'em?", "response_count": 60, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Sep  3, 1998 (04:48)", "body": "http://notts.net/community/index.html"}, {"response": 2, "author": "jgross", "date": "Thu, Sep  3, 1998 (13:40)", "body": "http://www.fieldbook.com/internet.html#10-Conferencing where I originally found out about Spring"}, {"response": 3, "author": "autumn", "date": "Thu, Sep  3, 1998 (23:15)", "body": "Fieldbook, huh? You're a regular Boy Scout, eh, Jim!"}, {"response": 4, "author": "jgross", "date": "Fri, Sep  4, 1998 (12:11)", "body": "i only go camping in Autumn where the weather is so nice out there the fire burns bright the stars twinkle like they're blinking with delight i always lose my way and am constantly getting lost so i listen into my heart and just lie down on the moss there's that random rhythm in nature's welcome i feel at home and okay out there with Autumn"}, {"response": 5, "author": "jgross", "date": "Fri, Sep  4, 1998 (12:13)", "body": ""}, {"response": 6, "author": "riette", "date": "Fri, Sep  4, 1998 (14:43)", "body": "I'm not sure anymore, Terry. I think I was looking for stuff on the Bront\ufffd sisters, and sort of stumbled upon it. Most people probably get here like that - I don't know. You and Wer have been here since the beginning, right? And remember to ask Mike when he comes back - he told me on the phone once that he's not been here for that much longer than me. I'll try and give him a buzz this weekend, but I think he's on holiday somewhere. I presume all the people who log in will have the address on their home pages as well?"}, {"response": 7, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Sep  4, 1998 (15:15)", "body": "haven't done that yet, but it will be and soon!"}, {"response": 8, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Fri, Sep  4, 1998 (16:01)", "body": "Wolf, I think, has been around here longer than I have..."}, {"response": 9, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Sep  4, 1998 (18:58)", "body": "If you want the history, you can hit the archives. For example, take a look at the stuff in genx from our archives. You can still view the original conferencing system, or I should more accurately, say the predecessor to the original operating system. We started out with a homegrown system that Ben Cohen wrote. The we went to caucus telnet only. Then we found out about yapp and used a telnet version that we got some help from Jan Wolter on, then we finally settled on Kaylene and Dave Thalers yapp interface. Through all these interfaces there have been differnet folks. In this context, wer is a relative newcomer. I recently got an email from Ben Cohen who is fascinated by our archives and reads stuff he wrote years ago. Either wer or I can post a link to the arvhices if you want to dig through our early history. It's in http://www.spring.net/~dbii which is Dave Bluesteins' directory. This is cool, I typing this while I watch the Cubs game and I have a little window with the game and I have our web interface full screen. It's WebTV version II. hu poto dream, heh. Who, here knows the search engine that igs up your link??? Sports used to be a hot conference. And genx once was torrid. The porch conference used to be called gat. Histoire, mes amis."}, {"response": 10, "author": "riette", "date": "Sat, Sep  5, 1998 (01:49)", "body": "Wow. And that was ten years ago?"}, {"response": 11, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Sep  5, 1998 (09:36)", "body": "you sure about that wer? i seem to recall that nick invited me here and i never left and you were already here. how long have i been here? at least a year, huh?"}, {"response": 12, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sat, Sep  5, 1998 (11:45)", "body": "I think the answer I based that on is in genx... something like when is your spring anniversary..."}, {"response": 13, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sat, Sep  5, 1998 (17:06)", "body": "although that topic may very well be in news..."}, {"response": 14, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Sep  5, 1998 (17:08)", "body": "you still here?"}, {"response": 15, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sat, Sep  5, 1998 (17:11)", "body": "more or less, and you?"}, {"response": 16, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Sep  5, 1998 (17:13)", "body": "same...you feeling better?"}, {"response": 17, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sat, Sep  5, 1998 (17:18)", "body": "sporadically..."}, {"response": 18, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Sep  5, 1998 (17:19)", "body": "this is a good thing right? versus feeling bad all the time?"}, {"response": 19, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sat, Sep  5, 1998 (17:23)", "body": "something like that..."}, {"response": 20, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Sep  6, 1998 (01:06)", "body": "wer, create a new conference. Call it 'inner'. Make it member only. And put your best friends here on the member list. And then test it to make sure it works. ok?"}, {"response": 21, "author": "riette", "date": "Sun, Sep  6, 1998 (02:28)", "body": "Yes, make sure you call it INNER and not INNARD!"}, {"response": 22, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sun, Sep  6, 1998 (02:41)", "body": "(and I just thought I was confused before...) not sure as to that being a good thing and besides, I've got stuff to do..."}, {"response": 23, "author": "stacey", "date": "Sun, Sep  6, 1998 (03:14)", "body": "i remember when wolfie first showed up! WER wasn't around the Spring when I was still logging in from Austin but when I came back in Fall of 1997, he'd been around for awhile... (just sitting here reflecting Paul... about logging in covertly at MagneticBunny through the Telnet prompt you made an icon for on my desktop... no wonder it took me so long to get all of that ISO 9000 documentation written!)"}, {"response": 24, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Sep  6, 1998 (15:14)", "body": "terry, i see wer's point, i think..... stacey: nice to see you on a weekend! i remember when you could only log in at the school!! wer: you need a break, man, stop working so damned hard! *hug*"}, {"response": 25, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sun, Sep  6, 1998 (16:57)", "body": "wolf: can I borrow money for the bills?"}, {"response": 26, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Sep  6, 1998 (17:16)", "body": "Cool deal. I think at some point it would be good to have a private, userlist only, \"inner\" sanctum conference for the regulars here. One where we could get more down and dirty on a more intimate level. Just an idea. Sorry if I phrased that in a pushy way, wer."}, {"response": 27, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Sep  6, 1998 (20:11)", "body": "how much you need? course, i gotta go through the \"bank\" so, it might be easier to ask riette, as she was planning to rob one *grin* terry: i thought we were already down and dirty and on an intimate level--you've been to screwed, right?"}, {"response": 28, "author": "autumn", "date": "Sun, Sep  6, 1998 (22:01)", "body": "Jim, I bet you really earned that poetry merit badge! :-)"}, {"response": 29, "author": "jgross", "date": "Sun, Sep  6, 1998 (22:39)", "body": "When they conferred it to me, they stuck it on my right hand. They used these long thick steel pins and barb wire. I'm write-handed, so I couldn't write again for 38 years. The healing was as long as what it took for me to come across you. Have you noticed this kinda thing very much in your life? The miraculous effect you have on badly injured Boy Scouts? Autumn, could you take a moment to be real frank with me for a second and answer this one last question I somehow have for you: are you some sort of goddess? It's okay if ya aren't. If you are, I mean, I know, it's pretty wowsy."}, {"response": 30, "author": "autumn", "date": "Sun, Sep  6, 1998 (22:46)", "body": "Of course I'm a goddess, Jim!! How else do you explain...?"}, {"response": 31, "author": "jgross", "date": "Sun, Sep  6, 1998 (23:27)", "body": "My hand thanks you with all its heart. I bet some goddesses just can't always come through. But your miracles are of the highest order. Make checks payable to your little bundle of joy? To your bouncing bounding boundless soul?"}, {"response": 32, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Mon, Sep  7, 1998 (22:40)", "body": "Okay, all those who want access to the inner sanctum e-mail me..."}, {"response": 33, "author": "riette", "date": "Tue, Sep  8, 1998 (03:53)", "body": "And what will happen at the inner sanctum?"}, {"response": 34, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep  8, 1998 (08:22)", "body": "Talk about stuff that you only want to share with our immediate group. Any new members only admitted by 100% approval of the group that's there. It looks like wer may have created it. This is what's known as a \"private\" conference."}, {"response": 35, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Tue, Sep  8, 1998 (08:27)", "body": "can i join?"}, {"response": 36, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep  8, 1998 (08:27)", "body": "OK by me."}, {"response": 37, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Tue, Sep  8, 1998 (09:12)", "body": "not created yet, wanted to know who wanted in first..."}, {"response": 38, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Sep  8, 1998 (18:31)", "body": "well, only if you guys trust me, may i join the party?"}, {"response": 39, "author": "riette", "date": "Wed, Sep  9, 1998 (01:49)", "body": "No, I don't want to go! No, no, don't listen to that, just playing hard to get!!! I'd love to come too if you guys have no objection since I'm relatively new here."}, {"response": 40, "author": "autumn", "date": "Thu, Sep 10, 1998 (20:43)", "body": "Me too."}, {"response": 41, "author": "wer", "date": "Fri, Sep 11, 1998 (16:36)", "body": "inner is up and running...please let me or Terry know if you have problems getting in or posting..."}, {"response": 42, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Sep 14, 1998 (10:54)", "body": "added the link to my site AND invited a fellow poet and philosopher to drop in. don't know if they've dropped by yet, but look for 'em!"}, {"response": 43, "author": "riette", "date": "Mon, Sep 14, 1998 (13:21)", "body": "cool!"}, {"response": 44, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 15, 1998 (01:03)", "body": "Good!! Keep invitin'"}, {"response": 45, "author": "riette", "date": "Tue, Sep 15, 1998 (13:00)", "body": "We mustn't forget to put a link to the Spring in the Art Centaur gallery either!"}, {"response": 46, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sat, Jan 23, 1999 (14:48)", "body": "Altavista reports 226 web sites that link to http://www.spring.net/"}, {"response": 47, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Jan 23, 1999 (18:02)", "body": "Great, do any stand out in particular?"}, {"response": 48, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sun, Jan 24, 1999 (13:18)", "body": "didn't go and look...it was part of a free assessment that I ran from some site..."}, {"response": 49, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Feb  3, 1999 (16:17)", "body": "well i've got links plasterd on my site three different times. not that my site is popular, but hope it helps!"}, {"response": 50, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Wed, Feb  3, 1999 (17:57)", "body": "you go, girl!!!"}, {"response": 51, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Feb  4, 1999 (08:59)", "body": "Alright wolfie!"}, {"response": 52, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Feb  7, 2036 (02:21)", "body": "wait, i've got 4! woohoo!!"}, {"response": 53, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Tue, Feb  9, 1999 (22:09)", "body": "do I hear five?"}, {"response": 54, "author": "mrobens", "date": "Thu, Jun 15, 2000 (08:16)", "body": "Just ran into this site and thought you might want to submit the Spring domain name: http://www.websmostlinked.com/ will rank it according to the number of sites linked to Spring. It's not all inclusive, but there are over 500,000 sites in their database."}, {"response": 55, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Thu, Jun 15, 2000 (08:47)", "body": "Wow, thanks Myretta."}, {"response": 56, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Thu, Jun 15, 2000 (09:00)", "body": "I submitted it and got a response that we would know in 24 hours, I'll publish3 the results and put up a page of links to these sites. It's only fair to reciprocate."}, {"response": 57, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Jun 15, 2000 (23:46)", "body": "Only 8 more hours to go till we get our results, are you sitting on the edge of your chair?"}, {"response": 58, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jun 15, 2000 (23:49)", "body": "Absolutely, For sure and indeed!"}, {"response": 59, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jun 16, 2000 (23:04)", "body": "So, it has been 8 hours...Yes????"}, {"response": 60, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Fri, Dec  1, 2000 (08:40)", "body": "http://www.robotwisdom.com has a link (bad though) to http://www.spring.net/wmmeyers , I sent them a correction. This is a fun page to visit. news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 22, "subject": "roving wiretaps bill passes .. buh bye privacy", "response_count": 33, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Nov  9, 1998 (20:44)", "body": "hell, they're just making what they've been doing legal is all, maybe not constitutionally correct, but now they can't lose a litigation for illegally wire-tapping your phone! i know my phone lines at work are monitored...."}, {"response": 2, "author": "TIM", "date": "Sun, Nov 15, 1998 (16:19)", "body": "I fail to see the problem. I don't have conversations about illegal activities. They can tap my phone anytime they want with my blessings. MY only request is that they also trace my calls and let me have access to the information. I'd love to get my hands on those telemarketers."}, {"response": 3, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Sun, Nov 15, 1998 (21:23)", "body": "fine for you but not for me. i dont have convos about illegal activities either, but it is too easy now for someone to claim that i do."}, {"response": 4, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Nov 15, 1998 (21:37)", "body": "yeah, what's that called? where they take bits of your conversation and fuse it back together? i don't talk about anything either....oh well, guess we knew this was next."}, {"response": 5, "author": "riette", "date": "Mon, Nov 16, 1998 (04:45)", "body": "the promised land..."}, {"response": 6, "author": "TIM", "date": "Mon, Nov 16, 1998 (08:28)", "body": "I think you are paranoid. yes they can do what you are saying, but they always could. Question is: Why would they?"}, {"response": 7, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Nov 16, 1998 (09:12)", "body": "who're you talking to, tim? (re: paranoid) why do they do it? got me...."}, {"response": 8, "author": "TIM", "date": "Mon, Nov 16, 1998 (21:45)", "body": "I was talking to Ray. Sorry, I should have addressed it to Him. I was asking why they would patch together a conversation from a wiretap. There are easier ways to frame someone."}, {"response": 9, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Tue, Nov 17, 1998 (09:32)", "body": "the more important question is, \"why wouldn't they?\""}, {"response": 10, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Nov 17, 1998 (09:58)", "body": "they'd have no fun with the stuff i talk about, rather blah to say the least!"}, {"response": 11, "author": "TIM", "date": "Tue, Nov 17, 1998 (13:00)", "body": "I don't think it really matters. I know how wiretaps work, and how bugs work. If they want to waste the time and effort, let\"em."}, {"response": 12, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Nov 17, 1998 (20:47)", "body": "boy, aren't you a little jack of all trades *grin* so, what is your line of work, oh mighty tim?"}, {"response": 13, "author": "TIM", "date": "Tue, Nov 17, 1998 (22:13)", "body": "I drive heavy trucks, local and shorthaul."}, {"response": 14, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Nov 18, 1998 (10:25)", "body": "and you moonlight as a 007, right? *heehee*"}, {"response": 15, "author": "TIM", "date": "Wed, Nov 18, 1998 (16:43)", "body": "NO! But, I've been trained in physical security by our favorite uncle. Detecting wiretaps and bugs was part of my job."}, {"response": 16, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Nov 18, 1998 (19:32)", "body": "i thought as much! which branch?"}, {"response": 17, "author": "TIM", "date": "Wed, Nov 18, 1998 (19:59)", "body": "Army. They also taught me to read write and speak russian."}, {"response": 18, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Nov 18, 1998 (20:02)", "body": "linguistics, eh? that's one of the toughest schools to go to for the military, so i hear..."}, {"response": 19, "author": "TIM", "date": "Wed, Nov 18, 1998 (21:49)", "body": "95% of the applicants fail the qualification test. 25% fail to get a security clearance before the class starts. My class started with 280 students, 35 graduated. In a one year course, you earn 90 college credit hours. This is the way the course is figured: 8 hours instruction, 8 hours study, 8hours sleep, 5 days a week. Every week you are tested. You have to maintain a 90% or better, across the board, or you fail. No second chance. By the 6th week, you are not allowed to speak english in the classroom. B the 12th week you are not allowed to speak english anywhere on the school premises. By the 18th week you are not allowed to speak english during duty hours, no matter where you are. This is comical because the cadre can't speak anything but english. By the 18th week the cadre has to use interpreters to talk to students. Cadre is your company commander, first sargeant, platoon sargeant, etc."}, {"response": 20, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Nov 19, 1998 (07:47)", "body": "gotcha. i knew someone who failed out of linguistics (russian) for the air force."}, {"response": 21, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Thu, Nov 19, 1998 (08:33)", "body": "one of the smartest guys i know is a retired USAF colonel who once worked as a russian expert for the Air Intelligence Agency. i took russian in college but this guy was really good. are you retired army, tim? i work as a contractor for the Army MEDCOM right now. i grew up in a military family and really like working with military folks and retirees."}, {"response": 22, "author": "TIM", "date": "Thu, Nov 19, 1998 (13:17)", "body": "I am ex-army, not retired. I was in 6 years."}, {"response": 23, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Nov 19, 1998 (17:43)", "body": "and have you been a truck driver ever since?"}, {"response": 24, "author": "TIM", "date": "Fri, Nov 20, 1998 (04:01)", "body": "No, I started negotiating oil leases, lasted two years, went bust. Then, I worked as a cabinetmaker, for a year. Then worked in a foundry for 2 years. Worked industrial construction for 1 year. Then became a truck driver, for the last nearly 9 years"}, {"response": 25, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Nov 20, 1998 (09:20)", "body": "Have you worked on drilling rigs?"}, {"response": 26, "author": "TIM", "date": "Fri, Nov 20, 1998 (10:06)", "body": "All I did was: pick out a property, negotiate a lease, and then, either sell the lease, or persuade a wildcatter to drill. At one point I bought a wheat farm, 640 acres, a full section, because all the mineral rights went with it. There was no oil on the place, but I did a few things to make people think there was, and sold the place for 3 times what it was worth as a farm. Don't get me wrong, I never, at any time, told anyone, that oil was present. I just kept my mouth shut and acted like there was oil present. It worked, hook, line, and sinker."}, {"response": 27, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Nov 20, 1998 (11:12)", "body": "oh, you're a con artist!"}, {"response": 28, "author": "TIM", "date": "Fri, Nov 20, 1998 (13:19)", "body": "Not anymore than any salesman trying to sell something is. What I basically did was to form a company on the side. an exploration company. Then I filed a lease with that company leasing oil rights, with myself, as property owner, getting a large cash settlement and a large percentage of the royalties. I then hired a wildcatter from out of state to make a show of drilling. all this while the property was on the market. After the drilling started, I had five offers within three days all insisting on transfer of 100% of mineral rights. I never told anybody there was any oil on the land."}, {"response": 29, "author": "TIM", "date": "Fri, Nov 20, 1998 (13:27)", "body": "I had the land listed at a fair price for farm land with me retaining mineral rights. It was a fact that I had to sell the land within a short time because I needed the money and all involved knew this. Everyone bidding on the land wanted the mineral rights. I really wanted to keep the mineral rights. But I knew that I would never sell the land without the mineral rights in a short time. So I just upped the ante by doing what I did."}, {"response": 30, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Nov 20, 1998 (17:45)", "body": "what in the hell are mineral rights? no oil, but lots of minerals?"}, {"response": 31, "author": "TIM", "date": "Fri, Nov 20, 1998 (17:45)", "body": "Mineral rights are the ownership of everything below the ground, including oil, that is there naturally."}, {"response": 32, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Nov 20, 1998 (17:45)", "body": "never heard of owning everything below the ground. what if i owned everything above ground? where would it end?"}, {"response": 33, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Nov 21, 1998 (21:53)", "body": "Hey, I'm setting up a drilling rig out at my place in the country. Heh! news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 23, "subject": "Gulf War 1.1?", "response_count": 20, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "TIM", "date": "Mon, Nov 16, 1998 (21:51)", "body": "THere is only one way to end this and insure that it won't happen again anytime soon. NUKE THEM. Turn the whole country into a sea of glass, and any other nation will think twice about doing this to us. Do not send in ground troops. One American life is worth more than everything living in Iraq."}, {"response": 2, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Nov 17, 1998 (09:59)", "body": "wait, wait, wait! why punish the innocent people living under the rule of a tyrant? they don't know he's a tyrant, but we do. and wouldn't nukeing them have ramifications? i.e. fallout????"}, {"response": 3, "author": "TIM", "date": "Tue, Nov 17, 1998 (13:17)", "body": "fallout can be controlled. I am not talking punish. I am talking eradicate. You are 100% correct. Nuking them would have long lasting ramifications. No other third rate country would dare to defy the United States for quite some time. Terrorists using third world countries as bases would become unwelcome over night, All the harassment of Israel would stop overnight. If we had done this to Libya, when we did the air strike, this situation with Iraq would not be happening. As far as the other Mid-East coun ries go, split Iraq's oil amongst them and none of them will say a word."}, {"response": 4, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Nov 17, 1998 (20:52)", "body": "so, how does one go about controlling a nuclear strike? we do have allies in that general area. (ok, i'm not versed in politics and all that, OBVIOUSLY) but i don't understand why so many people think nukeing them is the answer. (for any conflict)"}, {"response": 5, "author": "TIM", "date": "Tue, Nov 17, 1998 (22:30)", "body": "When you nuke someone, they never bother you again. Other people in similar situations, start re-thinking their position. To put the how in perspective: you can nuke the capitol building, and leave the white house relatively un harmed, and Arlington, VA would be unscathed. That tight enough for you? I hope so, because that is as good as it gets right now. Aren't \"Enhanced Radiation Devices\" wonderful? Fallout? Next to nonexistant, with half-lives of the elements measured in minutes. This is known as a tactical nuke, as opposed to strategic nukes, which, by treaty, we've destroyed most of."}, {"response": 6, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Nov 18, 1998 (10:28)", "body": "ok, so you're a truck driver now that you've retired from covert ops, right? (you do know that i'm teasing, right? *toothy wolf grin*)"}, {"response": 7, "author": "TIM", "date": "Wed, Nov 18, 1998 (16:49)", "body": "I was never covert. I was assigned to G-2, III Corps. Four years. Giving detailed briefings was a very small part of my job."}, {"response": 8, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Nov 18, 1998 (20:04)", "body": "that's it, 4 years? not 20? no retirement????"}, {"response": 9, "author": "TIM", "date": "Wed, Nov 18, 1998 (21:55)", "body": "I was in for 6 years. Two years were spent on other assignments. When you work where I was, you get a real close look at the quality of leadership at the top. The thought of going to war with these people leading was enough to scare the hell out of me. Most of our senior leadership was extremely inept."}, {"response": 10, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Thu, Nov 19, 1998 (08:35)", "body": "a friend of mine is an O4 in the navy doing medical research. he says the same thing. his view is that the only reason the US is such a global superpower is that the military leaders in other nations are just more fucked up than the ones we have!"}, {"response": 11, "author": "TIM", "date": "Thu, Nov 19, 1998 (13:19)", "body": "He is right about that. But the situation is volitile, it could change overnight."}, {"response": 12, "author": "autumn", "date": "Thu, Nov 19, 1998 (22:03)", "body": "And fortunately it has."}, {"response": 13, "author": "TIM", "date": "Fri, Nov 20, 1998 (04:03)", "body": "I assume by fortunately, we got better, not they got better."}, {"response": 14, "author": "autumn", "date": "Sun, Nov 22, 1998 (22:31)", "body": "I meant that the pressure is off because Iraq consented to the UN inspections."}, {"response": 15, "author": "TIM", "date": "Sun, Nov 22, 1998 (22:51)", "body": "Temporarily anyway."}, {"response": 16, "author": "autumn", "date": "Sun, Nov 22, 1998 (22:56)", "body": "As you (or Ray) said, the situation can change overnight."}, {"response": 17, "author": "TIM", "date": "Sun, Nov 22, 1998 (23:23)", "body": "Unfortunately, that is very true."}, {"response": 18, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Nov 23, 1998 (07:07)", "body": "60 Minutes showed a few of Saddams 40 or more palaces. The sanctions are making the power elite much richer because they control all the smuggling now. Sanctions are making the rich richer and killing off the poor."}, {"response": 19, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Dec 18, 1998 (18:14)", "body": "Cyber-terrorism: Threat or Menace? Yes, right now all Saddam can do is sit in his bunker and spew over-heated rhetoric. But soon it may be possible to trash the U.S.'s information technology systems in a way that'll make the Y2K bug look like a crashed floppy disk. For more info: http://cnn.com/TECH/computing/9812/18/terrorism.idg/index.html"}, {"response": 20, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Fri, Oct 13, 2000 (07:54)", "body": "Saddam has troops on the move, opportunizing on the US Navy ship blowup and the Middle East events yesterday. Meanwhile, oil prices skyrocket and the Northeast is hit with a heating oil crisis. Not to mention the plummeting stock market. news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 24, "subject": "local news for Austin, TX and surrounds", "response_count": 14, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Nov 16, 1998 (10:15)", "body": "The Observation Deck of the University of Texas Tower is going to reopen after 24 years of being closed to the public. Although the Observation. Deck had been closed temporarily in the 1950s because of suicides and again in 1966 after Charles Whitman's tantrum, it was closed indefinitely on January 31, 1975 because of suicides."}, {"response": 2, "author": "TIM", "date": "Mon, Nov 16, 1998 (21:54)", "body": "Hurry, get a camera and get some pictures from the deck before it is closed again."}, {"response": 3, "author": "jgross", "date": "Wed, Dec  2, 1998 (21:58)", "body": "I'd like to jump off, just to see what it's like. I wouldn't wanna commit suicide. I'm thinking the fall would be gorgeous. See, cuz fall, I mean Autumn, is almost over (and right now its colors are so striking.....she's, I mean *they're* beautiful). well, actually, she's never over.............or ever over being beautiful. ok, here I go *splat*"}, {"response": 4, "author": "TIM", "date": "Wed, Dec  2, 1998 (23:08)", "body": "Tant pis eh!!!"}, {"response": 5, "author": "autumn", "date": "Wed, Dec  9, 1998 (18:26)", "body": "Jim, are you in New England again?? How many times have I told you to stay away from Vermont and New Hampshire? It's just too dangerous for our central PA blood."}, {"response": 6, "author": "PT", "date": "Wed, Dec  9, 1998 (18:37)", "body": "What happens in Vermont and New Hampshire."}, {"response": 7, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Dec  9, 1998 (18:41)", "body": "you know, patrick, i was sitting here looking at your initials in the () and had actually begun to wonder why the letters are reversed and then it hit me *wham* like a roll of TP!!! hehehehe (sorry, couldn't resist that and please don't take offense at my airheadedness--it crops up at times)"}, {"response": 8, "author": "PT", "date": "Wed, Dec  9, 1998 (20:23)", "body": "That is OK. Those are my middle initials. they are not reversed."}, {"response": 9, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Dec  9, 1998 (20:24)", "body": "good thing, huh?"}, {"response": 10, "author": "PT", "date": "Thu, Dec 10, 1998 (01:36)", "body": "I never thought of it the other way. It's kind of funny."}, {"response": 11, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Dec 10, 1998 (17:34)", "body": "hi Patrick! Nice to see you hanging around"}, {"response": 12, "author": "PT", "date": "Fri, Dec 11, 1998 (11:50)", "body": "Thank you, Stacey, it's nice to be here."}, {"response": 13, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Dec 11, 1998 (11:50)", "body": "heard about your 58 car pile-up... not good."}, {"response": 14, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Dec 26, 1998 (09:48)", "body": "58 cars? not good at all! news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 25, "subject": "tech news 98", "response_count": 57, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Dec 15, 1998 (10:24)", "body": "IBM To Publish Source For Sendmail Alternative The article isn't clear on whether they will treat their new Secure Mailer program as freeware, but they will apparently make the source available. It goes on to say they published source for a compiler last week, that they are making software work with Apache, and they plan to sell DB2 for Linux. Anybody know wonder what compiler they mean? IBM hopes Secure Mailer with its modular architecture will displace sendmail, which was \"written as a large, monolithic piece of software\", a Bad Thing. Sun, Oracle Mount Another Challenge To Windows Having not gotten very far with the thin-client NC, their current plan to slay the giant of Redmond rests on a combined Solaris-Oracle server that is meant to reduce \"the need for a full-blown desktop operating system\" for Internet and database functions. Sun is also reported working on an \"ultra- thin client\" called Newt; no really, that's what it says. Denise Caruso On The Internet Stock Bubble Her article is mostly about the effects of instant share-price updates and the legion of day traders it has spawned, but she also notes a side effect of the meteoric rise of stock prices on high-tech companies. At some point the prices may be seen as so inflated that the incentive power of stock options, now used to lure employees, will diminish if people figure a return to sanity is imminent. But repricing the options at a lower level might spook the investors who presently hold the stock, creating a kind of self- fulfilling prophecy of decline. As they say, letting go of the tiger's tail is the hard part... Microsoft Monopoly - A Wrong Without A Remedy? With the possibility that Microsoft will be held to have violated antitrust laws, the question naturally arises of what to do about it. (A motion of censure? Oops, wrong Bill.) The article for some reason fails to discuss breakup a la AT&T except to call it a \"major economic policy decision\" as though that eliminated it from consideration, and concentrates on API access. This poses real problems of how to ensure access, which is something the government definitely does not want to police in detail. One possibility suggested is the Java model, where Sun announced it hired Price Waterhouse to \"guarantee the fair, impartial distribution of Java APIs\"."}, {"response": 2, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Dec 15, 1998 (22:09)", "body": "Credit Card Companies Wake To Internet Potential In advertising news, companies like Visa and Mastercard are said to be just noticing that the Internet is the best thing that happened to them since the invention of plastic. Up to 2.5% of an e-commerce site's gross revenue goes to the card firms, and this year's sales are expected to reach $40 billion. Visa says it expects to handle $13 billion worth of Internet transactions this year, one percent of its total business; in five years they project they will do $100 billion worth, or 11% of their total. They are contributing heavily to ad campaigns for e-commerce firms. But for some reason American Express is not jumping on the bandwagon; they did a one-day radio media tour and a few spots and they promote some businesses on their own site, but they have fallen behind Visa and MCard. Accountants Demand To See Quarterly Reports In accounting news, the Big Five (formerly the Big Eight, then the Big Six) say they have agreed not to audit and approve their clients' financial reports where the client publishes unreviewed quarterly reports. Up till now, the auditors just saw the annual figures, and several companies would pile all their special charges on the fourth quarter to manipulate the public's view of their performance."}, {"response": 3, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Tue, Dec 15, 1998 (23:23)", "body": "I hate it when that happens."}, {"response": 4, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Dec 16, 1998 (15:06)", "body": "Supremes Rule On Antitrust Not part of the Microsoft brouhaha, but likely to be cited in cases involving the complex and ever-changing relationships of high-tech companies is a decision this week by the US Supreme Court. Nynex was taking bids for the removal of old switching gear; they agreed with one of the bidders, AT&T, not to consider bids from a third company called Discon. Discon sued, calling the agreement a boycott. The court agreed that boycotts are \"per se\" unlawful restraints of trade, meaning that lack of harm to competitors, benefit to the public, etc. are irrelevant to the violation. But they also held that a contract between a purchaser and a supplier is not a boycott; that requires an agreement between competitors. The judgement was unanimous. Canadian Merger Bid Dropped Open Text has abandoned its hostile takeover plans to acquire PC Docs, a major document-management software company. OT is still buying up other, more willing companies as it expands from Internet search tools to intranet management software. Microsoft Buys Into Qwest They acquired 1.4% of Qwest for $200 million. Their goal is apparently to use Qwest's IP-based wide area fiber optic network and marketing staff to offer Internet applications based on Windows NT. Qwest will create a department to sell NT Web-hosting facilities. Their CEO assures everyone there is no conflict with their September deal to offer \"Netscape Contact\", a consumer service based on you-know-what for management of e-mail, faxes, and voice mail over a Web site, since the MS deal is focused on large corporate customers."}, {"response": 5, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Dec 21, 1998 (13:46)", "body": "Merchants' Servers Seize Up With Holiday Traffic Replicating the mall experience down to the long lines of people waiting to buy things, but presumably without meaning to, several Internet shopping sites have broken down under the volume of browsers (in both senses) and customers. Barnes & Noble and Macy's suffered slowdowns, and IBM and EBay just flat out collapsed for days at a time according to the report. New Radio Technology Could Revolutionize Wireless Systems At least for short ranges. Described as \"ultrawide band radio\" and \"digital pulse wireless\", it seems to be a kind of Morse Code for the millennium. The current technology, from a company called Time Domain, just emits on-off pulses (1's and 0's, basically) 40 million times a second at very low power across the entire radio spectrum (the article doesn't cite actual wavelength boundaries). While it doesn't go very far before attenuating, it can go through solid objects without multipath interference , making it useful for (say) a wireless LAN inside a building. By comparison, an existing protocol called \"Bluetooth\" transmitting at 2.4 gigahertz can send a megabit per second to a receiver 30 feet away from a 100 milliwatt transmitter. Ultrawide can send 1.25 megabits to a receiver 230 feet away from a 0.5 milliwatt transmitter. Time Domain predicts it can raise the rate into the billions of bits per second. Because it broadcasts in frequencies reserved for other uses, the FCC has to decide if the technology fits into an exception for \"incidental emitters\" like arc welders, hair dryers, and PCs. Patent Granted For Trees In Graveyards Mac Truong received patent 5799488 for trees \"grown from seed or seedling in a nutrient composition featuring...ashes derived from the remains of a deceased human\". His concept seems to be for using the tree as a kind of gravestone (gravewood?) in a \"memorial forest\"."}, {"response": 6, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Dec 31, 1998 (06:23)", "body": "Computer Vs. Network Debate Revived The old argument of whether the \"system\" is a group of computers connected to each other, or a network with computers as mere nodes on it, is coming back again with a few differences. Instead of mainframes and minis, the Goliaths are PCs, and the proposed paradigm of the \"post-PC era\" is a network of information appliances that includes cell phones, pagers, handhelds, and chips embedded in cars, coffeepots, etc. IBM calls it \"pervasive computing\" and they just created a group to track it and make sure they aren't left behind (again); their strategy is to supply the components like chips and mini-disks to OEMs. IBM is convinced that bandwidth is not a bottleneck, since their view is not of downloaded movies but of messages transmitted between the ubiquitous gizmos. Donna Dubinsky, a co-founder of Palm Computing and now of Handspring, says sub-$100 handheld devices will necessarily disconnect from the PC and become \"an extension of the network, not the desktop\". Post-PC evangelists point to the example of mainframes, which are actually handling larger volumes than ever, but are no longer the object of attention, investment, software development, and more importantly are no longer high-profit items. Microsoft and Intel not surprisingly dissent from predictions of PC doom: they acknowledge that the PC needs to get cheaper and easier to use, but Microsoft SVP Craig Mundie says we are really entering the \"PC-plus era\" with the new devices \"complementary to the evolving personal computer\". Place your bets... New Products and Services Annette Pappas received patent 5,713,081 for three-legged pantyhose with pockets. The purported advantage of this garment is that the occupant can tuck the third (and for earthlings, unused) fabric leg into its associated pocket, retaining it for instant - well, rapid - deployment in the event one of the other two legs develops an unsightly run. Russel D. Harmon has cornered the market on Internet sales of cremation urns; his company DiscountUrns.com has just bought out rival Urnsdirect.com. His latest product is $29.95 faux urns made of particle-board and painted to look like expensive hardwood, which he observes are completely biodegradable (just like their inhabitant). He also plans a crematory in Washington where customers can set their loved ones on fire, perhaps before stuffing them in a cheap faux urn. Talk about lack of respect for one's elders... Topic 99 [biztech]: In the news for 1998 #909 of 909: Busy Techie (ronks) Tue Dec 29 '98 (09:09) 32 lines Internet Upstarts Pass Elders Not only is AOL bigger than Disney in market capitalization now, but the runup in any stock with \"net\" or \".com\" has put Ebay five times ahead of Sotheby's, Amazon ahead of Borders and Barnes & Noble combined, and Charles Schwab ahead of venerable Merrill Lynch. Two weeks ago Merrill was reported considering the purchase of Schwab to bootstrap itself onto the Internet, but Schwab's price seems to prohibit such a move for now. Besides that, Merrill's 14,000 brokers might object to being displaced by a server in a closet. Schwab's success is all the more remarkable since it is not really a startup like some of the other net firms with astronomic P/E ratios, but a 25-year old company in an mature industry. And yet, by moving from a plain discount broker to an online house, it managed to maintain its 30% market share and counter its per-trade profit drop (from $63 last year to $53 now) with a corresponding increase in the number of trades. The result is that Schwab now trades at 65 times its expected 1999 profit to Merrill's 16, and is worth more on the market despite having one-seventh of Merrill's revenue. Stocks In The News It may be the serious money is vacationing this week with many institutional investors out of town. As one analyst put it, individual day traders who are \"sitting at home after having their turkey dinner are going to move the stocks\". Anyway, a company called Active Apparel rose 820% yesterday (229% for the year) after announcing they would sell \"women's activewear\" over the Internet; presumably with pictures which would at least boost their traffic. And Skymail, a company that publishes those crumpled catalogs you always find in your airline seat pocket, took off upwards by 183% (611% in 1998) when they said their internet sales were up sevenfold this year."}, {"response": 7, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Jan  8, 1999 (05:55)", "body": "Acer Delays Stock Offering After its share price fell 13% last month, the Taiwan PC maker said it might hold off on a $200 million issuance of stock it had planned since July. Taiwanese stocks have not done well in general, reaching a 30-month low last Tuesday. Cisco To Announce New Network They may use the current Consumer Electronics Show to describe their plans for a high-speed multimedia network to offer data, phone, and video services on a single line. Initially it will be available to TCI cable subscribers, though Cisco claims an alliance of 32 telephone, cable, and ISP firms. Bell Atlantic Smooths Path For Competition They say. The FCC requires local phone companies to demonstrate their market is competitive before it will let them offer long distance services. So far nobody has passed the test, though not for lack of trying. Now Bell Atlantic has trotted out a competitor to offer a testimonial: Royce Holland, former head of MFS, now CEO of Allegiance Telecom, says a new system lets a Bell Atlantic customer switch carriers in one week instead of six. It remains to be seen if this will impress the FCC."}, {"response": 8, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Jan  8, 1999 (05:55)", "body": "Economists Discount Bubble Theory In Current Stock Bonanza On the excuse that economics is a technology and the stock market is certainly a business, I wanted to recap an interesting article from this week's meeting of the American Economics Association. Members' concerns that the extraordinary rise of the market since the end of 1994 would turn into a bust grew through the first part of 1998, and increased when share princes plunged in August and September. But its recovery since the Fed's rate cuts has led to a restored confidence among economists that the market is fairly valued for the current unique environment and that prices are robust, with the Fed both ready and able to sustain confidence if a panic should develop. They point to a combination of job creation, rising output, and falling unemployment, which in other times has resulted in inflation, but not now. Some of this price stability is due to coincidence (falling oil and computer prices), but others are likely to endure. These include lack of wage pressure (outside of the basketball industry) possibly related to the growing use of contract workers, increased job mobility, and the preference of aging baby boomers for security over an increased salary. AT&T - AtHome Deal Reported Close They are expected to announce today that AT&T will provide the long-distance portion of AtHome's cable modem service with around 15,000 miles of fiber optic lines. AT&T should benefit from a credible move out of its voice services into Internet data communication, an area where it's seen to lag. The initial deal is for $100 million, but AtHome has other options that could bring AT&T more revenue if exercised. AtHome gets not only to connect its cable modem subscribers to fiber optics, but has opted for flat rate pricing to replace the per-unit cost of its existing Sprint contract, a change seen as worth 5% in its operating margin. AT&T's win at the expense of six other bidders came for an odd reason: AtHome required the ability to use Wave Division Multiplexing, and most of the other bidders tie WDM to Sonet which is suitable for voice transmission (which AtHome didn't need) and adds to the cost. Old voice carrier AT&T was able to avoid this somehow. Hayes Closes The former king of modems is shutting its doors. They declared bankruptcy twice, most recently last October, and have been trying to find a buyer and reorganize. But its lenders (to whom it owes $42 million) declined to keep it alive any longer in the absence of likely purchasers. So the company is now one with Nineveh and Syquest. H-P Moves Into Low End Printers Like Intel and Compaq before it, they have discovered that the low-price market is growing too large to ignore. So they created a subsidiary called Apollo Consumer Products (named after a former acquisition, I think) to sell sub-$100 color printers and eventually other stuff like scanners, cameras, and even PCs. The company estimates that sub-$100 printers will grow in the years 1998 to 2000 from 1.5 million sold to 5 M (5% to 11% of the market), and sub-$150 printers from 8 M to 17 M (22% to 38%)."}, {"response": 9, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Jan  8, 1999 (05:56)", "body": "Intel Debuts More Cheap Chips With the market for sub-$1000 PCs grown too big to ignore, Intel is gearing up to compete more effectively with AMD and Cyrix/National Semi at the low end. They just introduced 336 MHz and 400 MHz Celeron CPUs at $123 and $158 per, for orders of a thousand or more. And they reduced the prices of existing Celerons (Celera?): the 300 MHz is now $71 and the 333 MHz $90. Network Solutions Seeks Cash The company, now owned 72% by SAIC, will lose its monopoly on registering Internet names this year and probably wants to diversify. Their 2-for-1 split and a secondary offering of 5 million shares should reduce SAIC's stake to 45%, and an analyst says it should qualify the stock for pooling type mergers, which may be advantageous in accounting terms. Except they better hurry, because the FASB is thinking of disallowing the pooling form of merger. Intuit CEO Urges AT&T-Style Breakup Of Microsoft William Harris surprised Microsoft's attorneys yesterday by testifying in the resumed antitrust trial that the Windows operating system gave MS \"market power [which] should not be used to leverage into other markets\". Why this surprised them is beyond me, but they criticized him on the stand for not telling them in advance he was going to say it, and asked him if the government had put him up to it. He said no. He also suggested that the court \"make a distinction between operating systems and other applications\", which probably also astounded Microsoft's attorneys with its novelty. Spyglass Misses Revenue Goals, Expects Quarterly Loss The company that once seemed to have a lock on the web-browser market is now reduced to selling \"programs that link television sets and copiers(!) to the Internet\". And they didn't sell as many of those as they hoped, because they blame slow sales for an expected 15-cent-per-share loss. Their stock declined 31% on the news. Surfing the Net with your copier is just not an idea whose time has come yet; interesting notion though."}, {"response": 10, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Jan  8, 1999 (05:58)", "body": "Wireless Computing Success Still In The Future Xerox's 1972 concept of the Dynabook, a portable computer connected to a network by radio, was never executed by them; and its more corporeal successors have yet to achieve critical mass in the marketplace. Wireless e-mail is useful to some people, but apparently not to a wide enough base of consumers necessary to support a business. While there is some hope that if they build it, users will come and a suitable killer app materialize, the evidence to date offers little support. As Geoff Goodfellow, the founder of Radiomail, puts it \"this is a zero billion dollar industry\"; the article says he sold the company to Motorola after failing to secure a profitable market. Motorola is now trying to position it for corporate niches. Another example: Paul Allen's Metricom offers unlimited Internet access at 20 KB/sec for $30 a month in Seattle, San Francisco, and DC; after three years it has only 20,000 customers. Next into the arena: 3Com's Palm VII (for people with two extra fingers?), which should cost around $800 and offer Internet access at 30 cents per kilobyte. Apple is rumored ready to move also, with an AT&T alliance to connect both laptops and even desktop systems to the Internet without wires."}, {"response": 11, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Jan 12, 1999 (09:38)", "body": "Wireless Computing Success Still In The Future Xerox's 1972 concept of the Dynabook, a portable computer connected to a network by radio, was never executed by them; and its more corporeal successors have yet to achieve critical mass in the marketplace. Wireless e-mail is useful to some people, but apparently not to a wide enough base of consumers necessary to support a business. While there is some hope that if they build it, users will come and a suitable killer app materialize, the evidence to date offers little support. As Geoff Goodfellow, the founder of Radiomail, puts it \"this is a zero billion dollar industry\"; the article says he sold the company to Motorola after failing to secure a profitable market. Motorola is now trying to position it for corporate niches. Another example: Paul Allen's Metricom offers unlimited Internet access at 20 KB/sec for $30 a month in Seattle, San Francisco, and DC; after three years it has only 20,000 customers. Next into the arena: 3Com's Palm VII (for people with two extra fingers?), which should cost around $800 and offer Internet access at 30 cents per kilobyte. Apple is rumored ready to move also, with an AT&T alliance to connect both laptops and even desktop systems to the Internet without wires. katie sez: the theory is small pipe wireless spread spectrum radio modems to isps who connect to big pipe backbone via fiber or satellite. avoid local telco copper entirely. The washdc metricom users i have talked to are wildly happy with their wireless connections. LA also has a start up wireless but their monthly rates are little improvement over isdn/dsl, which is really a rip off. http://www.interwireless.com/ http://www.metricom.com/ if metricom actually delivers at 28.8kbs, it will be a huge improvement over 9kbs which is the best speed ever i have gotten from USWest pots, usual speed is 1 to 3kbs as measured. Intel Debuts More Cheap Chips With the market for sub-$1000 PCs grown too big to ignore, Intel is gearing up to compete more effectively with AMD and Cyrix/National Semi at the low end. They just introduced 336 MHz and 400 MHz Celeron CPUs at $123 and $158 per, for orders of a thousand or more. And they reduced the prices of existing Celerons (Celera?): the 300 MHz is now $71 and the 333 MHz $90. Network Solutions Seeks Cash The company, now owned 72% by SAIC, will lose its monopoly on registering Internet names this year and probably wants to diversify. Their 2-for-1 split and a secondary offering of 5 million shares should reduce SAIC's stake to 45%, and an analyst says it should qualify the stock for pooling type mergers, which may be advantageous in accounting terms. Except they better hurry, because the FASB is thinking of disallowing the pooling form of merger. Intuit CEO Urges AT&T-Style Breakup Of Microsoft William Harris surprised Microsoft's attorneys yesterday by testifying in the resumed antitrust trial that the Windows operating system gave MS \"market power [which] should not be used to leverage into other markets\". Why this surprised them is beyond me, but they criticized him on the stand for not telling them in advance he was going to say it, and asked him if the government had put him up to it. He said no. He also suggested that the court \"make a distinction between operating systems and other applications\", which probably also astounded Microsoft's attorneys with its novelty. Spyglass Misses Revenue Goals, Expects Quarterly Loss The company that once seemed to have a lock on the web-browser market is now reduced to selling \"programs that link television sets and copiers(!) to the Internet\". And they didn't sell as many of those as they hoped, because they blame slow sales for an expected 15-cent-per-share loss. Their stock declined 31% on the news. Surfing the Net with your copier is just not an idea whose time has come yet; interesting notion though. Economists Discount Bubble Theory In Current Stock Bonanza On the excuse that economics is a technology and the stock market is certainly a business, I wanted to recap an interesting article from this week's meeting of the American Economics Association. Members' concerns that the extraordinary rise of the market since the end of 1994 would turn into a bust grew through the first part of 1998, and increased when share princes plunged in August and September. But its recovery since the Fed's rate cuts has led to a restored confidence among economists that the market is fairly valued for the current unique environment and that prices are robust, with the Fed both ready and able to sustain confidence if a panic should develop. They point to a combination of job creation, rising output, and falling unemployment, which in other times has resulted in inflation, but not now. Some of this price stability is due to coincidence (falling oil and computer prices), but others are likely to endure. These include lack of wage pressure (outside of the basketball industry) possibly related to the growing use of "}, {"response": 12, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Jan 13, 1999 (11:59)", "body": "Math Algorithms Patentable: Supreme Court Declines Appeal The high court decided without comment not to hear an appeal in the case of State Street Bank vs. Signature Financial. Signature developed financial software that included a mathematical formula for calculating mutual funds investments. State Street claimed the formula was not eligible for a patent, and the trial court agreed, but the federal appeals court for the Federal Circuit reversed and said math formulas used in business could be patented if the produced \"a useful, concrete and tangible result\". Since the Fed Circuit handles all patent appeals, the decision applies across the country. Samsung Sells AST They bought AST Research in 1995 for $377 million and sold it this week for $12.5 million to Beny Alagem, a former head of Packard Bell. Samsung will keep a 35% interest, perhaps until it finds a bigger fool. AST's debts exceed its assets by $400 million; Mr. Alagem has wisely contracted not to assume those debts. $399 PC Announced A Fremont company called Emachines with Korean financial backing plans to offer sub-$400 systems through Circuit City and mail-order retailers. They claim to have already shipped 180,000 of their sub-$500 Etower PCs in the last month and a half of 1998. Microsoft Buys Into Banyan MS will spend $10 million over three years for a 7.5% stake in Banyan. It is surmised they want Banyan's directory management technology; if they have trouble creating the Active Directory feature of the upcoming Windows NT, a Forrester Research analyst says they \"will switch from build to buy\"."}, {"response": 13, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Jan 14, 1999 (07:23)", "body": "Eternal Airplane Under Construction A lightweight plane that runs entirely on solar power is still a ways away, but NASA's \"Centurion\" approaches it. A 206-foot wide flying wing that weighs 1175 pounds empty, its solar cells will generate 31 kilowatts and its intended altitude is 100,000 feet; so far it has been tested only at low altitudes with lithium batteries so as not to damage the expensive solar array in the event of a crash. Plans are to extend the wing to 250 feet and have it flying high within two to three years. Besides scientific applications, the planes could replace some communications satellites; they can fly at lower altitudes without having to move at orbital speeds. The payload increases from 100 pounds to 600 pounds if the Centurion flies at 80,000 feet instead of 100,000, and a successor already on the drawing board called Helios is planned for 50,000-70,000 foot altitudes; but NASA plans to shoot for 100,000 feet because the model could then be used in the Martian atmosphere(!). Still to be addressed: how to replace those bags of peanuts. Lucent To Buy Ascend for $19.3 Billion The deal (if approved by Ascend's board) would give each shareholder 0.825 shares of Lucent for each Ascend share. Negotiations between the two have been underway for about 18 months. The report is that Ascend needs a bigger partner to compete effectively, and Lucent needs Ascend technology to compete with Cisco. SBC Plans Big ADSL Offering By the end of this year (just in time to fail with a Y2K bug), they will offer high-speed ADSL connections to 9.5 million customers, including 8.2 million residences. Intel, Seagate Prosper Intel's quarterly profit was up 18% to $2.1 billion, largely on sales of high-margin high-end processor chips like the Xeon and the Pentium II. Revenue rose 17% to $7.6 billion, but they lowered their cost of goods by $16 million, apparently through the introduction of an 0.25 micron manufacturing process. Seagate showed a $104 million quarterly profit compared to a $20 M operating loss a year ago; their revenue increased 8% to $1.8 billion, partly due to a \"41% rise in computer sales in December\". Liquid-Hydrogen Gas Station Opens In Germany \"Early business was slow\" according to the report; I can imagine. Still, the Shell Oil subsidiary that opened the station in Hamburg claims \"Long term, it replace oil and gas\" since hydrogen engines get 70 percent fuel efficiency compared with 23% for gasoline engines. Car makers are said to be developing hydrogen powered vehicles; no doubt the Geo Challenger and the Chrysler Hindenburg are just around the corner, so to speak. E*Trade Opens Internet Investment Bank Called E*Offering, it will underwrite stock offerings through sales over the net; they claim efficiencies over brick-and-mortar investment banks that let them charge 30 percent less."}, {"response": 14, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Jan 15, 1999 (07:07)", "body": "The Web's New Sugar Daddy by Polly Sprenger 3:00 a.m. 15.Jan.99.PST REDWOOD SHORES, California -- Oracle put US$100 million up for grabs Thursday in an attempt to convince promising technology startups to build software for its new Internet database. Speaking to a group of venture capitalists, the managers of the new Oracle Venture Fund described how the world's biggest database software company wanted to become more friendly with investors and the companies they nurture. \"Our top-line mission is to make a pot of money,\" said David Roux, investment committee member of the fund. \"But we also want to raise our profile in the financial community.\" In August, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison announced the company's new database, Oracle 8i, and described it as a product geared toward the Internet. At the time, Ellison said he intended to position 8i as a new computing platform to rival operating systems like Windows NT and Sun Solaris. Encouraging new software developers to base their products on 8i is part of that strategy. Oracle 8i was originally slated for release in December 1998, but still hasn't come out. As more businesses move their computing systems to the Internet, Oracle hopes to make its products the foundation -- much like Microsoft operating systems are the foundation of desktop computing. The Oracle Fund also will help young companies by lending them its prominence in the information technology market, Roux said. He said the target investment range was $2 million to $5 million for each company the fund invests in."}, {"response": 15, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Jan 15, 1999 (07:19)", "body": "AOL To Offer ADSL To Bell Atlantic Customers They estimate that by the end of the year, 7.5 million customers in the BA service area will be able to access the Internet via ADSL for about $40 a month, $20 over the base AOL charge. BA is said to charge about $60 a month for \"full Internet service over ADSL\", and cable modem providers about $40. Big Transatlantic Cable Planned George Soros' Global Telesystems Group and Bermuda's Flag Telecom plan a $1 billion cable to link New York with Britain and Europe beginning some time next year. Estimated capacity is 1.28 terabits a second, described as 25 times the total of existing transatlantic cables."}, {"response": 16, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Jan 19, 1999 (13:16)", "body": "Philips, Sony, Sun In Home Automation Venture Reaching out to establish a rival to Wintel plans, the three companies plan to use Sun's Java-based \"Jini\" protocol and the Home Audio Visual Interoperability (HAVI) architecture to create devices for consumer automation of home electronic appliances such as VCRs. Microsoft and Intel have created a Universal Plug and Play Alliance (with Compaq, Dell, and H-P) to promote their own standards, which not surprisingly are PC-centered, while the Jini-HAVI groups sees TV remotes and other gizmos as nodes. The two groups are expected to do battle over which protocol is included in TCI's new set-top boxes. NBC's Snap Aims Service At Highly Connected Those without ADSL or cable modems need not apply to Snap's \"Cyclone\" service (they may come to regret that name if they expand to Germany), which is designed solely for users with major bandwidth. It looks like at effort by a second-tier company (the article says \"also-ran\") to carve out a niche. At Home To Buy Excite For $6 Billion Speaking of cable modems, this deal would give At Home a major portal and end the reported bidding for Excite by Yahoo and Microsoft. At Home, worth $10.4 billion, has 330,000 customers and Excite ($3.5 B) claims 20 million \"registered users\". Since AT&T is buying TCI, who owns much of At Home, they are expected to benefit as well."}, {"response": 17, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Jan 25, 1999 (11:59)", "body": "Linux Users Demand Refund Not from Red hat, from Microsoft. Instead of automatically clicking on the \"I Agree\" button that says they capitulate to every demand MS makes on them as a condition of using Windows, some have decided to follow the instructions to \"contact the manufacturer for instructions on return of the unused product(s) for a refund\". Although Microsoft wrote the language of the agreement, MS spokesman Tom Pilla says as far as his company is concerned buying the computer with Windows pre-loaded constitutes an agreement to use it and disqualifies users from a refund; another PR triumph for Redmond's Goliath seems to be in the making. [irony alert] More details said to be available at"}, {"response": 18, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Jan 26, 1999 (13:24)", "body": "Microsoft Buys Into British Cable TV They will sink a half billion US $ in the third largest cable service in Britain, a company called NTL Inc. Lycos CEO Denies Sale rumors Robert Davis says \"what we're most committed to is the independence of Lycos\", but \"if there's a partnership out there that respects that ... we'd be interested in it.\" Whatever that means. Sun In Big Jini Push A full-page ad headlined \"Maybe all your toaster needed was someone to talk to\" features a printer that says \"Pleased to meet you\", a washing machine that replies \"Charmed, I'm sure\", and a wristwatch that can only come up with an inarticulate \"Wussup?\". Not what you'd call a killer app. Intel Withdraws Chip-ID Publishing Plan Big news on the privacy front today is Intel's retreat on its design for the Pentium III that identifies the chip serial number to outside agencies, like Caller ID or a hardware cookie burned into the PC. Latest announcement is that the feature will not be activated by default, but will need to be turned on by the user. Undisclosed Buyer Bids on Name thespring.com An undisclosed Silicon Valley startup is bidding on the name thespring.com according to an undisclosed source at Austin, Texas virtual community-ecommerce site, the Spring ( http://www.spring.net) . The source said that the buyer is backed by some high powered venture capitalists. The buyer is an ecommerce startup and is shrouded in mystery and intrigue."}, {"response": 19, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Tue, Jan 26, 1999 (19:48)", "body": "okay, give us more on that last part!"}, {"response": 20, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Jan 26, 1999 (19:51)", "body": "Yep, got a call today. We in negotiations for thespring.com but don't worry, we're keeping spring.net which is our main name anyway. Basically, well, talk to me in inner."}, {"response": 21, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Tue, Jan 26, 1999 (20:10)", "body": "gotcha"}, {"response": 22, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Jan 26, 1999 (22:21)", "body": "See, you find out who reads tech news by throwing in an occasionally show stopper."}, {"response": 23, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Wed, Jan 27, 1999 (19:45)", "body": "I'm here for ya!"}, {"response": 24, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Feb  9, 1999 (15:47)", "body": "Global Electronic Linking Of Stock Exchanges Proposed The Chicago Mercantile Exchange, the Paris Bourse, and the Singapore International Monetary Exchange are in talks to offer futures and options trading over a 24-hour a day network, to be called the Globex Alliance. Other exchanges are expected to be invited in later. AT&T To Expand Local Phone Service Over Cable Besides the deals last week, AT&T is talking with the third through the fifth largest cable TV companies: Mediaone, Comcast, and Cox Communications. They have 13 million customers, and could offer service to another 7 M homes their facilities pass by. AT&T hopes to enlist them in its drive to offer local telephone services over coaxial cable. USA Networks Likely to Buy Lycos Barry Diller's company includes the Home Shopping Network, Ticketmaster, Citysearch, and ISN First Auction. It is reported in a deal to buy Lycos, the 4th most visited Internet portal site. The combined company would have a market value of $18 billion and be called USA Lycos Interactive Network. Doesn't exactly trip off the tongue, but whatever. The interesting thing about this deal seems to be that instead of basing its revenue model on advertising, it looks toward profits from selling directly to buyers. PC Prices Fall To Zero A Pasadena company descriptively named \"Free PC Inc.\" plans to give away Compaq computers and a no-charge Internet connection, in what may be the ultimate price cut. They'll make it up in volume, ha ha. No actually they figure they'll make it up with ads, with the computer will display as long as it is turned on, whether it's connected to the Internet or not. In a curious wrinkle, anyone who wants one of their PCs must visit the company's web site , which is likely to require a computer up front. Then they have to answer a battery of demographic questions about their age, education level, income, interests, etc., and the company will decide if they are gullible enough, er, suitable to receive the $600 retail computer. A key investor in the operation is one Barry Diller, who is obviously not ready to abandon the advertising revenue model entirely."}, {"response": 25, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Feb 15, 1999 (20:27)", "body": "International Wireless Standard In Trouble In the beginning according to the article, there was analog cellular, the first generation of wireless telephones. Then came the second generation, digital PCS (personal communications services); Europeans promoted a standard called GSM (global system for mobile communications) over the American standard in a way that left some hard feelings. In the words of an American trade official their strategy was \"get it to market first, mandate it as a pan-European standard, and make sure it's not compatible with existing wireless networks in North America.\" Now it's time for Generation Three, and the battle lines are drawn. San Diego-based Qualcomm has long promoted CDMA (code division multiple access), over the objections of Sweden's Ericsson who already has a large base built on TDMA (time division blah blah) which is compatible with GSM. Tests showed CDMA, originally designed for military applications, adapted to commercial use better than expected. Just as Qualcomm was feeling justified in its judgement, Ericsson sued them for patent infringement over the technology in October 1996; the slow-moving case is supposed to go to trial this April in Texas. Ericsson appears to have fought CDMA until it proved the better way, then claimed they own the rights to it. Anyway, Ericsson is now ready to use it, but in a form that is not backwards-compatible with the existing US service, since they don't have a piece of that. Qualcomm is crying foul, demanding that the protocol be compatible, and has enlisted as allies the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Commerce, the US Trade Representative, and the chairman of the FCC. The European commissioner for telecommunications has merely replied that American standards will be forbidden in European systems, Qualcomm has counter-sued Ericsson over their own patents, and the ITU...oh, I forgot to mention about them. They are scheduled to meet in six weeks \"to forge a consensus on the next generation of wireless phones\". Ha ha; they might as well try to forge a consensus between Mac and Unix and Windows users. In fact, they have already given up trying, though they will still meet for many fine lunches and dinners at a Malaysian beach resort and spa; instead they say they will not move \"until the property rights are settled\". These are the rights that have been sued over since 1996, remember, and haven't even come to trial yet. Most analysts are pessimistic on any resolution of the issue, and expect instead that the two incompatible standards will continue on separate paths and a single global standard may not emerge for years."}, {"response": 26, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Mon, Feb 15, 1999 (22:43)", "body": "ooh, this sounds like fun..."}, {"response": 27, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Feb 19, 1999 (09:38)", "body": "Compaq To Portalize Altavista With all-in-one sites like Excite and Lycos looking like the wave of the future, Compaq plans to beef up the Altavista search site it got as part of the DEC deal with two acquisitions. They just bought shopping.com for $220 million, and for $300 million a company called Zip2 that apparently partners with local newspapers to create Citysearch-type directories on the Web. Digital Watermark Standard Agreed On Up to now two rival formats have been competing to be chosen as the standard by which copying of digital video recordings and broadcasts could be prevented. IBM and NEC supported one, and Hitachi, Pioneer, and Sony the other. They have now settled on a single format and expect DVD recorders with watermark-detection circuitry to be available in a year. A binary code will be stored in every frame of a recording; supposedly it will survive compression and conversion to any other digital format, and should only give a false positive once in over seven years of solid recording. They didn't say anything about degrading picture quality, though. I recommend Google ( http://www.google.com ) heartily. Applications Seen For Slow Light The speed of light in a vacuum is 186,171 miles a second, but it is slower when it passes through materials of different densities. By using a very dense material called a Bose-Einstein condensate, a team of scientists have slowed it down to 38 miles per hour and hope to get it down to 120 feet per hour. The technology is very far from commercial deployment - for one thing, the condensate needs to be cooled to fifty billionths of a degree Kelvin (above absolute zero), which most freezers are not built for - but the physicist in charge says that within ten years major applications may be available. Examples given include \"optically switched logic gates\" and noise filters for optical communication systems. The refractive index of the material can be raised to 100 trillion times that of optical fiber; potential applications include devices that upshift long-wavelength light such as infrared into the visible spectrum, in color. World Economic Network Detailed This is not strictly high-tech news, but it should be of interest anyway. The N Y Times has been running a seriously excellent four-part dissection of global economic interdependence that describes how the Thai, Indonesian, Korean, Russian, and Brazilian currency crises came about and how both technology and politics created a ripple effect among them. The multi-page stories ran Monday through today, and can be found at Definitely worth reading if you're interested in the subject. Firewire Consortium Formed Apple, Compaq, Matsushita, Philips, Sony, and Toshiba have agreed to jointly license their connection technology called Firewire (doesn't it also have an IEEE designation?) and promote it as a standard PC interface. It is described as already in heavy use in Macintoshes, camcorders, and VCRs. Microsoft Says AOL Uses Internet Explorer Out Of Spite In a curious sort of conspiracy theory Microsoft says that AOL, who just bought Netscape, has renewed its contract to use Internet Explorer, but did it to harm Microsoft. Their theory according to Brad Chase is that \"If they switched to Netscape, our market share would drop to 30%; that would make IE the underdog and would be inconsistent with AOL's desire to help the government in this case.\" Just think how happy MS must be that IBM just announced it will ship Linux on its servers, joining H-P and Dell. (IBM says it is even looking at putting Linux on laptops, no doubt to please MS.)"}, {"response": 28, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Fri, Feb 19, 1999 (09:43)", "body": "no doubt..."}, {"response": 29, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Mon, May 24, 1999 (13:09)", "body": "ENGLEWOOD, Colo., May 21 /PRNewswire/ via NewsEdge Corporation -- Holding its commencement exercises on the Internet, Jones International University: The University of the Web (JIU) celebrated its first graduation ceremony as a fully accredited academic institution. The graduation ceremony, which includes a web cast of the degree conferment and web pages for each graduate, is archived at http://www.jonesinternational.edu/graduation . JIU's 1999 graduates are: 1. Bob Bone of Independence, MO, who found that JIU was the most feasible way to complete a masters degree as the owner of a company and father of four; 2. David Chavez of Palmdale, CA , who has five years' experience in marketing and public relations and needed a degree in business communication to achieve his career goals; 3. Joan Crittenden of Waldorf, MD, who learned effective communication skills and how to make a Web page for her employer while attending JIU; 4. Noreen McGahn of Brigantine, NJ, a school nurse and health educator who's on-the-job performance has greatly improved from JIU's rigorous coursework; 5. and Rosemarie Slocum-Rubenstein of Minneapolis, MN, the founder and president of a physician search consulting firm, who believes her JIU education has helped her to run a more effective business. About JIU Founded in 1995 as International University, JIU exists entirely in cyberspace. The online educational environment enables JIU to offer degree and certificate programs to students around the world. The cyber classroom environment also provides more flexibility to students, who may not be able to attend classes on campus because of geographic distances, work schedules or personal commitments. Earlier this year, JIU received accreditation from the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, which is esponsible for the accreditation of colleges and schools in 19 states. JIU is the first online university to receive accreditation from a nationally recognized accrediting body. For more information, visit JIU's campus on the web at http://www.jonesinternational.edu/ or call 1-800-811-Jones. SOURCE Jones International University: The University of the Web (JIU) [Copyright 1999, PR Newswire]"}, {"response": 30, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Nov 18, 1999 (17:33)", "body": "John should know about this place. I shall email him with the information."}, {"response": 31, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Nov 20, 1999 (13:39)", "body": "I did and he lamented that all they offered was a BA and MA in communications neither of which would help him."}, {"response": 32, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Feb  9, 2000 (12:16)", "body": "Yahoo introduces email bug after attack By Paul Festa Staff Writer, CNET News.com February 8, 2000, 5:35 p.m. PT URL: http://news.cnet.com/category/0-1005-200-1545407.html In its haste to recover from yesterday's \"denial of service\" attack, Yahoo inadvertently introduced a bug into its Web-based email system that is causing some messages received through the service to be delivered empty and unlabeled. Some messages appeared stripped of their headers, showing up in the in-box with the subject \"(none)\" and lacking any information about sender, recipient or subject when the message was opened. Those messages, however, did contain the body of the email text. Other messages weren't as lucky, showing up devoid of any content or labeling. Yahoo said the problem arose out of efforts to restore the flow of information between its various services and applications following the denial of service attack. In a denial of service attack, Web sites succumb to heavy bombardment of bogus requests for information. When the targeted server responds, the attackers' system steps up the barrage by sending more requests. The affected Web site struggles to keep up with the mounting number of requests, slowing performance for users or ultimately crashing the system. The assault on Yahoo was followed today by attacks on Buy.com and eBay. A bug accidentally introduced during Yahoo's denial of service cleanup caused some Yahoo Mail messages to become garbled, according to the company. But a company representative said no information was actually lost, and Yahoo engineers are at work restoring headers and bodies to those email messages. Users who deleted those mysterious messages should retrieve them from the Trash folder pending the restoration of data, the representative said. Users who have deleted blank messages and subsequently emptied their trash appear to have lost their email for good. Yahoo would not estimate when the fix would be complete."}, {"response": 33, "author": "vibrown", "date": "Tue, Feb 22, 2000 (19:17)", "body": "The San Jose Mercury News has some good coverage on the Microsoft Antitrust case: http://www.sjmercury.com/business/microsoft/trial Apparently both sides are making their closing arguments today. I'm certainly no fan of Gates and Microsoft, but I have to say I think they're wasting their time arguing about whether Internet Explorer(aka Exploder) is part of the OS or not. To me, the real crime is Microsoft's predatory licensing agreements with PC manufacturers. I understand that Microsoft won't license their Windows operating systems to PC manufacturers if they install competing software products (like Netscape) on new PCs. For one company to dictate what software gets installed on new PCs is unbelievable!"}, {"response": 34, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Feb 22, 2000 (20:19)", "body": "I see you have found the rest of Spring. Now, make a hotlist which does not quit. Mine has all but about 5 conferences on it. Thanks for posting this and for your comments. Somehow, Mocrosoft has lost sight of the American right to choose."}, {"response": 35, "author": "vibrown", "date": "Wed, Feb 23, 2000 (13:55)", "body": "Microsoft has always found ways to buy or crush competing (and usually better quality) products. It will be interesting to see what happens with this case. I don't want the government to dictate what features can be included in products, and I don't know if breaking up Microsoft would really be the best thing (what good did it really do with AT&T, now that all the baby bells are merging again??). All I know is that Microsoft should be punished for blocking competing products from reaching consumers."}, {"response": 36, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Feb 23, 2000 (14:00)", "body": "I agree with you both in substance and sentiment. It is not an easy thing to deal with, but it should not have been allowed to dictate to a world-wide communications meduim for as long as it (he) did."}, {"response": 37, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Mar  6, 2000 (14:51)", "body": "AMD Unveils First 1 GHz Chip Before Rival Intel NEW YORK (Reuters) - The No. 2 computer chip maker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD.N) on Monday unveiled the first 1 gigahertz (GHz) computer chip, beating its far larger competitor Intel Corp. (INTC.O) to the punch to claim industry bragging rights. Advanced Micro said it had begun shipments of its 1 GHz AMD Athlon processors, an announcement that analysts had been anticipating this week. Intel also is expected to follow shortly with its own announcement, perhaps later this week. ``Achieving production of the gigahertz processor is the chip industry's equivalent of breaking the sound barrier,'' Steve Lapinski, director of product marketing in AMD's Computation Products Group. Analysts, however note that these chips will not be available in big volumes after they are launched, and that only a handful of personal computer makers are likely to announce products designed for one gigahertz processors. ``I don't think there is a big push from an OEM (original equipment manufacturer) perspective. It's just bragging rights,'' said Ashok Kumar, an analyst with US Bancorp Piper Jaffray, said. Advanced Micro said it would immediately begin shipping its chips to its two lead partners, Compaq Computer Corp. (CPQ.N) and Gateway Inc. (GTW.N) Compaq said on Monday it will sell computers with AMD's 1 GHz chip with prices starting as low as $2,000 up to $3,300, with the typical price around $2,499. Customers can begin placing orders March 9, with express shipment putting the computers available in users hands within 4-5 days, or 7-10 days with regular shipment. Gateway said Computer machines will begin pricing at $2,999 and products will be shipped within eight to 10 days. AMD also said it plans to begin shipping the high-speed chips to all other computer makers in April. AMD priced its 1 GHz Athlon processors at $1,299 in 1,000 unit quantities. It also announced the availability of a 950 MHz chip at $999 in 1,000 unit quantities and 900 MHz Athlon processors priced at $899 in 1,000 unit quantities."}, {"response": 38, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Apr  2, 2000 (18:31)", "body": "This story would fit just about anywhere on the Spring, but I thought I's clear the cobwebs out of here today: Granny Missing? No Worry With Satellite Tracking TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese companies have solved the problem of straying senior citizens track them by satellite. A device for finding old people unable to take care of themselves uses a satellite-based global positioning system and a cellular phone network. Local governments in Tokyo and Japan's Kikuchi City plan to test the device, developed by a group led by trading house Mitsui & Co ``We are definitely expecting a market to develop for the system,'' a Mitsui spokesman said. A transmitter attached to the body or on clothing beams coordinates of the person to a local server. Concerned relatives just need to send a request by portable terminal and up pops the runaway's location on a computerized map. Systems already exist in Japan for finding lost people but they rely on technology for personal handyphones a type of mobile phone and do not work well if the escapee jumps on a train or takes to the mountains. And the idea is not simply pie in the sky given the graying of Japan's population. Already there are an estimated 1.88 million elderly people in Japan suffering various degrees of senility. The device will be tested later this year with a planned launch in early 2001."}, {"response": 39, "author": "vibrown", "date": "Tue, May  9, 2000 (00:13)", "body": "Interesting...there was something else about GPS technology in the news recently. It sounded like GPS-based communicators are on the way to being available commercially."}, {"response": 40, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, May  9, 2000 (00:24)", "body": "Wouldn't that be nice!"}, {"response": 41, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Fri, May 12, 2000 (08:07)", "body": "The big news has been the new accuracy of the GPS, which used to be a few hundred feet off, now Mickey, our local \"Czar of the GPS\" notes that he can watch himself change lanes on his GPS. They were once skewed off accuracy intentionally for fear terrorists would use them to drop a missle down a smokestack somewhere."}, {"response": 42, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, May 14, 2000 (19:16)", "body": "Beware of smokestacks and air conditioning ducts (which seem to be out favorite targets from the footage taken in the Libyan altercation. (I think I need one to find my house male in Walmart since he is my ride home...) I had heard from my geek son that they were getting VERY precise!"}, {"response": 43, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Mon, May 15, 2000 (10:25)", "body": "You could use them to find your car in a parking lot now."}, {"response": 44, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, May 15, 2000 (11:36)", "body": "Indeed! Can kids, Granny or wandering spouse be far behind?!"}, {"response": 45, "author": "vibrown", "date": "Fri, May 19, 2000 (14:03)", "body": "I went searching for some information on GPS, and found some urls that look interesting: http://tycho.usno.navy.mil/gps.html http://gps.laafb.af.mil/ http://www.gpsworld.com/ http://www.navtechgps.com/ http://www.gps4fun.com/ http://joe.mehaffey.com/ I wonder how long before wireless phones and GPS merge?"}, {"response": 46, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, May 19, 2000 (21:42)", "body": "Ok Ginny!!! Thanks! Haven't they merged them yet? Perhaps I saw one on a report from a Hi-Tech show, but I am almost sure someone has one almost ready to put on the market!"}, {"response": 47, "author": "vibrown", "date": "Sat, May 20, 2000 (00:32)", "body": "Navtech has an analog cell phone with GPS powered maps for $400; http://www.navtechgps.com/supply/navtalk.asp They also have a \"World Phone\" that uses GPS to place a call anywhere in the world, but that costs $2850; http://www.navtechgps.com/supply/Wphone.asp"}, {"response": 48, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Sat, May 20, 2000 (00:48)", "body": "How can a gps be used to make a call?"}, {"response": 49, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, May 20, 2000 (01:47)", "body": "Not that - it is a combo deal which fits in your pocket - at least the one I saw was like that."}, {"response": 50, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, May 20, 2000 (01:51)", "body": "Wow, I was right! They are out there for people with lots o' cash. You can locate yourself and call the AAA and guide them to it if our car breaks down?!"}, {"response": 51, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Sat, May 20, 2000 (07:00)", "body": "Lots' o cash, alright, for this Mission Impossible looking cellphone in a briefcase."}, {"response": 52, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, May 20, 2000 (20:10)", "body": "But, Terry..it is SO Cool...! I expect to hear your acquisiton of same in the next few permutations. Competition should bring the prices into more realistic range - I hope!"}, {"response": 53, "author": "vibrown", "date": "Tue, May 23, 2000 (12:52)", "body": "Sounds like that World Phone uses the satellite to reach areas that don't have cell towers, but I don't have a clue how it works."}, {"response": 54, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, May 23, 2000 (14:42)", "body": "It's not with smoke and mirrors anymore, but it has to contain an uplink and a downlink - the reason for the attache case attached, I imagine. Just like a satellite game live from Hilo to Texas!"}, {"response": 55, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jun 28, 2000 (23:03)", "body": "PENTIUM IV By Michael Kanellos Staff Writer, CNET News.com June 28, 2000, 9:00 a.m. PT Intel will call Willamette, its next-generation processor, the Pentium 4. The Pentium 4 will succeed the Pentium III and in many ways will be a landmark release for the chipmaker. For one, Willamette, and a related chip for servers code-named \"Foster,\" will feature an entirely new architecture, which will give the company room to innovate or tap new features. For more than five years, new Intel microprocessors have relied on the same basic architecture. The Pentium Pro, which came out in October 1995, effectively features the same \"P6\" design as the Pentium II, the Celeron, Xeon processors and the Pentium III. Although the P6 architecture has enjoyed a good commercial life, the architecture is reaching its performance limits. One of the reasons Advanced Micro Devices has been able to put so much pressure on Intel in recent months is that its Athlon chip features a brand-new architecture with plenty of untapped headroom. This has permitted AMD to raise the clock speed almost at will. Pentium 4 will debut at an initial speed of 1.4 GHz, according to Intel. Rather than increase speed in 33-MHz or 50-MHz increments, the chips will jump by 100 MHz at a time. In other words, the next step up will be a 1.5-GHz chip. As with the earlier Pentium generations, the Pentium 4 will likely be split into sub-brands. Another feature will be a 400-MHz system bus, roughly three times as fast as Intel's current system bus. The system bus serves as a data conduit between the processor and the rest of the computer. The faster it is, the better. When combined with Rambus memory, Willamette computers are expected to establish new levels of desktop performance, analysts have said. The chip is expected to debut late in the third quarter or early in the fourth quarter. Paul Otellini, general manager of the Intel Architecture Group, said in April that Willamette computers would be available for the peak buying season in 2000. An Intel spokesman said \"hundreds of thousands\" of systems will ship this year. Many predicted that Intel would use the Pentium 4 designation. The only thing that may catch notice is the shift from Roman to Arabic numerals. \"They've got a lot of brand equity in Pentium,\" said analyst Nathan Brookwood of Insight 64. \"I would be surprised if it was something else.\" Chairman Andy Grove said earlier this year that it could be expected that the company would leverage the Pentium brand name in some fashion. \"Pentium is one of the most recognized brands in the world, and it has strong equity with users,\" said Erik Reid, senior brand manager at Intel, who added that the color scheme of the chip will be blue and orange, rather than blue and green. \"We wanted a bold contemporary look for the new badge.\""}, {"response": 56, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Nov  1, 2002 (16:52)", "body": "Funny to read these early posts... the first 1 GHz chip!!! Pentium 4!!!"}, {"response": 57, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Nov  1, 2002 (21:37)", "body": "The business conference (also the news conference) has some recent tech news. We get it from Ron Sipherd, whose tech tidbits are excellent. news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 26, "subject": "Senator Rodham (Hillary Clinton for NY Senate)", "response_count": 17, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Feb 18, 1999 (10:33)", "body": "I can't!"}, {"response": 2, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Feb 18, 1999 (10:43)", "body": "well, she's establishing residency by purchasing that apartment in NY."}, {"response": 3, "author": "osceola", "date": "Thu, Feb 18, 1999 (12:17)", "body": "This is media hype. I don't believe she will. I think after all they've been through for 8 years, they should just relax for a few years, then use the stature of being ex-president and first lady to do something useful. Like Jimmy Carter."}, {"response": 4, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Feb 18, 1999 (12:51)", "body": "of course it won't happen overnight, she's got to lose the clinton stigma. once she does that, who knows!"}, {"response": 5, "author": "autumn", "date": "Thu, Feb 18, 1999 (14:13)", "body": "I agree with George. The media have sunk their teeth into this one, and the White House couldn't be more pleased since the attention's been deflected off Clinton's problems for a change. With all Hillary's baggage (don't forget Whitewater), she'd be a fool to put herself out there--divide and conquer. They are much more powerful as a team."}, {"response": 6, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Feb 18, 1999 (14:20)", "body": "guess it's a wait and see deal. granted, hillary's not innocent in the \"skeletons\" department."}, {"response": 7, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Thu, Feb 18, 1999 (18:17)", "body": "where do I go to apply to be her page?"}, {"response": 8, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Feb 19, 1999 (07:13)", "body": "Uh huh, you're looknig for a million dollar book deal?"}, {"response": 9, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Fri, Feb 19, 1999 (08:43)", "body": "*shrug*"}, {"response": 10, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Feb 19, 1999 (10:39)", "body": "Dont' give up so easily."}, {"response": 11, "author": "wer", "date": "Fri, Feb 19, 1999 (11:11)", "body": "that wasn't a shrug of giving up... that was a shrug of no comment!"}, {"response": 12, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sat, Aug 14, 1999 (15:54)", "body": "anyone heard anything on this recently?"}, {"response": 13, "author": "autumn", "date": "Mon, Aug 16, 1999 (22:10)", "body": "The first family was househunting in wealthy Westchester county yesterday--saw a property for $2.3 mil that interested them..."}, {"response": 14, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Aug 18, 1999 (18:04)", "body": "Yeah, it has seven bedrooms and Hillary's mom is moving in, they have to work two 12 hour shifts to keep a handle on Bill."}, {"response": 15, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Aug 26, 1999 (16:24)", "body": "I grew up in the neighborhood where they are seeking a home. They will most likely find their neighbors a bit unfriendly."}, {"response": 16, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Mon, May 22, 2000 (04:52)", "body": "Slate says: Why Rudy Quit Commentators have focused on New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani's health and his troubled marriage as the reasons for his withdrawal from New York's U.S. Senate race. \"But there's a third factor, which hasn't been much discussed,\" Jacob Weisberg writes. \"Rudy would almost certainly have lost to Hillary Clinton even if he were in good health and happily married.\""}, {"response": 17, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, May 22, 2000 (18:57)", "body": "Not from what my sister on Long Island said. Loads of people in her senatorial district dislike her intensely. It all depends on who runs against her now... news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 27, "subject": "Radio news", "response_count": 12, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Feb 23, 1999 (11:48)", "body": "I'm always driving in the car listening to NPR and often the stories get me so riled up I talk/yell back at the radio. Yesterday I listened, disgusted, to the report from the trial of one of the most deplorable people I've ever heard about. The King trial. You know, the one where they dragged that poor man behind a speeding pick-up for miles until there wasn't much left. He was black, they are white. They were looking for a little fun in their sick white supremacist way... He was walking home from a party. The cororner said he was not only alive for most of the 'ride' but concsious, trying to shift his body one way and then another to relieve some of the pain/pressure/what ever horrible feeling he must have had being dragged behind a truck. His gentials were shorn off (they took his shirt off and pulled his pants and underwear down before draging him), his face was ground to the bone in parts... I was and still am so damn sickened by the whole thing. They want to give him the death penalty. I don't think that's fair. He took the life of another man in a most heinous (I can't even come up with an acceptable word) way and they'll put a little needle in his arm and send him off to eternal dream land. I wish I believed in an afterworld... so I could be sure he'd suffer indefinitely. The man didn't die until he was \"beheaded by a concrete culvert\" I am all pissy and angry and you know what... most irrationally so. I'd join a bandwagon lych mob for the bastard... commit my own disgusting crimes to ensure he paid... that kinda scares me how upset I am. Anyway. Seemed like I needed/still need to vent so a topic was in order. Anybody else have any opinions about this ... this... (acckkkk! can't come up with powerful enough words)"}, {"response": 2, "author": "osceola", "date": "Tue, Feb 23, 1999 (12:29)", "body": "The Statesman had a story from Jasper this Sunday about a white kid suspended from school because he keeps wearing a Confederate flag belt buckle. The school told him to stop because of the trial and all the hard feelings in town right now. His stupid moron of a father has asked the KKK to provide him with help. I'm sure most people in Jasper are good, but they've got some people there who make the whole place look bad. People will always associate that town with this murder case."}, {"response": 3, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Feb 23, 1999 (13:02)", "body": "I certainly don't hold it against the town... but yea, the association will stick."}, {"response": 4, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Thu, Feb  7, 2036 (02:27)", "body": "the guy got convicted after only 2 hours of deliberation today, and tomorrow i hope he gets the death penalty."}, {"response": 5, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Feb  7, 2036 (02:42)", "body": "only two hours? shoulda taken 5 minutes. and yes, it was heinous, ignorant crime. some people just are totally clueless. and they make me so angry. we all have people like that in our towns. we had an incident where some kids vandalized a black man's property and it was just down the road from my house. and there are a ton of those stereotypical rednecks here. you know, the sloppy truck, rebel flag plastered all over it in some way or another, gun rack, etc. if there's anything besides lying that i c n't stand, it's ignorance. and you can be well educated and still be ignorant. sorry, now i'm venting. and, i believe in hell, so if this guy doesn't believe before he dies, he will be punished."}, {"response": 6, "author": "autumn", "date": "Wed, Feb 24, 1999 (18:14)", "body": "I get physically ill reading that stuff in the paper. Here I live less than an hour from Baltimore, which must be one of the most \"ethnic\" major cities (read black) in the US. That kind of stuff just doesn't happen here (famous last words)..."}, {"response": 7, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Feb 24, 1999 (19:55)", "body": "really?"}, {"response": 8, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Feb 25, 1999 (16:59)", "body": "king has been sentenced to lethal injection....."}, {"response": 9, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Feb 25, 1999 (21:13)", "body": "too easy for him... I wanna ... nevermind. I'm just sounding as bad as any other lynch mob ,eh? perhaps something like \"justice has been served... let's see if they can miss his veins a few times at least before they get it right\""}, {"response": 10, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Thu, Feb 25, 1999 (22:10)", "body": "but, he gets all those years of appeals...maybe something will happen in prison... and did any of you hear about the shockjock who got fired because after he played a Lauryn Hill song he said, \"No wonder people drag them behind pickups.\"?"}, {"response": 11, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Feb 26, 1999 (09:43)", "body": "jeez. what an ass. Noticed that the top story today was the weather in New England... How you doing Autumn?!?!?!"}, {"response": 12, "author": "autumn", "date": "Mon, Mar 22, 1999 (22:39)", "body": "We used up all our snowdays, plus one got added to the school calendar--we don't get out now till June 23. Did I mention the school's not air conditioned? That DJ is the Greaseman, a DC personality that I've listened to for nearly 15 years. His whole schtick is to be inflammatory--that station is as much to blame as him--it's what they hired him to do (be a shockjock, that is). news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 28, "subject": "Columbine High School Tragedy", "response_count": 24, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Apr 23, 1999 (21:38)", "body": "From today's NYT: The repercussions were felt far beyond Colorado. In Alabama and Florida, the school shooting led lawmakers to postpone consideration of bills that would prohibit cities and counties from suing gun makers for the cost of gun violence. The bills, similar to others passed around the country, were introduced at the behest of the National Rifle Association to protect the firearms industry from liability suits. Also Wednesday, officials of the N.R.A. said they had decided to scale back their national membership meeting, scheduled for May 1 in Denver. In a letter, the association's president, the actor Charlton Heston, said the group was canceling a gun show along with all other \"festive ceremonies normally associated with our annual gathering.\" The group was nevertheless going to hold its annual members meeting at the city's convention center. The event was modified \"to show our profound sympathy and respect for the families and communities in the Denver area in their time of great loss,\" said a letter signed by Heston. \"Our spirits must endure this terrible suffering together, and so must the freedoms that bring us together,\" said the letter. But Heston and some politicians said that the violence might have been averted if someone else had been armed at the school. \"Had there been someone who was armed, in this particular situation, in my opinion, it may have stabilized,\" said Gov. Jesse Ventura of Minnesota, who supports loosening restrictions on concealed handguns.... And Heston said the incident showed that there should be armed guards in the nation's schools. \"If there had been even one armed guard in the school, he could have saved a lot of lives and perhaps ended the whole thing instantly,\" he said today in in Los Angeles. There was, in fact, an armed guard at the school."}, {"response": 2, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Apr 24, 1999 (12:58)", "body": "and manson is banned from having a concert there...."}, {"response": 3, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Sun, Apr 25, 1999 (03:39)", "body": "Please notice Gun Culture topic in Philosophy Conference."}, {"response": 4, "author": "stacey", "date": "Sun, Apr 25, 1999 (16:53)", "body": "Paul... is there any way we could change the title of this topic? If not, I understand but (hemming and hawing) it's rather upsetting. Besides making me physically ill... I don't want other people to get the impression we are not a sensitive group I've never objected to semi-sensationalized titles before but, then again, this has never happened to people I know and live with before either"}, {"response": 5, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Sun, Apr 25, 1999 (16:56)", "body": "i completely agree"}, {"response": 6, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Apr 26, 1999 (12:00)", "body": "Sure, I'll change, what do you want it to be, Stace?"}, {"response": 7, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Mon, Apr 26, 1999 (12:11)", "body": "I object to the goth-part as most likely not being correct and the \"waste\" thing as something rude (while in this case - judging from what can be reconstructured of their mindset - \"wasting\" was exactly what these two sorry creatures were out to do). Not that you meant to offense."}, {"response": 8, "author": "stacey", "date": "Mon, Apr 26, 1999 (14:30)", "body": "Everyone here just refers to it as Columbine. period the end. But, for the benefit of others perhaps Columbine High School Tragedy would be expressive enough.? (Thanks Paul...)"}, {"response": 9, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Tue, Apr 27, 1999 (07:36)", "body": "Over here, it's \"Littleton\". That would make it \"Littleton, Col.: Columbine High School Tragedy\" or \"Columbine High School Tragedy (Littleton, Col.)\". And the more I hear about this, the more I wonder. The poor crazed creatures who did this! Imagine what pain you must feel to grow so much hate and ignorance, and how closed up you must be, if there's no other way to vent your feelings and voice your thoughts. They in the end weren't losers. They won. They transferred the sadness and frustration of their short sorry lives into a multitude of other peoples lives; this is the true gruelty of the event. So, to not let them win, one should laugh and look at what remains with love. Quite the tall order, no? Just shows how naive I am in some respects."}, {"response": 10, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Apr 27, 1999 (15:36)", "body": "I'm not sure the goal was something as well thought out as transfer of sadness... if it were then you are indeed 100% correct and yes it is a tall order... ... but it's just about the best possible means for growth... look at, respect and nuture what remains"}, {"response": 11, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Apr 27, 1999 (16:42)", "body": "I changed the name. There was a piece on tv about gun shows last night. This is where guns change hands freely, there are absolutely no restrictions. Anything goes. Want yer uzzi, ak47, whatever you need, no matter how old you are, no matter what your record, it can be had at one of over 8,000 gun shoes in this country."}, {"response": 12, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Apr 27, 1999 (17:08)", "body": "(thanks for changing the name Paul)"}, {"response": 13, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Wed, Apr 28, 1999 (05:28)", "body": "that can't be a good thing, terry"}, {"response": 14, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Apr 28, 1999 (09:06)", "body": "Billary came out with some major anti-gun measures today, giving our Austin morning talk show hosts, Sammy and Bob, a hernia. But they want to limit buys to one gun a month, raise the gun totin' age to 21 from 18 and require background checks at gun shows. Trent Lott also had a fit over this."}, {"response": 15, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Wed, Apr 28, 1999 (09:13)", "body": "One a month? My, you guys sure use 'em up fast!"}, {"response": 16, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Apr 28, 1999 (09:15)", "body": "Yep, they'll be a gun of the month club now."}, {"response": 17, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Apr 28, 1999 (09:17)", "body": "From an MSNBC report: PEOPLE'S LIVES are at stake here,\" Clinton said at a White House ceremony after joining first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and lawmakers from around the country in a moment of silence for the community of Littleton, Colo. Clinton's gun-control package would require mandatory child-safety locks on all guns sold; require purchasers of weapons at gun shows to undergo background checks; impose a lifetime ban on gun ownership for people who commit violent crimes as juveniles and institute a three-day waiting period for all handgun purchases. The Brady law's five-day waiting period lapsed last year. The package, which the White House called \"the most comprehensive gun legislation any administration has put forward in 30 years,\" also proposes banning juvenile possession of semiautomatic assault rifles, halting imports of all high-capacity ammunition clips and limiting an individual's handgun purchases to one per month. Republican leaders and even some Democrats, however, were not impressed. After Clinton made his remarks, Senate Republican leader Trent Lott called the plan a \"typical knee-jerk reaction\" and said he understood that 17 laws were broken by the two teens who murdered fellow students and a teacher. The rest is at http://www.msnbc.com/msn/262926.asp"}, {"response": 18, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Wed, Apr 28, 1999 (20:03)", "body": "well, it sounds like common sense to me. america has a gun problem - that's a plain and simple fact. as much as I support freedom there can be too much of it. over here in the UK it's now completely illegal to hold any kind of weapon above .22 calibre. you can't even have them in gun clubs. the UK olympic shooting team has to train abroad because they're not allowed to keep weapons. now *that* is over the top. checking whether someone is a psycho before you sell them a very good murder tool is not ver the top."}, {"response": 19, "author": "autumn", "date": "Wed, Apr 28, 1999 (22:59)", "body": "I prefer the English philosophy, Mike--conservative to a fault. That's why the pickpockets are so artful there! Not like here, where they just stick a gun in your ribs and demand your wallet."}, {"response": 20, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Thu, Apr 29, 1999 (05:40)", "body": "hehe....that's right. you've got to respect someone who can bump into you, apologise politely *and* make off with your wallet ;))"}, {"response": 21, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, Apr 29, 1999 (10:08)", "body": "Hey, what's that! Where IS my wallet?"}, {"response": 22, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, Apr 29, 1999 (10:10)", "body": "Oh, it's you again, Mikey! How are ya, ladddie! Goin' strong on tha' bankin' thang? Might 's well give up the ol' 'abits, wot! (Pickpocket inna suit? Can't have that around here!)"}, {"response": 23, "author": "autumn", "date": "Mon, May  3, 1999 (12:16)", "body": "LOL at the cockney, Alexander!!"}, {"response": 24, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Tue, May  4, 1999 (07:57)", "body": "I've heard police are about to make arrests concerning this here tragedy. How are these people involved? news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 29, "subject": "gwbush.com", "response_count": 9, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Jun 10, 1999 (10:53)", "body": "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 26, 1999 BUSH REQUESTS \"LIMITS TO FREEDOM\" Internet bites Bush: Not news. Bush bites Internet: News! Contact: Ray Thomas (mailto:bushinfo@rtmark.com) Zack Exley (mailto:zackexley@yahoo.com) The satirical website GWBush.com has received several million hits since a press conference Friday at which Texas governor and probable presidential candidate George W. Bush called its owner \"a garbage man\" and said \"There ought to be limits to freedom.\" The outburst followed two separate attempts by Bush campaign attorneys to shut down the site. (For coverage of the comments, please visit the press archive at http://gwbush.com/. ) Those behind GWBush.com--a Boston computer consultant named Zack Exley, and RTMARK--ascribe their site's newfound notoriety to the interesting nature of Bush's words themselves, and also to the ease and speed with which ordinary people can make their voices heard on the Internet. The statement, besides being broadcast on television and reprinted in hundreds of newspapers in the U.S. and abroad, immediately became a hot topic of discussion on the Internet. According to RTMARK spokesperson Ray Thomas, \"Anyone at all can now compete for attention with huge, wealthy corporations--or with well-funded candidates. Bush's 'limits to freedom' quote is interesting because it reflects the (usually unspoken) desire of certain market segments to suppress this potential of the Internet.\" \"The Internet has amplified the voice of the ordinary citizen,\" said Exley. \"This web site is only two months old and cost only $210, yet we already have more readers than many major political magazines. Americans are excited about this new power and freedom, and they will distrust a candidate who says he wants to limit that freedom.\" Bush's statement was the latest in a series of widely-reported gaffes related to GWBush.com. Here follows a blow-by-blow account of the action: 1. The Bush campaign fails to reserve permutations of Bush's name, and in December of 1998 Zack Exley purchases GWBush.com, GWBush.org and GBush.org. 2. Upon noticing GWBush.com, with content by RTMARK and Exley, Bush campaign advisor Karl Rove belatedly scrambles to reserve up to 260 'bush'-related domain names (Bush campaign accounts of the actual number vary). When this frenzy becomes a running joke on the internet, Bush spokespeople claim the names were reserved in the summer of 1998. (Internic records available to the public reveal that the domains names were in fact reserved two months after Exley reserved his.) 3. Bush attorney Benjamin Ginsberg sends Exley a cease-and-desist letter, and shortly afterward registers a complaint with the Federal Elections Commission. 4. The Bush campaign tells press interested in the above situation that GWBush.com contains click-throughs to pornography sites. RTMARK and Exley are inundated with emails from frustrated visitors seeking pictures of nude women. (Note: GWBush.com has never contained nor linked to pornographic images of any kind.) 5. The Bush campaign tells press that GWBush.com is deceptive. (Meanwhile, the Bush campaign uses the negative domain names it has bought--bushblows.com, bushsux.org, etc.--to point unsuspecting Internet users to the official campaign website.) 6. Governor Bush himself lashes out at GWBush.com at a televised press conference, calling the site's owner \"a garbage man\" and saying \"There ought to be limits to freedom.\" The quote is widely reported and becomes a hot topic of discussion on the Internet. 7. Domain name speculators begin snapping up other names related to the Bush campaign, like gwcocainejr.com, bush-lite.com, and cokeisbush.com. GWBush.com itself has so far reserved justsayyestobush.com, fantasticbush.com, bushisnicelydressed.org, and about a dozen others. For more about GWBush.com, including a partial press archive and letters from visitors, please visit the site itself. RTMARK ( http://rtmark.com/ ) uses its limited liability as a corporation to sponsor the sabotage of mass-produced products. One of RTMARK's ultimate aims is to eliminate the principle of limited liability. Occasionally, as with http://www.gwbush.com/ , RTMARK participates in advocacy directly related to issues of corporate abuses of the political process. # 30 #"}, {"response": 2, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Jun 10, 1999 (17:14)", "body": "why doesn't he just concentrate on his campaign than on other people who have nothing better to do...."}, {"response": 3, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Thu, Jun 10, 1999 (17:42)", "body": "maybe this is the only way he knows how..."}, {"response": 4, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Sun, Jun 13, 1999 (04:14)", "body": "Wolf, perhaps this is a PR sideshow to have people go \"Aw, the poor deary!\", so he gets coverage for free while NOT HAVING TO DELIVER ANYTHING SUBSTANCIAL on his views. We got elections today for EU commissions. Dunno what I'm gonna vote for..."}, {"response": 5, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sun, Jun 13, 1999 (09:18)", "body": "peace, justice, and the American way?"}, {"response": 6, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Mon, Jun 14, 1999 (12:42)", "body": "Like hell I would! (locking the double barrelled sawed-off shotgun I pulled from my black trench coat) Whaddaya say, bub? ...actually, this was the first time I missed an election. Ever. In my whole life. Bah! But I bought a Bobbie Gentry record, so perhaps somebody might forgive me..."}, {"response": 7, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Tue, Jun 15, 1999 (22:40)", "body": "might just!"}, {"response": 8, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Nov  1, 1999 (18:08)", "body": "Gov. George W. Bush suffered minor bruises to his right leg and hip Monday when he dove to avoid a truck while he was jogging on the Town Lake hike and bike trail this afternoon, his office said. Police were called to the intersection of Cesar Chavez Street and Lamar Boulevard shortly after noon when a tractor-trailer truck overturned, said Austin Police spokeswoman Sally Muir. Bush was treated for minor injuries at the scene and then left, said Warren Hassinger, spokesman for Austin Emergency Medical Services. \"Governor Bush is in good condition and good spirits,\" a statement from the governor's office said. Texas Department of Public Safety agent Roscoe Hughey, 39, also was injured in the incident and was taken to Brackenridge Hospital with \"nonlife-threatening injuries,\" Hassinger said. Hughey was traveling with Bush on a bicycle when he was hit by debris flying from the truck. Muir said authorities weren't immediately certain what the debris was. The statement from Bush's office said \"he hopes that Sergeant Hughey's injuries are not serious and that he will be able to leave the hospital today.\""}, {"response": 9, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Nov  1, 1999 (20:09)", "body": "(Are the democrats that afraid of him that they send their worst drivers out to run him off the roads in Texas? How appalling!) news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 3, "subject": "The Finder - where is ________ on the Spring?", "response_count": 4, "posts": [{"response": 2, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Apr 18, 1998 (22:45)", "body": "Uh, do we hae one? I think the old Spring did. Should I create one?"}, {"response": 4, "author": "pmnh", "date": "Sun, Apr 19, 1998 (02:42)", "body": "might try http://www.writersbbs.com or http://www.poesie.com both are rather interesting..."}, {"response": 5, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Apr 19, 1998 (09:11)", "body": "I need to start one for the Austin writers League to use. I've been talking to Larry Brill of the local NBC affiliate about doing this. Larry has his homepage on the Spring."}, {"response": 6, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Mon, Apr 19, 1999 (15:03)", "body": "I would like to invite all visitors of this conference to the International Conflicts conference here on the Spring: http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/restricted/browse/InternationalConflicts/all This new conference is dedicated to the disputes between groups all over the world, be that social, cultural, political or ethnical differences. news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 30, "subject": "JFK Jr.", "response_count": 50, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Jul 17, 1999 (09:33)", "body": "wow..."}, {"response": 2, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Jul 17, 1999 (09:47)", "body": "This is so sad, the Kennedy family has been \"cursed\" as some say, I am watching Dan Rather now, tears are welling up in his eyes. An all out search is under way. President Kennedy was killed in 63, Robert Kennedy was shot in 68. What a hammer to the heart of the Amerian public. Wham."}, {"response": 3, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jul 17, 1999 (11:01)", "body": "CNN is carrying live coverage. I know that part of the world and the Atlantic around there. I can also think of a thousand people who deserved this more than he. I am stunned. Poor Caroline. Poorer America! You are right, Terry...Wham!"}, {"response": 4, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jul 17, 1999 (11:20)", "body": "...those whom the gods would destroy they first endow with outrageous gifts... It is the story of the entire much-gifted Kennedy family! How very sad..."}, {"response": 5, "author": "kd5aad", "date": "Sat, Jul 17, 1999 (15:54)", "body": "Oh man, too many questions. Conspiracy nuts will have a field day. Any foul play involved? Very sad and tragic."}, {"response": 6, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Jul 17, 1999 (16:04)", "body": "It looks like they've found bits of lugage and debris from the plane. They found Lauren Bisset's luggage with her business card tag on it. This is looking more dismal as the day goes on. All regular tv programming has been canceled and the media is pursuing this with the fervor of Lady Di's death, it is the same scale of thing and is arising in what normally is a slow news month. A potential future president is still missing and it's now looking good."}, {"response": 7, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Jul 17, 1999 (21:20)", "body": "are there any updates? i've been out all day but did know about the luggage...there were four people on the plane, jfk jr, caroline, lauren, and the instructor, right?"}, {"response": 8, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jul 17, 1999 (21:27)", "body": "Only 3, Wolf. No instructor. Lauren's luggage and a little zipper wallet-like thing with her business card inside of it, and a headrest. It is dark now, so they are just searching the shoreline tonight. Tomorrow divers go down to retrieve the enevitable."}, {"response": 9, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Jul 17, 1999 (21:37)", "body": "my God....."}, {"response": 10, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jul 17, 1999 (21:52)", "body": "......very difficult to comprehend. Very sad..."}, {"response": 11, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Jul 18, 1999 (10:16)", "body": "and there's really no new news this morning on this tragedy..."}, {"response": 12, "author": "moulton", "date": "Sun, Jul 18, 1999 (11:20)", "body": "From: sitzkan@planet-tech.com (Seth Itzkan) Date: Sun, 18 Jul 1999 10:29:52 +0100 Subject: John John, Martha's Vineyard, and Innocence Lost John John, Martha's Vineyard, and Innocence Lost He is my peer. We are the same age. We grew up through the same times. Dare I say, we even look alike. When I see the photo of him peeping out from under his father's oval office desk, the same desk Clinton has now made infamous, it's myself I see there. We are classmates. And his father is symbolically my father. JFK was the father of our generation, he was all our fathers. Just as FDR was my grandfather. John John and I were more than classmates, we were brothers. The connection to Martha's Vineyard is now that much more poignant. I lost my innocence on the Gay Head beaches of Martha's Vineyard. The same beaches where debris from John John's plane is now washing ashore. For me, Martha's Vineyard has always been a magical place of passage. I have written poems about the spot. Some of my most memorable moments have occurred right where State Police are know combing the sands. I know the area well. Gay Head beach is one of the few places in the Eastern United States where you can watch the sun go down over the Atlantic. Countless times I have watched the sun set from there and countless times I have watched the haze and fog come ashore, just as it apparently was doing last night during the fateful flight. Although you may not know Gay Head by name, you've no doubt seen its photo; it is the obligatory image that always accompanies any Martha's Vineyard story, the lighthouse on top of the huge cliffs, surrounded by wild flowers and long white beaches - English Isle-esque. The lighthouse is legendary. It's guided whalers and other mariners for centuries. The cliffs are equally legendary, steeped in Native American history. Their composition is predominantly red and black clay, and at their base are large natural clay pools which beach goers often bathe themselves in. The liquid clay quickly dries on one's skin, allowing bathers to give themselves complete body clay treatments for free that a salon would charge hundreds of dollars for, and not only that, they have their choice of colors. In fact, it's common to see bathers use the clay to paint their bodies in colorful patterns, some even taking on warrier-like displays of stripes and spirals. The Philbin Beach area, mentioned frequently in the news, is a southern extension of Gay Head. There is no natural boundary. There is only one road that goes out this way, and it is here that for decades Jacqueline Kennedy had her personal compound retreat. Part of our Martha's Vineyard fun was to walk along the beach in front of her property, moving but not stopping. As Massachusetts law allows citizens to own beach front property up to the surf but not beyond, so as long as you were walking with your ankles in the water you could pass by. Another favorite was to try to guess which unmarked dirt road off the Gay Head main drag was the entrance to her compound. Of course there are so many secluded luminaries on Martha's Vineyard. Most of the roads aren't named and most aren't paved. That's just the way the locals want it. If you don't know people from the Island, you will unfortunately never get to see most of its beauty. Hidden from most tourists by an intentional labyrinth are incredible vistas of rolling fields, silver lakes, soft hills, private homes with unimaginable views, and even working farms with horses, goats, cows, and swans. The proximity, however, between Jacquie's waterfront compound and the plane debris is a bit too much to stomach. Bits of plane wreckage and personal belongings belonging to her son and daughter-in-law are literally washing up on her former beach property, or just a few hundred yards from it. How sick is that? As if the Kennedys needed another cosmic twist of fate, the ocean which for decades helped Jacqueline to forget her tragedies, is now returning them to her door step. I've already lost my innocence once on Marthas Vineyard beaches, now it appears, I've lost it again. Seth J. Itzkan Planet-TECH Associates 2 Washington St. Haverhill MA 01832-5524 | 978-556-5044 sitzkan@planet-tech.com | http://www.planet-tech.com"}, {"response": 13, "author": "moonbeam", "date": "Sun, Jul 18, 1999 (12:13)", "body": "* sitting sadly and waiting with the rest of the world, for news * (Thanks, Barry, for sharing those words.)"}, {"response": 14, "author": "autumn", "date": "Sun, Jul 18, 1999 (12:43)", "body": "The saddest part of all is that the Bessette family has just lost two of their three children; a tragedy no parent should have to endure. I suppose their loss will be eclipsed much like the family of Ron Goldman's was."}, {"response": 15, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Jul 18, 1999 (13:48)", "body": "indeed!"}, {"response": 16, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Jul 18, 1999 (14:10)", "body": "Wolf, if you lived closer, I'd go out on a deserted beach with you and just sit down and hug you and cry...it is most difficult alone...!"}, {"response": 17, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Jul 18, 1999 (14:43)", "body": "Tragedies seem to come in multiples. My ex sent me the following this morning with a photo attached (from Pennsylvania). This memorial was planned way in advance, but how achingly appropriate on this day. This is a photo from the front page of today's newspaper. It is at the memorial service in Montoursville for the students and their chaperones who died in the TWA flight 800 airliner crash three years ago. A memorial garden was dedicated by the service. The garden has 21 sugar-maple trees for the 16 students and 5 chaperones who died. There is also an 8 ft. bronze statue and a brick walkway. The bell-ringer tolled the bell for each of the lost people."}, {"response": 18, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Jul 18, 1999 (14:55)", "body": "They're still looking but the chances are almost nonexistent that they're alive. President Clinton's coming on the tv in a few minutes. And a big storm is doing up on the Cape Monday night. If there's the tiniest sliver of hope, it would have to pan out in the next 24 hours before the big storm comes in. Stress tiny sliver."}, {"response": 19, "author": "moonbeam", "date": "Sun, Jul 18, 1999 (17:54)", "body": "I'm glad the coverage of this is expanding to include the loss to the Bessette family, who had two daughters on that plane..."}, {"response": 20, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Jul 18, 1999 (18:14)", "body": "me too...we can't give up hope, because to do that would mean calling the search off. maybe there's a chance they broke the curse....both of them were athletic and healthy (maybe lauren was too), maybe they found something to float on....."}, {"response": 21, "author": "moulton", "date": "Sun, Jul 18, 1999 (18:47)", "body": "JFK Jr, like other members of his family, played leadership roles in mapping out and promoting the advance of civilization. JFK Jr launched George, a magazine of politics and culture, to enliven the national dialogue and to present ideas leading to better practices within the culture and the body politic. Like Lady Di, the press played up his celebrity status and his love life more than his efforts to leave the planet better off than he found it. I hope we are able to honor his memory by celebrating th important work that his vision called him to dedicate his public life to."}, {"response": 22, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Jul 18, 1999 (19:33)", "body": "I was touched by the discussion with Arthur Schlesinger Jr. who said that JFK Jr. had a \"secret life of good works\". And Christianne Amanpour, who was his roommate for two years in college, said nothing but marvelous things about him being an unpretentious and loving human being. These two interviews convinced me that a great future was nipped in the bud. Which makes this all even more tragic. John John wasn't just a superficial pop culture idol, at the end of the day he realized there was much more than all this fame. And he, like his father, cared deeply about humanity."}, {"response": 23, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Jul 18, 1999 (20:09)", "body": "A ship called the Rude, at this hour, has stopped over where an electronic beacon was detected. It's a highly specialized sonar ship. It's about 4 to 4.5 miles south/southwest of Gay's Head. This may be vital new information. NBC News is reporting this. A 9:30 pm EST will have an annoucment 28 minutes from now. Reuters is also reporting this. Dusk is giving way to darkness, it's still light here in Austin. The massive search is still continuing."}, {"response": 24, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Jul 18, 1999 (20:18)", "body": "i liked the commentary on jfk jr's giving lifestyle and his wish to keep it private. a navy ship out of norfolk va is on it's way out (unless that was the rude, in which case, it's there already)."}, {"response": 25, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Jul 18, 1999 (21:27)", "body": "The misson has been switched from a search and rescue to a search and recovery mission. The most they could have survived in the 68 degree water would have been 12-18 hours and it's been 48 hours now. There is no definite location of a plane under water."}, {"response": 26, "author": "ommin", "date": "Sun, Jul 18, 1999 (21:41)", "body": ""}, {"response": 27, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Jul 18, 1999 (22:05)", "body": "I received the following by Email (I told her response 26 had not posted) Unfortunately I could not get through again. Our electricity is restricted today and perhaps it has some effect. What I did say was: All I could think of was that little boy standing beside the grave of his father and saluting. Our commiserations to you all from Australia - perhaps you would post my comments for me. Anne Hale"}, {"response": 28, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Jul 19, 1999 (08:26)", "body": "the emergency beacon turned out to be a false alarm...."}, {"response": 29, "author": "EileenG", "date": "Mon, Jul 19, 1999 (10:45)", "body": "(Terry)And Christianne Amanpour, who was his roommate for two years in college, said nothing but marvelous things about him being an unpretentious and loving human being. I saw this, too (flipping back and forth between 60 Mins and Dateline). This was the best interview yet. She was forthright and honest but didn't gush. You could tell she *really* knew him, 20 years ago through last weekend when they were together on the Cape. (Seth) He is my peer. That's the way I feel (for different reasons!). Caroline and I are just a few weeks apart in age. John and Caroline have been around my whole life. He lost his mother to cancer, as did I. John was a New Yorker, and from what I hear, a regular neighborhood guy. They took off on this ill-fated journey from an airport not far from where I live. This is so unbelievable. My heart goes out to Caroline and the Bessette family. I'm getting annoyed with the reports from other pilots who jump to the conclusion he was \"in over his head\" and never should have flown that night. I think those who know his flying ability best will attest that he had more flight hours and knowledge of instrument flying (though not the certification) than what's being said. Even if it turns out he did lose the horizon in the haze and darkness and the plane went into a death spin as is the current conjecture, I don't think he took a foolish, careless ri k (no more so than anyone who flies a single engine plane). I hope they find the remains of the plane soon."}, {"response": 30, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Jul 19, 1999 (13:18)", "body": "on the news at lunchtime, they had an obituary only for jfk jr. let's not forget the two other people, caroline and lauren, who also went down with the plane. my heart goes out to all the families involved."}, {"response": 31, "author": "autumn", "date": "Tue, Jul 20, 1999 (11:09)", "body": "My fervent wish at this point is that they find the bodies and put this story to rest."}, {"response": 32, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Jul 20, 1999 (16:10)", "body": "See if you can spot a couple of remarkable revelations in the MSNBC story: A SOURCE close to the investigation said the signal was picked up by the Rude, a U.S. government ship equipped with high-tech sonar. The \ufffdtarget\ufffd could be the fuselage of John F. Kennedy Jr.\ufffds plane, Hager reported, adding that a similar breakthrough happened when sonar uncovered the first big pieces of TWA 800 in 1996. Hager added that the target is much more significant than any other object spotted underwater so far. How much will ever be found was still a big question mark, though. Ned Clark was among the aviation experts who doubted much wreckage \ufffd or even the bodies of John F. Kennedy Jr., his wife Carolyn Bessette Kennedy and sister-in-law Lauren Bessette \ufffd would ever be found. \"The destruction of the airframe is extreme\ufffd in a plunge like the one apparently experienced by Kennedy\ufffds plane, Clark told the \ufffdToday\ufffd show. \ufffdAnd I think you can extrapolate to that the same for the passengers.\ufffd Investigators late Monday said radar data indicated the plane plunged 1,400 feet in 14 seconds before crashing into the Atlantic Ocean on Friday night. That\ufffds a rate of 4,700 feet per minute, up to 10 times normal. The investigators refused to characterize the descent as abnormal, but other experts said the drop was so fast it indicates a plane out of control and about at the limit of what the plane could take without breaking up. Experts said the high-performance Piper Saratoga 32 generally cannot handle a descent faster than 1,500 feet per minute. The plane\ufffds gauge shows a maximum of 2,000 feet per minute. \ufffdThat airplane would not come down that fast in any normal configuration,\ufffd said Warren Morningstar, a spokesman for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. \ufffdThe normal rate of descent you\ufffdre shooting for as a pilot is 500-700 feet per minute for passenger comfort.\ufffd EERIE FIND Also Tuesday, the Cape Cod Times reported that registration papers for JFK Jr.\ufffds plane washed up Saturday on Martha\ufffds Vineyard property owned by Kennedy and his sister Caroline. The soggy papers, turned over to state police that day, did not include Kennedy\ufffds name but did have the plane\ufffds tail number, the newspaper said, quoting unidentified sources close to the investigation. State police would not confirm the papers had been found. As the search continued, a source who had been close to Kennedy and his wife told MSNBC\ufffds Jeannette Walls that Carolyn Bessette Kennedy feared riding in the plane and told her sister Lauren she didn\ufffdt want to make the flight to Martha\ufffds Vineyard and Hyannisport. Lauren Bessette was to have been dropped off on Martha\ufffds Vineyard and then the Kennedys were to continue on to their family compound at Hyannisport for the wedding of Rory Kennedy, daughter of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy. The source said Bessette Kennedy was \ufffdnear tears\ufffd on Friday morning. \ufffdShe was saying, \ufffdHe's crazy. He\ufffds a Kennedy and he's flying,\ufffd\ufffd the source said."}, {"response": 33, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Jul 21, 1999 (07:54)", "body": "I just heard on the radio that they found the plane with jfk jr inside but not the bodies of carolyn or lauren....i'll have to verify it for you."}, {"response": 34, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Jul 21, 1999 (08:10)", "body": "It's true, the body of JFK Jr. has been found."}, {"response": 35, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Jul 21, 1999 (08:23)", "body": "The AP wire story: Kennedy, Airplane Wreckage Located WASHINGTON (AP)--The wreckage of John F. Kennedy Jr.'s airplane was located today, with Kennedy's body still aboard, off the coast of Martha's Vineyard, Mass., The Associated Press was told. ``They've got the fuselage and John Kennedy's in it,'' a high-level government source said. Jim Hall, the chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, and Coast Guard Rear Adm. Richard Larrabee, who was overseeing the search, canceled a round of morning TV appearances and went to the USS Grasp, the ship where the wreckage was to be deposited after being raised from the ocean floor. The heightened activity took place after ships from the Navy, Coast Guard and National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration spent Tuesday night scouring a site 7 1/2 miles southwest of the Martha's Vineyard coast, a spot that investigators had speculated was the likely splash point for the plane."}, {"response": 36, "author": "stacey", "date": "Wed, Jul 21, 1999 (15:50)", "body": "and now all three bodies are accounted for..."}, {"response": 37, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Jul 21, 1999 (16:19)", "body": "really? haven't heard that yet."}, {"response": 38, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Jul 21, 1999 (16:26)", "body": "according to msnbc.com: Kennedy's body was found inside a large section of the fuselage found in 100-foot-deep water, less than a half mile from the spot the agency had identified as the most likely crash site based on analysis of radar images. The bodies of his wife, Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, and sister-in-law, Lauren Bessette, were not discovered until divers examined the wreckage Wednesday. The National Transportation and Safety Board issued a statement saying a second dive aimed at recovering the bodies as under way. very sad, indeed."}, {"response": 39, "author": "autumn", "date": "Thu, Jul 22, 1999 (22:37)", "body": "Now, this is where people start booing and hissing at me. They (Coast Guard, etc.) went to all that effort and expense to recover JFK Jr.'s body, and now the family is having a burial at sea ? Hellooo? Isn't that what he already had? I don't mean to sound insensitive, I just don't understand. No word yet on what the Bessette family will have done with their daughters' remains."}, {"response": 40, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Jul 23, 1999 (09:43)", "body": "all three were scattered were they not?"}, {"response": 41, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Jul 23, 1999 (10:08)", "body": "i don't know, but i have the same sentiments as autumn....i found it to be tragically ironic, really...."}, {"response": 42, "author": "autumn", "date": "Fri, Jul 23, 1999 (11:03)", "body": "Actually, I think the newspaper made a distinction between \"burial at sea\" and \"scattered.\" Like their cremains (new word I learned thru this) might have been encapsulated in something and thrown to the depths of the sea. Apparently, the Catholic faith prohibits scattering of ashes; they have to be kept together and buried (or whatever). Although I think the Bessettes were Episcopal; either way, they got the same treatment."}, {"response": 43, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Fri, Jul 23, 1999 (12:47)", "body": "I thought catholics were pretty much against cremation at all?"}, {"response": 44, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jul 23, 1999 (13:01)", "body": "I watched part of the funeral yesterday and in the homily the church's thoughts on cremation were mentioned as all right providing it was not to hide the body nor to destroy it in some other less than innocent way. Most confusing and convoluted explanation...Alexander, I still think the RC church would still prefer inhumation intact - but I rather think this was a done deed before the church knew about it."}, {"response": 45, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Jul 23, 1999 (19:37)", "body": "Autumn, if they didn't recover the bodies wouldn't the National Inquirer sub be collecting bodies in a matter of days? He was in only 100' or so of water, so they would have selling the body parts on ebay. I think that had to happen to preserve the dignity of these people. The Coast Guard and Navy do this stuff as a matter of course, especially for Presidents' families. It really didn't take that much time and effort, it's as good an exercise for the Navy and Coast Guard as anything. John's dad and uncle gave their lives for the country, and his dad was a Navy war hero. I think they did the right think by recovering the bodies and burying them at sea. On the other hand, Rush Limbaugh is making an asshole of himself by trying to diminish JFK Jr.'s importance, the point of criticising the famous John John salute during JFK Sr's funeral procession. Rush said that his mom trained him to do this and that it wasn't sincere. What actually happened is that little John got antsy during the procession and his mom, well, I'll quote the person who told this story, Dave Hughes: \"Some cynical talk show host (Rush) complained that the 3 year old John John salute to his father's casket was 'staged' by his mother. Of course is was - she asked him to salute. But there was a little story behind that. During the church service just before the pass by, he became figity up front, so Jacqueline asked a Secret Service man to carry him to the rear of the church. where a uniformed Army lieutant colonel told him stories. Young John saluted the officer - but with the left hand. The officer showed him how to do it correctly with the right hand. A few minutes later he was standing out where the pass by, and the picture of him saluting was taken. That Secret Service man told this in one of the interview sessions last week. I must say, except for the slight curl of his little fingers, his salute was militarily fine. Considerably better than Clinton does it. I am sure the Secret Service, and lots of the aides around the family dealt with the children a lot.\" - Dave Hughes (the wireless king)"}, {"response": 46, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jul 23, 1999 (22:02)", "body": "Terry, for part of the time we watched the navy ship heading out to sea there was a little white boat around the bow. I immediately thought as you did about the National Inquirer. I hoped they had the security of the ashes in mind when they planned to scatter them at sea...that little boat with a dip net would be on eBay today. I just hope they were somehow secure for all time from the predacious."}, {"response": 47, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Jul 24, 1999 (16:53)", "body": "autumn, they mentioned that the catholic church had only recently changed their views on cremation.... i think it would we would be a sick bunch of folks if anybody went deep sea diving to retrieve a box of ashes....let them lay in peace..."}, {"response": 48, "author": "autumn", "date": "Wed, Jul 28, 1999 (11:15)", "body": "*shudder*"}, {"response": 49, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Jul 30, 1999 (10:42)", "body": "Warning, this next post is long. It's John Perry Barlow's account of his friendship with JFK Jr."}, {"response": 50, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Jul 30, 1999 (10:46)", "body": "Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1999 06:00:31 +0100 From: John Perry Barlow Subject: BarlowFriendz 5.5: Johnny, They Hardly Knew Ye... To: eff-friends@eff.org (eff-friends mailing list) X-Proccessed-By: mail2list Sender: postmaster@eff.org ^ /_ _ ---------> B a R L o W F R i e N D Z -----> friends. Please let me know if you wish to be removed from this list. But you'll miss some great parties if you do... Also, if this broadcast feels as spammish to you as it obviously is, I hope you will remember that individual responses to it generally elicit personal replies from me. And I do hope to hear from you!> ------------------------------> -------------------> --------> Somewhere Over Mississippi Thursday, July 22, 1999 It is dawn. I am flying from Atlanta to New Orleans and I know that the haze below, while gray, is probably not cold. Still it seems so. The universe - or at least that part of it that passes through the filters of my own heart - seems cold and gray. This is because later this morning someone will pour the powdered bones of my long-dear friend and hero John Kennedy into the sea. They will also scatter the horribly reduced beauty of Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, the fairy godmother of my three teen-aged daughters. That gray powder is all that remains of two people from whose spirits sparkled a large part of the magic in my life. With these two merciless deaths, the whole world has become less alive to meI less adventuresome, less vital, less funny, less loving. I'm tempted, in my fatigue and sorrow, to just say \"fuck it,\" but, three daughters that's no option. And besides, it would hardly serve their memory well to make others hurt as much as I do now. J I met John 22 years ago this month. His mother - whose maternal achievements were the least renowned and most extraordinary of her manifestations - had decided that it was time to toss John from her 5th Avenue nest. With characteristic - though astonishing - faith in the essential safety of the world, she'd sent him off to a Youth Conservation Corps camp in Yellowstone Park. However appropriate to her politics, this option wasn't working out well. Green John, who had never been alone and unprotected before, was naked to the press and being mercilessly hit on by his fellow corpsmen. He was miserable and wanted to come home. But Jackie wasn't ready to bring him in from the cold. So she called a Congressman from Wyoming from Teno Roncalio to ask him if he might know a rancher who would be both willing to hire John for the summer and sensitive enough to his peculiar condition to extend him something like normality. Teno had been a special actor in both her life and mine. When John F. Kennedy, Sr. sought the Democratic nomination in 1960, the vote was tied between him and Lyndon Johnson all the way down through the alphabet of states to Wyoming. Teno, the leader of the Wyoming delegation, knew that three of his six delegates were for Johnson. Their votes would have led to a tie and thus a second ballot. And it was generally assumed that Johnson, the ultimate backroom operator, would out-maneuver the upstart if it came to that. So Teno stood up and declared all Wyoming's votes for Kennedy, betting that in the ensuing hullabaloo, his Johnson delegates would find it expedient to keep quiet. They did and history found its present shape. I knew Teno because he'd helped raise me. In Wyoming, ideology is less a part of the political process than personal chemistry. So, despite the fact that Teno was a union Democrat and my father was a Republican state senator of such troglodyte views that he suspected Barry Goldwater of communism leanings, they were such close friends that had entrusted me to Teno at an early age. Teno took me off to Aspen and taught me to ski. He also taught me a lot about political reality. He was and remains my hero. When Jackie called him, Teno recommended sending John to the Bar Cross, the large family cattle ranch that I operated for 17 years. By odd coincidence, this suggestion that was seconded by Tom Carney, a good friend of mine who was dating Caroline Kennedy at the time and who happened to be at dinner that night. Next thing I knew there, was a breathy voice on my phone saying, \"Hello, this is Jacqueline Onassis.\" \"Well,\" I replied, \"in the unlikely event that this isn't a joke, what can I do for you?\" Two days later, John rode the bus from Jackson Hole into my life. (I imagined my father turning about 2500 rpm in his grave.) John was not what I had expected. Goofy and self-effacing, he was a gangly quasar of random energy. Fifteen minutes into it, I think we both knew we'd be friends for life. I never would have guessed that that the terminated life would be his and not mine. When he showed up on the Bar Cross, he was so wide-eyed and energetic that he was like a giant Labrador puppy. But he was amenable to being focused. The first thing I put him to was digging post holes, and he went at it like he was killing snakes. I was erecting a new corral"}]}, {"num": 31, "subject": "China - next crisis after y2k?", "response_count": 5, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Aug 12, 1999 (03:38)", "body": "US naval muscle 'sends out warning' GLENN SCHLOSS Two US aircraft carriers have conducted exercises in the South China Sea in a move viewed as sending a warning to Beijing as tensions escalate over Taiwan. In a clear show of muscle, the USS Kitty Hawk and USS Constellation and their battle groups were deployed on Saturday and Sunday over a wide area of the sea, much of it claimed by China. It was designed to remind the PLA and Chinese leaders of the deployment of two aircraft carrier battle groups in the Taiwan Strait during the 1996 crisis, analysts said. A United States official said the exercises were deliberately conducted in the South China Sea amid the Taiwan tensions and increasing concern over the Spratly Islands. \"This deployment was a nice way to let our friends and potential adversaries know that the US Navy remains committed to maintaining peace and stability throughout the region,\" the official said. Military expert Paul Beaver, spokesman for Jane's Defence Group, said: \"What we are seeing is a rerun of 1996. The US is reminding the Chinese that it has a capability and can still do it three years later even though it has been in Kosovo.\" Taiwanese defence analyst Andrew Yang Nien-dzu said the exercises were designed to demonstrate \"the US is watching over the situation with great concern\". \"This shows that in case the PRC tries to use the military exercises again, the US 7th fleet will repeat its actions of 1996,\" said Mr Yang, secretary-general of the Chinese Council of Advanced Policy Studies. The US dispatched the two aircraft carrier battle groups, which usually comprise nuclear submarines, to monitor the PLA's firing of missiles across the strait during the island's presidential elections. from http://www.scmp.com/News/Front/Article/FullText_asp_ArticleID-19990811011022242.asp"}, {"response": 2, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Aug 12, 1999 (03:41)", "body": "The Chinese leadership has decided to use an appropriate degree of force against Taiwan, possibly including the occupation of an outlying island, should Taipei authorities refuse to abandon President Lee Teng-hui's ''two states theory''. Top units including the party's Central Military Commission and the Leading Group on Taiwan have been empowered to decide on the timing as well as severity of the military action to be taken."}, {"response": 3, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Thu, Aug 12, 1999 (15:45)", "body": "*sigh*"}, {"response": 4, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Aug 12, 1999 (17:49)", "body": "*very big sigh*"}, {"response": 5, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Aug 17, 1999 (09:44)", "body": "Big party today, celebrating 50 years of Communism... it'll take force... lotsa force... to remove Chinese government's stranglehold on its people... I just wish the Chinese people would use their own as opposed to our involvement which is certainly to be messy. A successful revolution, while messy AND difficult, would at least give the Chinese people some sense of empowerment and accomplishment... Meanwhile, I don't think the US needs anymore of either of those... news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 32, "subject": "Weather: Current Severe Weather Warnings and Updates", "response_count": 658, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jul 19, 1999 (21:51)", "body": "One of the best sources of weather news and everything related to climate world wide is the weather Underground. If you have a weather program running on your desktop it is most likely plugged into this URL for updates, alerts and warnings. Check it out for your area http://www.wunderground.com/"}, {"response": 2, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Jul 19, 1999 (21:57)", "body": "oh wow! i usually use the weathersites on the search engines...."}, {"response": 3, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jul 19, 1999 (22:18)", "body": "Wolfie, thanks for holding down Geo when I was off reading stuff for tomorrow's postings. I really appreciate it. What fun to find someone beside me is interested (and what woman is not?!) And, authentic, card-carrying Droolers, too. The Spring will never be the same, which is a good thing!"}, {"response": 4, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jul 30, 1999 (19:29)", "body": "My ex in central Pennsylvania is complaining of 100\ufffdF (37.77\ufffdC) temperatures out doors and sent the following: Russia is having abnormally high temps also. In the 90's and dry like us. Besides all that, they have locusts to eat the few plants that are surviving the weather."}, {"response": 5, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Feb  7, 2036 (03:38)", "body": "More from Pennsylvania (note the size of the hail storms): Yesterday afternoon was sunny and hot, although some welcome scattered clouds began to appear by mid-afternoon. Then an area of clouds-joined-together moved over us. They sprinkled a couple of times and tried to give us a rain, then it got darker and there was a boomy rumble of thunder. Real rain fell for quite a while, then there was a rattle on the roof as nickle-sized and quarter-sized hail fell with the rain. That cell moved away to the south, and we had a pause in the rain. It was still dark where the clouds were coming from, but we could see blue sky along the side of the second storm that was approaching. A somewhat cauliflowered shower head grew along the side of the main gray mass, and rapidly achieved the height of the rest of the storm. Its rapid rise would have given a hint of what was to come. The fairly concealed second storm approached; and the sky had barely begun to get dark, but no rain yet, when scattered white objects began to fall. They were maybe 20 ft. apart at first, then there were more and more of them in the air until they were falling about 2 or 3 ft. apart mixed with rain. These white objects were the largest hail I have ever seen. Golfball-sized hail is often mentioned in the news, but there is was! They weren\ufffdt spheres, but were chunks about the right size. They were big enough that they could roll in the grass after they landed, rather than getting tangled in it. They generally bounced several feet high, some as high as 4 or 5 feet. I was afraid to look at the car after it was safe to go outside, but found only one dimple. Possibly the hail was mostly soft; and I did see some smash to bits on the parking lot and the cars, rather than bouncing."}, {"response": 6, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jul 31, 1999 (16:54)", "body": "From my Alma Mater, Penn State, one of the best Meteorology pages there is. Lots of links and information relating to severe weather. Http://bookend.met.psu.edu/"}, {"response": 7, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Aug  1, 1999 (14:14)", "body": "Since Hurrican Season is upon us and we all need to be aware of possible severe weather warnings for Tornadoes and other threats to life and property. First, before things begin, check for updates and possible storm threats to our area and while it is ongoing - as long as you have power to run your computer: http://www.noaa.gov/ Afterward you will need http://www.fema.gov/ And anytime is good to prepare the little ones in your family by using this URL http://www.fema.gov/kids/"}, {"response": 8, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Aug  1, 1999 (14:24)", "body": "Actually, the best National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association website which has all of the links you will need plus solar images and other goodies is: http://www.websites.noaa.gov/"}, {"response": 9, "author": "heide", "date": "Sun, Aug  1, 1999 (19:14)", "body": "You clever girl, posting this at Keepsakes. It got me to come by. I'm sorry to be complaining about the weather so much. I hate it when people do that. Look like relief is coming tomorrow though I can't remember if it's a high front or a low front. Which brings cooler temperatures and is it the same in winter?"}, {"response": 10, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Aug  1, 1999 (19:41)", "body": "A high brings clear skies and the cold front. My ex is in Williamsport and he had golfball-sized hail. Did you get any of that? (Heide, I am delighted you posted...I do what I can to get people here as I work pretty hard on it to just be for my own ego..) The jet stream was up in Canada and that is what moved stuff around on the North American continent. It is sliding south again and will move the hot stagnant air out. Yes, the same things happen in the winter...lows bring snow and sleet because you angle to the sun is different."}, {"response": 11, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Aug  2, 1999 (12:37)", "body": "The State of New Jersey has declaired a state of emergency due to the prolonged drought afflicting the entire Eastern Seaboard. Other states in the area are bound to follow suit! (Rain Dances, anyone?)"}, {"response": 12, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Aug 13, 1999 (13:04)", "body": ""}, {"response": 13, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Aug 13, 1999 (13:32)", "body": ""}, {"response": 14, "author": "autumn", "date": "Fri, Aug 13, 1999 (23:15)", "body": "Um...Maryland was just declared a federal disaster area (or whatever they call it) because of our severe drought--worst in 70 years they say. When will it rain???"}, {"response": 15, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Aug 13, 1999 (23:29)", "body": "Good question - and if I had the answer, I would not be sitting in the corner of my bedroom writing this. (BTW, welcome, Autumn!)... Jet stream, la ni\ufffda and all that have to cooperate. Meanwhile I am being deluged by one of the feeder bands from Hurricane Eugene just below our island...Want some?!"}, {"response": 16, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Aug 14, 1999 (11:58)", "body": "well, louisiana has placed several parishes under burn bans since it's been so dry. expecting a cool front which will lower the ambient temp by 1 or 2 degrees plus the humidy level is expected to be much lower. hmmmm, so 95 will feel like 95 instead of 115! gotta luv it!!!!"}, {"response": 17, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Aug 14, 1999 (12:40)", "body": "Hey, anything is better than running an external fever...and according the the weather maps, you are due for some relief in the gulf states area. I hope it get to where it is needed most. Plan a garden party, if all else fails...that usually brings on the monsoons!"}, {"response": 18, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Aug 14, 1999 (19:29)", "body": "Forecast For Hilo, Hi 12 Pm Hst Sat Aug 14 1999 ...High Surf Advisory Is In Effect At 12 Noon For East And Southeast Facing Shores Of The Big Island Of Hawaii... .This Afternoon...Partly Cloudy With A Few Showers. High Near 80. Trades 10 To Near 25 Mph. .Tonight...Brief Showers. Low In The Upper 60S. Variable Winds 5 To 15 Mph. .Sunday...Showery. High Near 80. Trades 20 To 30 Mph. Special weather statement 12 Noon Hst Sat Aug 14 1999 ...A High Surf Advisory Is Effective At 12 Noon For East And Southeast Facing Shores Of The Big Island Of Hawaii... Large Swell Waves Travelling Out Ahead Of Hurricane Dora Are Forecast To Start Arriving At The East And Southeast Facing Beaches Of The Kau And Puna Districts Of The Big Island Late This Afternoon And Tonight And Continue On Sunday. This Wave Action Will Likely Also Affect Exposed Hilo District Beaches. These East And East Southeast Swell Waves Will Produce Surf That Is Expected To Be In The 8 To 10 Foot Range By Late Tonight And On Sunday. The Easterly Swell Will Reach As Far As Oahu And Kauai On Sunday And Could Produce Surf As High As 5 To 8 Feet Along Exposed East And Southeast Facing Beaches Of These Islands. Surfers...Swimmers...And Beach Goers Should Remain Alert And Cautious. Residents Along The Exposed Beaches Should Prepare To Protect Their Property. Another day in Paradise - with a hurricane..."}, {"response": 19, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sat, Aug 14, 1999 (23:54)", "body": "does this mean you need to check your life preservers and raft, Marcia?"}, {"response": 20, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Aug 15, 1999 (00:01)", "body": "We are 450 feet (157 Meters) above sea level. I think the worst that could happen is my 6 picture windows in the living room might shatter - so we will plywood them across...I always have candles and water to drink (and for flushing) on hand - and we have Spam!!! Thanks for asking, though..."}, {"response": 21, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Aug 15, 1999 (00:02)", "body": "Actually, as soon as they post warnings like that one above, the crazies get their surfboards and head for the beach. Those are the ones who are in real danger!"}, {"response": 22, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Aug 15, 1999 (06:23)", "body": "Can you see the ocean from your picture windows? What's the view like? Batten up those hatches, and good luck getting through this one. Is this the biggest storm of the season so far?"}, {"response": 23, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Aug 15, 1999 (12:20)", "body": "We shall batten down the hatches and tighten the anchor bolts if it becomes necessary. The only ocean I can see from the property without sitting on the roof is a very distant horizon, which is just fine considering the Tsunami potential. This is the first major storm to come our way this season, but we are lucky with the two 14,000'(4267M) mountains behind Hilo. They are usually large enough to deflect the storms that threaten(so far.) The current pattern is for them to hook around the south point of ur island and head north hitting Oahu (Honolulu) and Kauai. The last one, Iniki, just about levelled Kauai, and they are still trying to rebuild and recover."}, {"response": 24, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Aug 15, 1999 (15:58)", "body": "What's the elevation at your house?"}, {"response": 25, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Aug 15, 1999 (16:37)", "body": "450' (157.16 Meters) above sea level, and 5 miles (8 Km) inland."}, {"response": 26, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Aug 15, 1999 (18:51)", "body": "For the lastest on our hurricane"}, {"response": 27, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Aug 15, 1999 (18:55)", "body": "In the picture above...the Hurricane is at the left and our island is the outline just avobe it. It also apprear as though there are a wholebunch of proto-hurricanes waiting to form to the right, near Mexico."}, {"response": 28, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Aug 15, 1999 (21:00)", "body": "Anyone wishing to listen to our island's Civil Defense Coordinator, Harry Kim give the latest update on our Hurricane can do so on the hour (also does for lava flows when they are threatening inhabited areas)on the net: http://www.webradio.com/kwxx/"}, {"response": 29, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Aug 15, 1999 (21:44)", "body": "And, as we enter the feeder bands here is our little Big Island and an even bigger Hurricane Dora"}, {"response": 30, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Aug 16, 1999 (21:22)", "body": "wow, it looks ominous. please be careful dear marcia!"}, {"response": 31, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Aug 16, 1999 (21:40)", "body": "Thank you...and we had a Earthquake just a bit ago...I am tired of Mother Nature attacking - especially on a day like this one has been...!"}, {"response": 32, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Aug 16, 1999 (21:47)", "body": "ohmygod, marcia! girlfriend, you are in my prayers *hugs*"}, {"response": 33, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Aug 16, 1999 (21:51)", "body": "Thanks Luv! It surely could not hurt. Where are all those places that need water? Austin? May I ship you some?!"}, {"response": 34, "author": "autumn", "date": "Mon, Aug 16, 1999 (22:13)", "body": "Those satellite pictures are just too freaky! Technology scares me!"}, {"response": 35, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Aug 16, 1999 (22:21)", "body": "It allows you to see how big God is and how tiny man is. Our Island is the size of Connecticut...it is not tiny!"}, {"response": 36, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Aug 17, 1999 (09:47)", "body": "how's the weather Marcia??"}, {"response": 37, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Aug 17, 1999 (13:04)", "body": "Finally...It is sunny and bright and we can see all the junk in the yard...At this hour it is 70\ufffdF (21\ufffdC)and the tradewinds are picking up. It will be a lovely day, thank you."}, {"response": 38, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Aug 17, 1999 (21:18)", "body": "glad things are well for you marcia......wish i could say the same about louisiana. yup, the humidity is back on the rise. icky!"}, {"response": 39, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Aug 17, 1999 (21:59)", "body": "...it sounds like it is enough to melt your pralines before they get in your mouth..."}, {"response": 40, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Aug 17, 1999 (22:05)", "body": "check http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/restricted/read/news/32 for the next little storms waiting to assault the Hawaiian Islands. BTW, I had not ventured into the News Conference before this got linked to Geo, and Ree, your painting is outstanding. Smashing, actually! And now these cool horizontal bars...it is so chic...wish the default wallpaper could be something else, but..."}, {"response": 41, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Aug 18, 1999 (10:38)", "body": "and as i can see by the updated satellite pics, the hurricane is far off now. thankfully."}, {"response": 42, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Aug 18, 1999 (13:13)", "body": "For an update on the next hurricane poising to attack Hawaii, check http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/restricted/read/Geo/14.26 It updates regularly. (Let me know if it is making the loading of this place too long, in which case I will delete it.)"}, {"response": 43, "author": "autumn", "date": "Thu, Aug 19, 1999 (22:53)", "body": "Glad to see Marcia is safe and sound again (for the moment)."}, {"response": 44, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Aug 20, 1999 (00:06)", "body": "Thanks for saying that, Autumn. It is a great comfort to know good people care if you are safe...and I have not checked the updating maps on post 26 for a while...maybe I'd rather not know!!!"}, {"response": 45, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Aug 21, 1999 (13:57)", "body": ""}, {"response": 46, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Aug 21, 1999 (13:58)", "body": "The above image is from http://www.intellicast.com/LocalWeather/World/UnitedStates/SouthCentral/Texas/Brownsville/Satellite/"}, {"response": 47, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Aug 22, 1999 (09:49)", "body": "my parents live in harlingen. mom icq'd me to let me know they're waiting for evac orders and don't know where they're going right now."}, {"response": 48, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Aug 22, 1999 (10:06)", "body": "Harlingen! That's where Evelyn was headed yesterday."}, {"response": 49, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Aug 22, 1999 (11:39)", "body": "For the loop of the movement of this Hurricane about to hit Texas go to: http://www.intellicast.com/WeatherImages/SatelliteLoop/satloop.wsi;bro;SatelliteLoop;gif;satloop.gif It is pretty impressive and has intensified to a Category 4 hurricane - severe wind damage and flooding. They have taken the measures of dumping escess water from the lakes around Brownsville and Corpus Christi to handle the water generated by the rain bands accompanying the hurricane."}, {"response": 50, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Aug 22, 1999 (12:06)", "body": ""}, {"response": 51, "author": "patas", "date": "Sun, Aug 22, 1999 (14:56)", "body": "I keep my fingers crossed for all our friends in Texas."}, {"response": 52, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Aug 22, 1999 (14:58)", "body": "looks like corpus is going to get the brunt of this one. hopefully it'll bring some rain up this way. hope my family is alright."}, {"response": 53, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Aug 22, 1999 (15:04)", "body": "Plese keep us updated on your families! And, those living in the Austin area, could you please keep us up on your strong windy weather. I hate the thought of your losing power because it would mean no more Spring for a while. We NEED you! Thanks."}, {"response": 54, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Sun, Aug 22, 1999 (19:29)", "body": "at present, we just have some clouds in San Antonio, but nothing else. the good thing about this hurricane is that i dont have to go to work this week (i work in Corpus)!"}, {"response": 55, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Aug 22, 1999 (19:58)", "body": "It is an ill wind that blows no good?! It would seem that someone else's bad fortune may allow us another day with you. Happy thought, indeed! Thanks for the report, Ray. I wonder if Austin is getting any rain - or any cooler?!"}, {"response": 56, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Aug 23, 1999 (22:57)", "body": "How is the flooding going in Corpus area and are they letting you go home any time soon? Wolf, how is your family doing? Ray is dry in San Antonio on a forced holiday and spent some of the time with us at Spring and got me on telnet for real. Will someone with the local scoop update us on the progress of your storm. Thanks!"}, {"response": 57, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Mon, Aug 23, 1999 (22:59)", "body": "nope and not noticably(sp?)..."}, {"response": 58, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Aug 23, 1999 (23:02)", "body": "Thanks for the report for the Austin area(?) Are you still not getting any rain from this system?"}, {"response": 59, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Aug 24, 1999 (07:35)", "body": "Nope, there has been scarce few drops of rain, the only change we've had is increased cloudiness."}, {"response": 60, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Aug 24, 1999 (11:17)", "body": "sunburn alert here..."}, {"response": 61, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Aug 24, 1999 (12:08)", "body": "it's been raining here since last night...but am nowhere near the gulf ;-D"}, {"response": 62, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Aug 24, 1999 (13:44)", "body": "Thanks Terry for the Austin update. I hope the tornadoes go elsewhere, too. (It rains upwards of 200 inches (508 Cm) a year here, so I know rain!) Thanks for the other reports as well. I guess Colorado has sun alerts year round of one sort or another - just as Hawaii does."}, {"response": 63, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Aug 24, 1999 (19:44)", "body": "my parents are fine (harlingen). we got a t-storm this afternoon, but it didn't rain through the whole area...which is too bad because we really need it."}, {"response": 64, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Aug 24, 1999 (19:46)", "body": "That sort of activity starts mean brush fires. Glad to hear your parents are well and dry. Thanks for the report."}, {"response": 65, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Aug 24, 1999 (19:53)", "body": "we've had that and spontaneous hay fires."}, {"response": 66, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Aug 24, 1999 (20:05)", "body": "Incredible. Not much gets that dry on this side of the island, but where the lava flows go into new channels through the brush, it makes for particularly nasty fires and toxic fumes."}, {"response": 67, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Aug 24, 1999 (20:30)", "body": "i'll bet! even the humidity doesn't help the parched grasses. i have to water my lawn just about every night to keep the grass from going dormant (that's what it is, not dead like folks think)."}, {"response": 68, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Aug 24, 1999 (21:26)", "body": "We just must live right (oh sure...NOT!)God waters ours every night and shines up the leaves and makes the flowers open with dew on them...! We call our showers \"dust control\""}, {"response": 69, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Aug 27, 1999 (01:51)", "body": "Here is a great little map of the world and its troubles with weather from http://www.wunderground.com/tropical/ Reports from Australia report tornadoes in Perth area again and cricket-ball sized hail stones in Sydney. Homes are still unrepaired, by the thousands. Thanks, AnneH for your report."}, {"response": 70, "author": "patas", "date": "Fri, Aug 27, 1999 (04:32)", "body": "A map of the world? Where? Where? I see but a little piece of the world here."}, {"response": 71, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Aug 27, 1999 (13:40)", "body": "I erred. It is the world from Hawaii on the left to the edge of Africa of the right. They do not have one for the entire world, sadly, but few hurricanes form over the land mass of Europe. They have this one, though: from http://www.wunderground.com/global/EU_ST_Index.html"}, {"response": 72, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Aug 28, 1999 (18:13)", "body": "For a totally awesome image of Hurricane Dennis: http://lumahai.soest.hawaii.edu/gifs/atl_cam.gif"}, {"response": 73, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Aug 28, 1999 (18:23)", "body": "From http://www.weather.com :"}, {"response": 74, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Sun, Aug 29, 1999 (13:56)", "body": "So, somebody update me on the weather, pls. In the office tomorrow, it'll be overcast and cloudy... Coping with suboptimal news, putting some plan Bs up, etc. That's your Central European weather report, brought to you by superstar magazine..."}, {"response": 75, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Aug 29, 1999 (14:38)", "body": "Most of the maps I put on this Topic automatically update every time you check them. Europe is http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/restricted/read/Geo/14.71 I am looking for a WX map rather than that temperature map. but it is some indication of the weather pattern for the area. Will try to get it up by the end of this day. Please check back. Sorry about the inclement weather in your office. Sometimes, it is necessary to go through that to appreciate the sun which will inevitably shine on you in two weeks. *smile*"}, {"response": 76, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Aug 29, 1999 (15:39)", "body": "For those interested in European weather, this map also updates each time you boot it. http://www.weather.com/weather/sat/europesat_440x297.html"}, {"response": 77, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Aug 29, 1999 (15:42)", "body": "This color bar explains the image colors."}, {"response": 78, "author": "patas", "date": "Mon, Aug 30, 1999 (02:57)", "body": "Thank you for the European maps, Marcia, they come in very handy :-)"}, {"response": 79, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Aug 30, 1999 (12:29)", "body": "You are most welcome - Australia next...! I love the ones that update when you log in. It makes it so much easier."}, {"response": 80, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Aug 30, 1999 (16:38)", "body": "Australia's updating weather satellite map from http://www.weather.com"}, {"response": 81, "author": "ommin", "date": "Wed, Sep  1, 1999 (21:45)", "body": "I expect Marcia has put some of Oz's strange weather this winter on. But it is nothing compared to some parts in the rest of the world. Sydney's baseball or cricket size hailstones I suppose has been the worst. Adelaide has had a very dry season - already the driest city in Oz and they are in some trouble. I would be most interested to know if the monsoon arrived in India this year. New Delhi seems to have been hot most of their summer season."}, {"response": 82, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Sep  1, 1999 (21:52)", "body": "Thanks, Anne. Nothing like a report from \"on the ground\" to go with the weather map. It is hard to imagine how the rest of the world fluctuates because we are eternally springtime here all year round."}, {"response": 83, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Sep  2, 1999 (10:49)", "body": "Really, I hope you keep those weather reports from the other side of the planet coming! We're still waiting for rain in these parts, it's crackling dry here. Day after day of 100 degree weather. I love it! But we could use a good gully washer."}, {"response": 84, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Sep  2, 1999 (13:11)", "body": "I shall put up the pacific basin from whence your weather will begin to come as autumn sets in. You need a soaking rain of some duration. Incredible how depressing so much sun can be (especially for someone who gets upwards of 200\" (508 cm) of the stuff anually! (Do you really like that much heat?!)"}, {"response": 85, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Sep  3, 1999 (08:15)", "body": "Good chance of some wet stuff over the holidays. What are folks doing for the holidays and what's the prediction for your area?"}, {"response": 86, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Sep  4, 1999 (00:22)", "body": "Nothing happening here. Just trying to recouperate from the Volleyball tournament. I would love to hike in the volcano...but I think I may be home alone - again - so I will be at the Spring again!!!"}, {"response": 87, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Sep  4, 1999 (02:03)", "body": "sunny. mild, lovely trades in the day and mountain air at night. Same old Same old..."}, {"response": 88, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Sep  5, 1999 (19:23)", "body": "i just want everyone to know that nw louisiana has received rain and cooler temps! yippeeeeeeeee!!!"}, {"response": 89, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Sep  7, 1999 (13:22)", "body": ""}, {"response": 90, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Sep  7, 1999 (13:25)", "body": "Hawaiian Islands updating satellite image from http://www.weather.com"}, {"response": 91, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Sep  9, 1999 (08:35)", "body": "Alright wolfie got her fur wet."}, {"response": 92, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Sep  9, 1999 (13:45)", "body": ""}, {"response": 93, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Sep 14, 1999 (15:06)", "body": "the bad one looks like it's sitting on the Bahamas as we speak..."}, {"response": 94, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Sep 14, 1999 (16:40)", "body": "A very dpecial lady in Drool is at the moment on a laptop in a bunker in Florida riding it out for the night. It does not sound like my favorite thing to do. http://www.wunderground.com"}, {"response": 95, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Sep 14, 1999 (16:44)", "body": "I feel rather bad wingeing about the earthquake swarms we are having as a prelude to our next volcano outbreak...I think I would rather deal with this Hell rather than her High Water!"}, {"response": 96, "author": "patas", "date": "Wed, Sep 15, 1999 (13:10)", "body": "According to CNN, Floyd is not going to strike Florida after all, but is heading upwards to North Carolina. So Moon should be alright (I hope), but do we know anyone in N.C.?"}, {"response": 97, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Sep 15, 1999 (13:18)", "body": "My Dear, I was just wondering about that! Do not think FLOYD is going near anyone we are aware of. Perhaps they will volunteer some information as they emerge from underground. Has to be a bad experience, but lots better than dying!"}, {"response": 98, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Sep 15, 1999 (14:01)", "body": "Hey did you see that global picture I posted earlier? There's a bigger hurricane than Floyd out there in the middle of the ocean. Just a little detail I noticed, that's all."}, {"response": 99, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Sep 15, 1999 (15:08)", "body": "No, I did not. Where is it???"}, {"response": 100, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Sep 15, 1999 (15:16)", "body": "If you check http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/restricted/read/news/32.69 you will see the relative proximities of the two hurrricanes. This map updates so it keeps current."}, {"response": 101, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Sep 15, 1999 (16:19)", "body": "Yes, that other one is called Gert and so far is following Floyd. I do not want to think about it! Florida was by-passed, thank you all for your prayers!"}, {"response": 102, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Sep 15, 1999 (16:36)", "body": "Could you tell us where this bunker you were in is? Dug into your back yard? Under your Condo building? I cannot imagine, but you were computer-up for hours longer than any batteries last on most laptops! I am eyeballing Gert with suspicion. I do not trust her and she is just as big as her brother. Keep that bottled water handy! And, please keep us posted. Terry posted a neat visual water vapor map of both storms http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/restricted/read/news/16.14"}, {"response": 103, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Sep 15, 1999 (17:00)", "body": "My bunker is my home all safely tucked (I hope), under the hurricane shutters, we literally bolt ourselves in. We will keep all our supplies handy just in case Gert comes our way. It seems to be just as huge as Floyd. :-("}, {"response": 104, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Sep 15, 1999 (17:05)", "body": "Happy to know that, Moon. Don't take too much of that stuff off just yet! Gert is looking Bigger than Floyd now...!"}, {"response": 105, "author": "patas", "date": "Wed, Sep 15, 1999 (17:42)", "body": "Hang in there, Moon, we think of you:-)"}, {"response": 106, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Wed, Sep 15, 1999 (17:42)", "body": "Take care, Moon Dreams! My best wishes..."}, {"response": 107, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Sep 16, 1999 (13:12)", "body": "how'd ya fare??? still raining?? blowing??"}, {"response": 108, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Sep 16, 1999 (22:19)", "body": "I am happy to report that all Floridians save one who was far inland have checked in safe and well, but not unbolting their storm shutters just yet. Gert is not looking good for them...will keep in touch - if they do not report here, I will attempt to keep everyone posted on their well-being. Thanks for your kind thoughts!"}, {"response": 109, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Sep 18, 1999 (18:44)", "body": "Ah! The Tallahassee Droolian has checked in, finally. They got nothing of the storm, and not even any rain, which is making them very unhappy...and thirsty."}, {"response": 110, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Oct  3, 1999 (23:27)", "body": "Ooooh, Marcia, I love how your maps automatically update. I see our rain is finally heading east. Now, when will it warm up a bit? This is end-of-October weather we're currently having. Any minute now, I expect the doorbell to ring and some little kids to thrust their grocery bags in my face demanding candy!! And the worst part is I've actually had to turn the heat on already. :-("}, {"response": 111, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Oct  3, 1999 (23:32)", "body": "There is a rule of thumb about these things...as soon as you put away all your cool clothing it gets into Indian Summer in a big way and you rumple your nice woolens. By the mid to end of this month, there should be very few warm spells, considering the latitude of Chicago and its proximity to lake effect weather. Soon! (Those maps are neat, are they not?!)"}, {"response": 112, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Oct  8, 1999 (19:26)", "body": "From Anne Hale in Western Australia: We have for the last two days had the strangest weather - even my server was down. Storm winds - force 10 out to sea yesterday and last night (Thursday) today heavy rain for at least six hours - I measured three inches - unbelievable for October and extraordinary. Our total rainful for the month is two inches!! But three in two days. When Denis got up this morning he had an awful shock - rain coming through the lounge ceiling and now we have a large brown patch and a small hole - but fortunately he managed to get a roof tiler to come out in the pouring rain and fix it. He bored a hole to relieve the guttering on top of the rook and charged $70 but it was worth it to save the carpet and further damage to the ceiling. Now we have to repaint, it never stops does it."}, {"response": 113, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Oct  9, 1999 (10:00)", "body": "Wow, you really took a hit!"}, {"response": 114, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Oct 15, 1999 (14:42)", "body": "Moon Dreams is in Miami enduring another hurricane - this time it is Irene. She has lost a huge oak tree so far... AUTO-UPDATING RADAR MAP OF INTENSE WEATHER CONDITIONS FOR THE USA from http://www.wunderground.com/US/Region/US/Radar.html"}, {"response": 115, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Oct 15, 1999 (14:45)", "body": "Anne Hale reports from West Australia: ...not been on line for a while - we have had storms again this week - electricity off, trees down and a storm again today. I am almost afraid to go on line at present because of the fear of losing it all if my computer goes off."}, {"response": 116, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Oct 16, 1999 (01:30)", "body": "With winter coming on, you might like to know the windchill for your locality From http://www.wunderground.com/US/Region/US/Windchill.html"}, {"response": 117, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Oct 16, 1999 (01:32)", "body": "Europe Windchill Australia Heat index"}, {"response": 118, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Oct 17, 1999 (16:33)", "body": "From Moon Dreams in storm-battered and soaked Miami, Florida USA: Irene did not pull a Floyd and my extensive garden need major clean up. We lost two trees and part of the screen where the pool is. It was a category 1 hurricane and ironically, no one really made a big deal out of it. It happened very quickly, we did not even get the time to put up the shutters. Where I live lots of trees were up-rooted. In other areas there is flooding. We survived another one!"}, {"response": 119, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Oct 18, 1999 (07:12)", "body": "One man died when he drove his car into a canal thinking it was part of the street. He could not swim and drown. Four young boys out walking in the storm were electrocuted from broken electrical lines which were hidden by the high waters same happened to a woman walking her dog. Lots of areas remain without electricity and phone. The scary thing was not receiving a warning so as to prepare until it was too late to really do anything about it. Hurricane Irene was over Cuba and they predicted it would turn west towards Naples Florida, instead it went east to Miami. We survived another one!"}, {"response": 120, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Oct 18, 1999 (14:19)", "body": "Thanks for your report, Moon. There is nothing quite as scary as a natural disaster which sneaks up on you then beats you to a pulp. We are delighted that you survived another one. This WAS the last one for the season, was it not? You do not think weather also has a Y2K bug...!"}, {"response": 121, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Oct 19, 1999 (17:09)", "body": "I just scribbled all of the non-updating maps and images from this topic. All of the remaining ones keep currentm including the water vapor ones which show we are going to get hit by some thundery weather tonight or tomorrow!!!"}, {"response": 122, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Wed, Oct 20, 1999 (11:14)", "body": "Good luck!"}, {"response": 123, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Oct 20, 1999 (13:04)", "body": "Thanks - the other islands are experiencing flooding now, but this side of the last island to get it is still dry. We have everything lashed down so we are prepared."}, {"response": 124, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Oct 20, 1999 (17:10)", "body": "NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI 830 AM HST WED OCT 20 1999 *** THE FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR ALL THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 830 PM HST WEDNESDAY. *** FLASH FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT FOR THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... *** ALL THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS *** A FLASH FLOOD WATCH MEANS THAT CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR HEAVY RAINFALL AND FLASH FLOODING. FLOODING IS NOT IMMINENT... BUT PERSONS IN THE WATCH AREA SHOULD TAKE PRECAUTIONS BY BEING PREPARED TO TAKE QUICK ACTION IF HEAVY RAIN IS OBSERVED OR A FLASH FLOOD WARNING IS ISSUED. *** THE KONA LOW IS NOW A LITTLE LESS THAN 600 MILES WEST NORTHWEST OF KAUAI AND CONTINUES TO MOVE WEST AT 15 TO 20 MPH. SHOWERS HAVE DECREASED OVER KAUAI AND EARLY MORNING PRECIPITATION AMOUNTS AROUND THE STATE HAVE BEEN RATHER LIGHT EXCEPT FOR KAUAI AND A FEW AREAS OF THE BIG ISLAND. *** THE MAIN THREAT IS NOW FROM ABUNDANT MOISTURE CARRIED NORTHWARD FROM 800 OR 1000 MILES SOUTH FROM THE INTERTROPICAL CONVERGENCE ZONE NEAR THE EQUATOR BY A BRANCH OF THE SUB TROPICAL JET STREAM. RADAR AND SATELLITE SHOW THUNDERSTORMS AND HEAVY PRECIPITATION ADVANCING TOWARD THE ISLANDS... MAINLY FROM OAHU TO THE BIG ISLAND. IT IS EXPECTED TO ARRIVE OVER THESE ISLANDS LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. KAUAI MAY BE AFFECTED AS WELL SINCE THIS IS A VERY BROAD AREA OF MOIST UNSTABLE AIR. *** PERSONS IN THE WATCH AREA... ESPECIALLY THOSE IN LOW LYING AREAS ALONG STREAMS... RIVERS... AND OTHER DRAINAGES SHOULD BE PREPARED TO TAKE QUICK ACTION IF HEAVY RAINS OR FLOODING OCCURS OR A WARNING IS ISSUED. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...LOCAL TV OR RADIO FOR FURTHER NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INFORMATION. NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU"}, {"response": 125, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Oct 22, 1999 (17:07)", "body": "We got rained upon, went up the volcano to get through the clouds and only succeeded in getting pure Mother Nature's acid rain (SO2 from the volcano mixing with the mist) - which ate at my eyes and throat until we got upwind of it. No flooding on this Island that I know of so far...but it is still 1000% humidity (at the very least) and just hanging. No breezes to move it off of our high mountains. We often get weather systems hung-up that way."}, {"response": 126, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Oct 24, 1999 (20:25)", "body": "Anne Hale reports that Eastern Australia is having devastating floods and giant hail stones again. Gotta check that weather map...!"}, {"response": 127, "author": "patas", "date": "Tue, Oct 26, 1999 (13:10)", "body": "Love your maps, Marcia."}, {"response": 128, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Oct 26, 1999 (13:23)", "body": "Thanks! Several people from diverse corners of the world check in here almost daily to check their weather map updates. That is lovely and makes me think I did *something* right! They were a great find!!!"}, {"response": 129, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Nov 16, 1999 (16:40)", "body": "Have heard from Pennsylvania that it is very cold (below freezing) and from California that it is chilly and wet. I shall be watching out for flooding conditions. Will post here when I know more."}, {"response": 130, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Tue, Nov 16, 1999 (16:53)", "body": "Did you hear the south of France has had dreadful flooding in the last few days?"}, {"response": 131, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Nov 16, 1999 (18:37)", "body": "No, I had not heard except for a brief mention in headline news (which promptly disappeared from my head). I did note that their Weather Map was not all that promising. Lots more moisture heading for France from the Atlantic. Thanks, Maggie. I'll go check for pix and a report."}, {"response": 132, "author": "stacey", "date": "Wed, Nov 17, 1999 (09:49)", "body": "Ski lovers are under the impression that we are having severe weather... no snow..."}, {"response": 133, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Nov 17, 1999 (11:30)", "body": "I guess all the white stuff is falling in the New England. 30\" (76 cm) have fallen on Mt. Mansfield, but that is not a lot. Is Colorado experiencing warmer than usual weather or is it simply a matter of skies too clear and no weather fronts to dump the good stuff on you? One appears to be heading your way...is just now going through Nevada and Utah."}, {"response": 134, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Nov 17, 1999 (12:51)", "body": "?"}, {"response": 135, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Nov 17, 1999 (13:39)", "body": "\"Severe\" winter, according to Stacey, in the ski state of Colorado is one with NO SNOW at all! \"Severe\" in all other places means dire things for drivers and homeless and the Amateur Snow-Shovelling Emergency Squad (ASSES for short) which incur heart attacks clearing it out of their sidewalks. Does that answer your '?'"}, {"response": 136, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Nov 17, 1999 (16:23)", "body": "Good thing Stacey's impervious to any environmental extremes."}, {"response": 137, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Nov 17, 1999 (17:11)", "body": "We did not get this far in the evolution of time and space without adapting. We are ingenious enough, even though we grouch a lot when it is not specifically the way we want things...too hot...too cold...too damp...too dry... We are worse than the Three Bears! (don't have the foggiest how that huge space got in there with Response 133...)"}, {"response": 138, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Nov 17, 1999 (20:36)", "body": "There is a hurricane in the Florida area approaching category 5 status. Check the updating weather maps for your area if you think you might be in danger."}, {"response": 139, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Nov 19, 1999 (14:30)", "body": "One of the best sites for live WweatherCams is the University of Michigan'S http://cirrus.sprl.umich.edu/wxnet/wxcam.html Check out the weather and scenery in your area or in the area where someone you know lives *smile* Donner summit in California is interesting in the winter tiime. Lots of snow and trucks impounded until the roads clear (if the name Donner is not familiar to you, ask me...) Mauna Loa Observatory on our Island is good, also, but for very different reasons."}, {"response": 140, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Nov 19, 1999 (15:53)", "body": "While the Caribbean plays games with Hurricane Lenny, we have high surf warnings. It is the normal situation in the winter when we get our weather patterns flowing from west to east. Forecast For Hilo, Hi 10 Am Hst Fri Nov 19 1999 ...High Surf Advisory In Effect For North Shores... .This Afternoon...Becoming Mostly Cloudy With Widely Scattered Showers. Trade Winds 5 To 15 Mph. .Tonight...Mostly Cloudy With Widely Scattered Showers. Trade Winds Increasing To 10 To 20 Mph. .Saturday...Becoming Sunny After Morning Showers. Trade Winds 10 To 20 Mph. Temperature Hilo Airport 77 65 78 Special weather statement 8 Am Hst Fri Nov 19 1999 The National Weather Service In Honolulu Has Issued A High Surf Advisory Effective At 8 Am Hst For The North Shores Of All The Hawaiian Islands. Surf Heights Reported This Morning Along The North Shores Of Oahu And Kauai Were 8 To 10 Feet. Surf Heights Are Forecast To Remain In The 8 To 12 Foot Range Along The North Shores Of Kauai And Oahu Today And Then Slowly Decline Tonight And Saturday. Surf Heights Will Be Lower Along West Shores And Along The North Shores Of The Other Islands. A New Swell Train From More Northwesterly Directions Is Excpected To Arrive Later On Saturday. Large Surf Poses A Danger To Swimmers...Surfers...Beachgoers And Opihi Pickers Along The Affected Shores. These Beaches Should Be Avoided Until The Surf Subsides. The Next Advisory Will Be Issued At 8 Pm Hst This Evening Or Sooner If Necessary. Rosendal National Weather Service Honolulu"}, {"response": 141, "author": "stacey", "date": "Mon, Nov 22, 1999 (11:50)", "body": "musta jinxed myself... six inches of snow on the ground... another four expected before sundown (although, I mentioned elsewhere that the sun hasn't really even been seen today)"}, {"response": 142, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Mon, Nov 22, 1999 (11:54)", "body": "(bet it woulda looked pretty...)"}, {"response": 143, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Nov 22, 1999 (13:57)", "body": "I heard you were really going to get a sizeable accumulation - especially in the mountains - from this storm system. Sunset is just a time it gets dark...as is sunrise when it is storming outside. We are having much the same kind of day but a whole lot warmer *smile*"}, {"response": 144, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Nov 23, 1999 (10:38)", "body": "bitter cold right now but the sun is shining bright so I see no reason to complain... The ground was still really warm so most of the snow on the roads melted (and froze again this a.m.) but plenty of fluffy white on the grass and trees and roofs, etc..."}, {"response": 145, "author": "MarkG", "date": "Tue, Nov 23, 1999 (11:01)", "body": "So you won't be as annoyed as people who get a lot of snow normally are when the rest of us are a bit jealous?"}, {"response": 146, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Nov 23, 1999 (11:21)", "body": "I watched the Raiders - Broncos game played in Denver last night and it was fun to see white stuff falling from the skies. Stace had better be prepared for a lot of envy between now and the New Year. I put flocked white stuff everywhere so at night I can pretend it is like it was when I was young. *sigh* I don't miss the traffic snarls, however!"}, {"response": 147, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Nov 23, 1999 (11:47)", "body": "nope Mark... won't annoy me at all! The first 'winter' Brandon and I were in Colorado it snowed on September 25th. I went over to his house... at 5am and made him get dressed and take a picture with me outside! I still like the white and the fluffy... and now that I have an all-wheel drive vehicle the driving in it isn't so bad either... there is just a sense of loss at losing temperate sunny days in one fell swoop with nine inches of snow and temperatures in the teens... It's funny Marcia... now that's we have Christmas seasons with snow when we go back to Texas something just doesn't seem right..."}, {"response": 148, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Nov 23, 1999 (11:49)", "body": "And Marcia... I was AT that game last night (working in the Team Leukemia concession stand) and I froze my bippy!!"}, {"response": 149, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Nov 23, 1999 (12:13)", "body": "Wow!!! Fantastic you were there (did you get to see any of it?)...and I'll bet your bippy was frozen. It is always the worst the first really cold snap of the year. Our bodies think we are playing cruel jokes on us and respond with cruel jokes of their own. Hot toddy weather, methinks! Next time there is a good accumulation, make snow angels for me. I miss being a little kid in the snow!"}, {"response": 150, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Nov 24, 1999 (11:52)", "body": "Well, today is pleasantly chilled in Austin."}, {"response": 151, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Nov 24, 1999 (12:22)", "body": "OOoh, it really is in the 40's. I envy you. In the 70's as usual here...Sun shining after a night of gentle rain to water our plants and clean off the leaves and do general dust control...*sigh*"}, {"response": 152, "author": "stacey", "date": "Wed, Nov 24, 1999 (14:25)", "body": "was 14 F this morning... has warmed up to mid 40's in the sunshine"}, {"response": 153, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Nov 24, 1999 (16:18)", "body": "That will melt your pretty white fluffy stuff! Then it will refreeze tonight making it really fun and games on the roadways. Or, is it too early for that in Colorado? (14\ufffdF = -10\ufffdC) (40\ufffdF = 4.44444444\ufffdC)"}, {"response": 154, "author": "MarkG", "date": "Thu, Nov 25, 1999 (10:35)", "body": "Temperature translations, Marcia! That is considerate! Surely it would take quite a while at mid-40s to thaw any serious snow? So long since we had any good stuff I don't remember"}, {"response": 155, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Nov 25, 1999 (12:15)", "body": "My pleasure on the conversion. My son got me a hand calculator which makes it very easy. I cannot stand not knowing how hot 42\ufffdC is when it sounds cold to me and they are complaining about the heat (107\ufffdF) - I do it for the non-Americans who seem to outnumber the locals. Thanks for your comments, Mark! Since Britain is surrounded by moderating seas, you do not get as much snow which looks Dickensian?!"}, {"response": 156, "author": "stacey", "date": "Mon, Nov 29, 1999 (09:55)", "body": "and back to warmth... highs in the upper 50s (F) since Friday... Still snow on the north face of everything but if you stay in the sun, you don't notice!"}, {"response": 157, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Nov 29, 1999 (12:52)", "body": "I noted while watching the Colorado game on Saturday that most of the snow was gone with only patchy [places under the trees and on the mountains. I was rooting for you to win the game - not much love for Nebraska from this Penn Stater. I am sure the ski resorts would appreciate a good blizzard about now!"}, {"response": 158, "author": "stacey", "date": "Mon, Nov 29, 1999 (14:11)", "body": "The resorts have still been getting snow... evidently they had enough last week to generate quite a few happy faces over Thanksgiving. The high country gets and maintains their snow until the weather warms up for good!"}, {"response": 159, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Nov 29, 1999 (15:11)", "body": "This is true...and I am very happy for the most beautiful state I have ever visited. I miss winter and autumn, my very most favorite season!"}, {"response": 160, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Dec  2, 1999 (12:17)", "body": "It was a very loud night in Hilo. Much lightning and resulting thunder and buckets of rain as noted below. That means snow on our mountains. The only time we get snow up there is when we have thunder storms. They are the only precipitation-inducing clouds we get which are high enough to snow on the tops of the mountains. BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED FLASH FLOOD WATCH NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI 2 AM HST THU DEC 2 1999 ...A FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 2 PM HST FOR PERSONS IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... ON NORTH AND EAST HAWAII INCLUDING THE HILO AND PUNA DISTRICTS A FLASH FLOOD WATCH MEANS THAT CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR HEAVY RAINFALL AND FLASH FLOODING. PERSONS ON NORTH AND EAST HAWAII SHOULD TAKE NECESSARY PRECAUTIONS NOW TO PROTECT PROPERTY AND BE PREPARED TO TAKE QUICK ACTION IF HEAVY RAIN IS OBSERVED OR A FLASH FLOOD WARNING IS ISSUED. NOW THAT THE GROUND IS SATURATED IN MOST OF NORTH AND SOUTH HILO AND PUNA...ANY ADDITIONAL HEAVY RAIN MAY RESULT IN FLASH FLOODING. SATELLITE AND WEATHER RADAR SHOW MORE THUNDERSTORMS OVER WATER EAST AND SOUTHEAST OF THE BIG ISLAND. FLASH FLOODING MAY OCCUR IF THESE THUNDERSTORMS MOVE OVER LAND. MOTORISTS SHOULD BE ALERT FOR FLOODING AND SHOULD NOT ATTEMPT TO CROSS FAST FLOWING OR RISING WATER...MANY FLASH FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR WHEN MOTORISTS TRY CROSSING FLOODED ROADWAYS. ESCAPE RISING WATER BY GOING DIRECTLY TO HIGHER GROUND. NEVER TRY TO OUTRUN A FLOOD EITHER ON FOOT OR IN YOUR VEHICLE. DO NOT CAMP NEAR STREAMS OR OTHER AREAS SUBJECT TO FLOODING. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...LOCAL TV OR RADIO FOR FURTHER NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INFORMATION. CRAIG NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU"}, {"response": 161, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Dec  2, 1999 (14:52)", "body": "You and John are on high ground, I hope!"}, {"response": 162, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Dec  2, 1999 (15:19)", "body": "John teaches at the high school across the street from the Athletic Complex of UHHilo so is pretty high and as dry as anyone is going to be today. He lives in a condo on overlooking Hilo Bay and is well fortified against the elements. I am well above sea level and the yard is surrounded by a drainage \"moat\" which empties uner the street and goes down across the golf course and eventually into Hilo Bay. That \"moat\" is usually a mowed and grassy slope which is quite pretty, or partly a stone wall...with a offee tree growing in it at present time - the gift of the last flooding rains we had."}, {"response": 163, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Dec  2, 1999 (15:24)", "body": "What is fun is listening to the public works road crews - they speak a language which is a whole nuther thing to English. It is very picturesque and semi-pidgin English with some Hawaiiand and Japanese mixed in for good measure. It is an adventure to listen to them (on scanner, of course.)"}, {"response": 164, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Dec  2, 1999 (17:09)", "body": "Check this picture for true snow in paradise. It IS snowing on Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea. This is from the 9,000 foot level (2743M) level on Mauna Loa"}, {"response": 165, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Dec  2, 1999 (19:29)", "body": "This picture is Mauna Kea with snow on the top from Mauna Loa. The camera is located atop the buildings in the previous photograph."}, {"response": 166, "author": "patas", "date": "Fri, Dec  3, 1999 (22:48)", "body": "Fantastic! But why am I so surprised - high mountains will get snow however tropically situated. Madeira is the same."}, {"response": 167, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec  3, 1999 (23:07)", "body": "I guess no one ever imagines Hawaii as having mountains that high. They think we are a single funnel-shaped volcano with a palm tree sticking out of the side and white beach all around the perimeter. Not so. This island is 200 sq miles (518 sq Km)and has green, black, brown and some white beaches...and mountains high enough to have snow on them right now!"}, {"response": 168, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Dec  4, 1999 (06:54)", "body": "Cooler weather headed this way. It's been delightful for a long, long time here."}, {"response": 169, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Dec  4, 1999 (11:52)", "body": "I've noted your spring/fall weather rather jealously. Do you ever get snow on the ground in Austin."}, {"response": 170, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Dec  4, 1999 (14:50)", "body": "Lets see if these update: For Austin and vicinity"}, {"response": 171, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Dec  4, 1999 (17:01)", "body": "Fierce Winter Storms Ravage Northern Europe COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Fierce winter storms left at least 17 people dead and scores injured across northern Europe on Saturday, as well as causing millions of dollars of damage and severely disrupting power and transport. Emergency officials said a series of storms packing gale force winds and heavy rain or snow rolled eastward from Britain on Friday afternoon, causing devastation across Scandinavia, Germany, Poland and the Baltic states overnight. Denmark appeared hardest hit and officials there said six people were killed and many injured in the country's most powerful storm this century. Material damage was estimated at more than one billion crowns ($134.5 million), the Danish Insurance Information Service said. ``This is the worst storm in Denmark this century,'' an official at the Danish Meteorological Institute said on DR1 television. Rescue officials logged more than 4,000 reports of damage to buildings, mainly shattered windows and torn off roofs, DR1 said. THREE KILLED IN NORTHERN POLAND In northern Poland, falling trees killed three people early on Saturday as 62 mph winds swept across the country, downing power and telephone lines, damaging houses and wreaking havoc with road and rail transport. A giant 345 foot crane capable of lifting 900 tons was toppled into the sea at a shipyard in the Baltic port of Gdynia. Rail connections between Warsaw and the Baltic cities of Szczecin and Gdansk were cut by falling trees, the news agency PAP reported. Air traffic at northern airports was badly disrupted. ``Many homes are cut off from the world, without power or electricity,'' the agency said. Casualty figures are expected to rise as more information arrived from outlying areas, police officials said. In Sweden, three people were killed and more than 125,000 households and businesses were left without power when the storm swept southern and central regions. Power companies said every effort was being made to restore power in the Skane region, Dalsland and Nykoping but about 70,000 households remained without power on Saturday afternoon. The storm halted traffic at Swedish airports and ferry terminals. Several train services were also cancelled. OFFICIALS HOPEFUL FOR TRAPPED LATVIAN FISHERMEN In Latvia, officials at the port of Liepaja said they were hopeful that six men trapped under their capsized fishing vessel since before dawn could survive a another night of crashing waves and near freezing water. ``We wouldn't speculate what the odds of survival are but we sincerely hope that there could be people still alive inside the wreck,'' a port official told Reuters. He said the water temperature was about 35.60 degrees Fahrenheit with winds of 18 miles per hour. He added the waves remained strong and winds were expected to reach 55 miles per hour overnight. Lithuanian media reported a 13-year-old boy had been crushed to death after strong winds toppled the chimney of his house in the western region of Shilute. A 76-year-old Hamburg man died and 16 others were hurt in Germany, officials reported. Strong winds, which reached up to 110 mph, ripped off roofs, and flooding raised the sea level 19 feet in Hamburg. On Friday, three people were killed when a large tree fell onto traffic as gales swept central England. Rain, snow and heavy winds also caused serious travel problems in Scotland."}, {"response": 172, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Dec  4, 1999 (17:11)", "body": "well marcia, thanks for the snow pics in hawaii because i would've been hard-pressed to believe it (and i know mountains in tropical zones get snow!!) we've got rain and cooler temps. it's beginning to feel like christmas (for Louisiana that is). but it's been sooooo muggy."}, {"response": 173, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Dec  4, 1999 (17:32)", "body": "You have my commiseration on the humidity front. It has rained for so long everything I own aches - including inanimate objects and my refirgerator is sweating - I hate that! If we wanted to be in a really huge traffic jam we'd go up the mountain with some plywood or a sheet of galvanized metal and slide on the snow. But, we don't so we didn't... This is about as Christmassy as Hawaii gets, as well."}, {"response": 174, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Dec  4, 1999 (17:33)", "body": "Where in Looziana are you? Gimme a town so I can put it on my weather program and see how you're doing."}, {"response": 175, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Dec  4, 1999 (18:53)", "body": "Bossier City--and it's raining cats and dogs. there was some wind damage over in Marshal Texas but all the bad weather is moving east."}, {"response": 176, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Dec  4, 1999 (19:09)", "body": "Ah...that band of bad weather on the above images (Response 170) are going eastward. I guess you are in the middle of it right about now...Keep warm and dry, Wolfie!!!"}, {"response": 177, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Dec  4, 1999 (19:23)", "body": "Oh, bummer!!! You have a tornado watch in effect. Sheesh! Hunker down, Dear. We cannot afford to have any Wolfies visiting Oz!"}, {"response": 178, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Dec  5, 1999 (16:59)", "body": "Oh good! The Response 170 weather maps of Austin and Texas in general update. I can keep watch over you now!"}, {"response": 179, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Dec  5, 1999 (20:53)", "body": "well, you can see that we are having a clear night, those temps are gonna drop. and it's been cold all day! *woohoo* feels like Christmas. now if i could just get the icicle lights on the outside of the house!"}, {"response": 180, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Dec  5, 1999 (21:37)", "body": "Oooh...you got those lovely dangly ones...they are very popular over here as it is the only time it looks like Christmas. In the daytime all of the green leaves and flowers show and it looks like summer! Looks like you are gonna have good weather and cold nights for a while - just about the entire country is cloud-free!"}, {"response": 181, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Dec  6, 1999 (08:48)", "body": "Chilly Willy!!! 20 degrees here."}, {"response": 182, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Dec  6, 1999 (12:01)", "body": "That's getting down to the seriously cold...(-6.7\ufffdC) Almost \"take a friend to bed to stay warm\" temperatures! How cold does Austin get actually?"}, {"response": 183, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Dec  7, 1999 (12:32)", "body": "back into the high 40s yesterday and today... cold front tonight w/ a few inches of snow and highs only in the 20s tomorrow... I'll be in Hawaii in 3 1/2 days!"}, {"response": 184, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Dec  7, 1999 (14:39)", "body": "The weather will be lovely for you. Bring your surf board: Forecast For Hilo, Hi 4 Am Hst Tue Dec 7 1999 ...High Surf Advisory In Effect For North And West Shores... .Today...Brief Mainly Morning Showers. Frequently Sunny In The Afternoon. High In The Upper 70S. Trades 10 To 25 Mph. .Tonight...Brief Showers. Low In The Mid 60S. Variable Wind 5 To 15 Mph. .Wednesday...Mostly Cloudy With A Few Showers. High In The Upper 70S. Trades 10 To 25 Mph. Special weather statement 830 Am Hst Tue Dec 7 1999 ...A High Surf Advisory Is In Effect For The North And West Shores Of All Hawaiian Islands... Another Northwest Swell Generated Several Days Ago By A Storm In The North Pacific Will Arrive At Hawaii Today. Surf Along The North Shores Of Kauai And Oahu Will Rise To 12 To 18 Feet This Morning While West Shores Will See 8 To 12 Foot Surf. Somewhat Lower Surf Will Arrive Along The North And West Shores Of The Other Islands By Early Afternoon. The Surf Will Lower Wednesday But The High Surf Advisory Will Likely Remain In Effect. Beachgoers Are Urged To Stay Out Of The Water And Well Away From The Shorebreak Due To The Suddenly Rising Waves And Riptide Action. The Next Issuance Will Be At 830 Pm Hst Or Sooner If Needed. Craig National Weather Service Honolulu State Extended Forecast .Thursday Through Saturday...Increasing Showers Both Windward And Leeward. Chance Of Locally Heavy Showers. Trade Winds 20 To 3O Mph And Gusty Becoming 10 To 20 Mph Friday And Turning Southeast 5 To 15 Mph Saturday. Lows Upper 60S To Lower 70S. Highs Upper 70S To Mid 80S."}, {"response": 185, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Dec  7, 1999 (14:43)", "body": "I did not send you any information because what tourism stuff we get here is so old and miserable, you are better off stopping by one of this kiosks at the airport and picking up a bunch for Honolulu, Oahu and whatever else interests you. Tomorrow, another weather update for you - and you can access our updating weather maps for the islands further up on these Responses."}, {"response": 186, "author": "stacey", "date": "Wed, Dec  8, 1999 (10:12)", "body": "the road were nice a clean from the last snow dumping we had but the snow was still hanging around on the grass... we got five inches over night and they expect up to 12 more this afternoon... 2 1/2 days and counting... pulled the bikini out... and the shorts and tank tops!"}, {"response": 187, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Dec  8, 1999 (13:15)", "body": "Kinda cool, cloudy, rainy and muggy 'round these hyar parts."}, {"response": 188, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Dec  8, 1999 (14:33)", "body": "Bring sunblock, Stace! Even if it is cloudy, you're gonna burn in that radiation! Especially with all the tender parts emposed by that bikini...! (I have experienced same and have aloe vera plants growing all over - after the fact.) Austin's temp and humidity is almost like Hilo's today but we have trade winds starting and a blue sky, so it will be most pleasant later. Still high surf... Betcha don't get hardly any of those warnings in Austin! Forecast For Honolulu, Hi 10 Am Hst Wed Dec 8 1999 ...A High Surf Advisory Is In Effect For North And West Shores... .Today...Partly Sunny And Windy With A Few Showers. Gusty Trades 20 To 30 Mph. .Tonight And Thursday...Continued Windy With Brief Showers. Gusty Trades 20 To 30 Mph. Temperature Honolulu Airport 83 72 83 Kaneohe Mcbh 80 72 80 Makaha 81 71 81 Wahiawa 76 64 76 Special weather statement 830 Am Hst Wed Dec 8 1999 ...A High Surf Advisory Is In Effect For The North And West Shores Of All Hawaiian Islands... Surf Along All North And West Shores Will Be Lower Today...And The Downward Trend In Surf Heights Will Continue Through Thursday. The Forecast Calls For Surf Along The Northwest Facing Shores Of Kauai And Oahu To Be 6 To 10 Feet Today. Surf On The Other Islands Will Be Foot Or Two Lower. Beachgoers Are Urged To Stay Well Away From The Shorebreak Due To The Suddenly Rising Waves And Riptide Action. The Next Issuance Will Be At 830 Pm Hst Or Sooner If Needed. Craig National Weather Service Honolulu State Extended Forecast .Friday Through Sunday...Increasing Showers...Some Possibly Heavy. Trades 10 To 20 Mph Becoming Southeast 10 To 20 Mph Saturday And Sunday. Lows In The Upper 60S To Lower 70S. Highs Near 80."}, {"response": 189, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Dec  9, 1999 (09:00)", "body": "Stacey's doing Hawaii?"}, {"response": 190, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Dec  9, 1999 (15:28)", "body": "Tomorrow, I think...The Honolulu Marathon is this weekend! It is now raining outside...but cool!"}, {"response": 191, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Dec  9, 1999 (15:29)", "body": "Gonna check to see if it will be live on the net...."}, {"response": 192, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Dec  9, 1999 (15:36)", "body": "Check http://virt-340.connix.com/chapters/southeastern/HonoluluMarathon.html for everythihng you ever wanted to know about the Honolulu Marathon on Dec 12th"}, {"response": 193, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Dec  9, 1999 (15:45)", "body": "RACE DAY NOTICE: The 1999 Honolulu Marathon will be held on Sunday, December 12th starting at 5 AM (HST). Unofficial results for the mens' champion and top mens' finishers will be posted to this website as soon as they come in from the finish line (sometime between 7:15 and 7:30 AM HST). Unofficial results for the womens' champion and top womens' finishers will also be posted as soon as they come in from the finish line (sometime between 7:40 and 7:50 AM HST). Other unofficial results will be posted and updated as they come in throughout the morning. Official results for all finishers will be posted to a searchable database when they become available. Local radio station KGU 760 AM will broadcast the Honolulu Marathon live from 5 to 8 AM on race day. Traffic to this website will increase more than 10 fold on race day and throughout the post-race week. With thousands of simultaneous hits, you may experience slow performance. Your patience is appreciated. Mahalo!"}, {"response": 194, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Dec  9, 1999 (15:46)", "body": "The above from the official Honolulu Marathon website http://www.honolulumarathon.org/"}, {"response": 195, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Dec  9, 1999 (20:35)", "body": "go stacey!!"}, {"response": 196, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Dec  9, 1999 (20:48)", "body": "(was gonna say \"break a leg\" for good luck...but thought the better of it...!)"}, {"response": 197, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Dec 11, 1999 (23:15)", "body": "Weather forecast for the Honolulu Marathon which begins at 5am HST (9am Austin) Metric | English | Both Updated: 06:53 PM HST on December 11, 1999 Observed at Temperature 74\ufffd F HeatIndex 72\ufffd F Humidity 91% Dewpoint 71\ufffd F Wind East at 6 mph Pressure 30.00 in Conditions Light Rain Visibility 8 miles Hourly Precipitation 0.010 in Sunrise 6:58 AM (HST) Sunset 5:53 PM (HST) Moon Rise 10:41 AM (HST) Moon Set 10:08 PM (HST) Moon Phase Historical Conditions Add this page to your Favorites. Add this sticker to your homepage! Honolulu, Hawaii 74\ufffd F Light Rain at 6:53 PM (Click for forecast) Forecast as of 4:00 pm HST on December 11, 1999 High surf advisory in effect for north and west shores... Tonight Cloudy with occasional rain...some locally heavy. Chance of thundershowers. Southeast wind 10 to 25 mph. Sunday Cloudy with occasional rain...some locally heavy. Chance of thundershowers. Southeast wind 10 to 25 mph."}, {"response": 198, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Dec 11, 1999 (23:17)", "body": "Forecast For Honolulu, Hi 830 Pm Hst Fri Dec 10 1999 ...Flash Flood Watch In Effect Until 5 Am Saturday... ...High Surf Advisory In Effect For North And West Shores... .Tonight...Showers...Some Locally Heavy With A Chance Of A Thunderstorm. Southeast Winds 10 To 20 Mph. .Saturday...Mostly Cloudy With A Few Mainly Windward Showers. Chance Of A Heavy Shower Or Thundershower. Southeast Wind 10 To 20 Mph. .Saturday Night And Sunday...Mostly Cloudy. Showers Mainly Windward With A Chance Of Heavy Showers. Southeast Winds 10 To 20 Mph. . Temperature Honolulu Airport 73 81 73 81 Kaneohe Mcbh 74 79 74 79 Makaha 70 81 70 81 Wahiawa 65 74 65 74 State Extended Forecast .Monday Through Wednesday...Partly Cloudy With Showers Mainly Windward. Chance Of Heavy Showers Kauai And Oahu. East Winds 10 To 20 Mph Except Becoming Southeast 10 To 20 Mph Tuesday Over Kauai And Oahu. Highs Near 80. Lows In The Upper 60S."}, {"response": 199, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Dec 12, 1999 (10:47)", "body": "I woke up at 4:30am this morning and listed to the start of the Honolulu Marathon. The weather is as big a part of the story as the runners today. They are saying it is the worst race conditions since 1987 with torrential downpours and gusty winds. Monsoon conditions - on this Island as well. The race favorites, the Ethiopians are falling behind and the Russian women ( but not including our own Tinianovna) are running strongly and in front of the pack. Poor Stace, this is Not the way to start your ca eer in Marathoning. However, she is not alone; Thousands are running for the benefit of cancer research in diverse areas. They have raised many thousands of dollars for their cause - a truly meritorious reason for pounding your pedal extremities to a pulp. Go Stace!"}, {"response": 200, "author": "patas", "date": "Tue, Dec 14, 1999 (10:21)", "body": "Hurrah for Stacey! :-)"}, {"response": 201, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Dec 14, 1999 (11:52)", "body": "Lots more about her in the race in Fitness conf topic 15. I posted all sorts of things there yesterday including her order of finish."}, {"response": 202, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Dec 14, 1999 (13:01)", "body": "For Anne Hale in Western Australia I post this Weather map which I hope updates: And, the satellite image: http://cnn.com/WEATHER/html/PerthAustralia.html"}, {"response": 203, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Dec 14, 1999 (13:03)", "body": "There are two cyclones in these weather maps. Good luck, Dear! Keep us posted! Anne wrote earlier today: We have a catogory five cyclone coming down the coast and the news media is saying the worst Australia has ever faced - think of the people in the North West tonight and early tomorrow morning - perhaps Spring will be interested. Anne"}, {"response": 204, "author": "patas", "date": "Tue, Dec 14, 1999 (15:25)", "body": "Take care, Anne!"}, {"response": 205, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Dec 14, 1999 (19:28)", "body": "From Anne as regards Cyclone John: Fortunately it is hundred's of miles from us and will only cause humidity and heat here in Perth. Karratha it seems will escape the worst of it. They were expecting huge tides but providentially it is expected to cross the coast at low tide. Most of the people of the town have been evacuated to higher ground. Fortunately too if it moves a little further down the coast it will cross over in a unpopulated area - an answer to prayer I believe. I shall keep you informed if anything further occurs. Anne"}, {"response": 206, "author": "ommin", "date": "Tue, Dec 14, 1999 (19:32)", "body": ""}, {"response": 207, "author": "ommin", "date": "Tue, Dec 14, 1999 (19:32)", "body": ""}, {"response": 208, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Dec 14, 1999 (20:05)", "body": "Oh Anne...your posts are disappearing on you again. I wish I could figure out what was the matter!"}, {"response": 209, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Dec 14, 1999 (22:22)", "body": "From Anne Hale: Marcia the cyclone has crossed the coast at a very small settlement called Whims Creek - it packed winds of 300ks an hour and has been confirmed as the strongest cyclone ever in Australia - or at least since records began. Port Hedland a large mining town has closed down and there is bad flooding etc. happening up there. There are no reports yet of damage or loss of life. Hopefully all reached higher ground and housed safely in schools etc. in the area. Thanks again for your concern. Anne"}, {"response": 210, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Dec 14, 1999 (22:24)", "body": "300 ks = 186.4 mph. A brisk wind indeed! Thanks Anne. Let us know if you hear anything further."}, {"response": 211, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Dec 14, 1999 (23:10)", "body": "Cyclone John Hits West Australian Coast PERTH (Reuters) - Destructive gale-force winds lifted roofs from houses and cut communications as Cyclone John pounded towns on Australia's isolated northwest coast on Wednesday. The cyclone crossed the coast of Western Australia around 9.00 a.m. near the tiny settlement of Whim Creek, cutting off communications. Gerry Blum, a state emergency services official at the coastal town of Karratha, said houses had been damaged and power was down in the towns of Point Samson, Roebourne and Wickham, which collectively have a population of about 3,000 people. ``There are reports of substantial damage coming in from those areas and we are organizing a team to go out there to see what the situation is,'' Blum said. Whim Creek, one of many isolated towns in the state's Pilbara mining region, has a hotel, petrol station, and only a handful of miners and prospectors living in the settlement. ``When the conditions are right we will send a helicopter up to Whim Creek and see what is happening up there because we have lost contact with the people there,'' Blum said. About 400 people from the town of Karratha, which has a population of about 6,000, were on Tuesday moved into emergency shelters amid fears huge tides could devastate low-lying areas. ``Fortunately the cyclone did not come into Karratha as predicted, at the last moment it veered off to the east,'' Blum said. RED ALERT REMAINS Residents in Karratha were not yet permitted to return to their homes on Wednesday morning as the region remained on red alert amid fears conditions could still worsen. The cyclone, the most severe category five storm with winds gusting up to 290 kph, has caused iron ore operations to close and shut-down offshore oil production. The northwest coastal region of Western Australia is typically threatened by several cyclones each season. Cyclone John was the strongest cyclone to hit the coast since Cyclone Vance destroyed a third of the tiny fishing town of Exmouth earlier this year. Cyclone Warning Center spokesman Bryan Boase said the cyclone had hit the coast near Whim Creek as a category five cyclone with gusts stronger than the 167 mph level recorded by the destructive cyclone Vance. ``We haven't got any measuring gear there but we would estimate, as forecast, gusts around 290 kph. It is pretty substantial,'' he told Reuters. ``It is certainly right up there with Vance.'' Boase said the cyclone had now been downgraded to a category four cyclone, defined as having wind speeds from 225 kph to 279 kph, and would progressively weaken as it moved inland. Australian mining and energy companies continued to shut operations on Wednesday as Cyclone John passed overhead, with iron ore miner North Ltd closing its Pannawonica mine in the Pilbara. Woodside Petroleum said its North Rankin gas platform off the coast had escaped damage while the Cossack Pioneer oil production ship had stopped production and was sailing west to avoid the squalls. The Insurance Council of Australia said insured losses from the cyclone could be about A$300 million (US$192 million), the same as Cyclone Vance."}, {"response": 212, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Dec 15, 1999 (00:35)", "body": "Severe dust storm here. Blew in from West Texas. It's eery and spooky. We just ain't seen dust like this in these parts. That's why a lot of West Texas folks moved to Austin, to escape the dusty conditions. Rare!"}, {"response": 213, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Dec 15, 1999 (12:48)", "body": "How long does this stuff hang in the air after the wind stops, Terry? Sounds miserable! Is it gritty or fine and power-like? From Anne Hale on the aftermath of Cyclone John Marcia on our news just to hand - no one hurt, some damage, Whim Creek people managed to save themselves in and old iron container from and old ship. Cyclone suddenly veered off and went inland at a small township of just 12 people who as I said managed to shelter in an old container. The other towns had some damage but not casualties heavy rain, some flooding but everyone okay. Another cyclone Ilsa due in a couple of days hopefully not so destructive. Perth is okay. We may get some of the rain on Sunday but as I said before - heat and humidity but main populated areas safe. Anne Thank you to everyone for their concern."}, {"response": 214, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Dec 16, 1999 (13:46)", "body": "It didn't hang around very long. We're back to normal now."}, {"response": 215, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Dec 16, 1999 (14:03)", "body": "Excellent news. Back to breathing air you cannot see? Scary stuff!!!"}, {"response": 216, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Dec 17, 1999 (08:52)", "body": "Yep. We got dusted and now it's back to normal. The folks that moved here from West Texas to escape the dust got an eerie reminder of their roots."}, {"response": 217, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec 17, 1999 (13:33)", "body": "Like they tell me when it rains on my visits to Sunny California, they musta brought it with them. BTW, What is \"normal\" for Texas? I have heard so many stories..."}, {"response": 218, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Dec 20, 1999 (08:35)", "body": "There's a major cold front heading this way, you can feel it in the air."}, {"response": 219, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Dec 20, 1999 (13:32)", "body": "I posted your WX report and chill warnings in Austin News. Going to be in the teens and icy roads a real possibility. Please be careful out there!"}, {"response": 220, "author": "stacey", "date": "Mon, Dec 20, 1999 (15:33)", "body": "cold and cold and super cold here... only in the twenties but there is some humidity in the air (very rare) which makes it feel like negative 273 Kelvin!"}, {"response": 221, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Dec 20, 1999 (16:12)", "body": "Are you sure you don't mean Celsius? It probably does feel about that cold, though. Sears the lungs and freezes up your nose. Not a good place for me this week, I think!"}, {"response": 222, "author": "stacey", "date": "Mon, Dec 20, 1999 (17:40)", "body": "Nope, I meant Kelvin... of course I know we'd all be dead if it were either... so I was kinda stretching the truth."}, {"response": 223, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Dec 20, 1999 (18:29)", "body": "Yup! Especially since on the Kelvin scale absolute zero means all molecular activity is stopped. No orbiting electrons, no nothing! (I knew you knew!) *lol* That IS cold!!!"}, {"response": 224, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Dec 20, 1999 (19:45)", "body": "Venezuelan Flood Toll Rises to 10,000 Amid Looting LA GUAIRA, Venezuela (Reuters) - The death toll from mudslides and flash floods that swamped Venezuela's Caribbean coast last week rose to at least 10,000 on Monday, as hundreds of desperate survivors ransacked the main cargo port. Troops fired shots into the air at La Guaira port as disheveled looters, many barefoot, broke into containers and escaped with children's toys, work tools and fine imported foods such as smoked salmon and Swiss cheese. While some hungrily devoured their bounty sitting on the mud-caked streets, troops pinned about eight youths face down, their hands clasped behind their necks. The streets around the port teemed with people left behind by a massive air, land and sea evacuation of the coastal Vargas state which was devastated by torrential rains that lashed the South American country last week. ``Definitely it won't be less than 10,000 dead,'' Foreign Minister Jose Vicente Rangel told Reuters. At a news conference later, Rangel said the death toll could reach 20,000, adding that ``any figure we give is more in the realm of speculation than reality.'' The death toll would make it Venezuela's worst ever natural disaster. It would also surpass the 9,000 people killed in Central America by Hurricane Mitch in 1998. Authorities have recovered 1,500 bodies, Rangel said. ''There are bodies in the sea, bodies buried under mud, bodies everywhere,'' he added. U.S. GENERAL ``SHAKEN'' BY DAMAGE About 350,000 people lived in Vargas, an area just north of the capital Caracas about half the size of the smallest U.S. state Rhode Island. Along a 60-mile (100-km) stretch of coast, landslides and raging rivers buried entire towns under yards (meters) of earth, boulders and rubble, leaving tall buildings marooned in a sea of now rock-hard debris. U.S. military Southern Command chief Gen. Charles Wilhelm said he was ``shaken'' by what he saw after an overflight of the disaster area to assess humanitarian needs. ``The extent of the damage is indeed massive and it is obvious that a very, very large effort will be required to achieve recovery,'' he told reporters. Officials said reconstruction would run into billions of dollars and take several years. The Caracas stock market fell 8.8 percent over the impact on the recession-bound economy. About 200,000 people were made homeless by the floods which affected the entire northern coast, from the tourist island of Margarita to the western Zulia state bordering Colombia. With officials hinting that most of Vargas state would have to be razed, President Hugo Chavez said survivors would be moved to new settlements built in the interior of the country. ``Now comes the task of convincing people of the need to go to safer places, it won't be easy,'' he said during a visit to a Caracas sports hall sheltering more than 1,000 people. Dressed in the military fatigues he has worn since the crisis broke on Dec. 15, the former paratrooper said the government had enough land to accommodate everyone. ``Don't ask me how long it will take, but we start work today,'' he said, adding that 5,000 newly built houses were ready to be occupied. CHAVEZ: ``ADOPT A FAMILY FOR CHRISTMAS'' Chavez said army barracks would house refugees and called on the rich to ``adopt a family for Christmas.'' Leading by example, he took in at La Casona presidential residence dozens of young children orphaned by the floods. Evacuation of Vargas continued in a massive air-and-sea military rescue operation involving 12,000 troops, about 40 helicopters and several warships. Most towns along the coast were virtually deserted as the government tried to avoid epidemics caused by blocked drains, absence of running water and rotting corpses. ``The operation is house-to-house ... with dogs ... we're going to comb the entire area,'' Chavez said. Soldiers patrolled the rubble strewn coastal streets, searching for those still reluctant to leave. A dusk-to-dawn curfew was imposed to combat widespread looting and theft. At the once plush resort town of Caraballeda, long lines of people waited under a blazing sun and waded up to their chests to board a naval ship designed to transport tanks and troops. Soldiers carried some aboard on stretchers. Flanked by the towering Avila mountain range, Vargas houses the country's main cargo port and international airport and contained some of the country's most popular beaches. Officials said the airport would be closed for at least another week and maybe as long as a month. Some international flights were being diverted via regional airports."}, {"response": 225, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Dec 20, 1999 (20:32)", "body": "hey people, we may get some snow (ok, louisiana snow--it's called ice, but it'll do in a pinch!). it's real cold out there. now watch it be 70 deg on Christmas Day! oh, how did you do stacey? i somehow missed the whole thing. did go to the site that marcia posted and looked for your name on last year's list. perhaps, i should go again?"}, {"response": 226, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Dec 20, 1999 (20:37)", "body": "It is frozen water? Falls from the sky from God's hands to your yard? It works for me! Wolfie, did I confuse you with my syntax or lack thereof? I meant I posted the Weather for Austin (since she would be visiting in TX over the holidays) and mistakenly said \"yours\" instead. Sorry!!!"}, {"response": 227, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Dec 20, 1999 (20:44)", "body": "no, didn't catch it *grin*"}, {"response": 228, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Dec 20, 1999 (21:05)", "body": "...I am totally lost...but that's not that unusual. Must have the Y2K flu which shut off my mental computer..."}, {"response": 229, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Dec 20, 1999 (21:13)", "body": "now i'm confused! *heehee* start over? hi, i'm wolfie and we might get some snow in looooziana tonight *aaawwww heeee*"}, {"response": 230, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Dec 20, 1999 (21:18)", "body": "It works for me... Musta been from all that dreaming of a white-stuff Christmas (Where did you lose Stace?)"}, {"response": 231, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Dec 20, 1999 (21:22)", "body": "i dunno, somewhere where you all were talking about how well she did in the race."}, {"response": 232, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Dec 20, 1999 (21:50)", "body": "fitness...I'll email you the URL for that. Ah so! Lightbulb is lighted! *Whew*"}, {"response": 233, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Dec 25, 1999 (12:38)", "body": "I post the following and add my concern for MarkG's well-being. Please check in with us as soon as you get to a handy computer! Scores Evacuated As Southern England Hit by Storms LONDON (Reuters) - Scores of Britons were evacuated from their homes and more than 5,000 houses were without electricity as gales and heavy rain lashed southern Britain on Christmas Day, officials said. Flood warnings were issued for 60 rivers in the southwestern counties of Cornwall and Devon. High tides forced police to evacuate 200 residents in east Sussex one of the worst-hit coastal areas -- but they were later able to return to their homes. Gales brought down power lines, knocking out supplies to about 4,000 homes in East Anglia in eastern England and 1,500 homes in south Wales. The Environment Agency said a change in wind direction and an easing of the rain had helped prevent worse problems. ``Although we expect showers today, conditions are much better than they were 24 or 36 hours ago,'' a spokesman said. ``River levels are very high all over Devon and Cornwall and across the south coast, but tides should start to decrease later in the afternoon,'' he said. Londoners were battered by strong winds and rain overnight but awoke to better weather on Christmas morning. ``There was some flooding in the Thames region with damage to lowland and farmland areas,'' said the spokesman. ``A lot of rivers have peaked, but the worst is likely over.'' The stormy weather played havoc with shipping off Britain's coasts, prompting several coastguard authorities to issue warnings. A crewman died on Friday from injuries sustained when raging seas swamped a cargo ship off England's southwest coast. On the northwest coast, a five-month-old baby was among six people airlifted by an air force helicopter from a stricken Dutch coaster."}, {"response": 234, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Dec 26, 1999 (17:51)", "body": "Storms in Europe Kill More Than 50 People PARIS (Reuters) - Tornado-force winds up to 120 mph lashed western Europe over the Christmas weekend, killing up to 53 people, including two in a ski gondola brought down in the Swiss Alps. The gales disrupted rail services, blocked roads and closed both Paris airports for several hours on Sunday. Euro Disney (EDLP.PA) closed its Disneyland Paris theme park because of fears about the safety of visitors. Up to 28 deaths were reported in France, two of them when a roof collapsed on a family gathered for Christmas lunch. A woman was blown into Le Havre harbor and drowned. Others were crushed in their cars by falling trees. About 200 people were reported injured. Gales gusted to 60 mph in low lying area of Switzerland, and up to 120 mph atop the Jungfrau peak. TEENAGERS DIE IN SKI CABIN In the ski resort of Crans Montana, a 13-year-old German boy and an 18-year-old Belgian girl were killed when a tree crashed into a cable and sent their ski gondola plunging to the ground. Swiss media reported at least eight other weather-related deaths, including an elderly man blown to his death south of Zurich while trying to repair his roof. In the central village of Kandergrund, locals told how freak winds left a trail of destruction, tearing off roofs, wrecking buildings and flattening forests. ``It is dreadful, what this storm has done in such a short time,'' said Peter Roesti, head of the local community. Zurich airport was operating on Sunday but with delays. FALLEN TREES CAUSE CHAOS IN GERMANY In southwestern Germany at least 12 people died, many of them in road accidents caused by fallen trees, including three occupants of a car hit by a tree in a village near Ettlingen. The weather delayed flights in Stuttgart and Munich, disrupted trains to and from Switzerland and brought down power lines. Officials estimated the damage at millions of marks (dollars). Some 1.5 million French homes were without electricity, French media reported. Half a dozen people were seriously injured in Paris by falling walls or collapsing roofs. Three huge cranes were blown over in separate areas of Paris. Nearly all commuter train services to and from the suburbs were shut down, along with seven of the city's 14 Metro lines. Police even barred cars and pedestrians from the Champs Elysees because of flying roof tiles. Incoming flights to Roissy-Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports were diverted to Brussels, Lyon and other West European cities. The airports partly reopened in the afternoon as the winds moved eastwards. High tides and the threat of floods forced about 300 people out of homes along the south coast of England on Christmas Day. Three people have died in weather-related incidents in Britain since Christmas Eve. The storm hampered the work of firemen, soldiers and hundreds of volunteers trying to save beaches on France's Atlantic coast from dense oil spilled when the tanker Erika sank on December 12. In Austria eight people were injured, two seriously, when a British bus skidded off a snow-covered road and tumbled 15 yards down a mountainside in Tyrol. The ferocious weather was moving east but had not yet reached the Balkans, where people in Kosovo and Serbia are ill prepared to face it. Many in Kosovo live in make-shift shelter because their houses were destroyed during this year's March-to-June war. Many Serbians have scant heat for their homes because international trade sanctions restrict fuel supplies."}, {"response": 235, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Wed, Dec 29, 1999 (12:49)", "body": "Europe mopping up after second hurricane in a couple of days hit France. 3 million still without electricity, not expected to be back on until new year. 2/3 of France reported to be affected by storm damage. Swathes of tress flattened, versailles lookes like a demolition site, don't know about damage to the palace. Current total 130 dead in storms and avalanches across mainland Europe. Austria badly hit by avalanches. Southern Britain still mopping up after severe flooding. Thames barrier raised for fi e consecutive tides (usually only raised three times a year)."}, {"response": 236, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Dec 29, 1999 (15:13)", "body": "...and it is now slamming into the Czech Republic as it wakes its way eastward. Wonder if this will be the storm of the millenniumn?!"}, {"response": 237, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Dec 29, 1999 (15:15)", "body": "Maggie, how are you doing in Britain? Did you have to evacuate? Did you lose some lovely old trees?"}, {"response": 238, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Dec 29, 1999 (15:21)", "body": "Lucie was asking about Portugal's status on Drool. Any info Marcia? But now that I read the news story above about the situation in the alps, we have Moon to worry about now. I'm pretty sure they were in Chamonix. :-("}, {"response": 239, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Dec 29, 1999 (16:16)", "body": "Gi just posted this on Topic 4: Response 31 of 32: Gi (patas) * Tue, Dec 28, 1999 (14:54) * 1 lines There have been showers and some wind at different times here in Lisbon and in Albufeira. We were afraid the storm would hit us for New Year's Eve but I checked the weather channel online just now and it is supposed to get better for friday."}, {"response": 240, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Dec 29, 1999 (16:40)", "body": "Good news about Gi. Any news on the French alps?"}, {"response": 241, "author": "stacey", "date": "Wed, Dec 29, 1999 (16:41)", "body": "Maggie mentioned in fitness that the Thames spilled over its banks and flooded a park near to her gym... but she says the ducks love it!"}, {"response": 242, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Dec 29, 1999 (20:22)", "body": "Thanks for posting that. Scary! From Anne Hale in Western Australia: Today is going to be over a 100 degrees with a possibility of thunderstorms - tomorrow, 100, and the same on Saturday. This is one of the worst heat waves we have suffered in years and no end in sight. A blocking high in the Australian Bight is the cause. Well at least we don't have flooding, Melbourne has been awash. (100\ufffd F = 37.8\ufffd C)"}, {"response": 243, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Dec 30, 1999 (09:33)", "body": "I hope we get an update soon from Ree about weather conditions in Europe, it's been pretty intense over there."}, {"response": 244, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Dec 30, 1999 (20:54)", "body": "I was hoping she would check in over the holidays. The reports from Zurich were not as bad as from other places...but it sure would be mice to hear from her! We are worried!"}, {"response": 245, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Dec 31, 1999 (09:28)", "body": "It would be exceedingly nice to hear from Ree."}, {"response": 246, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec 31, 1999 (12:13)", "body": "....and exceedingly reassuring! One of our sisters is missing...our family is not complete!"}, {"response": 247, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jan  4, 2000 (16:52)", "body": "Since all things Earth are affected by things Solar, keeping a watch on Sun Spots is a science in itself...including an interest by meteorologists: This updates and you can watch the sun rotate by watching it often..."}, {"response": 248, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jan  4, 2000 (18:53)", "body": "Thousands Without Power Following Kentucky Storms OWENSBORO, Ky. (Reuters) - Thousands of homes were without power on Tuesday and storm debris littered streets and yards following a tornado that ripped through Owensboro and other parts of western Kentucky. The local power company, Owensboro Municipal Utilities, said it might take as long as five days to restore electricity to about 5,000 households in this town of 54,000 that were still blacked out following the Monday evening twister which snapped off dozens of power poles. Some of the most serious damage occurred at Kentucky Wesleyan University where the roof of the president's house was ripped off and nearly every building on campus suffered some damage. The campus was largely empty because students had not returned from Christmas break. No official damage estimates were available but about 50 houses were destroyed and many others damaged. There were several injuries though no deaths were blamed on the tornado in Owensboro. One man died near Paducah, Kentucky, when his truck was swept off a road by floodwaters from heavy rains that accompanied the storm front. The same storm system dumped heavy snow from parts of Kansas northeastward to Wisconsin and lower Michigan. There were also reports of tornadoes Monday in Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois and Indiana. Frigid air spilling down from Canada was chasing away unseasonal warmth from the East Coast. In the upper Midwest temperatures were falling and lows around zero Fahrenheit (-17.7 C) were forecast Tuesday night."}, {"response": 249, "author": "MarkG", "date": "Wed, Jan  5, 2000 (06:42)", "body": "Thanks for the concern at #223, Marcia. Saw no evidence of flooding, as I had evacuated to Dublin before Christmas. Most of Northern mainland Europe had their highest winds of the century in its last week."}, {"response": 250, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Jan  5, 2000 (07:38)", "body": "Marcia, I was travelling into France on the worst day of all Dec. 26. The wrath of God decended on La France with high winds, snow storms, floods and even an oil leak on the coast of Bretagne. In Paris there were 30 dead from high winds. All their New Years decorations were brought down and they said the Eiffel Tower's fireworks at midnight were delayed because of it. Sacre bleu! My DH says it happened to La Grand France because they put sugar in their wines and butter and cream in their food. There's a true Italian!"}, {"response": 251, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Jan  5, 2000 (11:31)", "body": "Wow, Europe went out of the century like a lion. Those winds must have been fearsome to behold."}, {"response": 252, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jan  5, 2000 (13:53)", "body": "Happy safe return to the European contingent. It is very good to hear from you! I hope the strong winds are lashing rain is out of the system for this winter! Thames Barrier up 5 days in one week! Unprescidented!! Moon...I love your DH's rationalization of the terrible winds and suffering which France underwent. Imagine sugaring wine? Bleah! As for their sauces, it is to hide miserable excuses for meat, according to my unbiased English grandfather. The Tour d'Eiffel was spectacular when it finally went off!"}, {"response": 253, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Tue, Jan 11, 2000 (17:22)", "body": "Yeah, but they still didn't put a man on the moon, did they? ;=}"}, {"response": 254, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jan 11, 2000 (19:26)", "body": "True...true...!"}, {"response": 255, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jan 19, 2000 (16:01)", "body": "Since this will be read in News as well as Geo I shall post this information here hoping for the widest coverage: Lunar Eclipse Photography by Fred Espenak (c)1999 by Fred Espenak. All rights reserved. Photographing an eclipse of the Moon is fun and easy. You don't even have to worry about special filters to protect your eyes or your camera. Unlike eclipses of the Sun, eclipses of the Moon are perfectly safe to watch with the naked eye. A lunar eclipse occurs whenever the Moon passes directly through Earth's dark shadow. This can only occur during full Moon. Since we have a Full Moon every 29 and 1/2 days, you'd think we would have a lunar eclipse once a month. Unfortunately, the Moon's orbit is tipped 5 degrees with respect to Earth's orbit around the Sun. As a result, a lunar eclipse can only happen when Full Moon occurs as the Moon passes through Earth's orbital plane. This occurs once or twice every year and the resulting eclipse can be seen from the half of the Earth experiencing night. Watching and photographing an eclipse of the Moon is a relaxing activity since it progresses at a relatively leisurely pace. The eclipse begins as a small notch slowly appears along one edge of the Moon. During the next hour or so, the Moon gradually dips deeper into Earth's dark umbral shadow. If the eclipse is a total one, the last remaining minutes of the partial phases can be quite dramatic and beautiful. The crescent of the Moon grows thinner as darkness propagates through a night sky now deprived of moonlight. If you're away from city lights, the Milky Way becomes bright and beautiful as the total phase begins. It's quite a remarkable sight. The Star Trail Technique Perhaps the simplest way to photograph an eclipse is to use the \"star trail\" method. You'll need a tripod and a camera which accepts a cable release allowing you to make time exposures on the bulb setting. A 50mm lens works fine but a wide angle lens (35mm or 28mm) is a better choice for this technique. Choose a moderate speed film (e.g.: ISO 100 or 200), and an aperture of f/8 or f/11. As the eclipse begins, place the Moon's image in one corner of your camera's viewfinder. Your camera should be oriented so that the Moon's image will move across your camera's field during a 2 to 4 hour exposure. This motion is actually caused by Earth's rotation on its axis. You can figure out the approximate orientation by trying it out on the Moon one or two nights before the eclipse. Just remember that the Moon rises about one hour later each night. For example, if the eclipse begins at 10 PM, you'll need to run the test at 9 PM one night before or at 8 PM two nights before the eclipse. Choose one corner of your viewfinder, place the Moon there and see if it drifts into or out of the frame after several minutes. Select a different corner if the Moon moves the wrong way. If your tripod allows you to tilt your camera, you can use this capability to frame the Moon so that it will pass through the diagonal of your camera's viewfinder. A couple of final tips should help. If the eclipse occurs in the early evening, the Moon will be rising and its motion brings it up and to the right as you face the Moon. If the eclipse occurs during the middle of the night, the Moon's motion is basically from left to right. If the eclipse occurs during the early morning hours, the Moon is setting and its motion takes it down and to the right. On eclipse night, load your camera with film, mount it firmly on a tripod and make one last check of your f/number, focus (on infinity) and shutter speed. At the appointed time, lock open the shutter with your cable release, sit back and enjoy the eclipse! You can close the shutter in one or two hours, depending on your lens and the time required for the Moon to pass through the camera's field. When your film is developed, you'll have an picture of the sky with the Moon's image smeared across it. The interesting thing is that the diameter of the Moon's trail will be a function of the Moon's brightness (i.e. - phase of the eclipse). If your exposure includes part of totality, the Moon's trail will probably dwindle down to a bright orange or dark red line. Multiple Exposure Technique Although the \"star trail\" technique is easy, it doesn't give you an image of how the eclipse actually appeared. A variation on the \"star trail\" formula which produces recognizable images of the Moon is the \"multiple exposure\" technique. But to use it, your camera must be capable of taking double or multiple exposures. Check your camera manual to learn if and how you can make multiple exposures on one frame of film. The camera set up and orientation are exactly the same as in the \"star trail\" method. The difference here is that you will take a series of short exposures at various stages of the eclipse with your camera in multiple exposure mode. The resulting image will contain a series of small Moon images each illustrating a different phase of the eclipse. An essential key"}, {"response": 256, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jan 20, 2000 (16:28)", "body": "Storm Socks Midwest, East By The Associated Press 01/20/00 A powerful winter storm that dumped up to 9 inches of snow in the upper Midwest blustered into the East today, bringing heavy snow, grounding air traffic and closing schools throughout the region. Flights up and down the coast were canceled or delayed today as crews tried to clear runways. Near Washington, about a third of the flights out of Reagan National Airport and Dulles International Airport were canceled this morning. \"Winter has arrived,'' said Tara Hamilton, spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority. All of the city's public schools were closed, and the federal government said non-essential employees could take a paid vacation day instead of trying to make it to the office. Elsewhere in the mid-Atlantic region -- where about 5 inches had fallen by midmorning -- Delaware Gov. Thomas Carper canceled his State of the State address, and schools were closed across Virginia, Maryland and North Carolina. All the affected states reported numerous fender-benders. \"This is probably really more typical of what a winter should be in North Carolina than what we've had in the last three years,'' said Ron Humble, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Raleigh. The storm dropped 1 to 3 inches of snow over much of the state. New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania also reported many school closings, as authorities braced for up to 6 inches of snow and possible gale force winds near the coast by day's end. The storm had some characteristics of a nor'easter, but was moving along the coast fast enough that it wasn't expected to have the same impact, said Kipp Hogan, a National Weather Service meteorologist. \"There'll be some coastal flooding and that sort of thing, but it's not expected to last long enough to become a real nor'easter,'' Hogan said. A nor'easter is a winter coastal storm that packs high winds and rain or snow. Lingering longer than a hurricane, it can bring blizzard conditions and severe flooding. On Wednesday, the high winds blew snow and made driving treacherous in the Midwest. Blizzard conditions that snarled traffic in Iowa were blamed for three deaths there Wednesday, and Michigan also reported one fatal accident in the storm. Byron, Minn., received 9 inches of snow, while lesser amounts fell across the Midwest and as far south as North Carolina. Northwest Airlines on Wednesday canceled close to 200 flights at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport where just over 8 inches of snow was recorded. Bitter arctic air from Canada followed the storm into the region. Several towns in northeastern Minnesota were the coldest spots in the nation overnight with temperatures sinking to 24 degrees below zero, the National Weather Service said."}, {"response": 257, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jan 20, 2000 (16:35)", "body": "Mystery iceballs claim ``first victim'' in Spain MADRID, Jan 20 (Reuters) - An elderly Spanish woman has claimed she was hit by a falling iceball, apparently the first victim of a phenonmenon that has been puzzling scientists for days, state radio said on Thursday. Juana Sanchez Sanchez, 70, said she was knocked out briefly by a large, flying, frozen object that hit her on the shoulder as she walked in a street near her home in Almeria, southern Spain, the radio said. A man in Seville escaped injury last week when a four-kilo (nine-pound) iceball slammed into his car. Scientists are examining a dozen specimens to establish their origin amid speculation they could be frozen human excrement jettisoned by high-flying aircraft or debris from comets, an explanation which some space experts have ruled out."}, {"response": 258, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jan 21, 2000 (17:33)", "body": "Anne Hale in SW Australia Marcia, for your information re strange weather - last night we had a such a storm, Denis and I were sweeping water from the Laundry, the drains outside kept blocking, we had water in the garage, the patio, and the bar. I reckoned there has been at least 3inches - and as I said yesterday it doesn't rain in Perth in January or at least it didn't used. Interestingly Beirut also was inundated virtually the same latitude. The thunderstorm is starting again - 7.00a.m. now so I may have to log off."}, {"response": 259, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jan 21, 2000 (23:28)", "body": "You'll not like what I just heard on the news. The first few iceballs were real atmospheric oddities. The rest were home-made iceballs created and planted by \"pranksters.\" The real ones are the ones we concentrate on now."}, {"response": 260, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Jan 22, 2000 (19:55)", "body": "geez louise! sorry about all the rain, anne...."}, {"response": 261, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Jan 23, 2000 (15:14)", "body": "Now we find out The Rest Of The Story as regards Aussie weather from Anne: A friend of mine was rather peeved with her husband for arranging a fishing expedition as he had promised to help with the Church's air conditioning. Well she prayed that the weather would be too inclement to go!!!!!!!! It was far worse for others, knee high water in their houses - down pipes clogged and water pouring in through their ceilings, even a jumbo jet got clogged in the mud at Perth Airport when full of passangers and getting ready for take off - Airport was closed until they could get it out. Think of the weight!!!!!! I measured at least 6 inches of rain in our neck of the woods. Thats a lot of water. It is more normal now although there is a small cyclone some few hundred miles up the coast and slowly heading our way - that we don't need."}, {"response": 262, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Jan 23, 2000 (17:04)", "body": "just shows to be careful what you wish for!!"}, {"response": 263, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Jan 23, 2000 (17:11)", "body": "yup! You just might get what you wished for!"}, {"response": 264, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Jan 23, 2000 (20:48)", "body": "My very special friend, who used to live in Hilo and wrote so eloquently of seeing the eruption of Kilauea from the sea, now lives in North Carolina. He is enduring the third winter storm of the week. His weather Winter Storm Warning For The North Central Portion Of Central North Carolina Expires At 5Pm... The Winter Storm Warning In Effect For The North Central Portion Of Central North Carolina Will Expire At 5Pm. However Areas Of Freezing Drizzle And Freezing Rain Will Continue Through The Early Evening Hours. In The Triad Area Including Winston Salem...Greensboro...Burlington And Asheboro...Freezing Drizzle Will Continue Overnight. Trees And Powerlines Have Some Ice Accumulation And The Freezing Drizzle Will Add To This Accumulation. Many Roads...Especially On Bridges...Overpasses And Secondary Roads Have Some Icy And Slick Spots. In The Triangle Area Including Raleigh...Durham...Chapel Hill And Roanoke Rapids...Areas Of Freezing Rain Will Continue Through The Evening Hours Tapering Off To Patchy Freezing Drizzle Around 7Pm. Additional Light Icing Could Accumulate On Trees And Powerlines. This Could Cause Some Small Or Weak Tree Branches To Break. Also With Temperatures Hovering Around Or Just Below The Freezing Mark... There Will Be Some Slick Spots On Roads Especially On Bridges... Overpasses And Secondary Roads. Motorists Are Urged To Drive With Extreme Caution While Travelling This Evening. Slow Down And Allow Extra Time To Reach Your Destination. During The Overnight Period...Temperatures Across Central North Carolina Will Fall Below The Freezing Mark Ranging From The Upper 20S In The Triad...Around 30 In The Triangle Area To Near 32 Degrees Across The Sandhills. Thus With These Temperatures... The Early Morning Commute Monday Morning Could Be Hazardous With Areas Of Ice On Roads...Especially On Bridges And Overpasses And Secondary Roads. Stay Tuned To Noaa Weather Radio Or Your Local Radio Or Tv Station For The Latest Weather Information."}, {"response": 265, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jan 24, 2000 (17:50)", "body": "Central Atlantic Seaboard where all of the Hurricanes and Nor'easters hit, Updating Doppler Radar Weather"}, {"response": 266, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jan 25, 2000 (13:36)", "body": "From Warren near Raleigh, NC MSN 1-25-2000 Snow Storm Where we are, there is an average of 14\" of snow on the ground. There is about 12\" in my yard. Some areas East, like Raleigh got all time records over 18\", and some counties south of here got over 2 Feet. It's about 29 - 30 degrees outside, and the roads are paralysed, except with truckers. Those poor guys have to roll whether they want to or not, and I don't want to get tangled up with them in a sliding accident. Winston-Salem got 2\", Charlotte 6\". The surprise was South Rock, SC., with 18\", in a place they don't get that much in a year! Wilmington, NC,(where they film Dawson's Creek, and used to film some of Matlock) has 8\" and Myrtle Beach(!) has 5\". They haven't had that much snow on the ocean in the last decade! South Rock is leaving it alone, and waiting to get dug out by SC DoT trucks. Actual snowfall in Raleigh is about 18-19 inches. This is topping the biggest of the 1900's. Raleigh's record was 17.8\" in 1899, and it is gone now. Call it what anyone wants, this storm dumped more snow than the '93 storm that was so bad for all the east coast. Keep an ear on CNN for what happens in New England. This is a Nor-Easter of the first magnitude! [Airports closed] RDU to Boston! Greensboro is clear and open! [re:Storm hugging the coast] That is why this will be so strong; it will pick up moisture and strength as it goes north and replenish itself. Boston is going to think that God has dumped a planet sized bowl of stuff on them. [re the house you are in] This a brick house, with storm windows and doors. Only a power outage could hurt us, and we are in a line with the regional hospital, so our power usually comes back relatively quickly, comparatively speaking."}, {"response": 267, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jan 25, 2000 (18:31)", "body": "From http://www.weather.com Storm pushes N. Carolina into state of emergency, RALEIGH, North Carolina (CNN) -- A near-blizzard clobbered North Carolina Tuesday, burying Raleigh's airport under a foot and a half of snow and leaving hundreds of thousands without power. Gov. Jim Hunt declared a state of emergency. The storm extended northward through Virginia, Washington, eastern Pennsylvania, New York and New England, shutting down airports, schools, workplaces and government offices in the nation's capital. Hunt said North Carolina, still dealing with the devastating floods left by Hurricane Floyd last fall, had much of its snow removal and transportation equipment out of position in the state's western mountains, which were spared the brunt of the storm. \"We really have a drastic situation, but we're used to a lot of these here in North Carolina and we're moving on it strongly,\" he said. In Raleigh, snowfall was expected to top a single-day record of 17.8 inches set March 2, 1927, Mayor Paul Cobble said. \"The amount of snow, I think, was a surprise to everybody,\" said state emergency management spokesman Tom Hegele. He said the hardest hit area was Piedmont, in the center of the state, and that many roads from Charlotte to Raleigh along the I-85 corridor were impassable. More than 300,000 people were left without the power throughout the Carolinas. About 150,000 National Guard troops were called out to help stranded motorists in North Carolina. The troops will also provide emergency medical services and set up temporary power generators at hospitals. Carolina Power & Light reported 121,000 customers without power, primarily in the Sandhills area of North Carolina that includes Southern Pines and Asheboro, and in parts of South Carolina. Charlotte-based Duke Power, which serves two million customers in North and South Carolina, said 118,000 of its customers were left without power. Both utilities had deployed crews to clear downed trees and repair damaged power lines, but CP&L said its crews were slowed by strong winds upstate. \"Visibility is very poor,\" said Sally Ramey, a CP&L spokeswoman. \"With wind gusts at 40 miles per hour, it's just not safe to have somebody up there working on a power line in a bucket truck.\" Snowfall of 14 inches was forecast for Virginia and the Washington suburbs, and 18 inches in eastern Pennsylvania."}, {"response": 268, "author": "vibrown", "date": "Wed, Jan 26, 2000 (00:52)", "body": "Boston wasn't really hit that badly; we got about 5-6 inches where I live. Not record-breaking, but enough to get out of work early. Worcester got more snow, which is typical. The change to rain/sleet is definately more of a problem; I'll probably have to chip my car out in the morning. I'd much rather deal with snow than ice. Here are the current weather reports for Boston... From WHDH-TV Boston, http://www.whdh.com Bay State Walloped by Winter Storm The snow is piling up in some parts of the Bay State today, while other areas escape with mostly rain. By midday, some communities north and west of Boston were reporting as much as eight inches of snow on the ground. Totals were much lower in southeastern Massachusetts, and it was raining on the Cape and Islands. Governor Cellucci told all non-essential state employees they could go home at 2 p.m. State highway crews struggled to keep up with the snow and ice. Numerous accidents were reported, but most w re minor in nature. It's been a tough day for anyone trying to get anywhere by air. The big winter storm has closed airports up and down the East Coast, leaving countless travelers stranded. Massport spokesman Phil Orlandella says about 400 flights have been cancelled at Boston's Logan Airport today. The airport was forced to close shortly before noon, but officials were hoping to get one runway open by mid-afternoon. (AP) NWS Weather Report for Boston Area, http://www.nws.noaa.gov/er/box/ Cheshire-Eastern Franklin-Eastern Hampden-Eastern Hampshire-Hartford-Hillsborough-Northern Worcester-Northwestern Providence-Southern Worcester-Tolland-Western Essex-Western Franklin-Western Hampden-Western Hampshire-Western Middlesex-Windham-Including the cities of, Blandford, Chesterfield, Fitchburg, Greenfield, Hartford, Keene, Lawrence, Lowell, Manchester, Northampton, Shelburne, Springfield, Stafford, Willimantic, Woonsocket, Worcester 1005 PM EST Tue Jan 25 2000 A winter storm warning remains in effect overnight The warning covers much of interior Southern New England north and west of Boston and Providence. Areas of mixed snow sleet and freezing rain will change to snow, Then taper off after 2 AM. An additional inch or two of snow is possible before daybreak. Total snow accumulations for the storm will be 8 to 12 inches from Hartford and Woonsocket to Worcester and Manchester New Hampshire...With totals of 10 to 15 inches accumulating across the Monadnocks and northwest Massachusetts. Gusty north winds will cause blowing and drifting of snow through the overnight hours. As cold air is drawn back across the region any wet or slushy roads will freeze, creating travel problems. If you must travel through tonight, allow extra time to reach your destination. Slow down, and leave extra distance between you and the vehicle ahead of you."}, {"response": 269, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Feb  2, 2000 (20:14)", "body": "Ginny?! Dig yourself a hole and see if you see your shadow! We need to hear from you. Are you OK? Do you have power and all that? Sheesh!"}, {"response": 270, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Feb  2, 2000 (20:27)", "body": "Posts missing from the new server transfer: Response 269 of 270: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Jan 26, 2000 (11:32) * 9 lines I guess Pennsylvania has not gotten much of this storm. Frank in Williamsport reports: We had only 3 to 4 inches around here, and it took all day to accumulate that much. It least it's light and fluffy, and VERY white. I guess that was too far inland. This seems to tbe an entirely coastal experience. Thanks, Ginny, for your great report. I remember snow scrapers and whacking at the ice sheets to free the windshield wipers. Funny thing - I don't miss it much, but it is fun to relive old memories by watching you guys cope. Seriously. please take care and watch out for the idiots who think they can drive as usual with no traction. I shall go bug Warren for an update on his weather. Response 270 of 270: Wolf (wolf) * Wed, Jan 26, 2000 (11:36) * 1 lines we're in for it tonight and tomorrow (highs in the 30's to 40's plus ice and snow)...... Response 271 of 271: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Jan 26, 2000 (13:59) * 1 lines Oh Dear Wolfie...Please keep us updated. I shall plug you into my prayers for safety during this extraordinary winter weather. *Warm Hawaiian Hugs* Response 272 of 272: Wolf (wolf) * Wed, Jan 26, 2000 (19:33) * 1 lines thanks. i really hope it does come down and closes things down (like work)! (isn't that sad?) Response 273 of 273: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Jan 26, 2000 (20:33) * 1 lines Nope! Not sad! Weather like that unleashes the little kid in each of us and we just wanna go out and play in it or sit by the fireside and snuggle with the furry and non furry guys we love. *hugs* of anticipation... Response 273 of 275: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Jan 26, 2000 (20:33) * 1 lines Nope! Not sad! Weather like that unleashes the little kid in each of us and we just wanna go out and play in it or sit by the fireside and snuggle with the furry and non furry guys we love. *hugs* of anticipation... Response 274 of 275: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) * Thu, Jan 27, 2000 (08:48) * 7 lines Rain. Good thing I spread some ryegrass out at the farm last night! Marati, the new caretaker/cottage dweller has turned out to me the miracle man. He's building stuff every day and making new spaces for folks. It's awesome, baby! Response 275 of 275: Wolf (wolf) * Thu, Jan 27, 2000 (09:35) * 1 lines well, we're shut down! *woohoo* Response 276 of 276: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Jan 27, 2000 (11:22) * 5 lines It's about time some of your miracles were performed by someone other than you, Terry. I rejoice in your miracle man who is being so beneficial to you. I have heard such dire things about this 4 year drought you are having in Texas! Wolfie gets to stay home and play today. Yippee! I have had no check-ins yet on the weather front from the east coast, but I am sure the storm has moved off into the Atlantic. Meanwhile there is another coming in from the west. Happy winter! Response 277 of 280: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) * Thu, Jan 27, 2000 (12:30) * 3 lines We're getting a good soaker here. Response 278 of 280: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Jan 27, 2000 (19:44) * 2 lines from what I have heard, you are in the midst of a serious drought...a good soaker is just what you need - no matter how inconvenient...! Response 279 of 280: Wolf (wolf) * Fri, Jan 28, 2000 (08:19) * 1 lines and we're closed again today although some of the bridges are open..... Response 280 of 280: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Jan 28, 2000 (11:13) * 1 lines ...and another storm is headed for the Carolinas, so I suppose you will be in on that one, too?! Stay warm and safe, Wolfie!!! Response 281 of 283: Wolf (wolf) * Fri, Jan 28, 2000 (11:55) * 3 lines just got a call from the office....apparantly, there was a liner on the news that we were to go back at noon today BUT, our boss called and said not to worry about it and stay home. i say good because the roads look terrible. we've got slush and everything. i thought there was another storm headed our way behind this one but i haven't heard anything about it. Response 282 of 283: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Jan 28, 2000 (12:34) * 2 lines Just for Wolfie I post this updating weather map and for Texas, as well... http://maps.weather.com/images/radar/regions/s_central_rad_300x187.jpg Response 283 of 283: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Jan 28, 2000 (12:36) * 1 lines Looks like most of your bad weather is past you and headed for Warren who is still housebound in North Carolina. Response 284 of 289: Wolf (wolf) * Fri, Jan 28, 2000 (12:38) * 1 lines those clear skies mean one thing, cold nights! Response 285 of 289: Ginny (vibrown) * Fri, Jan 28, 2000 (14:01) * 1 lines Cold is right! We're having another arctic blast in the Northeast at the moment. Looks like that storm is going to move up here on Sunday night or Monday morning. Response 286 of 289: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Jan 28, 2000 (14:28) * 0 lines (scribbled) Response 287 of 289: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Jan 28, 2000 (14:30) * 2 lines Check it out! http://maps.weather.com/images/ra"}, {"response": 271, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Feb  2, 2000 (20:28)", "body": "Reposting updating weather maps:"}, {"response": 272, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Feb  2, 2000 (20:31)", "body": ""}, {"response": 273, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Feb  2, 2000 (20:33)", "body": "This is the WINTER WEATHER UPDATING RADAR WEATHER MAP"}, {"response": 274, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Feb  2, 2000 (20:35)", "body": "There! I think we are back up to speed with just one or two glitches of my own..."}, {"response": 275, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Thu, Feb  3, 2000 (08:32)", "body": "Another overcast day in Austin, it's been wet lately."}, {"response": 276, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Feb  3, 2000 (12:45)", "body": "I noticed! Do you tend to flood? Or, does it soak in, like a good rain should? I also noticed you get a lot of wind and haze with your rain. Can't quite figure why it does not blow the haze away or at least wash it out of the air with all of that going on. But, Texas is a whole nuther world, isn't it?! Thanks for the report."}, {"response": 277, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Thu, Feb  3, 2000 (18:05)", "body": "The day turned out to be sunny and warm in the afternoon."}, {"response": 278, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Feb  3, 2000 (20:32)", "body": "Back to cracks in the ground? Where does your drinking water come from? (How does it taste?)"}, {"response": 279, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Fri, Feb  4, 2000 (05:32)", "body": "My water comes from a well out in Cedar Creek. It tastes ok. If only Alcoa would stop sucking obscene amounts of water out of the ground. See http://www.bioregion.com for some notes on the Bastrop Country Environmental network and other water issues related to Texas."}, {"response": 280, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Feb  4, 2000 (17:37)", "body": "Pretty terrible...and wasteful. My folks' water in Tucson, AZ was so high in selenium they had to drink bottled water. No dissolved baddies in your water in toxic amounts is indeed good news! I should post that in your Bioregion topic in here, huh?!"}, {"response": 281, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Feb  4, 2000 (20:57)", "body": "From Maggie as reported on the BBC this morning: Nepal: Wheat crop in Parsu District badly damaged by freak hailstones weighing half a kilo(over a pound). eyewitnesses said it sounded like bombs were falling on their roofs. (Shades of the ice blocks in Spain that they're still muttering on about)"}, {"response": 282, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Feb 11, 2000 (16:34)", "body": "From Warren regarding the current Weather in North Carolina, USA It has been in the sixties for the last two days and in the seventies today, and there is STILL snow and ice on the ground and in the parking lots!! Our high today was 71 here, but it will drop into the low 40's to upper 30's tonight, colder farther north. With the cold front moving in, if the weather boffins are wrong about how far south it will go, we could have snow flurries tonight. No accumulation, tho. We want it to rain, however. Since it takes a foot of snow to equal an inch of rain, we need some rain to fill the reservoirs. At least the ground water levels are topped off, with the slow melt of snow seeping deep. Thanks, luv! *hugs*"}, {"response": 283, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Feb 14, 2000 (13:58)", "body": "22 Die in Georgia Tornadoes CAMILLA, Ga. (AP) -- Tornadoes slashed through southwest Georgia early today, killing at least 22 people and injuring more than 100. The Mitchell County town of Camilla appeared to be hardest hit, with a tornado cutting a five-mile path through a housing development south of town. \"It's like somebody took a bulldozer and leveled it,'' volunteer firefighter Mikie Newsome said. He and his father had watched a large dark funnel cloud dip down about three miles from their house near Camilla, about 200 miles south of Atlanta. \"All you heard was a roar, woo-woo-woo,'' said Johnny Jones, whose mobile home south of Camilla was lifted up and thrown on its side. He said he freed his 14-year-old son, who was pinned under a washing machine, and they crawled out a window. Newsome estimated that 50 to 60 homes were demolished, 90 percent of them mobile homes. Aerial photos showed the entire neighborhood was flattened. Fourteen people died in Mitchell County, said Liz McQueen, a Red Cross representative working at a temporary morgue in Camilla. Seven were confirmed dead in Grady County and one in Colquitt County."}, {"response": 284, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Mon, Feb 14, 2000 (14:59)", "body": "Awsome - heard it on the news just recently."}, {"response": 285, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Feb 14, 2000 (15:35)", "body": "Anyone from near there in here? Wolfie, are you alright?"}, {"response": 286, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Feb 16, 2000 (19:37)", "body": "Anne Hale informs me that the latest cyclone off the Western Coast of Australia is Cyclone Marcia. I suggested she send it back from whence it came *grin* Fingers crossed, Anne!"}, {"response": 287, "author": "ommin", "date": "Wed, Feb 16, 2000 (20:49)", "body": "Added to that Marcia - the 'dead heart' of Australia is a desert no more - they are flooded out and tourists have been stranded for days. We had over 4 inches of rain over a day in January - unheard of in Perth, humidity and horrible temps mostly over 85f. But I will try and blow it away!!"}, {"response": 288, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Feb 16, 2000 (22:41)", "body": "...or Marcia shall...Some times you need a good gale to clear things out!"}, {"response": 289, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Feb 18, 2000 (18:47)", "body": "Anne reports that Marcia blew herself out and is now a tropical depression. She know all about that...Thanks, Anne!"}, {"response": 290, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Feb 18, 2000 (21:34)", "body": "I found two more updating weather maps for your enjoyment:"}, {"response": 291, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Feb 18, 2000 (21:34)", "body": ""}, {"response": 292, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Feb 18, 2000 (21:41)", "body": "For both, this is the color index:"}, {"response": 293, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Feb 18, 2000 (21:43)", "body": ""}, {"response": 294, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Feb 19, 2000 (00:26)", "body": "Checking in as requested! :-) Yes, things are ugly here. We haven't had that much snow where I live, but it's the worse kind. Ultra heavy wet stuff looking for potential coronary victims. I shoveled this morning (couldn't sweep it off the stairs...and I have a lot of stairs), then Jeff shoveled earlier this evening. But there's been more. Tomorrow is another day. Driving was awful because the side streets don't get plowed. Unfortunately, you can't always stick to main thoroughfares. Then there were those smug 4WDers. Argh, I've got ZWD. ;-) Saw the forecast and temps will be rising. Stuff should melt soon enough. Thanks for your concern, but next to last year, this is just another winter day."}, {"response": 295, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Feb 19, 2000 (00:30)", "body": "Oh yeah, the airports got closed because the winds were bad and there was no visibility (I'm guessing).. ZWD=zero wheel drive"}, {"response": 296, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Feb 19, 2000 (12:17)", "body": "Thanks, Karen. I thought about you a lot over night with all of the news stories about the airports being closed from here to there and you can't get there from here stuff. Watch that heart, Sweetie. You are not replaceable and kids get coronaries, too. Here we sit on a warm sunny day with an AWD in the garage (AWD=All Wheel Drive). Wish I could lend it to you for the duration!"}, {"response": 297, "author": "vibrown", "date": "Sat, Feb 19, 2000 (23:17)", "body": "Boston got about 8-12 inches of heavy, wet snow from Friday to Saturday. The most we've had all winter, but not record-breaking. (The weather-folks have called it a \"winter storm\", not a \"blizzard\".) It was enough to cause some backaches and heart-attacks, though. Logan was still backed up, according to the news at 11. Glad I wasn't planning to go anywhere. (Planning a big vacation in Feb. is always a crap shoot around here.)"}, {"response": 298, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Feb 20, 2000 (02:17)", "body": "You in Boston and Karen in Chicago got the brunt of the soggy snow. Just let the little kids shovel it. Yup...excuse to play on the computer and fill in gaps on Geo for me this weekend (I am celebrating your snow-in, too!)"}, {"response": 299, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Feb 20, 2000 (16:05)", "body": "Snow is melting as I type. Unfortunately, I did have to shovel (even while knowing it would start melting the next day...rising temps here) in order to get in and out of the house. The stairs would've been impossible. No coronaries, but my quads are killing me. Am trying to avoid going \"down\" any stairs as much as possible, which is tough as I have a duplex. :-("}, {"response": 300, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Feb 20, 2000 (16:21)", "body": "Please tell me your stairs are indoors from the second floor...! Get yourself a little sled and skim your way down. Haven't quite figured out how you are going to get back upstairs again, though...*sigh* Didja make any snow angels for me?"}, {"response": 301, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Feb 20, 2000 (16:30)", "body": ""}, {"response": 302, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Feb 20, 2000 (16:43)", "body": "I have circular stairs (inside) going up to the third floor, which is the only renovated part of my unit. v. painful today. Around the corner I noticed a few buildings where people hadn't cleaned off their stairs. No way, I'd set one foot on those. BTW, if I tried to sled my down the front stairs, I'd go right into one of those infernal parkway trees that we've discussed on a non-eco topic before. ;-) Concussion city. Or I'd land in the street and get hit by a car."}, {"response": 303, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Feb 20, 2000 (16:45)", "body": "*sigh* posted pearls of oysters rather than pearls of weather wisdom. Sorry!"}, {"response": 304, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Feb 20, 2000 (16:47)", "body": "scratch the sled idea. What's fun is when those snow-heaped steps do not melt clean and refreeze in the night. You have to end up chipping the stuff off and the brick / stonework with it. Stupid! Love the though of your spiral staircase. Shall we see you starring in Vertigo any time soon?!"}, {"response": 305, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Sun, Feb 20, 2000 (17:13)", "body": "Just heard on BBC World service that a tropical cyclone is heading towards Mozambique to add to the misery following recent severe flooding."}, {"response": 306, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Feb 20, 2000 (17:26)", "body": "Gotta go check the latest africa updating weather map I posted yesterday. Thanks, Maggie!"}, {"response": 307, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Mon, Feb 21, 2000 (17:13)", "body": "Our winter was unusually mild. Need not be the greenhouse hop, nor the Nino mambo, just the solar cycle of 11 years, I guess."}, {"response": 308, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Feb 21, 2000 (18:01)", "body": "I think you are right about that. This new jargon of el Ni\ufffdo and La Ni\ufffda are just new manifestations of the old eleven-year solar cycle. Anyone who is interested in short wave radio or Ham radio is well aware of this. We are just climbing out of one of the longest and lowest solar flux since records were kept. Other times, mini ice ages happened as when the Thames froze over and they ice skated on it. Amazing!"}, {"response": 309, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Feb 22, 2000 (19:22)", "body": "Austinites, please check in with us in the morning and let us know what your night was like - weather-wise, of course *grin* Forecast for Austin, TX 400 pm CST tue feb 22 2000 .Tonight...A 70 percent chance of thunderstorms...some possibly severe before the evening is over. Low in the lower 50s. Winds stronger and gusty in and near thunderstorms...then becoming west and northwest and diminishing to 10 mph early morning. .Wednesday...Mostly sunny skies with the high in the mid 70s. West winds 10 to 15 mph. .Wednesday night...Mostly clear. Low in the upper 40s. .Thursday...Mostly sunny and breezy with the high in the mid 70s. .Extended forecast... .Thursday night...increasing cloudiness. Lows near 60. .Friday...Mostly cloudy with a chance of showers or thunderstorms. Highs in the 70s to near 80. .Saturday...Mostly clear. Lows in the 50s. Highs in the 70s. .Sunday...Partly cloudy. Lows in the 50s. Highs in the 70s."}, {"response": 310, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Tue, Feb 22, 2000 (23:39)", "body": "Ricky Williams got arrested and thrown in jail for changing lanes without signaling on Mopac in his hummer. thus joing the Matthew Mcconaughey Hall of Shame."}, {"response": 311, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Feb 22, 2000 (23:48)", "body": "At least he was not cracking open someone else's head with a hockey stick! We gotta do something. Guess your weather is not too terrible - but in a hummer, what is terrible weather?!"}, {"response": 312, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Wed, Feb 23, 2000 (00:13)", "body": "Do you know what a hummer is, Marcia?"}, {"response": 313, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Feb 23, 2000 (11:50)", "body": "Yup! An outrageously expensive and Ugly (with a capital U) vehicle which was origianlly created for the military. They run convoys through Hilo from the Pohakuloa Military Training Area in the saddle between Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa and they always have Hummers included in various shapes and forms. I think it is about the only vehicle I would ever feel truly safe in on the southern California freeways!"}, {"response": 314, "author": "vibrown", "date": "Wed, Feb 23, 2000 (14:17)", "body": "I never liked hockey before, but after watching the news last night, I like it even less. I hope they throw that idiot off the Bruins and out of the NHL!"}, {"response": 315, "author": "vibrown", "date": "Wed, Feb 23, 2000 (14:18)", "body": "By the way, the lava buttons look great! Really hot!! :-)"}, {"response": 316, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Feb 23, 2000 (14:30)", "body": "Geo conference again looks as we created it on July 10th. I added the buttons (which had ugly white frames around them and which took me some time to find a program to remove them after the brilliant programming magician had done one and made the rest look even worse...) some time later when I could not get the buttons I wanted ( which ended up as the default buttons and which have my heart.) You think I should leave the lava-pool buttons up or only during winter? Guess I'll change the link color if I'm gonna leave the lava buttons up...*sigh*"}, {"response": 317, "author": "vibrown", "date": "Wed, Feb 23, 2000 (15:06)", "body": "I think the lava-pool buttons are very appropriate for this conference; seems kind of nice for each conference to develop it's own look. By all means, do what you think best!"}, {"response": 318, "author": "vibrown", "date": "Wed, Feb 23, 2000 (15:07)", "body": "I guess you did change the link color! I now see blue instead of green! Very nice! (Blue is my favorite color.. :-)"}, {"response": 319, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Feb 23, 2000 (15:12)", "body": "I am playing with it as we speak. I wanted some sort of royal-to-navy blue but it just is plain boring where it is not emboldened. So, I tried brown - ucky. Red was worse. The forest green I used over Christmas and Thanksgiving. I really like it, but the blue is better. This is indigo and I think I need something more blue than purple. Off I go to fiddle behind the scenes again."}, {"response": 320, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Feb 23, 2000 (15:23)", "body": "Guess there is no darker blue which is not on the purplish side. I really wanted a deep bluish green, but the ones on the hex color chart are electric bluein that part of the spectrum...*sigh*"}, {"response": 321, "author": "CherylB", "date": "Thu, Feb 24, 2000 (16:42)", "body": "Love the lava-look buttons, no doubt Pele would approve."}, {"response": 322, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Feb 24, 2000 (17:26)", "body": "Thank you. It took some real intelligence and hard work on the part of a few very special people to make Geo look like this. (and I did find Navy blue!) I truly appreciate their efforts and your comments. *grin* Pele must like it - she has not paved over my computer yet with a fresh lava flow, which is the modus operandi of the Goddess when mortals do things with her property she does not like."}, {"response": 323, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Feb 24, 2000 (18:54)", "body": "From AnneH in Australia: Most of the Northern Territory, the top end of Western Australia, a third of Queensland and the North Western part of New South Wales are under feet of water. All have been declared disaster areas. Movement is by boat or helicopter and people are being rescued everywhere. The phenomenon is called \"the wet\" this is far worse than usual and stock, i.e. cattle, horses and sheep are drowning in their thousands. As for the wild life you can see then running for their lives to higher ground."}, {"response": 324, "author": "patas", "date": "Fri, Feb 25, 2000 (14:12)", "body": "Is it because we care for individuals who live in such different places that natural disasters seem to be more so nowadays? When it is not an earthquake in Hawaii it's a hurricane in Florida, the Wet in Australia, ecc... I hope all is well with AnneH, CatheyP, Maureen and our other Spring friends in Australia."}, {"response": 325, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Feb 25, 2000 (14:33)", "body": "The world has become a very small sphere, thanks to the Internet and easy access to travel. Who'd have thought some of my dearest friends would live in places like Portugal, England and Australia (not to mention Austin, Home of The Spring)?! We need them to check in from time to time...Anne surely will keep us current on Weather because she is also interested in it. As soon as the mother board is replaced on her new computer, we have hopes that she will be able to post her own weather. Earth is a dynamic place, constantly subject to pull from the moon and sun (pulling us out of round) making us oblate (squashed at the poles) from spinning at 100,000 MPH ( 160,390KM ), and all that movement on our own - mountains erupting, plates sliding and colliding - we are a very busy place!!! It is a wonder we hold together at all."}, {"response": 326, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Sat, Feb 26, 2000 (05:25)", "body": "Latest news on African floods received today from the United Nations: Southern Africa was battered by torrential rains and high winds this week as cyclone Eline moved across Mozambique and into Botswana, Zimbabwe and southern Zambia, causing extensive damage and leaving hundreds of thousands of people displaced. Mozambique launched an international appeal to cope with extensive flooding, Zimbabwe declared a state of emergency and will launch its own appeal next week, while officials in Botswana's National Disaster Management Authority told IRIN on Friday that care for the displaced was being hampered by a shortage of tents throughout the effected region. FLOODS-MOZAMBIQUE: Appeal for international help The Mozambican government and UN agencies launched a joint international appeal on Wednesday for US $65 million to repair damaged infrastructure and carry out humanitarian operations following two weeks of floods that have left at least 70 people dead and 300,000 in urgent need of assistance. The government said several main roads, including connections with neighbouring South Africa and Swaziland were severely affected. \"The national road that connects the capital, Maputo, with the rest of the country has been cut at several places, and embankments and bridges have been washed away,\" a government statement said. The country's railway and electricity networks, added the appeal, have also been devastated and need urgent repairs. The Ressano Garcia line to South Africa, the Goba line that goes through Swaziland to South Africa, and the Limpopo line to Zimbabwe have all been damaged. For a detailed report see: http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/sa/countrystories/mozambique/20000224.htm FLOODS-MOZAMBIQUE: Floods threat to food security More than 70,000 hectares of land and a substantial amount of livestock have been destroyed in the floods that have devastated Mozambique over the last two weeks, humanitarian agencies told IRIN on Wednesday. The risk of an outbreak of water-borne diseases such as cholera and malaria as well as meningitis has also increased. For detailed reports see: http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/sa/countrystories/mozambique/20000223.htm and: http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/sa/countrystories/mozambique/20000222.htm FLOODS-ZIMBABWE: State of emergency declared Zimbabwe declared a state of emergency on Thursday as torrential rains and flooding affected an estimated 250,000 people in four of the country's eight provinces this week. Sibusisiwe Ndhlovu, the deputy director of Zimbabwe's Civil Protection Unit told IRIN on Friday the effects were \"the worst we have seen\" and the damage to infrastructure in the south and east of the country could \"run into billions\" of Zimbabwe dollars. She said Zimbabwe was preparing an international appeal over the disaster. Ndhlovu said the main problem at the moment was accessibility to people marooned by flood waters. \"We are trying to rescue and provide shelter to a number of communities. There is a problem of foodstuffs, logistics, and telephones are down.\" The official 'Herald' newspaper reported on Friday that at least 12 people have died. For a detailed report see: http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/sa/countrystories/zimbabwe/20000225.htm FLOODS-SOUTH AFRICA: Northern Province battered At least 50 people have been killed and more than 80,000 left homeless in South Africa's Northern Province since heavy rains started more than two weeks ago, government officials told IRIN on Friday. Sam Hlungwane, of the Local Government and Housing department, said many roads in the province's northern region have been washed away while power lines and bridges have collapsed. \"All the rivers have been flooded after the dams started overflowing,\" Hlungwane told IRIN. He added that five regions in the province were affected by the floods. \"The rains were heavier this week following the Eline cyclone that cut off whole communities in the Bushbuckridge area, situated east of the province on the way to Mozambique.\" For a detailed report see: http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/sa/countrystories/southafrica/20000225.htm FLOODS-BOTSWANA: North and northeast affected President Festus Mogae put Botswana on full alert as Eline, downgraded to a tropical depression, approached the country still struggling to come to grips with last week's heavy rains. The National Disaster Management Authority told IRIN on Friday the storms hit the north and northeast of the country but their full effect were felt in Zimbabwe and southern Zambia. FLOODS-SOUTHERN AFRICA: New cyclone in Indian Ocean More rain is expected over much of Southern Africa in the next few days, but was likely to taper off towards the end of next week, a researcher from the Climatology Research Group at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg told IRIN on Friday. She said that a new cyclone, Felicia, was currently in the Indian Ocean around Madagascar and Mauritius, but might not hit the Mozambican coast as cyclone Eline did this week with "}, {"response": 327, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Feb 26, 2000 (11:23)", "body": "I noted more articles on Mozambique yesterday when I got home from Softball (we won both games!), but was too tired to post them. Thanks, Maggie. Those thirsty monkeys should move to Mozambique!"}, {"response": 328, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Mar  1, 2000 (11:14)", "body": "VOLCANIC ASH CLOUD HEADING FOR BRITAIN An ash cloud from a volcano is expected over the UK within hours, experts are warning. The Meteorological Office has issued warnings to aircraft about the ash which was blasted into the atmosphere by Mount Hekla, near Keflavik in south-west Iceland. The volcano's main eruption sent the bulk of the ash towards northern Norway, but a thin ash cloud is being blown across the North Atlantic towards the UK at between 10 and 15,000ft."}, {"response": 329, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Thu, Mar  2, 2000 (02:13)", "body": "Thought we may have seen some atmospheric disturbance last night - colour of moon etc. But nothing visible from my area. They say air quality won't be affected."}, {"response": 330, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Mar  2, 2000 (11:22)", "body": "I was hoping you would get some spectacular sunsets. At least you won't have to breathe it. I wonder where it will settle out of the atmosphere. There is nothing quite like lava grit down your neck!"}, {"response": 331, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Thu, Mar  2, 2000 (13:17)", "body": "It should be well into mainland Europe by now. I think they said 10-15,000 feet passing us. I wonder if there's an air traffic problem. I think the cloud level is too heavy and low just now for us to get a good sunset. We had large hail stones yesterday which covered my garden and the road, probably a quarter inch square and very white."}, {"response": 332, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Mar  2, 2000 (13:29)", "body": "Oh my! Hailstones mean spring is coming. That is the up side of an otherwise messy and destructive form of precipitation! There is a place on the Weather Channel http://www.weather.com where you can check thngs like aircraft advisories and such. Texas is having severe weather. I never even knew Texas had weather before. Now, I worry about every off-looking cloud shows up over the state. High winds and hail pound TX Heavy hail and high winds create hail drifts in Texas, stranding motorists, while gusts blow down power lines and trees."}, {"response": 333, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Thu, Mar  2, 2000 (15:56)", "body": "I remeber wierd weather when I was there two years ago. At least it was wierd to us visitors. Scraping ice of the car in the mornings, and stripping down to Summer clothes in the same afternoon, heavy winds, and then nothing."}, {"response": 334, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Mar  2, 2000 (16:35)", "body": "YOU were in Texas? Wow!!! I'm so envious! Is is wonderful? (stupid question)"}, {"response": 335, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Thu, Mar  2, 2000 (17:18)", "body": "I was working!!!! We had five days of meetings. But - we did see where Kennedy was shot and the herd of bronze cattle (plus cowboys) in the centre of town. We also ate out - a lot (which we don't at home in UK). Driving was wierd, found the traffic light regulations difficult. We couldn't believe people didn't walk anywhere. We tried to walk to the local shops on our first day, and got some really wierd stares. We found out later from our host that you only walk (in their neighbourhood) if you're exercising (i.e. in full sports gear so people know you are). I did enjoy shopping, but never did understand how to add State tax on to prices. I liked seeing houses go by on the backs of lorries, and saw at least one I'd like in a take away lot. Shop assistants seemed to have real problem with my English accent and I had to get rescued a few times. MMm I had a good time."}, {"response": 336, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Mar  2, 2000 (18:11)", "body": "LOL!!! Texas is a whole nuther world...I guess you found that out. They think you are hard to understand?! Likew THEY don't have an accent you can cut with a knife. How funny! You could understand Terry, though. Too bad you missed his voice-over the other night. It was wonderful to hear him like he was in the room with me. He has a voice which is well-modulated and he enunciates clearly and speaks at just the right speed for clarity without seeming hurried or too slow. He was raised in the mid-west, so that is not precisely a Texas accent with which he speaks, but it does have overtones. I have become a huge fan...!"}, {"response": 337, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Mar  2, 2000 (18:14)", "body": "Am trying to imagine an accent from a Southern Gentleman - Texas mix...I just might really be in trouble with that one...*sigh*"}, {"response": 338, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Fri, Mar  3, 2000 (14:16)", "body": "The guy we stayed with NEVER took his hat off - oh except in church, and then he held it. (security blanket?) *lol*"}, {"response": 339, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Mar  3, 2000 (17:17)", "body": "Did he sleep with his boots on, as well? One never knows about these things! That is really funny!"}, {"response": 340, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Sat, Mar  4, 2000 (03:35)", "body": "I know a guy like that, a local cinematographer who started wearing cowboy hats and now can't stop."}, {"response": 341, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Sat, Mar  4, 2000 (06:50)", "body": "I guess it's addictive. *lol*"}, {"response": 342, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Mar  4, 2000 (12:21)", "body": "Maybe it makes one's hair fall out and he cannot take off his hat out of vanity? I never have gotten used to wearing a hat in the heat. Especially indoors... Gotta be addictive and comes with the water, though I have never seen Terry wearing one..."}, {"response": 343, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Mar  5, 2000 (22:23)", "body": "Space Science News for March 5, 2000 Residents of Canada and the northern United States should be on the alert for aurora borealis during the night of March 5 and morning of March 6. The best time to view aurorae is usually around local midnight. Tonight's new moon will make even faint activity easy to see. Early on March 5, 2000, the interplanetary magnetic field in the vicinity of Earth developed a significant southward-directed component. This condition often means that solar wind plasma can penetrate Earth's magnetosphere and trigger auroral activity. Data from NOAA's polar orbiting meteorological satellites late on March 5 show an expanded auroral oval. If this high level of activity continues, auroral displays could be visible as far south as the Great Lakes states and in New England. For continuing coverage of aurora and all forms of space weather, please visit http://www.SpaceWeather.com"}, {"response": 344, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Mar  6, 2000 (00:18)", "body": "Midnight here, but no aurora borealis visible from my back porch. :-( Looks a bit hazy or overcast. Only a miserable possum, which scared me half to death, walking on my back fence. Ugly thing. Not going back out there."}, {"response": 345, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Mar  6, 2000 (00:20)", "body": "Possum??? You live where there is wild life? ! You need an almost inky dark sky (Dark of moon is great for this right now) to see the faint whisps of Aurora"}, {"response": 346, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Mar  6, 2000 (00:21)", "body": "If you were a pioneer woman you would catch that sucker and skin'um and cook up a mess of possum like Granny Clampett used to do."}, {"response": 347, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Mar  6, 2000 (00:23)", "body": "Well, heck! Thanks for the resport. Seen: One Possum (U G L Y !)"}, {"response": 348, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Mar  6, 2000 (00:28)", "body": "Am glad it was an oppossum. When I first saw it last summer, sitting on my back porch, thought it was a giant rat. My neighbors told me what it was. Every agency in the city has been notified (streets & san, alderman's office, pest control) and no one has come out to deal with it. Where it came from is the big question. Catch it and skin it like Granny Clampett? ha! Threw a shoe at last summer and it went cowering behind a plant."}, {"response": 349, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Mar  6, 2000 (00:32)", "body": "It likes You ! They're marsupials, you know! Be nice =) Share your veggie scraps and you may end up with many possi? possums?"}, {"response": 350, "author": "ommin", "date": "Mon, Mar  6, 2000 (02:12)", "body": "I have seen an Aurora only once in 1947/8 winter - it was particularly cold that year in U.K. and we did indeed see the Northern Lights flickering across the screen - an amazing wave like green in the Northern sky - in those days there were very few street lights in my home town in Southern England and the stars were wonderful in those days. It is something I have never forgotten it was beautiful, strange and even at my young age I believe gave me my first interest in astronomy."}, {"response": 351, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Mar  6, 2000 (10:30)", "body": "I'd love to see them in the far north. They make crackling and booming noises, I've heard tell. All in England are certainly are far enough to see the aurora, BTW, so go out and look at it and report back. My notice was from NASA and usually only covers North American events - but polar is polar. There is also Aurora at the South Pole - Aurora Australis!"}, {"response": 352, "author": "MarkG", "date": "Mon, Mar  6, 2000 (11:44)", "body": "Too much backglow, I'm afraid - unlikely to see anything unless I drove out to the country and the clouds cleared away - anyway wasn't it last night?"}, {"response": 353, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Mar  6, 2000 (12:14)", "body": "The solar ejections which cause aruroae arrive over several days. I'll forward any further information get about it, but I am sure if it is visible one night it will be visible it will be so for several days."}, {"response": 354, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Mon, Mar  6, 2000 (12:17)", "body": "I think our cloud layer will be too heavy - as usual. Still, will look tonight."}, {"response": 355, "author": "CherylB", "date": "Mon, Mar  6, 2000 (17:54)", "body": "Marcia why are the large powerful ocean storms which sometimes hit Hawaii called \"hurricanes\"? Shouldn't they be \"typhoons\"? It should be very logical \"hurricanes\" in the Atlantic, \"typhoons\" in the Pacific, and \"cyclones\" in the Indian Ocean\". But no, the news once informed me that a hurricane hit Guam. Statistically the United States and China are hit by more large tropical ocean storms than any other countries."}, {"response": 356, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Mar  6, 2000 (18:00)", "body": "Typhoons originate in the Western Pacific. Hurricanes originate in the Atlantic or Eastern Pacific, It depends on which way it is going where it makes landfall. Hurricanes usually follow the island chain westward and often land on Guam. I think the large ocean distance to Guam and the large land masses available for typhoons keep them from hitting Guam...at least most of the time."}, {"response": 357, "author": "CherylB", "date": "Mon, Mar  6, 2000 (18:08)", "body": "You noted that there are no stupid questions. Thank you for that. Hurricanes, et. al., is their rotation ever affected by what hemisphere they're in? Will the hemisphere affect whether it's clockwise or counterclockwise?"}, {"response": 358, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Mar  6, 2000 (18:32)", "body": "Oh yes...they make the cutest curls either side of the equator where they start because they need the warm water to build into such intense storms. The Coriolus effect is directly responsible for the spin!"}, {"response": 359, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Mar  6, 2000 (18:34)", "body": "As soon as the season begins I will post one with the curls in opposite directions on either side of the Equator. It is so cute. Same with those storms on Jupiter! Absolutely, I believe there are no stupid questions. Not so sure I do not give stupid answers, though, from time to time...*grin*"}, {"response": 360, "author": "CherylB", "date": "Mon, Mar  6, 2000 (18:41)", "body": "There is still data coming in on Hurricane Andrew. There were some very interesting things about that storm. Firstly, it was really small as hurricanes go. However, it did make in strength what it lacked in size, being a very high Category 4 storm. Another interesting thing which was found were pockets of devastation caused by very high velocity winds (about 240-250 mph). Andrew, it seems, had tiny tornadoes impeded in its eyewall. I'd never heard of that before. I was aware that hurricanes could spawn tornadoes, the truly spectacular ones appear as water spouts over the ocean. It would seem that Hurricane Andrew was a very compact compound storm."}, {"response": 361, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Mar  6, 2000 (19:12)", "body": "Fascinating stuff! I had never heard of that before. I went through many hurricanes as a child on the East Coast, but never remember tornadoes associated with them. Thanks for the information. Something else I need to check on bye'n'bye when I get a moment. Someone is sure to make a diagram/schematic of what it looked like. Amazing !"}, {"response": 362, "author": "ommin", "date": "Mon, Mar  6, 2000 (20:48)", "body": "Cyclone Steve which has formed three times is now I believe dead - it is incredible it travelled right over the whole of Northern Australia and has gone inland near Exmouth just up from Carnarvon - I hope now our weather will not be 102degreesf for the next couple of days. It was extraordinary though - because our meteorologists can stop talking about it. I hope now that is the end of it but one forecaster this morning said it was possible it could go out to sea and reform again - I hope not cause it could then hit Perth."}, {"response": 363, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Mar  6, 2000 (20:53)", "body": "102\ufffdF (39\ufffd C) No wonder your computer did not want to work correctly! That is running a fever outside of your body! National Aspirin time! Cold compresses!"}, {"response": 364, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Mar  6, 2000 (20:53)", "body": "You mean..Steve could be resurrected ? Go away, Steve!"}, {"response": 365, "author": "ommin", "date": "Mon, Mar  6, 2000 (21:10)", "body": "Careful thats my sons name!"}, {"response": 366, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Mar  6, 2000 (22:20)", "body": "oops....Storm, go away and leave Australia alone! *sorry!*"}, {"response": 367, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Mar  8, 2000 (11:58)", "body": "Space Science News for March 8, 2000 Powerful tidal forces from Jupiter have molded two of the solar system's most bizarre worlds, fiery Io and icy Europa. Images released this week reveal new details of tidal action on the two moons. FULL STORY at Jupiter's Terrible Tides CLIMATE NEWS NOTE: Without El Nino to spice up life along the Gulf Coast, it\ufffds been \"a boring year\" for thunderstorm watchers, say scientists who have found an interesting correlation between El Nino and lightning. FULL STORY at The Lightning of El Nino"}, {"response": 368, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Mar  8, 2000 (22:15)", "body": "Does the wind ever shift directly from east to north? Many people believe the wind never shifts from north to east and back to the north again without veering around by way of the south and west. It is a well-know fact to meteorologists the wind very seldom veers from the north to the east and then, without further shift, back from east to north. However, according to the U.S. Weather Service, such changes can, and often do, occur."}, {"response": 369, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Mar  8, 2000 (23:10)", "body": "Injuries, Damage As Tornado Strikes Milwaukee MILWAUKEE (Reuters) - A tornado swept through part of Milwaukee on Wednesday, injuring at least 16 people, damaging a commercial area and lifting some homes off their foundations. The twister touched down on Milwaukee's far south side, damaging areas there and in the neighboring community of St. Francis, not far from Mitchell International Airport. The Milwaukee County Sheriff's office said none of the 16 injuries appeared to be life-threatening. Damage, however, appeared to be extensive. Homes were pushed off foundations and others lost their roofs. Cars were tossed about and a semi-trailer wound up on its side in an intersection. The storm damaged a line of shops. Some of the injured were inside a fast food restaurant at which the window was blown in. The storm struck at 6:10 p.m. CST (00:10 GMT) following several days of unusually warm weather across the Midwest that pushed temperatures to levels that were 30 degrees or more above normal. The storms occurred along a cold front which was sweeping across the region, bringing more seasonal late-winter temperatures and even heavy snow to the Northern Plains. A 15-square-block area was evacuated due to the possibility that natural gas leaks and downed power lines might lead to explosions."}, {"response": 370, "author": "ommin", "date": "Thu, Mar  9, 2000 (23:14)", "body": "Steve has gone inland - very little rain in Perth but oh my further up the coast. It is expected, maybe, to reform in the Great Australian Bight - but this time I think a large depression. It is still hot and horrible here. But we have escaped."}, {"response": 371, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Mar 10, 2000 (10:41)", "body": "This storm is so strong that it will re-form land features? I AM impressed with this storm. I will look up more about it. That strip of land off of Florida wherein Miami is located was created by a hurricane long ago. I can just as easily be removed! Thanks, Anne."}, {"response": 372, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Mar 10, 2000 (20:19)", "body": "Aurora Watch, March 10/11, 2000: Residents of northern Europe, Canada, and the northernmost tier of US states should be on the alert for possible auroral activity tonight. The interplanetary magnetic field as monitored by NASA's ACE spacecraft developed a southward-directed component earlier today. This condition often means that solar wind plasma can penetrate Earth's magnetosphere and trigger geomagnetic disturbances. NOAA space environment satellites show an expanded auroral oval at 2304 UT on March 10. To monitor developments, please visit http://www.spaceweather.com"}, {"response": 373, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Mar 28, 2000 (20:03)", "body": "A tornado has touched down in Fort Worth. Much damage and at least one death reported. Please be careful... Forecast For Dallas-Ft Worth, Tx 325 Pm Cst Tue Mar 28 2000 .Tonight...Thunderstorms Likely...Some Severe And With Heavy Rain. Low In The Upper 50S. Southeast Wind 10 To 20 Mph Becoming Northeast By Morning. Chance Of Rain 70 Percent. .Wednesday...Mostly Cloudy With A 40 Percent Chance Of Showers Or Thunderstorms. High In The Lower 70S. North Wind 10 To 20 Mph. .Wednesday Night...Decreasing Clouds And Cool. Low Near 50. .Thursday...Partly Cloudy. High In The Lower 70S. .Extended Forecast... .Thursday Night...Increasing Clouds With A Slight Chance Of Showers And Thunderstorms. Low In The Mid 40S. .Friday Through Saturday...Partly Cloudy With A Slight Chance Of Showers And Thunderstorms. Low Near 50. High In The 70S. .Sunday...Partly Cloudy. Low In The 50S. High In The 70S. Tornado warning 640 Pm Cst Tue Mar 28 2000 ...This Is A Tornado Emergency For Fort Worth... The National Weather Service In Fort Worth Has Issued A * Tornado Warning For... Tarrant County In North Central Texas * Until 715 Pm Cst * At 640 Pm Cst...A Tornado Was Observed By Doppler Radar And Trained Spotters 5 Miles East Of Fort Worth...Moving East At 20 Mph. * Persons Along The Interstate 30 Corridor Between Arlington And Fort Worth Take Cover Immediately! Lat...Lon 3279 9734 3272 9734 3272 9707 3279 9706 Severe thunderstorm warning 533 Pm Cst Tue Mar 28 2000 The National Weather Service In Fort Worth Has Issued A * Severe Thunderstorm Warning For... Tarrant County In North Central Texas * Until 615 Pm Cst * At 533 Pm Cst...National Weather Service Doppler Radar Detected A Severe Thunderstorm 7 Miles West Of Azle...Moving East At 25 Mph. * Locations In The Warning Include Sansom Park...Saginaw...Lake Worth...Haslet...Eagle Mountain And Blue Mound * The Severe Thunderstorm Will Be Near... Eagle Mountain...Lake Worth Around 550 Pm Cst Blue Mound Around 600 Pm Cst Doppler Radar Detected Hail Up To Two Inches In Diameter With This Severe Thunderstorm. Lat...Lon 3299 9754 3277 9753 3277 9722 3299 9727 Severe weather statement 705 Pm Cst Tue Mar 28 2000 ...A Tornado Warning Continues For Tarrant County Until 715 Pm Cst... At 700Pm...Doppler Radar Detected A Tornado 5 Miles West Of Arlington Airport. This Tornado Was North Of I 20 Moving East At 20 Miles Per Hour. Persons In Arlington Take Cover Now! Nnnn Flood warning 643 Pm Cst Tue Mar 28 2000 The National Weather Service In Fort Worth Has Issued A * Flash Flood Warning For... Tarrant County In North Central Texas * Until 945 Pm Cst * At 643 Pm Cst...Weather Service Doppler Radar Indicated Very Heavy Rain Over Fort Worth And Northern Tarrant County Moving Very Slowly East. Another Storm Is Developing In Southeast Parker County And Will Move Into Tarrant County Through 730 Pm With More Heavy Rain. * Avoid Low Lying And Flood Prone Areas. Lat...Lon 3287 9740 3259 9751 3259 9707 3299 9708 Special weather statement 244 Pm Cst Tue Mar 28 2000 There Is A Moderate Risk Of Severe Thunderstorms Across All Of North Texas...Mainly Late This Afternoon And This Evening. This Includes The Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex...Waco...Temple...Sherman...Paris... And Mineral Wells. The Main Storm Threats Will Be Very Large Hail...Damaging Winds...And Heavy Rainfall. There Is A Threat Of A Tornado Or Two During The Late Afternoon And Early Evening...Mainly Northwest Of An Eastland... ...Mineral Wells...Gainesville Line. The Wind Profile Was Becoming More Favorable For Supercell Storms Within This Area. A Threat Of A Few Tornadoes May Spread Further South And East Through Mid-Evening. Scattered Thunderstorms Were Forming Between Abilene And Vernon At Mid Afternoon. A Few Of These Storms Will Become Severe As They Move Into North Central Texas Through 500 Pm...Generally North Of Interstate 20. By Evening...Thunderstorms Will Become Widespread...Mainly Across The Northern Two Thirds Of North Texas. Damaging Wind And Hail Will Occur In Some Areas. Heavy Rainfall Will Become A Threat...Mainly In Northern And Eastern Portions Of North Texas. A Flash Flood Watch Likely Will Be Issued This Afternoon. Emergency Management Officials And Storm Spotters May Be Activated...Mainly After 400 Pm And Into The Evening Hours. For Hazardous Weather/Thunderstorm Outlooks For Adjacent Areas...See Okcspsokc (Northwestern Texas...Western And Central Oklahoma)... Okcspstul (Eastern Oklahoma And Northwest Arkansas)...Newspsshv (Northeast Texas...Northwestern Louisiana...Extreme Southeastern Oklahoma And Southwestern Arkansas)...Satspshou (Southeast Texas)...Satspssat (South Central Texas)...And Lbbspssjt (West Central Texas)."}, {"response": 374, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Mar 28, 2000 (20:06)", "body": "Can anyone tell me the county in which Austin resides? Please....."}, {"response": 375, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Wed, Mar 29, 2000 (02:59)", "body": "Travis! Bastrop is to the East and Blanco County is to the West."}, {"response": 376, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Mar 29, 2000 (14:36)", "body": "Thanks, Terry. This morning I heard from a friend who lives in Arlington and works in Dallas. She reported this morning: Just got here. They have shuttled us in by police escort. We had a tornado here last night. I am scared. I have been scared; this looks like a war zone down here. They shuttled us in. It was amazing. You should see how bad things look. It is really scary. I worried all night. It was frigtening experience. Thank you, but I much prefer Tsunami and Lava flows."}, {"response": 377, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Wed, Mar 29, 2000 (14:39)", "body": "I have friends there. haven't heard anything yet."}, {"response": 378, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Mar 29, 2000 (14:43)", "body": "Any problems in Austin? I am also concerned about Wolfie as it was heading her direction when last I checked. Scary, indeed! Let us know what you discover when you hear from your friends, Maggie."}, {"response": 379, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Wed, Mar 29, 2000 (15:39)", "body": "Nope, it's sunny. Getting up to 90 this afternoon. I went for a swim in my pool this morning."}, {"response": 380, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Mar 29, 2000 (16:00)", "body": "You have two extreme season, it seems. What happened to Spring? I am more delighted than I can say that Austin and it Springizens are well and safe *hugs*"}, {"response": 381, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Mar 30, 2000 (18:50)", "body": "Ok, everybody sing: \"Take me out to the Ball Game....\" This just came through (our game starts in 3 hours) ULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED FLASH FLOOD WATCH NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI 100 PM HST THU MAR 30 2000 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HONOLULU HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WATCH EFFECTIVE UNTIL 100 AM HST FRIDAY FOR PERSONS IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... THE BIG ISLAND OF HAWAII"}, {"response": 382, "author": "CherylB", "date": "Fri, Mar 31, 2000 (16:12)", "body": "I don't know all the words, so I'm humming in some places."}, {"response": 383, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Mar 31, 2000 (16:16)", "body": "Thanks! It worked because it only sprinkled on the field and no time-outs were needed. However, we lost 7-17 to San Jose State University. We play again this evening, with different results, I hope!"}, {"response": 384, "author": "ommin", "date": "Sat, Apr  1, 2000 (05:23)", "body": "A cyclone in far north queensland is imminent = strange name something like Tessi. Expected to increase from 1 to 2 in the near future"}, {"response": 385, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Apr  1, 2000 (11:24)", "body": "When does your cyclone season end? Or, are you 'lucky' enough to get them year round?"}, {"response": 386, "author": "ommin", "date": "Sat, Apr  1, 2000 (19:22)", "body": "The cyclone season is supposed to end at the end of the big wet - which has been particularly wet this season. It is late ending and affects our weather down here in Perth. We will probably have a dry winter and won't start until end of May."}, {"response": 387, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Apr  1, 2000 (19:30)", "body": "Does it get cold enough to snow in Perth? (How long does it take you to get over expecting July to be HOT and December to be COLD?) Guess Footie is about to supplant cricket for the duration...*sigh*"}, {"response": 388, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Apr  3, 2000 (00:16)", "body": "Cyclone Tessi Crosses Australia's Northeast Coast CANBERRA (Reuters) - Tropical Cyclone Tessi weakened s it crossed Australia's northeast coast early on Monday but still brought with it the threat of flooding inland rains. Tessi brought down some trees and power lines with wind gusts of up to 81 miles an hour as it crossed the coast south of Ingham, 770 miles north of Brisbane in the state of Queensland. Jim Davidson, senior meteorologist at the Queensland Cyclone Warning Centre, said Tessi was downgraded to a category one cyclone from category two just before it crossed the coast at about 9:00 a.m. Australia's far north has barely had time to recover from Cyclone Steve, which damaged homes and uprooted trees with winds of up to 106 miles when it hit the resort town of Cairns in late February. Strong winds associated with Cyclone Tessi were expected to cause more damage to Australia's sugarcane crop, industry officials said. Meteorologists are also monitoring a low pressure system near New Caledonia, which they said has the potential to develop into a cyclone off the Queensland coast within the next 24 hours."}, {"response": 389, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Apr  3, 2000 (14:49)", "body": "Sotrm watch updating USA map from http://www.earthwatch.com"}, {"response": 390, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Apr  3, 2000 (14:54)", "body": "For the most sensational updating weather maps check http://www.earthwatch.com/SKYWATCH/ I would like to thank the Austin ARES website for pointing me in this direction!"}, {"response": 391, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Apr  3, 2000 (15:01)", "body": "These tropical updating maps will let you watch the hurricanes develop which may be a threat to you and yours..."}, {"response": 392, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Apr  3, 2000 (15:03)", "body": "SEVERE WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI 850 AM HST MON APR 3 2000 WATERSPOUTS WERE OBSERVED OVER NORTH AND EAST HAWAII...SEVEN MILES NORTH OF HILO OVER ONAMEA BAY. IF WATERSPOUTS MOVE ONSHORE THEY CAN PRODUCE DANGEROUS WINDS. IF YOU CANNOT GET OUT OF THE WAY...MOVE UNDER SOMETHING STURDY AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS. IF YOU ARE IN THE OPEN LIE FLAT FACING THE GROUND WITH YOUR HANDS OVER YOUR HEAD. CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR WATERSPOUTS TO FORM OVER THE ISLAND AREA. THESE CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TO TERMINATE AROUND 1200 PM HST. THIS WILL BE THE FINAL STATEMENT UNLESS CONDITIONS REQUIRE FURTHER ISSUANCES. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...LOCAL TV OR RADIO FOR FURTHER NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INFORMATION. FARRELL NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU"}, {"response": 393, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Apr  3, 2000 (20:18)", "body": "HIGH WIND WARNING NUMBER 1 NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HONOLULU HAS ISSUED A HIGH WIND WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 400 PM HST FOR... THE SOUTHERN PORTION OF THE CENTRAL VALLEY OF MAUI...THE SOUTH SIDE OF THE WEST MAUI MOUNTAINS AND THSLOPES OF HALEAKALA ON MAUI AND... THE WAIKOLOA SLOPES OF THE BIG ISLAND FROM WAIMEA TO KAWAIHAI ...INCLUDING WAIKOLOA VILLAGE AND... A WIND ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR STRONG AND GUSTY TRADE WINDS OVER ALL HAWAIIAN ISLANDS... A HIGH WIND WARNING MEANS THAT WINDS IN EXCESS OF 40 MPH OR GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH ARE OCCURRING. PERSONS IN THE AFFECTED AREAS SHOULD TAKE NECESSARY PRECAUTIONS TO PROTECT PROPERTY. TIE DOWN OR MOVE LOOSE OBJECTS TO A SHELTERED LOCATION. SEVERAL TREES HAVE BEEN UPROOTED IN UPCOUNTRY MAUI AND MOTORISTS ARE LOSING CONTROL OF THEIR VEHICLES IN THE OLOWALU AREA JUST PAST THE TUNNELS ON THE ROAD TO LAHAINA. ONE VEHICLE HAS OVERTURNED THIS MORNING IN THIS AREA. REPORTS OF 40 TO 45 MPH WINDS WITH GUSTS TO 60 MPH WERE RECEIVED FROM PAUKA ON THE WAIKOLOA SLOPES OF THE BIG ISLAND. WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE IN THE 35 TO 45 MPH RANGE WITH GUSTS OVER 60 MPH THROUGH 400 PM HST AND POSSIBLY THROUGH... TUESDAY OVER THE AFFECTED PORTIONS OF MAUI. BRISK TRADE WINDS OF 20 TO 35 MPH WITH HIGHER GUSTS ARE FORECAST TO CONTINUE THROUGH TUESDAY OVER THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. PERSONS IN AREAS EXPOSED TO THE STRONG WINDS SHOULD TAKE NECESSARY PRECAUTIONS TO PROTECT PROPERTY. TIE DOWN LOOSE OBJECTS OR MOVE THEM TO A SHELTERED LOCATION. MOST SUSCEPTIBLE AREAS ARE MOUNTAIN RIDGES AND VALLEYS ON THE LEE SIDE OF THE MOUNTAINS. THE STRONG WINDS ARE BEING CAUSED BY A LARGE HIGH PRESSURE SYSTEM NORTH OF THE ISLANDS. THE NEXT WARNING ON THIS EVENT WILL BE ISSUED BY 400 PM HST OR SOONER IF NECESSARY. FARRELL NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU"}, {"response": 394, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Apr  4, 2000 (19:29)", "body": "If it's not one thing out here, it's another... HIGH WIND WARNING NUMBER 4 NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI 830 AM HST TUE APR 4 2000 ...A HIGH WIND WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR ALL HAWAIIAN ISLANDS... A HIGH WIND WARNING MEANS THAT SUSTAINED WINDS GREATER THAN OF 40 MPH OR GUSTS GREATER THAN 60 MPH ARE OCCURING. TAKE NECESSARY PRECAUTIONS TO PROTECT PROPERTY..TIE DOWN OR SHELTER LOOSE OBJECTS. DRIVE WITH EXTRA CARE DUE TO BUFFETING AND POSSIBLE DOWNED TREES AND POWERLINES. AN INTENSE 1040MB HIGH NORTH OF THE STATE WILL CONTINUE TO SUSTAIN VERY STRONG TRADE WINDS OVER THE ISLANDS AGAIN TODAY. SUSCEPTIBLE AREAS ARE OVER HIGHER ELEVATIONS AND THRU DOWNWIND VALLEYS. THE HIGH SHOULD BEGIN TO WEAKEN TONIGHT AND SIGNIFICANTLY SO TOMORROW. THE HIGH WIND WARNING WILL LIKELY LOWER SOMETIME TONIGHT. THE NEXT ISSUANCE FOR THIS EVENT WILL BE AT 830 PM TONIGHT OR SOONER IF NEEDED. MATSUDA NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU"}, {"response": 395, "author": "ommin", "date": "Tue, Apr  4, 2000 (21:25)", "body": "We now have cyclone Vaughan off the Queensland coast two days after cyclone Tessi - they have so much rain it is unbelievable. It is a category 2 at present but could increase."}, {"response": 396, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Apr  4, 2000 (22:02)", "body": "Is this the BIGGER Wet? Heavens...when it rains, it really rains!!! Any Ark builders busy at work yet?!"}, {"response": 397, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Apr  4, 2000 (23:15)", "body": "Space Weather News for April 4-5, 2000 The interplanetary magnetic field in the vicinity of Earth turned southward on April 4. This condition often creates a weak point in our planet's magnetospheric shielding against the solar wind. Geomagnetic activity is currently high. If active conditions continue, observers in northern Europe, Canada, Alaska and the northern tier of US states could be in for a display of aurora borealis around local midnight on April 5 (when April 4 turns into April 5). The Moon is just one day past New, meaning that even very faint Northern Lights could be visible against tonight's dark skies. For more information see: http://www.spaceweather.com"}, {"response": 398, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Apr 16, 2000 (17:26)", "body": "Here is an updating central Europe map for you to bookmark. Very Special People are in Italy from time to time, and one is there now. I shall look at this with great frequency."}, {"response": 399, "author": "MarkG", "date": "Mon, Apr 17, 2000 (03:24)", "body": "Excellently useful Marcia! I shall be in the centre of this map next weekend. Your timing is flawless. :-)"}, {"response": 400, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Apr 17, 2000 (11:56)", "body": "Must be the vibes, Mark. Have a pleasant journey and safe return. Now, I will have two gentlemen of great esteem on that little part of this Big Blue Marble. I shall be watching closely, as well."}, {"response": 401, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Apr 17, 2000 (23:06)", "body": "I should have included this bar with the above weather map"}, {"response": 402, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Apr 17, 2000 (23:07)", "body": "grey is cold ... deep red is coldest"}, {"response": 403, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Apr 18, 2000 (19:41)", "body": "NASA Science News for April 18, 2000 April's Lyrid Meteor Shower : The oldest known meteor shower peaks on the morning of April 22. Bright moonlight will reduce the number of shooting stars that are easy to see, but many meteor enthusiasts will be watching anyway because it's been over 3 months since the last major meteor display. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast18apr_1m.htm"}, {"response": 404, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Apr 19, 2000 (18:29)", "body": "If this updates it stay, if it does not it will disappear in the morning"}, {"response": 405, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Apr 19, 2000 (19:55)", "body": ""}, {"response": 406, "author": "ommin", "date": "Thu, Apr 20, 2000 (08:11)", "body": "we have just suffered severe cyclone Rosita - category 4-5 Broome damaged - beach devestated - winds at centre 250 k's per hour - tomorrow Alice Springs top temp will be 14degrees c. all due to cyclone - last night Perth suffered thunderstorms not predicted - due to cyclonic weather. Most unusual for this time of year. Perth 9.12p.m. 20th April"}, {"response": 407, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Thu, Apr 20, 2000 (09:43)", "body": "Wow, are you ok? Were you affected personally, Anne? Where is Broome, which coast?"}, {"response": 408, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Apr 20, 2000 (11:00)", "body": "On the NorthWest Coast of Australia is where Broome is located. That is a sizeable distance from Perth, which is the area in which Anne lives. I cannot believe the devastation you have suffered this year from one cyclone after another. Did thid one sneak up on you unaware? Anne, is your roof still intact? How much of that storm reached Perth?"}, {"response": 409, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Thu, Apr 20, 2000 (23:15)", "body": "I'm hoping all is well for Anne down under."}, {"response": 410, "author": "ommin", "date": "Fri, Apr 21, 2000 (08:02)", "body": "We are okay here in Perth - but not in Broome some 1000 ks to the north. It is a tourist area and has been devastated, holiday homes etc. have disappeared, the beach known as Cable beach all but destroyed. Trees down, light poles, telephone poles etc. all down. It has been an extraordinary year with cyclone Steve re-starting three times and then finishing as a depression in the Bight. Apparently the cyclone season is supposed to stop by 30th April but....... We had heavy rain here in Perth but nothing untoward re wind although we have a cold change, gales etc forcasted for the middle of next week, about a month early. Alice Springs is suffering flooding - two dry river beds are now deeply flooding rivers and much concern is being shown. Roads cut off etc. Again most unusual. Lake Eyre normally a huge salt pan is now a vast inland sea - the rains have filtered down from the North West, North East and from the North. Again most unusual - La Nina I suppose. We really shouldn't complain as we are the dryest continent and any rain is welcome."}, {"response": 411, "author": "ommin", "date": "Fri, Apr 21, 2000 (08:14)", "body": "Being utter selfish about our troubles in Oz. but will now show my concern re tornadoes in the U.S. I hope all is well with everyone and no one has been hurt."}, {"response": 412, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Apr 21, 2000 (15:08)", "body": "We need you to be utter selfish about it so we can get the details we'd otherwise miss and the immediacy of the damage. Poor Broome! Anyone in the US mainland who experienced tornadoes yet? I note that there is a tornado watch in the http://www/austin360.com web site. Perhaps I should post that, here, as well."}, {"response": 413, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Fri, Apr 21, 2000 (17:51)", "body": "Nothing here locally. Glad you're ok Anne, I was concerned for your welfare. Has the worst passed now?"}, {"response": 414, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Apr 24, 2000 (14:40)", "body": "GLOBAL WARMING FOUND AT EQUATOR Macapa -- New evidence of global warming has been found in this Brazilian city at the mouth of the Amazon River. Dr. Bruno Clinckerdinck, Professor of Climatology and Auto Repair at Gomer State University, said evidence of warming is \"incontrovertible\". \"There's lots of palm trees and stuff, plus it's always hot and humid here.\" Prof. Clinckerdinck, head of an international team of scientists, has been in Macapa for a month, studying the phenomena caused by global warming. \"We walk up and down the beach all day, taking air and water samples. Then we sit under beach umbrellas and analyze the results. I'm telling you, it's frightening.\" The professor then excused himself, mumbling something about \"mai tais\" and \"nap\". Copyright 2000 Cruddy Enterprises Blithering Idiot -=+=- SCIENTISTS RETRACT GLOBAL WARMING REPORT IN LIGHT OF COLD FRONT A report validating global warming by a National Academy of Sciences panel retracted their findings only a few days after it was issued in light of the current cold front blanketing much of the country. \"Never mind,\" said one of the researchers who worked on the study. A skeptic of the report, Professor Marvin Lynch of the University of Southern North Carolina School of Atmospheric and Animal Husbandry Sciences, felt vindicated. \"I told them to wait just a few more days before concluding their report because it was going to get colder than Hillary Clinton on her wedding anniversary, but they went ahead and rushed it out,\" he said. The 11 members of the panel were unavailable for further comment on the report. \"They're out buying winter clothing,\" said an administrative assistant at the academy offices. Breaking News Beyond Repair"}, {"response": 415, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Apr 24, 2000 (14:42)", "body": "More seriously, Wolfie's home town got pasted with 2-4-inch hail stones yesterday and was a near-miss for a Tornado. I wish she would check in and let us know how she fared. It looked really scary. Guess Texas got some of it, as well, but I do not know anyone in that part of Texas..."}, {"response": 416, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Apr 24, 2000 (23:22)", "body": "She did while Spring was frozen. She is fine (aren't you?!) *hugs*"}, {"response": 417, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Apr 25, 2000 (01:32)", "body": "While we wait for Wolfie's pix of the black menacing clouds here's some weather news from Ginny's neck of the woods: Flattening of Radar Antenna Delays Boston Flights BOSTON (Reuters) - Flight delays and cancellations plagued Boston's Logan Airport on Sunday after the flattening, apparently by high winds, of a radar antenna that handled incoming flights, aviation officials said. A replacement antenna was loaded onto an Air Force C-17 in Oklahoma City and was expected to arrive at Logan on Sunday, replacing the antenna knocked over on Saturday, the Federal Aviation Administration said. Installing and testing the new antenna were expected to take as long as four days, snarling plans for travelers returning from April school vacations, airport officials said. Logan is the nation's ninth busiest airport. Planes were landing at the rate of about 22 to 28 an hour on Sunday, compared with an average of 35 to 40 in inclement weather and more than 60 in clear weather, officials said. New England has been soaked by rain in recent days. About 210 flights were canceled on Saturday, with 130 others canceled on Sunday by early afternoon, officials said. Some airlines were diverting flights to airports in Manchester, New Hampshire, and Providence, Rhode Island. US Airways Group Inc (U.N) and its US Airways Express and MetroJet subsidiaries announced late on Sunday that they were canceling selected flights out of Boston on Monday to minimize the effect of the continuing outage of the radar system. US Airways Express regional flights, operated by Allegheny Airlines, Colgan Air and CommutAir under the US Airways Express brand, were canceled until 5 p.m. (2100 GMT), while Mesa Airlines, another US Airways Express carrier, would operate a single morning flight from Boston to Washington-Dulles. US Airways said it was also canceling 10 departures and arrivals at Boston to and from Baltimore; Charlotte, North Carolina; Buffalo and Atlanta. But US Airways Shuttle would fly a normal schedule on Monday, servicing airports in Boston, New York and Washington."}, {"response": 418, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Tue, Apr 25, 2000 (08:10)", "body": "Looking for a wolfie check in and update!"}, {"response": 419, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Apr 25, 2000 (13:01)", "body": "I think it will not till after work this afternoon..."}, {"response": 420, "author": "ommin", "date": "Sun, Apr 30, 2000 (06:00)", "body": "Sorry I did not reply to your query Terry but have been unindated with relatives over the Easter Period. The weather here in Perth, Western Australia is still very strange - Friday we had winter gales unheard of in April, and it has been wet and horrible ever since. Our bad weather usually occurs between late May and early August - I suppose it must be the La nina effect? Do any of you think so."}, {"response": 421, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Sun, Apr 30, 2000 (06:05)", "body": "Hi Anne, we've had really strange weather in the southern England recently too. In the recent week or so we've had snow, large hailstones, Rain, rain and more rain, and bright enough sunshine to go out in shorts!"}, {"response": 422, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Apr 30, 2000 (13:40)", "body": "Probably, Anne, but theories are just that. subject to chance to the newest thought on the subject. Do we really know?! Hawaii is still pretty much Hawaii"}, {"response": 423, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, May  1, 2000 (00:21)", "body": "NASA Science News for May 1, 2000M One year ago this week killer tornadoes raged across Oklahoma. Now, NASA scientists are figuring out how to predict such storms using lightning data from Earth-orbit. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast01may_1m.htm"}, {"response": 424, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, May  1, 2000 (02:00)", "body": "Space Weather News for May 1, 2000 A coronal mass ejection (CME) from a small sunspot group was recorded by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory on April 30, 2000. If material from the eruption is heading toward Earth, as animations of the CME suggest, then the shock wave will probably arrive late on May 2nd or sometime on May 3rd. Forecasters estimate a 30% chance of active geomagnetic conditions at middle-latitudes on May 3, 2000. For more information, please visit http://www.spaceweather.com"}, {"response": 425, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Mon, May  1, 2000 (08:24)", "body": "We're getting heavy thunderstorms and lightning this morning, it's been going on since at least 3 am, I unplugged all my systems at one point."}, {"response": 426, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, May  1, 2000 (12:24)", "body": "I am glad you did unplugged. I trust you also disconnected your antennas from your rigs. A solid-soldered interior is NOT a good thing for a boat anchor! Guess when it is done tearing up Texas, that storm system will be heading for Wolfie. You guys, be careful, please! None of you are expendable."}, {"response": 427, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Mon, May  1, 2000 (14:26)", "body": "I didn't but everything survived."}, {"response": 428, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, May  1, 2000 (14:50)", "body": "Good to know. Thanks! The Hams here disconnect the antenna and throw it out the window as far away from the house as they can do easily and in a hurry through a window. Lightning can jump gaps, but you know that!"}, {"response": 429, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Tue, May  2, 2000 (16:06)", "body": "http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000502/sc/science_tsunamis_1.html Tuesday May 2 4:45 PM ET Tsunamis Seen Possible Along U.S. East Coast By Patrick Rizzo NEW YORK (Reuters) - Tsunamis, the sometimes devastating tidal waves produced by undersea earthquakes, volcanoes and landslides, are not normally the kind of geologic activity people on the U.S. eastern seaboard worry about. But newly-discovered cracks in the continental shelf off the Mid-Atlantic may change that. Researchers writing in the May issue of the journal Geology said that cracks in the continental shelf off Virginia and North Carolina, if geologically active, could produce landslides that may trigger a tsunami along the heavily populated coast in those states and the lower Chesapeake Bay. A tsunami could generate two to 20 foot (.06 to 6.1 meter) high waves, equivalent to the storm surge of category three to four, or extensive to extreme, hurricanes. Hurricane Andrew, a category four storm that hit Florida in 1992, caused over $25 billion in damage, the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history. In 1998 two strong earthquakes caused a series of tsunamis to hit the north coast of Papua New Guinea, killing 2,500 people. The researchers, Neal Driscoll of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts, Jeffrey Weissel of Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, and John Goff of the University of Texas at Austin, discovered the cracks after examining National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration maps of the continental shelf. Weissel said when he first saw the data, the escarpments ''looked like they could be the headwalls of future large scale submarine landslides.'' He said that he and his colleagues would be leaving from Woods Hole Saturday morning to look for signs of whether the cracks, shaped like a series of tilted roof shingles, are active and likely to trigger a landslide in the future. ``We need to understand whether these crack-like features are active or recently active, in which case we should be concerned,'' Weissel said in a telephone interview. If they are active and a large chunk of the escarpment were to slump into the deep water off the continental shelf, it would push huge volumes of seawater ahead of it. Water along the coast would rush in to take its place and the water would then rush back toward land, possibly causing massive flooding in low-lying towns along the coast. ``You could expect a tsunami hitting the coast ... about 20 minutes after the slide,'' Weissel said. The last major tsunami to strike the Eastern Seaboard was in 1929, when an earthquake triggered a landslide and a tidal wave that killed 51 people on the Grand Banks along the Newfoundland coast."}, {"response": 430, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, May  2, 2000 (16:58)", "body": "Thanks, Maggie. I was hoping you would put this in here where others might see it linked with News. Lotsa relatives there and Autumn lives in the area. This is just an IF scenario...it is not necessarily going to happen. Stay tuned!"}, {"response": 431, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, May  2, 2000 (23:20)", "body": "Last week, while the rest of her state and neighboring Texas was getting hammererd by huge hailstones and tornadoes, Wolfie took this image of the distant storm. These cloud formations are known as mamatocumulous... Splendid job and thanks!"}, {"response": 432, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Wed, May  3, 2000 (03:24)", "body": "Oh wow! that's a fantastic photo Wolfie!"}, {"response": 433, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Wed, May  3, 2000 (04:14)", "body": "What a spectacular, mind blowing picture! I'm going to print it on glos"}, {"response": 434, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, May  3, 2000 (12:18)", "body": "I can send you the original which is quite large if you would like to have it to work with."}, {"response": 435, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, May  3, 2000 (13:19)", "body": "These GOES satellites are the ones I use to get some of the updating weather maps of the USA To: Geostationary Satellite Server Users: NASA Press Release: \"The fourth in a series of five of the most sophisticated weather spacecraft ever built, soared into space this morning at 3:07 a.m. EDT from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)-L spacecraft was carried in space aboard aLockheed Martin Atlas IIA rocket. Twenty-seven minutes later, the spacecraft separated from the Centaur stage. At approximately 4:22 a.m., controllers successfully deployed the outer panel of the solar array, making the spacecraft power positive and allowing the batteries to charge\". GOES-L will be called GOES-11. More info will be at http://www.nesdis.noaa.gov and http://pao.gsfc.nasa.gov/gsfc/earth/goesl/goesl.htm ."}, {"response": 436, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, May 18, 2000 (00:08)", "body": "To Be or Not to Be, La Nina? NASA Science News for May 18, 2000 Just last month, scientists were predicting that current La Ni\ufffda conditions would persist, but now data from Earth-orbiting satellites show that it may be on the decline. Is it too soon to revise the 2000 hurricane forecast? FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast18may_1m.htm To Be or Not to Be, La Ni\ufffda?"}, {"response": 437, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, May 27, 2000 (21:06)", "body": "Hurricane season is back. Bookmark this url - it beats wading through the entire topic to get to this excellent map Looks like Arleta has disappeared: http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/restricted/read/Geo/14.69 Unplug your computers Terry! Forecast For Austin, Tx 400 Pm Cdt Sat May 27 2000 .Tonight...Mostly Cloudy With A 50 Percent Chance Of Showers Or Thunderstorms...Some Possibly Severe Later Tonight. Lows In The Middle 70S. Southeast Winds 5 To 10 Mph. .Sunday...Cloudy Morning With A 30 Percent Chance Of Showers Or Thunderstorms. Partly Cloudy Afternoon. Highs In The Lower 90S. Variable Winds 5 To 10 Mph. .Sunday Night...Mostly Clear. Lows In The Lower 70S. .Memorial Day...Mostly Sunny And Hot. Highs In The Middle 90S. .Extended Forecast... .Tuesday Through Thursday...Some Brief Early Morning Clouds... Otherwise Mostly Clear And Hot. Lows In The 70S. Highs In The Middle 90S To Near 100. Special weather statement 734 Pm Cdt Sat May 27 2000 ...Thunderstorms Moving Across Northern Hill Country This Evening... A Line Of Strong Thunderstorms Will Move Across The Northern Hill Country This Evening. Some Of These Storms May Become Severe And Capable Of Producing Very Heavy Rain...Deadly Lightning...Strong Damaging Winds...And Large Hail. Campers And Persons In The Outdoors Should Take Precautions For The Storms Later This Evening By Securing Loose Objects...And Having Safe Shelter Available. Boaters Should Be Ready To Seek Safe Harbor And Tie Boats Down Securely. Most Lightning Fatalities And Injuries Occur In Open Fields Or Under Trees. If Outdoors...Seek Shelter In A Sturdy Building Or Car. Do Not Take Shelter In Small Sheds...Under Isolated Trees...Or In Convertible Automobiles."}, {"response": 438, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, May 27, 2000 (21:48)", "body": "For Lance - no wonder I have not heard from him... Forecast For NC 937 Pm Edt Sat May 27 2000 ... Severe Thunderstorm Watch In Effect Until 2 Am... .Tonight...Showers And Thunderstorms Likely. Some Storms May Be Severe With Damaging Winds And Large Hail. Low In The Mid 60S. Southwest Wind Near 10 Mph. Chance Of Rain 60 Percent. .Sunday... Showers And Thunderstorms. High 75 To 80. West Wind Around 10 Mph. Chance Of Rain 80 Percent. .Sunday Night...Showers And Thunderstorms Likely. Low In The Upper 50S. Chance Of Rain 60 Percent. ***If I am lucky I might hear from him for my Birthday but not before, I fear... For Wolfie who is also unplugged, I hope: LA 911 Pm Cdt Sat May 27 2000 ...Severe Thunderstorm Watch In Effect Until 100 Am Cdt Sunday... .Tonight...Cloudy With Showers And Thunderstorms Likely. Some Storms Possibly Severe. Locally Heavy Rain Possible. Low Near 70. Southwest Wind Near 10 Mph. Chance Of Rain 70 Percent. .Sunday...Mostly Cloudy In The Morning With A Chance Of Showers And Thunderstorms. Mostly Sunny During The Afternoon. High Near 90. West Wind 5 To 10 Mph Becoming North Near 10 Mph. Chance Of Rain 30 Percent. Severe thunderstorm warning 909 Pm Cdt Sat May 27 2000 * Severe Thunderstorm Warning For... Bossier Parish In Louisiana Caddo Parish In Louisiana * Until 1000 Pm Cdt * At 909 Pm Cdt...The Shreveport National Weather Service Doppler Radar Indicated A Line Of Severe Thunderstorms Developing Over The Area...Moving East At 30 Mph. This Thunderstorm Will Produce Large Hail And Strong Damaging Winds. Do Not Remain Outside...This Is A Dangerous Weather Situation. Repeating...The National Weather Service Has Issued A Severe Thunderstorm Warning For... Xxxxx Parish In Louisiana Xxxxx Parish In Louisiana Until 1000 Pm Cdt. Special weather statement 822 Pm Cdt Sat May 27 2000 Thunderstorms Are Rapidly Forming This Evening. At 820 Pm...Thunderstorms Were Over Northwest Shreveport And Northern Caddo Parish...Moving Northeast At 30 Mph. A Thunderstorm Outflow Boundary Moving Southwest Out Of Southwest Arkansas..."}, {"response": 439, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, May 27, 2000 (23:29)", "body": "Lance checked in with me this evening: Our problem sprang up unexpected on Thursday and caught the weather weenies totally by surprise. No hail, 1/3 to 1/2 inch of rain, but winds!!!! Clocked at 82 MPH here in Burlington! Trees, lines, everything possible. Signs gone, and they blocked the Interstate for hours with downed lines. I sat and watched it blow thru. We are fine, just a couple of downed branches for us. Neighbors on each side lost trees. Our weenies caught it with about an hour's warning. Didn't do me any good. I slept in until shortly before. I sat down and saw the warning on TV that it was about ten miles away and coming. Got all of one minute of TV when the power went off. They don't want too much power going too quickly into use and the phone lines getting jammed. You are the only one I'm letting know about this tonight. Take care and I'll write again when I can. Thank goodness...I hope Wolfie checks in when she can..."}, {"response": 440, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jun  5, 2000 (20:37)", "body": "Terry, where are the fatalities in Texas due to flooding? Houston area? Please, not in Austin!!!"}, {"response": 441, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Tue, Jun  6, 2000 (04:12)", "body": "What flooding and fatalities? Not heard about this - or from friends in the area."}, {"response": 442, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Tue, Jun  6, 2000 (18:09)", "body": "No, we haven't had any flooding lately. I've been pretty isolated from news sources the last 2-3 weeks, buried in work."}, {"response": 443, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Tue, Jun  6, 2000 (18:11)", "body": "At least no flooding in the Austin area. It's been pretty dry and hot. Only tinges of rain here and there."}, {"response": 444, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jun  6, 2000 (22:39)", "body": "I seem to rememeber it as being in \"the Houston Area\" which is far to the south of Austin. Still, I worry!"}, {"response": 445, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jun  8, 2000 (20:11)", "body": "GO OUTSIDE AND LOOK AT THE AURORA TONIGHT!!!"}, {"response": 446, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jun  9, 2000 (11:25)", "body": "June 8-9 Aurora Update Space Weather News for June 8-9, 2000 Geomagnetic disturbances are finally subsiding after an interplanetary shock wave struck Earth's magnetosphere around 930 UT on June 8. The event triggered intense aurora over sparsely-inhabited regions of northern Asia and the Pacific. However, by nightfall over North America conditions had quieted. There is still a chance for isolated auroral substorms that might be visible tonight (June 8-9) at middle latitudes. The next opportunity for viewing aurora borealis may arrive as soon as June 10, when another solar wind disturbance is expected to reach Earth. For more information and updates please visit http://www.spaceweather.com SpaceWeather.com"}, {"response": 447, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Sat, Jun 10, 2000 (02:21)", "body": "(Oh drat!!! I was too busy and fogot to look - but there was heavy cloud cover when I looked earlier)"}, {"response": 448, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Sat, Jun 10, 2000 (07:20)", "body": "Austin's been getting some flooding and it's been raining solid for the last day or two. And no end in sight. What a change!"}, {"response": 449, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jun 10, 2000 (14:10)", "body": "Is there no moderation in Texas? Your droughts are bigger, your floods deeper...and now there are people I truly care about and am now worried - REALLY worried! Wish there was some way to know if \"they\" are ok..."}, {"response": 450, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jun 10, 2000 (14:20)", "body": "No one saw the aurora that I am in contact with...Pennsylvania was under clouds, Mike fed the mosquitoes for naught, and England had clouds....*sigh* And, I am way too far south..."}, {"response": 451, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jun 10, 2000 (23:24)", "body": "Listening to the flood reports on Terry's main page... They did not mention Cedar or Quail creek...does anyone else live near a creek that I should worry about? Forecast For Austin, Tx - 911 Pm Cdt Sat Jun 10 2000 ...Flash Flood Watch In Effect Tonight... .Tonight...Cloudy With A 50 Percent Chance Of Showers Or Thunderstorms...Locally Heavy Rainfall And Flooding Possible. Lows In The Lower 70S. Southeast Winds 5 To 10 Mph. .Sunday...Continued Cloudy With A 60 Percent Chance Of Showers Or Thunderstorms...Locally Heavy Rainfall Possible. Highs In The Mid 80S. Southeast Winds 10 To 15 Mph. .Sunday Night...Cloudy With A 40 Percent Chance Of Showers Or Thunderstorms. Lows In The Lower 70S. .Monday...Mostly Cloudy...Becoming Partly Cloudy During The Afternoon. A 30 Percent Chance Of Showers Or Thunderstorms. Highs In The Upper 80S. .Extended Forecast... .Monday Night...Partly Cloudy. Lows Near 70. .Tuesday...Mostly Cloudy With A Slight Chance Of Showers Or Thunderstorms. Highs In The 90S. .Wednesday And Thursday...Mostly Cloudy With A Chance Of Showers Or Thunderstorms. Lows In The 70S. Highs Near 90."}, {"response": 452, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Sun, Jun 11, 2000 (09:29)", "body": "Lots of rain in the forecast, esp. Monday. Well, all week really."}, {"response": 453, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Jun 11, 2000 (14:01)", "body": "Looks like the worst of it has gone through Dallas from what the Wx Channel is showing. Is it Very flat in central Texas or is there a impervious layer under the soil as there is in Arizona? Whatever, your 7 inches it way more than baked hard ground can absorb so quickly! Everything up on tables and lashed down!"}, {"response": 454, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Wed, Jun 14, 2000 (08:14)", "body": "The rain's let up. It's been pretty mild the last couple of days."}, {"response": 455, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jun 14, 2000 (18:42)", "body": "From my son who lives there: From: San Francisco Office of Emergency Services The Pacific Gas and Electric Company has notified the City of San Francisco that PG&E will begin involuntary curtailment of electrical service to portions of San Francisco. These outages are necessary to prevent collapse of the electrical power grid. Parts of San Francisco are expected to be without power for at least an hour to an hour and a half."}, {"response": 456, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jun 14, 2000 (18:44)", "body": "More from Iki: URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SACRAMENTO CA 345 PM PDT WED JUN 14 2000 CARQUINEZ STRAIT AND DELTA- ...THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED AN EXCESSIVE HEAT ADVISORY FOR TONIGHT AND THURSDAY... A STRONG RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE OVER NORTHERN CALIFORNIA COMBINED WITH BREEZY NORTH WINDS IS PRODUCING WELL ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES IN PARTS OF THE CARQUINEZ STRAIT AND DELTA. AS A RESULT AN EXCESSIVE HEAT ADVISORY HAS BEEN ISSUED. THIS IS DEFINED AS TWO OR MORE DAYS WHERE DAYTIME HIGHS EXCEED 105 FAHRENHEIT AND OVERNIGHT LOWS ARE 80 OR GREATER. LOWS IN THE MIDDLE TO UPPER 80S WERE COMMON ACROSS THE DELTA THIS MORNING. HIGHS TODAY WILL TOP OUT WELL ABOVE 105 AT MANY LOCATIONS ...AND LOWS TONIGHT ARE ONCE AGAIN EXPECTED TO ONLY COOL INTO THE UPPER 70S AND 80S. ON THURSDAY...THE MERCURY WILL ONCE AGAIN SOAR ABOVE 105 IN MANY AREAS OF THE DELTA. SLIGHTLY COOLER TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED OVERNIGHT THURSDAY INTO FRIDAY WITH LOWS IN THE 70S AND HIGHS IN THE UPPER 90S TO AROUND 103. GREATER COOLING IS EXPECTED OVER THE WEEKEND AS MARINE AIR MOVES INLAND. AVOID PROLONGED EXPOSURE TO SUNLIGHT...ESPECIALLY IN THE AFTERNOON. DRINK PLENTY OF WATER AND USE SUNBLOCK WHEN OUTDOORS. ALSO IT IS ADVISED TO CHECK ON THOSE SENSITIVE TO HEAT...SUCH AS THE ELDERLY... CHILDREN...AND PETS. TUNE TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR VISIT THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WEB SITE FOR THE LATEST FORECAST PERTAINING TO THIS HEAT WAVE. THE INTERNET SITE IS HTTP://WEATHER.NOAA.GOV/SACRAMENTO . BE SURE TO USE LOWER CASE."}, {"response": 457, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Jun 15, 2000 (09:23)", "body": "does this have anything to do with the sun's acting up here lately?"}, {"response": 458, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jun 15, 2000 (14:03)", "body": "No... Not directly... and not yet. They are still figuring out the dynamics of weather systems but seems to be La Nina this time....which is sort of nebulous at best. Will post some information when I find a clear explanation...."}, {"response": 459, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Jun 15, 2000 (19:38)", "body": "(i couldn't think of what the sun has been up too besides shining brightly, *grin* the SOLAR WIND)"}, {"response": 460, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jun 15, 2000 (21:27)", "body": "Check the sunspots with this amazing little updating image:"}, {"response": 461, "author": "CherylB", "date": "Sat, Jun 17, 2000 (10:15)", "body": "One of the days this past week, it was reported that San Francisco reached a temperature of 103 degrees F. That is extremely unsual. San Francisco is noted for having a very temperate climate, being not very cold in winter or hot in summer. The penninsula it sits on is said to keep \"air conditioned\" as it were."}, {"response": 462, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jun 17, 2000 (12:25)", "body": "Yes, Indeed. A few posts back are two reports for my son who lives there. It was actually 109\ufffdF (42.7\ufffd C) and that is not fit for human consumption. Rolling brown-outs are the order of the day. It is gonna be a bad fire season."}, {"response": 463, "author": "ommin", "date": "Sun, Jun 18, 2000 (04:18)", "body": "and the U.K. this morning was complaining about a heatwave all of 27c. or about just over 80f. Well San Francisco is experiencing Western Australian temps. In the summer we often have over 42c. but strangely this year we didn't exceed 40degrees c. once. It must be terrible over there. I hope they don't have awful forest fires - but the ground will be tinder dry won't it."}, {"response": 464, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Jun 18, 2000 (16:30)", "body": "You can bet this will be a very active fire season with it being so hot and so dry this early in the year."}, {"response": 465, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Jun 18, 2000 (21:09)", "body": "i believe fire in colorado is under control now since the weather has taken a turn toward cool. someone correct me if i'm wrong (but be nice about it *grin*)"}, {"response": 466, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Jun 18, 2000 (23:53)", "body": "From what I head on the Weather Channel the Colorado fire was mostly contained and just about out. The wildfires are now in New Mexico."}, {"response": 467, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Mon, Jun 19, 2000 (08:34)", "body": "UK heatwave hit 35C yesterday. Hottest day for 40 years Supposed to be 32C today. And we forgot to take the fan away with us .....!"}, {"response": 468, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jun 19, 2000 (16:41)", "body": "Don't be tempted to acquire an all-over tan; your skin and mine was never intended to be exposed to such radiation and is ill equipped to deal with the resultant damage."}, {"response": 469, "author": "CherylB", "date": "Mon, Jun 19, 2000 (16:49)", "body": "My father was of French and Scotch/Irish ancestry, and he never got a tan. He got freckles, he got sunburn. He even claimed to have once bought this product called Man Tan, (no kidding), which he said turned him orange. My maternal grandfather was Greek-Cypriot and had blond hair. I have slightly olive skin and I do get sunburn in really obvious places, like my nose."}, {"response": 470, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jun 19, 2000 (17:20)", "body": "Your Dad and I share much in common genetically. Though eschange the french for English and you have it. We do not tan either. I can remember ManTan. The funniest part of that was the orange palms it gave you...not the usual color! My son, of the same general heritage as mine with some Teutonic thrown in had blond hair (which has since darkened to brown from being not in Hawaii and in an office), green eyes and a perpetual tan - born that way actually - from who knows where. Maybe a travelling salesman of the swarthy kind visited my ancestress some where way back???"}, {"response": 471, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Wed, Jun 21, 2000 (05:19)", "body": "No problems with tans, we all have perpetual tans and never burn - more like David I spose (and I have green eyes!), unlike the rest of either of our families. All the men in my family have reddish hair from our Scots inheritance with fairish complexions, don't know where I dropped in from!"}, {"response": 472, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jun 21, 2000 (12:57)", "body": "The Gypsies??!!"}, {"response": 473, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Wed, Jun 21, 2000 (16:58)", "body": "Weeelll, there was a rumour ...."}, {"response": 474, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jun 21, 2000 (17:29)", "body": "*grin* There are some of those waaaaaay back in all of our ancestries if we'd only admit it. I am sure my Viking ancestors were not all that choosy where they left their DNA..."}, {"response": 475, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jun 21, 2000 (19:02)", "body": "Why are so many umbrellas black? When umbrellas first came into greater use during the 18th century, they were made of oil-soaked cotton cloth that was stretched over a whalebone. The purpose of the oil was to make the cotton cloth water proof, but it also gave the cloth a black-looking color. While this type of umbrella was very waterproof, it wasn't very durable. Soon, newer and better umbrellas were made, and since the color black was associated with effective waterproofing, most of the newer models were dyed black."}, {"response": 476, "author": "ommin", "date": "Thu, Jun 22, 2000 (21:48)", "body": "Mini Tornado just outside Melbourne today. There was significant damage."}, {"response": 477, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jun 22, 2000 (21:52)", "body": "Was it a waterspout which came ashore or a real tornado? Amazing! Thanks, Anne"}, {"response": 478, "author": "ommin", "date": "Sat, Jun 24, 2000 (03:48)", "body": "It was a genuine tornado - so much so the Victorian Government are paying out $750 per household and some $500odd per week in compensation."}, {"response": 479, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jun 24, 2000 (18:17)", "body": "Amazing. Is this unusual for Sydney? I do not recall hearing of one before this one you reported. Thanks!"}, {"response": 480, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jun 29, 2000 (17:42)", "body": "THE GO TEAM (from weather.com) In September 1998, Hurricane Georges rampaged across 17 Caribbean islands. The storm killed over 500 people, flooded out roads and bridges, and tore apart thousands of houses. In its wake, the number of homeless was staggering - more than 100,000 in the Dominican Republic alone, with thousands more in Haiti, Puerto Rico, and St. Kitts. Those who lost everything to Georges urgently needed food, clean water and medical supplies, which were often slow to arrive. A new international response team sponsored by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) plans to provide much more rapid relief following a hurricane strike. The GO (Ground Operations) Team, made up of disaster response professionals from Miami-Dade Urban Search and Rescue and USAID, is set up to deploy immediately. While typical response to a disaster can take as long as 72 hours, GO is on the move within 12 hours, airlifting emergency supplies such as plastic sheeting, water, blankets and hygiene kits. \"From now on these GO Teams, with pre-packaged supplies, will allow us to provide assistance almost immediately,\" said USAID administrator J. Brady Anderson. The teams are able to arrive on the scene so quickly because of the preparation that goes on ahead of time, says Ruben D. Almaguer, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue's division chief of special operations. Almaguer has a team of 300 specially trained urban search and rescue task force members, 50 of whom have also been trained as part of USAID's Disaster Assistance Response Teams (DART) in humanitarian relief. Even before hurricane season (which runs from June 1 to November 30) began, the GO Team was in full operation, readying a stockpile of supply kits, which are stored in two warehouses at Homestead Air Reserve Base. When a request is made, the team quickly loads the kits onto commercial or military aircraft and is on their way to the country in need. Almaguer says that beyond the satisfaction of helping those in need, the program is also useful to his department. \"The benefit of it is the value of having county personnel responding all over the world, getting a lot of training, a lot of experience which will better allow us to handle our own disasters,\" he says. The GO Team's ultimate goal is to train small islands to better respond to their own needs. But, he says, making them completely self-sufficient is still far in the future."}, {"response": 481, "author": "ommin", "date": "Sat, Jul  1, 2000 (04:32)", "body": "Destructive storm in Western Australia including a tornado in Fremantle some 13 miles south of Perth, much damage. One person killed in Safety Bay some 20 miles south of Perth during severe thunderstorm. Destuctive winds still blowing and heavy rain, hail and sleet. Most unusual - okay we get winter storms but this is something else."}, {"response": 482, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jul  1, 2000 (13:20)", "body": "Has anyone done a study of recorded weather history for your area? This past 12 months have sounded more stormy and extreme than any I have ever heard of before. Hang in there, Dear. Cannot lose you!"}, {"response": 483, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jul  1, 2000 (15:17)", "body": "Time to post the updating severe weather map again http://www.weather.com/"}, {"response": 484, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Sat, Jul  1, 2000 (16:11)", "body": "Bill Hecke, the Channel 42 Meteorologist, came by and looked in to renting tyhe Cedar Creek house. He's a true weatherman and nearly full blooded Indian to boot. Nice guy."}, {"response": 485, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jul  1, 2000 (16:26)", "body": "We need him in Geo!!! Yay, Terry!!!"}, {"response": 486, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jul  3, 2000 (22:04)", "body": "Just in time for the 2000 Cape Verde season, a resident in central Florida has came up with an idea to break up hurricanes by dropping Soil Moist, a substance used by gardners to soak up moisture from the surrounding ground and keeping it near plants, into the storms. Soil Moist can absorb 250 times its weight in water-sounds similar to soak up used to absorb oil. The idea is that dropping massive amounts of the absorber into the storms would caus them to fall harmlessly into the ocean. The govt is seriously considering the idea. (from the Hurricane Team)"}, {"response": 487, "author": "ommin", "date": "Wed, Jul  5, 2000 (21:35)", "body": "'HEATWAVES' In Abadan - Iran - the temperature has risen to 53c. over the last four days. Drinking water has been cut off and caused riots in the town. In Italy one of the green lungs of Rome is burning and Italy is suffering Heatwave contions."}, {"response": 488, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jul  7, 2000 (00:27)", "body": "Typhoon Kirogi is heading for Japan, after taking the lives of at least 12 people in the Philippines. It is expected to brush the country, near Tokyo, this weekend. Flooding and mudslides triggered by Kirogi's torrential rains are blamed for many of the deaths. The heavy rainfall worsened as a tropical depression, now Tropical Storm Kai-tak, also soaked the Philippines this week. That storm is forecast to grow to Category 4 hurricane strength and is forecast to make landfall near Shantou, in eastern China, this weekend. The rains forced more than 16,000 families to flee their homes as floodwaters across the northern island of Luzon climbed to 10 feet. Now, residents of Tokyo are on alert, as Kirogi is expected to strike there Saturday morning. Kirogi weakened during the last 24 hours, and was packing winds of 97 mph at 8 a.m. EDT Thursday. Courtesy of Weather.com"}, {"response": 489, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jul  7, 2000 (00:29)", "body": "I heard a friend in Tehran that it was 108\ufffd when he was talking with me last evening my time (they are 14 hours ahead of us) No rain in sight for months. It must be stiffling! Thanks for reminding me, Anne!"}, {"response": 490, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jul  7, 2000 (16:48)", "body": "Typhoons force 400,000 to evacuate In the Kanto Plain, winds have been running at about 40-60 kph sustained (10 minute average) with the pressure down to 976 hPa in Tokyo. Lowest pressure along the coast I saw was 974 hPa and winds of 77 kph so we are probably seeing 60-80kph winds along the coast. Heavy rain showers are occurring throughout the area and gusts are probably approaching 100 kph in the Tokyo area and exceeding 100 kph along the coast."}, {"response": 491, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jul  7, 2000 (21:53)", "body": "As if the flooding from heavy rains and tidal flooding which have killed 27 people on Luzon so far weren't enough... A tornado struck San Fernando La Union on the 7th damaging a number of homes. A rain induced secondary explosion in the Sacobia pyroclastic deposit zone of Mt. Pinatubo caused a muddy rain and moderate ashfall on the former Clark AB and surrounding towns. Fortunately, so far lahars have been minimal."}, {"response": 492, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Jul  9, 2000 (18:24)", "body": "Help Plant A Tree With Just A Click One click a day. It'free. http://www.webreleaf.com/"}, {"response": 493, "author": "ommin", "date": "Thu, Jul 13, 2000 (20:26)", "body": "Tornado in Perth Western Australia yesterday. The suburb Thornlie was hit by a tornado yesterday morning - early. Although there is much damage no one was hurt. Another bad wind day is forecast for later today. Hopefully less destructive."}, {"response": 494, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jul 14, 2000 (01:17)", "body": "Pacific Lunar Eclipse NASA Science News for July 14, 2000 This weekend the Moon, the Sun and the Earth will align for the longest total lunar eclipse in 140 years. The best places to see the event are in and around the Pacific Ocean, including Hawaii and Australia. Observers along the west coast of North America will be able to see a partial eclipse just before the Moon sets on Sunday morning. During totality skywatchers may also be able to spot the asteroid 4 Vesta, which coincidentally makes a rare appearance as a naked-eye object during the days around the eclipse. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast14jul_1m.htm?list"}, {"response": 495, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jul 15, 2000 (14:32)", "body": "Saturday July 15, 9:19 AM Tornado kills 7, injures 79 in Alberta, Canada MONTREAL (Reuters) - A tornado obliterated a popular mobile home campground near Red Deer, Alberta, Canada on Friday evening, killing seven people and injuring 79 as it flipped dozens of trailers in its path, authorities said. \"We're at seven fatalities and the number of injured is now 79 and may rise some more,\" Jim Squire, a public information officer for the county of Red Deer, told Reuters early on Saturday morning. Squire said rescue and medical crews continued to work into the early morning hours at the Green Acres campground site at the edge of Pine Lake, about 36 miles (60 km) southeast of Red Deer. The tornado destroyed 400 trailer camp sites in the campground. In addition to the dead and injured, 325 people had been evacuated to a nearby community centre and college in Red Deer, he said. Squire added that county officials were beginning to obtain information on the scope and severity of injuries inflicted when the funnel cloud touched down mid-evening on Friday. The twister ripped through the camp ground, flipping trailers, tossing cars and uprooting trees. Although some victims escaped with small cuts and bruises, others suffered broken limbs and gouges from flying debris. \"Some of the injuries are life threatening,\" he said. Crews were continuing their search of the campground as rescue personnel reported finding trailers stacked one on top of the other, Squire said. The tornado also blew several trailers into the lake. WATER SEARCH HALTED Royal Canadian Mounted Police Cpl. Patrick Webb told Reuters that divers had searched trailers found in the water, but had to halt their efforts because of darkness. The lake search was to resume at daylight. Webb said people were frantically calling the police and other authorities hoping to learn whether friends and family had been caught in the tornado. One problem, however, was that authorities did not know how many people had checked into the campground or how many others had been headed there for the weekend. That made it difficult to determine the number of missing, he said. Louise Martin, producer for RD-TV, said the television station's video footage from the scene showed injured victims sitting amid the wreckage of the campground. \"It's like a war zone, mobile homes and cars upside down, people walking around covered in blood or sitting down wrapped in blankets,\" she said. The Green Acres campground was a permanent summer recreation area used by vacationers, including many families with children. A baseball tournament had been planned for this weekend, Martin said. Television pictures on the CTV network showed a substantial amount of debris strewn by the lakeside where many trailers had been parked. A nearby house was in ruins and several cars and trailers were upended. The injured were being taken to hospitals in Red Deer and the nearby community of Three Hills. At least two energy companies had provided disaster relief crews to assist the rescue effort. Rescue crews were called in from surrounding communities, including the cities of Calgary and Edmonton. Citizens from neighbouring communities and farms also rushed in to help, but some had to be turned back because of the crush of vehicles and personnel. Red Deer County's Squire said Ralph Klein, premier of the western Canadian province, was headed to the campground."}, {"response": 496, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jul 15, 2000 (16:35)", "body": "An Extreme Geomagnetic Storm is Underway Space Weather News for July 15, 2000 A powerful shock wave from the fast-moving July 14th coronal mass ejection has arrived in the neighborhood of Earth. An extreme geomagnetic storm was underway at 1900 UT (3:00 p.m. EDT) on July 15th. If conditions persist as they are now, aurora could be visible at middle (and possibly even equatorial) latitudes. The best time to view aurora is usually near local midnight. In this case, sky watchers are advised to look for aurora as soon as night falls. For more information and updates please visit http://www.spaceweather.com Readers are invited to send pictures of tonight's aurora and the July 16, 2000, total lunar eclipse (visible across the Pacific Ocean) as an email attachment to phillips@spacescience.com for possible posting on spaceweather.com and/or spacescience.com. For more information about the lunar eclipse: Pacific Lunar Eclipse http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast14jul_1m.htm"}, {"response": 497, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jul 29, 2000 (23:32)", "body": "For those checking the progress of Daniel (once hurricane and not tropical storm)"}, {"response": 498, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jul 31, 2000 (21:38)", "body": "have been ordered offline by our civil defense leaders. Storm intensifying. check in in the morning...wish me luck."}, {"response": 499, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Aug  2, 2000 (20:16)", "body": "This from California from whence I just returned: The Independent System Operators (ISO) may declare a Stage 3 electrical power emergency for State of California. During a Stage 3 power emergency electrical power around the state would be shut off for a period of time and then restored. Areas of San Francisco may be affected by the blackout. During a Stage 3 alert, the blackout could last from one to two hours. California ISO declared a Stage 1 at 11 a.m., and a Stage 2 at Noon. Mayor Willie L. Brown, Jr. has directed all City agencies to take immediate steps to reduce their electrical power use and is requesting help from the public to minimize the effect of this possible outage. City services report the following developments in association with apossible blackout:- Fire and Police expect no disruption in 911 service or emergency dispatching capabilities.- MUNI anticipates minimal loss in service - The Department of Parking and Traffic has dispatched parking control officers to major intersections that might be affected - Department of Public Health reports hospitals affected by the blackout will run on emergency generator power and that they do not anticipate any disruption in service - Recreation and Parks Department expects that some of their facilities will be affected by the blackout Citizens should expect traffic delays and difficulty with the evening commute, as traffic signals may be affected. PG&E may interrupt power to the following areas:The Van Ness Avenue Corridor Fisherman's Wharf North Beach Chinatown/Portions of the Financial District Portions of Civic Center Upper Market:Portions of the Haight and Inner Sunset Portions of the Richmond DistrictPortions of the Outer Sunset District For further information contact: Kent Paxton, San Francisco Office of Emergency Services 415-558-2790."}, {"response": 500, "author": "alyeska", "date": "Wed, Aug  2, 2000 (23:21)", "body": "There is a disturbance off the coast of Africa tonight. The same place that spawned Andrew. Those that start there are always so much worse than the ones that form in the Caribbean. the one that they were watching off Cuba seems to have disappeared."}, {"response": 501, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Aug  2, 2000 (23:57)", "body": "This is true, Lucie! There are several good updating weather maps in this topic though some are back a way and should be bookmarked for reference (even by me - or especially by me!) We will be watching it closely. You are in a very vulnerable place! *Hugs* and warm thoughts go out to you!"}, {"response": 502, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Aug 18, 2000 (23:04)", "body": "Where a dear freind lives: * TORNADO WARNING FOR... ALAMANCE COUNTY IN NORTH CAROLINA * UNTIL 500 PM EDT * AT 423 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 3 MILES SOUTH OF ALAMANCE...OR ABOUT 7 MILES SOUTH OF BURLINGTON...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 45 MPH. THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF THE BUILDING IN AN INTERIOR HALLWAY OR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET. USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO COVER YOUR BODY AND ALWAYS STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS. ---------------------------- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC 15 PM EDT FRI AUG 18 2000 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH HAS ISSUED A * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR... ALAMANCE COUNTY IN NORTH CAROLINA * UNTIL 445 PM EDT * AT 415 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 4 MILES SOUTH OF ELON COLLEGE...OR ABOUT 5 MILES SOUTHWEST OF BURLINGTON...MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH. * THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL PASS SOUTH OF BURLINGTON AND NEAR ALAMANCE AT 420 PM. THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM. IF YOU ARE IN ITS PATH YOU SHOULD PREPARE FOR DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH...LARGE HAIL...AND DEADLY LIGHTNING. PEOPLE OUTSIDE SHOULD MOVE TO A SHELTER...PREFERABLY INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING BUT AWAY FROM WINDOWS. LAT...LON 3614 7952 3605 7956 3601 7957 3589 7928 3606 7927"}, {"response": 503, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Aug 20, 2000 (00:16)", "body": "Heard from my friend and he is well and safe but the storms were fierce and dangerous. I waas delighted to hear that he was well. Nothing else in the world is happenig except that my ISP did not work most of the day and kept me from my usual posts. Sorry!"}, {"response": 504, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Aug 21, 2000 (21:13)", "body": "Maggie reports: We had SNOW in Humberside (N England) today. 4-6 inches!!! and hail, and a tornado off the coast of scotland. I asked her if this was usual for August in England. She said, definitly not. May, maybe but never August!"}, {"response": 505, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Aug 21, 2000 (21:15)", "body": "Meanwhile we are enduring squalls from the remains of Hurricane Hector and are pretty tired of the sogginess of it all."}, {"response": 506, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Aug 22, 2000 (20:14)", "body": "From Puerto Rico via Yahoo club: Hurrican Team At 7:30pm WEare on tropical storm warning we expect a lot of rain tonite but not wind.We expect everything will go back to normal tomorrow.The public schools have classes tomorrow and the majority of the people is working.The authorities have problems with the surfers that are practicing this sport today.They had to rescue a surfer in Ocean Park,a sector in San Juan).The damage is minimal.One death reported in Guaynabo when a man was removing his antenna in his roof and fell off andd died instantly.The eye just passed north of our island we were saved by the majority of the rain and wind was in the north of the system."}, {"response": 507, "author": "CherylB", "date": "Thu, Aug 24, 2000 (18:51)", "body": "I'd heard that Debby had been downgraded to a tropical storm and might even be downgraded further to a tropical depression."}, {"response": 508, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Aug 24, 2000 (19:24)", "body": "Yup but the gulf states have such a high water tables and the land is so flat that runoff from tropical deluges can lead serious flooding. That is the problem now. That, and whatever storm surges are left..."}, {"response": 509, "author": "CherylB", "date": "Thu, Aug 24, 2000 (19:34)", "body": "That's true. The storm category is largely determined by wind velocity, but when the winds slow the rain is still left. That's how hurricanes disipate, by raining themselves out."}, {"response": 510, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Aug 24, 2000 (19:37)", "body": "Yup, and without the wind to move it, it just hangs arund and hangs and hangs... we are still getting wet from Hector's remnants. That does not bode well for those states bordering the Gulf."}, {"response": 511, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Aug 25, 2000 (13:01)", "body": "Oh dear, now I know people in India and worry about them: Helicopters Rescue Marooned in India Floods; Toll 93 HYDERABAD, India (Reuters) - Helicopters plucked people from flooded apartments in the inundated south Indian city of Hyderabad Friday as the number of people killed by the heaviest rains in more than 40 years rose to 93. More than 35,000 people had been affected by the floods in Hyderabad and thousands of homes have been destroyed, said the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh state, Chandrababu Naidu. Hyderabad, the state's capital, which has been trying to become the new center of India's booming software industry, was among the worst-affected areas after it was hit by the heaviest rains in more than four decades, officials said. Hundreds of people, including some marooned in city apartments, were being evacuated by air force helicopters and boats were also deployed to rescue stranded people, officials said. More than 20 localities in the city remained heavily water-logged although there has been no fresh rain since Thursday morning, they said. Hyderabad Meteorological Center Director C.V.V. Bhadram said the rains this week were the heaviest in history, with the city receiving around one third of its normal annual rains in just 24 hours to Thursday morning. Officials said more than 10,000 houses were flooded, forcing residents to flee to the roof-tops to escape the raging waters. ``We sent away our sons and daughters-in-law and the kids to the first floor as soon as waters entered into our house soon after midnight Wednesday,'' said Mohammed Barkatullah, a resident in one of the worst-affected areas. Several complained that their food items had been washed away and drinking water contaminated by the flooding. ``We have nothing to eat or drink. The food packets dropped by the helicopters missed the target. Please rescue us somehow,'' another resident Sajid told chief minister Naidu on a cellular phone. Officials said rescue efforts would become more effective with the waters receding as there had been no rains since Thursday and more areas were now accessible. The floods in the south followed catastrophic monsoon season flooding in north and northeast India, Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh in which about 300 were feared killed and millions left homeless. DROUGHT IN NEIGHBORING STATE But in the eastern state of Orissa, which borders Andhra Pradesh, authorities are battling drought. Half of Orissa's 30 districts were faced with a grim situation because of the shortage of rain, the state's revenue minister Biswabhushan Harichandan said. State officials said 500 water pumps were being rushed to the worst-affected districts."}, {"response": 512, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Aug 29, 2000 (18:13)", "body": "UP AND AWAY: Visitors watch the twister off Llandudno Twisted out of another sunny Bank Holiday by Sarah 0'Grady IT WAS your average British bank holiday - rain, plummeting temperatures and...tornadoes. A \"twister\" was spotted spinning off the North Wales coast yesterday afternoon. John Reay watched it for 20 minutes by the West Shore at Llandudno with hundreds of astonished holidaymakers. \"It was really spectacular and lasted a long time,\" he said. \"It was followed by an almighty downpour. It was several hundred feet high and amazing.\" Another tornado levelled two marquees in Scarbor- ough, trapping a local show organiser inside. Margaret Pitts, who escaped uninjured, said: \"Fortunately the marquee poles missed me and I was able to crawl my way out after being trapped for a time. It was scary and I was extremely lucky.\" Rain also hit rail travel. Flooding at Granthouse in Berwickshire blocked the East Coast main line, causing trains from Scotland to the south of England to be diverted via the west coast. But the weather failed to dampen spirits when up to a million revellers flocked to west London for the final and busiest day of the two-day Notting Hill Carnival. There were 57 arrests on Sunday, a slight increase on last year. Most were for drunken behaviour and public order offences.Today's forecast is for further showers across the country. However, Northern Ireland can expect a largely dry day. \ufffd Express Newspapers, 2000"}, {"response": 513, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Sep  3, 2000 (15:16)", "body": ""}, {"response": 514, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Sep 11, 2000 (17:43)", "body": "What Lies Beneath A Hurricane NASA Science News for September 11, 2000 Two NASA satellites can see things beneath the cloud tops of hurricanes that have been hidden from traditional weather satellites. The new data are helping scientists understand and predict dangerous storms. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast11sep_1.htm?list"}, {"response": 515, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Fri, Sep 15, 2000 (06:07)", "body": "Thursday September 14 2:44 PM ET Tropical Storm Florence Weakens But Eyes Bermuda http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000914/ts/weather_florence_dc_8.html MIAMI (Reuters) - Bermuda was placed under a storm alert on Thursday as Tropical Storm Florence hovered and lost steam in the Atlantic Ocean several hundred miles from the British colony. The weather service of Bermuda issued a tropical storm watch for the islands, alerting residents to possible storm conditions within 36 hours. At 2 p.m. EDT, the center of Florence was about 540 miles west-southwest of Bermuda near latitude 29.3 north and longitude 73.1 west, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center (news - web sites). Its top winds were measured at about 50 mph, down from 60 mph earlier Thursday. Florence was a hurricane with 75 mph winds on Wednesday. The storm was drifting to the southeast and was expected to begin heading east in the next 12-24 hours. Three cruise ships and a pair of cargo ships that had been scheduled to sail from Bermuda on Friday moved their departures up by a day to steer clear of the storm, which was expected to skirt the island late on Friday. ``After 6 p.m. this evening, the Bermuda ports will be empty,'' harbor radio officer Joe Pagnam said by telephone from St. George. ``The ships that normally sail tomorrow -- a couple of cruise ships and a couple of cargo ships -- are sailing today.'' The storm was not expected to have a major impact on Bermuda, where homes, resort cottages and hotels are built to withstand much stronger wind and rains than a tropical storm can kick up. ``We're just keeping a close watch, (but) it's not even a threat to us,'' said Annmarie Malcolm, manager at the Cambridge Beaches resort along Somerset Long Bay on the island's west end. The Bermuda Reservations Service and several hotel managers reported no calls from tourists canceling plans to visit the island in the coming days. The National Hurricane Center also warned that Florence was stirring up dangerous surf and rip tides along parts of the southeastern U.S. coast, particularly in North Carolina. Rip tides kicked up by Florence were blamed for at least two deaths on North Carolina beaches on Tuesday. U.S. hurricane forecasters also were watching a tropical depression -- the forerunner of a tropical storm -- that formed along the coast of the Yucatan peninsula. It had winds of about 30 mph."}, {"response": 516, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Sat, Sep 16, 2000 (12:03)", "body": "Saturday September 16 10:31 AM ET Florence Skirts Bermuda; Gordon Threatens Gulf http://dailynews.yahoo.com/htx/nm/20000916/ts/weather_storms_dc_3.html By Jenny Miller MIAMI (Reuters) - Parts of Florida's west coast were on a hurricane alert on Saturday as Tropical Storm Gordon trekked through the Gulf of Mexico while another big storm skirted Bermuda and headed out safely into the Atlantic Ocean. Gordon was moving at 60 mph and was expected to become a hurricane sometime on Saturday, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said. ``Heavy rain can be expected on the Florida coast and people in the watch area should be making preparations,'' said NHC meteorologist Eric Blake. A hurricane watch was in effect along Florida's Gulf Coast from Bonita Beach north to the Suwanee River. At 8 a.m. EDT, the storm's center was about 310 miles west-southwest of Key West, Florida, near latitude 23.7 north, longitude 86.6 west. The storm was moving north-northeast near 9 mph. Sections of western Cuba were doused with 7-10 inches of rain from the developing storm, and 2-5 inches of rain were forecast for south Florida and the Keys. The storm was packing maximum sustained winds near 60 mph, with tropical storm force winds extending up to 105 miles from its center. Residents along the Gulf Coast from Florida to Louisiana were advised to keep track of Gordon's progress through the weekend. The storm could make landfall by late on Sunday or early on Monday, depending on its track through the Gulf of Mexico, forecasters said. Meanwhile, the other big mid-September storm, Hurricane Florence, brushed past Bermuda with gale-force winds that did not appear to have caused serious damage on the storm-hardened resort in the mid-Atlantic. ``I think the worst has past,'' Bermuda Weather Service meteorologist Declan O'Connell said shortly after driving to work in St. George on the island's east end. ``There was nothing more than light branches down, maybe some palm fronds.'' At 8 a.m. EDT Florence was centered about 125 miles north of Bermuda and was racing to the northeast and out into the open Atlantic at 25 mph with maximum sustained winds of about 75 mph. It only dumped about half an inch of rain on the islands as it passed by overnight. Forecasters were also watching the 12th tropical depression of the season, a poorly organized system expected to become a tropical storm later on Saturday. Tropical storm watches were raised for Antigua, Anguilla, Barbuda, Montserrat, Nevis and St. Kitts, and remained in effect for St. Maarten, Saba and St. Eustatius. Tropical storm warnings could be raised for portions of the Leeward Islands later in the day as it moved west. The tropical depression was centered about 395 miles east of Guadeloupe in the Leeward Islands, with maximum sustained winds near 35 mph and higher gusts."}, {"response": 517, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Sun, Sep 17, 2000 (04:06)", "body": "Sunday September 17, 9:18 AM(UK) Gordon becomes hurricane, targets Florida coast http://uk.news.yahoo.com/000917/80/ajjjp.html By Angus MacSwan MIAMI (Reuters) - Hurricane Gordon churned toward Florida on Saturday, prompting a hurricane warning along the state's Gulf coast, and forecasters predicted it could hit land sometime late on Sunday or early Monday. Gordon reached hurricane strength on Saturday afternoon while ploughing through the Gulf of Mexico, with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph (120 kph) and higher gusts, according to the U.S. National Weather Service. Gordon previously had been classified as a tropical storm. Authorities called for a voluntary evacuation along parts of Florida's western coastline and urged residents to make preparations for Gordon's arrival, as forecasters said the hurricane could make landfall somewhere between Tampa and Tallahassee. Meanwhile, the other big mid-September storm, Florence, weakened from a hurricane to a tropical storm over the Atlantic on Saturday night after brushing past Bermuda with gale-force winds that did not appear to have caused serious damage on the storm-hardened resort. Rains from Gordon already have caused death and mayhem in Guatemala, where 19 people were killed and more than 50 hurt over the past two days. Hundreds of people in the Central American country have fled their homes for fear of landslides or flooding. Hurricane or tropical storm warnings were in effect along Florida's Gulf Coast from Bonita Beach to Apalachicola -- around 400 miles (650 km) of coastline -- and communities as far west as Alabama were advised to keep an eye on the storm. A forecaster at the National Hurricane Centre in Miami said that if Gordon stayed on its present track it was likely to spare towns and cities and lurch ashore at a thinly populated area. \"Right now it looks like it will land in north Florida on the West Coast somewhere between Tampa Bay and the 'Big Bend' south of Tallahassee,\" National Hurricane Centre specialist Stacy Stewart said. \"We're zooming in on a remotely populated area.\" he said, adding that the storm could still deviate from that course. If Gordon stayed on course it was expected to hit on Monday morning although as of late Sunday night landfall was still a possibility, Stewart said. Although a minimal hurricane, Gordon is packing lots of rain, forecasters added. GORDON IS STRENGTHENING Gordon was picking up strength as it moved to the northeast. At 10 p.m. EDT (3 a.m. BST on Sunday), the storm's centre was located about 235 miles (375 km) southwest of Tampa and 275 miles (440 km) south of Apalachicola, near latitude 25.7 north, longitude 85.3 west. The storm was moving northeast at about 12 mph (19 kph). Communities along the coast were bracing for the storm. \"We have our emergency operations centre open and operating, and issued a voluntary evacuation at 5 p.m. to citizens who don't feel comfortable staying in homes along the coastal areas,\" said Karen Windon, public safety director for Manatee County. \"We always encourage people to reinforce their homes. It's easier to do it before the winds start blowing.\" Sections of western Cuba were doused with seven to 10 inches (17 to 25 cms) of rain from Gordon and two to five inches (five to 12 cms) of rain were forecast for south Florida and the Keys. Gordon already has lashed Mexico's Yucatan peninsula and the Guatemalan coast with heavy rains. Mexico's National Weather Service said on Saturday another 3 inches (7 cm) was forecast in some parts of the south, with wind gusts of up to 66 mph (110 kph) expected. The storm forced authorities to shut the port of Campeche on the Yucatan peninsula to all shipping, according to the transport ministry. As of earlier on Saturday, Mexico's main oil ports were unaffected by the storm. In Guatemala, two days of pounding rains left 19 dead and 50 injured, with hundreds more forced from their homes over fears of flooding, cave-ins and landslides, authorities said. FLORENCE HEADS OUT TO SEA Forecasters said Florence weakened after brushing past Bermuda, where local weather officials said the effects of the storm appeared light. \"I think the worst has past,\" Bermuda Weather Service meteorologist Declan O'Connell said shortly after driving to work in St. George on the island's east end. \"There was nothing more than light branches down, maybe some palm fronds,\" said Bermuda Weather Service meteorologist Declan O'Connell. The storm packed sustained winds of 70 mph (110 kph) and was on a course that would take it near eastern Newfoundland on Sunday afternoon. A tropical storm in the Pacific, meanwhile, moved closer to the Mexican coast on Saturday, prompting authorities to declare a state of emergency in the northwestern state of Baja California. Tropical Storm Miriam was centred 125 miles (200 km) southeast of Cabo San Lucas on the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula late on Saturday. It was moving northwest at six mph (9 kph) and was expected to mak"}, {"response": 518, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Sep 20, 2000 (22:26)", "body": "I heard this morning form Pennsylvania concerning the remnants of Gordon. It was supposed to stay along the coast, but central Pennsylvania got some really heavy rain from this system."}, {"response": 519, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Wed, Sep 20, 2000 (22:49)", "body": "California Heatwave http://www.mercurycenter.com/premium/local/docs/power20.htm Published Wednesday, September 20, 2000, in the San Jose Mercury News Gradual cooling is expected for the rest of the week CONSERVATION AND WEATHER LUCK HELP THE STATE AVOID BLACKOUTS, BUT BAY AREA HEAT RECORDS FALL FOR SECOND DAY BY GLENNDA CHUI AND STEVE JOHNSON Mercury News California appears to have dodged the danger of rolling blackouts -- at least for now -- despite record temperatures across the Bay Area for the second day in a row Tuesday. Cooling through the rest of the week should diminish the immediate threat of the lights going out. Although the people who control California's sprawling power grid had predicted that electricity use would rise on Tuesday, possibly triggering blackouts, it didn't happen; in fact, power use declined. Conservation had something to do with it, according to the Independent System Operator, which manages most of the state's power grid. But the biggest factor was that the weather statewide was not quite as hot as expected, especially in Southern California. Temperatures in Los Angeles were five to 10 degrees cooler than anticipated, leading to a drop in energy use of about 1,900 megawatts. That's enough to power about 1.9 million homes. ``What's making the difference is the weather,'' said ISO spokeswoman Stephanie McCorkle. ``Now, tomorrow it could be a whole different story.'' However, for the time being, state energy experts said they expect power usage to remain level today. ``It should get better'' for the rest of the week, McCorkle said. The heat set records Tuesday in San Jose, at 99 degrees; Gilroy, at 101; Redwood City, 98; and Oakland, 96. Downtown San Francisco reached 86 degrees; the record is 93. Forecasters expect cooler temperatures today, with San Jose reaching a projected high of 94, Santa Cruz 74 and San Francisco 77, as a sea breeze continues to push cool marine air over the land. And Thursday should see a dramatic cooling to seasonally normal temperatures, according to the National Weather Service. The threat of blackouts has worsened this year because the demand for electricity has increased dramatically but construction of new power plants has lagged. With increasing frequency, demand for power has come close to outstripping supply. Although the danger of blackouts appears to have eased this week, state energy officials warn that California will struggle until new power plants are built. The threat of outages has led to growing angst among Silicon Valley companies. ``There were several companies that feel that they've dodged the bullet so far,'' said Justin Bradley, director of environmental programs for the Silicon Valley Manufacturing Group. ``It's like a game of roulette.'' He said several large firms, including Sun Microsystems Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co., 3Com Corp. and Intel Corp., have been meeting to discuss the challenges presented by the state's continuing power shortages and the cost of conserving power. Some companies, including Solectron Corp., a major contract manufacturer of circuit boards, don't have backup generators to protect them if the power goes out. Companies are hard-pressed to calculate exactly how much damage a blackout causes. But Sun Microsystems has estimated that a blackout costs ``up to $1 million per minute,'' says Larry Owens, division manager of customer services for Silicon Valley Power, the utility that manages power for many large Santa Clara County companies. Chuck Mulloy, spokesman for Intel, says that if one of its fabrication plants shuts down ``it could cost millions, depending on the circumstances.'' The Independent System Operator declared a Stage 2 electricity emergency Monday, reflecting the fact that more than 95 percent of the power generated in California was being used. During a Stage 2 alert, some businesses are urged to go on backup power. On Tuesday, however, the ISO only had to declare a Stage 1 alert, meaning that 93 percent of available power was in use. In such cases, consumers are urged to conserve electricity. If a Stage 3 alert had been issued, utilities would have temporarily cut power to groups of customers according to prearranged plans. Helping to ease the situation Tuesday, some power plants that had been shut down for routine maintenance earlier in the week were able to reopen, increasing the available power by about 500 megawatts, McCorkle said. The ability of the ISO to deal with these recurring emergencies varies from moment to moment, said Kellan Fluckiger, the ISO's chief operating officer. ``Every day is dynamic and different, and it's a mess,'' he said. But, he added, the agency has become better in recent months at finding sources of power to pump into the grid. California generates about 75 percent of the electricity it uses. It imports the rest -- mostly from the Pacific Northwest, funneled into the state along high-voltage lines that can carry nearly 7,000 megawatts. With 17 Stage 2 alerts issued"}, {"response": 520, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Sep 21, 2000 (00:25)", "body": "Yes, my son sent me the weather bureau warning and a friend in high school there had marching band practice for 2 hours in 110\ufffdF (43.3\ufffdC) sun on a football field! That is down right dangerous!"}, {"response": 521, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Sep 21, 2000 (15:16)", "body": "La Ni\ufffda's Ghost NASA Science News for September 15, 2000 La Ni\ufffda has faded away, but will weather patterns change? Some scientists expect the Pacific Decadal Oscillation to pick up where La Ni\ufffda left off. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast15sep_1.htm?list"}, {"response": 522, "author": "CherylB", "date": "Thu, Sep 21, 2000 (17:57)", "body": "About the heavy rains in Central Pennsylvania, I spoke to my Mom and she said that the remnants of Gordon really were torrential."}, {"response": 523, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Sep 22, 2000 (00:38)", "body": "Bet they are monitoring the flood gauges on the Susquehanna River."}, {"response": 524, "author": "CherylB", "date": "Sat, Sep 23, 2000 (10:12)", "body": "No doubt."}, {"response": 525, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Sep 23, 2000 (22:49)", "body": "Was going to mention something about going out with a guy from Johnstown while at Penn State. He seemed determined to practice his swimming every time we went out. Extra points for you if you can guess his favorite stroke..."}, {"response": 526, "author": "CherylB", "date": "Tue, Sep 26, 2000 (17:01)", "body": "Oh, let's see, was it the breast-stroke?"}, {"response": 527, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Sep 28, 2000 (01:15)", "body": "You knew that guy, too??!! *lol*"}, {"response": 528, "author": "CherylB", "date": "Thu, Sep 28, 2000 (16:21)", "body": "I think it might have been his son, a family trait, it might be said."}, {"response": 529, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Sep 30, 2000 (20:12)", "body": "From: Meteorologist1 Subject: Hurricane Keith Discussion #9 - 5pm/est [Yahoo! Clubs: The Hurricane Team] HURRICANE KEITH DISCUSSION NUMBER 9 NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI FL 5 PM EDT SAT SEP 30 2000 KEITH IS BECOMING A LARGE AND DANGEROUS HURRICANE. DATA FROM A RECONNAISSANCE PLANE INDICATE THAT KEITH IS STRENGTHENING. THE MINIMUM PRESSURE DROPPED TO 970 MB...FLIGHT-LEVEL WINDS AT 850 MB REACHED 98 KNOTS FROM THE NORTHWEST AND DVORAK T-NUMBERS... OBJECTIVES AND SUBJECTIVE ARE INCREASING. ALTHOUGH 98 KNOTS AT FLIGHT LEVEL CORRESPOND TO 80 KNOTS AT THE SURFACE....THE INITIAL INTENSITY HAS BEEN SET AT 85 KNOTS ASSUMING THAT SOME STRENGTHENING HAS OCCURRED SINCE THE PLANE SAMPLED THE AREA OF MAXIMUM WINDS AND AS SUGGESTED BY OBJECTIVE T-NUMBERS. THE HURRICANE IS OVER A TREMENDOUS RESERVOIR OF WARM WATER OR LARGE HEAT CONTENT AND THE UPPER-LEVEL WINDS SEEM IDEAL FOR STRENGTHENING AT THIS TIME. THE EFFECT OF LAND IS THE ONLY APPARENT INHIBITOR FACTOR. IN ADDITION...EVERY AVAILABLE INTENSITY GUIDANCE INTENSIFIES KEITH. THEREFORE...FURTHER STRENGTHENING IS FORECAST ALTHOUGH MANY TIMES...INTENSITY FORECAST TURN OUT TO BE WRONG ONE WAY OR THE OTHER. KEITH HAS BEEN MOVING VERY LITTLE... AND SO FAR...THIS HAS BEEN AN OUTSTANDING JOB DONE BY THE GFDL AND THE NCEP GLOBAL MODEL. IN FACT...THE GFDL SUGGESTED A SMALL LOOP AND THE HURRICANE APPEARS TO BE DOING SO AT THIS TIME. TRACK GUIDANCE INCLUDING GLOBAL MODELS... WITH THE EXCEPTION OF NOGAPS AND ITS DERIVED GFDL WHICH TAKES KEITH WESTWARD...SUGGEST THAT THE HURRICANE SHOULD BEGIN TO MOVE SLOWLY TOWARD THE NORTH-NORTHWEST OVER THE EASTERN PORTION OF YUCATAN OR THE YUCATAN CHANNEL AND THEN INTO THE SOUTHERN GULF OF MEXICO. LATEST LONG RANGE GFDL MODEL RUN MAKES KEITH AN EVEN STRONGER HURRICANE IN THE GULF OF MEXICO. THE VESSEL C6YC JUST WEST OF THE EYE OF KEITH REPORTED NORTHWEST WINDS OF 60 KNOTS. FORECASTER AVILA FORECAST POSITIONS AND MAX WINDS INITIAL 30/2100Z 18.0N 86.8W 85 KTS 12HR VT 01/0600Z 18.4N 87.0W 95 KTS 24HR VT 01/1800Z 19.5N 87.2W 105 KTS 36HR VT 02/0600Z 20.3N 87.4W 105 KTS...INLAND 48HR VT 02/1800Z 21.0N 87.5W 75 KTS...INLAND 72HR VT 03/1800Z 23.0N 88.0W 85 KTS"}, {"response": 530, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Sep 30, 2000 (20:27)", "body": "*** Hurricane Keith *** Keith is now a category 2 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 100mph. It is nearly stationary off the east coast of the Yucatan Peninsula. Its minimum pressure is sitting at around 966mb. Keith has a very well defined eye and eye wall. It is bringing some heavy rain to parts of the Yucatan Peninsula. Hurricane warnings are posted for a good chunk of the coast on the peninsula. There is no external systems to influence Keith's movement, so it is hard to track where Keith will be going. Right now the forecast calls for Keith to landfall on the northeastern part of the peninsula as a category 3 hurricane and drift north-northwest into the Gulf of Mexico. The whole U.S. Gulf Coast needs to monitor the storm as it enters the gulf in 60-72 hours. If there are any significant changes to the storm's movement, it will be posted at the club. *** Tropical Storm Joyce *** Joyce is now bearly a tropical storm and moving west. It is expected to enter the Carribean Sea and slowly intensify over the next couple of days. More later on this storm. *** Hurricane Isaac *** Isaac's winds are down to 75mph and is quickly moving to the northeast. No threat to land."}, {"response": 531, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Oct  2, 2000 (16:50)", "body": "Subject: ARLB040 Hurricane Watch Net Activated for Hurricane Keith Organization: American Radio Relay League Date: Mon, 02 Oct 2000 16:25:05 EDT Hurricane Watch Net Activated for Hurricane Keith ARRL Bulletin 40 From ARRL Headquarters October 2, 2000 Hurricane Watch Net Activated for Hurricane Keith The Hurricane Watch Net and W4EHW at the National Hurricane Center activated on 14.325 MHz over the weekend to monitor Hurricane Keith. Right now, the storm remains stalled along the coast of Belize in Central America with 80 MPH winds and is weakening slowly. Reminiscent of Hurricane Mitch last year, the storm is dumping a lot of rain on the region. The National Weather Service is advising those in the northwestern Caribbean and southern Gulf of Mexico to monitor the storm's progress. Hurricane Keith could be downgraded to a tropical storm by later today if it remains in place, but Hurricane Watch Net Manager Jerry Herman, N3BDW, says the National Hurricane Center has been relying on Amateur Radio field reports indicating the storm still retains hurricane-force winds. The Hurricane Watch Net activated September 30 at 1700 UTC to collect reports via Amateur Radio for the National Hurricane Center. Operators at the center gather the reports via W4EHW at the Center. ''Reports from Belize indicate extensive damage from wind and flooding,'' Herman said October 2. ''Since the storm is sitting almost stationary, I expect the full extent of the damage is not yet known but that it will be catastrophic.'' He said the Net already has gotten reports of homes and businesses destroyed. Assistant Amateur Radio Coordinator Julio Ripoll, WD4JR, at the National Hurricane Center, reports the Center continues to hear from amateurs in Belize and Mexico. Herman said the Net is attempting, whenever possible, to take advantage of bilingual amateurs. The Salvation Army Tactical Emergency Radio Network--SATERN--has activated on 14.265 MHz to handle health-and-welfare requests and to assist with relief operations in the aftermath of Hurricane Keith. A Health and Welfare Network also will use the Web site http://www.go.to/satern . This will provide a common area for Health and Welfare information that all can use through the internet. A VHF and a 40-meter net have been active in Mexico."}, {"response": 532, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Oct  8, 2000 (18:40)", "body": "For a VPC... A Very Special Canadian:"}, {"response": 533, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Oct  8, 2000 (18:50)", "body": "This may allso be helpful...I hope the upper one updates..."}, {"response": 534, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Oct  8, 2000 (19:12)", "body": ""}, {"response": 535, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Oct 10, 2000 (17:42)", "body": "Severe Weather Statement - Contra Costa, CA Oct SEVERE WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE 258 PM PDT TUE OCT 10 2000 ...FUNNEL CLOUD REPORTED NEAR ISLETON IN LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS... AT 258 PM A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED FROM NEAR ANTIOCH NORTHWARD TO NEAR WALNUT GROVE. THIS LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS HAS PRODUCED AN UNCONFIRMED REPORT OF A FUNNEL CLOUD. THE STORMS ARE ALSO PRODUCING HEAVY RAINFALL...LIGHTNING...STRONG WINDS AND POSSIBLE HAIL. THE STORMS APPEAR TO BE WEAKENING AND SHOULD BE MOVING OUT OF THE AREA BY 400 PM."}, {"response": 536, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Oct 12, 2000 (01:31)", "body": ""}, {"response": 537, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Oct 12, 2000 (01:34)", "body": "Sorry, but I had to move that one updating North American weather map. The Canadian Flag was far too distracting. The above maps are from http://www.theweathernetwork.com/ The Canadian Weather map DOES update. Yes!"}, {"response": 538, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Oct 12, 2000 (01:35)", "body": "So does the Temperature map for Canada! Again, thank you, John!"}, {"response": 539, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Thu, Oct 12, 2000 (01:47)", "body": "How about Mali???? (Has anyone looked at my postings in Travel or cultures???)"}, {"response": 540, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Thu, Oct 12, 2000 (12:58)", "body": "Thursday October 12, 6:40 PM http://uk.news.yahoo.com/001012/4/am3ux.html Worst floods in decades bring chaos to the south Much of southern England is in chaos after heavy rain caused the worst flooding in decades. Millions of pounds worth of damage was caused to homes and businesses as flood waters deluged property, blocked main roads and disrupted and in some cases halted rail services. Lifeboat crews were drafted in to rescue stranded residents and workers in Uckfield, East Sussex, after 6ins of rainfall in just 12 hours left the town virtually under water. A shopkeeper in the town was swept away by fast flowing floods earlier in the morning. Twenty minutes later he was spotted in the River Uck desperately clinging on to the bank, cold and shivering. He was pulled to safety by coastguards and then airlifted to the Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath where his condition is described as stable. In the town centre, cars once parked neatly on a garage forecourt lay scattered close to the railway station. A 400-unit industrial estate and around 30 shops were completely flooded. Residents from low-lying areas of the historic town of Lewes were also evacuated as the River Ouse threatened to burst its banks. RNLI lifeboat crews are making regular trips to carry stranded home owners to safety. More than 20 staff at the brewery were also carried to safety. None were injured when a wall collapsed inside. A health centre, the magistrates court, supermarkets including Tesco and Safeway and hundreds of shops and homes are under several feet of water. The police said they will be working hand-in-hand with the Environment Agency and the fire brigade in a bid to minimise problems caused by the flooding. The whole town is without electricity. The Environment Agency issued Severe Flood Warnings, which alert of imminent threat to life and property, for 10 rivers in Sussex and Kent. By 4pm, the agency had issued 42 flood warnings, advising that flooding is expected, across the country from Devon to Yorkshire and Shropshire to Kent. Sussex Police urged all drivers to stay at home as main roads, including the A21, A22, A26, A27, A227 and A272, were flooded. Weather forecasters from the Met Office warned that there was more rain to come in south east England during the evening but added that showers would ease on Friday."}, {"response": 541, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Fri, Oct 13, 2000 (05:30)", "body": "Latest update:Hundreds flee floods in southern England By Mark Herlihy LONDON (Reuters) - Large areas of southern England were on full-scale flood alert on Friday after heavy rains raised river levels, swamped towns and forced hundreds of people to flee their homes. \"We are saying there is an imminent threat to life and property,\" an Environment Agency spokesman told Reuters late on Thursday. Some insurance experts said Britain could be facing its biggest bill for a natural disaster. The bill could run to four billion pounds, Jeffrey Salmon, of Salmon Assessors, was quoted as saying by the BBC. Officials estimated that several hundred people had left their homes after rivers broke their banks and flooded towns, villages and roads in the counties of Sussex, Kent and Hampshire and on the Isle of Wight. Some unconfirmed reports said the figure for the number of homeless could run into thousands. Helicopters and lifeboats were rushed in to help rescue people stranded by the floods caused by several days of heavy rain. A man in East Sussex was swept away by floodwaters outside a supermarket and was carried downstream clinging to a door. He was plucked from the water and airlifted to hospital by a coastguard helicopter. SEVERE FLOOD WARNINGS \"We have currently 16 severe flood warnings in effect -- all in East Sussex and in Kent,\" the Environment Agency spokesman said. \"We have a total of 40 flood warnings, which means people in those areas should prepare now, and 89 flood watches currently in force across the south, southwest, midlands, central and eastern England.\" The Environment Agency said it expected the severe flood warnings in Kent and East Sussex to remain in place for the next few days. \"Even though the rain has been easing off, the rivers are at very high levels. It will take a long time to return to normal,\" the spokesman said. Kent police said on Thursday they had started to evacuate whole villages because of the rising waters. A spokesman said emergency centres had been set up in the affected areas. \"The number of people evacuated from their homes is in the hundreds,\" he said. A Sussex police spokesman said: \"The general situation in the south is very bad and every road in the area is affected. \"We are warning people not to drive if they don't have to.\" Sussex police said about 200 people had been evacuated from their homes in the county, mainly from the town of Lewes. Rail services from London to the English south coast have been disrupted by the weather and some stretches of line have been closed. \"There are some delays in the region, where parts of the track are under as much as four feet (1.3 metres) of water,\" said a spokeswoman for railway network operator Railtrack. Police in northern England plan to resume a search on Friday for a teenage girl swept away by a fast- flowing river. North Yorkshire police recovered the body of 14-year-old Rochelle Cauvet on Wednesday and have widened their hunt for her friend Hannah Black, 13. The pair were swept away by the swollen waters of the Stainforth Beck river while on a school walking trip along its banks."}, {"response": 542, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Oct 13, 2000 (13:47)", "body": "...and I thought we had a lot of rain... At least our ground is so porous that it runs straight through seldom flooding anywhere for very long and only in minor ways. Maggie, please be careful...and all those on that very special Island..."}, {"response": 543, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Oct 17, 2000 (21:16)", "body": "*** Hurricane Michael *** Michael has intensified quickly over the last 12 hours. Now it has winds of 75mph, moving slowly north. Michael is expected to pick up speed and head northeast. There is a slight chance for the hurricane to brush the island of Bermuda. The hurricane force winds only extend out about 25 miles from the center. Most of the hurricane force winds are on the northeast side of the storm. Pressure are down into the 980s mb."}, {"response": 544, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Oct 20, 2000 (19:08)", "body": "Earth's Fidgeting Climate NASA Science News for October 20, 2000 Is human activity warming the Earth or do recent signs of climate change signal natural variations? In this feature article, scientists discuss the vexing ambiguities of our planet's complex and unwieldy climate. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast20oct_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 545, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Oct 21, 2000 (00:57)", "body": ""}, {"response": 546, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Oct 21, 2000 (00:58)", "body": ""}, {"response": 547, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Oct 21, 2000 (13:39)", "body": "If this is what we got earlier, you are gonna need water-wings! Good Luck, Texas! BULLETIN...IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED FLASH FLOOD WATCH NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX 400 AM CDT SAT OCT 21 2000 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AUSTIN SAN ANTONIO HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WATCH EFFECTIVE THROUGH TONIGHT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS COMAL...GILLESPIE...MEDINA...GONZALES...KENDALL...WILSON... REAL...BASTROP...BLANCO...TRAVIS...KERR...BEXAR...HAYS... DIMMIT...LAVACA...DEWITT...BURNET...WILLIAMSON...ATASCOSA... MAVERICK...BANDERA...LEE...LLANO...EDWARDS...KINNEY... GUADALUPE...FRIO...UVALDE...CALDWELL...ZAVALA...FAYETTE...VAL VERDE AND KARNES THE FLASH FLOOD WATCH INCLUDES ALL OF SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS AND THE HILL COUNTRY. ABUNDANT LOW-LEVEL MOISTURE AND UPPER LEVEL MOISTURE FROM THE PACIFIC WILL PERSIST ACROSS MUCH OF THE HILL COUNTRY AND SOUTH CENTRAL THIS WEEKEND. A SERIES OF UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCES WILL MOVE FROM NORTHERN MEXICO ACROSS THE RIO GRANDE INTO PORTIONS OF THE EDWARDS PLATEAU AND TEXAS HILL COUNTRY TODAY AND TONIGHT. THESE DISTURBANCES WILL BE THE TRIGGERING MECHANISM FOR THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT...SOME OF WHICH COULD PRODUCE LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL AND FLASH FLOODING. SINCE THE GROUND HAS BECOME NEARLY SATURATED FROM PREVIOUS RAINS...AND THESE NEW STORMS WILL \"TRAIN\" ACROSS THE SAME AREAS PRODUCING HEAVY AMOUNTS OF RAIN...FLOODING IS LIKELY. TOTALS WILL AVERAGE BETWEEN 2 AND 4 INCHES...WITH LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS OF 4 TO 6 INCHES POSSIBLE OVER THE NEXT 24 HOURS. IN ADDITION...A RIVER FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT THIS MORNING FOR THE RIO GRANDE RIVER AND ITS TRIBUTARIES ABOVE LAKE AMISTAD...THE PECOS RIVER FROM SHEFFIELD TO THE RIO GRANDE...AND THE DEVILS RIVER NEAR JUNO TO LAKE AMISTAD. NO IMMEDIATE END IS IN SIGHT FOR THIS WET WEATHER PATTERN. IT APPEARS THE UPPER AIR DISTURBANCE TO THE WEST WILL KEEP RAIN CHANCES HIGH INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK AT LEAST. THE FLASH FLOOD WATCH MAY NEED TO BE EXTENDED BEYOND TONIGHT. A FLASH FLOOD WATCH MEANS THAT FLASH FLOODING IS POSSIBLE WITHIN THE WATCH AREA. PEOPLE IN THE WATCH AREA ARE ADVISED TO CHECK PREPAREDNESS REQUIREMENTS...KEEP INFORMED...AND BE READY FOR QUICK ACTION IF FLASH FLOODING THREATENS."}, {"response": 548, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Oct 21, 2000 (18:46)", "body": "Houston Hurricane Evacuation Plan (1) Hispanics take I-10 west to San Antonio (2) Yankees take I-45 north to Oklahoma (3) Cajuns take I-10 east to Lafayette (4) Aggies take the 610 Loop"}, {"response": 549, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Oct 22, 2000 (23:56)", "body": "My son just sent this - he reported gusts up to 36 MPH on his wind gauge! URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SACRAMENTO CA 930 PM PDT SUN OCT 22 2000 ...GUSTY NORTHERLY WINDS HAVE BEGUN TO GRADUALLY WEAKEN OVER MOST OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA AND THIS TREND WILL CONTINUE OVERNIGHT... HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE GREAT BASIN WILL CONTINUE TO PRODUCE NORTH TO EAST WINDS OVERNIGHT. THE WINDS WILL CONTINUE TO DECREASE THIS EVENING WITHIN THE SACRAMENTO VALLEY...HOWEVER LOCAL STRONG WIND GUSTS WILL PERSIST OVERNIGHT IN THE SIERRA NEVADA AND PARTS OF THE COASTAL RANGE. THE GUSTY WINDS IN THE SIERRA AND ALONG THE COASTAL RANGE WILL DECREASE MONDAY MORNING. SOME WIND REPORTS AS OF 9 PM... HELL HOLE / 5249 FT ..33 WITH GUSTS TO 61 MPH (PLACER COUNTY) BALD MTN / 4600 FT ..18 WITH GUSTS TO 42 MPH (EL DORADO COUNTY) KNOXVILLE CRK / 2550 FT ..24 WITH GUSTS TO 45 MPH (LAKE COUNTY) HAWKEYE / 2000 FT ..37 WITH GUSTS TO 71 MPH (SONOMA COUNTY) SACRAMENTO INTERNATIONAL..20 WITH GUSTS TO 28 MPH SACRAMENTO EXECUTIVE......18 WITH GUSTS TO 25 MPH VACAVILLE.................20 WITH GUSTS TO 30 MPH FAIRFIELD.................22 WITH GUSTS TO 30 MPH"}, {"response": 550, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Mon, Oct 23, 2000 (08:26)", "body": "Wow, 71 mph winds in Sonomo County. Wonder where hawkeye station is located?"}, {"response": 551, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Oct 23, 2000 (11:36)", "body": "Published Monday, October 23, 2000 Wind, fires cut power Outages affect 80,000 across the Bay Area Raging winds and dry weather merged into a violent force this weekend, knocking out power and igniting brush fires from Lake County to San Jose and in the Oakland hills on the nine-year anniversary of a blaze that killed 25 people on those same slopes. In Contra Costa County, crews scrambled Sunday to put out blazes that erupted from Bay Point to Port Costa to Orinda. PG&E crews also worked throughout the day to restore power to about 80,000 customers in the Bay Area. No local damage or injuries were reported, although flames destroyed a hillside house in San Jose. The high winds forced the postponement of the passage of four of the world's biggest cranes underneath the Golden Gate Bridge and the Bay Bridge on Sunday afternoon. The ship carrying the cranes pulled anchor and headed south -- nearly to Santa Barbara -- to try to get out of the winds, said Harold Jones, a spokesman for the port. The Oakland hills fire erupted when a eucalyptus tree fell onto power lines at 11:32 a.m. on Clarewood Drive, knocking down power lines and sparking the flames. The fire quickly moved east along land belonging to the Mountain View Cemetery and burned 10 acres before it was contained, said Oakland Fire Department Capt. Vicky Evans-Robinson. It was expected to take all of Sunday to completely knock out the flames, she said. Two small planes from the California Department of Forestry dumped retardant on the three-alarm fire while 150 firefighters fought it from the ground, she said. No one was evacuated. Adrienne Kohler, who rents a house on Truitt Street, said she lost her home in the Oct. 21, 1991, fire and was ready to evacuate when she saw smoke. \"I packed the car a lot faster than the first time,\" Kohler said as she stood outside with her 6-year-old daughter, Haley, watching the billows of black smoke above the Mountain View Cemetery. Although the fire did not spread as the 1991 blaze did, authorities were worried enough to open up the Alameda County Emergency Operations Center. Kohler said after the fire started, \"the power kept flickering in and out and all of a sudden, we heard a loud pop.\" She said fire department officials came by and told her everything was OK. \"I've heard that before and I didn't have a house later.\" Only hours earlier, a San Jose hillside fire, one of at least five in the city Sunday, burned 25 acres. It was started about 1 a.m. when a power line fell into a pine tree on top of a hill in eastern San Jose. Winds gusting to 45 mph pushed the flames toward homes. People living in the area near Penitencia Creek Road were forced to make split-second decisions about whether to flee or stay and fight the fast-moving flames in the dark. Joseph Gallo, a retired English teacher from Foothill Community College, chose to fight. Seventeen years ago, a mudslide destroyed his house in the same hills. Neighbors saw that Gallo's roof was on fire and ran over to help him spray it with garden hoses, but Gallo's single-story ranch house was gutted, destroying two pickup trucks and his Model A. Thirty-six people were evacuated, some of whom gathered at a temporary shelter at a nearby middle school. The fire still smoldered into the late afternoon, and fire Capt. Mark Mooney said officials were concerned that the gusty wind could re-ignite lingering hot spots. Late Saturday, a fire erupted in Lake County and quickly engulfed 3,000 acres by Sunday morning, thanks to the high-speed winds. About 1,000 firefighters -- some from the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District -- worked through the weekend to control the blaze. By Sunday, the fire was only 10 percent contained, with full containment not expected until Tuesday. Houses were threatened in Lake County, but only four rural structures were reported damaged. In the East Bay, the weekend was capped off by a string of small fires and downed trees. One grass fire ignited a hillside near Cal State Hayward, and 6 acres burned in another grass fire at Wildcat Canyon and Inspiration Point in Orinda. Early Sunday morning, about 100 firefighters battled a blaze on Evora Road in Bay Point that was caused by electrical wires \"swinging in an arc,\" said Contra Costa fire Capt. Dave George. \"A shower of sparks occurred (between the wires) and rained down,\" George said. In Port Costa, a grass fire that raged for most of Sunday afternoon was under \"shaky containment\" by early evening, said Lt. Dean Colombo of the Crockett-Carquinez fire department. The fire, which went to three alarms, burned more than 100 acres about half a mile outside town along McEwen Road, Colombo said. No one was injured in the fire, which began around 1:45 p.m. and at one time threatened a ranch and a ranch house off McEwen Road. \"We'll have crews out there all night,\" Colombo said. As of Sunday afternoon, fire officials did not know the cause of the fire. A California Department of Forestry plane dropped"}, {"response": 552, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Oct 23, 2000 (11:38)", "body": "My son says the weather is exciting and is sending these accounts. I'lll check with him about there the hawkeye station is. I know I have seen an internet map of them and will post either it or the URL for it as soon as I find it. THAT is scary weather!"}, {"response": 553, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Oct 23, 2000 (12:25)", "body": "While California endures hell, Texas has the high water. How's it going, Austinites??? FLASH FLOOD WATCH NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX 1030 AM CDT MON OCT 23 2000 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AUSTIN SAN ANTONIO HAS EXPANDED THE FLASH FLOOD WATCH ISSUED EARLIER THIS MORNING AND EXTENDED THE WATCH THROUGH TONIGHT. THE FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT THROUGH TONIGHT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS COMAL...GILLESPIE...MEDINA...KENDALL...WILSON...BASTROP... BLANCO...TRAVIS...KERR...BEXAR...HAYS...BURNET...WILLIAMSON... ATASCOSA...BANDERA...LEE...LLANO...GUADALUPE...FRIO...REAL... CALDWELL...AND UVALDE...VAL VERDE...EDWARDS...KINNEY... MAVERICK...ZAVALA AND DIMMIT THE FLASH FLOOD WATCH INCLUDES MOST ALL OF SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS AND THE HILL COUNTRY AND NOW INCLUDES THE WESTERN PLATEAU AREA. ABUNDANT LOW-LEVEL MOISTURE AND UPPER LEVEL MOISTURE FROM THE PACIFIC WILL STREAM ACROSS MUCH OF THE HILL COUNTRY AND SOUTH CENTRAL TODAY AND TONIGHT. SEVERAL UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCES OVER MEXICO WILL TRAVERSE OVER THE AREA LATE TODAY AND TONIGHT. THE GROUND HAS BECOME NEARLY SATURATED FROM PREVIOUS RAINS OVER THE WEEKEND AND THIS MORNING... AND THESE NEW STORMS WILL TRAIN ACROSS THE SAME AREAS PRODUCING LOCALLY HEAVY AMOUNTS OF RAIN AND FLOODING. ADDITIONAL HEAVIER TOTALS WILL AVERAGE BETWEEN 1 AND 3 INCHES...WITH LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS OF 3 TO 5 INCHES POSSIBLE THROUGH TONIGHT. A FLASH FLOOD WATCH MEANS THAT FLASH FLOODING IS POSSIBLE WITHIN THE WATCH AREA. PEOPLE IN THE WATCH AREA ARE ADVISED TO CHECK PREPAREDNESS REQUIREMENTS...KEEP INFORMED...AND BE READY FOR QUICK ACTION IF FLASH FLOODING THREATENS. MOTORISTS SHOULD ALLOW EXTRA TIME FOR THE LATE AFTERNOON COMMUTE AS SOME ROADS WILL BE BARRICADED AND TRAVEL WILL BE SLOW. PARENTS SHOULD KEEP CHILDREN INDOORS AND AWAY FROM DRAINAGE DITCHES...STREAMS AND CREEKS. BANKS WILL BE SOFT...UNSTABLE AND VERY DANGEROUS."}, {"response": 554, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Oct 23, 2000 (16:11)", "body": "Flash flood watches continue - was just notified that they have been extended."}, {"response": 555, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Tue, Oct 24, 2000 (07:55)", "body": "It's pretty dry today so far, yesterday wasn't that bad. I'm in Bastrop and Travis counties. I wonder if this is extended today? No rain in the forecast today, just clouds and 82 degrees. Rain forecast for Wedsday and Thursday with low 80s and high 70s. I'm still going swimming every day, the water temperature's staying at a constant 70 pretty much."}, {"response": 556, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Oct 24, 2000 (22:51)", "body": "I just got notice that it was extended until further notice - 323 PM CDT TUE OCT 24 2000"}, {"response": 557, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Oct 29, 2000 (22:19)", "body": "This is frightening. So many of those special and dear to me live here: Gales Batter Southern England And France, One Dead LONDON (Reuters) - Gales and heavy rain have battered southern England and northern France, killing one person, endangering shipping, raising the specter of flooding, and leaving thousands without electricity. Police in Surrey, south of London, said one person died on Sunday and two had been seriously injured when their car was hit by a tree. Earlier the Meteorological Office had told people in southern England, Wales and parts of Scotland to prepare for heavy rain and damaging winds. \"In the coming 24 hours, the southern part of England and Wales are expecting very windy weather with gusts of 70 to 80 mph,\" a national forecaster said. \"Gusts of 90 mph would be possible on exposed parts.\" Also in Surrey, a train collided with a tree that had fallen onto the line near Guildford. Another train hit a tree in Worcestershire. Transport police said no one had been injured. Britain's Environment Agency said it expected storms to rage through the night and warned there could be serious flooding on Monday. The agency said up to 40 millimeters of rain was expected overnight and that rivers in southern England and Wales might burst their banks. Storms also left thousands of homes in southern England without electricity, one power company said. Southern Electric said some 8,000 customers had been cut off in the late afternoon, after winds of 90 mph brought trees down, cutting through power lines. \"We've been hit fairly hard all over our area and we're expecting a hard night,\" Southern Electric spokesman Bob Major told Reuters. Sunday's severe weather comes as families in the southern English seaside resort of Bognor Regis were cleaning up after a tornado that struck on Saturday, injuring five people as it ripped roofs from hundreds of houses and overturned cars and caravans. STORMS HIT NORTHERN FRANCE, SHIPPING ENDANGERED Severe storms were also battering Northern France and the French Meteorological Office recommended \"the greatest prudence\" in coastal areas. Inhabitants along France's northern coastline were told to expect winds of up to 85 mph while the Paris area could see gusts of 60 to 75 mph. Twenty to 23 foot waves were forecast for the Gironde estuary in southwestern France. The BBC said the six crew of a Norwegian cargo vessel that was being towed to Liverpool had abandoned ship off Scotland in force 10 to 12 gales and been winched onto a rescue helicopter. The 1,600-ton Elektron was continuing its journey to Liverpool under tow from a Russian tug, the BBC said. The ship was refloated on Friday night after spending 12 days aground off St Kilda, an island west of Scotland. In the early hours of Sunday two ships had also been troubled by the weather on the French side of the Channel. One was towed back to harbor and a small oil tanker that had been stranded in heavy seas near Boulogne managed to push clear of the coast and head toward Britain on Sunday afternoon. Gale force winds at London's Heathrow Airport forced a Dubai-bound Emirates plane carrying 376 passengers to return to the airport, after the rear of the plane hit the runway on take-off, the Daily Telegraph said. Northern France experienced hurricane strength winds in a storm last December. The French Meteorological Office said it did not expect the approaching storm to be as intense."}, {"response": 558, "author": "MarkG", "date": "Mon, Oct 30, 2000 (02:34)", "body": "Weather has continued all night long - am not expecting many people into work on time."}, {"response": 559, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Oct 30, 2000 (11:55)", "body": "A friend who works in London finally got to work from the suburbs at 1:30pm since the rail lines and electricity were down. He had time to replant the bushes uprooted and blocking the entry to his home, and other things which needed doing immediatley. All were safe bue the downed trees were plentiful! Thanks Mark! Happy you checked in safe and sound. How is your garden???"}, {"response": 560, "author": "MarkG", "date": "Mon, Oct 30, 2000 (13:11)", "body": "Have no garden :-("}, {"response": 561, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Oct 30, 2000 (16:53)", "body": "*Hugs* Mark...neither does anyone else in Britain at this stage of the year and after that gale. May I set aside part of mine for you and think of you as I pluck slugs from it, feed the mosquitoes, remove unwanted over-night-appearing sword ferns and begonias? My roses are worse than none here but I have leaves on everything else the size of those salvers in the Tower Of London Jewel Vaults. Rose beds are nice...especially in Britain. I wish you a garden. Enghishmen just do not seem complete without one...! I'd even weed an infernal rock garden for you! Now, that's devotion!!!"}, {"response": 562, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Oct 30, 2000 (17:52)", "body": ""}, {"response": 563, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Oct 30, 2000 (17:55)", "body": "This image will not post but it is excellent for Europe: http://www.intellicast.com/LocalWeather/World/Satellite/Europe/ This image will not cpost either, but it is amazing for the entire world! http://www.intellicast.com/LocalWeather/World/Satellite/World/"}, {"response": 564, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Oct 30, 2000 (20:13)", "body": "from http://www.weathersite.com/"}, {"response": 565, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Oct 30, 2000 (20:17)", "body": "If they do not update they are gone. Map projection is distorted but you can see the patterns of the weather which hit Britain...and the storm over the Rockies. As for us, we are under those mid-Pacific clouds, as usual!"}, {"response": 566, "author": "MarkG", "date": "Wed, Nov  1, 2000 (09:03)", "body": "Storms due to return to the UK tonight - but still no sign of bad weather outdoors."}, {"response": 567, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Nov  1, 2000 (11:47)", "body": "Oh Mark, Please take care! You too, Steven! Austinites are gonna get another flood... URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED FLASH FLOOD WATCH NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX 1015 AM CST WED NOV 1 2000 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AUSTIN SAN ANTONIO HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WATCH EFFECTIVE THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH TONIGHT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS COMAL...GONZALES...WILSON...BASTROP...TRAVIS...BEXAR...HAYS... LAVACA...DEWITT...WILLIAMSON...ATASCOSA...LEE...GUADALUPE... CALDWELL...FAYETTE AND KARNES THE WATCH IS GENERALLY ALONG AND EAST OF AN INTERSTATE 35 LINE FROM SOUTH OF SAN ANTONIO TO NORTH OF AUSTIN...AND INCLUDES AUSTIN AND SAN ANTONIO. A SLOW MOVING COLD FRONT APPROACHING FROM THE WEST WILL MOVE VERY SLOWLY ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS THIS AFTERNOON AND PROVIDE A FOCUS FOR HEAVY RAINS TONIGHT. MOIST TROPICAL AIR WILL FEED INTO THE COLD FRONT...RESULTING IN SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. THE COMBINATION OF STORMS TRAINING ALONG THE SLOW MOVING FRONT AND A GROUND THAT IS NEARLY SATURATED...WILL RESULT IN THE THREAT OF HEAVY RAINFALL AND FLOODING. WIDESPREAD RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 1 TO 2 INCHES ARE EXPECTED ACROSS THE WATCH AREA WITH LOCALLY HEAVY AMOUNTS OF 3 TO 5 INCHES POSSIBLE OVERNIGHT. IT APPEARS THE CHANCES OF RAIN AND HEAVY RAIN WILL REMAIN HIGH AND MAY PERSIST FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS AS SOUTH TEXAS POTENTIALLY GETS LOCKED INTO A VERY WET WEATHER PATTERN. A FLASH FLOOD WATCH MEANS THAT FLASH FLOODING IS POSSIBLE WITHIN THE WATCH AREA. PEOPLE IN THE WATCH AREA ARE ADVISED TO CHECK PREPAREDNESS REQUIREMENTS...KEEP INFORMED...AND BE READY FOR QUICK ACTION IF FLASH FLOODING THREATENS. STAY TUNED TO LOCAL OR CABLE TELEVISION PROVIDERS...COMMERCIAL OR NOAA WEATHER RADIO STATIONS OR OTHER MEDIA FOR FURTHER STATEMENTS ON THIS FLASH FLOOD THREAT."}, {"response": 568, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Wed, Nov  1, 2000 (18:47)", "body": "It's biting at our heels, nothing yet, scheduled a concrete pour tomorrrow (sidewalks), trying to get the garage roof on also. Nothing but rain, rain, rain an d more rain in the forecast. I'm going to settle down, eat dinner while watching the last two nights opening skits on Leno via tivo, and wait for the raindrops. I'll stay tuned. thanks for the heads up Marci."}, {"response": 569, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Nov  1, 2000 (21:02)", "body": "Happy to be of help. Humidity is good for curing concrete, but floods you do NOT need! Your forecast: Txz173-191/194-208-012200- Bastrop-Caldwell-Hays-Lee-Travis-Williamson- Including The Cities Of...Austin...Bastrop...Georgetown...Giddings... Lockhart...San Marcos 1039 Am Cst Wed Nov 1 2000 ...Flash Flood Watch In Effect Through Tonight... .This Afternoon...Mostly Cloudy With A 60 Percent Chance Of Showers Or Thunderstorms...A Few Possibly Severe With Heavy Rain. Highs In The Lower 80S. South Winds 10 To 15 Mph...Stronger And Gusty In Thunderstorms. .Tonight...Mostly Cloudy With A 70 Percent Chance Of Showers Or Thunderstorms...Heavy Rainfall And Flooding Possible. Lows In The Lower 60S. Winds Becoming Northwest 10 To 15 Mph. .Thursday...Mostly Cloudy With A 40 Percent Chance Of Rain Or Thunderstorms. Highs In The Lower 70S. Northeast Winds Near 10 Mph. .Extended Forecast... .Thursday Night And Friday...Cloudy With Rain Or Thunderstorms Likely. Lows In The Lower 60S. Highs Near 70. .Saturday Through Monday...Mostly Cloudy With A Chance Of Rain Or Thunderstorms. Lows Near 60. Highs Around 70. .Tuesday...Partly Cloudy. Lows In The 50S. Highs In The 70S. Extended Forecast... .Thursday Night...Increasing Clouds West And North. Mostly Cloudy With A Chance Of Showers And Thunderstorms South And East. Lows In The 50S. .Friday Through Sunday...Mostly Cloudy With A Chance Of Showers And Thunderstorms. Highs In The 60S. Lows In The 50S."}, {"response": 570, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Nov  1, 2000 (22:53)", "body": "The first thunder of the winter season heard just a few minutes ago in Hilo. That means it is snowing on the mountains!"}, {"response": 571, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Thu, Nov  2, 2000 (07:46)", "body": "Still no rain to speak of, that 5 inches never came last night, whew! There's still hope for my concrete pour (sidewalks) today. Hoping to get the roof on the garage and those sidewalks around the pool and house poured before the heavy stuff comes."}, {"response": 572, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Nov  2, 2000 (12:33)", "body": "We had 20 inches of rain overnight, many thunder-and-lightning strikes so close that they seemed simultaneous. Did not sleep much. One area above us got 5 inches of rain an hour! Power is on and off. 450 AM HST THU NOV 2 2000 * FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...HILO PUNA AND KAU AREAS BIG ISLAND * UNTIL 750 AM HST THURSDAY * AT 450 AM HST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR SHOWS PERSISTENT RGENERATING THUNDERSTORM CELLS OVER THE HILO PUNA AND KAU. * THUNDERSTORMS WITH EXCESSIVE RAINFALL WILL CONTINUE TO BE IN THE HILO PUNA AND KAU. A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT DANGEROUS FLOODING IS ALREADY OCCURRING. TAKE IMMEDIATE ACTION TO PROTECT LIFE AND PROPERTY AND CONTINUE PRECAUTIONS UNTIL THE THREAT AND WARNING ARE OVER. HILO IS STILL RECEIVING ITS HEAVIEST RAINFALL EVER IN 24 HOURS OF OVER 24 INCHES SO FAR. THE HEAVY THUNDERSHOWERS ARE STATIONARY APPEARING ANCHORED TO THEIR LOCATIONS. THESE CELLS ARE EXPECTED TO WEAKEN LATER THIS MORNING. MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT ATTEMPT TO CROSS FAST FLOWING OR RISING WATER...MANY FLASH FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR WHEN MOTORISTS TRY CROSSING FLOODED ROADWAYS. ESCAPE RISING WATER BY CLIMBING DIRECTLY TO HIGHER GROUND. NEVER TRY TO OUTRUN A FLOOD EITHER ON FOOT OR IN YOUR VEHICLE. DO NOT CAMP NEAR STREAMS OR OTHER AREAS SUBJECT TO FLOODING. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...LOCAL TV OR RADIO FOR FURTHER NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INFORMATION. MATSUDA NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU"}, {"response": 573, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Nov  2, 2000 (12:39)", "body": "Worst Floods for 50 Years Drench Britain BEWDLEY (Reuters) - Britain's worst floods in more than 50 years forced thousands of people to evacuate their homes on Thursday as the rain kept falling and meteorologists warned worse was yet to come. The Environment Agency said initial estimates suggested that about 3,000 properties had already been flooded. It warned river levels had yet to peak. \"There is no light at the end of tunnel. We are expecting rain to continue for at least the next few days,\" said a spokesman for the Meteorological Office. Prime Minister Tony Blair visited some of the towns worst affected by the floods, including Bewdley, Shrewsbury in central England and York, in northern England. Dressed in a long raincoat and rubber boots, he surveyed Bewdley from the main bridge over the River Severn. He was confronted by activists trying to save a local hospital from closure. After being constantly heckled by them, he finally turned and said \"I've got the message.\" Evacuations of homes were ordered from Yorkshire in the north to Kent in the south. Severe flood warnings were issued for 14 areas in England and Wales. Rivers in Yorkshire and the river Severn in south west England were the main concerns. The Severn river had already swollen to 10 times its normal level. In Yorkshire the Environment Agency, the official body that deals with natural disasters, said water levels on two rivers were continuing to rise. Residents of three villages in the area were preparing to evacuate their homes for the second time in 18 months. Last year Malton, Norton and Stamford Bridge were hit by floods that caused 20 million pounds ($29 million) of damage. The agency said up to four centimeters of rain was expected to fall on the region on Thursday. People in more than 10,000 homes in Dover, on the south coast of England, were told to boil their water after bacteria was found in the supply as a result of the flooding. Folkestone and Dover Water Services warned they could be forced to introduce water rationing to conserve supplies if the flooding continued."}, {"response": 574, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Nov  2, 2000 (13:00)", "body": "SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HILO HI 730 AM HST THU NOV 2 2000 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HONOLULU HAS ISSUED A * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR... HAWAII... INCLUDING THE COMMUNITIES OF...VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK * UNTIL 815 AM HST * AT 730 AM HST...THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM JUST TO THE WEST OF KILAUEA CRATER * THIS SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK FOR THE NEXT 30 TO 45 MINUTES PERSONS IN OR CLOSE TO THE WARNED AREA...TAKE SHELTER IN BASEMENTS OR STURDY STRUCTURES. PERSONS ON SOUTH HAWAII SHOULD MOVE TO SHELTER AND BE READY FOR STRONG GUSTY WINDS...VERY HEAVY RAIN...LIGHTNING AND POSSIBLE HAIL. A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM MAY GIVE RISE TO A TORNADO. THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM...TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY. MOVE TO A BASEMENT OR AN INTERIOR ROOM AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS. DO NOT USE YOUR CAR UNTIL THE DANGER HAS PASSED. IF YOU ARE IN YOUR CAR...LEAVE YOUR CAR AND GO TO A STRONG BUILDING. IF CAUGHT IN THE OPEN...LIE FACE DOWN IN A DITCH OR FLAT ON THE GROUND WITH WITH YOUR HANDS OVER YOUR HEAD. BE AWARE THAT HEAVY RAINFALL MAY GIVE RISE TO FLASH FLOODING. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...LOCAL TV OR RADIO FOR FURTHER NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INFORMATION."}, {"response": 575, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Nov  2, 2000 (14:41)", "body": "The entire island is involved om this storm comingup from the south. In Kona, on the other side of the island, a tree collapsed on a restauranrt full of people. One has died so far in Hilo when his truck flipped over. Power outages common so I keep my candles lit in votive holders just in case..."}, {"response": 576, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Nov  2, 2000 (17:32)", "body": "To give you some idea how bad it is, this is the current update for the Kilauea Volcano: 0550 November 2, 2000 There is no update this morning, because exceptionally heavy rain makes it too dangerous to venture onto the dark roadways. At your observer's home in Hilo, a rain gage re- corded more than 20 inches (50 cm) between 1945 last night and 0405 this morning, and the water still cometh down as this is written. Lightning and thunder serve as garnish for the storm. During the day yesterday, more than 5 inches (12.5 cm) of rain fell near HVO, and it now totals 16 inches (40 cm) since yesterday morning and is still rising. At Pu`u `O`o the total since yesterday morning is higher; more than 18 inches (45 cm). All tiltmeters are showing de- flections because of the added mass of water to the ground. This is one whale of a storm. Volcanic tremor near Pu`u `O`o is at a moderate level. Earthquake activity is low across the island. The tilt at Kilauea summit is rather flat (actually continuing the long-term slow deflation underway since the eruption began in 1983), as it is near Pu`u `O`o and everywhere else along the east rift zone."}, {"response": 577, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Nov  2, 2000 (18:28)", "body": "Good News for Bastrop! ...THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR BASTROP AND TRAVIS COUNTIES HAS EXPIRED...AT 400 PM CST NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED THE STORMS THAT PROMPTED THE WARNING NO LONGER POSE A THREAT AND THE WARNING HAS BEEN ALLOWED TO EXPIRE."}, {"response": 578, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Nov  2, 2000 (18:55)", "body": "EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS With local flooding, rain, winds and storm activity occurring around the island, here are some last minute pointers to consider in emergency preparedness: East Hawaii has severe damage and West Hawaii is expected to experience more heavy rains in the very near future. Flooding is impacting the roads - Various roads are closed around the island - Stay off the roads - Flooding occurring around the island. - Locate your battery operated radios and flashlights now - don't wait until dark. - Listen to the radio for Weather Service and Civil Defense Warnings & Advisories. - Use the telephone only for emergency purposes. - Don't go sightseeing. - Unplug unnecessary appliances. Most people have plenty of food in their refrigerators and pantries to last a couple of days - stay at home, you already have enough food - don't worry about food. If power goes out - use your refrigerator and freezer sparingly - eat perishables first, then pantry/canned goods. If wind and rain continue we should expect the possibility of prolonged power, water and telephone outages. Use a battery operated radio to get weather updates. Start to collect water NOW - two needs: 1. Drinking water - start to collect and store in clean containers - NOW. 2. If water goes out, your toilets won't work - put empty garbage cans under your gutter drain pipes to collect water to use to flush the toilets. Remain Calm - once the storm passes, we will work together to get things back to normal. Red Cross volunteers are standing by to help. If you need to be evacuated follow the evacuation advisories. Reminders: Stay at home - Use telephones for emergencies only - Listen to the Radio - Prepare while it is still light, power is on, water is on and things are relatively normal."}, {"response": 579, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Nov  2, 2000 (19:09)", "body": "NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX 634 PM CST THU NOV 2 2000 ...THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH HAS EXPIRED... ...A TORNADO WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL 7PM FOR COMAL BLANCO AND HAYS COUNTIES... DOPPLER RADAR CONTINUES TO INDICATE A TORNADIC THUNDERSTORM IN SOUTHERN MOST HAYS COUNTY MOVING EAST TOWARD WIMBERLY. NO REPORTS OF SEVERE WEATHER HAVE BEEN RECEIVED AT THIS TIME. ALTHOUGH REPORTS OF PEA TO MARBLE SIZE HAIL WERE REPORTED IN KENDALL COUNTY AND THE CITIES OF OTTINE AND KERRVILLE. NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE OVER MOST OF THE AREA THROUGH THE NIGHT. GUSTY WINDS...DEADLY LIGHTNING... HEAVY RAINS AND HAIL CAN BE EXPECTED."}, {"response": 580, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Nov  2, 2000 (21:26)", "body": "Austinites you are not out of the woods yet... BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED FLASH FLOOD WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX 816 PM CST THU NOV 2 2000 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AUSTIN SAN ANTONIO HAS ISSUED A * FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR... BASTROP COUNTY LEE COUNTY GUADALUPE COUNTY CALDWELL COUNTY * UNTIL MIDNIGHT * AT 816 PM CST...WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED VERY HEAVY RAIN BETWEEN SEGUIN AND NEW BRAUNFELS...MOVING TOWARD THE NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH."}, {"response": 581, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Nov  2, 2000 (23:21)", "body": "The above has been extended until 5 AM CST Friday."}, {"response": 582, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Fri, Nov  3, 2000 (06:58)", "body": "We got the heavy rains! But we got the sidewalk poured just before they came, so it should have an interesting mottled pattern when it finishes setting up. It rained hard, probably about 4 inches. And today it has settled down, but like you say, we still in the woods."}, {"response": 583, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Nov  3, 2000 (11:56)", "body": "It will be textured and a non-skid surface which will not be unpleasing. We had that happen to us one time, too. Four inches? That's a heavy dew, here! National Weather Summary - Morning Edition Friday, November, 2000 Hawaiian Deluge Ends Heavy tropical rains finally taper across the Hawaiian Islands. Over thirty inches of rain has fallen across Hawaii over the last several days. A persistent flow of tropical moisture is finally diminishing, but not before causing flash-flooding, mud slides, and hundreds of thousands dollars worth of damage."}, {"response": 584, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Nov  3, 2000 (11:57)", "body": "Cover your sidewalk, Terry! This just in: BULLETIN...IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED FLASH FLOOD WATCH NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX 523 AM CST FRI NOV 3 2000 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AUSTIN SAN ANTONIO HAS EXTENDED THE FLASH FLOOD WATCH...NOW EFFECTIVE THROUGH SATURDAY AFTERNOON FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS COMAL...GILLESPIE...MEDINA...GONZALES...KENDALL...WILSON... REAL...BASTROP...BLANCO...TRAVIS...KERR...BEXAR...HAYS... LAVACA...DEWITT...BURNET...WILLIAMSON...ATASCOSA...BANDERA... LEE...LLANO...EDWARDS...KINNEY...GUADALUPE...FRIO...UVALDE... CALDWELL...FAYETTE...VAL VERDE AND KARNES"}, {"response": 585, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Nov  3, 2000 (12:48)", "body": "FLASH FLOOD WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX 1143 AM CST FRI NOV 3 2000 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AUSTIN SAN ANTONIO HAS ISSUED A * FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR... BASTROP COUNTY * UNTIL 245 PM CST"}, {"response": 586, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Nov  3, 2000 (16:17)", "body": "RIVER FLOOD WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX 354 PM CST FRI NOV 03 2000 THIS PRODUCT INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING RIVERS: COLORADO RIVER. FOR THE COLORADO RIVER, INCLUDING BASTROP, MINOR FLOODING IS OCCURING AND IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE. BF FLD OBSERVED FORECAST LOCATION STG STG STG DAY TIME 6 PM MIDNIGHT 6 AM COLORADO RIVER BASTROP 14 25 12.01 FRI 2 PM 13 15 18 FOR THE COLORADO RIVER AT BASTROP, THE LATEST STAGE IS 12.01 FEET AT 12 PM FRIDAY. THE RIVER WILL CREST BETWEEN 18 AND 19 FEET LATE TONIGHT. AT 18 FEET RIVER FLOW EXCEEDS BANKFULL INTO THE LOWEST AREAS OF THE FLOOD PLAIN. ADDITIONAL RAINFALL TONIGHT WILL CHANGE FORECAST RIVER LEVELS."}, {"response": 587, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Nov  3, 2000 (18:38)", "body": "You are not out of the woods yet. Please be careful! A NEARLY STATIONARY COLD FRONT HAS STALLED OVER THE HILL COUNTRY. TROPICAL AIR WAS FEEDING INTO SOUTH TEXAS AT THE LOWER LEVELS WHILE MOIST AIR FROM THE PACIFIC WAS STREAMING INTO TX ACROSS MEXICO. UPPER LEVEL ENERGY IS ALSO PROVIDING ADDITIONAL LIFT THAT IS HELPING TO PRODUCE NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS THIS MORNING. THE UPPER STEERING WINDS WILL ALLOW FOR THE TRAINING OF THE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. SINCE THE SOILS ARE ALREADY SATURATED...THIS WILL RESULT IN THE THREAT OF SIGNIFICANT FLOODING. WIDESPREAD RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 1 TO 3 INCHES HAVE FALLEN ACROSS MOST OF THE WATCH AREA WITH SEVERAL AREAS RECEIVING 4 TO 6 INCHES OVERNIGHT. ADDITIONAL HEAVY RAINS OF 2 TO 5 INCHES WILL BE POSSIBLE TODAY THROUGH SATURDAY AFTERNOON. WITH SATURATED GROUNDS...SOME AREAS WILL BECOME FLOODED WITH ONLY AN INCH OF RAIN IN AN HOURS TIME. THE CHANCES FOR RAIN AND HEAVY RAIN WILL REMAIN HIGH AND MAY PERSIST THROUGH THE WEEKEND AS SOUTH TEXAS GETS LOCKED INTO A VERY WET WEATHER PATTERN. SEVERAL RIVERS IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS ARE ALREADY OUT OF BANKS...AND ADDITIONAL HEAVY RAINS COULD RESULT IN A VERY SERIOUS FLOODING SITUATION. A FLASH FLOOD WATCH MEANS THAT FLASH FLOODING IS POSSIBLE WITHIN THE WATCH AREA. PEOPLE IN THE WATCH AREA ARE ADVISED TO CHECK PREPAREDNESS REQUIREMENTS...KEEP INFORMED...AND BE READY FOR QUICK ACTION IF FLASH FLOODING THREATENS."}, {"response": 588, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Nov  4, 2000 (13:49)", "body": "OH NO...NOT AGAIN!!! BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED FLASH FLOOD WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI 915 PM HST FRI NOV 3 2000 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HONOLULU HAS ISSUED A * FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...THE PUNA DISTRICT OF EASTERN HAWAII INCLUDING THE COMMUNITIES OF...PAHOA...KEHENA...KALAPANA AND KAPAAHU * UNTIL 1215 AM HST SATURDAY * AT 915 PM HST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING ALONG AND INLAND FROM THE COAST FROM CAPE KUMUKAHI TO APUA POINT * THUNDERSTORMS WITH EXCESSIVE RAINFALL ARE ALREADY OCCURRING IN] THE PUNA AND VOLCANOES AREA. FLASH FLOODING IS EXPECTED IN NORMALLY DRY STREAMBEDS DURING THE NEXT TWO HOURS. PERSONS IN LOW-LYING OR FLOOD PRONE AREAS SHOULD MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND. A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT DANGEROUS FLOODING IS IMMINENT OR ALREADY OCCURRING. TAKE NECESSARY ACTIONS TO PROTECT LIFE AND PROPERTY AND CONTINUE PRECAUTIONS UNTIL THE THREAT AND THE WARNING ARE OVER. MOTORISTS SHOULD BE ALERT FOR FLOODING AND SHOULD NOT ATTEMPT TO CROSS FAST FLOWING OR RISING WATER...MANY FLASH FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR WHEN MOTORISTS TRY CROSSING FLOODED ROADWAYS. ESCAPE RISING WATER BY CLIMBING DIRECTLY TO HIGHER GROUND. NEVER TRY TO OUTRUN A FLOOD EITHER ON FOOT OR IN YOUR VEHICLE. DO NOT CAMP NEAR STREAMS OR OTHER AREAS SUBJECT TO FLOODING. THIS STORM WILL PRODUCE DANGEROUS LIGHTNING. LIGHTING IS A LEADING KILLER AND PRECAUTIONS SHOULD BE TAKEN TO AVOID BEING STRUCK BY LIGHTING. STAY OUT FROM UNDER TALL TREES AND AWAY FROM THE OCEAN AND BEACHES IF LIGHTNING IS OCCURRING. DO NOT TOUCH OR REMAIN CLOSE TO METAL POLES OR FENCES. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...LOCAL TV OR RADIO FOR FURTHER NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INFORMATION. FARRELL NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU"}, {"response": 589, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Nov  4, 2000 (13:52)", "body": "THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HONOLULU HAS ISSUED A * FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR... NORTH AND EAST HAWAII INCLUDING THE COMMUNITIES OF...LEEWARD AND WINDWARD KOHALA. THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HONOLULU HAS EXTENDED THE FLASH FLOOD WATCH... NOW EFFECTIVE UNTIL 830 PM HST SATURDAY EVENING... FOR PERSONS IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... ON MAUI...AND THE BIG ISLAND OF HAWAII"}, {"response": 590, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Nov  4, 2000 (13:55)", "body": "The warnings are showing up in my inbox faster than I can read them. More now on the mountains!!! http://www.intellicast.com/LocalWeather/World/UnitedStates/Southwest/Hawaii/Hilo/BaseReflectivityLoop/"}, {"response": 591, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Nov  4, 2000 (21:08)", "body": "HILO -- In addition to $20 million in damage to Big Island bridges, roads, homes and businesses, this week's flooding could mean snarled traffic and isolated communities for a month. Mayor Stephen Yamashiro and Gov. Ben Cayetano have declared a state of emergency for the entire island. The governor also declared Maui a disaster area and said officials from state Civil Defense and Federal Emergency Management Administration will make assessments on the Big Island to determine if federal funds will be made available. Yamashiro put initial damage estimates at $10.5 million to private property and $8.4 million to public facilities. He added that the total will likely rise to $20 million. Civil Defense Deputy Bruce Butts said 77 businesses and as many as 300 homes were damaged. At Pahala in the Kau District, two bridges on the Hawaii Belt Road were severely damaged, he said. Traffic can now go only to Kona. Kapapala Ranch owner Gordon Cran said remote Wood Valley is also isolated from Pahala by a bridge washout. Cran bulldozed a temporary road across his land so residents can get to the highway. In Hilo, a culvert underneath Komohana Street washed away. \"This is really major,\" Butts said. Repairs in both Hilo and Kau could take a month, he said. Kamehameha Avenue, still covered with slick mud, remained closed yesterday but might open today, he said. A flood control project done in 1996-97 deliberately dumps flooding onto Kamehameha Avenue. Yamashiro said extending the project to the bay would have required two more bridges with no federal money to pay for them. With Kamehameha and Komohana closed, traffic in the downtown Hilo area turned bumper-to-bumper yesterday, moving at a crawl. Yamashiro said he was happy that it was moving at all. Some lose food, art collections He said several more flood control project are planned, but they may cost $15 million each. In his downtown Hilo office attached to the Hawaiian Arts T-shirt store, artist Regie Koyama had his mind on a smaller sum: $90. That's the value of just one of his art books that was destroyed when 27 inches of water flowed into his office. Koyama had been collecting books, art clippings and other objects to help in designing T-shirts and other art for 35 years. Much of it was destroyed. An inlet to an underground drain is right outside his doorway. He said the owner of his building tried to control the flooding with sandbags. When the street was filled with two feet of water, it came into the shop anyway."}, {"response": 592, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Nov  4, 2000 (23:08)", "body": "..and you thought you had a bad day... From Bizarre News : I am a news junkie. I am so twisted, C-Span is on my remote memory. I ran across a story last week and have been waiting for CNN, MSNBC, or other networks to make mention of this frightening story. There is a village in India called Gauhati that had suffered through the worst summer drought in their recorded history. Crops were devastated. Villagers had an idea. They decided to hire a rainmaker to perform a ritual designed to break the devastating grip of the drought. After performing his duty, the skies opened and a downpour ensued. It rained...and rained...and rained some more. For 10 days, straight, rain pounded the area. Floods washed away half of the village. Now this might sound bizarre, but the story takes an even more tragic and bizarre turn from here. On the tenth day of the flood, angry villagers attacked the \"Rainmaker\" and killed him for causing the disaster. Within hours of the killing the rain suddenly stopped. The final chapter of this story ends with the police. They made no arrests in the murder because they said that villagers were simply protecting their personal property from the ravages of an evil \"Rainmaker.\" Now I ask every single one of you; isn't this newsworthy? Well, I can say that Bizarre News picks up where the other news organizations leave off."}, {"response": 593, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Nov  5, 2000 (13:38)", "body": "Wehave a brilliantly sunny day...finally! Texas is still getting rain: FLASH FLOOD WATCH NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX 455 AM CST SUN NOV 5 2000 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AUSTIN SAN ANTONIO HAS EXTENDED THE FLASH FLOOD WATCH...NOW EFFECTIVE THROUGH TONIGHT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS COMAL...GILLESPIE...MEDINA...GONZALES...KENDALL...WILSON... REAL...BASTROP...BLANCO...TRAVIS...KERR...BEXAR...HAYS... LAVACA...DEWITT...BURNET...WILLIAMSON...ATASCOSA...BANDERA... LEE...LLANO...EDWARDS...KINNEY...GUADALUPE...FRIO...UVALDE... CALDWELL...FAYETTE...VAL VERDE AND KARNES THIS WATCH COVERS MUCH OF SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS AND ALL OF THE HILL COUNTRY AND INCLUDES THE CITIES OF AUSTIN...SAN ANTONIO...DEL RIO AND KERRVILLE. A STRONG UPPER LEVEL STORM SYSTEM WILL MOVE ACROSS TEXAS TONIGHT. AT THE SURFACE A STALLED OUT FRONTAL BOUNDARY WILL LIFT NORTH AS A WARM FRONT TODAY WITH NUMEROUS STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING ALONG THE FRONT. THEN...AS THE UPPER LEVEL STORM SYSTEM MOVES ACROSS THE REGION TONIGHT...A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE WEST TO EAST ACROSS THE HILL COUNTRY AND SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS. STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS TODAY AND TONIGHT ARE EXPECTED TO PRODUCE RAINFALL RATES OF 2 TO 3 INCHES PER HOUR. RAINFALL TOTALS TODAY THROUGH TONIGHT WILL LIKELY BE IN THE 1 TO 2 INCH RANGE OVER A LARGE AREA...WITH ISOLATED 3 TO 5 INCH AMOUNTS POSSIBLE. SOILS REMAIN FULLY SATURATED FROM RECENT HEAVY RAINS AND FLOODING...SO FLASH FLOODING RAINS WILL BE POSSIBLE ALONG BOTH THE WARM FRONT AND THE COLD FRONT. IN MANY PORTIONS OF THE WATCH AREA...IT MAY TAKE AN INCH OR LESS OF RAINFALL IN AN HOURS TIME TO PRODUCE FLASH FLOODING. SEVERAL RIVERS IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS REMAIN SWOLLEN...AND ADDITIONAL HEAVY RAINS WILL LIKELY RESULT IN ADDITIONAL RIVER FLOODING. A BRIEF BREAK IN THE RAINS IS EXPECTED MONDAY AND TUESDAY. HOWEVER... ANOTHER STORM SYSTEM WILL THREATEN TO BRING ANOTHER POTENTIALLY HEAVY RAIN EVENT ON WEDNESDAY INTO THURSDAY."}, {"response": 594, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Nov  5, 2000 (20:52)", "body": "BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED FLASH FLOOD WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX 834 PM CST SUN NOV 5 2000 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AUSTIN SAN ANTONIO HAS ISSUED A * FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR... GONZALES COUNTY BASTROP COUNTY LAVACA COUNTY DEWITT COUNTY LEE COUNTY CALDWELL COUNTY FAYETTE COUNTY * UNTIL 1 AM CST * AT 834 PM CST...WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A LARGE AREA OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY MOVING EASTWARD INTO THE AREA. RAIN ALSO WAS INCREASING FROM THE SOUTH. DUE TO THE SATURATED SOIL THIS HEAVY RAIN WILL PRODUCE RAPID FLOODING OF LOWLYING AREAS AND ROADWAYS AND CAUSE STREAMS TO SWELL OUT OF THEIR BANKS. DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE ROADWAY. THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW YOUR CAR TO CROSS SAFELY. VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE ABANDONED QUICKLY. MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND. ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE THE DANGERS OF FLOODS AND FLASH FLOODS. IF FLASH FLOODING IS OBSERVED ACT QUICKLY. MOVE UP TO HIGHER GROUND TO ESCAPE FLOOD WATERS. DO NOT STAY IN AREAS SUBJECT TO FLOODING WHEN WATER BEGINS RISING."}, {"response": 595, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Nov  5, 2000 (21:01)", "body": "SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX 848 PM CST SUN NOV 5 2000 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AUSTIN SAN ANTONIO HAS ISSUED A * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN TEXAS... BASTROP COUNTY * UNTIL 945 PM CST * AT 848 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 6 MILES SOUTH OF ROSANKY...OR ABOUT 13 MILES SOUTHWEST OF SMITHVILLE...MOVING EAST AT 65 MPH."}, {"response": 596, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Nov  5, 2000 (21:04)", "body": "A thunderstorm moving at 65 MPH?! That is 105 kph??"}, {"response": 597, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Nov  5, 2000 (21:32)", "body": "aha!!! 848 PM CST SUN NOV 5 2000 ...CORRECT THUNDERSTORM SPEED... THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AUSTIN SAN ANTONIO HAS ISSUED A * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN TEXAS... BASTROP COUNTY * UNTIL 945 PM CST * AT 848 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 6 MILES SOUTH OF ROSANKY...OR ABOUT 13 MILES SOUTHWEST OF SMITHVILLE... MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH. LAT...LON 3009 9761 2983 9733 3006 9708 3026 9712 3039 9737 3021 9747"}, {"response": 598, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Nov  5, 2000 (21:33)", "body": "THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR BASTROP COUNTY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 945 CST. AT 915 PM...THE THUNDERSTORM WAS NEAR MCDADE MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH. THE THUNDERSTORM HAS A HISTORY OF PRODUCING DAMAGING WINDS. REMAIN IN A SECURE SHELTER UNTIL THE THREAT ENDS."}, {"response": 599, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Mon, Nov  6, 2000 (07:41)", "body": "It was a pretty heavy storm last night, I had to fish a chair out of the pool this morning. And the Directv dish was nearly blanked out for periods due to the heavy clouds and rain. Hopefully, it will be clear today so Duane can finish the garage roof."}, {"response": 600, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Nov  6, 2000 (12:10)", "body": "I'll continue to post the storm alerts as soon as they arrive in my email. I know about fishing stuff out of odd places. One of our trash cans ended up in the \"moat\" around the property. We have no idea how it got out of the garage!"}, {"response": 601, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Nov  7, 2000 (15:51)", "body": "FLASH FLOOD WATCH NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX 300 PM CST TUE NOV 7 2000 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AUSTIN SAN ANTONIO HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS COMAL...GILLESPIE...MEDINA...GONZALES...KENDALL...WILSON... REAL...BASTROP...BLANCO...TRAVIS...KERR...BEXAR...HAYS... LAVACA...DEWITT...BURNET...WILLIAMSON...ATASCOSA...BANDERA... LEE...LLANO...GUADALUPE...FRIO...UVALDE...CALDWELL...FAYETTE AND KARNES THE METROPOLITAN AREAS OF AUSTIN AND SAN ANTONIO ARE INCLUDED IN THE FLASH FLOOD WATCH AREA."}, {"response": 602, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Wed, Nov  8, 2000 (07:28)", "body": "It rained hard last night but I was still able to get by the low water crossing this morning and make it in to Austin."}, {"response": 603, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Nov  8, 2000 (13:23)", "body": "more bad news for you.... FLASH FLOOD WATCH NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX 448 AM CST WED NOV 8 2000 THE FLASH FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT TODAY FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS COMAL...MEDINA...GONZALES...KENDALL...WILSON... BASTROP...BLANCO...TRAVIS...BEXAR...HAYS... LAVACA...DEWITT...BURNET...WILLIAMSON...ATASCOSA... LEE...GUADALUPE...FRIO.... CALDWELL...FAYETTE AND KARNES THIS WATCH COVERS MUCH OF SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS AND THE EASTERN HILL COUNTRY AND INCLUDES THE CITIES OF AUSTIN...SAN ANTONIO...HONDO AND LA GRANGE. A STRONG UPPER LEVEL STORM SYSTEM WILL MOVE ACROSS TEXAS TODAY. AHEAD OF IT...WIDESPREAD SHOWERS AND SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE WITH A MIX OF SLEET ACROSS THE HILL COUNTRY. THE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH WHILE THE STORM SYSTEM SHIFTS EAST AT 30 MPH. ADDITIONAL RAINFALL OF 1 TO 2 INCHES IN THE WATCH AREA IS POSSIBLE TODAY. SOILS REMAIN FULLY SATURATED FROM RECENT HEAVY RAINS AND FLOODING... SO FLASH FLOODING RAINS WILL BE POSSIBLE. IN MANY PORTIONS OF THE WATCH AREA...IT MAY TAKE AN INCH OR LESS OF RAINFALL IN AN HOURS TIME TO PRODUCE FLASH FLOODING. SEVERAL RIVERS IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS REMAIN SWOLLEN...AND ADDITIONAL HEAVY RAINS WILL LIKELY RESULT IN ADDITIONAL RIVER FLOODING. A BRIEF BREAK IN THE RAINS IS EXPECTED MONDAY AND TUESDAY. HOWEVER... ANOTHER STORM SYSTEM WILL THREATEN TO BRING ANOTHER POTENTIALLY HEAVY RAIN EVENT ON WEDNESDAY INTO THURSDAY."}, {"response": 604, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Nov  8, 2000 (13:26)", "body": "Our entire island-county of Hawaii has been declared a disaster area, so at least we will see some federal funds (and the bureaucrats who come with them) to help rebuild our infrastructure. It takes hours to just get from one side of Hilo to the other!"}, {"response": 605, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Nov 11, 2000 (13:07)", "body": "Storm damage in Hilo: Where I was standing was under water just a few hours previous to taking this photo. This is the baseball field. What those brown things are in the grass are huge boulders washed over? under? the chain link fence in the outfield."}, {"response": 606, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Nov 11, 2000 (13:18)", "body": "Why are the images so bad? The first one was taken at midday. It WAS that dark!!! That is a drop of about 8 feet (2.4 M). Fortunately, just when the water is at house entry level it crosses the road and flows into drainage over there. The second picture was a foggy lens of which the photographer was unaware. What you cannot see is the chain-link fencing to the right. Mashed flat on the ground by the force of the water. Amazing!!!"}, {"response": 607, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Nov 12, 2000 (11:53)", "body": "Winter (whatever that is) has hit California: *** STATE WEATHER WARNINGS *** CAZ017...019-121700- SOUTHERN SACRAMENTO VALLEY-CARQUINEZ STRAIT AND DELTA- NORTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY- ...FROST ADVISORY CONTINUES FOR LATE TONIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING... TEMPERATURES TONIGHT WILL DROP INTO THE UPPER 20S TO MIDDLE 30S ACROSS THE REGION. TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN AT OR BELOW FREEZING FOR SEVERAL HOURS LATE TONIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING FOR MOST OF THE AREA. PLANTS THAT ARE SENSITIVE TO FROST SHOULD BE PROTECTED AND ACCOMMODATIONS MADE FOR PETS. TEMPERATURES SHOULD WARM ABOVE FREEZING BY 8 AM SUNDAY MORNING."}, {"response": 608, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Nov 12, 2000 (13:42)", "body": "BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED * TORNADO WARNING FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN TEXAS... BASTROP COUNTY FAYETTE COUNTY * UNTIL 210 PM CST * AT 107 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A THUNDERSTORM WITH STRONG SIGNS THAT A TORNADO IS DEVELOPING 7 MILES WEST OF ROSANKY...OR ABOUT 12 MILES SOUTHWEST OF BASTROP...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH. * THE TORNADO PRODUCING STORM IS EXPECTED TO BE... 2 MILES SOUTHEAST OF BASTROP AT 130 PM CST OVER CIRCLE D-KC ESTATES AT 145 PM CST"}, {"response": 609, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Nov 12, 2000 (13:44)", "body": "...TORNADO WARNING FOR CALDWELL COUNTY UNTIL 200 PM... ...TORNADO WARNING FOR BASTROP AND FAYETTE COUNTIES UNTIL 210 PM... AT 124 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO 15 MILES SOUTHEAST OF NIEDERWALD...OR 7 MILES EAST OF LOCKHART...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH."}, {"response": 610, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Nov 12, 2000 (14:44)", "body": "* AT 218 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A THUNDERSTORM WITH STRONG ROTATION THAT MAY PRODUCE A TORNADO AT ANY TIME 7 MILES SOUTHWEST OF ROSANKY...OR ABOUT 16 MILES SOUTHWEST OF SMITHVILLE...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH. A SECOND THUNDERSTORM WITH A POSSIBLE TORNADO WAS LOCATED OVER BASTROP...MOVING IN THE SAME SPEED AND DIRECTION."}, {"response": 611, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Nov 12, 2000 (15:05)", "body": "...A TORNADO WARNING IS IN EFFECT TIL 3 PM CST FOR FAYETTE COUNTY... ...A TORNADO WARNING IS IN EFFECT TIL 330 PM CST FOR HAYS COUNTY... ...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT TIL 7 PM CST... DOPPLER RADAR WAS INDICATING TORNADOES OVER HAYS AND FAYETTE COUNTIES AT 250 PM CST. OVER HAYS COUNTY...THE TORNADO WAS BETWEEN SAN MARCOS AND WIMBERLEY...ABOUT 10 MILES WEST OF SAN MARCOS...MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH. PERSONS IN SAN MARCOS NEED TO BE ALERT AND READY TO TAKE SHELTER IMMEDIATELY AS THE TORNADO WILL BE IN THE SAN MARCOS VICINITY IN JUST A FEW MINUTES. OTHER TORNADOES WERE INDICATED JUST NORTHEAST OF CISTERN AND IN THE WINCHESTER WARDA AREAS OF FAYETTE COUNTY. TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY IF YOU ARE IN THESE AREAS."}, {"response": 612, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Nov 12, 2000 (15:10)", "body": "Please Texas, Take cover and report back when you can!"}, {"response": 613, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Nov 12, 2000 (15:41)", "body": "Ther alerts are coming in as fast as I can post them ...TORNADO WARNINGS ARE IN EFFECT FOR GONZALES...LAVACA...FAYETTE AND CALDWELL COUNTIES TIL 4 PM CST... ...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT TIL 7 PM CST... DOPPLER RADAR WAS INDICATING TORNADIC STORMS JUST SOUTH OF LA GRANGE IN FAYETTE COUNTY AND BETWEEN SHINER AND MOULTON OVER LAVACA COUNTY AT 330 PM CST. ALSO A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM BETWEEN LOCKHART AND MENDOZA IN CALDWELL COUNTY APPEARS TO HAVE SOME ROTATION. THESE STORMS APPEAR TO BE MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH. A WALL CLOUD HAS JUST BEEN REPORTED TO THE WEATHER OFFICE JUST SOUTH OF LAGRANGE AT 325 PM CST. IF YOU ARE IN THESE AREAS....TAKE SHELTER IMMEDIATELY.."}, {"response": 614, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Nov 12, 2000 (16:12)", "body": "342 PM CST SUN NOV 12 2000 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AUSTIN SAN ANTONIO HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN TEXAS... BASTROP COUNTY * UNTIL 445 PM CST * AT 342 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A THUNDERSTORM WITH STRONG SIGNS THAT A TORNADO IS DEVELOPING 10 MILES SOUTHWEST OF CEDAR CREEK...OR ABOUT 8 MILES NORTHEAST OF LOCKHART...MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH. * THE TORNADO PRODUCING STORM IS EXPECTED TO BE... 7 MILES SOUTH OF CEDAR CREEK AT 350 PM CST 5 MILES NORTH OF ROSANKY AT 410 PM CST 7 MILES SOUTH OF BASTROP AT 415 PM CST OVER SMITHVILLE AT 430 PM CST IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED BUILDING. AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH OR LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS."}, {"response": 615, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Nov 14, 2000 (13:43)", "body": "FLASH FLOOD WATCH NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI 930 AM HST TUE NOV 14 2000 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HONOLULU HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WATCH EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1000 PM HST FOR PERSONS IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... ON HAWAII...ALL AREAS A FLASH FLOOD WATCH MEANS THAT CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR HEAVY RAINFALL AND FLASH FLOODING. FLOODING IS NOT IMMINENT... BUT PERSONS ON HAWAII SHOULD TAKE NECESSARY PRECAUTIONS NOW TO PROTECT PROPERTY AND BE PREPARED TO TAKE QUICK ACTION IF HEAVY RAIN IS OBSERVED OR A FLASH FLOOD WARNING IS ISSUED. MOISTURE MOVING INTO THE BIG ISLAND FROM THE EAST IS COMBINING WITH AN UNSTABLE ATMOSPHERE DUE TO COLDER AIR ALOFT TO PRODUCE HEAVY SHOWERS. THESE WILL LIKELY CONTINUE OVER THE NORTH AND EAST PORTIONS OF HAWAII...AND AFTERNOON HEATING COULD SET OFF LOCALLY HEAVY SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER OTHER SECTIONS OF THE BIG ISLAND THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THUS THE WATCH AREA INCLUDES THE ENTIRE COUNTY OF HAWAII."}, {"response": 616, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Nov 14, 2000 (13:59)", "body": "Move over, Mt Waialeale, we gotta be the wettest place on earth. I never saw rain this hard for this long..."}, {"response": 617, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Nov 14, 2000 (15:03)", "body": "Three more flood warnings have come in in the last few moments. Check the loop for the weather patterns; http://www.intellicast.com/LocalWeather/World/UnitedStates/Southwest/Hawaii/Hilo/BaseReflectivityLoop/"}, {"response": 618, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Nov 16, 2000 (11:48)", "body": "WINTER WEATHER WATCH NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI 1115 PM HST WED NOV 15 2000 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HONOLULU HAS ISSUED A WINTER STORM WATCH EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1000 AM HST THURSDAY FOR THE SUMMITS AND UPPER SLOPES OF MAUNA KEA AND MAUNA LOA. A WINTER STORM WATCH MEANS THAT WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS... INCLUDING BELOW FREEZING TEMPERATURES...SNOW...SLEET AND STRONG WINDS...ARE POSSIBLE...BUT NOT IMMIMENT ATOP MAUNA KEA AND MAUNA LOA. PERSONS ATOP THESE SUMMITS SHOULD TAKE NECESSARY PRECAUTIONS IN PREPARATION FOR THE ONSET OF HAZARDOUS WINTERLIKE CONDITIONS."}, {"response": 619, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Nov 16, 2000 (11:57)", "body": "THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HONOLULU HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WATCH EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1000 AM HST THURSDAY FOR PERSONS IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... IN NORTH AND EAST HAWAII A FLASH FLOOD WATCH MEANS THAT CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR HEAVY RAINFALL AND FLASH FLOODING. FLOODING IS NOT IMMINENT... BUT PERSONS ON NORTH AND EAST HAWAII SHOULD TAKE NECESSARY PRECAUTIONS NOW TO PROTECT PROPERTY AND BE PREPARED TO TAKE QUICK ACTION IF HEAVY RAIN IS OBSERVED OR A FLASH FLOOD WARNING IS ISSUED. HEAVY RAINS HAVE BEEN OCCURRING ON NORTH AND EAST HAWAII... ESPECIALLY IN THE HILO AND PUNA DISTRICTS. SOME STREAMS ARE REPORTED HIGH AND SOME OVER THEIR BANKS AND SOME ROADS ARE REPORTED WITH WATER OVER THE ROAD SURFACES. SATELLITE AND RADAR INDICATE THAT MORE HEAVY SHOWERS ARE MOVING INTO THE BIG ISLAND FROM THE EAST AND WILL BRING HEAVY SHOWERS AND POSSIBLE THUNDERSTORMS TO THAT AREA OVERNIGHT. WITH THE GROUND ALREADY SATURATED...AND ADDITIONAL HEAVY RAINFALL WILL LIKELY CAUSE FLASH FLOODING CONDITIONS."}, {"response": 620, "author": "CherylB", "date": "Sat, Nov 18, 2000 (12:09)", "body": "Hope you're staying as dry as possible. The boulders on the baseball field along with the flattened chain link fence do not make a reassuring picture."}, {"response": 621, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Nov 18, 2000 (15:09)", "body": "Yup, I am fine and joining those wondering what do do about removing all those huge boulders on the outfield without tearing up the turf. Meanwhile for someone I care deeply about: URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE...CORRECTED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 335 PM EST SAT NOV 18 2000 ...ACCUMULATING SNOW LIKELY ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS... .ABUNDANT MOISTURE WILL STREAM NORTH FROM THE GULF OF MEXICO TONIGHT AND SUNDAY...UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF A STRONG UPPER LEVEL JET STREAM. SURFACE LOW PRESSURE WILL MOVE NORTHEAST FROM THE GULF COAST TO THE GEORGIA COASTAL WATERS BY SUNDAY. THESE WEATHER FEATURES WILL COMBINE WITH THE UNSEASONABLY COLD AIRMASS CURRENTLY IN PLACE TO CAUSE SNOW TO FALL TONIGHT AND SUNDAY. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR THE MEDIA FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION CONCERNING THIS WINTER WEATHER SITUATION. GAZ010-017-NCZ051053-058-059-062065-SCZ001003-190321- CORRECTED BUNCOMBE NC-GRAHAM NC-GREENVILLE MOUNTAINS SC-HABERSHAM GA- HAYWOOD NC-HENDERSON NC-MACON NC-NORTHERN JACKSON NC- OCONEE MOUNTAINS SC-PICKENS MOUNTAINS SC-RABUN GA- SOUTHERN JACKSON NC-SWAIN NC-TRANSYLVANIA NC- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...CLAYTON GA...CLARKESVILLE GA... CHEROKEE NC...WAYNESVILLE NC...ASHEVILLE NC...SYLVA NC... FRANKLIN NC...BREVARD NC...HENDERSONVILLE NC 335 PM EST SAT NOV 18 2000 ...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY THROUGH SUNDAY... SNOW WILL DEVELOP THIS EVENING AND CONTINUE THROUGH SUNDAY...SNOW MAY MIX WITH RAIN AT TIMES IN SOME SOUTHERN VALLEYS. AN INCH OR TWO OF SNOW ACCUMULATION IS POSSIBLE BY DAYBREAK...WITH TOTAL ACCUMULATIONS OF 2 TO 3 INCHES POSSIBLE BY SUNDAY AFTERNOON. The Almighty is gonna get tired of hearing for me as winter progresses."}, {"response": 622, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Nov 18, 2000 (21:57)", "body": "NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 959 PM EST SAT NOV 18 2000 ...ACCUMULATING SNOW LIKELY ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS... .UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF A STRONG UPPER LEVEL JET STREAM...ABUNDANT MOISTURE WILL STREAM NORTH FROM THE GULF OF MEXICO OVERNIGHT AND SUNDAY. SURFACE LOW PRESSURE WILL MOVE NORTHEAST FROM THE GULF COAST TO THE GEORGIA COASTAL WATERS BY SUNDAY. THESE WEATHER FEATURES WILL COMBINE WITH THE UNSEASONABLY COLD AIRMASS CURRENTLY IN PLACE TO CAUSE SNOW TO FALL LATE TONIGHT AND SUNDAY. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR FAVORITE MEDIA OUTLET FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION CONCERNING THIS WINTER WEATHER SITUATION. GAZ010-017-NCZ051053-058-059-062065-SCZ001003-190936- BUNCOMBE NC-GRAHAM NC-GREENVILLE MOUNTAINS SC-HABERSHAM GA- HAYWOOD NC-HENDERSON NC-MACON NC-NORTHERN JACKSON NC- OCONEE MOUNTAINS SC-PICKENS MOUNTAINS SC-RABUN GA- SOUTHERN JACKSON NC-SWAIN NC-TRANSYLVANIA NC- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...CLAYTON GA...CLARKESVILLE GA... CHEROKEE NC...WAYNESVILLE NC...ASHEVILLE NC...SYLVA NC... FRANKLIN NC...BREVARD NC...HENDERSONVILLE NC 959 PM EST SAT NOV 18 2000 ...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY THROUGH SUNDAY... SNOW WILL DEVELOP LATE TONIGHT AND CONTINUE THROUGH SUNDAY...SNOW MAY MIX WITH RAIN AT TIMES IN SOME SOUTHERN VALLEYS. AN INCH OF SNOW ACCUMULATION IS POSSIBLE BY DAYBREAK...WITH TOTAL ACCUMULATIONS OF 2 TO 3 INCHES POSSIBLE BY SUNDAY AFTERNOON."}, {"response": 623, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Nov 19, 2000 (11:08)", "body": ""}, {"response": 624, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Nov 22, 2000 (21:08)", "body": "NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX 354 PM CST WED NOV 22 2000 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AUSTIN SAN ANTONIO HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WATCH EFFECTIVE FOR THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND THURSDAY EVENING FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS GONZALES... BASTROP ...TRAVIS...HAYS...LAVACA...DEWITT... WILLIAMSON...LEE...CALDWELL AND FAYETTE A FLASH FLOOD WATCH MEANS THAT FLASH FLOODING IS POSSIBLE WITHIN THE WATCH AREA. PEOPLE IN THE WATCH AREA ARE ADVISED TO CHECK PREPAREDNESS REQUIREMENTS...KEEP INFORMED...AND BE READY FOR QUICK ACTION IF FLASH FLOODING THREATENS. A STRONG UPPER LEVEL WEATHER SYSTEM WILL INTERACT WITH A DEVELOPING SURFACE LOW TO TRIGGER SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS DURING THE DAY THURSDAY. A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WILL LIKELY DEVELOP WHICH COULD PRODUCE RAINFALL RATES OF 1 TO 2 INCHES PER HOUR. WITH SOILS STILL SATURATED FROM PREVIOUS RAINS...THE RAINFALL WILL RUN OFF CAUSING FLOODING OF LOW WATER CROSSINGS AND SMALL STREAMS. THE WEATHER SYSTEM WILL TRACK ACROSS DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING. WINDY CONDITIONS WILL FOLLOW THE PASSAGE OF A COLD FRONT THURSDAY NIGHT. LIGHT RAIN AND CONTINUE BREEZY WEATHER ARE IN STORE FOR FRIDAY."}, {"response": 625, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Nov 23, 2000 (12:31)", "body": "Despite the threat of floods, Happy Thanksgiving to Austin... FLASH FLOOD WATCH NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX 358 AM CST THU NOV 23 2000 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AUSTIN SAN ANTONIO HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WATCH THROUGH TONIGHT FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES: IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS COMAL...GONZALES...WILSON...BASTROP...TRAVIS...BEXAR... HAYS...LAVACA...DEWITT...WILLIAMSON...ATASCOSA...LEE... GUADALUPE...CALDWELL...FAYETTE AND KARNES THE WATCH COVERS THE EASTERN PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS ALONG AND EAST OF INTERSTATE 35...THIS INCLUDES THE CITIES OF AUSTIN...SAN ANTONIO AND LA GRANGE. LIGHT RAIN WILL CONTINUE FOR SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS WITH A FEW THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING THIS AFTERNOON. A STRONG UPPER LEVEL STORM SYSTEM WILL MOVE ACROSS TEXAS LATER TODAY...TRIGGERING THUNDERSTORMS AND HEAVY RAIN TONIGHT. RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 1 TO 3 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE WITH ISOLATED AMOUNTS UP TO 4 INCHES IN STRONGER STORMS."}, {"response": 626, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Nov 23, 2000 (21:53)", "body": "...TORNADO WARNING FOR DIMMIT AND ZAVALA COUNTIES EXPIRED AT 930 PM CST... ...TORNADO WATCH UNTIL 1 AM CST FRIDAY FOR PARTS CENTRAL TEXAS AND EAST PART OF SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS... ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR FRIO COUNTY UNTIL 10 PM... ...FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR TRAVIS...WILLIAMSON...BASTROP... CALDWELL AND GUADALUPE COUNTIES UNTIL MIDNIGHT... ...FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR HAYS...COMAL...BEXAR AND MEDINA COUNTIES UNTIL 1130 PM... TORNADO WARNING FOR DIMMIT AND ZAVALA COUNTIES HAS EXPIRED. A FLASH FLOOD WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR TRAVIS...WILLIAMSON... BASTROP ...CALDWELL...GUADALUPE...HAYS...COMAL...BEXAR AND MEDINA COUNTIES. IN THESE COUNTIES...HEAVY RAIN...SOME HAIL...GUSTY WINDS AND DEADLY LIGHTNING THE NEXT FEW HOURS WILL CAUSE SOME FLOODING AT LOW WATER CROSSINGS. A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1 AM CST FOR LLANO...BURNET... WILLIAMSON...LEE...GILLESPIE...BLANCO...KENDALL...TRAVIS... BASTROP... FAYETTE...COMAL...HAYS...GUADALUPE...CALDWELL...GONZALES... AND LAVACA COUNTIES. THIS INCLUDES THE AUSTIN METRO AREA. OCCASIONAL RAIN WITH SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS THE NEXT FEW HOURS OVER PARTS OF CENTRAL AND SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS...PLUS THE HILL COUNTRY THE NEXT FEW HOURS. SOME OF THE THUNDERSTORMS COULD BECOME SEVERE...AND ISOLATED TORNADOES COULD FORM. STRONG GUSTY WINDS...FREQUENT DEADLY LIGHTNING...SOME HAIL AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN ARE POSSIBLE WITH THE STRONGER STORMS. SOME FLOODING AT LOW WATER CROSSINGS OR OTHER LOW LYING AREAS IS POSSIBLE WHERE LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN FALLS. A FLASH FLOOD WATCH CONTINUES THROUGH TONIGHT OVER SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS ALONG AND EAST OF I35. ON FRIDAY...A WINDY DAY IS EXPECTED...WITH DAYTIME HIGHS IN THE 60S AND NORTHWEST WINDS 20 TO 30 MPH...DIMINISHING LATE FRIDAY AFTERNOON TO FRIDAY EVENING."}, {"response": 627, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Nov 27, 2000 (16:28)", "body": "BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED FLASH FLOOD WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX 925 PM CST THU NOV 23 2000 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AUSTIN SAN ANTONIO HAS ISSUED A * FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR... BASTROP COUNTY (Terry and Geo's instigator are both in Bastrop county) TRAVIS COUNTY WILLIAMSON COUNTY GUADALUPE COUNTY CALDWELL COUNTY * UNTIL 1200 AM CST * AT 925 PM CST...WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICTED BANDS OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS FROM LAGO VISTA TO GEORGETOWN AND FROM SEGUIN TO NEAR BASTROP MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH. SOME THUNDERSTORMS WERE PRODUCING HOURLY RAINFALL RATES OF 1 TO 2 INCHES PER HOUR. THESE RAINS WILL PRODUCE FLOODING OF URBAN AREAS...LOW WATER CROSSINGS AND SMALL STREAMS. DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE ROADWAY. THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW YOUR CAR TO CROSS SAFELY. VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE ABANDONED QUICKLY. MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND. LAT...LON 2962 9814 2957 9783 3008 9730 3067 9744 3083 9785 3033 9798 2998 9768"}, {"response": 628, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Tue, Nov 28, 2000 (08:31)", "body": "Wow, and it's such a nice pleasant day today. That front's done gone I think."}, {"response": 629, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Nov 28, 2000 (23:38)", "body": "Thank goodness! It has been a pretty bad couple of weeks for you guys!!! Thanks for checking in!"}, {"response": 630, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Dec 11, 2000 (17:18)", "body": "well, parts of texas, arkansas, louisiana, and oklahoma are in for some nasty weather. we're currently under a winter storm watch and the temp here has dropped 20 degrees since i went to work this morning! (it's 40)"}, {"response": 631, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Dec 11, 2000 (17:34)", "body": "Hmmmmmm... wonder why my weather alerts are not arriving? Bad weather??? Take care you guys!!!"}, {"response": 632, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Dec 11, 2000 (18:13)", "body": "we're currently under a winter storm watch Ha! We've been in the winter storm all day and it doesn't show any signs of easing up. How many times can one shovel in a given day? :-("}, {"response": 633, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Dec 12, 2000 (09:49)", "body": "our ice and snow is supposed to arrive late this afternoon and tonight...."}, {"response": 634, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Tue, Dec 12, 2000 (10:36)", "body": "We're waiting for a big ice storm, I'm going to check the http://www.kvue.com site for Doppler radar to see when it will hit. I just bought 20 gallons of reserve spring water, just in case the well goes out due to power outages."}, {"response": 635, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Dec 12, 2000 (19:34)", "body": "thankfully our power lines are buried! but, we have lost power before. it's early for us to have weather like this!! thanks for the link to doppler radar."}, {"response": 636, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Wed, Dec 13, 2000 (11:15)", "body": "The ice storm is subsiding, at least for now, but the branches are hanging low around Austin."}, {"response": 637, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Dec 13, 2000 (14:27)", "body": "yeah, we were sent home from work. lots and lots of tree limbs down and now the sun is coming out. but, a low of 28 overnight so those roads are gonna freeze. be careful out there, esp. those not used to this type of weather!!"}, {"response": 638, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Wed, Dec 13, 2000 (14:40)", "body": "It's bright and sunny outside now! What a change."}, {"response": 639, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Dec 17, 2000 (03:46)", "body": "Happy me and envious, too. Sam old same old here. Looks and feels like June!"}, {"response": 640, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Dec 23, 2000 (17:30)", "body": "Anyone want to help me flock the lawn???"}, {"response": 641, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Tue, Dec 26, 2000 (05:38)", "body": "You're doing this?"}, {"response": 642, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Dec 26, 2000 (16:50)", "body": "No, I didn't but had flapole garlanded illuminated with tiny lights!!! URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX 423 PM CST TUE DEC 26 2000 BANDERA-BASTROP-BEXAR-BLANCO-BURNET-CALDWELL-COMAL-EDWARDS-GILLESPIE- GUADALUPE-HAYS-KENDALL-KERR-KINNEY-LEE-LLANO-MEDINA-REAL-TRAVIS- UVALDE-VAL VERDE-WILLIAMSON- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...AUSTIN...BANDERA...BASTROP...BOERNE... BRACKETTVILLE...BURNET...DEL RIO...FREDERICKSBURG...GEORGETOWN... GIDDINGS...HONDO...JOHNSON CITY...KERRVILLE...LEAKEY...LLANO... LOCKHART...NEW BRAUNFELS...ROCKSPRINGS...SAN ANTONIO...SAN MARCOS... SEGUIN...UVALDE ...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY HILL COUNTRY AND ADJACENT AREAS OF SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY... THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO HAS ISSUED A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR THE TEXAS HILL COUNTRY AND ADJACENT AREAS OF SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS FOR TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY. THE ADVISORY AREA IS ALONG AND NORTHWEST OF A DEL RIO TO SAN ANTONIO TO GIDDINGS LINE. A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY MEANS THE POTENTIAL EXISTS FOR LIGHT WINTER-TYPE PRECIPITATION TO OCCUR. IN THIS INSTANCE...THE BEST CHANCE IS FOR A MIX OF LIGHT FREEZING RAIN...SLEET AND SNOW TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY. PERSONS IN THE ADVISORY AREA SHOULD CHECK PREPAREDNESS REQUIREMENTS AT ONCE...REMAIN INFORMED OF THE LATEST WEATHER FORECAST AND ADVISORY...AND BE PREPARED TO SAFEGUARD LIFE AND PROPERTY IF WINTER WEATHER IS OBSERVED. NOW IS THE TIME FOR ADVANCE PLANNING...TONIGHT OR WEDNESDAY COULD BE TOO LATE. COLD ARCTIC AIR CONTINUES TO INFILTRATE SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS AND THE TEXAS HILL COUNTRY AS SURFACE LOW PRESSURE MOVES INTO THE UPPER TEXAS COAST. MUCH OF THE AVAILABLE MOISTURE HAS MOVED EAST OF THE AREA IN ADVANCE OF THE SURFACE LOW. HOWEVER...SOME MOISTURE REMAINS. THE COLD AIR AND REMAINING MOISTURE WILL COMBINE WITH AN UPPER-LEVEL LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM TO PRODUCE A MIX OF LIGHT RAIN...FREEZING RAIN... SLEET AND SLOW. MINOR ACCUMULATIONS OF ICE AND SNOW ARE POSSIBLE ACROSS THE HILL COUNTRY AND ADJACENT AREAS OF SOUTH CENTRAL TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY. THE ICE AND SNOW WILL ACCUMULATE MAINLY ON EXPOSED SURFACES SUCH AS TREES AND POWER LINES...AND BRIDGES AND OVERPASSES. EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT...CITY AND COUNTY OFFICIALS SHOULD MONITOR LATER FORECASTS AND BULLETINS...OR CONTACT THE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE FOR SPECIFIC INFORMATION CONCERNING YOUR LOCALE. WEATHER INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE ON A CONTINUOUS BASIS BY TUNING TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO TRANSMITTING ON FREQUENCIES RANGING BETWEEN 162.400 AND 162.550 MHZ. THE INTERNET ADDRESS FOR TEXAS WEATHER SERVICE OFFICES IS HTTP://WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV . TEXAS ROAD INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE AT 1-800-452-9292. WEATHER INFORMATION IN CENTRAL AND SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS MAY BE OBTAINED BY DIALING 830-609-2029 OR 830- 606-3617."}, {"response": 643, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Dec 26, 2000 (22:08)", "body": "URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE...UPDATE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX 945 PM CST TUE DEC 26 2000 BANDERA-BASTROP-BEXAR-BLANCO-BURNET-CALDWELL-COMAL-EDWARDS-GILLESPIE- GUADALUPE-HAYS-KENDALL-KERR-KINNEY-LEE-LLANO-MEDINA-REAL-TRAVIS- UVALDE-VAL VERDE-WILLIAMSON- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...AUSTIN...BANDERA...BASTROP...BOERNE... BRACKETTVILLE...BURNET...DEL RIO...FREDERICKSBURG...GEORGETOWN... GIDDINGS...HONDO...JOHNSON CITY...KERRVILLE...LEAKEY...LLANO... LOCKHART...NEW BRAUNFELS...ROCKSPRINGS...SAN ANTONIO...SAN MARCOS... SEGUIN...UVALDE ...A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY CONTINUES FOR THE TEXAS HILL COUNTRY AND ADJACENT AREAS OF SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY AND INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...BANDERA...BASTROP...BEXAR... BLANCO...BURNET...CALDWELL...COMAL...EDWARDS...GILLESPIE... GUADALUPE...HAYS...KENDALL...KERR...KINNEY...LEE...LLANO...MEDINA... REAL...TRAVIS...UVALDE...VAL VERDE...WILLIAMSON... A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY MEANS THE POTENTIAL EXISTS FOR LIGHT WINTER-TYPE PRECIPITATION TO OCCUR. IN THIS INSTANCE...THE BEST CHANCE IS FOR A MIX OF LIGHT FREEZING RAIN...SLEET AND SNOW TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY. DRIVING CONDITIONS ACROSS THE TEXAS HILL COUNTRY AND ADJACENT COUNTIES ALONG THE ESCARPMENT ARE DANGEROUS AND TRAVEL IS NOT ADVISED. ACCUMULATION OF SLEET...ICE AND SNOW IS POSSIBLE OVER HILL COUNTRY ROAD TONIGHT AND INTO WEDNESDAY MORNING. COLD ARCTIC AIR CONTINUES TO MOVES INTO AND ACROSS THE TEXAS HILL COUNTRY AND SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS AS A SURFACE LOW PRESSURE CENTERED OVER LUBBOCK TEXAS MOVES SLOWLY NORTHEAST. THE COLD ARCTIC AIR MOVING OVER THE REGION WILL INTERACT WITH THE MOISTURE FROM THE GULF TO PRODUCE LIGHT RAIN MIXED WITH FREEZING RAIN...SLEET AND SNOW. PERSONS IN THE ADVISORY AREA SHOULD CHECK WINTER WEATHER PREPAREDNESS REQUIREMENTS. REMAIN INFORMED OF THE LATEST WEATHER FORECAST AND ADVISORY...AND BE PREPARED TO SAFEGUARD LIFE AND PROPERTY. EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT...CITY AND COUNTY OFFICIALS SHOULD MONITOR FORECASTS AND BULLETINS. WEATHER INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE ON A CONTINUOUS BASIS BY TUNING TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO TRANSMITTING ON FREQUENCIES RANGING BETWEEN 162.400 AND 162.550 MHZ. THE INTERNET ADDRESS FOR TEXAS WEATHER SERVICE OFFICES IS HTTP://WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV . TEXAS ROAD INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE AT 1-800-452-9292. WEATHER INFORMATION IN CENTRAL AND SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS MAY BE OBTAINED BY DIALING 830-609-2029 OR 830- 606-3617. ADVERSE WINTER WEATHER EXTENDS INTO NORTH AND WEST TEXAS. MOTORISTS AND TRAVELERS SHOULD CHECK WEATHER AND ROAD CONDITIONS PRIOR TO DEPARTURE INTO THESE AREAS OF THE STATE. TRAVEL AND HIGHWAY CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TO BE HAZARDOUS DUE TO ICE AND SNOW ACCUMULATION. IN ADDITION...AIRLINE TRAVEL MAY BE DELAYED OR INTERRUPTED AT SOME AIR TERMINALS AND MAJOR HUBS...SO BE SURE TO CHECK BEFOREHAND WITH YOUR AIRLINE OR TRAVEL AGENT. ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS OR BULLETINS WILL BE ISSUED PERIODICALLY TO KEEP YOU UPDATED ON THE VERY LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION. THIS INFORMATION WILL BE BROADCAST OVER LOCAL RADIO...TV...CABLE TV STATIONS AND NOAA WEATHER RADIO. LISTEN FOR THESE BROADCASTS...AND HEED THEIR ADVICE!"}, {"response": 644, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Wed, Dec 27, 2000 (04:08)", "body": "Yep, I went to the hockey game last night (Ice Bats won) and saw impending signs of a freeze on the roads as I traversed the back roads to Cedar Creek from the Expo Center. It will be interesting to see what the roads are like in the morning."}, {"response": 645, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Dec 27, 2000 (14:11)", "body": "Ice Bats?!!! URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX 445 AM CST WED DEC 27 2000 BANDERA-BASTROP-BEXAR-BLANCO-BURNET-CALDWELL-COMAL-EDWARDS-GILLESPIE- GUADALUPE-HAYS-KENDALL-KERR-KINNEY-LEE-LLANO-MEDINA-REAL-TRAVIS- UVALDE-VAL VERDE-WILLIAMSON- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...AUSTIN...BANDERA...BASTROP...BOERNE... BRACKETTVILLE...BURNET...DEL RIO...FREDERICKSBURG...GEORGETOWN... GIDDINGS...HONDO...JOHNSON CITY...KERRVILLE...LEAKEY...LLANO... LOCKHART...NEW BRAUNFELS...ROCKSPRINGS...SAN ANTONIO...SAN MARCOS... SEGUIN...UVALDE ...A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY CONTINUES FOR THE TEXAS HILL COUNTRY AND ADJACENT AREAS OF SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS TODAY... A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY CONTINUES TODAY FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...BANDERA...BASTROP...BEXAR...BLANCO...BURNET...CALDWELL... COMAL...EDWARDS...GILLESPIE...GUADALUPE...HAYS...KENDALL...KERR... KINNEY...LEE...LLANO...MEDINA...REAL...TRAVIS...UVALDE... VAL VERDE...AND WILLIAMSON. A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY MEANS THE POTENTIAL EXISTS FOR LIGHT WINTER-TYPE PRECIPITATION TO OCCUR IN THE COLD WEATHER TODAY. IN THIS INSTANCE...THE BEST CHANCE IS FOR A MIX OF RAIN OR LIGHT FREEZING RAIN WITH SLEET AND SNOW FOR TODAY. IN ADDITION...DAYTIME HIGHS WILL BE IN THE 30S ACROSS THE HILL COUNTRY TO 40S OVER THE WARMEST PARTS OF SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS...SOME 20 TO 25 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. FINALLY...COLD NORTHWEST WIND AT 10 TO 20 MPH TODAY WILL KEEP THE WIND CHILL INDEX BETWEEN 5 AND 30. AS A RESULT... A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY WILL CONTINUE TODAY. DRIVING CONDITIONS ACROSS THE TEXAS HILL COUNTRY AND ADJACENT COUNTIES ALONG THE ESCARPMENT COULD POSSIBLY BECOME DANGEROUS. TRAVEL WILL BE MORE HAZARDOUS THAN USUAL. PRECIPITATION AMOUNTS ARE EXPECTED TO BE MOSTLY LIGHT. A MIX OF SLEET...FREEZING RAIN AND SNOW IS POSSIBLE OVER NORTHERN PARTS OF THE ADVISORY AREA...WHILE MOSTLY A MIX OF RAIN OR FREEZING RAIN WITH SLEET AND A FEW SNOW FLURRIES...IS POSSIBLE OVER THE SOUTHERN PART OF THE ADVISORY AREA. MAINLY ALONG AND NORTH OF A LINE FROM JUST NORTH OF DEL RIO TO JUST NORTH OF SAN ANTONIO TO NEAR THE AUSTIN AREA TO TAYLOR IN WILLIAMSON COUNTY...LIGHT ACCUMULATIONS OF SLEET...ICE AND SNOW COULD FORM ON ELEVATED ROADS...BRIDGES AND OVERPASSESES...WHERE TEMPERATURES BE BELOW FREEZING PART OF THIS MORNING. FROM DEL RIO TO SAN ANTONIO TO BASTROP AND GIDDINGS IN LEE COUNTRY...PATCHY ACCUMULATIONS OF SLEET OR FREEZING RAIN...MIXED WITH RAIN...COULD FORM ON BRIDGES...OVERPASSES AND EXPOSED OBJECTS. TEMPERATURES WILL FALL CLOSE TO OR REMAIN SLIGHTLY ABOVE FREEZING...THEN RISE SLIGHTLY LATER THIS MORNING. TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO RISE ABOVE FREEZING OVER NORTHERN PARTS OF THE ADVISORY AREA BY LATE MORNING TO NOON. OVER SOUTHERN PARTS OF THE ADVISORY AREA...TEMPERATURES WILL BE NEAR TO SLIGTLY ABOVE FREEZING...THEN RISE BY LATE MORNING. DRIER CONDITIONS WILL SWEEP THROUGH THE ADVISORY AREA LATER TODAY AND TONIGHT...DIMINISHING AND FINALLY ENDING THE CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION. OVERNIGHT LOWS ARE EXPECTED NEAR TO BELOW FREEZING TONIGHT...THEN RISING TO MOSTLY 50S THURSDAY...UNDER SUNNY SKIES."}, {"response": 646, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Dec 27, 2000 (14:13)", "body": "945 AM CST WED DEC 27 2000 ...THE WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY ISSUED FOR THE TEXAS HILL COUNTRY AND ADJACENT AREAS OF SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS IS CANCELLED... VERY LITTLE PRECIPITATION IS CURRENTLY BEING REPORTED ACROSS THE HILL COUNTRY AND SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS. AN UPPER LOW CURRENTLY OVER WESTERN TEXAS WILL PRODUCE A FEW RAIN...SLEET OR SNOW SHOWERS ACROSS THE AREA AS IT MOVES THROUGH TEXAS THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. HOWEVER...AMOUNTS WILL BE VERY LIGHT AND NOT CAUSE ANY PROBLEMS ACROSS THE AREA."}, {"response": 647, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Dec 28, 2000 (23:24)", "body": "More Travel Chaos Expected As UK Freeze Goes On Thursday, Dec. 28, 2000 LONDON (Reuters) - Bitterly cold and icy weather is expected to cause more travel chaos on Friday as Britain endures its worst winter for six years. Police and motoring organizations told Britons to stay at home unless their travel was necessary. They warned that driving conditions would remain treacherous with black ice on many roads after overnight temperatures plummeted to minus 14F. The Meteorological Office said the arctic conditions would continue throughout Friday, with the maximum temperature expected to be just 2C 36F. A spokesman for AA Roadwatch said its message to drivers had been \"try and enjoy the rest of Christmas and don't go out unless it's absolutely necessary.\" Heavy snowfall of up to 6 inches fell across most of the UK on Thursday causing severe disruption to air travel with flights in and out of many airports canceled. The Met Office said it was the most widespread snowfall to hit the country since February 1994. More snow showers are forecast for coastal regions on Friday with another very cold night in store and a severe frost in places. The freezing weather was set to continue over the weekend, the Met Office said."}, {"response": 648, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Fri, Dec 29, 2000 (10:35)", "body": "I wonder if Mike is in the UK or US? (Mike Griggs). Who else on Spring is in the UK? I wonder how Aishling Hall and Ann Whittle are doing? I hope they're ok!"}, {"response": 649, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Dec 31, 2000 (19:41)", "body": "And it's New Year's Eve and NW Louisiana has snow!!"}, {"response": 650, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Mon, Jan  1, 2001 (03:51)", "body": "I heard that on the way home from a New Years eve party. My friend Mickey said he wished he were in Shreveport."}, {"response": 651, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Jan  1, 2001 (12:17)", "body": "we got about 2 inches. the roads are pretty good now but earlier today, it was rather slick out. we usually don't get snow until late jan/feb!"}, {"response": 652, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jan  1, 2001 (17:22)", "body": "Shreveport' sgame was amazing. Wish I could have made snow angels all over the field. Talk about a boring half time show... It was lovely to watch, but I was rooting for the team who almost won...*sigh*"}, {"response": 653, "author": "CherylB", "date": "Tue, Jan  9, 2001 (18:04)", "body": "Sorry that your team didn't win, Marcia. Too bad the half time show didn't feature people making snow angels on the field. On the subject of college football, I'm sorry that Penn State had such a dismal season. Maybe next year, Marcia?"}, {"response": 654, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jan 10, 2001 (22:53)", "body": "Thanks! Yup! Wait'll next year, as they say!!! I like that idea for half time - would have been seasonal and pretty, too!"}, {"response": 655, "author": "CherylB", "date": "Thu, Jan 11, 2001 (17:13)", "body": "In front of a Chinese restaurant just outside of Pittsburgh some of the employees made snow pandas, instead of snowmen. They even colored some of the snow black so that the life-size giant pandas looked very life-like. People would stop and take pictures of, or have their pictures taken with the snow pandas, while they lasted."}, {"response": 656, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jan 12, 2001 (13:38)", "body": "How cute!!! I love that idea! Next snowfall we get I'm gonna do that, too!"}, {"response": 657, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jan 12, 2001 (15:10)", "body": "California where there is now power and plenty of cold: LOCAL STORM REPORT...ADDITIONAL REPORT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA 1030 AM PST THU JAN 11 2001 TIME(PST) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS... ....COUNTY LOCATION.... 0700 AM AGNEW PASS 9450' CA HEAVY SNOW 01/11/01 MARIPOSA 24 HOUR TOTAL OF 39 INCHES 0700 AM MAMMOTH MOUNTAIN CA HEAVY SNOW 01/11/01 MADERA 24 HOUR TOTAL OF 30-36 INCHES 0700 AM UPPER BURNT CORRAL 9700' CA HEAVY SNOW 01/11/01 MADERA 24 HOUR TOTAL OF 33 INCHES 0700 AM OSTRANDER LAKE 8200' CA HEAVY SNOW 01/11/01 MARIPOSA 24 HOUR TOTAL OF 20 INCHES 0700 AM HUME LAKE CA HEAVY SNOW 01/11/01 FRESNO 24 HOUR TOTAL OF 17 INCHES 0700 AM GIN FLAT 7050' CA HEAVY SNOW 01/11/01 MARIPOSA 24 HOUR TOTAL OF 16 INCHES 0700 AM TUOLUMNE MEADOWS CA HEAVY SNOW 01/11/01 YOSEMITE NAT'L PARK 24 HOUR TOTAL OF 22 INCHES 0700 AM BIG MEADOWS 7600' CA HEAVY SNOW 01/11/01 TULARE 24 HOUR TOTAL OF 22 INCHES 0700 AM TUNNEL GUARD STATION 8950' CA HEAVY SNOW 01/11/01 TULARE 24 HOUR TOTAL OF 20 INCHES 0700 AM CHAGOOPA PLATEAU 10300' CA HEAVY SNOW 01/11/01 TULARE 24 HOUR TOTAL OF 20 INCHES 0700 AM MITCHELL MEADOW 10375' CA HEAVY SNOW 01/11/01 TULARE 24 HOUR TOTAL OF 20 INCHES 0700 AM BENCH MEADOWS 7650' CA HEAVY SNOW 01/11/01 TULARE 24 HOUR TOTAL OF 17 INCHES 0700 AM QUAKING ASPEN 7200' CA HEAVY SNOW 01/11/01 TULARE 24 HOUR TOTAL OF 12 INCHES 0700 AM FISH CAMP CA HEAVY SNOW 01/11/01 MARIPOSA 24 HOUR TOTAL OF 12 INCHES 0800 AM TEHACHAPI CA HEAVY SNOW 01/11/01 KERN 24 HOUR TOTAL OF 6 INCHES 0900 AM FRAZIER PARK CA HEAVY SNOW 01/11/01 KERN 24 HOUR TOTAL OF 9 INCHES"}, {"response": 658, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jan 25, 2001 (14:57)", "body": "Coral Reef Exposes Worst El Ninos Ever Are Now WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An ancient coral reef in Papua New Guinea has let scientists check up on the history of El Nino and suggest the weather pattern, blamed for droughts, floods and storms, has never been stronger than it is now. Other experts said their findings show that El Nino, which can disrupt weather around the world, is probably unpredictable and affected by subtle changes in climate -- bad news for people trying to forecast El Nino influences. The international team of scientists was able to track El Nino going back 130,000 years by reading annual bands in the fossilized coral much like scientists read the annual bands in sawn-off tree trunks. Coral reef terraces in the Huon Peninsula of Papua New Guinea lie in the north coast of the island in an area particularly affected by the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO), a pattern of weather and currents named after the Christ child by Pacific fishermen who noticed it around Christmas time. Corals are small animals that build themselves a hard skeleton and live in colonies that eventually form reefs. As they slowly grow, they build into their skeletons a record of the current sea surface temperature and salinity. Geological forces are pushing the ancient coral upwards to where it can be seen and sampled. \"This situation makes it possible to sample corals which grew during periods when climatic boundary conditions were substantially different to those today,\" the researchers wrote in their paper, published on Friday in the journal Science. They traced oxygen isotopes in the coral. Isotopes, or chemical variants, can be detected using special equipment. \"The samples indicated that El Nino was never more intense than the events of the last hundred years,\" David Lea, a professor of geological sciences at the University of California Santa Barbara who helped write the study, said in a statement. \"Over the last 100 years we have very accurate records of El Nino, with 1982-83 and 1997-98 being the largest events on record.\" Lea said global warming may be to blame but this is not certain from his team's study. \"Of course, everyone wants to know if the intensity of these large events is somehow related to global warming. Our data suggest that the behavior of the tropical Pacific over the last 100 years is atypical, but it does not pinpoint which factors modulate El Nino,\" he said. But Julia Cole of the University of Arizona, who studies El Nino and ancient climate patterns, said the study fits in with other studies that show background climate change -- whether caused by people or other forces -- can affect El Nino. \"Their data show really clearly that in the early part of the 20th century, before you had global warming, you still had very strong El Ninos,\" Cole said in a telephone interview. \"From their data alone you cannot blame warming. But ... what that suggests is that background climate change in the future, whatever the cause, is also likely to have an influence on El Nino. We can't assume that El Nino will keep on ticking along in the same way that it has.\" And that is a frightening thought for weather experts and government officials who would like to be able to anticipate and prepare for weather chaos wrought by El Ninos. Centuries ago El Nino occurred every two to 15 years, but recent research shows the pattern has become more frequent. It is blamed for causing much of the $89 billion in weather-related damage in 1998. news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 33, "subject": "Austin News", "response_count": 201, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Oct  7, 1999 (08:51)", "body": "The Yogurt Shop murders have finally been solved. This has tied this community up in knots for years. Eight days after four teen-age girls were killed in a 1991 yogurt shop robbery, Austin police arrested a teen-ager with a revolver at Northcross Mall. He told investigators he had loaned the .22-caliber revolver to a friend who had used it in the yogurt shop slayings. Almost eight years later, Austin police on Wednesday arrested and charged four men with capital murder, including the two teen-agers they had questioned long ago and dismissed as lying about the city's most notorious unsolved killings. Three of the accused were McCallum High School students, and the fourth, who had attended several Austin schools, was not enrolled in Austin public schools at the time of the killings. All are high school dropouts. They've worked a variety of jobs, mostly as mechanics or maintenance workers or, in one case, as manager of a McDonald's restaurant. At a midafternoon news conference, Police Chief Stan Knee gave a spare outline of the arrests, and police would say nothing else. But a sworn police statement for the arrest warrant tells how police believe four teen-agers -- 15 to 17 years old in 1991 -- plotted to rob the I Can't Believe It's Yogurt store on West Anderson Lane and then shot the four girls before setting the shop on fire. From http://www.austin360.com"}, {"response": 2, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Oct  7, 1999 (08:56)", "body": "align=\"left\">"}, {"response": 3, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Oct  7, 1999 (11:55)", "body": "wow. I had just been in Austin for a few months when those murders happened... oddly enough I'd put all that outta my head... remembering the grief and anger in the AUstin community though kinda reminds me (a LOT) of what has been going on here since Columbine... the frustration was deeper in Austin though... no killers were named... we were kinda nervous to go out... everyone wondered had they been raped, did they know their killers, was it drug related or a drug deal gone bad... I'm relieved they've found the perpetrators... after reading all their bios I feel sad that some of these guys had gotten their lives back together... too late of course to lead a happy successful life... and their unsuspecting wives... how truly frightening for them... Thanks Paul for the heads up..."}, {"response": 4, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Oct  7, 1999 (12:13)", "body": "Yeah, there's a collective big sigh or relief here in Austin, the uneasiness of not knowing all these years has ended."}, {"response": 5, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Oct 25, 1999 (18:21)", "body": "src=\" http://austin360.com/sports/hookem/gameday/99/nebraska/utneb2.jpg\" > \"Texas cheerleaders and Matthew McConaughey cheer on as #81 Mike Jones runs into the end zone for a touchdown as #83 Kyle Vanden Bosch tries to stop him in the fourth quarter of play at Royal-Memorial Stadium.\" In Austin news today, actor Matthew McConaughey was arrested in his home and taken to the downtown jail. He spent the night in jail. Seems there was \"loud noise\" and when the cops got there he was naked and playing a bongo drum. Coincidentally, he's on the front page of the Austin paper shown cheering the winning touchdown. The picture above, he's between the two cheerleaders. Alex Jones and others on our tvshow website have been talking about the heavy handedness of the Austin police. Now, Joe Turner, noted criminal lawyer, will defend Matthew of these charges of excessive force. Also found at the scene or Matthew's Tarrytown home, a bong and some pot. He wasn't charged with this."}, {"response": 6, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Oct 25, 1999 (18:41)", "body": "Oh My! At least my summation on who it was NOT was correct in your sports topic. Pretty nasty business if one is not allowed to be naked and playing one's bongo drums in the privacy of one's own home...! Is this a law in Texas? (Is there a Tarrytown in Texas, too? I only know of the one in New York!)"}, {"response": 7, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Oct 26, 1999 (08:59)", "body": "Tarrytown is an older, nice Austin neighborhood. The lady judge said what the cops did, bust into his home, was illegal. So they're trying him on \"resisting transportation\". He wouldn't have been resisting transportation if they'd left him alone like they should have. All the neighbors interviewed on the news were saying what a nice guy he was, how he watered their grass when they were away, etc. He gave the press a big \"hookem\" sign at the release."}, {"response": 8, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Oct 26, 1999 (11:57)", "body": "How unfortunate this all is...and I hope justice is served. He cannot but have helped his cause by using the Hookem sign *grin*. Thanks for the location of the second Tarrytown of which I am aware...if figured to be a \"better\" neighborhood...!"}, {"response": 9, "author": "mrchips", "date": "Tue, Oct 26, 1999 (12:16)", "body": "Obviously this happened at night, when there are reasonable noise concerns. The cops should have knocked on his door, giving him an opportunity to put some shorts on, and told him there were complaints about the noise and to please stop playing the bongos until a reasonable hour. Then, if that didn't work. But the young, naked movie star partying at night with bongos in an old money neighborhood. Sure makes good fodder for the gossip mill. Resisting transportation? If the entry was illegal, all charg s should be dropped. I'm sure he'll have a good enough lawyer."}, {"response": 10, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Oct 26, 1999 (13:19)", "body": "He's got the best lawyer you can get in Austin. The cops apparently knocked but there was no answer and then they circled the place and spotted a bong on a table and decided to enter. Matthew yelled at them to leave but they arrested him. I guess he gave one of the arresting officers a body slam, but hey, he was at the UT game earlier that day. The Judge said they had no business entering his place without a warrant. This probably happens a lot but we don't hear about it, in this case, it happened to one of Austin's biggest movie stars."}, {"response": 11, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Oct 26, 1999 (17:40)", "body": "Unfortunately, I am sure it happens a lot - all over the world - and far worse than that...but that does not make it any less repugnant that they did an unlawful search and seizure...!"}, {"response": 12, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Dec  2, 1999 (14:56)", "body": "I subscribed to Austin 360 and got the holiday rundown on the goodies available for your spare hours: Wanna go to the game? \"I will straight trade two upper level Big 12 Championship tickets for two decent seats to the Texas/Arizona basketball game this Saturday night.\" -- says Tommer. Sell, buy or trade your tickets here. Amid the fun, holidays can bring over-eating and depression. Use Austin 360's Health Tools to help fight flab and Seasonal Affective Disorder. Look after yourself Join us and Talk City for the most interesting celebrity and special interest chats. Among this week's offerings are: * Thurs., 12/2 - Chef Nick Stellino * Fri., 12/3 - Vanity Fair's Dominick Dunne * Mon., 12/6 - Santa Claus visits! Exprience a slightly different spirit of Christmas as the UT Ballet Folklorico brings the traditional Mexican 'Posada' to Austin. \ufffd UT Ballet Folklorico \ufffd Get your group online WEEKEND WEATHER The rain gods seem to be smiling, but will Central Texas get enough much-needed moisture?. Check the KVUE 24 five-day forecast on Austin360.com. FOLLOW THE STARS TO THE PERFECT GIFT Get some guidance on gift giving from the signs of the zodiac. You'll love this unique approach to holiday shopping. ---------- *SPOTLIGHT* Charitygift.com Local Internet startup Charitygift.com is up and running just in time for the giving season. Make a donation to charity in a friends' name, design a Christmas card for them, and let them pick which charity your donation goes to -- all online. http://www.Charitygift.com ----------"}, {"response": 13, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Dec  2, 1999 (15:01)", "body": "Wow, thanks for posting that! Full of suggestions for activities."}, {"response": 14, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Dec  2, 1999 (15:06)", "body": "I can post it with the hotlinks intact if you would like - but they are all on the website. The eLert they emailed to me just has them as items which do not copy."}, {"response": 15, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Dec  2, 1999 (15:09)", "body": "don't know how that happened again, but I did not do it. (oh ,yes I did accidentally....sigh) That little sentence is NOT a link..."}, {"response": 16, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Dec  4, 1999 (06:55)", "body": "Sure keep the hotlinks live. They'll be live if they have http:// automatically."}, {"response": 17, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Dec  4, 1999 (13:04)", "body": "unfortunately, they were of the \"a href\" sort with <> around them and that is how I ended up with the problems in post 15. I can go back and hunt all of them and rewrite them...or leave it to others to look around the website. Loads of links and other goodies are there: Austin360"}, {"response": 18, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Dec  6, 1999 (08:49)", "body": "You can copy source in a case like that."}, {"response": 19, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Dec  6, 1999 (11:21)", "body": "e-Lert! from Austin360.com \"It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas... ...everywhere you go.\" Okay, maybe its tough to get in the Christmas spirit when you're still running your AC and wearing shorts and a t-shirt. And \"chestnuts roasting on an open fire\" might earn you a citation from Travis County where the burn ban still is in effect. So Austin360 e-Lert! is here with some weekend highlights to help you get in the holiday mood. NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Friday, December 3, 1999 -- Get on the right track for the festive season with a magical steam train ride through the Hill Country. All aboard for the 'Tour of Lights' Saturday, December 4, 1999 -- Root for the Longhorn football squad as it looks to make it four in a row over the Cornhuskers in the Big 12 Championship game in San Antonio. Hook 'em! Sunday, December 5, 1999 -- Join thousands of your neighbors for an Austin holiday tradition, as the city lights the Zilker Park Christmas Tree. Flick the switch http://www.austin360.com/custom/holidays/trailoflights.html NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: http://www.austin360.com/entertainment/ \ufffd Sports: Big time hoops! The No. 9 Longhorns welcome No. 4 Arizona \ufffd Arts: Step out on the dance floor at Saturday's swanky Holiday Salsa Affair \ufffd Music: Mix with the folks from the Electronic Music Organization Saturday \ufffd Movies: 'Man of the Century' is a refreshing new comedy. Find out where it's showing in town \ufffd Dining: Got a hankering for good sushi? Kyoto could be worth the wait http://austin360.com/entertainment/dining/reviews/kyoto.htm \ufffd Travel: Day-trip to Georgetown for the 'It's a Wonderful Life' Christmas Stroll \ufffd Recreation: Ride the trails. Check out the Austin greenbelt biking scene http://austin360.com/recreation/features/bikingindex.html \ufffd Community: Hit the Austin Christmas Market and Bazaar this Sunday HOLIDAY SHOPPING? You've come to the right place!! Don't worry about parking or waiting in line. You can do your comparison shopping online. With a few clicks, you'll be done with your holiday shopping - and have more time to enjoy the holidays!! http://www.austin360.com/shared/shopping/ Heading to San Antonio for the big game? Wear Orange! http://www.cfistores.com/Scripts/ndISAPI.dll/GoBig12/pgGoBig12 GET CONNECTED Wanna go to the game? \"I will straight trade two upper level Big 12 Championship tickets for two decent seats to the Texas/Arizona basketball game this Saturday night.\" -- says Tommer. Sell, buy or trade your tickets here. http://www.austin360.com/sports/big12/ticket1.html Amid the fun, holidays can bring over-eating and depression. Use Austin 360's Health Tools to help fight flab and Seasonal Affective Disorder. http://austin360.com/shared/health/tools/ Join us and Talk City for the most interesting celebrity and special interest chats. Among this week's offerings are: * Thurs., 12/2 - Chef Nick Stellino * Fri., 12/3 - Vanity Fair's Dominick Dunne * Mon., 12/6 - Santa Claus visits! http://www.austin360.com/shared/community/chat/stars.html/ Exprience a slightly different spirit of Christmas as the UT Ballet Folklorico brings the traditional Mexican 'Posada' to Austin. \ufffd UT Ballet Folklorico http://www.austin360.com/community/groups/utbf/index.html \ufffd Get your group online http://www.austin360.com/community/join/ If you've got any questions or suggestions, let us know: Austin 360 Feedback WEEKEND WEATHER The rain gods seem to be smiling, but will Central Texas get enough much-needed moisture?. Check the KVUE 24 five-day forecast on Austin360.com. Weather http://austin360.com/news/1metro/1999/12/02rain.html FOLLOW THE STARS TO THE PERFECT GIFT Get some guidance on gift giving from the signs of the zodiac. You'll love this unique approach to holiday shopping. Shop by Astrological Sign http://www.austin360.com/shared/horoscopes/giftguide.html ---------- *SPOTLIGHT* Charitygift.com Local Internet startup Charitygift.com is up and running just in time for the giving season. Make a donation to charity in a friends' name, design a Christmas card for them, and let them pick which charity your donation goes to -- all online. http://www.charitygift.com ----------"}, {"response": 20, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Dec  9, 1999 (12:28)", "body": ""}, {"response": 21, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Dec  9, 1999 (12:31)", "body": "More from e-Lert and Austin 360 with \"a href\" links so check the links in the last e-Lert as many of them are the same - or go to http://austin360.com/ Holiday Greetings from Austin360.com The Zilker Tree is lit, the Trail of Lights is opening, and the Miracle on 37th Street neighborhood is in full swing -- the holiday season in Austin is officially opened. Santa's checking his Austin list, he's sorting it twice, doing a database search for who's naughty or nice. Santa Clause is .com-ing to town. NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Friday, December 10, 1999 -- Take a fast-paced trip through the life and times of December's most famous birthday boy, as 'Jesus Christ Superstar' explodes onto stage. Light the fuse Saturday, December 11, 1999 -- Enjoy a Heart of Texas Christmas as this men's chorus ushers in the festive season with an evening of song. Prick up your ears Sunday, December 12, 1999 -- Take a saunter with fellow Austinites down the Zilker Park Trail of Lights. Hit the Trail NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Sports: Hit the hardcourts! The 'Horns try to hit the winning track against San Diego, Saturday \ufffd Arts: Enjoy perhaps the world's best-known ballet as Ballet Austin presents 'The Nutcracker' \ufffd Music: Open your ears Sunday to the mellow tones of Turtle Creek Chorale \ufffd Movies: 'The Green Mile' is a worthy Oscar contender. Find out why, and where it's showing in town \ufffd Dining: Discover what's surprisingly good about Caf\ufffd Josie \ufffd Travel: Come closer to inner peace with a visit to the awesome Guadalupe Mountains \ufffd Recreation: Makin' a list? Mike Leggett has a great Christmas shopping guide for the outdoorsy \ufffd Community: Take the kids for a pancake breakfast with Santa PARKING HASSLES? It's not an issue if you shop here!! You'll find great selections of brand names at terrific prices! With a few clicks you can finish all your holiday shopping - and have time to enjoy all the fun!! Shopping Are you turning your attention from UT Football to UT Basketball? You still need to wear your orange! UT Merchandise GET CONNECTED Signs of change. \"'Sprawl' is not a disease that causes 'farmers' to awaken one morning to find Milburn homes in their pasture!\" -- says Rong. Tell us what you think about Austin's rapid growth. Join the debate Whether you're planning a trip across town or a Christmas trip across the country, use Austin 360's Map It to get there faster and safer. Map your route Join us and Talk City for the most interesting celebrity and special interest chats. Among this week's offerings are: * Thurs., 12/9 - Jaguar's Wide Receiver Jimmy Smith * All month long 12/10 & 11 - Santa Claus visits! * Wed., 12/15 - David Krumholtz from the movie \"Liberty Heights\" People & Chat Local computer graphics professionals can get support, education, networking and freelancing information from Austin Corel Professionals. \ufffd Austin Corel Professionals \ufffd Get your professional group online"}, {"response": 22, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Dec  9, 1999 (21:24)", "body": "Trackmeets and Trails of Light."}, {"response": 23, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Dec  9, 1999 (22:29)", "body": "Sounds like the Olympic Torch relay or some permutation of same...or are they two different events?!"}, {"response": 24, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Dec 10, 1999 (07:00)", "body": "I just noticed these two events from the stuff you posted from 360."}, {"response": 25, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec 10, 1999 (12:44)", "body": "It all sounds so festive - I guess that is what I miss the most living here. I'll just hole up and hope to survive the holidays for another year without family or those I truly care about..."}, {"response": 26, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Dec 13, 1999 (14:44)", "body": "There has to be tons of things to do in Hawaii, if I was there I think I'd be dazzled, imagine you've just arrived in town and go from there."}, {"response": 27, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Dec 13, 1999 (15:44)", "body": "There are plenty of really nice students here from far-flung places in the same lonely position, so I think I shall throw a party and feed them. One must never be alone for the holidays. Maybe I can convince some of them to go hiking with me on New Year's Day...Kilauea caldera is pretty empty and very peaceful and fascinating no matter the weather or time of the year. Thanks, Terry! Not exactly what you chose, but I think this will do just fine. *hugs*"}, {"response": 28, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Dec 14, 1999 (20:29)", "body": "Good for you Marcia. My son Shey is here this week from California and we're jamming around town having a ball. Push your limits Marcia, you'll find good friends and good times."}, {"response": 29, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Dec 14, 1999 (20:48)", "body": "I think his coach was here for the Big Island Invitational - I heard our AD telling someone else that the man who had just left was the coach at Sonoma State...! Loads of fun folks here - and I plan to corral as many as I can fit into the house! Why vegetate when good things are out there just waiting for someone to do them?!"}, {"response": 30, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Dec 15, 1999 (00:25)", "body": "Absolutely, couldn't agree more. Did you see the new folks that showed up today?"}, {"response": 31, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Dec 15, 1999 (12:40)", "body": "Not yet...(still looking for where I might find them...)It's finals week here so a lot of the local kids will be departing, west coast parents will be coming over to spend the holidays with their kids, and I get the rest from all over the world. I just might let they bring their national specialty to add to my traditional turkey feast...! We will surely have an eclectic menu!"}, {"response": 32, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Dec 15, 1999 (12:43)", "body": "Oh, and the Coconut Coast Classic teams do not show up for another week: Ashland, Truman State, North Dakota, Nebraska-Omaha and UHHilo (a much smaller tournament but has fans who are just as rabid as Cincinnati's are!)"}, {"response": 33, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Dec 16, 1999 (13:38)", "body": "I'm going to possibly check out the Armadillo Christmas Fair again this year."}, {"response": 34, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Dec 16, 1999 (14:06)", "body": "They have ethnic fairs of all sorts in Hilo, but none I can recall for animals. OK, I can't even begin to guess what an Armadillo Christmas Fair entails. Please report back!"}, {"response": 35, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Dec 16, 1999 (14:31)", "body": "http://www.austin360.com/index.html e-Lert! from Austin360.com Counting down to Christmas on Austin360.com Father Christmas has been spotted buying more printer paper, so it looks like his list is in its final stages. But you still have time to do some last-minute shopping, hit the Trail of Lights or find a local church in which to celebrate the season's meaning. NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Friday, December 17, 1999 -- Now's your chance to experience one of the world's most popular ballets as Ballet Austin presents \"The Nutcracker\". Get more information Saturday, December 18, 1999 -- Ever heard of Wofford College? Well, us either...but they did beat Clemson earlier this year. The Longhorns meet them at the Erwin Center at 1 p.m. Horns hoops Sunday, December 19, 1999 -- Tired of singing carols in the shower? Well, get yourself and some friends down to the 11th Annual Sing-It-Yourself Messiah and belt carols out for all Austin to hear. Sing it loud NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: Whoop it up with the juggling, whipcracking, balloon-eating Flaming Idiots \ufffd Music: Jam with The Misfits, GWAR and the Derailers \ufffd Movies: 'Bicentennial Man' aims for the heart this holiday season. Find out where it's showing in town \ufffd Dining: Get the real scoop on why Dan McKluskey's steaks are so great \ufffd Travel: San Antonio has just the zoo for you \ufffd Recreation: Outdoorsy folks on the shopping list? Mike Leggett to the rescue \ufffd Community: Join your Austin neighbors at the city's spectacular Trail of Lights RUNNING OUT OF TIME? There are only nine shopping days left before Christmas!! You had better get in gear! With just a few clicks, you can finish all your holiday shopping! Let the clicking begin.... Shopping Chocolate-dipped strawberries. Texas Granite bookends. Ice cream gift certificates. Longhorns blankets. Fishing lure art. Dr. Seuss. Send friends and family gifts from local businesses. There's even free hand-delivery available. Send a gift that screams 'Austin!' GET CONNECTED Movies of the '90s. \"ED WOOD. A terrific little movie about the infamous B-movie director. One of my favorites of all time.\" -- says frits. Be a critic and put in your two cents. What movie tops your favorites list? Getting the abode decorated for the season? Need some ideas for the chronic home improver in your house? Want to make sure your pipes survive the chill? Check in with Austin 360's Home Improvement for gift ideas and how-tos. Home Improvement Join us and Talk City for the most interesting celebrity and special interest chats. Among this week's offerings are: * Thurs., 12/16 - Author David Bach on his book \"Smart Women Finish Rich\" * Thurs., 12/16 - Joan Lunden * Mon., 12/20 - Meet Mr. Food People & Chat It's a small world after all. Make new friends from around the world with members from the Friendship Force of Austin \ufffd Go global \ufffd Get your cultural group online If you've got complaints about your standing on the naughty or nice list, please take them up with Santa. If you have any questions or suggestions about the e-Lert!, let us know: Austin 360 Feedback Copyright 1999 Cox Interactive Media. WEEKEND WEATHER It's beginning to feel a bit like winter -- for once cooler weather abounds. Check the KVUE 24 five-day forecast on Austin360.com. Weather POP SOME CORN AND SETTLE IN! There's nothing like a good holiday TV special to get you in the spirit of the season. Find out when your favorite classics will return and what's new this year. Holiday TV Planner ---------- *SPOTLIGHT* Buy local Amy's Ice Cream, Dr. Chocolate, Bark 'n' Purr, the Continental Club, Chuy's, Sabia Botanicals, Alamo Drafthouse, Art on 5th, the University Co-Op and many more local businesses are ready to deliver gifts to the doors or desks of your friends and family. Get shopping ----------"}, {"response": 36, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Dec 16, 1999 (15:39)", "body": "oooh! I miss Amy's... mexican vanilla w/ peanut butter cup..."}, {"response": 37, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Dec 17, 1999 (08:41)", "body": "Every year I go to the Armadillo Christmas Fair and there's one show stopper booth. Two years ago it was the rubber ties. Last year, no show stopper. This year, it's gotta be the metal sculpture from Wisconsin. These moving, gyrating works made out of parts from engine blocks and electrical parts from cars are breathtaking. There's a guy on a harley, a chain of basketball players collaborating on a dunk, incredible robots. it was awesome. I may have to go back and get another look and get the guys card. Someone said \"ooo, don't touch it\" to her kid and the guy from Wisconsin said, \"Go ahead, see the sign that says 'please touch', I have a policy, if you touch it and it breaks, I've done something wrong.\" I really can't describe these. I just might have to go back and see if he has a website with pictures. I might have to go against all my instincts and buy one."}, {"response": 38, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec 17, 1999 (13:42)", "body": "How neat! I have a small baseball player made of out screws nuts and small hardware then chromed - really cute. I think you just might need to get a small whatzit for the corner of your room... How many rubber ties are in your collection?"}, {"response": 39, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Dec 19, 1999 (10:31)", "body": "Just one! But it's cool. And I still haven't made it back to the Armadillo."}, {"response": 40, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Dec 19, 1999 (14:00)", "body": "How do you tie it? (I know - very carefully!) or is it a clip-on? Guess it would have to be... Don't think I have ever seen a bungee tie!"}, {"response": 41, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Dec 19, 1999 (18:41)", "body": "You guys are gonna freeze your buns off: Forecast For Austin, Tx 400 Pm Cst Sun Dec 19 1999 .Tonight...Fair This Evening...Then Becoming Cloudy...Windy And Colder. A 20 Percent Chance Of Rain Toward Morning. Lows In The Upper 30S To Near 40. Southerly Winds 5 To 10 Mph...Becoming North 15 To 25 Mph Around Midnight. .Monday...Cloudy...Windy And Much Colder With A 20 Percent Chance Of Rain Or Sleet Mainly In The Morning. Partial Clearing Late Afternoon. Temperatures Holding In The 30S. North Wind 20 To 30 Mph. .Monday Night...Clearing And Very Cold. Lows Around 20 To 25. .Tuesday...Mostly Sunny. Highs In The Mid And Upper 40S. .Extended Forecast... .Tuesday Night...Mostly Clear And Very Cold. Lows Around 20. .Wednesday...Partly Cloudy. Highs In The Upper 40S To Near 50. .Thursday And Friday...Partly Cloudy. Lows In The 20S. Highs In The 50S. Special weather statement 300 Pm Cst Sun Dec 19 1999 ...Colder Weather Coming Tonight And Monday... A Cold Front Will Move Over The Hill Country And South Central Texas Tonight. Temperatures Will Slowly Fall Into The 30S By Monday Morning And Remaining In The 30S To Lower 40S Throughout The Day. Northerly Winds Will Prevail At 15 To 30 Mph And Gusty. There Is A Slight Chance Of Rain Developing Early Monday Morning And Continuing Through Most Of The Day. Portions Of The Texas Hill Country And South Central Texas May Have Rain Mixed With Sleet. Driving Conditions Will Be Difficult And Motorists Are Urged To Use Caution. Although The Sleet Will Be Light In Some Locations...Only Light Accumulations Are Possible...It Only Takes A Small Amount To Make Bridges...Streets...Highways And Walkways Extremely Slick And Hazardous. With Winds In The 15 To 30 Mph Range...Wind Chills Will Be In The Single Digits...So Dress Warmly. Protection To Plants...Pipes...Pets And Vehicles Is Advised Before The Colder Weather Comes Late Tonight And Monday. Stay Tuned To Noaa Weather Radio Stations...Cable Local Tv And Radio Stations For Additional Statements."}, {"response": 42, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Dec 20, 1999 (08:47)", "body": "Woo, chilly willy!"}, {"response": 43, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Dec 20, 1999 (14:25)", "body": "Get out the wooly clothes and long-handled underwear...Gonna be a frigid night!"}, {"response": 44, "author": "stacey", "date": "Mon, Dec 20, 1999 (15:39)", "body": "better yet... find a snuggle buddy!"}, {"response": 45, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Dec 20, 1999 (16:15)", "body": "There you go! Hibernate with warm body of choice...my kinda winter wonderland!"}, {"response": 46, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Dec 21, 1999 (08:49)", "body": "The cold front is hitting us for real today. The other day was just a false alarm."}, {"response": 47, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Dec 21, 1999 (10:27)", "body": "We arrive tonight... should I bother to bring shorts???"}, {"response": 48, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Dec 21, 1999 (10:34)", "body": "Yep. Bring those shorts if want to use my guest pass at the Q and there may be a warm front for Christmas. Will you call me please when you arrive?"}, {"response": 49, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Dec 21, 1999 (14:38)", "body": "still the 512-303-3000 number? I'll call you from SA... I'm not sure we'll make it up to Austin... but if we do we'll definitely do the beer or coffee thing... Heard from WER lately?"}, {"response": 50, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Dec 22, 1999 (09:31)", "body": "I talked to wer yesterday and he's working a grueling schedule at Lil Italy, grueling 16 hour days without many breaks. I did get his schedule so I could schedule some time with him, he's been the workhorse and driving force behind spring.net for so long, we owe him a heavy debt of gratitude. He's really come a long way in his understanding and capabilities in web authoring and in Yapp programming."}, {"response": 51, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Dec 22, 1999 (09:33)", "body": "Call me at: 302-4000 Austin 303-4000 Cedar Creek 278-8065 Cedar Creek 699-4000 cellphone 838-4615 office Leave a message with your SA contact number, hope you make it up to Austin, I'd love to meet you guys for coffee."}, {"response": 52, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Dec 23, 1999 (12:21)", "body": "e-Lert! from Austin360.com Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from Austin360.com \"I'm dreaming of a white Christmas...\" Well, according to the KVUE five day forecast, it looks like Perry really was dreaming - and he sure didn't live in Austin. Christmas Day is just about upon us with last minute shopping, travelling to see your friends and family, baking goodies, and wrapping the last of the presents. Have a Merry Christmas, and if you are still around town, here is our list of holiday weekend highlights to help you enjoy the season. NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Friday, December 24 -- Fire and Bowling Pins. The Flaming Idiots have been called \"one of the most brilliant juggling teams in America.\" Get more information Saturday, December 25 -- One ticked-off elf. Catch \"The Santaland Diaries\" featuring Martin Burke for an evening of merrily subversive holiday tales guaranteed to delight. Get the low-down Sunday, December 26 -- Ice Bats and Mud Bugs. The Expo center hosts another evening of ice hockey involving oddly-named teams. Drop the puck! NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: Celebrate Kwanzaa with gospel, blues, jazz, rap and poetry at the Doris Miller Auditorium \ufffd Music: Celebrate Christmas with Dale Watson's holiday show at the Continental Club \ufffd Movies: 'The Talented Mr. Ripley' is not only creepy, but entertaining. Find out where it's showing in town \ufffd Dining: See why the Driskill Grill is 'poised for greatness' \ufffd Travel: Twenty lavish locales to ring in the New Year \ufffd Recreation: Map out your holiday trip \ufffd Community: Help your less fortunate neighbors by giving to Blue Santa GOT IT ORDERED? Even if you don't have the perfect gift in hand, you can say it's ordered and on it's way! Cover your bases with just a few clicks! Click away!! Shopping Chocolate-dipped strawberries. Texas Granite bookends. Ice cream gift certificates. Longhorns blankets. Fishing lure art. Dr. Seuss. Send friends and family gifts from local businesses. There's even free hand-delivery available. Send a gift that screams 'Austin!' GET CONNECTED Chan the man? \"I guarantee you there are 20 other teams that wish their coaches had gotten their team to the place Chan Gailey has his right now.\" -- says shanegot. Gripe, critique or cheer them, it's the Cowboys. Should Gailey stay or go? Getting the abode decorated for the season? Need some ideas for the chronic home improver in your house? Want to make sure your pipes survive the chill? Check in with Austin 360's Home Improvement for gift ideas and how-tos. Home Improvement Join us and Talk City for the most interesting celebrity and special interest chats. Among this week's offerings is: * Throughout December -- visit Santa's Workshop! People & Chat Make contact with your university's alumni group in Austin. Or you can get your group on-line. \ufffd Get your group online \ufffd Austin Rice Alumni \ufffd Capital of Texas Nebraskans \ufffd LSU Alumni Association - Austin \ufffd More alumni groups If you've got complaints about your standing on the naughty or nice list, please take them up with Santa. If you have any questions or suggestions about the e-Lert!, let us know: Austin 360 Feedback Happy Holidays! Copyright 1999 Cox Interactive Media. WEEKEND WEATHER Dreaming of a cool Christmas? Check the KVUE 24 five-day forecast on Austin360.com. Weather TOO POOPED TO SHOP? Need an escape from the holiday rush? There's no better place to hide than a dark movie theater. But be sure to scope out the best flicks of the season before you blow your last 7 bucks! Holiday Movie Guide ---------- *SPOTLIGHT* Local Gifts Amy's Ice Cream, Dr. Chocolate, Bark 'n' Purr, the Continental Club, Chuy's, Sabia Botanicals, Alamo Drafthouse, Art on 5th, the University Co-Op and many more local businesses are ready to deliver gifts to the doors or desks of your friends and family - Thursday, 12/23 is last day to order. Get shopping"}, {"response": 53, "author": "stacey", "date": "Wed, Dec 29, 1999 (10:58)", "body": "by the 22nd I was already in San Antonio... with your wrong phone# we didn't make it up to Austin anyway... just a week of some intense family time... Give WER a hug for me... two years ago right around today-ish we all met at Little Italy... how quickly time passes..."}, {"response": 54, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Dec 30, 1999 (09:33)", "body": "All my phone numbers end in 4000 And begin with either 302, 303 or 699."}, {"response": 55, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Dec 30, 1999 (20:36)", "body": "Y'll gonna have to wait till I am webbing before I can post Austin happenings herer. Doesn't want to copy and paste! But you can read it for this weekend at http://www.Austin360.com"}, {"response": 56, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Dec 31, 1999 (09:30)", "body": "A2K's going to be happening tonight, the big celebration on Sixth Street. It's 9:30 am, so we're about 14 1/2 hours away and counting. We'll see if our server makes it, my backup plan will be to reset the year to 1976 if the old www machine can't count to the year 2000. I'm not too worried about access, it's a real new machine."}, {"response": 57, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec 31, 1999 (11:56)", "body": "Have a good one, Terry. All of our stuff is new (thanks to the burglars) so we comply. I devoutly hope that I will join the rest in Spring via the web. I found an updating gif of the sun. It is the actual image of the sun and you can see the sunspots. That is most surely of interest to hams and other users of the ionosphere. but, I cannot post it until I get on the web. Since you do not go into Geo at all, shall I post it somewhere you can see it? Suggestions?"}, {"response": 58, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec 31, 1999 (12:15)", "body": "(I heard it was 1972 which replicates 1999 - but better get it done before midnight!"}, {"response": 59, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec 31, 1999 (14:04)", "body": "e-Lert! from Austin360.com Party of the century There's not much going on around Austin this weekend -- it might be a good weekend to just stay indoors, read a book, and catch up on your knitting. Of course, there is that little once-in-a-lifetime New Year's Eve Millennium celebration that takes over all of downtown Austin with free music and a giant laser light show as we countdown to Year 2K. Other than A2K, the dozens of other New Year's Eve events, the Longhorns in the Cotton Bowl, there's really not much going on. Enjoy your knitting. NEED WEEKEND PLANS? New Year's Eve -- You may have heard about this. There is a little shindig going on downtown called A2K, it's free and the fabulous music line-up includes Shawn Colvin, Robert Earl Keen and Lyle Lovett. Official information There are plenty of other Y2K happenings in the A-town and around Central Texas. Several shows are dropping by the way-side so call before you make your plans! Our listing for New Years Saturday, January 1 -- Try to get some sleep before 10:00 a.m. The Longhorns take on the Arkansas Piggies at the Cotton Bowl in Big D. Hook'em Horns! NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: New Year's at Zachary Scott Theatre is a dramatic extravaganza \ufffd Music: A2K not for you? Check out the millennium parties at other clubs in town \ufffd Movies: See for yourself why 'American Beauty' tops critics' lists \ufffd Sports: The Longhorns welcome the Houston Cougars to the Erwin Center on Sunday \ufffd Dining: The Granite offers 'delectable desserts to die for' \ufffd Travel: Get Outta Town! Austin to Boston for $239 or San Diego for $178 \ufffd Recreation: Map out your holiday trip \ufffd Community: Start the year off with Sunday's A2K Community Unity Fun day TIME TO BUY FOR \"YOU\"! Pamper yourself by buying some great New Year's treats. Visit our shopping channel to purchase all the things you wished your loved ones had given you. Shopping Gift certificates from Amy's Ice Creams, the Continental Club, Bark-n-Purr, the Alamo Draft House, Chuys, and more - give the gift of Austin. Click here to purchase online. GET CONNECTED Get your motor running. \"If anyone is interested in joining the Iron Butt or just ride somewhere, please post back. I ride a BMW K1100RS.\" -- says Irnbtt. Love motorcycles? Share your passion with other Austin bike enthusiasts. Hop into the Bike Bar Get the goods on this massive New Year's weekend with Austin 360's complete guide to the parties, possibilities and more. New Year's Austin Join us and Talk City for the most interesting celebrity and special interest chats. Among this week's offerings is: * Now through Jan. 2nd - Celebrate 2000 People & Chat Make a difference in an local student's life -- join the VICTORY Tutorial Program and tutor children at Austin Public Libraries. \ufffd VICTORY Tutorial Program \ufffd Educational Groups \ufffd More Volunteer Opportunities If you have any questions or suggestions about the e-Lert!, let us know: Austin 360 Feedback If you want to be removed from this list, or want to make changes to you profile, such as upgrading from the text version to the html (with graphics) version of e-Lert!, click here: Edit your profile Happy New Years! Copyright 1999 Cox Interactive Media. WEEKEND WEATHER Hot or cold? Begin your New Year in the know and check the KVUE 24 five-day forecast on Austin360.com. Weather BEST OF THE CENTURY The last 100 years have been filled with exceptional people and innovations. Cast your vote in a variety of categories of who and what is tops in your opinion. Vote for the Best ---------- *SPOTLIGHT* Local Gifts Amy's Ice Cream, Dr. Chocolate, Bark 'n' Purr, the Continental Club, Chuy's, Sabia Botanicals, Alamo Drafthouse, Art on 5th, the University Co-Op and many more local businesses are ready to deliver gifts to the doors or desks of your friends and family. Get shopping ----------"}, {"response": 60, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Jan  3, 2000 (11:17)", "body": "I missed the giant a2k party but I had a nice time and 4 other more intimate affairs, winding up at Bob Nagy's out in Webberville for a nice New Years eve around the campfire and we got to see Bob's pix from Thailand. And I caught the Longhorn disaster the next morning. No one seemed to care about this game. So this is what life in the year 2000 is all about! I do feel like I'm doing some refocusing. Sharpening up some rough edges. Maybe I'll get this nameserver mess straightened out and complete the migration."}, {"response": 61, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jan  3, 2000 (12:47)", "body": "The game was forgetable and I cared about the game, but I was not playing in it...! Our party consisted of cough medicine and soup and tv. Perhaps I shall reinvent myself and change the old guard into something with which I really have something in common. Happy New Year, Terry!"}, {"response": 62, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jan  3, 2000 (12:51)", "body": "Anything I can do to help you refocus and get this nameserver mess atraightened out, I will be most happy to do. I am not a natural telnetter. I am far too wordy...*sigh*"}, {"response": 63, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Jan  5, 2000 (11:25)", "body": "The CEO of Digihost called me this morning and apologized, our nameservers are back, or will be back as soon as the changes propagate through the Internet. No domain name changes are instantaneous, they have to be accepted by myriads of hosts all over the net. Things should be back to normal by Friday at the latest. Let me know if anyone has trouble accessing www.spring.net. I'm thinking of changing our name to either austen.com or springfolks.com and making that the main conferencing area. How do folks feel about this name change. Of course, you could still use spring.net to access the conferences, but austen or springfolks would be the main entryway. There's also the name wholetech.com that I'm kicking around. We're going to move ahead with the new hosts, but more slowly and deliberately and we'll run parallel for a while till we finally pull the plug on ddc and move our servers out of their facility."}, {"response": 64, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jan  5, 2000 (18:00)", "body": "There has only been one problem today that I am aware of. A lady in Toronto is having difficulties connecting. She has forgotten her login and password so I gave her the URL for new user and she got the 404 message. Same with main. I am still working on it with her. (Maybe it is Montreal she is from, but it definitely in Canada!)"}, {"response": 65, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jan  6, 2000 (12:51)", "body": "Then there is this morning. I am back to telnetting even though the numerical ip's work. Ladies in Springfolks are having anxiety attacks, but I shall reassure then that they are in good hands."}, {"response": 66, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jan  6, 2000 (16:32)", "body": "e-Lert! from Austin360.com What a Party! The millennium hoopla is over for now, but what a great party it was as over 200,000 revelers celebrated the new year on Congress Avenue partying like it was...no, we won't even say it. Re-live the A2K celebration by reading your neighbors' comments about the party, viewing slideshows, and experiencing the wrap-up on Austin's biggest party ever: Austin 360 Millennium Coverage Now it's time to hit the hike and bike trail, burn off some of those excess holiday calories, and get back to the usual exciting Austin weekends. Here's our weekly list of Austin weekend favorites. NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Friday through Sunday -- The Austin Home & Garden Show will have plenty of ideas and exhibits to help you remodel, redecorate and landscape. An 1100-square-foot 'cabin' will be on display. Whatever your style, your re-decorating juices will be flowing. Get inspired Friday and Saturday -- The Megabuck Bull Riding Championships are kicking at the Travis County Expo Center. More than 50 cowpokes compete against themselves, the clock and the big beasts. No bull! Saturday, January 8 -- Grab a cup of coffee and marvel at a unique performance by a dog and his man. \"Circus Chicken Dog\" also features a talking parrot, storytelling, frisbees and juggling. Catch it at Ruta Maya at 10:30 a.m. Woof, Woof, Cluck! NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: Move beyond mainstream: \"Transcending Limits\" at Jones Center for Contemporary Art \ufffd Music: Hey Baby! Ted Roddy's Graceland Revue is at the Continental Club. See who else is playing \ufffd Movies: Tom Cruise as a sexy male chauvinist? See it only in P.T. Anderson's 'Magnolia' \ufffd Sports: The Cowboys limp into the playoffs vs. the Vikings \ufffd Dining: Suzi's China Grill serves great food that 'keeps packing them in' \ufffd Travel: Explore Europe: Find flights from Austin to Venice, Barcelona or Zurich for $359 \ufffd Recreation: It's time to start getting ready for the Cap 10K \ufffd Community: Rev up your engines! Head over to the Palmer Auditorium Car Show GAME FOR WINDOW SHOPPING? Click through our selection of shops and find the perfect thing for you or a friend! We've got Deals & Steals, Brand Names, Auctions and Coupons. Browse from the comfort of your home! Shopping The ultimate natural body-care gift basket from Sabia Botanicals - $75. Free hand-delivery to any Austin address. Click here to purchase online. GET CONNECTED Future star athletes. \"Westlake Girl's B-ball -- congrats to the Lady Chaps in their victory over Cleburne to win the championship game in their own tourney.\" -- says MandyH . Tell us how your favorite high school team is doing. Cheer them on at 360 The holidays are over and time is a bit slower. Make some home improvements with some tips from Austin 360. Austin 360 Home Improvement Join us and Talk City for the most interesting celebrity and special interest chats. Among this week's offerings is: * This Saturday night chat with the members of \"Freaks & Geeks\" * If freaks aren't your speed how 'bout the new NBC game show \"Twenty One?\" * Join Web career expert Sacha Cohen next Tuesday. People & Chat Looking to make wholesome strides in 2000? Let the Austin Herb Society show you how herbs compliment your health. \ufffd The Austin Herb Society \ufffd Health & Environmental Groups Copyright 2000 Cox Interactive Media. WEEKEND WEATHER The long arm of winter has finally found us - find out just how cold it's going to be and check the KVUE 24 five-day forecast on Austin360.com. Weather THE ROAD TO SUPER BOWL XXXIV Before you join in the office pool, take a moment to shore up your picks. Reflect on the 1999 season, consult with other fans, and cast your vote for the greatest Super Bowl moments of all time. Super Bowl 2000 ---------- *SPOTLIGHT* Get healthy We've got tips and tools to help you keep those New Year's resolutions. Find a local gym, work off those love handles, and use our fast food calorie counters. Get in shape ----------"}, {"response": 67, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jan  6, 2000 (18:40)", "body": "Does anyone need me to post these E-lerts for Austin here? If not, I shall save Terry some space. If so, I'd be happy to continue to do so. Just let me know..."}, {"response": 68, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Jan  9, 2000 (08:18)", "body": "No, I love them, perhaps you could cut out some stuff and just post the highlights, a bit of editing perhaps!"}, {"response": 69, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Jan  9, 2000 (08:59)", "body": "Actually, they're good just like they are. I'm going to check out that Home and Garden Show today. Thanks for the tip!"}, {"response": 70, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Jan  9, 2000 (14:20)", "body": "Only the one I posted in Telnet got through with all the junk attached. I do usually edit out the extraneous material which comes with these posts. I am delighted to continue to post them. It makes me feel like I am getting to know Austin better, and that is very good, indeed."}, {"response": 71, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Jan  9, 2000 (20:12)", "body": "Hey, really."}, {"response": 72, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jan 13, 2000 (11:46)", "body": "e-Lert! from Austin360.com Austin Weekend Highlights The Austin 360.com e-Lert! is here with our picks of the best events going on around Austin. From the opening of Austin Lyric Opera's \"Candide,\" to the Longhorn hoopsters hosting the Oklahoma Sooners at the Erwin Center, to tributes to Martin Luther King Jr., this weekend offers a wide variety of entertaining and engaging events. NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Friday, January 14 -- The Generals finally gave up, but the Nationals will be the Harlem Globe Trotters victims when the clown-princes of the hardcourt make it to the Erwin Center on Friday. They shoot, they score Saturday, January 15 -- If the call of the wild and the open road are loud in your ears, you owe it to yourself to check out the Austin RV Show. Answer the call Sunday, January 16 -- Honor Martin Luther King Jr. as Austin churches from both sides of I-35 join for prayer, fellowship and celebration. Join the celebration NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: Let yourself be dazzled by the Austin Lyric Opera's 'Candide' \ufffd Music: Catch 2 Muses and other local acts at the Live Oak Coffeehouse benefit concert \ufffd Movies: 'Girl, Interrupted' puts Winona Ryder in a mental institution. Get local showtimes \ufffd Sports: Saturday, the Longhorns host the No. 16 Sooners at the Erwin Center \ufffd Dining: Shed tears of joy when you treat your tummy at the Onion Creek Grille \ufffd Travel: Explore West Texas this weekend with a drive along Highway 67 \ufffd Recreation: You got a hobbie? Find others like you in our recreation community \ufffd Community: Nature calls tree lovers to Wild Basin's Family Trails Days WANT TO BUY TICKETS? Whether you want to go to a hip concert, see your favorite sporting team or take a vacation, check out the current selection. You may see something you hadn't even thought about. Let your mouse do the walking!! Tickets GET CONNECTED Finger lickin' good! \"This place is fabulous! Service was attentive, helpful (he suggested the second dish) and friendly.\" -- says amysue about Thai Garden. Be a food critic and tell us about Austin's best and worst restaurants. Chew things over Work off the holiday love handles by checking out our tips for improving your home, sweet home. Hitch up your tool belt Join us and Talk City for the most interesting celebrity and special interest chats. Among this week's offerings is: * Friday night meet Washington Post's Karl Evanz * The 2000 presidential race starts in Iowa and we'll be there chatting * Country star Jessica Andrews chats Monday People & Chat Looking for an alternative to educate your children? The Austin Area Homeschoolers can help you explore your options. \ufffd The Austin Area Homeschoolers \ufffd More Educational Groups If you have any questions or suggestions about the e-Lert!, let us know: Austin 360 Feedback Copyright 2000 Cox Interactive Media. WEEKEND WEATHER SNOW! ... is not in the forecast. To find out what is, check the KVUE 24 five-day forecast on Austin360.com. Weather NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS: 2000 Whether you've resolved to stop smoking, get off your duff and exercise, or just be happier in 2000; we've got some tips to keep you on track and great ideas for those focused on fitness. Keeping Resolutions Getting in Shape ----------"}, {"response": 73, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jan 20, 2000 (12:51)", "body": "e-Lert! from Austin360.com Austin Highlights Austin variety is at its finest this weekend -- the Flatlanders reunite at the Cactus Cafe, Austinites begin training for the Capitol 10k and FronteraFest takes to the stage. It's a great time for music, movies, dining out and more, with Austin360.com's e-Lert! bringing you the highlights. P.S. Don't miss tonight's Lunar Eclipse. NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Friday, January 21 -- Get in touch with Martin Luther King Jr.'s vision as James Earl Jones gives a keynote speech in this week of celebration for the Rev. King's life. Free your mind Saturday, January 22 -- Experience the original vampire film, \"Nosferatu\", with live orchestral accompaniment at the Paramount. Embrace the night Sunday, January 23 -- Hunt for your favorite childhood book or pick up a copy of an ancient world map at the Austin Book and Paper Show. Turn back the covers NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: Fill your days with FronteraFest 2000 drama \ufffd Music: Witness the Cactus Cafe reunion of the Flatlanders \ufffd Movies: 'Angela's Ashes' puts a face to poverty during the '40s. Get local showtimes \ufffd Sports: Be there in spirit Saturday as the Horns battle the Red Raiders \ufffd Dining: The buzz is out on Austin's Tocai ... and it's better than ever \ufffd Travel: Long to see soaring cliffs and high peaks? Plan a trip to the Guadalupe Mountains \ufffd Recreation: Get in training for this year's Capitol 10k \ufffd Community: Feel the rhythm of Rio at the Capoeira Angola Workshop CAN YOU SAY SHOP? Options abound! Check out computers, software, books, music, movies, games or whatever suits your fancy. You might even find a coupon you need! Start clicking and shop away! Shopping Get all the gear you need to bike the Greenbelt in style. Click for the best deals on the Internet. GET CONNECTED Light rail or not? \"Bottom line -- clean house on the board of Cap Metro -- fire Rae and return the $60 million to the taxpayers of Central Texas\" -- says Vic Vreeland. Feeling the traffic blues? Tell us about it. Verbalize your road rage Get a head start on your taxes. Download forms, check out the latest software and talk about your tax trials and tribulations with fellow Austinites. Get help Join us and Talk City for the most interesting celebrity and special interest chats. Among this week's offerings is: * Chat about your pets 24 hours a day! * Meet Bruce Campbell, actor in \"Menno's Mind\" * Learn about astronomy with the daily Cosmos chat People & Chat Love the skirl of the bagpipes? Join the Capitol City Highlanders band or let them teach you how to play. \ufffd Capitol City Highlanders \ufffd More Music Groups WEEKEND WEATHER See how slight Austin's chance of rain really is. Check the KVUE 24 five-day forecast on Austin360.com. Weather TIME TO PLAN A GETAWAY It's hard to get through the rest of winter without something to look forward to. Why not plan a fun trip? Our travel channel offers all the resources you'll need to plan the perfect getaway. Travel Central ---------- *SPOTLIGHT* Portland, Oregon Fly to Portland for only $148 RT. Visit our weekly summary of Internet airfare specials from Austin. Internet Airfare Summary ----------"}, {"response": 74, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Jan 21, 2000 (09:00)", "body": "Don't forget Sunday's basketball game, Austin's Pro team the Cyclones is playing with Kris Clack."}, {"response": 75, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jan 21, 2000 (13:23)", "body": "Good point...wonder why they did not report it?!"}, {"response": 76, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Jan 22, 2000 (17:22)", "body": "It was on the sports pages, Clack, or is it Klack?, was an athletic UT standout and is a good NBA prospect. He was once a MacDonalds All American in high school. The Celtics have an option on him."}, {"response": 77, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jan 22, 2000 (21:04)", "body": "It must be terrific to have a great team to root for in your town. Alas, ours is not. They are nice, polite, etc but they are not a NCAA Division I team despite the fondest wishes of our Athletic Director."}, {"response": 78, "author": "stacey", "date": "Wed, Feb  2, 2000 (12:44)", "body": "But they could probably still kick the pants of our Nuggets..."}, {"response": 79, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Thu, Feb  3, 2000 (08:22)", "body": "I missed that Cyclones game, a little football game called the Superbowl was on and I struggled though it for another year of agonizing that I once owned the name superbowl.com and let it go. But there's another clyclone game Feb 5 here agagainst San Marcos."}, {"response": 80, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Feb  3, 2000 (13:26)", "body": "Oh no! Terry! This is gonna haunt you as long as there is a Superbowl. My sympathies!"}, {"response": 81, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Feb  3, 2000 (14:41)", "body": "e-Lert! from Austin360.com Austin Weekend Highlights It's shaping up to be a beautiful Austin weekend and Austin 360 is here with our list of recommended activities. There are lots of exciting things going on around town, including three Ice Bats games at the Bat Cave (Travis County Expo) this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Ice Bat Schedule And speaking of Bats, do you know how fast the Congress Avenue Bridge Bats can fly? 50 mph? 60 mph? 70 mph? 80 mph? Take the TAT Test: Truly Austin Trivia NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Friday, February 4 -- Let a little Latin jazz into your life as you sip on a mocha at Cafe Mundi. Kick back and relax Saturday, January 5 -- Support the UT hoops team, TV remote in hand, as they take on the UMass Minutemen. Finger on the clicker Sunday, January 6 -- Get your feet slapping the pavement in the 3M Half Marathon. Start huffing and puffing NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: Try on a few styles, moods and media at UT's annual art exhibition \ufffd Music: Clamor for the last few tickets to the Pretenders and Gay Dad \ufffd Movies: Discover who dies this time around in 'Scream 3.' Get local showtimes \ufffd Sports: Check out pictures and video of your favorite NASCAR drivers and cars \ufffd Dining: If it weren't for a few niggles, eating at Mars could be out of this world \ufffd Travel: Find South Texas flavor in Kingsville, just a four-hour road trip away \ufffd Recreation: Don't run afoul of the law on Lake Travis. Check the new regulations \ufffd Community: Hi-ho! Hi-ho! To summer camp search we go! FLOWERS ARE ALWAYS GOOD!! Say how much you care with a beautiful bouquet! We have some great options for Valentine's gifts. With a few clicks, you can take care of your entire list! Shopping Valentines Day is just around the corner. You can have chocolate-covered strawberries from Dr. Chocolate hand delivered for free. Order online today! Chocolate covered strawberries. GET CONNECTED Mack knows football. \"At the least it gave me some reassurance that Mack and his staff have a definite understanding of what's required of them in this off-season\" -- says \"Scipio Tex\" about Mack's press conference comments. What do you think of UT's new recruits? Discussing your body with a doctor often can be difficult. If you're a woman, find out the answers to 10 questions you may hate to ask. Educate yourself Join us and Talk City for the most interesting celebrity and special interest chats. Among this week's offerings are: * Meet \"Zoe\" star Selma Blair * Chat with the stars of \"Passions\" * Meet former Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart People & Chat Happy New Year! Celebrate the Year of the Dragon, with Chinese Society of Austin and Asian Chamber of Commerce events. \ufffd Chinese Society of Austin * Asian Chamber of Commerce If you have any questions or suggestions about the e-Lert!, let us know: Austin 360 Feedback"}, {"response": 82, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Feb 10, 2000 (12:44)", "body": "e-Lert! from Austin360.com Austin Valentines This is the last weekend before Valentines' Day, so make your plans to treat your someone special to someplace special. Austin360.com has dozens of reviews of the best restaurants in town, including Austinite picks of the best romantic restaurants. Find the perfect romantic spot. Truly Austin The Texas Hill Country is big, really big, but just how big is it? Test your local knowledge NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Friday, February 11 -- Live la vida loca at Austin's Carnaval Brasileiro. Prepare to party Saturday, February 12 -- The Longhorn baseball team hosts Sam Houston for the second of three games this weekend. Batter up! Sunday, February 13 -- Join the Smashing Pumpkins for their record signing at Waterloo Records. Grab a pen Monday, VALENTINE'S DAY! -- Not-quite-too-late gift ideas and our Cupid Contest results. Oui, je t'aime NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: Examine 'El Ojo Fino,' photographs by great women of Mexico, opening Saturday \ufffd Music: Catch 47 Indians, Bob Meyer, Tony Campise and more at Sullivan's \ufffd Movies: Frolic on 'The Beach' with Leonardo DiCaprio. Get local showtimes \ufffd Sports: UT will take the Tigers by the tails Saturday. Follow the game online \ufffd Dining: Musashino Sushi Dokoro is learning the trouble with success \ufffd Travel: Plan a trip to Big Bend before the height of the tourist season \ufffd Recreation: The cold snap is over. It's time to train for the Cap 10K \ufffd Community: Searching for spirituality? Check out dozens of Central Texas houses of worship GIVE YOUR HEART AWAY... ...a chocolate heart that is. Whether it's a cookbook, gift basket or a box, chocolate is a great idea for Valentine's Day. Select the perfect option and melt the heart of your sweetie!! Shopping Sweets for your Sweetie? You can have chocolate-covered strawberries from Austin's own \"Dr. Chocolate\" with free hand delivery. Order online today! Chocolate-covered strawberries. GET CONNECTED Wanted: allergy advice. \"What ... are you taking? I've been on antibotics, all sorts of allergy medicine and nasal inhalors for the past 2 years and nothing seems to get rid of (them),\" -- says \"delayne\" about her allergies. How do you deal with the sneezin' season? Got a tax question? Ask our IRS expert for help. Talking with the tax man Join us and Talk City for the most interesting celebrity and special interest chats. Among this week's offerings are: * Meet Dr. John Gray, author of \"Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus.\" * Meet author Douglas Coupland * Get makeup tips from Scarlett! People & Chat Love is in the air! Celebrate Valentine's Day with the Way Off Broadway Community Players' \"Crimes of the Heart.\" \ufffd Bare your heart If you have any questions or suggestions about the e-Lert!, let us know: Austin 360 Feedback"}, {"response": 83, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Feb 17, 2000 (15:48)", "body": "e-Lert! from Austin360.com Weekend Highlights A rugby scrum, a big bird, a yellow submarine - just a few of the things you could see around Austin this weekend. Here is Austin360.com's list of featured favorite entertainment events. Truly Austin Awash in water Austin is not, but what's the average yearly rainfall for the state's capital city? Test your local knowledge NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Friday, February 18 -- Spend time with your toddler at storytime and listen to 'My Little Sister Ate One Hare'. Once upon a time ... Saturday, February 19 -- Prick up your ears for the crack of the bat at the Texas Invitational softball tournament. Swing, batter, batter, batter Sunday, February 20 -- Plunge into the depths of Beatlemania as the Alamo Drafthouse screens 'Yellow Submarine'. Dive! Dive! Dive! NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: It's worth the drive to San Antonio's Inter-American Bookfair & Literary Festival \ufffd Music: Sons of Hercules, Belmont Playboys, Bellfuries hit the Continental Club Saturday \ufffd Movies: If you turn out the lights, the party's over. Catch sci-fi thriller 'Pitch Black' in local theaters \ufffd Sports: Join the scrum of the earth as the Austin Huns Rugby Club battles Woodlands \ufffd Dining: 'Zoot' alors! Enjoy dinner at a Bistro full of new ideas, established care and quality \ufffd Travel: Celebrate Marriage of the Port weekend at a world-class College Station winery \ufffd Recreation: Experience ancient Chinese Kung Fu at Sunday's Shaolin-Do tournament \ufffd Community: Set camp with Big Bird, Snuffy and Elmo WANT TO BROWSE? Nothing pops into your head as a must have? Cruise through our recommended items - it just may jog your memory of something you totally forgot about! Get that gift for an upcoming birthday or anniversary early! Shopping GET CONNECTED Boom or bust? \"I think we should remember our Smart Growth pledge and hold to it! We need to stop sprawl NOW.\" -- says \"Bufason\" about Austin's expansion. What's your take on area development? Get ready for spring. Find Austin's finest health clubs and gyms. Get fit! Join us and Talk City for the most interesting celebrity and special interest chats. Among this week's offerings are: * Superstar Brandy chats * \"Red Shoe Diaries\" director Zalman King * Grammy Awards chats! People & Chat Kick up your heels with clogging lessons from the Clickety Cloggers of Austin. You're bound to have a stompin' good time. \ufffd Get to cloggin' If you have any questions or suggestions about the e-Lert!, let us know: Austin 360 Feedback Copyright 2000 Cox Interactive Media. WEEKEND WEATHER Chance of some rain, then it's back to the sun and shine. Check the KVUE 24 five-day forecast on Austin360.com. Weather"}, {"response": 84, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Fri, Feb 18, 2000 (07:19)", "body": "Nothing stands out, really."}, {"response": 85, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Feb 18, 2000 (13:22)", "body": "Nothing but the Rugby..."}, {"response": 86, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Feb 24, 2000 (13:43)", "body": "e-Lert! from Austin360.com We love weekends like this one ... chock full of fun happenings around town. Want to take your dog for a walk? How about in the biggest dog walk in the world? Austin's going for the record again this year. Want to get outta town and cut loose a little? Try Mardi Gras in Galveston. These and other events join our list of top Austin entertainment picks, February 24 -- March 1, but be sure to check our calendar for more fun besides. Check today's events calendar NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Friday, February 25 -- Bleeding to death isn't much fun. The Blood and Tissue Center of Central Texas is in dire need of blood, but you can help. Roll up your sleeve Saturday, February 26 -- The Texas A&M Aggies come to town for one of the Longhorns' last home games this season. Poor Aggies? Sunday, February 27 -- Spend a day with the kids at the Austin Stamp Show. First class all the way! NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: Drumming, dancing and singing at \"Sister Moses: The Story of Harriet Tubman\" \ufffd Music: Catch the Texas Swamp Pop and Blues Divas \ufffd Movies: Live life Las Vegas style with Ben Affleck in 'Reindeer Games'. Find local showtimes \ufffd Sports: High school hoops playoffs are happening all over \ufffd Dining: Craving fine food? Round Rock's 'Main Street Grill' could be the place for you \ufffd Travel: Enjoy Mardi Gras Texas-style in Galveston, Friday through March 7 \ufffd Recreation: It's time to Bowl for Kids' sake at Highland Lanes \ufffd Community: Go for the world record Saturday at the Mighty Texas Dog Walk SHORT ON COMPUTER GADGETS? Before you buy a new toy, scan our product reviews. They will give you buying tips, user reviews, ratings and the \"right choice\" recommendation. It's a whole new way to shop! Shopping The race is on. The registration is online. Register online for the Capitol 10,000. GET CONNECTED Pass or fail? \"I for one think we have new leadership that actually might change the dysfunctionality of the district over the next few years.\" -- says \"Dynamom\" about AISD. You grade AISD What's in Goliad? Where's the Messina Hof Winery? Find out with a day trip to explore Central Texas. Take a Texas trip Join us and Talk City for the most interesting celebrity and special interest chats. Among this week's offerings are: * actor and writer Danny Hoch * Paddy Moloney of The Chieftains * blues guitarist Jonny Lang People & Chat Get your vocal chords a good workout .Join the Austin Chord Rangers or just sit back and enjoy the harmonies of this a cappella men's chorus. \ufffd Sing along If you have any questions or suggestions about the e-Lert!, let us know: Austin 360 Feedback Copyright 2000 Cox Interactive Media. WEEKEND WEATHER A little rain may start things off, but the sun and heat are close behind. Check the KVUE 24 five-day forecast on Austin360.com."}, {"response": 87, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Fri, Feb 25, 2000 (09:52)", "body": "I'll be checking out the concert at Antones tonight. The UT Kansas game is the last big basketball event. Still haven't made it to a Cyclones game, they're Austin's under-reported, stealth pro team."}, {"response": 88, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Feb 25, 2000 (12:19)", "body": "I thought it was the TAMU - UT game which was the big one...but I guess TAMU is not in the top 25 this year (like Penn State *sigh* ). Good luck, and have fun in the mosh pit!"}, {"response": 89, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Sun, Feb 27, 2000 (20:25)", "body": "Great Wailers concert, I put it out live on the website last night via remote feed, anyone catch it?"}, {"response": 90, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Feb 27, 2000 (20:40)", "body": "I tried and tried and I could not get any picture or sound. \"Turn of the Screw\" is coming in just fine - but nothing of the wailers...Waaaaaa!"}, {"response": 91, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Sun, Feb 27, 2000 (22:08)", "body": "That's ok, I made a live tape, when do you want to see it?"}, {"response": 92, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Sun, Feb 27, 2000 (22:56)", "body": "How about right now?"}, {"response": 93, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Sun, Feb 27, 2000 (23:21)", "body": "Charming Wimberly."}, {"response": 94, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Feb 28, 2000 (12:34)", "body": "I really liked the trip to Wimberly. It is charming and reminds me of the gingerbread work on the Parker ranch houses on this Island. Thanks for such a neat trip, and special thanks for being up close and personal. That was a real treat! (Does Texas have all of the good-looking men??? (Btw, you need to rewind your tape!)"}, {"response": 95, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Wed, Mar  1, 2000 (09:03)", "body": "OK I'll rewind it now."}, {"response": 96, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Wed, Mar  1, 2000 (09:09)", "body": "Now it's playing and can be accessed via the movie link at http://www.spring.net ."}, {"response": 97, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Mar  1, 2000 (11:31)", "body": "Thanks Terry!"}, {"response": 98, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Mar  1, 2000 (11:34)", "body": "I shoulda checked first. Needs to be checked - same noise but can see the video (they are reading the play again.)"}, {"response": 99, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Mar  2, 2000 (14:01)", "body": "e-Lert! from Austin360.com Friday 3rd through Tuesday 7th Austin Native? -- a rare bird indeed who can say that they were born and raised in Austin, Texas. With the steady stream of invaders, er, newcomers to Austin, it may be hard for some to understand what all the \"Texas Independence Day\" fuss is about. But the dozens of events associated with Texas Independence Day give transplants a unique opportunity to throw themselves into the history and culture of their new town and new state. NEED WEEKEND PLANS? -- Son of a gun, you'll have big fun at Austin's Mardi Gras shindigs. Laissez les bon temps rouler Friday 3rd through Sunday 5th -- Get your thumbs green at the Spring Home and Garden Show. Plant the seeds of creativity Sunday, February 5 -- Hone your parenting skills with a free workshop on child/parent power struggles. Start taking notes NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: See \"A\ufffdda,\" Verdi's fantastic Egyptian opera, at Bass Concert Hall \ufffd Music: Play Bingo with El Orbits at the Continental Club \ufffd Movies: Madonna tries a new approach to family in 'The Next Best Thing'. Find local showtimes \ufffd Sports: Texas tries to head out in style at lowly K-State, in men's hoops. \ufffd Dining: Louie's 106 offers fare from the good to the great \ufffd Travel: Fly away cheap: Big Apple for $159, L.A. for $168 \ufffd Recreation: Catch the fun at the Open Bass Tournament on Lake Belton \ufffd Community: Mmm, mmm, delicious! Get down to the crawfish boil and concert on 6th Street BUY LOCAL!! Browse \"local sales\" in your neighborhood. From music, to tires, clothes and CD players....it's a great place to find what you need. Shopping The race is on. The registration is online. Register online for the Capitol 10,000. GET CONNECTED Musical haven? \"$75 per wristband is a great way to cash in on this whole experience. For the people throwing the party, that is.\" -- says \"SheRa\" about the upcoming SXSW music festival. Strike your chord Got a remodeling job? Not looking forward to soliciting bids? Make it easy and do it online with pre-approved contractors on ImproveNet. Contact a contractor Join us and Talk City for the most interesting celebrity and special interest chats. Among this week's offerings are: * Jean Paul Gaultier * Country music legend Willie Nelson * actress Lisa Rinna People & Chat Get your vocal chords a good workout .Join the Austin Chord Rangers or just sit back and enjoy the harmonies of this a cappella men's chorus. \ufffd Sing along If you have any questions or suggestions about the e-Lert!, let us know: Austin 360 Feedback"}, {"response": 100, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Fri, Mar  3, 2000 (07:01)", "body": "I will be building a ten room additon on the cottage this weekend. My new roommate / friend William from Champaign Urbana IL and I may go see a Cyclones game, and possibly Nia dance this afternoon. The Spring Home and Garden Show sounds good."}, {"response": 101, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Mar  3, 2000 (13:58)", "body": "Terry...when do you sleep?! 10 rooms over the weekend? How about a picture of this edifice that Terry built? Or was it that wood experior house on Your tour video with the two-storey flat back? (Poor description, but that came as quickly to mind as anything...)"}, {"response": 102, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Mar  3, 2000 (14:01)", "body": "At the home and garden show last year I won a shovel (with which I shovel the stuff into Geo...*grin*) Ours is this weekend again, as well. It is a great place to get ideas."}, {"response": 103, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Sat, Mar  4, 2000 (03:31)", "body": "http://www.spring.net/directions or http://www.spring.net will show you the old stuff."}, {"response": 104, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Mar  4, 2000 (12:06)", "body": "Ok, the Cedar Creek house was the one you showed briefly in the video containing your trip to Wimberley and the Raggae concert...I am becoming familiar with more of Austin. It is not at all the way I had pictured it. It seems to be very nice though there is not much grass around or amny plants with big leaves like we have...but, then, you do not get upwards of 200\" of rain per year!"}, {"response": 105, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Sat, Mar  4, 2000 (15:31)", "body": "It's pretty green around these parts, and lotsa trees."}, {"response": 106, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Mar  4, 2000 (15:48)", "body": "I expected to see a lot of pale brown 'dirt' whisking around in the breezes and an occasional miserablly stunted tree. I absolutely go bonkers over trees. The one I planted when David was a baby is now at least 30 feet tall and unbrellas all over the lawn - and blooms, too. I am delighted that you have trees! What kind are they? All cottonwoods?"}, {"response": 107, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Mar  6, 2000 (21:09)", "body": "Clear Channel to sell 72 radio stations to do deal SAN ANTONIO, Texas (Reuters) - America's largest radio operator, Clear Channel Communications, Inc., said Monday it has agreed to sell off 72 stations in 27 markets in conjunction with its pending merger with AMFM, Inc. The proposed divestitures, which are subject to regulatory approval and also contingent on the closing of the AMFM merger, involve other major radio operators, including Cox Radio Inc., Infinity Broadcasting and Hispanic Broadcasting Corp. The announcement comes a week after Clear Channel said it plans to acquire sports and entertainment promoter SFX Entertainment Inc. for some $2.8 billion. After the AMFM merger is completed this year, Clear Channel, with revenues of $2.68 billion last year, will operate around 874 adio and 19 television stations in the United States. It also has equity interests in over 240 radio stations internationally. Clear Channel also operates more than 550,000 outdoor advertising displays, including billboards, street furniture and transit panels across the world. Clear Channel had no immediate comment on the radio divestitures, but several of the purchasing companies did. Infinity Broadcasting, a subsidiary of CBS Corp. said it will acquire 18 stations in Cleveland, Cincinnati, Denver, Orlando, Phoenix, San Diego and Greensboro, N.C. from Clear Channel for approximately $1.4 billion. ``This acquisition is consistent with Infinity's strategy of acquiring radio and outdoor properties in the nation's largest revenue markets,'' said Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Mel Karmazin. ``It expands the company's presence into five new top 50 markets while increasing our position in the communities Infinity Radio already serves.'' Atlanta-based Cox Radio said it will acquire three FM stations serving Houston and three FM stations and one AM station serving Richmond, Va. for a total of $380 million in cash. Cox President and Chief Executive Officer Robert Neil said: ''We are extremely excited about the growth opportunities these acquisitions bring to Cox Radio and our shareholders. Houston and Richmond are both fast growing markets with attractive demographics.'' In Dallas, Hispanic Broadcasting said it will acquire three Spanish-language FM stations in Denver, Phoenix and Austin, Texas for approximately $127 million in cash."}, {"response": 108, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Mar 10, 2000 (12:17)", "body": "e-Lert! from Austin360.com SXSW Live Music Capital of the World? Austin, Texas? At one time that claim to fame seemed so hollow and pretentious of us. But not anymore. In the coming weeks Austin steps onto the stage, and lights up the night with a parade of bands from all over the world, offering a great chance to truly immerse yourself in live music - or in film, or in interactive - the SXSW Interactive Festival and SXSW Film Festival converge on the town as well. Who are the must-see bands? What films should be on your list? What great speakers come to the Interactive Festival? Be sure to check Austin360.com's guide to the festivities before heading out. Austin360.com SXSW 2000 Guide NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Friday, March 10 -- Join throngs of high schoolers as they cheer their baskebtall teams at the UIL state championships. Saturday, March 11 -- Saddle up for the Star of Texas Fair and Rodeo as it kicks off with live music, carnival rides and lots of BBQ Pull on your ropers Sunday, March 12 -- Let your imagination soar as the Zilker Park Kite Fest fills the sky over the park with color and the giggles of children. Up, up and away! NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: Learn about African-American culture through 'The Colored Museum' \ufffd Music: Commemorate the 250th anniversary of Bach's death \ufffd Movies: Get your tush-warmer ready, there's plenty to see at SXSW's Film Fest \ufffd Sports: Join the Texas Longhorn men at the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City \ufffd Dining: Find out why the new upscale version of 'The Iron Cactus' is good, but could be better \ufffd Travel: Heading to San Antonio for the weekend? Find out what's going on there \ufffd Recreation: Lunker-mania is catching on big in West Texas \ufffd Community: Watch your weekend blossom at the Wildflower Days' Artisan Festival CHEERS! Toast to St. Paddy's Day with an Irish charm! Learn about their unique traditions and social customs. Be ready for the big holiday!! Shopping GET CONNECTED Spread your wings. \"I know I'm starting to sound like an evangelist for Southwest Airlines, but here's yet ANOTHER awesome sale they've got going...available only via Internet.\" -- says 360 travel guru \"melissa360\". Check out the deal Post your own travel tips The ol' computer getting a little slow? Looking for more memory or a new machine? Find what you need with the Austin Computers Directory. Seek and compute Join us and Talk City for the most interesting celebrity and special interest chats. Among this week's offerings are: * The Soap Opera Awards live chat! * Actress Rachael Leigh Cook * Gene Simmons of KISS! People & Chat What's going on in the Austin area that could impact your life? Find out when you meet local newsmakers at the Metropolitan Breakfast Club meetings. \ufffd Get the scoop"}, {"response": 109, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Sun, Mar 12, 2000 (15:48)", "body": "Yeah yeah, y'all be quiet about that stuff, I still can't afford tickets for the editors to come to SXSW. And it starts getting on my nerve...! There are so many label folks from even tiny places over here popping over to check for talent, and so much talent from here checking for distribution there. And a certain private party I'd like to attend... Darn. Gotta start doing the lottery ticket thang."}, {"response": 110, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Mar 12, 2000 (18:02)", "body": "*sigh*...me, too! This would be a perfect business deductions. However, one needs the where-with-all to find the trip in the first place...*sigh*"}, {"response": 111, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Tue, Mar 14, 2000 (13:18)", "body": "Well, here's nothing to deduct from. We better strike gold soon."}, {"response": 112, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Mar 14, 2000 (13:42)", "body": "Know that problem! I wish that for you, as well. You have certainly have paid you dues and put in the time."}, {"response": 113, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Mar 16, 2000 (17:03)", "body": "e-Lert! from Austin360.com SXSW, March Madness, St. Patrick's Day There are so many great things going on this weekend, its hard to know where to begin. SXSW Interactive is done, but the Film Festival and Music Festival are in full gear. Check our complete guide to the fun: SXSW 2000 Guide The Longhorns have advanced to the second round of the NCAA tourney with a 77-61 win over Indiana State. Log onto to keep tabs on both the Men's and the Women's team progress. NCAA Basketball TournamentGuide When and where is the best St. Patrick's Day Party on Friday? Which grocery store has the best price on Guiness? Check our guide to how to best enjoy St. Patrick's Day. St. Patrick's Day Guide NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Friday, March 17 -- When it comes to free concerts SXSW does it right. Rock legend Patti Smith live and free. This is not a joke. We're serious Saturday and Sunday, March 18 & 19 -- SXSW hub-bub got you needing some relaxation? Just wander down to the shores of Town Lake for the annual Heart of Texas Regatta. Stroke! Stroke! Stroke! Saturday and Sunday, March 18 & 19 -- Another weekend of good ol' rodeo fun at the 2000 Star of Texas Fair and Rodeo. Giddeyup! NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: Enjoy a multimedia performance of original musical works \ufffd Music: No wristband needed: King Soul, Rocket 69, Pat Griffin, SXSCongress \ufffd Movies: Julia Robert's \"Erin Brockovich,\" leads the new films opening in Austin. Check showtimes \ufffd Sports: Keep up with the Longhorn men and women in the NCAA hoops tournament \ufffd Dining: Rate South First's Tex-Mex restaurants \ufffd Travel: Hit the beach at South Padre for $78 or Corpus Christi for $80 \ufffd Recreation: Learn to climb a rock or camp out at the REI Scout/Outdoor Jam \ufffd Community: Sign up for the Cap 10k FLOWERS FOR ST. PATRICK'S DAY? Oh, yeah, we've got them! Send an unexpected greeting that won't deflate your wallet. You'll light up those Irish eyes!! Shopping GET CONNECTED Tax Q&A. \"Married filing separate has the possibility of higher tax rates\" -- says TAXMAN Get your questions answered Find the best contractor for your larger home improvement projects. Get quotes Join us and Talk City for the most interesting celebrity and special interest chats. Among this week's offerings are: * Bernese Mountain Dog owners chat! * psychic Mary Beth Wrenn * Marian Wright Edelman of the Children's Defense Fund People & Chat It's a small world, so give peace a chance. Make new friends from around the world by joining The Friendship Force of Austin. \ufffd Reach out If you have any questions or suggestions about the e-Lert!, let us know: Austin 360 Feedback Enjoy the fun weekend! Copyright 2000 Cox Interactive Media. WEEKEND WEATHER Hot, cold, rain, fog, sun. Plan for them all this weekend; check the KVUE 24 five-day forecast on Austin360.com. Weather MARCH MADNESS Embark on the road to the NCAA Final Four with complete coverage of the men's and women's tournaments. Look back on regular season stats, brush up on the competition with game previews, and debate your team's shot at the title with other fans. Men's Tournament Women's Tournament ---------- *SPOTLIGHT* Truly Austin Trivia How much is Southwestern Bell going to start charging for 1411 calls? Test your local knowledge"}, {"response": 114, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Mar 20, 2000 (20:36)", "body": ""}, {"response": 115, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Mar 20, 2000 (20:38)", "body": "Music's new and old win out at SXSW festival AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - Peering out at a packed crowd at the club La Zona Rosa over the weekend, Tom Gray of the British band Gomez issued a challenge to attendees of the annual South By Southwest music conference and festival. ``Now it's time to decide whether this is a music conference or whether you just ... love music,'' Gray said. ``You don't need to confer to work that out, do you?'' Put 7,000 musicians and record moguls in town together, and a conference is more than likely to break out. But besides the usual schmoozing and club-hopping, this year's SXSW celebrated renewed opportunities for independent music-making in an industry reshaped in recent years by corporate consolidation as well as the rise of MP3 and other Internet technologies. ``We've got a corporate climate out there that can't help but create opportunities,'' said Steve Earle, the maverick singer-songwriter who delivered this year's keynote address. ''It's gonna be easier for a smaller, more maneuverable entity to get involved in music on the Internet and a lot of other things. Big, cumbersome corporations move slowly. That's, to independent operators, an advantage.'' One had only to walk through the SXSW trade show to glimpse the ``dot-com mania'' sweeping the music scene. No less than 40 exhibitors, representing Web sites, online services and music download facilities, hawked their wares to festival attendees. Panel discussions took on topics ranging from ``DIY Digital Style'' and ``Hard Realities of Web Marketing'' to Internet radio, Web site design and online legal issues. ``The possibilities are endless as far as the promotion of music,'' said Kevin Kareth, a director of emusic.com, an Internet site with a catalog of 70,000 songs available for downloading. ``It makes it easier for a band to get out there. It's not going make it easy to be rock stars, but it makes it easier for five guys to put together a band and launch a business.'' With nearly 1,000 acts playing live before the event wrapped Sunday night, SXSW also championed making music the old-fashioned way. For five days, music was everywhere in Austin, beginning with bands playing for arrivals at the airport and continuing through SXSW evening showcases, after-hours parties and unofficial events at the festival's periphery. In fact, the hottest gig of all may have been a launch party for the new music magazine, Revolver, which drew controversy after booking a non-SXSW band, Guided By Voices, which delivered one of the week's best (and longest) shows. Out on the streets, established performers such as Mary Lou Lord (who braved a chilling rain storm) and the Continental Drifters busked for passers-by in addition to playing their own festival gigs. Even rock veteran Neil Young gave up a day off from the Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young tour to visit Austin and introduce his new concert film, ``Silver & Gold,'' which will be released April 25 on DVD. ``I like Austin,'' Young said before the screening. ``It's a music town.'' He even ventured out to catch SXSW favorite Jimmie Dale Gilmore's set, however, rumors to the contrary, did not perform at all himself. What set this year's event apart from previous editions was that no one act or musical style stood out as a must-see attraction; that made the festival a more open affair, and a number of veterans filled the breach with strong performances. Patti Smith, priming the world for her new album, ``Gung Ho,'' rocked an intimate private party for her record knocking over cocktail tables as she sang her cover of Them's ''Gloria'' then knocked out a crowd of about 6,000 the next evening during a free show at Austin's Waterloo Park. Other high-profile gigs included performances by Earle, former Led Zeppelin member John Paul Jones, the regrouped Meat Puppets, hip-hoppers Cypress Hill, country legend Ray Price and country rock group Whiskeytown. But some of music's potential next-big-things surfaced as well. Shelby Lynne, the country singer receiving rave reviews for her soulful new album, ``I Am Shelby Lynne,'' won even more friends with her SXSW performances. Marah, a roosty, loose-limbed outfit from Philadelphia that records for Earle's E-Squared label, turned in a buzz-generating performance, and country singer Ed Burleson established himself as a fresh force in a traditional form. Swedish hard rockers Backyard Babies and the Nomads gave the festival some crunch, while Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise, a group fronted by a former street singer from Detroit, offered several impressive displays of its gritty soul-rock blend. And the trippy, groove-laden concert given by Gomez was a killer that ranked among the best SXSW sets ever. There also was an abundance of the special collaborations that give the festival its flavor. The Jayhawks backed former Byrds leader Roger McGuinn at a private party, and he returned the favor that evening by playing with the Minneapolis group onstage during its "}, {"response": 116, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Tue, Mar 21, 2000 (14:57)", "body": "Mary Lou Lord supposedly is very good. Short feature in superstar 1/2000, though she doesn't have distribution in Germany... And Gomez are pretty decent, too."}, {"response": 117, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Mar 21, 2000 (15:25)", "body": "I was hoping you'd see the above post...I know you'd love to be in Austin for this event - even Reuters is covering it. Even this Beethoven-lover would like to be there - especially if we could team up with some gentlemen from the Spring... Sounds terrific! ...and Way Cool..."}, {"response": 118, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Mar 23, 2000 (13:47)", "body": "e-Lert! from Austin360.com Post SXSW Recovery Recovered from the fun yet? SXSW is gone, St. Patricks is over, but now it's time for more March Madness and the Oscars. What team will win the NCAA South Regional here in Austin this weekend? Scout the South If you are going to enjoy watching the Oscars, you better get out there and do your research. Click for new movies Which movie will win Best Picture? According to our poll, \"Cider House Rules\" and \"The Sixth Sense\" are in a dead heat. Cast your vote NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Friday, March 24 - Sunday 26 -- Get up close with the newest vehicles local car dealers have to offer at the Austin Auto Show. Kick the tires Saturday, March 25 -- Hear great music for a great cause at Cancer Jam 2000. Kick it for the cause Saturday, March 25 - Sunday 26 -- Take the family out to watch UT baseball, softball or tennis. Get sporty NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: Dance your Sunday away at Zilker Park \ufffd Music: It's a Nasty Saturday night at The Fuzz Club \ufffd Movies: \"Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai,\" leads the new films opening in Austin. Check showtimes \ufffd Sports: Update your NCAA hoops bracket and keep up with the South Regional at the Erwin Center \ufffd Dining: Enjoy a taste of India at the Clay Pit \ufffd Travel: Fly from Austin to Washington, D.C. for $158 or Sacramento for $169 \ufffd Recreation: Run, eat and cake walk at the CampFire Fun Run/FUNFEST \ufffd Community: Experience family fun at the Wildflower Days Children's Festival PLANNING YOUR SUMMER VACATION? Check our \"Recommended Items\" for some nifty travel accessories. From cosmetic bags and shaving kits, to locks and alarms, you're sure to find something to lessen your stress! Packing is a breeze and you can enjoy your trip!! Shopping GET CONNECTED Non-prescription sales tax: \"The only difference with the tax, is that the state doesn't get as much money off of someone elses 'promiscuity'\".\" -- says kitte108 What do you think? Learn 15 ways to save money on gas. Begin pumping Join us and Talk City for the most interesting celebrity and special interest chats. Among this week's offerings are: * \"Whatever It Takes\" star Shane West * Donny Osmond chats * Mona Golabek, creator and host of \"The Romantic Hours\" People & Chat There are plenty of Owls in town, so why not join the Austin Rice Alumni for happy hour. \ufffd Go Owls! \ufffd Get your alumni group online If you have any questions or suggestions about the e-Lert!, let us know: Austin 360 Feedback Copyright 2000 Cox Interactive Media."}, {"response": 119, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Mar 23, 2000 (19:23)", "body": "Tax-Free Condoms Rub Conservatives Wrong Way AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - A tax cut signed by Texas Gov. George W. Bush has rubbed social conservatives the wrong way because it exempts condoms from the state sales tax. The conservatives say the tax break, part of a larger package of tax cuts the Republican presidential hopeful approved last year which takes effect on April 1, would encourage sexual promiscuity in young people instead of the pre-marital abstinence they believe should be taught. ``It's promoting promiscuity,'' Cathie Adams, president of the Texas Eagle Forum, a conservative group, told the Dallas Morning News. ``It's giving young people a confused message. At home they are learning one thing and our tax code is teaching them something different.'' Bush, who draws strong support from social conservatives, has endorsed the idea of teaching sexual abstinence to young people even though he admits he was ``young and irresponsible'' in his youth. He has also made tax cuts a cornerstone of his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, saying he has a record of cutting taxes in Texas. Bush spokeswoman Linda Edwards said on Tuesday the governor did not want condoms included in the tax cut bill, which eliminated sales taxes for nonprescription medical products, but signed it the way the Texas Legislature wrote it. The law exempts from the 6.25 percent tax any item that has a ``National Drug Code'' issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. ``Bush did not propose that condoms be exempt from the state sales tax, but this is still a very good tax cut. It saves the people of Texas $161 million a year,'' she told Reuters."}, {"response": 120, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Mar 24, 2000 (17:54)", "body": "Former Dallas Cowboy Scores Big in Texas Lottery AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - In the game of life, former Dallas Cowboy Thomas ``Hollywood'' Henderson has apparently scored a touchdown by winning the $28 million Texas lottery, officials said on Friday. The former All-Pro linebacker who served 28 months in jail in the 1980s for using crack cocaine had been preliminarily confirmed as the winner of Wednesday's drawing, lottery spokesman Keith Elkins said. ``Hollywood called this morning and his ticket has passed the preliminary inquiry. He has said he will be seeking legal and financial advice before coming in (to cash in the winning ticket),'' said Elkins. The ticket would not be confirmed as the winner until Henderson presented it to the lottery commission, he said. Henderson has six months to cash it in. Henderson told the Austin American-Statesman that he bought $100 worth of lottery tickets at an Austin drugstore on Wednesday. The winning ticket had the numbers 5-8-17-35-38-41. Henderson, 46, who played with Dallas from 1975 to 1979, said he already had plenty of money and would use the lottery winnings to help underprivileged children. In recent years, he has devoted his time to drug counseling and community service in predominantly black Austin neighborhoods. ``I have worked hard and lived a good life and amassed money of my own. This is just more money,'' he said. ``Nothing will change except that I will be able to do more of the work I think is important for the underprivileged youth of East Austin,'' Henderson said."}, {"response": 121, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Mon, Mar 27, 2000 (00:06)", "body": "It will mean more rec centers and stuff for the kids in East Austin. It's kind of cool Hollywood got it."}, {"response": 122, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Mar 27, 2000 (16:29)", "body": "I think so! Apparently he learned the hard way and succeeded anyway. It is a win-win situation, especially for the kids!"}, {"response": 123, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Mar 30, 2000 (15:37)", "body": ""}, {"response": 124, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Mar 30, 2000 (15:40)", "body": "e-Lert! from Austin360.com Running Time Spring forward this weekend. Don't forget to advance your clocks an hour on Saturday night. And then move yourself forward another 6.2 miles in the 23rd Annual Austin American-Statesman Capitol 10,000. More than 15,000 of your Austin neighbors are expected to take part in the race -- the largest of its kind in Texas. For your complete guide to the weekends' festivities, including where to register Thursday through Saturday, check out the official Capitol 10,000 Web site. capitol10k.austin360.com When Pigs Fly -- You can beef up before the big race at Spamarama, from noon to 6 p.m. Saturday at the Austin Music Hall. Insert your favorite pig joke here NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Friday, March 31 - Sunday, April 2 -- Find ideas, gadgets and advice for making your home and garden the best they can be. Home & Garden Show Friday, March 31 - Sunday, April 2 -- Join the Munchkins as they set Dorothy off down an icy yellow brick road at 'The Wizard of Oz on Ice'. Click your heels together Saturday, March 31 -- Spring football winds down in a big way with the Orange and White scrimmage and Jamboree. Hook'em! NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: Watch the moon come up over 'Sunset Boulevard' this weekend \ufffd Music: Dip into the Christian music arena with Clay Crosse's Friday night gig \ufffd Movies: Jimmy Smits' \"Price of Glory,\" leads the new films opening in Austin. Check showtimes \ufffd Sports: UT tennis teams have a full weekend of matches \ufffd Dining: Empanada Parlour offers superbly unique, tasty eating experience \ufffd Travel: Escape to Paris for $398. But hurry, this Wednesday Web Fare expires Friday \ufffd Recreation: Fish the clear streams of the Texas Hill Country \ufffd Community: Honor American hero, Cesar Chavez, then rally to be counted for the U.S. Census GET READY FOR EASTER!! Our Easter Collection provides all sorts of goodies for your Easter baskets. Check our \"Recommended Items\" and shop away. Chocolate is key! Shopping GET CONNECTED Austin Schools: pass or fail?: \"It seems quite a lot of decisions are made without being thought through or including personnel actually familiar with the district in the decision making process.\".\" -- says Dynamom How do you grade AISD? It feels like summer's upon us. Get out the bike and hit the trails! Central Texas Biking Guide Join us and Talk City for the most interesting celebrity and special interest chats. Among this week's offerings are: * Psychic Mary Beth Wrenn * Dream Landscapes * Trailer Park Tea Time People & Chat Check mate. Hone the tactical bits of your brain with the Austin Chess Enterprises (A.C.E.) Chess Club. \ufffd Make your move If you have any questions or suggestions about the e-Lert!, let us know: Austin 360 Feedback Copyright 2000 Cox Interactive Media. WEEKEND WEATHER Looks like rain and some fine temperatures own the weekend; check the KVUE 24 five-day forecast on Austin360.com. Weather Tornado Watch 2000 *SPOTLIGHT* Truly Austin Trivia OK, so this isn't strictly an Austin question, but how much does a dugout level ticket cost at the new Enron Stadium? $28? $27, $29, $26? Test your local knowledge Virtually tour the new Enron Stadium."}, {"response": 125, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Apr  6, 2000 (14:13)", "body": "Austin360.com e-Lert! - April 6 - April 12 Does it ever slow down around here? That was the question a recent Austin newcomer asked of us this week. Springtime in Austin is bustling with fun - as events are held before the summer heat kicks in. This weekend alone features something for everyone: Texas Relays, Wine and Food Festival, Austin Fine Arts Festival (formerly the Laguna Gloria \"Fiesta\"), Lance Armstrong's Ride for the Roses, Old Settler's Music Festival, and Austin Paddlefest 2000. When it comes to fun, no, Austin does not slow down. NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Through Saturday, April 8 -- The Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays feature the fastest man on two legs and a bevy of track and field standouts from all over Texas, and beyond.. Churnin' and burnin' Thursday, April 6 - Sunday, April 9 -- Revel in local cuisine and 'grape juice' as the Texas Hill Country Wine and Food Festival sweeps into town. Wine and dine Friday, April 7 - Sunday, April 9 -- Let life blur past you in a whir of wheels as you soak up the high-paced atmosphere of Lance Armstrong's Ride for the Roses. Ride, sally, ride NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: Party arty downtown all weekend at The Austin Fine Arts Festival, formerly Fiesta \ufffd Music: Bluegrass, roots and folk abound at the Old Settler's Music Festival \ufffd Movies: David Duchovny's 'Return to Me' leads the new films opening in Austin. Check showtimes \ufffd Sports: See scrums and hookers at the 32nd Annual Austin Rugby Tournament \ufffd Dining: Hudson's on the Bend's got game. So get down there and eat it. \ufffd Travel: Find out why two million people a year trek to Zion Canyon in Utah \ufffd Recreation: Test drive canoes and kayaks Saturday at Austin Paddlefest 2000 \ufffd Community: Run for the American Cancer Society at the Relay for Life DINNER PARTY? Why not!! Whether it's just for cocktails or a five course dinner, ideas abound. Check in the \"Recommended Items\" and let Martha Stewart help you plan. Bon appetit! Shopping GET CONNECTED Austin Schools: pass or fail?: \"It seems quite a lot of decisions are made without being thought through or including personnel actually familiar with the district in the decision making process.\".\" -- says Dynamom How do you grade AISD? Buying a new car? Get terrififc consumer advice on the best new vehicles around. Kick the tires Join us and Talk City to chat with interesting celebrities and special guests. Among this selections this week are: * Dave the Movie Guy * Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. * The Psychic Love Doctor People & Chat Check mate. Hone the tactical bits of your brain with the Austin Chess Enterprises (A.C.E.) Chess Club. \ufffd Make your move Copyright 2000 Cox Interactive Media. WEEKEND WEATHER Breezy and sunny or sunny and breezy? Check the KVUE 24 five-day forecast on Austin360.com. Weather Tornado Watch 2000 TAX HUMOR...AND MORE! As the tax deadline approaches, it's time to have a few laughs on the IRS. Chuckle at stupid taxpayer tricks, get free advice from the taxman or download the forms you need now. Tax Fun!"}, {"response": 126, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Apr 13, 2000 (14:04)", "body": "April 13, 2000 e-Lert! from Austin360.com Less-Taxing Weekend Take it (1040) easy this weekend. A little music, a little baseball - it's clear to deduct that this weekend will be an entertainment windfall. \"Unplugged at the Grove\" is a great way to begin the weekend unwind a little early - the first show is tonight and we've got your official website of the whole 22-week Unplugged calendar. And, if you miss the show, you can log on live tonight starting at 8:00 PM, or anytime after Friday at noon, to watch the webcast of the live music. Tonight features the Bob Schneider Group. Plug In To Unplugged. NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Through Saturday, April 15 -- The Latino Comedy Project strikes out to avoid the future in \"Time Bandidos\" their latest full-length send-up. Back to the future Saturday April 15 - Sunday, April 16 -- Get some Jah at the Bob Marley fest on the shores of Town Lake this weekend and help support those less fortunate. Stir it up Sunday, April 16 -- The Round Rock Express finally open up Dell Diamond in the first home game ever for the Round Rock Express. All aboard! NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: Austin International Poetry Festival is in its eighth stanza \ufffd Music: Got the blues? Koko Taylor, Lou Ann Barton and Sued Shoes Blues can cure you \ufffd Movies: Get a double dose of Sandy with weekend movies \"28 Days\" and \"Gun Shy\" \ufffd Sports: The Aggies come to Austin to take on the Longhorn tennis squad \ufffd Dining: Guzzle Cajun to your heart's content at Gumbo's \ufffd Travel: Find out why two million people a year trek to Zion Canyon in Utah \ufffd Recreation: Get your buns in gear! Schlotsky's annual 5K road race hits the streets \ufffd Community: Kick up your heels for kids' sake SHOP IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD! Find all kinds of deals unique to your area. Our \"local sales\" offers an ala carte menu of options. Shop away!! Shopping GET CONNECTED Last chance: \"How do I avoid being taxed 2x when I cash out? \".\" -- Robi asked our tax expert about multiple mutual funds. TAXMAN's response Get some advice Austin summers can be taxing on your prized auto. Find a local professional and get a tune-up. Austin 360 Autos Switchboard Join us and Talk City to chat with interesting celebrities and special guests. Among the selections this week are: * Singer, songwriter Pat McGee * Dr. Demento! * Robert Pinsky, United States Poet Laureate People & Chat Moooove over Bevo, there's a new steer in town. If you're a cattle fan, then meet The South Texas Longhorn Association -- livestock enthusiasts. \ufffd Join the herd If you have any questions or suggestions about the e-Lert!, let us know: Austin 360 Feedback Copyright 2000 Cox Interactive Media. WEEKEND WEATHER Adios to the rain! Get ready for a warm and sunny weekend. Check the KVUE 24 five-day forecast on Austin360.com. Weather Tornado Watch 2000 DISNEY, HERE I COME! Now that you've emptied your pockets for Uncle Sam, there's no better time to strike it rich! Check with us every week for the latest lottery results, consult the stars on your chances of winning, and tell us what you'd do with the dough. Show Me the Money! ---------- *SPOTLIGHT* SanAntonio360.com Have you visited our new sister site, SanAntonio360.com? If you enjoy Austin360.com, be sure to check SanAntonio360.com for what's going on all around the Alamo City. SA360.com Guides to SanAntonio ----------"}, {"response": 127, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Apr 20, 2000 (13:04)", "body": "e-Lert! from Austin360.com Hoppin' Weekend Ditch the business suit and jump into a bunny suit -- Easter weekend is here. If you're looking to explore Austin's religious diversity, check out the Austin360.com Guide to: Houses of Worship Or if you'd rather explore a killer taco, check out the SanAntonio360.com Guide to Fiesta -- which starts in the Alamo City this weekend. SanAntonio360.com Guide to Fiesta Or check out some of Austin's great events below. NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Saturday April 22 -- Spend a day with the wee ones at the Kids Fest in Zilker Park. Hurry, mommy and daddy! Saturday, April 22 -- The Big 12-leading Texas baseball team plays host to the second-place Baylor Bears. ... Set 'em down Sunday, April 23 -- Cuddle up with the kids for a bilingual storytime. Once upon a time... All weekend -- Celebrate Easter with the ones you love. Calvary Chapel Easter Celebration Community Easter Celebration with Caedmon's Call Find a House of Worship NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: Don't wait until the 11th hour to see Shakespeare's 'Twelfth Night' \ufffd Music: Bush, Moby, Beenie Man and Tina Turner hit town \ufffd Movies: Matthew McConaughey's 'U-571', is just one of the movies opening Friday \ufffd Sports: Join the Round Rock Express for a weekend series against the Midland Rockhounds \ufffd Dining: Discuss the finer points of Austin cuisine with fellow food fans \ufffd Travel: Hit the Hill Country for wonderful winery tours \ufffd Recreation: Flex your glutes for a good cause at the Tooth Fairy 5K fun run and race \ufffd Community: Hop on over to the Kid's Fest Easter egg hunt NEED A GOOD BOOK? We have a plethora of choices for you....from mystery and suspense to sex and romance. Curl up with that novel you've been dying to read!! Relax... Shopping GET CONNECTED Bumper-2-bumper blues: \"... this community has ALWAYS been behind the growth pace of the local traffic. I have always found that if I leave early or late to avoid the 8:00 and 5:00 traffic congestion, there is no congestion.\" -- says JohnLD on Austin traffic. What's your traffic gripe? Work out the best course of action for your stock portfolio. Begin your calculations Join us and Talk City to chat with celebrities. Among this week's special guests are: * Joyce Carol Oates * Roseanne Barr * Blair Underwood People & Chat Eat your heart out, Holmes. Ever thought of writing a mystery? Then buddy up to the Heart of Texas Sisters in Crime for support. Spies-R-Them. Get your writing group online If you have any questions or suggestions about the e-Lert!, let us know: Austin 360 Feedback Happy Easter! Copyright 2000 Cox Interactive Media. WEEKEND WEATHER Sunny, cloudy, sunny, cloudy, sunny, cloudy. But this is Texas, so best check the KVUE 24 five-day forecast on Austin360.com. Weather Tornado Watch 2000 ALL WORK AND NO PLAY... Get in touch with your inner child with our collection of fun and wacky games. Everything you need to play online - plus free demos and downloads. Let the games begin! ---------- *SPOTLIGHT* Unplugged at the Grove Did you miss last week's show? Check out the webcast replay of Bob Schneider, or see who's playing this week. Plug In To Unplugged."}, {"response": 128, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Thu, Apr 20, 2000 (13:09)", "body": "And Matthew himself will be at the premiere. I'm going to a play about Bucky Fuller Sat night."}, {"response": 129, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Apr 20, 2000 (13:12)", "body": "Bucky-Ball time for Terry! Enjoy and report back. Sounds fascinating! Ever think of building a structure using his method? There are several homes here like that and inside it is lovely but a little like living inside an egg."}, {"response": 130, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Apr 20, 2000 (13:14)", "body": "The Matthew? Wow! Going to see the movie? ...or Matthew?"}, {"response": 131, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Apr 20, 2000 (13:38)", "body": "\".... and on the 874th day there was road.\" --Sign on business across the street from St. Edward's University in Austin after more than two years of street construction."}, {"response": 132, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Thu, Apr 20, 2000 (23:16)", "body": "Maybe both."}, {"response": 133, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Apr 21, 2000 (19:05)", "body": "Go for it! I'm gonna go back to watch us get beaten to a plup by Fresno State. We lost 15-3...!"}, {"response": 134, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Fri, Apr 21, 2000 (19:23)", "body": "Sound like a volleyball game score."}, {"response": 135, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Apr 21, 2000 (20:01)", "body": "Or football...sad! We used 5 pitchers, each one worse than the last...*sigh* It will be a pretty night for baseball, though, and with John doing the calling, it is gonna be fun in any case. I got state-wide recognition when he thanked me by name for being his \"unofficial spotter.\" The man is amazing!"}, {"response": 136, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Fri, Apr 21, 2000 (22:20)", "body": "I noticed the Texas Tower was glowing orange tonight, must mean a win!"}, {"response": 137, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Apr 22, 2000 (12:44)", "body": "We lost by less last night 8-3 but it was less exciting than the presious day's was. Today we play in Kona so I will just listen to it. John used your \"Voleyball Score\" comment in his opening remarks (I had sent them on to him)."}, {"response": 138, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Apr 22, 2000 (16:01)", "body": "Make that score 8-0 last night...ouch!"}, {"response": 139, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Sat, Apr 22, 2000 (16:18)", "body": "Any theories on the Orange glow the other night?"}, {"response": 140, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Apr 22, 2000 (18:57)", "body": "I looked back through the posts to see to what it might have referred. Texas Day was longer ago than that, and it is not Nov 22nd. Did the Rangers finally win a game? (But, they are in Arlington...) Anything to do with the Cowboys? Gimme a hint..."}, {"response": 141, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Apr 22, 2000 (21:37)", "body": "WE WON!!! The UHHilo Vulcans beat Fresno State 5-4 in the 11th inning. Yay!!!"}, {"response": 142, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Sun, Apr 23, 2000 (02:35)", "body": "Hint: Ut Tower = Texas Longhorns Hint 2: baseball maybe"}, {"response": 143, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Apr 23, 2000 (11:51)", "body": "I knew that...but why are they illuminating a building in Dallas for a victory in Austin? Or is this \"Texas Tower\" not the Texas Book Repository, which is what is confusing me?! You guys own first place in the national ranking of collegiate baseball. We are at the bottom of the WAC...*sigh* Congratulations!"}, {"response": 144, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Sun, Apr 23, 2000 (14:46)", "body": "No, the Texas Tower is at the UT campus. Remember the Whitman shooting spree years ago? Same Tower. UT is first place in baseball, you're kidding?"}, {"response": 145, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Apr 23, 2000 (16:46)", "body": "I'll post the standings in college baseball - they are in the top 10 if not the top 5 (if not number 1)... Theu are red hot and we know since we just played in Texas against Rice and TCU and lost most of the games. They were in Hilo for the away series in April and it was so lovely! Never saw so many tall, handsome Texans all at once. And, as far as I am concerned, Rice has the nicest fans and players of any school we have ever played."}, {"response": 146, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Apr 23, 2000 (16:47)", "body": "[Yup - remember now about the Texas Tower sniper...] off to post the baseball standings..."}, {"response": 147, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Sun, Apr 23, 2000 (18:32)", "body": "I'm going to austin360 now to see. Let's see. Ooops, if we're number one it may not last. AUSTIN -- Mike Huggins and Jace Brewer each drove in three runs to lead Baylor to an 11-8 victory over Texas Sunday. Brewer drove in all three runs with a double in a four-run seventh inning. He was 2-for-4 and scored two runs. Huggins finished 3-for-6, including a double. Justin Taylor (4-0) allowed one unearned run on two hits in four innings of relief. Starter Josh Scott allowed four runs--one unearned--on six hits in four innings. Texas starter Ryan France (3-4) allowed five runs, including four earned, on five hits in 3 1-3 innings. He struck out three and walked three. Todd West was 2-for-3 and drove in a run for Texas. Steve Dorneman was 3-for-4, including a double, for Baylor."}, {"response": 148, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Apr 23, 2000 (18:48)", "body": "Nope - I posted in Sports, but you were 3rd last week and 5th this week. John said we did not win the game against Fresno State - they just didn't play their usual game and gave it to us. *sigh* He was there calling the game and I was listening on the radio, so he should know."}, {"response": 149, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Apr 23, 2000 (18:50)", "body": "(ah...Baylor! Yes, I read of that win which was such a big deal, but did not know how good Baylor was...)"}, {"response": 150, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Apr 27, 2000 (15:16)", "body": "e-Lert! from Austin360.com Hee Haw One weekend it's bunnies, the next it's donkeys. Eeyore's Birthday is here this weekend - one of those uniquely Austin celebrations that remind us of Austin's slacker/hippie roots. More dogs than cell phones, less clothing than Barton Springs, and more music and food than you can shake a bongo drum at - this is one event where you can throw yourself into the legendary lifestyle of what Austin once was. See our guide to the festivities, including slideshows and videos of last year's celebration: Eeyore's Birthday. NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Friday, April 29 -- Wildflower Days continue with the Ethnobotany Festival: Plants & People in Communities Flower fun! Saturday, April 29 -- This one's for the ladies -- this golf tourney, that is. Tee up for charity Sunday, April 30 -- Volunteer for the 10K race for the human race. Ready to sweat? NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: Get a glimpse of Jersey street life in \"Fruits and Vegetables\" at the Vortex \ufffd Music: Buddy and Julie Miller have a homecoming at Continental Club \ufffd Movies: Travel back in time with 'The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas', just one of the movies opening Friday \ufffd Sports: The Longhorns and Aggies baseball squads play Friday at the Disch! \ufffd Dining: Discuss the finer points of Austin cuisine with fellow food fans \ufffd Travel: Plan a last-second road trip to the New Orleans Jazz Fest 2000 \ufffd Recreation: Find others that share your interest in one of our hobbie groups \ufffd Community: Figure-eight your way to the 'Wheels for Wheels' benefit OUT OF SHAPE? Get ideas on what you need to do to get fit. Buy a magazine or two with ideas! Look under our \"Recommended Items.\" You'll be ready for swimsuit season! Shopping GET CONNECTED Trading bongos for torpedos? \"Excellent movie!! Well worth seeing, even if you're not into war movies...and Matthew is HOT, and his acting aint bad either!\"\" -- says amylu110 of McConaughey's 'U-571' You be the critic 'T'is the season to be building, so find an approved professional to put the finishing touches on your home. ImproveNet on 360 Join us and Talk City to chat with celebrities. Among this week's special guests are: * Enrico Colantoni of \"Galaxy Quest\" * \"Passions\" star Jesse Metcalf * NBA Insider Chris Monter People & Chat What's under the kilt? Get the skinny on Scottish music at Capitol City Highlanders bagpipe performance, or become part of the band! Hum along Get your band online If you have any questions or suggestions about the e-Lert!, let us know: Austin 360 Feedback Copyright 2000 Cox Interactive Media. WEEKEND WEATHER The temps continue to climb as May approaches. Check how high the mercury will rise this weekend, with the KVUE 24 five-day forecast on Austin360.com. Weather Tornado Watch 2000 AUTO RACING 2000 Take our auto racing pages for a spin! Get driver stats and profiles, series schedules and standings, and the latest racing headlines. Plus buy tickets to an upcoming race or find that perfect gift for a racing fan. Racing 2000 ---------- *SPOTLIGHT* Fiesta - San Antonio If you are heading to San Antonio to enjoy Fiesta, be sure to check out SanAntonio360.com for the lowdown on the hoe-down. SanAntonio360.com Fiesta"}, {"response": 151, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Thu, Apr 27, 2000 (16:00)", "body": "The pool is edging up toward 80 degrees."}, {"response": 152, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Apr 27, 2000 (16:12)", "body": "Bathwater at that temp. Too much warmer and it no longer is refreshing! Summer begins early in Central Texas, I guess. Shall I send some fragrant tradewinds to go with your pool?"}, {"response": 153, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Thu, Apr 27, 2000 (20:16)", "body": "It'll get to around 84 at the peak of summer. I just was in the water. I have the computer hooked up by the pool. Actually, I rigged up an Aten device which goes to a KVM switch which lets me switch between a half a dozen systems, including the old www.spring.net, access.spring.net, barton.spring.net and four Win type systems that I'm building. Aren't I always building computers? I can punch in whichever system I want to be on with a few keystrokes. It's twilight time right now. I've got the pool lights on. The temperature outside is perfect. And the insects and birds are giving the city sounds some competition. I'm getting ready for DSL, which will let us put our old servers back on line. It should take about 30 days to get DSL."}, {"response": 154, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Apr 27, 2000 (20:57)", "body": "No spare parts lie around unused very long in your place! It is fun to do that and you can solder circles around anyone else, anyway. (You had to be able to do that in the \"old days\" to get your ticket...) I am delighted more than I can say that you have Barton Springs back. I remember clearly the sad day you took it down and stashed it in your garage. You sounded like you had lost a child, as you so well equated it. Time for the Paganizing ceremonies yet? We did that for our sailboats each new season."}, {"response": 155, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Thu, Apr 27, 2000 (21:38)", "body": "We're about 30 days away, minimum, for putting these boxes back on the net with dedicated ip addresses."}, {"response": 156, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Apr 27, 2000 (21:41)", "body": "The rebirth! Party time!!!"}, {"response": 157, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Fri, Apr 28, 2000 (07:26)", "body": "Don't break out the balloons and party hats just yet, I'm going to have to try and get Jacob Leveridge to help with some of the dns setup, or maybe if Peter's in town."}, {"response": 158, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Apr 28, 2000 (12:35)", "body": "Ok. I'll be patient, but I have some stashed just in case you have a sudden break-through or need some cheering up. Do we need an excuse for a party?!"}, {"response": 159, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Sun, Apr 30, 2000 (10:57)", "body": "Matthew McConaughey in a eonline interview regarding the bongo thing: There's a rumor going around the hotel that earlier today you were wearing a T-shirt that said \"I'd rather be playing bongos naked.\" No, no. It's already turned into a myth. It says, \"What part of naked bongos don't you understand?\" A friend of mine made it for me. It's good. I liked it when I read it. So, you seem to have a sense of humor about the whole thing. It's not a joke at all, and it wasn't at the time. But do I have a sense of humor about it? Yeah. I get asked if it is regrettable. No, I didn't think I did anything wrong. What did I learn from it? Shut the back window. Everyone said I shouldn't have been playing loud enough to wake somebody up. No. I should have shut the window. Could [my neighbors] have gone about it in another way? Yeah. But you know what? Maybe they didn't want to get out of bed, so they weren't wrong."}, {"response": 160, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Apr 30, 2000 (15:03)", "body": "He is wiser than I gave him credit for, previously. Life goes on - get on with it! Still do not know why they had to storm his house, but apparently that is the way they do things nowadays...look at Miami!"}, {"response": 161, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Mon, May  1, 2000 (08:21)", "body": "Well his sub movie made $12 mil last weekend, number one on the charts. It's a good movie I hear."}, {"response": 162, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, May  4, 2000 (17:15)", "body": "e-Lert! from Austin360.com GOTV - Get Out The Vote Even a local election can be entertaining in Austin. This weekend Austinites go to the polls to elect a mayor, three additional City Council Members, and new representatives to the school board. Five minutes on our election package will make you a more informed voter. May 6, 2000 Election Would you ever vote for Leslie? Who's playing at the Shady Grove tonight? Austin360.com is the official website of \"Unplugged at the Grove.\" Plug In To Unplugged NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Friday, May 5 -- Cinco de Mayo festivities are breaking out all over Austin with food, dancing and music. Viva Mexico! Saturday, May 6 -- Artsy, craftsy, funsy. The Old Pecan Street Festival is gearing up for another weekend of knick-knack hunting. Ye olde Pecan Sunday, May 7 -- It's the last homestand of 2000 for the University of Texas baseball team during the regular season.Hook'em NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: Forget the \"Love Bug\" virus. Get your \"Love Letters\" onstage at the Paramount \ufffd Music: Elliott Smith, Staind and Indigenous pass through town \ufffd Movies: Roman tigers or sub-Saharan lions? \"Gladiator,\" \"I Dreamed of Africa,\" more opening Friday \ufffd Sports: Tulsa comes to Round Rock for a weekend series with the Express \ufffd Dining: Let City Grill prove its passion -- and don't forget your coupons! \ufffd Travel: Rough it at one of Texas' top 50 state parks \ufffd Recreation: Bird watch the more than 340 migratory species flying through Texas \ufffd Community: Rescue a cute pooch or kitten at Pet Adoptathon 2000 A TRIBUTE TO HER Mother's Day is right around the corner. Remember the soft kisses for your booboos, the words of encouragement on a bad day? Our extensive Mother's Day guide offers everything you need to pamper her and show your appreciation. Let her know she is the best. Gifts for Mom GET CONNECTED A tradition on trail. \"Let's allow the wide-open opportunity for more students to die because short-sighted college administrators are afraid to offend cash-supplying alums and students\" -- says Kenwritez of A&M bonfire findings Do you think it should continue? 'T'is the season to be building, so find an approved professional to put the finishing touches on your home. ImproveNet on 360 Join us and Talk City to chat with celebrities. Among this week's special guests are: * Ringo Starr * Drs. Richard and Rachael Heller * Gardening expert John Fech People & Chat It's a small world after all. Make new friends from around the world with members of The Friendship Force of Austin.Go international If you have any questions or suggestions about the e-Lert!, let us know: Austin 360 Feedback Get out and vote! Copyright 2000 Cox Interactive Media. WEEKEND WEATHER Looks like the rain is taking the weekend off. Keep up with lake levels and pollen counts so you can enjoy the fun! Weather Tornado Watch 2000 EIGHT GREAT ROADSTERS Get caught in a web of fun with the new Toyota MR2 Spyder and seven other great roadsters. Drop the top and let the sun shine in as you explore specs, pics and more of these awesome machines! Vroooom! ---------- *SPOTLIGHT* SanAntonio360.com If you are heading to San Antonio this weekend, be sure to check out our sister-site - SanAntonio360.com. SanAntonio360.com"}, {"response": 163, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, May  5, 2000 (15:52)", "body": "May 5, 2000 TFTD-L@TAMU.EDU May 6th is one of the Uniform Election Days in Texas. This means that tomorrow there will be many city and school elections in the state. tftd requests that you cast an INFORMED vote tomorrow or whenever it is election time for your community. Also tftd has determined a general rule. If there are seven propositions on the ballot one should vote for the first five and against the last two. Disclaimer: This general rule is based on one set of observations at a single location."}, {"response": 164, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, May  9, 2000 (16:02)", "body": "local Austin news... I'll be in town May 15-19... wanna grab a veggie burger? Business 8am-6pm kinda thing but I should have a few nights of free time."}, {"response": 165, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Tue, May  9, 2000 (20:34)", "body": "Sure, sounds great! Email me a contact number for you when you're in town, where are you staying?"}, {"response": 166, "author": "stacey", "date": "Wed, May 10, 2000 (10:51)", "body": "Hampton Inn off of West Braker."}, {"response": 167, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Wed, May 10, 2000 (22:04)", "body": "That's just a few miles from the Quail house, bring your swim gear becvause the water's fine! And you're welcome to use the computers in the house to access the Spring/Internet/email whatever. Looking forward to seeing you again. My 'scope says \" Life just got better when you hear that a certain person is back in town.\""}, {"response": 168, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, May 11, 2000 (08:20)", "body": "*grin* Thanks Paul. I've got the swimsuit packed!"}, {"response": 169, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, May 11, 2000 (13:03)", "body": "e-Lert! from Austin360.com Be nice to your mom You owe it to your mother to be nice to her this weekend. Just think of all the pain and suffering you've put her through (or was that your stinky little brother?). We've got the scoop on events around town that will show your mom just how much she means to you. Mother's Day doings Who's playing at the Shady Grove tonight? Austin360.com is the official website of \"Unplugged at the Grove.\" Plug In To Unplugged NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Friday, May 12-Sunday, May 14 -- This musical version of 'A Clockwork Orange' takes center stage this weekened. Come along, fellow droogs Saturday, May 13 -- You don't have to be a NASA engineer to learn how to build and launch your own backyard rocket. Up, up and away Saturday, May 13-Sunday, May 14 -- The Sam Houston State Bearkats sneak into town for one last series against Texas. Hook'em NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: Name that art! You could take home a free masterpiece \ufffd Music: Cure those blues at the Antone's Blues Festival \ufffd Movies: \"Time Code\"'s Salma Hayek heats up the screen in Friday's new movie line-up \ufffd Sports: Fast times and fleet feet are in town at the UIL state track meet \ufffd Dining: A Chinatown by any other name still serves good food \ufffd Travel: Do up Dallas family-style this Mother's Day Weekend \ufffd Recreation: Get your bike blessed and help support the Pediatric AIDS League \ufffd Community: Blow out the candles, read and celebrate 25 years of RIF STARLIGHT STARBRIGHT When the humdrum of city life is biting at your nerves, take a weekend and hit the trail. Camp in comfort after checking out our buyer's guide for the best camping gear to fit your needs. Find a tent. GET CONNECTED Failing board? \"Caring just gets in the way of all the cool-hearted, short-sighted decisions that are a tradition for the School Board\" -- says mthr of AISD What do you think? Bring in the birds, plant the roses and build a pond. Check out Austin 360's Home Improvement tips. Home Improvement on 360 Join us and Talk City to chat with celebrities. Among this week's special guests are: * Majandra Delfino * Marilyn Chambers * Barry Williams (Greg Brady) People & Chat Have a preschooler at home? Get information and support at Central Austin Preschool Mother's Club meetings. Join the club Get your group online If you have any questions or suggestions about the e-Lert!, let us know: Austin 360 Feedback Happy Mother's Day! Copyright 2000 Cox Interactive Media. WEEKEND WEATHER Rain may come down, but the temperatures aren't going anywhere but up. Check the KVUE forecast. Weather MISSION POSSIBLE Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to find what movies will tickle your fancy this month. A warning though -- this message could lead to buttery fingers and tasty treats! See the future. ---------- *SPOTLIGHT* SanAntonio360.com If you are heading to San Antonio this weekend, be sure to check out our sister-site - SanAntonio360.com. SanAntonio360.com"}, {"response": 170, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, May 18, 2000 (13:52)", "body": "Austin360.com e-Lert! - May 18 - May 24 Heating Up As we bear down on 100-degrees here in mid-May, it's time to start looking indoors for entertainment in Austin. Austin360.com is here with some cool entertainment recommendations. Summer Concerts Austin360.com is the official website of \"Unplugged at the Grove\". See who's playing tonight, view the photo galleries, relive previous shows via the archived webcasts, or even watch tonight's show live starting at 8:00 PM tonight! Plug In To Unplugged NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Friday, May 19 -- Kids love 'em, dads want 'em. Monster trucks aren't all steel and testosterone....there's big giant tires too! Not manly enough? There will be WWF superstars too. Friday, Friday, Friday Saturday, May 20 -- UT alum Bill Moyers will speak to the University of Texas graduating senior class of 7,300. Move the tassle Sunday, May 21 -- Kid's Day at the Dell Diamond has the Express welcoming the Arizona Diamondback's rahabbing Matt Williams and the El Paso Diablos. Batter up NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: See (and hear) \"Liberated Voices,\" post-apartheid South African art at AMA \ufffd Music: Your favorite Austin bands croon TV theme songs at Hole in the Wall's \"TV Hoot Night\" \ufffd Movies: The kids will love \"Dinosaur,\" leading the charge into Austin theaters this weekend \ufffd Sports: It's simple: Hit a hole-in-one, win a million bucks and benefit Children's Hospital of Austin \ufffd Dining: Find out who has the hottest tamales on South First Street \ufffd Travel: Plan your weekend or Memorial Day road trip to a Texas hot spot \ufffd Recreation: Work off the Wiener Schnitzel at the Deutschen Pfest 5K fun run and walk \ufffd Community: Go batty! Bring the family out for Saturday's \"Free-Tail Free-For-All\" bat watching party BUY A BIKE Launch a lifetime of fun for your children with their very own bicycle. Our buyer's guide offers all the guidance you'll need to find just the right bike for your young ones or yourself! Get up to speed. GET CONNECTED Whoah! How much? \"These continued rent hikes are obscene.The apartment industry ought to ashamed of themselves. Bloodsuckers - the whole lot of them!!\" -- says Rick of Austin rents. Has it effected you? Bring in the birds, plant the roses and build a pond. Check out Austin 360's Home Improvement tips. Home Improvement on 360 Join us and Talk City to chat with celebrities. Among this week's super chats are: * Rookie of the Year Tony Stewart * Say farewell to Andy Richter * SBA Head Aida Alvarez People & Chat Get a bit of culture in your life. Visit some of the scheduled 'Women & Their Work' exhibits during the month of May . Women & Their Work If you have any questions or suggestions about the e-Lert!, let us know: Austin 360 Feedback"}, {"response": 171, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, May 25, 2000 (13:30)", "body": "Austin360.com e-Lert! - May 18 - May 24 Heating Up As we bear down on 100-degrees here in mid-May, it's time to start looking indoors for entertainment in Austin. Austin360.com is here with some cool entertainment recommendations. Summer Concerts Austin360.com is the official website of \"Unplugged at the Grove\". See who's playing tonight, view the photo galleries, relive previous shows via the archived webcasts, or even watch tonight's show live starting at 8:00 PM tonight! NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Friday, May 26 -- Head on out to Kerrville for Folk Festival 2000. Unroll your sleeping bag Saturday, May 27 -- Learn how to turn your garden into a wildlife haven. Dig in Friday through Sunday -- Sign up for a weekend of culinary nirvana. Get stuffed! NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: Guess whodunnit while you dine at Dave & Buster's Saturday \ufffd Music: N'Sync, Rev. Horton Heat, Herbie Hancock and more \ufffd Movies: Tom Cruise, Jackie Chan lead the action-packed barrage at local theaters \ufffd Sports: Root for the home team as the Round Rock Express hosts the San Antonio Missions \ufffd Dining: Plan a last-second holiday picnic or dinner party on a shoestring \ufffd Travel: The season is peachy for a Memorial Day road trip to Fredericksburg \ufffd Recreation: Cool off underground at these Central Texas caves and caverns \ufffd Community: Take the kids to learn about clouds, wind & weather at the Wildflower Center No Ties for Dad Find nifty tidbits to pay homage to your father. If tradition mandates a tie, we've got that, too. Let him know he's the best. GET CONNECTED \"I had a chance to see the sequel to MI-1. It should be titled 'Mission Improbable'\" -- says dp4hire of Mission: Impossible II. What do you reckon? When those tax appraisals hit, so did tax-bill shock. Find out how to protest and search your area's appraisal rates. Austin appraisals Join us and Talk City to chat with celebrities. Among this week's super chats are: * Redbook Food Editor, Tamara Holt * \"Passions\" star Julian Crane * Rock Trio Samantha-7 People & Chat Get a bit of culture in your life. Visit some of the scheduled 'Women & Their Work' exhibits during the month of May . Women & Their Work If you have any questions or suggestions about the e-Lert!, let us know: Austin 360 Feedback Copyright 2000 Cox Interactive Media. WEEKEND WEATHER There's a slight chance of rain, but mainly the temps are going sky high. Check the KVUE forecast."}, {"response": 172, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, May 25, 2000 (13:31)", "body": "The above e-lert just arrived and it is already outdated. Sheesh! I thought EVERYTHING was bigger and better in Austin...*sigh*"}, {"response": 173, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jun  1, 2000 (17:45)", "body": "Austin360.com e-Lert! - June 1 - June 6 It's Already June? We're into the heat of it now, and the 'Horns are in the heat of the season, with the NCAA super regional series at Disch-Falk Field. For your primer on the NCAA Baseball Tournament, click on our guide to the College World Series. Austin360's College World Series Guide. Or if its too hot at \"the Disch\" for you, plunge into some cool Central Texas waters in your new swimwear. Swimsuits and Shamu. NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Friday, June 2 -- Legendary jazz star Nancy Wilson will be swinging at the Paramount. Women in Jazz Saturday, June 3 -- The Men's Garden Club of Austin hosts the Summer Flower and Vegetable show at Zilker. It's man's man's man's world Sunday, June 4 -- Free music by Los Romanceros and Van Wilks in the great outdoors at Zilker Park. Spread out the picnic blanket NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: \"Islands of Order: A Decade of Collection\" at the Harry Ransom Center \ufffd Music: Waterloo Park is getting swampy at the Bayou Boogie \ufffd Movies: Heather Graham is \"Committed\" at the box office this week \ufffd Sports: Longhorns baseball plays Penn State at the sold out Disch-Falk field \ufffd Dining: Find a place to do lunch on the cheap \ufffd Travel: Lose your stomach at the best amusement parks in Texas \ufffd Recreation: Spoil a good walk at one of Central Texas' golf courses \ufffd Community: Tool around Austin and find over 250 murals Protect Your Hide! Our buyer's guide offers a selection of products to block harmful effects of the sun and keep your skin looking healthy and young. Don't risk a sunburn. GET CONNECTED On yogurt shop murders: \" I agree, innocent until proven guilty. Let's get on with the trials..my biggest complaint, people spouting 'facts' and seldom getting them straight.\" -- Phoenix . Share your thoughts You drive it. You hate it. Find out what's going to happen at the plans for the I-35/Ben White interchange. Spaghetti bowl Join us and Talk City to chat with celebrities. Among this week's super chats are: * \"Shanghai Noon\" director Tom Dey * Rockers BBMak * \"Silver Screams\" movie chat People & Chat Summer is here so why not stay cool and get in shape with Austin Aquatics master swim team? Stroke! Stroke!"}, {"response": 174, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jun  8, 2000 (22:55)", "body": "\ufffde-Lert! from Austin360.com Summertime Fun Austin summertime fun -- find out what time that pool opens, how to get to a Central Texas amusement park, or when the movie starts -- all on the Austin360.com Summer Guide. Austin360's Summer Guide Summer Swimsuit Slideshow NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Today through Friday, June 9 -- Texas' top baseball teams are in Austin and Round Rock for the UIL tournament. Put me in coach Friday, through Thursday, June 15 -- You don't have to risk your neck for your brother man to join in Austin ShaftWeek. Shut Yo' Mouth! Friday through Sunday, June 11 -- Satisfy your motorcycle cravings at the Republic of Texas Biker Rally. Hogs, rice-burners, beemers and more will descend on 6th Street and the Austin area for music, rides and refreshments. Rev it up! NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: Glimpse South African art at 'Liberated Voices' \ufffd Music: 3 Balls of Fire, Pop Gun, Taboo playing this weekend \ufffd Movies: 'Gone in 60 Seconds' screeches into Austin this weekend \ufffd Sports: Keep score while the 'Horns World Series drive is taking off in Omaha \ufffd Dining: Find a Texas wine for any occasion \ufffd Travel: Fly to Toronto and back from Austin for $215 \ufffd Recreation: Find a place to take a dip and beat the heat in Central Texas \ufffd Community: Join with Literacy Austin to help local residents learn to read A Tribute to Dad He held your hand and guided you along the way. Now use our Father's Day shopping guide to hand him something that will show him how much you care. Shop for Dad. GET CONNECTED On movies: \"The few laughs that I did get from what was on the screen was so few and far between as not to count...This Trip is a bad one. \" -- says FletchMan about \"Road Trip\". Share your thoughts Are you wheezin, sneezin' and praying for a break from the sinus torture? Heal thyself. Allergy, away! Join us and Talk City to chat with celebrities. Among this week's super chats are: \ufffd David Ledbetter \ufffd Garcelle Beauvais \ufffd Dr. Sharon Boyse People & Chat Here's to your health. Let the Austin Herb Society help you find the herbs that complement your lifestyle. Austin Herb Society Copyright 2000 Cox Interactive Media."}, {"response": 175, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jun 15, 2000 (15:13)", "body": "Summer in Austin How about some groovy tunes under the big oaks at the Shady Grove? Or an October hunt in the middle of June at the Paramount? Maybe a refreshing dip into the icy waters of Barton Springs? Austin360.com is here with some cool ideas to beat the heat this summer weekend. Austin360's Summer Guide Hunt for Red October at the Paramount Unplugged at the Grove NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Thursday June 15 through Saturday, June 17 -- The first half of the first season is almost up, get out to Dell Diamond for the Express vs. the Arkansas Travelers Thirsty Thursday and Fireworks Friday Thursday through Sunday, June 18 -- The Greatest Show on Earth, the Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus makes its stop in River City. To the Egress Saturday June 17 & Sunday, June 18 -- Tour one of Austin's great neighborhoods during the Hyde Park Neighborhood Association Historic Homes Tour. Old time Austin NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: Exhibit: 'Islands of Order: A Decade of Collection' \ufffd Music: Where's Willie? Ctach up with Mr. Nelson as he tours Europe \ufffd Movies: 'Shaft,' struts into Austin theaters this weekend. Dig it? \ufffd Sports: Rugby teams from all over our region are here for \"Bloodfest\" \ufffd Restaurants: Follow the Tex-Mex mile, South First's bevy of border-state fare \ufffd Travel: Head to Fredericksburg for a perfect day of peach-picking \ufffd Recreation: Get your sprockets in gear and learn to take care of your bike \ufffd Community: Give a hoot. Join the Town Lake Clean Up efforts Sex in the City Get the entire first season -- 12 episodes of the award-winning HBO comedy series on two DVDs that takes an outrageous look at dating, mating and relating in New York City. Buy it now. GET CONNECTED Waving debate: \"I don't ask any one to give up or hide their Heritage, so why am I being asked to hide mine? \" -- says susan_f_32221 about the Confederate flag. Share your thoughts Get outside and explore one of Texas' top 50 best state parks. Into the brush Join us and Talk City to chat with celebrities. Among this week's super chats are: \ufffd Music editor Michelle Lee \ufffd Rock group Neve \ufffd Dr. Adam Cotsen of \"Sex and the City\" People & Chat Looking to get your kids into sports? Let the University Hills Optimist Club direct you in the right direction. Go team! If you have any questions or suggestions about the e-Lert!, let us know: Austin 360 Feedback"}, {"response": 176, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jun 22, 2000 (17:11)", "body": "Austin360.com e-Lert! - June 22 - June 28 \ufffd Music in the Park \"Summerfest\" this Sunday in Waterloo Park features 13 different local and national acts performing from 11:15 in the morning until 10:00 at night. Tickets at the gate are $15, but you can pick up $10 advance tickets at Star Tickets or at Hooters - so you've got that going for you. Proceeds benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Summerfest is #2 on the Austin360.com Ten Around Town. What's #1? Who's playing at Summer Fest? Visit SanAntonio360.com if you are looking for a fun day-trip this weekend. SanAntonio360.com NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Starting Friday, June 23 -- Send up the silent film era with the production of \"Merton of the Movies.\" Acting! Saturday, June 24 -- Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly, two of the best in one of Hitch's best, \"Rear Window.\" It's playing at the revamped Paramount. Good evening Sunday, June 25th -- Summerfest will be rocking Waterloo Park downtown with the Toadies, Pushmonkey and Monte Montgomery Rockin' the Park NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: Exprience African-American culture at the Expo Center \ufffd Music: Where's Willie? Join Willie Nelson each day on his European tour \ufffd Movies: See the two sides of Jim Carey in \"Me, Myself & Irene,' opening Friday \ufffd Sports: Hop aboard the Round Rock Express this weekend \ufffd Restaurants: Craving calamari? Manic for marinara? Get it here \ufffd Travel: Austin to Chicago for $181; Dallas to Portland for $158 \ufffd Recreation: Learn how to avoid falling victim to heat-related illnesses \ufffd Community: Pet lovers unite. Adopt one of 50 cats at Kitten Fest. Connect with Music Sin\ufffdad O'Connor is back after a six year hiatus with Faith and Courage, an expressive collection of songs that traverse the human experience, touching on such universals as love and lust, respect and responsibility, strength and spirit. GET CONNECTED Are you ready for some football? \"Even considering Washingtons two first round picks, I think Tampa Bay won. I wouldn't be surprised to see them in the Superbowl this year. \" -- says shanegot. Catch the pre-season football fever Stop the spam! Learn how to reduce the clutter in your mailboxes, both online and off. Block it Join us and Talk City to chat with celebrities. Among this week's super chats are: \ufffd Dr. Patrick Woods on Liver Disease \ufffd World Class Scientists! \ufffd All is revealed by Psychic Mary Beth People & Chat Calling all Owls! Join the Austin Rice Alumni for happy hour or a good read. Owls in Austin Get your alumni group online If you have any questions or suggestions about the e-Lert!, let us know: Austin 360 Feedback"}, {"response": 177, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jun 29, 2000 (14:11)", "body": "Fourth of July in Austin Ever since thomas.jefferson@usa.com sent that \"Important - Please Read ASAP!\" e-mail over to king.george@uk.com with the \"seeya.doc\" attachment, the world has never been the same. Austin is a wonderful place to celebrate our great nations' Declaration of Independence (seeya.doc) just the way our forefathers envisioned it - by blowing up fireworks, eatin' barbeque and watching Wimbledon on TV. Austin360.com is here with your guide to the weekend's festivities. Fourth of July Guide The right to vote -- what's your favorite part of Fourth of July? Austinites currently have \"Beer\" beating out \"Fireworks\" by two votes?!?!? Vote for your favorite part of the Fourth of July tradition. NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Friday, June 30 through July 4 -- It's Independence Day weekend. Use our comprehensive July Fourth events guide to plan your celebrations Celebrate! Beginning Friday, June 30 -- It's a great weekend for family films, with 'The Sound of Music', 'Chicken Run' and dozens more movies playing in town. To the theater! Friday, June 30 through July 4 -- Music from The Gourds, Willie Nelson, Guy Forsyth and hundreds more bands. Hit the clubs NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: The Last weekend to see Rivera's \"The Tortilla Maker\" \ufffd Music: Jack Ingram, RB Morris, Damon Bramblett live at the Continental Club \ufffd Movies: Testostarone over doze with 'The Patriot' and 'The Perfect Storm' opening Friday \ufffd Sports: Enjoy the fireworks on the field and in the air at the Dell Diamond \ufffd Restaurants: A wee bit of the Emerald Isle for Austin diners \ufffd Travel: Austin to Nashville for for $198; Dallas to Orange County for $208 \ufffd Recreation: Find local spots to drop a tube into a cool river \ufffd Community: Seeking: Thoughtful, generous, single volunteers Star Wars Action! Return to a galaxy far, far away and see how the saga began with the first episode: The Phantom Menace. Buy the video and delve into a time when the Jedi Knights are the guardians of peace in a turbulent galaxy and a young Queen fights to save her people. In the shadows lurks an evil force waiting for the right moment to strike. Discover the Force. GET CONNECTED Are you ready for some football? \"I love Tien Hong on Burnet -- we order out from there quite frequently, and it has always been outstanding ... They have a very extensive menu and reasonable prices.\" -- says mamaross22 of the local eatery. You be the food critic Looking for some new wheels or do yours need some help? Look no further. Autos 360 Join us and Talk City to chat with celebrities. Among this week's super chats are: \ufffd The Daytime Diva dishes Soap trivia \ufffd A $27 million jackpot winner talks \ufffd All is revealed by Psychic Mary Beth People & Chat 1-2-3 and 4. Let the Austin Tango Connection teach you a thing or two about dancing. If you have any questions or suggestions about the e-Lert!, let us know: Austin 360 Feedback"}, {"response": 178, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Fri, Jun 30, 2000 (10:01)", "body": "I'd rather be at Ragweed, but I'm stuck in Austin due to rental business. The first of the month is always a harried time and a bad time for trips."}, {"response": 179, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jun 30, 2000 (15:46)", "body": "I just need some coole people to hang with...do not care where! I am B O R E D."}, {"response": 180, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Sat, Jul  1, 2000 (07:27)", "body": "Don't worry, hang with us, we will PUMP YOU UP!"}, {"response": 181, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jul  1, 2000 (13:13)", "body": "Here I be! Hunting up goodies on Google.com to entertain me and maybe readers of Spring. Gotta get those train-hoppers back into action when they are next at a cyber cafe. That was fun!"}, {"response": 182, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Sat, Jul  1, 2000 (16:08)", "body": "Really, god speed to our train hoppin' buds."}, {"response": 183, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jul  1, 2000 (16:38)", "body": "Yup, I am concerned about them when they do not get in touch now and then..."}, {"response": 184, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jul  6, 2000 (15:43)", "body": "e-Lert! from Austin360.com - July 6, 2000 Time for a little R&R It's hard to believe it's almost the weekend again. Maybe we should lobby to have Tuesday off every week! With the heat building and water shortage worsening, this weekend might be a good time to check out our energy- and water-saving guides: \ufffd Slash your energy bill \ufffd Save cash on gas \ufffd Conserve water & save money Or get out & about at one of the following superb Austin-area events. Have a terrific weekend! NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Thursday, July 6 through July 7 -- The playoff-bound Round Rock Express battle the Midland RockHounds at the Dell Diamond. Play ball! Beginning Friday, June 30 -- You know it's summer when the Zilker Hillside is alive with their series of free shows. West Side Story starts Friday. Bring a blanket Saturday, July 8 and Sunday, July 9 -- Shop and swap your Chatty Cathy, baseball cards, or anything else at the Austin Collectors Exposition at the Crockett Center. Dust it off! NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: Celebrity dolls, comics and kitsch at the Austin Collectors Exposition \ufffd Music: Metal head? Metallica, Korn and more moshers are playing just up the Interstate \ufffd Movies: 'Disney's The Kid', 'Scary Movie', others open Friday in local theaters \ufffd Sports: Get in the water for a good cause at Swimathon 2000 \ufffd Restaurants: How fresh is fresh? The Eastside Cafe seems to know the answer \ufffd Travel: Find screams and thrills at Central Texas amusement parks \ufffd Recreation: Use our Water Sports Guide to hit the lakes in a rental boat, canoe or watercraft \ufffd Community: Discover how SWE unites women engineers"}, {"response": 185, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jul 14, 2000 (01:26)", "body": "Austin360.com e-Lert!: July 14 - July 16 Some like it hot Triple-digit days are here again, so make sure you're prepared when you hit the lakes, outdoor concerts or the hike & bike trails. Beat the heat If you're game, you can cool off in a number of ways: \ufffd Rent a boat or personal watercraft \ufffd Hit area lakes \ufffd Find a swimming pool \ufffd Go tubing Have a terrific weekend! NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Friday, July 14 -- Meet the Austin team which hopes to win this year's Discovery Channel EcoChallenge in Borneo. Live music, food and more await you -- free! Lend your support Friday, July 14 to Saturday, July 15 -- Help keep your city beautiful by volunteering for the Austin Watershed Vegetation Restoration Project. Do your part Saturday, July 15 -- Friends, Romans, countrymen, buy me a beer! Taste dozens of local brews at this year's Texas Beer Tasting. Bottoms up! NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: Jet your way to Zilker Park for a free, futuristic 'West Side Story' \ufffd Music: The North Mississippi Allstars transform the Continental Club into a rollicking backwoods blues joint \ufffd Movies: 'X-Men' mutate in Austin theaters Friday \ufffd Sports: Swimathon 2000 raises money for the Austin State School on Saturday \ufffd Restaurants: Carnivore cravings? Find out what you'll find at Sullivan's \ufffd Travel: Be a tourist in Austin, on foot or via duck \ufffd Recreation: Lazy days are here to stay - take a tube ride down the Guad or Gruene River \ufffd Community: The AAU Championships-bound Austin Braves are having a garage sale to raise funds If you have any questions or suggestions about the e-Lert!, let us know: Austin 360 Feedback"}, {"response": 186, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Fri, Jul 14, 2000 (17:50)", "body": "Hmm wonder what the Ecochallenge is all about and where this event is going to be, being Friday night and all."}, {"response": 187, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jul 20, 2000 (14:30)", "body": "Austin360.com e-Lert!: July 14 - July 16 Dry times ahead Plan on watering your garden this weekend? Austin and some surrounding cities are under mandatory water restrictions, so you'd better check it's your day to water. \ufffd Austin watering schedule \ufffd Avoid a $2,000 fine \ufffd Water-saving tips \ufffd Water-saving incentives \ufffd Share your water-saving tips Have a terrific weekend! NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Saturday, July 22 & Sunday, July 23 -- A car and truck show for the guys and a bridal show for the gals. It's all in the planning, folks. His and Hers Thursday, July 20 through Saturday, July 22 -- Elgin's Western Days will bring out the Cowboy and carnivore in everyone. Get along, little doggies! Friday, July 21 and Saturday, July 22 -- Get some culture, it's good for you. Dance, art shows, Buddhist celebrations and more. Art. It does a body good NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: Bask in the warmth of dance and song from Austin's different cultures \ufffd Music: Get your groove on with Patti Smith, Soulhat or Tom Russell \ufffd Movies: Teen flicks 'Loser', 'The In Crowd', open in Austin theaters Friday \ufffd Sports: Root for Lance Armstrong as he battles for victory in the Tour de France \ufffd Restaurants: Caffeine is life! So don't waste your life in naff coffee shops. Find a good 'un near you \ufffd Travel: Cool off in Chicago for $149 roundtrip from Austin \ufffd Recreation: Lazy days are here to stay -- take a tube ride down the Guad or Gruene Rivers \ufffd Community: Something old, new, blue -- all at the Fine Gift Charity Bizaar"}, {"response": 188, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Aug  3, 2000 (13:49)", "body": "Austin360.com e-Lert!: August 3 - August 6 Tax Holiday weekend! I-35's going to be a complete disaster, but don't let that slow down your fun! Austin 360 will guide you through the highways and the buy-ways. \ufffd What's for sale, what's not \ufffd Get the most out of the sales tax holiday weekend \ufffd Find out what's on sale at local stores Have a terrific weekend! NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Saturday, Aug. 5 -- Take the kids for a day full of family fun at the Millenium Center. Load up the minivan Saturday, Aug. 5 -- Help a neighbor pay for their liver transplant. Lend a hand Sunday, Aug. 6 -- Delve into the intricaces of a new culture during India Month. Expand your horizons NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: Watch the Well Hung Jury break a non-existant world record for longest monologue \ufffd Music: Bring out your Dead! The Jerry Garcia fest has Deadheads flocking to the lake \ufffd Movies: 'Hollow Man,' and 'Coyote Ugly,' 'Space Cowboys' open in Austin theaters Friday \ufffd Sports: Those San Antonio Missions battle the Express at Dell Diamond \ufffd Restaurants: Re-re-born, the Granite Cafe is still serving \ufffd Travel: Take your pick, Chicago, L.A. or Phoenix for less than $200 from Austin by air \ufffd Recreation: Watercraft-less in Austin? Find out where to rent boats, jet skis and canoes \ufffd Community: Lonely? Adopt a pet this weekend If you have any questions or suggestions about the e-Lert!, let us know: Austin 360 Feedback"}, {"response": 189, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Aug 10, 2000 (14:04)", "body": "Austin360.com e-Lert!: August 10 - August 13 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: Multipart/Mixed; boundary=\"--Next_Part(6610_Thu_Aug_10_14:38:35_2000)--\" X-UIDL: gX+\"!I`i\"!Q5l\"!J(P!! e-Lert! from Austin360.com Festival of films Life is a film festival in Austin. In the pool, at the restaurant, the art house, the multi-plex or the Paramount, the oppurtunities are endless. This weekend's 'Reel Women Presents Real Stories' festival features the strong and diverse works of female documentary filmmakers. \ufffd Deep Eddy Pool: The Road to El Dorado \ufffd Paramount: 'Willy Wonka' and 'My Fair Lady' \ufffd Theaters: The Replacements, American Pimp and more Have a terrific weekend! NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Saturday, Aug. 12 -- Latino Comedy Project's Fiesta returns to the Paramount Theatre, 713 Congress Ave., with local and national comic sensations. Estamos felizes Friday August 11 - Oct. 14 -- 'To Whom Was This Sacrifice Useful?' an exhibit on The Texas Revolution and the Narrative of Jos\ufffd Enrique de la Pe\ufffda, including historical documents, maps, and photographs. Remembering the Alamo Friday August 11 - Sunday, Aug. 13 -- Marble Falls welcomes big-time drag boat racers to the friendly waters of Lake LBJ for Lakefest. Vroom! Vroom! NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: Guest Conductor Jeff Tyzik will direct the Austin Symphony Orchestra in a free concert at the Capitol \ufffd Music: America's musical sweethearts, the Dixie Chicks, head this way Saturday \ufffd Movies: Wanna land a TV or silver screen role? Chek out the latest casting call news for local auditions \ufffd Sports: The Round Rock Express hosts the Diablos this weekend at Dell Diamond \ufffd Restaurants: Pop in for a quick caffeine-charged lunch at Bouldin Creek Coffee House \ufffd Travel: Take off! Toronto for only $216 in our web-fare round-up \ufffd Recreation: Find a golf course you haven't played in our Central Texas Golf Guide \ufffd Community: Dine and wine for a a good cause during the Fourth Annual SIMS Supper benefit If you have any questions or suggestions about the e-Lert!, let us know: Austin 360 Feedback"}, {"response": 190, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Aug 17, 2000 (12:38)", "body": "Austin360.com e-Lert!: August 17 - August 20 e-Lert! from Austin360.com Make it a hill country weekend Now's the time to rediscover Austin's stately neighboring beauty. Hit the road and take the Hill Country Harvest Wine Trail through newly picked vineyards, to wineries filled with the smells of new wine and the excitement of the harvest season. Make it a weekend and top off your day with a visit to a local Bed and Breakfast. \ufffd Map your route \ufffd Visit Fredericksburg \ufffd Find a local Bed and Breakfast NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Saturday, Aug. 19 and Sunday, Aug. 20 -- Get your tonsils ready, the Austin Fiery Foods Show featuring around 1,000 spicey delectables lights up the Palmer. Burnin' down the house Friday, Aug. 18 and Saturday, Aug. 19 -- More evidence that Gen Xers are getting old, 'Fast Times at Ridgemont High' is playing at the Paramount. I'm so wasted Thursday, Aug. 17 through Sep 7 -- The Austin Gay and Lesbian International Film Festival is kicking off this weekend. Hit the opening festivities. aGLIFF NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: Places of Peace and Power: The Sacred Site Slide Show of Martin Gray \ufffd Music: Antone's will be hipping and hopping with the Jungle Brothers \ufffd Movies: 'Godzilla 2000,' 'Original Kings of Comedy,' others open Friday \ufffd Sports: Join up with the Austin Tri-Cyclist Couple's Triathlon benefiting the American Diabetes Association \ufffd Restaurants: The Chinese restaurant where Chinese people eat? Sea Dragon \ufffd Travel: Fly to L.A., Salt Lake City and St. Louie on the cheap \ufffd Recreation: Find your way to the closest swimming hole and cool off \ufffd Community: Be good to your best friend. Visit the EmanciPet Free Mobile Spay/Neuter Clinic If you have any questions or suggestions about the e-Lert!, let us know: Austin 360 Feedback"}, {"response": 191, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Aug 24, 2000 (15:22)", "body": "Austin360.com e-Lert!: August 24 - August 27 Music for every drummer's beat You'll find tunes to satisfy everyone's musical appetite this weekend in Austin. Sting comes to the Erwin Center on Saturday night while the Gipsy Kings grace The Backyard. Meanwhile, the Continental Club has The Hollisters and Eleven Hundred Springs, and the Mercury presents Superjane DJ's, with Heather, Colette, Dayhota, Electric Indigo and Lady D. As you head out, find a great place to eat, then have a cuppa joe while you give those barking dogs a rest before you head home. \ufffd Check out the other best bets \ufffd Listen to some local bands \ufffd See what they look like NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Friday, Aug. 15 -- Make way for the Buzztopia tour is coming to Austin, featuring the Jazz Mandolin Project and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band. Swingin' at Stubbs Sunday, Aug. 27 -- Texas Home and Garden Show will fill the Austin Convention Center with a \"living magazine\" of home and garden products and services. Good things Friday, Aug 25 through Sept. 7 -- We mean it this time, the Austin Gay and Lesbian International Film Festival kicks off this weekend. aGLIFF NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: Hitch is all over the screen this weekend at the Paramount \ufffd Music: What's tops in Austin? Check Waterloo's Top 50 \ufffd Movies: Quentin Tarantino is back in Austin with QT Quatro \ufffd Sports: Thursday night's alright for fighting at the Texas Title Fight \ufffd Restaurants: If you are going to be waiting anyway, might as well make it Vespaio \ufffd Travel: Your vacation photos could win you a 14-day trek for two in Nepal's Himalayas to Gokyo Lakes \ufffd Recreation: Tube the San Marcos, Guadalupe or Gruene rivers \ufffd Community: Learn all about bamboo and even make earings at the Texas Bamboo Fest If you have any questions or suggestions about the e-Lert!, let us know: Austin 360 Feedback"}, {"response": 192, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Thu, Aug 24, 2000 (18:02)", "body": "I'll definitely be heading to the H&G Show Friday night. Woo, woo, what a night on the town!"}, {"response": 193, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Aug 24, 2000 (19:30)", "body": "Sounds fantastic. Report back when you come back to earth!"}, {"response": 194, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Aug 31, 2000 (21:58)", "body": "Austin360.com e-Lert!: August 31 - September 3 Labor Day plans, we got 'em The last blast of the summer is here. Whether you are headed to the beach, down the Guadalupe or South to San Antonio, we can help plan your way. Even if you're staying at home we can help your barbecue go beyond the usual burgers and dogs .... not that there's anything wrong with them. \ufffd Plan it! \ufffd Beach it! \ufffd Tube it! \ufffd Grill it! \ufffd Whatever it! NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Saturday, Sept. 2 - Sunday, Sept. 3 -- It's jazz, it's Zilker and it's free. Sounds like the Zilker Jazz festival is back for its 20th annual event. Take a blanket Thursday, Aug. 31 - Tuesday, Sept. 5 -- The students are back at UT, and the bands are kicking it into gear. We'll help you keep track of who's playing where. Get out Sunday, Sept. 3 -- Shake your salsa thang to saucy acts while enjoying spicy food at Waterloo Park It's hot! NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: Fall 2000 show opens at the Museum of Fine Arts \ufffd Music: Catch the 70's musical that is sans Donna Summer, '8-TRACKS (no disco)' \ufffd Movies: aGLIFF rolls on at venues all over town \ufffd Sports: Friday night football is taking off this week \ufffd Restaurants: It's only taken three months for Aquarelle to stand out in Austin \ufffd Travel: You still haven't seen San Antonio? \ufffd Recreation: Time to go skinny dipping! Splash Day at Hippy Hollow! \ufffd Community: Learn about the wild orchids of Texas with Joe Liggio at the Wildflower Center (unfortunately it is all in hyperlinks which does not translate to Yapp. Please check their home page for more information on the above events)"}, {"response": 195, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Fri, Sep  1, 2000 (09:31)", "body": "Aquarelle? Never heard of it. The Salsa and Jazz events sound cool."}, {"response": 196, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Sep  7, 2000 (13:30)", "body": "...cool...or depending the ignition point of the salsa and the kind of jazz... Austin360.com e-Lert!: September 7 - 10 Cooooool! You lived through it -- the hottest day ever in Austin! Now, get out of that air-conditioned cocoon and celebrate life by browsing the expo dedicated to improving self, grabbing a healthy and tasty meal, or getting a funny bone check up from Nurse Betty. So much to do. So little time. So get going! NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Thursday, Sept. 7 - Sunday, Sept. 10 -- Fancy a romantic meal out this weekend? Then let our brand new & much improved Restaurant Guide help you find the ideal eatery Take your pick Friday, Sept. 8 - Sunday, Sept. 10 -- The weekend has rain and cooler weather in the forecast. Seize the opportunity and take your wee ones to a water park. Make a splash! Sunday, Sept. 10 -- Soak up the splendor of a close encounter with Cypress Hill, Everlast, Weezer, Kottonmouth Kings, Nixons, Wheatus & more. Kick it! NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: Dig inside the presidency with 'TIME and the Presidency' at the LBJ Library & Musuem \ufffd Music: KRS One and MC Overlord crank up for Antone's Saturday \ufffd Movies: Renee Zellweger's 'Nurse Betty,' opens in Austin \ufffd Sports: UT battles at home against the Ragin' Cajuns Saturday. But getting to the game could be tricky \ufffd Restaurants: Cut out the junk but hold onto the flavor at East Austin's Mr. Natural \ufffd Travel: Oh, Canada! Head north from Austin for $216 round trip \ufffd Recreation: Use our handy Golf Guide to hit the greens before they go brown \ufffd Community: Head to the Self-Transformation Expo 2000"}, {"response": 197, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Sep 14, 2000 (13:44)", "body": "Austin360.com e-Lert!: September 14 - 17 Thursday, Sept. 14 - Sunday, Sept. 17 -- Celebrate Mexico's independence from Spain at Diez y Seis de Septiembre. Viva Mexico! Thursday, Sept. 14 - Sunday, Sept. 17 -- The Austin Shakespeare Festival continues it's run of free shows, this weekend Julius Caeser takes the stage. Et tu, Brute'? Friday, Sept. 15 - Saturday, Sept. 16 -- Gird your tongue and head South to San Marcos for the official Texas State Men's Chili Cookoff, Chilympiad 2000. Robert Earl Keen performs Saturday night. No beans NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: The Museum of Fine Arts features woodcut prints and acrylic paintings by Lori Baugh \ufffd Music: Discover our town's blossoming jazz scene at the Austin Jazz and Arts Festival \ufffd Movies: 'Duets,' 'Bait, and 'Aimee & Jaguar' open Friday in Austin \ufffd Sports: The Longhorns take on the pass happy Cardinal out in Palo Alto. Get prepped on Austin 360 \ufffd Restaurants: Find a great new spot or vote for an old favorite in our new Restaurant Guide \ufffd Travel: Buzz off to Las Vegas, Long Island or Toronto for around $200 from Austin \ufffd Recreation: This weekend could actually be fairly cool, so hit a trail! \ufffd Community: Get your running shoes on and join the Teddy Bear Picnic & 5K Run"}, {"response": 198, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Sep 28, 2000 (22:00)", "body": "Austin360.com e-Lert!: September 28 - October 1 Perfection Personified It's one of those weekends that define Austin. A stroll down Sixth, swinging to live blues, and the celebration of nature. Great weather, lots to do, and Austin 360 to help you do it. The Mind Over Money Festival is one good bet with over 100 performances at various venues throughout the city. MoM Fest NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Friday, Sept. 29 -- The B.B. King Blues Festival 2000 will be rockin' Auditorium Shores this Friday night with Buddy Guy, Susan Tedeschi, and Corey Harris. Lucille! Saturday, Sept. 30 and Sunday Oct. 1 -- The Old Pecan Street art festival will be hopping along Sixth Street with arts and crafts, music, food and fun. Get out your Christmas list Saturday, Sept. 30 and Sunday Oct. 1 -- The Texas Wildlife Expo features a variety of hands-on activities, many designed for youngsters. Activities include shooting sports, fishing, rock climbing, birding, mountain biking, game calling, wild game cooking, fly fishing, and kayaking. It's free! NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: Beckett's classic 'Waiting for Godot' plays the Hogg Auditorium \ufffd Music: New Bohemians and Kelly Willis headline Make A Wish Foundation benefit \ufffd Movies: 'Girl Fight,' and 'Remember the Titans' open Friday in Austin \ufffd Sports: Ricky Williams' jersey retired as OSU visits DKR \ufffd Restaurants: Jonesin' for a taco? Find a taqueria near you \ufffd Travel: Fly from Austin to any Southwest or America West destination for $198 or less \ufffd Recreation: Put your foot down for Downtown Classic 10K \ufffd Community: Join in the 15th Annual Driftwood Heritage Day festivities If you have any questions or suggestions about the e-Lert!, let us know: Austin 360 Feedback If you want to make changes to you profile, such as upgrading from the text version to the html (with graphics) version of e-Lert!, click here: Edit your profile Copyright 2000 Cox Interactive Media. WEEKEND WEATHER The weather warms up a little, but it's still cooooolll. Check our local forecast. Eat, drink and be savvy! Join the Austin360.com Supper Club, powered by Yclip, and save up to 20 percent at the popular restaurants and bars on our menu. To learn more and to register, go to... http://supperclub.austin360.com . In San Antonio Win tickets to hear Creed in concert with Collective Soul at the Alamodome on Oct. 5."}, {"response": 199, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Oct 27, 2000 (13:52)", "body": "Austin360.com e-Lert!: October 27 - October 31 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: Multipart/Mixed; boundary=\"--Next_Part(25993_Thu_Oct_26_13:50:31_2000)--\" X-UIDL: k2~!!aC*!!,-(#!W+T\"! e-Lert! from Austin360.com Jason and Freddie Would Ge Proud It's that warm, fuzzy feeling you get when you eat too many of those candy corn things. The satisfaction you get from putting the fear of God into your next door neighbor's kids. It's Halloween and Austin 360 has the best guide in town. Plus this weekend has great music, charity runs and a slew more terrific events besides. Start your weekend here. Talk about football See a movie Sniff out a good airfare NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Friday Oct. 27 - Tuesday, Oct. 31 -- Creak, wail, screeeeechhhh, rattle, moan! Scare the pants off yourself and the family with an Austin-area Halloween happening. Ba-ba-booooooo! Saturday, Oct. 28 and Sunday, Oct. 29 -- Do the Pink Floyd thing and run, run, run, run ... for a good cause. On your marks Saturday, Oct. 21 -- Music. Sweet music. Fill your head with melodies from the best as Tina Turner, Junior Brown and Bo Diddley make separate appearances this weekend. Let the beats control your body NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: \"The Return of Nate's Mojo\" is a collection of multi-dimensional experiments on and with canvas and oil paint \ufffd Community: Help keep Austin beautiful. Take part in the Walnut Creek Trail Restoration day \ufffd Kids: 13th Annual Hogeye Festival offers greased pig chases, cow patty bingo and pony rides \ufffd Movies: 'The Yards,' 'Lucky Numbers,' and others hit Austin theaters Friday \ufffd Music: Catch Karl Denson and Critter's Bugging at the Mercury, Reckless Kelly and Chris Whitley at Antone's \ufffd Recreation: Improve your bicycle handling skills, from bunny hopping to cornering and more \ufffd Restaurants: Don't feel like going out in the rain? Find the best Chinese delivery \ufffd Sports: Predict your score for Saturday's UT vs. Baylor \ufffd Travel: Step out of Austin and into a 16th Century English village in Houston"}, {"response": 200, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Nov 10, 2000 (13:32)", "body": "Austin360.com e-Lert!: November 9 - November 12 NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Friday, Nov. 10 through Sunday, Nov. 11 -- Get a little au natural with the Wild Basin Preserve's 5th annual 'Natural Palette', featuring local art, music and hiking. Go wild Saturday, Nov 11 and Sunday, Nov. 12 -- Celebrate Texas books and authors, and maybe see the new prez or the same old guv at the 'Texas Book Festival'. Once upon a time ... Thursday, Nov. 9 through Sunday, Nov. 12 -- Two bits, four bits, six bits, four dollars will get you into the Alamo Drafthouse's midnight extravaganza, 'Cheerleader Camp Weekend'. Leave the wee ones at home. Ready? Ohhhhhh-kaaaaay!"}, {"response": 201, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Nov 22, 2000 (15:21)", "body": "Austin360.com e-Lert!: November 16 - November 19 Turkeys Trotting and Longhorns Hopping No, it's not a new dance. It's Thanksgiving weekend in Austin. We've got the best guide to make this Thanksgiving holiday one to remember. There's the traditional Texas vs. A&M brawl starting in the wee hours of Friday morning. And for those of you anxiously awaiting holiday shopping, check out our links to some of the best steals and deals in town. \ufffd Austin Thanksgiving Guide \ufffd Store sales in Austin NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Saturday, Nov. 25 - Sunday, Nov. 26 -- Hear ye, hear ye! Pray assemble for ye olde worlde looke at a Victorian Christmas, Austin style. Dust off your Christmas spirit Wednesday, Nov 22 - Sunday, Dec. 3 -- Enjoy one of life's most romantic fairy tales as 'Beauty and the Beast' graces the Bass Concert Hall. Start your magical journey Saturday, Nov. 25 -- Transport the wee ones and some toys to Congress Avenue for Chuy's annual 'Children Giving to Children' parade. Give a little Christmas cheer NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: Let this photo exhibit transport you to the tranquil world of fly-fishing \ufffd Community: Join in tax-free day at Umlauf Sculpture Gardens \ufffd Movies: A Grinch, angels and clones fill Austin screens. Get show times \ufffd Music: Love The Pogues? Well, Shane MacGowan's in town. Get the skinny \ufffd Recreation: Fill your day with color as you seek out Central Texas' fall foliage \ufffd Restaurants: Enjoy a meal at one of Austin's Top 10 high-end eateries \ufffd Sports: Prepare yourself for Friday's big UT game \ufffd Travel: Map your route before setting off for the holidays news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 34, "subject": "World News Now", "response_count": 15, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Oct 13, 1999 (09:27)", "body": "Pakistan has and overthrown government, a report from a resident (not your usual news sources): That's confirmed. I've been watching news for the past few hours and about all they talk about is this. I even saw the Pakistani Army Chief (who's sacking was the immediate impetus for the coup) address the nation, and accuse the (former) Prime Minister of politicizing the Army, and ruining the nation in various ways by destroying public institutions. He says that therefore, the Army has seized control in the interests of the Nation. He says that he will make a detailed policy statement soon, and that the situation is calm. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is \"dismissed\" and under house arrest. There was NO mention of even a possible future return to democracy. Pakistan has been Army ruled for 25 of 52 years of Independence; this is the fourth military coup. Whatever the allegations against Nawaz Sharif, he WAS democratically elected with a majority in Parliament. Apparently the Army was upset over him ordering the withdrawal of Pakistani troops (Well, the Pakistani Government calls them freedom fighters given moral support) from the Kashmir region in the conflict over India. One wonders what the Army proposes to do - the latest IMF loans which Pakistan *desperately* needs will surely not be given now - so how will they stabilize the country? And will there be democracy soon? Its quite interesting really - the main story for us here in India, partly because of our own security considerations and also because Pakistan is a neighbour. Its a pity that democracy has to be so fragile, although Pakistan has been under civilian rule for 10 years. There are a lot of Indians today gleefully rubbing their hands together and going \"See, I told you so - they can't even run their own country without the military taking over.\" While thats a little prejudiced, perhaps, I'm personally very glad that despite being the same country 50 years ago, India has never developed this tradition of the Army in politics, and has always been democratically ruled. Okay, there was one period of martial rule under an elected Prime Minister who was subsequently demolished in the elections.. Badri Bangalore, India"}, {"response": 2, "author": "stacey", "date": "Wed, Oct 27, 1999 (12:42)", "body": "Armenian Prime Minister Vazgen Sarkisian was wounded Wednesday when gunmen opened fire in the Armenian parliament. The government would not disclose his condition, but reporters at the scene said Sarkisian had died from gunshot wounds to the chest. The Armenian Church said it held a requiem Mass for Sarkisian, also indicating he had died. The gunmen reportedly took several people hostage and remained in the building, officials said."}, {"response": 3, "author": "autumn", "date": "Wed, Oct 27, 1999 (22:34)", "body": "The British House of Lords has all but disbanded as hereditary privileges were formally terminated today for most of the peerage. Ordinarily littered with fat, dozing old men digesting their dinners, the place was a hotbed of political activity today as the chamber's future was disclosed."}, {"response": 4, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Oct 28, 1999 (08:52)", "body": "And in more news. Yankees sweep. Armenian gunmen surrender. Payne crash recorder found. Gore and Bradley agree. Gorbley? And the House bans assisted suicide (still legal in Oregon). That's it from your Spring newsdesk."}, {"response": 5, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Oct 29, 1999 (16:41)", "body": "Thanks for the headlines. I have a Reuters Ticker running across my desktop but it tends to freeze the entire computer whereas yours is PC-friendly."}, {"response": 6, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Oct 29, 1999 (20:13)", "body": "Today, Oregon's up in arms about this decision. Today tech stocks are soaring. Payne Stewart is buried."}, {"response": 7, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Oct 31, 1999 (10:05)", "body": "A major airline accident occurred this morning. A Flight with over 200 people crashed just off the East Coast of the USA. An Egyptair 767 headed for Egypt from LA and NYC. Just sketchy details on the news so far."}, {"response": 8, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Nov  8, 1999 (15:06)", "body": "see Obits for the outcome of Egyptair's crash..."}, {"response": 9, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Nov  9, 1999 (15:17)", "body": "and, in case anyone didn't know... Armenian Prime Minister Vazgen Sarkisian was actually killed in the attack on 10/27"}, {"response": 10, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Fri, May  5, 2000 (08:01)", "body": "Big news today is the ILOVEYOU virus. It's an email attachment that spreads rapidly and infects your computers files, deleting many .mp3, .jpg and .css files replacing them with copies of itself which is called LOVE-LETTER-FOR-YOU.TXT.vbs (visual basic). There is detailed information in the internet conference on how to clean your system if you get infected. *DON'T OPEN IT.* *DELETE IT* and be very careful to open any email attachments. It also masquerades with the name JOKE."}, {"response": 11, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Fri, May  5, 2000 (08:33)", "body": "Authorities close in on 'ILOVEYOU' suspect Clues provided from chat rooms lead Filipino police to suspect the 'ILOVEYOU' author may be a young man living in a Manila suburb. By Sharon Buan, Reuters May 5, 2000 5:27 AM PT MANILA, Philippines -- The \"Love Bug\" virus wreaking havoc on computer systems worldwide appears to have originated in the Philippines, and the author may be a young man living in a Manlia suburb, police and local Internet firms said Friday. Police sources said the local National Bureau of Investigation was investigating the case following a request from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation. A Manila Internet service provider (ISP) had earlier said the virus appeared to have first spread from two of its e-mail addresses. \"What happened is the author of the virus used two e-mail addresses through Supernet -- spyder@super.net.ph and mailme@super.net.ph,\" Jose Carlotta, chief operating officer of Access Net Inc., a Manila Internet company, told Reuters. ."}, {"response": 12, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, May  5, 2000 (15:12)", "body": "I wonder if your posts about the virus would not reach more people in \"How's your connection to the Spring.\" That way Drool ladies would be more likely to see it."}, {"response": 13, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Fri, May  5, 2000 (15:40)", "body": "Sure, you can post or repost something there. And I'll followup."}, {"response": 14, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, May  5, 2000 (15:54)", "body": "Will do so, but please include what to do about it as you posted in Virus and other more remote places. Thanks!"}, {"response": 15, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, May  5, 2000 (18:03)", "body": "http://www.cryptome.org/twa800-emi.htm Special Supplement The Fall of TWA 800: The Possibility of Electromagnetic Interference By Elaine Scarry Elaine Scarry teaches at Harvard University, where she is Cabot Professor of Aesthetics and the General Theory of Value. Her writings include The Body in Pain and articles on war and the social contract. Reconstructing the wreckage of TWA 800 in a Long island hangar, November, 1997. The piles of wire visible in the foreground are only a part of the plane's 150 miles of wiring. For more than a year, the inquiry into the fall of TWA 800 has addressed three questions: whether mechanical trouble can be ruled out, whether a bomb inside the plane can be ruled out. whether a missile or other high-velocity object (such as a meteorite) can be ruled out. But there is a fourth possibility that has been ignored and that needs to be raised in the inquiry. To a civilian, the phrase \"electromagnetic interference\" may at first sound puzzling, even though every commercial flight begins with the instruction to passengers to turn off during takeoff all computers, headsets, radios, and telephones. The power radiated by these objects is tiny. But their emissions can travel out of the cabin windows to the antennas on the outer body of the plane; therefore the FAA regulation requiring airlines to prohibit passenger use of such objects has remained firmly in place.1 Interference from military equipment can be thousands, even millions, of times as great,2 and can have much more serious consequences for airborne planes. Because ten military planes and ships were in the vicinity of TWA 800 that night, we need to ask the airmen and sailors on the planes and ships to describe with precision the pieces of equipment that were in use. HOW REAL IS THE PROBLEM OF HIGH INTENSITY RADIATED FIELDS? Much more follows - please visit the url and let me know what you think. news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 35, "subject": "gimmie a supermodel egg please, here's $50 grand", "response_count": 44, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Nov  2, 1999 (02:31)", "body": "i think it's silly."}, {"response": 2, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Nov  2, 1999 (02:35)", "body": "Why is it silly? There's a woman named Ellen Greve from Australia that started a dietary movement called \"breatherianism\" where you don't need to eat food at all. Just inhale. She claims she's been on the air diet for 5 years. Which is sillier? Eating air or buying supermodel eggs? Which is more real?"}, {"response": 3, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Nov  2, 1999 (02:44)", "body": "that's just insane and don't have anything to do with the other in my opinion. her not eating only affects her, not others. but selling your eggs. the only way she'd give up eggs is if someone buys them. so this affects other people not to mention the possible child involved. what is the purpose of selling their eggs? the same as men who \"donate\" sperm? (are you trying to pick a fight with me, terry? *grin*)"}, {"response": 4, "author": "Irishprincess", "date": "Tue, Nov  2, 1999 (04:14)", "body": "I think it's ridiculous to pay that much money on the hopes that you might have an attractive child. I've known some really good-looking people who have some UGLY kids, and I've also known some really intelligent people who have some really dumb kids. I'd be disappointed and not to mention P.O.ed if I paid that much money and got an ugly kid without a brain in its head."}, {"response": 5, "author": "Irishprincess", "date": "Tue, Nov  2, 1999 (04:16)", "body": "Not that I would pay that much money to buy anyone's egg--I'll take my own little smart-mouthed redheaded brats! If I had to get an egg donor, though, it wouldn't be a supermodel by any means."}, {"response": 6, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Nov  2, 1999 (04:26)", "body": "What qualities are we teaching our children by doing this. You're okay, but not as cute or as bright or as lovely as if we had bought you from some made-to-order baby place?! This should be tied to the human genetics place on SpringArk. It is disgusting and without merit as far as I can see. It continues to stress beauty over quality of character. Keep those people as far away from me as possible. Of course, some of us have gorgeous kids anyway...despite the way we look. Recessive genes says it all."}, {"response": 7, "author": "Isabel", "date": "Tue, Nov  2, 1999 (17:27)", "body": "Seems like stupidity is prevailing, no?"}, {"response": 8, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Nov  2, 1999 (19:53)", "body": "That and greed. Another way to make a quick buck at the expense of the too rich and way too stupid...there is one born every minute, I hear...!"}, {"response": 9, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Tue, Nov  2, 1999 (20:01)", "body": "But then, I know there's people who'd pay a lot NOT to have been born ugly. If they are rich enough, they get the lips-, nose- and whathave-ya-jobs. A supermodel-egg is cheap, compared to that... I mean, hey, what's the use in drivin' a Testostarossa if your kid's looks let you down...! Can't have that, embarrassed rich dudes are bad for the economy..."}, {"response": 10, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Nov  2, 1999 (20:12)", "body": "Ask Gi, our resident Plastic Surgeon. One could do a lot of remedial work done for $50,000 US. Cannot believe how much I would like to comfort the parents of ugly children, but I have never seen one I thought was ugly. Parents were ugly, but never the kids (remove tongue from cheek now, Dear !)"}, {"response": 11, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Tue, Nov  2, 1999 (20:14)", "body": "And! There's the bonus round for aging super-rich blokes, listen - this is the plan: (1) Buy loads of supermodel eggs; buy by whose models looks you personally find arrousing (as in: makes you HOT!). (2) Look for some good-looking sperm-donor with just suffcient brains (i.e. not a big load, ok?). (3) Cross-breed, have the fetusses caried out by some fourth-world rentawomb-girls. (4) Have them raised, boarding schools in England or Switzerland... (5) Wait twenty years, divorce the current wife (probably the third already) and voil\ufffd - there you go: You own HOMEMADE supermodel companion (just don't tell them she/he is just one of a batch on standby...) - exchange as you like: \"It's Monday - that'll call for some Cindy. Oh, and for the dinner on Saturday, I'm gonna drag my Claudia out again...\" I mean, look at all the rich guys, they all exchange their wifes for their secretary when the turn forty - admitted, some have scruples and wait till they're fifty. And at sixty or later, they usually buy themselves something nice and young to look at. Isn't that what being rich is all about? OK, the downside is, you get 50% males and 50% females out of your batch production. But then, hey, you never know if your sexual preferences might change or not, and you could sell, arh, swap, - wait, now I got it: - SHARE the surplus with your super-rich friends."}, {"response": 12, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Tue, Nov  2, 1999 (20:17)", "body": "Uh, sorry - you, ahem, slipped in, and I read about the tongue-thing only now. Do you think tongue-in-cheek is bad for the economy?"}, {"response": 13, "author": "riette", "date": "Wed, Nov  3, 1999 (08:13)", "body": "I don't. I think it is far more healthy as a start for obtaining a baby than putting down $50,000..."}, {"response": 14, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Nov  4, 1999 (02:33)", "body": "Wait a minute, hmmm, superartist eggs?"}, {"response": 15, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Nov  4, 1999 (03:00)", "body": "Don't even think of going there, Terry...and tongue is a much better way to begin baby, indeed, Ree! Touche' ! (tongue in cheek is good for lots of stuff, ecomony included...*grin*"}, {"response": 16, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Nov  4, 1999 (03:06)", "body": "*lol*"}, {"response": 17, "author": "riette", "date": "Thu, Nov  4, 1999 (15:47)", "body": "Tongue in another person's cheek is how I meant it of course."}, {"response": 18, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, Nov  4, 1999 (17:18)", "body": "So how about the \"breed your own supermodel-lover\"-idea? Will it catch on with the rich? Should I try to open a franchise in that line?"}, {"response": 19, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Nov  4, 1999 (17:35)", "body": "Oh yes, it will catch on if you have a high-profile couple as your first customers and market it carefully to target the gullible and far-roo-wealthy. Culling the eggs should be the interesting part. How do you plan to go about this little delicate endeavor?"}, {"response": 20, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Nov  4, 1999 (17:39)", "body": "Ree...but, of course...*grin* (I knew that...that is the fun part)"}, {"response": 21, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Nov  5, 1999 (13:28)", "body": "He's gonna need a website first! Registrant: Spring (SUPERMODELEGGS-DOM) Rt 2 Box 56R Cedar Creek, TX 78612 US Domain Name: SUPERMODELEGGS.COM"}, {"response": 22, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Nov  5, 1999 (14:06)", "body": "But ours will have a twist, ours come with hash browns and toast. We're going to need a volunteer (Alexander?) to go to the supermodel henhouse in the morning to gather the eggs. And will they be free range eggs? And we're going to need a site to produce good ol' boy sperm, naturally. So (with an idea borrowed from Kelso) gooberbabies.com for your offspring who can be predisposed to do brake jobs, small engine repair, air conditioning repair, etc."}, {"response": 23, "author": "riette", "date": "Fri, Nov  5, 1999 (15:03)", "body": "I think the big question here is whether there will be the kind of male sperm that can keep up with dynamite female eggs...."}, {"response": 24, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Nov  5, 1999 (18:28)", "body": "Heaven help us - redneck supermodels with the fox guarding the Hen House. Terry, you are amazingly clever - and getting the domaine name is a coupe-de-something...*grin*"}, {"response": 25, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Nov  6, 1999 (16:44)", "body": "Yep, with our supermodeleggs.com and our gooberbabies.com sperm you can have a supermodel that does brake jobs, remodeling, plumbing repairs and small engine tuneups. Can it get any better than this?"}, {"response": 26, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Nov  6, 1999 (16:54)", "body": "Yes, what kind of coup it is will eventually out itself."}, {"response": 27, "author": "riette", "date": "Sat, Nov  6, 1999 (18:55)", "body": "gooberbabies.com! ha-ha!!!"}, {"response": 28, "author": "Irishprincess", "date": "Sat, Nov  6, 1999 (19:56)", "body": "Will there be an alternate site for those who want supermodels who can find a cure for cancer? solve complex scientific problems? write the great American novel? You know some people want nothing more than to say their child is a genius."}, {"response": 29, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Nov  7, 1999 (00:11)", "body": "Sure, help think up a name for that one! geniuskids.com? Or? Brilliant idea, Amy!"}, {"response": 30, "author": "Irishprincess", "date": "Sun, Nov  7, 1999 (00:25)", "body": "babygeniuses.com? futuregeniuses.com? babyeinsteins.com?"}, {"response": 31, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Nov  7, 1999 (03:05)", "body": "how about supergenius.com?"}, {"response": 32, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Nov  7, 1999 (03:09)", "body": "With all the egos rampant on the Internet, if it is not already a personal domaine name I will be very surprised! It is a good one, though!"}, {"response": 33, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Nov  7, 1999 (14:33)", "body": "It's taken."}, {"response": 34, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Nov  7, 1999 (22:07)", "body": "supergenius? how about modelgenius, supergeeks, modelgeeks, testtubegenius, testtubemodels, and the list could go on and on...."}, {"response": 35, "author": "Irishprincess", "date": "Mon, Nov  8, 1999 (01:52)", "body": "Yours are much more creative than mine, Wolf! :-)"}, {"response": 36, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Nov  8, 1999 (02:44)", "body": "...almost as creative as the guys (it had to be guys!) who came up with the idea in the first place!"}, {"response": 37, "author": "riette", "date": "Mon, Nov  8, 1999 (08:57)", "body": "How about eggswithlegs.com?"}, {"response": 38, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Nov  8, 1999 (21:05)", "body": "...*lol* Ree! That is funny, and very good!!!"}, {"response": 39, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Nov  8, 1999 (23:51)", "body": "oh, i luv that one, ree!!"}, {"response": 40, "author": "Irishprincess", "date": "Tue, Nov  9, 1999 (00:02)", "body": "How about \"eggswithkillergams.com\"?"}, {"response": 41, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Nov  9, 1999 (01:48)", "body": "and there's another!"}, {"response": 42, "author": "riette", "date": "Tue, Nov  9, 1999 (13:25)", "body": "We're poppin' them out now, baby!"}, {"response": 43, "author": "Irishprincess", "date": "Tue, Nov  9, 1999 (19:15)", "body": "...In more ways than one!"}, {"response": 44, "author": "riette", "date": "Tue, Nov  9, 1999 (20:46)", "body": "ha-ha! Makes me feel sooooo Catholic! \ufffdfervently kissing a rosary\ufffd news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 36, "subject": "Space Science News", "response_count": 302, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Mar 24, 2000 (12:31)", "body": "Space Science News for March 22, 2000 The Earth's magnetosphere is being buffeted by high-speed solar wind particles from a coronal hole straddling the center of the Sun's disk. The solar wind velocity has increased from 350 to 600 km/s during the past 12 hours. Follow the action at http://www.spaceweather.com SpaceWeather.com MORE SPACE SCIENCE NEWS : #1 Curiouser and Curiouser: The exotic world of gamma-ray astronomy has taken yet another surprising turn with the revelation that half the previously unidentified high-energy gamma ray sources in our own galaxy actually comprise a new class of mysterious objects. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast23mar_1m.htm Curiouser and Curiouser #2 Solar Cycle Update: Is the real Y2K problem just starting? The solar cycle appears to be on schedule for a peak in mid-2000. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast22mar_1m.htm Solar Cycle Update"}, {"response": 2, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Mar 24, 2000 (14:37)", "body": ""}, {"response": 3, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Mar 24, 2000 (14:39)", "body": "Space Science News for March 24, 2000 The Compton Gamma-ray Observatory is destined for a watery grave in the remote Pacific on June 3, 2000. At a press conference today, NASA officials cited human safety concerns in explaining their decision to de-orbit the satellite, which has revolutionized our understanding of the cosmos during a highly successful 9 year mission. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast25mar_1m.htm Farewell Compton MORE NEWS : The RADAR Cop in Space -- NASA's IMAGE satellite scheduled for launch on March 25 will revolutionize our understanding of Earth's magnetosphere and improve space weather forecasting. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast24mar_1m.htm The RADAR Caop in Space"}, {"response": 4, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Mar 27, 2000 (11:07)", "body": "SPACE WEATHER NEWS : On March 25, 2000, a solar flare erupted near the center of the Sun's disk. It appears that a coronal mass ejection was launched toward Earth. An interplanetary shock wave could pass our planet during the next 24 to 48 hours, triggering moderate geomagnetic activity and aurorae. For more information and daily updates please visit http://www.spaceweather.com . SpaceWeather.com"}, {"response": 5, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Mar 29, 2000 (15:50)", "body": "NASA Science News for March 29, 2000 With the discovery of extrasolar planets smaller than Saturn, astronomers are increasingly convinced that other stars harbor planetary systems like our own. FULL STORY at http://www.spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast30mar_1.htm Planet Hunters on Safari"}, {"response": 6, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Mar 29, 2000 (19:44)", "body": "Space Weather News for March 29-30, 2000 Aurora Watch: Skywatchers in northern Europe, Canada, Alaska, and the northermost tier of US states could be treated to a display of aurora borealis tonight thanks to elevated levels of geomagnetic activity late in the day on March 29. Also today, the SOHO spacecraft captured beautiful images of a full-halo coronal mass ejection (CME) from the Sun. Full-halo CMEs are massive bubbles of hot gas headed either directly toward or away from Earth. This one appears to have erupted on the back side of the Sun and is proceeding away from our planet. Details on both are available at http://www.spaceweather.com"}, {"response": 7, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Mar 30, 2000 (17:15)", "body": "NASA Science News for March 30, 2000 Next Thursday, April 6, three planets and the thin crescent Moon are going to put on a memorable sky show when the quartet converge inside a circle 9 degrees across. The grouping is just the prelude to a grander alignment of planets on May 5, 2000. Is doom at hand, as many mystics assert? Find out by reading the FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast30mar_1m.htm Planets for Dessert Also, for kids and kids-at-heart, a younger person's version of this article is available at the NASA Kids web site: http://kids.msfc.nasa.gov/news/2000/news-planetalign.asp?se The Planets Line Up"}, {"response": 8, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Mar 31, 2000 (17:01)", "body": "Propagation Report from ARRL Geomagnetic indices did rise last Friday, the day before the contest, but even then the planetary K index rose only briefly to 4. On Saturday and Sunday the planetary K index was mostly 1 or 2, and during one period was even 0. What is really interesting is that the College K index, measured in Alaska where the geomagnetic activity is higher due to proximity to the polar region, was actually 0 over six 3 hour periods on Saturday and Sunday. Solar flux and sunspot numbers were higher this week than last, with average sunspot numbers up 54 points and average solar flux rising several points. Solar flux actually peaked for the short term during the previous week on March 22, when the noon reading at Penticton was 233.8 and the reading two hours later was 235.6. The low for week was Tuesday, when solar flux was 200.9. It may go lower this weekend, if solar flux this Sunday goes below 200. The predicted solar flux for the next five days, Friday through Tuesday, is 205, 200, 195, 205 and 210. Flux values may again dip below 200 around April 10-16, then peak near 250 around April 22 or 23. Possible days of geomagnetic upset, based on the solar rotation are April 18 and 19 and April 28. MSNBC ran another story this week on the so-called solar heartbeat. You can see the article at http://www.msnbc.com/news/389042.asp , which explains a theory concerning how layers of gas rotating at different speeds may affect the formation of sunspots and solar flares. MSNBC also ran a story about a new solar satellite that was launched last Saturday. Called IMAGE, or Imager for Magnetosphere-to-Aural Global Exploration, it will be used to study the relationship between solar wind and the earth's magnetosphere. It will deploy four wire antennas that are each 820 feet long, making it the longest artificial object in space. Read about it at http://www.msnbc.com/news/386647.asp?0a=235A162 . NASA also ran a story on the IMAGE at http://science.msfc.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast27mar_1m.htm . Sunspot numbers for March 23 through 29 were 236, 230, 243, 255, 227, 232 and 238 with a mean of 237.3. 10.7 cm flux was 224.1, 218.9, 205.1, 211.3, 204.9, 200.9 and 208.8, with a mean of 210.6, and estimated planetary A indices were 11, 10, 8, 5, 5, 5 and 9, with a mean of 7.6."}, {"response": 9, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Mar 31, 2000 (19:13)", "body": "NASA Science News for April 1, 2000 On April Fools Day, 2000, NASA researchers are questioning the fate of five high-flying sweet treats that disappeared after a meteor balloon flight in April 1999. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast01apr_1m.htm"}, {"response": 10, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Apr  3, 2000 (13:51)", "body": "NASA Science News for April 3, 2000 Like blood pulsing in an artery, newly discovered currents of gas beat deep inside the Sun, speeding and slackening every 16 months. The solar \"heartbeat\" throbs in the same region of the Sun suspected of driving the 11-year cycle of solar eruptions. Scientists are hopeful that this pulse can help them unravel the origin and operation of the solar cycle. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast03apr_1m.htm"}, {"response": 11, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Apr  4, 2000 (23:10)", "body": "Space Weather News for April 4-5, 2000 The interplanetary magnetic field in the vicinity of Earth turned southward on April 4. This condition often creates a weak point in our planet's magnetospheric shielding against the solar wind. Geomagnetic activity is currently high. If active conditions continue, observers in northern Europe, Canada, Alaska and the northern tier of US states could be in for a display of aurora borealis around local midnight on April 5 (when April 4 turns into April 5). The Moon is just one day past New, meaning that even very faint Northern Lights could be visible against tonight's dark skies. For more information see: http://www.spaceweather.com"}, {"response": 12, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Apr  5, 2000 (14:20)", "body": "NASA Science News for April 5, 2000 The Boulder sunspot number exceeded 300 this week as the sunspot cycle continued its march toward Solar Max. Do these high sunspot counts mean that the solar maximum will be bigger than expected? Find out the answer by reading the FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast05apr_1m.htm REMINDER: On April 6, 2000, the Moon, Jupiter, Mars and Saturn will put on a beautiful after-dinner sky show. DETAILS at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast30mar_1m.htm"}, {"response": 13, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Apr  6, 2000 (15:02)", "body": "NASA Science News for April 6, 2000 During an unplanned rendezvous, the Ulysses spacecraft found itself gliding though the immense tail of Comet Hyakutake, revealing that comet tails may be much, much longer than previously believed. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast06apr_2.htm"}, {"response": 14, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Apr  6, 2000 (15:25)", "body": "Space Science News - April 6, 2000 An interplanetary shock front passed NASA's ACE spacecraft around 1630 UT on April 6, 2000, abruptly raising the solar wind velocity from 375 to nearly 600 km/s. Usually such disturbances arrive at Earth about one hour after they pass ACE. Aurorae at middle latitudes could be in the offing tonight. Follow this developing story at http://www.spaceweather.com ."}, {"response": 15, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Apr  7, 2000 (12:16)", "body": "NASA Science News for April 7, 2000 Subject: Geomagnetic Storm A major geomagnetic storm hit our planet on Thursday after an interplanetary shock wave passed by Earth on April 6, 2000. Displays of aurora borealis were spotted in Europe, Asia, Canada, Alaska and in the continental US as far south as North Carolina. The storm appears to be subsiding, but forecasters note that more aurorae might be visible Friday night. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast07apr_2m.htm"}, {"response": 16, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Apr  7, 2000 (22:36)", "body": "Propagation Forecast Bulletin 14 April 7, 2000 The sunspot number took a big leap this week, rising to 301 on Sunday. It has not been this high since November 12 of last year, when it was 324. Two days prior on November 10 meters the solar flux was 343, which is still the record for this cycle. The average sunspot count for the week was only up about 8 points though, and average solar flux was about the same as last week. Solar flux is a measurement of 2.8 GHz energy from the sun, measured at the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory operated by the National Research Council Canada in Penticton, British Columbia. You can visit the observatory web site at http://www.drao.nrc.ca/ . Sunspot numbers are calculated by multiplying the number of visible sunspot groups by 10, and adding the number of individual spots in all the groups. A multiplication factor is also used, and it differs for each observatory. You can see a complete explanation for sunspot numbers and their derivation at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast05apr_1m.htm . Geomagnetic indices have been high this week, with the average planetary A index almost double last week's number. The A index was in double-digits every day, with April 4 being the most disturbed. The planetary A index was 21, with planetary K indices as high as 5, and the mid-latitude index at 6 during the same period. Coming up on Saturday and Sunday is the HF CW weekend for the Japan International DX Contest. Unfortunately, as this bulletin is being written on Thursday night, a major geomagnetic storm is raging. An interplanetary shock wave passed earth at 1730z on April 6, and Aurora have been spotted in North America as far south as North Carolina. The planetary K index for the end of thez day on Thursday was 8, and the A index was 56. The Boulder K index at 0300z on Friday is also 8. A severe geomagnetic storm began at 0100z on April 7. For the next five days, Friday through Tuesday, the expected planetary A index is 30, 20, 15, 10 and 7. The predicted solar flux for the same five days is 175, 180, 180, 175 and 170. Solar flux is expected to rise above 200 again around April 14 and stay there well into the month of May. Sunspot numbers for March 30 through April 5 were 225, 248, 287, 301, 252, 184 and 221 with a mean of 245.4. 10.7 cm flux was 205.5, 225.4, 222.9, 219.3, 215.4, 206.7 and 194.4, with a mean of 212.8, and estimated planetary A indices were 10 meters, 19, 14, 16, 12, 21 and 12, with a mean of 14.9."}, {"response": 17, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Apr 10, 2000 (13:20)", "body": "NASA Science News for April 10, 2000 On the heels of NASA's 7th annual Great Moonbuggy Race, engineers from the Apollo program discuss the challenges of building the original Lunar Rover. This story includes RealVideo of one of the original rovers in action on the Moon. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast10apr_1m.htm"}, {"response": 18, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Apr 11, 2000 (16:29)", "body": "NASA Science News for April 11, 2000 Where's the Edge?: Will humans always be confined to the Solar System? Not if NASA's Advanced Space Transportation Program has a say in the matter! Find out how scientists are working to turn science fiction into standard practise with new and innovative ways to reach the stars. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast11apr_1m.htm"}, {"response": 19, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Apr 12, 2000 (11:48)", "body": "NASA Science News for April 12, 2000 A group of volunteer scientists is converging on Huntsville for an out-of-this-world meeting -- the High Energy Astrophysics Workshop for Amateur Astronomers. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast12apr_1m.htm"}, {"response": 20, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Apr 14, 2000 (13:47)", "body": "NASA Science News for April 14, 2000 The sled dogs of California's Eastern Sierra are unhappy. Why? A persistent La Ni\ufffda condition in the Pacific has left the mountain range with less than its usual supply of snow. As data continue to flow in from Earth orbit, NASA scientists are working to understand how El Ni\ufffdo and La Ni\ufffda affect our global climate. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast14apr_1m.htm"}, {"response": 21, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Apr 17, 2000 (12:35)", "body": "NASA Science News for April 17, 2000 NASA's Cassini spacecraft, currently en route to Saturn, has successfully completed its passage through our solar system's asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. FULL STORY at http://www.spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast17apr_3.htm"}, {"response": 22, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Apr 18, 2000 (19:40)", "body": "NASA Science News for April 18, 2000 April's Lyrid Meteor Shower : The oldest known meteor shower peaks on the morning of April 22. Bright moonlight will reduce the number of shooting stars that are easy to see, but many meteor enthusiasts will be watching anyway because it's been over 3 months since the last major meteor display. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast18apr_1m.htm"}, {"response": 23, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Apr 21, 2000 (14:37)", "body": "NASA Science News for April 21, 2000 Amateur astronomers attended a unique meeting in mid-April to learn about high-energy astrophysics and how they can participate in it. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast21apr_1m.htm"}, {"response": 24, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Apr 24, 2000 (12:05)", "body": "NASA Science News for April 24, 2000 Like an excited kid hoping to snag a fly ball at a professional baseball game, NASA's Stardust spacecraft has extended its high-tech \"catcher's mitt\" to collect a valuable space souvenir -- a batch of interstellar dust particles. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast24apr_1.htm"}, {"response": 25, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Apr 25, 2000 (14:05)", "body": "NASA Science News for April 25, 2000 Stargazers around the globe were treated to an unexpected and rare display of red-colored aurora on April 6-7, 2000, after a vigorous interplanetary shock wave passed by Earth. This story includes a gallery of more than 40 images showing the aurora borealis from Europe and over parts of the United States as far south as Florida. FULL STORY at http://www.spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast25apr_1m.htm"}, {"response": 26, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Apr 26, 2000 (00:09)", "body": "NASA Science News for April 26, 2000 Using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, a team of scientists has attacked one of astronomy's oldest and thorniest problems, determining the distance to a cosmic object. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast26apr_1m.htm"}, {"response": 27, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Apr 26, 2000 (12:32)", "body": "EXPLODING STAR FEATURED ON WEB SITE Wednesday, April 26, 2000 16:04 A spectacular view of an exploding star was released today on a new web site launched to mark the Hubble Space Telescope's 10th year in orbit. The multi-coloured fireball, some 6,500 light years from Earth in the constellation Aquila, looks like a giant eye in space. A few thousand years ago a dying star about the same size as the Sun erupted and threw off its outer layers to create the \"planetary nebula\" NGC 6751. Shells of gas were hurled into space at speeds of 25 miles per second, glowing with the strong ultra-violet radiation emitted by the star's hot exposed core. The celestial cataclysm offers a sobering vision of what is in store for us. Our own Sun is predicted to undergo the same death throes in about six billion years' time. When it happens nothing in the Solar System, including the Earth, will escape destruction. The image is one of a number of dramatic pictures now available on the new Internet site http://hubble.stsci.edu Others include infant galaxies that existed billions of years ago, and tall, gaseous pillars that serve as incubators for embryonic stars. NGC 6751 shows several poorly understood features. Blue regions mark the hottest glowing gas, forming a ring around the central stellar remnant. Orange and red colours mark the locations of cooler gas, which tends to lie in long streamers pointing away from the central star, and in a tattered ring around the edge of the nebula. The origin of the cooler clouds within the nebula is still uncertain, but the streamers are evidence that they are affected by radiation and raging winds from the hot star at the centre. The star's surface temperature is estimated to be a scorching 140,000C. Hubble will be decommissioned in 2010 and replaced by the even more powerful Next Generation Space Telescope. \ufffd Press Association Thanks for this, Maggie *"}, {"response": 28, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Apr 27, 2000 (13:27)", "body": "NASA Science News for April 27, 2000 An international team of cosmologists has released the first detailed images of the universe in its infancy. Analysis of the images is already shedding light on some of cosmology's outstanding mysteries -- the nature of the matter and energy that dominate intergalactic space and whether space is \"curved\" or \"flat.\" FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast27apr_1.htm"}, {"response": 29, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Apr 28, 2000 (00:24)", "body": "NASA Science News for April 28, 2000 NASA scientists are working to solve the need for computer speed using light itself to accelerate calculations and increase data bandwidth. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast28apr_1m.htm"}, {"response": 30, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Apr 28, 2000 (19:35)", "body": "Propagation Forecast Bulletin 17 - April 28, 2000 Sunspots and solar flux were up this week. The average sunspot number was up over 40 points and average solar flux rose over 30 points over the past week. Geomagnetic indices have been mostly quiet, with April 24 the most active day. Last week's bulletin ARLP016 said that the solar flux should be up around 220 this weekend, but conditions are not cooperating. Although activity has been higher this week than last, it is not as high as expected. Solar flux is expected to hover around 175 to 185 until April 8, then dip below 170, and rise to around 200 from May 19 through 28. The planetary A index prediction indicates unsettled conditions for Friday. The A index should stay quiet from this weekend until May 6 and 7, when it may rise to 15. Predicted solar flux for the next five days, Friday through Tuesday is 180, 175, 175, 180 and 180. Sunspot numbers for April 20 through 26 were 179, 211, 226, 252, 222, 229 and 197 with a mean of 216.6. 10.7 cm flux was 180.6, 187.3, 201.8, 206.1, 205.6, 202.5 and 189.9, with a mean of 196.3, and estimated planetary A indices were 14, 10, 7, 8, 21, 6 and 4, with a mean of 10."}, {"response": 31, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, May  1, 2000 (00:23)", "body": "NASA Science News for May 1, 2000 One year ago this week killer tornadoes raged across Oklahoma. Now, NASA scientists are figuring out how to predict such storms using lightning data from Earth-orbit. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast01may_1m.htm"}, {"response": 32, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, May  1, 2000 (01:59)", "body": "Space Weather News for May 1, 2000 A coronal mass ejection (CME) from a small sunspot group was recorded by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory on April 30, 2000. If material from the eruption is heading toward Earth, as animations of the CME suggest, then the shock wave will probably arrive late on May 2nd or sometime on May 3rd. Forecasters estimate a 30% chance of active geomagnetic conditions at middle-latitudes on May 3, 2000. For more information, please visit http://www.spaceweather.com"}, {"response": 33, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, May  1, 2000 (02:25)", "body": "Since no one apparently cares to read about this in News I ave created a new topic in Geo for it. Too bad I could not telnet and link the two of them together. But, that is the way it is, and no one seems willing to do it for me. http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/restricted/read/Geo/33/new"}, {"response": 34, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Mon, May  1, 2000 (08:29)", "body": "I'll do it ! Just email me or ask. In the instructions say \"link news topic 21 to science\" or whatever it is."}, {"response": 35, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, May  1, 2000 (13:51)", "body": "Please link this topic to Geo... I am most grateful. If you want to link it to science that is ok, too, but too many duplicates mess up my hot list! Mahalo plenty!"}, {"response": 36, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Mon, May  1, 2000 (14:23)", "body": "Linkage complete."}, {"response": 37, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, May  1, 2000 (14:52)", "body": "*Big Hugs* Mahalo!"}, {"response": 38, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, May  2, 2000 (13:21)", "body": "NASA Science News for May 2, 2000 The eta Aquarid meteor shower, caused by bits of debris from Halley's Comet, will peak on May 5-6, 2000. Lunar observers will be watching the Moon on the nights after the shower for possible signs of meteorite impacts. FULL STORY at http://www.spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast02may_1.htm"}, {"response": 39, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Tue, May  2, 2000 (15:57)", "body": "I couldn't see this posted elsewhere, sorry if i've duplicated, I only just picked it up. http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000413/sc/space_quasar.html Astronomers Spot Most Distant Quasar Ever Observed WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Astronomers peering across the universe have spotted the most distant object ever observed, a quasar 26 billion light-years away, researchers said on Thursday. This quasar, confirmed as the most faraway object by scientists working with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, probably started sending its light in Earth's direction when the universe was less than a billion years old, the researchers said in a statement. The universe is thought to be about 14 billion years old now, give or take a couple billion years. And it has been expanding since the theoretical Big Bang that started it all. Quasars are extremely bright but extremely compact objects thought to be powered by matter-sucking black holes as massive as a billion suns. Michael Turner, a spokesman for the Survey at the University of Chicago, said this means that the quasar is about 26 billion light-years away now, but because of the expansion of the universe, it used to be a lot closer. ``When it emitted the light, it was only about 4 billion light-years from the space in the universe where Earth would be eventually,'' Turner said in a telephone interview. ``It's only when we talk about the most distant objects that we have to take the expansion of he universe into account.'' A light-year is the distance light travels in a year, about 6 trillion miles. Another way to think about cosmic distances and ages is to determine how bent the light gets as the universe expands. The more bent it gets to the red end of the spectrum, the older the object is determined to be. This is known as redshift. This newly observed object has a redshift of 5.8, the highest ever measured. It is in fact too red to be seen by the human eye, even with the most sophisticated equipment. But it was observed through data gathered by the Sky Survey last month, and scientists confirmed its distance last week. An image of the distant quasar can be viewed on the World Wide Web at http://www.sdss.org ."}, {"response": 40, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, May  2, 2000 (16:06)", "body": "Interesting. I wonder if it is the same things as the Keck found a couple of weeks ago. I shall hunt it up and see. Thanks, Maggie!"}, {"response": 41, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, May  2, 2000 (16:13)", "body": "A suggestion - please! We post articles and comments of length in Geo 24 for space stuff and this should just be for posting the news releases. Does that sound ok?"}, {"response": 42, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, May  3, 2000 (14:54)", "body": "NASA Science News for May 3, 2000 A team of explorers including astrobiologist Richard Hoover and astronauts Jim Lovell and Owen Garriott traveled to Antarctica in January 2000 to search for meteorites and extreme-loving microbes. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast03may_1m.htm"}, {"response": 43, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Wed, May  3, 2000 (15:01)", "body": "The gps devices just got accurate down to 5 to 10 feet or better. A friend says he can see when he changes lanes on his now!"}, {"response": 44, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, May  3, 2000 (15:06)", "body": "GPS stuff has gotten very sophisticated with an enormous constellation of satellites tracking your every move. Great stuff! That is the next thing on my son's wish list - he has installed ground monitors on Kilauea to check for movement in the surface (Supposedly, the entire seaward flank of Kilauea is gonna break off and we will all be dead from the terific tsunami generated thereby!)"}, {"response": 45, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Wed, May  3, 2000 (18:35)", "body": "Will you let us know when the tsunami heads this way so we can climb up onto some hills?"}, {"response": 46, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, May  3, 2000 (18:43)", "body": "If you get a tsunami, I shall call you live and direct as you are fleeing! Count on it - and you'd better take my buddy with you *grin* You are both crucial to my well-being! (You gotta see this wallpaper on a good monitor! It is gorgeous! Hope he likes it, as well...)"}, {"response": 47, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, May  4, 2000 (14:55)", "body": "Thursday's Classroom for May 4, 2000 The Amazing Moon Buggy + Planetary Alignment lessons This week, Thursday's Classroom takes a wild ride on the original interplanetary Sport Utility Vehicle: the amazing Apollo Moon Buggy. Students will tap their toes to the beat of the \"Moon Buggy Boogie,\" play a stimulating game of \"Lunar Rover Lunacy,\" covert measurements from English to metric units in \"Moon Math,\" and more... Please visit: http://www.thursdaysclassroom.com Thursday's Classroom Also, a note for recent subscribers: The March 30, 2000, episode of Thursday's Classroom features lessons and activities related to the May 5, 2000, planetary alignment. See: http://www.thursdaysclassroom.com/index_30mar00.html Planetary Alignments"}, {"response": 48, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, May  4, 2000 (14:59)", "body": "NASA Science News for May 4, 2000 Interplanetary Low Tide Tidal forces on Earth caused by other planets in the solar system will be at a low point this week when Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn \"line up\" on the far side of the Sun. The alignment won't be visible to the naked-eye, but there will be a meteor shower that could produce a nice sky show. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast04may_1m.htm Interplanetary Low Tide See also: http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast02may_1.htm 5/5/2000: The Meteor Shower"}, {"response": 49, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, May  4, 2000 (17:17)", "body": "Three Planets and a Coronal Mass Ejection Space Weather News for May 4, 2000 The planets Mercury, Jupiter and Saturn have entered the field of view of instruments on board the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory as they approach the Sun for Friday's much-touted conjunction. Animations of this rare event include two coronal mass ejections with three planets in the background. For more information, please see http://www.spaceweather.com SpaceWeather.com"}, {"response": 50, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, May  5, 2000 (14:25)", "body": "Propagation Forecast Bulletin 18 - May 5, 2000 It seems odd to view the solar disk at the peak of the solar cycle and see few sunspots, but that was the case this week. Solar flux, a measure of 2.8 GHz energy from the sun which correlates roughly with sunspots and the ionization of the particles which reflect HF radio waves, were down sharply this week. On Thursday, when this bulletin was written, the thrice daily solar flux numbers were 133, 134.5 and 134.7. Solar flux has not been this low since January. Average solar flux for this week dropped over thirty points, and average sunspot numbers were down over seventy points, when compared to the previous week. Geomagnetic conditions were fairly unsettled as well, with planetary A indices in the double-digits throughout the week, and K indices often as high as 4. There weren't any severe geomagnetic storms, but geomagnetic conditions were rarely quiet. Looking at monthly trends, the average monthly solar flux for January through April was 159, 174.1, 208.2 and 184.2. The lower activity should continue for the next few days. Predicted solar flux for Friday, May 5 through the following Tuesday is 130, 130, 135, 145 and 150. The predicted planetary A index for those days is 10, 15, 12, 10 and 10. KA5WQM wrote to remark on poor 10 meter conditions. He said that in central Oklahoma the band has been unusable since last Thursday. There are a couple of influences to consider. One is the season. Ten meters is much better right around the equinox, and we are moving every day closer to summer conditions when occasional short skip via sporadic E-layer propagation will be the norm. Of course the other factor is the lower sunspot activity and solar flux. Doing a path projection from Oklahoma to Hawaii with a solar flux of 230, there is a good bet for strong openings on 10 meters from 1800 to 2230z. Lower the solar flux to 170, and the period in which strong signals are likely over that path shrinks to 1930 to 2130z. With the solar flux at 130, communication is possible, but strong openings are much less likely. During this month 15 meters should be far better for long distance HF communications than 10. Sunspot numbers for April 27 through May 3 were 163, 238, 142, 126, 121, 108 and 113 with a mean of 144.4. 10.7 cm flux was 183.5, 183.4, 174.9, 169.5, 157.7, 152.8 and 137.3, with a mean of 165.6, and estimated planetary A indices were 13, 17, 12, 11, 14, 18 and 15, with a mean of 14.3."}, {"response": 51, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, May  6, 2000 (11:08)", "body": "Space Weather News for May 6, 2000 The wide field coronagraph on board the orbiting Solar and Heliospheric Observatory recorded a series of dazzling coronal mass ejections (CMEs) on May 5, 2000, with Mercury, Jupiter and Saturn in the background. These eruptions apparently came from active sunspot groups that are just over the Sun's western limb. CMEs like these, seen in profile, are unusually beautiful. This weekend the visible disk of the Sun is remarkably devoid of large sunspots as we approach the peak of the sunspot cycle in mid-2000. For more information and images please visit: http://www.spaceweather.com SpaceWeather.com"}, {"response": 52, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, May  7, 2000 (23:13)", "body": "NASA Science News for May 8, 2000 NASA astronomers have collected the first-ever radar images of a \"main belt\" asteroid. It's a metallic, dog bone-shaped rock the size of New Jersey, an apparent leftover from an ancient, violent cosmic collision. The asteroid, named 216 Kleopatra, was discovered in 1880, but until now, its shape was unknown. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast08may_1.htm An Asteroid goes to the Dogs"}, {"response": 53, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Mon, May  8, 2000 (16:47)", "body": "I saw it, it does look like a giant dog bone."}, {"response": 54, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, May  8, 2000 (16:53)", "body": "Yup! Like the North American Nebula looks like its name, and the Owl Nebula and other goodies up there! Thanks for looking!"}, {"response": 55, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, May  9, 2000 (15:48)", "body": "NASA Science News for May 9, 2000 The Sun appeared nearly featureless this weekend as the sunspot area dropped 10 times below its average value. Nevertheless, scientists say Solar Max is still on the way. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast09may_1m.htm Solar Ups and Downs"}, {"response": 56, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, May 11, 2000 (15:10)", "body": "NASA Science News for May 11, 2000 Images made by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory show for the first time the full impact of the actual blast wave from Supernova 1987A. The observations are the first time that X-rays from a shock wave have been imaged at such an early stage of a supernova explosion. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast11may_1m.htm Impact! Chandra images a young supernova blast wave"}, {"response": 57, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, May 11, 2000 (16:18)", "body": "Space Weather News for May 11, 2000 Material from a coronal mass ejection that left the Sun on May 8 is expected to pass by our planet late on May 11 or early May 12. Depending on the characteristics of the magnetic field within the disturbance, it could trigger minor geomagnetic storms on Earth. There is a slim chance of aurorae at mid-latitudes, but auroral activity will more likely be concentrated over high latitude regions including northern Europe, Canada and Alaska. Visit http://www.spaceweather.com for more information and updates. SpaceWeather.com ---"}, {"response": 58, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, May 12, 2000 (15:13)", "body": "NASA Science News for May 12, 2000 NASA scientists have discovered unexpected spiral-shaped flames on Earth. By studying these peculiar flames, researchers hope to mitigate fire hazards on spacecraft and gain new insights about complex systems in nature. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast12may_1.htm Not Just Another Old Flame"}, {"response": 59, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, May 15, 2000 (00:05)", "body": "NASA Science News for May 15, 2000 A black hole binary star system called XTE J1550-564 has recently become one of the brightest sources in the x-ray sky. Astronomers are fascinated by fluctuations in the x-ray emission from this source, which if converted to sound waves would feel like the deep rumbling vibrations from a bass speaker at a rock 'n roll concert. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast15may_1m.htm The Humming Black Hole"}, {"response": 60, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, May 15, 2000 (00:33)", "body": "Aurora Watching The Sun is currently entering a peak of storminess, part of a cycle that lasts 11 years. This causes a stronger \"solar wind,\" which is a constant stream of charged particles. When these particles hit the Earth's magnetic field, the interaction releases visible light, which we in the north know as the Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights (there's the Aurora Australis, or Southern Lights, Down Under). During these storm peaks, the spectacular auroras can be visible much further south than usual. You can learn more about auroras, check out the space weather forecast, and download aurora videos at http://www.sec.noaa.gov/ Click here to learn more about auroras. http://dac3.pfrr.alaska.edu/~pfrr/AURORA/INDEX.HTM"}, {"response": 61, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, May 15, 2000 (16:00)", "body": "NASA Science News for May 16, 2000 The planets Venus and Jupiter will pass less than 42 arcseconds apart on May 17. Because the pair is so close to the Sun, only the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory will have a good view of the close encounter, which is similar to the \"Christmas Star\" conjunction of 2 BC. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast16may_1.htm?list A Christmas Star for SOHO"}, {"response": 62, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, May 16, 2000 (00:44)", "body": "Full Halo Coronal Mass Ejection Space Weather News for May 16, 2000 On May 15 a coronagraph on the ESA/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory captured rare images of a full halo coronal mass ejection with 4 planets and the Pleiades in the field of view. Material from the eruption could arrive in the neighborhood of Earth on May 17 or 18. For more information and animations, visit http://www.spaceweather.com SpaceWeather.com"}, {"response": 63, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, May 17, 2000 (00:12)", "body": "Students take control of a prototype Mars Rover NASA Science News for May 17, 2000 Students from around the country will take control of a prototype Mars rover named FIDO as it explores a western Nevada desert. The FIDO rover is a testbed for future missions, including the proposed Mars Mobile Lander that is currently under study for a possible launch in 2003. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast17may_1.htm?list Heel, FIDO, Heel!"}, {"response": 64, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, May 17, 2000 (20:17)", "body": "Gravitational Lenses The hallmark of a scientific theory is that it makes predictions about the real world that can be tested. Interestingly, Einstein's theory of general relativity posed major problems for verification: The differences it predicted from Newton's laws were so small they were extremely difficult to measure -- especially with the technology available in the early part of the twentieth century. One prediction that could be checked concerned a gravitational field's ability to bend light rays, a phenomenon known as gravitational lensing. Sir Arthur Eddington used a solar eclipse in 1919 to test the theory. He looked at the position of a distant star in line with the edge of the sun during the eclipse (allowing it to be observed in the daytime). It appeared to be shifted 1.75 arc seconds from its actual place in the sky. The gravitational field of the sun was bending the light arriving from that star, providing an early confirmation of Einstein's theory."}, {"response": 65, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, May 18, 2000 (00:09)", "body": "To Be or Not to Be, La Nina? NASA Science News for May 18, 2000 Just last month, scientists were predicting that current La Ni\ufffda conditions would persist, but now data from Earth-orbiting satellites show that it may be on the decline. Is it too soon to revise the 2000 hurricane forecast? FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast18may_1m.htm To Be or Not to Be, La Ni\ufffda?"}, {"response": 66, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, May 18, 2000 (00:43)", "body": "I could not resist posting this image. The solar coronal outburst framed the items you can see listed behind the solar image. Quite extraordinary! Why were conditions so rough on HF? Noise can get very high, especially here in the Pacific North West. Signals get weaker than normal on some bands, and deep fades occur. Why? CME -- that's why. What's a CME? A coronal mass ejection is a huge (like, larger than earth... or bigger!) gas bubble threaded with magnetic field lines. This bubble is ejected from the Sun. This ejection of gas lasts for several hours, and if it is directed toward the earth, can result in a very high energy bombardment into our atmosphere and ionosphere. And our Geomagnetic field becomes very active. A highly active Geomagnetic field degrades radio communications http://hfradio.org/propagation.html#CME1"}, {"response": 67, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, May 18, 2000 (22:56)", "body": "Great Ganymede! NASA Science News for May 19, 2000 This weekend NASA's Galileo spacecraft will pass 808 km above the surface of our solar system's largest moon, Ganymede. The spacecraft will hunt for signs of mysterious \"cryptovolcanoes\" and collect new data on Ganymede's unique magnetic field. This story includes plasma wave audio sounds from Ganymede's magnetosphere recorded during a previous flyby. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast19may_1.htm Great Ganymede! __"}, {"response": 68, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, May 19, 2000 (14:23)", "body": "The Secret Lives of Alien Volcanoes NASA Science News for May 19, 2000 The latest images of Io from NASA's Galileo spacecraft reveal a bizarre world of hot volcanoes, sulfurous snowfields, and slip-sliding mountains. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast19may_2.htm?list The Secret Lives of Alien Volcanoes"}, {"response": 69, "author": "vibrown", "date": "Sat, May 20, 2000 (00:17)", "body": "Here's some more info on \"dark matter\". http://dmtelescope.org http://www.bell-labs.com/org/physicalsciences/projects/darkmatter/darkmatter.html"}, {"response": 70, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, May 20, 2000 (00:43)", "body": "Ooh - good stuff to read on a dark Friday night. But, I am stuck with the W3.1 laptop because my newly installed norton antivirus has frozen the entire computer and everytime it come time to boot the task bar it shuts it down again. and we scandisk and try again with the same results. Now, what do I do?"}, {"response": 71, "author": "vibrown", "date": "Sat, May 20, 2000 (01:03)", "body": "Yikes, NORTON is hanging your system? I know you mentioned that McAfee caused problems, but I'm surprised about Norton. There's a way to boot the computer up in \"windows safe mode\", so you can uninstall whatever is causing problems...let me go look it up."}, {"response": 72, "author": "vibrown", "date": "Sat, May 20, 2000 (01:15)", "body": "OK, here's the info from my Windows 95 guide (the one distributed with new PCs). 1. Restart your computer. 2. When you see the following text: \"Starting Windows 95...\", press and release the F8 function key. This should display a menu. 3. Type the number for the option you want (or select it with the down arrow key). I would try the \"Safe mode\" option, that boots Windows with a minimal configuration, and try uninstalling Norton. Hopefully you'll be able to boot the system normally after that. Then I'd call Norton to complain. Who needs an anti-virus program that causes more problems than an actual virus?? Good luck!"}, {"response": 73, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Sat, May 20, 2000 (05:34)", "body": "Good advice about booting in to Safe Mode. Sometimes this alone will fix some problems."}, {"response": 74, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, May 20, 2000 (18:45)", "body": "That's what I did - as I wrote in computer conf/virus topic, I think the problem might just be the factthat I enabled Norton to check all drives at startup. There is one imbedded (know how to rid of them?!) program which is the first to load on the task bar and that is precisely where the problem came and it would shut down completely each time. I slept on it and came up with the same idea as you did and you can see that it worked. I deleted the Norton but kept the zipped download so I can reinstall it if my conclusions are correct - and have it not examine the drives until everything is up and running. However, if it still has a problem with that particular program (which I never use - an internet connection which I do not prefer but NEC did...), it will continue to shut down my computer at every encounter?! Yes?"}, {"response": 75, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, May 20, 2000 (18:53)", "body": "Someone even gave me a crutch I did not remember till just now...Your computer's FATE lies in F8. It is a good one to remember!"}, {"response": 76, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, May 22, 2000 (13:44)", "body": "Radio JOVE -- NASA helps students tune in to radio bursts from Jupiter Jupiter is a source of powerful radio bursts that can produce exotic sounds on common ham radio receivers. NASA scientists are helping students tune in to the giant planet as part of an innovative educational program called Radio JOVE. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast22may_1.htm?list Radio JOVE"}, {"response": 77, "author": "vibrown", "date": "Tue, May 23, 2000 (12:47)", "body": "Do you know the name of the embedded program? If it's in your Startup folder, you should be able to delete it from the Startup folder to keep it from running. If it's not there, it might be in the win.ini or system.ini file; at least I think Windows 95/98 still has those files...they would be in the c:\\windows or c:\\windows\\system directory. The only other place I can think of would be the Windows Registry, but you'd have to hunt through the Registry keys for it. There should be a Registry Editor program (regedit.exe or regedt32.exe) in the c:\\windows or c:\\windows\\system directory. (I'm not sure exactly where it is on Windows 95/98, and I'm on and NT system right now.)"}, {"response": 78, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, May 23, 2000 (16:03)", "body": "(Answered the above in The Software/Computer conference) Galileo swoops by the largest moon in the Solar System NASA Science News for May 23, 2000 On Saturday, May 20, 2000, NASA's Galileo spacecraft successfully flew past the largest moon in our solar system -- Ganymede, which orbits around Jupiter. Galileo dipped to 809 kilometers (503 miles) above the surface in the spacecraft's first flyby of Ganymede since May 7, 1997. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast23may_1.htm?list A Big Moon Close Up"}, {"response": 79, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, May 23, 2000 (16:06)", "body": "Ginny, the really odd thing is that it does not show up in the taskbar remove/add nor in the start/startup folder... it is so exasperating!"}, {"response": 80, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, May 24, 2000 (16:41)", "body": "NASA Science News for May 24, 2000 Crystal balls rarely have anything to do with science, but soon NASA researchers will be using a set of quartz spheres to examine one of the last, untested portions of Einstein's General Theory of Relativity. The spheres make up four extraordinary gyroscopes heading for Earth orbit on board the Gravity Probe B mission in 2002 to measure the twisting and compression of space and time around our rotating planet. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast24may_1m.htm?list"}, {"response": 81, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, May 26, 2000 (14:42)", "body": "NASA Science News for May 26, 2000 The pioneering space station concepts of the mid-1950's don't look much like the erector-set habitat in orbit today. Read about Werner von Braun's early designs for an outpost in space and how he advocated his ideas to the public 50 years ago. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast26may_1m.htm?l=NzMwMjk2IG1hcmNpQEFMT0hBLk5FVCBTTkdMSVNUIC66FwsfrRgz"}, {"response": 82, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, May 29, 2000 (00:19)", "body": "What's the Matter with Antimatter? NASA Science News for May 29, 2000 Antimatter -- it may be the ultimate fuel for space travel, but right now it is fleeting, difficult to work with and measured in atoms instead of kilograms or pounds! In this two-part story we'll explore what antimatter is, and how it may be used for space propulsion. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast29may_1m.htm?list"}, {"response": 83, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, May 30, 2000 (13:00)", "body": "Solar Activity Puffs Up Earth's Atmosphere NASA Science News for May 30, 2000 As a result of the approaching solar maximum, Earth's atmosphere is puffed up like a marshmallow over a campfire leading to extra drag on Earth-orbiting satellites. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast30may_1m.htm?list"}, {"response": 84, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, May 31, 2000 (00:36)", "body": "Advanced Space Propulsion Workshop begins this week NASA Science News for May 31, 2000 Scientists and engineers are gathering in Pasadena today to discuss cutting-edge research in space transportation at a workshop sponsored by the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast31may_1m.htm?list"}, {"response": 85, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jun  1, 2000 (13:36)", "body": "Arctic Asteroid! NASA Science News for June 1, 2000 In January, 2000, a seven meter, 200 metric ton rock from space streaked across the skies of western Canada. The meteor was at least as bright as the Sun before it exploded over the Yukon Territory. Scientists have recovered fragments of the carbon-rich rock, which researchers say is the most valuable meteorite find in at least 30 years. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast01jun_1m.htm?list"}, {"response": 86, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jun  1, 2000 (13:39)", "body": "Yukon Meteor Blast Thursday's Classroom for June 1, 2000 On January 18, 2000, a \"small\" 200 metric ton asteroid streaked across the skies of western Canada and exploded in the atmosphere. Now, scientists have recovered fragments of the space rock and discovered that they are members of a rare class of meteorites possibly containing amino acids and other organic compounds. In this week's episode of Thursday's Classroom, students can learn more about the Yukon meteor by attending a \"Cosmic BBQ,\" calculating \"Fractions of a Meteorite\" and more. VISIT: http://www.thursdaysclassroom.com Thursday's Classroom: Yukon Meteor Blast"}, {"response": 87, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jun  2, 2000 (16:26)", "body": "Mercury Rising -- see Mercury and the Moon this Saturday NASA Science News for June 2, 2000 There are two really good times to see Mercury this year and next week is one of them. Good Mercury-watching begins this Saturday evening, June 3, when a slender crescent Moon and the elusive planet appear together for stargazers just after sunset. Mercury's apparition as an evening star will continue through mid-June. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast02jun_1.htm?list"}, {"response": 88, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jun  5, 2000 (12:32)", "body": "First Light for a Space Weather Satellite NASA Science News for June 5, 2000 NASA's IMAGE mission, a unique satellite dedicated to the study of space storms, has returned its first pictures of electrified gas surrounding our planet. Using antennas as large as the Empire State Building, IMAGE is taking an unprecedented look at Earth's magnetic environment and its response to fierce gusts of solar wind. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast05jun_1m.htm?list __"}, {"response": 89, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jun  5, 2000 (18:34)", "body": "June's Invisible Meteors NASA Science News for June 6, 2000 During the next week thousands of meteors will streak through the sky, but don't expect to see many. They are the Arietids and zeta Perseids -- the most intense daytime meteor showers of the year. The best way for many meteor enthusiasts to enjoy the show is by listening to meteor echoes on a common FM or ham radio. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast06jun_1m.htm?list __"}, {"response": 90, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jun  5, 2000 (23:53)", "body": "Solar activity report for 6/5/00 Region 9026 continues to produce M-class flares, and the A index increases. Sunspots : 132 SFI : 171 A index : 21 K index : 3 Conditions for the last 24 hours : Solar activity was moderate. The geomagnetic field was unsettled to active. Forecast for the next 24 hours : Solar activity will be moderate to high. The geomagnetic field will be unsettled to active. Solar activity forecast SOLAR ACTIVITY IS EXPECTED TO BE AT MODERATE TO HIGH LEVELS. REGION 9026 WILL LIKELY PRODUCE M-CLASS FLARES WITH AN ISOLATED CHANCE OF AN X-CLASS FLARE. Geomagnetic activity forecast : THE GEOMAGNETIC FIELD IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE AT UNSETTLED TO ACTIVE CONDITIONS THROUGH DAY ONE. MOSTLY QUIET TO UNSETTLED LEVELS ARE EXPECTED ON DAY TWO. UNSETTLED WITH OCCASIONAL ACTIVE PERIODS ARE LIKELY ON DAY THREE DUE TO A FAVORABLY POSITIONED CORONAL HOLE AND THE POSSIBILITY OF EFFECTS FROM THIS MORNING'S C4/CME AT 05/0325Z."}, {"response": 91, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jun  6, 2000 (00:00)", "body": "The above post was from a Yahoo weather club of which I am a memeber. There is another club I'd like you to consider if you are logged into Yahoo, Jack and I would be happy for you to join the conversation going on in there. http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/seti2000"}, {"response": 92, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jun  6, 2000 (17:15)", "body": "Here Comes the Sun! Space Weather News for June 6, 2000 An intense \"X-class\" solar flare today was followed by a full-halo coronal mass ejection. Material from the leading edge of the disturbance is expected to arrive on Thursday, June 8, with possible auroral displays to follow. For images and updates please visit http://www.spaceweather.com SpaceWeather.com"}, {"response": 93, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jun  7, 2000 (20:34)", "body": "More Solar Eruptions on June 7, 2000 Space Weather News for June 7, 2000 Following close on the heels of yesterday's two X-class solar flares, a third powerful X-class flare erupted today at approximately 1545 UT. Soon afterward, coronagraphs on the orbiting Solar and Heliospheric Observatory detected a faint full halo coronal mass ejection. It appears to be heading in the direction of Earth at ~800 km/s. This latest full halo CME will probably extend the geomagnetic disturbances expected to begin on Thursday when an interplanetary shock wave spawned by a CME on June 6 collides with our planet's magnetosphere. Aurora watchers are advised to be on the alert for Northern Lights beginning after sunset on Thursday, June 8. For more information, please visit http://www.spaceweather.com SpaceWeather.com"}, {"response": 94, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jun  8, 2000 (12:49)", "body": "Impact: An Interplanetary Shock Wave Passes Earth Space Weather News for June 8, 2000 A vigorous shock wave passed NASA's ACE solar wind monitoring spacecraft this morning at 0842 UT. Disturbances detected by ACE usually reach Earth about an hour later. This disturbance was the leading edge of a gigantic bubble of gas ejected from the Sun on June 6. It's been expanding toward our planet for the past day and a half. For more information and updates please visit http://www.spaceweather.com SpaceWeather.com"}, {"response": 95, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jun  8, 2000 (17:25)", "body": "Date: Thu, 8 Jun 2000 16:40:9 Subject: Solar Storms A'brewing Thursday's Classroom for June 8, 2000 This morning an interplanetary shock wave hit Earth's magnetosphere triggering aurora over some parts of our planet. In this episode of Thursday's Classroom, students can learn more about space storms and aurora by calculating the speed of a coronal mass ejection, playing Sunspot Twister, or producing their own Space Weather report. For more information and activities, please visit http://www.thursdaysclassroom.com Thursday's Classroom"}, {"response": 96, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jun  9, 2000 (21:18)", "body": "A Little Physics and A Lot of String NASA Science News for June 9, 2000 One day space tethers may be used for boosting orbits, powering satellites, and even sending payloads to the Moon or Mars -- all without the expense of conventional propellants. Scientists discussed this innovative technology at the recent Advanced Space Propulsion Workshop held in Pasadena, CA. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast09jun_1.htm?list __"}, {"response": 97, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Sat, Jun 10, 2000 (07:23)", "body": "From that article: \"In one variant of a momentum-exchange tether, the faster-moving tether system grabs a slower-moving satellite in a lower orbit using a grapple at the end of a tether line between 20 and 200 kilometers long. After orbiting around the Earth once together, the rotating tether system tosses the satellite forward into a higher orbit, somewhat like a roller derby skater grabbing a teammate and slinging them forward. The first skater transfers some of their momentum to the second skater, leaving the first skater going slower afterward. Similarly, the tether system gives some of its momentum to the satellite, ending up in a lower orbit.\""}, {"response": 98, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jun 10, 2000 (13:00)", "body": "A friend made this comment in email this morning: They used to think about a tether attached to the surface of the earth with the outer end 100's of miles into space. Theoretically the outer end would have orbiting velocity. Objects could climb up the tether into orbit. The problem was the strength and weight of such a tether; probably impossible. These present suggested uses for tethers may be more practical."}, {"response": 99, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jun 10, 2000 (21:55)", "body": "A solar flare, a CME, and a solar wind disturbance -- all in one day! Space Weather News for June 10, 2000 The prolific flare-producing sunspot group #9026 unleashed another moderately strong solar flare today. The eruption was accompanied by a partial halo coronal mass ejection (CME) that might be Earth-directed. If so, material from the CME would arrive in the vicinity of our planet on June 12 or 13. A SOHO coronagraph animation of the event shows a beautiful billowing CME peppered by speckles and meteor-like streaks resulting from energetic particles hitting the spacecraft's camera. Earlier in the day, as predicted, a solar wind disturbance from a CME on June 7 struck Earth's magnetosphere. Active geomagnetic conditions were observed for about nine hours, but have since subsided. For more information and pictures, please visit http://www.spaceweather.com"}, {"response": 100, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jun 12, 2000 (13:09)", "body": "Date: Mon, 12 Jun 2000 08:30:40 -0700 SFI=187 | A=24 | K=3 up from 2 at 1500 on 12 June. SAF: moderate, GMF: at quiet to minor storm levels Aurora Level: 4 Solar Wind: 469.6 km/s at 1.3 protons/cc More: http://hfradio.org/propagation.html"}, {"response": 101, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jun 13, 2000 (00:29)", "body": "From the Drawing Board to the Stars NASA Science News for June 13, 2000 In this scientific human interest story, Dr. Jim Burch, principle investigator for NASA's IMAGE space weather satellite, describes what it's like to visualize a modern space mission and then, years later, to make it happen. Burch shares his experiences as a competitor for mission funding, as a coordinator of far-flung personnel and institutions, and as an onlooker during the anxious moments of launch. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast13jun_1.htm?list"}, {"response": 102, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jun 13, 2000 (16:06)", "body": "Solar wind disturbance passes Earth Space Weather News for June 13, 2000 The shock front from a beautiful full-halo coronal mass ejection that left the Sun on June 10 apparently passed by Earth at approximately 2200 UT on June 12. Although the solar wind velocity increased substantially, geomagnetic disturbances so far have been mild. The chances for widespread aurora tonight are low. For more information please see http://www.spaceweather.com SpaceWeather.com ---"}, {"response": 103, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jun 14, 2000 (01:27)", "body": "Solstice Moon NASA Science News for June 14, 2000 This week's full Moon, which takes place just four days before the June solstice, will appear unusually big and colorful to observers in the northern hemisphere. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast14jun_1.htm?list __ You are subscribed to Science.NASA.gov NASA Science News mailing list with the address marci@ALOHA.NET."}, {"response": 104, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Wed, Jun 14, 2000 (08:14)", "body": "Any solstice celebrations planned, anyone?"}, {"response": 105, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jun 15, 2000 (15:21)", "body": "Ocean Tides Lost and Found NASA Science News for June 15, 2000 Lunar tides impart tremendous energy to Earth's oceans, but where does it all go? Scientists studying data from the orbiting TOPEX/Poseidon satellite believe they now have an answer. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast15jun_2.htm?list __"}, {"response": 106, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jun 15, 2000 (17:27)", "body": "Thursday's Classroom for June 15, 2000 This month's full Moon will appear bigger and more colorful than usual because it occurs so close to the northern summer solstice. Students can learn more about the Moon and the famous illusion that makes the Moon appear larger when it's near the horizon by making an edible Moon Munchie spyglass, calculating Loony Basketball Math, and reciting \"Full Moon Wherewolf\" homonym poetry. For more information, please visit http://www.thursdaysclassroom.com Thursday's Classroom Note: These lessons are relevant even after this week's full Moon. For several days following June 16, the Moon will appear nearly full and, of course, there's another full Moon every month. Each one hovers above the horizon for a while as it rises, triggering the 'Moon Illusion.' The illusion simply lasts longer for northern observers near the time of the summer solstice."}, {"response": 107, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jun 16, 2000 (00:30)", "body": "The Incredible Ions of Space Transportation NASA Science News for June 16, 2000 After nearly 40 years of development and the successful flight of Deep Space 1 in 1998-1999, ion propulsion has now entered the mainstream of propulsion options available for deep-space missions. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast15jun_1.htm?list __"}, {"response": 108, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jun 19, 2000 (16:53)", "body": "From: NASA Science News Precedence: Bulk Space Lasers Take Aim at the Wind NASA Science News for June 19, 2000 NASA scientists are studying a type of radar that uses laser light instead of microwaves to provide snapshots of the winds that travel the globe. Knowing the wind's speed and direction over large areas could help meteorologists answer the riddle of tomorrow's weather and benefit many areas of the world's economy. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast19jun_1m.htm?list"}, {"response": 109, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jun 20, 2000 (00:30)", "body": "Scientists Discover Sugar in an Interstellar Cloud NASA Science News for June 20, 2000 Scientists have discovered a molecular cousin to table sugar in a giant interstellar cloud known as Sagittarius B2. The discovery of this sugar molecule in a cloud where new stars are forming means it is increasingly likely that chemical precursors to life are formed in such clouds long before planets develop around stars. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast20jun_1.htm?list"}, {"response": 110, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jun 21, 2000 (00:25)", "body": "Asteroids Have Seasons, Too NASA Science News for June 21, 2000 Earth isn't the only world where seasons are changing this week. Millions of miles from our planet, southern winter is giving way to spring on asteroid 433 Eros. As the Sun rises over the south pole of Eros, instruments on NASA's NEAR-Shoemaker spacecraft will catch a glimpse of never-before-seen terrain. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast21jun_1.htm?list __"}, {"response": 111, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jun 21, 2000 (23:41)", "body": "Coming Soon: Better Solar Storm Warnings NASA Science News for June 22, 2000 In the past, predicting the onset of a geomagnetic storm was difficult. Forecasters couldn't say with much precision how long it would take for a solar coronal mass ejection to reach Earth. Now scientists have created a model that reliably forecasts the arrival of these billion-ton gas clouds. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast22jun_1m.htm?list __"}, {"response": 112, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Thu, Jun 22, 2000 (08:40)", "body": "I heard on the news on the radio on the way to work that they've found water on Mars."}, {"response": 113, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jun 22, 2000 (12:09)", "body": "Indeed.......here is the NASA press release: Mars Surprise -- images reveal signs of recent water flow on Mars NASA Science News for June 22, 2000 In what could turn out to be a landmark discovery in the history of Mars exploration, scientists using data from NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft have observed features that suggest current sources of liquid water at or near the surface of the red planet. NASA scientists compare the features to those left by flash floods on Earth. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast22jun_2.htm?list __"}, {"response": 114, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jun 26, 2000 (12:58)", "body": "The Ups and Downs of Ozone NASA Science News for June 26, 2000 Scientists are watching carefully as the ozone layer, which protects animal and plant life from harmful solar ultraviolet radiation, begins an uncertain recovery. Ozone destroying chemicals in the atmosphere are on the decline, but the timing and nature of the expected recovery -- and even whether a recovery is occurring at all -- are controversial topics. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast26jun_1m.htm?list"}, {"response": 115, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jun 27, 2000 (15:00)", "body": "Giant Planet Power Breakfast NASA Science News for June 27, 2000 Jupiter and Saturn have spent much of the last few months hidden in the bright glare of the Sun. Now they are rising before dawn and are visible again with the naked eye. This week the slender crescent moon will join the pair for a dazzling show in the sky before sunrise. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast27jun_1.htm?list __"}, {"response": 116, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jun 28, 2000 (17:20)", "body": "Setting Sail for the Stars NASA Science News for June 28, 2000 Scientists met last month to discuss the latest developments in solar sail technology. A new mission, the Interstellar Probe, could carry a spacecraft beyond the edge of the solar system by 2018. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast28jun_1m.htm?list __"}, {"response": 117, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jun 29, 2000 (16:18)", "body": "Making a Splash on Mars NASA Science News for June 29, 2000 On a planet that's colder than Antarctica and where water boils at ten degrees above freezing, how could liquid water ever exist? Scientists say a dash of salt might help. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast29jun_1m.htm?lis"}, {"response": 118, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jun 30, 2000 (14:15)", "body": "Earth reaches its greatest distance from the Sun on the 4th of July NASA Science News for June 30, 2000 The Earth will reach its greatest distance from the Sun this year on the 4th of July, but don't expect a break from the heat of northern summer. This article discusses Earth's slightly elliptical orbit and the effects (some negligible, some substantial) that lopsided orbits have on planets around the solar system. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast30jun_1m.htm?list __"}, {"response": 119, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jul  3, 2000 (22:42)", "body": "Mars passes by the Sun Space Weather News for July 3, 2000 Solar activity was low over the weekend and is expected to remain so for the next 24 to 48 hours. Nevertheless, on July 1st and 2nd coronagraphs on the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory captured a beautiful sequence of images showing Mars as it passed less than one degree from the Sun. The animation includes several coronal mass ejections associated with small solar flares. For more information visit http://www.spaceweather.com"}, {"response": 120, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jul  6, 2000 (12:29)", "body": "Here Comes Comet Linear NASA Science News for July 05, 2000 Comet 1999 LINEAR S4, which can already be seen through binoculars, is expected to become a faint naked-eye object similar in appearance to the Andromeda Nebula as it glides by the Big Dipper this month. Maximum brightness is expected on July 23, 2000."}, {"response": 121, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jul  7, 2000 (00:24)", "body": "Some Comets Like it Hot NASA Science News for July 07, 2000 Amateur astronomers are discovering pieces of a giant comet that broke apart in antiquity as the fragments zoom perilously close to the Sun. You can join the hunt, too. All you need is a computer and an internet connection to view realtime data from the orbiting ESA/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast07jul_1.htm?list"}, {"response": 122, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jul  8, 2000 (14:01)", "body": "Space Weather News for July 8, 2000 Coronagraphs on board the orbiting ESA/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) recorded a full halo coronal mass ejection (CME) on July 7th. Forecasters estimate that material from the CME will arrive in the neighborhood of Earth on July 11th. While the CME was ongoing, SOHO's wide field coronagraph also captured the planet Mercury racing by the Sun twice as fast as the drifting field of background stars. Mercury joined two other planets, Mars and Venus, in the coronagraph's field of view. For animations and more information, please visit http://www.spaceweather.com"}, {"response": 123, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jul 10, 2000 (12:25)", "body": "A solar wind disturbance arrives at Earth Space Weather News for July 10, 2000 The shock front from a July 7th coronal mass ejection has apparently reached our planet about a day earlier than expected. The disturbance, recorded by NASA's ACE spacecraft at 0600 UT on July 10, was not extraordinarily vigorous. Nevertheless, skywatchers are advised to be on the alert for aurora. For more information please visit http://www.spaceweather.com"}, {"response": 124, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jul 10, 2000 (16:02)", "body": "Cosmic Light Pollution NASA Science News for July 10, 2000 A series of unmanned balloon flights will measure the subtle ultraviolet glow of the night sky and help unravel one of the most perplexing mysteries of astrophysics -- the origin of ultra high-energy cosmic rays. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast10jul_1.htm?list"}, {"response": 125, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jul 11, 2000 (17:13)", "body": "The propagation continues upward: SFI=225 up from 215 | A=28 up from 18 | K=3 down from 4 at 2100 on 11 July. SAF: moderate to high, GMF: at active to minor storm levels Aurora Level: 5 Solar Wind: 543.3 km/s at 5.7 protons/cc More: http://hfradio.org/propagation.html"}, {"response": 126, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jul 11, 2000 (17:20)", "body": "Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 15:26:37 -0500 From: NASA Science News Comet Borrelly or Bust NASA Science News for July 11, 2000 NASA's experimental Deep Space 1 probe --left for dead after a guidance system failure in late 1999 -- was revived last month in a thrilling cross- the-solar-system rescue conducted by JPL engineers. The craft set sail again on June 28, 2000, just in time for a planned rendezvous with periodic comet Borrelly in 2001. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast11jul_1.htm?list"}, {"response": 127, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jul 12, 2000 (11:58)", "body": "Brown Dwarf Solar Flare NASA Science News for July 12, 2000 The Chandra X-ray Observatory has detected the first-ever flare from what's known as a brown dwarf, or failed star. Scientists were surprised at the outburst, which unleashed an amount of energy comparable to a small solar flare. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast12jul_1m.htm?list"}, {"response": 128, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jul 13, 2000 (17:36)", "body": "Aurora Warning Space Weather News for July 13, 2000 Stargazers in both hemispheres are advised to watch for auroras tonight as the result of a strong solar wind disturbance that struck Earth's magnetosphere at approximately 0940 UT (5:40 a.m. EDT) on July 13th. The strong geomagnetic storm that started this morning may now be subsiding, but another interplanetary shock wave is expected to arrive on July 14th and extend the current period of geomagnetic unrest. Auroral displays at middle latitudes are possible (but by no means guaranteed) around local midnight on July 13th through 15th. For more information please visit http://www.spaceweather.com Photographers who capture pictures of Northern or Southern Lights during the next few days are invited to send their images as attachments to webmaster@spaceweather.com for display on SpaceWeather.com."}, {"response": 129, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jul 13, 2000 (18:06)", "body": "SFI=232 up from 230 | A=31 up from 12 | K=2 down from 5 at 2100 on 13 July. SAF: moderate to high, GMF: at unsettled to minor storm levels Aurora Level: 7 Solar Wind: 618.4 km/s at 3.6 protons/cc More: http://hfradio.org/propagation.html"}, {"response": 130, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jul 14, 2000 (01:18)", "body": "Pacific Lunar Eclipse NASA Science News for July 14, 2000 This weekend the Moon, the Sun and the Earth will align for the longest total lunar eclipse in 140 years. The best places to see the event are in and around the Pacific Ocean, including Hawaii and Australia. Observers along the west coast of North America will be able to see a partial eclipse just before the Moon sets on Sunday morning. During totality skywatchers may also be able to spot the asteroid 4 Vesta, which coincidentally makes a rare appearance as a naked-eye object during the days around the eclipse. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast14jul_1m.htm?list"}, {"response": 131, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jul 14, 2000 (14:56)", "body": "Powerful Solar Flare Triggers Radiation Storm Space Weather News for July 14, 2000 This morning an X5-class solar flare, one of the most powerful flares of the current solar cycle, triggered a proton storm in the neighborhood of our planet. Just after the eruption, coronagraphs on board the ESA/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory recorded a full halo coronal mass ejection heading toward Earth at greater than 1000 km/s. Please visit http://www.spaceweather.com for details and updates on this developing story."}, {"response": 132, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jul 14, 2000 (19:20)", "body": "The following Alerts and Warnings are in effect: sr@hfradio.org The following Alerts and Warnings are in effect: Magnetic A-Index greater than 50 Watch for 15 Jul 2000 UT Comment: K-indices of greater than 6 are possible beginning at 1800 UT on 15 July Magnetic A-Index greater than 50 Watch for 16 Jul 2000 UT Comment: K-indices of greater than 6 are possible beginning at 1800 UT on 15 July Magnetic A-Index greater than 50 Watch for 17 Jul 2000 UT Comment: K-indices of greater than 6 are possible beginning at 1800 UT on 15 July Magnetic K-Index of 6 Observed 14 Jul 2000 from 15:00 to 18:00 UT Comment: None More: http://hfradio.org/propagation.html"}, {"response": 133, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jul 14, 2000 (19:26)", "body": "A Solar Radiation Storm NASA Science News for July 14, 2000 A powerful solar flare on July 14th triggered an intense radiation storm in the vicinity of Earth. The eruption was followed by a fast-moving coronal mass ejection that is expected to strike Earth's magnetosphere as early as Saturday. The impact could trigger Northern and Southern Lights bright enough to be seen in spite of this weekend's brilliant full Moon. Such a display is by no means guaranteed, but it is possible. Observers across the Pacific could be in for a very rare treat: the sight of shimmering colorful aurora during the total lunar eclipse of July 16, 2000. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast14jul_2m.htm?list __"}, {"response": 134, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jul 15, 2000 (13:57)", "body": "Solar Wind data is incorrect due to proton overload of the sensors on the spacecraft. True solar wind speed is approx. 775 to 800 km/s with a density of approx. 25 to 30 protons/cm3 ADVISORY: The shock wave from Friday's fast-moving coronal mass ejection could arrive as early as 1900 UT. ALERT(S): Magnetic A-Index Greater than 50 Watch for 15 Jul 2000 UT Comment: K-indices of Greater than 6 are possible beginning at 1800 UT on 15 July Magnetic A-Index Greater than 50 Watch for 16 Jul 2000 UT Comment: K-indices of Greater than 6 are possible beginning at 1800 UT on 15 July Magnetic A-Index Greater than 50 Watch for 17 Jul 2000 UT Comment: K-indices of Greater than 6 are possible beginning at 1800 UT on 15 July Magnetic K-Index of 6 Observed 14 Jul 2000 from 15:00 to 18:00 UT Comment: None Magnetic A-Index Greater than 30 Warning valid from 15 Jul 2000 0000 to 0600 UT Comment: None The following Warning was EXTENDED at 0000 UT on 15 Jul 2000 and is now valid through 0000 UT on 17 Jul 2000 Magnetic K-Index Greater than 6 Warning valid from 13 Jul 2000 1438 to 15 Jul 2000 0000 UT Comment: None The following Alert was CONTINUED at 0100 UT on 15 Jul 2000 Protons Event Greater than 10 MeV @ Greater than 10pfu BEG 14 Jul 2000 1050 UT Comment: The current proton flux is approximately 8500 pfu's. The following Alert was CONTINUED at 0100 UT on 15 Jul 2000 Proton event Greater than 100 MeV @ Greater than 1pfu BEG 14 Jul 2000 1040 UT Comment: The current proton flux level is approximately 100 pfu's . A maximum proton flux of approximately 400 pfu's was reached at 1620 UT on 14 July. Magnetic A-Index Greater than 30 Observed 15 Jul 2000 0600 UT Comment: None Type II Radio Emission 15 Jul 2000 1433 UT Comment: Estimated shock velocity = 788 km/s More: http://hfradio.org/propagation.html"}, {"response": 135, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jul 15, 2000 (19:16)", "body": "An Extreme Geomagnetic Storm is Underway Space Weather News for July 15, 2000 A powerful shock wave from the fast-moving July 14th coronal mass ejection has arrived in the neighborhood of Earth. An extreme geomagnetic storm was underway at 1900 UT (3:00 p.m. EDT) on July 15th. If conditions persist as they are now, aurora could be visible at middle (and possibly even equatorial) latitudes. The best time to view aurora is usually near local midnight. In this case, sky watchers are advised to look for aurora as soon as night falls. For more information and updates please visit http://www.spaceweather.com Readers are invited to send pictures of tonight's aurora and the July 16, 2000, total lunar eclipse (visible across the Pacific Ocean) as an email attachment to phillips@spacescience.com for possible posting on spaceweather.com and/or spacescience.com. For more information about the lunar eclipse: Pacific Lunar Eclipse http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast14jul_1m.htm ************************** SEVERE GEOMAGNETIC STORM: Kp Index is at 9. A Index is 118. We are in a catagory G5 Storm. NOAA's Space Weather scale indicates the following effects: Power systems: grid systems can collapse and transformers experience damage. Spacecraft operations: extensive surface charging, problems with orientation, uplink/downlink, and tracking satellites. Other systems: pipeline currents reach hundreds of amps, HF (high frequency) radio propagation impossible in many areas for one to two days, satellite navigation degraded for days, low-frequency radio navigation out for hours, and the aurora seen as low as the equator. The Proton Monitor on the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory is registering solar wind speeds in excess of 900 km/s The wave of solar particles - known as a solar proton event - is already four times more intense than any other event detected since the launches of SOHO in 1995 and ACE in 1997. At mid-afternoon (UT) on July 14th, the storm of particles from the Sun was still intensifying. More: http://hfradio.org/propagation.html"}, {"response": 136, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jul 18, 2000 (01:00)", "body": "X-ray Star Stuff NASA Science News for July 18, 2000 Astronomers using the Chandra X-ray Observatory are seeing how supernovae spray the essential elements of rocky planets and life into interstellar space. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast18jul_1m.htm?list"}, {"response": 137, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jul 20, 2000 (01:01)", "body": "Unveiling the Infrared Sky NASA Science News for July 20, 2000 Your home computer can become a portal to a wonderland of stars, thanks to a massive release of images from an infrared sky survey sponsored by NASA and the National Science Foundation. The current release is based on a volume of data several hundred times larger than that contained in the human genome! FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast20jul_1.htm?list __"}, {"response": 138, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jul 21, 2000 (12:02)", "body": "Coronal Mass Ejection 21 July 2000 There is high probability that the CME (Coronal Mass Ejection) from the major M-class solar flare of 19 July 2000 will arrive today. It is expected to hit the Earth almost head-on. It is not expected to be as intense as this last weekend's event. Auroral activity is expected to increase to storm levels on 21 July 2000. There is a good chance for observations of auroral activity from many dark-sky middle latitude regions, particularly prior to midnight when the moon is still below the horizon and optimal observing conditions exist. Moonrise occurs near local midnight. TWO ADDITIONAL M-Class flares occured today: :ALERTS: X-Ray event M5/1B/S12W14 BEG 20 Jul 2000 2022 MAX 20 Jul 2000 2025 END 20 Jul 2000 2028 UT Comment: None X-Ray event M5.5 BEG 21 Jul 2000 1430 MAX 21 Jul 2000 1437 END 21 Jul 2000 1443 UT Comment: None More: http://hfradio.org/propagation.html"}, {"response": 139, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jul 21, 2000 (12:02)", "body": "Watch for Aurora tonight!!!"}, {"response": 140, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jul 21, 2000 (12:25)", "body": "Propagation Forecast Bulletin 29 - July 21, 2000 This has been quite a week for solar activity, with blasts of solar wind dominating space weather news. Saturday was the big day for HF radio blackouts and aurora, with the planetary A index jumping to an incredible 152 and the mid-latitude A index at 148. The planetary K index, updated every three hours, was at 9 for three readings on Saturday. A K index reading of 9 over a 24-hour period would be equivalent to an A index of 300. This is big, really big. These numbers are associated with an extreme geomagnetic storm that was nearly off the scale. On Friday one of the most powerful solar flares of the current cycle triggered a storm of protons directed toward earth. The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory recorded a full halo coronal mass ejection heading toward earth at greater than one-million meters per second. Check out animations of this event at http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/data/CME/ . There are only a few events of this magnitude in the average solar cycle. The only factor that probably impeded a spectacular aurora visible far down into the U.S. was that this is the summer season. A dark evening sky would reveal a rich tapestry of northern lights. Of course, it being winter in the southern hemisphere, bright displays were reported in Australia and New Zealand. The author made a weak attempt Saturday night, walking barefoot into the middle of the street and trying to peer north past city lights, but no auroral glow was visible. Seattle is north of the 47th parallel, and although there were no local reports of aurora, there were observations as far south as 40 degrees in Europe, Asia, and parts of Eastern North America. If you point your web browser toward http://www.sec.noaa.gov/info/kp-aurora.html you will see a nice map from the June, 1968 issue of Sky and Telescope which shows how far south aurora may be visible depending on the planetary K index. What is not clear from this map is whether it shows how far south the edge of the aurora extends, or how far south it is visible when looking north. Another coronal mass ejection emerged on Wednesday, July 19, but the predicted effect is uncertain because the ejection may not be aimed squarely at earth. On Thursday the planetary K index went up to 6 for several hours, but by the end of the UTC day it was 3. The planetary A index for Thursday was 43, and the College A index, recorded in Alaska, was 57. The latest forecast shows the planetary A index rising to 50 on Friday, then dropping to 20 and 15 and then 10 on Saturday through Monday. Solar flux peaked for the recent short term at 252.9 on Thursday, and is expected to drop to 245, 235, 230 and 225 on Friday through Monday. The next short term minimum is predicted around July 28 at 170, followed by another peak above 200 around August 6-9. The author has received many more inquiries recently asking for explanations of the various parameters reported in this bulletin. Although the explanations were repeated six weeks ago, it is probably time to run them again, and they follow this paragraph. Feel free to send questions to the author via k7vvvarrl.net. Amateur Radio operators who use HF generally like increased sunspots because they correlate with better worldwide radio propagation. When there are more sunspots, the sun puts out radiation which charges particles in the earth's ionosphere. Radio waves bounce off of these charged particles, and the denser these clouds of ions, the better the HF propagation. When the ionosphere is denser, higher frequencies will reflect off of the ionosphere rather than passing through to space. This is why every 11 years or so when this activity is higher, 10 meters gets exciting. 10 meters is at a high enough frequency, right near the top of the HF spectrum, that radio waves propagate very efficiently when the sunspot count is high. Because of the wavelength, smaller antennas are very efficient on this band, so mobile stations running low power on 10 meters can communicate world wide on a daily basis when the sunspot cycle is at its peak. There are also seasonal variations, and 10 meters tends to be best near the spring or fall equinox. The sunspot numbers used in this bulletin are calculated by counting the sunspots on the visible solar surface and also measuring their area. Solar flux is measured at an observatory in British Columbia using an antenna pointed toward the sun tuned to 2.8 GHz, which is at a wavelength of 10.7 cm. Energy detected seems to correlate with sunspots and with the density of the ionosphere. Other solar activity of concern to HF operators are solar flares and coronal holes, which emit protons. Since the charged ions in the ionosphere are negative, a blast of protons from the sun can neutralize the charge and make the ionosphere less reflective. These waves of protons can be so intense that they may trigger an event called a geomagnetic storm. The Planetary A index relates to geomagnetic stability. M"}, {"response": 141, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jul 22, 2000 (21:15)", "body": "Contrary Thermometers NASA Science News for July 21, 2000 Scientists are working to understand why the lower atmosphere isn't heating up as fast as some global warming models predict. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast21jul_1m.htm?list"}, {"response": 142, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jul 26, 2000 (17:20)", "body": "Station Sightings NASA Science News for July 24, 2000 Thanks to a new NASA web site, stargazers can track the progress of the growing International Space Station (ISS) from their own backyards. Because it reflects sunlight down to Earth, the ISS often looks like a slow-moving star as it crosses the sky. It can even appear as bright as the star Sirius if you know when and where to look. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast24jul_1m.htm?list"}, {"response": 143, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jul 26, 2000 (17:23)", "body": "Camping Out with the Planets NASA Science News for July 25, 2000 Earth's slender crescent Moon will glide by two brilliant planets in the dawn sky this week as it heads for a close encounter with Mercury on July 29th. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast25jul_1m.htm?list"}, {"response": 144, "author": "alyeska", "date": "Wed, Jul 26, 2000 (19:46)", "body": "You can tell when you look into the night sky which are stars and which are satellites. the satelittes are brighter and move across the sky. I don't get to see much of the night sky right now with this weather. I don't even get to use my pc in the evening, there is so much lightening that I have to unplug it."}, {"response": 145, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jul 27, 2000 (10:36)", "body": "Yikes, Dear!!! Blessed be the laptops which enable use even with lightning... but not connected to a modem. Alas, you are in down-time summer I guess. A Lot Less Snow NASA Science News for July 27, 2000 An instrument on board NASA's Terra satellite recorded much less snow than usual over parts of North America during the winter of 1999-2000. This story includes a snow map of North America in March 2000 and sample pictures from Terra's snow-mapping \"MODIS\" instrument. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast27jul_2m.htm?list"}, {"response": 146, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jul 28, 2000 (23:24)", "body": "Comet LINEAR Misbehaves NASA Science News for July 28, 2000 Although comet LINEAR was not bright enough to see with the unaided eye when it passed by Earth this week, the comet is grabbing the attention of astronomers with peculiar behavior, including orbit-altering jets and fragments breaking away from its nucleus. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast28jul_1m.htm?list __"}, {"response": 147, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jul 28, 2000 (23:36)", "body": "Comet LINEAR breaks apart Space Weather News for July 28, 2000 There is growing evidence that comet LINEAR, which made its closest approach to the Sun earlier this week, is disintegrating. Today's spaceweather.com features images and animations of the apparent breakup. Also, an interplanetary shock wave struck Earth's magnetosphere on July 28, 2000, triggering minor geomagnetic activity. For more information please visit http//www.spaceweather.com http//www.spaceweather.com"}, {"response": 148, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jul 28, 2000 (23:58)", "body": "Back to the Future on Mars NASA Science News for July 28, 2000 In 2003, NASA plans to launch a relative of the now-famous 1997 Mars Pathfinder rover. Using drop, bounce, and roll technology, this larger cousin is expected to reach the surface of the Red Planet in January 2004 and begin the longest journey of scientific exploration ever undertaken across the surface of that alien world. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast28jul_2m.htm?list __"}, {"response": 149, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jul 31, 2000 (13:25)", "body": "The Stuff Between the Stars NASA Science News for July 31, 2000 The cosmos is laced with tiny specks of dust that decide the fate of young stars and planets. Now, NASA scientists can study the properties of far-flung space dust using special laboratory facilities at the Marshall Space Flight Center. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast31jul_2m.htm?list _"}, {"response": 150, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jul 31, 2000 (13:41)", "body": "Meltdown! Comet LINEAR comtinues to disintegrate.... NASA Science News for July 31, 2000 Comet LINEAR continued to blow itself apart this weekend as astronomers around the world monitored the action. The comet is still bright enough to see through amateur telescopes, but it's fading fast. This story compares the breakup of comet LINEAR with another famous fragmented comet, Shoemaker-Levy 9, that collided with Jupiter six years ago. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast31jul_1m.htm?list"}, {"response": 151, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Aug  2, 2000 (20:35)", "body": "Looking Forward to the International Space Station NASA Science News for August 02, 2000 Scientists at a recent media forum said they are eager to begin using the International Space Station as an innovative orbiting research laboratory. \"The Hubble Space Telescope is to astrophysicists as the International Space Station will be to other researchers -- a working science laboratory in space,\" noted one participant. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast02aug_1.htm?list"}, {"response": 152, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Aug  4, 2000 (14:24)", "body": "Watching Wildfires from Space NASA Science News for August 04, 2000 NASA satellites are keeping a close eye on wildfires raging across the Western US. Every few hours, a global map of smoky aerosols is updated at the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer web site. Now, anyone with a connection to the Internet can share the same \"bird's eye\" view enjoyed by NASA scientists. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast04aug_1m.htm?list"}, {"response": 153, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Aug  4, 2000 (14:26)", "body": "A Comet Comes Apart Thursday's Classroom for August 3, 2000 http://www.thursdaysclassroom.com Late last month stargazers were eagerly anticipating the arrival of Comet LINEAR, which was expected to become the first naked-eye comet in three years. But the comet surprised observers by blowing apart as it passed near to the Sun. Even now, astronomers are watching intently as Comet LINEAR dissolves into a haze of gas and dust. This week's episode of Thursday's Classroom features stories for kids and educational lesson plans about comets and Comet LINEAR. Activities include: * Comet Cones -- Kids who sample one of these delicious treats will never forget the \"dirty snowball\" model for comets. * Really Big Numbers -- How many zeros are in Comet LINEAR's distance from Earth? Kids find out in this lesson about scientific notation. * The Comet Coloring Book -- Students can color original art by Duane Hilton as they follow along with this week's lessons. ...and more! Please visit http://www.thursdaysclassroom.com"}, {"response": 154, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Aug  4, 2000 (15:33)", "body": "Space Weather News for August 4, 2000 http://www.spaceweather.com Comet LINEAR blew apart so thoroughly last week that astronomers can't find any sizable pieces from its fractured icy core. New groundbased images of the comet posted today revealed no fragments brighter than 22nd magnitude. The new data are fueling speculation that Comet LINEAR itself might have been the fragment of a larger body that passed through the inner solar system centuries ago. On a related note, SpaceWeather.com is pleased to announce a new feature: the weekly Meteor Outlook by Robert Lunsford, secretary general of the International Meteor Organization. Updated every Friday, the Outlook offers a comprehensive preview of likely meteor activity suitable for novices and experts. This week's update describes the growing rate of pre-dawn Perseid meteors leading up to the shower's maximum on August 12th."}, {"response": 155, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Aug  8, 2000 (22:53)", "body": "Perseid Dawn NASA Science News for August 08, 2000 The Perseid meteor shower peaks on August 12, 2000. This year the bright, nearly-full Moon will outshine the Perseids most of the night, but for an hour between moonset and sunrise on Saturday morning, star gazers could witness a brief but beautiful meteor shower. The setting Moon may put on a show of its own Saturday. Wildfires and dust storms have filled parts of our atmosphere with aerosols. A low-hanging Moon seen through such dusty air can take on a beautiful pink or orange hue. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast08aug_1.htm?list"}, {"response": 156, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Aug  9, 2000 (18:42)", "body": "Meteors and a Full-halo Coronal Mass Ejection Space Weather News for August 9, 2000 http://www.spaceweather.com SOLAR ACTIVITY: The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory recorded a full-halo coronal mass ejection today from sunspot group 9114, near the center of the Sun's visible disk. Material from the eruption could trigger geomagnetic activity when it arrives in the vicinity of Earth in approximately three days. NEW ONLINE METEOR COUNTS: As part of our expanding coverage of meteor and comet activity, spaceweather.com will now feature daily meteor counts reported by a network of observers across North America. The daily-updated data includes visual and radio meteor detections. COMET LINEAR: A new picture from the ESO Very Large Telescope shows mini-comets inside Comet LINEAR's disintegrating core. For images, animations and expanded coverage of these items, please visit http://www.spaceweather.com"}, {"response": 157, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Aug 11, 2000 (17:45)", "body": "Perseid meteor update + an ongoing geomagnetic storm Space Weather News for August 11, 2000 http://www.spaceweather.com On the eve of the Perseid meteor shower, sky watchers report seeing 10 to 15 meteors per hour streaming from the constellation Perseus. That's consistent with an expected peak rate between 30 and 50 visual meteors per hour before dawn on August 12th. The projected maximum is somewhat weaker than Perseid maxima of recent years, but observers are also reporting that this year's Perseid meteors have been pleasantly bright. The shower should put on a good show for northern hemisphere observers this Saturday morning. Readers are invited to send their photos of the 2000 Perseids to phillips@spacescience.com (Tony Phillips). There is a chance that Saturday morning sky watchers at higher latitudes could spot colorful auroras during the Perseid meteor shower. Our planet is experiencing an ongoing geomagnetic storm triggered by a southward-pointing interplanetary magnetic field in the vicinity of Earth. If conditions persist, high latitude (and possibly even mid-latitude) auroras are possible. For more information, please visit http://www.spaceweather.com"}, {"response": 158, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Aug 11, 2000 (17:46)", "body": "Twin Rovers Headed for Mars NASA Science News for August 10, 2000 The traffic on Mars is expected to double in the near future. NASA today announced plans to launch two large scientific rovers to the red planet in 2003, rather than the original plan for just one. This story includes a striking new video of the planned Mars 2003 rover mission. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast10aug_1.htm?list"}, {"response": 159, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Aug 12, 2000 (17:34)", "body": "Aurora & Meteor Alert Space Weather News for August 12, 2000 http://www.spaceweather.com Last night, during the peak of the Perseid meteor shower, a shock wave from the Sun set off a beautiful display of aurora borealis. Observers in dark-sky areas across Canada and much of the United States were treated to the unusual spectacle of meteors seen against a backdrop of colorful Northern Lights. Auroras were spotted as far south as Los Angeles, CA. Conditions remain favorable for more aurora borealis Saturday night and Sunday morning. Plus, the Perseid meteor shower is not entirely over. Stargazers could see as many as 25 meteors per hour before dawn on Sunday, Aug. 13. If you have pictures of weekend auroras and/or Perseid meteors, we invite you to submit them to SpaceWeather.com as an email attachment sent to phillips@spacescience.com (Tony Phillips). For more information, including pictures of last night's aurora and the coronal mass ejection that energized the ongoing geomagnetic storm, please visit http://spaceweather.com"}, {"response": 160, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Aug 15, 2000 (13:19)", "body": "The Extraordinary Geomagnetic Perseid Meteor Shower NASA Science News for August 14, 2000 An interplanetary shock wave from the Sun struck Earth's magnetosphere just before the peak of the Perseid meteor shower on August 12, 2000, triggering a powerful geomagnetic storm. Stargazers across Canada and the United States were treated to the rare spectacle of a meteor shower seen against the backdrop of colorful Northern Lights. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast14aug_1.htm?list"}, {"response": 161, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Aug 17, 2000 (12:29)", "body": "NASA goes on SAFARI NASA Science News for August 16, 2000 Southern Africa offers a unique climate sub-system where scientists can study the effects of industrial activity, biomass burning and changing patterns of land usage on the environment. Last weekend an international team of scientists launched an intensive campaign -- part of the SAFARI 2000 project -- to study this complex region from the ground, the air and from space. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast16aug_1m.htm?list"}, {"response": 162, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Aug 17, 2000 (23:42)", "body": "The Indefatigable Ions of Deep Space 1 NASA Science News for August 17, 2000 NASA's Deep Space 1 probe, en route for an encounter with Comet Borrelly, has run its unique propulsion system for more than 200 days -- longer and more efficiently than anything ever launched. The almost imperceptible thrust from the system is equivalent to the pressure exerted by a sheet of paper held in the palm of your hand. The ion engine is very slow to pick up speed, but over the long haul it can deliver 10 times as much thrust per pound of fuel as more traditional rockets. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast17aug_1.htm?list"}, {"response": 163, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Aug 21, 2000 (23:25)", "body": "Arctic Ice Revealed NASA Science News for August 22, 2000 An orbiting radar has cut through clouds and dark of night to monitor the ebb and flow of Arctic ice. Scientists say the data could reveal important trends in global climate change. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast22aug_1.htm?list"}, {"response": 164, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Aug 23, 2000 (13:22)", "body": "Hot X-rays from a Cold Comet NASA Science News for August 23, 2000 Normally, x-ray astronomers concern themselves with the most violent and fiery denizens of the Universe. Colliding galaxies, supernova explosions and black holes are common targets for x-ray telescopes like NASA's powerful Chandra X-ray Observatory. But, last month researchers solved a cosmic mystery when they turned Chandra toward Comet LINEAR, a chilly snowball from the outer solar system. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast23aug_1m.htm?list"}, {"response": 165, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Aug 24, 2000 (19:10)", "body": "Counting Brown Dwarfs NASA Science News for August 24, 2000 Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have taken attendance in a class of brown dwarfs and found indications that these odd and elusive objects also tend to be loners. The Hubble census -- the most complete to date -- provides new and compelling evidence that stars and planets form in different ways. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast24aug_1.htm?list"}, {"response": 166, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Aug 25, 2000 (11:50)", "body": "Antibiotics in Orbit NASA Science News for August 25, 2000 Pilot studies indicate that microbial antibiotic production can be increased by up to 200 percent in space-grown cultures. Scientists who studied such antibiotics during the \"John Glenn\" shuttle mission in 1998 are looking forward to more low-gravity experiments on the International Space Station. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast25aug_1m.htm?list"}, {"response": 167, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Aug 28, 2000 (14:57)", "body": "New Evidence for an Alien Ocean NASA Science News for August 28, 2000 Fluctuations in the magnetic field surrounding Jupiter's moon Europa are a telltale sign of salty liquid water beneath the moon's icy crust. Europa could harbor the solar system's largest ocean. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast28aug_1.htm?list"}, {"response": 168, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Aug 28, 2000 (19:14)", "body": "Comet Champion of the Solar System NASA Science News for August 28, 2000 Less than seven months after the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory registered its 100th comet discovery, amateur astronomers help SOHO double its record-setting total. Scientists think that most of SOHO's comets are fragments from the breakup of a single giant comet long ago. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast28aug_2.htm?list"}, {"response": 169, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Aug 29, 2000 (23:06)", "body": "Culprits of Climate Change NASA Science News for August 29, 2000 For many years, researchers agreed that climate change was triggered by \"greenhouse gases,\" with carbon dioxide from burning of fossil playing the biggest role. However, NASA funded scientists suggest that climate change in recent decades has been mainly caused by air pollution containing non-carbon dioxide greenhouse gases. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast29aug_1.htm?list"}, {"response": 170, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Aug 31, 2000 (21:51)", "body": "Evil-doers Beware! Space Scientists are on the Case NASA Science News for August 31, 2000 Two NASA scientists are working with the police and the FBI to track down criminals using out-of-this-world video technology. The new technique, called VISAR, is also expected to improve military reconnaissance, medical research and video on home computers. This story includes pictures and video of VISAR in action. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast31aug_1.htm?list"}, {"response": 171, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Sep  1, 2000 (14:21)", "body": "A Close Encounter with a Space Rock NASA Science News for September 01, 2000 This morning a half-kilometer wide space rock is zooming past Earth barely 12 times farther from our planet than the Moon. In cosmic terms, it's a near miss, but there is absolutely no danger of a collision. Instead, the encounter offers astronomers an unusually good opportunity to study a near-Earth asteroid. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast01sep_1.htm?list"}, {"response": 172, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Sep  6, 2000 (14:19)", "body": "Sunbathing at Solar Maximum NASA Science News for September 05, 2000 NASA scientists say that Solar Maximum is now in full swing. Does that mean you're more likely to catch a sunburn at the beach? The answer is \"no,\" and this story explains why. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast05sep_1.htm?list"}, {"response": 173, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Wed, Sep  6, 2000 (14:24)", "body": "It's very hot in Austin right now, two days ago was the hottest day in history, About 110. And we're in solar max to boot!"}, {"response": 174, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Sep  6, 2000 (14:36)", "body": "I noted it was 112 in Austin tying the all time record and 115 in San Antonio. That is not civilized!!! How does that feel?? Instant mummification??!!"}, {"response": 175, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Sep  8, 2000 (19:55)", "body": "Ozone Hole Update NASA Science News for September 08, 2000 Antarctica's ozone hole now covers an area three times larger than the entire land mass of the United States - the largest such ozone-depleted region ever observed. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast08sep_1.htm?list There is a graphic: http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/restricted/read/Geo/4.2"}, {"response": 176, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Sep  8, 2000 (20:35)", "body": "Audacious & Outrageous: Space Elevators NASA Science News for September 07, 2000 Science-fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke was once asked when the \"space elevator,\" a notion he helped to popularize, would become a reality. Clarke answered, \"Probably about 50 years after everybody quits laughing.\" Nowadays NASA scientists are taking the idea seriously. In fact, they've compiled plans that could turn the space elevators of science fiction into a real-life mass transportation system to space by the end of the 21st century. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast07sep_1.htm?list"}, {"response": 177, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Sep 12, 2000 (00:49)", "body": "Watch Out for the Harvest Moon NASA Science News for September 11, 2000 The Harvest Moon, arguably the most famous Full Moon of the year, arrives on Wednesday, Sept. 13th. Check out this story to discover what makes the Harvest Moon special and to ponder the possibility of Harvest Moons on another planet. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast11sep_2.htm?list"}, {"response": 178, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Sep 12, 2000 (00:55)", "body": "Where did all the sunspots go? Space Weather News for Sept 12, 2000 http://www.spaceweather.com Telescopes monitoring the Sun recorded something extraordinary yesterday -- the solar disk was nearly devoid of spots. With solar maximum in full swing, the Boulder sunspot number dropped to its lowest value of the year. In spite of the \"blank Sun,\" our planet could be in for a bit of space weather on Tuesday if, as expected, a solar coronal mass ejection that left the Sun on Saturday strikes a glancing blow to Earth's magnetosphere. The impact could trigger modest geomagnetic activity. In other space weather news, astronomers have discovered a bright Near Earth Asteroid that will pass by our planet on Sept. 17. Amateur astronomers can monitor the fast-moving space rock in 8-inch or larger telescopes. For more information, please visit http://SpaceWeather.com"}, {"response": 179, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Sep 17, 2000 (13:06)", "body": "Three Coronal Mass Ejections and a Near-Earth Asteroid Space Weather News for Sept. 17, 2000 http://www.spaceweather.com No fewer than 3 coronal mass ejections appear to be heading toward Earth following solar eruptions on Friday and Saturday. The CMEs could trigger aurora at middle-latitudes when they arrive during the next few days. We invite aspiring aurora photographers to visit our online aurora gallery, which includes photo settings that worked well during the geomagnetic storm of August 12, 2000. Also, the bright Near-Earth asteroid 2000 RD53 will fly by our planet on September 17, barely 11 times farther away than the Moon. Amateur astronomers with 8 inch or larger telescopes can spot the space rock as it zooms by. (Note: There is no relationship between the asteroid and the CMEs.) For more information please visit http://www.spaceweather.com"}, {"response": 180, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Sep 21, 2000 (23:48)", "body": "A Good Month for Asteroids NASA Science News for September 20, 2000 September has been a good month for astronomers studying Near-Earth asteroids (NEAs). No fewer than five sizable minor planets have flown past our planet since the beginning of the month, affording astronomers a close-up look at these ever-scary space rocks. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast20sep_1.htm?list"}, {"response": 181, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Fri, Sep 22, 2000 (10:42)", "body": "from the cool astronomy picture of the day site, \\ src=\" http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0009/spirograph_heritage.jpg\" >"}, {"response": 182, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Fri, Sep 22, 2000 (10:44)", "body": "http://www.heavens-above.com/ GSOC satellite tracking pages, good stuff! Tells you when to spot the shuttle, Mir, and other satellites."}, {"response": 183, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Sep 22, 2000 (17:25)", "body": "Thanks for that...it is a great url to add to the bookmark list!!! I have used it to watch them go overhead. You can really see them just after it gets dark in the evening and same with the morning!"}, {"response": 184, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Sep 22, 2000 (20:17)", "body": "HAPPY AUTUMNAL EQUINOX Interplanetary Fall NASA Science News for September 22, 2000 Today Earth joins two other worlds in the solar system where it is northern autumn. Read this story to learn more about Earth's September equinox and to ponder the bizarre seasons of other planets. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast22sep_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 185, "author": "CherylB", "date": "Sat, Sep 23, 2000 (10:21)", "body": "I'm a day late, but I hope everyone (in the Northern Hemisphere) did have a Happy Autumnal Equinox. For those south of the Equator it was, of course, their Vernal Equinox."}, {"response": 186, "author": "Carys", "date": "Sat, Sep 23, 2000 (10:23)", "body": "What about the people that live on the Equator? I quess everyday is pretty much the Equinox for them."}, {"response": 187, "author": "CherylB", "date": "Sat, Sep 23, 2000 (10:28)", "body": "It might be. Maybe Marcia can clear up what it would be."}, {"response": 188, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Sep 24, 2000 (21:53)", "body": "Since it is \"an imaginary line\" encircling the globe - much like other latitude and logitude lines - it is likely and \"imaginary\" equinox! Can one stand on an imaginary line since it is just there - no width, no depth? Hmmm...Virtually, perhaps? I am devoid of incoming mail so I am back to using telnet to Hawaii on Line and Pine for email. The virtual stone age is back. They are going to get a call from me in the morning!"}, {"response": 189, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Sep 28, 2000 (20:58)", "body": "Mail returned to normal... Bright Planets and Random Meteors NASA Science News for September 28, 2000 This week's new Moon sets the stage for a \"sporadic\" meteor show featuring a cast of eye-catching stars and planets. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast28sep_1.htm?list"}, {"response": 190, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Oct  2, 2000 (18:24)", "body": "Peering into the Ozone Hole NASA Science News for October 02, 2000 Concentrations of ozone-destroying gases are down, but the Antarctic ozone hole is bigger than ever. It turns out there's more to ozone destruction than just CFCs. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast02oct_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 191, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Oct 10, 2000 (21:19)", "body": "The Moonlit Leonids 2000 NASA Science News for October 10, 2000 Our planet is heading for a minefield of cosmic dust streams laid down by periodic comet Tempel-Tuttle. The result could be a series of meteor outbursts on Nov. 17 and 18, 2000. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast10oct_1.htm?list ---"}, {"response": 192, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Oct 12, 2000 (18:59)", "body": "Sun Sample Return Mission Nears Launch NASA Science News for October 12, 2000 The science payload for NASA's Genesis spacecraft, which will collect samples of the solar wind and return them to Earth, is now complete. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast12oct_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 193, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Fri, Oct 13, 2000 (07:37)", "body": "Aren't they going to do some work on the space station, also?"}, {"response": 194, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Oct 13, 2000 (13:28)", "body": "I think that is also planned. Provinding they can move around in there once it is entirely stocked. Sounds claustrophobic... They will be in the direct path of solar wind and it behooves them to study it, certainly!"}, {"response": 195, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Mon, Oct 16, 2000 (05:10)", "body": "I guess the 100th Shuttle is up there now, right?"}, {"response": 196, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Oct 16, 2000 (14:27)", "body": "Shuttle finally got off the ground after the hurricane and mysterious pin kept it grounded. Check NASA tv to watch their goings-on http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/countdown/video/video45m.html Backyard Gamma-ray Bursts NASA Science News for October 16, 2000 With the successful launch of NASA's HETE-2 satellite, amateur astronomers will soon be able to spot the most powerful explosions in the Universe from the comfort of their own back yards. Professionals are also looking forward to the new data, which they hope will unravel the mysteries of gamma-ray bursts. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast16oct_1.htm?list"}, {"response": 197, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Tue, Oct 17, 2000 (07:14)", "body": "Number 100?"}, {"response": 198, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Oct 26, 2000 (21:15)", "body": "A Close Encounter with Asteroid Eros NASA Science News for October 26, 2000 5:00:00 PM NASA's NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft swooped 5 kilometers above the surface of 433 Eros on Oct 26th, marking its closest-ever approach to the tumbling space rock. Scientists hope the flyby will uncover clues about extra boulders and missing craters on the near-Earth asteroid. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast26oct_2.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 199, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Oct 26, 2000 (21:19)", "body": "Think so the 100th shuttle mission...and back down again."}, {"response": 200, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Oct 31, 2000 (16:44)", "body": "Trick or Treat: It's Toutatis! NASA Science News for October 31, 2000 NASA scientists are monitoring a large near-Earth asteroid that tumbled past our planet on the morning of Halloween 2000. Amateur astronomers can spot it for themselves in telescopes later this month and through binoculars when it passes even closer to Earth in Sept. 2004. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast31oct_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 201, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Nov  2, 2000 (21:58)", "body": "Water on the Space Station NASA Science News for November 2, 2000 Rationing and recycling will be an essential part of life on the newly-populated International Space Station. In this article, the first of a series about the challenges of living in orbit, Science@NASA explores where the crew will get their water and how they will (re)use it. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast02nov_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 202, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Fri, Nov  3, 2000 (07:01)", "body": "They picked the callsign \"alpha\" in a jublilant video conference to Mission HQ. It's the beginning of man in space for perhaps the rest of history, there may never be a time when man is not in space from now on."}, {"response": 203, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Nov  7, 2000 (15:27)", "body": "Much Ado about 2000 SG344 NASA Science News for November 7, 2000 Later this century a relic from NASA's earliest space exploration efforts might return to Earth, if current estimates are confirmed. The near-Earth object, which follows an orbit almost identical to our planet's, looks like an asteroid but may be an Apollo-era rocket booster. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast06nov_2.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 204, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Nov  9, 2000 (11:28)", "body": "Space Weather News for Nov. 9, 2000 http://www.spaceweather.com RADIATION STORM: High-energy particles are bombarding satellites this morning after a solar eruption unleashed a strong radiation storm. Radio blackouts and minor satellite glitches are possible while the storm persists. NEAR-EARTH ASTEROID 2000 UG11: A 250-meter asteroid zoomed past Earth on Tuesday just 6 times farther from our planet than the Moon. New video clips show the space rock racing through the sky on Nov. 1st - 7th. AURORA BOREALIS: Geomagnetic storms on November 3rd and 6th triggered widespread aurora. Pictures of the Northern Lights are now available on SpaceWeather.com. For more information and images please visit http://www.spaceweather.com"}, {"response": 205, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Nov 10, 2000 (11:00)", "body": "Aurora Alert Space Weather News for Nov. 9, 2000 http://www.spaceweather.com The Nov. 8th solar eruption that triggered an ongoing radiation storm around Earth also launched a coronal mass ejection (CME) that appears to be heading in the direction of our planet. The CME raced away from the Sun traveling faster than 2000 km/s and it could strike Earth's magnetosphere late Friday or Saturday. Forecasters estimate a 25% chance of severe geomagnetic storms at middle latitudes during the next 48 hours. Stay tuned to http://spaceweather.com for continuing coverage. Photographers who capture images of the aurora are invited to send them as email attachments to webmaster@spaceweather.com for display on SpaceWeather.com."}, {"response": 206, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Nov 13, 2000 (17:37)", "body": "Breathing Easy on the Space Station NASA Science News for November 13, 2000 Life support systems on the International Space Station provide oxygen, absorb carbon dioxide, and manage vaporous emissions from the astronauts themselves. It's all part of breathing easy in our new home in space. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast13nov_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 207, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Nov 15, 2000 (18:14)", "body": "Wanted: Leonid Meteor Spotters Space Weather News for Nov. 15, 2000 http://www.spaceweather.com The 2000 Leonid meteor shower is just around the corner. Forecasters expect at least two outbursts of shooting stars as Earth passes through debris from comet Tempel-Tuttle this Friday and Saturday. Spaceweather.com will post current meteor counts and reports from around the world beginning Thursday and continuing through the end of the shower. We invite all our readers to participate and report what they see. All you need are clear skies! Visit http://www.spaceweather.com for more information and observing tips. And don't forget NASA's live webcast of the Leonids from the stratosphere! Visit http://www.leonidslive.com for details."}, {"response": 208, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Nov 16, 2000 (18:22)", "body": "Lighting Up the Ecosphere NASA Science News for Nov. 15, 2000 Using satellite images of city lights at night, NASA scientists are mapping the spread of urban areas around the globe and monitoring their impact on our planet's ecosystem. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast15nov_1.htm"}, {"response": 209, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Nov 17, 2000 (18:19)", "body": "Flowing Sand in Space NASA Science News for Nov. 17, 2000 NASA scientists are sending sand into Earth orbit to learn more about how soil behaves during earthquakes. Their results will help engineers build safer structures on Earth and someday on other planets, too. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast17nov_1.htm"}, {"response": 210, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Nov 22, 2000 (19:09)", "body": "A Solar Flare Stuns Stardust NASA Science News for November 22, 2000 Earlier this month one of the most intense solar radiation storms in decades temporarily blinded NASA's Stardust spacecraft, which is heading for a rendezvous with comet Wild-2. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast22nov_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 211, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Nov 24, 2000 (15:02)", "body": "Weekend Aurora Warning; Asteroid Toutatis Brightens Space Weather News for Nov. 24, 2000 http://www.spaceweather.com SOLAR FLARES: This morning, two powerful solar flares triggered an ongoing radiation storm around Earth. The eruptions from a sunspot group near the center of the Sun's visible disk also launched two coronal mass ejections toward our planet. Sky watchers should be alert for aurora when the CMEs strike Earth's magnetosphere later this weekend. ASTEROIDS: Near-Earth asteroid Toutatis, which passed close to Earth on Halloween, is actually brightening as it moves away from our planet. Amateur astronomers can spot the space rock in 8- to 10-inch telescopes as it reaches peak brightness next week. For more information, visit http://www.SpaceWeather.com ."}, {"response": 212, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Nov 27, 2000 (11:37)", "body": "Microscopic Stowaways on the ISS NASA Science News for November 26, 2000 Wherever humans go microbes will surely follow, and the Space Station is no exception. In this article, NASA scientists discuss how astronauts on the ISS will keep potentially bothersome microorganisms under control. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast26nov_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 213, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Mon, Nov 27, 2000 (11:51)", "body": "That was pretty interesting. It shows that there is so much more think about than you first realise when going into space. I always thought it was a case of piling five guys into a rocket and shooting them up to an orbiting spacecan. I guess it's not that simple..."}, {"response": 214, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Nov 27, 2000 (13:51)", "body": "Nope, or we would have done it long ago... and a lot more guys would have died..."}, {"response": 215, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Nov 29, 2000 (16:35)", "body": "Sky show tonight: a close encounter between Venus and the Moon Space Weather News for Nov. 29, 2000 http://www.spaceweather.com The recent spate of geomagnetic disturbances produced auroras mainly at high latitudes. Middle- and low-latitude observers didn't see much in the way of Northern Lights. But tonight there's a sky show that anyone can enjoy: a dazzling close encounter between Venus and the crescent Moon. Visit http://www.spaceweather.com for details about that and to view a gallery of pictures captured during this week's geomagnetic storms."}, {"response": 216, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec  1, 2000 (01:18)", "body": "Far-out Housekeeping on the ISS NASA Science News for November 29, 2000 Life in space is a daring adventure, but somebody still has to cook dinner and take out the trash. Science@NASA interviews two astronauts about the thrill and routine of daily life in orbit. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast29nov_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 217, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Fri, Dec  1, 2000 (07:03)", "body": "The ham satellite (the big one the hams have been waiting for) is succesfully up! Any news on this Marci?"}, {"response": 218, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Sat, Dec  2, 2000 (09:35)", "body": "Oh, I forgot to mention, someone pointed out Jupiter to me when I was in Japan. Is it possible to see Jupiter with the naked eye??? I was unconvinced but secretly impressed :-)"}, {"response": 219, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Sat, Dec  2, 2000 (12:43)", "body": "Of course it is, Jupiter can be very visible."}, {"response": 220, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Sat, Dec  2, 2000 (15:49)", "body": "Well I wasn't sure :-) Cool, I've seen Jupiter :-)"}, {"response": 221, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Dec  4, 2000 (19:45)", "body": ""}, {"response": 222, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Dec  4, 2000 (19:52)", "body": "Get a cheap pair of binoculars, Mike - you can see the four Galillean moons easily. And, they change from night to night as you watch them orbit!!!"}, {"response": 223, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Dec  4, 2000 (19:54)", "body": "EO-1: It's not just a good idea, it's the law! NASA Science News for December 4, 2000 NASA's Earth Observing-1 satellite blasted off last week with a payload of new instruments that could revolutionize remote sensing. The work of the new satellite is regarded as so important it's actually required by law. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast04dec_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 224, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Dec  4, 2000 (19:56)", "body": "Sedimentary Mars NASA Science News for December 4, 2000 4:00:00 PM New Mars Global Surveyor images reveal sedimentary rock layers on the Red Planet that may have formed underwater in the distant martian past. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast04dec_2.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 225, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Tue, Dec  5, 2000 (07:42)", "body": "So, they're debating how much water may have been on Mars, and whether the liquid was water (probably), these sedimentary layers were found on the giant canyon that would stretch from NY to California. They should drop the next lander in this sediment!"}, {"response": 226, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Dec  5, 2000 (15:01)", "body": "..but only if they are sure it would be able to hear their commands. We lost the last one that way... I'd like a specimen for my collection, thank you!!! Santa,I have been naughty but soooo nice this year..."}, {"response": 227, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Wed, Dec  6, 2000 (08:37)", "body": "The best of both worlds, right? Which is more important, this sedimentary area or the ice cap areas where there may be water for a landing? And when is the next Mars launch?"}, {"response": 228, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Dec  6, 2000 (14:55)", "body": "I'll let you know when I know - stay tuned... A Disintegrating Glacier NASA Science News for December 6, 2000 Recent satellite images reveal two new icebergs floating off the Antarctic coast. The icy behemoths are fragments of the Ninnis Glacier. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast05dec_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 229, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Dec  6, 2000 (15:05)", "body": "Latest Mars updates are available at http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/"}, {"response": 230, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Wed, Dec  6, 2000 (17:27)", "body": "Get a cheap pair of binoculars, Mike - you can see the four Galillean moons easily. And, they change from night to night as you watch them orbit!!! That is cool, Marcia!! When I was in school I dropped Astro so that I could concentrate on other stuff (like smashing rocks to pieces with hammers and blowing up alternate universes with Quantum singularities... :-) I should definitely start checking out the sky a bit more. Trouble is it means going outside at night when it's all cold. Still, I guess in the summer it could be a joint trip with one of my lady friends.... :-)"}, {"response": 231, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Wed, Dec  6, 2000 (19:57)", "body": "One of the brightest objects in the sky will be the space station with the solar panels unfurled. Has anyone seen this yet or does anyone know a website for times, dates to view it?"}, {"response": 232, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Dec  7, 2000 (00:31)", "body": "Terry, I posted the satellite tracking and spotting of ISS back a few... for all satellites: http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/RealTime/JTrack/ For ISS and such: http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/RealTime/JTrack/Spacecraft.html"}, {"response": 233, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Thu, Dec  7, 2000 (07:38)", "body": "Cool, I'll check it out, have you seen it yet?"}, {"response": 234, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec  8, 2000 (15:57)", "body": "ISS updates http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ops/stage4a/status.html This is Shuttle mission 97"}, {"response": 235, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec  8, 2000 (15:58)", "body": ""}, {"response": 236, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec  8, 2000 (16:01)", "body": "Have not yet seeen it. The last time I looked I saw the space junk re-entry. That was REALLY neat!!! ISS seems to orbit so they are over Hawaii quite frequently, so I'll hunt again. Did see the Shuttle and MIR linked up - brilliant like Venus!!!"}, {"response": 237, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec  8, 2000 (16:26)", "body": "Pass the Can Opener, Please In early December engineers in Waco, Texas, will cut a hole big enough to drive a truck through in the aft fuselage of a 747SP jumbo jet. It's a key step in converting the airliner into the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), whose 2.5-meter (98-inch) telescope will peer at the heavens from an altitude of 41,000 feet beginning in 2003. A Yuletide Partial Solar Eclipse During the partial eclipse of the Sun on December 25, 2000, the Moon passes slightly north of the Sun's center as seen from nearly all parts of North America south of the Arctic Circle. A Passing Affair Cassini will pass 9.8 million km from Jupiter, en route to Saturn, on December 30th."}, {"response": 238, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec  8, 2000 (16:33)", "body": "The Baffling Geminid Meteor Shower NASA Science News for December 8, 2000 Most meteor showers are caused by comets, but the Geminid meteor shower, which peaks next Wednesday morning, seems to come from a curious near-Earth asteroid. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast08dec_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 239, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Sat, Dec  9, 2000 (10:06)", "body": "Curious indeed!"}, {"response": 240, "author": "CherylB", "date": "Sat, Dec  9, 2000 (10:23)", "body": "Marcia, maybe Santa Claus will bring you that Martian rock for Christmas this year. Do you have a Lunar rock to go with it? Just kidding. On the disintergrating glazier, a few years ago an iceberg broke off the Anarctic Ice Shelf that was slightly smaller than the state of Rhode Island. Suffice to say, it was easily visible from space."}, {"response": 241, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Sat, Dec  9, 2000 (12:18)", "body": "It's probably still afloat?"}, {"response": 242, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Dec  9, 2000 (23:23)", "body": "That, or fused into the polar ice sheet next winter...."}, {"response": 243, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Dec 10, 2000 (17:08)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Sunday, December 10, 2000 @ 0557 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now MISSION ACCOMPLISHED, SHUTTLE DEPARTS STATION --------------------------------------------- With hugs and handshakes, the Endeavour astronauts bid farewell to the crew of space station Alpha Saturday, closed hatches between the two spacecraft and undocked to wind up an edge-of-the-seat mission to install a huge set of solar arrays. http://spaceflightnow.com/ops/stage4a/001209fd10/ Follow the mission's progress in our status center: http://spaceflightnow.com/ops/stage4a/status.html Watch video clip of shuttle crew departing station: http://spaceflightnow.com/ops/stage4a/video/001209farewell_qt.html FOUR ADDITIONAL MOONS DISCOVERED ORBITING SATURN ------------------------------------------------ An unprecedented surge in planetary moon discoveries continued this week as astronomers reported the discovery of four more moons orbiting Saturn, bringing the total number of moons found around the planet since October to ten. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0012/10saturnmoons/ DELAYED ARIANE 4 ROCKET LAUNCH RESET FOR MONDAY ----------------------------------------------- After a postponement to double-check the rocket's nose cone, Arianespace has rescheduled the flight of Ariane 4 launcher carrying the Eurasiasat 1 communications satellite for Monday evening from South America. http://spaceflightnow.com/ariane/v137/status.html"}, {"response": 244, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Dec 12, 2000 (16:58)", "body": "The Incredible Shrinking Ozone Hole NASA Science News for December 12, 2000 After reaching record-breaking proportions earlier this year the ozone hole over Antarctica has made a surprisingly hasty retreat. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast12dec_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 245, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Dec 14, 2000 (19:35)", "body": "Christmas Eclipse NASA Science News for December 14, 2000 A solar eclipse is coming on Christmas Day, 2000. The winter landscape across parts of North America will assume an eerie cast, and cooler-than-usual winds might swirl, as the New Moon glides across the face of the Yuletide Sun. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast15dec_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 246, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Fri, Dec 15, 2000 (07:59)", "body": "src=\"http://a799.ms.akamai.net/7/799/388/a22603ce3aeabf/www.msnbc.com/news/719513.jpg\" align=\"left\"> This Mars life story is *new*, as reported by MSNBC today. \"Dec. 13 \ufffd A new scientific report offers compelling evidence that primitive life existed on Mars, NASA says. Researchers report that tiny magnetite crystals, identical to those used by aqueous bacteria on Earth as compasses to find food and energy, have been found in the Martian meteorite ALH84001.\""}, {"response": 247, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec 15, 2000 (12:55)", "body": "Really nice!!!! Thank you Big Time for posting that image!"}, {"response": 248, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec 15, 2000 (12:56)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Friday, December 15, 2000 @ 1612 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now HUBBLE SEES SATELLITE FOOTPRINTS IN JUPITER AURORA -------------------------------------------------- Check out a spectacular Hubble Space Telescope close-up view of an electric-blue aurora that is eerily glowing one half billion miles away on the giant planet Jupiter. Auroras are curtains of light resulting from high-energy electrons racing along the planet's magnetic field into the upper atmosphere. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0012/15hubble/ UNIVERSE'S MOST MASSIVE SPIRAL GALAXY REVEALED ---------------------------------------------- The most massive spiral galaxy known so far in the Universe has been discovered by a team of astronomers. This galaxy is located at a distance of approximately 6 billion light-years and its measured mass is more than 1,000 billion times that of the Sun. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0012/15spiral/ TWIN TELESCOPES POISED TO EXPLORE STRUCTURE OF UNIVERSE ------------------------------------------------------- More than 300 people traveled thousands of miles to a remote mountaintop in Chile for the dedication of two of the most powerful survey instruments ever built: the Baade and the Clay 6.5-meter reflecting telescopes. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0012/15carnegie/"}, {"response": 249, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec 15, 2000 (18:49)", "body": "Weekend Aurora Watch Space Weather News for Dec. 14, 2000 http://www.spaceweather.com A coronal mass ejection that left the Sun on Thursday appears to be heading for Earth. The disturbance could trigger aurora late Saturday or (more likely) Sunday when it strikes our planet's magnetosphere. For details and animations please visit http://www.spaceweather.com ."}, {"response": 250, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Dec 16, 2000 (12:17)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Saturday, December 16, 2000 @ 0520 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now CHINA PLEDGES DEVELOPMENT OF MANNED SPACE PROGRAM ------------------------------------------------- China is poised to launch the second test flight of its Shenzhou spacecraft -- an orbiter capable of carrying an astronaut into space -- a Chinese official said this week in his year-end press briefing in Washington. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0012/15china/ STATION CREW AWAITS SPARE PARTS FOR AIR SCRUBBER ------------------------------------------------ The international space station's air purification system is working smoothly, NASA's lead flight director said Friday. But unexpected equipment failures during the crew's first six weeks in space have left the astronauts just one failure away from a possible forced evacuation. http://spaceflightnow.com/ops/stage4a/001216scrubber/ KENNEDY SPACE CENTER CELEBRATES ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF 2000 ------------------------------------------------------- During the past year, NASA's Kennedy Space Center began an ambitious schedule of Space Shuttle launches as construction of the International Space Station shifted into high gear, plus managed six rocket launches and formed partnerships across the board. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0012/16ksc2000/"}, {"response": 251, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Dec 16, 2000 (19:20)", "body": "CHRISTMAS SOLAR ECLIPSE http://www.skypub.com/sights/eclipses/solar/001225partial.html"}, {"response": 252, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Dec 18, 2000 (00:02)", "body": "Learning from Lightning NASA Science News for December 17, 2000 Little by little, lightning sensors in space are revealing the inner workings of severe storms. Scientists hope to use the technique to improve forecasts of deadly weather. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast17dec_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 253, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Dec 19, 2000 (22:15)", "body": "Geomagnetic activity alert + near-Earth asteroid news Space Weather News for Dec. 19, 2000 http://www.spaceweather.com METEORS & AURORA: Sky watchers who venture outside to view the Ursid meteor shower Thursday night or Friday morning might also spot aurora borealis. A coronal mass ejection that left the Sun on Monday is likely to buffet Earth's magnetosphere later this week. Forecasters estimate a 20% chance of severe geomagnetic activity when the CME arrives. NEAR-EARTH ASTEROIDS: A newly-discovered near-Earth asteroid, 2000 YA, will pass just two lunar distances from Earth on Dec. 22nd. There's no danger of a collision, say scientists, but the small space rock will be near enough to see through large amateur telescopes or through small telescopes equipped with CCD cameras. For more information, images and animations, please visit http://www.spaceweather.com"}, {"response": 254, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Wed, Dec 20, 2000 (09:00)", "body": "There was a very interesting piece this morning on NPR on the Saturn moon, Euuropa. It seems there may be water beneath the ice that may support life. Even though the sun's energy is very distant, there is some kind of gravitational tide effect from Saturn and other moons that may be enough to generate higher temperatures and enable liquids under the icy surface. There is some kind of underwater sub expedition planned by NASA in the next 10 years. This could be an exciting development, I haven't searched o the net yet, but I'm sure there's more out there on this, on NPR.org's site for sure."}, {"response": 255, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Wed, Dec 20, 2000 (09:06)", "body": "Correction, substitute Jupiter for Saturn. Big detail. EUROPA & HOW LIFE BEGINS $ NPR's Richard Harris explores what it would take for life to begin elsewhere in the solar system. Pictures released yesterday of Jupiter's moon Europa suggest that the chemicals necessary for life may exist in large frozen oceans there -- just waiting for the right conditions to sprout life. On Earth, oceanographers think that life may have begun in a similar primordial soup at the bottom of the ocean. They're looking at unique heat-resistant organisms that live next to hot-gas vents on the ocean floor."}, {"response": 256, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Dec 20, 2000 (13:20)", "body": "I posted that bit of info in Geo 24 - the astronomy topic update. Fascinating stuff! (...and we knew which planet you meant *hugs*)"}, {"response": 257, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Dec 20, 2000 (17:02)", "body": "Martian Micro-Magnets NASA Science News for December 20, 2000 Certain types of bacteria on Earth are atomic engineers -- atom by atom they build tiny magnetic crystals to help themselves follow our planet's magnetic field. Now scientists have found such crystals in an unlikely place: a martian meteorite! FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast20dec_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 258, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec 22, 2000 (19:57)", "body": "Watching the Angry Sun NASA Science News for December 22, 2000 As the Sun's stormy season approaches its zenith, solar scientists have the best seat in the house, using the largest coordinated fleet of spacecraft and ground observatories ever assembled to observe angry outbursts of solar radiation. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast22dec_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 259, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec 22, 2000 (20:47)", "body": "A meteor outburst, after all.... Space Weather News for Dec. 22, 2000 http://www.spaceweather.com METEORS: Sky watchers in Europe and on the US west coast spotted a modest outburst of Ursid meteors Thursday night. Astronomers had hoped for a more impressive display, but the flurry of faint shooting stars was nevertheless welcomed because it confirmed a new model of cometary debris streams. AURORA WATCH: Conditions may be favorable for high-latitude auroras tonight. The interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) near Earth turned sharply southward after a solar wind disturbance arrived in the neighborhood of our planet. South-pointing IMFs make our magnetosphere more vulnerable than usual to solar wind gusts -- additional gusts could trigger Northern Lights. For more information visit http://www.spaceweather.com"}, {"response": 260, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Dec 24, 2000 (20:35)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Monday, December 25, 2000 @ 0050 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now AN OUT-OF-THIS-WORLD HOLIDAY GREETING ------------------------------------- The international space station crew offer the people of planet Earth greetings for the holiday season in a message from their orbiting home 235 miles up. The three men are the first residents of the new station, beginning what is planned to be a continuous human presence in space for the 21st century. Watch video message: http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a/video/001224greetings_qt.html Astronauts report first Santa sighting: http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a/video/001224santa_qt.html CARGO SHIP SET FOR REDOCKING TO SPACE STATION --------------------------------------------- Spaceflight Now will have complete live coverage of Tuesday's redocking of the Progress M1-4 cargo freighter to the international space station. Cosmonaut Yuri Gidzenko will manually guide the craft to the orbital linkup using two joysticks and a television picture. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/status.html See our timeline of the redocking sequence: http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a/fdf/redocking.html RARE CHRISTMAS ECLIPSE VIEWABLE IN NORTH AMERICA ------------------------------------------------ On Christmas Day, step outside and get a rare Christmas present-a partial solar eclipse! Sky watchers living in the continental United States, Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean will have a perfect view of the partially eclipsed Sun. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0012/24eclipse/ SANTA BECOMES TEST PILOT AT FLORIDA'S SHUTTLE LANDING SITE ---------------------------------------------------------- Not only does Santa Claus know when you are sleeping or awake -- bad or good, he also knows with pinpoint accuracy the exact location of each planned delivery stop. With newly-installed GPS on his sleigh, Santa plans to fly by the Kennedy Space Center to test his space-age equipment. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0012/24santaslf/ OBSERVATIONS CONFIRM THE UNIVERSE WAS HOTTER IN PAST ---------------------------------------------------- A fundamental prediction of the Big Bang theory has finally been verified. For the first time, an actual measurement has been made of the temperature of the cosmic microwave background radiation, at a time when the Universe was only about 2.5 billion years old. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0012/24vlthot/ SCIENTISTS DELIGHTED BY FIRST IMAGES FROM EO-1 SATELLITE -------------------------------------------------------- Scientists have seen the first images from NASA's Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) spacecraft launched last month and now flying in formation with the Landsat 7 satellite. Researchers say they are excited with the performance of the instruments on the EO-1 technology demonstrator. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0012/23eo1first/ SPACEHAB RESEARCH MODULE TO FLY ON '02 SHUTTLE MISSION ------------------------------------------------------ A commercial Spacehab Research Double Module will be flown aboard a space shuttle in 2002 for a NASA science flight. Spacehab is marketing a portion of space in the module to commercial users, including other national space agencies. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0012/23sts112/"}, {"response": 261, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Dec 25, 2000 (15:29)", "body": "too bad it's rainy here, we won't be able to witness the christmas eclipse *frown*"}, {"response": 262, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Dec 25, 2000 (15:53)", "body": "check in Geo 24 for my ex's Pennsylvania shots."}, {"response": 263, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Dec 25, 2000 (16:23)", "body": "did, thanks sweetie! *HUGS*"}, {"response": 264, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Dec 25, 2000 (17:35)", "body": "Merry Christmas Dear - and *Happy Hugs* to go with it. What was your surprise??? (We need to talk, I think)"}, {"response": 265, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Dec 25, 2000 (18:18)", "body": "yes--did you get my msn invite? (for IM?)"}, {"response": 266, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Dec 25, 2000 (18:29)", "body": "nope!!! I'll send you one!!! I had this problem with B earlier."}, {"response": 267, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Tue, Dec 26, 2000 (05:35)", "body": "Wolfie, I was in up in your 'hood yesterday, Shey and I went to Tyler to see mjy dad, but we had a short visit as we were trying to get home before any of the heavy weather predicted for today."}, {"response": 268, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Dec 26, 2000 (13:45)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Tuesday, December 26, 2000 @ 1510 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now BRIEF LOSS OF CONTACT RAISES FEARS ABOUT MIR STATION ----------------------------------------------------- Contact with the unmanned Russian Mir space station was briefly lost today. While normal communications later were restored, the incident heightened concern about the Russians' ability to precisely control the abandoned station's upcoming re-entry and breakup. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0012/26mir/ CARGO SHIP REDOCKS TO INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION ------------------------------------------------- Cosmonaut Yuri Gidzenko remotely piloted an unmanned Progress supply ship to a trouble-free manual redocking with the international space station today as the two spacecraft sailed 230 miles above Mongolia. Includes video clips. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a/001226redock/ OCEAN-HARBORING MOON GANYMEDE SEEN BY CASSINI --------------------------------------------- The solar system's largest moon, Ganymede, is captured here alongside the planet Jupiter in a color picture taken by NASA's Cassini spacecraft earlier this month at a distance of 16.5 million miles. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0012/26cassgany/ LAUNCH SCHEDULE --------------- See our Tracking Station for a the latest listing of upcoming space launches for the New Year. http://spaceflightnow.com/tracking/"}, {"response": 269, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Dec 26, 2000 (16:05)", "body": "Solar Eclipse Pictures Space Weather News for Dec. 26, 2000 http://www.spaceweather.com If bad weather, over-sleeping, or simply not living in North America prevented you from seeing the Christmas 2000 solar eclipse, now you have a second chance. The SpaceWeather.com eclipse gallery features dozens of images captured by sky watchers using everything from professional hydrogen-alpha telescopes (that show sunspots and solar filaments) to makeshift solar filters assembled from computer CDs. Visit http://spaceweather.com for more..."}, {"response": 270, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Dec 30, 2000 (00:08)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Saturday, December 30, 2000 @ 0505 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now CASSINI HAS CLOSE ENCOUNTER OF THE JOVIAN KIND TODAY ---------------------------------------------------- NASA's Cassini space probe makes its 6-million mile flyby of Jupiter today at 1012 GMT (5:12 a.m. EST). The encounter acts as a gravity-assisted sling-shot, boosting the craft's speed by 2,500 mph to over 30,000 mph for its continued trek to Saturn. We'll have a wrap up story following a news conference later today. http://spaceflightnow.com/cassini/ CASSINI EYES JUPITER'S CLOUDS IN GREAT DETAIL --------------------------------------------- Images taken by NASA's Cassini spacecraft using three different filters reveal cloud structures and movements at different depths in the atmosphere around Jupiter's south pole. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0012/30cassclouds/ HEAVY DOSE OF RADIATION CAUSES GALILEO GLITCHES ----------------------------------------------- NASA's Galileo spacecraft passed through the highest radiation environment it will experience in its current orbit of Jupiter late Thursday. The exposure caused an alarm from the probe's camera system and a computer reset in another portion of the spacecraft. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0012/30galileorad/ SPACE STATION RESIDENTS GIVE NEW YEAR'S MESSAGE ----------------------------------------------- The Alpha astronauts beamed down New Year's greetings Friday, saying \"let the real space odyssey 2001 proceed.\" Commander William Shepherd, flight engineer Sergei Krikalev and Soyuz pilot Yuri Gidzenko fielded questions from reporters in an early morning communications session, saying they plan to mark the arrival of the new year with at least one - and probably two - special meals. (Includes video clip!) http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a/001229greet01/"}, {"response": 271, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Dec 30, 2000 (13:34)", "body": "Galileo Looks for Auroras on Ganymede NASA Science News for December 28, 2000 NASA's durable Galileo spacecraft flew above the solar system's largest moon this morning in search of extraterrestrial Northern Lights -- a telltale sign of Ganymede's unique magnetic field. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast28dec_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 272, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Dec 30, 2000 (18:12)", "body": "New color movie stars Jupiter's clouds / Galileo's dark encount NEWSALERT: Thursday, December 28, 2000 @ 0525 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now CASSINI MAKES FIRST COLOR MOVIE OF JUPITER'S CLOUDS --------------------------------------------------- Imagery from NASA's Cassini spacecraft has been used to generate this first color movie of Jupiter's horizontal bands of clouds from the Saturn-bound probe. The orange and white bands slide in opposite directions from each other and a swirl of winds gyrate around Jupiter's Great Red Spot. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0012/28jupmovie/ GALILEO HAS DARK ENCOUNTER WITH JOVIAN MOON GANYMEDE ---------------------------------------------------- NASA's intrepid Galileo spacecraft zips past Ganymede on Thursday for a unique close encounter that provides a chance to study the faint auroral glows on the solar system's largest moon. (Includes video clips!) http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0012/28ganyflyby/ MARTIAN WATER MAY BE ICE IN PLANET'S INTERIOR --------------------------------------------- Liquid water that once flowed on the surface of Mars could now be locked up deep in the planet's interior as an unusual form of ice, scientists reported earlier this month. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0012/28marsice/ SURPRISE SWITCH FOR MIR EMERGENCY CREW -------------------------------------- Russian space managers have changed the makeup of a two-man cosmonaut crew on standby for a flight to the abandoned Mir space station in the event of any future emergency that might cause an uncontrolled re-entry. http://spaceflightnow.com/mir/001227mircrew/ RESEARCHER PROPOSES DARING ASTEROID SAMPLE RETURN ------------------------------------------------- In the wake of NASA's successful Near-Earth Asteroid Rendezvous space mission, a University of Arkansas researcher is putting together a team of scientists to take asteroid research to the next level -- bringing asteroid samples back to Earth. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0012/27asteroid/ CONTACT RESTORED WITH NEW AMATEUR RADIO SATELLITE ------------------------------------------------- The amateur radio community received a welcome Christmas present Monday when workers were able to restore contact with the AMSAT-OSCAR 40 satellite that had been silent for nearly two weeks. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0012/27ao40/ IRIDIUM SATELLITES USED TO MAP GLOBAL SPACE WEATHER --------------------------------------------------- Scientists are now able to simultaneously measure the magnetic and electrical fields over large areas of the ionosphere above the Earth's polar regions, allowing great improvement in the understanding and forecasting of global space weather and helping prevent disruption of communication and power systems. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0012/27iridiumsci/ RUSSIANS LAUNCH SIX COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITES --------------------------------------------- A Ukrainian-made Tsyklon 3 rocket loaded with six Russian communications satellites blasted off Wednesday. The launch occurred at approximately 1900 GMT (2 p.m. EST) from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Northern Russia. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0012/27tsyklon/"}, {"response": 273, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Dec 30, 2000 (19:19)", "body": "More Cassini URLs NASA Jupiter Millennium Flyby: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/jupiterflyby/ Cassini mission site: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/cassini Cassini imaging science team: http://ciclops.lpl.arizona.edu/"}, {"response": 274, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Dec 30, 2000 (19:35)", "body": "Retreat of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet NASA Science News for December 27, 2000 Scientists say that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is retreating more slowly than they thought. In fact, it may have been growing just 8,000 years ago -- long after the end of the most recent Ice Age. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast27dec_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 275, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Tue, Jan  2, 2001 (09:40)", "body": "Wow, what a plethora of space news today. Great work, gleaning all this Marci!"}, {"response": 276, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jan  2, 2001 (14:07)", "body": "Get our your receivers tonight - over 100/hour expected!! I am delighted you find it interesting - lots of goodies in there! Listen to the Quadrantids tonight Space Weather News for January 2, 2001 http://www.spaceweather.com The Quadrantid meteor shower will peak over North America before dawn on Wednesday morning, January 3rd. No matter where you live you can listen to the shower by tuning in to a radio meteor listening station at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. The installation, located in Huntsville, AL, is perfectly situated to detect a Quadrantid outburst. For more information and realtime audio please visit http://www.spaceweather.com"}, {"response": 277, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jan  2, 2001 (14:12)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Tuesday, January 2, 2000 @ 0541 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now STATION SKIPPER WRITES POEM TO USHER IN THE NEW YEAR ---------------------------------------------------- The international space station's Exedition One commander, Bill Shepherd, has written a poem capturing his thoughts and reflections, as he and Russian shipmates, Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev, usher in 2001. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a/001231poem/ SHUTTLE ATLANTIS GOES FOR SIX HOUR RIDE TO PAD TODAY ---------------------------------------------------- Rolling along at speeds reaching one-mile per hour, space shuttle Atlantis will be transported from Kennedy Space Center's Vehicle Assembly Building to the seaside launch pad 39A after sunrise today. Atlantis is due for blastoff later this month on a space station assembly mission. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/status.html DESPITE PUMMELING, EARLY EARTH CONDITIONS RIPE FOR LIFE ------------------------------------------------------- Even during an extraordinarily violent era in Earth's early history, when our young planet was being whacked by asteroids and comets so frequently that scientists refer to it as \"Late Heavy Bombardment,\" conditions most of the time at the Earth's surface were quite hospitable for the microbes that lived here, according to new research. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/01earlyearth/ SEA LAUNCH TO LOFT RADIO BROADCASTING SATELLITE ----------------------------------------------- The Sea Launch command ship and Odyssey platform are sailing to the equatorial waters of the Pacific Ocean for next week's flight of a Zenit 3SL rocket with the first of two broadcasting spacecraft for XM Satellite Radio. http://spaceflightnow.com/sealaunch/xm1/status.html THERE WERE A LOT SPACE HEADLINES OVER THE HOLIDAYS! --------------------------------------------------- Do you need to catch up on the news that occurred over the holidays? Check out our weekly archived reports for all the space headlines, including Cassini's beautiful pictures and movies of Jupiter from its recent flyby, the new fears about Mir, NASA's revived mission to Pluto and the latest with the international space station. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/breaking_archive.html LAUNCH SCHEDULE --------------- See our Tracking Station for a the latest listing of upcoming space launches for the New Year. http://spaceflightnow.com/tracking/"}, {"response": 278, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jan  3, 2001 (17:11)", "body": "A New Look for the New Year NASA Science News for January 3, 2001 The Science@NASA home page has a new look and we're pleased to offer a host of new services as well, including Spanish-language science stories ... and more! FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast03jan_1.htm?list89800 ---"}, {"response": 279, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jan  3, 2001 (17:14)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Wednesday, January 3, 2001 @ 0601 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLES IN DISTANT GALAXIES MEASURED ----------------------------------------------------- Two astronomers at The University of Texas at Austin, working with an international team of collaborators, have shown that they can provide reliable measurements of black hole masses for active galactic nuclei such as quasars even at great distances. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/03holemeasure/ NEXT TEST FLIGHT OF CHINESE CAPSULE EXPECTED SOON ------------------------------------------------- Amid much speculation regarding a possible launch date for China's second prototype manned spacecraft, called Shenzhou, the Hong Kong-based Wen Wei Po newspaper is reporting that workers are readying the spacecraft for a launch some time in early January, possibly this week. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/03china/ COMPUTER TROUBLE FORCES HALT TO ATLANTIS ROLLOUT ------------------------------------------------ A problem with the main computer inside the crawler-transporter Tuesday forced NASA to stop the rollout of space shuttle Atlantis from Kennedy Space Center's Vehicle Assembly Building to the seaside launch pad 39A. Atlantis was returned to the VAB for swap-out of the crawler. Rollout is now set for Wednesday. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a/010102rollout/ THERE WERE A LOT SPACE HEADLINES OVER THE HOLIDAYS! --------------------------------------------------- Do you need to catch up on the news that occurred over the holidays? Check out our weekly archived reports for all the space headlines, including Cassini's beautiful pictures and movies of Jupiter from its recent flyby, the new fears about Mir, NASA's revived mission to Pluto and the latest with the international space station. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/breaking_archive.html LAUNCH SCHEDULE --------------- See our Tracking Station for a the latest listing of upcoming space launches for the New Year. http://spaceflightnow.com/tracking/"}, {"response": 280, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jan  4, 2001 (14:58)", "body": "Earth at Perihelion NASA Science News for January 4, 2001 This morning at 5 o'clock Eastern Standard time Earth made its annual closest approach to the Sun. Although sunlight falling on our planet is 7% more intense today than it is in July, northerners shouldn't expect any relief from winter. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast04jan_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 281, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jan  5, 2001 (17:43)", "body": "The Case of the Missing Mars Water NASA Science News for January 5, 2001 Plenty of clues suggest that liquid water once flowed on Mars --raising hopes that life could have arisen there-- but the evidence remains inconclusive and sometimes contradictory. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast05jan_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 282, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jan  6, 2001 (18:23)", "body": "Russian PM Orders Demise of Aged Mir Space Station - Jan 5 2001 7:01AM MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov has signed a resolution ordering that the aged Mir space station be taken out of orbit and sunk into the ocean early this year, the Russian space agency said Friday. A spokesman for space agency Rosaviakosmos said that Kasyanov had signed the document on Dec. 30, formalizing a government decision from November to take the nearly 15-year-old Mir, originally intended to orbit Earth for just five years, out of service due to a lack of funding. The order calls for establishing a commission to determine how Mir will be brought down, and also says that resources that had been dedicated to the orbiter were to be focused on the $60 billion International Space Station (ISS). The ISS, a 16-nation venture, uses technology developed for Mir, which for years was the world's only manned space station. During its lifetime Mir helped Soviet and Russian cosmonauts set a string of space endurance records that have been the nation's pride -- and the envy of the envy of the better-funded United States. But in recent years a spate of mishaps dulled the revolutionary space station's image, including a near-catastrophic collision with a cargo craft and a communications failure on Christmas day last month that sparked fears that Mir was spinning out of control. U.S. space officials have pushed Russia to dump Mir, saying it drained sparse resources that would be better spent on Russia's role in the International Space Station."}, {"response": 283, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jan 11, 2001 (14:14)", "body": "Aurora Watch and Lunar Eclipse Photos Space Weather News for January 11, 2001 http://www.spaceweather.com AURORA WATCH: SOHO coronagraphs recorded a full-halo solar coronal mass ejection (CME) on Wednesday that could hit Earth's magnetosphere by week's end. Our planet is already inside a faster-than-usual solar wind stream that could set the stage for auroras when the CME arrives. Visit SpaceWeather.com for details and animations of the CME. LUNAR ECLIPSE: While you're at spaceweather.com, check out our growing gallery of images from Tuesday's total lunar eclipse. Pictures include shots of the copper-colored Moon seen over Europe, Asia and the Middle East as well as striking views of a partially-eclipsed Moon rising over the eastern parts of the USA. Visit http://www.spaceweather.com"}, {"response": 284, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jan 11, 2001 (22:32)", "body": "Chandra Links Pulsar to Historic Supernova NASA Science News for January 11, 2001 New evidence from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory suggests that a known pulsar is the present-day leftover from a stellar explosion witnessed by Chinese astronomers in 386 AD. The discovery could force astronomers to rethink what they know about the ages of neutron stars. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast11jan_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 285, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jan 12, 2001 (22:33)", "body": "Ballooning for Cosmic Rays NASA Science News for January 12, 2001 12:00:00 PM Astronomers have long thought that supernovas are the source of Galactic cosmic rays, but there's a troubling discrepancy between theory and measurements. An ongoing balloon flight over Antarctica could shed new light on the mystery. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast15jan_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 286, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Jan 14, 2001 (16:33)", "body": "CME buffets Earth; Stardust flyby Monday morning Space Weather News for January 13, 2001 http://www.spaceweather.com AURORA WATCH: As expected, the leading edge of a coronal mass ejection that billowed away from the Sun on January 10th reached our planet today. Although conditions seemed favorable for auroras, the passing shock wave did not trigger substantial geomagnetic activity. STARDUST: On Monday morning, NASA's Stardust spacecraft will fly by Earth for an orbit-altering gravity assist maneuver designed to send Stardust on its way to comet Wild 2. Amateur astronomers with mid-sized or large telescopes might be able to spot the spacecraft as it races by and brightens, perhaps, to 10th or 12th magnitude. Visit http://www.spaceweather.com for details."}, {"response": 287, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Jan 14, 2001 (16:37)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Saturday, January 13, 2001 @ 0558 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now CHANDRA FINDS EVIDENCE OF BLACK HOLE 'EVENT HORIZONS' ----------------------------------------------------- Astronomers have used NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory to study some of the darkest black holes yet observed. Their work strongly confirms the reality of the \"event horizon,\" the one-way membrane around black holes predicted by Einstein's theory of relativity. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/13chandrahole/ REMAINS OF OUR GALAXY'S 'LAST MEAL' DISCOVERED ---------------------------------------------- A telltale bulge in the disk of the Milky Way galaxy may be the remnants of a smaller galaxy consumed billions of years ago as our galaxy formed, astronomers announced this week. The discovery may provide scientists with new data to support -- or challenge -- existing models of how galaxies are created. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/13galremains/ STARDUST'S BLURRY VISION FIXED AS CRAFT NEARS EARTH --------------------------------------------------- As NASA's Stardust comet probe barrels towards Earth for a close encounter flyby on Monday, its navigation camera appears to be working again after an apparent post-launch contamination of the device. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/13stardustflyby/ NEWBORN STAR OFFERS INSIGHT INTO OUR SOLAR SYSTEM'S PAST -------------------------------------------------------- Evidence that small dust grains are agglomerating into larger blocks inside a persistent shell of gas and dust around a young, nearby star is giving a team of astronomers a rare glimpse into the process that likely formed our solar system. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/13newborn/ EARLIER HEADLINES ----------------- REPORT: U.S. NEEDS STRONGER DEFENSE ROLE IN SPACE http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/12milspace/ NEW IMAGES SHOW DETAIL OF NEIGHBOR GALAXY'S GAS http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/12galaxygas/ ROCKET STAGE REPLACEMENT ON TAP FOR SEA LAUNCH ZENIT http://spaceflightnow.com/sealaunch/xm1/status.html"}, {"response": 288, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Jan 14, 2001 (18:57)", "body": "New Evidence for Black Holes NASA Science News for January 12, 2001 By seeing almost nothing, astronomers say they've discovered something extraordinary: the event horizons of black holes in space. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast12jan_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 289, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Jan 14, 2001 (18:58)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Friday, January 12, 2001 @ 0527 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now HUBBLE FINALLY MAY HAVE PROOF BLACK HOLES DO EXIST -------------------------------------------------- NASA's Hubble Space Telescope may have, for the first time, provided direct evidence for the existence of black holes by observing the disappearance of matter as it falls beyond the \"event horizon.\" http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/11hubblehole/ REPORT: U.S. NEEDS STRONGER DEFENSE ROLE IN SPACE ------------------------------------------------- Calling space a \"top national security priority,\" an independent commission chaired by the nation's next Secretary of Defense concluded in a report released Thursday that the United States military needs to take a more active and better focused role in Earth orbit. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/12milspace/ NEW IMAGES SHOW DETAIL OF NEIGHBOR GALAXY'S GAS ----------------------------------------------- Using radio telescopes in the U.S. and Europe, astronomers have made the most detailed images ever of Hydrogen gas in a spiral galaxy other than the Milky Way -- the galaxy M33, known to amateur astronomers as the Pinwheel Galaxy. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/12galaxygas/ NEARBY GALAXIES YIELD CLUES TO EARLY UNIVERSE --------------------------------------------- Astronomers are using these three NASA Hubble Space Telescope images to help tackle the question of why distant galaxies have such odd shapes, appearing markedly different from the typical elliptical and spiral galaxies seen in the nearby universe. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/11hubbleuv/ ROCKET STAGE REPLACEMENT ON TAP FOR SEA LAUNCH ZENIT ---------------------------------------------------- The Sea Launch vessels have set sail for home, departing the equatorial waters of the Pacific Ocean on a voyage back to the United States so a portion of the Zenit 3SL rocket can be replaced in the wake of an aborted engine ignition sequence this week. http://spaceflightnow.com/sealaunch/xm1/status.html U.S. FIRM TO BUILD CHINESE COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE --------------------------------------------------- Space Systems/Loral announced this week that it had received a contract from a Hong Kong-based satellite operator to build Apstar 5, a replacement for the aging Apstar 1 communications spacecraft. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/12apstar5/"}, {"response": 290, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jan 15, 2001 (22:34)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Monday, January 15, 2001 @ 1757 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now ENGINEERS ASSESS NEW BOOSTER WIRING ISSUE ----------------------------------------- With shuttle Atlantis poised for launch Friday on a critical space station assembly mission, NASA managers plan to meet late today to assess the resolution of booster wiring problems and the results of weekend inspections that have raised additional concerns. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a/010115srb/ Watch our Mission Status Center for updates today: http://spaceflightnow.com/station/status.html"}, {"response": 291, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jan 15, 2001 (22:35)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Monday, January 15, 2001 @ 0528 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now SUPERNOVA MAY CONTROL THE CENTER OF OUR GALAXY ---------------------------------------------- Scientists using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory have discovered that an apparent supernova remnant in the center of our galaxy might help regulate a nearby supermassive black hole and that such relationships between supernova remnants and black holes might be common throughout the universe. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/15galaxycenter/ MARS ORBITER CHECKS OUT LANDING SITE FOR FUTURE PROBE ----------------------------------------------------- The European Space Agency has announced the selection of a landing site for the British Mars lander, Beagle 2, that will be carried to the red planet aboard ESA's Mars Express orbiter in 2003. Newly released images from NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows the landing zone. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/15beagle2/ BRITISH AND CHINESE SATELLITES HEAD FOR SPACE RENDEZVOUS -------------------------------------------------------- A tiny British-built spacecraft is achieving a variety of firsts in the nanosatellite technology field. SNAP-1 will finish off this series of ground-breaking accomplishments in the next few months as it approaches a rendezvous with another satellite. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/15snap1/ ATLANTIS ASTRONAUTS BOUND FOR CAPE ---------------------------------- The five astronauts that will ride space shuttle Atlantis into orbit later this week to attach the U.S. Destiny laboratory to the international space station are scheduled for arrival at Kennedy Space Center on Monday evening. Launch is scheduled for early Friday morning from Florida. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/status.html"}, {"response": 292, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jan 16, 2001 (00:02)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Tuesday, January 16, 2001 @ 0500 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now WIRING CHECKS DELAY SHUTTLE ATLANTIS LAUNCH TO FEBRUARY ------------------------------------------------------- On the eve of shuttle Atlantis' countdown to launch Friday, NASA managers on Monday instead ordered engineers to haul the spacecraft back to the Vehicle Assembly Building for work to test suspect wiring in the ship's booster separation system. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a/010115srb/ MOST DETAILED VIEW INTO DARK CLOUD UNVEILED ------------------------------------------- Astronomers have just taken an important step towards answering the fundamental question of which processes are responsible for transforming a dark and diffuse interstellar cloud of gas and dust into a much denser, shining object. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/16eso/ STARDUST SLING-SHOTS PAST EARTH ON COURSE TO COMET -------------------------------------------------- Officials at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California say that Stardust is now on course to Comet Wild 2, where it will collect dust samples for return to Earth. That word comes after a close encounter with Earth early Monday, marking the completion of the craft's first solar orbit since its launch in 1999. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/16stardust/ A SHOCKING TIME FOR CLUSTER 2 ----------------------------- Studies of near-Earth space will never be the same again. For the first time in the history of space exploration, identical instruments on four spacecraft have begun to return simultaneous measurements of a region of space known as the bow shock. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/16cluster/ GALILEO KEEPS PROBING JOVIAN MAGNETOSPHERE ------------------------------------------ This week finds Galileo completing week 12 of a 14-week-long survey of the Jovian magnetosphere. Playback of data stored during the spacecraft's December 2000 passage through the Jupiter system is not scheduled to start until early next month. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/16galileothisweek/"}, {"response": 293, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jan 16, 2001 (23:18)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Wednesday, January 17, 2001 @ 0426 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now NASA'S SHUTTLE CHIEF DEFENDS ROLLBACK DECISION ---------------------------------------------- Launch of the next space shuttle mission has been delayed from Friday to no earlier than Feb. 6. NASA's shuttle program manager said in the end, the launch team had little choice after problems surfaced with wiring. \"I guard against the phenomena of 'go fever' like it was the plague. And you have to be very sensitive as you get closer to launch.\" http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a/010116dittemore/ Station 'Alpha' reacts to shuttle delay: http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a/video/010116shepreax_qt.html CHINA'S SHENZHOU 2 CAPSULE RETURNS TO EARTH SAFELY -------------------------------------------------- The Shenzhou 2 spacecraft returned safely to Earth Tuesday, touching down in China's inner Mongolian region at 1122 GMT after making 108 orbits. The mission paves the way for a future manned mission by the Chinese. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/16china/ INDIVIDUAL STARS SPOTTED IN ANDROMEDA'S BULGE --------------------------------------------- An individual team, including an astronomer of Observatoire de Paris, has recently observed for the first time individual stars in a very dense -- but very interesting -- zone of an external galaxy, enabling for the first time an eagerly awaited comparison with the corresponding zone (bulge) of our Milky Way galaxy. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/17andromeda/ SPACE TUG POISED FOR LAUNCH TO RUSSIA'S MIR STATION --------------------------------------------------- The Progress M1-5 cargo ship, the last spacecraft to visit Russian Mir space station, rolled out to the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome on Tuesday. Blastoff is scheduled for early Thursday. http://spaceflightnow.com/mir/010116progroll/ NASA OPENS 2ND GENERATION REUSABLE ROCKET PROGRAM ------------------------------------------------- NASA has created a new program office to lead its effort to enable development of a new reusable launch vehicle for flight in 2010 that will be dramatically safer and less expensive than today's rockets. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/17rlv2/ THE EASTERN U.S. KEEPS ITS COOL WHILE THE WORLD WARMS ----------------------------------------------------- Much of the Earth has warmed over the last half-century, but the eastern half of the United States has shown a cooling trend. NASA-funded research indicates cooler temperatures in the eastern U.S. are caused by an increase in sun-shielding clouds produced by warmer ocean temperatures in the Pacific. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/17easttemp/"}, {"response": 294, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jan 17, 2001 (17:26)", "body": "Russia to Lauch Mir Space Station's Nemesis BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan (Reuters) - Russia launches a cargo rocket on Thursday to help it bury the last vestige of the Soviet Union's ambitious space exploration program -- the record-breaking Mir space station. The unmanned Progress M1-5 vessel, one of the craft that were used to ferry food and water to Mir, will this time only carry enough fuel for its own engines to guide Mir out of orbit and into the Pacific Ocean. The rocket is due to blast off from Kazakhstan's windswept Baikonur cosmodrome at 0656 GMT. It is scheduled to dock four days later with the 130-tonunmanned space station. In early March, both will crash into the ocean. Space officials have said up to 40 tonnes of debris will reach the earth's surface at a speed high enough to smash through two meters (6.5 feet) of reinforced concrete. Russia has said it expects Mir to hit earth on March 5-6 but the precise date and time will depend on solar activity and the success of the Progress mission. If the automatic docking controlled from the earth fails, a Russian crew of Gennady Padalka and Nikolai Budarin is ready to take off in 12 days to guide the station out of orbit manually. This would end the 15-year history of Mir, whose first part was launched into orbit on February 20, 1986, with an originally designed life-span of just three years. Russia, struggling to overcome an economic crisis after almost a decade of steep recession, could not find $200 million needed to maintain the station. It decided in November to dump Mir into the ocean on its 15th birthday. Yuri Koptev, head of Russia's space and aviation agency, said last month there was little point in maintaining a station where cosmonauts spent 80 percent of their time on repairs. Cash-strapped Russia, where power cuts regularly plunge whole regions into darkness and many people use kerosene lamps and home-made stoves to survive the winter, has long regarded the station as an example of its technological genius. MANY RECORDS SET The station, visited by 28 long-term expeditions with a total of 106 cosmonauts, has set many records. Kazakh cosmonaut Talbat Musabayev spent more than 30 hours in one month working outside the station to secure his place in the Guinness Book of Records. Russian Sergei Avdeyev, who spent 747 days in space, remains the only cosmonaut in the world to have toasted the New Year three times in orbit. But Mir has also seen a number of frustrating glitches. In February 1997, fire broke out when cosmonauts tried to change an air filter. A few months later, Mir's energy supply fell dramatically after a Progress cargo craft hit it during docking and damaged its solar batteries. In September 1997, a computer failed, leaving Mir spinning aimlessly. Two years later, the station went into hibernation after Mission Control shut down its main computer by accident. After the dumping of Mir, Russia will focus on the ambitious $60 billion, 16-nation venture to build the International Space Station (ISS). But for many who remember the heyday of the Soviet space industry, when state funds were spent generously on the sector to dazzle the West with its achievements, the dumping of Mir will mean the end of an epoch. \"Thursday's launch would have been nothing out of the ordinary if it wasn't aimed at guiding Mir out of its orbit,\" Nikolai Zelenshchikov, first deputy head of the Energiya corporation that runs Mir, told Reuters. \"This is sad, but we understand that Mir's work must come to an end and we should then switch over to building the ISS.\""}, {"response": 295, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jan 17, 2001 (18:02)", "body": "Precocious Earth NASA Science News for January 17, 2001 Tiny zircon crystals found in ancient stream deposits suggest that Earth harbored continents and liquid water remarkably soon after our planet formed. Life could have established a foothold on Earth 400 million years earlier than expected. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast17jan_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 296, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jan 18, 2001 (20:46)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Thursday, January 18, 2001 @ 0220 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now ICE MAY HAVE FORMED MARTIAN CHANNELS ------------------------------------ Some channels on the surface of Mars believed to have been formed by running water may have instead been carved by streams of ice. Channels in one region of Mars share a number of key characteristics with those created by ice streams that flow beneath Antarctica's surface and empty into the surrounding oceans. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/18marsice/ U.S. WEATHER SATELLITE LAUNCH BUMPED TO SATURDAY ------------------------------------------------ A vintage Titan 2 rocket built in the 1960s is poised for a $430 million launch before sunrise Saturday from Central California carrying a crucial replacement global weather satellite for the U.S. military. The liftoff was delayed 24 hours so workers could replace a faulty cabling used in pre-flight rocket testing. http://spaceflightnow.com/titan/g9/preview.html CASSINI PROBE FAILS TO FIND LIGHTNING ON VENUS ---------------------------------------------- Space physicist Donald Gurnett says that a search for lightning on Venus in 1998 and 1999 using the Cassini spacecraft failed to detect high-frequency radio waves commonly associated with lightning. The possible existence of lightning at Venus has long been controversial. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/18cassvenus/ GLOBALSTAR ACTS TO ASSURE FUNDS FOR FURTHER OPERATIONS ------------------------------------------------------ Globalstar has announced that, in order to have sufficient funds available for the continued progress of its marketing and service activities, it has suspended indefinitely principal and interest payments on all of its funded debt and dividend payments on its preferred stock. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/18globalstar/ EXPERIMENTAL EUROPEAN SATELLITE SWITCHES ROCKETS ------------------------------------------------ Europe has officially dropped a previous agreement with Japan to launch the Artemis experimental communications satellite aboard the unproven H-2A rocket in favor of using an Ariane 5 booster. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/18artemis/"}, {"response": 297, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jan 18, 2001 (20:52)", "body": "The Eastern U.S. Keeps Its Cool NASA Science News for January 18, 2001 While surface temperatures across most of the globe are on the rise, the eastern U.S. appears to be slowly cooling. Scientists say the trend could be a result of increasing cloud cover triggered by warming Pacific waters. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast18jan_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 298, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jan 19, 2001 (15:13)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Friday, January 19, 2001 @ 0606 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now REMARKABLE NEW VIEWS CAPTURES OF ORION NEBULA --------------------------------------------- Orion the Hunter is perhaps the best known constellation in the sky, well placed in the evening at this time of the year for observers in both the northern and southern hemispheres, and instantly recognizable. The new pictures captured by astronomers are a must see! http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/19orion/ NUCLEAR ENGINE PROMISES TO SLASH TRAVEL TIMES TO MARS ----------------------------------------------------- A novel type of nuclear reactor could cut make it possible for spacecraft to travel from the Earth to Mars in as little as two weeks, one Israeli researcher has found. A little-known isotope of an artificially produced element could power future robotic or human spacecraft far more efficiently than chemical or other nuclear propulsion sources. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/19marsnuclear/ SPACE STATION CREW FACES TOUGH SCHEDULE --------------------------------------- An 18-day delay for the next space station assembly mission has thrown a wrench into the on-board crew's timeline, compressing an already busy schedule of work that must be completed before arrival of their replacements in early March, officials said Thursday. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a/010118issupdate/ LAUNCH OF PROGRESS FREIGHTER TO MIR SCRUBBED -------------------------------------------- Orientation troubles aboard the abandoned Russian space station Mir forced officials to scrub Thursday's planned launch of an unmanned freighter that will ultimately deorbit the outpost in March. http://spaceflightnow.com/mir/010118scrub/ TITAN ROCKET TO LAUNCH WEATHER SATELLITE SATURDAY ------------------------------------------------- The 26-hour countdown is scheduled to begin this morning at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California leading to Saturday's launch of a U.S. military weather satellite aboard a refurbished Titan 2 rocket booster. We will have live coverage launch! http://spaceflightnow.com/titan/g9/status.html STARDUST LOOKS DOWN ON MOON'S NORTH POLE ---------------------------------------------- Just after NASA's Stardust spacecraft successfully flew by the Earth on Monday to use the planet's gravity to change its orbit, the comet-bound probe took a series of images of the Moon to calibrate its onboard camera. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/19stardustlunar/ LEONIDS ROSE TO OCCASION, DESPITE BAD WEATHER --------------------------------------------- Read about the adventures and results of European astronomers as they attempted to image the Leonids meteors by splitting up into teams and working from different locations to create stereo observations. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/19leonids/ CASSINI SPACE PROBE JOURNEYS INTO JUPITER'S MAGNETOSPHERE --------------------------------------------------------- NASA's Cassini spacecraft shows that the craft recent was inside Jupiter's magnetosphere at the same time the Galileo probe flew within the vast surrounding environment of charged particles moving under the influence of the planet's magnetic field. This marks the first time humankind has placed two spacecraft within the magnetosphere of an outer planet at the same time. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/19jupmagnet/"}, {"response": 299, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Sat, Jan 20, 2001 (11:31)", "body": "Wow, Mirs finally coming down in March."}, {"response": 300, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jan 25, 2001 (15:40)", "body": "Yup - hope their aim is good!!! Layers of Mars Last year NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft spotted mysterious layered regions on Mars. If the layers are sedimentary deposits that formed underwater, as some scientists suspect, they could be the best places to hunt for elusive Martian fossils. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast23jan_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 301, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jan 25, 2001 (21:55)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Friday, January 26, 2001 @ 0257 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now Sponsored by European AstroFest 2001 http://www.astronomynow.com/astrofest WORLD'S LARGEST HUMAN GATHERING SEEN FROM SPACE ----------------------------------------------- Space Imaging's Ikonos satellite has taken a detailed color photograph of the largest human gathering in the history of the world, the Maha Kumbh Mela, a spiritual event held every 144 years in Northern India. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/26ikonos/ NASA SETTLES ON NEW SPACE SHUTTLE LAUNCH SCHEDULE ------------------------------------------------- As expected, NASA managers Thursday agreed on a revised near-term shuttle launch schedule, delaying the next flight one day to February 7 and the flight after that from March 1 to March 8. Other downstream flights face delays of several weeks and two space station crew rotation missions are under review. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a/010125sked/ See our updated master timeline of Atlantis' flight: http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a/fdf/98plan.html OLD CARGO SHIP LEAVES MIR TO MAKE WAY FOR NEW ONE ------------------------------------------------- The Progress M43 cargo ship departed the Mir space station Thursday. The craft, which joined Mir last October, left from the Kvant-1 module to free up the docking port for arrival of Mir's deorbiting tug launched Wednesday. http://spaceflightnow.com/mir/010125progm43/ NASA CRAFT REVEALS EARTH'S INVISIBLE MAGNETIC TAIL -------------------------------------------------- The first large-scale pictures of the hidden machinations of the Earth's magnetic force-field are now available, including confirmation of a suspected but previously invisible \"tail\" of electrified gas. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/26image/ EUROPE'S SATELLITES TRACK CLIMATE CHANGES ----------------------------------------- In July an Ariane 5 launcher will send into orbit Europe's big new environmental satellite, Envisat. Scientists will expect fresh insights into how the world is changing from the 8-tonne spacecraft. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/26esaearth/ SCIENTISTS RUSH TO PROPOSE PLUTO MISSION ---------------------------------------- On December 20, NASA announced that it would be soliciting proposals for a mission to the Pluto-Charon system and the Kuiper Belt beyond to arrive at Pluto by 2015. The formal announcement of opportunity was released January 19. Proposals are due on March 21. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/26plutorush/"}, {"response": 302, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jan 25, 2001 (23:14)", "body": "Earth's Invisible Magnetic Tail NASA Science News for January 25, 2001 The first global views of our planet's magnetosphere, captured by NASA's IMAGE spacecraft, reveal a curious plasma tail that stretches toward the Sun. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast25jan_1.htm?list89800 news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 37, "subject": "News That Doesn't Fit", "response_count": 177, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Mar 31, 2000 (20:57)", "body": "Laser stands for light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation. Brandy is from the Dutch brandewijn, meaning burnt or distilled wine. The most abundant metal in the Earth's crust is aluminium. The largest wave ever recorded was near the Japanese Island of Ishigaki in 1971 at 85 meters high. Fulgurite is formed when lightning strikes sand. At the nearest point, Russia and America are less than 4 km apart. The Channel between England and France grows about 300 millimeters each year. Mars has a volcano, Olympus Mons, which is 310-370 miles in diameter and 16 miles high. The statue \"The Thinker\" by Rodin is actually a portrait of the Italian poet Dante. X-ray technology has shown that there are 3 different versions of the \"Mona Lisa\" under the visible one."}, {"response": 2, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Mar 31, 2000 (20:59)", "body": "WHAT IS THE HIGHEST-SCORING PRO BASKETBALL GAME TO DATE? A 1983 game in which the Detroit Pistons beat the Denver Nuggets, 186-183. WHAT IS CHARLIE BROWN'S FATHER'S PROFESSION? Barber. WHAT ARE SUPERMAN'S SUPER POWERS? He is virtually invulnerable (with Kryptonite being his major weakness; its rays are fatal to him); he is super-strong, super-fast, and supersmart; he can fly; he has heat vision, X-ray vision, telescopic vision, and microscopic vision; he has quick-freezing, gale-force breath; he has supersensitive hearing; and he can hold his breath for long periods. HOW MANY MINKS DOES IT TAKE TO PRODUCE THE AVERAGE MINK COAT? It takes 35 to 65. The numbers for other types of fur coats are: Beaver - 15 Fox - 15 to 25 Ermine - 150 Chinchilla - 60 to 100"}, {"response": 3, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Mar 31, 2000 (21:06)", "body": "YEARLY INTERNET MAINTENANCE ANNOUNCEMENT IT IS URGENT THAT YOU DO NOT CONNECT TO THE INTERNET FROM MARCH 31st 23:59 GMT (11:59 PM) UNTIL 00:01 GMT (12:01 AM) APRIL 2nd. It's that time again. As many of you know, each year the Internet must be closed down for a 24 hour period of time in order to receive maintenance, or a \"Tune Up\" if you will. Many dead links on the World Wide Web will be removed, as well as ftp links that are no longer used. Lost e-mail will also be removed from the system at this time. The White House is very interested in this part of the project. In addition to the normal maintenance to be completed this year, we will also be using new high pressure information jets to clear out the bottlenecks that have plagued the internet so greatly this past year. Although the down time for maintenance will be an inconvenience for many people, you will find this will allow for a much more efficient and faster responding internet. This year, the \"Tune Up\" will occur from 23:59 GMT (11:59 PM) on March 31st until 00:01 GMT (12:01 AM) on April 2nd. During that 24 hour period, dozens of powerful Internet bots at key locations around the globe will simultaneously scan the Internet and complete the desired maintenance jobs wherever they may be required. To help protect any valuable data you may have on the Internet from possible corruption, we highly recommend you take the following steps before this 24 hour maintenance period begins: 1. Disconnect all terminals and LANs from the Internet. 2. Disconnect all Internet servers from the Internet. 3. Refrain from connecting any computer, or any other Internet connection device, to the Internet in any way. Note: The term \"other Internet connection device\" includes such devices as WebTV. Again, we understand the inconvenience this will cause many people. And for that, we apologize. However, the great increase in Internet performance you will experience after this short period of maintenance, will far outweigh any problems it will cause. This message comes to you from the Internet via an Internet Service Provider. April 1, 2000"}, {"response": 4, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Apr  1, 2000 (20:27)", "body": "APRIL IS... April is . . . . National Anxiety Month April is . . . . National Humor Month April is . . . . National Welding Month April 1 is . . . One Cent Day April 2 is . . . National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day April 3 is . . . Don't Go To Work Unless It's Fun Day April 4 is . . . Tell-A-Lie Day April 7 is . . . No Housework Day April 9 is . . . Winston Churchill Day and Name Yourself Day April 11 is . . . Eight-Track Tape Day April 12 is . . . Look Up At The Sky Day April 13 is . . . Blame Somebody Else Day April 16 is . . . National Stress Awareness Day April 17 is . . . National Cheeseball Day April 19 is . . . Garlic Day April 22 is . . . National Jelly Bean Day April 23 is . . . Read Me Day and World Laboratory Animal Day April 24 is . . . National Pigs In A Blanket Day April 28 is . . . Great Poetry Reading and Kiss-Your-Mate Day April 30 is . . . National Honesty Day *** ----------- Love Lost Over Daylight-Savings Time ----------- MEXICO CITY - Debate flares over the adoption of daylight- savings time in Mexico. Among the evils of daylight-savings enumerated by Mexican Senator Felix Salgado is the strain it puts on good marital relations. Ever since it was introduced, six years ago, setting the clock back has caused distress among Latin lovers who are unable to engage in their 'mananero' (Spanish for morning quickie - really!) because wives have to take their children to school an hour earlier. In Salgado's defense, he also mentions the risk that school- children face, venturing out on crime-ridden streets in the dark, but with elections just months away he's focusing on the issues that really hit home. ----------------- \"Rail Rage\" Grips Brazil ----------------- SAO PAULO - This story is dedicated to the disenfranchised huddled masses, urban weary, and loose canons of the rush hour world. Enraged commuters from Sao Paulo waited hours before boarding a suburban train where they were crammed in, and forced so sit motionless for hours. When all patience was finally exhausted, the passengers abandoned the train and promptly set it on fire. A local news helicopter recorded a view showing the chain of smoking cars; some already in ashes. [The unruly mob is available for hire and offer group discounts]. ---------------------- Feng \"SCHWING\" ---------------------- LONDON - Move over Viagra, we've found the newest trend for putting the tiger back in your tank; Feng Shui! According to 32-year-old Karen May who wrote The London Mirror, redecorating and furniture placement changed her austere celibate lifestyle into a searing pit of sexual satisfaction. Simple changes like moving the bed so the headboard faces Southwest, and painting the bedroom walls red with flaming orange hues eliminated the \"dead energy\" that plagued her apartment. She finished off the room with a sprinkling of magic gems, and before she knew it; she met the man of her dreams. [Actually, this isn't so far fetched. My wife fell for my magic gems.] --------------- Things Go Better With...Sake --------------- SAPPORO, Japan - A children's baseball manager has finally been sent to jail after a lengthy appeal process. Manager Motoi Tanaka has been convicted of contributing to the delinquency of seven minors after getting them drunk on the Japanese rice wine called sake. After his team won a local championship he celebrated by giving them the sake. All of the ball players were eleven and twelve-year-olds. ---------------- Pervert Teachers In Japan ----------------- TOKYO, Japan - A shocking new study has revealed that one out of seven school girls in the seventh and eighth grades have been sexually harassed by male teachers. The study, conducted by the Teachers Union, has created an uproar after the revelations that teachers have been hitting on these young girls by offering them \"geisha-like massages\", asking them out on dates, and making the girls bend down to pick up pencils conveniently dropped on the ground. ---------------- Mowing Under The Influence ---------------- BEMENT, IL - The ever vigilant eyes of the law found the next big threat to democracy; the John Deere riding mower. Joe Durban, town lawnmower, was pulled off of his bright yellow seat as he cruised down Bowyer Street for driving a vehicle on a revoked license. For seventeen years nobody knew that the state had revoked Joe's license for drunk driving, so he worked around this snag by cutting grass for a living, and riding his mower between houses. Officer Steven Bien was quick to end his crime spree by issuing a ticket and reminding him that it is illegal for him to operate even a scooter on a city thoroughfare. The town is now in an official uproar, but can do little about it as Bien is the town's only full-time police officer. [What next? Impounding his weed-wacker?] Classic Bizarre Moments from the Archives *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* BRISBANE, Australia - 24 year old bachelor Stan Melson called police to his bedroom after a sexy, but inebriated lady sauntered into his "}, {"response": 5, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Apr  3, 2000 (18:48)", "body": "Response 15 of 15: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Apr 3, 2000 (13:46) * 45 lines HOW SLOW IS A CRAB? A crab of the species Neptunus pelagines took 29 years to walk 101.5 miles underwater from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean - an average speed of 3.5 miles per year. WHAT DOES THE WORD MAFIA MEAN? WHAT DOES THE WORD COSA NOSTRA MEAN? In Italian, Mafia means \"beauty, excellence, bravery\"; Cosa Nostra means \"our thing.\" WHEN WAS THE FIRST DEPARTMENT STORE BUILT? In 1848, the Marble Dry Goods Palace opened on Broadway in New York City. Its proprietor and developer was Alexander Turney Stewart, formerly a schoolmaster in Ireland. By the time of his death in 1876, the blocklong store yielded annual earnings of $70 million. WHAT IS THE SHORTEST KNOWN GESTATION PERIOD OF ANY MAMMAL? WHAT IS THE LONGEST? The American opossum, a marsupial, bears its young 12 to 13 days after conception. The Asiatic elephant takes 608 days, or just over 20 months. A pigs snout is called a gruntle. The chemical pectin, found in ripe fruit, causes jam to set when cooling. Mexican jumping beans jump because of a moth larva inside the bean. An electric eel produces an average of 400 volts. A myrmecologist studies ants. To crack a whip, the tip must be travelling faster than the speed of sound. Sugar was first added to chewing gum in 1869 by a dentist named William Semple. According to an old English system of time units, a moment is one and a half minutes. In 1855, dentist Robert Arthur was the first to use gold to fill cavities. The smallest bone in the body is the stirrup."}, {"response": 6, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Apr  3, 2000 (22:13)", "body": "Because everything you read on the internet is true . . . I was on my way to the post office to pick up my case of free M&M's, (sent to me because I forwarded their e-mail to five other people, celebrating the fact that the year 2000 is \"MM\" in Roman numerals), when I ran into a friend whose neighbor, a young man, was home recovering from having been served a rat in his bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken - which is predictable, since as everyone knows, there's no actual chicken in Kentucky Fried Chicken, which is why the government made them change their name to KFC. Anyway, one day this guy went to sleep and when he awoke he was in his bathtub and it was full of ice and he was sore all over and when he got out of the tub he realized that HIS KIDNEYS HAD BEEN STOLEN. He saw a note on his mirror that said \"Call 911!\" but he was afraid to use his phone because it was connected to his computer, and there was a virus on his computer that would destroy his hard drive if he opened e-mail entitled \"Join the crew!\" He knew it wasn't a hoax because he himself was a computer programmer who was working on software to prevent a global disaster in which all the computers get together and distribute the $250.00 Neiman-Marcus cookie recipe under the leadership of Bill Gates. (It's true - I read it all last week in a mass e-mail from BILL GATES HIMSELF, who was also promising me a free Disney World vacation and $5,000 if I would forward the e-mail to everyone I know.) The poor man then tried to call 911 from a pay phone to report his missing kidneys, but a voice on the line first asked him to press #90, which unwittingly gave the bandit full access to the phone line at the guy's expense. Then reaching into the coin-return slot he got jabbed with an HIV-infected needle around which was wrapped around a note that said, \"Welcome to the world of AIDS.\" Luckily he was only a few blocks from the hospital - the one where that little boy who is dying of cancer is, the one whose last wish is for everyone in the world to send him an e-mail and the American Cancer Society has agreed to pay him a nickel for every e-mail he receives. I sent him two e-mails and one of them was a bunch of X's and O's in the shape of an angel (if you get it and forward it to more than 10 people, you will have good luck but for 10 people you will only have OK luck and if you send it to fewer than 10 people you will have BAD LUCK FOR SEVEN YEARS). So anyway, the poor guy tried to drive himself to the hospital, but on the way he noticed another car driving without its lights on. To be helpful, he flashed his lights at him and was promptly shot as part of a gang initiation. Send THIS to all the friends who send you their junk mail and you will receive 4 green M&Ms, but if you don't, the owner of Proctor and Gamble will report you to his Satanist friends and you will have more bad luck: you will get cancer from the Sodium Laureth Sulfate in your shampoo, your wife will develop breast cancer from using the anti-perspirant which clogs the pores under your arms, and the government will put a tax on your e-mails forever. I know this is all true 'cause I read it on the Internet."}, {"response": 7, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Apr  4, 2000 (06:44)", "body": "The average mattress contains 2 million house dust mites. No other animal gives us more by-products than the pig. The Australian Emu holds the land speed record for birds at 31 mph. The average talker sprays about 300 microscopic saliva droplets per minute, about 2.5 droplets per word. The Earth experiences about 50,000 earthquakes each year. The lowest temperature ever recorded was 129 degrees below 0 at Vostok, Antarctica, on July 21, 1983. The largest known kidney stone weighed 2.9 pounds (1.36kg). The average human produces 25,000 quarts of spit in a lifetime, enough to fill two swimming pools. It has been calculated that in the last 3,500 years, there has only been 230 years of total peace throughout the civilized world. Bamboo, which is the tallest grass in the world, can grow up to 90cm in a day."}, {"response": 8, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Apr  4, 2000 (18:57)", "body": "TRIVIA TIME - Tuesday, April 4, 2000 \"Items Of Enduring Insignificance\" HOW DO ARCHER FISH \"SHOOT\" THEIR VICTIMS? Archer fish, members of the five species of the family Toxotidae, shoot arcs of water droplets at insects sitting on vegetation near lakes and streams, thereby, knocking them into the water where they become easy prey. HOW LONG DID THE SAINT VALENTINE'S DAY MASSACRE LAST? Eight minutes. Several members of the George (\"Bugs\") Moran gang were killed that day, February 14, 1929, along with a man in the garage who looked like Moran. Moran himself escaped the massacre to die a natural death of lung cancer on February 25, 1957. WHERE WAS THE FIRST HOUSE OF PROSTITUTION? The first such house on record may have been Ka-Kum, located in the city of Erech (or Uruk) in Sumer and dating back to about 300 B.C. The first brothels in Europe were located in Athens about 600 B.C. These nonprofit operations sanctioned by the leader Solon charged men 1 cent per visit. WHAT WAS THE FIRST MONOPOLY IN THE UNITED STATES? It is considered to have been John Jacob Astor's American Fur Company, which made him the wealthiest person in the United States and allowed him to found the Astor Library, one of the cornerstones of the New York Public Library."}, {"response": 9, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Apr  4, 2000 (18:59)", "body": "Should not that Sumer house of ill-repute have been dated at 3000BC ?!"}, {"response": 10, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Apr  4, 2000 (19:21)", "body": ""}, {"response": 11, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Apr  5, 2000 (18:22)", "body": "HOW MANY WINDOWS ARE THERE ON THE 102-STORY EMPIRE STATE BUILDING? There are 6,000 windows. WHAT EMPLOYEE-GROOMING REGULATION AT DISNEY WORLD WOULD PREVENT THE HIRING OF WALT DISNEY - IF HE WERE ALIVE AND JOB HUNTING TODAY? The ban of facial hair. Disney had a mustache. THE NAMES OF 48 STATES ARE ENGRAVED ON THE FRIEZE OF THE LINCOLN MEMORIAL, WHICH WAS COMPLETED IN 1922. HOW MANY ARE IN THE ETCHING OF THE MEMORIAL ON THE BACK OF THE $5 BILL? Twenty-six. Use a magnifying glass to check - they're in two rows on the frieze above the colonnade. WHERE IS THE LONGEST STREET IN THE U.S.? Los Angeles, where Figueroa Street runs for thirty miles."}, {"response": 12, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Apr  5, 2000 (21:14)", "body": "Bizarre News +-------------------- Bizarre Phobias ---------------------+ Aeronaunasiphobia - fear of vomiting. Albuminurophobia - fear if kidney disease. Anglophobia - fear of England, or English culture. Anuptaphobia - fear of staying single. Arachibutyrophobia - fear of peanut-butter sticking to the roof of your mouth. Automatonophobia - fear of ventriloquist's dummies. *** ------------------- Elvis Runs For Mayor ------------------- PHILLIPS, WI - For once it's not just a sighting story. A man from Price County, WI, has legally changed his name to Elvis Aaron Presley, and is now running for mayor. This proprietor of a local bar (yes, bar), and former Elvis impersonator has decided to try his hand at politics. Inspired by Gov. Jesse Ventura, Presley said, \"If the people of that state can put a wrestler in office, I don't see what's wrong with the people of Wisconsin electing an Elvis impersonator.\" The small town of 1,600 will choose between Presley and Keith Corcilius on April 4. [Mayor Presley's biggest hits include: You Ain't Nothin' But a Cheesehead, I'll Have a Blue Election Without You, Hunk 'o Burning Votes and, of course, Viva Wisconsin!] ----------- The Ups And Downs Of Being A Janitor ----------- BRISTOL, England - This little gem was in a local Chicago newspaper. It is not so newsworthy as it reveals a certain quirk unique to fellow English speakers across the pond. A janitor at a Marriott Hotel was fired for taking four days to clean an elevator. When asked why it took so long, before his dismissal he said, \"There are twelve of them, one on each floor, and sometimes some of them are not there.\" He apparently thought that each floor had a different elevator and cleaned the same elevator 12 times. ---------- The Ups And Downs Of Philippino Pests ----------- MANILA, Philippines - Recently an embarrassed police chief had to explain how 1000 pounds of a combined stash of marijuana, cocaine and amphetamines could disappear from the evidence room. This enterprising chief, when confronted with the missing booty told investigators, \"Rats and cockroaches got in through gaps in the locker doors and ate it all, every last scrap.\" [These were the same critters that ate my homework when I was a kid.] ------------ Country Music Punishes The Wicked ------------- ALEXANDRIA, LA - Violating Rapides Parish's \"loud and offensive noise\" ordinance is no idle threat. Henry Nelson, age 20, and Jon Driggers, age 26, pleaded guilty when they were charged with playing loud music in their cars. They were both fined, given a suspended jail sentence with probation, and ordered to endure a three-hour \"music appreciation\" lesson. Judge Tom Yeager said, \"I thought if they had to listen to stuff they hate, it would teach them to respect other people's rights.\" The selected tool of torment? Country music. ------------- If You Sprinkle When You Tinkle -------------- BERLIN - The wall came down, but East Germany is haunted by the ghost of oppression past. Tenants from an eastern apartment block have been banned from urinating while in a standing position. Landlords complained that misdirected urine is causing their radiators to rust, but the men of Radenburg are not sitting for this. Cemetery worker Juergen Galler responded, \"I'm not going to let anybody tell me how I take care of business. I'm going to keep on standing.\" Techniques for enforcing the ban might be tricky, but according to the daily Bild the landlords are quite serious. [I didn't know my wife owned property in Germany.] ----------- Errant Cop Gets Lost On Way to Station --------- PHILADELPHIA - Officer Margo Grady was on her way to deliver a rape victim from a downtown hospital to a police station a few miles away when her car disappeared into the Philadelphia night. After a couple hours city police began a search for the missing officer, even enlisting the help of a police helicopter, but to no avail. It wasn't until seventy miles later that Officer Grady flagged down a trooper in New Jersey to ask for directions. Classic Bizarre Moments from the Archives *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* Six people near Norias, Texas were hit by a freight train last week. Authorities said the victims were sleeping on the tracks and failed to wake up in time. A Union Pacific spokesman explained that the six were probably sleeping on the train tracks because they believe it would protect them from snakes... and it did."}, {"response": 13, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Apr  5, 2000 (21:50)", "body": "Most of the vitamin C in fruits is in the skin. The human heart creates enough pressure to squirt blood up to 30 feet. The strongest muscle in the body is the tongue ~ relative to its size. The \"You are here\" arrow on a map is called the IDEO locator. The fist product to have a bar code was Wrigleys gum. Venus is the only planet that rotates clockwise. The highest temperature ever recorded was 136.4 degrees Fahrenheit at El Azizia, Lybia, on September 13, 1922. The world's smallest mammal is the bumblebee bat of Thailand, weighing less than a penny. Humans and Dolphins are the only species that have sex for pleasure. The ant can lift 50 times its own weight."}, {"response": 14, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Thu, Apr  6, 2000 (11:35)", "body": "Wow, if I was an ant I could lift 10,000 pounds. Wonder what IDEO stands for?"}, {"response": 15, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Apr  6, 2000 (16:56)", "body": "I wondered about that, as well. I'll check it out and let you know if I find anything. Nothing I can think of has initials anything even close to IDEO..."}, {"response": 16, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Apr  6, 2000 (19:20)", "body": "ON WHAT ISLAND ARE ONE-THIRD OF THE WORLD'S LANGUAGES SPOKEN? On New Guinea, where more than 700 distinct native languages can be heard. HOW DID THE WORLD'S HIGHEST WATERFALL - THE ANGEL FALLS IN VENEZUELA - GET ITS NAME? From American bush pilot Jimmy Angel, who crash-landed nearby in 1937. HOW TALL IS A NEWBORN GIRAFFE? Five and a half feet, head to hoof. HOW MANY TEETH DOES A TURTLE HAVE? None - turtles are toothless, although some have sharp, jagged edges on their horny jaws that function as teeth. publication http://www.shagmail.com Copyright 2000 by Pulse Direct, Inc. All rights reserved. Copyright 2000 by United Press International"}, {"response": 17, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Apr  6, 2000 (20:30)", "body": "A bowling pin needs to tilt only 7.5 degrees to fall. 1 in every 4 Americans has appeared on TV at some point in their lives. The study of word origins is called etymology. The shortest war in history was between Zanzibar and England in 1896. Zanzibar surrendered after 38 minutes. The cells that make up the antlers of a moose are the fastest growing animal cells in nature. Gatorade was named for the University of Florida Gators where it was first developed. The oldest exposed surface on earth is New Zealand's south island. There are 1,792 steps to the top of the Eiffel Tower. If Texas were a country, it's GNP would be the fifth largest of any country on earth. At 4,145 miles, the Nile River is the longest in the world."}, {"response": 18, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Apr  7, 2000 (01:32)", "body": "apes have sex for pleasure as well.... i'd like to know what ideo stands for as well... who knows, it may end up on who wants to be a millionaire!"}, {"response": 19, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Apr  7, 2000 (02:15)", "body": "David worked on it on and off all day and came up empty so he is emailing others in the field. I'll let you know as soon as I know."}, {"response": 20, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Apr  7, 2000 (02:17)", "body": "...actually, have not had sex with an ape for ages. I forgot...*smirk*"}, {"response": 21, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Apr  7, 2000 (02:22)", "body": "*lol* i'm gonna try and figure it out too."}, {"response": 22, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Apr  7, 2000 (17:50)", "body": "HOW LONG DID THE LONGEST WRESTLING MATCH IN OLYMPIC HISTORY LAST? 11 hours and 40 minutes. The match, a Greco-Roman middleweight bout at the 1912 Olympics, was between Estonian Martin Klein and Finn Alfred Asikainen. Klein won, but was too exhausted to compete in the final. He ended up with the silver medal; Asikainen with the bronze. WHO WAS THE FIRST MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL PLAYER TO WIN A BATTING TITLE IN THREE DIFFERENT DECADES? George Brett, of the Kansas City Royals. Third baseman Brett won the title with a .333 average in 1976, a .390 average in 1980 and a .329 average in 1990. WHAT IMMODEST TWO-WORD STATEMENT IS ON BASKETBALL GREAT MICHAEL JORDAN'S ILLINOIS VANITY LICENSE PLATE? RARE AIR. WHOSE TENNIS SERVE WAS THE FASTEST EVER RECORDED? Bill Tilden's. It was measured at 163.6 miles per hour in 1931."}, {"response": 23, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Apr  9, 2000 (02:43)", "body": "Bizarre News ------------- Porn Queen Worked for Communists ------------- The dignity of Italy's government took a blow when Ilona Staller, a former Hungarian pornography star and current member of the Italian parliament, announced that she had been a communist spy in her youth. The star of numerous pornographic movies, Staller admitted in a television interview that she was recruited as a spy at age 19. Her job was to elicit information from guests staying at the hotel where she worked in Budapest. It is uncertain how this revelation will affect her political career. ------------------------ Hot Sex? -------------------------- Cancun, Mexico - Rita Garcia has fessed up after bragging to friends about how she got even with her ex. Garcia broke into her estranged husband's apartment and located unused condoms in a drawer. She carefully opened a condom and peppered chili powder in one, resealed it and waited for the results. After a moment of passion with his 19-year-old girlfriend Pedro was rushed to the hospital with his manhood on *fire*. Rita, upon her being charged with second degree assault said, \"He wanted hot sex with that 19-year- old and he's now had it.\" -------- Man Kills Villager In Fight, Then Eats Him -------- PORT MORESBY, New Guinea - A village dispute in Papua New Guinea ended with a man tearing out the eyes, testicles and heart of another and eating them, police said on Tuesday. Villagers watched in horror as Moropia Silkapi, 35, attacked the body of Yakamup Makatu, 55, police told Reuters on Tuesday. Police said an argument between Silkapi and Makatu earlier in the day left Makatu's house burnt to the ground. After a fight, \"Silkapi caught Makatu and smashed his head with a rock, killing him. He then ate him,\" Simanjon said. ---- Fake Plastic Surgeon Sought For Botched Operations ---- MIAMI BEACH, FL - Police are looking for a \"butcher\" with no medical training who, while posing as a plastic surgeon, mutilated at least three people, including a former male champion bodybuilder who received women's breasts instead of pectoral implants. The imposter, Reinaldo Silvestre, and two accomplices used an animal tranquilizer in botched operations including the one preformed on bodybuilder, Mr. Mexico of 1975. The case came to light last month when a videotape was brought to police showing the surgery on the bodybuilder. Miami Beach police Capt. Charles Press spoke about the videotape \"... it was obscene. I've been [a police officer] for almost 25 years, and I was repulsed. The guy kept waking up. They told him to lie down and not worry about it. He was in obvious pain.\" The videotape showed that Silvestre used an instrument that resembled a spatula during the surgery. ----------------- Don't Try This At Home! ------------------ LONDON - What has to be one of the MOST bizarre stories we have heard comes once again from those wacky Brits. Heather Perry, 29, says she has finally cured her chronic fatigue by resorting to do-it-yourself brain surgery and drilling a hole in her own head. It's an ancient technique called trepanning - cutting away a section of the scalp and drilling into the skull. Perry's bid to rid herself of the inflammation of her brain and spinal chord, by drilling a two-centimeter hole to allow blood to flow more easily around the brain, almost went wrong when she drilled too far and penetrated a membrane protecting her brain tissue. She performed the operation under local anesthetic in front of a mirror and a camera crew. ----------------- Y2K Panic Claims Victim ------------------ HICKORY HILLS, Illinois - A 34 year old Cincinnati man driving a rented ford Taurus with two flat tires was arrested at the Hickory Hills/Palos Shopping Center after threatening to slit his throat with a hunting knife. When officers encountered the man he was already suffering from a stab wound. He then produced a pistol from the trunk of his car and threatened to shoot himself in the head. The man was apprehended after collapsing from blood loss. Upon further investigation, the man's girlfriend was discovered, suffering from five stab wounds. She said the man was distraught over a Y2K meeting and wanted to go to California (by way of Hickory Hills from Cincinnati) and live in the desert. -------------- Duct Tape Keeps Wife Faithful --------------- PHOENIX, AZ - There's a long standing saw that says, \"If you can't fix it, Duct Tape it.\" But one Phoenix resident took this axiom too literally when he employed a roll of the tape to bind his wife to her legal obligations. To ensure his wife showed up for her court date, Robert Horton bound her arms, legs and mouth with duct tape and drove her to Maricopa County Superior Court in Phoenix. He dropped her off at the security officer's desk in a very matter-of-fact manner. Wife Belinda was arrested several days prior for aggravated assault and resisting arrest, but was unwilling to talk this time even after the tape was removed. Authorities are still considering w"}, {"response": 24, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Apr 10, 2000 (18:28)", "body": "Andy Warhol created the Rolling Stone's emblem depicting the big tongue which first appeared on the cover of \"Sticky Fingers.\" The tallest monument built in the US, the Gateway Arch, in St. Louis, Missouri, is 630 feet tall. New Jersey, with 96, is the US state with the greatest number of hazardous waste sites. The average person falls asleep in seven minutes. A jiffy is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second. The microwave was invented after a researcher walked by a radar tube and a chocolate bar melted in his pocket. Lake Nicaragua boasts the only fresh water sharks in the entire world. Bingo is the name of the dog on the Cracker Jack box. The A&W of root beer fame stands for Allen and Wright. The plastic things on the end of shoelaces are called aglets."}, {"response": 25, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Apr 10, 2000 (19:05)", "body": "WHO WROTE \"MARY HAD A LITTLE LAMB\"? One of the earliest and most influential American magazine editors, Sarah Josepha Hale - in 1830. In addition to founding the first national women's magazine, Godey's Ladies' Magazine, and successfully campaigning to make Thanksgiving a national holiday, she was inspired to write the rhyme by an actual case of a child's being followed to school by a pet lamb. WHO IS NIKE? In Greek mythology, Nike was the goddess of victory. She was the daughter of the giant Pallas and the river Styx. In Rome, Nike was called Victoria. WHAT WERE THE MEASUREMENTS OF THE PERFECT ZIEGFELD GIRL? For the showgirls who appeared in the Ziegfeld Follies, which ran from 1907 in to the 1903s, impresario Florenz Ziegfeld insisted on women with the following measurements: bust, 36 inches; waist, 26 inches; and hips 38 inches. It estimated that only 3,000 of the 200,000 applicants over the years met these requirements. HOW LONG DID IT TAKE GERTRUDE EDERLE TO SWIM THE ENGLISH CHANNEL? The first woman to cross the channel clocked in at 14 hours, 39 minutes on August 5, 1926. In doing so, she broke the existing men's record."}, {"response": 26, "author": "Ann", "date": "Tue, Apr 11, 2000 (04:37)", "body": "From the Times of London: http://www.the-times.co.uk/ April 11 2000 EUROPE Gnomes released into wild FROM ADAM SAGE IN PARIS A SINISTER threat returned to haunt suburban France yesterday when the infamous Garden Gnome Liberation Front (GLF) claimed its most daring exploit to date. In a statement, the Paris branch said that it had \"freed\" 20 of the 2,000 gnomes on display at an exhibition in the Bagatelle Park on the outskirts on the French capital. A GLF statement said: \"We want to end the ridicule to which these garden gnomes are subjected. We want to return them to their natural habitat by releasing them into the forests they should never have left.\" The theft came more than two years after French justice dismantled a movement that began as a student joke but turned into a wide-ranging social trend that forced home-owners to buy guard dogs and lock up their gnomes at night. On that occasion, in November 1997, three men were given suspended prison sentences and a fourth lost his driving licence."}, {"response": 27, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Apr 11, 2000 (16:11)", "body": "Next it'll be those pink flamingoes (was gonna put a negative adjective before pink, but there are lots of people who must like them...) inhabiting lawns from Florida to California but not in Hawaii (*whew*) Thanks, Ann, that is Hilarious. Do you know where your gnomes are tonight?! Lock them up at night? I am astounded, again, by The Times."}, {"response": 28, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Apr 11, 2000 (16:59)", "body": "The only real person that has been used as a Pez head is Betsy Ross. An ostrich's eye is bigger than it's brain. The longest U.S. highway is route 6 which starts in Cape Cod, Massachusetts and ends in Bishop, California. In M&M candies, the letters stand for Mars and Merrie. The most common name in the world is Mohammed. The volume of the Earth's moon is the same as the volume of the Pacific Ocean. Samuel Clemens, Mark Twain, was born on a day in 1835 when Haley's Comet came into view and he died exactly 75 years later in 1910 when Haley's Comet came back. The dot over the letter \"i\" is called a tittle. The symbol on the pound key \"#\" is called an octothorpe."}, {"response": 29, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Apr 11, 2000 (17:02)", "body": "WHAT IS THE LARGEST DESERT IN EUROPE? Europe has no deserts - it's the only continent without one. WHICH STATE AVERAGES THE GREATEST NUMBER OF SHARK ATTACKS ANNUALLY? Florida, with an average of 13 a year. WHAT IS THE LONGEST STRAIT IN THE WORLD? The Strait of Malacca, between the Malay Peninsula and the island of Sumatra. It's about 500 miles long and connects the Andaman and South China seas. WHAT MAMMAL DO FISHERMAN IN CHINA TRAIN TO HELP THEM INCREASE THEIR CATCH? The otter. The Chinese train otters to chase fish under large nets, which are then dropped and pulled in."}, {"response": 30, "author": "Ann", "date": "Tue, Apr 11, 2000 (20:09)", "body": "The BBC radio dedicated about 3 minutes to the gnome story last night (or this morning their time) Apparently they are very chic in Paris"}, {"response": 31, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Apr 11, 2000 (21:19)", "body": "Yeesh! Perhaps you have to be there to appreciate them...?! Still think it is funny! Guard dogs and locking them up for the night?! Sounds like a scene from The Full Monty..."}, {"response": 32, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Apr 12, 2000 (16:31)", "body": "HOW DID THE TV'S EMMY AWARDS GET THEIR NAME? From the feminized form of \"immy\", a nickname for the image orthicon - TV camera tube in wide use when the awards were first given in 1949. WHAT WAS THE NAME OF THE U.S.S. ENTERPRISE IN THE ORIGINAL DRAFT FOR THE STAR TREK TV SERIES? The U.S.S. Yorktown. WHAT MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL PLAYER RETIRED IN 1980 AFTER PLAYING IN FIVE DIFFERENT DECADES? Outfielder Minnie Minoso, who started out with the Cleveland Indians in 1949, and ended his career as a pinch hitter for the Chicago White sox. WHO, IN 1954, WAS NAMED SPORTS ILLUSTRATED MAGAZINE'S FIRST SPORTSMAN OF THE YEAR? Roger Bannister, who broke the four-minute mile."}, {"response": 33, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Apr 12, 2000 (16:33)", "body": "The greatest snowfall ever in a single storm was 189 inches at the Mount Shasta Ski Bowl in February, 1959. The highest waterfall in the world, Angel Falls in Venezuela, has a total drop of 3,121 feet. A person's right lung takes in more air than the left one does. A sneeze expels out of your mouth over 600 mph. An adult golden eagle's claw has 9 times the grip of an adult human male's hand. Lincoln Logs were invented by Frank Lloyd Wright's son. The San Francisco Cable cars are the only mobile National Monuments. The first interracial kiss ever seen on television was on \"Star Trek\" ~ Kirk and Uhuru. The first toilet ever seen on television was on \"Leave It To Beaver.\" Any month that starts on a Sunday will have a Friday the 13th in it."}, {"response": 34, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Apr 12, 2000 (20:33)", "body": "Bizarre News +---------------------- Bizarre Books ----------------------+ Real Books... Unreal Titles! It's a Gas! A Study of Flatulence; 1991 [No explanation needed.] Wrestling for Gay Guys; 1994 For anyone looking to perk up their fitness routine, self-defense, or erotic prowess. [See first story.] Hand Grenade Throwing as a College Sport; 1918 The British Library's only copy was regrettably \"destroyed by bombing.\" [Perhaps the WWF could employ some of these strategies?] The Gentle Art of Cooking Wives; 1900 [Oh no. That's just TOO easy!] Walled Up Nuns and Nuns Walled In; 1895 [Sadly, no sequel was ever printed.] Fashion is Spinach; 1938 [And meat is?] A letter to the Man Who Killed My Dog; 1956 [I'll take a stab: Dear Jerk face, You suck!] Freedom Must Not Stink; 1947 [Followed by the best-seller, \"Communism Takes a Bath\".] *** ------------- Oily Grapplers Fear Gay Audience ------------- ISTANBUL - Just when you thought that burly, sweaty, Turkish oil wrestlers were synonymous with good, clean heterosexual fun; think again. Residing in our \"what were the odds?\" file, our glistening leather-clad warriors object to their ancient sporting event being coveted by a group of homosexuals calling themselves the \"Bears of Turkey.\" This group of openly gay men are advertising on the Internet in hopes of booking a tour group to attend the Kirkpinar championships. On July 1, the city of Edirne will be hosting this event, but Chairman Alper Yazoglu was quoted as saying, \"We are trying every way to have this stopped...\". The event takes place in the hot sun as the wrestlers slather themselves in olive oil before trying to pin each other to the ground. One common tactic includes putting a hand down the opponent's leather trousers to get a better grip. The wrestlers don't see the attraction for their homosexual audience. [Extra virgin olive oil? Probably not macho enough.] ---------------- Mom Packs More Than Lunch ----------------- OKLAHOMA CITY - Just when Oklahoma and violence were finally out of the headlines, enraged mother Sonya Bostic fired a shot at another mother during a track meet. Bostic, age 33, was aiming for Ruthie Pearl, age 35, in what was apparently the climax of a two-year grudge. 500 spectators packed the stadium when the argument began, but the bullet wounded innocent parent Virginia Biggers in the buttocks when she attempted to take cover. While Bostic was still pointing her gun, police disarmed her but found no more bullets. She was arrested and jailed. --------- Dead Husband Stays Home For Four Months ---------- MUNICH - In an effort to postpone reality, an elderly German woman kept her dead husband in bed for four months. The husband's sister became suspicious when she repeatedly called the house, and the wife told her that he did not want to see any visitors. The sister eventually called the police and they confirmed that the 76-year-old man had died of natural causes. Previous to this discovery, in 1998 a man from Hamburg was found sitting in front of his television; he had been dead for five years. [Rest assured, he was found still grasping the remote.] -------------- Family Pet Makes Tasty Snack ---------------- DEMING, N.M. - This culinary curiosity made a lot radio talk shows, so you may have already heard the story, but I just couldn't resist sneaking it into this week's issue. It seems Sadie Emerson of New Mexico recently lost her Vietnamese potbellied pig. The miniature porker named Tiny Boo was a cherished family pet and Sadie and her 3-year-old son began searching the neighborhood for it. Much to their horror they found Tiny Boo was the guest of honor at a barbecue their neighbors were having down the street. The mobile home owner told sheriff's deputies he shot the pig with a rifle after the animal tried to attack him. He has been accused of cruelty to animals and will appear in court. ------------ Is That A Hamster In Your Pocket -------------- SYDNEY, Australia - What would a Bizarre News edition be without a penis tragedy? Brad Smith loved animals and when he found a lost hamster, cold from a rainy morning, he decided to warm it up by placing it in his front pocket. The little rodent wasn't exactly thrilled to be there and proceeded to make lunch out of Smith's manhood. ----------------- Best Man Vows For Groom ----------------- KILETER, England - The time was way back in the 1920's and Albert Muldoon was standing up as the best man at his friend's wedding. But unfortunately for all involved, Muldoon stood at the wrong side of the groom and the Minister mistook him for the groom himself and married him to the bride. The actual groom was so nervous he could not even say, \"I do\" and Muldoon answered for him, furthering the comedic marriage. The marriage was annulled 24 hours later. Classic Bizarre Moments from the Archives *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* IRS agent Larry Wilson of Alhambra, California has been charged with extortion, reportedly demanding more that $57,000 in bribes f"}, {"response": 35, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Apr 13, 2000 (18:15)", "body": "There are two credit cards for every person in the United States. Barbie's measurements if she were life size: 39-23-33. The Boston University Bridge is the only place in the world where a boat can sail under a train driving under a car driving under an airplane. Cats have over 100 vocal sounds, while dogs only have about 10. Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history. Spades - King David, Clubs - Alexander the Great, Hearts - Charlemagne, and Diamonds - Julius Caesar. Emus and kangaroos can't walk backwards. The \"Yo-Yo\" was introduced in 1929 by Donald F. Duncan. The toy was based on a weapon used by 16th-century Filipino hunters. The 7 wonders of the ancient world are The Temple of Artemis, The Colossus of Rhodes, The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, The Lighthouse at Alexandria, The Great Pyramids of Giza, and The Statue of Zeus at Olympia. December 25'th was chosen as \"Christmas Day\" in order to compete with an existing pagan celebration. Scuba stands for Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus. The 7 Dwarfs are Doc, Bashful, Sleepy, Dopey, Grumpy, Happy, and Sneezy. The 7 wonders of the modern world are The Great Wall of China, The Hagia Sophia, The Leaning Tower of Pisa, The Washington Monument, The Eiffel Tower, The Taj Mahal, and The Empire State Building."}, {"response": 36, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Apr 14, 2000 (00:03)", "body": "WHERE DOES THE WORD SALARY COME FROM? It evolved from salarium argentium, or \"salt money,\" fees paid to Roman soldiers to buy the then precious commodity. HOW DID THE EXPRESSION \"TO MAKE A BED\" ORIGINATE? In the evening, citizens of the Roman Empire constructed their beds by placing straw into a cloth sack. The straw had to be emptied every night to dry; therefore, the beds had to be remade every night. This practice continued until the fifteenth century - in some countries even later. HOW DID THE WORD \"AIN'T\" BECOME UNACCEPTABLE? The use of ain't as a substitute for am not or are not dates back to the reign of King Charles II - about 300 years. It is unclear how or why it became unacceptable."}, {"response": 37, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Apr 14, 2000 (19:24)", "body": "WHEN WAS CIGARETTE ADVERTISING BANNED ON TELEVISION AND RADIO? It was prohibited as of January 2, 1971. Red stands for the blood of the dead. Black represents pride in the color of the skin. Green is for the promise of a new and better life in Africa. HOW FAST DOES THE EARTH TRAVEL AROUND THE SUN? It moves at 66,641 miles per hour. WHAT MAKES HOUSEPLANTS TURN TO THE LIGHT? Growth hormones called auxins. When light falls on one side of the plant, the auxins tend to concentrate on the shaded side, causing the cells on that side to grow longer. As a result, the plant gradually leans toward the light. This bending movement in response to an outside stimulus is known as tropism; bending in response to sunlight is called heliotropism."}, {"response": 38, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Apr 15, 2000 (22:02)", "body": "Bizarre News - April 15, 2000 +---------------- Last Week's Bizarre Poll -----------------+ Question: What invention is the most bizarre? Voting Results: Answer: Ronco Egg Beater (scrambles eggs inside the shell), 283 votes (8%) Answer: Flowbee hair cutter (Turns vacuum cleaner into shears), 216 votes (6%) Answer: Epilady Hair remover (Rips the hair out of follicles), 1225 votes (37%) Answer: The Bug Sucker (Insect killer), 414 votes (12%) Answer: GLH (Spray paint your bald spot), 1113 votes (34%) *** ----------- English Inventor Goes Down With Ship ----------- LONDON, England - In yet another attempt to show why the British Empire lost its grip on the world, inventor Terrence Smedley felt an inspiration. His inspiration was to cross the English Channel in a motorized bathtub. The rather odd inventor wanted to be the first man to do so. The tub sank after traveling 500 yards off shore. He was rescued by a ferry that was passing by. [I wonder if he took his rubber ducky life preserver.] ---------------- L'amour...Toujours L'amour ---------------- PARIS, France - Bizarre News scans the globe in search of bizarre rituals, news, or just plain idiocy. This story combines all of these elements. Two teenagers were arrested and were nearly killed after they created a subway disturbance. Apparently they were walking down the tracks in between stations when the young stud began kissing and fondling his girlfriend. One thing led to another and they began to make love in between the tracks. If it were not for a vigilant conductor, authorities said they would have surely perished. [When I was a kid, I thought sticking a quarter in a vibrating bed was \"cool\".] ---------- Hide Your Women...or Your Garden Gnomes --------- PARIS - It is no longer acceptable to malign or slander your garden gnomes. That's right; someone is fighting to protect your gnomes from captivity and ridicule. The Garden Gnome Liberation Front has emerged from their underground lair long enough to steal 20 gnomes in order to set them free. This same savvy group was responsible for the disappearance of over 150 garden gnomes in 1997, but the ringleader was caught, and fined. Parisians were shocked by the brutal 1998 mass gnome suicide in Briey. 11 were found dangling by their necks under a bridge. The note left behind said, \"When you read these few words we will no longer be a part of your selfish world, where we serve merely as pretty decoration.\" [Leave it to those wacky French. No wonder they love Jerry Lewis.] ---------------------Safe Canadian Sex---------------------- CALGARY - Finally, a study we can all learn from. Queens University in Calgary, Alberta has conducted a survey on the sexual habits of 800 people in five city bars. They discovered that the inebriated were more likely to practice safe sex than their sober counterparts. Tara MacDonald and three other researchers asked some intrusive questions of their liquored-up subjects. They were given a Breathalyzer test, and asked to read a sexual scenario before answering a series of highly personal questions. The bar had stamped hands with \"AIDS Kills\", \"Safe Sex\", or a happy face. \"We found that a drunk person with a smiley face was more likely than a sober people to have intentions to have unsafe sex, whereas intoxicated persons with Aids Kills stamps were half as likely as sober people to report intentions to engage in sex without a condom.\" [And no; the study was not funded by Seagram's.] --------------- Banana Peel Thrower Slips Away -------------- KENOSHA - The Sheriff's Department were evaded by a motorist who hurled a banana peel out of their car window at another windshield, then sped away. In addition to the drive-by \"fruiting\" the offender allegedly made obscene gestures to the 35-year old woman he was tailgating before he slimed her windshield. The police offered no comment; just scratched their heads in confusion. --------------- The Proof Is In The Ordnance --------------- TUCSON, Arizona - In order to prove that the schools are not safe enough for teachers or students, sixth grade teacher Kathy Morris pumped a .38 caliber slug into her own shoulder in an empty classroom and claimed a young Hispanic man had shot her. The 35-year-old Morris broke down under questioning and admitted she shot herself, but not before classes were dismissed for the day and the entire neighborhood was searched. Morris has also, apparently, been sending herself threatening letters, a sheriff's spokeswoman said. She is currently on paid administrative leave pending an investigation. [Tough way to get a paid leave, if you ask me. I'm sure the students were mourning her misfortune on their day off.] Classic Bizarre Moments from the Archives *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* A new survey of pet fanciers by the American Animal Hospital Association shows that 83 percent of pet owners would risk their own lives to save their pets. Even more disturbing, 89 percent of those polled think their pets understand some or "}, {"response": 39, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Apr 17, 2000 (18:54)", "body": "In 1920, Terence MacSwiney, Lord Mayor of Cork, Ireland, was sentenced to two years in jail for \"being in the possession of seditious documents.\" He was jailed in Brixton Prison, London, on August 12, 1920. As a protest against the sentence, MacSwiney went on a hunger strike and refused to eat food of any kind while in prison. He did not, however, refuse water and medicines. He died on October 25 of the same year, the 74th day of his fast. While he was subject to fits of delirium from time to time, he retained his consciousness until a few days before his death."}, {"response": 40, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Apr 19, 2000 (00:55)", "body": "WHAT IS THE ONLY PLACE IN THE WORLD WHERE ALLIGATORS AND CROCODILES COEXIST? Southern Florida. AT WHAT AGE DID CLEOPATRA TAKE HER FIRST LOVER? At the age of twelve. WHAT IS THE WORLD'S LARGEST LIVING FISH? The harmless whale shark, which reaches up to 50 or more feet in length and weighs up to 20 tons. WHAT WAS BEATLE JOHN LENNON'S MIDDLE NAME? Winston, after Winston Churchill."}, {"response": 41, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Apr 19, 2000 (17:54)", "body": "Why are cats attracted to catnip? Catnip has a substance called nepetalactone which comes from small glands on the plant leaves of a mint called catnip. It is believed when nepetalactone is inhaled by cats, it alters the nor brain functions and arouses sexual feelings just as a hormone would. This causes cats to act playful and exhibit behavior seen typically during mating activities."}, {"response": 42, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Apr 19, 2000 (20:27)", "body": "Bizarre News +---------------------- Bizarre Laws ----------------------+ KENTUCKY Bees entering Kentucky must have a certificate of health. Any person who displays, handles or uses any kind of reptile in connection with any religious service or gathering shall be fined not less than fifty dollars. Any person who appears on a highway, or the street of any city that has no police protection, when clothed only in ordinary bathing garb, shall be fined not less than five dollars. No person shall sell, exchange or possess living baby chicks, ducklings, or other fowl or rabbits which have been dyed or colored; nor sell or exchange baby chicks or other fowl under two months of age in any quantity less than six, except that any rabbit weighing three pounds or more may be sold at an age of six weeks. [Well, now that we have that cleared up...] *** -------------------- Sidewalk Delivery --------------------- LOUISVILLE - A Kentucky inmate witnessed a woman giving birth on the sidewalk outside of his cell not realizing that the woman was his wife. Raylette Carr told reporters that her husband was casually describing the event to her when she interrupted by telling him that she was the woman on the sidewalk giving birth. \"I told him: 'That was your baby.'\" Carr was on her way to a fireworks show when she went into labor with her seventh child. Paramedics arrived too late, but mother and baby are fine. ---------- Easter Floggings Come Early This Year ----------- GUATEMALA CITY - Lent no longer tops the list for Easter hardships. The annual Easter witch hunt began seven days prior to Holy Week this year for Guatemalan students. The ritual consists of 15,000 hooded students (mostly male) who publicly strip suspected criminals, and beat them. This vigilante pummeling, and the accompanying parade, are a sanctioned tradition where last year more than 108 lynching attempts took place. [They did this at a Frat house regularly at the U of I.] ----------------- Hamster Fashions For UK ------------------ LONDON - Conservative clothiers Gieves and Hawkes tried to update their 200 year-old image by appealing to a younger, hipper crowd with hamster jackets. The $4,800 creations only spiced up the ire of The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. \"We are appalled and we are sure the public will feel exactly the same way,\" replied coordinator Yvonne Taylor. Gieves and Hawkes quickly backed down, and said they only made one coat - sewn from the skins of 100 farmed animals. --------------- \"Hot Wheels\" Prompt Gunplay ---------------- STATESBORO - The difference between men and boys is not just the price of their toys, but how pretty their wheels are. A twenty-year-old man was shot at the Player's Ball weekend gathering during an argument over who had the better looking tires. Apparently the man with the gun had the prettiest tires. The victim was from Atlanta, and was hospitalized in stable condition. However his pride may not recover as quickly. ---------- Imposter Hoodwinks Medical Authorities ---------- BONN, Germany - In one of the countries biggest medical scandals, authorities are scratching their heads trying to figure out how a post office messenger with no formal education could impersonate a psychiatrist for two years and commit 34 \"patients\" to mental hospitals across the country. The culprit, Gert Postel got away with impersonating a psychiatrist by using a lot of psycho babble that made him a convincing con man. -------------- Dutch Research Into Flatulence -------------- AMSTERDAM, Holland - Bizarre News is always on the lookout examining how countries spanning the globe do research. Recently, researchers at the University of Amsterdam have been delving into the hazards of flatulence. Apparently, prolonged exposure of four hours a day to humans \"passing gas\" can weaken the immune system. The doctor heading this piece of vital research, Dr. Hans Sholten, was quoted as saying, \"It would behoove anyone who cares about his or her health to avoid people with chronic flatulence.\" [Really?] Classic Bizarre Moments from the Archives *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* Another blow for Darwinism: a Brazilian court has ruled that factory worker Valdir Pozza is not entitled to compensation after losing the use of his finger, because \"pinkie fingers would disappear with evolution anyway...\""}, {"response": 43, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Thu, Apr 20, 2000 (01:45)", "body": "The shrink imposter would be easier to pull off than an MD, I can see where this could be faked."}, {"response": 44, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Apr 20, 2000 (04:25)", "body": "Skeptic that I am, I wonder if all shrinks aren't imposters of a sort...?!"}, {"response": 45, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Apr 20, 2000 (17:35)", "body": "HOW MUCH DOES THE BLUE WHALE, THE WORLD'S LARGEST MAMMAL, WEIGH AT BIRTH? Two tons. Fully grown, it will weigh as much as 150 tons. HOW MANY MUSCLES ARE THERE IN THE HUMAN EAR? Six. WHY WAS POPCORN BANNED AT MOST THEATERS IN THE 1920S? It was considered too noisy. WHAT CELEBRITY BOUGHT THE FIRST HUMMER MANUFACTURED FOR CIVILIAN USE? Arnold Schwarzenegger, 1992. The 6,300-pound, 7-foot wide vehicle is the civilian version of the military Humvee."}, {"response": 46, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Apr 22, 2000 (18:50)", "body": "Bizarre News +---------------------- Bizarre Books ----------------------+ Real Books... Unreal Titles! The Foul and the Fragrant: Odor and the French Social Imagination; 1986. Who's Who in Barbed Wire; 1970. The Madman as Entrepreneur: Career Management in House Prostitution; 1979. Correct Mispronunciations of Some South Carolina Names; 1981. Manhole Covers of Los Angeles; 1974. Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun; 1995. Three Weeks in Wet Sheets; 1856. Be Married and Like It; 1937. Pranks With the Mouth; 1879. Build Your Own Hindenburg; 1983. *** ---------------- Man Ruins Surprise Funeral ---------------- TOKYO - It was a hard day at work for a 60-year-old Japanese shipbuilder who came home and found his family planning his funeral. Police had informed the family that he had been killed in a car accident earlier that day, where his own brother-in-law identified the victim's body as his. The family was in the final stages of planning when he walked into the living room. The funeral has been postponed. --------------------- Virtual Praying? --------------------- MILAN - The country that is synonymous with wine, romance, and pasta now offers a new time-saver with professional praying. For 3,000 lire, \"Paradise\" agency located in Varese, Italy will send housewife Monica Ballinari to recite a prayer or perform the sign of the cross once a day. She fears that life has become so hectic that many just ignore their spiritual needs, and the salvation of their souls. \"If you don't have time to save it, call me; I'll take care of it.\" [If they take their masturbation seriously over there, this poor woman must be kept busy.] ------------- Real Fake Newscaster Makes Debut ------------- LONDON - Her name is Ananova; she has green hair, big eyes, and moves somewhat erratically. She is a computer created virtual newscaster guaranteed to stay in perfect health, work long-hours for no pay, and never needs make-up. This glamorous cyber-anchor will exude a plethora of internet information complete with commercials, and she'll make her U.K. Internet debut on Wednesday, April 19, 2000. Bearing the likeness of Posh Spice, Ananova claims, \"I'm your personal assistant in a digital world.\" [I wonder if she'll get engaged to Max Headroom?] ---------------- Big Mac Rules Foil Burglar ---------------- SYDNEY, Australia - The North Shore Times News crime column reported that a man walked into Brookvale McDonalds at 8:50AM, flashed a gun and demanded cash. The clerk turned him down because she said she couldn't open the cash register without a food order. When the man ordered a Big Mac, the clerk said they weren't available until 10:30am as only the breakfast menu was on offer. Frustrated, the man walked away. ------------ Thieves Yank ATM out Of The Ground ------------ OGDEN, Utah - A couple of thieves came up with a crafty approach for stealing from an ATM -- they took the whole thing. Ogden police say suspects stole a backhoe, hooked it up to a freestanding ATM, uprooted it and hauled it down the road on Monday. Problem was, they couldn't figure out how to get the money out of it. -------- Slick Willie Faces Hollywood's Wunderkind --------- NEW YORK - Savvy and experienced President Clinton will be hard-pressed this Saturday when he sits across the micro-phone from post-pubescent teen heart-throb Leonardo DiCaprio. DiCaprio, who has made his bones in films like \"What's Eating Gilbert Grape\", \"The Quick and the Dead\" and \"Titanic\" will be interviewing Clinton as chairman of the Earth Day 2000 celebration committee. Questions will range from Clinton's policies on global warming to what he thought of that Virginie Ledoyen chick who played with DiCaprio in \"The Beach.\" Classic Bizarre Moments from the Archives *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* Cleetis Hayseed of Twelve Toes, Arkansas had this lame bumper sticker on his car: \"I May Be Slow, But I'm Ahead Of You.\" After enduring countless beatings, Cleetis cleverly contacted the company which offers the world's best-selling stickers: DARE To Keep Cops Off Donuts, Life is Short - Don't Be a Dick, Discourage Inbreeding - Ban Country Music, WHATEVER, I'd Rather Be Spanking The Monkey, and Your College Sucks. For more Classic Bizarre, visit us at: Click Here"}, {"response": 47, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Sat, Apr 22, 2000 (21:24)", "body": "Clinton asked to comment on a chick, he should have some relativity on this!"}, {"response": 48, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Apr 23, 2000 (00:20)", "body": "This is true...! (btw, I do not write those sordid little comments enclosed in square brackets in the Bizarre news. I have more class than that!)"}, {"response": 49, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Apr 24, 2000 (20:26)", "body": "WHAT PART OF THE HUMAN BODY HAS THE THINNEST SKIN? The eyelid - it's less than 1/500 inch thick. WHEN WERE EYEGLASSES FIRST WORN IN EUROPE? They first appeared in Italy in the fourteenth century, supposedly introduced by Alessandro di Spina of Florence. Eyeglasses also appeared in China about this time; it is not clear who got the idea first. HOW DID THE PIGGY BANK GET ITS NAME? In the Middle Ages, people stored money in a \"pygg jar,\" made of clay called pygg. By the eighteenth century in England, the name and shape of the receptacle had evolved to \"pig bank\" - and from there to piggy bank. WHY DOES SKIN WRINKLE WHEN IT IS EXPOSED AT LENGTH TO WATER? The skin on the foot or palm of the hand wrinkles because it expands. The thick, hardened layers of skin swell as water is retained."}, {"response": 50, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Apr 24, 2000 (21:14)", "body": "Teenage Boys Face Flogging for Pestering Girls DUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi teenage boys face public flogging and prison sentences for loitering outside girls' schools, a Saudi newspaper reported Saturday. Al-Eqtisadiah reported that the prince of Medina ordered a committee be set up in the holy city to hand out strict punishment to the boys to limit what the newspaper called immoral behavior in the conservative Muslim kingdom. The newspaper said the decision was taken after several complaints were filed from female students and parents about remarks made by the boys milling outside the schools. London-based Amnesty International recently accused Saudi Arabia of ``gross and systematic'' human rights violations, charges which have been rejected by Saudi officials."}, {"response": 51, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Apr 24, 2000 (21:16)", "body": "Drenchers Out in Force on Easter Monday WARSAW (Reuters) - Polish youths marked Drenching Monday by hurling water at unsuspecting passers-by and tourists in an exuberant reenactment of a rural custom. The festival, also known as St Drencher's Day, began centuries ago as a courtship festival in Poland's villages, where boys would drench maidens to try and win their favor. Unlike many rural customs that have disappeared over the years, ``smigus-dyngus'' has become increasingly popular. And buckets of water are no longer reserved for young women. Police warned there would be fines for anyone caught abusing the custom to ambush churchgoers or passers-by. Tourists were among the victims this year in Warsaw's picturesque Old Town."}, {"response": 52, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Apr 26, 2000 (05:17)", "body": "HOW DID CHICAGO GET ITS NAME? In 1696 a Jesuit, Father Pinet, established a mission for Indians called the Mission of the Guardian Angel. It was set along a stream the Indians had named Checagon, a word meaning anything big, strong, or powerful. Since the river at that point was sluggish, it is thought that checagon actually referred to the wild garlic along the riverbanks. WHAT WAS THE FIRST SUPERMARKET? Two self-service stores - precursors to supermarkets - opened in California in 1912: the Alpha Beta Food Market in Pomona and Ward's Grocetaria in Ocean Park. The Piggly-Wiggly stores, which opened in 1916 in Memphis, Tennessee, had self- service and checkout counters but did not call themselves supermarkets. The word supermarket was not part of a store name until 1933, when the Albers Super Markets opened. WHAT WERE THE EARLIER NAMES FOR THE BEATLES? There were several. In the late 1950s, John Lennon and Paul McCartney formed a band to play \"skiffle\" music in local Liverpool clubs. They first called themselves the Quarrymen, then tried several other names: Johnny and the Moondogs, the Moonshiners, Long John and the Silver Beatles. By 1960, however, they settled on the name now known to all - the Beatles. WHO WAS THE FIRST MOVIE STAR? While early American filmmakers refused to reveal the names of their players, fearing the actors would request more money, German filmgoers creates celebrities. The first celebrity actress was Henny Porten, who first appeared in the movie Lohengrin (1907), directed by Oskar Messter. She was known only as the Messter Girl until 1909, when she played the romantic lead in Das Liebesgluck der Blinden (The Love of the Blind Girl) to such fanfare that Messter was requested to reveal her name to the public. Soon thereafter, Porten asked for a raise."}, {"response": 53, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Apr 26, 2000 (19:27)", "body": "Bizarre News +----------------- Bizarre U.S. Patents -------------------+ Scalp Cooling Device; December 6, 1938 [Looks similar to the electric chair.] Pantyhose Shaping Band for Cheeky Derrier Relief; January 18, 1979 [The name on the patent? Julie Newmar. Who wants to bet she's Julie Newmar of Cat Woman fame?] Eye Protector for Chickens; December 10, 1902 Hay Fragrance; January 6, 1987 Saluting Device/Automatic Hat Tipper; March 10, 1896 Apparatus for Facilitating Childbirth by Centrifugal Force; November 9, 1965 [Looks similar to a medieval rack.] *** ---- You Have The Right To Be Tried By A Jury Of Idiots ---- KENTUCKY - Five men and seven women jurors of the Jefferson County Circuit Court could not come to a decision in the trial of murder suspect Phillip J. Givens II. So instead of wasting the tax-payers valuable dollars they decided to flip a coin. It was tails. Shortly before he was about to pass his sentence, Judge Kenneth Conliffe learned how the jury had reached its verdict and declared a mistrial. \"I didn't think we had anything to lose,\" jury foreman David Melton said. \"We were going to be hung without it.\" The coin used was a silver dollar. [The jury may not have had anything to lose, but Givens did. It's a good thing no one had any dice. Thanks to Jake Hill for the lead on this story.] ---------------- We Said 'Bong' Not 'Bomb' ----------------- WILMINGTON - In light of the Columbine anniversary, North Carolina investigators took no chances when they found an empty cardboard fireworks tube, and evacuated the Roland- Grise Middle School. The bomb squad proceeded to detonate the tube, and found it contained a bong. The seven teenagers in question wouldn't tell the officers what it was for, so they evacuated the school to be on the safe side. --------------- Going 'Postal' Over Manicure --------------- ST. PETERSBURG - Being a postal worker just became more stressful. A Florida Postal Service supervisor has taken a medical leave after she was forced to cut her finger nails. Lolita Dash was first asked to trim her 5-inch thumbnails in 1995, when she violated the local post-master's rule that nails could not be longer than a quarter-inch beyond the fingertip. Soon after this initial cutting, Dash let them grow to the one inch mark, so her bosses started disciplinary proceedings. She was so distraught that she went on medical leave; even though she had her nails trimmed to the proper length. [What next? Hygiene? When will Big Brother be satisfied?] --------------- Pigeons Take a Special Trip --------------- DENVER - Officials in Denver are going to great lengths to rid the city of pigeons, and their flying debris. For $250 a month, the city can buy hallucinogenic corn that causes the birds to convulse and spasm which frightens the other birds away. The feed is laced with Avitrol, and animal rights activists are once again; enraged. \"It takes 40 pigeons pooping all day in one place to equal what a dog leaves on my lawn in one drop,\" says animal lover Catherine Hurlbutt. John Hall, acting manager of public office buildings has a different view, \"pigeons are urban vermin.\" [First the corn. Next the pigeon 12-step] ------------------ Snore At Your Own Risk ------------------ DUBLIN - Prisoner Thomas Brady, 22, was stabbed to death in his cell on Easter Sunday when his snoring proved too much for his cellmate. Police have not disclosed the name of the enraged prisoner who stabbed him with a sharpened table knife. Dublin's Mountjoy prison rushed Mr. Brady to the hospital, but he could not be saved. -------------- Passover Constipates Ethiopians ------------- JERUSALEM - As an act of charity Israel sent three tons of unleavened bread to starving Ethiopians after rabbis ruled against sending regular bread, due to the observance of Passover. What sounded like a good idea only created more digestive problems for the Ethiopians, because \"matza\" is notoriously dry, and causes severe constipation. On a more positive note, they also sent other food, blankets, and medicine. Classic Bizarre Moments from the Archives *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* A Honduran man castrated himself with a machete because he was \"frustrated\" that his wife refused to have sex with him. The Heraldo Daily said Juan Varels cut off both his testicles and put them on a table. After careful consideration, Varels took them to a health center to have them reattached. For more Classic Bizarre, visit us at: Click Here"}, {"response": 54, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Apr 27, 2000 (23:59)", "body": "WHERE DID THE WORD CRAP COME FROM? DOES IT HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH SHOOTING CRAPS? No, it derived from the first flush lavatory, Crapper's Valveless Water Waste Preventor, developed in 1837 by English sanitary engineer Thomas Crapper. WHERE DOES THE TERM STARK NAKED COME FROM? It is a corruption of start naked. In the thirteenth century, when the phrase originated, start took the Anglo-Saxon from steort, which meant \"tail\" or \"rump.\" Therefore, stark naked refers to someone naked to the tail. WHY DO BIRDS SING? In most species of songbirds, only male birds sing, and for only two reasons: to protect territory and to attract a mate. WAS THERE AN ORIGINAL GOODY TWO-SHOES? As the subject of the first children's book of the same name, this character helped to usher in the children's book industry. Goody Two-Shoes was a poor girl, who, when given a pair of shoes, became so happy that she told everyone she met about them. The tale was written by Oliver Goldsmith in 1765."}, {"response": 55, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Apr 28, 2000 (18:03)", "body": "IS THERE ANY BONE IN THE HUMAN BODY THAT DOES NOT CONNECT WITH OTHER BONES? The hyoid bone resides by itself in the throat. It supports the tongue and its muscles. DO FINGERPRINTS HAVE A FUNCTION? They provide traction for your fingers, helping you to grasp things. DO IDENTICAL TWINS HAVE THE SAME FINGERPRINTS? No. HOW MUCH IS THE HUMAN BODY WORTH? Newspaper columnists and others have claimed that the body's chemical worth is between 98 cents and $5. But one doctor argues that, at the rates currently charged by large chemical distributors, the body's worth is at least $169,834 - not counting $1,200 worth of blood. The key is to market the body's products intelligently and not reduce them to basic elements like carbon and zinc."}, {"response": 56, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Apr 28, 2000 (19:47)", "body": "Some of these little facts are unbelievable The first couple to be shown in bed together on prime time television were: Fred and Wilma Flintstone. Coca-Cola was originally green. Every day more money is printed for Monopoly than the US Treasury. Hawaiian alphabet has 12 letters. Men can read smaller print than women; women can hear better. City with the most Rolls Royce's per capita: Hong Kong State with the highest percentage of people who walk to work: Alaska Percentage of Africa that is wilderness: 28% Percentage of North America that is wilderness: 38% Barbie's measurements if she were life size: 39-23-33 Cost of raising a medium-size dog to the age of eleven: $6,400 Average number of people airborne over the US any given hour: 61,000. Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair. The world's youngest parents were 8 and 9 and lived in China in 1910. The youngest pope was 11 years old. First novel ever written on a typewriter: Tom Sawyer. The San Francisco Cable cars are the only mobile National Monuments. Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history. Spades - King David, Clubs - Alexander the Great, Hearts - Charlemagne, and Diamonds - Julius Caesar. 111,111,111 x 111,111,111 =3D 12,345,678,987,654,321 If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in theair, the person died in battle; if the horse has one front leg in=20 the air, the person died as a result of wounds received in battle; if the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural=20 causes. Only two people signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, John Hancock and Charles Thomson. Most of the rest signed on August 2, but the last signature wasn't added until 5 years later. \"I am.\" is the shortest complete sentence in the English language. \"I do.\" is the longest sentence. The term \"the whole 9 yards\" came from W.W.II fighter pilots in The South Pacific. When arming their airplanes on the ground, the .50 caliber machine ammo belts measured exactly 27 feet, before being loaded into the fuselage. If the pilots fired all their ammo at a target, it got \"the whole 9 yards.\" Hershey's Kisses are called that because the machine that makes them looks like it's kissing the conveyor belt. The phrase \"rule of thumb\" is derived from an old English law which stated that you couldn't beat your wife with anything wider than your thumb. The Eisenhower interstate system requires that one mile in every five must be straight. These straight sections are usable as airstrips in times of war or other emergencies. The name Jeep came from the abbreviation used in the army for the \"General Purpose\" vehicle, G.P. The cruise liner, Queen Elizabeth II, moves only six inches for each gallon of diesel that it burns. No NFL team which plays its home games in a domed stadium has ever won a Superbowl. The only two days of the year in which there are no professional sports games (MLB, NBA, NHL, or NFL) are the day before and the day after the Major League all-stars Game. The nursery rhyme Ring Around the Rosey is a rhyme about the plague. Infected people with the plague would get red circular sores (\"Ring around the rosey...\"), these sores would smell very badly so common folks would put flowers on their bodies somewhere (inconspicuously), so that it would cover the smell of the sores (\"...a pocket full of posies...\"), People who died from the plague would be burned so as to reduce the possible spread of the disease (\"...ashes, ashes, we all fall down!\") Facts Q. What occurs more often in December than any other month? A. Conception. Q. What separates \"60 Minutes,\" on CBS from every other TV show? A. No theme song. Q. Half of all Americans live within 50 miles of what? A. Their birthplace. Q. Most boat owners name their boats. What is the most popular boat name requested? A. Obsession Q. If you were to spell out numbers, how far would you have to go until you would find the letter \"A\"? A. One thousand Q. What do bulletproof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers and laser printers all have in common? A. All invented by women. Q. This is the only food that doesn't spoil. A. Honey Q. There are more collect calls on this day than any other day of the year. A. Father's Day Q. What trivia fact about Mel Blanc (voice of Bugs Bunny) is the most ironic? A. He was allergic to carrots. ----------"}, {"response": 57, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Apr 29, 2000 (18:07)", "body": "Bizarre News - April 29, 2000 Everyone knows that in a couple of months, the Olympics will be held in Australia. But did you know that every four years they try to add new sports to the roster? They actually have a special committee to look over hundreds of requests from organizations wanting their particular hobby included. A recent article in a Chicago paper told of the latest request. It seems that The World Plowing Association has applied to the committee to sponsor plowing contests during the Summer Olympics. Now what the heck is this all about? Plowing? The WPA sponsors plowing events for farmers all over the world and they evidently think that what they do is exciting sport. ---------- Monster Artichokes as Power Source? ------------ SPAIN - Echoing the plot of a bad Japanese Sci-Fi movie, Spanish farmers are growing three-meter high artichokes to be used as fuel. These genetically modified vegetables are part of a new biomass scheme to produce enough electricity for the needs of up to 60,000 people. The towns of Alcala de Gurrea, and Villabilla de Burgos will begin using this new power source in two years. [Mutant vegetables take over Spain? It's too bad Inoshiro Honda is dead.] --------------- New Trial for Junk Food Felon -------------- TEXAS - Currently serving 16 years for stealing a Snickers candy bar, inmate Kenneth Payne III will be retried due to jury misconduct. Payne was caught swiping the Snickers while he was already on parole for Oreo theft. This harsh sentence was handed down after prosecutors tried him as a habitual offender which increased his misdemeanor charge to a felony charge. The judge ruled for a retrial when it was discovered that one juror was found encouraging the other jurors for a harsher sentence. --------- Kentucky Fried Chicken Not Chic Enough ---------- BEIJING - Apparently the KFC located in China's scenic imperial-era park is considered an eyesore. The lease is due to expire in 2002, and they won't be coming back. A parks department spokesman said there were several complaints that the restaurant, \"destroyed the original style of the imperial park...it is extremely out of harmony with its surroundings.\" In addition to the ill-fated KFC, no other fast-food outlets will be allowed in any of the parks in the future. -------------------- Claus the Ripper? --------------------- BERLIN - German department stores fear for their menswear. Police are hunting a new criminal who is slicing and cutting his way through unsuspecting garments. Nicknamed, \"KaDeWe Ripper\" by the Bild daily, this scalpel-weilding menace has wantonly slashed his way through thousands of dollars worth of men's clothing. Police have distributed photos of the suspect who has an eerie trademark: he likes to cut holes in the left side of jackets, just above the heart. [I'd hate to see what he does to the boxer shorts.] ------------ Beaver College Tired Of The Abuse ------------- GLENSIDE, Pa. - It's bad enough that the students at Beaver Women's College get ribbed about their school's name, but it has gone too far when public figures like Letterman and Stern start taking pot shots. Now internet watchdog programs are censoring any web sites using the word \"beaver\" keeping high school graduates from finding out about the school. Beaver president Bette Landman has had enough. She wants the school name changed to something less controversial. But some alumni and administrators are proud of their Beaver, and want to keep it just the way it is. The controversy still rages and no new name has yet been adopted. ---------------------- Underwear Sues ---------------------- The Pets.com sock puppet as seen on TV is causing problems. Pets.com is suing \"Late Night With Conan O'Brien\" writer Robert Smigel, claiming that Smigel, the creator of \"Late Night\" rubber puppet Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, said the Pets.com's sock puppet is a \"rip-off\" of Triumph. It seems an old gym sock on somebody's hand has become an intellectual property. Classic Bizarre Moments from the Archives *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* In our Giants of Science department, Italian researches claim to be able to cure impotence with a computer. The scientists are using virtual reality technology to \"re-awaken\" feelings of youth and sexuality in men. The experiment uses \"a Pentium 133, a full-immersion VR helmet, and a joystick...\""}, {"response": 58, "author": "CherylB", "date": "Sat, Apr 29, 2000 (19:51)", "body": "About those giant artichokes, too bad they're not growing onions 3 meters in circumfrence on Maui. It could be a used as a bit of background in a new Godzilla movie. What could bring the King of All Monsters to Hawaii? The fish of course! Godzilla is a Pacific Rim kind of reptile that eats fish, lots of fish."}, {"response": 59, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Apr 29, 2000 (20:18)", "body": "This is true...but, he's gonna get a run for his money if he does not eat what we consider \"junk' fish (full of bones and non-firm flesh which does not taste very good raw). If he consumes Mahimahi, Ono, Opelu and Ahi on the way over, he's gonna be in big trouble! He's big enough to deplete the stock! Better he stick to Marlin. They are his size and too dense to get your teeth through raw or cooked (they use it to make fish cake here.) I posted a longer article on the artichokes from Reuters on Jurassic Park in Geo"}, {"response": 60, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, May  1, 2000 (23:44)", "body": "HOW LONG IS THE GRAND CANYON? The gorge of the Colorado River is 217 miles long. Fifty- six miles lie within Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona. The canyon varies in width from 4 to 18 miles. WHAT IS THE APPLE OF ONE'S EYE? It is the pupil, which was likened to an apple because, in the ninth century, it was believed to be a solid round mass. HOW MUCH WATER DOES A PERSON DRINK IN A LIFETIME? About 16,000 gallons. WHEN DOES A HUMAN EMBRYO HAVE ITS FIRST HEARTBEAT? At the age of three weeks, when the heart of the embryo looks like a tube. As it begins to beat, it starts the blood circulating through the few blood vessels that have formed around it."}, {"response": 61, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, May  2, 2000 (18:56)", "body": "WHAT WAS THE INSPIRATION FOR CAMPBELL'S RED-AND-WHITE SOUP CAN? The Cornell University football team uniform. Campbell's company treasurer was inspired by the brilliant Cornell colors when he attended a Penn-Cornell football game on Thanksgiving Day in 1898. WHAT IS BELIEVED TO BE THE FIRST COIN-OPERATED MACHINE EVER DESIGNED? A holy-water dispenser that required a five-drachma piece to operate. It was the brainchild of the Greek scientist Hero in the first century A.D. WHAT WAS THE NAME OF THE PLANE IN WHICH ORVILLE WRIGHT MADE HIS HISTORIC 12-SECOND FLIGHT 85 YEARS AGO? Flyer I - now popularly known as Kitty Hawk I, after its North Carolina takeoff site. WHAT LETTER DESIGNATIONS DID HENRY FORD USE FOR HIS CARS BEFORE HE INTRODUCED THE MODEL T IN 1909? Models A, B, C, F, K, N, R and S. He built nearly 29,000 of them between 1903 and 1909."}, {"response": 62, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Wed, May  3, 2000 (09:44)", "body": "He like to skip letters. What's wrong with D, E, G, H, I, J, L, M, O, P, and Q?"}, {"response": 63, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, May  3, 2000 (20:23)", "body": "Yeah, I wondered about that, as well... Bizarre News - May 3, 2000 Q. What is the origin of the popular dog's name Fido? A. It's from the Latin fidus, meaning \"faithful.\" Q. What did President Franklin Delano Roosevelt have imprinted on the White House matchbooks? A. Stolen from the White House. Q. In year's past what was used as transmission oil in Rolls- Royce automobiles? A. Spermaceti oil - from the sperm whale. Q. What reason did Sigmund Freud give for sitting behind his patient's couch during psychoanalytic sessions? A. Freud wrote: \"I cannot bear to be gazed at eight hours a day.\" Q. What would the Barbie Doll's measurements be if she were life-size? A. 39-21-33 *** ---------------------- Moon Over L.A. ---------------------- LOS ANGELES - Among the new breed of fans that Atlanta Braves player John Rocker has earned recently stands one individual who distinguished himself Monday night by running onto the field at Dodger Stadium and dropping his pants in front of the now infamous pitcher. \"I thought it was one of the funniest things I've seen in my life, I was laughing my butt off,\" third baseman Chipper Jones said. \"Let's hope that's as bad as it ever gets.\" commented Braves manager Bobby Cox. The Braves beat the Dodgers 2-1. ----------- Ex-Mrs. Millionaire Sells Her Assets ----------- It seems Ms. Darva Conger - the young lady who married Rick Rockwell on the Fox-TV spectacular \"Who Wants to Marry a Multimillionaire\" - is cashing in on her fame by posing for Playboy. Conger will reportedly earn a six figure fee for trimming her sails in front of the cameras. Rick Rockwell says he might look at the pictures, but he doesn't plan to buy a copy of the magazine. He doesn't want to give Conger \"an extra nickel.\" ----------- Theme Paper Earns Student Suspension ----------- BOSTON - It's hard for administrators at the Boston Latin Academy to tell where literature ends and death threats begin. So when Charles Carithers was given an assignment to write a horror story for his English class, the work he turned in so unnerved his teacher that school officials gave him a three day suspension. ACLU-Massachusetts Executive Director John Roberts said that Carithers \"was so successful in fulfilling the assignment\" that instead of getting a high grade he was suspended. Boston School Superintendent Thomas W. Payzant defended school officials, saying they have to err on the side of caution in the aftermath of Columbine. And the story? Carithers wrote about a student athlete who murders a fictitious English teacher with a chainsaw. ----------- Wife Runs Over Husband; After Church ----------- COVINGTON, LA. - Sunday may be the Lord's day, but it didn't stop a jealous wife from correcting her husband's wandering eye. Sedonia Renee Martin, 22, decided to quickly correct her husband's church flirtation after last Sunday's service at St. James Baptist Church. The husband, Tushaun Jamel Thompson, vacated the couple's car to avoid further argument when his wife sped towards him in an effort to scare him. Convinced that she wouldn't actually hit him, Thompson stood his ground; until the front end of the vehicle hit his upper legs, and threw him into a ditch 20 feet away. His injuries were moderate, but his embarrassment was critical. --------------------- More Mutant Food --------------------- MEXICO CITY - Not to be outdone by Spain's monster artichokes, the city of Oaxaca attempted to find fame in the Guinness Book of World Records by building a giant tortilla. This hefty snack was 14-1/2 feet in diameter, and was topped with 70 pounds of beef, 70 pounds of cheese, 45 pounds of beans, and five gallons of salsa. If they don't qualify under the tortilla category; they still have a shot in the taco division. [I wonder how large the margarita was?] ----- Pink Plastic Flamingos Are An Expensive Mistake ------ LAWRENCEVILLE - It's official; bad taste has a price, and it's $3,400. Apparently Doug Henry's fellow Georgians, and subdivision neighbors were not amused by his pink plastic lawn ornaments. According to the homeowners association, all unapproved lawn ornaments will cost the homeowner $25 a day until they're removed. His $15 flamingos have now cost him $3,400, which he was unaware of until he tried to sell his house, and found that the association placed a lien on his home. If both sides don't agree on a settlement, a judge will decide who gets the flamingo funds. Classic Bizarre Moments from the Archives *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* A Massachusetts man arrested for driving without a license used his one phone call to tell a friend exactly where to find his stash of crack cocaine, hidden in an alley. Hipolito Vega spoke to his friend in Spanish, not realizing that the booking officer, Manuel Rivera, understood every word. If you give up the right to remain stupid... For more Classic Bizarre, visit us at: Click Here"}, {"response": 64, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, May  3, 2000 (20:25)", "body": "Maybe the missing Ford model letters were his equivalent of the Edsel?!"}, {"response": 65, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, May  4, 2000 (03:43)", "body": "Posted without comment...*smile* Tattoo Trend Spreads LONDON (Reuters) - Bankers, accountants and solicitors are just as likely as bikers to sport a tattoo, a survey has found. A quarter of the 1,000 people interviewed with body art were professionals, according to the survey for Lloyds TSB bank. But the tattoo trend has yet to gain universal acceptance in the office. Twenty six percent said they hid them at work for fear they were viewed unfavorably."}, {"response": 66, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, May  5, 2000 (22:14)", "body": "Guess They Could Call It Sing Sing BEIRUT (Reuters) - The halls of Lebanon's toughest prison will soon be alive with the sound of music after jail authorities decided to introduce singing lessons to inmates. Prison authorities at the notorious Roumieh jail said Thursday they would also hold concerts from June as part of a campaign to improve inmates' living conditions. With help from the British embassy, the authorities have also set up a library at the jail, which has 190 inmates. Roumieh prison was rocked by riots two years ago in which several inmates were wounded. Since the violent protests, prison authorities have staged several concerts by international and leading Lebanese performers at Roumieh. A football tournament between the inmates and their guards was also played at the prison, northeast of Beirut."}, {"response": 67, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, May  6, 2000 (18:13)", "body": "+---------------------- Bizarre Laws ----------------------+ IDAHO It is illegal for a man to give his sweetheart a box of candy weighing more than fifty pounds. You may not fish on a camel's back. It is an offense to ride on a merry-go-round on Sundays. If a police officer approaches a vehicle and suspects that the occupants are engaging in sex, he must either honk, or flash his lights and wait three minutes before approaching the car. Coeur d' Alene, ID *** ----------- Finally! A Vacuum Women Really Want ---------- WASHINGTON - Score one for the fight against female impotence. The FDA has just approved the Eros system which was designed to increase blood flow to the clitoris. Simply put; its a small tube attached to a suction cup that runs on batteries. Once the clitoris becomes properly engorged, the apparatus is removed, and.... A prescription is required, but there are no reported side effects. [Three speeds: slow, medium, and who needs a man?!] ------------- I'd Walk A Mile...For Insurance? ------------- TEHRAN - The idea is perfectly logical, but camel insurance just sounds funny. The Iranian government has decided to extend insurance to camel owners that would protect against thunder, snake bites, earthquakes, floods, and collisions with various vehicles. Almost 7,000 camels live and work in the province of Khuzestan, and with help from the government owners will soon share the same peace of mind we have with our vehicles. Literally, a new twist in policy \"riders.\" -------------- Life-After-Death; And Stabbing -------------- VANCOUVER - Three hundred people attended the Vancouver Public Library's lecture on life-after-death which was so compelling that no one noticed the man being stabbed. Police reported no argument; someone angered the attacker by bumping his chair which he responded by knifing another man in the leg. The lecture went uninterrupted, and police arrested the suspect afterward. The victim was treated and released from a nearby hospital. ---------------- Swedish Maids Protest Porn ---------------- STOLKHOLM - While the title 'Swedish Chambermaid' conjures images of high-heeled, fishnet-wearing, feather-dusting, mavens of feminine pulchritude; the real story is a perfect example of situational irony. The members of the Swedish Hotel Workers Federation demanded that chambermaids be equipped with alarms, and to work in pairs. Confrontations with overly-excited guests, and cleaning the aftermath of hard-core porn is proving to be problematic for the maids. They feel that hotels should provide clean comfortable rooms, rather than free porn. [What a novel idea; think it'll catch on?] ------------ \"Stinky Tofu\" Violates Environment ------------ HONG KONG - Popular vending snack, \"Stinky Tofu\" was fined $1,538 for violating the rights of others to enjoy clean air. Vendors deep-fry the patties and add yeast to ferment the flavor, but the smell was not appreciated by the neighbors. Ng, who sells this tofu in the Mong Kok shopping center has been convicted on three previous occasions for stinking up the air. She claims to have paid $12,800 on an air-purifying unit, but it was obviously no match for the pungent charms of \"Stinky Tofu.\" ------- Who Said It Doesn't Pay To Be Canadian, Ay? -------- ONTARIO - We don't know whether the Canucks should be happy that they're getting a refund, or embarrassed that their government can't count, but the fact of the matter is that the province of Ontario over-collected taxes last year and its finance minister is giving it back to the taxpayers. An estimated 4.9 million people who paid personal income tax in 1999 will be getting a check of up to $200. [This story will seem bizarre mostly to U.S. readers. Once Uncle Sam gets his hands on a greenback, it's gone.] Classic Bizarre Moments from the Archives *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* An Akron, Ohio man choked to death this week while trying to swallow a live, 5-inch fish on a dare. According to the AP, three unidentified friends had called 911 to say that Michael Gentner had a fish stuck in his throat and was having trouble breathing."}, {"response": 68, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, May  8, 2000 (18:46)", "body": "WHAT AMERICAN CITY BOASTS A MOON WALK? New Orleans. The crescent-shaped promenade along the Mississippi River is named for a former city mayor, Moon Landrieu. WHAT FOUR STATES HAVE ACTIVE VOLCANOES? Alaska, California, Hawaii, and Washington. HOW MANY DEGREES CAN A GREAT HORNED OWL TURN ITS HEAD? 270 degrees. WHICH IS THE LONGEST MUSCLE IN THE HUMAN BODY? The satorius, which runs from the pelvis across the front of the thigh to the top of the tibia below the knee"}, {"response": 69, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, May  8, 2000 (19:16)", "body": "Police in Radnor, Pennsylvania, interrogated a suspect by placing a metal colander on his head and connecting it with wires to a photocopy machine. The message \"He's lying\" was placed in the copier, and the police pressed the copy button each time they thought the suspect wasn't telling the truth. Believing the \"lie detector\" was working, the suspect confessed."}, {"response": 70, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, May  9, 2000 (03:19)", "body": "Rubber bands last longer when refrigerated. Peanuts are one of the ingredients of dynamite. There are 293 ways to make change for a dollar. The average person's left hand does 56% of the typing. A shark is the only fish that can blink with both eyes."}, {"response": 71, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, May  9, 2000 (18:11)", "body": "WHERE IN THE HUMAN BODY IS THE ONLY BONE THAT IS NOT CONNECTED TO ANOTHER BONE? In the throat, at the back of the tongue, It's the horseshoe-shaped hyoid bone, which supports the tongue and its muscles. Also known as the lingual bone, it is suspended by ligaments from the base of the skull. HOW MANY TRUE VOCAL CORDS DOES A NORMAL PERSON HAVE? Two. They are called true (or inferior) vocal cords and are involved in the production of sound. We also have a pair of false (or superior) vocal cords that have no direct role in producing the voice. WHERE ON THE HUMAN FACE IS THERE A MUSCLE KNOWN AS THE CORRUGATOR? On the forehead. Its the muscle that contracts the forehead into wrinkles and pulls the eyebrows together. KATARINA WITT & THE SKATING SUPERSTARS - Was $19.98 NOW $2.98 She has been called one of the most beautiful women in the world and now she has her own video filled with spectacular WHAT IS THE MAIN FOOD OF MOSQUITOES? Nectar from flowers, not your blood. The blood we lose to mosquitoes - females only - is needed for protein to help them lay their eggs."}, {"response": 72, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, May 10, 2000 (01:28)", "body": "i like all these little quips. those wanna-be-a-millionaire folks need to study up here first!"}, {"response": 73, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, May 10, 2000 (02:14)", "body": "Yup! This is my sort of expertise! Little bits of stuff so I know just enough to get into trouble...*grin*"}, {"response": 74, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, May 10, 2000 (19:14)", "body": "--------------- Banana Disobedience in Miami --------------- MIAMI - The media juggernaut of the Elian Gonzalez case rolls on as protestors throw bananas at Miami's City Hall. The bananas are in reference to the old \"Banana Republics\" where allegedly corrupt governments were financed by the agricultural industry. The fruit started showing up Monday. And what are Miami civil servants doing about it? They're taking the fruit home, of course. \"Have any recipes for bananas?\" asked Eileen Damaso, an aide to Commissioner Sanchez. --------------- Exorcism For Prison Inmate ----------------- FORT WORTH - Convinced that he was possessed by demons, a Tarrant County inmate was exorcised by the volunteer chaplain. The 38-year-convict was charged with sexually assaulting a child, and requested the ritual to be performed to rid him of evil spirits. The actual exorcism, complete with chanting, was stopped when it \"became loud and potentially disruptive to the security of the facility.\" The chaplain was asked to leave, and his permit was taken away, but he insisted that it was simply an \"individual religious service.\" ---------- Suicidal Bridge Lampooned On Internet --------- ST. PETERSBURG - Largo resident Mike Straub pushed the depraved envelope of entertainment when he started his \"Skyway Bridge Jumper\" Web site. Surfers with a taste for the dark side can log on and find out how many more will plunge to their demise; last year 11 people jumped. The creator is drawing fire from suicide prevention counselors, and family members of victims claimed by the Skyway Bridge. He argues that the Web site clearly states, \"No matter what you read here, please do not jump off the bridge.\" ---------------- Foot Cult Busted For Fraud ---------------- TOKYO - Arrest warrants were issued to a \"foot\" cult and their disciples who claim to tell the future and practice medicine by examining the soles of people's feet. Located at the base of Mt. Fuji, they charge huge sums of money and claim to heal their clients. Police found children in one of the cult buildings who had been kept from school and fed only once a day. The Aum Shinri Kyo, or truth cult was also responsible for the 1995 nerve gas attack in the Tokyo subway that killed 12 people, and injured thousands. ---------- UPS Driver Gets DUI For Tea Totaling ------------ SAN FRANCISCO - After consuming 8 to 10 cups of kava tea with friends, UPS driver Taufui Piutau was issued a DUI for driving under the influence of kava. This popular herbal supplement is taken in powder form to reduce anxiety or calm stress, but he was drinking it in tea form; not pill. California Highway Patrol officers pulled him over for driving slow and weaving between lanes. He failed a field sobriety test although no alcohol, drugs, or kava were found in his urine. Despite the lack of hard evidence, authorities argue that California's drunk driving law covers any substance that impairs muscles, central nervous system, or the brain that would affect the operation of a motor vehicle. A jury trial is scheduled for June 26. [Yet another way to properly spend those tax dollars. Thanks to George H. for the lead on this story.] Classic Bizarre Moments from the Archives *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* Doctors in Milwaukee tried for seven days to cure a patient's painful hiccups with assorted therapies, including drugs and acupuncture, to no avail. According to the medical journal The Lancet, the man tried some marijuana in hopes of relieving some of the pain. The hiccups abruptly stopped. Drs. Ian Gilson and Mary Busalacchi said that although marijuana is forbidden in the U.S. for therapeutic use, \"the drug should be considered when other treatments against persistent hiccups fail...\" of all the hiccup remedies that don't work, I like this one best."}, {"response": 75, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, May 10, 2000 (19:24)", "body": "A goldfish has a memory span of three seconds. A dime has 118 ridges around the edge. It's impossible to sneeze with your eyes open. The giant squid has the largest eyes in the world. In England, the Speaker of the House is not allowed to speak."}, {"response": 76, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, May 10, 2000 (20:29)", "body": "HOW FAST CAN A SAILFISH SWIM - IN MILES PER HOUR? More than 60 mph, faster than any other known fish. Humans have been recorded swimming up to 5.19 mph. HOW MANY BONES ARE THERE IN THE HUMAN SKULL? 29 - the cranium has 8; the face, 15 (including the lower jaw); the ears, 6. HOW MUCH DOES AN ADULT GIRAFFE'S HEART WEIGH? About 25 pounds. Its 2 feet long, with walls up to 3 inches thick. It has quite a job pumping blood to the brain - which is sometimes 12 feet above the heart. HOW MANY NEWBORN OPOSSUMS CAN FIT IN A TEASPOON? About 24. They're very small - about .07 ounce each - at birth."}, {"response": 77, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, May 11, 2000 (21:46)", "body": "HOW MANY CALORIES DO HIBERNATING BEARS BURN DAILY? About 4,000. HOW MANY TEETH DOES A NORMAL ADULT DOG HAVE? 42 - that's 20 on the upper jaw and 22 on the lower jaw. The adult human has 32, evenly divided between upper jaws and lower jaws. THERE ARE TWO MAIN ATRIA IN THE HUMAN BODY - WHERE ARE THEY? In the heart. They are the two upper chambers (auricles) that receive the blood from the veins and pump it into the two lower chambers (ventricles). WHAT IS A FEMALE RABBIT CALLED? A doe. A male is a buck; a baby, a kit or a kitten. The act of giving birth is known as kindling."}, {"response": 78, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, May 11, 2000 (21:56)", "body": "Tigers have striped skin, not just striped fur. In most advertisements, the time displayed on a watch is 10:10. Al Capone's business card said he was a used furniture dealer. The characters Bert and Ernie on Sesame Street were named after Bert the cop and Ernie the taxi driver in Frank Capra's \"It's a Wonderful Life.\" A dragonfly has a life span of 24 hours."}, {"response": 79, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Fri, May 12, 2000 (12:05)", "body": "Why 10:10? Any reason? Is this a time folks like a lot?"}, {"response": 80, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, May 12, 2000 (17:35)", "body": "It forms a Vee and each hand is easily visible as are the date window and the maker's mark and country of origin (at 12 and 6 o'clock respectively)...that is the only reason I can think of - and more aesthetic than at the 4 and 8 hours. Space Race... During the heat of the space race in the 1960's, the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration decided it needed a ball point pen to write in the zero gravity confines of its space capsules. After considerable research and development, the Astronaut Pen was developed at a cost of about $1 million U.S. The pen worked and also enjoyed some modest success as a novelty item back here on Earth. The Soviet Union, faced with the same problem, used a pencil."}, {"response": 81, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, May 12, 2000 (17:39)", "body": "IF YOU HEAR THUNDER 10 SECONDS AFTER YOU SEE LIGHTNING, HOW FAR AWAY WAS THE LIGHTNING? 2 miles away. Sound travels about a mile in 5 seconds. THE NAME OF WHAT FLOWER MEANS \"FLESHLIKE\"? The carnation, which was named for a rosy pink color developed by artists during the sixteenth century. The first carnations were that color. In Latin, carnis means \"flesh.\" WHAT IS THE LARGEST DEER IN THE WORLD? The Alaska bull moose, which has been known to reach a shoulder height of 7 1/2 feet and a weight of up to 1,800 pounds. IN GEOLOGY, WHAT IS A CALVING? The breaking off or detachment of an iceberg from a glacier that has reached the sea, or the separation of a portion of a floating iceberg."}, {"response": 82, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, May 12, 2000 (18:11)", "body": "Artificial Bladder Scientists at Harvard Medical School have managed to grow artificial bladders that have been successfully implanted into dogs. The technique is fundamentally simple. They start with a few healthy bladder cells and let them divide and grow in an incubator. The new cells are built up in layers over a mold, which is maintained in a chemical and temperature environment similar to that of the body. Once the bladder is built up to full size, it is implanted back into the animal. This system shows great promise for growing organs for humans who currently have to wait for donor transplants."}, {"response": 83, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, May 12, 2000 (22:51)", "body": "Maine is the only state whose name is just one syllable. There are only four words in the English language which end in \"dous\": tremendous, horrendous, stupendous, and hazardous. Los Angeles' full name is \"El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de los Angeles de Porciuncula.\" A cat has 32 muscles in each ear. An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain."}, {"response": 84, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, May 13, 2000 (00:48)", "body": "News of the Weird LEAD STORIES Synergy!: In October, the pharmaceutical division of Japan Tobacco, the world's third-largest cigarette company, bought the rights to lung-cancer vaccines now under development by the U.S. firms Cell Genesys and Corixa. Now under one roof are the cause, treatment and potential prevention of lung cancer. Officials in Suwon, South Korea, showing off their 580 plush public restrooms to reporters in November, hinted that the toilets were one sure way toward greater world respect. \"In this era of globalization,\" said a government cultural official, \"it is important to become the leader in the world in the cleanest bathrooms.\" Toilet seats are heated, violin music plays, and tasteful paintings and flower arrangements adorn the rooms. There are weekly guided tours, and according to the official, some people arrange to meet inside to have tea. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Kinder, Gentler Judiciary Cuckold Jimmy Watkins, 34, got only four months in jail for killing his wife, whom he caught in the act with her lover; the jury accepted his defense of \"sudden passion\" even though he fired one shot, then went out for a few minutes before returning to finish her off (Fort Worth, Texas, October). Michael Nikkanen got only probation for rape, in part so he could keep attending his son's hockey games (Ontario Court of Appeal, October). Karine Gaelle Epailly, 25, got a suspended sentence in the death of her infant daughter, whom she abandoned outside in near-freezing rain (Alexandria, Va., October). ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Continuing Crisis In July, Athens, Greece, dentist Theodoros Vassiliadis was sentenced to four years in prison based on the testimony of seven former patients. Though Vassiliadis termed his techniques \"pioneering,\" the patients described odd-looking dental plates that were inserted with screws that were more than an inch long (allegedly taken from Vassiliadis' television set) and that pierced their sinus cavities. After a $20 million school cutback in Ontario earlier in the year that limited funding for special education, three parents of disabled children wrote Premier Mike Harris offering to donate their kidneys to raise enough money to restore the budget. Bill Webb won the annual Rio Vista (Calif.) Bass Derby in October, and his 33-pound catch was so convincing that derby sponsors declined to call private investigator Charley Johnson, who was on standby to administer lie detector tests in suspicious cases. (Increasingly, fishing contest organizers use at least the threat of the polygraph.) In September, Sheriff Charlie Logan (Pickett County, Tenn.) resigned, telling the public that he needed to fight the charges that he had been having sex with a 15-year-old girl. However, according to some observers, that was a distraction for another charge: The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation was inquiring into whether Logan cheated on his GED (high school equivalency test). (Tennessee sheriffs must be high school graduates.) The Loneliest Number: Randy Phillips graduated from Riverside Christian School in Andalusia, Ill., in May, the only member of his class. (For his senior trip, he invited two juniors along.) And an Associated Press report in August on Granby, Vt. (population 90), noted that the town had only one reported crime the previous year: Someone wrote a farmer a $300 check for six piglets, but it bounced, and no one can find the man. (The same farmer said that earlier in 1999, a woman paid cash for more piglets but shorted him, and that that might be the only crime of 1999, but it won't be counted because he didn't report it.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ People With Too Much Time on Their Hands Celebrity mother Jacqueline Stallone, previously known as a mere astrologer, recently began specializing in \"rumpology,\" the study of a person's character and future, based on the contour of his or her butt. Stallone does not conduct hands-on examinations, but rather gets subjects to sit on sheets of inked paper and make impressions (\"maps\"). The left cheek supposedly indicates natural talents and personality; the right cheek shows reality vs. potential. Medium Suzane Northrop announced that she will lead a week-long, contact-the-dead cruise out of Miami in March, \"NowAge 2000,\" with guests getting free channeling, plus seminars and workshops on psychic powers. Asked about whether the channeling guests will bother the recreational cruisers on board, organizer Cindy Clifford said: \"Tough luck. There are people who go on cruises and wind up with the entire Iowa state bowling league.\" ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Hardy Blind Bruce Edward Hall, 48 and blind, was arrested in December and charged with robbing a First Tennessee Bank in Memphis. Hall had pretended to be a customer and was escorted to a t"}, {"response": 85, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, May 13, 2000 (19:20)", "body": "Bizarre News - http://www.bizarrenews.com +--------------------- Bizarre Books ----------------------+ 1. Mated With A Clown; 1884 2. Our Lady of the Potatoes; 1995 3. The Joy of the Upright Man; 1619 4. My Invisible Friend Explains the Bible; 1971 5. Follow Your Broken Nose; 1950 6. The Great Pantyhose Crafts Book; 1982 7. Pernicious Pork; or, Astounding Revelations of the Evil Effects of Eating Swine Flesh; 1903 8. Thirty-six Reasons for Believing in Everlasting Punishment; 1887 9. 1587. A Year of No Importance; n.p. 10. Life and Laughter 'midst the Cannibals; 1926 *** -------------- Students Paid To Play ----------------------- FULTON, MO. - The Information Age has caused an apparent reversal in the role of higher education. In the dim, dark time before the 1980's colleges were for studying. But now that students are spending so much time on the internet, William Woods University in Fulton says it's offering a $5,000 tuition rebate to freshmen who agree to participate in extra-curricular activities. Academic Vice President Lance Kramer says the program is designed to make sure students don't lose the ability to deal with real people. [When have kids ever had the ability to deal with people?] -------------- Press 7 To Talk To A Counselor -------------- This week's record jackpot of $366 million has spurred many people to spend more money than they can afford on the astronomically slim chance of cashing in. Because of this trend lottery officials have been cautioning people to play responsibly. Part of this effort includes an 800 help line for compulsive gamblers that appears on the back of lottery tickets. When you call the number a voice prompt gives you six options including: winning lottery numbers, jackpot amounts and lottery subscriptions. It's option number seven that connects you to a compulsive gambling counselor. [Which makes perfect sense. How can the counselors help you unless you become a compulsive gambler first? Thanks to Sandy B. for pointing out this story.] ---------- Tobacconist Makes $4.1 Million Mistake ---------- AMSTERDAM - If its true that you should learn from your mistakes; this was the one to make. The owner of a Dutch tobacco shop accidentally printed up extra lottery tickets. Dutch policy states that any extra tickets must be purchased by the ticket agent. Usually printing happens after the customer has ordered them to avoid being left with remainders. According to law, the merchant purchased the tickets and \"accidentally\" won 10 million guilders ($4.1 million in U.S. currency). ------ Forward This Legislation To Ten Of Your Friends ------ WASHINGTON, D.C. - If you thought lobbyists, political action committees and curvy White House interns were the only things to sway Washington politics, think again. A recent internet rumor about an email tax has spurred Congressman Fred Upton to propose new legislation. Upton's bill is designed to prevent the FCC from ever imposing an email tax. \"The Federal Communications Commission has no plans to impose any such tax at the present,\" said Upton, \"but I am troubled by the fact that there is nothing to prevent them from doing so later.\" [Nobody's making fun of Congress safe-guarding the freedom of the internet. I just think it's amusing that they have to.] ------- Another Reason Not to Tamper With The Mail --------- MORGANTOWN, WV. - Of all the things to put in the mail, an animal shelter in Arlington, Virginia recently received a large package containing two 10-foot pythons. The package was mailed from a downtown post office with a fake return address. Apparently no one ever gave the box a good shake, because it was delivered without incident. The snakes are reported in stable condition, and so is the woman who opened the box. Classic Bizarre Moments from the Archives *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* A British government agency has issued a health warning this week: don't buy sperm on the internet. The Human Fertility and Embryology Authority warns that there is no way of ensuring that the sperm is of good enough quality... I guess it's just the same old candy and flowers again this year... For more Classic Bizarre, visit us at: Click Here"}, {"response": 86, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, May 15, 2000 (16:43)", "body": "TODAY'S TOP STORIES Hominids in Europe Pre-humans go out of Africa. ABCNEWS.com http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/science/DailyNews/hominid_caucasus000512.html Rise in drug cocktails for children Why can't Johnny do math? This may answer that question. BBC News http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/health/newsid_746000/746455.stm Shopping For Surgery Online Hey, how much for an appendectomy? How about an organ transplant? CBS News http://cbsnews.cbs.com/now/story/0,1597,194850-412,00.shtml Salem residents upset by proposed hearse tour of infamous spots It's called the Mass Hysteria Haunted Hearse tour. CNN Interactive http://www.cnn.com/2000/US/05/13/hearse.controversy.ap/index.html Cattle, for hire: FW herd can charge for appearances Are you a long-horned steer looking for part-time work? Dallas Morning News http://dallasnews.com/metro/78561_herd_12met.ART.html Through the Looking Glass Will big mirrors keep people from jumping in front of trains in Japan? FOX News http://www.foxnews.com/etcetera/051400/mirror.sml Beach Closed by Sewage Spill Ah, the smell of the beach in the morning! Los Angeles Times http://www.latimes.com/news/state/20000514/t000045585.html Woman Sues Jack Nicholson for Assault Yet another use for the little black dress. Mr. Showbiz http://mrshowbiz.go.com/news/Todays_Stories/512/nicholsonassault051200.html The Plague of New Orleans, With Jaws of Steel, Swarming in the Streets What's the perfect addition to your New Orleans decor? Termite baits. New York Times - free registration required http://www.nytimes.com/library/national/science/051400sci-animal-termite.html Fossil gives clues into T. rex's behavior Talk about a keen sense of smell! USA Today http://www.usatoday.com/news/ndssun01.htm"}, {"response": 87, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, May 15, 2000 (19:16)", "body": "THE SPIES DRIVE NICER CARS An FBI official says at least two foreign intelligence officers acting as media correspondents are currently working in the State Department's second floor pressroom enabling them to wander throughout the building. And Section Chief Timothy Bereznay told the House International Relations Committee Thursday that the FBI has been aware of the situation for some time. He said if asked, \"the FBI would be willing to identify to the State Department permanent media badge holders identified as hostile intelligence officers so that their access could be restricted or their visits monitored.\" It's not immediately clear why the information had not previously been disclosed to the State Department. Sources however suggested that the FBI is simply trying to embarrass the State Department into improving its security. At a news conference, Secretary of State Albright joked about Bereznay's remarks. \"If any of you are (spies), please identify yourselves,\" she quipped. According to the Department, a total of 467 press passes have been issued to journalists -- 56 of them to foreign news organizations. While pass holders are allowed to visit the first and second floors of the building, there are no barriers to stop them if they wanted to access any other floor. BUT THEY STILL HAVE LOTS OF BLACK BERETS After almost 10 years of sanctions and two major wars, the Iraqi military is just half the size it was in 1990 when it invaded Kuwait. That's according to a new report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Its author, Anthony Cordesman, says Saddam Hussein would need to spend up to $20 billion to rebuild his force. But he says even with major infusions of cash and weapons, it is unlikely Iraq's military would dramatically improve. Nevertheless, Iraq still has the second largest military in the Middle East, and boasts the most tanks and second-most combat aircraft in the region."}, {"response": 88, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, May 16, 2000 (00:43)", "body": "Second Fatal Accident Halts Adventure Firm ZURICH (Reuters) - A Swiss outdoor adventure company has halted operations after an American died in a bungee jumping outing it organized over the weekend the second fatal accident linked to the company in less than a year. Adventure World owner Georg Hoedle said the company had suspended all activity while police probed why the 22-year-old American hit the ground at full speed Saturday when jumping from a cable car near the Schilthorn peak in central Switzerland. ``We don't know much. The authorities are still investigating the circumstances,'' Hoedle told the Sonntags Zeitung Sunday newspaper. He declined to comment on speculation the jumper might have been using an elastic rope that was too long for the 100-meter (yard) plunge from a cable car suspended over a parking lot. He acknowledged the cable car was carrying two ropes one for the 100-meter jump and other for an 180-meter jump. But he said they were different colors and clearly marked to prevent mixing them up. Adventure World also organized a disastrous whitewater canyoning expedition last July in which 21 people drowned. A flash flood surprised the victims as they made their way down a narrow gorge near Interlaken in the Bernese Alps. Prosecutors are still weighing whether to charge company officials with criminal negligence for the deaths. Hoedle said he could not explain why the company had been linked to two such tragedies in such a short time. ``We went over our safety guidelines painstakingly after the Saxetenbach (canyoning) accident. Every staff member is safety conscious right down to his fingertips. And now this. I cannot imagine it. It is crazy.''"}, {"response": 89, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, May 16, 2000 (00:56)", "body": "Chopper Fires Rockets Into Home MOSCOW (Reuters) - A woman in southern Russia was injured when a Chechnya-bound helicopter plunged into woods near her home and accidentally fired rockets into her apartment as it went down, the emergencies ministry said Monday. All 15 men on board the craft were also hurt when it fell to the ground shortly after take-off Sunday morning in the town of Nalchik, west of the rebel province. Nobody was killed. The helicopter ripped through electric cables as it fell, and the electric current caused its rockets to launch into a five-story military apartment building nearby, a ministry spokesman in Moscow said by telephone. Russia's NTV television said residents in the apartment block were lucky that the helicopter crashed too close for the missiles to gain enough speed to demolish the building completely. Russia's military also reported a separate low-altitude helicopter crash in a mountainous region of Chechnya itself on Sunday, but said nobody was seriously hurt in the incident. Russia has been battling pro-independence rebels in mainly-Muslim Chechnya since last October."}, {"response": 90, "author": "Ann", "date": "Tue, May 16, 2000 (14:29)", "body": "From the New York Times: Left-Handed Royals and Other Sinister Facts \u2022About 90 percent of people are right-handed. Most of the rest are distinctly left-handed, though some are ambidextrous to one degree or another. \u2022When both parents are right-handed, 92 percent of their children are. When one parent is left-handed, about 80 percent of the children are right-handed. When both parents are left-handed, about half their children are right-handed. \u2022Left-handedness runs in families. In the British royal family, for example, the Queen Mother, Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Charles and Prince William are all left-handed. \u2022Males are somewhat more likely than females to be left-handed. There is some evidence that the children of left-handed mothers and right-handed fathers are more likely to be left-handed than are the children of right-handed mothers and left-handed fathers. \u2022In a striking 18 percent of identical twins, products of the same egg with exactly the same genetic makeup, one twin is right-handed and the other left-handed. There also seems to be a higher proportion of fraternal twins with different handedness than is the case with other siblings. \u2022The left hemisphere of the brain controls the motor coordination of right-handed people, and the right hemisphere controls it in lefties. In almost all instances, the speech and language of right-handed people are controlled by the left side of their brain. But in left-handed people, the right hemisphere controls speech and language in at least 30 percent of the cases. \u2022A much larger percentage of young people than old people are left-handed. This may be, as one researcher suggests, because lefties die earlier. Or it may be because in an earlier time, natural lefties were taught to write and perform other tasks with their right hands and now think of themselves as right-handed. \u2022A disproportionate number of lefties seem to be geniuses (Einstein), artists (Leonardo, Michelangelo, Picasso) and athletes (Babe Ruth). A disproportionate number also seem to be criminals (Jack the Ripper, Billy the Kid). \u2022Except for Jimmy Carter, every president for the last quarter-century has been left-handed. There is no question about Gerald R. Ford, George Bush or Bill Clinton. Ronald Reagan writes and eats with his right hand. But Edmund Morris, the Reagan biographer, has little doubt that Mr. Reagan is a natural lefty who is one of those who were trained to use their right hands. In the movies, Mr. Morris says, Mr. Reagan always twirled and shot pistols with his left hand, and as president, he always waved with his left hand. The presidential string is about to be broken. Vice President Al Gore and Gov. George W. Bush are both right-handed."}, {"response": 91, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, May 16, 2000 (20:54)", "body": "No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver, or purple. \"Dreamt\" is the only English word that ends in the letters \"mt\". All 50 states are listed across the top of the Lincoln Memorial on the back of the $5 bill. Almonds are a member of the peach family. Winston Churchill was born in a ladies' room during a dance."}, {"response": 92, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, May 16, 2000 (20:57)", "body": "WHAT ANIMAL HAS THE LARGEST EYES - EACH A FOOT OR MORE IN DIAMETER? The giant squid. The largest creature without a backbone, it weighs up to 2.5 tons and grows up to 55 feet long. WHAT ELEMENT IS NAMED AFTER A STATE? Californium, first produced in 1950 by scientists at the University of California at Berkley. WHAT IS UNIQUE ABOUT THE FOOD-CATCHING TECHNIQUE OF THE ANHINGA - ALSO KNOWN AS THE SNAKEBIRD, DARTER OR WATER TURKEY? It spears fish with its long, straight, sharp bill - the only bird to do so. It has extra cervical vertebrae, which enable it to coil its neck and then release it with viper-like speed. HOW FAST CAN AN OSTRICH RUN? About 40 miles per hour - taking strides of 12 to 15 feet."}, {"response": 93, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, May 16, 2000 (21:25)", "body": "No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver, or purple. \"Dreamt\" is the only English word that ends in the letters \"mt\". All 50 states are listed across the top of the Lincoln Memorial on the back of the $5 bill. Almonds are a member of the peach family. Winston Churchill was born in a ladies' room during a dance."}, {"response": 94, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, May 16, 2000 (21:30)", "body": "Ann, Interesting about left-handedness. Both my father and his brother were ambidextrous and could write equally well with either hand! All children were right-handed, as I recall - their wives were, also."}, {"response": 95, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, May 17, 2000 (01:37)", "body": "Dumb Law -- Get Out! But Leave Your Blouse! In Michigan, a man has legal possession of his wife's clothes. If she decides to leave him, she must relinquish her clothes to him, even what she is wearing!"}, {"response": 96, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, May 18, 2000 (01:26)", "body": "HOW MANY ICEBERGS ARE THERE IN THE WORLD? Approximately 320,000. WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE SHAMROCK, THE EMBLEM OF IRELAND? According to legend, St. Patrick chose the three-leaflet plants as the symbol of the Trinity. He is said to have used it to drive the snakes of Ireland into the sea. The word shamrock is derived from the Irish seamrog, meaning \"trefoil.\" WHAT IS A DIADROMOUS FISH? A fish - such as salmon or sturgeon - that can exist in both salt water and fresh water. HOW MANY AVERAGE-SIZE HOUSES CAN YOU MAKE FROM ONE GIANT SEQUOIA - THE BIGGEST LIVING THING ON EARTH TODAY? Fifty. The sequoia often extends 300 feet in height and 25 feet in diameter. Its seed weighs only 1/6000 ounce."}, {"response": 97, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, May 18, 2000 (01:36)", "body": "In Virginia, a man may curse and/or abuse his wife, provided he does it in a low voice."}, {"response": 98, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, May 18, 2000 (01:54)", "body": "Sydney thieves steal deadly spiders, spark scare SYDNEY, Australia (Reuters) -- Thieves broke into a Sydney pet shop and stole 20 giant bird-eating spiders and 20 scorpions, police said on Tuesday, warning residents to avoid the potentially lethal arachnids. The thieves also stole 150 hermit crabs during a break-in late on Monday. \"The owner of the store regards these spiders as one of the most dangerous in the world as their venom has a rapid effect on the human central nervous system, causing victims to lapse into coma and even death,\" police inspector David Hudson said in a statement. \"These animals are very hard to miss as they resemble a tarantula ... with nine millimeter (0.35 inch) long fangs,\" Hudson said. Stephen Weeks, owner of the Urban Animals Pet Centre from where the spiders -- Selenecosmia sterling -- were stolen, said he did not sell the spiders for pets but kept them for display mounting. He appealed to the thieves for their return. \"I don't care if they get left in a box on the back step ... I just want them back,\" Weeks told reporters. Giant bird-eating spiders are found in Australia's north and west and are closely related to species found in Papua New Guinea, South America and elsewhere. They have bodies up to 6 centimeters (2.4 inches) long and have a leg span of about 160 millimeters. The spiders have been the target of animal smugglers in Australia and Mexico and are kept by collectors of exotic pets. Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved."}, {"response": 99, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, May 18, 2000 (01:56)", "body": "Why is something genuine called \"the Real McCoy?\" The \"real\" McCoy is most likely a person named Kid McCoy. Kid McCoy was the world welterweight boxing champion from 1890 to 1900. McCoy was such a popular fighter that other, lesser-known fighters traveling the small-town boxing circuit claimed to be Kid McCoy in order to draw crowds and increase the size of the gate revenue. The problem of imitators became so problematic that McCOy began calling himself as Kid \"The Real\" McCoy."}, {"response": 100, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, May 18, 2000 (05:16)", "body": "Dumb Law -- Bull Fighting? In Washington, D.C., it is not lawful to punch a bull in the nose."}, {"response": 101, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, May 18, 2000 (23:38)", "body": "There are more chickens than people in the world. Two-thirds of the world's eggplant is grown in New Jersey. The longest one-syllable word in the English language is \"screeched.\" On a Canadian two dollar bill, the flag flying over the Parliament building is an American flag. All of the clocks in the movie \"Pulp Fiction\" are stuck on 4:20."}, {"response": 102, "author": "CherylB", "date": "Thu, May 18, 2000 (23:52)", "body": "New Jersey is the eggplant capital of the world? Well, it is the garden state. I think New Jersey is also noted for its tomatoes. Both eggplants and tomatoes are related to deadly nightshade, so are potatoes. Do they grow potatoes in New Jersey?"}, {"response": 103, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, May 19, 2000 (00:16)", "body": "Here I thought they were saying The Garbage State... Not much in the way of potatoes commercially. Long Island (New York) is the best. Lots of good stuff grows in the sandy soil of south Jersey - I was born there and their tomatoes and cantaloupes are wonderful. *hunger pangs raging inside*"}, {"response": 104, "author": "CherylB", "date": "Fri, May 19, 2000 (20:47)", "body": "What is it New Yorkers say? I know, it is that if you go to the top of the RCA Building, you can smell New Jersey. South Jersey has pretty much an identity of its own, much like Western Pennsylvania. In both cases in sometimes seems as if these fragments would prefer to seperate from their other halves, and form their own state."}, {"response": 105, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, May 19, 2000 (21:14)", "body": "That is true! The northwest of Jersey is lovely, but the northeast has all the chemical plants and the entire place stinks! Oh well, they had to build them someplace..."}, {"response": 106, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, May 20, 2000 (00:11)", "body": "WHAT CREATURE PRODUCES SPERM THAT ARE 2/3 INCH LONG - THE LONGEST IN THE WORLD? Some fruit flies of the genus Drosophilia. Their sperm, more than 300 times longer than human sperm, are six times longer than the fly itself - but hair thin and are balled up. HOW MANY TIMES PER SECOND DOES A MOSQUITO BEAT ITS WINGS? Up to 600. HOW MANY CONSTELLATIONS ARE THERE? 100,000. HOW MUCH HORSEPOWER DOES THE TYPICAL HORSE PROVIDE? About 24. Horsepower is the power needed to lift 33,000 pounds 1 foot in a minute. Scientists came up with the 24 horsepower figure based on a horse weighing about 1,320 pounds."}, {"response": 107, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, May 21, 2000 (00:20)", "body": "Bizarre News for May 20, 2000 +------------------- Bizarre Lawyers ----------------------+ A former insurance official in Kansas hurt himself trying to life his briefcase from his car trunk. Even though he missed no work or even a golf game on account of the injury, he was awarded $95,000 because of the work-related injury. A law firm in New Orleans routinely billed four hours of work for letters that were only one sentence in length. a Chicago lawyer charged $25,000 for \"ground transportation\" while on business in San Francisco. A Kansas lawyer received close to $35,000 in workman's compensation because he hurt his shoulder reaching into the backseat of the car for his briefcase. A lawyer while working on a government contract, wrote a definition of the words \"and/or\" that was over 300 words in length. ---------------- Scientists Unleash \"The Spoat\" ------------- CANADA - Biotechnicians have created a new genetic miracle by implanting spider genes into goats. The result? Goats who produce milk with silky fibers fine enough and strong enough to be utilized as surgical sutures. Jeffrey Turner, the scientist who perfected the procedure, reported, \"We have combined the old and the new. The old is represented by the goats and their milk...the new is genetic engineering.\" Other potential uses for the stringy lactose could be as a replacment for Kevlar, to cover dome stadiums or even applications in the aerospace industry. [Why goats? Why not chickens? Then you could have eight drums sticks per bird.] ----- Man Brings Stock Meeting To Close With Grenade ------ HOUSTON, TX - A former employee of R&B Falcon Corp. brought a shareholder meeting to a screaming halt when he began waving around a hand grenade. 72-year-old Andre Piazza regularly attends the oil drilling contractor's annual meetings and unfortunately the other stockholders have grown accustomed to listen to him argue with Chairman Paul Lloyd about the company's finances. After being asked to save his comments until later Piazza produced out his grenade and pulled the pin. About 60 fat cats b-lined for the exit and Piazza was overpowered in the rush. Bomb squad officers said the grenade was inert and could not have exploded. [The only way this story could be any better is if Piazza had said, \"Excuse me while I whip this out.\"] -------- Baseball Players Take Lives Into Own Hands -------- CHICAGO, IL - Those Angolinos are tougher than I thought. A fight broke out at Chicago's Wrigley Field during Tuesday's Cubs-Dodgers game. Trouble started in the bottom of the ninth when a fan allegedly hit Dodgers catcher Chad Kreuter in the back of the head. The bizarre part occurred when several Los Angeles players climbed into the stands looking for the perpetrators. This was no Pellegrino sipping L.A. crowd, this was thousands of Chicagoans hopped up on beer and bratwursts. No lives were lost, however, and play resumed after a minimum of order was restored. -------------- Mr. Potato Head; Abducted ----------------- PROVIDENCE, RI - Poor Mr. Potato Head has suffered through yet another grizzly abduction. The 6-foot-tall, 136-pound spud sculpture was gracing the front of The Providence Journal building when witnesses saw two men loading it onto a truck. This statue is one of many placed around the city by the office of tourism proclaiming Rhode Island as the \"Birthplace Of Fun.\" The note left behind simply said, \"Don't worry, you'll get him back.\" Our starchy friend was later found on the Brown University campus covered with fake news articles about his theft. Similar crimes include vandalism, and a cold-hearted dismemberment. ------------------ Practice Makes Perfect ------------------ NEW ORLEANS - Trying to improve your driving skills? Carlton Jackson was accused of stealing truck cabs in order to improve his truck driving skills; not for the money. He would deftly unhitch the trailers from the cabs, then drive the rigs around for a couple of days before he would abandon them a few blocks from his New Orleans residence. Detectives first found the trailers with all cargo in tact before tracking down the 10 or more cabs near his home. After searching his home, they did indeed find several applications for local driving schools. [Sign reads: Caution Student Driver/Thief At The Wheel.] --------------- Saved Suicide Sap Sues -------------------- LIMA, Peru - Even though suicide is illegal in the country of Peru, this did not stop Juan Aliago from suing three policemen who saved his life. It seems that Aliago really wanted to do the act and was miffed that these dutiful policemen pulled him off a ledge. Instead of trying to his attempts at suicide, he decided to take his anger out on the rescuers and is suing for the equivalent of $700,000. Classic Bizarre Moments from the Archives *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* A cooking show in England has promised a nasty surprise in an upcoming \"TV Dinners\" episode-- placenta pate. An unnamed family invited 20 of their closest friends an"}, {"response": 108, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, May 22, 2000 (20:36)", "body": "WHAT IS THE WORLD'S TALLEST GRASS, WHICH SOMETIMES GROWS 130 FEET OR MORE? Bamboo. WHAT WAS THE NAME FOR THE FIRST COMPUTER USED FOR WEATHER RESEARCH? MANIAC - an acronym for Mathematical Analyzer, Numerical Integrator and Computer. WHAT TEMPERATURE DO HONEYBEES MAINTAIN THERE HIVES YEAR-ROUND? An even 94 degrees Fahrenheit. WHAT COLOR IS THE BLOOD OF AN OCTOPUS? Pale bluish-green."}, {"response": 109, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, May 24, 2000 (23:30)", "body": "BIZARRE NEWS OF THE WEEK -------------- Moon Nearly Nuked In Cold War -------------- The Pentagon: It has been revealed that a secret U.S. project in the 1950's called for detonating an atom bomb on the moon as a demonstration of the nation's Cold War might. The project was never carried out. But the planning included calculations by astronomer Carl Sagan - then a young graduate student. Officials believed that viewing the nuclear flash from Earth might have intimidated the Soviets and boosted Americans' confidence. A missile was to carry a small nuclear device and launched toward the moon, where it would be detonated upon impact. Officials apparently abandoned the idea because of the danger to people on Earth in case of a failure. [Thanks Harold for putting us on to this story in Air Force Times. Bizarre knows no bounds...] --------------- Just Call Him Bishop Naughty --------------- NEW YORK - Here's an award-winning career change; from bishop to cybersex writer. John Shelby Spong, former leader of the Diocese of New Jersey will be writing a new monthly column that will address issues of sexuality and how they relate to religion. \"It's an attempt to discuss sexuality in a serious way... some people are treating this as some sort of salacious thing,\" remarked Spong. His new site ThePosition.com is being set up by former Penthouse editor, Jack Heidenry where the first issue questions if the Ten Commandments are biased against women. [Hey, its all in the name in higher spirituality right?] ---------------- Robber \"Picked\" By Victims ---------------- MEXICO CITY - Passengers on a Mexico City bus rallied together against their would-be robber, and killed him with his own ice pick. The robber/victim boarded a downtown bus, took out his weapon, and demanded cash from the other 20 passengers. They quickly obliged his request by taking his ice pick away; then they stabbed him to death ending his crime spree. Mexico City has a reputation for rampant street crimes where the victims take justice into their own hands. [It could have been worse; he could have used a melon-baller.] ------------------ Sweaty Swedish Succeed ------------------ STOCKHOLM - If you thought professional wrestling skimmed the surface of legitimate sporting events; you have to witness the Swedish national sauna championships. This grueling event requires men and women to outlast each other in a 212 degree Fahrenheit steam bath. The new women's champion Hilkka Loimi had a profound reflection about her victory, \"It was hot.\" Her sweltering success took an entire four minutes and 28 seconds following closely behind the men's title time of five minutes and 10 seconds. [Who knew that sitting and sweating was a legitimate sport?] ------------------- Hemp Discrimination -------------------- The government agency that runs Boston's public transportation network is being sued in federal court for rejecting three advertisements from a group that wants police to stop arresting people who smoke marijuana. A spokesman for \"Change the Climate\" complained that the MBTA routinely carries government-produced anti-drug ads - and these infringe upon their rights. The lawsuit - filed on behalf of the group by the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts - alleges the MBTA is ignoring federal court rulings that prohibit it from rejecting ads whose point of view it disagrees with. MBTA spokesman Brian Pedro, however, said the transit agency has the right to turn down ads it deems offensive or contains \"promotional material that is harmful to juveniles.\" He added that the MBTA also doesn't allow tobacco ads on its trains, buses or subway stations. [Change the Climate should join with Act Up just for grins.] ------------ Doctor Blows House To Kingdom Come ------------ MASSACHUSETTS - Dr. William Moore of Boxford, Mass. was doing a little home improvement with a rented backhoe in his yard when he noticed a strong smell of natural gas. He called the gas company to report it, but before they could send anyone out the good doctor called back to tell them not to bother. His house was gone. The explosion and resulting fire completely consumed his five-bedroom, half-million dollar home. [We can only pray that Dr. Moore is better with a knife than he is with a backhoe.] Classic Bizarre Moments from the Archives *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* Alberto J. Vasquez did pretty well when donned a mask and robbed a Dunkin' Doughnuts last week. He and a friend made off with over $1400. But he did some dumb stuff too. Alberto used to work at this same Dunkin' Doughnuts, and an employee thought he recognized Alberto's voice during the robbery. He was even more certain when Alberto's accomplice called him by his nickname \"A.J.\" Police then followed a trail of coins and footprints leading directly to his apartment building, two doors down from the shop... you have the right to remain stupid..."}, {"response": 110, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, May 25, 2000 (17:37)", "body": "WHAT POPULAR TREAT DID 11-YEAR-OLD FRANK EPPERSON ACCIDENTALLY INVENT IN 1905 AND PATENT IN 1924? The Popsicle, which he originally marketed as the Epsicle. Epperson inadvertently made the first one when he left a glass of lemonade with a spoon in it on a windowsill - and it froze overnight. IN WHAT DIRECTION DOES THE JET-STREAM FLOW? From west to east. HOW DID THE HORSE CHESTNUT TREE GET ITS NAME? From the early use of its chestnuts as a medicine for horses. WHY ARE MERCURY AND VENUS KNOWN AS INFERIOR PLANETS? Their orbits are closer to the sun than Earth's orbit. Planets orbiting the sun beyond Earth are referred to as superior planets."}, {"response": 111, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, May 25, 2000 (20:15)", "body": "News of the Weird * In April, Japan's ultra-serious Seibotu Raiders easily beat a more relaxed European team in the finals of the Kemijarvi international snowball championship in Finland, and afterward, several Japanese players urged Winter Olympics officials to recognize their sport. (Teams start with seven players and 270 snowballs on a field just larger than a tennis court, with some protective barriers; a direct hit eliminates a player, and the first team to seize the other's goal flag wins.) * Punch-Drunk From Litigation: The Brown & Williamson Tobacco company recently added another quixotic 800-number telephone message, this time featuring a male chorus serenading callers with \"Oooh, the tobacco plant is a lovely plant / Its leaves so broad and green / But you shouldn't think about the tobacco plant / If you're still a teen.\" A 1999 message featured a sexy male voice intoning, \"Brown & Williamson Tobacco is in love. We're a giant corporation, and you make us feel like a little kitten.\" \"Thank you, lover.\" ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Active Seniors At a January hearing in LaCrosse, Wis., child-molester Ellef J. Ellefson, 95, was ordered to remain confined beyond his sentence because experts said he was still incorrigible. Mr. Deo Dubbs, 88, was sentenced to probation-only in April in Sarasota, Fla., for buying crack cocaine, which he said gives him \"pep.\" In April, first-time arrestee Ruth A. Goelz, 81, was charged in Hollywood, Fla., with running a $200,000 Ponzi scheme. Retiree Charles John Swanson, 71, was arrested in January for two armed bank robberies, allegedly committed because he was having trouble affording his rent in Palo Alto, Calif. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Cultural Diversity * Camel Mania: A January New York Times report from Selcuk, Turkey, described the massively popular sport of camel-fighting (in which one-ton camels in mating season simply push against each other until one falls over), which brings fame to the winning owner. And in a March New York Times profile, well-to-do Istanbul builder Ethem Erkoc revealed that he has constructed 10 swimming pools for Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, who permits his favorite camels to frolic in them. * Henk Otte, 43, lives most of the year as an unemployed construction worker in an Amsterdam, Netherlands, housing project, but he is also the chief of about 40 villages (100,000 people) in a region of Ghana about 45 miles from the capital of Accra. According to a January Associated Press dispatch, Otte was visiting with his Ghanan-born wife in 1995 when suddenly natives concluded he was their reincarnated king. At that time, Otte's reaction was that the villagers were \"insane,\" but now says that being king \"is my destiny.\" * The Hanoi (Vietnam) Institute of Social Sciences reported in February that many men, fearful toward the end of the lunar new year, had apparently turned to sex with pregnant prostitutes as a way of releasing evil spirits. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Well, Sure! * Male Stereotypes Come to Life: In January, Quebec researcher Jim Pfaus told the Montreal Gazette that the rat is the \"ultimate example\" of the male mammal always on the lookout to copulate with new females and that when given alcohol, male rats notoriously re-attempt sex with females who had just rejected them. And schoolbus driver Alexandre Belvu, 31, was arrested in Brooklyn, N.Y., in January for taking three kids on a ride that lasted eight hours because he couldn't find their school and apparently would not stop to ask directions. * Unfair Ethnic Stereotypes Come to Life: In March, police chasing an escaped circus tiger in a suburb of Warsaw, Poland, accidentally shot and killed the veterinarian trying to tranquilize it. And according to a February New York Times story, the textile company Francital has developed a fabric specially treated to absorb perspiration and body odors for people who can't bathe for up to 30 days at a time; the company is headquartered in France. * Jose Chavarria, 37, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in Adel, Iowa, in February. He had killed his friend Jorge Villalobos only minutes after lamenting to friends that a psychic had told him that Villalobos was planning to kill him first. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Well-Put Sang Lee, the owner of a custom slaughterhouse near Minneapolis-St. Paul that serves the Hmong-American community (and speaking to a St. Paul Pioneer Press reporter in January concerning complaints about heavy slaughterhouse traffic): \"We (Hmongs, natives of Laos and Thailand) have a complex culture, and we have to sacrifice animals a lot.\" ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Learning to Kill Before They Learn to Shave In February, an 8-year-old boy, coming to his mother's aid, stabbed her abusive boyf"}, {"response": 112, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, May 26, 2000 (04:17)", "body": "Moose Muggings Plague Toronto TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's largest city is mounting a special patrol of police and parks officials to protect its downtown ``moose'' from more attacks by big-game vandals. The fiberglass, life-size moose, installed around Toronto as part of its Moose in the City promotion, have become the targets of vandals and graffiti attacks. Local companies bought the moose to help raise charity funds and boost tourism. Since they appeared, several have had their antlers torn off. That's outraged Toronto mayor Mel Lastman, who denounced the vandals as ``irresponsible'' and ``stupid'' and announced on Tuesday the creation of the special patrol, as well as a 24-hour hotline for citizens to call if they see any more moose muggings. ``These (moose sculptures) are done by Toronto's finest artists,'' the mayor said. Five of the 28 moose so far exhibited in Toronto streets were vandalized. One, purchased by the Canadian Red Cross, had its companion, a fiberglass beaver, kidnapped. But the moose in the heart of the city's financial district was got the worst treatment. Its antlers were ripped off four times in the last month, said its creator Michale Payeur, who suspects the mischief was committed by party-goers coming out of downtown night clubs or dejected hockey fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs. ``The first couple of times, I really just thought it was because the antlers were not strong enough and people were not doing it deliberately, but that they were just trying to lift themselves on top of the moose,'' he told Reuters. Companies can buy a moose sculpture for C$6,500 ($4,300). Mayor Lastman personally launched the Moose in the City promotion last February, aiming to attract about 2 million tourists to Toronto this summer. It was inspired by last year's Chicago Cow Parade, which was credited with attracting about 2 million tourists and boosting the local economy by about $200 million. About 300 moose are expected to be around Toronto streets until October."}, {"response": 113, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, May 26, 2000 (19:13)", "body": "Oh, The Time To Paint Those Nails Anne Boleyn had six fingernails on one hand, even though there were only five fingers on that hand. She had a small extra fingernail coming out of the side of her little finger. Some early accounts claimed that she actually had six fingers, although this was later corrected by George Wyatt to be the extra fingernail, rather than a whole finger. Some still disbelieve this tale, while others claim it to be true. (I thought she was reputed to have extra other things, as well...)"}, {"response": 114, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, May 27, 2000 (01:48)", "body": "Vampire Fans on the Track of Drac POIANA BRASOV, Romania (Reuters) - Six hundred years after he earned the nickname ``Vlad the Impaler'' for disposing of victims on stakes, the warrior who inspired Bram Stoker's horror novel Dracula still has bite. Scholars, artists and fans from around the globe gathered in Romania Thursday for the Second World Dracula Congress, four days of lectures and debate on the blood-sucking legend. Time not consumed by academic pursuits was to be devoted to vampire-oriented entertainment, local wine (red) and repeated exposure to garlic, a feature of Transylvanian cuisine despite its alleged efficacy as a vampire repellent. The inspiration for Dracula was Vlad Tepes, the son of Vlad Dracul, a humble guard commander who was made ruler of Wallachia for fighting against the Turks, before he was murdered. Blood-curdling local legends about his son, who reclaimed the throne after a rebellion, helped inspire the Irish novelist Stoker's 1897 novel, as well as more than 180 films and other undead entertainments. ``Romania is the spiritual home for people interested in ghosts, vampires and the paranormal,'' said Alan Murdie, head of Britain's Ghost Club, as the event got under way in a dim, communist-era conference hall in this Transylvanian resort in forested mountains 105 miles north of Bucharest. Screenings of Gothic horror classics also are on the menu, and the launch of the latest learned book of the genre ''Dracula: Sense and Nonsense,'' by Elizabeth Miller of Newfoundland, Canada. ``I would like to bring DVD (digital-videodisc technology) and the Gothic together,'' said Paul Whiffen, from the British island Guernsey, who is developing a version of British author Sheridan Le Fanu's 19th century Gothic thriller Carmilla using the technology. Whiffen's DVD project, called ``Daughters of Darkness,'' stars two buxom blond British models and mixes rock music with the voices of Bulgarian women singers. Another event at the congress will be an evening session with Ingrid Pitt, a famed star of British Hammer horror thrillers, who will screen her cult classic ``Vampire Lovers.'' Pitt, hidden behind dark sunglasses, said her next project was a ``Dracula turns vegetarian'' movie. The film is in the pipeline, she says, mysteriously declining to disclose any details. Local organizers from the Transylvanian Society of Dracula (TSD) are trying to use the Dracula legend to draw tourists to Romania. But their efforts have been thwarted so far by three years of economic recession, which show in potholed roads and a still predominantly state-owned tourist infrastructure, badly in need of major capital investments. ``Dracula is a Western myth, and we want to put its magic to work here in Transylvania,'' said TSD president and conference host Nicolae Paduraru. His society organizes tours of Transylvania for Dracula aficionados and sells fiery local spirits, such as The House of Dracula plum brandy, or Alucard Dracula backward -- another brandy, at $2 per flask as souvenirs. Souvenir hunters at the conference also could take home palm-sized wooden coffins, certified to contain particles of earth from under Castle Dracula in Transylvania."}, {"response": 115, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, May 30, 2000 (18:14)", "body": "BIZARRE NEWS +---------------------- Bizarre Laws ----------------------+ Arizona 1. Cars may not be driven in reverse. 2. Cards may not be played in the street with a Native American. 3. Hunting camels is prohibited. 4. You may not have more than two dildos in a house. 5. Women may not wear pants. 6. A decree declares that anyone caught stealing soap must wash himself with it until it is all used up. 7. It is illegal for men and women over the age of 18 to have less than one missing tooth visible when smiling. 8. It is unlawful to refuse a person a glass of water. *** ------------------ The Lord Loses Lawsuit ------------------ MUNICH, Germany - Three theologians filed a lawsuit by proxy for Jesus Christ. They decided that both Protestant and Roman Catholic churches have brought the Lord's name into disrepute. The plaintiff's calling themselves, \"brothers in spirit\" argue that the church's roles contributing to wars had disqualified them from calling themselves Christians. They tried to invoke a law that allows people to defend the reputations of their dead relatives. \"In view of their bloody history, it's a fraud,\" one member told the court. The judge threw the case out of court because Christians believe that Christ rose from the dead, thereby disqualifying him for posthumous representation. -------------------- Moose Mugging Melee ------------------- TORONTO - More tales of Canadian grief to report concerning the city's new promotional moose sculptures. The life-sized novelties have been vandalized, kidnapped, and sprayed with graffiti. Toronto's outraged mayor, Mel Lastman, publicly denounced the vandals and arranged for a special patrol, as well as a 24-hour hotline to ward off the moose malignments. So far five of the 28 exhibited throughout the city have been vandalized, and one purchased by the Canadian Red Cross came with a special pal; a fiberglass beaver. Said beaver has also been kidnapped. ------------- I'm Dreaming Of A Lewd Christmas ------------- NEW YORK - The creators of the lampoon music c.d., \"Matt Rogers' Rated X Mas\" are fighting a lawsuit filed in U.S. federal court by the company who owns the copyrights to some of our most popular holiday tunes. \"Rudolf the Deep Throat Reindeer\" and \"Frosty the Pervert\" might be missing from under the tree this year because the plaintiffs allege that the songs are not parodies as claimed by the defendants. The suit alleges that the songs are, \"...simply unauthorized exploitations of the plaintiffs' famous holiday songs for cynical commercial gain, with the lyrics of the original works replaced by lewd lyrics.\" The final results of the lawsuit could officially put an end to Rudolf's life as a transvestite. ------------- Man On Time For His Own Funeral -------------- MADISON, Wisconsin - Bill Robert was on a mission to leave this world in style, but he didn't want to miss the tributes and accolades from his friends. He decided to throw his own funeral. The 89-year-old walked in front of his coffin and the six pallbearers during the Dixieland jazz procession. He invited hundreds of people as a gesture to pay back all of the wonderful friends he had made during his life. He got the idea when his friend Ginny O'Brien was asked to sing at a funeral last year. He commented about how sad it was that the deceased couldn't hear her music. ----------------- OJ Gets Bitch-Slapped ------------------- CALIFORNIA - OJ just can't catch a break. It seems that he is just destined to \"have bad luck\" as police were called to the scene to protect him from his enraged girlfriend. That's right, police entered his house after neighbors grew concerned at the loud ruckus. OJ's lady friend was restrained after she continued to pull his hair, scratch his face and generally \"beat him up.\" No charges were levied. ------------------ Thanks For Dropping In ------------------ DERRY, N.H. - While it's unclear how the car actually got onto the roof of the house, police estimate that it was airborne for about 150 feet before crashing into the bedroom of Joanne and Mahlon Donovan. \"The thing was right in front of my face,\" Mr. Donovan, 65, said. \"I could feel the heat from the exhaust system coming through the sheets.\" The 20-year-old who was driving the car was later arrested for drunk driving. The unexpected arrival of an automobile into her bedroom was insufficient to awaken Mrs. Donovan, however, who had to be shaken awake after the crash. Classic Bizarre Moments from the Archives *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* A man in Dublin is suing the Bank of Ireland for damages after he lit himself on fire. John Coffey was denied a $2900 loan by bank officials, so he went to his car, returned with a can of gasoline, and doused himself. He took out his cigarette lighter and asked to \"see his file again.\" When three police officers grabbed him, the lighter sparked, and Coffey went up in flames..."}, {"response": 116, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jun  1, 2000 (19:24)", "body": "David sent these: 1 WILL THE REAL DUMMY PLEASE STAND UP AT&T fired President John Walter after nine months saying he lacked intellectual leadership. He received a $26 million severance package. Perhaps it's not Walter who's lacking intelligence. 2 WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM OUR FRIENDS! Police in Oakland, California spent two hours attempting to subdue a gunman who had barricaded himself inside his home. After firing ten tear gas canisters, officers discovered that the man was standing beside them, shouting out to give himself up. 3 WHAT WAS PLAN B??? An Illinois man, pretending to have a gun, kidnapped a motorist and forced him to drive to two different automated teller machines. The kidnapper then proceeded to withdraw money from his own bank account. 4 SOME DAYS, IT JUST DOESN'T PAY! Fire investigators on Maui have determined the cause of a blaze that destroyed a $127,000 home last month - a short in the homeowner's newly installed fire prevention alarm system. \"This is even worse than last year,\" said the distraught homeowner, \"when someone broke in and stole my new security system...\" 5 THE GETAWAY! A man walked into a Topeka, Kansas Kwik Shop and asked for all the money in the cash drawer. Apparently, the take was too small so he tied up the store clerk and worked the counter himself for three hours until police showed up and grabbed him. 6 DO-IT-YOURSELF BRAIN SURGERY?? In Ohio, an unidentified man in his late twenties walked into a police station with a 9-inch wire protruding from his forehead and calmly asked officers to give him an X-ray to help him find his brain, which he claimed had been stolen. Police were shocked to learn that the man had drilled a 6-inch deep hole in his skull with a Black & Decker power drill and had stuck the wire in to try and find the missing brain. 7 DID I SAY THAT??? Police in Los Angeles had good luck with a robbery suspect who just couldn't control himself during a lineup. When detectives asked each man in the lineup to repeat the words, \"Give me all your money or I'll shoot,\" the man shouted, \"that's not what I said! 8 OUCH, THAT SMARTS!! A bank robber in Virginia Beach got a nasty surprise when a dye pack designed to mark stolen money exploded in his Fruit-of-the-Looms. The robber apparently stuffed the loot down the front of his pants as he was running out the door. \"He was seen hopping and jumping around with an explosion taking place inside his pants,\" said police spokesman Mike Carey. Police have the man's charred trousers in custody. 9 ARE WE COMMUNICATING?? A man spoke frantically into the phone, \"My wife is pregnant and her contractions are only two minutes apart!\" \"Is this her first child?\" the doctor asked. \"No, you idiot!\" the man shouted, \"this is her husband!\" 10 NOT THE SHARPEST KNIFE IN THE DRAWER!! In Modesto, CA, Steven Richard King was arrested for trying to hold up a Bank of America branch without a weapon. King used a thumb and a finger to simulate a gun but unfortunately he failed to keep his hand in his pocket."}, {"response": 117, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jun  1, 2000 (23:53)", "body": "NEWS OF THE WEIRD * Seven Brigham Young University students recently organized a Fight Club, inspired by the Brad Pitt movie and periodically drawing as many as 300 screaming spectators to watch college-age men pound each other into submission. Unlike in the movie, boxing gloves are used, and hunk-admiring women constitute almost half the audience, according to an April Salt Lake Tribune report. (Fighting is not against the BYU Honor Code, although watching the R-rated \"Fight Club\" movie is, and the fights are held late enough at night so as not to violate the Mormon \"family home evening\" concept.) * More than 500 accidental electrocutions were reported in Russia last year from people stealing power line electrical cables for resale as scrap metal. According to an April New York Times dispatch, more than 15,000 miles of power lines have been pulled down in recent years, rendering millions of households dark for weeks at a time. One recent victim, interviewed in intensive care, said he was confident when he saw a single line left on a pole, believing that thieves had taken the other lines safely; he is now without his left arm, right leg and colon. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Americanization of China According to a January Associated Press report, China has a government-sanctioned UFO research organization with 50,000 members, processing 500 alleged sightings a year, which is to be expected, said the director, because extraterrestrials, too, are interested in the country's rapidly developing markets. And Professor Liu Dalin opened a sex museum last year in Shanghai, with 1,000 exhibits, including a historical, imperial-palace stamp used to mark the derrieres of virgin girls. And according to an April Wall Street Journal story, there has been a recent \"explosion\" of successful litigation in China by elderly parents suing their children for failing to care for them in old age. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ooops! * The British supermarket chain Tesco announced in January that its film-processing department had collected a total of 24,000 photographs over the years in which customers had accidentally snapped shots with a finger on the lens (the right middle finger being the most popular). * Hussen Farah Mohammed, 46, was released from jail in Bloomington, Minn., in January after 16 months' incarceration for entering the U.S. illegally from Canada; he said he had accidentally wandered across the unmarked border while in the woods birdwatching, but after he was captured, Canada refused to take him back. And Houston car mechanic Edgar Garfield Gibbons, 41, returned to the U.S. in March after nine months in jail in Georgetown, Guyana, to which country he had been mistakenly deported when he was confused with a New Jersey man of the same name. * In December, former Gastonia, N.C., prison guard Timothy Ramey filed a legal challenge to his dismissal, saying the precipitating incident was merely a minor mistake. Ramey was arguing with his superintendent about something and became so frustrated that, in an effort to \"ignore\" what his boss was saying, Ramey reached into his briefcase, \"pulled the first thing out\" that he found, and pretended to concentrate on that. It was a copy of Playboy magazine, which infuriated the superintendent. * In December, a joint committee of the Colorado Legislature approved an emergency grant of $75,000 to Morgan Community College in Fort Morgan, Colo., after it dawned on administrators that, because of \"an oversight in the plan for the project,\" the just-finished student center building had no restrooms. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ I Don't Think So * Latest Unsuccessful DUI Excuses: John B. Byrnes, Windsor County, Vt. (January): claimed he was in the passenger seat, and that it was his setter (\"Becky\") that was driving. Ronald McDonald Jr., 40, Norristown, Pa. (November): claimed he drove a short distance only so his girlfriend could clean her hands after changing a diaper so she wouldn't dirty the steering wheel. A 76-year-old man, Milwaukee (February): claimed he was under a doctor's orders, driving or not, to have two drinks a day. * In 1996, a federal court in Miami ordered Cuba to pay $187 million to the families of three Cuban-American men on protest flights shot down by Cuban military jets in open waters. In November 1999 (three weeks before Elian Gonzalez was rescued off the Florida coast), in perhaps a retaliatory court proceeding at Havana's Provincial Popular Tribunal, the United States was found to have harmed Cuba through 40 years of \"aggressi(on)\" and was ordered to pay the Castro government $181 billion. * In February in Largo, Fla., James Brian Kuenn, 40, was convicted of killing a teen-age girl, despite his claim that she had accidentally fallen and hit her head; Kuenn said he was so embarrassed at the accident that he made it look like m"}, {"response": 118, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jun  5, 2000 (03:36)", "body": "TOP 10 USELESS FACTS FOR THE WEEK ? - The original name of Pepsi-Cola was Brad\ufffds Drink. ? - It has been medically proven that pessimism raises blood pressure. The more pessimistic a person is, the more likely he or she is to die earlier than optimistic counterparts. ? - Chicken feet are an extremely popular dim sum dish in Asia. Not surprisingly, they aren't popular with Americans. Simply prepared, chicken feet are cooked in a black-bean sauce. The proper way to eat them is to put the entire foot in one\ufffds mouth, suck off the meat, and spit out the bones. ? - Bill Cosby\ufffds wife, Camille Hanks, is a direct descendant of Nancy Hanks, Abraham Lincoln's mother. ? - Reindeer have scent glands between their hind toes. The glands help them leave scent trails for the herd. Researchers say the odor smells cheesy. ? - The bulbs and leaves of the daffodil contain poisonous crystals, which only a select few insects can eat without suffering an agonizing death. While squirrels and other rodents won't eat them, they may dig up the bulbs. ? - Author of \"Animal Farm\" and \"1984\", George Orwell worked as a policeman before turning to a writing career. ? - The godfather of actress Winona Ryder was the late Dr. Timothy Leary, LSD guru of the 1960s. Winona\ufffds father, Michael Horowitz, served at one time as Leary\ufffds archivist and ran a bookstore called Flashback Books. Additionally, her parents were politically active intellectuals, and Beat poet Allen Ginsberg was a good family friend. ? - Oysters were a major part of life in New York in the late 1800s. They were eaten for breakfast, lunch, and dinner; they were pickled, stewed, baked, roasted, fried, scalloped, and used in soups, patties, and puddings. Oystering in New York supported large numbers of families, and oyster theft was a prevalent problem. ? - Hockey netminder George Vezina picked up the nickname ``The Chicoutimi Cucumber'' based on the name of his birthplace in Quebec and because opponents said he was as cool as a cuke when he tended nets for the Montreal Canadiens from 1917 to 1926. The trophy for NHL goalies is named after Vezina."}, {"response": 119, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jun  5, 2000 (03:40)", "body": "USELESS LIST OF THE WEEK 10 World Cities With The Most Skyscrapers City # of Skyscrapers 1. New York City 140 2. Chicago 68 3. Houston 36 4. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 25 5. Los Angeles 24 6. Dallas 22 7. San Francisco 20 8. Shanghai, China 20 9. Singapore, Singapore 13 10. Sydney, Australia 18 The first modern, steel-framed skyscraper was the Woolworth Building in New York, built in 1913. The Woolworth Building cost $13.5 million - which F.W. Woolworth paid in cash. Its 29 elevators were the world's fastest."}, {"response": 120, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Mon, Jun  5, 2000 (12:32)", "body": "What's the definition of a skyscraper? Wow, Kuala Lampur is up there along with Houston and Dallas."}, {"response": 121, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jun 10, 2000 (05:55)", "body": "Skyscraper: (getting out my Webster's Collegiate)n. very tall building How vague can you get?! NEWS OF THE WEIRD * The chief justice of oil-rich Brunei ruled in March that Prince Jefri, the 46-year-old brother of the Sultan of Brunei, was entitled to an allowance of about $300,000 a month while awaiting trial on the Sultan's lawsuit that Jefri misspent $15 billion while in charge of the country's investments. A preliminary audit showed that playboy Jefri had bought himself $2.7 billion worth of toys in 10 years, including 17 airplanes, 2,000 cars, and a huge yacht that he named \"Tits,\" and whose two dinghies he named \"Nipple 1\" and \"Nipple 2.\" ------------------------------------------------------------------------ An Urban Legend Come to Life Two years ago, in a bogus Internet news story, a South African hospital with a high fatality rate had discovered that a cleaning lady had been plugging her floor polisher in each night by briefly unplugging an appliance that was, unknown to her, a life-support machine. In November 1999, Chicago's TV Channel 7 lost sound for 25 minutes on the final night of the crucial ratings \"sweeps\" week when cleaning-service personnel plugged a floor buffer into the station's master control outlet, overpowering an audio circuit and driving away 40 percent of the prime-time audience. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Government in Action * After Ivory Coast's soccer team was eliminated from the African Nations Cup in January, the country's military ruler, Gen. Robert Guei, had the team arrested and put in a military prison for two days. Addressing the players, Guei said, \"I asked that you be taken there so you reflect awhile. Next time (if you play badly) you will stay there for military service ... until a sense of civic pride gets into your heads.\" * In January, a Philadelphia city-funded community organization published a pamphlet on health and safety tips for prostitutes, which recommended always getting on top, negotiating price before getting into a car, and getting the money in advance. Also in January, a member of the Canadian Parliament released a list of recent pamphlets directly funded by the government, including \"How to Communicate With the Dead,\" \"How to Stimulate the G-spot,\" and \"How to Understand and Enjoy an Orgasm.\" * Despite many anti-smoking programs sponsored by the U.S. government, a Senate subcommittee found last year that the Department of Housing and Urban Development had spent $4.2 million since 1996 to help American Indians build discount cigarette stores as part of the federal community block-grant program. (In April 2000, legislation was introduced in the Senate to end the practice.) * In January, a New York state administrative law judge ruled after four hearings in three years that Krystyna Maliszewska, 51, of Brooklyn was not eligible for worker compensation because she had not provided the proper \"medical evidence\" that her leg had been amputated (even though voluminous hospital records were in her file). Maliszewska attended each hearing and could have shown her artificial leg and the stump that ends at her right knee but was never asked even to speak. (After a February New York Daily News story, the state quickly reopened the case.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ People With Issues * Wynema Faye Shumate, 65, was arrested in Ladson, S.C., in March on two charges of mishandling a dead body. The case came to light when a 27-year-old Englishman flew to America to marry Shumate after a hot Internet romance but discovered that Shumate was not the age-30ish woman she had portrayed online. According to police, when the man asked Shumate if she had other surprises, she told him about the carved-up body in the freezer, which was that of her male former housemate, who Shumate said had died the year before of natural causes. Shumate was cleared of causing the death, but, according to the Englishman, the wedding is off. * In a case unique among women who keep too many cats at home, a judge in Fairfax County, Va., told U.S. Navy program analyst Kristin Kierig in November that she could keep the 104 cats that share her Annandale, Va., townhouse because the house is apparently clean and the cats groomed and in good health. Kierig produced medical records on the cats, showed that she cleans the 101 litter boxes twice a day and keeps the 15 water bowls and 20 food bowls stocked, and said she can recognize each cat by name (but she did confess that her house might have an \"odor\"). * In March, Benjamin Thomas Douglas, 34, was sentenced to 180 days in jail for the latest in what police call serial public masturbation incidents in the middle of department stores in Dallas and its suburbs of Plano and Mesquite. And the month before that, Philadelphia police were hunting a man in his early 20s for seven incidents of public masturbation at area fast-food outlets over a four-month period; in e"}, {"response": 122, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Sat, Jun 10, 2000 (12:24)", "body": "They not only tried to kill the cockroach in the commercial, they tried to sue Orkin. With no success."}, {"response": 123, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jun 10, 2000 (18:47)", "body": "I know - I think that is hilarious......and all too real in the tropics! BIZARRE NEWS +------------------- Bizarre Judgments --------------------+ Frustrated by the routine release of women convicted of misdemeanor prostitution, one judge in San Francisco set a hooker's bail at $5 billion. In 1981 Deuel Wilhelm Davies of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, was sentenced to 10,000 years in prison for a triple murder, one of his victims being his mother-in-law. A man in Winthrop, Maine, divorced his wife because she \"wore earplugs whenever his mother came to visit.\" In 1995 Leon Taylor, convicted of murdering a man during a 1994 robbery in Kansas City, Missouri, was sentenced to death, PLUS life in prison, with an additional 315 years tacked on for good measure. --------------- The Crown Jewels They Ain't ---------------- LONDON - London's Design Museum is revealing their new under- wear exhibit. The nation famous for its reserve is displaying sheepskin corsets, silicon-gel-insert brassieres, vacuum-packed thongs, radiation-proof panties, and a glow-in-the-dark bra, among other provocative, titillating and tassled items. One of the hottest features is Alexander McQueen's pink satin corset crusted with black Swarovski crystal suspended inside giant inflatable women's legs in transparent plastic. When they're finished in the UK the exhibition will tour Japan and Australia. -------- You Can Take The Boy Out Of The Country... -------- A lawyer for country superstar Tim McGraw says it was all a mistake when McGraw and fellow country artist Kenny Chesney were arrested outside Buffalo, N.Y.'s Ralph Wilson Stadium. The arrest came after Chesney rode off on a police horse and McGraw allegedly attacked deputies who tried to stop him. The Erie County Sheriff's Office says Chesney rode off, and ignored orders from deputies to stop. When the deputies tried to round him up, the sheriff's office says McGraw and several members of his roadies set upon the deputies. ----------- Widow Turned Sleuth Catches Her Man ------------ SOMMATINO, Italy - A recently widowed lady, Maria Gentile, has a technique Columbo never used to get his man. After becoming suspicious regarding the murder suspect of her husband, she decided to take matters into her own hands. Simon Burgio knew Maria and her husband and was infatuated with her. So after he asked Maria out days after burying her husband, she concocted the plan to sleep with him. After she professed her love for him, he confessed to the murder. Maria went to authorities the next day and Simon is now in prison. -------------------- Kids Will Be Kids --------------------- DUBLIN, Ireland - Law enforcement officials are not immune from being bitten by the stupid bug. Rookie cop Andrew Blanton was a proud uncle and father. His eight-year-old son and nephew sneaked into his room at night and found his handcuffs carelessly left on the nightstand. They did what any normal kid would do. They handcuffed Andrew\ufffds hands together while sleeping and threw away the key. Upon waking, Blanton had to drive to a local locksmith to free himself. -------- Swedish Inventor Makes Paper From Elk Dung -------- STOCKHOLM - Here's another one in the mmmmm... what made them even try this? A Swedish inventor has discovered a new way of making paper...from elk dung. Sune Haggmark and his partner, Ann-Mari Remahn, experimented with a food-mixer and an oven before finding the right consistency that would make paper, the tabloid Expressen reported on Monday. They take eight to 10 elk pats, add water and a secret binding agent and turn the dung into a small sheaf of A5-size paper. The really strange phenomenon to come out of this new invention is that tourists from Russia, France and Germany have trekked to the couple's place of business to buy the paper and Sune's latest product, elk dung visiting cards! [You wouldn't invite these folks to a wedding just to avoid the thank-you note.] ----------------- A Heap of Hillbilly Help ----------------- MOUNTAIN VIEW, Arkansas - This is for readers around the globe who are a bit short on how Hillbilly folks cure their sick. The Ozark Folk Center Cookbook is filled with \"great\" advice like curing a common cold by kissing a mule. Have a hangover? Simply mix up a mess of owl eggs, scramble 'em and eat your heart out. [Is it me or are the cures worse than the problems? Move over Alabama...Arkansas is moving in on you as the most Bizarre state in the union.] Classic Bizarre Moments from the Archives *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* A Detroit man committed suicide this week with an AK-47 and took his friend with him. Elrod J. Hill fired the semi- automatic rifle into the right side of his head. The bullets came out the left side and killed his friend Brian Olesky, who was sitting next to him on the couch."}, {"response": 124, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Jun 11, 2000 (01:08)", "body": "THE INTERNET AS A JOB CREATOR According to new research, nearly 2.5 million people worked at Internet jobs at the end of 1999 -- up 36 percent from the end of 1998. Researchers at the University of Texas Austin -- funded by Cisco Systems Inc. of San Jose, Calif. concluded that the Internet has raised productivity and has established itself as a key factor in the sustained economic expansion. According to CNN, the study found that nearly 2 percent of all U.S. workers owe their jobs to the Internet -- including jobs in dot.com companies, making computers used to surf the Web and even laying cable that carries online data. A business professor who helped write the report -- Anitesh Barua -- says the rapidly growing Internet economy is facing a shortage of qualified workers. Her conclusion was supported by none other than Microsoft chairman Bill Gates, who said in Washington this week that, \"Anybody in this country who has an -- even just an undergraduate degree in computer science -- will get 10 or 12 job offers, you know, fantastic job offers.\" ROCKER DOESN'T WANT TO DEAL WITH 'THIS GARBAGE' Controversial Atlanta Braves relief pitcher John Rocker was a no-show for a second straight night at his new job -- with Atlanta's Triple-A farm team, the Richmond Braves. Rocker told an Atlanta radio station Wednesday he might just give up baseball and become a stock broker. He said: \"I don't know if I'm even going down (to the minors) or not. I'm still pretty chapped about the whole situation.\" The Braves say they demoted Rocker in order for him to work out his pitching problems. Sports writers and analysts across the country are nearly unanimous in their skepticism -- they think Rocker is being punished for threatening the writer of the Sports Illustrated article that made him infamous for his offensive comments about minorities, gays and immigrants. He said Wednesday he's \"just not wanting to play anymore,\" and \"there's plenty of things I can do besides deal with the headaches of this garbage every day.\" If he does report to the Richmond Braves, Rocker can expect a mixed reception in the former capital of the Confederacy. City Council member John Conrad told the Post, \"We have enough loudmouth racists in Richmond already -- we don't need any more.\" Salim Khalfani, executive director of the NAACP'S Virginia chapter, told the paper Rocker is coming into a city that \"has much racial tension and in fact, there's one side that's still fighting the Civil War.\" Ron Doggett, president of the Virginia chapter of the National Organization for European-American Rights, tells the paper he expects to be part of a standing ovation when Rocker first takes the mound for the Triple-A Braves. He says, \"We're not as politically correct in Richmond.\" EMINEM FREE ON BAIL Eminem -- the rapper with the No. 1 album on Billboard's chart -- was freed on $100,000 bond Wednesday, after his arraignment on two felony weapons charges in connection with a fight outside a Detroit-area nightclub Sunday night. The Grammy-winning rapper pleaded not guilty to one count of carrying a concealed weapon and one count of assault with a deadly weapon. In contrast to his stage persona, Eminem wore a black suit, a shirt and a tie to court -- accessorized by handcuffs. Judge Susan Chrzanowski gave the rapper permission to go through with plans for a national tour, but she ordered him to provide prosecutors with his itinerary any time he leaves the state. She told the rapper whose real name is Marshall Mathers -- that if she finds out he has possession of \"any sort of weapon...your bond will be revoked and you will be sitting in the county jail.\" The rapper told authorities he carried the unloaded pistol for protection because he did not want a bodyguard. He reportedly went to the club to spy on his wife, Kimberly Mathers, who wrote in a letter to the Detroit Free Press, \"I don't think anybody in their right mind would cheat on a millionaire husband -- especially with a nobody at a neighborhood bar.\" The publicity comes at the same time as news in Hollywood that Eminem is preparing to star in a movie based on his life. Eminem plans to join Dr. Dre in San Diego next Thursday for the \"Up In Smoke\" tour."}, {"response": 125, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jun 12, 2000 (04:12)", "body": "? ? ? ? THIS WEEK'S USELESS KNOWLEDGE ? ? ? ? ==================================================== TOP 10 USELESS FACTS FOR THE WEEK ? - Japan consists of the four large islands of Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu, and about three thousand smaller islands. ? - Okonomiyaki is considered to be Japan's answer to pizza. It consists of a potpourri of grilled vegetables, noodles, and meat or seafood, between two pancake-like layers of fried batter. ? - Almost every weekday morning, Kleenexes are handed to the commuters in front of Japan's rail and bus stations for free. The tissues are distributed by workers of the companies whose messages and advertisement are printed on the packages. The reason for this.... most public bathrooms do not have paper towels or toilet paper! ? - While many Japanese customs are disappearing, the practice of sending New Years cards and seasonal gifts called O-chugen and O-seibo is as strong as ever. The Japanese Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications delivered nearly 4.5 billion New Years cards in 1999, or about 32 cards for every man, woman and child in Japan. ? - The Japanese business environment requires strict adherence to rules of etiquette. Graduating students prepare for important job interviews by first learning how to bow properly and show proper manners when entering and seating themselves in the interview room. Japanese Bowing carries different meanings at different angles. - A Bow at an angle of five degrees means \"Good day\" ( simple greeting). - A Bow at an angle of fifteen degrees is also a common salutation, a bit more formal it means \"Good morning\". - A Bow at an angle of thirty degrees is a respectful bow to indicate appreciation for a kind gesture. - A Bow at a forty five degree angle is used to convey deep respect or an apology. ? - Few Japanese can use chopsticks as well as their parents, due in part to the popularity of Western cuisine. As a result, an increasing number of elementary schools in Japan are introducing chopstick etiquette into their programs. Traditionally young children are taught to distinguish left from right by teaching them that their right hand is the one they hold their chopsticks in, while their left is the one that holds the rice bowl. ? - The children's game Rock, Scissors, Paper is popular in Japan also. Called \"Janken\", the game is also played by some children using their feet. Closed feet equal stone (gu). Spread legs equal paper (pa). One foot behind the other equals scissors (choki). ? - Japanese people do not have a middle name. In Japan, last name comes first, and the first name comes last. ? - In Japan, some restaurants serve smaller portions to women even though the charge is the same as a men's portion. ? - Blowing your nose in public is considered rude in Japan. The handkerchief is uses primarily for wiping the mouth or drying your hands when leaving a restroom."}, {"response": 126, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jun 12, 2000 (04:14)", "body": "USELESS LIST OF THE WEEK Top 10 Most Common Words In The English Language Spoken Written 1. the the 2. and of 3. I to 4. to in 5. of and 6. a a 7. you for 8. that was 9. in is 10. it that Various surveys have been conducted to establish the most common words in spoken English of various types, from telephone conversations to broadcast commentaries. Many other words such as yes and well, also appear with far greater frequency in everyday speech than in the comparative list of the most common words in written English, which is based on a survey of newspaper usages."}, {"response": 127, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jun 13, 2000 (01:30)", "body": "The top ten percent of a high school class shall not contain more than ten percent of the total class size. ... -Clarifying Rules by the Coordinating Board Concerning HB 588, Automatic Admission of Students in Top 10% of Graduating Class *********************** When tftd first published the above it was thought to be a nonsense item. However even with the clarifying rules some high schools in Texas have managed to have the top ten percent of the class be larger than 10% of the total class size. One ruse was in the case of a tie for number one ranking the third person was given the ranking of 2nd rather than third. Other schools determined the top 10% ranking based on the average GRP for the school for the past several years."}, {"response": 128, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jun 13, 2000 (01:31)", "body": "The above is from Thought for the Day from TAMU"}, {"response": 129, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jun 14, 2000 (00:49)", "body": "BIZARRE NEWS +-------------------- Bizarre Festivals -------------------+ CHEESE-ROLLING (U.K, May). Cheese-rolling has taken place on the slopes of Cooper's Hill, near Birdlip in Gloucestershire, since the 15th Century. When the cheese is released, competitors run down the hill and attempt to catch it before it reaches the bottom. The event was permanently cancelled when eight people were injured in 1992. DAY OF THE DEAD (Mexico, 2 November). According to Indian folklore, this is the day when the deceased return to life. Families conduct macabre graveside picnics, offering food to the dead, and then tuck into a feast of their own, eating chocolate coffins, sugar wreaths and fancy breads adorned with skulls and crossbones. GOTMARR FESTIVAL (India, September). During the full moon, the 45,000 inhabitants of Pandhura divide into two groups and start hurling rocks at one another until sunset. In 1989, there were 616 casualties, including four deaths as a result of the event. GRANDMOTHERS' FESTIVAL (Norway, July). First held at Bodo in 1992, the festival sees grannies riding motorbikes, racehorses skydiving and scuba diving. The star of the inaugural event was 79-year-old Elida Anderson who became the world's oldest bungee-jumper. RUNNING OF THE SHEEP (U.S., September) Reedpoint, Montana stages a gentle alternative to Spain's famous Running of the Bulls. Hundreds of sheep are released down Main Street for six blocks. There are also contests for the ugliest and pretties ewes while shepherds assemble to recite poetry. ----------- Clinton Fumes Over German Cigar Gift ----------- GERMANY - President Clinton's evening went up in smoke after being presented with a box of cigars as a gift. The cigars came from Cuba and the President reportedly lost the smile on his face when it was presented to him. It was not known whether he was embarrassed because of the role cigars played in the Lewinsky affair or because they are considered contraband in the US. ------------- Deer Found Taking Bubble Bath --------------- HOWARD, PA - When Connie Beck and her husband awoke to strange noises, they thought high winds were rattling their windows. What they found was even more unexpected: A deer was taking a bubble bath in their tub. The deer burst through the front door, ran past the couple's bedroom and into the bathroom, somehow managing to turn on the water in the tub and knocking over a bottle of bubble bath. He then submerged himself in the frothy water. The Becks called state Game Commission officials, who arrived at their Center County home with tranquilizers and a lot of laughter. The animal was subdued, removed from the house and released. ------------ So They Sell Different Kinda Tools ------------ WEST PALM BEACH, FL - It's nothing like Home Depot on the inside. A strip club called Adult Depot has been sued in federal court by the Atlanta-based home improvement chain. Home Depot claims the club copied its trademark, and is using a mascot similar to their Homer. Company attorney Steve Levy, \"We don't want any confusion between our company and a business we don't want to be associated with.\" The lawsuit seeks to remove Adult Depot's signs from its clubs in Lake Worth and Boynton Beach. Lawyers for Adult Depot, which also sells X-rated videos, books and toys, said they think Home Depot is just over-reacting. ------------------- Watch What You Say! -------------------- WATERFORD TOWNSHIP, MI - All someone said was \"Hi, Jack!\" but at a suburban Detroit airport, that was enough to create a crisis. A microphone happened to be open Monday when someone greeted the co-pilot aboard a corporate jet, and the tower heard \"hijack,\" police Lt. Rick Crigger said. Oakland International Airport tower officials called the Waterford police, who in turn called in a whole extra shift of police, the Oakland County Sheriff's Department SWAT team, the FBI and other federal authorities, Crigger said. The plane was told to return to the tower, and the pilot's identification was checked. Once the alarm was over, the law officers could laugh about it."}, {"response": 130, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jun 15, 2000 (05:16)", "body": "News of the weird: LEAD STORIES * In past years, a favorite summer fund-raising game for some parishes in the Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati has involved placing a small rat on a roulette-type wheel, spinning the wheel, and selling bets on which slot the rat will stagger to. This year, however, according to a Scripps Howard News Service report, local animal rights activists have protested, but in early responses, at least one parish has vowed to continue the game anyway. Said one activist, \"The Church said it was OK to spin animals. What's to keep someone from going home and putting their cat in a dryer?\" * Fox Network's Far-Ranging Influence: On April 27, a reporter for Russia's RTR television arrived in the town of Ivanovo to shoot a piece on a housewife merrily feeding her family while her soldier-husband was away serving as a peacekeeper in Kosovo. However, the reporter had received word minutes before that the husband had just been killed on duty. Thus, the reporter shot some \"before\" scenes, in which the carefree wife earnestly spoke of her husband's imminent return, and then the \"after\" scene, featuring uncontrollable crying after the reporter broke the news to her. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Latest Hate-Crime News In January, the general manager of a Ford-Toyota dealership in Lake City, Fla., told reporters that the acid-splashing vandalism on his lot should be punished as a hate crime because only Fords were hit. And in Berlin, Germany, owners of pit bulls and other aggressive breeds planned a May protest against proposed legislation to ban the dogs; organizers planned to dress their dog-victims with yellow Stars of David, which is what Third-Reich-era Jews were forced to wear as identification. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Police Blotter * Recent Weapons: In a bar fight, one woman hit another on the head with a toilet lid (Rock Island, Ill., January). A 21-year-old man wielding a small python robbed a convenience store (Oklahoma City, December). A man holding a dildo and wearing a jockstrap over his head robbed a Hungry Howie's of $40 (Toledo, Ohio, February). A man robbed an adult sex shop, menacingly waving a vibrating tongue at the clerk (Pinellas Park, Fla., February). * Those Compassionate Canadians: The man who cleaned out the cash register at a Tim Hortons doughnut shop in Hamilton, Ontario, in February came back a few minutes later and returned the portion of the money that had been segregated as employees' tips. And in April, recently released sex-assaulter Jody Robinson, 33, offered one of his kidneys to his 1996 victim, who is awaiting a transplant. * Great Detective Work: Suspicious police in Spokane, Wash., after questioning Harold Anthony Mazzei, 32, at a January traffic stop, decided to arrest him: The only way Mazzei could turn off his car's engine was using pliers and a screwdriver (and, indeed, the car was stolen). And in February, suspicious police in Chicago decided to arrest Steven Coleman, 24, for robbing a family sewing-machine shop and provoking a fracas while the owner was heating chicken noodle soup for lunch: Coleman was later spotted nearby with noodles in his hair. And in November, suspicious police in Sydney, Nova Scotia, decided to arrest a 38-year-old man on drug charges after encountering him dazed with syringes hanging from both arms. * Police in Dublin, Ohio, arrested alleged veteran thief Rudolf Nyari, 64, in April for taking a diamond bracelet from Leo Alfred Jewelers. Nyari had handled the bracelet, then left the store, after which an employee noticed it missing. Police, aided by a license-plate number, stopped Nyari just outside town, searched his car fruitlessly, and threatened to take him for x-rays. Later, according to a detective, Nyari \"drank several glasses of water and smoked cigarettes to build up enough phlegm to cough (the bracelet) up.\" The bracelet was 7 inches long and contained 39 diamonds. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Continuing Crisis * A court in Lusaka, Zambia, issued a final divorce decree in March to John Sakapenda and Goretti Muyutu, despite Ms. Muyutu's last-second, unsuccessful attempt to persuade the judges that, by custom of her village of Chingola, the couple was obligated for one last round of sexual intercourse. * In December, the longtime North Korean ambassador to China issued another of his periodic rants in Beijing denouncing the 150-mile-long, high (16 to 26 feet tall) and thick (33 to 62 feet wide) concrete \"wall of division\" that South Korea built 20 years ago that \"artificially bisects\" Korea. Despite the vividness of the description, according to The New York Times and numerous diplomats from many countries who have visited the area, there is no wall there of any kind and never has been. * In Englewood, Fla., in February, minutes after Judy Neuhaus had scolded her son Ryan for not ta"}, {"response": 131, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jun 21, 2000 (19:04)", "body": "+---------------- Bizarre Court Statements ----------------+ \"I object to your calling me a person, your honor.\" [Rodney Skurdal in 1996 when asked by a federal magistrate if he had the right person before him.] \"What are you talking about, some 'witness,' man, There was only me and her in the store.\" [Blurted out by a defendant in objection to testimony by a police officer who accidentally used the term \"witness\" instead of victim.] \"I enjoyed drinking while driving. It's one of the most pleasurable habits I've had. [Steven L. Johnson explaining his situation to the judge who had sentenced him to two years in prison.] \"I sued for $2,500 and the judge gave me $837.29. I don't think he realizes how much a girl's hair means to her. [Lauryl Boyer on the award she received for a bad perm.] *** --------------- World Record Toast Tosser ----------------- DUBLIN, Ireland - Just when you thought that the Olympics had the best that amateur sports had to offer comes Peter McGouran. It seems that he was obsessed with having a world record under his belt so he set out to break the record for tossing a piece of toast further than any human had ever thrown. The new record is 191 feet, 4 inches and Peter is now the world\ufffds greatest toast tosser. --------- Man Drops Dead in Search of Living Proof --------- BOGATA, Colombia - A search for living proof ended in a dead end for an 87-year-old man. Arturo Suspe died of heart attack while waiting in line to obtain a certificate to prove that he was still alive. The \"survival certificate\" would have allowed Suspe to continue receiving his $133 monthly pension. Authorities in central Cundinamarca introduced the certificate in late November to reduce the number of incidents of con artists collecting pensions issued in the name of deceased recipients. \"This was a pure accident and a very lamentable incident,\" Cuandinamarca governor Andres Gonzalez said of Suspe's death. ------------- Man Rescued From Portable Toilet ------------- HUNTINGDON VALLEY, PA - Here's one that you just want to yell at the guy, \"What were you thinking!\" Authorities were dispatched to rescue a man who got stuck in a portable toilet. How? The genius lost his keys down the opening and decided he'd better go down and get them. Luckily for him, some kids were playing nearby and heard his cries for help. The police arrived to find the man stuck in the toilet's lower chamber up to his hips. The man, who was not identified, had taken off his shoes and pants for the unpleasant task. He told police he had been in the predicament for at least 45 minutes. The man was treated for cuts and bruises. Doctors also had to remove the toilet seat, which had become wedged around his torso. Classic Bizarre Moments from the Archives *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* An LA doctor extracted sperm from a corpse that had been dead for over 30 hours. Sperm cells were frozen and years later introduced into the dead man's widow. \"The birth opens up a whole new area of reproduction,\" says Dr. Rothman. There are no shortages of critics. Some say that property rights will be manipulated as women rush to steal sperm from dead men without wills to impregnate themselves and therefore have the resulting children rightful heirs."}, {"response": 132, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jun 23, 2000 (23:37)", "body": "111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321 If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle; if the horse has one front leg in the air, the person died as a result of wounds received in battle; if the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes. No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver, and purple. Clans of long ago that wanted to get rid of their unwanted people without killing them used to burn their houses down - hence the expression \"to get fired.\" Canada is an Indian word meaning \"Big Village.\" There are two credit cards for every person in the United States."}, {"response": 133, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jun 30, 2000 (18:10)", "body": "Great Moments in Physics The following concerns a question in a physics degree exam at the University of Copenhagen: \"Describe how to determine the height of a skyscraper with a barometer.\" One student replied: \"You tie a long piece of string to the neck of the barometer, then lower the barometer from the roof of the skyscraper to the ground. The length of the string plus the length of the barometer will equal the height of the building.\" This highly original answer so incensed the examiner that the student was failed. The student appealed on the grounds that his answer was indisputably correct, and the university appointed an independent arbiter to decide the case. The arbiter judged that the answer was indeed correct, but did not display any noticeable knowledge of physics. To resolve the problem it was decided to call the student in and allow him six minutes in which to provide a verbal answer which showed at least a minimal familiarity with the basic principles of physics. For five minutes the student sat in silence, forehead creased in thought. The arbiter reminded him that time was running out, to which the student replied that he had several extremely relevant answers, but couldn't make up his mind which to use. On being advised to hurry up the student replied as follows: \"Firstly, you could take the barometer up to the roof of the skyscraper, drop it over the edge, and measure the time it takes to reach the ground. The height of the building can then be worked out from the formula H = 0.5g x t squared. But bad luck on the barometer.\" \"Or if the sun is shining you could measure the height of the barometer, then set it on end and measure the length of its shadow. Then you measure the length of the skyscraper's shadow, and thereafter it is a simple matter of proportional arithmetic to work out the height of the skyscraper.\" \"But if you wanted to be highly scientific about it, you could tie a short piece of string to the barometer and swing it like a pendulum, first at ground level and then on the roof of the skyscraper. The height is worked out by the difference in the gravitational restoring force T = 2 pi sqroot (l / g).\" \"Or if the skyscraper has an outside emergency staircase, it would be easier to walk up it and mark off the height of the skyscraper in barometer lengths, then add them up.\" \"If you merely wanted to be boring and orthodox about it, of course, you could use the barometer to measure the air pressure on the roof of the skyscraper and on the ground, and convert the difference in millibars into feet to give the height of the building.\" \"But since we are constantly being exhorted to exercise independence of mind and apply scientific methods, undoubtedly the best way would be to knock on the janitor's door and say to him 'If you would like a nice new barometer, I will give you this one if you tell me the height of this skyscraper'.\" The student was Niels Bohr, the only person from Denmark to win the Nobel prize for Physics."}, {"response": 134, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Aug  2, 2000 (22:15)", "body": "+------------- Bizarre Product Warning Labels -------------+ Air Conditioner - Caution: Avoid dropping air conditioners out of windows. Blow Dryer - Warning: Do not use while sleeping and keep away from water. Rowenta Iron - Warning: Never iron clothes on the body. Vacuum Cleaner - 1. Do not use to pick up gasoline or flammable liquids 2. Do not use to pick up anything that is currently burning. Earplugs - These ear plugs are nontoxic, but may interfere with breathing if caught in windpipe Mattress - Warning: Do not attempt to swallow Matches - Caution: Contents may catch fire. Korean Kitchen Knife - Keep out of children. Pepper Spray - Caution: Never aim spray at your own eyes."}, {"response": 135, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Aug  3, 2000 (19:22)", "body": "NEWS OF THE WEIRD LEAD STORIES * Accomplished toy inventor Brian Walker, 44, told the Newhouse News Service in June that he would, by next summer, launch himself on the world's first homemade space shot (blasting off at 4,000 mph, to a height of 30 miles, using 10 tanks containing 7,000 pounds of hydrogen peroxide as fuel, at an overall expense of $250,000). The spacecraft he built is 9 feet tall, will be propelled from a 30-foot-long trailer, and has a capsule that will return him to earth via parachutes. A jet-propulsion engineer at Cal Tech said Walker's plan was actually pretty sound, in theory. * Lean Times for La Cosa Nostra: Despite a massive federal, state and local law-enforcement operation against organized-crime gambling and loan-sharking in south Florida, capped by a six-count federal indictment in June, the evidence actually revealed rather dismal business prospects for the Colombo crime family in the area. According to the indictment, Colombo muscleman \"Joey Flowers\" Rotunno and his crew earned gambling income of less than $2,000 a day. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ O.R. Surprises Orthopedic surgeon Nicholas Cappello had his license lifted in April by the Arkansas Medical Board for as many as 20 botched surgeries featuring such errors as metal plates screwed to the wrong bones or screws missing the bone altogether. And patient Robert Banks sued the Earl K. Long Medical Center in Baton Rouge, La., in March, complaining that he went in for a heart bypass in 1995 but came out merely circumcised (which doctors said was a necessary antecedent to the surgery because he required kidney-monitoring equipment). (For unrelated reasons, the surgeons decided, after setting Banks up, not to do the bypass.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Compelling Explanations * In February, Nova Scotia provincial judge John MacDougall ruled that a doctor who had masturbated two teen-age boys numerous times in his office had not violated the law because he had thought his unorthodox procedure was a valid medical treatment for the patients (one of whom had complained merely of blurred vision after a fall). (Two weeks later, a prosecutor exercised a rare constitutional procedure and indicted the doctor directly before the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia.) * Calvin Jerold Burdine's 1983 Texas death sentence was overturned by a federal judge in September 1999 based on his lawyer's having slept during key parts of his trial. Because the judge ruled on the sleep issue, he was not required to decide a second issue that also might have contributed to the original death sentence: The prosecutor had been allowed to tell the jury that Burdine should not get a mere life sentence because \"Sending (Burdine, an openly gay man) to the penitentiary (considering prisons' homosexual activity) isn't a very bad punishment.\" (In June 2000, a federal appeals court heard oral arguments on Burdine's sleeping-lawyer issue.) * In March, in the heat of a battle in the Mexican legislature over adopting daylight savings time, opponent Sen. Felix Salgado put forth his strongest argument: Advancing the clocks an hour will reduce daylight time in the morning, curtailing many \"mananeros,\" or couples' morning sex. \"(N)ow when you wake up,\" said Salgado, \"your partner is no longer there because she had to take the kids to school.\" * In Boston in June, federal judge Mark L. Wolf ruled that convicted wife-murderer Robert \"Michelle\" Kosilek is entitled to go to trial on his demand that the state prison system provide him free \"sexual reassignment\" surgery so that he can serve his life-without-possibility-of-parole sentence as a woman. A court-appointed psychologist recommended that Kosilek get not only sex-organ substitution but the feminization of his face, removal of body hair, and access to makeup, hair care and nail polish because to ignore his needs would further Kosilek's \"sadness and sense of loss\" at having been born of the incorrect gender. * In a Norfolk County, Mass., court in March, Andrew Clary, 36, pled not guilty to murdering his girlfriend, a death that occurred when his car rammed hers twice after an argument and forced her into the path of an oncoming car. However, Clary told the judge that he really only \"tapped\" the woman's car in order to get her to turn around and head to a hospital so she could be treated for having ingested illegal drugs. * In 1999, James Weber of Calgary, Alberta, paid his tax bill (equivalent to about $75,000 U.S.) dollar-for-dollar with Colombian pesos (worth about $50 U.S.), arguing that the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency failed to print its dollar signs with two bars through the \"S.\" A dollar sign with only one bar through the S, he said, is used only by several South American currencies, and thus he is now paid in full. (In March 2000, an appeals court ruled against him, despite his having produced several favorable historical banki"}, {"response": 136, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Aug  4, 2000 (18:00)", "body": "An ostrich's intestinal track is up to 45 feet long. The name of the dog on a box of Cracker Jacks is Bingo. Ernest Lawrence Thayer, who penned \"Casey at the Bat,\" received five dollars for penning that particular piece in 1888. Wilt Chamberlain, who was 7 feet, one inch tall - his parents were only five feet, eight inches tall. Pigs can become alcoholics, according to the US government. Why would they ever want to know that particular fact?"}, {"response": 137, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Aug 12, 2000 (20:17)", "body": "Government Verbosity: Pythagorean theorem: 24 words. The Lord's prayer: 66 words. Archimedes' Principle: 67 words. The 10 Commandments: 179 words. The Gettysburg address: 286 words. The Declaration of Independence: 1,300 words. U.S. Government regulations on cabbage sales: 26,911 words."}, {"response": 138, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Aug 13, 2000 (05:23)", "body": "News of the Weird(.649) LEAD STORIES * No Way -- An Insincere Lawyer! Attorney Michael Lazaroff, 50, pled guilty in St. Louis in June to federal charges that he gave clients extravagant gifts over the past seven years, totaling $380,000, but then surreptitiously inflated their bills with phony charges in order to make clients pay for their own gifts. Lazaroff's \"generosity\" included concert tickets and trips to Las Vegas. * Lost in the public debate over whether DNA testing should be done on death-row convicts is the case of Texan Roy Criner, now 33, who is in no danger of execution but has been imprisoned since 1990 (sentence: 99 years) for rape, despite a subsequent DNA test concluding that the sperm in question was not his. One appeals court had overturned Criner's conviction even before the DNA test was performed, but the state's highest court reimposed the conviction, and in interviews with the PBS TV program \"Frontline\" in January, Judge Sharon Keller of that court said that Criner was nonetheless properly convicted even though the sperm did not match."}, {"response": 139, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Aug 13, 2000 (05:26)", "body": "* Pedro Valls Feu Rosa, a state supreme court judge in Brazil, has developed the artificial-intelligence software program Electronic Judge so that clerks operating laptop computers at the scenes of traffic accidents and other disputes can dispense even-handed justice by inputting facts and having the program reach judicial decisions instantly. According to an April report in London's The Independent, most parties seem satisfied to have their cases tried while they are still fresh, with witnesses present, but the inventor acknowledges that his program is not appropriate for cases requiring complex interpretations of the law. * Several press accounts from Cambodia recently reported on the emerging preferred form of retaliation by that country's spurned boyfriends: to splash battery acid in the woman's face. A Deutsche Presse-Agentur story found a dozen victims in Phnom Penh during the winter. A similar but short-lived fad in 1997 saw dozens of jilted men toss hand grenades at their would-be girlfriends. * The Manchester (Conn.) Journal Inquirer reported in March that heroin was so cheap in nearby Hartford that one police lieutenant had seen the price as low as $2.50 per dose (a 10th of a gram), which would mean that someone buying it in a convenience store parking lot, for example, would be paying less for it than a pack of cigarettes sold inside. * In March, Remy Bricka set out from Los Angeles to \"walk\" to Sydney, Australia, using a pair of boatlike skis and a long paddle and towing a catamaran behind him containing supplies and a place to sleep. And in April, Belfast, Northern Ireland, hospital worker Willie Nugent raised money for charity by \"swimming\" across a river in downtown Dublin, Ireland, despite the fact that he cannot swim; instead, Nugent crawled across a bridge, in movements resembling a breast stroke. (The swimmer made it, but the walker's catamaran was wiped out by a storm on the first day, and he had to quit.) * The Environmental Protection Agency told reporters in May that it could not begin cleanup of the toxic Kim-Stan landfill near Roanoke, Va., because whoever owns it has been hiding out ever since a bankruptcy proceeding in 1990. The government cannot legally begin to stop the leaking of cadmium, manganese, zinc and aluminum into the nearby Jackson River without the owner's permission. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ In Their Own Words Wesleyan University (Middletown, Conn.) freshman Cara Herbitter, explaining in April the rationale for the 35-member campus club formed to celebrate women's sexuality (and which was born out of the university's production of the off-Broadway play \"The Vagina Monologues\"): \"If you don't make a point of talking specifically about vaginas, then they don't get talked about.\" ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Recurring Themes In 1998, News of the Weird reported on a married couple forced to live apart because the American husband was barred from Canada, and the Canadian wife was barred from the U.S. (both because of criminal records), and who could spend time together only on the U.S.-Canada bridge at Niagara Falls, which they regularly did. Another couple in the same situation apparently had decided a while back that meeting on the bridge was not good enough, and in February 2000, Shawn Gibson was convicted in St. Catharines, Ontario, for the sixth time for entering Canada illegally to see his wife, and sentenced to five months in jail."}, {"response": 140, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Aug 17, 2000 (02:39)", "body": "+----------------- Bizarre Canadian Laws ------------------+ You may not pay for a fifty-cent item with only pennies. Citizens may not publicly remove bandages. In British Columbia, it is illegal to kill a sasquatch. In New Brunswick, driving on the roads is not allowed. In Montreal, you may not swear in French. Also in Montreal, citizens may not relieve themselves or spit on the street. Punishable by a fine of over 100 Canadian dollars. In Beaconsfield, it is considered an offense to have more than two colors of paint on your house. In Toronto, you can't drag a dead horse down Yonge St. on a Sunday. The city of Guelph is classified as a no-pee zone."}, {"response": 141, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Aug 17, 2000 (02:48)", "body": "-- Emergency Landing On Truck Complete Surprise to Pilot --- CHILOQUIN, Oregon - Howard Hamer, 63, had just taken off from the airport in the desert town of Chiloquin when his single- engine plane lost power. He decided to attempt an emergency landing northbound on U.S. 97 when a flatbed truck pulled up underneath him. The plane's propeller snagged on the sleeper of the truck while the tail crashed down onto the empty trailer bed. If the plane had actually landed in traffic a serious injury would have surely resulted. As it turned out, no one was hurt, and neither the truck driver nor Hamer was aware the other was even there until the impact."}, {"response": 142, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Aug 18, 2000 (02:02)", "body": "News of the Weird(.650) LEAD STORIES * The most creative example of Filipinos' newfound national mania for sending text messages by cell phones, according to a July New York Times report, is that of Muslim guerrillas at war with government troops in the southern islands: Ever since they uncovered documents with army troops' cell phone numbers, they have extended their hostilities by pecking out insults during lulls in combat. * The sudden January death of wealthy former Kansas stockbroker Marshall Gardiner at age 85 created a constitutional-law crisis when Gardiner's only offspring, Joe, 53, learned that his father's recently acquired 40-year-old bride had been born a male. Ms. J'Noel Gardiner had had her Wisconsin birth certificate changed to female, which was honored in Kansas City, Mo., where she lives, but not honored across the state line in Kansas, where she got married. She said she disclosed the matter to her husband before the wedding; Joe said his father was too religious to have accepted such an arrangement. The fate of Marshall's estate is still in the courts. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Importance of Alcohol More Evidence That Drinking Is the Cornerstone of Weird News : A retired police officer was arrested on suspicion of DUI after he pulled into a gas station and attempted to withdraw money from a gas pump, as if it were an ATM (Reno, Nev., May). And a drawbridge operator was fired for drinking on the job after he opened the bridge without warning, forcing a car to leap the gap, James Bond-like (St. Pete Beach, Fla., May). And a 24-year-old man, partying with two friends, leaped from a roof into a Dumpster and landed, seat-first, on a protruding, nail-studded piece of wood (Ottawa, Ontario, May). ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Can't Possibly Be True * Officials at the West Valley, N.Y., nuclear storage site, still working an 18-year, $1.5 billion radiation cleanup, began in February testing their latest hoped-for miracle product: zeolite, the primary ingredient in cat litter. Zeolite apparently sucks up strontium 90 just as well as it absorbs odors and moisture in the litter box. * In May, to forestall a California Health Department crackdown, LaserVue Eye Center (with offices in San Francisco and Santa Rosa) sent letters notifying its 2,700 recent surgery patients that it has been reusing its single-use surgical blades after merely rinsing them in water. Investigators found that the company did at least sterilize the blades after every fourth use. Allegedly, LaserVue's Dr. Sanjay Bansal said he continued to use the blades because he wanted only ones that he was sure had worked. * In June, the Nottingham (England) Evening Post profiled archer Paul Hawthorne, who has won various titles despite the fact that he lost one arm in a motorcycle accident 15 years ago. Until recently, Hawthorne competed by holding the bow string with a leather strap in his teeth and pulling his head back, but that practice has cost him one tooth after another, and he believes his competitive archery days are over. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Entrepreneurial Spirit * May dispatches in The Times of London and the Daily Telegraph featured Veronique Jullien's School of Seduction in Paris (with 2,000 graduates since 1995), whose typical assignments are, for men, to pick up strangers, and for women, to attract strangers though taking no initiative. The nine-month curriculum runs about $2,300, but a one-month crash course costs about $1,000. Jullien's most helpful tip: \"Everything happens in the first few seconds of contact.\" * Recycling in Beijing, according to a February New York Times report, is relatively efficient because a crew of about 80,000 rural migrants rummages through the city's garbage daily to pick out anything that could conceivably be resold or sent to recycling plants. \"We're performing a valuable service for the city,\" said one garbage picker, \"but everyone looks down on us.\" Another said he now earns almost 20 times as much as he did as a schoolteacher in a rural province (but still only about $70 a month), and some workers even make enough money to pay hotels for exclusive rights to their garbage. * In May, two boys, ages 15 and 16, were charged in West Bend, Wis., with forming a startup business that took customers' orders and fulfilled them by shoplifting from local stores, mostly Wal-Mart. The boys carried business cards and order forms for their company, Globex, whose mission statement was, \"To provide you with the things that you need at the cost you deserve.\" * In March, a court in Osaka, Japan, squelched the brilliant software creation of Takuya Kiuchi, 33, whose program removes forever the digital blurring that soft-pornographic Web sites use to hide genitals from nonintended viewers. And in June, John Young, operator of a private Web site on national securit"}, {"response": 143, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Aug 22, 2000 (03:21)", "body": "The National Safety Council says more Americans choke on toothpicks than choking on anything else. \"Celluwipes\" was the original name of Kleenex during the initial marketing effort in 1924. There are 11 points on the Canadian flag. Montgomery Ward's first catalog was only one sheet of paper. It was first printed in 1872. I don't believe thery publish the catalog anymore (are they even still in business?). Almost half of the bones in your body are in your hands and feet. Istanbul, Turkey is actually in two continents - Asia and Europe."}, {"response": 144, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Aug 26, 2000 (00:01)", "body": "News of the Weird(.651) Originally published 07.30.00 LEAD STORIES Eight farmers in the town of Nemaha, Iowa (population 112), have taught themselves to perform various square-dancing routines (do-si-do's, promenades, etc.) while seated on, precisely maneuvering, their tractors, according to a June San Francisco Chronicle dispatch from the heartland. However, an apparent problem for the farmers is that all are males, while square-dancing is a couples activity. Thus, four of the dancers operate their tractors while in calico skirts, under the apparent belief that cross-dressing is more acceptable than having an overtly same-sex dance partner. In June, the New Meat Theater in San Francisco's Tenderloin district opened a cybercafe (first-come, first-served computers with high-speed Internet connections, plus scanners, printers and digital cameras) in an upstairs room, the first such facility specifically designed for surfing pornography, sort of \"a kinky version of Kinko's,\" according to owner Terrance Alan. In fact, said Alan, the theater's nude male dancers might roam the computer room, \"enhancing the Internet\" with a \"fourth dimension: the ability to touch.\" ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Suspended for Being Effective Artists In April, high school junior Charles Carithers was suspended from the prestigious Latin Academy in Boston after complying with a class assignment to write a horror story. In Carithers' tale, a menacing student cut off the teacher's hand with a chain saw, which the real teacher interpreted as a threat. Said Carithers in defense, \"If I wrote a student killed his taxi driver, that doesn't have the same effect.\" And in January, senior Sarah Boman was suspended from Bluestem High School in Leon, Kan., for the rest of the year after complying with an assignment to create art that emphasizes an idea, rather than an object. She drew a large mural of jumbled words representing, she said, the rantings of an \"obsessive, compulsive, paranoid\" madman, but that, too, was interpreted by the teacher as a threat to her. (After appeals, both suspensions were lifted.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Awesome! In Clacton, England, in March, a freak gust of wind propelled Chris Grimes, 17, holding his oversized kite, for a half-mile at a height of 25 feet, until he touched down in a mud bog. And in Fairhaven, Mass., in May, a 65-year-old woman was hit by lightning and lifted from the ground into the back of a pickup truck, reaching a height of 12 feet, according to witnesses; she was taken to St. Luke's Hospital in New Bedford but not seriously injured. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Not My Fault In February in East Providence, R.I., the family of the late boater William J. Hussey, 55, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city, arguing that Hussey's fatal heart attack was caused by Assistant Harbor Master Paul J. Williams during a 1998 incident. However, according to police reports, all Williams had done was to yell at Hussey, who was maneuvering his boat without required navigation lights. Hussey's nearly last words were, to Williams, \"Mind your own (expletive deleted) business.\" In February, former Chicago municipal treasurer Miriam Santos was released from a prison work camp near Pekin, Ill., when her federal extortion conviction was overturned on appeal. She met immediately with reporters and announced that she would try to regain her old job at the next opportunity and said, about her crime, \"I am probably the first woman to go to jail (merely) for PMS-ing.\" In March, a representative of a private prisoner-transportation service in North Dakota told the legislature that the reason convicted murderer-child molester Kyle Bell escaped from the company's bus in October was that prison officials failed to inform the company that Bell was an escape risk. The paperwork on his transfer, said the company, showed only that he was serving a life sentence. Mark Merrill, 38, filed a lawsuit in February in Gary, Ind., against Donald Trump, alleging that the reason Merrill turned to bank robbery (in Peotone, Ill., in 1998 and Mokena, Ill., in 1999) was excessive debt, in that the floating Trump Casino in Gary fed his gambling addiction by enticing him to wager, even offering him free trips to Las Vegas. In Tampa, Fla., in March, Ed O'Rourke filed a lawsuit against Tampa Electric Co. (and several taverns) because he absorbed 13,000 volts after he climbed up one of the company's transformers in what he called a \"drunken stupor.\" The voltage knocked O'Rourke from the transformer, burned 60 percent of his body, and left him with a permanently dead right arm. O'Rourke told a Tampa Tribune reporter that he is \"unable to control his urge to drink alcoholic beverages.\" ------------------------------------------------------------------------ In Their Own Words Zamora the Torture King (mentioned in"}, {"response": 145, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Aug 27, 2000 (19:47)", "body": "Bizarre News ------------- What a Difference a Day Can Make ------------- FORDYCE, Arkansas - One day will get you twenty, or it could for an inmate that decided to flee from jail the same day that a judge ordered his release. Sherman Lee Parks, 50, had served nine months in the Dallas County Jail. According to Dallas County Sheriff Donny Ford, \"The judge ruled that since they had been locked up for nine months to let them out.\" Parks, now wanted for an escape attempt was re-arrested and sent back to the Dallas County Jail the next day. ------------------- Revenge Of The Apes -------------------- PILANA, India - Here is a story that will soon hit the Discovery Channel. More than 2000 monkeys whose habitat had been destroyed invaded the small village of Pilana. Residents had to barricade themselves in their huts and homes to avoid the savage attacks of the simian sect. More than 50 people were treated for monkey wounds and game officials from nearby Bikaner finally had the village under control after two days of terror. ------------- The Road Rage Special of the Week ------------- POWELL, Tennessee - In an effort to combat anti-gun campaign- ers, a used car dealer in Tennessee is offering a \"Buy a car and get a free rifle\" special on Saturday. Buyers will receive a voucher redeemable for a used, bolt action rifle at GunCraft Sports in nearby West Knoxville, Tennessee. Those redeeming the vouchers in the one-day promotion would have to comply with all government regulations showing they are qualified before they could acquire the weapon. According to Greg Lam- bert, head of Advantage Auto Sales, he and the Knoxville- based rights group have been upset by some anti-gun activi- ties, including a recent gun buy-back conducted by the Knox- ville Police Department -- a move the rights group said was needlessly disarming the citizens of Knoxville and wasting taxpayers' money. --------------- 60 Gallons and Still Pumping --------------- ST PAUL, Minnesota - Harry Loomer, aka \"Bloody Harry,\" earned the rare 60-gallon pin from the American Red Cross while on a visit to St. Paul, where he topped off his 60th gallon of donated blood. Since 1954, Loomer said he has donated blood 480 times in 21 states and about 80 cities, as well as in Can- ada and the Philippines. For reaching the 60-gallon mark last week, the St. Paul branch of the Red Cross had a little party for Loomer at which the staff sang an original tribute written to the tune of \"I'm Just Wild About Harry.\" A large red-and- white cake had 480 lifesavers on it. Loomer, who claims he has not been sick in 50 years, says he is \"going for 100 gallons.\""}, {"response": 146, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Tue, Aug 29, 2000 (08:39)", "body": "The moral of this piece of news - is - don't get bitten by a rattlesnake!!! Monday August 28 5:45 PM ET US running short of rattlesnake anti-venom By Steve Mitchell WASHINGTON (Reuters Health) - A nationwide shortage of rattlesnake antivenin (antidote to snake venom) is looming in the US, after the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) closed a production facility belonging to Wyeth-Ayerst, the only manufacturer of the product.The FDA closed the company's Marietta, Pennsylvania plant due to quality control problems late last year. ``Portions of that plant were closed for renovations in December,'' Wyeth spokesperson Doug Petkus told Reuters Health. This is the same plant that produces Wydase, an absorption enhancer of other drugs, which has resulted in a nationwide shortage of that drug as well.In a July 12 letter to several hospitals, including the Hi-Desert Medical Center (HDMC) in Joshua Tree, California, Wyeth notified the centers of an anticipated shortage of the antivenin.The stock of the product, Wyeth said, was being placed in a controlled inventory and orders would be ``filled only to end users on an emergency basis.'' The company added, ``It is likely there w ll be periods when product is unavailable, including this year's period of peak usage.'' ``It's a nationwide problem,'' Deborah O'Connor of the HDMC, told Reuters Health. The HDMC sees many rattlesnake bites each year because it is located in an environment that is ``rattlesnake heaven,'' Herman Galicia, Director of HDMC's pharmacy, said.``What you're going to see is people suffering from the shortage, if it continues,'' O'Connor said, because hospitals' supply of antivenin can be exhausted just treating one patient.Galicia noted that the HDMC had only about 40 vials on hand, which is more than any other center in the area but is only enough to treat ``2 bites or 1 very, very serious one.'' However, Wyeth's Petkus said, ``The controlled inventory seems to be working efficiently and according to plan.'' In addition to the southern part of California, rattlesnake bites are seen frequently in Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Utah and the Midwest, O'Connor said. Petkus said he is ``not aware of any'' incidents in which the company had to rush antivenin to a hospital for treatment of a rattlesnake bite. But he noted that the company ``has the ability to get the antivenin anywhere in a matter of hours.''Rose Ann Soloway, associate director of the American Association for Poison Control Centers, said that bite victims need treatment immediately. ``A couple of hours'' may be okay, she said, but ``24 hours is too long.'' The HDMC has not seen any bites since the shortage was announced and no centers ``have called me needing antivenin,'' Galicia commented. He added that the peak season for rattlesnake bites is past and that the HDMC generally does not see any bites after September.Soloway said the biting season ``probably will extend to Fall, but it really depends on the weather.'' If it gets cold, the snakes become less active and consequently there are fewer bites. Normal production of the antivenin should resume in ``the first quarter of 2001,'' Petkus said. The FDA did not return phone calls from Reuters Health on Monday."}, {"response": 147, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Sep  1, 2000 (03:26)", "body": "LEAD STORIES On July 4 at Coney Island in New York, Japan's Kazutoyo \"The Rabbitt\" Arai (who weighs 101 pounds) beat defending champ Steve Keiner (400 pounds) in the annual Nathan's international hot-dog-eating championship. Arai gobbled up 25 in 12 minutes, to Keiner's 16. Slim Japanese eaters have frequently won the contest, which struck Keiner as \"one of God's mysteries,\" but another bulbous former U.S. champ, Ed Krachie (who ate 15 this year), once postulated the \"Belt of Fat\" theory, that surrounding fat limits stomachs' expansion. Researcher Peter Cochrane of British Telecommunications continues development of his \"Soul Catcher\" brain-implanted microchip that he believes some day will be capable of recording all of a person's chemical reactions in all senses so as to capture \"a lifetime's worth of experience and feeling,\" according to a June New York Times report. (Already, doctors at a Veterans Administration hospital believe they have trained a patient whose ability to communicate was shut down by a brain-stem trauma; after an implant, he can order a cursor around merely by thinking of where he wants it to go.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Art of Protest In June, a British housewife held an appliance repairer hostage in her home for three hours until the company agreed to replace the faulty washing machine it had sold her and been unable to fix (Somerset, England). In April near Milan, Italy, about 30 voters showed up at the polls wearing only underwear, somehow in protest of excessive airport noise. In May, an unidentified man burst into a congressional hearing in Washington, D.C., armed with jagged-edged soda bottles and threatened to kill himself if someone didn't stop Pepsi from selling sodas to eastern European countries. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Unclear on the Concept In May, the Maricopa County (Ariz.) District Library announced that it had received a 15,000-book donation from a drive sponsored by the Cracker Barrel restaurant chain, a campaign that all together distributed more than 1 million donated books. However, the Maricopa County gift consisted of 1,000 pasta cookbooks, 200 copies of a book on Windows 95 software, and 11,796 copies of the same children's book, \"What Would Happen If ...\" In April, the New Hampshire legislature voted to correct its law on penalties for sex abuse of children. Adults convicted of aggravated sexual assault on a child in New Hampshire can receive up to 20 years in prison, but until the new bill actually becomes law, molesting one's own child still draws a maximum of only seven years. In May, a judge in Tampa, Fla., sentenced teen-ager Valessa Robinson to 18 years in prison for the confessed-to brutal beating death of her mother at the hands of Valessa and her boyfriend. Four days earlier, two other Florida judges had sentenced statutory-rape defendants (whose victims only reluctantly testified against them) to 71 years and 105 years in prison. (The first was a 25-year-old South Dakota man who clumsily romanced a 13-year-old Largo girl with a diamond ring; the second was a Miami college professor who had smuggled a somewhat-eager Honduran teen-age boy into the United States as a housemate and had occasional sex with him.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Well, Sure! Queens College (New York City) professor Harvey Baker told The New York Times in May that he had a dynamic new method for helping people overcome even intense fears of tarantulas. However, he had fallen far short of the 100 volunteers he needed to demonstrate the method because few people who have extreme tarantula phobia would participate in his study. In February, Patrick Lee Harned, 17, who is jailed in Astoria, Ore., on charges that he killed a 7-year-old girl at the command of the voices in his head, turned to convicted serial killer Keith \"Happy Face\" Jesperson, serving a life term at the Oregon State Penitentiary, for advice on prison life, girls and, of course, defense strategy. Wrote Harned, \"I just want to get my time done and do good and get married and have a kid and have a better life and walk on the beach with my wife, kid, family, and have a better life with help, amen. What can I do?\" An April New England Journal of Medicine article reporting the results of automobile whiplash claims in Saskatchewan before and after the province switched to no-fault insurance revealed that whiplash was much more common under the \"fault\" system. According to a commentator, part of the result might be due to victims gaming the system, but the results might also show that \"if you have to prove you are ill, you can't get well.\" ------------------------------------------------------------------------ In Their Own Words Pittsburgh anti-circumcision activist Ron Miller, 58, speaking to a meeting of men to encourage foreskin-restoration in order to enhance penile sensitivi"}, {"response": 148, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Sep  3, 2000 (21:16)", "body": "---------- Cat Nap Not So Purrr-fect for Burglar ---------- Bartlett, New Hampshire - Falling asleep on the job couldn't have come at a worse time for Daniel Wootton, 21, of Bridgton, Maine. Wootton was arrested this weekend on account of felony burglary charges after entering and raiding a home Saturday afternoon. After turning the house upside down, Wootton placed his heap of stolen goods by the door, and then decided to take a nap. \"He said he was real tired and so he was just going to take a quick nap,\" said police Chief Bob Snow. \"Unfortunately his internal alarm clock just didn't buzz.\" A neighbor first sighted the intruder's car in the driveway, and when the police arrived they arrested Wootton after waking him from his slumber. - Customers Looking to Scalp Company for Faulty Follicles -- NEWARK, N.J. - A New Jersey-based hair replacement company, United Micro Systems, Inc., has settled a lawsuit for $300,000 to resolve claims made by its customers who said the \"hair replacement systems\" they were sold were a sham. The company claimed in various advertisements that its \"Dermal Retention System\" was \"the secret of the rich and famous,\" while also claiming that the system had a 98.1 percent success rate. The ads also falsely claimed that hair would be added on to the scalp through \"an FDA-approved, medical grade interfusion system.\" Over 200 customers realized something was wrong when their toupees' began falling off, and they soon discovered that the hair was simply glued to their scalp. The treatments cost the customers between $2,000 and $8,000."}, {"response": 149, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Sep  6, 2000 (22:21)", "body": "+---------------------- Bizarre Laws ----------------------+ IOWA One-armed piano players must perform for free. A man with a moustache may never kiss a woman in public. It is a violation of the law to sell or distribute drugs or narcotics without having first obtained the appropriate Iowa drug tax stamp. In Indianola, the \"Ice Cream Man\" and his truck are banned. In Fort Madison, the fire department is required to practice fire fighting for fifteen minutes before attending a fire. In Marshalltown, horses are forbidden to eat fire hydrants Within the city limits of Ottumwa, a man may not wink at any woman he does not know."}, {"response": 150, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Sep  7, 2000 (04:03)", "body": "------ Passengers in Chinese Airport Left in the Dark ------ BEIJING - The Shantou airport runway in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong was left in darkness on August 18 after being ravaged by a band of thieves. The runway was forced to shutdown for 10 hours after the thieves stole 69 landing lights from 14 rows of the runway, according to the Guangzhou Daily. The fiasco took 12 hours and 20 workmen to repair and ran the airport 450,000 yuan ($54,350) to repair."}, {"response": 151, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Tue, Sep 12, 2000 (12:46)", "body": "Sunday September 10 9:11 PM ET Scientists Answer Ticklish Question http://dailynews.yahoo.com/htx/nm/20000910/sc/britain_tickling_dc_1.html LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists may have unraveled a mystery which has puzzled them and millions of children for years -- why it is impossible to tickle yourself? The Daily Telegraph said on Monday the secret lies in the cerebellum, a region at the back of the brain which predicts the sensory consequences of movements and sends signals to the rest of the brain instructing it to ignore the resulting sensation. Sarah-Jayne Blakemore of the University College of London examined six volunteers using magnetic resonance imaging to scan their brains as their palms were tickled by a machine. The scan was repeated while they tickled their own palms. In the first case the machine succeeded in tickling the volunteer because the cerebellum cannot warn the rest of the brain when the stimulus is external, even if the brain knows it is about to be tickled. The mechanism once protected us against predators by distinguishing between stimuli that were created ourselves and those generated externally. But the system can be fooled. When the robot used by the volunteers to tickle themselves delayed the action by a fraction of a second, the tickling sensation was there. ``So it is possible to tickle yourself, but only by using robots,'' Blakemore said."}, {"response": 152, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Wed, Sep 13, 2000 (08:30)", "body": "Tuesday September 12, 6:41 PM http://uk.news.yahoo.com/000912/80/aj2ef.html UK firm says it will turn old tyres to oil next year LONDON (Reuters) - Motorists currently struggling to find working petrol pumps will from next year be able to turn their old tyres into oil, a British smokeless fuel manufacturer said on Tuesday. Britain is suffering a shortage of fuel as protestors, upset by escalating fuel costs, block supplies. Coalite Smokesless Fuels said its plant will be able to turn up to 80,000 tonnes of old tyres into about 150,000 barrels of oil, similar in quality to North Sea Brent crude which on Tuesday was priced at about $33 (23.49 pounds) a barrel on the International Petroleum Exchange in London. \"We are currently in advanced stage of negotiations with tyre collectors,\" Nick Ross, Coalite Smokeless Fuels' commercial director told Reuters. Some scrap tyres are currently burnt for their energy value or recycled to produce carpet underlay, but a high percentage is used in landfill. Ross said tighter laws such as the EU Landfill Directive which comes into force in 2003 will make these disposal options increasingly difficult."}, {"response": 153, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Sep 20, 2000 (21:25)", "body": "Just in time for the Olympics: +---------------------- Bizarre Laws ----------------------+ Australia In Victoria, it is illegal to wear hot pink pants after midday Sunday. It is illegal to walk on the right hand side of a footpath. In Victoria, only licensed electricians may change a light bulb. The fine for not abiding by this law is 10 pounds. It is illegal to roam the streets wearing black clothes, felt shoes and black shoe polish on your face as these items are the tools of a cat burglar. Children may not purchase cigarettes, but they may smoke them. In Victoria, you must have a neck to knee swimsuit in order to swim at Brighton Beach. In Tasmania, until the Port Arthur Killings it was legal to own an AK-47 but not legal to be gay."}, {"response": 154, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Sep 20, 2000 (21:31)", "body": "WEST YORKSHIRE - As Elaine Sheridan was preparing to feed her three dogs from a tin of Winalot dog food she received a big surprise. A live toad jumped out of the tin and across her kitchen floor. One would think the two-inch amphibian would have croaked, literally, after being trapped in a tin from France for three months. But according to Dr. Roger Meek, he believes the toad could have survived by shutting down its metabolism. The Sheridans are keeping the lucky toad as a pet and have named it Buddy after the toads from the Budweiser commercials."}, {"response": 155, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Sat, Sep 23, 2000 (11:17)", "body": "Friday, 22 September, 2000, 17:28 GMT 18:28 UK Parliamentary toilet paper torment http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/africa/newsid_937000/937981.stm There is more paper in the chamber than in the pan Parliamentarians in South Africa have been caught short by a lack of paper - not for legislative work, but for business of a more personal kind. MPs and staff throughout the complex of buildings are reporting a drastic shortage of toilet paper. Those with urgent calls of a non-legislative nature have had to make do with paper towels, or provide their own substitute. Concerned toilet-goers reported that the supply began drying up several weeks ago. Various other sanitary products such as rubbish bags and cleaning products are also in short supply. Instructions The shortages appear particularly acute in the Old Assembly Wing, which houses most of the press corps. This is not what was meant by a paperless society The situation became so severe that a spoof memo appeared in the toilets purporting to be from the parliament's administration advising users how to get the maximum benefit from the minimum number of sheets. But although the disappearance of a commodity such as toilet paper is distressing, it is just the latest in a series of items to go missing from parliament. Thefts One MP left his office to go to the toilet and, while history does not relate whether or not there was any paper there, when he returned to his office a couple of minutes later his lap-top computer had disappeared. Thefts have been endemic and range from copper off the roof through pictures off the walls to a salami slicer from the kitchens. Someone even walked out with a historic diamond ring bequeathed to the parliament at the turn of the century. The exact cause of the shortage of toilet paper has yet to be flushed out. Relief It could be due to theft or a fault in the supply chain but a journalist in the parliament told BBC News Online that, once they tried to get to the bottom of the situation, things started improving. He said once the problem had been publicised, staff were spotted rushing along the corridors carrying large bags of toilet rolls. But although supplies are flowing again they are not unlimited. Staff have been instructed to put only one roll in each cubicle."}, {"response": 156, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Mon, Sep 25, 2000 (15:53)", "body": "Monday September 25, 3:00 PM Having a snail of a time! http://uk.news.yahoo.com/000925/15/akk6h.html World's first ever online snail race, organised by Blue Square, is a trailblazing new entry onto the gambling scene. The first ever snail race in the world to be broadcast on the Web took place Monday, at http://www.bluesquare.com . UK betting service Blue Square organised the race, which involved six snails racing up 427mm poles away from water. Snails were randomly chosen and colour-coded, and every snail given odds of 4-1. Races are to take place every day at 12:30pm from Monday through to Saturday, and you can tune in for live streaming coverage. In today's race, the \"black\" snail roared to the finishing line like a true pro, while the less orthodox \"red\" snail left its own pole and began climbing up the blue one."}, {"response": 157, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Mon, Sep 25, 2000 (15:54)", "body": "noisy shrimps Snapping shrimps are the noisiest creatures in the shallow ocean, capable of drowning out submarine sonar by the \"snap, crackle and pop\" of bubbles generated by their claws. That is the verdict of researchers who have been studying how the tiny marine organisms make such a din. Go to to read the rest of the article, see pix and HEAR noisy shrimps!!! http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_935000/935855.stm"}, {"response": 158, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Oct  1, 2000 (05:02)", "body": "Oh, Maggie...never use the restrooms in Westminster. They are all stamped with Property of the Borough of Westminster. I thought they wanted it back! I still have a few sheets I brought home! +--------------- Bizarre National Holidays ----------------+ OCTOBER IS... October is... National Sarcastics Month October is... National Apple Jack Month October is... National Pickled Pepper Month October 3 is... Virus Appreciation Day October 6 is... Come and Take It Day October 9 is... Moldy Cheese Day October 12 is... Moment Of Frustration Scream Day October 14 is... Be Bald and Free Day October 16 is... Dictionary Day October 17 is... Gaudy Day October 21 is... Babbling Day October 25 is... Punk For A Day Day October 28 is... Plush Animal Lover's Day October 29 is... Hermit Day October 30 is... National Candy Corn Day October 31 is... Halloween [A truly bizarre holiday.]"}, {"response": 159, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Oct  1, 2000 (05:04)", "body": "...the tissue is all stamped with that information too... That is what I thought I should send back. You won't tell on me, will you?! Promise to bring it back...!"}, {"response": 160, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Oct  1, 2000 (05:11)", "body": "NEW ZEALAND - Tired of listening to your rowdy neighbors party all night? Geoff Marsland in New Zealand has developed the perfect weapon to annoy the pesky partiers. It is an hour long CD featuring 64 uninterrupted minutes of the high-pitched whirring of a lawnmower. Marsland said that you have to some- times remind people that there are others living nearby. Over 4000 copies of the CD have been sold since its release. And according to Marsland, this is only the beginning. \"I'm going to do one on farm sounds as well,\" he concluded."}, {"response": 161, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Sun, Oct  1, 2000 (08:35)", "body": "Ha ha Marcia ...the shortage is in South Africa ...I'm very tempted to be crude about our politicians and their need for TP but, being the lady I am, I won't!!!!"}, {"response": 162, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Oct  1, 2000 (19:03)", "body": "I thought surely it was Washington DC which had the lock on the world's supply of such delicate tissue... They keep making more and more occasions to use it, as well. Lock them all in a room and throw away the key!!! Without the tissue!"}, {"response": 163, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Sun, Oct  1, 2000 (20:59)", "body": "This could get messy *grin*"}, {"response": 164, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Oct 27, 2000 (03:31)", "body": "Least Competent Criminals A 17-year-old boy was arrested in Loomis, Calif., in July after he was unsuccessful in what might have been an attempt to emulate the notorious \"Rooftop Robber,\" who had burglarized more than 40 businesses in California and other states by entering through roofs (and who was captured in May). Unlike the original, the 17-year-old crashed through a false ceiling in his first job, broke a sink standing on it trying to climb out, then made it to a false ceiling and crawled to an adjacent store, but fell through that ceiling, too, injuring his ankle, and then finally, on his way out, tripped the burglar alarm and had police waiting for him. Latest Rages The following people apparently get really set off by the following things: Mark Adam Yazzie, 26 (got into an argument with his brother-in-law about the merits of rap music vs. rock and ran him over with a truck; Santa Rosa, Calif., June). Jane Graham, 77 (pointed a butcher knife at a neighbor man's groin and threatened to \"cut it off\" because he was playing his stereo too loud; Winnipeg, Manitoba, July). Gerard Corbo, 56 (at his son's wedding, started a fistfight when a guest referred to the groom by the wrong first name; Westlake, Ohio, June)."}, {"response": 165, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Oct 27, 2000 (03:44)", "body": "TFTD-L@TAMU.EDU Thought For The Day * According to Arkansas law, Section 4761, Pope's Digest: \"No person shall be permitted under any pretext whatever, to come nearer than fifty feet of any door or window of any polling room, from the opening of the polls until the completion of the count and the certification of the returns.\" *************** tftd wonders if this could be a root cause for 'low voter turnout'."}, {"response": 166, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Oct 27, 2000 (18:15)", "body": "+---------------- Bizarre Insurance Claims ----------------+ Coming home I drove into the wrong house and collided with a tree I don't have. The other car collided with mine without giving warning of its intentions. I collided with a stationary truck coming the other way. I pulled away from the side of the road, glanced at my mother- in-law and headed over the embankment. In my attempt to kill a fly, I drove into a telephone pole. I was on my way to the doctor with rear end trouble when my universal joint gave way causing me to have an accident. An invisible car came out of nowhere, struck my car and vanished."}, {"response": 167, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Nov 10, 2000 (02:36)", "body": "----------------- Hog Wild in First Class ------------------ 30,000 FT. ABOVE SEATTLE - Someone at USAirways is getting sacked over this one. Two women flying from Philadelphia to Seattle managed to get their 200 pound hog through Philadelphia International Airport and onto the first-class section of their flight. How did they manage this? By flashing a doctor's note to convince the ground crew that their 200 pound hog was a service animal [kind of like a seeing-eye pig]. \"You can't believe how that dang pig squealed,\" commented one passenger. As the plane approached Seattle the pig charged through the aisles and attempted to break into the cockpit, according to a USAirways report. The FAA is focusing on whether the pig was a flight safety hazard."}, {"response": 168, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Nov 10, 2000 (02:38)", "body": "----------- Another Mathematical Genius at Large ----------- LOUISIANA - There is one bandit in Louisiana who had better give up armed robbery until he learns how to count. The man walked into a Circle-K, put a $20 bill on the counter and asked for change. When the clerk opened the cash drawer, the man pulled a gun and asked for all the cash in the register, which the clerk promptly provided. The man took the cash from the clerk and fled, leaving the $20 bill on the counter. The total amount of cash he got from the drawer was $15. ---------- Drug Smugglers Use Hanes Their Own Way ---------- MIAMI - Flight attendants sported \"extra padding\" in their underwear as part of a drug smuggling operation from Colombia to the United States. A total of 17 people, eight of whom have been arrested in the United States, were named in a seven-count indictment for smuggling heroin and cocaine in their underwear. Florida U.S. Attorney Guy Lewis stated that the drug ring was bringing about 33 to 44 pounds of heroin a month into the country, from the Venezuelan capital of Caracas to Miami International Airport. From Miami, the heroin was taken up to New York. Those arrested so far are Venezuelan, Colombian and U.S. citizens, and have been charged with drug offenses such as bringing drugs into the United States and conspiracy to distribute them."}, {"response": 169, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Nov 12, 2000 (05:11)", "body": "+---------------------- Bizarre Laws ----------------------+ FLORIDA Men may not be seen publicly in any kind of strapless gown. In Pensacola, a women can be fined (only after death), for being electrocuted in a bath-tub because of using self- beautification utensils. Having sexual relations with a porcupine is illegal. You may not fart in a public place after 6 P.M. on Thursdays. In Daytona Beach, the molestation of trash cans is banned. It is considered an offense to shower naked. In Sarasota, if you hit a pedestrian you are fined $78.00. You may not kiss your wife's breasts. In Sarasota, you may not catch crabs."}, {"response": 170, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Nov 24, 2000 (20:01)", "body": "Man Finds His Stolen Car on in the Internet TOKYO (Reuters) - A 26-year-old Japanese man, playing detective online, discovered his own stolen Porsche for sale on the Internet at a used car lot's Web site, Japanese media reported. The Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper said the man trawled through Tokyo used car dealers' Web sites after his 1997 Porsche Boxter was stolen from his home in a wealthy area of Tokyo in September. After wading through inventories of about 100,000 vehicles, he narrowed his search down to about 20 1997 Boxters. Of those, one had about the same mileage as his, the newspaper said. It said police suspect organized crime may have been behind the theft."}, {"response": 171, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Nov 28, 2000 (02:18)", "body": "wow!"}, {"response": 172, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Dec 24, 2000 (00:40)", "body": "Love-Crazed Father of 42 to Marry Again BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanese farmer Ghassan Abdel-Al loves women so much that his three exhausted wives have decided to marry him off to a fourth, a Beirut daily reported Friday. Al-Kifah al-Arabi said Abdel-Al, who lives in a remote area in south Lebanon, will take another wife in a few weeks to keep up with his insatiable sexual appetite. The 47-year-old Muslim farmer has sired a total of 42 children, known in their village as \"The Militia.\" Islam allows men to take up to four wives. Abdel-Al got married for the first time in his 20s. A few years and a dozen children later, his wife felt he was getting bored with her so she set him up with a second woman. The second wife then bore Abdel-Al at least a dozen more babies, and then told him to marry a third woman. The farmer told the newspaper that he was looking forward to his fourth wife. \"Allah ordered us to love each other and I love women. I can't live without love, or at least without women, that is the way Allah created me,\" he said."}, {"response": 173, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Dec 26, 2000 (21:53)", "body": "* The Golden Tower Project, an installation by Seattle artists at this year's Burning Man festival, consisted of 400 jars of urine from other artists, stacked and electroluminescently lighted (\"gorgeous,\" \"faintly blue and gold,\" \"warm, kind of like biological stained glass,\" according to Seattle's The Stranger weekly). (In 1993, News of the Weird reported that New York City artist Todd Alden had asked 400 art collectors worldwide to send him samples of their feces so he could offer them for sale in personalized tins. Said Alden, \"Scatology is emerging as an increasingly significant part of artistic inquiry in the 1990s.\") * News of the Weird has reported on scientists who borrow the jellyfish's \"green protein\" for medically productive genetic modifications, but Chicago artist Eduardo Kac created controversy in September by proposing to create embryos with the jellyfish's green-light-producing gene just to make visually appealing organisms, such as a glowing rabbit. (Kac's major work so far is \"Genesis,\" a sentence from the Old Testament, translated into Morse Code, transposed onto DNA, inserted into fluorescent bacteria, and lit up when anyone accesses the piece on Kac's Web site.) * In a summer contract with the city of Montreal, artist Devora Neumark performed \"The Art of Conversation,\" which consisted of her standing at the entrance to a subway station from noon to 4 p.m. every Tuesday and \"conducting spontaneous interchange with interested parties on a variety of topics.\" Frontiers of Science * A U.S. Forest Service researcher announced in August that her team had discovered the largest living thing ever found, a 24-centuries-old fungus, covering 2,200 acres in the Blue Mountains of eastern Oregon; DNA testing confirmed that the underground, stringlike structure was all the same organism. And three weeks later near Lake Okeechobee, a University of Florida biologist discovered what he called an \"evolutionary relic,\" a previously unknown, carnivorous, flowering plant that grows entirely underground but by photosynthesis. * An August British Broadcasting Corp. documentary, \"Brain Story,\" featured a man whose cranial lobes were surgically severed in order to treat epilepsy and who now is able to do what he calls the \"party trick\" of drawing different designs, with each hand, at the same time. * Japan's Mizuno Corp. has developed a synthetic material for men's underpants that would keep the covered area one Celsius degree cooler than cotton underwear and therefore helpful, for example, to skiers (and, say doctors, to those desiring increased sperm production), according to an August New Scientist report. However, Canadian polyester-mesh underwear manufacturer Stanfield's Ltd. disputed Mizuno's claim of superiority; said a spokesman, \"We just haven't got up the guts to measure the temperature of someone's crotch yet.\" ------------------------------------------------------------------------ \"Winning Isn't Everything; It's the Only Thing\" Thomas Lavery, 56, was indicted in Akron, Ohio, in August on nine counts of roughing up two of his high-achieving, home-schooled daughters when they performed worse in their endeavors than he expected. According to the indictment, when one daughter came in second in the National Spelling Bee, botching \"cappelletti,\" Lavery threatened to kill her and had to be physically restrained. The girl told the Akron Beacon Journal that Lavery would punch them in the head for their failures and that screaming and profanity were common. Lavery complained to the Associated Press that he was \"easier on (his kids) than my father was (on me).\" ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Update News of the Weird reported in 1999 on the lawsuit by 5,400 descendants of the 18th-century Welsh pirate Robert Edwards, claiming ownership of 77 acres of lower Manhattan (including the World Trade Center and the New York Stock Exchange). In August 2000, four descendants claimed to have found a copy of a 1778 lease for the land, which had been given to Edwards shortly before by a grateful King George, stating that Edwards' heirs would get the land back in 1877. The value of the land now is conservatively estimated at $750 billion, or $140 million per descendant. Courts in South Wales, New York City and Pittsburgh have opened proceedings. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Least Competent Criminals Customs Agent Adventures: Cocaine \"mule\" Jose Antonio Campos-Cloute was arrested at the Melbourne, Australia, airport, in September after a momentary lapse; as he was filling out the Customs form, he absentmindedly checked the \"yes\" box on whether he was carrying illicit substances, and that led to a search. And Briton Alison McKinnon was sentenced in August to five years in prison in Turkey for attempting to smuggle six pounds of heroin out, strapped to her chest; she was ready to board a plane home from Istanbul but was designated for searchin"}, {"response": 174, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Dec 28, 2000 (23:37)", "body": "+---------------------- Bizarre Laws ----------------------+ ALABAMA In Jasper, it is illegal for a husband to beat his wife with a stick larger in diameter than his thumb. It is illegal to wear a fake moustache that causes laughter in church. Putting salt on a railroad track may be punishable by death. Boogers may not be flicked into the wind. You may not have an ice cream cone in your back pocket at any time. It is illegal to maim oneself to escape duty. It is illegal for a driver to be blindfolded while operating a vehicle."}, {"response": 175, "author": "Jody", "date": "Wed, Jan 24, 2001 (23:47)", "body": "Dear Marcia, How can you be so certain that \"Mary Had A Little Lamb\" was written by Sara Josepha Hale when the authorship is mired in dispute after dispute? Some have feverishly maintained that one Mary Hall, a classmate of Mary Sawyer of Sterling, Mass. who owned the lamb, wrote it. Other are equally certain that John Roulston wrote it. It is true that Mrs. Hale published in a youngsters magazine that she actually edited. Well, it was Mark Twain, who wrote, \"It is the difference of opinion that makes the horse races.\""}, {"response": 176, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Feb 19, 2001 (01:06)", "body": "Thanks for posting this, Jody. As I pointed out elsewhere, I get my trivial by an email service and placing it under my name should also include the source of my information or misinformation. Thanks for setting the record straight! +------------------ Bizarre Criminal Acts ------------------+ In order not to be identified by his clothing, a North Caro- lina bank robber stripped to his underwear and shoved a large wad of cash inside them. He was later \"debriefed\" when someone reported a man with strangely bulging underwear running down the street. A man with dreams of being a pizza delivery boy was arrested after going knocking on the doors of an apartment complex wearing nothing but a baseball hat. The man was caught while trying to jump over a fence and was booked in thirty minutes or less. Louis Abright had the bright idea of robbing a branch of a local bank in Lafayette, Louisiana with his head covered in whipped cream. By the time he demanded the money from the teller, his mask had melted and the police arrived lickity spilt. An immigration officer stopped a truck filled with illegal aliens and asked if anyone spoke English. When they all said no, he told them he was going to shoot them all, starting with the ones with brown shoes. As he drew his pistol, three men stepped forward and took the role of translator for the group."}, {"response": 177, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Jun 15, 2001 (14:41)", "body": "Phil Bronstein, of SF Chronicle, is in the hospital after having been bitten (mauled sounds more like it) on the foot by a Kimodo Dragon at I forget which Zoo (LA I think). He was on a special just for him for father's day back stage tour of the zoo, esp. to see the Kimodo Dragon. Apparently he was wearing white sneakers and was told that they might appear to resemble the white mice fed to the Kimodo Dragon. So instead he was barefoot when he was attacked by said KD. Sounds like he's lost much of a big toe and is danger of umpteen different kinds of extemely nasty bacteria which can cause sepsis. Apparently there are left over particles of food in the KD's mouth which fester in nasty ways. This happened about a week ago. Here's the story: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/06/10/MN156967.DTL Should I have put this in the Jurassic Park topic? Isn't this the weirdest story? news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 38, "subject": "Entertainment News and Gossip", "response_count": 32, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Oct 29, 2000 (17:59)", "body": "Police Kill Actor at Los Angeles Halloween Party October 29, 2000 3:06 pm EST LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A police officer responding to a noisy Halloween party at a mansion north of Beverly Hills shot and killed an actor, who police said pointed what turned out to be a fake gun at him, police said Sunday. Anthony Dwain Lee, 39, who appeared in the 1997 movie \"Liar, Liar\" and on several television shows including \"NYPD Blue,\" was shot several times early Saturday by Officer Tarriel Hopper who fired through a glass door from an exterior hallway, the Los Angeles Police Department said in a statement. The shooting took place about 1 a.m. at a crowded party attended by scores of costumed guests, many of them actors and other entertainment industry professionals, at a mansion known as \"the Castle\" for its spires and stained-glass windows, the Los Angeles Times reported. It was not immediately known who owned the house or if the owner attended the party. \"He was a Buddhist. He hated violence. It is amazing he died this way,\" Mitch Hale, a writer whose play \"Buffalo Soldier\" starred Lee and earned him a local acting award, told the newspaper. \"He was an incredibly gifted actor and person. It's devastating ... Why did they shoot someone at a Halloween party?\" Police said Hopper and Officer Natalie Humphreys were attempting to find the owner of the home in the Benedict Canyon area of Los Angeles after neighbors complained about the party. The officers were at the rear of the house when Hopper looked into a small room and spotted three people. Police said that when Lee saw the officers he pulled what looked like a handgun and pointed it at Hopper, who, in fear for his life, fired several shots from his service pistol, wounding Lee, the LAPD statement said. Lee was later pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics. Officer Charlotte Broughton, a spokeswoman for the LAPD, said many of the party-goers were in costume. One guest told the Times that some of guests were dressed as cops, but it was not known if Lee was wearing a costume. It was also not clear if Lee realized Hopper was a real officer with a real gun. The police department said Lee's supposed weapon was a fake, \"a replica semiautomatic pistol, dark in color.\" The shooting is being investigated by the LAPD's Robbery-Homicide Division and a team from the district attorney's office. Another party-goer, Robert Hull, told the Times, \"It was a shock that an officer would shoot at such a party. This was an exclusive party with security. Some of these people are making six figures, and this officer saw a toy gun at a Halloween costume party and opened fire.\" Another of the victim's friends, Mary Lin, told the newspaper, \"His biggest fear was getting killed by cops, because he's a tall black man.\" Lee's friends said Sunday they were planning to hold a candlelight vigil in his honor Monday evening."}, {"response": 2, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Oct 29, 2000 (22:58)", "body": "LAPD marches on."}, {"response": 3, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Oct 29, 2000 (23:42)", "body": "Yeah, but you gotta be especially stupid to point a replica of a service revolver at a police officer. At night. In the dark. Who you gonna call when you are being threatened or your property threatened? The Girls Scouts?? Yup, LAPD has trouble Big Time, but it is the only act in town. I think this qualifies for New 11 - stupid things in the news!!!"}, {"response": 4, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Nov 17, 2000 (22:30)", "body": "November 17, 2000 5:58 pm EST LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The pint-sized rapper who performed with multi-platinum rock star Kid Rock has died of a chronic intestinal disorder at the age of 26, his label said on Friday. Joseph Calleja, professionally known as Joe C., died in his sleep on Thursday night at his parents' house in the Detroit suburb of Taylor, Michigan, according to a statement from Atlantic Records. Joe C. had suffered since childhood with Celiac disease, and as a result stood at only 3-foot-9-inches. His health maintenance regimen had included taking 65 pills a day and daily dialysis treatment. Despite this, he had been in good health, and his death was unexpected, a label publicist said. Joe C. did not let his health worries interfere with his marijuana-fueled rock 'n' roll lifestyle. He recorded and toured with Kid Rock, the flashy Detroit rock star behind such hits as \"Cowboy\" and \"Bawitdaba,\" and his foul-mouthed hooligan persona made him a crowd favorite. In the \"Cowboy\" video, Joe C. dressed as a gunslinger and dueled with Gary Coleman, the diminutive actor from the 1980s sitcom \"Diff'rent Strokes.\" He bragged about his sexual prowess on the title track to Kid Rock's 9-million-selling \"Devil Without a Cause\" album and had a solo tune on the \"South Park\" feature soundtrack, \"Kyle's Mom's a Big Fat B++ch\". He also had a cameo on the cartoon TV series \"The Simpsons.\" Joe C. once sparked a child pornography investigation after posing with two naked women for some snapshots. The clerk at the photo lab thought he was 10 years old and called the police. In the Atlantic statement, Kid Rock, aka Bob Ritchie, said: \"We have lost part of our family. Joey gave us and the world his love. He brought a smile to everyone who has ever known or seen him. In a world full of confusion, Joey made us all laugh. No matter what color, religion, race or beliefs we have, he made us all smile. He gave us the gift of joy. Joey, thank you. We will never forget you. We love you.\" Funeral arrangements were not yet confirmed."}, {"response": 5, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Nov 24, 2000 (14:54)", "body": "World's Tallest Ferris Wheel Coming Soon to Vegas LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Step right up to the greatest Ferris wheel on Earth, coming soon to Las Vegas. A group of designers and developers plans to erect what is being billing as the world tallest free-standing carnival ride at the southern end of the Las Vegas Strip. In typical Vegas style, the 518-foot tall ride dubbed the Voyager, will be anything but your typical Ferris wheel. Among other things, it will feature: -- 35 cars, each outfitted with a bar, rest room and plush seating for up to 16 riders; -- an attendant in each car, whose duties will include tending bar, answering riders' questions and entertaining them in general; -- Internet access for each passenger; and -- two-way video cameras in each car, allowing riders to communicate with their friends in other cars and on the ground. The wheel will spin at about 1-1/2 mph, and one trip around will take about a half hour, said Richard Hannigan, a principal of Outland Development LLC, which is overseeing design and construction of the ride. If it is built, the wheel would be the tallest such ride in the world -- taller than the current record holder, the 443-foot-tall (135 meters) \"London Eye,\" built as part of Britain's millennium celebration. The only taller structure on the Las Vegas Strip would be the Stratosphere tower, which stands 1,149 feet (350 meters) high. Hannigan wouldn't reveal the exact location of the project, which will cost $40 million to $60 million, but said final negotiations are underway for the developers' most preferred building site. \"We designed this particular module, the wheel itself, to be all things to all people,\" Hannigan said. \"It moves very slowly, so you don't get a sensation like a roller coaster. You can have a very young child on this, all the way to a very elderly person.\" Hannigan said the car-to-car video connections will allow larger parties to ride together and stay in touch during the course of a trip. \"Say we have a wedding party that stretches over four cars, for example,\" he said. \"There will be cameras on board so you can see other people in the cars.\" Hannigan, president of the architecture design firm Synthetic Systems Inc., said the idea for a super-sized Ferris wheel first came up in the mid-1990s as part of a casino being built for another company. That element of the project never came to fruition, but its designers never forgot the concept. \"We liked the idea so much we decided to build it as a free-standing deal,\" Hannigan said. \"If you're going to make a name for yourself you have to be bigger and better than anything else. It'll be the next icon on the Strip.\" Hannigan said construction of the Voyager could begin sometime next year, with completion set for the first quarter of 2002."}, {"response": 6, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Nov 27, 2000 (21:23)", "body": "i heard this on the news tonight and i about fell out. it seems that Revlon (r) is looking for a new model. seems that Cindy Crawford no longer has the look for this day and age. too bad. sorry Cindy. but you have a stunning acting career to fall back on. no really, i can't imagine making money on my looks and then being told, in my prime, sorry honey, you're so 5 minutes ago!"}, {"response": 7, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Tue, Nov 28, 2000 (02:27)", "body": "Yeah, doesn't it suck to be a gorgeous, super-rich, world-famous model?"}, {"response": 8, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Nov 28, 2000 (13:35)", "body": "I'll take your word for it. We already know how gorgeous you are and world famous. Delighted to add you to the list of the super-rich! *sigh*"}, {"response": 9, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Nov 28, 2000 (18:49)", "body": "oh yeah, and melanie griffin's contract is in peril with revlon too. seems the image they definitely don't want to project is that of an older woman addicted to prescription drugs! (i don't like her anyway) speaking of which, robert downey jr is in trouble again. he just can't get clean. i think he needs to go to boot camp instead of some wealthy spa for those hooked to drugs. and when he goes to prison, they need not allow him to make movies during the week and return for weekend time."}, {"response": 10, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Nov 30, 2000 (00:30)", "body": "What to get your Favorite Billionaire for Christmas... ACTON, Mass. (Reuters) - Need a Christmas present for that money-bags billionaire relative or friend and don't quite know what to do? The Robb Report, magazine for the ultra-rich, has just what you need, but probably can't afford. How about a $30 million 165-foot super yacht with a gymnasium and marble-floored lobby? Too showy? Then what about a 485 horsepower V12 Ferrari 550 Barchetta Pininfarina limited edition convertible? It can be yours for $258,000. The glamorous gifts are part of the Robb Report's annual list of presents published in its December issue. It is the 17th list and features \"21 exclusive gifts for the 21st century.\" Other gift opportunities for consumers with copious cash include a $325,285, 21-day safari package complete with a pair of 12-bore shotguns and a Range Rover, or a $7.75 million set of four Patek Philippe pocket watches, one of which will accurately copy the chime of London's Big Ben clock tower. For those wishing to keep price tags to five digits, the magazine offers a man and woman's wardrobe of cashmere and wool from Italian manufacturer Loro Piana for $55,000, or a $39,400 two-person ski vacation in the French Alps. There is also a four-day trip for two to meet and cook with four \"superstar chefs\" -- Daniel Boulud of Daniel restaurant, Jean-Georges Vongerichten of Jean Georges, Aureole's Charlie Palmer and the Ryland Inn's Craig Shelton -- starting at just $25,000. And for those who want to indulge a fantasy or simply steal a glance into the world of wretched excess, you can buy a copy of the magazine for just $9.99."}, {"response": 11, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Dec 19, 2000 (20:21)", "body": "Madonna's getting married on Friday!!"}, {"response": 12, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Dec 20, 2000 (21:34)", "body": "Yup...in The Highlands. I'm so envious. Well, we knom what he'll be wearing under his kilt...!!!"}, {"response": 13, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Dec 21, 2000 (18:08)", "body": "and they will be checking!!"}, {"response": 14, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Dec 21, 2000 (18:29)", "body": ""}, {"response": 15, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Fri, Dec 22, 2000 (13:47)", "body": "Today is Ralph Fiennes birthday, he's 38."}, {"response": 16, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Dec 22, 2000 (15:53)", "body": "and very fine!(he's 38????)"}, {"response": 17, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Dec 27, 2000 (18:46)", "body": "jason robards passed last night (he was in braveheart wasn't he--as robert the bruce's father?) oh, and madonna will be in her husband's new movie \"The Mole\" not to be confused with the new real tv series \"the mole.\" i read that they'll start filming in march. hmmmm...."}, {"response": 18, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Jan  2, 2001 (19:06)", "body": "Actress Kate Hudson Marries Rocker Boyfriend January 2, 2001 12:46 am EST LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actress Kate Hudson, who played a groupie in the recent movie \"Almost Famous,\" became a rock 'n' roll wife on New Year's Eve, tying the knot with the lead singer of southern rock band the Black Crowes, her publicist says. Hudson, the 21-year-old daughter of Goldie Hawn, married Chris Robinson, 34, at the Aspen, Colo., ranch Hawn shares with longtime companion Kurt Russell, publicist Brad Cafarelli told Reuters. Hudson and Robinson had been dating for about a year. It was the first marriage for both. Hawn and Russell were among the 70 family and friends at the evening ceremony, and Russell gave the bride away. Hudson's estranged natural father, comedian Bill Hudson, was not present, Cafarelli said Monday. Hudson's maid of honor was her friend Dyani Redclay, while Robinson's best man was his younger brother and songwriting partner Rich, who plays guitar with the Black Crowes. The other members of the Black Crowes attended, but there were no other famous names, Cafarelli said. Hudson, Hawn and Redclay wore Vera Wang gowns, while the Robinsons and Russell were fitted in Brioni suits. Cafarelli said Hudson's dress boasted a corseted bodice and large full skirt, in keeping with the event's romantic 19th century theme. He declined to comment on the content of the couple's vows. The couple were still at the ranch Monday, with Hudson due to fly to London next week to star in a remake of the 1939 war drama \"Four Feathers\" for director Shekhar Kapur. She rose to fame for her Golden Globe-nominated turn as kind-hearted groupie Penny Lane in writer/director Cameron Crowe's \"Almost Famous.\" The Black Crowes, which formed in Atlanta in 1988 and enjoyed such hits as \"Jealous Again\" and \"Remedy,\" are recording a new album. They recently toured with former Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page."}, {"response": 19, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Jan  8, 2001 (19:56)", "body": "hot off the Extra pressed--Madonna and Brittney Spears could be doing a duet with each other. Madonna even wore a BS t-shirt at her last concert!"}, {"response": 20, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, May  4, 2001 (00:56)", "body": "Have you seen the Brittney Spears Pepsi commercial, the one with Bob Dole?"}, {"response": 21, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, May 26, 2001 (20:56)", "body": "nope, i don't think so....is that the one with \"Just enjoy the ride\"? and what's up with Tom and Nicole?"}, {"response": 22, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, May 27, 2001 (09:18)", "body": "Nicole seems to be winning the media battle, according to a big story in Entertainment Week. Carmen Electra's practically stalking Ricky Martin, to his disinterest. Maybe she should stick with Dennis Rodman. Altman's Gosford Park is the big buzz in London, with singing Jeremy NOrtham. It has almost as many stars as the country sky on a clear Texas night."}, {"response": 23, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Mar 23, 2005 (07:43)", "body": "What's the inside story on \"Insider\" host Pat O'Brien's decision to enter rehab Sunday? Hollywood sources suggest the timing was to defuse the release of several sexually explicit voice-mail messages, available on the Internet yesterday, soliciting sex froman unidentified woman. \"Let's just [bleeping] have sex and fun and drugs and go crazy,\" says a male voice. Yesterday reps for \"The Insider\" would not comment on widespread attribution of the voice to O'Brien. The tape describes in graphic detail just how \"badly\" the caller wants various activities that involve, gosh, all parts of the woman's body. \"I'm so into you, Betsy is so f\ufffd\ufffding jealous,\" the voice claims in one message. \"I know you want me, but you have to be with Betsy, too.\" \"The Insider\" host has one child with his wife, Linda. Sadly, by the final message, Betsy seems to have pulled out of the threesome. Says the caller: \"Get another woman up, hire a hooker, let's get crazy, get some coke and if you get this message, if you agree with this, just look at me and say yes.\" from http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/292318p-250212c.html and there's more coming out today."}, {"response": 24, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Mar 23, 2005 (07:50)", "body": "It keeps getting messier for \"The Insider\" host Pat O'Brien. The celeb chronicler checked into rehab Sunday, just as an embarrassing string of dirty voice-mail messages, which expressed a taste for hookers, cocaine and adventurous (if possibly unhygienic) sex, became public. His reps do not deny that O'Brien made the calls. Now sources say O'Brien was reprimanded several times for sexual harassment during his time as co-host of rival show \"Access Hollywood.\" A witness says O'Brien actually licked co-host Nancy O'Dell's face at an \"Access Hollywood\" Christmas party. At the same event, he was seen groping reporter Shaun Robinson's behind. A gay male producer told our source O'Brien once said to him, \"I have a gift for you.\" When asked what, O'Brien allegedly answered, \"Bend over.\" On another occasion, he allegedly stretched out on the producer's sofa and asked, \"What would you do if I masturbated in front of you?\" He also allegedly offended two African-American employees when he walked into a makeup room and greeted them with, \"What's up, my n\ufffd\ufffds!\" Could it be O'Brien feels that he's down with the bruthas because he once appeared in a P. Diddy video? O'Brien's lawyer, Abel Lezcano, said: \"As far as being able to verify or deny this stuff, I can't do it.\" \"NBC does not comment on personnel issues regarding our current or former employees,\" said a spokeswoman for NBC Universal, which produces \"Access Hollywood.\" \"NBC has a strong policy against harassment in the workplace, and takes corrective action when appropriate.\" A rep for \"The Insider\" declined comment. http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/292707p-250567c.html"}, {"response": 25, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Mar 23, 2005 (08:15)", "body": "Sandy plugs Sandy's and other Austin eateries on Daily Show As is our habit, my wife and I were watching the Daily Show last night. The guest was Sandra Bullock. She was there to plug Miss Congeniality 2 (feh), but her conversation with Jon Stewart turned to Austin. They both gushed about our fair city and the topic turned to local eateries. Bullock plugged Salt Lick which they both agreed was great. If you ask me, Cooper's is hands down the best BBQ around and well worth the extra half-hour drive. Stewart asked her about an old burger place that everyone recommends in town. She thought for a moment and suggested Sandy's which I thought was a cool plug, but probably not the one he was trying to remember. I'm guessing he was talking about Hut's, but then thought it could be Dirty's, Top Notch, or Hillbert's. For burger joint atmosphere, I think any of those that I mentioned are worthy. However, I still think the Amarillo burger at Casino El Camino is the best burger in town. Period. http://www.metblogs.com/mt/mt-tb138.pl/6194"}, {"response": 26, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Sep  6, 2005 (20:51)", "body": "holy cow, i forgot all about this topic! lance armstrong and sheryl crowe got engaged."}, {"response": 27, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Sep  7, 2005 (10:05)", "body": "And Lance is considering another Tour de France, he's already in training."}, {"response": 28, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Sep  7, 2005 (20:49)", "body": "yeah, i heard that. didja know that the samples used for the drug testing were from '99 and the specific type of testing they did this time around wasn't available back then? (back then...*chuckle*). i'm sure the man was on some type of drug but i think those were for his recovery from cancer (not sure when he was diagnosed)....."}, {"response": 29, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Sep  9, 2005 (09:13)", "body": "He was diagnosed and treated at least a year before he ran the first Tour, and he did take meds to increase his blood cell count then but they would have been long gone. I think Lance misses the pain, the training, the agony of preparation and the French handed him an excuse to re-enter the fray on a silver platter. I had a great event at Central Market called \"TourWatch 2005\" and I may do another one next year with Lance coming back in. It will be interesting to see how this plays out."}, {"response": 30, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Sep  9, 2005 (21:41)", "body": "has he already signed on to race?"}, {"response": 31, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Mar 21, 2006 (18:25)", "body": "Website Posts Real-Time Celebrity Sightings By Shawn McGinnis, KTLA News March 17, 2006, 4:22 PM PST NEW YORK \ufffd A new web site is causing a bit of a panic in Hollywood, by turning ordinary people into paparazzi. Gawker Stalker Gawker Stalker is the latest innovation in celebrity watching. It's supposed to be fun, but there are already concerns that a new web tool on the gossip site Gawker.com may threaten the privacy and possibly the safety of celebrities across the nation. How it works Lets say you're out and about and see George Clooney at Starbucks, you e-mail his location to Gawker.com and within seconds the information will be posted online, complete with a Google Map showing exactly where and when a star was spotted. Just this week, Gawker has advertised sightings of Harrison Ford, Madonna, Julia Roberts, Kate Hudson and Lindsey Lohan. Stalker Concerns However, the immediacy of the information has many concerned that obsessed fans may use the site to track down celebrities. But Gawker.com says the information is already out there and that anyone truly intent on harming a celebrity will find a way regardless of what's on the site. more at http://gawker.com"}, {"response": 32, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Mar 21, 2006 (18:29)", "body": "http://www.gawker.com/stalker/ Here's the map news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 39, "subject": "Good News", "response_count": 28, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Nov 26, 2000 (21:39)", "body": "hope i didn't step on anyone's virtual toes by creating this topic! on the news a week or so ago, i learned of a new website or news program that only reports on the good things that happen. i can't remember it now, but will do some research and get the link posted here."}, {"response": 2, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Mon, Nov 27, 2000 (03:15)", "body": "That's what I need :-) Good news would be very welcome at the moment :-)"}, {"response": 3, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Jan 12, 2001 (18:27)", "body": "local police caught the bad guy. he's suspected of robbing a lot of different stores in the shreveport/bossier area."}, {"response": 4, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jan 12, 2001 (19:11)", "body": "It's about time!!! Good news, indeed, Wolfie!!! Ooooh I got a huge package of goodies from TP today - the artist whose name will be elsewhere than here for search purposes... Whooooopeeeeeeee!!!"}, {"response": 5, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jan 12, 2001 (23:37)", "body": "Sweden And Survivor Say Wallenberg May Be Alive STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish diplomat spirited away by the Red Army in 1945 after saving thousands of Jews from the Nazis, may still be alive, Sweden said on Friday. After the release of the results of 10 years of Swedish- Russian investigations, Prime Minister Goran Persson said there was no clear evidence Wallenberg was dead, and his government would try harder to find out what had happened to him. His remarks came on the same day that a top Kremlin adviser said Wallenberg was killed in 1947 in a vicious turf war between rival branches of the Soviet secret service. Wallenberg, a member of a side branch of the powerful Swedish business dynasty, saved the lives of tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews in World War Two by issuing them with Swedish passports from the Swedish embassy in Budapest. He disappeared after being seized by Soviet Red Army troops in the city in January 1945. The Soviet and Russian authorities, most recently last December, have asserted that Wallenberg died in Moscow's notorious Lubyanka prison in July 1947. But there have been persistent reports that he was alive in a Soviet gulag or psychiatric hospital, perhaps as late as 1989. If he were still alive, he would be 87. Independent consultants, who assisted the Swedish-Russian working group, presented a separate report saying that eyewitness reports indicated Wallenberg had been alive at least until 1970 and perhaps into the 1980s. However Alexander Yakovlev, a top Kremlin adviser who heads a presidential probe into Soviet repression, said in Moscow on Friday that Wallenberg was shot in 1947 by agents of the future KGB, who then tried to hide the crime from their masters. He said Wallenberg may have been arrested by Soviet troops because they wanted to tap his connections in German and U.S. intelligence which he used to save Jews from the Holocaust. Yakovlev said he believed there was no definitive order to kill Wallenberg, but he became a victim of rivalry between military intelligence and the nascent KGB. Kate Wacz, who with her mother and brother was among the Hungarian Jews given passports by Wallenberg, said she refused to give up hope. \"I WANT TO THANK HIM\" \"Theoretically, there is always a chance he might be alive so we can thank him personally. That's what I want to do,\" she told Reuters. Wacz, who met Wallenberg when she was 12, recalled with shining eyes: \"I was standing next to my mother when my mother was talking to him. He looked gorgeous, he looked so great, he looked so elegant, a great man for me.\" The Swedish members of the government-level working group, presenting their conclusions, said no evidence had been found that Wallenberg died in July 1947. \"Even though all the versions from Russian sources largely assume that Raoul Wallenberg had died at that point, the working group has not uncovered any evidence to confirm a definite conclusion to this effect,\" they said. But a separate summary presented by the Russian half of the working group stuck to the view that he was long dead: \"All the circumstantial evidence confirms that Raoul Wallenberg died, or most likely was killed, on July 17, 1947.\" It said Wallenberg had been executed on a charge of spying for Germany and that most documents relating to the matter had then been destroyed. It added that the Soviet governments of the time were responsible for his death and the Russian investigators now considered the matter closed. FAILURE TO SAVE HERO Persson said in a statement his government would continue to try and find out what had happened to Wallenberg, based on the assumption that he may have been alive after 1947. \"As long as there is no unequivocal evidence of what happened to Wallenberg -- and this is still the case -- it cannot be said that Raoul Wallenberg is dead,\" he said. Extolling Wallenberg's humanitarian work, he also apologized for Sweden's failure to do more to save its hero. Friday's report said the Swedish government of the time had failed to respond to Soviet advances seeking the extradition of Soviet citizens, which could have led to Wallenberg's release. The independent consultants said the Soviet Union had approached Stockholm on several occasions after 1947, trying to exchange Wallenberg. In 1957, Moscow hinted at a trade-off involving \"a man of a prominent, a very important family,\" said researcher Susanne Berger, one of the consultants. Persson said the main responsibility for Wallenberg rested with the Soviet government, which had ordered and carried out his disappearance from Hungary. \"Nonetheless it is now clear that more energetic and purposeful action on the part of Sweden during the 1940s could have led to a more successful outcome for Raoul Wallenberg and his relatives,\" he said. (Additional reporting by Jonathan Lynn)"}, {"response": 6, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jan 12, 2001 (23:38)", "body": "The Secretary General of the United Nations is married to Wallenberg's daughter."}, {"response": 7, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Sat, Jan 13, 2001 (11:16)", "body": "How will they find out if he's still alive? Will the Soviets cooperate?"}, {"response": 8, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jan 13, 2001 (12:57)", "body": "Good question - I amost interested in this. The UN has limited power, but let us hope they put an end to this travesty of justice. I'll let you know as soon as I hear further."}, {"response": 9, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Sat, Jan 13, 2001 (13:32)", "body": "Thre was a great piece on Terry Gross' Fresh Air on NPR yesterday about the Cuban Missle Crisis and Kruschev and JFK were mailing letters back and forth that sometimes took up to 12 hours while the world teetered ont he brink. It was a fascinating bunch of interviews and comments."}, {"response": 10, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Jan 15, 2001 (13:01)", "body": "Two teenage girls found a wallet full of money on their school grounds in Phoenix Arizona. They took the wallet to their principal who counted over $10K in cash. They called the police who took it from there. A woman claimed the wallet and the money was for the purpose of purchasing a car."}, {"response": 11, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Jan 16, 2001 (20:20)", "body": "on the news today, a man was freed on account of new DNA evidence proving him innocent of a crime he spent 12 years out of a life sentence in prison for."}, {"response": 12, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Wed, Jan 17, 2001 (09:42)", "body": "It was the only thing on talk radio driving to work today, Sgt Sam and the folsk on KLBJ am 590 in Austin were talking about whether these guys should be compensated. They threatened Ochoa with the death penalty if he didn't plea bargain. The other guy had his skull crushed in a prison incident and is a vegetable, he'll never get his life back. Another win for Barry Scheck, who is using DNA evidence to right the wrongs of the past. Of course he should be compensated and of course Ochoa shouldn't be chastised for giving up his co-conspirator, this was undoubtedly coerced out of him as part of the plea bargain. The real loser is the guy who got his head bashed in, they showed his tearful ex girlfriend on the local news last night, and she was lamenting how he would never have a life or a girlfriend ever again. It's a tragedy."}, {"response": 13, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Jan 19, 2001 (18:44)", "body": "i'm sorry, what are you talking about? and this is for GOOD NEWS !!"}, {"response": 14, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Sat, Jan 20, 2001 (12:02)", "body": "Yep, wrong topic. Chief Justice about to administer the Oath of Office. Bush raises right hand, swears he will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, so help him God."}, {"response": 15, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Sat, Jan 20, 2001 (12:02)", "body": "Hail to the Chief plays and Bush shakes Cheneys hand and gives dad a hug. 21 gun salute."}, {"response": 16, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Sat, Jan 20, 2001 (12:05)", "body": "Now the Oath of Office. He thanks Gore. The good news is that we have a peaceful transfer of power in this country."}, {"response": 17, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Feb 26, 2001 (18:59)", "body": "good news and nothing short of a miracle (and who says they don't happen anymore?) the little girl who froze--apparantly, she has suffered no brain damage and is aware of her surroundings and everything. isn't that great?"}, {"response": 18, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Feb 26, 2001 (19:50)", "body": "As a mother, You bet it is GREAT!!! Thanks for sharing the great news!"}, {"response": 19, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Tue, Feb 27, 2001 (08:02)", "body": "That's great news, probably freezing will become a lot more commonplace in prolonging life."}, {"response": 20, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Thu, Mar  1, 2001 (05:38)", "body": "Yeah, very likely I would have thought. Remember the Hibernation in 2001 space odyssey? I'm looking forward to waking up on mars ten minutes later :)"}, {"response": 21, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Mar  5, 2001 (18:23)", "body": "does anyone know how long she was in the snow?"}, {"response": 22, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, May  4, 2001 (00:56)", "body": "Nope, never got in to the details of this. Maybe something's out there on the web. This makes a good case for cryonics?"}, {"response": 23, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, May 26, 2001 (20:57)", "body": "haven't been keeping up with any good news, anyone else got any?"}, {"response": 24, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Dec  4, 2001 (23:48)", "body": "Thanks to Bob Shannon for this pinpoint@yahoogroups.com ISSAQUAH, Wash. - An 8-year-old is credited with using the Heimlich maneuver to save his teacher when she choked on a cough drop - and the boy says he was ready to perform an emergency tracheotomy with a pen knife if the Heimlich didn't work. It's not that Austin Rosedale has had any special training. The third-grader at Sunny Hills Elementary in this east Seattle suburb learned the techniques, along with the basics of cardiopulmonary resuscitation, from diagrams on his mother's day-planner calendar. He was prepared when his computer science teacher, Charisse Precht, choked on a cough drop Friday. \"She tried to do the Heimlich to herself, but it didn't work,\" Austin said told the Eastside Journal on Monday. \"So I did it for her. I learned it from a Day-Timer. I didn't see anybody do it. I just read it.\" Precht had just finished writing a computer code on a white board in the computer lab when she took a cough drop and it got stuck in her throat. She says all she could do was mouth the word \"help\" and point to her throat. She tried pounding on her diaphragm with her fists, but the cough drop wouldn't budge. Dizzy, she dropped to her knees. \"When you can't breathe, it's very terrifying,\" Precht said. \"Someone yelled I was having a heart attack; someone else said it was a stroke. But Austin knew exactly what to do.\" As other children ran for help, Austin stepped behind his teacher, wrapped his arms around her chest and squeezed. On his second try, he cleared Precht's air passage. Austin, who weighs barely 60 pounds, said he must've had a rush of adrenaline to give him the strength to dislodge the cough drop. Precht said she's grateful the maneuver worked - and that Austin didn't have to try penknife surgery."}, {"response": 25, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Dec 24, 2001 (23:05)", "body": "my husband was witness to some very kind folks today. we went to the hometown buffet today for lunch. on the way out, my daughter and i made a pit stop while the boys waited. when we finally caught up together, the AM told me that an older couple, who had just finished their lunch, invited another older couple into the restaurant. the clerk asked the number of adults in their party and the first guy said two. the other couple just stood there and looked at him gratefully. he said the woman was crying. you see, the second couple was homeless and had nothing to eat. there are generous and kind people out there! thank you very much, stranger, for your kindness today. they will never forget it and neither will i! and another positive note: a family's puppy got stuck in a drainage pipe. (a spuds looking dog). they got him out and put a mesh over the pipe opening to prevent it from happening again. the whole block was thrilled!!"}, {"response": 26, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Jan 24, 2002 (20:03)", "body": "a missing cat was returned to his owner after being missing for 6 years!! his collar was gone but he seemed to know he was home!!!!! he disappeared while being watched by a family member. signs were posted and everything. the cat reappeared in the neighbor's yard (the neighbor recognized him)!"}, {"response": 27, "author": "suzee202000", "date": "Wed, Apr 24, 2002 (18:10)", "body": "This story isn't over yet, but a lot of people have been trying very hard to bring about a happy ending for Forgea. New twist in dog saga: Fishermen try to coax terrier off derelict tanker Mon Apr 22, 6:07 PM ET By JANIS L. MAGIN, Associated Press Writer HONOLULU - Forgea's not so sure she wants to be rescued. Fishermen sent to retrieve the frightened dog left alone for almost three weeks aboard a burned-out tanker tried to coax the 2-year-old mixed breed terrier Monday with peanut butter, using the Mandarin phrase for \"Come here,\" a salvage company spokesman said. Crew members from two fishing vessels that reached the tanker Insiko 1907 on Sunday boarded the derelict ship, but Forgea, who spent 19 days without company after the tanker's crew was rescued by a passing cruise ship, keeps scampering away, said Rusty Nall of American Marine Corp., the company hired to find the ship and rescue the dog. \"She keeps going down below decks and hiding,\" said Nall. \"The crew can't go down below decks because of ... the condition of the ship.\" A fire had killed one Insiko crew member and destroyed parts of the ship. \"Forgea has been alone for nearly three weeks, so it is natural that she's a little wary of the rescuers,\" said Hawaiian Humane Society President Pamela Burns on Monday. An announcement said the society is confident that Forgea would be taken aboard the fishing vessel later in the day. Plans were to bring her to Honolulu when the ship returns next week. Burns expressed thanks to the fishermen, adding \"We are also thankful to all the people in Hawaii, the United States and the world who have expressed their support for this effort.\" Forgea's owner, the Taiwanese captain, and the Chinese crew of the disabled Insiko were rescued by the Norwegian Star south of Hawaii on April 2. The Indonesian tanker had been without power or communications since the March 13 fire that crippled the ship. The dog was left behind, and the Hawaiian Humane Society launched a dlrs 50,000 effort to save it. The ship was found on Saturday, 250 miles (400 kilometers) east of Johnston Island in the south Pacific. The island is 825 miles (1,325 kilometers) southwest of Honolulu. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020422/ap_wo_en_ge/pacific_dog_adrift_8 Coast Guard Oversees Dog Rescue Wed Apr 24,12:17 AM ET By JANIS L. MAGIN, Associated Press Writer HONOLULU (AP) - The Coast Guard took over the recovery of an abandoned tanker Tuesday after the vessel drifted into U.S. waters near Johnston Island with a castaway dog still aboard. The Coast Guard was sending a salvage tug on a three-day trip to assess the potential environmental danger to the island. The burned-out Indonesian tanker is \"carrying more than 60,000 gallons of diesel fuel and lube oil and we don't want it to run aground and spill,\" said Chief Petty Officer Tyler Johnson. \"It's a marine environment, so it's extremely sensitive.\" The tanker's proximity to the U.S. territory allows use of a federal emergency fund to deal with the tanker and the dog, he said. Capt. Gilbert Kanazawa, the Coast Guard's captain of the Honolulu port, requested an initial $25,000 from a $50 million fund authorized by the federal Oil Pollution Act of 1990. As it deals with the tanker, the Coast Guard will pick up the dog and recover the body of a crewman killed in the March 13 fire that crippled the ship, Johnson said. Then a decision will be made whether to sink the vessel or tow it to Johnston Island or to Honolulu, more than 800 miles away, he said. A third option is to allow the wind and current move the tanker past the atoll so that it is no longer a hazard. The dog, Forgea, has been alone on the tanker since April 2, when a cruise ship rescued the dog's owner, the Taiwanese captain, and 10 crew members. The 2-year-old terrier mix hid when fishermen boarded the vessel to retrieve her on Sunday and Monday. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020424/ap_on_re_us/dog_adrift_9"}, {"response": 28, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Dec 28, 2005 (12:13)", "body": "Bono grasps that politicians don't much like being yelled at by activists who tell them no matter what they do, it's not enough. Bono knows it's never enough, but he also knows how to say so in a way that doesn't leave his audience feeling helpless. He invites everyone into the game, in a way that makes them think they are missing something if they hold back. \"After so many years in Washington,\" says retired Senator Jesse Helms of North Carolina, whom Bono recruited to his cause, \"I had met enough well-known people to quickly figure out who was genuine and who was there for show. I knew as soon as I met Bono that he was genuine. He has absolutely nothing to gain personally as a result of his work. In fact, he has opened himself to criticism because he has been willing to work with anyone to find help for these children who have taken his heart.\" This is not about pity. It's more about passion. Pity sees suffering and wants to ease the pain; passion sees injustice and wants to settle the score. Pity implores the powerful to pay attention; passion warns them about what will happen if they don't. The risk of pity is that it kills with kindness; the promise of passion is that it builds on the hope that the poor are fully capable of helping themselves if given the chance. In 2005 the world's poor needed no more condolences; they needed people to get interested, get mad and then get to work. from Time Magazine's Person of the Year Award for 2005 Bill and Melinda Gates and Bono were the persons of the year. news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 4, "subject": "I don't need no spam, m'am!", "response_count": 6, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Mar  2, 1998 (03:05)", "body": "Right now Best.com is cleaning up mail servers that were broken by 100,000 spam messages. Mail to most of their customers is bouncing. That's 30,000 people whose mail is being lost due to one spammer. There's your real cost. And this is just one incident, similar things happen every day. (heard from jef@well.com)"}, {"response": 2, "author": "autumn", "date": "Tue, Mar  3, 1998 (13:49)", "body": "Before this goes any further, could you define \"spam\"? I am clueless."}, {"response": 4, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Mar  4, 1998 (06:39)", "body": "Technically, \"unsolicited email\" or email that you didn't specifically request that came out of the blue, usually telling you that you have just been priviledged to be let in on the greatest multilevel marketing business ever. Or that for a mere $25 you can have 1 million emails sent on your behalf."}, {"response": 6, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Sat, Apr 18, 1998 (21:22)", "body": "oh, and not to mention the adults only password for the hottest place on the web!"}, {"response": 7, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Wed, May 20, 1998 (01:30)", "body": "(1) SENATE PASSES CONGRESS' FIRST EFFORT TO ADDRESS UNSOLICITED COMMERCIAL EMAIL On May 12 the Senate passed Congress' first effort to clamp down on senders of unsolicited commercial email messages (UCE), popularly called 'spam' or 'junk email.' CDT believes that this bill is a measured first step in addressing the issue of spam. But there are several issues that need to be addressed before final passage. The current definition of 'unsolicited commercial email,' for example, unconstitutionally restricts unsolicited anonymous political speech. We've communicated this concern to the bill's sponsors, Senators. Frank Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Robert G. Torricelli (D-N.J.), and we will work to see that this concern is addressed in the final version of the legislation. For the letter, see: http://www.cdt.org/spam/cdtletter.html We also recognize that in the future additional steps may be needed, depending on how well this first attempt to deal legislatively with the problem works. Sens. Murkowski and Torricelli's bill requires those who send unsolicited commercial email to: ** identify themselves and provide accurate contact information within the body of their email message; ** provide accurate routing information; and ** stop sending email messages upon the request of a recipient. The bill gives several different parties the right to bring legal action against the senders of unsolicited commercial email. Those parties include: ** The Federal Trade Commission, which may fine anyone who violates the law up to $15,000, and may seek an injunction that prohibits the violator from sending more spam;. ** State Attorneys General, who may bring lawsuits on behalf of the residents of their state to get an injunction against the transmission of more unsolicited commercial email, force the sender to comply with the law, and obtain damages and 'other appropriate relief' from the sender for the harm it caused by sending unwanted commercial email; and ** Internet Service Providers who have been harmed by people who use their services to send spam may also bring a lawsuit to get an injunction and to obtain damages and other appropriate relief. ISPs may be awarded up to $15,000 for each violation of the law through the use of their service. The court may also force the violator to pay the ISP's attorney fees, as long as they are reasonable, and court costs. By allowing the courts to shift the cost of a successful lawsuit off ISPs, and onto the shoulders of the spam senders themselves,the bill may encourage more ISPs to pursue spammers. The bill gives the FTC, the State Attorneys General and the Internet service providers the power to enforce the law's provisions. The bill also retains the states' abilities to enact additional legislation or to employ existing consumer protection laws to address unsolicited commercial email. S. 1618 avoids many of the thorny questions regarding speech and Internet service liability raised by earlier proposals. While the bill is only a beginning, CDT believes it will have an impact on the unscrupulous people who are clogging the email system with unwanted messages. This bill won't eliminate unsolicited commercial email, but it will enable individual Internet users and Internet service providers to exercise more control over a problem they have so far found to be almost unworkable. It will ensure that people who send spam will hear back from consumers who don't want to get it. The issue of unsolicited commercial email will remain active in the policy arena. First, the Senate Commerce Committee has tentatively scheduled a hearing on this issue on June 17th. Second, the Ad Hoc Working Group on Unsolicited Commercial Email, which CDT convened last fall at the request of the FTC, is also due to release its report soon. CDT coordinated the drafting of the report, which, as we told Sens. Murkowski and Torricelli, found consensus in a desire to: a) maximize individual email users' control over the information that enters their in-box; b) ensure that costs were not imposed unfairly upon end users, and Internet and online service providers; and c) increase the enforcement of existing FTC regulations and state laws on 'unfair, deceptive and misleading commercial statements' in a way that protects the First Amendment right to free speech. Meanwhile, the text of S. 1618 is available on Sen. Murkowski's Web site, at: http://www.senate.gov/~murkowski/commercialemail/EMailAmendText.html A companion bill, H.R. 3888, was introduced in the House by Rep.Billy Tauzin (R-La.) on May 14. The text is not yet available online."}, {"response": 8, "author": "stacey", "date": "Wed, May 20, 1998 (15:29)", "body": "it's about damn time! news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 40, "subject": "Hawaii, Will it Secede?", "response_count": 4, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Sep  4, 2001 (19:29)", "body": "Yup, this is not gonna happen. As a wise man once said to me, better mean old American took Hawaii then mean old Russia. They built a fort on Kauai - it is still there. With Pearl Harbor, how long do you think Hawaii would remain independent and safe from takeover by some not as nice country? It simply will not happen!"}, {"response": 2, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Sep  4, 2001 (19:30)", "body": "The hostile takeover by a foreign power is very real...I meant that the independant nationhood will not happen."}, {"response": 3, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Nov 16, 2001 (21:40)", "body": "i've never heard about this. isn't hawaii made up of all sorts of different people living there like here on the mainland?"}, {"response": 4, "author": "alyeska", "date": "Fri, Nov 16, 2001 (22:08)", "body": "Why would Hawaii want to secede. I know why Alaska would. news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 41, "subject": "picture of the day", "response_count": 1, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "dot", "date": "Tue, Jul 10, 2001 (11:25)", "body": "news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 42, "subject": "Weird and Unusual News", "response_count": 14, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Aug 23, 2001 (14:23)", "body": "http://www.heraldnet.com/Stories/01/8/23/14257484.cfm Police follow naked man to pot crop. When an officer approached the man and asked why he was naked, the man reportedly said that he felt like it so he just did it. an officer writing the man a ticket for indecent exposure then asked the man what he did for a living, and he allegedly said he grew marijuana. According to the police report, the man then asked for the officer's help in harvesting the crop. The officer said he was too lazy to help, but offered 5to go look at the man's operation, and the naked man agreed. \"The man's wife told police she had never been inside heer husband's shed, but that was where her husband did his artwork and practiced with his yo-yo."}, {"response": 2, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Aug 23, 2001 (16:08)", "body": "Hmmmm ... I think this is stuff for which I created News that Doen't Fit... Curious stuff!"}, {"response": 3, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Aug 23, 2001 (19:07)", "body": "I guess we can put the *really strange* news here then and the ohther news there?"}, {"response": 4, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Aug 23, 2001 (19:14)", "body": "Yup.... sounds good to me."}, {"response": 5, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Sep  4, 2001 (19:31)", "body": "Mistaken Rapture Little Rock (AP) A Little Rock woman was killed yesterday after leaping through her moving car's sunroof during an incident best described as \"a mistaken rapture\" by dozens of eyewitnesses. Thirteen other people were injured after a twenty-car pile up resulted from people trying to avoid hitting the woman who was apparently convinced that the rapture was occurring when she saw twelve people floating up into the air, and then passed a man on the side of the road who she claimed was Jesus. \"She started screaming \"He's back, He's back\" and climbed right out of the sunroof and jumped off the roof of the car,\" said Everet Williams, husband of 28-year-old Georgann Williams who was pronounced dead at the scene. \"I was slowing down but she wouldn't wait till I stopped,\" Williams said. She thought the rapture was happening and was convinced that Jesus was gonna lift her up into the sky,\" he went on to say. \"This is the strangest thing I've seen since I've been on the force,\" said Paul Madison, first officer on the scene. Madison questioned the man who looked like Jesus and discovered that he was dressed up as Jesus and was on his way to a toga costume party when the tarp covering the bed of his pickup truck came loose and released twelve blow up sex dolls filled with helium which floated up into the air. Ernie Jenkins, 32, of Fort Smith, who's been told by several of his friends that he looks like Jesus, pulled over and lifted his arms into the air in frustration, and said \"Come back here!\" just as the Williams' car passed him, and Mrs. Williams was sure that it was Jesus lifting people up into the sky as they passed byhim, according to her husband, who says his wife loved Jesus more than anything else. When asked for comments about the twelve sex dolls, Jenkins replied \"This is all just too weird for me. I never expected anything like this to happen.\""}, {"response": 6, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Jul 21, 2002 (08:12)", "body": "LONDON (Reuters) - Police in the northern city of Manchester appealed for information on Tuesday after a gang of clowns mounted an armed raid on a wine bar. Three men in fancy dress handcuffed a manager and threatened him with a sawn-off shotgun and a knife before escaping with what was described as \"a small amount of money.\" Police were not amused. \"This was a highly organized team, who had obviously spent some time planning this robbery,\" Detective Inspector Darren Shenton said in a statement. The gang made off in a van with police in pursuit, and managed to escape despite being involved in three accidents on the way. Police said witnesses could not have failed to notice the robbers. http://dailynews.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=573&e=3&u=/nm/20020716/od_nm/clowns_dc_1 Warning, this next one is very disturbing. LONDON (Reuters) - A British teenager described as being obsessed with vampires is accused of butchering a 90-year-old woman, cutting out her heart and drinking her blood, newspapers reported on Wednesday. Prosecutors told a court in Mold, north Wales, the 17-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, stabbed Mabel Leyshon at her home before ripping out her heart and wrapping it in newspaper. Mold Crown Court heard that the deaf pensioner was attacked as she sat watching television and ferociously stabbed 22 times. Her dead body, found last November, was then perched on an armchair where the killer made deep gashes in her legs and drank her blood after draining it into a saucepan, prosecutors said. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=573&ncid=757&e=7&u=/nm/20020717/od_nm/vampire_dc_1 wrapping it in newspaper!!!! What about the chips? http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=573&e=3&cid=573&u=/nm/20020718/od_nm/execution_dc_1 Killer, Rapist to Be Thrown Off Cliff in Sack A lighter moment, perhaps, there have been a number of blow dart attacks in Washington: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=573&e=4&cid=573&u=/nm/20020718/od_nm/darts_dc_1 Silent Blow Dart Attacks Mystify and, the most disturbing of all. \"His first victims tended to be terminally ill, but then he moved on to murder patients that simply irritated him.\""}, {"response": 7, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Aug  1, 2002 (09:09)", "body": "3 Injuries, 2 Murders: A Van Accident Takes Ugly Turn in Chicago Five Held in Beating Of Driver, Companion By Robert E. Pierre Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, August 1, 2002; Page A03 CHICAGO, July 31 -- The van ran a stop sign, jumped a curb, and plowed into a crowd of people sitting on a stoop, injuring three young women. But then the accident turned deadly. As more than 100 people watched, the 62-year-old driver and his 49-year-old passenger were pulled from the van and beaten to death, police said. No one tried to intervene though several people dialed 911 to report the beating and the accident. \"A gang of murderers, thugs . . . decided the best course of action was to drag these men from the vehicle and beat them with bricks, their feet and their hands,\" Police Superintendent Terry G. Hillard said today at a news conference. \"This is not street justice. Vigilante does not apply. This is a simple, senseless, cowardly homicide.\" more at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A26022-2002Jul31.html"}, {"response": 8, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Aug  1, 2002 (17:13)", "body": "A \"designer kidnapping\" service in NYC charges thousands of dollars toviolently abuct their client, bind and gag them and hold them hostage for hours or even days. WTF? http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/2163666.stm A bizarre new service offering 'designer kidnapping' for thrill-seeking New Yorkers is dividing opinion across the city. Brock Enright, a 25-year-old artist, has created a business where people pay him thousands of dollars a time to be violently abducted. Around 30 people have used the service so far, and dozens of other personalised 'kidnap plans' are in preparation. One of my favourite ones is the guy who loves small places. When I abduct him he's always under his bed Brock Enright Each kidnap is different, to cater for the particular tastes of the individual. Clients are mostly bound and gagged and taken away for a period of incarceration that lasts for hours, or even days. \"It's about stepping outside of yourself. I wanted to see what I could do,\" said Jason, a carpenter, in his mid-20s, who has gone through the kidnap experience three times already. \"I just wanted to see if it was possible for me to be in a situation like that.\" Thrill of the unknown Many clients are abducted in the street, day or night. Some wake up at home to find Mr Enright's operatives - or \"birds\" as he calls them - looming over them. \"One of my favourite ones is the guy who loves small places. When I abduct him he's always under his bed, says Mr Enright. Kidnapping organiser Brock Enright \"He wants to be taken out of his home always.\" Psychotherapist Sheena Hankin believes there could be therapeutic value in kidnapping for fun - and would even try it herself. \"We're built for it. It gives us a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment. \"Having had enough courage to go through something, when you get off the rollercoaster you feel really good about yourself. \"When you come out of this kidnapping - you've survived it,\" she said. Kidnap \"victims\" agree a time-frame for their abduction, but the thrill comes in not quite knowing when the \"birds\" will strike. Booming business Brock Enright says that the profile of his average client is changing. More men are coming to him keen on trying to evade their kidnappers. It can cause psychological damage, because it gives the impression to the person who participates that they can do anything Gerald Landsberg The danger may lie in not knowing when the hunted will cross the line and start fighting back. There's nothing illegal about the business, but the New York Police Department is not happy about it. \"It's not something we condone,\" said a police spokesman. \"Something like this tends to desensitise people - especially if you find yourself in a real-life negative situation down the road.\" The director of New York's Institute Against Violence, Professor Gerald Landsberg, agrees: Jason has experienced the ordeal three times \"It can cause psychological damage, because it gives the impression to the person who participates that they can do anything. \"They're 'super-people' which can lead to other kinds of activities that are probably not in their best interests, or people that they know.\" 'Destructive activity' Other care organisations are also angry. The New York social workers' association says it's a destructive activity to be \"enjoying\" at a time when children continue to be regularly abducted from the street with tragic consequences. Surprisingly however, there have not been any cases so far of outraged New Yorkers intervening in a kidnap scenario on Manhattan, despite the fact that many are carried out on city streets during the day. As the whole business began initially as a piece of video installation art, before he realised its commercial potential, Brock Enright is well aware of the reason. \"People don't seem to bother us because they see a video camera - maybe two or three cameras going. Then they say - oh, it's a movie.\" However Mr Enright admits to concerns that the service is beginning get out of hand and is becoming too violent. \"Right now I am worrying. I'm thinking about it a lot.\""}, {"response": 9, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Oct 31, 2003 (11:41)", "body": "This is a wild story. A burglar broke into a house, found a bunch of pedophile photos including one of his own sister! and turned himself and the photos in to police. http://www.daytondailynews.com/localnews/content/localnews/daily/1028rape.html"}, {"response": 10, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Nov  9, 2003 (10:02)", "body": "Man, Woman Attacked By Pit Bull in Southeast Victims Were Walking in Neighborhood By Justin Blum Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, November 9, 2003; Page C04 A pit bull broke out of a fenced yard in Southwest Washington yesterday, attacked a woman walking nearby and wounded a man before the man put the dog in a headlock and strangled it, police said. more at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A17274-2003Nov8.html"}, {"response": 11, "author": "pmnh", "date": "Sat, Dec 13, 2003 (03:23)", "body": "i really hate those ******* dogs"}, {"response": 12, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Dec 15, 2003 (14:07)", "body": "The cops carry around pepper spray for a reason. People have gotten out of control with their dogs."}, {"response": 13, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Mar 10, 2004 (07:32)", "body": "http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/South/03/09/million.dollar.bill.ap/index.html COVINGTON, Georgia (AP) -- A Georgia woman who tried to use a fake $1 million bill to buy $1,675 worth of merchandise at Wal-Mart was arrested, and police later found two more of the bills in her purse."}, {"response": 14, "author": "pmnh", "date": "Wed, Jun  9, 2004 (19:40)", "body": "when you think about it, this woman embodies the genuine spirit of the greenspan/bush monetary policy revolution (they'll build statues for her someday)... news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 43, "subject": "Jumbo Jets crash in to World Trade Center", "response_count": 801, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (10:01)", "body": "NEW YORK \ufffd Two planes crashed into the upper floors of both World Trade Center towers minutes apart today in what President Bush said was an apparent terrorist attack, blasting fiery, gaping holes in the 110-story buildings. There was no immediate word on deaths or injuries. The president ordered a full-scale investigation to \"hunt down the folks who committed this act.\" The twin disasters happened shortly before 9 a.m. EDT and then right around 9 a.m. EDT. In Washington, officials said the FBI was investigating reports of a plane hijacking before the crashes. Heavy black smoke billowed into the sky above the gaping holes in the side of the 110-story twin towers, one of New York City's most famous landmarks, and debris rained down upon the street, one of the city's busiest work areas. When the second plane hit, a fireball of flame and smoke erupted, leaving a huge hole in the glass and steel tower. \"Today we've had a national tragedy,\" Bush said. He called it \"an apparent terrorist attack.\" Ira Furber, former NTSB spokesman, discounted the likelihood that it was an accident. \"I don't think this is an accident,\" he said on CNN. \"You've got incredibly good visibility. No pilot is going to be relying on navigational equipment.\" \"It's just not possible in the daytime,\" he added. \"A second occurrence is just beyond belief.\" The towers were struck by terrorist bombers in February 1993, killing six people and injuring more than 1,000 others. All New York City-area airports were shut down, and several subway lines were immediately shut down. Trading on Wall Street was suspended. \"The plane was coming in low and ... it looked like it hit at a slight angle,\" said Sean Murtagh, a CNN vice president, the network reported. \"I was watching TV and heard a sonic boom,\" Jeanne Yurman told CNN. \"The side of the World Trade Center exploded. Debris is falling like leaflets. I hear ambulances. The northern tower seems to be on fire.\" Thousands of pieces of what appeared to be office paper came drifting over Brooklyn, about three miles from the tower. A senior government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the agency is pursuing reports that one or both of the planes were hijacked and that the crashes may have been the result of a suicide mission. The source stressed that the reports are preliminary and officials do not know the cause of the crashes. \"It certainly doesn't look like an accident,\" said a second government official, also speaking on condition of anonymity. In 1945, an Army Air Corps B-25, a twin-engine bomber, crashed into the 79th floor of the Empire State Building in dense fog. In Sarasota, Fla., Bush was reading to children in a classroom at 9:05 a.m. when his chief of staff, Andrew Card, whispered into his ear. The president briefly turned somber before he resumed reading. He addressed the tragedy about a half-hour later. from AP report"}, {"response": 2, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (10:05)", "body": "It is being reported that one of the towers has collapsed. The White House and other national offices are being evacuated."}, {"response": 3, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (10:34)", "body": ""}, {"response": 4, "author": "maryw", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (10:42)", "body": "TO ALL OUR FRIENDS AT DROOL IN THE US FROM YOUR FRIENDS IN AUSTRALIA WE ARE THINKING AND PRAYING FOR YOU ALL DURING THIS HORRIBLE MOMENT IN HISTORY. TAKE CARE ALL OF YOU!!! GOD BLESS ALL OF US!!"}, {"response": 5, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (10:42)", "body": "Now, there's a report of another hijacked plane headed toward Washington DC. Both World Trade Centers have totally collapsed !"}, {"response": 6, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (10:43)", "body": "This is like the Pearl Harbor of the world's terrorists."}, {"response": 7, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (11:00)", "body": "Topic 1180 [current]: Terrorist attack on the World Trade Center #84 of 98: Kim Bassett (kimage) Tue Sep 11 '01 (07:52) 26 lines I've been watching ABC coverage through both collapses. Judging from the commentary plus live pictures: - There does not appear to have been a third plane impacting the WTC towers. If there is a third plane, ABC hasn't mentioned it in the last 30 minutes. - For the first collapse, the top floors above the point of impact began collapsing, the stress and failure cascading downwards all the way to the bottom. The second collapse appeared to start from the lower floors, upper floors dropping downwards. - Neither tower toppled significantly to the side; there was worry of a triage center being taken out in the second collapse, but both towers *predominantly* slid downwards. No info about damage or harm to adjacent buildings. - One small plane confirmed hit the pentagon. Scattered talk of a car bomb outside the State Department, including a smoke plume visible in the background of shots of White House evacuations. - No casualty figures as yet. The numbers are likely to be horrifying, from the plane hijacks alone."}, {"response": 8, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (11:01)", "body": "From the NYT, reporting on Bush's statements: Mr. Bush who was said to be on his way back from a visit from Sarasota, Fla., to Washington has ordered that \"the full resources of the federal government\" be used to carry out a full investigation to find out who was responsible for the World Trade Center attacks. \"Terrorism against our country will not stand,\" he said, before ending by leading a prayer for victims of the attacks."}, {"response": 9, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (11:01)", "body": "By Charles Babington washingtonpost.com Staff Writer Tuesday, September 11, 2001; 10:10 a.m. Minutes after two airplanes crashed into New York City\ufffds World Trade Center towers this morning in a what appears to be the gravest terrorist attack ever in America, a large airplane-caused explosion and fire took place at the Pentagon and explosions were reported at the Capitol and the State Department. At about 10 a.m., one of the 110-story World Trade Center towers collapsed, and the second tower collapsed about 30 minutes later. The tragedies stunned the nation and prompted officials, fearing still more attacks, to evacuate the Capitol, the White House, State Department and other federal buildings. Flights were canceled at all major airports in the nation. At about 10:20 a.m., the Associated Press reported the a car bomb explosion outside the State Department, senior law enforceement officials said. Shortly before the Pentagon fire ignited, President Bush called the New York disasters \"an apparent terrorist attack on our country.\" He hastily departed from Florida, where he had scheduled an education speech, and returned to Washington. Early details were sketchy, but the New York attacks seemed certain to cause heavy losses of life and many injuries. There were reports that an American Airlines 767 had been hijacked earlier today on a scheduled flight from Boston to Los Angeles, and apparently was one of the planes flown into the giant towers that dominate lower Manhattan\ufffds skyline. The second crash, which touched off a giant fireball in one of the tower\ufffds upper floors shortly after 9 a.m. EDT, took place as many Americans watched live on television. New York\ufffds airports were quickly closed, the New York Stock Exchange was evacuated, and millions of Americans watched in horror and disbelief as news of the Pentagon fire soon followed. In Florida, Bush pledged to use \ufffdthe full resources of the federal government government to help the victims and their families\" and \ufffdto hunt down and find those folks who committed these acts.\""}, {"response": 10, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (11:03)", "body": "Topic 1180 [current]: Terrorist attack on the World Trade Center #101 of 101: Gallatin (rickmoffat) Tue Sep 11 '01 (08:00) 3 lines Big explosion at the London Stock Exchange? I'm getting all this via super-slow web feeds, but we've got video footage of huge smoke plumes there? Can anyone confirm? We got the footage off http://news.bbc.co.uk"}, {"response": 11, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (11:04)", "body": "This is like the Pearl Harbor of the world's terrorists."}, {"response": 12, "author": "maryw", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (11:07)", "body": "Terry Where are you located? Are you safe? I am in Sydney and watching CNN International and Fox News Cable. It is now 11 am NY time (1 am 12 Sept/Wed Syd time) - they are reporting and showing on screen - 2 Towers now collapsed (I watched the 2nd one collapse!) Am flabbergasted - what can one do?"}, {"response": 13, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (11:07)", "body": "Topic 1180 [current]: Terrorist attack on the World Trade Center #105 of 106: Colin Brayton (blindone) Tue Sep 11 '01 (08:02) 11 lines I saw the second attack from an elevated subway station in Brooklyn. The plane just veered into the building and the explosion shot through the building. We all gasped, people were weeping, dude I gave spare change to mutters, \"Tragedy day ...\" My friend Velma was working in the South Tower of the WTC. I just pray that she has not returned from Chicago today. Cannot reach her. Cell phone communications are out here. The plume of smoke is blowing east and south across the river, with fragments of debris shimmering in it: I thought at first it was a fantastic flock of seagulls ... BBC (www.bbc.co.uk) is about the only online news I can get ... I am going downtown Brooklyn to donate blood ... God help us."}, {"response": 14, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (11:08)", "body": "I'm in Austin, Texas, Mary, our airport is shut down. All planes in the air have been ordered to land at the nearest airport, nationwide, not just in Austin. I'm here with a bunch of folks at work watching Fox News. No work is getting done today, or very little. The horror is mounting and we're staying calm, but this is the worst tragedy in my lifetime in this country."}, {"response": 15, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (11:09)", "body": "\"What can one do?\" Stay calm and pray."}, {"response": 16, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (11:10)", "body": "FAA confirms that there are several planes that are currently unaccounted for (evidently hijacked). No telling where this thing is going."}, {"response": 17, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (11:13)", "body": "I got through to MSNBC. Definitely not new, but here's what they are saying: NEW YORK, Sept. 11 \ufffd Americans reeled in horror Tuesday as the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history sent planes crashing into the World Trade Center in New York, toppling the twin 110-story towers. An explosion later rocked the Pentagon in Washington. The White House, the Pentagon and the Capitol building were evacuated. Military jets patrolled the skies above both cities. The FAA grounded all civilian aircraft nationwide, but not before reports of another large aircraft crashing in Western Pennsylvania. President Bush vowed to \ufffdhunt down the folks who committed this act.\ufffd THE FATE OF those in the twin skyscrapers was not immediately known. Authorities had been trying to evacuate the thousands of people who work in the twin towers, but many were thought to be trapped. \ufffdI swear I\ufffdve never seen anything like this,\ufffd said MSNBC\ufffds Ashleigh Banfield. \ufffdThis whole place is like a complete war zone.\ufffd At the Pentagon, eyewitnesses saw an aircraft crash into part of the sprawling complex. Walls were later seen to have collapsed. An earlier report of a car bomb exploding outside the State Department was later denied. In New York, the aircraft struck minutes apart, starting fires and sending smoke billowing out of the skyscrapers. The top of the south tower later collapsed onto the street below. The first crash happened shortly before 9 a.m. ET. MSNBC.com reporter Martin Wolk, who was inside one of the towers, said the lights flickered and then a loud bang was heard. People panicked and started to flee the building. When they reached the lobby, smoke started to fill the building and people could see debris falling and many cars outside were damaged. \ufffdIt was sheer pandemonium, people were screaming and crying, afraid to go outside because of the falling debris,\ufffd Wolk said. \ufffdWe looked up and it looked like the top 20 floors were in flames.\ufffd Another bystander described a barrage of debris raining down on the sidewalk below. Advertisement Shortly after 9 a.m., a second aircraft was seen crashing into the other tower. Broadcast cameras already watching the scene filmed the second plane as it slammed into the tower and exploded in a huge fireball. A half hour later, President Bush made a brief statement to reporters, calling the disaster a \ufffdnational tragedy\ufffd and attributing it to terrorists. He did not cite any specific terrorist groups but vowed to \ufffdhunt down the folks who committed this act.\ufffd U.S. military jets reportedly took to the skies to shoot down any unidentified aircraft, and congressional leaders were taken to secure locations. A plane was reported to have been circling the Capitol building before the evacuation. American Airlines later acknowledged that one of its flights had been hijacked Tuesday morning shortly after leaving Boston en route to Los Angeles. In the wake of the crashes, New York airports and the Lincoln Tunnel were closed as precautionary measures. The stock exchanges in New York also did not open. Large holes were visible in sides of the 110-story buildings. The tops of the twin towers were obscured by the smoke. Thousands of pieces of what appeared to be office paper came drifting over Brooklyn, about three miles from the tower, one witness said. Click on the image for reports of the terrorism attacks. In an earlier terrorist attack, the center was bombed on Feb. 26, 1993, killing six people and injured more than 1,000 others. Terrorist Ramzi Yousef and three others were convicted of orchestrating the attack. Three other indicted co-conspirators remain at large. Traffic entering New York City from New Jersey was at a standstill approaching the Holland Tunnel as motorists stood outside their cars watching the fire. Across the country, highrises like Chicago\ufffds Sears Trade tower were being evacuated as a precaution. Buildings were also being evacuated in London. The Associated Press contributed to this report."}, {"response": 18, "author": "maryw", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (11:14)", "body": "Terry Our own Australian Prime Minister is in Washington DC. Am staying calm but busy collecting news. Cannot get on to BBC.UK - for those Spring readers who want a confirmation on the bombing in London."}, {"response": 19, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (11:16)", "body": "I'll post it as soon as I get it. Some of this stuff may be unconfirmed, read all this with caution. I lot of wild stuff is floating around. I'll post it all and you decide."}, {"response": 20, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (11:18)", "body": "rc3.org: September 11, 2001 Part of the Pentagon has collapsed. There are reports that Osama bin Laden warned the U.S. three weeks ago that we would suffer an unprecedented attack. Still awaiting more details on this. ABC is reporting that there was not a car bomb at the State Department after all. The BBC is now reporting that F-16s have been sent to intercept a hijacked plane that is headed for Washington, DC. This must be the plane mentioned earlier. The plane from Pittsburgh that crashed in Somerset County is not the plane that is being intercepted. The BBC is reporting that the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania was a 767, not a 747. According to a correspondent in Greece, I hear the following (none of this have I confirmed myself): The first plane was a 747 from American Airlines (capacity 158). (This doesn't sound quite right, 747s hold more than that. Perhaps this plane was a 737 or 767.) The second plane was a 767 from United Airlines. (The BBC is reporting that the UA plane is a 737B.) The plane that hit the Pentagon was a small passenger plane. Another 747 out of Pittsburgh was hijacked, tailed by U.S. fighters, and crashed at Somerset County Airport in Pennsylvania. This may be the plane that I mentioned earlier as being hijacked. (Some are reporting that this plane was shot down.) Both towers of the WTC have now collapsed. No idea whether this was due to further explosions or loss of structural integrity caused by the original explosions. The 911 control center for New York City is (was?) in the World Trade Center. Needless to say, it's down. Yet another plane has been hijacked and is reportedly headed toward Washington DC. All international flights approaching the U.S. have been diverted to Canada. Congressmen have been evacuated to an underground bunker. I've heard many comparisons to Pearl Harbor at this point. Explain to me again why we pump all that money into the NSA and CIA? How did we have no idea that this was coming? A car bomb has exploded outside the State Department. I've now heard from a number of sources that the second tower collapsed completely after it was hit by a third plane (the second to hit that tower in particular). This was just a rumor, there was no third plane to hit the WTC. I'm finding it hard to get to online news sites. You can get a live audio stream from the BBC World Service at Yahoo Broadcast, that's what I'm listening to. Latest news : all flights in the U.S. are grounded, and all planes were ordered to land at the nearest airport. One of the two towers of the WTC has collapsed (at least partially). According to the news, there can be up to 100,000 people in the WTC at any given time. Terrorists have attacked the World Trade Center and Pentagon by deliberately crashing planes into them. One of the planes that crashed into the WTC was a hijacked American Airlines 767 out of Boston, I don't know about the others."}, {"response": 21, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (11:19)", "body": "From Indiatimes.com: 'Bin Laden warned of US attack' LONDON: Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden warned three weeks ago that he and his followers would carry out an unprecedented attack on US interests for its support of Israel, an Arab journalist with access to him said on Tuesday. Abdel-Bari Atwan, editor of the London-based al-Quds al-Arabi newspaper said Islamic fundamentalists led by Bin Laden was \"almost certainly\" behind the attack of the World Trade Center in New York. \"It is most likely the work of Islamic fundamentalists. Osama bin Laden warned three weeks ago that he would attack American interests in an unprecedented attack, a very big one,\" Atwan told Reuters. \"Personally we received information that he planned very, very big attacks against American interests. We received several warnings like this. We did not take it so seriously, preferring to see what would happen before reporting it.\" Atwan has interviewed Bin Laden and maintains close contacts with his followers. ( REUTERS )"}, {"response": 22, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (11:27)", "body": "NHK sez that CBS reports that 11 planes total have been hijacked, and four are still whereabouts unknown."}, {"response": 23, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (11:28)", "body": "This topic has been linked to drool, geo and other conferences here temporarily while this story is unfolding. It will be eventually unlinked."}, {"response": 24, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (11:30)", "body": "FORT WORTH, Texas American Airlines confirmed today that it lost two aircraft in tragic incidents this morning. American said the flights were Flight 11, a Boeing 767 en route from Boston to Los Angeles with 81 passengers, nine flight attendants and two pilots; and Flight 77, a Boeing 757 operating from Washington Dulles to Los Angeles with 58 passengers, four flight attendants and two pilots."}, {"response": 25, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (11:32)", "body": "This is something that we will all remember in future years, like when JFK was shot, we'll remember where we were and what we were doing when this happened. I was in my car heading to Austin on 183 listening to a sports show when Bucky Goldbolt broke the news and I switched to the local news station to hear more. I was coming up on North Lamar."}, {"response": 26, "author": "maryw", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (11:33)", "body": "11.28 AM NY Time/1.28 am (Wed 12 Sep)Sydney Listening to AustBroadcastingCorp (AustBC) - a CNN reporter getting live feed (can hear in the background). Reporting follows : United Airlines NY to San Francisco has crashed. in addition to those that were reported on the media earlier... Washington to LAX and Boston to LAX."}, {"response": 27, "author": "aishling", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (11:34)", "body": "I have been listening to our news in UK since this terrible news broke and the London Stock Exchange and Canary Wharf have been evacuated as a precautionary."}, {"response": 28, "author": "maryw", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (11:39)", "body": "11.36 AM NY Time/1.36 am (Wed 12 Sep)Sydney AustBC is reporting that the Talliban is reported to have announced that they will be holding press conference soon."}, {"response": 29, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (11:51)", "body": "Colin Powell time."}, {"response": 30, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (11:55)", "body": "An aside: US attacks slam eurostocks; insurers hit, oil climbs By Sophie Walker and Louise Ireland LONDON, Sept 11 (Reuters) - A series of deadly attacks on U.S. landmark buildings sent European stock markets into a nosedive on Tuesday, with insurance shares taking the brunt of the pressure while investors scrambled to scoop up oil stocks."}, {"response": 31, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (12:03)", "body": "Some street celebrations in Palestine."}, {"response": 32, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (12:08)", "body": "I got through to MSNBC. Definitely not new, but here's what they are saying: NEW YORK, Sept. 11 \ufffd Americans reeled in horror Tuesday as the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history sent planes crashing into the World Trade Center in New York, toppling the twin 110-story towers. An explosion later rocked the Pentagon in Washington. The White House, the Pentagon and the Capitol building were evacuated. Military jets patrolled the skies above both cities. The FAA grounded all civilian aircraft nationwide, but not before reports of another large aircraft crashing in Western Pennsylvania. President Bush vowed to \ufffdhunt down the folks who committed this act.\ufffd THE FATE OF those in the twin skyscrapers was not immediately known. Authorities had been trying to evacuate the thousands of people who work in the twin towers, but many were thought to be trapped. \ufffdI swear I\ufffdve never seen anything like this,\ufffd said MSNBC\ufffds Ashleigh Banfield. \ufffdThis whole place is like a complete war zone.\ufffd At the Pentagon, eyewitnesses saw an aircraft crash into part of the sprawling complex. Walls were later seen to have collapsed. An earlier report of a car bomb exploding outside the State Department was later denied. In New York, the aircraft struck minutes apart, starting fires and sending smoke billowing out of the skyscrapers. The top of the south tower later collapsed onto the street below. The first crash happened shortly before 9 a.m. ET. MSNBC.com reporter Martin Wolk, who was inside one of the towers, said the lights flickered and then a loud bang was heard. People panicked and started to flee the building. When they reached the lobby, smoke started to fill the building and people could see debris falling and many cars outside were damaged. \ufffdIt was sheer pandemonium, people were screaming and crying, afraid to go outside because of the falling debris,\ufffd Wolk said. \ufffdWe looked up and it looked like the top 20 floors were in flames.\ufffd Another bystander described a barrage of debris raining down on the sidewalk below. Advertisement Shortly after 9 a.m., a second aircraft was seen crashing into the other tower. Broadcast cameras already watching the scene filmed the second plane as it slammed into the tower and exploded in a huge fireball. A half hour later, President Bush made a brief statement to reporters, calling the disaster a \ufffdnational tragedy\ufffd and attributing it to terrorists. He did not cite any specific terrorist groups but vowed to \ufffdhunt down the folks who committed this act.\ufffd U.S. military jets reportedly took to the skies to shoot down any unidentified aircraft, and congressional leaders were taken to secure locations. A plane was reported to have been circling the Capitol building before the evacuation. American Airlines later acknowledged that one of its flights had been hijacked Tuesday morning shortly after leaving Boston en route to Los Angeles. In the wake of the crashes, New York airports and the Lincoln Tunnel were closed as precautionary measures. The stock exchanges in New York also did not open. Large holes were visible in sides of the 110-story buildings. The tops of the twin towers were obscured by the smoke. Thousands of pieces of what appeared to be office paper came drifting over Brooklyn, about three miles from the tower, one witness said. Click on the image for reports of the terrorism attacks. In an earlier terrorist attack, the center was bombed on Feb. 26, 1993, killing six people and injured more than 1,000 others. Terrorist Ramzi Yousef and three others were convicted of orchestrating the attack. Three other indicted co-conspirators remain at large. Traffic entering New York City from New Jersey was at a standstill approaching the Holland Tunnel as motorists stood outside their cars watching the fire. Across the country, highrises like Chicago\ufffds Sears Trade tower were being evacuated as a precaution. Buildings were also being evacuated in London. The Associated Press contributed to this report."}, {"response": 33, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (12:11)", "body": "Terror attacks paralyze Washington, New York By Shelley Emling and Marilyn Geewax Cox News Service Tuesday, September 11, 2001 WASHINGTON \ufffd An apparently coordinated series of terror attacks struck the nation's capital and its largest city this morning, destroying both towers of the World Trade Center in New York and shutting down most government operations. An airliner struck the north tower of the 110-story World Trade Center about 8:45 a.m. EDT, followed about 18 minutes later by a second apparently deliberate crash into the south tower. A little more than hour later, the south tower collapsed, and the north tower folowed it. In the capital, a fire forced the evacuation of the Pentagon, reportedly after another aircraft struck the building. A car bomb explosion and fire was also reported at the State Department, which was evacuated along with the Capitol and the White House. The Federal Aviation Administration suspended all aircraft takeoffs across the country. It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the attacks. According to unconfirmed reports, a Palestinian group has claimed responsibility for at least one of the attacks. \"There will be hell to pay in the weeks and months ahead,\" said Neil Livingstone, a terrorism expert in Washington. \"This basically amounts to a declaration of war.\" President Bush, visiting an elementary school in Sarasota, Fla., said, \"I've ordered that the full resources of the federal government go to help the victims and their families and to conduct a full-scale investigation to hunt down and to find those folks who committed this act. Terrorism against our nation will not stand.\" The sound of sirens on Capitol Hill added to the tension as vehicles headed to emergencies in the city. Downtown streets were gridlocked as an air of panic began to spread among workers who poured from buildings. Smoke billowed from the Pentagon, just across the Potomac River from the District of Columbia. \"I saw the tail of a large airliner. . . . It plowed right into the Pentagon,\" said an Associated Press Radio reporter. \"There is billowing black smoke.\" Shortly after the Capitol building was evacuated, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., said there was an \"unauthorized plane\" in airspace in the Washington area. \"People are trying to figure out where it is. That's all I can tell you right now,\" Kerry said. In New York, black smoke poured from the international landmark, and paper and debris rained onto the streets. By 9 a.m., thousands of people already were at work on the upper floors of the World Trade Center. Casualties were impossible to determine immediately, but were likely to number at least in the hundreds. Ira Furman, a former spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board, said it was unlikely the acts were caused by pilot or navigational error. \"It is beyond belief,\" he said. \"Planes can come within a few miles of the World Trade Center, but a pilot would never come this close.\" One witness, Mary Cozza, said she heard a loud \"boom\" before seeing the crash. \"I looked up and saw a plane that looked like it was flying too low,\" she said. \"It looked like it was aimed right at the World Trade Center. We saw the crash. Shattered glass was pouring down. It didn't look like a giant airliner. It didn't look like it was swerving out of control or anything.\" The World Trade Center has been the target of terrorism before. In February 1993 a terrorist bomb rocked the Manhattan skyscrapers. The World Trade Center is one of the nation's most well-known structures located in the heart of the U.S. financial district, one of the city's most heavily populated areas. Many major financial and technology companies are housed here and it's only a 10-minute walk from the U.S. Stock Exchange. The stock exchange suspended trading just after the crash."}, {"response": 34, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (12:17)", "body": "cnn.com (hard to get to now): AMERICA UNDER ATTACK World Trade Centers collapse after planes hit, 10,000 emergency workers head to scene Plane hits Pentagon, part of the Pentagon collapses American, United both confirm losing two planes each Bush calls trade center crashes terrorist act Federal buildings, United Nations evacuated FAA grounds all U.S. flights, sends trans-Atlantic flights to Canada Israel evacuates embassies U.S.-Mexico border closed Non-essential NATO employees asked to leave Brussels HQ"}, {"response": 35, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (12:18)", "body": "NEW YORK (CNN) -- Terrorists struck the United States Tuesday morning in harrowing, widespread attacks that included at least three commercial jet crashes into significant buildings. \ufffd In the first attack, a plane hit the north tower of the World Trade Center in Manhattan shortly before 9 a.m., followed by another plane into the second tower about 20 minutes later. Both towers later collapsed. \ufffd About an hour later, a plane crashed into the Pentagon, part of which later collapsed. \ufffd American Airlines told CNN that it lost two planes in \"tragic accidents:\" Flight 11 from Boston with 81 passengers and 11 crew aboard and Flight 77 from Washington Dulles airport with 58 passengers and six crew aboard. Both planes were en route to Los Angeles \ufffd United Airlines Flight 93 airliner headed from Newark, New Jersey, to San Francisco, crashed near Somerset, Pennsylvania -- police said initial reports indicated no survivors. United also confirmed the crash of Flight 175 from Boston to Los Angeles. \ufffd The Pentagon, the White House, the State Department, the Justice Department, the Capitol, the CIA and all other government buildings in Washington evacuated. \ufffd President Bush cancelled an appearance in Florida to return to Washington, calling the crashes \"apparent terrorist attacks\" and \"a national tragedy.\" \ufffd In the first ever national ground stop of aircraft, all flights nationwide have been stopped at their departure airports. \ufffd All international flights were diverted to Canada. \ufffd Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef, the Taliban ambassador to Pakistan, said in reaction to the news of the terror attacks that \"we want to tell the American children that Afghanistan feels your pain and we hope that the courts find justice.\" \ufffd In New York, more than 10,000 rescue personnel rushed to the scene. The entire downtown area of Manhattan was evacuated as far north as Rockefeller Center, according to an official at an emergency command post. \ufffd Israel has evacuated all its missions around the world. \ufffd The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta was evacuated. CDC was preparing bioterrorism teams in case they become necessary. \ufffd Philadelphia landmarks were also evacuated. \ufffd In Chicago, the Sears Tower was evacuated; United Nations in New York evacuated. \ufffd The New York Port Authority said it had closed all bridges and tunnels into the city. \ufffd U.S. stock markets were closed after the New York attacks. \ufffd NATO sent home all non-essential personnel from its Brussels, Belgium, headquarters. \ufffd Border between the United States and Mexico closed."}, {"response": 36, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (12:25)", "body": "Nation: United plane crashes near Pittsburgh; 3 other flights missing The Associated Press PITTSBURGH (September 11, 2001 11:59 a.m. EDT) - A United Airlines plane crashed Tuesday morning just north of the Somerset County Airport. United said it was also \"deeply concerned\" about another plane, Flight 175, a Boeing 767, which was bound from Boston to Los Angeles. American Airlines said Tuesday it had lost two planes with a total 156 people aboard, Agence-France Presse reported. The United Boeing 757 was enroute from Newark, N.J. to San Francisco. The United plane crashed about 10 a.m. about 8 miles east of Jennerstown, according to county 911 dispatchers, WPXI-TV in Pittsburgh reported. \"It shook the whole station,\" said Bruce Grine, owner of Grine's Service Center in Shanksville, about two and one-half miles from the crash. \"Everybody ran outside, and by that time the fire whistle was blowing.\" United identified the plane as Flight 93. The airline did say how many people were aboard the flight. On behalf of the airline CEO James Goodwin said: \"The thoughts of everyone at United are with the passengers and crew of these flights. Our prayers are also with everyone on the ground who may have been involved. \"United is working with all the relevant authorities, including the FBI, to obtain further information on these flights,\" he said. The Somerset County airport, about 80 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, in a small, rural facility that does not handle such aircraft. Because of the attacks, the Federal Aviation Administration had ordered all departing flights canceled nationwide, and any planes already in the air were to land a the nearest airport. The plane crashed shortly after the order was issued. The crash came the same morning that terrorists crashed two planes into the World Trade Center in New York City and the twin 110-story towers collapsed. A plane also hit the Pentagon in Washington"}, {"response": 37, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (12:26)", "body": "By BETH GARDINER, Associated Press LONDON (September 11, 2001 12:02 p.m. EDT) - Terrorist strikes in the United States quickly reached a global audience Tuesday, with leaders around the world watching live coverage of an aircraft hitting the World Trade Center. Audiences were transfixed by the awful images from New York, where both World Trade Center towers collapsed. Key indexes sank on world stock markets and some European airlines canceled flights to the United States and recalled planes already in the air. Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his condolences to the American people over the terrorist attacks, calling the \"terrible tragedies,\" the Kremlin press service said. \"This mass terrorism is the new evil in our world today,\" said Prime Minister Tony Blair, who canceled a speech at a trade union conference. \"It is perpetrated by fanatics who are utterly indifferent to the sanctity of human life, and we the democracies of this world are going to have to come together and fight it together.\" President Jacques Chirac of France, in a nationally televised statement, called the attacks in the United States \"monstrous\" and expressed his solidarity with the American people. \"France has just learned of these monstrous attacks, there is no other word for it, that have hit America,\" Chirac said from Rennes, in the western region of Brittany. Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and his top aides followed the events at his seaside office in Gaza City, gathered around a TV set. \"I send my condolences to the president, the government and the people for this terrible incident,\" Arafat said. \"We are completely shocked. It's unbelievable.\" In Berlin, Foreign Ministry officials huddled in a crisis meeting, and Parliament's vice speaker Anke Fuchs told lawmakers a \"terrible catastrophe\" had happened. Virtually all German TV channels switched to live coverage. \"This is pure mass murder,\" one commentator said. Scandinavian Airlines System, SAS, rerouted three airplanes bound for New York and one for Washington from Norway, Denmark and Sweden. Flights to the United States were suspended from Portugal, and the Belgian airline recalled two flights on the way to the United States, diverted others to Canada and canceled all planned flights to the United States. In Thailand, Suranand Vejjajiva, a spokesman for the office of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said they were watching the news in disbelief. A spokesman for Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said: \"The president has been monitoring the events since an hour ago and she condemns what is obviously the worst terrorist attack on a leader of civilized society.\" Broadcasters around the world broke into programming to show images of the disaster. \"It's incredible. I thought I was watching a Hollywood movie,\" said Hong Kong school teacher Doris Tang."}, {"response": 38, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (12:27)", "body": "Agence France-Presse MOSCOW (September 11, 2001 12:15 p.m. EDT) - Russian President Vladimir Putin told President Bush on Tuesday that the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington \"must not go unpunished\", the Interfax news agency reported. \"The series of barbaric acts directed against innocent people fills us with indignation and revolt,\" said Putin in a telegram to Bush. \"Such inhuman acts must not go unpunished,\" he said."}, {"response": 39, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (12:30)", "body": "(September 11, 2001 11:18 a.m. EDT) - Timeline of U.S. Attacks - Plane crashes into tower of World Trade Center in lower Manhattan, shortly before 9 a.m. Eastern. - Second plane crashes into the second tower of the World Trade Center, shortly after 9 a.m. Eastern. - President Bush, in Sarasota, Florida, calls the crashes \"an apparent terrorist attack\" and a \"national tragedy.\" - An aircraft crashes near Pentagon, just outside of Washington D-C, in Northern Virginia, about an hour after the attacks in New York. - Government buildings in Washington, including the Capitol and the White House, are evacuated with officials citing a credible threat of a terrorist attack. - The Federal Aviation Administration shuts down all aircraft takeoffs nationwide. - Shortly after 10 a.m. Eastern, one World Trade Center tower in New York collapses, about an hour after being hit by plane. - American Airlines says one of the planes that crashed into the Trade Center was American Airlines Flight 11, hijacked after takeoff from Boston en route to Los Angeles. - Senior law enforcement officials say car bomb explodes outside of State Department in Washington, D-C. Federal protective services later denies car bomb attack occurred. - Financial markets suspend trading in the wake of the attacks. - Officials at Somerset County Airport say a large plane crashes in western Pennsylvania, about 80 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, at about 10:00 a.m. - The second tower of the World Trade Center collapses at 10:28 a.m. Eastern. - Fourth explosion rocks the collapsed remains of the World Trade Center, at about 10:38 a.m. - Authorities across the country go on alert, tightening security at strategic facilities and evacuating high-profile buildings. U.S. monuments and museums in Washington DC are closed. - Securities and Exchange Commission says all financial markets are closed for the day."}, {"response": 40, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (12:50)", "body": "Dan Rather reports Bush is going to make a statement from an Air Force Base in Louisiana in a few minutes."}, {"response": 41, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (12:51)", "body": "All 4 flights that crashed were apparently bound for California. When did the airlines first realize that something was wrong? The plane from Boston that crashed into the WTC was bound for Los Angeles. Topic 1180 [current]: Terrorist attack on the World Trade Center #199 of 199: Jerry (jmcarlin) Tue Sep 11 '01 (09:47) 6 lines CNN says 4 plans lost/missing: 2 American and 2 united. They said that they *think* that one of them might be one that hit the Pentagon. CNN is also reporting that bin Laden is increasingly being blamed."}, {"response": 42, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (12:51)", "body": "Salon confirms military is at Delta. http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2001/09/11/bombings/index.html There is no higher military alert than Delta."}, {"response": 43, "author": "ekelley", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (13:04)", "body": "I'm on Long Island, 40 miles east of the city...was at work when this happened. several of my friends work in NYC, one of them in 7 World Trade, a building next to tower 2. i'm so scared right now... how could anyone do something like this?! 10K people work(ed) in each of those towers, not counting the tourists, people on the streets, etc. i feel sick."}, {"response": 44, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (13:09)", "body": "I hope your friends are ok Liz."}, {"response": 45, "author": "Charlotte", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (13:10)", "body": "People have been comparing this to Pearl Harbor. Most of us were not born at the time of that event. The feeling today's events conjures in me is the fear I lived through in 1962 during the Cuban missile crisis. At that time, only one man stood between us and WWIII. If we could trace these attacks to one country, we would now be at war. And I doubt that even JFK could prevent it."}, {"response": 46, "author": "Charlotte", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (13:11)", "body": "Incidentally, 45-50 thousand people work in the two WTC buildings...not 10K."}, {"response": 47, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (13:18)", "body": "unidentified source: Friend of mine in Scotland, who is monitoring a lot of news feeds and has a bunch of friends in US military bases, is giving me info that I can't find _anywhere_ else- he claims that 12 (!) planes are still en route to the US, not all over the Atlantic, and that are not responding to hails. Anyone know anything about this?"}, {"response": 48, "author": "Charlotte", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (13:19)", "body": "Incidentally, 45-50 thousand people work in the two WTC buildings...not 10K."}, {"response": 49, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (13:21)", "body": "I think I heard somewhere that 55,000 or so were killed in the Vietnam war, the toll here is going to be horrorific."}, {"response": 50, "author": "ekelley", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (13:26)", "body": "yes, charlotte..what I meant was 10K per tower in just the offices, minimum capacity. full capacity is closer to 20-25K per tower. it doesn't matter the toll; one life is too much. thanks, terry. I'm praying for all who have friends or relatives in downtown."}, {"response": 51, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (13:40)", "body": "Colin Powell said: \"A great tragedy has struck our country and it will not affect the nature of our society,'' he said. ``We'll find out who's responsible for this and bring them to justice.''"}, {"response": 52, "author": "Charlotte", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (13:48)", "body": "Agreed, Liz. Sorry I misunderstood. Also sorry my post appeared twice. Must have been cause I \"refresh\"-ed. Terry, thank you for making this site available when it is impossible to get news elsewhere."}, {"response": 53, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (14:00)", "body": "Yes, Terry, thanks for the email about the topic ..I'm in the UK, we turned on the TV just after the first plane hit and have been following the news since. Our prayers and thoughts are with all those concerned and I hope that my friends on Spring get good news about people they know. In the City of London the Stock Exchange closed, and several major buildings were evacuated and the City closed. All US banks and institutions here are on high alert. There were reports an hour or so ago about another plane crash in Pittsburg which appeared to be related. Also a report of another hijack plane heading for Washington ..... sorry I don't have any details ...anyone else have any news??"}, {"response": 54, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (14:03)", "body": "In Hawaii, on the Bis Island, all schools are closed as is the airport (throughout the state, actually). On Oahu, all military personnel are to report to their stations, Pearl Harbor all ships staffed. Arizona Memorial closed. This is ghastly. Beyond anything Hollywood could dream up. Be calm, stay home, donate blood if you can, (even call for it here) and PRAY. Thanks Terry!"}, {"response": 55, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (14:03)", "body": "There's news of this above in this topic. The other hijacked plane went down, it was the same plane that went down in Pittsburgh. \ufffdI JUST SAW the building I work in come down,\ufffd said businessman Gabriel Ioan, shaking in shock outside City Hall a cloud of smoke and ash from the World Trade Center behind him. \ufffdI just saw the top of Trade Two come down.\ufffd MSNBC.com producer Steve Johnson, standing about six blocks from the towers in lower Manhattan, was also an eyewitness to the collapse. \ufffdAbout five minutes before the tower fell you could see people jumping from the upper floors. I watched six either fall or jump ... The police rolled up [in] vans. Suddenly the top of [the tower] just shattered into tens of thousands of pieces. You could see the walls peel away. The whole thing just disappeared. Then the smoke came up. The cops started yelling, \ufffdGet back! Run! Get away!\ufffd I ran inside a hotel, and it went black outside because of the dust.\ufffd Nearby a crowd mobbed a man on a pay phone, screaming at him to get off the phone so that they could call relatives. Dust and dirt flew everywhere. Ash was 2 to 3 inches deep in places. People wandered dazed and terrified. \ufffdI was in the World Financial Center looking out the window,\ufffd said one woman. \ufffdI saw the first plane and then 15 minutes later saw the other plane just slam into the World Trade Center.\ufffd Firefighter Jimmy Grillo, with Ladder 24, had blood running down his face from an injury to his nose. Grillo was in the lobby of the World Trade Center after the first blast and when the second blast came, he was trapped in the debris. \ufffdWe crawled in the debris toward the light\ufffd. There\ufffds a bunch of guys still trapped in there,\ufffd Grillo told MSNBC.com\ufffds Johnson. \ufffdPEOPLE SCREAMING ... DIVING FOR COVER\ufffd Another eyewitness, AP newsman Dunstan Prial, described a strange sucking sound from the Trade Center buildings after the first building collapsed. \ufffdWindows shattered. People were screaming and diving for cover. People walked around like ghosts, covered in dirt, weeping and wandering dazed.\ufffd \ufffdIt sounded like a jet or rocket,\ufffd said Eddie Gonzalez, a postal worker at a post office on West Broadway. \ufffdI looked up and saw a huge explosion. I didn\ufffdt see the impact. I just saw the explosion.\ufffd Morning commuters heading into Manhattan were stranded as the Lincoln Tunnel was shut down to incoming traffic. Many left their cars and stood on the ramp leading to the tunnel, staring in disbelief at the thick cloud of smoke pouring from the top of the two buildings. On the streets of Manhattan, people stood in groups talking quietly or watching on television at ground-level network studios. Terror attack on the U.S. \ufffd Main story \ufffd MSNBC's Wolk: On the scene in Manhattan \ufffd Witnesses describe terror in the towers \ufffd World reacts with horror \ufffd Markets, airports, U.S. border shut after terror \ufffd Newsweek: An icon destroyed \ufffd Exodus in Washington \ufffd Live video coverage \ufffd Discuss the attacks on MSNBC's bulletin board Joan Goldstein, communications project leader for The Associated Press, was on a bus from New Jersey at about 8:50 a.m. when she saw \ufffdsmoke pouring out of the World Trade Center building. We said, \ufffdOh, my God! The World Trade Center\ufffds on fire!\ufffd Perhaps 10 minutes later, \ufffdAll of a sudden, there was an orange plume, a huge explosion. It shot out the back of the building. Everybody on the bus was just moaning and gasping,\ufffd said Goldstein, who wept and trembled as she spoke. The plume was from the second plane, but she didn\ufffdt see the plane because of the thick smoke. She tried to call friends who work there, but couldn\ufffdt get through. \ufffdIt was the most horrible thing I\ufffdve ever seen in my life,\ufffd said Goldstein. GIVING BLOOD At St. Vincent\ufffds hospital in Greenwich Village, people waited in long lines to give blood. They were taken according to blood type. Hundreds of donors \ufffd perhaps as many as a thousand \ufffd looked like a tapestry of New York citizenry. \ufffdThere are all kinds of people \ufffd young and old, black and white, students and professionals waiting to give blood,\ufffd said Harry Barandes, a graduate student at New York University. Ambulances continued to arrive intermittently. The shock on people\ufffds faces was shaken free only by the sirens that blared in the background. Meanwhile, volunteers wandered among those waiting in line, asking if anyone was hungry or thirsty. \ufffdThere are really kind citizens passing out food and water,\ufffd said Barandes. \ufffdThe outpouring of goodwill is amazing.\ufffd Further from the disaster scene in upper Manhattan signs went up that blood drives had begun. SURREAL SCENE, EERY CALM \ufffdThere\ufffds a huge smell of char in the air. People are walking with masks, with their shirts off. People trying to get out [of the area] any way. People are crying, watching in disbelief. [It\ufffds] total shock.\ufffd \ufffd MICHELLE PRELI MSNBC.com producer In Brooklyn, across the East River from Manhattan, \ufffdthe situation is chaos,\ufffd MSNBC.com producer Michelle Preli reported. \ufffdThe Manhattan Bridge and Brooklyn Bridge are "}, {"response": 56, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (14:03)", "body": "German stock exchange threatened by bomb attack. They are closing."}, {"response": 57, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (14:04)", "body": "\ufffdTHERE HAVE BEEN the most terrible, shocking events taking place in the United States of America within the last couple of hours,\ufffd British Prime Minister Tony Blair told union leaders in Brighton, southern England. \ufffdWe can only imagine the terror and carnage there and the many, many innocent people who have lost their lives.\ufffd Blair, who had been due to deliver a key policy speech, cut short his visit and said he wanted to return immediately to London to monitor the unfolding events. He sent his deepest condolences to Bush and the people of America."}, {"response": 58, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (14:05)", "body": "\ufffdThis mass terrorism is the new evil in our world today. It is perpetrated by fanatics who are utterly indifferent to the sanctity of life,\ufffd he said. Russian President Vladimir Putin described the attack as a terrible tragedy, according to Kremlin spokesman Alexei Gromov, and convened a special meeting of his defense and security officials. Putin also offered his condolence to the United States. France\ufffds president, Jacques Chirac, in a live televised address, condemned the attacks and expressed his solidarity with the American people. Advertisement \ufffdFrance has just learned of these monstrous attacks \ufffd there is no other word for it \ufffd that have hit America,\ufffd Chirac said from Rennes, in the western region of Brittany. In Berlin, Foreign Ministry officials huddled in a crisis meeting, and Parliament\ufffds vice speaker, Anke Fuchs, told lawmakers a \ufffdterrible catastrophe\ufffd had happened. Virtually all German TV channels switched to live coverage. \ufffdThis is pure mass murder,\ufffd one commentator said. German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder convened an unprecedented meeting of his security council, and air traffic authorities said all European flights to the United States had been suspended. The council meets rarely and is the government\ufffds main body in times of crisis. Besides Schroeder, it includes the foreign, defense and interior ministers and several others. MIDEAST REACTS Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and his top aides followed the events at his seaside office in Gaza City, gathered around a TV set. \ufffdWe completely condemn this serious operation. ... We were completely shocked. It\ufffds unbelievable, unbelievable, unbelievable.\ufffd An anonymous caller told Abu Dhabi television earlier on Tuesday that a radical Palestinian group was responsible for the attacks, but the group later denied any involvement. Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer told Israel\ufffds Army Radio it was \ufffdsimply a tragedy.\ufffd"}, {"response": 59, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (14:06)", "body": "The Pittsburgh plane crash is the one they believe was also headed for Washington DC, with some speculating that it might have either the Capitol (building) or White House as its target. How they could come to that, I'll never know. Two planes were targeted at the WTC (one at each tower). The Pentagon is an enormous building (sq ft-wise). All the planes (4) had California as their destination which would give them the maximum amount of fuel any aircraft would have onboard."}, {"response": 60, "author": "loveliz", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (14:11)", "body": "Hi, just heard that a passenger from the PA crash had a cell phone in the bathroom and reported that they were being hijacked...\"this is not a hoax\". guess not. Also heard that there were 6-8 planes in the air that would be allowed to land at the Nashville airport. My daughter's fiance's sister is an intern at St. Vincents. She is alive. Just heard that there were over 100 victims there, 2 dead, but I had heard earlier that the vestibule was stacked with fatal burn victims. Hope that was a rumor. love,Eliz"}, {"response": 61, "author": "ToSch", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (14:11)", "body": "All the German and European people want to express their condolence to the people of the United States! Our prayers are with the victims and their families! God bless you! Your Tobias"}, {"response": 62, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (14:23)", "body": "From the eyewitness reports on the BBC it appears that the second plane flew slowly and directly into the south tower of the WTC. Its likely that the terrorists flew the planes. CNN is talking about the lead time that air traffic controllers had that the planes were off course. One made a sharp turn at Albany and headed south. They are also talking about the tapes of the controllers trying to talk to the planes. Just speculation right now - the tapes are not yet available."}, {"response": 63, "author": "BlackB", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (14:24)", "body": "My thoughts and prayers are with those whose families are affected by these tragedies. All German TV channels do reports now. Something however disturbs me in some way: in the first chapter of Tom Clancy's novel \"Executive Orders\" a plane crashes into the capitol and kills everyone inside. Seems like the wrong people read that book.... BlackB"}, {"response": 64, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (14:27)", "body": "BlackB, I've had the same thoughts about giving the truly warped mentally bad ideas for their terrorism in books and movies. FCC, federal agencies shut down after terrorist attacks Along with most other federal agencies, the FCC has closed its offices and sent its employees home in the wake of apparent terrorist attacks this morning in New York City, Washington, DC, and elsewhere. The FCC has issued no emergency declaration nor other special instructions to the Amateur Radio community. The ARRL has advised amateurs to stay alert to instructions from local authorities. President George W. Bush has announced that the US military is on high alert in the US and abroad. US air traffic was shut down after two airliners struck the twin towers of the 110-story World Trade Center in New York City this morning within a short time of each other. The building's towers partially collapsed in the wake of the collisions. An aircraft subsequently crashed into the Pentagon, and another aircraft crashed near Pittsburgh, reportedly after being hijacked. American Airlines and United Airlines both have acknowledged that they have lost planes this morning. More than 260 died in the crashes. Thousands were believed injured in New York City; there's no estimate on the number killed. New York City-Long Island Section Emergency Coordinator Tom Carrubba, KA2D, said there has been no request for any Amateur Radio Emergency Service response at this time, although hams have been requested to assist the American Red Cross. New York City's emergency management offices are located in the World Trade Center. He said he was alerting all amateurs, especially ARES and Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service personnel, to get prepared and to stand by. Carrubba said he's in the process of setting up a command channel on a linked repeater system that will cover the area from New York City into Long Island's Suffolk County. Kenneth Goetz, N2SQW, reports New York State RACES is operational on 3.993.5 and 7.248 MHz handling emergency and governmental-type traffic. He asked amateurs to avoid these frequencies. In the Washington, DC, area, Virginia SEC Tom Gregory, N4NW, says Virginia ARES has been put on alert but has not yet been activated. ''I've asked everyone to monitor the emergency frequencies and to keep a full tank of gas.'' He said the attack on Washington has resulted in a massive traffic jam as workers in DC attempt to leave the capital; cellular telephone communication was next-to-impossible. While no emergency nets are in operation yet, Gregory said all repeaters would be available as well as 7.243 MHz and 3.947 MHz on HF. Virginia RACES reportedly has been activated at the state emergency operations center at Virginia State Police headquarters in Richmond as a precautionary measure. The FCC's Riley Hollingsworth today suggested that the amateur community remain calm but ready. He invited amateurs monitoring any suspicious radio activity to contact him, and he will relay relevant information to the FCC duty team. He advised monitors to tape such radio traffic, if possible. Should a state of war be declared, Amateur Radio would not automatically be shut down. This requirement was eliminated prior to the Gulf War."}, {"response": 65, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (14:38)", "body": "first chapter of Tom Clancy's novel \"Executive Orders\" The kamikaze plane attack on the Capitol Building was the plot of the book before that one: Debt of Honor. The pilot was part of the plan, which took out the entire government. You don't need eyewitness reports on BBC. The second plane attacking the WTC is on video on every news channel. You could probably have watched it live, just as you could watch both towers crumble. It is very likely the terrorists took over flying the planes as no US pilot - even with a gun pointed at his/her head - would steer into any occupied building."}, {"response": 66, "author": "Becka", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (14:53)", "body": "Karen: my Mom mentioned the book this morning. Ominous. I cannot explain my grief and sadness. My thoughts are with all those people, so, so many lives that are forever changed. I can't get out of my head that some people actually saw the horrified faces of those passengers in those hijacked planes - waiting to die in vain. And all those people who went to work and never came back. God bless us all."}, {"response": 67, "author": "Bethanne", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (15:04)", "body": "I'm in Atlanta. The area around CNN Center which is in downtown Atlanta, has been sealed off and all public access to CNN Center itself has been stopped. I guess as lots of the the world gets it global/US news coverage news via CNN, it is a facility the authorities don't want messed with. All malls, schools and universities here etc are closed. At 3pm Eastern, 10-12 international flights are still in-bound to the US and have been given clearance to land. They are all from the Pacific Rim countries in bound to West Coast Cities."}, {"response": 68, "author": "Bethanne", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (15:09)", "body": "President Bush just landed at Straegic Airforce Command in Nebraska. So it appears the President and his advisors, are not going to orchestrate a response to this catastrophe from the White House."}, {"response": 69, "author": "ToSch", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (15:12)", "body": "German TV Broadcasting stopped for 15 Minutes!!! \" A moment of silence for our Brothers and Sisters in the USA!!!\""}, {"response": 70, "author": "Bethanne", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (15:19)", "body": ""}, {"response": 71, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (15:41)", "body": "Inbound planes from the Orient are being allowd to land in Honolulu if they have gone beyond the point of no return, but with a fighter escort from Hickam AF Base. Nothing is outbound. Even the tour planes are grounded. Nothing is in the air!"}, {"response": 72, "author": "LauraT", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (15:42)", "body": "More stuff about the cellphone call, from an AP News story: \"An emergency dispatcher in Westmoreland County, Pa., received a cell phone call at 9:58 a.m. from a man who said he was a passenger locked in the bathroom of United Flight 93, said dispatch supervisor Glenn Cramer. \"We are being hijacked, we are being hijacked!\" Cramer quoted the man as saying. The man told dispatchers the plane \"was going down. He heard some sort of explosion and saw white smoke coming from the plane and we lost contact with him,\" Cramer said.\""}, {"response": 73, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (15:42)", "body": "So it appears the President and his advisors, are not going to orchestrate a response to this catastrophe from the White House. No. The book on these types of situations calls for moving the president, et al, around to *secure* locations. Unfortunately, our wonderfully free press is publicizing all the known locations for government backup ops. Why don't they just give the addresses?"}, {"response": 74, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (15:43)", "body": "The airports are closed until noon tomorrow BTW."}, {"response": 75, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (15:47)", "body": "Thanks Tobias and all who have expressed condolences. Actually we are all one little world. We need to relearn the art of getting along on a tiny planet. This American appreciates your concern very much!"}, {"response": 76, "author": "LauraMM", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (15:48)", "body": "Why don't they just give the addresses? I know! Geez, here they are saying he's in a secret location, in NEBRASKA??? hello???? They evacuated all of Boston today. The one question I ask, that no one an answer is HOW THE HELL DID HIJACKERS GET PAST SECURITY AT LOGAN????????????? (Makes one wonder about the security personnel at the airport now?)"}, {"response": 77, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (15:49)", "body": "Karen, exactly so. The set the plane down and suddenly we all knew exactly where he was! I hate that!!! The media needs to learn some responsibility!"}, {"response": 78, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (16:06)", "body": "stratfor.com: The Intelligence Failure 1745 GMT, 010911 By George Friedman As of this moment, what is clear is that a substantial number of civilian aircraft were hijacked this morning by pilots with sufficient ability to maneuver those multi-engine aircraft into collisions with major buildings. The flights originated at a number of airports. Each incident required the presence of at least one and probably more hijackers, each prepared to die in the attack. Mounting an attack of this sort is not simple. In the case of the World Trade Center, the collapse of the towers indicates massive delayed explosions. This means either the planes were loaded with explosives or that massive explosive charges were planted in the buildings to go off later. This is supposition, but a secondary explosion is a necessary factor for explaining the collapse. This means many individuals had to be involved in the operation. There had to be a coordinated effort spanning several continents, timed to occur at roughly the same time. At best guess, dozens of people had to be involved. Messages had to flow, coded or otherwise. Yet no human intelligence sources appear to have been among or near the conspirators. No significant messages were intercepted or decoded. For U.S. intelligence to have missed an operation of this magnitude indicates one of two things. First, the competence of U.S. intelligence is overrated or the willingness of policymakers to heed warnings has declined. In either case, the system is badly broken. Alternatively, the sophistication of terrorist counter-intelligence has improved to such an extent that the prior level of expertise bought to bear is simply no longer sufficient. Whether we are facing a decline in U.S. intelligence capability or an increase in counter-intelligence blocking the United States, Sept. 11, 2001, will go down as one of the major intelligence failures in U.S. history. George Friedman is the founder and chariman of STRATFOR."}, {"response": 79, "author": "LauraT", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (16:15)", "body": "From salon.com Sam Skinner, former transportation secretary under George Bush Sr., directed a \"security enhancement task force\" after Pan-Am flight 103 was shot down in 1988 over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270 people. I'm looking back on my experience after Pan Am flight 103. We created offices for security in several departments and we enhanced the methods at every airport, so I'm very, very surprised that they were able to accomplish this. The fact that they could get through three airports on four flights without anyone picking it up, shows that this was a very well-organized attack -- probably with some inside help. We've concentrated most of our time and energy on international aircraft. We focused on that threat because they may have been coming in from international airports where security was lax, or going to international locations, in which it would be easier to hide people who would profile as terrorists. So the fact that four domestic flights were hijacked is entirely shocking. I don't know of any scenario that allowed for this. This is not an amateur performance. It must have had support from strong organizations or governments. You would have had to have at least four inside people, at airports with access to planes with full fuel loads. You'd have to have them plant weapons at the same moment without being detected. And I find it hard to believe that any American pilot would deliberately fly into the building, so I also have to assume that they managed to get an experienced pilot on board. The timing of it is also amazing. All the planes were close to their targets but the crashes occurred at around the same time. This was very well-executed, and as a result, security measures as we know them today will be enhanced substantially. What that will be is too early to tell. But there will a lot of money spent on devices; I also think there will a higher scrutiny of employees and of cargo. You can get pretty draconian, and I think we'll see that whole new level of scrutiny. This is different than what we've ever seen in the past. This isn't just blowing up airplanes, this is using airplanes as a tool of death."}, {"response": 80, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (16:17)", "body": "Covering the Attack An Eyewitness Speaks By Ed Hashey Special to Poynter.org [Editor's note: Ed Hashey is a member of Poynter's visiting visual journalism faculty and an affiliate of Mario Garcia New Media Group.] I keep playing this back in my head. It just did not seem real, nor would I ever have imagined such a series of events happening this morning. It is true: Everything seemed to be in slow motion. I arrived here Sunday night with my wife. She was going to spend the whole week with me for my birthday. I reported to work yesterday as a consultant at The Wall Street Journal. Monday we just came up with the work load for the next few weeks. I came back to the hotel at midtown Manhattan, had dinner with my wife, Jeanne, where we discussed our day's events and plans for tomorrow. Jeanne said she want to come in with me to the downtown area on Tuesday morning and visit the top of the World Trade Center. She found a two-dollar discount coupon. The next morning we both ate breakfast and my wife decided she was not feeling well enough to join me this morning. So I left for work this morning at 8 a.m. I got on the number 9 train from Times Square, and read a chapter in my book. Before you knew it, it was 8:40 a.m. and I was at the World Trade Center station at Cortland Street. I got off the train, walked up to the street exit, and right as I saw daylight, I heard a huge explosion and then many pieces of metal debris, some the size of car hoods, were falling all around me and a very large crowd of people. We all responded by trying to go back in the train station exit, but there were too many people trying to exit, and so we all squeezed against the side of the World Trade Center. After a while, the debris stopped falling. We crossed Liberty street, and looked up and saw the first tower engulfed in flames. Eyewitnesses said a plane had crashed into the building high up. Then to my horror, I started seeing people jump to their deaths. As each person fell, I started praying. Many people fell, and we were not sure where to go or what to do. Then a loud noise of an aircraft became apparent, and I remember seeing a large airline jet smash into the next tower, followed by many flaming pieces falling all around us and many people being struck by debris and burning wreckage. I ran into an entryway of the building across the street and saw debris take out windows. A large crowd of pedestrians outside was hit as they were on their way to work. At that point the police ordered a mass evacuation, and I remember thinking this was a terrorist act. It was just too coincidental too be anything else. I decided to just start running north up Broadway. By the time I reached Chambers Street, I kept trying phones to call my wife and say I was OK, but nothing was working, all circuits busy, my cell phone did not work. So I just got on a train and ran to my hotel room. My wife was in tears, and I was shaking like a leaf. I as still shaking and very sad, then I witnessed the towers falling on the news channel, and I just stood there in disbelief. I am sad, angry, nervous, happy to be alive, but humbled by others' deaths today. I can't stop seeing the visions of bodies falling. I still pray for their families, but the world will never be the same again. I'm very sorry to be writing this."}, {"response": 81, "author": "rachael", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (16:18)", "body": "UK news is saying that the US President has gone to Nebraska because that's HQ when the USA is on a war footing. To all my old friends in the US, and the new ones I've made here on Spring recently, my thoughts and prayers are with you on this dreadful day. Take care, all of you."}, {"response": 82, "author": "winter", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (16:27)", "body": "HOW THE HELL DID HIJACKERS GET PAST SECURITY AT LOGAN????????????? Well, considering these were domestic flights, I suspect that security is a little more lax. I remember listening to an NPR story not too long ago about how airport security employees have such a high turn-around, and most aren't unionized.... I'm in LA where things are eerily quiet. Schools are still in session, but they've cancelled a lot of events tonight (the Madonna concert, Latin Grammys, MLB games, etc..). Some production studios (the major ones anyway) have also shut down for the day. I'm trying to get work done, but it's just too difficult."}, {"response": 83, "author": "autumn", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (16:27)", "body": "Alas, Babylon... Maryland has been declared a state of emergency. The military post S. works on is at its highest security level, there are massive amounts of agent stored there. Schools, colleges, programs, everything is closed. Hospitals have canceled all elective surgeries to stay ready for victims. I was in D.C. on Monday, sight-seeing with my aunt from Dallas. She tried to call us all afternoon, but there were no available circuits until 3:30. It is so quiet--there's not a car on the road (everyone's watching TV I guess) or a plane in the sky. Weird. I can't even process it all yet."}, {"response": 84, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (16:28)", "body": "pastebomb alert -- bruces *8-( that peculiar parade-going-in-the-wrong-direction has passed ... maybe we'll find out what that was, at some point ... people are now out of their offices for lunchtime, still almost no traffic, but the shops are open and people are hanging out watching the clouds of smoke ... the view towards the south is unimaginable ... much more jet activity ... -Ken ______________________________________________ SPECTRE list for media culture in Deep Europe Info, archive and help: http://post.openoffice.de/mailman/listinfo/spectre NYC, Fifth Avenue & 19th St. ... people are walking in large crowds in the middle of Fifth Ave., heading south, as if in a parade. Many more have been standing, looking south, for hours now, as if waiting for something else to happen. It's just clouds of smoke now where the WTC used to be... Some people have radios, portable tvs. Few people's cell phones are working. Apart from the downed antennae, the circuits are just jammed, regular phones are jammed, too. The only traffic seems to be ambulances. Apart from the sirens, it is eerily quiet for midday ... fighter jets are flying overhead now ... -Ken ______________________________________________ SPECTRE list for media culture in Deep Europe Info, archive and help: http://post.openoffice.de/mailman/listinfo/spectre another meaning for spectre.... Pandemonium envelops reporters incapable of expressing much more than shock. The highways in lower Manhattan are loaded with an exodus of refugees escaping downtown. Electricity has been shut don in lower Manhattan. Airports are in chaos. Everything has a surreal siege status. No official word other than a short statement from Bush early this morning. His plane from Florida will not go to Washington where Chaney is \"in charge\" at the White House. more soon, Tim ______________________________________________ SPECTRE list for media culture in Deep Europe Info, archive and help: http://post.openoffice.de/mailman/listinfo/spectre i can just report, that here at ZKM in karlsruhe we are also totally shocked, following the news on German tv and CNN for hours and don't know really what to say as angst is emerging of the events. what will happen now? will this event to exponentiate the use of terror between south and north, between east and west? most embarassing seems the clean, totally emotion-less face of G.W. Bush. cannot believe that this is an eqiuvalent reaction of his. (is he in drugs?) best to all, anke ______________________________________________ SPECTRE list for media culture in Deep Europe Info, archive and help: http://post.openoffice.de/mailman/listinfo/spectre ______________________________________________ SPECTRE list for media culture in Deep Europe Info, archive and help: http://post.openoffice.de/mailman/listinfo/spectre The national guard has been called up in NYC -- Its like a war zone, they are predicting the death toll as being in the thousands -- 40,000 people work in the two towers and were in the process of arriving for work when the first plane struck -- I witnessed the collapse of the second tower, from a roof about a half mile away-- the city is shut down -- there are still three or 4 more planes unaccounted for -- the pentagon was also attacked and severely damaged -- with large lost of life-- a plane was brought down near camp David -- I placed part of the blame for this turn of events on the Bush administration's failure to intervene in Palestine, his failure to send observers and his failure to condemn Israel's policy of assination against Palestine leaders. This is truly a horror. Saul ______________________________________________ SPECTRE list for media culture in Deep Europe Info, archive and help: http://post.openoffice.de/mailman/listinfo/spectre . y"}, {"response": 85, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (16:31)", "body": "Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ bruce -- i'm putting together a piece for tomorrow's paper on how the internet reacted/helped/hurt in the face of this disaster. i need help. if you see or hear anything that would feed into this story, please let me know. if you've got anything to say, please give me a quote. i am working out of my home. 540 347 1960. garreau@well.com or garreauj@washpost.com. i'll need to start writing 4-ish eastern time, although i can push later than that for good stuff. please pass the word to anybody else who can help. thanx. joel Joel Garreau The Washington Post 202 334 6269 voice 202 334 5587 fax garreauj@washpost.com \"But I keep hitting these typewriter keys. What a magician is the subconscious. If only it would work regular hours.\" -- Raymond Chandler, \"The Long Goodbye\" 21ST CENTURY DETERRENCE AND TODAY'S ATTACKS Washington, D.C., September 11/PRNEWSWIRE/ -- Responding to today's attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Robert David Steele, author of ON INTELLIGENCE: Spies and Secrecy in an Open World (AFCEA, 2000), said: \"The tragedy of today's coordinated attacks against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon--with other targets expected shortly--must be regarded as the Pearl Harbor of the 21st Century. Our national leaders have wasted ten years since the end of the Cold War, failing to understand that it is instability, poverty, oppression, disease, and cultural conflict that require the USA to expend billions of dollars on stabilizing and nurturing the Whole Earth.\" Mr. Steele goes on to note, \"\"As Robert McNamara and others have pointed out, 'at least two thirds of the world's people--Chinese, Russian, Indians, Muslims, and Africans'--see the United States as the single greatest threat to their societies, because of our 'intrusive, interventionist, exploitative, unilateralist, hegemonic, hypocritical practices' of 'economic imperialism' and 'intellectual colonialism'.\" The capitalist party is over. It is time to give Colin Powell what he needs to save the world--only by saving the world can we save America.\" On this occasion Steele and Professor Stephen Cimbala have re-released their earlier warning on the need for a new concept of deterrence in the 21st Century. Their joint communiqu can be downloaded quickly (539 words) from http://www.oss.net/Papers/white/TodaysAttacks.doc . Mr. Steele concludes: \"America is the greatest country in the world, but we have lost sight of our moral foundations, failed to listen to our great strategists Zbigniew Brzezinski and Stephen Metz, and completely closed down the U.S. Department of State and our foreign assistance endeavors. It is time for a Global Marshal Plan that respects the fact that the Whole Earth is a closed system; that does not trivialize today's attacks as terrorist events; and that wakes up to the fact that money cannot buy security in a world where asymmetric power is now in the hands of the people that we have been ignoring and sidelining for over a century.\" Mr. Steele is available for telephone interviews at (703) 242-1700. His high-resolution photograph can be downloaded from http://www.oss.net/Papers/white/AuthorPhoto.gif . Various white papers on the 21st Century threat and what to do about it are at http://www.oss.net/White.html . SOURCE: Open Source Solutions, Inc. -0- 09/11/2001 /CONTACT: Robert Steele, OSS CEO, 703-242-1700, or bear@oss.net/ /Web site: www.oss.net"}, {"response": 86, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (16:35)", "body": "Ted Olsen's wife Barbara, ironically, was on the plane that crashed into the Pentagon. ABC News reported that a KAL airliner had been \"forced down\" and boarded by the military in Canada - not sure when. Barbara Olsen was able to contact her husband by cell phone, and reported that all the passengers had been herded to the rear of the aircraft."}, {"response": 87, "author": "rachael", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (16:41)", "body": "Apparently its being suggested now that the 4th plane, that crashed near Pittsburgh, was intercepted and brought down by US forces after it failed to respond to air traffic control and refused to identify itself, and it was on a heading for Camp David - am in UK but have just had this from a friend in Chicago - does anyone know if this is true?"}, {"response": 88, "author": "moulton", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (16:42)", "body": "Bush is at Offutt AFB in Omaha, home of the Strategic Air Command. Boston has not been evacuated. Logan Airport has been closed and people have been asked to leave. The only aircraft flying over Boston today are delta-wing military aircraft, perhaps an F-15 or F-16. I'm gonna guess that the hijackers somehow disabled the crew, perhaps with gas, which would be easy enough to get through security, and then took over the controls of the plane. This is just my own personal speculation. I expect our nation will now enter a phase of crisis fatigue."}, {"response": 89, "author": "rachael", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (16:44)", "body": "Apparently its being suggested now that the 4th plane, that crashed near Pittsburgh, was intercepted and brought down by US forces after it failed to respond to air traffic control and refused to identify itself, and it was on a heading for Camp David - am in UK but have just had this from a friend in Chicago - does anyone know if this is true?"}, {"response": 90, "author": "moulton", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (16:45)", "body": "I have heard no reliable reports of how the fourth plane went down near Pittsburgh, but it's possible that it was forced down by an interceptor, as this plane was on a considerably later timetable than the first three. The military would have had time to respond."}, {"response": 91, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (16:45)", "body": "A govt spokesperson has just refuted that rumor about shooting down the plane."}, {"response": 92, "author": "LauraT", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (16:46)", "body": "Rachael, all the info I've heard about the Pittsburgh plane has been unconfirmed, but I've also heard the same thing. Hopefully there will be more details later."}, {"response": 93, "author": "moulton", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (16:46)", "body": "Terry, is your server on GMT?"}, {"response": 94, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (16:46)", "body": "Outside Omaha, Nebraska is the Strategic Air Command. Then there is Norad just outside of Colorado Springs. Been there. They don't welcome stangers!"}, {"response": 95, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (16:48)", "body": "from unidentified source: An attorney named Tom Humphries is being interviewed by Jennings now. He was on the 57th floor in one of the buildings--they cut into the interview in progress so I'm not sure which one--oh, it would have been the first building hit. 57th floor. Took him 45 minutes to get down the staircase. He said people were calm, and helping each other. Asked about whether there were lights, he said, \"Last time there weren't, this time there were.\" (God. \"Last time.\") Only one stairwell was open, the others were blocked by smoke. The first building took some time before it imploded, and he thinks a large number of people got out. (The second building got hit later and collapsed sooner. I hope they were already evacuating after the first building was hit.) Jennings: \"I must say I'm amazed how calm you are, after having been in the first bombing in 1993 and now this.\" Humphries chuckles briefly. \"I'm happy to be here.\" Humphries says the evacuation down one narrow stairway was \"a recipe for disaster\" but everyone's calmness kept it from becoming one. He talked to someone from Tower 2, who was on the 88th floor. They started evacuating after Tower 1 was hit, and that person got out. He says, \"I think the tragedy is, the police and fire people who were trying to help people were right under the building when that happened\"--the collapse--\"They were at ground zero.\" I think this simple interview has started to break through my wall of shock. Listening to a very calm man who was in the building and walked down 57 floors with thousands of heroically self-composed people describe that. I am, goddamnit, starting to believe this."}, {"response": 96, "author": "moulton", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (16:49)", "body": "Terry, is your server on GMT?"}, {"response": 97, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (16:49)", "body": "Yeah, I need to fix that again. I keep setting it for CST and it reverts to GMT."}, {"response": 98, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (16:53)", "body": "More unidentified reports: source a: Some terrorism experts are saying that the only ones who could pull this off are the CIA-trained fundamentalist terrorists in afganistan... we taught them to take down the local great satan -- the USSR -- and now they are turning their attention to the rilly rilly great satan. They do not have headquarters. they do not have known leaders. they are good with technology. They can organize. they are willing to die. they don't care if someone else takes the blame. This second hand from someone who is interviewing experts and pundits. source b: My guess is that the hijackers flew first class, maybe spent some time in the Red Carpet Club before boarding the flights, and didn't appear to be palestinian freedom fighters. Maybe Japanese businessmen if the announcement by the Japanese Red Army is accurate. And another report: BBC News reporting that a building close to the site of the WTC is at risk of collapse as a result of the towers collapsing."}, {"response": 99, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (16:55)", "body": "Outside Omaha, Nebraska is the Strategic Air Command. Then there is Norad just outside of Colorado Springs. Been there. They don't welcome stangers!"}, {"response": 100, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (16:57)", "body": "They are identifying it as Building 7"}, {"response": 101, "author": "rachael", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (17:00)", "body": "BBC suggested that the hijackers were probably domestic passengers not international, ie boarded in the US, because passports aren't needed for internal flights (obviously)"}, {"response": 102, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (17:00)", "body": "This just in, in a day full of \"this just in's\" BBC News reporting that a building close to the site of the WTC is at risk of collapse as a result of the towers collapsing. So is NPR. BBC now reporting that the building is the 40 storey Sallmon Bros building. And that it has collpased now."}, {"response": 103, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (17:07)", "body": "No other building has collapsed yet."}, {"response": 104, "author": "rachael", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (17:08)", "body": "blood donor centres running low - all who can are urged to donate as a matter of urgency"}, {"response": 105, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (17:25)", "body": "The third building (#7) has collapsed. CNN just confirmed. Also says there are fears about another (#5). CNN is interviewing Tom Clancy now."}, {"response": 106, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (17:26)", "body": "I don't know if you have seen this: Knives on Board (techstudies2000) Sep 11, 16:49 Tuesday Sept. 11, 2001; 4:35 p.m. EDT Flight Attendants Stabbed Aboard Twin Tower Kamikaze Plane A violent struggle with knife-wielding terrorists took place outside the cockpit of one of two hijacked planes before it slammed into the World Trade Center Tuesday morning, a flight attendant on board reported to American Airlines before her death. \"A flight attendant on that plane was apparently able to call the American Airlines operations center to tell them that two flight attendants had been stabbed and that the perpetrators had broken into the flight deck,\" ABC Radio News reported. The plane was enroute from Boston to Los Angeles when it was commandeered by terrorists for its kamikaze mission."}, {"response": 107, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (17:28)", "body": "That last building was 47 stories tall."}, {"response": 108, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (17:31)", "body": "CNN is now showing some new closeup footage (from PAX TV) of the second plane hitting. What it shows is the plane going right into the building and possibly coming through the other side."}, {"response": 109, "author": "Bethanne", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (17:32)", "body": "As to the Pittsburgh plane being brought down \"intentionally\"....I heard that its suspected target was Camp David and, that fighter jets took it down before it could reach its target. I have no problem understanding how these terrorists and their weapons, could get past airport security at Logan and Dulles, if their security is anything like it is here in Atlanta. Totally disinterested kids, poorly trained and motivated man the security check points here. It would take very little effort to \"sneak\" something past them. The security level at US airports here in the US is very, very, very minimal compared to that at European airports. In Europe, only passengers can enter the Departure Concourse and Lounges. You can not meet someone directly off a plane in Europe, the way you can over here. Also, in Europe you go thru many, many checkpoints and security before you get on your flight. I just wish to God, US airports were as fussy. Twoyearsago I flew from the US to Ireland via London, but I flew back via Glasgow. As I was sitting in the airport in Glasgow, waiting for my flight to Chicago,I was paged on the airport intercom to report back to the American Airlines desk. I was then grilled by the security forces for 2 hours in a tiny little room, which terrifed me witless. Apparantly, an Irish person entering the UK thru one airport and exiting thru another, raised a red flag on some security services computer and I was deemed a \"terrorist threat\". As the IRA was very active in the UK at the time, I did my best to understand that these were just people who were doing their job. After my nerves and heart rate returned to normal, I was actually kind of happy that the security forces were taking such \"extreme\" steps to ensure the safety of airline passengers. I would love to see US airports be equally vigilant. Sorry if I am waffleing....I'm just at a loss, like the rest of you, in trying to comprehend the horror of this carnage."}, {"response": 110, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (17:49)", "body": "ABC's Claire Shipman reporting the President is on his way to Washington and will make a statement tonight; \"We're told he's angry about what happened and very much wants to make a statement\". Congressional leaders also returning from their safe haven, also will make statements. \"There's apparently a real premium here in Washington among the leaders of presenting a face of business as usual,\" she says. The leadership has been warned of the risk but feels it's important to be in Washington. The President will be landing in D.C. where they feel the airspace is as safe as anywhere in the nation. Vice President Cheney will then be removed from the White House as a precaution, though the First Lady is expected to join her husband."}, {"response": 111, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (17:53)", "body": "To: \"Red Rock Eater News Service\" Subject: [RRE]attack From: Phil Agre Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2001 13:58:22 -0700 Here are some more URL's relating to the attacks this morning. a backup site that generally works when cnn.com does not http://robots.cnn.com/ video of the second plane in New York high bandwidth: http://www.nytimes.com/library/national/091101plane1-large.html low bandwidth: http://www.nytimes.com/library/national/091101plane1-small.html people's stories http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGAVZWE2IRC.html Hotline from the National Journal can be accessed today for free http://hotlinescoop.com/web/content/hotline.htm http://nationaljournal.com/pubs/hotline/extra/lastcall/ this site will register people who are safe http://do.millennium.berkeley.edu/ you can query this site to search for people http://do.millennium.berkeley.edu/find.php military analysis http://www.janes.com/ photos from Brooklyn of the buildings collapsing http://www.indigo23.com/ an architect discussing how the buildings collapsed http://home.actlab.utexas.edu/pipermail/discuss/2001-September/000226.html Engineers Shocked By Towers Collapse http://chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-010911kamin-towers.story"}, {"response": 112, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (17:54)", "body": "a great archive of World Trade Center stuff at"}, {"response": 113, "author": "ekelley", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (17:58)", "body": "7 WT is the one that just collapsed. I was in that building just a few months ago, visiting my friend. He works (or worked...I don't know if he's ok yet...I hate this) for the city Office of Emergency Management. He took me into the \"Bunker\" where the command center was. it was built to withstand the blast of a nuclear bomb, a category 5 hurricane, and some other disasters. I don't think they ever thought that tower 1 would collapse onto it. they have cut us off on Long Island. The only way we can get off (if we needed to) are the 2 Connecticut ferries from Pt. Jefferson and Orient Point. They have closed all of the highways, and most of the schools. People are panicing, unfortunately...long lines at the supermarket, gas stations (which I did myself), etc. If this is what war feels like... *sob* thank you all for being here and reading this, and for all of your thoughts. it helps more than you know."}, {"response": 114, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (17:58)", "body": "Regarding the stability of the towers: From Before foundation excavation began, the 500 x 1,000-ft site was enclosed by a 3-ft-thick, 70-ft-high concrete cutoff wall built by the slurry trench wall method and keyed 3 ft into rock. Excavation was complicated by two nearby subway tubes that had to be supported without service interruption. A six-level basement was built in the foundation hole. Excavation of 1.2 million cu yd of earth and rock created $90 million of real estate for project owner, the Port of New York Authority. Instead of being trucked off for disposal, spoil was used to create 23 acres of fill in the Hudson River adjacent to the WTC site. It has since been developed as Battery Park City. The twin towers had the world's highest load-bearing walls. Seattle-based structural engineer Worthington, Skilling, Helle and Jackson designed them as vertical cantilevered steel tubes. Exterior columns are 14-in. square hollow box sections spaced 39 in. center-to-center. Spandrels welded to the columns at each floor make them into huge Vierendeel trusses. Each tower is 208 x 208 ft with a column-free interior between the outer walls and the 79-ft x 139-ft core."}, {"response": 115, "author": "rachael", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (17:58)", "body": "further to Beth's post above about security, here's an article from the BBC comparing security at US and UK airports - having been pulled over twice in the UK as a frequent UK/Ireland flyer, one body search, one bag search, I'd agree its annoying at the time, but then you think you'd rather be safe and you're glad it happens ... http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_1538000/1538682.stm"}, {"response": 116, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (18:01)", "body": "There are explosions in Kabul now. Missiles, tracer fire. Antiaircraft fire."}, {"response": 117, "author": "ekelley", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (18:08)", "body": "4 F-16s just flew over my house... and now Kabul... Lord help us all."}, {"response": 118, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (21:48)", "body": "Some incredible photos. http://www.alternet.org/graphics/story_hirez/terrorist1.jpg http://www.alternet.org/graphics/story_hirez/terrorist2.jpg http://www.alternet.org/graphics/story_hirez/terrorist3.jpg http://www.alternet.org/graphics/story_hirez/terrorist4.jpg http://www.alternet.org/graphics/story_hirez/terrorist5.jpg http://www.alternet.org/graphics/story_hirez/terrorist6.jpg http://www.alternet.org/graphics/story_hirez/terrorist7.jpg http://www.alternet.org/graphics/story_hirez/terrorist8.jpg http://www.alternet.org/graphics/story_hirez/terrorist9.jpg"}, {"response": 119, "author": "WinniePeg", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (21:50)", "body": "I am still in shock over today's events and wondering how this could have happened. I am in Canada and think this is the first time I have EVER heard of the Cdn/USA border being closed. I am amazed at how much security has gone into place so quickly. All airports shut down (only taking diverted overseas flights that were to land in U.S.) In our small city, streets to airport are all blocked--no one allowed into or out of airport. Extra police/customs are in place at border already. Cdn.fighter jets had to escort two Korean Air/Lines into Whitehorse airport today when they did not respond to hail. In a total state of disbelieve! HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN??"}, {"response": 120, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (21:54)", "body": "San Francisco Bay and its bridges and industries and Alameda are all being partolled by AWACS planes this night. There are frightened citizens there, and I worry for them, as well. We are ALL in a state of total disbelief. They have stopped selling stuff on QVC and HSC out of respect... That has to be a first."}, {"response": 121, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (22:06)", "body": "It happened because we didn't answer many wake up calls. It happened because minimum wage people do security at airports. It happened because we were thinking about a missle defense system instead of tightening up our obvious security holes. Ebay is full of people selling ghoulish mementos and wtc related domain names. I'm still in shock, I've been channel surfing the major networks, ABC is the only one that hasn't given this whole thing a big garish name. Peter Jennings and Diane Sawyer are doing some pretty good, calm, balanced coverage. Bush's speech made it clear we won't just go after the terrorists but those harboring the terrorists. This is the beginning of a campaign on worldwide terror."}, {"response": 122, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (22:08)", "body": "http://news.mpr.org/features/200109/11_newsroom_terrorist/ has photos and also live radio clips. The image of the plane slicing through (from the other side of the building) is shocking. It's in the national images slideshow, the caption reads: \"An amateur photographer was snapping a photograph of the damage to one World Trade Center tower at the instant when a second airliner crashed into the other tower. (credit pending) \" From: info@kauf.com Date: Wed, 12 Sep 2001 02:47:49 +0200 To: david@trufun.com Subject: Press release: Help for terror victims by Internet Ladies and Gentlemen Victims and their relatives of the terrorist attacks can get help by Internet. At http://www.wtchelp.com or http://66.33.42.252 they can add a special notice for searching a person and get further information. The Internet page was developed by the company Kaufcom for the WTC Help Organization. Within shortest time, further information and auxiliary functions will be provided to offer a fast and easy help. The WTC Help Organization was found at the 11th of September 2001. Our goal is it to support the victims and their relatives with the best possible help by using the new medias. The WTC Help Organization stays in contact with many other organisations. Patrick Hofer WTC-Help Organization Neue Winterthurerstr. 30 CH-8305 Dietlikon Switzerland Fax: +41 1 888 43 16 Email:hofer@kaufcom.ch"}, {"response": 123, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (22:15)", "body": "Orrin Hatch said a month a go they knew there was going to be a big attack. Barbara Walters is reporting this and Peter Jennings is appealing on him to explain this more clearly. Hatch is saying he has the real data that Ohsama Bin Ladin did this. He's saying we have about 24 hours to act and round up the terrorists before they go underground."}, {"response": 124, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (22:40)", "body": "There is not a message board anywhere that has not talked about this. Every single Yahoo club to which I belong is talking about it. Mostly how numb everyone feels. Non-US people reacting with sadness and condolences and the same determination to win this match. Don't mess with those I love. I am ready to do what must be done!!!"}, {"response": 125, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (22:53)", "body": "From Reuters"}, {"response": 126, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (22:54)", "body": "http://reuters.com/ go look at the large photo... it is astounging!"}, {"response": 127, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (23:09)", "body": "Subject: report from NYC... Date: Tuesday, September 11, 2001 5:36 PM From: Michael McDonough To: Bruce Sterling It started at 8:45 AM with the missile-like scream of something flying too low and fast across the city's heart, followed by a thump that shook the ground. Something is wrong. Minutes later, a second thump. The city empties into the streets. TVs come alive with live video feeds of the planes striking the south sides of the towers. I photograph the fires from my SoHo roof, capturing the north sides on film. The fire has penetrated the towers and is licking up the facades, bright orange tongues through inky black smoke. But the towers are not the towers, they are one tower and one smoky billow the size of an atomic cloud. People are jumping from the upper stories of the remaining tower. A short time later, now on the streets, my wife and I are talking to strangers, exchanging information got from blaring car radios. Mid-sentence, the second tower implodes before our eyes, only a few blocks away, glass shards blowing out from the smoky, collapsing core. Like nightmarish snow, they glisten and sparkle, then disappear. On a normal day, over 100,000 persons pass through the WTC. We have just seen a large number of them vaporized. Debris, chunks of the buildings the size of city buses and automobiles rain down onto the streets of Lower Manhattan. The collapses at first take the tops of the towers. In a matter of seconds, the remaining, lower reaches are infernos. The facades of the towers have fallen onto the surrounding streets. A woman in the hotel next to the towers reports seeing legions of firefighters, police, and medical personnel disappeared beneath the rubble in an instant. Now the explosions have killed not only those in the towers, but those trying to save them on the ground. Elsewhere in the city, as the day grinds on, businesses and shops are closed, locked tight with security gates in place. All civilian vehicular transportation in and out of the city stops. The tunnels are sealed off and empty. The bridges are available for those who want to hike out of the city. At early evening I walk the police cordons around lower Manhattan. On the local streets, urgent laser printed pleas for blood donations are taped to mailboxes and street lamps. Black SUVs with darkened windows scream through intersections in long lines, with sirens and flashing lights. Ambulances from New Jersey and Long Island, and Upstate New York--townships 60 miles and more outside of New York City--course the streets; 20, 30 at a time, they move, heading north to hospitals and triage centers. Military planes dart overhead, then disappear. The city is an uneasy silence broken on occasion by piecing, crackling sounds, warnings and urgent communications. Thousands of people stare blank-eyed and quiet as they watch the buildings all over downtown burn. Dozens of construction workers loaded on trucks--welding kits, steel barriers, men and material--head south, to ground zero. Fire engines line the west side arterial roads, empty, their occupants fighting the out-of-control fires on foot. Military vehicles start to appear. The trucks and cars near the center are shattered, crushed, lost in a hail of ash and metal and concrete. New fires start. Smoke billows easterly, against white smoke against the blue sky of our mid-September day. More buildings are burning. Another flaming, 40 story pile falls. We are helpless; we watch. Cars are burning. Mercury from a million fluorescent lights, PCBs from miles of electrical components, dioxin from football fields of synthetic carpets and miles of PVC piping placed throughout the complex, a toxic, now gray soup belching from the flaming, collapsing hulks. It is as if the city has lost its arms, and is staring blankly at where they used to be, finding flaming, smoking voids in their stead. Michael McDonough New York City 9/11"}, {"response": 128, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (23:15)", "body": "from another board: scutmonkey Posted On 09/11/01 07:55PM I have a friend that works for Delta Airlines HQ here in Atlanta that person had a couple things to say. One is that the plane over Pennsylvania was intentionally run into the ground by the pilot. All four of those aircraft had radio communications and were describing what was happening at least in the beginning. They issued special emergency codes as well. The pilots locked the cabin doors, but there is a key with the flight attendants that is hidden in a different place on each flight. The terrorist began stabbing crew members and passengers until someone told them where it was. The crew believed that this was a typical hostage and ransom situation and gave up the keys. When the pilots of the Pennsylvania plane realized it wasn't from the other incidents they crashed the jet."}, {"response": 129, "author": "laughingsky", "date": "Tue, Sep 11, 2001 (23:36)", "body": "I went into a hospital meeting at 7:30am and came out at 9:00am (CST) this a.m., only to discover that the world was suddenly going to hell! Here in middle Tennessee, the lines are growing longer outside the gas stations...the small town streets are crowded with cars trying to fill up and beat the iminent gas hikes that are rumored to occur by morning. A neighbor works close to the Tennessee/Alabama line and was told that gas in Alabama had shot up to $10.00 a gallon.....jeez....BTW, Thanks to all of you who have expressed condolences on this board. Your support is greatly needed and appreciated!"}, {"response": 130, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Sep 12, 2001 (01:56)", "body": "The Boston Herald is breaking some amazing details: WAR: Hub terror suspects ID'd: Bush vows retaliation after devestating attack by Ed Hayward, Tom Farmer and Cosmo Macero Jr. Wednesday, September 12, 2001 Authorities in Massachusetts identified at least five Arab men as suspects in yesterday's terror attacks launched from Logan International Airport, seizing in the central parking garage a car laden with Arabic-language flight training manuals, sources said last night. Two of the men, whose passports were traced to the United Arab Emirates, were brothers, one of whom was a trained pilot, a source told the Herald, speaking on condition of anonymity. At least two other suspects flew to Logan yesterday from Portland, Maine, where authorities believe they had traveled after crossing over from Canada recently. Once in the air, the hijackers in one plane began killing flight attendants in order to lure a pilot from the cockpit and seize the plane, said one source. ``They started killing stewardesses in the back of the plane as a diversion. The pilot came back to help and that is how they got into the cockpit,'' said the source. The source could not specify whether those events took place on the American Airlines flight that left Logan, or the United Airlines flight. Both planes were plunged into the World Trade Center roughly an hour after they departed Boston. The suspects had no guns, but used shaving kits and other carry-on luggage to smuggle knife-like weapons made up of plastic handles embedded with razor blades, sources familiar with last night's developments said. That finding is consistent with reports of a flight attendant's cell-phone call from one of the doomed airliners. ``People were calling from the plane saying they were getting killed, calling 911,'' said one source. ``One stewardess called her husband to say goodbye.'' Authorities were led to the rental car by a civilian who got into an altercation with several Arab men as they were parking their car, identified by sources as a Mitsubishi sedan. The man, whose name was not available last night, called state police from an out-of-state airport after his own flight landed yesterday and he learned planes hijacked from Logan had been involved in attacks that toppled the World Trade Center's twin towers, crippled the Pentagon and downed another airliner in Pennsylvania. The car, rented from National Rental Car, was secured yesterday by the FBI and authorities have prepared a search warrant. It was unclear when the warrant would be served. State police interviewed more than 130 people at the airport yesterday, as America launched what is expected to be the largest criminal investigation in its history. Investigators suspect the two brothers identified by Bay State investigators were aboard United Airlines Flight 175. The terror plot included the hijacking and crashing of four airliners, including one into the Pentagon, where the Arlington, Va., fire chief estimated the death toll at up to 800. In New York last night, Mayor Rudolph Guiliani told reporters some people are alive in the rubble of the trade center complex, and there was an unconfirmed report of a cop being pulled out alive last night. There was also a report that survivors trapped in the collapsed buildings were making cell-phone calls. A horrified nation witnessed the shocking carnage as the World Trade Center's ``North Tower'' burned and exploded after it was struck just before 9 a.m. by Los Angeles-bound American Airlines Flight 11, which departed Boston's Logan Airport at 7:59 a.m. with 81 passengers, two pilots and nine flight attendants. A second jet - United Airlines Flight 175, that left Logan for L.A. at 8:14 a.m. carrying 56 passengers, seven attendants and two pilots - was captured on video as it sliced through the ``South Tower'' and unleashed a massive fireball just after 9 a.m. Just moments before the first crash, air traffic controllers heard the lone voice of the terror plot speaking from the cockpit of one doomed aircraft. ``We have more planes, we have other planes,'' a voice alleged to be that of a hijacker could be heard saying through a microphone activated by a pilot of American Airlines Flight 11, the Christian Science Monitor reported on its Web site. Establishing the death toll could take weeks. The four airliners alone carried 266 people, none known to survive. At the Pentagon, as many as 800 people could be dead, including plane victims. Roughly 50,000 people worked at the World Trade Center and there was an hour available for evacuations. But the toll already appeared staggering for the men and women who worked to save lives. A firefighters union official said an estimated 200 firefighters had died. An estimated 87 police officers were missing. Within two hours of the initial Trade Center crash, the fiery nightmare gave way to mind-numbing grief, as both towers imploded, raining thick dust, glass shards, metal chunks and human remains on the streets below. As t"}, {"response": 131, "author": "Renata", "date": "Wed, Sep 12, 2001 (03:43)", "body": "This is beyond words, and beyond understanding. I'm still trying to find words to tell you what I feel about the unspeakable, unimaginable. My thoughts are with all who suffer, the innocent victims, and their families and friends, and with the American people. I send my heartfelt condolences from Germany - we are all with you. Whatever the intention was of this senseless killing, it goes empty: it will unite - has already united - all freedom-loving people all over the world. Take care all of you. Renate"}, {"response": 132, "author": "Anek", "date": "Wed, Sep 12, 2001 (04:44)", "body": "I was at work yesterday when my colleague called me to tell that WTC in NY collapsed and that Pentagon was on fire. I couldn't believe in it. I thought he told me a stupid joke. Everything reminded of some films or books, but not real life. But then I went to news website and the truth struck me with shock. Today I've read your news reports and can't stop thinking about the people trapped in the burning building and those who were caugh in the hijacked planes. The senseless cruelty and detailed preparation of the operation is sth beyond my understanding. I'm joining in grief with everyone and I do hope than anything like this will not happen again."}, {"response": 133, "author": "suzee202000", "date": "Wed, Sep 12, 2001 (04:47)", "body": "More on United Flight 93 from today's Miami Herald: Passenger called wife from cell phone shortly before Pittsburgh crash By Paul Rogers and Lisa Fernandez Knight Ridder SAN JOSE, Calif. (12:30 a.m. EDT) -- It might have been the final resistance of a doomed pilot. Or a heroic struggle by a Bay Area passenger. Or a miscalculation by terrorists. But if there was one glimmer of good news amid the numbing enormity of Tuesday's terrorist attacks, it shined in the wreckage of a United Airlines 757, a flight once bound for San Francisco and instead now strewn across a remote field in the coal country of southwestern Pennsylvania. Unlike three other commercial jets that were purposely slammed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, United Flight 93, for some reason yet unknown, did not hit a terrorist's target Tuesday morning and did not kill thousands of people. The flight crashed instead at 10:06 a.m. EDT in a wooded area 70 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, two hours after it left Newark, N.J. All 45 people on board were killed, said Bill Crowley, a special agent with the FBI in Pittsburgh. Among them were 38 passengers, five flight attendents and two pilots. Minutes before the fiery impact, at least two passengers telephoned from the plane. One man phoned 911, yelling to dispatchers \"We are being hijacked! We are being hijacked!'' before the signal was lost. The other, Tom Burnett, 38, the vice president of a Pleasanton, Calif., medical devices company and father of three children, called his wife, Deena, and may have indicated he and other passengers were about to attempt to overpower the hijackers. Burnett told his wife that somebody on the plane had been stabbed, said Father Frank Colacicco, of St. Isidore's Church in Danville. \"We're all gonna die, but three of us are going to do something,'' Burnett told his wife, according to Colacicco. He added: \"I love you honey'' before the call ended. FBI agents were interviewing members of the family Tuesday night. The FBI said that 40 agents and more than 150 other investigators were combing the crash site as darkness fell, including agents from the Department of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms, the FAA and the Pennsylvania State Police. Like the three other doomed jets that took off, and then suddenly veered off course, United Flight 93 sharply turned south after nearing Cleveland. One Congressman told Knight Ridder that some investigators believe the plane's hijackers were attempting to crash into either Camp David, the presidential retreat located 80 miles south of the crash site, at Thurmond, Maryland, or the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. \"There was concern that it was heading in the direction of Washington, D.C.,'' said Rep. Jim Moran, D-Virginia. Moran said that Capitol police named the two potential targets in a briefing he received from them. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, described Tuesday as a national tragedy and the scope is only just beginning to sink in. \"At Pearl Harbor, there were 2,000 people killed,'' Feinstein said. \"This could be tens of thousands.'' United Airlines did not release the passenger list from Flight 93 on Tuesday. At least one other Bay Area resident was confirmed dead, a female student at Santa Clara University. The name of the woman, a junior, was not being released, pending notification of her family, said Barry Holtzclaw, a spokesman for the university. \"I'm shattered by this,'' said Holtzclaw. \"''The scale of it, the enormity of it, the buildings and the loss off life. The mood of the campus tomorrow will be very very somber.'' It may be weeks before it is known what happened in the doomed flight, experts said. \"It fits the same pattern of the other ones,'' said a high-ranking FAA official. \"The moves of the plane are similar to what you would see if a struggle or some violent problem occurred in the cockpit.'' Gary Joseph, who co-pilots United 747-400 flights from San Francisco to Shanghai, said he believes the pilots aboard Flight 93 tried to prevent the terrorists from taking control of the aircraft. \"They train you to do whatever they say, but that only goes so far,'' Joseph said. \"If he had any idea what they were planning, I'm sure he tried to fight them off.'' Joseph said a pilot may try to make sharp turns and dive . . . much the way initial radar records show the plane did in its final minutes in the air . . . to throw a would-be hijacker off balance. \"There's been cases where they do that and get control back of the plane. But a jet can only take so much of a dive before it starts to fall apart, I don't know.'' Joseph said it wasn't clear whether the crew was a San Francisco-based one or a New York-based group, because the airline has crews stationed in each city. No family members showed up at San Francisco International Airport to greet the passengers at its normal 11:15 a.m. arrival time, said Ron Wilson, spokesman for San Francisco International Airport. That is possibl"}, {"response": 134, "author": "AotearoaKiwi", "date": "Wed, Sep 12, 2001 (06:10)", "body": "Hi all First off, I extend my deepest sympathy to all who lost loved ones in today cowardly attacks. Second I call for a cool headed response (NOT one of a deranged lunatic hopping around like a crazed devil barking orders). I know that many of you are outraged and that some want war, but BELIEVE ME WHEN I SAY THIS: HASTE NEVER HAS AND NEVER WILL PAY OR BEGIN TO PAY FOR WHAT HAPPENED. Be patient and let the United States Government establish it's priorities and wait until they find AND confirm the culprits. Then AND ONLY THEN, will it be safe to let the Pentagon of the leash. I am still coming to grips tonight some 14 hours after Mum tipped me off that the WTC twin towers had been destroyed by a 767 and a 757 and that the Pentagon had been hit by another 767. Although I now understand what happened the SHEER scale of planning that must have gone into the attacks, tell me one thing only: The person/s who masterminded this evil have a monumental hatred for all things American. They are the sort of people who should be put on show trial in front of the whole nation, and assuming they are found guilty, should be executed in public. Rob"}, {"response": 135, "author": "olzuza", "date": "Wed, Sep 12, 2001 (09:42)", "body": "Hello everyone, I am from Poland, when I heard the news yesterday I was stunned - I thought it was a kind of a joke and all those pictures which looked like taken from some movie. I am still in shock as well as my family and friends. I extend my sympathy too all Americans and people who lost someone important and loved. It's a tragedy for whole world and I hope that nothing else like this would never take place. take care all of you who are in the middle of this tragedy and please,remember that whole civilizated world is with you. Love, Alexandra"}, {"response": 136, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Sep 12, 2001 (10:18)", "body": "\"Taliban rulers deny bin Laden's involvement\" http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2001/09/11/taliban-reax.htm Olzuza, we are all feeling the sadness today, yesterday we were numb with the shock of this horrible attack on America. This is unprecedented, the biggest thing that has happened in my lifetime. unidentified source: \"there's a specific code (7700) a pilot dials in when being hijacked, which causes all sorts of bells and whistles to go off on a controller's screen. *That* would be the reason those guys made them turn them off. Not stupid, at all. Vile, despicable cretins, yes. A plane goes off course, there's a time lag to 1) notice it, 2) inquire, 3) request correction or further explanation, 4) decide there's a threat, 5) measure its gravity, and 6) take action. The first five steps are covered by dialing-in 7700, a motion in the cockpit that's not inconsistent with any other miscellaneous fiddling with knobs and switches necessary to fly the plane."}, {"response": 137, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Sep 12, 2001 (10:28)", "body": "http://www.wi2600.org/mediawhore/mirrors/sept-11-problems/asu/www.asu.net/wtc/otherpics/wtc35.jpg http://www.wi2600.org/mediawhore/mirrors/sept-11-problems/asu/www.asu.net/wtc/otherpics/ This one is horrible: http://www.wi2600.org/mediawhore/mirrors/sept-11-problems/asu/www.asu.net/wtc/otherpics/wtc55.jpg A tower about to fall:"}, {"response": 138, "author": "curious", "date": "Wed, Sep 12, 2001 (10:45)", "body": "To find out more about donating online, check: Red Cross and Helping.org"}, {"response": 139, "author": "curious", "date": "Wed, Sep 12, 2001 (10:46)", "body": "oops, typo, the Red Cross is located at http://www.redcross.org/"}, {"response": 140, "author": "EileenG", "date": "Wed, Sep 12, 2001 (11:11)", "body": "I just can't watch TV anymore. I have to take a break from the unending surreal shots of the planes hitting the towers. Those of you at Drool know I'm from the NY area. As a child, I watched the towers go up. Yesterday I watched them come down. Like Liz, I know people who worked there and in the nearby Wall St. area. If you've ever visited downtown NYC, you saw the size of these buildings. If you went up to Windows on the World, the public restaurant, you experienced how high they were. Yesterday, one of our local newscasters felt himself important enough to provide encouragement by declaring 'we made it through Oklahoma City and Columbine and we'll make it through this.' Not to minimize those other tragedies, but the enormous numbers of victims who lost their lives yesterday cannot be compared to those other incidents. I now live outside DC (quite a distance from the Pentagon). Our normally quiet skies were filled with military aircraft yesterday. All's quiet again today. My sister works in upper Manhattan. I'm still trying to find out if she made it out of the city last night. I'll be back to the TV soon because I am fascinated by reports about the many calls made from the planes, how the FBI is progressing in their investigation (too much too little too late, IMO), information as to how these sociopaths pulled this off and stories from the survivors. Lastly, I am trying to wrap my mind's eye around a picture of the NYC skyline without the towers. I drove past them on the Jersey side every day for years. I could see them from almost every town in which I've lived. I saw them this past Sunday and thought 'it's good to be home'. Their absence will forever be a reminder of yesterday's events and the lives lost."}, {"response": 141, "author": "curious", "date": "Wed, Sep 12, 2001 (13:04)", "body": "Dear Heavenly Father, We are moved by the alarming news and crisis that our country is facing. This, the greatest nation, founded in the belief that \"In God We Trust\" and the \"Land of the Free\". Please have mercy on those suffering, hurting and in fear, and give wisdom & strength to those who are assisting. May the forces of evil be broken by your power and may we humble before thee, our strength and refuge. Give wisdom to our President and all our leaders and bring your comforting peace through the power of your Holy Spirit. Help us here to reach those that have been affected by this tragedy. In the name of our Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus. Amen. (Please send this to all your friends and create a prayer chain throughoutthis nation.)"}, {"response": 142, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Sep 12, 2001 (14:13)", "body": "Another batch of URLs from Phil Agre: -- Wall Street Journal coverage (appears to be available without a subscription) http://interactive.wsj.com/pages/terattack.htm Yahoo links to news stories etc http://dailynews.yahoo.com/fc/US/Terrorism/ eyewitness accounts http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/talking_point/newsid_1537000/1537530.stm online mechanisms for donating to the Red Cross http://www.amazon.com/paypage/PKAXFNQH7EKCX http://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=p/gen/relief-outside legal coverage http://www.law.com/ mailing list to connect people who can volunteer or provide resources http://207.22.68.76/911volunteers.html aircraft flight tracks http://www.aviationnow.com/avnow/spSec/wtcst.jsp front pages of 50 newspapers' coverage of the attack http://www.poynter.org/terrorism/pdf1.htm Current Awareness via Streaming Audio/Video http://gwu.edu/~gprice/audio.htm Speech/Transcripts/Statements from US and Foreign Leaders http://gwu.edu/~gprice/speech.htm Anonymous Remailer Operators Start to Take Remailers Offline http://www.inet-one.com/cypherpunks/current/msg00272.html Middle East Newswire http://www.middleeastwire.com/newswire/ Two Planes Hit Twin Towers at Exactly the Worst Spot http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-000073606sep12.story Security Experts Knew a Major Attack Was Possible http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14031-2001Sep11.html Insurance Cost for Terrorist Attack to Near $1 Billion http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/depth/insure091201.htm Reports: Boston Investigators Find Evidence in Attacks http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010912/ts/attack_suspects_dc_2.html civil engineering aspects of the building collapse http://www.civil.usyd.edu.au/wtc.htm online discussion site for pilots http://www.pprune.org/ Rescuers Struggle at Pentagon http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_1539000/1539839.stm Why the Killers Threaten World Prosperity http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/business/newsid_1538000/1538958.stm In Shock, Teachers Downplay Tragedy http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-000073649sep12.story EBay Cancels Auctions of Attack-Related Items (some idiots were actually gathering rubble in order to sell it on eBay) http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-000073609sep12.story"}, {"response": 143, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Sep 12, 2001 (14:19)", "body": "From abcnews.com ABCNEWS has learned that officials have identified all the hijackers, and estimated there were three to five for each of the four passenger planes involved. At least two of the hijackers were on the Immigration and Naturalization Service \"watch list,\" and it's still unclear whether the individuals entered the United States illegally or whether they entered before their names were placed on the list. Most if not all of the hijackers were Egyptian or Saudi nationals, sources said. In Washington, State Department officials said they have intelligence information that connects the attacks on the twin towers in New York and on the Pentagon to fugitive Saudi millionaire Osama bin Laden."}, {"response": 144, "author": "LauraMM", "date": "Wed, Sep 12, 2001 (14:31)", "body": "Well it's here in Boston. This is ridiculous..."}, {"response": 145, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Sep 12, 2001 (14:43)", "body": "http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/binladen/who/bio.html A bio on Bin Laden from pbs.org. Read the disclaimer that the source is unnamed and the info differs from other bios. Seems his father is from Yemen but moved to Saudi years before Osama (one of 50 children? boggles the mind...) was born in '57. Father made his money in Saudi as a construction mogul, from humble beginnings. http://msnbc.com/news/190144.asp?cp1=1"}, {"response": 146, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Sep 12, 2001 (14:52)", "body": "Subject: Yesterday's bombings [4x] Date: Wednesday, September 12, 2001 4:12 PM From: nettime's compiler Reply-To: \"nettime's compiler\" To: Table of Contents: The Media: As an Attack Unfolds, a Struggle to Provide Vivid Imag es to Homes John Armitage WTC/Pentagon attac folks@arthide.de (folks) Re: New York City Andrew Ross It was supposed to be such a beautiful day \"Ivo Skoric\" ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 12 Sep 2001 11:42:35 +0100 From: John Armitage Subject: The Media: As an Attack Unfolds, a Struggle to Provide Vivid Imag es to Homes THE NEW YORK TIMES SEP 12, 2001 http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/12/national/12MEDI.html?pagewanted=print The Media: As an Attack Unfolds, a Struggle to Provide Vivid Images to Homes By FELICITY BARRINGER and GERALDINE FABRIKANT Television's broadcast networks and many of its cable channels - both news and entertainment - scrapped their regular schedules yesterday. Radio stations took live television news feeds. Two dozen newspapers published special editions and Web sites threw out their advertising and in some cases stripped down to basic text and still images to help their overtaxed computers handle a demand for news unlike any they had experienced. Between the moment when perplexed morning news broadcasters began fielding calls from Greenwich Village residents who saw a low- flying plane crash into One World Trade Center and the moment more than an hour later when New York's twin towers crumbled into Roman candles of smoky debris, the country's media outlets geared up to become the public stage of a national emergency. By noon, all four major television networks had agreed to share video images. By midafternoon, almost all of AOL Time Warner's cable channels, like TBS and TNT, were carrying CNN; Viacom's CBS News feed was being carried by Viacom's music channels, VH1 and MTV; and Peter Jennings of ABC News was appearing not just on his network, but on Disney's ESPN channel and all ABC radio stations. Most of the networks used variations of the title adopted by CNN: America Under Attack. Images of billowing smoke from lower Manhattan and the low, smoldering profile of the Pentagon, hit, like the Trade Center towers, by a hijacked commercial jetliner, were dominant on all networks. Referring to the unusual agreement to share images among the bitterly competitive news divisions of the networks and CNN, the Fox News president, Roger Ailes, said: \"All the networks decided that this is a national emergency. We're not keeping score today.\" Nor were they making much money, as they largely scrapped commercial advertising. In Washington, where the downtown had become a ghost town after the federal government was shut down, delivery trucks for The Washington Post headed for suburban 7- Eleven stores carrying a special edition dominated by a two-inch headline, \"Terror Hits Pentagon, World Trade Center,\" with a lead editorial headlined \"War.\" Special editions were also published by The Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune, The Newark Star-Ledger, The Charlotte Observer in North Carolina, The Austin American-Statesman in Texas, not to mention small dailies like The LaCrosse Tribune in Wisconsin. Traffic at news Web sites soared, with 10 times or more the usual number of users trying to log on, clogging the Internet and slowing response time. Because New York was not just ground zero of the opening attack but also the heartland of the media industry, some of the most dramatic early accounts were from correspondents working at or near their homes. Don Dahler, an ABC News correspondent who covered recent civil wars in Africa, was getting dressed for work in his third-floor apartment in Tribeca, perhaps half a mile from the World Trade Center, when he heard the first plane hit. \"I heard what is a very familiar sound anywhere else in the world, in war zones,\" Mr. Dahler said. \"It sounded to me like a missile, a high- pitched scream and a roar followed by an explosion, my mind was telling me it's a missile. Then I saw this gaping wound in the World Trade Center. I called into `Good Morning' immediately and started reporting,\" standing on his sixth-floor rooftop with a cellular telephone. Mr. Dahler, just one of the network's sources, was not on the air when he felt the first of the two towers collapse. \"When it collapsed I could feel a rumble, and I tried to interrupt to say that something was happening right before my eyes,\" he said. \"The building collapsed. I was telling them it looks like its coming down, it looks like it's coming down. They switched to me right after it had fallen.\" If there were a few stutter-steps like that, it was not surprising. It was one of the rare instances when television brought disaster into American homes in real time. The radical changes in the technology of news delivery, however, along with the quality of video imagery gave most of the day's news broadcasts the feeling of an epic disaster movie. The only genuinely grainy imagery came from the"}, {"response": 147, "author": "Bethanne", "date": "Wed, Sep 12, 2001 (14:55)", "body": "The White House and ABC News have confirmed that the intended target of the plane that crashed in DC, was NOT The Pentagon. It was The White House. OMG !! The White House have also confirmed that Air Force One and The President, were also intended targets. They have not revealed what brought them to this conclusion. Thank God these other attacks didn't take place and, that the Secret Service took the evasive measures with Air Force One, that they did."}, {"response": 148, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Sep 12, 2001 (14:55)", "body": "From today's Vancouver Sun: \"Wednesday, September 12, 2001 OTTAWA (CP) - Thousands of Canadians from coast to coast responded to calls for blood donations to help American victims of Tuesday's catastrophic attacks in New York and Washington. The hotline set up by Canadian Blood Services for those wishing to donate has been tied up almost permanently, said spokeswoman Lorna Tessier. She urged people to persevere, even though no request for blood has been received from U.S. authorities. ``We've had such an overwhelming response that the 1-888-2-DONATE line has been very difficult to get through on. ``Right now, clearly, the clinics are overwhelmed and we are putting on additional hours and additional clinics, but we don't want people to get discouraged. ``We are going to need their blood. We're anticipating that the need will come up.'' She said the agency doesn't have statistics yet on the number of people who have come forward, but it is in the thousands.\" I'd point out that nobody's actually asked us for blood yet, but people just felt the need to do something to help. From the National Post: Canadians offer homes to stranded 400 international jets diverted across country Wednesday, September 12, 2001 TORONTO and VANCOUVER - International passenger jets crammed Canadian tarmacs yesterday after all United States airports were closed in the wake of the terrorist attack that levelled the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York. About 400 planes were expected to be diverted throughout the day, pouring 10,000 people into Halifax alone. By late afternoon, Vancouver International Airport had received 34 planes diverted from North American destinations, carrying as many as 6,000 people. Another 25 planes were expected at Lester B. Pearson International Airport in Toronto. St. John's International Airport closed its runways after taking in 27 aircraft with 5,000 passengers. Fifty-seven flights were expected to land into the night at the airport in Gander, Nfld. At least 100 controllers and other staff were pulled out of courses and called in on their time off to help handle the deluge of international flights, said Paul Hornbeck, a spokesman for Nav Canada, the agency that handles air traffic control at Canadian airports. International arrival terminals across the country were choked with people while departure areas were virtually deserted -- all outbound flights across Canada were cancelled, except for humanitarian or search-and-rescue missions, police and military flights. Passengers stood in line with their luggage, waiting for hours to be searched before they could be permitted to leave. Bev Aurich, a traveller from Sydney, Australia, who had been headed to Anchorage, Alaska, before being grounded in Vancouver, said she did not mind the inconvenience. \"We shouldn't be upset about missing a little trip, when there is such devastation in the United States. We're better to be delayed and be comfortable than to keep to our schedule and risk something,\" she said. In Toronto, some airport hotels reacted to the situation by increasing their rates to the maximum legal tariff. Meanwhile, concerned residents around the country showed up at airports to offer their homes to travellers. \"I had to take the energy I felt and direct it,\" said Ena Bendon, a Vancouver woman who showed up at the airport to offer accommodation. \"I thought of someone with kids here, terrified. I had to do something.\" Lufthansa pilot Axel Algner was flying a passenger jet from Frankfurt to Chicago when he was told there had been an incident in Manhatten and all planes were being grounded. It wasn't until he landed his plane in Toronto that he was informed of the details. \"What I thought is that it was a joke. I couldn't believe it, it's still hard to believe. It just gives me goosebumps even talking about it,\" he said. Another pilot said he was instructed to lock his cockpit after being told the news. On the ground at Pearson, the airport began a news blackout at 10:30 a.m., according to one passenger. Travellers grouped around fellow passengers with cellphones to learn the details of what had happened. Others lined up to use payphones. Rabbis and Roman Catholic priests were brought in to counsel passengers. In Calgary, which took at least ten diverted flights, every hotel room was filled by early afternoon, but tourism officials said residents were opening up their homes to travellers. In Winnipeg, hotels were also booked solid by early afternoon, prompting the city to invoke its emergency measures plan, transforming public buildings into makeshift dormitories equipped with camp cots, said Penny McMillan, of Tourism Winnipeg. The airport took in 14 diverted domestic flights and three international ones -- generating 1,500 overnight guests. At Vancouver International Airport, Layne Daggett, the airport chaplain, said he placed 500 people, but others still needed accommodation. \"I have a strong faith that God is in control even in these ki"}, {"response": 149, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Sep 12, 2001 (15:54)", "body": "Thanks for the links, Terry. I found the one about the buildings' structural aspects fascinating. Engineers suggested that the south tower of the World Trade Center collapsed first...because the plane hit the corner of the building, rather than the center, where there is more structural support. When you watched the head-on film, you wondered why the plane was aimed at the side when it could've been placed more centrally. But you have to wonder about the following statement: The planes might have done more damage if they had hit the buildings lower, but they had to fly at a height of about 60 stories to clear nearby buildings. More damage than what????"}, {"response": 150, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Sep 12, 2001 (19:42)", "body": "Even what was left standing is now crumbled into the pit from whence it arose. And thanks for telling future terrorists where exactly to hit a building to do the most damage, media people. I still cannot believe it crumpled like a toy like that. They all did. And so did their inhabitants. I turned on NPR this morning for a break from the news, and they were playing dirges. It was too much! Thanks, all, for your support in what seemed like a cold world before this happened. I wonder what I will feel when the numbness and disbelief wears off..."}, {"response": 151, "author": "alyeska", "date": "Wed, Sep 12, 2001 (21:40)", "body": "Will the numbness ever really wear off. Someone posted on Ramble that her neighbors and their 2 children were on the plane that crashed into the Pentagon."}, {"response": 152, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Sep 12, 2001 (21:46)", "body": "from email: \"In the days and weeks ahead, it's important for Microsoft and for each of us individually to think about how we can help. As a company, Microsoft is today making a $10 million contribution to assist those who have been impacted by the tragedy. We are contributing $5 million in cash to the September 11 Fund, created by the United Way of New York City and The New York Community Trust. In addition to cash, we are also contributing people and expertise. We have committed up to $5 million in technical assistance, including Microsoft Consulting Services and software to assist in the recovery effort. We also are in contact with business customers who have been severely impacted by yesterday's tragedy to see what we can do to assist them.\""}, {"response": 153, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Sep 12, 2001 (22:32)", "body": "Penn Station and the Empire State Building being evacuated."}, {"response": 154, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Sep 12, 2001 (22:45)", "body": "Bomb threat - no bomb found. People allowed back in. They now take all threats seriously!!!"}, {"response": 155, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Sep 12, 2001 (22:50)", "body": "Thursday 13 September 9:14 AM Bin Laden under house arrest: report Afghanistan's ruling Taliban militia had placed alleged terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden under house arrest in the wake of the suicide attacks on the United States, an Arabic online newspaper reported. Quoting \"fundamentalist Arab sources\", Ilaf said the \"Taliban have arrested Osama bin Laden before placing him under surveillance with several of his assistants,\" including the head of the Egyptian branch of Al-Jihad Ayman Al-Zawahri and bin Laden's military commander, Muhammad Atef Al-Makni. \"A number of Afghan fighters are under house arrest along with bin Laden,\" said the report late Wednesday. But a diplomat at the Taliban's embassy in Abu Dhabi said he could not confirm the report. \"All we know is that he (bin Laden) is somewhere in Afghanistan, but we are not aware if he is under house arrest,\" the diplomat said. Bin Laden and commander Atef have been indicted for the 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Bin Laden has emerged as the prime suspects in yesterday's kamikaze hijacked passenger jet strikes on New York and Washington."}, {"response": 156, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Sep 12, 2001 (22:53)", "body": "I don't know how true this is or not. It was posted on yahoo.com in Australia. http://au.dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/20010913/aapworld/1000336445-1141825578.html I don't know why there's not mention of this on CBS, which I'm watching as I write this."}, {"response": 157, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Sep 12, 2001 (23:06)", "body": "More information all over the net. status of the investigation http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A16714-2001Sep12.html Flight 93 Passenger Said He Planned Action http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/pit/news/stories/news-95780920010912-110907.html Controllers' Tale of Flight 11 http://www.csmonitor.com/earlyed/earlyUSA4.html FBI Agents Search Hotels; Arrests Made http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/957448/detail.html animation of the routes of flights 11, 193, and 175 http://pull.xmr3.com/p/29594-9681/22024263/aal11.html http://pull.xmr3.com/p/29594-9681/22024277/ual193final.html http://pull.xmr3.com/p/29594-9681/22024274/ual175_aal11.html Somerset Crash Scene Searched; \"Hero\" May Have Aborted Terror Mission http://www.post-gazette.com/breaking/20010912somersetp3.asp Cell Calls From Planes Reveal Horror http://msnbc.com/news/627214.asp How the World Trade Center Fell http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_1540000/1540044.stm role of the Internet Net Offers Lifeline Amid Tragedy http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-7132246.html World Trade Center Staff Sent E-Mails After Planes Struck http://www.itn.co.uk/news/20010912/business/12cantor.shtml Help Sites Spring Up in Aftermath of WTC Assaults http://www.bizreport.com/article.php?art_id=2113 response Terrorism and Children http://www.ces.purdue.edu/terrorism/children/ http://www.news.cornell.edu/releases/Sept01/Garbarino.kids.bombing.lgk.html comment Chronic Underfunding of US HUMINT Plays Role in Intelligence Failures http://www.janes.com/security/international_security/news/jdw/jdw010911_1_n.shtml Michael Moore's commentary http://www.michaelmoore.com/2001_0912.html On the Bombings, by Noam Chomsky http://www.lbbs.org/chomnote.htm The Best and Worst From Our Leaders During Crises http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?ItemID=11909 Terrorists Are Made, Not Born http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2001/09/12/blowback/ The Rhetoric of War (with examples from editorial pages) http://www.marginalia.org/war.html an example of that rhetoric http://www.nationalreview.com/kudlow/kudlow091101.shtml background background on the Mt. Weather bunker where the politicians were probably taken http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/usa/c3i/mt_weather.htm outline of relevant anti-terrorism etc laws http://news.findlaw.com/legalnews/us/terrorism/laws.html Airport Access Control (one of the security reports that was never properly acted on) http://cas.faa.gov/ig5.pdf news Arab newspapers http://www.the-saudi.net/arab-world/media/newspapers-links.htm http://www.amin.org/jourmag/ French language news sources on the attack http://www.tv5.org/nyc/ Nous Sommes Tous Americains http://www.lemonde.fr/article/0,5987,3222--221600-,00.html worldwide news in English http://www.kidon.com/media-link/english.shtml Thousands of Newspapers on the Net http://www.onlinenewspapers.com/ end"}, {"response": 158, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Sep 12, 2001 (23:17)", "body": "Be happy you don't live in Hawaii. We Get NO MAIL until the flights resume."}, {"response": 159, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Sep 12, 2001 (23:24)", "body": "I'm not going to be happy I don't live in Hawaii, that's too much to ask!"}, {"response": 160, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Sep 12, 2001 (23:31)", "body": "a report from Afghanistan: http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/13/international/asia/13AFGH.html ABUL, Afghanistan, Sept. If there are Americans clamoring to bomb Afghanistan back to the Stone Age, they ought to know that this nation does not have so far to go. This is a post-apocalyptic place of felled cities, parched land and downtrodden people. The fragility of this country was part of the message the Taliban government conveyed in a plea for restraint issued late tonight. It said in part, \"We appeal to the United States not to put Afghanistan into more misery because our people have suffered so much.\" Whatever Afghanistan's current cataclysm, its next one seems to require little time to overtake it. Wars fought by sundry protagonists have gone on now for 22 consecutive years, a remorseless drought for 4. Since 1996, most of the nation has been ruled by Taliban mullahs whose vision of the world's purest Islamic state has at least as much to do with controlling social behavior as vouchsafing social welfare. The accused terrorist Osama bin Laden has found a home here, angering much of the world. In 1998, America fired a volley of more than 70 cruise missiles at guerrilla training camps reportedly operated by the Saudi multimillionaire. Now, there seems to be the prospect of another barrage, with Afghan hospitality to the same man as the cause. As fear of an American attack mounted, the Taliban's senior spokesman in Kandahar, Abdul Hai Mutmain, called the few foreign reporters here to issue the statement, which in part defended Mr. bin Laden: \"These days, Osama bin Laden's name has become very popular and to an extent it has become a symbol. These days, even to the common people, Osama bin Laden's name is associated with all controversial acts. Osama bin Laden does not have such capabilities. We still hope sanity prevails in the United States. We are confident that if a fair investigation is carried out by American authorities, the Taliban will not be found guilty of involvement in such cowardly acts.\" The statement also said, \"Killing our leaders will not help our people any. There is no factory in Afghanistan that is worth the price of a single missile fired at us. It will simply increase the mistrust between the people in the region and the United States.\" Whatever else there is to say about this entreaty, one part that is indisputably true is that this land-locked, ruggedly beautiful nation is in absolute misery. Here in Kabul, the capital, roaming clusters of widows beg in the streets, their palms seemingly frozen in a supplicant pose. Withered men pull overloaded carts, their labor less costly than the price of a donkey. Children play in vast ruins, their limbs sometimes wrenched away by remnant land mines. The national life expectancy, according to the central statistics office, has fallen to 42 for males and 40 for females. The prolonged drought has sent nearly a million about 5 percent of the on a desperate flight from hunger. Some have gone to other Afghan cities, others across the border. More than one million are \"at risk of starvation,\" according to the United Nations. Famine is the catastrophe Afghans are used to hearing about. Few yet know of the threat of an American reprisal. The Taliban long ago banned television, and the lack of electricity keeps most people from listening to radio. The nation's 100 or so foreign aid workers suffer no such telecommunications handicaps, however, and today many of them began to flee their adopted home, fearing either the havoc of American bombs or the wrath of subsequent Afghan outrage. Around noon, a special United Nations flight evacuated the first of the expatriates. The remaining foreigners are expected to leave on Thursday, as will three, and perhaps all four, of the American parents here to observe the trial of their children, among eight foreign aid workers accused by the Taliban of preaching Christianity. As foreigners left, the Taliban took unusual precautions: they began searching every vehicle entering government compounds. Visitors were carefully frisked. But however much the Taliban hierarchy was beginning to fret, streets and bazaars were a picture of normality. Word has spread slowly about the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. And even when everyday Afghans heard the news, there were no accompanying video images to sear the horror into their memories. Personal conversations only carried the dull stimuli of abstract words: hijacked planes and collapsed buildings. Khair Khana, a man selling fertilizer in a market, knew just a bit about the attack. He thought a plane had crashed into the White House. And he considered the perpetrators, whoever they are, to be \"enemies of God,\" though he also felt \"Americans should look into their hearts and minds about why someone would kill themselves and others\" in such a way. He had not thought much about an American retaliation against Afghanistan. When he did consider it, standing in a ramshackle col"}, {"response": 161, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Sep 12, 2001 (23:32)", "body": "You're not any different, Marcia. Mail is not going between cities on the mainland either."}, {"response": 162, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Sep 12, 2001 (23:33)", "body": "I heard mail wasn't going over 300 miles from it's point of origin. The airlines carry most of the mail but they may not be allowed to carry it any more."}, {"response": 163, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Sep 12, 2001 (23:35)", "body": "Yup, back to barge and 2-week mail. From the west coast. It is nice to know there is company in the misery of Paradise."}, {"response": 164, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Sep 12, 2001 (23:42)", "body": "This very thought provoking piece was written by the impassoned Gerard Van der Leun, who has been on the scene all along in lower Manhattan. All day the images have repeated themselves on television while the smell of the smoke persisted in my rooms. Off and on, all day, I walked to the promenade to look at the reality of it and watch the smoke that didn't stop. It will now play itself out, over and over again in my mind, until the day of my own death. Television and reality. It is very difficult to separate the two, and when one has no reality, television is the thing that replaces it. And because it is through television that those responsible for this monstrous act receive their impression of this country I believe they have made a fundamental miscalculation about the deeper nature of the United States. A miscalculation that will cause to be visited upon them what I pray will be a terrible lesson; a lesson that will make the survivors envy the dead. If you look at television and the endless products of pap and nonsense that are piped out of the media centers of the United States, it is easy to see us as a weak, self-obsessed and foolish people. And many of us are that, even if we pretend to be other than weak, self-obsessed and foolish. We have sitcoms and MTV. We have endless opinions about things which are not really central to serious life questions and serious policy decisions. Our young people look foolish in their vanity and their fashions. Our military institutions are often ridiculed. Our entertainments are light and vapid. Many in positions of influence give short shrift to millions more with deeply held religious and traditional political convictions. Our \"major\" issues on a day by day basis rarely rise above the level of fretful worry about the \"safety of restaurants that allow smoking,\" or whether or not a flower will be threatened by an oil well. These are serious issues to many Americans, and it is easy to see why such wet and weak concerns would lead others elsewhere in the world to hold us in contempt as a weak and decadent society that cannot defend itself against attack. They see our men as feminine and our women as masculine and, to the fundamentalist mind, this signals a weakness in the blood and bone of the nation.They believe that they can attack such a society with a kind of impunity, or with the expectation of a careful and delicate response. They even note that our President is a man who communicates in a clumsy way, who is an illegitimate ruler, and who does not have the support of many of the ruling elites of the country. They hold him to be easily frightened and stupid. And perhaps he is many, if not all, of these things: clumsy, weak, illegitimate, frightened and stupid. But it will not, in the long run, matter. And I pray it does not avail them. That is all the television America. But there is and always has been another America, and it is this America that I hope will emerge from this day and remind all those who seek to harm us that we can be a nation that is as terrible as it seems foolish. That we are a country of deep resolve and capable of striking back in cold anger without compassion or regret. That we are, as the Japanese knew and were to discover, a sleeping giant and you wake us at your own risk. And once woken we will destroy you, and then rebuild you. The Japanese had their lesson and have learned. Germany had it's lesson and has learned. Now it is the turn of a number of nations in the middle east. We will first tend to our dead. Many funerals will take Place over the next month or so. At the same time we will also prepare for our vengence and I pray it will be terrible and without hesitation or compassion until all terrorists and all the villages, cities, and nations that support them are reduced to rubble. This will be an America whose anger is not hidden beneath grief and the committment to save those not yet dead in the rubble of New York and Washington. This is the America you see when you watch the head of the Fire Department of New York try to express his feelings at losing 300 men in one terrible moment. This is the America of the thousands of rescue workers on the job tonight trying to dig through the rubble. This is the America of terrible resolve that you can read on the face of the Head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff when he states the military is ready to do whatever is required of it. \"Whatever is required of it\",and I pray we require them to visit horror on our enemies that is a thousand fold worse than what we saw today. You see, it doesn't really matter \"who\" is the President. It matters only that there is a President. The President is only one man and in times like this he does not really have to lead. He has only to follow and get out of the way. After that what takes place will be done by many, many others in the hundreds and thousands. These people will not be a group of lame celebrities with their puling little concerns whose lives are just "}, {"response": 165, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Sep 12, 2001 (23:55)", "body": "More from Gerard. attack.20.430: Gerard Van der Leun (boswell) Tue 11 Sep 01 08:20 I watched this happen. The enormity of it cannot be communicated. Vile and bestial. We need to destroy any and all capacity anywhere to do anything like this happening ever again. There were thousands in those buildings. Thousands. There is no justice swift enough or sure enough. But all that we have must be brought forward and used without restraint. This is an act of war beyond Pearl Harbor. Military jets overhead again. More ash on the street. attack.20.465: Gerard Van der Leun (boswell) Tue 11 Sep 01 08:34 I am cooled down. Way down., This is pure evil. attack.20.725: Gerard Van der Leun (boswell) Tue 11 Sep 01 12:33 There is no more World Trade Center visible from the Promenade. But you can smell it from there a sort of burnt stench as if someone lit newspaper in a trash can and then poured water on it. That kind of wet burnt stench. It is bright in the sunshine now except for where the Trade Centers stood and there is still a plume of thick brown smoke mouldering up from there and making the sun behind it look dim. Just now I saw three large military helicopters land across the river from the Heights on the big pad at the foot of Wall Street. People on the streets are talking quietly man of them on cells now that some of those nets are back up. Everything is as quiet as it was this morning When I got up and began to take a shower. Showering I felt a vibration shake my building in Brooklyn Heights like a subway train passing deep underneath the structure. I didn't think much of it. I've felt similar vibrations before. Getting out I was dressing and I heard the second explosion from the second plane striking the buildings. I turned on the radio and found out what was happening. I dressed and left the house and walked a block to the Promenade at the edge of Brooklyn Heights and saw both towers in flames sending huge gouts of smoke into the air. You don't know what to think. You don't know what to feel. You are just reacting. The promenade was jammed with people with more arriving. Then as I watched the first tower just imploded and plunged, it seemed to me, straight down and a huge brown and black rolling cloud of smoke came boiling through all the streets between the building and surged upward and took over the sky. You could see bright shiny bits of metal squares tumbling up and down and drifting out of the smoke that moved up and blew out to the south east... it was like confetti or stuff tossed out of windows in a ticker tape parade. I felt the sound before I heard it and it shook everything around me. I heard gasps and screams around me. People were turning away. Everyone with children was leaving the promenade. Some were moving closer. The smoke took over everything. I knew that anyone in that building was dead and I started to shake and to weep and to look around at the others who were in all states of reaction. And I had to go back to my house to regroup. After I was in the house for a few minutes I heard another larger explosion. I went back out and down to the promenade again but this time I couldn't see the sky as I had before. This time the whole sky had been darkened and, the wind having shifted, this fine white ash was swirling down the street. Not heavy, but everywhere around me and it was settling down lightly on all the surfaces. When I got to the promenade again the entire southern tip of Manhattan was enveloped in a dirty brown cloud, No buildings visible at all. Nothing. It filled the sky and made it dark. Turning the corner if you looked uptown past the Brooklyn Bridge which was filled with hordes of people walking towards the Brooklyn shore you could see the buildings start to emerge from the smoke. People were sparse on the promenade now although down towards the end there were more and if you walked down there you could see a little bit into the downtown section of Wall street. And there were ferries moving out of the smoke at high speed. And then I started to hear the military jets but I didn't see them. But no other planes are to be seen. Now it is still smoking there. The trade centers are just gone. Erased. 50,000 people they say work there and 150,000 pass through. What do I feel? I don't know what I feel except that I want vengeance and complete vengeance. I want everything this country possesses put onto the people who did this, and the people who supported this act, and the people who believe this is the way in which political ends are achieved. I want there to be a war and a big war until these people are eradicated who ever they are and where ever they are. I want it made clear that anything even approaching this evil act will be met with utter destruction - people, families, villages, cities, nations. This is an act of war and war must be the response. We will be having a long series of mass funerals for many weeks. I only hope that this country finds the stomach and the resolve to carry "}, {"response": 166, "author": "ekelley", "date": "Wed, Sep 12, 2001 (23:55)", "body": "that's exactly how I feel. i found my friend who works for oem, btw. he's ok. he was evacuated when the mayor was from 7 WT. he told me about some of the things he saw... i started to cry. he's still in shock. God bless America."}, {"response": 167, "author": "ekelley", "date": "Wed, Sep 12, 2001 (23:59)", "body": "terry, what address are you finding this on??"}, {"response": 168, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (00:00)", "body": "Wow Liz, I'm so glad he's safe. Aren't these words from Gerard pregnant with feeling from someone who's been there, smelled and tasted the horror first hand? Powerful, heartfelt words."}, {"response": 169, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (00:03)", "body": "Gerard posted this at well.com and gave me permission to repost. It's not on a public web address. More . . . Gerard Van der Leun (boswell) Wed 12 Sep 01 08:05 To answer leroy, I am back at my absurd day-job. So far I'm just about the only one here. Maybe eight people out of 200+. I don't know quite why I am here, but then, in truth, I'm never sure why I am ever here other than that my personal life obligations require me to be here. That may have to change. At any rate, I woke up and could only take about five minutes of the endlessly repeated images of disaster, and having, literally nothing better to do, decided to try and come in. I first walked to the Promenade to see where the Towers were. The vile smoke blooming across the river was still there as it has always been, probably as it always will be in my mind where I will see it first as that moment when the first tower went down carrying thousands to a death I cannot imagine. Still there. And the faint smell lingers too. And there were small clumps of people standing around, one couple even posing for a picture against the new skyline. Then I walked through streets in the Heights that barely had any people on them. Usually full and bustling even on holiday weekends. Now just some elderly people moving slowly and a few clots of Jehovahs Witnesses in their cleaned and pressed clothing going down to put out what I am sure will be an especially \"We told you so\" issue of the Watchtower. Clark Street station shut down with a few police directly people to the Jay street station. Buy a New York Post because I've read the Times. Walk to Jay Street in the heart of the Brooklyn government center across streets with few pedestrians and no traffic except for police, fire and security vehicles cruising aimlessly about or parked at the curb. Security in front of the courts and the city offices lounging in the bright sunshine of this second day of Indian Summer weather. Down into the Jay Station and a very sparsely occupied A train. We set off on a slow, very slow trip into Manhattan. Several people are reading bibles but most of the 15 or so people are just staring into space and looking vaguely alarmed whenever the train halts between stations -- which is often. I spend this time reading the New York Post which has, inside, a picture of the exterior of one of the towers just before it collapsed. In this picuture I can count around 24 people poking their heads out of the windows or actually on the outside of what has to be the nintieth floor of the towers. All of them, ALL OF THEM, about to ride this building down into oblivion and you know that THEY ALL KNOW THIS. Next to this is a picture of the side of the Tower and a large empty space on the left which is thin air. In this space, close to the tower you can see five to seven people falling with nothing but space above and below them, falling straight down into doom rather than be burned alive. Finally, the train pulls into 23rd Street and halts. After a minute or so you can hear the announcer telling us that we will be held in the station for some time because of a \"police investigation\" in Penn Station, my destination. I get out and go up to the street to walk the rest of the way. An I walk into a Manhattan I have never seen in the almost 30 years that I've been here. Streets almost utterly clear of traffic for as far uptown or downtown as you can see on 8th Ave. Nearly the same thing on 7th. A smattering of pedestrians that grows somewhat thicker as you approach Penn Station. A nail salon open but with nobody getting their nails done that I can see. Extortionate parking lots that are usually jammed with cars almost empty and with nobody there to collect the money. On the street parking? Oh, we've got it now. Everywhere the hush. Everywhere. Like a ghost town with real ghosts now walking among us. People just standing around, people talking softly on cell phones, and people talking to themselves. On every corner small groups walking slowly into the street or ambling along the sidewalks as if nothing they normally do on Wednesdays in New York City is really all that important after all."}, {"response": 170, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (00:05)", "body": "Gerard Van der Leun (boswell) Wed 12 Sep 01 19:05 On blood and the giving of it in New York. It is important to do this, but no longer because of the need. It is pretty clear at this point in the evening of day 2 in New York that the city has more than enough of what it needs to cover for this present emergency. Still, people should give because it is something than they can give. That is the need it fills. As for blood for the wounded and the suffering, there is now a sufficient quantity. And sadly this is because, with the exception of a few miracles that I hope will happen over the next few days, there will not be large numbers of injured beyond those who are already receiving treatment. We are now starting to see the bodies emerge and they will continue in a ghastly parade of orange body bags for weeks now. Soon, tomorrow and over the weekend, the funerals and the memorials will begin. And they will go on and on and on. We will have, if we are *fortunate* 10,000 funerals in this city in the coming weeks. Let me say that again: Ten *thousand* funerals. Try, right now, to close your eyes and visualize this number of funeral ceremonies of every type and description and religion. You cannot do it because the enormity of it is too much for the human mind and soul. But we will have them, one by one and in groups. And here is another fact that comes along behind this number. We do not have enough graves. We do not have enough crematoriums. Many will go unburied for weeks. Many will be burned because that will be the only choice. Many will have to be moved by train, plane, or van to some other place in the state, country, or the world. And we will bury a thousand, and then another thousand, and another. And still the orange body bags will come up out of the pile and the pit one by one by one and lie in rows. And this will go on for weeks if not months. Think about what this will be like. Just stop and try to really see it. And then think this: No matter what many may feel now about the wisdom or the goodness or the morality of retribution, there will come a time during this parade of our dead when this country, already uniting in a way I cannot remember in my 55 years, will have even a greater sea-change of spirit and rage. Many of those who do not really feel this now, for whatever enlightened or unenlightened reason, will feel this change and become part of it. There will be those who do not, a smaller and smaller part of us as the days go by, and they will in the end be left behind. But by far the most of us will be changed by this, even if now we are not. Ten thousand funerals. We cannot imagine it, and yet we will live it. And I hope that each one of us can bear witness to as many as we can bear. It is the least of our duties."}, {"response": 171, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (00:19)", "body": "Thanks for that Terry. G's first post is amazing. It says beautifully the resolve and structure of America. Thanks for sharing it."}, {"response": 172, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (00:29)", "body": "And his second one is even more powerful. Beware the wrath of righteous indignation."}, {"response": 173, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (00:50)", "body": "Thank you, Gerard, for speaking so eloquently what we were all feeling. Ten THOUSAND is the size of a good-sized town. Imagine your entire city dead..."}, {"response": 174, "author": "Bethanne", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (00:59)", "body": "The NY Port Authority is now putting the potential death toll at 20 thousand. I shudder to think what made them increase this up from the earlier figure of 10 thousand. Hopefully, it is just pure conjecture, as the figure of 20 thousand, is just beyond comprehension."}, {"response": 175, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (01:36)", "body": "Never forget!!! Hawaii was shocked into action by terrorist acts thousands of miles away yesterday, putting isle military bases on highest alert, grounding air traffic and sending many residents to blood banks and churches. U.S. Navy warships were patrolling the West Coast and Hawaii, ready to respond to any terrorist threat. Lt. Cmdr. Jeff Gordon, a Pacific Fleet spokesman at Pearl Harbor, said the 15 ships patrolling Hawaii waters were deployed or redirected as a precautionary measure, not because of a specific threat. Military bases in Hawaii remained closed today to those without military identification for the second straight day after yesterday's plane hijackings and crashes. More http://starbulletin.com/2001/09/12/news/"}, {"response": 176, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (01:43)", "body": "Actually, 20,000 was about what I had imagined from the beginning, given the capacity of the two buildings, number of people per floor, etc. Over 200 floors. There could be easily 100 people per floor, despite the steady stream of people getting out after the first attack. I remember one newsperson saying that highest number of American casualties on a single day was in the Civil War battle of Antietam, where about 23,000 were killed."}, {"response": 177, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (01:53)", "body": "I wonder if we will ever get an accurate accounting. The fires continue to burn deep inside the hole made by one of the towers. It will simply have to burn itself out since it is too hot and too dangerous to get to now. Frightening! I was asked to post this and so I shall: Flags Across America To show those terrorists that we Americans stick together, FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 14 is \"Flags Across America.\" All Americans are asked to display the American flag either in their homes or cars. Let's keep the meaning of UNITED in \"United States\". Pass this onto as many people as you know. THANK YOU."}, {"response": 178, "author": "Bethanne", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (01:58)", "body": "I know Karen, I know... When that figure of 10,000 was initially announced, I thought it was too low, considering the massive amounts of people in the 2 towers. But after a trajedy like this, it is easy and comforting to stick your head in the sand and try to pretend the worst is not going to happen. All too soon, the cold hard reality will get to you, no matter how long you try to put it off."}, {"response": 179, "author": "curious", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (02:12)", "body": "This is YOUR LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEM, a free newsletter sharing life, love and laughter, published by Steve Goodier. http://www.lifesupportsystem.com I asked for it! I invited a response and now am flooded with mail! It may take days to go through it all. Today I printed some of YOUR words in lieu of my usual message. I hope you feel encouraged by the spirit in which they were written. ~ Steve _________________From the Mailbox__________________ Write to Publisher@LifeSupportSystem.com I want to express my great condolence to people of America. I want to say aloud my personal absolute negative expression about the terrorist attack innocent people in New York and Washington. Dostoevsky said there are no great goals to justify the crime if it costs a little tear of child, and how many tears (were shed by) this outrage act? ~ Your subscriber (Kiev, Ukraine) Know that the pain and suffering of Americans is also felt across the mass of water here in Australia. ~ Joanna (Perth, Australia) Let those of us who can, hold a vision of peace, even between ourselves and those who would destroy us. Let those of us who can see the Light, be the Light. ~ A friend Everything came to a standstill here (South Africa) yesterday afternoon at about 3.00 p.m. our time when we first heard the news of the horror! What I do want to say, from our small space, far away from you all in America, is that we grieve for the whole nation and all of you are in our prayers and thoughts -- constantly. ~ Caroline (South Africa) The Canadian People Send Their Deepest Condolences to Our American Friends. We are shocked and horrified, as most Americans are, as soon as we heard the news many rallied, giving blood to the Canadian Red Cross in anticipation of the need by those that might need it. America is our fiend and neighbour, and those that hurt America hurt us. We hope that we never see another tragedy as this again. ~ Doug (Canada) Thank you! Even with all that you and your family have been going through, you have still managed to send inspiration to those of us in need! With all of the negativity out there yesterday, and the \"Nuke 'EM\" attitude among a lot of Americans that called into CNN and the radio stations here in Chicago, I began to find myself getting more upset about them than the tragedy that caused their feelings. Thank you for reminding the many people who forget in times like this that we are all one -- most humans do NOT believe that the killing of innocents is right, no matter what race! Here in Chicago, an Arab education meeting was hit with a molotov cocktail -- this is exactly what we DON'T need! Thanks again for your call to Americans to see the truth and work through our grief with LOVE! ~ Kelli (Chicago, Illinois) I, like so many of us in the US, live complacently from day to day without fear of danger. Then a tragedy like this occurs and reminds us of the fragility of life and how important it is for us to set aside our differences and all join hands in common bond. ~ Mal (Pasadena, Texas, USA) I live in Barbados, a small island in the West Indies (Caribbean). The tragedy of yesterday shook us here as well. My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone in the States. May God continue to strengthen your nation and be with every one of your leaders as they make decisions and try to rebuild the country. ~ Marie (Barbados) A great gloom has descended on Australia today and will remain for a while to come. The streets were empty in peak hour this morning as people stayed home to watch in horror as the event was broadcast across the nation. And this gloom has remained the whole day, with the attack being just about the only thing on peoples minds. America is far from alone in its hurt and sorrow and we will do whatever we can to help our fellow humans. ~ Nikki (Gold Coast, Australia) I hope that from yesterday events we may learn at least one lesson: that hate only brings violence and destruction. \"Love thy enemy\" was not written in vain. I pray that the hurt we all feel today does not develop into hate and desire for revenge. ~ Olga (Puerto Rico, USA) My thoughts from South Africa are with you in this dark hour. But I know that you are a country of strong people. People that will support each other and together stand up to become even stronger. ~ Ronelle (Gauteng, South Africa) I am thankful to you always for the positive, uplifting words. I look forward to my daily emails. I never needed them more than I needed them today. I was one of hundreds in Jersey City, at Exchange Place, who watched this event unfold to our shock, horror and disbelief. Thanks for giving me something to hold on to. ~ TL Everything has changed today. Our nation, our world, our civilization. If we are not extremely careful, we could surrender our future to these terrorists in exchange for the perception of peace and security. The terrorists demonstrated that the United States is a free and open country. We have paid a price for having an accessible society. Ac"}, {"response": 180, "author": "Allison2", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (03:43)", "body": "In addition to thousands of Americans killed they are now saying there were hundreds of UK citizens. My son (he works for a US bank in London) has just got back from spending a week working in NY. He was in the WTC every day. The world really is a global village. What happens to the US happens to us all."}, {"response": 181, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (08:37)", "body": "http://tibet.com/NewsRoom/hhdl-letter.htm The Dalai Lama speaks."}, {"response": 182, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (09:05)", "body": "The world really is a global village. What happens to the US happens to us all. Let's hope this unity works in the hard task ahead. There are some flights flying into Miami. They seem to be flying lower than usual. Where once we could barely hear them now they are very loud. Very scary. :-("}, {"response": 183, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (09:47)", "body": "Thank goodness that your family was spared, Allison. I was thinking about Ben's brother. Isn't he in NYC and probably in that part of it?"}, {"response": 184, "author": "MarkG", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (09:55)", "body": "Ben's brother works (I believe) for Morgan Stanley, who have (had) 21 floors of the South WTC tower, although it's not their head office in NYC. MS reported yesterday that over 85% (and growing) of their WTC staff had survived. So his odds are good."}, {"response": 185, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (10:08)", "body": "Thanks, Mark, for the update. The other night I was watching BBC news' coverage on one of my PBS channels and they were talking about all the foreign nationals who worked in the financial sector."}, {"response": 186, "author": "MarkG", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (10:23)", "body": "That's right, Karen. Just like here in London, the NYC financial services industry is one of the most multi-national workforces around. Obviously, the BBC is concerned to take some time focusing on the number of Britons involved, but there will be many nationalities amongst the dead, along with the thousands of Americans. A colleague of mine reports that his NY counterpart works in a suburb in which nearly everybody commutes to Manhattan. Every few doors down the street there was a worker who never came home on Tuesday. Personally, three of my four previous firms had offices in the WTC. It brings the tragedy close to home, but not as close as for the family members and friends of the 20,000."}, {"response": 187, "author": "EileenG", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (10:58)", "body": "(Mark) MS reported yesterday that over 85% (and growing) of their WTC staff had survived. So his odds are good. Yes, I heard that about MS also. They credit a 'split second decision to evacuate' after the first plane hit the other tower. It seems to me alot more people got out than you might expect (credit the '93 bombing for that). Yet the stories of those searching for their loved ones, who called before 9 a.m. to say they were OK but who worked above the 90th floor, are absolutely heartbreaking. This will continue for weeks. (Beth) The White House and ABC News have confirmed that the intended target of the plane that crashed in DC, was NOT The Pentagon. It was The White House. OMG !! The White House have also confirmed that Air Force One and The President, were also intended targets. They have not revealed what brought them to this conclusion. I'll tell you--this is spin. Georgie's being criticized for not returning to DC until late afternoon. The plane which hit the Pentagon, the press sec'y says, circled over the White House first. They may have more 'clear and convincing' evidence that the White House and Air Force One (a plane? They're going to hit a plane with a plane with so many other gov't targets around? George was on the ground in Fla. at the time of the attacks) were targeted, but I'm not biting. Though they could've indeed gone for the White House and done far more damage to the country--Dick Cheney was at his desk. ;-P"}, {"response": 188, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (11:01)", "body": "On Doomed Flight, Passengers Vowed to Perish Fighting By JODI WILGORENand EDWARD WONG They told the people they loved that they would die fighting. In a series of cellular telephone calls to their wives, two passengers aboard the plane that crashed into a Pennsylvania field instead of possibly toppling a national landmark learned about the horror of the World Trade Center. From 35,000 feet, they relayed harrowing details about the hijacking in progress to the police. And they vowed to try to thwart the enemy, to prevent others from dying even if they could not save themselves. More: http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/13/national/13NEWA.html"}, {"response": 189, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (11:04)", "body": "Austin's Stratfor.com intelligence reports are some of the best: Situation Reports European markets stabilized in trading Sept. 12, helping to calm the major Asian markets entering the trading day Sept. 13. AFP reports that Tokyo, Hong Kong, Sydney and South Korea all posted minor gains after steep losses the previous day, though all markets remain fairly below pre-attack levels. Singapore dropped marginally, and Malaysia, Thailand and Taiwan -- which were closed Sept. 13 -- posted losses of between 4 and 7 percent. 1519 GMT, 091301 The Afghanistan opposition Northern Alliance, which opposes the ruling Taliban, has appointed a new military chief to replace leader Ahmad Shah Masood, Reuters reported. Masood was replaced with a general named Mukhammad Fakhim on Sep. 11, a few days after Masood was wounded in an attack. Conflicting reports have stated that Masood was actually killed in the attack. 1501 GMT, 091301 The Washington Post reports that the Bush administration is continuing to gather support for a possible strike against Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden and his supporters in Afghanistan, pressuring neighboring Pakistan for intelligence and logistical backing after winning full NATO support Sept. 12. Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has pledged his country's full cooperation in the probe into the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States, VOA news reported, while Saudi Arabia has also reportedly offered its support. The Chinese government is appealing to the United States to consult with countries beyond Europe before launching an attack, BBC reported. 1430 GMT, 091301 Fox News reports that almost all of the hijackers involved in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks have been identified on flight manifests, including many Saudi and Egyptian nationals and one known supporter of Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden, considered a prime suspect in the attacks. The news agency, citing law enforcement officials, said that a flight manifest from one of the four flights included the name of a suspected bin Laden supporter, while one person has also been arrested in connection with the attacks in Hamburg, Germany. 1427 GMT, 091301 U.S. authorities said at least one hijacker on each of the four planes used in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks was trained at a U.S. flight school, AP reported. Overall, 50 people may have been involved in the operation. Attorney General John Ashcroft said 12 to 24 hijackers commandeered the four planes, and a government official said another two dozen or so are believed to have assisted them, AP reported. The Los Angeles Times reports that about 40 of the men have been accounted for, including those killed in the suicide attacks, but 10 remain at large. The Times also reported at least one of the suspects receiving advanced flight training in Florida was a commercial pilot from Saudi Arabia. 1417 GMT, 091301 The Associated Press reports that a former employee at Huffman Aviation school in Venice Venice, Fla., said FBI agents told him that Mohamed Atta, who stayed in his home while training at the local flight school, was involved in the attack on the World Trade Center Sept. 11. The Miami Herald, citing federal authorities, reports that Atta was one of four suspects who died on American Airlines Flight 11, the first jetliner to crash into the center. A second student at Huffman Aviation, identified as Marwan Alshehhi, is also a suspect. 1410 GMT, 091301 Afghanistan's ruling Taliban Sept. 13 dismissed reports linking Osama bin Laden to terrorist attacks on the United States earlier on the week, and reiterated that they would not hand over the Saudi dissident, AFP reported. Reports had surfaced the previous day claiming that the Taliban had arrested bin Laden. The Taliban is reportedly preparing for a possible U.S. attack, sending its top leader into hiding and repositioning its military hardware throughout the country, The Washington Post reported, citing reports from Pakistani intelligence sources.1405 GMT, 091301 Federal aviation officials said they would allow air travel in the United States to resume Sept. 13 morning. U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft said authorities were deploying hundreds of U.S. marshals and other agents to airports and airplanes to increase security with the gradual resumption of commercial flights, AP reported. 1400 GMT, 091301 The Times of India has published a report originally carried by an Arabic online newspaper, saying that the Taliban has placed Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden and several of his assistants under house arrest in Afghanistan. A diplomat at the Taliban embassy in Abu Dhabi could not confirm the report. 2318 GMT, 091201 Armed sky marshalls and/or company security officials will accompany flights in the United States for at least a short period of time, possibly indefinitely, according to airline industry officials and the Department of Transportation. 2240 GMT, 091201 Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage told Pakistani Ambassador Ma"}, {"response": 190, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (11:05)", "body": "Koppel said a Pakistani news agency quoted the taliban saying they do not have Bin Laden under house arrest or any other kind. Frontline is going to show an updated version of their documentary on Bin Laden on thursday. They also have an extensive website http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/binladen/"}, {"response": 191, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (11:05)", "body": "The LA Times has a detailed story FBI Identifies Team of 50 Attackers http://latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-091301terror.story"}, {"response": 192, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (11:16)", "body": "(Eileen) I'll tell you--this is spin. Georgie's being criticized for not returning to DC until late afternoon. I thought the same thing and said so to Ev last night. Bush was in Florida. Symbolically they might have wanted to hit the White House, but this is a crock to deflect newspapers' criticism. Unfortunately, most Americans do not realize that getting key government functions, including the President, to safety means taking them out of Washington and into bunkers and I'm sure the disaster scenarios for the presidency would involve moving him around. The hijackers wouldn't even have known he eventually went up in Air Force One or where it was headed. Totally idiotic. I bet we never see this 'credible' evidence."}, {"response": 193, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (11:20)", "body": "http://www.rand.org/hot/newslinks.html#terror This is the URL for a Rand report on the state of U.S. anti-terrorism policy as of 2000. Executive summary: we don't have one. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/binladen/ This is a joint PBS/NYT site on bin Laden, dating from a little after the first WTC bombings."}, {"response": 194, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (11:30)", "body": "The die has been cast. The lead story in the Thursday edition of the Washington Post is a detailed description of US negotiations with Pakistan and Tajikstan to provide a staging area or at least safe passage for a mission to track down Osama Bin Laden in Afghanistan. www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20862-2001Sep12.html The second story starts by saying that Pentagon officials are keeping a tight lid on deployments and planning options, then proceeds to spill the beans extravagantly about the range of plans and preparations in progress for the effort to find and deal with Osama Bin Laden. www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20806-2001Sep12.html"}, {"response": 195, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (11:31)", "body": "Plans underway for massive invasion of Afghanistan: http://www.guardian.co.uk/wtccrash/story/0,1300,551079,00.html"}, {"response": 196, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (11:37)", "body": "A wired story reports that FBI agents are busy installing carnivore on ISPs http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,46747,00.html"}, {"response": 197, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (11:38)", "body": "Anti-Attack Feds Push Carnivore By Declan McCullagh 2:00 a.m. Sep. 12, 2001 PDT WASHINGTON -- Federal police are reportedly increasing Internet surveillance after Tuesday's deadly attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Just hours after three airplanes smashed into the buildings in what some U.S. legislators have dubbed a second Pearl Harbor, FBI agents began to visit Web-based, e-mail firms and network providers, according to engineers at those companies who spoke on condition of anonymity. An administrator at one major network service provider said that FBI agents showed up at his workplace on Tuesday \"with a couple of Carnivores, requesting permission to place them in our core, along with offers to actually pay for circuits and costs.\""}, {"response": 198, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (11:44)", "body": ""}, {"response": 199, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (11:48)", "body": "From the Guardian article: Nato is now drawing up an emergency plan for a massive attack on Afghanistan if proof emerges that Osama bin Laden, the wanted Saudi-born terrorist sheltered by Afghanistan, was responsible for the attacks. What do they mean by if? A signatory to a treaty is a signatory to a treaty. Also, they are making it sound like it's an obscure passage of the treaty. That it hasn't been invoked isn't relevant IMO. It is the backbone of the NATO alliance. Only the enemy has changed."}, {"response": 200, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (12:14)", "body": "http://www.janes.com/security/international_security/news/misc/janes010911_2_n.shtml The hunt for Bin Laden begins."}, {"response": 201, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (12:15)", "body": "According to NYPD radio scan police are reporting that Grand Central Station is right now being evacuated and strett traffic has been closed off in the last 10 minutes in that area. there were reports that a transit officer was approached by two passengers that a male dressed in tan was seen with a backpack with wires coming out of it and something attached around his waist. Police have not as of this minute located any peson matching this description. Now the report is that the package or backpack was left on a train from Greenwich, and that the terminal is completely evacuated."}, {"response": 202, "author": "mari", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (12:31)", "body": "(Eileen)Though they could've indeed gone for the White House and done far more damage to the country--Dick Cheney was at his desk. ;-P Oh Eileen, I am laughing in spite of myself, one of the few good laughs in days. Agree that it's spin, but who cares? The fragility of this country was part of the message the Taliban government conveyed in a plea for restraint issued late tonight. It said in part, \"We appeal to the United States not to put Afghanistan into more misery because our people have suffered so much.\" They should have thought of this before they harbored and supported terrorists. And at whose hands have they suffered? They are asking us to show more caring for their people than they themselves have. And this culpability doesn't stop at the Afghan border. I really wonder if the world has the resolve and stomach to do what needs to be done in order to protect and preserve the greater good."}, {"response": 203, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (12:56)", "body": "I really wonder if the world has the resolve and stomach to do what needs to be done in order to protect and preserve the greater good. We have lost some of our freedom. It will never be the same. In Miami one of the thoughts is that Castro might have supported these terrorists. Could you imagine also going after Castro? That would put Miami at a very high risk for attacks."}, {"response": 204, "author": "EileenG", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (13:22)", "body": "(Mari) Agree that it's spin, but who cares? It annoys me. Surely the White House has more pressing problems than Bush's political standing. We appeal to the United States not to put Afghanistan into more misery because our people have suffered so much ...as they pull out their AK-47s. Who are they kidding? Phooey."}, {"response": 205, "author": "winter", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (13:27)", "body": "(Mark) Ben's brother works (I believe) for Morgan Stanley...although it's not their head office in NYC... So his odds are good. I checked with Ben yesterday. You're right, Mark. His brother was midtown, and not in the WTC at the time, thank god. I tuned into a segement of the \"Howard Stern\" show yesterday morning... for some unknown reason. It's really very frightening at how \"trigger happy\" many people are after all this. It's understandable to want to express anger, but there were people calling in ready to invade the Arab/Muslim/South Asian neighborhoods, ready to take revenge. There have alrady been reports of violence. It's complete, total ignorance on their parts, and those callers represent a demographic of this country I'm very ashamed of."}, {"response": 206, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (13:43)", "body": "(Mari) Agree that it's spin, but who cares? (Eileen) It annoys me. Me too, but not because of the political standing concern. Rather than make up lies, just tell the American public the truth of what they were doing and why and that is is SOP in such situations. Surely people would understand that. (Winter) those callers represent a demographic of this country I'm very ashamed of. Until/unless they violate someone's civil liberties or commit criminal acts, we have to tolerate such things as that is what our country's democracy is all about, i.e., standing up for people's rights to say the most vile things."}, {"response": 207, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (14:55)", "body": "More from stratfor: U.S. Must Identify State Sponsors 0120 GMT, 010912 Summary The attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., have sent shockwaves across the nation. While international Islamic terrorists organizations linked to Osama bin Laden's Al-Qa'ida group remain the top suspects, some have suggested nations opposed to U.S. global hegemony may also have been involved. Historically, international terrorism has needed state sponsorship in order to be successful. But such involvement would be tantamount to declaring war on the United States, and although the suspect list is long, there is little evidence at the moment that singles any one country out. Analysis The attacks on New York and Washington achieve a number of objectives for the perpetrators. On a strategic level, they demonstrate the vulnerability of the United States. In one fell swoop, the sophisticated and well-coordinated operation paralyzed New York City and the U.S. financial sector, sent the nation's government spiraling into chaos and struck terror in the hearts of the American public. Such a feat, accomplished with only four airline hijackings, is almost impossible to comprehend and will impact U.S. defense and foreign policy for decades to come. By immobilizing the U.S. financial sector, the strike threatens to push a nation, already suffering from a downturn, into recession. This will have ramifications for U.S. influence throughout the globe. It could also damage U.S. markets abroad as well as numerous other nations with economic ties to the United States. Understanding the impact of the attack is important for identifying likely suspects. There is good reason to suspect international terrorist organizations linked to Osama bin Laden's umbrella group, Al-Qa'ida. More important, however, is the question of which, if any, states might also have been involved. The article goes on in much more depth and there are several other articles worth reading at http://www.stratfor.com"}, {"response": 208, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (15:59)", "body": "From my son - his intraoffice email: The official word from the FAA about the new airport security procedures is as follows: Increased passenger and baggage security screenings at all airports. Passengers should plan to arrive at the airport a MINIMUM OF TWO HOURS prior to departure. Passengers must check their luggage at the ticket counter, no curbside check-in allowed. Only passengers holding an electronic ticket receipt, travel agency itinerary, airline ticket card, boarding document, internet printout or paper ticket will be allowed past the security check point. Passengers without receipts of any sort will need to stand in line at the airport ticket counters to obtain a receipt. (You may also contact TI and they will mail, fax or email a receipt to you prior to departing to the airport) Aircraft and airport security sweeps similar to those conducted during the Persian Gulf war. Vehicles will be inspected at terminal parking entrances. Unattended vehicles are banned near the terminals and will be towed. No knives of any size, or made from any material, are permitted on flights. The sale of knifelike items has been banned at all airports. Heightened vigilance for unattended bags. Searches of aircraft cargo and passenger compartments. An increase in number of uniformed law enforcement and military personnel. Random searches of service personal, flight crews and equipment. Reduces access points to secure areas at airports."}, {"response": 209, "author": "winter", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (16:26)", "body": "Thanks for the info. MArcia. I'm curious to know what the procedures are for our friends in other countries. How do these security measures compare to Europe/Australia/Asia/etc.?"}, {"response": 210, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (16:28)", "body": "Is this the end of Duty-Free shopping? I must say I am very happy about about the carry-on luggage ban. The size of those things were getting too large."}, {"response": 211, "author": "toyce", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (16:37)", "body": "I think you will still be allowed carry on items, but just the curb side check service is gone."}, {"response": 212, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (16:53)", "body": "I thought they said wallets and purses only."}, {"response": 213, "author": "toyce", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (16:59)", "body": "O.k. I just didn't see that in the above post. It's quite possible that they will limit it to that."}, {"response": 214, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (17:10)", "body": "Where does it say anything about limiting carry-ons to wallets or purses? Just no curbside check-in per above. Can you imagine turning over your camera to the airlines to check in cargo? I don't think so."}, {"response": 215, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (17:13)", "body": "Wonder about laptops carry-ons. I suspect that they will be banned, as well. I guess we carry a well examined purse and a book to read. Who about nail files? knitting needles? Dental floss? The list is endless if one gets tryly inventive. Even a leather belt! El Al, The Israeli airlines makes inspections like you would not believe. They have the tightest security in the world and NO ONE complains."}, {"response": 216, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (17:15)", "body": "This also from my son about colleagues travelling and caught in this mess: froma memo: We have heard from the rest of our traveling staff. DK is making his way to Chicago from Midland, Michigan via automobile. He is with SS and R. They hope to get on a morning flight to San Francisco out of Chicago. DM, who was on personal travel, is also in Chicago trying to get on a flight or take a Greyhound bus."}, {"response": 217, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (17:20)", "body": "At Last the Aggressors Themselves Are Able to Wedge In a Word Or Two *8-/ Subject: Islamic Jihad, what is next ? Date: Thursday, September 13, 2001 1:53 AM From: felipe rodriquez Reply-To: \"felipe rodriquez\" To: ISLAMIC JIHAD, what is next ? (c) Felipe Rodriquez INTRODUCTION The attack on the World Trade Center in New York is a new phase in an ongoing global religious and ideological conflict. This conflict started in 1990, with the gulf war. The mother of all wars, as Saddam Hussein called it, and is unlikely to end for some time. To understand this conflict, we must look at the Western world's exploitation and colonization of Saudi Arabia and other Muslim nations . Economic and geopolitical moves that benefit only the western democratic capitalist structures are the primary cause of this terrible conflict. USAMA BIN MUHAMMAD BIN IN LADEN The Taliban consider Osama Bin Ladin to be a holy man, because of his incredible service in the Afghani war against the Russians, and the reconstruction of Afghanistan. Osama Bin Ladin has fought hundreds of battles in Afghanistan, and has been wounded numerous times. He went to Afghanistan around 1982, and took with him a large amount of construction equipment, and a team of engineers, to rebuild the war torn country. Consequently he became involved in many battles, and was wounded many times. He is a devout Muslim, and answers to Allah and certain important Islamic teachers, such as Sheik Safar Ibn `Abd Al-Rahman Al-Hawali. He founded the \"Al Qaeda\" movement, with Muhammad Atef. The movement was initially setup to record the movements of Mujahedin in Afghanistan. Later the goal changed to driving the United States forces out of Saudi Arabia, where the US setup a military base since the beginning of the Gulf War. Many devout Muslims see this as a hostile invasion of the Islamic holy land, comparable to the invasions of the crusaders in the past. Some years later the goal changed once again, into what it is now; to attack Israel, the US and its allies wherever it can. The justification of these acts, in the mind of the Muslim activist, comes from the foreign occupation of the holy cities; Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem. It is simplistic and short sighted to assume that Osama Bin Laden is the great leader behind the attacks on the WTC, the Nairobi and Dar Es Salaam US embassies, the hit on USS Cole in Yemen and various other terrorist attacks. Islamic religious activism is the glue that binds this global terror movement together. Removing Osama Bin Ladin from the scene will not remove this global movement, and will not end terror. Killing him will only motivate thousands of Muslims to volunteer for the ultimate sacrifice. The Islamic radical movement resembles a hydra, A serpent represented as having many heads, one of which, when cut off, is immediately succeeded by two others. The movement cannot be eradicated by violence and retaliation, such deeds will only make it stronger and increase popular support in the Islamic world. To understand how this works, lets look at Hizbollah and Hamas. These Islamic organizations have been setup in such a way that they are almost impossible to eradicate. There is always double redundancy in the leadership, because any leader can expect to be assassinated by their enemies at any time. The effectiveness of this redundancy is demonstrated by the fact that Hizbollah and Hamas still exist today, despite the fact that many of its leaders have been assassinated by Israel and others. We must assume that the leadership of the organization that hit the WTC, and other targets in the past, is organized in a similar way, building on the experience of Islamic organizations in Lebanon, Palestine and elsewhere. Hamas and Hizbollah have integrated Islamic thought in their society by providing numerous services to their communities. Schools and hospitals are provided for free or at cost. And they materially support families, widows and orphans that have been victims of aggression by their enemies. Hizbollah operates numerous businesses, that together with donations fund the activities of the organization. These social activities provide the organizations with enormous popular support, it is an effective way of disseminating the virtues of Islam, and strengthening its base. It has also created a strong platform to recruit martyrs for the violent Jihad (Holy War) against Israel and its allies. >From documentation that was seized in Africa, after the Nairobi bombing, there is a strong indication that a cell structure was used to limit the risks to the terrorist organization that hit the African embassies, allegedly the same organization that hit the WTC in 2001. A cell structure is often used by violent groups. It is implemented in such a way that cell members only know a limited amount of members of the organization, and only have limited access to information about the planned activities of the group. Typically cell members only know the coordinator of the"}, {"response": 218, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (17:21)", "body": "http://interactive.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/Tenant-List.htm is a list of building tenants with status reports on tenants and business."}, {"response": 219, "author": "Bethanne", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (17:25)", "body": "I really hope these security precaustions are permanant. I hope to God, they aren't eased up on when people start complaining about the inconvenience. According to the FAA, they claim they have been calling for all airport security personel to become federal employees and trained and paid accordingly, for quite some time. Thet were trying to enforce this, but backed off when all the airlines began protesting."}, {"response": 220, "author": "rachael", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (17:35)", "body": "(Marcia) Only passengers holding an electronic ticket receipt, travel agency itinerary, airline ticket card, boarding document, internet printout or paper ticket will be allowed past the security check point winter, you asked about procedures in Europe - the above has always been the case in the UK to my knowledge - certainly any time I've flown, whether within the UK, within Europe, or to North America (USA and Canada) you cannot get into the departure lounge without a boarding pass which is issued at check-in (and passport for international flights); non-passengers are not allowed past that point. Then at the boarding gate you must show your pass again. If a checked-in passenger does not board, but has put luggage on the plane, the plane will not fly until the luggage has come off. Check in times for USA/Canada have been two hours minimum every time I've done the trip; within Europe its usually an hour; I know someone who checked in 30 minutes before a flight to Dublin (thus was technically late) and was not allowed to board because she'd breeched security regulations. what is curb side check in?"}, {"response": 221, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (18:07)", "body": "There are skycaps at the entrances (curb) who will take your bags and they are put on the plane. You have to produce a valid ticket and photo identification. This is only for domestic flights. Plus you have to tip these guys per bag."}, {"response": 222, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (19:42)", "body": "Science@NASA is based in the United States, but among our many subscribers are a substantial number of readers from other countries. In recent days many of them have written to us expressing their sympathies and horror at the events of Sept. 11th. Their messages, attached below, reveal how the heart-breaking loss of life in New York, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania touches everyone. The staff of Science@NASA extend our heartfelt condolences to the many victims of Tuesday's tragedy, and we thank our friends overseas for their kind messages of support as we resume, later today, our regular schedule of scientific story-telling. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- TO: Ron.koczor@msfc.nasa.gov FROM: inna_mar@XXXXXXXX.ru Dear Mr. Koczor, All of us are shocked by the awful events that have occurred yesterday in New York and in Washington and we wish to extend our sympathy to you and your colleagues. If there is any way that we can help, please let us know. Sincerely, Inna Mardanyan Moscow, Russia **************************** TO: Ron.koczor@msfc.nasa.gov FROM: gushat@XXXXXXX.ru Dear friends, Your colleagues from Paleontological Institute of Moscow are with you. Our sympathy, thoughts and support are yours. And will always be. Best regards, Alexei Rzanov, Galina Ushatinskaya, and all colleagues from Moscow **************************** TO: Ron.koczor@msfc.nasa.gov FROM: snassopoulou@XXXXXXX.gr Dear Ron, We are very sorry and really left astonished and speechless with terrorism struck US yesterday. We sincerely wish and hope that everything is OK for you and all the American colleagues and families. Yours, Sophia Athens, Greece **************************** TO: phillips@spacescience.com FROM: tony.taggett@XXXXXXX.uk Dear Dr Phillips As my only point of contact with the United States is through your science@NASA website, I would like to express my heartfelt condolences to the American people, our thoughts and prayers especially go out to the relatives and friends of those who perished in the awful events that occurred yesterday Yours Sincerely Tony Aggett United Kingdom ***************************** TO: ron.koczor@msfc.nasa.gov FROM: mmazzolini@XXXXXX.au We would like to offer our deepfelt sympathy, concern and prayers to our friends and colleagues in the US at this dreadful time, Margaret and Alex Mazzolini Melbourne, Australia ***************************** TO: ron.koczor@msfc.nasa.gov FROM: omaro@XXXXXX.kz We are absolutely shocked by horrible events in the U.S. It is unbelievable...Accept my condolences...Today our world has changed. What will happen to our world? Take care, Prof Omarov Alma Aty, Khazakstan ***************************** TO: ron.koczor@msfc.nasa.gov FROM: cofXXXXX@home.com As the President of CANADIAN Environmental Science and Research Group and on behalf of the Team of CESAR Group I would like to send our heart felt sorrow to those family members who lost relatives in these vicious and despicable attacks on democracy. God Bless America! Jack Pender Canada ***************************** From: Rafael C\ufffdrdenas Santacruz To: Ronald.J.Koczor@msfc.nasa.gov Sincere greetings Dr. Koczor, Ron Together with my family, we feel very sorry for the regrettable incidents in New York. We are with you with all our hearts. Rafael Cardenas Santacruz Scientific Technician Bogota, Columbia ***************************** TO: Ron.koczor@msfc.nasa.gov FROM: jarl.ahlbeck@XXXXX.fi In the 1930's Stalin deported and murdered 25,000 Finns that were peacefully living on the Soviet side of the border. It was a blind terror action against civilians, a complete ethnical cleaning of the Karelia county. Without successful defensive fight in the following winter war 1939 when Stalin tried to invade Finland (5 of my uncles were killed, my father injured), we would, according to recently discovered documents from Moscow, all have been deported to Siberia, and I would not sit here and study your website. These terrorists try to create a world of that kind. We do not want this world anymore! All the best for you in the USA Jarl Helsinki, Finland **************************** Necochea, 11/9/01 TO: ron.koczor@msfc.nasa.gov NASA: Hi\ufffd, My name is Maria. I am aware of the attack that has been perpetrated against your country, and I am very sad. I live in Buenos Aires, Argentina. I am 14 years old and there is not much that I can do to help, but I profoundly admire you and you have my moral support. I would like to ask you a favor. Please reach an agreement without wars, but I hope those responsible are found, so that peace will be extended throughout the world. Sincerely, Maguie. ***************************** From: Jonathon Dugdale To: patrick.meyer@msfc.nasa.gov Sent: 9/11/01 12:37 PM Subject: Condolences On behalf of all the employees and stakeholders of ApexMail I would like to say that we share in your shock, grief and pain resulting from today's unspeakable and cowardly assault. Our thoughts and prayers "}, {"response": 223, "author": "mari", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (20:06)", "body": "(Marcia) El Al, The Israeli airlines makes inspections like you would not believe. They have the tightest security in the world and NO ONE complains. Right on, Marcia. Below is a fascinating article from today's Philly Inquirer on airport security in Israel. Take a moment to read this, everyone. IMO, *this* is the type of dialogue we should be having, and people need to think now about the balance of personal freedoms and civil liberties vs. much more aggressive security measures. How much of the former are you willing to give up in order to achieve the latter? A little? A lot? I don't have the answers but this is the type of thing I meant before when I wrote that I wondered if people would have the stomach for doing what may be required in the new world order. Military retaliation is only part of it. How Israel remains a model of airport security By Michael Matza INQUIRER STAFF WRITER JERUSALEM - As the United States moves to tighten security at its airports, it may look to the world's model of truly tough airport defense: Israel. Here, any trip on Israel's national airline, El Al, involves not only metal detectors but luggage searches, armed in-flight guards, and a personal grilling by a specially trained antiterrorism officer. Security agents routinely \"profile\" passengers to single out for extra attention Arabs or foreigners who fit ethnic or other parameters. Any foreign visitor who has taken off from Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv knows the drill: arrive two hours before departure, pass all luggage through a monster of a metal detector; open carry-on bags, which sometimes have to be unpacked on a stainless-steel table; and submit to interrogation by a no-nonsense screener. Where have you been in Israel? Whom did you meet? Did you go to the occupied territories of the West Bank and Gaza? Whom did you talk to there? Did you pack your own bags? Are you carrying any gifts? Did anyone give you anything to carry? Do you speak Hebrew? Can you read Hebrew? Have you ever studied Hebrew? Do you understand that I am asking these questions because what may seem like a gift to you may actually be an explosive device? Passengers of Arabic extraction say the questioning can last a very long time and often feels like harassment. Israelis tend to think of it as a necessary evil. In the United States, \"profiling\" would not pass constitutional muster. \"I think that 99 percent of the passengers understand very well the need for security arrangements, and there are not many complaints,\" said Pini Schiff, spokesman for the Israeli Airport Authority and former head of airport security. \"I can tell you, in general terms, that in two or three minutes of questioning, the screeners are doing their best to learn the passenger's aim for coming to Israel,\" Schiff said. \"All the flight checkers are hired by us and trained by us. They go through extensive background checks. All of them have served in the Israeli army and have to pass several tests to make sure that they have the capabilities to do the job.\" When a passenger's answers don't add up, he is denied a boarding pass. Schiff declined to say how often that happens. By questioning passengers, guards quickly can spot those who appear nervous, said Leo Gleser, a former El Al security officer and head of ISDS, a security-consulting firm. In the case of Tuesday's hijackers in the United States, \"not all of them would have made it onto the plane\" if the Israeli approach to security had been used, Gleser told the Associated Press. \"If you detect one, you can start to ask questions\" that might lead to the other members of the group. As another security measure, Ben Gurion passengers are taken by waiting buses to the planes, which are parked far from the terminal on guarded runways. And, although official sources in Israel would not confirm it, it is widely believed that armed, undercover security guards ride aboard every El Al flight. \"We've provided information in the past to other airlines and other airport authorities, and we will continue to share our expertise,\" said Nachman Kleiman, spokesman for El Al. Kleiman declined yesterday to say whether El Al had consulted with the Federal Aviation Administration on the new U.S. measures. \"I can tell you that El Al maintains a high level of security for its passengers by not discussing its procedures in the media,\" he said. Israeli Transportation Minister Efraim Sneh predicted that Tuesday's attacks would lead to security changes. But instead of bringing more high-tech responses, he said, they likely would reinforce the low-tech methods. \"Our screening method is based on identifying the suspect traveler and concentrating on the characteristics of the person,\" Sneh said. \"Screening for explosives only works when the terrorists are using explosives.\" As the world now knows, for Tuesday's terrorists, the plane was the bomb."}, {"response": 224, "author": "nky", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (20:21)", "body": "Hi everyone! I just like to say that I used work on Wall Street and now am working in midtown. Unfortunately I still have many clients from the downtown location especially in the twin towers. The downtown area is my playground. I know every building and every street. I can name most of the businesses with their building address. I've been watching the news and they're flashing the names of all the businesses in the twin towers and it is devastating to see all the names that I know and was conducting business with. I'm in the buildings couple of times a week for meetings and I was very lucky for not being in the area the day it all happened. My heart and sympathy goes out to all my clients and their families. I can't even begin to say how I feel and have been feeling the past couple of days. I like to also thank all of you for all your wonderful support."}, {"response": 225, "author": "winter", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (20:23)", "body": "Sorry to spend so much time on the airport security issue... I've heard conflicting reports about what can now be accepted as \"carry on\" baggage. Some have said that purses and wallets only (what to do with backpacks?), others have said that there are no changes except that curbside check in is now banned. Am leaving for Indonesia next month (will live there for a year), packing a laptop, videocam and 35mm camera, books, files, clothes, etc.. Oh dear."}, {"response": 226, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (20:25)", "body": "Thanks for that, Mari! When I board a plane I want to get to my destination in one piece with my nervous system intact. I have nothing to hide. Search us all and put the fear of a real God in them!"}, {"response": 227, "author": "alyeska", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (20:29)", "body": "The web grows larger and larger. Germany and Italy to name two."}, {"response": 228, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (20:45)", "body": "re: Carry-ons, they suggest we had better be prepared to turn on our laptops if we carry them on. Take photos with our digitals and so on. If you are using a standard camera, I'd suggest an empty one so they can open it and see it is just a camera. I am flying to my son's wedding next month. I am just as concerned as you are. I am heading over a very deep ocean and heading for San Francisco. I want to get there intact. I only have one child! I want to attend his wedding!"}, {"response": 229, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (20:57)", "body": "G O D B L E S S A M E R I C A ! ! !"}, {"response": 230, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (20:57)", "body": "(of course the flag didn't show up--hang on)"}, {"response": 231, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (20:58)", "body": ""}, {"response": 232, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (21:02)", "body": "let's try again---"}, {"response": 233, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (21:08)", "body": "as an american, it is heart-warming and pride-inducing to hear and feel the goodwill coming across this computer, the tv, and looking out the window. please keep it up. we have friends in the pentagon and know how close to home this has come for us. GOD BLESS YOU ALL! and please, please remember, that anger will not fix this tragedy, will not bring anyone back. feel it but don't act on it. the majority of foreigners who have come here have come for the same reason our pilgrims did so long ago. i am angry, appalled, and very saddened by these events. pray for the leaders of all the countries of the world. please display your flag, put your lights on when you're driving around running errands and take the time to thank your servicemen and women of all walks...this is what they train for."}, {"response": 234, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (21:15)", "body": "did you see London playing our National Anthem? i had goosebumps! thank you, that was very moving!! ABC needs to play it again!!"}, {"response": 235, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (21:18)", "body": "Re: Israeli airline security I know many people who have gone through it for years. You live with it. In the United States, \"profiling\" would not pass constitutional muster. It's done right now at the airports at customs on your return.... Has a smuggler sued on that basis???"}, {"response": 236, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (21:29)", "body": "i think that security at airports will make honest people feel safe but bad guys do think, how would airports prevent the bad guys from hiring in? and who's to say that that hasn't happened already. after all this destruction, the news just reported that several people are in custody from JFK and the G airport (i can't spell it at all). i don't know. we all know how bits of info turn into other things and then we have to go back and amend what was reported."}, {"response": 237, "author": "ekelley", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (22:19)", "body": "its LaGuardia. They arrested 5 people at JFK and 4 at LGA. all were of middle east extraction, sporting phony pilots licenses, demanding to get on those flights. They were arrested. Apparently, a group of 3 men tried to get on a flight on Tuesday at JFK, the pilot was suspicious, called port authority police and then the 3 men vanished..."}, {"response": 238, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (22:24)", "body": "Suspicious stuff was detected at check-in and the guys vanished. No pilots were involved. However, I just heard that a pilot and some flight attendants just tested our new airport security with a pocket knife, a corkscrew and false identification and walked right through and then turned around and told the security personnel. :-("}, {"response": 239, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (22:27)", "body": "Oh Karen!!! I am happy I have a month before my flight."}, {"response": 240, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (22:38)", "body": "Two groups got arrested/detained today trying to board airplanes with fake id's and knives. Peter Jennings was just talking to Senator Joseph Biden, pressing hard to get him to comment on whether or not we're still under attack. He said these guys were the second string and the crisis was over, but he looked visiably shaken and wasn't very convincing. An astrounding comment he made was that he was afraid where Jennings was going to go next and both of them looked shaken. Cheney was moved to Camp David today. Washington was evacuated. > >Whoever's running around with the suitcase nuke or the biological weapon has to be found and stopped before a far worse scenario unfolds."}, {"response": 241, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (23:23)", "body": "The collapse of the WTC towers was detected as a M2.5 on the Richter."}, {"response": 242, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (23:28)", "body": "Not a surprise since each of those floor slabs weighed 300 tons."}, {"response": 243, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (23:37)", "body": "Perhaps it is time to relearn the 4th verse of the National Anthem of the United States. I much prefer it to what we sing now! Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand Between their loved homes and the war's desolation! Blest with victory and peace, may the heaven-rescued land Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation. Then conquer we must, for our cause it is just, And this be our motto: \"In God is our trust.\" And the star-spangled banner forever shall wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!"}, {"response": 244, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (23:48)", "body": "http://www.cnn.com/2001/US/09/13/jfk.airport.detained/index.html about today's two hijack attempts."}, {"response": 245, "author": "mari", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (23:53)", "body": "I know many people who have gone through it for years. You live with it. My point exactly. It's done right now at the airports at customs on your return.... Has a smuggler sued on that basis??? Karen, you know they're talking about profiling on the basis of ethnicity--not picking on middle-class ladies who come off the flight from Milan carrying too many Ferragamo bags.;-). Re: the Jennings/Biden interview. I saw that too, Terry. Was that the most bizarre interview you've ever seen, or what? Now, it's emerging that these guys were all trying to board flights to the west coast (i.e., planes loaded with fuel); armed with knives; and carrying pilot training certs from the same school in Fla. that the Tuesday bombers had attended. Same M-0! Yet, earlier today, the FAA says it's safe to fly and opens the airports. Now, oops--not NY! The FAA is totally incompetent, IMO, and should be removed immediately from having jurisdiction over whether the planes can be permitted to fly. However, I just heard that a pilot and some flight attendants just tested our new airport security with a pocket knife, a corkscrew and false identification and walked right through and then turned around and told the security personnel. :-( See my FAA comment above. It's like Groundhog Day. We keep doing the same thing over and over again, sending out the same poorly-trained minimum wage personnel to do a job that other countries employ highly trained people to do. When I saw the new FAA \"security procedures,\" I'd have laughed if it weren't so pathetic. No plastic knives, huh? Well, that's ok, since they never cut through the crummy food they give you anyway.;-) Seriously, this is *so* primitive! Unbelievable--as I'm typing this, Ted Koppel is interviewing a passenger from the JFK flight. He said they were ready to take off, then about 20 SWAT team members rushed aboard shouting at everyone to hit the floor, and they pulled 3 people off the flight, one of whom was violently resisting arrest. But hey, let's open those airports. :-( I'm at a loss."}, {"response": 246, "author": "Bethanne", "date": "Fri, Sep 14, 2001 (00:20)", "body": "NASA released aerial shots today, of lower Manhatttan taken from outer space. The pre-collapse smoke eminating from the twin towers, is clearly visible. So is the big gaping gap where the twin towers used to be, once they collpased. It was surreal seeing the pictures."}, {"response": 247, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Sep 14, 2001 (00:22)", "body": "you know they're talking about profiling on the basis of ethnicity--not picking on middle-class ladies who come off the flight from Milan carrying too many Ferragamo bags.;-). LOL! Am reminded of my astonishment that my own parents were not strip-searched many many years ago on their return from Hong Kong. They must be the only people on the face of the earth who bought nothing. Who would've believed that? ;-) But seriously, ethnic and other profiling is routine at security/customs checkpoints now. Take drugs for example...or the chubby white guy with Rolexes up and down his arm. Have just heard back from my cousin, an air traffic controller in Miami. He too says there's no likelihood that any plane would've been a threat to Air Force One. What shocked him is the return to DC. Even after the 4th plane crashed in PA, there were still thousands of planes still in the air. That's why he couldn't go back to DC."}, {"response": 248, "author": "AotearoaKiwi", "date": "Fri, Sep 14, 2001 (05:28)", "body": "Hi all I may have upset one or two people when I said \"Why do many Americans want war?\" for which I apologise but these people did not care who got hit and some people thought the Libyans should be bombed even though Muhammad Gadaffi (right person??)condemned the attacks. If Libya did have a role then they deserve to get hit but I am only seeing stuff about the Osama bin Laden monster who resides in Afghanistan and whom should be extradited and tried anyway, OR if he is the mastermind, bombed into the ground. Bombs away if they are implicated, and GOD BLESS THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GOD BLESS FREEDOM AND GOD BLESS HUMANITY!!!!!!!!! Rob"}, {"response": 249, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Sep 14, 2001 (09:29)", "body": "Could you unlock your Cap Lock key? Thanks."}, {"response": 250, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Sep 14, 2001 (09:49)", "body": "My sister sent this to me, I think it's in wide circulation on the net. Subject: From: \"Nadia Zierke\" TRIBUTE TO THE UNITED STATES This, from a Canadian newspaper, is worth sharing. America: The Good Neighbor. Widespread but only partial news coverage was given recently to a remarkable editorial broadcast from Toronto by Gordon Sinclair, a Canadian television commentator. What follows is the full text of his Trenchant remarks as printed in the Congressional Record: \"This Canadian thinks it is time to speak up for the Americans as the most generous and possibly the least appreciated people on all the earth. Germany, Japan and, to a lesser extent, Britain and Italy were lifted out of the debris of war by the Americans who poured in billions of dollars and forgave other billions in debts. None of these countries is today paying even the interest on its remaining debts to the United States. When France was in danger of collapsing in 1956, it was the Americans who propped it up, and their reward was to be insulted and swindled on the streets of Paris. I was there. I saw it. When earthquakes hit distant cities, it is the United States that hurries in to help. This spring, 59 American communities were flattened by tornadoes. Nobody helped. The Marshall Plan and the Truman Policy pumped billions of dollars into discouraged countries. Now newspapers in those countries are writing about the decadent, warmongering Americans. I'd like to see just one of those countries that is gloating over the erosion of the United States dollar build its own airplane. Does any other country in the world have a plane to equal the Boeing Jumbo Jet, the Lockheed Tri-Star, or the Douglas DC10? If so, why don't they fly them? Why do all the International lines except Russia fly American Planes? You talk about Japanese technocracy, and you get radios. You talk about German technocracy, and you get automobiles. You talk about American technocracy, and you find men on the moon - not once, but several times - and safely home again. You talk about scandals, and the Americans put theirs right in the store window for everybody to look at. Even their draft-dodgers are not pursued and hounded. They are here on our streets, and most of them, unless they are breaking Canadian laws, are getting American dollars from ma and pa at home to spend here. When the railways of France, Germany and India were breaking down through age, it was the Americans who rebuilt them. When the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central went broke, nobody loaned them an old caboose. Both are still broke. I can name you 5000 times when the Americans raced to the help of other people in trouble. Can you name me even one time when someone else raced to the Americans in trouble? I don't think there was outside help even during the San Francisco earthquake. Our neighbors have faced it alone, and I'm one Canadian who is damned tired of hearing them get kicked around. They will come out of this thing with their flag high. And when they do, they are entitled to thumb their nose at the lands that are gloating over their present troubles. I hope Canada is not one of those.\" Stand proud, America! Wear it proudly!! This is one of the best editorials that I have ever read regarding the United States. It is nice that one man realizes it. I only wish that the This is one of the best editorials that I have ever read regarding the United States. It is nice that one man realizes it. I only wish that the rest of the world would realize it. We are always blamed for everything, and never even get a thank you for the things we do. I would hope that each of you would send this to as many people as you can and emphasize that they should send it to as many of their friends until this letter is sent to every person on the web. I am just a single American that has read this, I SURE HOPE THAT A LOT MORE READ IT SOON."}, {"response": 251, "author": "kolin", "date": "Fri, Sep 14, 2001 (09:53)", "body": "\"Tribute to the United States\" This was written by Gordon Sinclair in 1973 regarding the Vietnam war. Gordon Sinclair died in 1984, but his sentiments resonate powerfully today. Canadians mourn with the Americans and are prepared to help any way they can. Anywhere between 50-500 Canadians are expected to be among the casualties of this horrific act. We are going to have a nationwide memorial service and moment of silence today. This attack was against all of us no matter where we live or come from."}, {"response": 252, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Sep 14, 2001 (10:11)", "body": "\"you know they're talking about profiling on the basis of ethnicity..\" I can just see the suits now on the basis of racial discrimination . We are a litigious society. This would never be tolerated. For years I was searched at Heathrow; someone on the Most Wanted List must have looked like me. I never minded. But this would never be done in the US."}, {"response": 253, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Sep 14, 2001 (10:12)", "body": "Yes, that email is making its rounds."}, {"response": 254, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Sep 14, 2001 (11:24)", "body": "Two of the world's most impressive structures have been taken down and over 10% of New Yorks office space has been eliminated. You get a sinking feeling when you read Bin Laden's biography and read that he has a degree in 1979 from King Abdul Aziz University in ... Civil Engineering. He has been running a construction company for over a quarter of a century. Meanwhile . . . WASHINGTON (Reuters) - About 20 police officers, many in SWAT gear, stormed an American Airlines jetliner at New York's Kennedy Airport on Thursday, subduing one man and handcuffing two others, possibly thwarting a hijacking attempt, a passenger aboard the plane told ABC News. http://us.news2.yimg.com/f/42/31/7m/dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010914/ts/attack_tradecenter_report_dc_1.html More (from CNN): 10 people arrested, getting on two planes -- one in JFK, one in LaGuardia. Some were trained in piloting at the same school as the hijackers on Tuesday. Some got caught at checkpoints, some made it onto planes. \"WASHINGTON, NEW YORK (Reuters)\" ... \"The Defense Department asked Bush to authorize the activation of tens of thousands of military reserve troops for ''homeland defense'', defense officials said.\" \"Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld planned to activate between 30,000 and 50,000 reservists to provide ``strike-alert'' jet fighter protection and perform other duties at domestic military bases.\" ... \"Afghanistan's ruling Taliban movement, which shelters bin Laden, warned of revenge ``by other means' if the United States attacked their country in retaliation for Tuesday's attacks.\" ... \"An ABC News/Washington Post poll released on Friday showed that nearly nine in 10 Americans approved of Bush's job performance -- a huge leap in the aftermath of Tuesday's terror attacks.\" \"Nearly seven out of 10 Americans supported military action against the groups or countries responsible for the attacks, even if that meant a long war with heavy U.S. casualties, the poll found.\" http://us.news2.yimg.com/f/42/31/7m/dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010914/ts/attack_dc_40.html"}, {"response": 255, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Sep 14, 2001 (11:27)", "body": "http://islamicsupremecouncil.org/Condemnation/support/bin_ladens_nukes.htm BIN LADEN'S NUCLEAR WEAPONS \ufffd ex-Soviet Warheads Become Fuel for Portable Terrorist Nuclear Bombs \ufffdArab-funded terrorists smuggle nuclear warheads, purchased from the Russian mafia with opium and cash out of Russian territory, reaching Khost overland via secret routes through Uzbekistan. There, former Soviet scientists remove the active uranium to be processed and placed in backpack-sized nuclear bombs\ufffdready for transportation to the West undetected\ufffdto explode in a blast of nuclear terror. Al-Watan al-Arabi, an Arabic language newsmagazine, reports that worldwide terrorist mastermind Usama bin Laden has used two tons of opium and $30 million to purchase over twenty nuclear warheads. Bin Laden has hired an international team of rogue nuclear scientists working in a secret underground base to convert warheads stolen from former Soviet republics into miniature portable nuclear devices capable of striking targets around the globe. The newsmagazine further states that bin Laden developed ties with the mafias of former Soviet republics during the Afghan War which provided him the key to obtaining nuclear missile warheads from the disintegrating USSR. The Arab Afghans, as bin Laden\ufffds fighters are often called, have established extensive bases and networks in many of the Central Asian and Caucasian republics where, due to the weakness of the central government and the minimal security, they are able to thrive unhindered. These terrorist groups operate under the cloak of extremist Islam claiming to oppose the local governments on religious grounds. However, in addition to their calls for the overthrow of \ufffdcorrupt Islamic governments\ufffd these groups serve as a channel for bin Laden to trade Afghani opium to the Russian mafia in exchange for stolen nuclear warheads. Al-Watan\ufffds sources reveal that bin Laden recently sent a delegation representing himself and the Afghani mafia to meet with the mafias of the former Soviet republics. These mafia groups share a common extremist ideology and have disguised their criminal activities under the name of Islam. These mafias have terrorized the governments of the newly-formed Central Asian republics intending to destroy them and replace them with those following their fierce, extremist ideology. This meeting of mafias was a prelude to bringing bin Laden out of Afghanistan and into power in one of these Central Asian"}, {"response": 256, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Sep 14, 2001 (11:28)", "body": "http://www.smh.com.au/news/0104/30/world/world8.html http://www.msnbc.com/news/295108.asp"}, {"response": 257, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Sep 14, 2001 (11:39)", "body": "I may have posted this before, but it's significant, this is what makes these attacks possible. Osama Bin Laden is using web encryption - from an article published months ago in USA Today http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/2001-02-05-binladen.htm I hate to use the term, but Bin Laden and the terrorists are a global, virtual community, they don't have to be in one physical place to survive, they can disperse to the far corners of the earth and still maintain contact using 128 bit encryption. That's the scariest part of all this this, they are invisible to all our current monitoring technology. They are extremely difficult to pinpoint and attack. This is what scares me the most about all this."}, {"response": 258, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Sep 14, 2001 (11:39)", "body": "WASHINGTON \ufffd Hidden in the X-rated pictures on several pornographic Web sites and the posted comments on sports chat rooms may lie the encrypted blueprints of the next terrorist attack against the United States or its allies. It sounds farfetched, but U.S. officials and experts say it's the latest method of communication being used by Osama bin Laden and his associates to outfox law enforcement. Bin Laden, indicted in the bombing in 1998 of two U.S. embassies in East Africa, and others are hiding maps and photographs of terrorist targets and posting instructions for terrorist activities on sports chat rooms, pornographic bulletin boards and other Web sites, U.S. and foreign officials say. from the above url"}, {"response": 259, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Sep 14, 2001 (11:40)", "body": "\"Uncrackable encryption is allowing terrorists \ufffd Hamas, Hezbollah, al-Qaida and others \ufffd to communicate about their criminal intentions without fear of outside intrusion,\" FBI Director Louis Freeh said last March during closed-door testimony on terrorism before a Senate panel. \"They're thwarting the efforts of law enforcement to detect, prevent and investigate illegal activities.\" A terrorist's tool Once the exclusive domain of the National Security Agency, the super-secret U.S. agency responsible for developing and cracking electronic codes, encryption has become the everyday tool of Muslim extremists in Afghanistan, Albania, Britain, Kashmir, Kosovo, the Philippines, Syria, the USA, the West Bank and Gaza and Yemen, U.S. officials say. It's become so fundamental to the operations of these groups that bin Laden and other Muslim extremists are teaching it at their camps in Afghanistan and Sudan, they add. \"There is a tendency out there to envision a stereotypical Muslim fighter standing with an AK-47 in barren Afghanistan,\" says Ben Venzke, director of special intelligence projects for iDEFENSE, a cyberintelligence and risk management company based in Fairfax, Va. \"But Hamas, Hezbollah and bin Laden's groups have very sophisticated, well-educated people. Their technical equipment is good, and they have the bright, young minds to operate them,\" he said. U.S. officials say bin Laden's organization, al-Qaida, uses money from Muslim sympathizers to purchase computers from stores or by mail. Bin Laden's followers download easy-to-use encryption programs from the Web, officials say, and have used the programs to help plan or carry out three of their most recent plots: Wadih El Hage, one of the suspects in the 1998 bombing of two U.S. embassies in East Africa, sent encrypted e-mails under various names, including \"Norman\" and \"Abdus Sabbur,\" to \"associates in al Qaida,\" according to the Oct. 25, 1998, U.S. indictment against him. Hage went on trial Monday in federal court in New York. Khalil Deek, an alleged terrorist arrested in Pakistan in 1999, used encrypted computer files to plot bombings in Jordan at the turn of the millennium, U.S. officials say. Authorities found Deek's computer at his Peshawar, Pakistan, home and flew it to the National Security Agency in Fort Meade, Md. Mathematicians, using supercomputers, decoded the files, enabling the FBI to foil the plot. Ramzi Yousef, the convicted mastermind of the World Trade Center bombing in 1993, used encrypted files to hide details of a plot to destroy 11 U.S. airliners. Philippines officials found the computer in Yousef's Manila apartment in 1995. U.S. officials broke the encryption and foiled the plot. Two of the files, FBI officials say, took more than a year to decrypt. \"All the Islamists and terrorist groups are now using the Internet to spread their messages,\" says Reuven Paz, academic director of the Institute for Counter-Terrorism, an independent Israeli think tank. Messages in dots U.S. officials and militant Muslim groups say terrorists began using encryption \ufffd which scrambles data and then hides the data in existing images \ufffd about five years ago. But the groups recently increased its use after U.S. law enforcement authorities revealed they were tapping bin Laden's satellite telephone calls from his base in Afghanistan and tracking his activities. \"It's brilliant,\" says Ahmed Jabril, spokesman for the militant group Hezbollah in London. \"Now it's possible to send a verse from the Koran, an appeal for charity and even a call for jihad and know it will not be seen by anyone hostile to our faith, like the Americans.\" Extremist groups are not only using encryption to disguise their e-mails but their voices, too, Attorney General Janet Reno told a presidential panel on terrorism last year, headed by former CIA director John Deutsch. Encryption programs also can scramble telephone conversations when the phones are plugged into a computer. \"In the future, we may tap a conversation in which the terrorist discusses the location of a bomb soon to go off, but we will be unable to prevent the terrorist act when we cannot understand the conversation,\" Reno said. Here's how it works: Each image, whether a picture or a map, is created by a series of dots. Inside the dots are a string of letters and numbers that computers read to create the image. A coded message or another image can be hidden in those letters and numbers. They're hidden using free encryption Internet programs set up by privacy advocacy groups. The programs scramble the messages or pictures into existing images. The images can only be unlocked using a \"private key,\" or code, selected by the recipient, experts add. Otherwise, they're impossible to see or read. \"You very well could have a photograph and image with the time and information of an attack sitting on your computer, and you would never know it,\" Venzke says. \"It will look no different than a photograph exchanged between two friends or fami"}, {"response": 260, "author": "Charlotte", "date": "Fri, Sep 14, 2001 (11:42)", "body": "\"I can tell you that El Al maintains a high level of security for its passengers by not discussing its procedures in the media,\" he said. HEAR, HEAR! Am I alone in believing that far too much information is given to terrorists, criminals, enemies in the name of \"freedom of speech\"?"}, {"response": 261, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Sep 14, 2001 (11:48)", "body": "And as a follow up to the above, from zdnet news The hunt for suspects in Tuesday's terrorist attacks has moved online. America Online has handed the FBI e-mail records for accounts belonging to the suspected hijackers, according to a report on CNN's Web site Thursday. AOL spokesman Andrew Weinstein declined to comment on any matters involving the investigation. AOL Time Warner's online division stores logs of when instant messaging users are on the network; it also can access e-mail correspondence under certain situations. \"We are cooperating with (the FBI) in this ongoing investigation,\" Nicholas Graham, spokesman for Dulles, Va.-based AOL, said Wednesday. Although Graham wouldn't provide details, he denied reports that the company had agreed to install a Carnivore surveillance system. The FBI developed Carnivore, now renamed DCS1000, to allow it to wiretap communications that go through Internet service providers. \"We are able to provide them with information on an immediate basis,\" he said, stressing that such an ability made Carnivore unnecessary. On Wednesday, EarthLink also acknowledged that it is working with the FBI to turn over specific information that may be relevant to the case. EarthLink's vice president of communications, Dan Greenfield, confirmed that the Atlanta-based ISP was served with a warrant under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to turn over information. FISA limits the ability of intelligence and law enforcement agencies--essentially the FBI, the CIA and the military information-gathering National Security Agency--from spying on the American public. The warrant covers investigations relating to the leakage of information to a foreign government and requires less burden of proof than a warrant in a criminal case. The directors of the FBI and the CIA as well as the secretaries of state and defense are the only government officials allowed to request a FISA warrant. Calling the warrant \"equivalent to a wiretap,\" Greenfield also denied that the company had let the FBI install a Carnivore system. \"We are not installing any equipment,\" he said. \"We are cooperating with a very specific request. There are concerns from our customers that we are giving arbitrary access to our network, and we are not.\" Most of the clues that have turned up so far in the hunt for suspects have been dug up through typical investigative footwork, not high-tech sleuthing. Authorities are searching for the accomplices of a well-organized group of suicide hijackers who commandeered four commercial jets Tuesday, effectively turning them into flying bombs. Two flattened the World Trade Center, while a third seriously damaged the Pentagon. The fourth plane crashed in a field. Some of the victims on hijacked aircraft used cell phones to describe the attacks to people on the ground. In addition, a review of the passenger lists has offered some leads. So far, five Arab men have been identified by Massachusetts authorities as suspects, according to two Boston newspapers. Authorities have also seized a rental car containing Arabic-language flight-training manuals at the city's Logan International Airport, where two of the hijacked planes originated, the papers reported. U.S. agents served warrants on homes and searched businesses in south Florida; they also issued alerts for two cars in connection with the attacks, local media reported. Jack Mattera, director of computer forensics for The Intelligence Group, which specializes in corporate investigations and crisis management, stressed that information technology will likely play a crucial role in finding out who planned the suicide attacks. \"Using high-tech to investigate is critical,\" he said. \"There are some things that gumshoe work is just not going to find.\" Security experts described Tuesday's attack as low-tech, with reports of knives being used as the primary weapons in the hijackings. Nevertheless, many suspect computers and the Internet may have played a critical role in planning the complex and highly coordinated operation. In February, George Tenet, the director of the CIA, warned members of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence that terrorists were using the Internet and high-tech tools to communicate. \"International terrorist networks have used the explosion in information technology to advance their capabilities,\" he told the committee. Mark Mansfield, spokesman for the CIA, declined to explain what tools the agency was bringing to bear, saying \"it would be ill-advised for us to talk about (our methods). It would not be a prudent thing to do.\" Both the NSA and the FBI declined comment as well. However, The Intelligence Group's Mattera said he believed that the requests for online information may be to check out the people who posted suspicious information in public chat rooms or online. \"I think there is some indication that there may have been some information posted to different groups that didn't specifically alert people at the time,"}, {"response": 262, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Sep 14, 2001 (11:51)", "body": "Gerard is still talking to us from on the ground in NYC. Gerard Van der Leun (boswell) Fri Sep 14 '01 (08:37) 45 lines Early this morning, looking out the window at the street, I suddenly started to see in my mind a whole chain of images from the last week. This was the first day when I had nothing in front of me that I had to do, and I just started to run the images... the rumble in my building, the confused chatter on the radio, the television images of the second plane coming in... the street outside my house with dozens all running toward the promenade to see the horro across the river.. the twin towers tall in the crisp and bright morning with the flames and smoke streaming up like obscene claws coming out of the building. and the sound and the sight of the first tower just going down and going down and the blast of dust up and spewing out of the canyons of wall street and the screams and wails around me as what we saw was so far beyond our ability to comprehend the enormity of it that we could have been just ants gazing at the sole of a descending boot... and the sick wet rumble that came across the water like a screaming beast having its innards torn out and the smoke, the immense plume of smoke that darkened the sun and went on and still goes on... and the rest of the day a dim numb blur i had i think something to eat and i went to get coffee in the bright sunlight with a friend and i called my daughter and found she was safe and far uptown, except of course she was not safe, as none of our children will ever be safe again until that thing that caused this is crushed and killed and ground to dust and sent down into the pit of oblivion forever."}, {"response": 263, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Sep 14, 2001 (11:59)", "body": "Gerard Van der Leun (boswell) Fri Sep 14 '01 (08:43) 28 lines and going back to my place and watching the endless repeats and the endless parade of the doomed and the wounded and the hordes of people in the distance jamming the bridge, the brooklyn bridge on which two large american flags fly, these people all going one direction, one direction only... out and away from the stench and the terror and the death... and somewhere in there the second tower came down down on thousands trying to escape and down on hundreds of what have to be the bravest and most noble souls in the world, the fireman, the fireman who were going up the stairs... up the stairs... UP THE STAIRS... we cannot know what sort of human spirit that takes we can never know... i have no humanity and no manhood and no courage when compared to these men, none of us do none of us... do you all understand that they went into this building and up the stairs?"}, {"response": 264, "author": "ekelley", "date": "Fri, Sep 14, 2001 (11:59)", "body": "I am ready and willing to give up my civil liberties if it means that we can remain safe here in the US and the rest of the world. People need to realize that right now, and not complain about it, as they inevitably will."}, {"response": 265, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Sep 14, 2001 (12:04)", "body": "Gerard Van der Leun (boswell) Fri Sep 14 '01 (08:56) 50 lines and the day went on and went on... inside to television.. outside into the reality... and the smell of it got stronger and the white ash of concrete ash of steel ash of paper ash of human beings drifted over me and everythingand everyone around me and settled white and obscene on everything and the smoke went on and the streets were filled with people whose faces were filled with fear and with grief and with anger and nobody spoke except to whisper to those next to them that they knew or perhaps did not know but knew now in this terrible day at some point i began to take pictures of the skyline which was not there any more, of the lives that weren't there any more... of little things... but it wasn't any use... it was pointless... feeling grief was pointless... only rage seemed to have a point, rage and hate, and it seemed important, very very important to retain that rage and hate as a wall against the pain and the despair... i walked out again and again to look across the river and to smell the smoke and to see the dust because i knew that nothing would ever be the same again, i knew that something had killed my world and the world of those i loved... of the world of all of us...and that no matter what we did that world would never be returned to us... that we could and we must honor and remember it.. that we must take terrible and complete vengence on those whose evil took it from us no matter what the cost... but that world, that indian summer world, would not be returned anymore than the lives of those who went up the stairs in the burning and collapsing tower would be returned. this morning for the first time i have been weeping, weeping not in tears but in a kind of dry low screaming agony that sweeps up in my chest. it comes and shakes me and then it goes away. i'm going to go out into this world now to tend to the little needs of my little day in my little world. i can't bear to remember anymore of this week for now even though I remember it all."}, {"response": 266, "author": "kolin", "date": "Fri, Sep 14, 2001 (12:41)", "body": "Over 100,000 people participated at the memorial service in Ottawa, with speeches by Jean Chretien, US ambassador Paul Celluci and Governor General Adrienne Clarkson. Chretien expressed the resolve of Canada to fully supprt U.S at this difficult time."}, {"response": 267, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Sep 14, 2001 (14:06)", "body": "Tony Blair's speech to the special session of Parliament was carried on FOX. He also expressed the support and allegiance to the US in tracking down the terrorists by every means available. Eloquent and sincere. Much appreciated."}, {"response": 268, "author": "Moon", "date": "Fri, Sep 14, 2001 (14:13)", "body": "Am I alone in believing that far too much information is given to terrorists, criminals, enemies in the name of \"freedom of speech\"? You are walking a very thin line here. But I agree with you. The thought of them having the possibility to make \"backpack nuclear bombs\" is a scary one. God bless us all!"}, {"response": 269, "author": "alyeska", "date": "Fri, Sep 14, 2001 (14:33)", "body": "President Bush gave a very inspiring speech at the National Cathedral as did Billy Graham. I was reduced to tears. My friend Jean is still awaiting word of her sister who was at the WTC for a conference."}, {"response": 270, "author": "alyeska", "date": "Fri, Sep 14, 2001 (14:33)", "body": ""}, {"response": 271, "author": "rachael", "date": "Fri, Sep 14, 2001 (14:49)", "body": "we had a three minute silence and a candle-lit vigil at work today, at 11am, led by our chaplain. It was very moving and I'm glad I was there, although it feels such a small thing to do in the face of such enormity. Tony Blair said we (in the UK) stand shoulder to shoulder with the USA; NATO said an attack on one of us is an attack on all of us; we know now that this is true, that along with thousands of Americans were hundreds of British citizens, Irish, Canadians, Australians, and more, and this event will touch many of us, world wide. My father, my uncle, and my grandfather were all firefighters. The loss of some of New York's finest is keenly felt in this home, many miles away. I'm lucky, my friend escaped, my cousin's colleagues and friends are safe. My heart goes out to those not so lucky, and I just hope the prayers we said and the thoughts we had, at 11am this morning in the UK, go some way to comfort those shouldering terrible burdens. I think I read somewhere that at 7pm tonight, US time, candles will be lit. 7pm in NYC is midnight here; I'll be lighting a candle then. Shoulder to shoulder; an attack on one of us is an attack on all of us. God bless you"}, {"response": 272, "author": "EileenG", "date": "Fri, Sep 14, 2001 (15:10)", "body": "(Mari) When I saw the new FAA \"security procedures,\" I'd have laughed if it weren't so pathetic. No plastic knives, huh? Well, that's ok, since they never cut through the crummy food they give you anyway.;-) Seriously, this is *so* primitive! B'ness as usual: 1. Panic. 2. Create specific reactive measures instead of broad proactive measures (golly gee, all 18+ hijackers answered the 'did you pack you own suitcase' question truthfully and they probably skipped curbside check-in). 3. Panic some more. Aargh! I was also LOL about the knives. Whatever will they do in first class, where the cutable food is served? Wait until someone chokes and sues. Or maybe they'll just ban airline food all together, or restrict it to the likes of those Otis Spunkmeyer cookies served by SouthWest. ;-) Winter, by the time you leave for Indo the carry-on requirements might be better defined. You could also look into shipping some of those items ahead."}, {"response": 273, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Sep 14, 2001 (15:24)", "body": "posted to a listserve Dear Friends, The following was sent to me by my friend Tamim Ansary. Tamim is an Afghani-American writer. He is also one of the most brilliant people I know in this life. When he writes, I read. When he talks, I listen. Here is his take on Afghanistan and the whole mess we are in. -Gary T. Dear Gary and whoever else is on this email thread: I've been hearing a lot of talk about \"bombing Afghanistan back to the Stone Age.\" Ronn Owens, on KGO Talk Radio today, allowed that this would mean killing innocent people, people who had nothing to do with this atrocity, but \"we're at war, we have to accept collateral damage. What else can we do?\" Minutes later I heard some TV pundit discussing whether we \"have the belly to do what must be done.\" And I thought about the issues being raised especially hard because I am from Afghanistan, and even though I've lived here for 35 years I've never lost track of what's going on there. So I want to tell anyone who will listen how it all looks from where I'm standing. I speak as one who hates the Taliban and Osama Bin Laden. There is no doubt in my mind that these people were responsible for the atrocity in New York. I agree that something must be done about those monsters. But the Taliban and Ben Laden are not Afghanistan. They're not even the government of Afghanistan. The Taliban are a cult of ignorant psychotics who took over Afghanistan in 1997. Bin Laden is a political criminal with a plan. When you think Taliban, think Nazis. When you think Bin Laden, think Hitler. And when you think \"the people of Afghanistan\" think \"the Jews in the concentration camps.\" It's not only that the Afghan people had nothing to do with this atrocity. They were the first victims of the perpetrators. They would exult if someone would come in there, take out the Taliban and clear out the rats nest of international thugs holed up in their country. Some say, why don't the Afghans rise up and overthrow the Taliban? The answer is, they're starved, exhausted, hurt, incapacitated, suffering. A few years ago, the United Nations estimated that there are 500,000 disabled orphans in Afghanistan--a country with no economy, no food. There are millions of widows. And the Taliban has been burying these widows alive in mass graves. The soil is littered with land mines, the farms were all destroyed by the Soviets. These are a few of the reasons why the Afghan people have not overthrown the Taliban. We come now to the question of bombing Afghanistan back to the Stone Age. Trouble is, that's been done. The Soviets took care of it already. Make the Afghans suffer? They're already suffering. Level their houses? Done. Turn their schools into piles of rubble? Done. Eradicate their hospitals? Done. Destroy their infrastructure? Cut them off from medicine and health care? Too late. Someone already did all that. New bombs would only stir the rubble of earlier bombs. Would they at least get the Taliban? Not likely. In today's Afghanistan, only the Taliban eat, only they have the means to move around. They'd slip away and hide. Maybe the bombs would get some of those disabled orphans, they don't move too fast, they don't even have wheelchairs. But flying over Kabul and dropping bombs wouldn't really be a strike against the criminals who did this horrific thing. Actually it would only be making common cause with the Taliban--by raping once again the people they've been raping all this time So what else is there? What can be done, then? Let me now speak with true fear and trembling. The only way to get Bin Laden is to go in there with ground troops. When people speak of \"having the belly to do what needs to be done\" they're thinking in terms of having the belly to kill as many as needed. Having the belly to overcome any moral qualms about killing innocent people. Let's pull our heads out of the sand. What's actually on the table is Americans dying. And not just because some Americans would die fighting their way through Afghanistan to Bin Laden's hideout. It's much bigger than that folks. Because to get any troops to Afghanistan, we'd have to go through Pakistan. Would they let us? Not likely. The conquest of Pakistan would have to be first. Will other Muslim nations just stand by? You see where I'm going. We're flirting with a world war between Islam and the West. And guess what: that's Bin Laden's program. That's exactly what he wants. That's why he did this. Read his speeches and statements. It's all right there. He really believes Islam would beat the west. It might seem ridiculous, but he figures if he can polarize the world into Islam and the West, he's got a billion soldiers. If the west wreaks a holocaust in those lands, that's a billion people with nothing left to lose, that's even better from Bin Laden's point of view. He's probably wrong, in the end the west would win, whatever that would mean, but the war would last for years and millions would die, not just theirs but ours. Who has the bel"}, {"response": 274, "author": "Becka", "date": "Fri, Sep 14, 2001 (15:33)", "body": "Rachael - My father, too, was one of the head Fire Chiefs in Toronto. Two of my uncles are currently Captains (it seems to run in families, doesn't it?) I am totally devastated by the deaths of those brave men. My Dad is crushed, and he just had a cornea transplant which makes his pain even worse. My Dad had meet those chiefs who died in NYC on a couple of occassions at international events. If it had been here, in Toronto, I probably would have lost a few members of my family. I am trying to help my Dad's department organize something here cause like many, I really want to help. At the moment I have had to turn the TV off as they are putting faces on the dead, and it is breaking my heart. Here in Canada 100,000 people showed up at Parliament Hill in Ottawa for a memorial ceremony - that is a huge number. I am so proud of Canadians, so proud for the world for sharing in this grief."}, {"response": 275, "author": "EileenG", "date": "Fri, Sep 14, 2001 (15:43)", "body": "Had the TV on all morning, sobbing. Each story is more heartbreaking than the next."}, {"response": 276, "author": "suzee202000", "date": "Fri, Sep 14, 2001 (16:15)", "body": "Washington Post New York Airport Suspects Cleared By Donna De La Cruz Associated Press Writer Friday, Sept. 14, 2001; 11:12 a.m. EDT NEW YORK \ufffd\ufffd About a dozen travelers of Middle Eastern descent who were detained at two New York airports have been cleared of any connection with this week's terrorist attacks, federal authorities said Friday. One person, however, remained in custody, said Barry Mawn, head of the FBI's New York office. That person had not immediately been charged and may be released, Mawn said. The incidents Thursday caused the region's three major airports \ufffd Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark, N.J. \ufffd to close again just hours after service had been restored because of the attacks. Authorities had been investigating whether the two groups \ufffd detained at Kennedy and LaGuardia \ufffd were more would-be hijackers or people related to the attack trying to flee the New York area. Sen. Joseph Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told CNN the arrests were based on suspicions that the men were linked to Tuesday's attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. One man was arrested because he was belligerent, while the others were merely detained and questioned, according to the senator's chief of staff, Alan Hoffman. Biden said there were explanations for the suspicions. One man was originally thought to be traveling with a fake pilot's license. Biden said the man was a pilot who also had his brother's identification. \"His brother happened to live in an apartment complex that was one in Boston where some of these people had actually been,\" said Biden, D-Del. Others were traveling to a Boeing Co. conference, either because they work for the airline manufacturer or were invited, Biden added. \"The folks at the airport thought, 'Hey, wait a minute, are they impersonating crew?' And they weren't.\" Mawn said he could not verify reports that the individuals had been taken forcibly off a plane. ---------------------------- I saw an interview on Good Morning American. A passenger said the pilot - after talking with those on board - told them to buckle up because they would soon be taking off. About 20 minutes later, men with guns drawn, in full riot gear, came in the rear and took the suspects away."}, {"response": 277, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Sep 14, 2001 (16:21)", "body": "This is incredible stuff - world wide empathy and support feels very good, indeed. Lest anyone mistake Rob's comments in Caps, I want to assure you that he is a very special friend; conservative, itelligent and thoughtful. He is not given to overstatement nor emotionalism. Emphasis is what those Caps were for, and, Rob, many warm thanks for your doing so."}, {"response": 278, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Sep 14, 2001 (16:49)", "body": "Tamim Ansary. Tamim is an Afghani-American writer. Wonder what this guy is doing to help his country except write emails?"}, {"response": 279, "author": "suzee202000", "date": "Fri, Sep 14, 2001 (16:55)", "body": "Washington Post New York Airport Suspects Cleared By Donna De La Cruz Associated Press Writer Friday, Sept. 14, 2001; 11:12 a.m. EDT NEW YORK \ufffd\ufffd About a dozen travelers of Middle Eastern descent who were detained at two New York airports have been cleared of any connection with this week's terrorist attacks, federal authorities said Friday. One person, however, remained in custody, said Barry Mawn, head of the FBI's New York office. That person had not immediately been charged and may be released, Mawn said. The incidents Thursday caused the region's three major airports \ufffd Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark, N.J. \ufffd to close again just hours after service had been restored because of the attacks. Authorities had been investigating whether the two groups \ufffd detained at Kennedy and LaGuardia \ufffd were more would-be hijackers or people related to the attack trying to flee the New York area. Sen. Joseph Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told CNN the arrests were based on suspicions that the men were linked to Tuesday's attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. One man was arrested because he was belligerent, while the others were merely detained and questioned, according to the senator's chief of staff, Alan Hoffman. Biden said there were explanations for the suspicions. One man was originally thought to be traveling with a fake pilot's license. Biden said the man was a pilot who also had his brother's identification. \"His brother happened to live in an apartment complex that was one in Boston where some of these people had actually been,\" said Biden, D-Del. Others were traveling to a Boeing Co. conference, either because they work for the airline manufacturer or were invited, Biden added. \"The folks at the airport thought, 'Hey, wait a minute, are they impersonating crew?' And they weren't.\" Mawn said he could not verify reports that the individuals had been taken forcibly off a plane. ---------------------------- I saw an interview on Good Morning American. A passenger said the pilot - after talking with those on board - told them to buckle up because they would soon be taking off. About 20 minutes later, men with guns drawn, in full riot gear, came in the rear and took the suspects away."}, {"response": 280, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Sep 14, 2001 (17:00)", "body": "Womack Diary, Day 3 *8-/ Subject: Day 3, and this morning Date: Friday, September 14, 2001 9:10 AM From: Womack, Jack Our secretary Heather (who just moved here from Alaska, two weeks ago) and myself are the only people on our floor so far this morning. Yesterday we were essentially told the building would be open, but after that it was up to us. And, as my ISP is down in the Closed Zone (I called them \"control zones,\"), I can't do email from home (and so won't be writing again till Monday), here I am, at least for a couple of hours. This morning it's raining, very hard, a frog-strangler. I don't think it's rained this hard this consistently all year. My pants are still wet and the tie's soaked through. This has made rescue attempts pretty much impossible, today, not that at this point anyone is really expecting survivors -- they were saying on the news that the dust down there, wet, has the consistency of oatmeal; and that with every half-inch of rain that falls, several additional tons of weight begin pressing down on everything. The subways down there have also all flooded, even before this, what with water main breaks in evidently several locations (This water of course is also soaking into foundations throughout the area). It's also turning much cooler -- somewhere in the 60s today, and yesterday afternoon it got up to the mid-80s, I think, and was humid enough to notice. It came to me this morning that the reason 30,000 body bags are on hand for what appears will be 5,000 casualties is that the 5,000 are all in pieces, and each piece of course will need to be bagged separately. There was a drawing in the Daily News today showing the outlines of all the buildings surrounding where the Trade Towers stood, and noting that at least 9 of them have suffered major structural damage. The Milennium (sic) Hotel and 1 Liberty Plaza I mentioned yesterday. Among the others in bad shape is one of my favorites, the 1927 Bell Telephone building at the corner of Barclay & West. It stands next to both the North Tower and 7 WTC, both of which collapsed. It's a Ferris-silhouette art deco beauty, and the building is built over the sidewalk on the Barclay St. side, a stone arcade running the length of the block. Cool in the summer. It looks like the only residential area fully evacuated was Battery Park City, where Ellie lives (she is still staying with patrick & Teresa, I am hoping she's been able to get some sleep soon). No word on when that'll open back up but I can't imagine it'll be anytime soon. THis morning, coming out of the subway, I was maybe one of three or four people. After yesterday, which at moments almost felt like a normal day (or, rather, a day in the gone world), today seems much more like Wednesday did, except far more grim due to the rain. As all of you know in the rain New York's color goes, essentially, gray. Very gray. And that's how it looks today. With luck, it will at least finally clear the dust out of the atmosphere (it struck me yesterday that one of the many interesting things we've all been breathing in the past few days are bits of infinitesimally powdered glass). But if the other buildings start falling, the cloud will come back. In this sort of weather in the past, of course, the cloud cover overlying NY would generally be so low as to hide the Trade Towers for view, and it was pleasant to be able to fantasize, at such moments, what downtown NY used to look like when they weren't there. I was reading, somewhere, that some European is already saying that he & others will get all European nations to help rebuild at least one of the towers if not both, bigger and taller and clearly even more of a hideous target. Thank you Europe, but no, please. Here are the ongoing bigger or more interesting changes in the event, both onsite and in media, that I'm noticing. I talked about some of these last night with Clute. 1. The first media memorial teddy bear site appeared. In Union Square, which is right at 14th Street where the No-Traffic Zone begins. Some workmen brought up a piece of steel from the Trade Towers and wrapped it around a stele, or flagpole, or something -- they never pan up of course to show you what the thing is, focusing instead on the flowers being left. The one good thing is at this point, no teddy bears have appeared. It's mostly single flowers and pictures of missing people, so I'm actually not sure that a media-driven Mourning Zone will take hold. I suspect because everything in New York is a Mourning Zone, and everyone here is too much in shock, still, to even be thinking of those goddamned teddy bears. 2. The dawning awareness of New Yorkers, such as myself & Ellen Datlow (who I met for a couple of drinks last night, down in Chelsea, as she was finally able to get above 14th.), that this is actually being paid attention to out in the country. A very funny thing, this -- the sense I think held to varying lengths of time by people who live here that what has happened is in some "}, {"response": 281, "author": "Moon", "date": "Fri, Sep 14, 2001 (17:08)", "body": "Evelyn, Tamsin is an Afghani-American who has been living here for 35. His country is America. Thank you for posting Tamsin's letter. We're flirting with a world war between Islam and the West. My husband is Italian and he has been saying this for years, that it would happen. This is their holy war, this is just what they want. Americans and the international community believe they will be going to war to fight against terrorist, but they will be fighting the holy war."}, {"response": 282, "author": "CherylB", "date": "Fri, Sep 14, 2001 (17:26)", "body": "Marcia, I wasn't at all offended by Rob's use of capital letters. He only used them to emphasize one particular thought in his post. It is a time of high emotion and different people express themselves differently. As it is also a time of high stress, some may react to certain things more strongly than would be the norm. It would seem that no harm was meant either by Rob or those who had been put off by his use of upper case letters. I've been able to contact my friends living in New York. Everyone is physically fine, but they say that they feel emotionally sick and bruised. So do I for that matter. Lastly, the Pennsylvania crash site isn't all that near Pittsburgh. It lies about 80 miles to the southeast, near the Maryland border, about 35 miles SSW of Johnstown. Pittsburgh is the largest city near it, and more people have an idea of where Pittsburgh is than were Johnstown, PA is. The plane crashed in Somerset county which is a very rural area. It came down in a cornfield. Fortunately no one on the ground was hurt."}, {"response": 283, "author": "Charlotte", "date": "Fri, Sep 14, 2001 (17:37)", "body": "Last night one network (I forget which) reported that they had \"found\" 10 policemen on the 2nd underground level...one of them had reached his wife via cel phone. Has anyone heard more about this? Is it confirmed? I could find nothing about it on any of the other networks."}, {"response": 284, "author": "suzee202000", "date": "Fri, Sep 14, 2001 (18:03)", "body": "It was a hoax. Friday September 14 11:36 AM ET NY Mayor Asks Media for Accuracy By DAVID BAUDER, AP Television Writer NEW YORK (AP) - Mayor Rudolph Giuliani (news - web sites) asked the news media to be more careful reporting about the World Trade Center rescue operation Friday, saying wrong information is raising false hopes and endangering workers. ``Some of it can be very dangerous and emotionally damaging,'' he said. He cited false reports that a potential survivor had been in contact with people by cell phone, and that 10 or 15 people were trapped alive in a store. Media outlets reported Thursday that five firefighters trapped since Tuesday had been rescued from the trade center rubble. It later turned out that only two who were trapped in an air pocket for several hours Thursday were found alive. Not only does false information play with the emotions of people with missing friends and relatives, it can send rescue workers on dangerous, fruitless chases, he said. He urged news organizations not to report such details until confirmed by police and FBI (news - web sites). ``If we could all be a little more patient and verify information before we put it out, we won't raise people's hopes unnecessarily,'' Giuliani said. CNN anchorwoman Paula Zahn, responding on the air to Giuliani's request, noted that it has been difficult to get accurate information out of the rescue site. ``We're all trying to heed this advice,'' she said. ``Unfortunately, everybody is being given conflicting information.'' ABC, CBS, NBC and the cable networks were into their fourth day of exclusive devotion to the story on Friday. News executives say they're keeping in mind television's role as a national gathering place in times of emergency. Network news chiefs uniformly expressed pride in how their profession has performed this week. ``There's really been a careful approach to the story that combines aggressiveness in getting information out with the awareness that we should not be speculating and we should not be alarming people,'' said CBS News President Andrew Heyward. NBC is being careful in its wording to not equate Islam with extremism even if some of the religion's believers masterminded the attack, network news President Neal Shapiro said. Until Giuliani announced Thursday that 4,763 people were missing at the World Trade Center, networks had generally been careful not to guess on the number of casualties. An exception: network reports that as many as 800 people died at the Pentagon; the estimate is now 190. There were also widely varying reports on the number of body bags brought to the World Trade Center site. News organizations also made different decisions when confronted with video depicting victims jumping from the World Trade Center to certain deaths; CBS showed it, ABC refused. ``It was not some sort of gratuitous, individual tragedy where we were exploiting someone's personal pain for some kind of sensational purpose,'' Heyward said. ``Quite the opposite. This was absolutely germane to the context of the story and vividly conveyed the sheer horror in a way that was journalistically appropriate.'' Offered the same video, ``without any hesitation we turned it down,'' said ABC News President David Westin. ``I don't believe that showing actual human beings leaping to their deaths was helpful.'' CNN showed images of things falling from the World Trade Center, but they weren't necessarily identifiable as humans, CNN Chairman Walter Isaacson said. NBC showed footage of a body falling once and decided not to anymore. The same was true at Fox News Channel. ``I don't think it's an easy call,'' NBC's Shapiro said. ``I don't condemn anybody who chose to run it.'' At least two networks were planning specials to help children cope. Peter Jennings will anchor a one-hour ABC special for youngsters Saturday morning, and Nickelodeon will present ``Nick News : Kids, Terrorism and the American Spirit'' with Linda Ellerbee on Sunday night. ---------------------------------------- If someone who knows how would delete my double post, I would be grateful. -- I think I hit reload and it sent all again - at least it shows on my computer."}, {"response": 285, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Sep 14, 2001 (18:07)", "body": ""}, {"response": 286, "author": "Charlotte", "date": "Fri, Sep 14, 2001 (18:18)", "body": "Thanks, Suzee. (I only saw one copy of your post, by the way.)"}, {"response": 287, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Sep 14, 2001 (19:27)", "body": "we are skating on thin ice in this topic by venting our anger here. this will not help anyone. the afghani-american writer above makes sense, IMMHO. the Holy War is what these people want. and they sure as heck are trying hard to get it too. it's all around us, look at Israel, look at the Serbs, look at Ireland, for goodness sakes. this is ridiculous. ok, the service today was wonderful though i was a bit worried about all those people in the same place. tonight at 7, please light a candle!! and if you've flown a flag today, thank you so much. my sub-division either didn't have the flags or were too afraid to show them but to those who did, thank you very much!!"}, {"response": 288, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Sep 14, 2001 (21:00)", "body": "My candle is lit and sitting vigil at the base of my flagpole.. 7 PM was 1 PM here and it is broad day light. The candle will remain as long as it burns. The flag at half staff is coming down at sunset to rise then lower to half staff again tomorrow. Fighting amongst ourselves just plays into their hands. Come on world, we're better than that!!! Terry, MSNBC ran the Bin Ladin interview this afternoon again. You sure you want to see this man?"}, {"response": 289, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Sep 14, 2001 (21:04)", "body": "a new CNN article which explains how the Taliban are trying to defend Bin Laden and turn this into a religious war: http://www.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/asiapcf/central/09/14/afghan.denial/ _Prepare for Holy War_ \"Now, the third empire of the world wants to impose an attack on us,\" [supreme Afghan leader Mullah Mohammed Omar] said. \"As you know better, it is not because of Osama [bin Laden]. This is the demonization of Islam.\" Well, this idiotic move does nothing more than confirm their role as a Bin Laden conspirator."}, {"response": 290, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Sep 14, 2001 (21:21)", "body": "... To insistent chants of \"U.S.A.! U.S.A.!\" from the crowds of workers, Mr. Bush took hold of a small bullhorn and climbed atop a small pile of rubble. He then shouted over a chorus of cheers that he wanted the rescuers to know that all America was deeply grateful for their efforts. \"This nation stands with the good people of New York City, and New Jersey and Connecticut, and we mourn the loss of thousands of our citizens\" he said. To cries of \"George, we cant hear you!\" the President replied: \"I can hear you! I can hear you!\" \"The rest of the world hears you,\" he added. \"And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon!\" ... more at: http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/14/national/15CND-BUSH.html"}, {"response": 291, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Sep 14, 2001 (21:36)", "body": "that was wonderful--the chanting and that he went straight in there...but because of the whole security issue where he is concerned, the operation slowed down. did anyone else get that impression? yes, terry, The Holy War between the west and islam."}, {"response": 292, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Sep 14, 2001 (21:44)", "body": "Please, just do not make a martyr of Osama Bin Ladin. I am pleased with how America is responding. Makes me all gritty determination mixed with misty patriotism. I will do without, I will do what is necessary. Just do it right! Go to website and see the pics in all 4 sections. Humbling, maddening, speechless... This should never have happened. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/photo/attack/newyork/6.htm"}, {"response": 293, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Sep 14, 2001 (21:45)", "body": "that was wonderful--the chanting and that he went straight in there...but because of the whole security issue where he is concerned, the operation slowed down. did anyone else get that impression? yes, terry, The Holy War between the west and islam."}, {"response": 294, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Sep 14, 2001 (22:19)", "body": "No one's making a martyr of Bin Laden. He's dispicable. They keep saying he's worth $300 million. The Banks aren't very top notch in Afghanistan. Where's he keeping this money. We should find out and confiscate all his money. NBC is now reporting that a couple of guys with box cutters were arrested off an Amtrak train in San Antonio, the cops thought they were drug dealers because they had a lot of cash. Now they're thought to be major players in this terrorist network. It's been getting a lot of local attention, now it's starting to break nationally. US officials are in the Caymans investigating a letter warning about a major terrorist act against the US involving airlines. It was treated as \"merely speculation\" by the government (whose?, the Caymans?). Three men are being held in the Cayman Islands."}, {"response": 295, "author": "Moon", "date": "Fri, Sep 14, 2001 (23:35)", "body": "This Cayman's connection sounds like that's where they might have a bank account. That should be investigated. the Holy War is what these people want. We are going back to the Crusades. There has been a major influx of Muslims all over Europe and in some cases such as Rome, they insist on having a mosque built. I would like to see in which Muslim country one can go live at and insist they build a Catholic church. It would never happen."}, {"response": 296, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Sep 14, 2001 (23:37)", "body": "Sebastian Mendler (smendler) Fri Sep 14 '01 (20:26) 83 lines Subject: groping towards a solution (fwd) Hi, friends -- Okay, let's see here... tell me if I am incorrect in any of the following points, or in the reasoning that I am trying to distill from them. 1. Unless I remember wrongly, the Japanese were seen during WWII much the same way as the Islamic Extremists are being seen now -- driven by religious fervor, unable to be reasoned with for that reason, not afraid to die for their cause. 2. This religious fervor was defused after the war by Hirohito shedding his divine status, and a constitutional monarchy being established in Japan. 3. The majority of Japanese had little or no problem making the transition. This probably had something to do with the fact that the most fervent believers in the old system were, well, dead. 4. The huge occupation force in Japan both respected many traditional Japanese institutions, and defanged the more troublesome ones. 5. At the same time, the Americans in that force brought back to the US awareness of many aspects of Japanese and Asian culture that had hitherto been little-known in the US. 6. They also brought along some wives. 7. The Afghani people are in dire straits indeed -- so dire, some say, that bombing them would be pointless, there's nothing worth bombing. The resulting weakness is one reason why the Taliban have not been tossed out on their turbans. 8. As the saying goes, you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. 9. The point of the globalist movement -- which one assumes includes Bush, Powell, et al. -- is that Our Way of Life is the best one, so we need to get everybody involved in it. At least, that's sorta what they'll tell you if you ask. 10. The Japanese, rebuilt, became an economic powerhouse, and a key player in the world economy. It liked the results. The former militarist viewpoint, while still maintained by a few bitter conservatives, lost its former stranglehold on the soul of the nation. 11. So perhaps it makes more sense, not to try a purely military operation, but rather to try more of a *cultural* invasion. Think of the liberation of Pepperland from the Blue Meanies by the Beatles in _Yellow Submarine_. Restore color, light, and music to a dark, silent, depressed land. Wall-to-wall carpeting, not carpet bombings. PT Cruisers, not cruise missiles. Water, not napalm. Perfume, not tear gas. 12. Such an operation would still have its military aspects, and they would be huge. All the invading force of aid workers, fashion designers, educators, doctors, chefs, musicians, jugglers, car dealers, etc. would need to be protected while they did their jobs. Any attacking forces would be squelched, stomped, eradicated; but in the absence of attacks, life would get better and better for the folks that cooperated. This force would be much more like a police force than an army. (Sometimes, the best defense is to not be offensive.) 13. At the same time, we would not repeat the Soviets' mistake of trying to eradicate the fundamentalists. Chase them into the hills, and let them live their lives the way they want to. In fact, make sure they do; protect them from *all* outside influences, and protect the outside from theirs. Do not try to follow them into the mountains. 14. In this scenario, there would be plenty of opportunities for the more bloodthirsty among us to kick some righteous butt -- the beachheads (so to speak) will be tough to establish -- but these opportunities would ultimately be in the service of the healers. 14. At the same time, there are transformations to be effected within the Western world -- but maybe we should save that for another time... Am I on a promising track here? / /skip"}, {"response": 297, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Sep 15, 2001 (00:05)", "body": "Terry, Dear, you were not the one I thought might martyr this sick man and his followers. Unhappily we need give them no more reasons to hate Americans and want to kill them. His followers need little urging to create mayhem, it seems. *HUGS* (despicable is the nicest thing I have heard him called all week!)"}, {"response": 298, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Sep 15, 2001 (00:07)", "body": "Bin Laudin is an ex-Saudi. He just about holds the ruling house ther hostage for letting us land jets in Saudi Arabia during the gulf war. I am certain Swiss accounts are numerous, too."}, {"response": 299, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Sep 15, 2001 (00:14)", "body": "Oh Skip, if only it were that simple. We are discussing a belief system here not a political one. Too many serf in both instances. How long do you think the dress designers would last in a land and religion which hides their women and treats them as chattel (not to mention mutillation, so I won't mention it.) Our do-gooders would be deader then doornails as soon as they landed. This is an other world. They are not insular, this cell system of radical Islamists! They infiltrate every layer of society and in OUR country of dress desingers, and still loathe us enough to kill us in cold blood - civilians!!! Think some more... I'm listening!"}, {"response": 300, "author": "Bethanne", "date": "Sat, Sep 15, 2001 (00:26)", "body": "Well seeing as Bin Laden is as good as he is, at keeping his movements and his intentions hidden, I doubt if hiding $300 million in a series of international bank accounts, would be all that hard for him. If it is stashed away in Swiss bank accounts, I'm not holding my breath that it can be found and confiscated any time soon. How long did it take for the Swiss banking authorities to finally cooperate, in tracking down loot stolen by the Nazi's....45, 50 years ?"}, {"response": 301, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sat, Sep 15, 2001 (00:37)", "body": "The Japanese, rebuilt, became an economic powerhouse, and a key player in the world economy. This was the way that the Brigate Rosse terrorists in Italy where defeated as well. And did you know that Baywatch is the number 1 TV show in Iran? Unfortunately, the world has not acted on this before and now things have gone too far. Their Muslim radical power works on the poor because religion thrives in poor countries. The Jihad has started. I only pray that no atomic bombs will be used from either side."}, {"response": 302, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sat, Sep 15, 2001 (00:38)", "body": "If it is stashed away in Swiss bank accounts, I'm not holding my breath that it can be found and confiscated any time soon. It is different now. There no longer is secrecy in Swiss banking."}, {"response": 303, "author": "Bethanne", "date": "Sat, Sep 15, 2001 (01:26)", "body": "ROTFLMAO Moon.....Baywatch is the Number 1 rated program in Iran ? Are you serious ? Yikes, I bet the late Ayatollah Khomeni is just thrilled to bits, not to mention David Hasslehoff....LOL Thanks for that Moon, I needed a good laugh after this weeks trauma. By the way, what are #2 and #3 Three's Company and Charlie's Angels ?"}, {"response": 304, "author": "laughingsky", "date": "Sat, Sep 15, 2001 (09:28)", "body": "I have never experienced such a massive show of patriotism as I have in the last few days. Last week, I admit that I would have passed many American flags with my thoughts absorbed in something else, never really and truly acknowledging the stars and stripes and for what that flag stands for. Somehow, in times past, the word \"patriotism\" has always rattled a little nerve in the \"government-is-out-to-get-us\" leftist side of me. Today, though, I am beginning to look at that flag and the word \"patriotism\" in a different light. Don't get me wrong - I'll still be looking over my shoulder, but, I am feeling a great sense of togetherness with this \"patriotism\" attitude. It is only saddening to realize what it has taken to get me to this place."}, {"response": 305, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Sep 15, 2001 (09:42)", "body": "http://pain.outloud.org/gary/thankyou/ These are photos from around the world of people stopping and praying, lighting candles, etc. big page but worth the wait time. There's a photo of Arafat giving blood. And this link is to a Yahoo! \"slide show\" of 20+ photos of newspaper front pages from around the world after the attack. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?p=news&g=events/ts/091201newspapers&e=1&tmpl=sl&nosum=0&large=0?tamp=1000366704\",610,580) ; This was an attack on the world trade center and it was an attack on the world, that building housed so many nationalities and religious types, I'd like to see a breakdown. BBC morning news reports that Pakistan is not going to allow an assault from bases in their country, we'll have to stage from India? Or Dushanbe? The Russians may be advising us on how to invade Afghanistan, do you see the irony in this? We're going to need a multi-faceting approach with not only air strikes but covert activity and ground troops. And at the same tiem we're going to have to bolster our homeland defense, unlike the Gulf War where there were only air strikes and no danger at home."}, {"response": 306, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Sep 15, 2001 (10:18)", "body": "Pakistan won't allow flights originating from their land but they'll most likely allow flyovers. The European community may offer some support but not likely overwhelming, though I'm comforted by Tony Blair's statements and actions, they've been courageous. Russia and India will be our staunchest allies. Need a million or so soldiers? India has 'em and would probably put them out on to the battlefield. An alliance with Russia will minimize China overnight. I just hope I'm wrong about lukewarm Euro participation. This is the first war of this century in a millenium that started out looking like it would belong to China and Asia. Now that balance may be changing and it will become the century of global, English speaking democracies lead by America, India, Canada, UK, Australia, and New Zealand. This may have the effect of changing the balance of power for a century to come. We're lost the symbol of our Western global economy, but in the processed it's galvanized the global English speaking democracies in a way we would never have done spontaneously. Think about this in your little cave, Osama. Think about a wealthy, technologically advanced, English speaking India ruling the region. Think about about a total global power change that will transform tragedy in to a brighter future for all mankind. India and Russia may need this kind of power boost from the US, they're struggling and they need to be galvanized and energized in the direction of becoming sane, technologically advanced democracies."}, {"response": 307, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Sep 15, 2001 (11:04)", "body": "\"English\" is not the tie that binds when it comes to India's involvement."}, {"response": 308, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sat, Sep 15, 2001 (11:16)", "body": "Tha Russians did rather poorly in Afghanistan and I doubt that India would would be heavily involved. I would like to see what those tradionally \"leftist\" European countries do."}, {"response": 309, "author": "toyce", "date": "Sat, Sep 15, 2001 (11:17)", "body": "As for the lukewarm European leaders' response, didn't they learn from the 1930's that appeasement did not change any outcome?"}, {"response": 310, "author": "toyce", "date": "Sat, Sep 15, 2001 (11:18)", "body": "Karen is right. If India joins this, it will probably be for Hindu revenge against the Muslims."}, {"response": 311, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Sep 15, 2001 (11:51)", "body": "FBI Press Response September 14, 2001 Washington D.C. FBI National Press Office The following is a list of the nineteen (19) individuals who have been identified as hijackers aboard the four airliners that crashed on September 11, 2001, into the North and South Towers of the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon, and Stony Creek Township, Pennsylvania. Information listed for each hijacker differs, but may include date of birth, address provided, or visa status. This is the extent of the information available at this time. The FBI requests that anyone who may have information about these individuals-even though they are presumed to be dead- to immediately contact an FBI filed office or call the toll-free hotline at 1-866-483-5137. American Airlines #77 Boeing 757 8:10 am departed Washington Dulles for Los Angeles 9:39 am crashed into the Pentagon 1) Khalid Al-Midhar - Possible residence (s) : San Diego, California and New York, New York; Visa Status: B-1 Visa, but B-2 Visa had expired. 2) Majed Moqed - No information available. 3) Nawaq Alhamzi - Possible residence (s) : Fort Lee, New Jersey and Wayne, New Jersey and San Diego, California. 4) Salem Alhamzi - Possible residence (s) : Fort Lee, New Jersey, and Wayne, New Jersey. 5) Hani Hanjour - Possible residence (s) : Phoenix, Arizona and San Diego, California. Believed to be a pilot. American Airlines #11 Boeing 767 7:45 am departed Boston for Los Angeles 8:45 am crashed into North Tower of the World Trade Center 1) Satam Al Suqami - Date of birth used: June 28, 1976; Last known address: United Arab Emirates. 2) Waleed M. Alshehri - Dates of birth used: September 13, 1974/January 1, 1976/ March 3, 1976/ July 8, 1977/ December 20, 1978/ May 11, 1979/ November 5, 1979; Possible residence (s) : Hollywood, Florida/ Orlando, Florida/ Daytona Beach, Florida; Believed to be a pilot. 3) Wail Alshehri - Date of birth used: July 31, 1973; Possible residence (s) 4) Mohamed Atta - Date of birth used: September 1, 1968; Possible residence (s) : Hollywood, Florida/ Coral Springs, Florida/ Hamburg, Germany; Believed to be a pilot. 5) Abdulaziz Alomari - Date of birth used: December 24, 1972 and May 28, 1979; Possible residence: Hollywood, Florida; Believed to be a pilot. United Airlines #175 Boeing 767 7:58 am departed Boston for Los Angeles 9:05 am crashed into South Tower of the World Trade Center 1) Marwan Al-Shehhi - Date of birth used: May 9, 1978; Possible residence: Hollywood, Florida; Visa Status: B-2 Visa; Believed to be a pilot. 2) Fayez Ahmed - Possible residence: Delray Beach, Florida. 3) Ahmed Alghamdi - Possible residence: Delray Beach, Florida. 4) Hamza Alghamdi - Possible residence: Delray Beach, Florida. 5) Mohald Alshehri - Possible residence: Delray Beach, Florida. United Airlines #93 Boeing 757 8:01 am departed Newark, New Jersey, for San Francisco 10:10 am crashed in Stony Creek Township, Pennsylvania 1) Saeed Alghamdi - Possible residence: Delray Beach, Florida. 2) Ahmed Alhaznawi - Date of birth used: October 11, 1980; Possible residence: Delray Beach, Florida. 3) Ahmed Alnami - Possible residence: Delray Beach, Florida. 4) Ziad Jarrahi - Believed to be a pilot. Topic 14 [attack]: Events of Sept 11, 2001 #54 of 65: Bruce Sterling (bruces) Fri Sep 14 '01 (21:26) 85 lines *Every Time I Hear \"A New Era for Humanity\" Announced, I Really Have to Wonder If It Can Last Even Six Months *8-/ Subject: Yann Moix: A New Era for Humanity Date: Friday, September 14, 2001 11:52 AM From: Patrice Riemens Reply-To: Patrice Riemens To: A New Era for Humanity by Yann Moix Liberation (Paris), September 14, 2001 original in French at http://www.liberation.com/ny2001/actu/20010914venze.html Bingo, folks! The World will never go at war again, and yet it will be at war always, period. War and non-war, there shall be no difference any more. From the 11th of September 2001, all will be war, even peace. Peace shall no longer be the opposite of war, but its context, its natural environment, its ecosystem, its scene, its background, its screen-saver. War and peace shall no longer be each others contraries (that was in the good old manichean East vs West times), but they shall be imbricated the one in the other, like the two connected faces of the same reality. Peace shall be a kind of specific sub-case of war. War shall henceforth be everywhere and nowhere. War shall be waged in the dustbins of the Paris railtermini, war shall be waged above our heads in the air of the metropolises. War shall be permanent. War shall be open for business 24/24, 7/7 , just like CNN. There shall be intermissions, but no reprieve. It shall be a war blind, yet precise, fuzzy, yet targeted. Because never before has the distortion been so stark between fuziness of the causes and the acuurateness of the strikes. The First HyperWorldWar has started. It is a war where all pretenses will fly, and where acts will be used as statements of purpose afterwards. Let's call this a hyperwar: a world where "}, {"response": 312, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sat, Sep 15, 2001 (11:52)", "body": "The Tamil Tigers in India have caused thousands of deaths because of terrorist attacks. As you see this is truly a Holy War. Those \"leftist\" European Countries have lost their religion and have become homocentric. There is -0 population growth because young couples even if they bother to get married are not interested in having children. They prefer the material to the spiritual. It will be interesting to see what kind of allegiance those countries give the US."}, {"response": 313, "author": "toyce", "date": "Sat, Sep 15, 2001 (11:57)", "body": "Just heard Netenyahu (sp?) on Fox. He made a good point. The reporter tried to make a comparison between the communists and the terriorists with regard to nuclear weapons. He said that was incorrect. He said the communists put their lives above their ideology. These people put their ideology above their lives."}, {"response": 314, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Sep 15, 2001 (12:13)", "body": "A chronology of strikes by Laden on US interests NEERAJ SAXENA TIMES OF INDIA NEWS NETWORK NEW DELHI: A glance at the chronology of terrorist attacks made on the US in the past one decade would indicate that the destiny of the US and its one- time bete noire Osama bin Laden have almost become inextricable. If the US is to be believed, almost all the attacks have been carried out or aided by bin Laden. However, the US has been harsh with its usual suspect just once. The missile attacks on his safe haven in Afghanistan and Sudanese factory was the only time when the US displayed its military might in retaliation. In 1996, former President Bill Clinton had even signed a secret order that authorised the CIA to use any and all means to destroy Laden's network, but the world's most powerful state has not been able to ensure this. In August, 1996, a secret grand jury investigation began against bin Laden in New York. He was quick to sign and issue a declaration of jihad on August 23 against the US and UAE, outlining his organisation's goals. CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS December 29, 1992: A bomb exploded in a hotel in Aden, Yemen, where the US troops had been staying while en route to a humanitarian mission in Somalia against guerilla leader Muhammed Aidid. The blast killed two Austrian tourists as the US soldiers had already left. RESPONSE: Two Yemeni Muslim militants, trained in Afghanistan and injured in the blast, arrested later. US intelligence agencies said this was the first terrorist attack involving bin Laden. February 26, 1993: A car bomb went off in the basement parking of the now fallen World Trade Centre, killing six people and injuring over 1,000. RESPONSE: Six accused, including the mastermind and confidante of Laden -- Ramzi Yousef -- sentenced to 240 years in prison for the bombing, for plotting to destroy WTC, the UN headquarters and to plant bombs on airliners flying out of the east coast. Ramzi was extradited from Pakistan and had close links with Laden according to the US. October 3, 1993: Eighteen US troops killed in a guerilla attack in Mogadishu, Somalia. American law enforcement, intelligence and national security officials are divided as to whether, as a Federal indictment charges, bin Laden and his associates trained and armed Somalia warlord Aidid's men. RESPONSE: Over 300 rebels claimed to have been killed by the US Rangers. April 19, 1995: A US government establishment in Oklahoma city bombed by an explosives laden truck parked in the car park of Alfred P Murrah building, killing 168 people, and wounding over 500. RESPONSE: Initially, the US suspected Osama bin Laden to be behind the bombing, but a 27-year-old misguided youth Timothy McVeigh was captured later, convicted and later executed. A key witness Terry Nichols sentenced for life. November 13, 1995: Five Americans and two Indians killed in the truck bombing of a US-operated Saudi National Guard training center in Riyadh. RESPONSE: The US accuses bin Laden. He denies involvement, but praises the attack. June 25, 1996: A large truck bomb devastates the US military residence in Dhahran called Khobar Towers, killing 19 servicemen. RESPONSE: The US military initially Laden had a hand in the attack, but now believes that a Saudi Shiite group was responsible. But US investigators still believe Bin Laden was somehow involved. August 7, 1998: US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania bombed by a suicide bomber, killing over 230 people and leaving over 4,500 injured. RESPONSE: US retaliates swiftly on August 20 by firing 70-80 `Tomahawk' Cruise missiles at alleged terrorist training camps in Khost, Afghanistan and the Al-Shifa pharmaceutical plant in Khartoum, Sudan saying it was a chemical weapons factory. Several of Osama Bin Laden's alleged co- conspirators put behind bars in the US. October 12, 2000: A small dinghy laden with explosives rammed into US warship USS Cole in Aden Harbour, Yemen, killing 17 US sailors and injuring 39 others. RESPONSE: Besides blaming Laden, the US has not done much by the way of a retaliation so far."}, {"response": 315, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Sep 15, 2001 (12:19)", "body": "335 newspaper front pages -- 189 from the day after the attack and 146 extra editions published on the day of the hijackings. http://www.poynter.org/index.cfm"}, {"response": 316, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Sep 15, 2001 (13:06)", "body": "On the topic of bin Laden's money, Forbes has some info: http://www.forbes.com/2001/09/14/0914ladenmoney.html Highlights: Although bin Laden's been kicked out of Saudi Arabia and his citizenship revoked, much of his money is 'tied up in businesses' in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. He also has access to 'charitable foundations,' not named, that are 'unregulated and untaxed.' Following a description of the abject poverty of Afghanistan, it talks about how bin Laden and other expatriate Saudis live there and pay 'a lot of rent.' You can afford a private army for $35,000 a month as you don't have to pay people much. Money is transferred from country to country via an informal network called \"Hundi,\" basically just individuals transferring money among themselves. Very difficult to track."}, {"response": 317, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Sep 15, 2001 (15:07)", "body": "We could probably solve the airline hijack issue with the installation of an \"auto lander\" which could over ride the pilots and land the plane if it deviated off course and the pilots did not respond with a password or other test. The airline doors need to be strengthened and pilots shouldn't be able to open them during flight, and anyone on the passenger side of the door or doors (two or three makes more sense) would absolutely be unable to penetrate them. The problem is solvable. But there are so many other unsolved procedures we need to put in place for so many as yet undreamed of scenarios."}, {"response": 318, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Sep 15, 2001 (15:21)", "body": "From http://www.janes.com , a global security website, has issued a list of the places that are known to have involvement with Al-Qaeda, bin Laden's organization Algeria Egypt, Morocco Turkey Jordan Tajikistan Uzbekistan Syria Xinjiang in China Pakistan Bangladesh Malaysia Myanmar Indonesia Mindanao in the Philippines Lebanon Iraq Saudi Arabia Kuwait Bahrain Yemen, Libya Tunisia Bosnia Kosovo Chechnya Dagestan Kashmir Sudan, Somalia Kenya Tanzania Azerbaijan Eritrea Uganda Ethiopia The West Bank and Gaza."}, {"response": 319, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Sep 15, 2001 (16:32)", "body": "Correct me if I am under a misconception, but do we not worship the same GOD ultimately? How can they call it a Holy War and worship God? I have a copy of the Q'ran and it says nothing of the kind they are espousing. It is an excuse for greed and warped minds in which to find reason for their vengeance."}, {"response": 320, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Sep 15, 2001 (17:16)", "body": "it is just like anything else, cultish behavior brainwashing persons wishing to belong to anything. islam is a peaceful religion. i was told that the women wear the abayaah to protect themselves from being leered at by men. when they are home, the abayaah is removed. much like the latino community, arabians are family oriented and often house extended families. at no time did i feel like i was a piece of garbage while in Kuwait. the stares that i received were because i am different from what they are used to seeing. men and women of all walks live and work there. these people are just like us, have the same concerns as we do. i witnessed one father rewarding his child for a job well done at school. so please, do not assume that the arabian community is strange and should be feared. there are radicals in all communities, look at the guy in montana, he was american! look at the KKK, hello, people! sadly, there are scams out there to get your money all in the name of this tragedy. do not give to these telemarketers because there is no campaign to gain donations this way. something interesting: the taliban first mumbled that this was terrible, then pleaded that we do not bomb this poor country, then threatening surrounding neighbors that if they support the U.S., they will be attacked by holy warriors."}, {"response": 321, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sat, Sep 15, 2001 (19:48)", "body": "but do we not worship the same GOD ultimately? You must go back to the Crusades, Marcia to get your answer. i was told that the women wear the abayaah to protect themselves from being leered at by men. Women are barely seen in the streets. They are second class citizens if at all. A western woman respectfully travelling in those countries (as I have found myslf on occassion), better not get the urge to go to the bathroom outside their hotel."}, {"response": 322, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Sep 15, 2001 (19:53)", "body": "The assassination of Massoud was no coincidence. It was most likely a signature attack by Bin Laden to eliminate Afghanistan's greatest anti-Taliban fighter. He was killed by explosives hidden in a belt or camera the day before the WTC attack. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/15/international/asia/15MASS.html http://frontierpost.com.pk/main.asp?id=8&date1=9/15/2001 I'm unclear if Pakistan will or will not allow us to use their country as a staging area. If someone hears about this will they post it here? GERMAN OFFICIALS have asked the FBI and the Securities and Exchange Commission to look into whether bin Laden\ufffds associates may have \ufffdsold short\ufffd stock in a Munich, Germany, company that holds secondary insurance on the World Trade Center. http://www.msnbc.com/news/629380.asp The stock market will open at 9:30 pm EST on Monday. Biggest losers: airline stocks Biggest winners: military, cellular, security, tech stocks Other big losers: insurance stocks, hotels Other winners: teleconferencing systems, construction companies, fractional aircraft. Ramzi Yusef, architect of first World Trade Center bombing, carried plans for airliner suicide crashes: http://www.worldtribune.com/wta/Archive-2001/me_terrorism_09_13.html"}, {"response": 323, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Sep 15, 2001 (19:54)", "body": "I slipped with Moon."}, {"response": 324, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Sep 15, 2001 (21:17)", "body": "in case there is any confusion, i was told by a kuwaiti man why the women wear an abaayah. yes, there are countries in which arabian women are treated as third-class citizens. but, it was witnessed by me, women were treated with respect, no walking 6-ft behind the man or anything. they drove, ran businesses, walked with their similarily clad men, wearing gold jewelry, etc. i can only relay what i saw in kuwait. these men wait until they are well into their 30's before marrying in order to prove that they are worthy of a wife, to care for her financially and whatever children they have. one arabian man said it clearly, the Koran (sp?) condemns behavior such as this. the muslim community needs to stand up to bin laden and use the word to show him as being wrong. several islamic people were interviewed and again reiterated that the Koran doesn't suggest anything of this nature. in fact, the Koran refers to all religions, christianity and judaism, not as being infidels, but as those included in the book, and infidels being those who do not believe at all (athiests). bin laden may see this as a holy war, but, it is not, because the religion he proclaims to be an interpretor of, would not allow this. again, it's based on perception. another thing i find interesting is that all the time, we are referred to as the devil, evil, etc. isn't that what we're doing? the deed was evil but we cannot condemn a whole peoples because of that. yes, i believe the guilty should and will pay. and so, i pray that the countries vowing support and our country do not do anything irrationally. that we think through whatever our actions may be. yes, we are angry, that is a step in grief, but let us take our time and move through this. anyway, who am i to say anything..... i think this discussion is healthy. *HUGS* to all!!!"}, {"response": 325, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Sep 15, 2001 (21:22)", "body": "oh yeah, this may be the least of their worries right now, but....has anyone started piling up the mass of paper that flew out of the WTC? i wonder if any of the accounts and such could be put back together with what was left of that? and, how come the paper didn't incinerate?"}, {"response": 326, "author": "Bethanne", "date": "Sat, Sep 15, 2001 (22:34)", "body": "Totally changing the subject for a sec.....I saw on CNN yesterday that the major US airlines lost $300 million per day, when they were grounded for 3 days. I am puzzled by this. I can understand why they may lose money in future, from a drop off in bookings. But surely every person who booked a flight from Sep 11-13, would have paid for it in advance. Who here of us, goes some where with out having booked and paid for it weeks, if not months in advance ? So wouldn't the airlines have the money from all those grounded flights, already in the bank ? I can see where they would lose money from the refunds they gave some people. But news reports showed most people waiting the delay out and not getting refunds. So where did this $300 million loss come from ? Sorry if I sound mercenary and trivial. I am the daughter of an airline man, so I suppose curiosity about them, is in my blood."}, {"response": 327, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Sep 15, 2001 (23:11)", "body": "Hugs to both Wolfie and Moon. You are both right. I just talked to a close friend who is Lebanese Muslim. She says depending on your sect, the rules vary as does status in the community make for variations. You also don't show the soles of your feet and you do not eat with your right hand....they do not shake hands - you wipe off human waste with that hand... and on and on. We need no acrimony....we are dealing with people who do not even understand each other!"}, {"response": 328, "author": "LouiseJ", "date": "Sat, Sep 15, 2001 (23:13)", "body": "The losses were not from this week's flights. The airlines have already received most of the money for this week's tickets. But they also sell tickets on a daily basis for next week, next month, next year, etc. Apparently they would have sold $300M worth of these tickets per day. Because of the crisis, they could not, because they did not know when, or if, they would be able to fly again. Even now that flights have resumed, they apparently anticipate a substantial reduction in the number of tickets sold, due to fear of flying, longer delays at airports due to security, etc. From now on, it's going to be an uphill battle to sell tickets to people who don't \"need\" to fly. This is why they expect to lose a lot of money. They still have the same number of planes to pay for, airport lease facilities to pay for, etc. So--the same fixed expenditures going out with much less in ticket sales coming in. The only \"flexible\" spending they have in the short run is employees, so they have to lay people off. And they were already hurting big time from the increase in fuel prices. Not many glimmers of hope for them."}, {"response": 329, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Sep 15, 2001 (23:26)", "body": "Kuwait is not Afghanistan. Kuwait does not have a fundamentalist theocracy. Afghani Muslims are not Arabs. Perhaps you're not aware of what the Taliban has done to women since taking over there. I believe I've heard that 60% of the airlines costs are fixed (paid out regardless of whether they fly or not). As you must be aware, the airlines don't make any money on those tickets to poor idiots like us, who get discounted fares. The full-fare tickets for business flyers subsidize the rest of us. *HUGS* to all!!!"}, {"response": 330, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Sep 15, 2001 (23:32)", "body": "Thanks Karen and yes, we are not dealing with an easy problem. I had one guy IM me today he was so angry he just tore up a remote highway at 100 mph (yeah, in the Cobra) We need to bond not feud and if we do not hug one another, we are doomed. \"Group Hug\" sounds so foolish but I think it is warranted. *HUGS TO ALL*, as Karen put it so well!"}, {"response": 331, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Sep 16, 2001 (00:19)", "body": "For those of you who hear of phophesies, please look at this page before leaping onto the pyre: http://www.snopes2.com/inboxer/hoaxes/predict.htm"}, {"response": 332, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Sep 16, 2001 (00:40)", "body": "The full plan: 1. Destroy the World's Financial hub (succeeded beyond wildest dreams of terrorists) 2. Take out the military center of the US (very partial success) 3. Take out the President or Congress (failed) Good thing they only partially succeeded, if they had gone 3 for 3 we'd be in very, very serious trouble right now. This is not World War III, not yet anyway. This is about a band of criminals who are holding a decimated country in fear and trembling. The link for the Canada piece that Alice, my sister, sent me is http://www.rcc.ryerson.ca/schools/rta/ccf/personal/hof/sincla_g.html Gordon Sinclair wrote it, he died in 1984, the piece was written in '73 and was inspired by the criticism of America during the Vietnam era. I'll send this to my sister so she understands the context. It's in very wide circulation. From what I've read, I think the best approach would be to work cooperatively with the Afghan resistance and with India/Pakistan against the Taliban, one which allow a democratic state to emerge comprised of native Afghans."}, {"response": 333, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Sep 16, 2001 (00:40)", "body": "slippage again."}, {"response": 334, "author": "Bethanne", "date": "Sun, Sep 16, 2001 (00:54)", "body": "Gee thanks CNN, the whereabouts of Britany Spears is foremost in my thoughts these days. CNN has a news ticker across the bottom of their screen and it is all really serious stuff...Bush speech extracts, Talaban declarations, death toll estimates, etc etc Then all of a sudden this appears....\" Pop Princess Britany Spears is stranded in Australia, due to the FAA ban on all international flights. She has cancelled all her European engagements at this time. \" I mean hello CNN.....who gives a rats a$$ ? By the way, what is this about a ban on incoming international flights ? It's the first I have heard of it ? Is it true, or did I read the ticker thingy wrong ? I guess I was just distracted by the plight of poor lil' Britany....LOL"}, {"response": 335, "author": "Bethanne", "date": "Sun, Sep 16, 2001 (01:05)", "body": "1. Destroy world's financial hub ( suceeded beyond wildest dreams ) Did they really ? A lot of companies have ( in a purely logistical sense ) been put to a lot of expense and inconvenience. But has the world's financial hub really been destroyed ? Several buildings have gone down, but the infrastructure remains intact, bruised and bloody to be sure, but still intact. New York is one huge financial colossus, it is a many headed beast, with many, many tentacles. As devestating as the loss of the WTC is ( in human and monetary terms ). It is just one of these heads, the main body of the beast remains alive. ( Sorry, didn't mean to make that sound like something from a horror flick. ) As an example, the HQ of American Express were in Tower #1. They occupied 1 million sq ft of office space on many floors. However, they ( bless 'em ) took their butts across the river to temporary quarters in Jersey City. They now expect to be up and running ( at granted, very limited capacity, for now ) by Monday."}, {"response": 336, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Sep 16, 2001 (01:11)", "body": "It would have been more appropriate to say the world's financial *symbol* has been erased, we will remain strong as an economy. The 1-2-3 knockout would have been devastating had it succeeded, knocking out the White House would have pretty demoralizing on top of the World Trade. I'm glad those heroic passengers took action."}, {"response": 337, "author": "Bethanne", "date": "Sun, Sep 16, 2001 (01:27)", "body": "Yup Terry, spot on....devestating doesn't even begin to describe what could have happened if they went 3 for 3 By the way, thanks so much for starting up this topic. It has been a much appreciated source of information, fellowship and goodwill since the horrors of Tuesday morning."}, {"response": 338, "author": "AotearoaKiwi", "date": "Sun, Sep 16, 2001 (05:29)", "body": "Hi all Marcia, a question regarding a couple well known pieces of classical music? First of, does the military drum beat of Mars: Bringer of War mean anything significant at the moment?? Second \"I vow to thee my country\" is the chorus associated with Jupiter: Bringer of jollity. Patriotism is presumably alive and kicking at the moment in the United States and soldiers, sailors and airmen are thinking, \" I vow to thee my country\"?? Yes?? Finally, I listened to Sprach Zarathustra on Friday night, and wondered if the ominous opening bars mean anything with regards to the few terrifying seconds before the wayward jets that were aimed at the WTC, struck. Do you wonder?? Rob"}, {"response": 339, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Sep 16, 2001 (07:05)", "body": "Gerard Van der Leun (boswell) Sat Sep 15 '01 (23:18) 107 lines Patrick writess: > Boswell, from the bottom of my heart, please, log off and go and do something positive. Go and hug your daughter. Go and enroll in an anti- terrorism class. Go and make a speech on the corner. Go and pray. And I thank you for that advice. Actually, today, I did log off in the morning. Then I did something positive by attending the funeral of Father Michael Judge, the Chaplin of the New York Fire Department (I have made a pact with myself to attend as many of the 300 funerals of the NYFD members as I physically can). Father Judge, who had decades of service in the NYFD, was as you may know, killed in the collapse of the towers as he was giving the last rites to citizens killed in the attack as other firemen were going UP THE STAIRS. If anyone here thinks that I have terrible convictions about this and is shocked or dismayed at my hate and rage, they might spend some time in front of one of the many churches of New York in the coming weeks and look into the eyes of the police and firemen and everyday workers from Queens, the Bronx, Brooklyn or the other bouroughs and tell me then how much mercy they can see there. These are the men who are dealing with this now, and by and large these will be the type of men who will be fighting this war abroad and here on our land -- and there *will* be more of this here in our land -- in this city and in your cities -- and you or someone you know will be maimed or die from it. So start to understand what is happening now and what is going to happen when the truck with the explosives in it drives onto the Golden Gate Bridge and the driver of that truck tells the other truck at the foot of Mission that he's all set to light it up. Then you will be standing in front of a church (if you are lucky, as I was), and you will find yourself weeping as I did (and you will not be alone in this), and then you will understand what you do not understand now. And for this I weep for you. So the pipes played and this great and good man was carried away. And then, yes, I did go into the church and although I am not a religious man, I did pray. Then I walked to 14th street where my daughter works and I saw her and I did hug her. I shopped for some vegetables at the Green Market and walked into the crazy quilt memorials and peace and chanting maze that Union Square has become .. a kind of bizarre Princess Di Death Monument, overwhelmed in it's peace and love adornments with page after page and image after image of what we are now politely calling \"the missing\" -- as in 'most of these real people from many nations are now atomized. Then I came home to care for my dear and sick friend. Then, as she slept, I logged on here and saw what one always sees -- the sleepers and the dreamers and the few trying to make sense of things, and those who say \"if only we had done this,if only we had done that\"... Those who still cannot grasp that everything is, in the words of the poet, \"changed utterly. A terrible beauty is born.\" But none of this or anything else I may place here is really for anyone other than myself. This is my journal put out in the raw as I think it. I really don't have any other purpose than that. People can make of it it what they will. So, Patrick, that's what my day was like. Strangely it filled most of your requirements without even knowing what they would be. I even made a speech of sorts on the street. When the hearse bearing the body of Father Judge was passing down the street behind the flag and through two lines of pipers playing, I noticed that a goodly number of people lining the streets were just watching or, even more odious, taking photographs. I've never spoken out on the streets since Berkeley in the 60s, but quite to my surprise I found myself saying, I think, \"Citizens. A great man is passing. We do not take pictures. We salute him.\" And placing my right hand over my heart in a gesture I haven't used in well over 40 years, I did so. Some others did as well. Strange that we have forgotten how do do this, isn't it? Perhaps we should start to remember this and some other things as well."}, {"response": 340, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Sep 16, 2001 (09:14)", "body": "The American Red Cross in New York is calling for help from the IT community. \"The New York American Red Cross is in dire need of technology equipment and services,\" Joe Leo, assistant director of the American Red Cross in New York, told NewsBytes. \"The field workers and rescue sites have little, if any, means of communication, and the central office is processing way too much on completely paper systems. Any help in acquiring these resources would be greatly appreciated,\" he said. Leo highlighted an immediate need for Citrix server engineers and Microsoft- certified consultants to help with setting up systems that will aid the rescue process. Laptops, wireless networking cards, printers, CD burners and other equipment are also required. \"Essentially, anything you can give us, we can use,\" Leo said. Other IT requirements include the need to develop a single system for tracking missing people. A database is in the process of being complied containing pictures, dental records and descriptions of the missing. ... Joe Leo at the American Red Cross can be phoned at (212) 875-2409 or e- mailed at jleo@arcgny.org. Donations of equipment can be sent to his office: 150 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY 10023. Mr Leo asked that only those who want to volunteer contact him directly."}, {"response": 341, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Sep 16, 2001 (10:28)", "body": "you're correct, Karen, Kuwait is not Afghanistan, of that I am well aware. I am also aware that not all Muslim sects observe the same ideals or practices. My intention was not to make a broad statement about the treatment of Islamic women and I'm sorry if some of you read it that way. Generalizations are being made, stereotypes being set or reaffirmed. My point was that I personally witnessed a part of Islam that I was not aware of before my visit to Kuwait. Fine, Saudi, Afghanistan, Turkey, etc., have harsher views, that point is well known and well taken. My point was that an idea I had about this religion was changed."}, {"response": 342, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Sep 16, 2001 (10:28)", "body": "marcia, thank you for that website about predicition hoaxes!"}, {"response": 343, "author": "laughingsky", "date": "Sun, Sep 16, 2001 (12:19)", "body": "I second that thanks to Marcia!"}, {"response": 344, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Sep 16, 2001 (13:08)", "body": "From an account of Congressional testimony given in 1998: Since taking power, the Taliban militia group, which now controls much of Afghanistan, has placed Afghan women under virtual house arrest. The Taliban has decreed that women and girls can no longer attend school; women are banned from employment; women are not allowed to leave their homes unless accompanied by a husband, father, brother, or son; women who do leave their homes have to be covered from head to toe in a \"burqa,\" with only a mesh opening to see and breath through; the windows of homes with women occupants are required to be painted opaque so the women inside cannot be seen; women are prohibited from being treated by male doctors; and women are banned from wearing white socks and shoes that make noise as they walk. \"Women are being beaten, shot at, and even killed for violating these draconian decrees -- for merely trying to go to work, leaving their homes alone, or violating the Taliban's extreme dress orders,\" stated Leno. Leno also shared a report from journalist Jan Goodwin that girls at the state orphanage in Kabul have not been allowed to leave the building to go outside since September of 1996 -- although the boys go outside every day to attend school and to play. \"The abuses of women and girls in Afghanistan have been justified in the name of religion and culture. However, the Taliban's decrees are foreign to the religion, the culture, and the people of Afghanistan,\" said Leno, who related that before the Taliban took control schools were co-educational, 70% of teachers were women, 40% of doctors were women, and Afghan women did not cover themselves with the burqa. For additional information the gender apartheid going on in Afghanistan: http://www.feminist.org/news/pr/pr030298.html http://www.cnn.com/2000/ASIANOW/central/07/13/afghan.women/ http://www.rawa.org/"}, {"response": 345, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sun, Sep 16, 2001 (13:37)", "body": "It's incredible that you would have to post this information, Karen. I have known this for years and I thought it was common knowledge. :-( Please read this letter that was posted by someone who was on the first flight out of Logan Airport. You will understand the new security procedures. http://www.pemberley.com/bin/ramble/ramble.cgi?read=37767"}, {"response": 346, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Sep 16, 2001 (13:45)", "body": "I posted it for those who were unaware of the situation and did not realize what the Taliban has been doing."}, {"response": 347, "author": "ekelley", "date": "Sun, Sep 16, 2001 (16:24)", "body": "Thank you for posting that Karen. I knew that the women were forced to completely cover themselves, but I had no idea it was so horrible. I hope we can help them in some way through all of what is to come."}, {"response": 348, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Sep 16, 2001 (16:34)", "body": "I heard from one of the talking heads on Sunday monring tv that Afghanistan is 70% women, can someone confirm that?"}, {"response": 349, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Sep 16, 2001 (17:11)", "body": "MSNBC and CNN report that Pakistan has delivered an ultimatum to the Taliban: turn over Bin Laden within 72 hours or face military attack from Pakistan. From Pakistan . We've scared the hell out of them. Another article: http://www.charleston.net/pub/news/commentary/dillar0913.htm However, the '90s cutbacks in intelligence - in a time of growing complexity in the world - was a critical misstep that laid the groundwork for the failure to foresee the events of Sept. 11, 2001. These cuts have prevented our intelligence agencies from acting on complete information. Terrorist organizations, as well as those groups that would proliferate weapons of mass destruction, can only be effectively countered with a robust and well-funded human intelligence capability . . . I heard on MSNBC that El Al has been sealing off the cockpits of their planes for the last 25 years."}, {"response": 350, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Sep 16, 2001 (17:26)", "body": "A whole lot of intelligence information on Afghanistan comes from the CIA Factbook, I've compiled in this web location: http://www.spring.net/afghan We may be developing a special section of the Spring to deal with the coming world conflict and we may even add a conference on this or expand more topics in the news conference. Here is a proposed topic list: 1 coping with the crisis 2 the attack 3 what can we do? 4 where were you when you heard? 5 racism 6 information on the net 7 hindsight 8 what will change? 9 world response 10 local impact where you are 11 economic impact 12 President Bush 13 travel in the post attack world 14 Osama Bin Laden 15 What will become of Civil Liberty? 16 media coverage 17 thinking like the enemy, what next? We can either add these to news, all or some of them, or we can create a new conference called? attack? terror? I think we already have a conference called InternationalConflict or something like that, it never got used much."}, {"response": 351, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Sep 16, 2001 (17:28)", "body": "SJ Mercury news has some numbers on the international casualty toll at WTC... 100 Britons confirmed dead, final toll expected to be higher 250 Indians feared killed, injured and missing a dozen Mexican nationals, of over 100 citizens working at WTC 100 Russians missing 50 Bangladeshi confirmed dead, more missing 8 Australians confirmed dead, 80 others missing 100 Japanese unaccounted for other nationals believed lost include Canadians, S. Koreans, Zimbabweans, Taiwanese, Italians, colombians and Filipinos, but no numbers reported. The number that worries me are the 250 Indian nationals, given Pakistan's ties to the Taliban, not to mention the Indian/Pakistani conflicts over, say, Kashmir, or their nuclear arms race."}, {"response": 352, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Sep 16, 2001 (17:29)", "body": "Here are the \"official\" figures: International casualties in the \"attack on america\" (preliminary official figures): Argentina: 2 missing Australia: 9 confirmed dead, 85 missing Bangladesh: 50 confirmed, more missing Belgium: 60 missing Brazil: 5 missing Canada: 2 confirmed, 100 missing (est) Chile: 1 missing China: 4 confirmed, 30 missing Colombia: 6 confirmed, 116 missing Denmark: 15 missing Dominican Republic: 3 missing Egypt: 1 confirmed, 3 missing El Salvador: 1 confirmed, 18 missing Finland: 41 missing France: 81 missing Germany: 4 confirmed, 700 missing Great Britain: 100 confirmed, 400 missing (est) India: 250 missing Indonesia: 1 confirmed, 1 missing Ireland: 4 confirmed Israel: 1 confirmed, 150 missing Italy: 8 missing Japan: 2 confirmed, 100 missing Lebanon: 1 confirmed, 2 missing Malaysia: 7 missing Mexico: 150-500 missing (est) Norway: 15 missing Pakistan: 3 confirmed, more missing Paraguay: 2 missing Peru: 5 missing Philippines: 7 missing Portugal: 3 confirmed, 20 missing Puerto Rico: 1 missing South Africa: 1 confirmed, 2 missing South Korea: 1 confirmed, 27 missing Spain: 9 missing Sweden: 1 missing Switzerland: 4 confirmed, 10 missing Taiwan: 9 missing Zimbabwe: 6 missing (data collected from newspapers and government websites. ) http://hem.passagen.se/eff/2001_09_01_bot-archive.htm That's nearly 3,000 people from 40 nations confirmed dead or unaccounted for."}, {"response": 353, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Sep 16, 2001 (17:35)", "body": "An invaluable resource: http://www.sabawoon.com/afghanpedia/Afghanistan.shtm"}, {"response": 354, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Sep 16, 2001 (18:08)", "body": "And here's a list of many web sites about Afghanistan: http://www.abyznewslinks.com/afgha.htm"}, {"response": 355, "author": "laughingsky", "date": "Sun, Sep 16, 2001 (18:22)", "body": "Open letter from Saddam Hussein to the American peoples and the western peoples and their governments. http://www.uruklink.net/iraqnews/enews8.htm"}, {"response": 356, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Sep 16, 2001 (19:46)", "body": "As this excerpt from a New Yorker article from a while back shows, we have to be careful in how we conduct air strikes against terrorist camps in Afghanistan and other places. These camps are undoubtedly dispersing physically and forming virtually in cyberspace as we speak. \" http://www.newyorker.com/PRINTABLE/?FROM_THE_ARCHIVE/010917fr_archive07 The American war against bin Laden has affected United States policy throughout much of the Islamic world, particularly in South Asia and the Middle East. Memorably, on August 20, 1998, the Pakistani Army's chief of staff, General Jehangir Karamat, was playing host in Islamabad to his American counterpart, General Joseph Ralston, the vice-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Around ten o'clock in the evening, as the two men were having dinner, Ralston looked up from his chicken tikka, checked his watch, and informed his host that in ten minutes some sixty Tomahawk cruise missiles would be entering Pakistan's airspace. Their destination, he said, was Afghanistan, where bin Laden was believed to be operating four training camps. General Karamat was stunned, and appalled. \"It was a 'This is happening as we speak' kind of conversation,\" an American intelligence official told me. \"Ralston was there, on the ground, to make absolutely certain that when the missiles flew across Pakistan's radar screen they would not be misconstrued as coming from India and, as a consequence, be shot down.\" The intelligence official paused for a moment, and then said, \"This is one hell of a way to treat our friends.\" By the following day, General Karamat's anger\ufffdand that of the government he served\ufffdhad turned to rage. A number of the Tomahawks either had been poorly targeted or had not fallen where they were aimed. Two of the four training camps that were hit and destroyed, in the Zhawar Kili area of Afghanistan's Paktia province, were facilities of Pakistan's own intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence, or I.S.I. According to a highly placed official, five I.S.I. officers and some twenty trainees were killed. The government of Pakistan was not only furious but embarrassed, because it had not been taken into Washington's confidence. Why had there been only ten minutes' notice? And why had General Karamat been notified, instead of the Prime Minister? Pakistan wasn't our only affronted ally. Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, and the Palestinian Authority\ufffdindeed, much of the Islamic world\ufffdexpressed dismay. The United States had reason to be embarrassed as well. For, despite President Clinton's claim, in a televised address a few hours after the missile strikes, that a \"gathering of key terrorist leaders\" had been expected to take place at one of the target sites, bin Laden and his top lieutenants were more than a hundred miles away when the missiles struck. The meeting that Clinton referred to had occurred a month earlier, in Jalalabad."}, {"response": 357, "author": "Echo", "date": "Sun, Sep 16, 2001 (20:25)", "body": "I have just returned home (to the UK) from a short trip abroad during which I had no access to the Internet, therefore wish to take this opportunity to register my deepest sympathy and untold horror and revulsion at the recent events in America."}, {"response": 358, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Sep 16, 2001 (20:36)", "body": "I thought this map might be valuable to those of you who are having trouble figuring out the geography of all of this \"flyover\" \"staging area\" stuff. I find the tiny shared border with China to be rather interesting. I wasn't aware of that. http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/middle_east_and_asia/sw_asia_pol00.jpg The story JoAnn refers to says that Cheney and others in the Pentagon weren't notified of the hijacking until 35 minutes after the air traffic controllers had contacted the military, and well after U.S. jet fighters were in the air. Unforuntately, the fighters were dispatched from a base 130 miles away, rather than Andrews, 15 miles away Subject: [archivists] Attack Archive: Please suggest sites Date: Sunday, September 16, 2001 9:48 AM From: Brewster Kahle To: Cc: Please help build a Web Archive of the Sept 11 Attack ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Internet Archive in collaboration with Alexa Internet, and SUNY, Library of Congress and UWashington is archiving pages and sites relating to the terrorist attacks in the NY and DC. Where we are archiving sites and pages all the time, we are concentrating the crawlers to make sure there is a solid historical record of this time. If you would like to help, we can build a better archive. Here is how you can help: Suggest sites and pages to archive: * This can be done by sending URL's to attackarchive@alexa.com (this is a list of the crawl engineers at Alexa and the researchers at SUNY and UW) * Surf with the free Alexa Toolbar on. Every night new sites and pages are discovered by processing the day's usage logs from the Alexa Toolbar. These are sanitized to eliminate cgi and other URL's that might contain personal information and then those sites are crawled for the archive. Help build a page in mid-October that will help guide people through relevant materials. This could be similar to the Election 2000 webpage (http://archive.alexa.com), or something else completely. We would like to make this public at the end of October or early November. Datamine the web archive to find past pages and sites that might be relevant. This takes programming skill and will be more difficult for Alexa to support, but if you are interested, please write a proposal in the web section of the www.archive.org site. Thank you. Please repost, but don't spam. -brewster Director, Internet A \"In 2000, catastrophes claimed more than 17,400 lives and caused overall financial losses - not counting indirect economic damage - of almost USD 50 billion. According to Swiss Re's definitive statistics, the burden on the insurance industry was comparatively low at USD 10.6 billion.\" Note that this is world-wide. For more details, go to http://www.swissre.com/, then go to research&Publications, and click on the pull-down item \"sigma insurance research\". On that page, the item Catastrophe losses in 2000 (under \"latest sigma\") will bring you to the data. How does it compare to the damage from the last big earthquake in Japan. For Kobe: \"Current estimates of the repair costs in this earthquake have been reported in the range of U.S.$95 billion to U.S.$147 billion\" Source: http://www.eqe.com/publications/kobe/economic.htm Dateline's report on the phone call from Jeremy Glick to his wife from Flight 93 was extraordinarily well-done. The call lasted for 20 minutes, and followed Mr. Glick's revelation of what was actually happening, and what he had to do. He used his butter knife from breakfast as a weapon. Here's the story: http://www.msnbc.com/news/629077.asp"}, {"response": 359, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Sep 16, 2001 (21:11)", "body": "May we please keep to topic here and not to views of Islam. That is covered in Cultures in a topic all its own. I think it belongs there and not here where we discuss our national tragedy and honor those who have risked their lives in order to save others. Please! Let us not disintegrate into other divergences."}, {"response": 360, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Sep 16, 2001 (21:21)", "body": "this was forwarded to me: Following is an article from the Miami Herald. R/Scott Published Wednesday, September 12, 2001 The Miami Herald Leonard Pitts We'll go forward from this moment. It's my job to have something to say. They pay me to provide words that help make sense of that which troubles the American soul. But in this moment of airless shock when hot tears sting disbelieving eyes, the only thing I can find to say, the only words that seem to fit, must be addressed to the unknown author of this suffering. You monster. You beast. You unspeakable bastard. What lesson did you hope to teach us by your coward's attack on our World Trade Center, our Pentagon, us? What was it you hoped we would learn? Whatever it was, please know that you failed. Did you want us to respect your cause? You just damned your cause. Did you want to make us fear? You just steeled our resolve. Did you want to tear us apart? You just brought us together. Let me tell you about my people. We are a vast and quarrelsome family, a family rent by racial, social, political and class division, but a family nonetheless. We're frivolous, yes, capable of expending tremendous emotional energy on pop cultural minutiae -- a singer's revealing dress, a ball team's misfortune, a cartoon mouse. We're wealthy, too, spoiled by the ready availability of trinkets and material goods, and maybe because of that, we walk through life with a certain sense of blithe entitlement. We are fundamentally decent, though -- peace-loving and compassionate. We struggle to know the right thing and to do it. And we are, the overwhelming majority of us, people of faith, believers in a just and loving God. Some people -- you, perhaps -- think that any or all of this makes us weak. You're mistaken. We are not weak. Indeed, we are strong in ways that cannot be measured by arsenals. IN PAIN. Yes, we're in pain now. We are in mourning and we are in shock. We're still grappling with the unreality of the awful thing you did, still working to make ourselves understand that this isn't a special effect from some Hollywood blockbuster, isn't the plot development from a Tom Clancy novel. Both in terms of the awful scope of their ambition and the probable final death toll, your attacks are likely to go down as the worst acts of terrorism in the history of the United States and probably, the history of the world. You've bloodied us as we have never been bloodied before. But there's a gulf of difference between making us bloody and making us fall. This is the lesson Japan was taught to its bitter sorrow the last time anyone hit us this hard, the last time anyone brought us such abrupt and monumental pain. When roused, we are righteous in our outrage, terrible in our force. When provoked by this level of barbarism, we will bear any suffering, pay any cost, go to any length, in the pursuit of justice. I tell you this without fear of contradiction. I know my people, as you, I think, do not. What I know reassures me. It also causes me to tremble with dread of the future. In the days to come, there will be recrimination and accusation, fingers pointing to determine whose failure allowed this to happen and what can be done to prevent it from happening again. There will be heightened security, misguided talk of revoking basic freedoms. We'll go forward from this moment sobered, chastened, sad. But determined, too. Unimaginably determined. THE STEEL IN US. You see, the steel in us is not always readily apparent. That aspect of our character is seldom understood by people who don't know us well. On this day, the family's bickering is put on hold. As Americans we will weep, as Americans we will mourn, and as Americans, we will rise in defense of all that we cherish. So I ask again: What was it you hoped to teach us? It occurs to me that maybe you just wanted us to know the depths of your hatred. If that's the case, consider the message received. And take this message in exchange: You don't know my people. You don't know what we're capable of. You don't know what you just started. But you're about to learn."}, {"response": 361, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Sep 16, 2001 (21:23)", "body": "(sorry for the length) does anyone know the amount of rubble pulled out so far? (last i heard was 20,000 tons, just 2% of the estimated total)"}, {"response": 362, "author": "ekelley", "date": "Sun, Sep 16, 2001 (21:23)", "body": "Terry, I think it might be appropriate to open another topic about all of this... perhaps \"post 9-11-01\" or something like that...I'm not sure what to call it; \"new world\" or something like that sounds too trivial. But I think that there are so many issues that will stem from last tuesday's events, that they should all be housed under one topic. I am using the right phrase here, right? topic would be the larger theme, and then boards are under topics, correct?"}, {"response": 363, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Sep 16, 2001 (21:24)", "body": "thank you marcia!"}, {"response": 364, "author": "ekelley", "date": "Sun, Sep 16, 2001 (21:30)", "body": "thanks for posting that, Wolf. That is a great article!"}, {"response": 365, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Sep 16, 2001 (21:35)", "body": "Great article, indeed. I am looking for the Wall Street Journal's Friday editorial. It came highly recommended to me. I heard 22,000 tons of out of something like 460,000 tons!!!"}, {"response": 366, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sun, Sep 16, 2001 (21:40)", "body": "Here is the lastes results of an AOL survey. Should the World Trade Center towers be rebuilt? Yes 609742 59% No 224927 22% It's too soon to decide 187317 18% Total votes: 1021986 And here is an article that expresses my thoughts: \"Make it green \" September 14, 2001 BY ROGER EBERT If there is to be a memorial, let it not be of stone and steel. Fly no flag above it, for it is not the possession of a nation but a sorrow shared with the world. Let it be a green field, with trees and flowers. Let there be paths that wind through the shade. Put out park benches where old people can sun in the summertime, and a pond where children can skate in the winter. Beneath this field will lie entombed forever some of the victims of September 11. It is not where they thought to end their lives. Like the sailors of the battleship Arizona, they rest where they fell. Let this field stretch from one end of the destruction to the other. Let this open space among the towers mark the emptiness in our hearts. But do not make it a sad place. Give it no name. Let people think of it as the green field. Every living thing that is planted there will show faith in the future. Let students take a corner of the field and plant a crop there. Perhaps corn, our native grain. Let the harvest be shared all over the world, with friends and enemies, because that is the teaching of our religions, and we must show that we practice them. Let the harvest show that life prevails over death, and let the gifts show that we love our neighbors. Do not build again on this place. No building can stand there. No building, no statue, no column, no arch, no symbol, no name, no date, no statement. Just the comfort of the earth we share, to remind us that we share it. Copyright \ufffd Chicago Sun-Times Inc."}, {"response": 367, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sun, Sep 16, 2001 (22:36)", "body": ""}, {"response": 368, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Sep 16, 2001 (23:28)", "body": "I've heard that the Wakhan Corridor is pretty much deep in the Hindu Kush mountains, and isn't of much tactical value unless you're a terrorist looking for a hideout."}, {"response": 369, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Sep 16, 2001 (23:40)", "body": "Date: Sun, 16 Sep 2001 20:38:28 -0700 From: Lena M. Diethelm lendie@rawbw.com Subject: Fwd: Real Justice Rabbi Michael Lerner, Editor TIKKUN Magazine | 09.12.2001 There is never any justification for acts of terror against innocent civilians-it is the quintessential act of dehumanization and not recognizing the sanctity of others, and a visible symbol of a world increasingly irrational and out of control. It's understandable why many of us, after grieving and consoling the mourners, will feel anger-and while some demagogues in Congress have already sought to manipulate that feeling into a growing militarism (more spies, legalize assassinations of foreign leaders, increase the defense budget at the expense of domestic programs), the more \"responsible\" leaders are seeking to narrow America's response to targeted attacks on countries that allegedly harbor the terrorists. But though the perpetrators deserve to be punished, in some ways this narrow focus allows us to avoid dealing with the underlying issues. When violence becomes so prevalent throughout the planet, it's too easy to simply talk of \"deranged minds.\" We need to ask ourselves, \"What is it in the way that we are living, organizing our societies, and treating each other that makes violence seem plausible to so many people?\" We in the spiritual world will see this as a growing global incapacity to recognize the spirit of God in each other-what we call the sanctity of each human being. But even if you reject religious language, you can see that the willingness of people to hurt each other to advance their own interests has become a global problem, and it's only the dramatic level of this particular attack which distinguishes it from the violence and insensitivity to each other that is part of our daily lives. We may tell ourselves that the current violence has \"nothing to do\" with the way that we've learned to close our ears when told that one out of every three people on this planet does not have enough food, and that one billion are literally starving. We may reassure ourselves that the hoarding of the world's resources by the richest society in world history, and our frantic attempts to accelerate globalization with its attendant inequalities of wealth, has nothing to do with the resentment that others feel toward us. We may tell ourselves that the suffering of refugees and the oppressed have nothing to do with us-that that's a different story that is going on somewhere else. But we live in one world, increasingly interconnected with everyone, and the forces that lead people to feel outrage, anger, and desperation eventually impact on our own daily lives. The same inability to feel the pain of others is the pathology that shapes the minds of these terrorists. Raise children in circumstances where no one is there to take care of them, or where they must live by begging or selling their bodies in prostitution, put them in refugee camps and tell them that that they have \"no right of return\" to their homes, treat them as though they are less valuable and deserving of respect because they are part of some despised national or ethnic group, surround them with a media that extols the rich and makes everyone who is not economically successful and physically trim and conventionally \"beautiful\" feel bad about themselves, offer them jobs whose sole goal is to enrich the \"bottom line\" of someone else, and teach them that \"looking out for number one\" is the only thing anyone \"really\" cares about and that anyone who believes in love and social justice are merely naive idealists who are destined to always remain powerless, and you will produce a world-wide population of people feeling depressed, angry, unable to care about others, and in various ways dysfunctional. Luckily most people don't act out in violent ways-they tend to act out more against themselves, drowning themselves in alcohol or drugs or personal despair. Others turn toward fundamentalist religions or ultra-nationalist extremism. Still others find themselves acting out against people that they love, acting angry or hurtful toward children or relationship partners. Most Americans will feel puzzled by any reference to this \"larger picture.\" It seems baffling to imagine that somehow we are part of a world system which is slowly destroying the life support system of the planet, and quickly transferring the wealth of the world into our own pockets. We don't feel personally responsible when an American corporation runs a sweat shop in the Phillipines or crushes efforts of workers to organize in Singapore. We don't see ourselves implicated when the U.S. refuses to consider the plight of Palestinian refugees or uses the excuse of fighting drugs to support repression in Colombia or other parts of Central America. We don't even see the symbolism when terrorists attack America's military center and our trade center-we talk of them as buildings, though others see them as centers of the forces that are causing the"}, {"response": 370, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Sep 16, 2001 (23:43)", "body": "More on the shared border. The only reason it's Afghanistan is that there was obviously a concerted effort to prevent a common border between India and Russia back in the 1800s. This is the very most farthest extension of ecotourism: http://www.concordiaexpeditions.com/tartary_trip.html This trek takes us to Northern Chitral and runs on the edge of the famous Wakhan Corridor. The corridor was deliberately made as a buffer zone to curtail the advancing Russian influence into British India during the 18th century. Here many spies were sent on both sides who mingled with the local populace as if they were natives. This is the place of the Great Game which was played between the Russian 'Bear,' the English 'Lion,' and the Chinese 'Dragon.' The three empires jockeyed for land, position and influence for the strategic heart of Central Asia."}, {"response": 371, "author": "Bethanne", "date": "Mon, Sep 17, 2001 (00:41)", "body": "Hey ya'll. I was just talking to my sister in Seattle, a litle while ago. I was telling her about me and my buddy going shopping for supplies for the rescue workers in NY ( saline solution, bottled water, work boots, mens underwear etc etc ) She has heard about none of this, except for the Red Cross blood drive. Do any of you know of any websites that I can tell her about, that give out info on what supplies are still needed ? I tried the Red Cross website, but didn't get much info. Here in Atlanta, massive semi rigs are parked in many of our supermarkets. People are coming and filling them up with supplies, that will be then driven to NY when they are full. I guess not much of this is being done on the West Coast, coz it is a weeks drive from NY."}, {"response": 372, "author": "AotearoaKiwi", "date": "Mon, Sep 17, 2001 (02:42)", "body": "Hi all Msg 352 - Terry: Here are the \"official figures Rob: Some bad news. New Zealand can be added to the list as 1 New Zealander is confirmed dead and at least a dozen are missing. *weeps* Initially more than 200 New Zealanders were in the area, but I do not know how many have been accounted for - except that there is definitely at least one body. Rob"}, {"response": 373, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Sep 17, 2001 (08:22)", "body": "I have been looking for an article that expresses the European point of view and this is it. It is secular as can be expected. For the arrogance of power, America now pays a terrible price By JONATHAN POWER September 12, 2001 LONDON - The American nation appears not only immensely distressed and angry about the bombings but surprised too. It cannot understand why anyone should be moved by such hatred against it and, inured from the rest of us by the isolationism of most of its political representatives and its media, it has little idea of the currents swirling against it. An event of this magnitude was not only unimagined, it was unimaginable. Yet long before George Bush became president with his forceful in-your-face, take-it-or-leave-it attitude to the world outside on issues as diverse as global warming and anti-missile defences, America has been turning in on itself, to the point of self-destructiveness. William Pfaff, the astute American commentator, wrote recently that \"America is a dangerous nation while remaining a righteous one\" and America's pre-eminent foreign policy observer, George Kennan, ambassador to the Soviet Union during Stalin's time, wrote quite a few years ago, \"I do not think that the United States civilization of these last 40-50 years is a successful civilization. I think this country is destined to succumb to failures which cannot be other than tragic and enormous in their scope.\" And later added that for Americans \"to see ourselves as the centre of political enlightenment and teachers to a great part of the rest of the world [is] unthought-through, vainglorious and undesirable.\" It would be misunderstanding human nature to believe that most Americans want to hear such thoughts played back to them on their day of grief, victims of an evil deed that compares with the worst of the blood-stained twentieth century. Yet they have to know that action produces reaction and not for nothing is anti-American resentment on the increase all over the world, not least in Europe where there is some astonishment at the way the new American administration has ploughed ahead with its self-interested agenda as if no one else has a legitimate opinion or could perhaps view the same situation in a different light. Foreign observers do not miss the reports that come out of Pentagon think tanks of America's need to use this special moment after the defeat of European communism and the break up of the Soviet Union to make sure that America is militarily superior the world over, and that no one, not even its closest allies, should be in a position to tell it what to do. The U.S. began the new millennium as the most heavily militarised nation on earth. It is the U.S., which poses the military threat to others. At the outbreak of the Second World War the U.S. army was only 174,000 men. Today it has 1.4 million in its \"standing army\" and a ready reserve and National Guard numbering 2.5 million. Despite the end of the Cold War, under President Bill Clinton the U.S. made only a paltry effort to wind down the nuclear arsenals of the superpowers, and instead provocatively insisted on expanding Nato close to Russia's borders. The Bush administration with its declared ambition to abandon the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, solemnly signed by Richard Nixon and Leonid Brezhnev, seems unconcerned that this will set in motion events that will unwind hard won international norms on ending nuclear testing and on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, even hinting that it will understand if China has to increase its nuclear forces or test new nuclear weapons. I have talked to a range of ordinary Europeans in the last 24 hours and they all say, in the face of the earnest shoulder-to-shoulder rhetoric of their leaders, that America has got itself into this hole by its own disregard for what others think. The first law of holes, of course, is to stop digging - which, of course, is what Washington should firmly have told Israel six presidents ago when it started its foolish and counterproductive policy of building settlements on what everyone knew was Palestinian land. Amazingly, the policy continues with apparent understanding from the Bush administration. While Arab governments ring their hands, and young Palestinians fight one of the best trained armies in the world with stones, there are the inevitable few attached to the Palestinian cause who are moved towards serious violence - the suicide bombers and, we don't know yet, although it is the most likely explanation, the destroyers of the World Trade Centre. In every political movement - whether it be the Palestinians or the globalisation protestors in Genoa there are fringe elements that advocate violence. This does not mean the mainstream of that movement is wrong. It might or might not be. But, right or wrong, there will always be powerful elements of truth contained within it, or the passions and purpose would never be ignited. To meet it eye for eye and tooth for too"}, {"response": 374, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep 17, 2001 (09:32)", "body": "The UK Guardian is reporting that bin Laden has abandoned his main base near Kandahar and has moved to an undisclosed place in the mountains. His four wives and numerous children are with him. What if the Pakistanis persuade the Taliban regime to hand him over? Will be martyrized? The UK Guardian coverage on this is at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/wtccrash/story/0,1300,553156,00.html"}, {"response": 375, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep 17, 2001 (09:38)", "body": "From: Patrice Riemens Reply-To: Patrice Riemens To: A New Era for Humanity by Yann Moix Liberation (Paris), September 14, 2001 original in French at http://www.liberation.com/ny2001/actu/20010914venze.html Bingo, folks! The World will never go at war again, and yet it will be at war always, period. War and non-war, there shall be no difference any more. From the 11th of September 2001, all will be war, even peace. Peace shall no longer be the opposite of war, but its context, its natural environment, its ecosystem, its scene, its background, its screen-saver. War and peace shall no longer be each others contraries (that was in the good old manichean East vs West times), but they shall be imbricated the one in the other, like the two connected faces of the same reality. Peace shall be a kind of specific sub-case of war. War shall henceforth be everywhere and nowhere. War shall be waged in the dustbins of the Paris railtermini, war shall be waged above our heads in the air of the metropolises. War shall be permanent. War shall be open for business 24/24, 7/7 , just like CNN. There shall be intermissions, but no reprieve. It shall be a war blind, yet precise, fuzzy, yet targeted. Because never before has the distortion been so stark between fuziness of the causes and the acuurateness of the strikes . The First HyperWorldWar has started. It is a war where all pretenses will fly, and where acts will be used as statements of purpose afterwards. Let's call this a hyperwar: a world where the ordinary, natural context of societies is no longer peace, but war. A hyperwar is not a classic world war with opposite fighting sides. It is a 'non-Euclydian', non-catalogised war, without rules and principles others than its own logic. Hyperwar cannot be localised in space. Nor in time. It is a kind of magnum opus of terrorism,its _best of_ or rather its _worst of_: plane hijacks, crashes, bombs, kamikaze operations. In fact it was the 20th century as a whole that was fast-forwarded in just a couple of minutes on the 11th of September, 2001. And that will be the birth certificate of the 21st Century, like (the 31st of July) 1914 was it for the 20th. But it are no longer states which are waging war, but wars that are making states. But then, unheard of sort of states: non-nation-states, states without teritorry, without citizens or borders, without (elected) governements, nay, these are virtual states, scattered war-states, fuzzy, networked octopus-states, community-states whose only borders are ideological. These states, just like virusses, evolve, adjust, mutate, invent and reinvent themselves everyday. Sometimes, their size is reduced to that of a lone individual who is an ideology, an army, a clear and present danger all unto himself. And a walking bomb. After the era of the statesmen comes the era of the state-men. The political state has become undistinguishable from the biological state. Over these past days, we have been bombarded with the metaphor of Pearl Harbour: nothing could be further from the truth. Pearl Harbour was an episode within a war. The 11th of september was the definition of an other type of war, the starting point for a new era in human history. The human element is now being affected all over the planet, since hyperwars feeds itself on the psychoses it creates by the permanent menace it exerts on all. Psychosis has become the continuation of war by other means. It gnaws at the individual, it eats up her/his mind, it shatters her/his rational structure. It is a war on the 'may be/ may be not' mode, whereby the horror is mainly a potential one. And thus, it is a war that may have a beginning, but no end. Hyperwar is built for the long run. It thrives in totality, that of the universe and of eternity. (Halelujah! - tr -) (Q&D translation by yours truly) Reposted without permission whatsoever # distributed via : no commercial use without permission # is a moderated mailing list for net criticism, # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets # more info: majordomo@bbs.thing.net and \"info nettime-l\" in the msg body # archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: nettime@bbs.thing.net"}, {"response": 376, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep 17, 2001 (09:40)", "body": "A good Robert Scheer op-ed on the \"unleash the CIA\" blather can be found in today's LA Times at: http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-091701scheer.column an editorial today in the LA Times raises another question about unsavory allies: http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-000074763sep17.story?coll=la%2Dnews%2Dcomment%2Deditorials"}, {"response": 377, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep 17, 2001 (09:44)", "body": "From: William Meyers To: , , , , Date: 9/15/01 3:12PM Subject: after the hit Dear Everyone, Here's an important document issued yesterday that we should all keep in mind: Human Rights Watch Response to Attacks on the U.S. Civilian Life Must Be Respected (New York, September 12, 2001) -- We profoundly condemn yesterday's cruel attacks in the United States and express our condolences to the victims and their loved ones. This was an assault not merely on one nation or one people, but on principles of respect for civilian life cherished by all people. We urge all governments to unite to investigate this crime, to prevent its recurrence, and to bring to justice those who are responsible. Last night, President Bush said that the United States \"will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbored them.\" Yet distinctions must be made: between the guilty and the innocent; between the perpetrators and the civilians who may surround them; between those who commit atrocities and those who may simply share their religious beliefs, ethnicity or national origin. People committed to justice and law and human rights must never descend to the level of the perpetrators of such acts. That is the most important distinction of all. There are people and governments in the world who believe that in the struggle against terrorism, ends always justify means. But that is also the logic of terrorism. Whatever the response to this outrage, it must not validate that logic. Rather, it must uphold the principles that came under attack yesterday, respecting innocent life and international law. That is the way to deny the perpetrators of this crime their ultimate victory. And here's the letter from HHDL to GWB that got released to the public yesterday: 1. The Dalai Lama's letter to the President of the United States of America --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Your Excellency, I am deeply shocked by the terrorist attacks that took place involving four apparently hijacked aircrafts and the immense devastation these caused. It is a terrible tragedy that so many innocent lives have been lost and it seems unbelievable that anyone would choose to target the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington D.C. We are deeply saddened. On behalf of the Tibetan people I would like to convey our deepest condolence and solidarity with the American people during this painful time. Our prayers go out to the many who have lost their lives, those who have been injured and the many more who have been traumatized by this senseless act of violence. I am attending a special prayer for the United States and it's people at our main temple today. I am confident that the United States as a great and powerful nation will be able to overcome this present tragedy. The American people have shown their resilience, courage and determination when faced with such difficult and sad situation. It may seem presumptuous on my part, but I personally believe we need to think seriously whether a violent action is the right thing to do and in the greater interest of the nation and people in the long run. I believe violence will only increase the cycle of violence. But how do we deal with hatred and anger, which are often the root causes of such senseless violence? This is a very difficult question, especially when it concerns a nation and we have certain fixed conceptions of how to deal with such attacks. I am sure that you will make the right decision. With my prayers and good wishes The Dalai Lama September 12, 2001 Dharamsala, India And, for contrast, here's a little excerpt from today's Times about what life is like here today: The three major metropolitan airports in the New York region reopened in the late morning, but confusion reigned as schedules were strewn with cancellations, bags were searched and passengers were questioned aggressively. And in the evening, the three airports were closed because of the arrests at Kennedy and La Guardia. As for the rest of New York, it was to be a day of return to relatively normal life, with schools, theaters and many businesses reopening, and commuters traveling on bridges and through tunnels that had been closed. But instead of a nearly normal day, countless New Yorkers endured yet another psychological roller coaster. First came disheartening news. After days of vague but ominous estimates, Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani announced in the late morning that 4,763 people were believed missing in the trade center rubble, bringing the possible death toll in the coordinated attacks to nearly 5,000 \ufffd more than double the 2,390 Americans lost at Pearl Harbor. The mayor said that only 184 bodies or body parts had been found, and that only 35 of them had been identified. Among the missing were 300 firefighters and 60 police officers. Three hours later, even as hope seemed to fade for those buried under the collapsed trade center, there were re"}, {"response": 378, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep 17, 2001 (10:03)", "body": "Also in the Independent an interesting analysis by Robert Fisk, their Beirut correspondent. He has lived the last 23 years in the Middle East, and he received the Brirish International Journalist of the Year award seven times. \"Bush is walking into a trap\" ... \"President Bush appears to be heading for the very disaster that Osama bin Laden has laid down for him.\" ... \"But this crime was perpetrated - it becomes ever clearer - to provoke the United States into just the blind, arrogant punch that the US military is preparing.\" \"Mr bin Laden - every day his culpability becomes more apparent - has described to me how he wishes to overthrow the pro-American regime of the Middle East, starting with Saudi Arabia and moving on to Egypt, Jordan and the other Gulf states. In an Arab world sunk in corruption and dictatorships - most of them supported by the West - the only act that might bring Muslims to strike at their own leaders would be a brutal, indiscriminate assault by the United States.\" ... \"\"America was targeted for attack,'' Mr Bush informed us on Friday, \"because we are the brightest beacon for freedom and opportunity in the world.'' But this is not why America was attacked. If this was an Arab-Muslim apocalypse, then it is intimately associated with events in the Middle East and with America's stewardship of the area.\" ... \"I will take a tiny risk and say that no other British newspaper - certainly no American newspaper - will today recall the fact that on 16 September 1982, Israel's Phalangist militia allies started their three-day orgy of rape and knifing and murder in the Palestinian refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila that cost 1,800 lives. It followed an Israeli invasion of Lebanon designed to drive the PLO out of the country and given the green light by the then US Secretary of State, Alexander Haig which cost the lives of 17,500 Lebanese and Palestinians, almost all of them civilians. That's probably three times the death toll in the World Trade Centre. Yet I do not remember any vigils or memorial services or candle-lighting in America or the West for the innocent dead of Lebanon; I don't recall any stirring speeches about democracy or liberty. In fact, my memory is that the United States spent most of the bloody months of July and August 1982 calling for \"restraint\".\" ... \"But America's failure to act with honour in the Middle East, its promiscuous sale of missiles to those who use them against civilians, its blithe disregard for the deaths of tens of thousands of Iraqi children under sanctions of which Washington is the principal supporter - all these are intimately related to the society that produced the Arabs who plunged America into an apocalypse of fire last week.\" ... \"Every effort will be made in the coming days to switch off the \"why'' question and concentrate on the who, what and how. CNN and most of the world's media have already obeyed this essential new war rule.\" ... \"I repeat: what happened in New York was a crime against humanity. And that means policemen, arrests, justice, a whole new international court at The Hague if necessary. Not cruise missiles and \"precision'' bombs and Muslim lives lost in revenge for Western lives. But the trap has been sprung. Mr Bush - perhaps we, too - are now walking into it.\""}, {"response": 379, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Sep 17, 2001 (10:20)", "body": "Thanks Moon. I too wondered when that kind of sentiment was going to hit the press.They never have anything good to say about the US except when they need help."}, {"response": 380, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep 17, 2001 (10:22)", "body": "Dow down over 600, probably under 9000."}, {"response": 381, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep 17, 2001 (10:48)", "body": "Slate answers the question \"What does bin Laden want?\" Bin Laden and his followers are alarming because they don't want anything from us. They don't want our sympathy. They want no material thing we can offer them. They don't want to participate in the community of nations. (They don't really believe in the nation-state.) They are motivated by religion, not politics. They answer to no one but their god, so they certainly won't answer to us. http://slate.msn.com/Assessment/01-09-13/Assessment.asp"}, {"response": 382, "author": "mari", "date": "Mon, Sep 17, 2001 (10:49)", "body": "I have been looking for an article that expresses the European point of view and this is it. It is secular as can be expected. Moon, before we label this \"the European point of view\" let's step back and ask any Europeans on this board if they agree. I did read that the BBC ran a panel discussion the other evening and the \"audience members\" reflected many of this article's views. However, the Beeb was flooded with more than 2,000 calls of protest from viewers who felt that there was a disproportionate amount of anti-Americanism espoused and that it did not reflect the feelings of the average person. BTW, our ambassador was on the program and was to said to have been reduced to tears. Greg Dyke, head of the BBC, later apologized to him. It is true that the foreign press tends to be very critical of America, and even in the calmest of times, resorts to cheap shots--but I am interested in finding out what the average person thinks. For which publication does Jonathan Powers write?"}, {"response": 383, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Sep 17, 2001 (11:39)", "body": "Mari, we are talking here of the media...print,audio and visual.The Fourth Estate.Not the ordinary guy on the street. The tone of that article is \"We told you so..\".Almost with glee. They have short memories of who pulls them out of binds. And , sadly,so do we ."}, {"response": 384, "author": "Echo", "date": "Mon, Sep 17, 2001 (11:45)", "body": "Articles in the British press today suggest that the terrorist attack on America may have been meant not merely as a \"punishment\" but primarily to provoke American wrath and powerful military response which would then serve as a means of turning moderate Muslims against America and the Western world. If there is no response, they may attack again. Catch 22."}, {"response": 385, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Sep 17, 2001 (11:57)", "body": "Sad when people think the US response would be carpet bombing of Afghanistan. Even that I would protest as a waste of my taxpayer money. Judicious use of our resources may already be having effect. Yesterday I heard that assets were being frozen worldwide (even Swiss accounts) of known enemies, including government ministers of the Taliban. A bit of motivation for turning bin Laden in? There must be a response as history has shown us that appeasement is not acceptable when you are dealing with fanatics. People seem to have forgotten that."}, {"response": 386, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Sep 17, 2001 (12:21)", "body": "For which publication does Jonathan Powers write? He is a syndicated columnist based in London. I read it in The Miami Herald. the Beeb was flooded with more than 2,000 calls of protest from viewers who felt that there was a disproportionate amount of anti-Americanism espoused and that it did not reflect the feelings of the average person. I read this too, but the reason was that the people thought it was way to soon and therefore in very bad taste. The US Ambassador was brought to tears, FGS. They felt that the BBC should have taped and edited instead of airing it live. The unfortunate reality is that in general, there is a very strong anti-American sentiment in Europe. If there is no response, they may attack again. Catch 22. I would say, they will attack again. This is not a good situation to be in, but we're in it. I have said this before, it's the Crusades all over again. There must be a response as history has shown us that appeasement is not acceptable when you are dealing with fanatics. People seem to have forgotten that. England, Ireland, Spain and Italy have suffered greatly from terrorist attacks."}, {"response": 387, "author": "mari", "date": "Mon, Sep 17, 2001 (12:23)", "body": "The tone of that article is \"We told you so..\".Almost with glee. I know, and that's very hurtful, but it's nothing new. But, if I could have one or the other, I'd rather have the support of the guy in the street. Not to mention the guy at 10 Downing. What I was trying to explore: is there one monolithic European viewpoint, and the answer of course is no. They have short memories of who pulls them out of binds. And , sadly,so do we. You can't keep throwing it up to people, or get into a pissing contest over who has paid the highest price. It's counterproductive, especially now."}, {"response": 388, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Sep 17, 2001 (12:30)", "body": "And the world was a *perfect* place when America was isolationist?"}, {"response": 389, "author": "ekelley", "date": "Mon, Sep 17, 2001 (12:33)", "body": ""}, {"response": 390, "author": "ekelley", "date": "Mon, Sep 17, 2001 (12:44)", "body": "I think that we (America) need to re-examine all of our foreign policies, keeping in mind what our intentions are towards that nation (as the policies have always been), but also how we may be perceived by those governments. I know that is not exactly how most people would like for us to be- reactionary instead of proactive- but I think looking at the stark contrast of opinions in just the messages the presses of the two countries are putting out, is astonishing (perhaps less so to the rest of the world than to us). I don't think that America can afford to continue in the pseudo-isolationist way that we've been for the last however many years. I personally do not agree with the current administration's take it or leave it attitude towards the world. It is quite obvious to me, at least, that we have ignored serious concerns that the rest of the world seems to see and understand. I know that not a lot of people agree with me, or would voice this opinion if they have it, but I do not think that we should be backing (or as we appear to be backing) Israel in the way we are right now. I understand the historical ties there, and all that they entail, but when we sit back and just remove ourselves entirely from the situation, what does that say? It says \"it's ok for you all to kill each other; we'll just sit back and wait.\" That's not right. There is no justification for the loss of any life there, Israeli or Palestinian, just as there is no justification for the loss of life here in NY, or in other parts of the Middle ast, Ireland, Asia, etc. Here is a very good article from The Economist magazine from last week's web addition. I can't find the URL...I emailed it to myself... AMERICA'S PLACE IN THE WORLD The devastation wrought on September 11th will shape the debate about American foreign policy for years to come A TABOO has been broken. The attacks on New York and Washington, DC so dwarf earlier examples of terrorism in the United States that they are, in effect, the bombing of mainland America that even the Japanese and the Nazis did not achieve during the second world war. For some time to come, most attention in the United States will be focused on the most pressing questions. Who perpetrated the attack? How to strike back at the culprits? How to protect America from another such terrorist atrocity? But once these questions are addressed, an even larger question will have to be faced: what is America's proper role in the world? Indeed, in a confused fashion, the debate on that question has already begun. While the administration has been determined to present a united front, and has largely succeeded, the very complexity of the task facing it has elicited statements which seem to point in different directions. Both George Bush and his secretary of state, Colin Powell, have emphasised that America is looking to its allies for support in an effort to launch a global fight against terrorism. They have spoken of the attacks on New York and Washington as attacks on freedom-loving people everywhere, not just on the United States. And yet, at the same time, they have made it clear that America will defend itself, implying it will retaliate alone if necessary. Although the administration would clearly like to build a Gulf war-style coalition to support its next steps, America's allies are rightly nervous that they will have little influence over an aroused and angered United States. American television and newspapers have been full of commentators calling for declarations of war or military intervention on the one hand, and calm restraint on the other. Some have said that it is essential to look to America's allies for support, others that America must take decisive action soon, no matter what the concerns of its friends abroad. Some have claimed that America's terrorist opponents can be crushed, and that any governments thought to have harboured terrorists should be attacked, whether or not it can be shown that they had anything to do with the assault this week. One NEW YORK TIMES columnist absurdly insisted that Congress should make a general declaration of war, even if it cannot say which country America is actually at war with. Others have argued that dropping bombs elsewhere in the world can never make America safe from another such attack, and that preserving civil liberties at home and expanding diplomatic, as well as military, efforts abroad is the only long-term approach. A NEW WORLD OF DISORDER What is clear is that the self-confidence which prompted George Bush senior, the father of the current president, to speak boldly about a \"new world order\" more than a decade ago, and which spawned such optimistic paeans to American values and the triumph of liberal democracies as Francis Fukuyama's \"The End of History\", will now look like the relics of a distant age. America may have won the cold war, and just completed a decade of unparallelled prosperity. But it evidently now lives in a much more dangerous and com"}, {"response": 391, "author": "mari", "date": "Mon, Sep 17, 2001 (13:46)", "body": "Moon, this is the article I referred to. Again, I was commenting on viewer reaction--not the BBC's excuses. BBC sorry over anti-US TV audience LONDON (Reuters) - The head of the BBC, Greg Dyke, has apologised for broadcasting a live discussion programme in which audience members blamed U.S. foreign policy for Tuesday's terror attacks. More than 2,000 viewers complained after seeing the former U.S. Ambassador to Britain, Philip Lader, brought close to tears after attempts to express his sadness over the attacks were shouted down by people expressing anti-American views. \"On balance, I think it was an inappropriate programme to broadcast live just two days after the attacks in the United States and I would like to apologise to viewers who were offended by it,\" Dyke said in a statement. The scenes on the Question Time programme on Thursday night prompted Dyke, the BBC's Director General, to add: \"With hindsight this programme should have been recorded and edited before it was broadcast.\" \"I have today spoken to Philip Lader, and apologised for any distress the programme may have caused him,\" Dyke said. One audience member had asked whether the attacks were the result of a failure of US foreign policy \"with millions of people around the world despising the American nation,\" according to the Independent newspaper. Mr Lader, who was slow hand clapped by some members of the audience, was tearful. \"I find it hurtful that you are suggesting that a majority of the world despises the United States,\" he said according to news sources. The Sun newspaper said that one Arab woman replied: \"It is the American government which is talking about war.\" The programme's presenter, David Dimbleby, struggled to control the discussion and tempers became raised, according to the BBC. The Corporation said that many of those who complained about the programme said the audience seemed to contain a disproportionate number of people with anti-American views. The BBC said that the programme tried to pick audiences with a broad range of views and had hoped to stage a frank discussion about the attacks."}, {"response": 392, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Sep 17, 2001 (14:24)", "body": "Mari in the balance of things, there is a stronger anti-American view in general, therefore the balance was probably tilted correctly. A NEW WORLD OF DISORDER Globalization is a far off ideal. This is the real world, I hope world leaders get hip to the beat. I am just waiting to see when the call comes to the European \"allies\" who will respond. An interesting article, Liz. And I don't usually agree with the views of The Economist."}, {"response": 393, "author": "Bethanne", "date": "Mon, Sep 17, 2001 (15:10)", "body": "So many articles I have read this morning, talk about how Bush and his \"take it or leave it\" arrrogant approach to world affairs, is partially responsible for the horrors of last Tuesday. Aren't these authors forgetting, that the ball for the horrific events of Sep 11, started rolling long before Bush came to power ? These hijackers were tucked away at their Florida flight schools when Bill Clinton was still in power and Bush Jr was just another politican. Clinton by the way, did a damm sight more to end terrorism than any other US President in history, in my homeland of Ireland. Pro US feelings probably run higher in Ireland, than in any other European country."}, {"response": 394, "author": "amw", "date": "Mon, Sep 17, 2001 (15:18)", "body": "Everyone, I can assure you that from what I have heard, discussions on the radio, television, with people, ordinary people in the street, Politicians of all parties, no one is anti- American, you have our full and unqualified support, of that I am certain, I have heard no dissenters. Everyone in the UK is appalled and shocked by last week's tragedy, who would not be."}, {"response": 395, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Sep 17, 2001 (15:55)", "body": "Ann, One can have anti-American views and be appalled and shocked by last week's tragedy. The point is that in general that's the feeling in Europe. Pro US feelings probably run higher in Ireland, than in any other European country. Agreed! Aren't these authors forgetting, that the ball for the horrific events of Sep 11, started rolling long before Bush came to power? I agree again,Beth, but don't forget that the majority of the media in Europe is secular and socialist. That says it all!"}, {"response": 396, "author": "rachael", "date": "Mon, Sep 17, 2001 (16:15)", "body": "Moon, in general, what's the feeling in Europe? anti American? as a European, I beg to disagree. Maybe there aren't as many Europeans on this board as on some of the other groups I'm in, but the out-pouring of feelings from all over Europe, indeed the world, has been amazing to see. And does questioning what a government does make you anti that govt? I don't think so, in fact I think its the essence of democracy. However it must be noted that it is no more correct to say \"Europeans think ...\" than it would be to say \"Americans think ...\" and to say that there is a sole European view would be incorrect. I suggest, very hesitantly, that there might be differences between English speaking and non English speaking nations - Beth would you say that's fair? BTW the mainstream media in the UK is far from socialist, despite what the Daily Bellylaugh would have us believe."}, {"response": 397, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Sep 17, 2001 (16:19)", "body": "\"The Corporation said that many of those who complained about the programme said the audience seemed to contain a disproportionate number of people with anti-American views. \" \"Anti- people\" are the ones that are mostly motivated to appear on those shows and most of them have hidden agendas. Ann, I know that the majority of the UK friends don't have those feelings. I have been listening to TV this aft and now is the time that all the special interest groups are gonna come out fighting.Get ready to hear from: the environmentalists, the animal rights people,pro -life, NOW, the various political parties, the extreme religious right. This is after all a democracy. Everyone has an opinion. This came yesterday from a British Theatre Newsletter: \"To all of our US subscribers, I know I speak for everyone else when I send you our deepest sympathies. Whether one agrees with US foreign policy or not, no one can condone mass murder or be unmoved by the scale of the tragedy which has struck your nation. I love New York and have many friends there. I am unable to express the depth of my horror at what has happened. Today, as I drove near my home, I saw some young children had set what in the UK we call a \"jumble sale\" on a grassed area. They were selling their toys and books to raise money for the American Red Cross and a US flag flew over the tables. I think that says far more than I can.\" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We don't all agree with every foreign policy decision that is made, but to say we deserved the tragedy as that article intimated is barbaric."}, {"response": 398, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Sep 17, 2001 (16:25)", "body": "Moon, in general, what's the feeling in Europe? anti American? as a European, I beg to disagree. One can have anti-American views and be appalled and shocked by last week's tragedy. The point is that in general that's the feeling in Europe. I will stop repeating myself here as this point does not seem to get through. And does questioning what a government does make you anti that govt? I don't think so, in fact I think its the essence of democracy. To be truly \"democratic\" you should present both points of view. Unfortunately, and again I repeat, the majority of the media in Europe is secular and socialist. And it comes off very one-sided. I will add that I am very familiar with the Italian and French Media."}, {"response": 399, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Sep 17, 2001 (16:31)", "body": "Rob, my sympathies. Warmest Hugs on New Zealand's loss. Sorry you multinationals, but rolling over and playing dead will just play into their hands. If we don't stop it, they will take over the world. Good luck! Perhaps you don't want our help next time YOUR war starts?! I think I will go back to geology and astronomy where some rationality reigns."}, {"response": 400, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Sep 17, 2001 (16:49)", "body": "I think I will go back to geology and astronomy where some rationality reigns. LOL, Marcia! I don't wish to be misunderstood. I think everyone should join forces with the US to fight this war. I would like it to be a united effort and I was only questioning whether it will be. Whether the European allies will join the US? I hope to God that they will. There is no socialist/secular blood in my veins!"}, {"response": 401, "author": "Bethanne", "date": "Mon, Sep 17, 2001 (17:01)", "body": "I really think at this stage, most Americans look on the candle light vigils and the expressions of sympathy and support as really nice and up lifting. However, ( those who are in favour of military action ) believe that while expressions of support are wonderful, it is time for European governments to put their money where their mouth is and show their support in more concrete terms. Italy said yesterday for example, that while they condemm the terrorist attacks, they will not coperate with the US in any military actions the US takes. They think that this is America's fight and not their own. I wonder will they still think that, if the next plane to be hikacked is an Italian one ? So having a nation wide moment of silence in your country is a lovely thing, it ISnot going to get the job done against the terorists. I don't think pro or anti American feelings are causing European nations to react as they do to possible military actions. I think it is simply whether or not they are willing to get their hands dirty to wipe out a threat that affects us all. Some will be, some won't be....simple as that. Plus I really feel a lot of this so called anti-American sentiment is based largely on resentment, based on America wealth and power. They resent America for having such an abundance of riches when they are living, if not a hand to mouth exhistance, at least a less luxurious one. America is percieved as the big, ugly kid in the corner who can boss people around simply because they can. Then are then disliked and picked on, when in fact they may be simple and peace loving as the rest of us. Every time I go home to Ireland, I get little digs from friends and family about my jet set life style and my fabulous standard of living, simply beacuse I live in America. I mean it is ridiculous. They have no clue what my life is really like and, that it is on many levels, just as hard as theirs. But that little bit if resentment is always there. It drives me nuts. I really think a lot of this sentiment has its roots in WW2 too. The USA bailed Europe out of a big ole nasty mess 50 years ago, and then gave Europe a ton of money to rebuild itself. This messed with Eropeans sense of their own self worth as they needed a vulgar, upstart of a nation to save their butts 50 years ago. No one likes the feeling of being permanantly beholden to someone. If they can take a little dig at America and how messed up its foreign policy is, then maybe in some sad little way, it ressures them that they are not just one tiny, little European country.....but that they are still the great colonial power from 100 years ago. They hate the fact that the US has a larger role to play in world affairs than they do and resent them as a result. I'm sorry if my thoughts sound vague or disjointed. I'm getting ready to go to an Aerosmith concert, as I type. I had been looking forward to it for weeks, but now I'd give anything not to go. Concerts seem so trivial now...... somehow....sigh....."}, {"response": 402, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Mon, Sep 17, 2001 (17:38)", "body": "Excellent summation, Beth. I've thought that for a long time. Makes them appear even more petty in my mind. I doubt the US wants all the countries/peoples of the world that we've help to feel beholden to us, but at least they can act like friends rather than enemies, sniping at everything we do. Try factoring in a longer-term perspective. There have been many world powers, countries whose influence has extended beyond their borders. Some have conquered other peoples. Some only exert economic influence. These date back to the beginning of time. The US's standing as a global power has only been for a mere 50 years or so. Think about how long there was a British Empire or a French empire. If our culture has overwhelmed others, at least it is not due to military occupation. This afternoon, while driving around, I was trying to come up with equivalents, i.e., if the commercial jetliners had crashed into symbols of other countries. I thought about Italy or France but could only come up with symbols of their past. If our so-called allies do not support us, this is one time I would definitely advocate picking up our ball and bat and going home. Rots a ruck."}, {"response": 403, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Sep 17, 2001 (18:07)", "body": "This afternoon, while driving around, I was trying to come up with equivalents, i.e., if the commercial jetliners had crashed into symbols of other countries. I thought about Italy or France but could only come up with symbols of their past. I thought of this too. The only place would be a football match, perhaps a qualifying World Cup Match. That thought is scary. Milan's stadium holds 84,000 people. Italy said yesterday for example, that while they condemm the terrorist attacks, they will not coperate with the US in any military actions the US takes. That was a rumour. I believe that the Italian Gov. has stated that they will support the US with their military, planes, ships etc. Berlusconi supports Bush and the US. Luckily, his coalition have a majority in the Senate and the House. This would not have been the case had the Socialist won the last election."}, {"response": 404, "author": "amw", "date": "Mon, Sep 17, 2001 (18:16)", "body": "Moon One can have anti-american views and be appalled... Moon, it's not just that at least not in the UK, Tony Blair has repeated time and again in interviews that the UK Government is behind the US in whatever it takes and I do believe that this time the UK Public is right behind the government, urging caution, not just because of the US but for democracy and the fact that what happened in NY could happen in London. In fact it wasn't many years ago that the John Major cabinet in Downing Street was attacked by Rockets fired by the IRA."}, {"response": 405, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Sep 17, 2001 (18:41)", "body": "Ann, I never doubted the UK's backing or Italy's for that matter. I am more worried about France, Belgium, etc."}, {"response": 406, "author": "EileenG", "date": "Mon, Sep 17, 2001 (20:26)", "body": "(Moon)The only place would be a football match, perhaps a qualifying World Cup Match. That thought is scary. Milan's stadium holds 84,000 people. But a football match, while upping the casualty toll, is not symbolic. Two days before the WTC and Pentagon were hit, there were three major sports events taking place within a few miles of eachother--nearly 80K at a Jets game in East Rutherford, thousands at the US Open Tennis Tournament in Queens, and I believe the Yankees played at home in the Bronx. Yankee Stadium holds about 60K. You've got around 175,000 people concentrated in three easy-to-hit targets within less than 20 miles. bin Laden wasn't going for large numbers of people."}, {"response": 407, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Sep 17, 2001 (20:49)", "body": "Italy said yesterday for example, that while they condemm the terrorist attacks, they will not coperate with the US in any military actions the US takes. At today's press conference with Secretary Powell, a journalist told him that rumor and he denied it. Said his Italian counterpart would be in Washington in a few days."}, {"response": 408, "author": "AotearoaKiwi", "date": "Mon, Sep 17, 2001 (21:04)", "body": "Hi all I got BAD news for anyone worried about the Taliban response. According to our local daily the Taliban is moving Scud missiles (the sort that hit Israel in the Gulf War)around and has called up 20000 fighters to fight any ground war. Are you sure you got the right targets, because God help the Western world and anyone who fell into cahoots with the United States if you have not. There are two kinds of war - the undeclared war like this one where military strikes are carried out but no official declaration of war, and a general war involving the mobilisation of the armed forces and the cancellation of diplomatic relations by declaring war. On to other things. Let me be absolutely clear, I am not trying to undermine the greiving process or the determination to retaliate when I write the following. I support the impending war insofar as the right targets are hit and that it give the appearance of the international coalition being united. What I do not support is an all out war (a world war would not be impossible in this case), because I am pretty certain no one wants mushroom clouds and radioactive darts doing a sinister ballet across the skies. You may ask what has Colombia got to do with anything at the moment, but have you honestly ever considered the fact that unwanted involvement on the part of the CIA and Pentagon in places like Colombia has fuelled the conflict there to the point that it has the capacity to possibly engulf neighbouring countries? Or how about the International Monetary Fund in African countries where the nebulous Multinational Corporations that have corporate HQ in New York ply their trade at dirt cheap rates? The IMF will not allow financial aid to these countries while corruption and other problems are rife in them. Fair enough. But to sort out those problems in part requires IMF help. So what does all this have to do with anything? Well, that coupled with things like the $30 billion National Missile Defence system and things like withdrawing from international environmental protocols (I know that the Climate Protocol is dogged by not knowing whether warming is cyclical or not), has a few countries fuming (pro-US and anti-US)because they see the United States as using them for it's own gain and every western country including New Zealand is guilty to some extent. Still not a reason to attack the WTC, but the faceless cowards that did probably used something like this to justify their attack. Maybe Bush can soften his stance on trade and thing like the environmental protocols since they are designed to protect our offspring, and open dialogue with North Korea before Kim Il Jong decides to restart the missile programme that crippled his nation. I may lose some friends for this, but it is my honest opinion (one that existed well before Bush came to power, but has come to the fore because he has it in his power if he wants to, to change a few things). I do not advocate a general change in foreign policy or a reduction on arms spending and certainly don't want to open the United States to something even worse, but I would look at a couple things long and hard. Rob All arguments to my e-mail. I am certain Marcia did not intend Geo to become a warzone."}, {"response": 409, "author": "suzee202000", "date": "Mon, Sep 17, 2001 (21:45)", "body": "Do any of you know of any websites that I can tell her about, that give out info on what supplies are still needed ? I tried the Red Cross website, but didn't get much info.(Beth) Here are a couple of info sites about how to help. http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101010924/help.html http://www.helping.org/"}, {"response": 410, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep 17, 2001 (21:45)", "body": "20,000 fighters? Is that a typo? The $30 billion National Missile Defense system has been rendered less relevant. This might better be spent on counter bioterror measures."}, {"response": 411, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Sep 17, 2001 (22:10)", "body": "Rob, you may post anything any time in anything I have anything to do with. Your statistics are staggering. Columbia, of course!!! We have a long litany of nefarious deeds in the name of \"Patriotism\". Anthrax, anyone? What a horrible way to die! It will be conventional because any other kind of war will kill mankind and every other living thing... That is why I posted a ribbon on Geo's front page..."}, {"response": 412, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep 17, 2001 (22:34)", "body": "Subject: Monday morning Date: Monday, September 17, 2001 12:57 PM From: Womack, Jack Yes, Monday morning. Took longer than usual to go as far as 72nd as the local is now running on the express tracks and the express is running on the local tracks. Have assumed, as with everything that has so far occured, that this condition is now permanent. Here at work my colleague Dee Dee is back at work today; she came in with her husband, Gavin. It's a typical story, now: he was on the 104th floor of the South Tower. When the first plane hit the other tower three guys in his office got up and immediately went downstairs, catching the elevator to 75 and then taking the express down. By the time the three guys got to the lobby the second building had been hit. Her brother-in-law called her sister twice, the second time to say smoke was filling the floor and he was on his way down. \"He fucked up,\" Dee Dee's brother kept saying. He was working in the World Financial Center, across the West Side Highway from the Trade Towers, was outside when the second plane hit. Says that dozens were jumping, you weren't sure what they were at first. When the first tower collapsed everybody, he said, started to run. Uncontrolled mass panic on the part of everyone, swarming up along the river walk to the highway. (There've been plenty of reports of injuries suffered by people trampled in the two stampedes away from the collapsing buildings). By the time he got to the Village, the second tower collapsed. As you might imagine he's got a combat-level thousand yard stare; I'd forgotten but now remember older brothers etc. looking like that, back in the late 60s and early 70s, after they came back from Vietnam. My neighbor, across the hall, a young Latina woman (and her seven-year-old son) is fine, although she worked in a building across the street from the Towers. Again, she was outside when the first one started to come down; her particular crowd streamed eastward as far as they could go, then up. \"I guess you'll be seeing me around the apartment the next few weeks.\" Friday night Valeria read what I'd written so far. \"You are describing events,\" she told me. \"Not emotion.\" And she's absolutely right. So let me say how I'm feeling this morning, and how I've been feeling. The first thing I want to make clear is how gratified I was to know that V was all right, last Tuesday; how overwhelmed with happiness, how comforted. We weren't sure we were going to see each other that day, but once the trains to Brooklyn began, she was able to get back. We have spent as much time as we have together, since. I feel deeply blessed, and feel as guilty. When I think of what Ellen and Ellie & all those of our friends who live south of 14th went through (and in the case of Ellie, still going through; her place might not be accessible again for weeks, at the least; she's headed up to New Hampshire.) I know we came out very, very lucky. We came out easy, in fact. I'm feeling terrible nostalgia for buildings that I never found attractive, except sometimes at a distance. I think of all the times I went through the mall underneath the towers, on my way to the PATH station to go visit Valeria when she still lived in Jersey City. During the past three years I became very familiar with everything down there. I remember V & I meeting her mother down there, at the head of the escalators that went up from the station. She'd stand and wait in front of Godiva, which was next to an HSBC branch. I remember being down at the Border's WTC back in June (last time I was there, in fact) when Gaiman had his tour kickoff appearance. I remember walking with Katya & Carrie & Robert Legault across the bridge that led between the towers & World Financial Center, en route to Ellie's apartment, for the wake after the memorial service for Jenna, April 6. The orchid show was going on, and the bridge and Palm Court downstairs (also destroyed, pretty much, though the palms are still standing) were full of orchids. On our refrigerator is a little card of a Boston bull terrier Carrie sent us a month or so ago, thanking us for brunch; she'd bought the card in the mall underneath with Ellie. Any of us might have been there, and but for the grace of God, or synchronicity, or something, we weren't. Not this time, at least. This isn't a comforting feeling, still. Familiar landmarks vanish constantly in NY -- they're getting ready, or have been getting ready, to build a new Columbia building around the corner from me at 110th where D'agostino was -- but never before have so many vanished so quickly, so awfully. I cannot begin to imagine what the place will look like, once it has finally been cleared. I haven't looked at a newspaper since Saturday morning except just to glimpse headlines & pages(I did save them, though); I haven't turned on any of the news programming except at the request of others when they've come to visit. The more I saw the worse I was feeling -- jittery, irritable, unable to focu"}, {"response": 413, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep 17, 2001 (22:36)", "body": "Subject: The Weekly PoliTicker Date: Monday, September 17, 2001 9:49 AM From: PoliticsOnline To: Special Edition: Analysis of the Role of the Internet and the Attack on America Note From: Phil Noble (phil@politicsonline.com) President, PoliticsOnline 843 853 8190 office phone 843 296 1490 mobile PoliticsOnline has received many calls from journalists and others about what role the Internet is playing in the current crisis. To respond we have 1) developed this Special Report that outlines the six key points in understanding the developments and, 2) created a special section on our web site (www.PoliticsOnline.com) to track these developments and provide a research and reference source. The attack on the Pentagon is indeed ironic when we remember that it was the Army that started it all way back in 1969 with a project called ARPNET. They wanted to design a system that would allow computers to communicate in times of national disaster. They were planning on missile attacks from the Russians, not civilian airplane attacks from terrorists. As one analyst noted, during this crisis people turned to the Internet for what they needed and wanted, just as they began doing with the telephone many years ago. Recently the focus has been on the crash of the tech stocks and the success and failures of e-commerce. This week the Internet stories were about the technology was incorporated into the daily life of average citizens in these extraordinary times. This week the Internet truly became The People's Channel. 1. What the Net does best is Communications and Connections In this crisis, the Internet did what it does best - communicating and connecting. For those personally caught up in the crisis, it was a means of communications when other means failed. People stranded in the World Trade Center Towers sent e-mails and instant messages to their loved ones; Blackberrys and pagers came through when mobile phones and land lines failed. Hundreds of online groups formed to do all the things people wanted to do - reach out to each other, share their grief, search for friends and loved ones. * NY.com (www.ny.com) created an interactive database listing survivors from the Trade Center collapse. Within 24 hours they had 2,600 listings. * Hundreds of people posted prayers, related prayer circles and discussions groups on Beliefnet (www.beliefnet.com), a popular non-denominational site. * United (www.ual.com) and American Airlines (www.americanairlines.com) posted information and listed phone numbers for people to call looking for more information on their crashes. * People used Yahoo Groups to create numerous discussion groups to share information, express grief and vent their anger. Survivor Databases Offered by NY.Com and Prodigy (InternetNews) Ny.com, a Web site that calls itself the \"paperless guide to New York City\" and Prodigy, the national ISP, are offering interactive databases listing survivors of Tuesday's World Trade Center collapse. http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article/0,,3_882651,00.html Web Offers Both News and Comfort (New York Times) The major news Web sites were quickly overloaded. Many links to the not-so- major news Web sites stopped working. But more than news, what people all over the world craved in the wake of yesterday's terrorist attacks was connection to each other, and many of them found that most easily achieved by going online. http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article/0,,3_882651,00.html After Attack, the Net Reassures and Informs (USA Today) As phone systems faltered in the aftermath of Tuesday's terrorist attack, the nation clung to the Net, reaching out to friends and loved ones, praying, spreading accusations and gossip, and overwhelming news and information sites. http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/2001/09/12/more Net Offers Lifeline Amid Tragedy (CNET) People in New York City and around the globe turned to the Internet on Tuesday to communicate with their families and to grasp the horrific sequence of terrorist attacks that transformed the World Trade Center and the Pentagon into disaster zones. http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-7132246.html Internet Performs Global Role, Supplementing TV (Online Journalism Review) History expands. Terribly. In 1914, two bullets fired at an automobile driving through the streets of Sarajevo killed the Archduke Franz Ferdinand and Sophia, his wife. Their deaths led to World War One. http://ojr.usc.edu/content/story.cfm?request=637 Web Acts as Hub For Info On Attacks (CNET) Moments after airplanes separately crashed into both towers of the World Trade Center, and then later the Pentagon, Web sites for the major news outlets were swamped by an overflow of traffic. http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-7129241.html E-Mail Indispensable as Phone Systems Jam (Atlanta Journal-Constitution) As the World Trade Center collapsed and planes plunged from the sky, sending and receiving e-mail -- the most popular Internet activity -- became the indispensable com"}, {"response": 414, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep 17, 2001 (22:55)", "body": "Date: Mon, 17 Sep 2001 22:18:52 -0700 From: William Meyers To: terry@spring.net, paul@spring.net Subject: more Paul, Here's another fragment: As soon as we got to work that morning word went around that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center -- and soon after that, another one. Then the rumor took flight that there were five more hijacked airliners in the air. There was the distinct thought in the collective mind that at any moment we could be vaporized too -- that so far we were simply among the lucky ones, and no different from those whose luck had just run out. I took a walk around midtown Manhattan at mid-day, through the herds of people streaming up the avenues and through the park toward their uptown apartments -- strangely silent and subdued, preoccupied and fearful, many stopping off and lining up at their ATMs to tank up for future uncertainties. Down at the end of Sixth and Fifth Avenues, where the twin towers used to be, a thick volcanic cloud of smoke and ash was roiling up in a dome -- falling like a gray snow on downwind Brooklyn later in the afternoon. All the cops you could see were already wearing flak jackets -- not a one without one -- and carrying shotguns. Hundreds of firefighters and medical rescuers were killed after the first blast when rushing to help -- that was the most disturbing part. Not that the thought of those poor people trapped in those planes was any less disturbing. I was in my office most of the day, listening to people's radios and checking the Internet bulletins/images on my computer. We knew our building could just as easily have been on fire and crumbling to the ground. It was a day of palpable grief, most of those who showed up leaving early, and work moving along at close to a standstill -- very heavy emotions welling up in everyone. \"It could just as easily have been me\" was the prevailing compassionate thought for all the victims. heavy emotions welling up in everyone. \"It could just as easily have been me\" was the prevailing compassionate thought for all the victims. At any rate, enough fear and grief was inflicted to keep the anguished and vengeful spirits who perpetrated the deed happy in their disembodied misery. What did they prove, though, but that even at the Pentagon they're just another bunch of vulnerable protoplasmic beings wishing they were happy. Luckily we had made our reservations for another round-trip flight to San Francisco just the day before -- we couldn't have managed it any later. They were for a Thanksgiving trip. Maybe by then we'll start to feel better again about flying. There's a new, more explicit message from the Dalai Lama today, calling for a nonviolent response to the tragic events. But I can't send that on to you until tomorrow. Wm"}, {"response": 415, "author": "suzee202000", "date": "Tue, Sep 18, 2001 (00:13)", "body": "Italy said yesterday for example, that while they condemm the terrorist attacks, they will not coperate with the US in any military actions the US takes. It wasn't exactly a rumour - maybe a partial misquote: Italian defence minister rules out Italian troop role ROME, Sept 16 (AFP) - Italian Defense Minister Antonio Martino on Sunday said Italian troops would not take part in any US retaliation after the terror attacks and that use of the term \"war\" was inappropriate. \"The term 'war' is inappropriate. It is not a conflict between states and Italian troops will not go anywhere,\" Martino told the RAI television station. \"I feel I am in a position to categorically exclude calling on the army,\" he said. The defence minister warned that \"nobody had better strike randomly,\" adding that 100,000 Italian soldiers were involved in various peacekeeping missions abroad. He said the US would certainly take military action once the perpetrators of the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and Pentagon had been identified, and only then \"will we see what we are called upon to do.\" Asked about Saudi-born extremist Osama bin Laden's role in the attacks, Martino said \"the idea that one man is behind this tragedy is misguided.\" In an interview with the daily Il Messaggero published Sunday, Martino urged the US not to act alone in the event of a military operation. _________________ Monday, 17 September, 2001, 09:01 GMT 10:01 UK Italy ready to retaliate against terrorists The Italian defence minister has made it clear that his armed forces are ready to take part in any action that may be agreed in retaliation against the attacks on the United States. The minister, Antonio Martino, told the BBC that he was misquoted when he appeared to have suggested yesterday Sunday that no Italian troops would take part in such operations. Mr Martino said that intelligence would first have to show clearly who the real culprits were, but once that was done, Italy's commitment would be total and absolute. From the newsroom of the BBC World Service"}, {"response": 416, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Sep 18, 2001 (00:34)", "body": "I am beginning to burn out on this. I put a ribbon on my front page (Geo's) Please feel free to borrow it for wherever you wish to place it."}, {"response": 417, "author": "AotearoaKiwi", "date": "Tue, Sep 18, 2001 (02:41)", "body": "Hi all IT IS WAR. OFFICIAL. THE TALIBAN HAS DECLARED A HOLY WAR IN AFGHANISTAN AGAINST THE UNITED STATES. 20000 FIGHTERS STAND READY TO DIE FOR WHAT THEY PERCEIVE TO BE A GREATER CAUSE AND WHAT WE PERCEIVE TO BE MADNESS. Source: Television One New Zealand. See http://www.stuff.co.nz for more on the New Zealand coverage. I absolutely had to post this for everyone to read. See more at Stuff.co.nz - Canterbury (not sure where under Canterbury it will get posted). It was written by a nine year old school boy and featured on the front page of the Press edition for September 18, 2001. by Charles MacDonald, a pupil at Mount Pleasant Primary School In America on a Tuesday morning An EVIL force struck without warning Planes hit the buildings, people screamed A terrible accident so it seemed The towers and Pentagon both took hits The 1st tower fell and smashed to bits. The terrified bystanders choked by the smoke While the Palestinians thought it a joke Reality of it all came clear As another plane smashed in the middle of nowhere The fear and drama continued hour after hour As down came the 2nd tower The attack had cost many lives Heart-broken men cry for their wives. We DON'T want war but PEACE instead only to feel safe in our bed. Rob"}, {"response": 418, "author": "AotearoaKiwi", "date": "Tue, Sep 18, 2001 (03:01)", "body": "Sorry my friends, but this appears to be war. The Taliban has said ANYONE HARBOURING UNITED STATES BASES ARE ALSO ON THE HIT LIST. Marcia, dear, the drumbeat of Mars is getting louder, the brass is getting more and more menacing. I for once think the possibility of a big Middle East war involving EVERYONE is not so far of after all. Rob"}, {"response": 419, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 18, 2001 (09:42)", "body": "More from William Meyers CALCUTTA, India, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Tibet's exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama urged the United States on Monday not to respond militarily to last week's devastating attacks, saying only nonviolence could combat international terrorism. \"While I express my sympathy, I have appealed to the U.S. president not to respond with more violence as violence is not an appropriate answer,\" the Tibetan Buddhist leader told a news conference in Calcutta. The Dalai Lama fled from his homeland to India with thousands of followers in 1959, nine years after the Chinese army entered Tibet and overthrew the Buddhist theocracy there. The 1989 Nobel Peace Prize laureate's comments came after Pope John Paul appealed on Sunday to the world not to allow the attacks on New York and Washington to lead to more violence, and not to allow \"a spiral of hate and violence\" to prevail. The United States has pledged to avenge the attacks by hijacked airliners that slammed into the twin towers of New York's World Trade Center and the Pentagon near Washington last Tuesday. NONVIOLENCE ONLY ANSWER \"Most cases of violence only cause destruction...these things will have to be prevented the nonviolent way. Only nonviolent means can counter terrorism in the long-term,\" the Dalai Lama said. The United States has said Islamic militant Osama bin Laden, harbored by Afghanistan's Taliban rulers, was the prime suspect behind the attacks in which some 5,000 people were killed or are missing. Bin Laden, a 44-year-old multimillionaire, has denied he was responsible, saying Afghanistan would not permit it. The Dalai Lama said he believed there were numerous causes for the attacks. \"Every event has many causes...you can't just pick up one individual -- Osama bin Laden -- and say he was responsible. That is not realistic,\" said the Dalai Lama, whose exiled government accuses China of repression in Tibet. \"The economic gap between the rich and poor nations is one factor (that could have been responsible),\" he said. But the Dalai Lama said the attacks could not have been sanctified by any religion. \"The essence of all major religions is compassion, forgiveness, contentment, self-discipline and brotherhood,\" he said. \"Some people may only be using the name of religion to justify their actions.\""}, {"response": 420, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 18, 2001 (10:19)", "body": "\"Niaz Naik, a former Pakistani Foreign Secretary, was told by senior American officials in mid-July that military action against Afghanistan would go ahead by the middle of October.\" http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/south_asia/newsid_1550000/1550366.stm That's not the only rumour coming out of Pakistan : \"Reuters news agency quoted a Pakistani army captain as saying the Taliban had moved a large number of weapons, including missiles, to positions near the Pakistani border.\" http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/south_asia/newsid_1549000/1549700.stm"}, {"response": 421, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Sep 18, 2001 (10:53)", "body": "Who would've ever thought watching Dave Letterman would be a gut-wrenching experience as it was last night. And to see Dan Rather break down twice. Really makes you wonder how those newscasters have managed over the past week. It's apparent to me that, in working 18+ hrs a day, they've been unable to deal with it on a personal level."}, {"response": 422, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 18, 2001 (11:18)", "body": "Dan Rather is human. He's 70 years old. Taliban declares a jihad against the US: \"I would like to tell my people that our jihad will be formally resuming against the Americans,\" the deputy chairman of the Taliban Council of Ministers, Mullah Mohammad Hasan Akhond, said in a speech broadcast late on Monday. Akhond said it was unimaginable that the \"terror attacks\" against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon had been committed by the Taliban or by Osama bin Laden. Also from MSNBC:"}, {"response": 423, "author": "toyce", "date": "Tue, Sep 18, 2001 (12:03)", "body": "This is just a subjective thought on my part, but I feel strongly about this. I think that bin Laden has a politcal agenda that is much larger than just getting the US out of the Middle East region. He's using religion to \"cloak\" that agenda. Has anyone thought what he might do if his first objective was ever realized? I think he would then turn his \"holy wrath\" to Middle Eastern governments who did not agree with him. The first one would probably be Saudi Arabia, since he is supposedly persona non grata there. I feel that his utlimate aim is to create a Middle Eastern theorcracy with himself, his son, or lieutenants at the helm."}, {"response": 424, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Sep 18, 2001 (12:17)", "body": "I disagree, Toyce. This is Jihad. And it is against the West. The Italian defence minister has made it clear that his armed forces are ready to take part in any action that may be agreed in retaliation against the attacks on the United States. Is Italy the first allied country to offer this? Where are the other allies? Bin Laden has many cells in Europe. The French intelligence discovered a plan to blow up the Eiffel Tower recently and where able to stop it. As Karen has said, in Europe there are many buildings that they could blow up but not as many people would die because they are not skyscapers. The Vatican on Sunday when the Pope holds his outdoor mass. That would be disastrous. Italy is on high alert."}, {"response": 425, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Sep 18, 2001 (12:29)", "body": "Terry, you miss my point. (Moon) As Karen has said, in Europe there are many buildings that they could blow up but not as many people would die because they are not skyscapers. You also miss my point."}, {"response": 426, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Sep 18, 2001 (12:37)", "body": "You also miss my point. It's two against one, Karen. ;-) So will you leave us hanging?"}, {"response": 427, "author": "rachael", "date": "Tue, Sep 18, 2001 (13:29)", "body": "re toyce's comment, I read one explanation about Bin Laden's actions that said something like (and I paraphrase) its not as simple as a Holy War because he's not just anti the west, he's anti other Muslim nations who don't agree with his particular brand of totalitarianism. Dunno if that's right, but it does make a bit of sense in the light of his exile from Saudi Arabia. the thing that puzzles me is, he's said to be so phenomenally rich, where did all that dosh come from? And maybe I'm being dim here, but isn't a contradiction in terms to be a multi-millionaire and be anti capitalism?"}, {"response": 428, "author": "toyce", "date": "Tue, Sep 18, 2001 (13:32)", "body": "Rachael. I doubt he can explain it either."}, {"response": 429, "author": "EileenG", "date": "Tue, Sep 18, 2001 (13:44)", "body": "(Moon) As Karen has said, in Europe there are many buildings that they could blow up but not as many people would die because they are not skyscapers. (Karen) You also miss my point. I get your point. Moon, did you see my last post? These terrorists were not merely after mass casualties."}, {"response": 430, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Sep 18, 2001 (14:08)", "body": "Moon, did you see my last post? I did. And I agree with you, Eileen. The Twin Towers were a symbol as the Eiffel Tower and the Vatican are. Had the Twin Towers been struck later in the day the casulaties would have been higher. I do think that countries would have a stroger reaction to deaths of their citizens rather than the destruction of a symbolic building empty. The worse case is for both at once as in the Twin Towers or God forbid, the outdoor mass at the Vatican. Hugh stadiums in Europe have also become symbols and that is why I used that example yesterday."}, {"response": 431, "author": "Bethanne", "date": "Tue, Sep 18, 2001 (15:16)", "body": "Europe may not have as many huge skyscrapers as we do over here, but they do have some. A hit on Canary Wharf in London for example, would probably result in thousands of deaths. However, to Londoners, that is just a very tall building. It lacks the national symolism that a hit on something like Buckingham Palace would have. Jeez, I can't believe I am sitting here calming talking about blowing up buildings as if I'm playing battleships or something....this is all very weird. Rachael....bin Laden is the son of a Saudi construction billionaire. His father was the Donald Trump of the Arab world in the 40's and 50's and is/was filthy rich. His family in Saudi Arabia have apparantly long since disowned him, but we presume he was still able to get his hands on some of the family loot, to use for his evil purposes."}, {"response": 432, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Sep 18, 2001 (15:35)", "body": "Quite right, Eileen and Beth, the targets had to be symbolic (financial evils or government evils), with loss of life secondary. That's why the Eiffel Tower hardly qualifies or a mere football stadium. (Moon) Had the Twin Towers been struck later in the day the casulaties would have been higher. Ensuring the timing of the attack was first and foremost, as opposed to hitting the towers at peak occupancy. They did that by using the first transcontinental flights of the day where the likelihood of delays was minimized. All the planes had to be in the air at approximately the same time and not sitting on runways waiting for approval to take off."}, {"response": 433, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Sep 18, 2001 (15:49)", "body": "Rob, thanks for your eloquence as usual. Nothing is as deadly as a \"holy War\" whhx makes it so terrifying. From the crusdades onward ([probably before that, too) we have fought over which of Abraham's sons was his rightful heir. We have missed God in all this infighting. Tha same Father but human sons who continue to perpetuate animosity and death in His name. The West will certainly suffer. What can be done other than arguing with former friends and wringing hands. It is not time to be divisive. Surely our survival supercedes all the little dlaws one sees in the other's interpretations of all that is too horrible to contemplate. God help us even if you don't believe..."}, {"response": 434, "author": "EileenG", "date": "Tue, Sep 18, 2001 (16:18)", "body": "(Karen) All the planes had to be in the air at approximately the same time and not sitting on runways waiting for approval to take off. Yet for all their in-depth research, the terrorists couldn't get the flight from Newark in the air with the others. It pulled away from the gate at 8-ish (same as the other flights) but waited in line for takeoff for more than 30 mins. This type of delay is so common at EWR one has to wonder if this was built into their plan or if it had an effect on the outcome. I get a strange sense of comfort from the latter. I also read or heard early flights were likely selected because they were relatively empty--less passengers to control."}, {"response": 435, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Sep 18, 2001 (17:24)", "body": "(Karen), That's why the Eiffel Tower hardly qualifies That is a symbol of the industrial revolution, which in a sense started us on this Godless path. I would say it is a symbol."}, {"response": 436, "author": "suzee202000", "date": "Tue, Sep 18, 2001 (18:11)", "body": "(Moon)Is Italy the first allied country to offer this? Where are the other allies? This is long, but an excellent round-up of countries and reactions. Key Nations' Reactions to Attacks Tuesday September 18 9:32 AM ET Countries Take Action on US Attacks By The Associated Press, International actions and events connected with the U.S. campaign to find and punish those responsible for attacks on New York and Washington. EUROPE: - ALBANIA: Declared it stood on the side of the United States and its Western allies in the fight against terrorism, offered use of Albanian airspace, ports and airports to the United States and its allies. - AUSTRIA: Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel said his country would allow the use of Austrian airspace and provide whatever support it can, but Austrian soldiers would not become involved in military action because that is banned by Austria's constitution. - BELARUS: President Alexander Lukashenko, who had often lashed out at the United States, sent his condolences to the American people. Belarus did not join Russia and other European nations in observing a moment of silence last week, and some officials said the terror attacks had been prompted by arrogant U.S. policies. - BELGIUM: Organized an anti-terrorist sweep following the attacks, holding two suspects on charges of possible involvement in planning an attack on U.S. interests in Europe. As current president of the European Union (news - web sites), it has also played host to emergency meetings of EU foreign ministers to show support for the United States. - BOSNIA: Stepped up security for U.S. citizens and property. ``This country will offer any kind of assistance the United States government may ask for,'' said Foreign Ministry spokesman Amer Kapetanovic. - BRITAIN: Urged its citizens to leave parts of Pakistan amid fears that U.S. retaliation might target neighboring Afghanistan (news - web sites). Prime Minister Tony Blair (news - web sites), who has pledged British support for U.S. action against the terrorists, called President Bush (news - web sites)'s handling of the attack and its aftermath ``absolutely right'' and praised the U.S. administration's consultations with allies. BRITAIN: The Bank of England cut its key lending rate by 0.25 percentage points to 4.75 percent as part of a coordinated global effort to boost consumer borrowing and spending in the wake of last week's terrorist attacks. Prime Minister Tony Blair (news - web sites) spoke by telephone with Chinese President Jiang Zemin (news - web sites) in an effort to build support for international action. BULGARIA: Prime Minister Simeon Saxcoburggotski pledged support for an international campaign against terror. Foreign Minister Solomon Pasi said his country, which is applying for NATO (news - web sites) membership, was ``ready to act as a (virtual) NATO ally'' in the campaign. -CROATIA: Supports United States against terrorism. However, Prime Minister Ivica Racan expressed concerns Monday that the European Union countries may now seek to impose tougher measures on their borders to prevent entry of potential terrorists, isolating non-members, including Croatia. CZECH REPUBLIC: Security was increased at the country's airports and other sensitive points such as nuclear power plants and dams. All unscheduled flights were forbidden. The government expressed its full support to the United States for military action against the terrorists. - DENMARK: As a NATO member, Denmark supports a joint action against terrorism, and the government asked intelligence agencies to track down possible supporters in Denmark. The Faeroe Islands and Greenland, both semiautonomous Danish territories, sent letters of condolence late Tuesday and held two minutes of silence on Friday. - ESTONIA: Was quick to condemn the airborne attacks, and the Foreign Ministry said the nation was ``prepared to provide to the United States any assistance within the scope of its capabilities.'' Estonia and its Baltic neighbors Latvia and Lithuania also expressed concerns that the crisis might put NATO enlargement on the back burner. FINLAND: Has beefed up security at borders, airports and outside embassies and increased air surveillance. Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen said ``the likelihood of terrorist attacks against Finland or Finnish targets abroad is very small.'' - FRANCE: Defense Minister Alain Richard said France was confident the United States would react responsibly to last week's terror attacks, but he cautioned against using force alone to retaliate. ``We must use it in a way that doesn't provoke other elements of instability,'' he said. - GEORGIA: Officials have said they were ready to offer any help to the United States in its efforts to find and punish the perpetrators of the attacks. - GERMANY: Interior Minister Otto Schily called for a review of ``our entire intelligence strategy'' after three men who lived quietly in Hamburg for years were implicated in the terror attacks in the United States"}, {"response": 437, "author": "rachael", "date": "Tue, Sep 18, 2001 (18:28)", "body": "excellent and useful summary, thanks suzee UK news today has been reporting Blair doing major diplomatic stuff to get countries to agree to united action (in particular 6 African states, and China); also that he will be in the US to meet Bush on Thursday, clear implication being discussing military action. Top brass military have apparently been in Downing St. what hasn't been on the news, but I'm not the only one noticing it, a couple of friends have said the same in other parts of the country, there's been lots more movement of military aircraft around here the last couple of days than would be normal."}, {"response": 438, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Sep 18, 2001 (18:46)", "body": "ITS HARD TO BELIEVE WE HAVE CRETINS LIKE THIS IN BUSINESS IN AMERICA People like what? People like one Bill Schrempf. He's the CEO of NCCI Holdings, Inc. in Boca Raton, Florida. NCCI is a company that compiles workers compensation insurance data. How exciting. They have about 850 employes in its Boca Raton offices. It seems that some of the NCCI employees are proud of their heritage and proud of their country. In the wake of the terrorist attack some of these NCCI employees decided that they wanted to display an American flag on their desks. At that point the dynamic Bill Schrempf swung into action. The orders went out to his managers and they immediately fanned out throughout the workplace confiscating the American flags. Schrempf, it seems, is afraid that some of the workers in the NCCI offices might find the display offensive. So, NCCI boss Bill Schrempf finds himself in the same rouges gallery as John Smeaton, the vice provost of student affairs at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania. Smeaton ordered flags removed from campus busses for fear that foreign students might be (gasp!!!!) offended!!! The one difference between Lehigh and NCCI is that at Lehigh there was someone above Smeaton who actually possessed an ounce of sense and some feelings of patriotism. Smeaton's order was countered in minutes. At NCCI Schrempf is the boss! There IS nobody above him (unless the Board of Directors calls a quick meeting.) How's this for a workplace rule. Nobody works here who is offended by the American Flag. Period. If the American Flag offends you then you are a virtual cancer in this workplace. Pack your stuff and don't let the door knob hit you in the ass on your way out. Let me put it another way. If I have a flag on my desk and you try to confiscate it because you are offended -- then you have a damned good chance to be the subject of one of those statistical records that NCCI collects. DAMN -- this just pisses me off. Sorry, can't hide it. I wish I had the money to buy that company just so I could send Schrempf packing. Now -- it just happens that I don't have any need for a company that compiles workers compensation data. In the interest of all fairness -- since I have slammed Bill Schrempf and his company -- don't you think its only fair that I list the company name and phone number? I mean -- just in case you happen to agree with Bill Schrempf and would like to call and congratulate him! So, for that purpose only .... NCCI HOLDINGS INC 901 PENINSULA CORP CIR BOCA RATON, FL (561)893-1000 And here's a link to the story from the Palm Beach Post. http://www.gopbi.com/partners/pbpost/epaper/editions/saturday/business_3.html ANY CONNECTION TO THIS NCCI? Last evening (Sunday) I spent a good amount of time trying to find an Internet site for NCCI. No luck. This caused me to expand my search and, with the help of a Nuze reader came with some interesting items. We found two websites this morning. One, ( http://www.ncci.com ) appears to be for the Palm Beach company. The other, ( http://www.ncci.sa.com/ ) is for the NCCI (National Corporation for Cooperative Insurance) that was established by Royal Decree No. M/5 of 17/4/1405H as a Saudi Joint Stock Company. That's right --- a corporation wholly owned by the government of Saudi Arabia. It seems this Saudi Arabian company is in the same business -- insurance. In searching both websites I could find no interlocking references. This doesn't mean no connection exists --- but the coincidence is somewhat amazing. Both with the \"NCCI\" in their name, both in the insurance business. I wonder who the stockholders of the Palm Beach company are?"}, {"response": 439, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Sep 18, 2001 (20:36)", "body": "Every possible resource has been posted on a special page by Google.com plus important contacts and news sources world wide. http://www.google.com/news/"}, {"response": 440, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 18, 2001 (20:38)", "body": "This page is an excellent resource. I'm going to make it my home page."}, {"response": 441, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Sep 18, 2001 (21:10)", "body": "marcia, you may post the ribbon in all of our conferences--and terry, can we get it on our main page?"}, {"response": 442, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 18, 2001 (22:38)", "body": "Sure thing!"}, {"response": 443, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 18, 2001 (23:24)", "body": "Date: Tue, 18 Sep 2001 10:56:24 -0700 (PDT) From: Lauren Weinstein Subject: The Big Picture? Cc: lauren@pfir.org \"You will say you lose your freedom. Freedom is an illusion. All you lose is the emotion of pride.\" -- Colossus \"Colossus: The Forbin Project\" (1970) \"There seems to be a definite pattern emerging.\" -- The Psychiatrist (G. Wood) \"Harold and Maude\" (1971) An interesting pattern does seem to be emerging. I do not suggest that it's the result of a conspiracy, but rather the result of long-term trends that have been self-reinforcing. Still, like the images in a kaleidoscope, complex-appearing structures can seem to easily appear from independent actions. We start with media consolidation on a grand scale. The range of content providers and distribution operations -- TV, cable, newspapers, magazine, Internet, and so on, are primarily in the hands of a tiny cadre of gigantic firms. This consolidation seems likely to continue to even more intense levels. Such concentration of media power provides the ability to present a highly unified message both to the population at large and to Congress through lobbyists. A slogan like CNN's \"America's New War\" can be applied across a range of related properties and environments, instead of merely being sandwiched between \"EnerX\" commercials. Next step: Institute a mindset and legal structure that marginalizes all rights to information except those of copyright holders (most of the widely-used content will be under the control of those few media conglomerates we discussed above, of course). The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) helps enormously at this stage to accomplish this goal. Send violators to prison along with the rapists, murderers, and terrorists. Finally, a way to fill those jail cells being emptied out in California from the new \"treat drug offenders rather than jail them\" program. Gotta keep the momentum going. Outlaw the sale or providing of *everything* --hardware, software, communications, impure thoughts, or what have you-- relating to digital technologies that cannot be directly controlled by those concentrated media forces. The SSSCA (Security Systems Standards and Certification Act) should do nicely. To sweeten the deal, point out that since only SSSCA-approved security systems would be legal, it could provide a dandy mechanism to make the use of strong encryption in the private sector illicit. All that's needed is to ensure that such strong crypto systems are not compatible with the SSSCA-approved mechanisms (or refuse to certify anything that contains those undesirable systems). The approved security system will of course contain the appropriate backdoors for data access by the powers-that-be (and sufficiently resourceful hackers). The level of civil disobedience likely to result will probably be the highest since prohibition, but hey, prohibition didn't have any nasty side-effects that weren't trivial to control, right? And to tie this all up in a nice neat bow, be ready to take advantage of any catastrophe, tragedy, or horror to assert your agenda while emotions run high and knee-jerk reactions are the order of the day. Voila! Mission accomplished. --Lauren-- Lauren Weinstein lauren@pfir.org or lauren@vortex.com or lauren@privacyforum.org Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 Co-Founder, PFIR - People For Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org Moderator, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy \"Reality Reset\" Columns - http://www.vortex.com/reality"}, {"response": 444, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 18, 2001 (23:25)", "body": "Subject: [risks] Risks Digest 21.66 Date: Monday, September 17, 2001 10:13 PM From: RISKS List Owner Reply-To: risko@csl.sri.com To: RISKS-LIST: Risks-Forum Digest Monday 17 September 2001 Volume 21 : Issue 66 FORUM ON RISKS TO THE PUBLIC IN COMPUTERS AND RELATED SYSTEMS (comp.risks) ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy, Peter G. Neumann, moderator ***** See last item for further information, disclaimers, caveats, etc. ***** This issue is archived at and by anonymous ftp at ftp.sri.com, cd risks . Contents: 11 September 2001 in retrospect (PGN) Abridged info on RISKS (comp.risks) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 17 Sep 2001 16:27:43 PDT From: \"Peter G. Neumann\" Subject: 11 September 2001 in retrospect *********************************** *********************************** ** 11 September 2001 ** *********************************** *********************************** \"THE RISKS ARE OBVIOUS.\" BUT PERHAPS NOT OBVIOUS ENOUGH. 11 September 2001 will be painfully remembered by most of the planet's population for the coordinated hijacking of four jetliners and the ensuing surprise attacks on New York City's World Trade Center and the Pentagon, with thousands of lives lost and enormous consequential after-effects. Our hearts go out to everyone close to those who were so irrevocably affected -- including the crash victims, the firemen and other emergency workers in New York City, and especially the UA93 passengers whose efforts evidently saved the lives of others. We are once again reminded how fragile our lives and civic infrastructures are, and how interdependent we all are. Although violent and sudden large-scale termination of people's lives has previously been all too familiar in many countries of the world, many of us have hitherto largely taken too much for granted. Hopefully, the aftermath of this fateful day will dramatically increase public awareness of some of the vulnerabilities in our lives and risks to our freedom. However, the events should come as no surprise, because many warnings have been widely ignored. For example, the President's Commission on Critical Infrastructure Protection of the previous U.S. Administration identified serious vulnerabilities in telecommunications, electric power and other energy sources, transportation, financial services, emergency services, and government continuity. It noted how interdependent these critical infrastructures are, and how they are all related to information technologies. It also observed difficulties in coordination among and within different infrastructures, and perhaps most relevant, a general lack of public awareness. In many respects, complacency has been seen across the board in response to that report. In addition, the White House Commission on Safety and Security (the Gore Commission) identified many serious risks in aviation. (Also, see my paper , presented at the January 1997 International Conference on Aviation Safety and Security, co-sponsored by that commission and George Washington University.) Various analyses of commercial aviation and air-traffic control over the past 18 years within the Department of Transportation have identified potentially serious vulnerabilities that merit closer attention. More recently, a U.S. General Accounting Office report identified many serious problems in airport security. But, perhaps because the risks and threat levels seemed low, or possibly because institutional bureaucracy is so deeply entrenched, very little action was deemed necessary. Unfortunately, some of the issues recognized therein have now come home to roost. As a society, we in the U.S. seem to be unwilling to take certain prudent precautions -- perhaps because they would cost too much, or be too inconvenient, or would seriously degrade service. Apparently, we suffer from a serious lack of foresight. The Risks Forum has persistently considered risks associated with our technologies and their uses, but we often note that many of the crises and other risk-related problems have resulted from low-tech events, misguided human behavior, or malicious misbehavior. In short, the typical search for high-tech solutions to problems stemming from social, economic, and geopolitical causes has frequently ignored more basic issues. Over-endowing high-tech solutions is riskful in the absence of adequate understanding of the limitations of the technology and the frailties and perversities of human nature. Whereas there are high-tech solutions that might be effective if properly used, we should also be examining some low-tech and no-tech approaches. One pervasive theme in the Risks Forum over the past 16 years has been the ubiquity of systemic vulnerabilities relating to security, reliability, availability, and overall survivability, with respect to human enterprises, society at large, and to systems, applications, and enterprises based on information technologies. Evidently, we still have much to learn. Le"}, {"response": 445, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 18, 2001 (23:26)", "body": "Subject: To the day Date: Tuesday, September 18, 2001 11:07 AM From: Womack, Jack As I start to write this, I look at my watch and realize that one week ago, just now, I'd just seen the first tower go down. Here in the new world it seems like a year, two years, a hundred years. Time has taken on a rubbery quality. Toward the end of Burn's The Civil War documentary, years ago, there was a single phrase read aloud; written by either a Yankee or Confederate some time after the war, thinking back on his experience, and I keep hearing it in my head: \"Were these things real?\" Even as I go through each day, so much of it still refuses to settle into anything remotely resembling reality. Last night we watched Letterman, who was on for the first time after the late news, and it was extremely strange, and vaguely unsettling. He didn't make any jokes, of course, but this most hard-shelled of all contemporary performers revealed depths of sadness, and fear, and uncertainty, and anger; and then Dan Rather came out as his guest and broke down in tears twice. Extremely unreal. Yet, on the other hand, V & I went over to Jersey City late yesterday afternoon to have dinner with her mother and celebrate the new year (praying, as every year, to have one more year). While I expected huge backups at the bus terminal, we somehow managed to hit it right, and got from Port Authority to Summit Ave. in Jersey City in half an hour. On the way, as we went up Palisades Avenue, which runs along the top of the Palisades (which, in this area, are utterly urbanized) and so I saw all of lower Manhattan from the Jersey side, and the absence of the Towers, and the smoke that continues to rise therefrom. That, conversely, now seemed normal. Valeria's mother, who is 68, was extremely happy to see us. Jersey City has a large Arab population (and Indian, and Phillipine, and...) and she was more than usually suspicious -- relating stories of how two had been arrested (I have heard this on the news as well), etc. She's holding up very well, though; of course, this is a woman who grew up in Soviet Russia during the Second World War, and under Stalin, and didn't leave the USSR until 1981, so she's had considerable experience, living life under conditions that are only now beginning to become imaginable. Besides the absence of the Towers from a distance there are many things that are beginning to seem normal to me now. Leaving the house fifteen minutes earlier because my subway now becomes express at 96th, and therefore no longer stops at 50th (unless I transfer). Seeing at least one policeman at every subway station, and many more at the larger stations. Hearing, along with the occasional airplane (I gather airports are becoming rather ghostly, at present), the occasional F-16. Phone service, especially long-distance & cellular, that comes and goes. Police barricades along Fifth, metal barriers at the Channel Gardens at Rockefeller Center, the sight of US flags everywhere, attached to car aerials, hanging from windows, photocopied and taped onto doors. The occasional Army humvee parked on Broadway. New York crowds, thinned out to a level I haven't seen since the late 70s and early 80s, when no one wanted to come to NY on a bet, save for the likes of me and my people. I'd recommend the new New Yorker. The cover is by Spiegelman, and brilliant. In the News, this morning, an article about NY's Afghan restaurants, and how no one is eating at them, and how they're quickly going to go broke; the people who run them are, of course, in nearly all cases immigrants who came here to escape the war during the 80s, or the Taliban since. And the new total of people still missing is a little over 5,400 -- evidently the additional 700 weren't reported until yesterday; I imagine many relatives, companies, etc., were still holding out hope. A friend in Australia has told me 100 Aussies have been killed; a friend in Germany says anywhere up to 200-some Germans were killed; and of course 500 Brits. 100 Russians. And U.S. citizens who, being New Yorkers, were of every possible background, every color and creed. Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus.. An attack on Civilization, period. I need to talk to my father again tonight, to see how he is doing. Two weeks ago, tomorrow, my stepmother suddenly died, as you and some others know (she was 52). Her funeral was September 8, and then 3 days later...thoughts of her vanished from my mind, mostly, since last Tuesday, and that makes me feel sad, but even so I can only move forward. I know I didn't come close to processing her death, but at some point I suppose I will -- or maybe I already have, in this new world. I honestly don't know. I'm not as scared today as I was yesterday. I can't imagine this will last; today is Ros Ha'shanah, NY is quiet yet again -- this time, for better reason then has recently been the case -- and, clearly, something is in the air. But I don't know what, and until that something occurs, I can only do wha"}, {"response": 446, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 18, 2001 (23:27)", "body": "*Arthur Kroker Vents His Feelings With Such Untoward Eloquence That They Threaten To Make Common Sense *8-/ Subject: Event-scene 97 - Terrorism of Viral Power Date: Tuesday, September 18, 2001 2:18 PM From: CTHEORY EDITORS Reply-To: CTHEORY EDITORS To: _____________________________________________________________________ CTHEORY THEORY, TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE VOL 24, NO 3 Event-scene 97 09/18/01 Editors: Arthur and Marilouise Kroker _____________________________________________________________________ Terrorism of Viral Power ======================== ~Arthur and Marilouise Kroker~ The 20th century took place under the sign of nuclear superpower: a cold war with bloc to bloc political confrontations; a military rhetoric of graduated escalating respnses; a strangely comforting illusion of \"mutually assured destruction.\" Deterrence was everywhere. Dissuasion was the code. A bored culture living in the shadowland of apocalypse now. That ended September 11th. The field of power flipped. The triumphant era of the last superpower suddenly gave way to the contagious logic of viral power. In place of the certainty principle of nuclear stalemate, there emerges now the radical uncertainty of the terrorism of micro-power. The always suspended fantaticism of technological holocaust is challenged by the fanaticism of religious zealotry. The logic of deterrence no longer functions. Deterrrence only works in a deadly game in which adversaries have a primary interest in preserving their own lives. Sacrificing one's own life is the first gambit, and real psychological fuel of suicide commandos. Dissuasion is inoperative. Again, the code of dissuasion is intimately linked to a politics founded on preserving territory. However, viral power is terroristic precisely because it occupies only the imaginary territory of symbolic exchange. The religious ecstasy of a sudden, unexpected, devastating strike against the symbolic capital of the American empire: the trinity of the World Trade Center, Pentagon and the airlines of America. The terrorism of the new age of viral power has these symbolic qualities: It is a micro-power, not a superpower. It is low tech, not high tech--and thus invisible to the optical scanners of the ruling technological regime. Paradoxically, the (technological) weakness of viral power is its strength. It is subterranean, secretive--driven by a crusading spirit equal to the religious zeal of the Middle Ages. Breaking the rules of publicity culture, it claims no responsibility and thus speaks clearly to the cultural imagination of the suppressed and powerless everywhere. It is a matter of biological violence, not physics. Flowing invisibly through the rhetorical screen of the 'anti-ballistic missile system,' viral power adopts the strategy of the attacking parasite: invading the body of the host (the American homeland), bleeding its tactical intelligence (those flight schools in Florida), circulating in its commercial bloodstream (American airlines), and imploding in a violent fatal metastasis that has as its aim the infiltration of the mediascape through its apocalyptic effects. Viral power avoids conflict with the real military assests of the host nation because its actual intention is a strategic media strike. Viral power is understandable only in the language of the media: the twin spectacles of sadness and terror; the doubled language of fascination and dread. In the days ahead, the media spectacle will shift to the viral language of rage and revenge. Tragically, the real missiles were those American people taken hostage in the air. The real targets were not hardened missile silos, but the dominant symbols of American power. The real terrorism was the destabilization of the American government. The real war is the coming war on civil liberties as the price for combating terrorism. The real 'ground zero' was provoking America to acts of vengeance that will only fast-feed the future rage of viral power. The scenario of terrorism, then, as a mutating virus that copies itself to American rage on its way to revenge against the host-scapegoat. Viral power goes into the sea, the sky, the earth. It cannot be defeated by the normal methods of nuclear warfare. It can only be copied. The virus of terrorism is about to enter the American bloodstream, taking democracy hostage. Listen to House of Representatives Minority Leader Richard Gephardt: \"We are in a new world. We have to rebalance freedom and security. We can't take away people's civil liberties. But we're not going to have all the openness and freedom we have had.\" The implosion of American democracy, then, as the ultimate objective of the suicide commandos. The 'war on terrorism' may have finally begun, but the first casualty may well be American freedom as it was envisioned before September 11, 2001. _____________________________________________________________________ Arthur and Marilouise Kroker are the editors of CTHEORY."}, {"response": 447, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 18, 2001 (23:27)", "body": "From: Stewart Brand Subject: not-terrorism Dave, the following set of thoughts is from Kevin Kelly, who spent four months in Afghanistan in the late 70s, more months in northern Pakistan, and a long time in Iran (during its revolution). I think its balanced inquiry might be of interest to IPers. --Stewart Brand The Taliban are kind of like Nazis to the Afghanis, but we should remember that while the Nazis had resistance and passive obedience among the Germans, they also had supporters. And so do the Taliban. But it's true most of the Afghanis, like the Germans, are just getting screwed. The other important point is the the Taliban are not bin Laden, and bin Laden not the Taliban. Bin Laden is a foreigner who is barely tolerated by most rural Afghanis, since the Afghanis are very xenophobic. I think bin Laden is far more sophisticated, complex, and cosmopolitan than the Taliban. Few Taliban have ever left their home province. Bin Laden is a world savvy. For another thing, he is brilliantly creative, and known among his supporters as 'imaginative.\" You can't say that about the Taliban. HIs idea of using American know-how to bomb itself, using no resources of his own, is sheer genius. He is one of the few Islamics to bridge the great cultural gulf between and among the Arabs. Remember that the Afghanis are NOT Arabs. They are Caucasians, their language is \"Indo-European\" and they are culturally Persians. The Afghanis don't even like Arabs. Yet bin Laden is able to speak to and appeal to them as well as North Africans, Lebonese, Egyptians, Iraquis, Palestinians, Iranians, Pakistanis, Kashmiris -- which is simply remarkable. More so, he has bridge the religious differences among the Muslims, although he still has a way to go. Just getting Shiite and Suni Muslims in the same room is itself a remarkable achievement. That fact that bin Laden appeals to married, 43-year old residents of America with pilot licenses willing to give their lives, says to me there is something large and non-marginal about this. Bin Laden may be Hitler, but it does no good to think of Hitler, or bin Laden, as \"fringe\" or even as a terrorist. This is a main stream, middle of the road skirmish. Radical Islam will become the new communism, if it isn't that already. It has a deep appeal, even to those subjugated to it. There are aspects about that even supporters don't like and can't stand, but they will submit to it because they believe it is better overall than the alternative of \"western capitalism.\" And like communism it will be very hard to eradicate it, should we attempt to. The Arab countries we are now asking to take sides, will probably take sides with us, but this will kill and maim them because they are essentially taking sides against many of their own citizens, who may be better organized and committed than the government itself. The key question for me is: will this revolutionary style -- a sort of mafia, suicidal, networked, globally guerilla insurgency -- be imported by other non-muslim radicals? Will bin Laden become the Che Guevera of this century? Will the resident antipathy towards America in other spheres be cast in the same style. Will all anti-global-capitalism become clones of bin Laden? Like communism this can spread. And like communism I think its a very bad idea in practice, though it sounds good in theory. So I am in favor of halting it, and I believe that it needs to be combatted early and often. But the danger of radical Islam becoming the new communism is that anyone who is not against them becomes branded a communist, or \"terrorist,\" themselves. That worries me because I am not so eager to label bin Laden a \"tinpot terrorist.\" He is not second rate, and he may not even be a terrorist. This is a new kind of war. There has been no demands made, like in most terrorism. There is nothing we have that they want. Their intent is not to terrorize. This is only a side product. Their intent is to destroy the prevailing mono-system. But they are not a state government, but a pan-national network that is growing. We've done little to eradicate them in 20 years. They are stronger now then ever before. At first I thought that the World Trade airbombing would need to be followed through by another attack to have lasting meaning, but as the depth and sophistication of the network of the radicals is revealed I think we have already reached a critical moment. I think we need a new framework for understanding them. I would ban the use of the words \"terrorists\" and \"terrorism.\" A better old word is \"revolutionary.\" Our chief concern should be that there is nothing we have they want. They don't want recognition. They don't want our trade. They don't want our culture. They don't want our aspirations -- democracy, free choice, high technology. They don't want our values. They don't want our wealth. Actually, they would like our literacy (for males) and health care, but that is not enough. I think we need to enlarge western civilizati"}, {"response": 448, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 18, 2001 (23:28)", "body": "Suicide terrorism: a global threat Traditionally viewed as a problem affecting the Middle East and South Asia, the threat posed by suicide terrorism is spreading around the globe. Rohan Gunaratna assesses the nature of the threat, preventive and reactive security measures, and examines future trends. (...) The threat Suicide terrorism is the readiness to sacrifice one's life in the process of destroying or attempting to destroy a target to advance a political goal. The aim of the psychologically and physically war-trained terrorist is to die while destroying the enemy target. In the 1980s suicide terrorism was witnessed in Lebanon, Kuwait and Sri Lanka. In the 1990s it had spread to Israel, India, Panama, Algeria, Pakistan, Argentina, Croatia, Turkey, Tanzania and Kenya. With enhanced migration of terrorist groups from conflict-ridden countries, the formation of extensive international terrorist infrastructures and the increased reach of terrorist groups in the post Cold War period, suicide terrorism is likely to affect Western Europe and North America in the foreseeable future. There are now 10 religious and secular terrorist groups that are capable of using suicide terrorism as a tactic against their governments and/or foreign governments. They are: the Islam Resistance Movement (Hamas) and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad of the Israeli occupied territories; Hizbullah of Lebanon; the Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ) and Gamaya Islamiya (Islamic Group - IG) of Egypt; the Armed Islamic Group (GIA) of Algeria; Barbar Khalsa International (BKI) of India; the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) of Sri Lanka; the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) of Turkey; and the Osama bin Laden network (Al Quaida) of Afghanistan. There were also four pro-Syrian, Lebanese and Syrian political parties engaged in suicide terrorism in the 1980s, but they are currently inactive in the terrorist front. These groups staged around 25 suicide attacks in Lebanon. As more than one group claimed some of the attacks, perhaps to diffuse the threat to the group, it is difficult to identify the group responsible. The groups engaged in suicide operations in Lebanon alongside Hizbullah were the Natzersit Socialist Party of Syria; the Syrian Nationalist Party; the Lebanese Communist Party; and the Baath Party of Lebanon. There are two types of suicide operations: battlefield and off the battlefield. In battlefield operations, suicide bombers are integrated into the attacking groups. Most off-the-battlefield operations have involved single suicide bombers. In the case of the LTTE and Hamas, there have been multiple suicide bombers. The targets have been static and mobile, against infrastructure and humans. Suicide bombers have destroyed military, political, economic and cultural infrastructure. They have committed terrorist attacks by killing civilians in buses, crowded places and in buildings. Suicide bombers have also assassinated political and military VIPs. Key characteristics Examination of suicide terrorism across a range of groups has revealed that terrorist groups use suicide bombers when they are both strong and weak. In terms of military and economic power, Hizbullah and the LTTE lead the list of suicide operations. In terms of numbers, the LTTE has conducted the largest volume of suicide operations, followed by Hizbullah, Hamas and the PKK. In terms of range, only some of the groups have operated beyond their territories. As well as abortive attempts to conduct suicide operations in Israel, Hizbullah has successfully conducted suicide operations in Argentina. The LTTE has conducted one suicide operation in India. It is the only group to have killed two world leaders - the former prime minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi, and the president of Sri Lanka, Ranasinghe Premadasa - using male and female suicide bombers. The Egyptian groups have conducted suicide operations in Croatia against a police station and in Pakistan against the Egyptian embassy. Al-Qaeda used at least one Egyptian suicide bomber in the 1998 East African embassy bombings. All the other active groups have conducted suicide operations within their own territory. The PKK has threatened to conduct suicide operations in Germany where there is a large Kurdish diaspora. All the suicide terrorist groups have support infrastructures in Europe and in North America. Leaders and members of these groups are known to travel to the West, and key activists live either in Europe or in North America distributing propaganda, raising funds, and in some instances procuring weapons and shipping them to the various theatres of conflict. Suicide-capable groups differ in form, size, orientation, goal and support. A review of the key characteristics of the 10 suicide-capable groups reveals that any group can acquire suicide bomb technology and engage in suicide terrorism: a Al-Qaeda is a mix of several associate groups that are internationally dispersed. From Afghanistan, Bin Laden provides the overal"}, {"response": 449, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 18, 2001 (23:29)", "body": "Below is a list of STICTLY FORBIDDEN items to be carried on board the cabin of any BA flight. DRS pages are being updated individually, but you can use this as a guideline when informing clients. Most are for obvious reasons, but something most of us never thought of previously. * Toy or replica guns (plastic or metal) * Household cutlery * Knives with blades of any length (including steel nail files) * Paper knives * Razor blades (shaving or other) * Tradesmen's tools * Darts * Scissors of any size * Hypodermic syringes* * Knitting needles * Sporting bats (including rackets, cricket bats and golf clubs) * Billiard, snooker, or pool cues * Catapults (slingshots) * Corkscrews with blades attached *Customers who require the use of hypodermic needles for medical reasons (for example, diabetics and customers with allergies), will be asked for proof of medical need. Please be advised that customers carrying any of the above items (with the exception of hypodermic needles) will be asked to place it in their hold baggage. Customers carrying hand baggage only will be asked to surrender the item for disposal."}, {"response": 450, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 18, 2001 (23:36)", "body": "Breakdown of people who are missing and presumed dead by nationality (per Reuters): Australia 78 Bangladesh 50 Brazil 30 Britain 300 Canada 78 China 53 Columbia 199 Ecuador 34 Egypt 4 El Salvador 73 Finland 50 Germany 104 Honduras 1 Indonesia 16 Ireland 103 Italy 5 Japan 24 Lebanon 3 Mexico 166 Philippines 435 Russia 100 South Africa 25 South Korea 18 Switzerland 288 Thailand 3 The remainder are Americans."}, {"response": 451, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 18, 2001 (23:36)", "body": "Link for the Reuters casualties by nationality figures above: http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/nm/20010918/wtc_casualties_graphic.gif The original source of the numbers is FEMA as of 9/17."}, {"response": 452, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 18, 2001 (23:44)", "body": "I hope not, but here's the rumor: http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGAGB8LISRC.html Relevant section: \"Authorities have grown increasingly certain - from intelligence intercepts, witness interviews and evidence gathered in hijackers' cars and homes - that a second wave of violence was planned by collaborators. They said Sept. 22 has emerged as an important date in the evidence, but declined to be more specific. Tuesday's attacks were \"part of a larger plan with other terrorism acts, not necessarily hijacking of airplanes,\" said Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. \"Those acts were going to occur in the United States and elsewhere in the world.\" The FBI said it has issued an advisory to fire departments across the country to increase security and guard against the theft of any ambulances or fire trucks, which could be used in bombing attacks. The bureau said the warning was precautionary. \" For more on your air travel safety, go to this site and read ALPA Security Alert Bulletin 2001-2, detailing such important items as the use of the emergency axe in the cockpit against suicidal hi-jackers and planning for emergency depressurizations and violent aircraft maneuvers to disable and disorient hi-jackers: http://www.awalpa.org/"}, {"response": 453, "author": "suzee202000", "date": "Wed, Sep 19, 2001 (04:12)", "body": "World Leaders List Conditions on Cooperation New York Times September 19, 2001 by PATRICK E. TYLER and JANE PERLEZ (Excerpt) WASHINGTON, Sept. 18 \ufffd After a week of unconditional support from abroad, the Bush administration confronted its first significant difficulties today in building a broad international coalition to support using military power and other means against a still-faceless terror network rooted in Afghanistan and elsewhere. A procession of world leaders was either on the way or on the phone to Washington seeking to convince the White House that only a multilateral approach based on consultation, hard evidence and United Nations support would justify the use of military power in response to the devastating attacks last week. Today, President Jiang Zemin of China telephoned Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain and President Jacques Chirac of France as each prepared for meetings with President Bush. He admonished his Western counterparts to tell Mr. Bush that \"any military action against terrorism\" should be based on \"irrefutable evidence and should aim at clear targets so as to avoid casualties to innocent people,\" according to official news reports from China. Mr. Jiang also telephoned President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, and although the two leaders denounced \"terrorism in all its forms,\" they spoke just of cooperating with each other and the United Nations to \"develop a mechanism for fighting terrorism,\" the reports said. As the Bush administration sought through White House consultations and overseas missions to strengthen the sinews of an antiterror effort whose scale and objective remain unknown, a number of countries began to calculate the potential cost of their taking part, and to try to exact a price for it from the United States. For a number of Middle Eastern countries, the price was straightforward. The United States has to become more deeply involved in ending the violence and in reinvigorating the Israeli-Palestinian peace effort. But it was clear that a convulsion in Israel, the West Bank or Gaza could threaten Washington's efforts to maintain support in moderate Arab countries, a problem that Mr. Bush's father faced in the 1991 coalition that defeated Iraq in Kuwait. \"The people that we expect to work with closely in combating terrorism,\" a spokesman for the State Department, Richard A. Boucher, said, are \"interested in the Israel- Palestinian situation,\" and their attitudes toward America's war on terrorism are \"linked in people's minds\" to America's commitment to Arab-Israeli peace. Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal of Saudi Arabia, is due to arrive on Wednesday with a large contingent of Saudi intelligence officers and their files on Osama bin Laden and his Al Qaeda network. But other potential American allies raised urgent economic and political agendas that officials said Washington was beginning to address. Pakistan, in exchange for whatever bases or rights to fly in its air space that it provides, would like an agreement to end 11 years of sanctions, to restore the flow of American arms and to reduce a punishing debt load. Russia, if it is called on, has a clear set of grievances over NATO expansion toward its borders and criticism of its military campaign in Chechnya. Foreign Minister Igor D. Ivanov arrives on Wednesday. Administration officials said they were eager to establish Moscow's price to open the northern corridor to Afghanistan through Tajikistan, a former Soviet republic. A number of Russian generals have questioned whether Russia could join an American-led antiterror campaign whose operational objectives remain unclear. One high- ranking military officer told a newspaper, Vremya Novestei, that \"fighting terrorists is like trying to rid oneself of roaches in a block of flats.\" \"You do it in one flat,\" the officer said, \"and they go to another.\" Nowhere was the sense of alarm over American plans more apparent than in the warning of one of America's staunchest Middle East allies, President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt. In remarks broadcast on Monday night, he implored the United States not to undertake military action that might kill innocent civilians, divide Christians against Muslims and further inflame attitudes against American policy in the region. Mr. Mubarak, like Mr. Jiang, urged that \"hard evidence\" be the basis for any military action and that \"countries not be punished\" for the actions of \"individuals.\" He called on the United Nations to organize an international convention against terrorism that would develop a common program of action for all countries. His remarks were echoed by other leaders in the region where Washington has yet to establish a firm diplomatic beachhead in dealing with intractable and volatile conflicts. While Egypt and Jordan were both crucial allies in the 1991 coalition against President Saddam Hussein of Iraq, diplomats from both countries said they did not expect to be called on to provide bases or other direct military support."}, {"response": 454, "author": "AotearoaKiwi", "date": "Wed, Sep 19, 2001 (04:17)", "body": "Hi all MSG 436 sums up just about every country capable of providing aid bar New Zealand. Do we not exist? Last I looked 3.81 million New Zealanders, 46 million sheep as well as Kiwis, Takahe's Pukeko's Kaka, Kereru, among other birds, reptiles, fish, spiders and insects can be found on two large islands and a host of smaller islands grouped together under the popular name \"Godzone\". On to more relevant matters though. New Zealand has offered intelligence assistance but nothing else as we seem to be preoccupied with Air New Zealands struggle to stay afloat and the fact that our armed forces have been degraded so badly that the East Timor peace keeping operation is about as far as we would get anyway. We could have offered more if so much money was not being lost in ideological changes to governing structures for everything everytime Labour and National swapped places in the Beehive. I mean ideally we could have bought the 28 F-16s the United States was prepared to give us but Helen Clark's excuse was they have never been used so why keep them? So what if they were not used, having them meant our servicemen were technically competent, that we could participate in defence exercises and have a small but modern air combat force. We could have gotten one or two frigates that Labour was talking about but I suspect they sold out to the Greens. Typical. So here we are with a poorly equipped airforce that just lost the \"force\", and a downsized Navy. Great. Rob"}, {"response": 455, "author": "EileenG", "date": "Wed, Sep 19, 2001 (09:20)", "body": "(Rachael) what hasn't been on the news, but I'm not the only one noticing it, a couple of friends have said the same in other parts of the country, there's been lots more movement of military aircraft around here the last couple of days than would be normal. It's the same over here. The skies over the greater DC area are humming."}, {"response": 456, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Sep 19, 2001 (09:55)", "body": "Thanks for the lengthy list of positions by country, Suzee. Everybody, time to put those tax refunds back in the mail to Washington. It's going to cost us jillions to *morally* convince some of these countries. :-("}, {"response": 457, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Sep 19, 2001 (10:28)", "body": "Tamim Ansar (cited above) is supposed to be on Charlie Rose sometime and was on NPR being interviewed by Bill Moyers the other night. Pat Holt has a piece on him http://www.holtuncensored.com/members/index.html Robert McNeil who left the Newshour in 95 has come out of retirement to help with their coverage. His first interview was today http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/foreign_correspondence/july - dec01/terrorism_9-18.html dec01/terrorism_9-18.html> One exchange: ROBERT MACNEIL: Steve Erlanger, how is Mr. Bush's leadership and his rhetoric perceived where you are, in Germany? STEVE ERLANGER: A little worrying, quite honestly. People are being very polite, but they see, often, the kind of terror in Mr. Bush's eyes when he goes off of his script. They worry he will feel too much political pressure to react too soon and in the wrong way. They are hopeful that he will listen to his senior advisers, and they think that he will, and they have a little bit of odd relief, almost, that for an administration that, so far, has regarded relations with Europe as very much secondary, if not tertiary, it is now discovering that, as usual, in a crisis America's best friends are on this continent."}, {"response": 458, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Sep 19, 2001 (10:56)", "body": "Robin McNeil interviewed four overseas New York Times bureau chiefs. McNeil: Can I ask each of you how Washington's leadership and behavior is perceived where you are? Warren Hoge, after the first wave of solidarity and sympathy [the British bureau chief had said the British felt particularly targeted by the attack, with some 300 UK citizens probably dead], which was so apparent in western Europe, and particularly in Britain, where the queen led a service in St. Paul's-- You've all reported some degree of second thoughts, backpedaling, a little--voices of caution raised. How has that been affected by Mr. Bush's leadership, his rhetoric, the actions he's taken so far. Does that inspire confidence and reassurance? Hoge, NYT London Bureau Chief: I think Colin Powell inspires more confidence. Many Britons have said to me they feel much more comfortable with George W. Bush now that Colin Powell seems to be permanently at his side. Colin Powell speaks the language of diplomacy; he is somebody who understands both the capabilities and the limitations of military power-- this is what the British think. So they have a much higher degree of comfort with his kind of talking than the more bellicose language of President Bush. So, they're hoping for Bush, they're behind Bush--this is a very pro-American place in Europe--but there's a little bit of worry that he's untested, and also that he's surrounded by some other people who might have a little more hotheaded reaction to what must be done now than Colin Powell seems to be having. McNeil: And Steve Erlanger, how is Mr. Bush's leadership and his rhetoric perceived where you are, in Germany? Erlanger, NYT Hamburg Bureau Chief: A little worrying, quite honestly. People are being very polite. But they see, often, the kind of terror in Mr. Bush's eyes when he goes off of his script. They worry that he will feel too much political pressure to react too soon, and in the wrong way. They are hopeful that he will listen to his senior advisors, and they think that he will. And they have a little bit of odd relief, almost, that for an administration that so far has regarded relations with Europe as very much secondary, if not tertiary--it is now discovering that as usual, in a crisis, America's best friends are on this continent. McNeil: And in Moscow, Michael Wines, how is the Washington leadership under Mr. Bush perceived? Wines, NYT Moscow Bureau Chief: Well, I think that there has been a great deal of uneasiness with the unilateralism that the Russians think that the United States has displayed, mostly in the last year, but again going back to Yugoslavia. And I think in this case there is great hope, among, certainly among Russian people, and among the leadership, that this will turn out to be something of a turning point in American-Russian relations: a chance for the Americans to consult with the Russians in reality, for a change. The Russians here feel like they're somewhat ignored in national relations. And so they're hoping for a much more cooperative attitude. But, I have to say, so far, there's great suspicion, and I think they're waiting for the Americans to come up with a plan. And when they see that plan, I think they'll have a better idea. McNeil: And in Cairo, Neil McFarquhar, how is Mr. Bush's leadership perceived there? McFarquhar, NYT Cairo Bureau Chief: Across the Middle East the one exception in this thing has been Iraq, which has been attacking the United States, what it calls its \"cowboy policies\". But the one thing that's upset the Arabs is, apparently, in one speech Mr. Bush used the words \"crusades\", and that word is fraught with a lot of terrible memories in the Middle East, because of course the Crusades were used to attack the region. So there has been a lot of discussion, that if this is a new Crusade, they don't want to be part of it"}, {"response": 459, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Sep 19, 2001 (11:08)", "body": "I couldn't believe Bush used the words crusade! Reminiscent of Dan Quayle there. Thanks for the lengthy list of positions by country, Suzee. Everybody, time to put those tax refunds back in the mail to Washington. It's going to cost us jillions to *morally* convince some of these countries. :-( Yes, Thank you Suzee. The U$ barganing table is open and the odd thing is that the price of gold is not reacting. Is there a conspiracy to keep the price of gold stable? What is going on there? My very good friend lost a friend on the Fl#11 and my brother has many friends that are missing at WTC. And now we are told that Sept. 22nd is a date to watch out for. :-( I do not sleep well at night."}, {"response": 460, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Sep 19, 2001 (17:57)", "body": "A Washington Post article on the threat of bio-terrorism: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A41225-2001Sep16.html"}, {"response": 461, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Sep 19, 2001 (17:58)", "body": "Wolfie, I tried, and since I am not listed on your other conferences as having access, I could not add them. I did put it on SpringArk. I like the ribbon on that Google.com site, too. I wish it lead back to that site and I would install it in a second. Terry, the programming in my cfconfig file is easy enough to copy and paste. Have at it!!"}, {"response": 462, "author": "Echo", "date": "Wed, Sep 19, 2001 (18:00)", "body": "Breakdown of people who are missing and presumed dead by nationality (per Reuters) Does that include confirmed dead? A young Polish woman journalist died there, too, on her honeymoon. Her husband is fighting for his life in a NY hospital."}, {"response": 463, "author": "Echo", "date": "Wed, Sep 19, 2001 (18:03)", "body": "on the threat of bio-terrorism The unexplained, mysteriously spreading and still not defeated outbreak of foot and mouth in the UK may be a testing ground."}, {"response": 464, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Sep 19, 2001 (18:06)", "body": "http://www.observer.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,552749,00.html Comprehensive and unreported in US news sources."}, {"response": 465, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Sep 19, 2001 (19:09)", "body": "As for Afghanistan, check out: http://www.iranian.com/Opinion/2001/June/Afghan/index.html for a brilliant description of that country by an Iranian film make"}, {"response": 466, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Sep 19, 2001 (19:50)", "body": "Why? from The Independent (London), by Robert Fisk, 8/29/01: http://www.independent.co.uk/story.jsp?story=91066 and again, eighteen days later, 9/16/01: http://www.independent.co.uk/story.jsp?story=94254"}, {"response": 467, "author": "rachael", "date": "Wed, Sep 19, 2001 (19:57)", "body": "interesting to read what Warren Hoge said - I think its fair comment; have to say, one of the things that impressed me in the first few days was the way that very senior people seemed to make themselves available for lengthy and open press conferences - I'm not sure you'd see that here (in the UK). And yes I'm impressed with Colin Powell - the fact that he has such experience makes him seem very reassuring - don't know if Americans feel the same. for info (mainly to UK people) today's paper hads a full page ad for the World Trade Centre Disaster Fund www.wtcfund.org.uk and says \"This is an hour of need for our friends in America. Let's show them that our actions are as loud as our words\" If you're not already a Red Cross contributor, the website might be worth a visit. One of the saddest things I read today was about the families of some of the British victims flying into NYC, and my heart goes out to all those of whatever nationality who are dealing with this unimaginable heartbreak. My 12 y o was in NYC with her father a couple of months ago, and has been very distressed this week - tonight she said \"I can't believe that something I've seen that was so big and amazing just isn't there now\"."}, {"response": 468, "author": "Bethanne", "date": "Wed, Sep 19, 2001 (20:10)", "body": "There is a quote in this weeks edition of Newsweek by a Wall St employee \" I never thought I'd see the day when the World Trade Center would pass me by in a dump truck \" It's funny in a sad, sad, kind of a way. AOL is reporting that the actor James Woods was on Flight 11 Boston to LA on Sep 4th, the same one that crashed, a week later. He was in first class with only 4 other passengers. They were all Arabs. They spoke to no one, ate nothing, drank nothing, read nothing and watched no movies. He said they all just sat in their seats starring off into space. It creeped him out, so he mentioned it to a stewardess. She shrugged if off, but when they got to LA, he reported it to the FBI. The FBI in LA are confirming this. So it looks like they did a \"test run\" the week before."}, {"response": 469, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Sep 19, 2001 (20:28)", "body": "Peggy Noonan writes about how \"we live in such unprecedented comfort! But can it last!\" http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/pnoonan/?id=95001157 During the summer, when you were a kid, your dad worked a few towns away and left at 8:30; Mom stayed home smoking and talking and ironing. You biked to the local school yard for summer activities--twirling, lanyard making, dodgeball--until afternoon. Then you'd go home and play in the street. At 5:30 Dad was home and at 6 there was dinner--meat loaf, mashed potatoes and canned corn. Then TV and lights out. Now it's more like this: Dad goes to work at 6:15, to the city, where he is an executive; Mom goes to work at the bank where she's a vice president, but not before giving the sitter the keys and bundling the kids into the car to go to, respectively, soccer camp, arts camp, Chinese lessons, therapy, the swim meet, computer camp, a birthday party, a play date. Then home for an impromptu barbecue of turkey burgers and a salad with fresh Parmesan cheese followed by summer homework, Nintendo, and TV --the kids lying splayed on the couch, dead eyed, like denizens of a Chinese opium den--followed by \"Hi Mom,\" \"Hi, Dad,\" and bed. Life is so much more interesting now! It's not boring, like 1957. There are things to do: The culture is broader, more sophisticated; there's more wit and creativity to be witnessed and enjoyed. Moms, kids and dads have more options, more possibilities. This is good. The bad news is that our options leave us exhausted when we pursue them and embarrassed when we don't. . . . If someone does the big, terrible thing to New York or Washington, there will be a lot of chaos and a lot of lines going down, a lot of damage, and a lot of things won't be working so well anymore. And thus a lot more . . . time. Something tells me we won't be teleconferencing and faxing about the Ford account for a while. The psychic blow--and that is what it will be as people absorb it, a blow, an insult that reorders and changes--will shift our perspective and priorities, dramatically, and for longer than a while. Something tells me more of us will be praying, and hard, one side benefit of which is that there is sometimes a quality of stopped time when you pray. You get outside time."}, {"response": 470, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Sep 19, 2001 (20:39)", "body": "Answers hidden in lost former black Seminole village By SCOTT MCCABE, The Palm Beach Post An AP Member Exchange BUSHNELL \ufffd Forty-five minutes west of Walt Disney's make-believe history, archaeologists dig for real artifacts. Hunched over a shallow, square excavation, they search for Peliklakaha, the largest Black Seminole village known to historians, a place where different cultures joined in a fight for freedom more than 200 years ago. Until now, say University of Florida archaeologists, Peliklakaha existed only in the writings of military leaders and a painting commissioned by the U.S. general who had burned it down. Archaeologists hope to unearth clues that documents can't provide, secrets about the life of a hidden people. They hope Peliklakaha will reveal whether the inhabitants developed a unique lifestyle with their new status as free people in Florida. \"The story of the Black Seminoles is a tremendous story about a successful effort by slaves gaining their freedom before the Civil War,\" said Delray Beach archaeologist Bill Steele, who discovered the site in 1993. \"That's why Peliklakaha is so significant.\" The dig could establish a new focus in archaeology on cultures that combine African and Native American influences, said Terry Weik, the UF graduate student heading the excavation. more... http://www.naplesnews.com/01/09/florida/d648785a.htm"}, {"response": 471, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Sep 19, 2001 (21:28)", "body": "The James Woods thing, if real, has all kinds of ramifications? When did he callthe FBI? What date? Was this a dry run or an aborted attempt? Did the hijackers make any calls on their Airphones? And were any of these men on the actual suicide hijacking missions? Now James Woods will be a witness if any of these men are apprehended, after sitting on a flight with them he could surely identify them. Pretty creepy, alright."}, {"response": 472, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Sep 19, 2001 (21:30)", "body": "Subject: Waiting Date: Wednesday, September 19, 2001 11:29 AM From: Womack, Jack Waiting, today, for whatever is going to happen next. It does seem as if considerable thought is going into whatever the response will be. Reports from Indian & Pakistani newspapers are saying that the special force units (Rangers, SEALS, Green Berets, several other groups including one we have never heard of before, \"Night Stalkers.\" -- this goes into my phrasebook of new terms, along with \"Frozen Zone\") are already moving into place. I suspect something along the lines of the following will happen, whenever it happens: 1. Ground forces at this stage will consist solely of those guys, or some of those guys. More are preparing to go over, it's said, but I can't help but think that the US is keeping in mind what happened to the USSR during their ten-year war. (It would be absolute madness to send a large number of soldiers into Afghanistan, but that doesn't mean it won't happen, sooner or later.) 2. Bombing from the air will occur prior to the guys going in; I have a suspicion that for appearance's sake if nothing else, this will be Dresden/Tokyo-size bombing although there isn't much left to bomb. From today's Times: \"When we looked at Afghanistan before, the sense was we were going to bomb them up to the stone age,\" said one former Clinton administration official familiar with the planning of past military strikes against Mr. bin Laden's terrorist network. The FBI is now saying that not long prior to the event, the pilot of the plane that first struck the Towers met with an Iraqi intelligence agent. Iraq is vigorously denying this and evidently claiming this story came from the UK. If they're in the process of ascertaining that Hussein was in any way connected (it's hard not to suspect that he is, if only because the opportunity to get back at Bush Sr. by way of Bush Jr. would I think be pretty hard to pass up) they're keeping it *way* under wraps. Because -- 3. If Hussein was even minimally involved, it's a pretty safe bet Baghdad will also get the Dresden/Tokyo treatment, and totally without warning. After that, it's anyone's guess -- anything from ongoing small operations for the next five, ten, twenty years, to World War III. One view in the Russian papers is that if this were to be handled in the traditional Central Asian way, the Taliban themselves would kill bin Laden, and then turn over his body claiming that Western intelligence forces did it. Ah, the Russian mind....being capable of Russian-level cynicism, and possessed of the ability to endlessly extrapolate negative transactions, it's easy for me to imagine one scenario being the US setting off a nuclear bomb in northern Afghanistan in the midst of ground assaults, air bombing, etc.; thereafter claiming that the bomb belonged to the terrorists, that we found out about this just in time, clearly they were going to use it, and that therefore we have ample cause to do whatever the hell we want, beginning with taking out the capitals of Iraq, Iran... It is, of course, fortunate that I am not President. Enough punditizing, and back to the home front: the windows of the stores on Fifth & 57th filled with flags, or memorial bunting, or black curtains. Police cadets (having not yet been graduated) keeping an eye on traffic in midtown, and regular police as ever, everywhere. Military humvees heading down Fifth Avenue along with delivery trucks and stretch limos. I saw my therapist yesterday for the first time in two weeks (I see her on Tuesdays, but had no Sept. 11 session), and talked to her about depression, anxiety, the new numbness of being which I am beginning to think may have a certain permanence about it, now; about my stepmother's death the week prior to last, forgotten in the rush of events; about anger, and rage. (A minor interruption just now as a workman came into my office. \"Just checking your electric outlet,\" he said. \"The plates.\" Then, as he leaves. stated from over his shoulder, \"Don't want you to get blown up.\") I've always been an *extremely* angry person. For most of my life I automatically turned this inward, with the result being (as noted yesterday, I think) fairly deep and ongoing depression (which is also, at least partially, hereditary/chemical) With four years of therapy, beginning after I came out of the hospital back in 1997, I have managed to be able to get a lot of what was in, out; and feel much better for it. For the past year I've been doing much better at getting anger out before it becomes internalized rage. Unfortunately, if anger has no ready focus; or if anger rises toward a number of situations, or people, or whatever, very suddenly, it can't help but be turned inward, at least initially. And it grows, and it grows, and it grows; and it either stays inside, and becomes depression (which is what has been happening, I'm sure not only to me) or comes out in -- well, random acts of senseless violence. And on a national scale... But I am"}, {"response": 473, "author": "Bethanne", "date": "Wed, Sep 19, 2001 (21:42)", "body": "Terry, I am gonna e mail you the James Woods article. My copy and paste fuctions never work here at Drool. Its very odd. So I'll just e mail it to you and, you can decide if you want to post it here."}, {"response": 474, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Sep 19, 2001 (21:44)", "body": "I found something on http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover.shtml Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2001 9:38 a.m. EDT Twin Tower Terrorists May Have Made Dry Run Did terrorist hijackers who slammed two Boeing 767s into New York's Twin Towers on Tuesday stage a dress rehearsal a week before the attack? That's the intriguing question raised by the account of actor James Woods, who is reportedly telling friends that he saw a suspicious group of Middle Eastern men behaving in a \"clandestine\" manner during the earlier flight from Boston to Los Angeles. Exactly a week before the devastating attacks, Woods boarded a plane at Boston's Logan Airport, the same departure point the terrorists used. Woods sat in first class, according to friends, two of whom repeated his account to the New York Post's Cindy Adams. He was alone except for four other passengers - all Middle Eastern males. The actor immediately noticed the men behaving \"bizarrely.\" They neither drank, nor ate a morsel nor spoke out loud for the entire flight. There was no reading, no slouching, no nodding off. \"They were clandestine. Spoke only to each other in audible tones. And stared straight ahead,\" Adams was told. \"They were clearly very uptight,\" Woods' friends quoted him as saying. The actor was sufficiently troubled by their behavior to report it to a flight attendant - but she shrugged the incident off. When Woods landed he informed authorities on the ground, who reportedly \"seemed unwilling to become involved.\" The day after the attacks on New York and Washington, Woods called the FBI. At 7 a.m. Thursday investigators summoned the actor for an immediate interview."}, {"response": 475, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Sep 19, 2001 (16:56)", "body": "I don't quite understand how they could not speak out loud and speak to other other in audible tones at the same time. I'm still wondering how authentic this story is, waiting for Bethanne's email to find out more. It should be in the Ne York Post in Cindy Adams column it sounds like."}, {"response": 476, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Sep 19, 2001 (17:28)", "body": "From the horses mouth, NY Post gossip columnist Cindy Adams: September 18, 2001 -- Actor's travel tale is plane-ly chilling MOVIE STAR James Woods met with the FBI this week on the events that happened last week. It was a real-life scenario. It was chilling. Jimmy is devoted to his mom, whom fans will recall was his date at the Oscars. She lives in Boston. He lives in Los Angeles. He sees her often. He thus makes the Logan-LAX run regularly. Exactly one week before Terrorist Tuesday, Jimmy made the identical flight from Boston's Logan Airport to L.A. He related this episode to two friends of mine Sunday. Both repeated it to me almost verbatim. As we go to press I have been unable to reach James Woods, whom I know. I therefore repeat this story using his words as they were told to me. James Woods sat in first class. The section was empty except for four other passengers. All male. All Middle Eastern. He was acutely aware of them because of what he termed their \"bizarre\" behavior. On this entire flight which crosses the whole country not once did one of them partake of a single morsel. Not one even had a sip of water. They did not read. Did not nod off for an instant. Did not slouch down. Did not make themselves comfortable. Did not say a word to the attendants. Did not speak aloud. They were clandestine. Spoke only to each other in inaudible tones. And stared straight ahead. Jimmy is quoted as saying, \"They were clearly very uptight.\" An actor reads body language. An actor is trained to see into someone. To silently probe their psyche. An actor's laserlike slice into the heart of a foreign situation or human being is what enables him to don the mantle and play that other person. An actor's insight into behavior and manner can be as telling as a photograph. Award-winning James Woods felt uneasy. Sufficiently concerned to mention what he'd noticed to a flight attendant who shrugged it off. He also mentioned it to ground authorities who seemed unwilling to become involved. Wednesday, the day after the World Trade Center hit, Jimmy rang the FBI to report his experience. They said thousands of tips were coming in and they're checking all out as fast as they can. Thursday, 7 a.m., they called and said they're coming to see him. Like now. A team arrived at his door. They said something to the effect of, \"We cannot tell you anything. We cannot answer any of your questions. You can think whatever you choose to think. Now tell us every detail you remember.\" As is now known, not the airlines, not Logan security - which Woods supposedly said, \"was so lax that I particularly noted it\" - not our own intelligence operation picked up vibes in advance of Terrorist Tuesday because, ostensibly, the strike was so swift. However, this would appear that, in fact, somebody should have picked it up because it was not so swift. Because these men had made a dry run exactly the week before. Multiple men. Non-American nationals. Traveling in one group. Arabic names. Foreign passports. Reportedly paying cash. This does not trip some computer somehow, somewhere, someplace? And barring an omniscent all-seeing, all-noticing James Woods being a fellow passenger, might similar advance teams not have replicated this same type trial run on at least four other planes?"}, {"response": 477, "author": "suzee202000", "date": "Wed, Sep 19, 2001 (17:30)", "body": "I watched all ofthe PBS programs last night. It wasn't exactly the most cheerful evening - I am going to try to be less attentive to the tv tonight. The White House has been trying to backtrack on the \"crusade\" comment. The root-em-toot-em cowboy image seems to have been reinforced by the \"dead or alive\" comment also. Even Blair seems less than thrilled with that one. Tuesday September 18 3:46 PM ET White House Apologizes for Word WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush (news - web sites) regrets using the word ``crusade,'' with all its historical connotations of religious war, to describe his campaign against terrorists, his spokesman said Tuesday. Bush only meant to say that his is a ``broad cause'' to stamp out terrorism worldwide, White House press secretary Ari Fleischer (news - web sites) said. http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010918/us/attacks_crusade_3.html ---------------- No 10 fails to echo 'dead or alive' call By George Jones, Political Editor (Filed: 19/09/2001)(The Telegraph) BRITAIN refused yesterday to endorse President Bush's declaration that he wanted Osama bin Laden \"dead or alive\". Tony Blair's official spokesman said the Prime Minister wanted those responsible for the atrocities \"brought to account\". http://portal.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2001/09/19/nbrit19.xml"}, {"response": 478, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Sep 20, 2001 (00:26)", "body": "Feedback for Freedom We find ourselves surrounded by cries for retribution ringing out in response to the attacks on the East coast. Fanned by the media, this primitive urge to make others suffer equally or more will have its political and military effect. We are probably on the horrific spiral envisioned by the perpetrators of the attack. My engineering experience warns me that this is not a \"converging\" situation - it will not settle out in stability, but will thrash madly about until so much is destroyed that nothing can continue. If we want the situation to achieve stability we should consider some principles of feedback design. An engineer designing a feedback system takes an \"active element\" capable of exerting the maximum force needed and tames it by placing it within an environment that guarantees operation within the intended parameters. For an oscillator, the environment will say: \"do anything you want, but only at this frequency\". For an amplifier, the message is \"do anything you want, but only if the output is in this proportion of the input\". Taking this metaphor further, if we want a world of stability we must surround those elements capable of exerting force with environments in which the force is limited and directed. Not by meeting force with greater force, but by depriving force of support when wrongly directed. This applies not only to obvious kinds of military force but also to all the sorts of power which leave people at a disadvantage in their lives. Applying this approach, it is clear that the US should be applying massive pressure upon Israel and the Palestinian Authority to settle up, even if it's not the ideal unattainable by either side. This would remove a serious motivating and disrupting factor from the situation. We should be applying all possible means to change the environment in Afghanistan so that the people are empowered to overthrow the Taliban. Foreign invaders do not fare well in that country - the only people who can effect change are the Afghanis themselves. We should turn many of the billions appropriated by Congress to the alleviation of poverty in the poor nations of the world, especially the Mideast, through education and micro-lending, for example. Work from the bottom up, changing the political and economic environment for the better. And the \"we\" here also means we as individuals and groups, not simply the government. Citizen initiative can be powerful. We can use it to make cracks in the image of a monolithic passive, compliant populace perpetuated by the media. Cracks like this have a way of propagating. All of this would be profoundly subversive to systems of power. That is the point. Building feedback loops around those power structures will protect not only ourselves but our world. (Lee Felsenstein, , is an electronic design engineer and EFF Pioneer Award winner who played a part both in the early development of personal computers and in the Free Speech Movement in Berkeley. Permission is granted to reproduce this work only in its entirety, including this notice.)"}, {"response": 479, "author": "suzee202000", "date": "Thu, Sep 20, 2001 (02:36)", "body": "I wonder how many \"test runs\" these guys made. James Woods Reports Suspicious Passengers to FBI September 19, 2001 Reuters Woods declined to publicly discuss his experience, first reported by New York Post columnist Cindy Adams and confirmed by his spokeswoman, Susan Madore. In a brief statement, the actor said, \"I think it prudent not to comment on this and let the FBI continue do their job ...\" Article: http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=entertainmentnews&StoryID=231786"}, {"response": 480, "author": "suzee202000", "date": "Thu, Sep 20, 2001 (02:43)", "body": "Secret Plans for 10-year War THE TIMES (LONDON) THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 20 2001 BY MICHAEL EVANS, DEFENCE EDITOR Generals rule out 'D-Day invasion' AMERICA and Britain are producing secret plans to launch a ten-year \ufffdwar on terrorism\ufffd \ufffd Operation Noble Eagle \ufffd involving a completely new military and diplomatic strategy to eliminate terrorist networks and cells around the world. Despite the mass build-up of American forces in the Gulf and the Indian Ocean, there will be no \ufffdD-Day invasion\ufffd of Afghanistan and no repeat of the US-led Operation Desert Storm against Iraq in 1991, defence sources say. The notion that a US-led multinational coalition would attack Afghanistan from all sides for harbouring Osama bin Laden, the wealthy Saudi dissident leader and prime suspect for the terrorist outrages in New York and Washington, has been rejected in Washington and London. The sources also say that the planned campaign is not being focused on just \ufffdbringing bin Laden to justice\ufffd. The build-up of firepower by the Americans in the region, notably the two aircraft carrier battle groups that are to be joined by a third carrier, USS Theodore Roosevelt, is seen as a major display of available military capability. While it is important for these assets to be in the right place in case of a political decision to launch a strike, there are no plans for a \ufffdshort-term fix\ufffd. The dramatically different anti-terrorism campaign is being planned to meet what is now regarded as the most dangerous threat to global security, known as asymmetric warfare. \ufffdWe\ufffdre expecting it to last from five to ten years,\ufffd one source said. New ideas are needed to counter small groups armed with the minimum of weaponry, whether conventional or non-conventional. Such groups have the capability to attack a nation as powerful as the United States, which is equipped with the full range of modern weapons and professional Armed Forces. Old doctrines for fighting wars, based on lining up tanks and artillery and layers of troops, are being thrown out and replaced by a more subtle and wide-ranging doctrine which seeks to defeat the enemy at its own game. \ufffdThe aim is not to go for the enemy\ufffds strengths, but its weaknesses,\ufffd one source said. American and British planners are working on the basis that military strikes will take place only as part of a broader global counter-terrorist operation, embracing every other type of international action \ufffd diplomatic, economic and political. Most of the focus of the ten-year campaign plan, the sources say, is on using military action as a potent back-up to all the other strands of Operation Noble Eagle. However, President Bush, conscious of the demand for \ufffdrevenge\ufffd from the American public, might sanction shorter-term military operation by special forces, or airstrikes, but only if there is sufficient intelligence to guarantee a sucessful outcome. \ufffdThere\ufffds no point in firing a lot of missiles at bin Laden if they miss their target, or launching Tomahawks at bin Laden training camps if they are empty,\ufffd one source said. Complete Article: http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,2001320010-2001325231,00.html"}, {"response": 481, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Thu, Sep 20, 2001 (09:46)", "body": "From Screendaily: US theatres plan Sept 11 charity day next Tuesday (Mike Goodridge in Los Angeles) Theatre circuits across the US are banding together to create a \"Victims Benefit Day at the Movies\" next Tuesday (Sept 25) on which 100% of ticket and concession sales will be donated to the September 11th Fund of the United Way and the American Red Cross. 50% of the proceeds will be donated to the Red Cross and 50% to the United Way. Among participating circuits are AMC, Carmike Cinemas, Cinemark USA, Hoyts Cinemas Corp, National Amusements, Regal Cinemas and United Artists Theatre Co. \ufffd Joe Roth\ufffds Revolution Studios has announced that it will donate all proceeds from the planned re-release of America\ufffds Sweethearts this weekend to the September 11th Fund; the company is also adding its summer comedy hit The Animal to the re-release at selected sites."}, {"response": 482, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Sep 20, 2001 (10:04)", "body": "An article in the Nation reports that Russian television has been saying that Russian security services believe the next attack will be on a nuclear power plant: http://www.thenation.com/docPrint.mhtml?i=special&s=bivens_wtc_20010916 We better step up security at our nuclear facilities. Now."}, {"response": 483, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Sep 20, 2001 (10:05)", "body": "In other news, BBC is reporting that the Afghanistan shura (meeting of clerics) has decided to ask Osama bin Laden to voluntarily leave the country. But who would take him?"}, {"response": 484, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Sep 20, 2001 (10:08)", "body": "It is now being reported that Mossad warned the Bush Administration in August that about 200 people on their watch list of suspected terrorists were slipping into the United States, and that a \"big target\" was going to be hit."}, {"response": 485, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Sep 20, 2001 (10:31)", "body": "The James Woods story gets a notch more credibility. Unfriendly Skies for James Woods By Scott Huver, Hollywood.com Staff Hollywood.com Exclusive! Actor may have shared \"trial run\" flight with terrorists The always-intense actor James Woods may have found himself near the center of the real-life drama that led to the terrorist attacks on New York's World Trade Center. The 54-year-old actor was questioned by the FBI following his report that while on a commercial flight from Boston's Logan Airport to Los Angeles one month prior to the devastating attack, he may have shared the first class section with the same box cutter-wielding terrorists responsible for hijacking American Airlines Flight 11. The four men are now believed to have been enacting a \"trial run\" of their suicide assault on NYC. According to Woods in a story confirmed by his publicist, he was on a flight back to L.A. after visiting his mother's home in Boston. He was alone in the first class section, except for a quartet of Middle Eastern men who, in Woods' estimation, were behaving bizarrely. The actor noticed that they never ate or drank, never spoke to the flight crew and only addressed each other in hushed tones. For the majority of the cross-country flight the men sat and stared stone-faced straight ahead. Perhaps playing all those movie bad guys and killers gave the Oscar-nominated actor some kind of subtle insight: After picking up on the group's odd demeanor and tense body language, Woods actually mentioned it to a flight attendant, who dismissed it, and reported it again to airline authorities on the ground, who didn't seem to want to pursue it. It wasn't until about a month later, on the Wednesday following the attack, that Woods again called authorities--this time the FBI--to report his experience once more. This time, in less than 24 hours, Federal agents arrived on his doorstep looking to examine every detail of his story. Although the agents didn't share any information on their investigation with the actor, out of the thousands of tips the FBI received, they certainly seemed to take Woods' tale extremely seriously. The actor kept his experience quiet until it was leaked to a New York Post columnist, who mistakenly reported that it occurred only one week prior to the deadly attack. \"I think it is prudent not to comment on this and let the FBI continue to do their job, which they seem to be doing superbly right now,\" Woods said in a statement to Hollywood.com. Laura Bosley, a spokeswoman for the FBI in Los Angeles, could neither confirm nor deny this report, but she did tell Hollywood.com that many individuals nationwide are coming forward with information and that the FBI is taking all these reports into account. Woods recently starred in Scary Movie 2 and appears in the upcoming Drew Barrymore film Riding in Cars With Boys. He recently signed to play former studio head Alan Hirschfield in the film version of David McClintock's book Indecent Exposure, which chronicles David Begelman's check-forging scandal while heading Columbia Pictures in the late 1970s."}, {"response": 486, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Sep 20, 2001 (11:13)", "body": "the Afghanistan shura (meeting of clerics) has decided to ask Osama bin Laden to voluntarily leave the country. But who would take him? If OBL gave himselp up, it would aid all those cells he has all over by centruting the attention on him. This is so complicated because it is not just him. In Israel everyone has gas masks, I think it would be prudent on our side to to the same."}, {"response": 487, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Sep 20, 2001 (11:15)", "body": "centruting should be concentrating."}, {"response": 488, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Sep 20, 2001 (12:07)", "body": "The Taliban have issued an edict that asks OBL to leave Afghanistan: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/010920/80/c4q2r.html"}, {"response": 489, "author": "AnnieZ", "date": "Thu, Sep 20, 2001 (12:20)", "body": "I work for an airline company. It's the saddest day in my company today. 25% of people in my department are leaving (most of them have already left by now). I've survived at this time but don't feel happy at all! People, whom I worked with for years and some of them became very good friends, are let go. Tears in many people's eyes no matter they stay or go. I'm feeling so depressed. It feels like an airplane just hit the building when I work (which is the headquarter of the company). Just think that we had several new positions opening for hire a week before the attack. I may survive for this cut but who knows the next time I'd survive?"}, {"response": 490, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Sep 20, 2001 (12:24)", "body": "janes.com: 19 September 2001 Who did it? Foreign Report presents an alternative view Israel\ufffds military intelligence service, Aman, suspects that Iraq is the state that sponsored the suicide attacks on the New York Trade Center and the Pentagon in Washington. Directing the mission, Aman officers believe, were two of the world\ufffds foremost terrorist masterminds: the Lebanese Imad Mughniyeh, head of the special overseas operations for Hizbullah, and the Egyptian Dr Ayman Al Zawahiri, senior member of Al-Qaeda and possible successor of the ailing Osama Bin Laden. The two men have not been seen for some time. Mughniyeh is probably the world\ufffds most wanted outlaw. Unconfirmed reports in Beirut say he has undergone plastic surgery and is unrecognisable. Zawahiri is thought to be based in Egypt. He could be Bin Laden\ufffds chief representative outside Afghanistan."}, {"response": 491, "author": "EileenG", "date": "Thu, Sep 20, 2001 (12:46)", "body": "Re: the James Woods story Just because something is repeated does not, in itself, make a story credible. Let's look at who the 'reporters' are. Cindy Adams: a gossip columnist, relating heresay. I do not doubt James Woods saw what he saw and reported it as described, but how can it be concluded these *were* the same terrorists? Or even terrorists at all? Did he positively ID them? 'Reportedly paying cash'--how does James or Cindy know this? She also blames Logan Security when security at the Portland, Maine airport is also culpable. Scott Huver, Hollywood.com (c'mon, H'wood.com? We're not exactly talking 60 Minutes here): Scott essentially re-writes Cindy's story except he states Woods took the flight one month before 9-11 whereas Cindy said it was one week. He then embellishes with some common knowledge quotes. IMO one should not jump to conclusions based on this level of reporting and should use the term 'credible' with care."}, {"response": 492, "author": "suzee202000", "date": "Thu, Sep 20, 2001 (13:24)", "body": "Just because something is repeated does not, in itself, make a story credible... IMO one should not jump to conclusions based on this level of reporting.(Eileen) Good point, but I think it applies to every \"level of reporting\" right now. (Especially right now.) There have been quite a few stories circulated that turned out to be incorrect even in the \"main stream\" press. I do think it makes sense that the terrorists would have made \"trial runs\" to check out the exact conditions on the flights."}, {"response": 493, "author": "EileenG", "date": "Thu, Sep 20, 2001 (13:38)", "body": "(Suzee) I think it applies to every \"level of reporting\" right now. Good point right back at 'cha, but I'd like to think things are settling down in the true mainstream press. Last week it was mass hysteria."}, {"response": 494, "author": "suzee202000", "date": "Thu, Sep 20, 2001 (13:46)", "body": "Just because something is repeated does not, in itself, make a story credible... IMO one should not jump to conclusions based on this level of reporting.(Eileen) Good point, but I think it applies to every \"level of reporting\" right now. (Especially right now.) There have been quite a few stories circulated that turned out to be incorrect even in the \"main stream\" press. I do think it makes sense that the terrorists would have made \"trial runs\" to check out the exact conditions on the flights."}, {"response": 495, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Sep 20, 2001 (14:23)", "body": "I'm taking the Woods story with the grain of salt it deserves, but if true has much broader consequences. This is an article on the international system used to move money to the terrorists and the moves to stop it. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/20/business/20MONE.html"}, {"response": 496, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Sep 20, 2001 (15:58)", "body": "Finally, a major, reputable news source has picked this James Woods thing up. Reuters. http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010919/en/people-woods_1.html Pretty much the same information in this Reuters piece with the exception of this elaboration: Woods declined to publicly discuss his experience, first reported by New York Post columnist Cindy Adams and confirmed by his spokeswoman, Susan Madore. In a brief statement, the actor said, ``I think it prudent not to comment on this and let the FBI continue do their job, which they seem to be doing superbly right now.'' Woods, 54, who studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology before pursuing an acting career, is best known for playing heavies and misfits."}, {"response": 497, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Sep 20, 2001 (16:10)", "body": "It's now being reported the Woods flight was a month before not a week as reported in the gossip column."}, {"response": 498, "author": "suzee202000", "date": "Thu, Sep 20, 2001 (20:29)", "body": "At least two of the \"hijackers\" supposedly found alive and well. Doubts emerge over identities of hijackers in US attacks WASHINGTON, Sept 20 (AFP) - US officials are investigating whether some or all of the 19 hijackers on the four hijacked aircraft used in last week's terror attacks used stolen identities, possibly complicating efforts to link them to Osama bin Laden. The doubts started to emerge when at least four men with names matching those on an FBI list of the hijackers turned up alive in Saudi Arabia and Tunisia, according to newspaper reports. An unnamed senior US official told Thursday's Washington Post that there was now uncertainty over the list of names. \"There may be some question with regard to the identity of at least some of them,\" he said. ......... FBI director Robert Mueller said last week as he released what he said were the names of the hijackers that his bureau had \"a fairly high level of confidence\" that they were their true identities. But at least one Arabic newspaper, the Saudi-owned Asharq al-Awsat, said this week it had found two of the Saudis named on the list, Abdelaziz al-Omari and Said Hussein Gharamallah al-Ghamdi, alive and well. Article: http://asia.dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/technology/afp/article.html?s=asia/headlines/010920/technology/afp/Doubts_emerge_over_identities_of_hijackers_in_US_attacks.html"}, {"response": 499, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Sep 20, 2001 (21:39)", "body": "i heard about the stolen identities too. prayers and love to all...."}, {"response": 500, "author": "Bethanne", "date": "Thu, Sep 20, 2001 (22:29)", "body": "Plus the families of two of the hihackers have said, their relative was not one of the hijackers, including this Mohammad Atta dude. They are claiming identity fraud too. A bit hard to belive when you consider Atta has been on the FBI's list of suspected criminals, for a long time."}, {"response": 501, "author": "suzee202000", "date": "Thu, Sep 20, 2001 (22:37)", "body": "(Rob)MSG 436 sums up just about every country capable of providing aid bar New Zealand. Do we not exist? - I copied that information from a couple of different sites. It is entirely possible that I missed New Zealand :-( -- or it was not on the lists I used -- but I looked around and found this: NEW ZEALAND: Has offered the use of Special Air Services commandos and New Zealand intelligence resources in any action against those responsible for the terrorist attacks. ----------------- Here's to New Zealand: \ufffdGod of nations at Thy feet In the bonds of love we meet. Hear our voices, we entreat, God defend our Free Land. Guard Pacific's triple star\ufffd And why if it \"can be found on two large islands and a host of smaller islands\" is it called \"triple star\"? (Gee, I hope the lyrics are correct!)"}, {"response": 502, "author": "maryw", "date": "Thu, Sep 20, 2001 (22:49)", "body": "This is really spooky I just received by email : a.. A flight number from one of the planes that hit one of the twin towers was Q33NY. b.. In MS Word or Wordperfect, type in that flight number (in capitals) - Q33NY c.. Enlarge the font size to 26 and then change the font to Wingdings or Wingdings1"}, {"response": 503, "author": "maryw", "date": "Thu, Sep 20, 2001 (22:49)", "body": ""}, {"response": 504, "author": "maryw", "date": "Thu, Sep 20, 2001 (22:50)", "body": "This is really spooky I just received by email : a.. A flight number from one of the planes that hit one of the twin towers was Q33NY. b.. In MS Word or Wordperfect, type in that flight number (in capitals) - Q33NY c.. Enlarge the font size to 26 and then change the font to Wingdings or Wingdings1"}, {"response": 505, "author": "maryw", "date": "Thu, Sep 20, 2001 (22:51)", "body": "Sorry..for phantom postings"}, {"response": 506, "author": "AotearoaKiwi", "date": "Fri, Sep 21, 2001 (01:48)", "body": "Hi all I thought I would post this as my own perspective on the Taliban, the case with the Muslim population world wide, the case of the Middle East and the possible effect on the world economy. My perspective comes from having talked to Mum and Dad who have been to Pakistan and Afghanistan, from learning and research I did on my own accord on the Middle East powder keg, from Political Science and from Geography where we examined the United States foreign policy (not as applied to a Middle Eastern nation). In 1979 the country of Nicaragua was ripe for revolt, with a regime in power despised by the people and in command of a military that was beginning to lean toward the people. The regime was recognised by the United States among other countries and it allowed environmentally unfriendly practices to be maintained by foreign companies of mainly Western origin. A politician named Sandinista however began a revolution the following year that swept him into power with the support of the people of Nicaragua. It was a socialist government (NOT COMMUNIST)that formed and immediately began instituting sweeping reform basic social welfare, health, education, and economic programmes the latter of which were based on principles of environmental sustainability. The program involved the passing of the first ever environmental laws for the country which restricted the amount of forest that could be logged and set standards for mines. Someone in the Ronald Reagan found out and pressed the President into allowing the CIA to wage government sponsored crime in the country by burning down the forests, and funding anti Sandinista factions to topple the government. The secretly funded war that CIA agents waged in the country crippled Nicaragua at the one time when it was making it's first substantial economic progress ever. The same President decreased spending on just about everything to fund a huge programme of capital expenditure on the United States military which had operatives in Afghanistan fighting the Soviets, who were immediately withdrawn without any gratitude to Afghanistan (or Pakistan from where they were based) as soon as the Soviets withdrew. Pakistan inherited many problems created by the sudden United States departure which to some extent the Pakistani government could not have satisfactorily sorted out itself. That upset many Muslims and since the United States is a powerful ally of Israel whose Jews are age old foes of the Muslims, the United States became a target of anger. None of this ever justified terrorism on ANY scale let alone the scale of last weeks attacks, but it may have been part of a trigger for the strikes on New York and Washington D.C. Osama bin Laden has begun a holy war and I suspect that the Middle East with it's sharp divisions between Arabs and Israelis, Muslims and Jews has the capacity to become a giant conflagration of war if certain issues are not sorted out. The entire Western World is at fault to some extent (United States, Britain, Australia, France, Germany, Canada, New Zealand and like countries)on this issue. We take the oil of those countries to drive our economies while putting minimal investment back in by mploying people at dirt cheap rates in some cases and this is not an exaggeration NZ$1 (US$.44c) a day. We treat their environments with contempt and make no effort to clean up the mess, and we contribute to the cycle of poverty that ensures these countries STAY poor. New Zealand is at fault because we get shirts and clothes really cheaply from Indonesia (a Muslim nation with 200 million people), and probably places like Pakistan and India. We expect them to be democratic and freedom when we can at TIMES hardly call the governments of our nations freedom loving either. I think there is a low but very REAL chance that a showdown sometime in the next few decades between the West and Islam is looming, and I think it may engulf at least the entire Middle East when it does come. So how did this mess come about?? In part Western consumerism is to blame for the economic ills and lack of investment in the countries where we have set up Multi-national corporations, and in part to misguided policies passed by the governments of those nations who have large Muslim populations. What can we do?? All countries have a role to play in this though the largest role will be that of the United States, because it takes the most out of the Islamic nations. United States Foreign policy on things like trade is going to have to change or it risks permanently damaging relations with the entire Islamic world. Changes need not be sweeping but they need to be on things like free trade (without tariffs), and a concept of \"fair trade\" that involves trade deals that disadvantage neither side are being promoted by some. How the Department of State sees environmental protocols will have to change as it is hurting traditional European friends/allies as much as it hurts poorer nations. People, I know that th"}, {"response": 507, "author": "suzee202000", "date": "Fri, Sep 21, 2001 (05:25)", "body": "Secret memo reveals US plan to overthrow Taliban regime Friday September 21, 2001 The Guardian The US government is pressing its European allies to agree to a military campaign to topple the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and replace it with an interim administration under United Nations auspices. Diplomatic cables from the Washington embassy of a key Nato ally, seen by the Guardian, report that the US is keen to hear allied views on \"post-Taliban Afghanistan after the liberation of the country\". The embassy cable reveals that the US administration is bent on force to evict the Taliban from power because of the shelter it has offered Osama bin Laden, named by the White House as prime suspect for the New York and Washington atrocities on September 11. The Guardian has also learned that two large US Hercules transport aircraft landed in Tashkent, capital of the former Soviet republic of Uzbekistan, on Tuesday loaded with surveillance equipment to be installed along the northern Afghan border. The secret landing represented a radical departure since it appeared to herald the deployment of squadrons of US fighters at Uzbekistan's sprawling airfield at Termez, directly on the border. Such a build-up would incur the wrath of Russia which views the central Asian republics as its backyard. .......................... The US strategy to depose the Taliban regime is based on more than military thinking. A further plank appears to entail supporting the campaign of the exiled 86-year-old monarch of Afghanistan, King Zahir Shah, to return to power by encouraging the guerrilla army of the Northern Alliance opposition to fall in behind him. Complete article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/wtccrash/story/0,1300,555530,00.html"}, {"response": 508, "author": "Moon", "date": "Fri, Sep 21, 2001 (08:35)", "body": "At the end of the day we Westerners are going to have to make some sacrifices to our material wealth, because plainly to stop the social conditions that support this sort of evil, nothing less will do. Good point, Rob. the US is keen to hear allied views on \"post-Taliban Afghanistan after the liberation of the country\". Some people may find this statement very arrogant. From syndicated columnist JONATHAN POWER Is it possible for America to say 'Sorry'? September 20, 2001 LONDON - How should the United States fight Osama bin Laden? It could start by saying sorry. Despite two centuries of rapid immigration pulling in people from all over the world, America remains a predominantly Christian nation. It is not a Jewish one and certainly not an Islamic one. It draws its inspiration from another book, mightier, it believes, than the Old Testament or the Koran, although it shares common roots with both these religions and worships the same God. If Christianity is not about saying sorry and turning the other cheek what, at the end of the day, is so special about it? We have a lot to be sorry for. After all it was Christian societies that practised slavery. It was a Christian society that tolerated the long persecution and then the obliteration of the Jews. (Islamic societies, even in their worst times, have never set about the extermination of the Jewish people.) And in a more recent era it is Christian societies which stirred up war in Africa in their quest for Cold War allies, destroyed Afghanistan, the scorched refuge of bin Laden, in a misplaced and unnecessary attempt to aid the resistance to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and allowed the legitimate desire of the Jewish people to own their own state to degenerate into the contemporary world's worst example of military occupation and imperialistic land acquisition. Perhaps it seems extraordinary that a political writer should have nothing better to say than \"say sorry\". In a week when innocent bodies in New York and Washington are being buried, when children cry all night for their lost parents, when lonely widows and widowers ask themselves how they will ever take another step forward through life, is this the time for contrition? It is hard to make the argument, that I know. But where does hatred take us, where does revenge, where does it end if, as President George Bush says, \"there are no rules\"? Do we want to make the situation worse or do we want to take a momentous leap of imagination and reach out to make it better? The military solution, however sympathetically one looks at it, appears at the very least counterproductive. As a recent publication by the hard headed International Institute for Strategic Studies argued it, going after the Taleban regime in Afghanistan will likely destabilise its friendly neighbour Pakistan and throw a nuclear-armed country into the hands of the militants. Beyond that, what would be the point of inflaming Islamic societies everywhere if it led to the fall of the fundamentalist (but friendly) government of Saudi Arabia? If Saudi Arabia were ruled in a fashion true to its Wahhabi ultra- fundamentalist creed not only would there be no U.S. troops on Saudi soil, it would be an end to the (uneasy) coalition against Saddam Hussein, there would be a cataclysmic shortfall in western oil supplies, and the turning of Saudi missiles from pointing towards Iraq in the direction of Israel instead. It would also probably push Saudi Arabia to develop nuclear weapons to put on the nose of its nuclear-capable rockets it bought from China, and this to threaten Israel with. Is America going to occupy Pakistan and Saudi Arabia to forestall that scenario? Then the house would really fall in. The reason America has reached this fork in the road is because, as with so many other issues, America has put off biting the bullet on hard problems. Politicians and the media have connived to keep the populace ignorant of what is going on in the world. Only in extreme times of emergency - such as the current one and the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait- is there an intense effort made to educate public opinion, and then that is done at a fever pitch with truth and objectivity being given short shrift. Yet all over the world there are silent emergencies that have continued to be combated half heartedly, whilst they have developed a head of power that in the end steamrollers all modest solutions. This is as true of global warming as it is of the Israeli settlement policy on Palestinian land. This is as true of the spread of AIDS and other highly infectious diseases as it is of the West's over-consumption of energy. This is as true of the proliferation of nuclear weapons, for want of a disarmament lead from the ex-Cold War nuclear powers, as it is of the Western tolerance of child labour in factories making their consumer goods. This is as true of children dying in Africa and other Third World countries for want of pure drinking water and the lack of education o"}, {"response": 509, "author": "Moon", "date": "Fri, Sep 21, 2001 (09:03)", "body": "Did anyone see a teleprompter last night for Pres. Bush? He couldn't have memorized and delivered the speech so well. It was the best he's ever done live."}, {"response": 510, "author": "MarkG", "date": "Fri, Sep 21, 2001 (09:35)", "body": "MaryW: A flight number from one of the planes that hit one of the twin towers was Q33NY. Don't let Wingdings experts mess with your head, Mary. The flights that hit the towers were numbered 11 and 77, the other two hijacked flights 175 and 93. Also, the Nostradamus lines being broadcast around the Web (\"twin brothers shall be rent in fire, yadda, yadda\") are made up."}, {"response": 511, "author": "LauraMM", "date": "Fri, Sep 21, 2001 (09:42)", "body": "Sorry? I haven't read the above article and don't feel the inclination to. We have Jesse Jackson trying to get monies to the offspring of slaves? I'm sorry, but that is the stupidest idea I've ever heard. If that's the case then, perhaps we should start doling money out to every Japanese American who were sent into camps during WW2 or the Koreans during the Korean War? Hell, we should pay Britain for \"allowing\" us to win the war in 1776. Why should WE say sorry? We are a nation built on different ethnicities and backgrounds. Slavery made this country, it built our civil rights, and our Bill of Rights, out of bad, some good may come. What we have is a nation (Afghanistan) who is run by fundamentalist nutjobs. The Taliban is EVIL. They are trying to infiltrate as many countries as they can with their idealogy mumbo jumbo. They are not Muslims? They are whacked out religious freaks who say they speak the word or Allah. And Allah comandeered them to take our airplanes, use them as missiles, against CIVILIANS, who were just working, like the rest of the world. Not plotting to overtake a government, or throw their religious beliefs on everyone else. I know I'm just ranting, but we don't owe anyone an apology. Our governmental policies are in use because they work. Iraq says it's our fault. Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell (GO AWAY BOTH OF YOU) blame our moral values. They said it was our fault. No one, absolutely NO ONE, deserves to die the way helpless civilians dies on September 11, 2001. end of rant."}, {"response": 512, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Sep 21, 2001 (09:56)", "body": "A summary of OBL's finances in The Times http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,2001320010-2001325324,00.html"}, {"response": 513, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Sep 21, 2001 (10:03)", "body": "David Kline: If we end up bombing the Afghan capital (or other populated targets), it'll be because Washington lacked the patience and willingness to ally with freedom-loving Afghans in the country and gather the human intelligence needed to locate Bin Laden and his Taliban benefactors. In other words, it'll be a de facto admission of defeat. If you really want Bin Laden, you have to: * Use local people to locate him. * Move swiftly without alerting him or his Taliban supporters (which probably means employing a joint US-Afghan (anti-Taliban) team. If we just start flying around in Bin Laden's general area, using electronic intelligence gathered from his communications to hone in on him, he'll be gone before his tea gets cold. And I mean *gone.* In that part of the country -- a lot like Utah only hotter and more difficult to traverse -- there are thousands of little cave hideouts and hundreds of Taliban-dominated villages where he could hide out and slink away. The borders near Quetta, Pakistan are completely porous -- even if the Pak's tried with all their might to seal them, it couldn't be done. There are also nomadic tribespeople moving in caravans constantly across both Iran's and Pakistan's borders with Afghanistan where a guy in a turban with a half-dozen bodyguards could easily blend in. So \"chasing\" Bin Laden on the run won't work. You've got to find him and move in quickly, **before** he runs, and for that you need anti-Taliban Afghan intelligence. There's simply no other way to attack him effectively. Of course, if Washington just wants to blow off steam and waste a few hundred or thousand innocent Afghans, then none of the above applies. It'll look good on TV, maybe, but it won't get Bin Laden or the Taliban. A finger of David Kline reveals: I'm a journalist and author, former war correspondent (until, genius that I am, I finally figured out I should find something safer to do) and sometime business strategy consultant. I used to be a HotWired columnist and Upside columnist till they gave me the boot for ideological impurity. But I'm still a commentator on NPR's \"Marketplace\" business program and I'm still writing books. So I guess I'm not a complete screw-up. My first book was published by Dutton in 1995 -- \"Road Warriors: Dreams and Nightmares Along the Information Highway.\" My latest will be published by Harvard Business School Press in the Fall of 1999 -- \"Rembrandts in the Closet: Wielding Intellectual Property for Competitive Advantage.\" I would add that he's been on the scene in Afghanistan as a war correspondent."}, {"response": 514, "author": "EileenG", "date": "Fri, Sep 21, 2001 (10:07)", "body": "(Moon) It was the best he's ever done live. Practice makes perfect and so does good coaching. I was grateful he didn't appear to be sounding out the words as he has in earlier speeches. (Laura) perhaps we should start doling money out to every Japanese American who were sent into camps during WW2 Psst, Laura, it was done. You've never heard of reparation? =8-O"}, {"response": 515, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Sep 21, 2001 (10:32)", "body": "David Kline (dkline) Thu 13 Sep 01 08:30 I'd like to try to clear up some mis-information about how the US supposedly \"supplied\", \"trained\" or \"created\" Bin Laden. I reported from Afghanistan from 1979-1987, and I can tell you absolutely that such was not the case. The US supplied arms & money to a variety of factions of the mujahadeen, but did so only through the Pakistani intelligence serevices (SIS), which funneled most arms to Gulbadin Hekmatyar, an ideological precursor to the Taliban and types like Bin Laden. Pakistan had its own reasons for doing so -- these fanatics did very little fighting against the Russians (unlike genuine leaders like Ahmed Shah Massoud), preferring to fight other resistance factions -- and I and others warned US officials of the consequences of allowing arms to be directed towards the fundamentalists. But US officials insisted their \"hands were tied\" in this matter, and whether true or not, there it is. How did the Taliban win? Consider that Afghan society, almost entirely tribal rather than \"national\" toi begin with, was utterly destroyed by the Soviets durinbg the war. 1-tenth the population killed; 1/3 of the survivords forced to flee as refuygees. The systematic destruction of Afghan intelligentsia by Soviet-directed police forces resulted in a statistical decline in the literacy rate. Into this vacumn the Taliban, financed and armerd by Saudi extremists, entered."}, {"response": 516, "author": "admin", "date": "Fri, Sep 21, 2001 (10:37)", "body": "A lot more of David Klines thoughts on this: http://www.spring.net/dkline.html"}, {"response": 517, "author": "lafn", "date": "Fri, Sep 21, 2001 (10:44)", "body": "Hey, that Jonathan Power is some dude. Am I reading: Get a Marshall Plan organized for Afghanistan? Wonder how many votes that would get. *shaking head*"}, {"response": 518, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Sep 21, 2001 (14:23)", "body": "[from the Hollywood Reporter] Studios tighten security following FBI terror alert Sep. 21, 2001 Terrorists leveled threats Thursday against Hollywood's major film studios, prompting each to seriously reconsider existing security measures that suddenly seemed far too mild for the current political climate. Some studios partially evacuated their facilities late in the afternoon. Internal memos, usually in the form of an e-mail issued by high-ranking studio executives, buzzed throughout Hollywood on Thursday, warning of threats of mass destruction, presumably from Islamic terrorists. Insiders said studio heads first learned of the threat from MPAA president Jack Valenti, who was briefed by U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, who specifically mentioned a threat of a suicide bomber. An FBI statement released late Thursday, though, was more vague about the exact nature of the threat. The threat's purpose, though, was specifically laid out by the FBI: If the U.S. attacks Afghanistan, a studio will be bombed. \"Today the FBI provided a threat advisory to the major movie studios in Los Angeles,\" FBI spokesman Matt McLaughlin said. \"The uncorroborated threat states that a film studio in California could be the target of a terrorist bombing attack in retaliation for any possible bombing attacks by the United States against Afghanistan. In an abundance of caution, the FBI has provided this threat advisory. The FBI is working closely with the studios regarding this matter.\" Insiders said that those making the threat will target a major film studio because American values and culture -- anathema to fundamentalist Islamic terrorists -- are distributed throughout the world via Hollywood movies."}, {"response": 519, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Sep 21, 2001 (14:25)", "body": "Here is a report that Osama has been rushed toward the Chinese border by the Taliban: http://www.frontierpost.com.pk/main.asp?id=2&date1=9/21/2001 This one indicates that he left even before the shura met. http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/sep2001-daily/21-09-2001/main/main2.htm"}, {"response": 520, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Sep 21, 2001 (15:58)", "body": "http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/ Last summer, while the American media kept the people distracted with \"All Condit All The Time\", the US Government was informing other governments that we would be at war in Afghanistan, no later than October! How lucky for our government that just when they are planning to invade another country, for the express purpose of removing that government, a convenient \"terrorist\" attack occurs to anger Americans into support for an invasion. Sound impossible? Not when you consider that accused terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden is actually an employee of the CIA, who trained and financed him. And guess who paid for the training of the Hijackers? YOU DID, according to NEWSWEEK and MSNBC. From Alleged Hijackers May Have Trained at U.S. Bases The Pentagon has turned over military records on five men to the FBI By George Wehrfritz, Catharine Skipp and John Barry NEWSWEEK Sept. 15 U.S. military sources have given the FBI information that suggests five of the alleged hijackers of the planes that were used in Tuesdays terror attacks received training at secure U.S. military installations in the 1990s. Leonard Pitts column: http://www.contracostatimes.com/opinion/columnists/pitts/stories/xxpitts_20010921.htm \"LET'S GET something straight. The events of Sept. 11 did not happen because we did something wrong. Or because we somehow \"deserved\" them. In recent days, I've heard that argument or variations thereof from several friends and dozens of e-mail correspondents. This must be what \"they\" feel like when we bomb \"them,\" says one. Perhaps they acted out of deep hurt, says another. Maybe this is necessary payback for American arrogance, says yet another. And then, of course, there's the ever-reliable Jerry Falwell, who said on \"The 700 Club\" last week that the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon represent God's verdict on gay rights, feminism, abortion and the ACLU. In a word, no. To all of the above, to all the tortured reflection and moral distress: no. Hell no.\".... \"Last week happened, pure and simple, because certain religious extremists hate us. They hate us because our foreign policy has been supportive of Israel. They hate us because we helped repel Saddam Hussein from Kuwait in 1991. But in the larger sense, they hate us because their children want blue jeans, Britney Spears videos and the chance to be like Mike. They hate us because we consume bacon and beer. They hate us because American women wear bikinis and speak their minds. They hate us because we are the biggest, the wealthiest, the most influential, the most powerful. They hate us because we are not them and, moreover, because they are not us. They hate us because they think the deity requires it. They hate us because.\""}, {"response": 521, "author": "suzee202000", "date": "Fri, Sep 21, 2001 (16:46)", "body": "It may be true that James Woods saw the hijackers: 09/21/2001 - Updated 03:07 PM ET Investigators: Hijackers repeatedly scouted flights By Kevin Johnson, Toni Locy and Richard Willing, USA TODAY The terrorists who staged last week's murderous attacks apparently practiced for months by repeatedly riding the flights they later hijacked, learning jet crews' patterns, counting passenger loads and testing airline security, the FBI now believes. The 19 hijackers, probably aided by accomplices who are still alive, began scouting for flights to hijack and making dry runs as early as April, law enforcement sources say. Some of the hijackers are believed to have entered the USA then. Authorities confirmed the finding by checking flight manifests and airport security camera tapes. They also interviewed airline employees. Investigators had suspected that the four hijacked flights \ufffd two from Boston and one each from Newark, N.J., and Dulles International Airport in suburban Washington \ufffd had been carefully chosen, in part because each was full of fuel for a cross-country trip and had a relatively light passenger load. The lack of passengers would have made it easier for the four or five Muslim extremists on each jet to keep those aboard under control and overwhelm the cockpit crews. Authorities say they also now believe that the killers scouted other flights as hijacking candidates but eliminated them from consideration. The findings add texture to the portrait that is emerging of the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. The hijackings, sources say, were meticulously planned and required large sums of money, dozens of helpers and coordination among teams. Investigators have not ruled out the possibility that a central figure who set the attacks in motion still could be at large. \ufffd Copyright 2001 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc. http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2001/09/21/hijackers-usat.htm"}, {"response": 522, "author": "suzee202000", "date": "Fri, Sep 21, 2001 (17:06)", "body": "From the NY Times, more on the hijackers' identities: September 21, 2001 Confusion Over Names Clouds Identities of Attackers on Jets By NEIL MacFARQUHAR CAIRO, Sept. 20 \ufffd Many of the 19 hijacking suspects in the terror attacks last week remain shrouded in confusion, with almost nothing known about some and up to five apparent cases of mistaken identity. The F.B.I. list of hijacking suspects does include the names of at least six missing Saudi Arabian men who left their country, ostensibly to join the Islamic fighters battling the Russians in Chechnya, plus four others whose parents have lost contact with them. But the lack of the details about the suspects, plus the assertions of mistaken identity, have left their parents refusing to mourn and Saudi Arabian officials dismissive of the entire list. \"The haste in publishing the names of suspects in the attacks has made the media fall into the error of involving innocent people, especially Saudis,\" Prince Mit'eb bin Abdullah, the deputy commander of the Saudi National Guard, complained to reporters in Riyadh. The use of wrong names and pictures may indicate that the hijackers filched the identities of fellow Saudis. In the United States, Robert Mueller, the director of the F.B.I., acknowledged Thursday that there were questions about the identities of several of the hijackers on the list. \"We have several hijackers whose identities were those of the names on the manifest, we have several others who are still in question,\" Mr. Mueller said while touring the crash site in Pennsylvania of one hijacked plane. An official at the Saudi Embassy in Washington said there were five mistaken identities on the list, adding that all the men were alive and living abroad. Saudi officials say part of the problem stems from the proliferation of similar names in Saudi Arabia, as well as the numerous varieties of spelling them in English. One of the most common surnames on the F.B.I. list is Alshehri. But in English various members of the clan might spell it Alshahri or Alshehiri or Al-Shehri, entangling search efforts. Far more difficult is the fact that the country's huge tribes repeat the same names over and over again. Saudis use at least three names: their given name, their father's name, and their tribal name. Between the father's name and the tribal name, many also insert the name of a fourth, favored ancestor. But even brothers do not always choose the same name. To narrow the search to specific individuals, Saudi officials said they needed at least one and preferably two middle names. What they are given to work with now is a lot of Joe Smiths. For example, there might be thousands and thousands of people with the name Waleed Alshehri, one of the men whose name appears on the list of suspects who rammed the first plane into the World Trade Center. For a while, suspicion focused on the son of a Saudi diplomat with that name who had studied at Embry- Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida, but his father said he was alive and working as a pilot for Saudi Arabian Airlines. The confusion apparently stems from the fact that the F.B.I. is matching the names on the passenger manifests to students who have trained in flying. In the southern Saudi town of Khamis Mushait, however, there is an established businessman named Mohammed Al-Shehri who is missing 2 of his 11 sons. One of them is Waleed Mohammed Al-Shehri. Mr. Waleed, 21, was studying to be a teacher, while his brother Wail, 26, already had a degree in physical education and was teaching, their father told the Saudi newspaper Al- Watan. The older brother was suffering from psychological problems and kept seeking the help of clerics to perform a kind of religious exorcism to cure him, the father said. Both men disappeared in December while on a trip to seek yet more help and have not been heard from since. They had grown increasingly religious before their disappearance and spoke often about joining the fight in Chechnya, the paper quoted family friends as saying. Their pictures match those released by the F.B.I. To try to eliminate confusion, Saudi officials said they had repeatedly asked for more information on the suspects, especially longer names, but they had yet to receive it. Plus, in a few cases it appears the hijackers resorted to outright deception. A passenger using the name Abdel Aziz Al-Omari and the birth date of December 24, 1972, is listed on the manifest of the flight that hit the towers first. But a man with the same name and birth date turned up alive in Riyadh, where he told the Al Sharq Al Awsat daily that he had studied electrical engineering at University of Denver. His passport was stolen there in 1995. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/21/international/middleeast/21IDEN.html?pagewanted=print"}, {"response": 523, "author": "fitzwd", "date": "Fri, Sep 21, 2001 (18:02)", "body": "(Suzee) It may be true that James Woods saw the hijackers: James Woods appears to be a straight shooter. If the story were materially false, I believe he would have disowned it by now. For those who are unaware of his background, he is quite intelligent and attended MIT. He left a few credits shy of graduation. He has articulately debated against Bill Bennett, the former drug czar, on Face the Nation."}, {"response": 524, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Sep 21, 2001 (18:40)", "body": "Here are some interesting stats. Get out your little pad and pencil or rev' up your Excel or MS Works spreadsheet and play with these numbers. What do you se? In 1940, the US population was 132 MM, the GNP was 100 BB in constant dollars. In 1940 the US military was 500K men, maybe 300 ships, a few thousand planes. In 1945, the US military was 13.5 million men & women, we had 6000 vessels and 200K aircraft. We had spent nearly $400 BB, nearly twice the 1945 GDP. In 2001, the US military has somewhat less than 200K men & women, 300 ships, a few thousand planes. We have a population of 280 MM and a GDP of $10 trillion. Congress just appropriated $40BB for this war, half of which is earkmarked for NYC. Vietnam cost $140 BB year pop gnp military ships planes year millionsbillionsmillion thousands 1940 132 100 0.5 300 3 1945 ? 400 13.5 6000 200 2001 280 10000 0.2 300 Sorry for the gaps. It looks we need more ships, men and planes. Our gnp is now 10 trillion."}, {"response": 525, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Sep 21, 2001 (18:43)", "body": "I was there when the first Taliban units were seen in Afghanistan circa 1986. They were all composed of Saudi and other foreign volunteers, and few took them very seriously since they did little actual fighting against the Russians. But they quickly allied with Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's Hezbi Islami group -- i.e., the fundamentalist wing of the Afghan resistance -- which was receiving the bulk of US arms and aid via Pakistani intelligence (SIS). Then, amidst the confusion and infighting within the resistance following the Soviet withdrawal, the Pak's chose to channel almost all their material support to the Taliban, who used it to gain power over a divided resistance movement and a peoiple utterly exhausted by war. I'd wager that if a free & fair referendum were conducted in Afghanistan today, the Taliban would receive fewer than 5% of the votes. Their army is largely conscript, their most fervent supporters are unsophisticated teenagers insulated in Taliban religious schools. Nothing they say or do has any relationship to historic Afghan customs & attitudes."}, {"response": 526, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Sep 21, 2001 (18:45)", "body": "Kathy Rockel was amazed when her United Airlines flight last weekend began with an extraordinary message from the pilot: He informed passengers how to rise up and fend off hijackers. ``If anybody stands up and is trying to take over the plane, stand up together, take whatever you have and throw it at their heads,'' she quoted the pilot as saying. ``You have to aim for their faces so they have to defend themselves.'' The pilot also said passengers could fight hijackers by throwing blankets over their heads, wrestling them to the ground and holding them until he landed, Rockel said. And referring to the ``we the people'' preamble to the Constitution, she recalled, he said, ``We will not be defeated.'' ``Everybody on the plane was applauding,'' said Rockel, a medical transcriptionist traveling from Denver to Washington, D.C., Sept. 15 on United's Flight 564. ``People had tears coming down their faces. It was as if we had a choice here, that if something were to happen we're not completely powerless.'' Continued @: http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010921/us/attacks_taking_charge_1.html"}, {"response": 527, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Sep 21, 2001 (19:22)", "body": "A few new topics have been created in the news conference to deal with some more specific aspects of the World Trade Center attack and the ensuing global conflict: 43 526 Jumbo Jets crash in to World Trade Center 44 0 Media coverage of WTC attack and the aftermath 45 0 What can we do? What should we do? 46 0 suspension of civil liberties as a response to terrorism 47 0 coping with terrorism and a world gone to war 48 0 economic consequences of global war and terrorism 49 0 Finding Osama Bin Laden 50 0 What is the impact of the wtc crisis where you live?"}, {"response": 528, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Sep 21, 2001 (22:41)", "body": "\"A lot of thinking needs to be done, and perhaps is being done in Washington and elsewhere, about the ineptitude of American intelligence and counter- intelligence, about options available to American foreign policy, particularly in the Middle East, and about what constitutes a smart program of military defense.\" - Susan Sontag \"As for America's friends, they have rallied around us with alacrity. On Wednesday, the NATO allies, for the first time ever, invoked the mutual- defense clause of the alliance's founding treaty, formally declaring that \"an armed attack\" against oneQand what happened on September 11th, whether you call it terrorism or war, was certainly an armed attackQconstitutes an attack against all. This gesture of solidarity puts to shame the contempt the Bush Administration has consistently shown for international treaties and instruments, including those in areas relevant to the fight against terrorism, such as small-arms control, criminal justice, and nuclear proliferation. By now, it ought to be clear to even the most committed ideologues of the Bush Administration that the unilateralist approach it was pursuing as of last Tuesday is in urgent need of revaluation. The world will be policed collectively or it will not be policed at all.\" - Hendrik Hertzberg Both of these from the recent New Yorker."}, {"response": 529, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Sep 21, 2001 (23:25)", "body": "A couple of notable quotes from other pieces: In the decade since the end of the Cold War, the human race has become, with increasing rapidity, a single organism. Every kind of barrier to the free and rapid movement of goods, information and people has been lowered. The organism relies increasingly on a kind of trust -- the unsentimental expectation that people, individually and collectively, will behave more or less in their rational self-interest. -- Hendrik Hertzberg How do you take \"massive military action\" against the infrastructure of a stateless, compartmentalized \"army\" of fifty, or ten times fifty, whose weapons are rental cars, credit cards, and airline tickets? The scale of the damage notwithstanding, a more useful metaphor than war is crime. The terrorists of September 11th are outlaws within a global polity. They may enjoy the corrupt protection of a state (and corruption, like crime, can be ideological or spiritual as well as pecuniary in motive). But they do not constitute or control a state and do not even appear to aspir to control one. Their status and numbers are such that the task of dealing with them should be viewed as a police matter, of the most urgent kind. As with all criminal fugitives, the essential job is to find out who and where they are. -- Hendrik Hertzberg But fly again we must; risk is a price of freedom, and walking around Brooklyn Heights that afternoon, as ash drifted in the air and cars were few and open-air lunches continued as usual on Montague Street, renewed the impression that, with all its failings, this is a country worth fighting for. Freedom, reflected in the street's diversity and daily ease, felt palpable. It is mankind's elixir, even if a few turn it to poison. -- John Updike"}, {"response": 530, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Sep 21, 2001 (23:34)", "body": "James Woods was shown tonight answering telephones on the \"America: A Tribute to Heroes Telethon\". A lot of these rock stars and musicians looked heartbroken as they played and spoke. Paul Simon just sang bridge over Troubled Water and the parade of stars rolls on. Star studded is an understatement."}, {"response": 531, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Sep 22, 2001 (01:29)", "body": "David Kline again: The Taliban cannot be negotiated with. The council of clerics is more afraid of the Taliban than they are of the U.S. -- the Taliban, after all, are within actual rifle range and constitute a real and present threat, whereas the U.S. is (in their eyes) only a distant and vague *potential* threat. Hence the Council of Clerics decision. These councils, btw, historically have tended to defer to whomever had the biggest and nearest sword. Council of Clerics' decisions tend to drift with the winds of power, and have generally been considered by Afghans to be as binding and as relevant as, say, a Berkeley resolution declaring the city a \"nuclear free zone.\" Anyone seriously wishing to capture Bin Laden or otherwise deal with the Afghan aspect of this problem effectively should not pay much attention to either Taliban or Council of Clerics edicts."}, {"response": 532, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Sep 22, 2001 (02:16)", "body": "Without reading through a lot of posts to see if anyone answeed Laura, rhetorical question, we did pay reparations to the Japanese Americans we interred in WW2...$25,000 each."}, {"response": 533, "author": "AotearoaKiwi", "date": "Sat, Sep 22, 2001 (06:31)", "body": "Hi all Jonathan Power, MSG 508: To lay all these problems at America's feet is to ignore Europe's culpability. The older Continent, if only on occasion wiser and better informed about the rest of the world, has only intermittently done much better. Now it must wake up too. Rob: I always wondered if Britain had anything to gain from it's loyalty to the United States, aside from being assured of assistance when it got into it's own troubles. I mean, what is there to gain from always supporting the United States sanctions on Iraq, the unconditional following of the United States when it attacks the Myanmar military regime politics and so on? Does Britain have a rule of basing it's foreign policy on the United States foreign policy? The few exceptions I have noted were the Kyoto Climate Protocol, for the sake of the Protocol, Britain did not have a choice since Bush was determined not to participate and it's relationship with European nations was at stake. This is however one time when I think European were dead on target, and that Japan was wise to support the protocol. Perhaps the best thing the European nations can do is deliver warnings to their embassies in the United States, on things where a potential split is likely, and back it up with a rebuke or rebuttal (call it what you may)of the United States stand if it clashes. The foreign policy of European nations need not be blindly tied as is possibly the case in Britain, with the United States on everything. Surely in one of the most civilised areas of the world, there are people who can give their nations original foreign policy. However, the best thing that can happen is Bush dropping his very arrogant \"take it or leave it\" attitude which is causing splits among countries that are usually closely tied. Russia and the United States share more in common than they probably think, but Russia has a valid point on the 1972 ABM Treaty, as does Beijing on the missile shield as a whole. I would normally not agree with them on this sort of thing, so this is quite significant coming from me. The worst thing that can happen on this issue is if North Korea decides to restart it's missile program. If this happens the United States has only itself to blame, because Clinton managed to break the ice. Finally, however, Europe can bring itself and the United States to their senses by taking a hard line on things like the Missile shield (which I think is going to restart the arms race and probably bring on a limited form of Cold War). I have absolutely no time for the $30 billion white elephant it may become. So, Europe is as much at fault as it's American neighbour. Rob"}, {"response": 534, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Sep 22, 2001 (09:06)", "body": "The today's climate of terrorism, missile shields seem like overkill, don't they Rob? It wouldn't have helped us 9/11. This is likely to thaw out the US now that we need an international coalition, that's the only way we can combat worldwide terrorism. For a map of how countries are taking sides in this coming global conflict, see 52 1 How do the world's countries line up in the terrorism war? in the news conference."}, {"response": 535, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Sep 22, 2001 (09:35)", "body": "Much of the Afghan intelligentia was systematically slaughtered between 1978-1982 by KGB-trained Afghan puppet police force. So many, in fact, that it was said to produce a statistical decline in the literacy rate of that country. Many of those that survived and did not flee the country -- e.g., stayed and fought with the resistance -- were then systematically butchered by the Taliban when they began to consolidate power. It's really a shame. There once were several million educated and modern-thinking Afghans like Tamim Ansary, the author of that wonderful article last week on why the Taliban do not respresent Afghanistan."}, {"response": 536, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Sep 22, 2001 (10:19)", "body": "The above should have been attributed to David Kline."}, {"response": 537, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Sep 22, 2001 (10:45)", "body": "Both of these from the recent New Yorker. Hendrik Hertzberg, Susan Sontag, John Updike,..... I only read The New Yorker for their cartoons & fiction features. I don't think that fiction authors know any more about international stategies than you or I."}, {"response": 538, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Sat, Sep 22, 2001 (12:34)", "body": "LOL! Add to that list Harold Pinter..."}, {"response": 539, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sat, Sep 22, 2001 (13:07)", "body": "I don't think that fiction authors know any more about international stategies than you or I. Well said, Evelyn! Now that the number of missing/dead has gone up, could someone please post a current list with the total numbers by nationalities."}, {"response": 540, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Sep 22, 2001 (13:45)", "body": "Absolutely moon, I'll take Christianne Amanpour over Susan Sontag any day as a political commentator."}, {"response": 541, "author": "suzee202000", "date": "Sat, Sep 22, 2001 (14:37)", "body": "Fox News has an excellent page with around the world dead and missing, but it has not been updated with the latest figures. http://www.foxnews.com/projects/americaunited/wtc_maps/worldinfo.htm The most recent information: Saturday, September 22 10:33 AM SGT US toll put at 6,818 as countries report more missing NEW YORK, Sept 21 (AFP) - The death toll from the attacks on the United States stood at 6,818 Saturday after 11 more bodies were pulled from the ruins of the World Trade Center. New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani said Friday the number of missing could still fluctuate as officials cross check reports of missing people. More than 60 countries have now reported citizens dead or missing, mostly in New York, one of the world's most cosmopolitan cities. But despite continuing round-the-clock rescue efforts, there was now next to no chance of pulling survivors from the rubble of the World Trade Center. UNITED STATES officials have given tallies that add up to 6,818 dead or missing in all the attacks of September 11, but they have still not established the total number of their nationals among the victims 11 days after the attack. In New York, 6,585 people were killed or listed as missing from the World Trade Center disaster (comprising 252 confirmed dead and 6,333 missing, presumed dead). Workers have identified 183 bodies, including those of 34 firemen. At the Pentagon, 189 people are confirmed dead or missing. So far, 117 bodies have been recovered, of which 52 have been identified as of Friday. The Department of Defense said search and recovery operations would continue. The missing figure at both sites include the 157 passengers and crew of the two hijacked aircraft that crashed into the World Trade Center and the 64 on the one that flew into the Pentagon. Adding the 44 on the hijacked plane that crashed in Pennsylvania, the number of people on the four planes is given as 265. (American Airlines flight 11, the first to hit the twin towers of the WTC, was carrying 92 passengers and crew; United Airlines flight 175, which hit the second tower, had 65 people on board; American Airlines flight 77, which crashed into the Pentagon, was carrying 64 people; and United Airlines 93, which crashed in Pennsylvania without reaching its target, had 44 on board.) ARGENTINA said four of its nationals were missing. AUSTRALIA said three of its nationals were confirmed dead. Another 20 who were in the top floors of the World Trade Center were missing, presumed dead, and consular staff in Canberra and New York were looking for another 32 Australians reported as missing. AUSTRIA said around 40 of its nationals were missing, one of them a 25-year-old woman named only as Alexandra H. who worked in a bank in the World Trade Center. BANGLADESH said at least 50 Bangladeshis were presumed killed in the carnage at the World Trade Center, where many worked in restaurants and offices. BELGIUM said one of its nationals was missing. BRAZIL said at least 55 of its nationals were missing. BRITAIN lost around 250 of its citizens, according to New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. BULGARIA said that one of its citizens was missing. CAMBODIA said it feared that some 20 of its nationals were missing following the attacks. CANADA said three of its nationals were confirmed dead and between 35 and 40 were still missing. CHILE's New York consulate said two of its nationals were missing and feared dead, although more than 250 have been reported missing by relatives. CHINA said two Chinese nationals were killed and another was missing. A man and woman, both in their 60s, died aboard the plane that crashed into the Pentagon. Chinese authorities originally said three people had died, but the foreign ministry revised the figure, saying that a man, Chen Xiaobing, had been rescued from the lower floors of the building. A 41-year-old Chinese was reported missing. COLOMBIA's consulate in New York said two of its nationals were killed -- one aboard an American Airlines plane that slammed into the side of the twin towers -- while 10 others were missing. Earlier, Colombia's Red Cross had said that 295 people were reported missing. While 17 people worked in the twin towers, others may have been present in the area at the time. The CZECH REPUBLIC said 56 of its citizens who had been in the United States were unaccounted for. Of those, up to 15 nationals were thought to have been in New York or Washington at the time of the attacks, according to the foreign ministry. DENMARK's foreign ministry said that all of its citizens previously reported missing had turned up safe and sound and that there had therefore been no Danish casualties in the attacks. The DOMINICAN REPUBLIC said one citizen, a paramedic, was found dead and 30 are missing, according to the country's consulate in New York. ECUADOR listed seven citizens as dead, including one who was a passenger on a hijacked airliner, and 29 missing. EGYPT's ambassador to the United States said four Egyptians were feared dea"}, {"response": 542, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Sep 22, 2001 (23:52)", "body": "Date: Sat, 22 Sep 2001 12:25:26 -0400 From: \"cpmcnel@usit.net\" To: \"terry@www.spring.net\" Subject: RE: WTC - How do you feel? [ The following text is in the \"iso-8859-1\" character set. ] [ Your display is set for the \"US-ASCII\" character set. ] [ Some characters may be displayed incorrectly. ] Hi Paul, Carol Nelson here. I am in south Florida baby sitting my grandchildren. We drove down The Farm last week through hurricane Gabriella. My Daughter Kim McCusker and her husband Paul are in NYC, ground zero. They are part of the search and rescue team deployed from the Miami-Dade Area. They are both highly trained K-9 search and rescue fire fighters.They have been there about a week already and will probably not retutn until the end of next week. So we are getting first hand info on a daily basis. Not Good! I have a friend that works around the block on Broad street. She called me after the first hit and we were on the phone when the second plane hit. You could hear and feel it thru the phone lines. I heard Michael Gavin's cousin was in one of the bulidings and is missing. All the talk of WAR is so bad. So hard to hear and think about. All I can do is continue to pray for peace. Peace Carol"}, {"response": 543, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Sep 22, 2001 (23:58)", "body": "Date: Sat, 22 Sep 2001 15:23:33 -0700 From: Gerald Wheeler To: Paul Terry Walhus Subject: Re: WTC - How do you feel? it is now about midnight sept. 21, 2001...autumn equinox, i am in oakland california, i just finished watching the a's beat seattle in the first game of a three game series, between innings i flipped over a channel to watch what most everyone else that was watching television tonight was probably watching, the fund-raiser and tribute to those who died ten days ago in the attacks on the wtc and the pentagon and the final plane that was brought down most likely by a group of courageous passengers who took on the hijackers and crashed that plane in a field in pennsylvania, so many heroes keep emerging from the center of the tragedy, and what a powerful assembly there on the tv, i am moved by the sense that we as a nation, for the first time in my memory, have been brought together like never before, and it's real and it's full of power and authenticity and i catch a glimmer of something inside of me that suddenly says that america really is worth saving, and i let that glimmer grow into more of a flame and i see that for all of its' faults, there just isn't anything or any other place like this place and the freedom that it provides everyone of us who share its' soil...i think about what to do about achieving justice and how it is a good idea to take the time to let things settle in the mind and calm that which cries out for revenge, because revenge is knee-jerk and full of anger and confusion and does not offer real satisfaction because its' results are uneven and because an uneven response creates more suffering...i think about who or what the enemy really is and i come to the conclusion that the enemy is not the taliban or hezbollah or the islamic jihad or osama bin laden or fundamentalist christians or fundamentalist jews or fundamentalist moslems or jerry falwell or yassar arrafat or north korea or chevron oil or suicide bombers or the bible or the koran...it is evil...the real enemy is simply evil, evil in whatever form and shape it may incarnate into at any time or place, and i think about how it is imperative that we learn to recognize evil in all its' forms and whenever and wherever it appears, and that we take sufficient care to respond in ways in which its' effects are cancelled and diffused, and this applies to the everyday, right under our nose kinds of evil, out to the broader, affecting all of humanity kinds as well, and that how we respond will determine the outcome of events in the future, and i think about what that means to me individually and i am reminded of how grateful i am that i have a way to get calm, that i learned how to meditate thirty years ago and try to practice on a regular basis, oh it doesn't always prevent one from getting caught in the cross-fire but sometimes it seems like it helps slow down the bullets so that you can see where to not step, non-action thru action, and makes you aware that everything begins in the mind, everything, so the key is to tame the fury of the mind, and transform pain and hardship into compassion and real strength by doing so, we individually hold the answer to our situation but to see that clearly we must first conquer the fury...om mani padme om! --all the best, gerald wheeler"}, {"response": 544, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Sep 23, 2001 (00:59)", "body": "David Kline (dkline) Sat Sep 22 '01 (12:11) 49 lines There's also a difference between saying the US \"created\" Bin Laden and the Taliban and saying -- much more correctly -- that our policies *contributed* (mostly indirectly) to their emergence and rise to power. The US funded the already-fighting Afghan resistance to Soviet occupation beginning in the early 1980s -- as well it should have. But the problem was, beginning in about 1983-84 and despite warnings from many people (l'il ol' me included), the US allowed the Pakistani intelligence services (SIS) to channel the great bulk of that aid to the fanatical fundamentalist wing of the resistance, called Hezbi Islami. (And just to be clear, the fundamentalists did almost NO fighting against the Russians during the war. They concentrated their fire on rival resistance groups such as Ahmed Shah massoud's \"Northern Alliance.\") The Paks had their own reasons for doing this, of course, including influence within SIS from Pakistan's own emerging fundamentalists (Jamiatt Islami), as well as a desire to see a liberated but weak Afghanistan. But still, it was our guns and money, and we should have funneled it equally to all forces actually fighting for liberation from the USSR, or if we were really smart, mostly to forces (such as Massoud or Mr. Rabbani or even the Gailani clan) with whom we could expect to have a civil conversation and normal state relations in a post-Soviet Afghanistan. But Washington claimed its hands were tied and it couldn't intervene in Pakistan's \"internal affairs.\" Remember, during the 80s the US was very concerned to keep Pakistan within the anti-Soviet orbit, even if it meant looking the other way re: nuclear development or how much arms & money went to which rebel forces. I'm not saying that was right -- in fact, I urged responsible officials to stop allowing our aid to be channeled to the fundamentalists before they became too strong. But this sort of \"Realpolitik\" was very much SOP for Washington during the 1970s and 80s. As the Soviets neared defeat in Afghanistan in 1985-86, Saudi fanatics such as Bin Laden and other foreign Arab volunteers began pouring in to Afghanistan. By 1987-88, the Soviets were gone and the US (in another stupid move) swung its aid pendulum to the other extreme and basically abandoned the Afghan people to starve. In the years that followed, then, the emergent Taliban were aided and abetted both by Afghanistan's small fundamentalist wing (Hezbi Islami) as well as by the Pak SIS, now dominated by Jamiat Islami (Pakistani fundamentalist) forces. And in the end, the Taliban filled the vacumn left by 20 years of a near genocidal war against the Soviets. The rest is history. Sorry to be a broken record on this, but it just riles me to hear people spout half-truths about who the Taliban are and how they emerged -- as if Washington's myopia circa 1984-85 justfies what happened at the WTC."}, {"response": 545, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Sep 23, 2001 (01:02)", "body": "September 22, 2001 THE INVESTIGATION Tape Reveals Wild Struggle on Flight 93 By JAMES RISEN and DAVID JOHNSTON ASHINGTON, Sept. 21 \ufffd A desperate and wild struggle took place aboard the hijacked United Airlines Flight 93 before it crashed in southwestern Pennsylvania, according to the plane's cockpit voice recorder, law enforcement officials said today. The recording has been played for Attorney General John Ashcroft and the F.B.I. director, Robert S. Mueller III, the officials said. And while it did not provide a clear or complete picture, it seemed certain that there was a chaotic confrontation that apparently led to the crash of the jet. In another development, American intelligence officials said today they believed that the assassination of the leader of the anti- Taliban alliance in Afghanistan on Sept. 9 was probably carried out by associates of Osama bin Laden. The assassination appears to have been the first step in the terror plot that culminated in the attacks on the United States two days later, the officials said. The voice recorder picked up scuffling sounds as well as shouts in Arabic and English, the officials said, but listeners have not been able to discern what was happening or who among the passengers, crew members or hijackers was involved in the struggle. In the past week, officials have said that the passengers appeared to have stormed the cockpit after the four hijackers commandeered the flight. That account has been based primarily on cellphone conversations between passengers and people on the ground. Technical experts are continuing their efforts to enhance the sounds from the cockpit listening device, which uses microphones in the headsets of the pilots and mounted on the cockpit ceiling. Mr. Mueller visited the crash site on Thursday after he received a preliminary briefing on the recorder's contents. He said that the passengers heroically prevented the hijackers from striking their target, an undetermined site in Washington. \"I think both of us here and \ufffd both the attorney general and I and the attorney general of Pennsylvania have indicated we believe those passengers on this jet were absolute heroes and their actions during this flight were heroic,\" he said. \" continued at http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/22/national/22INQU.html?todaysheadlines"}, {"response": 546, "author": "suzee202000", "date": "Sun, Sep 23, 2001 (02:45)", "body": "A Former Pakistani Prime Minister Weighs In By Benazir Bhutto Friday, Sept. 21, 2001 Little in life springs from whole cloth. That is especially true of Sept. 11, 2001, a date stained into the calendar of civilization. This was a calamity two decades in the making. At the end of 1979, the Soviets invaded Afghanistan, hoping to strengthen their position in Central Asia and develop proximity to the resources and warm ports of the Gulf. Almost immediately an indigenous insurrection developed to challenge the Soviet occupation. The freedom fighters were called the \"Mujahadeen\" and were composed of seven different factions. In its early days, the Reagan administration made a decision that would shape the course of history. It backed the one faction most likely to successfully challenge the Soviets on the battlefield. Working with their counterparts in the Pakistani Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), the CIA armed, trained, and empowered the most extreme, anti-modernity, anti-Western zealots within the Mujahadeen. This propelled the extremists to a leadership position in the war of resistance and in the politics that followed. The war in Afghanistan caused one of the great refugee migrations in modern history. Nearly three million Afghans crossed into Pakistan to escape the fighting. Almost immediately scores of special Islamic schools, called Madrassas, sprang up. The boys that were sent there by their parents to be nourished and educated were taught extremism, intolerance, subjugation of women, and violence. All of these elements are antithetical to the Holy Book and to the teachings of the Prophet. When the children were not being brainwashed, they were trained in hand-to-hand combat, the use of weapons, and terrorist strategy. These schools became the recruitment centers for the fanatic administration that ultimately took control of Afghanistan after the Soviet exit. The new political movement was named after the schools themselves. The word \"Talib\" means student! I became prime minister of Pakistan in 1988 during the waning days of the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. The last Soviet troops were airlifted out of Afghanistan on Feb. 15, 1989. The international community quickly turned its attention to events in Europe and the fall of the Berlin Wall. I was left concerned at the lack of a post-Soviet plan for the reconstruction and governing of Afghanistan. I was also concerned at the go-at-it-alone attitude of the extremist factions that wanted the government, and ultimately they prevailed. I suspected that having defeated one superpower, the zealots felt invincible and divinely empowered to take aim at another. As a moderate, progressive, democratically elected woman prime minister of Pakistan, I was a threat to the fundamentalist zealots on multiple levels and targeted by them in both my governments. They had the support of sympathetic elements within Pakistan's security apparatus and the financial support of people like Osama Bin Laden. I had closed their training university in Peshawar and was targeted for that. I had tracked down and extradited the Ramzi Yousef, the perpetrator of the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center, and was targeted for that. My government was destabilized. Money was pilfered and laundered from state banks to fund the campaigns of opposition parties. We learned from Ramzi Yousef before he was extradited to the United States that I was the object of two separate assassination attempts in 1993. Osama Bin Laden personally spent over $10 million in late 1989 in support of a motion of no confidence to topple my government. And ultimately, with the active support of elements of the Pakistani ilitary, my two democratically elected governments were sacked and elections rigged to ensure that my party would not return to power. Beware the power of zealots who are well-funded, well-armed, and supported by elements of your own government! That brings us to the present. A complex and well-funded terrorist network executed the most inhuman terrorist attack in history. The target was America, but it was also the values of freedom everywhere. It seemed Osama and his cohorts read Professor Samuel Huntington's The Clash of Civilizations and wished to provoke its thesis into reality. Their goal is for the Muslim world to see U.S. retaliation as an act of aggression against Islam. Sept. 11 was the bait. Sadly, this is not over. The United States responded quickly in declaring a fight against international terrorism and cautioned it will be a long process. Asked to assist the U.S. effort against terrorism, Islamabad responded positively. It did this despite elements within the military intelligence complex that have sympathy for the Taliban. Pakistan is saddled with $38 billion in international debt, with $4 billion owed to America. With Egypt and Jordan, the United States has repaid political support with debt retirement in the past. Islamabad expects the same treatment. It also expects the repeal o"}, {"response": 547, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Sep 24, 2001 (17:35)", "body": "For some idea of what the rest of the world is up against, I recommend this little essay of a book report with thanks to JSK for suggesting I read it: PROPHETS, CULTS AND MADNESS http://www.cix.co.uk/~acampbell/bookreviews/r/stevens-price-2.html"}, {"response": 548, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 25, 2001 (00:11)", "body": "From: William Meyers To: tincanman99@aol.com, paul@spring.net, melvyn@freewwweb.com, mmc@well.com, moon93@aol.com, pgribbin@megs.inet.net, malysaght@aol.com, dfrohman@aol.com Subject: a subway ride Postapocalyptic Meditations 23 September 2001 Thursday morning of last week I was taking the subway to work as usual, about nine in the morning, down from Morningside Heights to our office on 62nd Street, across from Lincoln Center. The train was packed full of people, as it always is in the morning rush hour, and I found a nook in which to tuck myself, next to the motorman's small compartment, at thefront of the train. There was enough space around me there to hold up my copy of the day's newspaper and read the first paragraphs of the stories on the front page, but only by keeping the paper folded in half. BUSH ORDERS HEAVY BOMBERS NEAR AFGHANS; DEMANDS BIN LADEN NOW, NOT NEGOTIATIONS That was the headline on the Late Edition of Thursday's Times. At the 96th Street station, where the local train shares the platform with the express and much movement of people from one train to the other goes on, a moment of panic suddenly struck. Shouts of alarm, screams of terror grabbed everyone's attention in the car where I was still standing. Outside the window people were running past the front of the train and toward the 94th Street exit. Inside the car people were yelling, \"What's happening? What's going on?\" Outside on the platform, they were too busy trying to get away to hear anything but their own terrified voices. It occurred to me that at that moment, or any succeeding one, a blinding white flash and explosion could instantly obliterate me and everyone around me. I waited for that to happen, as one moment succeeded the next. The crush of beings outside the train kept struggling for the exit. Then the door of the motorman's compartment opened, and the motorman -- tall and commanding, studded with communications gear -- emerged to assess the scene. I was thinking, \"Just keep moving, man!\" But I couldn't utter a word. He spoke something into his intercom about how there was \"an altercation\" on the platform that needed to be investigated. Then he got back into his compartment and shut the door. I prayed that that would be the end of it and the doors of the train would close. The doors closed, and the train moved out. The south end of the platform slipped by, and the lights of the station fell behind us, overtaken by the darkness of the tunnel. People looked at each other in fear and relief. At some point before we reached the next station, 86th Street -- a local stop -- I realized how much adrenalin had been pumping through my body. Slumping against the door of the motorman's compartment, I closed my eyes and waited for the enormous rush of energy to pass. By the time we reached 66th Street, where I exited the subway, I was thinking that the story of whatever had happened back there would be emerging in the media soon and that I should be on the lookout and looking closely for it. The person in the token booth at 66th Street had no idea what had happened back up the line. It was still too early, I thought. What could have happened? What did \"altercation\" mean? Had a fistfight broken out? Had it been \"to the death\"? Did one or both of the fighters look Arabic? Had one of them pulled a gun, or a bomb, or a flask of anthrax? Nothing was reported later in the media. At least nothing came within range of my own sensors. Apparently it had been just another routine incident -- one of all too many that have been occurring in our lives here for the last couple of weeks. I think it would be safe to say that the stressload in Manhattan has been reaching a maximum tolerance level. But it's the new reality. -- Wm"}, {"response": 549, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 25, 2001 (15:18)", "body": "Today, in a short while, on All Things Considered. 09.25.01 The Bin Laden Group is a diversified corporation with an estimated $5 billion in annual revenue. It's owned and run by the Saudi family of accused terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden. The allegations against the \"black sheep\" of the Bin Laden family have created serious trouble for the family business as partners and associates are backing away. Hear about the Bin Laden Group, Tuesday on All Things Considered."}, {"response": 550, "author": "winter", "date": "Tue, Sep 25, 2001 (19:15)", "body": "I received the following from my advisor, who used to work for Amnesty International in the UK. He's got friends working at the BBC, and this memo came out recently: -----Original Message----- From: Internal Communications Sent: Friday, September 14, 2001 2:19 PM Subject: CNN USING 1991 FOOTAGE This email is being sent to all staff ------------------------------------------- There's an important point in the power of press, specifically the Power of CNN. All around the world we are subjected to 3 or 4 huge news distributors, and one of them - as you well know - is CNN. Very well, I guess all of you have been seeing (just as I've been) images from this company. In Particular, one set of images caught my attention: the Palestinians celebrating the bombing, out on the streets, eating celebration sweets and making funny faces for the camera. Well, THOSE IMAGES WERE SHOT BACK IN 1991!!! Those are images of Palestinians celebrating the invasion of Kuwait! It's simply unacceptable that a super-power of communications as CNN uses images which do not correspond to the reality in talking about so serious of an issue. At the BBC here, we have these footages on videotapes recorded in 1991, with the very same images. But now, think for a moment about the impact of such images. Your people are hurt, emotionally fragile, and this kind of broadcast has very high possiblity of causing waves of anger and rage against the Palestinians. It's simply irresponsible to show images such as those. Russell Grossman | Head of Internal Communication | BBC Third Floor | London Broadcasting House | LONDON W1A 1AA"}, {"response": 551, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Sep 25, 2001 (19:53)", "body": "Patriotism, athletics go hand in hand 09/24/2001 Dave Kindred The Sporting News A brilliant day, a Friday in the fall, the sun warm on our backs, we walked to the south portico of the United States Capitol. From that high place we saw in the middle distance the Washington Monument, and we saw, at the far end, the Lincoln Memorial. When we saw all that before us on a beautiful day in a fall of sadness, my friend Verenda said, \ufffdWow.\ufffd Because we live in Washington, we have seen these places a thousand times. But Verenda had it right. Wow. To see these places now, to see them after September 11, is to see them anew. So we walked from the Capitol, and we walked for hours. We saw the bronze of a Civil War general on horseback, soldiers hanging onto an artillery caisson clattering to his side. We saw our faces in mirrored black granite that moans of Vietnam dead. We stood in a marble temple and read on a wall a president's words: \ufffdThe brave men, living and dead, who struggled here . . .\ufffd We stopped in a museum to see the Star-Spangled Banner. By the dawn's early light of September 14, 1814, the massive flag yet waved over Baltimore's Fort McHenry. Americans had outlasted a British siege that (a survivor said) \ufffdthrew at least 1,800 shells among us. We were like pigeons tied by the legs to be shot at.\ufffd The lawyer Francis Scott Key saw that flag and in a poem called his nation \ufffdthe land of the free and the home of the brave.\ufffd We saw three helicopters descend to the White House, always three to confuse an enemy, the three flying under the thunderous cover of fighter jets. We saw flowers left on the Mall by some people from Mongolia who have embraced America. We saw a president's words cut into purple stone: \ufffdThe only thing we have to fear is fear itself.\ufffd The night before our walk, Lisa Beamer came to the Capitol. Her husband had risen against fear. When hijackers thought to fly to Washington -- to destroy the White House? the Capitol? -- Todd Beamer did the kind of brave, selfless thing that is the beating heart of a nation made and sustained by brave, selfless people. Passengers knew planes had crashed into buildings. Beamer and three other men decided to act. Ten years ago, he had been a basketball guard and baseball shortstop/centerfielder at Wheaton College in Illinois. \ufffdGood athlete with good speed, batted second for us, led off sometimes . . . a very solid leader . . . deeply religious . . . very unselfish,\ufffd said his old baseball coach, Ron Frank. \ufffdWhat he did is in total keeping with the man he was.\ufffd Beamer couldn't reach his wife by phone. He asked a GTE Airfone supervisor to recite with him the Lord's Prayer and to call his wife. The last words the supervisor heard from Todd Beamer were these: \ufffdAre you guys ready? Let's roll.\ufffd United Flight 93 soon crashed into the Pennsylvania countryside, apparently taken down in a struggle between passengers and hijackers. Nine days later, Lisa Beamer came to the Capitol to hear President Bush address the nation. \ufffdSeeing the Capitol lit up, it's just glorious,\ufffd she said. \ufffdLawmakers all thanked me for what Todd did. Not only the lives saved, but imagine the emotional devastation to this nation if the Capitol no longer existed.\ufffd Let's roll. Saturday morning, going to a football game in Annapolis, we turned toward Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, turning on Farragut Road, named for the sailor who 137 years ago said, \ufffdDamn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!\ufffd Such men, such a nation. If ever you need reminded of what America is and what it can be, turn down Farragut Road and spend a Saturday afternoon at a Navy football game. There you might talk to a retired captain, Dick Riley of Des Moines, Iowa, class of \ufffd42 with 26 years of active duty. He's 81 years old and on a Saturday in Annapolis he says, \ufffdWe graduated 12 days after Pearl Harbor, 563 of us, and we lost 28 in the war. I pray that today's Midshipmen, special kids each and every one, have as thoroughly fulfilling experiences as I did serving our country.\ufffd Thirty thousand people came to a stadium where even the walls speak of courage: IWO JIMA, MIDWAY, NORMANDY, INCHON, QUANG TRI. The thousands saw a fighter jet fly-over. They heard Francis Scott Key's poem sung a cappella. Just before noon, linebackers Mike Chiesl and Dan Ryno led Navy onto the field in an all-out sprint. They carried high an American flag. No one had ever done that for a Navy game. But never before had there been a September 11, 2001. At dinner Friday night, Chiesl and Ryno had seen the flag in a corner of a hotel lobby. Permission, sir, to liberate the flag. Granted. \ufffdWe wanted to do that for the Naval Academy,\ufffd Chiesl said. \ufffdAnd we were doing it for all of America.\ufffd He's a Texan, a big one, and he stood tall. His eyes were those of a happy young man with journeys to make. When he smiled, he was as handsome as a flag seen by the dawn's early light. Dave Kindred is a contributing writer for The Sporting News. Email him at kindred@sportingnews.com."}, {"response": 552, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Sep 25, 2001 (21:04)", "body": "It's simply unacceptable that a super-power of communications as CNN uses images which do not correspond to the reality in talking about so serious of an issue. Welcome to real world. :-( Mr.Orwell we need you)"}, {"response": 553, "author": "lafn", "date": "Tue, Sep 25, 2001 (21:30)", "body": "Memo to BBC. That footage was shown by all the TV stations, not just CNN. They sure sound high and mighty."}, {"response": 554, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Sep 25, 2001 (23:27)", "body": "Don't make the mistake of watching CBC new on C_SPAN. I came as close to hurling something through my television as I ever have. If we are so loathesome give us back our aid and cease trading with us. As for the media....don't you wonder whose side they're on?! Whose best interest in mind? Other than their own?! Let me hasten to add that I know more nice Canadians than I do Canadian Broadcasting writers... It just infuriated me. The BBC has gone down the tubes I hear from local UK'ers. even they hunt for a more reliable source of news."}, {"response": 555, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Sep 26, 2001 (00:16)", "body": "MSNBC did a real good story tonight on the Taliban and the Afghan Northern Alliance. They showed some good footage of Massoud (referenced earlier in this topic) who has been pleading with the West for years to give him just a little bit of aid. He said words to the effect that \"give me a little help and I'll take care of Bin Laden for you, otherwise their will be grave consequences for the West. What better indication of Bin Laden's guilt than the assasination of Massoud just one day for the World Trade Center attack?"}, {"response": 556, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Sep 26, 2001 (00:18)", "body": ""}, {"response": 557, "author": "suzee202000", "date": "Wed, Sep 26, 2001 (02:48)", "body": "Message 550:\" In Particular, one set of images caught my attention: the Palestinians celebrating the bombing, out on the streets, eating celebration sweets and making funny faces for the camera.\" \"Well, THOSE IMAGES WERE SHOT BACK IN 1991!!! Those are images of Palestinians celebrating the invasion of Kuwait!\" --------------------------------- CNN statement about false claim it used old video Brazilian university statement says no fact to original claim September 20, 2001 Posted: 4:02 PM EDT (2002 GMT) CNN asks that you copy and e-mail this statement to whomever asks about it.) There is absolutely no truth to the information that is now distributed on the Internet that CNN used 10-year-old video when showing the celebrating of some Palestinians in East Jerusalem after the terror attacks in the U.S. The video was shot that day by a Reuters camera crew. CNN is a client of Reuters and like other clients, received the video and broadcast it. Reuters officials have publicly made the facts clear as well. The allegation is false. The source of the allegation has withdrawn it and apologized. It was started by a Brazilian student who now says he immediately posted a correction once he knew the information was not true. This is the statement by his university -- UNICAMP -- Universidad Estatal de Campinas-Brasil. Again, please read this -- and copy it -- and send it to anyone you know who may have the false information. Thank you. OFFICIAL STATEMENT by Universidad de Campinas-Brasil 17/09/01 UNICAMP (Universidad Estatal de Campinas-Brasil) would like to announce that it has no knowledge of a videotape from 1991, whose images supposedly aired on CNN showing Palestinians celebrating the terrorist attacks in the U.S. The tape was supposedly from 1991, and there were rumors that the images were passed off as current. This information was later denied, as soon as it proved false, by M\ufffdrcio A. V. Carvalho, a student at UNICAMP. He approached the administration today, 17.09.2001, to clarify the following: -- the information he got, verbally, was that a professor from another institution (not from UNICAMP) had the tape; -- he sent the information to a discussion group e-mail list; -- many people from this list were interested in the subject and requested more details; -- he again contacted the person who first gave him the information and the person denied having the tape; -- the student immediately sent out a note clarifying what happened to the people from his e-mail list. The original message, however, was distributed all over the world, often with many distortions, including a falsified by-line article from the student. He affirms that a hacker attacked his domain. Several E-mails have been sent on his behalf and those dating from 15.09.2001 should be ignored. Among the distortions is the fact that UNICAMP would be analyzing the tape, which is absolutely false. The administration considers this alert definitive and will be careful to avoid new rumors. http://www.cnn.com/2001/US/09/20/cnn.statement/ ------------------------------------- Nevertheless, there have been many(talking heads,\"experts\", writers)who have questioned exactly how that videotape came to be - not that it did not happen, rather, was it staged? who exactly were the people? where exactly was it?, etc."}, {"response": 558, "author": "Bethanne", "date": "Wed, Sep 26, 2001 (04:18)", "body": "People, I live in Atlanta ( the home of CNN )and I have many friends ( including the Senior Copy Editor for CNN Headline News ) who work at CNN Center downtown, so I gotta speak up on their behalf. CNN would NOT stoop to such a shabby, lazy and downright dishonest tactic, of showing 10 year old footage, while claiming it was current. CNN got taken to the cleaners a couple of years ago, about a story they ran (about biological warfare ) that later turned out to be false. Many, many heads rolled as a result and the public perception of CNN being the first place we all turn to for \"accurate\" breaking news, took a major, major hit. As a result, they double check, triple check and quadrupile check the veracity of ALL stories/film footage BEFORE it is broadcast. Also, it is worth noting.....ALL the major US networks ( ABC, Fox, CBS, NBC )broadcast this footage of the Palestinains dancing in the streets, it wasn't just CNN."}, {"response": 559, "author": "fitzwd", "date": "Wed, Sep 26, 2001 (07:09)", "body": "(Marcia) Without reading through a lot of posts to see if anyone answeed Laura, rhetorical question, we did pay reparations to the Japanese Americans we interred in WW2...$25,000 each. Aside from the fear factor that was going around after the Pearl Harbor attack, there were politicians and business people who took advantage of the situation and actually fanned the fire, which ultimately led to the internment. The J-Americans happened to reside on land that is now considered prime real estate in Southern California (think of areas like Santa Monica and Orange County). While the general public viewed the internment as safeguarding America, little did the public know that there were those behind the scenes who had a hidden agenda and who helped manipulate the hysteria and sought to profit from the situation by taking over the real estate (shades of the movie Chinatown and water rights). While some survivors received reparations, it was a mere pittance compared to the value of the land that they lost, where EACH parcel is worth several millions today. These J-Americans had to endure humiliation and financial ruin, and were the victims of ugly racisim and greed, yet they picked up the pie es of their shattered lives and continued to live as proud Americans."}, {"response": 560, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Sep 26, 2001 (10:32)", "body": "Had no idea their property was confiscated. How on earth was that done legally...in this country?"}, {"response": 561, "author": "mari", "date": "Wed, Sep 26, 2001 (13:19)", "body": "How on earth was that done legally...in this country? I have the same question. Thanks to Suzee for posting the article debunking the story about the CNN photo. It smelled like urban legend to me, right from the start. Am quickly learning that while the Internet is a great place to share opinions, the facts often suffer."}, {"response": 562, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Sep 26, 2001 (13:30)", "body": "There's emminent domain for when a government entity wants property for the public good (debatable) in which owners receive some compensation though not anywhere near market value. It has been used for the railroads, schools and other public-private development efforts. Saw a piece on a news magazine show recently on how some town is trying to use it to acquire a whole neighborhood for a Target store. People are up in arms."}, {"response": 563, "author": "fitzwd", "date": "Wed, Sep 26, 2001 (13:31)", "body": "How on earth was that done legally...in this country? How on earth was internment of citizens -- not foreign nationals -- U.S. CITIZENS, done legally in this country? Where was the evidence of a threat to national security?"}, {"response": 564, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Sep 26, 2001 (13:40)", "body": "Not to excuse anyone's behavior and the complete lack of reason and illegality, people tend to go a little hysterical when a country's military installation is attacked. There are numerous examples in our history...unfortunately. When there is a threat from a foreign country, people turn xenophobic just as is occurring now. It is interesting to me that we've learned from our past when I see the PR campaigns to educate the ignorant members of our society."}, {"response": 565, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Sep 26, 2001 (13:53)", "body": "It is interesting to me that we've learned from our past when I see the PR campaigns to educate the ignorant members of our society. Better late than never. Will they go back to being their ignorant selves once the Fall TV season starts?"}, {"response": 566, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Sep 26, 2001 (15:48)", "body": "Depends on their diet of *reality* TV and idiotic night-time quiz shows."}, {"response": 567, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Sep 26, 2001 (18:50)", "body": "From: Gerald Wheeler Subject: well worth considering i'd recommend this to all: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2001/09/26/ED69828.DTL"}, {"response": 568, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Sep 26, 2001 (19:28)", "body": "Jerome Karabel is a professor of sociology at the University of California at Berkeley and a senior fellow at the Rockridge Institute You want *me* to take some academic from *Berkeley* serious??? Those dudes consistently make government - bashing their #1 indoor sport."}, {"response": 569, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Sep 27, 2001 (01:40)", "body": "Ah yes, Angela Davis taught there, no? Does she still? Kiddies go do your homework!"}, {"response": 570, "author": "suzee202000", "date": "Thu, Sep 27, 2001 (02:11)", "body": "......How on earth was that done legally...in this country? .... The US government started to lay the groundwork for controlling subversive activities prior to Pearl Harbor (but in anticipation of joining the war) by passing a slew of new laws. These included the Smith Act, basically intended to suppress \"disloyalty.\" Roosevelt signed an Executive Order in 1942, giving the army broad power to \"exclude\" questionable persons from certain areas. A month or so later, he signed a bill passed by congress making it criminal to disobey the order. I think the legal basis for the internment was the \ufffdAlien Enemies Act\ufffd passed 150 or so years before. It allowed alien internment during wartime. At first, some people tried to move to other locations, but there was really no place to go. Wherever they tried to go, the fear and outcry was so great that the government then disallowed it and started to round them up. Those being removed were given 5 days notice and told to dispose of property. The government made some kind of vague offer to store property for them, but at the same time refused to be liable for it. They sold what they could, but obviously many had to \ufffdabandon\ufffd their homes, boats, businesses, etc. Japanese-Americans lost millions in property and income and it was not just the Japanese. Germans and Italians were interned, as were some conscientious objectors. I hope Karen is right that we have learned from our past history. I am not yet sure. You can read Executive Order 9066 here: http://www.foitimes.com/internment/EO9066.html"}, {"response": 571, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Sep 27, 2001 (08:29)", "body": "The more I research the foundations of the al-Qaeda movement, the more depressing it gets. Take a look at the article from which this quote is taken. It's from the work fo a Harvard prof who was researching schools in Pakistan that teach jihad. Here's a quotation from her article: This is some research regarding the4 al-Qaeda movement by a Harvard Professor who researched schools in Parkistan that teach jihad as a discipline. \"I want to talk to you as I would talk to my own daughter,\" he suddenly said. \"You believe too much in science. Science turns a cheap thing like a piece of metal into something valuable, like an airplane. \"Have you ever thought that you could become precious yourself? The way for a human being to become precious is to obey the principles of the one who created us. The way to become precious is through jihad. Nobody knows when he will die, so you must start the journey toward Islam,\" he told me kindly. http://www.bullatomsci.org/issues/2001/jf01/jf01stern.html Here's another excerpt from that article: What happens to families whose children become martyrs? Most of the mothers I interviewed said they were happy to have donated their sons to jihad because their sons could help them in the next life--the \"real life.\" Syed Qurban Hussain, the father of a martyr, said, \"Whoever gives his life in the way of Allah lives forever and earns a place in heaven for 70 members of his family, to be selected by the martyr.\" Families of martyrs become celebrities after their children die. \"Everyone treats me with more respect now that I have a martyred son,\" Hussain added. \"And when there is a martyr in the village, it encourages more children to join the jihad. It raises the spirit of the entire village.\" http://pakistannation.net/ActionAlerts/Alert_pakwar.htm"}, {"response": 572, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Sep 27, 2001 (18:41)", "body": "From what I have read lately about the Bin Lauden siblings, they want nothing whatever to do with him - no matter his status!"}, {"response": 573, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Sep 28, 2001 (09:32)", "body": "The Al Queda organization has been ripped open and exposed by ABC News. Inside Al Qaeda Bin Laden Defector Ties Hijack Suspect to Training Camp Sept. 26 \ufffd A defector from Osama bin Laden's terrorist organization, al Qaeda, has told ABCNEWS that one of the men accused of hijacking the planes used in the Sept. 11 attacks trained with him at one of the terrorist mastermind's camps in Afghanistan. MORE ON THIS STORY FULL COVERAGE \ufffd America Attacked VIDEO \ufffd Former bin Laden Soldier Speaks Out \ufffd A Nation United: Full Video Coverage COMMUNITY \ufffd ABCNEWS' John Miller on Meeting Bin Laden RELATED STORIES \ufffd John Miller Interviews Bin Laden (May 1998) \ufffd FBI Releases Photos, Seeks Public Tips \ufffd Inside the Taliban \ufffd Pilot Arrested in London Instructed Suspected Hijackers \ufffd The Other Victims of Sept. 11: Pets \ufffd Can New Buildings be Built Any Stronger? The defector said he trained for six months at a camp in Afghanistan to become an intelligence agent for bin Laden. When shown photographs of the 19 hijackers, the defector said he recognized one of them, a man federal investigators have identified as Majed Moqed, a possible Saudi national. \"Yeah \ufffd He was with my class ... I could recognize him from his face,\" the defector said. \"He is from Saudi Arabia, and he is about 25 to 30 years old.\" The Department of Justice has identified Moqed as one of five men suspected of taking control of American Airlines Flight 77 and crashing the plane into the Pentagon. If the defector is right, he may have provided an important link between bin Laden and the hijackers. Federal investigators have said they have concrete information linking one or more of the hijackers to al Qaeda but they have not publicly linked any of the suspects directly to bin Laden or his camps. The defector, who is now living outside Afghanistan, said he was shocked by the attacks, but not surprised that the attackers were willing to give their lives for bin Laden and his cause. \"Yes, I was shocked, but I know them better than that. They are not only 19 people. There are a thousand people who want to sacrifice themselves for bin Laden, not only 19. There are more than a thousand. All of them \ufffd in Europe, in Canada or in Saudi Arabia \ufffd all of them want to do this kind of actions. Terrorist actions.\" He said there were 18 other students in his class at the training camp. He said he received training in how to conduct surveillance and how to gather detailed information on potential targets. He said he heard people talk of hijacking airliners, but that he never heard anything about a plot to crash jets into buildings in New York and Washington. He said bin Laden spoke to his class several times, warning that the United States and Israel wanted to destroy Islam, and that they must be destroyed first. He said his 18 fellow students were sent home to cities in Europe, the Middle East and Canada where they were to wait \ufffd as sleeper agents \ufffd for instructions. He said he had no doubt his fellow students would obey any instructions that came from bin Laden. \"If bin Laden asked [you] to put a bomb on your body and explode it, they won't say no. They will do that,\" he said. After two years in bin Laden's organization, the defector said he became disillusioned with so many plots that targeted innocent civilians. He has defected from al Qaeda and is now cooperating with the U.S. government. He doubted that the U.S. military, or even special forces, would be able to capture bin Laden in Afghanistan. \"It is impossible to find bin Laden. Bin Laden has many, many places in Afghanistan. You cannot find him,\" he said, adding that bin Laden is still guarded by a cadre of heavily armed bodyguards, including three of his sons."}, {"response": 574, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Fri, Sep 28, 2001 (10:10)", "body": "Thanks for all the background, Suzee. Actually, the part that I found hard to believe was the loss of property. Internment I could see how they would achieve. In the US, there are probably greater safeguards on property than human life from a legal standpoint. :-("}, {"response": 575, "author": "fitzwd", "date": "Fri, Sep 28, 2001 (11:37)", "body": "loss of property The internees were sometimes given as few as 2 days to handle their affairs before they were shipped off to the camps. They had to leave everything behind. Those that sold, received not pennies on the dollar, but fractions of pennies on the dollar, as vultures were standing in line ready to take advantage of the situation. While interned, no income was generated, so if people held onto their property, they ultimately could not make mortgage payments or pay property taxes. There were no grace periods, only quick foreclosures. The economic loss was estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars. All of this was documented in a recent government publication. Some of the literature that has been written about this episode preface the actual internment with a history and description of the location of the real estate occupied. A few expressions come to mind, like follow the money, do the math, or as John McCain recently said about the war we've just entered, \"get a map.\" Most people don't realize the art that automakers had in the demise of the US railway system. Likewise, most people don't understand the machinations that went on behind the scene during the internment process. And I believe reparations were only $20,000, not $25,000 as earlier reported."}, {"response": 576, "author": "suzee202000", "date": "Fri, Sep 28, 2001 (22:58)", "body": "...(Donna) And I believe reparations were only $20,000, not $25,000 as earlier reported...... I think it *was* $20,000 -- $20,000 and an apology! There were some reparations paid in about 1948 \ufffd a pittance that amounted to about 5 cents on the dollar. And non-Japanese real estate speculators did grow rich on land bought from Japanese-Americans for next to nothing and sold later at sky-high prices. Japanese-Americans lost property in many ways. Besides having it confiscated and losing equity (hard to make payments from \ufffdcamp\ufffd), homes and businesses were vandalized and destroyed and also condemned whether they deserved it or not. What is that quotation about evil prevailing when good men do nothing? ...(karen) In the US, there are probably greater safeguards on property than human life from a legal standpoint. :-( The truth is that it could happen again right now. The Federal government has enormous power, and the President can do almost anything with the Executive Order(new or existing). The process totally by-passes Congress. He/she can declare martial law, take property, take over power companies, education facilities, airports, manpower, supplies and services as \"needed.\" It can be used for good or bad. Andrew Jackson used it to remove Cherokee Indians from their land; Lincoln suspended certain legal rights, closed newspapers opposed to his policies; Roosevelt issued the previously mentioned 9066; FEMA was created by E.O.; Truman integrated the US armed forces; Eisenhower sent troops to aid integration in Little Rock. In the 1930's an E.O. required all gold to be turned in to the Federal treasury. I'm losing count of the wars we've fought without war being declared. Bush used an E.O. this week to freeze terrorists' assets. He signed one in June covering the Balkans, prohibiting US companies from doing business with certain individuals and \"blocking the property and interest in property\" of persons threatening stabilization efforts there. In the right atmosphere of fear and panic, etc., all these things can combine to allow rotten things to happen. Throw in a \"real\", declared war and the sky's the limit. It's sure a heck of an argument for paying *very* close attention to what your government is doing -- not to mention what we ourselves are doing as citizens. National Archives and Records Administration Federal Register - Executive Orders http://www.nara.gov/fedreg/eo.html"}, {"response": 577, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Sep 29, 2001 (10:46)", "body": "In the right atmosphere of fear and panic, etc., all these things can combine to allow rotten things to happen Well Suzee,that's why I'm glad that I live in a democracy with elections. We can always throw the bums out and the next guy can rescind those EO orders if the public deems it so. Sadly, minority groups seldom have that leaverage (Japanese). Hopefully, we're wiser now . I was happy to see that our representatives are respecting the law-abiding Muslim citizens in our country by going to mosques, including Muslim reps at services.Now it has to filter down to Joe Sixpack. But it is inconceivable that any president would repeat the error of the Japanese internments."}, {"response": 578, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Oct  1, 2001 (10:21)", "body": "A poll released Friday by Ekos Research Associates for the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. and two newspapers found 63 percent of the 1,228 respondents said they felt ``a closer sense of shared values and interests with the Americans'' since the attacks. Fifty-nine percent supported giving up some ``national sovereignty'' to increase North America's security. In sharing the world's longest undefended border and world's largest trade partnership with the United States, Canadians realize the relationship that has bolstered their economy and guaranteed military defense now carries new demands and responsibilities. http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20011001/ts/attacks_follow_the_leader_1.html"}, {"response": 579, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Oct  1, 2001 (10:31)", "body": "David Kline's comments posted in news 54: People have been saying here that the Taliban brought peace out of chaos in Afghanistan and how do we know that the Northern Alliance or anyone else would be better? For the answers, see the rest in the news conference topic 54."}, {"response": 580, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Oct  1, 2001 (11:29)", "body": "Militants storm J&K Assembly, 25 killed SRINAGAR: In a daring suicide attack, an explosive-laden car was blown up by militants on Monday near the entrance of the Jammu and Kashmir state legislature. At least 26 people were feared killed and 50 injured in the attack. Pakistan-based militant group, Jaish-e-Mohammed claimed responsibility for the attack. http://www.timesofindia.com/"}, {"response": 581, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Oct  1, 2001 (15:05)", "body": "ABC News reports. Taliban Taunt Says U.S. Doesn't Have Courage for Afghan War Oct. 1 \ufffd Afghanistan's ruling Taliban militia said Osama bin Laden is under their control \ufffd but the United States \"doesn't have the courage\" to come get him \ufffd Taliban Says U.S. Doesn't Have Courage for Afghan War \ufffd FBI Foils Possible Sears Tower Attack \ufffd Will Sept. 11 Change our Apolitical Youth? \"Americans don't have the courage to come here,\" Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar said in an interview with Taliban-run Kabul radio. He recalled the failures of Soviet and British forces to subdue Afghans, and repeatedly warned the United States to \"think and think again before attacking Afghanistan.\" The fiery words came a day after a Taliban official, Abdul Salam Zaeef, said the regime was willing to negotiate over bin Laden's surrender, if U.S. officials present evidence of his involvement in the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon."}, {"response": 582, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Oct  1, 2001 (21:42)", "body": "I spoke with a Canadian man today about their media. He was not surprised at their comments. Apparently their press is even more \"liberal\" than ours was before this ghastly event unfolded."}, {"response": 583, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Oct  2, 2001 (09:46)", "body": "Cruising in to Austin this morning I tuned in to NPR and heard that NATO just passed a resolution that put's us all in this together and another one time great Afghan fighter has joined our side. Haven't had a chance to check in on http://www.google.com/news yet and look around on CNN, Fox, NYTimes, ABC, etc. but I'll do that later. Sounds like airports are starting to get beefed up security, National Guard, etc. Canada needs to round up the terrorists lurking in the shadows up there, I hope they're mobilizing for this."}, {"response": 584, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Oct  2, 2001 (10:05)", "body": "Blair: Attack Coming British Prime Minister Warns Taliban; Bush Looks At Economy, Security Issues Oct. 2 \ufffd As the U.S. military dispatched another aircraft carrier in the war against terrorism, British Prime Minister Tony Blair is reportedly set to announce that a military attack on Afghanistan's Taliban regime is \"now imminent and will be devastating.\" Blair will say he has seen strong evidence linking terrorist Osama bin Laden to the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States, and will tell a Labor Party conference in Brighton, England today that the Taliban, which has been harboring bin Laden, will be made to pay for its actions, according to the British Broadcasting Corporation. The leaders of NATO have also been convinced, after a meeting with U.S. Ambassador-at-Large Francis X. Taylor. \"The facts are clear and compelling. The information presented points conclusively to an al Qaeda role in the 11th of September attacks,\" NATO Secretary-General Lord Robertson said today. \"We know that the individuals who carried out those attacks were part of the worldwide terrorist network al Qaeda headed by Osama bin Laden and his key lieutenant and protected by the Taliban.\" He said that the information Taylor presented to NATO proved that the attack was directed from abroad, meaning it is covered by NATO's Article 5, which states that an armed attack on one or more NATO nation is to be considered an attack against all of them. \"I want to reiterate yet again today that the United States of America can rely on the full support of its 18 NATO allies in the campaign against international terrorism,\" he said. source ABCnews.com"}, {"response": 585, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Oct  2, 2001 (18:54)", "body": "You and me too, Terry in regards to getting Canada up to speed on this. The only positive note from e politician north of the border that I have heard was from a former Prime Minister. Heaven help us! --------------- A positive Look at 9-11-01... By now everyone has been hearing the death toll rise and reports of the destruction from the terrorist attacks on the US. These were deplorable acts that we will never forget. But now is a time to look at the other side of the numbers coming out of New York, Washington and Pennsylvania. The sad but somewhat uplifting side that the mainstream media has not reported yet -- the SURVIVAL RATES and some positive news about the attacks. The Buildings The World Trade Center The twin towers of the World Trade Center were places of employment for some 50,000 people. With the missing list of just over 5,000 people, that means 90% of the people targeted survived the attack. A 90% on a test is an 'A.' The Pentagon Some 23,000 people were the target of a third plane aimed at the Pentagon. The latest count shows that 123 lost their lives. That is an amazing 99.5% survival rate. In addition, the plane seems to have come in too low, too early to affect a large portion of the building. On top of that, the section that was hit was the first of five sections to undergo renovations that would help protect the Pentagon from terrorist attacks. It had recently completed straightening and blastproofing, saving untold lives. This attack was sad, but a statistical failure. The Planes American Airlines Flight 77 The Boeing 757 that was flown into the outside of the Pentagon could have carried up to 289 people, yet only 64 were aboard. Luckily 78% of the seats were empty. American Airlines Flight 11 The Boeing 767 could have had up to 351 people aboard, but only carried 92. Thankfully 74 % of the seats were unfilled. United Airlines Flight 175 Another Boeing 767 that could have sat 351 people only had 65 people on board. Fortunately it was 81% empty. United Airlines Flight 93 The Boeing 757 was one of the most uplifting stories yet. The smallest flight to be hijacked with only 45 people aboard out of a possible 289 had 84% of its capacity unused. Yet these people stood up to the attackers and thwarted a fourth attempted destruction of a national landmark, saving untold numbers of lives in the process. In Summary Out of potentially 74,280 Americans directly targeted by these inept cowards, 93% survived or avoided the attacks. That's a higher survival rate than heart attacks, breast cancer, kidney transplants and liver transplants--all common, survivable illnesses. The Hijacked planes were mostly empty, the Pentagon was hit at it's strongest point, the overwhelming majority of people in the World Trade Center buildings escaped, and a handful of passengers gave the ultimate sacrifice to save even more lives."}, {"response": 586, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Oct  2, 2001 (19:02)", "body": "Subject: \"Monday Vs Tuesday\" On Monday there were people fighting against praying in schools On Tuesday you would have been hard pressed to find a school where someone was not praying On Monday there were people who were trying to separate each other by race, sex, color and creed On Tuesday they were all holding hands On Monday we thought that we were secure On Tuesday we learned better On Monday we were talking about heroes as being athletes On Tuesday we relearned what hero meant On Monday people went to work at the world trade centers as usual On Tuesday they died On Monday people were fighting the 10 commandments on government property On Tuesday the same people all said 'God help us all' while thinking 'Thou shall not kill' On Monday people argued with their kids about picking up their room On Tuesday the same people could not get home fast enough to hug their kids. On Monday people picked up McDonalds for dinner On Tuesday they stayed home On Monday people were upset that their dry cleaning was not ready on time On Tuesday they were lining up to give blood for the dying On Monday politicians argued about budget surpluses On Tuesday grief stricken they sang 'God Bless America' On Monday we worried about the traffic and getting to work late On Tuesday we worried about a plane crashing into your house or place of business On Monday we were irritated that our rebate checks had not arrived On Tuesday we wanted to give it all back. On Monday some children had solid families On Tuesday they were orphans On Monday the president was going to Florida to read to children On Tuesday he returned to Washington to protect our children On Monday we emailed jokes On Tuesday we did not It is sadly ironic how it takes horrific events to place things into perspective, but it has. May God help us with the lessons learned this week, the things we have taken for granted, the things that have been forgotten or overlooked, the ruts that we have allowed ourselves to follow. It may well be better for us not to get back to normal. On Monday - pray and be thankful! On Tuesday - pray and be thankful! On Wednesday - pray and be thankful! On Thursday - pray and be thankful! On Friday - pray and be thankful! On Saturday - pray and be thankful! On Sunday - pray and be thankful!"}, {"response": 587, "author": "SBRobinson", "date": "Tue, Oct  2, 2001 (19:08)", "body": "Marcia, thanks for posting that 'positive view' of Sept 11 - gave me chills to read those numbers. *big hug* btw- *grin*"}, {"response": 588, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Oct  2, 2001 (19:19)", "body": "*Big Hugs!!! EsBee, I have missed you! I'll be in your area at the end of this month! My son is finally gonna tie the old proverial knot. Imagine riding a 100+ story building as it collapsed and emerging alive? Or worse still, going down all those stairs fro 2 1/2 hous to reach ground level just as the rest of the building collapses and you have just made it out! Talk about There, but for the Grace of God, go I..."}, {"response": 589, "author": "SBRobinson", "date": "Tue, Oct  2, 2001 (19:34)", "body": "Your going to be in Cal???? will email you - we HAVE to get together this time!!! Congrats to David btw!!"}, {"response": 590, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Oct  2, 2001 (21:36)", "body": "Thanks for the congrats. Your two emails are already on their way!"}, {"response": 591, "author": "Anek", "date": "Wed, Oct  3, 2001 (07:36)", "body": "I'm not sure if it was published here. Even more doubts if I shoul put the below message here. Film about Osama bin Laden in production Guardian Unlimited Monday October 1, 2001 It was only a matter of time before it happened, but many will be surprised to hear that a fictional film about Osama bin Laden is already in production. The film rights to British writer and former SAS officer Andy McNab's book Crisis Four have been bought by Miramax and according to the books publishers Corgi, \"The process is already several stages down the line.\" The book tells the story of a \"steel-willed\" British woman who is recruited by bin Laden to work her way into American security, blow up the White House and kill the president. The book's hero Nick Stone, a former SAS man who McNab says is \"partly autobiographical\" has the task of hunting down the woman. McNab is aware that the film will attract criticism when so many studios are avoiding any mention of terrorism or the World Trade Centre but insists he is not jumping on the bandwagon as the book was first published in 1999. \"Many people have bought the book since September 11 because of the coincidences,\" he told the Daily Telegraph. \"It shows that you don't have to have a beard and a turban to be working for bin Laden.\" Mystery surrounds the identity of the real Andy McNab as he writes under a pseudonym and there are no photographs of him although his books which lift the lid on the secret world of the SAS have been hugely successful worldwide. His 1994 novel Bravo Two Zero about his unit's experiences in Iraq during the Gulf war sold over a million copies in the UK alone I was afraid that someday there will be somebody who will try to produce a film about bin Laden to make money out of the tragedy. But I didn't imagine that it's already happening."}, {"response": 592, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Oct  3, 2001 (10:29)", "body": "*More Short Skirts and Dancing, Advises Prominent Fatwa Victim *8-/ Fighting the Forces of Invisibility By Salman Rushdie Tuesday, October 2, 2001; Page A25 NEW YORK -- In January 2000 I wrote in a newspaper column that \"the defining struggle of the new age would be between Terrorism and Security,\" and fretted that to live by the security experts' worst-case scenarios might be to surrender too many of our liberties to the invisible shadow-warriors of the secret world. Democracy requires visibility, I argued, and in the struggle between security and freedom we must always err on the side of freedom. On Tuesday, Sept. 11, however, the worst-case scenario came true. They broke our city. I'm among the newest of New Yorkers, but even people who have never set foot in Manhattan have felt its wounds deeply, because New York is the beating heart of the visible world, tough-talking, spirit- dazzling, Walt Whitman's \"city of orgies, walks and joys,\" his \"proud and passionate city -- mettlesome, mad, extravagant city!\" To this bright capital of the visible, the forces of invisibility have dealt a dreadful blow. No need to say how dreadful; we all saw it, are all changed by it. Now we must ensure that the wound is not mortal, that the world of what is seen triumphs over what is cloaked, what is perceptible only through the effects of its awful deeds. In making free societies safe -- safer -- from terrorism, our civil liberties will inevitably be compromised. But in return for freedom's partial erosion, we have a right to expect that our cities, water, planes and children really will be better protected than they have been. The West's response to the Sept. 11 attacks will be judged in large measure by whether people begin to feel safe once again in their homes, their workplaces, their daily lives. This is the confidence we have lost, and must regain. Next: the question of the counterattack. Yes, we must send our shadow- warriors against theirs, and hope that ours prevail. But this secret war alone cannot bring victory. We will also need a public, political and diplomatic offensive whose aim must be the early resolution of some of the world's thorniest problems: above all the battle between Israel and the Palestinian people for space, dignity, recognition and survival. Better judgment will be required on all sides in future. No more Sudanese aspirin factories to be bombed, please. And now that wise American heads appear to have understood that it would be wrong to bomb the impoverished, oppressed Afghan people in retaliation for their tyrannous masters' misdeeds, they might apply that wisdom, retrospectively, to what was done to the impoverished, oppressed people of Iraq. It's time to stop making enemies and start making friends. To say this is in no way to join in the savaging of America by sections of the left that has been among the most unpleasant consequences of the terrorists' attacks on the United States. \"The problem with Americans is . . . \" -- \"What America needs to understand . . . \" There has been a lot of sanctimonious moral relativism around lately, usually prefaced by such phrases as these. A country which has just suffered the most devastating terrorist attack in history, a country in a state of deep mourning and horrible grief, is being told, heartlessly, that it is to blame for its own citizens' deaths. (\"Did we deserve this, sir?\" a bewildered worker at \"ground zero\" asked a visiting British journalist recently. I find the grave courtesy of that \"sir\" quite astonishing.) Let's be clear about why this bien-pensant anti-American onslaught is such appalling rubbish. Terrorism is the murder of the innocent; this time, it was mass murder. To excuse such an atrocity by blaming U.S. government policies is to deny the basic idea of all morality: that individuals are responsible for their actions. Furthermore, terrorism is not the pursuit of legitimate complaints by illegitimate means. The terrorist wraps himself in the world's grievances to cloak his true motives. Whatever the killers were trying to achieve, it seems improbable that building a better world was part of it. The fundamentalist seeks to bring down a great deal more than buildings. Such people are against, to offer just a brief list, freedom of speech, a multi-party political system, universal adult suffrage, accountable government, Jews, homosexuals, women's rights, pluralism, secularism, short skirts, dancing, beardlessness, evolution theory, sex. These are tyrants, not Muslims. (Islam is tough on suicides, who are doomed to repeat their deaths through all eternity. However, there needs to be a thorough examination, by Muslims everywhere, of why it is that the faith they love breeds so many violent mutant strains. If the West needs to understand its Unabombers and McVeighs, Islam needs to face up to its bin Ladens.) United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has said that we should now define ourselves not only by what we are for but by what we "}, {"response": 593, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Oct  3, 2001 (10:33)", "body": "I heard an account on the radio this morning about a Greyhound Bus terrorist action where the bus driver got his throat slit. CNN reporting at least ten people dead. Minimal info on the nutcase from one of the passengers: ----- Carly Rinearson, a passenger on the bus, said in a phone call to CNN affiliate WTVF that a man kept asking if he could have her seat near the front of the bus. She said he appeared agitated and kept asking what time it was. Rinearson said when she refused to give up her seat, \"He just went up to the bus driver and like slit his throat. And the bus driver turned the wheel and the bus tipped over.\" She did not describe the man further or say what kind of weapon he had."}, {"response": 594, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Oct  3, 2001 (16:20)", "body": "Another hijacking. MUMBAI TO DELHI PLANE HIJACKED EW DELHI: A Boeing 737 belonging to India's state-run Alliance Air, with 52 people on board, was hijacked just after take off from Mumbai early Thursday, Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Shahnawaz Hussain said. The Minister said a hijack distress call had been received by the Air Traffic Control (ATC) in New Delhi where the plane had landed at around 1 a.m. The aircraft, on its way to Delhi, was hijacked after passing Ahmedabad, initial reports said. The plane, with 46 passengers and 6 crew on board, departed from Mumbai at 11:15 pm. The Alliance Air is a subsidiary of the Indian Airlines. The plane is now parked at an isolated bay runway 27 of the airport. Police and fire vehicles have rushed towards the site. (AFP/PTI) Times of India is the source."}, {"response": 595, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Oct  3, 2001 (21:16)", "body": "from Times of India: NEW DELHI: After more than four hours of anxious moments, Union Civil Aviation Minister Shahnawaz Hussain said the supposed hijacking of the Alliance Air was a creation of confusion caused by false alarm received at the ATC Ahmedabad. http://www.timesofindia.com/articleshow.asp?art_id=1331366505 The bus throat slitter was probably a lone nut copycat."}, {"response": 596, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Oct  4, 2001 (18:08)", "body": "More weird people will think of copy cat crimes against humanity. It always seem so to be this way, unhappily. I understand an Arnold Swartzeneger movie was pulled before premier because of similarity to real events. I hope we are all spared such movies!"}, {"response": 597, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Oct  4, 2001 (18:33)", "body": "From a greatly-esteemed gentleman of my acquaintance: Re Bin Lauden: Give him a sex change operation and send her back to Afghanistan"}, {"response": 598, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Oct  4, 2001 (22:59)", "body": "A popular thing amongst fire departments to collect money was to have \u201cFill the Boot\u201d campaigns. Firemen in uniform and wearing their helmuts, with the engine nearby would stand at busy interesections. They would hold one of their large turnout boots to collect donations. It caught on with contagious enthusiasm around here. Our 7 station dept designated one day to do this. Our crew felt a little on the awkward side to solicit money from the public. It wasn\u2019t a natural thing for us to do. There were three of us. I made three signs from a cardboard box that I cut up. Before sunup, we got to a busy intersection at Fuerte and Avocado in El Cajon/ La Mesa, Calif. I took the center island for the turn lane. I wasn\u2019t there for 30 seconds before I got my first dollar bill donation. From then on we got busier and busier as the rush hour approached it\u2019s peak. To beat the stop lights, I literally had to run almost constantly. People had their arms outstretched waiting for me. The only way I can reach them wa to be on a constant juking and jiving trot, as I dodged thru the lanes of cars. Eventually the cars between each light stacked up to about 30 car lengths. I was getting very tired, but I couldn\u2019t stop. People were eager to give their donations. It got so hectic that people were wadding up paper money and throwing it in our direction as they drove by. I was literally dodging traffic. There\u2019s a popular video game called \u201cFrogger\u201d. The object is to get a frog across a multi-lane road to the other side without getting ran over. The frog moved back and forth to avoid the cars. This was exactly what I was doing. There were several moments when I couldn\u2019t help relating myself to that frog. A smile would come to my face when I did. Some folks who weren\u2019t able to give money at the stop light, would pull over and get out of their cars and meet us along the side of the road. Some people who stopped and couldn\u2019t get our attention, simply left money on the seats of the engine. That morning we found over 50 on the seats. A lot of people wanted to thank me and give condolences for the NY fire fighters. Some folks had tears. They were so sympathetic for the NY fire fighters, that it was obvious that they wanted to express this somehow. Being firefighters ourselves, in their hearts we were the conduit to express this emotion to them. It was genuinely heart rendering. We have a large arab community within our district, and it was soothing to see these people making sincere donations along with the rest of the community. After that one day, our dept collected over $65,000 and the tally is still being counted. It will all go to the families of the fallen NY firefighers. For us who dodged the traffic to collect money for them, it was a very satisfying and emotional experience to go thru. I am greatful to have not retired before I could experience such an event. I only regret the loss that made it possible. George Zay La Mesa, Calif. San Miguel Fire Dept."}, {"response": 599, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Oct  5, 2001 (10:34)", "body": "http://abcnews.com Oct. 5 \ufffd At least 1,000 U.S. Army soldiers are headed to the former Soviet republic of Uzbekistan today, as Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld visited leaders there to shore up support for an attack on neighboring Afghanistan. Troops from the U.S. 10th Mountain Division are expected to arrive today in Uzbekistan, where American military officials would like to stage personnel, bombers and jets for any attack on suspected terrorist leader Osama bin Laden and Afghanistan's ruling Taliban militia. Uzbek President Islam Karimov this morning gave permission for U.S. troops to use one airbase for search-and-rescue and humanitarian aid missions. He said he was not ready at this time to let offensive troops use the facility, however. there's more at http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/WTC_MAIN.html"}, {"response": 600, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Oct  5, 2001 (10:35)", "body": "http://cnn.com Allies press for support British Prime Minister Tony Blair and U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld are meeting with leaders overseas today, working to shore up support for the campaign against terrorism. Meanwhile, Pentagon officials tell CNN about 1,000 troops from the 10th Mountain Division are headed to Uzbekistan to provide security at an airfield, which will be used for humanitarian purposes. more at http://www.cnn.com/"}, {"response": 601, "author": "SBRobinson", "date": "Fri, Oct  5, 2001 (14:44)", "body": "(Marcia)From a greatly-esteemed gentleman of my acquaintance: Re Bin Lauden: Give him a sex change operation and send her back to Afghanistan ROTFLOL - that made me laugh so hard co-workers came around to see what was so funny. :-) All agree is an excellent idea!"}, {"response": 602, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Oct  5, 2001 (16:21)", "body": "(I liked it, too! Payback is a B**** and then you die!) Terry, I'd be much happier and feel a whole lot more secure if our media kept their noses out of the military maneuvers and let it remain as secret as possible..... or did you wish to inform out enemies of where we are at all times so more atrocities could be committed on our best and brightest? I also wish they would stop telling us how to commit bio-medical and chemical mayhem. I KNOW the evil people can find out for themselves or invent new ways to kill us. It is the giving the ideas to the lone and warped like the one who slit throats on the Greyhound bus that bothers me. I refuse to participate in this dissemination of comfort and information to those who would do us harm. *end of rant*"}, {"response": 603, "author": "ekelley", "date": "Fri, Oct  5, 2001 (19:22)", "body": "I completely agree, Marcia! Whenever it was that they were in Boston about to try to get some suspects, the media caught on, and practically gave them a head start to get out of there before the FBI could get to them... We don't need to know everything!!! Tell us when it is over!"}, {"response": 604, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Oct  5, 2001 (21:43)", "body": "I read \"The first casualty of war is truth, somebody said, and we know that disinformation is a key part of this stragedy. Therefore the quest for reliable info is extra-essential . . . \""}, {"response": 605, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Oct  5, 2001 (22:22)", "body": "Judiciously, Dear Terry. Moderation and wisdom, not tell-all and know-all. Sometimes it is best to know after it is all over! The following was sent to me from a really surprising source. I like it! Subject: LETTER FROM GOD From: GOD To: My Children on Earth RE: Idiotic Religious Rivalries My Dear Children (and believe me, that's all of you), I consider myself a pretty patient guy. I mean, look at the Grand Canyon. It took millions of years to get it right. And about evolution? Boy, nothing is slower than designing that whole Darwinian thing to take place, cell by cell, and gene by gene. I've been patient through your fashions, civilizations, wars and schemes, and the countless ways you take Me for granted until you get yourselves into big trouble again and again. I want to let you know about some of the things that are starting to tick me off. First of all, your religious rivalries are driving Me up a wall. Enough already! Let's get one thing straight. These are YOUR religions, not Mine. I'm the whole enchilada; I'm beyond them all. Every one of your religions claims there is only one of Me (which by the way, is absolutely true). But in the very next breath, each religion claims it's My favorite one. And each claims its bible was written personally by Me, and that all the other bible's are man-made. Oh, Me. How do I even begin to put a stop to such complicated nonsense? Okay, listen up now. I'm your Father AND Mother, and I don't play favorites among My children. Also, I hate to break it to you, but I don't write. My longhand is awful, and I've always been more of a \"doer\" anyway. So ALL of your books, including those bible's, were written by men and women. They were inspired, remarkable people, but they also made mistakes here and there. I made sure of that, so that you would never trust a written word more than your own living heart. You see, one human being to me, even a bum on the street, is worth more than all the Holy Books in the world. That's just the kind of guy I am. My Spirit is not a historical thing, it's alive right here, right now, as fresh as your next breath. Holy books and religious rites are sacred and powerful, but not more so than the least of you. They were only meant to steer you in the right direction, not to keep you arguing with each other, and certainly not to keep you from trusting your own personal connection with Me. Which brings Me to My next point about your nonsense. You act like I need you and your religions to stick up for Me or \"win souls\" for My sake. Please, don't do Me any favors. I can stand quite well on my own, thank you. I don't need you to defend Me, and I don't need constant credit. I just want you to be good to each other. And another thing: I don't get all worked up over money or politics, so stop dragging My name into your dramas. For example, I swear to Me that I never threatened Oral Roberts. I never rode in any of Rajneesh's Rolls Royces. I never told Pat Robertson to run for president, and I've never EVER had a conversation with Jim Baker, Jerry Falwell, or Jimmy Swaggart! Of course, come Judgment Day, I certainly intend to... The thing is, I want you to stop thinking of religion as some sort of loyalty pledge to Me. The true purpose of your religions is so that YOU can become more aware of ME, not the other way around. Believe Me, I know you already. I know what's in each of your hearts, and I love you with no strings attached. Lighten up and enjoy Me. That's what religion is best for. What you seem to forget is how mysterious I am. You look at the petty differences in your Scriptures and say, \"Well, if THIS is the truth, then THAT can't be!\" But instead of trying to figure out My Paradoxes and Unfathomable Nature, which by the way, you NEVER will, why not open your hearts to the simple common threads in all religions. You know what I'm talking about: Love and respect everyone. Be kind, even when life is scary or confusing, take courage and be of good cheer, for I am always with you. Learn how to be quiet, so you can hear My still, small voice (I don't like to shout). Leave the world a better place by living your life with dignity and gracefulness, for you are My Own Child. Hold back nothing from life, for the parts of you that can die surely will, and the parts that can't, won't. So don't worry, be happy (I stole that last line from Bobby McFerrin, but who do you think gave it to him in the first place?) Simple stuff. Why do you keep making it so complicated? It's like you're always looking for an excuse to be upset. And I'm very tired of being your main excuse. Do you think I care whether you call me Yahweh, Jehovah, Allah, Wakantonka, Brahma, Father, Mother or even the Void of Nirvana? Do you think I care which of My special children you feel closest to - Jesus, Mary, Buddha, Krishna, Mohammed or any of the others? You can call Me and My Special Ones any name you choose, if only you would go about My business of loving one another as I love you. How c"}, {"response": 606, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Oct  5, 2001 (22:27)", "body": "I thought we paid our politicians to do a good job for us. Truth is not sacrificed - safety of the polulace is. We have a good governmental system. Mob rule nearly destroyed France. I don't need to know where the mountain troops are in Usbekistan! I trust our elected officials. Heaven help them if they do not live up to our newly-rigorous demands!"}, {"response": 607, "author": "alyeska", "date": "Fri, Oct  5, 2001 (23:58)", "body": "They say now that there is a 100% chance that they will strike again but can't say where."}, {"response": 608, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Oct  6, 2001 (01:23)", "body": "Indeed, they successfully revel in our tragedy. We are all \"infidels\" in their cultish belief structure, which is so against true Islam. They are not sane people. They kill for their rewards. I wonder how long before they kill off all of their devotees. Not soon enough, I fear. Be safe, Lucie! ...and everyone!"}, {"response": 609, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sat, Oct  6, 2001 (12:35)", "body": "The first death of Anthrax in Forida is now believe to have been intentional. :-("}, {"response": 610, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Oct  6, 2001 (18:20)", "body": "Saturday October 6 4:41 PM ET Anthrax Case Puzzles Investigators By AMANDA RIDDLE, Associated Press Writer LANTANA, Fla. (AP) - Relatives of a Florida man who contracted a fatal case of anthrax are being given antibiotics as a precaution and his co-workers have been tested and cleared, health authorities said Saturday. The search to find out how 63-year-old Bob Stevens contracated the rare and extremely lethal inhaled form of the disease expanded one day after his death. More than 50 health and law enforcement officials have fanned out across Palm Beach County to track his movements over the past two months and look for other possible cases. Officials are also going over medical records in four North Carolina counties that he might have visited recently. ``We have a long chronology of common activities we need to pursue,'' Florida epidemiologist Dr. Steven Wiersma said. ``We don't have any really hot leads at this time.'' Investigators are awaiting test results from soil and other specimens. The results could take days. No other cases of anthrax have been reported in the area. Wiersma said several of Stevens' co-workers at the supermarket tabloid The Sun have been tested, but results were negative. Antibiotics are being given to close family members. Officials have said there is no evidence that Stevens was the victim of terrorism. Wiersma said tests of Stevens' blood helped confirm that belief because the anthrax in the sample responded to penicillin. Anthrax developed by some countries as a biological weapon could be resistant to the antibiotic, he said. More... http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20011006/us/anthrax_case_27.html Moon, do you have a source for your scary news? I'd love to get a few sources!"}, {"response": 611, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Oct  6, 2001 (18:21)", "body": "This man also visited North Carolina where he might have contracted it. Many leads to follow before the media needs to fighten us any more than we are already!"}, {"response": 612, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sat, Oct  6, 2001 (18:51)", "body": "From The Miami Herald Florida man dies from anthrax Search is on for source and other possible cases BY LARRY LEBOWITZ, LISA ARTHUR AND WILLIAM YARDLEY A Palm Beach County man died Friday from inhaled anthrax, but health officials continued to assure an anxious state that he was stricken with an isolated case of the deadly disease -- increasingly feared as a bioterrorism weapon -- though how he contracted it remains a mystery. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Doctors want direction in preventing infection So far, the search in S. Florida for other anthrax cases is negative Terrorism alert led to diagnosis of rare, fatal disease Previous coverage Friends, relatives wonder how S. Florida man contracted anthrax What is anthrax? Anthrax Q&A Graphic: Unseen perils -- Chemical and biological weapons Is nation prepared? Is U.S. prepared to battle germ weapons? Experts fear U.S. plan against bioterrorism is inadequate Chemical, biological war front particularly difficult to defend Florida response State scrambles to respond to possible biowarfare attack Hijacker looked into crop-duster in Florida Gas masks fly off store shelves Water systems well prepared for disasters, managers say More coverage Latest developments regarding terrorist attacks -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- South Florida man diagnosed with anthrax -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ``I don't want to give anyone the slightest inkling that we know what caused this,'' said Steven Wiersma, the state's chief epidemiologist. ``We're looking at any possible physical way this could have happened.'' A day after Robert Stevens' condition became public, doctors in South Florida and at several hospitals across the country received orders or decided on their own to reexamine certain cases, this time looking for traces of inhalational anthrax, a strain of the disease that is nearly always fatal. The last case of inhaled anthrax reported in the United States was in 1976. Even as health officials urged calm in Florida, they aggressively pursued doctors' reports of possible new cases -- including a 75-year-old Miami-Dade resident -- all of which had proved false on Friday, said Wiersma. ``Three cases have gotten our attention and we feel very comfortable that they are not anthrax. . . . We had several leads that were highly suspicious that we've ruled out,'' he said, adding that ``each passing hour that we don't turn up a new case . . . is very good news.'' Wiersma said an alliance of investigators from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the FBI, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the state Health Department and the Palm Beach County Health Department had ``cast a very wide net.'' By lunchtime Friday, investigators were inspecting Stevens' Lantana home behind crime-scene tape. In the back of the investigators' Ford Explorer: plastic coolers filled with supplies, boxes of latex gloves and a small manual, Emergency Response to Terrorism Job Aid. The six investigators working at the Stevens house were one of three teams officials said had been deployed to investigate the case. One team planned to trace Stevens' travels, habits and lifestyle over the last 60 days -- considered the maximum incubation time for anthrax. The other investigative teams began poring through South Florida hospital records and medical examiner records across the state, looking for suspicious symptoms or unexplained deaths since the terrorist attacks Sept. 11. Several of the suspected terrorists trained as pilots in South Florida and lived within 10 miles of the Stevens home. Officials acknowledged Friday they were in uncharted territory, responding to the anthrax case with unprecedented investigative scope as concern over bioterrorism has surged following the attacks. BAFFLING CASE Palm Beach County Health Department spokesman Tim O'Connor, stationed for most of the day at the county's emergency operations center, said even experienced investigators are feeling challenged by the Stevens case. ``They've never had one like this,'' he said. Inhalational anthrax in people -- caused by breathing anthrax spores in the air -- is extremely rare nationwide. Only 18 inhalational cases were documented in the United States in the 20th Century. A less serious form of anthrax, caused by skin contact with anthrax spores and usually resulting in skin lesions that can be treated with penicillin, was last reported in the state in 1974. The same form was reported in Texas earlier this year. The skin disease is usually contracted by people who work with infected farm animals. Anthrax has not appeared in Florida livestock for half a century. In addition to state and local investigators, the CDC has dispatched 12 staffers to work on the investigation in Florida. BIOHAZARD BAGS After 2 1/2 hours at the Stevens house, investigators hauled away seve"}, {"response": 613, "author": "suzee202000", "date": "Sat, Oct  6, 2001 (21:22)", "body": "(Marcia) Letter from God: \"I hate to break it to you, but I don't write. My longhand is awful, and I've always been more of a 'doer' anyway...\" I never doubted it for a minute! LOL \"I swear to Me that I never threatened Oral Roberts. I never rode in any of Rajneesh's Rolls Royces. I never told Pat Robertson to run for president, and I've never EVER had a conversation with Jim Baker, Jerry Falwell, or Jimmy Swaggart!\" I would love to send this to Falwell and the others. Thanks for this Marcia!"}, {"response": 614, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Oct  6, 2001 (22:03)", "body": "Thanks Moon for the article. I could not find one and your is great. Suzee, I loved that Letter from God. I can think of a lot of people who need to read it! Happy news for me since I use this airport in about 2 weeks to attend my son's wedding: Honolulu Airport is one of the best-protected airports in the country during this time of heightened national security, said the airport's federal security manager. Allen Agor, who reports to the Federal Aviation Administration's assistant administrator for security, said new high-tech explosive detection machines, six canine detection teams, increased security measures and a \"battalion strength\" of military, federal, state and civilian law enforcement officers provide a highly visible armed deterrent to criminal acts against civilian aviation. \"It's safer to fly now,\" Agor told legislators reviewing Hawaii's terrorism readiness yesterday. \"(Security) is a notch above what it was on Sept. 11.\" Agor added that plans for federal control of security at state airports will likely take place in the next six months. State and federal officials say Hawaii continues to prepare for possible acts of terrorism, although it can never know what, if anything, may be a target. Edward Correa Jr., adjutant general of the state Department of Defense, said assessment teams reviewed critical state and county buildings yesterday, as well as other infrastructure, to see how they could be protected. Key to all this readiness, Correa said, has been the close communication and coordination developed among all agencies over the past 18 months. Along with state airports, security at Hawaii's waterways has improved, state harbors manager Barry Kim said. Honolulu Harbor has been closed to recreational vessels while the Coast Guard patrols waters near the airport reef runway. Also closed is the Aloha Tower observation deck. And all state harbors have been closed indefinitely to pole fishing, Kim said. State Public Safety Director Ted Sakai said he is reassessing manpower needs at the state courts, prisons, state buildings including the state Capitol, and state airports. The department's budgets are being reviewed with an emphasis on health, safety and security. http://starbulletin.com/2001/10/06/news/"}, {"response": 615, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Oct  6, 2001 (23:03)", "body": "Lucie sent this and I consider it important enough for all to read! Even if I may have posted this before, read it again. I need to do so! A message from the pilot! Worth reading if you are going to be flying anytime soon. The following is from a letter by a professional friend and her return flight to D.C. this week. \"I just wanted to drop you all a note and let you know that I arrived safe and sound into Dulles Airport tonight [9/15] at about 6:00. It was an interesting flight. The airport in Denver was almost spooky, it was so empty and quiet. No one was in line for the security check point when I got there so that went fairly quickly, just x-ray of my bags and then a chemical test to be sure nothing explosive was on them. Then I waited 2 1/2 hours to board the plane. What happened after we boarded was interesting and thought I would share it with you. The pilot/captain came on the loudspeaker after the doors were closed. His speech went like this: \"First I want to thank you for being brave enough to fly today. The doors are now closed and we have no help from the outside for any problems that might occur inside this plane. As you could tell when you checked in, the government has made some changes to increase security in the airports. \"They have not, however, made any rules about what happens after those doors close. Until they do that, we have made our own rules and I want to share them with you. Once those doors close, we only have each other. \"The security has taken care of a threat like guns with all of the increased scanning, etc. Then we have the supposed bomb. If you have a bomb, there is no need to tell me about it, or anyone else on this plane; you are already in control. So, for this flight, there are no bombs that exist on this plane. \"Now, the threats that are left are things like plastics, wood, knives, and other weapons that can be made or things like that which can be used as weapons. \"Here is our plan and our rules. If someone or several people stand up and say they are hijacking this plane, I want you all to stand up together. Then take whatever you have available to you and throw it at them. Throw it at their faces and heads so they will have to raise their hands to protect themselves. \"The very best protection you have against knives are the pillows and blankets. Whoever is close to these people should then try to get a blanket over their head--then they won't be able to see. Once that is done, get them down and keep them there. Do not let them up. I will then land the plane at the closest place and we WILL take care of them. \"After all, there are usually only a few of them and we are 200+ strong! We will not allow them to take over this plane. \"I find it interesting that the US Constitution begins with the words 'We, the people'--that's who we are, THE people and we will not be defeated.\" With that, the passengers on the plane all began to applaud, people had tears in their eyes, and we began the trip toward the runway. The flight attendant then began the safety speech. One of the things she said is that we are all so busy and live our lives at such a fast pace. She asked that everyone turn to their neighbors on either side and introduce themselves, tell each other something about your families and children, show pictures, whatever. She said \"For today, we consider you family. We will treat you as such and ask that you do the same with us.\" Throughout the flight we learned that for the crew, this was their first flight since Tuesday's tragedies. It was a day that everyone leaned on each other and together everyone was stronger than any one person alone. It was quite an experience. You can imagine the feeling when that plane touched down at Dulles and we heard \"welcome to Washington Dulles Airport, where the local time is 5:40.\" Again, the cabin was filled with applause. Last night I saw a program with college students where one of them said that at their campus there are no more hyphenated titles, i.e., African-American, etc., everyone is just an American. No one will ever be able to take that pride away from us."}, {"response": 616, "author": "suzee202000", "date": "Sun, Oct  7, 2001 (03:35)", "body": "Liz K) Whenever it was that they were in Boston about to try to get some suspects, the media caught on, and practically gave them a head start to get out of there before the FBI could get to them... The postscript to this incident: The day after the bombing, three Saudis in their early twenties traveled to Boston to visit their father, who was being treated at a hospital there. Their bill at the Westin Hotel was being paid by the fiancee of one of them -- a man whose name is similar to that of Mohamed Atta, one of the hijackers. After a hotel clerk tipped the FBI, agents swarmed the hotel. An agent saw one of the women outside her room and pointed a gun at her, according to the family's attorney, Jonathan Shapiro. She tried to run away but he grabbed her and hit her across the mouth, he said. The three were released after five hours, and the Saudi Embassy called it a \"humiliation.\" http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37533-2001Sep27.html and: .......on Wednesday, a young Saudi woman in traditional garb, her face veiled, stepped out of her room at the Westin Copley Place Hotel, which had become a second home for her family during numerous trips to Boston to accompany their ailing father for medical treatment here. The plan was to meet her sister-in-law and brother-in-law at the elevator bank. She would barely get past her hotel room door. As she stooped to pick up a newspaper, a man in plain-clothes pointed a handgun at her as he grabbed her, dragged her down the hallway, and handcuffed her, barking demands that she silence her screams, according to her lawyer, Jonathan Shapiro. Thus began a five-hour ordeal for the woman and her family, in which, Shapiro alleges, she suffered a 6-inch scratch across her face, her sister-in-law was kicked in the head, and the whole family was detained for hours by authorities -including the FBI, Boston police, and Immigration and Naturalization Service officials - without the right to an attorney. Boston police referred all questions about the incident to the FBI, which declined comment. The family members, who asked that their names be withheld for fear of their safety, are well-connected Saudis with business interests in the region. Shapiro, a local criminal defense attorney, said he suspects they were targeted by law enforcement officials last week because the woman's fiance shares a name nearly identical to Mohamed Atta, one of the suspected hijackers in Tuesday's attack. The fiance had visited the family at the hotel but had left before the Wednesday incident. The interrogation, which followed a stake-out of the hotel and a raid by a Boston police SWAT team, FBI, and State Police detectives, took place in a climate of fear and anger the day after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Law enforcement sources later confirmed that there was no connection between the family and the hijackings, saying that it was a case of mistaken identity. The family yesterday permitted their attorney to speak on their behalf in the hope, Shapiro said, of highlighting the danger of indiscriminate targeting of Arabs. http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/259/nation/Saudi_family_accuses_agents_of_abuse_in_case_of_mistaken_identity+.shtml"}, {"response": 617, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Oct  7, 2001 (07:35)", "body": "\"Fatima\", in the Afghani resistance group called RAWA, a women's-rights organization in which any member pretty much faces an automatic death sentence, was asked about the Northern Alliance by Salon: \"Do you support the Northern Alliance?\" \"We condemn the cooperation of the United States with the Northern Alliance. This is another nightmare for our people -- the Northern Alliance are the second Taliban. \"The Northern Alliance are hypocrites: They say they are for democracy and human rights, but we can't forget the black experience we had with them. Seventy-year-old grandmothers were raped during their rule, thousands of girls were raped, thousands were killed and tortured. They are the first government that started this tragedy in Afghanistan.\" http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2001/10/02/fatima/print.html I'm adding Salon to my list of news sources at http://www.spring.net/news They've been fearless in their coverage."}, {"response": 618, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Oct  7, 2001 (18:48)", "body": "I see where attackes on Afghanistan have begun. It's been a non - news day for me so far. But I'll do a scan of the usual sources soon and turn on the tv, see what's been doing on."}, {"response": 619, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Oct  7, 2001 (23:19)", "body": "Non-news??? I've been glued since 7AM Hawaiian time when we were looking for pre-game football. Afghanistan women tear my heart. NO one should be so treated. Thanks for the link! Sometimes you have to make deals with the Devil to catch a greater EVIL...!"}, {"response": 620, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Oct  8, 2001 (12:48)", "body": "I will remain calm. From The Miami Herald: Published Monday, October 8, 2001 Second case of anthrax found at South Florida tabloid BY MANNY GARCIA and LARRY LEBOWITZ The Boca Raton offices of American Media Inc. were shuttered Monday after a second employee showed signs of the rare anthrax bacteria that killed a 63-year-old photo editor for the Sun supermarket tabloid last week. The second employee, a 73-year-old man initially hospitalized for pneumonia, has not been determined to have anthrax, although a nasal swab showed signs he had been exposed to it, a state health official said. FBI spokeswoman Judy Orihuela said the man, whose name has not been released, is in stable condition at an undisclosed South Florida hospital and is expected to survive. More than 300 employees of the National Enquirer, the Star, the Globe, the Sun and the Weekly World News who work for AMI are being asked to go to the health department offices in Delray Beach for antibiotics and further testing. On Monday, Florida Health Secretary John Agwunobi urged any employees or visitors ``who have spent more than an hour'' in the AMI building, 5401 NW Broken Sound Blvd., since Aug. 1, to go to the Delray Beach Health center. The health department has also set up a hotline, 1-800-342-3557, for anyone employed in the building or who has visited the building since Aug. 1. Agwunobi said a sample in the building tested positive for anthrax ``within the work area frequented by the first case.'' He said he believed the sample was from the computer keyboard of Bob Stevens, a Sun photo editor who died Friday of inhaled anthrax. FBI and health department officials said the second case was confirmed late Sunday night after nose swabs on a co-worker of Stevens showed signs of the bacteria that causes pulmonary anthrax. Tim O'Connor, spokesman for the Palm Beach County Health Department, said the man did not have a ``full blown'' case of anthrax, but the nasal swabs showed signs of the same bacterial spore that led to the fatal case of inhalation anthrax that killed Stevens and led to widespread fears -- so far unconfirmed -- of a bioterrorist attack. An environmental test inside the American Media building in Boca Raton also confirmed the presence of the bacteria, O'Connor said. Agwunobi said the person was found to have anthrax ``within his nasal cavities.'' He has not shown any symptoms of clinical anthrax, Lt. Gov. Frank Brogan said. State health officials received a ``preliminary positive indication'' of anthrax Sunday afternoon and confirmation ``was obtained late in the evening,'' Agwunobi said. ``The building has been secured for the purpose of further environmental public health testing and we have begun to contact employees,'' he said. ``Our intent is to have the employees come to a centralized site in the Palm Beach County area so we can test them, so we can provide them with education, and so that we can provide them with prophylactic antibiotics.'' Brogan said the FBI is ``in control'' of the investigation, and that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is working with the bureau. American Media is attempting to re-create visitor logs dating back to Aug. 1 as well as a complete list of former employees who may have been inside the building, in an office park near Glades Road, west of Interstate 95, as recently as Aug. 1. The company started notifying employees Sunday evening that they were not supposed to show up for work in Boca Raton. Many were initialy instructed to work at the offices of a sister publication, the Spanish language supermarket tabloid Mira! in downtown Miami. A growing team of investigators from the federal Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, working with the FBI and the state and local health departments, are continuing to re-create Stevens' personal and work habits and travels in hopes of identifying the source of the infection. At least five units from the Boca Raton police department started to block off parking lots, and shutter buildings of America Media Inc. Delivery people and FedEx trucks that usually do business in the building were turned back throughout the morning. Police and security personnel from American Media refused to say whether the health department had returned since finding out swabs taken from offices of the tabloid were positive for anthrax. Directly across the street, in a Broken Sound Boulevard office park, Peter Amodeo paced back and forth smoking a cigarette. He works for Paz Building Management, which runs an office across from American Media. ``Some people in our building are really freaking out. This is very scary. It's not like they raise chickens or anything in that building across the street,'' said Amodeo. ``And that building makes a lot of enemies because of the things they put in the paper. They have bomb scares all the time. They're always standing in our parking lot because the building is being searched. I think we're all just a little bit anxious today.'' Amodeo said "}, {"response": 621, "author": "lafn", "date": "Mon, Oct  8, 2001 (14:36)", "body": "There goes Florida's tourism :-(("}, {"response": 622, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Oct  8, 2001 (14:59)", "body": "Moon, please wash your hands a lot! No rubbing your nose or eyes when out in public (yes, I know you know better!). Appatently this got transmitted to the second man with a contiminated computer keyboard. At least that is what we are hearing way out here 6 hours behind Florida! Hugs, Moon! We need you to be well and safe! And everyone else, too!"}, {"response": 623, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Oct  8, 2001 (15:02)", "body": "Speaking of tourism, Hawaii's has become nil since it requires long distance flying to get here and not commercial craft are being allowed in port other than the usual ones - and they get a complete inspection before being allowed in. There are advantages and disadvantages living out here so remotely. My island has NO strategic importance and little population. However, we have become self-sufficient by necessity!"}, {"response": 624, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Oct  8, 2001 (16:18)", "body": "Hugs, Moon! We need you to be well and safe! And everyone else, too! Thanks, Marcia! It appears some people in the Miami area have been sent envelopes containing a white powder. One man threw it out and it caused sparks and he suffered a burning sensation in his hand. Had to call paramedics and his family were all checked into the hospital."}, {"response": 625, "author": "winter", "date": "Mon, Oct  8, 2001 (17:52)", "body": "Speaking (further) of tourism... My departure date to go to Indonesia (Bali) has been set back indefinitely. I was set to leave this month, to begin my dissertation research. A number of other scholars have been flown back to the US, as there have been numerous threats of \"sweeping\" tourist hotels for American and UK citizens. Ah well..."}, {"response": 626, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Oct  8, 2001 (18:01)", "body": "Indonesia is the largest Islamic country in the world. Be safe, Winter, Dear. Hilo is nice this time of year...! =)"}, {"response": 627, "author": "winter", "date": "Mon, Oct  8, 2001 (18:12)", "body": "Marcia Indonesia is the largest Islamic country in the world Yes, although my research is in Bali, which is over 95% Hindu. BUT it also happens to be host to the densest population of Western tourists in the whole nation, so there's the possibility of the island still being targets of anti-US \"sweeps.\" Thanks, MArcia. I will be safe, by waiting this out a few more weeks."}, {"response": 628, "author": "ekelley", "date": "Mon, Oct  8, 2001 (20:40)", "body": "Suzee, I didn't know the rest of the story. Thanks for sharing that...how awful for them! I think the point I was trying to make is still there, however- a lot of people will be questioned and interogated, both innocent and guilty. I'm not saying that violent treatment by authorities is ok by any means. But I don't think that the media should be following every single little detail of the hunt. \"yellow journalism\" of sorts is not what we need right now, and I'm frankly scared that the media/the entertainment industry is going to give some would-be terrorist ideas as to what to do next, or let them know and give them warning that we're coming to get them in the next few minutes. Sorry, Terry...I know that belongs in another topic."}, {"response": 629, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Oct 10, 2001 (14:29)", "body": "Statement by USGS Director Chip Groat on World Disaster Reduction Day Today, October 10, is World Disaster Reduction Day--a term that in the past has applied largely to natural disasters. But this year, in the wake of the September 11 attacks on the United States, it has taken on a new meaning. Unnatural disasters, those caused by hatred and intolerance, may seem an even more daunting challenge to our society than the earthquakes and floods we have faced before. However, the lessons we have learned from a century of battling natural hazards can help us in this new fight. Over the past 100 years, we've gotten much better at saving lives. In 1900, a hurricane hit Galveston, Texas, without warning, taking at least 6,000 lives and perhaps twice that many. In 1902, an incandescent cloud of volcanic gas and ash swept down the flanks of Mont Pelee, in Martinique, wiping out a city of 30,000 people. In 1906, a great earthquake struck San Francisco, taking hundreds to perhaps thousands of lives. From those disasters, we learned, and those lessons have saved lives throughout the 20th century. Terrorism has become another of the hazards we face, and we can use many of our approaches to dealing with natural hazards as we begin to deal with this unnatural hazard--approaches such as monitoring the warning signals, understanding the problem, sharing information, educating the public to take steps that protect themselves and their loved ones. It will take a long-term commitment from all sectors of our society, but we have made progress against the threat of natural disasters with these tools and we can use them to reduce the threat of terrorism as well. Many of the steps we have taken to mitigate one natural disaster have provided unexpected benefits for others--building codes that protect from ground shaking also strengthen buildings against strong winds and landslides. In the same way, actions to reduce risks and losses from natural disasters-- such as improved communication structures, better notification systems, strengthened infrastructures--can help protect us against attack, and actions to reduce vulnerability to terrorism can help in the fight against natural disasters. USGS capabilities have already been critically important as we respond to the disaster and prepare our Nation for the future. The USGS geospatial data set is the Nation's only national coverage of our infrastructure--our dams, bridges, highways, airports, and urban areas. These maps and images have contributed significantly to the efforts to understand the scope and focus resources as needed for recovery. Looking to the future, ongoing work on real-time water quality may prove invaluable in monitoring public water supplies to ensure our water is safe to drink. The geophysical techniques used to monitor earthquakes may be useful in response and recovery. These are only a few of the possibilities that can be envisioned. We need to bring the full impact of science and technology to bear on the hazards we face, whether terror in the skies or tremors in the Earth. The USGS stands ready to play our part in the struggle to ensure a safe and secure future for our children and our world. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kathleen K. Gohn U.S. Geological Survey Public Affairs Specialist Office of Communications 703-648-4242 phone 119 National Center 703-648-4466 fax Reston, VA 20192 kgohn@usgs.gov"}, {"response": 630, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Oct 10, 2001 (15:25)", "body": "I happen to agree with Rush on this totally! Liberals among us, I read your posts. Afford me the same respect! From Rush's Page: On Monday, I received a note from the editrix of The Limbaugh Letter, Diana Schneider. I had not been watching PMSNBC this morning. I'd been flipping around to some other channels. Diana wrote the following: \"Rush, it seems that the peaceniks may have their atrocity that you advised them to wait for. All morning on PMSNBC there was nothing but moaning and wailing about four United Nations workers who reportedly were killed yesterday. These four were the only hope that poor, starving Afghan people had, we're being told. It's been wall-to-wall television grief. A U.N. spokesbabe came out and gave a snide lecture to the allied forces that combatants should be more careful to distinguish between soldiers and innocent civilians.\" Now, three or four people removing land mines during a war? Is that not what they were doing? This is the residue of the Princess Di legacy, here. These people didn't know enough to get out of the way. They're out in the middle of a war removing land mines, for crying out loud! This is not what I call intelligence! They're removing land mines in the middle of a war, and unfortunately, they go up and give 'em some orange vests! They pretend they're quarterbacks at a National Football League in practice or whatever, where they'd get red vests, so we won't target them. You know, there are some people - I'm not one of them, I want to stress this - who will say that the United Nations would not be above placing these people in this situation for this express purpose, just to cause this. I'm not one of them, but I think that you probably know that there are people who are, or who could hold that opinion. I've received another note from a friend who has an interesting perspective on these peaceniks, the U.N.-types who really think you can win wars with good vibes - the types who think a few U.N. workers dying is a tragedy, but that six thousand Americans dying isn't. Folks, the timing of the peaceniks couldn't be better for demonstrating exactly who and what they are. What they first and foremost are is anti- American. We hadn't even done anything yet, and they were demonstrating. They switched that one anti-WTO protest in Washington D.C. on a dime to being an anti-war protest, because what they are primarily is anti-American and anti-America's policies. If these people were to be patient, and wait for things they can call atrocities - like if we happen to bomb a building Mullah Omar calls a baby milk plant, or whatever - they might get some sympathy. You know what, I wonder if in Afghanistan they have abortion caves instead of hospitals. \"Rush, you're flirting dangerously here. You're risking offending people.\" Well, I'm just wondering. If we happen to hit a Mullah Omar cave or something or whatever, there'd be sympathy. I mean, they're trying to gin up an excuse to say we killed civilians - which they'll say no matter what. It's just not working. There was a conflicting story Monday that Mullah Omar, through a spokesman, told the world that 20 civilians had been killed in the first wave. Suddenly, they care about civilian casualties, now that we're bombing their strongholds around the clock. Day, night, clouds, sun, snow, pollution, clear as a bell - it doesn't matter. We're just hitting round the clock. There is no break from it. So they put out this news that 20 civilians were dead. Well, they got their signals crossed because they went to the hospital and the hospital said, \"Nope, nobody here.\" They had no reports of casualties in the hospitals or anywhere else! They're putting out false information, which is no surprise to us, but just bewilders the media and liberals. The point is that the protesters in this country, the peaceniks, ought to be waiting for us to do something bad before protesting. Instead, the minute we move to defend ourselves, the minute we take a defensive procedure, they go into action. They were in action as soon as we lost those five or six thousand people, as a matter of fact - and there's only one conclusion: they hate America, and they're so blinded by that hate, they aren't even aware of it."}, {"response": 631, "author": "Moon", "date": "Wed, Oct 10, 2001 (16:01)", "body": "Yeah, Marcia! I watch Italian TV via satellite and am disgusted by the thousands of protesters out with the red communist flag. They are nothing but trouble makers with no original thoughts of their own."}, {"response": 632, "author": "suzee202000", "date": "Wed, Oct 10, 2001 (17:43)", "body": "~~~~(Liz K)I'm frankly scared that the media/the entertainment industry is going to give some would-be terrorist ideas as to what to do next, or let them know and give them warning that we're coming to get them in the next few minutes.~~~~ I didn't intend to disagree with your point - I don't want any leaks to create problems for the police, armed forces, etc., either as they capture (hopefully) these crazies. I do want them to exercise some caution. The incident in Boston happened the day after the attack on the WTC in a charged atmosphere. But I'm not as trusting of the government as some (maybe I've been on the receiving end of \"non-truths\" from too many different administrations). I like the idea of all the checks and balances and I want to know *everything* as soon as it is safe. I would prefer that neither the government nor the press nor the police (FBI, etc.) have free reign to do amything without being accountable. I like Walter Cronkite's idea about press coverage below (and I'm sorry, too, if this should be posted in the other topic-it's kind of a mixed bag). Cronkite, 84, believes the current generation of network anchors has been \"first-rate\" in their coverage ....With the potential of the United States waging war in Afghanistan and elsewhere, Cronkite cautions journalists not to become overly manipulated by the military. \"We can't let what happened in the Gulf War happen again, when the Pentagon wouldn't allow cameras to cover the war on the ground,\" he says. \"That doesn't mean you simply broadcast live from the battlefield so the enemy a mile away knows what American troops are doing. You work with the military about what information gets released when. We did that during World War II, and it worked just fine. The public has a right to know what really goes on.\" http://www.tvguide.com/magazine/robins/011008.asp An odd, but interesting story about the involvement of the entertainment industry (giving the government ideas!!): U.S. Army turns to Hollywood for theories By Guylaine Cadorette, Hollywood.com Staff HOLLYWOOD, October 9, 2001 -- Government intelligence specialists have been secretly appealing to Hollywood filmmakers and writers for terrorist scenarios, Variety reports. The U.S. Army ordered a special committee to gather at the University of Southern California last week to brainstorm possible terrorist targets and schemes in the U.S. and to offer possible solutions to those threats. The ad hoc committee was formed in August 1999 after the Army awarded a five-year contract to USC to create the Institute for Creative Technologies. The ISC was to enlist the entertainment industry, video game makers and computer scientists to improve virtual reality and simulation training for soldiers. Screenwriters Steven E. de Souza (Die Hard), Paul De Meo and Danny Bilson (The Rocketeer) are involved in the committee, as are directors David Fincher (Fight Club), Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich), Randal Kleiser (Grease) and Mary Lambert (The In Crowd). One USC insider told Variety the group was focused on short-term threats against the country and had already met twice via telephone conference with the Pentagon. James Korris, ITC creative director, confirmed that meetings with the Army were taking place but did not elaborate on any specific committee recommendations. http://www.hollywood.com/news/detail/article/1093259"}, {"response": 633, "author": "lafn", "date": "Wed, Oct 10, 2001 (20:46)", "body": "Walter Cronkite:The public has a right to know what really goes on.\" While I agree with him, IMO the journalists today are not in the same category as the ones in WW II. They seem to be more agressive & self-serving. And in some ways disdainful of the administration and the armed forces.They never got over Viet- Nam. Not many Ernie Pyles around."}, {"response": 634, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Oct 10, 2001 (21:31)", "body": "Yup, Evelyn. You are sadly correct. It is all show business now, and ratings! Be safe, My Dear! *HUGS* Tornadoes!!! NO playing Helen Hunt, please! We love you!"}, {"response": 635, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Oct 11, 2001 (10:31)", "body": "It's been one month now. The changes wrought to our society and way of life have been enormous. But life will go on. India helped FBI trace ISI-terrorist links MANOJ JOSHI TIMES NEWS NETWORK NEW DELHI: While the Pakistani Inter Services Public Relations claimed that former ISI director-general Lt-Gen Mahmud Ahmad sought retirement after being superseded on Monday, the truth is more shocking. Top sources confirmed here on Tuesday, that the general lost his job because of the \"evidence\" India produced to show his links to one of the suicide bombers that wrecked the World Trade Centre. The US authorities sought his removal after confirming the fact that $100,000 were wired to WTC hijacker Mohammed Atta from Pakistan by Ahmad Umar Sheikh at the instance of Gen Mahumd. Senior government sources have confirmed that India contributed significantly to establishing the link between the money transfer and the role played by the dismissed ISI chief. While they did not provide details, they said that Indian inputs, including Sheikh\ufffds mobile phone number, helped the FBI in tracing and establishing the link. A direct link between the ISI and the WTC attack could have enormous repercussions. The US cannot but suspect whether or not there were other senior Pakistani Army commanders who were in the know of things. Evidence of a larger conspiracy could shake US confidence in Pakistan\ufffds ability to participate in the anti-terrorism coalition. \" continued at http://www.timesofindia.com/articleshow.asp?art_id=1454238160 and why and how osama escaped our 75 missiles: \" \ufffd98 attack: Tip off to Osama cooked ISI chief\ufffds goose"}, {"response": 636, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Oct 11, 2001 (11:12)", "body": "More recent comments on the terrorism issue from Woods today, courtesy Amy Reiter's Salon.com gossip column: ---------------- \"I won't get on an airplane unless it's an absolute necessity,\" Woods tells the Calgary Sun. And that's just one of the ways the creepy actor has seen fit to adjust his life in light of the recent terrorist attacks. \"I won't go into a stadium, and I won't attend a big public event,\" he says. He's also refusing to travel to New York for the premiere of his new movie, \"Riding in Cars With Boys,\" despite a specific request from Mayor Giuliani. \"I think too few people have grasped the reality we're totally and irrevocably at war,\" Woods opines. And though he refuses to comment even now about the four Middle Eastern-looking men he told the FBI he encountered a few months back, he will say this. \"I've spent a great deal of time lately talking to the FBI and have learned some startling things. I'm convinced, as they are, that there will be more horrific acts of terrorism.\""}, {"response": 637, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Oct 11, 2001 (13:46)", "body": "I was absolutely delightedly stunned to see the Prime Ministers of Pakistan and India cooperating and greeting one another on the news last night. War breeds strange alliances. Perhaps there might be some good out of the ashes of this very frightening time. On Art Bell's show last night they were longing for the good old days of the checks and balances of the Cold War era. Who could have imagined!"}, {"response": 638, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Oct 11, 2001 (14:03)", "body": ""}, {"response": 639, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Oct 11, 2001 (20:03)", "body": "The White House and the media have agreed not to turn Bin Laden's video releases in to tv wallpaper, playing them round the clock in their entirety. The idea, as I get it, is that these tapes may contain coded instructions to sleepers waiting to wreak destruction. Makes sense. An example is the statement that doesn't make sense about the \"80 years\" as the period of oppression. I mean, nothing really happened in 1921 that relates to this, or does it? The lead story now is that there may be additional terrorist attacks over the next several days, according to the FBI. The President is going to speak in about 15 seconds."}, {"response": 640, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Oct 11, 2001 (20:25)", "body": "Finally sanity. It got so nauseating to see him speak on tv that I shut it off. as for 1921: Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1921 Also called \" Treaty of Kabul\" because it was negotiated and signed at Kabul by Henry R. C. Dobbs, the British envoy, and Mahmud Tarzi, chief of the Afghan delegation, after arduous, eleven month negotiations. The treaty restored \"friendly and commercial relations\" between the two governments after the third Anglo-Afghan War and negotiations at the Mussoorie Conference and Rawalpindi. The negotiations proceeded in four phases: During the first session, January 20 to April 9, 1921, the Afghan Amir unsuccessfully demanded territorial concessions, while Britain wanted the exclusion of Russian consular offices from southeastern Afghanistan. In the second phase, from April 9 to mid-July, 1921, Britain asked Afghanistan to break the newly established diplomatic with Russia in exchange for a subsidy of 4 million rupee and weapons, as well as guarantees from unprovoked Russian aggression. When in the third stage, from mid-July to September 18, the British foreign office informed the Italian government that it was about to conclude an agreement which would, \"admit the superior and predominant political influence of Britain\" in Afghanistan, the Afghans refused to accept an \"alliances.\" An exclusive treaty was impossible after Afghanistan announced ratification of the Russian-Afghan treaty of 1921. In the fourth and final stage of negotiations, from September 18 to December 8, 1921, the British mission twice made preparations to return to India, when finally an agreement was signed at Kabul on November 22, 1921. Ratifications were exchanged on February 6 of 1922. In the treaty both government \"mutually certify and respect each with regard to the other all rights of internal and external independence.\" Afghanistan reaffirmed its acceptance of the boundary west of the Khaibar, subject to minor \"re-alignment.\" Legations were to be opened in London and Kabul, consulates established in various Indian and Afghan towns, and Afghanistan was permitted to import arms and munitions through India. No customs duties were to be charged for goods in transit to Afghanistan and each party agreed to inform the other of major military operations in the frontier belt. Representatives of both states were to meet in the near future to discuss conclusion of a trade convention, which was signed in June 1923. more... http://www.afghan-network.net/Culture/treaties.html"}, {"response": 641, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Oct 11, 2001 (23:42)", "body": "Bush gave one of his best tv appearances tonight. He was eloquent, this whole crisis has moved him to a level many didn't feel he was capable of acheiving. He asked every child in America to send a dollar to a child in Afghanistan."}, {"response": 642, "author": "AotearoaKiwi", "date": "Fri, Oct 12, 2001 (07:15)", "body": "Hi all Marcia, a cartoon wizard by the name Garrick Tremain lives in New Zealand. I will send you a copy of the October 12, 2001 cartoon in the Press. ITS BRILLIANT!!!!! If you can wait a few days more, you will also get some photos from me of my house and it's residents. I have some ready to go, but have not yet dispatched them. Rob"}, {"response": 643, "author": "Moon", "date": "Fri, Oct 12, 2001 (14:55)", "body": "Perhaps there might be some good out of the ashes of this very frightening time. True unification for peace. It is a dream, let's hope it becomes a reality. As for 1921 could be 1+9=10 the month October and 21 the date. It could be a date to watch for."}, {"response": 644, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Oct 12, 2001 (19:45)", "body": "Moon!! That is My Son's Wedding day!!! Salvation Army Team Emergency Response Network update One month into its disaster relief support operation in New York City, Salvation Army Team Emergency Response Network (SATERN) volunteers are holding up well. SATERN Amateur Radio Liaison Officer Jeff Schneller, N2HPO, says his current team is doing a fantastic job, and the operation could run for several more weeks. SATERN is now ''making do'' with at least six Amateur Radio volunteers per day, from about 9 AM until 11 PM, primarily to support the Salvation Army World Trade Center canteen operation. Operators have come from all over, including New Hampshire, Ohio, North Carolina, Florida and Missouri, and Schneller said he even had offers of help from England and Canada. Two local groups--the Broadcast Employees Amateur Radio Society (BEARS) and the Electchester VHF Club have been providing exclusive use of their repeaters since Day One. Schneller, who's in the fire alarm and sprinkler business, also has been involved from the start, and--with the understanding and support of his customers--has been logging some long hours. He said most of the volunteers' employers have been supportive as well. Carlos Varon, K2LCV, has been Schneller's backup and is in charge of scheduling volunteers. SATERN radio volunteers have been handling base station duties at Salvation Army Headquarters on 14th Street in Manhattan as well as providing communication at key field sites, aboard supply trucks and at the distribution warehouse. Schneller thanked the dozens of Amateur Radio operators who have turned out to assist. He also said he appreciated the many other offers to help. SATERN now is limiting its fresh volunteers to those available from the Greater New York City area. Schneller strongly advised all Amateur Radio operators to prepare for the future by first getting acquainted with and joining their local ARES or SATERN teams, then by taking the ARRL Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Course. More information about SATERN is available on the SATERN Web site, http://www.satern.org . Information on the ARRL's emergency communications course is available on the ARRL Web site, http://www.arrl.org/cce/ ."}, {"response": 645, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Oct 12, 2001 (21:27)", "body": "In SLATE someone did a back calculation from Osama bin Laden's citation of \"80 years\" of Islamic suffering. Using the Islamic religious calendar, not the solar or secular 365-day calendar, 9-11-01 turned out to be the exact 80 year anniversary of the ending of the Caliphate by Ataturk. Which makes the most sense of anything."}, {"response": 646, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Oct 12, 2001 (21:38)", "body": "yup!!! Just please not the 21st of October...! I wonder if the antibiotics I am taking now will protect me from anthrax future? Probably not..."}, {"response": 647, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Oct 12, 2001 (21:49)", "body": "11 Sept. 2001 = 23 Jumada Al-Thani 1422 23 Jumada Al-Thani 1342 = 29 January 1924 The Caliphate was abolished on 3 March 1924. http://www.mfa.gov.tr/grupk/history.htm"}, {"response": 648, "author": "AotearoaKiwi", "date": "Sat, Oct 13, 2001 (06:35)", "body": "Hi all Marcia: yup!!! Just please not the 21st of October...! Rob: And I suppose it is not an option to shift the wedding to a certain spot in Hilo or even better, to a certain city on the east coast of the South Island?? Get a hint?? Rob"}, {"response": 649, "author": "AotearoaKiwi", "date": "Sat, Oct 13, 2001 (06:40)", "body": "Why?? There are some advantages to being in a little country like New Zealand. Save perhaps for Fiji, and maybe Australia we are too small to annoy the hell out anyone enough that they would decide to attack the country. Last country we annoyed was France, and they sent two government agents to blow up the Rainbow Warrior (flagship of Greenpeace), in Waitemata Harbour, Auckland. Some Kiwis have never forgiven the French for that and some probably never will. Rob"}, {"response": 650, "author": "lafn", "date": "Sat, Oct 13, 2001 (11:55)", "body": "Well, it looks like no one is gonna pull any atrocities in China: This from AP: CHINA BLOCKS MIDDLE EAST TICKET HOLDERS \"Beijing authorities have instructed Chinese airlines in HK to halt tickets sales to nationals of 19 countries , mainly in the Middle East. China National Aviation Corp , the sole agent of 10 mainland airlines in HK, told travel agents to stop selling tickets to China to holders of certain passports and to refund purchased tickets...for \"safety reasons\". The memo added tht there would not be a \"total ban\" ..wording that may have been meant to allow room for diplomats or dignitaries to travel.\""}, {"response": 651, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Oct 13, 2001 (16:03)", "body": "Evelyn.....thanks for posting that. I had no idea...!!! Rob, it has been suggested that we claim independence from the US as overthrown Hawaiian nationhood and all that. Rather nasty suggestion, actually. There is not much difference in the poor classes and women status of old Hawaii and old Afghanistan when you get down to the ugly truth. In any case, Mme Pele would love to bless their wedding and I am certain would the loveliness of Christchurch. What a wonderful excuse to go way-down-under!"}, {"response": 652, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Oct 13, 2001 (16:11)", "body": "Another thought on China and forbidding sales of tickets to the Mideast. Our terrorists came in from Canada, from other outside the US places. They took flying lessons and got credentials. For all I know, the pilot of the plane taking me to my son's wedding is a licensed professional pilot bent on sending me to eternal damnation and he to the 20 virgins waiting for him. China is so vast it would be easy to get there illegally!!!"}, {"response": 653, "author": "CherylB", "date": "Sat, Oct 13, 2001 (16:40)", "body": "Oh no Marcia, please have faith that you will arrive safely to your son's wedding. The US/Canadian border is so long, is there anyway that it can possibly be effectively controlled? I think that I'd read something some time ago about the Chinese government being very wary of the possiblity of Islamic fundamentalist groups within China. There are provinces in western China were the population is largely not ethnically Chinese and Muslim. This, of course, doesn't mean that all of the Islamic citizens of China want to create their own Islamic republics. I haven't come across the topic since."}, {"response": 654, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Oct 13, 2001 (17:14)", "body": "Cheryl!!! *HUGS* welcome back! I cannot imagine patrolling China's borders if we cannot control the distances involved on our Canadian border. Unhappily, I think we are just restricting law-abiding citizens. The truly evil will find way to accomplish their nefarous ends. Just like gun laws. Thanks for the good thoughts on my son's wedding. My phamacist, yesterday, said she has very good vibes that all would be well. I'm hanging onto that thought!"}, {"response": 655, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Oct 14, 2001 (09:44)", "body": "Going after the big fish (financial): http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/13/international/13ASSE.html"}, {"response": 656, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Oct 14, 2001 (20:50)", "body": "Now, in the \"if this turns out to be true\" department: XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX SAT OCT 13, 2001 15:29:42 ET XXXXX MAG: U.S. FAILED TO KILL TALIBAN LEADER WHEN HE WAS IN SIGHT DURING FIRST NIGHT OF WAR; RUMSFELD FURIOUS The U.S. military failed to kill Taliban leader Mullah Omar when he was in its sights during the first night of the war, the NEW YORKER is planning to report on Monday. According to publishing sources, Seymour Hersh has filed a story quoting top intelligence-community members claiming to be 'crestfallen' about the incident. MORE Reaction in Washington to the failure to strike immediately was fierce, Hersh reports. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was \"kicking a lot of glass and breaking doors,\" one military official said. An unmanned Predator reconnaissance aircraft operating in the Kabul area identified a convoy carrying Mullah Omar as he fled the capital. The Predator is armed with two anti-tank missiles, but under the rules of engagement in effect Sunday night the C.I.A. could not order such a strike. Although the precise sequence of events could not be fully learned, Hersh reports, General Tommy R. Franks, the commander in charge at the United States Central Command in Florida reported that 'Judge Advocate General, a legal officer', doesn't like this, so we're not going to fire.' It was decided to target a few cars in front of the building to perhaps scare Mullah Omar out of the building to take a look. Omar did leave the building, but not immediately. Soon after he left, Hersh reports, the building was targeted and destroyed by F-18s, too late to kill Omar. \""}, {"response": 657, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Oct 14, 2001 (20:57)", "body": "\"According to the intelligence report, the U.S. tipped off Israel last week that bin Laden's al Qaeda cells and networks in Lebanon were complete and ready to launch strikes in Israel. They operate under the command of Imad Mughniyeh, terrorism and intelligence consultant to Iranian spiritual leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said the report. As former head of the Lebanese militant Hezbollah's security apparatus in the 1980s, Mughniyeh was responsible for the 1993 bombing of the U.S. Embassy and Marine barracks in Beirut and the blasting of Israeli locations in Argentina.\" http://www.freeman.org/m_online/may01/debka.htm \"Following the kidnapping last October of the four men P three soldiers on the Lebanese border and Tannenbaum outside the country -J DEBKAfile revealed for the first time that the notorious Lebanese hostage-taker Imad Mughniyeh was behind the snatch P not the Hizballah. This now ties in with another surprising development, recently pieced together by US intelligence in the course of its investigation of the terrorist-bombing of the US Cole in Aden harbor in the same month as the kidnappings: Iranian spiritual ruler Ayatollah KhameneiUs personal security service, which is headed by Mughniyeh, has struck a deal with Bin LadenUs al Qaeda for an operational partnership against US Gulf and Middle East targets as well as Israeli and Jewish interests worldwide.\" http://www.debka.com/TERRORISM/body_terrorism.html"}, {"response": 658, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sun, Oct 14, 2001 (21:07)", "body": "CHINA BLOCKS MIDDLE EAST TICKET HOLDERS Incredible! But there might be something to it. In Italy there was an anti-war march from Perugia to Assisi there were more than one hundred thousand people. In other cities in Europe there were also anti-war protests. It turns out that Milan is the main European hub for muslim terrorists. Five were arrested today that had planned to bomb the US Embassy in Rome. Which is on Via Veneto. The US better get the ground troups in there and do what they're supposed to do. What is holding them up?"}, {"response": 659, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Oct 14, 2001 (21:13)", "body": "Take a look at David Kline's comments on ground troops in news 54. It strikes at the heart of our survival."}, {"response": 660, "author": "mari", "date": "Mon, Oct 15, 2001 (09:31)", "body": "(Moon)In Italy there was an anti-war march from Perugia to Assisi there were more than one hundred thousand people. In other cities in Europe there were also anti-war protests. Yes, I saw some of them interviewed, talking about the need to resolve this through \"peaceful negotiations.\" I'd like to know--what planet do these people come from? Negotiations with whom--with people who do not even value their own lives? Their naivete is appalling."}, {"response": 661, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Oct 15, 2001 (10:24)", "body": "They are Communists, Mari. Unfortunately, Umbria is a predominantly communist region in Italy. They have no clue. They should just stick to their great wines and mineral waters. I thank God that in Italy we now have a center-right governement after years of abuse from the secular left."}, {"response": 662, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Oct 15, 2001 (17:14)", "body": "Amen, Moon. Oh, I'm taking the \"Story of Yew' on my plane trip upcoming in three days. I understand it is very good and a good diversion for what will be a tense flight. I hope we all wish to get to our destination with lives intact."}, {"response": 663, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Oct 15, 2001 (18:00)", "body": "I will be thinking of you on Oct. 21st. My very best wishes to you, your son and his bride. :-D"}, {"response": 664, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Oct 15, 2001 (18:44)", "body": "Thanks for your good wishes. I have forwarded them to the Bride and Groom. More at Geo 40 so I don't add too much bliss to a serious topic. Please be careful, Moon, dear! You are not replaceable!!! What a great reason for not opening junk mail!"}, {"response": 665, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Oct 16, 2001 (11:47)", "body": "\"Rumseld, fielding reporters' questions at the Pentagon, ridiculed Taliban claims of hundreds of civilian casualties in Afghanistan. The ruling militia escorted American journalists around a crater-pocked area near the village of Karam over the weekend to buttress their claim. But the defense secretary said the targets in that case were underground caves suspected of being used to store weapons. Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters that a secondary fire touched off by the bomb ``went on for three and a half to four hours.'' Said Rumsfeld: ``They were not cooking cookies inside those tunnels... You do not spend that kind of money and dig that far in and store that many weapons ... unless you have very serious purposes for doing it.'' He said the individuals in the vicinity ``clearly were connected to those activities.'' http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Attacks-Washington.html It was a tv reporters insertion that said Rumsfeld said the amunition may have caused destruction in the small commuity."}, {"response": 666, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Oct 16, 2001 (13:04)", "body": "The media is running the risk of becoming a great propaganda machine. Someone should pull the plug."}, {"response": 667, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Oct 16, 2001 (15:25)", "body": "YES, Moon! I will not watch some stations for that very reason. I am back to listening to NPR... Thank you for posting in the 666 position. Hardly demonic, I think!"}, {"response": 668, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Oct 16, 2001 (17:23)", "body": "Thank you for posting in the 666 position. Hardly demonic, I think! LOL! That's alright Marcia, in college my PO Box # was 0069. T'is true!"}, {"response": 669, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Oct 16, 2001 (19:01)", "body": "In college my phone number was extension 1234. When a guy asked for it, and I gave it to him, he often looked at me sideways and asked me to tell him if I was not interested in him. Numbers are curious things. In Hebrew characters, the characters can either be letters or numbers!"}, {"response": 670, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Oct 17, 2001 (16:45)", "body": "From Fox: Terrorists Failed in Their Ultimate Mission Wednesday, October 17, 2001 Glenn Harlan Reynolds Five weeks have passed since the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and from what we have learned in that time I think it's fair to pronounce the attacks a near-total failure. True, they caused unprecedented death and devastation. But the attacks were not, really, about death and devastation. They were about terror, which is why those who perpetrated them are called terrorists. The goal, as now seems clear, was to provoke a frightened and inflamed United States to lash out indiscriminately, create a split between the Islamic world and the West and to deliver some existing regimes ? chiefly in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Algeria ? into the hands of Islamic fundamentalists. At the same time, the U.S. would collapse under domestic fear and quickly sue for peace, abandoning Israel and offering a complete withdrawal of its influence from North Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia as the price it would pay to prevent similar attacks from happening again. It seems pretty clear that this was the terrorists' plan, and when measured against these objectives, it is also clear that this plan failed. Understanding why the terrorists ultimately failed means understanding the true nature of the United States' core strength. The plot failed in part because of the immediate response by the government to quickly ground flights ? most likely preventing additional hijackings ? and by the passengers of United Airlines flight 93 who bravely overtook the hijackers and probably saved the Capitol and/or the White House from destruction. It failed more fundamentally because the U.S. did not react the way that Usama bin Laden's followers expected. Having apparently watched the Denzel Washington movie The Siege ? a film that depicted mass hysteria incited by Islamic terrorist attacks in New York ? one too many times, bin Laden's men overestimated the likelihood that the U.S. would panic and overreact. They also learned the wrong lesson from previous cases when a few casualties caused the U.S. to withdraw from foreign commitments; hitting Americans on American soil isn't the same thing. But most significantly, the terrorists misjudged the reaction of American women. In the past, American women have been far more reluctant to see the nation go to war than men. But this time, American women seem to be, if anything, more bellicose than the men. Part of this hawkish reaction by American women stems from the attack being on American soil, killing civilians, parents, children, and spouses. But part of it also stems from the fact that these attackers represent a culture that brutally oppresses women. When I remarked to a friend that my Web site was generating more bellicose e-mail on the war from women than from men, he compared their reaction to what could be the expected response of African Americans if the U.S. had gone to war against apartheid South Africa. I think he's onto something. Media targeted at women seem to be bearing this theory out: The most recent issue of the Star tabloid features a special 12-page section on the war emphasizing the role of women in combat from the Gulf War, to women serving today on aircraft carriers. There is a feature on the \"defiantly lipstick-wearing\" female anti-Taliban guerrillas in Afghanistan and a sidebar on 17-year-old British female sailor Jodie Jones of HMS Illustrious who declares, \"I'm ready for action!\" A profile of a female three-star general concludes, \"as the nation launches an all-out counterattack on Usama bin Laden and his evil henchmen, we couldn't be in better hands.\" In America and Europe, the emotional and political tone is largely set by middle-class married women. These women ? who never much thought about the Taliban and Islamic regimes ? are thinking about them now, and they don't like them. American and European women are likely to be far more supportive of military action against the misogynist regimes of radical Islamic states than of other kinds of military action. They're also likely, even after the war, to keep pushing for female emancipation throughout the Islamic world. The liberation of Islamic women is the thing, I think, that bin Laden and his ilk fear the most. But as a majority of voters in the world's richest and most powerful countries, American and European women are likely to eventually get what they want. It may take a couple of decades, but a direct consequence of the Sept. 11 atrocities may be the liberation of women throughout the Islamic world. For bin Laden, the Taliban and their supporters and followers, that would be a failure. A colossal failure."}, {"response": 671, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Wed, Oct 17, 2001 (23:14)", "body": "American and European women are likely to be far more supportive of military action against the misogynist regimes of radical Islamic states than of other kinds of military action. Hell hath no fury like women seeking to liberate other women forced to wear ugly fashions. ;-)"}, {"response": 672, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Oct 18, 2001 (00:34)", "body": "YES!!! Karen! Right on. Gazooks what they have conceived for us to wear... we must be roundly hated by the male fasion pundits. arrgh!"}, {"response": 673, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Oct 18, 2001 (00:36)", "body": "Not to mention those spooky garment which hide women of certain faiths. Their men must be very insecure!"}, {"response": 674, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Oct 18, 2001 (23:19)", "body": "A Boston trauma expert arrived in NYC shortly after September 11th. At the conclusion of his visit, he observed \"starting around the Thanksgiving holiday and through the New Year, a major mental health crisis will emerge in the city and surrounding area.\" Indeed, doctors and mental health experts are already observing the psychological fallout from the disaster rippling out from ground zero. Those at highest risk were personally exposed to the events, especially those threatened with injury or death. The second ripple includes those who lost friends, loved ones, or coworkers and those involved in recovery work. For the rest of us who spent days glued to our TV sets as the horror unfolded, even this exposure can trigger disabling symptoms, particularly in those with preexisting problems with anxiety, depression, or posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). With these encouraging words: \"Most people will recover as long as we maximize the normal recovery process,\" another expert encouraged everyone experiencing i trusive mental or physical anguish from the attack to seek help. For more information, check out http://www.psych.org and click on \"Coping With a National Tragedy.\" from www.femailhealthnews.com"}, {"response": 675, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Oct 19, 2001 (08:02)", "body": "One of my coworkers suggested we train women in combat and send them in dressed in traditional women's garb with veils and all, they could move in to areas our troops couldn't reach easily and they could pack quite a bit of concealed ammo and weapons under all that clothing."}, {"response": 676, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Oct 19, 2001 (16:34)", "body": "Hmmmm!!! That sound better than the email making the rounds suggesting every plane take off with a baby pig aboard. If a Muslim is buried with swine (\"unclean\") they believe they are doomed to Hell. Then, do the suggested air drops of 100,000 swine into Afghanistan... Perhaps there is merit to this after all."}, {"response": 677, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Oct 21, 2001 (01:38)", "body": "What's up with this? October 20, 2001 THE AMBASSADOR Don't Doubt Steadfastness of Taliban, Envoy Insists By JOHN F. BURNS http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/20/international/asia/20STAN.html?todaysheadlines \"He was asked how it was that Mullah Omar had declared a \"holy war\" against the United States \ufffd and had said it was the duty of all Muslims to rally to the Taliban's side \ufffd but that not a single government among the 56 Muslim nations had rallied to the Taliban's cause. \"Inshallah,\" or God willing, he said, \"there will be a lot of Muslims joining us.\" And if not, he added, it is hardly the Taliban's part to persuade them. \"All of our actions are according to the Shariah law,\" he said, invoking the Islamic legal code. \"We do not argue with people, and we do not reason with them.\" But the most evocative response came with a resounding laugh from the mullah and a kind of thigh-slapping comicality from his interpreter, a huge man with an eyepatch. Toward the end of the 40-minute audience, he was asked if the anthrax attacks in the United States had been masterminded by Mr. bin Laden. \"Anthrax?\" he said, and then paused as if for theatrical effect. \"We don't know about this. We don't know what it is.\" Across the garden, many of the 150 reporters from across the world joined in the burst of laughter, drowning out the birds chirping at the approach of dusk.\""}, {"response": 678, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Oct 21, 2001 (15:54)", "body": "Do you detect more than a little sadism in this press conference? We are permitting our thoughts to be diverted by press giving space and credibility to such rantings? Pathetic!"}, {"response": 679, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Oct 21, 2001 (16:56)", "body": "Greek Americans join relief effort Greek Orthodox Church also helps open funds in support of victims of September 11 terrorist attacks on USA With thousands of innocent civilians having perished in the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States, and many remaining homeless and jobless since the collapse of the World Trade Center, the Greek-American community and the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese are joining nationwide relief efforts. The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America has asked that all parishes conduct a memorial service tomorrow to commemorate the 40 days that have passed since thousands of people were killed that Tuesday morning. \"On this solemn occasion let each and every one of us light a special candle for the September 11 victims, the proceeds of which should be sent to the Sept. 11 Relief Fund of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America,\" an encyclical instructed. The relief fund and the Sept. 11 Relief Center at the St. Barbara Greek Orthodox Church, located close to the disaster site in New York City, were founded by the Archdiocese. Contributions to the fund presently total $1.2 million and have been generated by organizations, individuals and parishes from across the country and around the world. Moreover, the newly established Department of Philanthropy of the Archdiocese, headed by Archimandrite Antonios Paropoulos, is also expected to play an important role in relief efforts. Both the Greek Orthodox Church and the Greek-American community suffered losses that Tuesday morning last month, as several Americans of Greek descent died while at work in the Twin Towers and St. Nicholas Church was crushed under the falling debris. The Archdiocese announced that the church will be rebuilt once rescue workers have completed their work and construction crews have cleared the debris from the area. In a gesture of support and concern over the destruction of St. Nicholas Church, Martin Kaplan, chairman of the American-Jewish Committee (AJC), this week donated $10,000 of AJC funds to the Archdiocese for the church's reconstruction. \"This gesture is a treasure, a movement of the heart,\" Archbishop Demetrios of America said after the meeting. In addition to the relief efforts of the Archdiocese, there is a similar campaign by the Greek-American community organized by the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association (AHEPA). AHEPA Supreme President Andrew T. Banis announced recently that the association was launching an international fund-raising drive to raise $100,000 for disaster relief needed as a result of last month's terrorist attacks. This announcement builds upon a previous call directed to its chapters and members to provide disaster relief by organizing blood drives and donating blood. \"As our nation prepares for a sustained campaign against terrorism the Greek-American community must stand side-by-side with this effort, offering our resources for the protection of democracy, freedom, and humanity,\" Banis said. \"Therefore, I am calling on the AHEPA family to focus all its energy in this effort to raise a minimal amount of $100,000 by November 1.\" According to Banis, once the fund-raising goal is achieved, the funds will be allocated to one or more of the charitable organizations assisting with disaster relief, including the American Red Cross, Salvation Army, and the Firefighter's Fund. The $100,000 raised will be in addition to the financial contribution provided by AHEPA to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund. Established in 1922, AHEPA is the largest Greek-American association in the world with its own chapters in the USA, Canada and Greece, as well as sister chapters in Australia. MIRON VAROUHAKIS More... http://www.ekathimerini.com/news/content.asp?aid=104435"}, {"response": 680, "author": "suzee202000", "date": "Mon, Oct 22, 2001 (02:06)", "body": "(Karen)Hell hath no fury like women seeking to liberate other women forced to wear ugly fashions. ;-) ****** ROTFL"}, {"response": 681, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Oct 23, 2001 (22:03)", "body": "David Kline (who has his own topic in the news conference): We'll get to a real war footing, eventually, but pyschologically right now I think folks are still hopinmg against hope that it'll somehow turn out to be a movie-of-the-week sort of war. A temporary disruption, that's all. But soon enough, I'm afraid, casualties won't make the news unless they're double or triple digit. And the American people will be expected -- indeed, *required* to make and accept daily sacrifices as normal. War lite. Perfect."}, {"response": 682, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Oct 26, 2001 (08:55)", "body": "It's those darn liberals again ;-)B http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/news/pages/sti/2001/10/21/stiusausa02030.html October 21 2001 TERRORISM ULTRA ZEALOTS: If you think Bin Laden is extreme - some Muslims want to kill him because he's soft IF YOU thought Osama Bin Laden's brand of Islamic fundamentalism was as extreme as it gets, think again. A rival group of Muslim terrorists exists which regards him as an infidel who has sold out. Bin Laden's declaration of war against the West has failed to impress Takfir wal-Hijra, an ultra-hardcore group that has won a reputation for unbridled savagery in Egypt and Sudan. Hamza: even he's shocked Its fundamentalism is so extreme that members have embarked on killing sprees in mosques against fellow Muslims in the belief that a pure Islamic state can be built only if the corrupt elements of the last one are wiped out. In this they see Bin Laden and his followers as pragmatists who are \"excessively liberal\". To drive the point home, four of its members pulled up in a pick-up truck outside his house in Sudan in 1995, spraying it with bullets in an effort to kill him . . . \"They are nothing but a bunch of extremists,\" said Abu Hamza, the claw-handed radical preacher at Finsbury Park mosque in north London, who outraged public opinion in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center by describing them as an act of \"self-defence\"."}, {"response": 683, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Oct 26, 2001 (09:30)", "body": "\"The world's most wanted terrorist suffered a setback as first word of a fatality among the top ranks of his Al-Qaeda network was reported on Thursday by a London-based Islamic group. ...The Islamic Observation Center said in an e-mailed statement to The Associated Press that an Egyptian militant, identified by his nom de guerre Abu Baseer al-Masri, was killed by a bomb on Sunday near Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan.\" Source: http://www.ecola.com/go/?f=&r=as&u=www.hindustantimes.com"}, {"response": 684, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Oct 26, 2001 (15:14)", "body": "Reacting to the news of Abdul Haq's execution today by the Taliban: Oh man, this is a real tragedy -- on the scale of Massoud's death. He was Pashtun, one of the few with enough credibility and respect to be able to potentially rally fellow tribesmen away from the Taliban. And he was quite simply a great guy. Educated, funny, always playing practical jokes, a lover of poetry and music, and incredibly brave. He lost a foot to a land mine and thereafter hopped (literally) into battle. He was also kind. Western reporters who travelled with him and his fighters always had the feeling that Abdul Haq was looking after them, personally. Very solicitous of other's needs; very respectful of women. Abdul Haq was no toady of the U.S., either. He could be very critical of imperial behavior by the U.S., and indeed criticized the current bombing effort as potentially galvanizing of Taliban resistance. I could tell you stories about him. One time he flirted with my girlfriend just to see my reaction (wink wink, nod nod, then he burst out laughing at my obvious discomfort). And he loved to trade good natured insults -- \"You feeble Americans, even our women walk faster than you ... \"Yeah, no shit Abdul, with guys like you after them, no wonder!\" I don't know what else to say. Maybe it's not true. But it probably is. - David Kline"}, {"response": 685, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Oct 26, 2001 (15:14)", "body": "More on the bin Laden death story: http://www.nationalreview.com/interrogatory/interrogatory102501b.shtml"}, {"response": 686, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Oct 26, 2001 (21:19)", "body": "More from a shocked and dismayed David Kline: I really am finding this hard to believe: the two greatest living Afghans, Massoud and Abdul Haq, both murdered in less than two months by the Taliban. And it's difficult to explain how much these men symbolized hope for Afghanistan, even in their personal manner. Massoud spoke French, loved literature and led his men quietly, almost shyly. Abdul Haq was a poet with the charisma of a warrior, a big (teddy) bear of a man who laughed easily. They were cosmopolitan, sophisticated about the ways of both the West & the East -- not at all the sort of \"warlord\" the media is so fond of presenting these days. It has become easy, of course, to shake our heads and tsk tsk the Afghans for all the ways that they are screwed up. But you could never think such things in the presence of Massoud or Abdul Haq. They were truly *impressive.* And their vision was wider and deeper than you might expect of people who had lived in caves and mountain redoubts for so long. Each imagined a liberated Afghanistan with schools for all, electricity for all, a new class of women doctors trained to give medical care to all, and economic development schemes that were rather well thought out. But mostly, they imagined peace. Just peace. For a people who hadn't had it in 25 years. I just spoke to the woman who was my girlfriend then (she did refugee work along the Afghan border at the time) and she reminded me that our first date was very traditional -- \"dinner and a movie\" -- except for the fact that it was at Abdul Haq's house. The dinner he cooked himself (no lie), and the movie was (of course) video of anti-Soviet fighting. We played cards (Poker and Fish), told jokes, arm wrestled, and recited poetry to each other. It was from Abdul, in fact, that I first learned to recite the traditional Pasthun landay (rhyming couplet) that goes like this: Your face is a rose, your eyes candles Faith, I am lost! Should I become a butterfly or a moth? Now he's gone. They're all gone, really -- the only ones who could deliver the Afghans from their present misery. Who else has anywhere near the stature these men had? Ismael Khan maybe, but he's probably too regional. Anyway, I keep holding the thought that societies usually end up producing exactly the leaders they need. So maybe there are others, unknown as yet, who will one day take the place of Massoud and Abdul Haq. Wow, I thought I was soooo cool about Afghanistan. I'd seen a lot of shit there, stuff that I didn't at the time think I was strong enough to see. I thought nothing about that country could shake me up anymore. But here I am, simply stunned. I have a hard time believing it's real."}, {"response": 687, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Oct 26, 2001 (21:25)", "body": "We all have a hard time believing it is real. Until the stuff starts hitting your neighbors or in your yard, it is somehow remote. In Hawaii, it seems like another planet. But, then, so does all of the rest of the world. War lite. Too bad they aren't all like that..."}, {"response": 688, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Oct 26, 2001 (21:53)", "body": "That was very, very tough news for David, who knew these guys intimately from his years as a war correspondent in Afghanistan. He has been very obviously shaken by the death of these two leaders who were so critical to Afghanistans future. I can feel his despair and pain. An excerpt from an ABCnews.com report today gives the Afghanis a glimmer of hope for a peaceful future: D U S H A N B E, Tajikistan, Oct. 25 \ufffd Like so many children in Afghanistan, 13-year-old Ahmed Massoud lost his father in the fighting that has engulfed the country for more than 20 years. But Ahmed's loss was also a loss for the country. His father, Ahmed Shah Massoud, was a brilliant military leader who helped the Afghans throw out the Soviet invaders in the 1980s. For the last few years, he had led the Northern Alliance's military efforts against the repressive Taliban who control most of Afghanistan. Then \ufffd two days before the attacks on New York and Washington \ufffd Massoud was assassinated by suicide bombers posing as a television news crew. Northern Alliance officials believe the assassins were sent by Osama bin Laden to eliminate the Taliban's most formidable enemy. Although Massoud led a life of war, he was grooming his son to lead the Afghan people on a path he hoped would lead to peace. \"My father never talked to me about war,\" Ahmed told me shortly before his father's memorial service. \"He did not want me to follow a military education. He said that the world would be peaceful when I grow up, so I have to be ready for this peaceful world.\" Ahmed lives with his mother and four sisters in Tajikistan, safely away from the fighting in northern Afghanistan's Panjshir Valley. He is barely a teenager, but members of his father's anti-Taliban forces already treat him with incredible deference and respect. He is very quiet, but carries himself with the self-assurance of a grown man. When he met with us, he strode across the room to shake our hands, then calmly took his seat for the interview. His movements and his bearing are exactly like his father's. Meeting a Warrior I met Ahmed Shah Massoud a year ago when I traveled to northern Afghanistan, where he was nearly surrounded by the Taliban and fighting desperately to keep his supply lines open for the winter. To reach him in his mountainous headquarters, we first flew in an ancient Russian helicopter over the 18,000-foot peaks of the Hindu Kush range. We continued by pick-up truck over rough dirt roads, then crossed a river Afghan-style: on a raft of cow hides sewn together and inflated. The technique worked for the army of Alexander the Great, and it worked for us. It was hard to believe that these were the same people who had defeated the mighty Soviet military, but they were. Many believe it was because Massoud was a brilliant strategist whose guerilla tactics bled the Soviets for 10 years until they finally gave up and left. Massoud's battlefield success is legendary \ufffd and not lost on the Taliban commanders. Although no evidence has emerged of Taliban involvement in his assassination, many suspect they knew that to control all of Afghanistan they needed to take him out. more at http://abcnews.go.com/sections/primetime/DailyNews/junger_feature.html"}, {"response": 689, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Oct 27, 2001 (22:12)", "body": "*I've thought of worse suggestions...* This was forwarded to me by several people. A little ancient female wisdom in an otherwise-bleak situation... Take all American women who are within five years of menopause -- train us for a few weeks, outfit us with automatic weapons, grenades, gas masks, moisturizer with SPF15, Prozac, hormones, chocolate, and canned tuna -- drop us (parachuted, preferably) across the landscape of Afghanistan, and let us do what comes naturally. Think about it. Our anger quotient alone, even when doing standard stuff like grocery shopping and paying bills, is formidable enough to make even armed men in turbans tremble. We've had our children, we would gladly suffer or die to protect them and their future. We'd like to get away from our husbands, if they haven't left already. And for those of us who are single, the prospect of finding a good man with whom to share life is about as likely as being struck by lightning. We have nothing to lose. We've survived the water diet, the protein diet, the carbohydrate diet, and the grapefruit diet in gyms and saunas across America and never lost a pound. We can easily survive months in the hostile terrain of Afghanistan with no food at all! We've spent years tracking down our husbands or lovers in bars, hardware stores, or sporting events...finding bin Laden in some cave will be no problem. Uniting all the warring tribes of Afghanistan in a new government? Oh, please ... we've planned the seating arrangements for in-laws and extended families at Thanksgiving dinners for years ... we understand tribal warfare. Between us, we've divorced enough husbands to know every trick there is for how they hide, launder, or cover up bank accounts and money sources. We know how to find that money and we know how to seize it ... with or without the government's help! Let us go and fight. The Taliban hates women. Imagine their terror as we crawl like ants with hot-flashes over their godforsaken terrain. I'm going to write my Congresswoman. You should, too!"}, {"response": 690, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Oct 28, 2001 (22:00)", "body": "An amazing story. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A56956-2001Oct26.html You watching TV?\" Rick Rescorla was calling from the 44th floor of the World Trade Center, icy calm in the crisis. When Rescorla was a platoon leader in Vietnam, his men called him Hard Core, because they had never seen anyone so absurdly unflappable in the face of death. Now he was vice president for corporate security at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co., and a jumbo jet had just plowed into the north tower. The voices of officialdom were crackling over the loudspeakers in the south tower, urging everyone to stay put: Please do not leave the building. This area is secure. Rescorla was ignoring them. \"The dumb sons of bitches told me not to evacuate,\" he said during a quick call to his best friend, Dan Hill, who had indeed been watching the disaster unfolding on TV. \"They said it's just Building One. I told them I'm getting my people the [expletive] out of here.\" Keep moving, Rescorla commanded over his megaphone while Hill listened. Keep moving. \"Typical Rescorla,\" Hill recalls. \"Incredible under fire.\" Morgan Stanley lost only six of its 2,700 employees in the south tower on Sept. 11, an isolated miracle amid the carnage. And company officials say Rescorla deserves most of the credit. He drew up the evacuation plan. He hustled his colleagues to safety. And then he apparently went back into the inferno to search for stragglers. He was the last man out of the south tower after the World Trade Center bombing in 1993, and no one seems to doubt that he would've been again last month if the skyscraper hadn't collapsed on him first. One of the company's secretaries actually snapped a photo of Rescorla with his megaphone that day, a 62-year-old mountain of a man coolly sacrificing his life for others. It was an epic death, one of those inspirational hero-tales that have sprouted like wildflowers from the Twin Towers rubble. But it turns out that retired Army Col. Cyril Richard Rescorla led an epic life as well. In this time when heroes are being proclaimed all around, when brave actions are understandably hailed as proofs of character, here was a man whose heroism was a matter of public record long before Sept. 11."}, {"response": 691, "author": "suzee202000", "date": "Sun, Oct 28, 2001 (23:22)", "body": "The New Yorker Magazine has put together a collection of links to all of the magazine's coverage of the attacks and the aftermath plus older relevant articles: http://www.newyorker.com/FROM_THE_ARCHIVE/PREVIOUS/"}, {"response": 692, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Oct 28, 2001 (23:24)", "body": "Thanks Terry... I have chills just reading this account of Col. Rescorla. He personifies Hero in my book! There were many heroes that day..."}, {"response": 693, "author": "Moon", "date": "Mon, Oct 29, 2001 (08:34)", "body": "This is a something my son found and made me LOL! Enjoy this treat. http://www.madblast.com/binladen.htm"}, {"response": 694, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Oct 29, 2001 (09:56)", "body": "October 29, 2001 U.S. 'guard down' due to anthrax attacks By Daniel F. Drummond THE WASHINGTON TIMES Terrorist groups are using anthrax attacks as a diversion and taking advantage of an overburdened law-enforcement system to plan more attacks on America, federal law-enforcement and intelligence sources say. The sources, all of whom are either working on or have close knowledge of the investigations of both the anthrax and Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, said that regardless of whether Osama bin Laden or the al Qaeda terrorist network are behind the anthrax attacks, they are taking advantage of the FBI and other law-enforcement agencies' dedication to solving and dealing with the anthrax attacks as well as hoaxes and scares. \"Our guard is down now because we are looking at mail,\" one intelligence source said. Indeed, FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III told a group of the country's mayors that more than 7,000 of its 11,000 agents and support personnel are working on investigations relating to the Sept. 11 and anthrax attacks. \"There is just too much going on,\" an FBI source said, adding that agents are working on the investigations almost simultaneously by asking about both the anthrax and Sept. 11 attacks with those they question. \"We still have to deal with the hoaxes.\" More at: http://www.washingtontimes.com/metro/20011029-26230978.htm"}, {"response": 695, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Oct 29, 2001 (13:35)", "body": "I love the way the media is working with the enemy in their effort to \"keep us informed.\" I think, in the interests of America, they should to be a lot less headline grabbing. This is so tiresome, I have ceased to watch the news!!!"}, {"response": 696, "author": "winter", "date": "Mon, Oct 29, 2001 (22:23)", "body": "Ashcroft has given out a \"terrorist warning advisory\" to state, national and local agencies (see NYTimes) today. What's also tiresome is how little informed we are of the details of stories like this. Why? Why now? I've been thinking about the possibility of some sort of threat during Halloween. This is an awful thought...the worst of the worst-- but what about the possibility of our children being harmed? But why hasn't the media discussed any precautions parents might take (candy, trick-or-treating, etc)? I hate to give into paranoia... but I'm handing out stickers this year."}, {"response": 697, "author": "ekelley", "date": "Tue, Oct 30, 2001 (01:20)", "body": "here in the NY metro area, that is all that seemingly has been on the news- what to check for in candy, areas that should be avoided, etc. I think that it should be put on the national news... If I had kids, I'd be wary of having them go out at all, unless I were with them, and even then, I wouldn't be very comfortable. also heard that all proceeds from this year's UNICEF (those little boxes that kids have in their trick-or-treat bags to collect $), will go to the Afghan children... apparently this is unprecedented in that never has the entire collection gone to one single cause."}, {"response": 698, "author": "Moon", "date": "Tue, Oct 30, 2001 (08:20)", "body": "What's also tiresome is how little informed we are of the details of stories like this. I agree. It is not enought to warn us. They must give us whatever details they have."}, {"response": 699, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Oct 30, 2001 (09:24)", "body": "They're probably not giving out too many details because it would tip off the terrorists that we know how to tap in to their communication channels. They're going to be offering \"candy\" in the form of false threats to see if we can intercept their messages over wire, the net, etc."}, {"response": 700, "author": "mari", "date": "Tue, Oct 30, 2001 (12:59)", "body": "They're not giving us details because they don't have them. What sparked this latest alert is an increase in the amount of \"noise\" among the terrorists communications networks, similar to what was observed immediately prior to September 11. The government is damned if it does, damned if it doesn't. IMO, they issue these warnings to us because, with law enforcement departments throughout the country being placed on high alert, word is bound to get out that something is afoot. If they don't issue a warning--albeit a general one--people would complain that they're covering up the info. So they issue the alert to the public, and the public complains it's not enough info. Believe me, I'm as frustrated as anyone, but the government has an incredibly difficult situation they're trying to deal with, and so I think we need to have a bit more patience and understanding and not be so quick to second guess."}, {"response": 701, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Oct 30, 2001 (15:06)", "body": "Mari, I absolutely agree with you! I'd rather evacuate from 1,000 tsunami warnings than be drowned by one which was not issued to spare us the trauma. This goes for what we face now. Be safe and keep on doing what you were meant to do. Live your lives as best you can. Attend games and parties. If we don't we will die inside and they will have provided the means for this death. I am not willing to give up so easily! My son was just married. I am looking forward to the possibility of another little generation of people to inhabit a most wonderous world."}, {"response": 702, "author": "mari", "date": "Wed, Oct 31, 2001 (10:17)", "body": "Interesting piece from the New York Times: October 26, 2001 We Are All Alone By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN Let me see if I've got this all straight now: Pakistan will allow us to use its bases Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays; provided we bomb only Taliban whose names begin with Omar and who don't have cousins in the Pakistani secret service. India is with us on Tuesdays and Fridays, provided it can shell Pakistani forces around Kashmir all other days. Egypt is with us on Sundays, provided we don't tell anyone and provided we never mention that we give the Egyptians $2 billion a year in aid. Yasir Arafat is with us only after 10 p.m. on weekdays, when Palestinians who have been dancing in the streets over the World Trade Center attack have gone to bed. The Northern Alliance is with us, provided we buy all its troops new sandals and give U.S. passports to the first 1,000 to reach Kabul. Israel is with us provided we never question the lunacy of 7,000 Israeli colonial settlers living in the middle of a million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Kuwait would like to be with us, it really would, since we saved Kuwait from Iraq, but two Islamists in the Kuwaiti Parliament spoke out against the war, so the emir just doesn't want to take any chances. You understand. The Saudis, of course, want to be with us, but Saudis are not into war-fighting. That's for the household help. Don't worry. Prince Alwaleed has promised to rent us some Bangladeshi soldiers through a Saudi temp agency \u2014 at only a small markup. The Saudi ruling family would love to cooperate by handing over its police files on the 15 Saudis involved in the hijackings, but that would be a violation of its sovereignty, and, well, you know how much the Saudis respect sovereignty; like when the Saudi Embassy in Washington rushed all of Osama bin Laden's relatives out of America after Sept. 11 on a private Saudi jet, before they could be properly questioned by the F.B.I. And then there's my personal favorite: All our Arab-Muslim allies would love us to get bin Laden quickly, but the Muslim holy month of Ramadan is coming soon and the Muslim \"street\" will not tolerate fighting during Ramadan. Say, do you remember the 1973 Middle East war, launched by Egypt and Syria against Israel? Remember what that war was called in the Arab world? \"The Ramadan war\"; because that's when it was started. Oh, well. I guess the Arab world can launch wars on Ramadan, but not receive them. My fellow Americans, I hate to say this, but except for the good old Brits, we're all alone. And at the end of the day, it's U.S. and British troops who will have to go in, on the ground, and eliminate bin Laden. Ah, you ask, but why did we have so many allies in the gulf war against Iraq? Because the Saudis and Kuwaitis bought that alliance. They bought the Syrian Army with billions of dollars for Damascus. They bought us and the Europeans with promises of huge reconstruction contracts and by covering all our costs. Indeed, with the money Japan paid, we actually made a profit on the gulf war; Coalitions \"R\" Us. This time we'll have to pay our own way, and for others. Unfortunately, killing 5,000 innocent Americans in New York just doesn't get the rest of the world that exercised. In part we're to blame. The unilateralist message the Bush team sent from its first day in office: get rid of the Kyoto climate treaty, forget the biological treaty, forget arms control, and if the world doesn't like it that's tough; has now come back to haunt us. And who can blame other countries for wanting to shake down U.S. taxpayers when Dick Armey and his greedy band of House Republicans are doing the same thing; pushing a stimulus bill with more tax breaks for the rich, lobbyists and corporations, and virtually nothing for the working Americans who will fight this war? My advice: Try not to focus on any of this. Focus instead on the firemen who rushed into the trade center towers without asking, \"How much?\" Focus on the thousands of U.S. reservists who have left their jobs and families to go fight in Afghanistan without asking, \"What's in it for me?\" Unlike the free-riders in our coalition, these young Americans know that Sept. 11 is our holy day; the first day in a just war to preserve our free, multi-religious, democratic society. And I don't really care if that war coincides with Ramadan, Christmas, Hanukkah or the Buddha's birthday; the most respectful and spiritual thing we can do now is fight it until justice is done."}, {"response": 703, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Nov  1, 2001 (13:02)", "body": "The Italians have also committed to send troups. It was reported on Italian Rai TV news that 10 American soldiers have been captured in A. Has it been reported here? Also in Italy, a Muslim has been found living in a metal container with computer and maps of all Italian airports and Canadian airports. He is in custody and the FBI is on its way."}, {"response": 704, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Nov  1, 2001 (15:18)", "body": "Nothing on the capture on ABC or CNN's websites. And nothing about the Muslim living in the dumpster."}, {"response": 705, "author": "mari", "date": "Thu, Nov  1, 2001 (15:58)", "body": "White House says capture story is completely false."}, {"response": 706, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Nov  1, 2001 (21:34)", "body": "And more comments from David Kline: Wow, today's NY Times also has an excellent piece on \"Afghan Art Dispersed by the Winds of War.\" http://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/01/arts/design/01PILL.html I may have mentioned before how wonderful and unique Afghan art is, and how proud Afghans have always been of it (a further indication that the Taliban are completely alien to traditional Afghan culture and tradition). Anyway, my movie script -- a love story set against the Afghan war -- also centers around a plot to steal precious Afghan art. I sold the script 10 years ago (to Tom Selleck of all people), but when the Gulf War broke out he decided not to make the movie. So the rights reverted back to me. I'm thinking about resurrecting this script and trying again -- one thing's for sure, I'd be the first up to the plate with an Afghan script. Anyone know any agents or producers to steer me to?"}, {"response": 707, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Nov  1, 2001 (23:06)", "body": "The atrocities inflicted on the antiquites of Afghanistan were reported in Geo - archeologist world-wide are outraged. Little did they know that these people are willing to kill of the whole specied to their eternal glory."}, {"response": 708, "author": "suzee202000", "date": "Tue, Nov  6, 2001 (17:13)", "body": "Twenty-six-year-old Palestinian-American poet and political activist Suheir Hammad has published a book of poems, BORN PALESTINIAN, BORN BLACK, and a memoir, DROPS OF THIS STORY, and is prominently featured in LISTEN UP! AN ANTHOLOGY OF SPOKEN WORK POETRY. Recipient of the Audre Lourde Writing Award from Hunter College, the Morris Center for Healing Poetry Award, and a New York Mills Artist Residency in Minnesota, Hammad is a frequent reader at New York reading venues, including numerous radio appearances, and has performed with The All That Band and Rhythms of Aqua. She has produced a documentary film, HALF A LIFETIME, and is writing a film entitled FROM BEIRUT TO BROOKLYN, based on her memoir. Naomi Shihab Nye has called Hammad's work \"a brave flag over the dispossessed.\" First Writing Since 1. there have been no words. i have not written one word. no poetry in the ashes south of canal street. no prose in the refrigerated trucks driving debris and dna. not one word. today is a week, and seven is of heavens, gods, science. evident out my kitchen window is an abstract reality. sky where once was steel. smoke where once was flesh. fire in the city air and i feared for my sister's life in a way never before. and then, and now, i fear for the rest of us. first, please god, let it be a mistake, the pilot's heart failed, the plane's engine died. then please god, let it be a nightmare, wake me now. please god, after the second plane, please, don't let it be anyone who looks like my brothers. i do not know how bad a life has to break in order to kill. i have never been so hungry that i willed hunger i have never been so angry as to want to control a gun over a pen. not really. even as a woman, as a palestinian, as a broken human being. never this broken. more than ever, i believe there is no difference. the most privileged nation, most americans do not know the difference between indians, afghanis, syrians, muslims, sikhs, hindus. more than ever, there is no difference. 2. thank you korea for kimchi and bibim bob, and corn tea and the genteel smiles of the wait staff at wonjo the smiles never revealing the heat of the food or how tired they must be working long midtown shifts. thank you korea, for the belly craving that brought me into the city late the night before and diverted my daily train ride into the world trade center. there are plenty of thank yous in ny right now. thank you for my lazy procrastinating late ass. thank you to the germs that had me call in sick. thank you, my attitude, you had me fired the week before. thank you for the train that never came, the rude nyer who stole my cab going downtown. thank you for the sense my mama gave me to run. thank you for my legs, my eyes, my life. 3. the dead are called lost and their families hold up shaky printouts in front of us through screens smoked up. we are looking for iris, mother of three. please call with any information. we are searching for priti, last seen on the 103rd floor. she was talking to her husband on the phone and the line went. please help us find george, also known as adel. his family is waiting for him with his favorite meal. i am looking for my son, who was delivering coffee. i am looking for my sister girl, she started her job on monday. i am looking for peace. i am looking for mercy. i am looking for evidence of compassion. any evidence of life. i am looking for life. 4. ricardo on the radio said in his accent thick as yuca, \"i will feel so much better when the first bombs drop over there. and my friends feel the same way.\" on my block, a woman was crying in a car parked and stranded in hurt. i offered comfort, extended a hand she did not see before she said, \"we're gonna burn them so bad, i swear, so bad.\" my hand went to my head and my head went to the numbers within it of the dead iraqi children, the dead in nicaragua. the dead in rwanda who had to vie with fake sport wrestling for america's attention. yet when people sent emails saying, this was bound to happen, lets not forget u.s. transgressions, for half a second i felt resentful. hold up with that, cause i live here, these are my friends and fam, and it could have been me in those buildings, and we're not bad people, do not support america's bullying. can i just have a half second to feel bad? if i can find through this exhaust people who were left behind to mourn and to resist mass murder, i might be alright. thank you to the woman who saw me brinking my cool and blinking back tears. she opened her arms before she asked \"do you want a hug?\" a big white woman, and her embrace was the kind only people with the warmth of flesh can offer. i wasn't about to say no to any comfort. \"my brother's in the navy,\" i said. \"and we\"re arabs.\"\"wow, you got double trouble.\" word. 5. one more person ask me if i knew the hijackers. one more motherfucker ask me what navy my brother is in. one more person assume no arabs or muslims were killed. one more person assume they know me, or that i rep"}, {"response": 709, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Nov  6, 2001 (20:43)", "body": "I have known a young geology student in Islamabad for several years. My heart aches for him now. He worries about me. I am far from harm's way, and he is just starting out on life and the study of how precious and special this planet really is. This is incredibly sad, especially when it beomes highly personal."}, {"response": 710, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Nov  6, 2001 (22:42)", "body": "A friend, Koti, sent me this today. From MAILER-DAEMON Tue Nov 6 21:26:30 2001 Date: 06 Nov 2001 21:26:30 -0600 From: Mail System Internal Data Subject: DON'T DELETE THIS MESSAGE -- FOLDER INTERNAL DATA X-IMAP: 1005103590 0000000000 Status: RO This text is part of the internal format of your mail folder, and is not a real message. It is created automatically by the mail system software. If deleted, important folder data will be lost, and it will be re-created with the data reset to initial values. From terry@www.spring.net Tue Nov 6 17:12:54 2001 -0600 Status: R X-Status: X-Keywords: Return-Path: Received: from localhost (koti@localhost) by www.spring.net (8.11.1/8.11.1) with ESMTP id fA6NCpA52010; Tue, 6 Nov 2001 17:12:51 -0600 (CST) (envelope-from koti@spring.net) Date: Tue, 6 Nov 2001 17:12:50 -0600 (CST) From: Koti Nandipati To: gdegamo@lucent.com cc: wayne.branagh@motorola.com, terry@spring.net Subject: Hijackers' Meticulous Strategy of Brains, Muscle and Practice (fwd) Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII NY Times article detailing the sept 11th event execution...--koti Hijackers' Meticulous Strategy of Brains, Muscle and Practice November 4, 2001 By DON VAN NATTA Jr. and KATE ZERNIKE American Airlines Flight 11 was in line for takeoff from Logan International Airport, the passengers already reminded to turn off personal electronic devices, when Mohamed Atta, in seat 8D in business class, dialed his cellphone for the last time. The call rang aboard another sparsely occupied jetliner a bit farther back on the same tarmac, on a cellphone belonging to Marwan al- Shehhi, in seat 6C on United Airlines Flight 175. The conversation between the two men, so close that they called each other cousin, lasted less than one minute - just long enough, investigators say, to signal that the plot was on. That simple communication was the culmination of months of meticulous planning and coordination that by 10 o'clock on the morning of Sept. 11 would become the worst terrorist attack in history. With all the suspects dead and no conclusive evidence, as yet, of any accomplices, investigators have been left to recreate the architecture and orchestration of the plot largely from the recorded minutiae of the hijackers' brief American lives: their cellphone calls, credit card charges, Internet communications and automated teller machine withdrawals. What has emerged, nearly two months into the investigation, is a picture in which the roles of the 19 hijackers are so well defined as to be almost corporate in their organization and coordination. Investigators now divide the 19 into three distinct groups: Mr. Atta, considered the mastermind, and three other leaders who chose the dates for the attack and flew the planes; a support staff of three who helped with the logistics of renting apartments, securing driver's licenses and distributing cash to the teams that would take the four planes; and beneath them, 12 soldiers, or \"muscle,\" whose main responsibility seems to have been restraining the flight attendants and passengers while the leaders took over the jets' controls. The leaders had researched their plans so well that they knew just when each of the four cross-country flights would reach its cruising altitude - the moment, investigators say, when the hijackers stormed the cockpits to confront the pilots with box cutters. The coordination was so thorough that each of the four hijacking teams had its own bank account, and each team's A.T.M. cards used a single PIN. The slightest misstep could trigger intense frustration: more than once last summer in Florida, when money transfers from abroad had not arrived on the expected dates, security cameras captured several hijackers glaring impatiently into A.T.M. screens. The hijackers made a true technophile's use of the Internet, online chat rooms and e-mail. But when it came to their most crucial communications, they did what Al Qaeda's manual on terrorist operations instructs: they met in person. They chose as their meeting place the same locale where generations of American conventioneers have met to exchange information about their crafts: Las Vegas, where investigators say the most crucial planning in the United States occurred. But unlike traditional conventioneers who cluster in casino hotels that replicate the Pyramids or the New York City skyline, the leaders and their logistics men stayed at the seediest end of the famous Las Vegas Strip, next to the \"Home of the $5 Lap Dance,\" at a cheap motel guaranteed not to have surveillance cameras. They stayed briefly, only as long as it took to exchange important information, and apparently did not visit the casinos or any of the other purveyors of easy vice in America's City of Sin. Most of the 19 hijackers, perhaps all of them, spent time in Osama bin Laden's Afghan training camps, investigators now say. Some of the Sept. 11 soldiers appear to have met there. And like Mr. Atta and the other pi"}, {"response": 711, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Nov  9, 2001 (10:38)", "body": "Al Qaeda Takes Cues From Asimov? The Ansible ( http://www.dcs.gla.ac.uk/SF-Archives/Ansible/a172.html ) and Locus Online ( http://www.locusmag.com/2001/News/News11Log.html ) Web sites both reported on the rumor of a possible connection between Al Qaeda, the Islamic terrorist network purportedly masterminded by Osama bin Laden, and, of all things, Isaac Asimov's classic SF novel Foundation, the first in his well-known series of the same name. Ansible quoted SF writer China Mi\ufffdville--author of King Rat, Perdido Street Station and Macmillan's upcoming The Scar--as saying, \"My supervisor, an expert in the Middle East, told me about a rumor circulating about the name of bin Laden's network. The term al qaeda seems to have no political precedent in Arabic, and has therefore been something of a conundrum to the experts, until someone pointed out that a very popular book in the Arab world--Arabs apparently being big readers of translated SF--is Asimov's Foundation, the title of which is translated as Al Qaeda. Unlikely as it sounds, this is the only theory anyone can come up with.\" At least one post on a Russian message board ( http://www.cdi.org/russia/johnson/5491-4.cfm ) speculated that bin Laden might be taking cues from Asimov's book, about an uprising against a Galactic Empire led by a single-minded revolutionary and his band of fighters against overwhelming military odds, Locus reported. For the record, the PBS Frontline Web site reported that al qaeda is \"an Arabic word meaning 'the base.'"}, {"response": 712, "author": "pmnh", "date": "Fri, Nov  9, 2001 (11:07)", "body": "...and asimov was jewish bin laden's form of fundamentalism is remarkably malleable, when he wants it to be"}, {"response": 713, "author": "Moon", "date": "Sat, Nov 10, 2001 (14:48)", "body": "FBI: Sender of anthrax letters a guy, a loner Saturday Nov. 10 By Chris Mondics and James Kuhnhenn Knight Ridder Newspapers WASHINGTON -- FBI officials said Friday that they believe the person who mailed several anthrax-filled letters is probably a U.S.-based male loner with a scientific bent, possibly like Unabomber Ted Kaczynski, whose letter bombs mystified law enforcement for nearly two decades. Federal officials have been speculating for weeks that the anthrax attacks were not connected to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, but the FBI's announcement Friday was the strongest endorsement yet of that theory. Even so, FBI officials said they had not ruled out the possibility that Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network is behind the anthrax attacks. But they said the wording of the three known anthrax-laced letters suggests a domestic source. \"We are not ruling anything out, but we are certainly looking in that direction,\" said one FBI official, who spoke to reporters on condition that he not be identified. The officials hope the public will help identify the culprit. In related developments, traces of anthrax spores were found in four more central New Jersey post offices, President Bush boosted the National Guard presence at the nation's airports, and top administration officials offered assurances that security measures taken since Sept. 11 have made the nation safer. Whoever sent the letters \"did not select his victims randomly,\" the FBI source said. Based on analysis of the handwriting on the letters, they said the anthrax attacker likely was nursing a grudge and probably had a high degree of technical training. The officials believe, too, that he decided to increase the potency of the anthrax he put into the letters as one attack led to another. So far, four people have died after inhaling anthrax spores, and 13 more got sick from anthrax exposure. The officials said that they could detect no political agenda from the letters and their sender's known actions. Each of the three known letters were photocopies, not originals, likely used to help him evade pursuers. The FBI profile of the likely anthrax attacker suggests that he probably avoids public situations. If he has a job, they said, it likely does not involve contact with many people. They suspect he underwent a significant behavioral change as the letters went out, becoming focused on his mission to spread terror, and might have struck acquaintances as increasingly remote. FBI officials said they doubt the letters were sent by Middle Eastern terrorists because they do not resemble other such letters sent in the past. One official said that such letters typically include some Arabic text, but these do not. The FBI's new profile of the likely anthrax-attacker doesn't bring them any closer to solving the case. Law enforcement authorities spent nearly two decades trying to capture the Unabomber and did not succeed until Ted Kaczynski's brother turned him in. The FBI appealed openly to the public to help them identify possible suspects, knowing they probably will have to rely on an informant to finger the person responsible. In a potential break in the hunt for the suspect, anthrax tests detected traces of the bacteria in four more post offices in central New Jersey, authorities said Friday. The small satellite offices all feed a regional processing center that handled three tainted letters sent to Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle's office in Washington and to the New York offices of NBC and the New York Post. The new evidence could help narrow down possible sites from where the letters were sent. Meanwhile, the Bush administration sought to reassure an anxious public that it was safeguarding the nation's airports, mail system and water supplies against new terrorist attacks. President Bush announced a 25 percent increase in the number of National Guard troops assigned to protect airports during the busy holiday season. The increase, effective immediately, will boost by 2,000 the 6,000 guard troops that already have been stationed at airports since the Sept. 11 suicide hijackings. \"These are temporary measures and we believe they will help a lot,\" Bush said. With no new reports of anthrax infections, Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge expressed hope that the threat of anthrax was subsiding. His optimism came as two postal workers who had been treated for the often fatal inhalation form of the disease were released from their hospital beds and sent home. \"We're prayerful, we're hopeful, we hope that this is the last we ever see and have to deal with it,\" Ridge said. Meanwhile, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Christie Todd Whitman said her agency was working closely with water companies and other federal agencies to protect drinking water from contamination. \"The good news here, if there is good news, is that it takes more than a teaspoon or a cupful of a biological or chemical agent to disrupt a water supply and to jeopardize or threaten the"}, {"response": 714, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Nov 12, 2001 (15:52)", "body": "Another plane crash today. Anyone heard any news on this?"}, {"response": 715, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Nov 13, 2001 (11:01)", "body": "Kabul. Northern Alliance troops have taken control of Kabul amid scenes of chaos and jubilation. In a dramatic overnight advance, Northern Alliance units entered the Afghan capital after Taleban fighters fled towards their southern stronghold, Kandahar. Troops were backed by rockets and US bombing There was a vacuum of authority in the city after the Taleban withdrew, with reports of looting, but the BBC's William Reeve says the atmosphere is now less tense. Taleban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar is reported to have urged his troops to regroup and fight. He is quoted by the Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press as telling his men to obey their commanders and not to desert. Some Arab volunteers serving with the Taleban were summarily shot and a BBC camera crew was attacked as opposition troops entered Kabul. from the BBC.co.uk website."}, {"response": 716, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Nov 13, 2001 (17:03)", "body": "Yup, watched the sorry structural failure that caused the small community of Rockaway even more pain. I they buried 12 members of their community with the WTC disaster. This is truly tragic. Yup, an American is sick enough to have created an atmosphere scary enough to cause 32,000 of his fellow citizens to take antibioitcs and kill a few others. There is really not a punishment which fits this crime. I'd make it as slow and as painful as possible. I am throroughly disgusted with apologists and terorists making excuses for why WE deserve to die. Time for payback !"}, {"response": 717, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Nov 14, 2001 (06:48)", "body": "On NPR this morning they were discussing the formation of a \"tribunal for terrrorists, something usually reserved for overseas cases, but now being positioned for domestic used. The Bush administration is faced with the scary thought of a Court system that might result in, say, a hung jury for a Bin Laden. I'll look for details on the web today, it's early and I haven't been to the news web sites yet. Meanwhile, there is music in the streets of Afghanistan. I had a fantasy about a bunch of rock musicians going there and throwing a big, free Woodstock sytle concert for the Afghan people. I fantasized this while I was cleaning the garage."}, {"response": 718, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Nov 14, 2001 (06:55)", "body": "David Kline's thoughts on the Taliban and freeing of Kabul. And no laughter in public. Until yesterday, if the religious police (who all carry plastic foot-long whips) caught you on a street in Kabul laughing at a friend's joke, you would be whipped. They also patrolled the soccer stadium during games -- yes the same stadium where public executions were held -- and if they saw fans applauding or rooting too hard for their team, they would be whipped. No public display of humanity was allowed. These people are so much worse than backward, I can't find the proper words to describe them. Their leaders and top cadre must all be killed. Period. . . . let's not get too excited about a few executions and a certain amount of disorder. This isn't the new Mayor of New York being sworn in here -- these are tribal people who've lived with nothing but savage war for 25 years. A few reprisals is to be expected. But I'll bet anything that it will be limited, and that order and a broad-based transition regime will be put in place soon. There's too much at stake. And this time the world is watching, acting as a stabilizing influence. Since my first post here on 9/12 or so, I have argued that the only way to oust the Taliban is to help and assist the Northern Alliance and other forces take the initiative. This is now what's happening. Seven days ago when some here wondered whether NA forces were too timid to fight -- \"We don't like to train in the rain,\" said one commander -- I urged people not to underestimate them. They may not be the smartest fighters around, but they're surely the toughest. And it's true, they've taken a good number of casualties and plunged ahead with American help. I now worry a little about the Taliban's sudden withdrawal from Kabul. It is such an Afghan move -- Massoud invented and used it 7 times to butcher Soviet armored columns trying to move into his Pansjir Valley redoubt. Could they be laying a suck 'em in and then envelope 'em scheme? We'll soon see. But now with the Herat-Kabul line established and the Taliban apparently retreating to their last-stand defense perimeter, my guess (today) is that two things are going to happen: 1) Pashtun (not Arab) Taliban commanders in the south will begin putting out defection feelers. Leaders to replace Abdul Haq will emerge. 2) The fighting is going to get a lot more bloody because these fucking Arabs really can't wait to die and we can't wait to help them die. Unless, miracle of miracles, the Taliban simply collapses and they head for the border. We better have a brigade and every Pashtun speaking agent we have standing at that Quetta border. They should look for a \"woman\" in burqa sitting atop a horse-drawn wagon (to conceal \"her\" true height) trying to mosey on through the border."}, {"response": 719, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Nov 14, 2001 (07:01)", "body": "Kline: . . . it's a very smart move to leave some open leeway for fleeing Taliban forces. Because the point is to encourage defections -- which are now going to begin en masse, you can be sure -- and thereby separate the Arab from the Pashtun Taliban. That could bring a swift collapse of the regime. Or, if the Arab legions head for the hills to try and wage guerrilla warfare against a post Taliban authority, then the most effective way to root them out will be to send people after them who are a) even tougher than the Arabs; and b) know the mountains even better than the Arabs. IOTW, the Pashtun Afghans who grew up in those damn mountains. Watch for defections increasing by the day. Because the tide has turned. (Unless the retreat from Kabul really is some sort of suck-em-in trap.)"}, {"response": 720, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Nov 14, 2001 (07:03)", "body": "http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A24744-2001Nov13.html \"Bush said the tribunals are needed because \"mass deaths, mass injuries and massive destruction of property\" from future terrorism could \"place at risk the continuity of the operations of the United States government.\" It is \"not practicable,\" he said, to require the tribunals to abide by the \"principles of law and the rules of evidence\" that govern U.S. criminal prosecutions. .... Bush's order promises \"a full and fair trial\" and access to lawyers, but there is no provision for an appeal to U.S. civil courts or international tribunals. Only Bush or the secretary of defense, if the president so chooses, will have the authority to overturn a decision. .... The order says defendants could include past or present members of al Qaeda or anyone involved in acts of international terrorism intended to have \"adverse effects on the United States, its citizens, national security or economy.\" It also targets anyone who has \"knowingly harbored\" such terrorists.\""}, {"response": 721, "author": "ekelley", "date": "Wed, Nov 14, 2001 (10:49)", "body": "my guess (today) is that two things are going to happen: 2) The fighting is going to get a lot more bloody because these fucking Arabs really can't wait to die and we can't wait to help them die. All I can say is bring it on... #2 is a great line."}, {"response": 722, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Nov 14, 2001 (15:23)", "body": "I find that statement frightening. How does one deal with people who WANT to die?? I was most delighted last night to watch the enforced beards being shaved off men. I had hoped to see a liberated woman or two, but that did not happe. We are far from done with this war. Rob mentioned to me that geologists had studied OBL's most recent movies and determined that he was not in Afghanistan. The rock forming his cave were not the kind found in Afghanistan. That had not occurred to me!"}, {"response": 723, "author": "suzee202000", "date": "Wed, Nov 14, 2001 (19:53)", "body": "New York Times November 14, 2001 Bush to Subject Terrorism Suspects to Military Trials By ELISABETH BUMILLER and DAVID JOHNSTON ASHINGTON, Nov. 13 \ufffd President Bush signed an order today allowing special military tribunals to try foreigners charged with terrorism. A senior administration official said that any such trials would \"not necessarily\" be public and that the American tribunals might operate in Pakistan and Afghanistan. At the same time, the Justice Department has asked law enforcement authorities across the country to pick up and question 5,000 men, most from Middle Eastern countries, who entered the country legally in the last two years. Both actions are part of a sweeping government effort to expand the investigation into Al Qaeda's network and clear the way for the more aggressive prosecution of anyone charged with terrorism. Mr. Bush signed the order allowing for the military tribunals shortly before leaving this afternoon for his ranch in Crawford, Tex. White House officials said the order did not create a military tribunal or a list of terrorists to be tried. Instead, they said, it was an \"option\" that the president would have should Osama bin Laden or his associates in Al Qaeda be captured. If the tribunals were created, it would be the first time since World War II that such an approach was used, officials said. Under the order, the president himself is to determine who is an accused terrorist and therefore subject to trial by the tribunal. The order states that the president may \"determine from time to time in writing that there is reason to believe\" that an individual is a member of Al Qaeda, has engaged in acts of international terrorism or has \"knowingly harbored\" a terrorist. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/14/national/14DETA.html ================================================================================ Wednesday November 14 01:13 PM EST Some Warn of Too Much Police Power By Oliver Libaw ABCNEWS.com After Sept. 11, are police getting too much power? Secret property searches, detaining individuals without charges, jailing people on secret evidence, even military tribunals - such powers may seem far-fetched, but law enforcement agencies have them, and are using them to press their campaign against terror. The Patriot Act, as the sweeping anti-terrorism legislation recently signed into law is officially known, is part of an unprecedented effort to catch those responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks \ufffd the worst acts of terrorism ever \ufffd and prevent future assaults. President Bush added to those powers Tuesday, signing an executive order that allows suspected high-level terrorists to be tried in greater secrecy by the military. The enforcement measures have provoked a wide-ranging debate about how to safeguard civil liberties without overly constraining investigators, but many civil liberties advocates say the government has gone too far. Secret Evidence Some point to what they say are problems with earlier anti-terror laws as proof the system may be abused, especially by holding people on secret evidence. This week, the federal government appealed a lower court ruling concerning the power to hold immigrants for long periods based only on such evidence. The case involves Mazen Al-Najjar, a Palestinian professor at the University of South Florida, who was held by the Immigration and Naturalization Service for more than three years based on evidence that was never shown to him or his attorney. A federal judge in Miami had found that Al-Najjar's rights were violated. Al-Najjar had lived in the United States for 20 years and headed a charity that officials suspected was a front for a Palestinian terrorist group, but the exact allegations and evidence against him have not been revealed. Al-Najjar, who was never charged with a crime, was released in December 2000. His case is one of some two dozen in which immigrants have been held for months or years based entirely on secret evidence, but were never prosecuted. \"If these folks were such serious threats, why weren't they prosecuted criminally?\" asks Susan Akram, a Boston University law professor who represents another secret evidence detainee, Anwar Haddam. The Dangers of Expanded Power Expanding government agencies' surveillance powers is also dangerous, says David Kairys, a constitutional rights lawyer and professor at Temple University in Philadelphia. \"It's easily open to abuse,\" he says, pointing to problems in the past, such as the so-called Palmer Raids carried out by President Woodrow Wilson's attorney general in the early 1900s. Between 1918 and 1921, A. Mitchell Palmer pursued and smashed union offices and Communist and Socialist Party headquarters, spurred on by growing fears of radical foreign agents. In 1919, he seized more than 200 resident aliens believed to have radical political views and put them on a ship bound for the Soviet Union. The FBI also famously pursued Martin Luther King Jr. as a national security threat in the '50s"}, {"response": 724, "author": "suzee202000", "date": "Wed, Nov 14, 2001 (20:06)", "body": "Tracking bin Laden: Still a lot of caves to hide in Nov. 14, 2001, 4:58PM By SALLY BUZBEE Associated Press WASHINGTON -- The United States is pursuing Osama bin Laden and Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar, believed to be on the move in the shrinking but still difficult parts of Afghanistan that their forces control. Sharpening the focus on the war's primary targets, American special operations troops are questioning Taliban defectors and prisoners, dangling millions in reward money and hoping for a communications slip-up. Warplanes focus more bombing on mountain hide-outs and caves where Omar or bin Laden might try to disappear. The two men, both expert in guerrilla warfare, have plenty of those remote caves and mountain tunnels -- and enough friends and supplies along the Pakistani border -- to make the chase difficult. \"We still have a ways to go\" in tracking them, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld cautioned today. U.S. intelligence officials believe bin Laden and Omar are still in the region of Afghanistan not under northern alliance control, said a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity. Each is moving around, but they aren't believed to be together. It isn't thought likely that bin Laden will try to leave the country, because such movements could expose him to capture. A Taliban official said today that Omar and his \"guest\" bin Laden were \"safe and well.\" Omar claimed in a radio address Tuesday that he was in the Taliban's southern stronghold of Kandahar, the site Wednesday of sporadic fighting between Taliban and rebel Pashtun leaders. The United States is bombing areas in the south and in the east, especially around Jalalabad, where bin Laden is known to have hide-outs. \"Bunker-buster\" bombs can dig under the surface and explode in a tunnel. Fuel-air explosives can produce tremendous heat and suck out a cave or tunnel's oxygen. Defectors and prisoners are probably the best hope for information on where bin Laden is now, said a former senior U.S. intelligence official with experience in South Asia. Even rumors or hints -- about something such as a recent supply run to a cave, for example -- could prove a breakthrough. In addition, \"It may very well be that money will talk at some point,\" Rumsfeld said, referring to the millions in reward money the United States has offered. Or, Taliban troops and commanders on the run might take fewer precautions with radios and phones, allowing U.S. eavesdropping aircraft to pick up communications and thus get hints to bin Laden's location. U.S. special forces also have been watching roads in southern Afghanistan to see who passes by, Rumsfeld said, and \"to stop people that they think ought to be stopped.\" Bin Laden is believed to move from cave to cave -- some a three days' walk into the mountains -- with only a group of highly trusted aides. The amount of support he can still muster among thousands of past supporters is key. The Taliban may fracture, with some commanders deciding to become guerrilla fighters in mountainous southern Afghanistan, and others making peace with the Pashtun leaders now taking power, said another U.S. official. Afghan fighters have a history of retreating from cities but then waging effective guerrilla warfare in mountains for years afterward, essentially thwarting an enemy's larger goals, said Charles Fairbanks, a central Asia expert at Johns Hopkins University. \"Particularly if they fled to the east, that's a very difficult situation,\" Fairbanks said. \"They have so many sympathizers in Pakistan, and Pakistan really has no control of the situation there.\" Such supporters could keep bin Laden and Omar supplied with food, guns and hiding places, said Andrew Hess, an expert on Pakistan and Afghanistan at Tufts University. In addition, the former guerrilla leader who took control of Jalalabad from the Taliban, Mullah Yunus Khalis, has long-standing ties with bin Laden's Arab followers. Bin Laden is believed to have camps in the mountains near there. Most U.S. officials and outside experts do not think Omar would ever give bin Laden up, despite what Rumsfeld called signs of strain between the two. In his most recent interview, bin Laden said he was \"ready to die.\" Chillingly, he predicted the war against America would continue even if he were gone. http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/special/terror/front/1133127"}, {"response": 725, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Nov 14, 2001 (21:21)", "body": "NPR talked about music in the streets of Kabul today, and the women are liberated, yet they still completely shroud themselves in clothing."}, {"response": 726, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Nov 14, 2001 (21:36)", "body": "David Kline (dkline) Wed Nov 14 '01 (09:54) 43 lines The number of reprisals is unbelievably limited by historic Afghan standards. I am convinced the Northern Alliance intends to do things right this time, and to unite democratically with the southern Pashtun tribes. Pashtun tribes, by the way, who at this moment are rising up spontaneously to fight the Taliban with no leadership other than village elders to guide them. These unorganized Pashtun farmers have already seized the Kandahar airport to prepare the way for U.S. and Northern Alliance activity. And now a more personal note: We have all of us discussed and learned a lot in the past two months, especially in the last month since the war in Afghanistan began. Just two weeks ago many were thinking these Northern Alliance warlords are too timid to fight, that no one supported them, and that surely the Taliban had to have mass public support else they wouldn't be in power, right? I am so grateful to have been able to have these discussions with you because it brought up a deep and long-buried sympatico I feel for the only people I met in my round-the-world travels whom I ever completely loved and admired (despite all their screwy fractiousness). Most anyone who has ever been to Afghanistan feels the same way. Remember how I said from Day 1 that the Taliban are NOT the Afghans? In Kabul today, the NY Times reports a man standing atop a building waving in the air one of those foot-long plastic whips used to beat women -- and crowds cheering him in joy. Burqas are being tossed. Kites are flying. And music -- remember I described how the mujahadeen once outfitted a captured Soviet tank with tape deck and speakers? -- music is playing again! Anyway, I want to say thank you all so much for bearing with my sometimes arrogant certainty of victory for the Afghans. And for sympathizing with me in such a gentle and compassionate way the loss of my friend Abdul Haq. And especially for being not only deeply interested in a little-known people half a world away but also for being absolutely the smartest and most insightful group of people that I have ever \"spoken\" with. The battle is finally being won. Afghanistan will be liberated at last! I can't even describe how happy I am, and how much it meant to me to be able to share all this with you. Thank you all."}, {"response": 727, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Nov 14, 2001 (21:37)", "body": "An awesome statement by one of the most insightful commentators on Afghan Life, thanks David Klein."}, {"response": 728, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Nov 14, 2001 (21:39)", "body": "David Klein: To me, the next big challenge is how to slowly win the trust of the broad masses of Muslims worldwide and isolate the extremists who serve as recruiting ground for the Bin Ladens of this world. We've got to: 1) Apologize for Mossadegh and the Shah of Iran 2) Pledge henceforth our support of democratic reform in Muslim nations ruled by elites 3) Break legs if we have to in order to cool down or even hopefully solve the Palestinian question 4) Offer massive economic aid to Pakistan and other key Muslim states facing fundamentalist threats 5) And finally, in a televised address to the whole world, announce that we want to work with Muslims of good faith everywhere to solve our mutual problems That's how you end the scourge of Islamic terrorism, and not simply snuff Al-Queda. I don't imagine the US will take all the above steps immediately, but we humans are pretty adaptive -- we'll learn eventually that if we want to end terrorism that's what we'll need to do."}, {"response": 729, "author": "suzee202000", "date": "Thu, Nov 15, 2001 (03:11)", "body": "Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) November 13, 2001 Appeal to the UN and World community The people of Afghanistan do not accept domination of the Northern Alliance! Now it is confirmed that the Taliban have left Kabul and the Northern Alliance has entered the city. The world should understand that the Northern Alliance is composed of some bands who did show their real criminal and inhuman nature when they were ruling Afghanistan from 1992 to 1996. The retreat of the terrorist Taliban from Kabul is a positive development, but entering of the rapist and looter NA in the city is nothing but a dreadful and shocking news for about 2 million residents of Kabul whose wounds of the years 1992-96 have not healed yet. Thousands of people who fled Kabul during the past two months were saying that they feared coming to power of the NA in Kabul much more than being scared by the US bombing. The Taliban and Al-Qaeda will be eliminated, but the existence of the NA as a military force would shatter the joyful dream of the majority for an Afghanistan free from the odious chains of barbaric Taliban. The NA will horribly intensify the ethnic and religious conflicts and will never refrain to fan the fire of another brutal and endless civil war in order to retain in power. The terrible news of looting and inhuman massacre of the captured Taliban or their foreign accomplices in Mazar-e-Sharif in past few days speaks for itself. Though the NA has learned how to pose sometimes before the West as \"democratic\" and even supporter of women's rights, but in fact they have not at all changed, as a leopard cannot change its spots. RAWA has already documented heinous crimes of the NA. Time is running out. RAWA on its own part appeals to the UN and world community as a whole to pay urgent and considerable heed to the recent developments in our ill-fated Afghanistan before it is too late. We would like to emphatically ask the UN to send its effective peace-keeping force into the country before the NA can repeat the unforgettable crimes they committed in the said years. The UN should withdraw its recognition to the so-called Islamic government headed by Rabbani and help the establishment of a broad-based government based on the democratic values. RAWA's call stems from the aspirations of the vast majority of the people of Afghanistan. http://rawa.fancymarketing.net/na-appeal.htm RAWA Main Page: http://rawa.fancymarketing.net/index.html RAWA documents and statements: http://rawa.fancymarketing.net/documents.htm"}, {"response": 730, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Nov 15, 2001 (07:12)", "body": "I was just musing, in my early waking hours this morning, about how great it would be if there were on outpouring of love for Afghanis from America and the world, the country can grow and prosper now that the evil regime is on the run. The job is far from finished, but the pieces have started to fall in place."}, {"response": 731, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Nov 15, 2001 (08:12)", "body": "The story of how the eight religious aid workers were released by the Taliban, plucked from a field near Ghazni by a local Pashtun commander and the Red Cross, and flown by US helicopter to a Pakistani air base is going to be quite the blockbuster. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/15/international/asia/15WORK.html"}, {"response": 732, "author": "suzee202000", "date": "Thu, Nov 15, 2001 (16:09)", "body": "By Molly Moore Washington Post Foreign Service Thursday, November 15, 2001; 1:08 PM Excerpt: The German workers today provided dramatic details of their escape, while the two American women, Heather Mercer, who grew up in Vienna, Va., and Dayna Curry, of Thompson's Station, Tenn., and two Australians spent the day in seclusion.................... Georg Taubmann, who headed the Kabul office of the German-based Shelter International Now, provided dramatic details of an escape he called \"horrifying.\" While many details of the past two days remain murky, this is the story as he told it. On Monday night, as the Taliban began fleeing Kabul, soldiers forced the eight detainees from their Kabul jail cells, loaded them in cars and joined the convoy of tanks, pickups and other vehicles streaming southward toward Kandahar. When the convoy reached the neighboring province of Wardak, soldiers led the eight out of the car and locked them in a large steel container. \"It was terribly cold,\" Taubmann said. \"They wanted to lock the container and leave us in there until the morning. We had no blankets. We were freezing the whole night through.\" The next morning they pushed on and were deposited in a prison in the southeastern city of Ghazni. Taubmann described it as the worst of the five prisons in which the group had been housed during the past 3\ufffd months. Shortly after arriving the walls rattled as U.S. aircraft dropped bombs nearby. The detainees then heard heaving gunfire and loud shouting outside the prison. Some time later they heard the doors of the prison cells clanging open. When their cell door burst open, a soldier stood in the doorway gripping a gun. The detainees believed he was a Taliban soldier who might kill them. Instead the soldier stared at them wide-eyed, apparently stunned to find foreigners in the prison. He then shouted, \"Azad! Azad!\" Free! Free! \"We walked into the city and the people came out of the houses and they hugged us and they greeted us,\" said Taubmann. \"They were all clapping. They didn't know there were foreigners in the prison.\" \"It was like a big celebration for all those people,\" he said. A local commander who was among town citizens who rose up against the Taliban then found shelter for the eight at the local offices of an aid organization. With the International Committee of the Red Cross acting as an intermediary, messages were dispatched to the U.S., German and Australian embassies in Islamabad. Because of the difficulty in relaying messages and answers, it took nearly 24 hours to organize the rescue efforts by U.S. special forces based in Pakistan, according to the aid workers and diplomats. Meanwhile, in Ghazni, some local villagers expressed opposition to freeing the aid workers, believing they could be ransomed to their governments for large sums of money, rescuers apparently told the aid workers. On Wednesday night, with the city under a curfew and with some villagers agitating to hold on to the detainees, the eight were led to a field where U.S. special forces helicopters were supposed to pick them up. The aid workers said, however, that the helicopters could not locate them. With the helicopters thumping in the distance, angry villagers who allegedly wanted to hold the workers for ransom running toward them, and fearful that hostile Taliban troops were still in the area, the increasingly desperate aid workers began building a signal fire, first burning the women's headscarves, then sweaters and jackets. \"We burned everything we had \ufffd clothes, everything \ufffd to make a big fire,\" said Taubmann. Special forces teams led the eight into helicopters and flew them to Pakistan, according to diplomats here. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A34986-2001Nov15.html"}, {"response": 733, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Nov 15, 2001 (19:50)", "body": "Terry, you're right about love and accepting warmth for those still struggling to regain some sense of security in Afghanistan. They will make mistakes. All new forms of government do. We just need to let them explore what is best for them and keep the crazies from killing them all while they do so. It is a long tedious process. We're still in the process! *Hugs* I wish it were this easy!"}, {"response": 734, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Nov 22, 2001 (16:53)", "body": "Lethal Mouth Fresh from his ground war against New York taxi drivers, Lethal Weapon lead Danny Glover once again establishes why it's bad for actors to run their mouth without a script: As guest speaker at an anti-death penalty forum at Princeton University, Glover said America was the one to blame for bombing and terror around the world. \"Yes -- Yes!\" Glover said when asked if American forces should spare the Saudi terrorist's life. \"When I say the death penalty is inhumane. I mean [it's inhumane] whether that person is in a bird cage [jail] or it's bin Laden.\" Lethal Pap at http://www.zwire.com/site/Danny_Glover.html Life in the Cave: Intercepted email As the hunt for bin Laden narrowed as of Wednesday, November 21, the following email appeared in our inbox: ----- Original Message ----- From: Bin Laden, Osama Sent: Monday, November 19, 2001 8:17 AM To: Cavemates Subject: The Cave Hi guys. We've all been putting in long hours but we've really come together as a group and I love that. Big thanks to Omar for putting up the poster that says \"There is no I in team\" as well as the one that says \"Hang In There, Baby.\" That cat is hilarious. However, while we are fighting a jihad, we can't forget to take care of the cave. And frankly I have a few concerns. First of all, while it's good to be concerned about cruise missiles, we should be even more concerned about the scorpions in our cave. Hey, you don't want to be stung and neither do I, so we need to sweep the cave daily. I've posted a sign-up sheet near the main cave opening. Second, it's not often I make a video address but when I do, I'm trying to scare the most powerful country on earth, okay? That means that while we're taping, please do not ride your razor scooter in the background. Just while we're taping. Thanks. Third point, and this is a touchy one. As you know, by edict, we're not supposed to shave our beards. But I need everyone to just think hygiene, especially after mealtime. We're all in this together. Fourth: food. I bought a box of Cheez-Its recently, clearly wrote \"Osama\" on the front, and put it on the top shelf. Today, my Cheez-Its were gone. Consideration. That's all I'm saying. Finally, we've heard that there may be American soldiers in disguise trying to infiltrate our ranks. I want to set up patrols to look for them. First patrol will be Omar, Muhammed, Abdul, Akbar, and Richard. Love you lots. Osama"}, {"response": 735, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Nov 22, 2001 (16:53)", "body": "Name that President \"He walked into history an obscure, flat footed, bantamy little fellow in a light gray suit, the inhabitant of an eloquence-free zone who gave boring speeches in a flat voice. He was not compelling. This was more obvious because he followed a charismatic leader who did big things and filled the screen. He was quickly defined and dismissed by the opinion elite as \"a first-rate second-rate man.\" And maybe at the beginning he feared the appraisal was correct, for when he became president he said very frankly that he felt the moon and the stars had fallen upon him.\" Okay, who is this guy? Answers at http://opinionjournal.com/columnists/pnoonan/ One More Reason to Give Thanks Out: Yellow Ribbons. In: Flags Surveying the reaction to September 11, Father Richard John Neuhaus asks, where have the yellow ribbons gone? Where did the flags suddenly come from? \"Nobody decreed that it should be so,\" he writes in the December issue of First Things; \"it just happened, and its happening is likely to be of great significance.\" First appearing in the Iranian hostage crisis two decades ago, the ribbons were \"too often a symbol of self-pity and maudlin sentimentality.\" But they've been replaced by \"a buoyant patriotism unprecedented in living memory.\" http://opinionjournal.com/columnists/rbartley/?id=95001487 \"I Have A Dream\" The hallucinations brought on by living with shrapnel inside your skull continue among the Taliban \"leadership:\" \"Recent reports suggested that Mullah Omar, facing almost certain defeat, had agreed to surrender Kandahar. But yesterday Ahmad Karzai, whose brother Hamid has been negotiating with the Taliban for the surrender of the city, said Mullah Omar had changed his mind because he had had a prophetic dream in which he remained in power. \"I have had a dream in which I am in charge for as long as I live,\" Mr. Karzai quoted Mullah Omar as saying.\" For as long as you live, Omar? Okay. Start the countdown clock at mission control! http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia_china/story.jsp?story=105801 Duh as in 'Diplomat' The editors of The New Republic on why Colin Powell and his elves should back off and give victory a chance. \"Just how brilliant do the diplomats of the United States think they are? They seem to believe that they can calibrate a place that is infamous for its lack of calibration. Their thinking about the political conditions for a military victory in Afghanistan has become rigid and dogmatic: they foolishly attempted to delay the fall of Kabul until their own plans for it could be met, once again giving Osama bin Laden the impression that we are reluctant warriors and hesitant victors. What happened in the North this week was not the United States unleashing the Northern Alliance; it was the Northern Alliance surprising the United States. And the United States could not bring itself to concede that this was a pleasant surprise.\" http://www.tnr.com/112601/editorial112601.html This Week's Conventional Media Wizdum THIS war is in trouble. We're bogged down, getting nowhere and staring at a Vietnam-style quagmire. The Taliban's grip on the country remains total. These famously tough warriors of iron resolve are unlikely to be. . . Whoops, sorry, that was last week. Just let me punch up this week's Conventional Media Wisdom. Ah, here we go. Things are moving too fast. There's a dangerous power vacuum. The Taliban, being famously tough, etc, have pulled off a brilliant double-bluff by abandoning every major city and lever of government. Their grip on selected southern and western caves remains total. The Northern Alliance are too vicious, unfairly targeting enemy soldiers instead of just killing unarmed women and homosexuals. The collapse of the burqa market will devastate the Afghan fashion industry. .,"}, {"response": 736, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Nov 22, 2001 (16:53)", "body": "http://www.dailytelegraph.co.uk/dt?ac=006605705660173&rtmo=V1PPjumx&atmo=rrrrrrrq&pg=/01/11/17/do02.html Can't We All Just Get Along? The New York Times reports that the \"spiritual ' leader of the Taliban is appealing to the world to just forgive and forget: Syed Tayyab Agha, spokesman for Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar, also told a news conference that it is time to ``forget'' about the Sept. 11 terror attacks in the United States, as they have been superseded by the U.S.-led war on Afghanistan. ``You should forget the Sept. 11 attacks because now there is a new fighting against Muslims and Islam, and the international and global terrorists like America and Britain, they are killing daily our innocent people,'' he told journalists in the Afghan border town of Spinboldak. All in favor of inviting this guy to Thanksgiving dinner, send email to caveguys@screweinstan .com And Next on the USA's Christmas List Is.... An end to Saddam's regime would be a major defeat for terrorism and would give us great leverage in getting others-Iran and Syria, Saudis and Palestinians-to shut down terrorist movements. Winter, some say, is a bad time for war in Afghanistan. Everyone agrees that winter is a good time for war in Iraq. The time may come soon for George W. Bush to say again, \"Let's roll.\" Michael Barone at U.S. News http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/011126/politics/26pol.htm"}, {"response": 737, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Nov 22, 2001 (19:41)", "body": "This is really great stuff on a day full of stuffing. Thanks! Harry Trumanm is my guess for Prez in the first part, but I am still hungry and preparing sacrifices for Mme Pele for later in the day."}, {"response": 738, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Nov 22, 2001 (22:08)", "body": "\"For the time being, the reasons behind the advance on Kunduz remain unclear.\" ... \"Even as the advance began some northern commanders continued to insist that a surrender was still possible.\" \"The BBC's Jon Sopel outside Kunduz said the military advance may indicate a battle for control of the town between different factions of the Northern Alliance.\" http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/south_asia/newsid_1669000/1669567.stm"}, {"response": 739, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Nov 26, 2001 (21:27)", "body": "I heard a blockbuster rumor today. Basically, there is a French book being published which recounts the FBI's investigation of Osama Bin Laden and his cohorts. which says that they were hot on the trail of all of the terorists and were then pulled off the case by the State Department just before 9/11. Reportedly, the chief of the FBI investigation quit over the interference from the State Department. I'll try and substantiate this with some facts and sources."}, {"response": 740, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Nov 29, 2001 (19:12)", "body": "Interesting! I'll check too..."}, {"response": 741, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Nov 30, 2001 (09:11)", "body": "They may fave found Bin Laden's hideout. See topic 49 in the news conference. There's a picture of this mountain fortress."}, {"response": 742, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Dec  3, 2001 (00:56)", "body": "I didn't know where else to put this. My Daughter-in-law sent it to me. I think it sums up my feelings as well as hers and my son's. Giving Thanks for What We're Not http://www.ncpa.org/edo/pd/2001/pd111901.html"}, {"response": 743, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Dec 10, 2001 (14:57)", "body": "dkline Mon Dec 10 '01 (09:49) Meanwhile, today's NY Times has a very encouraging front page article on the demoralizing effect the Afghan Jihad has had on the Swat Valley region of Pakistan (home to Shangri-La, believe it or not). 15,000 men were \"volunteered\" by their local mullahs to go fight -- \"the militant leaders mostly stayed home, or crossed the frontier only long enough to declare themselves holy warriors before hastening back,\" notes the article -- and as many as 3,000 have never returned. The reason I say it's encouraging is that the great losses suffered by these poor uneducated people are surely weakening the hold over them that the fundamentalists have until now enjoyed. As one disillusioned local put it: \"So a lot of innocent people have died, and Sufi Muhammad (the local religious boss) and other religious leaders are responsible for this. They sent people who had no training whatsoever to war, and then they stayed back in Pakistan. They are still alive, while so many others have died.\" One day we're going to be shocked to discover just how much control -- top to bottom -- the fundamentalists really had in Pakistan, a country with several ready-to-use nuclear weapons. The war, thank God, will hopefully allow us (and Mushareff) to break the grip these fanatics have on such a strategic country. There's a book here, for anyone brave enough to do it. Read the full article at: http://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/10/international/asia/10JIHA.html?searchpv=nytToday"}, {"response": 744, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Dec 11, 2001 (09:25)", "body": "I was driving down the highway to work this morning and most of the radio stations did a memorial national anthem at the same time the Sept 11 attacks took place just 3 months ago. It's hard to believe that 3 months have gone by. As Bush spoke on the radio at a service, I was passing by the exact spot where I first heard the news as he was saying \"we will all remember where we were on that day.\" Where were you? How did you hear the news? How has your life changed since then? How has it affected your world?"}, {"response": 745, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Dec 11, 2001 (15:51)", "body": "Has anyone else heard this? I got it in an email from a friend, yesterday: *The extended bin Laden family is building a trade center in Lebanon that's an image of one of the twin towers.* If this is the case, what a horrific way to memorialize it."}, {"response": 746, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Dec 11, 2001 (15:57)", "body": "The WTC was attacked at 2AM Hawaiian time. I was awakened the next morning (about 5 hours later) with the news and turned on the television. I still can't (or don't want to) believe the devastation it unleashed. I still look at the images on TV. My mind recoils from watching, but I know I must not forget, so I watch. I can see the buildings falling down even with my eyes open."}, {"response": 747, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Dec 11, 2001 (16:06)", "body": "It has affected my world by making a routine inter-island commute into a 4 hours ordeal. Two hours on each end to have all things gone through carefully, walking around in a seemingly armed camp surrounded by rifles at the ready National Guard Troops. We also are forbidden fishing from the breakwaters, and the piers are sealed off by customs inspectors. Hawaii is considered a war zone, so we are also partolled by gunships - both US Navy and Coast Guard. When we went to the summit of Kilauea for Thanksgiving dinner, we noted that the Kilauea Military Rest Camp there hand armed guards where none had existed before, and a heavy metal gate had been installed across each entrance. I think we will never be the same again. Our childhood has been taken away from us, and we must be adults like all the rest of the world has had to be for so long. My delight is the determined comradship I find in my friends who were not all that friendly before. The \"we take care of our own\" attitude has been replaced by \"you AR our own.\" I hope that part lasts."}, {"response": 748, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Dec 11, 2001 (18:00)", "body": "This is very strange. I wish I knew what factory was at the bottom of the picture. No, I don't believe it.... http://www2.justnet.ne.jp/~kiti/Ufo/wtc/wtc.htm"}, {"response": 749, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Dec 11, 2001 (21:51)", "body": "Tom Clancy on why the CIA didn't catch the 9-11 terrorists O'REILLY: Was there a reason that Turner and Carter -- was their a reason why Turner and Carter wanted a weaker [CIA]? CLANCY: It's politically correct. O'REILLY: Simple as that? CLANCY: I think so. The political left is, you know, they deal in symbols rather than reality. The general difference between conservatives and liberals is liberals like pretty pictures and conservatives like to build bridges that people can drive across. And conservatives are indeed conservative because if the bridge falls down, people die. Where as the liberals figure, oh, we can always build a nice memorial to them and make people forget it happened and it was our fault. They're very good at making people forget it was their fault, all right. The CIA was gutted by people on the political left who don't like intelligence operations, and as a result of that, as an indirect result of that, we've lost 5,000 citizens last week."}, {"response": 750, "author": "KarenR", "date": "Tue, Dec 11, 2001 (23:37)", "body": ""}, {"response": 751, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Dec 13, 2001 (22:15)", "body": "The Tape http://www.cnn.com/2001/US/12/13/ret.bin.laden.videotape/ CNN has posted a transcript in pdf format http://i.cnn.net/cnn/2001/US/12/13/transcript/binladentape.pdf David Kline (dkline) Thu Dec 13 '01 (09:20) 32 lines Yep, I just saw the Bin Laden tape and it is unbelievable. The man is toast. No doubt he did it (although there will always be 250 people in the world who think the tape is doctored or whatever). And no doubt his callous admissions and disregard for others will hurt his image greatly. Especially his laughter. People hate smug assholes, and OBL is one. Not a lot of things are truly \"chilling\" to me. This tape was. I was also interested to notice the same sort of ass-kissing by OBL subordinates that I remember from my old political days. Only in this case, it was OBL's henchment vying with each other for the most vivid or predictive or praiseworthy (of OBL) dreams that they were pretending to have had. These schmucks were all claiming had these vivid dreams which were all just a bit too pat and synchronous to real-world events for my taste. And they were competing with each other to tell comrade Bin Laden about the praiseworthy meaning of their dreams. What pathetic fucks. I'll tell you what, though. It confirms my sense that OBL was laughing at us during the bombing-only phase of our campaign. Bombing was what they expected us to do. They did not expect us to get on the ground and help the Northern Alliance. And they certainly did not expect that cooperation would lead to the total military collapse of the Taliban in 4 weeks. So who's laughing now, Bin Laudenam? I'll tell you, though, I feel sorry for anyone watching this tape who lost family or loved ones in 9/11. It must be so hurtful to see a low-life like OBL laughing at the murder of innocents. God. The transcript in html http://www.cnn.com/2001/US/12/13/tape.transcript/ and it is in real video at http://video.c-span.org:8080/ramgen/fdrive/ter121301_osama.rm?mode=compact Sulayman ((Abu Guaith)): ... So I went back to the Shaykh (meaning UBL) who was sitting in a room with 50 to 60 people. I tried to tell him about what I saw, but he made gesture with his hands, meaning: \"I know, I know\ufffd\" UBL: He did not know about the operation. What an amazing tape excerpt -- seen at the CNN site. Questions: CNN said it was not taped in chronological order, rather than saying the tape had been edited/dubbed. Strange. Is that just spin? It would have had to have been edited by someone to be out of order, right? Odd. I think the stakes are too high to fake a tape like this. I think it is real, and chilling. I wonder what made them delay releasing it. The propaganda value for those in the Western world who were uneasy about proof is unmistakable. I am very curious how this will play in the Pakistani press and on al-Jezeera tv. I wish we had an arabic speaker who could translate/paraphrase what the commentary and lead-ins are like there. Or a good arabic media critique site (in english) for the same purpose. David Kline (dkline) Thu Dec 13 '01 (11:27) 66 lines > One thing that struck me was the way the visiting \"Saudi cleric\" kept > > saying \"thanks be to Allah...by the grace of Allah\" in practically every > other sentence, while UBL smiled in a way that made me think he finds > other people's devotion to Allah amusing and useful, but that it's not > something he particularly shares. Thank you, Jake. That's a very good point -- and very typical behavior for the top leader of a movement that also functions like a personality cult. The henchmen kiss ass. The leader starts believing the worshipful. And he starts looking down at his henchmen who then worship him even more. Anyway, a few points: 1) WHEN THE TAPE WAS MADE? The Tape was made probably the same day that US chopper lost a wheel and was abandoned (or shot down). Anyone remember what day that was? It was right around the mid-October time of the special forces PR raid. Anyway, this was also the time when US fortunes in Afghanistan looked their bleakest. It seemed all we were doing was bombing Red Cross hospitals and everyone talked about how we'd under-estimated the strength of the Taliban. Even I was a bit demoralized by our lack of progress, and kept wishing we'd just put some SF guys on the ground with the NA and stop all this futile if not counter-productive bombing. The point being, the tape was shot when it appeared to Bin Laden that the US was doing exactly as he expected -- i.e., come in and bomb from a safe height, but not get our boots dirty with on-the-grouned fighting. So he was feeling supremely confident in his ultimate and total success, probably more confident than at any time before or since. 2) WHY THE TAPE WAS MADE? We look for savvy thinking, for conspiratorial 3-steps-ahead planning, in the behavior of Osama bin Laden. But the fact is he was simply suffering from great hubris at the time (see my point #1 above), and allowed the local hosts of that dinner party (which was probab"}, {"response": 752, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Dec 14, 2001 (06:39)", "body": "This is Aljazeera 's account today from the above url cited by David Kline."}, {"response": 753, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Dec 14, 2001 (06:40)", "body": "Bin Laden: Attackers Knew About The Operation Just Before They Boarded The Planes The Pentagon released Thursday a video that it says implicates Osama Bin Laden in the 11 September attacks on New York and the Pentagon. The 40-minute recording is of very poor audio and visual quality. The tape was recorded on November 9 in Kandahar, Afghanistan. US officials disclosed they found the videotape in a private residence in Jalalabad. According to the CNN, Bin Laden and the other three men seated with him make numerous references to various al Qaeda members having dreams of planes hitting tall buildings at least a year before the attacks. Speaking of the hijackers, bin Laden states, \"They were trained and we did not reveal the operation to them until they are there and just before they boarded the planes.\" Additionally, he had turned on his radio in advance to listen to coverage of the attacks and that he had underestimated the damage that would be inflicted on the World Trade Center. Bin Laden is quoted as saying: \"We calculated in advance the number of casualties from the enemy, who would be killed based on the position of the tower.\" This comment referred to hijacked airliners, which hit and destroyed the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York. \"We calculated that the floors that would be hit would be three or four floors. I was the most optimistic of them all,\" he added. http://www.wbur.org/special/specialcoverage/feature_aljaz.asp"}, {"response": 754, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec 14, 2001 (20:32)", "body": "I LIKE DAVID KLINE. He says things I would not dare but think, anyway! I refuse to offend my eyes by looking at that man. I watched to be informed but that is all. Is there doubt? Not even for the criminally insane person that he is!"}, {"response": 755, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Dec 14, 2001 (23:24)", "body": "Mutual. David Kline hits home with his poignant observations, based on years in Afghanistan."}, {"response": 756, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec 14, 2001 (23:52)", "body": "Indeed. I can feel the intensity of David Kline's anguish and love for Afghanistan in his eloquence. Thanks, Terry, for your continuing posts of his comments. I still worry about that idiot who called Art Bell last night suggesting OBL be set free because we do not punish the criminally insane. Art cut him off, and the following phone calls with creative ways to deal with a captured live OBL gave me much comfort. We have developed a wry sense of the ridiculous when dealing with the actuality of the current war, but are we angry? committed? determined? You'd better believe it!"}, {"response": 757, "author": "AotearoaKiwi", "date": "Sun, Dec 16, 2001 (18:25)", "body": "Hi all I am wondering if it might be better to set a trap for bin Laden with bait of some sort to lure him out. I am not sure how you would do this but it is obvious to me that bin Laden will not be caught in a specific place if he does not to be. Because everyone is climbing a tree called Afghanistan, he may have quietly climbed a tree called Pakistan or Kazakhstan or something like that. I also wonder if assuming Bush decides to move into Somalia and North Korea, if the world coalition will fragment. Even your staunchest ally Britain is rumbling in world media about setting limits as to how far they are prepared to go. I think you need the UN's permission before you set foot on the soil of any other country. Many think America can gain those countries co-operation by offering aid. I urge extreme caution in any decision to expand the war for several reasons: 1)Prove their connections to terrorism 2)Accept that there are more peaceful alternatives to sanctions or military movements in countries like North Korea and Somalia. Humanitarian aid to the former may encourage the former to be more open and possibly allow a thawing of international relations with the North. 3)Another round of diplomacy to reassure key players like the Russians, your European allies and Britain. 4)Don't send the CIA to play the role of the agitator in countries that are preoccupied with internal problems unless the Federal government is prepared to accept some responsibility for wrong doings. 5)Arabs and Muslims have the jitters at the moment over the Palestinian question. Which suggests to me that some \"unthinkable\" things will have to be done to calm them down and stop an escalation of the war. Rob"}, {"response": 758, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Dec 18, 2001 (20:40)", "body": "We've captured Tora Bora but no Osama. David Kline (dkline) Tue Dec 18 '01 (13:55) 23 lines Wait a minute ... you mean there are people here who really believe that the Pakistani border could be sealed tight if only we really wanted to -- and that maybe we don't really want to? Un . . . believable! Not all the world is as secure as a Safeway parking lot, you know. I have spent a good deal of time in those Tora Bora mountains, and crossed that border several times whilst on the run from Russian special forces units and the Pakistani military and intelligence services. Plus I covered the heroin traffic in that region, and I recall how once when the Pakistani government wanted to meet with tribal leaders, they only way they could get them to sit down and talk was to bring in artillery. What's rally happening here, I suspect, is that naive conspiracy-mongering at work here again. You know, the notion of the United States as all-knowing and all-powerful and able to control all events in the world as it chooses. Makes for real good Chomsky, to be sure. But it hardly conforms to the way the real world works. Just ask the Vietnamese. Or Osama bin Laden."}, {"response": 759, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Dec 23, 2001 (12:15)", "body": "From today's New York Times report on the swearing in of Hamid Karzai: \"Adding to the optimism and calm that pervaded the capital today was the show of unity by two Afghan military commanders who had been expected to snub the ceremony: General Rashid Dostrum ... and Gen. Ismail Khan.\" The most moving part of the ceremony, said the Times, was when the Belgian foreign minister Louis Michel made areference to slain Alliance leader Massoud Ahmed Shah that \"captured the combination of grief, exhaustion and aching hope\" that Afghans are feeling today. \"I am sure,\" Michel said, \"that Mr. Massoud is proud of his nation today.\" According to the Times, \"That single sentence sent tears rolling down scores of weathered, wrinkled and scarred cheeks in the audience.\" Really wonderful. And for me as an interested outside observer, especially so. I've literally waited 22 years for this day - David Kline"}, {"response": 760, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Dec 23, 2001 (12:16)", "body": "And Kline adds this: There's certainly cause for hope and optimism re: Afghanistan, but it's also important to be aware of the dangers ahead as well. I can think of many mistakes that the new government could make that would jeopardize Afghan peace and unity: 1) Karzai must not get involved in another muddle with the US (such as the one over amnesty for Mullah Omar) thaty makes him look like a US puppet. 2) Karzai must firmly suppress by armed force if necessary any warlordism or lawlessness or resistance to the government -- at least from middle- or lower-level military, political, religious or tribal figures. 3) But Karzai must never use suppressive methods (an Afghan tendency) against high-level military, political, religious or tribal dissenters. Always compromise should be sought; negotiations conducted. The above are just three things to worry about. I can think of many more potential roadblocks ahead that Karzai will need to skillfully negotiate. Hopefully he can do it. But it's not at all certain he can."}, {"response": 761, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Dec 25, 2001 (11:50)", "body": "David Kline: I have waited (I kid you not) 22 years for this day! -- but even apart from my personal attachment to that country I do believe that something of great import for the world is now taking place in Afghanistan. You cannot push a people through much more suffering and disaster than that which the the Afghans have experienced in recent years, yet now we are witness to a rebirth of hope that many though impossible. Will it succeed? We'll soon know. But the subtext for this inauguration ceremony, as Barb suggests, is really the question of whether hope and rebirth is possible for the larger world as a whole. If the Afghans can save themselves, after all, then maybe we can, too."}, {"response": 762, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Dec 25, 2001 (23:15)", "body": "Poor Afghanistan. I truly hope those people can live in peace and not become a global battlefield. There is so much to hope for, now...!"}, {"response": 763, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Dec 28, 2001 (11:03)", "body": "Mr. John Reid the shoe bomber really is part Jamaican apparently a small time criminal who converted to Islam while in prison. Details here: http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,2001570016-2001595137,00.html That article links him to Zacarias Moussaoui, the \"20th hijacker\". What next? Body cavity bombs?"}, {"response": 764, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec 28, 2001 (16:26)", "body": "It does not take much plastique as far as I know. Scary, indeed! When will the dental record become necessary, too?!"}, {"response": 765, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec 28, 2001 (17:18)", "body": "Swiss-led campaign to rebuild the destroyed Bamiyan Buddhas: http://www.msnbc.com/news/661589.asp http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20011121/sc/attack_afghan_statues_dc_1.html http://www.portal.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2001/11/18/wbud18.xml&sSheet=/news/2001/11/18/ixhomer.html More on what's been lost/missing in Afghanistan: http://portal.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2F2001%2F11%2F23%2Fwkab223.xml http://www.dallasnews.com/science/STORY.ea3e5c965f.b0.af.0.a4.6e84a.html http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20011112/taliban.html"}, {"response": 766, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec 28, 2001 (17:19)", "body": "A number of artifacts are being recovered from the WTC site: http://www.nydailynews.com/2001-11-15/News_and_Views/City_Beat/a-132149.asp"}, {"response": 767, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Jan  4, 2002 (15:06)", "body": "http://www.timesofindia.com/articleshow.asp?art_id=380255744 Indo-Pak war raging in cyberspace SIDDHARTH SRIVASTAVA TIMES NEWS NETWORK NEW DELHI: Pakistani hackers have made several attempts to hack into Indian sites--especially those containing data on sensitive information relating to nuclear test management--to access sensitive information related to the country's security, said sources in the Intelligence Bureau. The sites targetted include those of Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR), the Nuclear Science Centre (NSC) and the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC). Although these three sites have been repeatedly hacked in the past, according to IB officials, the recent attempts were aimed at accessing crucial data secured under severely firewalled servers. \"It is quite apparent that the new breed of hackers are much more equipped and trained,\" say sources in the IB. Officials also say that there could have been at least a couple of successful attempts to break the codes of the sites. \"There have been as many as seven attempts to hack into the BARC data since the attack on Indian Parliament on December 13. We are also on the lookout for spy programs that might have been installed,\" says an official. The IB has already written to the defence and the home ministry about the issue. The two ministries have, in turn, sought the help of cyber security firms to shore up the sites. The hackers, according to officials, may be on the payroll of Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence. There has been a history of infiltration into Indian sites with sensitive information by Pakistani hackers. The first infiltration into BARC was in 1998, when it was hacked by three members of Milworm, a Pakistan-based hacker group. Ever since, BARC servers have been favourite targets of Pakistani hackers. \"This year alone, at least one spy program has been detected in a BARC mail server,\" says an official. The first intrusion into IGCAR was reported in January last year when G-Force, a Pakistani hacker group, defaced its main server. Subsequently, other servers in IGCAR have been repeatedly hacked by G-Force. Indian intelligence officials have identified one hacker as Rsnake, who is said to have copied the master database from IGCAR and provided some data to Pakistani intelligence as proof of his access. The ISI, in turn, has realised the importance of hackers after BARC was hacked in 1998. The first Pakistani hacker group-Pakistani Hackers Club-was formed by two 'hacktivists' who used the pseudonyms DoctorNuker and Mr Sweet. DoctorNuker took to hacking when he was a computer science student at Karachi University. Along with fellow hacker Dizasta (real name: Fahad Shamshek Khan), he started hacking into critical Indian and US servers. DoctorNuker, say IB officials, was the first hacker whose skills were recognised by the ISI and under the latter's directives, focused on critical Indian government servers (especially those relating to nuclear and atomic establishments). But sources say the most active Pakistani hacker in the recent past has been a person impersonating as Rsnake, who started hacking from the Netherlands where he was working with a group of portals. Inspired by DoctorNuker, he started the hacker group G-Force from Holland. The ISI has now got him to Pakistan to coordinate other hackers targeting Indian websites, claim IB officials."}, {"response": 768, "author": "Matt", "date": "Fri, Jan  4, 2002 (16:30)", "body": "Its all The Same,War, not good for any one"}, {"response": 769, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jan  5, 2002 (00:58)", "body": "There never HAS been a \"good\" war. However, if our ancestors had not fought for your right to say what you said, perhaps you would not have the right to do so. Soem causes have to be bought more preciously than others. Or would you rather be speaking German or Japanese, now? Alas, war is not a simple case of right or wrong when there are two sides."}, {"response": 770, "author": "suzee202000", "date": "Sat, Jan 12, 2002 (02:18)", "body": "(739 - Paul Terry Walhus (terry)I heard a blockbuster rumor today. Basically, there is a French book being published which recounts the FBI's investigation of Osama Bin Laden and his cohorts. which says that they were hot on the trail of all of the terorists and were then pulled off the case by the State Department just before 9/11. Reportedly, the chief of the FBI investigation quit over the interference from the State Department. *************************** CNN AMERICAN MORNING WITH PAULA ZAHN Explosive New Book Published in France Alleges that U.S. Was in Negotiations to Do a Deal with Taliban Aired January 8, 2002 - 07:34 ET - CNN January 8, 2002 - 07:34 ET THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Time to check in with ambassador-in- residence, Richard Butler, this morning. An explosive new book published in France al leges that the United States was in negotiations to do a deal with the Taliban for an oil pipeline in Afghanistan. Joining us right now is Richard Butler to shed some light on this new book. He is the former chief U.N. weapons inspector. He is now on the Council on Foreign Relations and our own ambassador-in- residence -- good morning. RICHARD BUTLER, FMR. U.N. WEAPONS INSPECTOR: Good morning, Paula. ZAHN: Boy, if any of these charges are true... BUTLER: If... ZAHN: ... this... BUTLER: Yes. ZAHN: ... is really big news. BUTLER: I agree. ZAHN: Start off with what your understanding is of what is in this book -- the most explosive charge. BUTLER: The most explosive charge, Paula, is that the Bush administration -- the present one, just shortly after assuming office slowed down FBI investigations of al Qaeda and terrorism in Afghanistan in order to do a deal with the Taliban on oil -- an oil pipeline across Afghanistan. ZAHN: And this book points out that the FBI's deputy director, John O'Neill, actually resigned because he felt the U.S. administration was obstructing... BUTLER: A proper... ZAHN: ... the prosecution of terrorism. BUTLER: Yes, yes, a proper intelligence investigation of terrorism. Now, you said if, and I affirmed that in responding to you. We have to be careful here. These are allegations. They're worth airing and talking about, because of their gravity. We don't know if they are correct. But I believe they should be investigated, because Central Asian oil, as we were discussing yesterday, is potentially so important. And all prior attempts to have a pipeline had to be done through Russia. It had to be negotiated with Russia. Now, if there is to be a pipeline through Afghanistan, obviating the need to deal with Russia, it would also cost less than half of what a pipeline through Russia would cost. So financially and politically, there's a big prize to be had. A pipeline through Afghanistan down to the Pakistan coast would bring out that Central Asian oil easier and more cheaply. ZAHN: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) as you spoke about this yesterday, we almost immediately got a call from \"The New York Times.\" BUTLER: Right. ZAHN: They want you to write an op-ed piece on this over the weekend. BUTLER: Right, and which I will do. ZAHN: But let's come back to this whole issue of what John O'Neill, this FBI agent... BUTLER: Right. ZAHN: ... apparently told the authors of this book. He is alleging that -- what -- the U.S. government was trying to protect U.S. oil interests? And at the same time, shut off the investigation of terrorism to allow for that to happen? BUTLER: That's the allegation that instead of prosecuting properly an investigation of terrorism, which has its home in Afghanistan as we now know, or one of its main homes, that was shut down or slowed down in order to pursue oil interests with the Taliban. The people who we have now bombed out of existence, and this not many months ago. The book says that the negotiators said to the Taliban, you have a choice. You have a carpet of gold, meaning an oil deal, or a carpet of bombs. That's what the book alleges. ZAHN: Well, I know you're going to be doing your own independent homework on this... BUTLER: Yes. ZAHN: ... to see if you can confirm any of this. Let's move on to the whole issue of Iraq. The deputy defense secretary, Paul Wolfowitz, at one time was considered one of those voices within the administration... For the complete transcript, go to the following URL: http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0201/08/ltm.05.html ************************ U.S. Taliban Policy influenced by Oil by Julio Godoy Inter Press Service English News Wire, 16 November 2001 Centre for Research on Globalisation (CRG), globalresearch.ca 17 November 2001 A new book by two French intelligence analysts claims that at the behest of U.S. oil companies, the Bush administration initially blocked FBI investigations into terrorism, while it bargained with the Taliban for the delivery of Osama bin Laden in exchange for political recognition and economic aid. In the book \"Bin Laden, la verite interdite\" (\"B"}, {"response": 771, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Jan 13, 2002 (05:55)", "body": "Wow, that was like a big spoiler alert after the text bomb. I'm glad Mahfouz is under arrest We need to know the truth of the events leading up to September 11 so is this a piece of the puzzle, the whole puzzle, or is it a distortion. Obviously Paula Zahn thinks it's worthy of probing, let's see where this story goes."}, {"response": 772, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Jan 14, 2002 (17:51)", "body": "The war will end in 2008, now we know. Pentagon warns of war lasting six years By David Wastell in Washington (Filed: 13/01/2002) AMERICAN military chiefs believe that the global war against terrorism will last at least six years. Pentagon officials are being advised to draw up budgets and plans to buy new equipment on the assumption that the struggle against al-Qa'eda and other international terrorist groups will endure until 2008, and perhaps even longer. \" continued at http://www.portal.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;$sessionid$MO5SHXQAAECK5QFIQMGSFF4AVCBQWIV0?xml=/news/2002/01/13/wtal213.xml&sSheet=/news/2002/01/13/ixnewstop.html"}, {"response": 773, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jan 14, 2002 (21:22)", "body": "Happy Us. We KNOW when the war will end. How very peculiar!"}, {"response": 774, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Jan 17, 2002 (04:51)", "body": "More from the same article: Donald Rumsfeld, the defence secretary, has won President Bush's backing for a sharp increase in military spending. Extra money will be allocated for more of the weapons that have proved useful in Afghanistan, such as unmanned surveillance and attack aircraft. The increased spending will continue whether or not Osama bin Laden is found soon. It follows signs that the Pentagon is wearying of the intense public interest in the hunt for the al-Qa'eda leader, and Mullah Omar, the Taliban leader. John McCain, a senator and former chairman of the armed services committee, said on his return from a trip to the Afghan region that he felt frustrated that bin Laden was still at large. He added, however: \"He's on the run now. I think he's a threat so long as he's alive, but it's a far different scenario than the one where he had sanctuary and was able to operate with a financial network and a network of terrorists throughout the world.\" After four weeks in which the Pentagon and the media were constantly on tenterhooks for the imminent capture of bin Laden, a change of tack ordered by Mr Rumsfeld has become evident. Officials say that they will no longer even hint at where they think he might be. There have also been reports of clashes between the Pentagon and the CIA over the quality of intelligence emanating from Afghanistan. Some military officials feared there was a \"missed opportunity\" when the Pentagon ordered US Central Command to rely on local Afghan forces rather than US troops to try to intercept and capture bin Laden after the assault on al-Qa'eda's Tora Bora mountain hideouts. Not only did bin Laden apparently escape, but so have a series of Taliban leaders over the past two weeks, almost certainly including Mullah Omar, raising questions about the competence or possible corruption of the Afghan forces. Although no politician is yet prepared to risk publicly differing with Mr Bush over the administration's handling of the war, some advisers fear that public patience over the failure to catch bin Laden will evaporate if the hunt drags on too long - or if there is a fresh terrorist attack on the US."}, {"response": 775, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Jan 18, 2002 (12:30)", "body": "Osama bin Laden may be on the verge of winning a round, the Saudis are said to be on the verge of asking the Americans to leave Saudi Arabia: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64536-2002Jan17.html This was Bin Laden and Al Quaeda's aim, and it will vindicate Bin Laden to the Islamic world. I hate to see it take this turn. More later as I learn more."}, {"response": 776, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Jan 18, 2002 (12:33)", "body": "US Envoy Plays Down Reports of Strains with Saudi January 18, 2002 09:34 AM ET Email this article Printer friendly version RIYADH (Reuters) - A senior U.S. envoy played down U.S. media reports of tensions with Saudi Arabia over the presence of American troops in the kingdom, an Arabic newspaper reported on Friday. \"I did not come to the kingdom with any demand, instead I came as an ally and a friend,\" U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Lincoln Bloomfield told the London-based daily Al-Hayat. \"Our cooperation is very important and is not only about (fighting) the terrorist al Qaeda organization but also for the sake of long-term regional security,\" he said. The New York Times reported this week that senior officials in Congress and at the Pentagon had called for the pullout of U.S. forces from Saudi Arabia because of what they see as its tepid support for the U.S. war on terrorism and restrictions on U.S. military operations. Bloomfield said he had not discussed with Saudi officials the presence of U.S. troops at a Saudi air base, which an influential U.S. senator has said may have to end because of restrictions imposed on them by Saudi Arabia."}, {"response": 777, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Jan 25, 2002 (10:13)", "body": "David Kline (dkline) Thu Jan 24 '02 (10:44) 63 lines I had lunch yesterday with the nephew of the legendary Afghan hero Abdul Haq, and it was rather interesting to hear his views on issues that have something to do with this discussion. First, a bit of background. Khushal Arsala is the son of Abdul Haq's brother. During the anti-Soviet war, the two brothers fought side by side and promised each other that if either died, the other would raise the deceassed's children as if they were his own. And that's what happenned -- Abdul Haq raised Arsala and his siblings as if they were his own kids. So as you might imagine, Arsala has enormous love and hero worship of Abdul Haq, who as you might recall was captured and executed by the Taliban only a few weeks before a sufficient critical mass of popular revolt started the Taliban crumbling. A sad irony, indeed. Anyway, Arsala spoke to two issues that have been very controversial here in the USA: the treatment of Guantanamo prisoners, and the bombing campaign in Afghanistan. On the first issue -- treatment of prisoners -- he said he could understand America's dilemma vis. a vis. the Geneva conventions and other legal issues. He had no real suggestions to offer. But he did want to stress, \"in case you Americans forget,\" that by and large the people detained in Guantanamo are \"beyond the pale\" of anything \"Americans are used to facing.\" They are relentless, he said, and \"they will kill you at the first chance. You Americans are not used to people like this, people with no standard of decency and humanity such as you try to have.\" I guess his point was to be sympathetic to our dilemma, but to also remind us that we are afflicted with akind of naivete and \"sense of fair play\" that while important for us to maintain, may blind us to the utter and implacable hatred of our enemies. Point No. 2 concerned the bombing. Like his uncle Abdul Haq, Arsala opposed the US bombing campaign in Afghanistan. He totally supported our special forces teams working with the Northern Alliance and other opposition forces to oust the Taliban, but he felt much of the bombing, at least, did not serve to aid that effort but merely alienated some of the population owing to the civilian casualties that resulted. What about the continued bombing of suspected Al Queda positions in Paktia province? He said that we definitely had to go in there and kill those people, but by employing bombing, we ended up killing too many innocent civilians when ground action would accomplish the job without such civilian losses. Overall, though, he said that Afghans today overwhelmingly welcome the US presence in the country, but that this could change overnight if a) too many more civilians are killed; or b) we do not deliver immediate aid to help the country get back on its feet. \"How much does it cost for one or two bombing missions?\" he asked. \"That money could provide salaries to thousands of civilservice employees.\" He also said: \"I do not feel that by asking for American economic aid we are asking for charity. Thousands and thousands of our people died to battle first your enemy the Russians and now your enemy Al Queda. And we warned you year after year after year -- Abdul Haq warned you -- that the Taliban and Al Queda would attack America from their bases in Afghanistan. We asked you to help us defeat them, but you refused.\" The above is close to an exact quote. His views are pretty interesting, I think. . Great observations from Abdul Haq's son and David Kline."}, {"response": 778, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Jan 26, 2002 (03:16)", "body": "This is some not good news. In fact, horrible news *if true*. Al Qaida moving into Gaza, may join fight against Israel ANKARA \ufffd Western diplomatic sources said Al Qaida insurgents have infiltrated the West Bank and Gaza Strip in an effort to determine whether the movement should make the Palestinian areas into their new home. The sources said Al Qaida appears to prefer the Gaza Strip over more distant locations such as Somalia. http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/breaking_7.html"}, {"response": 779, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Feb  3, 2002 (09:06)", "body": "There's another Bin Laden interview floated out by CNN. Al Jazeera is hacked off at CNN for releasing it. During the interview, bin Laden said the U.S. war on terrorism was leading American people \"into an unbearable hell and a choking life.\" He told the interviewer that killing innocent civilians \"is permissible in Islamic law.\" Well, life ain't hell and the only one choking is George Bush on a pretzel. And he's over it."}, {"response": 780, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Apr 25, 2002 (10:24)", "body": "Bush and Crown Prince Abdullah to meet: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/middle_east/newsid_1949000/1949736.stm No big deal. The \"leak\" is that they want us to back off support for Israel or else they'll stop being our ally, cut off oil imports and ally with Saddam, Al Qaeda or some other terrorist group. The morning Austin call show's topic was \"What should Bush tell the Saudi Crown Prince\". What would you tell him if you were Bush? One caller said, \" . . . six words. First I'd tell him \"You're under arrest\". Next three words were \"Fuel Cell Technology.\""}, {"response": 781, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, May 16, 2002 (07:55)", "body": "http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/15/national/15INQU.html Pre-Attack Memo Cited Bin Laden By DAVID JOHNSTON WASHINGTON, May 14 The classified memorandum written by an F.B.I. agent in Phoenix last summer urging bureau headquarters to investigate Middle Eastern men enrolled in American flight schools also cited Osama bin Laden by name and suggested that his followers could use the schools to train for terror operations, government officials said for the first time today. The memorandum said terrorist groups like Mr. bin Laden's might be sending students to the schools as the first step in what could be a concerted effort to place Islamic militants in the civil aviation industry around the world as pilots, security guards or aircraft-maintenance workers. The memorandum's existence has been known for months, but few details were available until recent weeks, when some lawmakers and Congressional staff members were allowed to read it. Before today government officials had not revealed that the memorandum included direct references to Mr. bin Laden. . . . The memorandum was written by an F.B.I. agent in Arizona conducting terrorism investigations of several Middle Eastern men who were attending flight school in the area. People who have read the memorandum said it did not identify anyone by name as a Qaeda follower, did not specify which flight schools should be investigated or explicitly predict the Sept. 11 attacks. But several lawmakers who have read the Phoenix memorandum described it as the most significant document to emerge in Congressional inquiries into whether the government might have been warned about possible hijackings. Several senators said the letter represented a warning that went unheeded. The memorandum may not be the only internal document embarrassing to the bureau. In August, an agent speculated in notes, made when investigators sought to explain why Zacarias Moussaoui was enrolled in a Minnesota flight school, that Mr. Moussaoui might be planning to fly a plane into the World Trade Center. Mr. Moussaoui, a French citizen, who was soon arrested on immigration charges, was believed by the United States government to be the intended 20th hijacker on Sept. 11. . . ."}, {"response": 782, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, May 17, 2002 (10:53)", "body": "On http://www.repeater.org Why the World Trade Center Collapsed."}, {"response": 783, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Jun 20, 2002 (09:05)", "body": "Messages intercepted by U.S. on Sept. 10 revealed From CNN Capitol Hill Producer Dana Bash and Correspondents David Ensor and Kate Snow WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Messages intercepted by U.S. intelligence one day before the Sept. 11 attacks came from telephone conversations between people in Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia, sources said Thursday. The conversations were in Arabic, but officials are not sure who was talking. One of the intercepts said, \"The match begins tomorrow.\" The other said, \"Tomorrow is zero hour.\" The intercepts however, were not translated and analyzed until Sept. 12 -- one day after the attacks. More @: http://www.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/06/19/911.warning/index.html"}, {"response": 784, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Jun 20, 2002 (15:05)", "body": "Is Padilla John Doe #2 (Oklahoma City)? http://www.msnbc.com/news/769827.asp WASHINGTON, June 20 \ufffd Just weeks before Timothy McVeigh bombed the Oklahoma City federal building in 1995, U.S. intelligence and law enforcement received several warnings that Islamic terrorists were seeking to strike on American soil and that a likely target was government buildings, documents show."}, {"response": 785, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Jul 21, 2002 (13:51)", "body": "U.S. Holds Suspected Al Qaeda Trainee $12 Million in Fake Checks Are Seized By Douglas Farah and Allan Lengel Washington Post Staff Writers Saturday, July 20, 2002; Page A01 ... U.S. intelligence officials said that possibly hundreds of al Qaeda and Taliban fighters who escaped from Afghanistan had gone to Indonesia and that nation has become a haven for the terrorist movement. more@"}, {"response": 786, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Jul 22, 2002 (23:21)", "body": "Moussaoui Roommate Pleads Guilty Monday July 22, 2002 11:50 PM NEW YORK (AP) - A Saudi student who briefly shared a room with Zacarias Moussaoui in Oklahoma pleaded guilty Monday to making false statements, including lying to the FBI about their plans to visit New York in August. Hussein al-Attas, 24, entered the plea to seven charges in U.S. District Court as part of a deal that keeps him in the country to testify, if needed, against Moussaoui, the only person charged with conspiring to help the 19 Sept. 11 hijackers. Under the plea agreement, al-Attas faces up to six months in prison. more at http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-1898070,00.html"}, {"response": 787, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Sep 11, 2002 (09:56)", "body": "It's been one year today. What are your thoughts and recollections on the past year. I marvel at how fast this time has gone by, this seems like it just happened yesterday. A year ago we were stunned and horrified. Today we reflect back and try to pull together the lessons of the past year. How will history regard this event? A major turning point or, as one historian said on CBS Sunday Morning, a \"blip onthe screen.\""}, {"response": 788, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Sep 11, 2002 (10:27)", "body": "Today is an \"orange alert\". http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61812-2002Sep10.html There's a new Al Jazeera tape out today with tapes from several of the dead hijackers, Bin Laden's voice but no images. There is video of several people looking at maps clearly showing the Pentagon and World Trade Center. Three US Embassies have been closed today for security reasons. Reuters says our Fifth Fleet in Bahrain has been put on \"Threat Condition Delta\". http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=578&e=5&cid=578&u=/nm/20020910/ts_nm/attack_threat_military_dc This is a reflective piece: http://www.exhibit13.com http://slate.msn.com/?id=2070777 Shlomo Ben-Ami, a former Israeli foreign minister, writing in the Jerusalem Post said: \"Al-Qaida is a small, evil terrorist organization, a far cry from the global terror superpower the American administration would have us believe. I submit that this balloon has been blown out of all proportion by a US president in search of an agenda: politically motivated, power-motivated.\" An op-ed in Pakistan's Nation conceded that Pakistan has \"benefited from the realignment post- September 11 in that it has preempted actual and potential enemies, and, in the process, bought itself a breather,\" but worried that this comes at the expense of a \"dependency mindset,\" wherein everyone expects the United States to swoop in and solve the world's problems. It concluded, \"This dependency mindset is not just a sign of weakness, but it also abdicates the ruling elite from any responsibility to reform and revamp the state. More so, because the problems are essentially of our own making and need our own efforts for their resolution.\""}, {"response": 789, "author": "freddie", "date": "Wed, Sep 11, 2002 (11:28)", "body": "This news article about The Big Lie is frightening. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/09/04/60II/main520768.shtml"}, {"response": 790, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Sep 11, 2002 (11:39)", "body": "That is pretty incredible, Lisa. Especially this passage: The Jews did it. That's exactly what they are saying: the mayor, the businessman, the journalist, the baby doctor...everyone. And, as one of them said, \"Osama is totally innocent!\" Totally innocent? It sounds incredible - the idea that Osama bin Laden had nothing to with the World Trade Center attacks. But as the Gallup poll later confirmed, that's exactly what most Muslims believe. from the above url."}, {"response": 791, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Sep 11, 2002 (13:23)", "body": "Three passengers on a Memphis flight have locked themselves in the bathroom. The plane has been diverted to Ft. Smith, Arkansas Airport. All passengers have gotten off the plane safely. Police are negotiating with the passengers in the bathroom. http://wcbs880.com/news/AP/APTV/National/a/a/PlaneDiverted-aa/news_html > A ship where nuclear material was detected in its cargo hold has been moved six miles offshore. http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2002-09-11-radioactivity-search-ship_x.htm"}, {"response": 792, "author": "autumn", "date": "Wed, Sep 11, 2002 (17:03)", "body": "As Terry said, it is astonishing that all that devastation occurred an entire year ago. But then, the aftermath took until what, May, to spend itself? So really, this summer has been the first respite from the everyday news reports on the status of the WTC clean-up. I wouldn't say that I'm on a news fast--I did tune in this morning to hear Pataki recite \"The Gettysburg Address\" and the initial list of names--but then I gave myself permission to get on with my life on 9-11-02. 30 people were killed in southern France in floods yesterday, nearly 1,000 in China this summer. Acts of man and nature are taking their toll every day, as are acts of love and humanity. As for me, the cup is half full."}, {"response": 793, "author": "ekelley", "date": "Wed, Sep 11, 2002 (17:38)", "body": "God Bless those who lost loved ones; Bless New York, America, and all people everywhere. May this madness end... Did anyone else see the Frontline program on faith that was on a couple of nights ago? I thought it was done very well."}, {"response": 794, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Sep 13, 2002 (11:32)", "body": "DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, (CNN) -- In the second part of a documentary aired by the Arabic television news network Al-Jazeera, two al Qaeda terrorists wanted by the United States give an account of their planning of the September 11 attacks and describe the actions of some of the main hijackers in their final days. The documentary contains accounts and quotes attributed to Ramzi Binalshibh, described in the documentary as the \"coordinator of the September 11 operation,\" and Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, a Kuwaiti who is on the United States' \"most wanted\" terrorist list and is believed by authorities to be one of the primary planners. Binalshibh told Al-Jazeera he hoped to have been one of the hijackers but could not obtain an entry visa to the United States. Al-Jazeera says the two were interviewed in Karachi, Pakistan, and sources familiar with the interviews told CNN both men were interviewed this summer. The tape provided to CNN has English subtitles provided by Al-Jazeera. The documentary is titled \"Top Secret: The Road to September 11,\" narrated by Al-Jazeera journalist Yosri Fouda."}, {"response": 795, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Sep 13, 2002 (11:33)", "body": "So, the fourth plane was headed for the Capitol."}, {"response": 796, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Dec 19, 2003 (09:53)", "body": "http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/information/siteindex.html is a good analysis of the WTC attacks. They could have been prevented, says the commission. I have to get to tivo and watch last nights Nightline on this before I can comment. More later."}, {"response": 797, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Nov 19, 2004 (07:44)", "body": "Dramatic footage juxtaposed: http://www.thewebfairy.com/911/demolition/controlled.htm"}, {"response": 798, "author": "bayouvetty", "date": "Fri, Nov 19, 2004 (11:40)", "body": "Terry, Very interesting links. I have been reading a lot recently about the Pentagon sham. It's very difficult to wrap my \"conspiracy theorist\" mind around the fact that our government may have demo-ed the 3 WTC buildings though. Let me know if you are interested in the Pentagon links that I have. I can try to locate and e-mail to you."}, {"response": 799, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Nov 20, 2004 (02:18)", "body": "Sure, better, post them here."}, {"response": 800, "author": "bayouvetty", "date": "Sat, Nov 20, 2004 (10:09)", "body": "http://home.comcast.net/%7Eskydrifter/exp.htm http://www.cassiopaea.org/cass/boeing.htm I hope these work as links. There is a ton of info in these two sites. They also contain many links to other sites. Can we really know where the TRUTH LIES?"}, {"response": 801, "author": "cfadm", "date": "Mon, Jul 21, 2008 (21:12)", "body": "Developers agree to bond World Trade Center overhaul ADVERTISEMENT Click here to find out more! A layer of insurance for the city has been added to the 99-year lease that will transfer control of the World Trade Center into the hands of a private developer. \ufffdAll parties agreed to a bonded construction contract,\ufffd said Sean Cummings, executive director of the New Orleans Building Corp. As landlord of the city-owned tower, the NOBC has steered the redevelopment plan for the mostly empty office building and negotiated a lease with development firm Full Spectrum, which will redevelop the tower into a four-star hotel, condos and a cultural museum. The addition of the bonded construction contract came after urges for a performance bond from a governmental watchdog group, the Bureau of Governmental Research, and City Council President Jackie Clarkson. Clarkson and BGR feared the city could face undue risk without an explicit bonded guarantee redevelopment of the 33-story tower would be completed. Under the latest proposed lease, Full Spectrum would pay $30 million and an annual payment equal to 60 percent of the taxes that would be owed on the riverfront property if it was not tax-exempt. The annual payment a $24 million one-time payment will go to NOBC to fund the redevelopment of the public riverfront that surrounds the tower. The other $5 million will go to the World Trade Center organization, which will remain a tenant in the renovated building. news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 44, "subject": "Media coverage of WTC attack and the aftermath", "response_count": 27, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep 24, 2001 (00:48)", "body": "The Guardian's apparently scooped U.S. media on details of the impending invasion of Afghanistan: http://www.observer.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,556716,00.html"}, {"response": 2, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep 24, 2001 (00:49)", "body": "According to The Guardian, a small British special forces team has entered Afghanistan and exchanged gunfire with Taliban forces: http://www.guardian.co.uk/waronterror/story/0,1361,556775,00.html"}, {"response": 3, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Oct  3, 2001 (10:34)", "body": "Here's a web site, Re:constructions, that is an online resource and study guide examing the media coverage of the Sept. 11 events and aftermath, put together by people connected with the new MIT Comparative Media Studies Program. http://web.mit.edu/cms/reconstructions/"}, {"response": 4, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Oct  6, 2001 (01:48)", "body": "msnbc.com Where the plot was hatched Bin Laden came to Afghanistan to fight the Soviets but found the country was the perfect location for his training camps The story of the terror attack on America begins in Afghanistan. Watch this report from NBC's Ron Allen. By Ron Allen NBC NEWS PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Oct. 5 \ufffd Looking at the beginning of the terrorist plot against America, one starts with the idea of the horrific attack. Where was it born? That question leads to a country in the cross-hairs, Afghanistan, where the plot was hatched ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS, deep inside Afghanistan, the plot against America was hatched. And it is in Peshawar that a trail of evidence leads to bin Laden. Two days before the attack, in a call to his mother in Syria, bin Laden told her something \ufffdbig\ufffd would happen. Then reports say bin Laden evacuated his camps in Afghanistan days before the attacks, and congratulatory calls were intercepted between his operatives in the days that followed. It is in Peshawar, Pakistan, just 20 miles from the Afghan border, where some of bin Laden\ufffds most ardent supporters are found. \ufffdIf they go after him without showing any credible evidence,\ufffd says journalist Hamid Mir, \ufffda dead Osama will become more dangerous for the Americans than a live Osama.\ufffd An outcast among his 52 brothers and sisters, bin Laden moved to Peshawar in 1984 to help the mujahadeen rebels fight their holy war against the Soviets. The multi-millionaire bin Laden poured his wealth into local charities, using his family\ufffds Saudi construction business to build tunnels, bunkers and roads to help the war effort. While bin Laden was waging war against the Soviets, he began to see Afghanistan as the perfect place to set up training camps and recruit new fighters in the first steps toward assembling a network of terror \ufffd a terror network targeted at America. Why? Bin Laden turned on America during the Gulf War, when U.S. troops went to the sacred Muslim soil of Saudi Arabia. America\ufffds continued support for Israel has only increased his outrage. His message of hatred of America and Jews resonates in religious schools in Peshawar and with thousands of fighters who have come to his Afghan training camps to join his holy war. \ufffdThey were given training, they were provided with material, they were provided weapons,\ufffd says former Pakistani legislator Lateef Afridi. \ufffdAfghanistan in due course of time became the paradise of terrorists.\ufffd Meanwile, evidence mounts against the man the CIA calls, \ufffdThe Manager,\ufffd for the way he applies his skills and money to the cold business of terrorism. Now in his mountain hideaway, bin Laden prepares himself and his closest followers for an American attack."}, {"response": 5, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Oct  6, 2001 (22:09)", "body": "Terry, the above comment on OBL planning his next attack does not surprise me. Did anyone see the MSNBC footage on how the Taliban treats women? Absolutely appalling!!! If they have another generation of children it will surely be by rape."}, {"response": 6, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Oct  8, 2001 (15:17)", "body": "Here's the text of today's Bin Laden video release: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/south_asia/newsid_1585000/1585636.stm"}, {"response": 7, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Oct 11, 2001 (11:53)", "body": "The PBS newshour is doing a story on them today: ******************************************* * MEDIA WATCH ALERT * An E-mail Service of The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer * and the Online NewsHour ******************************************* October 8, 2001 *WINDOW ON THE WAR Qatar-based Al-Jazeera has recently garnered international attention as one of the only broadcast outlets with an eye on the action in Afghanistan. Yesterday, Al-Jazeera provided U.S. news networks with a rare taped statement by suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden, and it has broadcast statements by U.S. and British leaders to its Arab audience. Tonight, media correspondent Terence Smith examines Al-Jazeera's growing role as a conduit between the Western and Arab worlds. Visit http://www.pbs.org/newshour/media after 9 pm Eastern time for more information on this segment."}, {"response": 8, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Oct 11, 2001 (20:32)", "body": "Ventura fears he, Mall and Dome are terrorist targets BY JIM RAGSDALE Pioneer Press Gov. Jesse Ventura said Wednesday the decision to withhold information about his public schedule from the media is due to a concern that he could be a target of terrorism. ======= http://www.pioneerplanet.com/news/mtc_docs/157309.htm"}, {"response": 9, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Oct 11, 2001 (22:01)", "body": "Probably wise! I'm sure they know he was a Navy Seal at one time!"}, {"response": 10, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Oct 14, 2001 (10:09)", "body": "http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20011012/ts/attack_dc_403.html White House aides said Bush has been startled by the depth of hatred among Muslim protesters for America following air raids on Afghanistan in response to the Sept. 11 attacks. from a Reuters article"}, {"response": 11, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Oct 14, 2001 (10:12)", "body": "Myths of American misdeeds The view that the US brought the attacks on itself weakens the fight against terror, says Steven Simon and Daniel Benjamin Published: October 1 2001 20:09 | Last Updated: October 1 2001 20:15 As the US begins a long, intense struggle against Osama bin Laden and his network, some people claim that the US is the author of its own misfortune. Their arguments are founded on myths about US misdeeds in the world. At a moment when the US must be united at home, supported by its allies and clearly understood in the world, these myths must be laid to rest. The first is that the attacks of September 11 would never have occurred if the US had been putting pressure on Israel to make concessions to the Palestinians. This claim mistakenly transforms Mr bin Laden's jihad into an extension of the Arab-Israeli conflict. In fact, over the last decade Mr bin Laden has shown little interest in the dynamics of Palestinian-Israeli relations. His overriding focus has been on the US and its military presence on the Arabian peninsula - in his view, the most appalling manifestation of the intrusion of the west into the sacred realm of Islam. This is the central grievance that provides the justification for his call to \"kill Americans and their allies - civilian and military - in any countries in which it is possible\". Mr bin Laden wishes to see the west so exhausted and demoralised by carnage that it withdraws to northern Europe and North America. Israel is just one of many places where US interests and the west in general can be attacked. Where precisely Israel draws its borders with Palestine is irrelevant for Mr bin Laden to whom the very existence of a Jewish state in the Middle East is an unholy affront. Those who contend that America's failure to force Israeli concessions lies at the root of Mr bin Laden's rage have much to explain. Why did those associated with Mr bin Laden mount attacks against the US in the years that the Oslo process was being implemented? Why does Mr bin Laden claim credit for murdering Americans in Somalia in 1993 if the Palestinian cause is his motivation? The irony is that proponents of the myth that the Arab-Israeli conflict is a central cause of the September 11 attacks are tarring the Palestinian cause with mass murder. The US must continue to work for a just peace in the Middle East but not because of Mr bin Laden. The second myth is that Mr bin Laden's terrorism is driven by poverty. According to this claim, economic exploitation by outsiders and corruption at home fuel this terrorism; terrorism would fade away with a massive programme of assistance. Without a doubt, the economic stagnation and privation in much of the Islamic world have bred a powerful discontent. This, in turn, helps explain Mr bin Laden's appeal to the discontented in countries from northern Africa to Indonesia. It also gives some direction for a western effort to dry up support for Mr bin Laden's followers. But poverty is not the motor behind murder on this apocalyptic scale. The World Trade Center conspirators themselves give the lie to this myth. They came not from the hovels of Gaza from but the comfort of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The ringleader was the son of an Egyptian lawyer. Like the radical Islamists of Egypt in the 1970s and 1980s, they came predominantly from the professional middle class. In the US, they lived comfortably, paid for expensive flight training and had money to spare. The uncomfortable truth is that these attacks were motivated by a violent religious sensibility, not a desire to help the poor of Islam. The third myth is that the US helped create Mr bin Laden through its involvement in the Afghanistan war. This myth has become a favourite of European and Middle Eastern commentators who seek to justify their own anti-Americanism. They argue that the US not only made Mr bin Laden a formidable figure among radical Islamists but also lit the fuse of militant Islam that now haunts us. It is true that Afghanistan has been a crucible for extremism. But blaming this on the US ignores the fact that it was the Soviet Union that invaded Afghanistan in 1979 and, through a puppet regime, brutalised its people beyond recognition. The US would have been a barely observable presence in Afghanistan even at the height of the war and Mr bin Laden probably never met a US agent, let alone got recruited by the CIA. The US and the Mujahideen did share important objectives in Afghanistan. But what sparked Mr bin Laden's campaign against the US was his discovery, on returning from his war against one infidel army, that yet another was \"occupying\" the cradle of Islam with the blessing of its Saudi custodians. These myths may make some feel better about their moral equivocation in the face of the suffering in New York. If so, they will prove politically debilitating in the long term. But by enabling believers to deny the undeniable threat Mr bin Laden poses, these myths undermine the c"}, {"response": 12, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Oct 14, 2001 (10:18)", "body": "Meet Biff Bin Laden. http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/newsid_1597000/1597981.stm (son of world's most wanted man)"}, {"response": 13, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Oct 14, 2001 (10:19)", "body": "Two networks are not airing the Bin Laden tape. http://dailynews.yahoo.com/htx/ap/20011013/us/attacks_media_1.html"}, {"response": 14, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Oct 14, 2001 (10:21)", "body": "The media coverage of the anthrax situation has gone way overboard. Are our media outlets becoming the whipping boys of the terrorists, carrying out their dictates? It would seem so from the things we are seeing over, and over and over and . . ."}, {"response": 15, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Oct 14, 2001 (10:22)", "body": "The truth about cipro and anthrax. http://www.npr.org/ramfiles/atc/20011012.atc.12.ram NBC's Dr. Bob Arnot says we're getting way to panicked over this anthrax thing, it's a common disease that's very hard to get and it's not contagious."}, {"response": 16, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Oct 14, 2001 (23:37)", "body": "Date: Sun, 14 Oct 2001 14:30:06 -0400 From: \"Ivo Skoric\" To: nettime-l@bbs.thing.net Subject: ivogram: media watch x4 From: \"Ivo Skoric\" Date: Wed, 10 Oct 2001 17:08:46 -0400 Subject: Media Watch Prompted by the US mainstream electronic media failure to report the anti- war protest from Times Square, New York, on October 7, I decided to start a Media-Watch project, kind of like what we have seen done by the dozen of Western NGO-s with Croatian, Bosnian and Serbian media during the wars of Yugoslav succession. There it was widely perceived that the state-owned mainstream electronic media were used by nationalist governments to manufacture the consent for war. In the words of Noam Chomsky, here in the U.S. the media are used in pretty much the same way right now. On Monday, the second day of the air-strikes against Taliban positions in Afghanistan, I watched news from three major European sources to compare them to the major American TV networks. Here are my findings: Deutsche Welle gave a lot of space to considerations about fate of the aid workers still held prisoners by Taliban in Afghanistan. They went all but unmentioned on American TV on Monday (they were mentioned on Tuesday). Deutsche Welle also noted that among the first casualties of the bombing were aid agencies vital for survival of Afghanistan civilians: UNICEF and UNHCR buildings were burned in Queta by protesters following the first day of bombing. French TV went further, interviewing the doctor working with Medecins Sans Frontieres, who expressed doubts about the real value of air drops, calling them merely a useful propaganda tool. The anchor then went on to mock American networks for showing endless footage of nightly skies, supposedly, over Kabul, where not much could be seen, since they look, indeed, quite the same like nightly skies over Bagdad or over Belgrade. BBC, besides showing the disturbing footage from protests in Queta a day ahead from its American colleagues, has also shown the (even more disturbing) footage of burning Gaza strip, which American colleagues yet have to gain the courage to show. We haven't yet seen what exactly did American/British attacks destroyed in Afghanistan - the satellite photos did show the targets, but they didn't look to an average viewer as damaged as the UNICEF building in Queta did. The BBC reporting from Pakistan, Egypt and Gaza, while not explicitly saying so, gave an intelligent viewer the opportunity to imply that the main casualty of the American/British bombing so far was the stability in the Arab world. It is also worth to note that buildings in Gaza were not set aflame by Israelis. They were set aflame by Palestinian protesters and by the PLO police that cracked down on them. In apparent violation of their own religious law that prohibits worshiping images, young Arab protesters in all places carried pictures of Osama Bin Laden, their new messiah. Yasser Arafat, on the other hand, wants to seize the opportunity - At what other time could anybody imagine Syria getting a seat at the UN Security Council? Over Shimon Peres dead body, maybe. - and get a more serious commitment of the US to the Palestinian State. Palestinians carrying pictures of Osama Bin Laden around are not exactly helpful in that process. With each new day of bombing Afghanistan, one more Arab state is a step closer to civil war. The problem with Arab world is demographic and political. And it most certainly won't be helped with war. Arab countries are full of young people. When half of the population is under 30, it is usually easier to imagine revolutions, protests and violent upheavals. When half of the population is under 20, some sort of change simply MUST happen. It is impossible to believe that the old order may survive. Particularly, if it is a corrupt, authoritarian order with no mandate of the people. Is there any democracy in the Arab world, except for Israel, which is not really an Arab state? No. Arab states are either former Soviet clients like Libya, Iraq and Syria - lead by Soviet style totalitarian regimes, or they are military dictatorships like Pakistan, Egypt or Algeria, or they are anachronistic feudal monarchies like Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Jordan, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrein, Yemen, U.A.E. Iran is not an Arab state, but it is geographically a part of the Arab world (just like Israel and it is indeed the newest political regime in the region - but, while it does show some promise, it is still an autocratic theocracy, where the Council of Guardians - clerics appointed by the Supreme Leader - has a veto power over the democratically elected president and parliamentarians. Maybe we should start asking ourselves why in the Arab world there is not a single state by the people and for the people. And whether does the quest for the cheap oil has anything to do with floating corrupt autocratic states way past their expiration date. In which case it would be expected that oppressed population there hates those who "}, {"response": 17, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Oct 17, 2001 (00:11)", "body": "http://www.guardian.co.uk/waronterror/story/0,1361,574918,00.html Particularly the stuff about Saudi Arabia, the country whose dictatorship we've propped up for decades: \"\"It's unbelievable how the feeling here has changed from sympathy to anger in such a short time,\" a Riyadh-based westerner quoted by Reuters said yesterday. Another resident compared the mood there to that of Iran before the overthrow of the Shah.\" \"US feeling was expressed in a powerful editorial in Sunday's New York Times, which described Saudi behaviour as \"malignant\" and said the \"deeply cynical\" bargain between the countries, which for decades had offered American protection for the regime in return for an uninterrupted flow of oil, was now \"untenable\". \"David Wurmser, director of Middle East studies at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, said yesterday: \"The US's entire foreign policy structure in the region has been anchored in the strategic relationship with Saudi Arabia. If everything we're hearing is true, then we're facing a total meltdown. \"\"The whole war as currently conceived would have to be reconsidered, because Pakistan won't hold if Saudi support starts collapsing.\"\""}, {"response": 18, "author": "suzee202000", "date": "Mon, Oct 22, 2001 (01:51)", "body": "Mess.#8 (Terry): Ventura fears he, Mall and Dome are terrorist targetsBY JIM RAGSDALE Pioneer Press Gov. Jesse Ventura said Wednesday the decision to withhold informationabout his public schedule from the media is due to a concern that he couldbe a target of terrorism. ******************************************************** A humorous viewpoint (NY Times): October 19, 2001 A Governor Works in Mysterious Ways By GARRISON KEILLOR ST. PAUL -- Here in Minnesota, our governor has gone under cover, so far as we can figure out. The governor \ufffd who I will refer to as Larry so as to throw terrorists off the trail \ufffd had a fit in New York recently when he flew there for a photo op at Ground Zero, a trip paid for by ABC-TV, which then got exclusive rights to film the governor's grief and concern. When a few Minnesota reporters questioned him on these arrangements, Larry said he would never speak to any of them ever again. Later, he amended this to say that he would speak to some of them but never with tape recorders present. Then Larry announced that his schedule of public appearances would be kept secret because he \ufffd along with the Mall of America and the Humphrey Metrodome and perhaps the statue of Paul Bunyan in Bemidji and the famous Lift Bridge in Duluth \ufffd might be high on the terrorists' list of targets. Now he has amended that to say that his press secretary will inform some of the press of what the governor is doing, but this information cannot be disseminated to the general public. The governor thus achieves four public announcements in less than a week without ever having actually done something. The stealth governor is an innovation in politics, and Larry is the one who can make it work. He was elected to the post, after a career as a pro rassler, because he spoke plainly and plenty of people are tired of the political boilerplate. His slogan was \"Retaliate in '98,\" which seemed to promise something new. Since his election, however, he has taken a sharp right turn away from all that and become a pretty good, quiet caretaker governor. At hands-off governance, Larry is as capable as you or I. The problem with being a caretaker is that you have very little to show for it, no large ideas to proclaim, no triumphs to celebrate, no ribbons to cut. You're just a guy sitting in a boat in calm water and not tipping it over. After a while, people's attention wanders. Disappearance is a great way to attract attention, to become the Garbo of governors, the Pynchon politician. It is no great thing to stand in the governor's reception room at the state Capitol and shake hands with a delegation of 4-H'ers from Kandiyohi County. It raises the occasion to a heroic level to welcome them secretly, with the governor surrounded by highway patrolmen ready to search the 4-H'ers for pitchforks. Thus does a Midwestern governor of modest talent become part of America's war against terrorism. Before Larry, governors of Minnesota didn't bother with security. They traveled around in a midsize car, accompanied by some young staff person to spare the Honorable the embarrassment of having to drive around and around looking for a parking space. A governor used to be a guy you'd see at University of Minnesota basketball games and walk up and say \"hi\" to at halftime. When Larry ascended into office, he demanded a security detail, with round-the-clock service. And now he has introduced the idea of semi-secret public appearances. Occasionally he may show up somewhere, but suddenly, like the Masked Man of the Plains. The logical next step for him is to leave town for the duration of the war and not tell anybody. Perhaps he already has. Perhaps Larry even now is hunkered deep in a Minuteman silo in North Dakota, sitting at a control console in front of an electronic map of all 87 counties of Minnesota, running state government via a secure telephone, secret couriers disguised as seed salesmen bringing him state papers concealed in burlap bags. We do not know. While he's there, he could let his hair grow back and lose a few pounds so as to lessen his visibility and be able to return home for the holidays. I wish I knew where he is so I could tell him. Garrison Keillor is host of \"Prairie Home Companion\" and author, most recently, of \"Lake Wobegon Summer 1956.\""}, {"response": 19, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Nov 15, 2001 (08:15)", "body": "U.S. Bombs Hit Kabul TV Station http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A25014-2001Nov13.html"}, {"response": 20, "author": "suzee202000", "date": "Sat, Dec 29, 2001 (15:20)", "body": "http://www.spj.org/quill_issue.asp?ref=233 Asleep at the switch Journalism\ufffds failure to track Osama bin Laden It has become fashionable in the weeks since Sept. 11 (\ufffdNine-Eleven\ufffd in the clipped cadences of cable news-speak) to discuss the monstrous failure of U.S. intelligence that led, in part, to the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The phrase \ufffdasleep at the switch\ufffd has become a mantra used to describe the inability of the FBI, the CIA, and the Department of Defense to catch Osama bin Laden before his Al Qaeda organization perpetrated their deadly deeds. But consider this: On June 23, the Reuters news agency distributed a report headlined \ufffdBin Laden Fighters Plan anti-US attack.\ufffd The lead: \ufffdFollowers of exiled Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden are planning a major attack on U.S. and Israeli interests.\ufffd Two days later, it was United Press International\ufffds turn to spread the alarming news. In a dispatch dated June 25, the agency informed its subscribers that \ufffdSaudi dissident Osama bin Laden is planning a terrorist attack against the United States.\ufffd The following day, another UPI report (\ufffdBin Laden Forms New Jihadi Group\ufffd) described the formalization of ties between bin Laden\ufffds Al Qaeda and the Egyptian branch of Islamic Jihad. Unless you\ufffdre a maven of the Reuters and UPI wire feeds, the chances are that you didn\ufffdt see any of those reports. A search of the country\ufffds major newspaper and broadcast network Web sites reveals that barely any considered the stories worthy of publication. That\ufffds hardly surprising. At the time, the news industry was gorging itself on the disappearance of Washington intern Chandra Levy, the alleged drinking habits of Presidential daughter Jenna Bush and the latest 100-point drop by the Dow. Let the record show that, in the context of the U.S. media before Sept. 11, news of bin Laden\ufffds plans to launch an attack against American citizens didn\ufffdt even make it into \ufffdNews in Brief.\ufffd When the history of U.S. journalism at the turn of the century is written, it is to be hoped that the summer of 2001 will be noted as the profession\ufffds historic low point. Ten years after the fall of the Soviet Union, news coverage of events overseas had dwindled to a point where the world\ufffds leading terrorist mastermind didn\ufffdt warrant a mention on the nightly news \ufffd even when he was directly threatening American citizens. For the best part of a decade, the country\ufffds broadcast networks in particular sought to marginalize international news. NBC, CBS and ABC closed costly overseas bureaus, fired staff specializing in global affairs and eagerly embraced a domestically focused news agenda. They justified their actions by opportunistically blaming the American public for a lack of interest in global affairs. In April 1997, CBS News President Andrew Heyward told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that \ufffdit\ufffds just a fact of television ratings life that almost without exception it\ufffds very difficult to score a number with international news.\ufffd NBC News Vice President Bill Wheatley told the same newspaper that \ufffda lot of foreign news after the Cold War seemed to be less vital ... more complicated, less directly linked to many Americans. How do you cover the former Soviet Union and make sense of it?\ufffd Today, of course, the networks\ufffd infatuation with domestic news has come to a screeching halt. Suddenly, \ufffdOsama bin Laden\ufffd doesn\ufffdt seem such a hard name to pronounce, \ufffdAl Qaeda\ufffd no longer appears to be an alien concept, and the networks have found a way of covering Afghanistan. And yet, the manner in which many of them have chosen to cover this epoch-changing story reflects the deep crisis provoked by the cutbacks they made in their global resources over the past decade. The first war to be covered by three competing, round-the-clock news networks is being reported by correspondents who \ufffd for the most part \ufffd are inarticulate in the language of international affairs and global diplomacy. Consider the output of MSNBC, the 24-hour news channel operated by NBC News. Since Sept. 11, the network\ufffds Ashleigh Banfield has come to define the new style of global crisis coverage. At 33, the former local news anchor from Dallas is the rising star of network news, charged with helping her network reach increasing numbers of younger viewers. Her first act upon arriving in Islamabad was to change her hair color from blonde to brown, then purchase a seemingly endless supply of Pakistani scarves and robes. She told The New York Times that she\ufffdd done this to remain \ufffdunder the radar\ufffd in Pakistan and proceeded to file a large number of reports in which bemused citizens of Islamabad watched Banfield \ufffd very much \ufffdabove the radar\ufffd at this point \ufffd touring their city with a camera team in tow. \ufffdThese people are very poor\ufffd she informed viewers in hushed tones during one report, gesticulating at a group of Pakistani homeless behind her. MSNBC has never satisfactorily explained why Banfield dyed her hair to stay \ufffdunder the radar.\ufffd Reporters Amy Kellog"}, {"response": 21, "author": "suzee202000", "date": "Sat, Dec 29, 2001 (15:26)", "body": "http://www.cjr.org/year/01/6/evans.asp Columbia Journalism Review WHAT WE KNEW: WARNING GIVEN...STORY MISSED How a Report on Terrorism Flew Under the Radar BY HAROLD EVANS We were warned. Some of the best minds in the United States attempted to alert the nation that, without a new emphasis on homeland security and attention to terrorism, \"Americans will likely die on American soil, possibly in large numbers\" as the result of terrorist attacks. The first warning came in September 1999, when former Senators Gary Hart and Warren Rudman, co-chairs, used those words in the first of three documents from an entity called the United States Commission on National Security, created during a rare moment of agreement between President Clinton and House speaker Newt Gingrich. Then, seven months before the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the commission re-emphasized its warning, this time with a detailed agenda for action to make America safer from terrorism. The report was scary but it was also constructive and authoritative. And it is fair to say that most Americans never heard of it until after the attacks. What happened? On January 31, Hart and Rudman looked with satisfaction on the television cameras and print reporters assembled in the Mansfield Room of the United States Senate. They were there to present the commission's final report of 150 pages. It was called Road Map for National Security: Imperative for Change, and was signed by their twelve fellow commissioners, who represented the kind of blue-ribbon braintrust Washington is so good at putting together (see box). Over a three-year period, the wise men had visited twenty-five countries and consulted more than a hundred experts. Hart and Rudman had as their executive director the one-time fighter pilot, Charles (Chuck) Boyd, the only graduate of the Hanoi Hilton to make four-star general. They and their staffs went to great lengths to alert the press in advance to the gravity of the commissioners' findings. \"Hell,\" says Rudman, \"it was the first comprehensive rethinking of national security since Harry Truman in 1947.\" The conclusions were startling: \"States, terrorists, and other disaffected groups will acquire weapons of mass destruction, and some will use them. Americans will likely die on American soil, possibly in large numbers.\" The commission also explored many of the underlying factors. Hart told me: \"We got a terrific sense of the resentment building against the U.S. as a bully, which alarmed us.\" The report was a devastating indictment of the \"fragmented and inadequate\" structures and strategies already in place to prevent, and then respond to, the attacks on U.S. cities, which the commissioners predicted. Hart specifically mentioned the lack of preparation for \"a weapon of mass destruction in a high-rise building.\" But the report was not simply alarmist. It was unusually constructive, avoiding grandiose language for a step-by-step blueprint of what urgently needed to be done to create a National Homeland Security Agency, revive the frontline public services, and pull together the forty discrete official bodies with responsibility for national security. \"We need orders-of-magnitude improvements in planning, coordination, and exercise,\" the report concluded. \"Any reorganization must be mindful of the scale of the scenarios we envisage and the enormity of their consequences.\" They urged that, since our borders are so porous, the uniformed services of the Customs Service, the Border Patrol, and the Coast Guard should report to a new National Homeland Security Agency; that homeland security should become a priority mission for the National Guard; that human intelligence sources on terrorism should be recruited as a priority. The writers also had a broad vision: \"A world amenable to American interests and values will not come into being by itself. Much of the world will resent and oppose us, if not for the simple fact of our preeminence, then for the fact that others often perceive the United States as exercising its power with arrogance and self-absorption.\" A number of the commissioners visited the editorial boards of The New York Times, The Wall Street Journ l, and The Washington Post before they released their report. They brought with them a press kit containing a crisp executive summary of the report. Press conferences and private briefings were all to little avail. Network television news ignored the report; so did the serious evening news on public television. Only CNN did it justice with a full discussion. The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal did not carry a line, either of the report or the press conference. Boyd told me: \"I won't ever forget that day in Senate Room 207.\" He watched in disbelief as the Times reporter left before the presentation was over, saying it was not much of a story. Coverage was excellent in The Washington Post and Los Angeles Times, with a smattering of good stories in USA Today, and the sma"}, {"response": 22, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Dec 29, 2001 (22:36)", "body": "Great articles, Suzee! Thanks"}, {"response": 23, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Dec 30, 2001 (05:41)", "body": "Geraldo Rivera is offering to resign from Fox News. If, that is, a panel of media analysts decides he did anything unethical in Afghanistan. Which, he insists, is ridiculous. Rivera acknowledges that he made an \"honest mistake\" by saying he was at a \"friendly fire\" incident in which three American soldiers were killed in a U.S. bombing raid. He was hundreds of miles away, near what he maintains was a second such incident in which two or three Afghan opposition fighters were killed. Rivera denounces the Baltimore Sun television writer who reported the mistake, saying: \"The whole basic premise that I lied or was dishonest is absurd on its face, and were it any other reporter, would not even pass the laugh test. This is the most false, hideously absurd allegation I've ever had leveled against me.\" from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A19486-2001Dec23.html"}, {"response": 24, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Jan  4, 2002 (16:48)", "body": "Hiding, on the Run, or Dead: 'No Comment' By Al Kamen Friday, January 4, 2002; Page A25 And now, a new phrase government spokesmen have developed to replace the discredited and clearly inferior Nixon-era term \"inoperative.\" The new term is \"not particularly useful.\" It was employed to great effect Wednesday by Pentagon public affairs chief Victoria Clarke to stifle questions about alleged dezinformatzia by Pentagon folks. Best we can tell, reporters asked Adm. Craig Quigley on Monday about Marines boarding helicopters and leaving Kandahar to go after Mullah Omar. There were even pictures and witnesses of U.S. troop movements. But Quigley was quoted as saying: \"There were no Marines in [helicopters]. No Marines left Kandahar today.\" Well, it's unclear, but it may be that the first batch that left Kandahar in the choppers were Army Special Forces types, not Marines. And it turns out that, when he was asked, Quigley didn't know the Marines were getting ready to launch. But at Wednesday's briefing, Fox-TV's David Shuster asked Clarke: \"Was Admiral Quigley misinformed? Was he lied to? And how do you explain all of that?\" No problem. \"You know,\" Clarke said, \"I don't think it's particularly useful to go over everything over the last couple of days.\" She then moved quickly to discuss freezing terrorists' assets and humanitarian relief. This is most excellent. First, unlike \"inoperative,\" which evokes an earlier miscue, \"not particularly useful\" addresses only the question. Also, it has the virtue of burden-shifting, putting the onus on the questioner for asking for useless information -- as determined by the government. You can even try this at home: \"Now, honey, I don't think it's particularly useful to ask me where I was last night.\" Or maybe on the road: \"Well, officer, I don't think it's particularly useful to ask me about my drinking habits.\" Yesterday, Shuster tried again, but Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, staying on offense, told reporters it would be \"improper\" to suggest the confusion surrounding the deployments was intentional. Quite so. The government would never try to confuse the press. As Groucho said: \"Who are you going to believe, me or your own eyes?\" http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59711-2002Jan3.html"}, {"response": 25, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Jan  9, 2002 (15:38)", "body": "Meanwhile, in Hollywood: TV Starts Scripting Sept. 11 The first steps to dramatize the events of Sept. 11 as TV movies have begun, with CBS planning a project that would document in real time behind-the-scenes developments on the ground that paralleled the flight of United Airlines Flight 93--the plane that crashed in rural Pennsylvania. [...] At least two other TV movie projects based on the Sept. 11 attacks are in development... http://www.calendarlive.com/top/1,1419,L-LATimes-TV-X!ArticleDetail-49683,00.html"}, {"response": 26, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Jan  9, 2002 (19:42)", "body": "that is not right. if they canx tv shows that even suggested terror and aircraft and twin towers, why on earth would they rehash the whole thing in the movies."}, {"response": 27, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Jul 21, 2002 (13:53)", "body": "http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_2140000/2140364.stm Another American Taliban. Landed carrying $12 million on bad checks. news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 45, "subject": "What can we do? What should we do?", "response_count": 10, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "ekelley", "date": "Mon, Oct  1, 2001 (21:46)", "body": "Hey, everyone. As much as I'd like to see bin Laden taken out, I'm not sure that it would be best to do it immediately. One of the pundits on MSNBC tonight suggested that it might be better to have the Northern Alliance capture him, then have Islamic nations try him for \"crimes against Islam,\" and then hand him over to the west. Once he would be handed over to the west, it might be best to try him in a world court for crimes against America, rather than try him here on US soil, where there would be further threat of terrorist attacks. I mean, God forbid, we were to hold him in one of our jails (even if we didn't disclose which one) and his terrorist buddies started just randomly attacking sites here... it might just be better to try him at some world court (apologies to the Hague [sp?] as it would likely fall to them) and then convict him and publicly execute him. Then it might not look so much like the big bully US coming and rounding up the self-proclaimed defender of Islam... What do you all think?"}, {"response": 2, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Oct  1, 2001 (22:55)", "body": "I think you've hit on the right plan. I don't know if you've been following the comments of David Kline elsewhere in this conference, but I posted something he said today that closely parallels this in the David Kline topic. He's been a war correspondent in Afghanistan and knows about the Islamic mindset. It's topic 54 in the news conference. The fact that we aren't doing anything rash to anger the Islamic world is a wise move."}, {"response": 3, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Oct  2, 2001 (16:49)", "body": "Here is a long article on the pitiful state of affairs in the CIA, by by Seymour M. Hersh in the New Yorker http://www.newyorker.com/FACT/"}, {"response": 4, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Nov 14, 2001 (06:59)", "body": "MIT Technology Review online December 2001 issue SPECIAL SECTION: TECHNOLOGY VS. TERROR http://www.techreview.com/magazine/dec01/mag_toc.asp Articles abstracts: Detecting Bioterrorism By David Talbot Lives could be saved by sensors and therapies now under development\ufffdalong with software that could help distinguish an anthrax assault from an outbreak of the flu. Networking the Infrastructure By Wade Roush New classes of detectors, plus safer building designs, point to an \"intelligent city\" that senses danger. Will Spyware Work? By Kevin Hogan Monitoring voice and e-mail traffic sounds like a good way to thwart terrorism. The problem? Sorting through the results takes too long for early warning. Recognizing the Enemy By Alexandra Stikeman Creating a central database of photos to identify terrorists through face recognition is a bureaucratic nightmare. Essay: The Shock of the Old By Edward Tenner On September 11, a nation primed for a futuristic attack failed to foresee a low-tech assault. Why?"}, {"response": 5, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Jan  9, 2002 (14:18)", "body": "A very interesting piece in the New Republic on the FBI's need to start gathering \"strategic intelligence\" as opposed to simply short-term tactical info., By that, the author means doing more what the CIA does (or is supposed to do) -- spot trends, look for patterns, etc. Here's an excerpt: \"A smart intelligence analyst, looking at emerging trends in Islamist terrorism, might have predicted that terrorists would try to hijack airplanes and crash them into buildings. After all, September 11 may have been the first time terrorists carried out the strategy successfully, but it was not the first time they tried it. In 1994 hijackers from the Armed Islamic Group--which is affiliated with Al Qaeda--hijacked an Air France jet in Algiers and apparently planned to crash it into the Eiffel Tower, but failed when French commandos stormed the plane when it stopped for refueling. In 1995 Filipino authorities detected a Manila-based Al Qaeda cell's plan to blow up eleven American airliners in mid-flight and crash a twelfth into the CIA headquarters. \"With that terrorist m.o. in mind, and recognizing that the plot would only work if one of the terrorists involved could fly a jetliner, the analyst might have advised agents to keep an eye on flight schools that offered such training. At the very least, a good analyst--thinking along these lines--might have raised alarm bells at FBI headquarters in August when agents from the Minneapolis field office began investigating Moussaoui, whose suspicious behavior had led his instructors at a Minnesota flight school to contact the bureau. The Minneapolis agents had arrested Moussaoui on an immigration violation and--after getting a lead from French intelligence that he had ties to bin Laden--had asked headquarters in Washington for permission to seek a national security search warrant that would allow them go through Moussaoui's computer. But FBI lawyers denied the request for a search that might have tipped off the bureau to the September 11 plot.\" See the full article at: http://www.thenewrepublic.com/123101/zengerle123101.html"}, {"response": 6, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Feb  3, 2002 (09:07)", "body": "Today, we're on the Superbowl watch for terrrorism. Hopefully, the extra measures will pay off. No one is bringing anything in to this event without a thorouth search and the area has a wide swath cordoned off around it."}, {"response": 7, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Apr  7, 2002 (21:23)", "body": "The EU is the most developed example of a postmodern system. It represents security through transparency, and transparency through interdependence. The EU is more a transnational than a supra-national system, a voluntary association of states rather than the subordination of states to a central power. The dream of a European state is one left from a previous age. It rests on the assumption that nation states are fundamentally dangerous and that the only way to tame the anarchy of nations is to impose hegemony on them. But if the nation-state is a problem then the super-state is certainly not a solution. European states are not the only members of the postmodern world. Outside Europe, Canada is certainly a postmodern state; Japan is by inclination a postmodern state, but its location prevents it developing more fully in this direction. The USA is the more doubtful case since it is not clear that the US government or Congress accepts either the necessity or desirability of interdependence, or its corollaries of openness, mutual surveillance and mutual interference, to the same extent as most European governments now do. . . . The challenge to the postmodern world is to get used to the idea of double standards. Among ourselves, we operate on the basis of laws and open cooperative security. But when dealing with more old-fashioned kinds of states outside the postmodern continent of Europe, we need to revert to the rougher methods of an earlier era - force, pre-emptive attack, deception, whatever is necessary to deal with those who still live in the nineteenth century world of every state for itself. Among ourselves, we keep the law but when we are operating in the jungle, we must also use the laws of the jungle. In the prolonged period of peace in Europe, there has been a temptation to neglect our defences, both physical and psychological. This represents one of the great dangers of the postmodern state. . . . The premodern state may be too weak even to secure its home territory, let alone pose a threat internationally, but it can provide a base for non-state actors who may represent a danger to the postmodern world. If non-state actors, notably drug, crime, or terrorist syndicates take to using premodern bases for attacks on the more orderly parts of the world, then the organised states may eventually have to respond. If they become too dangerous for established states to tolerate, it is possible to imagine a defensive imperialism. It is not going too far to view the West's response to Afghanistan in this light. . . . Today, there are no colonial powers willing to take on the job, though the opportunities, perhaps even the need for colonisation is as great as it ever was in the nineteenth century. Those left out of the global economy risk falling into a vicious circle. Weak government means disorder and that means falling investment. In the 1950s, South Korea had a lower GNP per head than Zambia: the one has achieved membership of the global economy, the other has not. All the conditions for imperialism are there, but both the supply and demand for imperialism have dried up. And yet the weak still need the strong and the strong still need an orderly world. A world in which the efficient and well governed export stability and liberty, and which is open for investment and growth - all of this seems eminently desirable. What is needed then is a new kind of imperialism, one acceptable to a world of human rights and cosmopolitan values. We can already discern its outline: an imperialism which, like all imperialism, aims to bring order and organisation but which rests today on the voluntary principle. . . . The postmodern EU offers a vision of cooperative empire, a common liberty and a common security without the ethnic domination and centralised absolutism to which past empires have been subject, but also without the ethnic exclusiveness that is the hallmark of the nation state - inappropriate in an era without borders and unworkable in regions such as the Balkans."}, {"response": 8, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Apr  7, 2002 (23:20)", "body": "I've been watching Greece go through the throes of becoming ain integral part of Europe. It is not all that easy and there are still a lot of pre conceived notions to get past before it will truly work. I was very sorry to see the Drachma disappear into history. Happliy, I was sent a few samples so I also hold Greek history in my hands along with English, Scottish and Welsh."}, {"response": 9, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Apr  7, 2002 (23:21)", "body": "What we DO NOT want to do is to make a martyr out of him. If that happens, then make it a dead one. Sorry gang, but this man is deadly and a menace even his own family disowned."}, {"response": 10, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, May 24, 2003 (19:25)", "body": "05-24) 11:59 PDT SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- Jay Walker jump-started an online shopping craze by inventing Priceline.com, the Web site that lets people bid on airplane tickets and hotel rooms. Now Walker is hoping his newest brainchild revolutionizes a completely different field: national security. The premise behind Walker's USHomeGuard is simple: America has 47,000 power plants, airports and other \"critical infrastructure facilities.\" Walker believes a terrorist can get within 100 feet of most of them, unchallenged and undetected, and kill or injure thousands. But if onsite cameras beamed photos to the World Wide Web, Americans could monitor these sites from home. If they spied a potential attacker -- a masked man trying to scale a power plant fence, or a van parked next to a reservoir -- they could alert security agents with a click of the mouse. Agents would call local authorities and help avert disaster. Walker envisions spotters getting up to $10 per hour, paid by the government agencies and companies that need protecting. He wants to sell USHomeGuard to the federal government for $1, then charge fees to run the system. Critics dismiss USHomeGuard as a doomed scheme that exploits Sept. 11 paranoia. Others question the effectiveness of a security system built on the Internet -- itself vulnerable to hackers, power outages and congestion. David Wray, spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security, said federal officials have not done any \"serious evaluation\" of the project, adding that the agency isn't contemplating a defense strategy that hinges on Internet surveillance. Despite such skepticism, more than 10,000 people have visited USHomeGuard's new Web site, and Walker said he could get hundreds of thousands of Americans to sign up for home-based, work-when-you-can jobs. \"We like to think of USHomeGuard as a digital victory garden,\" Walker told a recent tech conference, referring to vegetable patches Americans planted to help ease food rationing during World War II. \"It lets people be part of the solution.\" USHomeGuard is a twist on distributed computing, an idea that captured imaginations in the 1990s, when thousands plugged their PCs into the SETI project to scour radio telescope signals for extraterrestrial communications. Walker wants to distribute surveillance across thousands of computers and the people who use them. He says spotters could register online and get paid for clicking through photos and sending data back to USHomeGuard's central database. The spotters answer a simple question about each image: Does it contain a person or vehicle? If yes, local authorities could be notified in as little as 30 seconds. Walker said it's possible to guard against errors and attempts to foil the system. For example, as many as one in 10 photos may be traps. If a spotter clicks \"no\" on a photo of a masked man airbrushed into a reservoir photo, the software suspends him for three minutes -- without pay. He must requalify by clicking correctly through several test photos. If a spotter clicks \"yes\" on an unstaged photo, he triggers a first-stage alert. Software automatically routes the same photo to other spotters, and Web cams mounted near the site of the potential attack site beam more photos to more spotters. When many spotters click \"yes,\" they trigger a second-stage alert. Security supervisors at a data center review photos from all the Web cams and analyze video from the site. Supervisors who see a suspicious person can speak to him through the Web cam: \"Why are you approaching the reservoir?\" If the trespasser is toting a rod and says he's going fishing, the agent might simply ask him to depart. If he doesn't, the security agent may alert local authorities, who could arrive within minutes, depending on the location. Walker, who has so far funded USHomeGuard with his own money, says he could quickly muster the volunteers needed to guard as many as 3,000 sites by the end of the year. But it's unclear whether airports, chemical plants and other sites would buy it. Security experts say recognition software can spot potential attacks more economically and with more accuracy than thousands of Americans getting paid $10 per hour. \"Asking people to make a determination of human or not human based on static images is going to be extremely difficult,\" said Gary M. Lauder of Atherton, Calif.-based Lauder Partners, who heard Walker's business pitch in February. \"A computer could probably do a better job.\" Bruce Schneier, co-founder of Counterpane Internet Security Inc., praised Walker's fresh approach. But he noted that USHomeGuard could not have prevented the World Trade Center attacks or the recent spate of overseas bombings. \"Like every security product, it would do some good against some evil,\" Schneier said. \"This has nothing to do with suicide bombers in crowded markets or airplane terrorists. This would work in no man's land but nowhere else.\" Firefighters, police officers and others who investigate scenes "}]}, {"num": 46, "subject": "suspension of civil liberties as a response to terrorism", "response_count": 21, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep 24, 2001 (11:52)", "body": "http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/svfront/ellsn092301.htm Broaching a controversial subject that has gained visibility since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Oracle Chairman and CEO Larry Ellison is calling for the United States to create a national identification card system -- and offering to donate the software to make it possible."}, {"response": 2, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Oct 18, 2001 (10:41)", "body": "Your new id card. http://www.templetons.com/brad/oracard.html"}, {"response": 3, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Oct 29, 2001 (09:58)", "body": "http://www.msnbc.com/news/648339.asp?0dm=C13UO > Law and Order John Dean: 'Liberties lost: unintended consequences of the anti-terror law' Posted on Sunday, October 28 @ 08:47:15 EST ------------------------------------------------------------------------ By John W. Dean, MSNBC When President Bush signed the sweeping new anti-terrorism legislation into a law, providing federal law enforcement officials with powerful new weapons to more effectively fight terrorism, he proved Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor prescient. A little less than a month earlier, Justice O'Connor advised a law school audience in Manhattan that as part of the country's response to terrorism, \"we're likely to experience more restrictions on our personal freedom than has ever been the case in our country.\" While this new anti-terrorism law was certainly not designed to take away civil liberties of Americans, its unintended consequences threaten fundamental constitutional rights of people who have nothing to do with terrorism. The well-meaning but careless exuberance of our lawmakers is alarming. A 'HIGH-FLYING ACRONYM' More attention appears to have been given finding a title for the new law than the substance of its provisions. The \"Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required To Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act,\" as Rep. Barney Frank, Democrat of Massachusetts, noted during the House debate, is a truly \"high-flying acronym, it is the PATRIOT bill, it is the USA bill, it is the stand up and sing the 'Star Spangled Banner' bill.\" It is also a law, Frank lamented, that was processed by Congress \"in the most undemocratic way possible, and it is not worthy of this institution.\" No hearings were held in either the House or Senate on the USA PATRIOT Act, and few -- if any -- members of Congress were really aware of what was actually in this massive, complex, highly technical 30,000-word statute, which is divided into ten titles, with more than 270 sections and endless subsections that cross-reference and amend a dozen, or more, different laws. There is a concept in the legislative process called \"regular order.\" It is the time- tested procedure to make certain that our laws are carefully considered. The USA PATRIOT Act was jammed through the House and Senate, with those calling for regular order being labeled unpatriotic. In fact, the 66 Republicans and Democrats in the House and the one member of the Senate who refused to be railroaded believed that law enforcement officials should have the tools needed to fight terrorists, but they should not be created at the expense of basic American freedoms."}, {"response": 4, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Nov 14, 2001 (08:03)", "body": "\"In Germany they first came for the Communists and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.\" \"Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.\" \"Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.\" \"Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant.\" \"Then they came for me--and by that time no one was left to speak up.\" Pastor Martin Niemoller, 1892-1984"}, {"response": 5, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Nov 24, 2001 (22:10)", "body": "The Detroit Free Press has an article on what the FBI wants law enforcement to ask the 5,000 Middle Eastern men they are supposed to question Visitors to U.S. can expect probing terrorism questions http://www.detroitfreepress.com/news/metro/quest24_20011124.htm a summary of the questions http://www.detroitfreepress.com/news/metro/qlist24_20011124.htm and the actual memo http://www.detroitfreepress.com/gallery/2001/interviews/index.htm"}, {"response": 6, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Nov 24, 2001 (22:32)", "body": "From a lead story in the Sunday NYT: ------------- As Pentagon officials begin designing military tribunals for suspected terrorists, they are considering the possibility of trials on ships at sea or on United States installations, like the naval base in Guant\ufffdnamo Bay, Cuba. The proceedings promise to be swift and largely secret, with one military officer saying that the release of information might be limited to the barest facts, like the defendant's name and sentence. Transcripts of the proceedings, this officer said, could be kept from public view for years, perhaps decades ... President Bush's authorization of secret military tribunals for noncitizens accused of terrorism and the systematic interviewing of 5,000 young Middle Eastern men in the country on temporary visas is well known. But broad new powers are also contained in more obscure provisions. A recent rule change published without announcement in the Federal Register gives the government wide latitude to keep noncitizens in detention even when an immigration judge has ordered them freed. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/25/politics/25LEGA.html"}, {"response": 7, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Nov 24, 2001 (22:35)", "body": "http://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/24/international/europe/24SPAI.html?pagewanted=prin t November 24, 2001 Spain Sets Hurdle for Extraditions By SAM DILLON with DONALD G. McNEIL Jr. MADRID, Nov. 23 -- Spain will not extradite the eight men it has charged with complicity in the Sept. 11 attacks unless the United States agrees that they would be tried by a civilian court and not by the military tribunals envisioned by President Bush, Spanish officials said today. The officials said the United States was informed this week of the Spanish stance, and several experts predicted today that other countries in the 15-nation European Union would balk at handing prisoners over to the Americans without similar guarantees. .........."}, {"response": 8, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Nov 24, 2001 (22:40)", "body": "http://www.smirkingchimp.com/article.php?sid=4230&mode=thread&order=0 Overstepping sovereignty: Antiterror law gives U.S. sweeping Internet power"}, {"response": 9, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Nov 24, 2001 (22:40)", "body": "FBI computer surveillance plans: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1436-2001Nov22.html"}, {"response": 10, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Nov 25, 2001 (19:33)", "body": "Biometrics is going to skyrocket in the next few years. A good stock buy might be biometric companies."}, {"response": 11, "author": "suzee202000", "date": "Tue, Dec  4, 2001 (01:35)", "body": "Newsday Ashcroft Ignores the Lessons of the Last Roundup November 29, 2001 TODAY THEIR names do not instill fear. They include Scalia and D'Amato, DiMaggio and Stallone, Grasso and Gallo. These names are shared now by people who hold positions of high public trust, or guarantee high gross at the box office. They are leaders of business, or legends for all time. In another day, these were names of people - dark people with exotic customs - who were officially branded by the U.S. government as a threat to the nation. They were roused from their jobs and from their sleep. They were dragged in without charge or guarantee of ever hearing one. They were brought before special tribunals, prohibited from seeing secret evidence against them. They were ripped from their families and held indefinitely. Their reputations were ruined; their livelihoods destroyed. They were, after all, aliens. Italy, their country of origin, was the enemy. It was war. And so it was ordered. The report of the U.S. Justice Department on the treatment of Italian Americans during World War II is either perfectly timed or perfectly ill-timed, depending on your point of view. It was released this week because Congress ordered it a year ago. Lawmakers could not have known, then, how exquisitely apt the study would be now. The law requiring the report has in its title a presumption by Congress that there was something terribly wrong about this ensnarement due to ethnicity. The law is \"The Wartime Violation of Italian-American Civil Liberties Act.\" It assumes a clear violation, even though it was wartime. History's voice speaks through these pages. It has a tone of truth not heard from the current Justice Department, with its policy toward Mideastern immigrants that bears such resemblance to this ugly ancestor. In the immediate aftermath of the Pearl Harbor attack, President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered the roundup not only of Japanese Americans, but of German and Italian Americans, some of whom had lived and worked in the United States for 40 or 50 years. But even before that, in the 1930s, J. Edgar Hoover had prepared. \"The Federal Bureau of Investigation drew up a list of those thought to be security risks to the nation,\" the report states. Those thought to be \"most dangerous\" were leaders of ethnic and cultural organizations. Others were deemed suspicious because they belonged to these clubs or simply because they were \"known to support\" them. Then, as now, the questions put to the immigrants (some already had become U.S. citizens) bore no discernible relation to risk. One young woman's father was asked why his daughter spoke French and Italian so well; she lost her job at Saks Fifth Avenue, where she sometimes interpreted for foreign customers, because of his detention. Today's FBI wants to ask 5,000 legal aliens from Mideastern countries how they \"felt\" when they heard news of the attack. The lawmen would also like to know whether these immigrants noticed anyone who reacted \"in a surprising or inappropriate way.\" Then, as now, arrest could come on minor violations, overlooked if commited by someone who was not ethnically suspect. Theresa Borelli was arrested repeatedly for violating curfews that applied to Italian Americans in California. Her crime: making hospital visits to her paralyzed son, who'd been wounded in the Army overseas. Then, as now, it was government policy to detain immigrants as a way of soothing public nerves. The act of wartime apprehensions, according to an Immigration and Naturalization Service document cited in the report, \"served two important purposes: [It] assured the public that our government was taking firm steps to look after the internal safety of the nation, thereby preventing the growth of war hysteria; and it took out of circulation men and women whose loyalty to the United States was doubtful and who might therefore commit some inimical act against the nation.\" Congress required this history to be revealed. It told the Justice Department to use the review \"to determine how civil liberties can be better protected during national emergencies.\" This clause is mostly ignored by John Ashcroft, who signed the report. Instead, the current attorney general merely states his belief that his department is doing just fine, this time. http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-vpcoc292486477nov29.story"}, {"response": 12, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Dec 25, 2001 (11:57)", "body": "Will Safire warns The universal use and likely abuse of the national ID -- a discredit card -- will trigger questions like: When did you begin subscribing to these publications and why were you visiting that spicy or seditious Web site? Why are you afraid to show us your papers on demand? Why are you paying cash? What do you have to hide? ... Beware: It is not just an efficient little card to speed you though lines faster or to buy you sure-fire protection from suicide bombers. A national ID card would be a ticket to the loss of much of your personal freedom. Its size could then be reduced for implantation under the skin in the back of your neck. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/24/opinion/24SAFI.html"}, {"response": 13, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Dec 29, 2001 (12:35)", "body": "http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wire/sns-ap-agent-removed1227dec27.story Bush Agent Removed From Flight By DOUGLAS KIKER Associated Press Writer December 27, 2001, 1:42 PM EST BALTIMORE -- An Arab-American Secret Service agent assigned to President Bush's security detail was removed from an American Airlines flight after the pilot questioned his credentials, the Secret Service said Thursday. American Airlines spokesman Todd Burke said \"inconsistencies\" in paperwork filled out by the armed agent prompted his removal Tuesday. The captain decided a more thorough check was needed to confirm the identity of the agent, the spokesman said. Ibrahim Hooper of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said Thursday that the agent told him he felt he had been kicked off the Baltimore-to-Dallas flight because of his religion and ethnicity. FBI spokesman Pete Gullota said an incident similar to the one Tuesday occurred shortly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Gullota said an armed, off-duty FBI agent from the Baltimore office was not allowed to board a plane by a pilot despite following the security procedures for armed agents. Gullota refused to identify the airline but said the issue was cleared up and resulted in the pilot's suspension. \"This, unfortunately, is not the first time something like that has happened,\" Gullota said. \"In most instances the airlines are very happy to have us on-board. We don't just don't show up at gate armed. We go through routine and a whole lot of people are notified.\""}, {"response": 14, "author": "suzee202000", "date": "Sat, Dec 29, 2001 (14:50)", "body": "http://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/28/opinion/28FRI2.html?todaysheadlines The New York Times December 28, 2001 The Antiterror Bandwagon Since the Bush administration announced plans to proceed with military tribunals and other limitations on liberties in the war against terror, foreign leaders have used the American example to justify all manner of repressive acts at home. It is a lamentable \ufffd and predictable \ufffd response to misguided American leadership in this area. Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, has repeatedly used the events of Sept. 11 and the campaign against terror to demand a free hand to use scorched-earth policies in what is essentially a domestic separatist conflict in Chechnya. Washington has obliged by muting its criticism. In Egypt, government officials have muzzled the political opposition in the name of fighting terror, policies now praised by the Bush administration. The misuse of Washington's antiterror campaign, however, is not limited to countries where terror is a problem. Unscrupulous governments and militaries are invoking the threat to tar their opponents or create draconian new laws. One example is Guatemala. The greatest potential terrorist threat in Guatemala today comes from military and retired military officials. These men have long been behind a policy of intimidation and even murder of activists for human rights and Mayan Indians. Yet in the wake of Sept. 11, this group has acquired enhanced powers. In November, at the urging of the United States, Guatemala established a new antiterror commission, which will be led by a retired military officer. The commissioner will direct a new interagency security committee dominated by military men. President Alfonso Portillo also recently switched Defense Minister Eduardo Ar\ufffdvalo Lacs, a retired general, to the post of interior minister. Mr. Ar\ufffdvalo Lacs has denounced human rights groups as bent on the country's destabilization. In Zimbabwe, President Robert Mugabe has been even more brazenly opportunistic. Mr. Mugabe \ufffd who receives oil and financial help from the Libyan dictator Muammar el-Qaddafi \ufffd is desperate to win a fifth term in elections likely to be held in February or March. He has begun to tar as terrorists his democratic political opposition, white farmers who object to the expropriation of their land, foreign and local journalists and even the British government. His government has proposed a new security bill that punishes terrorism and other vague offenses with the death penalty. Too many leaders in the world are looking for excuses to limit the liberties of their adversaries. It is inevitable that America's new policies would provide powerful new justifications. The Bush administration can limit the damage by demanding high standards of conduct from America's allies and conducting the war on terrorism with minimum damage to civil liberties at home. Copyright 2001 The New York Times Company | Privacy Information"}, {"response": 15, "author": "osk", "date": "Sat, Dec 29, 2001 (15:24)", "body": ""}, {"response": 16, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Apr 10, 2002 (09:09)", "body": "Manhattan lawyer Lynne Stewart has been arrested by federal agents and charged with delivering messages between the imprisoned Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman and the Islamic Group, an Egyptian terrorist organization. In announcing the arrest, Attorney General Ashcroft noted that Stewart's communications with Rahman had been monitored by the government since December 1998, and would continue to be monitored under the controversial rule passed in the aftermath of 9/11. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/09/national/09CND-INDICT.html"}, {"response": 17, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Nov  1, 2002 (17:18)", "body": "This looks like the same topic as in the EFF conference, yet they don't appear to be linked (i.e. my eff response is not visible here...)"}, {"response": 18, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Nov  1, 2002 (21:37)", "body": "I may link them up."}, {"response": 19, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Mar  4, 2004 (09:56)", "body": "Neil Young \"Crazy Horse\" speaks out. http://www.laweekly.com/ink/04/14/features-payne.php Last question in an interview about Neil Young's new film _Greendale_. Q: You surprised people by supporting Reagan back in the '80s, or by expressing sympathy with some of Reagan's policies. And now you seem to be a very anti- Bush guy. And you seem to be in fact, concerned with individual beliefs, personal freedoms. But obviously, many expect you to toe some kind of party line. A: What happens to me is, whenever anybody gets elected to office, my first inclination is to get behind them, because they're in a position to win, to do something good. My natural thing is I'll get behind it, and I'm hoping they'll do well. I hesitate to say anything, but I'm rootin' for 'em. So I'm taking up things that are on a personal level, on a human level, you know. Reagan said people in their communities have a responsibility to try to handle things in a grassroots community organizations and working together to ensure things that happen right in communities, and it has to be happening there or government isn't going to work, nothing's gonna change it if that's not there. So I agreed with some of those things that he said. I look for good things in bad things, and I also look for bad things in good things. I don't see that it's all good or all it's all a measured balance of things. So I've never backed off of what I was saying, what I was talking about. At the very beginning, after 9/11, when we thought we needed the Patriot Act, I was thinking, \"Somebody's gotta do something to tighten this all up.\" I mean, we can't just have people coming in and out all the time. And it's still supposed to be a temporary measure that has to be re-voted on and re-voted it's never gonna be permanent. Of course, now we know that if this administration has its way, it'll be not only permanent, but it'll be more and more and more rights being taken away. So they took advantage of the situation and used it, which I think whoa, that's bad."}, {"response": 20, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Feb 20, 2006 (08:52)", "body": ""}, {"response": 21, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Feb 20, 2006 (08:54)", "body": "The above picture is from http://www.carryabigsticker.com/ news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 47, "subject": "coping with terrorism and a world gone to war", "response_count": 10, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Oct 11, 2001 (10:59)", "body": "The Alternative War Works fromJAWW Public Relations Dept. 10/1/2001 A \"different\" kind of war machine. \"This will be a different type of war I a different type of enemy than we're used to.\" Q Pres. George W. Bush \"We have to understand it's going to be a different kind of war.\" Q Sen. Joe Lieberman For the past three years, the popular culture of the United States has been lavishing more than due praise upon \"The Greatest Generation,\" those brave and duty-bound men and women who so valiantly defeated the forces of European and Asian fascism during the Second World War. In light of recent attacks on the U.S., however, a vital question is being asked: Can our current generation heed the call to duty as did their forefathers? It's fair, and plainly obvious, to say, that our present crop of potential warriors have not been honed into combat-ready vessels by such prior toughening experiences as great depressions, tumultuous immigrations, or previous world wars, and that if one were to nickname our current lot, \"the greatest\" would not seem so appropriate an appellation as, perhaps, \"the snarkiest,\" or \"the most ironic,\" or even \"the most preoccupied with idiotic ephemera.\" But do not think that this will hamper our current war effort. Make no mistake, our collective fascination with superfluous whimsy can and will defeat our new foe. Recognizing our special area of expertise Q as exemplified on a micro level by the glut of self-aggrandizing, neo-hip, nonfunctional content-driven web sites and on a macro level by the media-ready spectacle of confounding, non- utilitarian deconstructionist festivals like The Burning Man Q and acknowledging its uneasy fit into conventional methods of military strategy, we are proud to unveil a new, revolutionary, deconstructionist wing of the United States Armed Forces: The Alternative War Works (AWW). Specializing in the newly developed arena of Non-lethal Obfuscation Technologies (NOT), AWW aims to harness the creative fluidity and subversive methodologies of Generations X, Y, Z to provide preemptory psychological assaults upon targets of further military action. The strategy of AWW is to discern and delineate the complex delusions, cultural presuppositions, and rampant superstitions preoccupying our non- media savvy Third-World foes. Due to their dictatorship-imposed lack of exposure to Western culture and humor, enemies in poor and uneducated countries are easily confused and/or swayed by unusual phenomenon. One only needs look at the 1993 hysteria in Chongqing, China, where citizens were somehow convinced that an American robot was stalking the countryside and eating their children (this true mass frenzy is documented in the book China Wakes : The Struggle for the Soul of a Rising Power, 1995, Vintage Books, by New York Times correspondents Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn) to understand that the lack of cynicism in oppressed cultures may be our strongest weapon against them. It is important that the American public understand AWW's methods, as they are not intended to mock or dilute the more serious efforts of our armed forces, but rather to create a theater of battle in which our soldiers can more effectively destroy a disoriented and humiliated enemy. We at AWW (a.k.a. \"The Laffwaffe\") wish to impress upon our nation's patriotic warmongers that comedy, too, can be deadly, especially when least expected. Therefore, AWW is planning to execute several classified operations (listed below) meant to confuse and frighten the enemy, perhaps inciting massive desertion and/or demoralization, just prior to our other divisions of armed forces unleashing great and devastating harm upon them. The two key themes of AWW's operations are misdirection and propaganda. Misdirection * Operation Fake Robots: Utilizing the virtuoso engineering skills of participants in current television shows Battlebots, Robot Wars and Junkyard Wars, and the pioneering efforts of the Survival Research Laboratory, AWW plans to unleash hundreds of oversized, mostly harmless mechanized robots into enemy camps, with the intent to spook the most fearful of their soldiers and to confuse others who will probably expect these docile inventions to attack them. The lasting effect of deploying this classic comedic technique of cheated expectations in a wartime scenario, is to, after the confusion wears off, lull our enemies into a false sense of our military's technological failure, shortly after which they will be executed with surgical and excruciating precision. * Operation Pudding Missile: Similar to OFR, OPM will frighten, misdirect, and stupefy our opponents. OPM involves the targeting of several hundred ersatz missiles at strategic military sites. Although the missiles will appear realistic harbingers of certain death, they will in fact be vessels of delicious chocolate pudding encased in a hard, missile-shaped candy shell. Much like the Harlem Globetrotters' time-tested switcheroo between the buckets of water "}, {"response": 2, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Oct 12, 2001 (20:49)", "body": "by Salman Rushdie \"Suicidist assassins ram wide-bodied aircraft into the World Trade Center and Pentagon and kill thousands of people: um, I'm against that. But what are we for? What will we risk our lives to defend? Can we unanimously concur that all the items in the above list -- yes, even the short skirts and dancing -- are worth dying for? The fundamentalist believes that we believe in nothing. In his world-view, he has his absolute certainties, while we are sunk in sybaritic indulgences. To prove him wrong, we must first know that he is wrong. We must agree on what matters: kissing in public places, bacon sandwiches, disagreement, cutting-edge fashion, literature, generosity, water, a more equitable distribution of the world's resources, movies, music, freedom of thought, beauty, love. These will be our weapons. Not by making war but by the unafraid way we choose to live shall we defeat them. How to defeat terrorism? Don't be terrorized. Don't let fear rule your life. Even if you are scared."}, {"response": 3, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Oct 12, 2001 (22:02)", "body": "If we give in to fear, they have won! I refuse to give up that easily. I refuse even more emphatically to allow them to make me a vicitm!"}, {"response": 4, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Oct 13, 2001 (08:52)", "body": "These folks are definitely coping with their party near Ground Zero. http://www.outrageousmedia.com/barlowfest54/ It's John Perry Barlow's blowout party. Slides too."}, {"response": 5, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Oct 15, 2001 (00:56)", "body": "10.13 Just took a long walk, first since New York where, were I resident, I'd stay spry relentlessly stalking its streets in search of minor epiphany. Elsewhere I tend to sit, stand, pace or recline. Stiffen and spread. Still sorely missing Ground Zero's environs during this supreme cultural transition; feeling like a bracero in a sombrero snoozing under a cactus arm while the sun settles in the west. Imagine Giuliani rudely refusing ten million from an Arab for aid because of a political technicality. Must be hard enough to figure out what to do with the money already donated. Can't just put up a corncrib full of $5 bills and let the needy, ten at a time in an orderly line, fill an \"I Love NY\" shopping bag with as much as they can snatch in eleven seconds. Problem is somebody who didn't deserve it might slip in for an unjustified share. Or someone'd be sure to get back in line and go again. Spoil it for everybody. Otherwise they'd probably do it, right? And rather than collecting all those $1 bills someone suggested be mailed by kids to the whitehouse to help the Afghan kids, rather than collecting, tallying, and banking all those wrinkled greenbacks, why don't they just load the letters unopened on a troop transport and drop 'em on Afghanistan? Probably because someone who shouldn't would grab a share. Those ones ruin it for everybody. Can't really do anything in a simple open-handed manner because of them. It's their fault nobody gets to eat. And the giving heart of America gets frustrated because we do need to give: deep inside we know we've taken too much and want to balance it a bit. If I thought some refugee, whether in NY or points far east, would really get a full buck's worth of bang for each dollar I donated I'd empty my wallet right now. Swear to God! Hope my fellow citizens don't develop some kind of \"angry wallet\" syndrome over this. Confuse it with Anthrax. from Robert Hunter's online journal. http://www.dead.net/RobertHunterArchive/files/newjournal/50journal_9.10.01.html"}, {"response": 6, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Oct 26, 2001 (15:06)", "body": "BINROUNDAWHILE'S GUIDELINES FOR ENLIGHTENMENT IN THE NEW MILLENIUM by SWAMI Beyondananda- 1. Be a Fundamentalist--make sure the Fun always comes before the mental. Realize that life is a situation comedy that will never be cancelled. A laugh track has been provided, and the reason why we are put in the material world is to get more material. Have a good laugh-sitive twice a day, and that will ensure regular-hilarity. 2. Remember that each of us has been given a special gift, just for entering -- so you are already a winner. 3. The most powerful tool on the planet today is Tell-A-Vision. That is where I tell a vision to you and you tell a vision to me. That way, if we don't like the programming we're getting, we can simply change the channel. 4. Life is like photography. You use the negative to develop. And, no matter what adversity you face, be reassured: Of course God loves you. 5. It is true. As we go through life thinking heavy thoughts, thought particles tend to get caught between the ears, causing a condition called truth decay. So be sure to use mental floss twice a day. And when you're tempted to practice tantrum yoga, remember what we teach in Swami's Absurdiveness Training class: \"Don't get even, get odd.\" 6. If we want world peace, we must let go of our attachments and truly live like nomads. That's where I no mad at you, you no mad at me. That way, there'll surely be no madness on the planet. And peace begins with each of us. A little peace here, a little peace there, pretty soon all the peaces will fit together to make one big peace everywhere. 7. I know great earth changes have been predicted for the future, so if you're looking to avoid earthquakes, my advice is simple. When you find a fault, just don't dwell on it. 8. There's no need to change the world. All we have to do is toilet train the world, and we'll never have to change it again. 9. If you're looking to find the key to the Universe, I have some bad news and some good news. The bad news is -- there is no key to the Universe. The good news is -- it has been left unlocked. 10. Finally, everything I have told you is channeled. That way, if you don't like it, it's not my fault. And remember, enlightenment is not a bureaucracy. So, we don't have to go through channels."}, {"response": 7, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Nov  3, 2001 (21:32)", "body": "Tastes Shift From Pate to Pot Pies Consumers: Comfort foods rank high on many shopping lists these days, as extravagances are cut. \ufffd \ufffd \ufffdBy MELINDA FULMER, TIMES STAFF WRITER Concerned about the weakening economy and their own security, consumers are changing their eating habits--shifting from gourmet items to less expensive comfort foods and from upscale restaurants to pizza delivery. Supermarkets reported that sales of some high-end deli items and expensive cuts of beef declined at the end of September, and sales of comfort foods such as pancake mix, creamed corn, potatoes, peanut butter and peas and carrots posted double-digit increases from the same week last year, according to grocery data released this week by AC Nielsen. more @ http://www.latimes.com/business/la-000085363oct27.story"}, {"response": 8, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Dec 11, 2001 (09:22)", "body": "I heard about some surfers in Oahu who draped an American flag over a surfboard with some candles and pushed it out in the ocean. The about 50 surfers surrounded the board and pushed it out to sea on September 14th after a moment of silent prayer."}, {"response": 9, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Feb  3, 2002 (09:08)", "body": "I've fallen to this trend only to some extent, I still like a good bottle of wine every now and then and good coffee is hard to forego. If I could only cut back on computer and internet expenses!"}, {"response": 10, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Sep  8, 2002 (10:14)", "body": "http://www.thenation.com/docPrint.mhtml?i=20020923&s=danto This is phiolospher and art critic's latest column about art and 9/11, especially he covers the memorials. news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 48, "subject": "economic consequences of global war and terrorism", "response_count": 7, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Sep 28, 2001 (09:38)", "body": "The estimate I saw was $50 billion so far. These are direct losses and not ripple effect losses which may be incalculable."}, {"response": 2, "author": "ekelley", "date": "Mon, Oct  1, 2001 (21:49)", "body": "I heard it was going to be $39 B just to clean up and 'rebuild' (whatever that means) the WTC site... I think it might be more than $50B once we actually go into the inevitable recession."}, {"response": 3, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Oct  2, 2001 (16:48)", "body": "Ricochet rebounds at WTC ground zero By Ben Charny Special to CNET News.com October 1, 2001, 12:00 p.m. PT The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center have unexpectedly renewed Ricochet, the wireless high-speed Internet service owned by Metricom that was shut down more than two months ago. At the request of New York City officials, the Ricochet network has been turned back on to provide Internet access in the area surrounding where the World Trade Center towers once stood. The network that powered wireless access for 51,000 customers nationwide was shut down Aug. 8. It was \"relit\" so search and recovery personnel combing the wreckage could send each other e-mail to coordinate their efforts, or get access to death certificate records filed online. http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1004-20"}, {"response": 4, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Oct  2, 2001 (16:48)", "body": "Full url, that one got cut off. http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1004-200-7372683.html?tag=ch_mh"}, {"response": 5, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Dec 28, 2001 (11:26)", "body": "Securities firms must report suspicious activity, US banks prohibited from doing business with \"Brass Plates\" shell banks: http://www.moneylaundering.com/news.htm#20121 Money services businesses (MSBs) get no delay, must report suspicious transactions in 2002: http://www.ustreas.gov/fincen/sardatemsbs.html Correspondent Banks requird to submit extensive information to continue relationships with US institutions: http://www.moneylaundering.com/news.htm#4121 Regulations a severe setback to portions of the US banking industry which had fought these regs tooth-and-nail: http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Banks/Shell_Game_Citibank.html and had the Bush administration on-board 'till 9/11 http://www.russianlaw.org/ap060701.htm International crackdown on \"Brass Plates\", and the underlying national \"banking privacy\" laws allowing them: http://www.moneylaundering.com/news.htm#13123"}, {"response": 6, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Feb  3, 2002 (09:09)", "body": "A lot of good links in that previous post."}, {"response": 7, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Jan 26, 2005 (07:08)", "body": "The Bush administration said Tuesday it will need about $80 billion more to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, pushing the total military and reconstruction cost beyond $300 billion. http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-deficit26.html news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 49, "subject": "Finding Osama Bin Laden", "response_count": 46, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Sep 21, 2001 (22:46)", "body": "Some many reports of Bin Laden in so many places today. \"Then up and spoke the Colonel's son that led a troop of the Guides: \"Is there never a man of all my men can say where Kamal hides?\" Then up and spoke Mahommed Khan, the son of the Ressaldar: \"If ye know the track of the morning-mist, ye know where his pickets are. At dusk he harries the Abazai -- at dawn he is into Bonair, But he must go by Fort Bukloh to his own place to fare, So if ye gallop to Fort Bukloh as fast as a bird can fly, By the favour of God ye may cut him off ere he win to the Tongue of Jagai. But if he be past the Tongue of Jagai, right swiftly turn ye then, For the length and the breadth of that grisly plain is sown with Kamal's men. There is rock to the left, and rock to the right, and low lean thorn between, And ye may hear a breech-bolt snick where never a man is seen.\" \" --The Ballad of East and West"}, {"response": 2, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Sep 22, 2001 (09:08)", "body": "The Taliban cannot be negotiated with. The council of clerics is more afraid of the Taliban than they are of the U.S. -- the Taliban, after all, are within actual rifle range and constitute a real and present threat, whereas the U.S. is (in their eyes) only a distant and vague *potential* threat. Hence the Council of Clerics decision. These councils, btw, historically have tended to defer to whomever had the biggest and nearest sword. Council of Clerics' decisions tend to drift with the winds of power, and have generally been considered by Afghans to be as binding and as relevant as, say, a Berkeley resolution declaring the city a \"nuclear free zone.\" Anyone seriously wishing to capture Bin Laden or otherwise deal with the Afghan aspect of this problem effectively should not pay much attention to either Taliban or Council of Clerics edicts. - David Kline, former war correspondent in Afghanistan"}, {"response": 3, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Sep 22, 2001 (14:55)", "body": "I got this tidbit from Dr. Flash Gordon, MD of San Francisco. here's a fascinating interview from 1999 with osama bin laden that appeared in _esquire_ magazine: http://www.esquire.com/features/articles/2001/010913_mfe_binladen_1.html in light of current events, the last line is especially chilling."}, {"response": 4, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Sep 23, 2001 (00:18)", "body": "From the above article: \"When it was over, I went looking for him. \"So, do we have a story?\" I whispered when I found him. \"Please tell me it wasn't just an hour of \ufffdPraise Allah' bullshit.\" \"No,\" Ali said. \"We have a very good story.\" I asked Ali what bin Laden had said that would make this news. \"He was looking right into your face,\" Ali said, \"and he was saying that you\ufffdyou people, the Americans\ufffdwould be going home from the Middle East in coffins and in boxes.\" \"He said that?\" I asked, excited. \"And while he was saying this, what was I doing?\" Ali looked at me a bit oddly and said, \"You were nodding like you agreed with his plan.\" \""}, {"response": 5, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep 24, 2001 (10:09)", "body": "The Times of India reports that Omar and Osama had a meeting and then Osama got the hell out of Dodge, er, Kandahar, and the Taliban have followed suit, abandonining Kandahar, Kabul and other centers for the hills to prepare for the expected assault. http://www.timesofindia.com/articleshow.asp?art_id=1884594979"}, {"response": 6, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Oct  2, 2001 (10:40)", "body": "October 2, 2001 THE INVESTIGATION Call by bin Laden Before Attacks Is Reported By PHILIP SHENON and DAVID JOHNSTON WASHINGTON, Oct. 1 \ufffd Osama bin Laden telephoned his mother in Syria the day before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to tell her that he could not meet her there because \"something big\" was imminent that would end their communications for a long time, a senior foreign official said tonight. The official, speaking on the condition of not being named, said the account was obtained through an interrogation of Mr. bin Laden's extended family in Saudi Arabia. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/02/national/02INQU.html"}, {"response": 7, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Oct  2, 2001 (12:05)", "body": "Bin Laden seen in Kabul as net tightens Richard Norton-Taylor Tuesday October 2, 2001 The Guardian Osama bin Laden was in Kabul last week and US and British intelligence agencies have a \"pretty good idea\" where he is now, well-placed sources have told the Guardian. The disclosure suggests that western intelligence has a much clearer picture of Bin Laden's recent movements than has been admitted, either by Washington and London or by the Taliban. Bin Laden and his close circle of supporters are America's top target. His capture or death would reduce the pressure for wider military action against Afghanistan. It is not clear whether he was spotted by American spy satellites or whether the information was provided by Pakistan's intelligence service, the ISI. The ISI, which has had extremely close relations with the Taliban, is said by western sources to be cooperating well with western intelligence agencies. The presence in the Afghan capital of the prime suspect behind the September 11 attacks on the US could help to explain recent statements by the Taliban saying they know where he is. The Taliban said on Sunday that he was being held in a secret location \"for his safety and security\". According to one report, in the days immediately following the attack, Bin Laden was hiding in a mountainous area near Kandahar, the seat of the Taliban's power in southern Afghanistan. However, despite the ISI's cooperation and apparently firm intelligence that Bin Laden was in Kabul last week, defence sources say they are deeply frustrated at the failure to get \"real-time\" or what they call \"actionable\" intelligence. They are scanning Afghanistan for what they call a \"window of opportunity\" to find Bin Laden and his associates. With the latest communications technology, there is a delay of some hours between a sighting of a target from a satellite and a military strike against it, defence sources say. The failure so far to get real-time intelligence indicates that any special forces that may be on the ground have not found Bin Laden and that Pakistan's ISI is not prepared to share its latest intelligence with the US. Even if timely intelligence locates Bin Laden in Kabul, the US and Britain would be faced with a serious dilemma, Whitehall sources admit. Any decision to launch air strikes on the capital, even with precision weapons, would carry the risk of heavy civilian casualties. The American and British governments are determined to limit such risks, partly because of the need to maintain as broad an international coalition as possible, partly to avoid provoking retaliation by groups of protesters at home. The Taliban leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, was reported yesterday to have said in a radio address that Afghhans should not worry about a US attack because \"Americans don't have the courage to come here\". US and British intelligence agencies are throwing all their resources at their disposal in the attempt to locate Bin Laden. They include US spy satellites and GCHQ listening posts. Defence sources still insist they are pursuing a policy of what they call \"strategic patience\". However, they add that pressure is mounting to launch air strikes to \"coerce\" the Taliban into handing over Bin Laden. These would be aimed at Bin Laden training camps and Taliban military bases."}, {"response": 8, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Oct  2, 2001 (16:54)", "body": "QUETTA, Pakistan, Oct 2 (AFP) - Thousands of Pakistani hardline Islamists defied a government ban Tuesday and took to the streets here in a show of support for neighbouring Afghanistan's Taliban regime. More than 50,000 protestors, many armed with sticks and swords, paraded through this southwestern Pakistani city, chanting slogans supporting the Taliban and the world's most wanted man, Osama bin Laden."}, {"response": 9, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Oct  5, 2001 (10:37)", "body": "Inside Al-Qaeda: a window into the world of militant Islam and the Afghani alumni By Richard Engel, Cairo and Amman The breeding grounds of militant Islamic terrorism span a host of different environments from the Afghan battlefields of the 1980s to places much closer to home. Richard Engel charts the careers of some of Bin Laden's converts and co-conspirators, offering an insight into Al-Qaeda's inner workings. more at http://www.janes.com/security/international_security/news/misc/janes010928_1_n.shtml"}, {"response": 10, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Oct  8, 2001 (15:15)", "body": "XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX SUN OCT 07, 2001 19:20:41 ET XXXXX WHITE HOUSE CONVINCED: BIN LADEN GIVING ORDERS OVER INTERNET President Bush and his senior advisers are convinced that terror lord Osama bin Laden is communicating with his agents via the Internet, government sources said on Sunday. \"[The Internet] appears to be a major mode of communication between bin Laden' and his network,\" revealed a White House insider who demanded anonymity. \"The Internet has proven to be a good place to hide and to communicate in real-time,\" added the source. \"We know there's been an exchange of email between bin Laden's top agents, but there also may be ongoing chats, like instant messages.' Developing..."}, {"response": 11, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Oct 11, 2001 (10:47)", "body": "India helped FBI trace ISI-terrorist links MANOJ JOSHI TIMES NEWS NETWORK NEW DELHI: While the Pakistani Inter Services Public Relations claimed that former ISI director-general Lt-Gen Mahmud Ahmad sought retirement after being superseded on Monday, the truth is more shocking. Top sources confirmed here on Tuesday, that the general lost his job because of the \"evidence\" India produced to show his links to one of the suicide bombers that wrecked the World Trade Centre. The US authorities sought his removal after confirming the fact that $100,000 were wired to WTC hijacker Mohammed Atta from Pakistan by Ahmad Umar Sheikh at the instance of Gen Mahumd. Senior government sources have confirmed that India contributed significantly to establishing the link between the money transfer and the role played by the dismissed ISI chief. While they did not provide details, they said that Indian inputs, including Sheikh\ufffds mobile phone number, helped the FBI in tracing and establishing the link. A direct link between the ISI and the WTC attack could have enormous repercussions. The US cannot but suspect whether or not there were other senior Pakistani Army commanders who were in the know of things. Evidence of a larger conspiracy could shake US confidence in Pakistan\ufffds ability to participate in the anti-terrorism coalition. \" continued at http://www.timesofindia.com/articleshow.asp?art_id=1454238160 and why and how osama escaped our 75 missiles: \" \ufffd98 attack: Tip off to Osama cooked ISI chief\ufffds goose Vishal Thapar (New Delhi, October 9) The seeds of US distrust in the Pakistani military establishment, which claimed the scalp of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Lt.-General Mehmood Ahmed, lie in leaking out of information about the US cruise missile attacks on the terrorist camps of Osama bin Laden in Khost (Afghanistan) on August 20, 1998. This enabled Osama bin Laden to escape. The fact that Osama left behind his satellite phone, otherwise his constant companion, before fleeing convinced the US that he had advance information about the attacks. The US had been able to pinpoint his position by using satellites to track his phone calls. Before firing the 75-odd Tomahawk Cruise missles from ship and submarine platform in the Arabain Sea (the attacks were in retaliation for the August 7 bombings of the US Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, in which 224 people were killed), the US informed Pak that the missiles would be flying over its territory. Even now, the US has reasons to believe that Pakistan is playing a double game by supporting Taliban. They believe that the Taliban is being tipped off about operational plans and surreptitiously helped to defend itself against the US attacks. The sacked ISI chief, Lt Gen Mehmood Ahmed, led a group of Islamic clerics to Afghanistan, ostensibly to persuade Mullah Mohammad Omer to hand over Osama Bin Laden. The group led by the general did just the opposite - it asked Omer not to hand over Osama come what may. Revelations that Gen Ahmed was aware of the wire transfer of $ 100,000 by Ahmad Omar Sheikh to Mohammad Atta, the mastermind of the Sept 11 attacks, shook the US. Sheikh, who along with Maulana Masood Azhar and Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar was released from Indian prison in exchange for the safe release of the passengers of the hijacked IC 814 I-A plane, was known for his proximity to Gen Ahmed. The US believes that Gen Ahmed, who was in the USA on Sept 11, was aware of the plan to bomb the US landmarks. \" continued at http://www.hindustantimes.com/nonfram/101001/dlame24.asp why aren't the news services recalling that osama fled in a panic, and left his followers to die without warning them about the missile attack meant for him. cowardly and treacherous to his own people, nothing admirable about this."}, {"response": 12, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Oct 13, 2001 (23:19)", "body": "Wednesday, 10 October, 2001, 02:07 GMT 03:07 UK In full: Al-Qaeda statement The statement was read by one of Osama Bin Laden's lieutenants Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, a spokesman for Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda group, has called on Muslims to join in a holy war against the United States. Below is the full text of the statement: \"We thank Almighty God, who said in his holy book: Ye who believe, take not the Jews and the Christians for your friends and protectors. They are but friends and protectors to each other. And he amongst you that turns to them is of them. Verily God guideth not a people unjustly. \"May God's peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his companions, and those who followed his course. \"I address this message to the entire Muslim nation to tell them that the confederates have joined forces against the Islamic nation and the Crusader war, promised by Bush, has been launched against Afghanistan and against this people who have faith in God. 'Crusader bombardment' \"We now live under this Crusader bombardment that targets the entire nation. The Islamic nation should know that we defend a just cause. \"The Islamic nation has been groaning in pain for more than 80 years under the yoke of the joint Jewish-Crusader aggression. Palestine is living under the yoke of the Jewish occupation and its people groan from this repression and persecution while no-one lifts a finger. The Arabian Peninsula is being defiled by the feet of those who came to occupy these lands, usurp these holy places, and plunder these resources. Carrying out terrorism against the oppressors is one of the tenets of our religion and Shari'ah \"The Islamic nation must also know that the US version of terrorism is a kind of deception. Is it logical for the United States and its allies to carry out this repression, persecution, plundering, and bloodletting over these long years without this being called terrorism, while when the victim tries to seek justice, he is described as terrorist? \"This type of deception can never be accepted in any case whatsoever. \"Let the United States know that the Islamic nation will not remain silent after this day on what it is experiencing and what takes place in its land, and that jihad for the sake of God today is an obligation on every Muslim in this land if he has no excuse. 'Steeds of war' \"God Almighty has said: Then fight in God's cause, thou art held responsible only for thyself and rouse the believers. It may be that God will restrain the fury of the unbelievers, for God is the strongest in might and in punishment. The actions by these young men who destroyed the United States and launched the storm of planes against it have done a good deed \"US interests are spread throughout the world. So, every Muslim should carry out his real role to champion his Islamic nation and religion. Carrying out terrorism against the oppressors is one of the tenets of our religion and Shari'ah. \"Against them make ready your strength to the utmost of your power, including steeds of war, to strike terror into the hearts of the enemies of God and your enemies. \"I would like to touch on one important point in this address. The actions by these young men who destroyed the United States and launched the storm of planes against it have done a good deed. \"They transferred the battle into the US heartland. Let the United States know that with God's permission, the battle will continue to be waged on its territory until it leaves our lands, stops its support for the Jews, and lifts the unjust embargo on the Iraqi people who have lost more than one million children. \"The Americans should know that the storm of plane attacks will not abate, with God's permission. There are thousands of the Islamic nation's youths who are eager to die just as the Americans are eager to live. 'New phase of enmity' \"They should know that with their invasion of the land of Afghanistan, they have started a new phase of enmity and conflict between us and the forces of infidelity. We are confident that we will achieve victory thanks to our material and moral strength and confidence and faith in Almighty God. The Americans have opened a door which will under no circumstances be shut. \"I address Muslim youths, men, and women and urge them to shoulder their responsibility. They should know that the land of Afghanistan and the mujahidin there are really facing an all-out Crusader war which is aimed at eliminating this group which believes in God and fights on the basis of a creed and religion. Thus, the nation must shoulder its responsibility. It would be a disgrace if the Islamic nation fails to do so. \"Finally, I thank Almighty God who enabled us to engage in this jihad and fight this battle, which is a decisive one between infidelity and faith. I ask Almighty God to grant us victory on our enemy, make their machinations backfire on them, and defeat them. \"May God's peace, mercy, and blessings be upon you.\" BBC Monitoring, based in Caversham in souther"}, {"response": 13, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Oct 26, 2001 (09:00)", "body": "Believe it or not department: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/05/20011024id36.htm Report by China News Service quoting Japanese source in Tokyo per the following (translated by AIT from Chinese from the site at: http://www.chinanews.com.cn/2001-10-24/26/133210.html/ in Chinese, and http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/05/20011024id36.htm in Japanese): \"Chinese News Service Reports: Osama bin Laden Killed?\" Filed by Hiroyuki Sugiyama, Yomiuri Shimbun Reporter based in Beijing. Based on Japanese sources in Tokyo, news report (s) has been received that on October 16th, both the leader of Taliban Afghanistan Omar and the leader of AlQaida, Osama bin Laden, were both shot and killed in Afghanistan, by elements within their ranks. However at this time no other news sources have confirmed the assassinations. The CNS news report stated that it is reported that Omar and Bin Laden had returned to one of the underground Taliban bases near Kandahar in the south, at approximately 11 a.m. local time in Afghanistan on 16 October. As the two and others were entering the underground base, it was reported an ally fired upon his (Omar's) back from the rear. The report is that Omar was hit in the upper torso, and bin Laden was hit once in the chest and once in the upper left shoulder area. Both expired at that location. The report goes on to say that accompanying bin Laden were one of his sons and this son's wife, who were also hit with gunfire in the chest, waist and shoulder areas, and they too have reported suffered fatal wounds from this attack. The second eldest son of Omar also suffered a gunshot wound to the right side of his lower torso, and escaped the shooting, but expired on the following day.\" [End of Text]"}, {"response": 14, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Oct 26, 2001 (15:17)", "body": "http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1608000/1608272.stm is a piece on how geologists are working to determine exactly where ObL is based on the rock formations etc. in the pictures with him. But won't wide mention of this on CNN, etc. tip off Bin Laden to not use these backgrounds again. He's probably ordering a giant roll of backdrop paper now."}, {"response": 15, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Nov  3, 2001 (21:42)", "body": "Another video, more whining from Bin Laden. http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/south_asia/newsid_1636000/1636257.stm"}, {"response": 16, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Nov  3, 2001 (21:43)", "body": "Fortunately this time CNN and the networks aren't playing it, instead showing about a 20 second clip of the pitiful whining and crying, did I say pathetic, Osama Bin Laden."}, {"response": 17, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Nov  6, 2001 (10:37)", "body": "Sunday November 4 9:04 AM ET Arabs Dismiss Bin Laden Appeal, Syria Rips U.S. By Nadim Ladki DAMASCUS (Reuters) - The head of the 22-nation Arab League Sunday dismissed an appeal by Osama bin Laden to Muslims to join a holy war against the West, saying the Saudi militant did not speak for the world's Arabs and Muslims. Egypt, the Arab world's most populous country, also rejected the appeal, saying the world was united against bin Laden. ``There is a war between bin Laden and the whole world,'' Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Maher told reporters ahead of a meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Syria when asked about bin Laden's appeal. Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa, himself Egyptian foreign minister before taking up the Arab League post earlier this year, echoed Maher's comments, saying: ``Bin Laden doesn't speak in the name of Arabs and Muslims.''"}, {"response": 18, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Nov  8, 2001 (10:40)", "body": "Hey Wow, The Kids Dig Rambo *8-/ Bin Laden's sons visit helicopter wreck 07 November, 2001 18:56 GMT Email this article Printer friendly version J Reuters PhotoDUBAI (Reuters) - Hamza Osama bin Laden read poetry while his brother Mohammad strolled carrying a rocket launcher near the wreckage of what Afghanistan's ruling Taliban said was a downed U.S. helicopter. The two were among four youths shown on Wednesday in exclusive footage from Afghanistan by Qatar's al-Jazeera television, which identified them as sons of Osama bin Laden -- Hamza, Mohammad, Khaled and Laden. The four appeared to be teenagers and showed no signs of being fazed by U.S. military strikes on Afghanistan aimed at flushing out their father, blamed by the United States for the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington. Sitting against the backdrop of metal wreckage, Hamza grabbed the attention of several masked gunmen as he recited a poem in classical Arabic hailing the Afghan capital Kabul and praising Taliban leader \"our emir Mullah Mohammad Omar, symbol of manhood and pride\". Al-Jazeera said the four sons were among a group of Arab fighters who joined Afghan Arab fighters and Taliban forces inspecting a site where the Taliban had said it downed a U.S. helicopter in Ghazni province on Saturday. The Pentagon has denied an aircraft was downed. It said bad weather forced a helicopter to crash but all its crew were rescued and the craft was destroyed by fighter jets to prevent the Taliban taking sensitive equipment. Al-Jazeera said the Taliban had deployed some forces, including Afghan Arab volunteers, in the area to study maps and other documents found near the helicopter. One gunman taunted U.S. troops to come to Afghanistan as he showed bin Laden's sons a picture of U.S. soldiers. \"You see. They are commandos? They are a superpower only in Hollywood and in films,\" said the gunman in English. \"Their heroes are only mythical like Rambo and they won't come on the land of Afghanistan. And if they do come here, they will end up in pieces like this,\" he added, pointing to the wreckage. One gunman carried an automatic rifle inscribed with the Arabic words \"Death to Bush\". Bin Laden, one of 57 children of one of Saudi Arabia's richest families, has numerous children from several wives."}, {"response": 19, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Nov  8, 2001 (10:41)", "body": "Laden bin Laden indeed."}, {"response": 20, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Nov 15, 2001 (16:07)", "body": "THURSDAY NOVEMBER 15 2001 Bin Laden's nuclear secrets found FROM ANTHONY LOYD IN KABUL * Times reporter finds blueprint for 'Nagasaki bomb' * Singed files left by fleeing terrorists OSAMA BIN LADEN\ufffdS al-Qaeda network held detailed plans for nuclear devices and other terrorist bombs in one of its Kabul headquarters. The Times discovered the partly burnt documents in a hastily abandoned safe house in the Karta Parwan quarter of the city. Written in Arabic, German, Urdu and English, the notes give detailed designs for missiles, bombs and nuclear weapons. There are descriptions of how the detonation of TNT compresses plutonium into a critical mass, sparking a chain reaction, and ultimately a thermonuclear reaction. Both President Bush and British ministers are convinced that bin Laden has access to nuclear material and Mr Bush said earlier this month that al-Qaeda was \ufffdseeking chemical, biological and nuclear weapons\ufffd. The discovery of the detailed bomb-making instructions, along with studies into chemical and nuclear devices, confirms the West\ufffds worst fears and raises the spectre of plans for an attack that would far exceed the September 11 atrocities in scale and gravity. Nuclear experts say the design suggests that bin Laden may be working on a fission device, similar to Fat Man, the bomb dropped on Nagasaki. However, they emphasised that it was extremely difficult to build a viable warhead. http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,2001390014-2001395995,00.html"}, {"response": 21, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Nov 20, 2001 (11:38)", "body": "from the London Times Death of Bin Laden's deputy: How the US killed Al-Qaeda leaders by remote control by Stephen Grey \"As American officials watched with mounting excitement, three US air force F-15 Strike Eagle planes, America\ufffds premier attack fighters, were moved into position. Deployed from bases in the Gulf, the aircraft had been \ufffdloitering\ufffd in the Kabul area, kept aloft by inflight refuelling, awaiting the right moment to move in. \"Nobody knew precisely who they would kill if the order to attack the hotel was given, but intelligence analysts felt certain that senior Al-Qaeda officials were meeting in the hotel to consider their next moves as the Taliban regime was collapsing all over the country. Finally, the order was given in Florida for the target to be engaged. \"Locking the cross-hairs of their weapon guidance systems on the hotel below, each of the three F-15s let loose a single GBU-15 \ufffdsmart bomb\ufffd. Weighing 2,500lb each, these bombs are guided on to their targets by infrared cameras in their noses. \"As the bombs slammed into the side of the hotel, the Predator completed the mission, launching its two Hellfire missiles at the vehicles in the car park. Almost everyone at the scene was incinerated, with close to 100 people killed. \"It was many hours before American officials could know just how much they had achieved. Then, in panic and pandemonium, an Al-Qaeda operative breached the organisation\ufffds strict security rules and revealed that a large number of the movement\ufffds senior figures had been killed \ufffd including Mohammed Atef, the 57-year-old deputy to Bin Laden and the terrorist group\ufffds senior military commander. \" http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/article/0,,9002-2001531185,00.html"}, {"response": 22, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Nov 22, 2001 (16:29)", "body": "Show us the money, department. Taliban reply: $50 m bounty on Bush's head PIN BOLDAK, Afghanistan: Osama Bin Laden did not have the capability to carry out the September 11 terrorist attacks in the US and the $25 m dollar bounty will not lead to his capture, a Taliban official said Wednesday. Mohammed Saeed Haqqani, security chief at the border town of Spin Boldak in Kandahar, one of the last remaining provinces still in Taliban control, said the attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon were the work of Jews trying to blacken the name of Islam. \"The US has not provided any information about his (Bin Laden's) involvement in the attacks,\" Haqqani told reporters. \"He has not the telecommunications means to conduct such activities. Being our guest we are duty bound to protect him\" and not hand him over to the US authorities. \"The Americans have offered $25 m for Osama. We will give $50 m for (US President George W.) Bush even though we are a poor country.\" US Secretary of State Colin Powell boosted the reward for Bin Laden from $5 mto 25 m on Tuesday, with the bounty advertised in radio broadcasts to Afghanistan, and leaflets distributed on the ground. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher has said that more than 22,000 tips have been received about Bin Laden since September 11, but none has yielded results. All good Muslims would reject the opportunity to cash in on the bounty for Bin Laden's capture, Haqqani said. \"Being good Muslims we have a strong faith, that's why it is not tempting to us.\" Asked for proof of Jewish involvement in the September 11 strikes, Haqqani said 4,000 Jews had not gone to work at the World Trade Centre on the day. \"And why did the television cameras know where the second plane was going to hit? \"They are trying to eliminate Afghanistan. They are trying to blacken our name.\" The official said the US demand for Bin Laden's handover was hypocritical given the fact that British author Salman Rushdie was living in New York. An Iranian fatwa condemning Rushdie to death was issued after the Indian- born writer allegedly blasphemed Islam in his 1988 book The Satanic Verses. \"It is not clear that Osama has been involved in crimes but it is a hard fact that Rushdie committed a crime against Islam. Why are people taking care of him in your country?\" Haqqani said. Bin Laden has been accused of masterminding the attacks on September 11. The Taliban's failure to hand him over to US authorities prompted the launch of an aerial bombing campaign that has lasted for nearly seven weeks. ( AFP )"}, {"response": 23, "author": "admin", "date": "Fri, Nov 30, 2001 (08:24)", "body": "British and US intelligence is pretty sure bin Laden's ass is holed up here: http://www.thetimes.co.uk/picture/0,,2001550174,00.gif"}, {"response": 24, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Nov 30, 2001 (08:27)", "body": ""}, {"response": 25, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Dec  3, 2001 (13:58)", "body": "David Kline (dkline) Mon Dec 3 '01 (09:46) 39 lines Should we have known that Bin Laden and the Taliban had created an army of not just hundreds or even a few thousand but maybe 30,000 or more Arab froiegn legionaries in Afghanistan? Absent human intelligence -- Pashtun, Dari & Arabic-speaking operatives INSIDE the Al-Queda/Taliban network -- I'm not sure how we could have. I mean, the Pakistani ISI knew but would never have told us, and we were too fucking stupid and blind to realize that the ISI has been lying to us, aiding, and covering up for OBL and the Taliban since Day 1. What about satellite intel? Well, you can spot 50 training camps and thousands of turbanned \"troops,\" but how do you know that a) they're Arabs and Pakistanis rather than legitimate Afghan army soldiers, and b) that they're \"terrorists\" rather than legitimate Afghan army soldiers. Maybe we had intelligence that we shined on. Surely our myopic tendency in recent years to downgrade the OBL/AlQueda/ISI/Islamic Fundi threat didn't help us to *appreciate* whatever information we did have. But we also are faced here with an unprecdented situation. It reminds me a bit of the debate over the US response to knowledge during WW2 of Hitler's extermination camps. Up to a certain point, it's understandable that we downplauyed early rumors of such camps. I mean, who could conceive of such horrors. But *after* a certain point, well some folks in the State dept. & elsewhere clearly had some answering to do. So up to a certain point, I mean, who could ever imagine that a terrorist organization would seize the entire apparatus of state of a sovereign nation and turn a whole country into a base for armed terror operations? And that this terror network would send recuiters out into the Muslim world to bring in 30,000-50,000 jihadist voolunteers for training? I mean, c'mon! That's got to be just a paranoid fantasy, right? Except that at a certain point maybe we should have know more than we did -- or did more with what we knew -- and I don't know where to draw the line. Maybe it's one of those who knew what when situations"}, {"response": 26, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Dec  5, 2001 (09:32)", "body": "http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/339/nation/Bin_Laden_eludes_US_with_Afghan_lore+.shtml Bin Laden eludes US with Afghan lore By Indira A.R. Lakshmanan, Globe Staff, 12/5/2001 UETTA, Pakistan - Eight weeks after the United States began bombing Afghanistan, suspected terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden remains hidden in a rugged, sparsely populated landscape of impassable mountains and hidden caves. How the world's most wanted fugitive, with a $25 million bounty on his head, has managed to elude high-tech satellites and listening devices and US commandos is a fascinating tale of a man who has turned hiding into an art form. In a Texas-sized country with terrain so rough that it could obscure legions of fugitives, bin Laden reportedly avoids detection by changing his location nightly and using muleback couriers instead of satellite telephones. Specialists on Afghanistan and Al Qaeda, the terrorist network bin Laden runs, credit both his paranoid personality and his familiarity with Afghanistan's topography, which dates to his years as a guerrilla in the 1979-89 war against the Soviet occupation. Also important, say the specialists, are the loyalty he ...."}, {"response": 27, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Dec 10, 2001 (16:46)", "body": "We may have found him. \ufffdIt Ain\ufffdt Over\ufffd U.S. Blasts Suspected Bin Laden Hideout as N. Alliance Assaults Al Qaeda Dec. 10 \ufffd The U.S. military today dropped a 15,000-pound \"daisy cutter\" bomb on the mouth of a cave where key al Qaeda leaders were suspected of hiding, as American forces stepped up their bombing of a mountainous region believed to be the hideout of Osama bin Laden. \ufffd 'Daisy Cutter' Hits Suspected Hideout \ufffd Aid Worker Sees No Quick-Fix for Afghans \ufffd New Breast Cancer Drug May Save Lives It was not known exactly who was in the cave or how much damage the bomb did, but a Pentagon spokesman said the weapon \ufffd which incinerates everything within 600 yards and has only been used twice before in the 2-month-old Afghan campaign \ufffd was sure to have a \"negative effect\" on anyone hiding nearby. \"There is a psychological effect of having a munition of 15,000 pounds of explosive capability that's brought into a very narrowly defined area,\" Rear Adm. John Stufflebeem said when asked why the bomb was dropped. \"This cave complex is literally on the sheer walls of a valley, and therefore the reverberation effect that goes up in those caves should have some kind of a negative effect. \"The other would be just the obvious effect of the high explosive yield,\" Stufflebeem said. \"It was at a target, at a cave target, and that cave target should no longer be usable for anybody to get in or out of.\" He said it was dropped on the cave because \"it was believed that that's where some substantial al Qaeda forces would be, and possibly including senior leadership.\" more at http://abcnews.go.com/sections/world/DailyNews/STRIKE_MAIN.html"}, {"response": 28, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Dec 11, 2001 (22:00)", "body": "Speaking of Tora Bora: http://www.somethingawful.com/features/binladenfortress/ The TRUTH comes out."}, {"response": 29, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Jan  2, 2002 (13:42)", "body": "Boy, oh boy, we got Bin Laden's computer ! Computer in Kabul holds chilling memos PC apparently used by al-Qaida leaders reveals details of four years of terrorism By Alan Cullison and Andrew Higgins THE WALL STREET JOURNAL JKABUL, Afghanistan, Dec. 31 Q JLast May, someone sat down at an IBM desktop here and typed out a polite letter to a bitter foe of al-Qaida, the anti- Taliban leader Ahmed Shah Massoud. The writer tapped at the computer for 97 minutes, according to its internal record, then printed out the fruit of his labor: a request for an interview with Massoud, to be conducted by \"one of our best journalists, Mr. Karim Touzani.\" ON SEPT. 9, two men posing as journalists, one carrying a passport in the name of Karim Touzani, detonated a hidden bomb as they interviewed Massoud. The legendary Afghan commander was mortally wounded. Two days later came the suicide attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. Now, as al-Qaida, the group blamed for all of those lethal attacks, is uprooted from its Afghan sanctuaries, it is leaving behind cyber- fingerprints. The letter to Massoud is one of hundreds of text documents and video files in a computer evidently used for four years by al-Qaida chieftains in Kabul. Its hard drive is a repository for correspondence with militant Muslims around the world, portraying al-Qaida bosses struggling to administer, inspire and discipline the sprawling global organization. DAILY CONCERNS Dating from early 1997 through this fall, the files paint a picture of both ghoulish ambitions and quotidian frustrations within an organization that, despite its medieval zealotry, sometimes mimicked a multinational corporation. Memos refer to al-Qaida as \"the company\" and its leadership as \"the general management.\" The computer files don't appear to detail the plotting of Sept. 11 or to contain any clear plans for future attacks. But hundreds of documents, ranging from the murderous to the mundane, illuminate issues bearing on America's war on terrorism. Among them: Files outlining al-Qaida efforts to launch a program of chemical and biological weapons, code-named al Zabadi, Arabic for curdled milk. As part of the plan to develop a \"home-brew nerve gas,\" members were given a long reading list that included a study titled \"Current Concepts: Napalm.\" A video file in which Osama bin Laden speaks for 23 minutes, focusing on what he calls America's anti-Muslim crusade and mentioning the Sept. 11 attacks. Another video shows a top al-Qaida cleric and spokesman, Sheikh Abu Gaith, appearing to acknowledge al-Qaida responsibility for the strikes. \"God Almighty has enabled our brothers to carry out these strikes,\" he says, \"and make the enemies of God taste what they made our brothers taste.\" A letter in which a militant using the name Abu Yaser stresses that \"hitting the Americans and Jews is a target of great value and has its rewards in this life and, God willing, the afterlife.\" The letter is addressed to top al-Qaida lieutenant Ayman al-Zawahri and the author says he has written to bin Laden separately. A memo referring to a \"legal study\" on \"the killing of civilians.\" The writer, acknowledging this is \"a sensitive issue,\" says he has found ways to keep \"the enemy\" from using the killing of \"civilians, specifically women and children,\" to undermine the militants' cause. STREETS OF KABUL How a computer apparently stuffed with al-Qaida secrets came to light involves a combination of happenstance and the opportunism of war in a country schooled for 20 years in conflict and chaos. The desktop was installed in a two-story brick building in Kabul that was used by al-Qaida as an office, according to a looter who says he grabbed it and a Compaq laptop from the office. He says he entered the building, which is now occupied by Northern Alliance soldiers, after a November U.S. bombing raid killed several senior al-Qaida officials in a nearby property. As surviving al-Qaida operatives fled Kabul ahead of the city's fall, the looter offered the computers for sale to a local computer merchant. A Wall Street Journal reporter acquired them for $1,100, copying hundreds of files and getting some of them translated from the Arabic. U.S. officials confirm the authenticity of the files, most protected by passwords, and say they provide a trove of information about the inner workings of the secretive organization. Frequent users of the computer, who left their names or aliases on dozens of files, appear to include two top lieutenants of bin Laden: Zawahri and Mohammed Atef. Zawahri is a former Cairo surgeon who merged his own Egyptian terror outfit with al-Qaida in 1998, and is widely regarded as bin Laden's chief strategist. Atef, killed in a November bombing raid near Kabul, headed al-Qaida's military wing. U.S. officials believe he masterminded the lethal 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. It is unclear whether bin Laden used the computer, though several texts stored on the hard drive make "}, {"response": 30, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Mar  5, 2002 (05:05)", "body": "How Bin Laden slipped out. Bin Laden, please phone home. http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0304/p01s03-wosc.html#top"}, {"response": 31, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Mar  6, 2002 (03:04)", "body": "The best account I've found of how bin Laden got away, this is a day-by-day account of how Osama bin Laden eluded the world's most powerful military machine. In retrospect, it becomes clear that the battle's underlying story is of how scant intelligence, poorly chosen allies, and dubious military tactics fumbled a golden opportunity to capture bin Laden as well as many senior Al Qaeda commanders. . . . Pir Baksh Bardiwal, the intelligence chief for the Eastern Shura, which controls eastern Afghanistan, says he was astounded that Pentagon planners didn't consider the most obvious exit routes and put down light US infantry to block them. \"The border with Pakistan was the key, but no one paid any attention to it,\" he said, leaning back in his swivel chair with a short list of the Al Qaeda fighters who were later taken prisoner. \"And there were plenty of landing areas for helicopters, had the Americans acted decisively. Al Qaeda escaped right out from under their feet.\" http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0304/p01s03-wosc.html"}, {"response": 32, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Apr  8, 2002 (10:05)", "body": "http://www.nation.com.pk/daily/today/main/top13.htm Osama slipped the noose again, an FBI raid."}, {"response": 33, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Apr  8, 2002 (10:06)", "body": "Excerpt from the above article: From Aftab Ahmad FAISALABAD\ufffdOsama bin Laden stayed for three days in Faisalabad and was lucky to slip out barely a few hours before the FBI surprise raid in Faisalabad on March 28 last when he moved out of town, as a routine, leaving behind his lieutenant Abu Zubaida who was critically injured in the short encounter on the spot. Indication to this effect was revealed by the international mediamen visiting Faisalabad on the morning of the raid and are still continuing their detours. Latest in the series is the New York Times special investigation team visiting here Sunday. Even the local police and Pakistani authorities were kept completely in the dark about the target of the raids. Elaborate arrangements were made to conduct the surprise raid. The whole episode devolves upon the sophisticated wireless decoding ultramodern information technology whereby the American FBI manages to catch the waves of Cellular phone talk through satellite and traces backward the longitude and latitude of the phone call and exact location of its origin. Then the recorded voice was verified to be that of Osama and arrangements were made to nab him. Immediately \ufffdRecky\ufffd (Reconnaissance) was ordered and the vigilance reports confirmed that the \ufffdtarget\ufffd was available on site. The vigilance reports suggested that the \ufffdtarget\ufffd was staying in a rented house for the last three days i.e. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Thereafter the FBI high-ups in Islamabad accompanied by crack airborne Commandos and marine contingent secretly landed at the Faisalabad airport from Lahore around 8:30 in the evening and with the help of local police and elite force mounted the surprise raid. The inmates of the rented house came to know of the surprise raid when the whole area was cordoned off and the commandos and Elite Force jawans jumped over the walls. The inmates immediately retaliated by firing in self-defence. In the minor exchange of gunfire Abu Zubaida, a lieutenant of Osama bin Laden, received three bullets and was critically injured on chest, arm and leg. He and his companions were overpowered and taken into custody. The prime target, Osama bin Laden, had however moved out only a few hours earlier as part of his strategy not to stay for longer time at one place. Identity of Abu Zubaida came to be known quite a long time after the arrest during investigation of his companions. The surprise raid codenamed \ufffdOperation Midnight\ufffd was mounted at zero hour at midnight and whole operation was completed within four hours when the FBI team flew out from Faisalabad at 5 in the wee hours. The foreign mediamen leaked the information regarding the surprise raid in the evening and they rushed to Faisalabad by road, reaching here by sunrise. But they found the operation completed and remnants of the encounter spread around. The presence of Osama bin Laden has been leaked now only a week after the episode and the foreign media teams are pouring in to dig out further details."}, {"response": 34, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Jun 28, 2002 (09:56)", "body": "As the leaders of al Qaeda evade capture, regroup and return to the al- Jazeera airwaves to offer menaces and derision, the United States looks increasingly like a blind giant, flailing uselessly about: like, in fact, the blinded Cyclops Polyphemus of Homeric myth, who was only one-eyed to begin with, who had that eye put out by Ulysses and his fugitive companions, and who was reduced to roaring in impotent rage and hurling boulders in the general direction of Ulysses' taunting voice. Indeed, the allegedly still-living Osama bin Laden might find the story of Ulysses and Polyphemus useful as an allegory of his own battle against the Great Satan of America. (Polyphemus, after all, is a sort of evil superpower, a stupid creature of great, brute force who respects no laws or gods and devours human flesh, whereas Ulysses is crafty, devious, slippery, uncatchable and dangerous.) Then again, he might not, for by wounding Polyphemus Ulysses aroused the wrath of the Cyclops's father, Poseidon, the sea god who rules over the fate of all wanderers and fugitives, and was doomed never to return home until all his men were lost and home itself had grown anything but homely. --Salman Rushdie, in today's WashPost at A29. More at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A58700-2002Jun27.html"}, {"response": 35, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Jul 11, 2002 (15:48)", "body": "The Death of bin Ladenism By AMIR TAHERI ARIS \ufffd Osama bin Laden is dead. The news first came from sources in Afghanistan and Pakistan almost six months ago: the fugitive died in December and was buried in the mountains of southeast Afghanistan. Pakistan's president, Pervez Musharraf, echoed the information. The remnants of Osama's gang, however, have mostly stayed silent, either to keep Osama's ghost alive or because they have no means of communication. With an ego the size of Mount Everest, Osama bin Laden would not have, could not have, remained silent for so long if he were still alive. He always liked to take credit even for things he had nothing to do with. Would he remain silent for nine months and not trumpet his own survival? Even if he is still in the world, bin Ladenism has left for good. Mr. bin Laden was the public face of a brand of politics that committed suicide in New York and Washington on Sept. 11, 2001, killing thousands of innocent people in the process. What were the key elements of that politics? The first was a cynical misinterpretation of Islam that began decades ago with such anti-Western ideologues as Maulana Maudoodi of Pakistan and Sayyid Qutb of Egypt. Although Mr. Maudoodi and Mr. Qutb were not serious thinkers, they could at least offer a coherent ideology based on a narrow reading of Islamic texts. Their ideas about Western barbarism and Muslim revival, distilled down to bin Ladenism, became mere slogans designed to incite zealots to murder. People like Mr. Maudoodi and Mr. Qutb could catch the ball and run largely because most Muslim intellectuals of their generation (and later) had no interest in continuing the work of Muslim philosophers. Our intellectuals were too busy learning Western ideologies of one kind or another \ufffd and they left the newly urbanized Muslim masses to the half-baked ideas of men like Mr. Maudoodi and Mr. Qutb and eventually Mr. bin Laden. Now, however, many Muslim intellectuals are returning home, so to speak. They are rediscovering the philosophical heritage of Islam and the challenges of Muslim political thought. And Maudoodi-Qutbism is now being seen as a pseudo-Islamic version of Western fascism. The second element that made Mr. bin Laden possible was easy money, largely from wealthy individuals in the Persian Gulf area who believed that they were buying a place in the hereafter while protecting themselves against political opposition in this world. Some paid because they believed they were helping poor and oppressed Muslims. Others paid so militants would go and spend their energies far away from home. That easy money is no longer available, at least not in large quantities. Many donors have realized they were financing terrorists. Some have been forced to choose between the West, where they have the bulk of their wealth, and the troglodyte mujahedeen of the Hindu Kush. The third element that made bin Ladenist terror possible was the encouraging, or at least complacent, attitude of several governments. The Taliban in Afghanistan began by hosting Mr. bin Laden and ended up becoming his life-and-death buddies. The Pakistanis were also supportive because they wanted to dominate Afghanistan and make life hard for the Indians by sending holy warriors to Kashmir. The Sudanese government was sympathetic, if not actually supportive, and offered at least a safe haven. This was also the case in Yemen, where in November 2000 I accidentally ran into a crowd of Qaeda militants who had flown in from Pakistan for a gathering. We now know that Qaeda cells operated, often quite openly, in Muslim countries from Indonesia and Malaysia to Morocco and Tunisia, without being bothered by anyone. The fall of the Taliban means the gang no longer has a secure base. All the other countries are also closed, and in some cases even hostile. The fourth element was the mistaken practice of many Western powers that sheltered the terrorists in the name of freedom of expression and dissent. We now know that London was a critical haven for Al Qaeda. The murder of the Afghan resistance leader Ahmed Shah Massoud was planned in London. Qaeda militants operated in Germany, Holland, Belgium, France, Spain and Italy without significant restraint. The fifth element that made bin Ladenism possible was the West's, especially America's, perceived weakness if not actual cowardice. A joke going around militant Islamist circles until last year was that the only thing the Americans would do if attacked was to sue. That perception no longer exists. The Americans, supported by one of the largest coalitions in history, have shown they will use force against their enemies even if that means a long and difficult war. The sixth element of bin Ladenism was the illusion in most Western nations that they could somehow remain unaffected by the violence unleashed by fanatical terrorists against so many Muslim nations from Indonesia to Algeria. Mr. bin Laden could survive and prosper only in a world in which"}, {"response": 36, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Jul 13, 2002 (23:45)", "body": "Germany's intelligence chief believes Osama bin Laden is alive and well somewhere along the Pak-Afghan border. Associated Press: August Hanning, the head of the Federal Intelligence Service, also estimated that more than 5,000 supporters of al-Qaida and Afghanistan's ousted Taliban militia remain in Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan, while many others have returned to their homelands. \"They are preparing attacks from their new locations \ufffd they will try everything to strike again,\" he was quoted as saying in the Welt am Sonntag newspaper. \"We must be prepared for that.\" He referred to no specific plans. [snip] He added the preparations for Sept. 11 \"didn't cost much more than $1 million.\" full story: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&ncid=716&e=2&u=/ap/20020713/ap_on_re_eu/attacks_bin_laden"}, {"response": 37, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Aug 12, 2002 (10:35)", "body": "Former Taliban recount Osama's escape PTI [ MONDAY, AUGUST 12, 2002 10:22:44 AM ] NEW YORK: Osama bin Laden escaped from Tora Bora last winter on horseback along with 28 of his trusted lieutenants when US forces were extensively bombing the mountaineous terrain in Afghanistan, a formar Taliban official was quoted as saying. In an interview with American magazine Newsweek, the former Taliban official, now a professional guide, said he led bin Laden and an entourage of 28 people on horseback out of Tora Bora - around the time when a supposed radio message was picked up by US intelligence that sounded like bin Laden encouraging his forces at the battle site. The group headed for the caves of Shahikot, another Afghan mountain stronghold, via a twisting route that led into Pakistan and back into Afghanistan, the unnamed guide said. more @"}, {"response": 38, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Aug 28, 2002 (08:00)", "body": "Tanned, rested, and back in the saddle again: Bin Laden Reportedly Back at Helm of al Qaeda August 27, 2002 10:11 AM ET Email this article Printer friendly version Purchase for Reprint By Michael Georgy LONDON (Reuters) - Osama bin Laden is firmly back in command of al Qaeda and the group is digging in for guerrilla attacks on U.S. troops in Afghanistan, an Arab journalist with close ties to the militant's associates said on Tuesday. Abdel-Bari Atwan, editor of the London-based daily al-Quds al-Arabi newspaper, said al Qaeda associates recently told him the network had regained confidence after facing intense U.S. bombing and was ready to fight U.S. troops over the long haul. \"Al Qaeda were shattered during the U.S. bombing so it was difficult for bin Laden to stay in control. Now they said he is fully in command again and they have regrouped and are organized again,\" Atwan told Reuters. \"Al Qaeda people say they are relaxed now and they will fight a war of attrition against U.S. soldiers,\" added Atwan, who interviewed bin Laden in 1996 and keeps in contact with his associates and followers. Bin Laden was in good health and \"safe\" and was planning new attacks on the United States, he was told, but his whereabouts were not disclosed. The United States launched strikes on Afghanistan last year to flush out al Qaeda and hunt down bin Laden, its prime suspect in the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington, and punish the Taliban regime that protected him. But remnants of al Qaeda and their Taliban allies have continually frustrated the U.S.-led coalition by hiding in mountains, melting into the local population or fleeing into neighboring Pakistan or Iran. Atwan said that the al Qaeda and Taliban had re-established links that were severed when the United States began its military campaign in Afghanistan. \"They are working together again. They are organizing,\" he said. There is no trail, meanwhile, leading to bin Laden. Bin Laden's associates told Atwan that the Saudi-born militant was well, \"safe\" and planning new attacks on the United States. They did not say where bin Laden was currently living. \"My sense is that he will time any new attack to coincide with a U.S. attack on Iraq. He would want to capitalize on this to appeal to the Arab street so he will probably delay any attacks until the United States moves on Iraq,\" said Atwan. \"He will probably want to be seen as the only Arab standing up to the United States when the United States attacks Iraq.\" Bin Laden made a series of defiant videotapes broadcast on television as U.S. warplanes pounded Afghanistan. But he has recently stayed out of sight. His associates said Bin Laden, who has a $25 million U.S. bounty on his head, was well protected but his entourage was small in order to avoid capture, said Atwan. \"He is the master of disguise and he is making sure that he is not giving anything away so he travels in a small group,\" he said. Bin Laden's top aide Ayman al-Zawahri, the Egyptian-born chief strategist of al Qaeda, was with him along with a small group of militant bodyguards, Atwan was told. from http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=topnews&StoryID=1377016"}, {"response": 39, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Sep 13, 2002 (12:36)", "body": "Slip of tongue in interview betrays secret that bin Laden is dead A Slip of the tongue by one of Osama bin Ladens top henchmen seems to have betrayed al-Qaedas most potent secret: its charismatic leader is dead. The blunder was made by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who has confessed to being the operational mastermind behind the September 11 attacks. He made his mistake while disclosing many of the secrets behind the atrocities, which were plotted in Kandahar, the religious extremist Taleban movements Afghan spiritual home. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/printFriendly/0,,1-3725-408804,00.html"}, {"response": 40, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Oct 25, 2002 (05:42)", "body": "http://www.debka.com has an interesting article saying that Bin Laden made it back to Saudi Arabia, and is staying with some related tribes between the \"empty quarter\" and Yemen."}, {"response": 41, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Oct 25, 2002 (05:45)", "body": "DEBKA Exclusive: Bin Laden Is Back in Saudi Arabia \ufffd Is Working Closely with Baghdad Based on summary of latest DEBKA-Net-Weekly Revelations 19 October: DEBKAfile reveals that the long-lost al Qaeda leader, Saudi-born Osama bin Laden, is alive and in Saudi Arabia. He is believed to have landed secretly at the end of September, shortly before the latest upsurge of international terrorist attacks against the French oil tanker Limburg, the shooting of American Marines in Kuwait, the Bali bomb disaster. This exclusive information reached DEBKA-Net-Weekly (October 18, Issue 81) from its most credible intelligence and counter-intelligence sources. His re-appearance in Saudi Arabia, which withdrew his citizenship and sent him into exile, brings to a close the debate and speculation rife since the Tora Bora battle in Afghanistan 11 months ago over Bin Laden\ufffds fate and whereabouts. Two sightings of the elusive terrorist chief have now been reported \ufffd both in the wildest, most inhospitable regions of Saudi Arabia, the Rub al Khali, the Empty Quarter of the Arabian Peninsula, and Najran on the Yemen frontier. DEBKA-Net-Weekly\ufffds sources are certain that Bin Laden has brought with him his closest companions - his Number Two and chief of operations, the Egyptian Ayman Zuwahri, the hard core of the Islamic terror group\ufffds command, his close family and his bodyguard. The size of this party indicates the al Qaeda leadership\ufffds belief they have found a safe hideout, situated in the Rimar Ar Rakabh (Rider\ufffds Dunes), deep inside the Empty Quarter, a 220,000- sq. m expanse, the largest sand sea on the face of the earth which straddles Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Yemen and Oman."}, {"response": 42, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Oct 29, 2002 (10:37)", "body": "http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=573&e=4&cid=573&u=/nm/20021028/od_nm/attack_binladen_will_dc Bin Laden's 'Will' Complains of Betrayal-Magazine A London-based magazine said on Friday it was publishing a will written by Osama bin Laden (news - web sites), the world's most wanted man, in which he complains of betrayal by fellow militants in Afghanistan. The Arabic-language al-Majallah said the will, typed and signed by bin Laden and dated December 14, 2001, was obtained a week ago from a \"very reliable\" source in Afghanistan. And in other news. \"Based on an analysis of the breathing and speaking patterns Osama bin Laden exhibited in a videotape released in December, Western intelligence officers believe he had suffered a severe chest wound but survived a U.S. air and ground assault in eastern Afghanistan.\" more at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A32695-2002Oct28.html"}, {"response": 43, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Apr  9, 2003 (20:41)", "body": "NOW, Waffa bin Ladin, Osama's 27-year-old pop singer niece in London. Waffa's pop, Yeslam, one of Osama's 24 brothers, is worth $30 mil, so she has a $1 million apartment. Her boyfriend/manager swears she's the next Madonna. That means, I guess, we can look forward to a Waffa video of a grenade blowing up in Bush's lap . . . New royal hitting our shores is Princess Charlotte de Broglie from France who showed at Le Cote Basque in a white Chanel and is looking to live here, which is certainly what I would do if I were she . . . I don't know if anyone other than Angie Everhart cares, but I feel it incumbent upon me to announce that she just completed her 120th skydive . . . Is an Oscar maybe not the distinction we think? Ben Affleck has said he hears you can bring home the big enchilada with but 28 percent of the votes because \"It just takes a plurality.\" http://www.nypost.com/gossip/cindy.htm"}, {"response": 44, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Mar  5, 2005 (17:11)", "body": "From an article by Michael Scheuer, the former head of the CIA's Bin Laden unit, in the current issue of the Atlantic: The Atlantic Monthly | April 2005 Inside Out: Why it's so hard to infiltrate al-Qaeda by Michael Scheuer The reason we didn't prevent 9/11 is simple: neither the CIA nor its intelligence allies, Western or Muslim, had a spy or an informant inside al-Qaeda's command structure. And the stark reality is that our human intelligence against al-Qaeda and other Sunni militants will probably never be as good as what we had against the Soviet system during the Cold War. Why is this the case? In the Soviet Union the people most difficult for Western intelligence agents to recruit were found at the entry level of the Communist system -- young men and women who were moving from youth groups and school systems into the military, the KGB, Party organizations, or the diplomatic corps. At this stage these people were steeped in Marxism-Leninism, believed that socialism worked, had faith in the USSR, and were hostile toward the United States. The ideologically committed are always the toughest to recruit for intelligence services. But on those occasions when the West could develop an informant at this level, the Soviet system unwittingly assisted in that development. With each promotion in the Communist ranks, the potential informant would see more clearly that socialism delivered nepotism, tyranny, and corruption, rather than fairness and equity. Non-Russians (those hailing from the Soviet republics and satellite states) would quickly realize that ethnic discrimination dominated the world in which they worked. In short, the further up the Soviet hierarchy our would-be informant progressed, the more likely the system was to disillusion him, making him more vulnerable to the Western intelligence services. Here's the challenge that al-Qaeda and other Sunni militant groups pose: In such organizations the old Soviet scenario is exactly reversed -- the militants who are least ideologically committed (and therefore most easily recruited by our spy agencies) are found at the edges of the groups, among the ranks of those who perform gunrunning, human smuggling, and narcotics trafficking. Once we've recruited these people, their value to us increases as they move toward the center of al-Qaeda. The problem is that the higher a would-be spy rises in al-Qaeda's ranks, the greater the ideological and theological commitment of his associates; Sunni leaders are often (though certainly not always) the devout and courageous men their media organizations claim them to be. Career advancement in al-Qaeda tends to wash away much of the mercenary hypocrisy found at the entry level -- and therefore, in effect, to unrecruit those cultivated by our intelligence agencies. The odds of our ever having an informant among the senior al-Qaeda decision-makers are remote."}, {"response": 45, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Apr 13, 2005 (12:01)", "body": "Bin Laden Bribed Afghan Militias for His Freedom, German Says By RICHARD BERNSTEIN BERLIN, April 12 - The head of the German intelligence agency, in an interview published here Tuesday, said Osama bin Laden had been able to elude capture after the American invasion of Afghanistan by paying bribes to the Afghan militias delegated the task of finding him. \"The principal mistake was made already in 2001, when one wanted bin Laden to be apprehended by the Afghan militias in Tora Bora,\" the intelligence official, August Hanning, said in an interview with the German business newspaper Handelsblatt. \"There, bin Laden could buy himself free with a lot of money,\" Mr. Hanning said. A spokeswoman for Mr. Hanning confirmed the accuracy of the newspaper's account. She said Afghan forces had told Mr. bin Laden they knew his whereabouts and he would be arrested, but they allowed him safe passage in exchange for a bribe. In the past, other officials - including Gen. Tommy R. Franks, the former American commander in Afghanistan - have acknowledged that Afghan militias who fought on the side of the invasion coalition had allowed leaders of Al Qaeda and the Taliban to get away. But Mr. Hanning is the top intelligence official to say Mr. bin Laden was among them. More: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/13/international/asia/13binladen.html ?"}, {"response": 46, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Aug 14, 2005 (14:36)", "body": "Exclusive: CIA Commander: U.S. Let bin Laden Slip Away Newsweek Aug. 15, 2005 issue - During the 2004 presidential campaign, George W. Bush and John Kerry battled about whether Osama bin Laden had escaped from Tora Bora in the final days of the war in Afghanistan. Bush, Kerry charged, \"didn't choose to use American forces to hunt down and kill\" the leader of Al Qaeda. The president called his opponent's allegation \"the worst kind of Monday-morning quarterbacking.\" Bush asserted that U.S. commanders on the ground did not know if bin Laden was at the mountain hideaway along the Afghan border. But in a forthcoming book, the CIA field commander for the agency's Jawbreaker team at Tora Bora, Gary Berntsen, says he and other U.S. commanders did know that bin Laden was among the hundreds of fleeing Qaeda and Taliban members. Berntsen says he had definitive intelligence that bin Laden was holed up at Tora Bora\ufffdintelligence operatives had tracked him\ufffdand could have been caught. \"He was there,\" Berntsen tells NEWSWEEK. Asked to comment on Berntsen's remarks, National Security Council spokesman Frederick Jones passed on 2004 statements from former CENTCOM commander Gen. Tommy Franks. \"We don't know to this day whether Mr. bin Laden was at Tora Bora in December 2001,\" Franks wrote in an Oct. 19 New York Times op-ed. \"Bin Laden was never within our grasp.\" Berntsen says Franks is \"a great American. But he was not on the ground out there. I was.\" In his book\ufffdtitled \"Jawbreaker\"\ufffdthe decorated career CIA officer criticizes Donald Rumsfeld's Defense Department for not providing enough support to the CIA and the Pentagon's own Special Forces teams in the final hours of Tora Bora, says Berntsen's lawyer, Roy Krieger. (Berntsen would not divulge the book's specifics, saying he's awaiting CIA clearance.) That backs up other recent accounts, including that of military author Sean Naylor, who calls Tora Bora a \"strategic disaster\" because the Pentagon refused to deploy a cordon of conventional forces to cut off escaping Qaeda and Taliban members. Maj. Todd Vician, a Defense Department spokesman, says the problem at Tora Bora \"was not necessarily just the number of troops.\" More: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/8853000/site/newsweek/ news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 5, "subject": "Who in creation are you?", "response_count": 22, "posts": [{"response": 2, "author": "autumn", "date": "Thu, Mar  5, 1998 (03:25)", "body": "Should this go under the philosophy conference??"}, {"response": 4, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Sat, Mar  7, 1998 (21:23)", "body": "have to agree with that...."}, {"response": 5, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Mar 13, 1998 (19:16)", "body": "*blown away*"}, {"response": 7, "author": "stacey", "date": "Mon, Mar 16, 1998 (19:12)", "body": "got any other offers... !*&^#@&^**grin*"}, {"response": 9, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Mar 17, 1998 (10:13)", "body": "the number signifying a particular offer or my place in line? *smile*"}, {"response": 11, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Mar 19, 1998 (10:46)", "body": "not yet! *grin*"}, {"response": 13, "author": "ratboy", "date": "Sun, Apr 26, 1998 (22:56)", "body": "Hi! i have *finally* gotten around to exploring the Spring a little more, and i hope to make it as much a part of my day as the Well has become. I just hope that people are nicer here than over there. if assholes could fly, that place would be an airport."}, {"response": 14, "author": "ratboy", "date": "Sun, Apr 26, 1998 (22:57)", "body": "terry, any chance of me getting the ratthing username here??"}, {"response": 15, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Sun, Apr 26, 1998 (23:14)", "body": "hi ratboy....don't think any of us are, uh, buttholes, but nice? hmmmm... (have heard of the well, what is it? a place similar as this?)"}, {"response": 16, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Apr 27, 1998 (06:57)", "body": "Sure, ratthing is yours. I don't recall anyone else using it. Did you sign up a long time ago? We can work out the details of you getting hooked up with ratthing in email."}, {"response": 17, "author": "wer", "date": "Fri, Mar  5, 1999 (11:44)", "body": "some call me ubiquitous..."}, {"response": 18, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Fri, Mar  5, 1999 (12:49)", "body": "Oh, and she said shaky, too, didn't she?"}, {"response": 19, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Fri, Mar  5, 1999 (12:55)", "body": "shaky/unstable, take your pick..."}, {"response": 20, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Fri, Mar  5, 1999 (12:57)", "body": "I take shaky as in Shake, Rattle & Roll. But unstable somehow rocks, too."}, {"response": 21, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Fri, Mar  5, 1999 (13:01)", "body": "depends upon the day..."}, {"response": 22, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Mar  5, 1999 (16:39)", "body": "ubiquaky? shabiquitous?"}, {"response": 23, "author": "wer", "date": "Thu, Apr  1, 1999 (13:27)", "body": "yeah...that's it!"}, {"response": 24, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Nov 14, 1999 (19:56)", "body": "Since it was a slow day on Spring I thought I would try to get some topics going again...however, having read through this one, I am not sure just what is expected...or even its original intent. Or, is that the point?! I am so confused..."}, {"response": 25, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Nov 14, 1999 (19:58)", "body": "I did prefer the other horizontal bars in news, though...I liked the blue ends. These look pink on my monitor...but pretty, nonetheless!"}, {"response": 26, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, Dec 30, 1999 (05:47)", "body": "Oh, yer monitor is colour blind?"}, {"response": 27, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Dec 30, 1999 (21:52)", "body": "Don't think so...but the creator agreed with me (or was being very kind) and went with my suggestion."}, {"response": 28, "author": "WERoland", "date": "Mon, Aug 29, 2005 (20:15)", "body": "Still wishing I had the most perfect and correct answer to this question. news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 50, "subject": "What is the impact of the wtc crisis where you live?", "response_count": 3, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Nov 16, 2001 (21:34)", "body": "South Bay Area, California: i can't really say what the impact is here because i didn't live here before the events of 9/11. but i can say that others have told me that attractions in the nearby area aren't nearly as crowded as they normally would be this time of year. oh, and lots of free tickets to things for military members and their families--about time, i say! security is tight which is great! and i'm serious."}, {"response": 2, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Sep 11, 2002 (20:33)", "body": "For one thing, workers in the Bay area of California (San Francisco) did not go to work today. C-5s were circling in tributefrom Travis AFB and I will return to the eastern US next week. I do not like being out here. I want to go where I feel safe, and that is back east. for a take on the rest of thje world, this from Athens, Greece: IN MEMORY OF 9/11 Events for the one year anniversary since the terrorist attack on New York have been programmed for today in Athens and Thessaloniki. In the capital, at 10am, a memorial service took place at the Metropolis, while an hour later, a memorial service was held at US Ambassador Thomas Miller's residence, in the memory of the victims of September 11. Also, the Foreign Ministry is organizing an event for the one year anniversary since the attack at the Athens \"Megaron\" Music Hall. In Thessaloniki, a meeting has been organized at a major hotel, on \"September 11: Media and terrorism\". It has been organized by the Ministry of Macedonia-Thrace, Greek Radio and Television, in cooperation with the city's US Consul. A tribute will also be paid to the victims of the attack by the Athens Stock Market (ASE), which will participate in the movements of all European markets in memory of the attack. In that framework, at 14:46 (Greek time), a two minute silence period will be observed, while the markets and the exchange systems, both in the ASE, as well as in other European stock markets, will remain open. http://www.goGreece.com/news/headlines/story.html?id=8116"}, {"response": 3, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Sep 11, 2002 (20:34)", "body": "I definitely agree with wolfie that it is great to have tight security. Even the multiple security checks I had to endure were done agreeably since I hope if anything bad shows up, they will catch it. news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 51, "subject": "Afghanistan", "response_count": 49, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Sep 16, 2001 (23:13)", "body": "For a quick backgrounder on Afghanistan, check out the CIA world factbook entry: http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/af.html Some possibly relevant facts: Landlocked. Bordered by China (76 km), Iran (936 km), Pakistan (2,430 km), Tajikistan (1,206 km), Turkmenistan (744 km), Uzbekistan (137 km). Per capita annual GDP: $800 Adult literacy rate: 31.5% Government: no functioning central government, administered by factions."}, {"response": 2, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep 17, 2001 (07:23)", "body": "Take a journey through Afghanistan. http://www.canajun.com/rmcguire/travel/asia/afghanistan/"}, {"response": 3, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Sep 23, 2001 (21:13)", "body": "#2000 of 2008: David Kline (dkline) Sun Sep 23 '01 (16:33) 51 lines First, the question of information. In 1987-88 the CIA essentially liquidated any direct relationship with any Afghans inside the country. So there has been a severe lack of information in Washington about who's who & what's what in that part of the world for over a decade. I mean, we sent a million dollar missile to destroy a $5 dollar tent in Afghanistan in 1998, in response to Bin Laden's last major attack. We also bombed a supposed chemical warfare facility in Khartoum, Sudan that turned out to be nothing of the sort. Does that sound like good information re: Bin Laden and Afghanistan to you? So more often than you might imagine, these people absolutely do NOT know what they're doing. And what's more, they admit it! How many times in the past week have you heard US officials, including intelligence officials, admit that we lack the crucial information/intelligence we need? But now comes the 2nd question -- the qestion of *policy* as distinct from information. The government can have legions of experts telling them, for example, that the Viet Cong have strong popular support in South Vietnam and still our government will plunge on blindly to disaster, following policies that blithely ignore the facts presented by their own experts. I use the Vietnam analogy for a reason. Because it was in that era that the popular automatic belief that \"Gee, our government *must* know what it's doing\" was blown apart forever. The fact is, sometimes it does, and sometimes it doesn't. If the reports mentioned in previous posts about the US pursuing talks and/or a relationship with the Northern Alliance are true, then our leaders are showing some smarts. And if we pursue those alliances with anti-Taliban Afghans and others with *full respect for the sovereignty* of other nations, then our leaders will be showing even more smarts. And if, after snuffing Bin Laden, we then have the courage to say to the Muslim world, \"Look, we've made mistakes in the past, and have not always paid heed to the legitimate aspirations of Muslim peoples. But we sincerely want to work with Muslims of good faith everywhere to solve our mutual problems make the world a better place for all,\" then I'd say My God our leaders are the smartest damn fuckers in the world. I have more than a little doubt that Washington has the courage to do this last thing -- admit we've made mistakes re: the Muslim world. Powell does, I believe, but Bush? Still, you never know. Maybe, like Nixon & China, he'll surprise us all."}, {"response": 4, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep 24, 2001 (00:38)", "body": "http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow.asp?art_id=1454750417 Among the points Cohen makes: * The Taliban are not liked in Afghanistan and basically came from Pakistan, with a fair number of Arabs as well. He specifically mentioned the destruction of the Bamiyan statues and other anti- tribal activities as having a significant impact in Afghanistan itself. * It is critically important for the US effort not to be seen as fighting the Afghan people, but instead helping them fight the Taliban. * Bush has to relax the prohibition against releasing evidence againsst Al Qaeda, not to satisfy the Taliban but to keep the coalition together, especially the Arab and Islamic states. * The National Alliance is dominated by non-Pashtun forces and so is not likely to lead a national government, although it would be a part of the coalition. * The Israeli/Palestianian conflict is *not* the reason for the attacks on the US (Cohen is in the camp of those who think that the bin Laden phenomenon is about hating the US lifestyle; I find this less convincing than other theories, or rather don't think it makes sense standing alone without reference to US involvement in Saudi Arabia and Israel) * The core numbers of terrorists and totalitarian types we are dealing with are quite small, and we need to focus on them and not spread our response in such a way as to create a new generation of terrorists * One of the keys to understanding the advent of Osama and the Taliban is that the US simply abandoned Afghanistan after 1989, among other effects this meant that the non-Afghan fighters went back to their home nations, didn't get any of the hero's welcome they expected, and became easy recruits for Osama * A key point: the strategy of the hardcore totalitarians among the Islamic fundamentalists is to create an uprising among the 150 million Muslims in Pakistan, linked to the 120 million in India and 140 million in Bangladesh; this seems unlikely given that they get active support from only a very small minority, but it is a concern * Another key point: terrorism cannot become the national obsession of the US. We have other concerns and interests to attend to as well. The Sunday Times (London) reports that an SAS (special forces) unit that was near Kabul looking for information about bin Laden's whereabouts got in a skirmish with the Taliban on Friday night: http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/news/pages/sti/2001/09/23/stiusausa02036.html"}, {"response": 5, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep 24, 2001 (10:02)", "body": "Opium. The San Francisco Chronicle covered this in great depth on Friday. For example: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2001/09/21/national1429EDT0686.DTL \"U.S. believes charities, drugs, weapons among sources of bin Laden's finances\""}, {"response": 6, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep 24, 2001 (10:06)", "body": "\"Afghan opium prices 'crash'\" \"UN officials in Pakistan say the price of Afghan opium has collapsed following the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.\" \"Before 11 September, one kilo of opium was selling for $700. The price is now between $200-300.\" \"The Taleban regime in Afghanistan had outlawed poppy production, but it's now feared that cultivation will start once again.\" \"There are two possible reasons for the collapse in opium prices - some Afghans holding stocks of opium are now trying to off-load them.\" \"They fear that their opium could be destroyed in American air strikes.\" ... \"There could be another factor - in July 2000, the Taleban announced a complete ban on poppy production and then went on to enforce it.\" \"The UN believes the ban was so effective that production fell by 3,000 tonnes.\" \"Unconfirmed reports from inside Afghanistan now say that if America attacks, the Taleban may reverse that ban.\" \"Many farmers resented the loss of income associated with the ban, and the Taleban may want to win back popular support by allowing people to grown poppies once again.\" ... http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/south_asia/newsid_1560000/1560476.stm"}, {"response": 7, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep 24, 2001 (12:29)", "body": "David Kline (dkline) Mon Sep 24 '01 (09:26) 23 lines Best news I've seen since Sept. 11 is today's front page New York Times headline: \"U.S. Seeks Afghan Coalition Against Taliban.\" It appears that Washington does indeed recognize that the only way to get Bin Laden is through the anti-Taliban resistance on the ground. As for closing the borders, forget it. It won't happen because it *can't* happen -- there are ten thousand crossing points and only 100 are manned by Pakistani border police. Starving frightened people will flee. And the Paks (and, I guess, us) will simply have to deal with it. As for Rabanni, he's the favorite of at least one Afghan -- a former member of the fundamentalist Hezbi Islami group -- who began emailing me yesterday. I didn't know he was still alive (we had travelled into the war zone together in 83-84), but even though from the more religious side of the anti-Soviet resistance, he says Afghans would welcome US help to overthrow the Taliban so long as we respect Afghan sovereignty and work *with* the Northern Alliance and other anti-Taliban forces. He also says an immediate dispatch of even 5,000 metric tons of wheat to the Afghans would earn us \"much love,\" as he puts it, from the people."}, {"response": 8, "author": "ekelley", "date": "Mon, Sep 24, 2001 (14:04)", "body": "Hey Terry, what conference is this in? Is it the over-arching one that was discussed? I couldn't find it on the main list. Thanks."}, {"response": 9, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep 24, 2001 (14:35)", "body": "It's in the news conference and this particular topic is also linked to travel."}, {"response": 10, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep 24, 2001 (14:35)", "body": "From: http://www.fortunecity.com/meltingpot/aerodrome/1193/id35.htm \"US wants Afghan king back in Kabul LONDON: The Americans and a key NATO ally, possibly Britain, are pressing much of Europe to support plans for a \"post-Taliban Afghanistan\" governed by its 86-year-old exiled king Zahir Shah and a UN-led interim administration. The revelations, which figure in The Guardian newspaper, quote secret diplomatic documents to say the US \"is bent on force to evict the Taliban from power\" and will not stop at finding Osama bin Laden and destroying his training camps. The documents quote the US administration as canvassing the views of the allies after \"the liberation\" of Afghanistan.\" ,."}, {"response": 11, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep 24, 2001 (14:38)", "body": "Good article in the NYT about the U.S. effort to piece together an anti- Taliban Afghan coalition and the difficulties of doing so: http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/24/international/24MILI.html The Guardian UK has somebody on the ground with an Afghan rebel faction: http://www.guardian.co.uk/waronterror/story/0,1361,557028,00.html"}, {"response": 12, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Oct 14, 2001 (22:33)", "body": "A resident from a nearby village walks next to unexploded ordnance in the village of Koram, west of Jalalabad, Afghanistan. Taliban officials brought a group of journalists to the village Sunday to show them the damage caused by what they claim was a U.S. air attack. source: cnn.com (CNN) -- The U.S.-led military campaign in Afghanistan entered its second week Sunday night with airstrikes targeting artillery and heavy armor that had been moved to the mountains outside of Kabul, sources said. Late in the evening, explosions also rocked the city of Kandahar. Sources inside the city told CNN they sounded like GBU-28s, or \"bunker busters,\" laser-guided weapons developed for penetrating command centers situated deep underground. Sunday's attacks came a day after some of the fiercest strikes since the campaign began a week ago. Pentagon sources told CNN that U.S. planes bombed Kandahar Saturday for several hours, hitting several targets, including a Taliban military headquarters"}, {"response": 13, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Oct 14, 2001 (22:35)", "body": "A Pentagon spokesman told CNN that Koram \"was not on our target list\" and military officials do not yet know why the village was hit. He said it could have been hit by U.S. Air Force or Navy strikes, by British planes or by any number of players who have interests in the conflict. The Pentagon also suggested Koram could have been hit by a Taliban surface-to-air missile that went astray source cnn.com"}, {"response": 14, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Oct 14, 2001 (23:04)", "body": "WHY WE FEAR AFGHANISTAN AND WHY WE SHOULDN'T by Michael Radu October 12, 2001 Michael Radu, Ph.D., is a Senior Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, specializing in the study of terrorism and political violence. WHY WE FEAR AFGHANISTAN AND WHY WE SHOULDN'T by Michael Radu Much of the current analysis of the U.S.-British military actions against the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan seem to accept unquestioningly conventional wisdom on the prospects for military success in that country. But the major premises of this conventional wisdom are simply myths that have developed over the years, either from ignorance or malevolence. The facts, it will be seen, simply do not support them. MYTH #1: THE U.S. IS BOUND TO BE DEFEATED IN AFGHANISTAN, JUST AS THE BRITISH AND THE SOVIETS WERE. The myth that the U.S. is destined to follow in the footsteps of the two prior great powers who suffered disastrous defeats there, Great Britain (in the First Afghan War, 1838-42) and the Soviet Union (1979-89), has gained wide currency. In the First Afghan War the British tried and failed to impose an unpopular puppet king, Shah Shuja, in Kabul, thus uniting all the fractious Afghans who, then as now, united only when threatened by the possibility of an effective central government. The British garrison in Kabul was completely wiped out, with enormous losses of life and blows to British prestige. Britain would again fight in Afghanistan in 1878-80 and 1919, but these were mostly limited operations, since London had realized its error and turned to a policy of manipulating (often financially) the various Afghan groups. The success of this policy is demonstrated by the transformation of Afghanistan into an effective buffer state between the competing ambitions of the British and Russian empires. (Perhaps a better term would be \"buffer territory\" since \"Afghanistan\" always was and still is a geographic expression more than a real state, let alone a \"nation.\") The Soviet experience in Afghanistan was equally ill-fated, and caused enough bitterness at home to help contribute to the fall of the Soviet Union. But the reasons for this have as much to do with factors on the Soviet side -- including the large number of soldiers lost to preventable disease, inappropriate military tactics and poor national morale -- as Afghanistan-specific factors. Furthermore, the very ideology of Marxism-Leninism coming on the back of Soviet tanks was rejected by virtually all population groups. Importantly, unlike nineteenth-century Britain or the twentieth-century Soviet Union, the United States has neither interest in nor geopolitical reasons for wanting to control, let alone occupy, Afghanistan. And unless there has been a miserable failure to communicate, all Afghans know this. Moreover, developments in recent decades, exacerbated by the incompetence of the mujahideen regime (now represented by the United Front, also known in the West as the Northern Alliance) of 1992-96 in Kabul, have achieved what all of prior history had not: sharpening ethnic divisions within the country. While all the ethnic groups united against outsiders in the earlier conflicts, now the Tajiks, Uzbeks, Aimaks, Hazaras, Nuristanis, and Turkmen -- ethnic minorities that collectively make up over half the country -- are only loosely and sporadically \"united\" against the Pashtun-dominated Taliban regime. (The Pashtuns are the largest ethnic group but only 40 percent of the population.) It is no coincidence that the Taliban's political and ideological center is not multiethnic Kabul but all-Pashtun Kandahar. MYTH #2: THE TERRAIN IN AFGHANISTAN RENDERS MODERN MILITARY TECHNOLOGY LARGELY IRRELEVANT. The implications of this myth are (a) that an almost Stone Age military would defeat a twenty-first century power, and (b) that the country's terrain is the same and equally important everywhere. While a great deal of Afghanistan is indeed mountainous and exceedingly difficult for infantry operations, key areas -- the Uzbek border, the Shamali Plain north of Kabul and the entire southeast around and including Kandahar -- are perfect operational areas for heliborne forces. These are also in fact the areas of major Taliban force concentrations. As for the truly difficult mountainous regions, the worst of those, the Badakshan Wakhan Corridor, is under Northern Alliance \"control,\" but certainly not under the Taliban's. The strategic Panjhir Valley remains, as ever, under Tajik control, as does the entire area around Heart, although not the city itself -- yet. It is only in the mountainous east, around Jalalabad and the Pakistani border, that Pashtun ethnics may -- if the price is right -- continue to support the Taliban-cum-al-Qaeda. But would the latter have the money to continue its control, or the aura of success following the U.S.-British air attacks? That is doubtful. Actually, the very fact that the Taliban was able to conquer so much of Afghanistan from 1994 on points to othe"}, {"response": 15, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Oct 15, 2001 (00:00)", "body": "reuters: By Alan Elsner and Sayed Salahuddin WASHINGTON/KABUL (Reuters) - U.S. warplanes bombed Afghanistan for the second week after President Bush rejected a new offer from the Taliban to hand over Osama bin Laden to a neutral country and Secretary of State Colin Powell headed for Pakistan to shore up support. Meanwhile, a nervous United States continued fearful of strange letters as new reports of people exposed to the bioterrorism agent anthrax surfaced. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice warned that the country will remain on high alert for an undetermined time. American warplanes screamed over Afghanistan overnight, pounding Kabul and other cities despite the ruling Taliban offers to the United States and their civil war foes. The capital Kabul and Taliban stronghold of Kandahar were hit as the campaign to flush out Saudi-born fugitive Osama bin Laden -- who the United States accuses of masterminding the Sept. 11 hijack plane attacks on American soil, killing more than 5,000 civilians -- moved into a second week. At least one plane dropped bombs on the Afghan capital on Monday morning, Qatar's al-Jazeera satellite television said. Its correspondent in Kabul said more than one plane circled the capital and that the raids were continuing. He added that smoke could be seen in the distance. Kabul's international telephone exchange was destroyed, cutting Afghanistan's last fixed, albeit unreliable, link to the outside world, the British Broadcasting Corp reported."}, {"response": 16, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Oct 16, 2001 (09:42)", "body": "Warning, this is a long quote. CLASSMATES: Many of you are probably not aware that I was one of the last American citizens to have spent a great deal of time in Afghanistan. I was first there in 1993, providing relief and assistance to refugees along the Tajik border, and in this capacity have traveled all along the border region between the two countries. In 1998 and 1999, I was the Deputy Program Manager for the UN's mine action program in Afghanistan. This program is the largest civilian employer in the country with over 5,000 persons clearing mines and UXO. In this later capacity, I was somewhat ironically engaged in a \"Holy War,\" as decreed by the Taliban, against the evil of landmines; and by a special proclamation of Mullah Omar, all those who might have died in this effort were considered to be \"martyrs\" -- even an \"infidel\" like myself. The mine action program is the most respected relief effort in the country, and because of this I had the opportunity to travel extensively without too much interference or restriction. I still have extensive contacts in the area and among the Afghan community and read a great deal on the subject. I had wanted to write earlier and share some of my perspectives, but quite frankly, I have been a bit too popular in DC this past week and have not had time. Dr. Tony Kern's comments were excellent and I would like to use them as a basis for sharing some observations. First, he is absolutely correct. This war is about will, resolve and character. I want to touch on that later, but first I want to share some comments about our \"enemy.\" Our enemy is not the people of Afghanistan. The country is devastated beyond what most of us can imagine. The vast majority of the people live day-to-day, hand-to-mouth in abject conditions of poverty, misery and deprivation. Less than 30% of the men are literate, the women even less. The country is exhausted, and desperately wants something like peace. They know very little of the world at large, and have no access to information or knowledge that would counter what they are being told by the Taliban. They have nothing left, nothing that is except for their pride. Who is our enemy? Well, our enemy is a group of non-Afghans, often referred to by the Afghans as \"Arabs\" and a fanatical group of religious leaders and their military cohort, the Taliban. The non-Afghan contingent came from all over the Islamic world to fight in the war against the Russians. Many came using a covert network created with assistance by our own government. OBL (as Osama bin Laden was referred to by us in the country at the time) restored this network to bring in more fighters, this time to support the Taliban in their civil war against the former Mujehdeen. Over time, this military support along with financial support has allowed OBL and his \"Arabs\" to co-opt significant government activities and leaders. OBL is the \"inspector general\" of Taliban armed forces; his bodyguards protect senior Talib leaders and he has built a system of deep bunkers for the Taliban, which were designed to withstand cruise missile strikes (uhm, where did he learn to do that?). His forces basically rule the southern city of Kandahar. This high-profile presence of OBL and his \"Arabs\" has, in the last 2 years or so, started to generate a great deal of resentment on the part of the local Afghans. At the same time, the legitimacy of the Taliban regime has started to decrease as it has failed to end the war, as local humanitarian conditions have worsened and as \"cultural\" restrictions have become even harsher. It is my assessment that most Afghans no longer support the Taliban. Indeed the Taliban have recently had a very difficult time getting recruits for their forces and have had to rely more and more on non-Afghans, either from Pushtun tribes in Pakistan or from OBL. OBL and the Taliban, absent any US action, were probably on their way to sharing the same fate that all other outsiders and outside doctrines have experienced in Afghanistan -- defeat and dismemberment. During the Afghan war with the Soviets, much attention was paid to the martial prowess of the Afghans. We were all at West Point at the time, and most of us had high-minded idealistic thoughts about how we would all want to go help the brave \"freedom fighters\" in their struggle against the Soviets. Those concepts were naive to the extreme. The Afghans, while never conquered as a nation, are not invincible in battle. A \"good\" Afghan battle is one that makes a lot of noise and light. Basic military skills are rudimentary and clouded by cultural constraints that no matter what, a warrior should never lose his honor. Indeed, firing from the prone is considered distasteful (but still done). Traditionally, the Afghan order of battle is very feudal in nature, with fighters owing allegiance to a \"commander,\" and this person owing allegiance upwards and so on and so on. Often such allegiance is secured by payment. And while the Taliban forc"}, {"response": 17, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Nov  4, 2001 (11:18)", "body": "\"The CIA has found itself relying heavily on the Pakistani Interservices Intelligence agency, which helped create the Taliban and remained its chief backer until Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, took steps to sever those ties in September. An American intelligence official said the CIA is \"using whatever means necessary\" to recruit a few commanders on its own to ensure a channel of information unfiltered by Pakistan.\" http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A36241-2001Nov3.html After nearly four weeks of intense aerial and electronic surveillance and scattered bombing, bin Laden has avoided becoming the highly visible trophy the Bush administration originally identified as the primary target -- \"dead or alive\" -- of its attacks in Afghanistan. U.S. intelligence efforts directed against bin Laden have been hobbled by the lack of informed U.S. operatives on the ground, and disarray and distrust within Pakistan's intelligence service, the agency with the potential to know the most about bin Laden's whereabouts, according to officials familiar with the operations. ... \"They don't have the sources, the information,\" said Ahmed Rashid, an author who has written about the Taliban and traveled extensively through Taliban-controlled Afghanistan in recent years. \"It's going to take many months to build it up. They need anti-Taliban Afghanis on the ground. For that, they have to help build the anti-Taliban movement in the south, and it's going to take time and money and lots of effort. It's not something you can do with U.S. commanders and U.S. bombs.\" http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A36323-2001Nov3.html"}, {"response": 18, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Nov  6, 2001 (10:42)", "body": "http://www.nybooks.com/articles/14780 is about how the Soviets entered in 78. David Kline (dkline) Sun Nov 4 '01 (18:22) 15 lines Yes, indeed. Good synopsis. And it's eerily reminiscent of the reasons the US committed ground troops to Vietnam in the 1960s: Both superpowers faced a client regime threatened with overthrow by a popular revolt. Their choice was to either let their puppets fall -- and thereby send a message to other countries in their sphere of influence that rebellion was in fact feasible -- or to intervene directly with their own armed forces. Just as LBJ and his advisors had in Vietnam, the Soviet Politburo decided that the better choice was to replace their \"advisors\" with large numbers of ground troops. After all, they thought, slapping down those \"ragheads\" (or in Vietnam's case, those \"gooks\") ought to be a cakewalk, right? Wrong. And in the news : Neither the current bombing campaign nor the deployment of American ground forces to Afghanistan offers good military options for dealing with the Taliban and Al Qaeda. A better approach would emphasize ground-level diplomacy, with open wallets, among Pashtun leaders in central and southern Afghanistan, the fullest use of Pakistani intelligence and influence, and selective military actions. The moment for dramatic demonstration of American military power has passed. Our resolve must now be expressed through many careful steps, or we will never achieve the victory we seek against Al Qaeda. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/04/opinion/04MEAR.html Hundreds of Arab extremists thought to be fighting alongside Osama bin Laden were given citizenship by the former Afghan government, whose leaders are now allies of America, according to documents provided by the Taliban on Saturday. The United States and its allies could end up dealing with a new set of Afghan leaders with their own ties to al-Qa'ida. The documents show that at least 604 people from countries such as Algeria, Libya, Saudi Arabia and Egypt were granted Afghan citizenship in March 1993 by President Burhanuddin Rabbani. Mr Rabbani, who was ousted by the Taliban in 1996, now heads the Northern Alliance which is fighting the Taliban. http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia_china/story.jsp?story=103217 Sudden Resonance for an Iranian Film About Afghanistan http://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/05/movies/05KAND.html http://www.iranian.com/Opinion/2001/June/Afghan/ http://www.guardian.co.uk/waronterror/story/0,1361,588285,00.html which talks about Pakistans involvement in the creation of the Taliban."}, {"response": 19, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Nov  8, 2001 (10:52)", "body": "WBUR is posting daily summaries of coverage on Al Jazeera http://www.wbur.org/special/specialcoverage/feature_aljaz.asp Background at http://www.poynter.org/web/110601Sree.htm"}, {"response": 20, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Nov 13, 2001 (11:04)", "body": "From the bbc website: Residents said music - banned by the Taleban - was broadcast on Kabul radio for the first time in five years. \"You can celebrate this great victory,\" a female announcer told residents - another novelty in a city where women have been banned from most work and education since 1996. And men have been queuing at barbers' shops to have their beards shaved off - another gesture of freedom from the strict Taleban interpretation of Islam. Northern Alliance Defence Minister General Mohammad Fahim and Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah have now entered Kabul. Anti-Taleban crowds Earlier, huge crowds gathered in the city, shouting \"death to Pakistan\" and \"death to the Taleban,\" the BBC's John Simpson reported. Correspondents say anti-Taleban anger is directed more towards Osama Bin Laden's foreign volunteers than towards Afghans in the Pashtun-dominated Taleban movement. BBC correspondent William Reeve survived a bomb blast in Kabul Thousands of people were seen crowding around an aid agency and carrying away tents, food and blankets in taxis and on bicycles. And the Taleban are reported to have taken away the contents of Kabul's money markets and the national bank. The UN Human Rights Commissioner, Mary Robinson, said there were reports of looting of humanitarian aid \"and there is a fear that the situation could turn worse\". The Kabul office of Qatar-based al-Jazeera television took a direct hit from a US bomb overnight. The building was destroyed, but the staff had already left building. William Reeve says a US bomb landed earlier on a house about 100 metres from the BBC office where he was broadcasting. The blast smashed all the office windows. On the way to Kabul the alliance forces passed through miles of devastation - ruined towns, razed orchards and burnt vineyards, the BBC's Kate Clark reports. But as soon as they got closer to Kabul, she says, villagers stood cheering on the alliance, some throwing flowers on the tanks as they drove past."}, {"response": 21, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Nov 15, 2001 (07:13)", "body": "Check Out The Jagged Machete and Stolen Nightgoggles *8-/ JFEATURESJJ JJ Kabul greets its new dawn By ALAN PHILPS KABUL Thursday 15 November 2001 Nothing became the Taliban so much as the manner of their departure. Their rule had been vicious and incompetent, and their defence against the Northern Alliance bone-headed and feeble. But when it came to saving their skins, they were up to the task. On Monday afternoon they quietly collected their things, piled into their utilities and sped south. Those without transport held up cars on the street and turfed out their drivers. They left behind tonnes of equipment, but they got away. Their neighbors were astonished to find that they had fled like thieves. When dawn broke in Kabul and the rugged mountain soldiers from the alliance moved in, there were no top Taliban to round up. The famous roundabout where the last Soviet-backed president, Najibullah, was strung up by the Taliban in 1996 was empty. A black turban - symbol of the Taliban - was hung from a tree in the absence of real bodies. In the Shahr-e Now park, there were six bodies lying in the dust, one under a basketball hoop, the rest in a ditch. A crowd of men on bicycles gathered to gawp and spit on the bodies. They looked like boys, some as young as 12. A Red Cross official, his immaculately pressed trousers stained with blood, took on the job of clearing up the remains. No one else would lift a finger to give dignity to fighters of the hated regime. The official said: \"These ones are fresh and in one piece. They are no problem. We had two which had been torn limb from limb. That is not such a pleasant task.\" In all, he expected the death toll to be about 20. No one could say who the dead were, though the consensus was that they were Pakistanis, cannon-fodder of the Taliban - so insignificant that they were left behind, caught by the alliance and shot. In their moment of triumph, as the Taliban were on the run, the American air force could not resist a parting shot. Its last bomb was reserved for the Kabul office of al-Jazeera, the Arabic satellite channel which served as the mouthpiece of Osama bin Laden and the Taliban. The staff left at 7.30 on Monday night, fearing the vengeance of the Afghans, who see the Taliban as a tool of Pakistani intelligence and Saudi Arabian money. Six hours later, two bombs slammed into the al-Jazeera office, one lying unexploded in the garden. The other bomb collapsed the building, leaving a crushed jumble of studio equipment on the ground floor. The walls of the building were still warm from the fire when journalists arrived, but looters had taken the generator. \"They kept their last bomb for these Arabs,\" said the owner's son-in-law, Mohammed Aziz, who was trying to keep the looters away from the last remaining item worth stealing, a camera tripod. \"We're astonished. How could they hit one building in the centre of town? This accuracy is something beyond our comprehension. When the Russians attacked us they hit everything all around.\" It was an arrogant and dangerous shot by the Americans. The office is in a residential district, with a mosque on the corner of the street. The garden was full of schoolbooks used by the correspondent's family. It could have been a disaster, but maybe al-Jazeera's giant satellite dish guided the bombs to their target. The blue awning used by the staff to protect their work from the view of the neighbors was blown into rags that stuck to the branches of trees all around. The scene looked like the flag-draped graves common in Afghanistan, a fitting memorial to a disastrous era in Afghan life. A new media era was dawning. For the first time in five years, music was played on Radio Kabul, and a female announcer's voice was heard. The Taliban had banned music, working women, beardless men and much else. On the street there was a grim reminder of the troubles ahead. A group of cut-throats, as fearsome as any I have seen in my life, was casing the street for empty houses to loot. The robber chief was armed with a jagged- edged sword and looted Russian night-vision scope - a neat encapsulation of the mediaeval and modern aspects of war Afghan-style. His band had knives, guns and bayonets. My driver, who is afraid of nothing apart from dogs and landmines, strode up to enforce order on behalf of the Northern Alliance. The robber chief claimed to be working on behalf of the \"commander of Jangelbagh\", a small town in the heart of Northern Alliance territory. He chose the wrong town. \"What a coincidence,\" said the driver. \"That is my home town. And what would your commander's name be?\" The robber chief looked confused. \"I don't have to tell you,\" he said. But the driver had the advantage. \"Stay off the streets. There is a new order now.\" The band slunk off as a patrol of the newly arrived soldiers came into view. All over the city, alliance soldiers and police set up checkpoints on the main roads. But most of the serious looting had already happened. Th"}, {"response": 22, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Nov 15, 2001 (14:40)", "body": "Eager to Schmooze With The Latest Winners *8-/ J Emir praises the 'good fight' to liberate Afghanistan By Alice Thomson in Bahrain (Filed: 13/11/2001) THE Emir of Bahrain yesterday became the first Arab leader to call the fighting in Afghanistan a great war of liberation. \"I am so happy America and Britain are going into Afghanistan,\" he said. \"Liberating it from this evil Taliban will only be good for women, men and children. It is a very good war of liberation. \"The Americans aren't like the Soviet Union, they are not trying to overthrow Muslims for communists. They are helping the Afghans to progress and saving poor Muslims from evil.\" In an interview at Saffriya Palace, Sheikh Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa said Bahrain would not only lend troops, but would allow its airbases to be used for bombing raids. The US Fifth Fleet is based at the island. \"If we were asked to send troops we would consider it, but they might not be appropriate because they are not used to mountainous terrain,\" said the former Sandhurst officer. \"We would think it a great honour. We have helped the British for 180 years and the Americans for 50.\" Sheikh Hamad insisted that his neighbours in the Gulf states who didn't support the war in Afghanistan were wrong. \"Anyone against such a thing must have lost their mind, it's a gift of God that the developed world can go into Afghanistan and help to correct it.\" The Emir who is a Sunni Muslim, said that Muslims should help to hunt down Osama bin Laden. \"How can Muslims support a man who is hiding in a cave, who wants to return to the Dark Ages?\" The new progressive head of this tiny state disagreed with other Arab leaders who have criticised the bombing. \"It breaks all our hearts to see an Afghan refugee crouching in a dust storm but this bombing is necessary to free these people. \"We have supported this campaign from day one without any hesitation. It is not against Islam or Arabs but terrorism. And terrorism should frighten us, not the war against terrorism.\" He said that Bahrain would not send blankets to the refugees. \"They are a tough lot, like us. They can survive the winter, what they need are medicines.\" The Arab world must understand, he said, that the Taliban are not Islamic. \"The way they treat women is disgusting. What can we learn from them? Have they given us better hospitals, schools or gardens? No. Women should choose what they wear: a burqa, a pair of trousers, a swimming suit.\" The Emir said that if bin Laden or the leaders of the Taliban were tried in an Islamic country they would be treated extremely harshly. \"Killing women and children is not in the Koran,\" he said. Arab states must ensure that the war against terrorism did not become a war of religions. \"In Saudi Arabia and Yemen even a strange goat is suspicious, there is more resentment against the West. Here we are an island, we are used to different peoples, we must lead the way.\" The Emir said the issue of a Palestinian state should not be mixed up with the war on terrorism. \"It is nothing to do with bin Laden and his gang. I am confident that the two states, Israel and Palestine, will soon co-exist. \"It would be a great help to the allies if these two states were created quickly, to bring back the support of the Arab world that the West has lost. If we do the right thing in Afghanistan, we must also do it in Palestine.\""}, {"response": 23, "author": "ekelley", "date": "Fri, Nov 16, 2001 (15:23)", "body": "thank goodness someone is speaking some sense in that region!"}, {"response": 24, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Nov 20, 2001 (10:41)", "body": "Canadians sorting it out: http://nationalpost.com/news/updates/story.html?f=/news/updates/stories/20011114/national-806026.html \"But this week Hosni Mubarak, Egypt's President, ruled out sending any of his troops, saying he feared they might return home as \"terrorists.\" http://nationalpost.com/news/story.html?f=/stories/20011117/791442.html Another Canadian story... http://nationalpost.com/news/story.html?f=/stories/20011117/791063.html \"LCol Farquhar suggested that the Regiment bear the name of the Duke's youngest daughter, Her Royal Highness Princess Patricia of Connaught. The request was made tothe Princess, who graciously consented to the Regiment bearing her name. The full title of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry was too long for everyday use, and the new unit became known as \"PPCLI\", with \"PPs\" or \"Pip Pips\", the commonest variants. The Regiment was best known to the general publics as \"PrincessPats\" or merely the \"Pats\", but this partial abbreviation is discouraged within the Regiment, which now prefers to be known as the \"Patricias\". Brits under pressure to pullout: http://www.observer.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,596981,00.html Field strategy that led to Taliban retreat: http://www.observer.co.uk/focus/story/0,6903,596830,00.html http://www.frontierpost.com.pk/main.asp?id=2&date1=11/18/2001 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/CIA18.html Keith Richburg and William Brannigan on the devastating effect US bombing had on the Taliban front lines and mobility: \"The basic equation of the war, said a U.S. Air Force officer, was '21st- century air and space power combined with 16th-century land forces.'\" http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/world/Taliban111801.html And a Guardian report on the settling of scores going on in the wake of the Taliban collapse: Ordinary Afghans who are Taliban are not killed because of the nature of war in this country. Generally, there is a short sharp battle after which the loser, seeing the way the wind is blowing, makes a deal with the winner. Not so foreigners: the Arabs and Pakistanis fighting alongside the Taliban in the lines north of Kabul were seen as invaders here to dominate the country. They therefore get what they deserve. http://www.observer.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,596920,00.html http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/south_asia/newsid_1662000/1662683.stm http://www.cnn.com/2001/US/11/18/gen.war.against.terror/index.html The Taliban commander of Afghanistan's northern zone and the governor of Konduz agreed to surrender control of the northern Afghan city to the United Nations after meeting with a group of Afghan tribal elders, the elders said Sunday. bodies of four Northern Alliance fighters believed to have been killed four months ago while fighting with the Taliban. The bodies had their hands tied behind them and were each shot in the head and torso. The ears of all the bodies also were cut off. CNN.com homepage is reporting that the Taliban is doing our work for us: Hard-line Taliban fighters in Konduz kill Taliban supporters willing to surrender Taliban fighters in Konduz reportedly killing themselves rather than give up Sunday November 18 2:03 PM ET Afghans Pack Makeshift Theaters By STEVEN GUTKIN, Associated Press Writer KABUL, Afghanistan (news - web sites) (AP) - Standing outside a small shop where a hundred people squeezed inside to watch a movie, one by one the Afghan men shouted out the names of their favorite characters. ``Arnold!'' ``Rambo!'' ``Van Damme!'' ``Jackie Chan!'' they cried. The collapse of Taliban rule in Kabul means it's movie time again. http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20011118/ts/afghanistan_crazy_for_movies_1.html"}, {"response": 25, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Nov 22, 2001 (11:39)", "body": "From a Salon piece: The Taliban's deadly \"refugees\" Taliban guerrillas are moving into refugee camps inside Afghanistan -- safe havens where they can regroup, skim food provided by aid agencies, and recruit new troops. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - By Ben Barber Nov. 22, 2001 | Refugee camps along the Afghan-Pakistan border, supported by foreign aid, are havens for fleeing Taliban guerrillas, who use the camps to recruit new fighters, for medical services and as a home base. The movement of Taliban troops into the camps -- assisted, one refugee analyst charges, by Saudi Arabian relief workers -- poses a serious challenge to the American-led war effort in Afghanistan. Thousands of Afghans are already enclosed in camps at Spin Boldak on the Afghan side of the border between Quetta, Pakistan and Kandahar, Afghanistan -- an area that's the last redoubt of the Taliban regime of Mullah Omar. The camps are controlled by the Taliban; refugees are surrounded by armed Taliban guards, who allow armed Afghans into the camps if they are loyal to the Taliban. Food and tents sent by international humanitarian agencies are being distributed by Saudi relief groups, who may be the only nationality operating there -- the U.N. has no control over the camps and is afraid to distribute food because of threats of violence. http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2001/11/22/refugees/index_np.html has the rest of the article."}, {"response": 26, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Nov 24, 2001 (21:29)", "body": "David Kline (dkline) Fri Nov 23 '01 (09:19) 36 lines My record of support for the rights of Afghan women and against their abuse and suffering is very long and public -- you can search all of mty articlews going back to the very first article I ever wrote for any publications anywhere: a piece about Iranian women after the Shah entitled \"Beneath the Veil,\" for the Los Angeles Herald Examiner in 1978. I also spoke at somewhere over 100 college campuses about the plight of Afghan women during the early and mid-1980s, trying desperately (and futilely as it turned out) to raise support for Afghan women and debating against leftists like you who refused to utter one word -- literally even a token word -- against the Soviet invasion and butchery of Afghans, especially women (who always suffer the most in war). I debated Chomsky, who had the gall to insist that Soviet massacres in Afghanistan (course he didn't call them that) were helping \"womenh's liberation\" in that country. . . . Chomsky has suddenly discovcered the plight of \"[oor suffering Afghan women\" only since Oct 7, 2001 when the first US bomb fell on that country. But just to clarify. The very first piece of journalism I ever wrote was a freelance piece for the LA Herald Examiner (now defunct) on the liberation of Iranian women after the Shah in 1978. . . . women under Islam was actually my specialty, not war reportage (although I certainly did the latter). I was a constant critic of women's suffering under Islam for more than 20 years, even writing a piece for Advertising Age (of all places) in 85 or 86 on the absurd restrictions placed upon women and their images under the newly-emerging fundamentalists of Pakistan at that time. The indispensable Najam Sethi reviews the return of the pre-Taliban factions to their places in Afghanistan today, and notes the current sack race involving the 6+2 on the road back to Kabul: http://www.thefridaytimes.com/ . . . And Afghan winters can be long ones, too! Anyway, as a corollary to this discussion, folks here may recall that one criticism I've often made of the US (as opposed to European) left is its inability (or fear of) criticizing any people who may be considered among the oppressed. I have cited the Sandinistas, for example, who the left refused to criticize for their inhumane & illegal treatment of the Misquito Indians, even though the Sandinistas themselves later apologized for these crimes under international law. . . . since Afghan women are oppressed, then their representatives may not be criticized no matter how dumb their statements or actions. If so, he would be merely following a long and infantile tradeition of the US left of slavishishness towards the Black Panthers and countless other \"leaders\" of the oppressed.\" This slavishness is not a tradition with which I am in support. http://rawa.false.net/points.html"}, {"response": 27, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Nov 25, 2001 (18:56)", "body": "David Kline (dkline) Sat Nov 24 '01 (20:39) 19 lines . . . I thought I''d been rather nuanced about them in the half-dozen or so extensive postings I've made here regarding their history, policies, and behavior both positive and negative. But it'd be a simple nmatter to do an !extract on my views regarding RAWA, and I think I could benefit from some constructive criticism where I've erred. But I'll need your help in pointing these errors out, since I really do think I've put forward am pretty balanced perspective on RAWA taken as a whole. My last post on RAWA, of course, was very critical because it was responding to their very dangerous attempt to deny to the one group most responsible for Afghanistan's liberation any right to participate in a future government of that country. But other posts of mine have been largely favorable towards RAWA. . . . . . . If putting pressure on fractious Afghan leaders was all they were doing, then I'd support (and have supported) that effort. Instead, what they are doing is calling for the denial of political and voting rights to the one Afghan force most directly responsible for the liberation of the country. Bad move. It will only marginalize RAWA, because no force on earth -- whether US, UN or any other nation -- would ever agree that Afghanistan's principal liberation forces, the ones who actually drove out the Russians and later the Taliban and sacrificed hundreds of thousands of fighters in the effort, should play NO role in a future government of that country. Now I have listened to all kinds of legends and stories and half truths about the past \"crimes\" of the Northern Alliance. I have tried to point out to the extent these atrocities took place, they were largely NOT the policy of the NA itself but of certain creeps like Dostrum. So-called \"warlords\" like Ismael Khan, in fact, educated more girls than RAWA in its wildest pseudo-socialist dreams ever could hope to do. I have also tried to put the existence of atrocities, warlords, & factionalizing in context of the suffering endured by that nation. I said these were not so surprising in a country that had suffered the equivalent (were it America) of 30 million dead, 70 million starving in tents along the border, and 75% of all towns razed to the ground. Hell, we have had NO war in America yet we have far far far more rapists per capita than Afghanistan does, but that doesn't disqualify US males from citizenship. I realize that people think I'm an apologist for a) the Northern Alliance, and b) the Afghans in general. Yet so far at least almost all I've said and predicted about the Afghans has come to pass. People here said the Afghans surely must support the Taliban or else they wouldn't be in power. People here said the Northern Alliance were a bunch of warlords who couldn't get their shit together to fight. People said the Afghans are fanatics and treat their female citizens horribly. And people said the citizens of Kabul were more afraid of the NA than the Taliban. Excuse me? Is anyone paying attention to actual reality? Dancing in the streets. A Kabul film festival. Women choosing (or not, as their desire) to toss off the burqa. Very few reprisal killings so far. Quite a few blustering comments from Rabbani and other officials, but so far everyone is agreeing to meet to try to form a broad-based government, etc. In short, despite the crying of wolf by concerned Americans on almost a daily basis, would any of you have imagined two months ago that the Northern Alliance in particular or the Afghans in general would have actually done what they've done and done it relatively so well, overall? But you know what, forget what I say. Disregard it. I'm hopelessly in love with these people and my opinions surely can't be trusted. Fine. Only I ask that if you disregard my opinions, then to be fair you should also disregard the views of the constant naysayers, wolf-cryers, and others who have so far NEVER GIVEN THE AFGHANS ONE OUNCE OF CREDIT FOR ALL THAT THEY HAVE ACHIEVED in the last month. Not once has anyone here that I can recall said, \"You know what, pretty good job, guys. We thought for sure you'd all butcher each other and then eat the remains, but gee whiz it's almost like you Afghan tribal folk seem pretty close to human sometimes.\" So like I said, disregard all opinions, most especially mine. Instead, just watch what actually happens with a fair and open mind and a sense of historical context. And when you watch events on the ground, remember that similar predictions of atrocities and failure to unite were made against ... ohmygod, exactly the same was said of the French during World War 2! The Frogs are all collaborators. Look how they treat their women (who didn't get the right to vote until 1946). Those resistance factions will never unite. Blah blah blah. I can tell you that when all is said and done, far fewer retaliation killings will take place in a liberated Afghanistan than the 30,000 collaborators execu"}, {"response": 28, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Nov 25, 2001 (18:57)", "body": "November 1 Prediction: If today's news is really really the truth -- that the US has finally decided to commit serious resources and effort to enhancing the capabilities of the anti-Taliban resistance [instead of merely bombing] -- than I'd say within 2 weeks we'll start to hear some good news for a change from that country. The Taliban will no longer be laughing at us. They will start to sound a little bit desperate. By the end of Ramadan the first signs of internal splits within the Taliban will appear. And by Christmas, it'll look like it's only a matter of time before the Taliban are ousted from power. \ufffdThe NA in its fractiousness was behind that.\ufffd My principal defensiveness is to allow to pass unchallenged such notions as the above. I'm so busy putting Afghan mistakes in context that, excuse me, I've forgotten to remind you all that this entire tragedy -- and all its atrocities and mistakes -- was almost entirely NOT of the NA's making. Ever hear of a country called Pakistan? And of their stooge Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who started shelling Kabul on Pakistan's orders and broke down the fragile but working peace that the Afghans had achieved in 1992? And of an alien foreign terrorist organization called the Taliban co-sponsored by Bin Laden and Pakistan that brought 95% of this tragedy to pass? I suppose a \"better\" people could have resisted all the direct sabotage from Pakistan and elsewhere, could have somehow survived and maintained order & security against Pakistan's overwhelmingly-superior military & economic might. But, whatever, Massoud & Abdul Haq were unsuccessful. Actually, I'm in awe of Massoud's greatness as a leader not because of his victories, but because he kept fighting against all odds and the world's indifference and yet somehow managed to keep the NA alive! So while I'm asking you all in your infinite whiteness to forgive the primitive Afghans, please allow me to remind you that there is plenty of evidence to show that much if not most of this wasn't even their fault. I finally figured out the problem: I need to take a break from all this. It's all so eerily reminiscent of 15-20 years ago when I kept writing all my stupid little articles and dragging my sorry tray of slides from one college campus to the next, pleading the Afghans' cause to no effect. My Pulitzer nomination and a dollar still couldn't get them on the bus. Back in the 1980s, the reason given for people's lack of support was that since the Afghans were Muslims, they obviously *weren't* progressive. Now the reason given is that, since the Afghans couldn't get any help in the 1980s and foreign sabotage and the slaughter of their educated class left them vulnerable to error and failure, they obviously *aren't* progressive. Weren't progressive. Aren't progresive. Catch 22. The irony is that anyone who has been to Afghanistan has such an abiding and passionate love for these people, it's really quite amazing. But for everyone else, well the Afghans simply can't get a break, can they? This is all too familiar for me -- Afghanistan as my own private kind of weird Idaho -- and unfortunately all too emotional as well. I can't keep doing this decade after decade & never somehow be able to do it right. So I really appreciate all the great stuff I've learned here and all the kind words people have said. I'll check back in after a while. Amazing collection of photos of Afghanistan Now: http://photos.blogspot.com/ . . . . It's not a matter of who's better or had an easier time of educating girls, RAWA or so-called Northern Alliance \"warlord\" Ismael Khan. They both did wonderfully, and both risked their lives (Khan spent years in a Taliban prison being tortured to near death). I only criticized RAWA for unjustly censoring the entire Northern Alliance when they should be uniting with and trying to educate every decent Afghan they can find -- including Ismael Khan. Again, thanks to all . . ., but it's obvious I'm a broken record and an ineffective one at that. It may all be new & interesting to you, but I've been banging on the locked doors to people's minds since 1980 trying to scrounge up a little empathy for the Afghans. And in 20 years I've never been able to succeed at it. Fate has decreed that these honorable and quite beautiful people (thank you Boz for those incredible photos) will never get a break from Americans. Which is soooo unfair! The Afghan people have twice shed their blood to save the civilized world -- first to crack open the Soviet empire and free hundreds of millions of victims of east-block communist tyranny; and second, to overthrow the the world's first terrorist gov't, the Taliban, and kick-start us on the long road to victory against Islamic terrorism. But not even these great sacrifices for humanity are enough to earn them a decent \"thank you\" from sophisticated (and safe) critics in the West. All they get for the blood they've shed in all our behalf are our complaints. The people of Afghanistan deserve our respe"}, {"response": 29, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Nov 26, 2001 (15:22)", "body": "Terrifying: \"Former Inhabitants Trickle Back to Area Ravaged by Taliban ...Seizing territory just north of Kabul, they went on a rampage that was meant to drive off forever tens of thousands of villagers they deemed sympathetic to the Northern Alliance. They not only killed civilians, but they also set homes ablaze, machine-gunned livestock, tore out crops, sawed down fruit trees and blasted apart irrigation canals.\""}, {"response": 30, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Nov 26, 2001 (21:44)", "body": "David Kline (dkline) Mon Nov 26 '01 (12:55) 11 lines How ironic that my screenplay, written 11 years ago and telling a love story set against the backdrop of the Afghan war, has as its surface plot the (purported) Soviet looting of Afghan art. I spent a lot of time and effort becoming familiar with Afghan art, but I must confess that in my wildest dreams I never imagined that anyone would ever actually want to *destroy* one of the greatest art treasures of human civilization. Like I said today in another topic, one day the true cost of the Taliban's brutal 5-year reign of terror will become fully known and the horror of it will bring us all to our knees. Indeed. Who'd have thought that anyone would have had to power to heal the jaded-ness in us all and restore our appreciation of simple good and evil. Thanks at least for that, mister Taliban man. Humanity hasn't had such negative inspiration since the days of the Gestapo and SS. (Well, actually, we did have Pol Pot but I think many of us were still so full of 60s-era bravura that we missed the full import of his misdeeds.)"}, {"response": 31, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Nov 28, 2001 (10:04)", "body": "David Kline (dkline) Tue Nov 27 '01 (21:00) 18 lines . . . In Afghanistan, influence is the center of gravity of power -- both armed and political. Everyone has guns, yes, but the direction they are pointed is determined by those who have the most influence. Influence over *money* (as in reconstruction aid, cross-border trade, & outright bribes) and over *access* (as in politics, appointments, & tribal status). And in the new Afghanistan, the people with the most money, influence and access to offer will be the new coalition government (especially its NA components) and its American benefactors. If they say put your guns away and obey the rules, all but a few of the most rootless and disposessed small-time warlords will quickly fall in line. The few malcontents who remain -- these will probably be people with little in the way of family or tribal status to protect -- will likely end up in jail or dead. So I'm actually optimistic, so long as factions succeed in forging a truly broad-based transition regime. That'll be the harder part, I think. . . . I think it's too soon to tell how serious the security situation will really be in the first few months of the new regime. My guess, though, is that things will quiet down much more quickly than people expect. It's just my gut feeling about the way Afghans work -- their highly-refined practice of \"side-switching,\" for example, enables them to end conflicts extremely rapidly with minimal loss of blood. Then, too, look at how well (relatively speaking) they've already been able to stabilize things in Kabul, Kunduz, Herat and (save for the prison revolt) even the city of Mazaar-i-Sharif proper. So that's a good sign."}, {"response": 32, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Nov 29, 2001 (22:05)", "body": "Below are some excerpts from an extraordinary interview in the New York Times the other day with Northern Alliance Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah. Dr. Abdullah laments the fact that their great leader Massoud is not there to guide the Afghans anymore, and he seems quite cognizant of both the mistakes of the past and the challenges ahead. A couple of excerpts: ________________________ \"Afghanistan is a country without any institutions, without any systems, and what it needs in such a situation is a leader. We do not have one.\" and \"It is very sad because we have a great opportunity now with the world focused on Afghanistan,\" he said. \"We will try our best, but with Massoud alive things would have been totally different. We would have had a man sensitive to every issue, someone who understood how to bypass obstacles, a person whose yes was a yes and whose no was a no.\" and \"There is a generation that wants to see change, to get us out of this vicious cycle that has brought war to the nation for the past two decades. I'm not sure how much this need for change is understood by others. But I am sure that if the same attitudes of the past continue, there will be trouble for all of us.\" from David Kline"}, {"response": 33, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Dec  1, 2001 (06:12)", "body": "David Kline (dkline) Fri Nov 30 '01 (22:08) 10 lines The wonderful thing about the Afghans and especially the Pashtuns is that anyone can see whatever they want in them. For every negative story, there are many positive ones (much like is true regarding Americans, I suppose). One interesting way to get a better handle on what the people are like, without any reportorial need to put forward a singular and un-nuanced point of view, is to read anthropological works on the Afghans. I'm sorry I forget the title right now, but check out the seminal work written on Afghan culture, history, and economic activity by Louis Dupree."}, {"response": 34, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Dec  1, 2001 (19:06)", "body": "dkline) Sat Dec 1 '01 (15:05) 38 lines I've been waiting to see the Stingers myself. As for the Russians, let me say that the Afghans had a lot of respect (and fear) for their special forces units, who operated in larger formations and in different ways than our special ops people do. Also, it's very simplistic to say the Stingers won the war. I travelled with the Afghans and saw them fight for almost 7 years before the first Stinger was introduced, and the Mujahadeen managed to take the strategic offensive long before they had Stingers or any other means of bringing down those dreaded MI-24 gunshops (\"Flying Tanks\", they were called). Right after the Soviet invasion, in fact, everyone thought the \"ragheads\" would crumble. They'd never be able to oppose 100,00 troops of what was then considered the strongest conventional army on earth. But justb the opposite happened. The Afghans resisted, and resisted well. I understand that the US provided arms and in some cases, advice and training. But almost none of that went to the two principal resistance forces doing most of the actual fighting against the Soviets -- Massoud's forces and those of Abdul Haq, commander of the Kabul district. There was a two-to-three year period, in fact, when Massoud couldn't get so much as a radio or a bullet from the US arms supply train (dispensed under the complete control of the Pakistani ISI). The fact of US arms aid ought not imply that the resistance itself was ineffective as a fighting force. Quite the contrary, in fact. By the time Stingers were introduced in 1986 or so, the Soviet invaders had already been pushed onto the strategic defensive, confined to the principal cities and road networks, bloodied quite badly in the field, and demoralized enough to seriously cripple their combat effectiveness. Indeed, had it not been for the effectiveness of Afghan fighting forces, the U.S. would never have even put Stingers into the hands of the Afghans in the first place. What the Stingers did was merely sped up the already-inevitable Soviet defeat, and increase aircraft losses to such an extent that Moscow decided to seek a much more rapid negotiated withdrawal."}, {"response": 35, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Dec  3, 2001 (13:54)", "body": "David Kline: Just like I've been saying -- as journalists who supposedly make a living by being observant, we're supposed to be more careful than to go into areas that are too hot, too soon, with far to little armed protection. I'd have never (I hope) done what these 8 dead reporters did, nor gone to any hot area without 25-50 guys whose sole and overriding mission in life (for the next few days, anyway) was to protect me. Anyway, great discussion. On the question of Stingers, I think I agree with that we may see some deployed in coming days in the final hill/cave fighting. I have seen MI-24s roaring up a valley or wide ravine between two ridgelines 5-10Km apart, and getting picked off by Stingers fired from the ridgelines. It also looked easy, but I'm sure it wasn't. Bear in mind about the Stingers, though, that they're just paperweights unless you happen to have them available and deployable *at the moment* of incoming air attack by aircraft *likely to succumb* to Stinger hits. And without reliable communications to alert them to imminent attack, nor deep experience with the capabilities and vulnerabilities of US aircraft, Taliban fighters would tend to be extremely reluctant to fire their Stingers. At least *Afghan* Taliban would, because the only thing they do better than *acquire* military equipment is *shepherd* it for latter use. No Afghan wants to fire his last bullet, rocket or Stinger and not know from where the next one will come. They're always thinking about *future* advantage or disadvantage, so that may be a factor in their non-use. Another wildcard in the Stinger issue is the question of exactly who has control over them? Afghan Taliban, or only the more dedicated and reliable (from Mullah Omar and OBL's POV) Arab legionaire Taliban? Just in case our great fundi leaders chose Door No. 2 and distributed Stinger assets only to the Arab fighters, then that's another argument for the increased possibility of their use in the Final Battle in the Hills. Oh yeah, and , it is completely irrelevant that the *entire* Soviet army could have *theoretically* arrested the whole Afghan population. Wars are not fought by *entire* armies, nor are they decided by who has the greatest *theoretical* capabilities, nor (usually) is it to one's advantage to exterminate or relocate an entire population. Wars are fought by real-world, on-the-ground organized armed forces that have to fight & win despite their real-world strengths and weakenesses, warts and all. My point is that it's wrong to dismiss the effectiveness of Afghan resistance forces just because, theoretically, the Sovoiets could have shipped the whole population to Siberia if they had wanted to. Hell, they could have nuked the whole country if they wanted, just like we could have nuked all of Southeast Asia. The fact that there are good reasons why we didn't doesn't mean that either the VietCong/N. Vietnamese or the Afghans weren't effective and successful fighting forces who *won* the actual (not theoretical) wars they confronted, in the real world, on the ground. Regarding the use of RPGs against Hinds, as I understand things, RPG's *might* have been effective against Hind helicopters but only against the MI8 Hinds. Corect me if I'm wrong, but I don't think they were any good at all against the much more heavily armored MI-24 Hind gunships. It was quite an experience to see the Afghans' reaction to those MI-24s. Heavy machine guns, AA, RPGs -- there was nothing they had that could bring those fucking gunships down. The Afghans were really scared of them, which made me very very scared of them. But they fought the war anyway, and quite well. When they finally got their hands on Stingers, then it was like they almost couldn't wait to see an MI-24. Come and get it, Brezhnev!! Actually, I think it was Andropov by then. 1986, right?"}, {"response": 36, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Dec  5, 2001 (12:35)", "body": "The Bonn conference is over and a new interim government for Afghanistan has been selected. Hamid Karzai will head the government. Who'd have thought a couple of months ago when Karzai snuck back into Afghanistan to try to get Pashtun tribal leaders to revolt against the Taliban that he would be the head of state on December 5. The Northern Alliance got three of the 5 deputy leadership positions, they're going to run defense, the interior, and foreign affairs. (The three young leaders mentioned in the NYT article yesterday got those jobs.) The other two slots will be held by a Hazara woman and a member of the Rome delegation who has been living in America and used to work for the World Bank. He'll be in charge of finance. http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/south_asia/newsid_1692000/1692695.stm David Kline: Wonderful wonderful news. And a woman, too! And do I get a small nod here? I said the younger generation in the Northern Alliance would push Rabbani aside if he stonewalled. They did. I said the Northern Alliance -- indeed, all Afghans -- were sincere and would make any sacrifice neeeded for unity. They have. Btw, Christainne Amanpour and Sebastian Junger were both on Larry King Live last night. They both said how surprised they were that rumors of popular antipathy towards the Northern Alliance proved to be so wrong, as anyone could see when NA forces entered Kabul to popular applause. They also both congratulated the NA for its behavior throughout this conflict. Like I said, it ain't your father's generation of Northern Alliance anymore. Qanooni, Abdullah, Fahim -- these are modern-thinking people who've known mostly war their whole adult lives. They want to be part of a cosmopolitan world, not stuck in some 7th century village. And they represent the thinking of millions of Afghans who just want a real chance at education and peace and modern life. Wouldn't you? Anyway, kudos to the Afghans!!! . . . And please, just take a second to look at this article and remember Abdul Haq, who (you never know) might be the new Afghan Prime Minister rather than Hamid Karzai had he not been executed by the Taliban 6 weeks ago. So ironic. Anyway, there's a photo of the noose they used to hang my friend. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/05/international/asia/05HAQ.html?searchpv=nytToday"}, {"response": 37, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Dec 11, 2001 (21:44)", "body": "http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/south_asia/newsid_1700000/1700445.stm SUFI RENAISSANCE AFTER TALEBAN FALL THE CITY OF HERAT HAS THE LARGEST NUMBER OF SUFIS By the BBC's Peter Greste Sufis are free to practice their ancient worship once again - and they are doing so with an exuberance denied to them for the past six years. ... At the core of their beliefs, Sufis maintain that all creatures - human and animal - are equal and that music and dance is the most direct route to Allah. ... \"Sufis have the right path to Almighty God and the Taleban's version of Islam wasn't real Islam. It was a corruption, an evil hypocrisy. They were terrorists and that is unacceptable in our religion. \"Now the sect is recovering its place in Afghanistan and its hundreds of thousands of followers are once more emerging from the shadows.\" ... Its mystical beliefs are undergoing a renaissance from a chapter of oppression to one of the country's most powerful movements. And this is demonstrates the importance of tolerance in finding the way forward for a peaceful Afghanistan. Only then, when the nation's people are free to live as their needs tell them, will 23 years of trauma and battle belong to the past."}, {"response": 38, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Dec 12, 2001 (19:56)", "body": "An Iranian American From New Jersey *8-/ Beyond imagination Words fail to capture the despair November 30, 2001 The Iranian Email from Farnaz Fassihi to her friends. Fassihi is in Afghanistan reporting for the New Jersey Star Ledger. Our first impression upon leaving the Iranian border of Dogharoun and entering Afghanistan was that we had passed through the gates of Time.The road to Herat is non-existant and the phrase \"in the middle of no where\" was invented for this passage. For four hours the three-car convoy carrying us and a group of other foreign journalists drove through a bumpy, rocky and dusty field where other cars had paved a make-shift road. At times the cloud of dust was so intense that we could not see even 10 feet ahead of us. On our way, we passed villages made of mud huts. Its locals were sitting aimlessly around. There is no electricity and a water well is miles away. It is not possible to articulate or even write a story that will do justice to the misery here. Words and images fail to capture the intensity and the despair. It's beyond what any one of us reporters ever imagined. Along side the road were dozens of little children, some as young as four and five, who waved at the cars carrying foreigners and begged for food. They cried and pleaded for help. They didn't have shoes. They did't have warm clothes. Along the same road were also many crippled, arm-less and leg- less men begging for just the same and shouting at our cars to stop. Then as we thought we've seen the worst, we passed by Maslakh. The world's largest refugee camp with 200,000 displaced people awaiting help. The lucky ones are sheltered in mud houses and tents set up by the UNHCR. But there were at least a thousand people who had neither. They had simply camped on the bare ground. Today, a five-year-old girl died in front of the AP reporter who was visiting the camp. The Red Cross says every morning they find dead bodies of people who did not make it through the deadly cold night. Many are dying from hunger because relief efforts have not fully been resumed yet. Alas, we arrived in Herat and the city is slowly coming to life. It's uplifting to see how happy people are at the downfall of the Taliban and how quickly they are trying to resume to normalcy. Today, Herat held the first ever election in Afghanistan in 30 years and it was a nice thing to see. However, every time we step outside endless little faces gather around us and ask for help. Women cling to us and beg for us to take down their names in case aid was on the way. They are still clad in burqas but they walk around alone, shop and go about their daily routines.The men are either clean-shaved or have trimmed beards. There's been a line in front of the barber shop around the corner every day. As for us, when you see how desperate people are living, you are ashamed to complain about the lack of luxury. Our hotel is okay. It's safe. We have two armed guards at the door and a curfew at 8 p.m. when we are not allowed to leave this place. There is only electricity a few hours in the evening. At night it gets very cold. There are small oil heaters but they don't do much. No warm water to speak of and well, it's not exactly clean here either. We are already sick and on anti-biotic medication despite not eating nor drinking anything. I've brought canned food from Iran and the hotel has bottled water and fresh bread. Despite all this, I'm glad to be here. Before coming I was excited about the assignment , adventure, my career and bullshit like that. After two days here and this endless visible misery the only reason I can think of for being here is to tell stories that hopefully will help these people. God help us. - Farnaz Inshallah we will make it alive Flying from Herat to Kabul December 10, 2001 The Iranian Email from Farnaz Fassihi to her friends. Fassihi is in Afghanistan reporting for the New Jersey Star Ledger. I'm in Kabul. How I got here is a tale in itself. In what sounded like an adventure and felt like ultimate lunacy once we were there, me, Jon and two other journalists who are now our inseparable friends, boarded the only existing aircraft in Afghanistan on its first flight in the past two months from Herat to Kabul Thursday. It was all about \"Inshallahs\" and \"Salavats\" from beginning to end. The aircraft was a small 25 passenger Russian plane with two small engines. Aryana Airlines. It was old and rundown and it had just been repaired. The crew made a special flight from Kabul to Herat to come and check out a Boeing jet at an air base near Herat to see if they can get the jet going. They couldn't. We were advised in less than 24 hours that we can fly on Aryana's flight to Kabul. We were told to pack and run to the airport in 30 minuets, before the flight. The email from my editor read: \"Go to Kabul. But, do you really really want to be on Afghanistan's inaugural flight?\" We thought how bad can it be? We get to the airport and there are blown apart burnt a"}, {"response": 39, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Dec 13, 2001 (21:22)", "body": "PUL-I-KHUMRI, Afghanistan, Dec. 12 \ufffd This northern Afghan town erupted in violence today as two anti- Taliban factions clashed, amid reports \ufffd later denied by the Pentagon \ufffd that American warplanes had intervened and bombed both sides. Two Northern Alliance generals said the fighting began when troops loyal to Sayed Jaffar, the former governor of Baghlan Province, attacked the Northern Alliance soldiers stationed in Pul-i-Khumri, a town just south of Kunduz. The issue was turf, they said. Sayed Jaffar had left Afghanistan in recent years, but returned this fall and wanted to govern again. He was angry, they said, that the Northern Alliance soldiers from the Panjshir Valley, primarily ethnic Tajiks, were in control of the region. General Atiqullah Baryalai, deputy defense minister for the Northern Alliance, said that Sayed Jaffar was supported by American aircraft, and that one armored vehicle was destroyed and 20 Northern Alliance soldiers were killed or wounded. \"The Americans bombed us,\" he said. \"It was a very bad mistake. I called them and asked them to stop, and they said they were sorry but they kept bombing.\" The chief spokesman for the United States Central Command denied that American warplanes had bombed Northern Alliance positions... If American planes did, indeed, bomb Northern Alliance units, it would not be the first time in the war. Two weeks ago, when the city of Kunduz fell, an American plane attacked a Northern Alliance position in a historic mud fortress inside the city, destroying seven trucks and killing several soldiers. Tajik soldiers blamed that attack on a rival warlord, saying he had called for the air strike on them because he was angry that he did not take the fortress first. Full story at: http://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/13/international/asia/13FIGH.html David Kline (dkline) Thu Dec 13 '01 (09:26) 12 lines \"Of all the shocks of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, those felt most strongly in the Bay Area have been ideological.\" The above is from yesterday's Rob Morse column in the SZan Francisco Chronicle. It seems appropos of some things we've been discussing. Anyone interested can find the article at: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/12/12/MN108041.DTL"}, {"response": 40, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Dec 25, 2001 (12:00)", "body": "\"The Taliban did not spring directly from hell. They sprang from Afghan culture strained through hell. They had roots and antecedents in Afghan culture .. \" http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2001/12/17/role_of_women/index.html"}, {"response": 41, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Dec 30, 2001 (02:54)", "body": "Here's something off the wall: New Afghan Justice Minsister, Soft on Crime? \"There will be some changes from the time of the Taliban,\" he said. \"For example, the Taliban used to hang the victim's body in public for four days. We will only hang the body for a short time, say 15 minutes.\" Kabul's sports stadium, where the Taliban used to carry out public executions and amputations every Friday, would no longer be used. \"The stadium is for sports. We will find a new place for public executions,\" he said. Adulterers, both male and female, would still be stoned to death, Judge Zarif said, \"but we will use only small stones\". http://www.smh.com.au/news/0112/29/world/world8.html"}, {"response": 42, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Jan  2, 2002 (14:29)", "body": "David Kline (dkline) Wed Jan 2 '02 (09:22) 33 lines Is anyone here other than me getting a bit concerned about how QUIET the new government of Hamid Karzai has been in the last 2 weeks? I mean, this is no time for passivity and being reactive. Where are the bold new initiatives and programs? Easy for me to say, I realize, but I think he ought to be announcing a whole bunch of new programs -- even if for lack of money and organization they can't all be implemented now. The country needs a vision, & hope. What sorts of nw programs? 1) \"Widows & Orphans\" Welfare Program -- the first welfare payment system in Afghan history. Shouldn't be hard to get international sponsors. 2) \"Afghan Marshalls\" Program -- a heavily-armed roaming security force to guarantee safe and secure travel on the highways and byways. 3) \"Malalai Protection Service\" -- named after Afghanistan's legendary female freedom fighter, a gov't program to protect women from abuse and teach them about their rights & responsibilites in the new Afghanistan. 4) \"Little Muj Schoolhouse\" -- a massive free public education program funded by foreign sponsors and modeled on the US Head Start program. 5) \"Small Town Jirga\" Program -- government omnobudsmen to listen to the grievances of the people in a program of town hall democracy. Like I said, I know it's easy for me to say all the above. But I'm abit worried that the new government is getting bogged down in details just tryoing to find offices and phones for themselves and forgetting the fact that drift and inertia feed insecurity and factionalism. Bold new initiativews must be announced, even if they're largely only on paper."}, {"response": 43, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Jan  9, 2002 (09:14)", "body": "You thought it was hard to sit through \"War and Peace\" Afghan blockbuster: 9 hours of bloodshed, tears REUTERSJ[ TUESDAY, JANUARY 08, 2002JJ8:53:17 PM ] ABUL: Hundreds of Afghans crammed into a draughty theatre in the capital's Khairkhana district this week for a cinematic experience that would test the stamina of even the most ardent movie-goer. They came to see Resistance, a nine-hour, three-part film on the history of the Northern Alliance's struggle against the Taliban. They cheered for the heroes, booed at the villains, gasped at the gory details of death and bloodshed and wept as families were united on the silver screen. Afghanistan's film industry has never come close to matching the production- line output of India or Pakistan or even the more modest art-house offerings from neighbouring Iran. But what remains of the film industry hopes Resistance will be the first step towards revitalising a medium that was clumsily state-controlled during the decade-long Soviet occupation that ended in 1989 and then completely crushed by the Taliban who deemed it un-Islamic. STARTING FROM SCRATCH \"Basically we are starting from scratch again.\" Moghaven At, a producer, said in an interview on Monday. \"Everything has been destroyed, our archives are gone, our equipment is destroyed or broken even our expertise has been lost.\" Speaking at the near-deserted Afghan Film Studios set, Moghaven said anyone involved in the film industry either fled when the Taliban seized Kabul in 1996 or simply washed their hands of anything to do with the business. The Taliban descended on the studio in an orchestrated frenzy after they seized the capital in 1996. Huge piles of burnt film are still scattered in a warehouse, lit eerily by hundreds of bullet-holes that puncture the corrugated iron roof, letting in the sunlight. Mohammad Afzal Barialai, a film editor, said the Taliban spent more than two weeks methodically destroying an irreplaceable archive of film and music. \"It was like watching monsters destroying your house and your family,\" he said. \"I have been working in this studio for 30 years and all of my work - features, documentaries and news pieces, all of it - has been destroyed. Part of me died also.\" Actually some material did escape. Barialai risked death by hiding nine canisters of the earliest film ever shot in Afghanistan. Some of his colleagues did the same, and these fragments of history are now being dusted off to see if they survived their enforced cultural hibernation. KEEPING UP THE SKILL Many of the filmmakers fled the country after the Taliban took power, or escaped to try to practice their craft in territory controlled by the opposition Northern Alliance. \"We didn't have much equipment, but the (Northern Alliance) government had a small department of cultural and historical affairs and we operated from that,\" said Moghaven At. \"We filmed the resistance from the moment we left Kabul.\" Indeed, some of the most dramatic footage of Resistance is the evacuation of the capital almost overnight by nearly 500,000 people led by Ahmad Shah Masood, the commander assassinated two days before the September 11 attacks brought about the beginning of the end of the Taliban. The audience hissed sympathetically at the sight of elderly men and women hobbling barefoot from their homes. They cheered triumphantly at a sequence showing women pelting the corpses of dead Taliban fighters with stones. \"It is a very good film. Every Afghan must see it,\" said Mohammad Wazir, emerging blinking from the marathon session. Moghaven At hopes the Afghan film industry can rise from the ashes left by the Taliban's fiery destruction."}, {"response": 44, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Feb  3, 2002 (09:09)", "body": "Coming to your local theater soon?"}, {"response": 45, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Mar 11, 2002 (08:42)", "body": "Some good news about Afghanistan for a change. Here's a comprehensive article about the renewal of arts and culture there: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/10/arts/10SOLO.html?homepageinsidebox"}, {"response": 46, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Mar 13, 2002 (14:08)", "body": "http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/020312/168/18xd4.html Beneath the burka is Sharbat Gula, the \"Afghan girl\" whose green-eyed gaze bewitched the world 17 years ago. Gula holds her portrait, which became the most famous picture ever to appear on the cover of National Geographic magazine. Her life and how she was located after nearly two decades is the cover story of National Geographics April issue, available on newsstands April 1."}, {"response": 47, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Mar 26, 2002 (07:18)", "body": "Earthquakes in Afghanistan kill an estimated 1,800. Two quakes, a 6.0 and 5.0, occurred approximately 100 miles north of Kabul. http://dailynews.netscape.com/dailynews/cnn/story_2.tmpl?story=2002032605185001165254&shortdate=0326"}, {"response": 48, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Apr 18, 2002 (09:01)", "body": "Friendly fire kills four Canadians, two are in critical condition and not expected to survive. Six more are severely injured. A US Air National Guard plane dropped two 500 pound bombs on the Canadians, who were on a nighttime live-fire exercise near Kanadhar."}, {"response": 49, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Oct 20, 2004 (09:33)", "body": "Jordan cancels broadcast of soap opera about Taliban By Jamal Halaby AMMAN, Jordan \ufffd Despite a weeklong advertising blitz, Jordan canceled plans Saturday to broadcast a soap opera about Afghanistan after an Internet threat against everyone from actors to TV executives if the show portrayed the Taliban in a negative light. The series \ufffd \"Al-Tareeq ila Kabul,\" Arabic for \"The Road to Kabul\" \ufffd chronicles life under Afghanistan's former Taliban rulers and was being aired during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which began Friday in most Muslim countries. The Dubai-based Middle East Broadcasting Corp. broadcast the first episode on Friday and went ahead with its scheduled programming to air the soap opera's second episode Saturday night. Jordanian television had promised the series would begin in the early days of Ramadan. On Thursday, Jordanian television officials said the broadcast might be postponed for a few days because of technical problems. But on Saturday they canceled plans to show it. The broadcast was \"suspended indefinitely upon a request from its producer, the Qatari television,\" Abdul-Halim Araibyat, director general of the state Jordan Radio and Television Corp. told The Associated Press. He said Jordan's decision to suspend the show was due only to the Qatari request and not to the threat. He didn't know why the producers asked for the suspension and phones rang unanswered at Qatari television. No other Arabic television stations commented on the Qatari request. The threat appeared Thursday on a Web site known as a clearinghouse for Muslim militant statements. Its authenticity could not be independently verified. \"We swear to the great God that if we see in the series anything other than the honorable reality of the Taliban ... we will assault all those who participated in this sullied malice,\" the statement read. \"We will strike, God willing, the centers of satellite stations, their correspondents ... and we swear that nobody will slip from our hands \ufffd if not today, then tomorrow, and if not tomorrow, then in a month, or a year,\" it said. \"We direct our strong warning to all who participated in producing this series, whether an actor, producer or cameraman,\" the statement added. More: http://www.gazettetimes.com/articles/2004/10/17/news/nation/nat08.txt news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 52, "subject": "How do the world's countries line up in the terrorism war?", "response_count": 4, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Sep 22, 2001 (01:19)", "body": "War against terrorism The United States has proposed an international coalition, with a military component, to fight against terrorism. Many countries have offered partial, if not full, backing and so far only four countries are completely opposed. An outline of countries and their willingness to participate follows below. Full Backing Australia: Backing U.S., will offer troops. Britain: Will also offer military, fully behind U.S. Bulgaria: Ready to offer troops. Canada: Will offer military assistance, 100 per cent support. Greece: Offers any help possible, hosts large U.S. military base. Wants to review security for 2004 Olympics in Athens. India: Will allow U.S. forces to use its facilities to launch strikes, plus logistical help. New Zealand: Support tied to Aussies. Norway: To commit troops and military aid. Philippines: May allow coalition to use airports and seaports. Spain: Has offered its air bases for any retaliatory strikes; has promised to act \"without any reservations.\" Uzbekistan: May loan its military bases for the deployment of U.S. troops. Will cooperate, but not militarily Algeria: Supportive, will offer intelligence. Armenia: Condemned U.S.attacks. Austria: Its constitution bans sending troops, but will allow airspace to be used. Azerbaijan: Offers intelligence assistance. Bahrain: Supportive. Bangladesh: One of the most populous Muslim states, has pledged support. Belgium: Says it's not at war, wants balanced U.S. response. Brunei: Sent condolences to U.S. Croatia: Support fighting terrorism, but worries about being isolated. Denmark: Condolences offered and will help investigation. Ethiopia: Condemned attack on U.S. Finland: Helping with surveillance. France: Has reservations, wants \"appropriate\" attack. Germany: No troops and warned U.S. to be balanced. Hungary: Expressed \"full solidarity\" with U.S. Israel: Backs U.S., but balks at American request to meet Palestinian leaders. Fears if U.S. attacks Iraq, Saddam Hussein will target Israel. Italy: Foreign minister in Washington this week, but will not participate. Japan: Will help in any way, but constitution prevents military action. Jordan: Supportive, police will help investigation, but its Muslim leaders opposed. Kazakhstan: Supportive, but fears war could destabilize Muslim region. Kuwait: Liberated in the Gulf War, backs U.S. Kyrgyzstan: Worried about a massive refugee exodus. Lebanon: Condemned U.S. attacks but warned against aggressive response. Malaysia: Has tightened security and aided Pentagon with intelligence, but warns violent response could increase terrorism. Morocco: Supportive, will offer intelligence. Mozambique: Condemned attack on U.S., but demands \"balanced\" American response. Oman: Supportive. Pakistan: Fully supportive, will allow military base and use of airspace, has closed border to Afghanistan. But trying to ward off a U.S. attack by seeking terrorist Osama bin Laden's arrest. Russia: Backs strikes on Afghanistan but no troops, says U.S. military can take care of itself. Saudi Arabia: Bin Laden's former home, could be U.S.'s best source of intelligence. Will assist investigation. Tajikistan: May offer airspace and military bases to U.S.-led force, will consult with Russia. Tunisia: Supportive. Undecided Egypt: Says its too early to talk of an alliance against \"terrorism\" and the United States should think twice before taking military action that would kill civilians. Indonesia: Deputy leader said World Trade and Pentagon attacks may \"cleanse the sins of the United States,\" yet president to visit Washington tomorrow to meet Bush. Iran: Sending positive signals, including closing border. But may not be part of coalition. Powell wants to \"explore\" potential co-operation. Ireland: Feels a United Nations-led response warranted, but feels attack on Afghanistan would be wrong and will not defeat terrorism. Kenya: Offered condolences but appealed to U.S. to show restraint. Palestine: Opposed Gulf War effort, but Yasser Arafat gave blood for American victims last week. Many citizens strongly opposed. Syria: Expressed sympathy and may help, but has long sponsored terrorism. United Arab Emirates: Formally recognizes Afghanistan's ruling Taliban militia, but has expressed some support to U.S. Opposed Afghanistan: Ruling Taliban militia has closed its airspace and is believed to be harbouring bin Laden. Opposes strikes, warns of regional reprisals and \"holy war.\" China: Warned counter strike would \"aggravate terrorism and violence.\" Iraq: Opposes U.S. policy and expects to be a target. Libya: Still believed to fund terrorists. Source - http://www.thestar.ca/cgi-bin/star_static.cgi?section=world2&page=/us_terrorist_attacks/coalition_maps.html"}, {"response": 2, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Oct 14, 2001 (09:34)", "body": "Saudi Aid to War on Terror Is Criticized Investigation: Former CIA officer calls the country 'completely unsupportive' of America's efforts. \ufffd \ufffd \ufffd \ufffd \ufffdBy DAVID WILLMAN and GREG MILLER, TIMES STAFF WRITERS WASHINGTON -- Saudi Arabia--although long considered a crucial ally of the United States--has provided little if any assistance to investigators hunting the friends and finances of Osama bin Laden and his Al Qaeda terror network, according to intelligence and law enforcement specialists. On Sept. 20, President Bush sought to put the world on notice that he saw no gray area in the fight against terrorism, warning that \"from this day forward, any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a hostile regime.\" Yet for more than a month after the attacks of Sept. 11--while authorities have rounded up alleged terrorists and frozen suspicious bank accounts across Europe--the Saudis have made no such overt moves. \"It's a problem,\" said Robert Baer, a former CIA officer in the Middle East. \"Saudi Arabia is completely unsupportive as of today. The rank-and-file Saudi policeman is sympathetic to Bin Laden. They're not telling us who these people were on the planes.\" http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/la-000081747oct13.story This is a problem . . ."}, {"response": 3, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Nov  3, 2001 (21:39)", "body": "Groups designated as terrorist organizations Associated Press St. Petersburg Times, published November 1, 2001 The 46 groups that Attorney General John Ashcroft on Wednesday requested the State Department designate as terrorist organizations have been previously identified by the administration. The groups and their previous identification: * * * Groups identified by President Bush in a Sept. 23 executive order freezing assets of terrorist organizations AIAI, also known as Al-Itihaad Al-Islamiya Al Rasheed Trust, also known as Al Rashid Trust, Al-Rasheed Trust, Al-Rashid Trust, Pakistan Al Wafa, also known as Waafa Humanitarian Organization Asbat Al-Ansar Darkazanli Co., also known as Mamoun Darkazanli Import-Export Co., Darkazanli Export-Import Sonderposten, Hamburg, Germany GSPC, also known as Salafist Group for Call and Combat Islamic Army of Aden Libyan Islamic Fighting Group Makhtab Al-Khidamat/Al Kifah, Pakistan Groups identified jointly by the Justice Department and State Department on Oct. 12 as committing or supporting terrorists acts Al-Hamati Sweets Bakeries, Yemen Al-Nur Honey Center, also known as Al-Nur Honey Press Shops, Yemen Al-Shifa' Honey Press for Industry and Commerce, Yemen Army of Mohammed, also known as Jaish-I-Mohammed, Pakistan Jam'Iyat Al Ta'Awun Al Islamiyya, also known as Jam'Yah Ta'Awun Al-Islamia, JIT, Society of Islamic Cooperation, Afghanistan Rabita Trust, Pakistan Groups identified by the State Department in April as having committed at least one terrorist attack Alex Boncayao Brigade (ABB) Army for the Liberation of Rwanda (ALIR), also known as Interahamwe, Former Armed Forces (Ex-Far) Continuity Irish Republican Army (CIRA), also known as Continuity Army Council First of October Antifascist Resistance Group (GRAPO) Lashkar-E-Tayyiba (LT) (Army of the Righteous) Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) New People's Army (NPA) Orange Volunteers (OV) People Against Gangsterism and Drugs (PAGAD) Red Hand Defenders (RHD) Revolutionary United Front (RUF) Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Free Aceh Movement (GAM) Al-Ma'Unah Jayshullah The Breton Resistance Army (ARB) Black Star Anarchist Faction Red Brigades-Combatant Communist Party (BR-PCC) Revoluntionary Proletarian Nucleus Turkish Hezbollah Jerusalem Warriors Palestinian Hezbollah Umar Al-Mukhtar Forces Martyrs of Al-Aqsa Salah Al-Din Battalions Movement for the Struggle of the Jordanian Islamic Resistance Holy Warriors of Ahmad Daqamseh Islamic Renewal and Reform Organization Muhammad's Army Islamic Deterrence Force"}, {"response": 4, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Feb  3, 2002 (09:09)", "body": "There's a laundry list of terror for ya'. news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 53, "subject": "Farm folks and the World Trade Center attack", "response_count": 5, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Sep 22, 2001 (23:56)", "body": "Date: Sat, 22 Sep 2001 12:25:26 -0400 From: \"cpmcnel@usit.net\" To: \"terry@www.spring.net\" Subject: RE: WTC - How do you feel? [ The following text is in the \"iso-8859-1\" character set. ] [ Your display is set for the \"US-ASCII\" character set. ] [ Some characters may be displayed incorrectly. ] Hi Paul, Carol Nelson here. I am in south Florida baby sitting my grandchildren. We drove down The Farm last week through hurricane Gabriella. My Daughter Kim McCusker and her husband Paul are in NYC, ground zero. They are part of the search and rescue team deployed from the Miami-Dade Area. They are both highly trained K-9 search and rescue fire fighters.They have been there about a week already and will probably not retutn until the end of next week. So we are getting first hand info on a daily basis. Not Good! I have a friend that works around the block on Broad street. She called me after the first hit and we were on the phone when the second plane hit. You could hear and feel it thru the phone lines. I heard Michael Gavin's cousin was in one of the bulidings and is missing. All the talk of WAR is so bad. So hard to hear and think about. All I can do is continue to pray for peace. Peace Carol"}, {"response": 2, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Sep 22, 2001 (23:57)", "body": "Date: Sat, 22 Sep 2001 15:23:33 -0700 From: Gerald Wheeler To: Paul Terry Walhus Subject: Re: WTC - How do you feel? it is now about midnight sept. 21, 2001...autumn equinox, i am in oakland california, i just finished watching the a's beat seattle in the first game of a three game series, between innings i flipped over a channel to watch what most everyone else that was watching television tonight was probably watching, the fund-raiser and tribute to those who died ten days ago in the attacks on the wtc and the pentagon and the final plane that was brought down most likely by a group of courageous passengers who took on the hijackers and crashed that plane in a field in pennsylvania, so many heroes keep emerging from the center of the tragedy, and what a powerful assembly there on the tv, i am moved by the sense that we as a nation, for the first time in my memory, have been brought together like never before, and it's real and it's full of power and authenticity and i catch a glimmer of something inside of me that suddenly says that america really is worth saving, and i let that glimmer grow into more of a flame and i see that for all of its' faults, there just isn't anything or any other place like this place and the freedom that it provides everyone of us who share its' soil...i think about what to do about achieving justice and how it is a good idea to take the time to let things settle in the mind and calm that which cries out for revenge, because revenge is knee-jerk and full of anger and confusion and does not offer real satisfaction because its' results are uneven and because an uneven response creates more suffering...i think about who or what the enemy really is and i come to the conclusion that the enemy is not the taliban or hezbollah or the islamic jihad or osama bin laden or fundamentalist christians or fundamentalist jews or fundamentalist moslems or jerry falwell or yassar arrafat or north korea or chevron oil or suicide bombers or the bible or the koran...it is evil...the real enemy is simply evil, evil in whatever form and shape it may incarnate into at any time or place, and i think about how it is imperative that we learn to recognize evil in all its' forms and whenever and wherever it appears, and that we take sufficient care to respond in ways in which its' effects are cancelled and diffused, and this applies to the everyday, right under our nose kinds of evil, out to the broader, affecting all of humanity kinds as well, and that how we respond will determine the outcome of events in the future, and i think about what that means to me individually and i am reminded of how grateful i am that i have a way to get calm, that i learned how to meditate thirty years ago and try to practice on a regular basis, oh it doesn't always prevent one from getting caught in the cross-fire but sometimes it seems like it helps slow down the bullets so that you can see where to not step, non-action thru action, and makes you aware that everything begins in the mind, everything, so the key is to tame the fury of the mind, and transform pain and hardship into compassion and real strength by doing so, we individually hold the answer to our situation but to see that clearly we must first conquer the fury...om mani padme om! --all the best, gerald wheeler"}, {"response": 3, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Sep 23, 2001 (21:03)", "body": "Date: Sun, 23 Sep 2001 15:19:32 -0700 (PDT) From: Steve Brady To: Paul Terry Walhus Subject: Re: WTC - How do you feel? Hello Paul, Thank you creating a forum for people to post different ideas. I have been very disturbed by the developments over the past two weeks and needed to hear some people speak with a voice of reason while the media and Government beat the drum of War. I think America needs to take a long look in the mirror and try to understand why people would want to do this to us. We have always had a heavy-handed, arrogant approach to the rest of the world when it comes to \"our interests\" - the latest display being when we walked out of the conference on human rights in Durban, South Africa. The War, I am afraid, may be inside us - we have never come to terms with our brutal past(and present), and sooner or later it will catch up with us. I also think we need to be very careful how we respond to this latest attack in order to avoid setting off a pattern of violence that could drag on for years to come. To go blindly bombing Afghanistan will not solve the problem, and will just get more innocent people killed - some of which are already starving to death. I do support the extradition of those responsible and have them brought up on War crimes. We may never be able to rid the world of terrorism because it is a faceless entity. I believe the best approach would be to try change our relationship with the rest of the world. As Ghandi said: \"Be the change you want to see in the world\" - I try to remind myself to do this. I hope you're well... Hope and Peace, Steve Brady Occidental, Ca"}, {"response": 4, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Sep 23, 2001 (21:04)", "body": "Date: Sun, 23 Sep 2001 16:41:24 -0500 From: Kathleen Rosemary To: terry@www.spring.net Subject: Re: WTC - How do you feel? Now is the time According to every teaching I honor, and The Farm founders' vision, the vibration of Love and Peace is the strongest force in the Universe, and we as humans have the capacity to affect the planetary vibration by being generators and amplifiers of this vibration. Studies on the power of prayer, such as The Isaiah Effect by author Greg Braden, say that the power is in the emotion, the passion, behind the conscious intent, and visioning the effect as already created. This belief was held by the Essenes, the authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and by Tibetan Buddhists from ancient times. This is the greatest opportunity in the history of the planet. More humans are alive on Earth than ever before, and are linked through the media and Internet. Unique in the history of mankind, this time of devastation and world-wide prayer can, if we keep our focus on our own inner peace and on universal love, create the quantum leap into the time of peace that we all deeply want to see on Earth. Let's do it! Kathleen Rosemary, on The Farm"}, {"response": 5, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Sep 28, 2001 (09:37)", "body": "From: Suzanne Hope Suarez Still stunned. Life becomes more precious as we are forced to contemplate our own mortality. Such an incident is too stark to \"grok.\" Let us live and appreciate life. I want to express my love and respect to everyone my current life, my husband, my daughter, to my old Farm friends and to my old friends at San Francisco Zen Center. Suzanne Suarez news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 54, "subject": "David Kline, former war correspondent in Afghanistan", "response_count": 38, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep 24, 2001 (12:28)", "body": "David Kline (dkline) Mon Sep 24 '01 (09:26) 23 lines Best news I've seen since Sept. 11 is today's front page New York Times headline: \"U.S. Seeks Afghan Coalition Against Taliban.\" It appears that Washington does indeed recognize that the only way to get Bin Laden is through the anti-Taliban resistance on the ground. As for closing the borders, forget it. It won't happen because it *can't* happen -- there are ten thousand crossing points and only 100 are manned by Pakistani border police. Starving frightened people will flee. And the Paks (and, I guess, us) will simply have to deal with it. As for Rabanni, he's the favorite of at least one Afghan -- a former member of the fundamentalist Hezbi Islami group -- who began emailing me yesterday. I didn't know he was still alive (we had travelled into the war zone together in 83-84), but even though from the more religious side of the anti-Soviet resistance, he says Afghans would welcome US help to overthrow the Taliban so long as we respect Afghan sovereignty and work *with* the Northern Alliance and other anti-Taliban forces. He also says an immediate dispatch of even 5,000 metric tons of wheat to the Afghans would earn us \"much love,\" as he puts it, from the people. ."}, {"response": 2, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Sep 27, 2001 (21:17)", "body": "David Kline: makes a good point about what we'd do if the Pak nuclear capability fell into fundamentalist hands. Except who's to say that it's not already in fundamentalist hands (albeit fundamentalist military men, who at least have some discipline in them)? I'm not sure what the dividing line is between semi-security vs. great risk where Pak nukes are concerned. As for anti-US sentiments among Afghans, everything I have ever known or experienced or heard about that country (whether 20 years ago or last night) suggests that so long as we don't bomb indiscriminately or invade with ground troops, they will welcome our support and assistance. No matter what people may have thought in 1996, it seems clear from all reports that Afghans despise their current Taliban rulers. So they'd like our help so long as we respect their sovereignty and right to decide their own future. Especially they'd like our help in rebuilding. You cannot imagine what it is like to be in a country where there is zero medical care, zero education, and if things get even worse, zero food. They just want peace. A chance to go back to their farms and villages. They don't want to live in the 7th century -- it's taken too long (1400 years) to get away from the Dark Ages. Who wants to go back? No video? No media? No phones? Impossible -- the Afghans (especially Pathans) are among the chattiest storytelling people I've ever met. Contradictions? Sure. Afghans I speak with today LOVE America and love Americans and even love our gregarious bravado. But they hate the CIA, hate what we did re: the Shah of Iran, hate our oft-imperial arrogance. Gee, they sound just like me!"}, {"response": 3, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Oct  1, 2001 (10:30)", "body": "David Kline (dkline) Fri Sep 28 '01 (08:23) 90 lines People have been saying here that the Taliban brought peace out of chaos in Afghanistan and how do we know that the Northern Alliance or anyone else would be better? Let's look at what actually happened pre-Taliban, because I think it provides a clue as to the governing capabilities of the Northern Alliance and other non-Taliban forces. First of all, what is now called the Northern Alliance was actually a coalition government that had been formed and was operating rather remarkably well for a time. Think of it, more than a half-dozen rebel groups had somehow put aside their differences and come together -- Massoud's group, Saiyaf's group, Rabbani's group, the legendary Abdul Haq's forces, even little Gailani's group -- and they were more or less managing things in Kabul, even rotating leaders (I know, that's a sign of weakness, but it's better than fighting) just to keep things together. Then what happens? That fucker Hekmatyar, Pakistan's little puppet, the schmuck who received 75% of the arms and aid (thanks to the Pak SIS) but did only 2% of the fighting against the Russians, starts shelling Kabul. Backs out of & suddenly refuses to support the coalition government once his turn in power ends. And since he's Pakistan's dog and always has been (many who've met him, including me, believe he is actually clinically insane), he immediately gets Pakistan's support and steps up the shelling of Kabul and begins to throw everything into chaos. That's how the chaos began, at Pakistan's urging & initiative through their decades-long puppet Gulbudin Hekmatyar. Of course, when the even more fanatical and malleable (Hekmatyar is insane, after all) assholes of the Taliban raise their ugly heads, Pakistan switches support to them. Pakistan's own military and intelligence services are run by Taliban funamentalist-style sympathizers, so it's an easy decision for them. And when I say Pakistan \"supported\" them (or Hekmatyar before them), you have to realize what that means in a country with almost zero infrastructure, more than a million dead, starving widows filling the streets, and hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees pouring back into the country from camps in Pakistan eager to go back to their farms. \"Support\" means heavy artillery, air support, air *transport* (which is maybe even more important), food, medical supplies, diplomatic cover and support, legal entry for aid workers, and oh yes -- did I mention actual Pakistani military regiments actually engaged in fighting the forces of Massoud and the other coalition members? Yep, Pak troops on the ground turning a shaky but working & operating Afghan order into total chaos. So gee, I guess those forever-quarreling Afghans couldn't keep their shit together, could they? Tsk, tsk, what's wrong with those people? So anyway, the legitimate government's authority broke down, and what few services remained ceased. And when the Pakistani army and its Taliban front men stepped up to the plate and said, \"How'd y'all like some food and electricity again?\" the bludgeoned population didn't say no. Fuck, why the hell not? Anything ... just stop shelling us! So the Taliban take over, and of course the people never got their electricity because it might be used to watch TV or something. So to recap, the so-called Northern Alliance was a coalition that I wasn't sure could ever possibly be formed. But it was formed, and it worked against unbelievable odds and incredible amounts of Pakistani sabotage for quite a while, until finally overwhelmed and overthrown by the Paks and their Taliban puppets. It was and still is recognized as the legitimate government of Afghanistan by 46 nations and has Afghanistan's UN seat, whereas the Taliban are recognized now by only 1 nation (guess which one) and has no UN seat. So in my view, not only would ousting the Taliban and restoring the legitimate recognized government of the Islamic State of Afghanistan under Rabbani would be far preferable to what exists now, it also happens to be the LEGALLY-CORRECT thing to do under international law. And frankly, given what they faced, I thought they did a pretty good job of holding things together for 4 years or so until the Pak's finally overwhelmed them. I wouldn't be worried to see them back in power, especially because the population is now even more tired and beaten and willing to put minor squabbles aside just to FUCKING BREATHE again! So next time someone says \"The Taliban brought peace where there was chaos,\" think about what actually happened. Think about Hitler bringing \"peace\" to France in 1940, America restoring \"peace\" to Saigon in 1963, blah blah blah. The Afghans will do just fine, I believe, once the Taliban are gone. But only if we and other countries help them rebuild, and only if we respect their sovereignty and let them govern themselves."}, {"response": 4, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Oct  1, 2001 (10:32)", "body": "Kline (dkline) Fri Sep 28 '01 (11:58) 20 lines It's also not true that the Northern Alliance (aka Islamic State of Afghanistan) has no Pathans (or Pushtuns). When they were a coalition gov't still in power, they certainly did. Rabbani may be Pathan and Saiyaf as well plus Abdul Haq, too. I don't recall for sure. When the press refers to the NA as non-Pathan, what they mean is that it is composed *primarily* of or *led by* Hazarras, Uzbecks, Tajiks and other non-Pathan minorities. But they do have quite a few Pathan rank and file. Still, the point is well taken about needing to ally with groups that many Pathans feel more identified with tribally. Zahir Shah, if he plays a role in uniting with the NA and other anti-Taliban forces, is a Durrani Pathan. By the way, even the Pathans are divided between the Durrani and other tribal lines. You could split hairs and get Afghans feuding very easily -- and indeed, that's what the Paks and Taliban counted on. The task, as always for the Afghans, is to unite despite their tribal differences and fight the greater enemy -- whether the Brits & Russians before, or the Paks and Taliban today."}, {"response": 5, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Oct  1, 2001 (10:33)", "body": "David Kline (dkline) Sun Sep 30 '01 (09:19) 25 lines That's for sure. But seriously, just in case someone does know the difference between Jamiat Islami and Jamiat-i-Ulam and which one dominates the Pak military and supports the Taliban most strongly, I'd love to hear. I could, of course, simply research it myself. But I'm too tired, and frankly I'm really sick of those people. So if someone knows, then great. Some journalist I am, eh? Anyway, I heard a nurse from Medicins sans Frontiers on NPR yesterday and she reminded me of things I'd forgotten about the Afghans: How they love to sing, how they're always and I mean always listening to music (I never once saw a mujahadeen jeep, bus, truck or even captured Soviet tank that hadn't been outfitted with tape player and speakers), how they're always playing games (chess, dominoes, cards, etc.), and how they absolutely positively adore dancing at weddings! All banned now under the Taliban. Maybe it's because life is so austere there, but when the chance comes to have fun, the Afghans *really* have fun. Or at least they used to. And some wonder, gee don't most Afghans really support the Taliban?"}, {"response": 6, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Oct  1, 2001 (10:35)", "body": ""}, {"response": 7, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Oct  1, 2001 (11:58)", "body": "Back in the modern world, today's papers say Washington will support the anti-Taliban rebels, who met in Rome yesterday with the former King to work out some sort of United Front. Included as aid recipients are Abdul Haq and unspecified other forces as well as the Northern Alliance. They will also provide humanitarian aid quickly. So I've got to rewrite my op-ed now, because it looks like Washington did rebuff Pakistan protests against the US taking any such action. Three weeks ago I would never have imagined that the Bush administration could resist striking out blindly and instead make such a complex move. What's happening here. Are we getting a government with a brain? Next thing you know, Powell will be apologizing for the Shah of Iran and pledging to make our foreign policy more Islamic-friendly."}, {"response": 8, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Oct  2, 2001 (16:51)", "body": "I asked David Kline about a snippet I heard on AM radio this morning about some great Afghan leader making a comeback and here is what he said: David Kline (dkline) Tue Oct 2 '01 (11:12) 7 lines Abdul Haq, maybe. A very great commander who left the country in disgust after the post-Soviet factional fighting and rise of the Taliban. If it's the same guy, he lost half-a-foot during the war, and earned enormous respect as a leader. But truthfully, I don't know his tribal affiliation (he may be Pathan) or who much influence he might now wield. But it's good that he's coming back & joining forces with others."}, {"response": 9, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Oct  3, 2001 (20:30)", "body": "David Kline (dkline) Wed Oct 3 '01 (17:23) 34 lines God, I have no idea anymore. Other than that Afghans have always been very media conscious -- they listen to radio, watch TV, read papers. Those that can read, I mean. As for Taliban anti-aircraft capabilities, I think we'll soon find that their capabilities around the flanks and forward margins of their control are very thin, indeed. Some artillery to shell Bagram for effect, some anti-aircraft capability here and there, but most of their real strength will be concentrated around Kandahar and to a lesser extent Kabul. That's where they'll put up serious resistance. And if reports today of significant military gains by the Northern Alliance are true, then we'll see a rapid withering of their abilities beyond those 2 cities. They may not even fight that hard for Kabul, in fact. With Pakistani military support now unavialable, these people truly are ignorant village idiots who mainly just want to protect their mullah boss Omar. They don't care about big cities, they don't care about \"strategic\" positions. All they want is for their allmighty mullah to be safe. So, Question for the day: Which comes first -- the capture & execution of Bin Laden, or the overthrow of the Taliban? Until now, I'd always expected a US-Afghan alliance to grab Bin Laden first, then go for state power (maybe with UN assistance). But hell, if the Taliban start crumbling and the Paks stay out of the way, it could go the other way, couldn't it? Seize state power -- then really seal the borders and close the pincer around Bin Laden and his boys. My, that would be a lovely affair!"}, {"response": 10, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Oct  5, 2001 (14:06)", "body": "David Kline (dkline) Fri Oct 5 '01 (09:00) 30 lines That's a very good question . I don't really know. Maybe has some ideas. I do agree, of course, that Pakistan's trouble with its own fundamentalist forces does NOT fit the classic dictatorship vs. people model. For one thing, while the fundamentalists have always had the capacity to pull crowds into the streets in protest, they've done surprisingly poor during any elections that have been held in the past (or so I've read). I mean, they don't even register as a blip at the ballot box. On the other hand, there's strong fundi influence in Pakistan's military and intelligence services (okay, I'll use the proper acronym \"ISI\"). That says nothing about \"popular will,\" of course, but it does suggest that the fundies may have a capability to destabilize or even to seize power that we might not be fully aware of. If the fundies took power, of course, then you'd really have a dictatorship because they represent only a tiny minority of popular sentiment in the country. Anyway, if I were Musharraf, I'd be thinking very very hard about securing my base in the top officer ranks (a few well-chosen transfers and \"promotions\" of fundi officers might help), and making sure that the most immediately deployable military assets are in non-fundi hands. And then I'd put my best people (and a huge chunk of US aid) to the task of 1) providing immediate economic relief for the masses -- even creating a short-term welfare system where none now exists; and 2) creating an immediate alternative to the fundi madrassas schools that feed, clothe and \"educate\" so many poor children today. The let the fundis have their rallies. They'll have already lost the war."}, {"response": 11, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Oct  5, 2001 (14:10)", "body": "David Kline (dkline) Fri Oct 5 '01 (09:25) 36 lines Yeah, that clip was almost unbearable to watch. And as many of you know, I've seen a lot of horrible things in Afghanistan. But there was a very special and un-Afghan ferocity to this beating that was awful to watch. I've been harping for weeks now about how the Taliban are completely alien to traditional Afghan character, custom and practice. I believe that within just a few weeks, the once-formidable Taliban regime will collapse. And then we will learn the full extent of Taliban cruelty. I mean, it's not just a crime against women that they are not allowed to work. Since as we all know so many many men are dead from 20 years of warfare, that edict has resulted in the mass starvation of widows and orphans. It's a crime against humanity. Afghans can't live without music. But millions have been forced to. They can't live without dancing, card playing, kite flying, laughter, jokes, sexual puns and innuendos, spoken poetry (such as the rhyming couplets called landays that men playfully chant to women & vice versa), and radio broadcast news. I mean, these people are real News Hounds -- just wait till they get the Net! Yet they've been forced to live without it. Really, a rather fun-loving (albeit quarrelsome) people have been forced to live without almost everything that matters to them. What an explosion of joy there will be when the Taliban are smashed! An I truly believe that despite the Afghan predisposition to factionalizing and plotting, once liberated they will find some way to hold a stable government together and start rebuilding. I know them -- they are NOT stupid. They know that it was precisely their factionalizing that laid the groundwork for the last decade of misery. An they will not make the same mistake again. Other mistakes, sure. But they won't let it get out of hand again, I'm convinced."}, {"response": 12, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Oct 12, 2001 (20:56)", "body": "David Kline (dkline) Thu Oct 11 '01 (17:57) I am watching Pres. Bush's news conference. He just said two things that blew me away: Asked how Americans can be more alert, he said \"Don't start picking on people who look different\" or whose faith is different. Then he announced a national children's crusade for every American child to earn or send in $1 to help the children of Afghanistan, one out of 3 of whom are now orphans. You know, I'm sorry...maybe it's just because nobody gave a shit for 20 years about the Afghans, who I think are a wonderful gregarious joyful fun-loving and incredibly romantic people. But I have got to say I was incredibly moved by our President's words. \"Our President.\" Never in my life did I think I would use those words. And you tell me, in how many other countries of the world would you EVER hear the national leader say either of the above statements? Two, maybe? Britain and Canada? Maybe? This is incredible to me. I have spent my 51 years of life (40 of them relatively conscious) as a staunch critic of American foreign policy. And now I am amazed. And deeply deeply proud and moved. I believe this is ultimately all going to be very very good for him."}, {"response": 13, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Oct 12, 2001 (21:16)", "body": "David Kline (dkline) Thu Oct 11 '01 (17:07) 24 lines Ironically, it was Pyr Sayed Ahmed Gailani's son Ishaq Gailani who escorted me into the fighting areas on my first trip behind the lines in Afghanistan in September 1979. Their organization is the National Islamic Front of Afghanistan, I think it's still called. Generally moderate, pro-Western and often educated folks in this group. But don't get the idea that just because the family owned a car dealership that they were wimps or anything. They actually did a fair amount of fighting early on -- took me to one helluva battle to seize a fort in Paktia province that left me vomiting with fear (I did that alot) by the side of a mountain trail. I have a great picture of Ishaq Gailani and his men -- then still armed for the most part with 1903 British Enfields that their great grandfathers took off dead British soldiers -- lined up behind a row of 250 kilo Russian bombs dropped by Mig-21s that somehow never exploded. Figures. 70 years of socialism and they still couldn't make a decent refrigerator, so why shouldn't half their bombs be duds, too. Anyway, his is not one of the major groups, but Gailani will still have to be included in any united front. The biggest wildcard will be Abdul Haq, profiled in the same article with Gailani. What he and Ismail Khan (now marching on Herat) do will go a long way toward determining the legitimacy of any post-Taliban regime."}, {"response": 14, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Oct 12, 2001 (21:21)", "body": "Strategy: http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/12/international/12MILI.html The Times of London with additional details: http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,2001350006-2001354120,00.html David Kline (dkline) Fri Oct 12 '01 (08:42) 17 lines Read both articles, which naturally are in contradiction to each other. . . . it does not look to me like the Home Team as yet has a military strategy for seizing Kabul from superior numbers of entrenched and fiercely-resistant Arab, Pakistani and Taliban fighters. I had thought two weeks ago that Kabul would have been weakly defended. But the Times reports Taliban reinforcements in strength around and in the capital. This is not the best news, but it doesn't change the end game. Galani, Abdul Haq, Ismail Khan and other former *leaders* (as opposed to mere warlords) are rallying forces, I believe. As soon as the Northern Alliance forms a coalition with all these forces and others -- and somehow they have to do it within like 1 week or so -- then a serious military strategy for the conquest of Kabul can be contemplated. But we've only got about 6 weeks or so. Then it gets really hard. And if we take a breather for the winter, the Taliban will claim victory."}, {"response": 15, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Oct 12, 2001 (21:24)", "body": "David Kline (dkline) Fri Oct 12 '01 (08:47) 16 lines Sorry. The article that contradicts the London Times report that the battle of Kabul is only days away is another one from the Times, which reports that the US has deliberately avoided pounding Taliban positions around Kabul because we have a deal with Pakistan NOT to allow the Northern Alliance to seize the capital until a coalition government acceptable to Pakistan is worked out. Of course, if Pakistan balks at what the Afghans come up with, then we'll have to decide what to do: take out the Taliban, or keep Pakistan as ally. Or, as I've been suggesting for 17 years, we could always decide to stand up to the Paks for a change re: Afghanistan and see if they back down. But actually, on the question of a post-Taliban government, I do think they're right to press for a broader united front. But how broad and who? The devil may be in the details."}, {"response": 16, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Oct 12, 2001 (21:26)", "body": "David Kline (dkline) Fri Oct 12 '01 (17:46) 31 lines how and why the in-fighting began. It was the Pakistani puppet and funamentalist freak Gulbuddin Hekmatyar -- the one that all of us warned the US about giving aid to -- who broke from the united fron (as usual) and began shelling the capital. With Pakistani military support. They backed him just like they later backed and installed the Taliban in power. This guy was the precurser to the Taliban. And before the Paks instructed him to break the united front and start a war (Pakistan did not want to see an independent government in Afghanistan, nor do they now), the Northern Alliance was a faily stable government that was and still is recognized by the UN and 46 countries. So yeah, chaos reined. But not because the Afghans are constitutionally unable to unite and form a stable government. It was because Pakistan deliberately tried to destabilize the new government. And succeeded. Now I don't want to make excuses for abuses of power. But remember, the ones who led the fighting against the Russians, who actually liberated the country and restored Afghan independence, were mostly not from the country's elite and educated and westernized class. They were often just barely-literate villagers, unaccustomed to governance and all the rest. As for their being quarrelsome, well that's not automatic failure. Plenty of other societies have had their \"bad\" periods or times of great internal conflict (the US Civil War?) and still managed to outgrow it and unite. Whatever their faults as a people (and they have many), one thing can surely be said about the Afghans: don't underestimate them. The Brits did, the Russians did. And paid for it. They are incredibly resourceful and I think they'll learn whatever they have to learn to survive. Including the \"habits of democracy\", if neccesary."}, {"response": 17, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Oct 14, 2001 (21:11)", "body": "chilling thought: David Kline (dkline) Sun Oct 14 '01 (18:08) 15 lines Whatever the reason or cause, the bombing of innocent villagers represents such a threat to the survivability of the fragile anti-terror coalition that we should all be invoking the Gods to spare us another mistake. I'm not being critical. Believe me, I know there aren't 2 or 3 other countries in the world (if any) that would devote as much effort and concern towards avoiding civilian casualties as the US has. But all that effort and concern won't mean squat if the coalition breaks down the middle. That's why, if necessary for strategic reasons, I'd recommend that we stop the bombing and incurr greater casualties among our troops as a result -- anything to keep the coalition together! That's the key. If we lose Pakistan, we're toast. Not even America can defy the whole world for long."}, {"response": 18, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Oct 14, 2001 (22:22)", "body": "Indeed...! Terrorism and anarchy will surely follow the dissolution of the coalition. Do you want to die a free man for freedom or die slowly and horribly at the hands of a madman in a world gone crazy. No one emerges from this war unscathed. If they think our stopping bombing is going to bring an end to this horror, they are sadly mistaken. The \"wild bunch\" has determined that we are the infidel and we deserve to die. They will not stop until either we put an end to it, or they win an most definitely Phyr ric victory!"}, {"response": 19, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Oct 24, 2001 (23:42)", "body": "Personally, I'd love to see B-52s carpet bomb Taliban front line positions. The NY Times said today that the Northern Alliance forces are explanation. I mean, why not just tell NA forces to retreat half-a-mile and then send in the B-1s and B-52s? From my experience watching many years of refugee relief efforts along the Afghan-Pakistan border during the 1980s, you really need people on the ground to do effective work -- either food, medical or whatever. So our food packets are not enough -- but then no one ever claimed they were. As I understand it, the Taliban are the greatest hindrance to relief efforts right now, if reports of their seizures of relief supplies and denial of access to relief workers are accurate. Our bombing doesn't help matters, but it's sufficiently localized that if the Taliban allowed it, food transport by truck to regional feeding centers could be achieved. In response to an earlier question about the pronounciation of Pathan or Pashtun or Pashtoon or whatever, everyone uses a different spelling. But the prounciation is usually \"Posh-toon.\" Emphasis on the \"posh\" when referring to the people; and on the \"toon\" when referring to language. What's that Kipling poem about \"if ever you are caught on the Afghan plains, better to roll on your gun and blow out your brains\" then let the Afghans get you? During the 80s, we journalists had a helluva time trying to convince the Muj to keep their Russian prisoners alive. They were not at first greatly impressed by the phrase, \"Geneva accords.\" If Taliban ever capture an American, however, you can be sure he will be kept alive and paraded on worldwide TV. Much more media savvy these days."}, {"response": 20, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Oct 28, 2001 (17:54)", "body": "This is a complex, if not unprecedented, situation that we're all trying to make sense of on-the-fly with imperfect and incomplete information. A small tilt one way or another in, say, assessing the savvy of our military leaders from day to day can make a big difference in the viewpoint communicated in any one posting. There was an article in today's NY Times discussing Haq and the bogging down of our military effort. It quoted someone from the Center for Strategic Studies who said that the military keeps bombing and bombing -- in some part unwisely -- because that's what they know how to do. It's our natural blindspot, derived from our historical experience in war. It doesn't mean that we're uncapable of recalibrating our war effort, nor unable to learn and deploy new tactics, or that we're doomed to fail. Like you perhaps, , I'm a lifelong student of World War 2 and as you know, learning how to fight successfully did not come easy to us in that conflict. Many, many mistakes were made, and disasters wrought, especially during the first 14 months of that global war (until shortly after Torch). In fact, we came one-inch away from seeing Nazi fascism triumph throughout the world all because of a profound difference in strategy in late 1941 between the Chiefs of Staff under Marshall, which unanimously urged the abandonment of our Europe first strategy (because of Bitish stonewalling on a 2nd front), and Roosevelt who managed to resist their Japan first recommendations. Had he buckled under to them, we would have lost the war. Forgive the digression. It's meant just to acknowledge that success in war isn't miraculously pre-ordained but learned and earned only in the course of trial and error, as knowledge and experience grows. Hopefully we'll keep learning until we win. But I'm worried about our current direction, that's all. I know we're not razing cities, and cluster bombs (I hope) are only being used against troop concentrations, which is what they're designed for. But I think our present emphasis on bombing non-human assets is ill-advised, and reflects our military's experience in fighting *past wars*. I'd love to see much more thought and emphasis and resources committed to building Afghan capabilities. To me that's the only way to reliably win this war, and the only way to win it without losing all-important Muslim support completely. As for 30-40 km forced marches, I nearly died from them. But that's nothing for an Afghan, and I know that sounds like war lore but it's true -- these people are almost inhuman in their stamina. I don't know what Taliban units carry today, but the Mujahadeen I travelled with in the 80s could carry rifles, RPG's, ammo, 2-3 days food, a small amount of water, and stripped down \"dashakas\" (12.6 mm heavy machine guns) while literally running -- and I mean *running* -- up and over 10,000-12,000 foot mountain passes in a non-stop day-long advance without even pausing for rest. During the early years I was there, communication was solely by messenger. And I'm sure that with some of their communications severed, the Taliban are relying again in some cases on runners. I forget the distance from Kandahar to Kabul, but whatever -- these people can move so rapidly in any terrain that the use of runners becomes a viable military option for them. Amazing, but true. - source, David Kline"}, {"response": 21, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Oct 28, 2001 (18:13)", "body": "Ask Herman Neuman about what WW2 was like. (Books conference toopic 31) Megalomanics seem to come to power periodically to relieve the population crunch. That is the only way I can understand this horrific impulse to destroy life and civilization. We cope as best we can. David Kline has put a face on this horror just as Herman Neuman did for me for WW2."}, {"response": 22, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Oct 28, 2001 (20:19)", "body": "It's not an either-or kind of thing. Short term, we need to use violence to attempt to destroy the operational ability of Al-Queda and to oust the Taliban in order to eliminate Afghanistan as a staging area for global terrorism. Long term, we need to use politics -- including a frank admission of past errors in the Islamic world (e.g., Shah of Iran) -- to isolate the Muslim extremists from the broad masses of ordinary Muslim citizens. In some ways, we can borrow a page from our mostly successful effort against communism. Military might to contain overt aggression, combined with protracted political, economic and even philosophical struggle against communist ideology. It took decades, but we won. Same thing here, I think. David Kline."}, {"response": 23, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Oct 29, 2001 (17:13)", "body": "David Kline (dkline) Mon Oct 29 '01 (09:05) 25 lines God, I can just imagine snow-mobiling up in the Afghan mountains and going over a tiny little ridge and ... dropping a thousand feet. Ugh. As for all our high-tech gizmos, I know there's a place for that. But ultimately, I think we'll need the kind of guys that can sneak up quieter than an Afghan on a Taliban encampment and cut the throats of a dozen men. Let's say we devoted 1/1000th of our present efforts and resources to seriously enhancing the military capabilities of the Northern Alliance, Ismael Khan, and other anti-Taliban forces. Do people here think that in time, with money and equipment, we could help construct a force powerful enough to oust the Taliban? I've been suggesting this sort of redirection of effort away from city bombing. And I think it would work, but I'm not sure if I'm being fully objective about it. All I know is, even the NY Times talks about the \"tepid\" US effort to build a broad-based coalition, and our \"perfunctory\" coordination of military action with NA forces. So clearly, we're not putting a whole lot of effort into this -- to me it looks like the same old go-it-alone approach by the U.S. But I'm just wondering if people here think that this is appropriate and that there's little chance of helping to build an effective Afghan fighting force, or if they think we should put more effort into it. I think we're exaggerating the venality of the Afghan resistance. First off, the primary reasons why things went to hell after the Soviets were defeated were not simply because of Afghan quarrelsomeness -- that's always existed, even during decades of peace. Rather: 1) The US abandoned the reconstruction of Afghanistan after the Soviet withdrawal. Economic aid would have been a stabilizing factor, and it could have been contingent on maintaining peace between factions. 2) Pakistani sabotage -- first in instigating Hekmatyar to quit the coalition government and start shelling the capital, and second in arming, financing and directing the Taliban to take power. As for warlords, etc., partly that's always been true of Afghanistan -- again, even in times of peace. But I also wouldn't get all high & mighty about how screwed up they are. If we had suffered proportionately -- 26 million dead, 65 million living as refugees -- we might have a few rapists and warlords running around, too. In any event, we are not presented with any perfect options. Consider: 1) We could try to exterminate the Taliban all by ourselves and then quit Afghanistan again, but that'd leave another mess there *for sure* and it'd also turn the whole Muslim world against us. 2) Simply going home & leaving the Taliban in power won't work either. 3) Against those options, I think it's entirely reasonable to devote serious economic, political and military help to anti-Taliban factions and trying to create a stable, non-terrorist regime in Afghanistan. Unless I'm forgetting something, it's the only choice we have."}, {"response": 24, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Nov  3, 2001 (21:54)", "body": "David Kline (dkline) Thu Nov 1 '01 (10:13) 8 lines My wife says I've been having nightmares about my Afghan war reporting days, crying out about bombs falling and people being torn apart. I haven't had nightmares like these since I quit covering the war in 1988. These are heavy heavy times we're living in. But still I can't help thinking that there'll be a great many positive results from all of us having to learn to deal with our fears -- and from recognizing more than ever before just how precious life, love and family truly are."}, {"response": 25, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Nov  3, 2001 (23:56)", "body": "He's right. Just hope you have found the right soul mate. It is difficult to deal with the war and worry when there is no love at home..."}, {"response": 26, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Nov  4, 2001 (20:50)", "body": "David Kline (dkline) Sun Nov 4 '01 (16:55) 56 lines One interesting but little-studied aspect of the WTC disaster is the role that intellectual property is playing in helping to make our economy more resistant to terrorist attack. Consider that intellectual assets have now replaced tangible assets as the chief form of corporate wealth -- accounting for approximately 70% of the total market value of the S&P 500 today. This is also true even among manufacturing firms, where the asset base has shifted just in the last 20 years or so from one in which physical assets such as plant, equipment and real property constituted 62 percent of firm market value in 1982, to one in which such assets represent less than 30% of firm value today (the other 70% of firm value being composed now of intellectual assets). Put another way, the business battles once fought for control of markets and raw materials are increasingly being waged over the exclusive rights to new ideas and new innovations. How does this make our economy more resistant to terrorist attack? When the WTC was attacked, America sustained untold billions of dollars in real property and other economic losses. There's no doubt that consumer and other markets were severely affected. But the underlying health of the U.S. economy -- the intellectual asset strength that currently underlies 70% of the market value of all public companies in America -- remains largely unaffected. Indeed, in the case of Cantor Fitzgerald, which lost 700 of its 1,000 employees on September 11, intellectual property may even \"help shape the firm's rebuilding effort,\" noted the Wall Street Journal (10/25/01 \"Cantor Fitzgerald Wins Round in Patent Dispute\"). A patent governing online futures trading that it bought last April for $1.75 million could bring in as much as $100 million in new licensing revenue this year -- double the 2000 revenues of the business unit (called eSpeed) that Cantor spun-off in 1999 to manage this patent, according to J.P. Morgan analyst Greg Smith. In the words of Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick: \"Intellectual property is a fundamental asset of [ours], and that's never been more obvious and important than now.\" The fact of the matter is that the U.S. economy no longer depends as much as it used to upon access to raw materials, manufacturing plant or other physical assets, which can be interrupted or even destroyed by terrorist attack. The good news from all of this is that America's fundamental economic strength -- its knowledge-based economy that outpaces the rest of the world in the production of new ideas and new innovations -- is largely impervious to Al-Queda assault. Indeed, only one nation on earth currently relies on its own innovative strength to produce the majority of its science and technology assets -- the United States. All other nations, even Germany and Japan, import over 50% of the science and technology needed in their economies from abroad (chiefly from the U.S.). Our intellectual property strength not only makes us more resilient against terrorist attack, it also provides us with the innovative new tools and technologies we'll need to fight modern-day terrorism."}, {"response": 27, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Nov  9, 2001 (10:44)", "body": "David Kline: One of my favorite Herat stories involves yours truly, as a semi-sentient 18-year-old hitchiking around the world in 1968. I had just passed through the Iran-Afghan border at Mashad and hitched a ride into Herat. I knew to play it cool, as King Zahir Shah's rule was reported to be very strict. While walking near the city center, a policeman braced me. He demanded to see my passport. \"Hmmm ... Ah-merry-con?\" he asked, flipping the pages of my passport. \"Yes,\" I replied helpfully. He paused, looked at me curiously. \"You have hasheesh?\" he demanded. \"Oh no, no hashish!\" I lied. \"No?\" he repeated. \"Well then here ...\" he laughed, handing me a little packet of dope and enjoying my surprise. \"Welcome to Afghanistan!\" Man, what a lost world that is. I arrived in Luxembourg in August of 1968 with no return ticket and a hundred dollars in my pocket. Spent the first 2 months travelling around western Europe and Scandinavia, then with my last dollar took the Orient Express to Istanbul. Whereupon my passport was promptly stolen and I slowly began to starve. So I learned how to help tourists in Istanbul's Grand Bazaar find what they were looking for (for a fee), and I hooked up with a minor Turkish gangster who paid me to smuggle cars from Bulgaria into Turkey. Dumb dumb dumb ... but that's what being 18 is all about, I guess. Anyway, I fled Turkey the night before a major \"Midnight Express\" bust of foreign hash smokers in Istanbul and made my way to Iran, where I met and stayed with members of the fledling anti-Shah resistance. From there I wandered into Afghanistan and then up and over the Khyber Pass at last into to Pakistan, where thanks to dysentery (sp), I arrived in Peshawar weighing exactly 121 pounds. Had no money for medical care, the US consulate laughed in my face (just as it did in Kabul when I snuck in in 1981 posing as an importer with Pier 1 imports and he refused to offer me shelter one hour before a Soviet shoot-on-sight curfew fell), but I managed to get enough money for medicine by selling hash to hippies. Then I went to India, spent a few months in Goa, went to Nepal, then swung around back through Southeast Asia and after a year gone then back home through Hawaii where, genius that I am, I figured I could just breeze through customs wearing a body vest holding 6 kilos of the finest Nepalese government-stamped hashish on earth. But that's another story. Now, I just sit home playing with my five month old and growing old probably a little less than gracefully."}, {"response": 28, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Nov 15, 2001 (14:44)", "body": "David Kline (dkline) Thu Nov 15 '01 (11:43) 52 lines Omar and Bin Laden are toast. Remember 4 weeks ago how we were talking about how when the regime started to crumble, Afghan (not Arab) Taliban might strike a deal to kill or turn over Bin Laden to NA or US forces? It looks like this may be exactly what happens. I pray that the Afghans try him and hang him. There's no martyrdom for him if he's executed by a newly-liberated nation of devout Muslims. And Afghans are devout Muslims. They're just not fanatics or fundamnetalist Muslims. Did anyone see today's huge color picture in the NY Times of Afghan women bathing and washing clothes in a river? Miraculous! Wonderful! And they really are quite a handsome race of women, with ready smiles. And to think just 8 weeks ago most Americans thought: \"Oh those terrible Afghans, look how they treat their women.\" Now everyone can see without doubt that, no, it's only how 7th century fanatical village idiots treat their women. The news gets better and better. Order in the streets. Few if any reprisals, even against the bastards who assasinated the two greatest and most beloved living Afghans -- Ahmed Shah Massoud and Abdul Haq. I spoke to Abdul Haq's nephew last night -- the man Abdul Haq raised as his own son when his father (Haq's brother) was killed in battle against the Soviets. And now, in full loving circle, this nephew is now raising Abdul Haq's son as his own, no different than his other children. Okay, I gotta stop getting teary now ... Anyway, Haq's nephew and I shared some stories and some sense of final victory, of peace at last. And I realized something that had not occured to me before: the Afghans I have known and lived with have always been struggling, always fighting, always burying their children, always on the run, never giving up, but always living with fear and hunger and brutality all their lives. And now, for the first time last night, I heard an Afghan crying out his joy and gratitude to God for that which they have hoped and prayed for so long. Peace. Normalcy. A chance to go back to their farms and raise babies and later teach them to fly kites (which no one does better than Afghans) and once more play their instruments around village campfires spitted with cooking lamb and great God even to sing and dance at weddings again! I'm sorry to be so sentimental about this. But the transformation in their lives is su huge, so rich, and so justly deserved."}, {"response": 29, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Nov 16, 2001 (14:24)", "body": "David Kline (dkline) Fri Nov 16 '01 (08:57) 96 lines And here's another reason, besides the dreaded ISI that I had to dodge for 10 fucking years while over, that I don't like Pakistanis: they inherited and then exaggerated the British penchant for bureaucratism. Here's a short scene from my screenplay \"Bazaar\" (a love story set against the backdrop of the Afghan war -- \"Year of Living Dangerously\"-style). It'll give you a very accurate taste of the Pakistani way of things. The backdrop is that the lead character NATE (a jounalist -- surprise!) has been called in for questioning by the local ISI commander. As with everything involving Pakistani, it is 110 degrees with 90% humidity. For those unfamiliar with screenplay terminology, EXT. means an exterior shot, and INT. obviously means an inside a building shot. _____________________________________________ EXT. SPECIAL BRANCH HEADQUARTERS - LATER It is a huge, stone-walled compound the color of caked mud, fronted by large, swinging iron gates. Atop these gates a sign reads: \"NORTHWEST FRONTIER POLICE - SPECIAL BRANCH.\" Sentries armed with rifles, bamboo riot sticks and the arrogance of power push and club a mayhem of supplicants. The supplicants-- businessmen in dirty suits, women with crying babies--wave little slips of paper like religious icons at the unseeing guards. INT. WAITING ROOM - SPECIAL BRANCH The pitted stone walls look like they haven't been painted in a century. Nate sits on a rickety old chair, legs splayed out and head tilted back, sweating heavily and gazing up at a ceiling fan that barely moves. Flies are having their way with him. He hears the MUFFLED ECHOES of men shouting and women pleading somewhere in the compound. He looks at his watch, then sits up and speaks to the RECEPTIONIST. NATE Does he know I'm waiting? The receptionist, a fat, unshaven man in local clothes, pokes at a typewriter. TAP . . . TAP. He ignores Nate. TAP . . . TAP. NATE Excuse me . . . RECEPTIONIST (torpid, indifferent) Yes okay. TAP . . . TAP . . . TAP. He pulls the paper from the typewriter and, with unbearable slowness, carefully applies a dab of white- out. He fans it dry with his sweaty palm. Pleased with his work, he leans over and hawks some phlegm onto the floor. He wipes his hand across his mouth, drawing out a long streamer of yellow spit. He sees it, wipes his mouth again with his other hand. Then he reaches for the typing paper, smearing it with his spittle, and re-inserts it in the typewriter. NATE (trying to keep calm) Excuse me . . . RECEPTIONIST I have tell him. NATE You have told . . . RECEPTIONIST (TAP, TAP) Yes sir. NATE When? RECEPTIONIST Now. NATE (beat) Excuse me. You *have* told him? Or you *will* tell him? RECEPTIONIST Yes sir. Nate falls back against the chair, his head rolling back. ______________________________________________ And so it goes, another day in the romantic life of a war correspondent."}, {"response": 30, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Nov 22, 2001 (17:01)", "body": "\"The Death of Masoud\": Vice magazine interviews a Brit journalist named Jason Florio, who interviewed Masoud shortly before his assasination, and who was also in New York on Sept 11. http://www.viceland.com/issues/v8n8/htdocs/afghanistan.php Report in the LA Times today about the situation in Herat: a myor's race; NA soldiers breaking up a pro-King really, the usual stuff that never would have even existed 5 ndays ago (unless it was 25 years ago, in which case this sort of thing was daily life for Afghans). But there's a very funny bit that shows the dry humor of Afghans under the worst of circumstances. Ismael Khan (gotta love an old-fashioned \"warlord\" who runs schools for 75,000 girls while being chased by Soviet special forces troops for 10 years) is complaining aboiut the fact that the Northern Alliance \"can't get no respect,\" as it were. He was recently quoted (including here) as saying he didn't want a long term presence of Western troops in Afghanistan (which if he'd been a Sandinista, would have earned him praise as an anti-imperialist but since Afghans can't do anything right in the minds of \"progressives\" only earns him a rep as \"ungrateful\" or even anti-American). Anyway, the reporter notes that while Khan in this interviemade a point of NOT criticizing American involvement, 'US efforts took a plunge of sorts\" when several 1,000-pound crates of pre-packaged meals from America \"crashed through the roof of the famous Sunni Muslim philosopher's shrine\" as well as the outhouse of a \"local resident.\" Commented local resident Habib Allah Nour Ahmad: \"If they do not drop these things in such places, it is better.\" Also in the \"Northern Alliance cxan't get no respect\" department, the ever-whining spokeswoman for RAWA was on NewsHour last night again demanding that the NA NOT be allowed to participate in any future government of Afghanistan because many of its members are not in favor of full human rights for women. In other words, because many NA members are simple village men and not college-educated Afghans who have enjoyed these past 20 years living in the safety of London or New York or other Western capitals. My response: How many Taliban have you killed, miss? Oh excuse me, let's go back further: how many Russians have you killed? Because to me that's got to surely be one of the major pre-requisites forf participation in a post-Taliban solution: who actually fought for and sacrificed for the liberation of Afghan men, children and yes women? Now it is true that some RAWA members made great sacrifices. But hardly more, I suspect, then the millions of uneducated (and therefore sometimes backward-thinking) men who gave their lives over the past 25 years. So give it a rest Tameenya or whatever your name is. Watch her the next time she gves an interview. I will pay you $50 if her response to the first question asked -- no matter what that question is -- is not the following: \"Yes, but first I want to say that the fundamentalists of the Northern Alliance must NOT be allowed to participate in the future government of Afghanistan.\" You heard the offer: $50 to anyone who watches her speak and doesn't hear her say the above. You know what RAWA's real problem is. Sure, they're sectarian like everyone else. But that's not their real problem. Their real gripe is that for better or worse (and it is for worse I'll agree) most ordinary Afghans don't yet have the same prtogressive views re: the role of women as RAWA does. And RAWA doesn't want to have to have to wage the long-term political effort needed to educate their fellow citizens, man and women. Well boo-hoo ladies. French women had to fight like hell just to get the right to vote AFTER World War 2. We all know what women everywhere have had to do to fight for their rights & stop mistreatment. Just because RAWA crybabies can't stand it that many Afghan women still prefer the veil (if not i8n many cases the burqa) is not sufficient reason, to my mind, to disqualify from the political [rocess the VERY PEOPLE who made this politic al process and this liberation possible. So on this Thanksgiving, I want to give thanks to the 10 million or more ordinary Afghan men and women -- people of all different levels of political progressivesness and backwardness -- who gave up their livesor their homes and families to keep the faith these long 25 years and broing about this miracle of liberation in their wounded nation today. And as my extended family reminded me last nigght, we should also thank them for giving me back 10 years of my life there that, until September 11, had been forgotten by me and ignored by everyone else. They gave me back some meaning to it, and for that I'm very greatful. A small thing when stacked up against what's happening., but important for me no note on Thanksgiving Dayu. I hate this unfamiliar keyboard I'm on. Sorry for all the misspellings."}, {"response": 31, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Nov 22, 2001 (17:01)", "body": "David Kline (dkline) Thu Nov 22 '01 (13:38) 37 lines My point is not that RAWA doesn't deserve to be praised for whatever good work they've done, or that they ashouldn't be asllowed to partici[pate in the future political process of their country. They should! My point was that they should stop demanding that oters NOT get to play a role -- especially whyen it is those others who more than anyone else, for better or worse, have brought about the liberation thyat now enables a new political process! I mean, what hypoocrisy! They can scream all they want about the \"crimes\" of the NA and others, but if we're gonna start tallying up \"crimes, \" well RAWA has a few of its own to explain in the way they invited and supported Soviet advisors into their country in the late 1970s. Educatiuon of women? Yes, RAWA has done great work, but did they educate more girls than NA so-called worlord Ismael Khan, who put 75,000 girls through school? The point is, they have to stop bickering and condemning othyers (the curse of all Afgfhan factions) and start working together. In any event, I guarantee you that the LAST thing that is going to happen is that the armed resistance forces most responsible for the liberation of the country are going to be denied the right to participate. That's ludicrous, and it'll never happen. So it's time for RAWA to put the nation ahead of its socialist agenda, just like it's time for this or that faction of the NA to put aside it's own particular agenda for the goodf of the whole nation. And actually, that's what'll happen, despite all the blame-laying and screaming. Because it's either work together, or die as a nation. And the Afghans are not suicidal. They'll work it out."}, {"response": 32, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Dec  3, 2001 (13:56)", "body": "David Kline (dkline) Mon Dec 3 '01 (10:16) 33 lines Yesterday, the New York Times reported that the first woman in five years had registered at Kabul University -- a college that once had 3,500 female students before the Taliban came to power. A brief excerpt: __________________________ Escorted by her father into the chancellery building of Kabul University at 8:40 this morning, Farida Afzali, 21, had no idea she was walking into history. She reacted to the half- dozen staring men the way she would have in the past. She bowed her head and looked at the floor. When a question was shouted, she let her father answer. \"Yes,\" he said, beaming and granting her permission to give an interview. \"You should speak bravely and courageously.\" For the next hour, Ms. Afzali talked about what it was like to be the first woman in five years to register for classes at Kabul University. ` __________________________ When you read the full article, you'll know why I feel that with women like Ms. Afzali around, Afghanistan's future is bound to be bright. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/02/international/asia/02SCHO.html?searchpv=past7 days"}, {"response": 33, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Jan 10, 2002 (11:29)", "body": "David Kline (dkline) Wed Jan 9 '02 (15:51) 58 lines Sebastian Junger has a very nice article in the new Vanity Fair entitled \"Massoud's Last Conquest.\" He quotes Massoud when he was in Europe last April trying to rally the West to presure Pakistan to stop maintaining the Taliban in power: \"If I could say one thing to President Bush,\" Massoud said at a pess conference in Paris, \"it would be that if he doesn't take care of what is happening in Afghanistan [by forcing Pakistan to stop backing the Taliban], the problem will not only hurt the Afghan people but the American people as well.\" But while the State Dept. refused to listen, it seems some in the US counter-terrorism community understood the wisdom of Massoud's request for help. According to Junger, one high-level counter-terrorism official acknowledged to him, \"Counter-terrorism means getting bin Laden, and the best way to do that is to help Massoud.\" One thing I've always liked about Junger's Afghan reportage is that he's one of the few who really grasps the central role of the Pakistanis in fueling the Islamic fundamentalist threat not only in Pakistan but around the world. An excerpt from his Vanity Fair article: \"For decades the United States had essentially followed Pakistan's lead when it came to Afghan policy. During the Soviet occupation, America relied on Pakistan to put $3 billion worth of weapons and support into the hands of the mujahadeen. It was all funnelled through the ISI, the infamous Pakistani intelligence service, and many of the weapons wound up in the hands of anti-Western fanatics. \"The power vacumn that followed the 1989 Soviet withdrawal was finally filled by the Taliban, the creation of fundamentalist lunatics recruited by the ISI from the refguee camps on the Afghan border. By 1996, Pakistan had created a rogue state that exported two-thirds of the world's heroin, brutalized its citizens with harsh Islamic laws, and hosted a terrorism network dedicated to destroying the West.\" Junger then mentions State Department disinterest in terrorism and oil company interest in a potential oil and gas pipeline across Afghanistan. \"While American counter-terrorism efforts struggled to contain the threat posed by Osama bin Laden, oil interests and Pakistani intelligence were holding American policy firmly by the ear.\" One final note: I've gone back over more of my articles on the Afghan situation from the 1980s, and I see that on a number of occasions I warned of the dangers of allowing Pakistani intelligence to use our money and arms to create a powerful anti-Western army of extremists in Afghanistan. And I was by no means the only one. I know that in hindsight all issues look clearer than they do when you're actually facing them in real time. But I don't believe it's fair to say that there's NOTHING we could have done to prevent September 11 -- that there were NO warnings about the growing threat of fundamentalist extremism that we could have acted upon in some way. There was also a certain amount of myopia at work here, although I doubt this will ever be acknowledged by the powers-that-be."}, {"response": 34, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Jun 14, 2002 (08:58)", "body": "David Kline: Well, whaddya know. Less than a year ago, women in Afghanistan were being executed in public stadiums and beaten like dogs on the street. Today, an Afghan woman received 171 votes for President of the nation, out of about 1,500 cast at the Loya Jirga assembly. Although she came in way behind Hamid Karzai's 1200 or so votes (I'm not sure of the numbers, having only caught it on the radio), she appartently defeated another male candidate for second place position. This is *Afghanistan* folks. Who says life isn't full or miracles? 1295 votes out of 1575 cast http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/south_asia/newsid_2042000/2042040.stm \"The people of Afghanistan are acquiring [their] voice for the first time in 23 years.\" -- a senior advisor to Hamid Karzai"}, {"response": 35, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Jul 22, 2002 (13:54)", "body": "David Kline today: I support the U.S. role in Afghanistan. In fact, I think it should be strengthened. And I certainly do not condemn Washington in the abstract for causing civilian casualties; I know some are necessary and the Afghans know it and accept it as well. The question is, if our military tactics are causing *unneccesary* casualties, and as a result straining our alliance with the Afghans while not appreciably reducing enemy strength or capability, then shouldn't we make some adjustments in those tactics? Although overall I think the U.S. has done an excellent job in Afghanistan, I do think we've erred at times in relying too much on airpower. Some of you may recall that in this forum last October I criticized our \"bombing-only\" approach and argued that taking out fuel depots (or Red Cross hospitals) was of little benefit and that we should instead put some Special Forces troops on the ground to work with the Northern Alliance and help kickstart anoffensive against the Taliban. Subsequently we learned that in mid- and late-October, the American command was debating precisely the ame question, and when they finally decided to use Special Forces to help organize a military offensive by the Northern Alliance, the Taliban fell like a house of cards. (Of course, the debate wasn't just between the advocates of airpower vs. ground action; the Pentagon also needed to finally reject Pakistani and State Department fears of a Northern Alliance conquest of power without a political solution having been devised.) More recently, I've argued that our *tactical* over-reliance on airpower was producing uneccsary civilian casualites and straining our alliance with the Afghans. Many Afghans and some in the U.S. military argue that we'd be far more effective militarily and politically by deploying ground forces against suspected Al Queda pockets rather than bombing them. By the way, perhaps I mispoke when I refered to the American military's *traditional* over-reliance on airpower. It just seems to me that since the days of Vietnam, our generals have oftentimes believed that they could accomplish a lot more with airpower than in reality they could. Anyway, as events in Afghanistan have certainly proved, bombing alone -- or bombing as our *principal* tactic -- can lead to many problems and in any event cannot be relied upon to achieve our objectives. So I just want to make clear my critique is tactical only, and I believe that on the whole we've done a really great job in Afghanistan. We helped overthrow the first-ever terrorist-owned state power, and helped liberate the Afghans from a horrific tyranny. I hope we have the wisdom to avoid frittering away these gains, and to consolidate them through stepped up economic, political and military support of the fledgling government."}, {"response": 36, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Sep  8, 2002 (10:36)", "body": "I have been watching CBS Sunday morning and they just showed an exhibit of remarkable photos about 9/11/ The photols were mounted without frames, hung with binder clips on long wires which criss crossed the big galeery in NYV. Just before this, they had done a piece on the music that relates to 9/11. Tim Buckey. The Who. Steve Earl. Bruce Springsteen. James Taylor (Fire and Rain). Alan Jackson. Then I read this piece by David Kline about this thoughts a year after 9/11. David Kline (dkline) Sun Sep 8 '02 (07:14) 36 lines The roots of this \"clash of civilizations\" goes way back, in one form or another, for centuries. This is true of all greta historic trends. The epic struggle between communism and capitalism, for example, had roots that went way back to at least the mid-19th century, right? And yet there are defining moments when the opposing historical forces -- or rather, the people involved in them -- become \"conscious\" of each other and of the enormous stakes involved in their conflict's outcome. In the struggle between capitalism and communism, the defining moment was the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. That's when the whole world saw that an epic battle had been joined, and it was time to choose sides. In the clash between Western enlightenment democracy and Islamic obscurantist fundamentalism (will somebody please think of a better headline to define this?), I can't think of a single defining moment right now -- except maybe the assassination of Sadat, or maybe the Iranian revolution and overthrow of the Shah, or maybe one or two other possible momentous events. But we should look for that defining moment sometime in the late 1970s or early 1980s period. I was a reporter in the Islamic world then. And I remember how it seemed almost suddenly like everything changed. All of a sudden, all issues seemed to be defined against the backdrop of the rise of fundamentalism. Little groups which had previously seemed to be not much more than purist radical sects suddenly had \"reach\" -- the ability to attract public and media and governmental attention -- even though their memberships had not grown from one day to the next. And the members of these Jihadist sects suddenly had a sense of their \"historic mission,\" if you will. Anyway, while this clash of civilizations has deep roots, it only became an active, \"conscious\" determinant of global human development about 20 years ago, I think. Or at least that's how I'm seeing things at 7:15 AM Sunday morning after being up with the baby sindce 5 AM."}, {"response": 37, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Sep 11, 2002 (12:43)", "body": "David Kline (dkline) Wed Sep 11 '02 (09:17) 15 lines Regarding Bin Laden and Iraq, there are no deep ties between them and there is a fundamental and irreconcilable schism of outlook. However, Bin Laden has previously made use of America's attacks on Iraq to bolster his call to Jihad. Shortly after 9/11, I believe, Bin Laden issued a video where he made specific reference to the suffering that the Iraqi masses have endured as a result of U.S. attacks and sanctions. Of course, in that same video, he attacked sell-out Arab and Muslim leaders. But yes, a new American assault on Iraq would be a Godsend to Bin Laden. I believe he would make a public appearance in response to such an attack, and position himself as the leader of all the world's Muslims by calling anew for global Jihad ahgainst the Jews and Americans. We couldn't give our enemies a better gift than to attack Iraq right now."}, {"response": 38, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Oct  9, 2002 (08:43)", "body": "David Kline (dkline) on Tue, Oct 8, '02 Although I have read some of Thomas L. Friedman's post-9/11 foreign affairs columns in the New York Times, I only this past weekend read the whole collection of them (for which he received his third Pulitzer Prize) contained in his new book, \"Longitudes and Attitudes.\" And I must say I was deeply impressed with the clarity of his vision of the meaning of 9/11 and the nature of the challenge we face in combatting fundamentalist terror. You may have read my posts in this conference on the \"clash of civilizations\" between the modern, pluralistic and democratic social systems of the West and the backward, obscurantist and anti-modern ideology of fundamentalist Islam. Well, Friedman quite rightly rejects that formulation, pointing out that what the world really needs is a war *within* Islam to defeat the forces of Jihadist fundamentalism. There are two basic components of Friedman's vision in \"Longitudes and Attitudes that I think are very much worth discussing and debating: 1) We must ruthlessly hunt down and kill Bin Laden and the other leaders of fundamentalist terror groups. No quarter can be given in this battle. 2) But we must also adopt a non-imperialist, united front foreign policy that seeks to encourage modernist, moderate and secular forces within Islam to finally confront the cancer of fundamentalism that threatens not only their own societies but the whole world as well. Unless we do so, new Bin Ladens will always emerge and the ultimate battle will be lost. Assuming there is interest in these issues, I would like to post some of the columns (or portions of columns) from his book as catalysts for discussion in this topic. I encourage others to do the same. Again, I was extremely impressed with Friedman's clarity of vision. Perhaps that's because he says more or less what I have been trying to say here for the past year -- only he say it much better (which is why he won the Pulitzer, not me, of course). As someone who has spent years in the Muslim world, I can assure you that Friedman knows what he is talking about. His achievement was to synthesize his \"behind the veil\" observations of Muslim societies into a broad-brush vision of how to wage the \"War on Terror\" in a way that leads to a world we want to live in. news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 55, "subject": "War in Afghanistan", "response_count": 15, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep 24, 2001 (00:00)", "body": "Here's the oft talked about Peshawar Frontier Post article saying that Osama has gone to the Wakhan, but as you can see it's basically just a rumor: http://frontierpost.com.pk/main.asp?id=2&date1=9/21/2001 Meanwhile, the military has declared a state of emergency in Pakistan, and the former king, Zahir Shah, is appealing for an emergency grand assembly for Afghanistan: http://frontierpost.com.pk/afghan.asp?id=2&date1=9/23/2001 US planes have landed in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, despite previous Russian and Uzbeki denials that they would cooperate with staging. It's beginning. Where will this war go?"}, {"response": 2, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Oct 12, 2001 (21:16)", "body": "Here are the plans of the Northern Alliance to retake Kabul in the London Times. http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,2001350006-2001354120,00.html"}, {"response": 3, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Oct 12, 2001 (22:15)", "body": "More press giving aid and comfort to the enemy by telling them what we are doing minute by minute? I think I better retreat to the sanity of Geo and science."}, {"response": 4, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Oct 18, 2001 (10:27)", "body": "Allied bombing leaves Taliban frontline intact One week of US bombing in and around Kabul has disrupted Taliban logistics and communications, closed down air operations and inflicted some 200 military casualties, according to opposition intelligence sources. However, it has also had the effect of forcing hundreds of Taliban and allied troops out of the city onto what is now a significantly reinforced front line to the north. 15/10/01"}, {"response": 5, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Oct 26, 2001 (15:21)", "body": "GULBAHAR DISPATCH Playing Games by Elizabeth Rubin Post date 11.25.01 | Issue date 11.05.01 Yesterday, in a field encircled by willow trees and surrounded by close to a thousand men of all ages, a dozen whip-wielding horsemen cantered around and into each other, grabbing after the carcass of a headless goat. A burly man in knee-high sheepskin boots, baggy woolen trousers, and a thick, black wool cardigan that barely stretched over his shoulders, hunched over the headless sack of goat he'd hitched between his horse's belly and his stirrup and managed to gallop to the edge of the playground, around a flag post, and back into center field to bulldoze his wild, dusty white horse through the others and drop the goat into one of the two pits that serve as goalposts. .... A little further south, across the Bagram airfield about 35 miles north of the capital, every night this past week you could watch dozens of Taliban pickups moving supplies and men to the front line. Yet U.S. planes were nowhere in sight. Why, the commander asked, is America bombing Kabul and not the front lines? It was something of a rhetorical question. It's well known that, since the beginning of the war, Pakistan has been pressuring the United States to avoid bombing frontline Taliban troops in order to prevent the Northern Alliance from marching on Kabul. What the commander really wanted to know is why the United States still supports Pakistan when everyone, he said, knows that Pakistan is the source of both the Taliban and international terrorism? Why didn't the United States bomb the terrorist training camps in Pakistan a long time ago or stop its madrassas from pouring out new Taliban fighters? \"We're such a poor, destroyed country, that there are no real consequences for bombing us. It's cheap,\" the commander complained. \"But if America really wants to get rid of terrorism in this region she's going to have face Pakistan.\" Everywhere I turned up this last week, the sentiment was nearly the same. \" continued at http://www.tnr.com/110501/rubin110501.html"}, {"response": 6, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Nov 24, 2001 (21:31)", "body": "Our killer drones. http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Killer-Drones.html?searchpv=aponline"}, {"response": 7, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Nov 24, 2001 (21:43)", "body": "Some news from 'our boys' at sea. Emailed letter to Navy guys, which is being circualted among military types, active, ex, retired. Hello all, I know it has been a while since I updated you but it has been busy out here as the ship continues to pound away at the remnants of the Taliban and the Afghani section of the Al Qaida network. The headlines pretty much speak for themselves. The relentless pressure provided by airpower destroyed their air defenses, command and control networks, supply lines and eroded their will to resist. There are still a number of hard liners that are holding out but the majority of these are non-Afghanis. We will continue to support the Northern Alliance ground forces and attack Al Qaida strongholds. We are making some great progress in the latter. More coalition partners are arriving daily. The amount of naval power headed this way is staggering. Great Britain, Canada, Australia, France, Italy, and Japan have ships here or they are ! enroute. Many more countries are pledging ground or air forces. This is truly an international fight. It is sad in way that it took the 9/11 tragedy to bring the world together like this. The men and women of my crew continue to amaze me. We have been at sea for 60 days. Of those 60 days, only two have been days off (days without conducting flight operations). Despite all the above, the crew gathers around me whenever I walk around and want to know how we are doing and if we are making a difference. They cheer with every bomb on target and our success spurs them on to greater accomplishments. I do a weekly talk show on the ship's TV system. It is a chance for me to chat with the crew as they phone in to ask questions. Move over Larry King. As part of the show I roll a weekly \"greatest hits\" video. The best of the bombing from the last week. Very popular. Even the studio crew looks away from their cameras to study each hit. I emphasize that every mission we execute is a total team effort from ! the propulsion plant operators to the bomb assembl ers to the administrative support personnel to the flight deck aircraft maintainers. We have had some fun though. Two weeks ago we paused for a \"steel beach\" picnic. We set up barbeques on the flight deck and cooked up steak, chicken, hamburgers and hot dogs. The morale and welfare division set up volleyball and basketball matches. We have these oversize tricycles that people race on the flight deck. There were golfers, fishers, bands and, for the first time on an aircraft carrier in quite a while, a swim call. The Air Department lowered one of the aircraft elevators to the hangar deck level and crewmembers were given the opportunity to jump the 26 feet from the elevator to the water. Two thousand people literally jumped ship. Not all at once, of course. Life boats in the water, safety swimmers, etc. We even had sharpshooters looking out for sharks (none were seen). There is another no fly t! omorrow. We are using this as a maintenance day so there are no big events with one exception. Navy regulations say that if you are at sea for 45 consecutive days the captain can authorize a special ration of two cans of beer per crewmember. I guess I have to remind you that US Navy ships are dry i.e. no alcohol allowed except as noted above. So tonight as we recover the last aircraft we are going to serve pizza and BEER to the crew. It may seem like no big deal to most of you but this is huge out here. In the biggest surprise of the cruise to date, several members of the NY Yankees phoned me after Game 7 as they were flying home. I spoke to Willie Randolph and Paul O'Neill. I was told that Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams and Joe Torre were standing by to talk but the connection was severed as Jeter was handed the phone. They sent along their best wishes and gratitude to the crew who were thrilled to hear that the Yankees took time out to think of us. We continue to fly 14 hours a day 7 days a week but the ship's activities don't end at the end of flight operations. We are constantly gathering intelligence, fixing aircraft and ship's equipment, preparing more of our 20,000 meals a day, navigating the ship to our next launch point. The list goes on. TR is literally the city that never sleeps. We train constantly to keep the crew ready to respond to any contingency and go to battle stations for drill often shoot our guns and train our missiles. We even impose simulated damage to provide training in firefighting and damage control. As many of you know the human spirit is an formidable force. It is the only fighting reserve the evildoers in Afghanistan have left. All of us on TR and throughout this coalition have spirit and resolve that exceeds any quantity the enemy ashore has. But, unlike our adversary, we have some really cool weaponry left with which to carry out our orders. The reason I started on this spirit angle was to segue into a discussion on keeping morale high on the ship; my primary job. The support we have received"}, {"response": 8, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Dec  2, 2001 (08:04)", "body": "The specialist on Afghan water tunnels is John \"Jack\" Shroder, a geology professor at the University of Nebraska, who made the headlines by recognizing the rocks in a OBL video. He is a former director of the National Atlas of Afghanistan. The Russians only surveyed the northern part of Afghanistan. Shroder's team did the rest. http://europe.cnn.com/2001/COMMUNITY/10/18/ret.shroder.c nna/ \"Consider the Zhawar complex in Paktia province. In 1986, the compound withstood 57 days of bombardment before the mujahedin finally abandoned it. The advancing Soviets were astonished by what they found inside.\" \"Mujahedin rebels had built an underground mosque with an ornate brick facade; a hospital with an ultrasound machine; a grease pit occupied by a T-34 tank; a library stocked with books in English and Farsi; and a subterranean hotel furnished with comfy chairs and plush carpets.\""}, {"response": 9, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Dec  2, 2001 (08:04)", "body": "\"\"How many of our aircraft had worked this site over and the hotel and caves were still intact,\" marveled Viktor Kustensko, a Soviet witness to the 1986 incident, in a article he wrote in 1996 for Soldat udachi, the Russian version of Soldier of Fortune magazine.\" \"After being used by the mujahedin, the Zhawar compound was occupied and expanded by bin Laden and then bombed ineffectually by the Americans in retaliation for the bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa in 1998.\" http://www.usatoday.com/news/attack/2001/11/06/caves-usat cov.htm \"During the Soviet invasion, mojahedin camped in the karez network besieged the town of Khost for almost 10 years. The town's Russian defenders ranged Scud missiles, bombers, artillery, helicopters and commandos against them, but could not shift them from the tunnel system. Eventually Khost was retaken.\" \"They may also have been used by Osama bin Laden to evade the 1998 US missile strikes launched by President Clinton in retaliation for the African embassy bombings. Some have said he escaped that attack by using the karez near Khost.\" http://www.guardian.co.uk/waronterror/story/0,1361,585412 ,00.html"}, {"response": 10, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Jan  1, 2002 (14:28)", "body": "Three Sea King choppers with 20 Marines each took off from Kandahar for Helmand between 5 and 6 pm (Afghan time) yetserday. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A46626-2001Dec31.html and http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/south_asia/newsid_1737000/1737032.stm"}, {"response": 11, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Jan  9, 2002 (09:17)", "body": "The Brits report on of the SF 'A' Teams (12 men) accounted for 1,300 El Queda dead. http://www.portal.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;$sessionid$IR3BRZYAAAO05QFIQMGCFFOAVCBQUIV0?xml=/news/2002/01/08/wafg108.xml&sSheet=/news/2002/01/08/ixnewstop.html"}, {"response": 12, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Jan 26, 2002 (03:14)", "body": "Wow. A special forces team with no Alliance soldiers surrounded a Taliban compound and got in to a firefight with hand to hand combat a la Hollywood. The box score: 15 Taliban killed 27 Taliban captured 1 SF soldier wounded in the ankle http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20020124/ts/attack_military_dc_3.html for more details."}, {"response": 13, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Mar  6, 2002 (03:01)", "body": "Account of the hardcore rescue mission which led to the seven deaths: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/06/international/asia/06FIGH.html One of the American commandos killed was a Navy Seal, Petty Officer Neil C. Roberts, 32, who tumbled from one of two MH-47 Chinook helicopters that was to carry in Special Operations forces. Just as the helicopters touched down about 5:30 p.m. Sunday Eastern time \ufffd in the dark of night in Afghanistan, where it is 9 1/2 hours later \ufffd one of the helicopters was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade, officials said. Both lifted off quickly and flew about a mile, where they set down again to check for damage. That was when they realized that Petty Officer Roberts was not on board. But commanders had access to real-time surveillance videos shot by a Predator, an unmanned airborne vehicle, and they saw his capture. One of the two helicopters flew back to where Petty Officer Roberts was lost, and dropped off its Special Operations team to try to rescue him. In addition, General Hagenbeck, speaking to reporters in a Pentagon press pool in Afghanistan, said that \"a quick reaction force of about 30 Special Operations troops\" was also sent to rescue him. By about 9 p.m. Eastern time Sunday, two more Chinooks touched down about a mile or so from where the Navy Seal was last seen. The opposing forces apparently had set up an ambush and were waiting."}, {"response": 14, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Sep  8, 2002 (10:18)", "body": "U.S. airstrike near Asadabad In an Afghan province known for its hostility to the West, the U.S. is hunting for a fierce Islamic military leader. - - - - - - - - - - - - By Phillip Robertson Sept. 6, 2002 | ASADABAD, Kunar Province, Afghanistan -- U.S. aircraft opened a thunderous airstrike Friday night in the mountains southeast of Asadabad near the Pakistani border, apparently targeting the forces of an Islamic radical who may be linked to Thursday's attempted assassination of Afghan President Hamid Karzai. After a day of mounting tension here, two large explosions were heard at about 9:30 p.m. [1 p.m. EST] in a Kunar Province valley, reverberating with the deep, booming signature of a B-52 bombing run. Propeller-driven aircraft then circled the area, apparently in search of targets, and about 40 minutes later, a steady stream of helicopters were seen racing toward the Pakistani border. Few details of the attack were immediately available. Asadabad is a stronghold of the Hizb-e-Islami party, a radical fundamentalist group headed by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, which has pressed for creation of an Islamic state in Afghanistan. On Friday morning, U.S. special forces troops raided an Asadabad hotel where a handful of Western journalists were staying, and briefly detained a reporter for Asia Week magazine. ep http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2002/09/06/asadabad/index_np.html"}, {"response": 15, "author": "spring", "date": "Sun, Nov  2, 2003 (23:14)", "body": "http://www.urban75.com/Action/news144.html http://www.information-international.com/pdf/attack_on_afghanistan-eng.pdf news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 56, "subject": "Power - Are our power sources safe?  New look at alternate energy", "response_count": 3, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Nov 14, 2001 (06:44)", "body": "I'm thinking a lot more seriously about alternative energy sources in the post Attack World. I've been thinking about it for years, but this pushes it up on the priority list. Time to brush up and do a refresher on photovoltaics (electricity from sunlight), solar water heating, and solar air heating."}, {"response": 2, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Feb  3, 2002 (09:10)", "body": "Still doing more thinking than doing on this front."}, {"response": 3, "author": "AotearoaKiwi", "date": "Tue, Mar 26, 2002 (03:53)", "body": "Hi all Do you know why some hate your nation? It is because they think the West is only interested in oil and wealth at all costs. I do not think this is true, but I think that the West should reduce it's reliance on the oil in the Arab states regardless of what the terrorist factions might think, because if you have a big war there, you have a problem. Should the Arabs could repeat 1973 where in response to their failed Yom Kippur offensive against Israel and oil prices went through the roof, what would you do then? I also think that for environmental reasons it would be wise to look for and develop alternative sources so that demand can be met in the longterm and idiots like California's Governor Gray should be put on notice to deliver. His response according to a girl I know in LA to the last crisis was build power stations. Fine, but what about improving efficiency and modernising existing ones? Rob news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 57, "subject": "web resources on the current global war", "response_count": 5, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Oct  8, 2001 (15:09)", "body": "Archive of 9/11 documents, mostly pdf. http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB55/index1.html#I Here's the State Department's just-released 2001 list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations: http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/rpt/fto/2001/index.cfm?docid=5258 and, here's a CNN page that discusses the list: http://www.cnn.com/2001/US/10/05/inv.terrorist.list/"}, {"response": 2, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Oct  8, 2001 (15:10)", "body": "great photos from the wtc: http://www.theseiferths.com/nypics"}, {"response": 3, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Nov 30, 2001 (12:20)", "body": "Subject: [archivists] Attack Archive: Please suggest sites Date: Sunday, September 16, 2001 9:48 AM From: Brewster Kahle To: Cc: Please help build a Web Archive of the Sept 11 Attack ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The Internet Archive in collaboration with Alexa Internet, and SUNY, Library of Congress and UWashington is archiving pages and sites relating to the terrorist attacks in the NY and DC. Where we are archiving sites and pages all the time, we are concentrating the crawlers to make sure there is a solid historical record of this time. If you would like to help, we can build a better archive. Here is how you can help: Suggest sites and pages to archive: * This can be done by sending URL's to attackarchive@alexa.com (this is a list of the crawl engineers at Alexa and the researchers at SUNY and UW) * Surf with the free Alexa Toolbar on. Every night new sites and pages are discovered by processing the day's usage logs from the Alexa Toolbar. These are sanitized to eliminate cgi and other URL's that might contain personal information and then those sites are crawled for the archive. Help build a page in mid-October that will help guide people through relevant materials. This could be similar to the Election 2000 webpage (http://archive.alexa.com), or something else completely. We would like to make this public at the end of October or early November. Datamine the web archive to find past pages and sites that might be relevant. This takes programming skill and will be more difficult for Alexa to support, but if you are interested, please write a proposal in the web section of the www.archive.org site. Thank you. Please repost, but don't spam. -brewster Director, Internet Archive"}, {"response": 4, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Nov 30, 2001 (18:35)", "body": "Wow, that was fast. Date: Fri, 30 Nov 2001 15:24:39 -0800 From: Brewster Kahle To: Paul Terry Walhus , attackarchive@alexa.com Subject: Re: sugggestions for wtc pages to archive thank you. At 11:23 AM 11/30/2001 -0600, Paul Terry Walhus wrote: > http://www.spring.net > > http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/public/read/news/43 we have this as of october 24 http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://spring.net/yapp-bin/public/read/news/43 > http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/public/browse/news/all and this one as of october 23: http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://spring.net/yapp-bin/public/browse/news/all so I think we are all set. if you see anything missing, pls let us know. -brewster"}, {"response": 5, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Feb  3, 2002 (09:11)", "body": "That's a great resource, archiving news from all these sources for the future. They have parts of us that we don't even have anymore. news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 59, "subject": "Pakistan", "response_count": 11, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Oct 16, 2001 (11:49)", "body": "http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20011015/ts/attack_musharraf_dc_2.html Pakistan Says U.S. Should 'Take Out' Taliban Leader"}, {"response": 2, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Oct 16, 2001 (11:51)", "body": "http://www.dawn.com/2001/text/top7.htm Controversy brewing over Musharraf interview. Did it take place or not?"}, {"response": 3, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Nov 24, 2001 (22:08)", "body": "Pakistan is evacuating Pakistanis who have been fighting alongside Afghan Taliban forces trapped in Kunduz. \"American officials, who have been evasive on this subject, say they do not have information on the planes. Pakistani officials today declined comment.\" \"The United States is indebted to Pakistan for its support of the war against terrorism but has said it wants any foreign fighters trapped in Kunduz captured or killed. Pakistan has made clear that it is deeply concerned about some of its agents and soldiers trapped in the town.\" ... \"Some alliance officials accused Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum, an alliance commander, of striking a deal with the Pakistani government to evacuate several hundred foreign fighters. Atiqullah Baryalai, the deputy defense minister, was one of a handful of Northern Alliance leaders who asserted today that General Dostum had allowed more than 50 pickup trucks full of foreigners to leave Kunduz and gather at an undisclosed location outside Mazar-i-Sharif. Mr. Baryalai said he suspected that General Dostum may have acted at the request of the Pakistani government.\" http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nyt/20011124/wl/pakistanis_again_said_to_evacuate_allies_of_taliban_1.html"}, {"response": 4, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Nov 24, 2001 (22:30)", "body": "Washington Post: Pakistan Continues to Hold Nuclear Scientists Pakistan's military intelligence service continues to detain two nuclear scientists for questioning about their alleged connections to Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda terrorist group, senior Pakistani intelligence sources said today. \"We want to be absolutely sure before giving a clean chit to nuclear scientists who had confessed to having met Osama bin Laden, Mullah Omar and several al Qaeda leaders last year,\" said a senior Pakistani official. Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmood and Abdul Majid have acknowledged meeting bin Laden and Taliban leader Mohammed Omar during at least three visits to Afghanistan last year, the sources said. But the scientists have insisted throughout the six-week investigation that those meetings were in connection with Ummah Tameer-I-Nau [Islamic Reconstruction], a relief agency they founded in 1999. [snip] Mahmood ... vigorously advocated extensive production of weapons-grade plutonium and uranium enrichment with a view toward equipping other Islamic countries with nuclear capabilities [snip] \"Mahmood was the strongest advocate of the view that only nuclear weapons could provide ultimate security to Muslim nations against infidel powers,\" said an MIT-trained Pakistani nuclear scientist who works at a key Pakistani nuclear facility and spoke on condition of anonymity. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6708-2001Nov23.html"}, {"response": 5, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Dec  3, 2001 (13:55)", "body": "Pakistan's Jihad Fervor Replaced by Resentment By KIM MURPHY, Times Staff Writer TALASH, Pakistan -- Mohammed Youssef tried to stop it, first calling the local religious leader on the phone, then following his convoy of young jihad recruits into Afghanistan and confronting him in person. Don't take them, Youssef said. They're just boys. They don't know how to fight. If it gets bad, they don't know how to run. \"I personally talked to Sufi Mohammed twice and requested him not to go to Afghanistan with the large number of young people, all untrained,\" Youssef, a 55-year-old veteran of the Afghan war with the Soviets, said over the weekend. \" 'Don't kill them,' I asked him. But he did not listen to me, and he refused.\" After the U.S.-led bombing campaign in Afghanistan began eight weeks ago, young Pakistani men from the deeply religious border region were clamoring for the chance to fight with the Taliban. In this small farming village in the northwest frontier, more than 60 youths joined thousands of others who followed Mohammed, charismatic founder of the fundamentalist Movement for the Enforcement of the Laws of Muhammad, across the rugged frontier to take up arms. A few weeks later, the Taliban was in substantial retreat, reports of Pakistani fighters being slaughtered were emerging, and Mohammed slipped quietly back across the border. Of the 60 jihadis who left with him from Talash, fewer than 25 have returned. \"It's a tragedy,\" Shansur Rehman, whose 23-year-old son was confirmed dead near Jalalabad, Afghanistan, said with a shrug. http://www.latimes"}, {"response": 6, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Dec 26, 2001 (09:23)", "body": "Just in time for Xmas: Tuesday December 25, 3:50 AM Pakistan military warns of nuclear conflict with India By Raja Asghar CHAKOTHI, Pakistan (Reuters) - A senior Pakistani army officer said on Monday continued border clashes with India could spark an uncontrollable flareup involving nuclear weapons. [. . .] \"Because in that situation, that tension, even a small little incident can result in a chain reaction which nobody will be able to control,\" he told Reuters Television at Muzaffarabad, capital of the Pakistani-held part of Kashmir. He said an all-out war between the two nations could \"become really horrific for the entire world\". Asked if nuclear weapons could be used, Yaqub, giving what he called his personal view, said: \"But if there is a war between the two countries and if any country feels that it comes to its own survival, probably there won't be any hesitation to use nuclear weapons.\" http://sg.news.yahoo.com/reuters/asia-80387.html"}, {"response": 7, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Dec 28, 2001 (10:59)", "body": "Three \"must read\" articles. http://www.thefridaytimes.com Najam Sethi, in his weekly editorial: ---------------------- As India ferries its tanks and missiles to the border to \"teach Pakistan a lesson\" for \"meddling in Kashmir\", it might sensibly pause to consider its error. One nuclear power can\ufffdt possibly teach another nuclear power any lessons through war. Nor can it rest assured that its military intervention will have limited objectives. Escalation is inevitable when each side is able and willing to hit back, as both India and Pakistan discovered to their mutual discomfort in the Kargil conflict. Equally, Pakistan\ufffds old strategic doctrine of supporting proxy wars in India\ufffds periphery, especially through an Islamic jehad in Kashmir, so that the conventional military balance is restored to more manageable proportions, is out of sync with recent realities. In particular, the post 9/11 world sees Islamic jehad as pure terrorism that must be stamped out everywhere. Then, Khaled Ahmed, who has just been thunderous in his critique of Pakistan government policy the last month or so: Extremism and shariat: One reason Talibanisation spread in Pakistan was the identity between what Mulla Umar wanted to enforce in Afghanistan and that which the ideological state of Pakistan wants to enforce as shariat . There is a general misconception in Pakistan that the Taliban actually put forward a vision of Islam which was alien to Pakistan. The truth of the matter is that the Taliban vision was alien to Afghanistan and was exported to it from Pakistan. The department of Amr bil Maruf , responsible for most of the extreme measures taken in Afghanistan, was actually proposed by the PML government of Nawaz Sharif in its 15th Amendment. The only difference is that Mulla Umar went ahead and implemented what the Pakistani state was first in contemplating. The Council of Islamic Ideology in Pakistan has been recommending institutional reform - for instance the inquisition-like office of Hisba - that would 'complete' the ideological state. And finally an intricately argued piece by Ejaz Haider on the dynamics of the India/Pakistan conflict and the status of Kashmir: There is need therefore for India to give General Pervez Musharraf the room to implement the rethought policy. The problem the general is facing just now is the all- or nothing situation he is confronted with. That is a problem inherent in any policy that has been allowed to run longer than it should have. Given India\ufffds refusal to talk Kashmir, the issue before Islamabad is whether Kashmir can be kept alive without its force- multiplying role -- i.e., whether the Kashmiri groups themselves will be able to sustain New Delhi\ufffds repressive policies and allow Pakistan to play a purely political role. This is especially important if India continues to deny that Kashmir is a dispute. Nicholas Kristof in the Friday NYT: -------------- The scariest aspect of the crisis between India and Pakistan today is not the way troops are exchanging artillery fire along the snowy mountains of Kashmir. Rather, it is the way the escalations mimic war simulations held over the years. Spooks and scholars have conducted many mock conflicts between the two countries, with specialists playing the parts of leaders on each side. Very frequently the result is nuclear war. In conversations with experts, including those who launched nuclear strikes in these war games, the precariousness of the South Asian nuclear balance is clear. Paradoxically, the tiny number of nuclear weapons on each side creates instability and an incentive to launch a first strike -- use your arsenal or lose it. Now, I don't really think that another war will erupt between India and Pakistan, or that if it does it will go nuclear. Essentially what is happening is that the Indian government is huffing and bluffing, both for domestic political gain and to scare Pakistan into making concessions. As Stephen P. Cohen, an American scholar, puts it: \"The Indians are escalating the crisis to an international level. They see this as a good opportunity to press Pakistan.\" http://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/28/opinion/28KRIS.html"}, {"response": 8, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, May 18, 2002 (18:10)", "body": "Pakistani police are DNA testing blood and hair samples from a butchered body found in a shallow grave 18 miles from the center of Karachi to confirm whether the remains are those of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. The body was found near a blood-splattered shack where Pearl was believed to be murdered. A chair found in the shed matches the one Pearl was photographed in by his abductors. Police also say they found the top of the track suit Pearl was wearing in the death video. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&ncid=716&e=4&u=/ap/20020517/ap_on_re_as/slain_reporter_77"}, {"response": 9, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, May 31, 2002 (11:47)", "body": "Posted on Fri, May. 31, 2002 India Says Al Qaeda Moving to Pakistani Kashmir BY Y.P. RAJESH NEW DELHI - (Reuters) - A large number of al Qaeda militants have moved to Pakistani Kashmir from Afghanistan and have joined separatists opposed to Indian rule in its part of Kashmir, Indian defense officials said on Friday. Some of the militants have set up base close to a cease-fire line between Indian and Pakistani forces in the disputed Himalayan region but there was no evidence any of the al Qaeda members had crossed into Indian Kashmir, a defense official said. The Indian officials, citing military intelligence reports from Pakistani Kashmir, said the al Qaeda members moving to the region were evading U.S. and Pakistani security forces hunting for them elsewhere in Pakistan. \"There are a plethora of reports from premier (intelligence) agencies that al Qaeda has merged with terrorist camps there,\" a senior defense official told reporters on condition of anonymity. \"They have obviously shifted to areas lesser developed and where the law and order situation is far more looser. http://www.miami.com/mld/miami/news/world/3373429.htm"}, {"response": 10, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Sep 20, 2002 (07:31)", "body": "Pakistan Says Arrests Suspect in Suicide Bombing By REUTERS Filed at 3:56 p.m. ET ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan said Wednesday it had arrested seven ``most wanted terrorists'' including the suspected mastermind of a suicide bombing which killed 11 French naval engineers in the port city of Karachi earlier this year. . . . The arrests came a day after Pakistan's military ruler General Pervez Musharraf vowed to crack down on local militant groups involved in attacks on foreign nationals and religious minorities in the Muslim nation. ``Top leaders of local militant groups have been arrested, while with the passage of time others will also be held,'' he told senior bankers in Karachi. ``We cannot allow a handful of fanatics to hold hostage the destiny of 140 million people.'' http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/international-pakistan-militants-arrests.html"}, {"response": 11, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Mar  7, 2005 (12:51)", "body": "Pakistanis Pursue Qaeda Forces in Offensive on Afghan Border By CARLOTTA GALL KABUL, Afghanistan, March 6 - Pakistani forces have begun operations on the border with Afghanistan, continuing their pursuit of foreign members of Al Qaeda into the mountainous tribal area where Osama bin Laden has been thought to be hiding for the last year, Pakistani and American military officials said late last week. On Saturday, in the most recent operation, the Pakistani military killed two foreign fighters who appeared to be Arabs in a raid in Devgar, near the Afghan border in North Waziristan Province. They captured 11 others - one from Sudan, one from Qatar, and some Pakistanis from Punjab Province, said Brig. Mehmood Shah, chief of security for the tribal areas. The military seized large amounts of arms and ammunition in the operation, he said. Maj. Gen. Eric Olson, commander of the combined joint task force in Afghanistan, confirmed Thursday in an interview at Bagram Air Base, north of Kabul, that Pakistan had begun operations in North Waziristan and planned more. American officials have pushed for Pakistan to move on North Waziristan after military operations in South Waziristan last year smashed at least two militant training camps and disrupted hundreds of foreign militants taking shelter there. More than 300 foreign fighters and local tribesmen were killed or captured, but more are thought to have fled into the North Waziristan mountains. Some reports in the past 18 months have put Mr. bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, in the impenetrable mountains, where they are thought to live warily, not doing anything that would attract attention. Others have suggested that they moved into the cities of Pakistan last year as the fighting intensified in South Waziristan, but American and Pakistani officials say they suspect that Mr. bin Laden is hiding in the mountainous border areas. Pakistani forces lost about 200 soldiers in the fighting in 2004 and now are waging operations with targets based on specific intelligence, rather than the broad sweeps that were so costly for them, officials said. The United States military in Afghanistan is also running \"very extensive operations\" on the Afghan side of the border in Khost Province, General Olson said, in part to watch for movement of militants. More: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/07/international/asia/07afghan.html news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 6, "subject": "Experts (or not!) on The Spring!", "response_count": 77, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "stacey", "date": "Mon, Dec  8, 1997 (18:10)", "body": "NOT! There's no need to ask again!"}, {"response": 2, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Mon, Dec  8, 1997 (19:06)", "body": "Far be it for me to decide how many copies of a topic that Yapp should open.....I've already suggested that terry delete this one :)"}, {"response": 4, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Dec  9, 1997 (10:20)", "body": "Hmmmm. Loaded question. I prefer to view it as, I always like more practice!"}, {"response": 6, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Dec  9, 1997 (18:21)", "body": "In the name of exploration... of course!"}, {"response": 8, "author": "stacey", "date": "Wed, Dec 10, 1997 (09:47)", "body": "screwing around inside a cave. Well, not exactly screwing around..."}, {"response": 10, "author": "donnal", "date": "Fri, Dec 12, 1997 (20:10)", "body": "How does one scribble a posted response on the Spring?"}, {"response": 11, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Dec 13, 1997 (19:18)", "body": "In telnet I think it's hide"}, {"response": 12, "author": "donnal", "date": "Sun, Dec 14, 1997 (08:56)", "body": "Apparently I have no telnet access."}, {"response": 13, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Sat, Feb 21, 1998 (05:33)", "body": "OK, does anyone know who the host of the \"drool\" conference is? I opened a new topic there a couple of days ago, and it seems to have been deleted, with no reason given...I'm entirely unimpressed, as you may imagine :/"}, {"response": 14, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Feb 21, 1998 (21:40)", "body": "Check with Nan."}, {"response": 15, "author": "nan", "date": "Sun, Feb 22, 1998 (10:19)", "body": "(Mike) OK, does anyone know who the host of the \"drool\" conference is? That's me ;-) I opened a new topic there a couple of days ago, and it seems to have been deleted, with no reason given...I'm entirely unimpressed, as you may imagine :/ Yes, I imagine so. Sorry, Mike--I haven't retired a topic since November. Though, I'm not the only one who can retire or kill topics ar drool. Also, we've been having some strange technical problems the last month or so. Who knows? I didn't even see your topic. What was it? Something juicy, I hope ;-) BTW, I almost never get out of drool so if you need to find me you should post something there--the \"Help\" board is probably the best bet."}, {"response": 16, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Sun, Feb 22, 1998 (10:34)", "body": "Hehehe....nothing juicy, i'm afraid, it was just an announcement that I was going to ask you to instantly freeze :) Other people can kill/retire topics in drool? Are you the only host or are there others?"}, {"response": 17, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Feb 22, 1998 (10:54)", "body": "No new sex scandal? Nothing juicy? Too bad."}, {"response": 18, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Sun, Feb 22, 1998 (10:56)", "body": "Heee....request for bios, actually, but there you go :)"}, {"response": 19, "author": "mrobens", "date": "Sun, Feb 22, 1998 (12:11)", "body": "Mike, I removed the request for bios topic on the Drool Conference as it seemed to me to be an excessively intrusive request, especially without checking first with the conference host. I hardly think you should be put out at having a topic removed without your knowledge as you seemed to feel free to add it without the knowledge of the host."}, {"response": 20, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Sun, Feb 22, 1998 (13:18)", "body": "Well, to be perfectly honest, I believe I am free to open a topic wherever I damn well like! If everyone here sought the agreement of the conference host before they opened a topic then we'd be screwed, seeing as the name of the host is not shown anywhere in the Conference main page. The fact that the topic was opened also with the good of the entire Spring community in mind makes this doubly offensive. The Spring is not run exclusively for the good of drool conference members."}, {"response": 21, "author": "nan", "date": "Sun, Feb 22, 1998 (13:19)", "body": "(Mike) Hehehe....nothing juicy, i'm afraid, it was just an announcement that I was going to ask you to instantly freeze :) Hmmm... Other people can kill/retire topics in drool? Are you the only host or are there others? Technically, I'm the only host. However, I requested that my predecessors retain their host privileges. It never hurts to have an extra set of eyes helping you out and we are always of one mind. How many people can you say that about? (Terry)No new sex scandal? Nothing juicy? Too bad. See? Terry knows me...;-) (Mike) Heee....request for bios, actually, but there you go :) Aaah, now I see why Myretta deleted it. I probably would have as well, had I seen it first. Truth is, Mike...drool is one of those places where half the contributors don't even use their real names. I don't think you'd have gotten a response from anyone."}, {"response": 22, "author": "pmnh", "date": "Sun, Feb 22, 1998 (15:30)", "body": "christ! so what? no one compels anyone to respond to anything... and regardless, rudeness is rudeness... and to delete someone's topic- especially one as innocuous and well-meaning as this one- was manifestly rude... (not to mention the fact that the request was entirely a matter of individual choice!)"}, {"response": 23, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Feb 22, 1998 (16:26)", "body": "I'm going to liassez faire with this one, except to say that drool is it's own little island universe on the spring, almost like another country. And they basically promulgate their own groundrules and I try and stay out of the way. In general, in the mainstream conferences on the Spring, I work hard to not delete topics, I might send someone a gentle urging to create it in the right conference if it looks like it's not related to the overall conference. I appreciate Mike's effort to help us get to know each other and I appreciate Nan's efforts to serve her little community of droolers. Hopefully, the twain will meet somewhere or maybe it won't. I think we can still all get along. My gosh, we've almost got a real, down to earth \"thrash\" on the mild, innocuous spring!"}, {"response": 25, "author": "pmnh", "date": "Sun, Feb 22, 1998 (18:04)", "body": "(god forbid... might wind up firth-ed to death- by accident, of course)"}, {"response": 26, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Sun, Feb 22, 1998 (18:43)", "body": "WER - thanks. I've updated the header in the Farrawae conference too. Terry, as for Drool being its own little island universe, perhaps they should shut themselves off if that's what they want? I for one have no interest in seeing the five previous posts on the Conference Main Page being taken up with Colin Firth. Perhaps, even, they should disappear to their own mailing list - that way they could even regulate who could read, let alone post! Myretta, I'm rather saddened by the fact that you deleted the topic. The fact that you didn't feel the topic was worthwhile does not mean other members of Drool would have felt the same. In my opinion, the Host who does not encourage the development of new topics and ideas is no Host at all. Maybe you should take some time to think about it."}, {"response": 27, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Sun, Feb 22, 1998 (20:11)", "body": "I have to agree with you guys, it's a matter of choice whether or not to respond to a new topic. No response means no interest. Myretta, really feel that you owed Mike a warning or something. Besides, there is a button to help any of us create a topic that we think would be interesting. And if Drool is it's own private world, then it shouldn't be open to the rest of us to meddle in, seeing as how we're unwanted there in the first place. Surprised my duchovny topic wasn't taken off the air."}, {"response": 28, "author": "nan", "date": "Sun, Feb 22, 1998 (20:38)", "body": "(nick) christ! so what? no one compels anyone to respond to anything... and regardless, rudeness is rudeness... Indeed it is. And at the risk of sounding as childish as the rest of you...Mike started it with his \ufffdI\ufffdm not impressed\ufffd remark. (Terry) I'm going to liassez faire with this one, except to say that drool is it's own little island universe on the spring, almost like another country. Actually, yes it is. I think you really have to understand that the ladies who participate at drool are here for that reason only. It\ufffds nothing personal, that\ufffds just the way it is. We rarely talk about our personal lives and most of us have no idea what the others do for a living or where they reside. Feeling that public boards are not the place to have private discussions, we save those conversations for email. Sorry if it offends you. (Terry) My gosh, we've almost got a real, down to earth \"thrash\" on the mild, innocuous spring! Oh this is nothing, Terry. You should see when the girls get going. Myretta, if a host doesn't want anyone to open new conferences, they should change it with their hostly powers, not take it out on posters, If you have a problem with the way the drool conference is being handled, please direct your comments to me. Also, I have repeatedly tried to change the option on my host board. However, the changes are never accepted. So, Terry, if you please--could you change the option to \ufffdmust be a host of the conference\ufffd? I wish to avoid similar problems in the future...if there is a future that is. we need to keep the traffic around here, not run it off... Forgive me, but drool was dead until I got here and I have spent the better part of 4 months emailing everyone I could think of to get bodies in there. It is now one of the most popular conferences. The only people I drive away are those who shouldn\ufffdt be there...children, etc. Maybe if drool is its own little island universe, it should have different access points so those that are unwanted don't wander in by accident... I want to be perfectly clear, it\ufffds not that Mike or you or anyone else is not wanted. If you guys want to come in and drool over Kevin Costner, well that works for me. It\ufffds that the topic had nothing to do with drooling of any kind. I think it very unfair that those of you who don\ufffdt know me are forming opinions about me (or Myretta) because of the way I choose to run a conference in which you do not participate. I deal with enough as is, I don\ufffdt need it from you. (Mike)Terry, as for Drool being its own little island universe, perhaps they should shut themselves off if that's what they want? You know something Mike, that\ufffds the first thing you\ufffdve said with which I agree. I was thinking that perhaps I should move drool somewhere else since it is not \ufffdcontributing to the good of the Spring\ufffd. Let\ufffds forget the number of hits it generates. BTW Mike, I don\ufffdt think that antagonizing other posters is doing anything good for the \ufffdcommunity\ufffd either. I for one have no interest in seeing the five previous posts on the Conference Main Page being taken up with Colin Firth. This does not surprise me. The conference header very clearly states that it\ufffds a place for women. If you don\ufffdt like it, don\ufffdt look. In my opinion, the Host who does not encourage the development of new topics and ideas is no Host at all. And in my opinion, it is rude to start a topic without checking with the host. I am easy enough to find if you were really interesting in looking. I would never do it in your conference, especially if it had no relationship to anything else on the boards. I encourage the development of topics which are related to the conference in general--everything else goes. That\ufffds my rule. Terry has repeatedly told me that I should do whatever I feel is best. Out of respect for him, I have left topics that he tarted which have not shown movement for almost a year, because I felt it was the right thing to do. Tell you what guys, I\ufffdll take care of the ladies drool and you take care of everything else."}, {"response": 29, "author": "nan", "date": "Sun, Feb 22, 1998 (20:58)", "body": "(Wolf)And if Drool is it's own private world, then it shouldn't be open to the rest of us to meddle in, seeing as how we're unwanted there in the first place. Surprised my duchovny topic wasn't taken off the air. Thanks for fanning the flames. You've been most helpful."}, {"response": 30, "author": "pmnh", "date": "Sun, Feb 22, 1998 (21:49)", "body": "(sigh) certainly don't want to belabor this (already been done, it seems)... but the fact is mike's harmless comment about \"not being impressed\" (for which, if i remember, you said you didn't blame him) after his topic was summarily deleted was hardly justification for the explanation (retort) he received in response... objectively, you surely know he meant no harm whatsoever, and if you've paid any attention at all you know he worked damned hard getting the bio's thing together, purely for the benefit of enhancing the spring (just, apparently, as you have done by resuscitating drool... so your interests should complement each other, after all, right?)... c'mon, don't you think, especially under these circumstances, that perhaps a little tact was in order? and i don't think anyone bears any ill will toward you droolers... no need to initiate division of property proceedings or anything... it's not like we wander in to your conference, razing and burning (at least not on a regular basis)... and it bears mentioning that mike made his (innocent, i thought) comment in this conference, on his own \"turf\", so to speak... and it certainly wasn't made, i'm sure you'll concur, with the intention of starting a civil war (and myretta started that, anyway... and what ever happened to the idea of a history conference, incidentally?)... anyway, like mlk posed... \"where do we go from here- chaos or community?\"... (promise, my mouth's shut now...)"}, {"response": 32, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Feb 23, 1998 (12:08)", "body": "I'll try and fix the problem you mentioned about hosts opening topics. That's how you want and I want to facilitate. And I surely like it that you're here in your own happy little island world, drooling over the greatest hunks of the world."}, {"response": 33, "author": "nan", "date": "Mon, Feb 23, 1998 (12:23)", "body": "Let me try to explain some things about myself and drool so that we may move on: I feel quite certain that Mike only meant to do what was best for Spring. I can appreciate the time he\ufffds devoted to the bios. In fact, I\ufffdm rather surprised that we haven\ufffdt met before. I would not have seen Mike\ufffds first message here, had I not been directed to it by Terry. Poor thing, he was only trying to get some communication going. Sorry, Terry---don\ufffdt worry this too, shall pass. And the truth is Nick, I don\ufffdt pay attention to what\ufffds going on at the rest of Spring. It\ufffds not that I wish us to be segregated or that I have no interest. My problem is lack of time. I can just keep up with the boards I have, let alone visit others. This is why there are other people who have host privileges in my conference. Now, to understand the ladies...I don\ufffdt know how it is in other conferences, but droolers are a rather...er, volatile bunch. Little arguments (for lack of a better word) are commonplace there. Nothing like a bunch of opinionated women all drooling over the same man to cause a stir. I spend a good portion of my time putting out little fires, smoothing over differences and emailing the women who are still pouting over their bruised feelings. Come to think of it, drool would probably be a very interesting su ject for someone doing a psychological study of cyber communities. We\ufffdve also had a series of strange technical difficulties--boards vanishing (no mention in the logs, nothing), posting problems, boards not showing new messages, etc. I tend to be very protective of the ladies--because there is a certain stigma attached to spending your off-hours talking about pretty men. I agree, it\ufffds not rocket science, but it\ufffds not intended to be either. Drool is about sheer nonsense...silliness for the sake of it. This is why we tend to stay to ourselves, because (right or wrong) many of us feel our discussions are looked down upon by the more serious people in other communities (not necessarily those in Spring). Many use pseudonyms and many never ell their \ufffdreal life\ufffd friends about it. While I have no shame about drooling, some consider it a dirty little secret. In terms of all the things said here in the last 24 hours, yes...I\ufffdd be very happy to come to a mutual understanding. This rather verbose post will, hopefully, allow you to understand something about me and the rest of the ladies who drool. Myretta is a very dear friend of mine, as Mike clearly is to you. After reading Mike\ufffds first post and knowing I never visit this conference, I imagine Myretta felt that he was talking about me behind my back...so she was defending me. After Myretta\ufffds reply, all of you attacked her, hence my last reply. So now, we\ufffdre just going around in circles, wasting time and space. Despite any problems, I enjoy the drool conference and want to continue it as long as there\ufffds someone to drool over. It\ufffds a great stress reliever and the ladies really are quite terrific. If you really want to get to know them better, that\ufffds great. If you can get them to visit other conferences, more power to you. The truth is, I don\ufffdt think most of them realize there is anything else at Spring except drool, that\ufffds how single minded they are. I\ufffdm not trying to be difficult here, just realistic...I eally don\ufffdt think that a bios board would be successful there. It makes me wild when a topic is started, then dies quickly--one of my pet peeves. So, rather than a bio board, I propose that I start a general Spring topic. Where you (or anyone else) can post about what\ufffds going on in the rest of the community, try to get people involved, get their bios if you can, etc. Will that help you at all?"}, {"response": 34, "author": "nan", "date": "Mon, Feb 23, 1998 (12:32)", "body": "(Terry) I'll try and fix the problem you mentioned about hosts opening topics.That's how you want and I want to facilitate. Thanks Terry. While you're at it, perhaps you can figure out why I can't change anything on the host's page. None of the changes is ever accepted. As you know, I change the main page photo every so often, but I can't do it by changing the header at the host's page. Right now we have it set up in a rather clunky, but usable, fashion. And I surely like it that you're here in your own happy little island world, drooling over the greatest hunks of the world. You and me both, m'dear."}, {"response": 35, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Mon, Feb 23, 1998 (19:37)", "body": "Well, that's certainly generated a goodly number of posts. I can't reply to every point because scrolling up and down the screen at 1a.m. is doing my eyes in :) A few things that pop up, though: I am actually intrigued by the popularity of Drool, and had considered opening a topic in Drool, in here, or on The WELL about the social implications of a \"safe-place\" for women to air (for want of a better term) \"drooling\". Also, Nancy, I feel that perhaps your speaking for the collectively for all members of Drool is a little off the mark. I accept, of course, that you know them all much better than I am ever likely to, but to simply cut off a topic because you don't think it is interesting is (how shall I phrase this..?) \"not quite in the spirit of things\" (there :) However, I would like to re-open the topic again, simply because on-line bios are a Spring-wide phenomenon and I would like to share this fact with ar uably the biggest conference on Spring at present. As for opening topics without asking the host, I suggest that you make this VERY CLEAR in the conference header (along with your name and e-mail contact etc.). It is obvious that different conferences develop different social contracts within themselves, but to keep these contracts entirely \"unwritten\" and then castigate publicly those who accidentally transgress them is (and again...) \"not quite in the spirit of things\". nan: and knowing I never visit this conference well, with Porch being the starting point for the Spring, and you being a conference host, perhaps you should drop in a little more often...? Finally, (in what has pretty much become a response so far just to Nan :) bios are eventually going to be much more integrated into Spring, so there won't be any need for me to go out and trawl conferences to tell people about it (kind of like being an evangelist, but that's another story...:) Now a little history of what is quickly becoming a famous Spring topic :) Popping up the conference index and selecting Drool was (and I'm not ashamed to admit it) a physically nerve-wracking experience. I pondered long and hard over whether to enter the topic, and scrolled up and down the list of topics many times trying to work out the host. I had thought it might be Amy, since she had many, many topics opened with her name. \"But what the hey,\", I thought, it's only a topic after all, so I entered it - KABLOOM! Sorry about the length of that one :)"}, {"response": 36, "author": "nan", "date": "Mon, Feb 23, 1998 (22:12)", "body": "Also, Nancy, I feel that perhaps your speaking for the collectively for all members of Drool is a little off the mark. Can\ufffdt say I agree with that. I accept, of course, that you know them all much better than I am ever likely to, but to simply cut off a topic because you don't think it is interesting is (how shall I phrase this..?) \"not quite in the spirit of things\" (there :) Very diplomatic, Michael. Well done. However, I didn\ufffdt say the topic wasn\ufffdt interesting, just that it had nothing to do with drool. I think I\ufffdm missing something here so, perhaps you can explain it. What exactly is \ufffdthe spirit of things\ufffd? When I first became host of drool (last Summer) I was sort of...plopped in the middle of things. I had no idea how to get people in there, no clue how the software worked...nada. Therefore, I spent all my time just trying to get it to float...then flourish. I really did \ufffdt concern myself with the rest of Spring, because I really believed that my \ufffdjob\ufffd was to get the traffic in drool. Please explain, because I\ufffdm clearly unaware of what\ufffds going on at the rest of this site. However, I would like to re-open the topic again, simply because on-line bios are a Spring-wide phenomenon and I would like to share this fact with aruably the biggest conference on Spring at present. I will start the general Spring topic, feel free to post whatever you want about bios there. But I would like to hear about the \"spirit of things\" first, if you don't mind. As for opening topics without asking the host, I suggest that you make this VERY CLEAR in the conference header (along with your name and e-mail contact etc.). Will do. (Mike) well, with Porch being the starting point for the Spring, and you being a conference host, perhaps you should drop in a little more often...? I\ufffdm not opposed to that idea and will drop by from time to time. Please understand that my main responsibility is to drool and those who participate in it. I am most concerned with getting and keeping the bodies in there--something which is best served at the conference itself. Popping up the conference index and selecting Drool was (and I'm not ashamed to admit it) a physically nerve-wracking experience. I guess if you\ufffdre not driven to enter (by overwhelming lust for some unattainable man) then it very well might be. I pondered long and hard over whether to enter the topic, and scrolled up and down the list of topics many times trying to work out the host. I had thought it might be Amy, Actually, Amy would have been a good choice as she would have forwarded the message, but no matter. since she had many, many topics opened with her name. \"But what the hey,\", I thought, it's only a topic after all, so I entered it - KABLOOM! That\ufffds a good point, it\ufffds not that important in the whole grand scheme of things. Myretta killed the topic, not your dog ;-) If I may ask...why didn\ufffdt you just ask Terry who the host was? It appears that you and I are working from a similar viewpoint: You think it was presumptuous of us to remove a topic without telling you and I think it was presumptuous of you to start an unrelated topic in a conference that I\ufffdve worked very hard to build. So there, we\ufffdre even ;-) Sorry about the length of that one :) Geez, you thought that was long? You\ufffdd lose your mind at drool...the girls can talk ."}, {"response": 37, "author": "pmnh", "date": "Mon, Feb 23, 1998 (23:07)", "body": "(whew!) (and we did it without the u.n.)..."}, {"response": 38, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Feb 23, 1998 (23:08)", "body": "Hey, if it's too physically nerve wracking, you can always check into the 'babes' conference. It's a guy type thing."}, {"response": 39, "author": "pmnh", "date": "Mon, Feb 23, 1998 (23:12)", "body": "hmmmm... sounds like it needs a \"natalie\" topic..."}, {"response": 41, "author": "nan", "date": "Tue, Feb 24, 1998 (13:01)", "body": "(Terry) you can always check into the 'babes' conference. It's a guy type thing. Aah, so you did start the \"babes\" conference. Do you want to move Bullock and Hooks over there? While I'm at it, would you like me to say something in the Drool header about Babes--a link or something, so that men who are lost won't run away? (After discovering the big scary Colin photo, that is ;-p)"}, {"response": 43, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Feb 24, 1998 (13:48)", "body": "Sure, we could do that. I'll move those over and email you when it's done. That way the guys coming to drool can have their outlet too."}, {"response": 44, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Tue, Feb 24, 1998 (19:48)", "body": "My opinion follows: The \"spirit of things\", Nan, is to build up, not put down. To encourage, rather than discourage. To work to produce something better, rather than simply culling what is not perfect. Also, the \"spirit of things\" is that we are all a part of \"it\", whatever \"it\" happens to be. If \"it\" happens to be the Spring, then I, you and we collectively are all part of \"it\", whichever conference(s) we hang out in. Co-operation, complementation, agreement and forward-looking actions are all part of the \"spirit\". Ha I been e-mailed by you or Myretta or whoever about the topic, mentioning that perhaps it was not quite right, but perhaps including suggestions on how to make it right (like the suggestion you have put forward yourself now), then this somehow would have been \"in the spirit\". The \"spirit\" is not to cut down but to build up. Also, the \"spirit\" is that here we are all equal. We are removed from a normal heirachy by the fact that our only medium of exchange is textual, in the same font, with the same headers. And in that equality, we are all free to make our own decisions as to what is worthy and what is not - there is no place for over-bearing authority, and decisions for the many decided by the few; neither here, nor on the net in general. A very obvious example is ARPANet, the earliest form of the internet that both you and I now use. It was developed as an academic/military system for nuclear scenarios etc., but alongside it grew the message list \"SF LOVERS\". And from that very list grew what you and I are using now. Without the foresight (or oversight, delete relevant to your cynicism :) of those in charge to leave a completely irrelevant use of America's most advanced tool in place, we would now have a militarised/commercialised/auth ritarian net, rather than the anarchic freedom which we still enjoy. This freedom is being encroached left, right and centre by Capitol Hill, and the last thing we need is for a replication of that sort of thing here. A simple fact, that I am not willing to concede under any circumstances whatsoever, is that you are not qualified to speak for everyone in Drool, just as the Senate isn't qualified to speak for American/Worldwide netizens. Period. ...end of opinion. One thing I'm concerned about, Nan, is your view that because you built Drool up from nothing/very little, that in some way you \"own\" it. Did you not build Drool up for the good of the Spring in general, or was it a tool for building up self-esteem? If it was the latter, then there is no room for that kind of attitude to do anything but go rotten. There are only two ways to gain recognition in a virtual community: 1) do something totally amazing, preferably in a non-virtual context; 2) abuse one's powe . Otherwise one may as well just forget recognition for anything but one's way with words."}, {"response": 46, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Wed, Feb 25, 1998 (08:57)", "body": "true enough, WER, the thrash is over (and I do *love* that word :), but Nan asked me what \"the spirit\" was, so I thought I'd let her know. But, as you say, enough. Back to a silent porch conf."}, {"response": 48, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Feb 25, 1998 (14:59)", "body": "Just put 'em in your own user directory and link to them there. If you need anymore help on linking, let me know."}, {"response": 49, "author": "stacey", "date": "Wed, Feb 25, 1998 (17:13)", "body": "wow! I was only gone for a week (or two?) and I missed all the good stuff!!"}, {"response": 51, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Wed, Feb 25, 1998 (20:13)", "body": "oooo, you're using explicit (twice), rather dangerous there, wer! *giggle*"}, {"response": 53, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Wed, Feb 25, 1998 (21:27)", "body": "now that would be interesting! (hi wer)"}, {"response": 55, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Wed, Feb 25, 1998 (21:32)", "body": "am doin'...you? dunno, where ya wanna take us?"}, {"response": 57, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Wed, Feb 25, 1998 (21:37)", "body": "aw, maybe we oughta just walk"}, {"response": 59, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Wed, Feb 25, 1998 (21:42)", "body": "sure! where'd ya feel like goin'?"}, {"response": 61, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Wed, Feb 25, 1998 (21:46)", "body": "la la lalalala la lalala"}, {"response": 62, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Wed, Feb 25, 1998 (21:47)", "body": "la (forgot that last note)"}, {"response": 64, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Wed, Feb 25, 1998 (21:54)", "body": "k! we just found out the storms is on its way. hope it doesn't hit too bad....."}, {"response": 66, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Mar  2, 1998 (01:38)", "body": "March comin' in like a lambie pie."}, {"response": 67, "author": "stacey", "date": "Mon, Mar  2, 1998 (17:14)", "body": "not in Colorado (the new windy city... without all the politicians!)"}, {"response": 68, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Mon, Mar  2, 1998 (20:22)", "body": "same here, windy as all get out...."}, {"response": 69, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Mar  2, 1998 (22:34)", "body": "If you are interested in learning more about advertising on the Internet at a free breakfast read on. Otherwise, delete this message now. ------------------------------------------------------ M2K, an Austin-based direct and interactive advertising agency, has teamed up with some of the biggest names in Online Media to bring you BreakfastClick ( http://www.breakfastclick.com) . M2K's BreakfastClick is a practical business forum designed to help CEOs and marketing executives understand the potential of advertising on the Web. On March 10, BreakfastClick will be co-hosted by Link Exchange ( http://www.linkexchange.com) . Link Exchange is the Web's largest advertising network with over 200,000 active Web sites as members. Link Exchange's mission is to help web sites promote themselves, and to foster a cooperative community of web site owners that benefit from the collective strength of LinkExchange membership. LinkExchange members show ads for other members and paying sponsors in return for in-kind advertising and a host of additional services. On March 24, BreakfastClick will be co-hosted by AudioNet (www.audionet.com). AudioNet delivers more live and on-demand multimedia broadcasts than any other company in the world. AudioNet was the first company to capitalize on audio and video streaming technology by aggregating the most multimedia content of any Web site and then building the network and infrastructure to support the largest audience on the Internet. AudioNet broadcasts a vast selection of live and on-demand content to Internet users around the world, including live continuous broadcasts of over 260 radio and television stations and networks, play-by-play of thousands of college and professional sporting events, live music, on-demand music from the CD Jukebox, and live and on-demand shows and Internet-only \"Webcasts.\" AudioNet was recently selected as one of 25 Premium Channel partners on the release of Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0, which is driving site traffic into the millions daily. M2K's BreakfastClick is free, but seating is limited. To learn more about the advertising opportunities presented by this explosive new media, reserve your seat today by registering online at http://www.breakfastclick.com M2K reserves the right to decline registrations from companies deemed to be competitors of M2K or its clients. Registrations may also be declined due to space limitations. Because of unexpectedly high interest in BreakfastClick, several events have been moved from Chez Zee to a larger venue at the last minute. All registered attendees will be notified of the change in venue. ------------------------------------------------------------- This e-mail message has been sent to by Civic Pride, Inc. You are on Civic Pride's high-tech e-mail list. From time to time we will mail you notification of important high-tech events in the Austin area. We do these mailings for FREE. If you wish to be removed from this e-mail list please contact us: mark@civicpride.com, phone: 292-0100, fax: 292-1376, http://www.civicpride.com . On the other hand, we'll be happy to add a friend of yours to the list. Just have them e-mail us with their request to be added to the Civic Pride high-tech list. Ooops, I thought I had something else on my clipboard. Should I leave this massive piece of drift, ya."}, {"response": 70, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Tue, Mar  3, 1998 (07:48)", "body": "hahahahhahah :))))) *amusement* :)"}, {"response": 71, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Mar  3, 1998 (08:15)", "body": "Mike, did you ever get hooked up with the guy who wants to trade scripts?"}, {"response": 72, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Tue, Mar  3, 1998 (19:35)", "body": "I got the e-mail, and to be honest I haven't had time. However, I was thinking about it today, so I will dig the e-mail out and get in touch with him."}, {"response": 73, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Mar  4, 1998 (05:51)", "body": "More from him last night, to be forwarded to you."}, {"response": 74, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Mar  4, 1998 (06:39)", "body": "Sounds like a good trade to me. I am doing a CGI project for the Exploratorium in San Francisco on a volunteer basis and that is why I need the test space. I don't have years of experience doing this, but there are some prewritten CGI libraries available that allow a developer to write a CGI script that will put up the HTML form and collect the data. At this point I would have to say that I could probably write the part that put up the HTML and collected the data. So, in that regard, let me take a stab at what I think you might mean. Name: Email: What you do in real life: Favorite sites on the web: Other interests, and miscellaneous biographical information: Other or different fields that you have in mind: A couple of areas that I am going to have to do some research on, or get ideas about: If there are variables that I can access for the visitor's email address, or am I going to have to make them enter it by hand. How to link the information I collect to the visitor's alias. Maybe the people at the Well would be willing to part with some secrets in that regard. Anyway, I think it would be fun to be involved in writing the CGI script for this, and if the library I mentioned is loaded, or could be loaded, on the server, I don't think it would be too much work to get to the point of having the form displayed and collecting the information. Let me know what fields and other form elements you think should be in there. I will follow up with some questions for Terry. Regards, Bill"}, {"response": 75, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Wed, Mar  4, 1998 (17:33)", "body": "yup, got that and replied. Looks like it shouldn't be too long before we have something working in beta!"}, {"response": 77, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Apr  2, 1998 (19:12)", "body": "Yep, two different conferences can have their own customizations."}, {"response": 78, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Fri, Apr  3, 1998 (16:16)", "body": "explain further...as Babes host it would be cool to know what's possible etc."}, {"response": 79, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Apr  3, 1998 (21:25)", "body": "Have you played around with the text entry boxes for hosts on the web. And there's a whole host manual waiting for you on http://www.armidalesoftware.com"}, {"response": 82, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Apr  4, 1998 (06:03)", "body": "Them and 2500 other websites!"}, {"response": 86, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Apr  9, 1998 (10:13)", "body": "I'm going to have to do a massive grep and replace soon."}, {"response": 87, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Apr  9, 1998 (10:21)", "body": "Soon as in today or tomorrow. We're just going to go in and grep and replace *very* instance of spring.com to spring.net. So if you read this in a couple of days spring.com should read spring.net. It won't make sense in posts where there are references to spring.com as the old system. But it's a small sacrifice to make in saving all our links and absolute references."}, {"response": 89, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Thu, Apr  9, 1998 (18:12)", "body": "*lol* :))) It's mainly you and someone else flirting, WER :)"}, {"response": 91, "author": "stacey", "date": "Mon, Apr 13, 1998 (09:00)", "body": "speaking of others doing 'their fair share'... where's Wolf? and yes, WER, I like to play!"}, {"response": 94, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Apr 16, 1998 (08:41)", "body": "I'd rather jump in with both feet and keep working til I get good at the game than admit I have no skills in that area."}, {"response": 96, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Apr 17, 1998 (15:18)", "body": "have skills in that area???"}, {"response": 98, "author": "stacey", "date": "Mon, Apr 20, 1998 (00:10)", "body": "(pass)"}, {"response": 100, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Tue, Jul 14, 1998 (22:37)", "body": "hey austin folks..... anyone know of a place around where we can buy some really big electric fans? my church (the san fernando cathedral) in san antonio is looking to buy some to augment the AC during these very hot summer days. we are looking for the ones that are big and round and stand up on a pedestal. thanks for any info!"}, {"response": 101, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Jul 15, 1998 (09:18)", "body": "Call John Hoberman at Tejas Restaurant Equipment. John's a rich, old hippie with a lot of \"stuff\" around. An ex Farmie."}, {"response": 102, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Jul 15, 1998 (09:24)", "body": "444-3669 in Austin 2413 Thornton Rd (near S Lamar and Oltorf)."}, {"response": 103, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Wed, Jul 15, 1998 (12:02)", "body": "thanks terry!"}, {"response": 104, "author": "pmnh", "date": "Wed, Jul 15, 1998 (12:02)", "body": "john hoberman's a hippie- farmie type? (my god)"}, {"response": 105, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Jul 15, 1998 (12:02)", "body": "And very successful."}, {"response": 106, "author": "riette", "date": "Wed, Jul 29, 1998 (05:21)", "body": "Probably BECAUSE he's a hippie-farmie type. That's like a liberal farmer, right? And how often does one get to meet one of those?"}, {"response": 107, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Aug 24, 1998 (20:12)", "body": "ok, who's john hoberman?????"}, {"response": 108, "author": "riette", "date": "Tue, Aug 25, 1998 (01:07)", "body": "beats me too news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 60, "subject": "India", "response_count": 16, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Jan 19, 1998 (09:26)", "body": "Traveling to India Frances Loden (frako@well.com) Delhi to Jaipur via airports: I'd been warned about trying to get into town from Delhi Airport--there is a taxi horror story somewhere in this conference--but this time it would be unnecessary since we were only changing planes at Delhi. I'd also been warned that most traffic in and out of Delhi Airport occurred in the middle of the night for some reason--that the airport slept during daylight hours and became a madhouse around midnight. This was true in our case. After our long flight from Narita, with a multihour layover in Bangkok, we arrived to a midnight cacophony of horns honking at Delhi Arrivals and mobs of taxi touts and hotel people waving identifying signs. There was a long, cold 20-minute bus ride to the domestic terminal around 1 am (the shuttle left from the international terminal only once an hour, directly across the street from where Arrivals spill outside). I was shocked at how cold it was in late December, but rationalized that it was in the middle of the night. The Delhi international terminal was fairly funky but the domestic terminal much worse. It was horribly uncomfortable and drafty, with all services shut down. The \"retiring rooms,\" or overnight accommodations found at airports and train stations, had filled up hours ago. Along with dozens of other, mostly Indian passengers, we tried to sleep in plastic chairs until 5:45 am. Unlike us, the Indians were prepared for such waits with cozy blankets that they draped over every family member. Everybody in Rajasthan, at least, seemed to have his or her own blanket or shawl. It was comforting to see whole families cuddled together or folded into every conceivable position, sometimes upside down, over creaky plastic chairs. Around 6 am, the Nescafe booth opened to sell oversweetened mud-colored coffee, which was nonetheless welcome to warm our bones. Indian airports have a practice I've seen nowhere else. After checkin and security check and sitting at the gate, you must walk out to the tarmac--one passenger at a time--to point to your checked bags, at which point they are loaded onto the cart for the aircraft. This makes the preboarding procedure drag, since few passengers know what the officials mean and neglect to do it until the last minute. We made half a dozen domestic flights, and they were all delayed by from one to four hours as a matter of routine. Usually no explanation was given for the delay. Indian (Alliance) Airlines planes are extremely old and have funky interiors, as if someone had smeared grease all over the tacky paisley-print walls. Most of our flights within Rajasthan were no longer than 45 minutes, so the flight attendants were harried even if all they served the passengers were literally bread and water. The bread consisted of anemic white bread with a thin layer of cream cheese, a greasy vegetable samosa, or pakora. Many of the seats were broken, and some overhead bins didn't latch properly. An extreme contrast to the Thai International plane we had left a few hours before."}, {"response": 2, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Jan 24, 1998 (16:00)", "body": "Frances Loden: Jaipur: After a 20-minute taxi ride (variously costing us 200, 220 and 250 rupees [at 38 rupees to the US dollar, from $5 to $7]), we arrived at the Mansingh Hotel around 7 am and watched the sunrise from our 5th-floor room. It was actually the 6th floor, but Indians follow the British practice of calling the 2nd floor the 1st floor. We sank gratefully into bed, but we didn't count on the fact that, precisely at 7 am every morning, a wailing voice and harmonium (a kind of boxy accordion that sits on the floor as you open and close one wall of it) would start up from a nearby religious school and continue blaring through the PA system for about an hour. But we were too excited to sleep for more than a couple of hours. The view out our window was engrossing enough: rooftop life flourished! As the day began, we saw families lounging on blankets, young men taking sluice baths from buckets in their shorts, a woman combing out her long wet hair, a man banging away on an old typewriter, an old woman watering plants, a dachshund following his bearded old man around, chillies drying in the sun, construction workers taking a break on their precarious-looking bamboo scaffold, a young guy with two textbooks open in front of him, a boy flying a kite, a girl peering through an open window with her leg hitched up on the sill, a woman hanging laundry. Rooftop life is an odd blend of private and public. Most of the buildings presumably held many families, but I don't know how many of them had access to the rooftop. Nobody from the ground can see you, but whoever is higher than you--like us hotel dwellers--can. Throughout Rajasthan, as I guess in most places, there seemed to be a sensitivity to the status accorded people who were higher than others. A wealthy man built his house 2 stories higher than that of the Jaisalmer maharaja, just to insult him. The maharaja wouldn't stand for it and had the extra floors torn down. The Mansingh Hotel is a 5-star, one of only two we stay in on our trip. (We make a practice of staying in nice hotels on entry and exit, just to ease transitions.) It's pleasant but nondescript, with a very good restaurant, tolerable coffee shop, exercise facilities and a pool. There's a small arcade selling overpriced souvenirs, books, and saris. Just standing around in the lobby, I was whisked into the sari shop and found myself wrapped in lengths of luscious green silk by a fast-talking man who reassured me that a woman could do anything easily, especially work, in a sari. The bookstore sold camera film but had no camera batteries or 8mm videotape. You have to go to a film processing specialty shop for those things. On the landing wall of every floor of the service stairs, hotel workers were reminded in big red letters that \"Guest Is Always Right.\" Jaipur Puppet Racket: Five minutes out of the hotel, on the road an intense young man strikes up a conversation with us, and before we know it we're in his shanty/tent to look at his puppets. He says he's a low-caste gypsy named Bangali--someone of his caste has only one name--and can't afford to live in a building, but someday he will buy the building next door. He clears a charpoy, or bed made of rag strips pulled taut across the frame, and orders us to sit down on the clean quilt spread there. He shows us photo albums full of clippings and photos of his performances in Scandinavia, his brother's performances in Japan, etc. I'm a little more interested in the kitchen made of clay and what his brother's wife, mother- in-law and children are doing over in the corner--but they're extremely shy. Soon they are hustled out and a cloth is draped across the interior for the puppet backdrop. I watch fascinated as Brother wraps a vivid turban around his head. The average Rajasthan turban is a colorful oblong scarf about 9 meters long, and it's fun to watch a man wind it rapidly around his head so that he can remove it like a hat. He shows us a naked puppet with visible ribs--a \"drug addict\" for the educational performances. I ask him if they do stories promoting condom use, and he says some stories are \"too difficult\" for the audience to understand. The performance begins with a sexy female dancer whose shimmy is controlled by strings. Every movement is signaled by a wheezing sound made by some whistle in the puppeteer's mouth. Brother plays a harmonium and sings. Another guy plays percussion. Attracted by the music, scruffy little kids wander into the tent and Brother yells at them to sit down and not block our view. I give them some Japanese candy which I fail to tell them is gum, and worry later that they've digested it. It seems wrong to see these little kids, ragged and dirty and looking like a \"Save the Children\" poster, munching on this awful candy I've given them. Often the puppets' heads fly up a foot in the air and come back down. One puppet is astride a horse, both of his arms in flames. Somehow the manipulator gets the puppet to fly under his"}, {"response": 3, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Jan 25, 1998 (23:09)", "body": "And more from the same source: Jaipur Movie Palaces: To be honest, I was almost more interested in Indian movie palaces than maharajas' palaces. After all, it's a novelty for an American to see a country that still has only 1000-plus-seat houses. The Premprakash Theatre, \"Rajasthan's First 70mm Theatre,\" seemed to have come down in status. Now it was showing the \"Lady Fighter,\" or Caucasian martial arts star Cynthia Rothrock, in \"Undefeatable,\" rated \"A\"--Only For Adults. Tickets were available for Noble Circle (25R or 66 cents--901 seats), Dress Circle (20R--334 seats), Upper Circle (16R--77 seats), and Lower Circle (14R--38 seats), with separate ladies' and gents' ticket windows. I was pissed not to make it into the Raj Mandir, \"Show Place of the Nation,\" a most beautiful pink restored movie theatre where a current hit, \"Dil To Pagal Hai\" starring the great favorite Shah Rukh Khan, was playing. Diamond Box (40R or $1.16--40 seats), Emerald Noble Circle (30R--909 seats), Ruby Dress Circle (26R--201 seats), and Pearl Lower Circle (17R--36 seats)--all seats were booked for the rest of the evening. I really wanted to see the latest hit of this No. 1 box office star of India--posters of him in a black leather jacket sold next to posters of Krishna and Radha running through the wilderness. We were taken to a much grubbier theatre by auto rickshaw. The ticket taker gave each of us Halls cough drops as we entered the vast auditorium, and the most expensive balcony seats were as tattered and broken-down as the seats on the main floor. The movie was \"Shapath,\" with a cast of about 50 men, all unshaven and pointing and punching at each other. I only recognized the star, Jackie Schroff, and that was easy because he was tallest and the only guy who was nice to his mother. After two hours and no hint of the movie's ending we had had enough, but we couldn't get out of the theatre. We had to ask the manager to unlock the door and cage and let us out. Amber Fort: Throughout Asia, we are very careful not to drink tap water and brush our teeth with bottled water. Luckily I hadn't experienced significant diarrhea for 6 years. But the next morning at 4:30 the deadly traveler's syndrome hit me, and by 7 am I was completely wrung out, familiar with every crack in the tile, and questioning my ability to be driven even the 20 minutes it took to get to Amber Fort. But with a dose of loperamide hydrochloride we made it there, although I spent most of the day at the fort finding sunny, comfortable places to sit and laughing weakly at the antics of the Hanuman langurs, lanky black-faced primates with incredibly long tails, who scrambled along the parapets and played leapfrog with each other. Tourists were being given elephant rides in and out of the fort. It looked too much like a slow Disneyland ride, and I wasn't interested. I was impressed by the mazelike structure and all the different levels of a 12th-century fortification. In retrospect, I think it was one of the more magnificent ones we had seen. It was too crowded, though, and I got tired of backing up on narrow staircases for oncoming traffic or dodging other people's viewfinders. Whenever I could escape the crowd I'd sit and look at the fancy, intricate stone carvings of flowers and butterflies and marvel that they were still here after all these centuries. Always at the entrance of any fort or temple complex, several men will offer to be your guide for a price (usually not agreed upon beforehand, but a tip ranging from 100 to 200 rupees depending on the number of hours and special errands). Even if they sport official-looking badges, their English language ability and level of knowledge are very hit-and-miss. Most of the time we refused guides because of this and because we don't like repeatedly having to say \"Really!\" or even \"Hmmmm\" when we could enjoy all this grandeur in silence."}, {"response": 4, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Nov 22, 1998 (09:16)", "body": "India The Indian Tourism Development Corporation has launched a new train package tour traveling to Buddhist pilgrimage sites in Northern India. The six day tour departs from Calcutta and travels to Varanasi, Rajgir and Gaya before returning to Calcutta. The cost per person (including food and accommodation) is US$379 for the ordinary traveler to US$799 for the luxury traveler. Tickets can be obtained from the India Tourism Development Corporation in New Delhi."}, {"response": 5, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Jan 15, 1999 (10:27)", "body": "(whiteherne) Tue Jan 5 '99 (12:24) 164 lines Here are some of my impressions of life in Bangalore: Bangalore was once known as the Garden City of India, although it does not feel like one these days. Unrestricted growth, although in \ufffdclean\ufffd industries, has led to a large increase in the number of motorized vehicles, which include cycles, autorickshaws, cars, scooters, motorcycles, lorries and buses. The odd bullock cart can be seen now and then, as also hand carts bearing miscellaneous cargo. (The autorickshaw is a three-wheeled, motorized vehicle. It is sheltered but open on the sides. It can carry two or three passengers, and has become the cab of the middle-class, regular taxis having vanished almost entirely from the streets here.) Unleaded petrol (gasoline) is still not a requirement in most parts of India, and the higher powered vehicles use diesel fuel here, resulting in black, noxious emissions. The roads haven\ufffdt been upgraded to deal with all this new traffic and the main city arteries are always snarled. Frustrated traffic constables in their ancient uniforms of wide khaki shorts (and now wearing gas masks) cut a sorry but comical figure on the islands of five and six-point intersections from where they try to cope with the mess. For the Western visitor, the traffic can seem utterly chaotic and maddening. This is true for me as well, having lived away from India. There is a sort of law of the jungle at work here: the larger the vehicle, the more aggressive the driving. (A new Indian SUV with the appropriate name of \ufffdTATA SUMO\ufffd has recently made its appearance. Why someone who lives in the city and drives in crowded, slow-moving streets needs a gas-guzzling, polluting, road-hogging SUMO beats the hell out of me.) In general traffic moves slowly, and although drivers engage in a game of brinkmanship to try to get ahead, there aren\ufffdt as many accidents as one would expect. Lane markers are strictly academic, and whenever traffic stops at a light, the two-wheelers seem to fill any available spaces around cars so as to position themselves favourably for the impending green light. Since my parents live here, I stay with them. Indian hotels, with the exception of the best ones, which are outrageously expensive for Indians, aren\ufffdt as good as their American counterparts. The equivalent of a clean, comfortable, no-frills \ufffdMotel 6\ufffd that is much cheaper than a luxury hotel is generally not to be found. One must either fork out the money for a Hyatt or equivalent, or be terribly disappointed with the results. Which is why most middle-class Indians, when they travel on their own nickel to another city end up staying with relations, friends, or even friends of friends. The way it generally works is that you make your house available to a wide circle of people, and the gesture will be reciprocated when you are on the road. But remember to carry your own soap and towel! My parents have been retired for some time and with the attendant infirmities of age, getting through each day can be an adventure. There are part-time helpers at home for cooking, cleaning and gardening. In India help is very specialised, and one person will not do another\ufffds job. There is a maid who washes the pots and pans, sweeps and mops the floors daily (a necessity here), and washes the clothes by hand (my mother refuses to buy a washer or let me buy one for her and I have given up trying to convince her). The other is a part-time cook who has now been with her for four years. She is known as the \"Cook Maami\". They speak to each other in Tamil. Each one calls the other \"Maami\". This is a respectful mode of address to an older lady -- the universal aunt, if you will -- and their conversation to each other is always in the exceedingly respectful second person formal, whether they are joking, arguing or discussing some culinary fine points. On days that the maid or the cook go AWOL, chaos ensues, as my parents scramble to make do. It is a very interesting relationship to observe. The \"Cook Maami\" is extremely talented and makes the most delectable South Indian dishes I have eaten, even tastier than my mother 's cooking, and my mother is a published author of three cookbooks and a lifelong aficionado of Indian \ufffdhaute cuisine\ufffd. But the cook is very shrewd and knows this, for she endeavours (in my mother\ufffds opinion) to take advantage of the situation by extracting various concessions, knowing that it will be difficult for my mother to find a replacement. Domestic help is harder to come by these days in India, and although it is frustrating for my folks, from an economist's point of view, it illustrates progress. I watch a little television to get a feel for contemporary Indian culture. Cable TV has found its way here, and there is something called Star Plus that beams CNN, BBC and other international programmes from Hongkong. I notice a new phenomenon. People speak in something called \ufffdHinglish\ufffd here, a mixture of Hindi and English. Hindi and English"}, {"response": 6, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Aug  4, 1999 (21:33)", "body": "I found this wonderful tour of India purely by an accidental click: http://www.gurlpages.com/obsess/xtiesue/"}, {"response": 7, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Sep 26, 2001 (00:31)", "body": "You can always count on India for a different take on the state of the world. Here's an essay on the value of silence: http://www.timesofindia.com/articleshow.asp?art_id=935263925"}, {"response": 8, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Oct 16, 2001 (12:02)", "body": "http://www.timesofindia.com/articleshow.asp?art_ID=1454238160 India helped FBI trace ISI-terrorist links MANOJ JOSHI TIMES NEWS NETWORK NEW DELHI: While the Pakistani Inter Services Public Relations claimed that former ISI director-general Lt-Gen Mahmud Ahmad sought retirement after being superseded on Monday, the truth is more shocking. Top sources confirmed here on Tuesday, that the general lost his job because of the \"evidence\" India produced to show his links to one of the suicide bombers that wrecked the World Trade Centre. The US authorities sought his removal after confirming the fact that $100,000 were wired to WTC hijacker Mohammed Atta from Pakistan by Ahmad Umar Sheikh at the instance of Gen Mahumd. Senior government sources have confirmed that India contributed significantly to establishing the link between the money transfer and the role played by the dismissed ISI chief. While they did not provide details, they said that Indian inputs, including Sheikhs mobile phone number, helped the FBI in tracing and establishing the link. A direct link between the ISI and the WTC attack could have enormous repercussions. The US cannot but suspect whether or not there were other senior Pakistani Army commanders who were in the know of things. Evidence of a larger conspiracy could shake US confidence in Pakistans ability to participate in the anti-terrorism coalition. Indian officials say they are vitally interested in the unravelling of the case since it could link the ISI directly to the hijacking of the Indian Airlines Kathmandu-Delhi flight to Kandahar last December. Ahmad Umar Sayeed Sheikh is a British national and a London School of Economics graduate who was arrested by the police in Delhi following a bungled 1994 kidnapping of four westerners, including an American citizen."}, {"response": 9, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Nov  6, 2001 (10:26)", "body": "*I've Been Expecting This One: The Poor Man's Cruise Missile *8-( ISI plans 'toy plane' attacks on Indian VIPs EW DELHI: Pakistan's ISI has directed the militants operating in Jammu and Kashmir to use explosive-laden toy planes to hit VIPs in the state and Delhi, official sources said here. The sources said following some confessions by arrested militants and wireless intercepts about the use of \"toy plane\", intelligence agencies were making necessary reviews of securities provided to VIPs. \"Toy plane\" is the new armoury which has the capacity of carrying 10-15 kgs of explosive material. The plane takes a trajectory path and can hit the target within a range of 300 metres and can be operated by a remote control. Taking a cue from the method adopted by militants during the September 11 attacks, the sources said Jaish-e-Mohammed, which has been carrying out a series of suicide attacks in Jammu and Kashmir, is reported to be planning such attacks on VIPs in the national capital. The intelligence agencies have also flashed messages to various state capitals in order to gather more information on this novel modus-operandi besides passing on a word of caution. Some security measures had already been taken to prevent any such attack, the sources said, but admitted that more strict vigil needed to be maintained. The sources said these novel methods were being used after the ISI conduits were unable to penetrate the security in any part of the country. They said some militants, caught at the border, had revealed that the ISI was desperately trying to cause havoc in Delhi and was adopting such measures. The militants disclosed that the new chief of ISI was trying to create some disturbance in the capital in order to ease the pressure from domestic criticism, the sources said. Meanwhile, amidst reports of Pakistan-based militants planning suicide attacks on important personalities, security agencies had again reviewed security of Home Minister L K Advani, Defence Minister George Fernandes and Minister of State for External Affairs Omar Abdullah. A close watch was being maintained on Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah as some intercepts suggested that militants might try to carry out a \"massive suicide attack\" on him in Srinagar or Jammu. ( PTI )"}, {"response": 10, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Dec 23, 2001 (14:37)", "body": "Lots to catch up on, first the 10 day thing - terry Will India strike back after 10 days? MOHUA CHATTERJEE TIMES NEWS NETWORK NEW DELHI: To strike or not to strike? The government has given itself 10 days to decide this paramount question. The answer will depend on the evaluation report which it has sought from the Army and intelligence sources. This was decided at the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) meeting on Friday. According to official sources, the government has sought answers to the following queries: Will a full-fledged war situation emerge if India strikes terrorist camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK)? How will the Pakistani army retaliate and is it prepared for a full-scale war? These reports will be ready in 10 days. In an informal briefing before the CCS, the Army has already expressed its preparedness for a strike. Furthermore, it has pointed out that a limited action in PoK could not lead to a large-scale conflagration since Pakistan's political situation will not allow its army to undertake a full-fledged war. Defence Minister George Fernandes' scheduled four-day trip to the border areas from Sunday has been cancelled. A Cabinet Committee on Security meeting has been called on Sunday. The CCS will meet to decide whether the government will go ahead with the strike even if Pakistan bans Lashkar-e- Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed. Pressure is mounting on Pakistan to ban the outfits since US and UK have communicated to India that they too have sent diplomatic letters to Musharraf asking him to ban the LeT and Jaish. Currently, the government is weighing four military options aimed at striking terrorist camps in PoK: Land operation: Mortar, tanks and cannon attacks, which would include the Bofors guns. Camps within a range of 18 to 20 km can be completely destroyed by these means. Air strikes: Missile attacks can also destroy the camps. The most effective will be the Prithvi missiles, which have a strike range of 150 to 200 km. Mirage-2000 or Sukhoi aircraft can also be used for the strikes. Crossing the LoC: The Army crosses over, bombards the camps and returns to its own territory within 24 hours. Surface to surface: Surface-to-surface Prithvi missiles, with a range of 175 km, can also be used. Meanwhile, to prevent a Kargil-type intrusion at this juncture, India has installed Battle Field Surveillance Radars (BFSR), bought from Israel and France. The Defence Research and Development Organisation has also developed indigenous BF radars, and these are ready for trial. These are short-range, portable radars weighing 30 kg, which can spot a crawling man from 500 metres, a walking man from 2 km, and a group of men from 5 km. Intelligence reports say there is Pakistani troop movement near the LoC, specifically in the chicken neck belt area. These are Pakistani Special Service Group men, whose main job is destruction and sabotage activities. In the 1971 war, the SSGs had played an active part. There is also information that Lashkar and Al Badr men, along with the Pakistani army, have formed a Border Action Team (BAT). They are trained in guerrilla warfare and are already stationed at 17 sensitive areas along the border. Indian unmanned spy planes are keeping vigil over Pakistani army movement. Satellites are being used to identify camps in PoK and ascertain the number of men stationed there. What about this jerk. - terry Parliament staffer arrested for selling secrets to Pakistan NEW DELHI: Amidst a new low in Indo-Pakistan ties, the Delhi Police arrested an official of the Parliament secretariat for allegedly supplying to a Pakistan high commission staffer certain \"sensitive\" information on national security. The police are also probing if Pakistan high commission officials were involved in the December 13 terrorist strike on Parliament. Senior executive assistant in Parliament secretariatUs question cell Ajay Kumar was caught on Saturday supplying a bag containing documents relating to defence, atomic energy, nuclear research, railway security, ship- designing, and technology upgradation to Pakistan high commission staffer Mohammed Sharief Khan, the police said in a statement. During interrogation, Kumar revealed that Khan had several times in the past asked him about the security arrangements around Parliament House and he had arranged a pass for him (Khan) to watch Parliament proceedings. Kumar had also informed Khan that parliamentary security staff, when on duty, remain unarmed. \"It is being probed if there is involvement of Pakistan high commission- based information officers in the recent (December 13) attack on Parliament,\" the statement said. Kumar told the police that he had been working for Pakistan-based intelligence operatives for the past couple of years and was getting paid for it. It said Kumar used to provide information about locations of various defence units and their movements on the basis of his personal observation and pass on \"sensitive\" documents, which he had access to "}, {"response": 11, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Jan  2, 2002 (14:27)", "body": "World Trade Center Down, Buddhist Statues Blown Up, Taj Mahal Next On List *8-/ Lashkar threatens to blow up Taj Mahal LUCKNOW: A Pakistan-based Kashmiri militant group, who New Delhi blamed for an attack on its Parliament last month, has threatened to blow up the Taj Mahal, an Indian official said on Wednesday. Security around the 17th century marble monument had been tightened following an e-mail threat from the Lashkar-e-Taiba, a senior government official in Agra said. \"They have threatened to blow up the Taj Mahal, some other monuments and important government buildings in Lucknow,\" the official, who did not want to be identified, said. \"We have enhanced security in and around the Taj Mahal which was mentioned among Lashkar-e-Taiba's main targets in the e-mail sent to the chief minister,\" the official said. India has blamed the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad groups for the December 13 attack on its Parliament in which 14 people, including five attackers, dead. Both groups have denied involvement in the attacks. The official said Lashkar had also threatened to blow up a makeshift temple built at the site of the Babri masjid in Ayodhya. ( REUTERS )"}, {"response": 12, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, May 22, 2002 (14:04)", "body": "KUPWARA, India India's prime minister told soldiers on the tense Kashmir frontier Wednesday to prepare for a \"decisive battle\" against Pakistan-supported Islamic insurgents, sending a warning to its nuclear-armed neighbor. A Pakistani Foreign Office spokesman called for negotiations to ease tensions between the rivals, who have fought two wars over the disputed Himalayan region, but said his nation too was prepared for war. Cross-border shelling in the last week has killed dozens and reignited fears of a conflict. Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee addressed more than 600 soldiers at an army base near the cease-fire line that divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan. Vajpayee told the soldiers \"to be ready for sacrifice. Your goal should be victory. It's time to fight a decisive battle.\" Vajpayee said that India has been forced to fight a proxy war with Pakistan, which New Delhi accuses of training and arming the Islamic militants who have waged a battle for Kashmir's independence or merger with Pakistan for 12 years. Islamabad says it has no control over the militants and only supports the ideology of the \"freedom fighters.\" Vajpayee said his morale booster for the troops should indicate to Pakistan that India is prepared for war. \"Whether our neighbor gets that signal or not, whether the world keeps record of that or not, we will write a new chapter of victory,\" he said. \"Our neighbor has found a new way of fighting, through a proxy war.\" Vajpayee said the attack last week on an army camp on the outskirts of Jammu, the winter capital of India's Jammu-Kashmir state, by suspected Islamic militants posed a new challenge. The assault killed 34 people - mostly soldiers' wives and children. India blamed Pakistan and Islamic militants based there for the attack, expelled the Pakistani ambassador and reorganized maritime and ground forces under the military. An additional 3,000 soldiers were sent to the frontier Tuesday. \"The challenge has been thrown at India and we accept it,\" he told the soldiers who were sitting cross-legged on a field. In Islamabad, Foreign Office spokesman Aziz Ahmed Khan told The Associated Press that Pakistan was also prepared for war. \"Pakistan wants to resolve all outstanding issues with India through peaceful talks and negotiations, but our armed forces are also fully prepared to face any aggression,\" he said. Indian Defense Minister George Fernandes, who also addressed the troops, said the soldiers appeared ready for war. \"Everywhere I go, soldiers ask me when will we get an opportunity to attack,\" Fernandes said. Gen. V.G. Patankar, the officer who commands the troops in Kashmir, said the leaders' visit had raised troop morale. \"We have a desire to die,\" Patankar said. \"We have a resolve to wage war.\" Neither Vajpayee nor Fernandes talked about the steps India would take to fight the \"proxy war.\" The tough talk by India and Pakistan in the last week is typical of the longtime enemies who often threaten war. However, the 1 million troops dispatched by both countries to their border is the biggest military buildup since their last war in 1971. They have already fought wars in 1948 and 1965 over the Himalayan province. \"We know how to respect our enemy, but let this not be regarded as our weakness,\" Vajpayee said. \"Do not think that our limits of patience will just go on stretching.\" Still, many analysts believe that with the U.S. military presence in neighboring Pakistan and Afghanistan and Washington's efforts to defuse tensions, war may not be imminent. \"In the immediate future, we are not going to launch an operation,\" said J.N. Dixit, former foreign secretary and ambassador to Pakistan. \"Of course, public opinion and our soldiers are tired of all this. They want the government to do something. But there are many factors.\" Dixit said he expected the government to wait for the visits of U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage and British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw later this month before taking a final decision on a course of action. Straw said the potential for war had grown too strong. \"The possibility of war between India and Pakistan is real and very disturbing,\" he said. \"This is a crisis the world cannot ignore.\" Shortly after Vajpayee arrived in Kashmir on Tuesday, masked gunmen assassinated a leading Kashmiri peace advocate during a ceremony marking the murder of another independence leader 12 years ago. Abdul Ghani Lone, a moderate, soft-spoken Muslim separatist leader, had sought dialogue with India to bring self-determination to Kashmir, the only Muslim majority state in predominantly Hindu India. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Lone's murder, and the assailants got away. The Kashmir Valley was on strike Wednesday, with public transportation, shops and businesses shut down in protest of the killing and Vajpayee's visit. The shutdown was organized by a political group that favors independence for Kashmir. KUPWARA, India India's prime minister"}, {"response": 13, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, May 22, 2002 (14:06)", "body": "http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/holnus/02222207.htm New Delhi, May 22. (PTI): Even as Prime Minister Vajpayee warned of a decisive battle against terrorism, Pakistan army is reported to have stepped up efforts to infiltrate militants across the Line of Control (LOC) in Jammu and Kashmir. The Army during the past 24 hours detected and foiled two major attempts to push in militants in Uri sector in Kashmir valley killing two Pakistani mercernaries. \"There may have been a number of more such attempts which went undetected,\" officials here said. With the melting of snow, these were the first two major attempts which came to light and both the bids made during early morning were foiled, officials said. They said for the past several months, army patrols had witnessed a new pattern in the infiltrations bids, with the militants being pushed in being all Pakistani or Afghan nationals. \"Unlike in the past attempts are now made to push in smaller groups, as against groups of 20 to 40 militants earlier,\" officials said adding that the infiltrators were now very lightly armed indicating that they were being provided heavier weapons inside Jammu and Kashmir."}, {"response": 14, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, May 24, 2002 (06:45)", "body": "Things seem to be cooling down a bit, from the reports I read yesterday. It's up the Pakistanis to agree to the Indian Prime Ministers requests at this stage. Can they do it in time?"}, {"response": 15, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Aug 15, 2002 (08:41)", "body": "SHANWA, India (AP) -- It comes in the night, a flying sphere emitting red and blue lights that attacks villagers in this poor region, extensively burning those victims it does not kill. At least that's what panic-stricken villagers say. At least seven people have died of unexplained injuries in the past week in Uttar Pradesh state. \"A mysterious flying object attacked him in the night,\" Raghuraj Pal said of his neighbor, Ramji Pal, who died recently in Shanwa. \"His stomach was ripped open. He died two days later.\" Many others have suffered scratches and surface wounds, which they say were inflicted while they slept. In the village of Darra, 53-year-old Kalawati said she was attacked last week and displayed blisters on her blackened forearms. \"It was like a big soccer ball with sparkling lights,\" said Kalawati, who uses only one name. \"It burned my skin.\" \"I can't sleep because of pain,\" she said. Doctors dismiss the stories as mass hysteria. \"More often than not the victims have unconsciously inflicted the symptoms themselves,\" said Narrotam Lal, a doctor at King George's Medical College in Lucknow, the state capital. The police have another explanation: bugs. \"It is a three-and-a-half-inch-long winged insect\" that leaves rashes and superficial wounds, Kavindra P. Singh, a superintendent of police, told the Press Trust of India news agency. Police drew this conclusion after residents of one village found insects they had never seen before. Villagers are unconvinced. In the most affected area, the Mirzapur district, 440 miles southeast of New Delhi, people have stopped sleeping outdoors despite the sweltering heat and frequent power outages. Villagers also have formed protection squads that patrol Shanwa, beating drums and shouting slogans such as, \"Everyone alert. Attackers beware.\" Some accuse district officials of inaction and failing to capture the \"aliens.\" One person died Thursday in nearby Sitapur when police fired shots to disperse a 10,000-strong crowd demanding that authorities capture the mysterious attackers. \"People just block the roads and attack the police for inaction each time there's a death or injury,\" said Amrit Abhijat, Mirzapur's district magistrate, who claims he has captured the UFO on film. \"It's scary stuff\", commented Koti Nandipati."}, {"response": 16, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Aug 15, 2002 (12:37)", "body": "India UFO attacks 'are coloured lightning balls' A scientist claims the 'UFOs' behind a series of attacks on Indian villagers are just balls of lightning. Professor Ravindra Arora says the coloured balls ranging from tennis to football size are caused by dry weather. Villagers in Uttar Pradesh claim they're being attacked by flying spheres emitting red and blue lights. At least seven people have died of unexplained injuries and others have suffered scratches and burns in the last week. Police say a 9cm-long winged insect may be responsible for the attacks while doctors think the wounds are self-inflicted. Professor Arora, of the Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur, told Rediff.com: \"I have sufficient reason to believe that the burn injuries on the faces of victims were caused by nothing other than these lightning balls. \"Dry spells increase the soil resistance while decreasing its conductivity, and in the process attract lightning balls that emit different colour lights - mostly blue, green, yellow or red. \"There is constant evidence of these balls over the ages. In all cases, people can see a ball-like object travelling sideways in the air that can produce up to 100 watts of current.\" One Uttar Pradesh villager, who claims to have been attacked, said: \"I can't sleep because of the pain. It was like a big soccer ball with sparkling lights.\" Professor Arora says the problem should disappear once heavy rains arrive in the region. Story filed: 13:03 Thursday 15th August 2002 on ananova news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 61, "subject": "bioterrorism", "response_count": 9, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Oct 16, 2001 (23:19)", "body": "For reference, the top 15 leading causes of death in the United States for the year 2000 (estimate, per 100,000) Source: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr49/nvsr49_12.pdf [warning, 1.7 MB file] 1. Disease of the heart: 257.9 2. Malignant neoplasms: 200.5 3. Cerebrovascular diseases: 60.3 4. Chronic lower respiratory diseases: 44.9 5. Accidents: 34.0 6. Diabetes mellitus: 24.9 7. Influenza and pneumonia: 24.3 8. Alzhiemer's: 17.8 9. Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis: 13.7 10. Septicemia: 11.5 11. Suicide: 10.3 12. Chronic liver disease: 9.5 13. Essential hypertension and hypertensive renal disease: 6.5 14. Pneumonitis due to solids and liquids: 6.1 15. Assault (homicide): 5.9 * The thousands of deaths in the WTC may push up the Assault category next year and anthrax is a long, long way off from being a major cause of death, is easily curable and not contagious."}, {"response": 2, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Oct 27, 2001 (09:29)", "body": "http://www.hopkins-biodefense.org/lessons.html Anthrax is a mild diversion compared to this."}, {"response": 3, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Nov 15, 2001 (20:43)", "body": "More interesting news : Evidence suggests al Qaeda pursuit of biological, chemical weapons From Mike Boettcher CNN (CNN) -- Coalition intelligence agencies say they have discovered evidence of transactions involving sophisticated laboratory equipment, along with a new bioterrorism manual distributed to cells of the al Qaeda terrorist network. The extent of al Qaeda's operational knowledge was once contained in the 10-volume Encyclopedia of Afghan Resistance, which has been the template for actual and planned terrorism attacks against a variety of targets worldwide. (View pages from the manuals) But now Western intelligence agencies are analyzing a new volume distributed on an unknown number of CD-ROMs. It contains precise, deadly formulas for chemical and biological weapons that can be made from ingredients readily available to the public, CNN has learned. In a chapter called Science of Explosives, for example, chemical formulas are followed by step-by-step instructions in the manufacture of deadly biological weapons. Another chapter is called \"The Poisonous Letter.\" http://www.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/asiapcf/central/11/14/chemical.bio/index.html"}, {"response": 4, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Nov 16, 2001 (21:38)", "body": "i think it's very important that we not panic. we have to put this anthrax thing into perspective--it's not \"The Stand\" happening here. is it a reality, yes, but so is walking out your front door and getting run over on your way to work."}, {"response": 5, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Nov 29, 2001 (21:59)", "body": "If bioterrorism weren't enough, there is always poverty and disease. Ebola-like Virus on Pakistan Border Doctors fear refugees may spark lethal epidemic Rory McCarthy in Islamabad Friday October 5, 2001 The Guardian A highly contagious disease which leaves its victims bleeding to death is sweeping through Pakistan's western border and has already claimed at least eight lives, doctors said last night. In the past four months more than 60 people have been infected by Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever, a lethal virus similar to Ebola. The outbreak in the deserts of the western province of Baluchistan appears to be the world's largest and doctors fear it could quickly reach epidemic proportions. ... Animal infection is much more common but the disease is deadly in humans. The virus incubates for up to nine days and once it has set in it kills a third of its victims within two weeks. \"The symptoms are nosebleeds, bleeding from the rectum, even through the skin,\" Dr Mohammed said. Patients frequently suffer hepatitis and then liver and kidney failure. full story at http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,563685,00.html"}, {"response": 6, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Nov 29, 2001 (23:15)", "body": "heard today that a famed microbiologist (one who studied viruses like e boli) has been missing for a while and they thought he might have leapt to his death. now they're thinking he's being used in this new threat."}, {"response": 7, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Nov 30, 2001 (00:58)", "body": "I think I will not come here often. It is easy to be paranoid about stuff like this!!"}, {"response": 8, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Nov 30, 2001 (20:09)", "body": "inded it is!"}, {"response": 9, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Jan  2, 2002 (23:34)", "body": "Xena is my savior. (mirmir) Wed Jan 2 '02 (15:22) 33 lines wow, here is another urban terrorist vulnerability i hadnt heard of before. and the fires around sydney australia, more than half thought to be started by arsonists, have made the point very clear that whatever can be used as an anonymous weapon against one's neighbors, will be used. 1 January 2002. Thanks to DE. Wall Street Journal, December 28, 2001 'Backflow' water-line attack feared Terrorists could reverse flow in system to introduce toxins By Yochi J. Dreazen THE WALL STREET JOURNAL Dec. 27 - In St. Petersburg, Fla., water authorities are keeping a closer eye on system-wide water pressure. In Cleveland, officials are weighing whether to add more chlorine to their water so larger amounts of the chemical will linger in their pipes. In Portland, Ore., alarms are now triggered by smaller drops in water pressure than in the past. ACROSS THE COUNTRY, water utility officials are taking steps to prevent terrorists from reversing the flow of water into a home or business - which can be accomplished with a vacuum cleaner or bicycle pump - and using the resulting \"backflow\" to push poisons into a local water-distribution system. Such an attack would use utility pipes for the opposite of their intended purpose: Instead of carrying water out of a tap, the pipes would spread toxins to nearby homes or businesses. Water utility officials say the backflow threat dominates their post-Sept. 11 discussions with law-enforcement personnel. Although utilities have posted extra guards to patrol reservoirs and treatment plants, officials say the biggest threat to the nation's water supply may be from the pipes that carry the water, not facilities that store or purify it.\ufffd\ufffd continued at http://cryptome.org/backflow-panic.htm news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 62, "subject": "computer terrorism in the post 9/11 world", "response_count": 14, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Oct 26, 2001 (09:10)", "body": "The World's No.1 Science & Technology News Service\ufffd \ufffd Devastating attacks on the net \"imminent\", says report \ufffd 14:27\ufffd\ufffd 25\ufffd October \ufffd01 Duncan Graham-Rowe \ufffd A new wave of devastating internet attacks is just waiting to happen, says a report by a US internet watchdog. What is more, there is there is currently little chance of preventing it. The threat is a variation of the \"denial of service\" (DoS) attack, commonly used by malicious hackers to block a website by bombarding it with spurious requests. However, the new threat would target routers, key hubs of the internet's infrastructure, instead of individual websites. \"We believe this to be an imminent and real threat with a potentially high impact,\" says the new report, Trends in Denial of Service Attack Technology, published by the Computer Emergency Response Team, at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh."}, {"response": 2, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Oct 26, 2001 (09:11)", "body": "http://www.nanog.org/mtg-0110/cert.html Kevin Houle's talk at NANOG on Monday."}, {"response": 3, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Nov  9, 2001 (10:47)", "body": "Thursday November 8 8:02 AM ET U.S. Prepares for Cyberwar -- the War Next Time By Jim Wolf WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Even as it fights in Afghanistan (news - web sites) with bombs and guns and allies on horseback, the U.S. military is gearing up to use computers and code as potentially decisive weapons in the next phases of its campaign. The goal would be to disable air defense systems, scramble enemy logistics and perhaps infect software through tactics being honed by a joint task force set up in 1999 under the Colorado Springs, Colorado-based U.S. Space Command. The U.S. military has been working on tools that could wreak electronic havoc on countries accused of harboring terrorists as well as on ways of defending global networks against cyberattack. More details: http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20011108/wr/tech_cybersecurity_infowar_dc_1.html"}, {"response": 4, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Nov 24, 2001 (21:39)", "body": "November 23, 2001 Cyberspace Seen as Potential Battleground By JOHN SCHWARTZ [G] overnment officials are warning that cyberattacks are likely as retribution for the United States campaign in Afghanistan, and at the same time, computer security experts are seeing increasingly numerous and more powerful attacks from traditional hackers. So far, most technologically proficient attackers are hackers or insiders with no terrorist intent, while the terrorists are not yet very proficient, Frank J. Cilluffo, an expert on terrorism at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said during Congressional testimony in October. But, calling cybersecurity the \"gaping hole\" in the nation's infrastructure defense plans, he said, \"It is only a matter of time before the convergence of bad guys and good stuff occurs.\" \"While bin Laden may have his finger on the trigger,\" he added, \"his grandson might have his finger on the mouse.\" More at: http://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/23/technology/23CYBE.html"}, {"response": 5, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Nov 24, 2001 (21:40)", "body": "\"US shuts down Somalia internet\" \"Somalia's only internet company and a key telecoms business have been forced to close because the United States suspects them of terrorist links.\" ... \"Both companies have stated categorically they they are not linked to terrorists.\" Along with denying all internet access to Somalis, the closures have severely restricted international telephone lines and shut down vitally needed money transfer facilities. Correspondents say the closure of the companies will have a devastating effect on the country, which desperately needs the services they provide.\" \"The BBC's Hassan Barise in Mogadishu said more than 80% of Somalis depend on money they receive from relatives outside the country. \"He said all internet cafes have now shut down and international phone lines run by two other companies are failing to cope with the extra pressure of calls. He also pointed out that the United Nations, local and international aid agencies, as well as the government itself all relied heavily on internet access, now denied.\" \"I would say it is very depressing and if I could find any stronger word than that I would say it,\" he said.\" ... \"Reports say the Somali Internet Company was forced to close when it realised that its international gateway had been cut off.\""}, {"response": 6, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Nov 24, 2001 (22:37)", "body": "http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1436-2001Nov22.html \" At least one antivirus software company, McAfee Corp., contacted the FBI on Wednesday to ensure its software wouldn't inadvertently detect the bureau's snooping software and alert a criminal suspect. \""}, {"response": 7, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Jan 18, 2002 (14:52)", "body": "SENATE CONSIDERS A COMPUTER ARMY FOR CRISES By JOSEPH GALLIVAN September 28, 2001 -- Techies to the rescue! Local computer buffs are saying the Sept. 11 World Trade Center attacks showed how desperately unprepared the city was from an information technology standpoint - and Washington is set to do something about it. \"This country needs the equivalent of a National Guard for IT professionals,\" said Silicon Alley honcho Andrew Rasiej, founder of the charity MOUSE, which helps wire public schools. While land and cell phones were overloaded, New Yorkers wandered the city with pictures of missing relatives \"like Kosovans,\" said Rasiej, who found there was no easy way to use his tech skills when disaster struck. .... Rasiej's idea has raised the interest of Ron Wyden, the Oregonian who chairs the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Science, Technology and Space. He has written to tech leaders such as Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer, Carly Fiorina, Lou Gerstner, Andy Grove and Steve Case, inviting them to Washington next week for hearings on what could turn into the National Emergency Technology Guard. \" continued at http://www.nypost.com/business/33118.htm"}, {"response": 8, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Jan 18, 2002 (14:52)", "body": "http://www.hackbusters.net/LaBrea.html http://www.hackbusters.net/LaBrea/LaBrea.txt \"LaBrea is a small Linux-based application that puts unused IP addresses on your network to use, creating a \"tarpit\" which can stop or slow down scans of your address space. This paper details the technical aspects of how LaBrea works as well as the tactical advantages of deploying LaBrea on your network.\""}, {"response": 9, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Jan 18, 2002 (14:54)", "body": "Sudan Bank Hacked, Bin Laden Info Found By Ned Stafford, Newsbytes MUNICH, GERMANY, 27 Sep 2001, 2:46 PM CST A group of U.K.-based hackers has cracked computers at the AlShamal Islamic Bank in Sudan and collected data on the accounts of the Al Qaeda terrorist organization and its leader Osama bin Laden, Kim Schmitz, a flamboyant German hacker/businessman, has claimed. Schmitz, who has offered a $10 million reward for the capture of bin Laden, told Newsbytes that the information has been turned over to the FBI. Bin Laden, a millionaire Saudi exile whose base is now Afghanistan, is suspected of being the driving force behind the deadly Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon with hijacked planes. .... The bank Schmitz claimed was hacked was mentioned Wednesday by Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich. during a Senate Banking Committee hearing. According to CNN, Levin referred to a 1996 State Department report that said bin Laden had provided the AlShamal Islamic Bank with $50 million in start-up capital. .... Last week, Schmitz, who lives in Munich, posted letters on his Web site rallying politicians to the cause of fighting terrorism and offering his hacking expertise. \"I received plenty of e-mails from hackers around the world offering their services,\" he said. Schmitz founded a group that numbers around 23 hackers called \"Young Intelligent Hackers Against Terror.\" He calls the group YIHAT, which is similar to the word Jihad, which is Arabic for Holy War. Schmitz said that last Friday, a Sudanese banker sent the group an e-mail after reading about the $10 million reward, informing the group that Al Qaeda and bin Laden have accounts at AlShamal Islamic Bank. \" continued http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/170588.html"}, {"response": 10, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Jan 20, 2002 (23:31)", "body": "yeah, the cybernerds are being called to action (no offense, i consider myself a nerd)"}, {"response": 11, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Jun 26, 2002 (22:30)", "body": "]Unsettling signs of al Qaeda's aims and skills in cyberspace have led some government experts to conclude that terrorists are at the threshold of using the Internet as a direct instrument of bloodshed. The new threat bears little resemblance to familiar financial disruptions by hackers responsible for viruses and worms. It comes instead at the meeting points of computers and the physical structures they control. U.S. analysts believe that by disabling or taking command of the floodgates in a dam, for example, or of substations handling 300,000 volts of electric power, an intruder could use virtual tools to destroy real-world lives and property. They surmise, with limited evidence, that al Qaeda aims to employ those techniques in synchrony with \"kinetic weapons\" such as explosives. more at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A50765-2002Jun26.html"}, {"response": 12, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Jul 17, 2002 (10:25)", "body": "How does al-Qaida stay organised when its members are in hiding and scattered across the world? Easy - it runs a website, says Paul Eedle Wednesday July 17, 2002 The Guardian For a secret organisation hunted by the intelligence services of the most powerful nations on earth, al-Qaida has a remarkably public face. It is a website run by the Centre for Islamic Studies and Research. Since the start of the war on terrorism, the site has been producing hundreds of pages of material to rally support among radical Muslims, scare the west and enable al-Qaida cells to operate independently of Osama bin Laden and other leaders now in hiding. The site is entirely in Arabic, which means that tens of millions of people who hate American policies on the Middle East can read it, but almost nobody in either the governments or the media of the west can understand a word. The website is central to al-Qaida's strategy to ensure that its war with the US will continue even if many of its cells across the world are broken up and its current leaders are killed or captured. The site's function is to deepen and broaden worldwide Muslim support, allowing al-Qaida or successor organisations to fish for recruits, money and political backing. more@"}, {"response": 13, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Jul 17, 2002 (10:27)", "body": "So, should we bomb the isp that hosts it, or hack it to pieces?"}, {"response": 14, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Sep 20, 2002 (07:30)", "body": "September 18, 2002 UK Computer Programmer Held on Terror Charge By REUTERS Filed at 6:24 p.m. ET LONDON (Reuters) - A British-based computer programmer has been charged with allegedly collecting or possessing information which could aid a terrorist attack, London police said Wednesday. A Scotland Yard spokesman said Mohammed Abdullah Azam, 32, was arrested Sunday in Luton, near London, where he lived. The spokesman would not comment on whether any specific group or target had been identified -- either inside or outside Britain -- but said the information could have been used in a terrorist attack. ``He has been charged under the Terrorism Act 2000 with collection of information of a kind likely to be useful to persons committing or preparing an act of terrorism or that he had in his possession documents or records containing information of that kind,'' the spokesman said. continued at http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/international-britain-arrest.html news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 63, "subject": "Anthrax", "response_count": 2, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Oct 27, 2001 (09:14)", "body": "FBI and CIA Suspect Domestic Extremists Officials Doubt Any Links to Bin Laden http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59509-2001Oct26.html"}, {"response": 2, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Nov 28, 2001 (10:43)", "body": "Researchers have barely completed the sequencing the anthrax genome http://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/28/health/28GENE.html news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 64, "subject": "Travel in the Post Attack World", "response_count": 11, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Nov 14, 2001 (06:50)", "body": "I won't curtail any travel plans, it's starting to feel like the Airlines are safe again from all that I've gathered on the news lately. Anyone have any travel experiences to relate?"}, {"response": 2, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Nov 16, 2001 (21:36)", "body": "it doesn't really change my plans any--i hardly ever go anywhere. but i will say that my mother had planned to visit germany last month but her family there advised her against it for now. as far as going into public places, hasn't affected me, still gotta do what you gotta do, y'know?"}, {"response": 3, "author": "autumn", "date": "Mon, Nov 19, 2001 (21:40)", "body": "On Oct. 1 we flew from Baltimore to Ontario to Zurich and back on Oct. 22. Airports were deserted in North America (with Nat'l Guards and machine guns posted prominently), Europe was business as usual. No undue searching at any checkpoint, just the standard metal detector and x-ray machine for carry-ons. Had to walk across a disinfection carpet (remember foot and mouth disease? That story got blown off the headlines) on the way back. Took trains, cabs, funiculars, cable cars, etc...no extra security anywhere over there. S. flew to Denver last week, nothing out of the ordinary either."}, {"response": 4, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Nov 21, 2001 (21:39)", "body": "what's a funicular? L.A. had (has?) dudes on certain random rooftops with machine guns at the ready."}, {"response": 5, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Nov 21, 2001 (21:40)", "body": "(and i should mention that these aren't the bad guys sitting on the rooftops either)"}, {"response": 6, "author": "autumn", "date": "Fri, Nov 23, 2001 (16:30)", "body": "A funicular is a sort of cog \"elevator\" that ascends a steep grade, such as a mountainside. I imagine with Thanksgiving that the airports/planes were doing a brisk business. Haven't heard of any episodes, though."}, {"response": 7, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Nov 23, 2001 (23:35)", "body": "*Sigh* I am less than entusiastic to visit my son in California. Rather than never seeing him again, I will travel by air. I simply do not like the companions with whom I will be travelling. I used to LOVE flying!"}, {"response": 8, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Dec 28, 2001 (10:01)", "body": "http://www.laughlab.co.uk/home.html This study shows that Canadians are least likely to think jokes funny of all nationalities. Germans are easiest to tickle, America isn't far behind Germany."}, {"response": 9, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Dec 28, 2001 (11:10)", "body": "Tom Friedman has a pretty sensible column in the Wednesday NYT about this. He suggests that we fly naked, or face the consequences: http://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/26/opinion/26FRIE.html"}, {"response": 10, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Jan  9, 2002 (09:13)", "body": "fried again ;-( Anthrax mail cleaning zaps digital gadgets Digital dream gadgets are being irreparably zapped by an irradiation process the U.S. Postal Service has used since October to sanitize mail against anthrax threats, an electronics trade group said on Tuesday. Compact flash memory cards used to store data on many name-brand digital cameras and handheld computers face not just data loss but become entirely inoperable when subjected to electron beam irradiation, the CompactFlash Association said. --Reuters"}, {"response": 11, "author": "AotearoaKiwi", "date": "Tue, Mar 26, 2002 (04:03)", "body": "Hi all Tighter screening of all passengers on flights around NZ and in particular those going in and out looks set to become permanent. The Government increased spending on border control, biosecurity, interoperability between customs, police, and defence. Rob news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 65, "subject": "Conspiracy theories and other off the beaten path news", "response_count": 18, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Dec  2, 2001 (08:22)", "body": "http://www.indystar.com/print/opinion/sat/articles/ecolpatterson17.html JAMES PATTERSON Missing evidence from Oklahoma City November 17, 2001 The FBI doesn't want to talk about it, but the evidence keeps mounting. Critical evidence that several Middle Eastern men may have been connected to the Oklahoma City bombing appears to have been kept from the public by the FBI. By law, such information should have been turned over to lawyers representing executed bomber Timothy McVeigh, and it must be given to the legal team for co-conspirator Terry Nichols, whose state case opened in an Oklahoma court two weeks ago. Officially, the FBI has dismissed the possibility of a John Doe No. 2, an olive-skinned man whose sketch they released immediately after the bombing, or other suspects. But current and former FBI agents in Oklahoma City say they received documents pointing to another person or even a cell of Middle Eastern operatives. . . . read the rest in the above url from the Indianapolis Star"}, {"response": 2, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Dec  2, 2001 (08:59)", "body": "mirmir) Sat Dec 1 '01 (21:08) 91 lines (terry) this may have been the french book about which i saw news reports: \" \"Mr. O'Neill complained that the F.B.I. was not free to act in international terror investigations because the State Department kept interfering....\" Oil Diplomacy Muddled U.S. Pursuit of bin Laden, New Book Contends By ETHAN BRONNER New York Times November 12, 2001 A former F.B.I. antiterror official who was killed at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11 complained bitterly last summer that the United States was unwilling to confront Saudi Arabia over Osama bin Laden and that oil ruled American foreign policy, according to a new book published in France. The former official, John P. O'Neill, was the director of antiterrorism for the F.B.I.'s New York office when he resigned in August to become chief of security for the twin towers. \"All the answers, everything needed to dismantle Osama bin Laden's organization can be found in Saudi Arabia,\" Mr. O'Neill is quoted as saying in the new book, \"Ben Laden: La V\ufffdrit\ufffd Interdite\" (\"Bin Laden: The Forbidden Truth\"), which argues that Saudi support for Mr. bin Laden has been extensive. One of the book's co-authors, Jean- Charles Brisard, a security expert who has spent several years examining Mr. bin Laden's financial empire, says in the book that he met with Mr. O'Neill in June and July. Mr. O'Neill is quoted as lamenting \"the inability of American officials to get anything at all from King Fahd,\" the ailing Saudi ruler. He explains the failure in one word: oil. In telephone interviews and e-mail exchanges, Mr. Brisard elaborated on the book, released this week by the French publishing house Den\ufffdel. He said he first met Mr. O'Neill in June in Paris, where the two had dinner with a group of French antiterror officials. Mr. Brisard had written a report for the French intelligence services on the finances of Mr. bin Laden's Al Qaeda organization and he gave Mr. O'Neill a copy. In late July, he said, they met alone in New York for drinks and dinner, and Mr. O'Neill complained that the F.B.I. was not free to act in international terror investigations because the State Department kept interfering. Mr. O'Neill, who had worked on investigations of the first World Trade Center bombing, in 1993, and on the attacks on two American embassies in Africa in 1998, also suggested that he would soon move to the private sector, Mr. Brisard said. Mr. Brisard said his conversations with Mr. O'Neill were not interviews. He is publicizing Mr. O'Neill's opinions as \"a tribute\" to a man he admired. Mr. O'Neill's frustrations with the State Department were not secret. He had been leading the F.B.I.'s investigation into the bombing of the destroyer Cole in Yemen in October 2000, but he had been barred in July from returning to Yemen by the United States ambassador there. The ambassador, Barbara Bodine, complained that Mr. O'Neill and his associates showed no sensitivity to Yemeni culture or concerns and were harming relations between the two countries. After Mr. O'Neill's death in September, Yemeni officials called the F.B.I. and offered to cooperate with their investigations, Barry W. Mawn, the assistant director of the F.B.I., announced at Mr. O'Neill's funeral Mass. The book by Mr. Brisard, written with Guillaume Dasqui\ufffd, a journalist, also makes public for the first time the first international warrant for the arrest of Mr. bin Laden. It is a 1998 Interpol document from Libya. The so-called red notice, file number 1998/20032, accuses Mr. bin Laden and three Libyans of killing two Germans in Libya in 1994. The book identifies the victims as Silvan Becker and his wife and says they were German antiterror agents. It says Libya's leader, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, sought their killers because they were members of a group linked to Mr. bin Laden that also wanted to kill Colonel Qaddafi. That group, the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, was listed by President Bush after the Sept. 11 attacks as one whose assets should be frozen worldwide. According to the new French book, Mr. bin Laden was in Libya when the two Germans were killed in 1994. The book also asserts that Colonel Qaddafi's fears had some foundation. It says the British secret service, MI5, tried to assassinate Colonel Qaddafi in 1996 using members of that same Libyan Islamic Fighting Group. The book says it was because of that collaboration that the Interpol document with its Libyan origin has not been made public. Mr. Brisard said he had received the document from a former senior Interpol official who told him that British and American officials had kept it from public view. http://alexconstantine.50megs.com/ about 3/4/ down the page, but the reports i saw before, were not on this site. however, the reports i saw mentioned that the french SIS or some european intelligence had been warned not to interfere by either cia or fbi, whom they tried to warn this summer that al qaeda/bin laden was planning a terrorist attack on the st"}, {"response": 3, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Jan 17, 2002 (04:32)", "body": "gotham Psychic Ops \"Remote viewers\" say the Feds have sought their help since 9/11. Might this explain all those \"credible, nonspecific threats\"? BY GEOFF GRAY Earlier this month, Prudence Calabrese, a West Coast psychic, flew into New York on business. She had two meetings: One was a catered sushi lunch at an uptown hedge fund that had hired her, for about $20,000, to predict this year's profit outlook. (\"Their investors will be very happy.\") The second, she says, was with agents from the FBI. During the Cold War, the Pentagon spent millions training \"remote viewers\" to spy on Russian military targets. (The Soviets, of course, had their own psychics.) The program, called Stargate, was very controversial, very X-Files, and until funding was cut in 1995, completely classified. Now some of the psychics connected to that program and others, like Calabrese, say that federal officials are calling upon them again. Lyn Buchanan, a former CIA remote-viewing trainer, says that since September 11 he has received requests for intelligence from three separate federal agencies. And Las Vegas-based psychic Angela Thompson Smith says she has been asked by the Feds (she won't reveal which ones) to help identify perpetrators of the World Trade Center attacks and the anthrax letters, and to pinpoint future terrorist targets more @ http://www.nymag.com/page.cfm?page_id=5615"}, {"response": 4, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Jan 20, 2002 (23:30)", "body": "i thought they did away with remote viewing....very interesting bit of information."}, {"response": 5, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Jun 14, 2002 (08:56)", "body": "http://www.fuckedworld.com/2002_06_01_pastfuck.shtml#85165803 Speculation based on the police sketch of unaccounted-for OK City co-conspirator \"John Doe #2\" who looks an awful lot like Jose Padilla, alleged dirty bomber, who incidentally has the same surname as Lana Padilla, ex-wife of Terry Nichols, who just happened to have claimed that Nichols was funded by Al Qaeda terrorists operating out of the Philippines."}, {"response": 6, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Nov 19, 2004 (07:44)", "body": "http://www.letsroll911.org/articles/controlleddemolition.html From the above. Evidence of Controlled Demolition by: Geronimo Jones 9-11, THE EXPLOSIVE TRUTH REVEALED It was a picture perfect day in September. I was watering some plants on my terrace and enjoying the unseasonably warm weather when I heard the sound of a plane flying low. Within seconds I watched in horror as the unthinkable unfolded, right in my backyard! The shock was overwhelming. My first thoughts was that it was a terrorist attack. This was confirmed by the news reports of Al Qaeda. But one thing the reporters left out was something I witnessed first hand. A very important omission at that! Seconds before the South Tower crumbled to its doom, I heard/felt a series of explosions. Same with the North Tower. There was no denying it, I could FEEL the vibrations of them like a small earthquake. Yet when I turned on the news none of the other eyewitnesses commented on this. Indeed, in the days that followed, like many Americans, I remained glued to the news networks to keep myself informed of any developments and confirm what I had witnessed. But despite the numerous eyewitness accounts, there was still no mention of the explosions. I decided to examine the evidence for myself\ufffd"}, {"response": 7, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Oct  8, 2005 (22:39)", "body": "terry, this topic needs to be linked to the one in paraspring...."}, {"response": 8, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Oct  9, 2005 (17:25)", "body": "ok"}, {"response": 9, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Oct  9, 2005 (17:33)", "body": "Done. Dood it."}, {"response": 10, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Oct  9, 2005 (18:56)", "body": "thanks, we have a similar topic here but it's mostly area 51 stuff.....this'll be good to cover all the other CT's too."}, {"response": 11, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Oct 15, 2005 (18:49)", "body": "Where is this one currently? News? I found it in paraspring and am currently curiously finding odd stuff on pravda. How times have changed."}, {"response": 12, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Oct 15, 2005 (18:52)", "body": "beware one of the above links from Tery's post brings you into a really graphic porn website. Are you sure you want that linked here? Just saying..."}, {"response": 13, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Oct 15, 2005 (18:54)", "body": "post 5 link is now http://www.egoplex.com/ but the exact article is lost in their archives (or just hiding from me)"}, {"response": 14, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Oct 15, 2005 (19:06)", "body": "nooo, no porn sites allowed here! thanks marcia..."}, {"response": 15, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Oct 15, 2005 (19:09)", "body": "*Hugs* thought you'd like to know. I'm sure Terry's link was valid when he posted it. How things change !!!"}, {"response": 16, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Oct 16, 2005 (15:45)", "body": "It was valid when I posted it, I'll fix it."}, {"response": 17, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Oct 16, 2005 (18:24)", "body": "Can't find it, where is it?"}, {"response": 18, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Oct 16, 2005 (20:05)", "body": "Post number 5 in this topic news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 66, "subject": "Women Freedom and the rebirth of Afghanistan", "response_count": 2, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Dec  3, 2001 (14:01)", "body": "David Kline (dkline) Mon Dec 3 '01 (10:07) 26 lines The New York Times article below on the first woman to register at Kabul University in 5 years -- a college that had 3,500 female students befgore the Taliban came to power -- is a very moving look at the status of women in this ar-ravaged country. A brief excerpt: __________________________ Escorted by her father into the chancellery building of Kabul University at 8:40 this morning, Farida Afzali, 21, had no idea she was walking into history. She reacted to the half- dozen staring men the way she would have in the past. She bowed her head and looked at the floor. When a question was shouted, she let her father answer. \"Yes,\" he said, beaming and granting her permission to give an interview. \"You should speak bravely and courageously.\" For the next hour, Ms. Afzali talked about what it was like to be the first woman in five years to register for classes at Kabul University. ` __________________________ When you read the full article, you'll know why I feel that with women like Ms. Afzali around, Afghanistan's future is bound to be bright. See the full article at: http://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/02/international/asia/02SCHO.html?searchpv=past7days Here's a very powerful story, also from the New York Times (with powerful pictures as well), on the newly-reborn lives of several Kabul residents in the weeks since the Taliban were overthrown. One is a woman surgeon, back at work after 5 years. Another a business,man, who saved 50 precious National Gallery paintings from destruction by the Taliban. Here are the opening grafs of the story: __________________________ KABUL, Afghanistan, Dec. 1 -- Dr. Nazifa Tabibzada cut into the abdomen of someone named Abdul last week. It was a routine procedure for a reliable surgeon, remarkable only because she had not operated on a man in five years. Under the austere restraints of the Taliban, men and women were not permitted to mingle, even if one was under anesthesia. Sabir Latifi, a businessman, also passed a threshold. Opening a cache in his home, he brought out 50 paintings that had been stolen from a storage room in the National Gallery. He had commissioned the theft after learning that the portraits were to be destroyed. The Taliban considered them sacrilegious. Art was not supposed to depict living things. Aziz Khaznavi, a renowned singer, freed himself from an imposed muteness. He rallied a dozen talented friends, and together they went to their hiding place for their dohls and surunders and other Afghan instruments. Then they breached the forbidden. They made music. And so it continues, three weeks after the Taliban's exodus from Kabul. People are cauterizing the psychic wounds left by the religious police and resuming those parts of their lives outlawed by an uncompromising vision of Islamic purity. Joy may be too strong a word for the common mood in Afghanistan's capital, for there is wariness of the future... ____________________________ [Note -- here's one of the photo captions for the story: \"Musicians from Afghanistan Radio and Television who work with the singer Aziz Khaznavi tried out their instruments on Friday in Kabul. The instruments had been hidden during the years of Taliban rule.\"] For the full, incredible story, see: http://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/02/international/asia/02KABU.html?searchpv=past7 days"}, {"response": 2, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Dec  4, 2001 (21:16)", "body": "David Kline (dkline) Tue Dec 4 '01 (09:56) 63 lines Wonderful article in the NY Times (again), this time about the younger generation of Northern Alliance leaders who openly state that they will dump Rabbani if they have to in order to build a real peace. An excerpt: \"At his news conference, Mr. Rabbani ruled out any role for the exiled king, Mohammad Zahir Shah, who is seen by many as a possible unifying figure, scoffing that royalty was extinct 'like dinosaurs.' He has all but rejected an international peacekeeping force, saying it should be limited to no more than 200 troops, and he has insisted that further discussions should be held here \"But diplomats here said that the other members of the alliance were 'eager to make progress,' and that Mr. Rabbani's delaying tactics might be aimed at simply assuring himself some kind of high post in the future government. \"'We will go around him,' a leading moderate in the Northern Alliance said tonight, expressing a willingness to sideline Mr. Rabbani. \"We are willing to go ahead without him.'\" The article further discusses the influence this younger generation of leaders -- Yunis Quanooni, Abdullah Abdullah, Muhammad Fahim -- have already head on shaping the fragile peace in Kabul and elsewhere. Another excerpt: \"The greatest triumph thus far of the younger technocrats is that their takeover of Kabul from the Taliban was almost entirely orderly, without the looting and vengeance that is traditional here, or the cruel factional and ethnic killings that marked their last stay here. \"'The mujahedeen have learned a very good lesson from their previous mistakes,' said Fiazullah Jalal, a professor of international relations at Kabul University. 'Their behavior is very good with the people.' \"Indeed, instead of the blood bath that many people here expected, the capital is peaceful -- if at times chaotic -- as crowds swarm through the ramshackle street markets, piled high with fresh oranges and assorted machinery. There are relatively few guns in sight, restricted mostly to guards around government buildings and the commandeered villas of commanders. Traffic policemen in huge, swooping caps wave vainly at speeding, weaving buses and trucks. \"This is largely the work of Interior Minister Qanooni and the local military commander, Bismullah Khan, who weeks before the takevover created a police academy to train officers -- not soldiers -- to keep order and laid plans that only a small number of General Khan's troops would actually secure the city, while most would be sent to bases. \"Within days, Mr. Qanooni issued an order that soldiers would not be allowed to carry their weapons on the street. The concept is unheard of in this bellicose country and left some chagrined troopers without their beloved Kalashnikovs. \"'Yunis Qanooni, he is a young person who has a good idea for the future of Afghanistan,' said Nassim Gul Tutakhail, an assistant professor of biology at the university. Full article at: http://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/04/international/asia/04KABU.html?searchpv=nytToday news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 67, "subject": "Enron", "response_count": 1, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Mar  3, 2002 (09:59)", "body": "The direct link to that story is: The Enron-Cheney-Taliban Connection? Ron Callari, Albion Monitor February 28, 2002 Enron is a scandal so enormous that it's hard to wrap your mind around it. Not just a single financial disaster, it's actually a jigsaw of interlocking scandals, each outrageous in its own right. There's Enron the Wall St. con game, where company bookkeepers used slight of hand to turn four years of steady losses into stunning profits. There's Enron the reverse Robin Hood, which stole from its own employees even as its executives were hauling millions of dollars out the backdoor. There's Enron's Ken Lay the Kingmaker, who used the corporation's fraudulent wealth to broker elections and skew public policy to his liking. And then there are the Enron coverups, as documents are shredded and the White House seeks to conceal details about meetings between Enron and Vice President Cheney. The coverups are still very much a mystery. What were the documents that were fed into the shredder -- even after the corporation declared bankruptcy? What is the White House fighting to keep secret, even going to the length of redefining executive privilege and inviting the first Congressional lawsuit ever filed against a president? Were the consequences of releasing these documents more damaging than the consequences of destroying them? Could the Big Secret be that the highest levels of the Bush Administration knew during the summer of 2001 that the largest bankruptcy in history was imminent? Or was it that Enron and the White House were working closely with the Taliban -- including Osama bin Laden -- up to weeks before the Sept. 11 attack? Was a deal in Afghanistan part of a desperate last-ditch \"end run\" to bail out Enron? Here's a tip for Congressional investigators and federal prosecutors: Start by looking at the India deal. Closely. Enron had a $3 billion investment in the Dabhol power plant, near Bombay on India's west coast. The project began in 1992, and the liquefied natural gas- powered plant was supposed to supply energy- hungry India with about one-fifth of its energy needs by 1997. It was one of Enron's largest development projects ever (and the single largest direct foreign investment in India's history). The company owned 65 percent of Dabhol; the other partners were Bechtel, General Electric and State Electricity Board. news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 68, "subject": "Israel and Palestine", "response_count": 6, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Mar 31, 2002 (09:13)", "body": "http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/31/opinion/31FRIE.html \" Let's be very clear: Palestinians have adopted suicide bombing as a strategic choice, not out of desperation. This threatens all civilization because if suicide bombing is allowed to work in Israel, then, like hijacking and airplane bombing, it will be copied and will eventually lead to a bomber strapped with a nuclear device threatening entire nations. That is why the whole world must see this Palestinian suicide strategy defeated.\" This is Thomas Friedman's piece in the NY Times."}, {"response": 2, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Apr  3, 2002 (21:51)", "body": "You want to hear from someone on the ground in Palestine. This is your guy. He's there, and you won't read this in the mainstream media. http://georgie.ripserve.com/index.htm Wednesday 3rd April, 2002 17.12: Went out today. Curfew was lifted for a few hours so I went to check on our people in the hotel (rousing cheer upon my entrance!)Some I spoke to said they would not go out, despite my presence. Picked up some food and 2 volunteers to help me try to get an ambulance in to help ther wounded in Manger Square. Got some volunteers from Azza campt to help. Whilst making arrangements 2 tanks and an APC passed by. Have been offline for over 24 hours - most frustrating! We have been working non-stop for the last few days with little sleep and no food. We are trying to find a way to get some supplies but there are snipers so even going out is a little tricky. For the updates of what is happening it is best to look at our website as there is not enough room nor enough time for me to put everything here. We have had the most phenomenal response from people around the world. I have been live on radio and tv including the UK, the US, Colombia, Australia, Austria. The othere here (2 Brits including me, 2 Americans and a Palestinian) have been trying to get as much truth out as possible. It is so hard though as we have difficulty in coroborating reports. I am particulalry concerned about the Manger Square situation; there was heavy shooting at about 7.00am and I know there are people trapped there. I don't know how long this siege is going to last. We are still under curfew although a few nurses braved the streets tis morning. Tuesday 2nd April: I have little time to write. Please see www.jerusalem.indymedia.org. There is about to be a amssacre here . Bethlehem is a closed military zone. The local freedom fighters are being rounded up in fierce gunbattles and being driven back to Manger Square. It will be a massacre."}, {"response": 3, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Apr 10, 2002 (09:07)", "body": "Every source there is on the Middle East Crisis Subject: IMC Newsblast: Palestians Under Siege Date: Friday, April 5, 2002 5:50 PM From: geert Reply-To: \"geert\" To: nettime-l From: \"Dan Merkle\" Sent: Friday, April 05, 2002 6:20 PM Subject: IMC Newsblast: Palestians Under Siege this is probably the most comprehensive compilation produced re: the ongoing war in the middle east. there are numerous members of the imc collective who are locked down in the middle of the crisis. this represents the work of an all-volunteer, grassroots, global collective. please forward as appropriate. thanks. dan http://www.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=165308&group=webcast > IMC NEWS BLAST | Thursday, 4 April, 2002 | http://www.indymedia.org \"PALESTINIANS UNDER SIEGE\" Compiled by the Indymedia News Blast Team IMC Palestine: http://jerusalem.indymedia.org Breaking news - 4 April 2300 GMT: The week-long siege continues with even more casualties and attacks on civilians and journalists. Six Palestinian citizens of Israel were severely beaten by Israeli police at a protest outside the US Embassy in Israel. Nine injured internationals are missing after leaving in ambulances from the West Bank to meet embassy officials. A group of Italian politicians tried to enter Tel Aviv to put pressure on Israel to let the internationals leave Bethlehem; Israel refused to negotiate and kicked the delegation out of the country. Israel refused a high-level EU delegation from any form of mediation with or without Arafat; but the US envoy will get to meet Arafat on Friday. Israeli helicopters, tanks, and troops fight with armed Palestinians in Nablus. Israel has taken over 1,000 prisoners. Food and water is running out for everyone under the occupation. Corpses are rotting in the streets. A newborn baby died at the Dheishe UN Medical Clinic today because IDF soldiers would not allow the ambulance passage to the hospital. All reporters within the seige are being intentionally targeted by IDF snipers. ------------------------------------------------- IMC NEWS BLAST: a selection of important news summaries, stories, opinions and media found on a variety of the Independent Media Center websites. An online version of of this NEWS BLAST is posted here: http://jerusalem.indymedia.org/news/2002/04/5007.php Translations will follow and will be posted as comments to the online version. ------------------------------------------------ TABLE OF CONTENTS: 1. SUMMARY 2. BREAKING NEWS * Uncensored continuous coverage on Indymedia sites * Contacts in Palestine 3. KEY ARTICLES * Eyewitness accounts and other reports * Israeli Refuseniks * History and Political Analysis * International activists in Palestine * International journalists in Palestine under attack * Palestinian protests in the occupied territories 4. IMC COVERAGE * Photos * Audio * General 5. WORLDWIDE SOLIDARITY DEMONSTRATIONS * International solidarity protests * How can I protest? 6. THE LAUNCH OF IMC-PALESTINE http://jerusalem.indymedia.org -- innovative coverage of a civil war 7. MEDIA CRITICISM * Critiques of corporate media coverage 8. KEY RESOURCES * Middle-East Media * Other Alternative Media * Activist resources 9. FEEDBACK ------------------------------------------------ 1. SUMMARY: Protests erupted when Ariel Sharon, Israel's most agressive military leader, came to power in 2000, and then brought 1000 armed Israeli soldiers to Jerusalem's holiest site. The Israeli military attacked civilians and Palestinian suicide bombers retaliated. The siege against the Palestinian people has been accelerating since the breakdown of the Oslo peace accords two years ago. Over 300 Israeli army officers and troops are refusing to participate in the occupation. Titular Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, is under siege in his office; Egypt has suspended most diplomatic relations with Israel, and other Arab countries might get involved following massive Anti-Israel civilian protests. Media coverage of the Palestinain-Israeli conflict is shockingly problematic, political, and uneven--especially in the United States. But hundreds of thousands of international readers are depending on Indymedia as a primary source for breaking news -- articles, photographs, audio and video -- from the occupied terroritories. Many of our journalists are being held captive or are under siege, while many other people who have access to the internet continue to publish to the IMC-Palestine site. This newsblast contains essential reading to give those reports context and balance. ------------------------------------------------ 2. BREAKING NEWS ~ Uncensored continuous coverage on Indymedia sites ~ Eyewitness accounts, photos, audio interviews and video: Jerusalem, Palestine -- http://jerusalem.indymedia.org Tel Aviv, Israel -- http://indymedia.org.il Italy -- http://italy.indymedia.org/ New York City -- http://www.nyc.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=21783 Washinton, DC -- http://dc.indymedia.org San Fransisco -- http://sf.indyme"}, {"response": 4, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Jun 28, 2002 (12:10)", "body": "Subject: IMC Newsblast: Palestians Under Siege Date: Friday, April 5, 2002 5:50 PM From: geert Reply-To: \"geert\" To: nettime-l From: \"Dan Merkle\" Sent: Friday, April 05, 2002 6:20 PM Subject: IMC Newsblast: Palestians Under Siege this is probably the most comprehensive compilation produced re: the ongoing war in the middle east. there are numerous members of the imc collective who are locked down in the middle of the crisis. this represents the work of an all-volunteer, grassroots, global collective. please forward as appropriate. thanks. dan http://www.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=165308&group=webcast > IMC NEWS BLAST | Thursday, 4 April, 2002 | http://www.indymedia.org \"PALESTINIANS UNDER SIEGE\" Compiled by the Indymedia News Blast Team IMC Palestine: http://jerusalem.indymedia.org Breaking news - 4 April 2300 GMT: The week-long siege continues with even more casualties and attacks on civilians and journalists. Six Palestinian citizens of Israel were severely beaten by Israeli police at a protest outside the US Embassy in Israel. Nine injured internationals are missing after leaving in ambulances from the West Bank to meet embassy officials. A group of Italian politicians tried to enter Tel Aviv to put pressure on Israel to let the internationals leave Bethlehem; Israel refused to negotiate and kicked the delegation out of the country. Israel refused a high-level EU delegation from any form of mediation with or without Arafat; but the US envoy will get to meet Arafat on Friday. Israeli helicopters, tanks, and troops fight with armed Palestinians in Nablus. Israel has taken over 1,000 prisoners. Food and water is running out for everyone under the occupation. Corpses are rotting in the streets. A newborn baby died at the Dheishe UN Medical Clinic today because IDF soldiers would not allow the ambulance passage to the hospital. All reporters within the seige are being intentionally targeted by IDF snipers. ------------------------------------------------- IMC NEWS BLAST: a selection of important news summaries, stories, opinions and media found on a variety of the Independent Media Center websites. An online version of of this NEWS BLAST is posted here: http://jerusalem.indymedia.org/news/2002/04/5007.php Translations will follow and will be posted as comments to the online version. ------------------------------------------------ TABLE OF CONTENTS: 1. SUMMARY 2. BREAKING NEWS * Uncensored continuous coverage on Indymedia sites * Contacts in Palestine 3. KEY ARTICLES * Eyewitness accounts and other reports * Israeli Refuseniks * History and Political Analysis * International activists in Palestine * International journalists in Palestine under attack * Palestinian protests in the occupied territories 4. IMC COVERAGE * Photos * Audio * General 5. WORLDWIDE SOLIDARITY DEMONSTRATIONS * International solidarity protests * How can I protest? 6. THE LAUNCH OF IMC-PALESTINE http://jerusalem.indymedia.org -- innovative coverage of a civil war 7. MEDIA CRITICISM * Critiques of corporate media coverage 8. KEY RESOURCES * Middle-East Media * Other Alternative Media * Activist resources 9. FEEDBACK ------------------------------------------------ 1. SUMMARY: Protests erupted when Ariel Sharon, Israel's most agressive military leader, came to power in 2000, and then brought 1000 armed Israeli soldiers to Jerusalem's holiest site. The Israeli military attacked civilians and Palestinian suicide bombers retaliated. The siege against the Palestinian people has been accelerating since the breakdown of the Oslo peace accords two years ago. Over 300 Israeli army officers and troops are refusing to participate in the occupation. Titular Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, is under siege in his office; Egypt has suspended most diplomatic relations with Israel, and other Arab countries might get involved following massive Anti-Israel civilian protests. Media coverage of the Palestinain-Israeli conflict is shockingly problematic, political, and uneven--especially in the United States. But hundreds of thousands of international readers are depending on Indymedia as a primary source for breaking news -- articles, photographs, audio and video -- from the occupied terroritories. Many of our journalists are being held captive or are under siege, while many other people who have access to the internet continue to publish to the IMC-Palestine site. This newsblast contains essential reading to give those reports context and balance. ------------------------------------------------ 2. BREAKING NEWS ~ Uncensored continuous coverage on Indymedia sites ~ Eyewitness accounts, photos, audio interviews and video: Jerusalem, Palestine -- http://jerusalem.indymedia.org Tel Aviv, Israel -- http://indymedia.org.il Italy -- http://italy.indymedia.org/ New York City -- http://www.nyc.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=21783 Washinton, DC -- http://dc.indymedia.org San Fransisco -- http://sf.indymedia.org/ United Kingdom -- http://uk.indymedia.o"}, {"response": 5, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Jan 25, 2005 (10:27)", "body": "Israelis, Palestinians stop fighting, for now. Israel will hold fire if the militants do. So says Shaul Mofaz the Israeli Defense Minister."}, {"response": 6, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Jan 26, 2005 (07:06)", "body": "JERUSALEM Israel is resuming diplomatic contacts with the Palestinian Authority, the strongest in a series of signs that tensions are cooling between the two sides. news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 69, "subject": "Bill Clinton talk show on NBC?", "response_count": 3, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, May  3, 2002 (13:28)", "body": "LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Television talk show viewers may be saying goodbye to Rosie O'Donnell and Sally Jesse Raphael, but are they ready to say hello to Bill Clinton? And is he ready to say hello to them? The 55-year-old former president met NBC executives this week about the possibility of hosting a talk show of his own at the Los Angeles offices of his old friend, TV producer Harry Thomason. There was some disagreement over who called the meeting. Clinton's spokeswoman Julia Payne confirmed that it took place but said the ex-president was listening to proposals, not demanding his own show. http://story.news.yahoo.com/newstmpl=story&cid=578&ncid=578&e=5&u=/nm/20020502/ts_nm/media_clinton_dc_5"}, {"response": 2, "author": "autumn", "date": "Sun, May  5, 2002 (14:46)", "body": "Former presidents have been going on the lecture circuit for decades--isn't television the natural extension to going on the road? Makes perfect sense to me."}, {"response": 3, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, May 31, 2006 (20:22)", "body": "http://youtube.com/watch?v=C0F_6plYyTM&search=clinton%20imagine This video is from Shimon Peres's 80th birthday. President Bill Clinton sings John Lennon's 'Imagine' with 16-year old Israeli phenomena Liel, 40 Israeli child news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 7, "subject": "What's hot on The Spring?", "response_count": 82, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "autumn", "date": "Thu, Dec 11, 1997 (14:36)", "body": "Allo, allo--please come sharpen your conversational French skills, no matter how basic, in the French topic (parlons francais) of the Cultures conference. Allons-y! Tout de suite!"}, {"response": 3, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Fri, Dec 12, 1997 (09:28)", "body": "I'll definitely pop into the French topic, autumn!"}, {"response": 4, "author": "autumn", "date": "Fri, Dec 12, 1997 (22:56)", "body": "Tres bien, Mike! Je vous attends....."}, {"response": 5, "author": "stacey", "date": "Mon, Dec 15, 1997 (19:57)", "body": "Femme le bouche?!?! That's the extent c'est vous ple! LOL (at my own ignorance and illiteracy in a foreign language!)"}, {"response": 6, "author": "pmnh", "date": "Mon, Dec 15, 1997 (21:23)", "body": "actually, i think you just said, \"woman, the mouth, \" which does possess a certain symmetry of meaning, when you think about it... should be, i believe, \"fermez le bouche\" (a phrase which shall ring in my ears forever, courtesy of my french teacher- the lovely, terminally unamused mde. allen)..."}, {"response": 7, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Dec 16, 1997 (00:26)", "body": "I love my high school French class. Seven kids in it. Me and 5 of the prettiest girls in school."}, {"response": 8, "author": "pmnh", "date": "Tue, Dec 16, 1997 (01:21)", "body": "yeah, that was the coolest thing about french class (3 girls to every guy)... if i only could've solved mde. allen, would've been choice... (Napoleon! Silence!...Napoleon! En le vestibule!... Napoleon! FERMEZ LE BOUCHE!) it bordered on child abuse, frankly..."}, {"response": 9, "author": "pmnh", "date": "Tue, Dec 16, 1997 (01:24)", "body": "oh, yeah... napoleon was my french class name (probably figured that out though, huh?)"}, {"response": 10, "author": "autumn", "date": "Tue, Dec 16, 1997 (14:08)", "body": "Wow, that's a heck of a monniker to put on a kid--or did you get to choose your own name? We were assigned ours. Terry, you should have followed thru with it in college; there were 22 French majors, 20 beautiful girls and 2 gay guys. We were wasted on them..."}, {"response": 11, "author": "pmnh", "date": "Tue, Dec 16, 1997 (14:37)", "body": "yeah, i chose it (actually, entire french class name was napoleon giscard-d'estaing de gaulle)... figured that if i had to have a norman name, might as well go whole hog..."}, {"response": 12, "author": "autumn", "date": "Tue, Dec 16, 1997 (14:43)", "body": "Well, if I ever go back i'm calling myself Mme. de Pompadour!!"}, {"response": 13, "author": "pmnh", "date": "Tue, Dec 16, 1997 (14:48)", "body": "does possess une timbre plaisant..."}, {"response": 15, "author": "stacey", "date": "Wed, Dec 17, 1997 (20:08)", "body": "*cackle* (catching my breath!) and you WER? Any childhood monikers to stick with? Ghengis?"}, {"response": 17, "author": "stacey", "date": "Wed, Dec 17, 1997 (20:13)", "body": "just ones that have haunted you internally for years?"}, {"response": 19, "author": "stacey", "date": "Wed, Dec 17, 1997 (20:23)", "body": "It's the tenor of your type..."}, {"response": 21, "author": "stacey", "date": "Wed, Dec 17, 1997 (20:31)", "body": "and just what have you noticed?"}, {"response": 23, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Dec 18, 1997 (10:55)", "body": "And what would you like to play with?"}, {"response": 25, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Dec 18, 1997 (18:39)", "body": "Ooooh! My toes!!!! They're curling!"}, {"response": 27, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Dec 18, 1997 (19:10)", "body": "Got panties on today. sorry to ruin the visual. They're mighty nice though."}, {"response": 29, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Dec 19, 1997 (10:53)", "body": "can i get an amen?!?! (tommy, where are you when I need your services?!?) AMEN."}, {"response": 31, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Dec 24, 1997 (23:12)", "body": "New Years Day jan 1 1998 s pm till bring familty and friends, snaks, pot luck byob, games music, insturmentes, lawn charis pot luck 5 pm tv/game room volley ball dominoes *** BONFIRE *** at Cidneye's Hwy 71 East to Bastrop Hwy 969 3.3 miles turn right at yin yang sign 303-4000 if you get lost"}, {"response": 32, "author": "autumn", "date": "Tue, Dec 30, 1997 (01:26)", "body": "Thanks for the invitation, Terry, but I don't want to drive back to Maryland from Texas with all those drunks on the road. ;)"}, {"response": 33, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Jan 27, 1998 (00:37)", "body": "There's a new conference called farm. And already a couple of new folks have posted introductions. I just put the word out earlier tonight. It's about The Farm, a legendary community in Tennessee where everyone was vegetarian, peace loving and out to save the world. I sent out an email to the folks who signed the guestbook at http://www.theform.org to join the discussion. Let's see who comes out of the woodwork!"}, {"response": 34, "author": "pmnh", "date": "Tue, Jan 27, 1998 (01:25)", "body": "sounds interesting..."}, {"response": 35, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Jan 27, 1998 (07:00)", "body": "That url should have read: http://www.thefarm.org ... not \"theform\""}, {"response": 36, "author": "autumn", "date": "Tue, Jan 27, 1998 (13:31)", "body": "ooh, I'm checking it out!"}, {"response": 37, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Jan 27, 1998 (13:36)", "body": "State of the Union tonight and there's more interest than usual. Bill Mahrer's Politically Incorrect should be interesting and I'm sure there will be upteen post-speech shows. Talk about this in politics."}, {"response": 38, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Tue, Jan 27, 1998 (13:36)", "body": "no doubt! Is the farm before my time?"}, {"response": 39, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Tue, Jan 27, 1998 (13:36)", "body": "Oh, Terry, what's up with the date/time...have we like hyperspaced somewhere?"}, {"response": 40, "author": "autumn", "date": "Tue, Jan 27, 1998 (13:36)", "body": "Cool! Maybe you could explain to the federal govt how you bypassed that millenium thing...."}, {"response": 41, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Tue, Jan 27, 1998 (22:41)", "body": "LOL"}, {"response": 42, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Jan 27, 1998 (22:43)", "body": "We're back from the future now. Hope you enjoyed the ride."}, {"response": 43, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Tue, Jan 27, 1998 (22:45)", "body": "Damn, it was great to think I'd kept my girlish figure into my granny years. Gee, thanks, terry *wink*"}, {"response": 44, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Jan 27, 1998 (22:45)", "body": "The Farm topic is getting a small but hopeful response. Folks are starting to check in."}, {"response": 45, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Sun, Feb  1, 1998 (08:25)", "body": "OK, people, get your keyboards ready! Soon the Spring will have on-line bios, a feature which is utterly essential in any community! The mechanics are yet to be finalised, but the most important thing is that you all create your own little biography, aboutme, \".plan\", whatever you want to call it, and e-mail them to me at mikeg@well.com , making the subject line \"bio\", so that I can easily sort them into a folder. Cheers!"}, {"response": 46, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Feb  1, 1998 (08:52)", "body": "Great work Mike! I'm not sure how this is going to happen, but it's one feature that would be really useful for folks to get to know each other."}, {"response": 47, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Sun, Feb 15, 1998 (13:58)", "body": "Argh! Zerr 'ave beeeen no reponse, as you say.... Come on people, who are you? We exchange postings, but most of us don't know each other! Everyone should have a .plan file for others to read - even if the file only gives your real name! And on that note, I'm gonna post mine below. I've pasted it straight from The WELL, since I'm doing the same things there as here, and I'm kinda the same person, too, which is fairly usual I guess ;)"}, {"response": 48, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Sun, Feb 15, 1998 (14:01)", "body": "I'm Mike, and I'm based in Brighton, England. I'm a second-year physics undergraduate, so I spend a lot of time immersed in equations and such like. Happily, I get a small amount of time to indulge in liberal arts, which I think is probably where my heart is. Last term, I took a course in religious psychology, which was incredibly good. This term, I am taking \"Critical Studies in Art\", so I'm going to be wandering in a black roll-neck jumper, and \"pontificating\" about the \"meaning\" of the \"abstraction\" in that \"piece\" *wink*. However, my main outside interest is in virtual communities, and I am involved in establishing a community/conferencing system in Brighton, in conjuction with Virtual Brighton ( http://www.brighton.co.uk/) . Therefore, I am looking for people to discuss the ups and downs of community life with - our project needs inspiration! I am also helping develop a social structure for a new on-line project called \"Farrawae\". There is a Farrawae conference on the Spring, to which you are all most welcome to check out. It's a bit quiet at the moment, but precisely what it needs is - people! - and input!"}, {"response": 49, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Sun, Feb 15, 1998 (14:02)", "body": "Hmmm...I changed some stuff, and it feels more \"positive\" than the WELL one...I wonder why that is...?"}, {"response": 50, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Feb 15, 1998 (17:57)", "body": "How is farrawae doing these days? Remind where that name came from."}, {"response": 51, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Sun, Feb 15, 1998 (18:07)", "body": "Farrawae is ticking over. Andy is struggling to find time to code at the moment, I think, but the best things come to those who wait. As for the name, I'm not entirely sure where it came from to be honest! I'll ask andy :)"}, {"response": 52, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Sun, Feb 15, 1998 (18:32)", "body": "Where are we to post our bios?"}, {"response": 53, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Sun, Feb 15, 1998 (18:56)", "body": "if you e-mail them to me, at mikeg@well.com , then I'm going to work out a temporary primitive way of getting them on-line. Hopefully terry/i/others can come up with something fully integrated into the Spring eventually, but until now I feel like we just need to get *something* up and running."}, {"response": 54, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Sun, Feb 15, 1998 (21:28)", "body": "Done, check your mail *smile*"}, {"response": 55, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Mon, Feb 16, 1998 (14:50)", "body": "I've got it :)"}, {"response": 56, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Mon, Feb 16, 1998 (15:06)", "body": "cool!!"}, {"response": 57, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Tue, Feb 17, 1998 (12:49)", "body": "Thanks for you bios, everyone! Some things are coming to light with their arrival, so this post will hopefully streamline the operation a little more. Firstly, it would be really, really nice if you could include your real-name at the start of the file. For example, perhaps each bio should have a standard header, thus: Real Name: Michael Griggs User ID : mikeg E-mail address: mikeg@well.com ...and then follow with your personal description type stuff. Those people who have already sent me bios, I shall try and piece together the relevant information for those fields, but if I can't then I'll get back in touch. Remember, keep sendin' em guys an' gals!"}, {"response": 58, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Tue, Feb 17, 1998 (18:53)", "body": "OK, things are coming along nicely! I have a basic outline of a default page that I can fill in by hand (for now), and a graphic header which I knocked up quickly. Hopefully within the next hour I will have the first few bios online at www.griggs.demon.co.uk/spring/ If you have e-mailed me a bio, then it will hopefully be at that address. If you haven't sent me a copy yet, what are you waiting for?!"}, {"response": 59, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Tue, Feb 17, 1998 (18:55)", "body": "Darn, the URL went a bit screwy there - my fault. OK, the URL to visit for your bio is: www.griggs.demon.co.uk/spring/[-insert-your-userid-here].html There, hopefully that will work better :)"}, {"response": 60, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Tue, Feb 17, 1998 (19:01)", "body": "OK, there seems to be a slight problem meaning bios won't go on-line tonight. My homepage FTP server doesn't seem to want to let anyone in, which is obviously a bit of a problem as far as getting pages on-line. Perhaps these bios should be stored locally at the Spring anyway, terry?"}, {"response": 61, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Tue, Feb 17, 1998 (20:09)", "body": "Maybe that's a big hint, learning our bios IRL can be a scary proposition! *giggle* For some of us at least (might find that we're really not all that interesting)...."}, {"response": 62, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Tue, Feb 17, 1998 (20:32)", "body": "Wahey....the FTP server finally decided that I had a good enough haircut to upload my webpages ;)) There are two bios up at present, Autumn and Wolf , with mine shortly to follow, and everyone else's when they finally get around to it. This slow trickle is probably a good thing until we get a more automated system in place..."}, {"response": 63, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Tue, Feb 17, 1998 (20:39)", "body": "Wanna change my email, how do i do it?"}, {"response": 64, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Tue, Feb 17, 1998 (20:42)", "body": "On your bio. Ahh...now there comes the problem. If you want to change anything on there at the moment, you have to e-mail the change to me, and wait for me to do it by hand. Hence the need for an automated system..."}, {"response": 65, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Tue, Feb 17, 1998 (20:44)", "body": "K, no problemo!!"}, {"response": 66, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Tue, Feb 17, 1998 (20:46)", "body": "Mike, check the mail *grin*"}, {"response": 67, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Tue, Feb 17, 1998 (20:54)", "body": "changed it :)"}, {"response": 68, "author": "autumn", "date": "Tue, Feb 17, 1998 (22:02)", "body": "Good work, Mike--especially considering it's, what, 1 a.m. there! Ah, the life of a college student...(vague recollection stirring)... Wolf, I liked your bio; it's so concise I feel mine is cumbersome and wordy. I've never written one before and it seems awfully chatty..."}, {"response": 69, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Tue, Feb 17, 1998 (22:43)", "body": "On the contrary Autumn, I was tempted to change mine so it doesn't sound so sterile!! Thanks Mike!!"}, {"response": 70, "author": "autumn", "date": "Tue, Feb 17, 1998 (22:54)", "body": "Ha, ha! Guess there's no right or wrong way to do it! :-)"}, {"response": 72, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Wed, Feb 18, 1998 (16:07)", "body": "I tend to like the chatty ones, myself - I get more of a feel for people if I can see how they write about who they are, rather than just give a list of points. Let's face it, we're more than just lists of skills and experiences, and perhaps bios should reflect that...?"}, {"response": 74, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Wed, Feb 18, 1998 (22:09)", "body": "LOL!!! You really don't want me to write anything chatty, Mike...I could go on and on about stuff. Better that I abbreviate my thoughts, saves everybody else the boredom *wink*"}, {"response": 76, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Wed, Feb 18, 1998 (23:16)", "body": "what? And get myself into trouble with you too? *wink*"}, {"response": 78, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Thu, Feb 19, 1998 (10:41)", "body": "yeah, but people go on and on forever in real life. summarising oneself down to a few key points is something left only for CVs, IMHO."}, {"response": 79, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Thu, Feb 19, 1998 (17:15)", "body": "CV??? Wer: you trustED me?? what did i do this time *wink*"}, {"response": 80, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Thu, Feb 19, 1998 (19:27)", "body": "CV: curriculum vitae erm...oh yeah, sorry - - \"Resume\""}, {"response": 81, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Thu, Feb 19, 1998 (21:35)", "body": "thanks *grin* (and for remember to speak in layman's terms for folks like me)"}, {"response": 82, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Thu, Feb 19, 1998 (21:36)", "body": "uh.....rememberING.....that's what I meant, see, can't even spell *wink*"}, {"response": 84, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Feb 20, 1998 (12:12)", "body": "CFP98 (computers, freedom and privacy) on http://www.spring.com , video clips every 30 seconds accompanied by audio clips. And there's a big party at Bruce Sterling's place in Hyde Park tonight. Call me for details."}, {"response": 85, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Fri, Feb 20, 1998 (12:30)", "body": "not planning on spilling any guts, wer. and i knew you was a teasin' lil ole me :)"}, {"response": 87, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Fri, Feb 20, 1998 (15:12)", "body": ""}, {"response": 88, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Feb 28, 1998 (14:06)", "body": "Move your comments to topic 8 in this conference or one of the other linked conferences. This is being relegated to the frozen tundra."}, {"response": 89, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Nov 26, 2001 (21:46)", "body": "news conference Topic 22 of 26: 'Afghanistan ' Resp 30 of 30: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) Mon, Nov 26, 2001 (20:44) 23 lines David Kline (dkline) Mon Nov 26 '01 (12:55) 11 lines How ironic that my screenplay, written 11 years ago and telling a love story set against the backdrop of the Afghan war, has as its surface plot the (purported) Soviet looting of Afghan art. I spent a lot of time and effort becoming familiar with Afghan art, but I must confess that in my wildest dreams I never imagined that anyone would ever actually want to *destroy* one of the greatest art treasures of human civilization. Like I said today in another topic, one day the true cost of the Taliban's brutal 5-year reign of terror will become fully known and the horror of it will bring us all to our knees."}, {"response": 90, "author": "maryw", "date": "Mon, Nov 26, 2001 (22:50)", "body": "Like I said today in another topic, one day the true cost of the Taliban's brutal 5-year reign of terror will become fully known and the horror of it will bring us all to our knees. Possibly like that of the Khmer Rouge?"}, {"response": 91, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Nov 27, 2001 (08:32)", "body": "Or Pol Pot, or Hitler. I'm glad we have these atrocious people on the run and that the women and Afghan people can play music and enjoy freedom from oppression."}, {"response": 92, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Nov 27, 2001 (18:21)", "body": "Amen. John Burnett once told me he judges a civilization by how they treat their women and children. He was one of the most brilliant minds ever to graduate from U of Hawaii, and I trust his opinion impliticly. Might I add old and inferm to the list. Shooting in cold blood makes for an wicked soccer game half time entertainment, too. Terry, speaking of What's hot on The Spring, I'd love to see the public url lurker stats for Geo lately. I hear they have increased. I wondered by how much."}, {"response": 93, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Nov 27, 2001 (21:27)", "body": "Did you dig through http://www.spring.net/webtrends ?"}, {"response": 94, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Dec  1, 2001 (20:12)", "body": "i did but i don't know how to use it very well yet! *grin*"}, {"response": 95, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Dec  1, 2001 (22:04)", "body": "I'll be posting even more new stuff to it this weekend. It's just a bunch of web menus with all our stats."}, {"response": 96, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Nov  1, 2002 (16:46)", "body": "oh my, I know now, based on the initial posts in this conference, that I should never dare run for a public office! *grin* What is hot on the Spring BTW? From the Top 50 hotlist, I see that drool is always bustling... anything else going on?"}, {"response": 97, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Nov  1, 2002 (21:36)", "body": "geo, very hot. news sports tv movies"}, {"response": 98, "author": "AotearoaKiwi", "date": "Sat, Oct 11, 2003 (05:51)", "body": "Hi all The Rugby World Cup in Australia is the thing to watch (even Americans should watch it - the Eagles are in the same group as the Aussies and are bravely making their way into a tourney that they know that they cannot win. BRAVO AMERICA!!!) http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/public/read/sports/59 Rob news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 70, "subject": "Can future terrorist attacks be prevented", "response_count": 5, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, May 19, 2002 (10:57)", "body": "http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/talking_point/newsid_1990000/1990794.stm The White House has moved quickly to defend President Bush against claims that he could have done more to prevent the 11 September attacks. The national security advisor, Condoleezza Rice, says the President was briefed in August last year that Osama bin Laden planned to hijack American aircraft. But she says the information was very generalised and did not relate to the possibility of attacks on buildings. The disclosure comes as a US congressional committee prepares for a hearing into intelligence failings in the months leading up to 11 September. The FBI Director, Robert Mueller, has repeatedly said he wished agents had acted on information that terrorist groups had sent students to flight schools in the US. Since September, the FBI has been reorganised to increase its emphasis on counter-terrorism and counter-intelligence work. Could the 11 September attacks have been prevented? Where did intelligence go wrong? Have the lessons been learnt? What is the point in assigning blame so long after the event? Adam, UK How on earth do you legislate, or counter attack or defend against people who are willing to sacrifice their lives for a belief ? The fact that Bush had a level of intelligence before the attacks means very little as the terrorists would simply have found another way to spread mass terror and inflict the atrocities they did. What is the point in assigning blame so long after the event? There seems to me to be little point in squabbling after the event has taken place - better they should concentrate on prevention. Adam, UK The events of September 11th were tragic. If information was available that indicated that these attacks could happen then surely an increase in airport security could have taken place without alerting the public that something was going on. With this new information entering the public domain it only goes to confirm what I, and I think, many people already knew - the 'Dubbya' administration don't have the first clue what they are doing. Dave B, UK What the Bush administration had an obligation to do if they were warned of hijacked plane missiles, was to give instructions on how to monitor and react against commercial flights going astray and deviate significantly from their approved flight plans - especially when approaching population centres hundreds of miles away from their original destination. Isn't anyone surprised by the remarkable efficiency displayed by the American authorities after the attacks? It seems this efficiency was absent before 9-11. Peter Vafeades, Cyprus Just after the attacks I suggested to my US friends that there was a possibility somebody official knew a big terrorist attack was going to happen yet it was kept quiet because it would allow the new Bush administration to justify any amount of increased military spending. My friends thought I was just a cynical Brit conspiracy theorist, but they don't think that now. Steve B, Scotland Isn't hindsight wonderful? I wonder now if the Clinton administration could also have prevented the Oklahoma bombing, the attack on the US embassy in Kenya, the first World Trade Center explosion and the USS Cole attack? No? Probably not. I am furious at the Democrats for this cynical, political attack during an election year. Their concern is not with the welfare of America, but with their own agenda. Maya, USA Even the more credible intelligence usually leads to nothing. Scott, USA President Bush will surely feel some heat for this latest news. But even if the limited intelligence the White House had were made public, the terrorist act of 9/11 still would not have been adverted. The information that the White House had was fairly useless. Sure, a warning could have been made, but nothing like what happened was imagined. Terrorist alerts and warning are almost a monthly ordeal now, but even the more credible intelligence usually leads to nothing. Scott , USA What has come out is that the Bush administration has been less than forthcoming with the information that it knew prior to September 11. I firmly believe that a proper response to September 11 mandates that we need to know the full truth. It isn't to assign blame, but rather a recognition that you need to know the full truth simply because you need to prevent these kind of incidents in the future and that is easier to do if you know everything. Mark Allen, USA Whether the US knew or not seems irrelevant. The UK has dealt with IRA bombings for years. How many explosions occurred and how many were either aborted or stopped? You may catch a majority yet total success seems unrealistic. 9-11 was a type of weapon use that the public never envisioned. Car bombs, other explosives, guns, even gas (Japan) have been the norm. These the world expect, not 747 guided missiles. And the quantity of information necessary to collect and organize into a picture of possible and realistic events to stop, I believe, "}, {"response": 2, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Jul  1, 2002 (07:56)", "body": "http://globalresearch.ca/articles/205A.html \"Avoiding the real questions\" by Jane's Intelligence Digest Jane's Intelligence Digest 28 May 2002 The controversy raging in the US over whether warnings about potential terror attacks by Al-Qaeda were ignored before 11 September hardly comes as a surprise. What is far more serious - and has yet to be properly investigated - is why two successive administrations took a series of ultimately disastrous political decisions concerning Osama bin Laden's terrorist network and its backers, the Taliban regime. Since the hijackings, criticism has tended to be directed at the US intelligence agencies and the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), rather than the administration of US President George W. Bush or that of his predecessor, Bill Clinton. However, as more evidence emerges about the type of intelligence which was available - and those who had access to this material, but failed to make use of it - the politicians are going to have to answer some very awkward questions. While it could be argued that there have been intelligence failures, the more critical issue is why there was such a determination on the part of both administrations to avoid any serious action against the Al-Qaeda network or the Taliban. As JID revealed last year, Russia's intelligence services had been extremely active in using their extensive operations in and around Afghanistan to build up a very detailed blueprint of the Taliban regime, its close links with the Al-Qaeda organisation and the extent to which both were actively supported by the Pakistani military and the Inter-Service Intelligence agency (ISI). The Russian permanent mission to the United Nations provided a report on this subject to the UN Security Council on 9 March 2001 (see JID 5 October 2001). However, it is becoming clear that this was only the most high profile of a number of attempts by the Russians to alert the US and other members of the Security Council to the extent of the inter-dependence between the Taliban, Al-Qaeda and the ISI. According to JID's Russian sources, there was a regular flow of information from Moscow to the US dating back to the last years of the Clinton presidency. It seems apparent, however, that although this intelligence was being received by the CIA and other US agencies, there was a distinct lack of enthusiasm within political - as opposed to military - circles for the launch of pre-emptive strikes against either the Taliban or Al-Qaeda. However, given the detailed intelligence being provided by the Russians - and the fact that Bin Laden was making very clear threats to launch further strikes against US targets - it seems bizarre, to say the least, that no high-level political decision was taken to focus US intelligence efforts on Al-Qaeda and its international network, particularly following the bomb attack on the USS Cole in Aden harbour, Yemen, in October 2000."}, {"response": 3, "author": "TheMaharaja", "date": "Tue, Jul  2, 2002 (08:56)", "body": "Terry, I would like to comment on the title \"Can future terrorist attacks be prevented\". I hope I am not being too bold or optimistic in saying that chances of future terrorist attacks can be reduced. A two pronged action is required. The old-fashioned \"stick & carrot\". At the present the US Govt & its allies have restricted their approach to the \"stick\", the carrot is missing. The US Govt must give importance to public relations too. Unfortunately, this is missing."}, {"response": 4, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Jul  2, 2002 (09:23)", "body": "Raising the overall educational and economic level of populations in underdeveloped countries is one key and that's what you're working toward I believe."}, {"response": 5, "author": "TheMaharaja", "date": "Tue, Jul  2, 2002 (18:58)", "body": "Yes Terry you are right. However, it doesn't help when the only Super-power of Mother Earth is adamant on giving wrong impression. People have to be made to believe that the US is not a villian. Countering tarnishing propaganda with overt public relations by the embassies and public statements by the politicians is an absolute necessity. For an example, a comparison of the prisoners held by the Afghan Northern Alliance with those held at Guantanamo Bay could be an eye-opener for all those filled with hatred. Prisoners released by the Afghan Northern Alliance tell stories that make Guantanamo Bay look like paradise. Instead of covering Guantanamo Bay with secrecy the authorities should capitalize on such things. Once again, there should be overt public relations exercise by the American administration; simple statements can do a lot. news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 71, "subject": "Janni Smith - Petrofsky resurrection from paralysis", "response_count": 7, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Jul 13, 2002 (23:06)", "body": "Her own words: Janni Smith Story airs on CBS television Editor's note: The following letter was written by Janni Smith Petrofsky, RN, to Carol Hudson in the School of Allied Health Professions. Ms. Smith's husband Jerrold S. Petrofsky, PhD, is professor of physical therapy in the School of Allied Health Professions. The following is used with permission. * * * Dear Carol: As promised, I am sending some of my \"thoughts\" about the television movie to be aired on CBS this month [the film was aired on Tuesday, April 22]. These are informal musing I scratched down quickly in no particular order. This move is not my life story. I served as a member of the production team and as a technical advisor. I also had an infinitely tiny acting part, which was great fun. A few events form my life became a springboard for the script. There are many things in the movie that are contrary to who I am, what I stand for and what I believe. I asked the producer not to use my name and he was kind enough to comply. The character does not reflect my attitude, feelings, or beliefs. The movie does not include any of my hard-won accomplishments or the work I've been involved in all these long years. It also does not include Dr. Petrofsky's Nobel prize nomination. This move is going to help me fulfill a lifelong dream--to go to medical school I've had numerous move and book offers over the years and although many of them were generous, I've always declined. But in this case the timing seem providential. I want to attend medical school (hopefully Loma Linda) and this move has provided me with the tuition to do so. I was shot four times at point blank range and as a result I am paralyzed form the chest down. When those four bullets struck my body, I prayed that my life would be spared. And I promised that if it was, I would make my life as rich and productive and fulfilling as possible. I have always been grateful that my prayer was answered. The character in the movie becomes bitter and angry when she learns of her paralysis, because this is a more \"normal\" response. Still, I think it's a shame that it was done that way, because it doesn't acknowledge the power of prayer and the gratitude we owe for our good fortune. At one point in my life walking was my dream and I pursued it vigorously. It was exhilarating beyond words when that dream came true. But I hope this move does not send a message that walking is the end-all for people with paralysis. Really, it's something most two-year-olds can do and it shouldn't define you as a human being. I do hope, instead, that the move inspires people to go after their dreams, whatever those dreams might be. All of the actors, members of the production team, crew, and extras were a great pleasure to work with. Shannon Doherty was an angel who put in endless hours training for this role. I think she gave what read in the script as a weak, self-possessed, whiny character an extraordinary strength. Sincerely, Janni Smith"}, {"response": 2, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Jul 13, 2002 (23:06)", "body": "And here's the official press release. July 21, 1994, Thursday, Orange County Edition SECTION: Metro; Part B; Page 1; Column 1; Metro Desk LENGTH: 810 words HEADLINE: MARATHON WAIT IS OVER: FUGITIVE MILLIONAIRE CAUGHT; ARREST: HE FACES A $60-MILLION JUDGMENT WON BY IRVINE WOMAN LEFT PARAPLEGIC IN A 1980 SHOOTING. BYLINE: By DENNIS McLELLAN and NANCY WRIDE, TIMES STAFF WRITERS BODY: Irvine rehabilitation specialist Janni Smith always believed that the Texas millionaire she claims arranged to have her shot -- leaving her paralyzed from the waist down -- would one day be captured. After a 14-year wait, her fugitive ex-lover was behind bars. Richard Minns, 64, was arrested Tuesday at the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport on suspicion of obtaining several passports with fraudulent information and names. Minns, who was never charged in Smith's shooting, fled the country in 1981. He now faces a $60-million judgment she later won against him in a personal injury lawsuit. \"It took me completely by surprise,\" said Smith, 41, a former wheelchair marathoner whose work at the Petrofsky Centers for Rehabilitation and Research has been featured on national television news programs. \"I'm one of those people who never really gives up hope.\" Back in the '70s, the millionaire and his young girlfriend were a glamorous presence on the Houston social scene. Minns was a charismatic, youthful-looking health club tycoon when they met on a Colorado ski slope. Smith, whose name at the time was Barbra Piotrowski, was a bright and beautiful California pre-med student and part-time model 24 years his junior. * Seven months after Smith broke up with Minns in 1980, she was shot four times in the back while parked in a Houston lot. Four men, including a private detective hired by Minns to tap her phone and harass her after they broke up, were later imprisoned for conspiracy to commit murder. Fearful for her life after the shooting, she changed her name. The district attorney's office, which was criticized by members of the legal community and the public for not having indicted Minns, maintained there was insufficient evidence. Frustrated by the failure of the criminal justice system to charge or even question Minns regarding her attack, Smith in 1982 filed a civil suit against him for causing her injuries. But by then Minns already had liquidated all his assets and left the country. On Tuesday, he was on a flight from Cancun, Mexico, that stopped off at the Dallas-Ft. Worth airport when he was arrested, according to Eric Nichols, the assistant U.S. Attorney who will prosecute the case. The flight's final destination was Vancouver, Canada, where Minns now lives. During a routine customs check, Minns was stopped and later detained. Nichols would not comment on whether law enforcement agencies had been pursuing Minns for anything besides the alleged passport violations. But during a Wednesday night phone call to The Times, he quoted the county district attorney saying on television that local prosecutors still believed there was insufficient evidence to pursue Minns for the Smith attack. Nichols would not comment on how federal authorities discovered the passports, which the indictment alleges were obtained by using false names. He said they will argue in court Friday that Minns should remain in custody during his trial. The attorney who represented Minns in court Wednesday, Michael Ware, could not be reached later for comment. * Minns, who has been living in different countries over the past decade, was using the alias Harlan Allen Richardson at the time of his arrest. His capture is the result of a two-year investigation. As a wheelchair athlete after the shooting, Smith won more than a dozen marathons. As president of the Petrofsky Centers for Rehabilitation and Research, she has helped develop medical technologies that enable paralyzed muscles to move for exercise as well as for walking and hand movement. The shooting and Smith's love affair with Minns was chronicled in the 1991 book, \"Sleeping With the Devil,\" by former trial lawyer Suzanne Finstad. Finstad, who was attending law school in Houston at the time, remembers a full-length, front-page photo of Smith in her bikini with the headline: \"Who Shot the Golden Girl?\" During her research for the book, Finstad had discovered that Minns was living under the name Richard O'Toole in the Bahamas, where he was posing as an international tax lawyer and living in a lavish waterfront estate. Finstad said a State Department official heard an interview with her on TV's \"Hard Copy\" in which she expressed her \"frustration that the (Houston) DA hadn't pursued a case against Minns.\" Steve Sumner, the Dallas lawyer representing Smith's civil suits, said Minns' arrest is a \"positive development from Janni's standpoint. Now that he's surfaced, it opens the door for us to be able to take his deposition and find out where his assets are so she can collect on the judgments against him.\" Sumner also r"}, {"response": 3, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Jul 13, 2002 (23:10)", "body": "6:06 PM 4/17/1997 MAXINE MESINGER Houstonian's book on Minns hits small screen The Sunday snooper: Houstonians who knew former Houston health spa chain owner Richard Minns and have been following his escapades for years will want to watch Sleeping With the Devil, a TV movie adaptation of former Houston writer Suzanne Finstad's book of the same title. It will air on CBS, Channel 11 here, at 8 p.m. Tuesday. Minns originally got a lot of attention years ago performing odd physical feats, such as swimming umpteen times around Lake Tahoe. He was in the news again in 1994 when he was nabbed at the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport for passport fraud and was jailed for awhile by immigration officials. Some years ago, Minns allegedly hired a hit man to kill his then-fiancee, Houstonian Barbra Piotrowski, who didn't die but was paralyzed and remains in a wheelchair. She has since changed her name to Janni Smith, is married and lives in California. Shannen Doherty is playing Rebecca Dubrovich, the character based on Smith, and Tim Matheson co-stars as Dick Strang, who is based on Minns. Steven Ford, the actor son of former President Gerald and Betty Ford, plays the character based on Houston attorney Dick DeGuerin. ..."}, {"response": 4, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Jul 13, 2002 (23:12)", "body": ""}, {"response": 5, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Jul 13, 2002 (23:14)", "body": "The above picture from a page chronicling the heroes in the fight against paralysis. http://www.cureparalysis.org/pioneers/"}, {"response": 6, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Jul 13, 2002 (23:25)", "body": "December 28, 1997, Sunday, Final EDITION SECTION: NEWS, Pg. 66, CRIME FLASHBACK LENGTH: 1381 words HEADLINE: SKIING INTO DISASTER BARBARA PIOTROWSKI MET DICK MINNS AT ASPEN AND THINGS WENT RAPIDLY DOWNHILLFROM THERE BYLINE: MAX HAINES BODY: There must be some secret ingredient in the air over Texas which compels husbands, wives and assorted lovers to shoot each other. Today's Texas tragedy had its roots on the ski slopes of Aspen, Colo. That's where Barbara Piotrowski met Richard Minns. Barbara was 24 years old. She had the body and looks of a movie star. Long blonde hair accentuated her finely chiselled features. She had won several beauty contests and had been a part-time model since the age of 16. No dumb blonde, our Barbara - her school marks were straight A's. The day she met Dick on the slopes, she was taking pre-med courses at night. From the time she was little more than a child she had wanted to be a medical doctor. When they met in 1977, Dick was 48-years-old. On that fateful January day, he told Barbara he owned a chain of health clubs in Texas and made his headquarters in Houston. No flies on Dick either. He was a health nut and it showed. Dick Minns had the body of a Greek god. Barbara was impressed, if a little dubious, about her new friend's financial status. By the time their stay in Aspen was over, the pair agreed to exchange telephone numbers. Barbara returned to California and her studies at UCLA; Dick to Texas and his health clubs. Within a few weeks, Dick was on the phone imploring Barbara to join him in Aspen that March. Initially, she resisted the invitation, but gradually gave in. At Aspen the pair were inseparable. They soon became lovers. Both were totally intrigued, one with the other. Dick coaxed Barbara to move to Houston and live with him. She could continue her medical studies there. He claimed he couldn't live without her. For her part, Barbara had never met anyone quite like Dick Minns. He was the answer to every woman's dream. She moved to Houston. What Dick neglected to tell Barbara was that he was married - well married for the past 25 years - and the proud father of three children. His daughter was older than Barbara. Wife Mimi was an active partner in his health club business. Dick had started out in the advertising game and had switched to the health-club business when that industry was in its infancy. He made it big, real big. While still in his twenties, Richard Minns was worth several million dollars. He called his luxurious health spas Presidents Club. Later he would pioneer women's health clubs which he christened First Lady. At the zenith of his business success, Dick owned 32 clubs throughout the U.S. and employed over 1,000 people. He and Mimi were millionaire celebrities in a city of millionaire celebrities. Dick let Barbara know he had been married and introduced her to his children. He had the gall to tell her he was divorced. Somehow he managed to spend two or three nights a week with Barbara. Friends were amazed at the open affair he carried on. For some time, neither Mimi nor Barbara knew of the other's existence. Little by little, Dick stick-handled around the truth. He told Barbara he wasn't exactly divorced; he was legally separated. She accepted that. That summer Mimi found out about Barbara. Within weeks, she informed Dick she would be seeking a divorce. For financial reasons, he implored her to stay married to him. They could come to some sort of arrangement short of divorce. Mimi eventually obtained her divorce and walked away with over $ 5 million as her cut of the business. Meanwhile, Barbara was ensconced in a townhouse in fashionable Ethan's Glen. For some months all went well. Naturally enough, now that her man was free to marry, Barbara longed to become Mrs. Minns. Dick expressed undying love, but constantly delayed the marriage. He felt quite content to live with Barbara. Sometimes the couple had heated arguments. According to Barbara, Dick struck her on a couple of occasions. Finally, she couldn't take it anymore. She moved out, taking the contents of the townhouse with her. That was a big mistake. When Dick came home to the empty townhouse, he was livid. He immediately had Barbara charged with the theft of their furniture. It had been three years since the blonde beauty had moved to Texas to be with her handsome millionaire lover. Now he was charging her with theft. If ever the bloom was off the rose, it was with this pair of lovers. Barbara attempted to build a life of her own. She taught aerobics classes to support herself and continued her studies at the University of Houston. She instituted \"common law\" proceedings against Dick, claiming some portion of his assets, while he continued to press the theft charges against her. Always, in the back of her mind was the thought that Dick would punish her for leaving him. On Oct. 20, 1980, Barbara pulled into the parking lot of a doughnut shop. She made her purchase and returned to her red Fire"}, {"response": 7, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Jul 13, 2002 (23:28)", "body": "March 18, 1992, Wednesday, 2 STAR Edition SECTION: HOUSTON; Pg. 1 LENGTH: 1011 words HEADLINE: \"Unsolved Mysteries' takes on Minns-Piotrowski case BYLINE: ANN HODGES, Houston Chronicle TV Editor; Staff BODY: One of Houston's most notorious murder-for-hire cases is the main reason to watch tonight's \"\"Unsolved Mysteries,'' at 7 on NBC and Channel 2 This mini-drama was made in Houston, by mostly Houston actors. Only the two starring roles were cast in Los Angeles. Barbra Piotrowski, \"\"mid-20's, blonde, brown-eyed, great figure, very athletic,'' according to the \"\"Unsolved Mysteries' ''official casting sheet, is played by Molly Basler. Her onetime lover and Houston health club tycoon Richard Minns, \"\"mid-40s, bottle blonde, eternally tan . . .bodybuilder type,'' is played by Joe Catucci. One day in October 1980, Piotrowski came out of a southwest Houston doughnut shop and was shot four times in the back. She has been paralyzed since that day. Four men were tried for the shooting and are serving prison sentences. Minns has never been criminally charged, but the tangled case has been in and out of the courts for years. Suzanne Finstad wrote a book about it recently, \"\"Sleeping With the Devil. '' Piotrowski sued Minns for $ 220 million, charging that he planned the shooting. Minns denied it and left the country. His son, attorney Michael Minns, who represented him last year in court, said then that Minns was in Israel and had joined the Israeli army. In 1987 District Judge Bill Elliott ordered the court to accept that Minns was responsible for the shootings, and ordered him to pay $ 28.6 million in damages to Piotrowski. In 1991 Piotrowski won a second civil suit she filed against Minns, and the jury ordered him to pay $ 32 million. Minns has never appeared in court himself, and no money has been paid. Piotrowski is now known as Janni Smith and lives in California. Late last year, she married the man who runs the medical center where she works in rehab research for paraplegics. \"\"This is a very complex and complicated story, not at all our standard unsolved mystery,'' said \"\"Unsolved Mysteries' ''Shannon McGinn, who produced this dramatic re-creation of that case. It runs a full 25 minutes, twice as long as most of the cases on \"\"Unsolved Mysteries. '' And at the end, it poses two questions: Where is Richard Minns, and does anyone have knowledge of his financial affairs? \"\"Assistant District Attorney Ted Wilson, who was directly related to the case, comes on to say that if anyone has information, they would love to hear it, because it is still an open case,'' McGinn said. The odds are good it could happen. One reason \"\"Unsolved Mysteries'' is one of the most-watched series on TV today is that its viewers have solved so many of the cases it spotlights. The show shot a full week in Houston, and that, too, is unusual. Most \"\"Unsolved'' cases take about half that time. It was shot at the Fort Bend County Courthouse in Richmond, at Shipley's doughnut shop on Stella Link (not the shop where Piotrowski was shot), in Memorial Park, and at several condominiums in southwest Houston. The show always uses local actors and technicians, and for this one, McGinn used a bigger-than-usual staff of 25. \"\"In Houston, both the actors and the technicians were especially good,'' she said. \"\"There are so many experienced, talented people there. The only reason we brought actors in from Los Angeles was that the looks were so specific for those two main characters. '' TV's story begins with the meeting of Minns and Piotrowski, and then the real Piotrowski/Smith comes on to tell the story herself, as it proceeds to the shooting and two of the court cases. There are 21 roles in this mini-drama, and Houston's Pastorini-Bosby talent agency placed 13 of them. Many of the real names -- on both sides of the casting sheet -- are familiar to many Houstonians. Minns had divorced his wife of 30 years, and the role of Mimi Minns (\"\"no description, no pictures available'') is played by Houston TV personality Warner Roberts. \"\"She won an ovation from the crew,'' McGinn reported. Piotrowski's lawyer, Dick DeGuerin (\"\"short, blond, good-looking, very intense, dresses sharp and knows how to manipulate a case his way'') is played by Greg Roach. HPD Detective Ken Williamson (\"\"tall, well-built, real police officer type, someone you can trust, he helps break the case'') is Drew McManigle. Dudley Bell, the private investigator who was found guilty and sentenced to 18 years in prison and a $ 10,000 fine for trying to arrange the murder (\"\"a real P.I. type, tough, hardened'') is Dell Gibson. Dorothy Wolfe, Dudley Bell's ex-wife (\"\"heavy Texas accent . . . a real character'') is Louise Winner. Judge Bill Elliott (\"\"conservative . . . very serious . . . looks like a judge even without the robes'') is Brady Coleman. The cast also includes the men who did the shooting; Judge Myron Love (\"\"older, gray hair, could be an Ed Asner or Robert Prosky type''); Assistant D"}]}, {"num": 72, "subject": "Lance Armstrong and bicycling as a sport", "response_count": 34, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Tue, Oct 17, 2000 (08:42)", "body": "I see Lance is the poster boy for light rail in Austin now. It's not a popular cause. It will be interesting to see what the voters say? Anyone here have light rail in their cities?"}, {"response": 2, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Oct 17, 2000 (20:08)", "body": "No, but it is being considered for Honolulu... That finite island is a nightmare of monumental traffic proportions."}, {"response": 3, "author": "zx6rider", "date": "Fri, Nov 17, 2000 (12:48)", "body": "Is 'light rail' commuter and subway trains? If so... Boston MBTA Commuter (AMTRAK) allows bikes to roll on during no-peak times. I hear some of the subway lines allow it (though the GREEN line is not one of them). In NYC you can tak your bike on the subway anytime you can get it to fit."}, {"response": 4, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Apr 30, 2001 (00:40)", "body": "In Austin they have racks for bikes on the fronts of buses."}, {"response": 5, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Jul 11, 2002 (10:43)", "body": "From an amazing New Yorker piece. July 11, 2002 | home THE LONG RIDE by MICHAEL SPECTER How did Lance Armstrong manage the greatest comeback in sports history? Issue of 2002-07-15 Posted 2002-07-08 A couple of weeks ago, on a sweltering Saturday afternoon, I found myself in the passenger seat of a small Volkswagen, careering so rapidly around the hairpin turns of the French Alps that I could smell the tires burning. Johan Bruyneel, the suave, unflappable director of the United States Postal Service Pro Cycling Team, was behind the wheel. Driving at ninety kilometres an hour occupied half his attention. The rest was devoted to fiddling with a small television mounted in the dashboard, examining a set of complicated topographical maps, and talking into one of two radio transmitters in the car. The first connected Bruyneel to the team's support vehicle, laden with extra bicycles, water bottles, power bars, and other tools and equipment. The second fed into the earpieces of the eight U.S. Postal Service cyclists who were racing along the switchbacks ahead of us. The entire team could hear every word that Bruyneel said, but most of the time he was talking to just one man: Lance Armstrong. We had been on the road for about three hours and Armstrong was a kilometre in front of us, pedalling so fast that it was hard to keep up. It was the sixth day of the Dauphin\ufffd Lib\ufffdr\ufffd, a weeklong race that is run in daily stages. Armstrong doesn't enter races like the Dauphin\ufffd to win (though often enough he does); he enters to test his legs in preparation for a greater goal\ufffdthe Tour de France. Since 1998, when he returned to cycling after almost losing his life to testicular cancer, Armstrong has focussed exclusively on dominating the thirty-five-hundred-kilometre, nearly month-long Tour, which, in the world of cycling, matters more than all other races combined. This week, he begins a quest to become the fourth person in the hundred-year-history of the Tour\ufffdthe world's most gruelling test of human endurance\ufffdto win four times in a row. (In 1995, the Spanish cyclist Miguel Indurain became the first to win five consecutively\ufffda record that is clearly on Armstrong's mind.) The cyclists had covered a hundred and eight kilometres, much of it over mountain passes still capped with snow, despite temperatures edging into the nineties. Now the peloton\ufffdthe term is French for \"platoon,\" and it describes the pack of riders who make up the main group in every race\ufffdwas about to start one of the most agonizing climbs in Europe, the pass between Mont Blanc and Lake Geneva, which is known as the Col de Joux Plane. In cycling, climbs are rated according to how long and steep they are: the easiest is category four, the hardest category one. The seventeen-hundred-metre Joux Plane has a special rating, known as hors categorie, or beyond category; for nearly twelve kilometres, it rises so sharply that it seems a man could get to the top only by helicopter. \"We start the Joux Plane with a lot of respect for this mountain,\" Bruyneel said quietly into his radio. \"It is long, it is hard. Take it easy. If people are breaking away, let them go. Do you hear me, Lance?\" \"Yes, Johan,\" Armstrong replied flatly. \"I remember the mountain.\" With only a few days remaining in the 2000 Tour de France, Armstrong had what most observers agreed was an insurmountable lead when he headed toward this pass. He was riding with his two main rivals of that year: Marco Pantani, the best-known Italian cyclist, and Jan Ullrich, the twenty-eight-year-old German who won the Tour in 1997, and who in the world of cycling plays the role of Joe Frazier to Armstrong's Ali. As they started to climb, Armstrong seemed invincible. Halfway up, though, he slumped over his handlebars, looking as if he had suffered a stroke, and Ullrich blew right by him. \"I bonked,\" Armstrong said later, using a cyclist's term for running out of fuel. A professional cyclist consumes so much energy\ufffdup to ten thousand calories during a two-hundred-kilometre mountain stage\ufffdthat, unless some of it is replaced, his body will run through all the glycogen (the principal short-term supply of carbohydrates the body uses for power) stored in his muscles. Armstrong hadn't eaten properly that morning; then he found himself cut off from his domestiques\ufffdthe teammates who, among other things, are responsible for bringing him supplies of food and water during the race. \"That was the hardest day of my life on a bike,\" Armstrong said later. He was lucky to finish the day's stage, and even luckier to hold on and win the race. \"This isn't just a stage in a race for Lance,\" Bruyneel said now, as Armstrong approached the bottom of the slope. \"He needs to defeat this mountain to feel ready for the Tour.\" This time, Bruyneel made sure that the domestiques ferried water, carbohydrate drinks, and extra power bars to Armstrong throughout the day. They periodically drifted back to our car and performed a kind of high-speed docking maneuv"}, {"response": 6, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Jul 11, 2002 (10:45)", "body": "Lance Armstrong's heart is almost a third larger than that of an average man. During those rare moments when he is at rest, it beats about thirty-two times a minute\ufffdslowly enough so that a doctor who knew nothing about him would call a hospital as soon as he heard it. (When Armstrong is exerting himself, his heart rate can edge up above two hundred beats a minute.) Physically, he was a prodigy. Born in 1971, Armstrong was raised by his mother in Plano, a drab suburb of Dallas that he quickly came to despise. He never knew his father, and refers to him as \"the DNA donor.\" He has written that \"the main thing you need to know about my childhood is that I never had a real father, but I never sat around wishing for one, either. . . . I've never had a single conversation with my mother about him.\" He was a willful child and didn't like to listen to advice. \"I have loved him every minute of his life, but, God, there were times when it was a struggle,\" his mother, Linda, told me. She is a demure woman with the kind of big blond hair once favored by wives of astronauts. \"He has always wanted to test the boundaries,\" she said. Armstrong admits that he was never an easy child. In his autobiography, \"It's Not About the Bike,\" which was written with the journalist Sally Jenkins, he said, \"When I was a boy I invented a game called fireball, which entailed soaking a tennis ball in kerosene, lighting it on fire, and playing catch with it.\" Armstrong was an outstanding young swimmer, and as an adolescent he began to enter triathlons. By 1987, when he was sixteen, he was also winning bicycle races. That year, he was invited to the Cooper Institute, in Dallas, which was one of the first centers to recognize the relationship between fitness and aerobic conditioning. Everyone uses oxygen to break down food into the components that provide energy; the more oxygen you are able to use, the more energy you will produce, and the faster you can run, ride, or swim. Armstrong was given a test called the VO2 Max, which is commonly used to assess an athlete's aerobic ability: it measures the maximum amount of oxygen the lungs can consume during exercise. His levels were the highest ever recorded at the clinic. (Currently, they are about eighty-five millilitres per kilogram of body weight; a healthy man might have a VO2 Max of forty.) Chris Carmichael, who became his coach when Armstrong was still a teen-ager, told me that even then Armstrong was among the most remarkable athletes he had ever seen. Not only has his cardiovascular strength always been exceptional; his body seems specially constructed for cycling. His thigh bones are unusually long, for example, which permits him to apply just the right amount of torque to the pedals. Although Armstrong was talented, he wasn't very disciplined. He acted as if he had nothing to learn. \"I had never met him when I took over as his coach,\" Carmichael told me. \"I called him up and we talked on the phone. He was kind of rude. Not kind of rude. He was completely rude. He was, like, 'So you are the new coach\ufffdwhat are you going to teach me?' He just thought he was King Shit. I would tell him to wait till the end of a race before making a break. He just couldn't do that. He would get out in front and set the pace. He would burn up the field, and when other riders came alive he would be done, spent.\" Still, Armstrong did well in one-day races, in which bursts of energy count as much as patience or tactical precision. In 1991, after several years of increasingly impressive performances, he became the U.S. amateur champion, and the next year he turned pro. In 1993, he became the youngest man ever to win a stage in the Tour de France; he won the World Road Championships the same year. In 1996, Armstrong signed a contract with the French cycling team Cofidis, for a salary of more than two million dollars over two years. He had a beautiful new home in Austin, and a Porsche that he liked to drive fast. Then, in September, he became unusually weak and felt soreness in one of his testicles. Since soreness is a part of any cyclist's life, he didn't give it much thought. One night later that month, however, several days after his twenty-fifth birthday, he felt something metallic in his throat while he was talking on the phone. He put his friend on hold, and ran into the bathroom. \"I coughed into the sink,\" he later wrote. \"It splattered with blood. I coughed again, and spit up another stream of red. I couldn't believe the mass of blood and clotted matter had come from my own body.\" Within a week, Armstrong had surgery to remove the cancerous testicle. By then, the disease had spread to his lungs, abdomen, and brain. He needed brain surgery and the most aggressive type of chemotherapy. \"At that point, he had a minority chance of living another year,\" Craig Nichols, who was Armstrong's principal oncologist, told me. \"We cure at most a third of the people in situations like that.\" A professor at Oregon Health Scie"}, {"response": 7, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Jul 16, 2002 (20:55)", "body": "http://www.olntv.com/listenlive.html (a frame in http://www.letour.fr/2002/us/index.html ) This is great! There's a *live webcast* of the Tour de France. No commercials. You need WMP. Here's the schedule. Wednesday, July 17 - Stage 10 9:30am-11:30am ET Thursday, July 18 - Stage 11 8:30am-11:30am ET Friday, July 19 - Stage 12 8:30am-11:30am ET Saturday, July 20 - Stage 13 9:30am-11:30am ET Sunday, July 21 - Stage 14 9:30am-11:30am ET Monday, July 22 - Rest Day No Live Audio Tuesday, July 23 - Stage 15 9:30am-11:30am ET Wednesday, July 24 - Stage 16 7:30am-11:30am ET Thursday, July 25 - Stage 17 8:30am-11:30am ET Friday, July 26 - Stage 18 9:30am-11:30am ET Saturday, July 27 - Stage 19 9:30am-11:30am ET Sunday, July 28 - Stage 20 9:30am-11:30am ET"}, {"response": 8, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Jul 19, 2002 (22:18)", "body": "The New Yorker article. It was great. Did I say. It was great. They pointed out that Lance's resting pulse is 32 beats per minute, his heart is a third bigger than the average mans, and his thigh bones are the perfect height for pumping pedals, which is pumps about 100 times a minute on hard mountain climbs. I encountered him at BookPeople at Central Market one time. I was walking out of the store and he spotted me and held the door open for me when I was about 40 feet away, he smiled and strode off across the parking lot. I got the impression of a small but exceeding powerful and conscious man. He's friends with Robin Williams, another cyclist. Did you catch his comments on Lance in the HBO Special (\"he' not on chemicals, you idiots . . . he's on *chemo* . . . having his testicle removed makes him more aerodynamic. Here's an article on his rigorous training regimen: http://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/29/sports/othersports/29LANC.html Here are some super places to follow the rest of the Tour de France, about ten more days. http://uk.sports.yahoo.com/tdf2001/ webcast audio and comprehensive covrage http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2002/tour02/?id=stages/stage11 http://www.olntv.com/listenlive.html and http://www.letour.fr/2002/us/index.html And finally the great NYer article: http://www.newyorker.com/printable/?fact/020715fa_fact1"}, {"response": 9, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Jul 21, 2002 (23:35)", "body": "Surprise! oln blew away CBS today with it's coverage of the Tour de France. Lance came in third but he about doubled his overall lead to 4 minutes and something. What a powerful stretch drive by Austin's cycling powerhouse up France's most daunting challenge of the Tour de France. The Spaniard challenged him and he just turned on the afterburners and it was bye bye to the rest of the pack."}, {"response": 10, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Jul 25, 2002 (11:25)", "body": "Lance maintains a plus 5 minute lead over Botero with two others neaby. Thursday, July 25 - Stage 17 8:30am-11:30am ET -Live! 3:00pm-5:00pm ET - Re-air of live coverage 9:00pm-11:00pm ET / 10:00pm-12:00am PT - Commentary & analysis of day's stage Friday, July 26 - Stage 18 9:30am-11:30am ET -Live! 3:00pm-5:00pm ET - Re-air of live coverage 9:00pm-11:00pm ET / 10:00pm-12:00am PT - Commentary & analysis of day's stage Saturday, July 27 - Stage 19 9:30am-11:30am ET -Live! 3:00pm-5:00pm ET - Re-air of live coverage 9:00pm-11:00pm ET / 10:00pm-12:00am PT - Commentary & analysis of day's stage Sunday, July 28 - Stage 20 Live audio coverage available on olntv.com - 9:30am-11:30am. Visit the Listen Live page. CBS Coverage 2:00pm - 3:00pm ET OLN Coverage 9:00pm-11:00pm ET / 10:00pm-12:00am PT - Commentary & analysis of day's stage Thursday, August 22 - Post-race Show 8:00pm ET/PT Join Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen for a re-cap of the most exciting moments of the 2002 Tour de France."}, {"response": 11, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Jul 25, 2002 (22:42)", "body": "Sunday August 4th 1pm OLN, New York City bike race. Lance will be there."}, {"response": 12, "author": "g7hvp", "date": "Fri, Jul 26, 2002 (11:55)", "body": "Will Lance Cycle the Atlantic first or take the long path he hi good enough to do it."}, {"response": 13, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Jul 26, 2002 (14:00)", "body": "All he has to do now is play it safe, avoid crashes and sickness. Five minuates may not seem like much, but it's actually a pretty huge lead."}, {"response": 14, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jul 26, 2002 (14:18)", "body": "5 minutes is like hours in a contest like this. He should bide his time and not do anything stupid like overextending himself or taking risks. I am pulling for him!"}, {"response": 15, "author": "g7hvp", "date": "Fri, Jul 26, 2002 (15:52)", "body": "I watch the race every day live and they all deserve a medal but Lance seems to be a rarity which pop up from time to time in sport."}, {"response": 16, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jul 26, 2002 (20:36)", "body": "Yup, he will be like all the record holders in any sport. One for the books! And, he did it the hard way - fighting for his life. I have also been watching and looking at the scenery in the background whenever possible."}, {"response": 17, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Jul 26, 2002 (21:53)", "body": "Tomorrow are the time trials and Lance is out to win this one."}, {"response": 18, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Jul 28, 2002 (00:03)", "body": "And he did! Tomorrow's the big ride around the Champs Elyses."}, {"response": 19, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Jul 28, 2002 (09:43)", "body": "Can't get the oln feed today. oln tv is blocked out in favor the the CBS delayed and sanitized version at 1 pm CST. So I found another live audio feed: http://www.eurosport.com/home/pages/L0/home_multimedia_Lng0.shtml You'll get commercials in French but the commentary is in English."}, {"response": 20, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Jul 29, 2002 (11:59)", "body": "Lance won and displayed great class in his interviews and comments afterward. That makes four in a row and only one other man has won five in a row, Indurain."}, {"response": 21, "author": "g7hvp", "date": "Mon, Jul 29, 2002 (13:59)", "body": "Lance says he will race for at least two more years, new records to come?"}, {"response": 22, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Jul 29, 2002 (14:23)", "body": "Rumsas and David Millar could put up a challenge to Lance next year, his chances hinge on whether or not he can come back with a good team again."}, {"response": 23, "author": "g7hvp", "date": "Tue, Jul 30, 2002 (09:39)", "body": "Dave Miller says he hopes to win the tour in abour 3 years after Lance retires"}, {"response": 24, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Jul 30, 2002 (12:06)", "body": "Rumsas wife got busted with a carload full of doping products yesterday, Rumsas may be on the run and the cycling governing body is going to slap him. I guess Rumsas stock is going down. Lance considers h9im to be the biggest threat."}, {"response": 25, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Jul 30, 2002 (12:08)", "body": "Third Place Is in Doubt Police Say Rumsas's Wife Had 'Doping Materials' in Car advertisement Raimondas Rumsas's third-place finish in the Tour de France remains in place Monday pending the results of an investigation and drug tests. (Thomas Kienzle - AP) _____What the Jerseys Mean_____ \ufffd Yellow: Overall race leader; shortest time for total distance covered. The most coveted jersey. \ufffd Polka dots: King of the Mountains. The best climber wears this jersey. \ufffd Green: The best sprinter. Points are awarded for intermediate and final sprints on flat terrain. E-Mail This Article Printer-Friendly Version Subscribe to The Post By Keith B. Richburg Washington Post Foreign Service Tuesday, July 30, 2002; Page D02 PARIS, July 29 -- The ever-present specter of doping cast a shadow over the Tour de France when the Italian team Lampre-Daikin announced it was suspending its captain and star, Lithuanian rider Raimondas Rumsas, after his wife was detained by French customs police for carrying \"suspicious\" medical products. Rumsas finished third overall Sunday in the Tour and shared the podium with Lance Armstrong, who was celebrating his fourth consecutive Tour de France win. Rumsas, 30, stood to Armstrong's left as a French military band played \"The Star-Spangled Banner.\" But hours before Sunday's final race stage began, customs police detained Edita Rumsas after searching a car she was driving at Chamonix in the Alps near the Italian border. A police spokeswoman said customs police discovered \"medications that could be considered doping materials\" in the car. Edita Rumsas is in police custody in Lyon, although she has not been formally charged. Rumsas has returned to his home in Marlia, Italy, with the rest of the team. Edita had been with her husband throughout the race, but left by car before the race ended. Police declined to specify the kind or amount of material she was carrying when apprehended. On Sunday night, French police in Paris entered"}, {"response": 26, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Jul 30, 2002 (12:10)", "body": "July 30, 2002 08:30 AM ET MADRID (Reuters) - Lithuanian rider Raimondas Rumsas, who became embroiled in a doping probe after customs officials found drugs in his wife's car following this year's Tour de France, has denied taking any banned substances. \"I have ridden this Tour in a completely honest and legal manner,\" the 30-year-old cyclist, who came third in the race, told Spanish daily El Mundo Tuesday. http://reuters.com/news_article.jhtml;jsessionid=2XBX3KUBSWW3SCRBAELCFEY?type=sportnews&StoryID=1268443"}, {"response": 27, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Jul 30, 2002 (21:06)", "body": "Lance will be back in Austin in September, I'm looking forwarding to attending the homecoming. It will be a grand occasion for Austin, Texas."}, {"response": 28, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Apr 16, 2003 (04:51)", "body": "http://sports.yahoo.com/sc/news?slug=ap-armstrong-marriage&prov=ap&type=lgns Armstrong's wife says that she and Lance are working at reconciling their marriage, and plan to reunite in Europe before and through the TDF."}, {"response": 29, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Jul 17, 2003 (19:34)", "body": "US Postal got off to a good start by winning the team time trial on day one. As usual, Outdoor Life Network is doing great coverage, live, every day except on the weekend when do a delay in the evening. Victor Hugo Pena of Postal got the first yellow jersey with Lance just a second behind. http://www.khou.com/sharedcontent/sports/tourdefrance/tourdefrance/071802dnspotourlede.eee.html \"This year [2002], Mr. Armstrong has been appearing regularly on French television, speaking in French. He's signing more autographs and seems to be making an effort to become more open with the passionate French cycling fans. \" http://www.postconsumer.com/blogfrance/archives/000461.html \"He speaks french! Badly, though: \"Il est le plus grand threat!\" (he meant menace). \" Tyler Hamilton is riding with a broken collarbone, victim of an early crash in the Tour. http://www.velonews.com/tour2003/diaries/articles/4452.0.html The OLN announcers are great with Phil Ligget and Paul being joined by a flirtatious, bold blond newcomer Kristen Bug and funnyman Bob Roll. Roll won't be coming to a Comedy Club near you any time soon."}, {"response": 30, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Jul 24, 2003 (21:55)", "body": "Lance is ove a minute ahead of the second place Jan Ulrich going in to the final few days on the road to Paris. Magnificent effort by Tyler Hamilton a couple of days ago in the last mountain stage. \"He made a bold move\", said Lance, of the rider with the broken collarbone."}, {"response": 31, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Jul 26, 2003 (10:20)", "body": "Both Ulrich and Armstrong are out on the course as I write this. This most likely will decide this years Tour de France. It's a 30 mile individual time trial. Man against man. It's rainy and treacherous out on the course. At least it's not hot, that's what did Lance in during the last time trial. Ulrich is ahead by 6 seconds so far, Lance is ahead by a minute five overall. I hope they don't risk too much. This is a very tricky run. Follow it on OLN or http://olntv.com"}, {"response": 32, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug  1, 2003 (03:41)", "body": "Lance did a two hour interview on OLN tv (channel 608 if have Directv) and it may still be in reruns. When asked about the crash, he said he looked at the reruns and it didn't look to him like Ullrich was \"waiting\" for him; he said Jan had on his same face and it looked like he was bearing down until Tyler Hamilton ran up and got everyone to slow down. He said the race was full of \"little problems\" like cooling down with misting machines way too much before the first time trial which caused him to break out in a sweat and he went in to a bunch of other stuff. The stuff he referred to as the stuff that \"people don't know about\" in an interview during the race. It was a riveting two hour wrap up with Paul Sherwyn and Phil Leggett and I highly recommend it if you can catch it on an OLN rerun."}, {"response": 33, "author": "admin", "date": "Thu, Feb 12, 2004 (14:01)", "body": "We still have it tivoed."}, {"response": 34, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Feb 18, 2004 (09:20)", "body": "Lance is getting ready for this years tour in central California. He's been seen laying around the beach with Cheryl Crow. news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 73, "subject": "smart mobs", "response_count": 9, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Jul 23, 2002 (09:09)", "body": "This phenomenon is showing up among teens in tech meccas like Tokyo, where wireless text messages have caught on in a big way. American hip-hop fans, using two-way pagers, spontaneously appear for parties. And in Finland, members of a local cooperative mix the virtual and the physical by communicating via pagers and cellphones to meet at their club. It's not all fun and games. Smart mobs in Manila contributed to the overthrow of President Joseph Estrada in 2001 by organizing demonstrations via forwarded cellphone text messages. Protesters at the World Trade Organization gathering in Seattle in 1999 were able to check into a sprawling electronic network to see which way the tear gas was blowing. Or they could use the network to determine their preferred level of involvement: nonviolent demonstrations, civil disobedience or mass arrests. The Sept. 11 terrorists used such devices to plan and coordinate their attack, and the victims used them to convey information \ufffd and, in the case of United Airlines flight 93, learned of the other attacks and took action that may have prevented even more devastation. from the above quoted NY Times article"}, {"response": 2, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Jul 23, 2002 (09:29)", "body": "Jyri Engestrom, however, would not agree. He is a founder of Aula, a three-year-old cooperative in Finland that provides a physical meeting place to augment the virtual community. The city already had Internet cafes when the group started, he said. \"What was missing was not a new Internet cafe,\" he said, \"but a community, or network\" where artists, business people and geeks could meet, talk, share ideas and have fun. Mr. Engestrom said the group planned to expand to other places as well, including a local cafe. Aula now has nearly 500 members, he said, with radio frequency ID tags that let them into the Aula meeting space and let others know they are there. \"We're using digital technology in our case to enhance community-building in the wild, in the physical world,\" he said."}, {"response": 3, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Jul 23, 2002 (09:36)", "body": "Howard Rheingold's article on this is the seminal piece. http://www.leocigar.com/maindesign.asp?aid=3405&gid=2080 Mobile Virtual Communities Publish date: 20.08.2001 By Howard Rheingold Five years from now, the innovations of today's early adopters could become part of the everyday lives of hundreds of millions of people: Jyri Engestrom is opening a social club (pdf) in the middle of downtown Helsinki that combines physical location, virtual community, and sms messaging. In Stockholm, Styrbjorn Horn has created a mobile chat platform for teenagers who already use sms to \"swarm\" as social groups in the physical world. Last Monday, Rickard Ericsson's \"Lunarstorm,\" a virtual community that has captured the attention of more than 60% of Sweden's 15-25 year old population, added a mobile extension to its web-pages, bulletin boards, and chat rooms. Lunarstorm now provides its own SIM cards to enhance its mobile services in ways they couldn't with traditional operator agreements. LunarMobil works like an ordinary mobile operator with one important difference; the company provides you with a unique \"remote control\" for your Lunarstorm-presence and activities. Anything you could do on www.lunarstorm.se, you could do from your mobile phone using standard SMS-messages."}, {"response": 4, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Jul 24, 2002 (10:48)", "body": "I joined upoc.com today and signed up for a few mobs. My upoc address is springnet@upoc.com I think if you send email there it will pop up on my cell phone."}, {"response": 5, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Jul 24, 2002 (11:01)", "body": "I started springmob, you can join it on upoc.com"}, {"response": 6, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Jul 24, 2002 (11:05)", "body": "group name: springmob group email: group-springmob@upoc.com group url: www.upoc.com/group.jsp?group=springmob group description: spring.net mob online virtual community Colin Firth and Jane Austen discussions dominate"}, {"response": 7, "author": "arabella", "date": "Sat, Aug  3, 2002 (13:40)", "body": "Oh, I'll check that out. How many members do you have so far?"}, {"response": 8, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Aug  5, 2002 (10:09)", "body": "I'll have to revisit it to see. I joined, and then unjoined a bunch of Austin mobs (when I saw how lame the conversation was!)."}, {"response": 9, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Nov  2, 2002 (09:01)", "body": "Seattle newspaper: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/artsentertainment/134566711_smartmobs01.html When the majority of the world's urban population is constantly connected to each other and the Internet via cellphones, laptops and even cybernetic accessories, are we diving headlong into a dystopian, \"Blade Runner\" future? Howard Rheingold argues emphatically no in his new book \"Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution\" (Perseus, $26), eschewing the usual dire predictions while examining the many new forms of group interaction facilitated by always-on Internet and cell networks. Cooperation is the underpinning of the origins of society itself, he says, and is no less a part of emerging digital culture. Rheingold's tone of almost unrelenting optimism permeates this worldwide examination of changes in social and political order under way through such simple technologies as short-text messaging with cellphones and low-power wireless networks set up by activists and hobbyists. If spam doesn't take over and if mobs turn out 'dumb' we're in for a less optimistic future. So far, I've had to turn off the mobs on my cell phone as there's too much going on with it now and the mobs definitely aren't 'smart'. At least the ones Howard recommends. news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 74, "subject": "Stock Market Crash of 2002", "response_count": 0, "posts": []}, {"num": 75, "subject": "Space Science News", "response_count": 718, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Mar 24, 2000 (13:31)", "body": "Space Science News for March 22, 2000 The Earth's magnetosphere is being buffeted by high-speed solar wind particles from a coronal hole straddling the center of the Sun's disk. The solar wind velocity has increased from 350 to 600 km/s during the past 12 hours. Follow the action at http://www.spaceweather.com SpaceWeather.com MORE SPACE SCIENCE NEWS : #1 Curiouser and Curiouser: The exotic world of gamma-ray astronomy has taken yet another surprising turn with the revelation that half the previously unidentified high-energy gamma ray sources in our own galaxy actually comprise a new class of mysterious objects. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast23mar_1m.htm Curiouser and Curiouser #2 Solar Cycle Update: Is the real Y2K problem just starting? The solar cycle appears to be on schedule for a peak in mid-2000. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast22mar_1m.htm Solar Cycle Update"}, {"response": 2, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Mar 24, 2000 (15:37)", "body": ""}, {"response": 3, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Mar 24, 2000 (15:39)", "body": "Space Science News for March 24, 2000 The Compton Gamma-ray Observatory is destined for a watery grave in the remote Pacific on June 3, 2000. At a press conference today, NASA officials cited human safety concerns in explaining their decision to de-orbit the satellite, which has revolutionized our understanding of the cosmos during a highly successful 9 year mission. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast25mar_1m.htm Farewell Compton MORE NEWS : The RADAR Cop in Space -- NASA's IMAGE satellite scheduled for launch on March 25 will revolutionize our understanding of Earth's magnetosphere and improve space weather forecasting. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast24mar_1m.htm The RADAR Caop in Space"}, {"response": 4, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Mar 27, 2000 (12:07)", "body": "SPACE WEATHER NEWS : On March 25, 2000, a solar flare erupted near the center of the Sun's disk. It appears that a coronal mass ejection was launched toward Earth. An interplanetary shock wave could pass our planet during the next 24 to 48 hours, triggering moderate geomagnetic activity and aurorae. For more information and daily updates please visit http://www.spaceweather.com . SpaceWeather.com"}, {"response": 5, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Mar 29, 2000 (16:50)", "body": "NASA Science News for March 29, 2000 With the discovery of extrasolar planets smaller than Saturn, astronomers are increasingly convinced that other stars harbor planetary systems like our own. FULL STORY at http://www.spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast30mar_1.htm Planet Hunters on Safari"}, {"response": 6, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Mar 29, 2000 (20:44)", "body": "Space Weather News for March 29-30, 2000 Aurora Watch: Skywatchers in northern Europe, Canada, Alaska, and the northermost tier of US states could be treated to a display of aurora borealis tonight thanks to elevated levels of geomagnetic activity late in the day on March 29. Also today, the SOHO spacecraft captured beautiful images of a full-halo coronal mass ejection (CME) from the Sun. Full-halo CMEs are massive bubbles of hot gas headed either directly toward or away from Earth. This one appears to have erupted on the back side of the Sun and is proceeding away from our planet. Details on both are available at http://www.spaceweather.com"}, {"response": 7, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Mar 30, 2000 (18:15)", "body": "NASA Science News for March 30, 2000 Next Thursday, April 6, three planets and the thin crescent Moon are going to put on a memorable sky show when the quartet converge inside a circle 9 degrees across. The grouping is just the prelude to a grander alignment of planets on May 5, 2000. Is doom at hand, as many mystics assert? Find out by reading the FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast30mar_1m.htm Planets for Dessert Also, for kids and kids-at-heart, a younger person's version of this article is available at the NASA Kids web site: http://kids.msfc.nasa.gov/news/2000/news-planetalign.asp?se The Planets Line Up"}, {"response": 8, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Mar 31, 2000 (18:01)", "body": "Propagation Report from ARRL Geomagnetic indices did rise last Friday, the day before the contest, but even then the planetary K index rose only briefly to 4. On Saturday and Sunday the planetary K index was mostly 1 or 2, and during one period was even 0. What is really interesting is that the College K index, measured in Alaska where the geomagnetic activity is higher due to proximity to the polar region, was actually 0 over six 3 hour periods on Saturday and Sunday. Solar flux and sunspot numbers were higher this week than last, with average sunspot numbers up 54 points and average solar flux rising several points. Solar flux actually peaked for the short term during the previous week on March 22, when the noon reading at Penticton was 233.8 and the reading two hours later was 235.6. The low for week was Tuesday, when solar flux was 200.9. It may go lower this weekend, if solar flux this Sunday goes below 200. The predicted solar flux for the next five days, Friday through Tuesday, is 205, 200, 195, 205 and 210. Flux values may again dip below 200 around April 10-16, then peak near 250 around April 22 or 23. Possible days of geomagnetic upset, based on the solar rotation are April 18 and 19 and April 28. MSNBC ran another story this week on the so-called solar heartbeat. You can see the article at http://www.msnbc.com/news/389042.asp , which explains a theory concerning how layers of gas rotating at different speeds may affect the formation of sunspots and solar flares. MSNBC also ran a story about a new solar satellite that was launched last Saturday. Called IMAGE, or Imager for Magnetosphere-to-Aural Global Exploration, it will be used to study the relationship between solar wind and the earth's magnetosphere. It will deploy four wire antennas that are each 820 feet long, making it the longest artificial object in space. Read about it at http://www.msnbc.com/news/386647.asp?0a=235A162 . NASA also ran a story on the IMAGE at http://science.msfc.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast27mar_1m.htm . Sunspot numbers for March 23 through 29 were 236, 230, 243, 255, 227, 232 and 238 with a mean of 237.3. 10.7 cm flux was 224.1, 218.9, 205.1, 211.3, 204.9, 200.9 and 208.8, with a mean of 210.6, and estimated planetary A indices were 11, 10, 8, 5, 5, 5 and 9, with a mean of 7.6."}, {"response": 9, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Mar 31, 2000 (20:13)", "body": "NASA Science News for April 1, 2000 On April Fools Day, 2000, NASA researchers are questioning the fate of five high-flying sweet treats that disappeared after a meteor balloon flight in April 1999. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast01apr_1m.htm"}, {"response": 10, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Apr  3, 2000 (14:51)", "body": "NASA Science News for April 3, 2000 Like blood pulsing in an artery, newly discovered currents of gas beat deep inside the Sun, speeding and slackening every 16 months. The solar \"heartbeat\" throbs in the same region of the Sun suspected of driving the 11-year cycle of solar eruptions. Scientists are hopeful that this pulse can help them unravel the origin and operation of the solar cycle. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast03apr_1m.htm"}, {"response": 11, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Apr  5, 2000 (00:10)", "body": "Space Weather News for April 4-5, 2000 The interplanetary magnetic field in the vicinity of Earth turned southward on April 4. This condition often creates a weak point in our planet's magnetospheric shielding against the solar wind. Geomagnetic activity is currently high. If active conditions continue, observers in northern Europe, Canada, Alaska and the northern tier of US states could be in for a display of aurora borealis around local midnight on April 5 (when April 4 turns into April 5). The Moon is just one day past New, meaning that even very faint Northern Lights could be visible against tonight's dark skies. For more information see: http://www.spaceweather.com"}, {"response": 12, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Apr  5, 2000 (15:20)", "body": "NASA Science News for April 5, 2000 The Boulder sunspot number exceeded 300 this week as the sunspot cycle continued its march toward Solar Max. Do these high sunspot counts mean that the solar maximum will be bigger than expected? Find out the answer by reading the FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast05apr_1m.htm REMINDER: On April 6, 2000, the Moon, Jupiter, Mars and Saturn will put on a beautiful after-dinner sky show. DETAILS at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast30mar_1m.htm"}, {"response": 13, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Apr  6, 2000 (16:02)", "body": "NASA Science News for April 6, 2000 During an unplanned rendezvous, the Ulysses spacecraft found itself gliding though the immense tail of Comet Hyakutake, revealing that comet tails may be much, much longer than previously believed. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast06apr_2.htm"}, {"response": 14, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Apr  6, 2000 (16:25)", "body": "Space Science News - April 6, 2000 An interplanetary shock front passed NASA's ACE spacecraft around 1630 UT on April 6, 2000, abruptly raising the solar wind velocity from 375 to nearly 600 km/s. Usually such disturbances arrive at Earth about one hour after they pass ACE. Aurorae at middle latitudes could be in the offing tonight. Follow this developing story at http://www.spaceweather.com ."}, {"response": 15, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Apr  7, 2000 (13:16)", "body": "NASA Science News for April 7, 2000 Subject: Geomagnetic Storm A major geomagnetic storm hit our planet on Thursday after an interplanetary shock wave passed by Earth on April 6, 2000. Displays of aurora borealis were spotted in Europe, Asia, Canada, Alaska and in the continental US as far south as North Carolina. The storm appears to be subsiding, but forecasters note that more aurorae might be visible Friday night. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast07apr_2m.htm"}, {"response": 16, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Apr  7, 2000 (23:36)", "body": "Propagation Forecast Bulletin 14 April 7, 2000 The sunspot number took a big leap this week, rising to 301 on Sunday. It has not been this high since November 12 of last year, when it was 324. Two days prior on November 10 meters the solar flux was 343, which is still the record for this cycle. The average sunspot count for the week was only up about 8 points though, and average solar flux was about the same as last week. Solar flux is a measurement of 2.8 GHz energy from the sun, measured at the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory operated by the National Research Council Canada in Penticton, British Columbia. You can visit the observatory web site at http://www.drao.nrc.ca/ . Sunspot numbers are calculated by multiplying the number of visible sunspot groups by 10, and adding the number of individual spots in all the groups. A multiplication factor is also used, and it differs for each observatory. You can see a complete explanation for sunspot numbers and their derivation at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast05apr_1m.htm . Geomagnetic indices have been high this week, with the average planetary A index almost double last week's number. The A index was in double-digits every day, with April 4 being the most disturbed. The planetary A index was 21, with planetary K indices as high as 5, and the mid-latitude index at 6 during the same period. Coming up on Saturday and Sunday is the HF CW weekend for the Japan International DX Contest. Unfortunately, as this bulletin is being written on Thursday night, a major geomagnetic storm is raging. An interplanetary shock wave passed earth at 1730z on April 6, and Aurora have been spotted in North America as far south as North Carolina. The planetary K index for the end of thez day on Thursday was 8, and the A index was 56. The Boulder K index at 0300z on Friday is also 8. A severe geomagnetic storm began at 0100z on April 7. For the next five days, Friday through Tuesday, the expected planetary A index is 30, 20, 15, 10 and 7. The predicted solar flux for the same five days is 175, 180, 180, 175 and 170. Solar flux is expected to rise above 200 again around April 14 and stay there well into the month of May. Sunspot numbers for March 30 through April 5 were 225, 248, 287, 301, 252, 184 and 221 with a mean of 245.4. 10.7 cm flux was 205.5, 225.4, 222.9, 219.3, 215.4, 206.7 and 194.4, with a mean of 212.8, and estimated planetary A indices were 10 meters, 19, 14, 16, 12, 21 and 12, with a mean of 14.9."}, {"response": 17, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Apr 10, 2000 (14:20)", "body": "NASA Science News for April 10, 2000 On the heels of NASA's 7th annual Great Moonbuggy Race, engineers from the Apollo program discuss the challenges of building the original Lunar Rover. This story includes RealVideo of one of the original rovers in action on the Moon. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast10apr_1m.htm"}, {"response": 18, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Apr 11, 2000 (17:29)", "body": "NASA Science News for April 11, 2000 Where's the Edge?: Will humans always be confined to the Solar System? Not if NASA's Advanced Space Transportation Program has a say in the matter! Find out how scientists are working to turn science fiction into standard practise with new and innovative ways to reach the stars. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast11apr_1m.htm"}, {"response": 19, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Apr 12, 2000 (12:48)", "body": "NASA Science News for April 12, 2000 A group of volunteer scientists is converging on Huntsville for an out-of-this-world meeting -- the High Energy Astrophysics Workshop for Amateur Astronomers. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast12apr_1m.htm"}, {"response": 20, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Apr 14, 2000 (14:47)", "body": "NASA Science News for April 14, 2000 The sled dogs of California's Eastern Sierra are unhappy. Why? A persistent La Ni\ufffda condition in the Pacific has left the mountain range with less than its usual supply of snow. As data continue to flow in from Earth orbit, NASA scientists are working to understand how El Ni\ufffdo and La Ni\ufffda affect our global climate. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast14apr_1m.htm"}, {"response": 21, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Apr 17, 2000 (13:35)", "body": "NASA Science News for April 17, 2000 NASA's Cassini spacecraft, currently en route to Saturn, has successfully completed its passage through our solar system's asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. FULL STORY at http://www.spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast17apr_3.htm"}, {"response": 22, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Apr 18, 2000 (20:40)", "body": "NASA Science News for April 18, 2000 April's Lyrid Meteor Shower : The oldest known meteor shower peaks on the morning of April 22. Bright moonlight will reduce the number of shooting stars that are easy to see, but many meteor enthusiasts will be watching anyway because it's been over 3 months since the last major meteor display. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast18apr_1m.htm"}, {"response": 23, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Apr 21, 2000 (15:37)", "body": "NASA Science News for April 21, 2000 Amateur astronomers attended a unique meeting in mid-April to learn about high-energy astrophysics and how they can participate in it. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast21apr_1m.htm"}, {"response": 24, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Apr 24, 2000 (13:05)", "body": "NASA Science News for April 24, 2000 Like an excited kid hoping to snag a fly ball at a professional baseball game, NASA's Stardust spacecraft has extended its high-tech \"catcher's mitt\" to collect a valuable space souvenir -- a batch of interstellar dust particles. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast24apr_1.htm"}, {"response": 25, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Apr 25, 2000 (15:05)", "body": "NASA Science News for April 25, 2000 Stargazers around the globe were treated to an unexpected and rare display of red-colored aurora on April 6-7, 2000, after a vigorous interplanetary shock wave passed by Earth. This story includes a gallery of more than 40 images showing the aurora borealis from Europe and over parts of the United States as far south as Florida. FULL STORY at http://www.spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast25apr_1m.htm"}, {"response": 26, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Apr 26, 2000 (01:09)", "body": "NASA Science News for April 26, 2000 Using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, a team of scientists has attacked one of astronomy's oldest and thorniest problems, determining the distance to a cosmic object. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast26apr_1m.htm"}, {"response": 27, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Apr 26, 2000 (13:32)", "body": "EXPLODING STAR FEATURED ON WEB SITE Wednesday, April 26, 2000 16:04 A spectacular view of an exploding star was released today on a new web site launched to mark the Hubble Space Telescope's 10th year in orbit. The multi-coloured fireball, some 6,500 light years from Earth in the constellation Aquila, looks like a giant eye in space. A few thousand years ago a dying star about the same size as the Sun erupted and threw off its outer layers to create the \"planetary nebula\" NGC 6751. Shells of gas were hurled into space at speeds of 25 miles per second, glowing with the strong ultra-violet radiation emitted by the star's hot exposed core. The celestial cataclysm offers a sobering vision of what is in store for us. Our own Sun is predicted to undergo the same death throes in about six billion years' time. When it happens nothing in the Solar System, including the Earth, will escape destruction. The image is one of a number of dramatic pictures now available on the new Internet site http://hubble.stsci.edu Others include infant galaxies that existed billions of years ago, and tall, gaseous pillars that serve as incubators for embryonic stars. NGC 6751 shows several poorly understood features. Blue regions mark the hottest glowing gas, forming a ring around the central stellar remnant. Orange and red colours mark the locations of cooler gas, which tends to lie in long streamers pointing away from the central star, and in a tattered ring around the edge of the nebula. The origin of the cooler clouds within the nebula is still uncertain, but the streamers are evidence that they are affected by radiation and raging winds from the hot star at the centre. The star's surface temperature is estimated to be a scorching 140,000C. Hubble will be decommissioned in 2010 and replaced by the even more powerful Next Generation Space Telescope. \ufffd Press Association Thanks for this, Maggie *"}, {"response": 28, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Apr 27, 2000 (14:27)", "body": "NASA Science News for April 27, 2000 An international team of cosmologists has released the first detailed images of the universe in its infancy. Analysis of the images is already shedding light on some of cosmology's outstanding mysteries -- the nature of the matter and energy that dominate intergalactic space and whether space is \"curved\" or \"flat.\" FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast27apr_1.htm"}, {"response": 29, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Apr 28, 2000 (01:24)", "body": "NASA Science News for April 28, 2000 NASA scientists are working to solve the need for computer speed using light itself to accelerate calculations and increase data bandwidth. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast28apr_1m.htm"}, {"response": 30, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Apr 28, 2000 (20:35)", "body": "Propagation Forecast Bulletin 17 - April 28, 2000 Sunspots and solar flux were up this week. The average sunspot number was up over 40 points and average solar flux rose over 30 points over the past week. Geomagnetic indices have been mostly quiet, with April 24 the most active day. Last week's bulletin ARLP016 said that the solar flux should be up around 220 this weekend, but conditions are not cooperating. Although activity has been higher this week than last, it is not as high as expected. Solar flux is expected to hover around 175 to 185 until April 8, then dip below 170, and rise to around 200 from May 19 through 28. The planetary A index prediction indicates unsettled conditions for Friday. The A index should stay quiet from this weekend until May 6 and 7, when it may rise to 15. Predicted solar flux for the next five days, Friday through Tuesday is 180, 175, 175, 180 and 180. Sunspot numbers for April 20 through 26 were 179, 211, 226, 252, 222, 229 and 197 with a mean of 216.6. 10.7 cm flux was 180.6, 187.3, 201.8, 206.1, 205.6, 202.5 and 189.9, with a mean of 196.3, and estimated planetary A indices were 14, 10, 7, 8, 21, 6 and 4, with a mean of 10."}, {"response": 31, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, May  1, 2000 (01:23)", "body": "NASA Science News for May 1, 2000 One year ago this week killer tornadoes raged across Oklahoma. Now, NASA scientists are figuring out how to predict such storms using lightning data from Earth-orbit. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast01may_1m.htm"}, {"response": 32, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, May  1, 2000 (02:59)", "body": "Space Weather News for May 1, 2000 A coronal mass ejection (CME) from a small sunspot group was recorded by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory on April 30, 2000. If material from the eruption is heading toward Earth, as animations of the CME suggest, then the shock wave will probably arrive late on May 2nd or sometime on May 3rd. Forecasters estimate a 30% chance of active geomagnetic conditions at middle-latitudes on May 3, 2000. For more information, please visit http://www.spaceweather.com"}, {"response": 33, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, May  1, 2000 (03:25)", "body": "Since no one apparently cares to read about this in News I ave created a new topic in Geo for it. Too bad I could not telnet and link the two of them together. But, that is the way it is, and no one seems willing to do it for me. http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/restricted/read/Geo/33/new"}, {"response": 34, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Mon, May  1, 2000 (09:29)", "body": "I'll do it ! Just email me or ask. In the instructions say \"link news topic 21 to science\" or whatever it is."}, {"response": 35, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, May  1, 2000 (14:51)", "body": "Please link this topic to Geo... I am most grateful. If you want to link it to science that is ok, too, but too many duplicates mess up my hot list! Mahalo plenty!"}, {"response": 36, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Mon, May  1, 2000 (15:23)", "body": "Linkage complete."}, {"response": 37, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, May  1, 2000 (15:52)", "body": "*Big Hugs* Mahalo!"}, {"response": 38, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, May  2, 2000 (14:21)", "body": "NASA Science News for May 2, 2000 The eta Aquarid meteor shower, caused by bits of debris from Halley's Comet, will peak on May 5-6, 2000. Lunar observers will be watching the Moon on the nights after the shower for possible signs of meteorite impacts. FULL STORY at http://www.spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast02may_1.htm"}, {"response": 39, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Tue, May  2, 2000 (16:57)", "body": "I couldn't see this posted elsewhere, sorry if i've duplicated, I only just picked it up. http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000413/sc/space_quasar.html Astronomers Spot Most Distant Quasar Ever Observed WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Astronomers peering across the universe have spotted the most distant object ever observed, a quasar 26 billion light-years away, researchers said on Thursday. This quasar, confirmed as the most faraway object by scientists working with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, probably started sending its light in Earth's direction when the universe was less than a billion years old, the researchers said in a statement. The universe is thought to be about 14 billion years old now, give or take a couple billion years. And it has been expanding since the theoretical Big Bang that started it all. Quasars are extremely bright but extremely compact objects thought to be powered by matter-sucking black holes as massive as a billion suns. Michael Turner, a spokesman for the Survey at the University of Chicago, said this means that the quasar is about 26 billion light-years away now, but because of the expansion of the universe, it used to be a lot closer. ``When it emitted the light, it was only about 4 billion light-years from the space in the universe where Earth would be eventually,'' Turner said in a telephone interview. ``It's only when we talk about the most distant objects that we have to take the expansion of he universe into account.'' A light-year is the distance light travels in a year, about 6 trillion miles. Another way to think about cosmic distances and ages is to determine how bent the light gets as the universe expands. The more bent it gets to the red end of the spectrum, the older the object is determined to be. This is known as redshift. This newly observed object has a redshift of 5.8, the highest ever measured. It is in fact too red to be seen by the human eye, even with the most sophisticated equipment. But it was observed through data gathered by the Sky Survey last month, and scientists confirmed its distance last week. An image of the distant quasar can be viewed on the World Wide Web at http://www.sdss.org ."}, {"response": 40, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, May  2, 2000 (17:06)", "body": "Interesting. I wonder if it is the same things as the Keck found a couple of weeks ago. I shall hunt it up and see. Thanks, Maggie!"}, {"response": 41, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, May  2, 2000 (17:13)", "body": "A suggestion - please! We post articles and comments of length in Geo 24 for space stuff and this should just be for posting the news releases. Does that sound ok?"}, {"response": 42, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, May  3, 2000 (15:54)", "body": "NASA Science News for May 3, 2000 A team of explorers including astrobiologist Richard Hoover and astronauts Jim Lovell and Owen Garriott traveled to Antarctica in January 2000 to search for meteorites and extreme-loving microbes. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast03may_1m.htm"}, {"response": 43, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Wed, May  3, 2000 (16:01)", "body": "The gps devices just got accurate down to 5 to 10 feet or better. A friend says he can see when he changes lanes on his now!"}, {"response": 44, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, May  3, 2000 (16:06)", "body": "GPS stuff has gotten very sophisticated with an enormous constellation of satellites tracking your every move. Great stuff! That is the next thing on my son's wish list - he has installed ground monitors on Kilauea to check for movement in the surface (Supposedly, the entire seaward flank of Kilauea is gonna break off and we will all be dead from the terific tsunami generated thereby!)"}, {"response": 45, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Wed, May  3, 2000 (19:35)", "body": "Will you let us know when the tsunami heads this way so we can climb up onto some hills?"}, {"response": 46, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, May  3, 2000 (19:43)", "body": "If you get a tsunami, I shall call you live and direct as you are fleeing! Count on it - and you'd better take my buddy with you *grin* You are both crucial to my well-being! (You gotta see this wallpaper on a good monitor! It is gorgeous! Hope he likes it, as well...)"}, {"response": 47, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, May  4, 2000 (15:55)", "body": "Thursday's Classroom for May 4, 2000 The Amazing Moon Buggy + Planetary Alignment lessons This week, Thursday's Classroom takes a wild ride on the original interplanetary Sport Utility Vehicle: the amazing Apollo Moon Buggy. Students will tap their toes to the beat of the \"Moon Buggy Boogie,\" play a stimulating game of \"Lunar Rover Lunacy,\" covert measurements from English to metric units in \"Moon Math,\" and more... Please visit: http://www.thursdaysclassroom.com Thursday's Classroom Also, a note for recent subscribers: The March 30, 2000, episode of Thursday's Classroom features lessons and activities related to the May 5, 2000, planetary alignment. See: http://www.thursdaysclassroom.com/index_30mar00.html Planetary Alignments"}, {"response": 48, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, May  4, 2000 (15:59)", "body": "NASA Science News for May 4, 2000 Interplanetary Low Tide Tidal forces on Earth caused by other planets in the solar system will be at a low point this week when Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn \"line up\" on the far side of the Sun. The alignment won't be visible to the naked-eye, but there will be a meteor shower that could produce a nice sky show. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast04may_1m.htm Interplanetary Low Tide See also: http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast02may_1.htm 5/5/2000: The Meteor Shower"}, {"response": 49, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, May  4, 2000 (18:17)", "body": "Three Planets and a Coronal Mass Ejection Space Weather News for May 4, 2000 The planets Mercury, Jupiter and Saturn have entered the field of view of instruments on board the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory as they approach the Sun for Friday's much-touted conjunction. Animations of this rare event include two coronal mass ejections with three planets in the background. For more information, please see http://www.spaceweather.com SpaceWeather.com"}, {"response": 50, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, May  5, 2000 (15:25)", "body": "Propagation Forecast Bulletin 18 - May 5, 2000 It seems odd to view the solar disk at the peak of the solar cycle and see few sunspots, but that was the case this week. Solar flux, a measure of 2.8 GHz energy from the sun which correlates roughly with sunspots and the ionization of the particles which reflect HF radio waves, were down sharply this week. On Thursday, when this bulletin was written, the thrice daily solar flux numbers were 133, 134.5 and 134.7. Solar flux has not been this low since January. Average solar flux for this week dropped over thirty points, and average sunspot numbers were down over seventy points, when compared to the previous week. Geomagnetic conditions were fairly unsettled as well, with planetary A indices in the double-digits throughout the week, and K indices often as high as 4. There weren't any severe geomagnetic storms, but geomagnetic conditions were rarely quiet. Looking at monthly trends, the average monthly solar flux for January through April was 159, 174.1, 208.2 and 184.2. The lower activity should continue for the next few days. Predicted solar flux for Friday, May 5 through the following Tuesday is 130, 130, 135, 145 and 150. The predicted planetary A index for those days is 10, 15, 12, 10 and 10. KA5WQM wrote to remark on poor 10 meter conditions. He said that in central Oklahoma the band has been unusable since last Thursday. There are a couple of influences to consider. One is the season. Ten meters is much better right around the equinox, and we are moving every day closer to summer conditions when occasional short skip via sporadic E-layer propagation will be the norm. Of course the other factor is the lower sunspot activity and solar flux. Doing a path projection from Oklahoma to Hawaii with a solar flux of 230, there is a good bet for strong openings on 10 meters from 1800 to 2230z. Lower the solar flux to 170, and the period in which strong signals are likely over that path shrinks to 1930 to 2130z. With the solar flux at 130, communication is possible, but strong openings are much less likely. During this month 15 meters should be far better for long distance HF communications than 10. Sunspot numbers for April 27 through May 3 were 163, 238, 142, 126, 121, 108 and 113 with a mean of 144.4. 10.7 cm flux was 183.5, 183.4, 174.9, 169.5, 157.7, 152.8 and 137.3, with a mean of 165.6, and estimated planetary A indices were 13, 17, 12, 11, 14, 18 and 15, with a mean of 14.3."}, {"response": 51, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, May  6, 2000 (12:08)", "body": "Space Weather News for May 6, 2000 The wide field coronagraph on board the orbiting Solar and Heliospheric Observatory recorded a series of dazzling coronal mass ejections (CMEs) on May 5, 2000, with Mercury, Jupiter and Saturn in the background. These eruptions apparently came from active sunspot groups that are just over the Sun's western limb. CMEs like these, seen in profile, are unusually beautiful. This weekend the visible disk of the Sun is remarkably devoid of large sunspots as we approach the peak of the sunspot cycle in mid-2000. For more information and images please visit: http://www.spaceweather.com SpaceWeather.com"}, {"response": 52, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, May  8, 2000 (00:13)", "body": "NASA Science News for May 8, 2000 NASA astronomers have collected the first-ever radar images of a \"main belt\" asteroid. It's a metallic, dog bone-shaped rock the size of New Jersey, an apparent leftover from an ancient, violent cosmic collision. The asteroid, named 216 Kleopatra, was discovered in 1880, but until now, its shape was unknown. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast08may_1.htm An Asteroid goes to the Dogs"}, {"response": 53, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Mon, May  8, 2000 (17:47)", "body": "I saw it, it does look like a giant dog bone."}, {"response": 54, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, May  8, 2000 (17:53)", "body": "Yup! Like the North American Nebula looks like its name, and the Owl Nebula and other goodies up there! Thanks for looking!"}, {"response": 55, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, May  9, 2000 (16:48)", "body": "NASA Science News for May 9, 2000 The Sun appeared nearly featureless this weekend as the sunspot area dropped 10 times below its average value. Nevertheless, scientists say Solar Max is still on the way. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast09may_1m.htm Solar Ups and Downs"}, {"response": 56, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, May 11, 2000 (16:10)", "body": "NASA Science News for May 11, 2000 Images made by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory show for the first time the full impact of the actual blast wave from Supernova 1987A. The observations are the first time that X-rays from a shock wave have been imaged at such an early stage of a supernova explosion. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast11may_1m.htm Impact! Chandra images a young supernova blast wave"}, {"response": 57, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, May 11, 2000 (17:18)", "body": "Space Weather News for May 11, 2000 Material from a coronal mass ejection that left the Sun on May 8 is expected to pass by our planet late on May 11 or early May 12. Depending on the characteristics of the magnetic field within the disturbance, it could trigger minor geomagnetic storms on Earth. There is a slim chance of aurorae at mid-latitudes, but auroral activity will more likely be concentrated over high latitude regions including northern Europe, Canada and Alaska. Visit http://www.spaceweather.com for more information and updates. SpaceWeather.com ---"}, {"response": 58, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, May 12, 2000 (16:13)", "body": "NASA Science News for May 12, 2000 NASA scientists have discovered unexpected spiral-shaped flames on Earth. By studying these peculiar flames, researchers hope to mitigate fire hazards on spacecraft and gain new insights about complex systems in nature. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast12may_1.htm Not Just Another Old Flame"}, {"response": 59, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, May 15, 2000 (01:05)", "body": "NASA Science News for May 15, 2000 A black hole binary star system called XTE J1550-564 has recently become one of the brightest sources in the x-ray sky. Astronomers are fascinated by fluctuations in the x-ray emission from this source, which if converted to sound waves would feel like the deep rumbling vibrations from a bass speaker at a rock 'n roll concert. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast15may_1m.htm The Humming Black Hole"}, {"response": 60, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, May 15, 2000 (01:33)", "body": "Aurora Watching The Sun is currently entering a peak of storminess, part of a cycle that lasts 11 years. This causes a stronger \"solar wind,\" which is a constant stream of charged particles. When these particles hit the Earth's magnetic field, the interaction releases visible light, which we in the north know as the Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights (there's the Aurora Australis, or Southern Lights, Down Under). During these storm peaks, the spectacular auroras can be visible much further south than usual. You can learn more about auroras, check out the space weather forecast, and download aurora videos at http://www.sec.noaa.gov/ Click here to learn more about auroras. http://dac3.pfrr.alaska.edu/~pfrr/AURORA/INDEX.HTM"}, {"response": 61, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, May 15, 2000 (17:00)", "body": "NASA Science News for May 16, 2000 The planets Venus and Jupiter will pass less than 42 arcseconds apart on May 17. Because the pair is so close to the Sun, only the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory will have a good view of the close encounter, which is similar to the \"Christmas Star\" conjunction of 2 BC. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast16may_1.htm?list A Christmas Star for SOHO"}, {"response": 62, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, May 16, 2000 (01:44)", "body": "Full Halo Coronal Mass Ejection Space Weather News for May 16, 2000 On May 15 a coronagraph on the ESA/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory captured rare images of a full halo coronal mass ejection with 4 planets and the Pleiades in the field of view. Material from the eruption could arrive in the neighborhood of Earth on May 17 or 18. For more information and animations, visit http://www.spaceweather.com SpaceWeather.com"}, {"response": 63, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, May 17, 2000 (01:12)", "body": "Students take control of a prototype Mars Rover NASA Science News for May 17, 2000 Students from around the country will take control of a prototype Mars rover named FIDO as it explores a western Nevada desert. The FIDO rover is a testbed for future missions, including the proposed Mars Mobile Lander that is currently under study for a possible launch in 2003. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast17may_1.htm?list Heel, FIDO, Heel!"}, {"response": 64, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, May 17, 2000 (21:17)", "body": "Gravitational Lenses The hallmark of a scientific theory is that it makes predictions about the real world that can be tested. Interestingly, Einstein's theory of general relativity posed major problems for verification: The differences it predicted from Newton's laws were so small they were extremely difficult to measure -- especially with the technology available in the early part of the twentieth century. One prediction that could be checked concerned a gravitational field's ability to bend light rays, a phenomenon known as gravitational lensing. Sir Arthur Eddington used a solar eclipse in 1919 to test the theory. He looked at the position of a distant star in line with the edge of the sun during the eclipse (allowing it to be observed in the daytime). It appeared to be shifted 1.75 arc seconds from its actual place in the sky. The gravitational field of the sun was bending the light arriving from that star, providing an early confirmation of Einstein's theory."}, {"response": 65, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, May 18, 2000 (01:09)", "body": "To Be or Not to Be, La Nina? NASA Science News for May 18, 2000 Just last month, scientists were predicting that current La Ni\ufffda conditions would persist, but now data from Earth-orbiting satellites show that it may be on the decline. Is it too soon to revise the 2000 hurricane forecast? FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast18may_1m.htm To Be or Not to Be, La Ni\ufffda?"}, {"response": 66, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, May 18, 2000 (01:43)", "body": "I could not resist posting this image. The solar coronal outburst framed the items you can see listed behind the solar image. Quite extraordinary! Why were conditions so rough on HF? Noise can get very high, especially here in the Pacific North West. Signals get weaker than normal on some bands, and deep fades occur. Why? CME -- that's why. What's a CME? A coronal mass ejection is a huge (like, larger than earth... or bigger!) gas bubble threaded with magnetic field lines. This bubble is ejected from the Sun. This ejection of gas lasts for several hours, and if it is directed toward the earth, can result in a very high energy bombardment into our atmosphere and ionosphere. And our Geomagnetic field becomes very active. A highly active Geomagnetic field degrades radio communications http://hfradio.org/propagation.html#CME1"}, {"response": 67, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, May 18, 2000 (23:56)", "body": "Great Ganymede! NASA Science News for May 19, 2000 This weekend NASA's Galileo spacecraft will pass 808 km above the surface of our solar system's largest moon, Ganymede. The spacecraft will hunt for signs of mysterious \"cryptovolcanoes\" and collect new data on Ganymede's unique magnetic field. This story includes plasma wave audio sounds from Ganymede's magnetosphere recorded during a previous flyby. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast19may_1.htm Great Ganymede! __"}, {"response": 68, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, May 19, 2000 (15:23)", "body": "The Secret Lives of Alien Volcanoes NASA Science News for May 19, 2000 The latest images of Io from NASA's Galileo spacecraft reveal a bizarre world of hot volcanoes, sulfurous snowfields, and slip-sliding mountains. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast19may_2.htm?list The Secret Lives of Alien Volcanoes"}, {"response": 69, "author": "vibrown", "date": "Sat, May 20, 2000 (01:17)", "body": "Here's some more info on \"dark matter\". http://dmtelescope.org http://www.bell-labs.com/org/physicalsciences/projects/darkmatter/darkmatter.html"}, {"response": 70, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, May 20, 2000 (01:43)", "body": "Ooh - good stuff to read on a dark Friday night. But, I am stuck with the W3.1 laptop because my newly installed norton antivirus has frozen the entire computer and everytime it come time to boot the task bar it shuts it down again. and we scandisk and try again with the same results. Now, what do I do?"}, {"response": 71, "author": "vibrown", "date": "Sat, May 20, 2000 (02:03)", "body": "Yikes, NORTON is hanging your system? I know you mentioned that McAfee caused problems, but I'm surprised about Norton. There's a way to boot the computer up in \"windows safe mode\", so you can uninstall whatever is causing problems...let me go look it up."}, {"response": 72, "author": "vibrown", "date": "Sat, May 20, 2000 (02:15)", "body": "OK, here's the info from my Windows 95 guide (the one distributed with new PCs). 1. Restart your computer. 2. When you see the following text: \"Starting Windows 95...\", press and release the F8 function key. This should display a menu. 3. Type the number for the option you want (or select it with the down arrow key). I would try the \"Safe mode\" option, that boots Windows with a minimal configuration, and try uninstalling Norton. Hopefully you'll be able to boot the system normally after that. Then I'd call Norton to complain. Who needs an anti-virus program that causes more problems than an actual virus?? Good luck!"}, {"response": 73, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Sat, May 20, 2000 (06:34)", "body": "Good advice about booting in to Safe Mode. Sometimes this alone will fix some problems."}, {"response": 74, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, May 20, 2000 (19:45)", "body": "That's what I did - as I wrote in computer conf/virus topic, I think the problem might just be the factthat I enabled Norton to check all drives at startup. There is one imbedded (know how to rid of them?!) program which is the first to load on the task bar and that is precisely where the problem came and it would shut down completely each time. I slept on it and came up with the same idea as you did and you can see that it worked. I deleted the Norton but kept the zipped download so I can reinstall it if my conclusions are correct - and have it not examine the drives until everything is up and running. However, if it still has a problem with that particular program (which I never use - an internet connection which I do not prefer but NEC did...), it will continue to shut down my computer at every encounter?! Yes?"}, {"response": 75, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, May 20, 2000 (19:53)", "body": "Someone even gave me a crutch I did not remember till just now...Your computer's FATE lies in F8. It is a good one to remember!"}, {"response": 76, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, May 22, 2000 (14:44)", "body": "Radio JOVE -- NASA helps students tune in to radio bursts from Jupiter Jupiter is a source of powerful radio bursts that can produce exotic sounds on common ham radio receivers. NASA scientists are helping students tune in to the giant planet as part of an innovative educational program called Radio JOVE. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast22may_1.htm?list Radio JOVE"}, {"response": 77, "author": "vibrown", "date": "Tue, May 23, 2000 (13:47)", "body": "Do you know the name of the embedded program? If it's in your Startup folder, you should be able to delete it from the Startup folder to keep it from running. If it's not there, it might be in the win.ini or system.ini file; at least I think Windows 95/98 still has those files...they would be in the c:\\windows or c:\\windows\\system directory. The only other place I can think of would be the Windows Registry, but you'd have to hunt through the Registry keys for it. There should be a Registry Editor program (regedit.exe or regedt32.exe) in the c:\\windows or c:\\windows\\system directory. (I'm not sure exactly where it is on Windows 95/98, and I'm on and NT system right now.)"}, {"response": 78, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, May 23, 2000 (17:03)", "body": "(Answered the above in The Software/Computer conference) Galileo swoops by the largest moon in the Solar System NASA Science News for May 23, 2000 On Saturday, May 20, 2000, NASA's Galileo spacecraft successfully flew past the largest moon in our solar system -- Ganymede, which orbits around Jupiter. Galileo dipped to 809 kilometers (503 miles) above the surface in the spacecraft's first flyby of Ganymede since May 7, 1997. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast23may_1.htm?list A Big Moon Close Up"}, {"response": 79, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, May 23, 2000 (17:06)", "body": "Ginny, the really odd thing is that it does not show up in the taskbar remove/add nor in the start/startup folder... it is so exasperating!"}, {"response": 80, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, May 24, 2000 (17:41)", "body": "NASA Science News for May 24, 2000 Crystal balls rarely have anything to do with science, but soon NASA researchers will be using a set of quartz spheres to examine one of the last, untested portions of Einstein's General Theory of Relativity. The spheres make up four extraordinary gyroscopes heading for Earth orbit on board the Gravity Probe B mission in 2002 to measure the twisting and compression of space and time around our rotating planet. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast24may_1m.htm?list"}, {"response": 81, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, May 26, 2000 (15:42)", "body": "NASA Science News for May 26, 2000 The pioneering space station concepts of the mid-1950's don't look much like the erector-set habitat in orbit today. Read about Werner von Braun's early designs for an outpost in space and how he advocated his ideas to the public 50 years ago. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast26may_1m.htm?l=NzMwMjk2IG1hcmNpQEFMT0hBLk5FVCBTTkdMSVNUIC66FwsfrRgz"}, {"response": 82, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, May 29, 2000 (01:19)", "body": "What's the Matter with Antimatter? NASA Science News for May 29, 2000 Antimatter -- it may be the ultimate fuel for space travel, but right now it is fleeting, difficult to work with and measured in atoms instead of kilograms or pounds! In this two-part story we'll explore what antimatter is, and how it may be used for space propulsion. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast29may_1m.htm?list"}, {"response": 83, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, May 30, 2000 (14:00)", "body": "Solar Activity Puffs Up Earth's Atmosphere NASA Science News for May 30, 2000 As a result of the approaching solar maximum, Earth's atmosphere is puffed up like a marshmallow over a campfire leading to extra drag on Earth-orbiting satellites. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast30may_1m.htm?list"}, {"response": 84, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, May 31, 2000 (01:36)", "body": "Advanced Space Propulsion Workshop begins this week NASA Science News for May 31, 2000 Scientists and engineers are gathering in Pasadena today to discuss cutting-edge research in space transportation at a workshop sponsored by the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast31may_1m.htm?list"}, {"response": 85, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jun  1, 2000 (14:36)", "body": "Arctic Asteroid! NASA Science News for June 1, 2000 In January, 2000, a seven meter, 200 metric ton rock from space streaked across the skies of western Canada. The meteor was at least as bright as the Sun before it exploded over the Yukon Territory. Scientists have recovered fragments of the carbon-rich rock, which researchers say is the most valuable meteorite find in at least 30 years. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast01jun_1m.htm?list"}, {"response": 86, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jun  1, 2000 (14:39)", "body": "Yukon Meteor Blast Thursday's Classroom for June 1, 2000 On January 18, 2000, a \"small\" 200 metric ton asteroid streaked across the skies of western Canada and exploded in the atmosphere. Now, scientists have recovered fragments of the space rock and discovered that they are members of a rare class of meteorites possibly containing amino acids and other organic compounds. In this week's episode of Thursday's Classroom, students can learn more about the Yukon meteor by attending a \"Cosmic BBQ,\" calculating \"Fractions of a Meteorite\" and more. VISIT: http://www.thursdaysclassroom.com Thursday's Classroom: Yukon Meteor Blast"}, {"response": 87, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jun  2, 2000 (17:26)", "body": "Mercury Rising -- see Mercury and the Moon this Saturday NASA Science News for June 2, 2000 There are two really good times to see Mercury this year and next week is one of them. Good Mercury-watching begins this Saturday evening, June 3, when a slender crescent Moon and the elusive planet appear together for stargazers just after sunset. Mercury's apparition as an evening star will continue through mid-June. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast02jun_1.htm?list"}, {"response": 88, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jun  5, 2000 (13:32)", "body": "First Light for a Space Weather Satellite NASA Science News for June 5, 2000 NASA's IMAGE mission, a unique satellite dedicated to the study of space storms, has returned its first pictures of electrified gas surrounding our planet. Using antennas as large as the Empire State Building, IMAGE is taking an unprecedented look at Earth's magnetic environment and its response to fierce gusts of solar wind. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast05jun_1m.htm?list __"}, {"response": 89, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jun  5, 2000 (19:34)", "body": "June's Invisible Meteors NASA Science News for June 6, 2000 During the next week thousands of meteors will streak through the sky, but don't expect to see many. They are the Arietids and zeta Perseids -- the most intense daytime meteor showers of the year. The best way for many meteor enthusiasts to enjoy the show is by listening to meteor echoes on a common FM or ham radio. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast06jun_1m.htm?list __"}, {"response": 90, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jun  6, 2000 (00:53)", "body": "Solar activity report for 6/5/00 Region 9026 continues to produce M-class flares, and the A index increases. Sunspots : 132 SFI : 171 A index : 21 K index : 3 Conditions for the last 24 hours : Solar activity was moderate. The geomagnetic field was unsettled to active. Forecast for the next 24 hours : Solar activity will be moderate to high. The geomagnetic field will be unsettled to active. Solar activity forecast SOLAR ACTIVITY IS EXPECTED TO BE AT MODERATE TO HIGH LEVELS. REGION 9026 WILL LIKELY PRODUCE M-CLASS FLARES WITH AN ISOLATED CHANCE OF AN X-CLASS FLARE. Geomagnetic activity forecast : THE GEOMAGNETIC FIELD IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE AT UNSETTLED TO ACTIVE CONDITIONS THROUGH DAY ONE. MOSTLY QUIET TO UNSETTLED LEVELS ARE EXPECTED ON DAY TWO. UNSETTLED WITH OCCASIONAL ACTIVE PERIODS ARE LIKELY ON DAY THREE DUE TO A FAVORABLY POSITIONED CORONAL HOLE AND THE POSSIBILITY OF EFFECTS FROM THIS MORNING'S C4/CME AT 05/0325Z."}, {"response": 91, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jun  6, 2000 (01:00)", "body": "The above post was from a Yahoo weather club of which I am a memeber. There is another club I'd like you to consider if you are logged into Yahoo, Jack and I would be happy for you to join the conversation going on in there. http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/seti2000"}, {"response": 92, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jun  6, 2000 (18:15)", "body": "Here Comes the Sun! Space Weather News for June 6, 2000 An intense \"X-class\" solar flare today was followed by a full-halo coronal mass ejection. Material from the leading edge of the disturbance is expected to arrive on Thursday, June 8, with possible auroral displays to follow. For images and updates please visit http://www.spaceweather.com SpaceWeather.com"}, {"response": 93, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jun  7, 2000 (21:34)", "body": "More Solar Eruptions on June 7, 2000 Space Weather News for June 7, 2000 Following close on the heels of yesterday's two X-class solar flares, a third powerful X-class flare erupted today at approximately 1545 UT. Soon afterward, coronagraphs on the orbiting Solar and Heliospheric Observatory detected a faint full halo coronal mass ejection. It appears to be heading in the direction of Earth at ~800 km/s. This latest full halo CME will probably extend the geomagnetic disturbances expected to begin on Thursday when an interplanetary shock wave spawned by a CME on June 6 collides with our planet's magnetosphere. Aurora watchers are advised to be on the alert for Northern Lights beginning after sunset on Thursday, June 8. For more information, please visit http://www.spaceweather.com SpaceWeather.com"}, {"response": 94, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jun  8, 2000 (13:49)", "body": "Impact: An Interplanetary Shock Wave Passes Earth Space Weather News for June 8, 2000 A vigorous shock wave passed NASA's ACE solar wind monitoring spacecraft this morning at 0842 UT. Disturbances detected by ACE usually reach Earth about an hour later. This disturbance was the leading edge of a gigantic bubble of gas ejected from the Sun on June 6. It's been expanding toward our planet for the past day and a half. For more information and updates please visit http://www.spaceweather.com SpaceWeather.com"}, {"response": 95, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jun  8, 2000 (18:25)", "body": "Date: Thu, 8 Jun 2000 16:40:9 Subject: Solar Storms A'brewing Thursday's Classroom for June 8, 2000 This morning an interplanetary shock wave hit Earth's magnetosphere triggering aurora over some parts of our planet. In this episode of Thursday's Classroom, students can learn more about space storms and aurora by calculating the speed of a coronal mass ejection, playing Sunspot Twister, or producing their own Space Weather report. For more information and activities, please visit http://www.thursdaysclassroom.com Thursday's Classroom"}, {"response": 96, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jun  9, 2000 (22:18)", "body": "A Little Physics and A Lot of String NASA Science News for June 9, 2000 One day space tethers may be used for boosting orbits, powering satellites, and even sending payloads to the Moon or Mars -- all without the expense of conventional propellants. Scientists discussed this innovative technology at the recent Advanced Space Propulsion Workshop held in Pasadena, CA. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast09jun_1.htm?list __"}, {"response": 97, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Sat, Jun 10, 2000 (08:23)", "body": "From that article: \"In one variant of a momentum-exchange tether, the faster-moving tether system grabs a slower-moving satellite in a lower orbit using a grapple at the end of a tether line between 20 and 200 kilometers long. After orbiting around the Earth once together, the rotating tether system tosses the satellite forward into a higher orbit, somewhat like a roller derby skater grabbing a teammate and slinging them forward. The first skater transfers some of their momentum to the second skater, leaving the first skater going slower afterward. Similarly, the tether system gives some of its momentum to the satellite, ending up in a lower orbit.\""}, {"response": 98, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jun 10, 2000 (14:00)", "body": "A friend made this comment in email this morning: They used to think about a tether attached to the surface of the earth with the outer end 100's of miles into space. Theoretically the outer end would have orbiting velocity. Objects could climb up the tether into orbit. The problem was the strength and weight of such a tether; probably impossible. These present suggested uses for tethers may be more practical."}, {"response": 99, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jun 10, 2000 (22:55)", "body": "A solar flare, a CME, and a solar wind disturbance -- all in one day! Space Weather News for June 10, 2000 The prolific flare-producing sunspot group #9026 unleashed another moderately strong solar flare today. The eruption was accompanied by a partial halo coronal mass ejection (CME) that might be Earth-directed. If so, material from the CME would arrive in the vicinity of our planet on June 12 or 13. A SOHO coronagraph animation of the event shows a beautiful billowing CME peppered by speckles and meteor-like streaks resulting from energetic particles hitting the spacecraft's camera. Earlier in the day, as predicted, a solar wind disturbance from a CME on June 7 struck Earth's magnetosphere. Active geomagnetic conditions were observed for about nine hours, but have since subsided. For more information and pictures, please visit http://www.spaceweather.com"}, {"response": 100, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jun 12, 2000 (14:09)", "body": "Date: Mon, 12 Jun 2000 08:30:40 -0700 SFI=187 | A=24 | K=3 up from 2 at 1500 on 12 June. SAF: moderate, GMF: at quiet to minor storm levels Aurora Level: 4 Solar Wind: 469.6 km/s at 1.3 protons/cc More: http://hfradio.org/propagation.html"}, {"response": 101, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jun 13, 2000 (01:29)", "body": "From the Drawing Board to the Stars NASA Science News for June 13, 2000 In this scientific human interest story, Dr. Jim Burch, principle investigator for NASA's IMAGE space weather satellite, describes what it's like to visualize a modern space mission and then, years later, to make it happen. Burch shares his experiences as a competitor for mission funding, as a coordinator of far-flung personnel and institutions, and as an onlooker during the anxious moments of launch. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast13jun_1.htm?list"}, {"response": 102, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jun 13, 2000 (17:06)", "body": "Solar wind disturbance passes Earth Space Weather News for June 13, 2000 The shock front from a beautiful full-halo coronal mass ejection that left the Sun on June 10 apparently passed by Earth at approximately 2200 UT on June 12. Although the solar wind velocity increased substantially, geomagnetic disturbances so far have been mild. The chances for widespread aurora tonight are low. For more information please see http://www.spaceweather.com SpaceWeather.com ---"}, {"response": 103, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jun 14, 2000 (02:27)", "body": "Solstice Moon NASA Science News for June 14, 2000 This week's full Moon, which takes place just four days before the June solstice, will appear unusually big and colorful to observers in the northern hemisphere. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast14jun_1.htm?list __ You are subscribed to Science.NASA.gov NASA Science News mailing list with the address marci@ALOHA.NET."}, {"response": 104, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Wed, Jun 14, 2000 (09:14)", "body": "Any solstice celebrations planned, anyone?"}, {"response": 105, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jun 15, 2000 (16:21)", "body": "Ocean Tides Lost and Found NASA Science News for June 15, 2000 Lunar tides impart tremendous energy to Earth's oceans, but where does it all go? Scientists studying data from the orbiting TOPEX/Poseidon satellite believe they now have an answer. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast15jun_2.htm?list __"}, {"response": 106, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jun 15, 2000 (18:27)", "body": "Thursday's Classroom for June 15, 2000 This month's full Moon will appear bigger and more colorful than usual because it occurs so close to the northern summer solstice. Students can learn more about the Moon and the famous illusion that makes the Moon appear larger when it's near the horizon by making an edible Moon Munchie spyglass, calculating Loony Basketball Math, and reciting \"Full Moon Wherewolf\" homonym poetry. For more information, please visit http://www.thursdaysclassroom.com Thursday's Classroom Note: These lessons are relevant even after this week's full Moon. For several days following June 16, the Moon will appear nearly full and, of course, there's another full Moon every month. Each one hovers above the horizon for a while as it rises, triggering the 'Moon Illusion.' The illusion simply lasts longer for northern observers near the time of the summer solstice."}, {"response": 107, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jun 16, 2000 (01:30)", "body": "The Incredible Ions of Space Transportation NASA Science News for June 16, 2000 After nearly 40 years of development and the successful flight of Deep Space 1 in 1998-1999, ion propulsion has now entered the mainstream of propulsion options available for deep-space missions. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast15jun_1.htm?list __"}, {"response": 108, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jun 19, 2000 (17:53)", "body": "From: NASA Science News Precedence: Bulk Space Lasers Take Aim at the Wind NASA Science News for June 19, 2000 NASA scientists are studying a type of radar that uses laser light instead of microwaves to provide snapshots of the winds that travel the globe. Knowing the wind's speed and direction over large areas could help meteorologists answer the riddle of tomorrow's weather and benefit many areas of the world's economy. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast19jun_1m.htm?list"}, {"response": 109, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jun 20, 2000 (01:30)", "body": "Scientists Discover Sugar in an Interstellar Cloud NASA Science News for June 20, 2000 Scientists have discovered a molecular cousin to table sugar in a giant interstellar cloud known as Sagittarius B2. The discovery of this sugar molecule in a cloud where new stars are forming means it is increasingly likely that chemical precursors to life are formed in such clouds long before planets develop around stars. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast20jun_1.htm?list"}, {"response": 110, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jun 21, 2000 (01:25)", "body": "Asteroids Have Seasons, Too NASA Science News for June 21, 2000 Earth isn't the only world where seasons are changing this week. Millions of miles from our planet, southern winter is giving way to spring on asteroid 433 Eros. As the Sun rises over the south pole of Eros, instruments on NASA's NEAR-Shoemaker spacecraft will catch a glimpse of never-before-seen terrain. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast21jun_1.htm?list __"}, {"response": 111, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jun 22, 2000 (00:41)", "body": "Coming Soon: Better Solar Storm Warnings NASA Science News for June 22, 2000 In the past, predicting the onset of a geomagnetic storm was difficult. Forecasters couldn't say with much precision how long it would take for a solar coronal mass ejection to reach Earth. Now scientists have created a model that reliably forecasts the arrival of these billion-ton gas clouds. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast22jun_1m.htm?list __"}, {"response": 112, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Thu, Jun 22, 2000 (09:40)", "body": "I heard on the news on the radio on the way to work that they've found water on Mars."}, {"response": 113, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jun 22, 2000 (13:09)", "body": "Indeed.......here is the NASA press release: Mars Surprise -- images reveal signs of recent water flow on Mars NASA Science News for June 22, 2000 In what could turn out to be a landmark discovery in the history of Mars exploration, scientists using data from NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft have observed features that suggest current sources of liquid water at or near the surface of the red planet. NASA scientists compare the features to those left by flash floods on Earth. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast22jun_2.htm?list __"}, {"response": 114, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jun 26, 2000 (13:58)", "body": "The Ups and Downs of Ozone NASA Science News for June 26, 2000 Scientists are watching carefully as the ozone layer, which protects animal and plant life from harmful solar ultraviolet radiation, begins an uncertain recovery. Ozone destroying chemicals in the atmosphere are on the decline, but the timing and nature of the expected recovery -- and even whether a recovery is occurring at all -- are controversial topics. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast26jun_1m.htm?list"}, {"response": 115, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jun 27, 2000 (16:00)", "body": "Giant Planet Power Breakfast NASA Science News for June 27, 2000 Jupiter and Saturn have spent much of the last few months hidden in the bright glare of the Sun. Now they are rising before dawn and are visible again with the naked eye. This week the slender crescent moon will join the pair for a dazzling show in the sky before sunrise. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast27jun_1.htm?list __"}, {"response": 116, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jun 28, 2000 (18:20)", "body": "Setting Sail for the Stars NASA Science News for June 28, 2000 Scientists met last month to discuss the latest developments in solar sail technology. A new mission, the Interstellar Probe, could carry a spacecraft beyond the edge of the solar system by 2018. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast28jun_1m.htm?list __"}, {"response": 117, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jun 29, 2000 (17:18)", "body": "Making a Splash on Mars NASA Science News for June 29, 2000 On a planet that's colder than Antarctica and where water boils at ten degrees above freezing, how could liquid water ever exist? Scientists say a dash of salt might help. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast29jun_1m.htm?lis"}, {"response": 118, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jun 30, 2000 (15:15)", "body": "Earth reaches its greatest distance from the Sun on the 4th of July NASA Science News for June 30, 2000 The Earth will reach its greatest distance from the Sun this year on the 4th of July, but don't expect a break from the heat of northern summer. This article discusses Earth's slightly elliptical orbit and the effects (some negligible, some substantial) that lopsided orbits have on planets around the solar system. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast30jun_1m.htm?list __"}, {"response": 119, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jul  3, 2000 (23:42)", "body": "Mars passes by the Sun Space Weather News for July 3, 2000 Solar activity was low over the weekend and is expected to remain so for the next 24 to 48 hours. Nevertheless, on July 1st and 2nd coronagraphs on the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory captured a beautiful sequence of images showing Mars as it passed less than one degree from the Sun. The animation includes several coronal mass ejections associated with small solar flares. For more information visit http://www.spaceweather.com"}, {"response": 120, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jul  6, 2000 (13:29)", "body": "Here Comes Comet Linear NASA Science News for July 05, 2000 Comet 1999 LINEAR S4, which can already be seen through binoculars, is expected to become a faint naked-eye object similar in appearance to the Andromeda Nebula as it glides by the Big Dipper this month. Maximum brightness is expected on July 23, 2000."}, {"response": 121, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jul  7, 2000 (01:24)", "body": "Some Comets Like it Hot NASA Science News for July 07, 2000 Amateur astronomers are discovering pieces of a giant comet that broke apart in antiquity as the fragments zoom perilously close to the Sun. You can join the hunt, too. All you need is a computer and an internet connection to view realtime data from the orbiting ESA/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast07jul_1.htm?list"}, {"response": 122, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jul  8, 2000 (15:01)", "body": "Space Weather News for July 8, 2000 Coronagraphs on board the orbiting ESA/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) recorded a full halo coronal mass ejection (CME) on July 7th. Forecasters estimate that material from the CME will arrive in the neighborhood of Earth on July 11th. While the CME was ongoing, SOHO's wide field coronagraph also captured the planet Mercury racing by the Sun twice as fast as the drifting field of background stars. Mercury joined two other planets, Mars and Venus, in the coronagraph's field of view. For animations and more information, please visit http://www.spaceweather.com"}, {"response": 123, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jul 10, 2000 (13:25)", "body": "A solar wind disturbance arrives at Earth Space Weather News for July 10, 2000 The shock front from a July 7th coronal mass ejection has apparently reached our planet about a day earlier than expected. The disturbance, recorded by NASA's ACE spacecraft at 0600 UT on July 10, was not extraordinarily vigorous. Nevertheless, skywatchers are advised to be on the alert for aurora. For more information please visit http://www.spaceweather.com"}, {"response": 124, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jul 10, 2000 (17:02)", "body": "Cosmic Light Pollution NASA Science News for July 10, 2000 A series of unmanned balloon flights will measure the subtle ultraviolet glow of the night sky and help unravel one of the most perplexing mysteries of astrophysics -- the origin of ultra high-energy cosmic rays. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast10jul_1.htm?list"}, {"response": 125, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jul 11, 2000 (18:13)", "body": "The propagation continues upward: SFI=225 up from 215 | A=28 up from 18 | K=3 down from 4 at 2100 on 11 July. SAF: moderate to high, GMF: at active to minor storm levels Aurora Level: 5 Solar Wind: 543.3 km/s at 5.7 protons/cc More: http://hfradio.org/propagation.html"}, {"response": 126, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jul 11, 2000 (18:20)", "body": "Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 15:26:37 -0500 From: NASA Science News Comet Borrelly or Bust NASA Science News for July 11, 2000 NASA's experimental Deep Space 1 probe --left for dead after a guidance system failure in late 1999 -- was revived last month in a thrilling cross- the-solar-system rescue conducted by JPL engineers. The craft set sail again on June 28, 2000, just in time for a planned rendezvous with periodic comet Borrelly in 2001. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast11jul_1.htm?list"}, {"response": 127, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jul 12, 2000 (12:58)", "body": "Brown Dwarf Solar Flare NASA Science News for July 12, 2000 The Chandra X-ray Observatory has detected the first-ever flare from what's known as a brown dwarf, or failed star. Scientists were surprised at the outburst, which unleashed an amount of energy comparable to a small solar flare. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast12jul_1m.htm?list"}, {"response": 128, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jul 13, 2000 (18:36)", "body": "Aurora Warning Space Weather News for July 13, 2000 Stargazers in both hemispheres are advised to watch for auroras tonight as the result of a strong solar wind disturbance that struck Earth's magnetosphere at approximately 0940 UT (5:40 a.m. EDT) on July 13th. The strong geomagnetic storm that started this morning may now be subsiding, but another interplanetary shock wave is expected to arrive on July 14th and extend the current period of geomagnetic unrest. Auroral displays at middle latitudes are possible (but by no means guaranteed) around local midnight on July 13th through 15th. For more information please visit http://www.spaceweather.com Photographers who capture pictures of Northern or Southern Lights during the next few days are invited to send their images as attachments to webmaster@spaceweather.com for display on SpaceWeather.com."}, {"response": 129, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jul 13, 2000 (19:06)", "body": "SFI=232 up from 230 | A=31 up from 12 | K=2 down from 5 at 2100 on 13 July. SAF: moderate to high, GMF: at unsettled to minor storm levels Aurora Level: 7 Solar Wind: 618.4 km/s at 3.6 protons/cc More: http://hfradio.org/propagation.html"}, {"response": 130, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jul 14, 2000 (02:18)", "body": "Pacific Lunar Eclipse NASA Science News for July 14, 2000 This weekend the Moon, the Sun and the Earth will align for the longest total lunar eclipse in 140 years. The best places to see the event are in and around the Pacific Ocean, including Hawaii and Australia. Observers along the west coast of North America will be able to see a partial eclipse just before the Moon sets on Sunday morning. During totality skywatchers may also be able to spot the asteroid 4 Vesta, which coincidentally makes a rare appearance as a naked-eye object during the days around the eclipse. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast14jul_1m.htm?list"}, {"response": 131, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jul 14, 2000 (15:56)", "body": "Powerful Solar Flare Triggers Radiation Storm Space Weather News for July 14, 2000 This morning an X5-class solar flare, one of the most powerful flares of the current solar cycle, triggered a proton storm in the neighborhood of our planet. Just after the eruption, coronagraphs on board the ESA/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory recorded a full halo coronal mass ejection heading toward Earth at greater than 1000 km/s. Please visit http://www.spaceweather.com for details and updates on this developing story."}, {"response": 132, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jul 14, 2000 (20:20)", "body": "The following Alerts and Warnings are in effect: sr@hfradio.org The following Alerts and Warnings are in effect: Magnetic A-Index greater than 50 Watch for 15 Jul 2000 UT Comment: K-indices of greater than 6 are possible beginning at 1800 UT on 15 July Magnetic A-Index greater than 50 Watch for 16 Jul 2000 UT Comment: K-indices of greater than 6 are possible beginning at 1800 UT on 15 July Magnetic A-Index greater than 50 Watch for 17 Jul 2000 UT Comment: K-indices of greater than 6 are possible beginning at 1800 UT on 15 July Magnetic K-Index of 6 Observed 14 Jul 2000 from 15:00 to 18:00 UT Comment: None More: http://hfradio.org/propagation.html"}, {"response": 133, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jul 14, 2000 (20:26)", "body": "A Solar Radiation Storm NASA Science News for July 14, 2000 A powerful solar flare on July 14th triggered an intense radiation storm in the vicinity of Earth. The eruption was followed by a fast-moving coronal mass ejection that is expected to strike Earth's magnetosphere as early as Saturday. The impact could trigger Northern and Southern Lights bright enough to be seen in spite of this weekend's brilliant full Moon. Such a display is by no means guaranteed, but it is possible. Observers across the Pacific could be in for a very rare treat: the sight of shimmering colorful aurora during the total lunar eclipse of July 16, 2000. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast14jul_2m.htm?list __"}, {"response": 134, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jul 15, 2000 (14:57)", "body": "Solar Wind data is incorrect due to proton overload of the sensors on the spacecraft. True solar wind speed is approx. 775 to 800 km/s with a density of approx. 25 to 30 protons/cm3 ADVISORY: The shock wave from Friday's fast-moving coronal mass ejection could arrive as early as 1900 UT. ALERT(S): Magnetic A-Index Greater than 50 Watch for 15 Jul 2000 UT Comment: K-indices of Greater than 6 are possible beginning at 1800 UT on 15 July Magnetic A-Index Greater than 50 Watch for 16 Jul 2000 UT Comment: K-indices of Greater than 6 are possible beginning at 1800 UT on 15 July Magnetic A-Index Greater than 50 Watch for 17 Jul 2000 UT Comment: K-indices of Greater than 6 are possible beginning at 1800 UT on 15 July Magnetic K-Index of 6 Observed 14 Jul 2000 from 15:00 to 18:00 UT Comment: None Magnetic A-Index Greater than 30 Warning valid from 15 Jul 2000 0000 to 0600 UT Comment: None The following Warning was EXTENDED at 0000 UT on 15 Jul 2000 and is now valid through 0000 UT on 17 Jul 2000 Magnetic K-Index Greater than 6 Warning valid from 13 Jul 2000 1438 to 15 Jul 2000 0000 UT Comment: None The following Alert was CONTINUED at 0100 UT on 15 Jul 2000 Protons Event Greater than 10 MeV @ Greater than 10pfu BEG 14 Jul 2000 1050 UT Comment: The current proton flux is approximately 8500 pfu's. The following Alert was CONTINUED at 0100 UT on 15 Jul 2000 Proton event Greater than 100 MeV @ Greater than 1pfu BEG 14 Jul 2000 1040 UT Comment: The current proton flux level is approximately 100 pfu's . A maximum proton flux of approximately 400 pfu's was reached at 1620 UT on 14 July. Magnetic A-Index Greater than 30 Observed 15 Jul 2000 0600 UT Comment: None Type II Radio Emission 15 Jul 2000 1433 UT Comment: Estimated shock velocity = 788 km/s More: http://hfradio.org/propagation.html"}, {"response": 135, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jul 15, 2000 (20:16)", "body": "An Extreme Geomagnetic Storm is Underway Space Weather News for July 15, 2000 A powerful shock wave from the fast-moving July 14th coronal mass ejection has arrived in the neighborhood of Earth. An extreme geomagnetic storm was underway at 1900 UT (3:00 p.m. EDT) on July 15th. If conditions persist as they are now, aurora could be visible at middle (and possibly even equatorial) latitudes. The best time to view aurora is usually near local midnight. In this case, sky watchers are advised to look for aurora as soon as night falls. For more information and updates please visit http://www.spaceweather.com Readers are invited to send pictures of tonight's aurora and the July 16, 2000, total lunar eclipse (visible across the Pacific Ocean) as an email attachment to phillips@spacescience.com for possible posting on spaceweather.com and/or spacescience.com. For more information about the lunar eclipse: Pacific Lunar Eclipse http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast14jul_1m.htm ************************** SEVERE GEOMAGNETIC STORM: Kp Index is at 9. A Index is 118. We are in a catagory G5 Storm. NOAA's Space Weather scale indicates the following effects: Power systems: grid systems can collapse and transformers experience damage. Spacecraft operations: extensive surface charging, problems with orientation, uplink/downlink, and tracking satellites. Other systems: pipeline currents reach hundreds of amps, HF (high frequency) radio propagation impossible in many areas for one to two days, satellite navigation degraded for days, low-frequency radio navigation out for hours, and the aurora seen as low as the equator. The Proton Monitor on the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory is registering solar wind speeds in excess of 900 km/s The wave of solar particles - known as a solar proton event - is already four times more intense than any other event detected since the launches of SOHO in 1995 and ACE in 1997. At mid-afternoon (UT) on July 14th, the storm of particles from the Sun was still intensifying. More: http://hfradio.org/propagation.html"}, {"response": 136, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jul 18, 2000 (02:00)", "body": "X-ray Star Stuff NASA Science News for July 18, 2000 Astronomers using the Chandra X-ray Observatory are seeing how supernovae spray the essential elements of rocky planets and life into interstellar space. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast18jul_1m.htm?list"}, {"response": 137, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jul 20, 2000 (02:01)", "body": "Unveiling the Infrared Sky NASA Science News for July 20, 2000 Your home computer can become a portal to a wonderland of stars, thanks to a massive release of images from an infrared sky survey sponsored by NASA and the National Science Foundation. The current release is based on a volume of data several hundred times larger than that contained in the human genome! FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast20jul_1.htm?list __"}, {"response": 138, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jul 21, 2000 (13:02)", "body": "Coronal Mass Ejection 21 July 2000 There is high probability that the CME (Coronal Mass Ejection) from the major M-class solar flare of 19 July 2000 will arrive today. It is expected to hit the Earth almost head-on. It is not expected to be as intense as this last weekend's event. Auroral activity is expected to increase to storm levels on 21 July 2000. There is a good chance for observations of auroral activity from many dark-sky middle latitude regions, particularly prior to midnight when the moon is still below the horizon and optimal observing conditions exist. Moonrise occurs near local midnight. TWO ADDITIONAL M-Class flares occured today: :ALERTS: X-Ray event M5/1B/S12W14 BEG 20 Jul 2000 2022 MAX 20 Jul 2000 2025 END 20 Jul 2000 2028 UT Comment: None X-Ray event M5.5 BEG 21 Jul 2000 1430 MAX 21 Jul 2000 1437 END 21 Jul 2000 1443 UT Comment: None More: http://hfradio.org/propagation.html"}, {"response": 139, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jul 21, 2000 (13:02)", "body": "Watch for Aurora tonight!!!"}, {"response": 140, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jul 21, 2000 (13:25)", "body": "Propagation Forecast Bulletin 29 - July 21, 2000 This has been quite a week for solar activity, with blasts of solar wind dominating space weather news. Saturday was the big day for HF radio blackouts and aurora, with the planetary A index jumping to an incredible 152 and the mid-latitude A index at 148. The planetary K index, updated every three hours, was at 9 for three readings on Saturday. A K index reading of 9 over a 24-hour period would be equivalent to an A index of 300. This is big, really big. These numbers are associated with an extreme geomagnetic storm that was nearly off the scale. On Friday one of the most powerful solar flares of the current cycle triggered a storm of protons directed toward earth. The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory recorded a full halo coronal mass ejection heading toward earth at greater than one-million meters per second. Check out animations of this event at http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/data/CME/ . There are only a few events of this magnitude in the average solar cycle. The only factor that probably impeded a spectacular aurora visible far down into the U.S. was that this is the summer season. A dark evening sky would reveal a rich tapestry of northern lights. Of course, it being winter in the southern hemisphere, bright displays were reported in Australia and New Zealand. The author made a weak attempt Saturday night, walking barefoot into the middle of the street and trying to peer north past city lights, but no auroral glow was visible. Seattle is north of the 47th parallel, and although there were no local reports of aurora, there were observations as far south as 40 degrees in Europe, Asia, and parts of Eastern North America. If you point your web browser toward http://www.sec.noaa.gov/info/kp-aurora.html you will see a nice map from the June, 1968 issue of Sky and Telescope which shows how far south aurora may be visible depending on the planetary K index. What is not clear from this map is whether it shows how far south the edge of the aurora extends, or how far south it is visible when looking north. Another coronal mass ejection emerged on Wednesday, July 19, but the predicted effect is uncertain because the ejection may not be aimed squarely at earth. On Thursday the planetary K index went up to 6 for several hours, but by the end of the UTC day it was 3. The planetary A index for Thursday was 43, and the College A index, recorded in Alaska, was 57. The latest forecast shows the planetary A index rising to 50 on Friday, then dropping to 20 and 15 and then 10 on Saturday through Monday. Solar flux peaked for the recent short term at 252.9 on Thursday, and is expected to drop to 245, 235, 230 and 225 on Friday through Monday. The next short term minimum is predicted around July 28 at 170, followed by another peak above 200 around August 6-9. The author has received many more inquiries recently asking for explanations of the various parameters reported in this bulletin. Although the explanations were repeated six weeks ago, it is probably time to run them again, and they follow this paragraph. Feel free to send questions to the author via k7vvvarrl.net. Amateur Radio operators who use HF generally like increased sunspots because they correlate with better worldwide radio propagation. When there are more sunspots, the sun puts out radiation which charges particles in the earth's ionosphere. Radio waves bounce off of these charged particles, and the denser these clouds of ions, the better the HF propagation. When the ionosphere is denser, higher frequencies will reflect off of the ionosphere rather than passing through to space. This is why every 11 years or so when this activity is higher, 10 meters gets exciting. 10 meters is at a high enough frequency, right near the top of the HF spectrum, that radio waves propagate very efficiently when the sunspot count is high. Because of the wavelength, smaller antennas are very efficient on this band, so mobile stations running low power on 10 meters can communicate world wide on a daily basis when the sunspot cycle is at its peak. There are also seasonal variations, and 10 meters tends to be best near the spring or fall equinox. The sunspot numbers used in this bulletin are calculated by counting the sunspots on the visible solar surface and also measuring their area. Solar flux is measured at an observatory in British Columbia using an antenna pointed toward the sun tuned to 2.8 GHz, which is at a wavelength of 10.7 cm. Energy detected seems to correlate with sunspots and with the density of the ionosphere. Other solar activity of concern to HF operators are solar flares and coronal holes, which emit protons. Since the charged ions in the ionosphere are negative, a blast of protons from the sun can neutralize the charge and make the ionosphere less reflective. These waves of protons can be so intense that they may trigger an event called a geomagnetic storm. The Planetary A index relates to geomagnetic stability. M"}, {"response": 141, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jul 22, 2000 (22:15)", "body": "Contrary Thermometers NASA Science News for July 21, 2000 Scientists are working to understand why the lower atmosphere isn't heating up as fast as some global warming models predict. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast21jul_1m.htm?list"}, {"response": 142, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jul 26, 2000 (18:20)", "body": "Station Sightings NASA Science News for July 24, 2000 Thanks to a new NASA web site, stargazers can track the progress of the growing International Space Station (ISS) from their own backyards. Because it reflects sunlight down to Earth, the ISS often looks like a slow-moving star as it crosses the sky. It can even appear as bright as the star Sirius if you know when and where to look. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast24jul_1m.htm?list"}, {"response": 143, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jul 26, 2000 (18:23)", "body": "Camping Out with the Planets NASA Science News for July 25, 2000 Earth's slender crescent Moon will glide by two brilliant planets in the dawn sky this week as it heads for a close encounter with Mercury on July 29th. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast25jul_1m.htm?list"}, {"response": 144, "author": "alyeska", "date": "Wed, Jul 26, 2000 (20:46)", "body": "You can tell when you look into the night sky which are stars and which are satellites. the satelittes are brighter and move across the sky. I don't get to see much of the night sky right now with this weather. I don't even get to use my pc in the evening, there is so much lightening that I have to unplug it."}, {"response": 145, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jul 27, 2000 (11:36)", "body": "Yikes, Dear!!! Blessed be the laptops which enable use even with lightning... but not connected to a modem. Alas, you are in down-time summer I guess. A Lot Less Snow NASA Science News for July 27, 2000 An instrument on board NASA's Terra satellite recorded much less snow than usual over parts of North America during the winter of 1999-2000. This story includes a snow map of North America in March 2000 and sample pictures from Terra's snow-mapping \"MODIS\" instrument. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast27jul_2m.htm?list"}, {"response": 146, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jul 29, 2000 (00:24)", "body": "Comet LINEAR Misbehaves NASA Science News for July 28, 2000 Although comet LINEAR was not bright enough to see with the unaided eye when it passed by Earth this week, the comet is grabbing the attention of astronomers with peculiar behavior, including orbit-altering jets and fragments breaking away from its nucleus. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast28jul_1m.htm?list __"}, {"response": 147, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jul 29, 2000 (00:36)", "body": "Comet LINEAR breaks apart Space Weather News for July 28, 2000 There is growing evidence that comet LINEAR, which made its closest approach to the Sun earlier this week, is disintegrating. Today's spaceweather.com features images and animations of the apparent breakup. Also, an interplanetary shock wave struck Earth's magnetosphere on July 28, 2000, triggering minor geomagnetic activity. For more information please visit http//www.spaceweather.com http//www.spaceweather.com"}, {"response": 148, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jul 29, 2000 (00:58)", "body": "Back to the Future on Mars NASA Science News for July 28, 2000 In 2003, NASA plans to launch a relative of the now-famous 1997 Mars Pathfinder rover. Using drop, bounce, and roll technology, this larger cousin is expected to reach the surface of the Red Planet in January 2004 and begin the longest journey of scientific exploration ever undertaken across the surface of that alien world. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast28jul_2m.htm?list __"}, {"response": 149, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jul 31, 2000 (14:25)", "body": "The Stuff Between the Stars NASA Science News for July 31, 2000 The cosmos is laced with tiny specks of dust that decide the fate of young stars and planets. Now, NASA scientists can study the properties of far-flung space dust using special laboratory facilities at the Marshall Space Flight Center. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast31jul_2m.htm?list _"}, {"response": 150, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jul 31, 2000 (14:41)", "body": "Meltdown! Comet LINEAR comtinues to disintegrate.... NASA Science News for July 31, 2000 Comet LINEAR continued to blow itself apart this weekend as astronomers around the world monitored the action. The comet is still bright enough to see through amateur telescopes, but it's fading fast. This story compares the breakup of comet LINEAR with another famous fragmented comet, Shoemaker-Levy 9, that collided with Jupiter six years ago. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast31jul_1m.htm?list"}, {"response": 151, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Aug  2, 2000 (21:35)", "body": "Looking Forward to the International Space Station NASA Science News for August 02, 2000 Scientists at a recent media forum said they are eager to begin using the International Space Station as an innovative orbiting research laboratory. \"The Hubble Space Telescope is to astrophysicists as the International Space Station will be to other researchers -- a working science laboratory in space,\" noted one participant. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast02aug_1.htm?list"}, {"response": 152, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Aug  4, 2000 (15:24)", "body": "Watching Wildfires from Space NASA Science News for August 04, 2000 NASA satellites are keeping a close eye on wildfires raging across the Western US. Every few hours, a global map of smoky aerosols is updated at the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer web site. Now, anyone with a connection to the Internet can share the same \"bird's eye\" view enjoyed by NASA scientists. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast04aug_1m.htm?list"}, {"response": 153, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Aug  4, 2000 (15:26)", "body": "A Comet Comes Apart Thursday's Classroom for August 3, 2000 http://www.thursdaysclassroom.com Late last month stargazers were eagerly anticipating the arrival of Comet LINEAR, which was expected to become the first naked-eye comet in three years. But the comet surprised observers by blowing apart as it passed near to the Sun. Even now, astronomers are watching intently as Comet LINEAR dissolves into a haze of gas and dust. This week's episode of Thursday's Classroom features stories for kids and educational lesson plans about comets and Comet LINEAR. Activities include: * Comet Cones -- Kids who sample one of these delicious treats will never forget the \"dirty snowball\" model for comets. * Really Big Numbers -- How many zeros are in Comet LINEAR's distance from Earth? Kids find out in this lesson about scientific notation. * The Comet Coloring Book -- Students can color original art by Duane Hilton as they follow along with this week's lessons. ...and more! Please visit http://www.thursdaysclassroom.com"}, {"response": 154, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Aug  4, 2000 (16:33)", "body": "Space Weather News for August 4, 2000 http://www.spaceweather.com Comet LINEAR blew apart so thoroughly last week that astronomers can't find any sizable pieces from its fractured icy core. New groundbased images of the comet posted today revealed no fragments brighter than 22nd magnitude. The new data are fueling speculation that Comet LINEAR itself might have been the fragment of a larger body that passed through the inner solar system centuries ago. On a related note, SpaceWeather.com is pleased to announce a new feature: the weekly Meteor Outlook by Robert Lunsford, secretary general of the International Meteor Organization. Updated every Friday, the Outlook offers a comprehensive preview of likely meteor activity suitable for novices and experts. This week's update describes the growing rate of pre-dawn Perseid meteors leading up to the shower's maximum on August 12th."}, {"response": 155, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Aug  8, 2000 (23:53)", "body": "Perseid Dawn NASA Science News for August 08, 2000 The Perseid meteor shower peaks on August 12, 2000. This year the bright, nearly-full Moon will outshine the Perseids most of the night, but for an hour between moonset and sunrise on Saturday morning, star gazers could witness a brief but beautiful meteor shower. The setting Moon may put on a show of its own Saturday. Wildfires and dust storms have filled parts of our atmosphere with aerosols. A low-hanging Moon seen through such dusty air can take on a beautiful pink or orange hue. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast08aug_1.htm?list"}, {"response": 156, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Aug  9, 2000 (19:42)", "body": "Meteors and a Full-halo Coronal Mass Ejection Space Weather News for August 9, 2000 http://www.spaceweather.com SOLAR ACTIVITY: The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory recorded a full-halo coronal mass ejection today from sunspot group 9114, near the center of the Sun's visible disk. Material from the eruption could trigger geomagnetic activity when it arrives in the vicinity of Earth in approximately three days. NEW ONLINE METEOR COUNTS: As part of our expanding coverage of meteor and comet activity, spaceweather.com will now feature daily meteor counts reported by a network of observers across North America. The daily-updated data includes visual and radio meteor detections. COMET LINEAR: A new picture from the ESO Very Large Telescope shows mini-comets inside Comet LINEAR's disintegrating core. For images, animations and expanded coverage of these items, please visit http://www.spaceweather.com"}, {"response": 157, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Aug 11, 2000 (18:45)", "body": "Perseid meteor update + an ongoing geomagnetic storm Space Weather News for August 11, 2000 http://www.spaceweather.com On the eve of the Perseid meteor shower, sky watchers report seeing 10 to 15 meteors per hour streaming from the constellation Perseus. That's consistent with an expected peak rate between 30 and 50 visual meteors per hour before dawn on August 12th. The projected maximum is somewhat weaker than Perseid maxima of recent years, but observers are also reporting that this year's Perseid meteors have been pleasantly bright. The shower should put on a good show for northern hemisphere observers this Saturday morning. Readers are invited to send their photos of the 2000 Perseids to phillips@spacescience.com (Tony Phillips). There is a chance that Saturday morning sky watchers at higher latitudes could spot colorful auroras during the Perseid meteor shower. Our planet is experiencing an ongoing geomagnetic storm triggered by a southward-pointing interplanetary magnetic field in the vicinity of Earth. If conditions persist, high latitude (and possibly even mid-latitude) auroras are possible. For more information, please visit http://www.spaceweather.com"}, {"response": 158, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Aug 11, 2000 (18:46)", "body": "Twin Rovers Headed for Mars NASA Science News for August 10, 2000 The traffic on Mars is expected to double in the near future. NASA today announced plans to launch two large scientific rovers to the red planet in 2003, rather than the original plan for just one. This story includes a striking new video of the planned Mars 2003 rover mission. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast10aug_1.htm?list"}, {"response": 159, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Aug 12, 2000 (18:34)", "body": "Aurora & Meteor Alert Space Weather News for August 12, 2000 http://www.spaceweather.com Last night, during the peak of the Perseid meteor shower, a shock wave from the Sun set off a beautiful display of aurora borealis. Observers in dark-sky areas across Canada and much of the United States were treated to the unusual spectacle of meteors seen against a backdrop of colorful Northern Lights. Auroras were spotted as far south as Los Angeles, CA. Conditions remain favorable for more aurora borealis Saturday night and Sunday morning. Plus, the Perseid meteor shower is not entirely over. Stargazers could see as many as 25 meteors per hour before dawn on Sunday, Aug. 13. If you have pictures of weekend auroras and/or Perseid meteors, we invite you to submit them to SpaceWeather.com as an email attachment sent to phillips@spacescience.com (Tony Phillips). For more information, including pictures of last night's aurora and the coronal mass ejection that energized the ongoing geomagnetic storm, please visit http://spaceweather.com"}, {"response": 160, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Aug 15, 2000 (14:19)", "body": "The Extraordinary Geomagnetic Perseid Meteor Shower NASA Science News for August 14, 2000 An interplanetary shock wave from the Sun struck Earth's magnetosphere just before the peak of the Perseid meteor shower on August 12, 2000, triggering a powerful geomagnetic storm. Stargazers across Canada and the United States were treated to the rare spectacle of a meteor shower seen against the backdrop of colorful Northern Lights. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast14aug_1.htm?list"}, {"response": 161, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Aug 17, 2000 (13:29)", "body": "NASA goes on SAFARI NASA Science News for August 16, 2000 Southern Africa offers a unique climate sub-system where scientists can study the effects of industrial activity, biomass burning and changing patterns of land usage on the environment. Last weekend an international team of scientists launched an intensive campaign -- part of the SAFARI 2000 project -- to study this complex region from the ground, the air and from space. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast16aug_1m.htm?list"}, {"response": 162, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Aug 18, 2000 (00:42)", "body": "The Indefatigable Ions of Deep Space 1 NASA Science News for August 17, 2000 NASA's Deep Space 1 probe, en route for an encounter with Comet Borrelly, has run its unique propulsion system for more than 200 days -- longer and more efficiently than anything ever launched. The almost imperceptible thrust from the system is equivalent to the pressure exerted by a sheet of paper held in the palm of your hand. The ion engine is very slow to pick up speed, but over the long haul it can deliver 10 times as much thrust per pound of fuel as more traditional rockets. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast17aug_1.htm?list"}, {"response": 163, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Aug 22, 2000 (00:25)", "body": "Arctic Ice Revealed NASA Science News for August 22, 2000 An orbiting radar has cut through clouds and dark of night to monitor the ebb and flow of Arctic ice. Scientists say the data could reveal important trends in global climate change. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast22aug_1.htm?list"}, {"response": 164, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Aug 23, 2000 (14:22)", "body": "Hot X-rays from a Cold Comet NASA Science News for August 23, 2000 Normally, x-ray astronomers concern themselves with the most violent and fiery denizens of the Universe. Colliding galaxies, supernova explosions and black holes are common targets for x-ray telescopes like NASA's powerful Chandra X-ray Observatory. But, last month researchers solved a cosmic mystery when they turned Chandra toward Comet LINEAR, a chilly snowball from the outer solar system. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast23aug_1m.htm?list"}, {"response": 165, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Aug 24, 2000 (20:10)", "body": "Counting Brown Dwarfs NASA Science News for August 24, 2000 Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have taken attendance in a class of brown dwarfs and found indications that these odd and elusive objects also tend to be loners. The Hubble census -- the most complete to date -- provides new and compelling evidence that stars and planets form in different ways. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast24aug_1.htm?list"}, {"response": 166, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Aug 25, 2000 (12:50)", "body": "Antibiotics in Orbit NASA Science News for August 25, 2000 Pilot studies indicate that microbial antibiotic production can be increased by up to 200 percent in space-grown cultures. Scientists who studied such antibiotics during the \"John Glenn\" shuttle mission in 1998 are looking forward to more low-gravity experiments on the International Space Station. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast25aug_1m.htm?list"}, {"response": 167, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Aug 28, 2000 (15:57)", "body": "New Evidence for an Alien Ocean NASA Science News for August 28, 2000 Fluctuations in the magnetic field surrounding Jupiter's moon Europa are a telltale sign of salty liquid water beneath the moon's icy crust. Europa could harbor the solar system's largest ocean. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast28aug_1.htm?list"}, {"response": 168, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Aug 28, 2000 (20:14)", "body": "Comet Champion of the Solar System NASA Science News for August 28, 2000 Less than seven months after the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory registered its 100th comet discovery, amateur astronomers help SOHO double its record-setting total. Scientists think that most of SOHO's comets are fragments from the breakup of a single giant comet long ago. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast28aug_2.htm?list"}, {"response": 169, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Aug 30, 2000 (00:06)", "body": "Culprits of Climate Change NASA Science News for August 29, 2000 For many years, researchers agreed that climate change was triggered by \"greenhouse gases,\" with carbon dioxide from burning of fossil playing the biggest role. However, NASA funded scientists suggest that climate change in recent decades has been mainly caused by air pollution containing non-carbon dioxide greenhouse gases. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast29aug_1.htm?list"}, {"response": 170, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Aug 31, 2000 (22:51)", "body": "Evil-doers Beware! Space Scientists are on the Case NASA Science News for August 31, 2000 Two NASA scientists are working with the police and the FBI to track down criminals using out-of-this-world video technology. The new technique, called VISAR, is also expected to improve military reconnaissance, medical research and video on home computers. This story includes pictures and video of VISAR in action. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast31aug_1.htm?list"}, {"response": 171, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Sep  1, 2000 (15:21)", "body": "A Close Encounter with a Space Rock NASA Science News for September 01, 2000 This morning a half-kilometer wide space rock is zooming past Earth barely 12 times farther from our planet than the Moon. In cosmic terms, it's a near miss, but there is absolutely no danger of a collision. Instead, the encounter offers astronomers an unusually good opportunity to study a near-Earth asteroid. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast01sep_1.htm?list"}, {"response": 172, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Sep  6, 2000 (15:19)", "body": "Sunbathing at Solar Maximum NASA Science News for September 05, 2000 NASA scientists say that Solar Maximum is now in full swing. Does that mean you're more likely to catch a sunburn at the beach? The answer is \"no,\" and this story explains why. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast05sep_1.htm?list"}, {"response": 173, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Wed, Sep  6, 2000 (15:24)", "body": "It's very hot in Austin right now, two days ago was the hottest day in history, About 110. And we're in solar max to boot!"}, {"response": 174, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Sep  6, 2000 (15:36)", "body": "I noted it was 112 in Austin tying the all time record and 115 in San Antonio. That is not civilized!!! How does that feel?? Instant mummification??!!"}, {"response": 175, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Sep  8, 2000 (20:55)", "body": "Ozone Hole Update NASA Science News for September 08, 2000 Antarctica's ozone hole now covers an area three times larger than the entire land mass of the United States - the largest such ozone-depleted region ever observed. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast08sep_1.htm?list There is a graphic: http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/restricted/read/Geo/4.2"}, {"response": 176, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Sep  8, 2000 (21:35)", "body": "Audacious & Outrageous: Space Elevators NASA Science News for September 07, 2000 Science-fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke was once asked when the \"space elevator,\" a notion he helped to popularize, would become a reality. Clarke answered, \"Probably about 50 years after everybody quits laughing.\" Nowadays NASA scientists are taking the idea seriously. In fact, they've compiled plans that could turn the space elevators of science fiction into a real-life mass transportation system to space by the end of the 21st century. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast07sep_1.htm?list"}, {"response": 177, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Sep 12, 2000 (01:49)", "body": "Watch Out for the Harvest Moon NASA Science News for September 11, 2000 The Harvest Moon, arguably the most famous Full Moon of the year, arrives on Wednesday, Sept. 13th. Check out this story to discover what makes the Harvest Moon special and to ponder the possibility of Harvest Moons on another planet. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast11sep_2.htm?list"}, {"response": 178, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Sep 12, 2000 (01:55)", "body": "Where did all the sunspots go? Space Weather News for Sept 12, 2000 http://www.spaceweather.com Telescopes monitoring the Sun recorded something extraordinary yesterday -- the solar disk was nearly devoid of spots. With solar maximum in full swing, the Boulder sunspot number dropped to its lowest value of the year. In spite of the \"blank Sun,\" our planet could be in for a bit of space weather on Tuesday if, as expected, a solar coronal mass ejection that left the Sun on Saturday strikes a glancing blow to Earth's magnetosphere. The impact could trigger modest geomagnetic activity. In other space weather news, astronomers have discovered a bright Near Earth Asteroid that will pass by our planet on Sept. 17. Amateur astronomers can monitor the fast-moving space rock in 8-inch or larger telescopes. For more information, please visit http://SpaceWeather.com"}, {"response": 179, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Sep 17, 2000 (14:06)", "body": "Three Coronal Mass Ejections and a Near-Earth Asteroid Space Weather News for Sept. 17, 2000 http://www.spaceweather.com No fewer than 3 coronal mass ejections appear to be heading toward Earth following solar eruptions on Friday and Saturday. The CMEs could trigger aurora at middle-latitudes when they arrive during the next few days. We invite aspiring aurora photographers to visit our online aurora gallery, which includes photo settings that worked well during the geomagnetic storm of August 12, 2000. Also, the bright Near-Earth asteroid 2000 RD53 will fly by our planet on September 17, barely 11 times farther away than the Moon. Amateur astronomers with 8 inch or larger telescopes can spot the space rock as it zooms by. (Note: There is no relationship between the asteroid and the CMEs.) For more information please visit http://www.spaceweather.com"}, {"response": 180, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Sep 22, 2000 (00:48)", "body": "A Good Month for Asteroids NASA Science News for September 20, 2000 September has been a good month for astronomers studying Near-Earth asteroids (NEAs). No fewer than five sizable minor planets have flown past our planet since the beginning of the month, affording astronomers a close-up look at these ever-scary space rocks. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast20sep_1.htm?list"}, {"response": 181, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Fri, Sep 22, 2000 (11:42)", "body": "from the cool astronomy picture of the day site, \\ src=\" http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0009/spirograph_heritage.jpg\" >"}, {"response": 182, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Fri, Sep 22, 2000 (11:44)", "body": "http://www.heavens-above.com/ GSOC satellite tracking pages, good stuff! Tells you when to spot the shuttle, Mir, and other satellites."}, {"response": 183, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Sep 22, 2000 (18:25)", "body": "Thanks for that...it is a great url to add to the bookmark list!!! I have used it to watch them go overhead. You can really see them just after it gets dark in the evening and same with the morning!"}, {"response": 184, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Sep 22, 2000 (21:17)", "body": "HAPPY AUTUMNAL EQUINOX Interplanetary Fall NASA Science News for September 22, 2000 Today Earth joins two other worlds in the solar system where it is northern autumn. Read this story to learn more about Earth's September equinox and to ponder the bizarre seasons of other planets. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast22sep_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 185, "author": "CherylB", "date": "Sat, Sep 23, 2000 (11:21)", "body": "I'm a day late, but I hope everyone (in the Northern Hemisphere) did have a Happy Autumnal Equinox. For those south of the Equator it was, of course, their Vernal Equinox."}, {"response": 186, "author": "Carys", "date": "Sat, Sep 23, 2000 (11:23)", "body": "What about the people that live on the Equator? I quess everyday is pretty much the Equinox for them."}, {"response": 187, "author": "CherylB", "date": "Sat, Sep 23, 2000 (11:28)", "body": "It might be. Maybe Marcia can clear up what it would be."}, {"response": 188, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Sep 24, 2000 (22:53)", "body": "Since it is \"an imaginary line\" encircling the globe - much like other latitude and logitude lines - it is likely and \"imaginary\" equinox! Can one stand on an imaginary line since it is just there - no width, no depth? Hmmm...Virtually, perhaps? I am devoid of incoming mail so I am back to using telnet to Hawaii on Line and Pine for email. The virtual stone age is back. They are going to get a call from me in the morning!"}, {"response": 189, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Sep 28, 2000 (21:58)", "body": "Mail returned to normal... Bright Planets and Random Meteors NASA Science News for September 28, 2000 This week's new Moon sets the stage for a \"sporadic\" meteor show featuring a cast of eye-catching stars and planets. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast28sep_1.htm?list"}, {"response": 190, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Oct  2, 2000 (19:24)", "body": "Peering into the Ozone Hole NASA Science News for October 02, 2000 Concentrations of ozone-destroying gases are down, but the Antarctic ozone hole is bigger than ever. It turns out there's more to ozone destruction than just CFCs. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast02oct_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 191, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Oct 10, 2000 (22:19)", "body": "The Moonlit Leonids 2000 NASA Science News for October 10, 2000 Our planet is heading for a minefield of cosmic dust streams laid down by periodic comet Tempel-Tuttle. The result could be a series of meteor outbursts on Nov. 17 and 18, 2000. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast10oct_1.htm?list ---"}, {"response": 192, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Oct 12, 2000 (19:59)", "body": "Sun Sample Return Mission Nears Launch NASA Science News for October 12, 2000 The science payload for NASA's Genesis spacecraft, which will collect samples of the solar wind and return them to Earth, is now complete. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast12oct_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 193, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Fri, Oct 13, 2000 (08:37)", "body": "Aren't they going to do some work on the space station, also?"}, {"response": 194, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Oct 13, 2000 (14:28)", "body": "I think that is also planned. Provinding they can move around in there once it is entirely stocked. Sounds claustrophobic... They will be in the direct path of solar wind and it behooves them to study it, certainly!"}, {"response": 195, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Mon, Oct 16, 2000 (06:10)", "body": "I guess the 100th Shuttle is up there now, right?"}, {"response": 196, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Oct 16, 2000 (15:27)", "body": "Shuttle finally got off the ground after the hurricane and mysterious pin kept it grounded. Check NASA tv to watch their goings-on http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/countdown/video/video45m.html Backyard Gamma-ray Bursts NASA Science News for October 16, 2000 With the successful launch of NASA's HETE-2 satellite, amateur astronomers will soon be able to spot the most powerful explosions in the Universe from the comfort of their own back yards. Professionals are also looking forward to the new data, which they hope will unravel the mysteries of gamma-ray bursts. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast16oct_1.htm?list"}, {"response": 197, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Tue, Oct 17, 2000 (08:14)", "body": "Number 100?"}, {"response": 198, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Oct 26, 2000 (22:15)", "body": "A Close Encounter with Asteroid Eros NASA Science News for October 26, 2000 5:00:00 PM NASA's NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft swooped 5 kilometers above the surface of 433 Eros on Oct 26th, marking its closest-ever approach to the tumbling space rock. Scientists hope the flyby will uncover clues about extra boulders and missing craters on the near-Earth asteroid. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast26oct_2.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 199, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Oct 26, 2000 (22:19)", "body": "Think so the 100th shuttle mission...and back down again."}, {"response": 200, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Oct 31, 2000 (17:44)", "body": "Trick or Treat: It's Toutatis! NASA Science News for October 31, 2000 NASA scientists are monitoring a large near-Earth asteroid that tumbled past our planet on the morning of Halloween 2000. Amateur astronomers can spot it for themselves in telescopes later this month and through binoculars when it passes even closer to Earth in Sept. 2004. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast31oct_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 201, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Nov  2, 2000 (22:58)", "body": "Water on the Space Station NASA Science News for November 2, 2000 Rationing and recycling will be an essential part of life on the newly-populated International Space Station. In this article, the first of a series about the challenges of living in orbit, Science@NASA explores where the crew will get their water and how they will (re)use it. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast02nov_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 202, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Fri, Nov  3, 2000 (08:01)", "body": "They picked the callsign \"alpha\" in a jublilant video conference to Mission HQ. It's the beginning of man in space for perhaps the rest of history, there may never be a time when man is not in space from now on."}, {"response": 203, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Nov  7, 2000 (16:27)", "body": "Much Ado about 2000 SG344 NASA Science News for November 7, 2000 Later this century a relic from NASA's earliest space exploration efforts might return to Earth, if current estimates are confirmed. The near-Earth object, which follows an orbit almost identical to our planet's, looks like an asteroid but may be an Apollo-era rocket booster. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast06nov_2.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 204, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Nov  9, 2000 (12:28)", "body": "Space Weather News for Nov. 9, 2000 http://www.spaceweather.com RADIATION STORM: High-energy particles are bombarding satellites this morning after a solar eruption unleashed a strong radiation storm. Radio blackouts and minor satellite glitches are possible while the storm persists. NEAR-EARTH ASTEROID 2000 UG11: A 250-meter asteroid zoomed past Earth on Tuesday just 6 times farther from our planet than the Moon. New video clips show the space rock racing through the sky on Nov. 1st - 7th. AURORA BOREALIS: Geomagnetic storms on November 3rd and 6th triggered widespread aurora. Pictures of the Northern Lights are now available on SpaceWeather.com. For more information and images please visit http://www.spaceweather.com"}, {"response": 205, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Nov 10, 2000 (12:00)", "body": "Aurora Alert Space Weather News for Nov. 9, 2000 http://www.spaceweather.com The Nov. 8th solar eruption that triggered an ongoing radiation storm around Earth also launched a coronal mass ejection (CME) that appears to be heading in the direction of our planet. The CME raced away from the Sun traveling faster than 2000 km/s and it could strike Earth's magnetosphere late Friday or Saturday. Forecasters estimate a 25% chance of severe geomagnetic storms at middle latitudes during the next 48 hours. Stay tuned to http://spaceweather.com for continuing coverage. Photographers who capture images of the aurora are invited to send them as email attachments to webmaster@spaceweather.com for display on SpaceWeather.com."}, {"response": 206, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Nov 13, 2000 (18:37)", "body": "Breathing Easy on the Space Station NASA Science News for November 13, 2000 Life support systems on the International Space Station provide oxygen, absorb carbon dioxide, and manage vaporous emissions from the astronauts themselves. It's all part of breathing easy in our new home in space. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast13nov_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 207, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Nov 15, 2000 (19:14)", "body": "Wanted: Leonid Meteor Spotters Space Weather News for Nov. 15, 2000 http://www.spaceweather.com The 2000 Leonid meteor shower is just around the corner. Forecasters expect at least two outbursts of shooting stars as Earth passes through debris from comet Tempel-Tuttle this Friday and Saturday. Spaceweather.com will post current meteor counts and reports from around the world beginning Thursday and continuing through the end of the shower. We invite all our readers to participate and report what they see. All you need are clear skies! Visit http://www.spaceweather.com for more information and observing tips. And don't forget NASA's live webcast of the Leonids from the stratosphere! Visit http://www.leonidslive.com for details."}, {"response": 208, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Nov 16, 2000 (19:22)", "body": "Lighting Up the Ecosphere NASA Science News for Nov. 15, 2000 Using satellite images of city lights at night, NASA scientists are mapping the spread of urban areas around the globe and monitoring their impact on our planet's ecosystem. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast15nov_1.htm"}, {"response": 209, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Nov 17, 2000 (19:19)", "body": "Flowing Sand in Space NASA Science News for Nov. 17, 2000 NASA scientists are sending sand into Earth orbit to learn more about how soil behaves during earthquakes. Their results will help engineers build safer structures on Earth and someday on other planets, too. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast17nov_1.htm"}, {"response": 210, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Nov 22, 2000 (20:09)", "body": "A Solar Flare Stuns Stardust NASA Science News for November 22, 2000 Earlier this month one of the most intense solar radiation storms in decades temporarily blinded NASA's Stardust spacecraft, which is heading for a rendezvous with comet Wild-2. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast22nov_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 211, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Nov 24, 2000 (16:02)", "body": "Weekend Aurora Warning; Asteroid Toutatis Brightens Space Weather News for Nov. 24, 2000 http://www.spaceweather.com SOLAR FLARES: This morning, two powerful solar flares triggered an ongoing radiation storm around Earth. The eruptions from a sunspot group near the center of the Sun's visible disk also launched two coronal mass ejections toward our planet. Sky watchers should be alert for aurora when the CMEs strike Earth's magnetosphere later this weekend. ASTEROIDS: Near-Earth asteroid Toutatis, which passed close to Earth on Halloween, is actually brightening as it moves away from our planet. Amateur astronomers can spot the space rock in 8- to 10-inch telescopes as it reaches peak brightness next week. For more information, visit http://www.SpaceWeather.com ."}, {"response": 212, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Nov 27, 2000 (12:37)", "body": "Microscopic Stowaways on the ISS NASA Science News for November 26, 2000 Wherever humans go microbes will surely follow, and the Space Station is no exception. In this article, NASA scientists discuss how astronauts on the ISS will keep potentially bothersome microorganisms under control. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast26nov_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 213, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Mon, Nov 27, 2000 (12:51)", "body": "That was pretty interesting. It shows that there is so much more think about than you first realise when going into space. I always thought it was a case of piling five guys into a rocket and shooting them up to an orbiting spacecan. I guess it's not that simple..."}, {"response": 214, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Nov 27, 2000 (14:51)", "body": "Nope, or we would have done it long ago... and a lot more guys would have died..."}, {"response": 215, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Nov 29, 2000 (17:35)", "body": "Sky show tonight: a close encounter between Venus and the Moon Space Weather News for Nov. 29, 2000 http://www.spaceweather.com The recent spate of geomagnetic disturbances produced auroras mainly at high latitudes. Middle- and low-latitude observers didn't see much in the way of Northern Lights. But tonight there's a sky show that anyone can enjoy: a dazzling close encounter between Venus and the crescent Moon. Visit http://www.spaceweather.com for details about that and to view a gallery of pictures captured during this week's geomagnetic storms."}, {"response": 216, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec  1, 2000 (02:18)", "body": "Far-out Housekeeping on the ISS NASA Science News for November 29, 2000 Life in space is a daring adventure, but somebody still has to cook dinner and take out the trash. Science@NASA interviews two astronauts about the thrill and routine of daily life in orbit. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast29nov_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 217, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Fri, Dec  1, 2000 (08:03)", "body": "The ham satellite (the big one the hams have been waiting for) is succesfully up! Any news on this Marci?"}, {"response": 218, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Sat, Dec  2, 2000 (10:35)", "body": "Oh, I forgot to mention, someone pointed out Jupiter to me when I was in Japan. Is it possible to see Jupiter with the naked eye??? I was unconvinced but secretly impressed :-)"}, {"response": 219, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Sat, Dec  2, 2000 (13:43)", "body": "Of course it is, Jupiter can be very visible."}, {"response": 220, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Sat, Dec  2, 2000 (16:49)", "body": "Well I wasn't sure :-) Cool, I've seen Jupiter :-)"}, {"response": 221, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Dec  4, 2000 (20:45)", "body": ""}, {"response": 222, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Dec  4, 2000 (20:52)", "body": "Get a cheap pair of binoculars, Mike - you can see the four Galillean moons easily. And, they change from night to night as you watch them orbit!!!"}, {"response": 223, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Dec  4, 2000 (20:54)", "body": "EO-1: It's not just a good idea, it's the law! NASA Science News for December 4, 2000 NASA's Earth Observing-1 satellite blasted off last week with a payload of new instruments that could revolutionize remote sensing. The work of the new satellite is regarded as so important it's actually required by law. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast04dec_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 224, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Dec  4, 2000 (20:56)", "body": "Sedimentary Mars NASA Science News for December 4, 2000 4:00:00 PM New Mars Global Surveyor images reveal sedimentary rock layers on the Red Planet that may have formed underwater in the distant martian past. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast04dec_2.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 225, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Tue, Dec  5, 2000 (08:42)", "body": "So, they're debating how much water may have been on Mars, and whether the liquid was water (probably), these sedimentary layers were found on the giant canyon that would stretch from NY to California. They should drop the next lander in this sediment!"}, {"response": 226, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Dec  5, 2000 (16:01)", "body": "..but only if they are sure it would be able to hear their commands. We lost the last one that way... I'd like a specimen for my collection, thank you!!! Santa,I have been naughty but soooo nice this year..."}, {"response": 227, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Wed, Dec  6, 2000 (09:37)", "body": "The best of both worlds, right? Which is more important, this sedimentary area or the ice cap areas where there may be water for a landing? And when is the next Mars launch?"}, {"response": 228, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Dec  6, 2000 (15:55)", "body": "I'll let you know when I know - stay tuned... A Disintegrating Glacier NASA Science News for December 6, 2000 Recent satellite images reveal two new icebergs floating off the Antarctic coast. The icy behemoths are fragments of the Ninnis Glacier. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast05dec_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 229, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Dec  6, 2000 (16:05)", "body": "Latest Mars updates are available at http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/"}, {"response": 230, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Wed, Dec  6, 2000 (18:27)", "body": "Get a cheap pair of binoculars, Mike - you can see the four Galillean moons easily. And, they change from night to night as you watch them orbit!!! That is cool, Marcia!! When I was in school I dropped Astro so that I could concentrate on other stuff (like smashing rocks to pieces with hammers and blowing up alternate universes with Quantum singularities... :-) I should definitely start checking out the sky a bit more. Trouble is it means going outside at night when it's all cold. Still, I guess in the summer it could be a joint trip with one of my lady friends.... :-)"}, {"response": 231, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Wed, Dec  6, 2000 (20:57)", "body": "One of the brightest objects in the sky will be the space station with the solar panels unfurled. Has anyone seen this yet or does anyone know a website for times, dates to view it?"}, {"response": 232, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Dec  7, 2000 (01:31)", "body": "Terry, I posted the satellite tracking and spotting of ISS back a few... for all satellites: http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/RealTime/JTrack/ For ISS and such: http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/RealTime/JTrack/Spacecraft.html"}, {"response": 233, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Thu, Dec  7, 2000 (08:38)", "body": "Cool, I'll check it out, have you seen it yet?"}, {"response": 234, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec  8, 2000 (16:57)", "body": "ISS updates http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ops/stage4a/status.html This is Shuttle mission 97"}, {"response": 235, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec  8, 2000 (16:58)", "body": ""}, {"response": 236, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec  8, 2000 (17:01)", "body": "Have not yet seeen it. The last time I looked I saw the space junk re-entry. That was REALLY neat!!! ISS seems to orbit so they are over Hawaii quite frequently, so I'll hunt again. Did see the Shuttle and MIR linked up - brilliant like Venus!!!"}, {"response": 237, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec  8, 2000 (17:26)", "body": "Pass the Can Opener, Please In early December engineers in Waco, Texas, will cut a hole big enough to drive a truck through in the aft fuselage of a 747SP jumbo jet. It's a key step in converting the airliner into the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), whose 2.5-meter (98-inch) telescope will peer at the heavens from an altitude of 41,000 feet beginning in 2003. A Yuletide Partial Solar Eclipse During the partial eclipse of the Sun on December 25, 2000, the Moon passes slightly north of the Sun's center as seen from nearly all parts of North America south of the Arctic Circle. A Passing Affair Cassini will pass 9.8 million km from Jupiter, en route to Saturn, on December 30th."}, {"response": 238, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec  8, 2000 (17:33)", "body": "The Baffling Geminid Meteor Shower NASA Science News for December 8, 2000 Most meteor showers are caused by comets, but the Geminid meteor shower, which peaks next Wednesday morning, seems to come from a curious near-Earth asteroid. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast08dec_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 239, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Sat, Dec  9, 2000 (11:06)", "body": "Curious indeed!"}, {"response": 240, "author": "CherylB", "date": "Sat, Dec  9, 2000 (11:23)", "body": "Marcia, maybe Santa Claus will bring you that Martian rock for Christmas this year. Do you have a Lunar rock to go with it? Just kidding. On the disintergrating glazier, a few years ago an iceberg broke off the Anarctic Ice Shelf that was slightly smaller than the state of Rhode Island. Suffice to say, it was easily visible from space."}, {"response": 241, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Sat, Dec  9, 2000 (13:18)", "body": "It's probably still afloat?"}, {"response": 242, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Dec 10, 2000 (00:23)", "body": "That, or fused into the polar ice sheet next winter...."}, {"response": 243, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Dec 10, 2000 (18:08)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Sunday, December 10, 2000 @ 0557 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now MISSION ACCOMPLISHED, SHUTTLE DEPARTS STATION --------------------------------------------- With hugs and handshakes, the Endeavour astronauts bid farewell to the crew of space station Alpha Saturday, closed hatches between the two spacecraft and undocked to wind up an edge-of-the-seat mission to install a huge set of solar arrays. http://spaceflightnow.com/ops/stage4a/001209fd10/ Follow the mission's progress in our status center: http://spaceflightnow.com/ops/stage4a/status.html Watch video clip of shuttle crew departing station: http://spaceflightnow.com/ops/stage4a/video/001209farewell_qt.html FOUR ADDITIONAL MOONS DISCOVERED ORBITING SATURN ------------------------------------------------ An unprecedented surge in planetary moon discoveries continued this week as astronomers reported the discovery of four more moons orbiting Saturn, bringing the total number of moons found around the planet since October to ten. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0012/10saturnmoons/ DELAYED ARIANE 4 ROCKET LAUNCH RESET FOR MONDAY ----------------------------------------------- After a postponement to double-check the rocket's nose cone, Arianespace has rescheduled the flight of Ariane 4 launcher carrying the Eurasiasat 1 communications satellite for Monday evening from South America. http://spaceflightnow.com/ariane/v137/status.html"}, {"response": 244, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Dec 12, 2000 (17:58)", "body": "The Incredible Shrinking Ozone Hole NASA Science News for December 12, 2000 After reaching record-breaking proportions earlier this year the ozone hole over Antarctica has made a surprisingly hasty retreat. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast12dec_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 245, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Dec 14, 2000 (20:35)", "body": "Christmas Eclipse NASA Science News for December 14, 2000 A solar eclipse is coming on Christmas Day, 2000. The winter landscape across parts of North America will assume an eerie cast, and cooler-than-usual winds might swirl, as the New Moon glides across the face of the Yuletide Sun. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast15dec_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 246, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Fri, Dec 15, 2000 (08:59)", "body": "src=\"http://a799.ms.akamai.net/7/799/388/a22603ce3aeabf/www.msnbc.com/news/719513.jpg\" align=\"left\"> This Mars life story is *new*, as reported by MSNBC today. \"Dec. 13 \ufffd A new scientific report offers compelling evidence that primitive life existed on Mars, NASA says. Researchers report that tiny magnetite crystals, identical to those used by aqueous bacteria on Earth as compasses to find food and energy, have been found in the Martian meteorite ALH84001.\""}, {"response": 247, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec 15, 2000 (13:55)", "body": "Really nice!!!! Thank you Big Time for posting that image!"}, {"response": 248, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec 15, 2000 (13:56)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Friday, December 15, 2000 @ 1612 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now HUBBLE SEES SATELLITE FOOTPRINTS IN JUPITER AURORA -------------------------------------------------- Check out a spectacular Hubble Space Telescope close-up view of an electric-blue aurora that is eerily glowing one half billion miles away on the giant planet Jupiter. Auroras are curtains of light resulting from high-energy electrons racing along the planet's magnetic field into the upper atmosphere. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0012/15hubble/ UNIVERSE'S MOST MASSIVE SPIRAL GALAXY REVEALED ---------------------------------------------- The most massive spiral galaxy known so far in the Universe has been discovered by a team of astronomers. This galaxy is located at a distance of approximately 6 billion light-years and its measured mass is more than 1,000 billion times that of the Sun. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0012/15spiral/ TWIN TELESCOPES POISED TO EXPLORE STRUCTURE OF UNIVERSE ------------------------------------------------------- More than 300 people traveled thousands of miles to a remote mountaintop in Chile for the dedication of two of the most powerful survey instruments ever built: the Baade and the Clay 6.5-meter reflecting telescopes. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0012/15carnegie/"}, {"response": 249, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec 15, 2000 (19:49)", "body": "Weekend Aurora Watch Space Weather News for Dec. 14, 2000 http://www.spaceweather.com A coronal mass ejection that left the Sun on Thursday appears to be heading for Earth. The disturbance could trigger aurora late Saturday or (more likely) Sunday when it strikes our planet's magnetosphere. For details and animations please visit http://www.spaceweather.com ."}, {"response": 250, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Dec 16, 2000 (13:17)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Saturday, December 16, 2000 @ 0520 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now CHINA PLEDGES DEVELOPMENT OF MANNED SPACE PROGRAM ------------------------------------------------- China is poised to launch the second test flight of its Shenzhou spacecraft -- an orbiter capable of carrying an astronaut into space -- a Chinese official said this week in his year-end press briefing in Washington. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0012/15china/ STATION CREW AWAITS SPARE PARTS FOR AIR SCRUBBER ------------------------------------------------ The international space station's air purification system is working smoothly, NASA's lead flight director said Friday. But unexpected equipment failures during the crew's first six weeks in space have left the astronauts just one failure away from a possible forced evacuation. http://spaceflightnow.com/ops/stage4a/001216scrubber/ KENNEDY SPACE CENTER CELEBRATES ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF 2000 ------------------------------------------------------- During the past year, NASA's Kennedy Space Center began an ambitious schedule of Space Shuttle launches as construction of the International Space Station shifted into high gear, plus managed six rocket launches and formed partnerships across the board. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0012/16ksc2000/"}, {"response": 251, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Dec 16, 2000 (20:20)", "body": "CHRISTMAS SOLAR ECLIPSE http://www.skypub.com/sights/eclipses/solar/001225partial.html"}, {"response": 252, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Dec 18, 2000 (01:02)", "body": "Learning from Lightning NASA Science News for December 17, 2000 Little by little, lightning sensors in space are revealing the inner workings of severe storms. Scientists hope to use the technique to improve forecasts of deadly weather. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast17dec_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 253, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Dec 19, 2000 (23:15)", "body": "Geomagnetic activity alert + near-Earth asteroid news Space Weather News for Dec. 19, 2000 http://www.spaceweather.com METEORS & AURORA: Sky watchers who venture outside to view the Ursid meteor shower Thursday night or Friday morning might also spot aurora borealis. A coronal mass ejection that left the Sun on Monday is likely to buffet Earth's magnetosphere later this week. Forecasters estimate a 20% chance of severe geomagnetic activity when the CME arrives. NEAR-EARTH ASTEROIDS: A newly-discovered near-Earth asteroid, 2000 YA, will pass just two lunar distances from Earth on Dec. 22nd. There's no danger of a collision, say scientists, but the small space rock will be near enough to see through large amateur telescopes or through small telescopes equipped with CCD cameras. For more information, images and animations, please visit http://www.spaceweather.com"}, {"response": 254, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Wed, Dec 20, 2000 (10:00)", "body": "There was a very interesting piece this morning on NPR on the Saturn moon, Euuropa. It seems there may be water beneath the ice that may support life. Even though the sun's energy is very distant, there is some kind of gravitational tide effect from Saturn and other moons that may be enough to generate higher temperatures and enable liquids under the icy surface. There is some kind of underwater sub expedition planned by NASA in the next 10 years. This could be an exciting development, I haven't searched o the net yet, but I'm sure there's more out there on this, on NPR.org's site for sure."}, {"response": 255, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Wed, Dec 20, 2000 (10:06)", "body": "Correction, substitute Jupiter for Saturn. Big detail. EUROPA & HOW LIFE BEGINS $ NPR's Richard Harris explores what it would take for life to begin elsewhere in the solar system. Pictures released yesterday of Jupiter's moon Europa suggest that the chemicals necessary for life may exist in large frozen oceans there -- just waiting for the right conditions to sprout life. On Earth, oceanographers think that life may have begun in a similar primordial soup at the bottom of the ocean. They're looking at unique heat-resistant organisms that live next to hot-gas vents on the ocean floor."}, {"response": 256, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Dec 20, 2000 (14:20)", "body": "I posted that bit of info in Geo 24 - the astronomy topic update. Fascinating stuff! (...and we knew which planet you meant *hugs*)"}, {"response": 257, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Dec 20, 2000 (18:02)", "body": "Martian Micro-Magnets NASA Science News for December 20, 2000 Certain types of bacteria on Earth are atomic engineers -- atom by atom they build tiny magnetic crystals to help themselves follow our planet's magnetic field. Now scientists have found such crystals in an unlikely place: a martian meteorite! FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast20dec_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 258, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec 22, 2000 (20:57)", "body": "Watching the Angry Sun NASA Science News for December 22, 2000 As the Sun's stormy season approaches its zenith, solar scientists have the best seat in the house, using the largest coordinated fleet of spacecraft and ground observatories ever assembled to observe angry outbursts of solar radiation. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast22dec_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 259, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec 22, 2000 (21:47)", "body": "A meteor outburst, after all.... Space Weather News for Dec. 22, 2000 http://www.spaceweather.com METEORS: Sky watchers in Europe and on the US west coast spotted a modest outburst of Ursid meteors Thursday night. Astronomers had hoped for a more impressive display, but the flurry of faint shooting stars was nevertheless welcomed because it confirmed a new model of cometary debris streams. AURORA WATCH: Conditions may be favorable for high-latitude auroras tonight. The interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) near Earth turned sharply southward after a solar wind disturbance arrived in the neighborhood of our planet. South-pointing IMFs make our magnetosphere more vulnerable than usual to solar wind gusts -- additional gusts could trigger Northern Lights. For more information visit http://www.spaceweather.com"}, {"response": 260, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Dec 24, 2000 (21:35)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Monday, December 25, 2000 @ 0050 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now AN OUT-OF-THIS-WORLD HOLIDAY GREETING ------------------------------------- The international space station crew offer the people of planet Earth greetings for the holiday season in a message from their orbiting home 235 miles up. The three men are the first residents of the new station, beginning what is planned to be a continuous human presence in space for the 21st century. Watch video message: http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a/video/001224greetings_qt.html Astronauts report first Santa sighting: http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a/video/001224santa_qt.html CARGO SHIP SET FOR REDOCKING TO SPACE STATION --------------------------------------------- Spaceflight Now will have complete live coverage of Tuesday's redocking of the Progress M1-4 cargo freighter to the international space station. Cosmonaut Yuri Gidzenko will manually guide the craft to the orbital linkup using two joysticks and a television picture. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/status.html See our timeline of the redocking sequence: http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a/fdf/redocking.html RARE CHRISTMAS ECLIPSE VIEWABLE IN NORTH AMERICA ------------------------------------------------ On Christmas Day, step outside and get a rare Christmas present-a partial solar eclipse! Sky watchers living in the continental United States, Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean will have a perfect view of the partially eclipsed Sun. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0012/24eclipse/ SANTA BECOMES TEST PILOT AT FLORIDA'S SHUTTLE LANDING SITE ---------------------------------------------------------- Not only does Santa Claus know when you are sleeping or awake -- bad or good, he also knows with pinpoint accuracy the exact location of each planned delivery stop. With newly-installed GPS on his sleigh, Santa plans to fly by the Kennedy Space Center to test his space-age equipment. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0012/24santaslf/ OBSERVATIONS CONFIRM THE UNIVERSE WAS HOTTER IN PAST ---------------------------------------------------- A fundamental prediction of the Big Bang theory has finally been verified. For the first time, an actual measurement has been made of the temperature of the cosmic microwave background radiation, at a time when the Universe was only about 2.5 billion years old. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0012/24vlthot/ SCIENTISTS DELIGHTED BY FIRST IMAGES FROM EO-1 SATELLITE -------------------------------------------------------- Scientists have seen the first images from NASA's Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) spacecraft launched last month and now flying in formation with the Landsat 7 satellite. Researchers say they are excited with the performance of the instruments on the EO-1 technology demonstrator. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0012/23eo1first/ SPACEHAB RESEARCH MODULE TO FLY ON '02 SHUTTLE MISSION ------------------------------------------------------ A commercial Spacehab Research Double Module will be flown aboard a space shuttle in 2002 for a NASA science flight. Spacehab is marketing a portion of space in the module to commercial users, including other national space agencies. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0012/23sts112/"}, {"response": 261, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Dec 25, 2000 (16:29)", "body": "too bad it's rainy here, we won't be able to witness the christmas eclipse *frown*"}, {"response": 262, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Dec 25, 2000 (16:53)", "body": "check in Geo 24 for my ex's Pennsylvania shots."}, {"response": 263, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Dec 25, 2000 (17:23)", "body": "did, thanks sweetie! *HUGS*"}, {"response": 264, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Dec 25, 2000 (18:35)", "body": "Merry Christmas Dear - and *Happy Hugs* to go with it. What was your surprise??? (We need to talk, I think)"}, {"response": 265, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Dec 25, 2000 (19:18)", "body": "yes--did you get my msn invite? (for IM?)"}, {"response": 266, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Dec 25, 2000 (19:29)", "body": "nope!!! I'll send you one!!! I had this problem with B earlier."}, {"response": 267, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Tue, Dec 26, 2000 (06:35)", "body": "Wolfie, I was in up in your 'hood yesterday, Shey and I went to Tyler to see mjy dad, but we had a short visit as we were trying to get home before any of the heavy weather predicted for today."}, {"response": 268, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Dec 26, 2000 (14:45)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Tuesday, December 26, 2000 @ 1510 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now BRIEF LOSS OF CONTACT RAISES FEARS ABOUT MIR STATION ----------------------------------------------------- Contact with the unmanned Russian Mir space station was briefly lost today. While normal communications later were restored, the incident heightened concern about the Russians' ability to precisely control the abandoned station's upcoming re-entry and breakup. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0012/26mir/ CARGO SHIP REDOCKS TO INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION ------------------------------------------------- Cosmonaut Yuri Gidzenko remotely piloted an unmanned Progress supply ship to a trouble-free manual redocking with the international space station today as the two spacecraft sailed 230 miles above Mongolia. Includes video clips. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a/001226redock/ OCEAN-HARBORING MOON GANYMEDE SEEN BY CASSINI --------------------------------------------- The solar system's largest moon, Ganymede, is captured here alongside the planet Jupiter in a color picture taken by NASA's Cassini spacecraft earlier this month at a distance of 16.5 million miles. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0012/26cassgany/ LAUNCH SCHEDULE --------------- See our Tracking Station for a the latest listing of upcoming space launches for the New Year. http://spaceflightnow.com/tracking/"}, {"response": 269, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Dec 26, 2000 (17:05)", "body": "Solar Eclipse Pictures Space Weather News for Dec. 26, 2000 http://www.spaceweather.com If bad weather, over-sleeping, or simply not living in North America prevented you from seeing the Christmas 2000 solar eclipse, now you have a second chance. The SpaceWeather.com eclipse gallery features dozens of images captured by sky watchers using everything from professional hydrogen-alpha telescopes (that show sunspots and solar filaments) to makeshift solar filters assembled from computer CDs. Visit http://spaceweather.com for more..."}, {"response": 270, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Dec 30, 2000 (01:08)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Saturday, December 30, 2000 @ 0505 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now CASSINI HAS CLOSE ENCOUNTER OF THE JOVIAN KIND TODAY ---------------------------------------------------- NASA's Cassini space probe makes its 6-million mile flyby of Jupiter today at 1012 GMT (5:12 a.m. EST). The encounter acts as a gravity-assisted sling-shot, boosting the craft's speed by 2,500 mph to over 30,000 mph for its continued trek to Saturn. We'll have a wrap up story following a news conference later today. http://spaceflightnow.com/cassini/ CASSINI EYES JUPITER'S CLOUDS IN GREAT DETAIL --------------------------------------------- Images taken by NASA's Cassini spacecraft using three different filters reveal cloud structures and movements at different depths in the atmosphere around Jupiter's south pole. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0012/30cassclouds/ HEAVY DOSE OF RADIATION CAUSES GALILEO GLITCHES ----------------------------------------------- NASA's Galileo spacecraft passed through the highest radiation environment it will experience in its current orbit of Jupiter late Thursday. The exposure caused an alarm from the probe's camera system and a computer reset in another portion of the spacecraft. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0012/30galileorad/ SPACE STATION RESIDENTS GIVE NEW YEAR'S MESSAGE ----------------------------------------------- The Alpha astronauts beamed down New Year's greetings Friday, saying \"let the real space odyssey 2001 proceed.\" Commander William Shepherd, flight engineer Sergei Krikalev and Soyuz pilot Yuri Gidzenko fielded questions from reporters in an early morning communications session, saying they plan to mark the arrival of the new year with at least one - and probably two - special meals. (Includes video clip!) http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a/001229greet01/"}, {"response": 271, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Dec 30, 2000 (14:34)", "body": "Galileo Looks for Auroras on Ganymede NASA Science News for December 28, 2000 NASA's durable Galileo spacecraft flew above the solar system's largest moon this morning in search of extraterrestrial Northern Lights -- a telltale sign of Ganymede's unique magnetic field. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast28dec_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 272, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Dec 30, 2000 (19:12)", "body": "New color movie stars Jupiter's clouds / Galileo's dark encount NEWSALERT: Thursday, December 28, 2000 @ 0525 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now CASSINI MAKES FIRST COLOR MOVIE OF JUPITER'S CLOUDS --------------------------------------------------- Imagery from NASA's Cassini spacecraft has been used to generate this first color movie of Jupiter's horizontal bands of clouds from the Saturn-bound probe. The orange and white bands slide in opposite directions from each other and a swirl of winds gyrate around Jupiter's Great Red Spot. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0012/28jupmovie/ GALILEO HAS DARK ENCOUNTER WITH JOVIAN MOON GANYMEDE ---------------------------------------------------- NASA's intrepid Galileo spacecraft zips past Ganymede on Thursday for a unique close encounter that provides a chance to study the faint auroral glows on the solar system's largest moon. (Includes video clips!) http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0012/28ganyflyby/ MARTIAN WATER MAY BE ICE IN PLANET'S INTERIOR --------------------------------------------- Liquid water that once flowed on the surface of Mars could now be locked up deep in the planet's interior as an unusual form of ice, scientists reported earlier this month. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0012/28marsice/ SURPRISE SWITCH FOR MIR EMERGENCY CREW -------------------------------------- Russian space managers have changed the makeup of a two-man cosmonaut crew on standby for a flight to the abandoned Mir space station in the event of any future emergency that might cause an uncontrolled re-entry. http://spaceflightnow.com/mir/001227mircrew/ RESEARCHER PROPOSES DARING ASTEROID SAMPLE RETURN ------------------------------------------------- In the wake of NASA's successful Near-Earth Asteroid Rendezvous space mission, a University of Arkansas researcher is putting together a team of scientists to take asteroid research to the next level -- bringing asteroid samples back to Earth. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0012/27asteroid/ CONTACT RESTORED WITH NEW AMATEUR RADIO SATELLITE ------------------------------------------------- The amateur radio community received a welcome Christmas present Monday when workers were able to restore contact with the AMSAT-OSCAR 40 satellite that had been silent for nearly two weeks. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0012/27ao40/ IRIDIUM SATELLITES USED TO MAP GLOBAL SPACE WEATHER --------------------------------------------------- Scientists are now able to simultaneously measure the magnetic and electrical fields over large areas of the ionosphere above the Earth's polar regions, allowing great improvement in the understanding and forecasting of global space weather and helping prevent disruption of communication and power systems. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0012/27iridiumsci/ RUSSIANS LAUNCH SIX COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITES --------------------------------------------- A Ukrainian-made Tsyklon 3 rocket loaded with six Russian communications satellites blasted off Wednesday. The launch occurred at approximately 1900 GMT (2 p.m. EST) from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Northern Russia. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0012/27tsyklon/"}, {"response": 273, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Dec 30, 2000 (20:19)", "body": "More Cassini URLs NASA Jupiter Millennium Flyby: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/jupiterflyby/ Cassini mission site: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/cassini Cassini imaging science team: http://ciclops.lpl.arizona.edu/"}, {"response": 274, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Dec 30, 2000 (20:35)", "body": "Retreat of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet NASA Science News for December 27, 2000 Scientists say that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is retreating more slowly than they thought. In fact, it may have been growing just 8,000 years ago -- long after the end of the most recent Ice Age. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast27dec_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 275, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Tue, Jan  2, 2001 (10:40)", "body": "Wow, what a plethora of space news today. Great work, gleaning all this Marci!"}, {"response": 276, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jan  2, 2001 (15:07)", "body": "Get our your receivers tonight - over 100/hour expected!! I am delighted you find it interesting - lots of goodies in there! Listen to the Quadrantids tonight Space Weather News for January 2, 2001 http://www.spaceweather.com The Quadrantid meteor shower will peak over North America before dawn on Wednesday morning, January 3rd. No matter where you live you can listen to the shower by tuning in to a radio meteor listening station at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. The installation, located in Huntsville, AL, is perfectly situated to detect a Quadrantid outburst. For more information and realtime audio please visit http://www.spaceweather.com"}, {"response": 277, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jan  2, 2001 (15:12)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Tuesday, January 2, 2000 @ 0541 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now STATION SKIPPER WRITES POEM TO USHER IN THE NEW YEAR ---------------------------------------------------- The international space station's Exedition One commander, Bill Shepherd, has written a poem capturing his thoughts and reflections, as he and Russian shipmates, Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev, usher in 2001. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a/001231poem/ SHUTTLE ATLANTIS GOES FOR SIX HOUR RIDE TO PAD TODAY ---------------------------------------------------- Rolling along at speeds reaching one-mile per hour, space shuttle Atlantis will be transported from Kennedy Space Center's Vehicle Assembly Building to the seaside launch pad 39A after sunrise today. Atlantis is due for blastoff later this month on a space station assembly mission. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/status.html DESPITE PUMMELING, EARLY EARTH CONDITIONS RIPE FOR LIFE ------------------------------------------------------- Even during an extraordinarily violent era in Earth's early history, when our young planet was being whacked by asteroids and comets so frequently that scientists refer to it as \"Late Heavy Bombardment,\" conditions most of the time at the Earth's surface were quite hospitable for the microbes that lived here, according to new research. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/01earlyearth/ SEA LAUNCH TO LOFT RADIO BROADCASTING SATELLITE ----------------------------------------------- The Sea Launch command ship and Odyssey platform are sailing to the equatorial waters of the Pacific Ocean for next week's flight of a Zenit 3SL rocket with the first of two broadcasting spacecraft for XM Satellite Radio. http://spaceflightnow.com/sealaunch/xm1/status.html THERE WERE A LOT SPACE HEADLINES OVER THE HOLIDAYS! --------------------------------------------------- Do you need to catch up on the news that occurred over the holidays? Check out our weekly archived reports for all the space headlines, including Cassini's beautiful pictures and movies of Jupiter from its recent flyby, the new fears about Mir, NASA's revived mission to Pluto and the latest with the international space station. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/breaking_archive.html LAUNCH SCHEDULE --------------- See our Tracking Station for a the latest listing of upcoming space launches for the New Year. http://spaceflightnow.com/tracking/"}, {"response": 278, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jan  3, 2001 (18:11)", "body": "A New Look for the New Year NASA Science News for January 3, 2001 The Science@NASA home page has a new look and we're pleased to offer a host of new services as well, including Spanish-language science stories ... and more! FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast03jan_1.htm?list89800 ---"}, {"response": 279, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jan  3, 2001 (18:14)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Wednesday, January 3, 2001 @ 0601 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLES IN DISTANT GALAXIES MEASURED ----------------------------------------------------- Two astronomers at The University of Texas at Austin, working with an international team of collaborators, have shown that they can provide reliable measurements of black hole masses for active galactic nuclei such as quasars even at great distances. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/03holemeasure/ NEXT TEST FLIGHT OF CHINESE CAPSULE EXPECTED SOON ------------------------------------------------- Amid much speculation regarding a possible launch date for China's second prototype manned spacecraft, called Shenzhou, the Hong Kong-based Wen Wei Po newspaper is reporting that workers are readying the spacecraft for a launch some time in early January, possibly this week. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/03china/ COMPUTER TROUBLE FORCES HALT TO ATLANTIS ROLLOUT ------------------------------------------------ A problem with the main computer inside the crawler-transporter Tuesday forced NASA to stop the rollout of space shuttle Atlantis from Kennedy Space Center's Vehicle Assembly Building to the seaside launch pad 39A. Atlantis was returned to the VAB for swap-out of the crawler. Rollout is now set for Wednesday. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a/010102rollout/ THERE WERE A LOT SPACE HEADLINES OVER THE HOLIDAYS! --------------------------------------------------- Do you need to catch up on the news that occurred over the holidays? Check out our weekly archived reports for all the space headlines, including Cassini's beautiful pictures and movies of Jupiter from its recent flyby, the new fears about Mir, NASA's revived mission to Pluto and the latest with the international space station. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/breaking_archive.html LAUNCH SCHEDULE --------------- See our Tracking Station for a the latest listing of upcoming space launches for the New Year. http://spaceflightnow.com/tracking/"}, {"response": 280, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jan  4, 2001 (15:58)", "body": "Earth at Perihelion NASA Science News for January 4, 2001 This morning at 5 o'clock Eastern Standard time Earth made its annual closest approach to the Sun. Although sunlight falling on our planet is 7% more intense today than it is in July, northerners shouldn't expect any relief from winter. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast04jan_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 281, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jan  5, 2001 (18:43)", "body": "The Case of the Missing Mars Water NASA Science News for January 5, 2001 Plenty of clues suggest that liquid water once flowed on Mars --raising hopes that life could have arisen there-- but the evidence remains inconclusive and sometimes contradictory. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast05jan_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 282, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jan  6, 2001 (19:23)", "body": "Russian PM Orders Demise of Aged Mir Space Station - Jan 5 2001 7:01AM MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov has signed a resolution ordering that the aged Mir space station be taken out of orbit and sunk into the ocean early this year, the Russian space agency said Friday. A spokesman for space agency Rosaviakosmos said that Kasyanov had signed the document on Dec. 30, formalizing a government decision from November to take the nearly 15-year-old Mir, originally intended to orbit Earth for just five years, out of service due to a lack of funding. The order calls for establishing a commission to determine how Mir will be brought down, and also says that resources that had been dedicated to the orbiter were to be focused on the $60 billion International Space Station (ISS). The ISS, a 16-nation venture, uses technology developed for Mir, which for years was the world's only manned space station. During its lifetime Mir helped Soviet and Russian cosmonauts set a string of space endurance records that have been the nation's pride -- and the envy of the envy of the better-funded United States. But in recent years a spate of mishaps dulled the revolutionary space station's image, including a near-catastrophic collision with a cargo craft and a communications failure on Christmas day last month that sparked fears that Mir was spinning out of control. U.S. space officials have pushed Russia to dump Mir, saying it drained sparse resources that would be better spent on Russia's role in the International Space Station."}, {"response": 283, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jan 11, 2001 (15:14)", "body": "Aurora Watch and Lunar Eclipse Photos Space Weather News for January 11, 2001 http://www.spaceweather.com AURORA WATCH: SOHO coronagraphs recorded a full-halo solar coronal mass ejection (CME) on Wednesday that could hit Earth's magnetosphere by week's end. Our planet is already inside a faster-than-usual solar wind stream that could set the stage for auroras when the CME arrives. Visit SpaceWeather.com for details and animations of the CME. LUNAR ECLIPSE: While you're at spaceweather.com, check out our growing gallery of images from Tuesday's total lunar eclipse. Pictures include shots of the copper-colored Moon seen over Europe, Asia and the Middle East as well as striking views of a partially-eclipsed Moon rising over the eastern parts of the USA. Visit http://www.spaceweather.com"}, {"response": 284, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jan 11, 2001 (23:32)", "body": "Chandra Links Pulsar to Historic Supernova NASA Science News for January 11, 2001 New evidence from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory suggests that a known pulsar is the present-day leftover from a stellar explosion witnessed by Chinese astronomers in 386 AD. The discovery could force astronomers to rethink what they know about the ages of neutron stars. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast11jan_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 285, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jan 12, 2001 (23:33)", "body": "Ballooning for Cosmic Rays NASA Science News for January 12, 2001 12:00:00 PM Astronomers have long thought that supernovas are the source of Galactic cosmic rays, but there's a troubling discrepancy between theory and measurements. An ongoing balloon flight over Antarctica could shed new light on the mystery. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast15jan_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 286, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Jan 14, 2001 (17:33)", "body": "CME buffets Earth; Stardust flyby Monday morning Space Weather News for January 13, 2001 http://www.spaceweather.com AURORA WATCH: As expected, the leading edge of a coronal mass ejection that billowed away from the Sun on January 10th reached our planet today. Although conditions seemed favorable for auroras, the passing shock wave did not trigger substantial geomagnetic activity. STARDUST: On Monday morning, NASA's Stardust spacecraft will fly by Earth for an orbit-altering gravity assist maneuver designed to send Stardust on its way to comet Wild 2. Amateur astronomers with mid-sized or large telescopes might be able to spot the spacecraft as it races by and brightens, perhaps, to 10th or 12th magnitude. Visit http://www.spaceweather.com for details."}, {"response": 287, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Jan 14, 2001 (17:37)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Saturday, January 13, 2001 @ 0558 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now CHANDRA FINDS EVIDENCE OF BLACK HOLE 'EVENT HORIZONS' ----------------------------------------------------- Astronomers have used NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory to study some of the darkest black holes yet observed. Their work strongly confirms the reality of the \"event horizon,\" the one-way membrane around black holes predicted by Einstein's theory of relativity. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/13chandrahole/ REMAINS OF OUR GALAXY'S 'LAST MEAL' DISCOVERED ---------------------------------------------- A telltale bulge in the disk of the Milky Way galaxy may be the remnants of a smaller galaxy consumed billions of years ago as our galaxy formed, astronomers announced this week. The discovery may provide scientists with new data to support -- or challenge -- existing models of how galaxies are created. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/13galremains/ STARDUST'S BLURRY VISION FIXED AS CRAFT NEARS EARTH --------------------------------------------------- As NASA's Stardust comet probe barrels towards Earth for a close encounter flyby on Monday, its navigation camera appears to be working again after an apparent post-launch contamination of the device. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/13stardustflyby/ NEWBORN STAR OFFERS INSIGHT INTO OUR SOLAR SYSTEM'S PAST -------------------------------------------------------- Evidence that small dust grains are agglomerating into larger blocks inside a persistent shell of gas and dust around a young, nearby star is giving a team of astronomers a rare glimpse into the process that likely formed our solar system. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/13newborn/ EARLIER HEADLINES ----------------- REPORT: U.S. NEEDS STRONGER DEFENSE ROLE IN SPACE http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/12milspace/ NEW IMAGES SHOW DETAIL OF NEIGHBOR GALAXY'S GAS http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/12galaxygas/ ROCKET STAGE REPLACEMENT ON TAP FOR SEA LAUNCH ZENIT http://spaceflightnow.com/sealaunch/xm1/status.html"}, {"response": 288, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Jan 14, 2001 (19:57)", "body": "New Evidence for Black Holes NASA Science News for January 12, 2001 By seeing almost nothing, astronomers say they've discovered something extraordinary: the event horizons of black holes in space. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast12jan_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 289, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Jan 14, 2001 (19:58)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Friday, January 12, 2001 @ 0527 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now HUBBLE FINALLY MAY HAVE PROOF BLACK HOLES DO EXIST -------------------------------------------------- NASA's Hubble Space Telescope may have, for the first time, provided direct evidence for the existence of black holes by observing the disappearance of matter as it falls beyond the \"event horizon.\" http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/11hubblehole/ REPORT: U.S. NEEDS STRONGER DEFENSE ROLE IN SPACE ------------------------------------------------- Calling space a \"top national security priority,\" an independent commission chaired by the nation's next Secretary of Defense concluded in a report released Thursday that the United States military needs to take a more active and better focused role in Earth orbit. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/12milspace/ NEW IMAGES SHOW DETAIL OF NEIGHBOR GALAXY'S GAS ----------------------------------------------- Using radio telescopes in the U.S. and Europe, astronomers have made the most detailed images ever of Hydrogen gas in a spiral galaxy other than the Milky Way -- the galaxy M33, known to amateur astronomers as the Pinwheel Galaxy. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/12galaxygas/ NEARBY GALAXIES YIELD CLUES TO EARLY UNIVERSE --------------------------------------------- Astronomers are using these three NASA Hubble Space Telescope images to help tackle the question of why distant galaxies have such odd shapes, appearing markedly different from the typical elliptical and spiral galaxies seen in the nearby universe. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/11hubbleuv/ ROCKET STAGE REPLACEMENT ON TAP FOR SEA LAUNCH ZENIT ---------------------------------------------------- The Sea Launch vessels have set sail for home, departing the equatorial waters of the Pacific Ocean on a voyage back to the United States so a portion of the Zenit 3SL rocket can be replaced in the wake of an aborted engine ignition sequence this week. http://spaceflightnow.com/sealaunch/xm1/status.html U.S. FIRM TO BUILD CHINESE COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE --------------------------------------------------- Space Systems/Loral announced this week that it had received a contract from a Hong Kong-based satellite operator to build Apstar 5, a replacement for the aging Apstar 1 communications spacecraft. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/12apstar5/"}, {"response": 290, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jan 15, 2001 (23:34)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Monday, January 15, 2001 @ 1757 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now ENGINEERS ASSESS NEW BOOSTER WIRING ISSUE ----------------------------------------- With shuttle Atlantis poised for launch Friday on a critical space station assembly mission, NASA managers plan to meet late today to assess the resolution of booster wiring problems and the results of weekend inspections that have raised additional concerns. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a/010115srb/ Watch our Mission Status Center for updates today: http://spaceflightnow.com/station/status.html"}, {"response": 291, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jan 15, 2001 (23:35)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Monday, January 15, 2001 @ 0528 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now SUPERNOVA MAY CONTROL THE CENTER OF OUR GALAXY ---------------------------------------------- Scientists using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory have discovered that an apparent supernova remnant in the center of our galaxy might help regulate a nearby supermassive black hole and that such relationships between supernova remnants and black holes might be common throughout the universe. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/15galaxycenter/ MARS ORBITER CHECKS OUT LANDING SITE FOR FUTURE PROBE ----------------------------------------------------- The European Space Agency has announced the selection of a landing site for the British Mars lander, Beagle 2, that will be carried to the red planet aboard ESA's Mars Express orbiter in 2003. Newly released images from NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows the landing zone. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/15beagle2/ BRITISH AND CHINESE SATELLITES HEAD FOR SPACE RENDEZVOUS -------------------------------------------------------- A tiny British-built spacecraft is achieving a variety of firsts in the nanosatellite technology field. SNAP-1 will finish off this series of ground-breaking accomplishments in the next few months as it approaches a rendezvous with another satellite. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/15snap1/ ATLANTIS ASTRONAUTS BOUND FOR CAPE ---------------------------------- The five astronauts that will ride space shuttle Atlantis into orbit later this week to attach the U.S. Destiny laboratory to the international space station are scheduled for arrival at Kennedy Space Center on Monday evening. Launch is scheduled for early Friday morning from Florida. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/status.html"}, {"response": 292, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jan 16, 2001 (01:02)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Tuesday, January 16, 2001 @ 0500 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now WIRING CHECKS DELAY SHUTTLE ATLANTIS LAUNCH TO FEBRUARY ------------------------------------------------------- On the eve of shuttle Atlantis' countdown to launch Friday, NASA managers on Monday instead ordered engineers to haul the spacecraft back to the Vehicle Assembly Building for work to test suspect wiring in the ship's booster separation system. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a/010115srb/ MOST DETAILED VIEW INTO DARK CLOUD UNVEILED ------------------------------------------- Astronomers have just taken an important step towards answering the fundamental question of which processes are responsible for transforming a dark and diffuse interstellar cloud of gas and dust into a much denser, shining object. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/16eso/ STARDUST SLING-SHOTS PAST EARTH ON COURSE TO COMET -------------------------------------------------- Officials at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California say that Stardust is now on course to Comet Wild 2, where it will collect dust samples for return to Earth. That word comes after a close encounter with Earth early Monday, marking the completion of the craft's first solar orbit since its launch in 1999. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/16stardust/ A SHOCKING TIME FOR CLUSTER 2 ----------------------------- Studies of near-Earth space will never be the same again. For the first time in the history of space exploration, identical instruments on four spacecraft have begun to return simultaneous measurements of a region of space known as the bow shock. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/16cluster/ GALILEO KEEPS PROBING JOVIAN MAGNETOSPHERE ------------------------------------------ This week finds Galileo completing week 12 of a 14-week-long survey of the Jovian magnetosphere. Playback of data stored during the spacecraft's December 2000 passage through the Jupiter system is not scheduled to start until early next month. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/16galileothisweek/"}, {"response": 293, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jan 17, 2001 (00:18)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Wednesday, January 17, 2001 @ 0426 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now NASA'S SHUTTLE CHIEF DEFENDS ROLLBACK DECISION ---------------------------------------------- Launch of the next space shuttle mission has been delayed from Friday to no earlier than Feb. 6. NASA's shuttle program manager said in the end, the launch team had little choice after problems surfaced with wiring. \"I guard against the phenomena of 'go fever' like it was the plague. And you have to be very sensitive as you get closer to launch.\" http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a/010116dittemore/ Station 'Alpha' reacts to shuttle delay: http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a/video/010116shepreax_qt.html CHINA'S SHENZHOU 2 CAPSULE RETURNS TO EARTH SAFELY -------------------------------------------------- The Shenzhou 2 spacecraft returned safely to Earth Tuesday, touching down in China's inner Mongolian region at 1122 GMT after making 108 orbits. The mission paves the way for a future manned mission by the Chinese. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/16china/ INDIVIDUAL STARS SPOTTED IN ANDROMEDA'S BULGE --------------------------------------------- An individual team, including an astronomer of Observatoire de Paris, has recently observed for the first time individual stars in a very dense -- but very interesting -- zone of an external galaxy, enabling for the first time an eagerly awaited comparison with the corresponding zone (bulge) of our Milky Way galaxy. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/17andromeda/ SPACE TUG POISED FOR LAUNCH TO RUSSIA'S MIR STATION --------------------------------------------------- The Progress M1-5 cargo ship, the last spacecraft to visit Russian Mir space station, rolled out to the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome on Tuesday. Blastoff is scheduled for early Thursday. http://spaceflightnow.com/mir/010116progroll/ NASA OPENS 2ND GENERATION REUSABLE ROCKET PROGRAM ------------------------------------------------- NASA has created a new program office to lead its effort to enable development of a new reusable launch vehicle for flight in 2010 that will be dramatically safer and less expensive than today's rockets. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/17rlv2/ THE EASTERN U.S. KEEPS ITS COOL WHILE THE WORLD WARMS ----------------------------------------------------- Much of the Earth has warmed over the last half-century, but the eastern half of the United States has shown a cooling trend. NASA-funded research indicates cooler temperatures in the eastern U.S. are caused by an increase in sun-shielding clouds produced by warmer ocean temperatures in the Pacific. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/17easttemp/"}, {"response": 294, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jan 17, 2001 (18:26)", "body": "Russia to Lauch Mir Space Station's Nemesis BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan (Reuters) - Russia launches a cargo rocket on Thursday to help it bury the last vestige of the Soviet Union's ambitious space exploration program -- the record-breaking Mir space station. The unmanned Progress M1-5 vessel, one of the craft that were used to ferry food and water to Mir, will this time only carry enough fuel for its own engines to guide Mir out of orbit and into the Pacific Ocean. The rocket is due to blast off from Kazakhstan's windswept Baikonur cosmodrome at 0656 GMT. It is scheduled to dock four days later with the 130-tonunmanned space station. In early March, both will crash into the ocean. Space officials have said up to 40 tonnes of debris will reach the earth's surface at a speed high enough to smash through two meters (6.5 feet) of reinforced concrete. Russia has said it expects Mir to hit earth on March 5-6 but the precise date and time will depend on solar activity and the success of the Progress mission. If the automatic docking controlled from the earth fails, a Russian crew of Gennady Padalka and Nikolai Budarin is ready to take off in 12 days to guide the station out of orbit manually. This would end the 15-year history of Mir, whose first part was launched into orbit on February 20, 1986, with an originally designed life-span of just three years. Russia, struggling to overcome an economic crisis after almost a decade of steep recession, could not find $200 million needed to maintain the station. It decided in November to dump Mir into the ocean on its 15th birthday. Yuri Koptev, head of Russia's space and aviation agency, said last month there was little point in maintaining a station where cosmonauts spent 80 percent of their time on repairs. Cash-strapped Russia, where power cuts regularly plunge whole regions into darkness and many people use kerosene lamps and home-made stoves to survive the winter, has long regarded the station as an example of its technological genius. MANY RECORDS SET The station, visited by 28 long-term expeditions with a total of 106 cosmonauts, has set many records. Kazakh cosmonaut Talbat Musabayev spent more than 30 hours in one month working outside the station to secure his place in the Guinness Book of Records. Russian Sergei Avdeyev, who spent 747 days in space, remains the only cosmonaut in the world to have toasted the New Year three times in orbit. But Mir has also seen a number of frustrating glitches. In February 1997, fire broke out when cosmonauts tried to change an air filter. A few months later, Mir's energy supply fell dramatically after a Progress cargo craft hit it during docking and damaged its solar batteries. In September 1997, a computer failed, leaving Mir spinning aimlessly. Two years later, the station went into hibernation after Mission Control shut down its main computer by accident. After the dumping of Mir, Russia will focus on the ambitious $60 billion, 16-nation venture to build the International Space Station (ISS). But for many who remember the heyday of the Soviet space industry, when state funds were spent generously on the sector to dazzle the West with its achievements, the dumping of Mir will mean the end of an epoch. \"Thursday's launch would have been nothing out of the ordinary if it wasn't aimed at guiding Mir out of its orbit,\" Nikolai Zelenshchikov, first deputy head of the Energiya corporation that runs Mir, told Reuters. \"This is sad, but we understand that Mir's work must come to an end and we should then switch over to building the ISS.\""}, {"response": 295, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jan 17, 2001 (19:02)", "body": "Precocious Earth NASA Science News for January 17, 2001 Tiny zircon crystals found in ancient stream deposits suggest that Earth harbored continents and liquid water remarkably soon after our planet formed. Life could have established a foothold on Earth 400 million years earlier than expected. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast17jan_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 296, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jan 18, 2001 (21:46)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Thursday, January 18, 2001 @ 0220 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now ICE MAY HAVE FORMED MARTIAN CHANNELS ------------------------------------ Some channels on the surface of Mars believed to have been formed by running water may have instead been carved by streams of ice. Channels in one region of Mars share a number of key characteristics with those created by ice streams that flow beneath Antarctica's surface and empty into the surrounding oceans. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/18marsice/ U.S. WEATHER SATELLITE LAUNCH BUMPED TO SATURDAY ------------------------------------------------ A vintage Titan 2 rocket built in the 1960s is poised for a $430 million launch before sunrise Saturday from Central California carrying a crucial replacement global weather satellite for the U.S. military. The liftoff was delayed 24 hours so workers could replace a faulty cabling used in pre-flight rocket testing. http://spaceflightnow.com/titan/g9/preview.html CASSINI PROBE FAILS TO FIND LIGHTNING ON VENUS ---------------------------------------------- Space physicist Donald Gurnett says that a search for lightning on Venus in 1998 and 1999 using the Cassini spacecraft failed to detect high-frequency radio waves commonly associated with lightning. The possible existence of lightning at Venus has long been controversial. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/18cassvenus/ GLOBALSTAR ACTS TO ASSURE FUNDS FOR FURTHER OPERATIONS ------------------------------------------------------ Globalstar has announced that, in order to have sufficient funds available for the continued progress of its marketing and service activities, it has suspended indefinitely principal and interest payments on all of its funded debt and dividend payments on its preferred stock. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/18globalstar/ EXPERIMENTAL EUROPEAN SATELLITE SWITCHES ROCKETS ------------------------------------------------ Europe has officially dropped a previous agreement with Japan to launch the Artemis experimental communications satellite aboard the unproven H-2A rocket in favor of using an Ariane 5 booster. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/18artemis/"}, {"response": 297, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jan 18, 2001 (21:52)", "body": "The Eastern U.S. Keeps Its Cool NASA Science News for January 18, 2001 While surface temperatures across most of the globe are on the rise, the eastern U.S. appears to be slowly cooling. Scientists say the trend could be a result of increasing cloud cover triggered by warming Pacific waters. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast18jan_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 298, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jan 19, 2001 (16:13)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Friday, January 19, 2001 @ 0606 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now REMARKABLE NEW VIEWS CAPTURES OF ORION NEBULA --------------------------------------------- Orion the Hunter is perhaps the best known constellation in the sky, well placed in the evening at this time of the year for observers in both the northern and southern hemispheres, and instantly recognizable. The new pictures captured by astronomers are a must see! http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/19orion/ NUCLEAR ENGINE PROMISES TO SLASH TRAVEL TIMES TO MARS ----------------------------------------------------- A novel type of nuclear reactor could cut make it possible for spacecraft to travel from the Earth to Mars in as little as two weeks, one Israeli researcher has found. A little-known isotope of an artificially produced element could power future robotic or human spacecraft far more efficiently than chemical or other nuclear propulsion sources. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/19marsnuclear/ SPACE STATION CREW FACES TOUGH SCHEDULE --------------------------------------- An 18-day delay for the next space station assembly mission has thrown a wrench into the on-board crew's timeline, compressing an already busy schedule of work that must be completed before arrival of their replacements in early March, officials said Thursday. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a/010118issupdate/ LAUNCH OF PROGRESS FREIGHTER TO MIR SCRUBBED -------------------------------------------- Orientation troubles aboard the abandoned Russian space station Mir forced officials to scrub Thursday's planned launch of an unmanned freighter that will ultimately deorbit the outpost in March. http://spaceflightnow.com/mir/010118scrub/ TITAN ROCKET TO LAUNCH WEATHER SATELLITE SATURDAY ------------------------------------------------- The 26-hour countdown is scheduled to begin this morning at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California leading to Saturday's launch of a U.S. military weather satellite aboard a refurbished Titan 2 rocket booster. We will have live coverage launch! http://spaceflightnow.com/titan/g9/status.html STARDUST LOOKS DOWN ON MOON'S NORTH POLE ---------------------------------------------- Just after NASA's Stardust spacecraft successfully flew by the Earth on Monday to use the planet's gravity to change its orbit, the comet-bound probe took a series of images of the Moon to calibrate its onboard camera. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/19stardustlunar/ LEONIDS ROSE TO OCCASION, DESPITE BAD WEATHER --------------------------------------------- Read about the adventures and results of European astronomers as they attempted to image the Leonids meteors by splitting up into teams and working from different locations to create stereo observations. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/19leonids/ CASSINI SPACE PROBE JOURNEYS INTO JUPITER'S MAGNETOSPHERE --------------------------------------------------------- NASA's Cassini spacecraft shows that the craft recent was inside Jupiter's magnetosphere at the same time the Galileo probe flew within the vast surrounding environment of charged particles moving under the influence of the planet's magnetic field. This marks the first time humankind has placed two spacecraft within the magnetosphere of an outer planet at the same time. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/19jupmagnet/"}, {"response": 299, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Sat, Jan 20, 2001 (12:31)", "body": "Wow, Mirs finally coming down in March."}, {"response": 300, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jan 25, 2001 (16:40)", "body": "Yup - hope their aim is good!!! Layers of Mars Last year NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft spotted mysterious layered regions on Mars. If the layers are sedimentary deposits that formed underwater, as some scientists suspect, they could be the best places to hunt for elusive Martian fossils. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast23jan_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 301, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jan 25, 2001 (22:55)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Friday, January 26, 2001 @ 0257 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now Sponsored by European AstroFest 2001 http://www.astronomynow.com/astrofest WORLD'S LARGEST HUMAN GATHERING SEEN FROM SPACE ----------------------------------------------- Space Imaging's Ikonos satellite has taken a detailed color photograph of the largest human gathering in the history of the world, the Maha Kumbh Mela, a spiritual event held every 144 years in Northern India. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/26ikonos/ NASA SETTLES ON NEW SPACE SHUTTLE LAUNCH SCHEDULE ------------------------------------------------- As expected, NASA managers Thursday agreed on a revised near-term shuttle launch schedule, delaying the next flight one day to February 7 and the flight after that from March 1 to March 8. Other downstream flights face delays of several weeks and two space station crew rotation missions are under review. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a/010125sked/ See our updated master timeline of Atlantis' flight: http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a/fdf/98plan.html OLD CARGO SHIP LEAVES MIR TO MAKE WAY FOR NEW ONE ------------------------------------------------- The Progress M43 cargo ship departed the Mir space station Thursday. The craft, which joined Mir last October, left from the Kvant-1 module to free up the docking port for arrival of Mir's deorbiting tug launched Wednesday. http://spaceflightnow.com/mir/010125progm43/ NASA CRAFT REVEALS EARTH'S INVISIBLE MAGNETIC TAIL -------------------------------------------------- The first large-scale pictures of the hidden machinations of the Earth's magnetic force-field are now available, including confirmation of a suspected but previously invisible \"tail\" of electrified gas. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/26image/ EUROPE'S SATELLITES TRACK CLIMATE CHANGES ----------------------------------------- In July an Ariane 5 launcher will send into orbit Europe's big new environmental satellite, Envisat. Scientists will expect fresh insights into how the world is changing from the 8-tonne spacecraft. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/26esaearth/ SCIENTISTS RUSH TO PROPOSE PLUTO MISSION ---------------------------------------- On December 20, NASA announced that it would be soliciting proposals for a mission to the Pluto-Charon system and the Kuiper Belt beyond to arrive at Pluto by 2015. The formal announcement of opportunity was released January 19. Proposals are due on March 21. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/26plutorush/"}, {"response": 302, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jan 26, 2001 (00:14)", "body": "Earth's Invisible Magnetic Tail NASA Science News for January 25, 2001 The first global views of our planet's magnetosphere, captured by NASA's IMAGE spacecraft, reveal a curious plasma tail that stretches toward the Sun. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast25jan_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 303, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jan 27, 2001 (21:56)", "body": "Greening of the Red Planet A hardy microbe from Earth might one day transform the barren ground of Mars into arable soil. Scientists discussed the possibility at a recent NASA-sponsored conference FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast26jan_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 304, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jan 27, 2001 (22:56)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Saturday, January 27, 2001 @ 0610 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now Sponsored by European AstroFest 2001 http://www.astronomynow.com/astrofest DEORBITING TUG ARRIVES AT SPACE STATION MIR ------------------------------------------- After a three-day chase, an unmanned cargo ship successfully reached Russia's space station Mir today, becoming most likely the last arrival from Earth to the outpost. The Progress M1-5 spacecraft, carrying propellant for Mir's deorbiting, docked to the station at 0534 GMT (12:34 a.m. EST). http://spaceflightnow.com/mir/010127dock/ TECHNICAL SNAG HITS NASA'S MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR ----------------------------------------------- One of the orientation-controlling reaction wheels has failed aboard NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft in orbit around the Red Planet, the space agency says. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/27mgswheel/ ATLANTIS RETURNS TO PAD AFTER BOOSTER CHECKS -------------------------------------------- Space shuttle Atlantis is back on its seaside launch pad for the first human spaceflight of 2001. The shuttle was rolled out of the Vehicle Assembly Building on Friday after precautionary cable inspections on the spaceship's twin solid rocket boosters. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/status.html BOEING'S DELTA 2 ROCKET TO FLY TUESDAY -------------------------------------- The first Delta rocket launch of 2001 is scheduled for early Tuesday from Cape Canaveral with a replacement Global Positioning System military navigation satellite onboard. http://spaceflightnow.com/delta/d283/status.html AOL USERS --------- The links below should make it easier for AOL users to reach our stories. DEORBITING TUG ARRIVES AT SPACE STATION MIR TECHNICAL SNAG HITS NASA'S MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR ATLANTIS RETURNS TO PAD AFTER BOOSTER CHECKS BOEING'S DELTA 2 ROCKET TO FLY TUESDAY"}, {"response": 305, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jan 29, 2001 (01:02)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Monday, January 29, 2001 @ 0226 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now Sponsored by European AstroFest 2001 http://www.astronomynow.com/astrofest DELTA 2 ROCKET POISED TO CARRY GPS SATELLITE -------------------------------------------- A Boeing Delta 2 rocket stands ready for an overnight liftoff from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Tuesday with a replacement NAVSTAR Global Positioning System military navigation spacecraft. We will have live coverage! http://spaceflightnow.com/delta/d283/status.html Watch our live streaming Webcast: http://spaceflightnow.com/delta/d283/live_qt.html 15 YEARS AFTER CHALLENGER ------------------------- On a bitterly cold January morning 15 years ago Sunday, space shuttle Challenger and her seven-member crew made a fateful voyage into history. Spaceflight Now marked the anniversary with a comprehensive timeline of the events of that day. (Includes video and audio clips) http://spaceflightnow.com/challenger/timeline/ ULYSSES SOLAR EXPLORER DETECTS MAGNETIC SHIFT --------------------------------------------- An intriguing change in the Sun's magnetic field has been spotted by the solar probe Ulysses. Although the shift had been previously known by scientists, this is the first time the event has been detected by a spacecraft out of the elliptic plane of the solar system, where all planets but Pluto orbit. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/28ulysses/ VIRTUAL RAINS HERALD DAWN OF NEW CLIMATE UNDERSTANDING ------------------------------------------------------ Weather prediction is hard enough. But what are the possibilities for predicting events related to weather? With new tools being developed at Goddard Space Flight Center, and NASA's ever increasing suite of Earth observations, scientists just might be on the road to estimating future weather-related incidents. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/29virtualrain/ COMPANIES JOIN FORCES TO CREATE 2ND GENERATION RLV -------------------------------------------------- Kelly Space and Vought Aircraft Industries jointly announced last week that the two companies had signed a teaming agreement and submitted proposals to develop, in cooperation with NASA, a 2nd Generation Reusable Space Launch Vehicle. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/28sli/ NEXT ARIANE 4 ROCKET IS ON THE LAUNCH PAD ------------------------------------------ A pair of European military communications satellites are almost ready to take to the skies aboard an Ariane 4 launch vehicle that is currently undergoing final tests at its South American launch pad. http://spaceflightnow.com/ariane/v139/status.html 'PSEUDOGYRO' CAN SAVE SATELLITES FROM FAILURE --------------------------------------------- Software developed by The Aerospace Corporation can save satellites from failure, extend the on-orbit life of satellites with ailing hardware gyros, and save large sums of money in insurance costs, among other benefits. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/29pseudogyro/"}, {"response": 306, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Tue, Jan 30, 2001 (08:53)", "body": "Wow, a new shuttle (rlv? is that like an suv?) wonder what it will look like?"}, {"response": 307, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jan 30, 2001 (18:04)", "body": "From the drawings I have seen, it looks very much like the current one but more swept-back angle to the tail. High-latitude Aurora Warning Space Weather News for January 30, 2000 http://www.spaceweather.com A coronal mass ejection that left the Sun on Sunday could buffet Earth's magnetosphere late Tuesday or perhaps Wednesday. Sky watchers at higher latitudes (including places like Canada, Alaska, and the northern tier of US states) should be alert for auroras after local nightfall for the next two days. For more information please visit http://www.spaceweather.com"}, {"response": 308, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jan 31, 2001 (15:40)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Wednesday, January 31, 2001 @ 0647 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now Sponsored by European AstroFest 2001 http://www.astronomynow.com/astrofest PIN-POINTING BLACK HOLES IN DISTANT GALAXIES -------------------------------------------- The most detailed images ever made of faint, distant radio galaxies, located billions of light years from Earth, reveal that many of them harbor central massive black holes. It adds further support to the belief that super-massive black holes are inextricably linked with the way galaxies formed in the early universe. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/31pinpoint/ ASTRONOMERS TAKE THE PULSE OF A SUN-LIKE STAR --------------------------------------------- A team of astronomers has precisely measured the 'throbbing' of a Sun-like star that lies 24 light-years away. The slow 'pulse rate' of the star confirms ideas of what the Sun will be like a few billion years from now. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/31pulsating/ CASSINI UNCOVERS JUPITER'S MAGNETIC BUBBLE ------------------------------------------ NASA's Cassini space probe had made the huge magnetosphere surrounding Jupiter visible in a way no previous spacecraft has been able to do. The magnetosphere is a bubble of charged particles trapped within the magnetic environment of the planet. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/31jupmag/ X-RAY VIEW INTO A STARBURST --------------------------- Luminous starburst galaxies are where a lot of young stars are currently forming. They come in different varieties including those where creation is concentrated at its nucleus and activity at the center is so intense that fantastic 'bubbles' are created giving rise to streams of hot gas, or 'superwinds'. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/31starburst/ THE FIRST 'RINGED MOLECULE' FOUND AROUND STARS ---------------------------------------------- Life as we know it is based on the ability of the carbon atom to form ring-shaped molecules. But rings of carbon are not exclusive to Earth, as experts in space chemistry now know. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/31ringed/"}, {"response": 309, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jan 31, 2001 (19:39)", "body": "The Solar Wind at Mars NASA Science News for January 31, 2001 Scientists think Mars once had a thicker atmosphere than it does today, perhaps even comparable to Earth's. But where did all that Martian air go? New evidence from NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft supports a long-held suspicion that much of the Red Planet's atmosphere was simply blown away -- by the solar wind. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast31jan_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 310, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jan 31, 2001 (20:23)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Tuesday, January 30, 2001 @ 1200 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now Sponsored by European AstroFest 2001 http://www.astronomynow.com/astrofest BOEING DELTA 2 ROCKET LOFTS ANOTHER GPS SATELLITE ------------------------------------------------- Exactly ten years after the U.S. military troops reaped the benefits from the Global Positioning System while fighting the Gulf War in featureless deserts, a new satellite was launched into orbit today to keep the constellation going. http://spaceflightnow.com/delta/d283/ Also see our Mission Status Center: http://spaceflightnow.com/delta/d283/status.html BUILDING BLOCKS FOR LIFE MAY HAVE COME FROM OUTER SPACE ------------------------------------------------------- The chemical building blocks necessary for the formation of life on Earth, as well as rudimentary structures that could have been the basis for the first cells, may have come from outer space, one group of scientists has concluded. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/30spacelife/ CHANDRA SEES MULTITUDE OF NEW STARS FORMING NEARBY -------------------------------------------------- NGC 3603 is a bustling region of star birth in the Carina spiral arm of the Milky Way galaxy, about 20,000 light-years from Earth. For the first time, this Chandra image resolves the multitude of individual X-ray sources in this star-forming region. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/30chandra/ MIR IN STABLE MODE AS DISCARDED FREIGHTER REENTERS -------------------------------------------------- The Progress M43 cargo spacecraft, which undocked from Russia's space station Mir last week, reentered Earth's atmosphere Monday where it burned up. The supply ship was replaced with a fresh craft over the weekend that carries the fuel needed to deorbit Mir in March. http://spaceflightnow.com/mir/010129progm43/ GALILEO WRAPPING UP JOVIAN MAGNETOSPHERE STUDY ---------------------------------------------- This week, Galileo winds down on its 14-week-long successful collaboration with the Cassini spacecraft to study the influence of the solar wind on the Jovian magnetosphere. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/30galileothisweek/ NASA NAMES STS-108 SHUTTLE MISSION ASTRONAUTS --------------------------------------------- Astronauts have begun training for the STS-108/Utilization Flight-1 mission to rotate International Space Station crews and to deliver experiments and scientific racks for the station's U.S. Laboratory, Destiny. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/30sts108crew/"}, {"response": 311, "author": "MarkG", "date": "Thu, Feb  1, 2001 (12:32)", "body": "I was reading yesterday that a New York museum has de-classified Pluto, stripping it of planetary status. Apparently Pluto is twice as big as the next biggest asteroid in the Kuiper Belt (not sure of my terms here, memory plays trick), but only about an eighth as big as Uranus. So the museum's exhibit shows only 8 planets, and they reckon Pluto will be \"happier as the king of the Kuiper Belt rather than the smallest, furthest planet\". Who even knew that asteroids orbited the sun beyond the planets? Not me."}, {"response": 312, "author": "Moon", "date": "Thu, Feb  1, 2001 (15:16)", "body": "I was reading yesterday that a New York museum has de-classified Pluto, stripping it of planetary status. WOT? New Yorkers! They seem to think they are the center of the world. ;-) I don't think Astrologers will dare remove Pluto from natal charts."}, {"response": 313, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Feb  1, 2001 (20:06)", "body": "Astronomers have considered Pluto an escaped Uranian moon for years... Astrologers are in an entirely different universe from astronomers...are they not??? Hubble gives preview to death of our Sun NEWSALERT: Thursday, February 1, 2001 @ 0602 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now Sponsored by European AstroFest 2001 http://www.astronomynow.com/astrofest ANT-LIKE SPACE STRUCTURE PREVIEWS DEATH OF OUR SUN -------------------------------------------------- This dramatic Hubble Space Telescope image, showing 10 times more detail than ground-based views, reveals the \"ant nebula\" -- a dying, Sun-like star. Hubble directly challenges old ideas about the last stages in the lives of stars. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/01hubble/ JUPITERS MAY BE CRITICAL IN FORMING HABITABLE WORLDS ---------------------------------------------------- If you're looking for solar systems with Earth-like planets that could harbor life, one scientist believes you should first look for planets with the mass and orbit of Jupiter that could nurture smaller worlds. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/01habitable/ MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR COMPLETES PRIME MISSION -------------------------------------------- NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft, which has collected more information about the red planet than all previous missions combined, completed its primary science mission Wednesday and now begins a new era of continued exploration. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/01mgs/ SOLID ROCKET BOOSTER MAKERS MERGE AS ALLIANT BUYS THIOKOL --------------------------------------------------------- Rocket motor maker Alliant Techsystems announced Wednesday it had reached an agreement to purchase Thiokol Propulsion for $685 million in cash. Alliant builds the solid-fueled boosters for Delta, Titan 4B, Pegasus and Taurus rockets; Thiokol manufactures the space shuttle solid rocket boosters. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/01alliant/ JET PROPULSION LABORATORY GETS NEW LEADER ----------------------------------------- Dr. Charles Elachi has been named the new director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, replacing Dr. Edward C. Stone effective May 1. Elachi has served in a variety of research and management positions at JPL since 1971. Most recently, he has been director for space and Earth science programs. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/01jplchief/"}, {"response": 314, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Feb  4, 2001 (20:28)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Saturday, February 3, 2001 @ 1844 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now TAKE A PEEK AT THE RED PLANET'S FRETTED TERRAIN ----------------------------------------------- Martian \"fretted terrain\" occurs in regions of buttes and mesas that stand at the erosional margin where northern low-lying plains meet the higher-standing cratered uplands. Found mostly in the mid-northern latitudes, some of the best examples of fretted terrain occur in Deuteronilus Mensae, as seen here. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/03mgslyot/ SPACESUIT CONCERN ARISES AS ATLANTIS NEARS LAUNCH ------------------------------------------------- Two EVA spacesuits packed aboard space shuttle Atlantis will have to be replaced before launch next week after concerns were raised about their integrity. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/status.html COMET COLLISIONS: ONLY THE STRONG SURVIVED? ------------------------------------------- Recurring collisions between comets during the solar system's formation may have ground smaller comets to bits, leaving only big comets larger than 20 kilometers (12 miles) to survive. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/03oort/ CLUSTER 2 CLEARED FOR SCIENTIFIC WORK -------------------------------------- Cluster's unique mission formally got under way this week when the European Space Agency Commissioning Review Board gave unanimous approval for the start of scientific operations. Cluster's mission is to explore the magnetosphere - the region of space dominated by Earth's magnetic field. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/03cluster/"}, {"response": 315, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Mon, Feb  5, 2001 (10:25)", "body": "I heard on NPRs Earth and Sky this morning that the red dwarf stars, which are 80% of the stars in the Universe, are extrememly low energy. This is why we can't see even the closest one, Proxima Centauri. But they've revised the view that they could have planets with life, now they believe it's possible for life supporting planets to revolve around the red dwarfs. It was in interesting commentary."}, {"response": 316, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Feb  5, 2001 (16:48)", "body": "Fascinating! I think I posted something about it back a few or on Geo 24 NEWSALERT: Monday, February 5, 2001 @ 0601 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now STATION'S DESTINY RIDES ON LABORATORY ATTACHMENT ------------------------------------------------ The shuttle Atlantis is set for launch Wednesday on a critical mission to deliver the $1.38 billion U.S. laboratory module, Destiny, to the international space station, finally clearing the way for the start of orbital research later this year. Read our comprehensive six-part mission preview report: http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a/010204preview/ ASTRONAUTS FLY TO FLORIDA, COUNTDOWN BEGINS ------------------------------------------- With the five-member crew of space shuttle Atlantis at Kennedy Space Center, the launch team inside Complex 39's Firing Room 3 started the countdown on schedule Sunday night leading to liftoff at 6:11 p.m. EST (2311 GMT) on Wednesday. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/status.html See our countdown timeline chart: http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a/fdf/98countdown.html NASA OPENS SPACE STATION SCIENCE COMMAND POST --------------------------------------------- The command and control center for scientific research aboard the international space station is open for business. The science command post linking Earth-bound researchers with their experiments and astronauts in orbit was commissioned Friday during ceremonies at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/04isspoc/ SAND DUNES LOOK LIKE SHARKS' TEETH IN MARS CRATER ------------------------------------------------- Sometimes, pictures received from Mars Global Surveyor's Mars Orbiter Camera are \"just plain pretty.\" This image, taken in early September 2000, shows a group of sand dunes at the edge of a much larger field of dark-toned dunes in Proctor Crater. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/04mgsshark/ HUYGENS RELAY LINK MYSTERY FULLY UNRAVELLED ------------------------------------------- A special calibration test is being conducted with the Huygens receivers on board the Saturn-bound Cassini spacecraft. The test results will provide a solid engineering basis for the design of new mission scenarios which can recover the Huygens relay link performance following a problem uncovered previously. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/04huygens/"}, {"response": 317, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Feb  5, 2001 (17:16)", "body": "Carbonated Mars NASA Science News for February 5, 2001 Here on Earth the only way to make carbonate rocks is with the aid of liquid water. Finding such rocks on Mars might prove, once and for all, that the barren Red Planet was once warm and wet. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast04feb_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 318, "author": "CherylB", "date": "Mon, Feb  5, 2001 (19:57)", "body": "Aren't there supposed to be signs on Mars of terrain forms which could only have been created by water erosion."}, {"response": 319, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Feb  8, 2001 (00:15)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Wednesday, February 7, 2001 @ 0538 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now LAUNCH DAY ARRIVES FOR ATLANTIS AND DESTINY LAB ----------------------------------------------- The trouble-free countdown continues at Kennedy Space Center as Atlantis nears its sunset launch today at 6:11 p.m. EST (2311 GMT), but weather at overseas emergency landing sites could be a stumbling block in getting the shuttle airborne with the Destiny laboratory module for the international space station. We will have extensive live coverage starting at 9:30 a.m. EST (1430 GMT) today! http://spaceflightnow.com/station/status.html Read our six-part mission preview report: http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a/010204preview/ SPECTACULAR LAYERS OF MARS EXPOSED IN BECQUEREL CRATER ------------------------------------------------------ Toward the end of its primary mapping mission, NASA's Mars Global Surveyor acquired one of its most spectacular pictures of layered sedimentary rock exposed within the ancient crater Becquerel. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/07mgsbecquerel/ ARIANE 4 POISED FOR TONIGHT'S MILITARY MISSION ---------------------------------------------- Two European military communications satellites are stacked atop the most powerful version of Arianespace's Ariane 4 rocket for liftoff today from the jungle launch pad in Kourou, French Guiana. http://spaceflightnow.com/ariane/v139/status.html TITANIC COLLISION SEEN IN DISTANT UNIVERSE ------------------------------------------ A student astronomer in Australia has discovered the \"wreckage\" of a vast collision between two giant clusters of galaxies. The finding changes scientists' views of how clusters and individual galaxies evolve. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/07collide/ NASA PICKS BOEING DELTA 2 TO LAUNCH WEATHER SATELLITE ----------------------------------------------------- NASA has exercised a contract option to launch the NOAA-N polar-orbiting weather satellite aboard a Boeing Delta 2 rocket in January 2003 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/07noaan/"}, {"response": 320, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Feb  8, 2001 (13:22)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Thursday, February 8, 2001 @ 0740 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now LIFTOFF OF ATLANTIS! -------------------- Putting on a dramatic sunset sky show, the shuttle Atlantis blasted off and rocketed away after the international space station Wednesday, carrying a $1.4 billion module that will serve as the station's main laboratory and central control center. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a/010207launch/ Watch our Mission Status Center for live updates: http://spaceflightnow.com/station/status.html EUROPE'S ARIANE 4 CARRIES OUT MILITARY MISSION ---------------------------------------------- Arianespace launched its first double military payload Wednesday, lofting a pair of communications relay satellites for the British and Italian defense ministries. http://spaceflightnow.com/ariane/v139/ U.S. COMMERCIAL SPACE INDUSTRY WORTH $61 BILLION ------------------------------------------------ The American commercial space industry generated $61.3 billion in direct and indirect economic effects in 1999, putting it on a par with many existing conventional industries, a new federal study concluded Wednesday. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/08faaforecast/ CONGRESS' SPACE POLICY: SUPPORTIVE BUT CAUTIOUS ----------------------------------------------- While the new Congress and the new President are both strong supporters of NASA and space exploration, don't except any major new initiatives from either in the immediate future, a key Congressman cautioned Tuesday. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/07congspace/ WHY DAZZLING STARS ARE GIVEN BORING BUT USEFUL NAMES ---------------------------------------------------- Of the 100 billion stars in our Milky Way galaxy, only a handful have colorful names, while the rest are designated by letters and numbers that are the stellar equivalent of a Social Security card. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/08naming/"}, {"response": 321, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Feb  9, 2001 (00:23)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Friday, February 9, 2001 @ 0411 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now ATLANTIS TO RENDEZVOUS WITH SPACE STATION TODAY ----------------------------------------------- Space shuttle Atlantis is nearing the completion of its two-day pursuit to catch the international space station with the orbital linkup scheduled for 1650 GMT (11:50 a.m. EST) today. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a/010209dock/ Live coverage of docking: http://spaceflightnow.com/station/status.html OLD BROWN DWARF-LIKE STARS DISCOVERED ------------------------------------- Astronomers have discovered a kind of star never previously observed. These small, cool stars look superficially like brown dwarfs but are actually the remnants of ordinary stars that have been whittled down to cool Jupiter-sized bodies over billions of years by spilling material over to a white dwarf companion star. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/09dwarf/ X-33 ENGINES PASS TEST ---------------------- Qualification test firings of the unique engines designed to propel America's X-33 space plane into high-speed, suborbital flight in 2003 began Tuesday at NASA's Stennis Space Center. The ignition test went the full scheduled duration of 1.1 seconds with no observed anomalies. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/09aerospike/ SPACE VIEWS OF EL SALVADOR SAVE LIVES AFTER EARTHQUAKE ------------------------------------------------------ Digital damage maps derived from satellite images are helping the teams clearing up after the disastrous earthquake in El Salvador. For the second time in a few short weeks, the recently-signed 'Charter on Disaster Relief' has swung into action to bring the satellite resources of the European, French and Canadian space agencies. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/09spot/"}, {"response": 322, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Fri, Feb  9, 2001 (11:33)", "body": "What did you think about the red dwarf reassessment, Marci?"}, {"response": 323, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Feb  9, 2001 (18:36)", "body": "Not sure. It will be an interesting and lively intellectual discourse as they try to sort out the what-ifs and where-ases of the theory. Since our sun is headed in that direction in another few billion years, it may be of some relevance. Here is something I refuse to take the blame for: Global Warming on Mars NASA Science News for February 9, 2001 Artificial greenhouse gases that are bad news on Earth could provide the means to make Mars a more comfortable place for humans to live. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast09feb_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 324, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Feb  9, 2001 (21:08)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Tuesday, February 6, 2001 @ 0521 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now SECRETS OF THE MARTIAN NOACHIAN HIGHLANDS ----------------------------------------- Among the most exciting places that the Mars Global Surveyor's Mars Orbiter Camera has photographed during its three and a half years in orbit has been this crater in central Noachis Terra. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/06mgsnoachis/ ATLANTIS COUNTDOWN ROLLS ON --------------------------- The countdown ticked along smoothly at Kennedy Space Center on Monday as engineers focused on loading Atlantis' three power-generating fuel cells. With a favorable weather forecast, the shuttle remains set for blastoff at 6:11 p.m. EST (2311 GMT) on Wednesday. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/status.html See our complete STS-98 mission coverage: http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a/ TITAN 4 ROCKET COULD LAUNCH NEXT TUESDAY AT EARLIEST ---------------------------------------------------- A puzzling problem with a guidance computer is keeping a U.S. Air Force Titan 4B rocket and its sophisticated communications satellite cargo grounded at Cape Canaveral, Florida. http://spaceflightnow.com/titan/b41/010205inu.html ATLAS 3B AND PROTON ROCKETS PICKED BY ECHOSTAR ---------------------------------------------- The rockets that will loft the next two EchoStar direct-to-home TV broadcasting satellites were picked Monday and the joint U.S.-Russian venture International Launch Services won both contracts. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/06echostar/ ARIANE 4 PREPPED FOR ALL-MILITARY LAUNCH ---------------------------------------- Arianespace officials have cleared Ariane 4 rocket with a pair of European military communications satellite for launch on Wednesday evening at 2228 GMT (5:28 p.m. EST), the opening of a one-hour window. Liftoff will take place from ELA-2 at the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana. http://spaceflightnow.com/ariane/v139/status.html"}, {"response": 325, "author": "alyeska", "date": "Fri, Feb  9, 2001 (21:17)", "body": "The Atlantis launch was really spectacular Wednesday. The con trail was colored almost like a rainbow. It seemed to go up faster this time."}, {"response": 326, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Feb 12, 2001 (01:14)", "body": "It was stunning and I hope they make a poster out of it as it crossed the terminator and into sunset and full daylight as it rose. Did you see it go up, Lucie? How envious I am!!! Halo Coronal Mass Ejection Space Weather News for February 11, 2001 http://www.spaceweather.com A beautiful coronal mass ejection billowed away from the Sun early Sunday. Although the bulk of the explosion was directed away from Earth, it appears that some of the ejecta is nevertheless heading our way. The edge of the expanding cloud will likely reach Earth on Tuesday and could trigger auroras at high latitudes. For more information, including movies of the event, please visit http://www.spaceweather.com ."}, {"response": 327, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Feb 12, 2001 (14:21)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Monday, February 12, 2001 @ 0237 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now PROBE TO ATTEMPT FIRST LANDING ON ASTEROID TODAY ------------------------------------------------ NASA's $223 million mission to get up-close and personal with an asteroid goes out with what could very well amount to a bang as the NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft heads for an unprecedented landing on Eros today. http://spaceflightnow.com/near/status.html Tune into our live Webcast of the landing: http://spaceflightnow.com/near/live_qt.html SHUTTLE DOCKING PORT TO BE ADDED TO DESTINY TODAY ------------------------------------------------- Atlantis' spacewalking astronauts Tom Jones and Bob Curbeam plan to step outside the shuttle again on Monday to lend a hand attaching a cone-shaped docking port to the newly-installed Destiny lab. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a/010212fd6/ We will have live updates throughout the spacewalk: http://spaceflightnow.com/station/status.html NASA DELIGHTED BY SMOOTH DESTINY LAB ACTIVATION ----------------------------------------------- The Atlantis astronauts and the international space station's three-man crew floated into the $1.4 billion Destiny module for the first time Sunday and sailed through the new laboratory's initial activation and check out. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a/010211fd5/index2.html LAUNCHES OF XM RADIO SATELLITES SHUFFLED ---------------------------------------- Sea Launch has decided to flip-flop the flights of its Zenit 3SL rocket carrying the two broadcasting spacecraft for XM Satellite Radio in the continuing wake of an aborted countdown January 8. http://spaceflightnow.com/sealaunch/xm1/status.html"}, {"response": 328, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Mon, Feb 12, 2001 (15:38)", "body": "Wow, live webcast of the Eros asteroid landing. What time?"}, {"response": 329, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Feb 12, 2001 (16:19)", "body": "NEAR Spacecraft Leaves Orbit to Land on Asteroid LAUREL, Md. (Reuters) - Space probe NEAR Shoemaker left its yearlong orbit of monster asteroid Eros and headed toward the big rock's surface on Monday, the first time any craft tried to land on this kind of cosmic object. \"We're on a flight path now that will take us to the surface,\" mission Director Bob Farquhar said in an update from the project's headquarters outside Washington. The bus-sized spacecraft was never meant to land -- it orbited the 21-mile-long asteroid for a year, taking some 160,000 images and beaming them back to Earth -- but it was at the end of its expected life and had satisfied all its objectives, so Farquhar and others decided a landing attempt could provide some \"bonus science.\" To get the solar-powered ship out of its 21-mile-high orbit, thrusters were fired around 10:31 a.m. EST to send it toward the asteroid. Four more burns were scheduled to slow NEAR to what scientists hoped would be a soft landing. The landing was scheduled for about 3 p.m. EST, but because it will take 17.5 minutes for light to travel the 196 million miles from the craft to Earth , scientists at Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel said they would not have much information at the exact instant of touchdown. NEAR Shoemaker -- short for Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous and in honor of the late astronomer Gene Shoemaker -- was supposed to come down to Eros at a leisurely speed of from 2 to 7 mph. However, if things went awry during the complicated maneuver, the landing could be much faster and much harder. The craft could be flattened on impact. If all went as planned, however, NEAR would take images as it edged closer to Eros and send them back to Earth, as it has since it first started orbiting the asteroid on Valentine's Day 2000. When it landed, NEAR could hit one of the huge boulders that dot the asteroid's surface, or become buried in one of the so-called sand ponds. Or it could go into \"ostrich mode\" and turn its antenna toward the surface and away from Earth, and never be heard from again. It took NEAR about four years to travel a 2 billion-mile, looping route to Eros, named for the Greek god of love. At a cost of $223 million, the mission is considered a model for the cheaper, faster space flights envisioned by NASA. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has already rated the mission a success for the data it has collected about Eros, a so-called near-Earth asteroid that has the potential to collide with the planet in 1.5 million years or so. If Eros ever did hit Earth, the results would be catastrophic; indeed, a much smaller space rock is thought to have been responsible for wiping out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. Astronomers were also interested in the composition of this rock because it is probably a remnant from the formation of the rocky inner planets of our solar system some 4.5 billion years ago."}, {"response": 330, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Feb 12, 2001 (17:06)", "body": "NEAR Spacecraft Lands on Asteroid COLUMBIA, Md. (AP) - The NEAR spacecraft touched down on the barren, rocky surface of Eros, successfully completing history's first landing on an asteroid. NEAR's landing at about 3:05 p.m. EST Monday was confirmed when Mission Control received a beacon signal from the craft resting on the surface of Eros, some 196 million miles from Earth. ``I am happy to report that the NEAR has touched down,'' said Robert Farquhar, mission director. ``We are still getting signals. It is still transmitting from the surface.'' Engineers watching from monitors from Mission Control broke into applause at confirmation of history's first landing of a manmade object on an asteroid. The mission, controlled by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, also was the first into deep space operated by a non-NASA center. NEAR flawless performed five rocket firings, starting Monday morning, to drop it out of a 15-mile orbit of Eros and slow it toward the surface. Early indications are that Mission control completed its plan to guide NEAR to a feather-like touchdown by slowing its velocity, relative to the surface of the asteroid, to about the speed of a fast walk, 3 to 5 miles an hour. The landing completes a five-year, 2-billion-mile mission for the robot craft and boosts the technical experience in putting spacecraft on objects with extremely light gravity. ``This gives us a lot of practice,'' said Ed Weiler, NASA's chief scientist. ``We'll eventually want to land on comets because they hold the clues to beginnings.'' Weiler said the experience gained in the NEAR landing attempt on Eros can be applied in about a decade when NASA may launch a landing mission to a comet. NEAR became the first spacecraft to orbit an asteroid when it arrived at Eros, an object named for the Greek god of love, on Valentine's Day last year. The mission had been scheduled to end on Wednesday, anniversary of achieving orbit. Farquhar said it was decided to attempt the landing to squeeze a final bit of science out of the $223 million mission. No matter how the landing attempt ended, Weiler said, earlier, NEAR was ``a total success. It returned 10 times more data than expected.'' Officials targeted NEAR to land on Eros at the edge of a deep depression called Himeros. Scientists picked this spot because it is thought to be on the edge of two different geologic formations. During the final hours of its descent, NEAR furiously took pictures of Eros' surface as it drew closer and closer. Scientists hoped the final shots before impact would clearly show rocks as small as a fist, an unprecedented close-up view of an asteroid. ``In those final images, we'll be seeing objects that are just a few inches in resolution,'' said Andrew Cheng, chief project scientist of NEAR. Farquhar had warned in advance that landing NEAR n Eros is exquisitely ``tricky.'' NEAR was not designed to land anywhere. Shaped like tin can attached to four solar panels, the craft was not equipped with wheels or braces to absorb the landing force. Weiler commented, ``This is not a landing. It is a controlled crash.'' Eros has very light gravity, about one-thousandth that of Earth, which means that an object, such as NEAR, weighing 1,100 pounds on Earth, would weigh only slightly over a pound in the gravity field of Eros. A quarter, dropped from head-high on Eros, would take five seconds to fall to the surface. Weiler said the final descent of NEAR was actually slower than the asteroid's rotation and there was risk that the spinning space rock could actually swat the craft back into orbit. NEAR traveled more than 2 billion miles during its five-year mission. It was launched Feb. 17, 1996, into an independent solar orbit. NEAR swung by the Earth once to pick up speed and then streaked outward toward Eros, an asteroid in an elongated orbit that nears Mars and approaches Earth's orbit. In December 1998, a rocket firing designed to put the craft into orbit of Eros failed and NEAR sped past the asteroid. A second rocket firing series was successful and the spacecraft eventually returned to Eros and slipped into history's first orbit of an asteroid. The craft spent the last year snapping photos of Eros, second- largest of the asteroids that approach the Earth's orbit. The NEAR instruments also gathered information about the asteroid's composition, structure, size and shape. NEAR was built and operated under a faster-better-cheaper space exploration philosophy developed at NASA. Under the direction and control of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, the spacecraft was designed, built and launched in just 26 months. Some deep space explorations have taken a decade or more to mount. NEAR is also the first deep-space mission to be operated by a non-NASA space center. On the Net: Mission site: http://near.jhuapl.edu/media/index.html"}, {"response": 331, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Feb 12, 2001 (18:50)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Monday, February 12, 2001 @ 2100 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now NEAR SHOEMAKER SURVIVES ASTEROID LANDING ---------------------------------------- The NEAR Shoemaker probe is apparently alive and well after touching down on the surface of asteroid Eros today. The spacecraft returned remarkable close up views of the asteroid's surface as it swooped down to its historic landing. Check our home page for the latest news and pictures. http://spaceflightnow.com/"}, {"response": 332, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Tue, Feb 13, 2001 (08:53)", "body": "Pretty neat, they landed a craft not designed to land and a beacon kept sending back signals. The close ups are very clear and show some good size boulders ona very solid asteroid, not a pile of rubble or block of ice."}, {"response": 333, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Feb 13, 2001 (13:34)", "body": "Looks amazing, doesn't it?! I NEED a litle piece for my collection!!! NEWSALERT: Tuesday, February 13, 2001 @ 0439 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now NEAR PROBE MAKES HISTORIC LANDING ON ASTEROID EROS -------------------------------------------------- NASA's $223 million mission NEAR Showmaker spacecraft made an unprecedented landing on the surface of asteroid Eros Monday, returning spectacular pictures on the way down. Check our home page for the latest news, pictures and video. http://spaceflightnow.com/ ASTRONAUTS SAIL THROUGH 2ND SUCCESSFUL SPACEWALK ------------------------------------------------ The Atlantis astronauts staged a near-perfect spacewalk Monday, connecting a shuttle docking port to the $1.4 billion Destiny laboratory module, installing a mounting fixture for a new robot arm and opening the lab's picture window on the world. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a/010212fd6/index2.html Latest updates in our status center: http://spaceflightnow.com/station/status.html EXPERIMENTS TO STUDY FAILURES ON SMALL SATELLITE ------------------------------------------------ NASA experiments on a small British satellite are studying the effects of radiation on the various systems that make up each experiment. To yield this information, engineers are actually hoping for the components to fail. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/13strv/ GALILEO PLAYING BACK RECORDED OBSERVATIONS ------------------------------------------ It is going to be a relatively quiet week for the Galileo spacecraft. On Friday, the spacecraft performs standard maintenance on its propulsion systems. Other than that, playback of the data stored on the on-board tape recorder continues. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/12galileothisweek/"}, {"response": 334, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Feb 15, 2001 (17:52)", "body": "The Sun Does a Flip NASA Science News for February 15, 2001 NASA scientists who monitor the Sun say that our star's awesome magnetic field is flipping -- a sure sign that solar maximum is here. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast15feb_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 335, "author": "alyeska", "date": "Thu, Feb 15, 2001 (20:13)", "body": "I am waiting, not so patiently for the pictures the camera will send back from the asteroid. They had better success there than on Mars and this one wasn't intended to be."}, {"response": 336, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Feb 16, 2001 (13:52)", "body": "I agree, Lucie!!! NEWSALERT: Friday, February 16, 2001 @ 1800 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now ATLANTIS DEPARTS STATION AFTER FLAWLESS LAB DELIVERY ---------------------------------------------------- The shuttle Atlantis undocked from the international space station today, leaving the outpost behind with a new $1.4 billion laboratory module and some 3,000 pounds of equipment and supplies. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a/010216undock/index2.html See our status center coverage of the mission: http://spaceflightnow.com/station/status.html CHANDRA FINDS MOST DISTANT X-RAY GALAXY CLUSTER ----------------------------------------------- The most distant X-ray cluster of galaxies yet has been found by astronomers using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. Approximately 10 billion light years from Earth, the cluster 3C294 is 40 percent farther than the next most distant X-ray galaxy cluster previously known. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/16chandra/ MARTIAN SEDIMENTARY ROCK FOUND IN UNLIKELY PLACE ------------------------------------------------ Although most of the best examples of layered sedimentary rock seen on Mars are found at equatorial and sub-tropical latitudes, a few locations seen at mid- and high-latitudes suggest that layered rocks are probably more common than we can actually see from orbit. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/16mgsspall/ FIRST CANADIAN ASTRONAUT GETS A PROMOTION ----------------------------------------- The Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for the Canadian Space Agency has announced the appointment of astronaut Marc Garneau as Executive Vice-President of the CSA. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/16garneau/ LAUNCH SCHEDULE --------------- Keep up-to-date with planned space shuttle and rocket launches from around the globe with our Worldwide Launch Schedule page http://spaceflightnow.com/tracking/"}, {"response": 337, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Feb 16, 2001 (14:09)", "body": "SEMI-LIVE PICTURES FROM EROS ASTEROID http://near-mirror.boulder.swri.edu/iod/descent_image/image.jpg"}, {"response": 338, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Feb 17, 2001 (01:04)", "body": "Weekend Aurora Watch Space Weather News for Friday, Feb. 16, 2001 http://www.spaceweather.com SOHO coronagraphs spotted a full-halo solar coronal mass ejection on Thursday that appears to be Earth-bound. The expanding cloud will likely reach our planet during the weekend and could trigger geomagnetic activity when it arrives. High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for possible auroras. Meanwhile, in an unrelated development, NASA scientists say the Sun's enormous magnetic field is flipping! For more information please visit http://www.spaceweather.com"}, {"response": 339, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Feb 17, 2001 (14:26)", "body": "=========================================================== SKY & TELESCOPE'S NEWS BULLETIN - FEBRUARY 16, 2001 =========================================================== For images and Web links for these items, visit http://www.skypub.com =========================================================== \"Astronomy: An Immersive Journey Through the Universe\" is set of CD-ROMs that makes astronomy accessible to beginners and delivers the high accuracy required by serious astronomy enthusiasts. Use it to chart the positions of more than a million objects, take more than 60 expertly narrated tours, and enjoy thousands of graphics and photos. To order your copy for $29.95, visit Sky Publishing's online store ( http://store.skypub.com/skypub/default.asp?links=REDAC ) or call 800-253-0245. =========================================================== NEAR AND EROS MEET Although given no better than a 1-in-100 chance of survival, the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) spacecraft thumped onto the dusty, boulder-strewn surface of minor planet 433 Eros on Monday and lived to tell about it. The spacecraft continued to broadcast to Earth after touching down at an estimated 1.5 meters per second at 3:05 p.m. EST (20:05 Universal Time). As mission personnel looked on anxiously, NASA tracking stations in California and Spain continued to receive a low-power signal (but no data) after the first-ever landing on a small solar-system body. The landing sequence began about 4 hours earlier, as a rocket firing forced NEAR-Shoemaker out of its 35-kilometer-high orbit and sent it on a collision course with Eros. Four more rocket firings, beginning at altitude of 5 km, slowed the craft during its 47-minute freefall. Engineering data and altitude measurements showed that the spacecraft descended to the surface just as planned, perhaps bouncing once before settling down tipped to one side and resting on the corners of two solar-cell panels. The touchdown site is on the shoulder of Himeros, a broad depression in the southern hemisphere. NEAR Shoemaker's onboard camera radioed more than 50 pictures as the surface drew closer. The landscape looked smooth and dust-covered for the most part, peppered with myriad boulders ranging from house- to fist-size. But mission scientists were most surprised by the lack of small impacts. \"We are absolutely amazed by the absence of small, fresh craters,\" exclaimed imaging-team leader Joseph Veverka, as well as by numerous shallow sinkhole-like depressions. The final frame, taken from a height of 125 m, showed an area 6 m wide and revealed details only about 1 centimeter across. NASA had intended to cease tracking the spacecraft on February 14th, when the mission was to officially end. However, since the spacecraft survived, it has been granted a reprieve as scientists try to glean more useful data from the probe. LIFE UNDER FROZEN MARTIAN LAKES? The Antarctic lake Vostok, has received much attention for being an analog to the Europan surface. Scientist believe that the lake, covered by nearly 4 kilometers of ice, closely resembled the proposed ocean on Jupiter's frozen moon. Both bodies of water seemed to have formed by geothermal heating, and because the ice above is so thick, both seas remained sealed from sunlight and air for millions of years. Thus, if life exists in Lake Vostok (drilling missions have yet to reach the liquid layer), it's plausible that life could also exist on Europa. However, scientists now believe that Vostok better resembles another planet suspected of once harboring life: Mars. Natalia Duxbury (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) and her colleagues suggest that Vostok did not form by geothermal heating after all. Instead models of Vostok created by the researchers imply that the Antarctic lake was originally an open body of water that froze over between 5 and 30 million years ago. And as such, any life found inside the lake would be older than the Antarctic ice sheet. This model bares a striking resemblance to the red planet. The Martian north pole is known to be covered with ice. However, Mars's axial tilt has changed dramatically throughout the planet's lifetime and the current polar regions were once much warmer. Therefore it is easy to assume that sometime in Martian history, the poles, like Duxbury's model of Vostok, were once open bodies of water that later froze over. Assuming life was present while Vostok was an exposed lake, and assuming life is seen the lake today, it seems possible that if life existed in an ancient Martian polar lake, it may still be there too. The European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter, scheduled for launch in 2003, will examine the Martian poles for buried liquid water. A similar experiment will eventually be flown to Europa as well. Details of the study can be found in the January 25th Journal of Geophysical Research. PLUTO'S PALETTE REVEALED During the 1980s Pluto and its satellite Charon repeatedly passed in front of and behind one another as seen "}, {"response": 340, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Feb 20, 2001 (21:35)", "body": "Blazing Venus NASA Science News for February 20, 2001 Fiery Venus is a wonderful planet to look at, but you wouldn't want to live there! This is a good time to keep an eye on the second planet from the Sun as it approaches Earth and delivers a dazzling sky show. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast20feb_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 341, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Feb 21, 2001 (18:09)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Wednesday, February 21, 2001 @ 1612 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now ATLANTIS TAKES DETOUR TO MOJAVE DESERT LANDING ---------------------------------------------- Running two days late, the shuttle Atlantis dropped out of a cloudy Mojave Desert sky and glided to a smooth landing Tuesday at Edwards Air Force Base to wrap up an extended space station assembly flight. (Includes video!) http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a/010220landing/ Read our call of the landing: http://spaceflightnow.com/station/status.html RUSSIAN MIR SPACE STATION REACHES 15TH ANNIVERSARY -------------------------------------------------- The Mir space station marked its 15th anniversary in orbit on Tuesday, one day after the captains of the Russian space program defended their decision to deorbit the pioneering outpost. http://spaceflightnow.com/mir/010220anni/ RESEARCH DETERMINES HOW PLANTS TELL WHICH WAY IS UP --------------------------------------------------- Scientists are expanding the understanding of how gravity affects plant growth, which has implications for agriculture and space travel. Extended space missions will need to use plants and know how gravity affects the growth of plants. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/21plants/"}, {"response": 342, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Feb 22, 2001 (00:08)", "body": "Nature's Tiniest Space Junk NASA Science News for February 21, 2001 NASA scientists are using an experimental radar to monitor a swarm of space dust surrounding our planet -- cosmic junk that can pose an electrical hazard to satellites. Now anyone can listen to the radar echoes, live on the Internet! (This story also includes an unusual radar movie of a 2000 Leonid meteor.) FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast21feb_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 343, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Fri, Feb 23, 2001 (12:36)", "body": "Any news on the status of Mir, Marci?"}, {"response": 344, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Feb 23, 2001 (16:19)", "body": "Not yet other than it will take a different trajectory than originally planned! NEWSALERT: Friday, February 23, 2001 @ 1518 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now TITAN 4 ROCKET LAUNCH ON HOLD ----------------------------- Saturday's scheduled launch of an Air Force Titan 4B rocket from Cape Canaveral has been postponed due to a vehicle issue. Further details on the problem and when the launch might be rescheduled are expected later today. http://spaceflightnow.com/titan/b41/status.html We'll have a live video Webcast of launch: http://spaceflightnow.com/titan/b41/live_qt.html ASTEROID OR COMET BLAMED FOR MASS EXTINCTION -------------------------------------------- Earth's most severe mass extinction - an event 250 million years ago that wiped out 90 percent of all marine species and 70 percent of land vertebrates - was triggered by a collision with a comet or asteroid, according to new findings. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/23extinct/ COLUMBIA UNVEILING DELAYED -------------------------- The overhauled space shuttle Columbia is being kept inside Boeing's assembly plant in Palmdale, California, longer than planned today because of bad weather. After nearly a year-and-a-half of major modification and inspection work, Columbia is due for rollout today to be mounted atop a 747 carrier aircraft for the trek back to Kennedy Space Center. http://spaceflightnow.com SOHO WATCHES KAMIKAZE COMET AS IT PLUNGES INTO SUN -------------------------------------------------- A comet that fell into the Sun on February 7 was tracked by two different instruments on the ESA-NASA SOHO spacecraft, enabling scientists to characterize it quite precisely. This was just one of nearly 300 comets discovered by SOHO since 1996! http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/23soho/ SPACE STATION RESIDENTS TO TAKE WEEKEND GETAWAY ----------------------------------------------- The three-man Expedition One crew living aboard the international space station will depart the orbiting outpost for a short time Saturday to move their Soyuz capsule to a different docking port. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/status.html NEW TELESCOPE MAKES BLACK HOLE DISCOVERY ---------------------------------------- Working independently, two teams of astronomers have used the new 6.5-meter telescope at the MMT Observatory on Mount Hopkins, Ariz., to discover a massive black hole -- the first ever found in the galactic halo, thousands of light years above the Milky Way galactic plane. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/23mmt/"}, {"response": 345, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Feb 23, 2001 (20:38)", "body": "The Great Moon Hoax NASA Science News for February 23, 2001 12:00:00 PM Yes, there really is a Moon hoax, but the prankster isn't NASA. Moon rocks and common sense prove Apollo astronauts really did visit the Moon. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast23feb_2.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 346, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Feb 23, 2001 (20:45)", "body": "Apocalypse Then NASA Science News for February 23, 2001 They say lightning never strikes twice. Well, how about asteroids? A violent collision with a space rock, like the one that doomed the dinosaurs, may have also caused our planet's greatest mass extinction 250 million years ago. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast23feb_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 347, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Feb 24, 2001 (15:25)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Saturday, February 24, 2001 @ 1114 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now SPACE STATION RESIDENTS TAKE WEEKEND GETAWAY -------------------------------------------- The three-man Expedition One crew living aboard the international space station departed the orbiting outpost for a short time this morning to move their Soyuz capsule to a different docking port. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/status.html See a graphic illustrating the flyaround: http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a/010224flyaround/graphic.html NEAR MISSION EXTENDED THROUGH END OF THE MONTH ---------------------------------------------- NASA granted an additional four-day extension for the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) Shoemaker mission on Friday so that the spacecraft can return additional data from the surface of the asteroid Eros through the end of the month. http://spaceflightnow.com/near/010223extend/ Previous coverage of NEAR Shoemaker's landing: http://spaceflightnow.com/near/status.html TITAN 4 LAUNCH DELAYED FURTHER ------------------------------ Launch of the $455 million Titan 4B rocket carrying a $750 million Milstar military communications satellite has been pushed back to Tuesday at the earliest. The extra time is needed so technicians can further study and fix a problem with the rocket's telemetry system. http://spaceflightnow.com/titan/b41/status.html JOHNSON SPACE CENTER CHIEF GEORGE ABBEY OUSTED ---------------------------------------------- NASA announced late Friday that George Abbey, one of the most powerful and enigmatic figures in the space program, was being replaced as director of the Johnson Space Center. Abbey, who becomes a special advisor to the NASA Administrator, was ousted in the wake of huge cost overuns in the international space station program. Read the NASA news release: http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/23abbey/"}, {"response": 348, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Feb 26, 2001 (19:56)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Monday, February 26, 2001 @ 1100 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now BRITISH GOVERNMENT RESPONDS TO NEO TASK FORCE --------------------------------------------- The British government issued a response Saturday to a task force report on the threat posed by near-Earth asteroids and comets, concurring with many of the recommendations in the report but promising little in the way of immediate, concrete action. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/26neo/ RUSSIANS LAUNCH SUPPLY SHIP FOR SPACE STATION ALPHA --------------------------------------------------- The Progress M-44 cargo freighter is bound for the international space station today after being propelled into orbit by a Russian Soyuz-U rocket. On Saturday, the three-man Expedition One departed the orbiting outpost for a short time to move their Soyuz capsule to a different docking port to make way for the Progress. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/status.html CANADA STUDIES THIRD-GENERATION RADARSAT SATELLITE -------------------------------------------------- Work on the third Radarsat remote sensing satellite has officially gotten underway as the Canadian Space Agency issued a feasibility studies contract to MacDonald, Dettwiler, and Associates. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/26radarsat3/ GLITCH WITH TITAN 4 ROCKET RESOLVED, LAUNCH DATE SET ---------------------------------------------------- The Titan 4B rocket has been cleared for liftoff Tuesday with the Milstar communications satellite cargo, the Air Force announced Saturday after isolating and correcting a problem with the vehicle's first stage telemetry relay system. http://spaceflightnow.com/titan/b41/status.html GALAXY GROUPS SURVEYED BEYOND LOCAL NEIGHBORHOOD ------------------------------------------------ In a cosmically short time, probably in a few billion years, our Milky Way galaxy will smash into the Andromeda galaxy. Pulled together by gravity, the two spiral galaxies will violently merge perhaps into another kind of galaxy, an elliptical galaxy. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/25groups/ HOW DID MATTER COME TO DOMINATE THE UNIVERSE? --------------------------------------------- The seemingly unremarkable fact that the universe is full of matter turns out to be something physicists can't quite account for. According to the big bang theory, equal amounts of matter and antimatter were created at the birth of the universe, but precious little antimatter is to be found in the universe today. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/25matter/"}, {"response": 349, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Feb 27, 2001 (14:00)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Tuesday, February 27, 2001 @ 1109 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now TITAN 4 ROCKET STANDS POISED FOR BLASTOFF TODAY --------------------------------------------------- There is $1.2 billion on the line today at Cape Canaveral where a powerful Titan 4B rocket awaits an afternoon launch carrying a crucial U.S. military communications satellite that will serve as a switchboard-in-the-sky. We will the most comprehensive live coverage throughout the day in our status center and Webcast. http://spaceflightnow.com/titan/b41/status.html Live streaming broadcast of the launch: http://spaceflightnow.com/titan/b41/live_qt.html NEW EVIDENCE FOUND TO SUGGEST ANCIENT MARS LIFE ----------------------------------------------- Crystals of the mineral magnetite, embedded within a famous Martian meteorite, have provided scientists with the latest evidence that primitive life once existed on Mars. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/27marslife/ GRISSOM 'FLIES' ONE LAST TIME AT CAPE CANAVERAL ----------------------------------------------- Lt. Col. Virgil \"Gus\" Grissom, one of America's first astronauts, will once again fly from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Grissom's \"flight\" is possible because the Air Force's Titan 4B rocket scheduled for launch today has been named \"Gus\" in honor of him. http://spaceflightnow.com/titan/b41/010226patch.html STRESS, CHAOS FORM SOLAR SYSTEM'S TALLEST MOUNTAINS --------------------------------------------------- Researchers studing images taken by the Galileo and Voyager spacecraft have found that enigmatic mountains on Jupiter's moon Io may be the combined result of heating, melting and tilting of giant blocks of crust. The moon has some of the tallest mountains in our solar system. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/27iomount/"}, {"response": 350, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Mar  1, 2001 (12:38)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Thursday, March 1, 2001 @ 1145 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now NEAR SHOEMAKER PHONES HOME FOR THE LAST TIME -------------------------------------------- NASA's NEAR Shoemaker -- the intrepid space probe that provided the first intensive examination of an asteroid -- has finally reached the end of its five-year adventure. http://spaceflightnow.com/near/010228end/ STATION, SCIENCE SQUEEZED IN NASA BUDGET PROPOSAL ------------------------------------------------- President George W. Bush's 2002 budget proposal, released Wednesday, provides essentially no increase in funding for NASA while mandating serious reforms to the international space station and the cancellation of two planetary science missions. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/01budget/ HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE SPOTS A GALAXY ON THE EDGE ------------------------------------------------- NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has snapped this remarkable view of a perfectly \"edge-on\" galaxy. This new Hubble picture reveals with exquisite detail huge clouds of dust and gas extending along, as well as far above, the galaxy's main disk. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/01hubble/ JUPITER'S LARGEST MOON MAY BE A WET, SLUSHY PLACE ------------------------------------------------- Planetary scientists studying Jupiter's icy moon Ganymede have combined stereo images from the Galileo and Voyager missions and found provocative features on the moon. They have mapped long swathes of bright flat terrain that they think is evidence of water or slush that emerged one billion years or so ago. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/01ganymede/"}, {"response": 351, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Mar  2, 2001 (15:47)", "body": "Buck Rogers, Watch Out NASA researchers are studying insects and birds, and using so-called smart materials with uncanny properties to develop mindboggling new aircraft designs. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast01mar_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 352, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Mar  2, 2001 (16:21)", "body": "Sunspots and a Coronal Mass Ejection Space Weather News for March 2, 2001 http://www.spaceweather.com SOLAR ACTIVITY: This week the face of the Sun looked remarkably blank as the sunspot number dropped to its lowest level in three months. But there's more to solar activity than sunspots! On February 28th a filament collapsed on the Sun and the eruption sent a coronal mass ejection toward Earth. The expanding cloud will likely reach our planet on Saturday, March 3rd, and trigger high latitude auroras. For more information about this and other space weather news, please visit http://www.spaceweather.com ."}, {"response": 353, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Mar  4, 2001 (14:33)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Friday, March 2, 2001 @ 1107 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now NASA KILLS X-33 AND X-34 ------------------------ NASA announced Thursday that it would not provide any additional funding for the X-33 or X-34 launch vehicle technology demonstration programs, effectively killing both projects before either made its first flight. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/01x33/index2.html SETTING SAIL THROUGH SPACE -------------------------- The Planetary Society and Cosmos Studios are ready to test the first solar sail ever deployed in space later this year. Solar sails are seen by many space observers as the \"wave of the future\" that will revolutionize space flight as spacecraft travel beyond the solar system. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/02sail/ CALLING PIONEER 10 ------------------ The longest operating deep-space probe is getting at least one more chance for life as project managers have secured observation time with radio antennas to try to contact the spacecraft for the first time since last summer. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/02pioneer10/ RARE METEORITES REKINDLE SOLAR SYSTEM BIRTH DEBATE -------------------------------------------------- A new meteorite study is rekindling a scientific debate over the creation of our solar system. The study is based on the microscopic analysis of two rare meteorites recently discovered in Antarctica and Africa. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/02meteor/"}, {"response": 354, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Mar  6, 2001 (13:00)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Monday, March 5, 2001 @ 1348 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now SHUTTLE DISCOVERY SET FOR SUNRISE LAUNCH THURSDAY ------------------------------------------------- The seven astronauts who will ride shuttle Discovery into space made a late-night arrival at Kennedy Space Center on Sunday as preparations remain on schedule to start the countdown today. The shuttle is poised for liftoff Thursday at 6:42 a.m. EST (1142 GMT). http://spaceflightnow.com/station/status.html STS-102 MISSION THEATER ----------------------- From countdown to touchdown we will provide the internet's most comprehensive video coverage of Discovery's mission to the International Space Station. Subscribe to the Mission Theater today! http://spaceflightnow.com/theater/theater.html VOLCANIC IO ERUPTS ------------------ Newly released images taken by NASA's Galileo spacecraft captures a dynamic eruption at Tvashtar Catena, a chain of volcanic bowls on Jupiter's moon Io, and changes in the largest active field lava flows in the solar system, the Amirani flow. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/04ioerupt/ PLUTO MISSION CLINGS TO LIFE ---------------------------- NASA will continue to accept proposals for a mission to Pluto at the request of Congress despite a proposed budget that includes no funding for such a mission, agency officials confirmed Friday. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/03pluto/ DID COMETS WATER EARTH? ----------------------- A physics professor at the University of Iowa says that he has found new evidence to support his theory that the water in Earth's oceans arrived by way of small snow comets. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/05smallcomet/ EUROPE, JAPAN PLAN JOINT MARTIAN OBSERVATIONS --------------------------------------------- Japanese and European Mars orbiters will keep each other company once they arrive at the red planet in 2003 and 2004. A recent meeting between the Mars Express and Nozomi teams forged an agreement to work together once their respective probes arrive in Martian orbit. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/05marscoop/ COMMERCIAL SATELLITE TO SCAN ALL OF JAMAICA ------------------------------------------- Space Imaging has signed an agreement with the government of Jamaica to take 1-meter, high resolution satellite images with the orbiting Ikonos spacecraft of the entire country to be used by land-related and mapping agencies. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/04jamaica/ EUTELSAT LOOKS ACROSS ATLANTIC TO BUY NEW SATELLITE --------------------------------------------------- EUTELSAT, the 48-member European Satellite Telecommunications Organization, has signed a contract for a broadband communications satellite from Boeing Satellite Systems Inc. The satellite, to be known as e-BIRD, is a spin-stabilized Boeing 376 HP model. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/03ebird/ To Subscribe: mailto:newsalert-on@astrolists.com"}, {"response": 355, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Mar  7, 2001 (14:33)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Wednesday, March 7, 2001 @ 0327 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now DISCOVERY 'GO' FOR LAUNCH AMID STATION BUDGET TROUBLE ----------------------------------------------------- With the shuttle Discovery poised for launch Thursday on the next space station assembly mission, senior NASA managers Tuesday attempted to downplay the potential impact of a projected $4 billion budget shortfall, calling an expected down-sizing a \"minor adjustment.\" http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a1/010306iss/ COUNTDOWN ROLLS ON FOR THURSDAY'S SHUTTLE LAUNCH ------------------------------------------------ The trouble-free countdown continues at Kennedy Space Center for shuttle Discovery's sunrise blastoff Thursday. The weather forecast is generally favorable with the only concern being unseasonably cold temperatures. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a1/010306count/ STS-102 MISSION THEATER ----------------------- From countdown to touchdown we will provide the internet's most comprehensive video coverage of Discovery's mission to the International Space Station. Subscribe to the Mission Theater today! http://spaceflightnow.com/theater/theater.html RUSSIA OFFERS MODULE, EXTRA SOYUZ CAPSULE TO PARTNERS ----------------------------------------------------- Russian Aviation and Space Agency, Rosaviacosmos, has endorsed the development of the first commercially operated module of the international space station in hopes of charging rent to its partners. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/06enterprise/ CHECKING ON AN OLD AND ACTIVE COMETARY FRIEND --------------------------------------------- When Comet Hale-Bopp passed through the inner solar system in early 1997, it was admired in the sky as a \"classical\" comet, with a bright head and an enormous, multi-colored tail. Now four years later, astronomers have captured new views of the comet. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/07halebopp/ CHANDRA SNAPS REMARKABLE IMAGE OF GALAXY GROUP ---------------------------------------------- A new Chandra image reveals great detail and complexity in the central region of the compact galaxy group known as HCG 62. Such galaxy groups, which contain fewer galaxies than the better-known galaxy clusters, are an important class of objects because they may serve as cosmic building blocks in the large-scale structure of the Universe. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/07chandra/ UNIQUE DOUBLE-HEADER AS TWO SHUTTLES GRACE CAPE SKIES ----------------------------------------------------- Space shuttles Atlantis and Columbia made it back to Florida's Space Coast on Monday after lengthy cross-country ferry flights from California, but there wasn't enough parking spots at Kennedy Space Center for both spaceplanes and their carrier aircraft. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/06ferryflights/ BOEING'S DIGITAL CINEMA READY FOR VIEWING ----------------------------------------- Boeing digital cinema, a capability that enables same-day delivery of digital media via satellite to multiple movie theaters, is ready for viewing. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/06cinema/"}, {"response": 356, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Wed, Mar  7, 2001 (15:26)", "body": "Digital cinema, wow. What clever cracker will be first to break this for home consumption?"}, {"response": 357, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Mar  8, 2001 (14:10)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Thursday, March 8, 2001 @ 0545 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now NASA COUNTS DOWN TO DISCOVERY'S SUNRISE LAUNCH ---------------------------------------------- The shuttle Discovery has been fueled for blastoff today on a flight to deliver the international space station's second full-time crew and nearly five tons of supplies and equipment, including the lab's first suite of scientific experiments. We are providing continuous live coverage in our status center: http://spaceflightnow.com/station/status.html Read our comprehensive mission preview: http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a1/010307preview/ STS-102 MISSION THEATER ----------------------- From countdown to touchdown we will provide the internet's most comprehensive video coverage of Discovery's mission to the International Space Station. Subscribe to the Mission Theater today! http://spaceflightnow.com/theater/theater.html HUBBLE SPIES HUGE CLUSTERS OF STARS FORMED IN ANCIENT CRASH ----------------------------------------------------------- Studying galactic interactions is like sifting through the forensic evidence at a crime scene. Astronomers wade through the debris of a violent encounter, collecting clues so they can reconstruct the celestial crime to determine when it happened. Take the case of M82, a small, nearby galaxy that long ago bumped into its larger neighbor, M81. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/08hubble/ MIR REENTRY TARGET DATE SET --------------------------- Russian space officials decided to postpone the deorbiting of the Mir space station to around March 20 to save the propellant onboard the Progress spacecraft. http://spaceflightnow.com/mir/010308reentry/ ARIANESPACE TO LAUNCH FIRST ARIANE 5 ROCKET OF 2001 --------------------------------------------------- The Ariane 509 rocket was rolled to its South American launch pad Wednesday in final preparation for liftoff this evening to deliver European and Japanese telecommunications satellites into orbit. http://spaceflightnow.com/ariane/v140/status.html"}, {"response": 358, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Mar 11, 2001 (00:02)", "body": "The End is Mir NASA Science News for March 10, 2001 Space station Mir, the heaviest thing orbiting our planet other than the Moon itself, will return to Earth around March 20th. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast10mar_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 359, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Mar 12, 2001 (13:16)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Monday, March 12, 2001 @ 0703 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now ITALIAN-MADE 'MOVING VAN' DOCKED TO SPACE STATION ------------------------------------------------- The Leonardo Multipurpose Logistics Module has been mounted to the international space station with its 9,993 pounds of equipment and experiments for the U.S. Destiny laboratory. The astronauts are slated to enter the $150 million pressurized module in a few hours, then start unpacking its contents on Monday night. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a1/010312fd5/ MARATHON SPACEWALK SETS NEW ENDURANCE RECORD -------------------------------------------- In a marathon spacewalk marked by unexpected glitches and lost hardware, two astronauts mounted critical equipment on the hull of the international space station Sunday. The 8-hour 56-minute long excursion, was the longest in spacewalk U.S. history. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a1/010311fd4/ DISCOVERY MAKES BELATED DOCKING WITH STATION -------------------------------------------- The shuttle Discovery glided to a delayed-but-successful docking with the international space station early Saturday to deliver the first of three new crew members after flight controllers finally managed to lock down a possibly free-swinging solar panel. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a1/010310fd3/ STS-102 MISSION THEATER ----------------------- We are providing the internet's most comprehensive video coverage of Discovery's mission to the International Space Station, including multiple views of Thursday's launch, extraordinary onboard video, daily news conferences and the mission highlights. Subscribe to the Mission Theater today! http://spaceflightnow.com/theater/theater.html REPORT: CHINA PLANS FIRST MANNED MISSION NEXT YEAR -------------------------------------------------- China plans to launch its first astronauts in late 2002 following more unmanned test flights of the Shenzhou test capsule, according to Japanese news reports. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/11china/ TWO SPACECRAFT REVEAL NEW DETAILS OF JUPITER'S AURORA ----------------------------------------------------- Bright auroras on parts of Jupiter where those shimmering glows have not previously been seen appear in new images taken from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. The research is part of a joint study with Cassini to examine how the aurora is affected by the solar wind. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/10jupaurora/ UNIVERSE PUT ON THE SCALES -------------------------- Only 35 percent of the Universe's contents is in the form of matter, according to new findings. The rest is believed to be in the form of 'dark energy'. This measurement, the most accurate to date, is based on data from 141,000 galaxies. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/10weigh/"}, {"response": 360, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Mar 14, 2001 (22:33)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Wednesday, March 14, 2001 @ 1921 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now VOLCANOES MAY HAVE PLAYED ROLE IN MARTIAN LIFE ---------------------------------------------- Two of the oldest volcanoes on Mars, which have been active for 3.5 billion years, are providing clues to the possibility of life on the planet, according to preliminary analysis by geologists of new data from the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/14marsvolcano/ STATION CREW ROTATION COMPLETE ------------------------------ Astronaut Susan Helms moved aboard the international space station today, completing the lab's first crew rotation and becoming the first woman to live aboard the outpost. The astronauts are ahead of schedule unloading the Leonardo cargo carrier. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a1/010314fd7/ STS-102 MISSION THEATER ----------------------- We are providing the internet's most comprehensive video coverage of Discovery's mission to the International Space Station, including multiple views of liftoff, extraordinary cockpit launch video, daily news conferences and the mission highlights. Subscribe to the Mission Theater today! http://spaceflightnow.com/theater/ DEEP X-RAYS SHOW UNIVERSE TEEMING WITH BLACK HOLES -------------------------------------------------- For the first time, astronomers believe they have proof black holes of all sizes once ruled the universe. NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory provided the deepest X-ray images ever recorded, and those pictures deliver a novel look at the past 12 billion years of black holes. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/14chandra/ ASTRONOMERS FIND MISSING TYPE OF QUASAR --------------------------------------- Astronomy's \"most wanted\" list shortened by one this week when researchers announced that they had spotted the first type II quasar, an object on the fringes of the known universe whose existence they had suspected for two decades. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/14quasar/"}, {"response": 361, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Mar 14, 2001 (22:47)", "body": "Home, Space Home NASA Science News for March 14, 2001 On the ground, the International Space Station would be an odd looking building -- but space is an odd place to live! Find out how space weather, orbital free fall, and the Space Shuttle's payload bay shapes the architecture of the ISS. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast14mar_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 362, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Thu, Mar 15, 2001 (09:37)", "body": "So Mir's going to crash somewhere in Australia. Will it land on the locale of Survivor?"}, {"response": 363, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Mar 15, 2001 (19:39)", "body": "What a thought - and could they have envisioned a more spectacular ending for the series?! Welcome Interference -- astronomers get a new tool in the hunt for planets NASA Science News for March 15, 2001 NASA scientists have combined starlight from the two largest telescopes on Earth to form an extraordinary optical interferometer -- a powerful tool in the search for planets outside the solar system. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast15mar_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 364, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Mar 15, 2001 (19:48)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Thursday, March 15, 2001 @ 1700 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now RUSSIANS REFINE PLAN FOR REENTRY OF SPACE STATION MIR ----------------------------------------------------- After weeks of uncertainty, Russian space officials have set the early hours of March 22 as the definitive target for the Mir's fiery reentry into Earth's atmosphere. http://spaceflightnow.com/mir/010314date/ SPACE STATION CARGO TRANSFER IN HIGH GEAR ----------------------------------------- The Discovery astronauts spent the day repacking the Leonardo cargo module with space station trash and discarded equipment while the lab's departing crew members briefed their replacements on the finer points of operating the growing outpost. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a1/010315fd8/ NOW SHOWING: MORE THAN A DOZEN SHUTTLE LAUNCH VIEWS --------------------------------------------------- Spaceflight Now's STS-102 Mission Theater is now showing more than a dozen varied views of shuttle Discovery's spectacular sunrise blast off last week. Among the 50 other clips available, are daily reports and mission highlights. Subscribe to the Mission Theater today! http://spaceflightnow.com/theater/ VOLCANOES ON JOVIAN MOON IO TRY ERASING THEIR AGE ------------------------------------------------- The amount of lava gushing from individual volcanoes on Jupiter's moon Io dwarfs earthly comparisons, and the pace at which lava is repainting Io's surface suggests a novel technique for determining the relative ages of surface regions there. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/15io/"}, {"response": 365, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Fri, Mar 16, 2001 (08:05)", "body": "I watched a little bit of Mission to Mars last night, have you seen this Marci? How accurate is this movies portrayal of the technology we'd actually use on a mission like this?"}, {"response": 366, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Mar 16, 2001 (13:14)", "body": "Propagation from ARRL Solar flux declined this week, having reached a short-term peak a week prior to Wednesday. But average daily solar flux and sunspot numbers were higher this week than last. Daily sunspot numbers reached a peak of 174 on Monday. This is the highest it has been since February 9, when it was 179, or January 23, when it was 178. Geomagnetic conditions have been quiet, with A indices in the single-digits. Quiet conditions should continue, although there is a possibility that sunspot group 9373, currently at the center of the solar disk oriented toward earth, could produce some solar flares on Thursday or Friday. You'll hear the results on the WWV reports a few days later if the K index rises above 3. Solar flux is expected to be around 135 on Friday and 130 for the following few days, then rise to around 145 on March 22-24. By comparison, a year ago the average sunspot number and solar flux reported in this bulletin (ARLP011) was respectively 193.4 and 194.9. Scott Craig has a revised version of his Solar Data Plotting Utility, which works with the data presented in this bulletin. The new version was released last week, and has a new feature which can connect to the internet and automatically download the solar data from an ARRL FTP site. His website is at http://www.craigcentral.com , and the software is at http://www.craigcentral.com/sol.htm . Next week is the spring equinox, with anticipated spring propagation conditions. 15 and 20 meters should be open later into the evening, with 20 meters possibly open all night. 10 meters should improve around the change of seasons, but will probably degrade for worldwide propagation as spring moves toward summer. Sunspot numbers for March 8 through 14 were 98, 113, 131, 139, 174, 110 and 159 with a mean of 132. 10.7 cm flux was 167.2, 161.4, 160.1, 157.8, 157.6, 147.3 and 142.2, with a mean of 156.2, and estimated planetary A indices were 6, 6, 5, 4, 10, 7 and 7 with a"}, {"response": 367, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Mar 16, 2001 (18:36)", "body": "List-Subscribe: NEWSALERT: Friday, March 16, 2001 @ 1854 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now DISCOVERY TO STAY AN EXTRA DAY AT SPACE STATION ----------------------------------------------- Mission managers have decided to extend Discovery's stay at the International Space Station by one day. Meanwhile, the station's first crew looks forward to homecoming, if not Earth's gravity. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a1/010316fd9/ GALILEO GETS FINAL REPRIEVE BEFORE CRASH INTO JUPITER ----------------------------------------------------- The resilient Galileo spacecraft doesn't know when it call it quits. So, NASA has outlined the details of one last mission extension, which includes five more flybys of the Jovian moons before a final plunge into the crushing pressure of the giant planet's atmosphere. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/16galileo/ WALKER SAYS NO TO NASA ADMINISTRATOR JOB ---------------------------------------- A former Congressman who had been considered as a leading candidate to succeed Dan Goldin as NASA administrator said Thursday he has no interest in the position. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/16walker/ SEA LAUNCH TO LOFT RADIO RELAY SATELLITE SUNDAY ----------------------------------------------- The countdown got underway Thursday for Sea Launch's planned Sunday mission to place the first digital audio relay spacecraft into orbit for XM Satellite Radio, a company that aims to broadcast music, news and entertainment programming directly to cars across America starting this summer. http://spaceflightnow.com/sealaunch/xm2/status.html TWIN TELESCOPES TEAM UP TO SHARPEN THEIR FOCUS ---------------------------------------------- The two largest telescopes in the world were linked together this week for the first time, a key step forward for efforts to directly observe extrasolar planets. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/16keck/ TWO ASTEROIDS GET IRISH TOUCH ----------------------------- Two asteroids have been given Irish names in time for St. Patrick's Day. Discovered in July 1987 by famed asteroid hunter and planetary astronomer Eleanor Helin, the asteroids have been officially christened by the International Astronomical Union and honor Irish contributions to astronomical research. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/16irish/ NOW SHOWING: MORE THAN A DOZEN SHUTTLE LAUNCH VIEWS --------------------------------------------------- Spaceflight Now's STS-102 Mission Theater is now showing more than a dozen varied views of shuttle Discovery's spectacular sunrise blast off last week. Among the 50 other clips available, are daily reports and mission highlights. Subscribe to the Mission Theater today! http://spaceflightnow.com/theater/"}, {"response": 368, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Mar 19, 2001 (15:52)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Monday, March 19, 2001 @ 0718 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now DISCOVERY DEPARTS THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION ------------------------------------------------- The international space station's first commander formally turned the ship over to his replacement Sunday night, wishing the lab's second three-person crew good luck aboard the orbital outpost and urging them to \"sail her well\" during their four-and-a-half-month stay. Discovery then undocked to bring the Expedition One crew home. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a1/010318fd12/ COMPUTER ISSUE RESOLVED AS MODULE RETURNS TO SHUTTLE ---------------------------------------------------- The Leonardo \"moving van\" was pulled away from the space station and returned to Discovery's payload bay Sunday morning after delivering five tons of equipment and supplies to the orbiting outpost. The move followed intensive troubleshooting to verify the health of the shuttle's flight computers. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a1/010318fd11/ SATELLITE LAUNCHED TO BEAM DIGITAL RADIO ACROSS AMERICA ------------------------------------------------------- American motorists seeking something new from their car radios received a boost Sunday when a rocket launched from a platform in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and delivered a digital audio broadcasting satellite into orbit. http://spaceflightnow.com/sealaunch/xm2/ Read our call of the countdown and launch: http://spaceflightnow.com/sealaunch/xm2/status.html MIR VETERANS RECALL STATION'S GLORY, LAMENT ITS PASSING ------------------------------------------------------- As the shuttle and station crews wrapped up a quiet but productive day in space, four of the five Mir veterans on board reflected on the upcoming demise of the old Russian station, lamenting its passing but looking forward to the future. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a1/010317fd10/ GROUND CONTROL PREPARES TO BOOST MIR'S POWER SUPPLY --------------------------------------------------- Russian mission controllers in Korolev plan to restart space station Mir's orientation system on Wednesday, or around 24 hours prior to the complex's scheduled deorbiting, officials said Friday. http://spaceflightnow.com/mir/010317control/ U.S. PROVIDES DATA TO RUSSIA FOR MIR SPLASHDOWN ----------------------------------------------- United States space specialists are providing Russian technicians with Mir space station positional data to help ensure the vehicle's safe splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. http://spaceflightnow.com/mir/010317usaf/ U.S. TO BUILD CONSTELLATION OF SATELLITES FOR TAIWAN ---------------------------------------------------- Taiwan has chosen Orbital Sciences to build a fleet of six microsatellites that aims to study Earth's atmosphere to aid scientists in weather and climate forecasting and ionosphere and gravity research fields. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/18rocsat/ To subscribe send email to newsalert-on@astrolists.com"}, {"response": 369, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Mon, Mar 19, 2001 (23:07)", "body": "Marcia, did you see the Wired article on the new rocket technology they want to use to send men to Mars, the propellant reaches a temperature of a million degrees and is contained by magnetic force. I think they said it could reach Mars in about 4 months. Pretty amazing."}, {"response": 370, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Mar 20, 2001 (00:32)", "body": "No, but I will look for it and report back! Thanks! 2001 Mars Odyssey: Coming soon to a launch pad near you! NASA Science News for March 19, 2001 NASA's latest mission to Mars, an orbiter scheduled for launch on April 7, 2001, will seek out underground water-ice and explore space weather around the Red Planet -- and that's not all! FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast19mar_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 371, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Mar 20, 2001 (00:42)", "body": "Sprin5 , I searched Wired and subscribed to their news...could not find the article. Will look elsewhere but am most interested! Thanks for the Wired suggestion. I had forgotten it existed!"}, {"response": 372, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Tue, Mar 20, 2001 (08:21)", "body": "I actually read it in their magazine, I don't know if they carried it online. 140 days or so is a very fast trip to Mars considering current technology takes about 9 months."}, {"response": 373, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Mar 20, 2001 (13:52)", "body": "That is truly incredible. I searched their site and weent back to the last century and did not find the article. I am sure more will be written about it, and when I find it, I will put it in here! Geomagnetic Storm Space Weather News for March 20, 2001 http://www.spaceweather.com AURORA WATCH: A moderate geomagnetic storm that began Monday when a solar coronal mass ejection buffeted Earth's magnetic field shows no immediate signs of abating. High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras after local nightfall. HERE COMES THE SUN: Another coronal mass ejection is heading our way. SOHO coronagraphs spotted a very faint CME on Monday that could arrive in the neighborhood of our planet on March 22nd or 23rd. For updates and more information please visit http://www.spaceweather.com"}, {"response": 374, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Tue, Mar 20, 2001 (22:40)", "body": "It's in the light green Jan 2001 Wired that says \"Touch me all over\" on the cover. Zip Drive! Building the Fast Track to Mars. Page 96. Aa rocket that runs on million degree plasma and could someday fuel a fast track trip to Mars. VASIMR - variable specific impulse magnetoplasma rocket."}, {"response": 375, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Wed, Mar 21, 2001 (08:51)", "body": "Taco Bell is going to give us all free tacos if the Russians can hit a target with the re-entering Mir: http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010320/sc/taco_bell_mir.html"}, {"response": 376, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Mar 21, 2001 (20:41)", "body": "Ok will look for the Wired article online...thanks, Terry! NEWSALERT: Tuesday, March 20, 2001 @ 0825 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now TITO CONTROVERSY HEATS UP ------------------------- In an escalating battle of wills, NASA is staging a news conference today to discuss its opposition to Russian plans for launching American millionaire Dennis Tito to the international space station next month as history's first space tourist. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/20tito/ Read NASA news release on Tito training: http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/20tito/index2.html STORMY WEATHER THREATENS SPACE SHUTTLE'S HOMECOMING --------------------------------------------------- The Discovery astronauts tested the shuttle's re-entry systems late Monday and packed up for landing early Wednesday to bring the international space station's first crew back to Earth after 141 days in the weightlessness of space. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a1/010320eom/ We will have live landing coverage: http://spaceflightnow.com/station/status.html See a detailed entry timeline: http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a1/fdf/102entry.html FIRE ALARM SENDS STATION CREW SCRAMBLING ---------------------------------------- A fire alarm went off in the Destiny laboratory module of the international space station Monday. It turned out to be a false alarm, but it shut down ventilation systems, computers dropped off line and the station's new crew was unable to find the documentation needed to reactive critical systems. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a1/010319falsealarm/ SPACE STATION MIR TO REMAIN ALOFT FOR AN EXTRA DAY -------------------------------------------------- Russian space officials have postponed the deorbiting of the Mir space station by 24 hours to Friday. The decision to delay the reentry was caused by lower than expected descent rate of the station in the upper atmosphere. http://spaceflightnow.com/mir/010319date/ LOCKMART'S ATHENA ROCKET WELCOMED BACK AT NASA ---------------------------------------------- Lockheed Martin's Athena rocket, facing a very uncertain future after being left out of a NASA launch services contract two years ago, received favorable news from the space agency Monday. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/20athena/ STARDUST COMET PROBE'S VISION GETS FUZZY AGAIN ---------------------------------------------- In December, Stardust, the mission to Comet Wild 2 to capture dust particles and return them to Earth, cleared a coating that was clouding its camera optics by applying heat. Today, team members are investigating the reappearance of the coating, which is similar to the frost on a car windshield. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/20stardust/ ORBITAL PICKED TO BUILD THREE TV SATELLITES FOR PANAMSAT -------------------------------------------------------- PanAmSat has announced a new multi-spacecraft agreement with Orbital Sciences Corporation for the development of the next generation of Galaxy cable satellites. The contract solidifies Orbital as a major supplier in the world market for GEO communications satellites. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/20oscpas/"}, {"response": 377, "author": "alyeska", "date": "Wed, Mar 21, 2001 (22:06)", "body": "That %#*&%*# shuttle woke me up this morning at 2:30. I thought a tree had fallen on the house, it was so loud. When I got awake enough to start to think I realized what it was but the blasted thing raised me right up out of the bed. When it hits the earth's atmosphere it sounds like someone set off a pair of cannons in the back yard. This time it must have entered right over Polk county. Pleasant dreams."}, {"response": 378, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Mar 22, 2001 (12:36)", "body": "Grumble grumbel - I'll trade you a few earthquakes and a volcanic eruption to hear that and watch a launch...*sighing with envy* Thanks for reporting! New Aurora Photos + A Geomagnetic Activity Alert Space Weather News for March 21, 2001 http://www.spaceweather.com AURORA PHOTOS: The intensity of this week's strong geomagnetic storm surprised many forecasters. Nevertheless, quick-witted photographers around the world were able to capture beautiful photos of the aurora borealis. You can see some of the best images in our March 20th aurora gallery. GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY WARNING: Coronal mass ejections that left the Sun on March 19th and 20th could buffet Earth's magnetosphere before the weekend. Our planet may also be heading for an encounter with a solar wind stream. Together these events could trigger another round of geomagnetic activity. NEAR-EARTH ASTEROID: A newly-discovered asteroid will pass by Earth on March 23rd four and a half times farther away than the Moon. There's no danger of a collision, but the space rock (about the size of a football field) will be close enough for amateur astronomers to spy through properly-equipped telescopes. For more information please visit http://www.spaceweather.com"}, {"response": 379, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Mar 22, 2001 (12:46)", "body": "Staying Cool on the ISS NASA Science News for March 21, 2001 In a strange new world where hot air doesn't rise and heat doesn't conduct, the International Space Station's thermal control systems maintain a delicate balance between the deep-freeze of space and the Sun's blazing heat. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast21mar_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 380, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Mar 22, 2001 (13:40)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Thursday, March 22, 2001 @ 1650 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now FINAL HOURS COUNTING DOWN FOR SPACE STATION MIR ----------------------------------------------- The space station Mir -- a relic of the once grand Soviet space program that later served as a stepping stone to today's world cooperation in orbit -- is making its final laps around Earth. http://spaceflightnow.com/mir/status.html STATION PIONEERS BACK ON EARTH AFTER HISTORIC VOYAGE ---------------------------------------------------- After a dramatic reversal of fortune, the shuttle Discovery dropped out of orbit and glided to a pre-dawn landing at the Kennedy Space Center Wednesday, bringing the international space station's first full-time crew back to Earth after a 141-day space odyssey. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a1/010321land/ NASA CONTINUES PROTESTING SPACE JOYRIDE OF DENNIS TITO ------------------------------------------------------ NASA managers vow to continue efforts to convince their Russian counterparts not to launch U.S. millionaire Dennis Tito to the international space station next month, saying the would-be space tourist has not been properly trained and represents a clear safety threat to the multi-billion-dollar station and its crew. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/20tito/ RUSSIA STANDS FIRM ON TITO; COSMONAUTS RESUME TRAINING ------------------------------------------------------ The Russian Aviation and Space Agency ordered the Russian Soyuz taxi crewmembers to resume training at the Johnson Space Center on Tuesday but remained adamant that Dennis Tito would fly with to the space station with or without NASA's consent. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/20tito/russianreax.html DEEP SPACE 1 PROBE LOADS UP FOR TREK TO COMET --------------------------------------------- NASA's Deep Space 1 spacecraft, sailing through the solar system today, has taken delivery of a new cargo: the latest software for its ambitious encounter with Comet Borrelly this September. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/21ds1/ BLINKING STAR EXPLAINS MYSTERY ABOARD GALILEO --------------------------------------------- When a star tracker on NASA's Galileo spacecraft temporarily lost a star being used as a reference point for monitoring the spacecraft's attitude, engineers suspected an aberration in the equipment, not in the star. After all, this particular star is one of the 50 brightest in the sky. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/22galblink/ X-RAY TELESCOPE PROVIDES WEALTH OF DATA ABOUT COMET --------------------------------------------------- Most of their time is spent frozen in the outer reaches of the solar system. But when these balls of ice and dust, which we know as comets, decide to make an appearance, the spectacle is often grandiose. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/22comet/ POLAR TELESCOPE SIGHTS FIRST HIGH-ENERGY NEUTRINOS -------------------------------------------------- A novel telescope, buried deep in the Antarctic ice at the South Pole, has become the first instrument to detect and track high-energy neutrinos from space, setting the stage for a new field of astronomy that promises a view of some of the most distant, enigmatic and violent phenomena in the universe. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/22polar/ NASA ASTROBIOLOGY INSTITUTE ANNOUNCES NEW TEAMS ----------------------------------------------- NASA has selected four new teams to become part of the agency's Astrobiology Institute (NAI), a national and international research consortium that studies the origin, evolution, distribution and future of life on Earth and in the universe. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/21astrobio/"}, {"response": 381, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Mar 23, 2001 (15:07)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Friday, March 23, 2001 @ 1624 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now MIR DIVES INTO PACIFIC ---------------------- The 15-year odyssey of the Russian space station Mir ended in an extraordinary fireball in Earth's atmosphere today. Fiery debris rained down on the South Pacific Ocean after a successful controlled reentry of the station. http://spaceflightnow.com/mir/status.html DELTA 2 ROCKET PICKED TO LAUNCH QUICKBIRD 2 SATELLITE ----------------------------------------------------- A commercial eye-in-the-sky with better vision than any other Earth imaging satellite will be lofted into space by a Boeing Delta 2 rocket this fall, officials announced Thursday. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/23quickbird2/ WHITE DWARFS SHED LIGHT ON DARK MATTER -------------------------------------- Some of the invisible \"dark matter\" that makes up most of the mass of our galaxy may be in the form of previously undetected white dwarf stars, astronomers reported this week. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/23darkmatter/ LAUNCH SCHEDULE UPDATES ----------------------- Our Worldwide Launch Schedule is updated regularly to reflect the latest news on human and unmanned rocket flights planned from spaceports around the globe. Today you can find out about newly announced delays for this June's space shuttle mission and the next two Titan 4 rocket launches. http://spaceflightnow.com/tracking/"}, {"response": 382, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Mar 23, 2001 (15:27)", "body": "---------------------------------------------------------- / PHYSICSWEB: E-mail alert \\ ( http://PhysicsWeb.org ) ========================================================== ---------------------------------------------------------- | News ========================================================== * First sighting of dark matter: (22 Mar) Astronomers have seen dark matter directly for the first time. Ben Oppenheimer of the University of California at Berkeley and colleagues in the US and UK have discovered a new kind of white dwarf that could account for up to a third of the 'dark' matter in the Universe. The extremely dim burnt-out stars were found in the 'galactic halo' that surrounds the Milky Way. Oppenheimer's team believes they represent part of the invisible matter - proposed to exist 70 years ago - that binds together galaxies and galaxy clusters with its gravitational pull (B R Oppenheimer et al 2001 Science at press). [ http://PhysicsWeb.org/article/news/5/3/10 ] ----------------------------------------------------------"}, {"response": 383, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Mar 24, 2001 (17:47)", "body": "Beam it Down, Scotty! NASA Science News for March 23, 2001 Solar power collected in space and beamed to Earth could be an environmentally friendly solution to our planet's growing energy problems. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast23mar_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 384, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Mar 28, 2001 (13:57)", "body": "Cannibal Coronal Mass Ejections NASA Science News for March 27, 2001 Fast-moving solar eruptions that overtake and devour their slower-moving kin can trigger long-lasting geomagnetic storms --and dazzling auroras-- when they strike Earth's magnetosphere. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast27mar_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 385, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Mar 28, 2001 (14:05)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Tuesday, March 27, 2001 @ 0754 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now NASA AND MILITARY CONTINUE SEARCH FOR MARS LANDER ------------------------------------------------- NASA said Monday that it would begin a joint review with a military mapping agency to investigate images that may have pinpointed the location for the lost Mars Polar Lander spacecraft. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/27mpl/ NASA TESTS ROCKET MODEM USING GLOBALSTAR SATELLITES --------------------------------------------------- Imagine a day when self-diagnostic tools allow future rockets to phone home with vital information about their condition, location and performance. NASA engineers believe the technology could replace expensive ground systems, reducing the cost of space flight. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/25modem/ U.S. NAVY SATELLITE TO LAUNCH ATOP ATLAS 3 ROCKET ------------------------------------------------- Lockheed Martin's Atlas 3 rocket will be used to loft the U.S. Navy's eleventh satellite for the UHF Follow-On communications network, officials announced Monday. Scheduled for blastoff in 2003 from Cape Canaveral, the commercial mission will be managed under the auspices of International Launch Services. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/27atlas3uhf/ SPACE TELESCOPE USING MEMBRANES STUDIED --------------------------------------- Lockheed Martin has been contracted by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to conduct a study on a low-mass membrane telescope for NASA's New Millennium Program. The telescope concept would allow construction of an orbiting observatory with reduced weight and cost. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/26dart/ FINAL CREW MEMBERS NAMED TO HUBBLE OVERHAUL MISSION --------------------------------------------------- Three astronauts have been named to complete the STS-109 crew already in training for a mission that will feature five spacewalks to upgrade NASA's Hubble Space Telescope in late 2001. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/27sts109crew/ NASA NAMES FUTURE SPACE STATION EXPEDITION CREWS ------------------------------------------------ As the Expedition Two crew gets settled aboard the International Space Station, American crew members for future space station missions have begun formal training to meet launch dates, beginning in 2002. The 14 astronauts, six assigned to primary crews and eight assigned to backup crews. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/24expcrews/ MOVEMENT OF EARTH'S CRUST CAN BE DETECTED WITH GPS -------------------------------------------------- The same type of technology used by motorists to help them navigate city roadways can now be used to detect and measure the smallest movements in the Earth's crust, an international group of scientists has found. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/25gps/ TRW TO CONDUCT GOES-R WEATHER SATELLITE STUDY --------------------------------------------- TRW's weather systems business took another step forward with the award of a contract to study how to accommodate advanced sensors onto the next series of Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites, starting with GOES-R, for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/27goesr/ VETERAN SATELLITE TESTBED GETS NEW LEASE ON LIFE ------------------------------------------------ A NASA experimental satellite that completed its mission to test futuristic communications technologies has been given to a university-led consortium for use in educational studies. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/24acts/ STUDENT EXPERIMENTS TO FLY HIGH THANKS TO NASA ---------------------------------------------- A NASA education program will give high school students from across the country the opportunity for their dreams to literally take flight when experiments designed by the students fly on either a Space Shuttle or sub-orbital rocket. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/24kidexp/ NEW NASA 'TRAFFIC LIGHT' ACCELERATES COMPUTERS ---------------------------------------------- A new \"traffic light\" for computers, originally developed by NASA scientists, offers the potential to increase their speed and efficiency by prioritizing computer programs. The Portable Batch System enables system administrators to specify the order in which individual programs should be processed. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/26comp/"}, {"response": 386, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Mar 28, 2001 (14:08)", "body": "QUICK SPACE - Detecting Planet Killers as a Sideline http://www.spacedaily.com/news/deepimpact-01c.html - Finding Your Own Cloud Nine http://www.spacedaily.com/news/future-01b.html - India In High-Stakes Bid To Join Global Satellite Launch Club http://www.spacedaily.com/news/india-01b.html - Home, Space Home http://www.spacedaily.com/news/iss-01m.html - NASA And NIMA Continue Joint Review Of Mars Polar Lander Search Analysis http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-polar99-01a.html - Engineering a Better Faster Risotto http://www.spacedaily.com/news/oped-01a.html - A Constellation Of Orbital Power http://www.spacedaily.com/news/ssp-01b.html - World's Largest Plasma Wind Tunnel Reaches Completion http://www.spacedaily.com/news/windtunnels-01a.html ------------------ HEADLINES IN BRIEF March 27, 2001 ---------- SPACEGUARD - Detecting Planet Killers as a Sideline http://www.spacedaily.com/news/deepimpact-01c.html Paris (ESA) March 27, 2001 - A 100 metre-wide space rock known as 2001 EC16 paid a passing visit to Earth's vicinity last Friday. As it swept by at a little over 1.7 million km from Earth - approximately four and a half lunar distances - the only people to pay it much attention were a dedicated band of astronomers. ---------- TECH SPACE - Finding Your Own Cloud Nine http://www.spacedaily.com/news/future-01b.html Pasadena - March 26, 2001 - In the continuous quest to find cost-effective methods to explore the planets, NASA engineers have risen to the occasion by developing a variety of new balloon methods inspired by centuries-old, solar-heated hot-air balloons, as well as by conventional helium light-gas balloons. ------------------- ADVERTISEMENT --------------------- The Door Is Open To Cutting Edge Technologies MSU TechLink can help your company develop strategic partnerships between Department of Defense laboratories and aerospace companies in the Northwest. Partnering with DoD will help leverage R&D investments and enhance commercialization opportunities. Visit Techlink Today -- http://techlink.msu.montana.edu/aero.html -- ------------------------------------------------------- --------- SPACEMART - India In High-Stakes Bid To Join Global Satellite Launch Club http://www.spacedaily.com/news/india-01b.html Sriharikota (AFP) March 27 - 2001 - India will make its bid for membership of the exclusive global club of commercial satellite launchers on Wednesday with the long-awaited maiden mission of its newly-developed delivery rocket. The blandly-named Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) is the most technologically challenging project so far undertaken by the Indian space programme and carries the hopes and aspirations of thousands of scientists, engineers and industrialists. ------------ STATION NEWS - Home, Space Home http://www.spacedaily.com/news/iss-01m.html Huntsville - March 27, 2001 - Homes on Earth provide shelter from the wind and rain. But a home in Earth orbit must shield its occupants from the solar wind, and it must withstand a steady rain of dust-sized meteoroids, many moving faster than a speeding bullet! --------- MARSDAILY - NASA And NIMA Continue Joint Review Of Mars Polar Lander Search Analysis http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-polar99-01a.html Washington - March 26, 2001 - NASA and the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) today said researchers from the two agencies will continue a joint review of the initial results of NIMA's search for the missing Mars Polar Lander. This analysis is extremely challenging, and has thus far produced no definitive conclusions. ------------- OPINION SPACE - Engineering a Better Faster Risotto http://www.spacedaily.com/news/oped-01a.html Herndon - March 27, 2001 - One of my nephews, due to circumstances beyond his control, ended up for a while in a very selective school. While he is blessed with many wonderful attributes, superior academic achievement isn't, and may not ever be, one of them. The faculty, quickly realizing this, spent an entire academic year not attempting to rescue him from drowning in academic quicksand, but rather figuring out how to get him to leave. ------- \"SMALLER SATELLITES: BIGGER BUSINESS?\" ------ Strasbourg will be the setting for the International Space University's 6th Annual Symposium. This year's theme will be small satellites with an emphasis on concepts, applications and markets. Join some of the world's leading experts, manufacturers and users in interdisciplinary presentations and discussions on a wide variety of issues pertaining to small satellites Strasbourg - May 21-23 - 2001 --------- http://www.isunet.edu/Symposium/ ---------- SPACEMART - A Constellation Of Orbital Power http://www.spacedaily.com/news/ssp-01b.html Huntsville - March 27, 2001 - It's December 2000 and the governor of California flips a switch illuminating the state Christmas tree on the capital lawn. Twenty minutes later, he orders aides to pull the plug. Why? Statewide power shortages. ---------- TECH SPACE - World's Largest Plasma"}, {"response": 387, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Mar 28, 2001 (14:12)", "body": "Solar activity is on the rise... Space Weather News for March 27, 2001 http://www.spaceweather.com SOLAR ACTIVITY: In recent days the Boulder sunspot number has rocketed to 339, its highest level since July 2000. At least one large sunspot group has a complex magnetic field that could harbor energy for powerful solar flares. Forecasters estimate a 20% chance of an X-class eruption during the next 24 hours. AURORA WATCH: An interplanetary shock wave buffeted Earth's magnetosphere Tuesday morning and another may be following close behind. A coronal mass ejection that left the Sun on March 25th will arrive late Tuesday or Wednesday and possibly trigger additional geomagnetic disturbances. In recent days Alaskan sky watchers have enjoyed some of the best auroras of the current solar cycle. Check out our gallery of aurora photos for the latest images. For more information and updates, please visit http://www.spaceweather.com"}, {"response": 388, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Mar 28, 2001 (16:32)", "body": "-------------------------------------------- SPACEDAILY EXPRESS - March 28, 2001 ** forward SpaceDaily Express to a friend ** -------------------------------------------- ----------- QUICK SPACE - What Should We Tell The Universe? http://www.spacedaily.com/news/outerplanets-01c.html - US and Taiwan Go COSMIC Over Atmospheric Studies http://www.spacedaily.com/news/cosmic-01a.html - TechLink Helps Companies in Northwest Blast Into AeroSpace http://www.spacedaily.com/news/techlink-01a.html - Staying Cool on the ISS http://www.spacedaily.com/news/iss-01n.html - When Will Television Invades Mars http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-general-01b.html - Can Liquid Water Still Exist On Mars http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-water-science-01e.html - Failure IS an Option http://www.spacedaily.com/news/oped-01b.html ------------------ HEADLINES IN BRIEF March 28, 2001 ------------- SPACE SCIENCE - What Should We Tell The Universe? http://www.spacedaily.com/news/outerplanets-01c.html Pasadena - March 28, 2001 - NASA's embattled mission to Pluto and the Kuiper belt isn't on firm ground at the moment, but it's far from being totally dead. Even if the project is officially terminated in the short term, the possibility of resurrecting this mission in the future has not been eliminated. --------- SPACEMART - US and Taiwan Go COSMIC Over Atmospheric Studies http://www.spacedaily.com/news/cosmic-01a.html Boulder - March 28, 2001 - COSMIC is a joint U.S.-Taiwan scientific project, with a goal to launch a constellation of six microsatellites to collect atmospheric sounding measurements. The scientific foundation for COSMIC is the radio occultation (limb sounding) technique developed by JPL and Stanford University in the late 1960s to study planetary atmospheres. - TechLink Helps Companies in Northwest Blast Into AeroSpace http://www.spacedaily.com/news/techlink-01a.html Bozeman - March 27, 2001 - The TechLink Center at Montana State University is helping companies throughout the Northwest establish productive technology development and commercialization partnerships with NASA, the Department of Defense (DoD), and other federal agencies. ------------ STATION NEWS - Staying Cool on the ISS http://www.spacedaily.com/news/iss-01n.html Huntsville - March 28, 2001 - The universe is a place of wide extremes: light, dark.. wet, dry.. air, vacuum.. hungry, fed. Human life tends to flourish in the balance. We feel most comfortable in places that are not too hot or too cold, not too light or too dark -- in other words, places that are \"just right.\" --------- MARSDAILY - When Will Television Invades Mars http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-general-01b.html Miami - March 28, 2001 - If you like TV, you'll love the Mars Channel. Take your seats for the network premiere of interplanetary telly - Can Liquid Water Still Exist On Mars http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-water-science-01e.html Moffett Field - March 28, 2001 - In 1998, NASA's Associate Administrator Wesley Huntress, Jr., stated, \"Wherever liquid water and chemical energy are found, there is life. There is no exception.\" ------------- OPINION SPACE - Failure IS an Option http://www.spacedaily.com/news/oped-01b.html Boise - March 28, 2001 - In the months since the twin failures of the Mars Polar Lander and the Mars Climate Orbiter, NASA has profoundly changed the manner in which it applies the \"Faster, Better, Cheaper\" philosophy of space exploration. --------------------------------- SPACEDAILY EXPRESS LIST NOTES -------------------------------------------- SpaceDaily Express is issued daily and lists all new postings to www.SpaceDaily.com Subscription is free: subscribe@spacer.com or remove@spacer.com ------------------------------------------------"}, {"response": 389, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Mar 28, 2001 (17:25)", "body": "The Lure of Hematite: Curious deposits of rust on Mars hint at ancient water NASA Science News for March 28, 2001 On rusty-red Mars, a curious deposit of gray-colored hematite (a mineral cousin of common household rust) could hold the key to the mystery of elusive Martian water. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast28mar_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 390, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Mar 29, 2001 (20:51)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Thursday, March 29, 2001 @ 0705 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now IRIDIUM SYSTEM COMPLETES ITS MIRACLE RESURRECTION ------------------------------------------------- Back from the brink of impending destruction, the reborn Iridium telephone satellite system relaunched commercial service Wednesday as the network's new owners prepare to debut data relay services via the orbiting constellation in June. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/29iridium/ LAST-SECOND ABORT GROUNDS FIRST FLIGHT OF INDIAN ROCKET ------------------------------------------------------- India's newest rocket was one second away from launch Wednesday on its inaugural flight when computers detected a malfunctioning engine and aborted the liftoff. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/28gslvd1/ TWO SPACE PROBES SEE GIANT PLUMES ON VOLCANIC MOON IO ----------------------------------------------------- Two tall volcanic plumes and the rings of red material they have deposited onto surrounding surface areas appear in images taken of Jupiter's moon Io by NASA's Galileo and Cassini spacecraft in late December 2000 and early January 2001. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/28galcassio/ MASSIVE INFANT STARS ROCK THEIR CRADLE -------------------------------------- A new Hubble image has helped to decipher the complex interplay of gas and radiation of a star-forming region in a nearby galaxy. The image graphically illustrates just how these massive stars sculpt their environment by generating powerful winds that alter the shape of the parent gaseous nebula. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/29hubble/ NEW SKIES SELECTS BOEING SATELLITE TO EXPAND FLEET -------------------------------------------------- New Skies Satellites N.V. has ordered from Boeing a power-house communications spacecraft with 88 transponders that will provide a wide-range of television, internet and multi-media services across North America. Sea Launch has been tapped to loft the craft in 2003. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/29nss8/ BOEING SATELLITE ARM PICKS SEA LAUNCH FOR SPACEWAY -------------------------------------------------- Boeing Satellite Systems on Wednesday announced that a pair of Sea Launch Zenit 3SL rockets will carry the two Spaceway broadband communications spacecraft into orbit in 2002 and 2003. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/29spaceway/ SCIENTISTS UNRAVEL THE KINKS IN SOLAR WAVES ------------------------------------------- Kinks in the Sun's magnetic field have puzzled scientists since they first started studying the solar wind, and now researchers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory have found the reason: they are caused by the evolution of a type of magnetic wave called Alfven waves. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/29kinks/ AFTER LOFTING DESTINY, ASTRONAUTS VISIT WEST WING ------------------------------------------------- It was a Texas reunion of sorts at the White House Wednesday as the crew of STS-98 and their families got an opportunity to spend some time with the President of the United States. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/29sts98potus/ COLLIDING SOLAR ERUPTIONS PACK POWERFUL PUNCH --------------------------------------------- Fast-moving solar eruptions apparently overtake and often devour their slower kin. This discovery was made by a team of astronomers working with tandem NASA spacecraft. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/28cme/ SBIRS HIGH PAYLOAD SUCCESSFULLY PASSES KEY TEST ----------------------------------------------- Senior leaders from the Air Force recently observed a key test sequence of hardware for the next-generation missile warning satellite system known as SBIRS at the Lockheed Martin Sunnyvale facility. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/28sbirs/ HORMONE MAY PREVENT BONE BEING LOST IN SPACE -------------------------------------------- The reality of long-term space travel is raising questions about how to deal with the impact of long-term weightlessness on the body. Researchers say that one of the destructive results -- accelerated and significant loss of bone density -- may be thwarted by a hormone secreted by the gut to help the body use food as fuel. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/28bone/"}, {"response": 391, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Mar 30, 2001 (17:18)", "body": "Massive Sunspot May Lead to Geomagnetic Storms The Sun has developed the largest sunspot seen in 10 years according to images from SOHO, a satellite that monitors the Sun. The size of this enormous spot is equivalent to the total surface area of 13 Earths. The sunspot region has already produced a coronal mass ejection and a powerful solar flare, and these are likely to lead to geomagnetic storms. The worldwide network of Magnetic Observatories operated by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is monitoring the geomagnetic field that is expected to become quite disturbed as result of this solar activity. While geomagnetic storms give rise to the beautiful Northern lights, they can also pose a serious threat for commercial and military satellite operators, power companies, astronauts, and they can even shorten the life of oil pipelines in Alaska by increasing pipeline corrosion. Geomagnetic storms occur when plasma, a hot ionized gas of charged particles produced by eruptions on the Sun, impacts the Earth's magnetic field causing it to fluctuate wildly. These fluctuations cause currents to flow in conductors on the ground and in space. Solar eruptions can produce billions of tons of plasma traveling at speeds in excess of a million miles an hour. The first eruption should hit the Earth's magnetic field some time on Friday, March 30, and the second on Saturday. The geomagnetic field will likely become very active and there is a strong chance of Aurora sightings The USGS provides valuable geomagnetic data to a wide variety of users and organizations that are affected by geomagnetic storms. The agency operates a network of 14 magnetic observatories that continuously monitor the Earth's magnetic field. The data are collected in near-real time via satellite to a downlink center located in Golden, Colo., and provided to numerous customers including NOAA's Space Environment Center and the U.S. Air Force Space Command Center. Plots of the data from these observatories can be seen on-line at: http://geomag.usgs.gov/frames/plots.htm The SOHO satellite is operated jointly by the European Space Agency and NASA. As the nation's largest water, earth and biological science, and civilian mapping agency, the USGS works in cooperation with more than 2000 organizations across the country to provide reliable, impartial, scientific information to resource managers, planners, and other customers. This information is gathered in every state by USGS scientists to minimize the loss of life and property from natural disasters, to contribute to the conservation and the sound economic and physical development of the nation's natural resources, and to enhance the quality of life by monitoring water, biological, energy, and mineral resources. ### USGS ###"}, {"response": 392, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Mar 30, 2001 (20:02)", "body": "Back-to-School Time for Astrobiologists NASA Science News for March 30, 2001 NATO and NASA are joining forces to host an Advanced Study Institute for astrobiology in Crete, Sept 29-Oct 10, 2001. A diverse group of the world's most prominent scientists will share with students what they have learned lately about life in the Universe. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast30mar_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 393, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Mar 31, 2001 (17:44)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Saturday, March 31, 2001 @ 2029 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now ALPHA CREW PROMISES WARM WELCOME FOR TITO ----------------------------------------- The space station's crew will welcome U.S. millionaire Dennis Tito aboard Alpha next month if the Russians proceed with plans to launch him - over NASA's objections - as part of mission to deliver a fresh Soyuz lifeboat. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage6a/010330briefing/ LARGEST SUNSPOT IN 10 YEARS BLAZES AWAY WITH ERUPTIONS ------------------------------------------------------ A huge sunspot over a dozen times larger than the surface area of the Earth and growing, has now rotated with the Sun to face our planet. The sunspot, which is the largest of the current solar cycle, is also the largest to appear in a decade. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/31sunspot/ FIRST BLACK HOLE DISCOVERED IN GALACTIC HALO -------------------------------------------- A professor at the University of Southampton is part of an international team which has discovered a stellar mass black hole -- the first ever found in our galactic halo. This region of space lies above and below the main spiral arms of our galaxy, thousands of light years above the Milky Way galactic plane. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/31galactichalo/ A NEW MARTIAN ODYSSEY IS ABOUT TO BEGIN --------------------------------------- With memories of recent back-to-back failures still painfully fresh, NASA is leaving no stone unturned to make sure the $305 million Mars Odyssey probe makes it safely into orbit around the Red Planet later this year. The spacecraft is scheduled for launch April 7 atop a Boeing Delta 2 rocket. http://spaceflightnow.com/delta/d284/010330preview.html AIR FORCE MILSTAR 2 SATELLITE BEGINS ON-ORBIT TESTING ----------------------------------------------------- A combined MILSATCOM Joint Program Office/Lockheed Martin team has begun on-orbit testing of the first U.S. Air Force Milstar 2 communications satellite following the successful February 27 launch and activation of critical spacecraft systems. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/30milstar/ BOEING BOOKS ASTRA SATELLITE TO RIDE ARIANE 5 ROCKET ---------------------------------------------------- Arianespace, Boeing Satellite Systems and Societe Europeenne des Satellites (SES) have announced the signing of a contract to launch the Astra 3A telecommunications spacecraft on an Ariane 5 heavy-lift vehicle. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/30astra3a/ SBIRS FACILITY OPENS IN COLORADO -------------------------------- The Space and Missile Systems Center, Air Force Space Command and Lockheed Martin took a giant step toward building greater unity and teamwork as the Space Based Infrared Systems Combined Task Force opened Thursday at a ceremony in Boulder, Colo. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/30sbirs/ List-Subscribe:"}, {"response": 394, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Apr  3, 2001 (13:23)", "body": "A Record-Setting Solar Flare Space Weather News for April 3, 2001 http://www.spaceweather.com The biggest sunspot of the current solar cycle unleashed the most powerful solar flare in at least 12 years yesterday. The \"X17\" class eruption blasted a coronal mass ejection into space and triggered an ongoing solar radiation storm around our planet. For details and updates please visit http://SpaceWeather.com ."}, {"response": 395, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Apr  3, 2001 (13:38)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Tuesday, April 3, 2001 @ 0512 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now SUPERNOVA FOUND TO CONFIRM ACCELERATING UNIVERSE ------------------------------------------------ The serendipitous discovery of a distant supernova has confirmed that the universe is expanding at an accelerating rate because of the presence of a pervasive, mysterious \"dark energy,\" astronomers reported Monday. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0104/03supernova/ EXOTIC CO2 PROCESS MAY HAVE CARVED MARTIAN GULLIES -------------------------------------------------- Liquid carbon dioxide breakouts rather than water probably created the Martian gullies discovered last summer in high-resolution images from the Mars Global Surveyor orbiter camera, some scientists say. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0104/01co2gullies/ OBSERVATORY SEES VISTAS IN HEART OF ORION NEBULA ------------------------------------------------ A new astronomical instrument has been installed on the European Southern Observatory telescope at La Silla. It is well suited for studying the complex processes that take place in the innermost regions of star-forming clouds. Among the first images are some of the most penetrating, mid-infrared views ever obtained of the central region of the Orion Nebula. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0104/02orion/ NEW EXPLORERS: SELF-INFLATING SOLAR-HEATED BALLOONS --------------------------------------------------- In the continuous quest to find cost-effective methods to explore the planets, NASA engineers have risen to the occasion by developing a variety of new balloon methods inspired by centuries-old, solar-heated hot-air balloons, as well as by conventional helium light-gas balloons. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0104/03balloon/ COLD POLAR RINGS HELP FORM CLOUDS THAT DESTROY OZONE ---------------------------------------------------- Newly discovered, narrow rings of cold air over Earth's poles help form colorful clouds that destroy ozone, according to a new report. The ozone layer protects life on Earth from the sun's harmful ultraviolet radiation that could cause skin cancer in humans and biological damage to living things. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0104/02polarrings/ JUPITER RADIATION BELTS HARSHER THAN EXPECTED --------------------------------------------- New measurements from NASA's Cassini spacecraft indicate that any future spacecraft venturing very near Jupiter would be zapped by the radiation belts there even more severely than had been previously estimated. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0104/01jupbelts/ GALILEO CONTINUES REPLAY OF JOVIAN MOON DATA -------------------------------------------- There are no engineering activities scheduled this week, so the spacecraft can concentrate on playing back the data stored on the on-board tape recorder during its December flyby of Ganymede. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0104/03galileothisweek/ BOEING AND ALENIA SPAZIO SIGN TRADING AGREEMENT ----------------------------------------------- Officials from Boeing and Alenia Spazio signed an agreement whereby Boeing will purchase fuel tanks from Alenia Spazio for the upper stage of the Boeing Delta 2 launch vehicle. Alenia Spazio has agreed to purchase Delta launch services for its satellite program. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0104/02boeingalenia/"}, {"response": 396, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Apr  3, 2001 (13:51)", "body": "A Supernova Sheds Light on Dark Energy NASA Science News for April 3, 2001 A discovery by astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope supports the notion that the Universe is filled with a mysterious form of \"dark energy\" -- a possibility first proposed, then discarded, by Albert Einstein early in the last century. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast03apr_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 397, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Apr  4, 2001 (00:07)", "body": "Plumbing the Space Station NASA Science News for April 3, 2001 12:00:00 PM Nothing goes to waste on the International Space Station - nearly everything is recycled. What makes this ecologist's dream world work? Some of the fanciest plumbing in the solar system! FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast03apr_2.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 398, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Apr  4, 2001 (16:09)", "body": "Super-flare coronal mass ejection reaches Earth Space Weather News for April 4th 2001 http://www.spaceweather.com Monday's super solar flare hurled a coronal mass ejection (CME) into space that was mainly -- but not entirely -- directed away from Earth. The edge of the expanding CME passed our planet at approximately 1500 UT (11 am EST) on April 4th. Sky watchers should be alert for auroras after local nightfall. Almost certainly, this geomagnetic storm will be less intense than the one on March 31st that spawned \"Northern Lights\" as far south as Mexico. Nevertheless, isolated severe storms are possible. Check SpaceWeather.com for details and updates."}, {"response": 399, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Apr  6, 2001 (17:14)", "body": "Was Johnny Appleseed a Comet? NASA Science News for April 5, 2001 A new experiment suggests that comet impacts could have sowed the seeds of life on Earth billions of years ago. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast05apr_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 400, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Sat, Apr  7, 2001 (19:19)", "body": "Odyssey is on the way to Mars!"}, {"response": 401, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Apr  9, 2001 (21:21)", "body": "YES!!!! Up Up and Away!!!"}, {"response": 402, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Tue, Apr 10, 2001 (09:33)", "body": "http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/nm/20010406/imdf06042001011516a.jpg Hubble shot of galaxies intermingling."}, {"response": 403, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Tue, Apr 10, 2001 (09:33)", "body": "Eleven new planets (as reported by CNN): http://www.cnn.com/2001/TECH/space/04/05/new.planets/index.html?s=2"}, {"response": 404, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Tue, Apr 10, 2001 (09:34)", "body": "Really nice shot of the space station."}, {"response": 405, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Tue, Apr 10, 2001 (09:35)", "body": "And, since I'm on such a roll, here's the log of the space station for the last couple of months. If you really want the nitty gritty of what goes on up there."}, {"response": 406, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Apr 10, 2001 (19:42)", "body": "Here Comes the Sun (again!) Space Weather News for April 10, 2001 http://www.spaceweather.com A powerful X-class solar flare erupted Tuesday morning, triggering radio blackouts and a minor radiation storm. The explosion also hurled a coronal mass ejection (CME) toward Earth. Today's CME joins another already en route to our planet. Forecasters estimate a 25% chance of severe geomagnetic activity at middle latitudes when the CMEs arrive late Wednesday or Thursday. Sky watchers should be alert for auroras after sunset on Wednesday. Tune in to SpaceWeather.com for details and updates."}, {"response": 407, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Apr 10, 2001 (19:50)", "body": "Leafy Green Astronauts NASA Science News for April 9, 2001 NASA scientists are learning how to grow plants in space. Such far-out crops will eventually take their place alongside people, microbes and machines in self-contained habitats for astronauts. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast09apr_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 408, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Apr 10, 2001 (21:39)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Monday, April 9, 2001 @ 1427 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now ODYSSEY SPACECRAFT HEADS TO MARS IN SEARCH OF WATER --------------------------------------------------- When the 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft enters orbit around Mars later this year, it will kick off a restructured Mars science program that focuses on the search for water on the Red Planet, past and present. http://spaceflightnow.com/mars/odyssey/010408science.html On Sunday NASA gave an Odyssey status update: http://spaceflightnow.com/mars/odyssey/status.html INDIA RESCHEDULES DEBUT LAUNCH OF ITS GSLV ROCKET ------------------------------------------------- The first development launch of Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle has been set for April 18. The original launch attempt of GSLV was aborted one second before the liftoff on March 28 because an engine failed to develop the required thrust. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0104/09gslv/ NEW INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE TO STUDY OUR EXPLOSIVE SUN ------------------------------------------------------ Life on Earth would be impossible without the light and heat generated by our nearest star, the Sun. However, this giant ball of hydrogen and helium gas can affect our world in many different ways. Not surprisingly, scientists want to learn as much as possible about our erratic neighbor, so spacecraft that can observe the Sun continuously are essential tools. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0104/09solarb/ SPACECOM CHIEF: SPACE MUST BE TOP NATIONAL PRIORITY --------------------------------------------------- American military involvement in space will become more critical to national security in coming years, says U.S. Space Command's top officer Gen. Ralph E. Eberhart. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0104/09milspace/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- HUBBLE CALENDAR FOR 2001 -- AVAILABLE NOW! This remarkable calendar features stunning images of planets, stars, gaseous nebulae, and galaxies captured by NASA's orbiting Hubble Space Telescope, which is one of the most important scientific instruments of our time. http://astronomynowstore.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------- AOL USERS --------- The links below make it easier for AOL users to reach our stories. ODYSS EY SPACECRAFT HEADS TO MARS IN SEARCH OF WATER OUR MARS ODYSSEY MISSION STATUS CENTER INDIA RESCHEDULES DEBUT LAUNCH OF ITS GSLV ROCKET NEW INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE TO STUDY OUR EXPLOSIVE SUN SPACECOM CHIEF: SPACE MUST BE TOP NATIONAL PRIORITY"}, {"response": 409, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Apr 11, 2001 (00:59)", "body": "-------------------------------------------- SPACEDAILY EXPRESS - April 9, 2001 ** forward SpaceDaily Express to a friend ** -------------------------------------------- ------------------ ADVERTISEMENT -------------------- The London Satellite Exchange - Buy or sell satellite capacity - Capacity on NewSat-I is available soon, and will provide attractive pricing combined with excellent coverage. The satellite is the former Palapa B2R, now in inclined orbit at 42.5 degrees East. Contact the traders +44 207 680 7268 -------------------- www.e-sax.com ------------------- ----------- QUICK SPACE - 2001 Mars Odyssey probe to launch new era in Mars exploration http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010406133440.2lt8wb65.html - India To Relaunch Failed Satellite Rocket April 18 http://www.spacedaily.com/news/india-01c.html - Russia launches new Proton rocket http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010407071752.r8b9p1f0.html - Endeavour Launch Set For April 19 http://www.spacedaily.com/news/shuttle-01h.html ---------------- MORE QUICK SPACE - A European Mars Moving Ahead http://www.spacedaily.com/news/marsexpress-01a.html - Search for water on Mars goes on http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010406133404.yb30ugde.html - From triumph to catastrophe: NASA's missions to Mars http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010406133339.ko8wpfcq.html - Space Critical For US Forces http://www.spacedaily.com/news/milspace-01k.html - A Nukeless Ukraine Backs Current ABM Treaty Arrangements http://www.spacedaily.com/news/bmdo-01z.html - Russian General Touts Western Support For Euro-Shield http://www.spacedaily.com/news/bmdo-01za.html - Computer Security Threat Is Real Warns Space Command Chief http://www.spacedaily.com/news/cyberwar-01a.html - North Korea sold 540 missiles to Mideast countries: http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010406053343.iwdiyzpx.html - Delta IV RS-68 Engine Fires Up For Extended Test http://www.spacedaily.com/news/delta4-01c.html - EU launches satellite navigation system to rival GPS http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010405165455.zvkd6rgz.html - Bonnet Calls For More European Investment In Space Science http://www.spacedaily.com/news/esa-general-01a.html - Competition Heats Up For GLAST http://www.spacedaily.com/news/glast-01a.html - Japan to join project to build giant space telescope http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010406085455.zrbfuo02.html - Tropical Ocean Warming Driving Recent Northern Climate Change http://www.spacedaily.com/news/greenhouse-01l.html - Understanding Two Big Ice Cubes http://www.spacedaily.com/news/icesat-01a.html - Hitchhiking Molecules On Comets Can Survive Impacts With Earth http://www.spacedaily.com/news/life-01l.html - Man in space: \"the greatest event in the history of the world\" http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010407022221.l3jqoj70.html - 40 years after Gagarin, space remains the final frontier http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010407013005.kvns1a0k.html ------------------ HEADLINES IN BRIEF April 9, 2001 --------- MARSDAILY - A European Mars Moving Ahead http://www.spacedaily.com/news/marsexpress-01a.html London - April 9, 2001 - If you live in Europe, there's almost certainly a research institute or industrial company near you that is contributing materials or expertise to Mars Express, Europe's first mission to the Red Planet. ----------------------- MARS 2001 LAUNCH SEASON - 2001 Mars Odyssey probe to launch new era in Mars exploration http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010406133440.2lt8wb65.html - Search for water on Mars goes on http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010406133404.yb30ugde.html - From triumph to catastrophe: NASA's missions to Mars http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010406133339.ko8wpfcq.html -------- SPACEWAR - Space Critical For US Forces http://www.spacedaily.com/news/milspace-01k.html Washington - April 9, 2001 - American military involvement in space will become more critical to national security in coming years, said U.S. Space Command's top officer. - A Nukeless Ukraine Backs Current ABM Treaty Arrangements http://www.spacedaily.com/news/bmdo-01z.html Kiev (Interfax) April 8, 2001 - Ukraine is convinced that the ABM Treaty, the nucleus of the existing strategic arms limitation system, must be preserved, well-known Ukrainian military expert and Chairman of the State Commission for the Defense-Industrial Complex Vladimir Gorbulin writes in an article published by the Ukrainian newspaper Zerkalo Nedeli on Saturday. - Russian General Touts Western Support For Euro-Shield http://www.spacedaily.com/news/bmdo-01za.html Moscow (Interfax) April 8, 2001 - Leonid Ivashov, the head of the Russian Defense Ministry's main department for international military cooperation, said the West has expressed an interest in Russia's proposals on the creation of a European ballistic missile defense system. - Computer Security Threat Is Real Warns Space Command Chief http://www.spacedaily.com/news/cyberwar-01a.html Washington - April 9, 2001 - The four-star general whose organization is responsible for DoD computer security says the \"c"}, {"response": 410, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Apr 11, 2001 (13:13)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Wednesday, April 11, 2001 @ 1433 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now GIOTTO'S LEGACY IN THE EXPLORATION OF COMETS -------------------------------------------- Almost 15 years ago, ESA's Giotto spacecraft made history by obtaining the first close-up pictures of a comet's black, icy nucleus. Recently scientists and engineers who worked on the pioneering deep space mission came together to reminisce about past triumphs and to look forward to the next generation of comet explorers. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0104/11giotto/ WHITE HOUSE PROPOSES $14.5B NASA BUDGET FOR '02 ----------------------------------------------- NASA administrator Dan Goldin said Monday that the agency faces \"difficult decisions\" in a number of programs in the near future despite a 2002 budget request that gives the agency a modest funding increase. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0104/10nasabudget/ XEUS: A NEW CONCEPT IN EXPLORING X-RAY UNIVERSE ----------------------------------------------- Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Or, in the case of the Universe, was it massive black holes or galaxies? To answer this question by studying black holes in the early Universe requires an extremely sensitive X-ray telescope. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0104/10xeus/ GALILEO BUSY BEAMING DATA ------------------------- Another quiet engineering week sees the spacecraft concentrate once again on data playback from the tape recorder. These data were recorded when Galileo flew through the depths of the Jupiter system last December. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0104/10galileothisweek/ XM SATELLITE RADIO LOOKS FORWARD TO NEXT LAUNCH ----------------------------------------------- XM Satellite Radio reports that its first spacecraft is performing well during initial testing and checkout in orbit while preparations continue for the launch of the sister digital radio broadcasting craft next month. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0104/11xmupdate/ GOES-M WEATHER SATELLITE ARRIVES IN FLORIDA FOR LAUNCH ------------------------------------------------------ The GOES-M environmental weather satellite, currently targeted for launch July 12, arrived Tuesday by C-5 air cargo plane at the Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility from the manufacturing plant in Palo Alto, Calif. http://spaceflightnow.com/atlas/ac142/010411arrive/ TRMM SATELLITE CRITICAL TOOL IN MONITORING HURRICANES ----------------------------------------------------- As the 2001 Hurricane Season approaches, forecasters will once again rely on high-resolution rain data from a NASA satellite in its arsenal of tools used to monitor the size, location, and strength of hurricanes and tropical storms. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0104/10trmm/"}, {"response": 411, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Apr 11, 2001 (17:26)", "body": "Severe geomagnetic storming on Wednesday, April 11th Space Weather News for April 11, 2001 http://www.spaceweather.com A strong solar wind disturbance hit our planet's magnetosphere around 1400 UT (noon EDT) on Wednesday, April 11th, triggering a severe geomagnetic storm. If the storm continues unabated, middle-latitude sky watchers could spot auroras tonight. Usually the best time to look for \"Northern Lights\" is around local midnight. In this case, it might be better to go outside not too long after sunset -- before the storm subsides and before the bright Moon rises. Visit spaceweather.com for updates and images from the ongoing storm."}, {"response": 412, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Apr 11, 2001 (17:53)", "body": "Severe geomagnetic storming on Wednesday, April 11th (corrected) Space Weather News for April 11, 2001 http://www.spaceweather.com A strong solar wind disturbance hit our planet's magnetosphere between 1300 and 1400 UT (9 to 10 a.m. EDT) on Wednesday, April 11th, triggering a severe geomagnetic storm. If the storm continues unabated, middle-latitude sky watchers could spot auroras tonight. Usually the best time to look for \"Northern Lights\" is around local midnight. In this case, it might be better to go outside not too long after sunset -- before the storm subsides and before the bright Moon rises. Visit spaceweather.com for updates and images from the ongoing storm. NOTE: Some subscribers may have received an earlier version of this announcement citing an incorrect time for the onset of the geomagnetic storm. This updated notice is correct. ---"}, {"response": 413, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Apr 12, 2001 (13:16)", "body": "-------------------------------------------- SPACEDAILY EXPRESS - April 12, 2001 ** forward SpaceDaily Express to a friend ** -------------------------------------------- MAIN SPACE - Russia Clears Tito For April 28 Flight To ISS http://www.spacedaily.com/news/tourism-01m.html - Japan's Space Agencies Under Mounting Pressure To Merge http://www.spacedaily.com/news/japan-general-01a.html - Defense Satellite Concerns May Kill SingTel Takeover of Optus http://www.spacedaily.com/news/optus-01a.html - Indonesia to launch telecom satellite in 2003 http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010411032252.ki5wswmd.html ---------- MORE SPACE - Space legend lives on as Russia remembers Gagarin http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010411031049.gab5towd.html - Soviet Space Feats http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010411024158.zx661hjx.html - NASA's space shuttle program turns 20 http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010411192826.dt8sx63k.html - Russia launches space conference despite snub by US, Britain http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010411153526.0egmlwn3.html - Russia mulls rapid reaction force for missile defense shield http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010410180103.z8jb5zmj.html - Cuban Missile Crisis Veterans Warn of \"Nuclear Folly\" http://www.spacedaily.com/news/icbm-01f.html - Cooperation, not confrontation serves Europe-US relations better http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010412020629.61wrczzo.html - Concerned world looks on as Bush pursues foreign policy agenda http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010412024051.z4pp0bts.html ------------------ HEADLINES IN BRIEF April 12, 2001 ------------ SPACE TRAVEL - Russia Clears Tito For April 28 Flight To ISS http://www.spacedaily.com/news/tourism-01m.html Moscow - April 11, 2001 - Russian space officials have announced the go ahead for Dennis Tito's flight to the space station via a Soyzu-TM taxi flight set for liftoff April 28. NASA remains opposed to the flight, but realizes it has little option but to accept the unilateral move by Russia to commercialize the station ahead of its own belated plans. ----------- JAPAN SPACE - Japan's Space Agencies Under Mounting Pressure To Merge http://www.spacedaily.com/news/japan-general-01a.html Tokyo - April 11, 2001 - Japan's three major space agencies have taken the first tentative steps to a possible merger later this decade with an agreement to establish an initial joint program office to coordinate launch vehicle development, along with the sharing of ground facilities such as tracking stations and IT support services. ------------- SPACE HISTORY - Space legend lives on as Russia remembers Gagarin http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010411031049.gab5towd.html Gagarin - (AFP) Apr 11, 2001 - Russians above a certain age can remember exactly where they were and what they were doing when they heard that Yury Gagarin had died. And as with US president John F. Kennedy, the circumstances of the cosmonaut's death are shrouded in uncertainty, giving rise to outlandish conspiracy theories. - Soviet Space Feats http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010411024158.zx661hjx.html - NASA's space shuttle program turns 20 http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010411192826.dt8sx63k.html Washington (AFP) Apr 11, 2001 - NASA marks 20 years of space shuttle flights Thursday -- an era of remarkable successes tainted by the tragedy of the Challenger explosion -- amid uncertainty over the future of the program. YURI'S NIGHT - Man in space: \"the greatest event in the history of the world\" http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010407022221.l3jqoj70.html - Key dates in the history of space flight http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010407013207.yyf5ftfl.html - 40 years after Gagarin, space remains the final frontier http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010407013005.kvns1a0k.html - Cosmonauts biographies published in Gagarin anniversary volume http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010406165110.gcrajr7s.html - Official Celebration Site http://www.yurisnight.net --------- SPACEMART - Defense Satellite Concerns May Kill SingTel Takeover of Optus http://www.spacedaily.com/news/optus-01a.html Sydney - April 11, 2001 - A takeover bid of Australia's number two telecom carrier Cable and Wireless Optus, by Singapore's majority state owned telecom firm SingTel is under growing pressure following concerns over a conflict of interest. - Indonesia to launch telecom satellite in 2003 http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010411032252.ki5wswmd.html Jakarta (AFP) Apr 11, 2001 - The state-run PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia (PT Telkom) is planning to launch its Telkom-2 telecommunications satellite in 2003 to replace the Palapa B4, a report said Wednesday. -------- SPACEWAR - Russia launches space conference despite snub by US, Britain http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010411153526.0egmlwn3.html Moscow (AFP) Apr 11, 2001 - An international conference aimed at outlawing a military build-up in space opened here Wednesday amid Russian anger that the United States and Britain had apparently snubbed a forum held at President Vladimir Putin's initiative. - Russia mulls rapid"}, {"response": 414, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Apr 13, 2001 (00:03)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Friday, April 13, 2001 @ 0257 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now MOLECULES HITCHHIKING ON COMETS MAY SURVIVE IMPACTS --------------------------------------------------- Simulating a high-velocity comet collision with Earth, a team of scientists has shown that organic molecules hitchhiking aboard a comet could have survived such an impact and seeded life on this planet. The results give credence to the theory that the raw materials for life came from space and were assembled on Earth into the ancestors of proteins and DNA. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0104/13molecules/ ODYSSEY'S LAUNCH PUT SPACECRAFT ON GOOD COURSE ---------------------------------------------- NASA has decided to postpone the first trajectory tweaking maneuver by the 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft that was envisioned for next Monday, officials announced Thursday. http://spaceflightnow.com/mars/odyssey/status.html EXPEDITION TWO CREW WORKS AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL --------------------------------------------- The international space station's Expedition Two Crew spent this week loading the Progress supply craft with trash and unneeded items in preparation for its undocking next week to clear the aft port on the Zvezda module for the relocation of the Soyuz capsule. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/status.html ACCIDENT DELAYS COSMOS 1 SOLAR SAIL PROJECT LAUNCH -------------------------------------------------- The Planetary Society disclosed Wednesday that it's plans to launch a solar sail demonstration satellite later this month would be delayed indefinitely due to a testing accident that damaged the spacecraft. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0104/12cosmos1/ SUN TAKES ANOTHER SOLAR SHOT, THIS TIME AT EARTH ------------------------------------------------ An angry Sun fired off another powerful X-class flare Tuesday. X-class flares are the most powerful classification, and this flare, rated X-2, was the most recent in a series that included one of the most powerful solar blasts in 25 years. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0104/12flare/ FIRST MEASUREMENTS MADE OF COLD WATER IN MILKY WAY -------------------------------------------------- The search for water in space goes on. Using ESA's Infrared Space Observatory, astronomers have for the first time measured the total amount of water in cold regions of our galaxy. This is especially interesting because these regions are the birthplace of stars like the Sun, and Solar Systems like our own. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0104/12coldwater/ NASA TO TRACK MORE ASTEROIDS WITH NEW CAMERA -------------------------------------------- Asteroid search efforts got a boost from a new, improved camera installed this week for NASA's Near Earth Asteroid Tracking system on the 1.2-meter Oschin telescope at the Palomar Observatory near San Diego, Calif. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0104/13neat/ NEW WAY TO STUDY EVOLUTION OF WHITE DWARF STARS ----------------------------------------------- The Joint Astrophysical Plasmadynamic Experiment (J-PEX) recently launched successfully on a NASA sounding rocket. The J-PEX objective is to produce the first high-resolution spectrum of a white dwarf star at extreme ultraviolet (EUV) wavelengths. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0104/13jpex/ PRATT TO DEVELOP NEW UPPER STAGE ROCKET ENGINE ---------------------------------------------- Pratt & Whitney Space Propulsion operations announced this week its plans to begin development of a full-scale engine demonstrator for a next generation high-performance liquid-hydrogen-fueled 60,000 pound-thrust-class rocket engine, designated the RL60. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0104/12rl60/"}, {"response": 415, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Apr 13, 2001 (12:52)", "body": "Interplanetary shock wave passes Earth, triggers magnetic storm Space Weather News for April 13, 2001 http://www.spaceweather.com AURORA ALERT: An interplanetary shock wave struck Earth's magnetosphere early on Friday the 13th and triggered a strong geomagnetic storm. Forecasters anticipate that a second shock wave will arrive later Friday or Saturday, possibly intensifying the ongoing disturbance. Middle-latitude sky watchers should remain alert for auroras after local sunset. AURORA GALLERY: A pair of coronal mass ejections that hit Earth's magnetosphere on April 11th sparked an intense display of auroras. Sky watchers in the United States saw \"Northern Lights\" as far south as the New Mexico-Texas border. Check out our aurora gallery for more than 50 images of the storm. Visit http://SpaceWeather.com"}, {"response": 416, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Apr 13, 2001 (16:09)", "body": "Life as We (Didn't) Know It NASA Science News for April 13, 2001 Biologists always thought life required the Sun's energy, until they found an ecosystem that thrives in complete darkness. A team of scientists including members of the NASA Astrobiology Institute are sailing the high seas on a daring expedition to explore this strange new world -- right here on our own planet. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast13apr_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 417, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Apr 14, 2001 (17:58)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Saturday, April 14, 2001 @ 1750 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now A VIRTUAL COLUMBIA ON ITS 20TH ANNIVERSARY ------------------------------------------ Spaceflight Now toured the space shuttle Columbia at the Kennedy Space Center this week to mark the 20th anniversary of its maiden flight and captured the scene in two virtual reality panoramas. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0104/14ov102/ EUROPE GOES TO MARS ------------------- If you live in Europe, there's almost certainly a research institute or industrial company near you that is contributing materials or expertise to Mars Express, Europe's first mission to the Red Planet. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0104/14marsexpress/ TURNING DIAMOND FILM INTO SOLAR CELLS ------------------------------------- Timothy Fisher is taking a Tiffany's approach to converting sunlight into electricity: with a $348,000 grant from National Reconnaissance Office, the assistant professor of mechanical engineering is exploring the use of polycrystalline diamond as a replacement for the silicon solar cells currently used in many space applications. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0104/14diamondarrays/"}, {"response": 418, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Apr 16, 2001 (19:04)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Monday, April 16, 2001 @ 1651 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now SHUTTLE ASTRONAUTS ARRIVE IN FLORIDA FOR LAUNCH ----------------------------------------------- Astronauts representing four countries -- the most diverse for any one crew -- flew to Kennedy Space Center today in preparation for blastoff aboard space shuttle Endeavour on Thursday bound of the international space station. Meanwhile, a Russian cargo ship undocked from the station earlier today. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/status.html STS-100 MISSION THEATER IS NOW OPEN ----------------------------------- Sign up today for Spaceflight Now's Mission Theater Package, your front row seat for video coverage of shuttle Endeavour's mission to deliver the Canadian-made robotic arm to the International Space Station. You will gain access to online video clips, plus receive an embroidered mission patch like those worn by the astronauts and a VHS tape featuring the daily mission highlights and additional launch and landing footage. http://spaceflightnow.com/theater/sts100/pack.html CLIMATE CHANGE LINKED TO ANOMALY IN EARTH'S ORBIT ------------------------------------------------- About 23 million years ago, a huge ice sheet spread over Antarctica, temporarily reversing a general trend of global warming and decreasing ice volume. Now a team of researchers has discovered that this climatic blip corresponded with a rare combination of events in the pattern of Earth's orbit around the Sun. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0104/16anomaly/ X-40A CRAFT PAVES WAY FOR NASA'S X-37 SPACE PLANE ------------------------------------------------- The X-40A vehicle successfully performed a second free flight test on April 12 at Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards, Calif. The X-40A was lifted by an Army Chinook helicopter and released. The craft made a smooth touchdown shortly thereafter. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0104/15x40a/ ANTIBIOTIC EXPERIMENT HEADING FOR SPACE STATION ----------------------------------------------- The University of Colorado at Boulder-based BioServe Space Technologies Center is sending an intriguing biomedical experiment to the international space station April 19 to test the effects of long-term weightlessness on antibiotic production. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0104/15issbioserve/ NASA SHOWS EARTH'S GLOBAL HEAT ENGINE DRIVING PLANTS ---------------------------------------------------- Scientists at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center have assembled the first long-term global data set that demonstrates the connection between changing patterns of sea surface temperature and patterns of plant growth across the Earth's landscapes. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0104/15plantgrowth/"}, {"response": 419, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Apr 17, 2001 (14:27)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Tuesday, April 17, 2001 @ 1508 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now STATION TO GROW TWO-HANDED ARM DURING SHUTTLE VISIT --------------------------------------------------- The shuttle Endeavour stands poised for blastoff Thursday on the most complex space station assembly flight yet attempted, a two-spacewalk mission to install a $900 million Canadian robot arm able to move around the station's exterior like a 58-foot-long mechanical inchworm. Read our multi-part mission preview! http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage6a/010416preview/ See the astronauts' master flight plan: http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage6a/fdf/100plan.html LAUNCH COUNTDOWN CONTINUES SMOOTHLY ----------------------------------- Endeavour's countdown began on schedule Monday evening and continued smoothly overnight. NASA officials report there are no technical problems standing in the way of liftoff on Thursday. You can follow the three-day countdown in our Mission Status Center: http://spaceflightnow.com/station/status.html STS-100 MISSION THEATER IS NOW OPEN ----------------------------------- Sign up today for Spaceflight Now's Mission Theater Package, your front row seat for video coverage of shuttle Endeavour's mission to deliver the Canadian-made robotic arm to the International Space Station. You will gain access to online video clips, plus receive an embroidered mission patch like those worn by the astronauts and a VHS tape featuring the daily mission highlights and additional launch and landing footage. http://spaceflightnow.com/theater/sts100/pack.html CONTRACTS AWARDED FOR MARS SAMPLE RETURN STUDIES ------------------------------------------------ NASA's Mars Exploration Program has awarded four industry team contracts to conduct initial studies of specific implementation scenarios for a first Mars sample return mission that might be launched as early as 2011. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0104/17marssample/ NANOTECHNOLOGY GETS A BOOST --------------------------- In the forefront of nanotechnology development, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory has acquired one of the world's finest electron beam lithography systems, one that will allow researchers to work on the sub-molecular scale. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0104/17nanotech/"}, {"response": 420, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Apr 17, 2001 (14:36)", "body": "-------------------------------------------- SPACEDAILY EXPRESS - April 17, 2001 ** forward SpaceDaily Express to a friend ** -------------------------------------------- -------------- Micro Satellite Tender --------------- COSMIC is a joint U.S.-Taiwan scientific project that will use a constellation of six microsatellites to collect atmospheric sounding measurements. Industry partners to build and deliver six GPS receivers, six solid-state recorders plus payload computers are now being sought by the University Corporation. ----------- http://www.ucar.cosmic.edu/ ------------ ----------- QUICK SPACE - US space tourist flies to Baikonur to try out spacesuit http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010416133936.mnpr8ga4.html - India Set For Second Launch Bid http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010417011036.jwv9erln.html - Diamonds In The Sun http://www.spacedaily.com/news/solarcell-01b.html - Endeavour Launch Set For April 19 http://www.spacedaily.com/news/shuttle-01h.html - Turning Stars Into Gold http://www.spacedaily.com/news/neutron-star-01a.html - Satellite Industry Turns Over $80 Billion Annually http://www.spacedaily.com/news/satellite-biz-01e.html - Mutual Inspection Of Compliance For Missile Destruction Treaty Ends http://www.spacedaily.com/news/icbm-01g.html ------------------ HEADLINES IN BRIEF April 17, 2001 --------- SPACEMART - India Set For Second Launch Bid http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010417011036.jwv9erln.html Bangalore (AFP) April 17, 2001 - The India Space Research Organization was counting down Tuesday for its second attempt at launching a new rocket that carries the country's hopes of entering the commercial launch market. Countdown began early Monday with take-off scheduled for 3:43 pm (1013 GMT) Wednesday. - Satellite Industry Turns Over $80 Billion Annually http://www.spacedaily.com/news/satellite-biz-01e.html New York - April 9, 2001 - The Satellite Industry Association (SIA) latest annual survey found a 17 percent increase in revenues for 2000, with the commercial satellite industry now generating over $80 billion in revenues annually. ---------- TECH SPACE - Diamonds In The Sun http://www.spacedaily.com/news/solarcell-01b.html Nashville - April 10, 2001 - Timothy Fisher is taking a Tiffany's approach to converting sunlight into electricity: with a $348,000 grant from National Reconnaissance Office, the assistant professor of mechanical engineering is exploring the use of polycrystalline diamond as a replacement for the silicon solar cells currently used in many space applications. ------------- SPACE SCIENCE - Turning Stars Into Gold http://www.spacedaily.com/news/neutron-star-01a.html Leicester - April 15, 2001 - Many common elements, such as oxygen and carbon, are known to be made in stars and distributed through the Universe when a star explodes as a supernova. This is the origin of most of the material that makes up the Earth. -------- SPACEWAR - Mutual Inspection Of Compliance For Missile Destruction Treaty Ends http://www.spacedaily.com/news/icbm-01g.html Almaty (Interfax) April 11, 2001 - The United States, Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus and Ukraine will end on May 31, 2001 the mutual inspection activities that have lasted for 13 years to check compliance with the treaty on elimination of medium and shorter range missiles. --------------------- YESTERDAY'S HEADLINES - Final Decision On Tito Flight Tuesday http://www.spacedaily.com/news/tourism-01n.html - Was The Big Bang A Big Bump http://www.spacedaily.com/news/cosmology-01b.html - Can Europe's RLV Plans Rise Like A Phoenix http://www.spacedaily.com/news/rlv-01c.html - Delayed Funding Could Torpedo Russia's ISS Contribution http://www.spacedaily.com/news/iss-01q.html - NASA Beefs Up Asteroid Tracking With NEAT New Camera http://www.spacedaily.com/news/asteroid-01d.html - Violet Will Enable Chips Of Ultra New Level http://www.spacedaily.com/news/chip-tech-01a.html - Climate Wobble Linked To Rare Anomaly In Earth's Orbit http://www.spacedaily.com/news/iceage-01a.html - Khrunichev Space Center To Supply Rocket Boosters To India http://www.spacedaily.com/news/india-01d.html"}, {"response": 421, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Apr 17, 2001 (18:37)", "body": "Solving Charles Darwin's 'Abominable Mystery' NASA Science News for April 17, 2001 About 130 million years ago the first flowering plants suddenly appeared -- an event Charles Darwin described as an 'abominable mystery.' Now, scientists using chemical fossils are unraveling this ancient puzzle. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast17apr_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 422, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Apr 18, 2001 (16:23)", "body": "The Amazing Canadarm2 NASA Science News for April 18, 2001 9:00:00 AM Crawling around the International Space Station like an agile worm, the newest Canadian robotic arm will be essential for building and maintaining the ISS. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast18apr_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 423, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Apr 18, 2001 (16:25)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Wednesday, April 18, 2001 @ 1519 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now EXPEDITION TWO CREW LEAVES STATION FOR SHORT TRIP ------------------------------------------------- For the Expedition Two astronauts today wasn't just another day aboard their orbiting outpost. The three-person crew left the station for a short time to move their escape capsule to a different docking port. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/status.html STATION TO GROW TWO-HANDED ARM DURING SHUTTLE VISIT --------------------------------------------------- The shuttle Endeavour stands poised for blastoff Thursday on the most complex space station assembly flight yet attempted, a two-spacewalk mission to install a $900 million Canadian robot arm able to move around the station's exterior like a 58-foot-long mechanical inchworm. Read our multi-part mission preview! http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage6a/010416preview/ STS-100 MISSION THEATER IS NOW OPEN ----------------------------------- Sign up today for Spaceflight Now's Mission Theater Package, your front row seat for video coverage of shuttle Endeavour's mission to deliver the Canadian-made robotic arm to the International Space Station. You will gain access to online video clips, plus receive an embroidered mission patch like those worn by the astronauts and a VHS tape featuring the daily mission highlights and additional launch and landing footage. http://spaceflightnow.com/theater/sts100/pack.html NEW INDIAN ROCKET MAKES SUCCESSFUL INAUGURAL FLIGHT --------------------------------------------------- India's fledgling space program experienced a major boost Wednesday as the maiden Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle took to the skies and successfully delivered an experimental communications satellite into orbit. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0104/18gslv/ MOON'S DARK SIDE YIELDS CLUES TO EARTH'S CLIMATE ------------------------------------------------ Scientists have revived and modernized a nearly forgotten technique for monitoring Earth's climate by carefully observing \"earthshine,\" the ghostly glow of the dark side of the moon. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0104/18earthshine/ PROGRESS REPORT ON GALILEO -------------------------- The pace of activity onboard NASA's Galileo spacecraft picks up a bit this week during the relatively quiet cruise portion of an orbit in order to maintain the health of the thrusters and of the tape recorder for when they are needed the most -- during the intense activities of the close satellite encounters. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0104/18galileothisweek/"}, {"response": 424, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Apr 23, 2001 (04:00)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Monday, April 23, 2001 @ 1514 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now TWO ROBOTIC ARMS AT WORK IN SPACE TODAY --------------------------------------- The Canadarm2 took its first step today by detaching one hand from its launch container and grabbing the international space station's Destiny module. Endeavour's robot arm is also in use today, hoisting the Raffaello cargo module for docking to the station. See our Status Center for live updates: http://spaceflightnow.com/station/status.html CANADA'S ROBOT ARM INSTALLED ON STATION --------------------------------------- The Canadian-made space station robotic arm was attached to the orbiting outpost by spacewalking astronauts Sunday and moved its joints for the first time in space. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage6a/010422fd4/ PROBE SHOWS EROS' SURFACE THE RESULT OF IMPACTS ----------------------------------------------- NEAR mission science team members have concluded that the majority of the small features that make up the surface of asteroid Eros more likely came from an unrelenting bombardment from space debris than internal processes. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0104/23near/ ESA AND CHINESE EXPLORE JOINT SPACE MISSION ------------------------------------------- A new East-West scientific collaboration recently took a further step towards acceptance when a group of European Space Agency delegates and space scientists travelled to Beijing to meet their Chinese counterparts. Under discussion was possible European participation in a dual-spacecraft mission known as Double Star. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0104/23esachina/ PANAMSAT LANDS IN KAZAKHSTAN FOR LAUNCH --------------------------------------- PanAmSat announced that the company's new PAS-10 Indian Ocean Region satellite has arrived in Kazakhstan in preparation for its May launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. PAS-10 will be rocketed into space aboard a Proton launch vehicle and will provide digital video, data and Internet services throughout a 30-million square mile footprint. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0104/23pas10/"}, {"response": 425, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Apr 23, 2001 (06:24)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Sunday, April 22, 2001 @ 0910 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now ACTION-PACKED DAY AHEAD IN SPACE FOR ASTRONAUTS ----------------------------------------------- The Canadian-made space station robotic arm, folded up in a pallet, is scheduled for attachment onto the orbiting outpost today as two spacewalking astronauts step outside Endeavour for a dramatic 6.5-hour excursion to assemble the $900 million limb. We have complete live coverage in the Status Center: http://spaceflightnow.com/station/status.html See the astronauts' detailed timeline: http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage6a/fdf/100plan.html ENDEAVOUR ARRIVES AT SPACE STATION TO DELIVER ROBOT ARM ------------------------------------------------------- Shuttle skipper Kent Rominger guided Endeavour to a glacial docking with the international space station Saturday as the two spacecraft sailed 243 miles above the south Pacific Ocean at five miles per second. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage6a/010421fd3/ A WRINKLE IN SPACE MAY GROUND LIGHTWEIGHT MIRRORS ------------------------------------------------- Inflatable structures are ideal for many space applications, but very small wrinkles may make enormous mirrors impractical, says a researcher. Wrinkles make the polymer membranes currently used for space-based inflatable structures unsuitable for use as mirrors. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0104/22inflate/ HONING IN ON IMPACT OF NUCLEAR EXPLOSIONS IN SPACE -------------------------------------------------- Determining how nuclear explosions in space affect U.S. defense systems is what an Arnold Engineering Development Center team hope to determine using its new plasma radiation source \"cold\" X-ray test capability. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0104/21nukes/ NEW SPIN PUT ON MYSTERY OF MISSING SOLAR NEUTRINOS -------------------------------------------------- Every day the sun spews out subatomic particles called neutrinos, and instruments count how many make their way to Earth. But the instruments only detect half as many neutrinos as scientists expected to see. Where did all the neutrinos go? In recent years, scientists worldwide have converged on an answer. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0104/21neutrinos/ PRINCETON SCIENTISTS DESIGN TELESCOPE FOR NASA CONTEST ------------------------------------------------------ It is possible that human beings are only a decade away from finding out whether or not it is alone in the Universe, and Princeton University is playing a large role in this potential discovery. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0104/22planetfinder/"}, {"response": 426, "author": "CherylB", "date": "Mon, Apr 23, 2001 (12:24)", "body": "There was a theory concerning the extinction of the dinosaurs being linked to the appearance of flowering plants. It seems that the dinosaurs digestive systems weren't up to handling the new type of plants, consequently they died off from really bad constipation, more or less."}, {"response": 427, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Apr 23, 2001 (17:15)", "body": "Thanks for reposting that - I went back to the old url to try to see what I could retrieve. You saved me from having to do that. I will repeat Terry's cooment that it will likely end up as part of a Jay Leno routine. Look Ma -- No Hands! Containerless Processing at MSFC NASA Science News for December , 20 Using a force field to float molten test samples precisely in mid-air, NASA's Electrostatic Levitator creates a unique environment for space-age materials processing. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast23apr_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 428, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Apr 24, 2001 (11:04)", "body": "QUICK SPACE - Global Hawk Makes Historic First Unmanned Flight To Australia http://www.spacedaily.com/news/uav-01d.html - Boeing Signs Brazil For Delta 4 Comsat Launch http://www.spacedaily.com/news/delta4-01d.html - Astronauts work aboard space station http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010423214916.zwg7bj0k.html - Space tourist to make trip despite US reluctance: Russia http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010423202630.dx0jsorn.html - Space tourist Tito \"happiest man in the world\" http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010423143724.hbl3b49r.html - Human Evolution Punctuated By Cosmic Impacts http://www.spacedaily.com/news/asteroid-01e.html - Nanotechnology Gets A Boost With Purchase Of EB System At JPL http://www.spacedaily.com/news/chip-tech-01b.html - Boeing Rocketdyne RS-68 Engine Triumphs In 10k Run http://www.spacedaily.com/news/delta4-01e.html - Air Pollution Control Could Impact Global Warming Trends http://www.spacedaily.com/news/greenhouse-01m.html - Wetter Upper Atmosphere May Delay Global Ozone Recovery http://www.spacedaily.com/news/ozone-01d.html ------------------ HEADLINES IN BRIEF April 24, 2001 -------- SPACEWAR - Global Hawk Makes Historic First Unmanned Flight To Australia http://www.spacedaily.com/news/uav-01d.html Adelaide - April 23, 2001 - The United States\ufffd Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Global Hawk made international aviation history Monday when it completed the first non-stop flight across the Pacific Ocean by an autonomous aircraft, flying from Edwards Air Force Base on the west coast of the U.S. to RAAF Base Edinburgh, South Australia - Raytheon To Develop And Validate Milstar Upgrade For SMART-T http://www.spacedaily.com/news/milstar-01b.html --------------------------------------------- - Advertise On SpaceDaily For One Year - $12,600 All Inclusive http://www.spacedaily.com/ad-deals-to-go.html email: advertise@spacer.com --------------------------------------------- --------- SPACEMART - Boeing Signs Brazil For Delta 4 Comsat Launch http://www.spacedaily.com/news/delta4-01e.html Huntington Beach - April 23, 2001 - Boeing and Space Systems/Loral officials confirmed today that a Brazilian telecommunications satellite will be launched on a Delta IV rocket next year. The launch of Estrela do Sul, which will provide telecommunications services to North and South America, is scheduled for launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., during the second half of 2002. Loral Skynet will operate the satellite built by Space Systems/Loral. - Boeing Rocketdyne RS-68 Engine Triumphs In 10k Run http://www.spacedaily.com/news/delta4-01d.html Canoga Park - April 23, 2001 - The Rocketdyne RS-68 engine, being developed by The Boeing Company for the Delta IV family of launch vehicles, has achieved a major milestone in logging more than 10,000 seconds of accumulated hot-fire test time. The engine program is on track for first launch of the Delta IV in early 2002. ------------ STATION NEWS - Astronauts work aboard space station http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010423214916.zwg7bj0k.html - Space tourist to make trip despite US reluctance: Russia http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010423202630.dx0jsorn.html - ISS fitted out with Canadian, Italian contributions http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010423181730.0jjqfkdn.html - No decision on controversial space tourist flight: NASA http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010423160942.ke7mv69v.html - NASA agrees to controversial space tourist flight http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010423152617.20stzgko.html - Space tourist Tito \"happiest man in the world\" http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010423143724.hbl3b49r.html ---------- SPACEGUARD - Human Evolution Punctuated By Cosmic Impacts http://www.spacedaily.com/news/asteroid-01e.html Liverpool - April 24, 2001 - The theory of gradual and uninterrupted human evolution has been called into question after two researchers found that human evolution has been repeatedly punctuated by large-scale cosmic catastrophes. ---------- TECH SPACE - Nanotechnology Gets A Boost With Purchase Of EB System At JPL http://www.spacedaily.com/news/chip-tech-01b.html Pasadena - April 23, 2001 - In the forefront of nanotechnology development, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., has acquired one of the world's finest electron beam lithography systems, one that will allow researchers to work on the sub-molecular scale. ---------- TERRADAILY - Air Pollution Control Could Impact Global Warming Trends http://www.spacedaily.com/news/greenhouse-01m.html Irvine - April 23, 2001 - Climate researchers are warning that efforts to reduce air pollution could, if not well designed, make global warming worse. Limiting emissions of man-made nitrogen oxides, a strategy to control ozone in the lower atmosphere, would result in increased methane abundance and lead to additional greenhouse warming. - Wetter Upper Atmosphere May Delay Global Ozone Recovery http://www.spacedaily.com/news/ozone-01d.html Greenbelt - April 23, 2001 - NASA research has shown that increasing "}, {"response": 429, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Apr 24, 2001 (11:05)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Tuesday, April 24, 2001 @ 1734 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now SPACEWALKERS PLAY ELECTRICIANS OUTSIDE STATION ---------------------------------------------- Endeavour astronauts Chris Hadfield and Scott Parazynski have embarked a 6.5-hour spacewalk today to re-wire the Canadarm2 so it can operate from its new home on hull of the international space station's Destiny lab module. We have live coverage in the Status Center: http://spaceflightnow.com/station/status.html THE RATIONALE BEHIND OUR MISSION THEATER ---------------------------------------- MARS ODYSSEY TAKES SNAPSHOT OF EARTH ------------------------------------ NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft turned its multipurpose camera homeward last week and took its first picture -- a shot of a faint crescent Earth -- as the spacecraft heads off toward its destination, the planet Mars. http://spaceflightnow.com/mars/odyssey/010424earth/ TWO U.S. COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITES SUFFER DISRUPTIONS ----------------------------------------------------- Loral's Telstar 6 and PanAmSat's Galaxy 3R telecommunications satellites each went dark for a time over the weekend due to internal computer failures. Both craft, however, were working on backup systems by Monday. Telstar 6 story: http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0104/24telstar6/ Galaxy 3R story: http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0104/24g3r/ ALCATEL TO BUILD NEW GE CRAFT; ILS TO LAUNCH THEM ------------------------------------------------- France-based Alcatel Space has signed a contract with International Launch Services (ILS) for launch of two spacecraft for GE American Communications Inc. in 2002 and 2003. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0104/24geils/ GALILEO UNDERGOES CALIBRATION ----------------------------- This week on NASA's Galileo spacecraft in orbit around Jupiter sees the continuation of the set of instrument calibrations that began on Sunday. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0104/24galileothisweek/"}, {"response": 430, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Apr 25, 2001 (17:06)", "body": "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: The Webcast NASA Science News for April 25, 2001 Astrobiologists are visiting the Indian Ocean to explore a bizarre undersea ecosystem that doesn't need sunlight to flourish. You can join them via a live webcast on April 26th! FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast25apr_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 431, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Apr 25, 2001 (17:08)", "body": "-------------------------------------------- SPACEDAILY EXPRESS - April 25, 2001 ** forward SpaceDaily Express to a friend ** -------------------------------------------- ---------------- Space Transportation Summit --------------- The 2001 World Summit on the Space Transportation Business brings together the key players of the space launch industry to focus on the principal strategic issues of the business -- http://www.euroconsult-ec.com/web/space/space_h_ws.htm -- Hotel Inter-Continental Thursday 17 & Friday 18 May 2001 Paris ------------------------------------------------------------ ----------- QUICK SPACE - India's experimental satellite runs into minor snags http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010424155415.dnahk40o.html - Canadarm2's Installation Complete During Hadfield's Second Spacewalk http://www.spacedaily.com/news/iss-01s.html - \"Space tourist\" delighted with NASA green light http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010425085931.47nejdq1.html - Russia To Propose Non-Strategic Missile Defense For Europe http://www.spacedaily.com/news/bmdo-01zc.html - China To Develop Civil Satellite Technology Base http://www.spacedaily.com/news/china-01zb.html - Boeing Signs Brazil For Delta 4 Comsat Launch http://www.spacedaily.com/news/delta4-01e.html - Boeing Rocketdyne RS-68 Engine Triumphs In 10k Run http://www.spacedaily.com/news/delta4-01d.html - Eutelsat Order New GEO Bird From Astrium http://www.spacedaily.com/news/satellite-biz-01f.html - Malaysian satellite operator gets backdoor listing in takeover bid http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010425071737.lahvh8qk.html ---------------- MORE QUICK SPACE - Tito To Take Space Taxi To ISS http://www.spacedaily.com/news/tourism-01q.html - Green light given for space tourist's trip: NASA http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010425022847.xqathrhl.html - Endeavour astronauts complete second spacewalk http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010425022352.xs5ov87d.html - Keep Galileo's Eyes Open, Say Petitioning Scientists http://www.spacedaily.com/news/galileo-01g.html - Japan To Test Hyper Plane At Woomera http://www.spacedaily.com/news/japan-hyperx-01a.html - MAP Spacecraft Arrives At KSC To Begin Launch Preparations http://www.spacedaily.com/news/map-01a.html - Impacts Shaped Eros Topography http://www.spacedaily.com/news/near-01n.html - 15 years later, nuclear industry struggles with Chernobyl's legacy http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010425030348.wg469tva.html - Thinning of ozone layer over Arctic eases: meteorological agency http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010424143450.wnhc31hf.html ------------------ HEADLINES IN BRIEF April 25, 2001 --------- SPACEMART - Boeing Signs Brazil For Delta 4 Comsat Launch http://www.spacedaily.com/news/delta4-01e.html Huntington Beach - April 23, 2001 - Boeing and Space Systems/Loral officials confirmed today that a Brazilian telecommunications satellite will be launched on a Delta IV rocket next year. The launch of Estrela do Sul, which will provide telecommunications services to North and South America, is scheduled for launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., during the second half of 2002. Loral Skynet will operate the satellite built by Space Systems/Loral. - Boeing Rocketdyne RS-68 Engine Triumphs In 10k Run http://www.spacedaily.com/news/delta4-01d.html Canoga Park - April 23, 2001The Rocketdyne RS-68 engine, being developed by The Boeing Company for the Delta IV family of launch vehicles, has achieved a major milestone in logging more than 10,000 seconds of accumulated hot-fire test time. The engine program is on track for first launch of the Delta IV in early 2002. - Eutelsat Order New GEO Bird From Astrium http://www.spacedaily.com/news/satellite-biz-01f.html Paris - April 23, 2001 - Eutelsat has signed contracts with Astrium Space Industries for the delivery of a new satellite called W3A. The procurement of this new 50-transponder spacecraft will meet Eutelsat's ambitions to consolidate its market position in Europe for multimedia services, reinforce its expansion path into Africa and strengthen its in-orbit redundancy programme. - Malaysian satellite operator gets backdoor listing in takeover bid http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010425071737.lahvh8qk.html - India's experimental satellite runs into minor snags http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010424155415.dnahk40o.html ------------------ ADVERTISEMENT -------------------- The London Satellite Exchange - Buy or sell satellite capacity - Capacity on NewSat-I is available soon, and will provide attractive pricing combined with excellent coverage. The satellite is the former Palapa B2R, now in inclined orbit at 42.5 degrees East. Contact the traders +44 207 680 7268 -------------------- www.e-sax.com ------------------- ------------ STATION NEWS - Canadarm2's Installation Complete During Hadfield's Second Spacewalk http://www.spacedaily.com/news/iss-01s.html Saint-Hubert - April 24, 2001 - Canadian Space Agency Astronaut Chris Hadfield and NASA's Scott Parazynski stepped out of the Shuttle Endeavour f"}, {"response": 432, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Apr 25, 2001 (17:10)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Wednesday, April 25, 2001 @ 1319 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now NASA LOSES BID TO STOP JOYRIDE FLIGHT OF DENNIS TITO ---------------------------------------------------- Faced with no options, the NASA-led panel that manages the International Space Station granted the Russians an exemption on Tuesday to fly tourist Dennis Tito to the orbital outpost. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/soyuz2s/010424titogo/ TITO ARRIVES IN BAIKONUR ------------------------ Aspiring space tourist Dennis Tito and his two Russian crewmates are at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan today in preparation for launch aboard a Soyuz spacecraft on Saturday. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/soyuz2s/010424titogo/index2.html SPACE STATION SUFFERS COMPUTER TROUBLES TODAY --------------------------------------------- Problems with two command and control computers aboard the international space station have delayed the start of today's robot arm operations. The station's new robot arm is supposed to be put to the test today, maneuvering a 3,000-pound cargo pallet about to make sure it can do the heavy lifting required for future assembly flights. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/status.html SPACEWALKERS PLAY ELECTRICIANS OUTSIDE STATION ---------------------------------------------- Two spacewalking electricians wired the international space station's new robot arm into the lab's power grid Tuesday, completing the $900 million crane system's initial installation after extensive troubleshooting to activate an initially dead backup circuit. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage6a/010424fd6/ HUBBLE MAKES POPULAR OBSERVATION FOR ITS BIRTHDAY ------------------------------------------------- Rising from a sea of dust and gas like a giant seahorse, the Horsehead nebula is one of the most photographed objects in the sky. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope took a close-up look at this heavenly icon. The detailed view was released to celebrate the orbiting observatory's eleventh anniversary. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0104/25horsehead/ NEW SATELLITE TO REINFORCE EUTELSAT'S EXPANSION PATHS ----------------------------------------------------- Eutelsat has announced that it has signed a contract with Astrium Space Industries for the delivery of a new satellite called W3A. The 50-transponder spacecraft will meet Eutelsat's ambitions to consolidate its market position in Europe for multimedia services, reinforce its expansion path into Africa and strengthen its in-orbit redundancy program. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0104/25w3a/"}, {"response": 433, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Apr 27, 2001 (05:32)", "body": "The Mysterious Case of Crater Giordano Bruno NASA Science News for April 26, 2001 A band of 12th century sky watchers saw something big hit the Moon 800 years ago. Or did they? A new study suggests the event was a meteoritic trick of the eye. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast26apr_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 434, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Apr 27, 2001 (05:33)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Thursday, April 26, 2001 @ 2346 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now STATION COMPUTER FAILURES DELAY SHUTTLE DEPARTURE ------------------------------------------------- Mission managers have decided to keep shuttle Endeavour docked to the international space station two extra days, as controllers struggle to regain use of the command computers in the Destiny lab. Earlier this afternoon two more computers unexpectedly shut down. With the station computers crippled, NASA has requested that the Russians postpone Saturday's planned launch of the Soyuz spacecraft carrying U.S. space tourist Dennis Tito. Follow this developing story our space station mission status center: http://spaceflightnow.com/station/status.html Tito's Soyuz rocket was rolled to the launch pad early Thursday: http://spaceflightnow.com/station/soyuz2s/010426rollout/"}, {"response": 435, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Apr 27, 2001 (08:35)", "body": "The Transparent Sun NASA Science News for April 27, 2001 Giant sunspot 9393 is making a rare second transit across the face of the Sun. Its unusual reappearance came as no surprise to scientists who tracked the behemoth by peering right through our star! Now, thanks to SOHO instrument teams, you too can see the hidden side of the Sun on the internet. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast27apr_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 436, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Apr 28, 2001 (07:10)", "body": "Weekend Aurora Watch Space Weather News for April 27, 2001 http://www.spaceweather.com AURORA WATCH: Giant sunspot 9393 unleashed a powerful solar flare and hurled a coronal mass ejection (CME) into space on Thursday, April 26. The CME will probably hit Earth's magnetosphere on Saturday or, perhaps, early Sunday. NOAA forecasters estimate a 10% chance of a major geomagnetic storm at middle latitudes. Stay tuned to http://SpaceWeather.com for updates."}, {"response": 437, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Apr 30, 2001 (12:11)", "body": "Tourist Tito boards international space station NEWSALERT: Monday, April 30, 2001 @ 1435 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now SPACE TOURIST TITO CHECKS IN AT THE 'HOTEL ALPHA' ------------------------------------------------- The Soyuz TM-32 spacecraft carrying U.S. millionaire space tourist Dennis Tito and two cosmonaut crewmates successfully docked with the international space station today as the two vehicles sailed 240 miles above central Asia. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage6a/010430fd12/"}, {"response": 438, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Apr 30, 2001 (12:13)", "body": "-------------------------------------------- SPACEDAILY EXPRESS - April 30, 2001 ** forward SpaceDaily Express to a friend ** -------------------------------------------- Hi Folks, We have been busy the past week moving servers and were unable to send out the newsletter until today. If you have any problems with accessing SpaceDaily.com this week please let us know. Thanks, Simon Mansfield ----------- QUICK SPACE - Technique Detects When Satellites Are Low On Fuel http://www.spacedaily.com/news/fuel-01d.html - Galileo Forges Ahead With New Release Of Funds http://www.spacedaily.com/news/gps-euro-01d.html - Clues To The Universe From Canada's First Microsatellite http://www.spacedaily.com/news/microsat-01d.html - Intelligent Nanostructures React To Environmental Changes http://www.spacedaily.com/news/nanotech-01g.html - A Wrinkle In Space May Ground Lightweight Mirrors http://www.spacedaily.com/news/ngst-01b.html - College Students Take Once-In-A-Lifetime Ride On Vomit Comet http://www.spacedaily.com/news/tourism-01r.html - MicroMachines Key To Maintaining Large Space Structures http://www.spacedaily.com/news/nanotech-01h.html - Gazkom Plans To Launch Two New Yamal Satellites In 2002 http://www.spacedaily.com/news/launcher-russia-01f.html - ESA May Consider Soyuz Launches From Kourou Space Center In November http://www.spacedaily.com/news/launcher-russia-01g.html - Test Facility Hones In On Impact Of Nuclear Explosions In Space http://www.spacedaily.com/news/radiation-01c.html - Japanese consortium sets up satellite launch venture http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010426023507.rnaf0mq7.html - China plans to launch space telescope in 2005 http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010425145037.5h9g2d9v.html - Arabsat to look into launch on world stage http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010428175141.c85qq0gc.html ------------------ HEADLINES IN BRIEF April 30, 2001 ---------- TECH SPACE - Technique Detects When Satellites Are Low On Fuel http://www.spacedaily.com/news/fuel-01d.html West Lafayette - April 25, 2001 - A computer model originally applied to such theoretical problems as understanding the mathematics behind soap bubble formation could be worth millions of dollars for companies that operate communications satellites. - A Wrinkle In Space May Ground Lightweight Mirrors http://www.spacedaily.com/news/ngst-01b.html Fayetteville - April 25, 2001 - Inflatable structures are ideal for many space applications, but very small wrinkles may make enormous mirrors impractical., says a University of Arkansas researcher. Bob Reynolds, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, has determined that wrinkles make the polymer membranes currently used for space-based inflatable structures, such as reflectors or communications antennae, unsuitable for use as mirrors. ---------- NANO SPACE - MicroMachines Key To Maintaining Large Space Structures http://www.spacedaily.com/news/nanotech-01h.html Fayetteville - April 25, 2001 - Tiny micro electro-mechanical systems dubbed MEMS may be the key to maintaining giant space-based structures, according to U of A researchers Steve Tung and Larry Roe. Although space-based solar collectors or antenna arrays can be many square miles in size, tiny MEMS devices can keep them oriented correctly to ensure their long-term operation. - Intelligent Nanostructures React To Environmental Changes http://www.spacedaily.com/news/nanotech-01g.html Albuquerque - April 25, 2001 - Intelligent nanostructures that report on their environment by changing color from blue to fluorescent red under mechanical, chemical, or thermal stress have been created by researchers at Sandia National Laboratories and the University of New Mexico. -------------- MICROSAT BLITZ - Clues To The Universe From Canada's First Microsatellite http://www.spacedaily.com/news/microsat-01d.html Toronto April 25, 2001 - Clues to some of the universe's enduring mysteries could soon be captured, thanks to a space telescope and microsatellite set to go into space next year -- a Canadian first that is now being built by a team of U of T aerospace researchers. ------- \"SMALLER SATELLITES: BIGGER BUSINESS?\" ------ Strasbourg will be the setting for the International Space University's 6th Annual Symposium. This year's theme will be small satellites with an emphasis on concepts, applications and markets. Join some of the world's leading experts, manufacturers and users in interdisciplinary presentations and discussions on a wide variety of issues pertaining to small satellites Strasbourg - May 21-23 - 2001 --------- http://www.isunet.edu/Symposium/ ---------- --------- SPACEMART - Gazkom Plans To Launch Two New Yamal Satellites In 2002 http://www.spacedaily.com/news/launcher-russia-01f.html Moscow (Interfax) April 25, 2001 - Gazkom, the operator of the Gazprom satellite network, plans to launch two new Yamal communications satellites at the end of next year, company Deputy General Director Andrei Shestakov said at a conference of operators and users of "}, {"response": 439, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, May  2, 2001 (12:59)", "body": "The Crumbling Comet LINEAR A Space Weather News for May 2, 2001 http://www.spaceweather.com Yesterday astronomers reported that the nucleus of comet C/2001 A2 (LINEAR) has apparently split in two. This icy visitor from the outer solar system is growing in brightness as it approaches the Sun and could soon become a faint naked-eye object. Sky watchers with modest telescopes or binoculars can spot the fuzzy fragmenting comet near the feet of Orion after sunset. The comet is rapidly gliding toward southern skies, so southern hemisphere observers will enjoy the best views in the days and weeks ahead. For more information please visit http://www.spaceweather.com"}, {"response": 440, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, May  4, 2001 (00:55)", "body": "Any discussion of Dennis, the $10 million dollar spaceman? They had a funny parody on him on NPR this morning, his fake voice \"they're sening me home on this new re-entry vehcile, it's called \"tinfoil\" they say it's safe because it's over water, they tell me I should reach a pretty good speed.\" NASA definitely has been stodgy on space tourism, maybe this will loosen them up a bit."}, {"response": 441, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, May  4, 2001 (15:00)", "body": "The eta Aquarid meteor shower peaks this weekend Space Weather News for May 4, 2001 http://www.spaceweather.com This weekend our planet will pass through a trail of dusty debris from distant Comet Halley, triggering the annual eta Aquarid meteor shower. The nearly-full Moon will reduce the visibility of this year's eta Aquarid shower. Nevertheless, southern observers could spot as many as 10 meteors per hour before local dawn on Saturday and Sunday. Meteor enthusiasts can also try listening to the shower by tuning in to NASA's online meteor radar. For more information please visit http://SpaceWeather.com"}, {"response": 442, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, May  4, 2001 (15:06)", "body": "Funny you should ask, Terry: - US space tourist Tito denies causing problems on ISS http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010504112923.2pgei1tt.html I have avoided posting much about him. Not that I am not envious - he just annoys me. I watched his interview with Larry King. Eech!"}, {"response": 443, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, May  4, 2001 (15:55)", "body": "Seven Billion Miles and Counting Last week NASA received a weak signal from Pioneer 10, twice as far from the Sun as Pluto and speeding toward the constellation Taurus. The well-traveled spacecraft is currently exploring the outer heliosphere, but soon it will take on a new job: ambassador to the stars. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast03may_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 444, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, May  4, 2001 (15:57)", "body": "Space Weather on Mars Future human explorers of Mars can leave their umbrellas back on Earth, but perhaps they shouldn't forget their Geiger counters! A NASA experiment en route to the Red Planet aims to find out. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast01may_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 445, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, May  4, 2001 (15:58)", "body": "The Phantom Torso An unusual space traveler named Fred is orbiting Earth on board the International Space Station. His job? To keep astronauts safe from space radiation. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast04may_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 446, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, May  4, 2001 (16:00)", "body": "--------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now COMMERCIAL EXPERIMENTS UNDERWAY ABOARD STATION ---------------------------------------------- Three new commercial experiments are getting started on the international space station, marking a major milestone for NASA's Commercial Space Centers -- 17 centers across the United States that help industry conduct space experiments. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0105/04isscomm/ NASA ISSUES ENDEAVOUR DAMAGE REPORT ----------------------------------- Inspections have revealed space shuttle Endeavour suffered the expected number of debris hits during its just-completed voyage into orbit, NASA said Thursday. The shuttle is undergoing work to prepare for next week's cross-country trek from Edwards Air Force Base in California back to Kennedy Space Center in Florida. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/status.html ODDS OF PLANET FORMATION IN ORION NEBULA REDUCED ------------------------------------------------ In 1993, when the Hubble Space Telescope surveyed the Orion nebula for the first time, its images provided a substantial boost for the argument that stars with planetary systems are commonplace in the galaxy. Now, however, the most recent analyses of one the youngest, closest and brightest nebulae suggest that planets may be far rarer than thought. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0105/03orion/ FUTURE AIRCRAFT MIGHT MORPH ITS FEATURES IN FLIGHT -------------------------------------------------- A future aircraft might morph its wings, use smart sensors and actuators and more accurately mimic nature's methods of flight. NASA Administrator Dan Goldin described the aircraft as one of the linchpins of the Agency's aerospace research for the next 20 years. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0105/03morph/ COLLIDING GALAXIES PROVIDE CLUES TO STAR FORMATION -------------------------------------------------- By comparing computer simulations of a galaxy collision with actual observations, astronomers at the University of Illinois have found discrete star-formation episodes that may help explain the prodigious star-formation rates that occurred in the early universe. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0105/03colliding/ NEW JPL DIRECTOR ANNOUNCES LAB REORGANIZATION --------------------------------------------- A reorganization designed to position the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for a new generation of challenges in space exploration has been announced by incoming Director Dr. Charles Elachi. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0105/03jpl/"}, {"response": 447, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, May  5, 2001 (15:59)", "body": "Space Tourist Tito Heads Home After Historic Trip Reuters May 5 2001 10:48PM ASTANA, Kazakhstan (Reuters) - Dennis Tito, the world's first paying space tourist, is due back on Earth on Sunday after fulfilling a lifelong ambition but also sparking a cosmic quarrel between erstwhile spacemates Russia and the United States. more... http://my.aol.com/news/news_story.psp?type=1&cat=0600&id=0105052248398232"}, {"response": 448, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, May  6, 2001 (13:37)", "body": "Lighten up, NASA!"}, {"response": 449, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, May  7, 2001 (14:29)", "body": "So much for Private enterprise. We should have taken his $20 million. Oh well!"}, {"response": 450, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, May  7, 2001 (14:36)", "body": "Terry, get William to fix confifty please. I am lost!!!"}, {"response": 451, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, May  7, 2001 (23:39)", "body": "Why don't you email Kaylene about the specific problem with confifty and copy me on it, I think that KarenR is having a similar problem with the last six responses item on the drool page. OK?"}, {"response": 452, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, May  8, 2001 (09:38)", "body": "Will do, but miss William nonetheless... NEWSALERT: Tuesday, May 8, 2001 @ 1542 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now HEART OF BOEING'S DELTA 4 ROCKET PUT TO THE TEST ------------------------------------------------ The new rocket stage and liquid-fueled main engine that are the essence of Boeing's next-generation Delta 4 commercial launcher have, in all likelihood, completed a round of crucial firings at the same complex where NASA tested its Saturn 5 rocketships that carried men to the moon more than 30 years ago. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0105/08delta4/ SEA LAUNCH TO LOFT XM RADIO SATELLITE TODAY ------------------------------------------- A Ukrainian/Russian Sea Launch Zenit 3SL rocket is slated to haul the second XM Satellite Radio spacecraft into orbit today from a floating platform in the Pacific Ocean. Liftoff is scheduled for 2210 GMT (6:10 p.m. EDT) and we will have live coverage. http://spaceflightnow.com/sealaunch/xm1/status.html U.S. WEATHER SATELLITE BOOSTED TO GRAVEYARD ORBIT ------------------------------------------------- The American GOES-2 weather satellite was officially retired Saturday after controllers guided the 24-year old spacecraft out of its geostationary orbit. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0105/08goes2/ EDGE OF ACCRETION DISK FOUND AROUND BLACK HOLE ---------------------------------------------- Using four NASA space observatories, astronomers have shown that a flaring black hole source has an accretion disk that stops much farther out than some theories predict. This provides a better understanding of how energy is released when matter spirals into a black hole. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0105/08chandra/"}, {"response": 453, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, May  8, 2001 (09:47)", "body": "Wolfie says \"Hi\" to everyone (you know who you are!) She asked me to do so for her since she is working 12 hour shifts. Our tax dollars definitely at work!!!"}, {"response": 454, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, May  8, 2001 (11:06)", "body": "NASA Science News for May 8, 2001 What makes the Red Planet red? Right now the answer is iron oxide, but one day it could be roses say NASA scientists debating the prospects for plant life on Mars. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast08may_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 455, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, May  9, 2001 (05:39)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Wednesday, May 9, 2001 @ 1412 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now SEA LAUNCH ROCKET LOFTS SECOND XM RADIO SATELLITE ------------------------------------------------- \"Long live Rock and Roll!\" A jubilant launch team member made that exclamation on Tuesday after a Zenit 3SL rocket successfully carried XM Satellite Radio's second powerhouse broadcasting spacecraft into orbit from a floating platform in the Pacific Ocean. http://spaceflightnow.com/sealaunch/xm1/ Read our call of the countdown and launch: http://spaceflightnow.com/sealaunch/xm1/status.html PENTAGON ANNOUNCES MILITARY SPACE REFORMS ----------------------------------------- U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld announced Tuesday a series of reforms first suggested by a panel he once chaired that will increase the importance of space within the American military. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0105/09milspace/ SHUTTLE ENDEAVOUR DUE HOME TODAY -------------------------------- Riding piggyback atop a modified Boeing 747 jet, space shuttle Endeavour left Edwards Air Force Base in California on Tuesday for its cross-country ferry flight back to Florida. Arrival at Kennedy Space Center is expected today, weather permitting. Check our status center for updates: http://spaceflightnow.com/station/status.html X-40A PERFORMS COMPLEX MANEUVERS DURING FIFTH FLIGHT ---------------------------------------------------- The X-40A vehicle successfully performed a fifth free flight test on Tuesday. The craft was carried aloft by an Army Chinook helicopter and dropped to test its flight computer's ability to maneuver the vehicle to a straight approach to the landing site. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0105/09x40a/"}, {"response": 456, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, May  9, 2001 (10:53)", "body": "SPACEDAILY EXPRESS - May 9, 2001 - sponsored by - The London Satellite Exchange http://www.e-sax.com --------------------------------------------- ---------------- Space Transportation Summit --------------- The 2001 World Summit on the Space Transportation Business brings together the key players of the space launch industry to focus on the principal strategic issues of the business -- http://www.euroconsult-ec.com/web/space/space_h_ws.htm -- Hotel Inter-Continental Thursday 17 & Friday 18 May 2001 Paris ------------------------------------------------------------ ----------- QUICK SPACE - Humans could set foot on Mars by 2020: NASA chief http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010509063324.phx7xydz.html - Genetically Modified Earth Plants Will Glow From Mars http://www.spacedaily.com/news/food-01c.html - A Rusty Old Rose http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-terraform-01b.html - No More Space Tourism For At Least Two Years: Russia http://www.spacedaily.com/news/tourism-01w.html - US Space Tourist Tito Hopes To Blaze Trail For Other Cosmic Trippers http://www.spacedaily.com/news/tourism-01v.html - X-40A Free Flight Successful http://www.spacedaily.com/news/rlv-01e.html - Nature's Atmospheric Cleanser Needs Closer Look http://www.spacedaily.com/news/greenhouse-01o.html - US can produce more energy and protect the environment: Bush http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010509012853.m29th2on.html - XM Radio Bird Rolls Into Orbit http://www.spacedaily.com/news/xm-radio-01d.html - Rumsfeld To Reorganize Military Space Programs http://www.spacedaily.com/news/milspace-01o.html - Rumsfeld Announces Space Management Shakeup http://www.spacedaily.com/news/milspace-01p.html - US air force to coordinate military operations in space http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010508215247.hxq48pis.html - US launches worldwide missile defense road show http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010508161442.whd5jj4n.html - US-Russia missile talks in Moscow Friday http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010508115005.ipj541ef.html"}, {"response": 457, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, May 10, 2001 (13:52)", "body": "Teaming Up on Space Plants NASA Science News for May 10, 2001 This week students, scientists, and astronauts will join forces to learn more about how plants grow on the International Space Station. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast10may_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 458, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, May 10, 2001 (16:27)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Friday, May 11, 2001 @ 0335 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now NEW RADIO TELESCOPE MAKES FIRST SCIENTIFIC OBSERVATIONS ------------------------------------------------------- The world's two largest radio telescopes have combined to make detailed radar images of the cloud-shrouded surface of Venus and of a tiny asteroid that passed near the Earth. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0105/11nrao/ THE HARSH DESTINY OF A PLANET? ------------------------------ Did the star HD 82943 swallow one of its planets? What may at a first glance look like the recipe for a dramatic science-fiction story is in fact the well-considered conclusion of a serious scientific study, to be published by a group of astronomers in Switzerland and Spain. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0105/10destiny/ ENDEAVOUR IS HOME ----------------- Riding piggyback atop a modified Boeing 747 jet, space shuttle Endeavour arrived at Kennedy Space Center Wednesday after a two-day cross-country ferry flight from Edwards Air Force Base in California. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/status.html NASA SATELLITE TECHNOLOGY GOES DOWN ON THE FARM ----------------------------------------------- Some of the people closest to the land will be the first to benefit from a new global positioning technology developed to make NASA satellites more efficient and cost-effective. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0105/11farm/ MARS-BOUND ODYSSEY TESTS THE HIGH-GAIN ANTENNA ---------------------------------------------- NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey space probe tested its high-gain communications antenna on Wednesday, sending and receiving commands. Since launch, the spacecraft has been receiving commands over its low-gain antenna and transmitting signals via its medium-gain antenna. http://spaceflightnow.com/mars/odyssey/status.html DEEP SPACE NETWORK UPGRADING FOR 'CRUNCH TIME' ---------------------------------------------- Preparing for the communication needs of an expected population boom in interplanetary spacecraft, NASA has selected a builder to add an advanced dish antenna, 112 feet in diameter, near Madrid, Spain, one of the three sites of the agency's Deep Space Network. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0105/10dsn/ INDIA AND FRANCE TO CONDUCT ATMOSPHERIC MISSION ----------------------------------------------- The Indian Space Research Organization and the French Space Agency have entered into a deal to design of a joint satellite mission, called Megha Tropiques, for atmospheric research. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0105/10isrocnes/"}, {"response": 459, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, May 11, 2001 (00:36)", "body": "Do you have a gps, Marci?"}, {"response": 460, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, May 11, 2001 (10:02)", "body": "My son has and now with software and a laptop you can get them for uner $100. Which I intend to do. The one David has is the size of a TV remote control and about twice as thick. Quite amazing actually! Are you considering purchasing one? http://www.thegpsstore.com/cgi-bin/SoftCart.exe/site/productcatalog.htm?L+thegpsstore+ogow3540+970797630"}, {"response": 461, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, May 11, 2001 (15:41)", "body": "One of these days, next time I take a long trip. I don't really need it around Austin, I know the place so well."}, {"response": 462, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, May 12, 2001 (06:53)", "body": "I was planning a trip back east and thought my laptop and the $99 GPS would do me just fine. Going into the woods with wildlife and archaeology guys can get me lost and I want to be able to remember the trip! GeoStorm Warning, plus a crumbling comet and a durable sunspot Space Weather News for May 12, 2001 http://www.spaceweather.com GEOMAGNETIC STORM WARNING: Our planet entered a high speed solar wind stream on Saturday, May 12th, which triggered a moderate geomagnetic storm. Sky watchers, especially those at high latitudes, should be alert for glowing auroras tonight near local midnight. THE SUNSPOT THE WOULDN'T DIE: Holographic images of the far side of the Sun reveal an old friend: active region 9393, the largest sunspot of the current solar cycle and the source of the most powerful x-ray solar flare ever recorded. The giant spot, which is probably now just a shadow of its former self, has already transited the Earth-facing side of the Sun twice. If AR9393 persists for another week it will emerge into direct view for a rare third transit. BRIGHTENING COMET: Southern hemisphere observers report that comet C/2001 A2 (LINEAR), which split into two pieces last month, has surged in brightness again. For more information and updates, please visit http://www.spaceweather.com"}, {"response": 463, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, May 14, 2001 (10:33)", "body": "\"holographic images of the far side of the sun\"; wonder how they do this?"}, {"response": 464, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, May 14, 2001 (15:58)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Monday, May 14, 2001 @ 0414 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now COMMERCIAL PROTON ROCKET PREPARED FOR LAUNCH -------------------------------------------- The 20th Proton rocket to be flown under the joint Russian-American International Launch Services banner is poised for blastoff carrying a PanAmSat telecommunications satellite destined to serve three continents in a 30-million square mile footprint. Launch is set for 9:11 p.m. EDT tonight (0111 GMT Tuesday) and we will have live coverage. http://spaceflightnow.com/proton/pas10/status.html ASTRONOMERS FIND KEY TO X-RAY MYSTERY OF BLACK HOLES ---------------------------------------------------- Astronomers at the University of Southampton have made a discovery that promises to explain why X-ray binary stars are so variable -- a phenomenon that has been a long-standing mystery in X-ray astronomy. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0105/13blackhole/ RUSSIANS ASK WHETHER EARTH WILL SHARE THE FATE OF SATURN -------------------------------------------------------- Is it possible that space exploration will result in the formation of a ring around the Earth similar to the Saturn ring? All these satellites and debris can severely impede space flights in future, as plenty of objects brought out into space would stay in the near-earth orbit for hundreds and even thousands of years. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0105/12earthring/ PEROXIDE ENGINE BEING DEVELOPED FOR SPACEPLANE ---------------------------------------------- Aerojet has received a contract from the Air Force to develop the propulsion engine for the Air Force's Space Maneuvering Vehicle, a small reusable craft that could perform a variety of missions for the Department of Defense. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0105/14smv/ COLLAPSE OF SIMPLE LIFE FORMS LINKED TO MASS EXTINCTION ------------------------------------------------------- A mass extinction about 200 million years ago, which destroyed at least half of the species on Earth, happened very quickly and is demonstrated in the fossil record by the collapse of one-celled organisms called protists, according to new research led by a University of Washington paleontologist. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0105/13extinct/ STATUS CHECK ON SPACE STATION SCIENCE WORK ------------------------------------------ The Expedition Two crew and ground controllers activated five more experiments during the past week and continue troubleshooting work with two others. The Advanced Astroculture experiment activated Thursday, one of the three commercial experiments onboard, seeks to grow plants through an entire life cycle. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/status.html"}, {"response": 465, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, May 14, 2001 (16:15)", "body": "Terry, I wonder that as well, but considering that the sun rotates before our very eyes, a series of photographs taken in one revolution could be merged into one image holographically. The moon is a whole different problem. It does not rotate and remains with the same hemisphere always pointing toward Earth."}, {"response": 466, "author": "ThinkingManNeil", "date": "Fri, May 18, 2001 (16:55)", "body": "NASA's Ames Research Centre Sponsors New Interactive Research Project NASA's Ames Research Centre is sponsoring a new interactive research project to help identify, map, and classify impact craters on the surface of the planet Mars; the project is modelled on the popular SETI@Home project which employs personal computers to scan for possible intelligent radio signals from extraterrestrial civilisations. In the Ames project, participants are taught how to identify and mark impact craters in photographs obtained from the Viking 1 & 2 Orbiters, as well as from the Mars Global Surveyor Spacecraft currently in orbit around the Red Planet. Using their computer's mouse, the \"ClickWorkers\" as they're called, select four points around the crater's rim, which the computer uses to draw a circle based on the points selected. With this, the computer logs the size of the crater as well as it's longitude and latitude. The purpose behind this exercise is to catalogue the huge volumes of data that have be gathered over the years by the various probes to Mars, but NASA is suffering from an embarassment of riches that would easily swamp individual researchers; so by employing the computer power spread around the world amongst private citizens, NASA can use many people to tackle the problem in parallel. The project's current status is experimental, but if it's successful, it's scope maybe expanded to include other martian surface features, and may even go on to include other solar system bodies, including Io and Europa. The project can be found at http://clickworkers.arc.nasa.gov but there are two proviso's in accessing it; first, it requires Netscape 6 to run, and secondly, the site is extremely popular amongst people who want to make a real contribution to planetary science, so it can be very difficult to access at times. But if you're interested in helping build up our knowledge on Mars, and maybe familiarizing yourself a little more with it, check it out!"}, {"response": 467, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, May 20, 2001 (23:56)", "body": "Looks like I'd better reinstall my Seti@home and get crunching data once again. However, until Netscape gets the bugs out of Netcape 6.0 I am going to ope out of it. Anyone have reports of how well things are going? Thanks, Neil *HUGS*"}, {"response": 468, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, May 20, 2001 (23:58)", "body": "The Great Mars Rush NASA Science News for May 15, 2001 Hurtling toward Mars at 22,000 mph, Earth is heading for its closest encounter with the Red Planet in a dozen years. Mars is already a brilliant morning star and it will soon become a dazzling all-night spectacle. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast15may_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 469, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, May 20, 2001 (23:59)", "body": "QUICK SPACE - Gilat To Plug 100,000 Europeans Into Satellite Backbone http://www.spacedaily.com/news/vsat-01f.html - DirecTV Files Federal Suit Against Satellite Piracy Ring http://www.spacedaily.com/news/satellite-biz-01h.html - Two Billion To One And The Primordial Odds Get Heavy http://www.spacedaily.com/news/cosmology-01b.html - ATK Completes Static Tests of Nozzle For RS-68 Engine http://www.spacedaily.com/news/delta4-01h.html - TRW-Built NRO GeoLITE Satellite Slated for Launch on May 17y http://www.spacedaily.com/news/geolite-01a.html - Olof Lundberg Named Chairman And CEO of Globalstar http://www.spacedaily.com/news/globalstar-01c.html - Germany Commits Billions To Galileo Navigation Project http://www.spacedaily.com/news/gps-euro-01e.html - Australia says Kyoto Protocol \"all over\" http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010517035823.fwtpumsj.html - Top Polish general sees \"no obstacles\" to missile shield bases http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010516175047.2oj3pazz.html"}, {"response": 470, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, May 21, 2001 (00:03)", "body": "The Pacific Dust Express NASA Science News for May 17, 2001 North America has been sprinkled with a dash of Asia! A dust cloud from China crossed the Pacific Ocean recently and rained Asian dust from Alaska to Florida. Scientists say that air pollution often travels this same Pacific Express. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast17may_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 471, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, May 21, 2001 (00:04)", "body": "A Taste for Comet Water NASA Science News for May 18, 2001 When Comet LINEAR broke apart last year it revealed what many scientists thought all along: Water in Earth's oceans could have come from outer space. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast18may_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 472, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, May 24, 2001 (00:34)", "body": "QUICK SPACE - Australia Signs Space Launch Agreement With Russia http://www.spacedaily.com/news/aust-01a.html - APT Satellite sees lower transponder rentals due to competition http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010522102006.0agymzy2.html - MirCorp Claims To Soyuz Flight Disputed By Russia http://www.spacedaily.com/news/tourism-01x.html - Global Hawk Clocks Up 1,000 Hours http://www.spacedaily.com/news/uav-01f.html - High-Tech Helium Tricks May Benefit Earth And Space http://www.spacedaily.com/news/superfluids-01a.html - New Shuttle Booster Engines Ready For Full Duration Test http://www.spacedaily.com/news/shuttle-01i.html - Russian supply vessel docks with international space station http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010523004805.qiyeu8hn.html - Bush hopes to unveil Kyoto alternative by June http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010522164330.0tgyl1fm.html"}, {"response": 473, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, May 24, 2001 (00:35)", "body": "Water-Witching From Space NASA Science News for May 23, 2001 9:00:00 AM Farmers will soon have a new tool for getting the most out of their fields. NASA's Aqua satellite will provide crucial information about the water in the ground and the weather on the horizon. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast23may_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 474, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, May 24, 2001 (00:38)", "body": "Dust Begets Dust NASA Science News for May 22, 2001 Everyone knows that dry weather leads to dusty soils, but new research suggests that dust might in turn lead to dry weather. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast22may_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 475, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, May 24, 2001 (00:41)", "body": "QUICK SPACE - Magellan Brings Three Meter Accuracy To Handheld GPS http://www.spacedaily.com/news/gps-01e.html - ESA's Artemis Telecommunications Satellite To Be Launched In July http://www.spacedaily.com/news/artemis-01a.html - Changes In Sun's Intensity Tied To Recurrent Droughts In Maya Region http://www.spacedaily.com/news/climate-01f.html - Saddam Drains Ancient Culture Away In A Decade http://www.spacedaily.com/news/earth-01e.html - Lockheed Martin Goes Live With Real-Time EO Datastream http://www.spacedaily.com/news/eo-01d.html - Getting In A Twist Over Time http://www.spacedaily.com/news/timetravel-01a.html - Cluster Quartet Move In Step http://www.spacedaily.com/news/cluster2-01a.html - ESA Books A Russian Taxi To ISS http://www.spacedaily.com/news/launcher-russia-01i.html - Artificial Enzyme Able to Synthesize RNA http://www.spacedaily.com/news/life-01n.html - Blair Election Rival Jailed For Anti-Missile Protest http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010521172453.kf3kr12u.html - Top Russian General Rejects US Missile Defence Plan http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010521164127.5anrxuxa.html"}, {"response": 476, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, May 25, 2001 (14:10)", "body": "Binary asteroid to fly by Earth this weekend Space Weather News for May 24, 2001 http://www.spaceweather.com Late Friday, May 25th, the near-Earth asteroid 1999 KW4 will fly by Earth 13 times farther from our planet than the Moon. The space rock will be brighter than 11th magnitude for much of the time between now and May 28th, making it an easy target for amateur astronomers with mid-sized telescopes and CCD cameras. Yesterday, radar astronomers using NASA's Goldstone Planetary Radar to monitor the approaching asteroid announced that 1999 KW4 is a binary system. Visit spaceweather.com for more information and (possibly) images of the asteroid as it passes our planet."}, {"response": 477, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, May 29, 2001 (00:28)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Tuesday, May 29, 2001 @ 0206 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now THE NEWSALERT IS BACK! ---------------------- After a two-week hiatus caused by a technical problem beyond our control, the NewsAlert returns today to provide you with a snapshot of the day's spaceflight and astronomy news. See our Breaking News page for a listing of all the stories from the past couple of weeks: http://spaceflightnow.com/news/ PROBE SPOTS NEWLY FORMED STREAKS ON MARTIAN SLOPES -------------------------------------------------- NASA's Mars Global Surveyor is currently searching for changes that have occurred in the past martian year on the Red Planet. In a rugged, ridged terrain north of the Olympus Mons volcano one such change is avalanching of dust as seen here. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0105/29marsstreak/ MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR SPOTS A MID-SUMMER'S DUST DEVIL ---------------------------------------------------- One objective for the Mars Global Surveyor's extended mission is to continue looking for changes and dynamic events taking place on the Red Planet. The feature shown here -- a dust devil -- elicited gasps of excitement among the camera operations staff when it was received. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0105/28dustdevil/ NASA APPROVES ROBOTIC MISSION TO BLAST A COMET ---------------------------------------------- Imagine intercepting a comet in deep space and using a heavy projectile to blow a hole in the celestial body, some seven stories deep and about the size of a football field. In a space exploration first, NASA's Deep Impact Mission will attempt to use a probe to collide with a comet in an attempt to peer beneath its surface. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0105/28deepimpact/ EVIDENCE FOUND FOR ACOUSTIC OSCILLATIONS IN EARLY UNIVERSE ---------------------------------------------------------- Astrophysicists say they have confirmed the existence of acoustic oscillations generated shortly after the explosive birth of the universe. Their evidence links the existence of acoustic oscillations, or wiggles, in the distribution of both the cosmic microwave background radiation and the distribution of matter throughout the universe. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0105/29oscillations/ SOLAR WIND FIND MAY HELP SPACE WEATHER FORECASTING -------------------------------------------------- Scientists have confirmed the existence of and imaged \"free spirit\" atoms in the solar wind for the first time. They hope to use the observations to better estimate the arrival time of solar storms and to estimate the amount of dust left over from the solar system's birth. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0105/28solarwind/"}, {"response": 478, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, May 29, 2001 (09:22)", "body": "That comet blasting mission sounds like it could use Bruce Willis and the crew of Armageddon. That's pretty wild stuff."}, {"response": 479, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, May 29, 2001 (17:41)", "body": "It IS amazing! Hollywood will find a use for it. Count on that! QUICK SPACE - US Senate Switch Could Get Bush Off The Hook On Missiles http://www.spacedaily.com/news/bmdo-01zi.html - Course Trains 'Space Cowboys' http://www.spacedaily.com/news/milspace-01s.html - Galileo Comes Alive On Callisto Final Approach http://www.spacedaily.com/news/galileo-01h.html - IBM's 'Pixie Dust' Breakthrough to Quadruple Disk Drive Density http://www.spacedaily.com/news/materials-01m.html - Rocks From Mars http://www.spacedaily.com/news/lunarplanet-2001-01a8.html - Fengyun 1-C Stars In Environmental Monitoring As Sandstorms Rage http://www.spacedaily.com/news/china-01zf.html - Satellite Broadband Could Solve Digital Divide http://www.spacedaily.com/news/internet-01i.html - US to make Moscow offer to abandon ABM treaty: report http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010528082526.hrcyeqe4.html - Senate Democrat promises review of Bush's anti-missile program http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010525173631.atl9vrma.html - Atlantis launch scheduled for June 20 http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010525151354.fxvtoili.html - NASA high-resolution photograph dispels \"Face on Mars\" myth http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010525104821.bn6teg09.html"}, {"response": 480, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, May 29, 2001 (19:54)", "body": "Wow, the face on Mars has been dispelled, there goes another Art Bell late night topic.."}, {"response": 481, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, May 29, 2001 (21:03)", "body": "Even Art Bell argued with Richard Hoagland the other night. Art can no longer see the face at all and is highly skeptical. Looks like another of his topics did indeed bite the dust."}, {"response": 482, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, May 29, 2001 (21:07)", "body": "Brainy 'Bots NASA Science News for May 29, 2001 NASA's own 'Bionic Woman' is applying artificial intelligence to teach robots how to behave a little more like human explorers. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast29may_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 483, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, May 29, 2001 (22:23)", "body": "QUICK SPACE - Cassini's Tour de Saturn http://www.spacedaily.com/news/cassini-01f1.html - Weather Directorate Strengthens International Relations http://www.spacedaily.com/news/dmsp-01b.html - Russia successfully launches Soyuz rocket with military satellite http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010529194547.398ukgc5.html - US to make Moscow offer to abandon ABM treaty: report http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010528181752.s1cysn6b.html - Martian Cook Up Closer Than Ever http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-life-01e.html - Orbital Offloads Navigation Business To Thales http://www.spacedaily.com/news/gps-01f.html - Prepare Now For Martian Samples Warns Scientists http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-life-01f.html - Send In The Robots http://www.spacedaily.com/news/robot-01b.html - Artificial Intelligence Software to Command Mission http://www.spacedaily.com/news/software-01a.html - Industrialized states postpone climate consultations http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010529115252.zw9x1cog.html"}, {"response": 484, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, May 30, 2001 (15:24)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Wednesday, May 30, 2001 @ 0442 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now SHUTTLE LAUNCHES MIGHT BE SHUFFLED TO FIX STATION ARM ----------------------------------------------------- Shuttle Atlantis rolled out of its hangar and into the cavernous Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center on Tuesday, but when the ship will be allowed to launch an airlock to the international space station hinges on work to fix the outpost's new robotic arm. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage7a/010529arm/ BOEING'S DELTA 4 TESTING ROCKET ARRIVES IN FLORIDA -------------------------------------------------- Fresh off its series of critical test firings, Boeing's Delta 4 pathfinder rocket has arrived at Cape Canaveral to ensure the state-of-the-art launch facilities being built at Complex 37 are ready to handle the maiden flight of the next-generation launcher in March. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0105/29delta4/ REPORT RECOMMENDS QUARANTINE OF MARS SAMPLES -------------------------------------------- A report released Tuesday urges NASA to begin planning a system to quarantine Martian samples even through missions to return such samples are at least a decade in the future. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0105/30marsclean/ RUSSIAN SOYUZ ROCKET LOFTS MILITARY SATELLITE --------------------------------------------- Russia launched an unmanned Soyuz U rocket from Plesetsk Cosmodrome on Tuesday carrying a classified military spacecraft believed to be an imaging spy satellite. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0105/29soyuz/ ALL QUIET ON THE GALILEO FRONT ------------------------------ The excitement of the encounter week has settled down now, and activity levels drop to the quiet murmur which is usual for the cruise portion of an orbit. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0105/30galileothisweek/"}, {"response": 485, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, May 31, 2001 (02:04)", "body": "What Space Needs: The Human Touch NASA Science News for May 30, 2001 NASA's Human Exploration and Development of Space (HEDS) enterprise tackles one of the toughest and most redeeming problems of all: sending humans into space. This feature story also includes lessons and activities for educators. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast30may_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 486, "author": "CherylB", "date": "Fri, Jun  1, 2001 (17:06)", "body": "The Face on Mars has been discredited. Does this mean the internet will cease to have those insisting that it is a portrait of Elvis cluttering up cyberspace."}, {"response": 487, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jun  1, 2001 (20:11)", "body": "I thought all the Elvissses in the Universe were in Las Vegas! Do you mean there are some who suggested that? Lolol - worse than Art Bell! Jellyplants on Mars NASA Science News for June 1, 2001 Scientists are creating a new breed of glowing plants --part mustard and part jellyfish-- to help humans explore the Red Planet. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast01jun_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 488, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jun  1, 2001 (20:29)", "body": "QUICK SPACE - JPL Radar Scans Asteroid Moon During Earth Flyby http://www.spacedaily.com/news/asteroid-01f.html - Galileo Gets One Last Frequent-Flyer Upgrade http://www.spacedaily.com/news/galileo-01i.html - X-43A Nears First Hypersonic Flight http://www.spacedaily.com/news/rlv-01l.html - TIMED Satellite Transported to Vandenberg for Upcoming Launch http://www.spacedaily.com/news/eo-timed-01a.html - Cellular Grab For 2Ghz Harms Rural Satellite Consumers: SIA Report http://www.spacedaily.com/news/internet-01j.html - Iranians View Russian Telecommunications Satellite Plant http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010530142208.ffpgd06e.html - The Quarantine And Certification Of Martian Samples http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-life-01g.html - Tropical Glaciers Formed While Earth Was Giant Snowball http://www.spacedaily.com/news/iceage-01c.html - US Space Shuttle Atlantis Launch Delayed http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010530230011.uqmguivt.html - Russia Considering Applications From Would-Be Space Tourists http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010530115951.dq3xuc2j.html - Moscow Wants Dialogue With US, China, India on Missile Defence http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010531101942.gk8jrtyo.html - Iran Test Fires New Missile http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010531104225.85scojfo.html"}, {"response": 489, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jun  1, 2001 (20:33)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Thursday, May 31, 2001 @ 0541 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now ATLANTIS DELAYED TO JULY IN WAKE OF STATION ARM TROUBLE ------------------------------------------------------- Problems with the international space station's new robotic arm has forced NASA to delay the next space shuttle flight, and the possibility is growing that a daring repair mission to replace one of the crane's joints might be needed before construction of the outpost can continue. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage7a/010529arm/ NEAR-EARTH ASTEROID FOUND TO BE TWO CHUNKS IN ONE ------------------------------------------------- The clearest radar pictures of a near-Earth double asteroid system were taken by astronomers last week using NASA's Goldstone radar telescope, revealing clues to the system's current structure but raising questions about its origin and future. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0105/31chuncks/ WHY DOESN'T EROS HAVE A MAGNETIC FIELD? --------------------------------------- Scientists said this week that they may know the reason why the asteroid Eros appears to lack a measurable magnetic field. Eros was the subject of detailed study for over a year by the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) spacecraft. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0105/31eros/ QUASAR'S IDENTITY MAY SIMPLY BE IN EYE OF BEHOLDER -------------------------------------------------- Using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, astronomers have made the first detailed study of a peculiar type of quasar that is shrouded in clouds of gas and dust flowing outward at millions of miles per hour. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0105/31chandraeye/ MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR CAPTURES DUST STORMS ----------------------------------------- Daily global maps, created with images from NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft, provide a moving picture of Martian weather during 1999-2000 similar to the familiar satellite weather maps we see of Earth. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0105/31mgsdust/ AEROJET STUDIES NEW NOZZLE DESIGN FOR SHUTTLE MAIN ENGINE --------------------------------------------------------- Aerojet has won an eight-month, $5 million contract from NASA to study the feasibility of developing a channel wall nozzle to replace the tube nozzle in the Space Shuttle Main Engine. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0105/31ssmenozzle/"}, {"response": 490, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jun  2, 2001 (12:48)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Saturday, June 2, 2001 @ 0324 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now X-43A CRAFT TO MAKE FIRST HYPERSONIC FLIGHT TODAY ------------------------------------------------- Imagine an aircraft that can fly at rocket speeds, seven times the speed of sound. Engineers are preparing for the first test flight of NASA's scramjet-propelled aircraft atop a Pegasus rocket on Saturday over the Pacific Ocean. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/02x43a/ HUBBLE TELESCOPE UNVEILS A GALAXY IN LIVING COLOR ------------------------------------------------- In this incredible view of the center of the magnificent barred spiral galaxy NGC 1512, the Hubble Space Telescope's broad spectral vision reveals the galaxy at all wavelengths from ultraviolet to infrared. The colors map where newly born star clusters exist in both \"dusty\" and \"clean\" regions of the galaxy. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0105/31hstcolor/ SPECTACULAR PHOTO CATCHES HUNGRY QUASAR IN THE ACT -------------------------------------------------- A new image of a distant quasar -- the luminous core of an \"active\" galaxy -- shows that it is engaged in a gravitational battle with its neighboring galaxies. It also provides information on how supermassive black holes present in the center of quasars are fed. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/01hungry/ ESCAPE ROUTE FOUND FOR JUPITER'S PARTICLES ------------------------------------------ Jupiter's magnetosphere, an ionized-gas bubble encasing the planet, is lopsided and leaky, with an unexpected abundance of high-energy particles bleeding out of one side, according to recent measurements by NASA's Cassini spacecraft. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/01cassjup/ SATELLITE MAPS PROVIDE BETTER URBAN SPRAWL INSIGHT -------------------------------------------------- A major advance in satellite-based land surface mapping has led to the creation of more accurate and detailed maps of our cities. These maps provide urban planners with a better understanding of city growth and how rainfall runoff over paved surfaces impact regional water quality. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/02landsat/ ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TO COMMAND SATELLITE MISSION ---------------------------------------------------- NASA software that thinks for itself and makes decisions without help from ground controllers will fly as the brains of triplet satellites in 2002. The spacecraft will be launched from the space shuttle in a stack configuration and fly in formation as part of the Three Corner Sat mission. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/01threecornersat/"}, {"response": 491, "author": "CherylB", "date": "Sat, Jun  2, 2001 (16:32)", "body": "I think that the suggestion that the Face on Mars was a portrait of Elvis was supposed to be a joke. Yes, someone did suggest that, but I think he was making fun of those who thought that a giant face had been carved on Mars. However, there are those who think that Elvis was a Venusian. Okay, these people think that they're from Venus too."}, {"response": 492, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jun  2, 2001 (21:38)", "body": "Nah, women are from Venus. He has to be from Mars!!!"}, {"response": 493, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Jun  3, 2001 (00:40)", "body": "Blame Canadarm: Space Station Crew Waits for Fix The International Space Station's current crew will probably stay aloft longer than planned as ground controllers work to fix the billion outpost's robotic arm, crew members said on Friday. http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010601/sc/space_station_dc_1.html"}, {"response": 494, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Jun  3, 2001 (19:32)", "body": "- Test flight of hypersonic plane fails http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010603011442.pnzc6jhd.html - US demands back space debris that landed on S. African farm http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010603131813.g3a3h4dg.html - Russian military space force becomes operational http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010601150408.sqk5l00o.html - India approves development of nuclear-capable missile: report http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010531140524.e6i83sxb.html - Japan FM says Bush missile plan influenced by oil money: reports http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010602095847.epo5e233.html - Japanese foreign minister denies anti-US missile reports http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010603044056.ekmcyjff.html - No sex please, we're cosmonauts http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010601113838.sl06p9cz.html - French Arianespace hopes to ink satellite deal with Indonesia http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010601040941.rw06gkks.html"}, {"response": 495, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jun  4, 2001 (01:01)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Monday, June 4, 2001 @ 0348 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now NASA'S X-43A CRAFT DESTROYED IN LAUNCH FAILURE ---------------------------------------------- NASA's bid to test a revolutionary scramjet aircraft on Saturday failed even before it began when the Orbital Sciences-built Pegasus rocket launching the X-43A vehicle veered off course and exploded only moments into flight. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/02x43failure/ BRITISH CRAFT ENDS MISSION AFTER MISSED RENDEZVOUS -------------------------------------------------- The United Kingdom's first nanosatellite has failed in its daring rendezvous attempt with a Chinese craft, but scientists say the mission's other tests and demonstrations of nanotechnology were successfully completed. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/04snap1/ SPACE TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS KEEP SATELLITES SAFE ---------------------------------------------- A bullet fired on Earth travels 2,700 miles per hour and can do damage for up to 1,000 yards before it stops. A loose bolt in space hits at 17,000 miles per hour, goes through a spacecraft and keeps going. It's one office's job to make sure such a catastrophe doesn't happen. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/03spacecontrol/ SATELLITE FORMATION FLYING CONCEPT BECOMING A REALITY ----------------------------------------------------- The intensive planning activities and calculations that are currently done in control rooms on Earth in preparation to maneuver Earth-orbiting research satellites are about to become a thing of the past. NASA's first-ever autonomous formation flying mission is now under way as part of the EO-1 satellite program. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/04formation/ DUO UNTANGLE MYSTERIES OF JUPITER'S MAGNETIC FIELD -------------------------------------------------- In a series of presentations this week at the American Geophysical Union spring meeting in Boston, space scientists have shown how data from the two spacecraft have revealed new features and explained old mysteries about Jupiter's magnetic field. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/03jup/ GIFT OF GALAXIES WILL FUEL NEW FINDINGS --------------------------------------- Redshift data and spectra from the first 100,000 galaxies measured by the 2dF (Two-degree Field) Galaxy Redshift Survey will be released to the world astronomical community on June 30. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/04galaxygift/"}, {"response": 496, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jun  5, 2001 (15:01)", "body": "The Arietid Meteor Shower Peaks This Week Space Weather News for June 5, 2001 http://www.spaceweather.com The annual Arietid meteor shower peaks this week on Thursday, June 7th. The Arietids are unusual because they are daytime meteors -- most of them streak through the sky unnoticed while the bright Sun is overhead. Nevertheless, early risers on Thursday could spot some beautiful \"Earthgrazing\" Arietids during the dark hours before dawn. Later in the day, after the Sun rises, you can listen to the shower by tuning in to NASA's online meteor radar. For details and updates visit http://www.SpaceWeather.com"}, {"response": 497, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jun  5, 2001 (15:03)", "body": "SPACEDAILY EXPRESS - June 5, 2001 - sponsored by - APSC - Satellite Launching, Simplified http://www.apsc2orbit.com --------------------------------------------- ----------- QUICK SPACE - Touch the Universe http://www.spacedaily.com/news/braille-01a.html - Did Hades Freeze Over? http://www.spacedaily.com/news/early-earth-01d.html - Asteroids Belt Around Nearby Star Zeta Lep Spotted http://www.spacedaily.com/news/extrasolar-01d.html - Mars Invades Earth http://www.spacedaily.com/news/life-01p1.html - Active Volcanism On Mars And The Search For Water http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-volcano-01a1.html - Dust Devils At Arizona Targeted For Mars Experiment This Week http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-atmosphere-01a.html - Atlantis Shuttle Launch Delayed Until July 2 http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010605041953.jkxw47gh.html - Ambassador Says Canada's Hand Influential In Missile Debate http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010604203340.rziishg4.html"}, {"response": 498, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jun  5, 2001 (15:05)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Tuesday, June 5, 2001 @ 0411 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now SEARCH BEGINS FOR CAUSE OF X-43A LAUNCH MALFUNCTION --------------------------------------------------- Video shot during Saturday's doomed launch of a Pegasus booster with NASA's X-43A experimental aircraft shows what might be one of the rocket's aerosurfaces breaking off moments before the vehicle goes into an uncontrolled tumble through the sky. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/04x43/ Watch video of launch failure: http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/04x43/010604x43video_qt.html NEXT PEGASUS ROCKET LAUNCH DELAYED IN X-43A AFTERMATH ----------------------------------------------------- NASA has postponed this week's planned flight of the Pegasus rocket carrying a Sun-studying probe while investigators determine what went wrong during Saturday's X-43A launch that used a similar booster. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/04hessidelay/ ASTRONOMERS DISCOVER EXTRASOLAR ASTEROID BELT --------------------------------------------- Astronomers announced Monday that they had found evidence for what could be a belt of asteroids forming around another star, a discovery that may help them better understand how solar systems like our own form. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/05exoasteroids/ QUIET TIMES ON GALILEO PROBE ---------------------------- Galileo, the spacecraft, is now settling into a three-week period of extreme rest, even while Galileo, the flight team, is gearing up in planning for the next flyby in early August. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/05galileothisweek/"}, {"response": 499, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jun  6, 2001 (16:19)", "body": "Bracing for an Interplanetary Traffic Jam NASA Science News for June 6, 2001 NASA's is improving its already-extraordinary traffic control system for interplanetary spacecraft, the Deep Space Network, in preparation for a flurry of activity in deep space. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast06jun_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 500, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jun  6, 2001 (16:20)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Wednesday, June 6, 2001 @ 0311 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now RESEARCHERS SEEK OCEAN ON EUROPA THROUGH ITS SOUNDS --------------------------------------------------- Acoustic techniques used by Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers to explore the Arctic Ocean may help determine whether there is a vast liquid ocean under the ice blanketing Jupiter's moon, Europa. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/06europasound/ WEALTH OF BLACK HOLES FOUND IN STAR-FORMING GALAXIES ---------------------------------------------------- NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory has found new populations of suspected mid-mass black holes in several starburst galaxies, where stars form and explode at an unusually high rate. Although a few of these objects had been found previously, this is the first time they have been detected in such large numbers. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/06chandra/ METHOD TO MADNESS OF BLACK HOLE, NEUTRON STAR ERUPTIONS ------------------------------------------------------- In the fiery machinery of the night sky, where neutron stars and black holes wrapped in binary systems can flare and burst randomly, astronomers have uncovered a predictable mathematical pattern in the X-ray light emitted over time. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/06madness/ ARIANESPACE CLEARS ARIANE 4 ROCKET FOR FRIDAY LAUNCH ---------------------------------------------------- After a three-month lull in flights, Arianespace has entered the final stretch of preparations for Friday's predawn launch of an Ariane 4 rocket carrying the Intelsat 901 telecommunications satellite. http://spaceflightnow.com/ariane/v141/status.html"}, {"response": 501, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Jun  6, 2001 (19:30)", "body": "I heard something about the government building some kind of decontamination chamber for stuff coming from Mars missions ... heard anything about this?"}, {"response": 502, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jun  6, 2001 (21:52)", "body": "Not yet. If it deals with space it goes from all over the world (Cannada, UK and USA) to my email to you..... will check and let you know ASAP. Interesting!"}, {"response": 503, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jun  7, 2001 (21:37)", "body": "Where No Telescope Has Gone Before NASA Science News for June 7, 2001 Whenever astronomers see the sky for the first time in a new part of the electromagnetic spectrum, they inevitably spot something they didn't expect -- from black holes to pulsars to planet-forming disks, there's always a surprise. Now NASA astronomers have captured the first focused images of any astronomical object at hard x-ray wavelengths. The eye-opening advance will finally reveal what the hard x-ray sky looks like in crisp detail -- and perhaps uncover a new batch of astronomical wonders. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast07jun_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 504, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jun  7, 2001 (23:40)", "body": "----------- QUICK SPACE - NASA Selects Two Pups For Pluto-Kuiper Tryouts http://www.spacedaily.com/news/outerplanets-01a.html - Boeing Outlines New Concepts For Air Traffic Management http://www.spacedaily.com/news/gps-01g.html - HESSI Solar Explorer Delayed In Wake Of Pegasus Failure http://www.spacedaily.com/news/hessi-01a.html - Iridium Launches Global Satellite Data and Internet Services http://www.spacedaily.com/news/iridium-01c.html - Congress Asked To Boost Funds For Anti-Missile Laser http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010607054732.1qlx2abn.html - MIT Researchers Seek Ocean On Jupiter's Moon Through Its Sounds http://www.spacedaily.com/news/jupiter-europa-01a.html - New Study Indicates Planet Formation May Be Rare In Universe http://www.spacedaily.com/news/extrasolar-01e.html - White House-Appointed Panel Confirms Global Warming http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010607063146.r83fb4ns.html - Korea High On Agenda For EU-US Summit In Sweden http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010605122041.40xub8ng.html - Space-Age Russian Pop Group Hopes To Rocket Up The Charts http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010605231901.r3bu5h5q.html"}, {"response": 505, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jun  7, 2001 (23:42)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Thursday, June 7, 2001 @ 1302 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now NASA SELECTS TWO PLUTO MISSION PROPOSALS ---------------------------------------- NASA announced Wednesday that it had chosen two proposals for a mission to Pluto for additional study despite the fact that no funds for such a mission exist in the agency's budget for next year. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/07pluto/ INVESTIGATORS NAMED TO PROBE X-43A LAUNCH FAILURE ------------------------------------------------- NASA has announced the five-person accident investigation panel that will determine what caused the Orbital Sciences Pegasus booster with the agency's X-43A aircraft to malfunction during a botched launch Saturday. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/06x43board/ SENATE REPORT SLAMS NASA MANAGEMENT PRACTICES --------------------------------------------- A Senate committee report released this week -- entitled \"Government at the Brink\" -- sharply criticized NASA's handling of key programs, calling it one of the worst examples of mismanagement in the entire federal government. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/07senate/ IRIDIUM LAUNCHES GLOBAL DATA, INTERNET SERVICES ----------------------------------------------- Iridium Satellite LLC announced Wednesday the commercial availability of its mobile satellite data services, including dial-up connectivity and direct-Internet connections. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/07iridium/ STAR FACTORY NEAR GALACTIC CENTER BATHED IN X-RAYS -------------------------------------------------- Near the crowded core of the Milky Way galaxy, where stars shine so brightly and plentifully that planets there would never experience nighttime, astronomers have found a new phenomenon: a cauldron of 60-million-degree gas enveloping a cluster of young stars. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/07chandra/ PIONEER 10 STATUS CHECK ----------------------- New data from the Geiger Tube Telescope instrument aboard NASA's Pioneer 10 space probe has been analyzed. The report is cosmic ray intensity has continued to decrease. The craft is currently 7.34 billion miles from Earth. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/07pioneer10/"}, {"response": 506, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jun  8, 2001 (20:24)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Friday, June 8, 2001 @ 1612 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now SPACEWALK OCCURS INSIDE SPACE STATION ALPHA ------------------------------------------- The first spacewalk staged from the international space station was successfully performed today as Russian cosmonaut Yuri Usachev and American astronaut Jim Voss manually repositioned a 150-pound, three-foot diameter docking mechanism. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/status.html ARIANE 4 LAUNCH DELAYED ----------------------- Arianespace scrubbed this morning's scheduled liftoff of an Ariane 4 rocket carrying the Intelsat 901 telecommunications satellite due to unfavorable high-altitude winds above the South American launch base. http://spaceflightnow.com/ariane/v141/status.html SHUTTLE LAUNCH DELAYED AMID STATION ARM MYSTERY ----------------------------------------------- NASA officials have again postponed the launch of space shuttle Atlantis on the next international space station construction mission while engineers struggle to understand problems with the outpost's new robotic arm. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage7a/010607newdelay/ SATURN'S CHANGING SEASONS ------------------------- Looming like a giant flying saucer in our outer solar system, Saturn puts on a show as the planet and its magnificent ring system nod majestically over the course of its 29-year journey around the Sun. These Hubble images, captured from 1996 to 2000, show Saturn's rings open up from just past edge-on to nearly fully open as it moves from autumn towards winter in its Northern Hemisphere. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/08saturn/ NASA GIVES OFFICIAL NOD TO ROBOTIC MISSION TO MERCURY ----------------------------------------------------- NASA has given the first Mercury orbiter mission the go-ahead to move into full-scale spacecraft development -- setting up the first trip to the Sun's closest neighbor in more than a generation. Launch of the MESSENGER probe is set for March 2004. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/08messenger/"}, {"response": 507, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jun  9, 2001 (19:07)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Saturday, June 9, 2001 @ 1657 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now ARIANE 4 ROCKET LAUNCHES NEW ERA FOR INTELSAT --------------------------------------------- A predawn launch of a European Ariane 4 rocket today delivered into space the first in a new series of communications satellites to beef up Intelsat's orbiting fleet with more powerful and higher capacity craft. http://spaceflightnow.com/ariane/v141/ Read our call of the countdown and launch: http://spaceflightnow.com/ariane/v141/status.html NEXT PEGASUS ROCKET LAUNCH REMAINS GROUNDED ------------------------------------------- It will be June 20 at the earliest before NASA's HESSI solar imaging satellite is hauled into space by an Orbital Sciences Pegasus XL rocket as the investigation continues into last Saturday's X-43A launch failure, officials said Friday. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/08hessi/ NEW X-RAY WINDOW TO THE UNIVERSE IS OPENED ------------------------------------------ Using a telescope containing unique X-ray mirrors, a team from NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., has obtained the world's first focused high-energy X-ray images of any astronomical object. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/09hardxrays/"}, {"response": 508, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jun 11, 2001 (16:26)", "body": "SPACEDAILY EXPRESS - June 11, 2001 - sponsored by - APSC - Satellite Launching, Simplified http://www.apsc2orbit.com --------------------------------------------- ----------- QUICK SPACE - China Moves Towards New Generation Metsats http://www.spacedaily.com/news/china-01zg.html - Recipe For Deep Space - 'Microwave At 1,100 Degree C For X years' http://www.spacedaily.com/news/fuel-01e.html - Protecting Biospheres Beyond Earth http://www.spacedaily.com/news/life-01q1.html - Mars Express Will Put Phobos In The Spotlight http://www.spacedaily.com/news/marsexpress-01b.html - Forget The Barbed Wire This Is Concrete http://www.spacedaily.com/news/materials-01o.html - US-EU summit a chance for Bush to estabish global credentials http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010611013211.3pr88hck.html - Bush Urges \"Rouge\" Rather Than \"Cold War Mentality\" http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010608195638.66xf2f2j.html - US plans \"science-based solution\" to global warming: official http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010610233111.dynnvnno.html - ISS set to receive new Russian module at year end http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010609135111.y1emrcwu.html - ISS crew to install docking system for new Russian module http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010608150014.uhgkz71u.html - Atlantis launch pushed back again http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010608140634.2vophp4a.html"}, {"response": 509, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jun 11, 2001 (16:28)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Monday, June 11, 2001 @ 0254 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now EUROPE'S MARS EXPRESS WILL INVESTIGATE PHOBOS --------------------------------------------- Phobos, the tiny innermost moon of Mars, is to come under unprecedented scrutiny after Europe's mission to Mars goes into orbit around the Red Planet late in 2003. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/10phobos/ GOLDIN TELLS GRADUATES HUMANS ON MARS IN 20 YEARS ------------------------------------------------- NASA administrator Dan Goldin told graduates of one of the nation's leading universities Friday that humans would walk on Mars within the next 20 years. Goldin described the unofficial but widely-accepted long-term goal of the agency's human spaceflight program. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/10goldinmit/ X-RAY NOVA, PULSATING WHITE DWARF FOUND IN ANDROMEDA ---------------------------------------------------- In its first look at the Andromeda Galaxy, Europe's XMM satellite has revealed several unusual X-ray sources, including a bright spot created by an enormous X-ray nova outburst and one of the \"coolest\" sources of the central region that appears to be a luminous white dwarf. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/11whitedwarf/ WIND BUBBLE FOUND AROUND YOUNG SUPER STAR CLUSTER ------------------------------------------------- An international team of astronomers has detected a wind bubble associated with a super star cluster in a nearby galaxy -- a key indicator that helps explain how this extremely young cluster is evolving. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/11bubble/ ENGINEER BRINGS COST OF EXPERIMENTS DOWN TO EARTH ------------------------------------------------- A Purdue University engineer is saving NASA millions of dollars by devising a method to test a new type of solar-power system on Earth instead of in the ultra-expensive environment of space. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/11solarexperi/ GAMMA-RAY BURST REVEALS SECRETS OF HOST GALAXY ---------------------------------------------- Five years ago, astronomers knew almost nothing about gamma ray bursts. Now, a team of observers has used a gamma-ray burst as a powerful tool to unveil the nature of the galaxy in which it occurred, more than 7 billion light-years away. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/10hostgalaxy/ BRIGHTEST QUASARS INHABIT GALAXIES WITH STAR-FORMING GAS CLOUDS --------------------------------------------------------------- A team of scientists at the California Institute of Technology and the State University of New York at Stony Brook has found strong evidence that high-luminosity quasar activity in galaxy nuclei is linked to the presence of abundant interstellar gas and high rates of star formation. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/10brightquasars/"}, {"response": 510, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Jun 12, 2001 (09:38)", "body": ":::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Scientists Claim to Revive Alien Bacteria By Rossella Lorenzi, Discovery News May 10 \ufffd Italian researchers claim to have found conclusive evidence that life on Earth arrived from outer space. Bruno D'Argenio, a geologist working for the Italian National Research Council, and Giuseppe Geraci, professor of molecular biology at Naples University, identified and brought back to life extraterrestrial microorganisms lodged inside 4.5 billion-year-old meteorites kept at Naples' mineralogical museum. \"When in contact with a physiological solution, they became visible and began to move,\" D'Argenio said while presenting the finding at the Italian Space Agency yesterday. The bacteria, called \"cryms\" (for crystal microbes) by the researchers, remained dormant for billions of years and survived extreme ambient conditions \ufffd a clear indication, according to the researchers, that \"life can exist everywhere in the solar system, though in a quiescent state.\" Once brought back to life, the cryms were cloned by the researchers and their DNA analyzed. cointinued @ I can the National Inquirer Headline Aliens Cloned in Italian Lab!!!!"}, {"response": 511, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jun 12, 2001 (14:19)", "body": "Yup, it HAS to Happen. At your grocer's check-out stand now!!! The Biggest Explosions in the Solar System NASA Science News for June 12, 2001 Solar flares have vexed astronomers since they were discovered nearly a century and a half ago. The powerful explosions do things we simply don't understand. NASA's upcoming HESSI mission might finally solve the riddle of flares by making x-ray and gamma-ray pictures of the eruptions. What we learn could have down-to-Earth benefits and shed light on mysterious happenings far outside the solar system. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast12jun_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 512, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jun 12, 2001 (15:29)", "body": "SPACEDAILY EXPRESS - June 12, 2001 - sponsored by - APSC - Satellite Launching, Simplified http://www.apsc2orbit.com --------------------------------------------- ---------- QUICK SPACE - Space Insurance Goes Online http://www.spacedaily.com/news/internet-01k.html - Life's Rocky Road Between Worlds http://www.spacedaily.com/news/life-01r.html - Chinese Metsat Program Long March To Success http://www.spacedaily.com/news/china-01zh.html - Engineer Brings Cost Of Experiments Down To Earth http://www.spacedaily.com/news/solarcell-01d.html - Japan stands by Kyoto Protocol in face of new US proposal http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010612065530.ci804ki3.html - Bush arrives in Europe to bridge growing differences http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010612083621.wae4czsg.html"}, {"response": 513, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jun 13, 2001 (14:37)", "body": "----------- QUICK SPACE - Japan delays launch of two spy satellites http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010613070624.jpdugptm.html - S.African millionaire bidding to become second space tourist: report http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010612190719.qyesusbc.html - Newly-found meteorite may point to water under Martian surface http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010612160555.cs3jd2m3.html - Russia's military satellites no longer reliable: space chief http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010613121247.ycdlmfyu.html"}, {"response": 514, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jun 14, 2001 (15:09)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Thursday, June 14, 2001 @ 0553 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now EVIDENCE FOUND FOR RECENT SHALLOW GROUND ICE ON MARS ---------------------------------------------------- New high-resolution images from Mars Global Surveyor show evidence of ground ice on Mars as recently as 10 million years ago. More striking is that the signs of geologically recent ground ice deposits are near the equator, where ice was probably no deeper than 15 feet. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/14marsice/ INVESTIGATORS PREPARE TO OK NEXT PEGASUS ROCKET LAUNCH ------------------------------------------------------ NASA's $85 million HESSI mission designed to study solar flares could be launched next Thursday if engineers can finish their investigation to prove the satellite's ride to space -- an Orbital Sciences Pegasus rocket -- is fit to fly. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/14hessi/ NASA SELECTS FIRST MARS SCOUT CONCEPTS FOR STUDY ------------------------------------------------ The ten most promising mission concepts of the 43 proposed to NASA for possible launch to Mars in 2007 were selected Wednesday for continued studies. The missions include networks of small landers, orbiting constellations of small craft and a rover that would attempt to establish absolute surface ages of rocks and soils. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/14marsscout/ BRIGHTER, REDDER MARS TO ILLUMINATE SUMMER NIGHTS ------------------------------------------------- Hold on to your hats and keep a pair of binoculars handy: After a 26-month sprint around the track of the solar system, we are about to lap Mars again. The red planet is in \"opposition,\" an event that puts Earth between Mars and the Sun. And next week, Mars will be at its closest distance from Earth since 1988. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/14marsopp/ REPAIRED SOLAR SAIL NOW READY FOR TEST LAUNCH --------------------------------------------- A suborbital demonstration flight of a solar sail is back on track for launch after a botched test damaged the craft. With repairs completed, the mission is expected to occur this summer aboard a Russian Volna rocket launched from a submarine in the Barents Sea. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/13solarsail/ JUPITER'S AURORAE, VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS ON IO REVEALED ---------------------------------------------------- Impressive thermal-infrared images have been obtained of the giant planet Jupiter during tests at the Paranal Observatory in Chile. They show the full extent of the northern auroral ring and part of the southern aurora. A volcanic eruption was also imaged on Io, the very active inner Jovian moon. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/12irjup/ NEW STUDY STIRS OLD DEBATE ABOUT GALAXIES ----------------------------------------- Using a technique that peeks over obscuring rings of dust and gas and into the hearts of distant galaxies, a researcher has found evidence suggesting that as many as half of the bright, active galaxies known as Seyfert 2 galaxies may have significantly less active central black holes. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/13debate/ OTHER HEADLINES --------------- NEW FACILITY TO IMPROVE AIRBORNE TELESCOPE'S CLARITY http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/13sofia/ OBSERVATIONS SHOW BROWN DWARFS FORM LIKE STARS http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/12browndwarf/ THE 'INS AND OUTS' OF A CELESTIAL DANCE BY CLUSTER 2 http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/12clusterdance/"}, {"response": 515, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Jun 15, 2001 (10:04)", "body": "Wow, ice on Mars!"}, {"response": 516, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jun 15, 2001 (14:53)", "body": "They've been seeing it for ages. Of its composition they were never certain. And, at the Martian equator, never! 15 feet (4 1/2 meters) thick, no less! I am most eager to know what they discover. Some planets in the solar system have methane ice. Not the sort you want in your summer cooler!"}, {"response": 517, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Jun 15, 2001 (16:40)", "body": "No I'll take regular ice in my iced tea, please."}, {"response": 518, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jun 15, 2001 (19:03)", "body": "I think I will join you in that! A sprig of fresh mint, too! NEWSALERT: Friday, June 15, 2001 @ 0554 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now ROBOT ARM BUMPS INTO STATION, BUT PASSES KEY TEST ------------------------------------------------- American astronauts aboard the international space station gave the outpost's new robotic arm a thorough workout on Thursday by successfully rehearsing the job of installing a 12-ton airlock during the next planned shuttle visit. But the test started off with the arm's free end striking the station. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage7a/010614dryrun/ PROTON ROCKET NEARS LIFTOFF --------------------------- A new spacecraft for Europe's ASTRA direct-to-home TV and radio satellite system is ready to rocket into orbit aboard a commercial Russian Proton booster. Launch is planned for 0149 GMT Saturday (9:49 p.m. EDT Friday). http://spaceflightnow.com/proton/astra2c/status.html HIDDEN OCEANS ON EUROPA COULD STILL SUPPORT LIFE ------------------------------------------------ Could life thrive where the Sun never shines? The answer to this unorthodox question bears directly on the tantalizing possibility that life exists in the hidden, perpetually dark oceans that are thought to shroud some of Jupiter's moons, most prominently Europa. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/15europa/ PROBE TO TAKE 'FINGERPRINT' OF COMET NUCLEUS -------------------------------------------- Instruments aboard a spacecraft that will be launched next year to explore two, and perhaps three or more, comets in the solar system will for the first time provide a \"fingerprint\" of the surface of cometary nuclei, giving the first firm evidence of the composition of the icy, rocky objects. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/15contour/ EVIDENCE SUGGESTS ALL RADIO-LOUD QUASARS MAY BE BLAZARS ------------------------------------------------------- Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin have found new evidence to suggest that all radio-loud quasars may be blazars -- and the differences between them may be related to the angle from which they are viewed. Quasars are quasi-stellar objects found in distant reaches of the universe and blazars are much brighter types of quasars. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/15blazars/"}, {"response": 519, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Jun 15, 2001 (19:36)", "body": "Wow, that proton rocket may mean that we can start getting satellite radios in our cars. I'm pretty happy with local stuff, local weather and talk shows, etc. but maybe they will develop more compleling contenet with the advent of csatellite radio."}, {"response": 520, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jun 15, 2001 (20:03)", "body": "I am simply delighted to listen to NPR finally. But access to any radio station on the internet would be awesome. Of course you have heard John Burnett on the Hilo radio station over the net. Imagine summoning wherever you wanted no matter where in the world you were! I like it!"}, {"response": 521, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Jun 17, 2001 (19:35)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Thursday, June 14, 2001 @ 0553 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now EVIDENCE FOUND FOR RECENT SHALLOW GROUND ICE ON MARS ---------------------------------------------------- New high-resolution images from Mars Global Surveyor show evidence of ground ice on Mars as recently as 10 million years ago. More striking is that the signs of geologically recent ground ice deposits are near the equator, where ice was probably no deeper than 15 feet. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/14marsice/ INVESTIGATORS PREPARE TO OK NEXT PEGASUS ROCKET LAUNCH ------------------------------------------------------ NASA's $85 million HESSI mission designed to study solar flares could be launched next Thursday if engineers can finish their investigation to prove the satellite's ride to space -- an Orbital Sciences Pegasus rocket -- is fit to fly. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/14hessi/ NASA SELECTS FIRST MARS SCOUT CONCEPTS FOR STUDY ------------------------------------------------ The ten most promising mission concepts of the 43 proposed to NASA for possible launch to Mars in 2007 were selected Wednesday for continued studies. The missions include networks of small landers, orbiting constellations of small craft and a rover that would attempt to establish absolute surface ages of rocks and soils. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/14marsscout/ BRIGHTER, REDDER MARS TO ILLUMINATE SUMMER NIGHTS ------------------------------------------------- Hold on to your hats and keep a pair of binoculars handy: After a 26-month sprint around the track of the solar system, we are about to lap Mars again. The red planet is in \"opposition,\" an event that puts Earth between Mars and the Sun. And next week, Mars will be at its closest distance from Earth since 1988. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/14marsopp/ REPAIRED SOLAR SAIL NOW READY FOR TEST LAUNCH --------------------------------------------- A suborbital demonstration flight of a solar sail is back on track for launch after a botched test damaged the craft. With repairs completed, the mission is expected to occur this summer aboard a Russian Volna rocket launched from a submarine in the Barents Sea. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/13solarsail/ JUPITER'S AURORAE, VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS ON IO REVEALED ---------------------------------------------------- Impressive thermal-infrared images have been obtained of the giant planet Jupiter during tests at the Paranal Observatory in Chile. They show the full extent of the northern auroral ring and part of the southern aurora. A volcanic eruption was also imaged on Io, the very active inner Jovian moon. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/12irjup/ NEW STUDY STIRS OLD DEBATE ABOUT GALAXIES ----------------------------------------- Using a technique that peeks over obscuring rings of dust and gas and into the hearts of distant galaxies, a researcher has found evidence suggesting that as many as half of the bright, active galaxies known as Seyfert 2 galaxies may have significantly less active central black holes. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/13debate/ OTHER HEADLINES --------------- NEW FACILITY TO IMPROVE AIRBORNE TELESCOPE'S CLARITY http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/13sofia/ OBSERVATIONS SHOW BROWN DWARFS FORM LIKE STARS http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/12browndwarf/ THE 'INS AND OUTS' OF A CELESTIAL DANCE BY CLUSTER 2 http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/12clusterdance/"}, {"response": 522, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jun 18, 2001 (15:12)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Monday, June 18, 2001 @ 0456 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now ATLAS ROCKET TO PUT FIRST ICO SATELLITE INTO SPACE TONIGHT ---------------------------------------------------------- The foundation upon which the ICO global telephone and data relay satellite system will be built is awaiting a late-night liftoff atop a Lockheed Martin Atlas 2AS rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida. http://spaceflightnow.com/atlas/ac156/status.html PROTON ADDS NEW CRAFT TO ASTRA SATELLITE SYSTEM ----------------------------------------------- A new broadcasting spacecraft was propelled into Earth orbit on Saturday to join the ASTRA direct-to-home TV satellite system serving over 87 million homes across Europe. http://spaceflightnow.com/proton/astra2c/status.html XMM-NEWTON OBSERVATORY PEERS INTO A STELLAR COFFIN -------------------------------------------------- Astronomy is a painstaking discipline, requiring time and patience. Yet once in while, a string of discoveries using different telescopes occur in the same domain, each following hot on the heels of one another. Now, XMM-Newton adds the latest chapter to the story of IC443, one of the most studied supernova remnants. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/17xmm/ VETERAN SPACE SHUTTLE COMMANDER RETIRES --------------------------------------- Four-time space shuttle flier Brian Duffy (Col., USAF) has retired from the astronaut corps to accept a senior management position at Lockheed Martin. Duffy also will retire from the U.S. Air Force at the end of June. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/16duffy/ TAURUS XL ROCKET WINS COMMERCIAL LAUNCH ORDER --------------------------------------------- Orbital Sciences has sold its first Taurus XL rocket, a more powerful version of the company's ground-launched vehicle. The mission will carry a Taiwanese remote sensing satellite into orbit in 2003 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/18rocsat2/ SPROUT WINGS AND FLY -------------------- Engineers at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center have been flying a deployable, inflatable wing technology demonstrator experiment using a radio controlled airplane. The project's number one flight research question: \"will it fly as the wings deploy in flight?\" http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/17inflate/ SPACE TECHNOLOGY IMPROVES VIEW OF GIANT TELESCOPE ------------------------------------------------- NASA engineers in Alabama have been climbing a Texas mountain for the past year to help astronomers reach deeper into space with the world's third-largest telescope at the McDonald Observatory on Mount Fowlkes. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/16msfcscope/"}, {"response": 523, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jun 19, 2001 (14:08)", "body": "QUICK SPACE - UAV Stealth Plane Gets X Rating http://www.spacedaily.com/news/plane-x47a-01a.html - Global Hawk Production Ramps Up Begins http://www.spacedaily.com/news/uav-01g.html - The Aerover Blimp: The Ultimate All-terrain Vehicle http://www.spacedaily.com/news/ballon-01b.html - Tecstar Reclaims Technology Lead For Solar Cells http://www.spacedaily.com/news/solarcell-01e.html - Boeing-Built ICO Satellite Scheduled to Launch http://www.spacedaily.com/news/ico-01a.html - Thuraya Satellite Begins Commercial Mobile Phone Service http://www.spacedaily.com/news/thuraya-01b.html - Loral Skynet Offers Antenna-Seeding Program For Growing Cable Zone http://www.spacedaily.com/news/satellite-biz-01i.html - Hidden Oceans On Jupiter's Moons Could Support Life http://www.spacedaily.com/news/jupiter-europa-01b.html - Swiss geologists find Mars meteorite in the Sultanate of Oman http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-meteorite-01b.html - Xybernaut's Wearable Computers To Be Trialed For Mars Explorers http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-manned-01e.html - X-43A Mishap Investigation Update http://www.spacedaily.com/news/rlv-01o.html"}, {"response": 524, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jun 19, 2001 (14:48)", "body": "Interplanetary shock wave triggers Northern Lights Space Weather News for June 19, 2001 http://www.spaceweather.com AURORA YESTERDAY: A dense interplanetary shock wave buffeted Earth's magnetic field on Monday and lit up the midnight skies of North America with aurora borealis. Sky watchers saw the show despite the lengthening twilight of northern summer, which begins officially this Thursday. Visit spaceweather.com for images of the display. AURORA TODAY? Another solar wind disturbance swept past our planet on Tuesday; the impact might trigger renewed geomagnetic activity. Mid- and high-latitude sky watchers should be alert for (the slim chance of) auroras around local midnight. Visit http://SpaceWeather.com for more information and updates."}, {"response": 525, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jun 19, 2001 (19:50)", "body": "Eclipse Safari NASA Science News for June 19, 2001 On Thursday, June 21st, the Moon's shadow will race across southern Africa for the only total solar eclipse of 2001. Read this story to learn why eclipses happen, what animals do when the Moon's shadow sweeps by, and what astronomers hope to learn by observing the event. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast19jun_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 526, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jun 20, 2001 (17:33)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Wednesday, June 20, 2001 @ 1707 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now PEGASUS LAUNCH OF HESSI POSTPONED INDEFINITELY ---------------------------------------------- NASA has halted plans to fly its HESSI solar probe aboard an Orbital Sciences Pegasus rocket until investigators determine what likely caused the botched X-43A launch earlier this month. When HESSI will be launched is unknown. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/19hessi/ ATLAS LAUNCHES FOUNDATION OF ICO SATELLITE SYSTEM ------------------------------------------------- The orbital assembly of a new wireless telephone and data relay satellite network began Tuesday when a Lockheed Martin Atlas 2AS rocket successfully launched the cornerstone spacecraft for the ICO system. http://spaceflightnow.com/atlas/ac156/ Read our call of the countdown and launch: http://spaceflightnow.com/atlas/ac156/status.html XMM SNAPS STRIKING IMAGE OF STELLAR ACTIVITY, BLACK HOLE -------------------------------------------------------- Europe's orbiting XMM-Newton telescope has obtained one of the most striking ultraviolet pictures ever taken of the galaxy M81. Strong ultraviolet emission is a feature of star formation, supernova explosions and the accretion of matter by a supermassive black hole. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/20m81/ DEFROSTING MARTIAN SAND DUNES LOOK LIKE VEGETATION -------------------------------------------------- As winter gives way to spring in the Martian southern hemisphere, NASA's Mars Global Surveyor is observing the retreat of the south polar frost cap. One of the most aesthetically-pleasing aspects of the spring defrosting process is the pattern that is created on the sand dune fields. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/19dunes/ SOLAR NEUTRINO PROBLEM SOLVED ----------------------------- Data from an unusual underground observatory have helped scientists solve a key mystery about the Sun, but have in turn raised new questions about fundamental particle physics, scientists announced Monday. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/20sno/ THURAYA BEGINS COMMERCIAL SATELLITE PHONE SERVICE ------------------------------------------------- Thuraya -- the satellite-based regional mobile communications system -- has started rolling out its service with the ultimate goal of covering a region encompassing approximately 2.5 billion people in 100 countries across the Middle East, North and Central Africa, Europe, the Indian subcontinent and Central Asia. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/19thuraya/"}, {"response": 527, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jun 20, 2001 (18:04)", "body": "QUICK SPACE - Atlas Launches ICO Into Medium Earth Orbit http://www.spacedaily.com/news/ico-01b.html - Russia Plans Flyback Booster http://www.spacedaily.com/news/launcher-russia-01j.html - NSA certifies Iridium Security Module http://www.spacedaily.com/news/iridium-01d.html - Logicon To Supply Software For Missile Shield http://www.spacedaily.com/news/bmdo-01zj.html - Air Force Begins Independent Test Of SBIRS Ground Station http://www.spacedaily.com/news/sbirs-01d.html - NASA To 'Map' Big Bang Remnant To Study Early Universe http://www.spacedaily.com/news/map-01b.html - Planetary Hit-and-Run Among Creative Ideas Nudged by NASA http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-scouts-01a.html"}, {"response": 528, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jun 25, 2001 (02:03)", "body": "QUICK SPACE - Australian Government To Fund New Indian Ocean Launch Center http://www.spacedaily.com/news/aust-01b.html - Vegetation Key to Accurate Climate Modeling http://www.spacedaily.com/news/climate-01h.html - Putin Warns Of Arms Buildup If US Drops Abm Treaty http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010623151328.a3wxqofv.html - AFA Conference Brings Space Stars Together http://www.spacedaily.com/news/milspace-01t.html - Future Army Could Run On Alternative Fuels http://www.spacedaily.com/news/future-01g.html - Boeing Delta-4 To Launch DSCS-3 A3 Satellite For US Air Force http://www.spacedaily.com/news/milspace-comms-01e.html - AeroAstro Reviews Malaysian SPORT http://www.spacedaily.com/news/nanosat-01c.html - Radiation-Resistant Chips for Sturdier Satellites http://www.spacedaily.com/news/radiation-01h.html - What's Real, What's Science Fiction? http://www.spacedaily.com/news/robot-01c.html"}, {"response": 529, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jun 25, 2001 (02:11)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Monday, June 25, 2001 @ 0130 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now TEMPERATURE MAP OF IO PRESENTS A PUZZLE --------------------------------------- Earth's tropics are hotter than the polar regions for a good reason, so scientists are puzzled that the same pattern doesn't show on Jupiter's moon Io. Powerful volcanoes and the previous day's sunshine warm the nighttime surface of Jupiter's moon Io, as seen in this image from NASA's Galileo spacecraft. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/24iomap/ EUROPA'S FROZEN SURFACE ----------------------- Europa, a moon of Jupiter, appears as a thick crescent in this enhanced-color image from NASA's Galileo spacecraft. Reddish linear features are some of the cracks and ridges, thousands of kilometers long, which are caused by the tides raised by the gravitational pull of Jupiter. Also visible are a few circular features, which are small impact craters. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/24europa/ COMPANIES USE AIR SHOW TO ANNOUNCE LAUNCH DEALS ----------------------------------------------- Arianespace, Boeing and International Launch Services announced a batch of new contracts last week at the Paris Air Show. Here are the three respective corporate releases describing the deals. ARIANE SIGNS 8 NEW LAUNCH CONTRACTS: http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/25ariane/ BOEING/MELCO DEAL WORTH UP TO 6 DELTA 4s: http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/25boeing/ ILS ATLAS 5 APPROVED BY INMARSAT VENTURES: http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/25ils/ ROSETTA - A SPACECRAFT IN SEARCH OF PRISTINE MATTER --------------------------------------------------- In January 2003 the European spacecraft Rosetta is to launch on atop an Ariane 5 to comet \"Wirtanen\" in search of pristine matter. For a year, it will orbit this tailed star at a distance of one kilometer and explore it in detail. At the same time, a probe will land on the comet's surface for surface-science investigations and analysis. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/23rosetta/ UNIQUE LINK FOUND BETWEEN STELLAR DEATH AND BIRTH ------------------------------------------------- Astronomers from the University of Colorado at Boulder and the University of California at Berkeley have discovered a key building block for new stars in the rapidly expanding remains of an ancient stellar explosion. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/23fuse/ ADOLESCENT INTERSTELLAR CLOUD SET FOR STAR FORMING -------------------------------------------------- Astronomers have discovered a highly unusual, massive interstellar cloud that appears poised to begin a burst of star formation. The cloud may be the first ever to be detected in the transition between atomic and molecular states. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/25cloud/ X-RAY VIEW OF A YOUNG PLANETARY NEBULA -------------------------------------- Chandra's image of NGC 7027 represents the first detection of X-rays from this young planetary nebula that is about 3,000 light years from Earth. A bubble of 3 million degree Celsius gas with a length about a hundred times that of our solar system is shown in the image. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/25chandra/ CELLULAR, MACROMOLECULAR BIOTECHNOLOGY RESEARCH PROPOSALS PICKED ---------------------------------------------------------------- NASA has selected 43 researchers to receive grants totaling approximately $27 million over four years to conduct biotechnology research on Earth and in space. This research will create knowledge in important areas of biotechnology such as tissue engineering, gene expression and biosensor technology. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/24biotech/ ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: IT'S MORE THAN A MOVIE ----------------------------------------------- Engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory will talk about the real artificial intelligence work that takes place at NASA in a live webcast, scheduled for June 29, at 11 a.m. Pacific Time. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/23artintell/"}, {"response": 530, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jun 26, 2001 (16:46)", "body": "A Meteor Shower This Week? Space Weather News for June 25, 2001 http://www.spaceweather.com METEOR SHOWER: On June 26th and 27th Earth will pass through the dusty debris trail of comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke, triggering the annual \"June Bootid\" meteor shower. Most years the June Bootids are meek: a typical shower consists of only a few visible meteors each hour -- but not always. In 1998 sky watchers enjoyed an intense Bootid outburst. What will happen this year? No one knows, but meteor enthusiasts will be watching the heavens for a possible flurry of shooting stars. Tune in to SpaceWeather.com for observing tips and more information about the shower. And don't forget to try listening to the June Bootids using our online meteor radar. SOLAR ECLIPSE: SpaceWeather.com's growing gallery of images from last week's solar eclipse now includes sounds as well. Listen to audio clips that reveal the excited reactions of onlookers before and during totality. Visit http://SpaceWeather.com"}, {"response": 531, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Jun 26, 2001 (19:02)", "body": "What's up with the decimated ham radio satellite? Any more news on this? The guys on the 442.475 repeater were bemoaning the fact that some super cold liquid may have leaked and jammed up most of the communications gear."}, {"response": 532, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jun 26, 2001 (20:13)", "body": "This is the last I heard from them: seeks 80-meter bulletin reports A change has been made to the 80-meter bulletin antenna system. W1AW is requesting from amateurs who listen to the 80-meter transmissions send in signal reports. Please note QTH, time of reception, mode, signal strength and quality. Use of the standard RST system is acceptable. Mail your report on a postcard to W1AW 80-meter reports, 225 Main Street, Newington, Connecticut, 06111. Email reports may be sent to w1aw@arrl.org. The complete W1AW Operating Schedule appears in July QST, page 105, or on the web at http://www.arrl.org/w1aw.html ."}, {"response": 533, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jun 26, 2001 (23:34)", "body": "All the World's a Stage ... for Dust NASA Science News for June 26, 2001 Tune in to a NASA website and watch giant dust clouds as they ride global rivers of air, cross-pollinating continents with topsoil and microbes. This story includes movies of an African dust cloud blowing westward to North America in June. It also addresses questions like: Where does topsoil for Caribbean islands come from? And, are sneezes in Florida triggered by allergens from other continents? The answers may surprise you! FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast26jun_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 534, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jun 26, 2001 (23:48)", "body": "----------- QUICK SPACE - Ringing Out The Bugs On Route To Saturn And Titan http://www.spacedaily.com/news/cassini-01g1.html - US May Still Decide Against Missile Defense: Russian Minister http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010625140642.et8cy2ut.html - Taiwan Secretly Developing Cruise Missile: Report http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010626063827.gjvjk3z4.html - Georgia Supports US Missile Defence Shunning Russian Concerns http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010625150543.m1yzqpsh.html - Chinese Scientists Gravitate Towards African Solar Eclipse http://www.spacedaily.com/news/china-01zi.html - Cluster's Whispers Probe The Electrifying Plasmasphere http://www.spacedaily.com/news/cluster2-01b.html - Rime of the ancient Mariner: NASA looks back to Mercury http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010625113444.hjxemcxr.html - Refining Estimates For The North American Carbon Sink http://www.spacedaily.com/news/greenhouse-01p.html - German Government, Energy Bosses Agree To C02 Emission Cut http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010625160336.rcbrap9j.html - Telesat Increases Equity Stake In Wildblue http://www.spacedaily.com/news/internet-01m.html"}, {"response": 535, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jun 27, 2001 (21:19)", "body": "Spacedaily Express - June 27, 2001 QUICK SPACE - NASA-Tito Discord Over Space Tourism Remains http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010627013535.rme0do06.html - SEAKR Offers Compact Flash Memory Pak For Space Applications http://www.spacedaily.com/news/space-electronics-01g.html - Space Probe To Glimpse Infancy Of The Universe http://www.spacedaily.com/news/map-01c.html - New Solar-Powered Hyperion Robot Stays In Sync With The Sun http://www.spacedaily.com/news/robot-01d.html - China Kicks Off World Space Week 2001 Promo Campaign http://www.spacedaily.com/news/china-01zj.html - Russia Under Greater Threat From Missile Attack Than US: http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010626131926.pf3wy6bv.html - Nuke Sub Missiles Notch Up Three More Successful Tests http://www.spacedaily.com/news/icbm-01h.html - Taiwan Secretly Developing Cruise Missile http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010626063827.gjvjk3z4.html - El Nino Link To Southern Ocean Currents http://www.spacedaily.com/news/pacific-01b.html - Japan, US To Develop Technology To Cut CO2 Emissions http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010627043220.x5odpsdz.html - G8 leaders to be unwitting participants in WWF campaign http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010626190948.el2o0x1c.html - Kyoto rescue effort runs into money problems http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010626162759.e3m4nq2q.html"}, {"response": 536, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jun 27, 2001 (21:21)", "body": "Satellite snaps 'before' and 'after' photos of tornado path NEWSALERT: Wednesday, June 27, 2001 @ 0455 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now SATELLITE IMAGES TELL TALE OF WISCONSIN TORNADO ----------------------------------------------- The morning after the northwestern Wisconsin town of Siren was leveled by a devastating tornado, the federal Landsat-7 satellite captured its destructive path from space. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/27tornado/ 'GRACE TWINS' TO INVESTIGATE THE EARTH SYSTEM --------------------------------------------- The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment satellite duo is being prepared for launch to carry out gravimetric measurements of the Earth with an unprecedented accuracy, allowing for detection of minor changes in the gravity field caused by the circulating magma in the planet's interior, melting glaciers or changing ocean currents. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/27grace/ CLUSTER'S WHISPERS PROBE ELECTRIFYING PLASMASPHERE -------------------------------------------------- An astronaut who exits a spacecraft without a spacesuit will die very quickly because there is no air to breathe. However, although space is often regarded as an airless vacuum, it is by no means empty. Spacecraft such as Cluster are built to detect and study the sparse 'soup' of electrified plasma that populates near-Earth space. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/27cluster2/ INTERSPUTNIK REPORTS FAILURE OF EXPRESS-2 SATELLITE --------------------------------------------------- The Intersputnik International Organization of Space Communications announced Monday that the Express-2 satellite had undergone an emergency de-activation as a result of technical problems with its Earth-orientation system. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/26express2/ SOLAR CONJUNCTION COMING TO END FOR GALILEO ------------------------------------------- This week the Galileo spacecraft peeks back out from behind the Sun. For about the last three weeks, Jupiter, with Galileo in orbit around it, has been blocked from view by the Sun. During this period of solar conjunction, the radio signal from the spacecraft must pass through the turbulent atmosphere of the Sun. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/26galileothisweek/ ESA AWARDS GIANT CONTRACT FOR NEW ASTRONOMY SATELLITES ------------------------------------------------------ The largest contract ever in the history of European space astronomy has been awarded by ESA to an industrial consortium led by Alcatel Space Industries for the manufacture of two astronomy satellites, the Herschel Space Observatory and Planck. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/26esaaward/ BOEING DELTA 4 TO LAUNCH DSCS-3 A3 FOR USAF ------------------------------------------- Boeing officials have announced that the U.S. Air Force has assigned a second launch of a Defense Satellite Communications System (DSCS) satellite aboard a Boeing Delta 4 rocket. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/26dscs3a3/"}, {"response": 537, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Jun 27, 2001 (21:43)", "body": "don't forget the meteor shower, look out west and don't forget mars in the southern sky. the meteor shower is supposed to last a week (through Jul 2). get comfy and watch the sky!"}, {"response": 538, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jun 28, 2001 (19:29)", "body": "Yup, I posted it on 24 ..... thanks for the reminder. Go out, look and enjoy then come back to report your sightings!"}, {"response": 539, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jun 28, 2001 (19:45)", "body": "QUICK SPACE - .COM for Satellite Control Center Automation? http://www.spacedaily.com/news/industry-01a.html - DirecTV Shuts Down Satellite Pirates http://www.spacedaily.com/news/satellite-biz-01j.html - Boeing Rocketdyne RS-68 First Flight Engine Go for Launch http://www.spacedaily.com/news/delta4-01j.html - The Goldilocks Effect: How Other Earths Form Just Right http://www.spacedaily.com/news/early-earth-01e.html - Where There's Soup, There's Life http://www.spacedaily.com/news/life-01w.html - Rare Orbital Anomaly May Have Caused Global Cooling http://www.spacedaily.com/news/greenhouse-01q.html - Subglacial Volcanoes On Mars http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-volcano-01b.html - Russia To Bring Space Shuttle Back From The Grave http://www.spacedaily.com/news/russia-space-general-01m.html - My Way or the SKYway http://www.spacedaily.com/news/tourism-01y.html - Russia Test Launches RS-18 ICBM http://www.spacedaily.com/news/icbm-01i.html"}, {"response": 540, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Jun 28, 2001 (21:45)", "body": "i was too sleepy to catch them last night plus we were rather overcast. sooooo....am gonna try again tonight. will let you know what i see."}, {"response": 541, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jun 28, 2001 (22:31)", "body": "Look for the comet, as well!!!"}, {"response": 542, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Jun 29, 2001 (10:19)", "body": "comet? it was overcast again last night *frown* but i think i accidentally saw mars! is it slightly orange? (no, it's not the sun!!)"}, {"response": 543, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jun 29, 2001 (13:53)", "body": "Mars is very orane compared with other things in the nigth sky. I am hoping tonight will be my turn to see it. Yup, Comet Linear. Go take a look at the Sky and Telescope page I posted yesterday - or see below! COMET LINEAR HEADING INTO NORTHERN SKIES Northern Hemisphere observers should finally get a peek at Comet LINEAR (C/2001 A2) later this week as it quickly moves through Cetus. The comet was closest to the Sun on May 24th, but will be closest to the Earth on June 30th (37 million kilometers). Observers at midnorthern latitudes will see the comet climb higher above the east-southeast horizon each morning. By the end of the week, Comet LINEAR should be 10 to 25 deg. high (depending on your latitude) by the first hints of dawn. LINEAR has faded a little since reaching 3rd magnitude last week, but it remains a naked-eye object. In a week's time, however, the comet could fade even more or have yet another outburst. The comet remains high in the morning sky for Southern Hemisphere observers, where it will be more than halfway to the zenith in the eastern sky before dawn. Here are coordinates for Comet LINEAR for 0 hours Universal Time (in 2000.0 coordinates) for the coming week: R.A. Dec. Jun 23 2h 12m -17.8 deg. 25 1 50 -15.0 27 1 27 -11.9 29 1 04 - 8.5"}, {"response": 544, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jun 29, 2001 (14:27)", "body": "Wandering Mystery Planets NASA Science News for June 29, 2001 The word 'planet' comes from the Greek word 'wanderer,' but the planets in our solar system aren't true nomads. They stay close to home, always circling the Sun. This week scientists using the Hubble Space Telescope may have discovered a class of genuine planetary wanderers. It seems that mysterious objects smaller than Jupiter are running loose in globular cluster M22! Are they planets? No one knows, but astronomers are planning to find out. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast29jun_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 545, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jun 29, 2001 (15:22)", "body": "----------- QUICK SPACE - Europe Steps Up Satellite Piracy Crackdown http://www.spacedaily.com/news/satellite-biz-01k.html - XM Radio Birds Operating Perfectly http://www.spacedaily.com/news/life-01t.html - AsiaSat and Telstra link to stream broadband services to Australia http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010628055513.oso6ra9u.html - Venus Holds Clues To Finding Earth's Platinum And Diamonds http://www.spacedaily.com/news/venus-01b.html - Russia, US to discuss missile defense row in coming days http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010628220024.dapgh4fe.html - Common Ground Sought for Nuclear Security in 21st Century http://www.spacedaily.com/news/icbm-01j.html - Iridium Beefs Asia Pacific Push http://www.spacedaily.com/news/iridium-01e.html - Mass Extinction At The Triassic-Jurassic Boundary http://www.spacedaily.com/news/life-01t.html - Did A Disturbance In The \"Force\" Caused The K-T Impact? http://www.spacedaily.com/news/life-01u.html - How Trees Changed The World http://www.spacedaily.com/news/life-01v.html - Unlocking The Mystery Of Recurring Sea Ice Holes http://www.spacedaily.com/news/antarctic-01d.html - UN climate talks show big gaps, storm over US, Japan http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010628203836.vsajplp4.html - Britain's BNFL eagerly anticipates nuclear power \"renaissance\" http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010628115256.m4lnqbjs.html"}, {"response": 546, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jun 29, 2001 (15:23)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Friday, June 29, 2001 @ 0637 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now NASA NAMES THE LAUNCH DAY FOR SHUTTLE ATLANTIS ---------------------------------------------- NASA officials gathered on Thursday for the traditional Flight Readiness Review and affirmed July 12 as the launch date for Atlantis' 11-day mission to deliver the Joint Airlock to the international space station. Liftoff is planned for 5:04 a.m. EDT (0904 GMT). http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage7a/010628frr/ HINTS OF PLANET-SIZED DRIFTERS BEWILDER SCIENTISTS -------------------------------------------------- Piercing the heart of a globular star cluster with its needle-sharp vision, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has uncovered tantalizing clues to what could potentially be a strange and unexpected population of wandering, planet-sized objects. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/27hubble/ NASA'S MAP PROBE SET FOR WEEKEND LAUNCH --------------------------------------- Boeing's Delta 2 rocket is slated for launch Saturday to propel a NASA spacecraft on a journey to detect the afterglow of the Big Bang, which scientists hope will shed light on age-old questions about the content, shape, history and the ultimate fate of the universe. http://spaceflightnow.com/delta/d286/status.html SPACE TOURISM HEARING TURNS INTO STATION DEBATE ----------------------------------------------- A Congressional hearing on the nascent space tourism industry Tuesday turned into a debate between Dennis Tito and a NASA official regarding how many people the International Space Station can accommodate. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/27tourism/ CANADA BUYS LOCKHEED MARTIN SATELLITE AND LAUNCH ------------------------------------------------ Telesat Canada has bought a new direct-to-home TV broadcasting satellite and a rocket to launch the craft from Lockheed Martin. The Nimiq 2 spacecraft is due for liftoff from Cape Canaveral atop an Atlas 5 booster in the fourth quarter of 2002. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/29nimiq/ ESA SOLAR MISSION ATTRACTS FOLLOWERS TO TENERIFE ------------------------------------------------ The launch date of Solar Orbiter, ESA's next mission to study the Sun, should be no later than 2010. This was one of the key messages to emerge from the first Solar Orbiter workshop which was held in Tenerife last month. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/29solarorbiter/ FIRST BOEING DELTA 4 ROCKET FLIGHT ENGINE 'GO FOR LAUNCH' --------------------------------------------------------- The liquid-fueled main engine that will power the first Boeing Delta 4 rocket off the launch pad next spring has completed acceptance testing, clearing the way for the powerplant's attachment to the vehicle in the factory. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/28rs68/ PIONEER OF U.S. HUMAN SPACE FLIGHT DIES --------------------------------------- John F. Yardley, a leading figure in the early days of human space flight and the Space Shuttle program, died early Tuesday. He was 76. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/28yardley/"}, {"response": 547, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Jun 29, 2001 (20:06)", "body": "am hoping to catch the meteor shower tonight--well, maybe not, i just looked outside to remind myself what the sky was doing and it's overcast again. we need the rain and the nice low humidity but I WANNA SEE THE METEORS! *grin*"}, {"response": 548, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jun 30, 2001 (00:25)", "body": "I also WANNA SEE THE COMET!!! but I gotta go out before dawn to see it. *sigh*"}, {"response": 549, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Jun 30, 2001 (12:12)", "body": "k i went out for a bit last night and saw nothing but satellites and high aircraft. the dogs wanted out at 4, so bleary-eyed i looked at the stars and saw nothing again! *frown* but i shall not give up, this thing is supposed to last through Monday!"}, {"response": 550, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jun 30, 2001 (16:39)", "body": "Wolfie, at 4am you should have seen the COMET!!! I was awake and I am sure the view from the summit of Mauna Kea was spectacular, but... It is so depressing looking at the underside of clouds when there are such great things going on on the other side! Satellites??? You did not do so bad. This is not one of the better meteor showers. I got my brand new husband out of bed to watch the Geminids which will occur again next month. Wait for them. They are usually spectacular!!!"}, {"response": 551, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Jun 30, 2001 (16:57)", "body": "you got your WHO out of bed?"}, {"response": 552, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jun 30, 2001 (17:20)", "body": "A bunch of years ago - I was on my honeymoon. My ex was just as curious as I was and we saw nothing but Maine fog! Sorry, I did not make it clear about the time-frame involved. I am not married!"}, {"response": 553, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Jun 30, 2001 (21:14)", "body": "*laugh* think i'm gonna have trouble seeing anything tonight too as the sky has been cloudy all day threatening rain!"}, {"response": 554, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Jul  1, 2001 (11:29)", "body": "Same here, pretty cloudy."}, {"response": 555, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Jul  1, 2001 (14:26)", "body": "well, the clouds were starting to break up last night but it is overcast again today. did catch a glimpse of mars again (isn't it in the southern sky?)...did have fantastic dreams about the meteors though! *laugh* will check out the night sky again and let you know!"}, {"response": 556, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Jul  1, 2001 (14:38)", "body": "I looked for Mars again last evening. I managed to see the moon though the partial cloudiness, but nothing else. Cloudy this morning so no comet-hunting. ( Mars is the biggest brightest orange thing up there. )"}, {"response": 557, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Jul  1, 2001 (14:53)", "body": "this is the only orange orb in my sky anyway and it is sort of high on the horizon and is south to southeast."}, {"response": 558, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Jul  1, 2001 (18:00)", "body": "Yup that's it! Please, no beaming up or letting little green men (otherwise know as BEMs) come get you! Unless, of course, they are your relatives =)"}, {"response": 559, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Jul  1, 2001 (19:04)", "body": "*laugh* only if they let me bring you with!"}, {"response": 560, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Jul  1, 2001 (22:05)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Monday, July 2, 2001 @ 0019 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now CRAFT LAUNCHED TO UNLOCK SECRETS OF THE UNIVERSE ------------------------------------------------ A NASA space probe designed to map the afterglow of the Big Bang -- the fossil light from the creation of the universe 14 billion years ago -- was launched into space on Saturday atop a Boeing Delta 2 rocket. http://spaceflightnow.com/delta/d286/ Read our call of the countdown and launch: http://spaceflightnow.com/delta/d286/status.html ESA AND NASA SET NEW CASSINI-HUYGENS PLAN ----------------------------------------- Managers for an international mission to Saturn have announced a revised plan to work around a telecommunications problem and avoid loss of scientific data after the Cassini spacecraft releases the Huygens probe to descend to the surface of Titan, Saturn's biggest moon, in 2005. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/30huygensfix/ GLITCH HALTS FREE FLIGHT TEST OF NASA'S X-38 -------------------------------------------- NASA X-38 program engineers decided to postpone the seventh free flight of an X-38 vehicle on Friday. The halt came after the X-38, still secured to a wing pylon on NASA's B-52B mother ship, was already airborne. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/30x38delay/ ORBITAL ANOMALY MAY HAVE CAUSED GLOBAL EARTH COOLING ---------------------------------------------------- A rare coincidence of orbital cycles may have caused sudden global cooling 23 million years ago, according to scientists, who used high resolution records and new techniques that allow astronomical calibration to be extended much further back in time. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0107/02anomaly/ GIANT 'EYEBALL' FURTHERS MEGA-TELESCOPE CONCEPT ----------------------------------------------- A satellite receiver that works like a giant eyeball has arrived in Sydney for testing, bringing a step closer one idea for the world's next 'mega-telescope' -- an army of giant spheres to collect radio waves from the cosmos, dotted in patches across the landscape. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0107/02eyeball/ SPACE STATION SENDS BACK FIRST RADIATION DATA --------------------------------------------- The first series of radiation data collected inside the International Space Station has been transmitted from space to scientists on Earth eager to assess its potential biomedical impacts and implications for future research. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0107/01issrad/ EXPEDITION TWO SCIENCE OPERATIONS STATUS REPORT ----------------------------------------------- An experiment that could make the Space Station an even better place to conduct microgravity experiments was undergoing tests this week in the orbiting laboratory. The Active Rack Isolation System is designed to act like a powered shock absorber to dampen vibrations from powered equipment and crew activities. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/30isssci/"}, {"response": 561, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Jul  1, 2001 (22:07)", "body": "I'm packing, Wolfie. They want your new ring (now posted on Geo 8)"}, {"response": 562, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Jul  1, 2001 (22:37)", "body": "*laugh* they wanna see if it's a fake or not! saw in the paper about a probe thing launched this weekend--yeah, that's the one you mentioned in 560--it's a Microwave Anisotropy Probe....hmmm...wonder if it'll work better than the hubble (wasn't that sent to do the same thing?)."}, {"response": 563, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jul  2, 2001 (00:38)", "body": "We'll ask Cosmological Mike to take a bearing on it and download the goodies for us. It was a beautiful launch from what I saw on CNN. It covers much different range of the spectrum from what I understand. Fall out and stand by - will check it in the morning when y'all are wider awake!"}, {"response": 564, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Jul  3, 2001 (10:28)", "body": "Wednesday, 27 June, 2001, 08:23 GMT 09:23 UK Strange glows on Jupiter moon The white dots seen near the equator are volcanoes By BBC News Online science editor Dr David Whitehouse Strange glows have been seen dancing over Jupiter's moon Io. They were recorded during an eclipse of Io in January, witnessed by the Cassini spacecraft that was on its way to Saturn. Cassini's camera captured images of the eclipsed Io in several colours, ranging from the near-ultraviolet to the near-infrared. The colour of the diffuse glows tells scientists what elements are responsible; oxygen and sulphur are the best candidates. Some of the glows are associated with volcanic eruptions; others are auroral in nature being caused by Jupiter's titanic magnetic field wafting over the tiny moon. http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1409000/1409117.stm ,.\b"}, {"response": 565, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Jul  3, 2001 (10:30)", "body": "Monday July 2 10:20 PM ET Astronomers Find Solar System Body By ANDREW BRIDGES, AP Science Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) - Astronomers announced Monday they have discovered an icy body that rivals Pluto's moon in size and hints that other planets may lurk within the far reaches of our solar system. The object, 2001 KX76, appears to be between 595 and 788 miles across, making it larger than any known asteroid and, perhaps, even Pluto's moon Charon. Charon is estimated to be 744 miles in diameter. A team of astronomers used the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile to find the object in images taken on May 22. It orbits the sun at a distance of about 4 billion miles in the Kuiper Belt of objects beyond Neptune. The new object apparently trumps in size all other known objects beyond the orbit of Neptune, except Pluto itself."}, {"response": 566, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Jul  3, 2001 (10:30)", "body": "Varuna points way to 10th solar planet PARIS: A large asteroid, named Varuna after the lord of the cosmos in Hindu mythology, has been spotted in the outer fringes of the Solar System, a discovery which suggests the Sun may have more than nine planets, astronomers say. Varuna was detected last November by Arizona-based astronomers in the Spacewatch Project, a scheme aimed at scouring the asteroid belts to look, in part, for rogue rocks that could be a potential threat to Earth. The spherical object is 900 km in diameter, which makes it only a tad smaller than Charon, the tiny moon that orbits Pluto, the most distant of the Sun's nine known planets. The discovery, by a team led by David Jewitt of the Institute of Astronomy in Honolulu, is reported last week in Nature, the British science weekly. http://www.timesofindia.com/280501/28hlth3.htm"}, {"response": 567, "author": "CherylB", "date": "Tue, Jul  3, 2001 (16:05)", "body": "Is Pluto still considered a planet? Wasn't there some theory which denied that Pluto was actually a planet, due to its unusual orbit, or something?"}, {"response": 568, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Jul  3, 2001 (22:28)", "body": "interesting question, cheryl--i think i heard the same thing but never found out the outcome either. marcia, can you post the dates for the geminoid meteor shower again? (thanks!)"}, {"response": 569, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jul  4, 2001 (21:32)", "body": "QUICK SPACE - Telesat Buys LockMart Bird And Launch Package http://www.spacedaily.com/news/telesat-01a.html - Putin Warns \"Fate Of Mankind\" Rests On Missile Talks http://spacedaily.com/news/010702152308.ernkhxkb.html - DS1 Closing In For Final Act http://www.spacedaily.com/news/deep1-01e.html - NASA Opens The Door Atlantis July 12 http://www.spacedaily.com/news/iss-01t.html - Kuiper Belt Object found possibly as large as Pluto's moon http://www.spacedaily.com/news/kuiper-01f.html - Space Station Sends Back First Radiation Data http://www.spacedaily.com/news/radiation-01i.html - NASA Taps Hopkins' Applied Physics Lab To Develop Solar Missions http://www.spacedaily.com/news/solar-program-01a.html - Giant Eyeball Will Focus MegaScope http://www.spacedaily.com/news/telescopes-01a.html - Inter-Governmental Conference on Space Applications Opens in Vietnam http://www.spacedaily.com/news/unspace-01a.html"}, {"response": 570, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jul  4, 2001 (22:24)", "body": "Pluto is a moon that went off course. Habit keeps it in the planet category. Good point. Terry, interesting articles. I noted them as well but was sidetracked by Wolfie and the rc files for Geo. I did get my little earth logo back, though. Thanks, Wolfie - you reminded me not all commands were in the rc file. *Hugs* Metoer shower list next"}, {"response": 571, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jul  4, 2001 (22:36)", "body": "As Promised all meteor showers (and there are dozens of them ) are listed with the radiants position illustrated for each one for 2001 along with moon phase: http://www.imo.net/calendar/cal01.html Some of the better-known meteor showers and their approximate dates are: Lyrids, Apr. 21; Perseids, Aug. 12; Orionids, Oct. 20; Taurids, Nov. 4; Leonids, Nov. 16; Geminids, Dec. 13."}, {"response": 572, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jul  4, 2001 (22:37)", "body": "Remember, those dates are for midnight, so to watch the Perseids in August you might start looking late the evening of the 11th, and so on."}, {"response": 573, "author": "aa9il", "date": "Wed, Jul  4, 2001 (23:45)", "body": "Howdy all One of the cool things about meteor showers is that it provides yet another propagation mode for VHF and up (somewhat). This is in the form of meteor scatter where you bounce signals off the ionized particles in the upper atmosphere - the trick here is that you only have a small window of time to send a signal since the 'mirror' does not last that long. Most if not all meteor contacts use time slots for stations to transmit and receive and it might take several slots to make a contact. Another, even more exotic mode, is high speed meteor scatter where you send a burst of data off the ionized air. The basic contact calls for high speed cw (possibly voice?) and the burst mode is a cw message speed up superfast and sent via computer. Ive only tried a meteor contact once on voice since my cw is not quite what it used to be. I did hear a brief voice burst from the station I was trying to contact 1200 miles away. Neat stuff but Im busy with enuf distractions right not to take up another facet of the hobby. 73 de AA9IL Mike radio cosmo international p.s. just got my satellite tracking software loaded up and the latest keps so now I can start doing some sat contacts again!"}, {"response": 574, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jul  5, 2001 (00:14)", "body": "Cosmic One, you need not tell me. My father (W2CWR) had me climbing trees with antennas and doing sightings out the window with a makeshift telephone rig he had hooked up to synchronize the meteors and his reception of the sound. We did it with Aurorae too... Fantastic about the satellite stuff being up and running again. Meteors are a lot smaller things to aim at than EME transmissions, but are they basically the same? It's all in the timing! And precision aiming of the antennas....and so on and so forth. This is not easy stuff gang!"}, {"response": 575, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jul  5, 2001 (00:15)", "body": "Aphelion Away! Earth is far from the Sun on the 4th of July On the 4th of July, Earth will lie at its greatest distance from the Sun -- an annual event astronomers call 'aphelion.' But don't expect any sudden relief from the heat. Indeed, say researchers, our planet is actually warmer when we're farther from the Sun than at any other time of year -- an earth science curiosity that this story explains. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast03jul_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 576, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Jul  5, 2001 (11:14)", "body": "along with cosmo's VHF stuff, meteor showers are also a good way to have some perspective on the fact that Earth is indeed a planet and we are floating around in space! sometimes folks think that space is \"out there\" like a trip to see long lost relatives or going across the ocean, when indeed, we are in the middle of it."}, {"response": 577, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Jul  5, 2001 (11:14)", "body": "(thanks for the meteor dates, marcia!)"}, {"response": 578, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jul  5, 2001 (14:28)", "body": "NEWSALERT: --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now ASTRONOMERS DISCOVER GIANT KUIPER BELT OBJECT --------------------------------------------- Astronomers announced Monday that they have discovered an object in the distant Kuiper Belt that could rival Pluto's moon in size. The discovery of is more ammunition in the debate regarding the classification of Pluto, the smallest and most distant planet. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0107/03kbo/ Read news release announcing discovery http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0107/03kbo/index2.html SHUTTLE LAUNCH PADS FILLED FOR SUMMER STATION MISSIONS ------------------------------------------------------ For the first time in 18 months both space shuttle launch pads at Kennedy Space Center are occupied following Monday's rollout of Discovery in preparation for blastoff in August on a mission to exchange the resident crew aboard the international space station. Discovery joins sistership Atlantis, which was rolled out June 21. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage7a1/010702rollout/ MARS-BOUND PROBE ADJUSTS ITS TRAJECTORY --------------------------------------- NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft fine-tuned its flight path on Monday for arrival at Mars in October as it performed its second trajectory correction maneuver, changing its velocity by about two miles per hour. http://spaceflightnow.com/mars/odyssey/status.html BROWN DWARFS ARE STELLAR EMBRYOS EVICTED BY SIBLINGS ---------------------------------------------------- Brown dwarfs, essentially stunted stars, were most likely ejected from newborn, multiple-star systems before they had a chance to accumulate enough mass to ignite the hydrogen in their interiors and flower, according to a new study. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0107/03evicted/ GALILEO IN QUIET CRUISE MODE ---------------------------- This holiday week sees the Galileo spacecraft continue its normal cruise activities. On Thursday, a standard test of the on-board gyroscopes is performed. Due to repeated dosages of the intense radiation near Jupiter, some of the electronic components used to report data from the gyros have degraded. These periodic tests check the current health of the electronics, and also determine if updates are needed to software parameters. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0107/03galileothisweek/"}, {"response": 579, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jul  6, 2001 (19:06)", "body": "Even Homes in Space Need a Door The International Space Station may be the most technologically advanced house ever built, but at the moment it lacks something found in every home on Earth -- a front door! But not for long. Later this month the space shuttle is slated to deliver a 6-ton airlock to the ISS. US-suited astronauts will finally be able to cross the threshold of their own doorway to space for critical assembly and maintenance tasks -- and for the most thrilling experience of all: spacewalks. This story includes animated tours of the new airlock and a movie showing how the station's robotic arm will install the new chamber. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast06jul_1.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 580, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Jul  6, 2001 (21:14)", "body": "will it have a welcome mat too? oh yeah, and a seasonal wreath?"}, {"response": 581, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jul  7, 2001 (14:19)", "body": "A Big Wreath with Twinkling lights and maybe those infernal chip-controlled Christmas tunes which can be so irritating. Stand by for the manger scene! This weekend on SPACE.com: STS-104 Coverage Kick-off ------------------------------------- Come back Sunday for a preview of the upcoming Space Shuttle Atlantis mission. Check out our mission preview, crew bios, countdown clock and more! Images from Space ------------------------------------- * New Image Gallery: Chandra's First Two Years http://www.space.com/php/multimedia/imagegallery/ The Chandra X-Ray Observatory stunned scientists in its first two years of exploring deep space, revealing sights and cosmological insights few had even dared to anticipate. * New! Thirty satellite views from Space just added! http://www.space.com/php/multimedia/imagepump/ Check out thirty stunning new satellite images courtesy of Space Imaging. We've added wonderful views of Washington State, incredible images of Italy, and more! Zoom in today! SPACE.com TV ------------------------------------- * Rockets Red Glare http://www.space.com/spacetv/ Still can't get enough of the July 4th celebration? Join us this weekend for at retro-rockets!"}, {"response": 582, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jul  7, 2001 (14:47)", "body": "NEWSALERT: Saturday, July 7, 2001 @ 1430 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now HUBBLE CAPTURES BEST VIEW OF MARS OBTAINED FROM EARTH ----------------------------------------------------- Frosty white water ice clouds and swirling orange dust storms above a vivid rusty landscape reveal Mars as a dynamic planet in this sharpest view ever obtained by an Earth-based telescope. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0107/05hstmars/ OUR GALAXY'S SISTER IS A CANNIBAL, ASTRONOMERS SAY -------------------------------------------------- The large spiral galaxy called Andromeda is devouring a couple of small neighboring dwarf galaxies, astronomers report. The evidence of galactic dismemberment is a stream of stars on the outskirts of Andromeda that appears to have been stripped from two dwarf galaxies by their larger companion. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0107/06cannibal/ FIRST SPACE STATION PLANTS, SEEDS HEADED TO EARTH ------------------------------------------------- The Expedition Two crew continued to prepare the first plants and seeds produced on the International Space Station for their return trip on shuttle Atlantis set to visit the orbiting laboratory next week. The plants are the first to successfully go through germination, growth and seed development aboard the station. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0107/06isssci/ SOUNDS OF A STAR ---------------- Sound waves running through a star can help astronomers reveal its inner properties. In the case of our Sun, such waves have greatly improved our knowledge about what is going on inside. However, because they are much fainter, it has turned out to be very difficult to detect similar waves in other stars. But now waves have been detected in a solar-twin star. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0107/06astroseismology/ HOW FAST DOES THE WORLD TURN? ----------------------------- A discovery that may someday help measure how clouds and earthquakes change Earth's rotation has come from an experiment that made friction-free helium whistle. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0107/06worldturn/ RAPID HEARTBEAT IN ANDROMEDA YIELDS DISCOVERY --------------------------------------------- There are many kinds of celestial objects in the Universe but we are far from knowing them all. XMM-Newton may have discovered a new one: a very luminous soft X-ray source that is pulsating extremely rapidly in the central region of the Andromeda galaxy. This unusual object could be a new kind of accreting white dwarf. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0107/05andromeda/ 'STAR WARS' CRYO TANK GETS NEW LIFE WITH NASA --------------------------------------------- A multi-million-dollar cryogenic chamber, erected as part of Air Force research for President Reagan's 1980s Strategic Defense Initiative, will soon be helping NASA develop space science capabilities for the 21st century. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0107/05cryotank/ EATING RIGHT FOR LONG-DURATION SPACE MISSIONS --------------------------------------------- A study released of astronauts who lived aboard the Russian space station Mir, and counterparts living in seclusion on Earth, has validated a tool for measuring astronauts' dietary intake during long space flights. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0107/04spaceeat/ NASA NAMES CREW TO STS-111 SPACE STATION MISSION ------------------------------------------------ NASA has named three astronauts to the crew of space shuttle mission STS-111, scheduled to launch in 2002 to deliver a new International Space Station resident crew and a Canadian-built mobile base for the orbiting outpost's robotic arm. STS-111 is also the second space shuttle mission dedicated to delivering research equipment to the space platform. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0107/04sts111/ EUTELSAT SETS NEW COURSE AS A PRIVATE COMPANY --------------------------------------------- The assets and activities of the European Telecommunications Satellite intergovernmental organization were transferred on July 2 into Eutelsat S.A., a limited liability company headquartered in Paris. This establishes Eutelsat on a level playing field for furthering its expansion in the global telecommunications market. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0107/04eutelsat/"}, {"response": 583, "author": "CherylB", "date": "Sat, Jul  7, 2001 (16:31)", "body": "Marcia, on the subject of \"those infernal chip-controlled Christmas tunes which can be so irritating\"; since space is a vacuum and sound isn't supposed to travel in a vacuum. Well, they could always hang the wreath with the offending seasonal music on the inside of the \"front door\"."}, {"response": 584, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Jul  7, 2001 (17:17)", "body": "off the subject but--is anyone else having trouble seeing the new posts when they open up a conference? i found this one answering another topic, same conference, by scrolling all the way down to see the last 5 posts."}, {"response": 585, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Jul  8, 2001 (01:33)", "body": "Yes, Cheryl! But, since Space abhors a vacuum, the sound will again fill the void. We are doomed to chiped Christmas tunes unless we remove the chips (have done that more than a few times!) Wolfie, not so far and you are sound asleep now. Perhaps Spring misses The Master?!"}, {"response": 586, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jul  9, 2001 (14:45)", "body": "SPACEDAILY EXPRESS - July 9, 2001 - sponsored by - APSC - Satellite Launching, Simplified http://www.apsc2orbit.com --------------------------------------------- ----------- QUICK SPACE - Artemis On Course For Launch Thursday http://www.spacedaily.com/news/artemis-01b.html - Japan to launch H-2A rocket on August 25 http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010704102207.11nsyx4i.html - NASA plans test flight for solar-powered wing http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010705231718.9gvhiglf.html - Hubble Captures Best View Of Mars Ever Obtained From Earth http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-general-01f.html - Ancient Volcanoes Were A Wipe Out http://www.spacedaily.com/news/early-earth-01f.html - System Would Harness GPS Signals To Study Environment http://www.spacedaily.com/news/gps-01i.html - Nigeria Establishes Space Office http://www.spacedaily.com/news/nigeria-01a.html - Japanese Tourist Operator Opens Space Division http://www.spacedaily.com/news/tourism-01z.html - Iraq tests modified anti-aircraft missile: Kuwaiti paper http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010708085346.y4cckgwo.html - Pentagon to conduct missile-interception test on July 14 http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010707003815.9rsgo4wu.html - Schweizer Ships UAV Prototype To Northrop Grumman http://www.spacedaily.com/news/uav-01h.html"}, {"response": 587, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jul  9, 2001 (14:46)", "body": "Today in Science/Astronomy: * Images Stir Life on Mars Debate http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/solarsystem/clarke_mars_banyon_010709-1.html Mars has turned into a red planet Rorschach test. Depending on who is doing the looking, pictures snapped by the orbiting Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) clearly show a world of big time biota, from fields of vegetation and towering Banyan trees, to blotches of bacteria and even a giant circuit board. * Hubble Views Mars at its Closest to Earth http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/solarsystem/mars_hubble_010705.html The powerful Hubble Space Telescope has snapped the best images of Mars ever taken from Earth. Sharp-eyed optics on the orbiting facility resolved features on the red planet as small as 10 miles (15 kilometers) across. * New Image Gallery: Chandra's First Two Years http://www.space.com/php/multimedia/imagegallery/ The Chandra X-Ray Observatory stunned scientists in its first two years of exploring deep space, revealing sights and cosmological insights few had even dared to anticipate. ----------------------------------- Today in Missions/Launches: * Complete Coverage: STS-104 Atlantis Mission to Station Alpha http://www.space.com/shuttlemissions/ Shuttle Atlantis and five astronauts are poised to blast off this week on a mission to deliver an airlock to the International Space Station, capping the first full phase of a $60 billion orbital construction project. Check out our mission preview, live video, countdown clock and more! * Apparent Illegal Aliens Captured Near Shuttle Launch Pads http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/launches/ksc_security_010706.html More than a dozen young Asian men and women that appeared to be illegal aliens were apprehended Friday within scant miles of NASA space shuttle launch pads at Kennedy Space Center, security officials said. ------------------------------------ Today in Business/Industry: * NASA Reviews Proposal Expanding X-37 Project http://www.space.com/spacenews/americas/x37_070601.html As the U.S. Air Force considers taking a larger role in the X-37 experimental space vehicle effort, NASA is weighing a Boeing proposal that would expand the program to include a second flight unit. One of the vehicles under Boeing's proposal would be used for atmospheric testing only, program officials said. ------------------------------------ * SpaceTV: http://www.space.com/spacetv/index.php3 * Space Age Gear: http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/technology/space_gear-1.html * SpaceWatch: http://www.space.com/spacewatch/index.html * Uplink: Share your opinion! http://uplink.space.com/index.html ------------------------------------- SOLAR and SPACE WEATHER (July 9, 2001) 3-Day Solar Forecast Solar activity is expected to be low. But Sunspot Region 9531, which was numbered over the weekend and has been growing rapidly, is a likely source of additional low-level (C-class) solar flares. 3-Day Aurora Forecast Earth's geomagnetic field is expected to be mainly quiet to unsettled for the next three days. Isolated active periods may also occur as the speed of the solar wind fluctuates. Solar Data The current sunspot number is 101, and the solar wind speed recently clocked in at 416 kilometers per second (930,563 mph). The solar wind density was 5.3 protons per cubic centimeter. (Speed and density values are snapshots in time and change during the day.) http://www.space.com/spacewatch/space_weather.html ------------------------------------- Sign up to become part of the greatest search in history! Join TeamSETI:"}, {"response": 588, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jul 16, 2002 (19:37)", "body": "Space news Just in time for summer, Space Adventures, Ltd. invites you to lose some weight... in fact, lose it all! With programs scheduled for July and August, Space Adventures Zero-Gravity flights can free you of your extra pounds multiple times in one hour, for 30 seconds intervals: http://www.spaceadventures.com/zerog/index_space.html"}, {"response": 589, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jul 16, 2002 (19:39)", "body": "New CME to worry about... The current X-2 Solar Flare today has a lot in common with this one described more fully by Spaceweather.com for the X-6 Class solar flare on July 14, 2000. It also came from the middle of the sun as it faced us. Just thought you might like to see it. http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast14jul_2m.htm"}, {"response": 590, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jul 16, 2002 (19:42)", "body": "Space Weather News for July 16, 2002 http://www.spaceweather.com A remarkable sunspot is crossing the face of the Sun. The large active region stretches 15 Earth-diameters from end-to-end and poses a threat for powerful flares. Indeed, on July 15th, twisted magnetic fields above the spot erupted. The explosion sparked an X-class solar flare and hurled a coronal mass ejection into space. As a result, sky watchers on Earth might spot auroras on Tuesday or Wednesday night. Visit spaceweather.com for more information and updates."}, {"response": 591, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jul 23, 2002 (13:54)", "body": "Today in Science/Astronomy: * Moon Holds Earth's Ancient Secrets http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/moon_earth_020723.html Tons of rocks and dust long ago blasted from Earth by asteroid impacts lay on the Moon's surface and could hold secrets to our home planet's early history and the origin of life. * Astronotes: The 'Winners' of the Caption Competition http://www.space.com/news/astronotes-1.html OK, \"contestants\" implies that those who responded to SPACE.com 's little game (see Tech Today - iSun) were actually going to win something. Well, they have! we proudly presents the three funniest entries in our rather impromptu \"Write the Caption\" competition. * Stolen Apollo Moon Rocks Recovered by FBI in Florida http://www.space.com/news/ap_moonrocks_020723.html Three employees of the Johnson Space Center in Houston and another man were charged in an alleged plot to sell stolen moon rocks from the Apollo missions for $1,000 to $5,000 a gram, the FBI said. * True Tally of Asteroids Probably at High End of Estimates http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/asteroid_tally_020723.html The continued rapid pace of discovery for large asteroids in relatively close proximity to Earth suggests there may be more of them than some scientists have predicted. The speculation, from one of the astronomers who helps count the rocks, does not imply a significantly increased threat to Earth, but it does extend a long-running debate over just how many of these space rocks exist. * Celebrating 30 Years of Imaging the Earth http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/planetearth/landsat_anniversary_020723.html NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) this week celebrate Landsat's 30th anniversary of imaging the Earth."}, {"response": 592, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jul 23, 2002 (14:01)", "body": "/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/ MAJOR SOLAR FLARE ALERT ISSUED: 00:50 UTC, 21 JULY 2002 /\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/ A major class X3.3 solar flare was observed at 21:30 UTC on 20 July. This event was accompanied by strong radio emissions (a 2600 sfu tenflare, 20,000 sfu intensity at 8.8 GHz and 43,000 sfu at 15.4 GHz), a Type II sweep (estimated shock velocity 515 km/sec - preliminary), and a strong loop prominence on the southeast limb. In addition, an interesting and h-alpha wave is visible propagating onto the visible solar disk to the northwest of the flaring center. Although this is well time correlated with the presumed onset of the flare start, it may be an independent phenomena as opposed to a Moreton-type wave related directly to the flaring site. Nevertheless, it is interesting to speculate. The x-ray and radio signatures of this event suggest it was a probable proton producing flare. However, no significant flux enhancements are expected in the near-Earth space environment due to its present poor location. X-ray fluence with this event was modestly respectable at near 0.75 Joules. The southeast limb has been teeming with activity. Frequent and occasionally fairly strong surging has been observed over the last 24 hours. Additional major levels of solar flare activity are expected from this spot complex as it continues to approach and (within the next 24 to 48 hours) rotate into view. Region 10036 is still considered a possible site for major flaring. It has experienced renewed growth over the last 24 hours. Although magnetic gradients and shear are not as strong as in Region 10030, the spot complex may still produce an isolated major event over the next several days. Flare activity from Region 10036 is expected to be fairly infrequent unless more rapid growth and dynamic flux emergence occurs. It is expected to take a back seat to the activity in the region due to rotate around the southeast limb. ** End of Notice **"}, {"response": 593, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jul 24, 2002 (21:08)", "body": "More Spaceship Sightings Beginning this week, the International Space Station will make a series of eye-catching passes over North America. The bright spaceship is easy to see from your own backyard--and it looks great through a telescope, too. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2002/24jul_spaceship2.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 594, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Jul 25, 2002 (14:23)", "body": "http://www.space.com/news/nasa_plutonium_020724.html Earl Wahlquist, associate director of the Department of Energy\ufffds Space and Defense Power Systems Office, said July 23 that 7 kilograms of Plutonium 238 \ufffd slightly more than half of the U.S. inventory \ufffd is being reassigned for use by an undisclosed national security agency. The 7-kilogram parcel of Plutonium is due to be removed from a spare RTG the Department of Energy built for NASA as part of the Cassini and Galileo programs."}, {"response": 595, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jul 26, 2002 (11:19)", "body": "Caveat Impactor An asteroid with almost no chance of hitting Earth made big headlines this week. Were we ever in danger? Read this story and find out. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2002/26jul_nt7.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 596, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jul 30, 2002 (18:17)", "body": "View Near-Earth Asteroid There's no danger of a collision. Even so, a big space rock will soon come so close to Earth that sky watchers can see it through binoculars. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2002/30jul_ny40.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 597, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Jul 31, 2002 (11:19)", "body": "Is this the 1 on 250,000 rock?"}, {"response": 598, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jul 31, 2002 (22:42)", "body": "The latest from NASA's Earth Observatory (07/30/2002) ----------------------------------------------------------------- New Reference: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/ * CALIPSO: A Global Perspective of Clouds and Aerosols from Space http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/CALIPSO Two of the biggest uncertainties in understanding and predicting climate change are the effects of clouds and aerosols (airborne particles). The Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) satellite mission, currently under development, will help scientists answer significant questions about climatic processes by providing new information on these important atmospheric components. -------------------- Natural Hazards: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/ * Latest Events: Fire: Fires Scorch Oregon http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=4650 Unique Imagery: Smoke, Clouds and Ship Tracks Off California Coast http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=4651 Unique Imagery: Bright Water Off Newfoundland http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=4652 Dust and Smoke: Smoke from Canadian Fires Blankets Eastern U.S. http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=4653 Fire: McNalley Fire in Sequoia National Forest http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=4648 Fire: Fires in Central and Southern Africa http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=4647 Volcano: Nyamuragira Volcano Erupts http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=4643 Storm: Super Typhoon Fengshen http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=4638 Storm: Hurricane Elida off Central America http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=4639 Storm: Severe Snowstorm in Lesotho http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=4640 Storm: Hurricane Douglas South of Baja California http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=4633 -------------------- In the News : http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/ * Latest Images: Aqua CERES First Light http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10273 Nyamuragira Volcano Erupts http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10272 Konari, Iran http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10271 Summit Crater of Mauna Loa http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10270 Three Gorges Dam, China http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10268 Distinguishing Clouds from Ice over the East Siberian Sea, Russia http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10267 Hyacinths Choke the Rio Grande http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10265 * NASA News http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NasaNews/ - At Five-Year Anniversary, Conference Considers Satellite's Contributions to Understanding Global Energy, Water Cycle * Media Alerts http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/MediaAlerts/ - Increased Strength in Asian Southwest Monsoon May Be Result Of Warming, Say Researchers - Global Warming May Push Bats to the Low Arctic * Headlines from the press, radio, and television: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/Headlines/ - Monsoon Intensity Increasing as Earth Warms - Record Sea Temperatures Threaten Great Barrier Reef - Slowest U.S. Tornado Year Since 1988 - Indian Government Says Lack of Rain Worst in Decade - Landsat Paints a Portrait of Our Changing Planet - Air Pollution Changes Rainfall, May Cause Drought - Unlocking the Storm Code - Ice Crystals Clues to Climate - West Nile Virus Spreads Westward into 26 States - Study Finds Alaska Glaciers Melting at Higher Rate - China?s Pollution Found in Hawaii - NASA Turns New Weather Bird Over to NOAA - Cause and Effect Across 70,000 Years of Atmospheric Chaos --------------------------------------------------------------------- Earth Observatory weekly mailing -- http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/"}, {"response": 599, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Aug  6, 2002 (20:14)", "body": "ok, what is wrong with this topic? it keeps showing up with a blank message spot and i've tried to hit the \"forget\". maybe my actually typing something in here will straighten it out......."}, {"response": 600, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Aug  7, 2002 (15:38)", "body": "This topic continues to appear as having new posts when it does not. I wonder why!"}, {"response": 601, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Aug  7, 2002 (19:31)", "body": "mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm"}, {"response": 602, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Aug  7, 2002 (22:52)", "body": "* Investigation Casts Light on the Mysterious Flying Black Triangle http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/technology/black_triangle_020805.html They are big, black, and triangular. In UFO folklore they are proof-positive that planet Earth is a rest stop for joyriding, but road-weary, extraterrestrials. * Brown Dwarfs Born Like Stars, Study Shows http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/brown_dwarfs_020805.html In size and mass, brown dwarfs fit somewhere between stars and planets. While they are too small to start or sustain the nuclear reactions that characterize stars, unlike planets they do create internal energy that's detectable to astronomers. In how they are formed, though, scientists believe brown dwarfs are more like stars. * Closet Star Cluster: The Obscure Coat Hanger Star Pattern http://www.space.com/spacewatch/coat_hanger_020802.html One of the most pleasing sky sights through binoculars or a small telescope can be found nearly overhead in our late evening midsummer sky. With the Moon out of the way this week, it is a good time to seek it out. ----------------------------------- Today in SpaceFlight: * NASA Officials Set Plan for Resuming Shuttle Flights http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/sts112_update_020802.html Plans to repair tiny cracks within the space shuttle fleet by welding them and resume flying by late September or early October were formally approved by NASA program officials as expected on Friday. * 'Picky' Inspector Might Have Saved Shuttle Program http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/sts_ap_020801.html Did a 27-year-old with perfect vision and admitted pickiness help prevent disaster on the space shuttle? * NASA's Robotic Return Mission to the Moon http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/robotic_moon_020801.html Scientists have called for NASA to mount a robotic return mission to the far side of the moon to collect samples from the solar system's own \"big dig\" - the oldest and deepest impact crater basin known. This giant site is known as South Pole-Aitken Basin. ------------------------------------ Today in Business/Industry: * Finmeccanica Purchases Marconi Mobile, Telespazio http://www.space.com/spacenews/ Finmeccanica, Rome, has acquired defense communications company Marconi Mobile and satellite service provider Telespazio in separate transactions, the Italian aerospace and engineering group announced Aug. 2"}, {"response": 603, "author": "aa9il", "date": "Fri, Aug 16, 2002 (13:52)", "body": "Hi all - now this sounds like extreme moonbounce! 73 de Mike From the ARRL web page Amateurs Invited to Listen for Radio Signals Bounced Off Asteroid (Aug 15, 2002) -- Amateur Radio operators have been invited to listen in as scientists bounce radio signals off an asteroid that's about to make a \"flyby\" of Earth. The so-called 2002 NY40 asteroid will come close enough to Earth that it will be visible to sky watchers using binoculars. But because asteroids reflect but a tiny fraction of the light that strikes their surface, a team at the Arecibo Radio Observatory in Puerto Rico will attempt to \"ping\" the satellite with radio signals as it approaches Earth. \"We will be transmitting about 900 kW with 73 dB of gain towards the asteroid,\" Mike Nolan of the Arecibo Radio Observatory told ARRL. \"The transmitted signal will be such that the received signal comes back centered at 2380.0000000 MHz at the ground station we're aiming for--usually either Arecibo or the Green Bank Telescope.\" Nolan said the signal would be either CW or phase-coded at a bandwidth of up to 20 MHz. \"We will be transmitting most of the time when the asteroid is within 20 degrees of zenith at Arecibo on August 15-20.\""}, {"response": 604, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Aug 19, 2002 (10:43)", "body": ",,,,,,"}, {"response": 605, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Aug 19, 2002 (14:04)", "body": "Thanks for testing this topic, Wolfie. I cannot think why it is continuing to show new activity when there has been none."}, {"response": 606, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Aug 19, 2002 (16:32)", "body": "The Voyagers, aren't they amazing. Still beaming back and they're way beyond Pluto. Still giving us great data. This is NASA's wisest inventment of all times."}, {"response": 607, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Aug 19, 2002 (16:47)", "body": "Absolutely correct about the bang for the buck ratio with Voyager. It was brilliant and surpasses anything they anticipated. Kudos!"}, {"response": 608, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Aug 20, 2002 (04:52)", "body": "They're sending us data now about the very outer region of our solar system. The sun, to the Voyagers I and II must be a tiny little orb. They running a 25 watt transmitter, less than I use in my mobile rig around Austin. I wonder when they're power will finally go cold?"}, {"response": 609, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Aug 20, 2002 (22:16)", "body": "I recall their mentioning that a backward look at Pluto would be the last they expected to hear from Voyager. I also wonder how long their little batteries will last though it was expected to be long enough to maintain the memory for anyone in future worlds to download. Good luck if they did it on 8-track tape and they are using some sort of super digital mode."}, {"response": 610, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Aug 20, 2002 (22:17)", "body": "The latest from NASA's Earth Observatory (08/20/2002) ----------------------------------------------------------------- New Features: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/ * The Migrating Boreal Forest http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/BorealMigration/ Since the last ice age, forest species across North America have migrated back and forth across the continent. At one point cold-adapted species such as spruce lived as far south as the Gulf Coast. Comapred to past climate fluctations, current warming is happening very rapidly, and modern forests may be unable to migrate or adapt fast enough to keep up. Large nature reserves that encompass different climatic zones may increase forests' genetic diversity and increase the chances that forest species can adapt and migrate in response to cliamte change. * Fish Kill in the Gulf of Oman http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/oman When fish began dying in droves off the coast of Oman, local media reported it was due to contaminated ballast water from a U.S. tanker while authorities feared that a toxic algal bloom was to blame. Neither was true. Using data from NASA's Terra and SeaWinds missions, a team of scientists demonstrated the fish kill was due to a series of natural environmental changes. -------------------- Natural Hazards: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/ * Latest Events: Fire: Widlfires and Haze over Borneo http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=4703 Fire: Fires along Lena River near Yakutsk http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=4699 Fire: Fires and Deforestation in Brazil http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=4695 Fire: Fires Scorch Oregon http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=4696 Fire: McNalley and Pines Fires in California http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=4697 Storm: Typhoon Phanfone http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=4698 Volcano: Eruption of Pago http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=4700 Flood: Flooding on Elbe River http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=4701 Flood: Flooding along Danube River http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=4702 Unique Imagery: Black Water off the Gulf Coast of Florida http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=4689 Storm: Tropical Storm Cristobal http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=4688 -------------------- In the News : http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/ * Latest Images: The Migrating Boreal Forest http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10295 Floods in Germany http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10294 Contrail Web over the Central Rh\ufffdne Valley, Eastern France http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10293 Still Watching for the Next El Ni\ufffdo http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10292 Lena River Delta http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10291 Biscuit Fire, Oregon from NASA\ufffds New Satellite\ufffdAqua http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10290 Cloud Arcs in the Western Pacific http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10289 New Land Cover Classification Maps http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10288 * NASA News http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NasaNews/ - Instrument Aboard NASA's Aqua Satellite Joins Twin to Begin Comprehensive Global Coverage * Media Alerts http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/MediaAlerts/ - Songbird Population Declines Linked to Acid Rain - Air Pollution Cleansed Through Ocean Cloud Processes, Say Hebrew University Scientists * Headlines from the press, radio, and television: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/Headlines/ - Oceans May Help Clean the Air - Terra Satellite Refines Map of Global Land Cover - Global Warming Threatens Ocean Ecosystems - Scientists Cautious About Global Warming Link to Flood Disasters - El Nino Blamed for Weather Chaos - Asian Haze Poses \ufffdWidespread Threat\ufffd - Plankton Loss Potential Threat to Seas, Climate - NASA: Eastern U.S. Smokeout in Early July Set Record - Jet Contrails Leave Their Mark on Climate - Global Warming is Changing Tropical Forests - Satellite Sees Through Smoke to Help Track Wildfires - Wildfires May be a Taste of Global Warming - West Nile Will Sweep Across Whole US - Satellites Reveal A Mystery Of A Large Change In Earth\ufffds Gravity Field - Monsoon Intensity Increasing as Earth Warms"}, {"response": 611, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Aug 20, 2002 (22:21)", "body": "Today on SPACE.com -- Tuesday, August 20, 2002 -- http://www.space.com/ In today's issue: /------------------------------------- Capture the Solar System with the Coolpix System! http://www.nikoncoolpix.com/ -------------------------------------/ Featured Space Store Product * Astronaut Ice Cream Science/Astronomy: * SPECIAL REPORT: 2002 Leonid Meteor Shower * Behind the Pictures: Top 10 Voyager Facts * Mars-like Lab Conditions Support Life SpaceFlight: * Vigil for CONTOUR Spacecraft Continues * New Image Gallery: Voyager's Photo Legacy * Astronotes: Lance Bass Given Until August 23 to Produce Payment for ISS Trip Business/Industry: * Spot Names Replacement for Departing Chief Executive Plus... * SpaceTV, SpaceWatch * Solar and Space Weather * Starry Night, TeamSETI * Space Age Jobs ----------------------------------- Featured Space Store Product * Astronaut Ice Cream http://www.space.com/spaceagegear/ Just what you need after a hard day on orbit! Just kick back and enjoy this freeze dried ice cream while the planet gently spins below you. Everyone loves this one! (one serving) ----------------------------------- Today in Science/Astronomy: * SPECIAL REPORT: 2002 Leonid Meteor Shower http://www.space.com/spacewatch/leonids_2002.html Fast on the heels of the summer Perseids, it's time to look ahead to the current king of meteor showers, the Leonids. While the 2002 peak on Nov. 19 won't equal last year's stunning display, it will still be a remarkable storm that even casual skywatchers should not miss. Unless you plan to wait for 2033. * Behind the Pictures: Top 10 Voyager Facts http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/top10_voyager_020820-1.html Looking back over the 25 years since the first Voyager launch on Aug. 20, 1977, the twin spacecraft are remembered first and foremost as our emissary eyes in deep space. * Mars-like Lab Conditions Support Life http://www.space.com/searchforlife/mars_conditions_020819.html A laboratory experiment simulating conditions on Mars found that certain terrestrial microorganisms called methanogens can survive in extreme Mars-like conditions involving low air pressure. ----------------------------------- Today in SpaceFlight: * Vigil for CONTOUR Spacecraft Continues http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/contour_vigil_020819.html The CONTOUR mission team clings to the hope they'll hear from the still-silent comet probe. The spacecraft is now more than 1.3 million miles (2.1 million kilometers) from Earth. * New Image Gallery: Voyager's Photo Legacy http://www.space.com/php/multimedia/imagegallery/ Younger generations might think of the twin Voyagers as two way-out-there spacecraft. But space buffs from the 70s and 80s remember Voyager for its unbelievable stream of pictures. * Astronotes: Lance Bass Given Until August 23 to Produce Payment for ISS Trip http://www.space.com/news/astronotes-1.html The Russian space agency has given 'N Sync singer Lance Bass five days to come up with payment for a trip to the international space station this fall, a spokesman said Monday. ------------------------------------ Today in Business/Industry: * Spot Names Replacement for Departing Chief Executive http://www.space.com/spacenews/ Spot Image Corp. of Chantilly, Va., has tapped veteran company executive Neal Carney to replace Gene Colabatistto as its chief executive officer. ------------------------------------ * SpaceTV: http://www.space.com/php/multimedia/spacetv/ * SpaceWatch: http://www.space.com/spacewatch/ * Space Age Jobs http://www.spacejobs.com/ * Uplink: Share your opinion! http://uplink.space.com/ ------------------------------------- SOLAR and SPACE WEATHER (August 20, 2002) 3-Day Solar Forecast Solar activity is expected to be moderate to high. Region 69 has the potential for major flare activity. 3-Day Aurora Forecast Earth's geomagnetic field is expected to be quiet to active with a chance of isolated minor storming. Active levels are expected Monday. Quiet to unsettled conditions are expected Tuesday and Wednesday. Solar Data The current sunspot number is 308, and the solar wind speed recently clocked in at 505 kilometers per second. The solar wind density was 8.4 protons per cubic centimeter. (Speed and density values are snapshots in time and change during the day.) http://www.space.com/spacewatch/space_weather.html"}, {"response": 612, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Aug 21, 2002 (18:02)", "body": "A s t r o A l e r t Sun-Earth Alert Solar Terrestrial Dispatch http://www.spacew.com/astroalert.html 21 August 2002 02:00 UTC (10 pm EDT) HEADS UP! AURORA MAY BE VISIBLE IN NORTH AMERICAN MIDDLE LATITUDES Auroral activity is becoming visible across many middle latitude regions at the time of this writing - for North American observers. The latest unconfirmed sighting is from New Hampshire, reporting brief tall rays and a diffuse glow to the north. A middle latitude auroral activity watch was issued several hours ago, but a posting here was held off until we could ascertain that conditions would hold up. It appears the Earth is imbedded in a stable solar wind stream capable of producing enhanced substorm activity. This disturbance is related to another coronal mass ejection disturbance thought to have originated from active sunspot complex 10069. Happy hunting! /\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/ MIDDLE LATITUDE AURORAL ACTIVITY WATCH WATCH ISSUED: 20:30 UTC, 20 AUGUST 2002 /\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/ VALID BEGINNING AT: IMMEDIATELY VALID UNTIL: 19:00 UTC (3 pm EDT) ON 21 AUGUST HIGH RISK PERIOD: 20 AUGUST (UTC DAYS) MODERATE RISK PERIOD: 20-21 AUGUST PREDICTED ACTIVITY INDICES: 25, 15, 14, 12 (21 AUGUST - 24 AUGUST) POTENTIAL MAGNITUDE OF MIDDLE LATITUDE AURORAL ACTIVITY: LOW TO MODERATE POTENTIAL DURATION OF THIS ACTIVITY: MAIN BELT = 12 HOURS MINOR BELT = 12 TO 24 HOURS ESTIMATED OPTIMUM OBSERVING CONDITIONS: NEAR LOCAL MIDNIGHT EXPECTED LUNAR INTERFERENCE: MODERATE OVERALL OPPORTUNITY FOR OBSERVATIONS FROM MIDDLE LATITUDES: FAIR TO POOR AURORAL ACTIVITY *MAY* BE OBSERVED APPROXIMATELY NORTH OF A LINE FROM... WASHINGTON STATE TO IDAHO TO NORTHERN WYOMING TO SOUTH DAKOTA TO NORTHERN IOWA TO NORTHERN ILLINOIS TO NORTHERN INDIANA TO NORTHERN OHIO TO PENNSYLVANIA TO DARK-SKY SITES OF NEW JERSEY. ACTIVITY *MAY* ALSO BE OBSERVED APPROXIMATELY NORTH OF A LINE FROM... ENGLAND TO NORTHERN BELGIUM TO NORTHERN GERMANY TO NORTHERN POLAND TO LITHUANIA TO SOUTHERN LATVIA TO NORTHERN RUSSIA. NEW ZELAND AND EXTREME SOUTHEASTERN REGIONS OF AUSTRALIA MAY ALSO OBSERVE PERIODS OF ACTIVITY. SYNOPSIS... A second very mild shock presumeably from activity associated with Region 10069, arrived at the Earth near 15:48 UTC on 20 August. The disturbance started out with a northward turning of the IMF. However, over the last 2 hours, the IMF has swung toward a more southward orientation. Isolated moderate to strong high latitude substorming is currently being observed. These conditions may provide some dark-sky middle latitude observers with a chance to glimpse periods of auroral activity over the next 12 hours - provided solar wind conditions remain favorable. This watch will remain valid through 19:00 UTC (3 pm EDT) on 21 August. It will then be updated or allowed to expire. For updated information, visit: http://www.spacew.com/aurora/forum.html PLEASE REPORT OBSERVATIONS OF AURORAL ACTIVITY TO: http://solar.spacew.com/submitsighting.html Observations reported here are permanently recorded for future study and are immediately made available in real-time to a large network of observers world-wide via the Internet, e-mail and pager. If you observe activity, your assistance to contribute to this database would be appreciated. A FREE trial of the space weather \"SWIM\" software package is now available at: http://www.spacew.com/swim . Use it to monitor current conditions. It may also be used to monitor any image resource you find on the Internet (including almost any type of 'cam' or \"pictures of the day\" you can find). ** End of the AstroAlert Bulletin **"}, {"response": 613, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Aug 23, 2002 (22:14)", "body": "PLUTO EVENTS PERPLEX ASTRONOMERS The last two months have been good ones for Plutophiles. In July a U.S. Senate subcommittee fortified NASA's budget with $105 million to continue work on the New Horizons mission, which could be launched toward the distant planet as soon as 2006. And during the past five weeks telescopes have captured the passage of Pluto in front of not one, but two faint stars. Although analysis of the stars' brief disappearances has only begun, it is already clear that observing teams from the United States and Europe have come to very different conclusions about the state of Pluto's atmosphere. During the first event, on July 20th (Universal Time), Pluto's shadow crossed South America and, unfortunately, barely missed passing over a string of major observatories in the Andes. The only \"hits\" came from astronomers with portable setups: Marc Buie and Oscar Saa used a 14-inch Celestron and a CCD camera near the small Chilean town of Mami\ufffda, while Francois Colas had a video-equipped 12-inch telescope a little farther north near Arica. According to Bruno Sicardy, who coordinated the European effort, seven other ground teams in Chile, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela were either clouded out or experienced technical difficulties. Fortunes improved for the August 21st occultation, as the broad path passed over observatories in Hawaii and the Far West.... http://SkyandTelescope.com/news/current/article_718_1.asp - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - FIRST VIEW OF MARS IN X-RAYS On July 4, 1997, Mars Pathfinder helped humanity see the red planet in a whole new light. Exactly four years later, astronomers again saw Mars anew, when Konrad Dennerl (Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics) pointed the Chandra X-ray Observatory at Mars and obtained the first ever X-ray image of our rusty neighbor. The realization that Mars has a high-energy glow is not surprising. Venus, Jupiter, Earth, Saturn, and even comets shine (albeit faintly) in X-rays. And, as with those bodies, the source is fluorescing oxygen atoms. Near heights of 80 kilometers in the Martian atmosphere, solar-wind particles strike oxygen atoms with enough energy to tear away their electrons. But these ions soon recombine with other electrons and return to their original, unexcited state, emitting X-rays in the process.... http://SkyandTelescope.com/news/current/article_715_1.asp - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ASTEROID FLYBY SEEN WORLDWIDE From Uzbekistan and the Crimea to the UK, across North America, and on to Hawaii, amateur astronomers around the world had fine views of the close flyby of asteroid 2002 NY40 during the evening of August 17-18, 2002. The experience of David Nance (Huntsville, Alabama) was typical of the many reports received at Sky & Telescope. He wrote: \"I found 2002 NY40 easily and followed it for about 30 minutes. It was very bright (I'd estimate it at magnitude 9.5), and it was really spectacular sailing through the eyepiece, changing the patterns I formed with it and the framework of stars. My wife thought it was neat since it was so obviously not a 'fixed' star ... it looked a lot like a slow moving satellite on a really weird trajectory....\" http://SkyandTelescope.com/observing/objects/asteroids/ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTOUR'S FATE LOOKS \"BLEAK\" Although efforts to reestablish contact with the Contour spacecraft continue, mission managers now suspect that the craft was destroyed during a rocket firing on August 15th. Convincing evidence came from images acquired by the Spacewatch telescope about 20 hours afterward, showing two objects separated in the sky by about 460 kilometers and located some 460,000 km from Earth.... Mission mananger Robert W. Farquhar and his team received the Spacewatch image in response to a call to professional and amateur astronomers to help locate the spacecraft. The image shows a pair of 18th-magnitude objects, one approximately three times brighter than the other. According to David W. Dunham, head of the mission-design team, the objects were then within 0.6 degrees of where Contour would have been if on its correct interplanetary trajectory, and their positions suggest that Contour's solid-fuel STAR-30 rocket motor provided about 3 percent less total thrust than expected. Dunham estimates that \"Contour A\" and \"Contour B\" are moving apart at roughly 6 meters per second (14 miles per hour). It is not yet clear what the two pieces might be. \"The spacecraft was built around the STAR motor,\" Dunham notes, \"and they weren't supposed to separate....\" http://SkyandTelescope.com/news/current/article_712_1.asp ========================================================================= HIGHLIGHTS OF THIS WEEK'S SKY * Last-quarter Moon on August 30-31. * Comet SWAN is low in the eastern sky around the time morning twilight begins for observers in the Northern Hemis"}, {"response": 614, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Aug 23, 2002 (22:14)", "body": "Today in Science/Astronomy: * Three Small Constellations: The Dolphin, the Fox and the Arrow http://www.space.com/spacewatch/little_constellations_020823.html Between and around the three great constellations of the Summer Triangle (Lyra, the Harp; Cygnus, the Swan, and Aquila, the Eagle), there are three little ones. * Antarctic Sea Ice Increases over Past Two Decades http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/antarctic_020822.html In a surprising departure from other findings that point to a warming planet, a NASA researcher has found that the amount of ice in the Antarctic increased from 1979 to 1999, as measured by satellites. * Evidence for Oldest Meteor Impact Tied to Two Continents http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/earliest_impact_020822.html A cosmic impact thought to have occurred about 3.5 billion years ago was so incredible it covered the entire Earth with ejected material and generated ocean waves that soared more than half a mile high (1 kilometer) when they reached the shore. * Moon Seen As Nuclear Waste Repository http://www.space.com/news/nuclear_moon_020822.html As the debate rages over using the Yucca Mountain as a burial ground for thousands of tons of radioactive material, a better site for unwanted nuclear waste holds its mute vigil in the skies above the Nevada desert: the Moon."}, {"response": 615, "author": "tsatsvol", "date": "Tue, Sep  3, 2002 (02:55)", "body": "Sun gives up secrets The huge ejections contain twisted solar material The Sun spits out huge bubbles of super-hot electrified gas. The solar eruptions blast out into space at speeds thousands of times faster than Concorde. Sometimes they can even disrupt the Earth's magnetic field, leading to power black-outs. They are also behind the most dramatic spectacle in the sky - the northern (and southern) lights. The colourful light shows happen when solar eruptions strike the region of space shielded by our planet's magnetic field. But despite their impact on Earth, it is not known exactly how the Sun spews out the giant bubbles of gas, known as coronal mass ejections (CMEs). Now UK astrophysicists have found new clues. They think twisted magnetic fields deep within our star could be the driving force. The evidence comes from data gathered by the SOHO and Yohkoh satellites. Twisted structures Twists within the Sun's magnetic field were studied by a team at the Mullard Space Science Laboratory (MSSL) in Surrey. One theory is these twisted structures are caused by the Sun rotating faster at the equator than the poles, says Dr Lucie Green of MSSL. But the new study, carried out with colleagues in France and Argentina, suggests a second option is more likely. \"The magnetic field doesn't get twisted enough by the differential rotation that happens on the surface,\" Dr Green told BBC News Online. \"The implication is that the magnetic field must get twisted deep within the Sun itself.\" Scientists hope it will one day be possible to predict when the Sun is likely to emit CMEs as part of space weather forecasts. \"Prediction of space weather is still a long way off but our research is helping us understand why CMEs happen in the first place,\" says Dr Green. Source: BBC NEWS John"}, {"response": 616, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Sep  3, 2002 (17:38)", "body": "That is an amazing photograph. I was hoping it would be posted by one or the other of us. Space Power This month Science@NASA will publish a series of stories about the technology of space exploration--and what advances in technology are needed to send human and robotic explorers across the solar system. Today's installment, the first, is about space power. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2002/03sept_spacepower.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 617, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Sep  7, 2002 (14:53)", "body": "More aurora for us to hunt for: Aurora Alert: Saturday, Sept. 7th Space Weather News for Sept. 7, 2002 http://www.spaceweather.com AURORA WARNING: A solar wind shock wave swept past Earth on Sept. 7th at approximately 1630 UT (12:30 EST). The interplanetary magnetic field turned sharply south when the wave arrived, which means a geomagnetic storm is likely. Sky watchers in New Zealand and southern Australia, where it was nighttime when the shock wave struck, have a good chance of seeing Southern Lights. Observers in northern Europe, and perhaps Canada and northern US states, might see Northern lights after local nightfall on Saturday. Stay tuned to spaceweather.com for updates."}, {"response": 618, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Sep  7, 2002 (15:21)", "body": "A s t r o A l e r t Sun-Earth Alert Solar Terrestrial Dispatch http://www.spacew.com/astroalert.html 07 September 2002 MIDDLE LATITUDE AURORAL ACTIVITY WARNING - 07 SEPTEMBER A powerful and high velocity coronal mass ejection was observed on 05 September that involved the violent ejection of a solar filament (a string of cooler gas suspended above the surface of the Sun). The ejection resulted in a high velocity CME travelling near 1700 km/sec toward the southeast of the Earth. However, a portion of the CME was also Earthward directed. The leading edge of this coronal mass ejection was observed impacting the Earth near 16:37 UTC on 07 September (12:37 pm EDT). This disturbance has the potential to drive moderate to strong levels of auroral storming over the high latitude regions. Middle latitude observers are also expected to observe some of the activity, particularly observers in Europe and north to central Russia where the timing of the arrival of this disturbance will probably be best for them. There is debate as to whether the disturbance will last long enough to produce visible activity by the time night falls for North America. Nevertheless, observers are encouraged to keep a close eye on the sky and current conditions. Current sighting reports are available at: http://www.spacew.com/www/auroras.html Current discussion of activity and the latest forecast notes are at: http://www.spacew.com/aurora/forum.html *NEW* A new real-time image publishing server is now operational that will permit people to publish images of astronomical or aurora events within 1 to 2 minutes of submitting them. This is an ideal avenue to publish images of observed activity in near real-time so others can see what you are seeing, or to showcase your own images in real-time. Details and instructions on how to use the new service are available at: http://www.spacew.com/gallery/help.html . The Gallery itself can be found at: http://www.spacew.com/gallery The official mid-latitude auroral activity warning report is included below: /\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/ MIDDLE LATITUDE AURORAL ACTIVITY WARNING UPDATED: 16:30 UTC, 07 SEPTEMBER 2002 /\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/ *** DISTURBANCE ARRIVAL ALERT *** *** POTENTIAL FOR MODERATE TO HIGH ACTIVITY EXISTS *** For North Americans, begin watching TONIGHT, the evening of 07 September. VALID BEGINNING AT: EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY VALID UNTIL: 19:00 UTC ON 08 SEPTEMBER HIGH RISK PERIOD: 07 SEPTEMBER (UTC DAYS) MODERATE RISK PERIOD: 07 - 08 SEPTEMBER PREDICTED ACTIVITY INDICES: 35, 20, 12, 12 (07 SEP - 10 SEP) POTENTIAL MAGNITUDE OF MIDDLE LATITUDE AURORAL ACTIVITY: MODERATE TO HIGH POTENTIAL DURATION OF THIS ACTIVITY: MAIN BELT = 12 TO 18 HOURS MINOR BELT = 18 TO 24 HOURS ESTIMATED OPTIMUM OBSERVING CONDITIONS: NEAR LOCAL MIDNIGHT EXPECTED LUNAR INTERFERENCE: NONE OVERALL OPPORTUNITY FOR OBSERVATIONS FROM MIDDLE LATITUDES: FAIR TO GOOD AURORAL ACTIVITY *MAY* BE OBSERVED APPROXIMATELY NORTH OF A LINE FROM... OREGON TO SOUTHERN IDAHO TO EXTREME NORTHERN UTAH TO SOUTHERN WYOMING TO NEBRASKA TO IOWA TO NORTHERN ILLINOIS TO INDIANA TO OHIO TO NORTHERN VIRGINIA AND MARYLAND. ACTIVITY *MAY* ALSO BE OBSERVED APPROXIMATELY NORTH OF A LINE FROM... EXTREME NORTHERN FRANCE TO BELGIUM TO CENTRAL GERMANY TO CENTRAL POLAND TO BELARUS TO CENTRAL RUSSIA. SYNOPSIS... A moderately strong interplanetary shock was observed passing the ACE spacecraft near 16:18 UTC (12:18 pm EDT) on 07 September. The disturbance has good characteristics that are expected to help drive periods of intensified auroral storm activity. Middle latitude observers are encouraged to keep a close eye on conditions. European and Russian observers will be optimally placed for observing activity. There is some doubt as to whether the activity will remain strong enough to permit widespread middle latitude sightings by the time North America sees darkness. Keep a close eye on current conditions by visiting: http://www.spacew.com/aurora/forum.html and http://www.spacew.com/www/auroras.html where reports of activity will be displayed. The new phase of the moon will allow unrestricted and optimal observations of activity under dark skies - ideal conditions for observing the intricate details of auroral activity. This warning will remain in effect until 19:00 UTC on 08 September. It will then be updated or allowed to expire. Please note that a new real-time aurora image gallery is available for public use at: http://www.spacew.com/gallery . This service is capable of publishing imagery within 1 to 2 minutes of the receipt of the images. As a result, it is an ideal way for people to show others what they are seeing. If you have a digital camera and are able to take a snapshot of auroral activity, send your image to the gallery so other's who may be less fortunate can observe what you are seeing. If you are taking pictures with film, please feel free to submit your images after you have developed your film. For help and i"}, {"response": 619, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Sep  7, 2002 (19:48)", "body": "It was a typical night for Alaska. The sky was filled with auroras; intense waves of red and green and violet light shimmered hypnotically overhead. But it wasn't Alaska. It was Ohio, Wisconsin, Michigan, Washington and other continental US states, where surprised sky watchers saw Alaska-style auroras just yesterday. An unexpected geomagnetic storm ignited auroras over Europe, much of Canada and the United States on Sept. 3rd and 4th. Visit spaceweather.com to learn more about the storm and to see pictures of the auroras. http://www.spaceweather.com"}, {"response": 620, "author": "tsatsvol", "date": "Tue, Sep 17, 2002 (04:59)", "body": "Research Uncovers New Kuiper Belt Mystery Although the Kuiper Belt, a region of icy objects located past the orbit of Neptune, was only discovered in 1992, it's already presented a host of mysteries. One mystery is why an unusually large number of these objects have small satellites orbiting them - 8 out of the 500 objects discovered so far have had satellites. The high number brings into question the traditional theory that they're caused by collisions. Complete story in Southwest Research Institute News"}, {"response": 621, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Sep 18, 2002 (23:06)", "body": "Is this where we got our second and third moons? The Kuiper Belt? We are just beginning to learn about what is just beyond our own atmosphere. How wonderful to know there are always more universes to conquer with our imaginations! Thank you, John. I would share it with you if it were possible."}, {"response": 622, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Sep 20, 2002 (10:24)", "body": "A Shocking Space Movie NASA Science News for September 19, 2002 Astronomers have captured extraordinary footage of a Manhattan-sized star rotating and spewing antimatter jets into space. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2002/19sep_crabmovie.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 623, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Sep 20, 2002 (23:27)", "body": "Today in Science/Astronomy: * Harvest Moon for Skywatchers, Birdwatchers and Farmers http://www.space.com/spacewatch/harvest_moon_020920.html The Full Moon of Saturday, Sept. 21 also carries the title of the Harvest Moon for those living in the Northern Hemisphere. It has a long history of importance for farmers and birdwatchers, which we'll explain below. First, let's look at what's different about a Harvest Moon. * Stunning New View of Energetic Crab Pulsar http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/astronomy/crab_pulsar_020919.html Combining the power of the Hubble Space Telescope with the Chandra X-ray Observatory, researchers have made a short movie of a massive rotating star that provides new clues about how the powerful object works. * Crab Pulsar Close-up http://www.space.com/php/multimedia/imagepump/ Zoom in on the recent Crab Pulsar image! * Film Director Ron Howard Talks Space as His Apollo 13 Premieres in IMAX Theaters http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/astronomy/crab_pulsar_020919.html With the IMAX theater giant screen premiere of his 1995 film Apollo 13, Academy Award winning director Ron Howard says that's about as close to outer space as he is likely to get. ----------------------------------- Today in SpaceFlight: * Air Force Marks the 100th Launch it Didn't Goof Up http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/range_milestone_020919.html You can't blame the U.S. Air Force for delaying launches from the Cape -- at least not for the past 100 shots. * New Space Junk Satellite Will Leave Earth's Grasp http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/space_junk_020919.html That mysterious object discovered in orbit around Earth on September 3 is likely not to hit the Moon. Rather, the suspected Saturn IVB upper stage will swing back into orbit around the Sun, scientists said today. * Delta 4 Still Aiming for November Launch but Problems Persist http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/delta4_update_020919.html Preparations to launch the first Delta 4 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in early November are continuing but engineers still haven't resolved a problem with the software to be used during the countdown, Boeing officials said Thursday. ------------------------------------ Today in Business/Industry: * CNES Director-General Resigns http://www.space.com/spacenews/ Gerard Brachet has resigned as director-general of the French space agency, CNES, and will seek appointment as director of a new organization managing Europe's Galileo satellite navigation project. ------------------------------------ * SpaceTV: http://www.space.com/php/multimedia/spacetv/ * SpaceWatch: http://www.space.com/spacewatch/ * Space Age Jobs http://www.spacejobs.com/ * Uplink: Share your opinion! http://uplink.space.com/ ------------------------------------- SOLAR and SPACE WEATHER (Septemebr 20, 2002) 3-Day Solar Forecast Solar activity is expected to be low to moderate through Friday. 3-Day Aurora Forecast Earth's field is expected to be mostly unsettled through Friday. Solar Data The current sunspot number is 228, and the solar wind speed recently clocked in at 525 kilometers per second. The solar wind density was 1.4 protons per cubic centimeter. (Speed and density values are snapshots in time and change during the day.) http://www.space.com/spacewatch/space_weather.html"}, {"response": 624, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Oct  5, 2002 (20:26)", "body": "Space Medicine So you think a 6-hour car trip is tough on your body? How about a six-month trip to Mars? In this story, researchers discuss how to keep astronauts safe and healthy during long trips through the solar system. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2002/30sept_spacemedicine.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 625, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Oct  5, 2002 (22:40)", "body": "AMATEURS TO HELP DISCOVER EXTRA-SOLAR PLANETS --------------------------------------------- Astronomers at NASA and the University of California at Santa Cruz have launched a Web-based project that has amateur astronomers lining up to have a chance to discover extra-solar planets that 'transit' or pass in front of their parent stars. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0210/06planets/ TEAM TO DEVELOP NUCLEAR ELECTRIC POWER FOR SPACE ------------------------------------------------ A team of government, industry and academia, under the leadership of The Boeing Company, has been awarded a NASA contract to meet the challenge of developing nuclear electric power for deep space exploration. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0210/06boeingpower/ ASTRONOMERS PUT QUASARS IN THEIR PLACE -------------------------------------- A team of UK astronomers has made a decisive step toward resolving an argument that has rumbled on in the astronomical community for decades. The scientists from the University of Nottingham have been investigating the properties of quasars and nearby galaxies. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0210/05quasars/ NASA HOPEFUL FOR MONDAY SPACE SHUTTLE LAUNCH -------------------------------------------- NASA's Mission Control Center in Houston has taken back command of the international space station from Moscow following last week's hurricane alert. At Kennedy Space Center, Atlantis remains in good shape for launch Monday. The weather forecast, however, is somewhat iffy. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/status.html ARE LANDCOVER CHANGES ALTERING EARTH'S CLIMATE? ----------------------------------------------- While many scientists and policy makers have focused only on how heat-trapping gases like carbon dioxide are altering our global climate, a new NASA-funded study points to the importance of also including human-caused land-use changes as a major factor contributing to climate change. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0210/05landcover/"}, {"response": 626, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Oct  5, 2002 (22:44)", "body": "Today in Science/Astronomy: * Upgrades to Boost SETI@home Alien Search http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/generalscience/seti_021001-1.html The world's most popular ET-hunting program for home users is about to get upgrades of both its software and the telescope that feeds data into it. * Starry Night's Fall Sky Tour: Easy Targets in the Northern Sky http://www.space.com/spacewatch/easy_north_021001.html While much of the sky offers daunting challenges to backyard astronomers, the northern fall sky includes familiar stars and star patterns that will make even the most causal stargazer feel comfortable. * NEW! Wallpapers for your Desktop http://www.space.com/php/multimedia/downloads/wallpapers/ A new collection of images from Space Artist John Catraham, 'The Early Works' * Astronotes: Soccer Mom's Space Bid on Hold http://www.space.com/news/astronotes-1.html A Long Beach woman said this week that her bid to become the third space tourist is on hold, as pop star Lance Bass' quest to do the same stumbles forward. ----------------------------------- Today in SpaceFlight: * Mission Atlantis: Meet the Crewmembers of STS-112 http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/sts112_preview_021001.html Call them the leader, the mother, the organizer, the mentor, the ice breaker and the brother. * Hurricane Lili still a concern for launch http://www.space.com/shuttlemissions/ Hurricane Lili is heading toward the U.S. Gulf coast and there is enough uncertainty in its track that shuttle Atlantis' launch could be delayed -- not because of bad weather at the Cape but because of a potential threat to Mission Control in Houston. * Mission Atlantis: Helping the Station Keep its Cool http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/sts112_preview_020930.html With its cracked plumbing repaired and a much-anticipated television camera mounted to its exterior, shuttle Atlantis is ready to blast off this week on a complex 11-day assembly mission to the International Space Station (ISS). ------------------------------------ Today in Business/Industry: * Alcatel Finalizes Satellite Contract with China http://www.space.com/spacenews/ Alcatel Space has finalized a contract to provide the Chinese government with an electronics package for a large telecommunications satellite for launch in 2005 aboard a Chinese rocket, Alcatel Space announced Sept. 27. ------------------------------------ * SpaceTV: http://www.space.com/php/multimedia/spacetv/ * SpaceWatch: http://www.space.com/spacewatch/ * Space Age Jobs http://www.spacejobs.com/ * Uplink: Share your opinion! http://uplink.space.com/ ------------------------------------- SOLAR and SPACE WEATHER (October 1, 2002) 3-Day Solar Forecast Activity is expected to be low to moderate through Wednesday. 3-Day Aurora Forecast Earth's geomagnetic field is expected to be quiet to unsettled, with some active periods possible Monday and Tuesday. Solar Data The current sunspot number is 157, and the solar wind speed recently clocked in at 315 kilometers per second. The solar wind density was 4.3 protons per cubic centimeter. (Speed and density values are snapshots in time and change during the day.) http://www.space.com/spacewatch/space_weather.html"}, {"response": 627, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Oct  7, 2002 (19:17)", "body": "http://64.4.14.250/cgi-bin/linkrd?_lang=EN&lah=df9b86cc32916c06832cb16969fe06c5&lat=1034032623&hm___action=http%3a%2f%2fwww%2ecnn%2ecom%2f2002%2fUS%2fWest%2f10%2f07%2fmeteor%2esighting%2eap%2findex%2ehtml"}, {"response": 628, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Oct  9, 2002 (19:47)", "body": "Sweetie, that link does not work anymore. What was it??? The shuttle is up. I have not seen NASA TV on mylaptop....."}, {"response": 629, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Oct  9, 2002 (19:58)", "body": "NASA TV links http://www.nasa.gov/ntv/ntvweb.html"}, {"response": 630, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Oct 14, 2002 (00:21)", "body": "Urban Sprawl: the Big Picture Earth-orbiting satellites have a wonderful view of our planet's fast-growing cities, but most city planners don't have access to this \"big picture\" from space. NASA-supported scientists are working to change that. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2002/11oct_sprawl.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 631, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Oct 29, 2002 (22:00)", "body": "The latest from NASA's Earth Observatory (10/29/2002) ----------------------------------------------------------------- New Features: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/ * Burned Area Emergency Rehabilitation http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/BAER The aftermath of a wildfire can be as dangerous as the blaze itself. The charred landscape is prone to flooding and erosion, and natural resource experts usually have only one week to assess the damage and propose steps to mitigate disaster. Satellite mapping of burned areas can save crews time and money by helping guide field crews to the most crucial areas. USDA Forest Service and University of Maryland scientists are partnering up in a project to collect ground-based data to check the accuracy of their satellite-based Burn Severity maps. -------------------- In the News : http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/ * Latest Images: Eruption of Sicily's Mt. Etna http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10804 Monster Hurricane Kenna Poses Severe Threat to Mexican Coast http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10803 Space Shuttle view after Kolka Glacier Collapse http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10802 \"The Optimist,\" Kalahari Desert, Namibia http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10801 Burn Severity for Oregon's Biscuit Fire http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10800 Where on Earth...? MISR Mystery Image Quiz #11 http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10799 Tarpum Bay, Bahamas http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10798 * NASA News http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NasaNews/ - Computer Model Suggests Future Crop Loss Due to Potential Increases in Extreme Rain Events Over Next Century - NASA to Develop Biohazard 'Smoke' Detector - Shuttle Radar Clears the Air on Central America\ufffds Topography * Headlines from the press, radio, and television: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/Headlines/ - Detection, Not Warming, Behind Increase in Antarctic Icebergs - U.S. Bird Species Declining - People Use 83 Percent of Land Surface - Belize Cave Records El Ni\ufffdo Events - NASA\ufffds EO Data Put the Surveillance on the Mosquito - Cosmic Rays Linked to Clouds --------------------------------------------------------------------- Earth Observatory weekly mailing -- http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/"}, {"response": 632, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Nov  7, 2002 (12:48)", "body": "What a great combination of earth and space science! This is geosynthesis at it's finest."}, {"response": 633, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Nov 23, 2002 (22:43)", "body": "http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/PEstory/TGAM/20021122/UASTEB1/Science/science/science_temp/2/2/3/ An article about medium sized objects that might hit the earth. \"Small meteors more likely to leave deadly trail of destruction on Earth, scientists say By STEPHEN STRAUSS Friday, November 22, 2002 \ufffd Page A21 Anyone who has ever been frightened by the Hollywood movie concept of an asteroid smashing into Earth can rest a little easier because of Canadian-led research published yesterday. Scientists have used previously secret U.S. military satellite data to estimate that a destructive impact will occur an average of once every 1,000 years. Previous estimates had suggested that an asteroid could strike once every 200 to 300 years. \"Most of our attention has focused on the bigger guys which can cause global damage, but the mean time of them occurring is about 700,000 years. However, the smaller guys can cause significant regional damage and do it much more often,\" said Peter Brown, an astronomer at the University of Western Ontario in London, who is the lead author of a new paper on the subject published in yesterday's issue of the journal Nature."}, {"response": 634, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Dec 10, 2002 (20:05)", "body": "I hope, if I die, I get to see it on the way down!"}, {"response": 635, "author": "CherylB", "date": "Wed, Dec 18, 2002 (11:27)", "body": "Ancient, Frozen Antarctic Life Revived, Along with Hopes for Life on Mars By Robert Roy Britt Senior Science Writer 16 December 2002 Within ice that covers a salty, liquid Antarctic lake scientists have found and revived microbes that were at least 2,800 years old. The discovery, announced today, points to probable life within the underground lake and suggests the sort of ecosystem that might exist on Mars. The ancient microbes were in a state of suspended metabolism, similar to dormancy, said study team member John Priscu of Montana State University. \"They're in a frozen state,\" Priscu said in a telephone interview. \"They'll come back to life if you add water.\" Priscu and his colleagues camped out on the ice above 2.5-mile-long (5-kilometer) Lake Vida for about two weeks back in 1996. They drilled down about 50 feet (15 meters) to collect the aged bacteria. They were just reaching the briny slush of the lake, said to be seven times saltier than the ocean and able to remain liquid even at temperatures lower than -10 Celsius (14 degrees Fahrenheit). \"It was hard drilling,\" Priscu said. \"It was 40 below. It was a real tough job. The next step was to get to the brine.\" However, to prevent contaminating the pristine lake, the drilling system was back-pressured with de-ionized water. Seals began to fail, and the system started to leak. The researchers were forced to stop. Priscu thinks the lake holds live organisms. Life has been found in similar salty conditions, such as the Great Salt Lake and the Dead Sea. And his lab work shows organisms can thrive in the frigid temperatures presumed for Lake Vida. His team has frozen blocks of organisms to -15 Celsius and kept them alive. Confidence for life on Mars Further, he said similar pockets of ice or briny water on Mars almost surely hold life, or at least signs of it. Other researchers are typically more reserved about their speculation of possible life on Mars. But Priscu has seen the living, up close, in the harshest conditions our own planet has to offer. Critters called cyanobacteria dominate life at these extremes. Another Antarctic Lake, called Vostok, has been under similar study and organisms have been found in the ice above it. And several research teams have examined cyanobacteria in easier-to-reach pockets of polar ice. The creatures are innovative enough to generate their own sunscreen -- a handy ability to have on Mars, where radiation is harsher than on Earth. The Lake Vida creatures are unique for their age, determined by the age of ice in which they were embedded. Other similar studies have involved ice that is frequently replenished and not as old. Frozen polar regions on Mars might contain organisms similar to those Priscu and his colleagues have been studying over the years, he said. Or deep underground pockets of ice -- or even water -- could support them. In Priscu's mind, the question of finding life on Mars is only whether it will be crawling around or hung in a sort of natural ice museum. \"It's either extinct or extant,\" he said, alliteratively ruling out the possibility of coming up entirely empty in the search for past or present life on the Red Planet. Just thaw them out He said data his team has collected suggest bacteria and their DNA can remain viable for up to a million years. Ice is a good preservative, he said. Add a little water -- which even in a deep freeze can occur in layers where frictional energy melts ice for brief periods -- and organisms might maintain and repair their blueprints for life for many millions of years. \"If they're frozen [on Mars] and younger than 1 million years,\" Priscu said, \"give them some water and they probably would come back.\" The research, funded by the National Science Foundation and NASA, is reported in the Dec. 16 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Peter Doran of the University of Illinois at Chicago is the lead author of the paper. When the study began, the scientists had thought Lake Vida might be a frozen chunk of ice, like other known \"lakes\" in the region. But the ice cores, along with ground-penetrating radar and long-term temperature data, revealed that Vida has a thick, light-blocking ice cover, vast amounts of ancient organic material and sediment, and the liquid zone underneath. \"Mars is believed to have a water rich past, and if life developed, a Lake Vida-type ecosystem may have been the final niche for life on Mars before the water bodies froze solid,\" Doran said in a statement. http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/antarctic_life_021216.html"}, {"response": 636, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jan  7, 2003 (02:37)", "body": "A new NASA mission named \"CHIPS\" will soon leave Earth to study the remains of some uncomfortably close supernova explosions. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2003/06jan_bubble.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 637, "author": "ramesh2005", "date": "Tue, Jan  7, 2003 (02:54)", "body": "it good"}, {"response": 638, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jan  7, 2003 (15:33)", "body": "Welcome and Aloha Ramesh. I am assuming you are somwhere in the Pakistan or India area. Please tell us more about you!"}, {"response": 639, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jan 17, 2003 (17:17)", "body": "SHUTTLE COLUMBIA ROCKETS INTO ORBIT FOR SCIENCE FLIGHT ------------------------------------------------------ With fighter planes and radars scanning the sky for intruders, the shuttle Columbia thundered away on a marathon 16-day science mission Thursday, carrying a crew of seven - including the first Israeli astronaut - scores of experiments and a menagerie of animal and insect research subjects. http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts107/030116launch/ Watch it on Nasa TV on your computer: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv/ntvweb.html"}, {"response": 640, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Feb 28, 2003 (11:47)", "body": "Ask yourself, what would really get Marci's juices going? Answer: a news story that combines space and volcanoes. At the edge of space \ufffd the same cold region where space shuttle Columbia broke up into a trail of debris \ufffd shiny, silvery blue clouds have been hovering. The high-altitude ice clouds are called noctilucent or \"night-shining\" clouds, and astronauts as well as Earth-bound scientists have been puzzled by their growing abundance. The clouds are visible from space and from the ground over areas that are experiencing summer weather. Astronauts on the space station are seeing them over the southern hemisphere where it's now warm. \"We've seen definite changes,\" said John Olivero, a professor of physical science at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla. \"It appears the particles that make up the clouds have gotten slightly bigger with time and it appears the clouds are now visible further away from the poles than they have been before.\" Volcanic Beginning The last time these high, shiny clouds appeared in great numbers was after the 1883 eruption of the island volcano, Krakatoa, in Indonesia. The explosion hurled plumes of ash up to 50 miles into the air and caused spectacular sunsets. The ash particles also served as rare anchors to water vapor at high altitudes and the vapor condensed to ice, forming the brilliant blue clouds. Sky gazers who stayed up late following the eruption reported seeing wispy, glowing streaks in the night sky. Before this incident there were no reported sightings of noctilucent clouds. But why so many night shining clouds now? \"It's still being debated,\" says Chester Gardner, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Illinois at Urbana. One reason scientists are having such a hard time understanding the shimmering clouds is their location. At 30-60 miles above Earth, the mesosphere is also known as the \"ignorosphere\" due to its inaccessibility. The region is too far to reach by weather balloon and yet it sits below where orbiting satellites or other craft might orbit because its heavier atmosphere would cause too much drag. The rest of the story at http://abcnews.go.com/sections/scitech/DailyNews/nighshiningclouds030228.html"}, {"response": 641, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Mar  1, 2003 (19:13)", "body": "Thank you, Terry! You knnow me very well. Most interesting! A Most Surprising Observation \"Quite by accident, we have made a most surprising observation,\" reports Don Pettit, the science officer of the International Space Station. It happened during his spare time on a Saturday morning last month. Pettit was preparing to make some weightless soap bubbles--just for fun--when he discovered a very curious property of water in space. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2003/25feb_nosoap.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 642, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Mar  1, 2003 (19:15)", "body": "Interesting Clouds Astronauts onboard the International Space Station have been observing strange electric-blue clouds hovering near the edge of space. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2003/18feb_nlc.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 643, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Mar  7, 2003 (10:49)", "body": "Today on SPACE.com -- Friday, March 7, 2003 -- http://www.space.com/ In today's issue: /------------------------------------- Interstellar Flight Be part of a real mission to the stars! Include your photo, message and DNA on board Humanity's First Starship. Makes a great gift! http://www.space.com/teamencounter/ -------------------------------------/ Featured Products * The Space Store Investigation Columbia: Newest Developments in Shuttle Inquiry http://www.space.com/columbiatragedy/ Spaceflight: * Model Rocket Engine Size Matters to Government Regulators * Russia Insists It Needs Cash from Space Station Partners Soon * Columbia Accident Hearing Probes NASA Workforce Erosion, Shuttle Safety Issues Technology: * Space Shuttle Tile System Unique, Future Could Bring Alternatives * Tech Today: Home Theater Made Easy Science/Astronony: * Fact vs. Fiction: Reading Weather in the Sun, Moon and Stars * The Big Rip: New Theory Ends Universe by Shredding Everything * Mars Core Squishy, Goes with the Tidal Flow * New Views of Jupiter Force Rethink of Cloudy Theories Recent Headlines: * Three Members Added to Columbia Investigation Panel * Columbia Public Hearing to Include Experts on Foam, Shuttle Systems * Molten Aluminum Found on Columbia Tiles * NASA: No Internal Shuttle Policy Changes Ahead of Probe Findings * China Outlines its Lunar Ambitions * Pioneer 10: Farewell to an Old Friend * Seven Newfound Moons of Jupiter Bring Tally to 47 * Radio Star: ALMA Telescope to See Stellar Birth, Galactic * Powerful Space Bursts Reflect Two Ways to Make Black Holes Plus... * SpaceTV, SpaceWatch * Solar and Space Weather * Starry Night, TeamSETI -----------------------------------"}, {"response": 644, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Mar  8, 2003 (17:04)", "body": "Busy Sky: Jupiter, Mars and Comet NEAT Space Weather news for March 8, 2003 http://www.spaceweather.com MARS: Mars and Earth are converging for an extraordinary close encounter later this year. The approaching red planet is now brighter than a 1st-magnitude star--it's gliding through the star fields of Sagittarius in the morning sky. JUPITER: The brightest \"star\" in the evening sky is Jupiter. This month the giant planet is gliding by the Beehive Cluster of stars in the constellation Cancer. The view through binoculars is splendid! COMET NEAT: After a close encounter with the Sun last month, Comet NEAT is emerging from the Sun's glare into the evening skies of the southern hemisphere. Sky watchers in Argentina, Australia and New Zealand (among other places) say the comet is dim yet visible to the unaided eye with a tail that looks nice through small telescopes and binoculars. AURORAS: Solar wind gusts buffeted Earth's magnetic field last week and sparked auroras at high latitudes. The next series of geomagnetic storms could begin around March 15th. Visit spaceweather.com for images, sky maps and more information."}, {"response": 645, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Mar  9, 2003 (16:47)", "body": "The Oldest Light in the Universe A NASA satellite has taken a picture of the Big Bang's ancient afterglow. Scientists have analyzed the data and learned that the universe is 13.7 billon years old (plus or minus 1 percent)and that the first stars appeared only 200 million years after the Big Bang. These results are a milestone in cosmology, says the NASA director of astronomy and physics. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2003/11feb_map.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 646, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Mar  9, 2003 (16:48)", "body": "Living up to the Hype: Superconductors Thanks to years of research involving experiments flown on the space shuttle, NASA-supported scientists are closer than ever to unlocking the amazing potential of high-temperature superconductors. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2003/05feb_superconductor.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 647, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Mar 10, 2003 (16:25)", "body": "Today on SPACE.com -- Monday, March 10, 2003 * Columbia's Final Data Transmission Sends Mixed Signals http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/sts107_data_030310.html In the moments before Columbia broke apart over Texas, an attempt may have been made to override the shuttle's autopilot, based on an exhaustive analysis of the final bits of data, officials say. * Apollo Moonwalkers: Vision Needed in Columbia Aftermath http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/sts107_vision_030310.html Apollo astronauts from the first and last expedition to the Moon see far-reaching consequences rippling through America's space program due to the loss of Columbia and its seven-person crew. * NASA Investigates Dozens of Scenarios, Though Odds of Foam Damaging Orbiter Remote http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/sts107_search_030308.html A NASA-wide campaign is underway with technical teams sifting through data and debris in an attempt to find the cause behind the loss of Columbia and its crew. * Shuttle Probe to Study NASA Communication http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/sts107_communication_030308.html A new team will look into NASA's internal communications, including e-mails and management directives, as part of the investigation into what caused the breakup of the space shuttle Columbia last month. * Shuttle Flight Plans in Work; NASA Aims for Launch by Summer 2004 http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/sts107_fleet_030308.html NASA and its contractors already are doing the planning and engineering work necessary to launch another shuttle no later than summer 2004, shuttle program sources told Florida Today. * Russian Imaging Satellite To Serve Civil, Commercial Users http://www.space.com/spacenews/spacenews_businessmonday_030310.html Russia's TsSKB Progress organization of Samara is building what program officials say is the country's first civilian imaging spacecraft capable of transmitting high-resolution digital pictures to ground stations as it passes overhead."}, {"response": 648, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Mar 11, 2003 (16:28)", "body": "From NASA science news : From Feb. 4th, 2003: At the dawn of the space age some 40 years ago, we always knew who was orbiting Earth or flying to the Moon. Neil Armstrong, Yuri Gagarin, John Glenn. They were household names--everywhere. Lately it\ufffds different. Space flight has become more \ufffdroutine.\ufffd Another flight of the shuttle. Another visit to the space station. Who\ufffds onboard this time? Unless you\ufffdre a NASA employee or a serious space enthusiast, you might not know. Dave Brown, Rick Husband, Laurel Clark, Kalpana Chawla, Michael Anderson, William McCool, and Ilan Ramon Now we know. Those are the names of the seven astronauts who were tragically lost on Saturday, Feb. 1st, when the space shuttle Columbia (STS-107) broke apart over Texas. Before the accident, perhaps, they were strangers to you. But if that's so, why did you have a knot in your gut when you heard the news? What were those tears all about? Why do you feel so deep-down sad for seven strangers? Astronauts have an unaccountable hold on us. They are explorers. Curious, humorous, serious, daring, careful. Where they go, they go in peace. Every kid wants to be one. Astronauts are the essence of humanity. They are not strangers. They are us. While still in orbit Dave Brown asked, jokingly, \ufffddo we really have to come back?\ufffd No. But we wish you had. The Science@NASA team, as does all of NASA and the world, extends heartfelt sympathies to the family, friends and colleagues of the STS-107 crew. Please see the NASA Home Page ( http://www.nasa.gov ) for more information on the Columbia Investigation. --Tony Phillips, Ron Koczor, Bryan Walls, Becky Bray, Patrick Meyer."}, {"response": 649, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Apr 14, 2003 (18:36)", "body": "Aurora Blues Astronauts onboard the International Space Station (ISS) have seen a lot of auroras in recent months. They've even flown through some. Usually the lights are green; sometimes they're red. Other colors are rare. So when ISS science officer Don Pettit looked out the window on March 29th and saw vivid blue-rimmed auroras, he had to grab his camera and take a picture. Read the FULL STORY to find out what makes these Northern Lights so blue: http://science.nasa.gov/ppod/y2003/09apr_aurorablues.htm"}, {"response": 650, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Apr 14, 2003 (18:37)", "body": "Supernova On March 29, 2003, in the constellation Leo, something exploded--bright enough to see through small telescopes in brightly-lit cities. Astronomers who have collected data from the event say it provides the long-sought link between supernovas and mysterious gamma ray bursts. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2003/10apr_grb.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 651, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Apr 14, 2003 (18:42)", "body": "It's a Supernova! Source: NASA Posted: 4/10/2003 On March 29, 2003, in the constellation Leo, something exploded--bright enough to see through small telescopes in brightly-lit cities. Astronomers say it provides the long-sought link between supernovas and mysterious gamma ray bursts. Full story..."}, {"response": 652, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Apr 14, 2003 (18:44)", "body": ""}, {"response": 653, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Apr 15, 2003 (22:35)", "body": "Delay to US Mars mission By Helen Briggs BBC News Online science reporter The US space agency Nasa has been forced to delay the launch of the first of the two rovers it is sending to Mars this summer. The take-off has been put back by a week or so to allow electrical repairs to be made to the identical rovers. The rover will act as a 'robot geologist' Pre-launch tests at the weekend raised concerns that they might be vulnerable to a computer glitch. The spacecraft will now have to be taken apart at Nasa's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. George Diller of the Kennedy Space Center said an electrical circuit board needed to be modified. \"It'll be a fairly easy thing to fix but it does mean going into both of the rovers, removing the circuit card and making some modifications to it,\" he told BBC News Online. The first Mars Exploration Rover was set to be launched by a Delta 11 rocket on 30 May. It will now take off between 6 June and 19 June. The second spacecraft will be launched 10 days after the first. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2950395.stm"}, {"response": 654, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Apr 19, 2003 (17:45)", "body": "Oooh I remember that little rover. They ran it around the lava beds here for a while to see how it would perform."}, {"response": 655, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Apr 20, 2003 (21:59)", "body": "Wow, did you see that?"}, {"response": 656, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Apr 20, 2003 (22:36)", "body": "alas no. I did get to have dinner with the astronauts who were also practicing for an ashy landing. I think having dialogue with three of my very own immediate astronauts was one of those nights one does not forget!"}, {"response": 657, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Apr 20, 2003 (22:38)", "body": "Some of the NASA stuff done here during the early stages of the space race were so classified as to be off limits to the public - even those with connections. Scandia Lab was running a lot of the experiments. And, you know how secret they can be!"}, {"response": 658, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Apr 21, 2003 (11:41)", "body": "Dinner with the astronauts! Wow. That's great. What did you talk about?"}, {"response": 659, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, May  2, 2003 (19:07)", "body": "Talking shop was what I wanted out of them, but instead they ended up picking my brains about what was edible on the \"exotic\" Japanese dinner buffet. This was pre-sushi days, so the thought of eating seaweed and raw fish scared them to death. They would go the moon strapped to a firecracked, but NOT eat weird food. One noticed a big bowl of eggs. He commented that at least they knew how to eat hard boiled eggs! I hated to tell them, but those eggs were also raw! Used to cool off blistering hot soups, they end up like thin scrambled eggs. It was great fun. We talked about all sorts of things. I wondered to them if the constellations were as hard to define from 35,000 feet as it was beyond. I never heard the answer."}, {"response": 660, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, May  3, 2003 (17:02)", "body": "What a great question for them."}, {"response": 661, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, May  4, 2003 (01:20)", "body": "I had trouble seeing anything recognizable even at 20,000 feet. I wonder what the altitude is for losing the perspective we have here on earth. Of course, everything we see from here is at different distances and moving independently. What we see today will not look like it will look in the future, not like it looked in ancient times! ISS science officer Don Pettit's latest \"Saturday Morning Science\" experiment reveals something oddly familiar about boiling water in space. FULL STORY (WITH MOVIES) http://science.nasa.gov/ppod/y2003/01may_boiling.htm"}, {"response": 662, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, May  4, 2003 (01:21)", "body": "Geomagnetic activity surged for a while on Monday, April 28th, when Earth glided through a solar wind stream. Northern Lights in the United States descended as far south as Wisconsin. More auroras are possible on May 1st when our planet is expected to encounter another solar wind stream flowing from a coronal hole on the sun. Meanwhile, the sunspot number is rising. The face of the sun is peppered with active regions--one stretching nearly 10 Earth-diameters from end to end. The impressive sunspot group is easy to observe using safe solar projection methods. Visit spaceweather.com for images and more information"}, {"response": 663, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, May  9, 2003 (18:06)", "body": "Space Weather News for May 9, 2003 http://spaceweather.com SUN MOVIE: On May 7th German astronomers witnessed something remarkable: a spacecraft and a planet crossing the face of the Sun at the same time. The planet was Mercury. The spacecraft was the International Space Station. Visit spaceweather.com to view a movie of this unprecedented double solar transit. AURORA WATCH: Earth is still inside a high-speed solar wind stream that has triggered mild geomagnetic storming since May 7th. High-latitude auroras are possible this weekend. Visit spaceweather.com for images and updates."}, {"response": 664, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, May 23, 2003 (16:24)", "body": "MARTIAN VIEW OF EARTH --------------------- Have you ever wondered what you would see if you were on Mars looking at the Earth through a small telescope? Now you can find out, thanks to a unique view of our world recently captured by NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft currently orbiting the Red Planet. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0305/22earthmgs/ HUBBLE SEES THE MYSTERIOUS 'GARDEN-SPRINKLER' NEBULA ---------------------------------------------------- There are many mysterious objects seen in the night sky which are not really well understood. For example, astronomers are puzzled by the \"jets\" emerging from planetary nebulae. However, the S-shaped jet from Henize 3-1475 is the most perplexing of all. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0305/22sprinkler/ THE UNIVERSE'S BIGGEST CONSTRUCTION SITES ----------------------------------------- Images made by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory have revealed two distant cosmic construction sites buzzing with activity. This discovery shows how super massive black holes control the growth of massive galaxies in the distant Universe. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0305/21construction/ FROZEN LIGHT RESEARCH HOLDS PROMISE, NASA SAYS ---------------------------------------------- NASA-funded research at Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass., that literally stops light in its tracks, may someday lead to breakneck-speed computers that shelter enormous amounts of data from hackers. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0305/21frozen/ SLAG ON SHUTTLE DEBRIS SUGGESTS LOCATION OF BREACH -------------------------------------------------- Based on chemical analysis of slag found on the back side of a wing leading edge fragment, investigators now believe the breach that destroyed the shuttle Columbia occurred at or very near the lower inboard corner of reinforced carbon carbon panel No. 8, very close to where a so-called T-seal was mounted between RCC panels 7 and 8. http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts107/030520slag/ NEWLY-DISCOVERED STAR MAY BE THIRD-CLOSEST TO US ------------------------------------------------ The local celestial neighborhood just got more crowded with a discovery of a star that may be the third closest to the Sun. The star, \"SO25300.5+165258,\" is a faint red dwarf star estimated to be about 7.8 light-years from Earth in the direction of the constellation Aries. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0305/20closestar/ FIVE SPACECRAFT JOIN TO SOLVE AN AURORAL PUZZLE ----------------------------------------------- Five spacecraft have made a remarkable set of observations, leading to a breakthrough in understanding the origin of a peculiar and puzzling type of aurora. Seen as bright spots in Earth's atmosphere and called \"dayside proton auroral spots,\" they are now known to occur when fractures appear in the Earth's magnetic field, allowing particles emitted from the Sun to pass through and collide with molecules in our atmosphere. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0305/20auroral/ AIR FORCE WEATHER SATELLITE LAUNCH RESCHEDULED ---------------------------------------------- The long-delayed launch of the U.S. military's next polar-orbiting weather satellite is being targeted for this summer, the Air Force says. http://spaceflightnow.com/titan/g9/030519reset.html"}, {"response": 665, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jul 28, 2003 (11:39)", "body": "GIANT GAS CLOUD MADE OF ATOMS FORMED IN FIRST STARS --------------------------------------------------- Astronomers studying the most distant quasar yet found in the Universe have discovered a massive reservoir of gas containing atoms made in the cores of some of the first stars ever formed. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0307/25atoms/ TROUBLES STRIKE LANDSAT 7 ------------------------- Officials with the Landsat 7 Earth-watching satellite program have now spent almost two months struggling with a problem that significantly degrades the scientific value of images from the observatory. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0307/27landsat7/ SPACE ENTREPRENEURS SEEK REGULATORY RELIEF ------------------------------------------ Entrepreneurs creating new commercial space companies as well as those interested in investing in those companies said this past week that Congress needs to take several steps to improve regulations to allow those companies to flourish. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0307/26hearing/ INTRIGUING CELESTIAL IMAGES ARRIVE FROM GALEX --------------------------------------------- NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer has beamed back revealing images of hundreds of galaxies to expectant astronomers, providing the first batch of data on star formation that they had hoped for. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0307/27galex/ NEXT INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION CREW NAMED ------------------------------------------- Veteran NASA astronaut Michael Foale and seasoned Russian cosmonaut Alexander Kaleri are set to be the eighth crew to live aboard the International Space Station. They're scheduled to begin their mission in October, when they launch into space aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0307/26exp8crew/ CANADIAN TEAM MAPS HALOS AROUND GALAXIES ---------------------------------------- Two University of Toronto astronomers and a U.S. colleague have made the first measurements of the size and shape of massive dark matter halos that surround galaxies. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0307/25halos/"}, {"response": 666, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jul 28, 2003 (11:42)", "body": "Spaceflight: * X-43A: High Hopes For Return to Flight http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/technology/x43a_return_030728.html As NASA prepares a return-to-flight of its X-43A Hyper-X vehicle, the agency is holding its collective breath about the future of \"air-breathing\" engine technologies. A second vehicle is now being prepped to fly no later than mid-November. * Fixing Landsat 7 Taking Longer Than Expected http://www.space.com/spacenews/spacenews_businessmonday_030728.html Efforts to fix the Landsat 7 Earth observation spacecraft are taking longer than expected, and now the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is preparing for the possibility that the problem may be permanent, a USGS spokesman said. * Poll: Support for Space Program Steady http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/sts107_poll_030728.html Two-thirds of Americans say the space shuttle should continue to fly despite two disastrous accidents, but enthusiasm for putting civilians aboard is declining, an Associated Press poll finds * NASA Pluto Mission to Rely on Lockheed Martin Atlas 5 http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/atlas5_pluto_030725.html Humanity's first probe to take an up-close look at Pluto and its moon Charon will be launched in January 2006 on an Atlas 5 rocket, NASA officials announced Thursday. * U.S. Air Force Lowers Boom on Boeing Delta Program http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/boeing_eelv_030724.html Boeing Co. will forfeit $1 billion in Pentagon launch business and be suspended from upcoming launch competitions as punishment for cheating in a 1998 U.S. Air Force rocket procurement, a senior service official said. * Tech Today: Lights, Camera, Action! The New Palm Zire 71 http://www.space.com/techtoday/tech_today.html After years of so-so new PDAs, Palm is finally aiming for the top with its fun-loving Zire 71 ----------------------------------- Science/Astronomy: * Space Mailbag: Suggestions for Renaming the Moon -- Or Not http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/space_mailbag_moon_030725-1.html The Space Mailbag is stuffed with suggestions about what (or whether) to rename the Moon. * New Map of Water Ice on Mars http://www.space.com/marsrover/ A new global map of Mars shows likely locations of water ice based on observations of hydrogen made by NASA's Odyssey spacecraft. * Image of the Day: Handle With Care http://www.space.com/imageoftheday/image_of_day_030728.html After several delays, NASA's last Great Observatory, Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF) is scheduled to launch on August 23. * Astronotes: Catch a Shooting Star Near Mars http://www.space.com/astronotes/astronotes.html This is a great week to see shooting stars, and Tuesday morning offers a good opportunity to pair meteor watching with planet hunting. ---------------------------------- Recent Headlines: * U.S. Air Force Lowers Boom on Boeing Delta Program http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/boeing_eelv_030724.html * Dennis Tito Ready to Invest in Suborbital Rocket, But Wary of Gov't. Regulations http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/tito_regulations_030724.html * Debate Intensifies for Simple Vs. Advanced OSP Design http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/technology/osp_debate_030724.html * X Prize Entry Starchaser Successfully Test Drops Piloted Capsule http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/technology/starchaser_test_030424.html * Gravity's Rainbow: GRACE Mission Pushes Forward http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/gravity_map_030725.html * Undersea World Points to Possible Origin of Life, Maybe Even ET http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/lost_city_030724.html * Panspermia: Spreading Life Through the Universe http://www.space.com/searchforlife/seti_panspermia_030724.html"}, {"response": 667, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Aug 16, 2003 (12:52)", "body": "Roll your own radio telescope from an old satellite dish. http://radio.uindy.edu/radio/cheap.htm"}, {"response": 668, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Aug 26, 2003 (21:11)", "body": "mars mars and mars!!!!!!!!!! you guys look for the red \"star\" and with a telescope, it'll look like a full moon (tonight is the best night for viewing-southern)"}, {"response": 669, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Aug 26, 2003 (21:12)", "body": "southern portion of the sky, i should've said, time depends on your location--nasa has info on it and you can type in 'mars' on google and get a load of info"}, {"response": 670, "author": "stacey", "date": "Wed, Aug 27, 2003 (00:31)", "body": "I can see it, I can see it! Was going to take the kids to the CU telescope tonight but... too many meltdowns this afternoon... just wasn't worth it to me. Although it is kind of cloudy here tonight, the clusters of clouds break up nicely and allow a great view of what looks like the brightest (and kind of pink) star I've ever seen! Too neat!"}, {"response": 671, "author": "aa9il", "date": "Wed, Aug 27, 2003 (12:26)", "body": "Hi all The sun has been active too so possibility of aurora? Look to the northern skies! de Mike"}, {"response": 672, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Sep  3, 2003 (22:04)", "body": "Yay! Fun in the sky for everyone! Too bad monsoons have socked us in for the last week or more. All it does is make the grass grow faster and the tide gauges rise faster. Hmmm... surf may be up on the River, too...! Who has an old satellite dish? I hear they are pretty available at the larger rubbish tips around the nation nowadays. Happy hunting!"}, {"response": 673, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Sep 10, 2003 (22:46)", "body": "A 53-hour Chandra observation of the central region of the Perseus galaxy cluster (left) has revealed wavelike features (right) that appear to be sound waves. The features were discovered by using a special image-processing technique to bring out subtle changes in brightness. Illustration of Ripples in Perseus These sound waves are thought to have been produced by explosive events occurring around a supermassive black hole (bright white spot) in Perseus A, the huge galaxy at the center of the cluster. The pitch of the sound waves translates into the note of B flat, 57 octaves below middle-C. This frequency is over a million billion times deeper than the limits of human hearing, so the sound is much too deep to be heard. The image also shows two vast, bubble-shaped cavities, each about 50 thousand light years wide, extending away from the central supermassive black hole. These cavities, which are bright sources of radio waves, are not really empty, but filled with high-energy particles and magnetic fields. They push the hot X-ray emitting gas aside, creating sound waves that sweep across hundreds of thousands of light years. Animation of Sound Waves Generated in Perseus Cluster The detection of intergalactic sound waves may solve the long-standing mystery of why the hot gas in the central regions of the Perseus cluster has not cooled over the past ten billion years to form trillions of stars. As sounds waves move through gas, they are eventually absorbed and their energy is converted to heat. In this way, the sound waves from the supermassive black hole in Perseus A could keep the cluster gas hot. The explosive activity occurring around the supermassive black hole is probably caused by large amounts of gas falling into it, perhaps from smaller galaxies that are being cannibalized by Perseus A. The dark blobs in the central region of the Chandra image may be fragments of such a doomed galaxy. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2003/perseus/"}, {"response": 674, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Oct 23, 2003 (19:14)", "body": "Spectacular, Terry! I need to get out there and look at the sky again!"}, {"response": 675, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Nov  5, 2003 (09:24)", "body": "http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/solar_flare_031104.html Biggest solar flare ever. Let the above picture load, it takes a while."}, {"response": 676, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Nov  5, 2003 (09:25)", "body": "Then the corona was hurled in to space."}, {"response": 677, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Nov  5, 2003 (23:54)", "body": "http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/space/11/05/voyager.solar.boundary.ap/ Travelling one million miles a day, the Voyager 1 spacecraft is now out at the solar system's edge."}, {"response": 678, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Nov  6, 2003 (12:09)", "body": "awesome!"}, {"response": 679, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Nov  6, 2003 (14:04)", "body": "And get this, from the article. Get this... The sun sends out a stream of highly charged particles, called the solar wind, that carves out a vast bubble around the solar system. Beyond the bubble's ever-shifting boundary, called the termination shock, lies a region where particles cast off by dying stars begin to hold sway. That region, called the heliopause, marks the beginning of interstellar space and the end of our solar system. Whether Voyager 1 reached that mark or is still on approach remains unclear, with scientists providing evidence for both claims. Details appear Thursday in the journal Nature. \"Neither explanation is certain,\" writes Len Fisk, of the University of Michigan, in an editorial accompanying the two studies. YOUR E-MAIL ALERTS Follow the news that matters to you. Create your own alert to be notified on topics you're interested in. Or, visit Popular Alerts for suggestions. Manage alerts | What is this? Scientists have long theorized that a shock wave exists where the hot solar wind bumps up against the thin gas of the interstellar medium. A similar shock wave precedes aircraft flying faster than the speed of sound, causing a sonic boom. In space, the violent encounter slows the solar wind from supersonic velocity to subsonic speed, and causes a pileup of particles. As they accumulate, the particles increase in temperature. Also, as they skip back and forth across the shock boundary, they are accelerated and energized. Scientists have pored over data from Voyager 1 for evidence of any of those activities, which would suggest the one-ton spacecraft has reached the termination shock. The one instrument that could measure the solar wind velocity and give somewhat of a definitive answer ceased working years ago. One team, studying lower energy particles, inferred that the solar wind velocity did tail off beginning in August 2002, suggesting Voyager 1 temporarily reached the termination shock."}, {"response": 680, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Nov  6, 2003 (17:33)", "body": "termination shock Does not sound fun."}, {"response": 681, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Nov  8, 2003 (12:20)", "body": "Tonight, November 8, there will be an eclipse of the moon, visibile in whole or in part throughout the continental United States."}, {"response": 682, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Nov  9, 2003 (09:48)", "body": "we missed it (it was 8PM EST but we're PST)"}, {"response": 683, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Nov 24, 2003 (20:38)", "body": "oh, and i missed the meteor shower *sigh* where's marcia? i sent her an email but don't know if it made it. marcia, you take care of my twin!!"}, {"response": 684, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Nov 25, 2003 (13:02)", "body": "Where's Marcia? Beaming good energy her way."}, {"response": 685, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Nov 27, 2003 (03:46)", "body": "This true color mosaic of Jupiter was constructed from images taken by the narrow angle camera onboard NASA's Cassini spacecraft on December 29, 2000, during its closest approach to the giant planet at a distance of approximately 10 million kilometers (6.2 million miles). It is the most detailed global color portrait of Jupiter ever produced; the smallest visible features are approximately 60 kilometers (37 miles) across. The mosaic is composed of 27 images: nine images were required to cover the entire planet in a tic-tac-toe pattern, and each of those locations was imaged in red, green, and blue to provide true color. Although Cassini's camera can see more colors than humans can, Jupiter's colors in this new view look very close to the way the human eye would see them. Everything visible on the planet is a cloud. The parallel reddish-brown and white bands, the white ovals, and the large Great Red Spot persist over many years despite the intense turbulence visible in the atmosphere. The most energetic features are the small, bright clouds to the left of the Great Red Spot and in similar locations in the northern half of the planet. These clouds grow and disappear over a few days and generate lightning. Streaks form as clouds are sheared apart by Jupiter's intense jet streams that run parallel to the colored bands. The prominent dark band in the northern half of the planet is the location of Jupiter's fastest jet stream, with eastward winds of 480 kilometers (300 miles) per hour. Jupiter's diameter is eleven times that of Earth, so the smallest storms on this mosaic are comparable in size to the largest hurricanes on Earth. Unlike Earth, where only water condenses to form clouds, Jupiter's clouds are made of ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, and water. The updrafts and downdrafts bring different mixtures of these substances up from below, leading to clouds at different heights. The brown and orange colors may be due to trace chemicals dredged up from deeper levels of the atmosphere, or they may be byproducts of chemical reactions driven by ultraviolet light from the Sun. Bluish areas, such as the small features just north and south of the equator, are areas of reduced cloud cover, where one can see deeper. For more information, see the Cassini Project home page, http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and the Cassini imaging team home page, http://ciclops.org The imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Cassini mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA04866"}, {"response": 686, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Nov 29, 2003 (17:48)", "body": "Solar maximum is years past, yet the sun has been remarkably active lately. Is the sunspot cycle broken? FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2003/12nov_haywire.htm?list89800 ***************** A RECORD-BREAKING SOLAR FLARE & MID-LATITUDE AURORA WATCH At approximately 19:47 UTC (2:47 pm EST) on 04 November, active sunspot complex 10486 spawned what is probably the most intense x-ray flare in history. X-ray sensors on-board the GOES spacecraft are only capable of registering x-ray intensities up to a class X17.4 level. X-ray intensities beyond this level saturate the detectors. This solar flare saturated the x-ray detectors for 11 minutes, leaving space weather forecasters and scientists with some work to try and extrapolate the true intensity of the event. Based on a preliminary extrapolation, it appears that this x-ray flare peaked somewhere between the X30 and X40 levels, which was unheard of until yesterday and is possibly as much as twice as energetic as the X17 solar flare observed on 02 November. To place this event into historic perspective, it very likely ranks as the most powerful x-ray flare ever observed. During the last two weeks, active Region 10486 has produced three x-ray flares that have ranked within the top 10 of the most intense events in history. It has been quite a ride! Region 10486 has now rotated behind the western limb and out of view. It will now spend the next two weeks traversing the far side of the Sun. Whether it survives its passage on the far-side and returns to the eastern limb in two weeks in a form still capable of producing energetic events remains unknown. It is possible it could return in a form still capable of producing energetic events, but the odds are against it. Although only time will tell, observers on Earth will be able to monitor its progress indirectly by watching for coronal mass ejections that occur on the far side of the Sun, but are still visible from Earth via the SOHO LASCO cameras. Spectacular imagery of this solar flare and the associated high velocity coronal mass ejection are available from the SOHO web site: http://soho.nascom.nasa.gov/hotshots A movie of the event in the light of hydrogen is also available from: http://www.spacew.com/x30ha.gif It is known that yesterdays remarkable solar flare was associated with a coronal mass ejection. The vast majority of mass thrown out was directed well to the west of the Earth. However, a small portion was also directed Earthward. That portion is expected to impact the Earth on 06 November. After the disturbance arrives, it may be capable of producing periods of minor to major geomagnetic and auroral storm activity. A disturbance as large as was observed on 29 and 30 October is not expected. Nevertheless, auroral activity could become visible from many middle latitude locations. A middle latitude aurora watch is active for 06 November. For North Americans, that is TONIGHT. Late tonight, near or after local midnight. Interference from the near-full moon will hamper attempts to view activity. /\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\ MIDDLE LATITUDE AURORAL ACTIVITY WATCH WATCH ISSUED: 20:15 UTC, 05 NOVEMBER 2003 /\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\ VALID BEGINNING AT: 00:00 UTC ON 06 NOVEMBER VALID UNTIL: 23:00 UTC (7 pm EDT) ON 07 NOVEMBER PREDICTED IMPACT TIME OF DISTURBANCE: APPROX. 07:00 UTC ON 06 NOVEMBER, +/- AT LEAST SEVERAL HOURS SEVERAL HIGH RISK PERIOD: 06 NOVEMBER (UTC DAYS) MODERATE RISK PERIOD: 06 - 07 NOVEMBER PREDICTED ACTIVITY INDICES: 12, 35, 20, 15 (05 NOVEMBER - 08 NOVEMBER) POTENTIAL MAGNITUDE OF MIDDLE LATITUDE AURORAL ACTIVITY: MODERATE POTENTIAL DURATION OF THIS ACTIVITY: MAIN BELT = 06 TO 12 HOURS MINOR BELT = 12 TO 18 HOURS ESTIMATED OPTIMUM OBSERVING CONDITIONS: NEAR AND AFTER LOCAL MIDNIGHT EXPECTED LUNAR INTERFERENCE: MODERATE OVERALL OPPORTUNITY FOR OBSERVATIONS FROM MIDDLE LATITUDES: FAIR TO GOOD AURORAL ACTIVITY *MAY* BE OBSERVED APPROXIMATELY NORTH OF A LINE FROM... NORTHERN OREGON TO NORTHERN WYOMING TO SOUTH DAKOTA TO SOUTHERN MINNESOTA TO WISCONSIN TO MIGHIGAN TO NEW YORK STATE TO NEW HAMPSHIRE. ACTIVITY *MAY* ALSO BE OBSERVED APPROXIMATELY NORTH OF A LINE FROM... IRELAND TO CENTRAL UNITED KINGDOM TO EXTREME NORTHERN NETHERLANDS TO EXTREME NORTHERN GERMANY TO SOUTHERN SWEDEN TO SOUTHERN FINLAND TO NORTHERN RUSSIA. ACTIVITY *MAY* ALSO BE OBSERVED APPROXIMATELY SOUTH OF A LINE FROM... NEW ZEALAND AND EXTREME SOUTHEASTERN AUSTRALIA. SYNOPSIS... Effects of perhaps the largest x-ray solar flare on record are expected to impact the Earth sometime near 07:00 UTC on 06 November, give or take several hours. The solar flare occurred on the western limb of the Sun and as a result is not expected to produce significant effects at the Earth. However, the disturbance should have the strength to produce periods of auroral storming over the high and middle latitude regions. This watch will remain valid through 23:00 UTC (7 pm EDT) on 07 November. It will then be up"}, {"response": 687, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Nov 29, 2003 (17:50)", "body": "Thanks for posting the events, Terry! This was fantastic!!! Propagation was a poor as I thought it might be and airliners were kept below 25,000 feet and away from the poles to protect the passengers. I did hear that discussed by pilots and routing people."}, {"response": 688, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Nov 29, 2003 (17:51)", "body": "DARK MATTER FORMS A GHOST UNIVERSE, NEW THEORY SHOWS ---------------------------------------------------- The \"dark matter\" that comprises a still-undetected one-quarter of the universe is not a uniform cosmic fog, says a University of California, Berkeley, astrophysicist, but instead forms dense clumps that move about like dust motes dancing in a shaft of light. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0311/06ghost/ TURBULENT NEIGHBORHOOD SEEN NEAR ERUPTIVE STAR ---------------------------------------------- A small portion of the rough-and-tumble neighborhood of swirling dust and gas near one of the most massive and eruptive stars in our galaxy is seen in this Hubble Space Telescope image. This close-up view shows only a three light-year-wide portion of the entire Carina Nebula, which has a diameter of over 200 light-years. Located 8,000 light-years from Earth, the nebula can be seen in the southern sky with the naked eye. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0311/06eruptivestar/ VOYAGER APPROACHING SOLAR SYSTEM'S OUTER LIMITS ----------------------------------------------- NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft is about to make history again. It is the first spacecraft to enter the solar system's final frontier, a vast expanse where wind from the sun blows hot against thin gas between the stars: interstellar space. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0311/05voyager/ ROSES IN THE SOUTHERN SKY ------------------------- The two best known satellite galaxies of the Milky Way, the Magellanic Clouds, are located in the southern sky at a distance of about 170,000 light-years. They host many giant nebular complexes with very hot and luminous stars whose intense ultraviolet radiation causes the surrounding interstellar gas to glow. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0311/05roses/ PROPOSED NASA EXPLORER MISSIONS SELECTED FOR STUDY -------------------------------------------------- NASA recently selected candidate mission proposals that would study the universe, from Jupiter and the sun to black holes and dark matter. The proposals are candidates for missions in NASA's Explorer Program of lower cost, highly focused, rapid-development scientific spacecraft. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0311/05smex/"}, {"response": 689, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Nov 30, 2003 (21:06)", "body": "Where's the best place in Geo, Marci, to talk about the Earth's magnetic storms. Is this topic worthy?"}, {"response": 690, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Dec  1, 2003 (20:39)", "body": "http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3251382.stm Dusty disc may mean other Earths By Dr David Whitehouse BBC News Online science editor Astronomers say they have evidence for Earth-like planets orbiting a nearby star, making it more like our own Solar System than any yet discovered. The star, Vega, is one of the brightest in the sky, only 25 light-years away. It is three times larger than our Sun and, at 350 million years old, much younger as well. Vega has a disc of dust circling it, and at least one large planet which could sweep debris aside allowing smaller worlds like Earth to exist."}, {"response": 691, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Dec  4, 2003 (14:51)", "body": "Here, or Mike's Gaia toopic. His is dedicated to ionospheric things and electromagnetic phenomena. In a day or two, more CME ionization should reach us. Aurora watch!"}, {"response": 692, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Dec  4, 2003 (14:52)", "body": "I did hear about the Vega system - on Art Bell's program, no less."}, {"response": 693, "author": "aa9il", "date": "Thu, Dec  4, 2003 (17:33)", "body": "Vega was also the signal source area from 'Contact' Also, the source for the Chevy Vega... ;) de Mike"}, {"response": 694, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Dec  4, 2003 (19:02)", "body": "Wow, Mike. That's right about the movie. Jodie Foster went to the Vegan system. Or did she?"}, {"response": 695, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Dec 16, 2003 (15:55)", "body": "Black holes are raining down on Earth and exploding! http://uk.news.yahoo.com/031204/12/eg99n.html Are mini black holes raining down through the Earth's atmosphere? It is possible, says a team of physicists. They think this could explain mysterious observations from mountain-top experiments over the past 30 years. Ordinary black holes form when stars explode at the end of their lives. The heavy stellar core can collapse into a superdense \"singularity\" whose gravity is so strong that nothing - not even light - can escape. If some of physicists' favourite theories about extra dimensions are correct, it would also be possible for high-energy cosmic-ray particles from space to create black holes when they collide with molecules in the Earth's atmosphere ( New Scientist print edition, 29 September 2001). These black holes would be invisibly small, with a mass of only 10 micrograms or so. And they would be so unstable that they would explode in a burst of particles within around a billion-billion-billionth of a second."}, {"response": 696, "author": "pmnh", "date": "Wed, Dec 17, 2003 (22:14)", "body": "a superdense \"singularity\" whose gravity is so strong that nothing - not even light - can escape finally, an explanation for bill o'reilly"}, {"response": 697, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Dec 18, 2003 (07:25)", "body": "That's good Nick. That's good."}, {"response": 698, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Dec 20, 2003 (11:55)", "body": "The Euro Mars Mission will land Christmas Day: http://www.esa.int/export/SPECIALS/Mars_Express/index.html The lander sports \"a pair of stereo cameras, a microscope, two types of spectrometer (Mossbauer and X-ray) and a torch to illuminate surfaces. The PAW also houses the corer/grinder and 'the mole', two instruments for collecting rock and soil samples for analysis.\" The NASA rovers will land Jan 3 and Jan 24: http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mer"}, {"response": 699, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Dec 22, 2003 (19:36)", "body": "Christmas Sunset Look west as night falls on Dec. 25th for a lovely pairing of brilliant Venus and the crescent moon. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2003/09dec_sunset.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 700, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Dec 22, 2003 (19:40)", "body": "Thanks for the story on Mars landing. I deleted mine by accident!"}, {"response": 701, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Dec 22, 2003 (19:41)", "body": "This one makes me slightly ill since we had such bad weather Dixieland Auroras On Nov. 20, 2003, a modest solar explosion sparked bright auroras in some unusual places. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2003/05dec_dixieland.htm?list89800"}, {"response": 702, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Dec 23, 2003 (23:56)", "body": "The latest from NASA's Earth Observatory (23 December 2003) * Weighing Earth's Water from Space http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/WeighingWater/ Launched in 2002, a pair of identical satellites that make up NASA's Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment (GRACE) are tackling the problem in an unexpected way: they are weighing Earth's fresh water from space. Serving as a sort of \"divining rod\" in space that moves in response to a powerful, fundamental force of nature--gravity--the satellites respond to changes in Earth's gravitation field that signal shifts in the movement of water a cross and under Earth's surface * Latest Images: Soot and Global Warming http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=16404 Landslides in the Philippines http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=16403 Lake Titicaca http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=16400 Waimea Canyon, Kaua\u2018i http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=16399 Waiting for More Rain in South Africa http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=16397 Igua\u00e7u Falls and Itap\u00fa Reservoir http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=16396 Tropical Cyclone Hits East Coast of India http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=16395 Dust Storm over Texas http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=16394"}, {"response": 703, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Dec 26, 2003 (13:22)", "body": "Scheduled times for listening-out by the US orbiter Odyssey and the UK ground station at Jodrell Bank over the next couple of days (GMT is eight hours ahead of Pacific Standard Time, and the Odyssey times don't include transmitting and processing lags): 26th Dec 17:33:49 -18:53:49 GMT Odyssey 23:00:00 - 00:20:00 GMT Jodrell Bank Observatory (UK) 27th Dec 06:17:46 - 07:37:46 GMT Odyssey 22:56:00 - 00:16:00 GMT Jodrell Bank Observatory (UK) Excerpted from: http://www.beagle2.com/landing/timeline.htm"}, {"response": 704, "author": "bush2004com", "date": "Mon, Dec 29, 2003 (11:34)", "body": "In a move that may or may not help them wake up the Mars lander but will definitely cause cat-person vs. dog-person tension throughout the space-interested world, the Brits have put together a \"Tiger\" team to work on waking up the Beagle 2. No signals from the lander during Odyssey fly-overs again Sunday, and hopes continue to be fixed on next weekend's arrival of the European orbiter in its listening orbit. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3352521.stm"}, {"response": 705, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Dec 29, 2003 (13:18)", "body": "Where it landed. The lander may be shadowed by this crater. It can't power up yet."}, {"response": 706, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Dec 31, 2003 (12:37)", "body": "http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3359273.stm Beagle to begin 'frequent calls' If Beagle is alive, it will call more frequently British-built Mars probe Beagle 2 is due to switch into a communications mode on Wednesday that increases the chances of contact being made with it. If Beagle is intact on the Martian surface, it will automatically begin \"calling\" Earth more frequently. Two further attempts were made on Tuesday to contact Beagle with the Mars Odyssey craft in orbit around the Red Planet, but with no positive result."}, {"response": 707, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Jan  4, 2004 (16:41)", "body": "A traveling robotic geologist from NASA has landed on Mars and returned stunning images of the area around its landing site in Gusev Crater. Mars Exploration Rover Spirit successfully sent a radio signal after the spacecraft had bounced and rolled for several minutes following its initial impact at 11:35 p.m. EST (8:35 p.m. Pacific Standard Time) on January 3. \"This is a big night for NASA,\" said NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe. \"We're back. I am very, very proud of this team, and we're on Mars.\" Members of the mission's flight team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., cheered and clapped when they learned that NASA's Deep Space Network had received a post-landing signal from Spirit. The cheering resumed about three hours later when the rover transmitted its first images to Earth, relaying them through NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter. \"We've got many steps to go before this mission is over, but we've retired a lot of risk with this landing,\" said JPL's Pete Theisinger, project manager for the Mars Exploration Rover Project. Deputy project manager for the rovers, JPL's Richard Cook, said, \"We're certainly looking forward to Opportunity landing three weeks from now.\" Opportunity is Spirit's twin rover, headed for the opposite side of Mars. Dr. Charles Elachi, JPL director, said, \"To achieve this mission, we have assembled the best team of young women and men this country can put together. Essential work was done by other NASA centers and by our industrial and academic partners. Spirit stopped rolling with its base petal down, though that favorable position could change as airbags deflate, said JPL's Rob Manning, development manager for the rover's descent through Mars' atmosphere and landing on the surface. NASA chose Spirit's landing site, within Gusev Crater, based on evidence from Mars orbiters that this crater may have held a lake long ago. A long, deep valley, apparently carved by ancient flows of water, leads into Gusev. The crater itself is basin the size of Connecticut created by an asteroid or comet impact early in Mars' history. Spirit's task is to spend the next three months exploring for clues in rocks and soil about whether the past environment at this part of Mars was ever watery and suitable to sustain life. Spirit traveled 487 million kilometers (302.6 million) miles to reach Mars after its launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., on June 10, 2003. Its twin, Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity, was launched July 7, 2003, and is on course for a landing on the opposite side of Mars on Jan. 25 (Universal Time and EST; 9:05 p.m. on Jan. 24, PST). The flight team expects to spend more than a week directing Spirit through a series of steps in unfolding, standing up and other preparations necessary before the rover rolls off of its lander platform to get its wheels onto the ground. Meanwhile, Spirit's cameras and a mineral-identifying infrared instrument will begin examining the surrounding terrain. That information will help engineers and scientists decide which direction to send the rover first. JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology, manages the Mars Exploration Rover project for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington. Additional information about the project is available from JPL at: http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov and from Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., at: http://athena.cornell.edu . ### Guy Webster (818) 354-6278 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. JPL Newsroom (818) 354-5011 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. NEWS RELEASE: 2004-003 http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/newsroom/pressreleases/20040104a.html"}, {"response": 708, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Jan  9, 2004 (14:07)", "body": "JPL engineers played Bob Marley's \"Get Up, Stand Up\" in the control room as they watched new images confirming that the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit successfully stood up on its lander late Thursday night Pacific time, a major step in preparing for egress. This image from the rover's front hazard avoidance camera shows the rover in the final stage of its stand-up process. The two wheels on the bottom right and left are locked into position, along with the suspension system. The martian landscape is in the background."}, {"response": 709, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Jan 14, 2004 (17:25)", "body": "http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/mgs_mpf_viking_040107.html Orbiter Photographs Viking 1 and Pathfinder Landers on Mars' Surface"}, {"response": 710, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Jan 19, 2004 (16:24)", "body": "Mars terrain in 3d http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA05095 Get your 3D glasses: https://www.stereoscopy.com/reel3d/anaglyph-glasses.html"}, {"response": 711, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jan 23, 2004 (20:24)", "body": "gwb, welcome. (I like your sympathies!) There is a setup at the University of Louisville science center to view the latest downloads and accompanying 3-D glasses."}, {"response": 712, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Jan 26, 2004 (15:20)", "body": "Spirit rover overloaded with files http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2004/01/26/mars_rovers040126 Too many data files may have led to the crippling of NASA's Spirit rover last week, the U.S. space agency said Monday. Engineers weren't aware the hundreds of the data files would lead to a major technical difficulty for Spirit. Since Jan. 22, the Mars robot has been unable to send scientific data and images. Now that NASA is aware of the limit, the files will be deleted from Spirit and engineers will take care not to run into the same problem on its twin, Opportunity, said Jennifer Trosper, mission manager for operations on Mars' surface. Problem solved? NASA scientists are giddy! I found out the Mars day is just about an hour longer than the earth day. And some folks are downloading \"Mars clocks\"."}, {"response": 713, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Feb 10, 2004 (20:53)", "body": "*grin* yes, how to confuse the already time-handicapped! Just one planet away and so close to our own time. This does not bode well unless you distinguish that only on Mars is that clock useful!"}, {"response": 714, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Mar 10, 2004 (07:50)", "body": "Hubble finds farthest galaxies http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/03/09/hubble.farthest/ Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) unveiled the deepest look into the universe yet, a portrait of what could be the most distant galaxies ever seen. The new image, called the Hubble Ultra Deep Field (HUDF), includes objects that until now have been too faint to be seen and includes ancient galaxies that emerged just 700 million years after the Big Bang theory from what astronomers call the \"Dark Ages\" of the universe."}, {"response": 715, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Mar 19, 2004 (13:57)", "body": "I truly hope we do not abandon the Hubble before it is exhausted. Amazing discoveries. Thanks, Terry!"}, {"response": 716, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Mar 19, 2004 (14:25)", "body": "Scientist attacks alien claims on Mars By Robert Roy Britt SPACE.com Thursday, March 18, 2004 Posted: 5:25 PM EST (2225 GMT) Richard Hoagland claims that NASA refuses to acknowledge evidence of alien \"artifacts\" on Mars. SPACE.COM: War of words to debunk aliens (SPACE.com) -- Astronomer Philip Plait is tired of radio personality Richard Hoagland's claims. He's had enough of Hoagland's assertions that NASA is covering up evidence of extraterrestrial life, that the infamous Face on Mars was built by sentient aliens and, of late, that otherworldly machine parts are embedded in the Red Planet's dirt. And then there's the mile-long translucent martian worm. On Hoagland's Web site, there are several images from various space probes said to possibly show evidence for ETs. Recent Mars rover photos include not just rocks, Hoagland and other contributors maintain, but common objects that might tell of an alien civilization -- a bowl, a stove, a piston. more http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/03/17/alien.debunk/"}, {"response": 717, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Mar 19, 2004 (14:27)", "body": "Since 1983, Hoagland said he has led \"an outside scientific team in a critically acclaimed independent analysis of possible intelligently-designed artifacts\" on other worlds, using spacecraft data from NASA and other missions. Plait, author of \"Bad Astronomy\" (Wiley & Sons, 2002), which debunks space myths and common factual misconceptions, had for years not countered Hoagland directly, because he did not want to give a man he calls a \"pseudoscientist\" the \"air time that he so desperately seeks.\" But last week Plait took his intellectual gloves off. http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/03/17/alien.debunk/"}, {"response": 718, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Mar 22, 2004 (10:41)", "body": "http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/03/22/1079939580572.html Microsoft Corp co-founder Paul Allen has donated 13.5 million to help fund the search for extraterrestrial life. news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 76, "subject": "Geo in the News", "response_count": 155, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Sep 15, 2000 (13:54)", "body": "This is a good report on the fuel protests here. Most garages remain closed today, the odd one or two that have managed to obtain petrol run out very fast and are supplying only essential services with police monitoring. Supermarket shelves are emptying .... Think of Hannah trying to get home today by public transport from the depths of the Cotswolds. We will take her back to the accountancy college on Sunday a pubic transport of likely to be very limited then. (Maggie, thanks again!) Visit original page at LineOne: http://www.lineone.net/cgi-bin/loadcontent.pl?page=/cgi-bin/drecgi/express/00/09/15/news/n0620-d.html WE DID IT: Protesters claiming victory despite oil tankers leaving a plant in Jarrow, Tyne and Wear, yesterday A disaster Blair should have seen as it thundered closer BY PATRICK O'FLYNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT WHEN Transport Minister Gus MacDonald was pressed last Friday about disquiet over fuel prices, he felt able to offer a light-hearted response. Although farmers and truckers had blockaded an oil refinery in Cheshire the night before, he was confident that would prove a temporary aberration. Challenged about the possibility of Britain following the French example, he dismissed the idea, joking that \"dump the pump\" day in August had received a \"very British response\". But \"dump the pump\" flopped because it tried to cut the insatiable demand for petrol. This week campaigners had the much more potent idea of cutting the supply. Fewer than 2,000 protesters were needed to blockade a few dozen key installations and bring Britain to a halt. The protesters found key groups were on their side. Oil company bosses did not seem keen to force tanker drivers to cross relatively token picket lines. The tanker drivers - many of them former hauliers - were largely in agreement with the protesters. Police, too, seemed unwilling to impose themselves on demonstrators who were often given free rein to obstruct refinery gates. Most importantly, the public overwhelmingly backed the protest. While individual motorists had been apathetic towards \"dump the pump\" in August, here was a dramatic demonstration that they could actually contribute towards by embracing the pump and buying fuel. The public have seen little evidence of either violence or intimidation on the picket lines and the mild September weather has reduced their need for fuel. To many the lack of petrol has simply provided an excuse for a day off work. But another, more political force was also at work. Last week did not show Tony Blair's administration in its best light. The downfall of Mo Mowlam brought tales of poisonous egos. The Dome fiasco was a cause of public fury. Lumbered with a pathetic official opposition, perhaps the public was in the mood to teach Blair a lesson itself. Although the fuel crisis came close to disaster, it hasn't done so yet. We are near the edge of the cliff but there are signs the demonstrators are cute enough not to throw us on to the rocks below. In the meantime, many people have enjoyed the spectacle of the Prime Minister squirming. It is a lesson from the governed to the Government. So why did petrol spark this uprising? One reason successive Governments have piled duty on petrol is that they believed it was a relatively invisible way of raising revenue. High fuel duties also have the virtue of taxing pollution rather than work. But this ignores the fact that for millions of Britons, driving remains the only practical way of getting around. Throw in crude oil price rises and soaring insurance premiums - in part due to another stealth tax - and it is easy to understand why \"Mondeo man\" has reached the end of his tether. Since 1996 the price of petrol has soared 48 per cent. Yet ministers assumed motorists would continue to tolerate being treated as cash cows. By Monday night, Mr Blair was on the case. Four days after news of the first blockade, emergency powers had been invoked. In Whitehall, that is a lightning response. Shockingly, it was not fast enough. Modern businesses do not tie up working capital in stock. They have developed delivery systems which get goods to the shelves \"just in time\". Normally this cuts out waste. But it leaves retailers hugely vulnerable. In part, ministers failed to pick up on rising resentment as they are insulated from ordinary life. All week they are zoomed around in chauffeur-driven cars. At weekends they have free flights and train tickets to get to constituencies. For those who drive, a generous mileage rate more than covers the cost. So when the barricades went up they were as non-plussed as Marie Antoinette in the French Revolution. So much to learn and so little time. Countdown to a trauma that kept growing each day FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 8: Farmers and lorry drivers set up blockades at Stanlow, in Cheshire, and Hemel Hempstead, in Herts. Truckers brought the A1M to a standstill near Newcastle. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 9: The Daily Express says in a front-page report: \"Demonstrators "}, {"response": 2, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Sat, Sep 16, 2000 (13:07)", "body": "Saturday September 16 11:29 AM ET European Fuel Protests Wane, Britain Recovers http://dailynews.yahoo.com/htx/nm/20000916/wl/energy_europe_dc_28.html By Clifford Coonan BERLIN (Reuters) - The wave of fuel price anger sweeping through Europe slowed Saturday but sporadic protests continued in Germany and Sweden. Swedish demonstrators blocked a ferry terminal and more disruptive action was planned for Monday in Norway. In Britain, fuel-starved motorists laid siege to petrol pumps as supplies started trickling back to filling stations after a week of paralyzing protests. Businesses across Europe counted the cost of a week of chaos which caused huge traffic disruption and badly shook several governments. Britain's Institute of Directors said UK companies could face a $1.41 billion bill, with hotel, manufacturing and transport businesses particularly hard hit by lost output and lay-offs. British Prime Minister Tony Blair refused to bow to demands for a cut in fuel taxes but a newspaper poll Saturday showed widespread criticism of his handling of the crisis. German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has been similarly steadfast and his Social Democratic Party reiterated its plans to raise energy taxes. Saturday's protests in Germany focused on Schroeder's home town of Hanover, where some 150 trucks rumbled through the streets in a giant convoy, police reported. Truckers also staged a symbolic motorway go-slow near Ulm in the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg. Interior Minister Otto Schily warned Saturday he would have no hesitation in deploying police if the situation should escalate. The Swedish protests centered on the western port of Helsingborg which runs ferries to the Danish port of Helsingor (Elsinore), north of Copenhagen, and is one of the main links between Sweden and the rest of Europe. Heidi Bodensjo, a spokeswoman for the blockade, said the protesters were letting through trucks carrying perishable food or medicine, private cars and tourist buses, but were waving other trucks to one side. Taking Stock In Ireland, where thousands of lorries clogged major roads around five cities Friday, truckers met to consider their next step. They said they wanted more talks with the government but did not plan to continue their protests. Dutch truckers were due to meet government officials after big protests in The Hague. Finance Minister Gerrit Zalm, preparing next week's 2001 budget, said the government representatives would ``not come empty-handed,'' ANP news agency said Friday. France and Italy have made concessions on fuel prices to stop the protests. But British Chancellor (Finance Minister) Gordon Brown reiterated his rejection Saturday of any knee-jerk cut in fuel duties in response to the protests and said the public backed him. However he said the government, which has set up a task force to avoid a repeat of the protests, was listening and would take a decision on fuel duties in the normal budget process. Brown also repeated his call for more pressure on OPEC oil exporters to open their taps and bring down the price of world oil, which has soared to over $30 a barrel."}, {"response": 3, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Mon, Sep 18, 2000 (09:35)", "body": "Cross post this elsewhere Marcia, if you think it fits better.... From Tony .... Areas of Britain threatened by environmental problems Sunday Times, Sept 17 Pollution, flooding and subsidence are blighting millions of homes. Sarah Toyne explains how to tell if you are affected Is your home on environment blacklist? Dampener: the Environment Agency says that today's extreme floods could become tomorrow's norm A HOME on the river bank or by the sea may sound idyllic, but global warming is threatening many such properties with flooding. Millions of homes in Britain are being blighted by this and other environmental problems. Finding out whether your home is at risk from flood or wind damage, is built on a polluted site, or lies in an area of high radon levels is becoming as important as checking whether the structure of the property is sound. Owners of blighted homes are finding it increasingly difficult to obtain insurance. They may also have to pay to clean up pollution and even their health may be jeopardised. However, the internet is making it easier than ever to check the environmental status of your home, and most surveyors should be able to commission a specialist search on your behalf. If you buy a home now without checking, it may be difficult to sell in the future when such surveys become a routine part of buying a house. Last week the Environment Agency held its second annual Flood Action week. More than 5m people are now affected by the risk of flooding and 1.85m business and residential properties are blighted. Sir John Harman, chairman of the Environment Agency, says: \"Flood risk is now a fact of life. Looking at recent history, floods are on average nearly twice as frequent as they were 100 years ago. \"A typical flood that may now happen on average once in 100 years could occur as frequently as every 10 or 20 years in future. In short, today's extreme floods could become tomorrow's norm.\" The agency has written to 800,000 of the worst-affected homes and businesses. It has also set up Floodline (0845 9881188) where those affected can get advice on how to protect their homes. Alternatively, anyone online can visit its website at www.environment-agency.gov.uk/flood and get practical information. One of the big problems, according to the agency, is that only 5% of the 1.85m properties that are at risk are adequately protected - many are either not insured or under-insured. According to the Association of British Insurers (ABI), the average claim for flood damage is \ufffd6,000. It admits that people living in high-risk flood areas are likely to pay higher premiums. However, many may have problems obtaining cover at all as most insurers have bought sophisticated flood-risk data.The Environment Agency is calling on insurers to offer lower premiums to prudent homeowners who take precautions against flooding. It says that people who take steps such as moving electricity and gas meters upstairs, or mount electrical equipment such as televisions high on the wall should be rewarded. It also believes insurance companies should provide a flood-only insurance option for homeowners, particularly those on low incomes who cannot afford comprehensive cover. But flooding is just one of the many hazards that can affect your house price as well as your health and insurance premiums. There are 166,500 homes in Britain within a mile and a half of sites that are releasing substances that may cause cancer. More than 300 factories are releasing substances such as carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds, mercury and particulates. Changes in legislation now mean that by law you must be told if your property is built on contaminated land. But for any other environmental risks it will depend on how thorough solicitors or surveyors have been when they did their searches. If you live on contaminated land, you may be liable for the costs of cleaning up the problem if the original polluter cannot be found. One of the most harmful chemicals is radon, the second biggest cause of lung cancer in Britain. Some of the worst affected areas are in Plymouth, Swansea and Northampton (see map). However, in simple cases the problem can be solved by installing extractor fans in your home. One in 50 properties suffers subsidence problems. There are almost 8,000 postcodes in Britain that are at risk from subsidence, with 295 at a very high risk. Areas with the largest potential number of homes with a high risk from subsidence include parts of Guildford, Southend-on-Sea, Preston and east London. Southend is also an area with a large proportion of homes at risk from landslides. Parts of Cardiff, Canterbury and Bristol have the same problem. CONTACTS www.abi.org www.environmentagency.gov.uk/flood www.fish4homes.co.uk www.homecheck.co.uk www.homesight.co.uk www.upmystreet.com"}, {"response": 4, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Mon, Sep 18, 2000 (09:37)", "body": "How to do your own environmental check in Britain The good news is that it is now much easier for homebuyers to carry out their own environmental checks. Homecheck (www.homecheck.co.uk) collates information about environmental hazards, such as air pollution, subsidence and proximity to landfill sites. By simply inputting your postcode into the website, you can find out for free what the environmental risks are in your area. It will then rate your property according to a whole range of hazards. The site is proving popular - it has registered 2m searches since it was launched three months ago. Brendan Doyle, chief executive of Homecheck, says: \"Most housebuyers look at 10 properties but commission surveys on one. People can not only assess risks before they commit themselves to a contract but obtain a range of data, which may not be included in conventional searches.\" By Christmas, Homecheck will offer an e-mail alert service that will notify you of new hazards, such as planning applications or landfill sites. Anyone concerned about radon should contact the National Radiological Protection Board on 0800 614529 to arrange an assessment and advice about how to fix the problem."}, {"response": 5, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Sep 18, 2000 (22:14)", "body": "Wow!!! Maggie...great stuff right here!!! Mucho Mahalos for those scary posts!!!"}, {"response": 6, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Sep 22, 2000 (21:25)", "body": "Maggie sent this wondering where to post it. I wonder about it, too... Satellite technology is being used to assess the prevalence of a parasitic worm which could prove a threat to life. A research team, based at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, used images taken from space to work out exactly which parts of a large tract of Africa were most likely to be harbouring the worm, called Loa Loa. Although human infestation by Loa Loa, or eyeworm, can cause health problems, the satellite mapping was needed because the creature is impeding efforts to eradicate a separate illness, called river blindness. more... http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/health/newsid_936000/936163.stm"}, {"response": 7, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Sep 22, 2000 (21:28)", "body": "DISCOVERY DISPATCH FOR 9/22/2000 ----------------------------------------------------------- ================ IN THE SPOTLIGHT ================ BLACK DEATH! It came in the 14th century, with unspeakable horror. By the time it left, it had taken a third of the known world with it. How did it start ... and why didn't it kill everyone? http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=1&c=79142&pr=445&cf=1&pa=41&e=S You're at the Salem Witch Trials It's 1692 in Salem, Mass., and the slightest accusation of witchcraft could get you hanged or crushed under massive rocks. Enter a world of fear and madness the likes of which the world has never seen. http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=2&c=79142&pr=445&cf=1&pa=41&e=S The Day the Sky Went Dark On Palm Sunday in 1935 farmland turned to desert, as the Dust Bowl was born. http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=3&c=79142&pr=445&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Terror at the Olympics Palestinian terrorists in 1972. An unknown bomber in 1996. Brutality played out on the world's largest stage. Find out what's being done to make sure that Sydney isn't added to that horrible roll call. http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=4&c=79142&pr=445&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Bring the \"Extreme Australia\" Video Home Learn all about Australia \"Discovery\" style; you'll be introduced to the creatures and geologic oddities unique to this remarkable continent. Explore the delicate beauty of the Great Barrier Reef and much, much more. Pre-order your copy today at the Discovery Store. http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=5&c=79142&pr=445&cf=1&pa=41&e=S HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED ... Why traffic stops for no apparent reason? http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=1&c=79149&pr=445&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Why Teflon sticks to the pan? http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=2&c=79149&pr=445&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Why some people can roll their tongue and some can't? http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=3&c=79149&pr=445&cf=1&pa=41&e=S How they test sunscreen? http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=4&c=79149&pr=445&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Why the water in your toilet twirls clockwise? http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=5&c=79149&pr=445&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Where fruit flies come from? http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=6&c=79149&pr=445&cf=1&pa=41&e=S How the \"evil eye\" got started? http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=7&c=79149&pr=445&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Why sneezes come in bunches? http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=8&c=79149&pr=445&cf=1&pa=41&e=S ============= MAIN FEATURES ============= WHY DIDN'T I HEAR ABOUT THIS BEFORE? It really happened, but you probably never heard about it. Get the story behind the airplane that crashed into the Empire State Building, and the mayor who climbed 79 flights of stairs to see it. http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=1&c=79154&pr=445&cf=1&pa=41&e=S White House or Animal House? If you think that politics is a tough business today, take a look at the slings and slurs of 19th-century elections, and Andrew Jackson's particular way of opening up the White House to the common folk. http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=2&c=79154&pr=445&cf=1&pa=41&e=S It Came From Hollywood! Their job is to deceive us and make us love it. Get the secrets behind some of the greatest movie special effects ever, then watch Buster Keaton's classic film, \"The General,\" in its entirety. http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=3&c=79154&pr=445&cf=1&pa=41&e=S http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=4&c=79154&pr=445&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Fractal Music: The Sound of Chaos Catch a preview of the music that your kids just may use to drive you crazy, then find out about the pioneers you can blame from your asylum. http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=5&c=79154&pr=445&cf=1&pa=41&e=S PLAY OUR NEWEST GAMES It's Not Your Mom's Solitaire It may have been your very first computer experience, but wait until you see what Discovery.com has done with Solitaire, the game that used to be just a great way to kill time. http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=1&c=79332&pr=445&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Can You Give Us the Missing Link? What historical figure linked presidential candidate Alf Landon with dancing legend Bill \"Bojangles\" Robinson? http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=2&c=79332&pr=445&cf=1&pa=41&e=S The Appraiser's Corner Is your fortune gathering dust in the attic? Is Aunt Edna's Robert E. Lee brooch really just a cheap trinket? Our online appraiser will give it to you straight. http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=3&c=79332&pr=445&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Wanted: Mother Nature's Assistant Let's say the old girl is cutting back on her work day, and she's looking for someone who can take up the slack. See i"}, {"response": 8, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Sat, Sep 23, 2000 (04:22)", "body": "Good grief!!! now I'm brain dead after looking at that lot!!!! The banners on Discovery channel are a pain when you only have a small laptop screen (and mine is 15\") ...."}, {"response": 9, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Sat, Sep 23, 2000 (07:00)", "body": "Couldn't decide where to put this, so put it here, cross post Marcia if I got it wrong ... Saturday, 23 September, 2000, 10:16 GMT 11:16 UK African dust 'killing Caribbean coral' Bacteria in the African dust damages the Sea Fan coral http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_938000/938670.stm By Iain Haddow in Miami , Researchers in the United States say they suspect dust clouds which originate in North Africa could be to blame for a decline in the coral reefs in the Caribbean. A team of scientists based in Florida found that bacteria contained in the dust was responsible for a sharp drop in one type of coral found in the region. Global warming and pollution have long been thought to cause damage. Many factors are thought to be behind the gradual decline in coral reefs - the fragile underwater ecosystems which exist in warm-water coastal areas around the world. But drought in Africa is not traditionally one of them. That is until a team of researchers, led by Gene Shinn of the United States Geological Survey, began looking into the large dust clouds blown across the Atlantic Ocean from North Africa every year. Bacteria They have linked bacteria present in the dust to a sharp decline in a coral called the sea fan. One drop coincided with a year of extreme drought in the Sahel, which caused a large increase in the amount of dust arriving in the Caribbean. Hundreds of millions of tonnes of the dust particles are carried over the ocean every year, and Mr Shinn says the US space agency Nasa is now investigating to see whether the dust is causing respiratory problems in the Caribbean islands. \"We've learned that there's a high incidence of asthma in the Caribbean, especially among children,\" Mr Shinn said. \"That's the thrust of the Nasa-funded work - it's to see what's in the dust, to see if it could be causing some of the problems,\" he added. Mr Shinn says the findings could change the way scientists look at coral reef systems. Until now, global warming and pollution were considered to be mainly responsible for the world's shrinking coral reefs. But just as acid rain was eventually shown to cause deforestation across whole continents, the dust particles in Africa could prove to be much more harmful than previously thought"}, {"response": 10, "author": "CherylB", "date": "Sat, Sep 23, 2000 (11:26)", "body": "A reef off Jamaica which is now considered pretty much dead, was said to have been doing well back in the 1970's. That wasn't that long ago, and entire coral reef killed in less that 30 years."}, {"response": 11, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Sat, Sep 23, 2000 (11:41)", "body": "yes, it's SO sad to see. Coral which is living is so beautiful, and an amazing sight (although I have ever only seen it on TV I'm afraid), whilst patches of dead coral deaden the heart. It is not only the death of the coral but the reeflife that it supports that is of concern."}, {"response": 12, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Sep 25, 2000 (02:21)", "body": "We have thriving coral! I will give it your regards and so on as it slices my foot open (I do my snorkeling wearing old sneakers.) Just as the reef-eating starfish attracted attention and alarm several years ago, it was discovered that it was cyclical and it has not been an issue for years. Africa is not a new continent and the grit it has blown in the westerly direction is as old as the earth itself. I think it might be cyclical, as well, unless the people and animals have denuded the place so severely that nothing will ever hold the soil in place again. In that case, adaption will take over and new forms of life will replace what was there."}, {"response": 13, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Mon, Sep 25, 2000 (03:46)", "body": "Yes, the denuding of West Africa in particular is a current concern ....desertification is creeping south at an alarming rate. I'm not convinced the 'problem' described above is cyclic as far as the African dust is concerned. As desertification increases, the dust storms have also increased which I think, in my ignorance, means that airborne and seaborn dust increases. Huge tracts of land in Northern Senegal for example are now deserts and infertile. The govt has acted to try and stem the loss of trees, but as there is very little other fuel, people will collect what they can in order to cook and survive."}, {"response": 14, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Sep 25, 2000 (14:02)", "body": "This is going to pose a question no one wants to discuss, but someone must. You have been there, so I am asking you and all others who have opinions The USA and other countries have been saving the starving of Africa since I can remember. I never stops. If we have succeeded in saving the children from starvation, they will mature and have more children which will exacerbate the problem. Ok, gang... moral dilemma. What do we do and where does it stop?!"}, {"response": 15, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Sep 25, 2000 (21:56)", "body": "well, no offense to our fellow africaans-but the US needs to feed its own children. and i know that sounds cruel. but, believe it or not, we do have a starvation issue in this country. it just doesn't get the publicity our \"international causes\" do. i don't understand how we can send so much food abroad when our farmers lose their crops because of severe weather. where does it come from? and then, how do people in saudi and the middle east survive when they are desertified as well? we know that they have desalienation plants and they are making efforts to take the desert back. this does cost lots of money. but it's worth it."}, {"response": 16, "author": "CherylB", "date": "Tue, Sep 26, 2000 (18:15)", "body": "It is a very difficult issue to address. As Wolf noted there is a problem with malnutrition and hunger within the United States. The problem with international issues of starvation is that it is often exacerbated by other causes; sometimes even the outcome and/or device of something else. The famous famine in Ethiopa in the 1980's was part of policy of attrition carried out within the framework of that country's civil war. I honestly don't know what can be done or when it will stop. The Earth does contain finite resources; it can only maintain a limited amount of all lifeforms, both plant and animal. There is a limit on how much population the Earth can sustain."}, {"response": 17, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Sep 28, 2000 (02:18)", "body": "Indeed! One day, God willing, someone will have learned a lesson from our misuse of our resources. And... breeding ourselves into oblivion!"}, {"response": 18, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Sep 29, 2000 (00:32)", "body": "This from Maggie - could fit anywhere, as she pointed out! Thursday September 28 12:28 AM ET Antarctic Study Paves Way for Search for Martians LONDON (Reuters) - Experiments in Mars-like areas in Antarctica could provide clues about how best to search for signs of life on the inhospitable red planet, U.S. scientists said on Wednesday. Scientists from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) found that mysteriously high salt concentrations in the exposed soils of Antarctica's Dry Valleys -- areas perennially devoid of snow and ice cover -- were due to sulfur-emitting marine algae. In a discovery important for Martian exploration, the scientists also found that digging more deeply into the soil of the Dry Valleys yielded higher concentrations of biologically produced sulfates. This might be because these sulfates migrate down through the soil, the scientists said in the science journal Nature. ``What this tells us is that when we go to Mars to retrieve soil samples, we're going to have to go below the surface to retrieve samples, because these sulfates may migrate,'' Mark Thiemens, dean of UCSD's division of physical sciences, said in a statement. ``By studying the soil of the Dry Valleys, you really have a good glimpse of what can happen on Mars. The conditions of the Dry Valleys are about as close as you're going to get to the conditions on Mars,'' he added. A spokesman for the National Science Foundation, which part funded the UCSD study, said the research would prove invaluable. ``It is very important in helping us to design experiments for spacecraft that may one day visit other planets,'' said Scott Borg, who manages the NSF's Antarctic geology and geophysics program."}, {"response": 19, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Sep 29, 2000 (14:15)", "body": "DISCOVERY DISPATCH FOR 9/29/2000 ----------------------------------------------------------- ================ IN THE SPOTLIGHT ================ MUMMIES THAT SHOCKED THE WORLD! Over a thousand years old, these mummies should have decayed long ago. So, why didn't they? And what can they tell us about our ancient past? http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=1&c=84280&pr=491&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Meet a Mummy Face to Face Now researchers can put a face on the ancient Egyptians and see how they looked before they were mummies. http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=2&c=84280&pr=491&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Bring a Piece of Egypt into Your Home Did you know the linen used to wrap one ancient Egyptian mummy could stretch almost an entire mile? While we can't offer you an original, the Discovery Store has something to satisfy any Egyptophile, from unique statues to replica artifacts. http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=3&c=84280&pr=491&cf=1&pa=41&e=S HUBBLE'S GREATEST PHOTOS Our first glimpses of the distant universe have not disappointed. Check out our gallery of the galaxy, and beyond. http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=1&c=84317&pr=491&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Life on Mars? Attention, Earthlings. Does evidence of liquid prove that there was Martian life? We have the latest thinking, and while you're here, why not take our quiz to see how much you really know about the Red Planet? http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=2&c=84317&pr=491&cf=1&pa=41&e=S http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=3&c=84317&pr=491&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Who Owns the Moon? Despite the disappointing lack of cheese, the moon is full of resources that we could use. The question is: Who has the rights to profit from the moon? http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=4&c=84317&pr=491&cf=1&pa=41&e=S ============= MAIN FEATURES ============= STREAMING VIDEO SHOWCASE Live From the Civil War? What if the War Between the States were televised? Check out our interviews with Union and Confederate soldiers, and witness the bizarre demise of Stonewall Jackson. http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=1&c=84320&pr=491&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Sleep With the Fishes Actually, it's not quite THAT relaxing. Now you can hang out with sharks at the top of the ocean food chain, without fear of losing your life or your limbs. http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=3&c=84320&pr=491&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Your Date with a Gorilla No appointment necessary. Drop by whenever you can and spend a little time with the gorillas from a Boston Zoo. But be careful, you may fall in love with the big lugs. http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=4&c=84320&pr=491&cf=1&pa=41&e=S What's Up at the Airport? Go live to Boston's Logan Airport to see take-offs and landings all day long. http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=5&c=84320&pr=491&cf=1&pa=41&e=S CROSSWORDS: YOU CHOOSE THE THEME! Is today a dinosaur day or a dating day? Would you prefer to tease your brain with lizards or facts about London? Test your word power and worldly knowledge all at once with our themed crossword puzzles. http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=1&c=84326&pr=491&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Put \"Anagram Solver\" to Work Not sure if you're up to the challenge of scrambled words? We specialize in bringing order to chaos and confusion. Find the solution to any anagram here. http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=2&c=84326&pr=491&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Words to the Wise: Start Scramblin\ufffd Got a way with words? Then play Scramblin'. The challenge is to scramble the letters of one word to make as many new words as you can! http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=3&c=84326&pr=491&cf=1&pa=41&e=S NEW LIVE CAMS Baby Cam http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=1&c=84328&pr=491&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Hippo Cam http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=2&c=84328&pr=491&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Kodiak Bear Cam http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=3&c=84328&pr=491&cf=1&pa=41&e=S SPIDERS: A TRUE ADVENTURE Spiders Down Under Australia may be a modern, hospitable place if you're an Olympic athlete, but if you're searching for new spider species in the Outback, things can get a little sticky. http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=1&c=84462&pr=491&cf=1&pa=41&e=S See Our Gallery of the Coolest Spiders! http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=2&c=84462&pr=491&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Watch Eco-Challenge Any Time You Want You saw the thrilling, suspenseful action on Discovery Channel, now take home the video that captures it all! Competitors penetrate dense forests, navigate wild rapids, kayak a glacial fjord and climb a 12,000-foot summit mantled by ancient glaciers, all while braving the intense Patagonia terrain and weather. Visit the Discovery Store to order your copy today. http://ww9.lf"}, {"response": 20, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Fri, Sep 29, 2000 (19:20)", "body": "Whew!!! this is so much stuff my head's spinning .. Will look later when it is not 12.30 am and I am so tired ... Good stuff! HUGS"}, {"response": 21, "author": "CherylB", "date": "Mon, Oct  2, 2000 (14:36)", "body": "If you're going to ever physically hang out with the gorillas, you should make sure that you're in good health. Gorillas can catch just about any diseases humans carry."}, {"response": 22, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Oct  6, 2000 (22:12)", "body": "This isn't really Geo but trather of world importance. I have seen the Enigma Machine and it is a world treasure, Indeed! Museum to Pay Ransom for Nazi Decoder LONDON (Reuters) - A former British spy center said on Thursday it plans to pay a ransom of 25,000 pounds ($36,300) to recover a stolen Enigma coding machine used by the Nazis. The author of the ransom note, who claims to be acting on behalf of someone who innocently bought the rare typewriter-like device, has threatened to destroy the Enigma unless the money is paid by midnight on Friday. ``It strikes us that this is the best chance of getting it back,'' Christine Large, director of the trust that runs the once top-secret Bletchley Park estate as a museum, told Reuters. ``It would be historical vandalism if this machine is destroyed.'' Police and Bletchley Park officials believe the note is genuine because the author, who has written other letters about the Enigma, used a designated codeword. Police hope the author will contact them directly to arrange details of the swap. The Enigma, one of only three in the world, was lifted from a display cabinet in April during an open day at the estate northwest of London -- code-named ``Station X'' during World War Two -- where the Nazi code was broken."}, {"response": 23, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Oct 20, 2000 (20:06)", "body": "DISCOVERY DISPATCH FOR 10/20/2000 ----------------------------------------------------------- ================ IN THE SPOTLIGHT ================ HALLOWEEN CENTRAL: YOUR FEARS ARE REAL You don't need fictional characters to get into the Halloween spirit. We have true stories of witches, bats, mummies and more, guaranteed to scare your socks off. (Disclaimer: Remove shoes for best sock extraction results.) http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=1&c=97642&pr=658&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Make Your Halloween Special! Create your own costume, carve a pumpkin or check out our frighteningly delicious recipes from \"Great Chefs\". http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=2&c=97642&pr=658&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Confessions of a Chocolate Gourmet Meet Joan Steuer, who is to chocolate what a somalier is to fine wine (but without the attitude). She may be able to shed some light on why you can't seem to leave your Halloween candy alone. http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=3&c=97642&pr=658&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Check Out a Goblin Shark They're rarely seen, but with a name like this, how could we leave these creatures out of our Halloween fun? http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=4&c=97642&pr=658&cf=1&pa=41&e=S FREE Clip Art! There are enough things to be afraid of at this time of year without fear of that big report due or Halloween card you promised to make. Use our FREE animations and clip art to spice up your presentation. http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=5&c=97642&pr=658&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Bring the Greatest Dinosaur Video Home! It's the ultimate journey back in time! State-of-the-art digital effects and animatronics combine to form the living, breathing images that put you in the scene of a virtual lost world in Discovery Channel's \"Walking with Dinosaurs.\" Visit the Discovery Store and secure your own copy of the original BBC version today! http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=6&c=97642&pr=658&cf=1&pa=41&e=S ARE YOU BEING SPIED ON? Inside the CIA Created as a reaction to the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, the Central Intelligence Agency is more secretive than Tony Soprano's psychiatrist. Until now, that is. Follow the organization's timeline and get a rare glimpse at its inner workings. http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=1&c=97643&pr=658&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Want to Buy a Satellite Photo? What is your neighbor building behind that fence? You just may be able to find out from space, now that a private company is in the long-range surveillance business. http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=2&c=97643&pr=658&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Could That Housefly Be a Spy? The science of building small is called nanotechnology, and it may lead to espionage methods that James Bond could only have dreamed about. http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=3&c=97643&pr=658&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Cyberspies Some of those on your trail have good intentions and some do not. Either way, anyone on the Internet should be aware of the ways a Web surfer can be tracked and traced. http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=4&c=97643&pr=658&cf=1&pa=41&e=S ============= MAIN FEATURES ============= GREAT ESCAPES TO FREEDOM From slavery to the Iron Curtain, there are always forces that seek to corral the human spirit. Prepare to be inspired by stories of men's and women's incredible instinct for freedom. http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=1&c=97648&pr=658&cf=1&pa=41&e=S GET INTERACTIVE ... DEFEAT THE BERLIN WALL Hundreds of people defied intimidating odds to escape East Berlin between 1961 and 1989. To get an idea of what they were up against, try our simulation and see if you can beat the Wall. http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=1&c=97666&pr=658&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Can You Solve the Riddle of the Sphinx? Answer the Sphinx's three riddles and you're on your way. (And we never thought we'd say this, but if you're stuck you can always get a hint from the donkey.) http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=2&c=97666&pr=658&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Watch a Baby Grow! You went through it yourself, of course, but your womb memories are probably fuzzy at best. So here's your chance to relive those carefree days when Mom took care of your every need. http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=3&c=97666&pr=658&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Build a Roller Coaster We've come up with a relatively harmless way to vent that sadistic streak in all of us. See if you can create a terrifying roller coaster experience! http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=4&c=97666&pr=658&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Planet Earth: You're in Charge Turn the temperature up or down. Tilt the axis or adjust the rotation. Then see what your fine tuning has wrought! http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=5&c=97666&pr=658&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Play Mummy Match Game They're faces that only a mummy "}, {"response": 24, "author": "MarkG", "date": "Wed, Oct 25, 2000 (08:29)", "body": "Further to the Enigma Machine story above, the machine was returned anonymously to a famous TV presenter last week, presumably implying that the ransom has been paid. Jeremy Paxman said: \"I have no idea why it was sent to me. As far as I know, I don't have a reputation as a receiver of stolen property.\" 3 of the 4 code-wheels (all of which are crucial to make the machine work) are still missing."}, {"response": 25, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Oct 25, 2000 (14:14)", "body": "Oh dear! Thanks for updating us, Mark!"}, {"response": 26, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Oct 27, 2000 (16:28)", "body": "DISCOVERY DISPATCH FOR 10/27/2000 ----------------------------------------------------------- ================ IN THE SPOTLIGHT ================ SEND FREE HALLOWEEN E-CARDS! Nothing says \"I'm thinking of you\" like a good, old-fashioned scare. http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=1&c=101486&pr=727&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Go on a Haunted Holiday We all have our share of vacation horror stories. Well, take a look at a few destinations that are MEANT to be scary. http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=2&c=101486&pr=727&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Bloodsuckers: The Live Webcast A moth that drinks blood? A vampire finch? Check them out on Discovery Channel's \"Bloodsuckers,\" Sunday at 9 p.m. ET/PT, then stop by here for the live Webcast with folks you saw on the show. http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=3&c=101486&pr=727&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Kangaroo Terrorizes London Golfers and early morning dog-walkers have been losing that famous British cool at the sight of a six-foot marsupial intruder. http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=4&c=101486&pr=727&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Chill Out! Enough of the scary stuff. Now you need to kick back a little. Find a wide selection of relaxation products at the Discovery Store. From fountains and zen gardens to yoga and chi videos, you're sure to find that perfect gift ... or treat yourself! http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=5&c=101486&pr=727&cf=1&pa=41&e=S DISCOVERY KIDS WELCOMES YUCKY.COM! The coolest kids site on the Internet is here. Meet Wendell, the ace worm reporter, and Dora, his human sidekick, and discover everything you'd ever wanted to know about your Gross & Cool Body. Play Whack-A-Roach until you're blue in the face, or create some of the ickiest experiments that'll make your friends' skin crawl! http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=1&c=101488&pr=727&cf=1&pa=41&e=S ============= MAIN FEATURES ============= MARS ON EARTH: WATCH THE VIDEO Earthlings are not yet treading on the Red Planet, but that doesn't mean we're not training for that day. http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=1&c=101491&pr=727&cf=1&pa=41&e=S The International Space Station: Move-In Day Is Near No, they weren't uncovering the furniture and cleaning out the screen windows. Find out what they were doing up there this past week. http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=2&c=101491&pr=727&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Space Camera Finds Frog Habitats In Yellowstone National Park, the frogs may be wondering just what you have to do to get a little privacy. http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=3&c=101491&pr=727&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Take the Space Travel Quiz From Kirk to Krypton, science fiction has offered us a glimpse at the future in space. See how much you know about the sci-fi trivia. http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=4&c=101491&pr=727&cf=1&pa=41&e=S SpaceRef: All Space, All the Time News, references, history, mission information. If it's about space, it's about time you visited the one place you'll find it all. http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=5&c=101491&pr=727&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Hubble's Greatest Photos Our first glimpses of the distant universe have not disappointed. Check out our gallery of the galaxy, and beyond. http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=6&c=101491&pr=727&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Now You're the Astronomer New Meade ETX 60 telescope arrives at the Discovery Store! This new Meade telescope incorporates ETX technology with a great price. Ideal for the introductory student of astronomy or for the casual observer, be sure to check it out today! http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=7&c=101491&pr=727&cf=1&pa=41&e=S BECOME INSTANTLY POPULAR! Nicholas Boothman believes that being likeable, when you first meet someone, opens doors to success. And he can show you how to accomplish that in 90 seconds. http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=1&c=101499&pr=727&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Secrets of a Professional Matchmaker Maybe you've dabbled in Leora Hoffman's profession, but we'll bet your success rate can't match hers. http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=2&c=101499&pr=727&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Raising Teens, Staying Sane These are no longer mutually exclusive activities. Let Cathy Grubman's journal get you through to the later years, when your children realize just how smart you really are. http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=3&c=101499&pr=727&cf=1&pa=41&e=S CAN YOU TRUST PRESIDENTIAL POLLS? George W. Bush is way ahead with shorter-than-average blond plumbers. Al Gore soars with green-eyed accountants whose parents were cannibals. Can pronouncements like these actually change the outcome of an election? http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=1&c=101501&pr=727&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Send Your Wedding Cam Sightings Picture Have you seen an incredible Vegas wed"}, {"response": 27, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Nov  1, 2000 (20:35)", "body": "Clinton Declares NJ Disaster Area WASHINGTON (AP) - President Clinton declared Wednesday that an emergency exists in New Jersey and ordered federal aid to supplement state and local recovery efforts in the area affected by the West Nile virus since Aug. 5. The president's action authorizes the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide up to $5 million to local governments to help protect life, property and public health and safety in 21 counties. The counties covered by the declaration are: Atlantic, Bergen, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Essex, Gloucester, Hudson, Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Salem, Somerset, Sussex, Union and Warren. The virus, transmitted to humans by mosquitoes, has been detected in birds in states, including Maryland, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Pennsylvania. It can cause encephalitis, or swelling of the brain, as well as meningitis, the swelling of the lining of the brain and spinal cord. Last year, seven people died and 55 others were infected in the New York metropolitan area during the first known appearance of the virus in the Western Hemisphere. Its first victim this year was an 82-year-old from New Jersey."}, {"response": 28, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Nov  3, 2000 (15:16)", "body": "DISCOVERY DISPATCH FOR 11/3/2000 ----------------------------------------------------------- ================ IN THE SPOTLIGHT ================ TOUR EARTH'S FIRST OFF-WORLD OUTPOST Meet the astronauts or hop on our virtual tour of humanity's first permanently occupied space station. And find out what it's like up there by going on an interactive spacewalk. http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=1&c=105692&pr=785&cf=1&pa=41&e=S http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=2&c=105692&pr=785&cf=1&pa=41&e=S http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=3&c=105692&pr=785&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Satellite Eyes Coral Reefs NASA isn't just for space exploration any more. Now it's helping monitor coral reefs on a global scale. http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=4&c=105692&pr=785&cf=1&pa=41&e=S MEANWHILE, DISASTERS HIT PLANET EARTH Keep track of nature's wrath on the home world, like the Ebola outbreak in Uganda and a monster storm raging over Europe. And what could it mean when seagulls are harrassing whales off the coast of Argentina? http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=1&c=105730&pr=785&cf=1&pa=41&e=S http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=2&c=105730&pr=785&cf=1&pa=41&e=S http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=3&c=105730&pr=785&cf=1&pa=41&e=S http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=4&c=105730&pr=785&cf=1&pa=41&e=S ============= MAIN FEATURES ============= USS INDIANAPOLIS CAPTAIN IS CLEARED It took 55 years, but Congress and President Clinton have found that Charles Butler McVay III was not at fault in the Navy's worst-ever maritime disaster. Get the full story of men stranded in shark-infested waters, that was made famous in the movie \"Jaws,\" including survival stories from the actual crewmen. http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=1&c=105740&pr=785&cf=1&pa=41&e=S http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=2&c=105740&pr=785&cf=1&pa=41&e=S http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=3&c=105740&pr=785&cf=1&pa=41&e=S IT'S HERE! OUR NEW RICH MEDIA SHOWCASE The promise of the Internet is here today. If your connection is 56K or above, visit the Rich Media Showcase for a peek at what the future holds. What will you find there? A helicopter flight over Hawaii that YOU steer, a chance to swim with the sharks, and scientists' best guess at what dinosaurs sounded like, to name just a few. http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=1&c=105749&pr=785&cf=1&pa=41&e=S http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=2&c=105749&pr=785&cf=1&pa=41&e=S http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=3&c=105749&pr=785&cf=1&pa=41&e=S http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=4&c=105749&pr=785&cf=1&pa=41&e=S CHECK OUT BLAIR WITCH'S HOMETOWN Burkittsville, Md., had quite a history even before it became THE place to visit for The Blair Witch Project's biggest fans. Find out what you shouldn't miss if you go there, then see how you do with our Scary City Crossword Puzzle. (And if you're still spooked by that movie, there's a recent finding of an anti-witch device to tell you about.) http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=1&c=105759&pr=785&cf=1&pa=41&e=S http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=2&c=105759&pr=785&cf=1&pa=41&e=S http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=3&c=105759&pr=785&cf=1&pa=41&e=S WHAT HAPPENED TO DIAN FOSSEY'S GORILLA FRIENDS? Many believed that after her death the apes would once again fall victim to poachers. Instead, they're thriving. Check out streaming video of one of Fossey's pals grabbing a bite to eat, and a family that definitely believes in playing together. And don't miss the live Webcast with the folks carrying on Dian Fossey's legacy, this Monday at 11 p.m. ET. http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=1&c=105803&pr=785&cf=1&pa=41&e=S http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=2&c=105803&pr=785&cf=1&pa=41&e=S http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=3&c=105803&pr=785&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Do Birds Dream? Would it surprise you to learn that they dream of ... singing? http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=4&c=105803&pr=785&cf=1&pa=41&e=S WHAT'S REALLY GOING ON IN THIS PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION? First, we ask you to tell us which of the two leading candidates you prefer, then we'll fill you in on how they're both going after women voters, show you how they may be molding themselves to be who you want them to be, and finally, let you in on ways you can get over the political blues that overwhelm many of us at this time of year. http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=1&c=105805&pr=785&cf=1&pa=41&e=S http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=2&c=105805&pr=785&cf=1&pa=41&e=S http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=3&c=105805&pr=785&cf=1&pa=41&e=S h"}, {"response": 29, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Nov 10, 2000 (19:56)", "body": "DISCOVERY DISPATCH FOR 11/10/2000 ----------------------------------------------------------- ================ IN THE SPOTLIGHT ================ IT'S THE NEW DISCOVERY CHANNEL ADVENTURE RACE! Follow the grueling competition live from New Zealand starting Sunday, but you can meet the 58 teams now, and find out how they plan to race for days without sleep. http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=1&c=109845&pr=857&cf=1&pa=41&e=S http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=2&c=109845&pr=857&cf=1&pa=41&e=S http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=3&c=109845&pr=857&cf=1&pa=41&e=S MEN OF HONOR: WIN A MOVIE POSTER! In honor, so to speak, of the movie \"Men of Honor,\" we'll give away 10 posters signed by Carl Brashear, the diver portrayed by Cuba Gooding Jr. in the movie. Uncover the true story behind the movie. You can watch a video narrated by Carl Brashear, the subject of the film, and find out how the Mark V diving suit really works. http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=1&c=109846&pr=857&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Does Hollywood Ever Get It Right? Dramatic license can turn a \"true\" story into something unrecognizable to people in the know. Take a look at some cinematic fibs and flubs, then give us YOUR best examples. http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=2&c=109846&pr=857&cf=1&pa=41&e=S The Great Moon Hoax, at History Buff! Check out the scam that fooled a New York newspaper, then see how the phrase \"that's old news\" is a good thing for those who feel the allure of vintage newspapers. http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=3&c=109846&pr=857&cf=1&pa=41&e=S ASK AN ASTRONAUT Do you have a question for space station astronauts? Well, here's your chance. Submit your question online, and, if selected, you'll find the answers the night of the world premiere of Inside the Space Station on Discovery Channel, Sunday, Dec. 10, at 9 p.m. ET/PT. While you're there, let us know what you would bring to the space station, by taking our Discovery Channel/USA Weekend poll. http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=1&c=109855&pr=857&cf=1&pa=41&e=S http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=2&c=109855&pr=857&cf=1&pa=41&e=S ============= MAIN FEATURES ============= SNEAK PREVIEW: NEW DETECTIVES/FBI FILES ONLINE Get a jump on the new site for \"The New Detectives\" and \"FBI Files\" before anyone else! (Nonsubscribers will have to wait until Monday.) And while you're checking out the online package, email a question to forensic artist Karen Taylor, featured in \"The New Detectives: Cold Cases\" airing on Tuesday, Nov. 14, at 9 p.m. ET/PT. Then look for her answers starting on Wednesday! http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=1&c=109864&pr=857&cf=1&pa=41&e=S GO TO SPY SCHOOL Meet the masters of deception, tour a secret spy museum and learn the tricks of their treacherous trade. http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=1&c=109998&pr=857&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Products to Explore Your World Be sure to stop by the Discovery Store to check out our new look. We've made it easier than ever for you to pursue your passions with over 2,500 products to choose from. With 3-4 day standard shipping, 24/7 customer service, online order status and a host of other great features, the Discovery Store will be your one-stop shop this holiday season! http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=2&c=109998&pr=857&cf=1&pa=41&e=S SEX AND STEREOTYPES Are men necessarily more oriented to the physical? Do women need an emotional bond? Much of what you thought was genetic may be the result of our social structures. http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=1&c=109999&pr=857&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Dealing With Bullies Many of us lost our lunch money, and more than a little self-esteem, to bigger, more aggressive children at school. What should you tell your sons or daughters who are confronted with that situation today? http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=2&c=109999&pr=857&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Is Your Food Genetically Modified? Labeling is not required in the United States, so can you really be sure that what you're eating doesn't come from the scientist as well as the farmer? http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=3&c=109999&pr=857&cf=1&pa=41&e=S 15 MINUTES OF FAME CAM Live from the Discovery Channel store in Santa Monica, Calif. ... regular folks are mugging it up for your Internet pleasure! http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=1&c=110031&pr=857&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Surf Cam Vacation vicariously as sun worshippers frolic on the beach in La Jolla, Calif. http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=2&c=110031&pr=857&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Pet Cam It's cute kittens and cuddly puppies ... and no cleaning up after them! http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=3&c=110031&pr=857&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Loosen Up at the Discovery Store! Find a wide selec"}, {"response": 30, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Nov 13, 2000 (18:21)", "body": "Hauoli Na Hanau, Neil White tuberose mixed with orange ilima blossoms. Very fragrant. ...keep looking... where there are more babes than rocks..."}, {"response": 31, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Nov 15, 2000 (17:21)", "body": "Ant-Eating Flies May Rescue South WASHINGTON (AP) - A tiny Brazilian fly whose larvae literally eat the heads off of fire ants will be unleashed across the South under a government program to control the vicious ants that are a spreading menace to homeowners, farmers and wildlife. The Agriculture Department, which claims the gnat-like phorid fly is of no danger to anybody or anything other than fire ants, announced plans Wednesday to release hundreds of thousands of them in the South and possibly in California, where the ants have now spread. ``It is a self-sustaining biocontrol,'' said Richard Brenner, who leads a USDA research team in Florida. ``Twelve sites per state could blanket the state within five years.'' Fire ants can make life miserable for homeowners and gardeners and cause billions of dollars in damage every year to air conditioners, electrical equipment and farms, experts say. The ants can blind and even kill livestock and wildlife, and the sting is occasionally fatal to humans. The ants, which are native to South America, have no natural enemies in the United States. Chemical treatments are only effective temporarily. ``Anything that will take care of these fire ants will be fine with me, as long as it doesn't hurt anything else or the environment,'' said Kym Bell, a Cottondale, Ala., woman whose 5-year-old daughter missed several days of kindergarten this fall because of repeated ant bites on her school playground. The stings left welts the size of a half dollar on her skin. The phorid fly helps keep the ants under control in Brazil and Argentina, where infestation levels are far lower than they are in the United States. The flies hover over ant mounds before darting down and injecting a torpedo-like egg into the ants. After one of the eggs hatches, the maggot decapitates the ant by eating the brain and other contents of the head. The maggot later turns into a fly and the cycle is repeated. The flies don't kill enough of the ants to destroy colonies, but they do cause enough panic to keep the ants in check, Brenner said. The ants, which have an innate fear of the flies, stop foraging and flee when they spot them, giving native ants a chance to move back into the territory. Some scientists are skeptical that there are enough native ants in the South to compete with the fire ants. The natives have either been poisoned by humans or driven away by fire ants. ``You've got to have a really good competing ant population for the phorid flies to have an effect,'' said Brad Vinson, an entomologist at Texas A&M University. Scientists also are studying other biological enemies of the fire ant, including a microorganism and a parasitic ant. The Agriculture Department started studying the flies in 1993 to see if they could harm anything other than fire ants. Nothing other than the fire ants would attract them, including animal dung or human waste, so the government is confident they will be completely safe for the environment, Brenner said. The flies were released at four sites near Gainesville, Fla., three years ago and now have spread to 700 square miles. USDA scientists are now studying the area to see how the flies have affected ant populations. As part of the federal project, Florida's agriculture department will begin mass-rearing the flies next spring and will ship them to field sites in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. The project will cost USDA about $100,000. Discussions also are under way about releasing the flies in California, where parts of the Los Angeles area are under a federal quarantine intended to keep the ants from spreading. ---= On the Net: USDA's Agricultural Research Service: http://www.ars.usda.gov Texas A&M University fire-ant site: http://fireant.tamu.edu"}, {"response": 32, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Nov 23, 2000 (22:14)", "body": "From The Honolulu Star-Bulletin - November 23, 2000 More than a century after the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy and more than 40 years since statehood, an agent for the acting Hawaiian kingdom plans to defend the nation next month in oral hearings set before an international court at The Hague, Netherlands. The World Court\ufffds Permanent Court of Arbitration will hold an initial round of oral arguments on Dec. 7, 8, 11 and 12 to decide whether the United States should be involved when three international arbitrators resolve a dispute between Lance P. Larsen, a Big Island resident and proclaimed Hawaiian subject, and the acting Hawaiian Kingdom, represented by agent David Keanu Sai. While the outcome has no legal bearing beyond the case, Sai said the arguments will raise international attention on the United States\ufffd role in the demise of the Hawaiian nation. Sai, a former Army captain, believes the kingdom still exists but is under a prolonged U.S. occupation following what he called the \ufffdfailed revolution\ufffd of January 1893. \ufffdWe\ufffdre not asking to end the occupation now,\ufffd he said. \ufffdWe\ufffdre treating the occupation as a matter of fact...But the question will always arise, why isn\ufffdt the United States involved?\ufffd Larsen\ufffds attorney, Ninia Parks, could not be reached for comment today afternoon. Larsen was arrested and spent 30 days in jail in October 1999 for driving his car in Hilo without a license, license plate, safety check and registration. He believes old kingdom law still applies under a U.S.-occupied Hawaiian nation and that his rights were violated. He filed a federal lawsuit that accused both the kingdom and the U.S. of not protecting him as a Hawaiian subject. U.S. Senior District Judge Samuel P. King dismissed the complaint last Oct. 29 after Larsen and the kingdom agreed to seek binding arbitration in the World Court. The court receives funding from dozens of nations, including the U.S., that endorse its system for resolving disputes. The international proceedings began in November 1999 and there have been three rounds of pleadings filed. Sai said today the parties will ask the court to determine the relationship between a Hawaiian subject and an acting government of the Hawaiian kingdom. \ufffdThe court will either say they have the jurisdiction to hear the case between the government and a national, or they\ufffdll say they don\ufffdt have jurisdiction because the United States has to be involved,\ufffd Sai said. \ufffdEither way, it\ufffds good. See, now we go to the next step to get America involved,\ufffd he said. Sai said kingdom records show Hawaii was recognized as an independent nation in 1843 and under international law, one country cannot colonize another country. Moreover, the U.S. should have governed Hawaii under kingdom law, not U.S. law, after its occupation began in 1893, he said. This same argument was used by Sai as co-founder and researcher of the now-defunct Perfect Title Co., which based land titles on 19th century kingdom law. \ufffdThe nationals in Europe, they understand occupation because Germany was not too far away. America, Hawaii, they have no idea what occupation law means,\ufffd he said."}, {"response": 33, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Dec  2, 2000 (15:51)", "body": "Shades of Karen's Chicago Cows: The Antler, My Friend, Is Blowing In The Wind ... They\ufffd re making the moosed of their Christmas collection at Nathan Phillips Square. That\ufffds where the process of auctioning off the city\ufffds moose collection has begun. It\ufffds called the \ufffd12 Moose Of Christmas\ufffd, and proceeds from the sale are going to be \ufffdherd\ufffd far and wide \ufffd they\ufffdre going to the United Way. Oddly, none of the moose are on the loose \ufffd they\ufffdre in a secret hiding place, getting spiffed up for the bidders. To get your hands on one, all you need is a love of antlers, and a mouse in your house. That\ufffds because they\ufffdre being auctioned off on e-bay.ca. \ufffdThe bidding will start at a dollar,\ufffd explains the site\ufffds Lorna Borenstein. \ufffdNot only can you bid on any moose, you can bid on all of them if you like. It would be great if we were able to raise close to $100,000.\ufffd But don\ufffdt moose your opportunity. The auction is only online until the 10th of December."}, {"response": 34, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec  8, 2000 (15:14)", "body": "DISCOVERY DISPATCH FOR 12/8/2000 ----------------------------------------------------------- ================ IN THE SPOTLIGHT ================ YOUR LIFE ON THE SPACE STATION Get ready for Sunday's \"Watch With the World\" event on Discovery Channel by touring our first outpost in space, going for a virtual stroll outside the station or creating an animation of your own alien world. http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=1&c=124145&pr=1066&cf=1&pa=41&e=S CHAT WITH A NASA ASTRONAUT AFTER THE SHOW It starts at 10:15 p.m. ET, and International Space Station astronaut Dan Bursch will answer your questions live. Don't miss the chance to talk with one of Earth's first off-world residents. http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=1&c=124147&pr=1066&cf=1&pa=41&e=S ============= MAIN FEATURES ============= MR. AND MRS. PANDA GO TO WASHINGTON Groundbreaking symbols of international cooperation, or just black and white and cute all over? The newest residents of the National Zoo are America's latest celebrities. http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=1&c=124183&pr=1066&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Join in the Panda Fun and Games Check out the panda-themed crossword puzzle, then we dare you not to let out a big \"Aaaahhhhh,\" at the sight of newborn pandas. http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=2&c=124183&pr=1066&cf=1&pa=41&e=S http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=3&c=124183&pr=1066&cf=1&pa=41&e=S ASK THE MURDER INVESTIGATOR You asked forensic artist Karen T. Taylor about her part in catching killers, and her answers are in! And now you can email a question to forensic expert Deborah Hewitt, featured in \"The New Detectives: For Love or Money,\" airing on Tuesday, Dec. 12, at 9 p.m. ET/PT. Then look for her answers on Friday! http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=1&c=124185&pr=1066&cf=1&pa=41&e=S GET TO KNOW THE DISCOVERY FAMILY OF PERSONALITIES Steve Irwin IS the Crocodile Hunter No one knows wildlife like Steve, and once you've seen him you will never forget him. http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=1&c=124191&pr=1066&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Christopher Lowell and Behold! Drab surroundings make for drab people. But Christopher's crowd has wiped out drab with his one-of-a-kind \"You Can Do It\" attitude. http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=2&c=124191&pr=1066&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Lynette Jennings: The Chic Will Inherit the Earth Go behind the scenes with the queen of class and crafts, and don't forget to take her poll while you're there! http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=3&c=124191&pr=1066&cf=1&pa=41&e=S TO YOUR HEALTH, FROM DISCOVERY! Is Lasik Surgery for You? Should you say goodbye to glasses along with 750,000 other people this year? See for yourself the pros and cons of Lasik. http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=1&c=124194&pr=1066&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Help for Preemies on the Web Check on your premature infant from your home computer, and get information on how to care for your preemie at home. http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=2&c=124194&pr=1066&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Inside Alternative Medicine Magnets for depression. Herbs for pregnancy. Enzymes for cancer. The Discovery Health Channel uncovers the world of alternative medicine. http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=3&c=124194&pr=1066&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Curious Gifts for Curious Kids! Zip around on a razor scooter, pet the perfect teckno puppy, listen to the magic of finger beatz, spy around the neighborhood with nightime vision goggles ... hundreds of unique gift ideas for kids of all ages! Come to Discovery Store for cool kid gifts this holiday season! http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=4&c=124194&pr=1066&cf=1&pa=41&e=S ======================= INTERACTIVE MINDERS ======================= ***Send a Discovery E-Card*** http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=1&c=123943&pr=1066&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Wild California http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=2&c=123943&pr=1066&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Desert Mummies http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=3&c=123943&pr=1066&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Vintage Baseball Cards http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=4&c=123943&pr=1066&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Animals http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=5&c=123943&pr=1066&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Discovery http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=6&c=123943&pr=1066&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Lifestyles http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=7&c=123943&pr=1066&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Kids http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=8&c=123943&pr=1066&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Travel http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=9&c=123943&pr=1066&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Greetings http://ww9.lfmn.com/actv/sr2.asp?u=1002755137&v=6117&url=10&c=123943&pr=1066&cf=1&pa=41&e=S Travel Channel, Friday, \"Coney Island\" We'll take"}, {"response": 35, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Dec 11, 2000 (20:52)", "body": "The Twelve Days of Christmas, Hawaiian style: \"Numbah 12 day of Christmas, my tutu give to me, Twelve television. . . .\""}, {"response": 36, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Dec 12, 2000 (14:48)", "body": "Woman Killed by Crocodile After Night Swim JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - A South African woman was killed by a crocodile late Friday night while taking a romantic midnight swim, a local newspaper said Tuesday. The Star newspaper said the dismembered remains of 22-year-old Tracy Hunt were recovered by wildlife officers and police Sunday in Lake St. Lucia, 36 hours after her boyfriend reported the attack. The pair were having a romantic dip shortly before midnight Friday when Hunt screamed out in pain. Her boyfriend, Claudio Celestino, turned and saw Hunt disappear beneath the water. He also reported seeing a crocodile. They were swimming at the mouth of the lake where it meets the ocean, an area where sharks and crocodiles are often seen. Lake St. Lucia's waters are infested with crocodiles and hippopotamuses -- which kill more people than any other wild mammal in Africa. The lake has several signs warning visitors about the dangers."}, {"response": 37, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Dec 14, 2000 (16:06)", "body": "CALIFORNIA POWER CRISIS: December 14, 2000 Steady bleeding over the past six months has brought two of California's largest utilities near bankruptcy and created a crisis in confidence that nearly shut lights out Wednesday, officials said. Earlier in the week, about a dozen companies that generate and market power told the state's grid operators they would not sell electricity in California's spot market without cash or some other financial assurance from Pacific Gas & Electric and other buyers, according to Gov. Gray Davis' office. PG&E has been losing $1 million an hour, around the clock, to high wholesale electricity costs for which it has been unable to charge customers over the last six months. On Monday, its credit rating was downgraded for the second time in four months, along with Southern California Edison's, partly because state regulators have not acted on a PG&E request to raise rates. Unwilling to bank on the utilities' credit, power-producing companies threatened to withhold power, leading to the prospect that grid operators would be unable to get enough electricity to prevent rolling blackouts. Davis and others intervened into a statewide power crisis that is looking increasingly dire. Davis and U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said in a statement that high wholesale electricity prices \"may very well bankrupt\" PG&E and Edison. Davis and Feinstein added that without strong regulatory intervention, \"the lights throughout major areas of California may well go out.\" State regulators also announced Wednesday they would reconsider PG&E's plan to raise rates next month. Those developments, along with other moves by state and federal energy officials and politicians, were seen as good news by Lori R. Woodland, an analyst with Fitch Investors Service in Chicago, which downgraded the utilities' credit ratings Monday. Without state and federal intervention, \"solvency would have been an issue,\" Woodland said. \"What it says to me is that finally the people that matter are recognizing the problems and they are not willing to let these utilities fall apart,\" Woodland said. \"That's a good sign.\" Others were less optimistic. \"I haven't seen anything today that will address creditworthiness concerns,\" said Mark Palmer, a spokesman for Houston-based Enron Corp., which was among those companies listed by Davis as refusing to sell electricity in California without increased financial assurances. Palmer said his company sells relatively little power into the spot market that was affected Wednesday, but added, \"We may have had a conversation with them about creditworthiness.\" \"Compelling people to sell power, and trying to shift blame, doesn't do anything to solve California's problems,\" Palmer said. Before May, things were going along fine for PG&E. It was buying electricity for 3 cents or 4 cents a kilowatt-hour and selling it for a couple of pennies more. Then things spiraled out of control. The kilowatt-hour prices PG&E was paying were bumped up to 16.3 cents in May and hovered around that figure until last month. That is when prices skyrocketed again, so that over the past four weeks the utility has been paying an average of 27.9 cents for a kilowatt-hour. The problems for PG&E is that it is prevented, for now, from charging more than 5.5 cents per kilowatt-hour. The company is trying to lift that price cap, and it hopes to collect the $4.6 billion it has lost as of Nov. 30 to unreimbursable high wholesale costs from its 4.6 million customers in Northern and Central California. Although those figures average out to $1,000 per customer that PG&E hopes to collect for electricity that has already been used, residential customers would pay less than that because businesses use about two-thirds of the utility's electricity. PG&E spokesman Ron Low said the company continues to have the credit needed to buy power. Asked about the prospect of bankruptcy, Low said, \"That is not a question that we can answer. The financial institutions that lend us money will continue to do so as long as we are a prudent investment.\" Part of the rationale Fitch used in downgrading the utilities' credit ratings Monday was that state Public Utilities Commission President Loretta Lynch just last Thursday halted regulators' work on a plan by PG&E to raise rates in January."}, {"response": 38, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Dec 21, 2000 (00:52)", "body": "I BET YOU ALWAYS THOUGHT GREEN SNAKES WERE OK -- RIGHT? WELL, READ ON........ Green Garden Grass snakes can be dangerous, Yes, grass snakes, not rattlesnakes. A couple in Sweetwater, Texas had a lot of potted plants, and during a cold spell, the wife was bringing a lot of them indoors to protect them from a possible freeze. It turned out that alittle green garden grass snake was hidden in one of the plants and when it had warmed up, it slithered out and the wife saw it go under the sofa. She let out a very loud scream. The husband who was taking a shower ran out into the living room naked to see what the problem was. She told him there was a snake under the sofa. He got down on the floor on his hands and knees to look for it. About that time the family dog came and cold-nosed him in the butt. He thought the snake had bitten him and he fainted. His wife thought he had a heart attack, so she called an ambulance. The attendants rushed inand loaded him on the stretcher and started carrying him out. About that time the snake came out from under the sofa and the Emergency Medical Technician saw it and dropped his end of the stretcher. That's when the man broke his leg and why he is in the hospital. The wife still had the problem of the snake in the house, so she called on a neighbor man. He volunteered to capture the snake. He armed himself with a rolled-up newspaper and began poking under the couch. Soon he decided it was gone and told the woman, who sat down on the sofa in relief. But in relaxing, her hand dangled in between the cushions, where she felt the snake wriggling around. She screamed and fainted, the snake rushed back under the sofa, and the neighbor man, seeing her laying there passed out tried to use CPR to revive her. The neighbor's wife, who had just returned from shopping at the grocery store, saw her husband's mouth on the woman's mouth and slammed her husband in the back of the head with a bag of canned goods, knocking him out and cutting his scalp to a point where it needed stitches. An ambulance was again called and it was determined that the injury required hospitalization. The noise woke the woman from her dead faint and she saw her neighbor lying on the floor with his wife bending over him, so she assumed he had been bitten by the snake. She went to the kitchen, brought back a small bottle of whiskey, and began pouring it down the man's throat. By now the police had arrived. They saw the unconscious man, smelled the whiskey, and assumed that a drunken fight had occurred. They were about to arrest them all, when the two women tried to explain how it all happened over a little green snake. They called an ambulance, which took away the neighbor and his sobbing wife. Just then the little snake crawled out from under the couch, One of the policemen drew his gun and fired at it. He missed the snake and hit the leg of the end table that was on one side of the sofa. The table fell over and the lamp on it shattered and as the bulb broke, it started a fire in the drapes. The other policeman tried to beat out the flames and fell through the window into the yard on top of the family dog, who startled, jumped up and raced out into the street, where an oncoming car swerved to avoid it and smashed into the parked police car and set it on fire. Meanwhile the burning drapes had spread to the walls and the entire house was blazing. Neighbors had called the fire department and the arriving fire truck had started raising his ladder as they were halfway down the street. The rising ladder tore out the overhead wires and put out the electricity and disconnected the telephones in a ten-square city block area. Time passed. . . Both men were discharged from the hospital, The house was re-built, The police acquired a new car, and all was right with their world . . . Last night they were watching TV and the weatherman announced a cold snap for that night. The husband asked his wife if she thought they should bring in their plants for the night. She shot him dead."}, {"response": 39, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Dec 24, 2000 (23:11)", "body": "Templar Treasures Hidden on Baltic Sea Island? COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - The Holy Grail and the Ark of the Covenant may have been hidden by a secretive religious order of crusaders, the Knights Templar, on the Baltic Sea island of Bornholm some 830 years ago, according to a new book. The whereabouts of the grail and the ark -- legendary religious relics of immeasurable value to Christian and Jewish believers -- have intrigued historians and archaeologists for centuries and films about quests to locate them, notably the \"Indiana Jones\" series, have thrilled movie audiences worldwide. No one knows exactly what the relics actually are but the ark is believed a box-type container that held the stone tablets inscribed with the 10 commandments which Moses received from God on Mount Sinai. Legends differ about the Holy Grail but it is most widely thought to be the chalice which Jesus and his apostles drank from at last supper before he was crucified. Some scholars speculate that treasures amassed by the Knights Templar ended up in Rosslyn chapel in Scotland. Others have hinted at locations in Ethiopia, Spain and Canada. In a 194-page book \"The Templars' Secret Island,\" Denmark's Erling Haagensen and Henry Lincoln of Britain say medieval round churches were built at sites on Bornholm based on the sacred geometry used by the Knights Templar elsewhere in Europe, most famously at Rennes-le-Chateau in southern France. The book, studded with graphs, plots the churches' geometric layout with mathematical precision and the authors suggest the design may be a map to hidden treasures. The Danish archbishop Eskil visited Knights Templar Grand Master Bertrand de Blanchefort in France in 1162, nine years after the death of his predecessor Bernard of Clairvaux. The historically recorded purpose of Eskil's visit -- coming at a time when the Knights Templar may have feared becoming vulnerable because of the influential Bernard's demise -- was to prepare a crusade against pagans inhabiting the Baltic Sea's northeastern coast in what is today Estonia and Latvia. The book suggests that Knights Templar who joined the Baltic crusade built Bornholm's churches and may have taken the opportunity to stash some treasures there. \"The need for a secure hiding place would have been paramount...It would make sense to conceal whatever may have been the Order's treasures in more than one place. \"Better still to provide a hiding place which was remote and had no apparent connection with the Order. Bertrand's involvement in the planning for the Baltic Mission would have offered him the perfect opportunity. Bornholm...now becomes a trump card,\" says the book. \"It was small and easily controlled and protected. Above all, it was remote, unknown, unlikely to be disturbed, not big enough or rich enough to attract an errant warrior intent on carving out a kingdom,\" it continues. UNIQUE CHURCHES LASTING HERITAGE The European Templar Heritage Research Network (ETHRN), a non-profit making association of scholars not affiliated to any religious or political group, says it has been historically documented that the order of the Poor Knights of Christ and the Temple of Solomon -- the full name of the Knights Templar -- was founded by aristocrats from the French region of Burgundy early in the 12th century. The order's classic round churches founded on octagonal geometry, supposedly based on the design of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, are a lasting heritage of the Knights Templar era, the ETHRN says. Historical records and 20th century archaeological digs indicate that a group of Knights Templar were searching for something under Jerusalem's Temple Mount between 1118 and 1127. Haagensen and Lincoln say that on returning to France in 1127 the crusaders reported to Bernard of Clairvaux that their \"mission\" had been accomplished. A carving on a pillar at the cathedral in Chartres, France, suggests the mission had been to find the Ark of the Covenant. Legends say Mary Magdalen, to this day the village saint of Rennes-le-Chateau, and Joseph of Arimathea, who according to the Bible buried Jesus, took the Holy Grail to France. Evidence of the belief in this tale is found in historical records about the Nazis searching for the Holy Grail at Rennes-le-Chateau during World War Two. Backing up the theory that Knights Templar treasures may have been hidden on Bornholm, the book says ancestors of the noblemen who founded the order lived on this rocky 587 square km (226.7 square miles) island, now part of Denmark and home to some 45,000 people. BURGUNDIANS CAME FROM BORNHOLM The authors point to a find of nearly 3,000 tiny, intricately carved golden figures unearthed in a 1985-86 excavation of a Bornholm field as lending credibility to their claim of a Bornholm connection. The golden figures have been dated to AD 400-600 when the Merovingians -- a clan of Frankish kings who claimed to be, like Jesus, of the house and lineage of the Bible's King David -- were at"}, {"response": 40, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Dec 24, 2000 (23:42)", "body": "Shades of King Hemming of Denmark..."}, {"response": 41, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Dec 27, 2000 (22:51)", "body": "Baffling Explosions in the Sky SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian authorities were baffled by overnight reports of bright lights and booming noises in the sky which shook some houses and prompted fears of falling space junk or meteorites. Police said they received numerous reports of \"explosions in the sky, sonic boom-type noises and flare-type lights\" over a two hour period on Tuesday night from residents along a 124-mile stretch of the country's east coast. \"There was a huge bang which shook my house,\" one resident of Bateman's Bay, 175 miles south of Sydney, told Australian Broadcasting Corp radio. \"I thought the house next door had blown up.\" Police said they had contacted meteorology, air safety, emergency, and defense experts, but were unable to come up with any official reason. A number of small grass fires were also sparked around the nearby capital of Canberra. Australia's Deep Space Communications Complex said a small meteorite was the most likely explanation for the sightings."}, {"response": 42, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jan  5, 2001 (14:21)", "body": "Discovery Channel Online - January 5, 2001 IN THE SPOTLIGHT Next Stop ... Saturn! The Casini spacecraft got a little help from Jupiter on its way to the ringed planet. Search the Virtual Sky Point-and-click to celestial phenomena online, then see if you can find them in the real-life night sky. Go Inside the Space Station ... At Discovery Store! Be the first to explore the Space Station, it may be your future home. Check out this exciting video and other cool space products! E-mail this to a friend You Big Ape! We mean that in a GOOD way. Visit the gorillas in live streaming video at the Franklin Park Zoo in Boston. What Kind of Gorilla Would YOU make? At last, we can help you answer the question that any self-respecting human eventually confronts. E-mail this to a friend MAIN FEATURES Before There Were Pyramids ... \"Ancient\" is a relative term, as evidenced by new findings of artwork drawn by the ancestors of pyramid-builders about 6,000 years ago. What Was it Like to Live in Egypt? Walk in the sandals of an ancient Egyptian, or find out how to join an archeological dig there right now."}, {"response": 43, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jan 17, 2001 (17:09)", "body": "From: Governor's Office of Emergency Services SACRAMENTO-In response to the Cal ISO declaration of a Stage 3 Electrical Emergency issued today at 0145 thru 2400, the State OES has issued the following message to all California emergency services personnel. 'Critical Information Please notify Emergency Services Managers, Fire and Law Enforcement agencies: Emergency services personnel (Law-Enforcement, Fire, EMS, and Local Offices of Emergency Services) throughout California should be advised that the California Independent System Operator, the entity that coordinates statewide flow of electrical supply, did declare a Stage 3 Emergency effective today's date at 0145 thru 2400HRS. At this time PG&E is dropping firm load of 500 mega watts in Northern California (Rolling Black-outs). We do not have information on specific areas effected. All Law Enforcement, Fire, EMS, and Offices of Emergency Services management personnel should be notified of this message, as incoming call volumes and requests for assistance may increase during this time. Local energy suppliers may be able to provide more detailed information on potential or actual local impacts.'"}, {"response": 44, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Feb  4, 2001 (20:16)", "body": "Discovery Online IN THE SPOTLIGHT Do You Speak Dog? Scientists at the Moscow Zoo believe they have deciphered some sounds that wild dogs, known as \"dholes\" use to communicate with one another. E-mail this to a friend Human Cloning Is in the Works Since news about the creation of \"Dolly\" the sheep, many in the scientific community have believed that human cloning was inevitable. Now an organized effort has begun. Valentine Gifts For HER at Discovery Store! Pamper her with worldly gifts from Discovery Store this Valentine's Day. Select from an array of fountains, massage gift sets, beautiful jewelry, and even more unique gifts for her! A Perfect Valentine for HIM at Discovery Store! Intrigue him with unique gifts from Discovery Store. Select from a collection of aviator watches, telescopes, expedition apparel, his favorite videos, and more! E-mail this to a friend What Did You Look Like in the 70s? Did you wear bell bottoms when they were allegedly cool (for the first time)? Is there a mauve leisure suit hanging in your closet? Maybe an \"I'm With Stupid\" T-shirt? We're looking for photographs of the most neato 70s fashions, and personal stories from the people who wore them. So email your images and reminiscences, and we promise not to make fun of them (unless, perhaps, you were an actual member of The Village People). E-mail this to a friend MAIN FEATURES Did the Crocodile Hunter Really Do That? No one puts the \"wild\" in wildlife quite like the great Steve Irwin does! Now you can discuss his most perilous close encounters on the \"Dangerous Moments\" bulletin board. E-mail this to a friend Christopher Lowell Lovers Meet Here! Read Christopher's New Years message, find out how to make his room divider or check out where he'll be appearing next! E-mail this to a friend Probe the Criminal Mind Watch The New Detectives and The FBI Files, and you might help to solve a crime online. Or go \"through the lens\" to see the amazing microworld that crime-solvers see. New Discovery Channel Gulf War Video - Now Available at Discovery Store Get inside the critical decision-making and masterful military strategies that guided the Gulf War effort. Inside the Kill Box: Fighting the Gulf War video is now available. Fly through this and other new video releases from Discovery Store. E-mail this to a friend Planet Ocean: Where Most \"Earthlings\" Really Live Discover blue whales, barracudas and tubeworms that populate the strange world that covers most of the Earth. E-mail this to a friend Lost Vegas? Step away from the slots and see the Las Vegas that lives beyond the strip. E-mail this to a friend"}, {"response": 45, "author": "CherylB", "date": "Mon, Feb  5, 2001 (20:00)", "body": "About the Crocodile Hunter, someone at work said that he was going to out for six weeks of treatment for having recently been bitten by a crocodile. Is that true?"}, {"response": 46, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Feb  6, 2001 (20:18)", "body": "Have not heard that... will check and get back to you! Yikes! When he looks at the camera instead of the menace in front of him he drives me crazy. I am not a huge fan of his - much preferred Harry Butler!"}, {"response": 47, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Feb 12, 2001 (16:06)", "body": "The human genome, the book of life, will change the way scientists do research and revolutionize medicine by increasing knowledge about what makes us human. Already it is has shown that humans have far fewer genes, 30,000 to 40,000, and only about twice as many as a fly or worm. But many of them work very differently. It is a treasure chest of information that scientists have just opened and are only beginning to understand. But researchers are at odds about how the information should be made available. \"It really is a gift to the world,\" Dr. Mike Dexter, the director of the Wellcome Trust charity which contributed to the Human Genome Project, told a news conference. \"It should be available for all to use and to update and to fill in the extra details.\" The Human Genome Project, a publicly funded consortium of hundreds of scientists around the world, published their sequence of the human genome in the journal Nature. It is freely available on genome databases for use by all scientists. By contrast Celera Genomics Inc., the privately funded competing team, reported their work in the journal Science with restrictions on redistribution. RESTRICTING INFORMATION HAMPERS SCIENCE Scientists working on the Human Genome Project believe that restricting the use of information about the human genetic code will hamper medical research, particularly in the developing world. In the past two months, scientists have accessed information from the public genome database hundreds of thousands of times but data from Celera Genomics has been used by less than 50 subscribing organizations. Pay per view arrangements, so popular for major sporting events, are not right for the human genome, the scientists argue. \"By maintaining the principle of equal and free access to all we are helping to lessen the gap between the rich countries of the west and our colleagues in the poor parts of the world,\" Dexter added. Dr. John Sulston, the leader of the British effort to sequence the genome, said the information in the human genetic code is relevant to all people and must be used to benefit all. \"The human genome is internationally, publicly owned. That is what we are celebrating today. Freedom of information and freedom of access,\" said Sulston. \"It would have been criminal to prevent the access to this information.\" NOT HOLDING ANYTHING BACK Celera's Craig Venter defended his company's handling of the sequence and its publication in Science. He also denied that their information was being restricted. \"Our data is freely available to scientists anywhere,\" he told BBC radio. \"There are no restrictions on the discoveries or the patentability or the publication of it. What they (researchers) can't do is take our data and try to set up a business to redistribute it to compete with Celera, which paid for it using its own money.\" Sulston admitted that the Celera sequence is bigger, or has more information, but he added that half of data had come from the public domain. Without the publicly funded effort he said, \"not only would we have a privatized genome, we would have no genome at all.\""}, {"response": 48, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Feb 12, 2001 (16:12)", "body": "Junk DNA May Not Be Such Junk, Genome Studies Find WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The first in-depth look into the human genome shows it is much more complicated than the clear blueprint of how to make a human that scientists had hoped for. Instead of having DNA packed with tens of thousands of new genes that make people different from mice, fruit flies and worms, it seems we have relatively few genes -- just 30,000 or 40,000, researchers will announce later Monday. Earlier estimates had ranged from 60,000 to 100,000. The two separate teams of scientists, who say they were shocked and awed by their findings, say this means that genes may not be the be-all and end-all of what makes an organism. They know that each gene \"expresses\" or controls a protein. And they now know that the proteins must mix and match in ways more important than previously thought. But they also know they are going to have to go back and dig through the trash can of the genome -- the so-called \"junk DNA\" that many had believed played no important role at all. \"I call it the alleged junk,\" Eric Lander, head of genome sequencing at the Whitehead Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts, said in a telephone interview. \"The junk is amazing.\" LOOKING LONG AND HARD AT THE JUNK Lander, whose institute, part of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, played a large role in the publicly funded Human Genome Project, said researchers will be taking a long hard look at the junk. When the two efforts, public and private, announced the first step, the sequence of the human genome last June, they knew little more than that there were 3.1 billion base pairs of DNA in the human genome. This amounted basically to a read-out of the A's, C's, T's and G's -- the nucleotides that form the rungs in the twisted double helix of DNA. If the right combinations of letters are together, say an A, and T and a G plus an A, G and C, they make an amino acid. There are 20 different amino acids, and these can join up in a variety of ways to make 250,000 different proteins. There is no set number of amino acids needed to make a protein, thus the variety. Each of the body's 100 trillion cells, except for red blood cells, has a full copy of this complement of DNA. But each cell does not express all of them. Brain cells need to express certain proteins, muscle cells and immune cells need to express others. Genes sometimes control what is expressed by other genes, but it could be the \"junk\" DNA plays a role as well, said the scientists who publish their findings in the journals Science and Nature this week. Their surprising finding is that the relatively few genes found in the 3.1 billion base pairs are clumped up. In between are vast spaces of \"desert,\" repeats of nucleotides that look like meaningless stutters. However, Lander said some of these, which often repeat the same sequence over and over again, look like guideposts to evolutionary history. \"By taking all the repeat elements in genome, we can put them together into a family tree,\" Lander said. GENOME BECOMES A FOSSIL RECORD \"The genome now becomes a fossil record.\" It had been known that viruses known as retroviruses could make their DNA a permanent part of ours -- and also of all the other mammals -- but the scientists found evidence that bacteria did the same thing. Lander said his team can already tell that, way back before humans became humans, our ancestors stopped getting so many new genes from viruses and bacteria and stopped moving genes around inside the genome, a process known as transposition. \"The rate of transposition, the rate of hopping, has plummeted in recent times, in the past 30 million to 40 million years,\" Lander said. \"We don't know why. This hasn't happened in the mouse. Entire classes of junk DNA have gone extinct.\" But other junk DNA thought to have been useless, hints at being very important. One example is a piece of repetitive DNA called an AL sequence. \"It turns out the genome cares a lot about getting the Alums to be near genes,\" he said. The Alums seem to have come into the genome fairly recently, and into gene-poor areas. But the transposition process moves them closer to actual working genes. \"If they are selected for, they have a function,\" he said. One possibility is dealing with stress. \"Suppose you need to regulate proteins under stress -- do you want to use a protein? No,\" he said. Any regulatory protein would also get stressed. \"You'd want something that was extremely abundant and near genes. Maybe it turns out AL is our friend. We have been calling it junk for all these years.\" So perhaps humans have learned to make so with so few genes by using other DNA elements to help them out."}, {"response": 49, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Feb 12, 2001 (20:34)", "body": "Marshall, I'd create a genetics topic for you if you would only post once in a while...(yes Iknow you're busy!!) Celera Genomics Says Finishes Mouse Genome WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Celera Genomics Inc., the private company that joined public scientists in announcing it had mapped and started to read the human genome, said on Monday it had finished the mouse genome, too. Celera will freely publish some of the information and sell the rest to subscribers, who can use it to try and find insights into the human genetic code, or to use in breeding special mice for laboratory research. At a news conference Mark Adams, vice president at Celera, said human and mouse are quite similar to one another. Earlier, Celera said humans had only a few hundred genes that mice do not have, and they are laid out in a similar manner. But Adams said it appears that human cells do more with their genes than mouse cells do. \"The genes are larger,\" he said. And sometimes human genes can perform more than one function,\" Adams added. Much more is known about mouse genes than human genes, because mice are studied so extensively and because they breed so quickly. Scientists hope they can compare known mouse genes to similar human genes and better understand what they do. Adams said Celera would annotate, or analyze, the mouse genome over the coming weeks. Scientists leading the publicly funded genome sequencing effort said they would finish their own version of the mouse genome by April and would publish it on the Internet."}, {"response": 50, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Feb 14, 2001 (15:30)", "body": "Important HTML programming site which keeps changing. Think this is bookmarkable. I use it to make Geo pretty. http://www.hypersolutions.org/rgb.html"}, {"response": 51, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Feb 16, 2001 (16:39)", "body": "Laser smashes light-speed record [19 Jul 2000] One of the most sacred laws of physics is that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light in vacuum. But this speed limit has been smashed in a recent experiment in which a laser pulse travels at more than 300 times the speed of light (L J Wang et al. 2000 Nature 406 277). However, the laws of physics remain intact because Lijun Wang and colleagues at the NEC Research Institute in Princeton in the US are able to explain the results of their experiment in terms of the classical theory of wave propagation. Special relativity prevents any object with mass travelling at the speed of light, and the principle of causality - the notion that the cause comes before the effect - is used to rule out the possibility of superluminal (faster-than-light) travel by light itself. However, a pulse of light can have more than one speed because it is made up of light of different wavelengths. The individual waves travel at their own phase velocity, while the pulse itself travels with the group velocity. In a vacuum all the phase velocities and the group velocity are the same. In a dispersive medium, however, they are different because the refractive index is a function of wavelength, which means that the different wavelengths travel at different speeds. Wang and colleagues report evidence for a negative group velocity of -310c, where c (=300 million metres per second) is the speed of light in vacuum. Their experimental set-up is remarkably similar to that used to slow light to a speed of just 17 metres per second last year. It relies on using two lasers and a magnetic field to prepare a gas of caesium atoms in an excited state. This state exhibits strong amplification or gain at two wavelengths, and highly anomalous dispersion - that is, the refractive index changes rapidly with wavelength - in the region between these two peaks. Wang and colleagues begin by using a third continuous-wave laser to confirm that there are two peaks in the gain spectrum and that the refractive index does indeed change rapidly with wavelength in between. Next they send a 3.7-microsecond long laser pulse into the caesium cell, which is 6 centimetres long, and show that, at the correct wavelength, it emerges from the cell 62 nanoseconds sooner than would be expected if it had travelled at the speed of light. 62 nanoseconds might not sound like much, but since it should only take 0.2 nanoseconds for the pulse to pass through the cell, this means that the pulse has been travelling at 310 times the speed of light. Moreover, unlike previous superluminal experiments, the input and output pulse shapes are essentially the same. There is no widespread agreement among physicists about the speed at which information is carried by pulses in such experiments. One definition is that it is the speed at which the point of half the maximum intensity on the leading edge of the pulse travels, but this velocity is superluminal in the Princeton experiment. The team intend to analyse this further, including cases in which the pulse contains only a few photons. http://physicsweb.org/article/news/04/7/8"}, {"response": 52, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Feb 20, 2001 (20:11)", "body": "---------------------------------------------------------- / PHYSICSWEB: E-mail alert \\ ( http://PhysicsWeb.org ) ========================================================== ---------------------------------------------------------- | News ========================================================== * Heat leaves atom clusters cold: (15 Feb) When a system gains energy, its temperature rises - or so we are taught. But about a decade ago it was predicted that, on very small scales, some materials could get colder when they receive energy. Hellmut Haberland and co-workers from the University of Freiburg in Germany have now observed this negative heat capacity for the first time in clusters of sodium atoms (M Schmidt et al 2001 Phys. Rev. Lett. 86 1191). [ http://PhysicsWeb.org/article/news/5/2/8 ] ---------------------------------------------------------- * Beating the femtosecond limit: (15 Feb) The quest for ever-shorter laser pulses inevitably results in each pulse containing fewer and fewer oscillations of the laser field. Indeed, the shortest visible and infrared laser pulses are typically just a few femtoseconds (10-15 seconds) in duration and contain just a few cycles of the laser field. However, there is a need for even shorter pulses to study fundamental physical, chemical and biological processes on shorter and shorter timescales. Moreover, many applications require photons with higher energies, so there is a corresponding need for ultrashort pulses at shorter wavelengths in the extreme ultraviolet and X-ray regions of the spectrum. Ferenc Krausz of the Technical University of Vienna and co-workers in Germany and Canada have now taken a major step in this direction (M Drescher et al 2001 Science 291 to appear). [ http://PhysicsWeb.org/article/news/5/2/9 ] ---------------------------------------------------------- * Leonard Mandel and Ugo Fano die: (20 Feb) Two of the world's leading atomic and optical physicists - Leonard Mandel of the University of Rochester and Ugo Fano of the University of Chicago - have died in the past two weeks. Mandel, a pioneer in the field of quantum optics, died on February 9 at the age of 73. Fano, who made numerous contributions to the theory of atomic and radiation physics, died on February 13. He was 88. [ http://PhysicsWeb.org/article/news/5/2/10 ] ---------------------------------------------------------- * The hunt for new dimensions: (20 Feb) For decades physicists have toyed with the idea that the universe may contain extra dimensions beyond the familiar four dimensions of space and time. This idea has been proposed to account for the exceptional weakness of gravity. But remarkably, nobody has measured the strength of gravity on scales much less than a centimetre - and that is exactly where theorists believe the extra dimensions could be hiding. Now Eric Adelberger and co-workers at the University of Washington in the US have measured for the first time the gravitational attraction between objects just 0.2 mm apart - and concluded that any new dimensions must be concealed on even smaller scales (C D Hoyle et al 2001 Phys. Rev. Lett. 86 1418). [ http://PhysicsWeb.org/article/news/5/2/11 ] ----------------------------------------------------------"}, {"response": 53, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Wed, Feb 21, 2001 (09:33)", "body": "r\u007f http://geocities.com/brojongazette/frontpage/bj0201.html About HAARP the signal Art Bell is trying to find. 3.39 MHz"}, {"response": 54, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Feb 21, 2001 (19:37)", "body": "yup... heard him last night...! ---------------------------------------------------------- / PHYSICSWEB: E-mail alert \\ ( http://PhysicsWeb.org ) ========================================================== ---------------------------------------------------------- | News ========================================================== * Turbulent times for fluids : (21 Feb) Physicists in the US have borrowed technology normally used in high-energy physics to gain a better picture of turbulence - a phenomenon that is still not well understood. Eberhard Bodenschatz and colleagues at Cornell University found that particles in swirling fluids undergo a flabbergasting range of accelerations within extremely short distances and times (A La Porta et al 2001 Nature 409 1017). [ http://PhysicsWeb.org/article/news/5/2/12 ] ----------------------------------------------------------"}, {"response": 55, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Feb 23, 2001 (21:31)", "body": "---------------------------------------------------------- / PHYSICSWEB: E-mail alert \\ ( http://PhysicsWeb.org ) ========================================================== ---------------------------------------------------------- | News ========================================================== * Busquin calls for EU Framework increase: (23 Feb) The European Commission has proposed a 17% increase in the budget of the next framework programme for research and innovation. Philippe Busquin, the commissioner for research, has called for a budget of EUR 17.5 billion for the sixth Framework programme, which will cover the period 2003-2006. The proposal will be discussed at the EU summit in Stockholm on March 23 and 24. [ http://PhysicsWeb.org/article/news/5/2/13 ] ----------------------------------------------------------"}, {"response": 56, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Feb 24, 2001 (20:52)", "body": "Mouse with Human Brain Cells Does anyone remember the movie \"The Mouse That Roared\"? We just mightbe making a real one! U.S. Scientists Craft Mouse with Human Brain Cells Reuters Feb 23 2001 9:18PM SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - U.S. researchers have produced laboratory mice with human brain cells, marking a potential step toward developing treatments for human brain disease like Alzheimer's but promising to fuel fresh debate over the evolving ethics of bioengineering. The research at California biotechnology company StemCells Inc. breaks new ground by demonstrating that human brain stem cells can be induced to grow within a mouse's skull, scientists said on Friday. \"We are not recreating a human brain. We're really just trying to understand how these stem cells can function, and how they can be used in the treatment of specific diseases,\" said Ann Tsukamoto, vice president of scientific operations at StemCells Inc. Irving Weissman, a Stanford university professor involved in the two-year research project, said the next step could be to produce mice with brains made up almost entirely of human cells -- although he said there would have to be a thorough ethical review before this step is taken. \"You would want to ask the ethicist what percentage of the brain would be human cells before you start worrying, and if you start worrying, what would you start worrying about,\" Weissman said. The California study involved isolating human stem cells in the laboratory and then introducing them into mice. As the mice matured, the human stem cells -- \"master cells\" that can develop into any other type of cell -- grew into a full range of specialized cells throughout each mouse brain. \"It looks like human cells can follow the developmental instructions put in by the mouse brain. They are making human components in what is clearly a mouse brain,\" Weissman said. The researchers believe that these mice could be used to test treatments for human brain diseases such as Parkinsons and Alzheimer's, although these tests have not yet been undertaken. Tsukamoto added that the experiment also demonstrated that StemCell Inc's process for isolating and developing human stem cells was viable, and that cell banks could be established for future transplantation into humans. \"We're of course moving this into the development phase, and looking at which disease indications these cells would be best used for in preclinical trials,\" she said. Both scientists stressed that their research, while marking a new breakthrough in the controversial world of stem cell research, was in no way aimed at blurring the lines between human and animal. But Weissman added that he had already requested a review panel to look at the research to determine if there may be ethical problems in taking the work further. \"It is not the objective to go make mice with human brains,\" Weissman said. \"(But) it is in the domain of the ethicists, not the experimenters, to figure out what our limits are.\""}, {"response": 57, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Feb 24, 2001 (22:15)", "body": "Smallest' robot to take world by swarm (CNN) -- Engineers with a government national security laboratory have created what they think could be the world's smallest robot -- a brainy, mobile machine that can stop and almost sit on a dime. Sporting track wheels and an 8K ROM processor, it could someday perform a host of arduous tasks like disabling land mines or searching for lost humans, scientists said. The diminutive droid, which weighs less than 1 ounce (28 grams) and is 1/4 cubic inch (4 cubic cm) in size, could be equipped with a camera, microphone and chemical micro-sensor. \"This could be the robot of the future,\" said Ed Heller, a project researcher with the Sandia National Laboratory, which works under the direction of the U.S. Department of Energy. Based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the lab also developed what it calls the fastest gun in the world, a machine that propels material 20 times faster than a rifle. Journey into small spaces The mini-machines could travel in swarms like insects and go into locations too small for their bulkier cousins, communicating all the while with each other and human operators in a remote location. Eventually fleets of the robots could scamper through pipes looking for chemical releases or patrol buildings in search of prowlers. \"If you take smaller ones, you can take more of them out and have better chances of finding what you are looking for,\" Heller said Friday. The robot has already navigated a field of coins, puttering along at 20 inches (50 cm) a minute on track wheels similar to those on tanks. The treads give added mobility over predecessors with conventional wheels, allowing it to travel over thick carpet. \"It can't zip along as fast as a spider or ant yet. The speed was just for demonstration,\" Heller said. With modifications it could go up to five times faster. Covert uses possible The size of the robot is limited by the size of its power source. The frame must be large enough to hold three watch batteries, which drive its motors and instruments. Instead of \"Big Brother,\" some unsavory types might have to worry about the littlest robot; the machine could play a major role in intelligence gathering, according to the lab, which specializes in research to protect U.S. military and economic interests. Heller and colleagues plan to outfit the mini-robot with impressive options over the next several years, including miniature video cameras and infrared or radio wireless two-way communications. \"You might have to worry about what's sitting under your desk,\" Heller joked."}, {"response": 58, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Feb 26, 2001 (20:43)", "body": "---------------------------------------------------------- / PHYSICSWEB: E-mail alert \\ ( http://PhysicsWeb.org ) ========================================================== ---------------------------------------------------------- | News ========================================================== * Exciting times for superconductors: (26 Feb) The physics community was stunned in January when Jun Akimitsu of Aoyama-Gakuin University in Tokyo and co-workers discovered superconductivity in a simple metallic compound at 38 K - twice the previous record for a metallic superconductor. Akimitsu's group publishes its method and results this week, although several groups have already verified that magnesium diboride can indeed support resistance-free current flow (J Akimitsu et al 2001 Nature 410 63). Amid a flurry of activity, evidence is now emerging that - contrary to initial expectations - the traditional Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer theory of superconductivity can explain the new effect (S L Bud'ko et al 2001 Phys. Rev. Lett. 86 1877). [ http://PhysicsWeb.org/article/news/5/2/14 ] ----------------------------------------------------------"}, {"response": 59, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Mar  2, 2001 (14:28)", "body": "Tiny primate fossils discovered The Associated Press March 15 \ufffd Some ancestors of monkeys, apes and humans were so tiny that they could have stood atop a person\ufffds thumb \ufffd a new finding astonishing even to anthropologists. Fossilized foot bones from two species smaller than any other known creature on the primate family tree were found at a limestone mine in eastern China. The bones are each about the size of a grain of rice. \ufffdThis discovery reinvents our definition of what the primate order is all about and how it arose,\ufffd said Richard Stucky, curator at the Denver Museum of Natural History. He said he was \ufffdalmost at a loss for words.\ufffd Smaller Than Smallest At one-third of an ounce \ufffd the weight of a couple of pencils \ufffd the smaller of the two species is dwarfed by the 1-ounce Madagascar mouse lemur, the smallest known primate alive today. The two lived in a rain forest about 45 million years ago, feeding on insects and sap. Scientists from Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Northern Illinois, Northwestern and the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing detail the species in this week\ufffds Journal of Human Evolution. In a separate article in the journal Nature, the group reported on more fossils from a previously discovered third primate called Eosimias centennicus. They had discovered its teeth and jaws in the mid 1990s. Now they\ufffdve got ankle bones, which they say backs up their controversial claim that Eosimias is an early ancestor of humans. Eosimias and the two new tiny species all lived together around the time when lower primates split from the higher primates. Where the Family Tree Branched Lower primates include lemurs. Higher primates include humans. The split happened 40 million to 50 million years ago. At 3 ounces, Eosimias was larger than the tiny species, which have not been named. The smaller of the two new species might have been below Eosimias on the evolutionary branch, a common ancestor of higher primates and some lower primates, said Chris Beard of the Carnegie Museum. The larger one \ufffd weighing half an ounce \ufffd appears to be a higher primate, perhaps in the same family as Eosimias. \ufffdNobody would have believed that as recently as 45 million years ago, our ancestors were about the size of a shrew,\ufffd Beard said. Anthropologists expected to find a smallish creature at the fork between higher and lower primates. Voracious Eater Because it would have needed to eat insects voraciously to keep up with an overheated metabolism, it would have had higher primate features: two eyes facing forward and soft hands without claws, all the better to focus on and grab bugs. \ufffdThat said, these are really tiny,\ufffd said Brian Richmond, a George Washington University researcher. Unlike modern higher primates, which are social and move about in the daytime, these creatures\ufffd tiny size would have forced them to hide during the day and feed at night. The tiny species are the smallest of 12 to 16 species of little primates found at the Chinese mine. Eosimias is among them. Its ankle bones are further proof the creature was a higher primate, Beard said. It apparently walked on all fours, because like monkeys that scurry atop tree branches, their feet faced downward. Lower primate cling to tree trunks, so their feet face inward. But the evidence of Eosimias\ufffd status as a higher primate is still not conclusive. Richmond said it is possible Eosimias was a lower primate that evolved a few characteristics similar to higher primates. Also, Beard\ufffds team has not found a skull or full skeleton. They inferred the ankle fossils to be Eosimias\ufffd based on where they were found. Stucky is convinced, calling it \ufffdsignificant, additional evidence\ufffd that Eosimias is a higher primate."}, {"response": 60, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Mar  2, 2001 (21:21)", "body": "---------------------------------------------------------- / PHYSICSWEB: E-mail alert \\ ( http://PhysicsWeb.org ) ========================================================== ---------------------------------------------------------- | News ========================================================== * B factories go into overdrive: (2 Mar) Particles called B mesons do not decay at the same rate as their anti-particles, according to the first results from experiments in Japan and the US. But it is not yet clear if the difference is big enough to explain why the universe is dominated by matter. Preliminary results from two high-energy experiments - dubbed 'B factories' because they generate huge numbers of B mesons - have been submitted to Physical Review Letters and are currently available on the Los Alamos preprint server. [ http://PhysicsWeb.org/article/news/5/3/1 ] ----------------------------------------------------------"}, {"response": 61, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Mar  6, 2001 (19:31)", "body": "**Sprin5 posted this elsewhere but it goes here as well, I think...** IT's heeeeere!: IT's a hydrogen-powered scooter, running on a pollution-free Stirling engine. http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/03-06-2001/0001441589&EDATE = Investigative reporter and [INSIDE] contributor Adam Penenberg has unearthed revealing new information including trademark and patent filings, domain registrations, financial transactions, factory blueprints, and a hitherto unknown company linked to \"Ginger\" inventor Dean Kamen, among other evidence. His findings, featured as a print-only exclusive [INSIDE] cover story, include: * As many have guessed, \"Ginger\" has to do with a ground-breaking, scooter-type vehicle that can balance on two wheels. But the real revelation is the power behind it - hydrogen, which runs basically emission-free. \"Ginger\" represents the first generation of a new mode of transportation that will compete with and possibly replace automobiles. The ramifications of a \"hydrogen economy\" would be profound on everything from the environment to the energy business to global politics."}, {"response": 62, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Mar  7, 2001 (21:25)", "body": "---------------------------------------------------------- / PHYSICSWEB: E-mail alert \\ ( http://PhysicsWeb.org ) ========================================================== ---------------------------------------------------------- | News ========================================================== * LED could signal silicon laser: (7 Mar) A light-emitting diode made from silicon that efficiently emits light at room temperature could revolutionize communications technology. It is the latest in a string of attempts to create a light emitter compatible with existing silicon-based technology. Kevin Homewood of the University of Surrey, UK, and colleagues created the device - which could be the precursor of a silicon laser - by bombarding silicon with boron ions (W L Ng et al 2001 Nature 410 192). [ http://PhysicsWeb.org/article/news/5/3/2 ] ----------------------------------------------------------"}, {"response": 63, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Mar  8, 2001 (23:07)", "body": "---------------------------------------------------------- / PHYSICSWEB: E-mail alert \\ ( http://PhysicsWeb.org ) ========================================================== ---------------------------------------------------------- | News ========================================================== * Cosmological model gets a boost: (8 Mar) Standard models of cosmology, which link the cosmic microwave background with conditions in the early universe, have been boosted by new data. The new Cosmic Background Imager in Chile has measured the microwave signals more precisely than ever before and has detected a dip in the 'power spectrum' predicted by current theories of the evolution of the universe (S Padin et al 2001 Astrophys. J. Lett. 549 L1). [ http://PhysicsWeb.org/article/news/5/3/3 ]"}, {"response": 64, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Mar  9, 2001 (15:27)", "body": ""}, {"response": 65, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Mar  9, 2001 (21:50)", "body": "---------------------------------------------------------- / PHYSICSWEB: E-mail alert \\ ( http://PhysicsWeb.org ) ========================================================== ---------------------------------------------------------- | News ========================================================== * Physicists create first superconducting polymer: (9 Mar) A superconducting polymer is the latest innovation to emerge from the recent explosion of research into organic superconductors. Bertram Batlogg and colleagues at Bell Laboratories in the US have achieved resistance-free current flow in poly(3-hexylthiophene) at 2.35 kelvin. The advance is a fundamental step towards cheaper mass-produced electronics (J H Schon et al 2001 Nature 410 189). [ http://PhysicsWeb.org/article/news/5/3/4 ] ----------------------------------------------------------"}, {"response": 66, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Mar 14, 2001 (22:51)", "body": "---------------------------------------------------------- / PHYSICSWEB: E-mail alert \\ ( http://PhysicsWeb.org ) ========================================================== ---------------------------------------------------------- | News ========================================================== * Success for Irish physicist: (14 Mar) A physicist has been elected as the provost of Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland's most prestigious university. John Hegarty, a laser physicist, beat four other candidates in the election and will start his 10-year term as provost in August. He has promised to encourage innovation in teaching, increase the number of students from under-represented groups and to promote excellence in research. [ http://PhysicsWeb.org/article/news/5/3/5 ] ---------------------------------------------------------- * X marks the atom: (14 Mar) Physicists have taken a direct picture of the atoms inside a crystal of silicon with X-rays for the first time. The 'atomic camera' devised by Pawel Korecki and Gerhard Materlik of HASYLAB, Hamburg, Germany, adds together the diffraction patterns that arise as the X-rays criss-cross the crystal to create a three-dimensional picture (P Korecki and G Materlik 2001 Phys. Rev. Lett. 86 2333). [ http://PhysicsWeb.org/article/news/5/3/6 ] ---------------------------------------------------------- * Astronomers tune in to brown dwarf : (14 Mar) American astronomers have picked up radio waves from a 'brown dwarf' - an object that is bigger than a planet but smaller than a star - for the first time. Edo Berger of the California Institute of Technology and colleagues detected the surprising signal from a nearby brown dwarf known as LP944-20 (E Berger et al 2001 Nature 410 338). The discovery could provide important insights into the nature of these mysterious bodies. [ http://PhysicsWeb.org/article/news/5/3/7 ] ---------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------- / This alert was generated according to your settings. | To change your alerting settings visit User Options at \\ http://PhysicsWeb.org/users/options/alert ========================================================== Copyright (C)IOP Publishing Ltd. 2001. All rights reserved."}, {"response": 67, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Mar 15, 2001 (19:40)", "body": "---------------------------------------------------------- / PHYSICSWEB: E-mail alert \\ ( http://PhysicsWeb.org ) ========================================================== ---------------------------------------------------------- | News ========================================================== * Deepest ever picture of the universe reveals new quasar : (15 Mar) Astronomers have peered deeper into the universe than ever before - and discovered a new type of quasar 12 billion light years away. The joint venture between the space-based Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Very Large Telescope in Chile also found that giant black holes were far more active in the early universe than they are today. The collaboration originally aimed to establish the origin of cosmic X-ray background. A preprint of the groups' work is on the Los Alamos server (astro-ph/0007240). [ http://PhysicsWeb.org/article/news/5/3/8 ] ---------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------- / This alert was generated according to your settings. | To change your alerting settings visit User Options at \\ http://PhysicsWeb.org/users/options/alert ========================================================== Copyright (C)IOP Publishing Ltd. 2001. All rights reserved."}, {"response": 68, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Mar 22, 2001 (13:45)", "body": "---------------------------------------------------------- / PHYSICSWEB: E-mail alert \\ ( http://PhysicsWeb.org ) ========================================================== ---------------------------------------------------------- | News ========================================================== * Neutrino messages from across the Universe: (21 Mar) Astrophysicists expect their best-ever view of remote cataclysmic events that send neutrinos cascading across space after the successful trial of a new neutrino detector. Francis Halzen of the University of Wisconsin in the US led the international team that developed the experiment, which is buried deep in the Antarctic ice. The prototype is now being scaled up to capture neutrinos arriving on Earth from deep space (E Andres et al 2001 Nature 410 441). [ http://PhysicsWeb.org/article/news/5/3/9 ] ---------------------------------------------------------- Copyright (C)IOP Publishing Ltd. 2001. All rights reserved."}, {"response": 69, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Mar 23, 2001 (22:58)", "body": "---------------------------------------------------------- / PHYSICSWEB: E-mail alert \\ ( http://PhysicsWeb.org ) ========================================================== ---------------------------------------------------------- | News ========================================================== * Linear collider race gets serious: (23 Mar) The DESY laboratory in Germany has revealed plans for a next-generation electron$positron linear collider and X-ray source that will cost $2.8bn. Edwin Cartlidge reports on the plans. [ http://PhysicsWeb.org/article/news/5/3/11 ] Copyright (C)IOP Publishing Ltd. 2001. All rights reserved."}, {"response": 70, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Mar 29, 2001 (20:53)", "body": "---------------------------------------------------------- / PHYSICSWEB: E-mail alert \\ ( http://PhysicsWeb.org ) ========================================================== ---------------------------------------------------------- | News ========================================================== * Lithography teams up with liquid crystals: (29 Mar) The unusual optical features of liquid crystals make them indispensable in many technologies, including displays and optoelectronics. Now Baek-woon Lee and Noel A Clark of the University of Colorado, US, have developed a 'patterned' base layer for liquid crystals that overcomes a long-standing difficulty in controlling the molecules in the liquid crystal. The new technique is an important step towards the simple fabrication of highly intricate liquid-crystal devices using lithography (Baek-woon Lee and Noel A Clark 2001 Science 291 2576). [ http://PhysicsWeb.org/article/news/5/3/14 ] ---------------------------------------------------------- Copyright (C)IOP Publishing Ltd. 2001. All rights reserved."}, {"response": 71, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Apr  2, 2001 (17:42)", "body": "April National Geographic Educator E-Newsletter This April, as Earth Day approaches, check out our EarthPulse Conservation Features. Use our Interactive Conservation Atlas to examine environmental issues and sharpen your students' map skills before standardized tests. And get a head start on planning for next fall by ordering National Geographic for Kids, our new classroom magazine. Hot This Month VIRTUAL COLUMBIA RIVER http://www.nationalgeographic.com/earthpulse/columbia Take a virtual trip down the Columbia and discover the debate surrounding this mighty river. MARS MISSION ACTIVITY http://www.nationalgeographic.com/familyxpeditions Help NASA plan its next mission to Mars! Uncover the secrets and history of the red planet in our latest Family Xpedition. Online Adventure GRIMMS' FAIRY TALES http://www.nationalgeographic.com/grimm/ Happily ever after? Not according to the Brothers Grimm! Fasten your seatbelts for a journey through the dark twists and turns of these original folktales. Maps & Geography INTERACTIVE CONSERVATION ATLAS http://www.nationalgeographic.com/wildworld Get maps and facts about the world's ecoregions, and explore the environmental issues facing each one with our Wild World Atlas. Lesson Plans GEOGUIDE: DAMS http://www.nationalgeographic.com/geoguide/dams/ After exploring the Columbia River, learn more about dams with these innovative activities. Teacher Store NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC FOR KIDS--COMING THIS FALL http://www.nationalgeographic.com/education/teacher_store/product_lines/ngk.html Introducing our new classroom magazine for students in grades 3-6! Please call 800 368 2728 for information or to subscribe now for fall 2001. Teacher Community GEOGRAPHY ALLIANCES http://www.nationalgeographic.com/education/teacher_community Your local geography alliance offers workshops, field trips, mentoring, and grants to support your efforts in the classroom. Join us today! EDUCATION SITE: get fresh ideas every week http://www.nationalgeographic.com/education E-MAIL US education@nationalgeographic.com SIGN UP for Other National Geographic E-Mail Newsletters http://www.nationalgeographic.com/community/register.html"}, {"response": 72, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Apr 23, 2001 (16:57)", "body": "SCICENTRAL NEWS ALERT brought to you by [1]SciQuest Friday, April 20, 2001 Edition _________________________________________________________________ References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/ [1]EVOLUTION & PALEONTOLOGY * Talking Heads (Special Report) * Founder Populations Fuel Gene Discovery * Researchers Find Important Clue in the Evolution of Plants * Pyramids and Sphinx Both Inspired by Desert Landforms * Digging for Genetic Fossils: Researchers Solve Structure of Ancient Biological Molecule * Scientists Worried About Rush to Find Neanderthal DNA * Comfort Feeding * Boiling Brains * Explorer Unveils Lost City of Alexandria * What Was Eating Clams and Brachiopods 250 Million Years Ago, Before Modern Predators Existed? * Men Fish for Compliments * Brazilians Meet New Amazon Tribe References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=B-evolut [1]MARINE BIOLOGY * Great Barrier Reef Choking to Death * Ships to Probe Biological Enigmas of the Frozen Southern Ocean * Scientists Determine How Chemistry Keeps Weird Worms \"Out of Hot Water\" at Steaming Deep-Sea Vents References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=B-marbio [1]WILDLIFE & FISHERIES * Once Thought Extinct, Siamese Crocodile Is Photographed in Siam * Study Explores Social Memory in Elephants * Chimps Touched by Television * U.S. Geologic Survey Issues Wildlife Health Alert for Foot-and-Mouth Disease * Congo War Devastating Endangered Wildlife * Aping Others: The Transition to Culture * Measuring the Muscle: New Depicts How the Tuna's Body Is Built for Speed * Lifestyles of the Bright and Toxic Overlap * Everything You Need to Know About Survival You Can Learn From an Alligator * Sex Lives of Wild Fish: Genetic Techniques Provide New Insights * Owls Have \"Surround Sound\" * Coal Mines Bring Fish Industry Life References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=B-wildfi [1]ASTRONOMY * Astronomers Find Distant \"Double Planet\" * Orphan \"Planet\" Findings Challenged by New Model * Cosmologist Explains Dust in Eros Craters * NASA to Track More Asteroids With New NEAT Camera * Asteroid Eros: Most Detailed Analysis of Up-Close Images * Exploratorium Webcast on Hubble Telescope April 19-24 * Hubble Spots Mysterious Flash of Light on Jupiter * 40 Years of Human Spaceflight * Eyes Down to Look Up at the Heavens * Blank Line * U.S. Mars Agenda on Slow but Steady Course * Europe, Japan and North America Prepare for Joint Construction of the Giant Radio Telescope \"ALMA\" in Chile References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-astron [1]GEOGRAPHY/GIS * City Limits References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-geogra [1]GEOLOGY * Ancient Climate Excursion Linked to a Rare Anomaly in Earth's Orbit * Geologists' Discoveries of How Sandstone Traps Riches Will Help Oil, Gas Explorers References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-geolog [1]GEOPHYSICS, SEISMOLOGY, & VOLCANOLOGY * Damaged Chimneys and Unexpected Liquefaction From Nisqually Temblor Yield Earthquake Insights * Earthquake Hunters * Earthquakes Shake, Rattle, and Roll * Researchers Solve Century-Old Earthquake Mystery in India * Understanding Two Big Ice Cubes References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-geophy [1]METEOROLOGY & CLIMATOLOGY * Air Pollution Control Efforts Will Add to Global Warming if Carbon Monoxide Is Not Curbed Along With Nitrogen Oxides * Scientists Suggest New Index to Capture \"Flavors\" of El Ni\ufffdo * Miniature Unmanned Planes Descend on Arctic for Research * Researchers Achieve Best Global Picture Ever of Climate-Modifying Aerial Particles * Human-Induced Greenhouse Warming Pumps Heat Into Oceans * Scientists Watch Dark Side of the Moon to Monitor Earth's Climate * Wetter Upper Atmosphere May Delay Global Ozone Recovery * U.S. Needs Major Steps to Overtake European Climate Research * Bright Sky, Dirty City? * NASA Demonstrates How Earth's Global Heat Engine Drives Plant Growth * Colorado State's Hurricane Update Calls for Slightly More Storms but a Season That Still Remains Close to Average * Human-Induced Greenhouse Warming Pumps Heat Into Oceans References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-meteo [1]OCEANOGRAPHY * Satellite Spots Unique Ocean Eddy and a Bounty of Food for Fish * First Automated Floats for Monitoring Ocean Carbon Launched in North Pacific * Human-Induced Greenhouse Warming Pumps Heat Into Oceans * NSF Ships to Probe Biologica"}, {"response": 73, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Apr 23, 2001 (17:12)", "body": "---------------------------------------------------------- / PHYSICSWEB: E-mail alert \\ ( http://PhysicsWeb.org ) ========================================================== ---------------------------------------------------------- | News ========================================================== * New 'light transistor' for optical circuits: (19 Apr) A gadget that boosts a laser signal by a factor of 60 - based on the transfer of photons rather than electrons - could seed a new generation of ultrafast components for optical circuits. Junji Tominaga of the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science in Japan and colleagues developed the device, which paves the way for all-optical circuits that transmit information at - literally - the speed of light. (J Tominaga et al 2001 Appl. Phys. Lett. 78 2417). The new 'photonic transistor' would be just nanometres thick, unlike existing devices that rely on long optical fibres to produce the gain. [ http://PhysicsWeb.org/article/news/5/4/8 ] ---------------------------------------------------------- * Zooming in on the Eros asteroid: (19 Apr) Astronomers reveal this week that the terrain of Eros - far from being smooth and featureless - is dominated by dust-covered impact craters and scattered rocks. Two teams of US scientists are piecing together evidence from the most detailed pictures ever taken of an asteroid, which were captured as the NEAR-Shoemaker spacecraft skimmed the surface of Eros in October 2000. The history of the asteroid is expected to shed light on the early evolution of the solar system (J Veverka et al 2001 Science 292 484; A F Cheng et al 2001 Science 292 488). [ http://PhysicsWeb.org/article/news/5/4/9 ] ---------------------------------------------------------- * Moon illuminates climate study: (19 Apr) The amount of sunlight reflected by the Earth is a key factor in monitoring our climate. But current satellite observations cover little of the Earth's surface and are difficult to maintain over the extended periods required in climate studies. Now Philip Goode of the New Jersey Institute of Technology in the US and colleagues have resurrected an old technique to accurately measure the Earth's reflectance from 'earthshine' - the illumination of the dim portion of the Moon's disk by sunlight reflected from the Earth. They have also found evidence to support the theory that the solar cycle affects our climate (P R Goode et al 2001 Geophys. Res. Lett. 28 1671). [ http://PhysicsWeb.org/article/news/5/4/10 ] ---------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------- / This alert was generated according to your settings. | To change your alerting settings visit User Options at \\ http://PhysicsWeb.org/users/options/alert ========================================================== Copyright (C)IOP Publishing Ltd. 2001. All rights reserved."}, {"response": 74, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Apr 27, 2001 (08:31)", "body": "SCICENTRAL NEWS ALERT brought to you by [1]SciQuest on Friday, 27-Apr-2001 09:38:23 AM EDT 1]EVOLUTION & PALEONTOLOGY * Oldest Evidence of City Life in the Americas Reported * Mesquite: A Modular System for Evolutionary Analysis (Selected Site) * First Dinosaur Found With Its Body Covering Intact; Displays Primitive Feathers From Head to Tail * Perfect Skin * New Research Confirms That Natural Selection Is Acting on the Current Human Population References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=B-evolut [1]MARINE BIOLOGY * Field Guide to Anemone Fishes and Their Host Sea Anemones (Selected Site) References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=B-marbio [1]WILDLIFE & FISHERIES * Mammal Species of the World (Database) * Endangered Cats of North America (PDF) (Special Report) * At Sea, At Risk * Could Minnesota Forestry Save the Siberian Tiger? * Preserving Salmon Biodiversity (Special Report) * Gulp! Professor Studies How Sharks Eat * Gourmet Kangaroos Face Extinction References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=B-wildfi [1]ASTRONOMY * Home Alone * Seeking Life's Chemical Fingerprints With the \"Raman Effect\" * VLT Spectra \"Resolve\" a Stellar Disk at 25,000 Light-Years Distance * Eleven Years in Orbit: Hubble Observes the Popular Horsehead Nebula * Keep Galileo's Eyes Open, Say Petitioning Scientists * Red Planet Scouts: Seeking Unexpected Discoveries on Mars * NEAR Team Studies Small-Scale Features on Eros * What People Saw in 1178 A.D. Didn't Cause Lunar Crater * Distant Comet Tangoes With Satellite References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-astron [1]GEOLOGY * Solving a Tibetan Mystery * Origin of Mid-Ocean Ridge Basalts * Numerical Modeling of Geological Deformation Processes References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-geolog [1]GEOPHYSICS, SEISMOLOGY, & VOLCANOLOGY * Using Unique Seismometer Array, Seismologists Map Mantle Flow * A \"Four-Piston Engine\" Drives Earth From the Inside, New Study Shows * Two New Seismic Source Technologies Developed for Safer and Less Costly Deep-Ocean Exploration * Researchers Report First Simulations of Ground Motions From 1906 San Francisco Earthquake References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-geophy [1]METEOROLOGY & CLIMATOLOGY * Records \"Show Strong Recent Warming\" * Most-Serious Greenhouse Gas Is Increasing, International Study Finds * Researchers Prove Past Cooling Trend Caused by Move From Forests to Agriculture * Climatologist Predicts Increase in Hurricane Activity * Greenhouse Gases Main Reason for Quicker Northern Winter Warming * Asian Storms Make Their Way to the East * Big Dam in China May Warm Japan References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-meteo [1]OCEANOGRAPHY * Using Unique Seismometer Array, Seismologists Map Mantle Flow * A Better Understanding of Equatorial Atlantic Deep Currents * Two New Seismic Source Technologies Developed for Safer and Less Costly Deep-Ocean Exploration * Converging on Marine Reserves * Life as We Didn't Know It References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-oceano [1]SATELLITES & REMOTE SENSING * Aussie Radar Detects the Invisible * Ultrawideband Watches Over Firefighters References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-satrem [1]ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING & BIOREMEDIATION * Solution to Some of Country's Energy Woes Might Be Little More Than Hot Air * Findings May Boost Efforts to Destroy Pollutants With Ultrasound * Waste Not: Once-Discarded Fly Ash Now Being Used to Clean Contaminated Water References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=E-enviro _________________________________________________________________ \ufffd Copyright 2001 SciQuest, Inc. To register, modify your selection of topics, or unsubscribe from this newsletter, please visit: [1] http://newsletter.scicentral.com/cgi-bin/register.cgi _____________________________________________________________"}, {"response": 75, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Apr 27, 2001 (08:33)", "body": "---------------------------------------------------------- / PHYSICSWEB: E-mail alert \\ ( http://PhysicsWeb.org ) ========================================================== ---------------------------------------------------------- | News ========================================================== * Lagging behind the solar cycle: (26 Apr) The intensity of galactic cosmic rays measured on Earth is related to the Sun's cycle of activity, which is well known by astronomers. The solar magnetic field flips every 11 years and the number of sunspots and 'coronal mass ejections' rises and falls twice in each complete 22-year cycle. The cosmic ray intensity on Earth also peaks twice every 22 years in time with the solar cycle. Now two US astronomers have discovered a quirk in this pattern - and they believe that drifting coronal mass ejections could be to blame (E W Cliver and A G Ling 2001 Astrophys. J. Lett. 551 L189). [ http://PhysicsWeb.org/article/news/5/4/11 ] ---------------------------------------------------------- * Nanotube devices in the pipeline: (26 Apr) The features of conventional microelectronic circuits are getting smaller and smaller - and they will soon reach the limit imposed by the fundamental properties of silicon. Although physicists are optimistic that carbon nanotubes could step into the breach, their electronic properties are not well established and the nanotubes are hard to manipulate. Now two teams in the US have made substantial headway. Charles Lieber's team at Harvard University has uncovered the electronic behaviour of several types of nanotube. Meanwhile, Phaedon Avouris and colleagues at IBM have devised a technique to separate metallic and semiconducting nanotubes (Min Ouyang et al 2001 Science 292 702; P G Collins et al 2001 Science 292 706). [ http://PhysicsWeb.org/article/news/5/4/12 ] ---------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------- / This alert was generated according to your settings. | To change your alerting settings visit User Options at \\ http://PhysicsWeb.org/users/options/alert ========================================================== Copyright (C)IOP Publishing Ltd. 2001. All rights reserved."}, {"response": 76, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, May  5, 2001 (16:01)", "body": "---------------------------------------------------------- / PHYSICSWEB: E-mail alert \\ ( http://PhysicsWeb.org ) ========================================================== ---------------------------------------------------------- | News ========================================================== * Particle beams that bend like light: (2 May) An electron beam that is powerful enough to pierce several millimetres of steel can - remarkably - be reflected by a layer of gas that is a million times thinner than air. Thomas Katsouleas of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and colleagues demonstrated the phenomenon - which is similar to the refraction of light at a boundary - at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center in the US. The team believes the technique could be used to control beams of particles inside particle accelerators more efficiently than existing methods based on magnets (P Muggli et al 2001 Nature 411 43). [ http://PhysicsWeb.org/article/news/5/5/2 ] ---------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------- / This alert was generated according to your settings. | To change your alerting settings visit User Options at \\ http://PhysicsWeb.org/users/options/alert ========================================================== Copyright (C)IOP Publishing Ltd. 2001. All rights reserved."}, {"response": 77, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, May 21, 2001 (00:30)", "body": "1. http://www.sciquest.com/ [1]EVOLUTION & PALEONTOLOGY * Study Offers Insights Into Evolutionary Origins of Life; Artificial Enzyme Able to Synthesize RNA * Maya Civilization Done In by Brightening of the Sun * Baby's Sex Not Linked to Shape of Mother * Shopping for Clothes Is in Men's Genes * The Living Dead * Climatologists Pore Over Past * Rough Justice * Paleontologists Develop Major New Fossil Database: Preliminary Analysis Questions Reality of Recent Global Radiation * Mother of T. rex * Scientists Find Link Between Indian Caste Rank and Genetic Similarity to Europeans References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=B-evolut [1]MARINE BIOLOGY * Discovery of a Unique Symbiosis Between Bacteria and a Marine Worm * Stressed Oysters Sicken References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=B-marbio [1]WILDLIFE & FISHERIES * Birds Answer Mobile Phones * Flycatchers Caught on the Hop * Rough Justice * No Danger * Female Cardinals Learn Songs in One-Third Time of Male Birds -- Largest Learning Difference Ever Found Between Sexes * Snails Shoot to Fill * \"Fossil Fish\" Hits the Web * Stressed Oysters Sicken References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=B-wildfi [1]ASTRONOMY * Comet's Spectacular Death May Illuminate Birth of Solar System * Earth's Growing Orbital Ring of Machines and Debris * DS1 On Track for Comet Flyby * Seeking the Solar System's Origin * Study Suggests Massive Water Erosion of Mars' Highlands * The Great Mars Rush * A Few Assorted Gullies * Moon Helps Hunt for Mystery Particles * Astronomers Find \"Spaghetti\" Twirling Around in Galaxy * Radar Looks for Changes on Venus * Alien Visitors * Asteroid May Have Flung Pieces of Earth, Dinosaurs to Moon, Mars References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-astron [1]GEOGRAPHY/GIS * Virtual Reconnaissance of Geospatial Data Using Flight Simulators * The Creation and Use of Imagery for Cellular Network Planning References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-geogra [1]GEOLOGY * Fossil Leaves Confirm Ancient Greenhouse * Paleontologists Develop Major New Fossil Database: Preliminary Analysis Questions Reality of Recent Global Radiation * New Research Documents Extremely High Atmospheric Carbon 14 During Last Ice Age References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-geolog [1]GEOPHYSICS, SEISMOLOGY, & VOLCANOLOGY * Not All Subduction Zones Are Equal in Carbon Dioxide Generation References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-geophy [1]METEOROLOGY & CLIMATOLOGY * Droughts Aggravated by Dust in the Wind * Hurricanes' Full Havoc Yet to Be Felt References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-meteo [1]OCEANOGRAPHY * Robotic Floats for Monitoring Ocean Carbon Launched in Pacific * Big Bergs Ahoy! References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-oceano [1]SATELLITES & REMOTE SENSING * ESA Takes First Step to a New Era in Environmental Monitoring References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-satrem [1]ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING & BIOREMEDIATION * Trees Toppled * ORNL Technology Puts Power of Lab Into the Field References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=E-enviro _________________________________________________________________ \ufffd Copyright 2001 SciQuest, Inc. To register, modify your selection of topics, or unsubscribe from this newsletter, please visit: [1] http://newsletter.scicentral.com/cgi-bin/register.cgi __________________________________________________________"}, {"response": 78, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, May 21, 2001 (23:26)", "body": "Op-ed piece from the NY Times: Comments? LIBERTIES By MAUREEN DOWD WASHINGTON \ufffd We want big. We want fast. We want far. We want now. We want 345 horsepower in a V-8 engine and 15 miles per gallon on the highway. We drive behemoths. We drive them alone. This country was not built on H.O.V. lanes. We don't have limits. We have liberties. If we don't wear our seat belts, it doesn't matter, because we have air bags. If the air bags don't deploy, it doesn't matter, because our cars are so beefy, we'll never get bruised. If we need to widen the streets for our all- wheel drives, we will. If we need to reinforce all the bridges in the country, so that they don't buckle and collapse under our 5,800-pound S.U.V.'s, our engineers will do that. We'll bake the earth. We'll brown & serve it, saut\ufffd it, simmer it, sear it, fondue it, George-Foreman-grill it. (We invented the Foreman grill.) We might one day bring the earth to a boil and pull it like taffy. (We invented taffy.) If rising seas obliterate the coasts, our marine geologists will sculpt new ones and Hollywood will get bright new ideas for disaster movies. If we get charred by the sun, our dermatologists will replace our skin. If the globe gets warmer, we'll turn up the air-conditioning. (We invented air-conditioning.) We'll drive faster in our gigantic, air-conditioned cars to the new beaches that our marine geologists create. We will let our power plants spew any chemicals we deem necessary to fire up our Interplaks, our Krups, our Black & Deckers and our Fujitsu Plasmavisions. We will drill for oil whenever and wherever we please. If tourists don't like rigs off the coast of Florida, they can go fly fishing in Wyoming. We won't be deterred by a few Arctic terns. We don't care about caribou. We don't care for cardigans. Give us our 69 degrees, winter and summer. Let there be light \ufffd no timers, no freaky- shaped long-life bulbs. (We invented the light bulb.) We want our refrigerators cold and our freezers colder. Bring on the freon. Banish those irritating toilets that restrict flow. When we flush, we flush all the way. We will perfect the dream of nuclear power. We will put our toxic waste wherever we want, whenever we waste it. We have whole states with nothing better to do than serve as ancestral burial grounds for our effluvium. It can fester in those wide open spaces for thousands of years. We will have the biggest, baddest missiles, and we will point them in any direction we like, across the galaxies, through eternity, forever and ever. We will thrust as many satellites as we want into outer space, and we will surround them with a firewall of weapons for their protection. We will guarantee broadband and fast connections to the Internet. We will not permit anybody, anywhere, at any time to threaten the delivery of all the necessities to computers, Palm Pilots and BlackBerrys: stock quotes, sports scores, real estate listings, epicurean.com recipes, porn. (O.K., so we didn't invent porn.) By arming space, and protecting satellites, we ensure life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness \ufffd our 500 TV channels drawn from the ether. We will secure the inalienable right of every citizen driving by himself in his big car to be guided by a global positioning system. Nobody should have to call in advance for directions to a party when the satellite can show the way. We will modify food in any way we want and send it to any country we see fit at prices that we and we alone determine in the cargo ships we choose at the time we set. Our international banking arm \ufffd the World Bank and the I.M.F. \ufffd will support whatever dictatorships suit us best. We will fly up any coast of any nation on earth with any plane filled with any surveillance equipment and top guns that we possess. We will build superduperjumbo jets so Brobdingnagian that runways will be crushed under their weight at the most congested airports in the history of aviation. (We invented aviation.) We will buy, carry, conceal and shoot firearms whenever and wherever we want, as is our constitutionally guaranteed right. (We invented the Constitution.) We will kill any criminal we want, by lethal injection or electrocution. (We invented electricity.) We are America. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/20/opinion/20DOWD.html?ex=991399344&ei=1&en=21c988f0da29a57b"}, {"response": 79, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, May 22, 2001 (14:58)", "body": "This is true and this is also frightening. With great resources comes great responsibilities. Whatever happened to the responsibility part? We know what we did with all of our resources! Thanks, Terry!"}, {"response": 80, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Thu, May 24, 2001 (01:39)", "body": "Good one Terry ... makes you think doesn't it!"}, {"response": 81, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, May 25, 2001 (15:26)", "body": "News Release U.S. Dept. of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey Fri., May 25, 2001 Science on the Beach in North Carolina How much water is there, how long will it last, and where is it, are questions that scientists are trying to answer as they drill holes this summer in North Carolina. Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey are drilling a core hole at Kure Beach near the Ft. Fisher Historical Site that will be the first step in a statewide program to document and describe the subsurface geology of the North Carolina Coastal Plain. The goal of the drilling project is to develop a better understanding of the size and geographic extent of the water aquifers and the relationship between the aquifers, geology, and water quality in the state. \"Most geologists used to assume that the geology of the Coastal Plain was quite simple, like a stack of blankets on a bed,\" says USGS scientist Robert E. Weems. \"Over time, however, USGS drilling and research in South Carolina and Virginia has shown that the actual buried patterns in this area are more complex than we thought. As a result of sea level changes, a cut-and-fill pattern of sedimentation is repeated up and down the Coastal Plain in South Carolina and Virginia, which has produced earth layers that fit together much more like a patchwork quilt than a stack of blankets. This complex pattern makes understanding aquifers and water quality much more challenging than was previously thought. There is every reason to believe that we will find the same kinds of patterns in North Carolina.\" The USGS research at Kure Beach involves drilling a 1,500-foot hole in the Earth, bringing up an intact core (underground sediment and rock) for analysis, and installing a deep probe in basement rocks in order to monitor seismic activity in the region. The drilling began this week and will continue until the end of July. Barbara Hoppe, Director of the Ft. Fisher Historical Site, said, \"We look forward to working with the USGS and the state agencies that are involved in this cooperative effort to gather important data on coastal geology and water resources. The information that is gathered will be beneficial to us all.\" Results of the project, which is supported and partially funded by the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources' Division of Water Quality and Water Resources, the North Carolina Geological Survey, the University of North Carolina-Wilmington and the USGS, will assist local and state water resources managers in making better decisions concerning the availability and use of ground water. A similar study was conducted in the Coastal Plain of South Carolina and resulted in the creation of a comprehensive database of geologic and hydrologic information that is used by state agencies and private industry. The USGS serves the nation by providing impartial scientific information to describe and understand the Earth, its resources and processes; minimize loss of life and property from natural disasters; manage water, biological, energy, and mineral resources; and enhance and protect our quality of life. * * * USGS * * * This press release and in-depth information about USGS programs may be found on the USGS home page: http://www.usgs.gov . To receive the latest USGS news releases automatically by email, send a request to listproc@listserver.usgs.gov. Specify the listserver(s) of interest from the following names: water-pr: geologic-hazards-pr; biological-pr; geologic-pr; mapping-pr; products-pr; lecture-pr. In the body of the message write: subscribe (name of listserver) (your name). Example: subscribe water-pr joe smith."}, {"response": 82, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, May 26, 2001 (21:53)", "body": "SCICENTRAL NEWS ALERT brought to you by [1]SciQuest on Friday, 25-May-2001 09:31:23 AM EDT Friday, May 25, 2001 Edition _________________________________________________________________ References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/ [1]EVOLUTION & PALEONTOLOGY * What It Means to Be a Mammal: New Clues From Tiny Fossil Described * Bibliography of Genetic Variation in Natural Populations (Database) * Discovery of Prehistoric Domesticated Sunflower Seeds Challenges Widely Accepted Theory of Plant Domestication in North America * Standing Tall: Plains Indians Enjoyed Height, Health Advantage Over European-Americans * Shift in Eating Habits of Early Modern Humans References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=B-evolut [1]MARINE BIOLOGY * Study Finds Wind, Currents Play Key Role Where Young Fish Settle * Great Barrier Reef Not So Old References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=B-marbio [1]WILDLIFE & FISHERIES * Study Shows Age, Sex, Weather, Factors in Fluctuating Soay Sheep Population * Study Finds Wind, Currents Play Key Role Where Young Fish Settle * Unfair Game * Journey of the Nectar Bats * Great Apes in Peril References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=B-wildfi [1]ASTRONOMY * When It's Dry Follow the Rocks * Pluto Has Big Shiny Colleague * Cassini's Epic Tour of the Rings * Discovery Brightens Odds of Finding Another Pluto * \"Tadpole Hunters\" May Net Forming Planets * Europe Launches Into Astrobiology * Galileo Gets One Last Close Encounter with Jupiter's Callisto * Menagerie of Mars Scouts: Bold New Proposals for Exploring The Red Planet * A Glimpse of the Very Early Universal Web * Cosmic Chemistry Gets Creative * A Taste for Comet Water * Counting All the Light in Deep Space References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-astron [1]GEOGRAPHY/GIS * Magellan Brings Three Meter Accuracy to Handheld GPS * Video Flies Along the Santa Barbara Coast and Mountains * Lockheed Martin Goes Live With Real-Time EO Datastream References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-geogra [1]GEOLOGY * Antarctic Lake Disappoints References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-geolog [1]GEOPHYSICS, SEISMOLOGY, & VOLCANOLOGY * Yellowstone Volcano Observatory Established References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-geophy [1]HYDROLOGY * The Fertile Crescent, One of the World's Most Important Wetlands, Devastated by Drainage References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-hydrol [1]METEOROLOGY & CLIMATOLOGY * Water-Witching From Space * Dust Begets Dust * The Pacific Dust Express References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-meteo [1]OCEANOGRAPHY * Giant Lava Lake Found References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-oceano [1]SATELLITES & REMOTE SENSING * TERRA Captures Wildfires Raging Across Florida * Water-Witching From Space * Archaeologists Dig Space * Cluster Quartet Move in Step References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-satrem [1]ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING & BIOREMEDIATION * Scientists Seek to Test Rocket Technology to Produce Pollution-Free Electricity * Web Site Advises Californians How to Cut Energy Use by 20% * \"Carbon Farming\" May Help Curb Global Warming * Carbon Sunk * Scrubbing Up * Bag of Tricks References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=E-enviro _________________________________________________________________ \ufffd Copyright 2001 SciQuest, Inc. To register, modify your selection of topics, or unsubscribe from this newsletter, please visit: [1] http://newsletter.scicentral.com/cgi-bin/register.cgi _________________________________________________________________"}, {"response": 83, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, May 28, 2001 (17:13)", "body": "Thanjk 'orrible for this one: SCIENTISTS have taken a snapshot of the most sophisticated machine on the planet, a fundamental advance that could underpin a range of developments, from new antibiotics to detergents. A team, including scientists from Cambridge, has laid bare crucial details of a piece of living machinery, the ribosome, a particle that makes the thousands of proteins that are required for the structure and function of each and every living cell in the body. More.... http://www.telegraph.co.uk:80/et?ac=004826292612046&rtmo=VrgfwDsK&atmo=rrrrrrrq&pg=/et/99/10/7/ecfprot07.html"}, {"response": 84, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jun  1, 2001 (20:48)", "body": "SCICENTRAL NEWS ALERT brought to you by [1]SciQuest Friday, June 1, 2001 Edition _________________________________________________________________ References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/ [1]EVOLUTION & PALEONTOLOGY * Ancient Oceans Experienced a Surge in Biological Productivity * Paleontologists Locate a New Genus of Colossal Dinosaur Along an Ancient Coastline * Tours Power Tools * Triceratops Is No Slouch References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=B-evolut [1]WILDLIFE & FISHERIES * Study of Marine Snail Suggests Conservation Efforts Should Consider Factors Beyond Genetic Diversity * Saving the Siberian Tiger * Fragmentation Linked to Stress in Birds * Pet Trade Wrong: Poaching Major Threat to Parrots * Fragmentation May Limit Songbird Sex Lives References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=B-wildfi [1]ASTRONOMY * Hubble Unveils a Galaxy in Living Color * Near-Earth Asteroid Is Two Chunks in One * Under Wraps * Moon Seen as Haven for Protolife * Life, the Universe and Everything Discussed in Frascati * Unmasking the Face on Mars * Captured on Camera: Are They Planets? * New Images of Martian Dust Devils, Dunes and \"The Face\" * NASA Gives Go-Ahead to Build \"Deep Impact\" Spacecraft * In Search of the Milky Way's Habitable Zone References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-astron [1]GEOGRAPHY/GIS * Remote Sensing Study Defines \"Edgy\" Cities * High-Resolution DEMs Used in 3D Visualization, Image Processing and GIS * Internet GIS Supports Environmental Impact Assessment in Northern Alberta References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-geogra [1]GEOLOGY * Ancient Oceans Experienced a Surge in Biological Productivity * International Scientists Probe Unsolved Puzzles of the Earth and Beyond at \"Earth System Processes\" * New Research Shows Mountain Glaciers Shrinking Worldwide * Tropical Glaciers Formed While Earth Was a Giant Snowball References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-geolog [1]METEOROLOGY & CLIMATOLOGY * Migrating Impurities in Ancient Ice Can Skew Climate Research Findings * Vegetation Key to Accurate Climate Modeling * El Ni\ufffdo Link to Southern Ocean Currents * Melting Glaciers Signal Global Warming References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-meteo [1]OCEANOGRAPHY * Ancient Oceans Experienced a Surge in Biological Productivity * El Ni\ufffdo Link to Southern Ocean Currents * Unusual Source of Ocean Water Contamination May Rewrite Environmental Textbooks * Great Barrier Reef Not So Old References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-oceano [1]SATELLITES & REMOTE SENSING * \"Landsat on Steroids\": Looking at the Urban Impact on Earth From Space * New NASA/CSA Monitor Provides Global Air Pollution View From Space * Artificial Intelligence Software to Command Mission * An Improved Method for Monitoring National and Global Deforestation * New Satellite Study Shows Vegetation Increases in U.S. * HOPE for Detecting Landmines * Fengyun 1-C Stars in Environmental Monitoring as Sandstorms Rage References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-satrem [1]ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING & BIOREMEDIATION * Arsenic-Catchers Could Help Communities Supply Safer Drinking Water Affordably * New NASA/CSA Monitor Provides Global Air Pollution View From Space * Ill Winds Carry Toxic Dust * An Improved Method for Monitoring National and Global Deforestation * Unusual Source of Ocean Water Contamination May Rewrite Environmental Textbooks * One Hour of Grass Cutting Equals 100 Miles Worth of Auto Pollution References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=E-enviro _________________________________________________________________ \ufffd Copyright 2001 SciQuest, Inc. __________________________________________________________"}, {"response": 85, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jun  4, 2001 (17:23)", "body": "Thanks, Horrible Horace, I apppreciate this from: http://www.newscientist.com/dailynews/news.jsp?id/ Launch fear An Australian deal to launch Russian satellites from an island in the Indian Ocean threatens unique species Shocking games A computer game controller that can deliver electric shocks to players is being developed in the US Radiation revelation Scientists' requests for blood tests on servicemen taking part in British nuclear tests in the 1950s were overruled by military commanders On the beat People really do have an innate sense of rhythm, research on finger-tapping reveals Out of control NASA is forced to destroy an experimental hypersonic jet after it careers off course Hide and seek A device capable of detecting concealed weapons in a crowd is being developed by US researchers Balancing act Zapping your head with electricity could help you keep your balance Burning issue Senior UK government officials admit to failing to follow advice on how to safely dispose of animals culled during the foot and mouth outbreak On the record Russian scientists must now report all foreign contacts - but the move might actually protect researchers Alien invaders A distributed computing project to look for signs of extraterrestrial life is hijacked by human invaders Road warrior A gadget-packed truck inspired by Bond movies is unveiled by the US Army Lost world The skeleton of a giant sauropod is found in what was once \"dinosaur heaven\" Stiff competition A fast-acting rival to the anti-impotence pill Viagra is approved for sale in Europe Portable privacy A mobile phone that protects transmissions from sophisticated eavesdropping is launched in Germany Raging bull Cattle's coiffure reveals how likely an animal is to overreact to unfamiliar situations Worst nightmare Terrorists could easily make an atomic bomb from MOX fuel, says a confidential report Space revolution Smart satellites due for launch next summer will be able to plan their own missions Tagged for death Abnormalities found in the DNA of cloned embryos could explain why so many die Meltdown Glaciers all over the world are shrinking, a new satellite survey reveals Plunging salmon Stocks of wild Atlantic salmon are at their lowest ever levels, says conservation group Armlock A giant arm on the International Space Station has seized up, delaying the next shuttle flight Occupational hazard Sports injuries don't just affect athletes - furry-costumed mascots are also highly susceptible Home from home An endless stream of other people's home movies will soon be beamed directly into your home Inside job Doctors perform the first heart bypass that does not require open-heart surgery Under wraps NASA must start planning a quarantine facility for Martian samples now, says an expert panel Watching worm A new computer worm that seeks out and reports child pornography is criticised for being too unsubtle Daily News Archive"}, {"response": 86, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jun  8, 2001 (17:44)", "body": "If you would like to view this email in html, please click here. Virtual Congo Search a lifelike 360\ufffd image for animals and objects, then click for videos and stories from conservationist Michael Fay's 15- month trek through extreme Africa. SeaLab: Antarctica Aboard an icebreaker, nationalgeographic.com's Mark Christmas is spending 40 sun-starved days off the coldest continent--and sending back photos, research updates, and more. Interested in visiting the vast wilderness of Antarctica? Find trip suggestions here. National Geographic Store Shop National Geographic online! Click here to discover great, affordable products that bring the world and its wonders to you. Book: \"Shackleton--The Antarctic Challenge\" Illustrated with historical and modern photographs, this volume recounts Ernest Shackleton's four journeys to Antarctica. Destination Map: Great Smoky Mountains National Park More than a map, this durable resource includes travel itineraries, a complete listing of visitor services, vivid descriptions of the park's ecology and geology, and more. Maps Made Easier We've simplified our Maps and Geography page and added handy new tools--just in time for summer travel. Map Machine: Pinpoint any place on Earth Atlas Updates: Download patches incorporating recent changes Star Chart: Scan summer skies with our map of the heavens MapXchange: Download or post maps for use with TOPO! CD-ROMs Scenes From Small-Town Greece Gunshots, goat testicles, high-flying hoofing--on Crete, correspondent Jim Metzner chronicled just how far, and high, locals go to celebrate the spring cherry harvest. HREF=\"http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;2859240;5816404;j?http://209.167.164.66/brand/container.jsp?/models/main.jsp&modelCode=SLK230K\"> New Mercedes-Benz SL-Class Imagine dancing from curve to curve on an undulating ribbon of pavement in an exotic European sports GT. Few images in life evoke such desire. Introducing the 2002 SL-Class from Mercedes- Benz. Visit www.MBUSA.com to see it now. Heroes for the Planet Win a chance to join National Geographic in the field! You could join renowned marine biologist and National Geographic Explorer- in-Residence Sylvia Earle on an unforgettable trip. Just enter the Ford Motor Company's Heroes for the Planet conservation contest. NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC Magazine: Asia's Last Lions Go beyond the new article with online-only photos and field notes, a slide show, and more. NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TRAVELER Magazine: Virtual Flight Over the Smokies Soar over Tennessee and North Carolina's Great Smoky Mountains National Park. ADVENTURE Magazine: How I Broke Into High-Speed Sailing In less than a year writer John Vaillant went from sailing novice to salty dog, then sped off to cover one of sailing's fastest races. Have comments about our newsletter? E-mail: online@nationalgeographic.com."}, {"response": 87, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jun  8, 2001 (17:47)", "body": "Thanks for the above, Ian. Great stuff there! Ian's son, Lewis, just made the England Archery team for an International Contest in July. Cheers to Lewis and his father, the Archery Judge and whistle blower who has hung up said whistle to become a geologist."}, {"response": 88, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jun  8, 2001 (17:52)", "body": "SCICENTRAL NEWS ALERT brought to you by [1]SciQuest Friday, June 8, 2001 Edition _________________________________________________________________ References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/ [1]EVOLUTION & PALEONTOLOGY * Humans Hunted Mammals to Extinction in North America * Earliest Chewing Herbivore Ever Found Spurred Animal Life on Land * Ancient DNA Evidence Could Settle Dispute About Prehistoric Native American Migrations * Fossilized Trees May Hold Key to Past Climates * Evolution at a Snail's Pace: It's Faster Than You Think References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=B-evolut [1]MARINE BIOLOGY * New Instrument Enables Remote Detection of Toxic Algae in Real Time References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=B-marbio [1]WILDLIFE & FISHERIES * Taking a Dive * Killer Whale * Chilean Oil Spill Damages Birds, Salmon Farm * Researchers Find Mixing Between California Spotted Owls and Northern Spotted Owls * Will Drilling for Oil Disrupt the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge? * Problems and Promise in the Land of the 'Hooch * In Search of Arizona's Elegant Visitor * Scientists Record Extraordinary Sounds Made by Minke Whales References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=B-wildfi [1]ASTRONOMY * Early Results From the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: From Under Our Nose to the Edge of the Universe * NTT Observations Indicate That Brown Dwarfs Form Like Stars * Aurorae and Volcanic Eruptions * A Change of Seasons on Saturn * New Map of the \"Nearby\" Universe Reveals Large-Scale Structure of Galaxies * Active Volcanism on Mars and the Search for Water * Bigger, Better Catalog Unveils Half a Billion Celestial Objects * New Study Indicates Planet Formation May Be Rare in Universe * Massive Star Clusters Swaddled in Huge Cocoons During Infancy * Jellyplants on Mars * NASA's Mars Global Surveyor Captures Dust Storms * Crescents Slice the Darkness in \"Farewell Jupiter\" Picture by Cassini References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-astron [1]GEOLOGY * Did Hades Freeze Over? References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-geolog [1]GEOPHYSICS, SEISMOLOGY, & VOLCANOLOGY * Smoke on the Peninsula * Crackling Noise in Cereal and Magnets Aids Study Of Earthquakes References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-geophy [1]HYDROLOGY * Enhanced Model Better Assesses Impact of Climate Variability References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-hydrol [1]METEOROLOGY & CLIMATOLOGY * A Closer Look at Global Warming (Special Report) * Graziers Flock to Block Burps * New Research Can Improve Regional U.S. Snowfall Forecasts During El Ni\ufffdos and La Ni\ufffdas Winters * Climate Sensitivity May Be Higher Than Many Think * Shift From Forest to Crops Lowers Daytime Temperatures in the Midwest References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-meteo [1]OCEANOGRAPHY * New Instrument Enables Remote Detection of Toxic Algae in Real Time References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-oceano [1]ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING & BIOREMEDIATION * Reducing Primary Chemical Emissions Does Not Always Reduce Pollution * Gas Cap * Cleaning Up Dioxin With Nanotubes * Do We Need Nuclear Power? References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=E-enviro _________________________________________________________________ \ufffd Copyright 2001 SciQuest, Inc. To register, modify your selection of topics, or unsubscribe from this newsletter, please visit: [1] http://newsletter.scicentral.com/cgi-bin/register.cgi _________________________________________________________________"}, {"response": 89, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jun 13, 2001 (14:39)", "body": "Yahoo! News Bulletins: Reuters Science News Wed 13 2001 5:00 AM ET Japan Group Urges Govt. to Stamp Out Tiger Products Japan remains a haven for illicit sales of products containing tiger penises and other body parts, despite a new law intended to help protect the endangered animal from poachers, a Japanese conservation group said on Wednesday. http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010613/sc/environment_japan_tiger_dc_1.html ____________________________________ U.S. Scientists Solve Texas Outlaw Mystery Smithsonian scientists said on Wednesday they had solved a 123-year-old mystery over whether a legendary Texas outlaw, ``Wild Bill'' Longley, managed to escape his hanging in 1878. http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010613/sc/life_outlaw_dc_1.html ____________________________________ Sri Lanka Plans Radical Revamp of National Parks Sri Lanka, with one of the most diverse ecosystems in the world, announced plans on Wednesday to radically reorganize its national parks and zoos to help protect wildlife, particularly elephants. http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010613/sc/srilanka_parks_dc_1.html ____________________________________ Experts to Warn Against Mad Cow Complacency An international conference on mad cow disease will urge all countries to take pre-emptive measures to combat the fatal, brain-wasting illness, a participant said on Wednesday. http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010613/sc/madcow_conference_dc_1.html ____________________________________ Vanuatu Volcano Spews Ash, Smoke in South Pacific A volcano on the uninhabited Vanuatu island of Lopevi has been spewing ash and smoke since last Friday and has caused cracks in the tiny South Pacific island, local media reported on Wednesday. http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010613/sc/vanuatu_volcano_dc_1.html ____________________________________ Spacecraft Aims to Snap Big Bang 'Baby Picture' A spacecraft that looks a bit like a foil-covered umbrella aims to take the ``ultimate baby picture'' of remnants of the theoretical Big Bang that gave birth to the universe, astronomers said on Tuesday. http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010612/sc/space_map_dc_3.html ____________________________________ Gene May Protect Women Against Breast Cancer A form of a gene that helps control cell growth may inhibit the development of breast cancer, at least among older white women, a study said on Tuesday. http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010612/sc/health_cancer_dc_4.html ____________________________________ Antibiotic Prevents Lyme Disease if Given Quickly A one-dose treatment with the antibiotic doxycycline, given soon after the bite of a deer tick, can prevent Lyme disease, researchers reported on Tuesday as the season for getting the crippling ailment draws near. http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010612/sc/health_lyme_dc_1.html"}, {"response": 90, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jun 15, 2001 (21:30)", "body": "From: NAU Geology Northern Arizona University One-year mineralogy-petrology position The Department of Geology at Northern Arizona University is conducting a search to fill a one-year position at the rank of instructor or visiting assistant professor with a start date of August 20, 2001. Candidates must have a completed Masters degree in Geology by the start date. All-but-dissertation or PhD is preferred. The candidate must have expertise in mineralogy, optical mineralogy, and igneous and metamorphic petrology, demonstrated through course work and prior teaching experience and/or research. The candidate will teach undergraduate classes in mineralogy, optical mineralogy, petrology and the laboratory sections associated with these classes with the support of a Graduate Assistant. Additionally, s/he may also be expected to teach introductory geology courses including Introduction to Geology , Physical Geology, and Introduction to Field Methods. We prefer applicants who have experience teaching diverse student populations. Applications should be sent via e-mail as soon as possible to thomas.hoisch@nau.edu. Please include a letter of application, a current CV, and the names and addresses (postal and e-mail) of at least three referees. The position will remain open until filled. Review of applications will begin immediately, but all applications received through June 30, 2001 will be considered. Northern Arizona University offers unique opportunities for geologic studies in the unparalleled setting of the Colorado Plateau. Located at an elevation of 7,000 feet in the city of Flagstaff, NAU is situated within the San Francisco volcanic field along the southern flanks of the San Francisco Peaks. The \"peaks\" boast the highest point in Arizona and provide an alpine terrain for skiing and year-round hiking, biking, etc. Flagstaff is the home of the Museum of Northern Arizona and the U.S. Geological Survey Flagstaff Field Center. Seven national parks and monuments are located with a 100-mile radius of Flagstaff, including the Grand Canyon. Additional information is provided on the department's web page at http://vishnu.glg.nau.edu . Northern Arizona University is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. Minorities, women, persons with disabilities and veterans are encouraged to apply."}, {"response": 91, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jun 20, 2001 (18:01)", "body": "For a wee bit of Irish Bragging from Liam (or is that notoriety?!) The grisly tale of two Irish anatomical entrepreneurs http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/science/2001/0614/sci4.htm On A recent tour of Edinburgh our guide pointed out where the infamous William Burke and William Hare had plied their grisly trade of supplying cadavers to the anatomical dissection classes of Dr Robert Knox. Later, when casually following up the story of Burke and Hare I discovered that both were Irish. In the late 18th and the 19th centuries, anatomists and surgeons faced a severe shortage of cadavers, necessary to further medical science and to teach anatomy. In Britain the only legal source was the gallows but supply fell well short of demand. And so, in order to meet the shortfall, the \"profession\" of grave-robber was born. The grave-robbers caused widespread anxiety. Friends and relatives of the deceased felt obliged to stand guard over the grave. Special watch-houses were built to secure the grave until the interred body had deteriorated to a stage where it was no longer medically useful. Grave-robbing had become a considerable business by 1820. Edinburgh with its many anatomy schools provided the biggest market and such was the demand that corpses reached that city from as far afield as Dublin. Prices ranged from \ufffd4 to \ufffd14. The most eminent anatomist and surgeon in Edinburgh was Dr Robert Knox (1701-1862). In 1825 he established an anatomy school which quickly attracted the largest enrolment (500) in Britain. This called for a proportionally high supply of bodies. Knox paid up to \ufffd800 per year for bodies. In 1827, Burke and Hare started to do business with Knox's school, delivering corpses of remarkable freshness. William Burke was born in 1792 to peasant parents at Orrery, Co Cork. He moved to Scotland in 1818 to labour on the construction of the Union Canal linking Glasgow to Edinburgh. He took up with a young Scottish prostitute, Helen McDougal. William Hare was born in Derry in 1790. He moved to Scotland and, like Burke, laboured on the Union Canal. He moved in with Margaret Laird, a widowed lodginghouse keeper in Edinburgh. In 1827, Burke and McDougal moved into the lodging-house run by Hare and Laird. Shortly afterwards, an elderly pensioner died in the house owing \ufffd4 rent arrears. To make good his loss, Hare, with Burke's assistance, sold the corpse to Dr Knox's school for \ufffd7 5 shillings. Both men were struck by the opportunity to make easy money. They decided to take an active approach and, over the next year, killed at least 15 people, many of them lodgers at Hare's establishment. Their usual modus operandi was to get their victim drunk and then to kill him/ her by smothering. As time went on they became careless and things came to a head when neighbours, suspicious at the sudden disappearance of a Mrs Docherty, entered Burke's house. Burke and McDougal were arrested for murder. The police later found Mrs Docherty's body in the Knox Anatomy School and, after interrogating the porter, they also arrested Hare and Laird. Only Mrs Docherty's body was available as physical evidence. The police were certain that their prisoners were guilty of many murders but couldn't prove this and, of course, their prisoners denied the charges. They decided that the only way to make progress was to offer immunity from prosecution to whichever of the accused would give up the others. Hare agreed to co-operate on condition that he and Laird were granted safety from prosecution. Burke and McDougal were tried on Christmas Eve 1828 on three charges of murder. McDougal was indicted only on the charge of murdering Margaret Docherty. The jury found Burke guilty but decided that the case against McDougal was not proven. Burke was sentenced to be hanged on January 28th, 1829, and his body to be given to the surgeons for dissection. Burke confessed to his crimes. He declared that McDougal and Laird knew nothing of what was going on. Burke and Hare had told the anatomists that they purchased the bodies from relations and others about Edinburgh. Killing by suffocation left no marks on the bodies and aroused no suspicions on the part of the doctors. At least 20,000 people turned out to see Burke hanged. Burke declared he was glad he had been brought to justice and that he depended on the atonement of the Saviour for salvation. The crowd greeted Burke's appearance on the gallows with roars of - \"Burke him, Burke him - give him no rope\". They also shouted for Hare to be hanged. After Burke was hanged the officials struggled among themselves to get scraps of the hanging rope and other relics of the occasion. Helen McDougal was released from jail on St Stephen's Day, but was recognised and forced to run for her life from a mob. She may have ended her days in Australia. When Hare was released from prison he went to work in a lime-kiln in England, but when his fellow workers discovered who he was they blinded him by throwing lime in his eyes. He ended h"}, {"response": 92, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jun 23, 2001 (00:35)", "body": "SCICENTRAL NEWS ALERT brought to you by [1]SciQuest Friday, June 22, 2001 Edition _________________________________________________________________ References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/ [1]EVOLUTION & PALEONTOLOGY * Plant/Pathogen Evolutionary Dynamic Defies Simple Arms Race Model * Off With Their heads * War of Words * More Feathered Dinosaurs Found * The Flat Faced Man of Kenya (Special Report) References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=B-evolut [1]WILDLIFE & FISHERIES * Butterflies Fall in Flanders Fields * Lights Out * Whale of a Problem * Fish Fission Found * Tundra Birds Get Down and Dirty * Cheering News for Depressed Mussels * Asian Bird Species Threatened * Sigma Chi Chimpy References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=B-wildfi [1]ASTRONOMY * Total Solar Eclipse 2001 Special Report * A Close Encounter With Mars * Striking Ultraviolet Images From XMM-Newton: Extreme Stellar Activity and the Supermassive Black Hole in M81 * NASA to \"Map\" Big Bang Remnant to Study Early Universe * Hardy Craft to Complete Map of Blistering Mercury * Mars Odyssey Cruising Along * Cosmic Cannon: How an Exploding Star Could Fry Earth References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-astron [1]GEOLOGY * New Maps/Report by USGS Scientists Show Underwater Features of Crater Lake in Unprecedented Detail References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-geolog [1]GEOPHYSICS, SEISMOLOGY, & VOLCANOLOGY * Seismic Hazard on South Hawaii Island Rivals That of Los Angeles * Seismological Field Study Confirms Asymmetry in Thrust Fault Behavior * Pinatubo: 10 Years After the Big One References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-geophy [1]HYDROLOGY * In a Dry Land References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-hydrol [1]METEOROLOGY & CLIMATOLOGY * Method for Identifying Chaotic Atmospheric \"Hot Spots\" May Be Key to Better Weather Forecasts * Scientists Reconcile Opposing Views of U.S. Role in Greenhouse Gas Problem * Scientist Seeks Improved Methods for Weather Prediction in Southeast U.S. * Climate Changes Involve All of the Atmosphere * Mobile Homes for Microbes * Satellites Reveal Hawaiian Isles' Long Tail of Wind and Water References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-meteo [1]OCEANOGRAPHY * Pacific Remains Locked in Three-Year-Old Pattern * Bubbling Under * Satellites Reveal Hawaiian Isles' Long Tail of Wind and Water * Norwegian Sea Proposed as Storage Site for Carbon Dioxide References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-oceano [1]ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING & BIOREMEDIATION * Study Reveals Critical Factors Affecting Levels of Carbon Monoxide, Ozone in American Cities * Bubbling Under * Marsh Spews Bacteria Onto Beach * Norwegian Sea Proposed as Storage Site for Carbon Dioxide * Muddy Waters: Letting the Gulf of Mexico Breathe Again * Shrinking the Dead Zone * Is Dilution the Solution to Pollution? References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=E-enviro _________________________________________________________________ \ufffd Copyright 2001 SciQuest, Inc. To register, modify your selection of topics, or unsubscribe from this newsletter, please visit: [1] http://newsletter.scicentral.com/cgi-bin/register.cgi _________________________________________________________________ References 1. http://newsletter.scicentral.com/cgi-bin/register.cgi"}, {"response": 93, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jun 29, 2001 (14:33)", "body": "SCICENTRAL NEWS ALERT brought to you by [1]SciQuest Friday, June 29, 2001 Edition _________________________________________________________________ References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/ [1]EVOLUTION & PALEONTOLOGY * Identification of Mating Genes Provides Clues to Evolution * Where There's Soup, There's Life * Salamanders Stretch Themselves Thin References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=B-evolut [1]WILDLIFE & FISHERIES * First Dolphins Born by Artificial Insemination * Not Always More Fish in the Sea * Peruvian Area Has More Mammal Species Than Any Other * Poaching Threatens \"Smart\" Guinean Chimpanzees * Analysis of Impact Studies Reveals How Bottom Fishing Affects Seafloor Denizens * Birds Accept Sweets From Strange Flowers * The \"Corn Crake\" Operation References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=B-wildfi [1]ASTRONOMY * Hint of Planet-Sized Drifters Bewilders Hubble Scientists * Chandra Captures First X-Rays From Young Planetary Nebula * Ringing Out the Bugs on Route to Saturn and Titan * Catching Dust Devils on Mars * Temperature Map of Volcanic Moon Io Presents a Puzzle * Mars Express: Europe Conquers the Red Planet References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-astron [1]GEOLOGY * Chaos Killed the Dinosaurs * Snowball Fight in Edinburgh * Modeling Creates Clearer Picture of Pre-Oxygen Archean Atmosphere * Rare Orbital Anomaly May Have Caused Global Cooling 23 Million Years Ago * Silica Not Solely Responsible for Ice Age CO2 Levels * How Trees Changed the World * Ancient Peruvian Civilization May Have Fallen Foul of El Ni\ufffdo * Mountains Crumble Fast, Catastrophically References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-geolog [1]GEOPHYSICS, SEISMOLOGY, & VOLCANOLOGY * Student Confirms Asteroid Impact Site in Panama * Geologist Believes He Knows the True Nature of the Loch Ness Monster * Hot-Spot Theory and the Origin of the Hawaiian Islands * Elastic Lava Blows Its Top * Cluster's Whispers Probe the Electrifying Plasmasphere * Philippines Volcano May Erupt \"For Weeks\" References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-geophy [1]HYDROLOGY * Giant Rain Gauges Reveal Record of Past Climate References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-hydrol [1]METEOROLOGY & CLIMATOLOGY * El Ni\ufffdo Repellent? * All the World's a Stage... for Dust * I've Looked at Clouds From Both Sides Now: A Perspective From the Warm Pool References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-meteo [1]OCEANOGRAPHY * Climate Change and Coral Reefs References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-oceano [1]SATELLITES & REMOTE SENSING * Lots O' Vision * All the World's a Stage... for Dust References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-satrem [1]ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING & BIOREMEDIATION * Bugs Make a Meal of Benzene * Amazon Rainforest Could Be Unsustainable Within a Decade * Put a Lid on It * Power, Heat and Cooling From Manure * Fungus \"Eats\" CDs References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=E-enviro _________________________________________________________________ \ufffd Copyright 2001 SciQuest, Inc. To register, modify your selection of topics, or unsubscribe from this newsletter, please visit: [1] http://newsletter.scicentral.com/cgi-bin/register.cgi _________________________________________________________________ References 1. http://newsletter.scicentral.com/cgi-bin/register.cgi"}, {"response": 94, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jul  6, 2001 (23:54)", "body": "SCICENTRAL NEWS ALERT brought to you by [1]SciQuest Friday, July 6, 2001 Edition _________________________________________________________________ References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/ [1]EVOLUTION & PALEONTOLOGY * The Invasion of the Giant Clams * Study of Aquatic Bird Genes Reveals Surprising Relationships and Evolutionary History * Cave Reveals Spectacular Secrets * Kangaroo, Platypus Are Not Related After All; Scientists Refute Current Molecular Method of Classifying Mammals References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=B-evolut [1]MARINE BIOLOGY * Researchers Discover New Photosynthetic Bacteria That Appear to Be Significant Component of Ocean's Carbon Cycle * The Invasion of the Giant Clams * Study for Products, Drugs From Sea Bonds Sponge, Bacteria * Humans to Blame for Coral Decline References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=B-marbio [1]WILDLIFE & FISHERIES * Is the Clock Ticking for the Cuckoo? * Meet \"Henry and Nick,\" Seals Featured in Study * Dormice Head Back to the Woods * Most Mammal Species Found in Peruvian Amazon References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=B-wildfi [1]ASTRONOMY * Cannibalism Feeds Growing Galaxies * Kuiper Belt Object Found Possibly as Large as Pluto's Moon * Lasers Help Show Stars Are Larger Than Thought * Wandering Mystery Planets * Big Moon-Sized Object Found Beyond Neptune * A \"Gift of Galaxies\" * Europe and NASA Set New Cassini-Huygens Plan * Eye Site * Venus Holds Picture of Baby Earth References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-astron [1]GEOLOGY * Carbon Dating \"Might Be Wrong by 10,000 Years\" * NOAA Paleoclimatology Program (Selected Site) * Stalagmite Has Climate Warning * Researcher Unlocks Mystery of Recurring Hole in Antarctica's Sea Ice References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-geolog [1]GEOPHYSICS, SEISMOLOGY, & VOLCANOLOGY * Ancient Volcanoes * All Earthquake Fault Lines Not Equal * Scientists Find Evidence of Highly Oxidizing Environment Over the South Pole * Discovery of Stagnant Lithosphere Says Less Mixing Occurs in Earth References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-geophy [1]METEOROLOGY & CLIMATOLOGY * Arctic Oscillation Has Moderated Northern Winters of 1980s and '90s * NOAA Paleoclimatology Program (Selected Site) * Water Cools the World * Researchers Determine Global Warming During the 20th Century May Be Slightly Larger Than Earlier Estimates References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-meteo [1]OCEANOGRAPHY * Researchers Discover New Plant-Like Bacteria That Appear to Be Significant Component of Ocean's Carbon Cycle * Water Cools the World * Humans to Blame for Coral Decline * Researcher Unlocks Mystery of Recurring Hole in Antarctica's Sea Ice References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-oceano [1]SATELLITES & REMOTE SENSING * High Speed Satellite Secrecy a Step Closer * XM Radio Birds Operating Perfectly * System Would Harness GPS Signals to Study Environment References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-satrem [1]ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING & BIOREMEDIATION * Coping With Swine Manure * The Arsenic Threat Worsens * Assessing the Risk of Estrogenic Chemical Mixtures * System Would Harness GPS Signals to Study Environment References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=E-enviro _________________________________________________________________ \ufffd Copyright 2001 SciQuest, Inc. References 1. http://newsletter.scicentral.com/cgi-bin/register.cgi"}, {"response": 95, "author": "dot", "date": "Sun, Jul  8, 2001 (10:53)", "body": "Columbia's http://www.earthscape.org/news1frame.html just may be a great resources to draw on in this conference. A sample from today: Breaking News & Video: July 6, 2001 IN THE NEWS, as described in exclusive videos from the American Museum of Natural History and ABC NewsOne\ufffdin the drought-ridden Pacific Northwest, farmers and environmentalists struggle over scarce water and the fate of salmon. Meanwhile, in the wake of rolling blackouts, California turns to water, too, for energy from the sea. The West already looks to fuel cells, and critics of President Bush's energy plans similarly press for alternative-energy sources. Also in the news, as described in more exclusive video\ufffdmovements deep within the Earth trigger geologic hazards half a world apart. An earthquake of magnitude 7.9 on the Richter scale injures hundreds in Peru, while in the Philippines the Mayon volcano leaves a blinding aftermath of ash and dust. For more related stories, check out the headlines just below and an in-depth feature of Today's Earth News, Analysis & Perspective. Looking for extensive resources on marine life, oceans, earthquakes, and volcanoes? Turn to the unveiling of big changes in our columbia earthscape education pages, with unique mini-courses in geologic hazards, Earth's climate, and now water resources! Look here first for classroom ideas and resources on the Earth's structure and plate tectonics, global warming, and the risks to humans and ecosystems. You'll find dozens of lectures, images and videos, projects and exercises, links to real-time data, and more. Find out why Choice magazine says that \"few measure up\" to columbia earthscape among sites devoted to the Earth. Find out, too, why we have been featured in the Scout Report for top Web sites in the sciences\ufffdand won the Association of American Publisher's annual award for \"best new Internet-based electronic product\" in mathematics and science. Then join an online discussion about the Earth! The Headlines Today's columbia earthscape feature headlines make a great resource\ufffdbut be sure to follow our comprehensive archive, for each subject, of related research reports and classroom models. The headlines come from these top sources: BBC Science News Environmental News Network (ENN) Environment News Service (ENS) New York Times Science News Today@NASA.gov U.S. EPA in the News Definitely worth checking out. http://www.earthscape.org/"}, {"response": 96, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jul 10, 2001 (22:09)", "body": "AUSTRALIA, JAPAN BACK AWAY FROM KYOTO CLIMATE PROTOCOL TOKYO, Japan July 9, 2001 (ENS) - A high level delegation from the European Union has failed to win unequivocal Japanese and Australian support for ratification of the Kyoto Protocol without U.S. involvement. For full text and graphics visit: http://ens-news.com/ens/jul2001/2001L-07-09-01.html *********************************************************************** U.S. FOREST SERVICE BEGINS ROLLBACK OF ROADLESS RULE WASHINGTON, DC, July 9, 2001 (ENS) - The U.S. Forest Service has begun reevaluating the roadless rule, a Clinton administration regulation aimed at protecting roadless areas of national forests. The agency says it will not appeal a federal court decision halting implementation of the rule, and will seek additional public comments before modifying and perhaps scaling back the rule to satisfy the timber industry. For full text and graphics visit: http://ens.lycos.com/ens/jul2001/2001L-07-09-06.html *********************************************************************** UN AGENCIES CALL FOR SAFETY TESTING OF BIOTECH FOODS GENEVA, Switzerland, July 9, 2001 (ENS) - A United Nations commission has agreed on the first global principles for assessing the safety of genetically modified foods, the two agencies organizing the effort announced on Friday. The proposed rules could some day prompt governments to call for increased safety testing of foods and food ingredients created through biotechnology. For full text and graphics visit: http://ens.lycos.com/ens/jul2001/2001L-07-09-07.html *********************************************************************** NORTHERN CONGO RAINFOREST SPARED BY GERMAN LOGGERS NEW YORK, New York, July 9, 2001 (ENS) - One of the last pristine rainforests in Africa will not be logged by a German timber company. Known as the Goualogo Triangle, the 100 square mile forest in the Republic of Congo contains some of the highest densities of gorillas, chimpanzees and forest elephants in central Africa. For full text and graphics visit: http://ens-news.com/ens/jul2001/2001L-07-09-03.html *********************************************************************** MULTINATIONAL OIL GIANT SEEKS TO BUILD WIND FARM OFF BELGIUM PARIS, France, July 9, 2001 (ENS) - The giant oil and chemicals company TotalFinaElf is planning to build a wind generation facility in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Belgium. Through its subsidiary Fina Eolia S.A./N.V., TotalFinaElf has applied to the Belgian Electricity and Gas Regulatory Commission for a concession to build and operate a wind farm in Belgian waters. For full text and graphics visit: http://ens-news.com/ens/jul2001/2001L-07-09-02.html *********************************************************************** ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE AMERISCAN: JULY 9, 2001 Robert Kennedy Jr. Jailed for Vieques Protest Russian Caviar Smuggler Lands in U.S. Jail Sea Lion Protection Efforts May Be Misguided Planned Montana Mine Could Be Environmental Disaster Rule Will Protect Miners from Diesel Pollution California Nuclear Plant to Boost Power Output Bill Proposes Tax Credit for Home Windmills Pollution Protesters Target West Virginia Power Plant New Zoo Exhibit Promotes Sport Hunting Missouri Halts Elk Restoration Effort For full text and graphics visit: http://ens.lycos.com/ens/jul2001/2001L-07-09-09.html Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2000 All Rights Reserved. *********************************************************************** SEND NEWS STORY TIPS TO news@ens-news.com *********************************************************************** E-Wire is a paid press release distribution service. Responsibility for the factual accuracy of each press release rests entirely with the individuals or organizations identified on the release. **************************************************************************** E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE **************************************************************************** TO NATIONAL, POLITICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL EDITORS: GSA Publishes Lorton Environmental Assessment WASHINGTON, D.C., Jul. 9 -/E-Wire/PR Newswire/-- The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) today announced that 552 acres are a historic district, eligible to be listed on the National Register, under an agreement signed as part of the Environmental Assessment of the Proposed Disposal of the Lorton Correctional Complex, Fairfax County, Va. /CONTACT: Viki Reath of U.S. General Services Administration, 202-501-1231, or viki.reath@gsa.gov// /Web site: http://www.gsa.gov http://propertydisposal.gsa.gov/lorton/ / For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/July01/09July0113.html **************************************************************************** E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE **************************************************************************** FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Trimol Group Enters Into Cooperation Agreement Wi"}, {"response": 97, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jul 12, 2001 (01:14)", "body": "NEW SCIENTIST WEEKLY NEWSLETTER No. 93, 14 July 2001 Bringing you the top headlines from all sections of New Scientist.com each week Efforts to harness nuclear fusion hot up http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns9999999 Are we facing an epidemic of twins and triplets? http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991001 Why some people are destined to divorce http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991002 Chameleon code makes hackers invisible http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991000 Oldest human is Ethiopian http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns9999995 Has the US gone wobbly over biological weapons? http://www.newscientist.com/opinion/opinterview.jsp?id=ns22995 Patenting the wheel http://www.newscientist.com/opinion/opfeedback.jsp?id=ns229999#15 How James Joyce can help you lose weight http://www.newscientist.com/lastword/answers/766body.jsp"}, {"response": 98, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jul 13, 2001 (17:18)", "body": "SciCentral News Alert for Friday, 13-Jul-2001 09:38:55 AM EDT [1]EVOLUTION & PALEONTOLOGY * Paleoanthropologists Find Oldest Human Ancestor in Ethiopia * Soil Suggests Early Humans Lived in Forests Instead of Grasslands * Lost City of Atlantis Vents Its Secrets * Farming's Roots Pushed Back * Becoming Human (Selected Site) * Sexual \"Arms Race\" Drives Species Evolution in Desert Fruit Flies * The Origin of Sex: Cosmic Solution to Ancient Mystery * Hormones Change in Fits and Starts References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=B-evolut [1]MARINE BIOLOGY * Nonindigenous Aquatic Species (Selected Site) * Nets Linked to Sea Turtle Deaths References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=B-marbio [1]WILDLIFE & FISHERIES * New Great White Shark Study Has Conservation Implications * Missouri Halts Elk Restoration Effort * Rats Go Bats Down by the Canal * Fish Feel a Little Tenderness * Fish Physiology and Climate Change * Snail Sex Improved by Love Dart * Nets Linked to Sea Turtle Deaths * Pollution \"Poses New Threat to Whales\" References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=B-wildfi [1]ASTRONOMY * Sizzling Comets Circle a Dying Star * NASA to Launch Genesis -- Robotic Space Explorer to Collect Piece of Sun * Most Distant Objects Observed * Moon-Count Rises on Saturn * S-Cam, the World's Most Advanced Optical Camera, Captures Eclipse of Binary Star * The Moon and Plate Tectonics: Why We Are Alone * Dust Storm Swallows Half of Mars * Hubble Images Remarkable Double Cluster * Morning Coffee and Planets * Hubble Captures Best View of Mars Ever Obtained From Earth References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-astron [1]GEOGRAPHY/GIS * World Land Database Charts a Troubling Course References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-geogra [1]GEOPHYSICS, SEISMOLOGY, & VOLCANOLOGY * Scientists Devise Technique That More Accurately Estimates Age of Shallow Faults Near Earth's Surface * Scientists Witness Underwater Alchemy * A New Southern California GPS Network to Advance the Study of Earthquakes -- The SCIGN \"Unveiling\" Event * Snow Knowing * How Fast Does the World Turn? New Quantum Gyro May Tell Us References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-geophy [1]METEOROLOGY & CLIMATOLOGY * Increasing Asian Smog Blocks Out the Sun * Planting Northern Forests Would Increase Global Warming * Climate Widens the Gulf * The Wild Card in the Climate Change Debate * Scientists Study Why More Storms Form in the Sandhills in Summer * Carbon Sinks \"Little Help to Climate\" * Biosphere 2 Redux References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-meteo [1]OCEANOGRAPHY * Scientists Seeking Secrets of \"Lost City\" * Scientists Witness Underwater Alchemy * Scientists to Test-Drive Advanced Coastal and Ocean Data Gathering System References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-oceano [1]ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING & BIOREMEDIATION * World Land Database Charts a Troubling Course * Turning Trash Into Treasure * Carbon Sinks \"Little Help to Climate\" * Landfills Make Mercury More Toxic References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=E-enviro _________________________________________________________________ \ufffd Copyright 2001 SciQuest, Inc. To register, modify your selection of topics, or unsubscribe from this newsletter, please visit: [1] http://newsletter.scicentral.com/cgi-bin/register.cgi _________________________________________________________________ References 1. http://newsletter.scicentral.com/cgi-bin/register.cgi"}, {"response": 99, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jul 17, 2001 (20:36)", "body": "ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE (ENS) http://ens-news.com \"We Cover the Earth For You\" *********************************************************************** POWER LINES, WIRING POSE HEALTH RISKS SACRAMENTO, California, July 16, 2001 (ENS) - Added risk of miscarriage, childhood leukemia, brain cancer and greater incidence of suicide are some of the health risks associated with exposure to electric and magnetic fields such as those that radiate from power lines, according to a California health department review. For full text and graphics visit: http://ens-news.com/ens/jul2001/2001L-07-16-02.html *********************************************************************** NORTON DENIES PETITION CHALLENGING KLAMATH WATER DIVERSIONS WASHINGTON, DC, July 16, 2001 (ENS) - Interior Secretary Gale Norton has turned down a request by drought stricken farmers in the Klamath Basin to reexamine a decision to withhold their irrigation water to aid endangered fish. For full text and graphics visit: http://ens.lycos.com/ens/jul2001/2001L-07-16-06.html *********************************************************************** FORECASTING WILDFIRES SAN DIEGO, California, July 16, 2001 (ENS) - For the first time this fire season, instead of just reacting to the fire alarms and second guessing the weather, wildland firefighters will have a look ahead on where future fires may start. For full text and graphics visit: http://ens-news.com/ens/jul2001/2001L-07-16-01.html *********************************************************************** AMERICAN SOLAR CHALLENGE RUNS ROUTE 66 ST. LOUIS, Missouri, July 15, 2001 (ENS) - Twenty-eight solar powered cars that raced away from Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry Sunday heading 2,300 miles across the country have reached the University of Missouri. For full text and graphics visit: http://ens-news.com/ens/jul2001/2001L-07-16-05.html *********************************************************************** KENYA'S PINK FLAMINGOS WEIGHED DOWN BY HEAVY METALS By Jennifer Wanjiru NAKURU, Kenya, July 16, 2001 (ENS) - Veterinary pathologists in Kenya have identified heavy metals as the leading cause of massive deaths of flamingos in two Rift Valley Lakes of Kenya, and warned that the scenic pink birds of Lakes Nakuru and Bogoria remain threatened unless the lakes are cleared of pollutants. For full text and graphics visit: http://ens-news.com/ens/jul2001/2001L-07-16-04.html *********************************************************************** 19 EUROPEAN CITIES CLEAN UP URBAN TRANSPORT BRUSSELS, Belgium, July 16, 2001 (ENS) - The European Commission has today revealed the names of the 14 EU pilot cities which will benefit from 50 million euros in funding to implement radical improvements of their urban transport systems. For full text and graphics visit: http://ens-news.com/ens/jul2001/2001L-07-16-03.html *********************************************************************** ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE AMERISCAN: JULY 16, 2001 Radioactive Scrap Recycling Reexamined BP Joins Alliance to Save Energy Shark Finning Ban Regulations Introduced Protesters Trail Bush Officials on Energy Tour Texaco Agrees to Install Pollution Control Equipment Environmental Groups Can Intervene in Monument Lawsuit Two Pennsylvania Nuclear Plants to Increase Power Output Honda Opens Hydrogen Production, Fueling Station Caterpillar Awards $625,000 Grant to The Nature Conservancy Planes Could Take Efficiency Lessons from Geese For full text and graphics visit: http://ens.lycos.com/ens/jul2001/2001L-07-16-09.html Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2000 All Rights Reserved."}, {"response": 100, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jul 18, 2001 (20:30)", "body": "NEW SCIENTIST WEEKLY NEWSLETTER No. 94, 21 July 2001 ------------------------------------------------------------ ----------------------------------------------------------- Bringing you the top headlines from all sections of New Scientist.com each week What's yellow, bent and about to spill all its secrets? http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991037 A whiff of pheromones might fix premenstrual syndrome http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991041 The artificial passenger who keeps long-distance drivers awake http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991039 Are non-stick frying pans polluting our towns and cities? http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991036 Pain-free lasers replace the dreaded dentist's drill http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991040 Arm patch tells drinkers how well their bodies cope with alcohol http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991038 AND FINALLY... The armed Russian who posted the following ad on the Net advertising his services was deadly serious: \"Will help retire from life, possibly without patient's consent.\" Unfortunately for the would-be assassin, the only people interested in his offer were the police. http://www.newscientist.com/opinion/opfeedback.jsp?id=ns230099#20"}, {"response": 101, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jul 20, 2001 (17:13)", "body": "SCICENTRAL NEWS ALERT brought to you by [1]SciQuest Generated for Marcia Hemming on Friday, 20-Jul-2001 10:47:50 AM EDT Friday, July 20, 2001 Edition _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ [1]EVOLUTION & PALEONTOLOGY * Ancient Crustacean Raises New Questions * Jurassic Chicken \"50-100 Years Off\" * Digital Organisms Used to Confirm Evolutionary Process References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=B-evolut [1]MARINE BIOLOGY * Scientists Identify Methane-Consuming Microbes From Ocean Depths * The Physics of ... Deep-Sea Animals: They Love the Pressure * Coral Reefs Ruined by Global Warming Will Take at Least a Century to Recover References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=B-marbio [1]WILDLIFE & FISHERIES * Ant Group Dynamics * Gorillas Make an Impressive Splash * A Wallaby School of Self-Defense * Mother Hens Dictate Diet * New Musk Ox and Reindeer Feed Now Available in Alaska * Birds Feel the Rub * Farmers Can Help Reverse Declining Quail Population * Fishing Changes Population * The Trouble With Turtles References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=B-wildfi [1]ASTRONOMY * Star Clusters Born in the Wreckage of Cosmic Collisions * A Propitious Alignment of Planets * Seventy-Day Jupiter Movie Pulls Patterns Out of Chaos * Watch Global Warming Happen in Real Time -- On Mars * Inside JPL: Technologists, Their Toys and Troubled Times (Special Report) * Planet Gobbling Dust Storms * Telescope Array to Unlock Secrets From Duplicitous Stars * Zooming In on Mars: The Road to Human Missions * Astronomers Find Link Between Earliest Illustration of Sunspots in Medieval Britain and an Observation of Aurora in Medieval Korea References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-astron [1]GEOPHYSICS, SEISMOLOGY, & VOLCANOLOGY * Volcano Research Erupts in Space * Ancient Cities Vanished Into Muddy Morass * Oracle's Secret Fault Found * Surfing and Diving in the Earth's Magnetosphere, Cluster Celebrates One Year of Science in Orbit * Geologists Explain New Happenings at Kilauea Volcano References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-geophy [1]METEOROLOGY & CLIMATOLOGY * Earth Likely to Warm 4-7 Degrees by 2100 * Greater Solar Activity May Bring U.S. More Gray Days * Climate Change in Atlantic Larger Than Previously Thought References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-meteo [1]OCEANOGRAPHY * Marine Methane Consumed by Consortia of Bacteria * Climate Change in Atlantic Larger Than Previously Thought References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-oceano [1]SATELLITES & REMOTE SENSING * Volcano Research Erupts in Space * Project to Provide Quick Access to Satellite Data to the Public Through RAPID-AmericaView * HOPE on Trial in Bosnian Mine Fields * Artemis Satellite Safely Under Full Control * Rohini Satellite Completes Mission References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-satrem [1]ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING & BIOREMEDIATION * New System Developed for Removing Contaminants From Storm Run-Off * Power Station on Salt Water * Fresh Air for the Coliseum * Greenhouse Effect, R.I.P. * Researchers Create Fluorescent Molecules That Detect Metal Pollutants in Water, Waste * Researchers Unveil the First Comprehensive Wildfire Forecast for the Western United States * DDT Use in U.S. Linked to Premature Births in the 1960's * The Apparent Energy Shortage References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=E-enviro _________________________________________________________________ \ufffd Copyright 2001 SciQuest, Inc. To register, modify your selection of topics, or unsubscribe from this newsletter, please visit: [1] http://newsletter.scicentral.com/cgi-bin/register.cgi _________________________________________________________________ References 1. http://newsletter.scicentral.com/cgi-bin/register.cgi"}, {"response": 102, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Aug  1, 2001 (22:23)", "body": "NEW SCIENTIST WEEKLY NEWSLETTER No. 96, 4 August 2001 ------------------------------------------------------------ Change your newsletter subscription details at: http://www.newscientist.com/sub.jsp?id=361904&e=marci%40aloha.net ------------------------------------------------------------ Bringing you the top headlines from all sections of New Scientist.com each week The new powder that guarantees a sunny day http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991101 Is burning incense as bad as smoking? http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991100 Intrusive breast biopsies could become a thing of the past http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991104 Why teachers are more at risk of autoimmune disease http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991106 Could this be the most powerful explosive ever discovered? http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991103 US heads for total ban on human cloning http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991099 Lightning may spark evolution http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991102 AND FINALLY... What do a packet of cigarettes and a Taiwanese temple have in common? This week's New Scientist has evidence that burning incense may soothe your soul, but it could be playing havoc with your chest. http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991100 ************************************************************************* Discover how five individuals have dedicated their lives to preserving and understanding the animal kingdom. Their unique projects, supported by the Rolex Awards for Enterprise, include elusive snow leopards, unique seahorses, colourful seabirds, majestic griffon vultures, and industrious ground beetles - some of the world's living wonders. http://www.rolexawards.com/special-feature/creatures/index.html *************************************************************************"}, {"response": 103, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Aug  4, 2001 (17:07)", "body": "**************************************** Chinese Checker? Where's Ralph Nader? **************************************** Pajero Victim for Compensation Turned Down by Japanese Car Company Lu Hui, was severely injured by a Pajero V31 automobile because the brakes on the car failed. She was rushed to the hospital but later had to leave on Thursday because her medical expenses were too high. Pajero V31, a model produced by the Japanese Mitsubishi Motor Vehicle Co., has defective brakes that will lead to a brake malfunction or even failure while driving. The design flaw was found last September since several accidents had occurred in Yunnan Province and other places due to the poor quality of Pajero brake system. Zhou Jianhong, Lu's husband, had informed the company's Beijing office time after time that they couldn't afford the medical costs, hoping Lu's treatment would not be delayed. Although Mitsubishi, Thursday, apologized to Chinese consumers for its defective cars, the company turned a deaf ear to Zhou's requirement for immediate compensation. Previously, Mitsubishi had been in trouble due to an outbreak of nationwide discontentment with their refusal to formally apologize and provide compensation. Zhou said in order to raise money for Lu's medical treatment, he has sold his laundry shop, on which the whole family relies on for income. Lu was knocked down by a Pajero when its brakes failed on December 25, 2000 in Changsha, capital of central China's Hunan province. Later she was diagnosed as first-degree handicapped because she was paralyzed as a result of the accident. *from Liam, of course*"}, {"response": 104, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Aug 13, 2001 (17:18)", "body": "RUNWAYS REFUSE DEFENCE Hi-res radar scans for runway rubbish. http://www.nature.com/nsu/010816/010816-6.html LEFT IN MUSIC Musicians' brains may use language modules listening to music. http://www.nature.com/nsu/010816/010816-4.html FIRE'S SPREAD LOOKS FRACTAL Fight forest fire's fringes first, suggests new model. http://www.nature.com/nsu/010816/010816-5.html GREAT EXPECTATIONS Placebo mimics drug effects on Parkinson's brains. http://www.nature.com/nsu/010816/010816-1.html PLANTS' ROOTS PUSHED BACK Earth might have turned green earlier. http://www.nature.com/nsu/010816/010816-2.html SOLAR POWER SURGE Self-assembling organic solar cells could harness sunlight cheaply. http://www.nature.com/nsu/010816/010816-3.html VIBRATOR BOOSTS BONE Sheep shake a leg and strengthen thighs. http://www.nature.com/nsu/010809/010809-10.html NANO FIXERS BALANCE BOOKS Single-celled microbes fertilize the oceans. http://www.nature.com/nsu/010809/010809-11.html GRANDMASTERS MATE FROM MEMORY Chunky chess theory shows how best brains battle. http://www.nature.com/nsu/010809/010809-13.html PHYSICISTS PLAY THE NANOPIPE Electrons caught making waves in carbon nanotubes. http://www.nature.com/nsu/010809/010809-12.html STATS SAY AYE TO ID EYE Iris patterns prove their unique credentials. http://www.nature.com/nsu/010809/010809-8.html FUTURE GOES TO MARKET Focus group predictions improve when money is at stake. http://www.nature.com/nsu/010809/010809-9.html VACCINE FROM FLY SPIT Fly saliva could protect us from a dangerous disease. http://www.nature.com/nsu/010809/010809-7.html NIGHT IN BRIGHT LIGHT PLIGHT Light pollution threatens amour and astronomy. http://www.nature.com/nsu/010809/010809-6.html BATS EAT BIRDS ON THE WING Migrating birds should beware of high-flying bats. http://www.nature.com/nsu/010809/010809-5.html"}, {"response": 105, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Aug 20, 2001 (18:44)", "body": "From the indefatigible Liam - Unhappy birthday for the PC By Andy Goldberg in Silicon Valley THE 20-year anniversary of the personal computer, supposed to be a celebration of Silicon Valley's successes, has deteriorated into an unseemly row about who invented it first. The elite of the high-tech industry were set to appear in their black-tie finery last night for a party celebrating the 20th anniversary of the personal computer, but the birthday bash led by Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Intel boss Andy Grove is reviving the bitterest rivalry in computer history. The event marks the debut on August 12 1981 of the IBM personal computer, a clunky machine that sold at the time for $2,665, powered by the Intel 8088 chip and containing a measly 64 kilobytes of memory - one thousandth the power of today's typical model. more... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/connected?ac=005740803956591&rtmo=rQhbk2rX&atmo=rrrrrrrq&pg=/et/01/8/9/ecnbday.html"}, {"response": 106, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Aug 22, 2001 (19:49)", "body": "NEW SCIENTIST WEEKLY NEWSLETTER - No. 99, 25 August 2001 We talk to \"the Isaac Newton of the 21st century\" http://www.newscientist.com/opinion/opinterview.jsp?id=ns230516 Los Angeles is on the move - but it's not a quake http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991184 A genetic mutation is to blame for panic attacks http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991185 Telescopes may soon be able to \"see\" dark matter http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991187 Primitive sea creatures put our finest optical systems to shame http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991183 How would you like to live over a nuclear power plant? http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991186 AND FINALLY... In November 1995, Londoners contacted Scotland Yard claiming they had experienced an earthquake tremor. Investigations revealed that 20,000 rock fans had been jumping up and down at an Oasis concert in Earl's Court, and tremors were being reported up to one mile away. Be warned. At 11am on 7 September 2001 hundreds of thousands of British schoolchildren hope to make the Earth move with \"the greatest simultaneous jump in history\"... http://www.newscientist.com/opinion/opfeedback.jsp?id=ns230599#43 ************************************************************************* Discover how five individuals have dedicated their lives to preserving and understanding the animal kingdom. Their unique projects, supported by the Rolex Awards for Enterprise, include elusive snow leopards, unique seahorses, colourful seabirds, majestic griffon vultures, and industrious ground beetles - some of the world's living wonders. http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;3152517;6044940;c?http://www.rolexawards.com ************************************************************************* Comments on this newsletter can be sent to newsletter@newscientist.com For people who love ideas, subscribe to New Scientist and have it delivered to your door every week, at: http://www.newscientist.com/subscribe/subs_home.jsp?source=newsletter Looking for a new job? Check out more than 1500 international science jobs each week at http://www.newscientistjobs.com Are you a US-based bioscientist or chemist looking for a new job? Check out http://www.sciencejobs.com , a US jobs website produced by New Scientist, Cell Press, BioMedNet, and ChemWeb.com."}, {"response": 107, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Aug 29, 2001 (15:19)", "body": "Nature Science Update Highlights: 29 August 2001 MAGNET LIFTS LID ON HALF-LIFE Virtual injury catches the brain's halves competing for attention. http://www.nature.com/nsu/010830/010830-5.html HUMAN GENE NUMBER CLIMBS New estimate ups our gene number by a third. http://www.nature.com/nsu/010830/010830-4.html GENES REVEAL JUMBO SCHISM Elephants from Africa's plains and forest might be two different species. http://www.nature.com/nsu/010830/010830-1.html HIMALAYAS ON ALERT The recent earthquake in India killed thousands, but far worse may be in store. http://www.nature.com/nsu/010830/010830-2.html POTS PAN BUGS Copper kitchenware may lower food-poisoning risk. http://www.nature.com/nsu/010830/010830-3.html http://www.nature.com/nsu/010823/010823-12.html EYES IN THEIR STARS Engineers envy brittlestar bones' built-in lenses. http://www.nature.com/nsu/010823/010823-11.html PEAT FEELS THE HEAT Global warming speeds wetlands carbon leaching. http://www.nature.com/nsu/010823/010823-13.html KYOTO BEGINS AT HOME Family values could help cut greenhouse gases. http://www.nature.com/nsu/010823/010823-9.html SWAYING COMES BEFORE A FALL Fall prediction gets off to a standing start. http://www.nature.com/nsu/010823/010823-8.html CHIPS KEEP THE CHANGE New circuits rewire themselves and don't go blank when switched off. http://www.nature.com/nsu/010823/010823-7.html ===================================================================== Nature Science Update is produced by the Nature News Service -- the popular science news syndication arm of the leading international science journal Nature. To find out about buying news and features like this for your website or news paper please e-mail: mailto:syndication@nature.com."}, {"response": 108, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Aug 31, 2001 (21:18)", "body": "SciCentral News Alert for Friday, 31-Aug-2001 [1]EVOLUTION & PALEONTOLOGY * Dinosaur Expert Describes Unusual Feeding in Carnivorous Dinosaur * Permian Extraterrestrial Impact Caused Largest Mass Extinction on Earth * How Did an Infertile Fruit Get to Africa So Soon? * How Well Could Dinosaurs Corner? * Mystery Surrounds the Death of Australia's Megafauna References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=B-evolut [1]MARINE BIOLOGY * Dust From Africa Leads to Large Toxic Algae Blooms in Gulf of Mexico * Wanted: Reef Cleaners * Article Explores Rebirth of Aquatic Life After Deep-Sea Volcanic Eruption References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=B-marbio [1]WILDLIFE & FISHERIES * Right Whale Has the Wrong Stuff in Terms of Buoyancy * New Mimic Octopus Survives by Changing Its Identity * Genes Reveal Jumbo Schism * Fungal Enemy Could Explain Worldwide Amphibian Die-Off * Steller Sea Lions Beleaguered by Salmon Farmers and Commercial Fisheries * Technology Hope for Turtles References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=B-wildfi [1]ASTRONOMY * Europe to Identify Underground Water on Mars * SETI@home: Signal Crunching Yields Little So Far * Astronomers Discover Six-Image Gravitational Lens * Virtual Telescope Observes Record-Breaking Asteroid * The Strange Spires of Callisto * Burst of Star Formation Drives Bubble in Galaxy's Core * Scientists Identify Tagish Lake Meteorite's Origin in Space * A New Comet * Signs of Comets Spotted Around Another Star * Model Describes Birth of the Moon * New Light Pollution Atlas of World Shows Dark Skies Are Rare * The Dilemma of Mars Sample Return References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-astron [1]GEOLOGY * Clocking Ocean Circulation Over One Million Years * NASA Scientists Propose New Theory of Earth's Early Evolution References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-geolog [1]GEOPHYSICS, SEISMOLOGY, & VOLCANOLOGY * Etna in Identity Crisis * Solar Max is Over, Earth's Future Looks Brighter * Is Earth's Magnetic Field Failing? * Researchers Fail to Find Alternatives to Huge India Earthquake * Seismologist Shows Deep Earthquakes Come in Pairs * Water Thrown on Earthquake Prediction References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-geophy [1]METEOROLOGY & CLIMATOLOGY * \"Weaker\" El Ni\ufffdo Is Coming * Warmer Periods in Alaskan Area Not Confined to Modern Times * Tiny, Unmanned Planes in Florida Help Researchers Assess Storms, Hurricanes * Into the Storm * Peat Feels the Heat * New NASA Satellite Sensor and Field Experiment Shows Aerosols Cool the Surface but Warm the Atmosphere References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-meteo [1]OCEANOGRAPHY * New Scripps Monitoring Devices Set to Detect Clandestine Nuclear Weapons Testing * Clocking Ocean Circulation Over One Million Years * Scientists Explore Underwater Canyon Off New York-New Jersey Harbor * Peat Feels the Heat * Oceans of Power References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-oceano [1]SATELLITES & REMOTE SENSING * Fighting Wildfires Before They Start * New Scripps Monitoring Devices Set to Detect Clandestine Nuclear Weapons Testing * NASA Satellite, University of Maryland and U.S. Forest Service Provide Rapid Response to Wildfires * U.S., China, G7 Countries Flout Satellite Registry * Things That Matter: Eco-logic References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-satrem [1]ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING & BIOREMEDIATION * Why Burn Coal When Wind Power Is Cheap and Plentiful? * Novel Surface Analyzer Effective in Detecting Chemical Warfare Agents * New Light Pollution Atlas of World Shows Dark Skies Are Rare * Oceans of Power References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=E-enviro _________________________________________________________________ \ufffd Copyright 2001 SciQuest, Inc. To register, modify your selection of topics, or unsubscribe from this newsletter, please visit: [1] http://newsletter.scicentral.com/cgi-bin/register.cgi _________________________________________________________________"}, {"response": 109, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Sep  3, 2001 (20:56)", "body": "NEW SCIENTIST WEEKLY NEWSLETTER No. 100, 1 September 2001 ------------------------------------------------------------ Change your newsletter subscription details at: http://www.newscientist.com/sub.jsp?id=361904&e=marci%40aloha.net ------------------------------------------------------------ Bringing you the top headlines from all sections of New Scientist.com each week Bush's missile defence system could cause US-bound warheads to drop on Europe and Canada instead http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991210 Machines will be making a song and dance about their work http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991209 Meet the man who's fighting disease--with numbers http://www.newscientist.com/opinion/opinterview.jsp?id=ns23065 Dads who smoke cannabis are putting their babies at risk http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991213 Using an ulcer drug for abortions is leaving a terrible legacy http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991212 Human speech may be a side effect of our male ancestors trying to intimidate their rivals http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991211 AND FINALLY... NASA's Mars Climate Orbiter came to grief when the craft's designers mixed up metric with imperial units. We're glad to announce that there'll be no such problem at Butlin's Holiday camp at Minehead in Somerset. Swimmers there are told the depths of water in the various pools. In one case the water level is a whole '0 m' deep. Just in case any spacecraft designers decide to holiday in Minehead, this is tactfully converted to '0 ft 0 in'. http://www.newscientist.com/opinion/opfeedback.jsp?id=ns230699#30"}, {"response": 110, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Sep  4, 2001 (19:14)", "body": "Nature Science Update Highlights: 3 September 2001 IS THAT STUDY REALLY NECESSARY? Economics helps decide if we should put our money where researchers' mouths are. http://www.nature.com/nsu/010906/010906-3.html APPELLATION MISSION CONTROLL\ufffdE Space agency helps wine growers blend a better bottle. http://www.nature.com/nsu/010906/010906-4.html VIRUSES SOUNDED OUT Researchers hope to hear HIV, hepatitis and 'flu. http://www.nature.com/nsu/010906/010906-1.html MERCURY FALLING INTO FOOD CHAIN Sun, sea and snow bring mercury down to Earth. http://www.nature.com/nsu/010906/010906-2.html PARASITE CORRALS COMPUTER POWER You can trick someone else's computer into solving your problems. http://www.nature.com/nsu/010830/010830-8.html INFECTION KILLS CANCER Virus exploits cancer's common tag. http://www.nature.com/nsu/010830/010830-9.html ETNA IN IDENTITY CRISIS Sicily's volcano could be getting more violent. http://www.nature.com/nsu/010830/010830-10.html PRION PAIR PICTURED Domain swapping could be prion couples' downfall. http://www.nature.com/nsu/010830/010830-6.html NERVE CHIP GOES LIVE First nerve cell-silicon microchip built. http://www.nature.com/nsu/010830/010830-7.html"}, {"response": 111, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Sep 13, 2001 (22:31)", "body": "A swig of beer could one day protect you from HIV http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991286 The sweaty secrets behind midge bites http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991287 How a roadside robot could save lives http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991290 The inner strength that helps women live longer http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991288 Why molasses gets rid of rust http://staging.newscientist.com/lastword/ A. I. Artificial Intelligence: what Brian Aldiss has to say about the movie http://www.newscientist.com/hottopics/ai/likehuman.jsp AND FINALLY... Nobody looks forward to seeing you. Small children sometimes burst into tears at the mere sight of you. No wonder dentists are often said to have a high suicide rate. This week, however, we have news which may improve the popularity of members of this profession - a vaccine which could make toothache and fillings a thing of the past... http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991289"}, {"response": 112, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Sep 22, 2001 (01:47)", "body": "******************************* HIGP Postdoctoral Fellowship ******************************* From: Andy Harris Postdoctoral Fellowship The Hawaii Institute of Geophysics and Planetology (HIGP) University of Hawaii at Manoa. HIGP has an immediate opening for one postdoctoral fellow (physical volcanology) to work on conduit processes at persistently active basaltic systems. The fellowship is for 1 year with a possible extension to 3 years, subject to availability of funds. Research will use multiple geophysical data sets to search for cycles in mass fluxes at erupting basaltic systems over a variety of time scales. Data from field work on one or a number of the following volcanoes will be considered: Kilauea (Hawaii), Villarrica (Chile), Strombol and Etna (Italy), and Masaya (Nicaragua). Follow up work will include the derivation and application of conduit convection models to explain any observed trends. A Ph.D. in geology, geophysics or related fields is required. An interest in areas such as conduit convection, degassing, magma/lava rheology, effusive volcanism, strombolian systems; and experience in the gathering and analysis of multiple geophysical data sets at active volcanoes are preferred. This position will include field work on active volcanoes, and so previous field experience would be desirable. A degree of computer literacy, and an interest in conduit convection and rheological modeling would also be useful. To apply, submit a resume including a list of publications and the names, addresses, e-mail, and fax numbers of at least 3 referees by October 15, 2001, to Dr Andrew Harris, HIGP/SOEST, University of Hawaii, 2525 Correa Road, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA. The University of Hawaii at Manoa is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. For more details, please contact Andy Harris (harris@higp.hawaii.edu) ******************************* SWRI Volcanologist ******************************* From: Brittain Hill VOLCANOLOGIST, LIMITED-TERM We are looking for a highly motivated and self-directed Research Scientist to help the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission evaluate the probability and consequences of volcanic activity affecting the proposed high-level radioactive waste repository site at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. The successful applicant will have an important and visible role in a program of national impact. This position requires interest and experience in the quantitative modeling of volcanic processes, such as magma ascent, tephra dispersal, flow phenomena, or probabilistic risk assessments. Excellent mathematical and computer skills are required. Experience or training in geophysical applications to igneous processes is a plus. In addition to conducting technical investigations, the candidate will participate in document and program reviews, report preparation, and interactions at public meetings. The work environment will include both independent and team-based investigations, and may include field investigations in remote areas. This person also is expected to help develop and contribute to work for various commercial clients, especially in the area of natural hazard and risk assessment. This position complements existing strengths in physical volcanology, petrology, risk assessment, GIS/RS, structural geology, hydrology, geochemistry, and engineering. Requirements include a Ph.D. or M.S. with three years of experience in igneous processes. The successful applicant will be expected to present results of investigations in publications and presentations and therefore should possess outstanding oral and written communication skills. NOTE: All applicants must pass a conflict of interest evaluation and be qualified for a Nuclear Regulatory Commission clearance. This is a 2 year limited-term, full-time position with competitive salary and benefits. Southwest Research Institute is an independent, nonprofit, applied engineering and physical sciences research and development organization with nine technical divisions. The Institute occupies 1,200 acres and provides nearly two million square feet of laboratories, test facilities, workshops, and offices for more than 2,700 employees who perform contract work for industry and government clients. Please submit resumes to bhill@swri.edu or faxed to (210) 522-5155. Resumes also can be mailed to Dr. Brittain Hill, Southwest Research Institute, P.O. Drawer 28510, San Antonio, Texas 78228-0510, or submitted through the Southwest Research Institute job site at www.swri.org"}, {"response": 113, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Oct  9, 2001 (22:18)", "body": "Can bubbles explain the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle? http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991350 Beam me up: teleportation comes closer http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991346 How urine could cut diesel pollution http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991347 Laughing aloud - women giggle, men snort http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991348 The man who wants to bring back wolves http://www.newscientist.com/opinion/opinterview.jsp?id=ns23105 AND FINALLY... Rain bouncing off power lines causes a low humming noise, reports this week's Last Word. And it seems that the heavier the rain, the louder the noise. The wires are live with the sound of music? Perhaps not... http://www.newscientist.com/lastword/"}, {"response": 114, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Nov  2, 2001 (19:20)", "body": "USGS Scientists To Discuss Breaking Science News What: U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists from around the nation will gather next week in Boston to discuss current and breaking science news with colleagues from around the world. Where: Geological Society of America Annual Meeting will be held from November 5 through November 8 at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston. Media Availabilties: America's Coastal Crisis ? How to Protect Coastal Resources: discuss erosion of U.S. shorelines. Assuming no additional beach nourishment or other protective measures are taken, the nation will lose 1,500 homes each year to coastal erosion. Monday, November 5, 12:30 p.m., Room 109 Energy Resources on Federal Lands: 70 percent of clean coal resources and most onshore oil areas in Northern Alaska are on Federal lands. Discuss with the experts. Tuesday, November 6, 10 a.m., Room 109. Seismic Does Matter ? Even in Boston: USGS Associate Director for Geology, Dr. P. Patrick Leahy will be on hand to discuss current work being done by USGS and how new tools are being developed to give advance warnings on earthquakes. This year, the Advanced National Seismic System, which gives emergency responders real-time earthquake information is being installed in Boston and New York! Wednesday, November 7, 11 a.m., Room 108. Call Carolyn Bell in the GSA newsroom at 617-954-3214 for details. Highlights: America's Coastal Crisis ? a discussion about critical geoscience information needed to conserve and protect America's coastal resources will be help Monday, November 5 at 8 a.m. in Room 112. Changing Geology of Appalachia ? A new USGS video about the geology of the Southern Appalachian Mountains will be showcased on Monday, November 5 at 3 p.m. in Room 304. Using LIDAR to Map Coastal Change: Learn how USGS scientists and others are using new remote sensing-based capabilities for coastal studies and natural resources management. Tuesday, November 6, 2001 at 9:15 a.m., Room 210. Florida Bay Restoration ? Recent evidence collected by USGS scientists from the muddy bottom of Florida Bay shows that some changes in the ecosystem are natural, but some are not. Tuesday, November 6 at 11:45 a.m. in Room 210. Chesapeake Bay Crater ? What happens when a mile-wide rock slams into the earth at supersonic speed? USGS scientists discuss what they've learned so far about the monster rock which changed America thousands of years ago. Three different sessions: Tuesday, November 6 at 4:45 p.m. in Room 202; Thursday, November 8 at 2:45 p.m. in Room 200 and at 4:15 p.m. in Room 304. Energetic Discussion of Coal, Oil and Gas ? As America's need for energy increases, science plays a critical role in providing information necessary for resource managers to make good decisions. Hear top experts discuss how American can meet the energy challenge. Two discussions: Northern Alaska Oil ? Wednesday, November 7 at 2:15 p.m. in Room 313; Coal in Western States ? Wednesday, November 7 at 3:35 p.m. in Room 313. Florida Sand Reveals Ancient River ? A huge sand delta in Southern Florida, discovered in 1999 by USGS scientists and others, reveals that an ancient river, larger than any current Florida river, once flowed through the state. Thursday, November 8, at 1:30 p.m. in Convention Center Hall D. For more information on any of these events or other USGS science, visit our webpage at http://www.usgs.gov The USGS serves the nation by providing reliable scientific information to: describe and understand the Earth; minimize loss of life and property from natural disasters; manage water, biological, energy, and mineral resources; and enhance and protect our quality of life. *** USGS ***"}, {"response": 115, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Nov  7, 2001 (22:06)", "body": "The latest from NASA's Earth Observatory (11/6/2001) ----------------------------------------------------------------- New Features: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/ * New Light on Ice Motion (DAAC Study) http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/Antarctica/ MODIS' unprecedented high resolution reveals clues to antarctic topography and ice history. -------------------- In the News : http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/ * Latest Images: Hurricane Michelle http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=5209 Pi\ufffdon Canyon Region, Colorado http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=5208 Napoli and Volcanism - Vesuvius and Mt. Etna http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=5207 Where on Earth...? MISR Mystery Image Quiz #4 http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=5206 Falkland Islands http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=5204 Lake Chad and the Sahel http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=5199 Dust Blankets the Mediterranean http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=5198 * NASA News http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NasaNews/ - Satellites Shed Light on a Warmer World * Headlines from the press, radio, and television: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/Headlines/ - Greenland Ice Sheet Melting - NASA Helps Map Flood Zones - British Butterflies in Decline - Nature Reveals Evidence of a Warming World - Storms Lower Ozone Levels - Global Warming Alert Issued for U.S. Gulf States * New Research Highlights http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/Research/ -------------------- New Data: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Observatory/ * Updated Data: 4km TRMM Fires data for October 2001 http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Observatory/Datasets/fires.trmm.html Precipitation data for July 2001 http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Observatory/Datasets/rainfall.gpcp.html - Earth Observatory Announcements http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov To unsubscribe: send body \"unsubscribe eo-announce \" to majordomo@eodomo.gsfc.nasa.gov"}, {"response": 116, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Nov 26, 2001 (20:27)", "body": "Nature Science Update Highlights: 26 November 2001 SUN SUCKS UP GAS Solar swirls may predict space weather. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011129/011129-5.html DNA REPAIR COULD REDUCE SUNBURN An immune system chemical may undo skin damage by sunlight. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011129/011129-6.html FORTIFIED FLOUR FRACAS Compulsory folic acid supplementation may hold risks. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011129/011129-4.html CLONED COWS IN THE PINK Healthy cows buck the trend for sickly clones. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011129/011129-1.html BSE'S EPIDEMIC PROPORTIONS While prion diseases seem to be waning in humans, they could be waxing in sheep. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011129/011129-2.html MATERIAL BONES UP Programmed molecules build themselves into a bone-mimic. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011129/011129-3.html WATER DROP HOLDS A TRILLION COMPUTERS Devices with DNA software may one day be fitted into cells. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011122/011122-11.html LOGGING FUELS FIRE Felling trees raises rainforests' risk of burning. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011122/011122-12.html THIEVES NOT THICK Criminal behaviour suggests birds' brains are more sophisticated than we thought. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011122/011122-13.html STIFF CHALLENGE TO INSTABILITY The secret of a steady hand is tightening the right muscles. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011122/011122-15.html DECEPTION FUELS DOMESTIC BLISS Evolution may make men ignorant and gullible. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011122/011122-9.html HIV SKIPS SHRINKING RAFTS Cholesterol capping limits HIV replication. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011122/011122-8.html FRIENDS ARE STRANGER THAN STRANGERS If your friends were normal people they would not know you. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011122/011122-7.html ===================================================================== SPECIAL FEATURES: THE REGENERATION GAP Newts grow new legs, Hydra new heads. These remarkable creatures may hold clues for researchers developing human cellular therapies. But the connections are only now starting to be made. Helen Pearson reports. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011122/011122-14.html"}, {"response": 117, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Nov 26, 2001 (21:17)", "body": "Are these National Inquirer Headlines?"}, {"response": 118, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Nov 26, 2001 (23:07)", "body": "NO !!! http://www.nature.com/nature/ NATURE is a very august and learned Journal from the UK. (That means it is difficult to read, has long colvoluted sentences, and the topics are abstruse.) But.... you can trust what it prints!"}, {"response": 119, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Nov 29, 2001 (21:50)", "body": "A camouflage make-up protects soldiers from the heat of battle http://www.newscientist.com/hottopics/tech/ Whales show the way to a cleaner, greener boat http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991616 Use your cellphone to name any song in three seconds flat http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991619 Is carbon the key to superconductors that work at room temperature? http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991618 Have mosquitoes finally met their match? http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991615 Tiny black holes may be exploding in our cosmic backyard http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991617 AND FINALLY... At the ripe old age of eight, Cog is still one of the world's most famous humanoid robots. For science reporters who gain entry to MIT's Media Lab in Cambridge, an audience with this celebrity resident is akin to a music fan meeting Mick Jagger. Sadly, however, Cog is not himself at the moment. This week's Feedback column is alarmed to hear that he has been decapitated - and even more alarmed to learn this head head has been replaced with that of a mechanical ant... http://www.newscientist.com/opinion/opfeedback.jsp?id=ns231999#31 ************************************************************************* Whether you want to brush up your French for a holiday, get fluent in Italian or start Arabic from scratch, there's a course for you at Linguaphone. Choose from over 500 courses in 30 languages and decide how fast you want to take it. Click here now and start to enjoy learning a new language - http://www.panpartnership.co.uk:80/do/session/new/vsid/871647"}, {"response": 120, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Dec  6, 2001 (19:57)", "body": "NEW SCIENTIST WEEKLY NEWSLETTER No. 114, 8 December 2001 Bringing you the top headlines from all sections of New Scientist.com each week Higgs boson: are physicists spending billions on a wild goose chase? http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991649 Like it or not Britain's economy is already bound up with the Euro http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991651 Why do sheep glow in the dusk? http://www.newscientist.com/lastword/ Severed optical nerves can be made to grow again http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991646 Does Europa's rosy glow betray a flourishing colony of bugs? http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991647 Ultrasound could target drug delivery in the brain http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991644"}, {"response": 121, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Dec 10, 2001 (22:28)", "body": "FIT RATS GET ROUND THE BENDS Physical exercise could stave off decompression sickness. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011213/011213-4.html MARS TAKES ITS CAP OFF Mars' polar ice caps are slowly melting. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011213/011213-1.html NEW NERVES WIPE MEMORY Nerve cells can break memories, as well as make them. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011213/011213-2.html POT-BELLIED MICE MIMIC OBESITY Genetically engineered mice get fat like we do. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011213/011213-3.html ANCESTORS SKIP ADOLESCENCE Dental diary of a teenage hominid aged 1.5 million years. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011206/011206-10.html WATER POWER A new material helps to make clean fuel from water. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011206/011206-11.html FLESH-EATERS MAKE SKIN CREEP Bacteria give skin cells their marching orders. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011206/011206-12.html WHO WANTS TO BE A COSMONAUT? Russians start countdown to space game show. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011206/011206-8.html LESSONS IN LANDSCAPE Keeping parks pretty means tailoring the trees to their source of water. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011206/011206-9.html RADIATION ZAPS BYSTANDERS Radon may pose a greater cancer threat than has been thought. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011206/011206-7.html QUANTUM COMPUTERS SPREAD THE RISK A balanced portfolio of programs could mean a faster quantum computer. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011206/011206-6.html ===================================================================== SPECIAL FEATURE: THE BUDDING AMATEURS From the results of an annual Alaskan betting contest to sightings of migratory birds, ecologists are using a wealth of unusual data to predict the impact of climate change. John Whitfield rummages in the archives. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011206/011206-13.html ===================================================================== Nature Science Update is produced by the Nature News Service -- the popular science news syndication arm of the leading international science journal Nature."}, {"response": 122, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Dec 11, 2001 (21:56)", "body": "* Earth's Magnetic Field Really Did Reverse Itself * Melting Glaciers Diminished Gulf Stream, Cooled Western Europe, During Last Ice Age * Global Warming More Common Than Thought, Deep-Sea Drilling Off Japan Now Demonstrates References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-geolog"}, {"response": 123, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec 14, 2001 (22:00)", "body": "GEOPHYSICS, SEISMOLOGY, & VOLCANOLOGY NEWS * Researchers Investigate Mysteries of the African Rift * Fractal Models of Blue Jets, Blue Starters Show Similarity, Differences to Red Sprites * Well-Studied Volcano May Be Clue to Better Modeling * Scientist Anticipates Major Eruption of Peru's El Misti Volcano * Lifting the Veil on Black Aurorae * U.S. Earthquake Monitoring, Reporting Severely Hampered by Shutdown of Department of Interior Internet Connections * Deepsea Cores Offer New Clues to Earthquake Cycles * Where Lightning Strikes * The Sun's Chilly Impact on Earth * TIMED Atmospheric Spacecraft Successfully Launched References 1. http://www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_level3.d2w/report?nav_banner=bio&resource=articles&gateway=S-geophy"}, {"response": 124, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec 14, 2001 (23:14)", "body": "New Scientist Newsletter 15 December 2001 A tasteless additive could give an extra zing to drinks http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991677 How does bone manage to be so tough? http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991682 Our best defence against a bioterrorist attack http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991683 Smallpox: if the virus ever gets out... http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991680 Why an IVF technique could be riskier than we thought http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991678 How did people draw straight lines before they had rulers? http://www.newscientist.com/lastword/ AND FINALLY... If you've ever found yourself wrestling with a pot of strawberry conserve at 4 am after one sambuca too many, we've got some good news for you. Scientists have finally found a way to make jars easier to open... http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991684"}, {"response": 125, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec 14, 2001 (23:55)", "body": "The littlest lizard World's smallest reptile is discovered in the Caribbean forest. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011206/011206-3.html Good vibrations Honeycomb geometry helps dancing bees gather an audience. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011206/011206-4.html Exercising your genes Researchers are homing in on the genetics of physical ability. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011206/011206-5.html Reserves raise fish stocks Fishing thrives alongside protected areas. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011206/011206-1.html Catch figures fishy Recalculation reveals falling global fish stocks. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011129/011129-12.html Massive hole makes theories leaky Surprising black hole weigh-in has astronomers scratching their heads. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011129/011129-13.html Mothers could save the whale Sparing a few right whale mums could keep the species from extinction. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011129/011129-14.html Exorcising Einstein's spooks Is there another layer of reality beyond quantum physics? http://www.nature.com/nsu/011129/011129-15.html Human clone not miracle cure Rewiring the egg: mechanism remains murky. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011129/011129-9.html Feel the music Deaf people use 'mind's ear' to process vibrations. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011129/011129-10.html Distant starlight reveals alien atmosphere Hubble spots atmosphere on planet 150 light years away. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011129/011129-11.html Global goal frenzy It's official: English football teams score fewer goals. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011129/011129-8.html Neutrinos feel the force The orthodox worldview of fundamental physics is challenged by new experiments. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011129/011129-7.html DNA repair could reduce sunburn An immune system chemical may undo skin damage by sunlight. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011129/011129-6.html ===================================================================== Nature Science Update is produced by the Nature News Service -- the popular science news syndication arm of the leading international science journal Nature."}, {"response": 126, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Dec 17, 2001 (19:57)", "body": "Nature Science Update Highlights: 17 December 2001 Another nanobrick in the wall Chemists make the world's smallest building blocks. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011220/011220-6.html Space probe shows comet sense Deep Space 1 reveals Borrelly's dark secrets. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011220/011220-5.html Cosmos to freeze-frame The Universe could be slipping away from us forever. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011220/011220-4.html Abrupt climate change likely Report calls for research and policy to cope with volatile climate. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011220/011220-3.html Blame it on the bugs Squid harbour live-in lighting to keep predators in the shade. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011220/011220-2.html Holes barred by protein purse-string Suicidal cells are squeezed out of the way. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011220/011220-1.html Vaccines breed viciousness Vaccinations may increase death toll. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011213/011213-14.html Smallpox, big problem? Smallpox would spread rapidly through an unprotected world. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011213/011213-15.html Turkeys gobble young Big Christmas birds start eating early. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011213/011213-13.html Cells' generators star in action movie Microscope captures mitochondria bopping to a beat. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011213/011213-12.html Broken seesaw warms North Pressure system secrets could help long range forecasts. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011213/011213-11.html Space weather forecast step closer The Sun's violent outbursts have deep and twisted origins. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011213/011213-7.html Bladder control works at a stretch Recycling cell membranes help the bladder go from walnut to basketball sized. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011213/011213-8.html Muscle is plastic fantastic Stem cells' fates are a multiple choice. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011213/011213-9.html Unveiling the aurora Satellites have detected the shifting forces that weave the Northern Lights. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011213/011213-10.html Grubs up grains' protein Pest could give grains a nutritional boost. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011213/011213-6.html ===================================================================== Nature Science Update is produced by the Nature News Service -- the popular science news syndication arm of the leading international science journal Nature."}, {"response": 127, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Dec 27, 2001 (22:21)", "body": "Early Christians hid the origins of the Bethlehem star http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991713 Belize dam is all set to go ahead despite danger to wildlife http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991716 James Bond's Q would be proud of the toy US coastguards want for Christmas http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991715 Home phones get bitten by the texting bug http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991714 2001 set to be second warmest year on record http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991710 Anthrax vaccination offered to exposed US workers http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991712 Grossology. It's the science of really gross things... http://www.newscientist.com/opinion/opinterview.jsp?id=ns232216 AND FINALLY... Not everybody enjoys sniffing cocaine or \"flying too high with some guy in the sky\". But with the exception of Cole Porter, most people claim they get a \"kick\" from champagne. They say it goes \"straight to their head\", making them giggly and light-headed. And they're right. This week's New Scientist has the first evidence that the bubbles in this most celebratory of tipples really do get you drunk more quickly. Happy New Year... http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991717 ************************************************************************* HOW 8000 OF THE WORLD'S TOP SCIENTISTS ARE GETTING CLOSER TO BUSINESS After inventing the jet engine, radar and LCDs, QinetiQ is now creating competitive advantage for businesses large and small. QinetiQ is Europe's largest science and technology organisation formed from the major part of DERA, the British Government's defence research and development organisation. With experience spanning aviation, transport, healthcare, telecommunications, materials and more, it is also behind, QinetiQ 1, the next attempt on the world altitude record for a manned balloon. http://ad.uk.doubleclick.net/clk;3623115;6659265;l?http://www.qinetiq.com"}, {"response": 128, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Dec 27, 2001 (22:25)", "body": "PREDICTION IS BETTER FOR CURE Gene screen could offer cancer patients tailor-made treatments. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011227/011227-7.html DON'T STEP ON IT THIS HOLIDAY Smooth driving is the key to fewer traffic jams. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011227/011227-6.html MUSCLES DAMP BAD VIBRATIONS Tiny fibres ensure racehorses don't bounce themselves to bits. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011227/011227-5.html MAN'S IMPACT ON PLANET ENIGMATIC Environmental even keel or global crisis - no one knows. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011227/011227-4.html NEW SQUID ON THE BLOCK Deep-sea submersibles meet a six-metre squid. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011227/011227-3.html FUNNIEST JOKE FOUND First results in from largest-ever look at humour. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011227/011227-1.html CONSERVATIONISTS PATCH IT UP Urban wildlife may not use green corridors. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011220/011220-14.html CHANNEL TOUCHES A NERVE Pore removal makes mice touchy but not feely. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011220/011220-15.html SHOOTING STARS SUGAR COATED Meteorites could have sweetened the earliest life. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011220/011220-11.html MOLECULES BRING ABOUT FACE A small chemical change has a big effect on a developing face. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011220/011220-12.html WINE FIGHTS HEART FOE Red wine may suppress one of the main chemical culprits in heart disease. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011220/011220-13.html IT'S THE DRINK TALKING Tripping tongues betray tipsiness. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011220/011220-10.html FLICKERING SUN SWITCHED CLIMATE A solar slump may have chilled the Northern Hemisphere. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011220/011220-9.html RACEHORSE RELATIONS Modern thoroughbreds run on narrow genetic lines. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011220/011220-8.html WAVES MAKE BUG BREAK POINT Sloshing proteins help bacteria find their waists. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011220/011220-7.html ===================================================================== FOCUS: INDULGENCE INVESTIGATED Nature Science Update's round-up of stories for the forthcoming holiday season. http://www.nature.com/nsu/011227/011227-2.html ====================================================================="}, {"response": 129, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jan 14, 2002 (16:42)", "body": "GENOME EXPOSES BURIED BUGS Knowing the human genetic sequence helps unearth invaders. http://www.nature.com/nsu/020107/020107-14.html RING OF TRUTH TO OLD WIVES' TALE? 'Feed a cold, starve a fever' may make sense, say immunologists. http://www.nature.com/nsu/020107/020107-13.html ART HISTORY DOUBLES Engraved stones from South Africa could be the oldest works of art. http://www.nature.com/nsu/020107/020107-11.html CAUSE OF SICK CLONES CONTESTED Tentative diagnosis of clones' complaints. http://www.nature.com/nsu/020107/020107-10.html SEAWEED INSPIRES ANTIBACTERIAL Stopping bugs communicating can keep them apart. http://www.nature.com/nsu/020107/020107-12.html SHEEP THREAT FENCED OUT Estimates of CJD risk from sheep remain woolly. http://www.nature.com/nsu/020107/020107-7.html HUBBUB AT GALACTIC HUB X-rays show the centre of our Galaxy to be full of furious activity. http://www.nature.com/nsu/020107/020107-9.html BALLAST PURGE SCUPPERS INVASIONS A new way to stop ships rusting could also benefit the environment. http://www.nature.com/nsu/020107/020107-8.html PROSPERITY THROUGH PUNISHMENT Retribution can breed cooperation. http://www.nature.com/nsu/020107/020107-6.html PROTEOME REVEALS PROMISCUITY Proteins' complex social habits exposed. http://www.nature.com/nsu/020107/020107-5.html COWS COULD FOSTER FLU PANDEMICS Cattle join farmyard of potential influenza carriers. http://www.nature.com/nsu/020107/020107-4.html ELECTRONIC TONGUE HAS GOOD TASTE Hand-held tasting device displays highly discriminating palate. http://www.nature.com/nsu/020107/020107-3.html SOLID STOPS LIGHT A crystal that holds light could facilitate quantum computing. http://www.nature.com/nsu/020107/020107-2.html OBSERVATORY COULD DETECT HIDDEN DIMENSIONS Cosmic rays could find holes in Standard Model of particle physics. http://www.nature.com/nsu/020107/020107-1.html ===================================================================== Nature Science Update is produced by the Nature News Service"}, {"response": 130, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Feb  2, 2002 (18:47)", "body": "The latest from NASA's Earth Observatory (01/29/2002) ----------------------------------------------------------------- Natural Hazards: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/ *Latest Images: Volcanoes: R\ufffdunion Island Volcano Erupts http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img _ id=1613 Volcanoes: Nyiragongo Volcano Erupts in the Congo http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img _ id=1612 Severe Storms: Tropical Cyclone 10s (Dina) http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img _ id=1614 In the News : http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/ * Latest Images: Perspective View, Mount Shasta, California http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=7273 McMurdo Dry Valleys http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=7272 Shrimp Farms and Mangroves, Gulf of Fonseca http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=7271 R\ufffdunion Island Volcano Erupts http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=7270 Balance of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=7268 Volga Delta and the Caspian Sea http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=7267 * NASA News http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NasaNews/ - New Satellite Maps Reveal Where in the World Lightning Strikes - U.S. Ecology Dramatically Altered by Fertilizers and Acid Rain * Media Alerts http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/MediaAlerts/ - Climate Change Following Collapse Of The Maya Empire - The K-T Impact Extinctions: Dust Didn't Do It - Counterintuitively, After Extreme Droughts, Wading Birds Flourish * Headlines from the press, radio, and television: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/Headlines/ - Antarctic Island Called a Unique Climate Change Lab - Dead Sea Keeps Falling - United Kingdom Faces Summers of Malaria - Massive Ice Cap Could Almost Disappear By 2100 - Study Links El Nino to Deadly South American Disease - Climate Change May Bring More Winter Floods in California * New Research Highlights http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/Research/"}, {"response": 131, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Feb  6, 2002 (15:53)", "body": "The latest from NASA's Earth Observatory (02/5/2002) ----------------------------------------------------------------- New Features: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/ * Hantavirus Risk Maps (DAAC Study) http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/Hanta/ Satellite and ground truth data help scientists predict the risk of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. * Tracking a Volcano: Satellite Observations of Piton de la Fournaise http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/ReunionIsland/ NASA satellite data from Terra and Landsat provide a unique perspective on the current eruption of the Piton de la Fournaise volcano. -------------------- Natural Hazards: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/ * Latest Events: Dust and Smoke: Dust Storm Off Southern Coast of Iceland http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?i http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img _ id=1616 Volcano: Nyiragongo Volcano Erupts in the Congo http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?i http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img _ id=1615 -------------------- In the News : http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/ * Latest Images: Snow and Ice Storm in the Midwest http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=7281 Nyiragongo lava flows http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=7280 Plant Productivity in the West Indian Ocean http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=7279 New Orleans, Louisiana http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=7278 Northern Patagonian Ice Field, Chile http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=7277 Watching the World Rev its Heat Engine http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=7276 Coccoliths in the Celtic Sea http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=7275 Sulfur Dioxide Emissions from Congo Volcanoes http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=7274 * NASA News http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NasaNews/ - Satellites vs. Mosquitoes: Tracking West Nile Virus in the U.S - Satellites Tracking Climate Changes and Links to Disease Outbreaks in Africa - Fewer Clouds Found In Tropics: NASA scientists discover new evidence of climate change * New Research Highlights http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/Research/ -------------------- New Data: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Observatory/ * Updated Data: TOMS Aerosol Index data for December 2001 http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Observatory/Datasets/aerosol.toms.html 4km TRMM Fires data for November 2001 - January 2002 http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Observatory/Datasets/fires.trmm.html Ozone data for December 2001 http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Observatory/Datasets/ozone.toms.html Sea Surface Temperature data for November 1999 - December 1999 http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Observatory/Datasets/sst.avhrr.html UV Radiation Exposure data for December 2001 http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Observatory/Datasets/uv.toms.html - Earth Observatory Announcements http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov"}, {"response": 132, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Feb 13, 2002 (23:37)", "body": "The latest from NASA's Earth Observatory (02/12/2002) ----------------------------------------------------------------- Special Imagery: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/BlueMarble/ This spectacular \ufffdblue marble\ufffd image is the most detailed true-color image of the entire Earth to date. Using a collection of satellite-based observations, scientists and visualizers stitched together months of observations of the land surface, oceans, sea ice, and clouds into a seamless, true-color mosaic of every square kilometer (.386 square mile) of our planet. Natural Hazards: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/ * Latest Events: Dust and Smoke: Plumes over Baja California http://eob.gsfc.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=1620 Dust and Smoke: Smoke Over Southern Andes Mountains http://eob.gsfc.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=1618 Volcano: Colima Volcano Erupts in Mexico http://eob.gsfc.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=1619 Storm: Cyclone Chris Hits Australia http://eob.gsfc.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=1617 -------------------- In the News : http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/ * Latest Images: Smoke from the Fallbrook Fire and Dust from Baja http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=7287 The Blue Marble http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=7286 Anti-Atlas Mountains, Morocco http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=7285 Salt Lake City, Utah, Perspective View http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=7284 Monitoring the Spread of West Nile Virus with Satellite Data http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=7283 Winter and Summer Views of the Salt Lake Region http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=7282 Snow and Ice Storm in the Midwest http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=7281 * NASA News http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NasaNews/ - Thrusters Precisely Guide EO-1 Satellite In Space First - NASA Images Capture Golds, Silvers and Bronzes of Utah Olympic Site * Media Alerts http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/MediaAlerts/ - High CO2 Levels Hamper Nitrate Incorporation by Plants * Headlines from the press, radio, and television: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/Headlines/ - New Iceberg Breaks Free in Antarctica - Equatorial Water Belt Slackens - Satellites Help Track Disease Epidemics - El Ni\ufffdo Taking Baby Steps - Climate Threat to Australian Forests - Calibrating the Human Impact Within Earth's Climate Record - Ecology Dramatically Altered by Fertilizers, Acid Rain * New Research Highlights http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/Research/"}, {"response": 133, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Feb 20, 2002 (20:50)", "body": "Natural Hazards: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/ * Latest Events: Fire: Wildfires in Chile http://eob.gsfc.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=1623 Dust and Smoke: Massive Dust Plume Emanates from China http://eob.gsfc.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=1622 -------------------- In the News : http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/ * Latest Images: Fires in Chile http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=7757 Western United States Beyond the Four Corners http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=7756 Mosaic of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=7755 Perspective View: San Diego, California http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=7291 A Better Global Thermometer http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=7290 Where on Earth...? MISR Mystery Image Quiz #6 http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=7289 Saharan Dust over the Atlantic http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=7288 * NASA News http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NasaNews/ - Snow Science, Not Sport, in the Rockies - Highlights From NASA Presentations at AAAS Symposium - Terra Measures Sea Surface Temperature with Unprecedented Detail * Media Alerts http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/MediaAlerts/ - Global Warming Lengthens Day"}, {"response": 134, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Feb 25, 2002 (21:11)", "body": "YUM, AMINO ACIDS Molecules with a taste for monosodium glutamate give protein flavour http://www.nature.com/nsu/020218/020218-21.html STOP AND SEARCH Glowing nanobots map microscopic surfaces. http://www.nature.com/nsu/020218/020218-19.html REALITY CHECK FOILS SPIDER-MAN Captain America wins superhero networking crown. http://www.nature.com/nsu/020218/020218-17.html BATH TOYS SHOW STRENGTH IN NUMBERS Miniature floating craft can be programmed to move and assemble in complex ways. http://www.nature.com/nsu/020218/020218-18.html LINK BETWEEN CLIMATE AND MALARIA BROKEN Africa's malaria resurgence isn't down to global warming. http://www.nature.com/nsu/020218/020218-12.html FISSION STATEMENT Alternative yeast joins genome party. http://www.nature.com/nsu/020218/020218-13.html ACID COULD WRECK WRECK Raised warship's quandary underlines need to let sunken ships lie. http://www.nature.com/nsu/020218/020218-15.html"}, {"response": 135, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Feb 27, 2002 (15:52)", "body": "The latest from NASA's Earth Observatory (02/26/2002) ----------------------------------------------------------------- New Reference: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/ * Weather Forecasting Through the Ages http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/WxForecasting/ Only fifty years ago, weather forecasting was an art, derived from the inspired interpretation of data from a loose array of land-based observing stations, balloons, and aircraft. Since then it has evolved substantially, based on an array of satellite and other observations and sophisticated computer models simulating the atmosphere and sometimes additional elements of the Earth's climate system. The AIRS/AMSU/HSB combination on board the [soon to be launched] EOS Aqua satellite should further these advances, enabling more accurate predictions over longer periods. -------------------- Natural Hazards: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/ * Latest Events: Volcano: Smoke Plume from Mt. Oyama http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=2109 Dust and Smoke: Dust Over Great Australian Bight http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=2110 Storm: Cyclone Guillaume Off Reunion Island http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=2107 Storm: Low-pressure System Off Australia http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=2108 -------------------- In the News : http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/ * Latest Images: NASA's Quikscat Spacecraft Turns Operational http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=7764 Akpatok Island http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=7763 Santa Maria Volcano, Guatemala http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=7762 Open-cell cloud formation over the Bahamas http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=7761 Cyclone Guillaume http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=7760 Dusty Skies over Southern California http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=7759 Wintertime in the Western U.S. http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=7758 * NASA News http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NasaNews/ - New NASA Global Change Master Directory Available - Santa Ana Winds Swirl Through the Southland - NASA's Quikscat Spacecraft Turns Operational * Headlines from the press, radio, and television: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/Headlines/ - Snow-Pit Project to Predict Flooding - Fish Bones Give Clues to the Beginning of El Nino - Polar Warming Continues With Ice Mass Losses - Global Warming Will be Around the Next 100 Years - Pollution Drying Up Rainfall - Sea Level Set To Rise Dramatically - Forecasters Get New Ally - Terra Takes Sea Surface Temperature With Precision - Links Between El Nino, Disease - A Satellite With an Icy Mission * New Research Highlights http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/Research/ -------------------- Data and Images http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Observatory/ *New Data: Snow Cover and Ice Depth data for January 1978 - December 1996 http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Observatory/Datasets/snow_ice.smmr.html * Updated Data: TOMS Aerosol Index data for January 2002 http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Observatory/Datasets/aerosol.toms.html Ozone data for January 2002 http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Observatory/Datasets/ozone.toms.html UV Radiation Exposure data for January 2002 http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Observatory/Datasets/uv.toms.html"}, {"response": 136, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Mar 10, 2002 (16:30)", "body": "The Deep Lake Drilling Project You've heard of the Deep Sea Drilling Project, the most fruitful scientific research program ever carried out. An inspired young man named Kerry Kelts re-created it on land, which involved not only building a collapsible drilling ship but inventing a whole new branch of science. Kelts died too young, but he lived to see it happen. http://geology.about.com/library/weekly/aa031002a.htm"}, {"response": 137, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Mar 13, 2002 (14:03)", "body": "The latest from NASA's Earth Observatory (03/12/2002) ----------------------------------------------------------------- Webcast of the GRACE Satellite Launch! The twin satellites named GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment) are being launched to make detailed measurements of Earth's gravity field. *Make sure to watch the launch at 4:23AM EST, Saturday, March 16 from Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia. The webcast will be broadcast on the following websites: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov http://www.nasa.gov/ntv http://www.csr.utexas.edu/grace/ New Features: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/ * Testing the Waters http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/WaterQuality/ In the Upper Midwest, lakes are central to people's lives. Unfortunately, monitoring water quality for 30,000 plus lakes in the region has never been possible. Water quality measurements have always been taken by hand, and the states have traditionally had the resources to monitor only a small percentage. Now with the backing of NASA, scientists at the Michigan State University, the University of Minnesota, and the University of Wisconsin have begun using satellite data to measure lake quality. Within the next three years, they should be able to create a comprehensive water quality map for the entire Great Lakes region. -------------------- Natural Hazards: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/ * Latest Events: Unique Imagery: \ufffdBull\ufffds Eye\ufffd \ufffd The Richat Structure, Mauritania http://eob.gsfc.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=2124 Fire: Fires and Heavy Smoke in Sumatra http://eob.gsfc.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=2123 Storm: Cyclone Hary Approaches Madagascar http://eob.gsfc.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=2121 Unique Imagery: Red Tide Strands South African Rock Lobsters http://eob.gsfc.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=2120 Storm: Typhoon Mitag Northeast of the Philippines http://eob.gsfc.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=2122 -------------------- In the News : http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/ * Latest Images: Twin Cyclones Result From Shift in the Trade Winds http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=7779 Typhoon Mitag Northeast of the Philippines http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=7778 Araca River http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=7777 Shiveluch\ufffdKamchatkan volcanoes http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=7776 Boston, Massachusetts http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=7774 Red Tide Strands South African Rock Lobsters http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=7773 Early Spring Dust over the Mediterranean Sea http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=7772 * NASA News http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NasaNews/ - Digital Photos from Solar Airplane to Improve Coffee Harvest - Grace Space Twins Set to Team Up to Track Earth's Water and Gravity - NASA Study Links El Nino and Southern Ocean Changes * Media Alerts http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/MediaAlerts/ - Hurricane floods pose risk to environment, health, new research on 1999 storm reveals * Headlines from the press, radio, and television: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/Headlines/ - Global Warming May Not Harm Marine Food - Why It's Dry - Signs of New El Ni\ufffdo Strengthen - 'Snowball Earth' Theory Melted - NASA Study Links El Ni\ufffdo and Antarctic Sea Ice - Global Warming to Raise Sea Level - Global Warming Threatening State Birds? - Global Warming Creates Grim Future for Forests - Global Warming Stalks Small Commonwealth States - Future Volcanic Eruptions May Cause Ozone Hole Arctic - Ozone Layer Will Thin Even as Holes Heal - Drought Grips Much of USA, Stirs Water Supply Fears * New Research Highlights http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/Research/"}, {"response": 138, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Mar 13, 2002 (23:41)", "body": "I don't know where to put this - It worries me exceedingly: Huge lung cancer rise in Greece Smoking is the main cause of an increase in recorded incidences of lung cancer in Greece, where up to 6,000 sufferers die every year, according to research by the European Pneumonological Society. It was made public yesterday ahead of a conference on \ufffdLungs and the Environment\ufffd starting in Athens on Friday. \ufffdThere has been a 50 percent increase over the last 30 years, and this reflects the spread of the disease to the female population,\ufffd Professor Panayiotis Behrakis said. Another 20 percent is attributed to atmospheric pollution, Greeks are diagnosed with lung cancer at a higher rate than their European counterparts, with 3 percent more cases recorded every year. Greek women more vulnerable than European women and Greek men under 44 more likely targets than other European men of the same age. Greek men and women are younger \ufffd between 40 and 45 \ufffd when they contract lung cancer. http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_politics_4170118_13/03/2002_14347"}, {"response": 139, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Mar 19, 2002 (00:59)", "body": ""}, {"response": 140, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Mar 20, 2002 (15:11)", "body": "The latest from NASA's Earth Observatory(03/19/2002) New Reference: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/ * GRACE Fact Sheet http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/GRACE/ The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment is the inaugural mission of the Earth System Science Pathfinder program. Launched in March 2002, it is a five-year mission intended to produce maps of the Earth's gravity field with unprecedented precision and resolution. Not only will GRACE benefit studies in the field of geodesy, but also, the Earth Science community eagerly anticipates the mission. More precise gravity measurements will improve the accuracy of inputs into models used by many disciplines that study Earth's climate - including hydrology, oceanography and studies of the solid earth. -------------------- Natural Hazards: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/ * Latest Events: Dust and Smoke: Dust Cloud over Sea of Japan http://eob.gsfc.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=2609 http://eob.gsfc.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=2609 Unique Imagery: Snow Cover Across Scandinavia http://eob.gsfc.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=2611 Fire: Fires and Smoke in Thailand http://eob.gsfc.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=2608 Fire: Fires and Heavy Smoke in Sumatra http://eob.gsfc.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=2127 Dust and Smoke: Smog Obscures Chinese Coast http://eob.gsfc.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=2126 Storm: Cyclone Hary Off Madagascar http://eob.gsfc.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=2125 -------------------- In the News : http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/ * Latest Images: Spring Dust Storm Smothers Beijing http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=8256 Caman\ufffd, Peru, and Tsunami Vulnerability http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=7785 Water Quality Monitoring http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=7784 Atlas Mountains http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=7783 Fires and Heavy Smoke in Sumatra http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=7782 A Vortex Street in the Arctic http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=7781 Meteor Crater, Arizona http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=7780 * NASA News http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NasaNews/ - Red Tide Strands Lobsters - NASA Technology Transfer Project Offers Dramatic Agricultural Benefits - Scientists Say 'Grace' as Water-Sensing Satellites Lift Off - Recent Shifts in Pacific Winds May Support El Ni\ufffdo Formation * Media Alerts http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/MediaAlerts/ - Behind the Big Dry - Researchers Capture Unusual Sprite-like Blue Jet - U.S. Forests May Be Products of Pollution * Headlines from the press, radio, and television: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/Headlines/ - Climate Change Starves Southern Ocean of Oxygen - How's the Weather? - Drought Bringing Early Allergies - More Carbon Dioxide Effects Plants Ability to Use Nitrogen - Earth Observatory Announcements http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov"}, {"response": 141, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Mar 28, 2002 (14:45)", "body": "The latest from NASA's Earth Observatory (03/26/2002) ----------------------------------------------------------------- New Features: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/ * Highways of a Global Traveler - Tracking Tropospheric Ozone http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/GlobalTraveler/ Ozone in the lower atmosphere (troposphere) is toxic to human beings and to many other living things that breathe it. After combining satellite observations with data-rich models that simulate the atmosphere's chemistry and dynamics, scientists are finding tropospheric ozone in some unexpected places. Tropospheric ozone turns out to be an intercontinental traveler, crossing geographic and political boundaries. Where ozone forms and where it travels have become key concerns for international health and economic policy-making. -------------------- Natural Hazards: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/ * Latest Events: Fire: Fires and Heavy Smoke in Sumatra http://eob.gsfc.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=2621 Dust and Smoke: Dust Cloud over Sea of Japan http://eob.gsfc.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=2622 Dust and Smoke: Dust Cloud over Sea of Japan http://eob.gsfc.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=2622 Unique Imagery: Black Water off the Gulf Coast of Florida http://eob.gsfc.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=2620 Dust and Smoke: Dust Over East Africa and Israel http://eob.gsfc.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=2618 Dust and Smoke: Dust Cloud over Sea of Japan http://eob.gsfc.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=2622 Unique Imagery: Black Water off the Gulf Coast of Florida http://eob.gsfc.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=2620 -------------------- In the News : http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/ * Latest Images: Model Forecasts of the Tropical Pacific http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=8263 Kiritimati, Kiribati (Christmas Island) http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=8262 Dust Obscures Korea http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=8261 Bolivia Deforestation http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=8260 Mysterious Black Water off Florida's Gulf Coast http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=8259 Smoke over Sumatra, Indonesia http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=8258 Breakup of the Larsen Ice Shelf, Antarctica http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=8257 * Media Alerts http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/MediaAlerts/ - For the First Time in 30 Years, Some New York Lakes Failed to Freeze This Past Winter - Report Supports Sustainable Food Production - Pollen Production-and Allergies-May Rise Significantly Over Next 50 Years - Riverways Create as Much Pollution as Highways - 'Mercury Sunrise' Phenomenon Found in Antarctica - Antarctic Ice Shelf Collapses in Largest Event of Last 30 Years * Headlines from the press, radio, and television: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/Headlines/ - Tree-ring Study Raises Greenhouse-theory Questions - Pollen Levels and Allergies to Rise Significantly - Global Warming Blamed as Huge Antarctic Ice Shelf Collapses - Recent Shifts in Pacific Winds May Support El Nino Formation - Russia Launches Satellites on US-German Climate Mission - Warming World 'Means Longer Days' - Satellites Blow the Surprises of World's Wild Weather - Reduced Carbon Dioxide Feedback to Atmosphere from Oceans - A Chilling Effect on the Global Melt - Growth of Greenhouse Gas Emissions Have Slowed - New Scheme Could Improve Weather Forecasting - SeaWinds Satellite Provides Faster Cyclone Warnings - Warming Trend Seen for the Northeast * New Research Highlights http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/Research/ -------------------- New Data: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Observatory/ * Updated Data: TOMS Aerosol Index data for February 2002 http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Observatory/Datasets/aerosol.toms.html 4km TRMM Fires data for February 2002 http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Observatory/Datasets/fires.trmm.html Precipitation data for September - October 2001 http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Observatory/Datasets/rainfall.gpcp.html UV Radiation Exposure data for February 2002 http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Observatory/Datasets/uv.toms.html - Earth Observatory Announcements http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov"}, {"response": 142, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Apr 10, 2002 (17:51)", "body": "* Global Warming Fact Sheet http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/GlobalWarming/ With the possible exception of another world war, a giant asteroid, or an incurable plague, global warming may be the single largest threat to our planet. For decades human factories and cars have spewed billions of tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, and the climate has begun to show some signs of warming. Many see this as a harbinger of what is to come. If we don't curb our greenhouse gas emissions, then low-lying nations could be awash in seawater, rain and drought patterns across the world could change, hurricanes could become more frequent, and El Ni\ufffdos could become more intense. On the other hand, there are those, some of whom are scientists, who believe that global warming will result in little more than warmer winters and increased plant growth. In truth, the future probably fits somewhere between these two scenarios. -------------------- Natural Hazards: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/ * Latest Events: Unique Imagery: Black Water off the Gulf Coast of Florida http://eob.gsfc.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=2640 Dust and Smoke: Dust Cloud over Sea of Japan http://eob.gsfc.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=2639 Unique Imagery: NASA Images Confirm New York Drought http://eob.gsfc.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=2637 -------------------- In the News : http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/ * Latest Images: Terra Data Confirm Warm, Dry U.S. Winter http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=8278 Ash and Steam, Soufriere Hills Volcano, Monserrat http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=8276 Airborne Sea of Dust over China http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=8275 Guinea-Bissau http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=8274 Terra Images Confirm New York Drought http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=8273 Where on Earth...? MISR Mystery Image Quiz #7 http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=8272 Fires in Central America http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=8271 * NASA News http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NasaNews/ - Terra Satellite Data Confirm Unusually Warm, Dry U.S. Winter - NASA Images Confirm What New Yorkers Already Know: It's Dry"}, {"response": 143, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Apr 10, 2002 (19:10)", "body": "Hydrogen metal on the horizon (Apr 10) http://physicsweb.org/article/news/6/4/6 Scientists have long expected solid hydrogen to become a metal when it is compressed, but so far electrical conductivity has only been detected in liquid hydrogen. Now an experimental study of solid hydrogen at pressures up to 320 GPa predicts that it will become metallic at a pressure of 450 GPa - over four million times atmospheric pressure. Ren\ufffd LeToullec and co-workers at the CEA in France also found that solid hydrogen becomes opaque - or `black' - under compression (P Loubeyre et al 2002 Nature 416 613)."}, {"response": 144, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Apr 21, 2002 (16:39)", "body": "At 35.6 trillion calculations a second, the computer has the Earth at its feet Robin McKie, Science Editor Sunday April 21, 2002 The Observer It is the ultimate virtual reality ride, a machine so powerful it recreates the entire planet in 'an Earth simulator.' And now, to the chagrin of US scientists, Japan's newest supercomputer has been rated the world's fastest. The machine, built by the NEC corporation, matches the combined raw processing power of the previous 20 fastest computers and far outstrips the previous leader, an IBM device. For the first time in a decade, Japan has scored a major technological victory over the United States. 'These guys are blowing us out of the water, and we need to sit up and take notice,' said supercomputer designer, Thomas Sterling, of the California Institute of Technology. This triumph has been achieved in a way that contrasts starkly with America's computer priorities. While US engineers have focused their skills on developing computers that can simulate weapons and their effects, Japanese scientists have concentrated on making machines that can analyse a far more complex problem: the weather. These separate approaches can be traced to the different fears that obsess US and Japanese society. While America is consumed by worries about terrorist raids and attacks by renegade states, Japan faces more immediate dangers from typhoons that sweep across its densely populated countryside, and from rising sea levels triggered by global warming. For this reason, it has concentrated its computer efforts on constructing advanced machines that will help scientists understand the behaviour of the climate, and learn what the world will look like under various climatic conditions. The end result is the new supercomputer, put together at the Earth Simulator Research and Development Centre in Yokohama, which uses 5,104 processors that are stored in cabinets covering the space of four tennis courts. When working at full tilt, the Earth simulator can carry out 35,600,000,000,000 (35.6 trillion) mathematical operations a second. By contrast, America's fastest machine the ASCI White Pacific computer, built by IBM at the Lawrence Livermore defence laboratory in California, can carry out only 7 trillion operations a second. Not surprisingly, this level of performance has stunned, and dismayed, US researchers, who had considered their computer development programmes the best in the world. To them, the Earth simulator has raised the same level of alarm as the Soviet Union's Sputnik satellite did in 1957. As Tennessee University's Jack Dongarra, who tracks the performance of the world's fastest computers, puts it: 'We have a Computenik on our hands.' http://observer.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,688091,00.html"}, {"response": 145, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Apr 24, 2002 (19:44)", "body": "The latest from NASA's Earth Observatory (04/23/2002) ----------------------------------------------------------------- New Reference: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/ * The Ozone We Breathe http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/OzoneWeBreathe Ozone in the lower atmosphere (troposphere) is toxic to human beings and many species of plants, causing harm without visible symptoms. The Ozone We Breathe focuses chiefly on the ozone's effects on human respiratory health and and the productivity of agricultural crops. -------------------- Natural Hazards: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/ * Latest Events: Dust and Smoke: Dust Storm over the Mediterranean Sea http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/index.php3?img_id=2654 Fire: Biomass Burning in Southeast Asia http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/index.php3?img_id=2655 Fire: Biomass Burning in Southeast Asia http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/index.php3?img_id=2655 Volcano: Smoke Plume from Mount Etna http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/index.php3?img_id=2652 Volcano: Chiliques Volcano, Chile http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/index.php3?img_id=2653 -------------------- In the News : http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/ * Latest Images: Fog Plumes over the Great Lakes http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=8291 Coastal Fog, South Peruvian Coast at Pisco http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=8290 Long Dormant Volcano Shows Signs of Life http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=8289 Smoke and Sediments in Sicily http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=8288 Chilean Volcanoes http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=8287 Southern Florida's River of Grass http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=8286 Fires Throughout Thailand, Myanmar, and Laos http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=8285 * NASA News http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NasaNews/ - Massive Icebergs May Affect Antarctic Sea Life and Food Chain * Media Alerts http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/MediaAlerts/ - Complex Weather Study to Target Summer Storm Forecasting - Extensive Research Survey Confirms Life on Earth Now Being Affected by Global Warming * Headlines from the press, radio, and television: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/Headlines/ - Oceans Swell Towards New El Nino - Amazon River Exhaling Excessive CO2 - Climate Change Will Unbalance Ecosystems - Global Warming Brings Half World's Population Under Disease Threat - Forecaster Trims Hurricane Prediction, Expects Active Season * New Research Highlights http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/Research/"}, {"response": 146, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, May 28, 2002 (23:26)", "body": "Glaciers and National Security, How Much Oil, Fighting Natural Hazards and Terrorism . . . USGS Presents a World of Science at AGU Note to Editors: Interviews with the scientists during the American Geophysical Union (AGU) conference can be arranged by contacting Diane Noserale in the AGU newsroom, phone: 202-371-5016. Is the World Running Out of Oil?: Where will future oil and gas supplies come from? Of the oil and gas endowment of about 5.6 trillion barrels of oil, USGS estimates that the world has consumed about 18 percent, leaving about 82 percent to be used or found. USGS scientist Thomas Ahlbrandt will discuss frontiers in fossil fuel exploration, nonconventional oil and gas, alternatives to oil and gas, and time frames for potential shortfalls. \"Future Oil and Gas Resources of the World: A Coming Supply Crisis?,\" in Session U32A, is scheduled for 1:50 pm on Wednesday, May 29, Washington Convention Center Room 30. Please note: A news conference on this session is scheduled for 9:00 am on Wednesday, May 29 in the Press Briefing Room, Washington Convention Center Room 1. Digital products from the World Energy Project may be downloaded at: http://energy.cr.usgs.gov/energy/WorldEnergy/WEnergy.html Vanishing Glaciers -- New Alliances or More Conflict in Central Asia?: Throughout the world, glaciers are shrinking. Some of the fastest retreat is in the Hindu Kush-Himalaya (HKH) region, where scientists expect that more than 15,000 square miles of glaciers will disappear during the 21st century, particularly in major valleys and low mountain passes. Glaciers supply much of the fresh water and hydroelectric power in South and Central Asia. Will shared economic interests in water, hydroelectricity, and the mitigation of flood hazards improve relations among Central and South Asian nations? Will the disappearance of this natural barrier open new corridors for trade and cultural exchange and forge new economic, military and political alliances in the region, or will it simply open transit routes for militants and for military offensive action? Will terrorists find it harder to hide but easier to move? Glaciers are relevant to the conflict in Kashmir, to security in Afghanistan, and to the current insurgency in Nepal. USGS scientist Jeffrey Kargel will discuss a joint USGS/NASA Pathfinder project and its global consortium of glaciologists who are using satellite remote sensing to map and monitor the HKH glaciers and other glaciers throughout the world. \"Glaciers in 21st Century Himalayan Geopolitics,\" in Session U22A, is scheduled for 3:25 pm on Tuesday, May 28, Washington Convention Center Room 30. Please note: A news conference on this session is scheduled for 9:00 am on Tuesday, May 28 in the Press Briefing Room, Washington Convention Center Room 1. For more on the Global Land Ice Measurements from Space (GLIMS), please see: http://wwwflag.wr.usgs.gov/GLIMS/ More on Vanishing Glaciers: As glaciers retreat, new land uses become possible: Transportation corridors may open; previously inaccessible energy and mineral resources may become available; new wildlife habitat and migration routes may develop, and for a time, more fresh water and hydropower will be available. In Alaska, more than 7,700 square miles of land are expected to emerge from beneath ice over the next century, producing a potential economic windfall estimated at $360 million per year. In western China, the economic development and well-being of the populace is partly dependent on melting glaciers. In India, melting glaciers and snowfields account for about $4 billion per year of hydroelectric power (at $0.03/kW-hr), more than $400 million of which results from the net loss of glacial mass that the region is currently experiencing. What about the future? The rapid retreat of Hindu Kush-Himalaya glaciers will eventually result in more water shortages in a region where clean water already is in short supply. And because many glaciers store large amounts of meltwater and release it suddenly, lives downstream will be lost. Rising sea level could displace many and destroy property in coastal areas throughout the world. The net loss or benefit of receding glaciers has not been calculated, but the effect is apt to be sharply negative. USGS scientist Jeffrey Kargel will discuss these issues. \"A World of Changing Glaciers: Hazards, Opportunities, and Measures of Global Climate Change,\" in Session U31A, is scheduled for 9:45 am on Wednesday, May 29, Washington Convention Center Room 30. Please note: A news conference on this session is scheduled for 9:00 am on Tuesday, May 28 in the Press Briefing Room, Washington Convention Center Room 1. For more on the Global Land Ice Measurements from Space (GLIMS), please see: http://wwwflag.wr.usgs.gov/GLIMS/ Measuring Subtle Changes from Space to Understand Earthquakes: To resolve major questions about earthquakes and continental tectonics, researchers need increasingly accurate and detailed measurements of the ground "}, {"response": 147, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Jul 30, 2002 (18:56)", "body": "Natural Hazards: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/ * Latest Events: Fire: Fires Scorch Oregon http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=4650 Unique Imagery: Smoke, Clouds and Ship Tracks Off California Coast http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=4651 Unique Imagery: Bright Water Off Newfoundland http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=4652 Dust and Smoke: Smoke from Canadian Fires Blankets Eastern U.S. http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=4653 Fire: McNalley Fire in Sequoia National Forest http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=4648 Fire: Fires in Central and Southern Africa http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=4647 Volcano: Nyamuragira Volcano Erupts http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=4643 Storm: Super Typhoon Fengshen http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=4638 Storm: Hurricane Elida off Central America http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=4639 Storm: Severe Snowstorm in Lesotho http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=4640 Storm: Hurricane Douglas South of Baja California http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=4633 -------------------- In the News : http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/ * Latest Images: Aqua CERES First Light http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10273 Nyamuragira Volcano Erupts http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10272 Konari, Iran http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10271 Summit Crater of Mauna Loa http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10270 Three Gorges Dam, China http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10268 Distinguishing Clouds from Ice over the East Siberian Sea, Russia http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10267 Hyacinths Choke the Rio Grande http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10265 * NASA News http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NasaNews/ - At Five-Year Anniversary, Conference Considers Satellite's Contributions to Understanding Global Energy, Water Cycle * Media Alerts http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/MediaAlerts/ - Increased Strength in Asian Southwest Monsoon May Be Result Of Warming, Say Researchers - Global Warming May Push Bats to the Low Arctic * Headlines from the press, radio, and television: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/Headlines/ - Monsoon Intensity Increasing as Earth Warms - Record Sea Temperatures Threaten Great Barrier Reef - Slowest U.S. Tornado Year Since 1988 - Indian Government Says Lack of Rain Worst in Decade - Landsat Paints a Portrait of Our Changing Planet - Air Pollution Changes Rainfall, May Cause Drought - Unlocking the Storm Code - Ice Crystals Clues to Climate - West Nile Virus Spreads Westward into 26 States - Study Finds Alaska Glaciers Melting at Higher Rate - China?s Pollution Found in Hawaii - NASA Turns New Weather Bird Over to NOAA - Cause and Effect Across 70,000 Years of Atmospheric Chaos"}, {"response": 148, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Aug 13, 2002 (09:35)", "body": "Posted on Tue, Aug. 13, 2002 Fires Stoke Tensions Over Policy MATTHEW DALY Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - The spate of wildfires this summer is inflaming more than just the Western landscape. Longtime allies are turning into adversaries as the fires stoke tensions between environmentalists and some normally supportive Democrats in Congress. Environmentalists who had long sought a bill to protect old-growth forests in the Pacific Northwest are now vowing to oppose it, accusing Senate Democrats of undercutting conservation in the name of wildfire prevention. Republicans and representatives of the timber industry say it is environmentalists who have a credibility problem. The fires now raging in the West are helping build public support for more logging to thin overstocked forests after decades of fire suppression, they say. Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., and other Western senators are leading an effort to loosen federal restrictions that have allowed dry tinder to build up in the national forests, fueling the devastating blazes. \"You've got forests that don't look like forests anymore,\" Domenici said. \"They're totally built up with undergrowth. You try to do something about it, you're in court - it takes forever. We want to change that and I think we're going to do it.\" Among those caught in the shifting political winds is Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore. A longtime friend of the environmental movement, Wyden now finds himself under attack from it because he's willing to allow increased logging in some areas to reduce the fire threat in exchange for GOP support of bill to ban timber harvesting in old-growth forests in western Oregon. With much of his state on fire, Wyden was under pressure to do something, said Chris West, vice president of the American Forest Resource Council, a Portland-based timber group. So Wyden agreed to allowing expedited thinning in dry areas east of the Cascades to win Republican support for his plan to ban logging in areas where trees are more than 120 years old. With a Republican-controlled House and a closely divided Senate such a compromise was essential for Wyden's old-growth bill to have a chance of becoming law, West said. Jasmine Minbashian, coordinator of the Northwest Old Growth Campaign, called Wyden's proposal \"somewhat shocking.\" Conservationists will not agree to a \"divide and conquer approach\" that sacrifices eastern trees in return for protection of older, western trees, she said. Wyden is not alone among Senate Democrats in challenging the conventional environmentalist line that prohibitions on logging represent the best forest policy. Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota moved quietly last month to exempt some areas of his home state from environmental constraints on tree cutting. Daschle attached a rider to an emergency spending bill to allow some logging in areas of South Dakota's Black Hills National Forest. The measure waives key restrictions on forest thinning and blocks court challenges by logging opponents - a heresy the environmental movement fears will spread to forests throughout the West. Republican lawmakers quickly seized on Daschle's measure, calling it a model for allowing speedy action on thinning other national forests. Domenici and Republican Sens. Jon Kyl of Arizona and Larry Craig of Idaho have vowed to introduce legislation that would allow up to 24 million acres of federal timberland with high fire potential to be thinned without going through standard environmental reviews. \"If it can happen in South Dakota it should happen in all of the West,\" the three senators said in a statement. Daschle, in a letter last month to Republican lawmakers, defended his measure, saying it was the product of months of negotiations that involved all sides, including local chapters of the Sierra Club, The Wilderness Society and other environmental groups. \"If Congress is ever to succeed in resolving the ongoing national debate over forest management ... it should foster more consensus-based decision-making like the one that produced the Black Hills agreement,\" Daschle wrote. Some environmentalists are not convinced. Measures similar to Daschle's could be used to bypass environmental laws \"and log old-growth forests in the name of fire protection,\" said Joseph Vaile of the Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center in Oregon. \"It's pretty scary.\" Those fears were exacerbated when Wyden and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., appeared at an Aug. 1 news conference with Domenici. Wyden did not speak in favor of the forest-thinning plan, but his presence - coupled with his proposal for expedited logging east of the Cascades - was troubling, Vaile said. Wyden declined to be interviewed for this story. But his chief of staff, Josh Kardon, said his office was \"a little surprised that some of the groups seem to prefer to clear-cut the senator's proposal instead of selectively thinning what they don't like.\" \"Unless you are willing to compromise,\" Kardon said, \"you are resi"}, {"response": 149, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Aug 28, 2002 (19:24)", "body": "The satellite imagry in this url is truly amazing! Unique Imagery: Coccolithophores in the Barents Sea http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=4718 Storm: Hurricane Fausto http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=4717 Flood: Flooding in Central China http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=4712 Fire: Fires Scorch Oregon http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=4705 Flood: Flooding on Elbe River http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=4714 Flood: Flooding along Danube River http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=4715 -------------------- In the News : http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/ * Latest Images: Flooding in Germany http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10301 MacDonnell Ranges http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10300 Anvil Tops of Thunderstorms http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10299 Hurricane Andrew http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10298 Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10297 MISR Global Images See the Light of Day http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10296 The Migrating Boreal Forest http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10295 * NASA News http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NasaNews/ - NASA Satellites Help Hurricane Forecasters Since 1992's Destructive Hurricane Andrew - Satellites Show Overall Increases in Antarctic Sea Ice Cover * Media Alerts http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/MediaAlerts/ - Scientists Confirm Age of the Oldest Meteorite Collision on Earth - Livermore Researchers Show Depth of Injected CO2 into the Ocean Critical as a Global Warming Solution * Headlines from the press, radio, and television: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/Headlines/ - Global Warming Might Stall the Next Ice Age - Antarctic Sea Ice Increases Over the Past 20 Years - Satellites Help Show Half of U.S. Gripped by Drought - West Nile Virus Claims More Lives - Satellite Data Informs Wildfire Recovery - Soil Study May Yield Harvest of Water Cycle Data - Mild Winters, Dust and Floods in New Places: China - Cosmic Rays, Global Warming Linked * New Research Highlights http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/Research/"}, {"response": 150, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Sep 10, 2002 (21:35)", "body": "New Features: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/ * Dropping in on a Hurricane (DAAC Study) http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/camex4/ By dropping small sensors into hurricanes from above, scientists are acquiring data at high altitudes that will help them better unde rstand the structure and dynamics of hurricanes. -------------------- Natural Hazards: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/ * Latest Events: Storm: Typhoon Sinlaku http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=4755 Fire: Widespread Burning across South Central Africa http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=4754 Storm: Tropical Storm Fay http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=4752 Storm: Typhoon Ele http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=4750 Storm: Tropical Storm Edouard http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=4749 -------------------- In the News : http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/ * Latest Images: Dongting Lake Flooding in China http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10316 Iturralde Crater, Bolivia http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10315 Mayn River, Siberia http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10314 Petroleum Infrastructure, Denver City, Texas http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10313 South Georgia Island http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10312 Rainfall Inside Hurricane Hernan http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10311 Where on Earth...? MISR Mystery Image Quiz #10 http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10310 * NASA News http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NasaNews/ - NASA Scientists Determined to Unearth Origin of the Iturralde Crater * Media Alerts http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/MediaAlerts/ - New Amazon Forest Monitoring Team: RAINFOR * Headlines from the press, radio, and television: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/Headlines/ - Warming Waters Affect Lobsters - Atmospheric Wave Linked to Sea Ice Flow Near Greenland - Satellites Show Overall Increases In Antarctic Sea Ice Cover - Climate and Cholera: An Increasingly Important Link - Satellite Trio Helps Track Hurricanes -------------------- New Data: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Observatory/ * Updated Data: Aerosol Optical Depth data for January 2001 http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Observatory/Datasets/aer_od.modis.html Cloud Radiative Forcing data for July 2001 http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Observatory/Datasets/cldforc.erbe.html Outgoing Longwave Radiation data for July 2001 http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Observatory/Datasets/lwflux.erbe.html Net Radiation data for July 2001 http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Observatory/Datasets/netflux.erbe.html Reflected Shortwave Radiation data for July 2001 http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Observatory/Datasets/swflux.erbe.html UV Radiation Exposure data for March 2002 http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Observatory/Datasets/uv.toms.html --------------------------------------------------------------------- Earth Observatory weekly mailing -- http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/ To unsubscribe, e-mail: eo-announce-unsubscribe@eodomo.gsfc.nasa.gov For additional commands, e-mail: eo-announce-help@eodomo.gsfc.nasa.gov"}, {"response": 151, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Sep 18, 2002 (20:42)", "body": "The latest from NASA's Earth Observatory (09/18/2002) ----------------------------------------------------------------- New Features: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/ * Locust! http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/Locusts/ A little bit of overcrowding can transform a population of solitary desert locusts into a marauding mob with a voracious appetite. By tracking rainfall-induced changes in vegetation in the desert locust's habitat, scientists can help predict when conditions are becoming ripe for the formation of a plague. -------------------- Natural Hazards: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/ * Latest Events: Flood: Flooding in Indochina http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=5115 Fire: Fires in Central and Southern Africa http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=4764 Unique Imagery: New York City http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=4765 Flood: Flooding in Southern France http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=4766 Fire: Fires in Western Russia http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=4760 Fire: Fires and Deforestation in Brazil http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=4762 Storm: Tropical Storm Gustav http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=4759 Storm: Tropical Storm Hagupit http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=4761 Fire: Fires in Argentina http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=4763 -------------------- In the News : http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/ * Latest Images: Distinguishing Natural Aerosols from Human Pollution http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10762 Topographic Map of the Iturralde Structure, Bolivia http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10761 Kanaga Volcano, Alaska http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10321 Slash and Burn Agriculture in Brazil http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10320 Namaqualand, South Africa http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10319 Ocean Sand, Bahamas http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10318 Typhoon Sinlaku http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10317 Dongting Lake Flooding in China http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10316 * NASA News http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NasaNews/ - NASA Scientists Use Satellites to Distinguish Human Pollution from Other Atmospheric Particles - From Satellites to Sea: JPL Scientists Map Ocean Eddies - New Gravity Mission on Track to Map Earth's Shifty Mass * Media Alerts http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/MediaAlerts/ - Interpreting a Climate Record from 10,000-year-old Migrating Waters * Headlines from the press, radio, and television: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/Headlines/ - Summer Was Third Warmest on Record - EO Birds Confirm Rapid Changes in Earth's Polar Ice Sheets - Warming Could End Antarctic Species - Goodbye to Glaciers - Team Determined to Unearth Origin of Iturralde Crater * New Research Highlights http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/Research/"}, {"response": 152, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Dec 10, 2002 (20:14)", "body": "The latest from NASA's Earth Observatory (12/10/2002) ----------------------------------------------------------------- In the News : http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/ * Latest Images: Phytoplankton Thrive around the Falkland Islands http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10846 Emi Koussi Volcano, Chad, North Africa http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10845 Apollo 17 Anniversary http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10844 Jau National Park, Brazil http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10843 Total Eclipse of the Sun http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10842 Fluctuations of Lake Eyre, South Australia http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10841 Sediment Clouds the Caspian Sea http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10840 * NASA News http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NasaNews/ - Arctic Sea Ice Shrinking, Greenland Ice Sheet Melting, According to Study * Media Alerts http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/MediaAlerts/ - Climate Change Will Affect Carbon Sequestration in Oceans, Scientists Say - Satellite Images Predict Hantaviral Transmission Risk"}, {"response": 153, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Mar 23, 2003 (14:57)", "body": "In the News : http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/ * Latest Images: Tropical Cyclone Erica Off New Caledonia http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=11279 Buenos Aires at Night http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=11278 Chicago, Illinois http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=11277 Dust Streamers Over Gulf of Alaska http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=11276 Shenandoah National Park, Virginia http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=11275 Casting Light and Shadows on a Saharan Dust Storm http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=11274 Ice Covers the Great Lakes http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=11273 * NASA News http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NasaNews/ - Welcome the Sun With Understanding - The 1991 Mt. Pinatubo Eruption Provides a Natural Test for the Influence of Arctic Circulation on Climate - Educator Astronaut Report Card: Science Teachers Express Support * Media Alerts http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/MediaAlerts/ - Clouds Mitigate Effects of Warming on Arctic - Global Warming Could Trigger Cascade of Climate Changes - Improved Ocean Color Mapping When the NIST SIRCUS Is in Town * Headlines from the press, radio, and television: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/Headlines/ - Drought May Have Aided Fall of Maya Civilization - 3 Great Lakes Frozen Over, First Time Since 1994: Environment Official - Pinatubo Eruption Affected Arctic Climate - Greenland Cools as World Warms - Warmer Climate to Soak California - Chemists Make Air Quality Discovery - Rain Kills Reindeer - Changes in the Earth's Rotation Are in the Wind - Weak El Ni\ufffdo Means Less Snow in West - Climate Changes May Increase Extreme Rain/Snow Events in California - El Ni\ufffdo Weakening, Experts Say - Changes in the Earth's Rotation Are in the Wind - Climate Studies Hold Key to Future of Desalination Plant - Winter Weather Won't Replenish Great Lakes - Winter's Engine? * New Research Highlights http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/Research/"}, {"response": 154, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Mar 30, 2003 (11:54)", "body": "Where did the rain kill the reindeer?"}, {"response": 155, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Apr  1, 2003 (01:27)", "body": "Rain Kills Reindeer March 10 \ufffd The reindeer, caribou and elk that many indigenous peoples depend upon starve when it rains on snow-covered land in Scandinavia, Canada, Alaska. (Nature) news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 77, "subject": "Saudi Arabia", "response_count": 5, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Aug  1, 2002 (09:38)", "body": "From the article: ''We are almost dealing with Saudi Arabia as if it were a patient with an addiction or a disease that is so dire that we don't dare disturb it because it might make it worse.... But the question that must be asked is: Are things going to get better?'' http://www.nationalpost.com/components/printstory/printstory.asp?id=3e461c70-0fb8-43d3-aef2-ebe7ee6c9443"}, {"response": 2, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Aug  1, 2002 (09:42)", "body": "http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,331980,00.html People in Saudi Arabia are sick of talking about Sept. 11. They have little interest in examining why 15 of their countrymen hijacked U.S. commercial planes and killed 3,000 civilians; many prefer to believe that the attacks were the work of the CIA or the Mossad, and that the 15 hijackers were unwitting players in someone else's plot. \"They were just bodies,\" a senior government official says. Spend an evening in Jidda, the hometown of Osama bin Laden, where young Saudis today flock to American chain restaurants and shopping malls to loiter away the stifling summer nights, and you rarely hear bin Laden's name. \"They find it silly when people talk about al-Qaeda,\" says journalist Mohammed al-Kheriji, 28, as he sips a latte at the city's newest Starbucks. \"People are worried about their own problems.\" But while Saudis remain uninterested\ufffdor perhaps they're in a state of denial\ufffdin the level of Saudi participation in Sept. 11, the country seethes with open loathing for the U.S. and sympathy for bin Laden's cause. Signs of anti-Western militancy are rife throughout this vast kingdom, from the capital, Riyadh\ufffdwhere in June separate car bombs blew up a British banker outside his home and nearly killed an American expatriate\ufffdto Abha, a remote mountain city in the southern province of Asir, where four of the hijackers were raised and locals still celebrate all \"the Fifteen,\" as the group is called. \"Their friends are really proud of them,\" says Ghazi al Gamdhi, 22, a university student. \"They think the Fifteen were protecting Islam. Most of the guys here want to become heroes protecting Islam.\""}, {"response": 3, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Jun 13, 2004 (05:24)", "body": "http://news.google.com/url?ntc=0M0A0&q=http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/06/13/saudi.shooting/ RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (CNN) -- US and Saudi authorities are searching for a missing American, that al Qaeda militants claim to have kidnapped after killing another US citizen Saturday in Saudi Arabia's capital city, Riyadh."}, {"response": 4, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Jun 13, 2004 (14:10)", "body": "Al Qaeda Escalates Anti-Western Attacks in Saudi euters - 40 minutes ago RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi and US authorities are working closely to locate an American engineer who al Qaeda said it had kidnapped after it killed another US national in the capital Riyadh, security sources said on Sunday."}, {"response": 5, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Jun 15, 2004 (09:47)", "body": "U.S. urges Americans to exit Saudi Arabia By Pauline Jelinek WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. government renewed its call on Monday for Americans to leave Saudi Arabia after the recent terrorist attacks, saying the safety of U.S. workers was more important than any effect on oil supplies or the Saudi economy. An estimated 35,000 Americans have been working in Saudi Arabia and it was unclear how many have left since the increase in attacks, which have come at the same time the Bush administration has been pressing the Saudis to boost oil production to help lower gas prices in the United States. Referring to U.S. workers in Saudi Arabia, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said, \"We first and foremost have a responsibility to Americans. We need to give them our best advice on how to handle any particular situation overseas.\" \"As far as the maintenance and continued flow of oil and the economy in Saudi Arabia, that is something I think the Saudis will have to describe, what provisions they can make and how they can operate those facilities.\" He would not say how many American workers had chosen to remain in Saudi Arabia as part of the kingdom's huge expatriate work force. \"In this kind of situation, we feel that giving out numbers just identifies how many potential targets there might be,\" Boucher said. More: http://www.salon.com/news/wire/2004/06/14/saudi_arabia/index.html news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 78, "subject": "Austin News", "response_count": 214, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Oct  7, 1999 (09:51)", "body": "The Yogurt Shop murders have finally been solved. This has tied this community up in knots for years. Eight days after four teen-age girls were killed in a 1991 yogurt shop robbery, Austin police arrested a teen-ager with a revolver at Northcross Mall. He told investigators he had loaned the .22-caliber revolver to a friend who had used it in the yogurt shop slayings. Almost eight years later, Austin police on Wednesday arrested and charged four men with capital murder, including the two teen-agers they had questioned long ago and dismissed as lying about the city's most notorious unsolved killings. Three of the accused were McCallum High School students, and the fourth, who had attended several Austin schools, was not enrolled in Austin public schools at the time of the killings. All are high school dropouts. They've worked a variety of jobs, mostly as mechanics or maintenance workers or, in one case, as manager of a McDonald's restaurant. At a midafternoon news conference, Police Chief Stan Knee gave a spare outline of the arrests, and police would say nothing else. But a sworn police statement for the arrest warrant tells how police believe four teen-agers -- 15 to 17 years old in 1991 -- plotted to rob the I Can't Believe It's Yogurt store on West Anderson Lane and then shot the four girls before setting the shop on fire. From http://www.austin360.com"}, {"response": 2, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Oct  7, 1999 (09:56)", "body": "align=\"left\">"}, {"response": 3, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Oct  7, 1999 (12:55)", "body": "wow. I had just been in Austin for a few months when those murders happened... oddly enough I'd put all that outta my head... remembering the grief and anger in the AUstin community though kinda reminds me (a LOT) of what has been going on here since Columbine... the frustration was deeper in Austin though... no killers were named... we were kinda nervous to go out... everyone wondered had they been raped, did they know their killers, was it drug related or a drug deal gone bad... I'm relieved they've found the perpetrators... after reading all their bios I feel sad that some of these guys had gotten their lives back together... too late of course to lead a happy successful life... and their unsuspecting wives... how truly frightening for them... Thanks Paul for the heads up..."}, {"response": 4, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Oct  7, 1999 (13:13)", "body": "Yeah, there's a collective big sigh or relief here in Austin, the uneasiness of not knowing all these years has ended."}, {"response": 5, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Oct 25, 1999 (19:21)", "body": "src=\" http://austin360.com/sports/hookem/gameday/99/nebraska/utneb2.jpg\" > \"Texas cheerleaders and Matthew McConaughey cheer on as #81 Mike Jones runs into the end zone for a touchdown as #83 Kyle Vanden Bosch tries to stop him in the fourth quarter of play at Royal-Memorial Stadium.\" In Austin news today, actor Matthew McConaughey was arrested in his home and taken to the downtown jail. He spent the night in jail. Seems there was \"loud noise\" and when the cops got there he was naked and playing a bongo drum. Coincidentally, he's on the front page of the Austin paper shown cheering the winning touchdown. The picture above, he's between the two cheerleaders. Alex Jones and others on our tvshow website have been talking about the heavy handedness of the Austin police. Now, Joe Turner, noted criminal lawyer, will defend Matthew of these charges of excessive force. Also found at the scene or Matthew's Tarrytown home, a bong and some pot. He wasn't charged with this."}, {"response": 6, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Oct 25, 1999 (19:41)", "body": "Oh My! At least my summation on who it was NOT was correct in your sports topic. Pretty nasty business if one is not allowed to be naked and playing one's bongo drums in the privacy of one's own home...! Is this a law in Texas? (Is there a Tarrytown in Texas, too? I only know of the one in New York!)"}, {"response": 7, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Oct 26, 1999 (09:59)", "body": "Tarrytown is an older, nice Austin neighborhood. The lady judge said what the cops did, bust into his home, was illegal. So they're trying him on \"resisting transportation\". He wouldn't have been resisting transportation if they'd left him alone like they should have. All the neighbors interviewed on the news were saying what a nice guy he was, how he watered their grass when they were away, etc. He gave the press a big \"hookem\" sign at the release."}, {"response": 8, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Oct 26, 1999 (12:57)", "body": "How unfortunate this all is...and I hope justice is served. He cannot but have helped his cause by using the Hookem sign *grin*. Thanks for the location of the second Tarrytown of which I am aware...if figured to be a \"better\" neighborhood...!"}, {"response": 9, "author": "mrchips", "date": "Tue, Oct 26, 1999 (13:16)", "body": "Obviously this happened at night, when there are reasonable noise concerns. The cops should have knocked on his door, giving him an opportunity to put some shorts on, and told him there were complaints about the noise and to please stop playing the bongos until a reasonable hour. Then, if that didn't work. But the young, naked movie star partying at night with bongos in an old money neighborhood. Sure makes good fodder for the gossip mill. Resisting transportation? If the entry was illegal, all charg s should be dropped. I'm sure he'll have a good enough lawyer."}, {"response": 10, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Oct 26, 1999 (14:19)", "body": "He's got the best lawyer you can get in Austin. The cops apparently knocked but there was no answer and then they circled the place and spotted a bong on a table and decided to enter. Matthew yelled at them to leave but they arrested him. I guess he gave one of the arresting officers a body slam, but hey, he was at the UT game earlier that day. The Judge said they had no business entering his place without a warrant. This probably happens a lot but we don't hear about it, in this case, it happened to one of Austin's biggest movie stars."}, {"response": 11, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Oct 26, 1999 (18:40)", "body": "Unfortunately, I am sure it happens a lot - all over the world - and far worse than that...but that does not make it any less repugnant that they did an unlawful search and seizure...!"}, {"response": 12, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Dec  2, 1999 (15:56)", "body": "I subscribed to Austin 360 and got the holiday rundown on the goodies available for your spare hours: Wanna go to the game? \"I will straight trade two upper level Big 12 Championship tickets for two decent seats to the Texas/Arizona basketball game this Saturday night.\" -- says Tommer. Sell, buy or trade your tickets here. Amid the fun, holidays can bring over-eating and depression. Use Austin 360's Health Tools to help fight flab and Seasonal Affective Disorder. Look after yourself Join us and Talk City for the most interesting celebrity and special interest chats. Among this week's offerings are: * Thurs., 12/2 - Chef Nick Stellino * Fri., 12/3 - Vanity Fair's Dominick Dunne * Mon., 12/6 - Santa Claus visits! Exprience a slightly different spirit of Christmas as the UT Ballet Folklorico brings the traditional Mexican 'Posada' to Austin. \ufffd UT Ballet Folklorico \ufffd Get your group online WEEKEND WEATHER The rain gods seem to be smiling, but will Central Texas get enough much-needed moisture?. Check the KVUE 24 five-day forecast on Austin360.com. FOLLOW THE STARS TO THE PERFECT GIFT Get some guidance on gift giving from the signs of the zodiac. You'll love this unique approach to holiday shopping. ---------- *SPOTLIGHT* Charitygift.com Local Internet startup Charitygift.com is up and running just in time for the giving season. Make a donation to charity in a friends' name, design a Christmas card for them, and let them pick which charity your donation goes to -- all online. http://www.Charitygift.com ----------"}, {"response": 13, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Dec  2, 1999 (16:01)", "body": "Wow, thanks for posting that! Full of suggestions for activities."}, {"response": 14, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Dec  2, 1999 (16:06)", "body": "I can post it with the hotlinks intact if you would like - but they are all on the website. The eLert they emailed to me just has them as items which do not copy."}, {"response": 15, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Dec  2, 1999 (16:09)", "body": "don't know how that happened again, but I did not do it. (oh ,yes I did accidentally....sigh) That little sentence is NOT a link..."}, {"response": 16, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Dec  4, 1999 (07:55)", "body": "Sure keep the hotlinks live. They'll be live if they have http:// automatically."}, {"response": 17, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Dec  4, 1999 (14:04)", "body": "unfortunately, they were of the \"a href\" sort with <> around them and that is how I ended up with the problems in post 15. I can go back and hunt all of them and rewrite them...or leave it to others to look around the website. Loads of links and other goodies are there: Austin360"}, {"response": 18, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Dec  6, 1999 (09:49)", "body": "You can copy source in a case like that."}, {"response": 19, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Dec  6, 1999 (12:21)", "body": "e-Lert! from Austin360.com \"It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas... ...everywhere you go.\" Okay, maybe its tough to get in the Christmas spirit when you're still running your AC and wearing shorts and a t-shirt. And \"chestnuts roasting on an open fire\" might earn you a citation from Travis County where the burn ban still is in effect. So Austin360 e-Lert! is here with some weekend highlights to help you get in the holiday mood. NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Friday, December 3, 1999 -- Get on the right track for the festive season with a magical steam train ride through the Hill Country. All aboard for the 'Tour of Lights' Saturday, December 4, 1999 -- Root for the Longhorn football squad as it looks to make it four in a row over the Cornhuskers in the Big 12 Championship game in San Antonio. Hook 'em! Sunday, December 5, 1999 -- Join thousands of your neighbors for an Austin holiday tradition, as the city lights the Zilker Park Christmas Tree. Flick the switch http://www.austin360.com/custom/holidays/trailoflights.html NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: http://www.austin360.com/entertainment/ \ufffd Sports: Big time hoops! The No. 9 Longhorns welcome No. 4 Arizona \ufffd Arts: Step out on the dance floor at Saturday's swanky Holiday Salsa Affair \ufffd Music: Mix with the folks from the Electronic Music Organization Saturday \ufffd Movies: 'Man of the Century' is a refreshing new comedy. Find out where it's showing in town \ufffd Dining: Got a hankering for good sushi? Kyoto could be worth the wait http://austin360.com/entertainment/dining/reviews/kyoto.htm \ufffd Travel: Day-trip to Georgetown for the 'It's a Wonderful Life' Christmas Stroll \ufffd Recreation: Ride the trails. Check out the Austin greenbelt biking scene http://austin360.com/recreation/features/bikingindex.html \ufffd Community: Hit the Austin Christmas Market and Bazaar this Sunday HOLIDAY SHOPPING? You've come to the right place!! Don't worry about parking or waiting in line. You can do your comparison shopping online. With a few clicks, you'll be done with your holiday shopping - and have more time to enjoy the holidays!! http://www.austin360.com/shared/shopping/ Heading to San Antonio for the big game? Wear Orange! http://www.cfistores.com/Scripts/ndISAPI.dll/GoBig12/pgGoBig12 GET CONNECTED Wanna go to the game? \"I will straight trade two upper level Big 12 Championship tickets for two decent seats to the Texas/Arizona basketball game this Saturday night.\" -- says Tommer. Sell, buy or trade your tickets here. http://www.austin360.com/sports/big12/ticket1.html Amid the fun, holidays can bring over-eating and depression. Use Austin 360's Health Tools to help fight flab and Seasonal Affective Disorder. http://austin360.com/shared/health/tools/ Join us and Talk City for the most interesting celebrity and special interest chats. Among this week's offerings are: * Thurs., 12/2 - Chef Nick Stellino * Fri., 12/3 - Vanity Fair's Dominick Dunne * Mon., 12/6 - Santa Claus visits! http://www.austin360.com/shared/community/chat/stars.html/ Exprience a slightly different spirit of Christmas as the UT Ballet Folklorico brings the traditional Mexican 'Posada' to Austin. \ufffd UT Ballet Folklorico http://www.austin360.com/community/groups/utbf/index.html \ufffd Get your group online http://www.austin360.com/community/join/ If you've got any questions or suggestions, let us know: Austin 360 Feedback WEEKEND WEATHER The rain gods seem to be smiling, but will Central Texas get enough much-needed moisture?. Check the KVUE 24 five-day forecast on Austin360.com. Weather http://austin360.com/news/1metro/1999/12/02rain.html FOLLOW THE STARS TO THE PERFECT GIFT Get some guidance on gift giving from the signs of the zodiac. You'll love this unique approach to holiday shopping. Shop by Astrological Sign http://www.austin360.com/shared/horoscopes/giftguide.html ---------- *SPOTLIGHT* Charitygift.com Local Internet startup Charitygift.com is up and running just in time for the giving season. Make a donation to charity in a friends' name, design a Christmas card for them, and let them pick which charity your donation goes to -- all online. http://www.charitygift.com ----------"}, {"response": 20, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Dec  9, 1999 (13:28)", "body": ""}, {"response": 21, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Dec  9, 1999 (13:31)", "body": "More from e-Lert and Austin 360 with \"a href\" links so check the links in the last e-Lert as many of them are the same - or go to http://austin360.com/ Holiday Greetings from Austin360.com The Zilker Tree is lit, the Trail of Lights is opening, and the Miracle on 37th Street neighborhood is in full swing -- the holiday season in Austin is officially opened. Santa's checking his Austin list, he's sorting it twice, doing a database search for who's naughty or nice. Santa Clause is .com-ing to town. NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Friday, December 10, 1999 -- Take a fast-paced trip through the life and times of December's most famous birthday boy, as 'Jesus Christ Superstar' explodes onto stage. Light the fuse Saturday, December 11, 1999 -- Enjoy a Heart of Texas Christmas as this men's chorus ushers in the festive season with an evening of song. Prick up your ears Sunday, December 12, 1999 -- Take a saunter with fellow Austinites down the Zilker Park Trail of Lights. Hit the Trail NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Sports: Hit the hardcourts! The 'Horns try to hit the winning track against San Diego, Saturday \ufffd Arts: Enjoy perhaps the world's best-known ballet as Ballet Austin presents 'The Nutcracker' \ufffd Music: Open your ears Sunday to the mellow tones of Turtle Creek Chorale \ufffd Movies: 'The Green Mile' is a worthy Oscar contender. Find out why, and where it's showing in town \ufffd Dining: Discover what's surprisingly good about Caf\ufffd Josie \ufffd Travel: Come closer to inner peace with a visit to the awesome Guadalupe Mountains \ufffd Recreation: Makin' a list? Mike Leggett has a great Christmas shopping guide for the outdoorsy \ufffd Community: Take the kids for a pancake breakfast with Santa PARKING HASSLES? It's not an issue if you shop here!! You'll find great selections of brand names at terrific prices! With a few clicks you can finish all your holiday shopping - and have time to enjoy all the fun!! Shopping Are you turning your attention from UT Football to UT Basketball? You still need to wear your orange! UT Merchandise GET CONNECTED Signs of change. \"'Sprawl' is not a disease that causes 'farmers' to awaken one morning to find Milburn homes in their pasture!\" -- says Rong. Tell us what you think about Austin's rapid growth. Join the debate Whether you're planning a trip across town or a Christmas trip across the country, use Austin 360's Map It to get there faster and safer. Map your route Join us and Talk City for the most interesting celebrity and special interest chats. Among this week's offerings are: * Thurs., 12/9 - Jaguar's Wide Receiver Jimmy Smith * All month long 12/10 & 11 - Santa Claus visits! * Wed., 12/15 - David Krumholtz from the movie \"Liberty Heights\" People & Chat Local computer graphics professionals can get support, education, networking and freelancing information from Austin Corel Professionals. \ufffd Austin Corel Professionals \ufffd Get your professional group online"}, {"response": 22, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Dec  9, 1999 (22:24)", "body": "Trackmeets and Trails of Light."}, {"response": 23, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Dec  9, 1999 (23:29)", "body": "Sounds like the Olympic Torch relay or some permutation of same...or are they two different events?!"}, {"response": 24, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Dec 10, 1999 (08:00)", "body": "I just noticed these two events from the stuff you posted from 360."}, {"response": 25, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec 10, 1999 (13:44)", "body": "It all sounds so festive - I guess that is what I miss the most living here. I'll just hole up and hope to survive the holidays for another year without family or those I truly care about..."}, {"response": 26, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Dec 13, 1999 (15:44)", "body": "There has to be tons of things to do in Hawaii, if I was there I think I'd be dazzled, imagine you've just arrived in town and go from there."}, {"response": 27, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Dec 13, 1999 (16:44)", "body": "There are plenty of really nice students here from far-flung places in the same lonely position, so I think I shall throw a party and feed them. One must never be alone for the holidays. Maybe I can convince some of them to go hiking with me on New Year's Day...Kilauea caldera is pretty empty and very peaceful and fascinating no matter the weather or time of the year. Thanks, Terry! Not exactly what you chose, but I think this will do just fine. *hugs*"}, {"response": 28, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Dec 14, 1999 (21:29)", "body": "Good for you Marcia. My son Shey is here this week from California and we're jamming around town having a ball. Push your limits Marcia, you'll find good friends and good times."}, {"response": 29, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Dec 14, 1999 (21:48)", "body": "I think his coach was here for the Big Island Invitational - I heard our AD telling someone else that the man who had just left was the coach at Sonoma State...! Loads of fun folks here - and I plan to corral as many as I can fit into the house! Why vegetate when good things are out there just waiting for someone to do them?!"}, {"response": 30, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Dec 15, 1999 (01:25)", "body": "Absolutely, couldn't agree more. Did you see the new folks that showed up today?"}, {"response": 31, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Dec 15, 1999 (13:40)", "body": "Not yet...(still looking for where I might find them...)It's finals week here so a lot of the local kids will be departing, west coast parents will be coming over to spend the holidays with their kids, and I get the rest from all over the world. I just might let they bring their national specialty to add to my traditional turkey feast...! We will surely have an eclectic menu!"}, {"response": 32, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Dec 15, 1999 (13:43)", "body": "Oh, and the Coconut Coast Classic teams do not show up for another week: Ashland, Truman State, North Dakota, Nebraska-Omaha and UHHilo (a much smaller tournament but has fans who are just as rabid as Cincinnati's are!)"}, {"response": 33, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Dec 16, 1999 (14:38)", "body": "I'm going to possibly check out the Armadillo Christmas Fair again this year."}, {"response": 34, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Dec 16, 1999 (15:06)", "body": "They have ethnic fairs of all sorts in Hilo, but none I can recall for animals. OK, I can't even begin to guess what an Armadillo Christmas Fair entails. Please report back!"}, {"response": 35, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Dec 16, 1999 (15:31)", "body": "http://www.austin360.com/index.html e-Lert! from Austin360.com Counting down to Christmas on Austin360.com Father Christmas has been spotted buying more printer paper, so it looks like his list is in its final stages. But you still have time to do some last-minute shopping, hit the Trail of Lights or find a local church in which to celebrate the season's meaning. NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Friday, December 17, 1999 -- Now's your chance to experience one of the world's most popular ballets as Ballet Austin presents \"The Nutcracker\". Get more information Saturday, December 18, 1999 -- Ever heard of Wofford College? Well, us either...but they did beat Clemson earlier this year. The Longhorns meet them at the Erwin Center at 1 p.m. Horns hoops Sunday, December 19, 1999 -- Tired of singing carols in the shower? Well, get yourself and some friends down to the 11th Annual Sing-It-Yourself Messiah and belt carols out for all Austin to hear. Sing it loud NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: Whoop it up with the juggling, whipcracking, balloon-eating Flaming Idiots \ufffd Music: Jam with The Misfits, GWAR and the Derailers \ufffd Movies: 'Bicentennial Man' aims for the heart this holiday season. Find out where it's showing in town \ufffd Dining: Get the real scoop on why Dan McKluskey's steaks are so great \ufffd Travel: San Antonio has just the zoo for you \ufffd Recreation: Outdoorsy folks on the shopping list? Mike Leggett to the rescue \ufffd Community: Join your Austin neighbors at the city's spectacular Trail of Lights RUNNING OUT OF TIME? There are only nine shopping days left before Christmas!! You had better get in gear! With just a few clicks, you can finish all your holiday shopping! Let the clicking begin.... Shopping Chocolate-dipped strawberries. Texas Granite bookends. Ice cream gift certificates. Longhorns blankets. Fishing lure art. Dr. Seuss. Send friends and family gifts from local businesses. There's even free hand-delivery available. Send a gift that screams 'Austin!' GET CONNECTED Movies of the '90s. \"ED WOOD. A terrific little movie about the infamous B-movie director. One of my favorites of all time.\" -- says frits. Be a critic and put in your two cents. What movie tops your favorites list? Getting the abode decorated for the season? Need some ideas for the chronic home improver in your house? Want to make sure your pipes survive the chill? Check in with Austin 360's Home Improvement for gift ideas and how-tos. Home Improvement Join us and Talk City for the most interesting celebrity and special interest chats. Among this week's offerings are: * Thurs., 12/16 - Author David Bach on his book \"Smart Women Finish Rich\" * Thurs., 12/16 - Joan Lunden * Mon., 12/20 - Meet Mr. Food People & Chat It's a small world after all. Make new friends from around the world with members from the Friendship Force of Austin \ufffd Go global \ufffd Get your cultural group online If you've got complaints about your standing on the naughty or nice list, please take them up with Santa. If you have any questions or suggestions about the e-Lert!, let us know: Austin 360 Feedback Copyright 1999 Cox Interactive Media. WEEKEND WEATHER It's beginning to feel a bit like winter -- for once cooler weather abounds. Check the KVUE 24 five-day forecast on Austin360.com. Weather POP SOME CORN AND SETTLE IN! There's nothing like a good holiday TV special to get you in the spirit of the season. Find out when your favorite classics will return and what's new this year. Holiday TV Planner ---------- *SPOTLIGHT* Buy local Amy's Ice Cream, Dr. Chocolate, Bark 'n' Purr, the Continental Club, Chuy's, Sabia Botanicals, Alamo Drafthouse, Art on 5th, the University Co-Op and many more local businesses are ready to deliver gifts to the doors or desks of your friends and family. Get shopping ----------"}, {"response": 36, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Dec 16, 1999 (16:39)", "body": "oooh! I miss Amy's... mexican vanilla w/ peanut butter cup..."}, {"response": 37, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Dec 17, 1999 (09:41)", "body": "Every year I go to the Armadillo Christmas Fair and there's one show stopper booth. Two years ago it was the rubber ties. Last year, no show stopper. This year, it's gotta be the metal sculpture from Wisconsin. These moving, gyrating works made out of parts from engine blocks and electrical parts from cars are breathtaking. There's a guy on a harley, a chain of basketball players collaborating on a dunk, incredible robots. it was awesome. I may have to go back and get another look and get the guys card. Someone said \"ooo, don't touch it\" to her kid and the guy from Wisconsin said, \"Go ahead, see the sign that says 'please touch', I have a policy, if you touch it and it breaks, I've done something wrong.\" I really can't describe these. I just might have to go back and see if he has a website with pictures. I might have to go against all my instincts and buy one."}, {"response": 38, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec 17, 1999 (14:42)", "body": "How neat! I have a small baseball player made of out screws nuts and small hardware then chromed - really cute. I think you just might need to get a small whatzit for the corner of your room... How many rubber ties are in your collection?"}, {"response": 39, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Dec 19, 1999 (11:31)", "body": "Just one! But it's cool. And I still haven't made it back to the Armadillo."}, {"response": 40, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Dec 19, 1999 (15:00)", "body": "How do you tie it? (I know - very carefully!) or is it a clip-on? Guess it would have to be... Don't think I have ever seen a bungee tie!"}, {"response": 41, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Dec 19, 1999 (19:41)", "body": "You guys are gonna freeze your buns off: Forecast For Austin, Tx 400 Pm Cst Sun Dec 19 1999 .Tonight...Fair This Evening...Then Becoming Cloudy...Windy And Colder. A 20 Percent Chance Of Rain Toward Morning. Lows In The Upper 30S To Near 40. Southerly Winds 5 To 10 Mph...Becoming North 15 To 25 Mph Around Midnight. .Monday...Cloudy...Windy And Much Colder With A 20 Percent Chance Of Rain Or Sleet Mainly In The Morning. Partial Clearing Late Afternoon. Temperatures Holding In The 30S. North Wind 20 To 30 Mph. .Monday Night...Clearing And Very Cold. Lows Around 20 To 25. .Tuesday...Mostly Sunny. Highs In The Mid And Upper 40S. .Extended Forecast... .Tuesday Night...Mostly Clear And Very Cold. Lows Around 20. .Wednesday...Partly Cloudy. Highs In The Upper 40S To Near 50. .Thursday And Friday...Partly Cloudy. Lows In The 20S. Highs In The 50S. Special weather statement 300 Pm Cst Sun Dec 19 1999 ...Colder Weather Coming Tonight And Monday... A Cold Front Will Move Over The Hill Country And South Central Texas Tonight. Temperatures Will Slowly Fall Into The 30S By Monday Morning And Remaining In The 30S To Lower 40S Throughout The Day. Northerly Winds Will Prevail At 15 To 30 Mph And Gusty. There Is A Slight Chance Of Rain Developing Early Monday Morning And Continuing Through Most Of The Day. Portions Of The Texas Hill Country And South Central Texas May Have Rain Mixed With Sleet. Driving Conditions Will Be Difficult And Motorists Are Urged To Use Caution. Although The Sleet Will Be Light In Some Locations...Only Light Accumulations Are Possible...It Only Takes A Small Amount To Make Bridges...Streets...Highways And Walkways Extremely Slick And Hazardous. With Winds In The 15 To 30 Mph Range...Wind Chills Will Be In The Single Digits...So Dress Warmly. Protection To Plants...Pipes...Pets And Vehicles Is Advised Before The Colder Weather Comes Late Tonight And Monday. Stay Tuned To Noaa Weather Radio Stations...Cable Local Tv And Radio Stations For Additional Statements."}, {"response": 42, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Dec 20, 1999 (09:47)", "body": "Woo, chilly willy!"}, {"response": 43, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Dec 20, 1999 (15:25)", "body": "Get out the wooly clothes and long-handled underwear...Gonna be a frigid night!"}, {"response": 44, "author": "stacey", "date": "Mon, Dec 20, 1999 (16:39)", "body": "better yet... find a snuggle buddy!"}, {"response": 45, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Dec 20, 1999 (17:15)", "body": "There you go! Hibernate with warm body of choice...my kinda winter wonderland!"}, {"response": 46, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Dec 21, 1999 (09:49)", "body": "The cold front is hitting us for real today. The other day was just a false alarm."}, {"response": 47, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Dec 21, 1999 (11:27)", "body": "We arrive tonight... should I bother to bring shorts???"}, {"response": 48, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Dec 21, 1999 (11:34)", "body": "Yep. Bring those shorts if want to use my guest pass at the Q and there may be a warm front for Christmas. Will you call me please when you arrive?"}, {"response": 49, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Dec 21, 1999 (15:38)", "body": "still the 512-303-3000 number? I'll call you from SA... I'm not sure we'll make it up to Austin... but if we do we'll definitely do the beer or coffee thing... Heard from WER lately?"}, {"response": 50, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Dec 22, 1999 (10:31)", "body": "I talked to wer yesterday and he's working a grueling schedule at Lil Italy, grueling 16 hour days without many breaks. I did get his schedule so I could schedule some time with him, he's been the workhorse and driving force behind spring.net for so long, we owe him a heavy debt of gratitude. He's really come a long way in his understanding and capabilities in web authoring and in Yapp programming."}, {"response": 51, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Dec 22, 1999 (10:33)", "body": "Call me at: 302-4000 Austin 303-4000 Cedar Creek 278-8065 Cedar Creek 699-4000 cellphone 838-4615 office Leave a message with your SA contact number, hope you make it up to Austin, I'd love to meet you guys for coffee."}, {"response": 52, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Dec 23, 1999 (13:21)", "body": "e-Lert! from Austin360.com Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from Austin360.com \"I'm dreaming of a white Christmas...\" Well, according to the KVUE five day forecast, it looks like Perry really was dreaming - and he sure didn't live in Austin. Christmas Day is just about upon us with last minute shopping, travelling to see your friends and family, baking goodies, and wrapping the last of the presents. Have a Merry Christmas, and if you are still around town, here is our list of holiday weekend highlights to help you enjoy the season. NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Friday, December 24 -- Fire and Bowling Pins. The Flaming Idiots have been called \"one of the most brilliant juggling teams in America.\" Get more information Saturday, December 25 -- One ticked-off elf. Catch \"The Santaland Diaries\" featuring Martin Burke for an evening of merrily subversive holiday tales guaranteed to delight. Get the low-down Sunday, December 26 -- Ice Bats and Mud Bugs. The Expo center hosts another evening of ice hockey involving oddly-named teams. Drop the puck! NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: Celebrate Kwanzaa with gospel, blues, jazz, rap and poetry at the Doris Miller Auditorium \ufffd Music: Celebrate Christmas with Dale Watson's holiday show at the Continental Club \ufffd Movies: 'The Talented Mr. Ripley' is not only creepy, but entertaining. Find out where it's showing in town \ufffd Dining: See why the Driskill Grill is 'poised for greatness' \ufffd Travel: Twenty lavish locales to ring in the New Year \ufffd Recreation: Map out your holiday trip \ufffd Community: Help your less fortunate neighbors by giving to Blue Santa GOT IT ORDERED? Even if you don't have the perfect gift in hand, you can say it's ordered and on it's way! Cover your bases with just a few clicks! Click away!! Shopping Chocolate-dipped strawberries. Texas Granite bookends. Ice cream gift certificates. Longhorns blankets. Fishing lure art. Dr. Seuss. Send friends and family gifts from local businesses. There's even free hand-delivery available. Send a gift that screams 'Austin!' GET CONNECTED Chan the man? \"I guarantee you there are 20 other teams that wish their coaches had gotten their team to the place Chan Gailey has his right now.\" -- says shanegot. Gripe, critique or cheer them, it's the Cowboys. Should Gailey stay or go? Getting the abode decorated for the season? Need some ideas for the chronic home improver in your house? Want to make sure your pipes survive the chill? Check in with Austin 360's Home Improvement for gift ideas and how-tos. Home Improvement Join us and Talk City for the most interesting celebrity and special interest chats. Among this week's offerings is: * Throughout December -- visit Santa's Workshop! People & Chat Make contact with your university's alumni group in Austin. Or you can get your group on-line. \ufffd Get your group online \ufffd Austin Rice Alumni \ufffd Capital of Texas Nebraskans \ufffd LSU Alumni Association - Austin \ufffd More alumni groups If you've got complaints about your standing on the naughty or nice list, please take them up with Santa. If you have any questions or suggestions about the e-Lert!, let us know: Austin 360 Feedback Happy Holidays! Copyright 1999 Cox Interactive Media. WEEKEND WEATHER Dreaming of a cool Christmas? Check the KVUE 24 five-day forecast on Austin360.com. Weather TOO POOPED TO SHOP? Need an escape from the holiday rush? There's no better place to hide than a dark movie theater. But be sure to scope out the best flicks of the season before you blow your last 7 bucks! Holiday Movie Guide ---------- *SPOTLIGHT* Local Gifts Amy's Ice Cream, Dr. Chocolate, Bark 'n' Purr, the Continental Club, Chuy's, Sabia Botanicals, Alamo Drafthouse, Art on 5th, the University Co-Op and many more local businesses are ready to deliver gifts to the doors or desks of your friends and family - Thursday, 12/23 is last day to order. Get shopping"}, {"response": 53, "author": "stacey", "date": "Wed, Dec 29, 1999 (11:58)", "body": "by the 22nd I was already in San Antonio... with your wrong phone# we didn't make it up to Austin anyway... just a week of some intense family time... Give WER a hug for me... two years ago right around today-ish we all met at Little Italy... how quickly time passes..."}, {"response": 54, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Dec 30, 1999 (10:33)", "body": "All my phone numbers end in 4000 And begin with either 302, 303 or 699."}, {"response": 55, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Dec 30, 1999 (21:36)", "body": "Y'll gonna have to wait till I am webbing before I can post Austin happenings herer. Doesn't want to copy and paste! But you can read it for this weekend at http://www.Austin360.com"}, {"response": 56, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Dec 31, 1999 (10:30)", "body": "A2K's going to be happening tonight, the big celebration on Sixth Street. It's 9:30 am, so we're about 14 1/2 hours away and counting. We'll see if our server makes it, my backup plan will be to reset the year to 1976 if the old www machine can't count to the year 2000. I'm not too worried about access, it's a real new machine."}, {"response": 57, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec 31, 1999 (12:56)", "body": "Have a good one, Terry. All of our stuff is new (thanks to the burglars) so we comply. I devoutly hope that I will join the rest in Spring via the web. I found an updating gif of the sun. It is the actual image of the sun and you can see the sunspots. That is most surely of interest to hams and other users of the ionosphere. but, I cannot post it until I get on the web. Since you do not go into Geo at all, shall I post it somewhere you can see it? Suggestions?"}, {"response": 58, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec 31, 1999 (13:15)", "body": "(I heard it was 1972 which replicates 1999 - but better get it done before midnight!"}, {"response": 59, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Dec 31, 1999 (15:04)", "body": "e-Lert! from Austin360.com Party of the century There's not much going on around Austin this weekend -- it might be a good weekend to just stay indoors, read a book, and catch up on your knitting. Of course, there is that little once-in-a-lifetime New Year's Eve Millennium celebration that takes over all of downtown Austin with free music and a giant laser light show as we countdown to Year 2K. Other than A2K, the dozens of other New Year's Eve events, the Longhorns in the Cotton Bowl, there's really not much going on. Enjoy your knitting. NEED WEEKEND PLANS? New Year's Eve -- You may have heard about this. There is a little shindig going on downtown called A2K, it's free and the fabulous music line-up includes Shawn Colvin, Robert Earl Keen and Lyle Lovett. Official information There are plenty of other Y2K happenings in the A-town and around Central Texas. Several shows are dropping by the way-side so call before you make your plans! Our listing for New Years Saturday, January 1 -- Try to get some sleep before 10:00 a.m. The Longhorns take on the Arkansas Piggies at the Cotton Bowl in Big D. Hook'em Horns! NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: New Year's at Zachary Scott Theatre is a dramatic extravaganza \ufffd Music: A2K not for you? Check out the millennium parties at other clubs in town \ufffd Movies: See for yourself why 'American Beauty' tops critics' lists \ufffd Sports: The Longhorns welcome the Houston Cougars to the Erwin Center on Sunday \ufffd Dining: The Granite offers 'delectable desserts to die for' \ufffd Travel: Get Outta Town! Austin to Boston for $239 or San Diego for $178 \ufffd Recreation: Map out your holiday trip \ufffd Community: Start the year off with Sunday's A2K Community Unity Fun day TIME TO BUY FOR \"YOU\"! Pamper yourself by buying some great New Year's treats. Visit our shopping channel to purchase all the things you wished your loved ones had given you. Shopping Gift certificates from Amy's Ice Creams, the Continental Club, Bark-n-Purr, the Alamo Draft House, Chuys, and more - give the gift of Austin. Click here to purchase online. GET CONNECTED Get your motor running. \"If anyone is interested in joining the Iron Butt or just ride somewhere, please post back. I ride a BMW K1100RS.\" -- says Irnbtt. Love motorcycles? Share your passion with other Austin bike enthusiasts. Hop into the Bike Bar Get the goods on this massive New Year's weekend with Austin 360's complete guide to the parties, possibilities and more. New Year's Austin Join us and Talk City for the most interesting celebrity and special interest chats. Among this week's offerings is: * Now through Jan. 2nd - Celebrate 2000 People & Chat Make a difference in an local student's life -- join the VICTORY Tutorial Program and tutor children at Austin Public Libraries. \ufffd VICTORY Tutorial Program \ufffd Educational Groups \ufffd More Volunteer Opportunities If you have any questions or suggestions about the e-Lert!, let us know: Austin 360 Feedback If you want to be removed from this list, or want to make changes to you profile, such as upgrading from the text version to the html (with graphics) version of e-Lert!, click here: Edit your profile Happy New Years! Copyright 1999 Cox Interactive Media. WEEKEND WEATHER Hot or cold? Begin your New Year in the know and check the KVUE 24 five-day forecast on Austin360.com. Weather BEST OF THE CENTURY The last 100 years have been filled with exceptional people and innovations. Cast your vote in a variety of categories of who and what is tops in your opinion. Vote for the Best ---------- *SPOTLIGHT* Local Gifts Amy's Ice Cream, Dr. Chocolate, Bark 'n' Purr, the Continental Club, Chuy's, Sabia Botanicals, Alamo Drafthouse, Art on 5th, the University Co-Op and many more local businesses are ready to deliver gifts to the doors or desks of your friends and family. Get shopping ----------"}, {"response": 60, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Jan  3, 2000 (12:17)", "body": "I missed the giant a2k party but I had a nice time and 4 other more intimate affairs, winding up at Bob Nagy's out in Webberville for a nice New Years eve around the campfire and we got to see Bob's pix from Thailand. And I caught the Longhorn disaster the next morning. No one seemed to care about this game. So this is what life in the year 2000 is all about! I do feel like I'm doing some refocusing. Sharpening up some rough edges. Maybe I'll get this nameserver mess straightened out and complete the migration."}, {"response": 61, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jan  3, 2000 (13:47)", "body": "The game was forgetable and I cared about the game, but I was not playing in it...! Our party consisted of cough medicine and soup and tv. Perhaps I shall reinvent myself and change the old guard into something with which I really have something in common. Happy New Year, Terry!"}, {"response": 62, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jan  3, 2000 (13:51)", "body": "Anything I can do to help you refocus and get this nameserver mess atraightened out, I will be most happy to do. I am not a natural telnetter. I am far too wordy...*sigh*"}, {"response": 63, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Jan  5, 2000 (12:25)", "body": "The CEO of Digihost called me this morning and apologized, our nameservers are back, or will be back as soon as the changes propagate through the Internet. No domain name changes are instantaneous, they have to be accepted by myriads of hosts all over the net. Things should be back to normal by Friday at the latest. Let me know if anyone has trouble accessing www.spring.net. I'm thinking of changing our name to either austen.com or springfolks.com and making that the main conferencing area. How do folks feel about this name change. Of course, you could still use spring.net to access the conferences, but austen or springfolks would be the main entryway. There's also the name wholetech.com that I'm kicking around. We're going to move ahead with the new hosts, but more slowly and deliberately and we'll run parallel for a while till we finally pull the plug on ddc and move our servers out of their facility."}, {"response": 64, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jan  5, 2000 (19:00)", "body": "There has only been one problem today that I am aware of. A lady in Toronto is having difficulties connecting. She has forgotten her login and password so I gave her the URL for new user and she got the 404 message. Same with main. I am still working on it with her. (Maybe it is Montreal she is from, but it definitely in Canada!)"}, {"response": 65, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jan  6, 2000 (13:51)", "body": "Then there is this morning. I am back to telnetting even though the numerical ip's work. Ladies in Springfolks are having anxiety attacks, but I shall reassure then that they are in good hands."}, {"response": 66, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jan  6, 2000 (17:32)", "body": "e-Lert! from Austin360.com What a Party! The millennium hoopla is over for now, but what a great party it was as over 200,000 revelers celebrated the new year on Congress Avenue partying like it was...no, we won't even say it. Re-live the A2K celebration by reading your neighbors' comments about the party, viewing slideshows, and experiencing the wrap-up on Austin's biggest party ever: Austin 360 Millennium Coverage Now it's time to hit the hike and bike trail, burn off some of those excess holiday calories, and get back to the usual exciting Austin weekends. Here's our weekly list of Austin weekend favorites. NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Friday through Sunday -- The Austin Home & Garden Show will have plenty of ideas and exhibits to help you remodel, redecorate and landscape. An 1100-square-foot 'cabin' will be on display. Whatever your style, your re-decorating juices will be flowing. Get inspired Friday and Saturday -- The Megabuck Bull Riding Championships are kicking at the Travis County Expo Center. More than 50 cowpokes compete against themselves, the clock and the big beasts. No bull! Saturday, January 8 -- Grab a cup of coffee and marvel at a unique performance by a dog and his man. \"Circus Chicken Dog\" also features a talking parrot, storytelling, frisbees and juggling. Catch it at Ruta Maya at 10:30 a.m. Woof, Woof, Cluck! NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: Move beyond mainstream: \"Transcending Limits\" at Jones Center for Contemporary Art \ufffd Music: Hey Baby! Ted Roddy's Graceland Revue is at the Continental Club. See who else is playing \ufffd Movies: Tom Cruise as a sexy male chauvinist? See it only in P.T. Anderson's 'Magnolia' \ufffd Sports: The Cowboys limp into the playoffs vs. the Vikings \ufffd Dining: Suzi's China Grill serves great food that 'keeps packing them in' \ufffd Travel: Explore Europe: Find flights from Austin to Venice, Barcelona or Zurich for $359 \ufffd Recreation: It's time to start getting ready for the Cap 10K \ufffd Community: Rev up your engines! Head over to the Palmer Auditorium Car Show GAME FOR WINDOW SHOPPING? Click through our selection of shops and find the perfect thing for you or a friend! We've got Deals & Steals, Brand Names, Auctions and Coupons. Browse from the comfort of your home! Shopping The ultimate natural body-care gift basket from Sabia Botanicals - $75. Free hand-delivery to any Austin address. Click here to purchase online. GET CONNECTED Future star athletes. \"Westlake Girl's B-ball -- congrats to the Lady Chaps in their victory over Cleburne to win the championship game in their own tourney.\" -- says MandyH . Tell us how your favorite high school team is doing. Cheer them on at 360 The holidays are over and time is a bit slower. Make some home improvements with some tips from Austin 360. Austin 360 Home Improvement Join us and Talk City for the most interesting celebrity and special interest chats. Among this week's offerings is: * This Saturday night chat with the members of \"Freaks & Geeks\" * If freaks aren't your speed how 'bout the new NBC game show \"Twenty One?\" * Join Web career expert Sacha Cohen next Tuesday. People & Chat Looking to make wholesome strides in 2000? Let the Austin Herb Society show you how herbs compliment your health. \ufffd The Austin Herb Society \ufffd Health & Environmental Groups Copyright 2000 Cox Interactive Media. WEEKEND WEATHER The long arm of winter has finally found us - find out just how cold it's going to be and check the KVUE 24 five-day forecast on Austin360.com. Weather THE ROAD TO SUPER BOWL XXXIV Before you join in the office pool, take a moment to shore up your picks. Reflect on the 1999 season, consult with other fans, and cast your vote for the greatest Super Bowl moments of all time. Super Bowl 2000 ---------- *SPOTLIGHT* Get healthy We've got tips and tools to help you keep those New Year's resolutions. Find a local gym, work off those love handles, and use our fast food calorie counters. Get in shape ----------"}, {"response": 67, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jan  6, 2000 (19:40)", "body": "Does anyone need me to post these E-lerts for Austin here? If not, I shall save Terry some space. If so, I'd be happy to continue to do so. Just let me know..."}, {"response": 68, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Jan  9, 2000 (09:18)", "body": "No, I love them, perhaps you could cut out some stuff and just post the highlights, a bit of editing perhaps!"}, {"response": 69, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Jan  9, 2000 (09:59)", "body": "Actually, they're good just like they are. I'm going to check out that Home and Garden Show today. Thanks for the tip!"}, {"response": 70, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Jan  9, 2000 (15:20)", "body": "Only the one I posted in Telnet got through with all the junk attached. I do usually edit out the extraneous material which comes with these posts. I am delighted to continue to post them. It makes me feel like I am getting to know Austin better, and that is very good, indeed."}, {"response": 71, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Jan  9, 2000 (21:12)", "body": "Hey, really."}, {"response": 72, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jan 13, 2000 (12:46)", "body": "e-Lert! from Austin360.com Austin Weekend Highlights The Austin 360.com e-Lert! is here with our picks of the best events going on around Austin. From the opening of Austin Lyric Opera's \"Candide,\" to the Longhorn hoopsters hosting the Oklahoma Sooners at the Erwin Center, to tributes to Martin Luther King Jr., this weekend offers a wide variety of entertaining and engaging events. NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Friday, January 14 -- The Generals finally gave up, but the Nationals will be the Harlem Globe Trotters victims when the clown-princes of the hardcourt make it to the Erwin Center on Friday. They shoot, they score Saturday, January 15 -- If the call of the wild and the open road are loud in your ears, you owe it to yourself to check out the Austin RV Show. Answer the call Sunday, January 16 -- Honor Martin Luther King Jr. as Austin churches from both sides of I-35 join for prayer, fellowship and celebration. Join the celebration NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: Let yourself be dazzled by the Austin Lyric Opera's 'Candide' \ufffd Music: Catch 2 Muses and other local acts at the Live Oak Coffeehouse benefit concert \ufffd Movies: 'Girl, Interrupted' puts Winona Ryder in a mental institution. Get local showtimes \ufffd Sports: Saturday, the Longhorns host the No. 16 Sooners at the Erwin Center \ufffd Dining: Shed tears of joy when you treat your tummy at the Onion Creek Grille \ufffd Travel: Explore West Texas this weekend with a drive along Highway 67 \ufffd Recreation: You got a hobbie? Find others like you in our recreation community \ufffd Community: Nature calls tree lovers to Wild Basin's Family Trails Days WANT TO BUY TICKETS? Whether you want to go to a hip concert, see your favorite sporting team or take a vacation, check out the current selection. You may see something you hadn't even thought about. Let your mouse do the walking!! Tickets GET CONNECTED Finger lickin' good! \"This place is fabulous! Service was attentive, helpful (he suggested the second dish) and friendly.\" -- says amysue about Thai Garden. Be a food critic and tell us about Austin's best and worst restaurants. Chew things over Work off the holiday love handles by checking out our tips for improving your home, sweet home. Hitch up your tool belt Join us and Talk City for the most interesting celebrity and special interest chats. Among this week's offerings is: * Friday night meet Washington Post's Karl Evanz * The 2000 presidential race starts in Iowa and we'll be there chatting * Country star Jessica Andrews chats Monday People & Chat Looking for an alternative to educate your children? The Austin Area Homeschoolers can help you explore your options. \ufffd The Austin Area Homeschoolers \ufffd More Educational Groups If you have any questions or suggestions about the e-Lert!, let us know: Austin 360 Feedback Copyright 2000 Cox Interactive Media. WEEKEND WEATHER SNOW! ... is not in the forecast. To find out what is, check the KVUE 24 five-day forecast on Austin360.com. Weather NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS: 2000 Whether you've resolved to stop smoking, get off your duff and exercise, or just be happier in 2000; we've got some tips to keep you on track and great ideas for those focused on fitness. Keeping Resolutions Getting in Shape ----------"}, {"response": 73, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jan 20, 2000 (13:51)", "body": "e-Lert! from Austin360.com Austin Highlights Austin variety is at its finest this weekend -- the Flatlanders reunite at the Cactus Cafe, Austinites begin training for the Capitol 10k and FronteraFest takes to the stage. It's a great time for music, movies, dining out and more, with Austin360.com's e-Lert! bringing you the highlights. P.S. Don't miss tonight's Lunar Eclipse. NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Friday, January 21 -- Get in touch with Martin Luther King Jr.'s vision as James Earl Jones gives a keynote speech in this week of celebration for the Rev. King's life. Free your mind Saturday, January 22 -- Experience the original vampire film, \"Nosferatu\", with live orchestral accompaniment at the Paramount. Embrace the night Sunday, January 23 -- Hunt for your favorite childhood book or pick up a copy of an ancient world map at the Austin Book and Paper Show. Turn back the covers NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: Fill your days with FronteraFest 2000 drama \ufffd Music: Witness the Cactus Cafe reunion of the Flatlanders \ufffd Movies: 'Angela's Ashes' puts a face to poverty during the '40s. Get local showtimes \ufffd Sports: Be there in spirit Saturday as the Horns battle the Red Raiders \ufffd Dining: The buzz is out on Austin's Tocai ... and it's better than ever \ufffd Travel: Long to see soaring cliffs and high peaks? Plan a trip to the Guadalupe Mountains \ufffd Recreation: Get in training for this year's Capitol 10k \ufffd Community: Feel the rhythm of Rio at the Capoeira Angola Workshop CAN YOU SAY SHOP? Options abound! Check out computers, software, books, music, movies, games or whatever suits your fancy. You might even find a coupon you need! Start clicking and shop away! Shopping Get all the gear you need to bike the Greenbelt in style. Click for the best deals on the Internet. GET CONNECTED Light rail or not? \"Bottom line -- clean house on the board of Cap Metro -- fire Rae and return the $60 million to the taxpayers of Central Texas\" -- says Vic Vreeland. Feeling the traffic blues? Tell us about it. Verbalize your road rage Get a head start on your taxes. Download forms, check out the latest software and talk about your tax trials and tribulations with fellow Austinites. Get help Join us and Talk City for the most interesting celebrity and special interest chats. Among this week's offerings is: * Chat about your pets 24 hours a day! * Meet Bruce Campbell, actor in \"Menno's Mind\" * Learn about astronomy with the daily Cosmos chat People & Chat Love the skirl of the bagpipes? Join the Capitol City Highlanders band or let them teach you how to play. \ufffd Capitol City Highlanders \ufffd More Music Groups WEEKEND WEATHER See how slight Austin's chance of rain really is. Check the KVUE 24 five-day forecast on Austin360.com. Weather TIME TO PLAN A GETAWAY It's hard to get through the rest of winter without something to look forward to. Why not plan a fun trip? Our travel channel offers all the resources you'll need to plan the perfect getaway. Travel Central ---------- *SPOTLIGHT* Portland, Oregon Fly to Portland for only $148 RT. Visit our weekly summary of Internet airfare specials from Austin. Internet Airfare Summary ----------"}, {"response": 74, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Jan 21, 2000 (10:00)", "body": "Don't forget Sunday's basketball game, Austin's Pro team the Cyclones is playing with Kris Clack."}, {"response": 75, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jan 21, 2000 (14:23)", "body": "Good point...wonder why they did not report it?!"}, {"response": 76, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Jan 22, 2000 (18:22)", "body": "It was on the sports pages, Clack, or is it Klack?, was an athletic UT standout and is a good NBA prospect. He was once a MacDonalds All American in high school. The Celtics have an option on him."}, {"response": 77, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jan 22, 2000 (22:04)", "body": "It must be terrific to have a great team to root for in your town. Alas, ours is not. They are nice, polite, etc but they are not a NCAA Division I team despite the fondest wishes of our Athletic Director."}, {"response": 78, "author": "stacey", "date": "Wed, Feb  2, 2000 (13:44)", "body": "But they could probably still kick the pants of our Nuggets..."}, {"response": 79, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Thu, Feb  3, 2000 (09:22)", "body": "I missed that Cyclones game, a little football game called the Superbowl was on and I struggled though it for another year of agonizing that I once owned the name superbowl.com and let it go. But there's another clyclone game Feb 5 here agagainst San Marcos."}, {"response": 80, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Feb  3, 2000 (14:26)", "body": "Oh no! Terry! This is gonna haunt you as long as there is a Superbowl. My sympathies!"}, {"response": 81, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Feb  3, 2000 (15:41)", "body": "e-Lert! from Austin360.com Austin Weekend Highlights It's shaping up to be a beautiful Austin weekend and Austin 360 is here with our list of recommended activities. There are lots of exciting things going on around town, including three Ice Bats games at the Bat Cave (Travis County Expo) this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Ice Bat Schedule And speaking of Bats, do you know how fast the Congress Avenue Bridge Bats can fly? 50 mph? 60 mph? 70 mph? 80 mph? Take the TAT Test: Truly Austin Trivia NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Friday, February 4 -- Let a little Latin jazz into your life as you sip on a mocha at Cafe Mundi. Kick back and relax Saturday, January 5 -- Support the UT hoops team, TV remote in hand, as they take on the UMass Minutemen. Finger on the clicker Sunday, January 6 -- Get your feet slapping the pavement in the 3M Half Marathon. Start huffing and puffing NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: Try on a few styles, moods and media at UT's annual art exhibition \ufffd Music: Clamor for the last few tickets to the Pretenders and Gay Dad \ufffd Movies: Discover who dies this time around in 'Scream 3.' Get local showtimes \ufffd Sports: Check out pictures and video of your favorite NASCAR drivers and cars \ufffd Dining: If it weren't for a few niggles, eating at Mars could be out of this world \ufffd Travel: Find South Texas flavor in Kingsville, just a four-hour road trip away \ufffd Recreation: Don't run afoul of the law on Lake Travis. Check the new regulations \ufffd Community: Hi-ho! Hi-ho! To summer camp search we go! FLOWERS ARE ALWAYS GOOD!! Say how much you care with a beautiful bouquet! We have some great options for Valentine's gifts. With a few clicks, you can take care of your entire list! Shopping Valentines Day is just around the corner. You can have chocolate-covered strawberries from Dr. Chocolate hand delivered for free. Order online today! Chocolate covered strawberries. GET CONNECTED Mack knows football. \"At the least it gave me some reassurance that Mack and his staff have a definite understanding of what's required of them in this off-season\" -- says \"Scipio Tex\" about Mack's press conference comments. What do you think of UT's new recruits? Discussing your body with a doctor often can be difficult. If you're a woman, find out the answers to 10 questions you may hate to ask. Educate yourself Join us and Talk City for the most interesting celebrity and special interest chats. Among this week's offerings are: * Meet \"Zoe\" star Selma Blair * Chat with the stars of \"Passions\" * Meet former Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart People & Chat Happy New Year! Celebrate the Year of the Dragon, with Chinese Society of Austin and Asian Chamber of Commerce events. \ufffd Chinese Society of Austin * Asian Chamber of Commerce If you have any questions or suggestions about the e-Lert!, let us know: Austin 360 Feedback"}, {"response": 82, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Feb 10, 2000 (13:44)", "body": "e-Lert! from Austin360.com Austin Valentines This is the last weekend before Valentines' Day, so make your plans to treat your someone special to someplace special. Austin360.com has dozens of reviews of the best restaurants in town, including Austinite picks of the best romantic restaurants. Find the perfect romantic spot. Truly Austin The Texas Hill Country is big, really big, but just how big is it? Test your local knowledge NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Friday, February 11 -- Live la vida loca at Austin's Carnaval Brasileiro. Prepare to party Saturday, February 12 -- The Longhorn baseball team hosts Sam Houston for the second of three games this weekend. Batter up! Sunday, February 13 -- Join the Smashing Pumpkins for their record signing at Waterloo Records. Grab a pen Monday, VALENTINE'S DAY! -- Not-quite-too-late gift ideas and our Cupid Contest results. Oui, je t'aime NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: Examine 'El Ojo Fino,' photographs by great women of Mexico, opening Saturday \ufffd Music: Catch 47 Indians, Bob Meyer, Tony Campise and more at Sullivan's \ufffd Movies: Frolic on 'The Beach' with Leonardo DiCaprio. Get local showtimes \ufffd Sports: UT will take the Tigers by the tails Saturday. Follow the game online \ufffd Dining: Musashino Sushi Dokoro is learning the trouble with success \ufffd Travel: Plan a trip to Big Bend before the height of the tourist season \ufffd Recreation: The cold snap is over. It's time to train for the Cap 10K \ufffd Community: Searching for spirituality? Check out dozens of Central Texas houses of worship GIVE YOUR HEART AWAY... ...a chocolate heart that is. Whether it's a cookbook, gift basket or a box, chocolate is a great idea for Valentine's Day. Select the perfect option and melt the heart of your sweetie!! Shopping Sweets for your Sweetie? You can have chocolate-covered strawberries from Austin's own \"Dr. Chocolate\" with free hand delivery. Order online today! Chocolate-covered strawberries. GET CONNECTED Wanted: allergy advice. \"What ... are you taking? I've been on antibotics, all sorts of allergy medicine and nasal inhalors for the past 2 years and nothing seems to get rid of (them),\" -- says \"delayne\" about her allergies. How do you deal with the sneezin' season? Got a tax question? Ask our IRS expert for help. Talking with the tax man Join us and Talk City for the most interesting celebrity and special interest chats. Among this week's offerings are: * Meet Dr. John Gray, author of \"Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus.\" * Meet author Douglas Coupland * Get makeup tips from Scarlett! People & Chat Love is in the air! Celebrate Valentine's Day with the Way Off Broadway Community Players' \"Crimes of the Heart.\" \ufffd Bare your heart If you have any questions or suggestions about the e-Lert!, let us know: Austin 360 Feedback"}, {"response": 83, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Feb 17, 2000 (16:48)", "body": "e-Lert! from Austin360.com Weekend Highlights A rugby scrum, a big bird, a yellow submarine - just a few of the things you could see around Austin this weekend. Here is Austin360.com's list of featured favorite entertainment events. Truly Austin Awash in water Austin is not, but what's the average yearly rainfall for the state's capital city? Test your local knowledge NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Friday, February 18 -- Spend time with your toddler at storytime and listen to 'My Little Sister Ate One Hare'. Once upon a time ... Saturday, February 19 -- Prick up your ears for the crack of the bat at the Texas Invitational softball tournament. Swing, batter, batter, batter Sunday, February 20 -- Plunge into the depths of Beatlemania as the Alamo Drafthouse screens 'Yellow Submarine'. Dive! Dive! Dive! NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: It's worth the drive to San Antonio's Inter-American Bookfair & Literary Festival \ufffd Music: Sons of Hercules, Belmont Playboys, Bellfuries hit the Continental Club Saturday \ufffd Movies: If you turn out the lights, the party's over. Catch sci-fi thriller 'Pitch Black' in local theaters \ufffd Sports: Join the scrum of the earth as the Austin Huns Rugby Club battles Woodlands \ufffd Dining: 'Zoot' alors! Enjoy dinner at a Bistro full of new ideas, established care and quality \ufffd Travel: Celebrate Marriage of the Port weekend at a world-class College Station winery \ufffd Recreation: Experience ancient Chinese Kung Fu at Sunday's Shaolin-Do tournament \ufffd Community: Set camp with Big Bird, Snuffy and Elmo WANT TO BROWSE? Nothing pops into your head as a must have? Cruise through our recommended items - it just may jog your memory of something you totally forgot about! Get that gift for an upcoming birthday or anniversary early! Shopping GET CONNECTED Boom or bust? \"I think we should remember our Smart Growth pledge and hold to it! We need to stop sprawl NOW.\" -- says \"Bufason\" about Austin's expansion. What's your take on area development? Get ready for spring. Find Austin's finest health clubs and gyms. Get fit! Join us and Talk City for the most interesting celebrity and special interest chats. Among this week's offerings are: * Superstar Brandy chats * \"Red Shoe Diaries\" director Zalman King * Grammy Awards chats! People & Chat Kick up your heels with clogging lessons from the Clickety Cloggers of Austin. You're bound to have a stompin' good time. \ufffd Get to cloggin' If you have any questions or suggestions about the e-Lert!, let us know: Austin 360 Feedback Copyright 2000 Cox Interactive Media. WEEKEND WEATHER Chance of some rain, then it's back to the sun and shine. Check the KVUE 24 five-day forecast on Austin360.com. Weather"}, {"response": 84, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Fri, Feb 18, 2000 (08:19)", "body": "Nothing stands out, really."}, {"response": 85, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Feb 18, 2000 (14:22)", "body": "Nothing but the Rugby..."}, {"response": 86, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Feb 24, 2000 (14:43)", "body": "e-Lert! from Austin360.com We love weekends like this one ... chock full of fun happenings around town. Want to take your dog for a walk? How about in the biggest dog walk in the world? Austin's going for the record again this year. Want to get outta town and cut loose a little? Try Mardi Gras in Galveston. These and other events join our list of top Austin entertainment picks, February 24 -- March 1, but be sure to check our calendar for more fun besides. Check today's events calendar NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Friday, February 25 -- Bleeding to death isn't much fun. The Blood and Tissue Center of Central Texas is in dire need of blood, but you can help. Roll up your sleeve Saturday, February 26 -- The Texas A&M Aggies come to town for one of the Longhorns' last home games this season. Poor Aggies? Sunday, February 27 -- Spend a day with the kids at the Austin Stamp Show. First class all the way! NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: Drumming, dancing and singing at \"Sister Moses: The Story of Harriet Tubman\" \ufffd Music: Catch the Texas Swamp Pop and Blues Divas \ufffd Movies: Live life Las Vegas style with Ben Affleck in 'Reindeer Games'. Find local showtimes \ufffd Sports: High school hoops playoffs are happening all over \ufffd Dining: Craving fine food? Round Rock's 'Main Street Grill' could be the place for you \ufffd Travel: Enjoy Mardi Gras Texas-style in Galveston, Friday through March 7 \ufffd Recreation: It's time to Bowl for Kids' sake at Highland Lanes \ufffd Community: Go for the world record Saturday at the Mighty Texas Dog Walk SHORT ON COMPUTER GADGETS? Before you buy a new toy, scan our product reviews. They will give you buying tips, user reviews, ratings and the \"right choice\" recommendation. It's a whole new way to shop! Shopping The race is on. The registration is online. Register online for the Capitol 10,000. GET CONNECTED Pass or fail? \"I for one think we have new leadership that actually might change the dysfunctionality of the district over the next few years.\" -- says \"Dynamom\" about AISD. You grade AISD What's in Goliad? Where's the Messina Hof Winery? Find out with a day trip to explore Central Texas. Take a Texas trip Join us and Talk City for the most interesting celebrity and special interest chats. Among this week's offerings are: * actor and writer Danny Hoch * Paddy Moloney of The Chieftains * blues guitarist Jonny Lang People & Chat Get your vocal chords a good workout .Join the Austin Chord Rangers or just sit back and enjoy the harmonies of this a cappella men's chorus. \ufffd Sing along If you have any questions or suggestions about the e-Lert!, let us know: Austin 360 Feedback Copyright 2000 Cox Interactive Media. WEEKEND WEATHER A little rain may start things off, but the sun and heat are close behind. Check the KVUE 24 five-day forecast on Austin360.com."}, {"response": 87, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Fri, Feb 25, 2000 (10:52)", "body": "I'll be checking out the concert at Antones tonight. The UT Kansas game is the last big basketball event. Still haven't made it to a Cyclones game, they're Austin's under-reported, stealth pro team."}, {"response": 88, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Feb 25, 2000 (13:19)", "body": "I thought it was the TAMU - UT game which was the big one...but I guess TAMU is not in the top 25 this year (like Penn State *sigh* ). Good luck, and have fun in the mosh pit!"}, {"response": 89, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Sun, Feb 27, 2000 (21:25)", "body": "Great Wailers concert, I put it out live on the website last night via remote feed, anyone catch it?"}, {"response": 90, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Feb 27, 2000 (21:40)", "body": "I tried and tried and I could not get any picture or sound. \"Turn of the Screw\" is coming in just fine - but nothing of the wailers...Waaaaaa!"}, {"response": 91, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Sun, Feb 27, 2000 (23:08)", "body": "That's ok, I made a live tape, when do you want to see it?"}, {"response": 92, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Sun, Feb 27, 2000 (23:56)", "body": "How about right now?"}, {"response": 93, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Mon, Feb 28, 2000 (00:21)", "body": "Charming Wimberly."}, {"response": 94, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Feb 28, 2000 (13:34)", "body": "I really liked the trip to Wimberly. It is charming and reminds me of the gingerbread work on the Parker ranch houses on this Island. Thanks for such a neat trip, and special thanks for being up close and personal. That was a real treat! (Does Texas have all of the good-looking men??? (Btw, you need to rewind your tape!)"}, {"response": 95, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Wed, Mar  1, 2000 (10:03)", "body": "OK I'll rewind it now."}, {"response": 96, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Wed, Mar  1, 2000 (10:09)", "body": "Now it's playing and can be accessed via the movie link at http://www.spring.net ."}, {"response": 97, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Mar  1, 2000 (12:31)", "body": "Thanks Terry!"}, {"response": 98, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Mar  1, 2000 (12:34)", "body": "I shoulda checked first. Needs to be checked - same noise but can see the video (they are reading the play again.)"}, {"response": 99, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Mar  2, 2000 (15:01)", "body": "e-Lert! from Austin360.com Friday 3rd through Tuesday 7th Austin Native? -- a rare bird indeed who can say that they were born and raised in Austin, Texas. With the steady stream of invaders, er, newcomers to Austin, it may be hard for some to understand what all the \"Texas Independence Day\" fuss is about. But the dozens of events associated with Texas Independence Day give transplants a unique opportunity to throw themselves into the history and culture of their new town and new state. NEED WEEKEND PLANS? -- Son of a gun, you'll have big fun at Austin's Mardi Gras shindigs. Laissez les bon temps rouler Friday 3rd through Sunday 5th -- Get your thumbs green at the Spring Home and Garden Show. Plant the seeds of creativity Sunday, February 5 -- Hone your parenting skills with a free workshop on child/parent power struggles. Start taking notes NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: See \"A\ufffdda,\" Verdi's fantastic Egyptian opera, at Bass Concert Hall \ufffd Music: Play Bingo with El Orbits at the Continental Club \ufffd Movies: Madonna tries a new approach to family in 'The Next Best Thing'. Find local showtimes \ufffd Sports: Texas tries to head out in style at lowly K-State, in men's hoops. \ufffd Dining: Louie's 106 offers fare from the good to the great \ufffd Travel: Fly away cheap: Big Apple for $159, L.A. for $168 \ufffd Recreation: Catch the fun at the Open Bass Tournament on Lake Belton \ufffd Community: Mmm, mmm, delicious! Get down to the crawfish boil and concert on 6th Street BUY LOCAL!! Browse \"local sales\" in your neighborhood. From music, to tires, clothes and CD players....it's a great place to find what you need. Shopping The race is on. The registration is online. Register online for the Capitol 10,000. GET CONNECTED Musical haven? \"$75 per wristband is a great way to cash in on this whole experience. For the people throwing the party, that is.\" -- says \"SheRa\" about the upcoming SXSW music festival. Strike your chord Got a remodeling job? Not looking forward to soliciting bids? Make it easy and do it online with pre-approved contractors on ImproveNet. Contact a contractor Join us and Talk City for the most interesting celebrity and special interest chats. Among this week's offerings are: * Jean Paul Gaultier * Country music legend Willie Nelson * actress Lisa Rinna People & Chat Get your vocal chords a good workout .Join the Austin Chord Rangers or just sit back and enjoy the harmonies of this a cappella men's chorus. \ufffd Sing along If you have any questions or suggestions about the e-Lert!, let us know: Austin 360 Feedback"}, {"response": 100, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Fri, Mar  3, 2000 (08:01)", "body": "I will be building a ten room additon on the cottage this weekend. My new roommate / friend William from Champaign Urbana IL and I may go see a Cyclones game, and possibly Nia dance this afternoon. The Spring Home and Garden Show sounds good."}, {"response": 101, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Mar  3, 2000 (14:58)", "body": "Terry...when do you sleep?! 10 rooms over the weekend? How about a picture of this edifice that Terry built? Or was it that wood experior house on Your tour video with the two-storey flat back? (Poor description, but that came as quickly to mind as anything...)"}, {"response": 102, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Mar  3, 2000 (15:01)", "body": "At the home and garden show last year I won a shovel (with which I shovel the stuff into Geo...*grin*) Ours is this weekend again, as well. It is a great place to get ideas."}, {"response": 103, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Sat, Mar  4, 2000 (04:31)", "body": "http://www.spring.net/directions or http://www.spring.net will show you the old stuff."}, {"response": 104, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Mar  4, 2000 (13:06)", "body": "Ok, the Cedar Creek house was the one you showed briefly in the video containing your trip to Wimberley and the Raggae concert...I am becoming familiar with more of Austin. It is not at all the way I had pictured it. It seems to be very nice though there is not much grass around or amny plants with big leaves like we have...but, then, you do not get upwards of 200\" of rain per year!"}, {"response": 105, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Sat, Mar  4, 2000 (16:31)", "body": "It's pretty green around these parts, and lotsa trees."}, {"response": 106, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Mar  4, 2000 (16:48)", "body": "I expected to see a lot of pale brown 'dirt' whisking around in the breezes and an occasional miserablly stunted tree. I absolutely go bonkers over trees. The one I planted when David was a baby is now at least 30 feet tall and unbrellas all over the lawn - and blooms, too. I am delighted that you have trees! What kind are they? All cottonwoods?"}, {"response": 107, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Mar  6, 2000 (22:09)", "body": "Clear Channel to sell 72 radio stations to do deal SAN ANTONIO, Texas (Reuters) - America's largest radio operator, Clear Channel Communications, Inc., said Monday it has agreed to sell off 72 stations in 27 markets in conjunction with its pending merger with AMFM, Inc. The proposed divestitures, which are subject to regulatory approval and also contingent on the closing of the AMFM merger, involve other major radio operators, including Cox Radio Inc., Infinity Broadcasting and Hispanic Broadcasting Corp. The announcement comes a week after Clear Channel said it plans to acquire sports and entertainment promoter SFX Entertainment Inc. for some $2.8 billion. After the AMFM merger is completed this year, Clear Channel, with revenues of $2.68 billion last year, will operate around 874 adio and 19 television stations in the United States. It also has equity interests in over 240 radio stations internationally. Clear Channel also operates more than 550,000 outdoor advertising displays, including billboards, street furniture and transit panels across the world. Clear Channel had no immediate comment on the radio divestitures, but several of the purchasing companies did. Infinity Broadcasting, a subsidiary of CBS Corp. said it will acquire 18 stations in Cleveland, Cincinnati, Denver, Orlando, Phoenix, San Diego and Greensboro, N.C. from Clear Channel for approximately $1.4 billion. ``This acquisition is consistent with Infinity's strategy of acquiring radio and outdoor properties in the nation's largest revenue markets,'' said Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Mel Karmazin. ``It expands the company's presence into five new top 50 markets while increasing our position in the communities Infinity Radio already serves.'' Atlanta-based Cox Radio said it will acquire three FM stations serving Houston and three FM stations and one AM station serving Richmond, Va. for a total of $380 million in cash. Cox President and Chief Executive Officer Robert Neil said: ''We are extremely excited about the growth opportunities these acquisitions bring to Cox Radio and our shareholders. Houston and Richmond are both fast growing markets with attractive demographics.'' In Dallas, Hispanic Broadcasting said it will acquire three Spanish-language FM stations in Denver, Phoenix and Austin, Texas for approximately $127 million in cash."}, {"response": 108, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Mar 10, 2000 (13:17)", "body": "e-Lert! from Austin360.com SXSW Live Music Capital of the World? Austin, Texas? At one time that claim to fame seemed so hollow and pretentious of us. But not anymore. In the coming weeks Austin steps onto the stage, and lights up the night with a parade of bands from all over the world, offering a great chance to truly immerse yourself in live music - or in film, or in interactive - the SXSW Interactive Festival and SXSW Film Festival converge on the town as well. Who are the must-see bands? What films should be on your list? What great speakers come to the Interactive Festival? Be sure to check Austin360.com's guide to the festivities before heading out. Austin360.com SXSW 2000 Guide NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Friday, March 10 -- Join throngs of high schoolers as they cheer their baskebtall teams at the UIL state championships. Saturday, March 11 -- Saddle up for the Star of Texas Fair and Rodeo as it kicks off with live music, carnival rides and lots of BBQ Pull on your ropers Sunday, March 12 -- Let your imagination soar as the Zilker Park Kite Fest fills the sky over the park with color and the giggles of children. Up, up and away! NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: Learn about African-American culture through 'The Colored Museum' \ufffd Music: Commemorate the 250th anniversary of Bach's death \ufffd Movies: Get your tush-warmer ready, there's plenty to see at SXSW's Film Fest \ufffd Sports: Join the Texas Longhorn men at the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City \ufffd Dining: Find out why the new upscale version of 'The Iron Cactus' is good, but could be better \ufffd Travel: Heading to San Antonio for the weekend? Find out what's going on there \ufffd Recreation: Lunker-mania is catching on big in West Texas \ufffd Community: Watch your weekend blossom at the Wildflower Days' Artisan Festival CHEERS! Toast to St. Paddy's Day with an Irish charm! Learn about their unique traditions and social customs. Be ready for the big holiday!! Shopping GET CONNECTED Spread your wings. \"I know I'm starting to sound like an evangelist for Southwest Airlines, but here's yet ANOTHER awesome sale they've got going...available only via Internet.\" -- says 360 travel guru \"melissa360\". Check out the deal Post your own travel tips The ol' computer getting a little slow? Looking for more memory or a new machine? Find what you need with the Austin Computers Directory. Seek and compute Join us and Talk City for the most interesting celebrity and special interest chats. Among this week's offerings are: * The Soap Opera Awards live chat! * Actress Rachael Leigh Cook * Gene Simmons of KISS! People & Chat What's going on in the Austin area that could impact your life? Find out when you meet local newsmakers at the Metropolitan Breakfast Club meetings. \ufffd Get the scoop"}, {"response": 109, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Sun, Mar 12, 2000 (16:48)", "body": "Yeah yeah, y'all be quiet about that stuff, I still can't afford tickets for the editors to come to SXSW. And it starts getting on my nerve...! There are so many label folks from even tiny places over here popping over to check for talent, and so much talent from here checking for distribution there. And a certain private party I'd like to attend... Darn. Gotta start doing the lottery ticket thang."}, {"response": 110, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Mar 12, 2000 (19:02)", "body": "*sigh*...me, too! This would be a perfect business deductions. However, one needs the where-with-all to find the trip in the first place...*sigh*"}, {"response": 111, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Tue, Mar 14, 2000 (14:18)", "body": "Well, here's nothing to deduct from. We better strike gold soon."}, {"response": 112, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Mar 14, 2000 (14:42)", "body": "Know that problem! I wish that for you, as well. You have certainly have paid you dues and put in the time."}, {"response": 113, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Mar 16, 2000 (18:03)", "body": "e-Lert! from Austin360.com SXSW, March Madness, St. Patrick's Day There are so many great things going on this weekend, its hard to know where to begin. SXSW Interactive is done, but the Film Festival and Music Festival are in full gear. Check our complete guide to the fun: SXSW 2000 Guide The Longhorns have advanced to the second round of the NCAA tourney with a 77-61 win over Indiana State. Log onto to keep tabs on both the Men's and the Women's team progress. NCAA Basketball TournamentGuide When and where is the best St. Patrick's Day Party on Friday? Which grocery store has the best price on Guiness? Check our guide to how to best enjoy St. Patrick's Day. St. Patrick's Day Guide NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Friday, March 17 -- When it comes to free concerts SXSW does it right. Rock legend Patti Smith live and free. This is not a joke. We're serious Saturday and Sunday, March 18 & 19 -- SXSW hub-bub got you needing some relaxation? Just wander down to the shores of Town Lake for the annual Heart of Texas Regatta. Stroke! Stroke! Stroke! Saturday and Sunday, March 18 & 19 -- Another weekend of good ol' rodeo fun at the 2000 Star of Texas Fair and Rodeo. Giddeyup! NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: Enjoy a multimedia performance of original musical works \ufffd Music: No wristband needed: King Soul, Rocket 69, Pat Griffin, SXSCongress \ufffd Movies: Julia Robert's \"Erin Brockovich,\" leads the new films opening in Austin. Check showtimes \ufffd Sports: Keep up with the Longhorn men and women in the NCAA hoops tournament \ufffd Dining: Rate South First's Tex-Mex restaurants \ufffd Travel: Hit the beach at South Padre for $78 or Corpus Christi for $80 \ufffd Recreation: Learn to climb a rock or camp out at the REI Scout/Outdoor Jam \ufffd Community: Sign up for the Cap 10k FLOWERS FOR ST. PATRICK'S DAY? Oh, yeah, we've got them! Send an unexpected greeting that won't deflate your wallet. You'll light up those Irish eyes!! Shopping GET CONNECTED Tax Q&A. \"Married filing separate has the possibility of higher tax rates\" -- says TAXMAN Get your questions answered Find the best contractor for your larger home improvement projects. Get quotes Join us and Talk City for the most interesting celebrity and special interest chats. Among this week's offerings are: * Bernese Mountain Dog owners chat! * psychic Mary Beth Wrenn * Marian Wright Edelman of the Children's Defense Fund People & Chat It's a small world, so give peace a chance. Make new friends from around the world by joining The Friendship Force of Austin. \ufffd Reach out If you have any questions or suggestions about the e-Lert!, let us know: Austin 360 Feedback Enjoy the fun weekend! Copyright 2000 Cox Interactive Media. WEEKEND WEATHER Hot, cold, rain, fog, sun. Plan for them all this weekend; check the KVUE 24 five-day forecast on Austin360.com. Weather MARCH MADNESS Embark on the road to the NCAA Final Four with complete coverage of the men's and women's tournaments. Look back on regular season stats, brush up on the competition with game previews, and debate your team's shot at the title with other fans. Men's Tournament Women's Tournament ---------- *SPOTLIGHT* Truly Austin Trivia How much is Southwestern Bell going to start charging for 1411 calls? Test your local knowledge"}, {"response": 114, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Mar 20, 2000 (21:36)", "body": ""}, {"response": 115, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Mar 20, 2000 (21:38)", "body": "Music's new and old win out at SXSW festival AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - Peering out at a packed crowd at the club La Zona Rosa over the weekend, Tom Gray of the British band Gomez issued a challenge to attendees of the annual South By Southwest music conference and festival. ``Now it's time to decide whether this is a music conference or whether you just ... love music,'' Gray said. ``You don't need to confer to work that out, do you?'' Put 7,000 musicians and record moguls in town together, and a conference is more than likely to break out. But besides the usual schmoozing and club-hopping, this year's SXSW celebrated renewed opportunities for independent music-making in an industry reshaped in recent years by corporate consolidation as well as the rise of MP3 and other Internet technologies. ``We've got a corporate climate out there that can't help but create opportunities,'' said Steve Earle, the maverick singer-songwriter who delivered this year's keynote address. ''It's gonna be easier for a smaller, more maneuverable entity to get involved in music on the Internet and a lot of other things. Big, cumbersome corporations move slowly. That's, to independent operators, an advantage.'' One had only to walk through the SXSW trade show to glimpse the ``dot-com mania'' sweeping the music scene. No less than 40 exhibitors, representing Web sites, online services and music download facilities, hawked their wares to festival attendees. Panel discussions took on topics ranging from ``DIY Digital Style'' and ``Hard Realities of Web Marketing'' to Internet radio, Web site design and online legal issues. ``The possibilities are endless as far as the promotion of music,'' said Kevin Kareth, a director of emusic.com, an Internet site with a catalog of 70,000 songs available for downloading. ``It makes it easier for a band to get out there. It's not going make it easy to be rock stars, but it makes it easier for five guys to put together a band and launch a business.'' With nearly 1,000 acts playing live before the event wrapped Sunday night, SXSW also championed making music the old-fashioned way. For five days, music was everywhere in Austin, beginning with bands playing for arrivals at the airport and continuing through SXSW evening showcases, after-hours parties and unofficial events at the festival's periphery. In fact, the hottest gig of all may have been a launch party for the new music magazine, Revolver, which drew controversy after booking a non-SXSW band, Guided By Voices, which delivered one of the week's best (and longest) shows. Out on the streets, established performers such as Mary Lou Lord (who braved a chilling rain storm) and the Continental Drifters busked for passers-by in addition to playing their own festival gigs. Even rock veteran Neil Young gave up a day off from the Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young tour to visit Austin and introduce his new concert film, ``Silver & Gold,'' which will be released April 25 on DVD. ``I like Austin,'' Young said before the screening. ``It's a music town.'' He even ventured out to catch SXSW favorite Jimmie Dale Gilmore's set, however, rumors to the contrary, did not perform at all himself. What set this year's event apart from previous editions was that no one act or musical style stood out as a must-see attraction; that made the festival a more open affair, and a number of veterans filled the breach with strong performances. Patti Smith, priming the world for her new album, ``Gung Ho,'' rocked an intimate private party for her record knocking over cocktail tables as she sang her cover of Them's ''Gloria'' then knocked out a crowd of about 6,000 the next evening during a free show at Austin's Waterloo Park. Other high-profile gigs included performances by Earle, former Led Zeppelin member John Paul Jones, the regrouped Meat Puppets, hip-hoppers Cypress Hill, country legend Ray Price and country rock group Whiskeytown. But some of music's potential next-big-things surfaced as well. Shelby Lynne, the country singer receiving rave reviews for her soulful new album, ``I Am Shelby Lynne,'' won even more friends with her SXSW performances. Marah, a roosty, loose-limbed outfit from Philadelphia that records for Earle's E-Squared label, turned in a buzz-generating performance, and country singer Ed Burleson established himself as a fresh force in a traditional form. Swedish hard rockers Backyard Babies and the Nomads gave the festival some crunch, while Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise, a group fronted by a former street singer from Detroit, offered several impressive displays of its gritty soul-rock blend. And the trippy, groove-laden concert given by Gomez was a killer that ranked among the best SXSW sets ever. There also was an abundance of the special collaborations that give the festival its flavor. The Jayhawks backed former Byrds leader Roger McGuinn at a private party, and he returned the favor that evening by playing with the Minneapolis group onstage during its "}, {"response": 116, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Tue, Mar 21, 2000 (15:57)", "body": "Mary Lou Lord supposedly is very good. Short feature in superstar 1/2000, though she doesn't have distribution in Germany... And Gomez are pretty decent, too."}, {"response": 117, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Mar 21, 2000 (16:25)", "body": "I was hoping you'd see the above post...I know you'd love to be in Austin for this event - even Reuters is covering it. Even this Beethoven-lover would like to be there - especially if we could team up with some gentlemen from the Spring... Sounds terrific! ...and Way Cool..."}, {"response": 118, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Mar 23, 2000 (14:47)", "body": "e-Lert! from Austin360.com Post SXSW Recovery Recovered from the fun yet? SXSW is gone, St. Patricks is over, but now it's time for more March Madness and the Oscars. What team will win the NCAA South Regional here in Austin this weekend? Scout the South If you are going to enjoy watching the Oscars, you better get out there and do your research. Click for new movies Which movie will win Best Picture? According to our poll, \"Cider House Rules\" and \"The Sixth Sense\" are in a dead heat. Cast your vote NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Friday, March 24 - Sunday 26 -- Get up close with the newest vehicles local car dealers have to offer at the Austin Auto Show. Kick the tires Saturday, March 25 -- Hear great music for a great cause at Cancer Jam 2000. Kick it for the cause Saturday, March 25 - Sunday 26 -- Take the family out to watch UT baseball, softball or tennis. Get sporty NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: Dance your Sunday away at Zilker Park \ufffd Music: It's a Nasty Saturday night at The Fuzz Club \ufffd Movies: \"Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai,\" leads the new films opening in Austin. Check showtimes \ufffd Sports: Update your NCAA hoops bracket and keep up with the South Regional at the Erwin Center \ufffd Dining: Enjoy a taste of India at the Clay Pit \ufffd Travel: Fly from Austin to Washington, D.C. for $158 or Sacramento for $169 \ufffd Recreation: Run, eat and cake walk at the CampFire Fun Run/FUNFEST \ufffd Community: Experience family fun at the Wildflower Days Children's Festival PLANNING YOUR SUMMER VACATION? Check our \"Recommended Items\" for some nifty travel accessories. From cosmetic bags and shaving kits, to locks and alarms, you're sure to find something to lessen your stress! Packing is a breeze and you can enjoy your trip!! Shopping GET CONNECTED Non-prescription sales tax: \"The only difference with the tax, is that the state doesn't get as much money off of someone elses 'promiscuity'\".\" -- says kitte108 What do you think? Learn 15 ways to save money on gas. Begin pumping Join us and Talk City for the most interesting celebrity and special interest chats. Among this week's offerings are: * \"Whatever It Takes\" star Shane West * Donny Osmond chats * Mona Golabek, creator and host of \"The Romantic Hours\" People & Chat There are plenty of Owls in town, so why not join the Austin Rice Alumni for happy hour. \ufffd Go Owls! \ufffd Get your alumni group online If you have any questions or suggestions about the e-Lert!, let us know: Austin 360 Feedback Copyright 2000 Cox Interactive Media."}, {"response": 119, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Mar 23, 2000 (20:23)", "body": "Tax-Free Condoms Rub Conservatives Wrong Way AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - A tax cut signed by Texas Gov. George W. Bush has rubbed social conservatives the wrong way because it exempts condoms from the state sales tax. The conservatives say the tax break, part of a larger package of tax cuts the Republican presidential hopeful approved last year which takes effect on April 1, would encourage sexual promiscuity in young people instead of the pre-marital abstinence they believe should be taught. ``It's promoting promiscuity,'' Cathie Adams, president of the Texas Eagle Forum, a conservative group, told the Dallas Morning News. ``It's giving young people a confused message. At home they are learning one thing and our tax code is teaching them something different.'' Bush, who draws strong support from social conservatives, has endorsed the idea of teaching sexual abstinence to young people even though he admits he was ``young and irresponsible'' in his youth. He has also made tax cuts a cornerstone of his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, saying he has a record of cutting taxes in Texas. Bush spokeswoman Linda Edwards said on Tuesday the governor did not want condoms included in the tax cut bill, which eliminated sales taxes for nonprescription medical products, but signed it the way the Texas Legislature wrote it. The law exempts from the 6.25 percent tax any item that has a ``National Drug Code'' issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. ``Bush did not propose that condoms be exempt from the state sales tax, but this is still a very good tax cut. It saves the people of Texas $161 million a year,'' she told Reuters."}, {"response": 120, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Mar 24, 2000 (18:54)", "body": "Former Dallas Cowboy Scores Big in Texas Lottery AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - In the game of life, former Dallas Cowboy Thomas ``Hollywood'' Henderson has apparently scored a touchdown by winning the $28 million Texas lottery, officials said on Friday. The former All-Pro linebacker who served 28 months in jail in the 1980s for using crack cocaine had been preliminarily confirmed as the winner of Wednesday's drawing, lottery spokesman Keith Elkins said. ``Hollywood called this morning and his ticket has passed the preliminary inquiry. He has said he will be seeking legal and financial advice before coming in (to cash in the winning ticket),'' said Elkins. The ticket would not be confirmed as the winner until Henderson presented it to the lottery commission, he said. Henderson has six months to cash it in. Henderson told the Austin American-Statesman that he bought $100 worth of lottery tickets at an Austin drugstore on Wednesday. The winning ticket had the numbers 5-8-17-35-38-41. Henderson, 46, who played with Dallas from 1975 to 1979, said he already had plenty of money and would use the lottery winnings to help underprivileged children. In recent years, he has devoted his time to drug counseling and community service in predominantly black Austin neighborhoods. ``I have worked hard and lived a good life and amassed money of my own. This is just more money,'' he said. ``Nothing will change except that I will be able to do more of the work I think is important for the underprivileged youth of East Austin,'' Henderson said."}, {"response": 121, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Mon, Mar 27, 2000 (01:06)", "body": "It will mean more rec centers and stuff for the kids in East Austin. It's kind of cool Hollywood got it."}, {"response": 122, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Mar 27, 2000 (17:29)", "body": "I think so! Apparently he learned the hard way and succeeded anyway. It is a win-win situation, especially for the kids!"}, {"response": 123, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Mar 30, 2000 (16:37)", "body": ""}, {"response": 124, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Mar 30, 2000 (16:40)", "body": "e-Lert! from Austin360.com Running Time Spring forward this weekend. Don't forget to advance your clocks an hour on Saturday night. And then move yourself forward another 6.2 miles in the 23rd Annual Austin American-Statesman Capitol 10,000. More than 15,000 of your Austin neighbors are expected to take part in the race -- the largest of its kind in Texas. For your complete guide to the weekends' festivities, including where to register Thursday through Saturday, check out the official Capitol 10,000 Web site. capitol10k.austin360.com When Pigs Fly -- You can beef up before the big race at Spamarama, from noon to 6 p.m. Saturday at the Austin Music Hall. Insert your favorite pig joke here NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Friday, March 31 - Sunday, April 2 -- Find ideas, gadgets and advice for making your home and garden the best they can be. Home & Garden Show Friday, March 31 - Sunday, April 2 -- Join the Munchkins as they set Dorothy off down an icy yellow brick road at 'The Wizard of Oz on Ice'. Click your heels together Saturday, March 31 -- Spring football winds down in a big way with the Orange and White scrimmage and Jamboree. Hook'em! NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: Watch the moon come up over 'Sunset Boulevard' this weekend \ufffd Music: Dip into the Christian music arena with Clay Crosse's Friday night gig \ufffd Movies: Jimmy Smits' \"Price of Glory,\" leads the new films opening in Austin. Check showtimes \ufffd Sports: UT tennis teams have a full weekend of matches \ufffd Dining: Empanada Parlour offers superbly unique, tasty eating experience \ufffd Travel: Escape to Paris for $398. But hurry, this Wednesday Web Fare expires Friday \ufffd Recreation: Fish the clear streams of the Texas Hill Country \ufffd Community: Honor American hero, Cesar Chavez, then rally to be counted for the U.S. Census GET READY FOR EASTER!! Our Easter Collection provides all sorts of goodies for your Easter baskets. Check our \"Recommended Items\" and shop away. Chocolate is key! Shopping GET CONNECTED Austin Schools: pass or fail?: \"It seems quite a lot of decisions are made without being thought through or including personnel actually familiar with the district in the decision making process.\".\" -- says Dynamom How do you grade AISD? It feels like summer's upon us. Get out the bike and hit the trails! Central Texas Biking Guide Join us and Talk City for the most interesting celebrity and special interest chats. Among this week's offerings are: * Psychic Mary Beth Wrenn * Dream Landscapes * Trailer Park Tea Time People & Chat Check mate. Hone the tactical bits of your brain with the Austin Chess Enterprises (A.C.E.) Chess Club. \ufffd Make your move If you have any questions or suggestions about the e-Lert!, let us know: Austin 360 Feedback Copyright 2000 Cox Interactive Media. WEEKEND WEATHER Looks like rain and some fine temperatures own the weekend; check the KVUE 24 five-day forecast on Austin360.com. Weather Tornado Watch 2000 *SPOTLIGHT* Truly Austin Trivia OK, so this isn't strictly an Austin question, but how much does a dugout level ticket cost at the new Enron Stadium? $28? $27, $29, $26? Test your local knowledge Virtually tour the new Enron Stadium."}, {"response": 125, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Apr  6, 2000 (15:13)", "body": "Austin360.com e-Lert! - April 6 - April 12 Does it ever slow down around here? That was the question a recent Austin newcomer asked of us this week. Springtime in Austin is bustling with fun - as events are held before the summer heat kicks in. This weekend alone features something for everyone: Texas Relays, Wine and Food Festival, Austin Fine Arts Festival (formerly the Laguna Gloria \"Fiesta\"), Lance Armstrong's Ride for the Roses, Old Settler's Music Festival, and Austin Paddlefest 2000. When it comes to fun, no, Austin does not slow down. NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Through Saturday, April 8 -- The Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays feature the fastest man on two legs and a bevy of track and field standouts from all over Texas, and beyond.. Churnin' and burnin' Thursday, April 6 - Sunday, April 9 -- Revel in local cuisine and 'grape juice' as the Texas Hill Country Wine and Food Festival sweeps into town. Wine and dine Friday, April 7 - Sunday, April 9 -- Let life blur past you in a whir of wheels as you soak up the high-paced atmosphere of Lance Armstrong's Ride for the Roses. Ride, sally, ride NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: Party arty downtown all weekend at The Austin Fine Arts Festival, formerly Fiesta \ufffd Music: Bluegrass, roots and folk abound at the Old Settler's Music Festival \ufffd Movies: David Duchovny's 'Return to Me' leads the new films opening in Austin. Check showtimes \ufffd Sports: See scrums and hookers at the 32nd Annual Austin Rugby Tournament \ufffd Dining: Hudson's on the Bend's got game. So get down there and eat it. \ufffd Travel: Find out why two million people a year trek to Zion Canyon in Utah \ufffd Recreation: Test drive canoes and kayaks Saturday at Austin Paddlefest 2000 \ufffd Community: Run for the American Cancer Society at the Relay for Life DINNER PARTY? Why not!! Whether it's just for cocktails or a five course dinner, ideas abound. Check in the \"Recommended Items\" and let Martha Stewart help you plan. Bon appetit! Shopping GET CONNECTED Austin Schools: pass or fail?: \"It seems quite a lot of decisions are made without being thought through or including personnel actually familiar with the district in the decision making process.\".\" -- says Dynamom How do you grade AISD? Buying a new car? Get terrififc consumer advice on the best new vehicles around. Kick the tires Join us and Talk City to chat with interesting celebrities and special guests. Among this selections this week are: * Dave the Movie Guy * Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. * The Psychic Love Doctor People & Chat Check mate. Hone the tactical bits of your brain with the Austin Chess Enterprises (A.C.E.) Chess Club. \ufffd Make your move Copyright 2000 Cox Interactive Media. WEEKEND WEATHER Breezy and sunny or sunny and breezy? Check the KVUE 24 five-day forecast on Austin360.com. Weather Tornado Watch 2000 TAX HUMOR...AND MORE! As the tax deadline approaches, it's time to have a few laughs on the IRS. Chuckle at stupid taxpayer tricks, get free advice from the taxman or download the forms you need now. Tax Fun!"}, {"response": 126, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Apr 13, 2000 (15:04)", "body": "April 13, 2000 e-Lert! from Austin360.com Less-Taxing Weekend Take it (1040) easy this weekend. A little music, a little baseball - it's clear to deduct that this weekend will be an entertainment windfall. \"Unplugged at the Grove\" is a great way to begin the weekend unwind a little early - the first show is tonight and we've got your official website of the whole 22-week Unplugged calendar. And, if you miss the show, you can log on live tonight starting at 8:00 PM, or anytime after Friday at noon, to watch the webcast of the live music. Tonight features the Bob Schneider Group. Plug In To Unplugged. NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Through Saturday, April 15 -- The Latino Comedy Project strikes out to avoid the future in \"Time Bandidos\" their latest full-length send-up. Back to the future Saturday April 15 - Sunday, April 16 -- Get some Jah at the Bob Marley fest on the shores of Town Lake this weekend and help support those less fortunate. Stir it up Sunday, April 16 -- The Round Rock Express finally open up Dell Diamond in the first home game ever for the Round Rock Express. All aboard! NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: Austin International Poetry Festival is in its eighth stanza \ufffd Music: Got the blues? Koko Taylor, Lou Ann Barton and Sued Shoes Blues can cure you \ufffd Movies: Get a double dose of Sandy with weekend movies \"28 Days\" and \"Gun Shy\" \ufffd Sports: The Aggies come to Austin to take on the Longhorn tennis squad \ufffd Dining: Guzzle Cajun to your heart's content at Gumbo's \ufffd Travel: Find out why two million people a year trek to Zion Canyon in Utah \ufffd Recreation: Get your buns in gear! Schlotsky's annual 5K road race hits the streets \ufffd Community: Kick up your heels for kids' sake SHOP IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD! Find all kinds of deals unique to your area. Our \"local sales\" offers an ala carte menu of options. Shop away!! Shopping GET CONNECTED Last chance: \"How do I avoid being taxed 2x when I cash out? \".\" -- Robi asked our tax expert about multiple mutual funds. TAXMAN's response Get some advice Austin summers can be taxing on your prized auto. Find a local professional and get a tune-up. Austin 360 Autos Switchboard Join us and Talk City to chat with interesting celebrities and special guests. Among the selections this week are: * Singer, songwriter Pat McGee * Dr. Demento! * Robert Pinsky, United States Poet Laureate People & Chat Moooove over Bevo, there's a new steer in town. If you're a cattle fan, then meet The South Texas Longhorn Association -- livestock enthusiasts. \ufffd Join the herd If you have any questions or suggestions about the e-Lert!, let us know: Austin 360 Feedback Copyright 2000 Cox Interactive Media. WEEKEND WEATHER Adios to the rain! Get ready for a warm and sunny weekend. Check the KVUE 24 five-day forecast on Austin360.com. Weather Tornado Watch 2000 DISNEY, HERE I COME! Now that you've emptied your pockets for Uncle Sam, there's no better time to strike it rich! Check with us every week for the latest lottery results, consult the stars on your chances of winning, and tell us what you'd do with the dough. Show Me the Money! ---------- *SPOTLIGHT* SanAntonio360.com Have you visited our new sister site, SanAntonio360.com? If you enjoy Austin360.com, be sure to check SanAntonio360.com for what's going on all around the Alamo City. SA360.com Guides to SanAntonio ----------"}, {"response": 127, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Apr 20, 2000 (14:04)", "body": "e-Lert! from Austin360.com Hoppin' Weekend Ditch the business suit and jump into a bunny suit -- Easter weekend is here. If you're looking to explore Austin's religious diversity, check out the Austin360.com Guide to: Houses of Worship Or if you'd rather explore a killer taco, check out the SanAntonio360.com Guide to Fiesta -- which starts in the Alamo City this weekend. SanAntonio360.com Guide to Fiesta Or check out some of Austin's great events below. NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Saturday April 22 -- Spend a day with the wee ones at the Kids Fest in Zilker Park. Hurry, mommy and daddy! Saturday, April 22 -- The Big 12-leading Texas baseball team plays host to the second-place Baylor Bears. ... Set 'em down Sunday, April 23 -- Cuddle up with the kids for a bilingual storytime. Once upon a time... All weekend -- Celebrate Easter with the ones you love. Calvary Chapel Easter Celebration Community Easter Celebration with Caedmon's Call Find a House of Worship NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: Don't wait until the 11th hour to see Shakespeare's 'Twelfth Night' \ufffd Music: Bush, Moby, Beenie Man and Tina Turner hit town \ufffd Movies: Matthew McConaughey's 'U-571', is just one of the movies opening Friday \ufffd Sports: Join the Round Rock Express for a weekend series against the Midland Rockhounds \ufffd Dining: Discuss the finer points of Austin cuisine with fellow food fans \ufffd Travel: Hit the Hill Country for wonderful winery tours \ufffd Recreation: Flex your glutes for a good cause at the Tooth Fairy 5K fun run and race \ufffd Community: Hop on over to the Kid's Fest Easter egg hunt NEED A GOOD BOOK? We have a plethora of choices for you....from mystery and suspense to sex and romance. Curl up with that novel you've been dying to read!! Relax... Shopping GET CONNECTED Bumper-2-bumper blues: \"... this community has ALWAYS been behind the growth pace of the local traffic. I have always found that if I leave early or late to avoid the 8:00 and 5:00 traffic congestion, there is no congestion.\" -- says JohnLD on Austin traffic. What's your traffic gripe? Work out the best course of action for your stock portfolio. Begin your calculations Join us and Talk City to chat with celebrities. Among this week's special guests are: * Joyce Carol Oates * Roseanne Barr * Blair Underwood People & Chat Eat your heart out, Holmes. Ever thought of writing a mystery? Then buddy up to the Heart of Texas Sisters in Crime for support. Spies-R-Them. Get your writing group online If you have any questions or suggestions about the e-Lert!, let us know: Austin 360 Feedback Happy Easter! Copyright 2000 Cox Interactive Media. WEEKEND WEATHER Sunny, cloudy, sunny, cloudy, sunny, cloudy. But this is Texas, so best check the KVUE 24 five-day forecast on Austin360.com. Weather Tornado Watch 2000 ALL WORK AND NO PLAY... Get in touch with your inner child with our collection of fun and wacky games. Everything you need to play online - plus free demos and downloads. Let the games begin! ---------- *SPOTLIGHT* Unplugged at the Grove Did you miss last week's show? Check out the webcast replay of Bob Schneider, or see who's playing this week. Plug In To Unplugged."}, {"response": 128, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Thu, Apr 20, 2000 (14:09)", "body": "And Matthew himself will be at the premiere. I'm going to a play about Bucky Fuller Sat night."}, {"response": 129, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Apr 20, 2000 (14:12)", "body": "Bucky-Ball time for Terry! Enjoy and report back. Sounds fascinating! Ever think of building a structure using his method? There are several homes here like that and inside it is lovely but a little like living inside an egg."}, {"response": 130, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Apr 20, 2000 (14:14)", "body": "The Matthew? Wow! Going to see the movie? ...or Matthew?"}, {"response": 131, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Apr 20, 2000 (14:38)", "body": "\".... and on the 874th day there was road.\" --Sign on business across the street from St. Edward's University in Austin after more than two years of street construction."}, {"response": 132, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Fri, Apr 21, 2000 (00:16)", "body": "Maybe both."}, {"response": 133, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Apr 21, 2000 (20:05)", "body": "Go for it! I'm gonna go back to watch us get beaten to a plup by Fresno State. We lost 15-3...!"}, {"response": 134, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Fri, Apr 21, 2000 (20:23)", "body": "Sound like a volleyball game score."}, {"response": 135, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Apr 21, 2000 (21:01)", "body": "Or football...sad! We used 5 pitchers, each one worse than the last...*sigh* It will be a pretty night for baseball, though, and with John doing the calling, it is gonna be fun in any case. I got state-wide recognition when he thanked me by name for being his \"unofficial spotter.\" The man is amazing!"}, {"response": 136, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Fri, Apr 21, 2000 (23:20)", "body": "I noticed the Texas Tower was glowing orange tonight, must mean a win!"}, {"response": 137, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Apr 22, 2000 (13:44)", "body": "We lost by less last night 8-3 but it was less exciting than the presious day's was. Today we play in Kona so I will just listen to it. John used your \"Voleyball Score\" comment in his opening remarks (I had sent them on to him)."}, {"response": 138, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Apr 22, 2000 (17:01)", "body": "Make that score 8-0 last night...ouch!"}, {"response": 139, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Sat, Apr 22, 2000 (17:18)", "body": "Any theories on the Orange glow the other night?"}, {"response": 140, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Apr 22, 2000 (19:57)", "body": "I looked back through the posts to see to what it might have referred. Texas Day was longer ago than that, and it is not Nov 22nd. Did the Rangers finally win a game? (But, they are in Arlington...) Anything to do with the Cowboys? Gimme a hint..."}, {"response": 141, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Apr 22, 2000 (22:37)", "body": "WE WON!!! The UHHilo Vulcans beat Fresno State 5-4 in the 11th inning. Yay!!!"}, {"response": 142, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Sun, Apr 23, 2000 (03:35)", "body": "Hint: Ut Tower = Texas Longhorns Hint 2: baseball maybe"}, {"response": 143, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Apr 23, 2000 (12:51)", "body": "I knew that...but why are they illuminating a building in Dallas for a victory in Austin? Or is this \"Texas Tower\" not the Texas Book Repository, which is what is confusing me?! You guys own first place in the national ranking of collegiate baseball. We are at the bottom of the WAC...*sigh* Congratulations!"}, {"response": 144, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Sun, Apr 23, 2000 (15:46)", "body": "No, the Texas Tower is at the UT campus. Remember the Whitman shooting spree years ago? Same Tower. UT is first place in baseball, you're kidding?"}, {"response": 145, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Apr 23, 2000 (17:46)", "body": "I'll post the standings in college baseball - they are in the top 10 if not the top 5 (if not number 1)... Theu are red hot and we know since we just played in Texas against Rice and TCU and lost most of the games. They were in Hilo for the away series in April and it was so lovely! Never saw so many tall, handsome Texans all at once. And, as far as I am concerned, Rice has the nicest fans and players of any school we have ever played."}, {"response": 146, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Apr 23, 2000 (17:47)", "body": "[Yup - remember now about the Texas Tower sniper...] off to post the baseball standings..."}, {"response": 147, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Sun, Apr 23, 2000 (19:32)", "body": "I'm going to austin360 now to see. Let's see. Ooops, if we're number one it may not last. AUSTIN -- Mike Huggins and Jace Brewer each drove in three runs to lead Baylor to an 11-8 victory over Texas Sunday. Brewer drove in all three runs with a double in a four-run seventh inning. He was 2-for-4 and scored two runs. Huggins finished 3-for-6, including a double. Justin Taylor (4-0) allowed one unearned run on two hits in four innings of relief. Starter Josh Scott allowed four runs--one unearned--on six hits in four innings. Texas starter Ryan France (3-4) allowed five runs, including four earned, on five hits in 3 1-3 innings. He struck out three and walked three. Todd West was 2-for-3 and drove in a run for Texas. Steve Dorneman was 3-for-4, including a double, for Baylor."}, {"response": 148, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Apr 23, 2000 (19:48)", "body": "Nope - I posted in Sports, but you were 3rd last week and 5th this week. John said we did not win the game against Fresno State - they just didn't play their usual game and gave it to us. *sigh* He was there calling the game and I was listening on the radio, so he should know."}, {"response": 149, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Apr 23, 2000 (19:50)", "body": "(ah...Baylor! Yes, I read of that win which was such a big deal, but did not know how good Baylor was...)"}, {"response": 150, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Apr 27, 2000 (16:16)", "body": "e-Lert! from Austin360.com Hee Haw One weekend it's bunnies, the next it's donkeys. Eeyore's Birthday is here this weekend - one of those uniquely Austin celebrations that remind us of Austin's slacker/hippie roots. More dogs than cell phones, less clothing than Barton Springs, and more music and food than you can shake a bongo drum at - this is one event where you can throw yourself into the legendary lifestyle of what Austin once was. See our guide to the festivities, including slideshows and videos of last year's celebration: Eeyore's Birthday. NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Friday, April 29 -- Wildflower Days continue with the Ethnobotany Festival: Plants & People in Communities Flower fun! Saturday, April 29 -- This one's for the ladies -- this golf tourney, that is. Tee up for charity Sunday, April 30 -- Volunteer for the 10K race for the human race. Ready to sweat? NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: Get a glimpse of Jersey street life in \"Fruits and Vegetables\" at the Vortex \ufffd Music: Buddy and Julie Miller have a homecoming at Continental Club \ufffd Movies: Travel back in time with 'The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas', just one of the movies opening Friday \ufffd Sports: The Longhorns and Aggies baseball squads play Friday at the Disch! \ufffd Dining: Discuss the finer points of Austin cuisine with fellow food fans \ufffd Travel: Plan a last-second road trip to the New Orleans Jazz Fest 2000 \ufffd Recreation: Find others that share your interest in one of our hobbie groups \ufffd Community: Figure-eight your way to the 'Wheels for Wheels' benefit OUT OF SHAPE? Get ideas on what you need to do to get fit. Buy a magazine or two with ideas! Look under our \"Recommended Items.\" You'll be ready for swimsuit season! Shopping GET CONNECTED Trading bongos for torpedos? \"Excellent movie!! Well worth seeing, even if you're not into war movies...and Matthew is HOT, and his acting aint bad either!\"\" -- says amylu110 of McConaughey's 'U-571' You be the critic 'T'is the season to be building, so find an approved professional to put the finishing touches on your home. ImproveNet on 360 Join us and Talk City to chat with celebrities. Among this week's special guests are: * Enrico Colantoni of \"Galaxy Quest\" * \"Passions\" star Jesse Metcalf * NBA Insider Chris Monter People & Chat What's under the kilt? Get the skinny on Scottish music at Capitol City Highlanders bagpipe performance, or become part of the band! Hum along Get your band online If you have any questions or suggestions about the e-Lert!, let us know: Austin 360 Feedback Copyright 2000 Cox Interactive Media. WEEKEND WEATHER The temps continue to climb as May approaches. Check how high the mercury will rise this weekend, with the KVUE 24 five-day forecast on Austin360.com. Weather Tornado Watch 2000 AUTO RACING 2000 Take our auto racing pages for a spin! Get driver stats and profiles, series schedules and standings, and the latest racing headlines. Plus buy tickets to an upcoming race or find that perfect gift for a racing fan. Racing 2000 ---------- *SPOTLIGHT* Fiesta - San Antonio If you are heading to San Antonio to enjoy Fiesta, be sure to check out SanAntonio360.com for the lowdown on the hoe-down. SanAntonio360.com Fiesta"}, {"response": 151, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Thu, Apr 27, 2000 (17:00)", "body": "The pool is edging up toward 80 degrees."}, {"response": 152, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Apr 27, 2000 (17:12)", "body": "Bathwater at that temp. Too much warmer and it no longer is refreshing! Summer begins early in Central Texas, I guess. Shall I send some fragrant tradewinds to go with your pool?"}, {"response": 153, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Thu, Apr 27, 2000 (21:16)", "body": "It'll get to around 84 at the peak of summer. I just was in the water. I have the computer hooked up by the pool. Actually, I rigged up an Aten device which goes to a KVM switch which lets me switch between a half a dozen systems, including the old www.spring.net, access.spring.net, barton.spring.net and four Win type systems that I'm building. Aren't I always building computers? I can punch in whichever system I want to be on with a few keystrokes. It's twilight time right now. I've got the pool lights on. The temperature outside is perfect. And the insects and birds are giving the city sounds some competition. I'm getting ready for DSL, which will let us put our old servers back on line. It should take about 30 days to get DSL."}, {"response": 154, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Apr 27, 2000 (21:57)", "body": "No spare parts lie around unused very long in your place! It is fun to do that and you can solder circles around anyone else, anyway. (You had to be able to do that in the \"old days\" to get your ticket...) I am delighted more than I can say that you have Barton Springs back. I remember clearly the sad day you took it down and stashed it in your garage. You sounded like you had lost a child, as you so well equated it. Time for the Paganizing ceremonies yet? We did that for our sailboats each new season."}, {"response": 155, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Thu, Apr 27, 2000 (22:38)", "body": "We're about 30 days away, minimum, for putting these boxes back on the net with dedicated ip addresses."}, {"response": 156, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Apr 27, 2000 (22:41)", "body": "The rebirth! Party time!!!"}, {"response": 157, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Fri, Apr 28, 2000 (08:26)", "body": "Don't break out the balloons and party hats just yet, I'm going to have to try and get Jacob Leveridge to help with some of the dns setup, or maybe if Peter's in town."}, {"response": 158, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Apr 28, 2000 (13:35)", "body": "Ok. I'll be patient, but I have some stashed just in case you have a sudden break-through or need some cheering up. Do we need an excuse for a party?!"}, {"response": 159, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Sun, Apr 30, 2000 (11:57)", "body": "Matthew McConaughey in a eonline interview regarding the bongo thing: There's a rumor going around the hotel that earlier today you were wearing a T-shirt that said \"I'd rather be playing bongos naked.\" No, no. It's already turned into a myth. It says, \"What part of naked bongos don't you understand?\" A friend of mine made it for me. It's good. I liked it when I read it. So, you seem to have a sense of humor about the whole thing. It's not a joke at all, and it wasn't at the time. But do I have a sense of humor about it? Yeah. I get asked if it is regrettable. No, I didn't think I did anything wrong. What did I learn from it? Shut the back window. Everyone said I shouldn't have been playing loud enough to wake somebody up. No. I should have shut the window. Could [my neighbors] have gone about it in another way? Yeah. But you know what? Maybe they didn't want to get out of bed, so they weren't wrong."}, {"response": 160, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Apr 30, 2000 (16:03)", "body": "He is wiser than I gave him credit for, previously. Life goes on - get on with it! Still do not know why they had to storm his house, but apparently that is the way they do things nowadays...look at Miami!"}, {"response": 161, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Mon, May  1, 2000 (09:21)", "body": "Well his sub movie made $12 mil last weekend, number one on the charts. It's a good movie I hear."}, {"response": 162, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, May  4, 2000 (18:15)", "body": "e-Lert! from Austin360.com GOTV - Get Out The Vote Even a local election can be entertaining in Austin. This weekend Austinites go to the polls to elect a mayor, three additional City Council Members, and new representatives to the school board. Five minutes on our election package will make you a more informed voter. May 6, 2000 Election Would you ever vote for Leslie? Who's playing at the Shady Grove tonight? Austin360.com is the official website of \"Unplugged at the Grove.\" Plug In To Unplugged NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Friday, May 5 -- Cinco de Mayo festivities are breaking out all over Austin with food, dancing and music. Viva Mexico! Saturday, May 6 -- Artsy, craftsy, funsy. The Old Pecan Street Festival is gearing up for another weekend of knick-knack hunting. Ye olde Pecan Sunday, May 7 -- It's the last homestand of 2000 for the University of Texas baseball team during the regular season.Hook'em NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: Forget the \"Love Bug\" virus. Get your \"Love Letters\" onstage at the Paramount \ufffd Music: Elliott Smith, Staind and Indigenous pass through town \ufffd Movies: Roman tigers or sub-Saharan lions? \"Gladiator,\" \"I Dreamed of Africa,\" more opening Friday \ufffd Sports: Tulsa comes to Round Rock for a weekend series with the Express \ufffd Dining: Let City Grill prove its passion -- and don't forget your coupons! \ufffd Travel: Rough it at one of Texas' top 50 state parks \ufffd Recreation: Bird watch the more than 340 migratory species flying through Texas \ufffd Community: Rescue a cute pooch or kitten at Pet Adoptathon 2000 A TRIBUTE TO HER Mother's Day is right around the corner. Remember the soft kisses for your booboos, the words of encouragement on a bad day? Our extensive Mother's Day guide offers everything you need to pamper her and show your appreciation. Let her know she is the best. Gifts for Mom GET CONNECTED A tradition on trail. \"Let's allow the wide-open opportunity for more students to die because short-sighted college administrators are afraid to offend cash-supplying alums and students\" -- says Kenwritez of A&M bonfire findings Do you think it should continue? 'T'is the season to be building, so find an approved professional to put the finishing touches on your home. ImproveNet on 360 Join us and Talk City to chat with celebrities. Among this week's special guests are: * Ringo Starr * Drs. Richard and Rachael Heller * Gardening expert John Fech People & Chat It's a small world after all. Make new friends from around the world with members of The Friendship Force of Austin.Go international If you have any questions or suggestions about the e-Lert!, let us know: Austin 360 Feedback Get out and vote! Copyright 2000 Cox Interactive Media. WEEKEND WEATHER Looks like the rain is taking the weekend off. Keep up with lake levels and pollen counts so you can enjoy the fun! Weather Tornado Watch 2000 EIGHT GREAT ROADSTERS Get caught in a web of fun with the new Toyota MR2 Spyder and seven other great roadsters. Drop the top and let the sun shine in as you explore specs, pics and more of these awesome machines! Vroooom! ---------- *SPOTLIGHT* SanAntonio360.com If you are heading to San Antonio this weekend, be sure to check out our sister-site - SanAntonio360.com. SanAntonio360.com"}, {"response": 163, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, May  5, 2000 (16:52)", "body": "May 5, 2000 TFTD-L@TAMU.EDU May 6th is one of the Uniform Election Days in Texas. This means that tomorrow there will be many city and school elections in the state. tftd requests that you cast an INFORMED vote tomorrow or whenever it is election time for your community. Also tftd has determined a general rule. If there are seven propositions on the ballot one should vote for the first five and against the last two. Disclaimer: This general rule is based on one set of observations at a single location."}, {"response": 164, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, May  9, 2000 (17:02)", "body": "local Austin news... I'll be in town May 15-19... wanna grab a veggie burger? Business 8am-6pm kinda thing but I should have a few nights of free time."}, {"response": 165, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Tue, May  9, 2000 (21:34)", "body": "Sure, sounds great! Email me a contact number for you when you're in town, where are you staying?"}, {"response": 166, "author": "stacey", "date": "Wed, May 10, 2000 (11:51)", "body": "Hampton Inn off of West Braker."}, {"response": 167, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Wed, May 10, 2000 (23:04)", "body": "That's just a few miles from the Quail house, bring your swim gear becvause the water's fine! And you're welcome to use the computers in the house to access the Spring/Internet/email whatever. Looking forward to seeing you again. My 'scope says \" Life just got better when you hear that a certain person is back in town.\""}, {"response": 168, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, May 11, 2000 (09:20)", "body": "*grin* Thanks Paul. I've got the swimsuit packed!"}, {"response": 169, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, May 11, 2000 (14:03)", "body": "e-Lert! from Austin360.com Be nice to your mom You owe it to your mother to be nice to her this weekend. Just think of all the pain and suffering you've put her through (or was that your stinky little brother?). We've got the scoop on events around town that will show your mom just how much she means to you. Mother's Day doings Who's playing at the Shady Grove tonight? Austin360.com is the official website of \"Unplugged at the Grove.\" Plug In To Unplugged NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Friday, May 12-Sunday, May 14 -- This musical version of 'A Clockwork Orange' takes center stage this weekened. Come along, fellow droogs Saturday, May 13 -- You don't have to be a NASA engineer to learn how to build and launch your own backyard rocket. Up, up and away Saturday, May 13-Sunday, May 14 -- The Sam Houston State Bearkats sneak into town for one last series against Texas. Hook'em NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: Name that art! You could take home a free masterpiece \ufffd Music: Cure those blues at the Antone's Blues Festival \ufffd Movies: \"Time Code\"'s Salma Hayek heats up the screen in Friday's new movie line-up \ufffd Sports: Fast times and fleet feet are in town at the UIL state track meet \ufffd Dining: A Chinatown by any other name still serves good food \ufffd Travel: Do up Dallas family-style this Mother's Day Weekend \ufffd Recreation: Get your bike blessed and help support the Pediatric AIDS League \ufffd Community: Blow out the candles, read and celebrate 25 years of RIF STARLIGHT STARBRIGHT When the humdrum of city life is biting at your nerves, take a weekend and hit the trail. Camp in comfort after checking out our buyer's guide for the best camping gear to fit your needs. Find a tent. GET CONNECTED Failing board? \"Caring just gets in the way of all the cool-hearted, short-sighted decisions that are a tradition for the School Board\" -- says mthr of AISD What do you think? Bring in the birds, plant the roses and build a pond. Check out Austin 360's Home Improvement tips. Home Improvement on 360 Join us and Talk City to chat with celebrities. Among this week's special guests are: * Majandra Delfino * Marilyn Chambers * Barry Williams (Greg Brady) People & Chat Have a preschooler at home? Get information and support at Central Austin Preschool Mother's Club meetings. Join the club Get your group online If you have any questions or suggestions about the e-Lert!, let us know: Austin 360 Feedback Happy Mother's Day! Copyright 2000 Cox Interactive Media. WEEKEND WEATHER Rain may come down, but the temperatures aren't going anywhere but up. Check the KVUE forecast. Weather MISSION POSSIBLE Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to find what movies will tickle your fancy this month. A warning though -- this message could lead to buttery fingers and tasty treats! See the future. ---------- *SPOTLIGHT* SanAntonio360.com If you are heading to San Antonio this weekend, be sure to check out our sister-site - SanAntonio360.com. SanAntonio360.com"}, {"response": 170, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, May 18, 2000 (14:52)", "body": "Austin360.com e-Lert! - May 18 - May 24 Heating Up As we bear down on 100-degrees here in mid-May, it's time to start looking indoors for entertainment in Austin. Austin360.com is here with some cool entertainment recommendations. Summer Concerts Austin360.com is the official website of \"Unplugged at the Grove\". See who's playing tonight, view the photo galleries, relive previous shows via the archived webcasts, or even watch tonight's show live starting at 8:00 PM tonight! Plug In To Unplugged NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Friday, May 19 -- Kids love 'em, dads want 'em. Monster trucks aren't all steel and testosterone....there's big giant tires too! Not manly enough? There will be WWF superstars too. Friday, Friday, Friday Saturday, May 20 -- UT alum Bill Moyers will speak to the University of Texas graduating senior class of 7,300. Move the tassle Sunday, May 21 -- Kid's Day at the Dell Diamond has the Express welcoming the Arizona Diamondback's rahabbing Matt Williams and the El Paso Diablos. Batter up NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: See (and hear) \"Liberated Voices,\" post-apartheid South African art at AMA \ufffd Music: Your favorite Austin bands croon TV theme songs at Hole in the Wall's \"TV Hoot Night\" \ufffd Movies: The kids will love \"Dinosaur,\" leading the charge into Austin theaters this weekend \ufffd Sports: It's simple: Hit a hole-in-one, win a million bucks and benefit Children's Hospital of Austin \ufffd Dining: Find out who has the hottest tamales on South First Street \ufffd Travel: Plan your weekend or Memorial Day road trip to a Texas hot spot \ufffd Recreation: Work off the Wiener Schnitzel at the Deutschen Pfest 5K fun run and walk \ufffd Community: Go batty! Bring the family out for Saturday's \"Free-Tail Free-For-All\" bat watching party BUY A BIKE Launch a lifetime of fun for your children with their very own bicycle. Our buyer's guide offers all the guidance you'll need to find just the right bike for your young ones or yourself! Get up to speed. GET CONNECTED Whoah! How much? \"These continued rent hikes are obscene.The apartment industry ought to ashamed of themselves. Bloodsuckers - the whole lot of them!!\" -- says Rick of Austin rents. Has it effected you? Bring in the birds, plant the roses and build a pond. Check out Austin 360's Home Improvement tips. Home Improvement on 360 Join us and Talk City to chat with celebrities. Among this week's super chats are: * Rookie of the Year Tony Stewart * Say farewell to Andy Richter * SBA Head Aida Alvarez People & Chat Get a bit of culture in your life. Visit some of the scheduled 'Women & Their Work' exhibits during the month of May . Women & Their Work If you have any questions or suggestions about the e-Lert!, let us know: Austin 360 Feedback"}, {"response": 171, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, May 25, 2000 (14:30)", "body": "Austin360.com e-Lert! - May 18 - May 24 Heating Up As we bear down on 100-degrees here in mid-May, it's time to start looking indoors for entertainment in Austin. Austin360.com is here with some cool entertainment recommendations. Summer Concerts Austin360.com is the official website of \"Unplugged at the Grove\". See who's playing tonight, view the photo galleries, relive previous shows via the archived webcasts, or even watch tonight's show live starting at 8:00 PM tonight! NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Friday, May 26 -- Head on out to Kerrville for Folk Festival 2000. Unroll your sleeping bag Saturday, May 27 -- Learn how to turn your garden into a wildlife haven. Dig in Friday through Sunday -- Sign up for a weekend of culinary nirvana. Get stuffed! NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: Guess whodunnit while you dine at Dave & Buster's Saturday \ufffd Music: N'Sync, Rev. Horton Heat, Herbie Hancock and more \ufffd Movies: Tom Cruise, Jackie Chan lead the action-packed barrage at local theaters \ufffd Sports: Root for the home team as the Round Rock Express hosts the San Antonio Missions \ufffd Dining: Plan a last-second holiday picnic or dinner party on a shoestring \ufffd Travel: The season is peachy for a Memorial Day road trip to Fredericksburg \ufffd Recreation: Cool off underground at these Central Texas caves and caverns \ufffd Community: Take the kids to learn about clouds, wind & weather at the Wildflower Center No Ties for Dad Find nifty tidbits to pay homage to your father. If tradition mandates a tie, we've got that, too. Let him know he's the best. GET CONNECTED \"I had a chance to see the sequel to MI-1. It should be titled 'Mission Improbable'\" -- says dp4hire of Mission: Impossible II. What do you reckon? When those tax appraisals hit, so did tax-bill shock. Find out how to protest and search your area's appraisal rates. Austin appraisals Join us and Talk City to chat with celebrities. Among this week's super chats are: * Redbook Food Editor, Tamara Holt * \"Passions\" star Julian Crane * Rock Trio Samantha-7 People & Chat Get a bit of culture in your life. Visit some of the scheduled 'Women & Their Work' exhibits during the month of May . Women & Their Work If you have any questions or suggestions about the e-Lert!, let us know: Austin 360 Feedback Copyright 2000 Cox Interactive Media. WEEKEND WEATHER There's a slight chance of rain, but mainly the temps are going sky high. Check the KVUE forecast."}, {"response": 172, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, May 25, 2000 (14:31)", "body": "The above e-lert just arrived and it is already outdated. Sheesh! I thought EVERYTHING was bigger and better in Austin...*sigh*"}, {"response": 173, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jun  1, 2000 (18:45)", "body": "Austin360.com e-Lert! - June 1 - June 6 It's Already June? We're into the heat of it now, and the 'Horns are in the heat of the season, with the NCAA super regional series at Disch-Falk Field. For your primer on the NCAA Baseball Tournament, click on our guide to the College World Series. Austin360's College World Series Guide. Or if its too hot at \"the Disch\" for you, plunge into some cool Central Texas waters in your new swimwear. Swimsuits and Shamu. NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Friday, June 2 -- Legendary jazz star Nancy Wilson will be swinging at the Paramount. Women in Jazz Saturday, June 3 -- The Men's Garden Club of Austin hosts the Summer Flower and Vegetable show at Zilker. It's man's man's man's world Sunday, June 4 -- Free music by Los Romanceros and Van Wilks in the great outdoors at Zilker Park. Spread out the picnic blanket NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: \"Islands of Order: A Decade of Collection\" at the Harry Ransom Center \ufffd Music: Waterloo Park is getting swampy at the Bayou Boogie \ufffd Movies: Heather Graham is \"Committed\" at the box office this week \ufffd Sports: Longhorns baseball plays Penn State at the sold out Disch-Falk field \ufffd Dining: Find a place to do lunch on the cheap \ufffd Travel: Lose your stomach at the best amusement parks in Texas \ufffd Recreation: Spoil a good walk at one of Central Texas' golf courses \ufffd Community: Tool around Austin and find over 250 murals Protect Your Hide! Our buyer's guide offers a selection of products to block harmful effects of the sun and keep your skin looking healthy and young. Don't risk a sunburn. GET CONNECTED On yogurt shop murders: \" I agree, innocent until proven guilty. Let's get on with the trials..my biggest complaint, people spouting 'facts' and seldom getting them straight.\" -- Phoenix . Share your thoughts You drive it. You hate it. Find out what's going to happen at the plans for the I-35/Ben White interchange. Spaghetti bowl Join us and Talk City to chat with celebrities. Among this week's super chats are: * \"Shanghai Noon\" director Tom Dey * Rockers BBMak * \"Silver Screams\" movie chat People & Chat Summer is here so why not stay cool and get in shape with Austin Aquatics master swim team? Stroke! Stroke!"}, {"response": 174, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jun  8, 2000 (23:55)", "body": "\ufffde-Lert! from Austin360.com Summertime Fun Austin summertime fun -- find out what time that pool opens, how to get to a Central Texas amusement park, or when the movie starts -- all on the Austin360.com Summer Guide. Austin360's Summer Guide Summer Swimsuit Slideshow NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Today through Friday, June 9 -- Texas' top baseball teams are in Austin and Round Rock for the UIL tournament. Put me in coach Friday, through Thursday, June 15 -- You don't have to risk your neck for your brother man to join in Austin ShaftWeek. Shut Yo' Mouth! Friday through Sunday, June 11 -- Satisfy your motorcycle cravings at the Republic of Texas Biker Rally. Hogs, rice-burners, beemers and more will descend on 6th Street and the Austin area for music, rides and refreshments. Rev it up! NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: Glimpse South African art at 'Liberated Voices' \ufffd Music: 3 Balls of Fire, Pop Gun, Taboo playing this weekend \ufffd Movies: 'Gone in 60 Seconds' screeches into Austin this weekend \ufffd Sports: Keep score while the 'Horns World Series drive is taking off in Omaha \ufffd Dining: Find a Texas wine for any occasion \ufffd Travel: Fly to Toronto and back from Austin for $215 \ufffd Recreation: Find a place to take a dip and beat the heat in Central Texas \ufffd Community: Join with Literacy Austin to help local residents learn to read A Tribute to Dad He held your hand and guided you along the way. Now use our Father's Day shopping guide to hand him something that will show him how much you care. Shop for Dad. GET CONNECTED On movies: \"The few laughs that I did get from what was on the screen was so few and far between as not to count...This Trip is a bad one. \" -- says FletchMan about \"Road Trip\". Share your thoughts Are you wheezin, sneezin' and praying for a break from the sinus torture? Heal thyself. Allergy, away! Join us and Talk City to chat with celebrities. Among this week's super chats are: \ufffd David Ledbetter \ufffd Garcelle Beauvais \ufffd Dr. Sharon Boyse People & Chat Here's to your health. Let the Austin Herb Society help you find the herbs that complement your lifestyle. Austin Herb Society Copyright 2000 Cox Interactive Media."}, {"response": 175, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jun 15, 2000 (16:13)", "body": "Summer in Austin How about some groovy tunes under the big oaks at the Shady Grove? Or an October hunt in the middle of June at the Paramount? Maybe a refreshing dip into the icy waters of Barton Springs? Austin360.com is here with some cool ideas to beat the heat this summer weekend. Austin360's Summer Guide Hunt for Red October at the Paramount Unplugged at the Grove NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Thursday June 15 through Saturday, June 17 -- The first half of the first season is almost up, get out to Dell Diamond for the Express vs. the Arkansas Travelers Thirsty Thursday and Fireworks Friday Thursday through Sunday, June 18 -- The Greatest Show on Earth, the Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus makes its stop in River City. To the Egress Saturday June 17 & Sunday, June 18 -- Tour one of Austin's great neighborhoods during the Hyde Park Neighborhood Association Historic Homes Tour. Old time Austin NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: Exhibit: 'Islands of Order: A Decade of Collection' \ufffd Music: Where's Willie? Ctach up with Mr. Nelson as he tours Europe \ufffd Movies: 'Shaft,' struts into Austin theaters this weekend. Dig it? \ufffd Sports: Rugby teams from all over our region are here for \"Bloodfest\" \ufffd Restaurants: Follow the Tex-Mex mile, South First's bevy of border-state fare \ufffd Travel: Head to Fredericksburg for a perfect day of peach-picking \ufffd Recreation: Get your sprockets in gear and learn to take care of your bike \ufffd Community: Give a hoot. Join the Town Lake Clean Up efforts Sex in the City Get the entire first season -- 12 episodes of the award-winning HBO comedy series on two DVDs that takes an outrageous look at dating, mating and relating in New York City. Buy it now. GET CONNECTED Waving debate: \"I don't ask any one to give up or hide their Heritage, so why am I being asked to hide mine? \" -- says susan_f_32221 about the Confederate flag. Share your thoughts Get outside and explore one of Texas' top 50 best state parks. Into the brush Join us and Talk City to chat with celebrities. Among this week's super chats are: \ufffd Music editor Michelle Lee \ufffd Rock group Neve \ufffd Dr. Adam Cotsen of \"Sex and the City\" People & Chat Looking to get your kids into sports? Let the University Hills Optimist Club direct you in the right direction. Go team! If you have any questions or suggestions about the e-Lert!, let us know: Austin 360 Feedback"}, {"response": 176, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jun 22, 2000 (18:11)", "body": "Austin360.com e-Lert! - June 22 - June 28 \ufffd Music in the Park \"Summerfest\" this Sunday in Waterloo Park features 13 different local and national acts performing from 11:15 in the morning until 10:00 at night. Tickets at the gate are $15, but you can pick up $10 advance tickets at Star Tickets or at Hooters - so you've got that going for you. Proceeds benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Summerfest is #2 on the Austin360.com Ten Around Town. What's #1? Who's playing at Summer Fest? Visit SanAntonio360.com if you are looking for a fun day-trip this weekend. SanAntonio360.com NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Starting Friday, June 23 -- Send up the silent film era with the production of \"Merton of the Movies.\" Acting! Saturday, June 24 -- Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly, two of the best in one of Hitch's best, \"Rear Window.\" It's playing at the revamped Paramount. Good evening Sunday, June 25th -- Summerfest will be rocking Waterloo Park downtown with the Toadies, Pushmonkey and Monte Montgomery Rockin' the Park NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: Exprience African-American culture at the Expo Center \ufffd Music: Where's Willie? Join Willie Nelson each day on his European tour \ufffd Movies: See the two sides of Jim Carey in \"Me, Myself & Irene,' opening Friday \ufffd Sports: Hop aboard the Round Rock Express this weekend \ufffd Restaurants: Craving calamari? Manic for marinara? Get it here \ufffd Travel: Austin to Chicago for $181; Dallas to Portland for $158 \ufffd Recreation: Learn how to avoid falling victim to heat-related illnesses \ufffd Community: Pet lovers unite. Adopt one of 50 cats at Kitten Fest. Connect with Music Sin\ufffdad O'Connor is back after a six year hiatus with Faith and Courage, an expressive collection of songs that traverse the human experience, touching on such universals as love and lust, respect and responsibility, strength and spirit. GET CONNECTED Are you ready for some football? \"Even considering Washingtons two first round picks, I think Tampa Bay won. I wouldn't be surprised to see them in the Superbowl this year. \" -- says shanegot. Catch the pre-season football fever Stop the spam! Learn how to reduce the clutter in your mailboxes, both online and off. Block it Join us and Talk City to chat with celebrities. Among this week's super chats are: \ufffd Dr. Patrick Woods on Liver Disease \ufffd World Class Scientists! \ufffd All is revealed by Psychic Mary Beth People & Chat Calling all Owls! Join the Austin Rice Alumni for happy hour or a good read. Owls in Austin Get your alumni group online If you have any questions or suggestions about the e-Lert!, let us know: Austin 360 Feedback"}, {"response": 177, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jun 29, 2000 (15:11)", "body": "Fourth of July in Austin Ever since thomas.jefferson@usa.com sent that \"Important - Please Read ASAP!\" e-mail over to king.george@uk.com with the \"seeya.doc\" attachment, the world has never been the same. Austin is a wonderful place to celebrate our great nations' Declaration of Independence (seeya.doc) just the way our forefathers envisioned it - by blowing up fireworks, eatin' barbeque and watching Wimbledon on TV. Austin360.com is here with your guide to the weekend's festivities. Fourth of July Guide The right to vote -- what's your favorite part of Fourth of July? Austinites currently have \"Beer\" beating out \"Fireworks\" by two votes?!?!? Vote for your favorite part of the Fourth of July tradition. NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Friday, June 30 through July 4 -- It's Independence Day weekend. Use our comprehensive July Fourth events guide to plan your celebrations Celebrate! Beginning Friday, June 30 -- It's a great weekend for family films, with 'The Sound of Music', 'Chicken Run' and dozens more movies playing in town. To the theater! Friday, June 30 through July 4 -- Music from The Gourds, Willie Nelson, Guy Forsyth and hundreds more bands. Hit the clubs NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: The Last weekend to see Rivera's \"The Tortilla Maker\" \ufffd Music: Jack Ingram, RB Morris, Damon Bramblett live at the Continental Club \ufffd Movies: Testostarone over doze with 'The Patriot' and 'The Perfect Storm' opening Friday \ufffd Sports: Enjoy the fireworks on the field and in the air at the Dell Diamond \ufffd Restaurants: A wee bit of the Emerald Isle for Austin diners \ufffd Travel: Austin to Nashville for for $198; Dallas to Orange County for $208 \ufffd Recreation: Find local spots to drop a tube into a cool river \ufffd Community: Seeking: Thoughtful, generous, single volunteers Star Wars Action! Return to a galaxy far, far away and see how the saga began with the first episode: The Phantom Menace. Buy the video and delve into a time when the Jedi Knights are the guardians of peace in a turbulent galaxy and a young Queen fights to save her people. In the shadows lurks an evil force waiting for the right moment to strike. Discover the Force. GET CONNECTED Are you ready for some football? \"I love Tien Hong on Burnet -- we order out from there quite frequently, and it has always been outstanding ... They have a very extensive menu and reasonable prices.\" -- says mamaross22 of the local eatery. You be the food critic Looking for some new wheels or do yours need some help? Look no further. Autos 360 Join us and Talk City to chat with celebrities. Among this week's super chats are: \ufffd The Daytime Diva dishes Soap trivia \ufffd A $27 million jackpot winner talks \ufffd All is revealed by Psychic Mary Beth People & Chat 1-2-3 and 4. Let the Austin Tango Connection teach you a thing or two about dancing. If you have any questions or suggestions about the e-Lert!, let us know: Austin 360 Feedback"}, {"response": 178, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Fri, Jun 30, 2000 (11:01)", "body": "I'd rather be at Ragweed, but I'm stuck in Austin due to rental business. The first of the month is always a harried time and a bad time for trips."}, {"response": 179, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jun 30, 2000 (16:46)", "body": "I just need some coole people to hang with...do not care where! I am B O R E D."}, {"response": 180, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Sat, Jul  1, 2000 (08:27)", "body": "Don't worry, hang with us, we will PUMP YOU UP!"}, {"response": 181, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jul  1, 2000 (14:13)", "body": "Here I be! Hunting up goodies on Google.com to entertain me and maybe readers of Spring. Gotta get those train-hoppers back into action when they are next at a cyber cafe. That was fun!"}, {"response": 182, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Sat, Jul  1, 2000 (17:08)", "body": "Really, god speed to our train hoppin' buds."}, {"response": 183, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jul  1, 2000 (17:38)", "body": "Yup, I am concerned about them when they do not get in touch now and then..."}, {"response": 184, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jul  6, 2000 (16:43)", "body": "e-Lert! from Austin360.com - July 6, 2000 Time for a little R&R It's hard to believe it's almost the weekend again. Maybe we should lobby to have Tuesday off every week! With the heat building and water shortage worsening, this weekend might be a good time to check out our energy- and water-saving guides: \ufffd Slash your energy bill \ufffd Save cash on gas \ufffd Conserve water & save money Or get out & about at one of the following superb Austin-area events. Have a terrific weekend! NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Thursday, July 6 through July 7 -- The playoff-bound Round Rock Express battle the Midland RockHounds at the Dell Diamond. Play ball! Beginning Friday, June 30 -- You know it's summer when the Zilker Hillside is alive with their series of free shows. West Side Story starts Friday. Bring a blanket Saturday, July 8 and Sunday, July 9 -- Shop and swap your Chatty Cathy, baseball cards, or anything else at the Austin Collectors Exposition at the Crockett Center. Dust it off! NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: Celebrity dolls, comics and kitsch at the Austin Collectors Exposition \ufffd Music: Metal head? Metallica, Korn and more moshers are playing just up the Interstate \ufffd Movies: 'Disney's The Kid', 'Scary Movie', others open Friday in local theaters \ufffd Sports: Get in the water for a good cause at Swimathon 2000 \ufffd Restaurants: How fresh is fresh? The Eastside Cafe seems to know the answer \ufffd Travel: Find screams and thrills at Central Texas amusement parks \ufffd Recreation: Use our Water Sports Guide to hit the lakes in a rental boat, canoe or watercraft \ufffd Community: Discover how SWE unites women engineers"}, {"response": 185, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Jul 14, 2000 (02:26)", "body": "Austin360.com e-Lert!: July 14 - July 16 Some like it hot Triple-digit days are here again, so make sure you're prepared when you hit the lakes, outdoor concerts or the hike & bike trails. Beat the heat If you're game, you can cool off in a number of ways: \ufffd Rent a boat or personal watercraft \ufffd Hit area lakes \ufffd Find a swimming pool \ufffd Go tubing Have a terrific weekend! NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Friday, July 14 -- Meet the Austin team which hopes to win this year's Discovery Channel EcoChallenge in Borneo. Live music, food and more await you -- free! Lend your support Friday, July 14 to Saturday, July 15 -- Help keep your city beautiful by volunteering for the Austin Watershed Vegetation Restoration Project. Do your part Saturday, July 15 -- Friends, Romans, countrymen, buy me a beer! Taste dozens of local brews at this year's Texas Beer Tasting. Bottoms up! NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: Jet your way to Zilker Park for a free, futuristic 'West Side Story' \ufffd Music: The North Mississippi Allstars transform the Continental Club into a rollicking backwoods blues joint \ufffd Movies: 'X-Men' mutate in Austin theaters Friday \ufffd Sports: Swimathon 2000 raises money for the Austin State School on Saturday \ufffd Restaurants: Carnivore cravings? Find out what you'll find at Sullivan's \ufffd Travel: Be a tourist in Austin, on foot or via duck \ufffd Recreation: Lazy days are here to stay - take a tube ride down the Guad or Gruene River \ufffd Community: The AAU Championships-bound Austin Braves are having a garage sale to raise funds If you have any questions or suggestions about the e-Lert!, let us know: Austin 360 Feedback"}, {"response": 186, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Fri, Jul 14, 2000 (18:50)", "body": "Hmm wonder what the Ecochallenge is all about and where this event is going to be, being Friday night and all."}, {"response": 187, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Jul 20, 2000 (15:30)", "body": "Austin360.com e-Lert!: July 14 - July 16 Dry times ahead Plan on watering your garden this weekend? Austin and some surrounding cities are under mandatory water restrictions, so you'd better check it's your day to water. \ufffd Austin watering schedule \ufffd Avoid a $2,000 fine \ufffd Water-saving tips \ufffd Water-saving incentives \ufffd Share your water-saving tips Have a terrific weekend! NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Saturday, July 22 & Sunday, July 23 -- A car and truck show for the guys and a bridal show for the gals. It's all in the planning, folks. His and Hers Thursday, July 20 through Saturday, July 22 -- Elgin's Western Days will bring out the Cowboy and carnivore in everyone. Get along, little doggies! Friday, July 21 and Saturday, July 22 -- Get some culture, it's good for you. Dance, art shows, Buddhist celebrations and more. Art. It does a body good NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: Bask in the warmth of dance and song from Austin's different cultures \ufffd Music: Get your groove on with Patti Smith, Soulhat or Tom Russell \ufffd Movies: Teen flicks 'Loser', 'The In Crowd', open in Austin theaters Friday \ufffd Sports: Root for Lance Armstrong as he battles for victory in the Tour de France \ufffd Restaurants: Caffeine is life! So don't waste your life in naff coffee shops. Find a good 'un near you \ufffd Travel: Cool off in Chicago for $149 roundtrip from Austin \ufffd Recreation: Lazy days are here to stay -- take a tube ride down the Guad or Gruene Rivers \ufffd Community: Something old, new, blue -- all at the Fine Gift Charity Bizaar"}, {"response": 188, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Aug  3, 2000 (14:49)", "body": "Austin360.com e-Lert!: August 3 - August 6 Tax Holiday weekend! I-35's going to be a complete disaster, but don't let that slow down your fun! Austin 360 will guide you through the highways and the buy-ways. \ufffd What's for sale, what's not \ufffd Get the most out of the sales tax holiday weekend \ufffd Find out what's on sale at local stores Have a terrific weekend! NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Saturday, Aug. 5 -- Take the kids for a day full of family fun at the Millenium Center. Load up the minivan Saturday, Aug. 5 -- Help a neighbor pay for their liver transplant. Lend a hand Sunday, Aug. 6 -- Delve into the intricaces of a new culture during India Month. Expand your horizons NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: Watch the Well Hung Jury break a non-existant world record for longest monologue \ufffd Music: Bring out your Dead! The Jerry Garcia fest has Deadheads flocking to the lake \ufffd Movies: 'Hollow Man,' and 'Coyote Ugly,' 'Space Cowboys' open in Austin theaters Friday \ufffd Sports: Those San Antonio Missions battle the Express at Dell Diamond \ufffd Restaurants: Re-re-born, the Granite Cafe is still serving \ufffd Travel: Take your pick, Chicago, L.A. or Phoenix for less than $200 from Austin by air \ufffd Recreation: Watercraft-less in Austin? Find out where to rent boats, jet skis and canoes \ufffd Community: Lonely? Adopt a pet this weekend If you have any questions or suggestions about the e-Lert!, let us know: Austin 360 Feedback"}, {"response": 189, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Aug 10, 2000 (15:04)", "body": "Austin360.com e-Lert!: August 10 - August 13 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: Multipart/Mixed; boundary=\"--Next_Part(6610_Thu_Aug_10_14:38:35_2000)--\" X-UIDL: gX+\"!I`i\"!Q5l\"!J(P!! e-Lert! from Austin360.com Festival of films Life is a film festival in Austin. In the pool, at the restaurant, the art house, the multi-plex or the Paramount, the oppurtunities are endless. This weekend's 'Reel Women Presents Real Stories' festival features the strong and diverse works of female documentary filmmakers. \ufffd Deep Eddy Pool: The Road to El Dorado \ufffd Paramount: 'Willy Wonka' and 'My Fair Lady' \ufffd Theaters: The Replacements, American Pimp and more Have a terrific weekend! NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Saturday, Aug. 12 -- Latino Comedy Project's Fiesta returns to the Paramount Theatre, 713 Congress Ave., with local and national comic sensations. Estamos felizes Friday August 11 - Oct. 14 -- 'To Whom Was This Sacrifice Useful?' an exhibit on The Texas Revolution and the Narrative of Jos\ufffd Enrique de la Pe\ufffda, including historical documents, maps, and photographs. Remembering the Alamo Friday August 11 - Sunday, Aug. 13 -- Marble Falls welcomes big-time drag boat racers to the friendly waters of Lake LBJ for Lakefest. Vroom! Vroom! NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: Guest Conductor Jeff Tyzik will direct the Austin Symphony Orchestra in a free concert at the Capitol \ufffd Music: America's musical sweethearts, the Dixie Chicks, head this way Saturday \ufffd Movies: Wanna land a TV or silver screen role? Chek out the latest casting call news for local auditions \ufffd Sports: The Round Rock Express hosts the Diablos this weekend at Dell Diamond \ufffd Restaurants: Pop in for a quick caffeine-charged lunch at Bouldin Creek Coffee House \ufffd Travel: Take off! Toronto for only $216 in our web-fare round-up \ufffd Recreation: Find a golf course you haven't played in our Central Texas Golf Guide \ufffd Community: Dine and wine for a a good cause during the Fourth Annual SIMS Supper benefit If you have any questions or suggestions about the e-Lert!, let us know: Austin 360 Feedback"}, {"response": 190, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Aug 17, 2000 (13:38)", "body": "Austin360.com e-Lert!: August 17 - August 20 e-Lert! from Austin360.com Make it a hill country weekend Now's the time to rediscover Austin's stately neighboring beauty. Hit the road and take the Hill Country Harvest Wine Trail through newly picked vineyards, to wineries filled with the smells of new wine and the excitement of the harvest season. Make it a weekend and top off your day with a visit to a local Bed and Breakfast. \ufffd Map your route \ufffd Visit Fredericksburg \ufffd Find a local Bed and Breakfast NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Saturday, Aug. 19 and Sunday, Aug. 20 -- Get your tonsils ready, the Austin Fiery Foods Show featuring around 1,000 spicey delectables lights up the Palmer. Burnin' down the house Friday, Aug. 18 and Saturday, Aug. 19 -- More evidence that Gen Xers are getting old, 'Fast Times at Ridgemont High' is playing at the Paramount. I'm so wasted Thursday, Aug. 17 through Sep 7 -- The Austin Gay and Lesbian International Film Festival is kicking off this weekend. Hit the opening festivities. aGLIFF NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: Places of Peace and Power: The Sacred Site Slide Show of Martin Gray \ufffd Music: Antone's will be hipping and hopping with the Jungle Brothers \ufffd Movies: 'Godzilla 2000,' 'Original Kings of Comedy,' others open Friday \ufffd Sports: Join up with the Austin Tri-Cyclist Couple's Triathlon benefiting the American Diabetes Association \ufffd Restaurants: The Chinese restaurant where Chinese people eat? Sea Dragon \ufffd Travel: Fly to L.A., Salt Lake City and St. Louie on the cheap \ufffd Recreation: Find your way to the closest swimming hole and cool off \ufffd Community: Be good to your best friend. Visit the EmanciPet Free Mobile Spay/Neuter Clinic If you have any questions or suggestions about the e-Lert!, let us know: Austin 360 Feedback"}, {"response": 191, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Aug 24, 2000 (16:22)", "body": "Austin360.com e-Lert!: August 24 - August 27 Music for every drummer's beat You'll find tunes to satisfy everyone's musical appetite this weekend in Austin. Sting comes to the Erwin Center on Saturday night while the Gipsy Kings grace The Backyard. Meanwhile, the Continental Club has The Hollisters and Eleven Hundred Springs, and the Mercury presents Superjane DJ's, with Heather, Colette, Dayhota, Electric Indigo and Lady D. As you head out, find a great place to eat, then have a cuppa joe while you give those barking dogs a rest before you head home. \ufffd Check out the other best bets \ufffd Listen to some local bands \ufffd See what they look like NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Friday, Aug. 15 -- Make way for the Buzztopia tour is coming to Austin, featuring the Jazz Mandolin Project and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band. Swingin' at Stubbs Sunday, Aug. 27 -- Texas Home and Garden Show will fill the Austin Convention Center with a \"living magazine\" of home and garden products and services. Good things Friday, Aug 25 through Sept. 7 -- We mean it this time, the Austin Gay and Lesbian International Film Festival kicks off this weekend. aGLIFF NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: Hitch is all over the screen this weekend at the Paramount \ufffd Music: What's tops in Austin? Check Waterloo's Top 50 \ufffd Movies: Quentin Tarantino is back in Austin with QT Quatro \ufffd Sports: Thursday night's alright for fighting at the Texas Title Fight \ufffd Restaurants: If you are going to be waiting anyway, might as well make it Vespaio \ufffd Travel: Your vacation photos could win you a 14-day trek for two in Nepal's Himalayas to Gokyo Lakes \ufffd Recreation: Tube the San Marcos, Guadalupe or Gruene rivers \ufffd Community: Learn all about bamboo and even make earings at the Texas Bamboo Fest If you have any questions or suggestions about the e-Lert!, let us know: Austin 360 Feedback"}, {"response": 192, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Thu, Aug 24, 2000 (19:02)", "body": "I'll definitely be heading to the H&G Show Friday night. Woo, woo, what a night on the town!"}, {"response": 193, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Aug 24, 2000 (20:30)", "body": "Sounds fantastic. Report back when you come back to earth!"}, {"response": 194, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Aug 31, 2000 (22:58)", "body": "Austin360.com e-Lert!: August 31 - September 3 Labor Day plans, we got 'em The last blast of the summer is here. Whether you are headed to the beach, down the Guadalupe or South to San Antonio, we can help plan your way. Even if you're staying at home we can help your barbecue go beyond the usual burgers and dogs .... not that there's anything wrong with them. \ufffd Plan it! \ufffd Beach it! \ufffd Tube it! \ufffd Grill it! \ufffd Whatever it! NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Saturday, Sept. 2 - Sunday, Sept. 3 -- It's jazz, it's Zilker and it's free. Sounds like the Zilker Jazz festival is back for its 20th annual event. Take a blanket Thursday, Aug. 31 - Tuesday, Sept. 5 -- The students are back at UT, and the bands are kicking it into gear. We'll help you keep track of who's playing where. Get out Sunday, Sept. 3 -- Shake your salsa thang to saucy acts while enjoying spicy food at Waterloo Park It's hot! NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: Fall 2000 show opens at the Museum of Fine Arts \ufffd Music: Catch the 70's musical that is sans Donna Summer, '8-TRACKS (no disco)' \ufffd Movies: aGLIFF rolls on at venues all over town \ufffd Sports: Friday night football is taking off this week \ufffd Restaurants: It's only taken three months for Aquarelle to stand out in Austin \ufffd Travel: You still haven't seen San Antonio? \ufffd Recreation: Time to go skinny dipping! Splash Day at Hippy Hollow! \ufffd Community: Learn about the wild orchids of Texas with Joe Liggio at the Wildflower Center (unfortunately it is all in hyperlinks which does not translate to Yapp. Please check their home page for more information on the above events)"}, {"response": 195, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Fri, Sep  1, 2000 (10:31)", "body": "Aquarelle? Never heard of it. The Salsa and Jazz events sound cool."}, {"response": 196, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Sep  7, 2000 (14:30)", "body": "...cool...or depending the ignition point of the salsa and the kind of jazz... Austin360.com e-Lert!: September 7 - 10 Cooooool! You lived through it -- the hottest day ever in Austin! Now, get out of that air-conditioned cocoon and celebrate life by browsing the expo dedicated to improving self, grabbing a healthy and tasty meal, or getting a funny bone check up from Nurse Betty. So much to do. So little time. So get going! NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Thursday, Sept. 7 - Sunday, Sept. 10 -- Fancy a romantic meal out this weekend? Then let our brand new & much improved Restaurant Guide help you find the ideal eatery Take your pick Friday, Sept. 8 - Sunday, Sept. 10 -- The weekend has rain and cooler weather in the forecast. Seize the opportunity and take your wee ones to a water park. Make a splash! Sunday, Sept. 10 -- Soak up the splendor of a close encounter with Cypress Hill, Everlast, Weezer, Kottonmouth Kings, Nixons, Wheatus & more. Kick it! NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: Dig inside the presidency with 'TIME and the Presidency' at the LBJ Library & Musuem \ufffd Music: KRS One and MC Overlord crank up for Antone's Saturday \ufffd Movies: Renee Zellweger's 'Nurse Betty,' opens in Austin \ufffd Sports: UT battles at home against the Ragin' Cajuns Saturday. But getting to the game could be tricky \ufffd Restaurants: Cut out the junk but hold onto the flavor at East Austin's Mr. Natural \ufffd Travel: Oh, Canada! Head north from Austin for $216 round trip \ufffd Recreation: Use our handy Golf Guide to hit the greens before they go brown \ufffd Community: Head to the Self-Transformation Expo 2000"}, {"response": 197, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Sep 14, 2000 (14:44)", "body": "Austin360.com e-Lert!: September 14 - 17 Thursday, Sept. 14 - Sunday, Sept. 17 -- Celebrate Mexico's independence from Spain at Diez y Seis de Septiembre. Viva Mexico! Thursday, Sept. 14 - Sunday, Sept. 17 -- The Austin Shakespeare Festival continues it's run of free shows, this weekend Julius Caeser takes the stage. Et tu, Brute'? Friday, Sept. 15 - Saturday, Sept. 16 -- Gird your tongue and head South to San Marcos for the official Texas State Men's Chili Cookoff, Chilympiad 2000. Robert Earl Keen performs Saturday night. No beans NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: The Museum of Fine Arts features woodcut prints and acrylic paintings by Lori Baugh \ufffd Music: Discover our town's blossoming jazz scene at the Austin Jazz and Arts Festival \ufffd Movies: 'Duets,' 'Bait, and 'Aimee & Jaguar' open Friday in Austin \ufffd Sports: The Longhorns take on the pass happy Cardinal out in Palo Alto. Get prepped on Austin 360 \ufffd Restaurants: Find a great new spot or vote for an old favorite in our new Restaurant Guide \ufffd Travel: Buzz off to Las Vegas, Long Island or Toronto for around $200 from Austin \ufffd Recreation: This weekend could actually be fairly cool, so hit a trail! \ufffd Community: Get your running shoes on and join the Teddy Bear Picnic & 5K Run"}, {"response": 198, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Sep 28, 2000 (23:00)", "body": "Austin360.com e-Lert!: September 28 - October 1 Perfection Personified It's one of those weekends that define Austin. A stroll down Sixth, swinging to live blues, and the celebration of nature. Great weather, lots to do, and Austin 360 to help you do it. The Mind Over Money Festival is one good bet with over 100 performances at various venues throughout the city. MoM Fest NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Friday, Sept. 29 -- The B.B. King Blues Festival 2000 will be rockin' Auditorium Shores this Friday night with Buddy Guy, Susan Tedeschi, and Corey Harris. Lucille! Saturday, Sept. 30 and Sunday Oct. 1 -- The Old Pecan Street art festival will be hopping along Sixth Street with arts and crafts, music, food and fun. Get out your Christmas list Saturday, Sept. 30 and Sunday Oct. 1 -- The Texas Wildlife Expo features a variety of hands-on activities, many designed for youngsters. Activities include shooting sports, fishing, rock climbing, birding, mountain biking, game calling, wild game cooking, fly fishing, and kayaking. It's free! NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: Beckett's classic 'Waiting for Godot' plays the Hogg Auditorium \ufffd Music: New Bohemians and Kelly Willis headline Make A Wish Foundation benefit \ufffd Movies: 'Girl Fight,' and 'Remember the Titans' open Friday in Austin \ufffd Sports: Ricky Williams' jersey retired as OSU visits DKR \ufffd Restaurants: Jonesin' for a taco? Find a taqueria near you \ufffd Travel: Fly from Austin to any Southwest or America West destination for $198 or less \ufffd Recreation: Put your foot down for Downtown Classic 10K \ufffd Community: Join in the 15th Annual Driftwood Heritage Day festivities If you have any questions or suggestions about the e-Lert!, let us know: Austin 360 Feedback If you want to make changes to you profile, such as upgrading from the text version to the html (with graphics) version of e-Lert!, click here: Edit your profile Copyright 2000 Cox Interactive Media. WEEKEND WEATHER The weather warms up a little, but it's still cooooolll. Check our local forecast. Eat, drink and be savvy! Join the Austin360.com Supper Club, powered by Yclip, and save up to 20 percent at the popular restaurants and bars on our menu. To learn more and to register, go to... http://supperclub.austin360.com . In San Antonio Win tickets to hear Creed in concert with Collective Soul at the Alamodome on Oct. 5."}, {"response": 199, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Oct 27, 2000 (14:52)", "body": "Austin360.com e-Lert!: October 27 - October 31 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: Multipart/Mixed; boundary=\"--Next_Part(25993_Thu_Oct_26_13:50:31_2000)--\" X-UIDL: k2~!!aC*!!,-(#!W+T\"! e-Lert! from Austin360.com Jason and Freddie Would Ge Proud It's that warm, fuzzy feeling you get when you eat too many of those candy corn things. The satisfaction you get from putting the fear of God into your next door neighbor's kids. It's Halloween and Austin 360 has the best guide in town. Plus this weekend has great music, charity runs and a slew more terrific events besides. Start your weekend here. Talk about football See a movie Sniff out a good airfare NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Friday Oct. 27 - Tuesday, Oct. 31 -- Creak, wail, screeeeechhhh, rattle, moan! Scare the pants off yourself and the family with an Austin-area Halloween happening. Ba-ba-booooooo! Saturday, Oct. 28 and Sunday, Oct. 29 -- Do the Pink Floyd thing and run, run, run, run ... for a good cause. On your marks Saturday, Oct. 21 -- Music. Sweet music. Fill your head with melodies from the best as Tina Turner, Junior Brown and Bo Diddley make separate appearances this weekend. Let the beats control your body NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: \"The Return of Nate's Mojo\" is a collection of multi-dimensional experiments on and with canvas and oil paint \ufffd Community: Help keep Austin beautiful. Take part in the Walnut Creek Trail Restoration day \ufffd Kids: 13th Annual Hogeye Festival offers greased pig chases, cow patty bingo and pony rides \ufffd Movies: 'The Yards,' 'Lucky Numbers,' and others hit Austin theaters Friday \ufffd Music: Catch Karl Denson and Critter's Bugging at the Mercury, Reckless Kelly and Chris Whitley at Antone's \ufffd Recreation: Improve your bicycle handling skills, from bunny hopping to cornering and more \ufffd Restaurants: Don't feel like going out in the rain? Find the best Chinese delivery \ufffd Sports: Predict your score for Saturday's UT vs. Baylor \ufffd Travel: Step out of Austin and into a 16th Century English village in Houston"}, {"response": 200, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Nov 10, 2000 (14:32)", "body": "Austin360.com e-Lert!: November 9 - November 12 NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Friday, Nov. 10 through Sunday, Nov. 11 -- Get a little au natural with the Wild Basin Preserve's 5th annual 'Natural Palette', featuring local art, music and hiking. Go wild Saturday, Nov 11 and Sunday, Nov. 12 -- Celebrate Texas books and authors, and maybe see the new prez or the same old guv at the 'Texas Book Festival'. Once upon a time ... Thursday, Nov. 9 through Sunday, Nov. 12 -- Two bits, four bits, six bits, four dollars will get you into the Alamo Drafthouse's midnight extravaganza, 'Cheerleader Camp Weekend'. Leave the wee ones at home. Ready? Ohhhhhh-kaaaaay!"}, {"response": 201, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Nov 22, 2000 (16:21)", "body": "Austin360.com e-Lert!: November 16 - November 19 Turkeys Trotting and Longhorns Hopping No, it's not a new dance. It's Thanksgiving weekend in Austin. We've got the best guide to make this Thanksgiving holiday one to remember. There's the traditional Texas vs. A&M brawl starting in the wee hours of Friday morning. And for those of you anxiously awaiting holiday shopping, check out our links to some of the best steals and deals in town. \ufffd Austin Thanksgiving Guide \ufffd Store sales in Austin NEED WEEKEND PLANS? Saturday, Nov. 25 - Sunday, Nov. 26 -- Hear ye, hear ye! Pray assemble for ye olde worlde looke at a Victorian Christmas, Austin style. Dust off your Christmas spirit Wednesday, Nov 22 - Sunday, Dec. 3 -- Enjoy one of life's most romantic fairy tales as 'Beauty and the Beast' graces the Bass Concert Hall. Start your magical journey Saturday, Nov. 25 -- Transport the wee ones and some toys to Congress Avenue for Chuy's annual 'Children Giving to Children' parade. Give a little Christmas cheer NEED MORE IDEAS? Here are our Austin weekend entertainment highlights. For details and even more, see our Movie Guide, Best Bets and the complete calendar at: Entertainment \ufffd Arts: Let this photo exhibit transport you to the tranquil world of fly-fishing \ufffd Community: Join in tax-free day at Umlauf Sculpture Gardens \ufffd Movies: A Grinch, angels and clones fill Austin screens. Get show times \ufffd Music: Love The Pogues? Well, Shane MacGowan's in town. Get the skinny \ufffd Recreation: Fill your day with color as you seek out Central Texas' fall foliage \ufffd Restaurants: Enjoy a meal at one of Austin's Top 10 high-end eateries \ufffd Sports: Prepare yourself for Friday's big UT game \ufffd Travel: Map your route before setting off for the holidays"}, {"response": 202, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jan 29, 2001 (00:16)", "body": "Is This true??? Rules for Living in Austin 1. First you must learn to pronounce the city name. It is AWS-TUN and it does not matter how people pronounce it in other places. 2. Forget the traffic rules you learned elsewhere. Austin has its own version of traffic rules. There's no book about them. You've just got to get in your car and hope you survive to learn them. 3. All directions start with, \"Go down Mopac...cause you don't want to get on 35.\" 4. Burnet, Braker, and Lamar have no beginning and no end. 5. It's impossible to go around a block and wind up on the street you started on. The Chamber of Commerce calls this a \"scenic drive.\" 6. The 8:00am rush hour is from 6:30am to 9:30am. The 5:00pm rush hour is from 3:30pm to 7:15pm. Friday's rush hour starts on Thursday morning. 7. If you actually stop at a yellow light, you cannot be from Austin.You may only apply your brakes when the end of the yellow light and the beginning of the red light create a \"burnt-orange\" hue. 8. If you like being an individual, don't even think of working for Dell. You'll be branded like cattle and made to walk all over town with your \"Dell tag\" around your neck or clipped on your belt loop. 98% of the people within a 200 mile radius work for Dell. When someone says, \"Michael Dell\", Dell employees are trained to face Round Rock, hit their knees, put their face to the ground, weep, and rock back and forth. 9. Just remember that Mopac IS Loop 1 and Research IS 183. 2222 is Northland or Allendale or Koenig. Don't try to figure it out. Just accept it. If you question the intelligence behind this naming convention, people will simply tilt their heads to the right and stare at you. 10. If moisture is determined to be rain, not sweat, all traffic must immediately cease; ditto for daylight savings time, girl applying eyeshadow across the street, or a flat tire three lanes over. Do not attempt to access any road after an apocalyptic event like snow or South X Southwest. 11. Construction on I-35 is a way of life, and a permanent form of entertainment. Get used to it! 12. Keep in mind that the sloppily dressed \"hippie\" in sandals and earrings is probably the latest IPO millionaire around here. 13.Stay away from the Congress bridge at sundown if you do not like the thought of being in an Alfred Hitchcock movie. 14. And yes we all know that's a man in a teddy and tiara on Congress.It's Leslie and he probably makes more money than you do."}, {"response": 203, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Sun, Mar  4, 2001 (13:50)", "body": "Hey, Will Kreth is beaming out of page 52 in this weeks Chronicle (March 2, 2001). Way to go, Will, \"idea guy and marketing pioneer\". Says Will feels it's 1991 all over again. It says Kreth feels \"online business culture is ripe for reinvention\" It talks about Lifeset.com and Wills effort to do the media legwork for CD labels, concerts and booksignings and deliver news of new releases, etc to customers. This is all in the context of SXSW Interactive, where he's a panelist."}, {"response": 204, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, May  4, 2001 (00:51)", "body": "Need to call Will about happy hour tonight, why it's Friday!"}, {"response": 205, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Jun 11, 2001 (17:19)", "body": "http://www.texasobserver.org/showArticle.asp?ArticleID=78 Good article no the new Bob Bullock Museum."}, {"response": 206, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug  9, 2002 (09:44)", "body": "Busted. Tish Hinojosa. For smuggling some pills from Mexico. It's in today's snakeskin: Musician Hinojosa faces drug charge Singer is accused of trying to smuggle 30 Rohypnol pills across Texas-Mexico border By Tony Plohetski AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF Friday, August 9, 2002 Austin singer-songwriter Tish Hinojosa was set to headline a show at the Paramount Theatre on Thursday night. She abruptly canceled her performance two days after her arrest on charges of trying to smuggle 30 pills of Rohypnol into Texas from Mexico. The 46-year-old singer, who has gained national attention for her children's books and her staunch support of bilingual education as well as her music, faces a federal misdemeanor charge that carries a punishment of up to 20 years in prison. . . . if the Feds have her, she's toast."}, {"response": 207, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Aug 14, 2002 (09:49)", "body": "Kelso got all over this, as you can imagine. No further news. She accepted responsiblity at the scene, stating she thought they were \"x\"; ecstasy pills. They were in her 25 yr old companions shoe."}, {"response": 208, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Aug 14, 2002 (09:50)", "body": "more from the above article Hinojosa, who has not faced previous criminal charges, told federal agents in Laredo that she thought the stash in her companion's boot was Ecstasy, police said. Drug experts said Ecstasy can resemble Rohypnol but has sharply different effects. Ecstasy is a psychotropic drug that heightens physical sensations. Rohypnol is a common sleep aid in other countries but is banned in the United States. It's often referred to as the date-rape drug because of its use in such crimes. Both drugs can resemble aspirin in appearance. Law officers said Hinojosa acknowledged the pills were hers and said she had asked her friend, Jason Miles Phillips, 25, of Woodland Park, Colo., to bring them across the border. Phillips and Hinojosa, who has served as spokeswoman for the National Women's Caucus and the National Association of Bilingual Education, were charged with possessing Rohypnol with the intent to distribute and were released on $25,000 bond Wednesday. \"The alleged incident stands in contrast to Miss Hinojosa's decadelong tradition of community involvement,\" her publicist, Marsha Milam, said. \"She is confident she will be able to address this in full.\" Hinojosa was back in Austin on Thursday, friends said. She could not be reached for comment. U.S. Customs Service spokesman Rick Pauza said Hinojosa and Phillips crossed the Gateway to Americas bridge -- one of Laredo's four border crossings -- at about 8:15 p.m. Tuesday. Federal agents, he said, were suspicious of their behavior and decided to conduct a search. The pills were uncovered in a small box in her friend's left cowboy boot. Hinojosa could face a trial later this year. \"It's so out of left field,\" said Hinojosa's agent, Val Denn. \"I've worked closely with her for five years and have never seen or heard of her doing any drugs whatsoever. It's so out of character.\" Denn was one of dozens of Hinojosa's friends, fans and supporters who didn't learn of the allegations until Thursday. Others also were stunned and quickly denounced the charges. \"It must definitely be a mistake,\" said Nilda De La Llata, owner of El Sol y La Luna, a restaurant on South Congress Avenue where Hinojosa was scheduled to perform this month. \"She wouldn't be smuggling pills across the border.\" Hinojosa has spent the past decade building her music career and has recorded for major record labels such as Warner Brothers and A&M. Her most recent recording, \"Taos to Tennessee,\" was released last year. Thursday's event at the Paramount would have given Hinojosa a chance to perform for dozens of booking agents from across the country. tplohetski@statesman.com; 445-3605"}, {"response": 209, "author": "stacey", "date": "Wed, Apr 23, 2003 (22:53)", "body": "WOW! We didn't hear about this up 'north' or out 'west'... What ever happened to Tish??"}, {"response": 210, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Apr 25, 2003 (10:25)", "body": "I think the whole thing has blown over. It's sure been off the radar screen."}, {"response": 211, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Apr 25, 2003 (10:27)", "body": "The biggest news in Austin these days is the Dixie Chicks and the Mayors race. And they've both been blown off the radar screen by the War."}, {"response": 212, "author": "admin", "date": "Thu, Feb 12, 2004 (13:14)", "body": "Now, it's the coming boom. Especially out in Bastrop. Our place is rocking and rolling with the new place. We're up to about 8300 square feet not and we have a space for Nia, Yoga, T'ai Chi Chuan, exercise, sculpture classes, meetings, and seminars. It's woodsy, let luxurious. And the rates for a day up to a month our very reasonable. $1500 a month for 5,000 square feet of meeting and sleeping space, enough to hold up to 42 folks comfortable in one to four person perroom configurations. Four kitchens. Four baths. An efficiency room with mini kitchen and bath. Swimming pool. Overlooking Cedar Creek and big pecan trees. Basketball. Football. Baseball and softball. Roque court in planning stage."}, {"response": 213, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, May  3, 2004 (10:42)", "body": "Who says we're a bunch of slackers around here? AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Partygoers apparently hoping to catch a glimpse of nude sunbathers crowded on one side of a floating barge, prompting the ship to capsize and dump all 60 people into Lake Travis. Two people were hospitalized with minor injuries Sunday after the rented double-decker barge sank near Hippie Hollow, a lakeside park and the only public nude beach in Texas. http://www.cnn.com/2004/"}, {"response": 214, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, May  3, 2004 (10:43)", "body": "ooops, didn't didn't get the full url: http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/Southwest/05/03/party.barge.ap/index.html news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 79, "subject": "Homeland Security", "response_count": 2, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Aug 15, 2002 (16:28)", "body": "Kid's 2-inch gun seized By BOB GRAHAM AIRPORT security staff confiscated a TWO-INCH plastic gun from a toy soldier, it was revealed yesterday. British tourist Judy Powell, 55, bought a GI Joe doll in America as a gift for her seven-year-old grandson George. Security officials at Los Angeles airport found the toy \ufffd similar to Action Man \ufffd when they searched Judy\ufffds bags before she boarded a flight to London. Then they took the figure out of its box and confiscated its tiny replica Armalite rifle. Judy revealed: \ufffdThey examined the toy as if it was going to shoot them. \ufffdThen they asked me if there were toy grenades as well. I thought they were joking, but they weren\ufffdt smiling \ufffd they were deadly serious.\ufffd \ufffdI can understand them wanting to ban weapons or things that look like weapons, but surely common sense has to take over at some point. \ufffdI was really angry at first because of the absurdity of the situation, but then I saw the funny side and realised it was simple lunacy. Judy, who bought Beanie Babies for her other grandchildren, joked: \ufffdAt least THEY weren\ufffdt subjected to body searches.\ufffd George\ufffds mum Becky, 29, said the lad was \ufffdreally upset\ufffd when he realised his GI Joe had been disarmed. She said: \ufffdEven though he\ufffds seven years old George knew the toy was missing an important part. \ufffdI explained what had happened, but he just kept shaking his head saying it was silly and \ufffdDon\ufffdt those people understand the gun was a toy? and couldn\ufffdt shoot\ufffd.\ufffd Airport security has been tightened since the terrorist attacks of September 11, and airlines can now ban anything resembling a weapon. http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2002360334,00.html/"}, {"response": 2, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Feb 27, 2004 (10:42)", "body": "WASHINGTON \ufffd FBI agents destroyed evidence and failed to share other information that raised the possibility that a gang of white supremacist bank robbers may have assisted Timothy McVeigh during the Oklahoma City bombing, according to documents never introduced at McVeigh's trial. Both the FBI supervisor who ran the Oklahoma City investigation and the veteran agent who was in command at the bombing scene say the new evidence, detailed in documents obtained by The Associated Press, is serious enough to warrant reopening the inquiry nine years later. The evidence, never shared with Oklahoma City investigators or defense lawyers, includes documents showing the Aryan Republican Army bank robbers possessed explosive blasting caps similar to those McVeigh stole and a driver's license possibly stolen during the bombing plot. http://ap.cjonline.com/pstories/20040225/1928299.shtml news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 8, "subject": "The Spring as a whole and pointers to other topics", "response_count": 430, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Nov 27, 1996 (13:05)", "body": "Perhaps this topic will be a place to respond to all the email queries about \"why is this free?\" and \"what can I do to help?\" and other questions along a similar thread. The Spring is building some contract websites. One that is currently under construction is http://www.childrenstory.com I am billing a customer for this website. The revenue will go to replace a badly needed hard drive for one of our servers, make upgrades, and pay our kindly bandwidth provider. So, those of you with website contruction skills, this is something very specific and concrete you can do to help support the Spring and keep it going. You can help build this site, which is going to have a Real Audio server and will provide children with stories in written and spoken form. You can help directly by writing html code (I'll give you access) or you can just make suggestions. I'm going to open a new conference called 'projects' and this will be one of the first topics and we can carry a discussion of how to build and improve this site there. Another website under construction to look at would be: http://www.tvpc.com Let me know!"}, {"response": 2, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Nov 27, 1996 (13:10)", "body": "A pointer to a new conference: poetry. It just started this morning. I sent out a few invitations. If you have that poem hidden away in the bottom of that sock drawer, type it out and post it. Any poets or poetry lovers here?"}, {"response": 3, "author": "churchh", "date": "Wed, Nov 27, 1996 (20:38)", "body": "Hey Terry, you can link to or kipe my HTML-ization of George MacDonald's The Light Princess , at http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~churchh/lprincss.html"}, {"response": 4, "author": "jwinsor", "date": "Wed, Nov 27, 1996 (21:26)", "body": "Oh, HC - do you have any more MacDonald up your electronic sleeve?"}, {"response": 5, "author": "churchh", "date": "Wed, Nov 27, 1996 (21:55)", "body": "I also converted The Day Boy and the Night Girl (The Romance of Photogen and Nycteris) to HTML, but that was for the CCEL people, and it's on their web-site (you can find it through the CMU on-line books page, or I think there might be a lin k to it at the end of the text of the Light Princess )."}, {"response": 6, "author": "jwinsor", "date": "Thu, Nov 28, 1996 (01:57)", "body": "Who are CCEL? [something] Children's Electronic Literature, perhaps? Do you happen to have a link handy for CMU on-line books?"}, {"response": 7, "author": "churchh", "date": "Thu, Nov 28, 1996 (08:35)", "body": "\"Christian Classics Ethereal Library\", I think... I'm too lazy to look up the CMU on-line books URL right now, but there's a link to it from the Jane Austen info page at http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~churchh/janeinfo.html"}, {"response": 8, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Nov 28, 1996 (14:39)", "body": "I looked at the Jane Austen info page and it's terrific. I got into reading some of Jane Austen's works and I'll be coming back for more visits. What I'd like to do is set up a team of folks who have shell access to this site and who are able to work in various websites of their own and on the projects that I'm developing to help support this conferencing system. Has anyone visited the projects conference yet? I'm on Microsoft Netmeeting all day today so if anyone wants to \"talk\" please drop by. I'm on the uls1.microsoft.com server. You need to have NetMeeting software, which is free from Microsofts site."}, {"response": 9, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Dec  2, 1996 (10:53)", "body": "Poor mixu! He's posting all alone in the books conference about his favorite books and putting out a mystery quote for folks to guess. Is anyone up to giving him a bit of company in the 'books' conference? http://www.spring.com/yapp-bin/restricted/browse/books/all/"}, {"response": 10, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Dec 25, 1996 (22:04)", "body": "Check out the interesting comments on community in topic 4 of the community conference and respond, if you care to."}, {"response": 11, "author": "jwinsor", "date": "Wed, Dec 25, 1996 (22:25)", "body": "Terry, are you sure that you mean topic 4? That is the same (linked) topic as the \"ramble\" topic (with a different topic number) here. We don't have to \"go there\" to see it."}, {"response": 12, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Dec 26, 1996 (22:50)", "body": "Ooops, no it is the last topic added I believe. What other conferences on the Spring have folks here in Austen been visiting? Any suggestions for new topics elsewhere on the Spring?"}, {"response": 13, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Dec 26, 1996 (22:54)", "body": "It's topic 5 in community actually."}, {"response": 14, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Dec 27, 1996 (00:24)", "body": "If you want to read some very eloquent stuff: Topic 14 of 14 [music]: Players you have met Response 21 of 21: drymartini (drymartini) * Thu, Dec 26, 1996 (21:27) * 3 lines One of my all-time favorite interviews. Carlos Montoya, playing for a college crowd at Alfred, NY. Small, very dapper guy in this elegant tux, with a white hanky in his breat pocket, folded just so.... [much more]"}, {"response": 15, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Dec 29, 1996 (15:42)", "body": "We have got permission from ronks@well.com to reprint his celebrated tech news comments, starting today. Here's a sample: Scientific American has an interesting article in its January 1997 issue about developments in fiber-optic bandwidth and their implications for the telephone industry. Companies including AT&T, Fujitsu, and Nippon T&T have already used a single optical fiber to transmit data over \"many kilometers\" in excess of a trillion bits per second. NEC has gone them one better by using wave division multiplexing to create multiple channels transmitting at different wavelengths; with WDM they sent 132 channels, each carrying 20 billion bits per second, over a single optical fiber. While these \"hero experiments\" are not yet ready for commercial deployment, they seem to demonstrate big changes in store: glass cable is much cheaper than copper, and WDM is said to eliminate both the need for expensive boosters along the path to clean up the signals periodically and for a separate laser on each channel. As the cost of providing humungous bandwidth plummets, the phone companies' revenue and even their monopoly status could be in jeopardy. A rogue spokesman at British Telecom says technology will make \"bandwidth free and distance irrelevant.\" The director of H-P's labs says phone companies will become digital utilities something like the water or the power company, and an independent analyst estimates \"telephone service should cost about three cents a month.\" Check out topic 2 in techbusiness."}, {"response": 16, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Dec 31, 1996 (10:29)", "body": "The Spring was down for the past hour. I apologize to Myretta, Henry and others that may have been trying to access it. I'm going through the log and emailing folks that have tried to access it and letting them know that it's back up. I messed it up this morning trying to reconfigure and restart the logs. If you're interested in the technical details of what I did you can read the sordid details in the web conference. Sorry folks, I'm not happy about being down for an hour this morning."}, {"response": 17, "author": "Donna", "date": "Tue, Dec 31, 1996 (10:42)", "body": "That is OK Terry it is working fine now."}, {"response": 18, "author": "tedchong", "date": "Tue, Dec 31, 1996 (11:23)", "body": "Thanks Terry, happy new year 1997 (it's 1997 already here in Singapore)"}, {"response": 19, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Dec 31, 1996 (11:23)", "body": "On a cheerier note, Paul McCartney is now Sir Paul McCartney And you can read all the details in the new Sir Paul McCartney topic in the music conference. Please do my a favor. Do a search on Paul McCartney and find a neat website about Paul McCartney, then email the webmaster or whatever email address is listed on their website and ask them to please put a link on their page to our Paul McCartney discussion group. Tell them this is the link to add: http://www.spring.com/yapp-bin/public/read/music/16 Let's see if we can honor Paul in this way! Thanks."}, {"response": 20, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Dec 31, 1996 (11:29)", "body": "I'm encouraging folks to do this same kind of thing all over the Spring. If you have a favorite topic, do a search for websites about it and then email the person in charge there to put in a link to the Spring. Just copy the link from your browser window and sub the word public for the word restricted. (test it) Beep beep beep beep yeeeahhh!"}, {"response": 21, "author": "mrobens", "date": "Tue, Dec 31, 1996 (13:44)", "body": "The Spring was down for the past hour. I apologize to Myretta, Henry and others that may have been trying to access it No apology necessary Terry. Been there, done that. All's well, they say, that ends well."}, {"response": 22, "author": "elder", "date": "Tue, Dec 31, 1996 (15:30)", "body": "Terry -- thanks for getting things back together so quickly. I did try to get on this am, and kept getting called an \"Unprivileged User\"!! I was afraid it was something wrong w/ my system, and I am much relieved to see that all is again well. Have a Happy!"}, {"response": 23, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Dec 31, 1996 (18:07)", "body": "We're back. And I just got back from installing another server on our network. So we even have more ooooomph now."}, {"response": 24, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Jan 13, 1997 (05:38)", "body": "The austen conference is featured today on the Spring's front page. Along with a revision of the whole page. Take a trip through the past in the archives. The new golf site is my sisters (she lives in the SF Bay area)."}, {"response": 25, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Feb  1, 1997 (16:25)", "body": "The restaurants conference has a much bigger menu of topics and a place to talk about the best restaurant in your town and the best restaurant in the world. Any ideas?"}, {"response": 26, "author": "churchh", "date": "Sat, Feb  1, 1997 (17:56)", "body": "Amy, this has started up just recently -- http://www.islandmm.com/islandmm/cgi-bin/bbs.pl?action=bbs&mbaction=msgs&item=alice"}, {"response": 27, "author": "churchh", "date": "Sat, Feb  1, 1997 (18:04)", "body": "Amy, this has started up just recently -- http://www.islandmm.com/islandmm/cgi-bin/bbs.pl?action=bbs&mbaction=msgs&item=alice"}, {"response": 28, "author": "Amy", "date": "Sat, Feb  1, 1997 (18:53)", "body": "That board looks familiar."}, {"response": 29, "author": "mrobens", "date": "Sun, Feb  2, 1997 (12:24)", "body": "That board looks familiar. Indeed."}, {"response": 30, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Feb  8, 1997 (00:23)", "body": "You'll find the rest of this poem in the poetry conference. This is just a taste. Flowing Like Spring Waters Tonight is the night, my dear friend. The feeling has ripened inside for months... Every time you and I were together Laughing, chatting, and rambling endlessly much more in the poetry conference --------->"}, {"response": 31, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Feb  9, 1997 (22:45)", "body": "There's a new conference called 'unix' and I posted quite a few things in the Internet and Web conferences. You'll find out about the seven new domains that are going to be on the Internet. This will shake things up for sure. Maybe we should get austen.art? Or eeyieeyi.io? Or spring.firm? Things are going to get very interesting. You have to read the whole thing."}, {"response": 32, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Feb  9, 1997 (22:47)", "body": "What are you watching on tv right now? That's a new topic in the tv conference. Have fun with this one."}, {"response": 33, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Feb  9, 1997 (22:57)", "body": "In the sports conference, news of a womens' sports site that has been months in the making. Topic 39 on sports web sites ------------ go there -------------->"}, {"response": 34, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Feb  9, 1997 (23:08)", "body": "Like figure skating on ice? Then you'll like the new figure skating topic in sports which has all the latest schedules of ice skating events on tv. And there is a packers joke there too."}, {"response": 35, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Feb  6, 1998 (19:15)", "body": "Very Highly Recommended dept: Gerard Van der Leun, boswell@well.com, has an excellent cookbook recipe for a successful virtual community in the virtual community conference. http://www.spring.com/yapp-bin/public/read/vc/12"}, {"response": 36, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Feb  9, 1998 (08:29)", "body": "Two new Michigan virtual communities are the subject of new topics in the vc or virtual community conference: grex and m-net."}, {"response": 37, "author": "autumn", "date": "Mon, Feb  9, 1998 (21:04)", "body": "I am trying to get an alternative medicine topic off the ground in the health conference. Even if you don't take vitamins and think acupuncture is a bunch of hooey, check it out and say so."}, {"response": 38, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Feb 13, 1998 (09:55)", "body": "I'd like to point out some topics getting activity in the travel conference: 16 15 dive travel with Divine Spark 17 3 India 18 4 Micronesia and the Pacific region 19 3 Fiji There is a fascinating tale of travel to India and some comments from some islanders themselves in topics 18 and 19. Have you traveled any places that we could start a new topic about?"}, {"response": 39, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Sun, Feb 15, 1998 (11:30)", "body": "How about Germany, where I'm from? (Specifically Swabia)"}, {"response": 41, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Feb 15, 1998 (17:56)", "body": "Swabia?"}, {"response": 42, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Sun, Feb 15, 1998 (18:30)", "body": "uh huh. that would be the southern country where i'm from. the city is Stuttgart. Hi wer!"}, {"response": 43, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Feb 15, 1998 (21:28)", "body": "Sure start a topic!"}, {"response": 44, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Feb 27, 1998 (20:19)", "body": "I put some procative posts in the Internet conference today in a new topic. Something called Cyberwar: The Information Revolution and Warfare. It turns out, for the last half century, the US has been intercepting and decrypting the top secret documents of most of the world's governments. It's topic 22."}, {"response": 45, "author": "autumn", "date": "Fri, Feb 27, 1998 (22:46)", "body": "Cool! What will we Yanks think up next?! :-)"}, {"response": 46, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Fri, Feb 27, 1998 (22:53)", "body": "Hmm...just occured to me that this topic and \"What's hot on the Spring?\" rather overlap with each other. Perhaps one or the other should be frozen?"}, {"response": 48, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Sat, Feb 28, 1998 (11:42)", "body": "dunno, wer, maybe we can talk the higher powers into creating a conference just for babbling-we'd never have to leave!!"}, {"response": 49, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Feb 28, 1998 (13:47)", "body": "Good idea Mike, which one should I freeze. Anyone object?"}, {"response": 51, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Feb 28, 1998 (14:05)", "body": "In music, topic 44 is Van Morrison - the Man with news of an upcoming Van and Dylan tour. About time to pay some tribute to Van Morrison. Gotta get me that Astral Weeks CD."}, {"response": 52, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Feb 28, 1998 (14:07)", "body": "Done deal on killing the redundant topics, this is now spring pointer to other topic world headquarters."}, {"response": 53, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Sat, Feb 28, 1998 (19:32)", "body": "wait, what was 16 and 19?? terry, didja catch my hint for a blabbing conference? *grin*"}, {"response": 55, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Mar  1, 1998 (09:48)", "body": "I got the hint, I'll hold hearings for more comment."}, {"response": 56, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Sun, Mar  1, 1998 (12:48)", "body": "thanks *smile*"}, {"response": 57, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Mar  2, 1998 (02:23)", "body": "What's hot, hot, hot. News. There's now a whole news conference. Go there and find out stuff you should know (maybe), talk about your Spring anniversary, discuss spam, enter your offsite email address if you care to do so, request favors, talk about springeurs who have hit the big time or made the news, pat yourself on the back, and find out about places to go and things to do."}, {"response": 58, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Mar  2, 1998 (02:56)", "body": "In the media conference, bet you didn't know we had one, there's a new topic on the Drudge Report. My friend Judith Lewis of the LA Weekly is just down the streeet from Matt Drudge and has been known to pay him a visit every so often. Go to media and get in on this drudgery."}, {"response": 59, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Mar  2, 1998 (03:14)", "body": "And also something about our homeboys. Guess where?"}, {"response": 60, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Mar  2, 1998 (04:45)", "body": "Let's rewind to June 22, 1995 and pick up where we left off. Nike was there. So was Gena. GenX is back!!!!!! Here's the scoop: 1 4 genx conference bidness 2 1 genXer intros 3 0 drugs 4 1 sex or . . . 5 1 Embarassing Things I Did in the '80s 6 1 First jobs from hell and beyond ... and a total of 64 topics to come Melissa Marie, I still love you."}, {"response": 61, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Mar  2, 1998 (04:54)", "body": "The Spring's original topic list from 1995: http://www.spring.com:/~dbii/forum/confs/confs.html"}, {"response": 62, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Mar  4, 1998 (07:06)", "body": "Some very good thoughts on the CFP conference in the last topic in our cfp conference: From: Lorrie Faith Cranor [For the past five years I have written a Computers, Freedom and Privacy conference report (see the archive at=20 http://www.research.att.com/~lorrie/pubs/cfp.html) . This year, turned the job over to Danielle Gallo, an undergraduate student who has been working with me. Feel free to forward this report. -- Lorrie Cranor] Danielle Gallo's CFP98 Conference Report Computers, Freedom and Privacy '98 was held February 18-20 at the Austin, Texas Hyatt Regency Hotel. Although there have been eight in total, this is the first CFP I attended. The program featured daily single-track sessions, lunch breakout sessions, and several concurrent tutorials. . . . contines with her extensive observations. A good read! Recommended."}, {"response": 63, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Mar  4, 1998 (07:14)", "body": "Letter to me and Mike: Sounds like a good trade to me. I am doing a CGI project for the Exploratorium in San Francisco on a volunteer basis and that is why I need the test space. I don't have years of experience doing this, but there are some prewritten CGI libraries available that allow a developer to write a CGI script that will put up the HTML form and collect the data. At this point I would have to say that I could probably write the part that put up the HTML and collected the data. So, in that regard, let me take a stab at what I think you might mean. Name: Email: What you do in real life: Favorite sites on the web: Other interests, and miscellaneous biographical information: Other or different fields that you have in mind: A couple of areas that I am going to have to do some research on, or get ideas about: If there are variables that I can access for the visitor's email address, or am I going to have to make them enter it by hand. How to link the information I collect to the visitor's alias. Maybe the people at the Well would be willing to part with some secrets in that regard. Anyway, I think it would be fun to be involved in writing the CGI script for this, and if the library I mentioned is loaded, or could be loaded, on the server, I don't think it would be too much work to get to the point of having the form displayed and collecting the information. Let me know what fields and other form elements you think should be in there. I will follow up with some questions for Terry. Regards, Bill"}, {"response": 64, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Mar  4, 1998 (10:10)", "body": "Allie McBeal, a new topic in the tv confernce (and also 'babes'). See, there's this tv show called Ally McBeal. And it features three *hot babes*. That little bit of sexual subconscious out of the way, let me say it's a very funny show. It's a great show, I'll go even further. It's about a law firm. And Allie's ex lover just happens to be a member of the firm and he's married to a gal that has a jaw and blonde hair that Allie doesn't have. Billy, the ex lover of Allie, has mixed emotions And Allie has become friends with Billy's wife. We're talking age ranges of 25-28 here, folks. My theory is that this is a guy type show, and that women will find it embarassing. I don't think it will end up on the feminist top ten listing of tv shows, maybe the bottom ten. The women are too cute and too bimboish at times. And the women aren't the aggressive, free wheeling Marcia Clark types, they're quite timid usually. But how can you not like a show whose lead actress is *** Calista Flockhart *** That name just does it for me. I would love to have a girlfriend like her just so I could introduce her to people. Uh, I'd like you to meet my girlfriend, *Calista Flockhart*. Dream, dream. I'll have more to say about Allie McBeal. It's my favorite tv show. I hope others will join me in this quaint little discussion."}, {"response": 65, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Mar  4, 1998 (10:15)", "body": "Jordan's up to bat, does that mean Lewinsky's in the on deck circle. Politics, in the topic on the Clinton Presidency. Hey, it's great to see the new conferences, news and genx, off to such a roaring start! I have a lot more surprises in store in both conferences in the way of stome startling new topics. Stay tuned."}, {"response": 66, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Mar  4, 1998 (10:18)", "body": "There's an *awesome* array of new material in the cfp conference. Warning, this is heady stuff, the legal and moral consequences of today's cyberspace mileau and the implications for our future freedom, privacy and lives are freely discussed. It's a stretch to get past the gate, but the effort may be worth your time. Danielle's observations are far reaching and comprehensive in her roundup of the confernce. Danielle Gallo, on CFP98. j cfp."}, {"response": 67, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Mar  4, 1998 (10:29)", "body": "The most underutilized, ready for prime time conference on the Spring that has potential for future stardom: cultures Hear me now, or hear me later. Pump it up!"}, {"response": 69, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Mar  4, 1998 (21:47)", "body": "Dad!!!"}, {"response": 70, "author": "autumn", "date": "Thu, Mar  5, 1998 (02:49)", "body": "Is there something you want to share with us, Terry??"}, {"response": 71, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Mar  5, 1998 (04:15)", "body": "You mean I haven't been forthcoming, autumn?"}, {"response": 72, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Sat, Mar  7, 1998 (17:36)", "body": "ok, terry (aka wer's dad)..... Hi Autumn!"}, {"response": 73, "author": "autumn", "date": "Sat, Mar  7, 1998 (23:17)", "body": "Heya, Wolfie, havin' a good weekend? :-) Mine has been soooo relaxing...."}, {"response": 74, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Sun, Mar  8, 1998 (16:47)", "body": "not really, kinda stressin', been working on my site and trying to figure out what the deal is with this browser....... got the baby girl's ears pierced yesterday, she did soooo good. the part she can't handle is the cleaning and turning the posts, but today it is going much better and she's doing it for herself. am very proud of her. the whole thing was her decision, told her she didn't have to if she didn't want to, but she was gung ho!"}, {"response": 75, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Mar  9, 1998 (13:16)", "body": "Good coverage by Gary Chapman of the Bruce Sterling speech in the cfp conference. j cfp"}, {"response": 76, "author": "autumn", "date": "Tue, Mar 10, 1998 (11:58)", "body": "My older daughter came to me yesterday asking for pierced ears for her birthday (she'll be 6). Her dad said age 15, I said 10, so it'll probably be next year! How old is your little girl?"}, {"response": 77, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Tue, Mar 10, 1998 (20:46)", "body": "4, she'll be 5 next month (didn't we have that conversation before?) didn't get mine done til i was 16 cuz the big d said heck no. we let her think about it for a while and i carefully explained the whole thing, my big thing was letting her make up her own mind, you know?"}, {"response": 78, "author": "autumn", "date": "Wed, Mar 11, 1998 (15:44)", "body": "yeah, but mine also wants to be bald (she literally cries about wanting to have her head shaved), black (which I can do nothing about) and handicapped (which I'm tempted to do something about--just kidding!) So giving her too much control is definitely o ut of the question. Oh, she also wants me to get a job so she can go to day care (just tear out my heart, I tell her!)"}, {"response": 79, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Mar 11, 1998 (15:47)", "body": "Babe of the week in babes. I know, we pale next to drool."}, {"response": 80, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Wed, Mar 11, 1998 (19:40)", "body": "what is this an invite? Autumn, my daughter hasn't gone that far yet! she wants me to tell my boss i'm not coming back so i can be with her! (she's mama's for sure)"}, {"response": 81, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Mar 12, 1998 (18:49)", "body": "New topics in the news conference: Asteroid! WASHINGTON (AP) -- It's not time to panic, but Earthlings need to keep an eye on a mile-wide asteroid that will zip very close to the Earth in 30 years and could even smash into the planet, causing widespread destruction, astronomers say. Is it time to book that flight to Mars or is this a bunch of hype? Discuss among yourselves in the news conference topic called Asteroid!"}, {"response": 82, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Mar 12, 1998 (18:54)", "body": "That will be the year 2028 in case you need to mark your calendars. It will be 1:30 on a Thursday morning. October 26, 2028. Thursday. 1:30 am. Got that? Did you have anything planned for that day?"}, {"response": 83, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Thu, Mar 12, 1998 (23:22)", "body": "wait.....do dayrunners plan that far in advance? (anyway, it's gonna be a near miss by about 600,000 miles)"}, {"response": 84, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Fri, Mar 13, 1998 (00:04)", "body": "I was very concerned about this when I saw it on the news. As a student of geophysics, and the science of major collisions, if this thing hits it's going to be The Big One. For the religious ones amongst you (including me), it's time to get your on your knees =)"}, {"response": 85, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Fri, Mar 13, 1998 (00:07)", "body": "hey, it's going to MISS US......"}, {"response": 86, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Mar 13, 1998 (13:26)", "body": "Maybe. It will be four months till they have accurate calculations. But even if was aimed dead center at Manhattan, they'd turn it into a media circus and attach rockets to it and turn it into a theme park and steer it into a different orbit. And the commercials would dwarf what it costs to put an ad on the superbowl."}, {"response": 87, "author": "drool", "date": "Fri, Mar 13, 1998 (18:46)", "body": "I wondering Terry what did you mean you pale next to drool? I'm chewing my nails waiting for the day my son will be born. So please you guys don't scare me so that I start chewing my fingers... O.K. thanks, drool"}, {"response": 88, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Mar 13, 1998 (18:56)", "body": "I meant drool the conference!!! ha!"}, {"response": 89, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Mar 14, 1998 (04:08)", "body": "A certain Gerard van der Leun, boswell, shows up doubting the Spring will make it, and giving it poor grades. He posts in the Spring's most infrequently utilized Internet conference."}, {"response": 90, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Mar 14, 1998 (18:21)", "body": "A photography topic is now in the art conference. I talk about some findings I got re: 3d photography."}, {"response": 91, "author": "drool", "date": "Sat, Mar 14, 1998 (20:32)", "body": "terry, theres a confrencecalled drool? really? How do I get there from here? I am sorry if I offended you or anything. drool, the person"}, {"response": 92, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Mar 15, 1998 (08:30)", "body": "There's a link to it from our main http://www.spring.net page. Wow, just getting used to that dot net!"}, {"response": 93, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Mar 15, 1998 (10:09)", "body": "I will be giving a live talk via realaudio at http://www.spring.net today and call ins will be accepted (512.303.4000), it will be a live internet \"talk show\"."}, {"response": 94, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Mar 15, 1998 (13:19)", "body": "Rush Limbaugh has come out in favor of legalization of marijuana. Full details in the Rush Room topic in the radio conference. This is not a joke, he did come out in favor of legalization. It happened March 12 10:40 am pst. Three times!"}, {"response": 95, "author": "pmnh", "date": "Sun, Mar 15, 1998 (15:51)", "body": "wasn't limbaugh one of the bastards that so unmercifully tormented clinton's first surgeon-general (forget her name) for basically saying that we should consider decriminalization of some drugs?"}, {"response": 96, "author": "autumn", "date": "Sun, Mar 15, 1998 (16:18)", "body": "I'll guess Jocelyn Elders, if we're talking about the \"pro-decriminalization/pro-masturbation\" surgeon general."}, {"response": 97, "author": "pmnh", "date": "Sun, Mar 15, 1998 (16:32)", "body": "what elders (thank you) said was that it (decriminalization) was an issue that merited discussion... she's in good company with that view... re: masturbation, don't think it really means a tinker's damn what her opinion is, one way or the other... (and regardless of one's view, really must ask one's self where republicans would be, without it?...(especially rush)... they're certainly repressed enough, as it is)..."}, {"response": 98, "author": "pmnh", "date": "Sun, Mar 15, 1998 (16:35)", "body": "(hi autumn)"}, {"response": 99, "author": "autumn", "date": "Sun, Mar 15, 1998 (16:37)", "body": "Just mentioned that, because she'll forever be remembered for her ideas on masturbation rather than decriminalization..."}, {"response": 100, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Mar 15, 1998 (19:35)", "body": "We'll be going live with our talk show again in an hour."}, {"response": 101, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Mar 16, 1998 (08:48)", "body": "Right here on the Spring we had an event that shocked even the hoary old WELL. Sunday, we all went live and really \"met\" one another for the first time, I only wish I had pumped it up more on the spring. Next Sunday we'll do it again. It was a gas, gas, gas. See Mikes topic 26 in this conference. What should we call this? Sunday Night Live on the Spring?"}, {"response": 102, "author": "drool", "date": "Wed, Mar 18, 1998 (19:08)", "body": "About the canabis thing out of the 265 chemicals in tobbaco I think 80 of them cause cancer. out of the 18 chemicals in pot none are known too cause cancer... also a hemp plant produces forty percent more wood products than the trees being cut down now. I wouldn't mind being able to smoke my coffee table occasionally. hahahah DROOL,"}, {"response": 103, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Mar 19, 1998 (10:41)", "body": "*smile*"}, {"response": 104, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Thu, Mar 19, 1998 (10:59)", "body": "Yeah, cannabis is great apart from the mind-threatening hallucinations and permanent psychological disturbances (e.g. Schizophrenia)"}, {"response": 105, "author": "autumn", "date": "Thu, Mar 19, 1998 (12:45)", "body": "Wow, that explains a lot...."}, {"response": 106, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Mar 19, 1998 (18:21)", "body": "aha!"}, {"response": 107, "author": "drool", "date": "Thu, Mar 19, 1998 (19:49)", "body": "Where in the world did you hear that pot causes schizt. I know that it can stunt your emotional growth if you start at a young age. I think you've been watching to many of those old anti-pot movies. Did you know thatthe gov. did a test were they gave a mentally disturb man some L.S.D and twelve hours later {when he came down} he was no longer clasified as mentally disturbed. If you ever get to the library of congress you should look up these facts. Knowlege Is Power. {or at least understanding..} I do not condone the use of L.S.D. {at least not the street stuff, never know whats in that crap} Remember the gov. has all of the best drugs. And clinton did inhale... And probly still does. Drool"}, {"response": 108, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Thu, Mar 19, 1998 (20:13)", "body": "read it in a newspaper article, quoting some recent research at a UK university. I'll look it up again and post it for you"}, {"response": 109, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Thu, Mar 19, 1998 (20:23)", "body": "this is an extract, since the article is about 500 words -- BEGIN QUOTE \"We do not yet know enough about its causes to say how schizophrenia can be prevented, but one specific factor is important: drug use.\" SANE continues by pointing out that cannabis can cause ahllucinations and paranoid delusions similar to those found in schizophrenia. The psychotic effects induced by these drugs do not always clear up readily, and there is some evidence that they may tr igger a prolonged schizophrenic illness. In addition, such drugs can cause a relapse in an established illness. Most doctors have harrowing stories of psychotic breakdown after a young person has been exposed to cannabis. Detailed research is scant, although a study of the role of cannabis in precipitating schizophrenia in Swedish men who had undertaken national s ervice seemed tod demonstrate a clear link. It is usually considered unlikely that smoking cannabis could be a primary cause of schizophrenia, but likely that it could be a factor in the condition's development in those who are unfortunate enough to have a genetic susceptibility. ... Apart from its intoxicating effects and any persistent damage to the psyche, cannabis may also cause acute anxiety or a panic reaction, particularly if the plant has been bred to give a high yield of cannabinoids, a type of cannabis referred to as \"skunk\" . Panic attacks may be treated with benzodiazepines, acute psychotic reactions with neuroleptic drugs. Smoking cannabis mixed with tobacco combines the delterious effects of both plants on the air passages. The ill effects of cannabis are not confied to the brain and lungs. it also causes impotence in men, reduces the sperm count and alters the reproductive hormonal systems. babies born to cannabis-smoking mothers are smaller than average, and feed and set tle less well. -- END QUOTE Dr Thomas Stuttaford, The Times (Tuesday, 17 March, 1998)"}, {"response": 110, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Mar 19, 1998 (21:39)", "body": "Helen Huth died crossing the bridge over the river in Cape Girardeau Missouri. She was a college student. I loved her and I loved her poems. I got a batch of her poetry in the mail today from Merle Busch, who is trying to dig up some more of her work, about 150 poems, which we are praying are not lost forever. What a loss for the world, that she died so young and didn't get to keep writing these poems and that we only have a few scraps from her prolific output. Reading these today, tears came to my eyes, and I had to go for a long walk in the woods."}, {"response": 111, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Mar 19, 1998 (21:43)", "body": "A few of the ones I got are posted in the poetry conference. In a topic called Helen Huths poems."}, {"response": 112, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Mar 19, 1998 (22:35)", "body": "forgive me Paul, I do not know of the woman you speak... but I will wander over to 'poetry' and see what I can discover."}, {"response": 113, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Mar 19, 1998 (23:44)", "body": "I think you will discover some magic."}, {"response": 114, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Mar 20, 1998 (09:08)", "body": "Today at 1:55 is the start of Spring! We should have an online cyberparty! It's also this Spring's anniversary."}, {"response": 116, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Mar 20, 1998 (10:42)", "body": "WooWoo!"}, {"response": 117, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Mar 20, 1998 (12:18)", "body": "Our fourth anniversary, since we officially went live on the web on the exact beginning of Spring four years ago. And this is the tenth anniversary of the Spring as an organization which started on this date in 1988. We'll be live on the web at 1:55 pm today CST if anyone wants to call in or post something (I'll read it aloud via our realaudio server)."}, {"response": 118, "author": "autumn", "date": "Fri, Mar 20, 1998 (14:48)", "body": "boing, boing--happy spring!"}, {"response": 119, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Mar 23, 1998 (06:47)", "body": "A new topic, number 260 has been started to discuss the potential for bring the show \"My Solitary Elegance\" to Austin. from Karen Hannum (sunflower@well.com): A friend of mine from England is bringing her show on Jane Austen, \"My Solitary Elegance\", to the US for a very limited run. It has enjoyed a great deal of success in England and Scotland including being featured on BBC2. It will be performed in San Franciso from October 2nd-5th at the Jane Austen Society of North America AGM. She has some open dates from the 6th through the 8th and would be interested in filling these bookings. Perhaps at a college or some other venue. If anyone is interested - please contact me at and I can put you in touch with her. Thank you..."}, {"response": 120, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Mar 23, 1998 (06:57)", "body": "Oh, I didn't mention that this topic is in the austen conference. I plan on attending the international Jane Austen conference in SF and promote the Spring's austen conference. Also, I've registered the name austen.com"}, {"response": 121, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Mar 23, 1998 (08:37)", "body": "Good Will Hunting. Titantic. New topics in the movies conference. Have you seen these? Comment in movies!"}, {"response": 122, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Mar 23, 1998 (22:11)", "body": "If you drop in tonight or later on, come by and comment on this years Oscars in topic 29. Hot. Now."}, {"response": 123, "author": "drool", "date": "Tue, Mar 24, 1998 (18:04)", "body": "mikeg, Well without getting long winded you did say the sickness was potentialy pre-exsisting sickness,. If pot was not illegal people would not get peranoid and annxious. as for impotence, I have aa very high sperm count and am expecting a strong and healthy baby boy to arrive any day. as for sexual drive well three times a day doesn't sound like a {decreased sex drive} as you so said. If you take a trip to Amterdam, you would see that somking hemp,pot,skunk,red hair sinns.,ganja, the bomb, bolo rolo,canabis,canaboid,the huch-cauw,a blunt, or canabis sativa, mota, purple, blue, green, or gold haired marajajuana, is not so detrimental to a persons health as you might be lead to beleive by the Ronald Regan, Nancy Drew (just say noer's} people. theend drool..."}, {"response": 124, "author": "autumn", "date": "Wed, Mar 25, 1998 (23:39)", "body": "Funny, I always pictured Nancy Drew for a \"Mary Jane\" girl...."}, {"response": 126, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Mar 26, 1998 (17:22)", "body": "purty graphics! The visuals almost make up for the ridiculously slow pace through a browser."}, {"response": 128, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Mar 27, 1998 (04:30)", "body": "at home. and now I'm at home again, up at a ridiculously early hour, suffering from a bad case of insomnia. *sigh*"}, {"response": 129, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Mar 27, 1998 (08:47)", "body": "Did you drink too much caffeine. I'm in California up at a ridiculously early hour cause I'm still on Austintime. I'm out here because my mom's condition is pretty serious. Lung cancer from years of smoking. She's having an opertion and some chemo treatmetns this week."}, {"response": 130, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Mar 27, 1998 (10:34)", "body": "good luck, Paul. To you and your mom. Sounds like nasty stuff, I'll be thinking good thoughts. No, not too much caffeine. Rain. It rains so rarely in Colorado through the winter that when it starts up in Spring it's always too loud for me to sleep. Snow is very quiet coming down *smile* I wasn't up for too long. The whirr of the computer soon lulled me back to sleep."}, {"response": 131, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Fri, Mar 27, 1998 (14:09)", "body": "I love the sound of rain when I don't have to get up and go out in it. Lying in my bed at about 5am, the weather lashing against the glass, is one of my favourite times. And, moving back on topic, the new community I'm involved in developing, Farrawae, seems to have accelerated from an absolute stop to a snail's pace, which means things are happening! You can check out the website (I encourage you to do so - get a feel for what we're doing!), and then drop into the Farrawae conference to catch up on what's been going on!"}, {"response": 133, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Mar 27, 1998 (17:40)", "body": "My big news : SPRING BREAK!!! starts now! all the kiddos are on busses and I'm hankering for a magarita!"}, {"response": 134, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Mar 28, 1998 (21:44)", "body": "I'm in Walnut Creek with my son watchin' the Final Four and taking care of mom. Party on Stace. Where ya goin for break?"}, {"response": 135, "author": "orange", "date": "Sun, Mar 29, 1998 (13:47)", "body": "terry, very sorry about the family illness, i understand now why you have been scarce. hope everything goes well"}, {"response": 136, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Mar 29, 1998 (14:27)", "body": "Thanks orange. Mom is doing well. And I'm tripping around with my kid in SF and Santa Rosa and trying to hook up with some old friends like fig@well.com"}, {"response": 137, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Mar 30, 1998 (11:49)", "body": "And we're back. We're having problems with the domain change. Please email terry@spring.net if you notice that our system is down. And I'll get it back up and running Sorry for the downtime folks!"}, {"response": 138, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Mar 30, 1998 (11:50)", "body": "Or call 512.303.4000. Either way. Please let me know if you can't get in! Terry"}, {"response": 139, "author": "stacey", "date": "Mon, Mar 30, 1998 (13:37)", "body": "Spring Break plans have changed a few times... first it was going to be Washington DC for a long weekend of museums, Ethiopian food, skating along the Potomac, etc. But since this is Cherry Blossom time, tickets were cost prohibitive. Then it was going to be four days of primitive camping in Fruita Wednesday - Sunday. Then it was going to be three days of primitve camping in Arches Nat. Park and Moab Sat - Tues. (Brandon's business travel keeps f***ing everything up!) BUt NOW it will be Stacey tagging along to Savannah GA w/ B on a consulting job and B taking an extra few days to play around in the garden of good and evil! I'm excited. And Saturday we biked thru Denver in search of \"Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.\" BTW excellent book!"}, {"response": 140, "author": "autumn", "date": "Mon, Mar 30, 1998 (20:56)", "body": "Terry, I too am sorry to hear about your mother's health problems. I'm sure it means a lot to her to have you there. Thanks again for helping me out last night. Enjoy the time you're having with your mom and son."}, {"response": 141, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Mar 31, 1998 (11:20)", "body": "I'm in SF, and having a good time, the system seems to be having a few glitches every now and then but I emailed our system admin, jeff@www.spring.net about them. I just fixed the date. I notice we're having our year 2000 problem again. Yesterday we went and visited Brian Zisk (San Franziskgo website) in SF, and then met in a little bistro in Mill Valley with Cliff Figallo, who just got a conference hosting job with Salon. And then out to dinner at a great Thai place in Santa Rosa. Mom is doing well. And Shey is still beating the pants off me on the basketball court, it's hard to compete against 6'5\" of muscle. I hope I can keep this system together with band aids till I get back, sorry for any downtime! The domain name change from spring.com to spring.net will fully take place in the next few days, so please remember our new address is http://www.spring.net"}, {"response": 142, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Mar 31, 1998 (11:21)", "body": "Or alternatively, it's always: http://206.97.234.70 In case our name server has fits."}, {"response": 144, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Mar 31, 1998 (17:01)", "body": "In the vc.6 topic (Virtual Communities) are details of Vassilios Koronakis (vassilio@well.com) affair with Stacy Horn. Some pretty juicy insider stuff about the doyenne of ECHO by one of its most controversial members. Sizzzling tale... j vc and read topic 6"}, {"response": 145, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Apr 12, 1998 (23:51)", "body": "Myretta emailed me a while ago and said we were down. So I just rebooted the server. Sorry folks, I been out doin' nonvirtual stuff today. In the event you notice you can't get in, please email jeff@spring.net and terry@spring.net And one of us will get things moving again. Wish I had heard about this sooner! I started a coupla new topics in genx. Check 'em out!"}, {"response": 147, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Apr 14, 1998 (00:21)", "body": "What me grep?"}, {"response": 149, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Tue, Apr 14, 1998 (21:25)", "body": "terry sorry about helen and your mom, hope she's doing well. live talks? oh my, not sure if i'm ready for that, everyone thinks i'm a kid when i answer the phone or answer the door-uh, is your mom there? *giggle* please post whenever you plan to have another one *smile*"}, {"response": 150, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Apr 22, 1998 (23:44)", "body": "Wanted. Person to drive my Buick Regal (30,000 miles on it) from the SF Bay area to Austin, Texas. I'll pay $200 and put you up for a week in Austin free and wine and dine you. Serious about this. I need to get this car out here."}, {"response": 151, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Apr 23, 1998 (00:55)", "body": "So tempted... so tempted..."}, {"response": 153, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Apr 23, 1998 (05:46)", "body": "I have several semi-serious inquiries so far but nothing solid. The car is in Walnut Creek, CA at my moms place. If you could do this Stacey, that would be great!"}, {"response": 154, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Thu, Apr 23, 1998 (18:38)", "body": "would you fly me out to SF, too? :-)"}, {"response": 155, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Apr 23, 1998 (18:44)", "body": "Nice try."}, {"response": 156, "author": "autumn", "date": "Thu, Apr 23, 1998 (22:36)", "body": "Hey Terry, why don't you get that author whose doing book signings in SF and Austin to do it? :-)"}, {"response": 157, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Apr 24, 1998 (06:15)", "body": "Autumn! What a knack for putting things together!"}, {"response": 158, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Apr 28, 1998 (23:49)", "body": "Here's a pointer to talk about the NBC miniseries that showed the other night: Merlin Find a discussion in topic 17 in 'babes' and in the tv conference."}, {"response": 160, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Apr 29, 1998 (08:09)", "body": "Just regroup William and take another run at it, because you seem to have some insight and perception in this area of Arthurian legend (surpassing that of your knowledge of babe-onomics)."}, {"response": 161, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Apr 30, 1998 (16:39)", "body": "really?????"}, {"response": 163, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Apr 30, 1998 (23:46)", "body": "Gary Chapman asked me a question and a favor. You have probably heard about the shooting of Texas Monthly writer Jan Reid down in Mexico City last week. Jan is in the hospital in Houston now, recovering. (Jan is a friend of Garys.) A bunch of people in Austin are putting together a fundraiser for him at the Driskill Hotel on May 9th. Jan can't be there, obviously, because he'll still be in the Rehab Hospital in Houston. Gary was wondering is if I knew how we might get a live video feed over the net to Jan from the Driskill. They're going to check to see if there's a fast net connection in the hospital itself, but Gary'd like to investigate how he'd handle his end at the gig. So I'm volunteering and looking for someone to assist me, someone with a good on camera presence to interview folks."}, {"response": 164, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, May  1, 1998 (17:21)", "body": "yes WER. Surprised (and ticklish!)"}, {"response": 166, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, May  2, 1998 (09:42)", "body": "In topic 8 in the art conference, Lenadams Dorris vegas@well.com Enigma is the focus of discussion, visit her website and comment. Lenadams: Hello, everyone...I've been pretty absent lately, mostly because my cafe, the Enigma, has been so terribly busy. We're up to 14 employees now! We were honored to again win in the 1998 Best of Las Vegas Awards, this time for \"Best Art Scene.\" Many of you have stopped by to visit when in Las Vegas, which is wonderful. You may be interested to know that we are about to celebrate our fifth anniversary, with ten days of art, music and spoken word events. I redesigned our web site to bring it all up to date, and included an ongoing scrapbook of pictures of the Enigma and its people and things, if you want to get a better idea of what we look like. Some of you will remember that on our third birthday in 1996, a lot of WELLbeings sent postcards to help us celebrate our grand re-opening after renovations. While many of those cards are still around, many have been lost to time and careless coffee drinkers. If any of you are into it, we'd love to get a bunch of new cards from all over the world (in the scrapbook you can see some of the cards pasted to the front of the coffee counter...) People love seeing all the cards, and we love hearing from our far-flung friends. If you want to send postcards, our address is: Enigma Garden Cafe (or just \"Enigma\") 918 South Fourth Street Las Vegas, NV 89101 Thanks everyone...even when I am not online so much, you are my extended family who has helped keep me going all these years. Smooch!"}, {"response": 167, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, May  2, 1998 (09:59)", "body": "In the media conference, linked to the news conference: Item 30 entered Sat, May 2, 1998 (08:58) by Paul Terry Walhus (terry) Live from LA, it's suicide on the freeway! They just has a live broadcast of a freeway suicide in LA, with closeup shots of someones head being blow off as they popped off a shotgun. We are at the point where everyone must know everything that's going on as it happens. Both a new low in journalism and a taste of the future."}, {"response": 168, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Sun, May  3, 1998 (11:58)", "body": "euwwww"}, {"response": 169, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, May  9, 1998 (09:03)", "body": "Riette is on a roll in philosophy. She's got the scoop on truth, wisdom and even started up a new topic. Glad to see Riette jumping in to this little known backwater of the Spring."}, {"response": 170, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, May 10, 1998 (06:00)", "body": "Riette has taken philoslophy by storm. I think she's a night person!"}, {"response": 171, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, May 10, 1998 (14:56)", "body": "New topic in travel: England."}, {"response": 172, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Mon, May 11, 1998 (19:54)", "body": "wooo hoooo.....i'm pilin' in there!"}, {"response": 173, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, May 13, 1998 (08:23)", "body": "Windows Conference: Texas vs. Microsoft (AG wants to raise campaign funds and keep job. Bolt from sky tells him he is barking up wrong tree.) Texas Puts Off Action Against Microsoft (05/12/98; 8:58 p.m. ET) By Kora McNaughton, TechWeb Pressure from Texas-based licensees of Microsoft Windows has given pause to that state's attorney general, Dan Morales, who was expected to file an antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft later this week. In a statement issued Tuesday, Morales said, \"Before contemplating any legal action against Microsoft, I feel it is prudent and wise to personally hear the concerns of our Texas-based companies.\" Morales will meet with the Companies over the next few weeks. Morales said his office has received letters from several Texas computer executives worried that a lawsuit against Microsoft would \"negatively impact\" their companies and the state as a whole. Morales' postponement of any action is an additional boost for Microsoft, which won an important victory against the Justice Department Tuesday when a federal appeals court ruled that Internet Explorer may be bundled with Windows 98. Expectations have been building that several state attorneys general and the Justice Department were readying broad antitrust complaints against Microsoft, but Morales' statement indicates such lawsuits may not happen for weeks, if at all."}, {"response": 174, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, May 13, 1998 (09:46)", "body": "The tv conference: 5 19 Seinfeld Tomorrow night, Thursday, is the Last Seinfeld. Some folks are watching jsut for the commercials. The show about nothing is no longer. Just re-runs for here on out. The cast is going to be on the Tonight Show."}, {"response": 175, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, May 14, 1998 (22:10)", "body": "Daniel Cardenas wrote: The Justice Conference will focus on topics of criminal justice. Sample top ics could be Death Penalty v. Life, rehabilitation v. punishment, juvenile justice, women in prison, ethnic makeup of jails and prisons. Also could talk about serial killers, famous prisoners now in prison, current prison cases, laws, crime, statistics, studies, etc.. It could go into Native American law, white collar crime v. blue collar, constitutional law. My plan for getting conversation going, is to talk to friends of mine to signing up, also, since I am new, I havent participated in any conversat ions yet. Through those conversations, I could steer people to the Justice conference. So, now there is a 'justice' conference. j justice"}, {"response": 176, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, May 16, 1998 (12:57)", "body": "Austin's still \"smokin'\". Literally. A surreal pall hangs over us as smoke blows in from Mexican fires out of control. Check out topic 28 in the austin conference or topic 7 in the environment conference (they're crosslinked). air Austin The Mexican government procrastinates and the US Governement does a \"study\" while Austinites choke."}, {"response": 177, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, May 17, 1998 (11:21)", "body": "I hope Riette sticks around, I look forward every day to reading her cool insights in the philosophy conference. New in the spirit conference, a topic on the Sufi Order and Sufi dancing."}, {"response": 178, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Wed, May 20, 1998 (01:06)", "body": "you mean like the Kavadi(sp?)?"}, {"response": 179, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, May 20, 1998 (08:57)", "body": "Guess who's back? Howard Fredrics! Great!"}, {"response": 180, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Fri, May 22, 1998 (03:13)", "body": "Jim Moss aka Leplep Le Plep is doing his fair share in Philosophy, also, things are getting quite interesting in there... and, this in from Wolf (and edited, a little, of course...): Hi Wer!! Dude, thanks for writing me. It's good to hear from familiar folks. You can write here all the time, I do have regular access to it. As for the Spring, I do that when I'm not working and won't be on it as often as before for the time being. It's very very hot here, but it's not too bad. Drink lots of water and stay cool. Got up to 120 the other day, whew! But it's a dry heat *laugh*. Talk later, Elke :) mswolf68@hotmail.com"}, {"response": 181, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Fri, May 22, 1998 (03:15)", "body": "oh, yeah, and I updated the GenX Storybook annex page at http://www.spring.net/~spew/chap1.html"}, {"response": 182, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Sun, May 24, 1998 (11:05)", "body": "I've just opened a new topic in Spirit, which I would like to link to Philosophy - \"Why Christianity is not Religious\""}, {"response": 183, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Mon, May 25, 1998 (16:54)", "body": "But, Christianity is WAY to religious..."}, {"response": 184, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Mon, May 25, 1998 (19:09)", "body": "sorry, I seemed to have lost an o while camping... how are we gonna go about this semantic wrestling match, Mike? see you there..."}, {"response": 185, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Mon, May 25, 1998 (19:09)", "body": "Terry has moved into his new casa, and won't be back on here full time until his ISDN line gets installed somewhere around the 4th or 5th of June...(I think, however, he is sneaking around here tonight)"}, {"response": 186, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, May 28, 1998 (21:30)", "body": "Yup, dialin' in. My isdn line goes in on the 4th. I'll be havin' another pool party soon. I'm sittin' here with my notebook by poolside, with the tv cranked up on the music awards. Swimmin' rockin' out and lurkin' the Spring a bit."}, {"response": 187, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, May 28, 1998 (21:39)", "body": "News conference. Obits. Phil Hartman of SNL fame. Shot dead, possibly by his wife who killed herself."}, {"response": 188, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Tue, Jun  2, 1998 (06:06)", "body": "I'm sorry I haven't been around much. It's Early Finals time here at Sussex again, which means that I'm studying like crazy (just as I should be now...) I will be around occassionally, but not much. However, after June 25 I will be back, with the trauma of 14 examinations over!!!"}, {"response": 189, "author": "riette", "date": "Tue, Jun  2, 1998 (07:23)", "body": "So, that's where you've been all this time - I was beginning to worry; thought you got run over by a car or something. I didn't know you were English; I just love England and Scotland - I go there at least once or twice a year. It is just so beautiful with the rolling landscapes, quaint little towns, and the people are incredibly nice. I even married one of them! Anyway, I hope your exams will be going well, and hope you'll be back more often after that."}, {"response": 190, "author": "autumn", "date": "Tue, Jun  2, 1998 (10:14)", "body": "Good luck on your finals, Mike!"}, {"response": 191, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Jun  2, 1998 (15:01)", "body": "14 examinations?!?! how many classes are you taking?"}, {"response": 192, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sat, Jun  6, 1998 (12:37)", "body": "excuse me, I'm butting in for a second, the GenX Storybook pages can now be found at http://www.spring.net/~spew/genxstory/chap1.html http://www.spring.net/~spew/genxstory/chap2.html come by and read 'em, puh-leeeze! now, back to our regularly scheduled conversation..."}, {"response": 193, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Thu, Jun 18, 1998 (15:23)", "body": "The index page is up for the GenX Storybook...it's at http://www.spring.net/~spew/genxstory/indeX.html it's kinda graphic intesive, let me know what ya'll think..."}, {"response": 194, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Jun 26, 1998 (15:42)", "body": "Thoroughly Modern Jane This conference is for fiction using Jane Austen characters in non-Regency settings. Fiction based on Jane Austen and set in her period is at The Republic of Pemberley Your host is Carolyn http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/public/browse/modjane/all This has been in the works for a while, and the time was ripe to announce it. Credit is due to Amy and Myretta, the wonder workers from the Republic of Pemberly, a board that was incubated right here on the Spring."}, {"response": 195, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Jun 26, 1998 (15:46)", "body": "The announcement is at: http://www.pemberley.com/pemb/admin/fiction/webbbs/boi.html and there is a little discussion on the help board at: http://www.pemberley.com/pemb/admin/help/index.html"}, {"response": 196, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Fri, Jun 26, 1998 (15:57)", "body": "and if anyone has noticed, there has been more modjane-ing than firthing lately, so there's already plenty o' stuff to read..."}, {"response": 197, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Tue, Jun 30, 1998 (23:26)", "body": "ok, i'll ask...what in the heck is modjane?"}, {"response": 198, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Wed, Jul  1, 1998 (02:52)", "body": "Moder Jane Austen... Jane's characters in modern settings..."}, {"response": 199, "author": "riette", "date": "Wed, Jul  1, 1998 (06:06)", "body": "I'll have to start reading her works . . . sounds like fun!"}, {"response": 200, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Jul  1, 1998 (23:40)", "body": "Saw a preview for a movie tonight with Jane Austen in the title. It didn't look like it had anything to do with Jane Austen though."}, {"response": 201, "author": "riette", "date": "Thu, Jul  2, 1998 (06:41)", "body": "How exiting! A movie with Jane Austen in the title which really has nothing to do with her!"}, {"response": 202, "author": "autumn", "date": "Sun, Jul  5, 1998 (00:09)", "body": "It's really a novel idea when you think about it! The possibilities for future films are endless!"}, {"response": 203, "author": "riette", "date": "Sun, Jul  5, 1998 (02:31)", "body": "Jane Austin, pet detective."}, {"response": 204, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Jul  5, 1998 (06:59)", "body": "Riette is now set up with host powers in 'art'. Which means she can customize it to her heart's desire. More specifically: The Role of the Conference Host Each conference has at least one host. The duties of the host vary from maintenance-only hosting which might involved clearing out old and unused topics to high-involvement hosting where the host takes an active role in encouraging and participating in the discussions. Hosts can help topics stay on the subject, answer questions, and bring up new subjects. They help new users and lost users. They generally keep things rolling along in the conference. Hostly Powers Hosts can perform the following acts that regular users cannot. Open the first topic in the conference. Retire any topic in the conference. Kill any topic in the conference. Change the conference header. Change the bulletin which is a message displayed (if new) once for everyone. Change the welcome message which is displayed when someone joins for the first time. Change the conference configuration commands. Change the ulist which is the list of participants' logins. Change the login message which is displayed when entering the conference. Change the Logout"}, {"response": 205, "author": "riette", "date": "Sun, Jul  5, 1998 (17:39)", "body": "OOOH, all that power . . . am I allow to tie people up too?"}, {"response": 206, "author": "riette", "date": "Sun, Jul  5, 1998 (18:32)", "body": "allowed, that is."}, {"response": 207, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Sun, Jul  5, 1998 (20:41)", "body": "only if you include me"}, {"response": 208, "author": "autumn", "date": "Sun, Jul  5, 1998 (23:30)", "body": "\"Jane Austen, Pet Detective\"--ROTFLMAO!!! Good one, Riette!!"}, {"response": 209, "author": "riette", "date": "Mon, Jul  6, 1998 (04:40)", "body": "ha-ha! Mike, you mean, you've not even noticed that you're already tied to me? Broken arm to broken finger! Which finger? Because if it's your right, then we can make music together! My right hand, your left. You do the cords, I strum. How does that sound?"}, {"response": 210, "author": "stacey", "date": "Mon, Jul  6, 1998 (14:37)", "body": "woo woo! then BOTH of you are still handcuffed to the couch!"}, {"response": 211, "author": "riette", "date": "Mon, Jul  6, 1998 (17:28)", "body": "So we're tied to one another AND the couch? This is getting complicated. Now all we need is for you and Wer to join us, and we'll be a Spring Quartet!"}, {"response": 212, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Tue, Jul  7, 1998 (20:07)", "body": "lol :) nice pun, riette :)"}, {"response": 213, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Jul  7, 1998 (22:40)", "body": "I changed the Spring's base href tag to \" http://www.spring.net/ by adding the trailing / Check out the website and see if it's working in your browser, if you care to. Is the picture refreshing automatically every 60 seconds like it is supposed to do? We're building a new server soon. I just ordered a CD-R to use for backing up our present system. Should be here tomorrow or the next day. Spring party here the 18th, hope all the local springeurs can make it by, even ok for wer to drop in late after work. We should still be jammin' Everyone, please invite someone you know or don't know to join our conversation! Let's start growing incrementally! Back to the All Start game."}, {"response": 214, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Jul  7, 1998 (22:41)", "body": "Start sb Star."}, {"response": 215, "author": "riette", "date": "Wed, Jul  8, 1998 (01:58)", "body": "Holland is out of the World Cup!!!!!! YAAAAAA-HOOOOOOOOO!!!"}, {"response": 216, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Wed, Jul  8, 1998 (16:12)", "body": "you're happy? i was gutted. they were the only non-cheating team left in. now Brazil, and their team of professional divers, will win."}, {"response": 217, "author": "pmnh", "date": "Wed, Jul  8, 1998 (16:17)", "body": "(\"professional divers\"??? what does this mean?)"}, {"response": 218, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Jul  8, 1998 (16:46)", "body": "All I gotta say is, GO CROATIA!"}, {"response": 219, "author": "riette", "date": "Wed, Jul  8, 1998 (17:15)", "body": "Me too. Mike!!! I'm shocked! You shouted for Holland?! They played like big bullies! But I don't really care who wins, and it wouldn't have bothered me much if they HAD won . . . as long as it isn't France (or Germany, I was going to say, but they're out already, thank heavens!)!!"}, {"response": 220, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Wed, Jul  8, 1998 (20:24)", "body": "professional divers refers to the Brazilian penchant for jumping to the floor at the mere hint of an opposition player coming close to them. a technique prevalent on the continent, it is scorned here in England, and rightly so."}, {"response": 221, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Jul  9, 1998 (00:17)", "body": "\"jumping to the floor\" ??? Should we take this to the soccer topic in sports?"}, {"response": 222, "author": "riette", "date": "Thu, Jul  9, 1998 (02:32)", "body": "No, NO NO!! They play with their feet, Holland plays with those big, chunky muscles! And all the teams do that opera thing anyway to try and get the other team a yellow card. Was it in that one game between Paraguay and WHO? where the one guy from Paraguay did that magnificent roll practically from one end of the field to the other after tripping over someone's foot? I was in stitches. But I adore the Paraguayan goalkeeper. He's SO charismatic, and a great player too. I also liked that young English player, Mike Owen who kicked that wonderful goal against Argentinia. WOW! Sorry, Terry, I won't say more - I really can't go to sports; I know Nothing about Nothing there. I just enjoy watching the WC, because then I can cuddle the little guinea-piggies at the same time."}, {"response": 223, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Jul  9, 1998 (17:01)", "body": "So, is Croatia still alive?"}, {"response": 224, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Thu, Jul  9, 1998 (17:33)", "body": "the team? no, they went out to France. France vs. Brazil in the final. I reckon 1-0 to Brazil."}, {"response": 225, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Thu, Jul  9, 1998 (17:36)", "body": "The Babes conference header has had a bit of an update. A new logo, and a couple of \"additions\". Head on over . You might also fancy dropping into the Alicia Silverstone topic, to check out this wonderful wonderful (wonnnnnnderrfulll....i should stop now) actress."}, {"response": 226, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Jul  9, 1998 (17:36)", "body": "Who do you think will score the goal?"}, {"response": 227, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Jul  9, 1998 (17:36)", "body": "Warning: a comment slipped in ahead of yours at 225!"}, {"response": 228, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Thu, Jul  9, 1998 (17:38)", "body": "i've no idea - i didn't watch any of the Brazil matches. and maybe we should this chatter to Sports - it's a bit irrelevant here :) are the slippage warnings supposed to be posted?"}, {"response": 229, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Jul  9, 1998 (23:44)", "body": "No, not usually, it's just so rare!"}, {"response": 230, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Jul 20, 1998 (16:19)", "body": "Topic 13 in Spirit: 13 1 Steven Seagal, sacred vessel of Tibetan Buddhism and reincarnated lama"}, {"response": 231, "author": "riette", "date": "Tue, Jul 21, 1998 (06:34)", "body": "I'll have a look, Terry, but that's a good thing, isn't it? I mean those monks look very holy to me - I respect them."}, {"response": 232, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Jul 21, 1998 (07:28)", "body": "Of course it's a good thing. This was brought up in response to your comments on the vacuity of Jean Claude Van Damme."}, {"response": 233, "author": "riette", "date": "Tue, Jul 21, 1998 (08:17)", "body": "I'm not changing my mind about van Damme though! If he were to become a Tibetan monk, I would advise all the others (including Seagal) ALWAYS to stand with their backs against the wall. He's such a horny old thing, one never knows what he might get up without women to adore him . . ."}, {"response": 234, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Jul 21, 1998 (13:20)", "body": "Did you find the Seagal topic?"}, {"response": 235, "author": "riette", "date": "Tue, Jul 21, 1998 (14:16)", "body": "Oh, here it is! Found it. Ehm, Terry, this response is now in one of the other topics, the reasons are there too, but I can't remember which topic! Anyway, I just more or less said that is was cool about Seagal being a tulku now. Don't you find?"}, {"response": 236, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Wed, Jul 22, 1998 (21:42)", "body": "hey folks, i am trying to build traffic to one of my conferences on the spring, science. come on by and post away!"}, {"response": 237, "author": "riette", "date": "Thu, Jul 23, 1998 (02:21)", "body": "But, Ray, I know absolutely nothing about science. Does that matter?"}, {"response": 238, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Jul 23, 1998 (10:23)", "body": "Tell us some of the things you want to talk about there in science!"}, {"response": 239, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Thu, Jul 23, 1998 (10:25)", "body": "right now i am posting news clippings from cnn.com related to science. these news clippings range from very cool and noncontroversial (stars and galaxies) to very controversial (mammal cloning). these are topics that everyone has at least one comment on. riette (and most folks here for that matter) may not know a lot about science, but is very smart and bound to add something positive. anyway, at least come on by and read then news snippets so when i do a \"parti\" command it shows more than 3 people who have been to the conf!!!!!!!!!!"}, {"response": 240, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Thu, Jul 23, 1998 (11:43)", "body": "believe it or not, ratthing, but I lettered in science three years in high school..."}, {"response": 241, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Thu, Jul 23, 1998 (13:39)", "body": "well, then, come on by!"}, {"response": 242, "author": "riette", "date": "Thu, Jul 23, 1998 (14:08)", "body": "Will do, Ratthingy."}, {"response": 243, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Jul 23, 1998 (15:02)", "body": "Wired for mayhem By Mark Ward Economic booms and busts will become more frequent and more severe if programs called software agents control electronic commerce. Agents tend to exaggerate the worst market swings and create disastrous price wars, say two research groups in the US. As more goods and services are bought on the Internet, observers predict . . ."}, {"response": 244, "author": "riette", "date": "Thu, Jul 23, 1998 (17:12)", "body": "that people will find ways to overcome problems that may occur, if they occur."}, {"response": 245, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Jul 23, 1998 (17:29)", "body": "This points to a new topic in the internet conference, where you can read the rest. Or just take Riette's word for it!"}, {"response": 246, "author": "riette", "date": "Thu, Jul 23, 1998 (20:41)", "body": "\ufffdsmiling sheepishly\ufffd"}, {"response": 247, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Jul 24, 1998 (06:37)", "body": "Did anyone perchance read it?"}, {"response": 248, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Jul 24, 1998 (12:27)", "body": "Where was tv banned? What country? Find out in news topic 10."}, {"response": 249, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Jul 24, 1998 (15:46)", "body": "In the windows conference a new topic, security. And a new product guranateed to scare the daylights out of you, Back Orifice."}, {"response": 250, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Fri, Jul 24, 1998 (15:48)", "body": "new topics in art, justice, and genx, as well..."}, {"response": 251, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Jul 24, 1998 (15:57)", "body": "And porch 30 has a visual thesaurus (long) discussion to go along with our banter about synonyms."}, {"response": 252, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Jul 24, 1998 (16:13)", "body": "vc conference topic 12, an excerpt: Amsterdam Public Digital Culture On the Contradictions Among the Users by Geert Lovink & Patrice Riemens By the late nineties, the (in)famous Amsterdam squatters movement, which had dominated the socio-cultural (and law-and-order) agenda in the previous decade, had petered out in the city's streets, but its autonomous yet pragmatic mode of operation had infiltrated in the working of the more progressive cultural institutions. It was the time that the cultural centres 'Paradiso' and 'De Balie', which were at the vanguard of local cultural politics, embraced the 'technological culture' theme in their programming. In the beginning, this took the shape of a critical, if somewhat passive, observation of the technologies surrounding us, and of their attendant risks, but it quickly evolved in a Do-It-Yourself, from below approach. Technology was no longer seen as the preserve of science, big business, or the government. It could also become . . ."}, {"response": 253, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Jul 24, 1998 (17:29)", "body": "In travel, a new topic on Paris and France."}, {"response": 254, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Fri, Jul 24, 1998 (17:58)", "body": "feel free to talk about their overabundance of wers..."}, {"response": 255, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sat, Jul 25, 1998 (01:15)", "body": "Yesterday, the Senate moved one step closer to passing legislation which jeopardizes free speech and access to information on the Internet. Two measures, which were attached to a spending bill for the Commerce, State, and Justice departments after a voice vote, are based on two previously introduced bills: The Communications Decency Act (CDA) II (introduced by Senator Coats) and the Internet School Filtering Act (introduced by Senator McCain). for the rest see http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/restricted/read/internet/12"}, {"response": 256, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Jul 25, 1998 (08:05)", "body": "Gambling on the net is also about to be outlawed."}, {"response": 257, "author": "riette", "date": "Sat, Jul 25, 1998 (08:36)", "body": "One can GAMBLE here? That can't be fun."}, {"response": 258, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Jul 26, 1998 (09:08)", "body": "It could get expensive, with all they shysters out there."}, {"response": 259, "author": "riette", "date": "Sun, Jul 26, 1998 (11:01)", "body": "Yeah, well, if one is stupid enough to take the risk, one must take the consequences when they present themselves. I must confess that Chris and I adore playing the slot machines in England or Namibia when we're there. It's great fun, and we laugh ourselves to bits over each other's efforts to coax money out of the machine."}, {"response": 260, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Jul 27, 1998 (11:54)", "body": "The internet conference has a new topic inspired by some of Bruce Sterling's literary freeware: Topic 25 of 25: 'hackers (Hacker Crackdown by Bruce Sterling)' Response 1 of 1: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) Mon, Jul 27, 1998 (10:52) 743 lines Bruce Sterling bruces@well.sf.ca.us Literary Freeware -- Not for Commercial Use Speech to High Technology Crime Investigation Association Lake Tahoe, Nov 1994 Good morning, my name's Bruce Sterling, and I'm a sometime computer crime journalist and longtime science fiction writer from Austin Texas. I'm the guy who wrote HACKER CRACKDOWN, which is the book you're getting on one of those floppy disks that are being distributed at this gig like party favors. People in law enforcement often ask me, Mr Sterling, if you're a science fiction writer like you say you are, then why should you care about American computer police and private security? And also, how come my kids can never find any copies of your sci-fi novels? . . . ya gotta go there to get the rest."}, {"response": 261, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Jul 27, 1998 (12:05)", "body": "But please go there and comment as a special facor to me if nothing else, I want to show Bruce we care."}, {"response": 262, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Jul 27, 1998 (12:05)", "body": "facor sb favor"}, {"response": 263, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Jul 27, 1998 (12:18)", "body": "In travel: Item 23 entered Mon, Jul 27, 1998 (11:16) by Paul Terry Walhus (terry) bargain airfares Bargain airfares. Where to get 'em mostly on the web. 1 new of 1 response total. Topic 23 of 23: 'bargain airfares' Response 1 of 1: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) Mon, Jul 27, 1998 (11:17) 6 lines A good place to start: www.cheaptickets.com I heard of someone who got a $600 round trip ticket to Paris instead of the $3,000 the airlines wanted."}, {"response": 264, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Jul 27, 1998 (12:19)", "body": "Who's beginning to look like a tomato? I won't tell, but you can find out in the food conference."}, {"response": 265, "author": "riette", "date": "Mon, Jul 27, 1998 (12:34)", "body": "\ufffdturning red\ufffd"}, {"response": 266, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Jul 27, 1998 (14:10)", "body": "Sssh, you'll give it away."}, {"response": 267, "author": "riette", "date": "Mon, Jul 27, 1998 (15:00)", "body": "Give what away? I didn't tell anyone about your hay fetish!"}, {"response": 268, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Jul 27, 1998 (15:28)", "body": "Whew! Good."}, {"response": 269, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Jul 27, 1998 (15:41)", "body": "It would be hard to convey how wonderful are the descriptions of Paris provided by Riette, you'll just have to journey to travel to find out for yourself."}, {"response": 270, "author": "riette", "date": "Tue, Jul 28, 1998 (01:57)", "body": "And oh, if you'd like to find out about Terry's fetishes, you can go look in Music or even, hey, ask him yourself!"}, {"response": 271, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Tue, Jul 28, 1998 (01:57)", "body": "If the Internet is such a wonderful and diverse environment then how come we're all going to the same places. Yahoo, Netscape, AOL, Microsoft, Alta Vista, Excite, Geocities, Amazon and a few others command over fifty percent of Internet traffic. for more ifs, and/or to supply some answers, go to http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/restricted/read/internet/26"}, {"response": 272, "author": "riette", "date": "Wed, Jul 29, 1998 (06:19)", "body": "Because fools never differ?"}, {"response": 273, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Jul 29, 1998 (09:51)", "body": "Been there already, a good read."}, {"response": 274, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Jul 29, 1998 (10:16)", "body": "New topic in the tv conference: Ushuaia: The Ultimate Adventure Hosted by Perri Peltz, \"Ushuaia: The Ultimate Adventure\" offers a fascinating look at the real-life adventures of French dare-devil Nicolas Hulot and his Ushuaia team. The one-hour adventure series, which takes its name from a small town in Tierra Del Fuego at the tip of South America, features incredible expeditions, extreme sports and fierce competitions . . ."}, {"response": 275, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Jul 31, 1998 (07:53)", "body": "Do you want to see what the Spring looked like in 1995? check out http://www.spring.net/~dbii/forum/ or for a real pastblast: http://www.spring.net/~dbii/forum/confs.html"}, {"response": 276, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Jul 31, 1998 (07:54)", "body": "Ooops, wrong url, it's http://www.spring.net/~dbii/forum/confs/confs.html"}, {"response": 277, "author": "riette", "date": "Wed, Aug  5, 1998 (12:41)", "body": "Will go have a look as soon as I wake up."}, {"response": 278, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Aug  5, 1998 (17:44)", "body": "Tired from your long trip?"}, {"response": 279, "author": "riette", "date": "Thu, Aug  6, 1998 (02:12)", "body": "I sure was, Terry. We were supposed to get back Tuesday evening, but the flight got cancelled after we boarded the aircraft. Then they tried to put us on another flight to London, and from there to Basle, and then they wanted us to take a TAXI from there to Z\ufffdrich. At which point I decided it was a good time for a tantrum - because this was like 22:00 at night, my kids were shattered, and we would not have arrived home before about four in the morning. So they gave us free hotel accommodation, two fre meals, and all that stuff. Which was fun, but we had to be up early again to catch the flight to Z\ufffdrich, which, in the end, didn't go until 12:20 - so we did get in at 4:00 - in the afternoon, that is. I always swore I wouldn't fly Swissair again after the first time I did. Chris thought I was merely being prejudiced, and so the past two days pretty much proved my point! Mad as a bull, he was! They are the most unprofessional airline since the Kipkana express!"}, {"response": 280, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Aug  6, 1998 (12:23)", "body": "How far is it from Basle to Zurich?"}, {"response": 281, "author": "riette", "date": "Thu, Aug  6, 1998 (17:23)", "body": "I'm not sure in miles or kilometres, but per car it's between one and a half and two hours. How far is it from Austin to Boston?"}, {"response": 282, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Aug  6, 1998 (18:20)", "body": "About 1800 miles at least."}, {"response": 283, "author": "riette", "date": "Fri, Aug  7, 1998 (01:56)", "body": "Damn. Was hoping to be able to combine my Spring excursion next year with a little visit to my sister. Well, if she can get holiday I shall just have to bring her along."}, {"response": 284, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug  7, 1998 (10:10)", "body": "Great, bring her along!"}, {"response": 285, "author": "riette", "date": "Fri, Aug  7, 1998 (14:08)", "body": "Thanks - I'll consider that an invitation! Think I'd be less nervous about coming with her by my side."}, {"response": 286, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Aug  8, 1998 (01:29)", "body": "I think the two of you would love Austin. And just think all the hours and hours of real live face to face conversation we could all have."}, {"response": 287, "author": "riette", "date": "Sat, Aug  8, 1998 (02:10)", "body": "Real live face to face, eye to eye, mouth to mouth, hand to hand, body to body.... \ufffdBIG BIG SMILE\ufffd Have I seduced you?"}, {"response": 288, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sat, Aug  8, 1998 (15:17)", "body": "not yet, but you can keep trying if you'd like..."}, {"response": 289, "author": "riette", "date": "Sat, Aug  8, 1998 (16:13)", "body": "Damn! My mum always says she hasn't a clue how I was able to produce two children - she says I'm too stupid to be sexy. Guess she's right. Luckily one doesn't have to be sexy in order to have sex! Are you still on holiday, or are you back now?"}, {"response": 290, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sun, Aug  9, 1998 (00:35)", "body": "I'm back..."}, {"response": 291, "author": "riette", "date": "Sun, Aug  9, 1998 (02:35)", "body": "Good. People had better start coming alive in the Spring, or I shall respond to every single topic in every single conference, and cause a spring scandal."}, {"response": 292, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Aug  9, 1998 (08:03)", "body": "Scandal, controversy. Awesome! Go for it Riette! And on the Spring's main page today, a piece put together by my friend Mangala, an English lady who is very passionate about saving Texas from the nukes: The video you are watching is about the proposed nuclear dump in Sierra Blanca, Texas. It was filmed in early July of this year. The 53rd anniversary of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima in Japan has just passed and, in an attempt to heighten the Public's awareness of the dangerous nuclear situation in West Texas, many brave souls, at least 200, are currently marching from El Paso to Sierra Blanca. Unless the People speak out NOW, a license will be granted by the T.N.R.C.C. for a nuclear waste facility to be built in this beautiful pristine area of Texas which is 16 miles from the Mexican border where the Rio Grande runs and over an earthquake fault line. This facility will serve as a dump for other states including Maine and Vermont. Trucks will bring the waste right across the U.S. If you have the possibility to join the marchers then please do so. They have been on Highway 20 past Fort Hancock and now are joining I10 to march the rest of the way to Sierra Blanca. They are supposed to arrive in Sierra Blanca around 1.30pm tomorrow, August 9th. Topic about this in environment."}, {"response": 293, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Aug  9, 1998 (08:42)", "body": "Does anyone want to put up a gallery page of pix of springeurs that I can point to from the main page?"}, {"response": 294, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sun, Aug  9, 1998 (10:30)", "body": "I'll put it on the list..."}, {"response": 295, "author": "riette", "date": "Sun, Aug  9, 1998 (14:00)", "body": "Hi, Wer!!"}, {"response": 296, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Sun, Aug  9, 1998 (14:35)", "body": "we *really* need to start a weird-like conf here on the spring. there are sooooo many topics there just begging for riette!"}, {"response": 297, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Aug  9, 1998 (15:39)", "body": "new topics in poetry too! (and yeah, this place has been dead, what's up?)"}, {"response": 298, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Aug  9, 1998 (23:58)", "body": "wer now has conference creation capabilities. Go William!"}, {"response": 299, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Mon, Aug 10, 1998 (00:23)", "body": "I wondered when you were going to let that out of the bag... actually I was holding off on starting any new confs until you had the new server up and running..."}, {"response": 300, "author": "riette", "date": "Mon, Aug 10, 1998 (06:02)", "body": "Oh, magnificent!!! What's your conference going to be called? And, Wer, we're all with you! Ray, you think me weird??? You flatterer!!"}, {"response": 301, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Aug 10, 1998 (07:46)", "body": "Check out Mangala's video!"}, {"response": 302, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Aug 10, 1998 (07:52)", "body": "It's ok because we'll be transferring all this content anyway. And I'm not phasing in the new server for a while, because these one chugs along fairly reliably. And the new server will be a support machine until it proves it's metal. And also there's the issue that it's a difference flavor unix (Free BSD instad of BSDI)."}, {"response": 303, "author": "wer", "date": "Thu, Aug 13, 1998 (01:50)", "body": "ok, ratthing and every one else, Riette and I have already gotten http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/restricted/browse/screwed and wouldn't you know it, she came first... and introduced herself!"}, {"response": 304, "author": "wer", "date": "Thu, Aug 13, 1998 (01:53)", "body": "yeah, I know, the url should be http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/restricted/browse/screwed/all but it worked, didn't it? (and read better, as well)"}, {"response": 305, "author": "riette", "date": "Thu, Aug 13, 1998 (07:11)", "body": "Nothing like a good screw! ha-ha!"}, {"response": 306, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Aug 14, 1998 (22:26)", "body": "is this, like, a whole new conference?"}, {"response": 307, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Fri, Aug 14, 1998 (22:45)", "body": "yes! please visit screwed!"}, {"response": 308, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Aug 14, 1998 (22:50)", "body": "ok!!!"}, {"response": 309, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Aug 16, 1998 (20:49)", "body": "I whupped up a coupla new topics, mostly related to Austin goings on but of general interest also. The first is in poetry. It's about teh 98 national Poetry Slam which is going to kick off in a few days. This is the Superbowl of poetry, folks. And I'll be there. The other is a website and discussion about Body Choir, a group that I have fun with and which I have talked about briefly. http://www.spring.net/bodychoir And the Pledge Drive is still going strong with two new contributions, Read the topic in this conference."}, {"response": 310, "author": "autumn", "date": "Sun, Aug 16, 1998 (22:26)", "body": "Terry, when you click on it, it says \"File Not Found.\""}, {"response": 311, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Aug 16, 1998 (23:21)", "body": "It's fixed now."}, {"response": 312, "author": "autumn", "date": "Mon, Aug 17, 1998 (00:12)", "body": "Oh, very interesting! PS: check your email."}, {"response": 313, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Aug 20, 1998 (07:10)", "body": "Varoom! Keep them names coming, in, of all places, babes? Any Mike Griggs sightings? And catch either the Internet or the Austin conference for a listing of interesting websites about race, class and the Internet from Arthur McGee. Art goddess Riette continues on her roll in the art conference. It's a great education!"}, {"response": 314, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Aug 20, 1998 (07:37)", "body": "Thought you had problems? the entire cap the size of the USA and part of Canada 20,000 feet thick will slide into the ocean causing huge waves... In the news conference."}, {"response": 315, "author": "riette", "date": "Fri, Aug 21, 1998 (02:22)", "body": "!!!!!!!!!!!! WHEN?!?!?!"}, {"response": 316, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 21, 1998 (10:34)", "body": "Don't know. Sounds kind of hokey, should have put it in the news of the weird topic (do we have one?) . . . along with the alien abductions. You'll have to visit news and check the web links, I spose."}, {"response": 317, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 21, 1998 (10:49)", "body": "SpringSearch! http://www.spring.net/search New!"}, {"response": 318, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Fri, Aug 21, 1998 (11:33)", "body": "too cool! check out this feature, as well... http://www.spring.net/~spew/ss/"}, {"response": 319, "author": "Nan11", "date": "Fri, Aug 21, 1998 (12:03)", "body": "Looks good Terry. Now we know why you're so busy ;-)"}, {"response": 320, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 21, 1998 (12:36)", "body": "It only took about 10 minutes to set up. Ooops, didn't call you last night. Give me a buzz later."}, {"response": 321, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 21, 1998 (12:39)", "body": "This topic now linked to drool."}, {"response": 322, "author": "Nan11", "date": "Fri, Aug 21, 1998 (12:46)", "body": ""}, {"response": 323, "author": "Nan11", "date": "Fri, Aug 21, 1998 (12:47)", "body": ""}, {"response": 324, "author": "Nan11", "date": "Fri, Aug 21, 1998 (12:50)", "body": "This topic now linked to drool Yes, I noticed. Did you upgrade the software or something? I've been able yo post without getting a Yapp error the last couple of days."}, {"response": 325, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 21, 1998 (12:50)", "body": "No updates! Unless Kaylenes been working behind the scenes. wer is taking an active role in overall system management and design, which is great. New topic internet (topic 28) which lists communication clients, these are ways we can meet using audio, video and text chat. Here are some of the best communications clients: Here are, in general, the best apps for communicating over the net (not just videoconferencing in some cases) in order of effectiveness and overall quality: Iphone 5.01 ftp://ftp.vocaltec.com/pub/iphone/iphone50.exe WebPhone ftp://ftp.netspeak.com/pub/wpsetup.exe VDOPhone ftp://ftp.vdo.net/vdptrial.exe NetMeeting http://mssjus3.www.conxion.com/msdownload/netmeeting/Nm21.exe OnLive! Traveler http://www.onlive.com/cgi-bin/travreg.cgi PowWow32 ftp://ftp.powwow.com/powwow36.exe PhoneFerret ftp://ferret.aitcom.net/pub/ferret/PFT111.exe Virtual Places http://download.vplaces.com/clients/VP32r21.exe Active Worlds http://aw.mpl.net/downloads/awb.exe Speak Freely http://www.fourmilab.ch/speakfree/windows/speakfb.zip WinTalk ftp://ftp.elf.com/pub/wintalk/wtalk127.zip VoxPhone ftp://papa.indstate.edu/winsock-l/Windows95/tx32v20.exe"}, {"response": 326, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 21, 1998 (12:51)", "body": "Slippage!"}, {"response": 327, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Aug 24, 1998 (17:47)", "body": "Let's talk to a prisoner. See justice topic 4."}, {"response": 328, "author": "riette", "date": "Tue, Aug 25, 1998 (02:09)", "body": "You mean a married man?"}, {"response": 329, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Tue, Aug 25, 1998 (23:40)", "body": "nope, that's what he'd a meant if I had said it..."}, {"response": 330, "author": "riette", "date": "Wed, Aug 26, 1998 (02:29)", "body": "You feel like marriage is an imprisonment? I don't really, except when Chris doesn't want to go on the merry-go-round with me. Then I wish I hadn't been married, 'cos then I would not have WANTED him to come along in the first place, and I wouldn't have had to nag him about it."}, {"response": 331, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Aug 26, 1998 (18:17)", "body": "Topic 7 of 13: 'NATO and European politics' Response 11 of 11: naive (ergopublic) Wed, Aug 26, 1998 (15:56) 18 lines Strange (or funny) to read this discussion. At \"beeing wired - beeing human\" I was told to have a look at spring. The NATO and European politics page is really astonishing for a citizen that is not member of the U.S. nor the NATO nor even the U.N. ... ... read the rest in the politics conference. Wow, we can mentioned at being wired, being human! New blood. And Swiss too."}, {"response": 332, "author": "riette", "date": "Thu, Aug 27, 1998 (02:15)", "body": ""}, {"response": 333, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 28, 1998 (09:49)", "body": "Read the story of the \"Tech Ranch\" radio program - about Austin technology - in the austin conference (topic 30) and it's linked to the 'radio' conference. Riette's art conference is awesome, it's forcing us telnetties onto the web to see it!"}, {"response": 334, "author": "riette", "date": "Fri, Aug 28, 1998 (11:51)", "body": "All this flattery is going to make me very vain soon..... MORE PLEASE!"}, {"response": 335, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 28, 1998 (12:59)", "body": "She's absolutely stupendous! For you host sysop types, you can click on help on the Spring's main page and now get to a \"sysops corner\" which tells you how to use telnet to create conferences and do sysop type things."}, {"response": 336, "author": "riette", "date": "Fri, Aug 28, 1998 (14:45)", "body": "Keep that technology stuff away from me! They and me - we don't exactly get along."}, {"response": 337, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 28, 1998 (22:29)", "body": "Geoff posted a new topic, number 49, in the web conference about a new postal service on the internet. I was running out the door and could only skim it real fast. Could someone else please take a look and post a better synopsis here? And welcome geoff, 'cause he's finally come out of the woodwork after hanging around here for at least a year. Maybe we can keep him out in the open now!"}, {"response": 338, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Aug 29, 1998 (00:09)", "body": "Gregory Kallenberg's online version of the XL article: http://austin360.com/tech/browser/browser.htm"}, {"response": 339, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Sat, Aug 29, 1998 (00:39)", "body": "thanks for posting the URL, terry. what a great blurb for the Spring! so are we *all* \"edgy and cool\" or just you, terry?"}, {"response": 340, "author": "riette", "date": "Sat, Aug 29, 1998 (02:05)", "body": "Remember, Ray,THE WALHUS IS OUR MASTER!"}, {"response": 341, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Aug 29, 1998 (18:02)", "body": "We're all so hip, groovy, cool and edgy that it's awesome."}, {"response": 342, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Aug 29, 1998 (20:31)", "body": "like, totally dude!"}, {"response": 343, "author": "riette", "date": "Sun, Aug 30, 1998 (03:01)", "body": "No-one should touch us - we're so hot, we'll burn them to ashes!"}, {"response": 344, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Aug 30, 1998 (16:27)", "body": "This may be tasteless and it may make you gag. That warning out of the way, it's topic 30 in babes. Jailbabes. Something to stir Mike up on his return."}, {"response": 345, "author": "riette", "date": "Mon, Aug 31, 1998 (02:28)", "body": "I think he'll laugh himself into a coma!"}, {"response": 346, "author": "isis", "date": "Wed, Sep  2, 1998 (21:46)", "body": "hi i am a newbie whats hot....."}, {"response": 347, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Sep  2, 1998 (22:05)", "body": "this is what's hot--the spring! didn't you hear? we're edgy and cooooooool, woohoo!! welcome judy! look around, feel free to jump in on any topic..."}, {"response": 348, "author": "isis", "date": "Wed, Sep  2, 1998 (22:08)", "body": "thank you and well i am,,but right now i am just looking around and thanks again..."}, {"response": 349, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Wed, Sep  2, 1998 (22:41)", "body": "welcome to the spring isis! what are your interests?"}, {"response": 350, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Sep  2, 1998 (22:48)", "body": "What's hot! The people here. The topics. Food. Art. Restaurants. Science. Babes. Drool. Movies. TV. And we like to hang out on our little 'Porch' and listen to the frogs croak down by the spring, and swap comments about what's hot. And you're hot, cause you're new!"}, {"response": 351, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Wed, Sep  2, 1998 (23:40)", "body": "While there are tens of thousands of websites to visit, it is only the very seasoned netizen who will actually explore the wider reaches of the Internet. We know that most people tend to visit the same sites repeatedly. The average person has a list of ten websites they visit on a weekly basis and outside of that there is not much divergence. check http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/restricted/browse/vc/all for the rest of the article...look around, you'll find it..."}, {"response": 352, "author": "autumn", "date": "Fri, Sep  4, 1998 (00:11)", "body": "Books, Isis. Books are HOT. Come tell us what you're reading, even if it's trash."}, {"response": 353, "author": "riette", "date": "Fri, Sep  4, 1998 (04:44)", "body": "Or: get SCREWED!!! That was not an insult!"}, {"response": 354, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Sep  4, 1998 (20:17)", "body": "Really, wolf has read a book in nearly every state (you can take that two ways). And I posed the question to her whether or not she could remember which states she read which books. It's my way of steering a discussion back on topic. Books. Hot. Read. I love the creative direction Ree and wer a giving this place. Here guys, have a high 5! www.colinfirth.com and www.austen.com are coming, if I can get the new machine more organized with Peters help. Then the respective design teams can take over. I love drool and austen. I wish we could revive austen in a cway complemenatary to what Amy and Myretta are doing Sports. Baseball, I know you say ugh. But nonetheless I have made some comments on the current home run race between McGwire and Sosa in the sports topic 10 on the Cardinals if you care to join me. More later...."}, {"response": 355, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Sep  4, 1998 (20:18)", "body": "The get screwed comment was in reference to the Judy topic in screwed. Getting screwed is a peak experience around here."}, {"response": 356, "author": "riette", "date": "Sat, Sep  5, 1998 (02:44)", "body": "ABSOLUTELY"}, {"response": 357, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Sep  5, 1998 (10:38)", "body": "wait! terry, you wanted to know in which states i've read a book? not which states i've been in? well, now, this will have a completely different answer."}, {"response": 358, "author": "riette", "date": "Sun, Sep  6, 1998 (03:19)", "body": "Waiting to hear it...."}, {"response": 359, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Sep  6, 1998 (03:22)", "body": "Yeah, waiting for what states in what states."}, {"response": 360, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Sep  8, 1998 (19:29)", "body": "crazy in all of them and i haven't a clue what i've read where!"}, {"response": 361, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Sep  9, 1998 (00:27)", "body": "Good things and new people going on in the Internet conference. And, yes, Ray, I'd love it if you'd work on those menu scripts. Topic 1 of 29: 'allow me to introduce myself' Response 38 of 40: Ray Lopez (ratthing) Mon, Sep 7, 1998 (22:57) 3 lines terry, i did not know you needed someone to work on the menus. i'd love to do that! Topic 1 of 29: 'allow me to introduce myself' Response 39 of 40: Arthur R McGee (amcgee) Mon, Sep 7, 1998 (23:19) 3 lines Yeah, thanks. I understand UNIX just fine, I just wasn't aware of how my shell needed to be setup for the conferencing software to work. On most systems, the conferencing software has it's own independent settings. Thanks again. Topic 1 of 29: 'allow me to introduce myself' Response 40 of 40: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) Tue, Sep 8, 1998 (08:20) 5 lines Thanks Art, it's an issue that our conferening software should address. But our web population is much, much bigger than our telnet group, so naturally, the web is where most of our development has been. [1/29] Respond, forget, or pass? Item 10 entered Sun, Sep 22, 1996 (16:09) by Paul Terry Walhus (terry) ISPs - who is the best Internet Service Provider? 1 new of 3 responses total. Topic 10 of 29: 'ISPs - who is the best Internet Service Provider?' Response 2 of 3: Ito (ITO) Tue, Sep 8, 1998 (21:03) 4 lines I use shaw wave through the cable company in Calgary and I love it!, too fast, no phone line tied up and 24-hour connection. I pay $40Canadian a month; it ain't so bad but for those that need it it's worth it, there is no web space for a site but there is for ftp. Also, you are allowed to have up to 5 email accounts, which I guess some people would benefit from. The program I am into is the Home network. We'll be moving to Austin pretty soon, does anyone know whether there is cable internet service through the local cable company?, who is the cable company down there? if the service exists does anyone know what it costs? Thanks and happy surfing! Ito Topic 10 of 29: 'ISPs - who is the best Internet Service Provider?' Response 3 of 3: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) Tue, Sep 8, 1998 (23:23) 4 lines Welcome Ito, yes, we either have it or we're getting it very soon. Very glad you're joining us."}, {"response": 362, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Wed, Sep  9, 1998 (00:37)", "body": "ooh, and don't forget to try the last 50 postings option on http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/restricted/main either...will be coming to a conference near you soon, also... (and maybe I can finally get the frames version and the goto button working, too)"}, {"response": 363, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Sep  9, 1998 (00:44)", "body": "I love that 50 last postings, everyone give wer a hug, ok?"}, {"response": 364, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Wed, Sep  9, 1998 (00:46)", "body": "didya see the cartoon? it changes everyday..."}, {"response": 365, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Wed, Sep  9, 1998 (00:47)", "body": "Terry, e-mail me the mailing address for your Austin casa, okay?"}, {"response": 366, "author": "riette", "date": "Wed, Sep  9, 1998 (02:46)", "body": "Goodness, do you guys actually have enough brain space to store all these techno terms in????"}, {"response": 367, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Sep  9, 1998 (09:14)", "body": "ok, how come i only got the cartoon once? and the 50 option is cool too, so here ya go, wer *squeeze*"}, {"response": 368, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Wed, Sep  9, 1998 (10:37)", "body": "what do you mean, once?"}, {"response": 369, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Sep  9, 1998 (10:48)", "body": "i mean one time, not twice, not more than one time *hehe*...a few days ago, i logged in, got my personalized deal with a cartoon on the right side of the screen. ever since then, no cartoon has shown up when i log in. got it?"}, {"response": 370, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Wed, Sep  9, 1998 (12:11)", "body": "got it...couldn't make it fit right with differenct hotlist lengths, so it now appears at the bottom of the last 50 postings page..."}, {"response": 371, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Sep  9, 1998 (13:07)", "body": "okay! t'anks, wer *grin*"}, {"response": 372, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Sep  9, 1998 (13:21)", "body": "oh, wer, i gots an idear, you know that cartoon you put at the bottom of 50 responses? well, what if we post a cartoon and have folks submit their own caption to 'em? huh, whatcha think, huh?"}, {"response": 373, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Wed, Sep  9, 1998 (14:34)", "body": "I don't care...I can't draw, however... speaking of, everyone go to http://www.spring.net/~spew/b/ and look at the buttons I'm working on, then come back and tell me what you think..."}, {"response": 374, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Sep  9, 1998 (16:13)", "body": "don't have to be able to draw, just post a cartoon!"}, {"response": 375, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Sep  9, 1998 (17:22)", "body": "That could be a topic too. Post a picture and then the responses that follow are suggested captions."}, {"response": 376, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Sep 10, 1998 (01:18)", "body": "wer's top 50! Check it out: http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/restricted/fifty"}, {"response": 377, "author": "riette", "date": "Thu, Sep 10, 1998 (06:38)", "body": "HEY HO HO HEY, is there some kind of favourism going on here, or what?? I've got no cartoon!!! \ufffdwailing bitterly\ufffd"}, {"response": 378, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Sep 10, 1998 (19:55)", "body": "Happy Birthday Colin Firth! http://www.colinfirth.com or http://www.firth.com hosted by the Spring and produced by the awesome babes of drool."}, {"response": 379, "author": "autumn", "date": "Thu, Sep 10, 1998 (21:37)", "body": "Wow! Cool and edgy psychedelic new buttons."}, {"response": 380, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Sep 13, 1998 (21:35)", "body": "Kristen has her own Spring page and has said she wants to start taking part in our discussions. It might help if folks here would send her some encouragement in the form of email and comments in her discussion area in 'babes'! http://www.spring.net/kristen ... which has a link to babes."}, {"response": 381, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sun, Sep 13, 1998 (23:47)", "body": "ooooo...she doesn't even have a tilde..."}, {"response": 382, "author": "riette", "date": "Mon, Sep 14, 1998 (14:19)", "body": "Would it be rude of me to say that I hope flattery is not going to become the basis or condition for our friendship here?"}, {"response": 383, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Mon, Sep 14, 1998 (15:13)", "body": "i hope not! while the core group of us here enjoys a very jovial relationship, we shouild be careful not to let that supress creativity of thought and exposure to new ideas and people."}, {"response": 384, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Mon, Sep 14, 1998 (15:15)", "body": "...with that said, i feel that it is imperative that we maintain a level of civility here. if this place turns into the WELL i am leaving."}, {"response": 385, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep 14, 1998 (15:24)", "body": "I think we all really like each other and I don't see any signs of that!"}, {"response": 386, "author": "riette", "date": "Tue, Sep 15, 1998 (01:54)", "body": "GOOD. Just checking."}, {"response": 387, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 15, 1998 (08:12)", "body": "We're very full on disk space. We have another machine (access) with 8 gb and it's nearly empty. Use it to store graphics files, etc and to start new websites and other projects. If there's anything in your directory you don't need, nuke it or move it to the new machine. We'll crash very soon if this keeps up. We're 95% full on this machine and bursting at the seams. I'm going in and moving everything I can to access that is in my personal directory. And I'm running a diskhog report which I'll publish later ... it takes a long time to run. It shows all directories on the system in descending order of size."}, {"response": 388, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 15, 1998 (08:15)", "body": "Ok: !df Filesystem 512-blocks Used Avail Capacity Mounted on /dev/sd0a 19454 17614 866 95% / /dev/sd0h 2956188 2620738 187640 93% /usr We've got to cut out file storage on this machine and use our other machine(s) for storing files, expecially large ones."}, {"response": 389, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 15, 1998 (08:35)", "body": "The gory details: bash$ cat hog du / | sort -rn > hogwww.txt bash$ su Password: bash# du / | sort -rn > hogwww.txt du: /usr/var/www/docs/.chai.html.tmp: No such file or directory bash# head -100 hogwww.txt 2637922 / 2620310 /usr 994658 /usr/home 929378 /usr/var 831078 /usr/var/www 604854 /usr/var/www/logs 417362 /usr/var/www/logs/spring.net 304514 /usr/bbs 167836 /usr/local 142238 /usr/home/work 115282 /usr/var/www/logs/childrenstory.com 113072 /usr/home/jeff 112028 /usr/bbs/part 102986 /usr/bbs/confs 99812 /usr/var/www/webdocs 86578 /usr/home/terry 82944 /usr/contrib 79210 /usr/var/www/docs 67458 /usr/var/www/webdocs/childrenstory.com 61896 /usr/var/log 56710 /usr/home/dbii 51682 /usr/local/src 46708 /usr/home/terry/Mail 46636 /usr/var/www/rafiles 46044 /usr/home/wmmeyers 45988 /usr/home/wmmeyers/public_html 45330 /usr/var/www/logs/spring.com 45162 /usr/home/jeff/perl 44746 /usr/bbs/www 44378 /usr/home/dbii/public_html 44278 /usr/home/anneh 44170 /usr/home/dbii/public_html/forum 44148 /usr/home/anneh/public_html 42196 /usr/local/src/pine4.02 41956 /usr/local/realaudio 40440 /usr/home/nbba 39502 /usr/contrib/bin 39398 /usr/home/wmmeyers/public_html/album 39238 /usr/bbs/www/home 38054 /usr/home/work/terry 37326 /usr/home/msworks 37296 /usr/home/msworks/MSWORKS 37030 /usr/share 36300 /usr/home/jeff/olddns 33398 /usr/var/mail 33108 /usr/home/anneh/public_html/derby 30402 /usr/home/nbba/incoming 30302 /usr/home/kreblon 29924 /usr/home/kreblon/public_html 29240 /usr/home/dbii/public_html/forum/confs 28588 /usr/src 28586 /usr/src/sys 27742 /usr/var/www/webdocs/childrenstory.com/tales 26680 /usr/home/jeff/perl/perl5.004_04 26062 /usr/local/frontpage 26034 /usr/local/frontpage/version3.0 24748 /usr/home/paul 23924 /usr/home/paul/Mail 23580 /usr/home/terry/public_html 22892 /usr/var/www/webdocs/adultstory.com 22226 /usr/var/log/oldlog 21898 /usr/bbs/confs/drool 21362 /usr/var/www/logs/adultstory.com 21338 /usr/local/realaudio/pnserver.old 21054 /usr/contrib/lib 20976 /usr/home/ham 20680 /usr/home/bernie 19638 /usr/home/mrobens 19070 /usr/src/sys/i386 18914 /usr/bbs/confs/modjane 18834 /usr/local/src/pine4.02/bin 18514 /usr/var/www/docs/wle 18196 /usr/var/www/webdocs/childrenstory.com/christmas 18178 /usr/home/mrobens/public_html 17848 /usr/var/www/webdocs/childrenstory.com/tales/snow 17602 /usr/var/www/webdocs/childrenstory.com/tales/snow/images 17552 /usr/home/jeff/sendmail 17540 /usr/home/work/Mail 17420 /usr/var/www/docs/bayless 17346 /usr/var/www/docs/bayless/images 16998 /usr/bind 16996 /usr/bind/named 16434 /usr/home/bernie/public_html 16034 /usr/bbs/confs/austenarchive 15646 /usr/home/mrobens/public_html/Ann 15496 /usr/src/sys/i386/OBJ 14762 /usr/local/pnserver 14686 /usr/var/www/webdocs/childrenstory.com/christmas/images 14512 /usr/home/nan 14340 /usr/home/snap 14242 /usr/bin 14204 /usr/home/snap/public_html 14168 /usr/lib 14150 /usr/home/ham/Mail 13998 /usr/contrib/man 13922 /usr/share/man 13878 /usr/home/jeff/dns 13460 /usr/home/work/AWORKB 13452 /usr/home/alweeda 13188 /usr/bind/named/bin bash#"}, {"response": 390, "author": "mrobens", "date": "Tue, Sep 15, 1998 (09:06)", "body": "Terry, I nuked the topics on modjane, but don't have permissions to delete the conference. It will give you some more room, but the conference should be deleted."}, {"response": 391, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 15, 1998 (12:27)", "body": "That's pretty much a drop in the bucket, but thanks. I'll delete the conference and remove it from the main page. We just need better log file management which means archiving the big logs over to access.spring.net. And I have about 45 mbs. of personal files that I'm copying and nuking."}, {"response": 392, "author": "riette", "date": "Tue, Sep 15, 1998 (13:59)", "body": "Terry, does the Art conference have something to do with this problem? Could you move it wherever it has to go in order to solve another drop in the bucket? I haven't a clue about these things - I thought one could just post and post, and it never gets full, 'cos it's internet files."}, {"response": 393, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Sep 16, 1998 (08:41)", "body": "We're in pretty good shape now, I just freed up 45mb last night and when I clean up the log files that will free up a lot more. We can get you an account on access.spring.net and you can have an area there for storage of art files. But, as you can see, we're in much better shape: bash$ df Filesystem 512-blocks Used Avail Capacity Mounted on /dev/sd0a 19454 17614 866 95% / /dev/sd0h 2956188 2450354 358024 87% /usr bash$"}, {"response": 394, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Wed, Sep 16, 1998 (09:59)", "body": "terry, there are several tar files in the /usr/bbs directory, and probably elsewhere. you could get a little more space out of the system by moving or compressing those files too."}, {"response": 395, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Sep 16, 1998 (11:36)", "body": "Cool, do you have any recommendations on log file handling and archiving (to access.spring.net)? Something like: tar cf - ./games | rsh access.spring.net cd /tmp \\; tar xvBpf - (Solaris example of moving directories between machines -- we need something a little different, copying to another machine without compressing so we can grep and analyze still and restarting the log file on the source machine). Something you'd be willing to take on? I think there should be a top 50 button on every page you go to, and the cartoon is great, but I wish it were on another page than top 50 (imho), because I use it constantly now as a bookmark and I when I go to it I immediately hit page down because it is in ascending order. (descending would be better) and then I have to hit the page up key. Top 50 is an insanely great way to navigate the Spring!"}, {"response": 396, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Sep 16, 1998 (11:56)", "body": "there are several topics in poetry that aren't used at all, later, i'll give a warning that those topics will be retired then you can do whatever you need to clear up space."}, {"response": 397, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Wed, Sep 16, 1998 (12:49)", "body": "I can do the fifty to print in reverse, no problem... I just stuck the cartoon thingy there cause it fit... have written the conference fifty page, also, just haven't installed it... hopefully, I'll have them fixed and up by Sunday..."}, {"response": 398, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Sep 16, 1998 (18:34)", "body": "Very cool. Where did you post the dinner thing relating to Kristen. I told her about it but she couldn't find it just now."}, {"response": 399, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Wed, Sep 16, 1998 (22:18)", "body": "her topic in Babes..."}, {"response": 400, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Sep 23, 1998 (08:11)", "body": "Right, speaking of Kristen, she's our Spring birthday girl today. Bend over Kristen, we're going to give you a spanking! (twap) (twap) 26 times . . ."}, {"response": 401, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Sep 23, 1998 (13:33)", "body": "wer, please check out projects. Also, anyone interested in a little paying gig on our cs site, check out projects childrenstory topic (requires some understanding of webtv)."}, {"response": 402, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Wed, Sep 23, 1998 (20:55)", "body": "will do..."}, {"response": 403, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Tue, Sep 29, 1998 (08:39)", "body": "Welcome heidi and karen as hostesses of Drool!"}, {"response": 404, "author": "riette", "date": "Tue, Sep 29, 1998 (10:39)", "body": "WELCOME!!! I thought Nan was hostess all along. Is she coming to inner, or what? What is going on in there??"}, {"response": 405, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 29, 1998 (11:14)", "body": "Evelyn Boake was the previous droolhostess. And she is passing the baton on to Heidi and Karen. I think I got Heidi spelled right that time!"}, {"response": 406, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 29, 1998 (20:07)", "body": "Any new topic ideas anyone? Does anyone have a burning passion that would be fun to talk about? Ideas?"}, {"response": 407, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Tue, Sep 29, 1998 (21:23)", "body": "Java! It's my new thing to learn, and I'm rather hoping it will get me a very good job after graduation!"}, {"response": 408, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Oct  2, 1998 (00:15)", "body": "Sure, what conference should we put it in? computer? web?"}, {"response": 409, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Fri, Oct  2, 1998 (10:47)", "body": "since it's really just another programming language, how about putting it in computer and linking it to web?"}, {"response": 410, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Oct  3, 1998 (03:17)", "body": "Sure, you want to start it, Ray? We don't have a java topic now? I'll talk to you about Java."}, {"response": 411, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Sat, Oct  3, 1998 (12:44)", "body": "sure!"}, {"response": 412, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Oct  6, 1998 (10:03)", "body": "\"It's a software initiative that could decide who owns corporate desktops for the next 10 years. More vaporware from Microsoft Corp.? Hardly. This time, it's IBM Corp. taking the offensive. Indeed, IBM (NYSE:IBM) has drawn up a strategic blueprint to transform its enterprise business into an electronic-commerce powerhouse that spans millions of corporate desktops. In addition to betting the bank on Java, the blueprint calls for IBM to pump up Netscape's desktop business, head off Microsoft's Web browser and aggressively push OS/2 Warp customers onto other platforms. ... read more and comment in the computer conference topic on java. ratthang, would you mind linking this to the web conference, cause I keep going there to look for this."}, {"response": 413, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Tue, Oct  6, 1998 (10:12)", "body": "can i do that? i thought only hosts of confs could do things like that and AFAIK i dont host this conf or the web conf!"}, {"response": 414, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Tue, Oct  6, 1998 (10:20)", "body": "yeah, yeah, yeah...I'll do it..."}, {"response": 415, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Oct  6, 1998 (22:06)", "body": "We can add you if you want, Ray."}, {"response": 416, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Oct  6, 1998 (22:11)", "body": "wer: hahaha!!!! ray and terry: see, it worked *heehee* i see java stuff everywhere but don't understand what it means. i know it's another code and all that but what can it do? and please explain appelets to me-there is a site on the web with a picture of a wolf sitting by a body of water and the bottom half of the picture is a reflection of said wolf with ripples in the water. HOW does that work? and is it tedious?"}, {"response": 417, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Wed, Oct  7, 1998 (10:46)", "body": "java is a programming language developed by some engineers at sun microsystems. the big deal about java was that it was designed to operate on any computer platform, whether Windows, Unix, Mac, etc. another important aspect of Java is that it was designed to run across networks, so that the programs could transmit themselves across a network to operate and that they could also transmit information across networks. if you already know how to program in C++ or another OO language then Java is actually pretty easy to learn. Otherwise it would be daunting for a beginner to pick up. the wolf near water you are looking at is a java applet. applets are small programs that run inside of web browsers that do any cool things you want them to, all written in java."}, {"response": 418, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Oct  7, 1998 (13:06)", "body": "so where can i learn this stuff? is it easy to pick up like html? should i move this discussion to web????? am i asking too many questions? help!!"}, {"response": 419, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Oct  7, 1998 (15:15)", "body": "Sure, talk to us in web. I'm sure there's an html topic or two there. There are many resources for learning html on the web itself. Try doing a web search in http://www.infind.com and type the words html resources or html tutorial or html class and see what it brings back. What kind of system and software are you running, wolfie?"}, {"response": 420, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Oct  7, 1998 (17:41)", "body": "windows 95, compaq pentium. html is okay, as i learn it as i go, but the other stuff--so, i'll do the search and will probably join web. thanks!!"}, {"response": 421, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Oct  7, 1998 (17:45)", "body": "There's also a great book with color illustrations but I'm not at home now to pull it off the shelf. It has a yellow border and is full of good examples. Let us know what your search unveils ok? Maybe we can post some of the better instructional sites in the web conference or perhaps even make a page of links. I use FrontPage for ease of use, but for years I've mostly coded html using the simplest of text editors like Windows Notepad."}, {"response": 422, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Oct  7, 1998 (23:12)", "body": "i'd really like to know if a code exists to put pictures where you want them-- i.e., center them in relation to each other (if one is bigger than the one next to it) have smaller graphics sprinkled about without having to edit them into wallpaper---that kind of stuff. i tried doing it with the front page thingy i've got with this system but to no avail. will look about and let you guys know. i can't be the only one with questions!"}, {"response": 423, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Wed, Oct  7, 1998 (23:17)", "body": "try using dynamic HTML (DHTML). there is a DHTML editor called Astound that might be useful, wolfie. you might also try some creative use of tables or frames in regular HTML. what i would do in that situation is to simply lay the pictures out the way i want using a photo editor (e.g., PaintShop Pro) then just merging them all into one bigass gif or JPG."}, {"response": 424, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Oct  7, 1998 (23:42)", "body": "yeah but wouldn't that take some time to download? the page would take forever to load up! i've heard of dhtml but don't know anything about it...thanks....."}, {"response": 425, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Oct  8, 1998 (09:33)", "body": "William, please check the projects conference for some notes about what Evelyn needs, eg. getting Heidi and Karen set up to push content. When we get a little further along, wolfie, you can have a front page enabled website here which will make it a lot easier."}, {"response": 426, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Oct  8, 1998 (09:36)", "body": "Ree didn't check in last night!"}, {"response": 427, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Oct 16, 1998 (10:22)", "body": "New! Topic 55 in music: The Beatles."}, {"response": 428, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Oct 17, 1998 (19:25)", "body": "The weather in Austin is getting out of hand. See topic 31 in the austin conference."}, {"response": 429, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Oct 18, 1998 (12:40)", "body": "Topic 27 in cars: car jokes Find the car you drive in the list of cars and their personalities."}, {"response": 430, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Oct 21, 1998 (12:19)", "body": "tv. ally mcbeal. Ally jumps on John Ritters face."}, {"response": 431, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Oct 21, 1998 (15:05)", "body": "Bruce Sterling Establishes \"Viridian List\" If you watch the news, you may have noticed that we Texans have had a summer of unprecedent heat and drought, followed by an autumn of unprecedented floods. I have therefore started a new, second mailing list, which will center around 21st century Green design issues. The new \"Viridian Mailing List\" seeks a historical understanding of technology, society, and their future trends, centering around the Greenhouse Effect. Unlike Dead Media, which has been very calm and scholarly, this Viridian list will probably be rather strident and opinionated. If you would like to join the Viridian List, send me email. I will send you the 6,633-word text of my recent San Francisco lecture, in which I vent some of my strong feelings on this subject. Bruce Sterling (bruces@well.com) Where can we start a topic on this? Which conference and what would the topic be called. Any suggestions?"}, {"response": 432, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Thu, Oct 22, 1998 (20:46)", "body": "hmmm...how about spirit since that is where saving the world started... or put it in cultures..."}, {"response": 433, "author": "riette", "date": "Fri, Oct 23, 1998 (02:26)", "body": "That sounds sensible."}, {"response": 434, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Oct 29, 1998 (08:09)", "body": "topic 333 in apps: What are buddy lists? Read Microsofts astonishing press release. Is this the beginning of the end for ICQ? Can you find our newby from China? I hope he keeps coming back. End male topic creation dominance!"}, {"response": 435, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Oct 29, 1998 (08:44)", "body": "y2k Talk about it in Internet 31 (internet conference topic 31). \" For those absent in byline, I'm being bombarded with vitriolic and often bizarre email about my story last week, \"Y2K: The Missionary Position.\" I'd be interested to know what folks think of the criticisms at... http://www.wired.com/news/news/wiredview/story/15875.html One person who wrote directly to me accused me of blaming Christians for the Y2K problems.\" _ Joe Nickell, Wired writer"}, {"response": 436, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Feb  1, 2000 (00:48)", "body": "This is the first post in this topic on the new site."}, {"response": 437, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Feb  2, 2000 (14:00)", "body": "I see that it was just 22 minutes before the beginning of February. You must have slept well that night! Congratulations, again!"}, {"response": 438, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Thu, Feb  3, 2000 (09:30)", "body": "I didn't sleep at all that night!"}, {"response": 439, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, Feb  3, 2000 (13:54)", "body": "Autsch!"}, {"response": 440, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Feb  3, 2000 (20:55)", "body": "alex! hey dude, how ya been?"}, {"response": 441, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Feb  3, 2000 (21:53)", "body": "Ouch, indeed! Poor Terry. I also know another man who has spent an uncommonly vast number of hours laboring on our behalf. I wish I could hug you and let you know in person how much I appreciate the angst and sleep-deprivation you have undergone in the past weeks. My gratitude knows no bounds! Thanks, guys!"}, {"response": 442, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Sat, Feb 19, 2000 (17:50)", "body": "[Oi, Wolfspaws, how's ya 'n' yer pack doin' these days? Me hoppin' about and smackin' stuff over the head, gettin' things seen to. Mags shipping to print in - waiddaminute - 10 days. Printshop -10, but I'm in a better shape than usual. Wait three, four days, then I might be a nervous wreck as usual, but right now, nerves cool, good sleep, hands don't shake. And still stuff gets done. Looks like we got some of the kinks in production figured out - there are some more, but we know about them, and pack 'em in next time.]"}, {"response": 443, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Feb 19, 2000 (21:31)", "body": "am happy for ya, alex!!"}, {"response": 444, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Feb 19, 2000 (22:04)", "body": "Wolfie, are you ok? You sound down...*hugs*"}, {"response": 445, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Feb 21, 2000 (21:01)", "body": "yeah, i'm fine...thanks for asking! *hugs*"}, {"response": 446, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, May  4, 2001 (00:48)", "body": "Motorcycle farm vc business A few of the places that I've posted today. news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 80, "subject": "In the news of business and technology", "response_count": 148, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Fri, Sep 22, 2000 (11:40)", "body": "Busy Techie (ronks) Fri Sep 22 '00 (08:29) 18 lines Small Shops Succeeding On The Net A recent study (oh boy, more statistics) of small businesses in downtown commercial districts of older cities by the National Trust For Historic Preservation shows that mom-and-pop retailers are benefiting from web sales more than expected, and in many cases more than pure e-tailers. The survey is not ideal because it focused on smaller cities where some downtown revitalization was underway, so it might be skewed toward the optimistic, but the findings are interesting nonetheless. About a sixth of the stores polled were making sales over the Internet, on average one-seventh of their sales volume. In-store sales were mostly flat, so their gains just about equaled their web sales. Many of the stores are in niche markets like prom dresses (timeforprom.com in Thomasville GA) or old movie soundtracks (www.bsmusic.com in Montpelier VT) for whom the global exposure has been significant. And with Amazon.com's network of alliances to small businesses called zShops, the appearance of such stores on the Net is expected to grow."}, {"response": 2, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Thu, Dec  7, 2000 (09:18)", "body": "Internet Ad Companies, And Their Revenue, Shrink DoubleClick let go over 150 employees, or about 7% of its staff, this week; 24/7 Media dumped 200 last month and Engage will boot 175. DoubleClick's share price sank from $135 earlier this year to $12, while 24/7 went from $65 to $1.28 and Engage slid from $95 to $1.72. Analysts say the falloff in revenue is not just due to Internet merchants but includes traditional advertisers as well. Even the good news in a report by AdRelevance which says the number of retailers advertising on the Net quadrupled this year was tempered by the remarkable statistic that the median number of times each ad was seen dropped from 130,000 last year to 23,000. (I used to think it was just a coincidence that my spell-checker keeps trying to change \"dot-coms\" to \"dot-comas\"; now I wonder.) . - ronks"}, {"response": 3, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Thu, Dec  7, 2000 (09:18)", "body": "Creditors', Customers' Rights Conflict In Dot-com Bankruptcies If an online business promises never to sell information on its clients and then goes under, does the bankruptcy court have the right to treat its customer list as an asset to be sold? Yes but, seems to be the emerging answer from a number of cases to date. Creditors of the defunct toysmart.com site reached an agreement with the FTC, state AGs, and consumer advocates that any buyer \"must be in a related business, must purchase the entire Web site, and must agree not to resell the data without the customers' permission\". This is not a binding precedent, but it may point the way toward future compromises; in the toysmart.com example it's not gone to court because so far no buyers have appeared. Living.com, another e-flop, has sold its customer data to Martha Stewart and to direct marketer Maxwell Sroge (I wonder if he has a partner named Marley), with customers theoretically given the right to \"opt out\". While customer lists are regularly bought and sold in the offline world of merchandising, there seems to be a much greater resistance to allowing the practice among e-businesses. With Red Ink, A Nice Cabernet A Santa Barbara winery called SecretCellars.com is offering a bottle of 1996 cabernet sauvignon (which they modestly value at $1500) to \"the person who in 100 words or less writes the saddest tale of an Internet firm gone sour\". The deadline is December 13, and so far 2300 entries have been received. My favorite is the web designer who works now as an attendant at Bowl-0-Rama. The winery's CEO says she is not trying to reap a benefit from others' misfortunes, asserting that \"I am not capitalizing on these poor schmucks who couldn't figure out that spending money on company picnics was not the way.\" Such compassion... Another e-business, findwhat.com, offers free advertising to any dot-com with less than $1 million in cash and still losing money, or who has announced layoffs and not raised any new funds. They say they have received about 50 applications so far, but turned most down for failure to meet the rules. Findwhat itself, with a stock price at $1 down from $18 nine months ago, may be eligible; they might even win the wine bottle. - ronks"}, {"response": 4, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Thu, Dec  7, 2000 (09:28)", "body": "Covad Cuts The Internet service provider will lay off about an eighth of its staff to cut costs. They are also canceling the construction of a third operations center planned for Georgia. Dot-Coms Cut Outplacement firm Challenger, Gray, & Christmas released its figures on jobs eliminated at Internet companies this year, totaling about 30,000 so far. Month Jobs Cut Jan 300 Feb 100 March 25 April 400 May 2400 June 1800 July 2100 Aug 4200 Sept 4800 Oct 5800 Nov 8800 (so far) Discover Offers Single-Use Account Number As a security feature akin to a single-use password, Discover cardholders may soon be able to buy over the Internet using an account number good for only a single transaction. The \"Discovery Deskshop\" service is said to resemble Amex's \"Private Payments\" disposable-number system introduced earlier this fall. - ronks"}, {"response": 5, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Thu, Dec 21, 2000 (16:52)", "body": "More of ronks stuff, he sure provides some good tech news. More L&H Woes A report commissioned by the audit committee of Belgian speech-recognition software maker Lernout & Hauspie says a pervasive disregard of the rules led to (among other things) overstating revenue by $277 million in the last 30 months. Besides recording sales before they had a contract, the company also sometimes attached secret side letters to a contract which changed the terms. The primary culprits were the US and South Korea offices and Belgian HQ, including the two founders. Criminal prosecution is a possibility. Sharps and Flats The Sharp Corporation says it will offer a 20-inch flat-screen TV for about $1960 next year, starting in Japan. Travel Web Sites A column for the business traveler lists some interesting and potentially useful Web sites: includes a clickable \"Real-Time Airport Status\" map showing reported airport-level delays. includes a \"Flight Tracker\" with flight status by airline and number, including prospective arrival time if it's in the air. has maps of airline terminals around the world, with info on gate locations and ground transportation. And lists the three-letter airport codes and relates them to their cities."}, {"response": 6, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Mon, Jan  1, 2001 (22:38)", "body": "ronks: And the year after Chad... Free ISP Era Ends NetZero, Juno, and Bluelight have all dropped their policies of unlimited Web access for everyone - everyone willing to endure a torrent of on-screen advertising, that is. Caps on the number of hours per month, or charges for usage beyond a fixed amount, and tiered pricing have replaced the all-you- can-eat model, for two main reasons. One is the problem of a minority of users who consume a disproportionate percentage of the ISPs' resources, with some \"using the service to run their business\" according to Bluelight's CEO; the other is a sharp decline in online advertising revenues that supported the ISPs' business model. With 3.7 million active users between Juno and NetZero, the companies are likely to stay around, but most likely with a tiered pricing model, perhaps allowing low-volume users free access and charging for a premium service with fewer ads and no limits. Weight-Loss Gizmos Sprout At New Year As sure as there are new year's resolutions, there will be inventions to help achieve them with minimal effort. In the current crop: A Wisconsin man received patent 6,024,678 for a non-electric vacuum cleaner and exercise machine. You strap a tank on your back and attach special shoes with bellows and springs, that are attached to the tank with tubes. When you walk, or dance, or hop or whatever, the action of the bellows sucks dirt from foot level up to the tank. It is \"nearly silent during operation\" except for puffing and grunting sounds of the operator. Three guys from Montana got patent 6,042,508 for a dumbbell that is also a TV-VCR remote, to deal with the situation in which \"valuable exercise time is lost\" while changing channels. Evidently it differs from a remote taped to a brick in some way that makes it new. A New York woman has invented a stairstep machine you can use in the shower. And Yoshikata Yamamoto of Japan received patent 6,118,064 for \"a karaoke machine that can calculate and announce how many calories have been consumed for each song.\" It can be set to total an entire evening's warbles, or individual songs. However, it should probably not be used while vacuuming in the shower."}, {"response": 7, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Mon, Jan 15, 2001 (19:15)", "body": "More hot items from the awesome ronks More Bits On The Way According to a study at UC Berkeley, people and computers will create more data in the next three years than in the preceding 300,000. Admittedly, the study was sponsored by data storage company EMC, and the definition of data is unclear (remember Thoreau's observation \"Much is published, little printed\"). What is the resolution of a cave painting, anyway? EMC itself opines that storage expenses will amount to 70 percent of IT department budgets by 2005, and that the volume it will be able to fit into \"shoebox- size devices\" by then (though they don't say how many boxes or what size shoes) would in the 1950's have required \"an area the size of Argentina\". SDMI Hacked By Princeton Prof; Sshhh... Edward Felten, a witness at the Microsoft trial, accepted a music industry challenge to defeat the technology used in the Secure Music Digital Initiative, and he says he and his colleagues have succeeded. But he can't say how, because the federal Digital Millennium Copyright Act makes it a crime to \"offer to the public\" a means of evading such security algorithms. So you'll just have to take his word for it. Another Aggregator Packs It In MobShop is getting out of consumer group buying, to focus solely on B2B. With its announcement continues the rout that led Mercata, Priceline, and LetsBuyIt to fold. An analyst observes of the carnage \"Consumers never warmed to the aggregated buy concept; what was missing was a better sense of affiliation, like group buying for Harley riders.\" I wonder if cheapbeer.com is taken. Waldos Patented Reader of Robert Heinlein stories should remember those; actually I thought the gizmos already existed, but anyway two southern California inventors got patent 6,049,327 for \"a glove made of closely fitting elastic embedded with motion sensors\" that transmits hand and finger movement to a computer for processing."}, {"response": 8, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Tue, Jan 23, 2001 (16:15)", "body": "FuckedCompany.com is a good place for dot-com tales of woe. Very enjoyable :) The Register also has good tech-biz news."}, {"response": 9, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Tue, Jan 23, 2001 (16:19)", "body": "Oh, and the perfect anti-dote to all dot-com craziness is this site ."}, {"response": 10, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Tue, Jan 23, 2001 (20:03)", "body": "Dot coms are biting the dust, sure, but the internet industry as a whole is still soaring. The big growth is in existing companies use of the internet, not companies that are only an internet presence or website but no backroom to back it up."}, {"response": 11, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Jan 24, 2001 (08:55)", "body": "Im on my palm pilot 183 at Cameron Rd. Lucent laid off a lot of folks. anb netpliance is in danger of being delisted by the nasdaq .im at a stoplight listening to am radio. practicing my palm speedwriting"}, {"response": 12, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Wed, Jan 24, 2001 (12:59)", "body": "nerd :-)"}, {"response": 13, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Wed, Jan 24, 2001 (14:46)", "body": "Those stoplights get pretty long in the morning, so I whipped out my PalmPilot and tryied a new browser program I downeloaded the day before."}, {"response": 14, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Fri, Mar 23, 2001 (08:58)", "body": "Mister Kerbango, He Dead Seeking to hack its way out of the heart of financial darkness (OK, enough of the Joseph Conrad shtick) 3Com plans major cutbacks, including the demise of an \"Internet radio device\" called Kerbango, and Audrey, \"the company's short-lived kitchen-countertop Internet appliance\". 3Com also plans a third round of layoffs in a year and de-emphasis of its high-speed modem line in order to concentrate on corporate and wireless networking equipment. CEO Bruce Claflin says he expects to reduce the company's operating losses to zero, or even turn a profit, by May; losses have been running about $225 million a quarter. from ronks@well.com Ron Sipherd"}, {"response": 15, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Fri, Mar 23, 2001 (08:58)", "body": "More from ronks, the tidbitmaster. Bogus VeriSign Digital Certificates Issued - By VeriSign An impostor posing as a Microsoft employee tricked VeriSign into issuing two digital certificates that would enable him to electronically sign files, including executable programs, as if they originated from Microsoft. The certificates were issued on January 29 and 30, and users are advised to watch out for them since no valid MS certificates were issued on those days. Microsoft hopes to make available shortly a program to check for them which can be downloaded from their Web site. (Or a Web site that claims to be theirs anyway.) Mahi deSilva, VeriSign's vice president and general manager of applied trust services says his company can still be relied on because \"we found this problem. We've been very proactive about communicating this problem to the various authorities.\" Yeah, right. He also claims \"the person who got the certificates had a sophisticated knowledge of ways to try to fool VeriSign\", perhaps like giving a Seattle phone number."}, {"response": 16, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Sun, Mar 25, 2001 (04:15)", "body": "Yes, I heard about that. Most amusing. Makes you wonder how many other digital certificates out there are bogus..."}, {"response": 17, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, May  3, 2001 (15:43)", "body": "ronks: YAWS - Just When You Thought It Was Safe To Go Untethered Yet Another Wireless Standard has entered the ether derby; Atheros Communications plans to announce its implementation of 802.11a, which promises up to 73 megabits per second bandwidth over the 5 gigahertz frequency. It is not to be confused with the equally euphonious 802.11b standard, which offers up to 11 Mbits/sec in the 2.4 GHz range, and now likes to be called \"Wi-Fi\" in \"an effort to sound consumer friendly\". The Standard Formerly Known As 802.11b is said to lead the market despite news of how easy it is to eavesdrop on. Also in the running is Bluetooth, named for an obscure Viking but falling behind after Microsoft decided not to include it in Windows XP. And another called HomeRF, once an Intel entry but now slipping. (All of these are described as incompatible with one another, of course.) Continuing, we find another member of the 802.11 family called 802.11G which is faster than and intended to be compatible with little brother b. Come back here, we're not done yet; Europe shows its independence with yes, another incompatible standard called HiperLAN, and I haven't even mentioned the cellular standards 2.5G and 3G, which offer up to 64 Kbits per second. Gentlemen, start your protocols. Web Radio Stations Shut Down Over Royalties Clear Channel Communications has stopped streaming the broadcast of 381 radio stations it owns and about 120 others owned by various companies have followed suit after the AFTRA union notified them its members were entitled to three times their original fees if commercials they appeared in were broadcast on the Internet. Another show-stopper is the issue of how much compensation is due to record companies (that again) under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act; the Copyright Office has not yet decided what the law calls for, and payments may be retroactive to 1998. Until the setback, Web radio was growing rapidly from 56 stations in 1996 to 5500 this spring. Dot-Com Bust, The Movie A film-making roommate of the CEO of GovWorks.com, an Internet startup that went from zero to 250 employees in one year and from 250 to zero the next, has teamed up with D. A. Pennebaker to produce \"Startup.com\" based on her voluminous cinema-verite recordings of the birth and death of the company. Release date is scheduled for May 11. Digital Communications Patented Patent number 6,222,465 was awarded to Senthil Kumar and Jakub Segen for a system of cameras and software \"for using free-form hand gestures to command a computer\". OK, who out there has *not* from time to time used free-form hand gestures directed at their computer? Didn't think so. Well, now it will supposedly read and interpret the command, though it may display \"I'm sorry sir but I can't physically do that\". http://www.blug.linux.no/rfc1149/ MarchFirst Meets Chapter Seven After it filed last month for a Chapter 11 reorganization under bankruptcy court protection, the Internet consulting firm has been selling off assets to the point where a major unsecured creditor threatened to hold its officers and directors personally liable if they continued the fire sale. So the CFO has quit and the company has decided to liquidate itself formally under a Chapter 7 proceeding; it has already let go 3,450 employees or half its staff. Quote Of The Day Federal Reserve Board chairman Alan Greenspan, addressing winners of an economic-policy contest for high school students: \"Remember, if you are practicing to be a central banker - you do not smile.\" Loudcloud Lowers Volume The company had 74 employees in January, rose to 629 last month, and will boot 122 as the result of a cash shortage. It plans to seek additional savings \"through the reduction of a variety of headcount-related and discretionary expense items\". How great to work for a company that refers to its staff as \"headcount-related items\". Micron Out Of PC Business Micron has apparently tried and failed to find a buyer for its PC division, unprofitable despite its $1 billion a year revenue; it wants to concentrate on Web site operations. (I thought it was also a big chip maker, but that's not mentioned.) Anyway they dumped the division on a turnaround group to spiff up and resell; Micron paid them $70 million to take it away, but may recoup if the operation is later sold at a profit. Dell Beats Apple In Education Market But Steve Jobs is fighting back, with a new light (4.9 lbs.) laptop for $1300 (a photo shows him tossing it in the air, Not A Good Example for bored students) and a plan to introduce wireless networks in schools for use with portable computers. Microsoft Exec Denounces Open Source Admittedly seeing the open-source movement represented by Linux and the like as a threat to its hopes of moving up into the corporate server market, Microsoft SVP Craig Mundie says the company is planning \"a broad campaign\" to discredit it (and sow FUD). Their primary target of opportunity is the General Public License, or GPL, whi"}, {"response": 18, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Sun, May  6, 2001 (11:49)", "body": "Web Radio Stations Shut Down Over Royalties The DMCA is the biggest screw-up your country ever made, sadly. Dot-Com Bust, The Movie Mmmm...I'll enjoy watching that go Straight-to-Video ;-))) Things are so bad according to the article that when another ad agency had phone problems for a day, clients who couldn't reach them figured they had gone out of business *huge grins*"}, {"response": 19, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, May 10, 2001 (00:25)", "body": "Dragon Systems Seeks Comeback AD 2000 was The Year Of The Dragon, but it was not a good one for the maker of speech-recognition software. Founders James and Janet Baker sold their company to rival Lernout & Hauspie for $600 million in stock. Unfortunately L&H stock has not been the wisest of investments; Messrs. Lernout and Hauspie have been ordered not to leave the country (Belgium in this case) while charges of fraud and stock manipulation are investigated, L&H has filed for bankruptcy, and the price of a share has declined a bit; from $72.50 to 63 cents. Dragon Systems as a subsidiary has basically been gutted, with 2/3 of its staff let go, development at a standstill, and tumbleweeds blowing down the corridors past the empty cubicles. What's left of it may be sold off to raise money to pay L&H's debts; the Bakers have hired David Boies to either retrieve the available bits of the company, or to get the earlier merger reversed. Chances aren't too good at this point. Napster, Meet Aimster The new service is also a form of peer-to-peer file sharing, but the software from Above Peer Inc. is for users of AOL Instant Messaging (hence the name) to swap files of all kinds including music, and it lacks a central directory which was sort of Napster's legal Achilles heel. The company is pre-emptively suing the RIAA for a declaration that the service does not violate copyright laws, after the RIAA threatened to sue them. Digital Signature ID To Be Built Into Microsoft Products Windows, Office, and other MS software will include a user-identification facility called Identrus, developed by a consortium of banks. Identrus relies on digital signatures for users; the banks will issue the electronic identity certificates. The software has been available for a while, but incorporating it into an application is said to be made easier with the MS adoption of the standard. \"IBM Develops New Method for Making LCDs\" Reuters (05/03/01) IBM has developed a new way to position the liquid crystals used in liquid crystal displays, a feat IBM scientist Praveen Chaudhari says is the \"Holy Grail\" of flat-panel display manufacturing. In the new technique, atoms are beamed at a sheet of carbon to line up the atoms in rows, upon which liquid crystal particles attach. The older method, developed 95 years ago, required using velvet to put the atoms in place, resulting in flaws difficult to detect. IBM says the new method will result in lower production costs and better picture resolution. RLX (formerly Rocketlogix) are announcing a new line of Transmeta Crusoe-based low-power webservers today, and IBM will resell them. The RLX can pack up to 24 *complete web servers* into a 3U chassis, which needs only eight fans total. The servers come on hot-pluggable blades (Linux blades will reportedly run about $1,500 - 2,200 and Windows from 1,700 - 2,400, while the chassis will be around $2,600), and will be available either pre-configured or build-to-order. Transmeta's on a mini-roll; Toshiba's new Libretto laptop models will use Crusoe CPUs as well. OTOH the company's stock sank 24% yesterday, when the IPO lockup period expired and people were free to sell shares. Reuters says 675 cuts at Exodus, 15% of workforce. http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010509/tc/tech_exodus_dc.html US Home Internet Access Declines In a first since records began to be kept on this in 1980, the number of American households with Internet access declined in the quarter ending March 31, according to Telecommunications Reports International. The reason given is \"the failure of the free Internet service provider as a viable business model\"; subscribers to free ISPs fell over 19 percent, leading to an overall drop of 0.25% to 68.5 million US home subscribers of all ISPs. EMachines For Sale The company as well as the hardware. The PC maker says it is the third- largest seller of home computers in retail stores, but its plans to offer ads on inexpensive machines and sell Internet services have not worked out as hoped, so it's looking for a buyer. Cray In The Black Supercomputer maker Cray Inc. showed a quarterly net profit of $3 million, compared with last year's first quarter loss of $8 million. Red Sky At Night Execs at Internet ad agency Red Sky seem to be making a dash for the exits. Evidently within days of one another, the CEO and chairman, the chief financial officer, the SVP for sales, the SVP for client services and production, and an EVP with the Orwellian title of \"chief people officer\" have all quit. Remaining amidst the wreckage are the \"chief strategic officer\" and the \"chief technology officer\"; and the \"chief operating officer and president\", who has been promoted to acting CEO. The fate of the Chief Officer In Charge Of Fancy Titles and Silly Walks was undisclosed."}, {"response": 20, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, May 11, 2001 (00:47)", "body": "ronks@well.com: Jury Finds Rambus Patent Fraud The holder of patents on high-speed memory sued Infineon Technologies for infringement, and Infineon countersued. A Federal court jury found that Rambus had obtained patents based on \"information from an industry standards group\"; the judge in the case thereupon dismissed the patent claims. Rambus says it will appeal, though generally a jury's findings of fact are not reversed by higher courts. Microstrategy's Auditor Settles; Avant's Is Fired PriceWaterhouseCoopers has agreed to pay $51 million plus interest for certifying the company's financial reports in 1999, before they read in a Forbes article that the numbers were wrong. They were restated from a $13 million profit to a $34 M loss; earlier years' claimed profits also turned to losses under inspection. The company made headlines in March 2000 when its CEO Michael Saylor announced plans to fund an Internet university to provide \"free education for everyone on earth forever\". Mr. Saylor learned a lot himself since then, as the price of a share sank from $333 to $1.75. Meanwhile in Fremont CA, KPMG warned the board of software maker Avant that it lacked controls to determine the accuracy of its financial statements. Avant then fired KPMG as its auditor; a spokesman says there is \"no connection\" between the two events."}, {"response": 21, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, May 14, 2001 (15:17)", "body": "ronks: Intel Gets Bigger Within a couple of months, they will start increasing the size of the \"wafer\", the round silicon-plus plate that circuits are etched on, from 200 millimeters diameter to 300 mm (roughly from 8 inches across to 12). The greater size will permit almost twice as many chips to be produced per wafer, saving an estimated 30 percent in manufacturing costs. Intel will need to save: costs to them for the new technology are estimated at $7.5 billion in capital expense plus $4.2 B in R&D (over an unstated period of time). Wafer-size history: in the 1960's it was about the size of a quarter; Intel pioneered the move to 150-mm wafers in the 1980's, and IBM led the way to 200 mm in 1994. This time the leader is Siemens/Infineon and Motorola in a venture called Semiconductor300. The leader usually has to pick up the tab for the initial fabrication technology, which is probably why Intel and IBM were happy to let someone else go first this time. Internet Gets Bigger Cisco Systems is expected to announce today the commercial availability of new router software to handle IP version 6. The current protocol, IPv4, merely provides for about 4 billion unique Internet addresses; with every subatomic particle from here to Alpha Centauri needing its own address, that is plainly inadequate. Kludges like Network Address Translation (NAT) have staved off address-space disaster so far but Cisco estimates it will hit the wall in about 9 years. Implementation of IPv6 is another matter; one analyst notes that \"until the ISPs feel the pain, they aren't going to do anything\". Internet Gets Useful Until now, the global network has merely offered information and the promise of wealth, knowledge, and sex (of the pictorial variety anyway). However patent 6,229,430, awarded to Mary Smith Dewey of Dallas, offers to use the Internet to provide sleep! The miracle device consists of a clock, a keypad, a modem, and a CPU chip. How it works is you program it for things like traffic and weather conditions that would make you get up earlier or later than usual (which you have to tell the gizmo, along with how much earlier or later, etc.) Let's say it's snowing, evidently a frequent problem in Dallas since that's the example Ms. Dewey cites. The invention would wake you at a predefined earlier time so you could plow your way into work - except suppose that means the airport is closed and your flight has been cancelled, this machine would know not to rouse you for the futile effort and let you snooze in some more. Similarly it would (somehow) monitor traffic reports to determine the amount of delay on Highway ###, to see if it should nudge you up a bit sooner. Sound good? Well, there is a dark price to be paid for this blessing: the diabolical Ms. Dewey notes in her application that \"advertising may be substituted for the alarm signal\". E-Caps Offered If you think the drive for more Internet address space is pressing, it's nothing compared to man's quest for a new place to advertise (see clock story above). A firm from media center Winnipeg, Manitoba offers hubcaps that don't move and you can print ads on. Well, of course they move when the car does, don't be silly, I mean they don't appear to rotate but instead stay with one side up so the ad remains readable to dogs and very short people stepping off the curb. They're 17 inches in diameter, 50 LA taxicabs are presently so adorned with an option for another 150, and they are apparently called E-Caps because that sounds trendy in Winnipeg."}, {"response": 22, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, May 17, 2001 (08:12)", "body": "\b\b\b Brits Buy Island London-based Cable and Wireless just bought San Francisco Web host Digital Island for $291 million cash plus taking over $49 M of their debt. C&W can afford it, with $4.2 billion in cash from recent divestments. AMD Numbering Leap The chip-maker announced the Athlon 4 for laptops. Rival Intel's Pentium 4 is presently available only for desktop computers and is not expected to be offered for mobile uses till 2002. This remarkable feat was accomplished by jumping from the Athlon straight to the Athlon 4; there is no Athlon 2 or 3. It is not clear if Intel's next chip will be the Pentium 99999999999999999. Rogue Domains At Large Still on the name game, Prodigy has partnered with a registry called New.net to offer their own top-level domains like .free, .shop, and .sports that are not approved by ICANN. Since nobody else recognizes them, you have to either use special software or one of their partner ISPs. IBM Claims Openness They say their new release of middleware (DB2, Lotus, Tivoli, and WebSphere) will follow \"open standards\" that permit connection to other software that plays by the same rules. So, DB2 is middleware now; who'd a thunk it. ronks"}, {"response": 23, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, May 18, 2001 (08:27)", "body": "ronks again! Microsoft Appoints CXO A new title has been created to join the ranks of Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operating, Chief Financial, etc. Robbie Bach, described as the company's \"Chief Xbox Officer\", announced that the new game machine would be available in the US starting November 8, in time for the Christmas rush, listing at $300. They expect to have ~700,000 ready to put under the tree by that time, with 15-20 games written to run on them. That Ain't Chopped Liver George Shaheen, the former Webvan head (CWO? Big Cheese?) who lasted only 18 months at the \"beleaguered company\", will receive $375,000 a year for the rest of his life in accordance with a deal made when he joined the online grocer in 1999. The company says it will \"honor our commitment\", though he may end up taking those clams in the form of stale Oreos if the company doesn't pick up soon."}, {"response": 24, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, May 18, 2001 (08:29)", "body": "ronks@well.com Ron Sipherd Host of the Business and Technology (biztech or bt) conference on the WELL. Author of WDL, a Windows batch facility for Well access Day job: automation and communications project management software license drafting and negotiation Ron has given us permission to quote his great business tidbits, and it's a great service. Thanks Ron! !"}, {"response": 25, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, May 23, 2001 (13:45)", "body": "ronks: Speechless Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products plans to either sell its \"speech and language technology\" to satisfy creditors who are owed about $500 million, or spin off a new company owning the assets to the creditors. L&H's staff and the remnants of Dragon Systems will be included in the divestiture; what will actually remain of L&H afterwards is unclear. Some swivel chairs and filing cabinets, maybe. CA Boils The Books Some More Computer Associates has gone to \"pro forma\" accounting in publishing its financial reports, which basically means they set the rules. Since they also have to publish figures in accordance with the generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) mandated by the SEC, the comparison shows how they are trying to make themselves look good. The company also acknowledges that its new figures include $658 million in revenue they credited twice, and that their pro forma rules allow them to book revenue from a long-term contract in any quarter they choose, perhaps to beef up a weak one just ahead of a new stock offering. The figures below are in millions, for the fiscal years ended March 31: This Last Last Last Year's Year's Year's Year's Profit Profit Sales Sales Pro Forma 931 787 5600 5300 GAAP 95 1800 4200 6100"}, {"response": 26, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, May 24, 2001 (11:40)", "body": "ronks never fails to come up with interesting stuff. This guy is amazing. Where Home Pages Go To Die We all know that the Graveyard Of The Atlantic is, um, somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean most likely, but how many know about the Museum of E-Failure? Where the corpses of boo.com, eve.com, Kozmo, PlanetRx and others remain like Lenin preserved for eternity (in Internet time this is about a week, though the MoE-F may continue at least till the owner loses interest). Archaeologists of e-commerce may visit according to the article for defunct pages and some that are put in a \"protective zoo\" or e-hospice against their impending demise, such as APBNews.com and NBCi.com. The creator of the sepulchre is a Yonkers programmer who once worked for Time's Pathfinder service and observes if he didn't save dead Web sites, \"there's no proof I actually did anything.\" Just Add Water Borrowing a technique from mainframes, IBM has introduced a water cooler to some of its laptop models. Not the kind people stood around in 50's office movies to trade gossip but a little tiny water-filled radiator inside the case. Now that laptop processors generate over 25 watts, using them on one's lap without a padded apron has become uncomfortable if not hazardous, so the higher heat-carrying capacity of water over air is expected to make the units more efficient at dissipating waste therms. The radiators are powered solely by convection, so no fan is required and they run quieter than their air-breathing cousins. IBM also claims the amount of water used in their A20, A21, and T20 models is so small that you don't need to add antifreeze in the winter. Razorfish Lawsuit Dropped A Federal court judge in New York dismissed a class-action suit against the Internet consulting firm that claimed it inflated share prices with false info on i-Cube, a company it bought out two years ago. Plaintiffs may still proceed I think but without the class-action big bucks incentive. Dell Goes To War James Vanderslice, Dell's president (and presumably commander-in-chief), says the PC maker is in a \"full-scale price war to increase market share\". Prices for components are falling about 1 percent a week, and the benefits will be passed on to buyers within 3 days he says."}, {"response": 27, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, May 25, 2001 (14:59)", "body": "ronks, the busy techie: Be Very Afraid Buried in an announcement that Lockheed and Microsoft will collaborate on bids for government e-mail and e-commerce systems was the statement that Microsoft is developing the software for the US Navy's \"next nuclear-powered aircraft carrier\". When that baby BSODs, look out. Maybe they will station it in Madagascar. (Maybe it will just go there by mistake and run aground.) Covad Sinking The ISP delayed release of its annual financial statement for three months, for unspecified reasons. One of them may have been to put off the news that they lost $1.4 billion in the year; they also reduced previously published numbers for earlier quarters. They say their auditors doubt if they can remain in business; a billion here, a billion there, pretty soon people begin to wonder."}, {"response": 28, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, May 31, 2001 (22:16)", "body": "ronks: Outpost Bought Out New Hampshire based PC Connection (is that the company with the raccoon in its ads?) has bought the former Cyberian Outpost in a stock swap for an undetermined amount based on a formula involving the Outpost's sales in the next three months and the average price of PCC stock for the ten days before the close of the deal. TLC and Dragon Deal The Learning Company of Novato will sell speech products Dragon Naturally- Speaking and L&H's Voice Express in the US and Canada, under a deal that requires bankruptcy court approval. The two products are said to represent \"the majority of the $35 million retail market for speech recognition software\"."}, {"response": 29, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Jun  4, 2001 (16:49)", "body": "Windows XP A Hacker's Paradise? The UC San Diego Supercomputer Center reports the number of \"distributed denial of service attacks\" in which a hacker takes over other PCs and uses them as zombies to flood a target site with spurious but time- and bandwidth-consuming requests is growing. During a three-week period in February, the center recorded 13,000 such attacks against 5,000 sites, with about 40 active at any time; while 90 percent lasted less than an hour, 2% extended for days or weeks. The center estimates it recorded only about half of the actual number of such attacks, which have numerous variants and for which instructions are available on the Web. Steve Gibson of Gibson Research suggests the new Net-centric Windows XP will create \"a powerful network communications standard that attackers could widely exploit\", especially with more users online all the time on DSL and cable modems. (The article doesn't say if Mr. G thinks the XP standards are vulnerable or if the popularity of Windows will just offer a large pool of similar targets.) The manager of Microsoft's Security Response Center says XP will have built- in features to prevent the zombization of PCs running it. Microsoft and AOL Negotiate - Or Don't Depending on who you ask and the time of day, corporate titans MS and AOL either are or are not talking about settling their licensing and legal concerns with each other. At one time last week it looked like both parties had given up over Microsoft's demand that AOL not challenge it over antitrust issues but they seem to have cooled off and started talking again. Talks began when AOL's license to use Internet Explorer expired a few months ago, but they have lots of other items on the menu. Viz., AOL wants a featured spot on the Windows XP desktop and needs to come to terms with IE even though it owns Netscape (a Web browser popular back in the twentieth century). AOL also wants to be a player, or at least not a victim, of Microsoft's new .Net and Hailstorm consumer-commerce initiatives. MS has a wish list of its own, of course, besides an antitrust \"get out of jail free\" Monopoly card. They want to pry open the clamshell known as AOL Instant Messaging standards so MSN Messenger can interact with it, and they want to add Windows Media Player to RealPlayer and other formats supported by AOL. AOL recently dropped plans for a direct assault on the Windows citadel with the \"AOL PC\", a cheap computer running GNU-Linux with a graphic user interface by the now-defunct Eazel Inc. software developer. \"zombization\" I like that. ronks"}, {"response": 30, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Jun  5, 2001 (17:59)", "body": "ronks again: So MS has not actually described those \"other security measures that prevent DDoS clients from taking advantage of the openness of their sockets code\"? That's expecting people to take a lot on faith, which is not a good way to run a security operation IMHO. Napster Near Deal With Record Companies MusicNet is a consortium of AOL Time Warner, BMG, EMI, and RealNetworks. They are said to be working out the details of a contract to license their music to Napster in Real format so long as Napster maintains some specified security level to ensure consumers don't hear notes they haven't paid for. The deal would also bar Napster from cutting a deal with MusicNet's enemy Duet, a Sony-Vivendi Universal partnership. A potential obstacle is the songwriters, who \"want higher royalty rates on digital music than CD's.\" Data Storage Standards Developed Yet another consortium, this time a subset of hardware makers called the Storage Networking Industry Association, is putting together a set of standards to let users mix storage equipment on a system. Sun, who has not been invited to participate for some reason, says they have no details on the plan. Neither did the author of the story evidently, which is pretty vague on what the need is or how it will be met. Microsoft Tries To Enlist Press Against FSF Seeking to use reporters as a sort of fifth column against the Free Software Foundation, the company sent them three pages of questions it wanted them to ask Richard Stallman who gave a talk at the NYU B-school last week. Sample loaded question: \"Does the all-or-nothing viral approach of the GPL [the FSF's framework license] severely limit business flexibility?\" It's unclear if MS also wanted reporters to ask Mr. Stallman if he had stopped having carnal relations with barnyard animals. Quote Of The Day Not exactly a response to the planted MS queries but still a nice riposte, FSF general counsel and Columbia law professor Eben Moglen: \"Microsoft, which used to say all the time that the software business was ruthlessly competitive, is now matched against a competitor whose model of production and distribution is so much better that Microsoft stands no chance of prevailing in the long run. They're simply trying to scare people out of dealing with a competitor they can't buy, can't intimidate, and can't stop.\" Incidentally, the IDC research firm reports that users of GNU-Linux rose from 1000 nine years ago to 9 million last year."}, {"response": 31, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Jun  6, 2001 (14:16)", "body": "New Covad CEO Fights Doom In what the article colorfully calls \"a desperate attempt to stave off financial doom\", Covad appointed a new president. He has to deal with an unexpected $1.44 billion loss last year (a billion here, a billion there, where did it all go), a still-pending delay in announcing last quarter's results, and a possible Nasdaq delisting. Doom indeed. Amazon.com puter The former bookstore that now sells toys, hard drives, and air compressors will offer PCs in a few months. Unlike books, Amazon won't maintain an inventory of them but will instead have a distributor ship them. This \"virtual inventory\" approach hasn't worked out for other retailers like Buy.com, but it's been a winner for make-to-order manufacturers like Dell. Microsoft Takes Aim At AIM AOL Instant Messaging is the target of the new Windows Messenger due to ship with Windows XP this fall. MS says it will allow the sharing of documents (like NetMeeting?), transmission of audio and video files, and even remote access to other PC's. Copyright issues? Security concerns? Hahahahaha... ronks, of course"}, {"response": 32, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Jun  6, 2001 (14:17)", "body": "Sounds like Windows Messenger is a repackaged Netmeeting."}, {"response": 33, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Jun  8, 2001 (12:02)", "body": "Virtual Storage Indeed Myspace.com had 7.5 million registered and 2.2 M active users for its free online storage service when it vanished from cyberspace four days ago. The CEO of the SF firm says it gave users e-mail notice six days earlier, but some say they saw nothing until they tried to visit the site and 404'ed. While Xdrive, i-drive, and FreeDrive remain, rival Driveway shut down four months ago for consumers, to focus on paid storage for businesses. Baby Domains Offered A domain name registry offers a free domain name for infants born at Redwood City's Sequoia Hospital through the end of the year. Presumably some older relative needs to contact www.namezero.com to take advantage of the offer unless the neonate is exceptionally precocious, though the hospital is in a high-tech region. Jason.com and heather.com are probably taken already, so if you want to be sure you might name it Torquemada or something. Chips Drop The Semiconductor Industry Association says global chip sales should fall 14% from last year to a piddling $175 billion, as buyers work off a glut from last year in a slow economy. Still not all is gloom: the SIA says 2002 sales should be up 21%, and another 25% in 2003. Perhaps after hearing the news, TI shut two Dallas plants with 1800 workers for one to three weeks. ronks. Who else?"}, {"response": 34, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Jun  9, 2001 (00:24)", "body": "ronks (Ron Sipherd): AT&T Dumps Microsoft Despite a $5 billion investment by Microsoft, AT&T has abandoned plans to use their software for interactive TV. For 18 months or more, the hardware (240,000 DCT-5000 set-top units) has been sitting in warehouses waiting for MS to develop the code to run it, and it apparently is still not ready; AT&T may convert the boxes to run as simple digital TV units and abandon the interactive concept altogether, to promote instead a variety of Internet services to cable boxes, PCs, and other gizmos. Microsoft's $5 B investment is now worth $1.1 B; boo hoo. Meanwhile Steve Ballmer says he has found a customer for his company's interactive TV software, namely TV Cabo Portugal. Well, it's a start... NetZero, Juno Merge Described as \"the two biggest providers of free Internet access\", the ISPs account for 7 million subscribers, and the combined firm will be the second largest ISP, after AOL Time Warner. Both companies will become subsidiaries of a new corporation called United Online Inc."}, {"response": 35, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Jun  9, 2001 (00:44)", "body": "Wow!! that will be impressive . Had heard that AT&T was not going in with MS on that interactive TV deal. I don't think Bill Gates will be filing for welfare this week, however!"}, {"response": 36, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Jun 18, 2001 (17:07)", "body": "From the article: \"In a conference call yesterday [June 15] with stock analysts, Mr. Roth [Joe Roth, Nortel CEO] revealed a troubling finding for Nortel's business and the industry in general. The company calculates that Internet traffic, which has climbed sharply in recent years, declined slightly in the most recent quarter, Mr. Roth said.\" What If They Built A Network And No One Came? In the 1870's after the Civil War, the easy availability of cheap capital led to a rapid expansion in railroad track mileage in the absence of corresponding demand. Often the entrepreneurs built lines to towns and paid no attention to how customers would get goods between the station and their homes and businesses. After a few years, the bubble burst and it took nearly a decade for the market and the economy to recover. Fast-forward 130 years: companies have spent $35 billion to lay 100 million miles of fiber- optic lines around the world even though only about 10 percent of US residences have high-speed links. Only 5% of installed fiber is \"lit\" and the remainder is unused. So far this year, investors have lost $12.8 billion on the default of $13.9 B of telecommunications bonds, over twice what they lost in all of last year. Those who do not remember the past etc. AOL-Microsoft Talks Collapse The parties don't even agree on what they disagree about. AOL says the only area unresolved was MS insistence that AOL drop RealPlayer for Windows Media Player, while MS says AOL wanted everything, gave up nothing, and \"wanted to sue us over XP\". Microsoft's goals in the negotiations seem to be getting AOL to agree not to raise antitrust issues in litigation and its cooperation in the rollout of Windows XP, with its many bundled consumer features. Since MS seems to be gearing up to do to AOL with XP and its \"Hailstorm\" project what MS Office did to WordPerfect and Lotus, it's perhaps not surprising that AOL declined to play ball (or play dead?). Besides agreeing not to sue MS over antitrust issues (which is a pretty major concession when you don't know what they're going to do) and ending AOL's arrangement with MS rival RealPlayer, Microsoft wanted concessions on AOL Instant Messaging; and it's not clear that MS really had that much to offer in return if AOL is willing to fight back for its turf instead of seeking accommodation. The End Of An Era Autodesk is reported to have stopped holding its free Friday afternoon beer parties. Sigh. One employee reacted by comparing CEO Carol Bartz's $1.5 million annual salary and $15.3 million stock options with the estimated $532 weekly cost of 30 pizza, a keg, 6 bottles of wine and 8 bags of chips. Quote Of The Day \"The market has had the worst correction it's had in a generation, and yet it's still not cheap.\" - Chief Investment Officer Kevin Parke at MFS: noting that Cisco, down from $80 a share to $16.65, is still trading at 60 times its expected earnings. Still not cheap! Wow! AOL and Msft at it still."}, {"response": 37, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Mon, Jun 18, 2001 (18:12)", "body": "Another 10,000 jobs are going at Nortel: Audience: Nortel Networks Employees This morning we issued an important announcement regarding our outlook and the steps we are taking to continue to align our business to a severe economic and industry downturn and what is a period of profound adjustment for our customers. As we indicated in our announcement, we believe that this downturn will be protracted. We should fully recognize how difficult this period will be. The six priorities in our \"Alignment Plan\" reflect the seriousness of the situation that we, and our customers and other market participants, find ourselves in. We must continue to: 1. Accelerate our cost reduction and reset to \"break even\" at current business levels; 2. Return to positive cash flow by management of expenses, inventories, capital and receivables; 3. Focus business around core growth areas and exit/dispose of/transition our ownership in others; 4. Retain employees by implementing initiatives such as the Stock Option Exchange; 5. Target top customers and direct sales opportunities for incremental and new revenue and ensure superior customer satisfaction; and 6. Deliver on our key product initiatives targeting high-growth markets. As I indicated today, and in our town-hall of last week, we are making good progress against this \"Alignment Plan.\" The programs that we have implemented since the beginning of the year are expected to result in excess of US$3 billion in savings on an annualized basis. We have more work to do, but this is a good start. We have thus far notified approximately 20,000 employees. Sadly, due to the protracted downturn, we will be eliminating another 10,000 positions as we continue to align with the market. We will move as quickly as we can with the aim of having this completed by the end of the third quarter. Despite the times, Nortel Networks remains one of the best-positioned companies in our industry. Our leadership bench-strength and employees are among the best in the world. We have a world-class portfolio of solutions that lead the market today and we are on track to bring the next generation of solutions to market. Our sales and technical teams are lined up against the top service providers and are focused on delivering a superior customer experience. The challenge before us is clear: execute our \"Alignment Plan\" and emerge from the severe downturn and this period of adjustment as a strongly positioned company. I want to thank you all, along with our shareholders and suppliers, for the support we are receiving during this very difficult period. I do not underestimate the toll it is taking on you and your families, and I want you to be assured that we are doing everything we can to get through this period of alignment as fast as we can. By my retirement in April, my goal is to have Nortel Networks returned to profitability and positioned as the undisputed leader in our target markets and with the customers we serve. Although we will continue to face a challenging market environment for the near term, I am personally committed to building on our leadership, re-establishing our momentum, and getting our realignment completed. Thank you, John Roth"}, {"response": 38, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Mon, Jun 18, 2001 (18:13)", "body": "Dotcom casualties litter skid row Associated Press has uncovered evidence to the contrary after visiting the soup kitchens and homeless shelters that lie on the flip side of the American dream. Depressed database programmers and the like have joined drug addicts, alcoholics and the mentally ill as society's hard luck cases. ... more..."}, {"response": 39, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Jun 26, 2001 (14:26)", "body": "Webtoon Firms Not Ready For Prime Time A couple years ago before the dot-com bubble burst, the Internet was seen as a natural vehicle for online animations and other streaming real-time media into the home. Alas, Ye Olde Modemme is not fast enough to handle live video, and there are too few consumers with DSL or cable modems to keep the newcomer industry going. With pseudo.com and others fading to black, only a couple like Visionary Media and Bullseye Art, both located in Manhattan, are still creating products such as the WhirlGirl series featuring a female geek/superheroine who \"prevents an evil media empire from controlling viewers' lives\". The survivors are using their skills with Macromedia Flash to create animations for broadcast TV at a fraction of the old cost; the article says a half-hour episode of \"The Simpsons\" or \"The Smurfs\" costs around $400,000 to animate (not counting the writers admin costs, and voice actors); with Flash the estimated average cost is around $160,000. Does this mean WhirlGirl is about to sell out to the evil media empire? Yes, probably; the founder and \"chief creative officer\" of Bullseye says \"Getting acquired and becoming part of a studio is not the worst thing that could happen.\" Perhaps she will start battling evil pre-IPO upstarts. Fastest Transistor Contest Heats Up Actually the physical heat production seems to have diminished, with IBM announcing its new 210-gigahertz(!) transistor needs 50% less power to run than current units. A single transistor doesn't seem very useful in these days of large-scale circuit integration, but IBM predicts it will form the basis of communications devices capable of speeds up to 100 GHz within two years. A couple of weeks ago, Intel announced a transistor for CPUs (and therefore \"not directly comparable\" with IBM's, the story says) that switches at speeds of up to 1.5 terahertz, and will form the core of processors running at 20 gigahertz. RIP Alpha When it was announced by DEC in 1992, the Alpha microprocessor was the first 64-bit CPU for general use outside of supercomputers. After Compaq bought DEC in 1998, they supported its development as well as that of a MIPS chip used in their Tandem Himalaya subsidiary. No more; in a deal with Intel, Compaq will phase out the Alpha and the MIPS by 2004 for its one million- plus users (though they say Alpha upgrades will continue through 2003) and replace them with an upcoming generation of Intel's 64-bit Itanium CPU called McKinley. That seems to leave as rivals only IBM's PowerPC and Sun's UltraSparc for high-performance machines. Napster Case Drags On It's easy to forget the lawsuit never actually went to trial; instead all the skirmishing was (and still is) over a preliminary injunction issued last July by District Court judge Marilyn Patel. Napster requested an en banc hearing by the entire Ninth Circuit of an appeal it lost to a three-judge panel; that request was just denied. Unless they go to the Supremes, the trial can now begin, though no date for it has yet been scheduled. Meanwhile, the RIAA who won that appeal has filed one of its own to Judge Patel's requirement that they provide file names to Napster in order to get them removed from the servers. And the Academy (as in Academy Awards) just sued Napster for making \"live Oscar show performances\" available. Perhaps simulated Oscar acts would be OK? Thanks again, Ron."}, {"response": 40, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Jun 27, 2001 (15:13)", "body": "New Patent Threatens Microsoft Intertrust Technologies of Santa Clara just received a patent on authorizing the use of digital media over disparate types of hardware such as PCs, cell phones, and MP3 players. That is said to be \"at the heart of Microsoft's .NET and Hailstorm software strategies\" which in turn are key components of its Windows XP business plan. The patent breathes new life into Intertrust's two-month-old lawsuit against MS for infringement of its digital rights management technology patents by Windows Media Player, also an XP component. Intertrust is said to be a business partner and ally of AOL Time Warner and RealNetworks, neither of whom are apt to cut MS any slack out of goodwill. Dot-Com Job Losses Slowing? June job cuts were said to be down 31% in June from the month before, to 9,216. They averaged about 13,000 a month in January - May according to outplacement folks Challenger, Gray & Christmas. ISP Prices Rising Earthlink will raise its all-you-can-eat monthly charge $2 to $22, following AOL's recent increase to $24. Sneezeless GMO Cat Announced Well, the new genetically-modified feline might itself sneeze, but it is intended not to be a source of sneezing in others. Previous bio-pet research has focused on cloning departed Fidos and Muffys to make new copies for grieving wealthy owners, but Transgenic Pets is working on a cat without a protein that triggers an allergic reaction in humans. (Unfortunately, that protein serves to keep the animal's skin moist, so the bionic cat might have to be kept in a tub of water; they're working on that.) I'd like to see one crossed with a chameleon so its fur changes to the color of the pants leg it's rubbing against, but this doesn't seem to be in their plans. To protect their R&D investment, Transgenic will sell the cats itself and they will all be neutered to prevent knockoffs, otherwise known as kittens. Mobile Phones Dropped Citing a flat market, Philips will cease making cell phones, except for a minority share it retains in a Chinese company. They got into the business in 1996, but only managed to eke out about 3 percent of the market compared to Nokia who has around 30%, and the division never made a full-year profit. Ericsson has outsourced all its phone manufacture, and Motorola and Nokia announced they would expand their outsourcing as well. Ron Sipherd, ronks@well.com contributed these, as usual. Thanks, Ron!"}, {"response": 41, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Jun 28, 2001 (14:48)", "body": "ronks: Get Ready For Spim Jargon alert: unsolicited commercial instant messages are apparently now called \"spim\". Haven't got any yet? Chances are you will soon, if you use ICQ, AOL Instant Messaging, or one of those services. ActiveBuddy of NY and other startups are developing automated instant-messaging software that sends out messages for FAO Schwarz, Vans Sneakers, Radiohead (\"the alternative rock band\" in case you didn't know), and others. So far they are of the opt-in variety, but some users suspect they are harvesting buddy IDs for later advertising blitzes. In theory users can block them by sender, but that often involves declining to accept a message and then confirming that in a second window. Since spimmers can quickly change names, blocking may prove useless. Besides ICQ, which some say is already clogged with unsolicited porno messages, the new AIM 4.7 beta includes a \"welcome screen\" with promotions to commercial links. Roadrunner vs. Acme When James Turner returned his rental car to Acme Rent-a-Car in New Haven CT, he found an extra $450 charged to his account. Pursuant to the agreement which he signed but didn't read (and who reads those things), the car had a GPS that recorded him exceeding the speed limit three times, for which the contract said he would have to pay $150 each time. Oops."}, {"response": 42, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Thu, Jun 28, 2001 (17:53)", "body": "Appeals Court have overturned the ruling Microsoft should be split up. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/20061.html"}, {"response": 43, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Jul  3, 2001 (14:15)", "body": "Metricom Goes Bust The wireless ISP who runs the Ricochet wireless ISP has only about 40,000 customers in fifteen cities where it operates, not enough to make a profit. The charges ($300 for the modem plus $70-80 per month) may be a culprit. Anyway it filed for bankruptcy; it will continue the service for now, but its future is unclear. Maybe Iridium will buy it, ha ha. Napster Goes Dark The music-sharing service has temporarily lowered its jolly roger while it revamps to comply with the court order and convert to a fee-based version later this summer. i-opener Gets Black Eye The Netpliance company who makes that web-only gizmo settled charges by the FTC that it failed to disclose extra fees and billed customers' credit cards without their consent. It will pay a $100,000 \"civil penalty\" and have to reimburse users an unspecified amount. Webvan Does Reverse Stock Split 25 shares will become one with a value of $1.75 at yesterday's price of 7 cents (down from around 70 cents in February), as the company seeks to stave off de-listing by Nasdaq by a July 23 deadline. Chips Sales Sink Some More May 2001 sales worldwide were down to $12.7 billion, in a steady slide from around $18 B last September and off 7% from April. Most of the falloff was in the Americas, down 32% from a year ago. The president of the Semiconductor Industry Association, who released the numbers, said he expected an upturn in the fourth quarter of this year. In related news Intel announced a 1.8 gigahertz Pentium 4, charging quite a bit more for it ($562 versus $352 for a 1.7 GHz). Web Ad Firms Merge Continuing the industry contraction, ValueClick of LA just bought Mediaplex of SF for $43 million in stock. thanks, ronks."}, {"response": 44, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Jul  4, 2001 (16:27)", "body": "L&H Unit Gains Independence Had to work the theme of independence in there somehow today. Actually the Mendez division (\"translation services and software provider\") of Lernout & Hauspie just exchanged masters, as the Massachusetts firm Lionbridge bought it for $33 million. L&H originally asked $160 million for the unit which has $80 M annual revenue, but nobody bit till the price came down by about four-fifths."}, {"response": 45, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Jul 10, 2001 (01:57)", "body": "ronks@well.com contributes these precious tidbytes: New Generation Of Fiber Optic Cable In The Lab Called hollow-core fiber, it is speculated to have the potential for a hundred-fold increase in the capacity of a single line. Basically, instead of using clear glass to conduct the light which attenuates over distance, the center of the wire is air, with a casing around it that reflects stray photons back into the median channel. It's a long way from deployment, but if it works it could reduce the need for periodic re-amplification of the light. He's Ba-a-ack Philippe Kahn, the founder of Borland and later of Starfish Software, has taken his share of the $254 million sale of Starfish to start yet another company with an idea he got as he assisted with the birth of his daughter. He wanted to be able to take snapshots and quickly send them to family and friends, but the hospital had no such facility. At that point the LightSurf company was born (along with its human sibling Sophie). The idea is for a cell phone attachment that takes photos and transmits them, with adaptations (unspecified) depending on the type of receiving device. While other companies are involved in the are, LightSurf is working \"closely with telecommunications carriers to create an entire support structure\" on the theory that ease of use is paramount for the target market of users. Just in case, Mr. K remains CEO of the Starfish Motorola division. So What Is An Online Division Good For, Anyway? Many traditional stores that shoveled megabucks into web counterparts just as the expected gold rush tanked are looking for value in the ruins. Data mining of customer attitudes seems to be it. As one analyst puts it, \"Sales aren't there for the online folks, and margins are lower than everybody had expected, so they're looking for other ways to give back. So they're saying 'Hey, here's our data.'\" For example, Nordstrom ran an print ad for clothes that had a woman wearing a navel ring; it was just a prop and not for sale, but lots of people went online looking for it, so now the store offers them and even opened a \"body jewelry\" store on the web. So What Is An Online Customer Good For, Anyway? A recent survey of 4000 adults (with 1700 responses) by BYU professors about their online buying habits found they broke down into eight groups, with big spenders and browsers-only separated mainly by one thing: fear of giving out their credit card number on the Internet. Here are the categories: - shopping lovers, 11.1 percent - adventurous explorers, 8.9% - suspicious learners, 9.6% - business users, 12.4% - fearful browsers, 10.7% - fun seekers, 12.1% - technology muddlers, 19.6% - shopping avoiders, 15.6%"}, {"response": 46, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Jul 11, 2001 (01:48)", "body": "Microsoft, Verisign In Security Deal MS will use Verisign to \"improve the security of the personal information collected by .Net\" to address concerns over the expectation that the new Hailstorm technology will provide a pool of personal data. Wasn't Verisign the company that was spoofed into issuing Microsoft ID digital certificates to an unknown hacker last year? Buzzsaw Bought Back In November 1999, Autodesk spun off a subsidiary called buzzsaw.com who made software that allowed architects and building contractors to exchange blueprints and other documents over the Internet, retaining a 40% stake. They subsequently put $22.5 million into the venture in hopes of a successful IPO. However as you may have heard, the market for dot-com IPOs has somewhat diminished in the last year; so Autodesk will buy back the other 60% for $15 million and re-integrate Buzzsaw with the mother company. Silver Lining Dept. George Shaheen, the former Webvan CEO who got a package of $375,000 a year for life when he quit last April, will have to go to bankruptcy court like all the other employees and creditors to collect it."}, {"response": 47, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Jul 19, 2001 (00:27)", "body": "ronks: Putting The Ban In Taliban The Afghan government has forbidden its citizens, almost none of whom has a telephone, from using the Internet where \"un-Islamic influences\" reside. Apple Profit Down Net earnings for the most recent quarter were $61 million, compared with $200 M in the year-ago period. Its CFO explained that some of the shortfall was due to planned inventory reductions. The company has a large cushion of $4.2 billion in cash and liquid securities to tide it over bad times, and it is battling Dell for the lead in the K-12 school market. Russian Hacker Busted After (perhaps unwisely) giving a talk at the hackers' Las Vegas DefCon conference on how to break Adobe's e-book encryption, 27-year-old Dmitri Sklyarov was arrested on charges of violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. He faces five years of jail and a $500,000 fine for his role with Moscow-based ElcomSoft in writing software to decrypt Adobe e-books. E-Books Apply For Copyright In a first, two full-length publications issued solely in electronic form (\"Business Week's Guide To The Best Business Schools\" and \"The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Wireless Web\") were transmitted to the US Copyright Office for registration and sent to the Library Of Congress. Netzeroistas Bail Following the merger of their firm with Juno Online to create United Online, which is in trouble just like its two predecessors as online advertising shrinks, four founders of Netzero have left, to form Layer2Networks, described as a \"broadband networking company\". Which they believe the world needs yet more of."}, {"response": 48, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Jul 20, 2001 (16:14)", "body": "ronks: Post-Napster Peer-Based Swapping Services Proliferate While Napster remains shut pending appeals on whether 99.4% rejection of copyrighted file downloads is enough, other sites have rapidly picked up the slack. Unlike Napster, which operated with distributed files but centralized information on where they were stored, the new services (five of the six most popular essentially didn't exist 5 months ago) are more peer- oriented. Technically they resemble Gnutella but with better interfaces. Record companies are thus left with the unappetizing prospect of suing all the individual users, which will probably not happen. Some examples of file-sharing services mentioned in the article are MusicCity Morpheus, Audiogalaxy Satellite, KaZaA, iMesh, BearShare, and LimeWire. An Online Grocery Success Story Tesco.com, a division of the Tesco chain of supermarkets, is estimated to have made $7 million net profit on $422 M annual sales, on an investment by the parent chain of a mere $56 M. It took more or less the opposite tack from Webvan (and of course is showing the opposite in results): it charges about $7 for delivery, and it has no separate warehouses. Instead it uses the chain's 690 stores as stockrooms, with staff wheeling specialized carts that follow an efficient computer-generated route through the aisles and can load six orders at once. The CEO's observation following his visit to Webvan last year is worth quoting: \"People were making some very strange decisions. They were saying things like 'I'm going to get the revenue first and work out the cost structure later.'\" Worrying about costs, how quaint. Tesco is a British chain, but they recently entered a US venture with GroceryWorks in partnership with Safeway. PC Sales Down According to Gartner and International Data Corporation, worldwide sales of PCs fell about 2% in the last quarter, the first quarterly drop in 15 years. Sun Down Likewise posting an unaccustomed loss, Sun Microsystems announced a quarterly shortfall of $88 million, the first since 1989. The culprits were Japan, where sales dropped 27%, and Europe, off 17%. Earnings a year ago were $720 M. Excluding one-time events though, Sun made $134 M profit. Nortel Wa-a-ay Down The Canadian networking firm lost $19.4 billion (with a \"B\") for the quarter, compared with a profit of $637 million last year. Even excluding one-time charges, their continuing operations lost $1.6 B."}, {"response": 49, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Jul 23, 2001 (19:53)", "body": "ron sipherd (ronks@well.com) Popular Pop-Unders Pose Problem A new type of advertising said to have originated at pornography sites, is appearing with greater frequency around the Web. Called the \"pop-under\", it's a separate window opened by the main page without the viewer's request. It appears \"behind\" the main page unlike a \"pop-up\" which displays in front, so you don't normally see it until you close your browser - or think you have closed it, only to find one or more of the pop-unders under. The new format raises two questions: 1. Are the Web publishers that resort to such tactics, who include Microsoft, Primedia, the NY Times, X10.com, and Yahoo, vile excrescences fit only for extermination? The argument goes that these ads are giving the industry a bad name for intrusiveness, since they are not asked for and don't appear in view at a relevant point but only when you are done surfing and are trying to close the browser. 2. Should the pop windows (up and under) count as visits to the host's site? X10.com uses them extensively, and if they are included it ranks as the Web's fourth-most-visited site, ahead of Lycos; but if not, it drops to #116. Some raters say counting pops is \"as if TV ratings counted beer commercials as prime-time programming\". (Of course some beer ads may be more entertaining, but that's not the issue here.) Jupiter Media Metrix counts pops, Nielsen doesn't, take your pick. DVDs Fly ...off the shelves, even as PCs and other electronic gizmos lag in sales. Retail US sales were up 69 percent at 5.2 million units in the first half of this year from the comparable period in 2000. So far, 20.4 M have been sold since the format was introduced four years ago according to the story, and 460 M disks to go into them. As of February 2000 8% of US homes had DVD units (96% had VCRs); 15 months later in May 2001 the figure was up to 12%. Apple Poised For Takeoff? Although it has less than 4% market share in America and less overseas, some analysts suggest Apple's time may be here. They observe that the \"price- performance gap\" between Apple computers and PCs has narrowed, so you get about the same bang for the buck with either, and that as the Internet has become such a focus of personal computing the importance of the operating system has diminished (hear that, Netscape/Oracle/Sun?). Also showman Steve Jobs has made progress in turning the Mac into a \"digital hub\" for consumer editing of audio and video files, leveraging its strengths with design professionals. The story also observes this initiative may be related to Apple's move to open its own stores even as Gateway is bailing out of its own: while billboards and magazine ads are fine for showing off a new translucent strawberry-colored laptop say, you need to get people to try new software features to appreciate them, and that means hands-on testing."}, {"response": 50, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Jul 24, 2001 (10:39)", "body": "Popular Pop-Unders Pose Problem A new type of advertising said to have originated at pornography sites, is appearing with greater frequency around the Web. Called the \"pop-under\", it's a separate window opened by the main page without the viewer's request. It appears \"behind\" the main page unlike a \"pop-up\" which displays in front, so you don't normally see it until you close your browser - or think you have closed it, only to find one or more of the pop-unders under. The new format raises two questions: 1. Are the Web publishers that resort to such tactics, who include Microsoft, Primedia, the NY Times, X10.com, and Yahoo, vile excrescences fit only for extermination? The argument goes that these ads are giving the industry a bad name for intrusiveness, since they are not asked for and don't appear in view at a relevant point but only when you are done surfing and are trying to close the browser. 2. Should the pop windows (up and under) count as visits to the host's site? X10.com uses them extensively, and if they are included it ranks as the Web's fourth-most-visited site, ahead of Lycos; but if not, it drops to #116. Some raters say counting pops is \"as if TV ratings counted beer commercials as prime-time programming\". (Of course some beer ads may be more entertaining, but that's not the issue here.) Jupiter Media Metrix counts pops, Nielsen doesn't, take your pick. DVDs Fly ...off the shelves, even as PCs and other electronic gizmos lag in sales. Retail US sales were up 69 percent at 5.2 million units in the first half of this year from the comparable period in 2000. So far, 20.4 M have been sold since the format was introduced four years ago according to the story, and 460 M disks to go into them. As of February 2000 8% of US homes had DVD units (96% had VCRs); 15 months later in May 2001 the figure was up to 12%. Apple Poised For Takeoff? Although it has less than 4% market share in America and less overseas, some analysts suggest Apple's time may be here. They observe that the \"price- performance gap\" between Apple computers and PCs has narrowed, so you get about the same bang for the buck with either, and that as the Internet has become such a focus of personal computing the importance of the operating system has diminished (hear that, Netscape/Oracle/Sun?). Also showman Steve Jobs has made progress in turning the Mac into a \"digital hub\" for consumer editing of audio and video files, leveraging its strengths with design professionals. The story also observes this initiative may be related to Apple's move to open its own stores even as Gateway is bailing out of its own: while billboards and magazine ads are fine for showing off a new translucent strawberry-colored laptop say, you need to get people to try new software features to appreciate them, and that means hands-on testing."}, {"response": 51, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Aug 12, 2001 (14:06)", "body": "from ronks@well.com Ron Sipherd Napster Foes Seek Knockout Punch Record-label plaintiffs in the copyright suit have so far achieved a \"preliminary injunction\" against Napster's operations, pending final resolution at a trial on the merits of the case. Tuesday they asked the judge to skip that part and issue summary judgement without a trial; they claim essentially that there are no issues of fact to be tried for which evidence needs to be presented, or in other words there's no reason to let Napster put on its case because there's no possibility they have one. Sun Gets Hot In a full-page newspaper ad yesterday they trumpeted their partnership with Hitachi to sell big storage systems to big companies with the statement that the only alternative was *E*xpensive, *M*onolithic, and *C*losed, playing on their main competitor EMC. Today's ad does not come out and literally say *M*ighty *S*limy, but it criticizes Microsoft for pulling Java out of Windows XP with the statement \"Sure Microsoft believes in freedom of choice. As long as they get to choose\". They also observe that you can thwart MS by downloading Java from java.sun.com any time you like. The Edible Resume? A Kansas company called Sweetart at www.sweetart.com takes H-P color inkjet printers and modifies them to print images on cake icings. The units, which use food coloring cartridges in place of ink, are integrated into systems with a scanner and a PC. And a movable arm holding the print heads, because do you know what a cake looks like after it's gone through a sheet-feeder? They say they have sold \"several thousand\" systems to bakeries and grocery stores, and one customer even uses his to create sand paintings. Iomega Shrinks The maker of cheesy removable storage devices (as the saying goes they didn't invent the click of death, they just made it popular) will cut over a third of its staff, from 3300 to 2050, and take a $65 million charge as part of a reorganization plan. Flooz Poofs The online-currency dot-com who spent $8 million on Whoopi Goldberg ads was created in 1999 by Robert Levitan, a co-founder of the women's Web site iVillage. It was named for (they say) an ancient Persian form of cash, back when air travel meant flying carpets. But it never really took off, since merchants had to modify their systems to accept the currency and consumers had to tie up funds till they bought something. Competitors like Beenz.com and eCash have faced similar problems. Lately, Flooz and Beenz.com have tried to move into B2B but Flooz looks to have abandoned all hope, as they shut their site, stopped accepting their own currency for payment, and asked retailers to remove links to Flooz. Host Floats At least I hope so. I'll be canoeing down the Missouri out of Fort Benton MT next week and seriously out of touch; don't let anything interesting happen while I'm gone, eh?"}, {"response": 52, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Aug 22, 2001 (12:13)", "body": "ronks rides again. @Home @End Of Road? A financial analyst briefly summed up the prospects for high-speed ISP @Home as \"Put butter on them; they're toast.\" With a loss of over $346 million and only $183M in cash reserves, a statement from their auditors to the SEC that there is \"substantial doubt\" whether they can survive, and a stock price of 49 cents (down 40 cents from a day ago) which may cause it to be de-listed by Nasdaq unless they do a reverse split, this is not the best of times for them. Also, a deal expired two months ago that required three major shareholders (AT&T, Cox Communications, and Comcast) to use @Home for their high-speed service offerings, and the former captive owners have fled. Agilent Not Doing Too Well Either The 1999 spinoff from H-P will boot 4,000 employees (about 9%) after an April 10 percent pay cut proved inadequate to stem losses. They lost $219 million last quarter compared to a $1545 M profit a year ago, with sales down 23%. The Worm Turns A consortium of security businesses like McAfee has been formed to fight the attack of the killer worms such as Code Red I through LXXXXVIIII, and to develop technology to thwart distributed denial-of-service attacks, with input from three network firms called Arbor, Asta, and Mazu. Paul: Glad you're back from vacation Ron! Thanks! I enjoy writing them, though it was a relief to spend a week away from news of technology (not to mention the Middle East, Wall Street, and anyplace outside the Missouri Breaks). I read \"Trent's Last Case\" and a history of Glacial Lake Missoula, 500 cubic miles of water that drained in about a week onto the Palouse at the end of the last Ice Age. Blub. An Emmy For Apple Not to Steve Jobs for Best Supporting Actor, but to IEEE 1394 (nee Firewire) which was developed in the 90's and included in Macs since 1999 for high- speed data transport. Besides being used widely in TV production to transfer images among cameras, editing gear, and computers, it \"has been adopted as a standard for high-definition television\". The award should help Apple in its drive to sell its Macs as \"digital hubs\" for households as well as pros to edit home movies and the like. And Then There Were Two Two gigahertz, no waiting. Eighteen months after it offered a CPU that ran at one GHz, Intel will offer a 2 GHz processor starting next week. AMD will release its 1.5 GHz Athlon chip then too."}, {"response": 53, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Aug 23, 2001 (12:07)", "body": "ronks rides again. Infrared, Release 2 Infrared beams have long (well OK over ten years) been used in low-bandwidth applications like TV remotes. Researchers at Penn State have developed a technique that involves a lattice of echoing IR beams to create a 2-gigabit/ second network within a room; previous attempts foundered on scattering of the beams creating a kind of IR echo, which they claim to have solved with \"a holographic filter\". While IR has some defects relative to radio waves used for most wireless nets such as the inability to go through walls, it has some major advantages. Such as the inability to go through walls, which makes eavesdropping from outside much harder and prevents one room-net from interfering with another. Also, IR is an unregulated wavelength unlike the radio spectrum. If low-level radio waves are ever found to pose health risks, IR will be at an advantage there too. Plus it keeps the room warm in winter.. Wanted: Chirpy Accountant One day after Ernst & Young, auditors for Excite@Home, announced in a filing to the SEC that the ISP might not generate enough cash to survive, they were replaced by their client with another auditor. A spokespern for Excite said \"I know the timing looks kind of funny.\" What a sense of humor those guys have. The ostensible reason is that AT&T owns 23% of Excite, and they wanted to use the same auditor for consistency. Ya sure you betcha. Big Brother Loves You It's unlikely that the IRS will soon adopt the ubiquitous slogan from Orwell's 1984, but in practical terms they're moving that way. They just let a $10 million contract to Peoplesoft for a \"customer relationship management\" system, no doubt to keep taxpayers from going to a competitor. By next year, tax preparers will be able to access information on their clients' accounts, and by 2004 (twentieth anniversary; coincidence?) IRS agents and members of the public will be able to view their tax history online. \"Perfect information about every customer\" is the goal, according to a Peoplesoft VP. Oh, and of course the connection will be \"secure\". Online Broker Loses Things are so bad in the stock market that even the brokers are in trouble. TD Waterhouse, the third largest Internet dealer after Schwab and Fidelity, says it suffered its first-ever quarterly net loss. It was $22 million in the hole compared to a $35 M profit a year ago, with commissions down 36%. The volume of trades was off 18% from the previous quarter, to 101,700/day."}, {"response": 54, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Aug 27, 2001 (14:33)", "body": "Flooz Bamboozled A couple of weeks ago the online-currency site stopped operating and merchants stopped taking their e-money. Last weekend the company officially went out of business. BTW another similar site called Beenz.com also suspended its operations last week, and Buy.com told the SEC it may have to close though it later said it would keep going for now. Anyway, one factor in Flooz's demiiz seems to be a bunch of credit-card-number-nappers in Russia and the Philippines who bought around $300,000 of flooz-bucks in the last three months with stolen ID. When Flooz's credit card processor learned of the fraud from complaints by the real cardholders, it stopped crediting Flooz for the transactions, holding up around a million dollars which \"created an untenable cash flow situation\". IBM Builds Tube Switch They took a step closer to the \"post-silicon\" era by making a carbon nanotube 10 atoms wide they can turn to \"true\" and \"false\" states like a 1/0 bit. They say they need to do another couple years' R&D before they can determine if the technology is practical to manufacture in volume, but if it is they believe they can achieve a transistor packing density of 10,000 times that of silicon, which may run into its physical limit in 10-15 years. Now We Know One distinction of Web advertisements is that their effectiveness can be measured accurately with \"click-through\", the number of times people respond to an online ad by clicking on it to visit the vendor's own site and buy something, unlike say magazine and TV commercials where one can only guess. Procter & Gamble even decided a few years back to base its online ad royalties on click-through volume. Alas, an article today notes that accountability has turned out to be Web ads' weakness not its strength, as advertisers discover that almost nobody clicks on those colorful animated dealies. Various reactions are surfacing: marketwatch.com will simply stop reporting click-through rates (well, that should solve the problem); other vendors will use \"view-based conversions\" that attempt to measure the number of people who visit their site after an ad has been sent to their browser, though that may raise some privacy questions. And some quote retailer John Wanamaker, who said more or less that half his ad budget was wasted, he just didn't know which half. Cable Beats DSL A report from Cahners research says there are 5.3 million US cable modem users compared to 3.1 M DSL customers, and that for the last nine months the sale of cable modems has exceeded DSL modems by 30-50%. They cite two problems with DSL: one is that it often requires dealing with two or more vendors who try to blame the other for any problems in lieu of fixing it; the other is that DSL providers keep dying, like Northpoint and Covad. Computer Error Of The Week A glitch blamed on video processing at HBO inserted scenes of African women playing basketball into a drama called \"Six Feet Under\" about a family who runs a funeral home. ronks"}, {"response": 55, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Aug 29, 2001 (11:34)", "body": "ronks: Lucent Drop Prompts Questions With its stock down 91 percent in the last year and a half, current and former workers at Lucent regret their participation in the company's stock purchase plan and taking bonuses in now-worthless stock options. But outside of that, they're asking why their employer sank 30% of its 401(k) investments in its own stock. And \"sank\" is the word. Economists involved with pensions funds suggest that the trustees' need to act \"with prudence\" dictates no more than 10% should ever be invested in a single company. Gateway Dumps Staff, And Most Of World The PC maker, whose sales are concentrated almost entirely in the weak consumer market and who is battling Dell in a margin-eating price war, saw its revenue drop last quarter to $1.5 billion from $2.2 B last year, and lost $21 million compared with a net profit of $118 M in 2Q2000. They earlier axed 3,000 staff, but they are laying off another 5,000 or a quarter of the remaining employees, and eliminating all operations in the Asia- Pacific area and nearly all in Europe, leaving only a small Latin America overseas presence. AT&T, Bells Duke It Out In DC A bill working its way through the US House of Representatives would free phone companies from having to open their local networks to rivals like ISPs and DSL providers at wholesale prices, claiming they would (they say) install more high-speed bandwidth, for the ultimate benefit of the consumer, if they could charge for it whatever the market would bear. ISPs and DSL providers, backed by cable companies including AT&T, seem to think their having to pay more would not be in the public interest. The two sides have already spent over $10 million in lobbying pro and con. Current betting is that the Bells may prevail in the House but will lose in the Senate. Sun Casts A Cloud On Domain Names In what one called a \"scare tactic\", Internet domain-name registrars got a letter from Sun's lawyers last week demanding they refuse to register any sites with names that include the words \"sun\", \"enterprise\", \"ultra\", \"cobalt\" and several others that Sun claims exclusive rights to. Companies like Enterprise Rent-A-Car (www.enterprise.com) expressed dismay."}, {"response": 56, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  3, 2001 (17:38)", "body": "This is the funniest thing ronks has ever written (Flops of Tomorrow, about the catalapult) Flops Of Today Flooz.com filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy; it says it has about $296,000 in assets and $14 million in debts. It blames a $300,000 credit-card fraud for contributing to its demise; the actual amount was not so much, but it triggered a panic among its card processors who stopped payments to Flooz. NetObjects will cease to be an object itself; the Redwood City software maker says it has shut down and will auction off its assets. 48 percent owned by IBM, its stock has sunk from $46 six months ago to 28 cents now. Come to think of it, I remember a product called NetObjects Fusion which I though was pretty successful, though I can't recall what it did. Flops Of Tomorrow I think the Patent Office must have a silly season in the summertime. Rodney Java of San Francisco received patent # 6024264 for a hiker's headgear (specifically not a hat, please) consisting of a retractable hood. On top is a swiveling pyramid covered with solar panels which power electric motors that run fans. \"The purpose of the fans is to cool the head\", he notes helpfully. Wait, there's more. Attached to a built-in water bottle are two tubes and pumps; one \"delivers a measured portion of drinking water to the hiker\", presumably in the vicinity of the owner's mouth. Another sprays water into the twirling fan blades which is \"directed onto the head of the user in the form of a cooling mist\". The unit also includes a net to draw down over the face, ostensibly for protection against insects but possibly, the story notes, to hide the fog-enshrouded, motorized twirling-pyramid-topped user from recognition. Rudolf Susko of Edmonton California (all these guys are from California - coincidence?) received patent 6,210,285 for a human-body-tossing \"beach catapult\". His application states that \"Its use will be in ejecting projectiles into the air .. wherein projectile means people.\" \"The use of the present invention has not been documented to date\", he observes candidly, though its utility to certain organized crime syndicates is obvious. \"He sleeps with the flying fishes\" could become a new tag line. How it works: \"Upon releasing the seat [containing the victim], the tensile bows are capable of recovering original positions and thrusting the seat in an inclined path, whereby an occupant placed therein is ejected into a free flight.\" Hopefully toward the water. And Mr. Larry Dunks (I am not making these names up) of Oroville got patent 6,152,461 for a covered wagon \"which can be converted for use to a picnic table with benches and then back to a ranch wagon configuration for lawn decoration\". I wonder if it could be catapulted into the ocean as well. Measuring Web Effectiveness, Chapter MDCCCLXVIII An analyst for Jupiter Media Metrix noted recently that \"retailers find it difficult to measure their Web sites' impact on in-store sales\". Well, duh. But he goes on to say that while online sales pay back directly less than half the money spent on them, the benefits in helping customers do pre-sale research, in customer service, and in operating efficiency constitute the primary benefits to the merchant. Consequently, thinking of a Web site solely as a \"transaction engine\" for sales is apt to lead to failure. And a Forrester Research analyst examined techniques used by catalog companies such as Sharper Image to track Internet-based sales, even when placed by phone; they use a different product code for the same item displayed on their Web site and in their paper catalog, so they can track purchases to their source."}, {"response": 57, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Sep  5, 2001 (15:05)", "body": "ronks 10/5/01 There seems to be a great deal of skepticism over whether the HP-Compaq merger is good for their customers or the companies themselves, and whether in fact it will survive antitrust scrutiny or the shareholders' vote to approve. Compaq stock was down over ten percent after the announcement and HP shares sank more than 18%. Regulators are likely to ask if the public needs one less PC brand in stores now that Packard Bell and Acer have left; they may have been turkeys (PB and Acer, not the regulators) but they provided some competitive pressure. While the new company is expected to focus more on services and paid support there was a brief mention that it hoped to make a splash with an unnamed new \"server operating system\" that would compete with Sun and MS. Ellen Hancock Bails The former IBM executive who joined Exodus Communications three years ago as CEO has \"unexpectedly quit\", though her replacement says she left by mutual agreement: the stock price of the website operator has sunk 98 percent and it accumulated $3 billion of debt as it acquired rival GlobalCenter. In the last two months, three board members have quit and the CFO was replaced. Dell Buys Dell Michael Dell exercised his options yesterday. He bought 4.2 million shares of the PC maker named by him and after him. It was not a bad deal, since his options price averaged $3 and the rest of the world has to pay over $22 for them. He now owns 296.2 million shares personally, and his wife and a trust he controls hold another 49.1M, for a total worth around $7.7 billion. Yes, but is he happy?"}, {"response": 58, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Sep  6, 2001 (15:04)", "body": "Butter PDA Available A fifty-pound Palm VII made of butter, and first place winner at the Minnesota State Fair (though the category is unclear; \"50-lb. slippery yellow PDAs\" seems too narrow to attract many entries), is being auctioned off on EBay at . Purchase money will be given to the Minnesota 4H Foundation. The article says the device is compatible with toast and any flavor of jelly. EBay Picks WebSphere Speaking of EBay, they evidently need something more robust than a buttery PDA themselves to drive operations; they just let a contract worth an estimated $50 million to IBM to use WebSphere for their \"e-business platform software\". Bragging rights are probably part of the deal, with EBay as a trophy client; it's big, it's profitable, and it's growing, something that many other e-commerce sites are not (in case you didn't know). Its volume of transactions from 35 million registered users can be prodigious, especially at the end of an auction period. IDC and Giga estimate last year's revenue from this type of software at $2.2 billion and $1.6 B respectively, with a 40% annual growth rate. Maybe now IBM will auction off those dumb WebSphere spacesuits. Disney To Rent Movies On Demand They signed up with the News Corporation to operate movies.com, where users with video-on-demand facilities will be able to view new films directly from the Net with the ability to stop and restart them, and users without VOD will be able to download them to their PC for viewing. Charges are anticipated to be on a par with store rentals and pay-per-view. Another group of five studios (MGM, Paramount, Sony, Universal, and Warner) is working on a similar service."}, {"response": 59, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Jan 20, 2002 (21:50)", "body": "PenCam Is Here The lead for Most Useless Gadget Of 2002 seems held for now by a new device that combines (as its name implies) a pen and a video camera. Its purpose, which vendor Upper Deck feels the world has been waiting for, is to ensure that a baseball or like memento has been signed by the person whose name appears on the orb. How it works: the superstar, or a flunky, swivels the camera lens up toward his rugged face to \"establish identity\"; then it is turned back toward the tip of the pen as he signs his name, or perhaps marks it with an X or whatever. The images \"are sent wirelessly [so the PenCam also includes a transmitter?] to a computer and entered into a database\"; the video file is then matched with the signed object for sale to a fan. Its first live test was with Michael Jordan, whose response was \"he wanted us to make it lighter and smaller\", understandably. Signing with both hands is probably awkward. Cyberboy Is Here Not a cartoon hero, but \"a combination personal organizer, MP3 player, digital camera [with video capture], audio recorder, and FM radio\", all it needs is a pen attachment and you could sign baseballs with it while playing music and checking your calendar. At $349 from CMC Magnetics, it may be priced for sports celebrities, but its name is perfect for product placement in a movie: Cyberboy meets Cybergirl, Cyberboy loses Cybergirl, ..."}, {"response": 60, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Jan 20, 2002 (21:51)", "body": "Good Customer Service Is Not Here A recent survey by Jupiter Media Metrix of 250 Web sites last month showed the following breakdown in time to respond to customer requests: Within 6 hours: 30 percent 6 to 24 hours: 18 percent 1 to 3 days: 18 percent Over 3 days or not at all: 34 percent The results were well below customer expectations: 1/3 or the respondents expected a reply within 6 hours, and all did within 2 days. Dream on. IBM Scores On Patents The company received 3,411 patents in 2001 (up from 2,886 the year before), well ahead of any other business, none of whom have ever exceeded 3,000 in a year. It collects $1.7 billion annually in royalties from patent licensees."}, {"response": 61, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Jan 20, 2002 (21:52)", "body": "ronks: Nukes Drive Wee Batteries All those tiny micro-electro-mechanical (MEM) devices on the drawing boards to monitor roads, bridges, tires, etc. need power, and a wall plug would be larger by orders of magnitude than the gizmo. Groups at Caltech and the U of Wisconsin are experimenting with small (~ 1 centimeter long) batteries that use radioactive isotopes. Nickel 63 emits beta particles and is the present favorite; alpha emitters are promising except for their tendency to destroy their packaging. Tritium is another potential source - an Illinois company is testing it. Makers say that while all the units are \"nuclear\", their small size makes them no more dangerous than a smoke detector which uses radioactive americium. They say. Future Auto To Be Built On Skateboard Albeit a very large one. GM's new concept car, the Autonomy (clever, huh?) consists of a more or less flat base with four wheels, a fuel-cell engine, and on-board computers. Onto the \"skateboard\" base goes the body, with seats, steering, roof, walls, that sort of thing, which you may elect to change for different purposes (cargo vs. passengers) or just to suit your mood (SUV, sports car, humvee)."}, {"response": 62, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Jan 20, 2002 (21:53)", "body": "Visor Add-on Promotes Sleep The \"Jetlog 24x7 PowerNapping Springboard Module\" (I am not making this up) for $100 permits the user up to 40 minutes of light sleep so long as he keeps his thumb on a button. If he lets go, or after time's up, \"an alarm with increasing volume blasts out of the Visor's speaker\". The maker specifically disclaims responsibility for damage, in the event the user relaxes too much and drops the unit (or is set upon and mauled by everyone else on the bus). Credit Card Issuers Seek Online Teen Spenders Though the US under-18 crowd spends an estimated $155 billion a year, only a measly $1 billion of that is shelled out online. Seeing an untapped market there (sort of like China), plastic merchants are targeting the young'uns. Visa has something called Visa Buxx and MasterCard has plans they aren't ready to disclose yet, but American Express just threw in the towel on its Cobaltcard. The problems are daunting, and the article divides them into three types: fees, marketing, and uses for the cards. The fees are a problem because to avoid legal and ethical problems with underage kids getting in debt, the accounts are all prepaid debit cards that draw on money put into an associated account. No debt means no fat interest charges, so the plastic people (hmm, reminds me of a song) rely instead on transaction fees: to put money into the account, to check your balance, etc. Kids quickly learn the concept of being nickel-and-dimed to death, and stop using the cards. Marketing problems sum up to the eternal difficulty of pitching something that appeals to both the kids and their parents; if credit card makers can solve that one, achieving world peace should be a cinch."}, {"response": 63, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Jan 20, 2002 (21:53)", "body": "ronks: Thumbprint Mistaken For Potato Chip The DigitalPersona company, maker of the U.are.U fingerprint recognition units, though it would be a swell idea to promote their product at the recent Consumer Electronics Show by hiring a guy to dress up in a thumb suit to walk around the floor. Unfortunately it mostly just resulted in a very high error rate, probably not DP's intention. Most attendees thought the actor represented: a lima bean an Easter egg a psychedelic cookie a raisin a jelly bean a cracked M&M an M&M on crack a potato chip a surfboard a germ an amoeba An embarrassed VP for product marketing tried to shift blame to his potential customers by observing \"people aren't used to seeing a dancing biometric running around.\" The digital actor helped out: \"When people stare at me long enough, I'll just blurt out 'I'm a thumbprint!'\" Tue 15 Jan '02 (08:26 AM) Dot-Name Starts Today Around 60,000 .name Web and e-mail addresses registered through December 18 become active now, and another set registered later will go online later this month. End Of Internet Week The publication started in 1984 as Communications Week and changed its name in 1998. Its last issue was January 7, and employer CMP Media says that \"some\" of its staff will be reassigned. Guess what happens to the rest."}, {"response": 64, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Jan 20, 2002 (21:53)", "body": "ronks: Apple Claims New Users The maker of candy-colored computers says forty percent of those who bought machines at its 27 retail stores were purchasing their first Macintosh. That would address one of Apple's main problems: a core of intensely loyal users who constitute 5 percent of the market, but not much new blood. Symantec Claims Income Gains Not easy when your quarterly GAAP profits fell to $100,000 from $14 million a year earlier; but by issuing a pro-forma statement that ignores expenses for acquisitions, closing of offices, and other unpleasant facts, they were able to show earnings of 78 cents a share compared to the expected 64 cents. Perhaps they hired some unemployed Enron auditors. Gates Claims Interest In Security In a company-wide memo likened to his 1995 declaration that the Microsoft battleship had to turn around to deal with the Internet, the maximum leader has told his minions to make their code \"trustworthy\". The article says all OS development will stop in the month of February while everybody goes to training camp on security. While skepticism is understandable, there are signs that top MS execs are feeling stung at having Gartner recommend clients abandon its IIS Web server software because of its chronic weakness, and announcing that all buffer-overrun problems were fixed only to have them resurface big-time in Windows XP with Universal Plug And Play, especially after they talked up XP as NT-based and hence more reliable than Windows 9x versions. Chances are they have even noticed people adopting Linux on high- profit-margin servers on account of MS security problems."}, {"response": 65, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Jan 20, 2002 (21:54)", "body": "ronks: Dvorak Claims Broadband Dead The same day I read about a TechNet report requesting the president and Congress to declare a national policy to bring \"high-speed Internet access to 100 million homes and businesses by the end of the decade\", I saw John Dvorak's column in PC Magazine on who killed broadband. I think you have to take Mr. D. with a grain or more of salt, but he makes some good points, and DSL, cable, satellite, have probably not lived up to growth expectations so far. The reasons he cites for the \"lost cause of the Broadband Revolution\": - continued growth of dial-up, with V.92/V.44 modems at 300 Kbps - nobody but servers needs 24/7 availability anyway, and it's a big security headache - it costs more than POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service), $500-1200 a year - \"clueless repair personnel\", no roaming, low peak-hour bandwidth - broken promises: slow downloads, streaming media that stutters - \"bad reputation\" as the corpses of failed companies like Northpoint, Excite, etc. litter the field - \"cell phone threat\" if 3rd-generation broadband enables wireless high-speed hookups [this is a threat?] - \"saturation\" now that \"everyone who wants high-speed access has it\" - \"AOL syndrome\"; he seems to mean by this that the vast market of the Great Unwashed Public is quite happy with AOL's training wheels and dial-up."}, {"response": 66, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Jan 24, 2002 (08:18)", "body": "Risky Business I The CERT center at Carnegie Mellon University for tracking Internet security issues logged six incidents in 1988. My, how times have changed. In 2001, the number had risen to 52,658 as both hacker attacks and public willingness to report them increased. Part of the graph is hard to read, but some of the numbers (from the Software Engineering Institute) are: 1988 6 1989 132 1990 252 1994-1997 ~2K-4K, with a slight decline in 1997 1998 4000 1999 10000 2000 21000 2001 52658 Risky Business II Worldwide estimated revenue at Internet gambling sites for both 2001 and 2002 is down by half a billion US dollars for each year (to $3B and $4.1B respectively) from earlier predictions. Not because half the states here prohibit betting on the Internet. Not because all states prohibit the operation of an Internet casino. Not because the Federal Wire Act bars sports betting (and possibly other forms) over the Net. But because so many gamblers are refusing to make good on their credit-card gambling debts that banks and CC companies decline to authorize the transactions. American Express and Discover have forbidden such use for \"several years\"; Wells Fargo, MBNA, and Providian do likewise; and Visa and MasterCard are tightening their restrictions and may bar it altogether. The article reports that some casinos are finding 80% of their transactions denied, and that some operations have been forced to close as a result. Matthew Katz, the owner of gambling consultant ECasino Solutions, complains \"Nobody looks at gaming as an industry with any respect. Everybody says it's shady.\" from Ron Sipherd ronks@well.com"}, {"response": 67, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Mar  1, 2002 (12:27)", "body": "Fast Computer Sales Slow Dataquest reports that global sales of servers rose only 1.8 percent in 2001, the lowest rise in five years. Dell edged out IBM for second place behind Compaq's 23% lead. Workstation sales fell 11%; Dell remained on top with 32% of the total, followed by Sun and Compaq. Linux Goes To The Movies The open-source OS helped create \"Shrek\" and Dreamworks, the studio behind Mr. Shrek's success, just signed a \"multimillion-dollar alliance\" with H-P to implement GNU Linux on its animation systems. Pixar is also reported moving toward Linux on its workstations. Intel Off The Hook In Europe After investigating complaints by AMD and Taiwan's VIA Technologies that Intel abused its 83% share of the microprocessor market with its customer- loyalty programs and with connection-design licenses that allegedly raised compatibility hurdles for competitors, the European commission has decided to drop antitrust proceedings. Information Wants To Be Expensive The Motley Fool financial-advice site will soon join Salon, TheStreet.com, and Yahoo in converting some of its free sections to paid-subscriber only. Starting on Valentine Day, its discussion areas will be open to those who have committed $5 a month or $30 for a year. Salon says its premium services now account for 30% of its total revenue. Fast Company The International Solid State Circuits Conference takes place in San Francisco this week, and chip-makers are rushing to issue press releases and secure bragging rights. IBM seems to be focusing on power consumption, with a CPU that uses no more than needed for its chores by switching instantly between high and low-drain states. But Intel is swinging for the fences with news of 10 gigahertz circuitry in a demo CPU. Reportedly their current 2.2 GHz Pentium 4 contains sections that run internally at 4.4; the lab unit more than doubles that speed by a new means. Instead of shrinking the entire circuitry the old-fashioned way, their engineers are concentrating on reducing a particular portion called the \"physical gate length\" of the transistors. They say they have now got it down to 90 nanometers, or about 360 atoms; two years ago it was thought that 140 nm was the limit. IBM, Microsoft In Joint Venture After the results of their previous collaboration to produce OS/2 you'd think they would get the message, but those who do not learn from the past are condemned etcetera. Anyway the old monopolist and the new monopolist are back together again with BEA Systems as a third partner in WSIO, the Web Services Interoperability Organization. Its purpose per a participant is \"testing Web software from different suppliers to verify that it really does allow the open sharing of data across the Internet\". The driving force seems to be the reluctance of corporate and private users to employ the Web for transactions like inventory management and calendar scheduling out of concern that incompatible standards will lead to errors. Presumably WSIO will ensure that no one large vendor attempts to pollute the standards. Hmmm; fox, meet henhouse. Critical Path In Plea Bargain The Internet company reached a deal with the SEC over findings that it was \"creating spurious sales contracts, hiding contingencies affecting revenue recognition, and back dating software license agreements\" that led to a false doubling of its sales over two quarters. The former president and the ex-VP of sales agreed to civil fines and other penalties; they will also face criminal charges for fraud and insider trading. Acrobatic Accounting Claims Another Victim Enron and Tyco have to make room on the podium for Computer Associates, whose share price dropped 13.5 percent after Moody's lowered the company's bond rating. They did that because its cash flow was off 25% from last year. Unfair, says CA CFO Ira Zar: that happened because some big customers prepaid their license fees the year before which should be a Good Thing, no? Yes, but. Mr. Z left something out; Moody's (and investors) look at CA's cash flow as a measure of its performance because it has so twisted its standard financial reports (balance sheet, income statement) as to render them virtually unintelligible even by experts. About a year and a half ago, CA adopted pro-forma accounting, a method that according to the article lets them \"double-count some sales that CA has already made and makes the company's profits appear far larger than they do under standard accounting\". CA is still required by law to file financial statements using standard GAAP principles, but to avoid that inconvenience it \"changed its contracts with customers that made the standard results essentially meaningless\". Having now succeeded in that effort, they wonder why nobody believes them any more. Arthur Andersen to the white courtesy telephone, please. Network Associates Sued Over Censorship \"The customer will not publish reviews of this product without prior consent from Network Associates Inc.\" That is the text that a"}, {"response": 68, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Apr  4, 2002 (16:05)", "body": "ronks: The Modular OS As Death Sentence Microsoft is reported deeply concerned at the possibility it may be ordered to offer a core Windows system capable of being packaged by PC makers with third-party add-ons like browsers and media players. The article observes that while the appeals court affirmed MS used a dozen or so illegal means to protect its monopoly status, the \"commingling of code\" was the only one the defendant asked them to reconsider. Even though the court declined to do so, MS continues to fight the battle. The proposed settlement with the DOJ and some states would allow Microsoft to bundle all the features it wants into the OS, but permit their desktop shortcut icons to be hidden. An AOL VP testified recently that MS would retain substantial power to coerce PC makers not to hide the icons, and said there is a feature in Windows XP that urges users \"to sweep competing icons off the screen after 14 days\", which he said blocks \"meaningful customization of the desktop experience by anyone except Microsoft\". A Microsoft attorney countered that the proposed remedy would fail to create competition, except between different \"customized versions of Windows\". MS President Quits The president and chief operating officer of Microsoft, Richard Belluzzo, announced he will leave that position next month. Mr. B came to MS about 3 years ago; before that he was CEO at Silicon Graphics and an exec at H-P. He says he does not presently have another job lined up but wants to \"run a business and be a chief executive\", not a likely chance at Microsoft where Messrs. Gates and Ballmer have the best corner offices and the power; especially after a coming corporate reorg that will offer more autonomy to business unit heads under CEO Mr. Big B. New Release Due Bill's wife Melinda is reported to be expecting \"Gates 3.0\" sometime in October according to a \"family spokesman\". They now have a 5-year old daughter and a son, 2. There is absolutely no reason to believe the news is related to Mr. Belluzzo's sudden departure."}, {"response": 69, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Apr  4, 2002 (16:05)", "body": "Baby XP?"}, {"response": 70, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Apr  8, 2002 (14:25)", "body": "Taxi Ride As Relationship Business Most city trips in a taxi are pretty anonymous: you go somewhere, hand over the money, and walk away. Fine, so long as you're not short on cash and you don't leave your umbrella behind in the cab. Patent 6,347,739 addresses those concerns as well as the driver's over being a rolling piggybank. It consists of a wireless modem and a credit-card reader attached to the taxi meter; you get a record of your expense and the ID number of the cab in case you left something behind, and the driver has less cash on board. Lights! Action! Credit! More and more institutions are issuing credit cards these days and people are carrying multiple plastic. So when they open their wallet (to pay the cabdriver, say) they see a card from every bank where they had an account, every university they took a class at, every jail they were paroled from maybe. Rising to the top of the stack is a challenge attacked by patent 6,325,284; a card using this idea flashes and/or makes sounds when it senses \"a change in ambient light, pressure, or noise\" and emits \"different tones or phrases\" and \"intermittent pulses of light ... produced according to a predetermined pattern\". The idea is for the card to call attention to itself, not (presumably) to antagonize other theater patrons or whatever. But the article observes that the inventors (who include security guru Bruce Schneier and Priceline.com patent-holder Jay Walker) may license their invention to many institutions, so every time you go to buy something you could face \"a wallet full of flashing, beeping plastic\". There may also be prior art: in Tolkien's _Hobbit_ Bilbo tries to filch a troll's purse. \"''Ere, 'oo are you?' it squeaked as it left the pocket.\" Microsoft Reform School Extended Classes in how to write secure code for MS programmers were supposed to run till the end of February, after a series of nasty hits like Code Red and Nimda to its best corporate customers led many to wonder if its software was safe to use. Well, it's April and the re-education camps continue; the current phase may wrap up this month, though executives and PR types insist the new mindset will remain forever yadda yadda. The program director acknowledged that the students \"initially showed some resistance to the project, but in the end the experience of seeing offending code on a giant screen in a large auditorium proved humbling\". Skepticism remains especially among proponents of open-source software, who observe the absence of public scrutiny leaves the effectiveness of the training unknown until the next reported incident. Speaking of which, the FBI published a survey they conducted with large corporations and government agencies that indicates \"about 90 percent detected computer security attacks in the last year but only 34 percent reported those attacks to authorities\". ronks@well.com Ron Sipherd wrote this"}, {"response": 71, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Apr 12, 2002 (07:15)", "body": "ronks: Hailstorm Over, Skies Clearing Microsoft's \"My Services\" initiative (originally code-named Hailstorm) to give everyone a kind of roving identity so they could log on anywhere to get e-mail and buy stuff, with personal data securely stored on MS servers (I hear you laugh, but that was the plan) for global use is reported to be getting a quiet burial. Or according to Microsoft general manager Charles Fitzgerald, \"We're sort of in the Hegelian synthesis of figuring out where the products go once they've encountered the reality of the marketplace.\" Well, you can see why he's a manager; anyone who talks like that is obviously incapable of doing useful work. The reality seems to have come in two doses. One is foreign restrictions on transborder data flow especially in Europe, which limits the transfer of personal information between countries. In the US there was the unexpectedly (to MS) stiff resistance of companies to letting The Octopus, or to a lesser extent any third party, maintain sensitive data about their customers. Despite MS' earlier predictions they would sign up vendors right and left, the article says \"after nine months of intense effort the company was unable to find any partner willing to commit itself to the program\". One possible Hegelian synthesis, or maybe just a way to salvage a few bucks from the effort, is to license My Services technology to companies so they can privately maintain their own customer info. YACIF Yet another consortium is formed; this time IBM, Microsoft, and VeriSign will join forces to create WS-Security, described as a set of extensions to SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol). The goal is to persuade companies to share consumer, product, inventory etc. data for easier interchange. A sort of non-proprietary EDI, I think, so that for example one business's inventory system can query a supplier for items the buyer is running low on and place an order over the Web. Might use some leftover MS technology and staff from the late Hailstorm project too, come to think of it. DoubleClick Tombstone Up They're not dead; a tombstone is what they call those legal notice ads packed with tiny print. \"All persons in the United States who have had any information about their computers or about them gathered by DoubleClick as a result of their Internet activity or who have had DoubleClick cookies placed upon their computers or browsers\" are told \"This Notice contains important information that may affect your rights.\" Namely that the class action on privacy has been settled, DoubleClick promises to change its wicked ways (for example, their cookies will now expire in a mere five years), and the plaintiff's lawyers get $1,800,000 for their pains. Of which the actual plaintiffs will receive $0,000,000. Details on this fabulous offer available at . Call now!"}, {"response": 72, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Apr 25, 2002 (20:05)", "body": "ronks: AOL Time Warner Loses $54 Billion In Quarter Their colossal flop seems due mostly to the AOL division whose new subscriptions have leveled off and whose ad revenue has plummeted; meanwhile the movie and other old-line segments of the company, \"once dismissed by dot-com acolytes as stodgy relics, have steadily forged ahead\". The CEO- elect Richard Parsons, who earlier \"irked some investors\" by observing that an obsession with individual quarters was shortsighted and suggesting a longer-term view, seems to have capitulated and says his new focus is on avoiding bad quarters. The current whopper may in fact be part of the plan: by taking an immense one-time charge, Mr. Parsons can get that out of the way and make the subsequent accounting reports look nicer. I mean it is pretty hard to do much worse than losing $54 billion net in three months. The company is also trying to get people to stop looking at standard GAAP measures like revenue and profit, and track \"ebitda\" instead. Even so, their expected \"earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization\" is now down to 7 percent from an earlier predicted 10%. Time to call in Arthur Andersen to pretty up the books.."}, {"response": 73, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, May  3, 2002 (13:35)", "body": "Busy Techie (ronks) Fri May 3 '02 (10:54) 29 lines Why They Left Sun Microsystems is said to be planning a long-range effort, internally named N1, that led Scott McNealy to tell senior execs recently they should either plan to stay around for five years' minimum, or go now. Many went. He has also begun thinking Long Thoughts about corporate directions after joining GE's board and mulling the management philosophy of its former CEO Jack Welch. One of the goals of N1 is to reduce the company's reliance on hardware, which presently accounts for about 70% of its business but is evolving into a low-margin commodity operation. N1, which will surely have a catchier name when it's announced on May 22, is Sun's strategy to build the Internet computer, described as \"a combination of hardware and software that will in effect combine the entire computing resources of a company ... to work as one vast computer\", meshing mainframes, servers, and desktop units from different manufacturers running different operating systems. No Easy Cure For Sex, Say Researchers The National Research Council has released its study \"Youth, Pornography and the Internet\" on how to shield children from bad things on the Web. Their conclusion in a nutshell is there's no simple answer. \"Though some might wish otherwise, no single approach - technical, legal, economic, educational - will be sufficient\", they say, and there is no \"'quick fix' to the challenge of pornography on the Internet\". They observe for example that kiddie filters \"can be highly effective ... if the inability to access large amounts of appropriate material is acceptable\"."}, {"response": 74, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, May 13, 2002 (10:48)", "body": "Busy Techie (ronks) Fri May 10 '02 (11:24) 42 lines High Speed To The Wall The current (May 2002) issue of Scientific American has an article on the future of \"ultrawideband wireless\" data transmission, particularly over short distances. The technology is based on the premise stated in the article that \"Many in the developed world already spend most of the day within 10 meters of some kind of wired link to the Internet\", so the field of greatest payback for vendors is in spatial capacity rather than raw bandwidth. Spatial capacity is a measure of bit rates over area, similar to how light fixtures are measured in lumens per square meter. UWB transmitters operating at 100 megabits per second, about today's level, really shine (so to speak) at spatial capacity and low power drain per the following matchup: Power, Kilobits/ milliwatts Sq Meter 802.11b 50 1 Bluetooth 1 30 802.11a 200 55 UWB 0.2 1,000 UWB employs a different form of transmission from your father's radio (or your kid's cell phone); it has no carrier frequency. Instead it consists of brief pulses over a wide range of frequencies, varying in amplitude, polarity, timing, and other characteristics to create Fourier approximations of square waves. This factor renders it more likely to interfere with other wireless devices, and in turn to suffer interference from them as well as from hair dryers and the like. (At present there seems no great danger that hair dryers will spontaneously turn on in the neighborhood of a wireless LAN, but when they start to get their own IP numbers, look out; we'll probably have to go back to fanning our heads with ostrich feathers or whatever people used in olden days.) Anyway, the likelihood of UWB being a source of interference is minimized by the devices' short range and low power: a 0.2 milliwatt UWB transmitter generates about 1/3000 the radiation of a 600 mw cell phone for example. Engineers are working meanwhile on electronic filters to address interference, multipath distortion, and similar input problems. The article concludes by noting that in 1976, before the advent of short-hop communications like cell phones, \"telephone providers in New York City could handle only 545 mobile telephone customers at a time\". That has changed."}, {"response": 75, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Jun 12, 2002 (12:56)", "body": "Broadband For The Masses Only 7 percent of US homes today have high-speed Internet access, per the FCC. Cost is the primary reason; not just the monthly fees but also the expense of wiring the \"last mile\" to the house, and within ye olde domicile itself. Two guys in a garage (really; just six blocks from Apple's birthplace and probably not far from Messrs. H & P's house) have figured out a way to modify the code on 802.11b Wi-Fi circuit boards that allows for wireless high-bandwidth data transmission up to twenty miles, thus eliminating much of the need for DSL and cable Internet connections. Their company is called Etherlinx and with a whopping $200,000 of investor money already serves about a dozen paying customers in their Oakland trials. Larger companies have expressed interest, but most are said to be waiting on a new wireless standard under development called 802.16 that may address long-range transmission in a more buttoned-down official format. Apple's 12-Step Plan They intend to run a series of ads featuring people against a plain white background talking about they swore off Windows and embraced the Macintosh faith. One calls his MS usage like \"being stuck in a bad relationship\". Steve Jobs sounded almost pleading with Mr. Bill not to take offense, saying \"What's a few marketing points between friends? It wouldn't matter to them, and we would be eternally grateful.\" This may call for a new definition of \"friends\" and \"eternally\". Ron Sipherd (ronks@well.com)"}, {"response": 76, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Jun 19, 2002 (07:45)", "body": "It Takes An iVillage The network of women's sites has undergone a makeover: two-thirds of the staff has been liposuctioned out, \"flamboyant\" CEO Candice Carpenter was replaced two years ago by a man, and instead of paying AOL and MSN to carry their content they may start to charge $5 a month for viewing privileges. They have also branched out into a line of branded \"nutraceutical\" pills, books with not very liberated titles like \"How To Find and Keep A Man\" and \"Heirloom Recipes\", and a \"$35 six-week online sexual self-improvement course\" which provided $100,000 in revenue. (Exactly how it improved the 2857.14 women who took it was not described, nor did the article suggest a need for lab assistants.) One thing remains, however: they have yet to make money. They had $60 million revenue in 2001, down from $76 M the year before and another net loss, though reportedly narrowing. Ron Sipherd, ronks@well.com. Thanks Ron!"}, {"response": 77, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Jul  8, 2002 (14:16)", "body": "Ron Sipherd ronks@well.com : The Empire Strikes Upwards The second generation of the Itanium CPU, evidently much larger than its parents, is to become available today; it represents according to the news story Intel's latest attempt to crack the data center ceiling. While Intel chips are in 85 percent of servers today, that's mostly in smaller ones like print and Web servers. About half the $49 billion annual revenue for servers goes to bigger machines, mostly from Sun, that drive back office operations like manufacturing and finance, and Intel wants a piece of that. Even the best hardware will take time to be accepted at those levels though, largely due to the cost of converting applications, so results are not expected to show up for a while. There They Go Again The US government, who brought us Ada and kept OSI on life support long after it had flatlined everywhere else, is set to develop a uniform standard for information interchange. A bill introduced in the Senate would create the \"Office of Electronic Government\"; despite its alarming name, it's not intended replace those pesky humans in the legislature with machines, but to set up a bureau to standardize the format of data both publicly available and for internal use. Chances are they will settle on XML, but that still leaves a myriad of details like whether you call a data item , , , and so forth. Even within the Defense Department they have not decide what a name is: first and last, first and middle initial and last, or all spelled out. Expect a long costly effort, followed by long costly hearings on why it failed."}, {"response": 78, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Jul 22, 2002 (12:34)", "body": "Busy Techie (ronks) Mon Jul 22 '02 (09:24) 45 lines Real Challenge RealNetworks is expected to announce new server software that can distribute audio and video files in Windows Media as well as Real's own and other formats. Although the Helix product was developed with \"clean-room\" techniques, Real says it would not be surprised if Microsoft sued them over its proprietary streaming media features. Licensing of Helix is a variant of open-source called \"community source\": the source code is freely available, but a fee is required for development of Helix-based commercial products. The article says the Java license was a model; it also sounds like TrollTech's licensing strategy for its Qt GUI interface software. Although the RealOne player has the lead on client machines for now, it has to watch its heels: Jupiter says RealOne has 29.1% market share, Windows Media is right behind with 28.2%, and Apple's QuickTime has 12.1%. But if Real can persuade Sun and IBM to bundle Helix with their OS, much as Microsoft did with Windows Media, it could get a significant (almost said real) boost. Some Guys And The Future According to some guy named John Schwartz ( ), some futurist named Howard Rheingold ( ) predicts that wireless phones and messagers could lead to a major new social phenomenon that he calls \"smart mobs\": groups acting in concert, perhaps without even realizing it. For example, word of a party or demonstration spreads out over the devices like ripples in a pond and people converge on the event. In Finland a cooperative called Aula runs a club for its 500 members whose \"radio-frequency ID tags\" not only let them in but also let others know they're there; its goal is to supplement the virtual community with a real meeting space; sort of like the Well picnic. The Internet Is Not Dead Another article says that despite the flight of investors, and the recent shakeup at Time Warner AOL that suggested the print media has ousted the webby usurper, the online world has shown considerable growth down at the consumer level where the revenue comes from. However, the reality is shaping up to be much different from the entrepreneurs' visions of a few year back; \"the Internet has turned out to be more of a souped-up telephone than a delivery vehicle for media and entertainment\". The story notes that 61 percent of adult Americans use the Net today, nearly a third more than in 2000, and e-mail is the most popular use. Thanks Ron!"}, {"response": 79, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Jul 25, 2002 (14:39)", "body": "(ronks) Thu Jul 25 '02 (08:54) 48 lines Got Laptop? Denver airport officials put up the sign above at security check stations after 95 computers were left behind by harried travelers in the month of February. Increased scrutiny of airline passengers since 9/11 means they have to take the PC out of its bag and show the National Guard it can play Solitaire; in the rush to gather raincoats, suitcases, explain why you packed forbidden nail clippers and other instruments of mass destruction, many forget to put the machine back in the bag. Seattle-Tacoma airport had 330 of them left behind in the seven months after they started inspections, and 204 in just the last three. It Isn't Easy Being Green Computer Associates spokesperns are at great pains today to explain that the ten million dollars the company gave Sam Wyly to drop his proxy fight to elect five members to the board, thus leaving shareholders with no choice other than management's pick, is not greenmail. They seem to feel the need to say that because everybody outside the company thinks that's what it was. .Net 101 Called by one participant \".Net For Dummies\", Microsoft brass made an elaborate presentation to reporters and analysts to explain what the vastly trumpeted initiative is about, two years after it was introduced. The article seemed to suggest it's still not entirely clear; according to VP Jim Allchin, \"It really is about plumbing and concrete and protocols\", yet no plumbers or foundation contractors attended the session. From the story, it's also about fighting IBM, Oracle, Sun, and a host of smaller firms for control of the supposedly big-potential Web services business; it's about persuading customers to rent software rather than buy licenses; it's about ending the era of \"open computing\" and the \"free exchange of digital information\" through a group called the Trusted Computing Platform Alliance that MS seeks to influence to make PC builders include self-limiting circuits to limit the media they play and the code they will run. (Persuading people this brave new world of renting and crippled computers is an improvement sounds like a major challenge, for anyone but a monopoly.) And it's about a new \"communications server\" called Greenwich, a new SQL server called Yukon, a Windows Media Center to display \".Net-style information to the television in the living room\" (so the whole family can crunch databases in the evening?); last and greatest it's about Longhorn, the new OS two years off that will be just better than anything ever before etc. One gets the feeling from reading the article that the reporter was not persuaded."}, {"response": 80, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Aug 12, 2002 (12:31)", "body": "(ronks) Mon Aug 12 '02 (08:37) 19 lines Linux At The Edges As competition develops for its Solaris-based servers from rivals like IBM, and cost conscious buyers move to clustered Linux systems running on old or commodity-priced hardware, not to mention the slumparoonie in the dot-com and telecom industries, Sun Microsystems has seen its revenues fall by about a third. One apparent response is to rethink its strategy of pushing thin clients and fat centralized servers. Microsoft has graciously, if unwittingly, sent an opportunity their way; the new MS policy of forcing corporate customers to rent software seems to be leading many to look to Linux as a way to regain control over their systems and costs. So Sun will introduce its new LX50 server today, a $2800 model running a 1.4 GHz Intel CPU which the article compares to a $3700 Dell/RedHat unit. Analysts note Sun's timing is good, since the movement to Linux is still new and IBM and H-P, though pioneers, don't have a lock on the market. They also speculate Sun's strategy may be to retain its high-margin Solaris servers at the core while promoting Linux units \"at the edge of the network and in desktop applications\"."}, {"response": 81, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Aug 19, 2002 (16:18)", "body": "ronks rides again. iPhone On The Way? An article in today's paper suggests that Newton II may be on Apple's drawing board, despite the role of its daddy in ending CEO John Sculley's career there. The new device, whose existence is largely denied by Mr. Sculley's predecessor/successor Steve Jobs, would be both a cell phone and a PDA. While the present Apple management is mum about such plans, the story notes how the foundation is being laid with a license that allows the iPod's software (bought from a third party, Pixo) to be used on a second product and numerous handheld-friendly features in the new Mac OS X. Such as (takes deep breath) chat, e-mail, an address book, a calendar, automatic networking, data synchronization, handwriting recognition, and additions to the Sherlock information-search tool that include restaurants, movie times, and airline schedules. Apple faces a changed world since Newton I: on one hand the cost of components has declined greatly and the concept is no longer so new or risible; on the other, the playing field is already crowded with competitors like Motorola, Microsoft, Nokia, and Palm, and startups Handspring and Danger. Mist-On On The Way Patent number 20020088475 was issued to Texas inventor Thomas Laughlin for his \"system for coating the human skin\". The device, a sort of walk-in closet with nozzles, can spray the victim er client with suntan lotion, insect repellent, instant tanning cream, \"skin bleaches\" (presumably not at the same time as the instant tanning glop), \"decontamination agents, muscle relaxants, and wrinkle treatments\". Also with something called \"massage aides\", which appear not to be tiny large-handed homunculi but scented oil. After which I imagine a real person performs the rubdown, though Mr. Laughlin may be working on the Iron Masseuse; stay tuned. Video Spam On The Way Talkway Communications of Fremont CA has unveiled a software product for sending full-motion sound-and-video e-mail messages that don't require \"any special software\" on the recipient's end. The product, VmailTalk, is said to have \"positive effects for customer acquisition\"; soon spammers will be able to show just how much they can enlarge any desired organs, with animation yet (and make them talk too, another boon). Science marches on. Vanilla Ice Cream In Path Of Monster? The Toho Company of Japan, owner of the \"Godzilla\" name and character, has threatened to sue David Linabury, host of davezilla.com, over his \"use of the 'zilla' formative\" and his \"emaciated cartoon dragon\" for infringement of their rights. Mr. Linabury has refused and offered to battle Godzilla (in court) over it. Toho reps decline to comment, but with hundred of other sites using the dreaded formative including mozilla.org, the monster and his lawyers may be gearing up for a busy season."}, {"response": 82, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 23, 2002 (19:32)", "body": "ronks rides yet again. Novell Up The software and services company reports a quarterly profit of $10 million compared to a $19 M loss a year earlier, and a 13% rise in sales. Off The Clock A story in yesterday's paper covered much the same ground (though faster) as an article in the August issue of Scientific American: asynchronous computer circuits. In CPU chips today, a central clock sets the pace for almost all operations, like the drum-beater in a Roman galley ship. Besides providing the manufacturer with bragging rights (2 gigahertz! 2.2 gigahertz! 2.22 GHz! and so forth), the clock sets the pace so the operations of data fetching, calculation, storage etc. in different sections can interoperate. This uniformity comes at a price, though: up to a third of the chip's electrical power may be devoted to the clock and its circuitry, a particular problem on battery-powered devices; the clock always runs, generating waste heat even when the computer is idle; and the fixed frequency of the clock generates radio signals in tune with its harmonics that can interfere with wireless devices. Equally important, the clock forces faster sections of the chip to operate at the pace of the slowest component. By contrast, an asynchronous chip is more like a bucket brigade; if you are ready to pass the bucket onto the next person downstream and they are ready to receive it, you can do so without regard to some central metronome's pace. Of course, this approach poses its own problems: CPU clocks weren't invented just to slow everybody down. The two main issues identified to date are (1) determining when all the components of the predecessor task have been marshaled so that the next task can begin, known as the Rendezvous; and (2) arbitrating which of two requests (say for shared memory) is to receive precedence. The SA article goes into mind-numbing length on the resolution of these issues to date, including a 14th century parable about an ass placed exactly between two equal piles of hay who starves from inability to decide. Zzzzzz.. Oh yes, the story; anyway, more info for the terminally curious is available at ."}, {"response": 83, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Aug 26, 2002 (14:46)", "body": "Thanks Ron! Now We Know When the Arizona attorney general's office shut down Scottsdale Internet merchant CP Direct and inventoried its assets, they uncovered a number of facts about the world of e-mail marketing. The company was apparently a major source of those annoying ads for pills to increase the size of the, ah, male organ. The treatment was found to consist of pumpkin seeds, sarsaparilla, and \"oyster meat\" (for some reason in quotes, maybe they swapped in clam meat, no wonder it didn't work - never mind). Anyway their profits were wonderfully enlarged, probably since the bottles they sold for $60 cost them $2.45; the company's property included \"$30 million in luxury real estate and a herd of Mercedes-Benzes, Rolls-Royces, and a Lamborghini\"."}, {"response": 84, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep  3, 2002 (09:52)", "body": "Ron Sipherd ronks@well.com writes: The Next Twenty Years The effect on Social Security of the changing US demographic over the coming decades has been endlessly debated, but its larger effect on the economy is less well known. The nonpartisan Aspen Institute has just released a report comparing the previous two decades with the next two. A couple conclusions stand out, with most workers of 2022 already born; growth in the work force will be considerably slower, and disparities in income will widen as fewer skilled workers are available for more openings and fewer unskilled jobs are available. From 1980 to 2000, the baby boom and the influx of women workers pushed the workforce up 50%; by 2020, that figure should rise by only 16% as boomers retire and women's figures cease to bulge [must find better way of phrasing that]. The number of educated US workers grew by 19% since 1980, but will only rise 4% in 2020, and the pool of age 25-54 Americans may not grow at all. Potential effects of the diminished US labor growth are: - a slowdown in the annual growth of the GDP by up to a percent; - increased wage premiums for skilled applicants; - increased reliance on foreign workers (who accounted in 1996-2001 for 89% of US growth in workers 25-54, and 53% of those with advanced degrees), especially for occupations not requiring physical relocation to the US; - a rise in on-the-job training for needed skills."}, {"response": 85, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Sep  6, 2002 (17:28)", "body": "Rather Ripped Napster Ripped as in R.I.P. The music-sharing company has been inactive for over a year, since a Federal court declared it abetted the infringement of copyrighted material. It entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy three months ago and planned to take a $9 million buyout from German media conglomerate and part- owner Bertelsmann; but that plan was just blocked by the court since Napster's CEO Conrad Hilbers had \"divided loyalty\" as a former Bertelsmann executive. Mr. Hilbers responded that the company would move to Chapter 7 (liquidation) proceedings. Then he laid off all his staff and quit; this is not considered a good sign for the future of the business. Time Slices, Like An Arrow The September issue of Scientific American is devoted to the concept of time: its physics, psychology, etc. One article describes divisions of time from one attosecond (a billionth of a billionth of a second, but still lots longer than a unit of Planck time, which is 10 **-43 second) on up to a billion years and the evaporation of the last black hole in 10 **100 years. Anyway, it introduces a new measure akin to the Standard Human Hair or the area of Rhode Island: 1/350 of a second, or the amount of time in which Americans (presumably in the aggregate) eat one slice of pizza. Thanks Ron!"}, {"response": 86, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep  9, 2002 (14:02)", "body": "Busy Techie (ronks) Mon Sep 9 '02 (10:32) 18 lines Promoting Open Source Can Get You Fired At least it seems to have gotten Bruce Perens fired from H-P. Before the merger with Compaq, Mr. Perens was H-P's GNU Linux evangelist, urging customers to consider it and then letting the company's sales force explain why H-P was the best choice for Linux products. After the merger, H-P became \"the largest single buyer of Windows for personal computers\" and hence at the mercy of the giant of Redmond who has funded a front er an \"industry group\" called the Initiative For Software Choice whose goal is to fight \"legislative proposals, government statements, and studies\" that support using open-source software. (Studies even? Once somebody starts to study the issue they become a potential enemy of the people evidently.) Mr. Perens was informed ten days ago that he was terminated. In related news, market-research firm StatMarket has pronounced Netscape effectively dead, with less that 3 percent share compared with Internet Explorer's 96%, all achieved you may be sure by free and unconstrained public choice."}, {"response": 87, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Sep 11, 2002 (11:01)", "body": "A Step Forward, A Step Sideways H-P researchers say new molecular-level chip fabrication techniques, described as \"an ultra-high-tech waffle iron\" (hold the syrup), should lead within the next few years to memory densities of over a trillion bits per square centimeter. Today's memory is said to max out at around half a billion bits. They anticipate making wires within the circuits no more than an atom wide. The company just received a patent on aspects of the technology, which is also being pursued by IBM and probably others. Meanwhile Intel says its new processors will include \"advanced security features\" which create a sort of virtual vault for data secure from hackers; the \"LaGrande\" technology is intended to work with Microsoft's Palladium security software initiative, and will also prevent you from sharing music, video and other files that the suits don't want you to pass around. Thank you, Ron."}, {"response": 88, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Sep 11, 2002 (11:44)", "body": "ronks is busy today. Hands Down IDC reports worldwide sales of handheld PDAs fell 9.3% last quarter to 2.6 million, the second decline in a row. Palm is still the leader followed by HP-Compaq, Sony, Handspring, and \"Hi-Tech Wealth\" of China."}, {"response": 89, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Sep 24, 2002 (12:40)", "body": "ronks rides again. Poor Software Foundation Holds Fundraiser As Richard Stallman likes to point out \"Free software is free as in freedom, not as in free beer\". Companies make money selling it even if they don't have the same ownership rights as Microsoft and Apple over their creations; just ask Red Hat and IBM. But that doesn't mean they're putting much of it back into the Free Software Foundation, especially in the current business downturn, and the FSF has expenses even if most of its technical work is done by volunteers. So it held a benefit dinner and passed the hat last week at the NY apartment of a GNU software company founder, raising $6,000 from the 25 guests. Fat Pipes At Post Office One of the largest conduits for the delivery of digital media is - the US Postal Service, thanks largely to the growing industry of video on demand and DVDs. A company like Netflix who mails out movies for rent or sale to consumers accounts for an estimated 1500 terabytes of data a day, compared to around 2000-4000 terabytes a day for the Internet. Peregrine Lays An Egg Business-software maker Peregrine Systems filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy and sold off its Remedy unit to BMC Software for $350 million. Investors are still waiting for audited financial reports for fiscal years 2000 through 2002, and the company says it expects to restate revenue for 11 quarters downward by about a quarter billion to reflect transactions booked as sales that should have been called loans. They are suing their former auditor Arthur Andersen - take a number, guys - for negligence and fraud. Apart from the fact that AA will likely be picked clean before the case gets to trial, it will be interesting to hear the plaintiff claim to be a victim because its auditor went along with the plaintiff's own schemes."}, {"response": 90, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Oct  9, 2002 (14:33)", "body": "Who Needs Moore's Law Anyway? This just in: humans are not getting any faster, and most don't need their PCs to do so either. With primary consumer uses like e-mail, Web surfing, and word processing, systems beyond 2 gigahertz look to many like a 1000- watt lightbulb; impressive but unnecessary. A recent review of households showed the number \"very likely to purchase a new PC in the next six months\" had fallen to 11%, from an average in the late nineties of around 14% and a spike in late 1999 of 21% as people rushed to buy new systems able to handle the year 1900 (oops). Demand has slackened despite the fact that for the first time in eight years, most home users have machines over two years old. Analysts suggest the industry is still in denial over the decline; as one put it, they're \"walking around like members of the cargo cult after World War II.\" An indication of their attitude comes from their expressed belief that the new drivers for new-PC demand will be games and home video editing. Some of the downturn appears attributable to the recession, but it may also herald a shift away from spending \"techno-lust\" disposable income on PCs and toward other gizmos like cellphones, PDAs, and portable music players. Vicarious Revenge On Spammers When Sparklist.com, the host of Marketing Sherpa's e-mail address list containing 10 million names, was sold to a rival, disgruntled former employees sold the list to spammers. The resultant deluge of pornography, make-money-fast, and organ-enlargement ads sent to their customers was \"mortifying\" according a Sherpa executive. So for kicks they created where you can subject sleazy characters like Mr. Viagro and cartoonish nubiles to vats of boiling oil, hordes of crazed flying monkeys, and of course an avalanche of e-mail. We're All Bubble Boys On This Bus In the firm belief that every burnoose-clad barbarian is cooking up pots of anthrax and smallpox spores to lob at the civilized world, the homeland- security folks are beefing up hospital decontamination wards. But getting all the civilized sickos to the ward without spreading the stuff around is a problem. Enter the living-body bag, AKA the \"personal pod\". These things, for which patents are issuing, are described as a \"giant Ziploc sandwich bag with a blower and a filtered exhaust\". Another version seals \"with an adhesive similar to that found on disposable diapers\". I feel so much safer now. SIA Says Chip Sales Up A survey by the Semiconductor Industry Association shows a 14 percent increase in worldwide sales of chips from a year ago, primarily for use in consumer products such as mobile phones, DVD players, and digital cameras. It predicts sales this year should total around $143 billion. ASAP RIP Forbes ASAP, created in 1992 to provide coverage of the \"digital economy\", is no more; it has been shut by ailing parent Forbes. It came out six times a year, then four; now zero. A spokespern said \"There is no market for a dedicated new-economy publication.\" Taking a longer view was John Battelle, former head of the company that published the now-defunct Industry Standard, who observed \"These magazines are gone until they come back, though probably in different clothing. There will be another boom in the business cycle, and there will be a new crop of magazines to cover it.\" Follow The Money Charles James, the DOJ antitrust chief who capitulated I mean negotiated a settlement of the federal suit against Microsoft, is quitting for a job at Chevron-Texaco because he says it offered him more money and a place on its executive committee. Robert Pitofsky, former FTC head, noted that while Mr. James verbally \"was very supportive of enforcement ... he didn't bring many cases of note at all\", fewer in fact than Reagan's antitrust chief William Baxter. Tons O' Phone An EPA report estimates that in three years about 65,000 tons of old cell phones will be discarded annually. \"Old\" in this context meaning \"replaced by something more appealing\" as in \"old ex-spouse\", not just say a 1970's shoebox size cordless. Anyway, one approach is the \"Take Back Your Phone\" drive to make manufacturers accept returned units and recycle them, though simply rearranging the components for resale may not fool everybody; perhaps they can be made into postmodern 65,000-ton sculptures that comment on our throwaway digital lifestyle. Or perhaps not. Anyway, the makers of cell phones don't like the idea; they prefer that \"old phones be turned over to charities or resold in less developed countries.\" So if a new mountain pops up on the banks of the Limpopo or wherever it might not be a volcano, just a pile of Nokias. - ronks"}, {"response": 91, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Oct 14, 2002 (17:31)", "body": "(ronks) Mon Oct 14 '02 (08:46) 34 lines Patents And Copyrights And Trade Secrets, Oh My As the US pursues its war on piracy of intellectual property, it's worth noting that the biggest Jolly Roger in the 1800's was flown by a country located between Canada and Mexico. Prior to 1891, only citizens and residents of the US could obtain copyright protection for their works, so that for example Dickens's \"A Christmas Carol\" sold for six cents here as opposed to the equivalent of $2.50 in England. By the 1890's however it had become apparent that Americans were producing books and other works that needed protection abroad, only available if we reciprocated, and since then the US has become one of the loudest voices decrying other countries doing what we did. The Trips (\"Trade related aspects of intellectual property rights\", sounds better than Traoipr I guess) agreement being pushed on members of the WTO would require nations to enforce a standard and a strong set of IP rules worldwide. The World Bank just did a study of who wins and who loses from Trips: it concluded the US would gain about $19 billion a year in additional royalties, Germany about $7 B, Japan $6 B, and France around $3 B. China would lose $5 B, Mexico $3 B, India $1 B, and Brazil about $0.5 billion. While Trips has been on a roll among WTO signatories, the World Bank study reinforces a feeling born of the AIDS epidemic and the high cost of patented drugs leading third world countries to rethink its virtues. Of course once they too become rich and famous, they may see things differently, just as we did.. In other news, the feeling among the plaintiffs seeking in the Supreme Court to overturn the recent extension of US copyright terms is not optimistic. At a meeting after oral arguments the general perception was that while the Supremes felt \"disdain\" for the law, they were reluctant to declare it unconstitutional. Still the plaintiffs felt they had lit a fire that might in time ignite public opinion and persuade legislators to see both sides of the issue rather than just Disney's. As one attorney put it, \"A lot of us feel this is like the environmental movement before 'Silent Spring'\"."}, {"response": 92, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Oct 15, 2002 (12:38)", "body": "(ronks) Tue Oct 15 '02 (09:32) 15 lines Return Of The Mainframe Well, not exactly. But ancient computer maker Unisys, who has also branched out into the more up-to-date services biz, reported quarterly earnings of $59 million, up from $21 M last year even though revenue was off about 4%. Play With Your Phone In what is either a visionary breakthrough or one of the silliest uses of new technology, Intel is expected to announce a new generation of flash memory and stacked processor chips based on the ARM design that will \"give cell phone users the ability to execute such performance-intensive applications as MPEG4 video, speech and handwriting recognition, and Java\"."}, {"response": 93, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Oct 25, 2002 (08:22)", "body": "ronks: Return Of The Mainframe Well, not exactly. But ancient computer maker Unisys, who has also branched out into the more up-to-date services biz, reported quarterly earnings of $59 million, up from $21 M last year even though revenue was off about 4%. Play With Your Phone In what is either a visionary breakthrough or one of the silliest uses of new technology, Intel is expected to announce a new generation of flash memory and stacked processor chips based on the ARM design that will \"give cell phone users the ability to execute such performance-intensive applications as MPEG4 video, speech and handwriting recognition, and Java\". Funky Pundits A conference of high-tech boosters called Agenda, held in Scottsdale this year, was a gloomy departure from the usual optimistic mood of prior years. The major debate seemed to be over whether the industry had simply \"matured\" into a slower-growing phase that would last indefinitely, or whether the slump was temporary (maybe long-term but still finite) due to overbuilding and overinvestment in fiber optic pipes, chip fab plants, and other capacity that led companies to take on long-term debt just as demand plummeted. Voodoo Econometrics An article in the paper today (not meant to be taken seriously, I hope) tracks the correlation between the stock market and the reoccurrence of World Series between California teams. In 1974, 1988, and this year, (regular 14-year intervals, hmm) the rivalry is between a team from the north of the state and one from the LA area. A year after the first one, the Dow was up 26%; a year after the second, it was up 23%. Then there was 1989, when there was a recession, a threat of war in the Mideast, and the Dow went up only 2%, not to mention the earthquake; but that was between two Bay Area teams so any resemblance to this year is of course purely coincidental.. Flat Apple Not a new monitor, but the company's quarterly financial results. Gross sales were essentially the same as a year ago, though the number of units shipped was down 14 percent to 734,000. The $66 million profit of the quarter a year ago turned into a $45 M loss, mostly due to one-time charges like a decline in its Earthlink investment; without those, Apple made $7 M. CFO Fred Anderson was not hopeful for the future: \"There's uncertainty in the economy and the PC industry and the possibility of war. I don't see any point in being optimistic at the moment.\" Don't invite him to your next party. How To Drive Customers Away Microsoft's new corporate pricing plan, which basically converts software license to a rental mode, is producing some short term gains as clients signed up to beat a July 31 rate increase, but a lot of grumbling and some defections. Overall, most companies will probably pay about the same, some a little less, and some will have to pay more; but the losers are the ones whose budgets were tightest in the first place and are the most sensitive to price gouging by a monopoly. The city of Nanaimo in British Columbia has responded by moving to convert its 350 desktop units to Sun StarOffice, estimated to cost about 15% of MS Office. Sun Down Sun may be the gainer from the MS plans in Nanaimo, but its reported to be losing the OS wars to Microsoft and Linux. As a result its prices reflect lower profit margins, and as a result of that, its credit rating was just lowered by S&P (to BBB from BBB+, still investment grade but nearer junk). More Layoffs At Adobe The graphics software maker is expected to let go about another 250 staff in the fourth quarter; it dropped 247 a year ago, out of about 3500 on its payroll. Talk Faster Lucent reports chip prototypes for cell phones that can send and receive at eight times the speed of today's units; it is expected to be used for wireless data as well as high-speed babbling. They use inverse multiplexing (which I haven't heard much of recently), merging signals from several antennas into a single stream. Sun Squeezed As one analyst put it, \"They're a big company, they're not going away\", but the challenge \"would be to remain relevant to its customers\". Facing a 4% quarterly decline in sales from a year ago and a $111 million net loss (though better than the $180 M loss this time last year), Sun has to deal with challenges to its proprietary software from Microsoft and open-source Linux as well as a decline in clients' capital spending on technology. Plainly losing less on lower revenue comes from cost-cutting, which Sun intends to continue with a planned layoff of about 4,400 employees or 11% worldwide. Longer term it remains to be seen if the company can be profitable as the Unix market shifts; Sun's one reported victory in the story was over H-P's own proprietary OS. Another bright spot, if a small one, was $6 million in sales of its Star Office suite. Quote Of The Day S&P energy analyst Craig Shere, on UBS's purchase of Enron's trading unit: \"They bought intellectual capital, and if your intellectual capital winds up behind"}, {"response": 94, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Oct 27, 2002 (16:10)", "body": "ronks Return Of The Mainframe Well, not exactly. But ancient computer maker Unisys, who has also branched out into the more up-to-date services biz, reported quarterly earnings of $59 million, up from $21 M last year even though revenue was off about 4%. Play With Your Phone In what is either a visionary breakthrough or one of the silliest uses of new technology, Intel is expected to announce a new generation of flash memory and stacked processor chips based on the ARM design that will \"give cell phone users the ability to execute such performance-intensive applications as MPEG4 video, speech and handwriting recognition, and Java\". Funky Pundits A conference of high-tech boosters called Agenda, held in Scottsdale this year, was a gloomy departure from the usual optimistic mood of prior years. The major debate seemed to be over whether the industry had simply \"matured\" into a slower-growing phase that would last indefinitely, or whether the slump was temporary (maybe long-term but still finite) due to overbuilding and overinvestment in fiber optic pipes, chip fab plants, and other capacity that led companies to take on long-term debt just as demand plummeted. Voodoo Econometrics An article in the paper today (not meant to be taken seriously, I hope) tracks the correlation between the stock market and the reoccurrence of World Series between California teams. In 1974, 1988, and this year, (regular 14-year intervals, hmm) the rivalry is between a team from the north of the state and one from the LA area. A year after the first one, the Dow was up 26%; a year after the second, it was up 23%. Then there was 1989, when there was a recession, a threat of war in the Mideast, and the Dow went up only 2%, not to mention the earthquake; but that was between two Bay Area teams so any resemblance to this year is of course purely coincidental.. Flat Apple Not a new monitor, but the company's quarterly financial results. Gross sales were essentially the same as a year ago, though the number of units shipped was down 14 percent to 734,000. The $66 million profit of the quarter a year ago turned into a $45 M loss, mostly due to one-time charges like a decline in its Earthlink investment; without those, Apple made $7 M. CFO Fred Anderson was not hopeful for the future: \"There's uncertainty in the economy and the PC industry and the possibility of war. I don't see any point in being optimistic at the moment.\" Don't invite him to your next party. How To Drive Customers Away Microsoft's new corporate pricing plan, which basically converts software license to a rental mode, is producing some short term gains as clients signed up to beat a July 31 rate increase, but a lot of grumbling and some defections. Overall, most companies will probably pay about the same, some a little less, and some will have to pay more; but the losers are the ones whose budgets were tightest in the first place and are the most sensitive to price gouging by a monopoly. The city of Nanaimo in British Columbia has responded by moving to convert its 350 desktop units to Sun StarOffice, estimated to cost about 15% of MS Office. Sun Down Sun may be the gainer from the MS plans in Nanaimo, but its reported to be losing the OS wars to Microsoft and Linux. As a result its prices reflect lower profit margins, and as a result of that, its credit rating was just lowered by S&P (to BBB from BBB+, still investment grade but nearer junk). More Layoffs At Adobe The graphics software maker is expected to let go about another 250 staff in the fourth quarter; it dropped 247 a year ago, out of about 3500 on its payroll. Talk Faster Lucent reports chip prototypes for cell phones that can send and receive at eight times the speed of today's units; it is expected to be used for wireless data as well as high-speed babbling. They use inverse multiplexing (which I haven't heard much of recently), merging signals from several antennas into a single stream. Sun Squeezed As one analyst put it, \"They're a big company, they're not going away\", but the challenge \"would be to remain relevant to its customers\". Facing a 4% quarterly decline in sales from a year ago and a $111 million net loss (though better than the $180 M loss this time last year), Sun has to deal with challenges to its proprietary software from Microsoft and open-source Linux as well as a decline in clients' capital spending on technology. Plainly losing less on lower revenue comes from cost-cutting, which Sun intends to continue with a planned layoff of about 4,400 employees or 11% worldwide. Longer term it remains to be seen if the company can be profitable as the Unix market shifts; Sun's one reported victory in the story was over H-P's own proprietary OS. Another bright spot, if a small one, was $6 million in sales of its Star Office suite. Quote Of The Day S&P energy analyst Craig Shere, on UBS's purchase of Enron's trading unit: \"They bought intellectual capital, and if your intellectual capital winds up behind "}, {"response": 95, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Oct 29, 2002 (12:43)", "body": "ronks rages on. IBM As Water Company CEO Sam Palmisano is expected to unveil tomorrow his view of the future of corporate computing, as a utility service in which customers buy just what they need from bulk suppliers like IBM as they now purchase electricity or other commodities. Called \"computing on demand\", it is based on the ability of processors across a network to share tasks, like SETI@Home but more in real time. This \"grid computing\" is said to be one of the features that differentiate the concept from the failed 1960's model of computer time- sharing. Whether there is sufficient difference to make it a success remains to be seen, but it is an ambitious strategy that would require a major change in the mind-set of clients. It also sounds very like an attempt to resurrect Big Blue's old strategy (back in those halcyon days when the mainframe was king and IBM monopolized the mainframe business) of \"account control\". Proponents dismiss the gloomy time-sharing analogy with the observation that the Internet was also conceived in the 1960's, but only recently enabled by the evolution of hardware, software, and fat pipes. In any case, IBM is not alone in its effort to become the PG&E of computing: HP, Microsoft, Sun, and Accenture (who shed the Arthur Andersen name just in time) are trying to move in the same direction. I would guess that Microsoft's .Net architecture is a major part of MS's plan. Personally, as a matter of corporate sociology, I've seen real eagerness on the part of MIS execs to replace PCs with servers under their control and \"thin clients\", formerly known as 3270's, on the desktops; but I wonder very much if those same execs who want that control will be eager to cede it to old monopolist IBM or new monopolist MS, or anybody else for that matter. The would-be utilities will have to target a layer of management above them to succeed. Shazam! It's Beethoven Or possibly someone younger. A London startup named Shazam Entertainment offers a novel dial-up service: you call their number and point your cell phone (with a text display) at a music source. According to the article, their service analyzes the sound, scans its database of 1.6 million songs in less than a second, sends a text message naming the tune and the artist, and charges you 75 cents (or 50 pence in English). Users can later log into www.shazam.com for a history of their calls and links to merchants who sell recordings. The service was created by graduates of UC Berkeley and Stanford, but the founders have no plans to introduce it in the US because of Americans' \"resistance to using their cellphones for anything but talking\". Waywayback Machine Debuts A full-page ad on the back page of today's NY Times business section seems to have fallen through a wormhole from either the last or the next April Fool's Day. A company calling itself \"Bagotronics.com\" is advertising a time machine, for business travelers only who want to reverse bad strategies or perhaps sell their stock in Enron and MarchFirst.com when it was worth something. The \"Business Time Machine\", based on the latest (possibly even the future) \"quark-gluon plasma chip technology\" is pictured on the ad. Looking like an escapee from a 1930's sci-fi movie, the BTM is built on a sort of Chippendale, or perhaps Louis Quattorze, walnut base with brass handles. In front are two switches, knobs, and red lights; one each for the future and the past perhaps. The top is a sort of bell jar within which are set an alarm clock and a kind of Slinky in a cage, plus a couple of solenoids and what looks like a medicine bottle. The latter is probably where they store the Kool-Aid on which the process depends. Details alleged to be available at . Oh, and because the BTM is for businesspersons only, the ad states that the user will not be encumbered with hoi polloi like \"travelers to Gettysburg\" and \"stage enthusiasts returning to Shakespeare's England\"; still, you could probably pick up a First Folio of \"Hamlet\" there for cheap and resell it on EBay..."}, {"response": 96, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Nov 22, 2002 (09:09)", "body": "ronks: Here They Come According to a survey by Circle 1 Network and SpectraCom reported in the latest PC Magazine, last year forty percent of children aged 4 through 18 had a \"wireless device\". (It's true this could strictly speaking include a teddy bear, but I think they mean a wireless device as we know it.) One- third have a cell phone, a fifty percent jump from the previous year, and the top item on their wish lists is a laptop computer. Smaller Blackberry Not the device (or the fruit); the company, actually Research In Motion Ltd, will lay off about 10% of its staff to \"tighten operational efficiencies\". New Blueprint In other wireless news, Microsoft and Samsung will offer a set of design specs to \"allow any electronics manufacturer to produce a relatively inexpensive version of a hand-held Pocket PC\". The move is seen not so much as a desire by MS to increase competition as a move to squelch Palm's new $99 unit. Mr. Gates Goes To Delhi On a goodwill visit, with a large wallet. Besides contributions from his charitable foundation conveniently announced this week, his company will pump $400 million into the country to \"increase computer literacy\" and expand access to technology. And perhaps to blunt India's support of Linux. Short Term Storage Do not use this for file archives; a new type of DVD has been created by a New York company called Flexplay. Within eight hours after the sealed package is opened, a special dye layer oxidizes on contact with air and renders the disk unreadable. The dye can be formulated to let the DVD live for up to 60 hours, and the disk becomes unusable within a year whether opened or not. Copies are being given out free to fans of a group called Nappy Roots as a marketing experiment, evidently to test whether they are stupid enough to buy music disks that self-destruct. Perhaps you might pay for them with checks written in ink that becomes invisible in 30 minutes, but I suppose the vendors would consider that unfair. The article says the disk technology was originally designed for the distribution of software. Yes, it really says that. Can you imagine waiting an hour to talk with tech support who tells you to reinstall the app from the disk, unless of course you opened the package more than eight hours ago? Oy. Yet Another Accounting Firm In Trouble It might be simpler just to list the ones that aren't, but where's the Schadenfreude in that? Anyway, the SEC has reinstated charges against Ernst & Young that they violated auditor independence rules by partnering with PeopleSoft to jointly develop and market a software product at the same time as they were policing the software company's books, a conflict of interest. And why did the charges have to be reinstated? Because the first time around so many SEC commissioners had their own conflicts of interest that only one person was able to vote on whether to pursue the case. I believe that decision was unanimous.. Those Who Can, Do; Those Who Can't, ... Online credit card company NextCard was once a high-flying startup, but too many clients treated it like a VC firm or a free lunch. Failure of its customers to pay led regulators to seize its banking operations in February and cut off its card operations in July; the company was running on a \"service contract\" with the FDIC which expired at the end of last month. Yesterday it filed for bankruptcy, owing the FDIC up to $400 million and under SEC investigation. The interesting part is that it filed under Chapter 11 with a plan to reorganize \"as a consultant to other financial services firms\". Like Typhoid Mary could go into restaurant-hygiene consulting.. Optical Router At Heart of New Campus Network It had to happen. The slowest component of the network planned for UC San Diego is not the connections but the computers. The campus-wide system (called an \"optiputer\") is to be linked with optical fibers and a light- signal router from Texas-based Chiaro Networks. It will essentially constitute a grid supercomputer whose 500 Intel processors run the Linux operating system. Object-Oriented With Real Objects Bill Gates' keynote address to Comdex was expected to announce Microsoft's support for \"smart personal objects\" like Dick Tracy wristwatches that display weather, sports scores, news, and text messages. And probably spam, though he may not mention that. Microsoft is said to be working with National Semiconductor and appliance makers to develop gizmos of all sorts, available in about a year, that demonstrate his claim that \"the industry\" (there's only one?) is moving from personal computers, those boring old boxes with low profit margins even for a monopolist, to personal computing. O brave new world, where we have to buy an annual license to use our own watches... BTW, the promoter of Comdex is poised to declare bankruptcy after attendance dropped from 200,000 in 1999 to 125,000 last year with no signs of an upturn. If this continues, Las Vegas will have to return to its core values li"}, {"response": 97, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Nov 22, 2002 (09:09)", "body": "More ronks. Computer Associates' Wang Is Out Chairman Charles Wang, who founded CA in 1976 as an aggressive buyer of mainframe utility software companies whose products he then cut technical support for while he raised prices, has resigned his post effective immediately. He will retain the \"honorary and unpaid title of chairman emeritus\" and receive no pension. Don't worry about him going hungry, however; he made $670 million in pay alone in 1998, he owns the New York Islanders hockey team, and he has been ranked one of the highest-paid executives in the world. Although he built CA into the 5th-largest software firm globally with $3 billion annual sales (perhaps; see below) and 16,000 employees, he is leaving a troubled legacy. Besides practicing extortion on customers, the company's manipulation of accounting figures is under investigation. In one case Mr. Wang stood to receive over 12 million shares of CA stock if he could get the price up to a certain amount; during that time profits may have been artificially inflated. In another, CA adopted an accounting rule that allowed it report the same sales and profits two times. One analyst summed up his legacy as \"They didn't have a pretense of saving the world through better technology - it was, we are sort of out to consolidate the industry and gather economic value in the process.\" Extremely Big Blue IBM has received a $290 million contract to build two supercomputers for the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory in Livermore that together will exceed the computing power of the next five hundred fastest machines in the world. Leading the duo is Blue Gene/L, made of 130,000 specialized processors; it is expected to perform 360 trillion math operations a second, ten times that of NEC's next-place Earth Simulator. Its little brother, ASCI Purple, will consist of a mere 12,000 Power 5 processors. An IBM executive says that with these machines \"we have the ability to help people solve some of the demanding problems of everyday life in the world we live in\", perhaps forgetting that LRL is a nuclear-weapons development facility. CA Investigation Intensifies The Brooklyn prosecutor looking into Federal criminal charges against Computer Associates (the CA DA, as it were) has brought a grand jury into the case and is sending out subpoenas. At issue appear to be two actions. In May of 1998, the three top executives of the company received a total of over 20 million shares free, a grant that had been conditioned on the price of the stock remaining above $53.33 for 12 months. The value of that windfall, based on the price of the shares, was around $1.1 billion. In July the company announced sales and profits would fall, and the stock dropped below the $53.33 level, but only after the grant of shares was completed. The Feds are exploring whether (1) the execs manipulated figures up to 1998, such as by booking all expected revenue from long-term contracts as of the date of sale, to pump up the share price and fulfil the grant conditions and (2) continued to falsify the numbers afterwards to hide the previous shell game. The second count involves the company's accounting rule changes that allowed it to double-count sales and profits from transactions. A attorney described the status of the investigation as \"When you really want to start compelling the production of documents and taking testimony, you do it by a grand jury subpoena. Otherwise it's just a request.\" ./"}, {"response": 98, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Dec  1, 2002 (16:12)", "body": "Busy Techie (ronks) Fri Nov 22 '02 (08:57) 46 lines Me And My Shadow A story in the paper today says the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency or DARPA has been exploring the possibility of preventing Internet anonymity by requiring a digital signature for Net use which would tag every packet a user sends. Called eDNA, the idea was to first extend it to government sites, then financial institutions, and \"after that [to have] been broadened even further\". A summary of the plan sent to participants at a workshop on the proposal said \"We envision that all network and client resources will maintain traces of user eDNA so that the user can be uniquely identified as having visited a Web site, having started a process, or having sent a packet.\" DARPA funded SRI to hold the workshop last August; it was chaired by Matt Blaze of AT&T and Victoria Stavridou of SRI, and included Whitfield Diffie and Marc Rotenberg. The workshop attendees reportedly criticized the proposal as both poor technology and poor policy; Mr. Blaze later said he had been fired by Ms. Stavridou who wanted to \"hijack\" the proceedings and give DARPA a more positive reply. After a planned teleconference with all participants was canceled, Ms. Stavridou privately briefed DARPA on the/her conclusions of the workshop. DARPA has also been in the news recently for hiring convicted but pardoned Iran-Contra felon John Poindexter to head the agency's Information Awareness Office to \"mount a vast dragnet through electronic transaction data ranging from credit card information to veterinary records.\" DARPA says it has no plans to pursue the eDNA project further, but of course they would say that anyway... The Qubit Engineers An article in the November Scientific American suggests the possibility of practical quantum computing may be at least visible on the horizon. I won't try to do more than summarize the argument (trying to go too deep into this gives me a brain cramp), but the author, physics professor Michael Nielsen, suggests that we are moving from knowing the basic rules of quantum mechanics to understanding the \"emergent properties\" of the subject. Analogies in two areas seem to sum up his thesis. Perfectly understanding the rules of chess for example is of little practical use in winning if you don't realize it's foolish to sacrifice a queen for a pawn, or the use of positioning forces; those strategic issues emerge from the formal rules and are critical to success. Similarly, the science of thermodynamics consists of equations relating energy, heat, temperature and other variables which may imply that a steam or internal-combustion engine is possible but aren't sufficient by themselves to build a useful one. Nearly practical projects to use quantum computers for tasks like data compression or error correction of transmitted data hint the subject may be poised to move out of the lab. Verity Buys a Search Engine Verity, a brand leader in the enterprise knowledge management market, apparently discovered that companies wanted search to go with whatever it is that they get when they invest in KM and \"social networking software\". Having not changed the Verity core search engine significantly since 1997, they bought the Inktomi enterprise search engine for $25 million cash. Verity officials indicated that they are considering returning to the name \ufffdUltraseek.\ufffd Ultraseek was originally developed by Infoseek Corp. in the 1990s. It was included in Go Disney\ufffds acquisition of Infoseek in July 1999 and subsequently sold to Inktomi in June 2000 for more than $300 million in cash and stock. Verity has offered positions to 40 of the 100 Inktomi staff on the project, including all the programmers. Inktomi customers are uniformly unhappy about the change, with many of them pointing out that they left Verity for good reasons. Whither H-P? An article in today's paper says all but one of Dell's competitors have dropped out of the effort to contest it for overall supremacy in PC sales, opting instead for niche business segments. The exception is H-P, whose merger with Compaq in May briefly put it ahead of Dell; but they quickly lost the #1 slot when Dell's sales rose 21% in the next quarter and H-P's fell 3%. As one analyst observed, \"H-P was the market share leader for about three minutes\". Still, H-P has not given up; it has cut costs, reducing its PC sales losses in the last quarter to $87 million on $5 billion volume. And it is pushing its R&D people for innovative products as an edge. A sort of concept computer based on H-P's \"Agora\" project is being demo'ed at Comdex; it features enhanced videoconferencing, instant messaging, data sharing and collaboration components for the corporate market, and is planned for rollout in about a year and a half. The problem with that, critics note, is that the benefit from unpatented innovations lasts only till they are cloned by cheap rivals who didn't spend money on the R&D effort; or as another analyst commented, \"In the"}, {"response": 99, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Dec  2, 2002 (22:24)", "body": "ronks A New Front In The Software Piracy War The Well's reports in today's paper that expensive engineering programs with military applications are increasingly popular in the black market, and little effort is being made to fight the trend. A New Jersey software maker called Intelligent Light says its $12,000 package is available from \"Chinese entrepreneurs\" for $200 complete with a \"step-by- step install guide and crack file\". Several factors seem to hinder the effort to prosecute violations. First, the public still pretty much sees it as ensuring \"that Bill Gates and Britney Spears get every penny\" at the expense of students and the less well-off generally. Second, offshore prosecutions are not in the toolkit of most DA's: as one US Attorney puts it, \"it's an issue of sovereignty and diplomacy, which is sort of outside my realm.\" Publishers suspect the federal government is afraid to annoy Red China during the current charm offensive, even though the Business Software alliance claims 92% of commercial software there is pirated. And finally there is the sense among some government agencies and prosecutors that the publishers are unwilling victims on a very selective basis. They recall that when they tried to enforce laws against exporting strong crypto, software makers were in the opposition, and they wonder if the present change of heart is real. That probably translates to a lack of enthusiasm in taking cases now, though of course none will actually say so. November E-Sales Up The numbers for the first three weeks of last month suggest a boom in online merchandising: $4.5 billion in non-travel goods, up 29% from the same period last year. Looks like a green Christmas at Amazon. Still, the figures may be a bit misleading. Thanksgiving came later this year than last, meaning a shortened post-turkeyday season; many merchants began promotions like free shipping earlier this year, perhaps for that reason; Hanukkah began last Friday, earlier than 2001; and outside of favored climes like California, the November weather turned cold and kept people inside at their computers. New Patents For the recipient who has everything, reversible shoes. You don't actually turn them inside out, you disassemble them first into a removable sole, side panel, and heel panel; South Carolina inventor Leslie Hunter notes they store flat that way and take up less closet space. Ehsan Alipour offers an iron that won't burn: if you leave it with the plate down, little legs pop out and lift it up out of harm's way. While making charitable contributions in someone else's name as a gift is not new, placing a bet for them on an online gambling server may be, according to inventor Adam Kidron of New Jersey. They get the winnings (if any) and you get the undying gratitude. James Logan offers the dubious value of a watch that races ahead several minutes at unpredictable times (so to speak) \"to encourage punctuality\". But my favorite is what might be called the \"Sonny Bono Memorial Ski Parka\"; not in fact named after the late Congressman-singer who skied into a tree and came off the worse for it, the garment includes an approaching-object sensor with an alarm, a microprocessor that detects if the wearer is too fast or too dumb to avoid the encounter, and an air bag in front that automatically inflates. I suppose calling something the Sonny Bono Air Bag would be redundant, though."}, {"response": 100, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Dec  4, 2002 (10:15)", "body": "ronks rides again. Ron Sipherd. ronks@well.com. Thank you. The AOL Of The Future With ad revenues down, subscriber growth slowing now that every man, woman, and child on the planet has over a dozen free-offer CDs, rising costs and more competitors for high-speed access, AOL is reported about to reinvent itself; sort of. According to the story, its game plan emphasizes selling content to subscribers who get broadband Internet access from other ISPs. AOL presently has such an offering, but promotes it so feebly that half its subscribers who have broadband connections still pay AOL for dial-up access anyway. Besides offering productions from siblings like Warner Brothers and Turner, AOL will push online versions of Time Inc. magazines such as a children's version of Sports Illustrated, Time4Kids, People, Teen People, and Little People for pre-teens (just kidding). Upcoming AOL 9.0 will offer features like the ability to chat while watching the same movie online, thus recreating a typical if annoying quality of real theaters. They will also tailor their promotions and expenses more carefully, pushing more crud on the gullible (er, \"sending more offers to customers who like them\") and - I am not making this up - \"providing less-attentive customer service to less- profitable users\". And Then There Were Two West Virginia says it will join Massachusetts in appealing the trial judge's decision in the Microsoft antitrust case. BTW, still pending are \"dozens of class-action lawsuits\" as well as non-governmental antitrust cases filed by Sun and by Netscape's owner AOL. One Word Plastics. A Xerox researcher described as \"Beng Ong of Mississauga\" says his company is developing plastic transistor circuits that can be laid down with ink-jets in place of the current photo-lithography. These chips would be flexible, much cheaper than existing circuits, and resistant to oxidation which has been the bane of organic semiconductors to date. CA At It Again Criminal investigation of the company's finances and those of its hyper- wealthy execs shows that founder Charles Wang made a personal $40 million donation to a university (SUNY - Stony Brook) whose president was on the company board, one of the four nominally outside directors, and on the three-person audit committee that approved its deceptive accounting practices. She is described in proxy statements referring to the gift as a \"non-employee\" but not a board member. She is shocked, just shocked that anyone could link the $40 million gift to her votes as a director. So is former senator Al D'Amato, also on the audit committee, and who saw gifts of around $135,000 from the generous Mr. W to his re-election campaign and his party."}, {"response": 101, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Dec  5, 2002 (13:01)", "body": "More ronks Broadband Growth Slows A recent study by InStat/MDR says that while the number of US businesses and households with high-speed Internet access rose 50 percent this year, they expect the increase to taper off sharply: to 38% in 2003, then 23%, and down into the teens in 2005. Presently about one-sixth of American households have broadband, though 70% are able to get it; about 2/3 of the 15 million subscribers use cable modems, and the rest DSL with a small fraction using other means such as satellite. The cost ($40-50 per month) is viewed as the throttling factor; 28% of homes with incomes over $100,000 have it, but only 4% of those making less than $35,000. At the projected rates the story says less than a third of households will have broadband by 2006, casting doubt on AOL's plan to grow by offering premium content to them."}, {"response": 102, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Dec  9, 2002 (15:52)", "body": "Fight Spam With Haiku Two companies are trying to create the electronic equivalent of certified mail, by striking deals with senders who agree to use their service only for good and with recipients' access providers to let the post through on faith. One company, Habeas of Palo Alto, sells a haiku poem to a sender for $200, plus a half-cent per message. The poem is embedded in the e-mail, and Habeas claims it has deals with AOL, Yahoo, and 18 others not to block such mail. Habeas says it will sue any sender who uses its poems outside of its license, which requires the licensee only send such missives to those who have agreed to receive them. (BTW another article in the paper titled \"Enter Maze and Find The Opt-Out Cheese\" notes that to tell mp3.com you don't want mail from them or their \"partner product announcements\" you have to click through 21 separate Web pages, which gives an expansive meaning to the term \"agree to receive\".) IronPort of San Bruno requires a similar contract with senders, and likewise negotiates with access providers to give its mail a free pass, though without poetry. The fee is not specified, but the penalties for violation are: 50 cents each for the first ten complaints, rising to a buck each for the next ten, on up to $1,000 per message. Since they do no checking, a vindictive recipient could just generate a flood of complaints, which seems to be a weak spot in the plan. IronPort says it has agreements with 700 access providers, but no big ones yet. Of course neither company's strategy addresses the zillions of real spammers offering Nigerian gold or big organs, and it's unclear how many virtuous senders will sign up to pay to do what they do for free now. Wee Circuit IBM says it has designed, and perhaps built, a transistor circuit less than one-tenth the size of the smallest transistor available today. It's nine nanometers in length; by comparison the infamous Average Human Hair is over 3,000 nanometers in diameter and could store several CPUs if you never shampooed. The Next Big Bubble? Many venture capital firms are still licking their wounds over the collapse of the dot-com industry. But some with either less scar tissue or shorter memories are rushing to fund tiny companies with weird names in the latest hot field: Wi-Fi. Although some analysts caution that the technology \"is unlikely to represent more than a tiny fraction of the overall telecomm market\", businesses like Boingo, Buffalo, Dlink, FatPort, HereUAre, and Surf And Sip are already lining up at the trough. from ronks@well.com Ron Sipherd. Thanks again!"}, {"response": 103, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Dec 18, 2002 (09:36)", "body": "Combo Phones A Drag Nokia reports lower current and anticipated sales, largely due to less than expected demand for its newer, fancier, higher-margin cell phones with cameras, color viewing screens, Web browsers, and other doodads. In what is described as a \"worrying trend for the mobile phone industry\", customers in areas like Africa, China, and Latin America are said to prefer cell phones they just use for, you know, talking, when the leaders of the industry want them to spend their food money on pocket mainframes. How perverse. The Unsold-Inventory Beowulf Gateway Computer has developed a new version of the \"if you have lemons, make lemonade\" adage. With eight calendar quarters in a row of declining sales they have a lot of PCs sitting on their shelves. So they are linking 8000 of them into a networked Beowulf-type supercomputer and renting out the claimed 14 trillion teraflop system to businesses who submit job requests and pick up output just like the old days of batch processing, except this time around it's done over the Internet instead of a counter. Noisy Refrigerator Developed This does not at first sound (so to speak) like much of an advance, especially when the unit is said to produce a volume level of around 173 decibels, which is considered pretty awesome acoustics. By way of comparison, the sound level right up next to the speakers at a rock concert is given as ~120 decibels, into the threshold of pain unless one's mental capacity has been sufficiently numbed by consumption of pre-concert anesthetics. And the story says a level of 165 decibels would cause your hair to catch fire. So far this is not a terribly useful advance. However the refrigerator research at the University of Pennsylvania, sponsored by Ben & Jerry's, actually uses the sound to cool the unit with compression waves that drive metal plates attached to heat exchangers, without Freon and other CFC gases blamed for global warming which is bad for ice cream and other living things. One has even been tested on the space shuttle, where presumably the noise is unlikely to disturb the neighbors. The systems as developed are designed to confine the hubbub to the interior cooling chamber without escaping even when the door is opened, and with fewer moving mechanical parts they may be more reliable than today's standard models. Big EDS-BofA Deal The Bank of America has agreed to a 10-year, $4.5 billion contract for Electronic Data Systems to provide services to \"transform\" the bank's voice and data networks. Also to be transformed are 1,000 BofA employees who will be turned into EDS staff. Froogle Test Site Opens Search firm Google presently allows ads to appear next to its \"real\" results; now it's getting deeper into commerce with a novel sort of shopping engine at . It will show pictures of the sought product and prices for it at different sites. Sellers don't pay for placement or for click-through purchases; instead Google plans to sell ads on Froogle (this is starting to sound like baby-talk; if they ever join up with Boingo I fear for the language) the same way as on their main site. Some analysts are concerned the company may be heading for a collision with customers like AOL and Yahoo, but Google may be looking to broaden its service in preparation for a Google-Froogle IPO oobie doobie next year. http://google.blogspace.com/ WiFi On The Radar The Department of Defense has floated a proposal to restrict expansion of the \"unlicensed spectrum\" (frequencies that can be used without a specific permit) in the 5 GHz range, claiming it may interfere with radar. The issue if raised formally would be decided at the World Administrative Radio Conference next June in Geneva where analysts say it would lose, since that band is already used internationally without ill effects and American industry is lobbying heavily against it. With 16 million WiFi devices already in use and Intel planning to equip all its new mobile processors with wireless capability, the technology is seen as a potential savior of the sagging tech industry but vulnerable to limits on its expansion. A technique called Dynamic Frequency Selection exists to enable transmitters to avoid interference with other sources, but the Pentagon wants it beefed up to such a degree of sensitivity that companies say it may no longer work. The Pentagon's insistence on pressing ahead alone with its proposal seems to rub many in the international regulatory community the wrong way and could doom it regardless of the merits. Thanks Ron (ronks) Sipherd again. y."}, {"response": 104, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Jan  8, 2003 (13:58)", "body": "Vox Populi Once upon a time the Internet was the province of academics and intellectuals who filled it with talk about, oh academic and intellectual stuff I suppose. Now one of the most popular sites is called Yahoo, and just try asking them if they have a counterpart called Houyhnhnm. (BTW I was just reading that the term \"yahoo\" is \"compounded from two expressions of disgust, 'yah' and 'ugh' (or 'hoo') common in the eighteenth century\"; now we know.) Anyway, Yahoo the Portal Of Disgust has just named the top Web pages in Britain and Ireland, \"selected by a panel of expert surfers\". They include PoppedClogs.com with novel obituaries of dead celebrities, the Wallace & Gromit animations site, animation site RatherGood.com, \"a site dedicated to watching the recovery of a sick cat\", and IUsedtoBelieve.com which lists things that people, well, used to believe when they were kids. If only Swift were alive today, what material for a sequel to Gulliver. IP Phoning Grows A recent survey says that over 10% of all international telephone traffic last year went over the Internet instead of through traditional circuit- switched phone companies. That totaled 18 billion minutes, up from less than 10 billion in 2001. Much of the volume was generated by phone-card companies who route their long-distance business over the Net, but cable TV providers (who presently have 2.1 million US local-dial voice customers) are expected to jump into the act in a big way in the next few years. Microsoft On The Move Again The company is expected to license its Windows Media Player audio and video technology to makers of consumer-electronics devices like CD and DVD players at substantially lower prices than rivals such as MPEG 4 and probably Real Player. Offering it below cost to drive out rivals would constitute \"predatory pricing\" especially when done by a monopolist; it will be interesting to see if MS rivals call them on it. Speaking of monopolies, MS and its ally the DOJ jointly oppose an appeal of the recent trial-court ruling in its antitrust case. The Software Industry Association and the Computer And Communication Industry Association have requested appellate review; the two new buddies oppose having to \"endure further proceedings\". IBM Gets Away From Hardware Moving to what an analyst calls a \"focus on design and customer service\" in place of boring old computer making, IBM has already sold off its disk drive business to Hitachi in a phased deal; a story in Monday's paper describes how IBM lost its edge there when it sent its disk R&D offshore from San Jose to Japan, and let rivals take the lead. It has also let a $5 billion contract to Sanmina-SCI to make its NetVista PCs. Now it's in a second deal for about $4 B with Sanmina to make servers, notebooks, and other desktop PCs. Unlike say Dell, IBM seems unable to make much money in the PC business with an estimated $10 million pre-tax profit on $11 billion sales. Apple Gets Away From Microsoft Or at least takes some steps in that direction, with its own free Web browser called Safari based on open-source software (Mozilla maybe?) and a $99 rival to PowerPoint called Keynote. Chairman, co-founder, CEO, chief salesman and who knows what else Steve Jobs also revealed to rapt Macworld attendees two new laptop models (with 17 and 12 inch screens) and declared that over a third of Apple computers to be shipped this year would be laptops, though analysts are skeptical that the company can make much headway against Wintel portables selling for up to $1000 less. Apple is also an object of some unwanted buzz over its patent application #20030002246 for a computer that changes color with a rainbow of LEDs on its \"computing device active enclosure\", described by one writer as a sort of desktop mood ring. The problem is that Apple was recently working with another company called Color Kinetics on the same concept, but backed out of a deal with it just before committing to anything; Color Kinetics has also filed a patent application (#20020113555), for \"self-illuminated consumer devices\" including computers. DeCSS Creator Acquitted in Norway A couple of years ago Jon Johansen of Oslo found he couldn't play his legally acquired DVD movie disks on his Linux system because decoding software didn't exist for Linux. So he wrote some, called DeCSS, to unlock the security codes that prevent copying and other access. The Motion Picture Association filed a complaint in Norway accusing him of pirating and facilitating piracy by defeating the locks. A Norwegian panel consisting of a judge and two technical experts has just ruled that Mr. Johansen's development, use, and distribution of the software did not violate the law, and that \"someone who buys a DVD film that has been legally produced has legal access to the film\" on whatever system he wishes. Thanks Ron Sipherd ronks@well.com"}, {"response": 105, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Jan 16, 2003 (10:30)", "body": "Microsoft Goes Open-Source Ha ha, got your attention with that one. Actually it's true but in a very limited sense; to take advantage of it you have to be somebody like NATO or a national government. Under the new Government Security Program they can view 97 percent of the source code for Windows in the comfort of their bunkers; for the remaining super-secret 3% (the Clippy drivers, maybe) they have to go to Redmond. Microsoft will also let them use their own crypto and security code via API sockets direct to the operating system. The story says it suggests that MS is taking notice of the threat from Linux and GNU, as countries like China and Germany promote its use and emphasize its transparency. With \"Microsoft security\" seen as a self-contradiction on the order of \"giant dwarf\" or \"military justice\", and rumors spreading that their software includes secret back doors to permit wiretapping by the FBI or whoever, the company seems to be responding by inviting skeptical biggies to see for themselves. Of course, whether the source they will see matches the executables is another matter... In any case, this program seems to be just an expansion (or maybe only a public announcement) of earlier programs; some major customers including the US have already had a degree of access to MS source code for years as I understand. Record Companies Break With Hollywood Until recently, there were two camps battling over ways to prevent copying of copyrighted media: hardware and software makers on one side arguing that technological barricades like preventer chips would not work long-term, would make devices cost more and would slow the pace of development. And on the other, music publishers and movie makers ranting about piracy. But the music industry had a different kind of fight on its hands, since it has already faced what may be its worst threats in the form of Napster and its progeny; while the movie business with its vastly greater bandwidth and file storage requirements, and the upcoming move to digital TV, looks toward a future threat. Anyway the music biz in the form of RIAA has reached a sort of separate peace with the tech industry in the form of a loose agreement that one side will stop demanding laws to require anti-copying components in PCs and players, and the other will drop support for proposed amendments to the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act which would expand the rights of end users. The agreement is so loose that Intel says it still supports the amendments but will maybe do so more quietly now, and some consumer- electronics makers say they will press on. The main effect may be to make it harder for Jack Valenti and the movie industry to muster support for more restrictive laws since one of their main allies has shown the white flag. Thanks, thanks, thanks, Ron Sipherd ronks@well.com for allwoing us to reprint these awesome observations of yours. I hope someones reading it!"}, {"response": 106, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Jan 20, 2003 (13:45)", "body": "The Penguin And The Crystal Ball As Linux World (opening this week in New York) becomes more of a confab for suits than open-source revolutionaries, articles are appearing on the future of the free operating system. Not so much for the user desktop, still owned by The Giant Of Redmond and The Feisty Midget Of Cupertino, but for servers and other back-office operations. The consensus seems to be that Linux is a credible competitor and serious threat in the short term to proprietary Unix versions as represented by H-P, IBM, and Sun; in fact both H-P and IBM are promoting Linux on their hardware at the expense of their own brand's OS which they may drop in time. Sun is seen as too tied to Solaris to abandon it and may be most at risk from the Linux trend. Online broker E*Trade for example says it explored Linux two years ago but found it initially \"too risky\"; then when it saw H-P and IBM moving there it recanted and converted about 2/3 of its data center to $4000 Intel/Linux machines from $200,000 Sun systems. Its chief technology officer claims the company saved $13 million in expenses last year alone from the move, though it has not yet gambled on moving its crown jewels - the customer and trading databases - over. Probably because of the cost of converting apps, a concern everywhere, which leads some to speculate the movement will be gradual and associated with new ventures. To sum up, a Goldman Sachs report titled \"Fear The Penguin\" concludes \"All of Unix is more at risk than Microsoft's Windows in the next few years. But what is really at risk is the concept of a proprietary operating system. And that has to affect Microsoft.\" Non-Instant Non-Messages A recent study by Keynote Systems of San Mateo says that 7.5 percent of text messages sent via cellphone were not received within 2 minutes, and 5% never got to the recipient at all. Unplugged Colleges A series of surveys over the last 3 1/2 years shows the percentage of full- time college students with cellphones rose from 29 to 70, and at Columbia University where traditional long-distance service is centralized, revenue has fallen by half since 2001. As a result some places are throwing in the towel, yanking the cord, [insert metaphor of choice here], and removing wired phones for student and faculty use entirely from their buildings. ronks thank you!"}, {"response": 107, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Jan 24, 2003 (16:57)", "body": "c Multipath For Higher Bandwidth Most city dwellers are familiar with multipath distortion; the muddling of radio and TV signals as they bounce off buildings on their way to the receiver, leading to ghosts and echoes. Bell Labs researchers have found a way to use multipath for higher transmission speeds to wireless devices. Called \"Blast\", the technology grew out of a review of bandwidth limits in the writings of telecomm pioneer Claude Shannon. The reviewers noticed that his studies all presumed a single transmitter and receiver; to generalize the theory they tested dividing the data into multiple streams (sounds a bit like packet switching) that were picked up by antenna arrays and reassembled at the destination. To their surprise, they discovered that reflections of the waves actually improved the capacity of the system, apparently by creating additional temporary virtual transmitting antennas. Prototypes of Blast chips have been demonstrated running over 3rd-generation (3G) wireless networks at 19.2 megabits a second, close to 8 times faster than the present limit of 2.5 Mbits/sec. The limiting factors are (1) the need to space the antennas at least half a wavelength apart, not a major hurdle at the high frequencies used by cell phones and PDAs, and (2) the processing power - and electrical power - required to reassemble the incoming signal, which becomes hard to fit in a handheld device for more than four streams. Another concern is the slow adoption of 3G nets in the United States, which are essential for Blast; but once they are deployed, only the base stations and handhelds need to be modified for Blast. Of course, finding people outside New York City who can talk at 19 megabits/second may be a challenge.. Freedom Of Expression On Trial Literally. An Iowa professor named Kembrew McLeod says he registered trademark rights on the phrase \"freedom of expression\" in 1998 and is threatening to sue AT&T for using it in ads that offer free long-distance calls as a bonus for signing up with them. 54-Gigabyte DVDs On The Horizon A new technology called \"Blu-ray\" sponsored by a consortium including Hitachi, Philips, Pioneer, Sony and others uses the shorter wavelength of blue-violet lasers to store data at higher densities on an DVD-type disk. It is said to have the potential of holding more than 11 times the data of today's 4.7-gigabyte DVD disks, and is presently targeted at high-definition TV video. One such disk could hold two hours of HDTV, or 13 hours of standard video, and who knows how many copies of the Library of Congress. The units may become first available in 2004, and in affordable quantities three or four years later. To Pursue Personal Interests The co-founder of Broadcom, Henry T. Nicholas III, is described as \"a man of large appetites\" who \"bragged about his all-night drinking parties, had a 15,000 square foot estate, a Lamborghini Diablo Roadster and kept a personal trainer on 24-hour call\". Broadcom makes specialized communications processor chips for cable modems, TV set-top boxes, servers and the like; its stock has declined from $273 a share 29 months ago to a recent low of less than $15. He abruptly announced during an telephone earnings report conference this week that he is leaving the company to pursue his divorce full-time. Work can be such a distraction... Signs Of Hope Disk storage manufacturer EMC reported a slight upturn in sales; combined with positive results from rivals Storage Technology and McData, some analysts see a mild rebound in IT spending this year. EMC quarterly sales were actually down 2 percent from a year ago, but rose 18% from the previous quarter; it lost $70 million net, but excluding one-time restructuring charges it showed an operating profit of $53 M. More Signs Of Hope In a rare display of bipartisan unity, the US Senate unanimously approved limits on the government's Total Awareness Project that would bar it from \"scanning information in Internet mail and in the commercial databases of health, financial, and travel companies here and abroad\". Least Important Fact Of The Week The CEO of Amazon.com announced that since his company began offering apparel last November, it has sold 31,000 pairs of underwear and that \"briefs outsold boxers but not by a statistically significant amount.\" Now we know. iThank you Mr. Ron Sipherd for the great news feed!!!!!"}, {"response": 108, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Feb  3, 2003 (19:46)", "body": "ronks The Next Big Thing, Chapter MDCCCLXVIII Venture capitalists, start your wallets: \"Web Services\" is hot. For some reason this is said to be symbolized by the fact that Microsoft just changed the name of its upcoming product from Windows .Net Server 2003 to plain Windows Server 2003, though they say it's only a clarification. Anyway, the battle lines are forming for what vendors think will be a major upheaval in how people and businesses use their computers, emphasizing machine-to- machine transactions. On the home side, the concepts sound a little silly and like a Web version of \"Modern Times\": somebody's computer negotiates unaided with his doctor's computer to set up an appointment (probably 3 AM on a Sunday when the largest block of free time is available on both sides), or the dutiful child's PC orders flowers for Mother's Day every year regardless of her demise. Businesses though may have an actual use for it to handle back-office stuff like inventory management and claim processing. In hopes they do, Microsoft is moving to link it all to Windows; the other side, basically everybody with IBM Websphere in the lead, is striving for a more neutral concept of middleware based largely on Java that would defeat the MS strategy to lock in customers to one line of software and run on a variety of operating systems. Walk This Way Researchers at Georgia Tech and England's University of Southampton are testing ways to identify individuals by their gait, or distinctive way of walking. For example they have determined that \"women sway their hips more than men\", a fact evidently unknown heretofore. While security types are interested in using it as a potential means of spotting bad guys (and hip- swinging bad women presumably too), the technology has a ways to go. For one thing, at present it requires that the suspect first be recorded walking through a lab while wearing metallic sensors on his butt, and even then he can only be spotted if he is observed solo and not in a crowd. And it appears the system can be fooled by adopting a different gait such as springing into the air every three steps, though a person seeking to avoid notice may prefer something more subtle. Remarkably the BBC story at does not once mention John Cleese and his Ministry Of Silly Walks. Sims Bore Game maker Electronic Arts is in general having a good year: Harry Potter, NFL football, Lord Of The Rings, and something called Medal Of Honor Frontline added to an overall total of over a million sales in the last quarter. But their most highly publicized effort, Sims Online, in which people pay $40 upfront and $10 a month to chat and carry on with other subscribers in real time, seems to be a dud with only 82,000 members. Reviews from users have not been good. One posted on Amazon that she was \"bored to tears\", and while she tried \"leaving the game running while I went off to do other things around the house\" to see if something interesting would happen while she was away, she eventually went back to her offline version after concluding the online form \"has all the fun of watching your screen saver\". The Last Big Thing Coffin salesmen are going online, after some initial hesitation and despite some states' laws that restrict sales to licensed funeral homes. Memorial Concepts Online and Funeral Depot (I am not making this up) offer theme coffins, such as one with an auto racing motif and another \"done up like a special-delivery package and stamped 'Return To Sender'\". ronks"}, {"response": 109, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Feb 12, 2003 (03:47)", "body": "Thanks again, Ron Sipherd, ronks@well.com for the good stuff. Electropants According to Dr. Michael Shur of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, \"The clothing we wear doesn't contain electronic elements.\" Besides physics, he appears to specialize in Discovery Of The Blindingly Obvious; anyway, this is changing as companies like DuPont makes yarn with conductive fibers, and even a metallic form of bulletproof Kevlar called Aracon. First applications have been in the military, where a shirt can function as a less conspicuous and more convenient radio antenna, and bulletproof garments come in handy. Civilian uses seem a bit more of a stretch (stretch fabric, get it, um never mind). Some prototypes include a built-in warmer for football games like a wearable electric blanket; car upholstery that senses the occupants' weight and tunes the air bags to match, and a T-shirt that detects the wearer's heart rate and temperature. One proposal is to build radio receiver circuits into a shirt, with the radio buttons being you guessed it; and an MP3 player incorporated into a jacket and hood. Still to come is a power source, such as solar cells woven into the fabric; as Dr. Shur further observes, \"people wear their clothes all day.\" New Day For Sun? Sun Microsystems has not been a sunny place lately: its stock is down from $64 a share less than two and a half years ago to $3.07 Friday, and it lost a record $2.28 billion in the last quarter. It is considered uniquely vulnerable to the challenge of GNU and Linux because of the degree to which it relies on a proprietary form of Unix, compared to IBM and H-P who are promoting the open-source alternative. This week the company is expected to announce a major initiative with the snappy name of N1, described as a \"technology [that] links servers, storage systems, software and networking so the parts can be centrally managed\". The goal is to shed its image as a seller of server and peripheral hardware, and compete with IBM, H-P, and others as a full-service general supplier of hardware, software and services for data centers of all sizes. Financial analysts don't argue with Sun's proposed strategy; one called it \"absolutely the right thing to do\", but notes that Sun's rivals have such a head start in the field that it may be too late for it to catch up. Push And Pull It has long (at least in Internet years) been recognized that TV viewing is qualitatively different from Web browsing. Both involve staring at a monitor but TV is essentially passive while perusing the Internet is typically more active, with the user choosing to visit a site. Advertising has not always been aware of the difference, assuming that what works for couch potatoes like a bunch of dancing frogs telling you to drink more beer naturally translates to an audience of sophisticated, intelligent, hip consumers like ourselves. Pop-up and pop-under ads are an example of how to infuriate a segment of the surfing audience. Some designers are now pursuing a \"pull\" strategy for their Web sites in place of the TV-style intrusive \"push\" approach. Microsoft Network seems to be one: according to the \"chief media revenue officer\" at MSN, they are creating custom solutions for clients such as Lexus.msn.com that try to provide value in various ways along with the opportunity to click on product-info links. MSN's Lexus site is said to focus on \"Luxurious Living\" lifestyle data like guides to hotels, high-tech homes, and farmers' markets. (I see jet-setters filling their SUV with fresh rutabagas and driving back to the Ritz to have them artfully prepared.) Other similar approaches are taken by subscription sites: the Economist waives its $70 annual fee to users who agree to get e-mail from Oracle, and some place called salon.com offers access to its paid sections to users \"who agree to interact with an ad from Mercedes-Benz\". Bye Bye, Bulb? Solid-state lighting, typically bright LEDs, is showing up in traffic lights, brake lights, exit signage, and flashlights, and analysts speculate it will start to expand into significant roles in home and office lighting within about four years. Its present drawback is price; most LED devices cost about 40 to 100 times as much as an equally bright incandescent bulb. But they draw only one-fifth the electricity and last about ten times longer and when they start to go they do so gradually rather than burning out at once. In addition, many devices consist of a hundred or more LED units, so even if a few fail the stoplight or whatever still works. The DOE estimates that wide adoption of LED light in the next twenty years could save US users overall about $100 billion annually. Another potential for the technology is mood lighting on a major scale; with simple chips driving the lights, they can vary the intensity and the hue of the units, possibly mitigating the effects of decreased winter sunlight and the constant sameness of institutional lights in offices and nursing homes. Theaters have alread"}, {"response": 110, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Feb 24, 2003 (12:21)", "body": "Thanks ronks! The article on Connectix says they are also writing code to allow a single Intel box to run multiple servers such as Win 2000, Unix, and Linux. That might be a draw for MS, though I think they would prefer to drive out the competition; maybe they will buy the company and kill the project. Price Caps Are Off DSL Service Yesterday was not FCC chairman Michael Powell's day. In months of debate over new rules on how much the local phone companies can charge third-party providers, he wanted to take the lid off local voice service and keep it on high-speed broadband access. He lost on both counts. With caveats for the usual exceptions, footnotes and complexities of the bureaucratic decision, it seems to mean that the owner of the lines from home or office to the phone company's exchange (the \"central office\") can charge as much as it wants to somebody like Covad, who then sells it to an ISP like Earthlink. The article says Covad charges the ISP about $30 a month and Earthlink bills the end user around $50; that will likely increase in a kind of domino effect as Covad has to ante up more to the phone company. The new rules will not affect ISPs who buy broadband direct, such as AOL and MSN; but they and the cable companies can't help but notice the price increases all around them and think about hitching a ride on the gravy train. Imitation Of Life, At A Price Meanwhile for the unwashed masses who use dial-up connections, ESPN is offering a new service to bring TV-quality animation to a monitor near you. Called ESPN Motion and taken from ESPN owner Disney, it is intended to deal with the problem that over POTS, live action looks like someone \"performing in a badly dubbed foreign film\". It requires special downloaded software, which retrieves A/V film clips from ESPN during the day while connected and stores them on the users' hard drive for showing at local channel speed. However; the clips are preceded and/or followed by mandatory viewing of 15 to 30-second commercials. The premise seems to be that some advertisers won't pay for Web ads unless they effectively mimic television; but others observe that users don't access the Web passively the way they watch TV. The fat lady has yet to sing on this marketing ploy."}, {"response": 111, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Feb 24, 2003 (20:07)", "body": "Ronks rocks. He reeally does! Another Month, Another Restatement At least this time it's not somebody's bogus revenue figures. When Jupiter Media Metrix collapsed last June, they sold off part of their Web-site audience measurement business to ComScore; but archrival Nielsen got the tracking software which they claimed patent rights to. Somewhere in the shuffle ComScore ended up undercounting visits, especially by viewers at work whose companies frown on letting them install tracking software. ComScore now says the most popular sites like About.com, EBay, Lycos, and so on had 20-25 percent more viewers in the last three months of 2002 than they thought; e.g., 56 million instead of 44 M for about.com. They still have a credibility problem though, largely because their numbers vary widely from Nielsen's (107 M Yahoo viewers vs. Nielsen's 81 M for example), leading many to disregard them both except as gross approximations, especially since both companies refuse to allow audits. Still, the effect of this whole dust-up may be largely internal: as one analyst observes, \"Stock prices are no longer tied to the number of visitors you have. Now investors have this little idea of being profitable.\" Coke Issues Own Debit Cards The company says \"Coca-Cola has built incredible relationships with its customers by being more than just a beverage provider; we have an obligation to help them solve their business problems.\" Incredible indeed; except they don't mean customers like you and me, they mean restaurants. Many have hourly staff with no bank accounts, making it hard to pay them via cheap funds transfer, so Coke is offering an ATM card that takes payroll deposits, issued via Citibank; it will split the transaction-fee revenue with Citi, thus helping Coke with some business problems of its own. Broadband Sellers Gear Up After FCC Decision Now that the FCC says phone companies can charge ISPs more for high-speed DSL access, hardware suppliers like Cisco, Intel, and Juniper are salivating at the prospect of a boom. The theory seems to be that since they can raise prices, the phone companies will rush to install more broadband routers and other gear; exactly how rising prices will translate to more end-user demand is not mentioned in the euphoria. The phone companies themselves, though active sellers of the Kool-Aid to the FCC, appear less ready to drink it: SBC for example is looking to buy DirecTV satellite operations, a direct competitor to DSL. Age-Old Principle Rediscovered Glenn Argenbright, CEO of security consultant Saflink, on customers' habits in purchasing access-control biometric recognition equipment: \"Good-looking devices outsell ugly ones regardless of reliability; it kills me.\" Rockin' Ronks."}, {"response": 112, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Jun 25, 2003 (15:26)", "body": "Fabrics Woven From Nanotubes Scientists at universities in Dallas and Dublin have developed a technique for constructing extremely strong thread from carbon nanotubes, which normally are less than .00005 inches long. Even a petite size garment needs longer threads than that, and these have been spun to lengths of up to 100 yards, enough for an XXL. The news article suggests fancifully that with their electronic properties they could be woven into a bulletproof shirt that plays MP3 files and acts as a cell phone. On the other hand, someone wearing a shirt-phone that played music might need for it to be bulletproof. In any case, these threads now go for $15,000 an ounce, pricey even by the standards of Paris couture. Everybody seems to be suing everybody today: Connecticut Sues Oracle; Oracle Sues PeopleSoft and JD Edwards PeopleSoft was suing Oracle already, so they don't make the marquee, but that was with the claim that Oracle's hostile buyout offer was \"diabolical\" and a \"sham\" meant to destroy competition from PS. (You know, with that beard of his Larry Ellison does look a bit like Mephistopheles; I wonder..) Oracle is suing PS on behalf of PS's own stockholders who it says were deprived of the opportunity to vote when PS made the JDE takeover a cash deal. Connecticut, which is a couple of weeks away from turning on a $100 million PeopleSoft application and is unhappy about Oracle's stated plan to kill PS software, is suing Oracle for violating state antitrust laws, claiming the number of vendors for enterprise software would effectively be reduced to two with Germany's SAP the only comparable rival. Private Groups Sue Microsoft Massachusetts is not entirely alone as a plaintiff in the MS antitrust case. The Computer and Communications Industry Association (which before it took on communications used to be the CIA, much to the confusion of many) and the Software and Information Industry Association filed anti-MS friend-of-the- court briefs at the original trial(s) and received permission from the judge to oppose the settlement before the appeals court. MS is arguing they lack standing to object, apparently because they merely represent rivals crushed by the monopolist and are hence of no account legally. Spam On Senate's Plate Again For the third time in four years, Senators Conrad Burns and Ron Wyden have introduced a bill to curb the excesses of unsolicited commercial e-mail. This year's edition appears stronger than before, and the opposition to it weaker, giving it a better chance of becoming law. The Commerce Committee unanimously approved the bill which would declare a Federal crime the use of fraudulent or deceptive return addresses and false headers or subject lines. It would also outlaw the robotic harvesting of addresses, and this year's bill prohibits dictionary attacks, hijacking other computers to send mail, and opening large numbers of false e-mail accounts; and it requires the sender to provide a physical mail reply address, offer an opt-out mechanism, and label the mail as an ad. Businesses who knowingly employ spammers to promote their products or services would also be held liable. The bill would allow states \"to enact and enforce their own antispam legislation\". While the Commerce Committee bill declares violations a misdemeanor (though with up to a year in jail), the Judiciary Committee may beef up the penalties. Besides growing clamor among the public to Do Something, former opponents are coming around to see its value; a spokesman for the Direct Marketing Association gets the Quote Of The Day award for his \"We can't communicate with our consumers because their in-boxes are full of Nigerian widows and body enlargement stuff.\" Thanks Ron!"}, {"response": 113, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Jul  8, 2003 (10:27)", "body": "Sun 1, Microsoft 1, Java 0 A Federal appeals court yesterday held that Microsoft did not have to include Sun's version of Java software with Windows but that it could not include its own either. The decision reversed a lower court's ruling that MS as an OS monopolist needed to bundle Sun's Java lest it \"tip\" the market toward its own .NET standard, saying that while a \"serious danger\" of that existed as the trial court found, it did not threaten the \"immediate and irreparable harm\" needed to justify an injunction. But it held Microsoft's own version of Java probably violated Sun's copyright and could not be bundled with Windows; the actual case to decide that and settle on the amount of damages will most likely not get scheduled before 2005, but even now it is of mostly academic interest except for the $1 billion Sun is asking for. One analyst notes that \"history and market forces have largely passed this case by\", since MS has already stopped including either kind of Java with Windows and PC makers like Dell and H-P load Sun's version on machines they ship. I suppose it depends on the dog? Anyway I checked the story and lunch is what the man said; maybe he had a different excuse in mind. In Microsoft We Trust An article today discusses the \"Trusted Computing Group\" backed by monopo- er, industry leaders such as Microsoft and Intel, with support from wannabes like AMD, IBM and H-P, to create a special chip on motherboards with secret identifying keys. Never mind that Intel tried something like this in 1999 that led to the phrase \"Big Brother Inside\" and was a PR flop on the level of their floating-point processor who-needs-accuracy gaffe, they're at it again. Intel says the activation of hardware features will be \"voluntary\" on the users' part, though it may be an offer they can't refuse if they want various features. Coupled with the proposed Windows Palladium initiative, now known as the \"Next Generation Secure Computing Base\" to be included in the Longhorn release, it involves two operating system partitions, one of which is like today's and the other locked down with security features to protect the record industry I mean the user. Though MS denies it, Lotus founder Mitch Kapor opines they may some day offer Office software and other applications only on the locked half. Other criticisms are that the initiative focuses on turning the PC into a media conduit for commercial entertainment despite the inappropriate nature of such uses for corporate and most SOHO users, though it would provide companies more tools to control employees' use of desktop systems. Another is that it facilitates creation of a secure illegal \"Darknet\" for file swapping and other nefarious activities among trusted conspirators. Apple meanwhile relies on software for music-file protection with its iTunes function, but the Wintel companies appear to take no lesson from its success. DHS.com Shopping is fun when you can print money; the Department of Homeland Security has a big budget and means to use it on buying tech toys to spy on us. (The name DHS.com was coined by the department's Assistant Secretary Robert Liscouski.) Unlike the DOD who designs say a bomber and puts out bids for it, the DHS is going out to procure stuff already available; partly out of the current administration's belief in Private Enterprise and partly because a government-designed router would probably bring the net to a dead stop if they turned it on. Speakers at the \"Information Technology Leadership In A Security-Focused World\" painted a picture that \"involves collecting vast sets of personal information in computer databases, then sorting and analyzing the data to look for suspicious activities\". Whether that collection of users' data would be hindered or helped by the secret features of the Trusted Computing Group was not mentioned in the story. SAP To Oracle: Hold Your Coat? The battle for control of PeopleSoft and JD Edwards leaves SAP smiling, the way a bruising primary battle among Democrats is a welcome sight to Republicans. With current and prospective customers wondering if Oracle will drop PeopleSoft's products, and whether PeopleSoft will do the same to JDE's, and if the whole set of deals will be snarled in legal challenges for years (the DOJ just said it is extending its query), SAP is taking out ads asking \"Will your needs continue to be addressed? Or will you find your business playing second fiddle to the turmoil of mergers and acquisitions?\" SAP, which stands for Systems, Applications, Products for Data-Processing (no wonder they abbreviate it) was founded in 1972 by four ex-IBM engineers and is now \"Europe's largest software developer and the world's leading supplier of business software\". Per the following figures from the paper: $Bil 2002 Market Revenue Share SAP 7.8 35% Oracle 2.5 13% PSoft 1.9 10% JDEdw 0.9 5% Oracle Bid Delayed Some more on the DOJ's statement that it will \"extend its review\" of Oracle's $6.3 billion hostile takeover pr"}, {"response": 114, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug  1, 2003 (04:34)", "body": "More Wireless Burger Joints McDonald's is super-sizing its network menu. It's beefing up its NYC outlets so equipped from 60 to 75 (access is free through the end of next month, then goes to $3 a day) and plans to install the facility in up to 20,000 locations. Already 75 restaurants in SF have it and Chicago is next. Thanks Ron."}, {"response": 115, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Fri, Aug  1, 2003 (08:08)", "body": "My old uni town, Brighton, has just wirelessed the beach up. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3068915.stm"}, {"response": 116, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Aug  2, 2003 (19:37)", "body": "Do you have a wireless rig of some sort, Mike?"}, {"response": 117, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Sun, Aug  3, 2003 (18:57)", "body": "no...don't even have a network at home at the moment. Will have by the end of the week...building myself a second machine as part of the very early phase of starting a company."}, {"response": 118, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Aug  5, 2003 (09:25)", "body": "Cool Mike, what's the company going to be doing?"}, {"response": 119, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Wed, Aug  6, 2003 (15:46)", "body": "if it happens we're going to be providing tech support/installation/config services to small/medium companies who don't have the need/money for a full time IT person."}, {"response": 120, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Aug  7, 2003 (05:48)", "body": "Good business to be in! What's your company called?"}, {"response": 121, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Sun, Aug 10, 2003 (17:37)", "body": "no name as yet...still in the planning stages...but we might be associating ourselves with my friend's girlfriend's PR company, \"Bamboo PR\". So it could be \"Bamboo Technology\" or something along those lines."}, {"response": 122, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Aug 11, 2003 (09:44)", "body": "That's a great name and suggests all kinds of possibilities for logos."}, {"response": 123, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Tue, Aug 19, 2003 (05:06)", "body": "Check out www.bamboopr.co.uk. I particularly like their \"panda feet\" logo."}, {"response": 124, "author": "stacey", "date": "Wed, Aug 27, 2003 (00:34)", "body": "Yay Mike! Way to insert yourself into a niche market! Good luck!"}, {"response": 125, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Wed, Aug 27, 2003 (13:56)", "body": "fingers crossed...have some potential clients, too. This thing could actually work..."}, {"response": 126, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Aug 29, 2003 (19:45)", "body": "ronks rides again: Who Is Mr. Big? While the author of the Sobig worm is still unknown, a few clues to his identity are emerging. Over the last eight months six variants of the program have been issued as he refines it to evade countermeasures. The main functions of the worm appear to be obtaining information about the victim's e-mail lists and mailing the worm to those on it. Just like spam with a toxic twist. Speculation centers on the likelihood that the author is building a tool to flood the Internet with e-mail from either the primary victims or a secondary set (like the 20 IP addresses the victims were to be told to contact on a given day); doing so from these machines would bypass blacklists of known spam sources. It's unclear if the author has commercial or simply disruptive intent; the latter would include a sort of distributed denial of service attack on the entire Internet. The current version, Sobig.F, expires on September 10 with self-inactivating code; some time after that a new release is likely to appear with possibly more clues for the white hats to unravel. Shareholder Web Site Proposed For Worldcom As the scandal-ridden telecomm company (now renamed MCI) tries to emerge from bankruptcy as less of a poster boy for corporate fraud, one innovation is a Web site for owners of stock. That is probably not a new idea per se, but this one has some novel features. According to the report, \"investors can bring concerns to the attention of the board - and other shareholders. The site will allow them to have resolutions voted on without having to win approval to do so at the annual meeting.\" It's not clear from the story if the votes would be binding, or how shareholders without Internet access would vote. Phone Games Bored SUV drivers with no one to talk to on their cell phone who might be tempted to waste their attention on driving don't have to worry now. Nokia is coming out with the N-Gage handheld phone, radio, Web browser and music player, and if that isn't enough it will include games from Electronic Arts. Silicon Shrinks Silicon Graphics will reduce its staff by a sixth (600 jobs) in its quest to cut expenses and \"return to profitability\". Its high-end systems, largely targeted to Hollywood and the military, have not sold well lately. Earthlink Sues 100 defendants were listed in the ISP's complaint against spammers in Alabama and Canada, said to have created \"an elaborate chain of fake names and nonexistent companies\" to shield their issuance of over 250 million unsolicited commercial e-mails. Bank fraud, identity theft, and stolen credit cards are also alleged in the complaint."}, {"response": 127, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Sep  4, 2003 (14:24)", "body": "Float Like A Penguin, Sting Like A Big Blue Bee IBM is rolling out a new suite of curious ads identifying itself with Linux. In them, the operating system (which is about ten years old) is played by a 10-year-old boy like a young Luke Skywalker receiving \"words of wisdom\" from Muhammad Ali, professor Henry Louis Gates, and coach John Wooden; also a movie director, an astronomer, and a plumber. Some of them (the ads that is, not the Jedis) are said to be interactive at www.ibm.com/open and some will run during the US Open tennis tournament if it ever stops raining there. Use the Force, Linus. Ronks - ron sipherd is the source!"}, {"response": 128, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Oct  5, 2003 (12:48)", "body": "Busy Techie (ronks) Security Patches Breed Viruses An interesting article today suggests that Microsoft's publication of a fix actually provides fodder for exploitation of the weakness it corrects. Writers of worms and viruses are said to dissect the patch to analyze the flaw it addresses and take advantage of it on machines whose owners are slow to (or simply fail to) apply the patch. The infamous Blaster worm for example appeared 25 days after the issuance of a fix for it; as it happens, a similar patch to another area of MS code came out 19 days ago so look out. The story also includes the: Understatement Of The Week \"The PC business model has not placed much value on building secure, well- engineered software.\" RF Tags In The News The conference has a more in-depth topic on radio-frequency tags, but there was an overview of the business in a recent news story. While they a still a ways from replacing those bar-code tags you see on items in the store, they're gaining. The Defense Department and Wal-Mart are expected to require some or all of their suppliers to attach the tags by 2005 at least to cartons and pallets of materiel delivered for inventory control, using a newer version that can \"be read by scanners anywhere in the world\". The present cost of each tag at about 25-30 cents makes them impractical for cheap mass-market items today, but they are still so ubiquitous that a group originally formed to protest data mining of credit and grocery-store cards is raising the alarm over RFID's privacy issues. They paint a 1984+ picture of \"companies and government agencies ... able to monitor what people read or where they assemble, from radio tags embedded in their books or woven into clothing\". The industry is expected to have revenue (for the tags, the readers, and associated software to pursue novels and trousers) of about $1.13 billion this year, with projected annual growth rates in subareas like: Security & access control: 9.5% Automobile immobilization: 6.4 Transportation: 18.9 (when not immobilized) Supply chain management: 38.3 Toll collection: 9.8 (like CalTrans' Fastrak) Asset management: 21.5 (\"tracking people, equipment, or documents\") European Ruling A Threat To Microsoft A squabble in Brussels between two American health services could cast a shadow on Microsoft's licensing policies. Atlanta's NDC Health sued IMS Health in the EU Court Of Justice over an obscure issue: the Connecticut defendant's refusal to let NDC license its drug-sales database structure. The preliminary finding by the European Advocate General, likely to be adopted by the court, is that \"a company should have access to a [dominant] rival's intellectual property if it planned to offer a different product, or if the sharing was necessary to create competition\". The decision could serve as precedent in a European case involving Microsoft's refusal to license its software code to rivals like Sun and IBM who want to use it to create server operating systems that interface with Windows, the dominant desktop OS. An analyst observes the court could hold that \"a refusal by Microsoft to license the necessary parts of Windows could be an abuse of its dominant position\". The EU court has no jurisdiction in this country, but once the code is out of the bag... \"Dominant\" is borrowed from another sentence by the Advocate General: if the court finds that NDC intended to offer a better or different product, \"that would render a refusal to grant a license an abuse of IMS's dominant position\". Basically as I understand it the EU law somewhat tracks US law in holding that a monopolist is subject to more scrutiny and limits than a player in an atomized market (many competitors, none dominant) or one with a small market share. Icann Do It; VeriSign Caves A couple days after domain-name registrar VeriSign announced its strategy on September 15 to hijack misspelled .com and .net URLs to its own advertising- supported site with the hope of reaping millions, the Internet oversight group Icann asked them to stop, since the unannounced change wrought havoc with some spam blockers and caused other problems. VeriSign refused. Yesterday, Icann decided to stop being Mr. Nice Corporation; it told VeriSign if it did not terminate the \"service\" by 6 PM today, Icann would \"seek promptly to enforce VeriSign's contractual obligations\" such as being a neutral registry administrator and not a rival to other search sites, resulting in a possible $100,000 fine and the termination of VeriSign's registration rights. Mighty VeriSign responded with a request \"for a few days' reprieve\". Icann refused. VeriSign then agreed to stop. Perhaps the good guys don't always finish last after all."}, {"response": 129, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Oct  6, 2003 (23:32)", "body": "Caller ID For E-Mail? A sort of Internet-wide whitelist feature is being proposed as a solution to spam. \"Whitelisting\" is used by the Well and many ISPs to allow users to define senders of mail who should be let through spam filters, but many fail to list say Land's End before placing their first online order, so the confirmation and subsequent mailings are treated as spam. The original trusting nature of the Internet, from back when users were PhD's swapping theses and obscure jokes about John Von Neumann, has left a legacy structure that may have to be completely revamped to be more secure from unwanted Viagra vendors, but the big legitimate online merchants are pressing for a solution. Outside of the technical challenges, which are not trivial, is the problem of widely divergent goals among the players. Merchants want a sort of seal of approval that gets them a blanket pass unless the user specifically blocks them; ISPs worry about their customers and disfavor the free-pass idea out of concern over complaints from users who don't want any more @#$% Land's End turtleneck ads; and some of the bigfeet ISPs already have proprietary spam filters they see as selling points to their customers; and there is also a smaller group that presently sells e-mail filters and doesn't relish the idea of being superseded by a free global solution. A major issue is how to keep Mr. CheapViagra.com from passing himself off as Land's End. Kevin Doerr of Microsoft waves away the issue with \"IP spoofing is hard to do and easy to detect\", but others are not so breezy about it. There seem to be two major solution candidates, akin to the pea-shooter and the howitzer. A simple registry of good-guy e-mail servers could be set up quickly and used as a kind of good-faith badge; if it is not spoofed. To guarantee against that, the heavy-duty solution is digital certificates based on long binary keys like those used for encrypting online orders. Whether either solution could avoid the necessity for all recipients of e- mail to install new software is unclear. MS Sued Over Bugs LA film editor Marcy Hamilton says she suffered a case of identity theft because the Windows software on her PC where her Social Security number and other ID codes were stored is defective. So defective as to violate California consumer-protection laws and be an unfair business practice. Her lawyer is seeking class-action status for the case on behalf of all Windows users. It could serve as a major precedent and a test of MS and other vendors' software licensing terms. Unlike other products which are sold and are subject to product-liability statutes, software is licensed; the user gets a right to use the code, but not much by way of a \"product\" other than a shiny CD. So far the article declares \"Microsoft ... has suffered no reverses in court that would establish any liability for flawed software.\" The plaintiffs may claim that Microsoft's disclaimer of responsibility in the license agreement is void because nobody reads that stuff before clicking \"Yes\"; this has been tried before, but with limited success, mostly against vendors who stupidly don't show you the agreement before telling you to consent. More broadly, they may try to override the license provision on consumer-protection grounds like the implicit guarantee a product is \"fit for its intended purpose\", which in some cases cannot be negated by agreement of the parties. from Ron Sipherd ronks@well.com"}, {"response": 130, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Oct 29, 2003 (14:32)", "body": "Ron Sipherd (ronks@well.com) has more great stuff: Borland Slumps The company that imagined itself a contender for the office-software market, ran afoul of the Microsoft juggernaut years before Netscape and was turned into a corporate grease spot on Highway 17, is still alive but struggling. Its shares fell 17 percent on announced plans to let go 125 staff, declining sales, and barely break-even profits for the last quarter. Execs Out At CA Computer Associates is shedding people too, but closer to the top of the pyramid. It fired its CFO and the SVP and VP of finance following an investigation of how sales were booked. The company has been sued over charges it manipulated its accounting to show a pretend profit and give the CEO $1.1 billion in unearned bonuses. No State Regulation Of Internet Phone Calls, Says Judge A federal trial court in Minnesota has declared the state may not treat a company offering VoIP (Voice over IP) services as a local phone company. Vonage offers unlimited calling in the US and Canada for $35 a month over the Internet. Reasons for the decision are to be announced Friday, but it may be on interstate-commerce grounds. Speculating on the growth of the industry, a UBS analyst made the Quote Of The Day \"VoIP technology has the potential to do to [phone companies] what file sharing is doing to the recording industry.\" Hot Products Nokia cell phones have lately developed the unfortunate habit of spontaneous combustion. The company blamed earlier instances of blazing communications on third-party replacement batteries, but two recent cases in Holland, most recently of a teenager whose Model 7210 burned a hole in his pants, involved all Nokia components (other than the trousers). Even Hotter Products Rod Sprules, a Canadian engineer, has received a patent on fireplace logs made from coffee grounds. Called the Java Log, it all started when he found in a reference book that burning coffee grounds produce more heat than burning wood. Several years later, he began to capitalize on the idea by scrounging used grounds from the dumpster of Ottawa's Planet Coffee. This entrepreneurial approach to obtaining raw material was not without its drawbacks, he says: \"Have you ever seen a wet bagel? It swells to the size of an inner tube.\" He now hopes to strike deals with Starbucks, Krispy Kreme, and the like which will obviate the need to rummage in wet trash. And he says his company Robustion is working on a log that doesn't smell like coffee for those who prefer a non-aromatic variety. Et Tu, SCO? SCO, who is suing IBM over the latter's claimed incorporation of its code into Linux, is controlled and mostly owned by an investment firm called Canopy, who until recently also owned a software developer named Lineo. Lineo has just settled a claim that it incorporated the proprietary code of another company into GNU and stripped off the copyright notice of the developer, Monte Vista. Lineo required that the terms of the settlement be sealed, and neither party will discuss it on the record, but it is speculated that Lineo claimed the infringement was an innocent mistake deserving of only token damages, a defense that IBM could as easily raise to the embarrassment of SCO. Overseas Profit Up At Two Companies Philips Electronics reports quarterly net profit of $145 million, compared to a loss over twice that size a year earlier, largely based on sales of its LCD monitors and despite sluggish sales of consumer products in the US. Similarly Intel doubled its quarterly profit from last year, mostly on strength from Asia, Europe, and high-end notebooks while US and flash-memory volume lagged. Transmeta's Got A Secret Another one, from the company who kept their low-power CPU under wraps till rollout. They are said to have lost ground to Intel for general mobile- computer use and to be making a stand with specialized applications. However, Intel made no presentation to this year's Microprocessor Forum and is reported to be dealing with problems as they reduce circuits to etched lines of 90 nanometers. Tiny circuits and fast-switching ones leak current; and tinier and the faster they get, the more they lose. Enter Transmeta. They say they have a software solution to the hardware dilemma, though they declined to provide details. E-Mathoms Katie Hafner reports that many computer users accumulate useless gadgets that look good in the catalog but end up gathering dust on the shelf or being sold off on EBay to the next gullible fool, to the point where NIB or \"new in box\" has become a standard abbreviation on auction offers. No one here would do this of course, but she says there are people with webcams, a \"universal remote that came with a manual as thick as a Russian novel\", massive CD duplicators to share music with friends whose tastes differ, GPS locators that give the exact latitude and longitude of your backyard (in case you need to call in an airstrike on the gophers), belt-clip monitors that tell how many dozen m"}, {"response": 131, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Nov  6, 2003 (19:33)", "body": "ronks brings us more great stuff. Awesome, Ron! The End Of Silicon? Just in time with Saudi Arabia saying it's nearly out of sand (see : Saudis 'fear sand shortage'), Intel says it has a new material to replace silicon dioxide as an insulator in semiconductor chips. They haven't yet said what it is, though they may have more details today when they discuss it at a tech confab in Japan, but it addresses the problems of separating circuits that are growing (so to speak) ever smaller, from 130 nanometers now to 90, then to 65, and later to 45 nm around 2007 when the new stuff would become necessary. It's been reported that Intel's next-generation Prescott CPU is being held up on account of current leakage across insulation. The human hair has long since disappeared as an analogy: the story today says transistor gates are \"approaching thickness of just five atomic layers\". The End Of SuSE? Not so, says Novell, who just bought the German Linux company for $210 million with $50 M help from IBM (who got 2% of Novell in return). Novell says SuSE and its staff of 400 will remain largely independent and the product separately branded from Netware for \"the foreseeable future\". With the Netware network OS battered by Microsoft and other rivals, Novell has moved to shore up its line by emphasizing Linux; it bought developer Ximian three months ago. SuSE is Europe's largest Linux vendor, though it trails Red Hat in the US; I almost installed it myself until I read the company \"goes through CEOs faster than drummers with Spinal Tap\". Maybe it will find the groove now. The Bounty Hunters Of Redmond Microsoft is offering rewards for catching virus writers. Bringing the head in to their corporate offices is not required, or even encouraged, and in fact the reward is not that easy to achieve by its terms: up to $250,000 for evidence leading to the *capture and conviction* of the *original authors* of MSBlast and SoBig, with a total pot of five million in the program. Some cynics suggest MS might better spend the money to make its code secure; but the company calls that criticism \"unfair\", saying it already spends on that and a variety of approaches is useful. One analyst thinks \"It will probably be easier to get a $250,000 reward than to break into some company's network.\" I wonder."}, {"response": 132, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Nov  8, 2003 (19:29)", "body": "Stick It In Your Ear From the BBC at comes news of a new Japanese cell phone. A wristband functions as a microphone, and also as a transducer that will \"convert the sounds of conversation to vibrations that can be heard when the finger is placed in the ear\". The Finger Whisper phone from NTT DoCoMo is dialed by speaking the number into the wristband; you answer incoming calls by placing your forefinger and thumb together and jamming your finger in your ear; you hang up by placing forefinger and thumb together again. No date has been set for commercial availability of the unit, which is probably not for drivers or those who make a lot of hand gestures while they talk."}, {"response": 133, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Nov 10, 2003 (12:27)", "body": "ronks: Grid Wars According to a story in today's paper, while the US is most often the catalyst and the initial innovator in a new technology, Europe is frequently in a better position to take advantage of it for two reasons, both related to the greater role of government there. Europe is said more likely to have a common mandated computing or communications standard, and the authorities there take a more active part in bringing new ideas to market. Sometimes this can backfire: the article says \"Europe's telecom companies have wasted tens of billions of dollars\" on third-generation cell phone services that nobody seems to want. In networked supercomputing, which depends less on the fickle public, the Old Country seems to be more successful; businesses like Switzerland's Novartis use their own office PCs (and American software) to sift for promising pharmaceutical compounds, and the EU has initiated two big grid-computing science projects to start next year. The goal of the \"Enabling Grids for E-Science in Europe\" is to link PCs into a 24-hour computing network for universities and research consortia, while France's National Center for Scientific Research is building an optical net to join seven supercomputers into effectively one. American scientists have applied to use the E-Science grid, but Europe in turn says it wants some NSF money if it is to share the benefits with its new-world colleagues."}, {"response": 134, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Dec 18, 2003 (11:16)", "body": "Once again, a big thanks is owed to Ron Sipherd (ronks@well.com) for his brilliant and timely observations on the tech business scene. We are privileged that he allows us to republish these comments. Another big thanks, Ron! Just Want Somebody To Sue The SCO Group just gave $1 million cash and 400,000 shares of itself to its law firm Boies Schiller & Flexner; in return, David Boies promised to sue somebody, saying that within the next three months \"we will identify a defendant\" who uses Linux and hasn't caved in to SCO's license demands. SCO's suit against IBM is set to begin next March in Utah, and the company's CEO Darl McBride \"predicted that the current General Public License that accompanies some open source software would not survive\". The Itanium Jubilee? Intel's president Paul Otellini says \"I'm going to declare this the year of Itanium\" in a presidential proclamation honoring his company's two year old 64-bit CPU chip. So far it looks more like the winter of his discontent; while he expects to see 100,000 units shipped this year, analysts think it will take at least till 2006 for the architecture to become popular, since it requires special programming to take advantage of its new features. Intel's rival AMD offers a \"more evolutionary\" 64-bit chip that is reported to work better on today's 32-bit apps as well as providing an easier migration path for developers. Intel has prototyped such a chip itself according to industry reports; it's called the Yamhill, but the company is vacillating on whether to introduce it. Either they don't want to cannibalize sales of the Itanium, or the challenge of selling a new high- speed processor named after a pile of sweet potatoes is too much for them. YAPS Yet another patent suit: AT&T filed against EBay over claimed ownership rights to the business process of secure Internet payments used by EBay subsidiary PayPal. Today Is T-Day No, not turkey day; that's Thursday. This is \"Transfer Your Wireless Service Without Changing Numbers\" day, but TYWSWCN sounds like an obscure Welsh village, perhaps near Llareggub. The consequence of the long-delayed event is expected to hasten the shakeout and kill off one or more of the six major wireless providers (Verizon, Cingular, AT&T, Sprint, Nextel, and T- Mobile in decreasing order of size) as the friction of changing is reduced. The article on today's event suggests \"tens of millions of consumers are expected to switch companies\"; it says Verizon's reputation is for quality, but if that becomes more uniform across carriers, the price advantage of Cingular and T-Mobile may give them an edge if they have the deep pockets to last out the storm. The business is already cutthroat: with 70% of US adults owning a cell phone, there's not much room for growth except by stealing rivals' subscribers. A loss of 25-30% of a company's base in a year is typical and would be fatal did they not do unto their competitors as well. Machine Poems Ray Kurzweil, who created a melody-composing computer program when he was 16 and went on to other more practical ventures like text-to-speech and speech- to-text software (not to be used together, of course), is up to his old ways. An article on his latest venture notes, \"Were he not such a successful entrepreneur, Mr. Kurzweil might be considered something of a crackpot\". Anyway he has received patent number 6,647,395 for a \"cybernetic poet\" capable of producing lines like Sashay down the page through the lioness nestled in my soul. Yes; well anyway, perhaps in defense of his creation Mr. K belittles other similar software as the poetic equivalent of Mad-Libs. Poetry thrash! A free version of the software suitable for open-mike nights is available at www.kurzweilcyberart.com; a \"deluxe\" version, no doubt capable of tossing off dactylic hexameter, anapests, trochees, and casual references to the wine-dark sea, is $29.95. SpamCop - And Robbers IronPort Systems in Silicon Valley makes \"a specialized computer with the reputation as the fastest way to send millions of junk e-mail messages\"; they are known as spam cannons according to the ePrivacy Group. But times change and that business, though lucrative, doesn't do much for one's reputation as a good Internet citizen; also, there is probably money to be made on the other side of the street with the white hats. Last July, IronPort bought SpamCop, a service that publishes a list of spam senders; they didn't admit the purchase until this month in response to queries from reporters who found out elsewhere. Of course if they were to cripple SpamCop or retool it to let favored clients have a free pass they could make profits from both sides of the battle, but they say they do \"not plan to water down SpamCop's current service\". What, never? No, never. What, never? Well, yes a little actually; IronPort has opened a line of business called Bonded Sender for spammers who \"promise to send messages only to people who request them\". Such customers will go on a SpamCop"}, {"response": 135, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Dec 18, 2003 (14:19)", "body": "David Boies at SCO gets the $mil and 400k shares of SCO. Wonder if this is the same David Boies who took on Bush and the Supreme Court on behalf of Al Gore? With that Kurzweil poetry maker, I can now make the scene at the open mikes. Harold cohen looks a bit like Allen Ginzberg. He has software to create art as well."}, {"response": 136, "author": "pmnh", "date": "Thu, Dec 18, 2003 (23:28)", "body": "Sashay down the page through the lioness nestled in my soul think i'm gonna have that printed on all my stationary... same david boies (he gets around)..."}, {"response": 137, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Dec 19, 2003 (09:50)", "body": "Is he a candidate for Saddams' defense attorney? I think Johnny Cochran is retired."}, {"response": 138, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Dec 29, 2003 (18:12)", "body": "Format Wars A new generation of DVD players and disks is on the drawing boards, driven by the data demands of moviemakers and high-definition TV. Sony already has a model for sale in Japan; at about $3500 US for the recorder and $27 a disk it is not surprising they have sold only a few hundred units, even though the media has about five times more capacity than current models. With volume production not expected till 2005, a multiplayer standards battle is underway like the days of Betamax vs. VHS. Several factors seem to be at work here; the anointed winner at the DVD Forum's Technical Coordinating Group will probably be in line to collect major royalties from licensing the technology, and it will also be advantageously placed to thwart competition from its Chinese / Japanese / Silicon Valley rivals. The antagonists have more or less coalesced into two blocs. The NEC-Toshiba side champions the HD DVD, which uses mostly existing manufacturing techniques for their disks. Arrayed against them are Sony and Matsushita (who owns Panasonic and JVC) with their \"Blu-Ray Group\", whose candidate requires expensive new machinery to create the disks (which are enclosed in a protective jacket like a diskette), and whose players need two lenses if they must also read Ye Olde DVDs of Yore as well as their native kind. The Blu-Ray specs so far do not include read-only disks, only more expensive rewritable ones which Hollywood is not at all happy with; moguls want cheap unmodifiable media and are leaning toward the HD DVD in consequence. Looming over their shoulders however like Time's winged chariot is the growth of broadband, which could end up replacing disks altogether as a means of delivering movies to homes. The Rhodes-Jamison Weight-Loss Program R-J was a large-scale sand and gravel dealer in Berkeley; retail buyers of up to a few tons of stuff drove their truck on the scale when they went in, and again on leaving to determine how much they just loaded. Yefim Kriger of Connecticut received patent 6,649,848 for an intra-vehicle high tech version of the R-J scale designed to \"weigh drivers, track pounds lost or gained, ad warn them when they overeat\". On first entering your new fatmobile (garaged in the fatcave?) as the driver-on-a-diet, the system weighs you; it is designed not to be fooled by driving over a hill to reduce gravity, and requires the vehicle to be \"parked or driving slowly\" while the driver enters a profile of age, height, gender, and other data (more on that later). It continues to monitor changes to make the profile more reliable, and after it thinks it knows you well enough it responds to extra weight in the seat by (I am not making this up) \"asking for information about shoes and clothes in an effort to account for the weight of the attire.\" If you don't come up with a credible story about heavy boots or an infant in your lap, the display screen issues a warning and brings up \"a list of diet and exercise programs\"; it can even - get this - use the car's cell phone to telephone or e-mail your doctor to snitch, if you have been so incautious as to enter the contact info. I suspect this gizmo will not be part of many people's New Year's resolutions. And another thanks goes to Ron Sipherd ( mailto://ronks@well.com ) for providing us with so much great information."}, {"response": 139, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Dec 31, 2003 (18:08)", "body": "Ronks the Soothsayer and Future Seer The Year Ahead \"For I dipp'd into the future, far as human eye could see, saw the vision of the world and all the wonder that would be\"; - thus Tennyson in 1842. With 2004 upon us, here are some predictions and quotable punditries. PC component makers are rushing into the TV business, now that flat-screen sets are becoming a larger version of the monitor. Big names like Dell, Gateway, Hewlett-Packard, and Motorola, as well as lesser fish like China's Konka, BenQ and Sampo of Taiwan, and South Korea's LG are all expected to offer sets: an analyst at Insight Media opines \"you can pretty well expect anyone selling PC's appliances or TVs to have an LCD TV within a year.\" Cable service providers, long-distance phone companies, and \"local\" phone companies are all trying to offer it all at each others' expense, as well as Internet access and wireless service. Although bandwidth is usage-neutral and frankly becoming something of a commodity, repeated examples have shown that customer \"churn rates\" decline with subscribers who use multiple services from one source. From the Yankee Group: \"Every company is going to try to provide every service to every customer.\" Venture capitalists; remember them? They're baaaack, though in a small way; money raised by VC firms in this country in the last three quarters totaled about $6 billion compared to the champion $76 billion raised 3Q1999-1Q2000. Paul Saffo of the Institute for the Future observes \"the turtle is cautiously poking its head out of its shell, but it's still protecting its vital organs\". [Which evidently does not include its brain.] Other stuff to come: this may really be the year that 3G (3rd-generation) cell-phone service takes off, though that's been predicted about as regularly as the Year of ISDN. Software companies will continue to mate and merge whatever becomes of the Oracle-PeopleSoft bid. And for biometric ID, good old fingerprints are expected to gain in the marketplace over newer fads like iris and face scans and silly-walk analysis, er \"gait patterns\"."}, {"response": 140, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Mar 11, 2004 (10:08)", "body": "Who Owns Ya, Baby? That nervy orphan may have to move over for a new definition of chutzpah. Pentax Camera has taken out multi-page newspaper ads proclaiming itself \"The Official Digital Camera Of The Internet\" (TM). Canon, Olympus, and Sony are specifically declared ineligible for the title, which is \"a trademark of Pentax USA\". The copy declares the company's products are \"recognized\" as the ODCotI on account of their \"greatness\", but never says by who exactly; presumably the entire world, minus those three losers. This self-declaration could lead to some interesting imitators; imagine the official coffee drink, or lip balm, or paint thinner of the Internet. Or \"the title of Official Ocean of the Internet, formerly the Atlantic, has just been outsourced to - of course - the Indian Ocean.\" Tanks ronks"}, {"response": 141, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Mar 18, 2004 (17:07)", "body": "Ronks Rocks, of course. Thanks again Ron Sipherd, at the WELL Taking The Heat Diamonds' crystal structure resembles silicon's sufficiently that they are candidates for use as semiconductors. Very pretty, expensive semiconductors, but still. They do have some practical advantages such as being able to operate at temperatures up to 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit, 800 degrees above where silicon stops functioning. Recent developments in growing industrial diamond crystals with vapor deposition suggest they may be practical in time. They've been grown from seed crystals in a methane-hydrogen mix in sizes up to 1/5 inch thick by 2/5 inch wide. Their depth? Sorry, the article doesn't say. Anyway, two types are needed as with silicon: positive and negative, to use the shorthand. P-types have been fairly easy to make so far using boron, but n-types have proved much more difficult to fabricate though recent lab tests with phosphorus doping and boron-deuterium show it's possible. CA Bond Rating Lowered Moody's has declared Computer Associates debt to be junk-bond level, in view of questions regarding its accounting practices. Its short-term commercial paper was also lowered to \"Not Prime\". The Matrix Retreated An article in today's paper by covers the declining fortunes of the Matrix or \"Multistate Anti-Terrorism Information Exchange\", a program developed by Florida company Seisint which received $12 million from the US Homeland Security Department to build a mega-database of everybody's personal information for use by law enforcement. All (Federal and participating state) government-held and publicly available data about individuals, drawn from criminal records, vehicle registrations, real estate transaction, drivers' licenses, credit bureaus, and so on is to be fed into the computer for retrieval in the event of suspected anti-social activity. At one time, up to 16 states had joined the jihad er program to monitor everything known about everyone; but after its auspicious rollout, some began to have reservations about the privacy implications of the thing and now all but five states have withdrawn their support and declined to provide information to it. With New York and Wisconsin bailing out last week, that leaves only its home state Florida plus Connecticut, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. Many critics see Matrix as an end run around the killing off of the Bush administration's unpopular Total Information Awareness initiative; as the article colorfully puts it, \"opponents of the Pentagon program regarded the development of Matrix as a sign that the bubble was simply moving under the wallpaper\". Matrix was perhaps not helped by the discovery that the founder of Seisint, Hank Asher, \"was involved in the 1980's with a group of cocaine smugglers\". As states drop the project over concerns of misuse, supporters are reduced to arguments like this from Mark Zadra, Florida's Chief of Investigations: \"It really comes down to trust. Do you trust law enforcement to do what is right?\" Oh hahahahahaha."}, {"response": 142, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Jun 13, 2004 (05:29)", "body": "Microsoft building China beach head June 21 issue - Microsoft's largest beachhead outside the United States is in the state most hostile to it: the People's Republic of China. Since arriving in Beijing in 1990, the Gates empire has assembled a network of business ..."}, {"response": 143, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Jan 27, 2005 (03:39)", "body": "Microsoft plans to clamp down on piracy and promote security by expanding the Windows Genuine Advantage program. This program requires users to verify the authenticity of their copy of Windows before they download patches to the OS. http://www.techtree.com/techtree/jsp/showstory.jsp?storyid=57366&s=ln"}, {"response": 144, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Jan 27, 2005 (08:18)", "body": "This will only serve to drive more folks to the Linux Desktop and the Firefox Browser. I see China moving to Linux in large numbers."}, {"response": 145, "author": "cfadm", "date": "Sun, Mar  6, 2005 (11:01)", "body": "SAN FRANCISCO--Intel is going to give the Entertainment PC a makeover. The lukewarm response for the EPC--a living room computer that functions as a DVD player, a digital-video recorder and a media storage vault that sort of looks like a VCR--is prompting the company to rethink the design and function of the devices, said Don MacDonald, general manager of Intel's home product group. \"I think there is an in-built inertia against anything called a PC in the living room.\" --Don MacDonald Intel home product group Future living room units will be smaller, more stylish and likely less costly, he said. They could possibly even be integrated with movie delivery or other content services. Equally important: The fact that the box is a PC will be heavily de-emphasized. \"I'm not sure I want to call it an entertainment PC,\" MacDonald said during an interview at the Intel Developer Forum. \"I think there is an in-built inertia against anything called a PC in the living room.\" An early example of Intel's new direction is a rectangular prototype computer shown off at the conference that resembles Apple Computer's Mac Mini. from http://news.com.com/2100-1042_3-5598948.html"}, {"response": 146, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Dec  3, 2005 (18:54)", "body": "What's the buzz? Teens don't want to hear it New York Times News Service Nov. 28, 2005 07:12 PM BARRY, Wales - Though he did not know it at the time, the idea came to Howard Stapleton when he was 12 and visiting a factory with his father, a manufacturing executive in London. Opening the door to a room where workers were using high-frequency welding equipment, he found he could not bear to go inside. \"The noise!\" he complained. \"What noise?\" the grownups asked. advertisement Now 39, Stapleton has taken the lesson he learned that day - that children can hear sounds at higher frequencies than adults can - to fashion a novel device that he hopes will provide a solution to the eternal problem of obstreperous teenagers who hang around outside stores and cause trouble. The device, called the Mosquito (\"It's small and annoying,\" Stapleton said), emits a high-frequency pulsing sound that, he says, can be heard by most people younger than 20 and almost no one older than 30. The sound is designed to so irritate young people that after several minutes, they cannot stand it and go away. So far, the Mosquito has been road-tested in only one place, at the entrance to the Spar convenience store in this town in South Wales. Like birds perched on telephone wires, surly teenagers used to plant themselves on the railings just outside the door, smoking, drinking, shouting rude words at customers and making regular disruptive forays inside. \"On the low end of the scale, it would be intimidating for customers,\" said Robert Gough, who, with his parents, owns the store. \"On the high end, they'd be in the shop fighting, stealing and assaulting the staff.\" Gough (pronounced GUFF) planned to install a sound system that would blast classical music into the parking lot, another method known to horrify hang-out youths into dispersing, but never got around to it. But last month, Stapleton gave him a Mosquito for a free trial. The results were almost instantaneous. It was as if someone had used anti-teenager spray around the entrance, the way you might spray your sofas to keep pets off. Where disaffected youths used to congregate, now there is no one. from http://www.azcentral.com/offbeat/articles/1128teenbuzz-ON.html"}, {"response": 147, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Dec 26, 2005 (10:39)", "body": "India's Outsourcing Boom Runs Into Trouble Shortage of Skilled Workers Could Mean Losing Jobs to the Philippines and China A chronic shortage of skilled workers is threatening India's outsourcing industry. Call centers and outsourcing firms are growing fast, but their human resources employees despair because most of the young Indians they interview are, they say, \"unemployable.\" Some people in the IT industry have said that only one in 10 graduates is worth taking on. \"Just look at their English,\" fumed a frustrated Mumbai-based call center manager as he waved around letters written by employees. One read: \"As I am marrying my daughter, please grant a week's leave.\" Another said: \"I am in well here and hope you are also in the same well.\" India employs about 350,000 people in the outsourcing industry and adds 150,000 new jobs each year. But filling those vacancies is proving to be a nightmare. At this moment, the industry needs to hire around 9,000 people but can't find them. The crisis is set to worsen. The industry faces a shortfall of half a million workers in a few years' time, according to a study this month by McKinsey & Company and the Indian IT body Nasscom. The specter haunting the industry is that it could lose its leading position as the world's \"back office.\" \"If the industry has to go on paying higher and higher salaries to retain the staff it has, costs will rise and India will lose its biggest advantage \ufffd cheap labor,\" said Saurabh Wig, a former call center sales manager. If the industry fails to recruit workers at reasonable wages, India will lose orders to countries such as the Philippines and China, according to Nasscom. With half of its 1.2 billion people under age 25, how can India possibly be short of workers? The problem is not quantity but quality. Many of the 3.6 million graduates churned out every year by Indian universities are considered mediocre. The Nasscom-McKinsey report confirmed the experiences of HR executives. It said that only about 10 percent to 15 percent of eligible workers are fit for employment in the offshoring industry. Fluency in English apart, employers complained that graduates lacked computer skills, the ability to reason clearly, solve problems, think critically, analyze, work in teams and think creatively. The Confederation of Indian Industry said that what's taught at universities is not what industry needs. This is why the Indian government has set up a \"Knowledge Commission\" to improve Indian brainpower. Sam Pitroda, who is based in Chicago but visits India regularly, is the chairman of the commission. One of his tasks is to overhaul higher education from top to bottom. \"About 80 percent of what is taught in Indian universities is obsolete. A professor boasted to me about how he'd used the same notes for 20 years. Think how much the world has changed, and he hasn't updated his notes.\" said Pitroda. Could Foreigners Benefit? The labor shortage, however, is good news for foreigners. Disgruntled British and American workers who have seen their jobs outsourced to India could get them back \ufffd with one catch. They need to move to India where their English and their accents will be an asset. \"When foreigners take calls from their respective countries, it helps that they know the culture of the person they are speaking to. That can often be the differentiating factor between a successful Indian outsourcing company and a failure,\" Avaneesh Nirjar, chief operating officer of Hero ITES, an outsourcing firm. Young British graduates just out of college and looking for a year's travel and work experience are already taking jobs in New Delhi, Bangalore and Bombay. So are British call center workers looking for a change? Currently, about 30,000 to 50,000 foreigners work in the outsourcing industry. But a World Bank report says that by 2009, up to 16,000 of those jobs will be filled not by Indians but by Britons. It's estimated that, apart from fluent English speakers, the outsourcing industry will also need 160,000 professionals with European languages by 2010. Only 40,000 Indians are expected to have this specialization. The remaining 120,000 jobs will have to be filled by Europeans or Americans. At the New Delhi offices of Technovate e-Solutions, more than 100 foreigners from nine nationalities work alongside 900 Indians carrying out the sales, telesales and booking work for e-Bookers, a European online travel agency. Tea Westerlund, 35, from Finland, said she came for the challenge and experience of a new culture. \"This experience will widen my career opportunities in the future. Most people in Finland tend to stay there, so it will be a big plus for me to have worked here,\" she said. \"In the meantime, I'm being looked after and having a fantastic time.\" http://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=1428299"}, {"response": 148, "author": "cfadm", "date": "Mon, Jul 21, 2008 (21:19)", "body": "Pent-up demand for the iPhone 3G is manifesting itself on auction site eBay, where eager buyers are bidding in excess of US$1,000 to get what's turning out to be a hot commodity. The demand for the iPhone remains high even off the Internet, with lines forming Monday outside an Apple store in New York to buy the limited stock of the devices. Launched on July 11, the phone sold more than 1 million units worldwide over the first weekend, according to analysts. The demand has continued with carriers, including AT&T in the U.S. and O2 in the U.K., reporting iPhone 3G shortages. The 16G-byte iPhone is priced at $299 in the U.S., with the 8G-byte version priced at $199. In some countries carriers are giving the iPhone for free with contracts. The bidding for a 16G-byte iPhone 3G on eBay is exceeding $1,000, with one bid ending at $2,325. The average 8G-byte iPhone 3G bid is reaching the $800 to $900 range. In one auction a potential bidder asked if the iPhone could be shipped to Indonesia, indicating that bids were coming from countries where the iPhone won't be shipped by the end of this year. The phone is currently sold in 20 countries, but Apple hopes to expand its availability to 70 countries by year-end. news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 81, "subject": "Sniper", "response_count": 4, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Oct 22, 2002 (22:39)", "body": "The most reasoned case for a \"team\" of snipers: http://www.counterpunch.org/pipermail/counterpunch-list/2002-October/023164.html from Ken Mccarthy at Brasscheck.. October 14, 2002 The probable make up of the Washington sniper team First of all, we are most likely looking at a TEAM of people. I've glanced at the moronic news coverage which seems designed solely to baffle and terrorize the public. Some of the things that were obvious immediately to anyone with a lick of sense and knowledge, but have somehow not been mentioned in the press: 1. Snipers work in teams (that's finally dawning on them) 2. Leaving death cards is an old Vietnam trick (intended to add to the terror of the situation) 3. In spite of their seemingly unsophisticated weapons, these guys are military-level practitioners This is NOT simply a lone marksman and is quite possibly is more than just two people. Why? Being a sniper requires: 1) getting into position undetected, 2) maintaining cover while waiting for the shot, 3) taking the shot, and 4) getting away undetected. You don't learn that at a rifle range and even law enforcement trained snipers (of which there are many) don't learn and practice the last, vital, trick and are not well trained in skills #1 and #2. A standard sniper team includes a shooter and a spotter. The latter helps the shooter find the target and assists in the getaway. He's a second mind and pair of eyes in a very stressful and challenging situation. Why do I think this is a team of more than two? Common sense. One person to find the shot. One person to take it - and at least one person to be sitting behind the wheel ready to drive away at a second's notice. Neither the spotter nor the shooter are in a mental state to be able to do that last thing as effectively as these guys are doing. Can you imagine them running to the car, fumbling with keys (can't leave them in the ignition, can you?) etc? There may be another team member - or three - to monitor police radio, plan and navigate escape routes (which probably change depending on conditions), and provide lookouts and diversions. If the team is as big as I think it might be, it will have to have a leader, someone to be in charge of overall management and security for the group. They will also need some mundane things: food, places to stay - and they need to be controlled. Speaking of providing diversions... the white panel truck. This team could also include additional vehicles, including a white panel truck, which would be noisily and conspicuously present at every shooting as a red herring. So who is doing this? A government. You need a lot of resources and a good sized pool of highly trained and well disciplined people to pull this off. What government? Either our own or someone else's. There sure is a lot of motivation floating around right now, particularly after the Bush administration's announced 'one bullet' diplomacy initiative in Iraq. Domestic motivations: 1. Casts further negative light on private ownership of guns, essential for moving the coup to the next level 2. Maintains the atmosphere of tension and terror Bush & Co. need to continue the ongoing coup at a relatively low cost 3. Blocks the headline space so that there is room for no news of substance to be reported 4. Conducts an experiment in social control The fact that this operation is taking place in the United States and so near to the largest concentration of supposedly sophisticated law enforcement and intelligence practitioners in the country - and that this team has not been even close to getting caught - leads me to favor the hypothesis that this is a domestic operation, or a foreign operation that is being permitted to take place to serve the interests of the ongoing coup. I sure wish this wasn't the case. It would be more comforting to think this is another lone 'gun nut,' but it doesn't add up. Even if such a person is 'apprehended,' I will have to doubt the veracity of the report. Logistics, it all boils down to logistics, and this looks like big league stuff."}, {"response": 2, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Oct 22, 2002 (22:44)", "body": "snopes.com: Claim: E-mail offers sniper-avoidance tips from an experienced \"SWAT sniper.\" Status: Undetermined. Example: [Collected on the Internet, 2002] Hello everyone, As you may already know I have been a SWAT Sniper for about 3 years. My specialty is Counter Sniper for Presidential and dignitary protection. What this basically means is, I am posted at certain locations looking for a sniper/assassin. Once a threat is detected, I am charged in countering his/her ability to attack by early detection and neutralizing (killing) him/her. Now on to business: This Sniper killing people in the DC Metro area is a skilled sharpshooter and very calculated. Unfortunately he appears very disturbed and has just left a calling card stating he was God. What that probably means is he may escalate the matter by increasing the rate of killing in each attack because he acknowledges the police's hot pursuit. This sniper knows it's a matter of time before he is discovered. He thinks he is superior to everyone, but knows eventually he will be caught. He is playing a very sick game that he feels he is winning. He will probably want to sensationalize his confrontations with the police and eventually stop running and have a standoff. The police may be his future targets. It is very important that you adjust your regular routine because this is a very deadly individual. I am going to give you my personal/professional advice on the matter. The Sniper's MO (his methods) are the following. a. 1st wave of attacks were concentrated in an area the suspect was very familiar with. b. It appears these initial attacks were closer, probably less than 100 yards away. Witnesses were hearing loud cracks. c. He definitely is showing off. He is trying to maintain 100%, one shot for one kill. (Sniper's creed). d. He is probably not shooting the first person that appears. He is looking for the highest probable kill. This encompasses distance, position, and movement of the individual and excludes physical barriers (vehicles, tress, columns, etc). e. He is shooting from areas adjacent to major roadways, thoroughfares, highways, etc. (quick egress). First group was within a couple of miles from beltway. Child shot in Bowie was a block away from the US 50 on the 197. f. He went up to northern Virginia (70 miles away) to throw police off his trail (diversion, used by snipers for stalking targets and eluding enemy). g. He is making this to be a giant \"Stalk\" around the Metro area. It is a game now. He wants them to come after him (like he is in his own war against the enemy). h. He is probably using any foliage (tree line, woods, bushes) that is around the malls, shopping center, gas stations, and parking lots. i. He is able to shoot accurately out to 500 yards (5 football fields) with or without a scope (depends on individual's abilities). j. The farther out he/she is, the more difficult of course it is to detect or pinpoint location. This aids in egress as well. (He knows this). My advice to you all is to consider the following. 1. Avoid unnecessary errands. 2. Bring someone along. 3. Do not stand outside your vehicle grabbing things out the car. 4. If you go to the store, put items in back seat of car (nothing in trunk) so that you can grab items and exit quickly. 5. When slowing down or at a stop, keep windows closed (glass deflects bullets, he knows this and he is not shooting through glass anymore). 6. Never walk straight to a door more than 20 feet away. Zig zag and walk at angles. The shooter is setting up on doorways/entrances and waiting for victims to line up on entrance. The hardest shot for a sniper is a target traversing laterally to his/her position. Walk between cars, use them for protection, and NEVER walk in a straight line to a doorway. Park as close as possible. Be mindful of wooded areas and any bushes around establishment. More than likely surrounding areas. Look for reflections (glare of the scope or weapon). Use drive-thru at fast food Look around and make it obvious (looking over your shoulder in the distant) he may hesitate if they think someone notices him. Point to what you are looking at as well. You want to telegraph yourself to others and get them involved. Keep clear of abandoned vehicles, but concern yourself with them. He is probably parking along roads and walking to his shooting position. You are probably safer inside the DC area only because congestion will prevent him an easy egress for the sniper. So if there is a toss up for a store then pick the inner city (not the outer boundaries). The main thing is being careful. Everyone is at risk even the police. He is able to pick the time and place so he has the overall advantage over the police. . If you still have difficulty sorting it out, then just stay home (smile). These are just my opinions and hopefully can help in your daily activities. Take care. God Bless."}, {"response": 3, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Oct 25, 2002 (05:16)", "body": "The caught the snipers! Washington Post Former Soldier Detained in Sniper Case By Petula Dvorak, Christian Davenport and Sari Horwitz Washington Post Staff Writers Thursday, October 24, 2002; 7:05 AM A man who authorities were seeking in connection with the deadly sniper shootings in the Washington area was arrested without incident this morning in Frederick County, Maryland, law enforcement officials said. Shortly before midnight, Montgomery County Police Chief Charles A. Moose announced that police wanted to question John Allen Muhammad, a former Army soldier once known as John Allen Williams. Moose said Muhammad had been linked to the case in a telephone communication last week from a man who police believe is the sniper, but he emphasized that Muhammad may not be directly involved in the shootings. Hours later, Muhammad and a teenager were found sleeping at a rest stop off Interstate 70 in Frederick County, about 10 miles west of the city of Frederick and 60 miles northwest of Washington, D.C., a source said. full story @ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A4422-2002Oct23.html"}, {"response": 4, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Oct 25, 2002 (05:37)", "body": "A review of the gun that the sniper used: http://www.gunblast.com/Bushmaster_Varminter.htm This is a deadly serious weapon. Reports are that they had a hole constructed in the trunk for firing this weapon. So much for the white van theory. Unless they had a second vehicle. It's scary that Al Queda may be taking notes. If these guys hadn't been so stupid in communicating clues they could have carried this on for a long time. Witnesses had been looking for a shooter and a fast moving car, these guys just blended in and went about their gruesome way. Al Queda has trained at least 10,000 plus in sniper skills, which aren't hard to come by. On Oct. 8, Baltimore police officers approached the Caprice and found Muhammad sleeping in the vehicle, spokeswoman Ragina Averella said. That was the day after a 13-year-old boy in Bowie was wounded as he arrived at school. news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 83, "subject": "art news", "response_count": 34, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Nov 22, 1998 (09:01)", "body": "Date: Sat, 21 Nov 1998 21:34:33 +0100 To: syndicate@aec.at From: Andreas Broeckmann Subject: Syndicate: LIFE 2.0 International Competition Date: Sat, 21 Nov 1998 12:02:34 -0500 (EST) From: Petronella Tenhaaf Subject: LIFE 2.0 International Competition LIFE 2.0 International Competition This is a call for submission of art works to an international competition on \"art and artificial life.\" We are looking for works in electronic and digital media that cross over with the field of a-life research. Artists whose work uses digital synthesis techniques and whose conceptual concerns are related to synthetic life and artificial evolution, are invited to submit their pieces. The work may employ techniques such as digital genetics, autonomous robotics, recursive chaotic algorithms, knowbots, computer viruses, avatars or virtual ecosystems. An international jury (Jose Luis Brea, Manuel DeLanda, Joe Faith, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Sally Jane Norman and chair Nell Tenhaaf) will grant three cash awards, with a first prize of US $5,000 (2nd Prize:$3,500 - 3rd Prize:$1,500), plus seven honorary mentions to the most innovative electronic art projects related to a-life. Furthermore, works that are awarded a monetary prize or selected for an honorary mention will be included in a \"Best of LIFE 2.0\" video which will be aired on specialty television programs and circulated at festivals worldwide. Assessment will be based on video documentation submitted along with an application form. The deadline for submission is Friday, January 15, 1999. The Life 2.0 International Competition is sponsored by the Fundacion Arte y Tecnologia in Madrid, Spain. For further submission information and the application form, please see: http://www.telefonica.es/fat/vida.html For questions concerning eligibility of entries: Nell Tenhaaf, Artistic Director mailto://tenhaaf@yorku.ca All other inquiries: Susie Ramsay mailto://fat@telefonica.es"}, {"response": 2, "author": "riette", "date": "Mon, Nov 23, 1998 (02:55)", "body": "Digital genetics?? Well, hey! I'll just submit myself. That ought to give them a mutated genetic kick!"}, {"response": 3, "author": "riette", "date": "Mon, Nov 23, 1998 (02:55)", "body": "In the ar$e, that is!"}, {"response": 4, "author": "TIM", "date": "Mon, Nov 23, 1998 (03:03)", "body": "That's it Riette, give them a jolt they'll never forget."}, {"response": 5, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Nov 23, 1998 (07:16)", "body": "Put it to 'em ree reee."}, {"response": 6, "author": "riette", "date": "Mon, Nov 23, 1998 (08:47)", "body": "ha-ha! I just hope it doesn't backfire..."}, {"response": 7, "author": "TIM", "date": "Mon, Nov 23, 1998 (14:02)", "body": "Backfire? What an interesting concept. How could it backfire, Riette?"}, {"response": 8, "author": "riette", "date": "Tue, Nov 24, 1998 (02:45)", "body": "If someone were to stick a potato up my ar$e, and thus sabbotage me the night before."}, {"response": 9, "author": "TIM", "date": "Tue, Nov 24, 1998 (03:11)", "body": "O K, Riette, I missed something. Just how would the potato stop you?"}, {"response": 10, "author": "riette", "date": "Wed, Nov 25, 1998 (03:00)", "body": "Well, I was going to fart in their faces, you see - to show off my genetic make-up, you know. But with a potato in my ar$e, it would come out as a burp."}, {"response": 11, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Nov 25, 1998 (11:20)", "body": "lol! (btw riette, somewhere you asked me if i had been painting, no and haven't been writing either- sad, i know)"}, {"response": 12, "author": "riette", "date": "Wed, Nov 25, 1998 (12:20)", "body": "Hi, girl!!! Have you been too busy for it?"}, {"response": 13, "author": "TIM", "date": "Wed, Nov 25, 1998 (12:24)", "body": "Riette, we used to stuff a potato in the exhaust of the school bus when I was a kid. Pressure builds up and shoots the potato like a cannon. I thought you'd want to know."}, {"response": 14, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Nov 25, 1998 (18:55)", "body": "riette: have been way to busy, even on the days off! whew...."}, {"response": 15, "author": "riette", "date": "Thu, Nov 26, 1998 (07:45)", "body": "Well, good, Wolfie! Just don't let the birds fart on your canvasses while you're not using them! Tim, we used to do that too! Hilarious! Didn't you just love it???"}, {"response": 16, "author": "TIM", "date": "Thu, Nov 26, 1998 (18:57)", "body": "Yes, Riette, I did love it. I meant it in the context of your effort being sabotaged."}, {"response": 17, "author": "riette", "date": "Mon, Nov 30, 1998 (02:57)", "body": "!!!!!!!!! Wash your mouth with soap, young man!"}, {"response": 18, "author": "TIM", "date": "Mon, Nov 30, 1998 (03:07)", "body": "Riette, I was merely suggesting that you could vent the other way also."}, {"response": 19, "author": "riette", "date": "Mon, Nov 30, 1998 (03:07)", "body": "Oh! Well, that's alright then!"}, {"response": 20, "author": "TIM", "date": "Mon, Nov 30, 1998 (03:07)", "body": "Riette, what did you think that I meant?"}, {"response": 21, "author": "riette", "date": "Tue, Dec  1, 1998 (02:47)", "body": "I am not telling! Really, Tim, this time you can do what you like, I'm not telling you!"}, {"response": 22, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sat, Jan 23, 1999 (12:15)", "body": "or anyone else apparently..."}, {"response": 23, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Mon, Apr  9, 2001 (09:35)", "body": "For anyone who has ever wanted to have a literal underground exhibition: Wanted: Artistic conceptions for installation in 10 building site containers ( 6 x 2.45 m ) + + + We invite you to participate at an International Media Art Event. http://www.the-virtual-mine.net is the forum and the virtual exhibition space of worldwide incoming artistic conceptions, utopias and ideas. Presentation in august and september 2001 in the former coal mine \"Gegenort\" in Neunkirchen (Germany) and the World Wide Web. Every single artistic conception will be displayed in the exhibit, but only ten installations will actually be set up in containers at the site. The volume of the sent material should not exceed three A4 pages per artist because this material will be exhibited. The layout and the artistic nature of the sent material are left to the imagination of every participant, but must include a text on the artist's conception. Picture files (photos, sketches, drawings, etc. in jpg or gif at 72 dpi) can be included and sent via database in the website. Personal information (id- photo, biography, etc.) of the artists are welcome! Deadline: 1st of May 2001 http://www.the-virtual-mine.net"}, {"response": 24, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Mon, Apr  9, 2001 (09:35)", "body": "Net.artists are invited to submit proposals for an on-line exhibition entitled MATTER & MEMORY to be presented by MobileGaze, a net.art collective. MATTER & MEMORY will look at notions of somatic and psychological modes of being while investigating how \"presence\" is both re-presented and experienced in cyberspace. This exhibition will touch upon the myriad definitions, representations and affirmations of physical and psychic human presence on the Web. MATTER & MEMORY will be programmed into 4 parts (NODES) entitled: MIND, BODY, HEART and SOUL. The projects will be featured on MobileGaze's Web site and will be accompanied by critical texts and interviews (written and video when possible). Each NODE will be presented at a 2 month interval over the course of 8 months. Net projects considered for this curatorial investigation will include works involving image, audio/sound, video, language, performances and VRML / QTVR as well as other emerging tendencies in Web art such as remote interactivity (like robotic control and POV cameras). Submissions exploring the theme of the exhibition are welcome for on-line and off- site projects."}, {"response": 25, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Mon, Apr  9, 2001 (09:37)", "body": "Another Digital gig in Providence: Dear friends and attendees of earlier DACs, The call for papers for next spring's Digital Arts and Culture conference, to be held in Providence, RI (USA) can be found at http://www.stg.brown.edu/conferences/DAC/ NB: The deadline for submissions is Nov.1st. Please distribute this to anyone who might be interested. We hope to see you all in Providence in April! On behalf of the Organizing Committee, Espen Aarseth, Program Chair ... DIGITAL ARTS & CULTURE 2001 (DAC '01) Providence, Rhode Island, USA April 27-29, 2001 An international conference sponsored by The Scholarly Technology Group Brown University Providence, RI, USA Department of Humanistic Informatics Faculty of Arts University of Bergen Bergen, Norway"}, {"response": 26, "author": "admin", "date": "Mon, Sep 17, 2001 (22:16)", "body": "Today's NYT reminds us about all the wonderful art that was destroyed along with all those human lives. The big Calder stabile, the gorgeous Miro', so much other great art. I wonder whether clever forgers are already working on reproductions of pieces known to have been in various law firm / brokerage firm collections, on the theory that the provenances will be just fuzzy enough to make a few bucks with good fakes."}, {"response": 27, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Jan 22, 2002 (14:26)", "body": "From the Who Was Jack the Ripper? Patrica Cornwell thinks that the post-impressionist painter Walter Richard Sickert was Jack and she has spent over 4 million bucks in an attempt to prove it, buying over 30 Sickert paintings and having at least one destroyed in pursuit of forensic evidence. Apparently Mr Sickert painted an infamous series of dead prostitutes, which has lead to his name being linked to the Ripper in the past but without the same evidental force (or funds) as the Cornwell enquiry, http://abcnews.go.com/sections/primetime/DailyNews/pt_ripper_011206.html Here's an article from the UK Guardian attacking Cornwell's act of painting destruction (it also includes an image of said painting) http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,615413,00.html . There's a brief Sickert bio at: http://www.wetcanvas.com/Museum/Artists/s/Walter_Sickert/index.html"}, {"response": 28, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Mar 18, 2002 (08:52)", "body": "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ARTISTS AND SCIENTISTS MEET TO PLAN MESSAGES TO E.T. A group of twenty artists, scientists and scholars from the humanities are gathering in Paris on Monday (March 18) to understand better how we might communicate the human sense of beauty to any intelligent civilizations that could be circling other stars. The Art and Science of Interstellar Message Composition workshop, to be held in the Paris suburb of Boulogne Billancourt, will focus on aesthetic messages that could be transmitted by radio waves or laser pulses. These communication techniques reflect the methods used by current observational programs in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI), including the world's most comprehensive search, being conducted by the SETI Institute. \"While the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence is a scientific endeavor with more than 40 years of experience, woefully little thought has gone into what we might say if we either make contact or find ourselves ready to send messages of our own,\" said chair of the workshop, Dr Douglas Vakoch. \"Even less is understood about the interplay between technical methods and the aesthetic nature of the message.\" Participants have backgrounds in a range of disciplines in the arts, humanities, and sciences. Artists at the workshop provide expertise PRESS RELEASE in drawing, musical composition, new media, painting, sculpture, and space arts. Speakers from the humanities include scholars in history, law, literature, and philosophy. Scientific disciplines represented include astronomy, biology, computer science, engineering, mathematics, physics, and psychology. More information at ( http://publish.seti.org/art_science) . The workshop is being sponsored by the SETI Institute; Leonardo/l'Observatoire Leonardo des Arts et des Techno-Sciences (OLATS); International Society for the Arts, Sciences and Technology (ISAST); the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) Permanent SETI Study Group; and the IAA SETI & Society Study Group. END NOTE TO EDITORS: Participation is by invitation only. Interested journalists should contact workshop chair Douglas Vakoch (artscienceinfo@seti.org), cell phone 408-306-4514. Limited space will be available for media to be present on-site, but interviews outside of the workshop can also be arranged. A translator fluent in both French and English will be available for interviews before or after the workshop. Additional information about sponsoring organizations is available at ( http://publish.seti.org/art_science/sponsors.php?language=e) . Contacts: SETI Institute Douglas Vakoch Cell phone: 408-306-4514 (in USA until March 13; in France March 14-22 at same number) artscienceinfo@seti.org IAA SETI Permanent Study Group Carol Oliver Cell phone: +61 417 477 612 coliver@els.mq.edu.au"}, {"response": 29, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Mar 31, 2002 (22:12)", "body": "MOMA moves to Queens: The move is only temporary; an enlarged museum, designed by the Japanese architect Yoshio Taniguchi, is to reopen at the site at 11 West 53rd Street in 2005, three years after the Modern shuts its doors on May 21. On June 29 the museum will open new exhibition space in a former staple factory in Long Island City, and for the next three years it will try to lure visitors across the East River with new shows and a small sampling of the Modern's best works. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/01/arts/design/01MOMA.html"}, {"response": 30, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Oct 27, 2002 (18:16)", "body": "http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=638&ncid=762&e=1&u=/nm/20020913/en_nm/arts_michelangelo_david_dc Michelangelo's David Gets First Wash Since 1873 Fri Sep 13, 8:49 AM ET ROME (Reuters) - Even world-famous sculptures need a wash behind their ears every now and then. And Michelangelo's David is set to have a seven month-long public bath. Restorers at Florence's Galleria dell'Accademia will begin wiping away 129 years of dirt and grime from the Renaissance marble statue on Monday. It is the first time the five-meter nude has been cleaned since it was moved into the gallery in 1873 to protect it from weather and pollution. The clean-up is expected to cost about 150,000 euros and visitors to the gallery will be able to watch the work. David, carved from a single block of marble from 1501 to 1504, depicts the biblical hero who killed Goliath. It established Michelangelo as the foremost sculptor of his time at the age of 29."}, {"response": 31, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Oct 27, 2002 (18:20)", "body": "Met's 'Adam' Shatters as Pedestal Collapses By CELESTINE BOHLEN A 15th-century marble statue of Adam by the Venetian sculptor Tullio Lombardo crashed to the ground in the Velez Blanco Patio at the Metropolitan Museum of Art sometime Sunday evening, scattering its arms, legs and an ornamental tree trunk into dozens of pieces. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/09/arts/design/09MET.html Get out the crazy glue."}, {"response": 32, "author": "admin", "date": "Fri, Jan  3, 2003 (09:15)", "body": "From the great artnews.com Mexican Masters Boost Latin American Auctions NEW YORK\ufffdAuction houses drew on the breadth of interest in Mexico's most famous 20th\ufffdcentury painters to produce relatively strong Latin American sales at Sotheby's and Christie's from Nov. 19\ufffd21. Christie's total sales rose slightly, to $6.3 million from just under $6 million last fall. Meanwhile Sotheby's pulled in a little more than $8 million, an improvement over last fall's $6.3 million and a level more consistent with the house's recent results in the Latin American arena. The Sotheby's evening sale, featuring 12 Mexican works from the estate of collector Stanley Marcus, chairman emeritus of department store Neiman Marcus, did particularly well, with a 74 percent sell\ufffdthrough rate and total receipts of just over $6 million. The next morning's sale at Sotheby's realized about $1.97 million, with 69 percent of 97 lots sold. Christie's combined evening and day sales brought in about $6.3 million, with 96, or 61 percent, of 157 lots sold. Although Mexican artists featured prominently in the sales, the highest price of the week was for a work by Chilean painter Claudio Bravo, whose 59\ufffdby\ufffd783/4\ufffdinch oil Paquete Marfil (Ivory Package) , 1967, fetched $1.4 million, above its high estimate of $1.1 million and an auction record for the artist. \"It was an extraordinarily good piece,\" said Marlborough Gallery director Michael Gitlitz. He noted that the gallery, which represents Bravo, had sold the same work (in partnership with dealer Nohra Haime) about ten years ago \"for much less,\" though he declined to specify the exact price. Said Haime: \"Bravo's packages have always been what people want the most.\" Calling the record price at Sotheby's \"truly extraordinary,\" she added, \"We might see some more in the next few auctions, but most of them are happily settled. People who have them are very happy to keep them.\" Mexican artists made up eight of the top ten lots at Sotheby's and four of the top lots at Christie's, which also sold a 19th\ufffdcentury Mexican landscape, Valle de M\ufffdxico, by North American Conrad Wise Chapman as the tenth\ufffdhighest lot. At Sotheby's the high\ufffdpriced Mexican paintings included Alfredo Ramos Mart\ufffdnez's study of two peasant women, Casamiento Indio, circa 1934, which more than doubled its high estimate of $175,000 and set an auction record when a New York dealer bought it for $405,500. Eleven of the 12 works from the Marcus estate sold at Sotheby's evening auction. These included two cubist oils by Diego Rivera: Naturaleza Muerta, bought by a Mexican collector for $405,000, below the low estimate of $450,000; and a portrait, Retrato de Hombre, which fell to a New York dealer for $350,500, just at the low estimate. Two of Marcus's Rufino Tamayos also figured in the top ten, as did a third Tamayo from an un\ufffdnamed collection. Antonio Ruiz's Surrealist 1930s oil El L\ufffdder/Orador (also from the Marcus estate) set an auction record at $317,500, just above the high estimate of $300,000. At Christie's the top lot was Tamayo's 1942 Bailarinas, which sold near its low estimate for $889,500. Ana Sokoloff, head of Christie's Latin American Art department, suggested that the price showed a \"strength in the market there.\" Six of the top ten lots were sold to non\ufffdLatin American buyers, she said, adding that if buyers from the economically faltering nations of Argentina and Brazil had been \"participating actively, the results would have been much stronger.\" Sokoloff speculated that Uruguayan Joaquin Torres\ufffdGarcia's 1931 tempera on canvas Constructif avec ritmes dent\ufffdles, which went for $361,500 against an estimate of $200/250,000, \"could have gone to the record\" with more participation from Latin America. Gitlitz said that in general, results of the Latin American sales were \"a breath of fresh air,\" adding that \"Latin America is so large and its collectors are now found all over the US and Europe. It is as impervious to local economic factors as any other segment of the art market.\" Among other highlights at Christie's: two paintings by Fernando Botero that went among the top ten lots for more than $200,000. \"Botero sculptures usually do well,\" said Sokoloff. \"That the paintings also did well shows visible strength.\" Three works by Claudio Bravo fared less well at Christie's evening sale than the Bravo that did so well at Sotheby's\ufffdtwo sold for well below their estimate; a third was bought in at $55,000. A Rivera, in which Christie's announced it had a financial interest, brought $295,500, the third\ufffd highest price in the auction but below its estimate of $400/600,000. \"Mexico has always been a point of continuity, but the whole market looked really good,\" said Kirsten Hammer, Sotheby's head of Latin American sales. \"Contemporary and modern did very well, and colonial did even better,\" she said, pinpointing the 18th\ufffdcentury Virgin of Guadalupe, ascribed to Juan Rodriguez Juarez, which sold for $119,500 against estimates of $60/80,000. \"Works ca"}, {"response": 33, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Dec  4, 2003 (19:00)", "body": "Houston, Dec 3, 2003 I went to the \"Heroic Century\" at the MFAH (Metropolitan Fine Arts Museum of Houston) yesterday. It was only a couple hour drive and I got nice directions from the lady at the restaurant where we ate. Coming in to Houston from Bastrop, we stopped at Le Peep and had a very nice breakfast and that lady wrote down directions that steered us away from the way we would have gone (in to horrendous traffic) and landed us right at the museum doorstep. I've never seen so much great modern art in one place at one time. They had a real nifty little mp3 player you wore that gave you the run down on the various paintings and even gave them musical accompaniment. Picasso, Dali (so *tiny* were his paintings), Van Gogh, Hopper, Miro, Mondrian, Chagall, and on and on. After a while I almost got jaded at such a plethora of riches all in one place, oh, ho hum, another Cezanne ... We ate at the Greek Restaurant near the museum on the way home. It was a great way to celebrate my birthday and our friend Jans birthday. What a great outing to Houston."}, {"response": 34, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Feb  2, 2005 (08:18)", "body": "Published Wednesday, February 2, 2005 SANFORD Man With Junk in Yard Going to Jail The Associated Press A man who defied Seminole County officials for more than 13 years by refusing to remove airplane parts and other junk from his yard was sentenced to three years in prison. Alan Wayne Davis, 49, had been placed on house arrest in September after serving nearly a year in prison for illegal dumping and creating and maintaining a public nuisance. On Monday, a judge sentenced Davis to three years in prison for violations of his house arrest. Well, sorta kinda art news. Sanford without the son. Pick a good cause. \"I'm going to jail because I won't clean up my yard. news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 84, "subject": "maxformayor.com", "response_count": 5, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "chupacabra", "date": "Wed, Jan  8, 2003 (16:39)", "body": "OK I have some time and am grokking around in here. Whaer is the admin forum? I know as soon as I post this I will prolly find it."}, {"response": 2, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Jan  8, 2003 (17:06)", "body": "This is the public forum."}, {"response": 3, "author": "film", "date": "Sun, Feb  2, 2003 (12:55)", "body": "I'm curious about Max's stands on Barton Springs, jobs (I'm a tech worker), transportation (what's his stand on Cap Metro? I have a lot of friends who say it needs improvement). What's his energy policy for Austin?"}, {"response": 4, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Apr 16, 2003 (04:30)", "body": "There's now an austinmayor conference that has topics for all the candidates which you can find at http://austinmayor.com"}, {"response": 5, "author": "admin", "date": "Thu, Feb 12, 2004 (14:16)", "body": "Time to retire this website? Anyone know anyone named Max running for Mayor? news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 85, "subject": "War in Iraq", "response_count": 11, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Apr 16, 2003 (04:35)", "body": "Is Saddam in Syria? From DEBKAfile War Diary - Day 15, April 3, 2003 April 5, 2003, 1:58 PM (GMT+02:00) DEBKAfile\ufffds Exclusive Middle East sources have tracked down the top Iraqi leadership\ufffds bolt-hole. It is a large 1,600-room luxury resort with 600 meters of private sandy beach in the Mediterranean coastal town of Latakiya called Cote d\ufffdAzur De Cham Resort, prepaid and chartered in toto by Baghdad. The group may include Saddam Hussein or his sons, but this is not confirmed. The hotel is located close to the Assad family villa. Top Iraqi officials are reported hiding there since March 23, four days after the US-led coalition invaded Iraq. They are guarded by a Syrian commando unit armed with anti-air missiles while Syrian naval missile boats secure the port. DEBKAfile\ufffds military sources also report: The Iraqi troops sent to reinforce Baghdad\ufffds international airport are members of the Iraqi 26th Brigade\ufffds special commando unit, whose sole task is to defend lives of Saddam Hussein and close family. These commandos take orders from no one but Iraqi ruler and sons, who are unlikely to have stripped themselves of this protection if they were still present in the capital. This outward movement from Baghdad is further indication of drastic changes in the Iraqi government\ufffds top level Saddam Departs Baghdad On the exact 14th day of the Iraq War, Wednesday, April 2, the Saddam regime looked as though it had breathed its last. Its primary military props, the Special Republic Guards divisions, Saddam\ufffds Fedayeen suicides and Iraqi intelligence\ufffds special commando units, were clearly losing their grip as a functioning command in control of a coherent force of resistance. Iraqi elite units were letting key positions drop into the hands of the coalition forces already dangerously close to Baghdad, without lifting a finger. The SRG Baghdad Division did nothing to stop allied forces crossing the Tigris bridges from west to east although it was their job to blow them up and prevent the allied advance. Commanders were rumored to have been summarily fired; others disappeared. During the day, DEBKAfile\ufffds military sources describe a procession on Iraqi television of division and brigade commanders who assured the troops that all was well and the battle was going on. They looked tense and harassed. This unusual demonstration looked as though it was intended to betoken its participants\ufffd loyalty to whoever is in charge in Baghdad, possibly a new ruling clique, or an attempt to draw attention to the men with whom the United States must discuss capitulation terms or deal with as the future leaders of the New Iraq. In a move that smacked of panic, Iraqi intelligence agents went round the capital impounding cell phones to cut off contact with the outside world as wild rumors swirled around the fate of Saddam Hussein, his sons and his regime. The little hard information reaching DEBKAfile\ufffds most reliable intelligence sources is that Saddam and his sons departed Baghdad some days ago. They do not know where he went, or in what state of health, whether he traveled abroad for medical treatment or the family headed for a safe berth prepared in advance, or even if they arrived safely at their destination. But it is safe to say that Saddam and the senior members of his family are no longer at the helm of government. Iraq is undoubtedly in the process of regime change, the main objective of the Iraq War. Anything beyond that is hazy. Other members of the Saddam regime may have seized power after the ruler himself departed. The new ruling caste may be divided between a faction negotiating terms of surrender with the Americans and a second, which is determined to fight on. The whole truth of the day\ufffds events on April 2 may never be fully discovered. The war may come to an abrupt end, but not the Iraq crisis which promises more upheaval ahead. Earlier, DEBKAfile reported: US-led Forces Commandeer Iraqi Highways, Trisect Country Tuesday, April 1 \ufffd Day 13 of Iraq War \ufffd American-led forces directly commandeered or placed under their guns the three main highways leading out of Baghdad: the southward and eastern routes and the highway connecting Iraq to Syria. This exercise effectively carved Iraq into three segments: The South \ufffd which is falling under US-British control; The Center \ufffd still under Iraqi control; The Northwest \ufffd under American control. It also tightened the noose encircling Baghdad. This was achieved on Tuesday and early Wednesday, April 1-2, DEBKAfile\ufffds military and intelligence sources report, by means of a two-headed American thrust eastward from a point east of Karbala. The two heads swarmed across the Euphrates-Tigris plain north of al Kut and took the Iraqi towns of An Numaniyah, Az Zubaydiyah and Al Iskandariyah. This maneuver netted the coalition forces three tactical gains: 1. The severance of the Baghdad-Najef and Baghdad-Karbalah Highways 9 and 10 through the capture of Al Iskandariyah 2. Placing Expressway No. 8 that runs sout"}, {"response": 2, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Jun 24, 2003 (23:35)", "body": "http://byrd.senate.gov/byrd_speeches/byrd_speeches_2003june/byrd_speeches_2003june_list/byrd_speeches_2003june_list_1.html June 24, 2003 \"The Road to Coverup Is the Road to Ruin\" Mr. President, last fall, the White House released a national security strategy that called for an end to the doctrines of deterrence and containment that have been a hallmark of American foreign policy for more than half a century. This new national security strategy is based upon pre-emptive war against those who might threaten our security. Such a strategy of striking first against possible dangers is heavily reliant upon interpretation of accurate and timely intelligence. If we are going to hit first, based on perceived dangers, the perceptions had better be accurate. If our intelligence is faulty, we may launch pre-emptive wars against countries that do not pose a real threat against us. Or we may overlook countries that do pose real threats to our security, allowing us no chance to pursue diplomatic solutions to stop a crisis before it escalates to war. In either case lives could be needlessly lost. In other words, we had better be certain that we can discern the imminent threats from the false alarms. -------- We have heard a lot about revisionist history from the White House of late in answer to those who question whether there was a real threat from Iraq. But, it is the President who appears to me to be intent on revising history. There is an abundance of clear and unmistakable evidence that the Administration sought to portray Iraq as a direct and deadly threat to the American people. But there is a great difference between the hand-picked intelligence that was presented by the Administration to Congress and the American people when compared against what we have actually discovered in Iraq. This Congress and the people who sent us here are entitled to an explanation from the Administration."}, {"response": 3, "author": "CherylB", "date": "Fri, Jul 18, 2003 (14:27)", "body": "Body matches missing weapons expert By Gideon Long LONGWORTH (Reuters) Police have found a body that matches that of a mild-mannered scientist who disappeared after becoming unwittingly embroiled in a furious political dispute about the Iraq war. The softly spoken 59-year-old had been thrust into the limelight by a row over whether the government hyped the threat from Iraq in order to justify joining the U.S.-led war. The political fallout was almost immediate. Prime Minister Tony Blair's government promised an independent judicial inquiry into events leading up to the death of Dr David Kelly, if it is confirmed. Blair has refused previous calls for a wider inquiry into the government case for war in Iraq. Kelly's family reported him missing overnight after he went for a walk in the Oxfordshire countryside on Thursday with no coat and stayed out despite a rainstorm. Police found a body in a wood near his home earlier on Friday. \"We can confirm that the body matches the description of Dr Kelly. The body has not been formally identified,\" a police spokeswoman said. Kell , a microbiologist at the Defence Ministry who had worked for U.N. inspectors in Iraq, had been grilled by parliamentarians on Tuesday after admitting he spoke to a reporter for Britain's BBC radio. The reporter, Andrew Gilligan, said in May a senior intelligence source had told him the government \"sexed up\" data to emphasise the threat from Iraq. That report sparked parliamentary hearings into how the government made the case for war, forced Blair onto the defensive and pitted government officials against the broadcaster in a heated war of words. Blair spoke to top officials about the case from aboard a flight to Tokyo from Washington. \"The prime minister is obviously very distressed for the family of Dr Kelly,\" a spokesman said aboard the flight. If the death is confirmed the defence ministry would hold an independent judicial inquiry, presided over by a judge with access to all government papers, he added. Kelly's discomfort in the spotlight was evident from his demeanour at the foreign affairs comm ttee hearing. Speaking so softly he could barely be heard, he admitted he had met Gilligan but denied telling him Blair's communications chief Alastair Campbell had ordered intelligence on suspected Iraqi banned weapons to be hyped. Kelly appeared shell-shocked when parliamentarians at the hearing described him as \"chaff\" and a government \"fall guy\", put forward to shield top officials from blame. Kelly's wife Jane described him as deeply upset by the hearing, family friend Tom Mangold, a television journalist, told ITV News. \"She told me he had been under considerable stress, that he was very very angry about what had happened at the committee..,\" Mangold said."}, {"response": 4, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Oct 29, 2003 (13:23)", "body": "http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/panorama/3097864.stm Not coming to a tv near you soon."}, {"response": 5, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Oct 31, 2003 (11:20)", "body": "A Match Made in Limbo By Laura King, Times Staff Writer BAGHDAD \ufffd The bride wore a below-the-knee pink and ivory dress, her hair falling in loose ringlets. The groom wore combat fatigues and body armor, his M-16 rifle propped nearby. As they recited their vows, her hand trembled so hard he had trouble slipping the ring onto her finger. Sgt. Sean Blackwell, 27, who has served for the past seven months with U.S. forces in Iraq, wed his 25-year-old Iraqi fiancee two months ago in a hasty, clandestine ceremony staged while he snatched a few moments away from his foot patrol in downtown Baghdad. Now he and his bride wonder when \ufffd or even whether \ufffd they will be able to live together as husband and wife. He is confined to base in Baghdad, facing possible military discipline because he left his patrol. She lives quietly in the capital with her mother, fearing retribution from fellow Iraqis who might consider her a traitor for falling in love with a member of the occupying U.S. Army. They have not seen each other since their Aug. 17 marriage. \"We love each other so much,\" said E., a petite, lively physician from a wealthy Iraqi family who speaks fluent English with only the slightest trace of an accent. \"All we want is to be together.\" Because E. \ufffd she does not want her full name used out of her fear of other Iraqis' anger \ufffd has no access to a working phone in Baghdad, Blackwell uses his infrequent phone privileges to call his mother, Vickie McKee. And in these conversations, McKee says, her son talks of little but his newfound love. \"He tells me that she's just the most beautiful, the sweetest thing, the most wonderful thing that ever walked the Earth,\" McKee, who lives in the Pensacola, Fla., suburb of Pace, said in a phone interview. \"And how he can't wait until all this is over and he can just be with her.\" That probably won't be any time soon. More: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/iraq/la-fg-brides31oct31,1,2699950.story?coll=la-home-leftrail"}, {"response": 6, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Oct 31, 2003 (11:55)", "body": "they knew in 5 months? just how many patrols DID he leave to meet with her? (don't get me wrong, i'm all for romance and stuff)"}, {"response": 7, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Jun 13, 2004 (05:24)", "body": "http://news.google.com/url?ntc=0M0B0&q=http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news%3Fpid%3D10000087%26sid%3DavYi3Ej2ZU.E%26refer%3Dtop_world_news June 13 (Bloomberg) -- Twelve people were killed and thirteen others wounded in an attack on an Iraqi police patrol in the capital, Agence France-Presse reported, citing an unidentified US military spokeswoman."}, {"response": 8, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Nov 23, 2004 (14:35)", "body": "Kevin Sites, the MSNBC reporter who is frequently on Imus in the Morning, tells it like it is in Iraq. He's the reporter present at the recent Mosque shooting incident. >To Devil Dogs of the 3.1: >Since the shooting in the Mosque, I've been haunted that I have not been able to tell you directly what I saw or explain the process by which the world came to see it as well. As you know, I'm not some war zone tourist with a camera who doesn't understand that ugly things happen in combat... *** >It's time you to have the facts from me, in my own words, about what I saw -- without imposing on that Marine -- guilt or innocence or anything in between. I want you to read my account and make up your own minds about whether you think what I did was right or wrong. All the other armchair analysts don't mean a damn to me. *** >\"Did you shoot them,\" the lieutenant asks? >\"Roger that, sir, \" the same Marine responds. >\"Were they armed?\" The Marine just shrugs and we all move inside. *** >There are people in our own country that would weaken your institution and our nation \ufffdby telling you it's okay to betray our guiding principles by not making the tough decisions, by letting difficult circumstances turns us into victims or worse\ufffdvillains. *** >So here, ultimately, is how it all plays out: when the Iraqi man in the mosque posed a threat, he was your enemy; when he was subdued he was your responsibility; when he was killed in front of my eyes and my camera -- the story of his death became my responsibility. >The burdens of war, as you so well know, are unforgiving for all of us. http://www.kevinsites.net"}, {"response": 9, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Jan 26, 2005 (07:07)", "body": "Two leading slates of candidates put an end to their promise to set a timetable for withdrawal. By Hannah Allam. BAGHDAD - Politicians from the two leading tickets in Sunday's Iraqi election backed away yesterday ... http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/nation/10733870.htm"}, {"response": 10, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Jan 27, 2005 (03:33)", "body": "Americans suffered their deadliest single day in Iraq since the invasion 22 months ago when a US Marine transport helicopter crashed Wednesday during a sandstorm, killing 30 Marines and a sailor aboard. http://www.dailystar.com/dailystar/dailystar/58746.php"}, {"response": 11, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Jan 27, 2005 (08:23)", "body": "What a horrid day for the US in Iraq. When is that election? Sunday, I believe. news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 86, "subject": "media coverage of the War in Iraq and the reconstruction", "response_count": 7, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Apr 16, 2003 (03:38)", "body": "Let's start with those panoramic views: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/mmedia//041103-12p.htm These were done by the Washington Posts Travis Fox."}, {"response": 2, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Apr 16, 2003 (03:41)", "body": "If you want to see a dynamic map of where the embedded journalists are in Iraq, try this poynter.org site: http://www.poynter.org/content/content_view.asp?id=27071 You can find a journalist on the map, click on their symbol and get their latest dispatches via a google search."}, {"response": 3, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Apr 16, 2003 (03:47)", "body": "Another very decent compilation of Iraq War journalist resources: http://www.journaliststoolbox.com/newswriting/iraq.html"}, {"response": 4, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Apr 16, 2003 (03:59)", "body": "Former Adversaries Join to Revive Neighborhood By Michael Slackman, Times Staff Writer BAGHDAD -- There was no electricity, no health care, no open shops, no sewage system, no police and no one to turn to for help. The people were scared, hungry and tired, and many children were falling ill. So religious leaders stepped in. From loudspeakers mounted atop mosques in the low-income west Baghdad neighborhood known as Tobchi, sheiks and imams sent out a call, not to prayer, but to work. They called on doctors, electricians, police, engineers, shopkeepers and laborers to help their community get back to life. By Monday, many had come forward. Sunni and Shiite. Agents of Saddam Hussein's regime and victims of its repression. If there is hope for a bright future in this city, still convulsing from the effects of war, a model might be this neighborhood of simple concrete apartment buildings and working-class people less than a mile from the Tigris River. \"There are no Arabs, no Kurds, no Sunni, no Shia,\" said Sheik Mohammed Bakr Basri, 31, one of the organizers of the back-to-work campaign. \"After Saddam we will all be united. The regime tried to divide us.\" Almost from the moment Hussein's government fell, this city of about 5 million people became unhinged with widespread looting, chaos and fear. People were paralyzed, and no one went to work. But there was no suggestion that the Iraqis bore any responsibility for what was happening on their streets. They blamed the U.S. for the upheaval and expected Americans to repair the damage. That attitude has begun to change in ways that are visible in many parts of the city, but especially in Tobchi, a neighborhood formally known as Al Salam. It was seen up in a cherry picker Monday, where two residents, one Sunni and the other Shiite, worked together to repair power lines. It was evident in a health clinic where a physician and a dentist volunteered to treat their neighbors. And it was there in the piles of looted goods that had been turned over to Sunni and Shiite mosques by residents who experienced a change of heart. \"Saddam confiscated our capabilities and possibilities,\" said Sheik Mohammed Taqi, 27, a neighborhood Shiite religious leader. \"After Saddam, brotherhood has been revived between the people.\" More: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/iraq/inside/la-war-tobchi15apr15,1,24458.story?coll=la%2Dhome%2Dheadlines"}, {"response": 5, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Apr 16, 2003 (04:28)", "body": "http://www.back-to-iraq.com/archives/000365.php This an amazing web journal of a couple of journalists who have just landed in Syria. \"The Pitch Hi there! Thanks for stopping in. I'm Christopher Allbritton, former AP and New York Daily News reporter. Last summer I went stumbling around Iraqi Kurdistan, the northern part of Iraq outside Saddam's direct control, looking for stories. (Some might call it \"looking for trouble.\") Well, I've made it back. With the support of thousands of readers, I've raised more than $10,000 for this trip. \""}, {"response": 6, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Nov  3, 2003 (13:29)", "body": "US apology paves way for Iranian pistachios, carpets by Scott Peterson They were words that Iranians have long waited to hear from American officials, and they sounded very much like an apology. In an American initiative to boost the chances of Iran-US d\ufffdtente after decades of estrangement - and after elections in Iran last month that brought two decades of conservative control in parliament to an end - sanctions were lifted last week against Iranian carpets, pistachios, and caviar. But far more significant, Iranians say, is US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's attention, for the first time, to historical grievances of American meddling in Iran. \"In the Iranian psyche, these issues are far more important than sanctions, so this will have a great impact,\" says Nasser Hadian-Jazy at the University of Tehran. He compares their importance in Iran with the days of the 1979 Islamic Revolution that few Americans can forget: the hostage-taking of US diplomats for 444 days. Despite certain opposition from hard-line clerics, who still consider the US the \"Great Satan,\" this apology is \"good enough to bring down psychological and symbolic barriers to improve relations,\" he says. Though the US still accuses Iran of what it calls \"objectionable\" policies of supporting terrorism, opposing the Mideast peace process, and pursuing nuclear weapons, Dr. Albright also struck a contrite chord that few in Iran thought possible. A CIA-backed coup in 1953, Albright said, was \"clearly a setback\" for Iran that partly explains continued resentment. \"Sustained\" US backing of the regime of the Shah, which \"brutally repressed dissent,\" didn't help either. American backing of Iraq during the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s, she added, has proved \"regrettably shortsighted,\" and the US \"must bear its fair share of responsibility\" for the US-Iran hostility. More: http://search.csmonitor.com/durable/2000/03/24/p9s2.htm"}, {"response": 7, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Jun 13, 2004 (05:28)", "body": "Abuse Inquiry Expanding WASHINGTON What began as a military investigation of seven Army reservists accused of tormenting Iraqi prisoners now appears likely to become a wide-ranging examination of top civilian and military leaders. news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 87, "subject": "Texas Legislators on the run - all the way to Oklahoma", "response_count": 3, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, May 14, 2003 (09:56)", "body": "The Republicans are just aching to get the ok for the cops to round up these legislators who didn't show up to work. They're are 53 of them holed up at the Holiday Inn enjoying the fine Denny's cuisine. If they cross the State line they *will* be arrested. DPS is asking the Feds for permission to arrest them and haul them back to the State Capital. The House can't do business without at least 100 of the 150 members there. There were only 92 members at the House on Monday."}, {"response": 2, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, May 14, 2003 (09:57)", "body": "from the New Mexico AG: http://www.oaklandtribune.com/Stories/0,1413,82~1865~1388041,00.html \"Perry's office asked New Mexico officials if they would arrest House Democrats who might have gone to that state. New Mexico Attorney General Patricia Madrid responded that the flap was \"an internal political matter\" and advised Perry to follow standard extradition procedures. \"I have put out an all-points bulletin for law enforcement to be on the lookout for politicians in favor of health care for the needy and against tax cuts for the wealthy,\" she said.\""}, {"response": 3, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, May 14, 2003 (10:00)", "body": "And it gets weirder. Austin is the land of the weird isn't it? A state trooper actually picked up one Legislator lady and delivered her to the legislature and then said it was a \"mistake\"; they're not letting the legislators who are at the Capital leave and they're now getting closer to getting a quorum for a vote. They're five short but the Troopers are out pressuring the legislators to ride with them to the Capital without actually having the authority to arrest them. The Capital building is locked up and under armed guard, no one gets to leave. The place is swarming with Texas Rangers and DPS Troopers. Now they're talking about handcuffing the awol legislators and bringing them back to the locked up Capital compound. It's a crisis for Tom Delay, but no one else seems to think this redistricting has to happen. The 88 Republicans and four Democrats who showed up Monday remained locked in the room until nearly 11 p.m., when Craddick got word that the absent Democrats refused to return when approached by state troopers Monday night. The Democrats have scheduled a press conference for Tuesday afternoon in Ardmore, where they are holed up in a Holiday Inn. The House has three days before a crucial deadline to consider major House bills. House Bills that don't receive final House approval by midnight Thursday are dead unless they can be resuscitated in the Senate or tacked on to other bills. http://www.statesman.com/legislature/content/coxnet/texas/legislature/0503/0513walk_update.html Molly Ivans on the current Texas legislature: http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?ItemID=14981 \"Believe me, stopping the legislature from functioning at this point is high public service.\" poor choice of a hideout. Oklahoma? Come one, give me a break. We have Santa Fe, New Orleans, even Little Rock. Or how about a Carribean island? Puerto Rico. This break to OK shows little imagination and sense of adventure. news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 88, "subject": "Hunting for Bambi", "response_count": 2, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "bambi", "date": "Wed, Jul 16, 2003 (09:51)", "body": "I'm actually one of the women thinking about signing up for this but I hear it really hurts when you get hit. And there's a big difference between $2500 and $1000. Right now I'm working in a strip club, but it wouldn't be much different. I would do it for the money but the issue for me is how good their insurance is, they don't allow protective gear. Here's a news article I read on the net: (July 10) -- It's a new form of adult entertainment, and men are paying thousands of dollars to shoot naked women with paint ball guns. They're coming to Las Vegas to do it. This bizarre new sport has captured the attention of people around the world, but Channel 8 Eyewitness News reporter LuAnne Sorrell is the only person who has interviewed the game's founder. George Evanthes has never been hunting. \"Originally I'm from New York. What am I going to hunt? Squirrels? Someone's cats? Someone's dogs? I don't think so,\" said Evanthes. Now that he's living in Las Vegas, he's finally getting his chance to put on his camouflage, grab a rifle and pull the trigger. But what's in his scope may surprise you. He's not hunting ducks or deer, he's hunting naked woman. \"I've done this three times,\" says Nicole, one of the three women allowing themselves to be shot at. Two other women, Gidget and Skyler, claim they have done this seven times. Hunting for Bambi is the brainchild of Michael Burdick. Men pay anywhere from $5000 to $10,000 for the chance to come to the middle of the desert to shoot what they call \"Bambis\" with a paint ball gun. Burdick says men have come from as far away as Germany. The men get a video tape of their hunt to take home and show their friends. Burdick says safety is a concern, but the women are not allowed to wear protective gear -- only tennis shoes. Burdick says hunters are told not to shoot the women above the chest, but he admits not all hunters follow the rules. \"The main goal is to be as true to nature as possible. I don't go deer hunting and see a deer with a football helmet on so I don't want to see one on my girl either,\" said Burdick. The paint balls that come out of the guns travel at about 200 miles-per-hour. Getting hit with one stings with clothes on, and when they hit bare flesh, they are powerful enough to draw blood. Evanthes shot one of the women and says, \"I got the one with the biggest rack.\" Gidget is the one who took the paint ball shot to the rear. She says, \"It hurt. It really hurt. I didn't think it was going to be that bad.\" When asked if she cried she says,\"yeah, a little bit.\" So why do women agree to strip down and run around the desert dodging paint balls? Nicole says it's good money. \"I mean it's $2,500 if you don't get hit. You try desperately not to and it's $1000 if you do,\" said Nicole. The men and women say this is all good, clean fun, but in Part 2 of this special report, reporter LuAnne Sorrell speaks with a psychologist who says for some men playing out this sexual aggression may lead to other more violent acts against women. Michael Burdick, the founder of Hunting For Bambi, explains the game to three women early one Monday morning. \"You have to collect four flags throughout the course. Some are easy for you and some are not easy,\" said Burdick. The woman begin stripping down to their tennis shoes and start running to dodge the paint balls that go buzzing by. \"We got a hit,\" said George Evanthes, who just shot and hit one of the women in the behind. \"It was sexy. Let's put it that way,\" said Evanthes. The women who take part in this bizarre game get paid $2,500 if they escape unscathed. Even if a paintball hits them, they walk away with $1,000. \"As you can see this is not lethal, and it wasn't meant to hurt anybody. Just good clean fun,\" said Evanthes. Burdick says the majority of the men who pay the $5000 to $10,000 to play the game are the submissive, quite type. \"For the individual who's used to saying 'I can't go out with the boys tonight' or the wimp of America, it's a chance for him to come out and vent his aggression and really take charge and have some fun.\" Marv Glovinsky is a clinical psychologist. He says Hunting for Bambi is every man's fantasy come true. \"You might think of all men as little boys who have never grown up, so they entertain their adolescent fantasies and they go through life being adolescents on the hunt.\" But Glovinsky says this so called game that mixes violence with sexuality can be dangerous for men who can not distinguish fantasy from reality, and acting out the violence in this game could lead to them acting out real violence. \"If you're blurring reality and fantasy and you can't make the distinction and you're emotions over power your intellect or your higher mental function, your going to get into trouble, and if you have a control problem to boot, that's really going to cause problems.\" Problems, he adds, like beating, raping or even hunting women with a real gun. Hunter Evanthes disagrees, \"This is just a game. Get serious, get real"}, {"response": 2, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Jul 16, 2003 (13:01)", "body": "Bambi don't get your hopes up yet. Here's what one urban legends site has to say. Claim: A Las Vegas business offers men the opportunity to \"hunt\" naked women with paintball guns. Status: Undetermined. Example: [Collected on the Internet, 2003] www.huntingforbambi.com Is this site for real? If it is I weep for the future... Origins: Another cruel real-life example of the shocking degradation of women, or a big put-on? That's the question being raised about Hunting for Bambi, a Las Vegas-based business which purportedly offers \"hunters\" the opportunity, for $10,000, to stalk naked women and shoot them with paintball guns. According to the Hunting for Bambi site, their business is: More shocking than anything you've ever seen before. Labeled by CBS News as a cross between Sex and Violence a deadly combination! Women are being hunted down like animals and shot with paintball guns. This Raw and completely Uncensored video is a cross between Bum Fights and Girls Gone Wild and is sure to be the topic of many Howard Stern Show fans. You will be completely stunned when you see some of the wildest, most outrageous moments ever caught on tape. This is without a doubt one of the sickest and most shocking videos ever made. When it comes to hunting women if you can think of it we probably show it. Women are screaming with fear as our Team Bambi hunters track them down and blast them with paintball guns . . . Contributing to the public's belief in this venture was a local Las Vegas television station, KLAS-TV, running a non-probing news feature on Hunting for Bambi (complete with footage of \"hunters\" in action) and proclaiming it to be real. However, the whole setup of the Hunting for Bambi site seems to be a deliberate attempt to shock and outrage rather than amuse, and it's all too easy for hoaxsters to fool reporters with shows staged for their benefit (as notorious prankster Joey Skaggs has demonstrated time and again). Paintball, although intended as a game, is a potentially dangerous sport which requires full protective gear for safety, and allowing \"hunters\" to shoot at naked human targets is a recipe for disaster. (What woman in her right mind would allow people to shoot at her with paintballs delivered at a muzzle velocity of up to 200 MPH but agree that she couldn't wear so much as protective goggles, protected by nothing but a vague rule that shooters are supposed to hit their targets below the waist only?) Even if the \"Bambis\" are willing participants who sign liability waivers, the potential for a multi-million-dollar lawsuit should one of them be seriously injured or killed is far too great. (Indeed, Brass Eagle Inc., the leading paintball products company, has already asked Las Vegas city and country officials to investigate the purported Hunting for Bambi activities, as \"the health and welfare of the women participants could be damaged or threatened by this undertaking.\") Moreover, in common with most web-based business hoaxes, the Hunting for Bambi site displays a curious lack of contact information. Its putative parent company, Real Men Outdoor Productions, is indeed a registered Nevada corporation, but that in itself doesn't mean much, as anyone can register a business for a small fee. (The address listed for Real Men Outdoor Productions corresponds to the address of another registered Las Vegas company, Clean Your Carpets Inc., whose corporate status has since been revoked.) Perhaps more significant is that no business address or phone number is to be found on the Hunting for Bambi site, and several readers who expressed interest in booking a \"hunt\" have told us their e-mail inquiries to the Hunting for Bambi folks went unanswered. Those are rather odd business practices for a legitimate company looking to book customers at $10,000 a pop. We're still investigating, but we'd be quite surprised if this turned out to be anything but yet another outrageous leg-pull. Last updated: 15 July 2003 The URL for this page is http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/outrage/bambi.asp Click here to e-mail this page to a friend news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 89, "subject": "rippling down the grid: BLACKOUT", "response_count": 1, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Aug 16, 2003 (16:05)", "body": "John Long was there. Bob just missed it. Two of my friends were either there or just there. The NYT Editorial goes on: The best guess now is that the blackout started when a power plant or transmission line failure in the Midwest caused an enormous, instantaneous reversal of the power flow that had been moving from west to east, causing some lines to be overloaded and shut down. That in turn triggered a cascade of failures as dozens of lines and about 100 power plants took themselves out of service. In one sense, the system worked as it was supposed to, with lines and plants shutting down to prevent damage. But the system is supposed to isolate the problem in a limited area, not propel it onward. Somthings real wrong with this picture. news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 9, "subject": "Obits", "response_count": 399, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Mar  2, 1998 (04:02)", "body": "Who has died recently? Grandpa Jones from Hee Haw. He joins Minnie Pearl and Bill Monroe in the Opryland in heaven. Abe Ribicoff, who stood up to Boss Daley at the 68 Demo convention bout the demonstrators getting beat up by the Chicago cops outside. I saw a cut on this on Meet the Press Sunday. Henny Youngman. Good night Henny. The guy who drew Spy vs. Spy in Mad died. Antonio Prohias. Marie-Louise Von Franz. A Jungian analyst. A great contributor to the psychological meaning of fairytales, which I've been deeply involved in lately in the creation of the Spring's http://www.childrenstory.com She minted the term \"poer aeternis\" for \"eternal boy\" who charms and flies around and is delightful, seductive and and never grows up. Who ever wants to grow up. And set sail on the ship that's going to sink? And one more. J. T. Walsh, Jack Nicholson's second in command in a 'A Few Good Men' and the psychopath in Sling Blade and the triple con worker in \"House of Games\"."}, {"response": 2, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Mar 31, 1998 (15:51)", "body": "Athelston F. Spilhaus One of the greatest popularizers of science. Look up one of his books next time you're at the library."}, {"response": 3, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Apr  2, 1998 (20:13)", "body": "Paolo Soleri, builder of Arcosanti, died in a car crash. Bella Abzug, wearer of hats."}, {"response": 4, "author": "autumn", "date": "Sat, Apr  4, 1998 (23:40)", "body": "That was her occupation?"}, {"response": 5, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Apr  5, 1998 (00:15)", "body": "She was a Congresswoman and leading figure in the women's movement. And the story of Soleri's death is a *hoax*"}, {"response": 6, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Apr  7, 1998 (00:26)", "body": "Tammy Wynette at 55."}, {"response": 7, "author": "pmnh", "date": "Tue, Apr  7, 1998 (01:17)", "body": "wow... miss tammy is dead?"}, {"response": 9, "author": "pmnh", "date": "Tue, Apr  7, 1998 (06:44)", "body": "not like i'm a huge fan or anything (and let's face it, belushi and ayckroyd really did a better \"stand by your man\")... but... wow... that's really sad... when i was a little kid, in hooterville, you know, \"d-i-v-o-r-c-e\" (and some other song- something about this little kid that died, who was afraid of the dark) used to really tear me up... really, really sad... (would be nice, though, if she could maybe report back... on the angel issue, i mean)"}, {"response": 10, "author": "autumn", "date": "Tue, Apr  7, 1998 (22:25)", "body": "Half of Milli Vanilli (couldn't tell you which one)"}, {"response": 12, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Apr  9, 1998 (10:00)", "body": "Sandra McGovern age 15, sophomore in high school (I used to babysit her many years ago) she and some friends were riding to the Poteet Strawberry Festival and were racing. One car bumped the other 'for fun' and the bumped car went out of control and flipped several times. Sandra was thrown from the vehicle. She was airlifted to WHMC (trauma center) but died in the ER of massive head injuries. the funeral was yesterday."}, {"response": 13, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Apr  9, 1998 (11:21)", "body": "Oh jeez Stacey, sorry to hear about this. Sympathies."}, {"response": 14, "author": "pmnh", "date": "Thu, Apr  9, 1998 (11:52)", "body": "whom the gods love die young, was said of yore. and many deaths do they escape from this: the death of lovers, and then that which slays even more- the death of love, youth, all that is except mere breath; and since the silent shore awaits at last even those who longest miss the old archer's shafts, perhaps the early grave which men weep over may be meant to save. (byron) (sigh... i don't believe it either... pretty words... dead is dead, and it sucks... very sorry about sandra mcgovern, age 15... very sorry, indeed)..."}, {"response": 15, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Apr  9, 1998 (16:35)", "body": "the pretty words sometimes help, even if they're hard to believe. (thank you)"}, {"response": 16, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Sat, Apr 18, 1998 (22:34)", "body": "Ron E., the subject of one of my pieces, The Man That I Know, died of cancer, March 15. Rest in Peace, Ron..."}, {"response": 17, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Apr 19, 1998 (10:58)", "body": "Ding dong Pol Pot is dead."}, {"response": 19, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Sun, Apr 19, 1998 (17:10)", "body": "and Linda McCartney....."}, {"response": 20, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Apr 19, 1998 (18:00)", "body": "I read that just now before I logged on. Paul's wife. She died in Santa Barbara of breast cancer. I loved it that she espoused the vegetarian cause with her cookbooks and articles in Vegetarian Times. And, despite what some say, she was a fine photographer. From the MSNBC site where I read this: Paul McCartney would issue an announcement later in the week and asked that people wanting to send flowers should give a donation to charities involved in cancer research, animal welfare, or best of all the tribute that Linda herself would like best: Go veggie. Their marriage was one of the longest in show business and produced three children, Mary, Stella and James."}, {"response": 21, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Sun, Apr 19, 1998 (22:29)", "body": "oh, put the wrong date for Ron. It was March 14. Sorry......"}, {"response": 22, "author": "stacey", "date": "Mon, Apr 20, 1998 (01:11)", "body": "wow. bringing me back down to reality... my condolenceses to those who require them..."}, {"response": 23, "author": "pmnh", "date": "Mon, Apr 20, 1998 (05:59)", "body": "(godspeed, linda mac)..."}, {"response": 24, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Thu, Apr 23, 1998 (18:03)", "body": "James Earl Jones :("}, {"response": 25, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Apr 23, 1998 (18:43)", "body": "That's James Earl *Ray*; not James Earl Jones."}, {"response": 26, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Thu, Apr 23, 1998 (20:46)", "body": "*blush* (t'anks) my bad!"}, {"response": 27, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Apr 24, 1998 (09:46)", "body": "is anyone else still curious... did he really do it?"}, {"response": 28, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Apr 24, 1998 (11:59)", "body": "The King family doesn't seem to think that he did it."}, {"response": 29, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Fri, Apr 24, 1998 (22:13)", "body": "Oh, OK. was wondering who james earl ray was. and to think, i saw an interview on some news magazine about him. Stacey, no am not curious. we'll find out one day."}, {"response": 30, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, May  2, 1998 (09:49)", "body": ""}, {"response": 31, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, May  3, 1998 (13:02)", "body": "Well, scribble works. The body of Ethan Allan Crosby (David Crosby's brother) has been found in nothern California. He'd disappeared earlier. Blurb in today's Contra Costa Times."}, {"response": 32, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Sun, May  3, 1998 (21:24)", "body": "oh wow..."}, {"response": 33, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, May 15, 1998 (03:59)", "body": "Frank Sinatra died last night at 10:50 pm at Cedars Sinai Medical Center, 1915-1998. Dead at 82. Francis Albert Sinatra."}, {"response": 34, "author": "pmnh", "date": "Fri, May 15, 1998 (06:11)", "body": "wow... that's really sad... really respected sinatra- he changed popular music as profoundly, in his way, as anyone... even own several of his records... wow... (guess this means the Rat Pack really IS down to the rats, now)... (shit, who's gonna get custody of steve and edie?)"}, {"response": 35, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, May 15, 1998 (17:59)", "body": "wow... mortality strikes again."}, {"response": 36, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, May 28, 1998 (21:38)", "body": "Phil Hartman. He played Pres. Clinton on Saturday Night Live, recently had a comedy series, was several voices on the Simpsons, and even did album cover art and the logo for Crosby, Stills and Nash. Found shot in his upscale Encino home. His wife shot herself as the police arrived. They took his two children from the house, unharmed but obviously shaken. The shooter, possibly his wife. Under investigation. Sad, the tragedy of SNL continues. Belushi, Radner, Farley, now Hartman."}, {"response": 37, "author": "Wolf", "date": "Sat, Jun 27, 1998 (00:25)", "body": "He was also in Jingle All The Way. She was taking antidepressants and had alcohol and cocaine in her system. Very sad indeed..."}, {"response": 38, "author": "pmnh", "date": "Tue, Jul  7, 1998 (22:06)", "body": "damn roy rogers (from the american statesman): ...when trigger died in 1965, rogers had the golden palomino mounted and placed on display in the (roy rogers) museum, to (dale) evan's chagrin. \"i was so angry, i said,'allright, but when you go, i'm going to have you stuffed and placed on top of trigger,' she said in 1984. rogers responded: \"i told her just to make sure i'm smiling.\" (damn, i loved that horse) (loved roy, too... happy trails, bubba)"}, {"response": 39, "author": "riette", "date": "Wed, Jul  8, 1998 (02:44)", "body": "Who is Roy Rogers? Nick, I am truly sorry we fell out yesterday. I'm not going to say you were right or I was right. We were right to support Wolf, and wrong to snap at each other. Unfortunately that kind of support is not going to help her, so I offer you truce. I would also like to ask you to go back to poetry. You have been there for a long time, you're very good there, and it isn't right to go just because you don't like me - it affects alot more people than just me. On the other hand, I'm not a poetry expert, so I'll stay away and leave the great responses up to you. Fact is, I do have a great deal of respect for your work, I sometimes used to go to poetry just to read the things you wrote, because I thought your responses beautiful, and admired you for it. Please go back and help Wolf keep that conference as popular as it has been in the past. Oh, and tell her to feel free to scrap Emily. Her stiff upperlip doesn't fit in anyway! All the best."}, {"response": 40, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Jul  8, 1998 (11:24)", "body": "Roy Rogers is a legendary American show biz cowboy. His sidekick had been Dale Evans forever. He liked to dress in fancy duds and a cowboy hat and boots, full regalia, and he rode a horse called . . . ???"}, {"response": 41, "author": "riette", "date": "Wed, Jul  8, 1998 (12:04)", "body": "Buck?"}, {"response": 42, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Jul  8, 1998 (13:03)", "body": "Happy Trails to you, Roy Rogers."}, {"response": 43, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Wed, Jul  8, 1998 (13:18)", "body": "Roy's horse was named Trigger. i am a huge fan of westerns, a big roy rogers fan (grew up with his movies playing on TV thanks to my dad) and am very saddened at his death."}, {"response": 44, "author": "riette", "date": "Wed, Jul  8, 1998 (15:20)", "body": "Alot of the big celebrities seem to be dying at the moment, or have I just been blind up to now? And you are right, it is very sad, no matter who dies."}, {"response": 45, "author": "pmnh", "date": "Sun, Jul 12, 1998 (20:24)", "body": "(from savoy magazine): The one constant in my life, the one thing that followed me from place to place, was the cinema. There were movie theaters everywhere, from the Denali in Anchorage, Alaska, to the Koza in Okinawa. And the constant in movie theaters was the Western. Heroic individuals rode tall in the saddle. They saved women and children, protected the aging, dispatched bad guys, befriended the downtrodden and never surrendered their boots. They got in knockdown, drag-out, glass-busting, furniture-demolishing, mirror-shattering, bar-brawling fights and never lost their hats. They extolled things like truth-telling and square-dealing. They were faithful to the girl back home and their motherland and justice tempered with mercy. At the center of their cadre was a simple, soft-spoken man with ever-smiling eyes. He wore a white hat and boots decorated with eagles. He loved a girl named Dale and a horse named Trigger and he was true-blue to both. He made me believe that some things couldn\ufffdt be shaken, among them a simple characteristic called honor. For a kid whose world changed more often than colors in a kaleidoscope, it was a valuable lesson. He also opened up a whole world of imagination to me, a world where bad guys were always defeated, where good always prevailed, and where the sun never set until a hero was riding into it. It was a world my brother and I could share, even after other options were closed to us. Roy Rogers remained an honorable man until his death on Monday, July 6, of congestive heart failure. Thankfully, he left behind a legacy of films that will maintain his legend for decades to come. Happy trails, Roy. We\ufffdll be thinking of you. -Editor (okay... i'll shut up about roy now... it's just, he was my first hero... and while many (most, nearly all) heroes have feet of clay, roy was pretty much the real deal... roy stood for something, and it was something good, and something i'm afraid will be lost, as he and those like him perish into memory... that's another thing- what he embodied, those values, was not fiction... i've known men like roy, like him in the ways that mattered... my dad was that kind of man, and his dad, and his...(etc.)... and these are no doubt a vanishing breed, and this is made all too apparent to me by roy's passing, and the impending millenium, and the terribly flawed generation i (so ably) inhabit... sort of makes you realize... well, the differences, i suppose... take stock, and hope that the choices we've made... the enterprises we have discarded, as thoreau suggested, \"like so many abandoned vessels\"... have been appropriate ones... may not be any way back to them, from here... yeah... anyway... that's all i have to say)... (except so long, to roy... and to all the roys... the resolute uncomplaining men that populated my childhood... strong hands, capable it seemed of doing anything... smiling eyes, which always seemed to fix on the best part of whatever it was they saw... simple (by our terms), and honorable always... i miss them, more than i ever believed i could)..."}, {"response": 46, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Jul 12, 1998 (20:47)", "body": "i'm sorry about roy too. riette, they're passing because they're really getting up there. even heros get old :("}, {"response": 47, "author": "riette", "date": "Mon, Jul 13, 1998 (03:01)", "body": "We all do. I'm glad of it - I don't want to be 15 or 20 again, and I don't want to live forever."}, {"response": 48, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Jul 13, 1998 (19:12)", "body": "no, definately not 15 again (20 maybe, cuz that's when i married my mr wolf)"}, {"response": 49, "author": "riette", "date": "Tue, Jul 14, 1998 (02:50)", "body": "I NEVER want my wedding day again. I was four months pregnant, on the verge of vomiting the whole time, and convinced that I was making the mistake of my life!"}, {"response": 50, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Jul 14, 1998 (13:47)", "body": "me too! HAHA. standing there praying i wouldn't hurl on anyone!!!"}, {"response": 51, "author": "riette", "date": "Tue, Jul 14, 1998 (15:55)", "body": "ha-ha!!! Great girls act alike! . . . Vomit alike?"}, {"response": 52, "author": "riette", "date": "Tue, Jul 14, 1998 (15:57)", "body": "Ooh, everyone, I've got news. I'm going on holiday in 2 weeks time . . . though only for 6 days, sadly. Mike, you'll practically feel my presence - going to the Lake District. Can't wait!! I adore England, and wish I could immigrate there right now."}, {"response": 53, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Jul 14, 1998 (18:23)", "body": "Visualizes Mike waking up one night with a balloon over his head that says: \"I can feel the force!\""}, {"response": 54, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Jul 14, 1998 (20:06)", "body": "haha!"}, {"response": 55, "author": "riette", "date": "Wed, Jul 15, 1998 (02:28)", "body": "Only one balloon?"}, {"response": 56, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Wed, Jul 15, 1998 (20:57)", "body": "Richard McDonald, one of the brothers who founded the McDonald's food chain in San Bernadino, CA, in 1948, has passed away."}, {"response": 57, "author": "riette", "date": "Thu, Jul 16, 1998 (02:29)", "body": "Then blue is the appropriate background, huh?"}, {"response": 58, "author": "mikeg", "date": "Thu, Jul 16, 1998 (19:44)", "body": "it's funny when you drop into a topic and discover people talking about you when you've never posted there :-)) when you come to the UK, riette, i'd love to meet you. are you flying or boating?"}, {"response": 59, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Jul 16, 1998 (22:47)", "body": "Swimming isn't she?"}, {"response": 60, "author": "riette", "date": "Fri, Jul 17, 1998 (05:07)", "body": "Wow! NO, Terry, that's a picture I never want entering anyone's head!! I'd be sinking all the way to England!! Mike, I'd love to meet you too. But the chances look pretty slim. We're flying to Manchester on the Wednesday evening, and will be driving to the Lake District straight away it seems, where a friend of ours has a cottage. Doesn't look like I'll be spending any time in Manchester at all. But you know what I can do? I could ask Chris to look after the kids and take the train to Manchester for a day. How far is Manchester from where you live? We could have a walk around, go for a pub meal (and exchange chocolate!!!), and go home again. How does that sound? That's the best I can o, so let me know."}, {"response": 61, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Jul 17, 1998 (07:03)", "body": "Sounds too good to pass up, Mike!"}, {"response": 62, "author": "riette", "date": "Fri, Jul 17, 1998 (11:38)", "body": "The chocolate will make it worth while for him, I'm sure."}, {"response": 63, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Jul 17, 1998 (12:32)", "body": "Will Mike ever be pumped when he checks in and finds out!"}, {"response": 64, "author": "riette", "date": "Fri, Jul 17, 1998 (16:32)", "body": "BOOH!"}, {"response": 65, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Wed, Jul 22, 1998 (12:37)", "body": "Alan Shepard is dead at 74. He was 1 of only 12 men - all Americans - to have walked on the moon."}, {"response": 66, "author": "riette", "date": "Wed, Jul 22, 1998 (13:30)", "body": "Goodness. And the rest of them? Are they all still alive?"}, {"response": 67, "author": "stacey", "date": "Wed, Jul 22, 1998 (14:10)", "body": "Robert Young dead at 91"}, {"response": 68, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Jul 22, 1998 (15:55)", "body": "Wow, Shepard was old. Father knew best."}, {"response": 69, "author": "stacey", "date": "Wed, Jul 22, 1998 (18:56)", "body": "Shepard wasn't THAT old... Robert Young sure was though."}, {"response": 70, "author": "autumn", "date": "Fri, Jul 24, 1998 (23:00)", "body": "Of the original 12 astronauts, 3 are now dead. One is returning to space sometime this year!"}, {"response": 71, "author": "riette", "date": "Sat, Jul 25, 1998 (05:18)", "body": "REALLY? That's interesting. Which one?"}, {"response": 72, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Jul 25, 1998 (08:05)", "body": "John Glenn. US Senator from Ohio."}, {"response": 73, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Sat, Jul 25, 1998 (12:08)", "body": "for info on John Glenn: http://cnn.com/SPECIALS/1998/06/glenn"}, {"response": 74, "author": "riette", "date": "Sat, Jul 25, 1998 (13:42)", "body": "Thanks, I'll have a look."}, {"response": 75, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Fri, Jul 31, 1998 (11:17)", "body": "*** TV cowboy 'Buffalo Bob' Smith dies of cancer \"Buffalo Bob\" Smith, the kindly cowboy who with the help of a freckle-faced wooden puppet named Howdy Doody pioneered children's television, died Thursday. He was 80. Smith, who lived in Flat Rock, N.C., died of lung cancer at Margaret R. Pardee Hospital in Hendersonville, N.C., a hospital spokeswoman said. \"Say kids, what time is it?\" Buffalo Bob cried out to open his show. \"It's Howdy Doody time,\" the lucky 40 kids in the studio \"Peanut Gallery\" screamed. And with that, hundreds of thousands of kids watching from home were off to Doodyville to spend the next half hour with Howdy Doody. See http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555321942-742"}, {"response": 76, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Jul 31, 1998 (13:34)", "body": "And Clarabelle was his clown. And Princess SummerSpringWinterFall, can't forget her."}, {"response": 77, "author": "autumn", "date": "Tue, Aug  4, 1998 (22:57)", "body": "Shari Lewis, the woman behind (or next to) LambChop, Charlie Horse, Hush Puppy and the gang died of uterine cancer today at age 65. My kids will miss her!"}, {"response": 78, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Aug  4, 1998 (23:02)", "body": "i read about that one today. don't think my kids really got into her and Lamb Chop...."}, {"response": 79, "author": "autumn", "date": "Tue, Aug  4, 1998 (23:05)", "body": "Mine were only so-so on \"Lambchop's Play Along\", but more recently they loved her new show, \"Charlie Horse Music Pizza.\" The paper said that they had already taped 3 new episodes for fall, and once they show them that will be the end of it (I guess there's always syndication)."}, {"response": 80, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Aug  5, 1998 (05:22)", "body": "We're not kids any more."}, {"response": 81, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Aug  5, 1998 (13:22)", "body": "says who?"}, {"response": 82, "author": "riette", "date": "Wed, Aug  5, 1998 (15:32)", "body": "Glad we're not kids anymore. I didn't like it - too many rules and limitations to the whole thing."}, {"response": 83, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Tue, Aug 11, 1998 (00:15)", "body": "and there aren't any when your an adult?"}, {"response": 84, "author": "riette", "date": "Tue, Aug 11, 1998 (02:16)", "body": "Sure there are - but now I get to choose my own rules and limitations, and don't have some lame-ar$ed adults telling me about right and wrong when they're totally buggered up themselves."}, {"response": 85, "author": "autumn", "date": "Wed, Sep 16, 1998 (23:58)", "body": "Former Alabama governor George Wallace, who went from \"Segregation forever\" to opposing it."}, {"response": 86, "author": "riette", "date": "Fri, Sep 18, 1998 (01:58)", "body": "Wow! That's radical."}, {"response": 87, "author": "autumn", "date": "Mon, Sep 21, 1998 (22:34)", "body": "Olympian runner Florence Griffiths Joyner died today of a heart seizure--she was 38. Loved those fingernails, FloJo."}, {"response": 88, "author": "riette", "date": "Mon, Sep 21, 1998 (22:57)", "body": "WHAT??? You serious? Flo Jo is dead??? I loved watching her run. What a terrible pity."}, {"response": 89, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Sep 23, 1998 (08:13)", "body": "Cause?"}, {"response": 90, "author": "riette", "date": "Wed, Sep 23, 1998 (14:47)", "body": "Uhm.....too many Smarties?"}, {"response": 91, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Sep 23, 1998 (14:54)", "body": "What do you mean, Ree?"}, {"response": 92, "author": "riette", "date": "Thu, Sep 24, 1998 (02:28)", "body": "Don't steroids come in all sorts of colours?"}, {"response": 93, "author": "autumn", "date": "Sat, Sep 26, 1998 (23:38)", "body": "She always denied taking steroids and never failed a drug test."}, {"response": 94, "author": "riette", "date": "Sun, Sep 27, 1998 (04:50)", "body": "That is because she dropped out of athletics the day before they tested."}, {"response": 95, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Sep 28, 1998 (14:21)", "body": "can someone tell me what a heart seizure is as opposed to heart attack, heart failure, etc., etc. (and don't say it's when the heart seizes up)"}, {"response": 96, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Mon, Sep 28, 1998 (16:14)", "body": "my understanding is that a heart seizure occurs when the nervous system of the heart goes into some sort of spastic state. the heart has its own little neural network and if the nodes of that network are not precisely in step with each other then you get a seizure. a \"heart attack\" is usually the result of a myocardial infarction, which is just a fancy way of saying clogged up heart arteries. the heart burns a lot of oxygen and energy to do its job and this oxygen and energy is supplied by four or five major arteries to the heart. when those arterises get clogged, the heart muscle starts to starve, as it gets worse, pain from the starving heart tissue is referred to the shoulder chest, and arm. soon the heart is unable to do it's work and begins to fibrillate, then stop altogether. cardiac failure occurs with even worse blockages of the arteries throughout the body. the heart is starving and trying to pump blood thru clogged arteries. as a result is grows in size and can sometimes become 3 or 4 times it's normal size. at some point the pumping becomes unable to sustain normal function, and a person will pass out and body systems (e.g., lungs, kidneys) will fail. i was a medic a long time ago and this is about all i can remember, and it is probably not accurate. so, anyone for a cheeseburger?"}, {"response": 97, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Sep 29, 1998 (14:00)", "body": "thank you for those definitions....would a heart seizure be along the same lines as a brain seizure?"}, {"response": 98, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Tue, Sep 29, 1998 (14:07)", "body": "i think so."}, {"response": 99, "author": "stacey", "date": "Wed, Oct  7, 1998 (11:48)", "body": "in our lethargy, we forgot to mention the passing of the singing cowboy and mr. planet of the apes."}, {"response": 100, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Oct  7, 1998 (18:30)", "body": "Gene Autrey and Roddy McDowell. I saw these movies for the first time just a week ago when they ran a specail on cable tv."}, {"response": 101, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Oct  8, 1998 (16:06)", "body": "wow. Long long ago... when I had a box of moving pictures in my house (actually my parents house) I must've seen Planet of the Apes at least 10 times. BTW add that to the top ten list and amend the comment I made about Clash of the Titans and Excalibur in your heads please!"}, {"response": 102, "author": "riette", "date": "Fri, Oct 16, 1998 (13:42)", "body": "I've never seen it. Is it really that good?"}, {"response": 103, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Oct 16, 1998 (14:19)", "body": "Animal rights activist Kingsley Amis (I may have the name incorrect) and writer for Saturday Evening Post."}, {"response": 104, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Oct 16, 1998 (14:40)", "body": "Cleveland Amory is who I meant to say. Cleveland Amory, noted cat lover, animal fancy-ist, ad curmudgeon died yesterday, according to NPR. He will be buried on his Black Beauty Ranch (home to unwanted animals) next to his cat Snowball. He was 81."}, {"response": 105, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Oct 18, 1998 (11:16)", "body": "From: pgp@pgmedia.net (Paul Garrin) To: nettime-l@Desk.nl Subject: Remembering Jon Postel Sender: owner-nettime-l@basis.Desk.nl Precedence: bulk X-UIDL: 2305fb2e83050f1cadf4d84d630f38f5 Status: RO X-Status: From: pgp@pgmedia.net (name.space) Subject: Remembering Jon Postel I just received this mail indicating that Dr. Jon Postel, controversial head of the IANA (Internet Assigned Numbers Agency) died on October 17. I have not yet received details on the circumstances of his death but will post them as soon as they come in. Although I disagreed with Dr. Postels actions of late, I have always had a high degree of respect and admiration for his important contributions to the internet. His death is an untimely tragedy. --Paul Garrin >Forwarded-From: Dave Farber I, and others I fear, have spent a sleepless night after hearing of the death of Jon Postel last night. This morning there was a note in my mail box from Vint Cerf that said many of the things I feel at this time. I asked him for permission to send on which he granted. I also remember Jon. I was his primary thesis advisor along with Jerry Estrin and I remember with fond memories the months spent closely working with Jon while his eager mind developed the ideas in back of what was a pioneering thesis that founded the area of protocol verification. Since I was at UC Irvine and Jon at UCLA we used to meet in the morning prior to my ride to UCI at a Pancake House in Santa Monica for breakfast and the hard work of developing a thesis. I gained a great respect for Jon then and 10 pounds of weight. I will miss him greatly. Jon was my second Ph.D. student. The first, Philip Merlin, also died way before his time. Dave ________________________________________________________________________ October 17, 1998 I REMEMBER IANA Vint Cerf A long time ago, in a network, far far away, a great adventure took place Out of the chaos of new ideas for communication, the experiments, the tentative designs, and crucible of testing, there emerged a cornucopia of networks. Beginning with the ARPANET, an endless stream of networks evolved, and ultimately were interlinked to become the Internet. Someone had to keep track of all the protocols, the identifiers, networks and addresses and ultimately the names of all the things in the networked universe. And someone had to keep track of all the information that erupted with volcanic force from the intensity of the debates and discussions and endless invention that has continued unabated for 30 years. That someone was Jonathan B. Postel, our Internet Assigned Numbers Authority, friend, engineer, confidant, leader, icon, and now, first of the giants to depart from our midst. Jon, our beloved IANA, is gone. Even as I write these words I cannot quite grasp this stark fact. We had almost lost him once before in 1991. Surely we knew he was at risk as are we all. But he had been our rock, the foundation on which our every web search and email was built, always there to mediate the random dispute, to remind us when our documentation did not do justice to its subject, to make difficult decisions with apparent ease, and to consult when careful consideration was needed. We will survive our loss and we will remember. He has left a monumental legacy for all Internauts to contemplate. Steadfast service for decades, moving when others seemed paralyzed, always finding the right course in a complex minefield of technical and sometimes political obstacles. Jon and I went to the same high school, Van Nuys High, in the San Fernando Valley north of Los Angeles. But we were in different classes and I really did not know him then. Our real meeting came at UCLA when we became a part of a group of graduate students working for Prof. Leonard Kleinrock on the ARPANET project. Steve Crocker was another of the Van Nuys crowd who was part of the team and led the development of the first host-host protocols for the ARPANET. When Steve invented the idea of the Request for Comments series, Jon became the instant editor. When we needed to keep track of all the hosts and protocol identifiers, Jon volunteered to be the Numbers Czar and later the IANA once the Internet was in place. Jon was a founding member of the Internet Architecture Board and served continuously from its founding to the present. He was the FIRST individual member of the Internet Society I know, because he and Steve Wolff raced to see who could fill out the application forms and make payment first and Jon won. He served as a trustee of the Internet Society. He was the custodian of the .US domain, a founder of the Los Nettos Internet service, and, by the way, managed the networking research division of USC Information Sciences Institute. Jon loved the outdoors. I know he used to enjoy backpacking in the high Sierras around Yosemite. Bearded and sandaled, Jon was our resident hippie-patriarch at UCLA. He was a private person but fully capable of engaging photon torpedoes and going to battle stations in a g"}, {"response": 106, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Oct 23, 1998 (10:48)", "body": "Autopsy report says FloJo's death caused by epileptic seizure CBS SportsLine wire reports Oct. 22, 1998 SANTA ANA, Calif. -- World record sprinter Florence Griffith Joyner suffered an epileptic seizure that caused her to die of asphyxiation, coroner's authorities said Thursday. Griffith Florence Griffith Joyner's autopsy report indicates she died during an epileptic seizure as she slept. (AP) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Joyner, 38, died at her Mission Viejo home on Sept. 21, and investigators had been trying since then to determine the cause. There had been speculation about heart problems, and some had suggested the world's fastest woman used performance-enhancing drugs. None of it was true, Orange County officials said. \"Flojo\" to fans and competitors, Griffith Joyner had a congenital brain abnormality known as cavernous angioma, said Dr. Barbara Zaias, one of the investigators. The condition allows blood to accumulate outside normal blood vessels in the brain or spinal tissue, and may be found in 25 percent of the population, she said. Once considered rare, it has been detected more often in recent years with the advent of CAT scans and other diagnostic tools. THE SEIZURE APPARENTLY struck during sleep, causing Griffith Joyner's limbs to tense. It possibly wrenched her head to the right as she lay on her stomach, said Dr. Richard Fukumoto, chief of forensics for the Orange County sheriff and coroner. \"In layman's terms, she suffocated,\" Fukumoto told reporters. Explaining the term \"positional asphyxia,\" he said her airway was probably already constricted by the involuntary turning of her head. Pillows and blankets on that side further hampered her oxygen supply. \"This episode I would say would have taken minutes, only,\" Fukumoto said. \"Definitely less than an hour.\" Her husband, 1984 Olympic triple jump champion Al Joyner, called paramedics after discovering she was not breathing that morning. Toxicology tests showed she had taken about one tablet each of the over-the-counter painkiller Tylenol and antihistamine Benadryl, but \"there was nothing unusual in terms of drugs,\" said Lt. Frank Fitzpatrick, head of forensic sciences for the sheriff's office. NOR WERE THERE ANY OBVIOUS heart problems, Fukumoto said. Griffith Joyner never failed a drug test. Family, friends and sports officials were happy to hear those rumors die. \"We now hope that this great Olympic champion, wife and mother can rest in peace, and that her millions of admirers around the world will celebrate her legacy to sport and children every day,\" U.S. Olympic Committee president Bill Hybl said. \"It is time for the whispers and dark allegations to cease.\" World-class athletes expressed similar sentiments. \"I had felt bad about all the statements that had been made about her,\" said Roger Kingdom, two-time Olympic champion in the 110-meter hurdles. \"I'm glad she's been cleared and exonerated. Now, she can rest in peace, and the rest of the world can see that she was a great athlete.\" Dwight Stones, former world record-holder in the high jump, said she was \"the most tested athlete\" of the 1988 Olympics. ``I think this (the autopsy) is fabulous and phenomenal vindication for her and her family. Now, they should just leave her alone,\" he said. ADDED LONG-JUMPER Martha Watson, a four-time Olympian, \"She did too much for our sport to be accused of things that no one ever was able to confirm.\" Sandra Farmer-Patrick, a former record holder in the 400-meter hurdles, has long ties to the sprinter. Griffith Joyner was the godmother of Farmer-Patrick's daughter. \"I just hope they'll let her rest in peace like they should have done before,\" she said Thursday. \"It's time to stop the allegations -- they're ridiculous. They were disturbing to her family and friends and quite disrespectful.\" The seizure was not Griffith Joyner's first. She was hospitalized in 1996 a day after suffering a seizure on a flight to St. Louis. Her husband and daughter were traveling with her, but the family declined to discuss her condition at the time. Many people never show symptoms of cavernous angioma and may live their whole lives without knowing they have it. In others, it can cause headaches and seizures, Zaias said. The condition can sometimes be detected by CAT scans and can be treated, she said. But sometimes scans fail to detect it. DURING THE PRESS CONFERENCE, sheriff's spokesman Lt. Hector Rivera cut off questions about Griffith Joyner's medical history and whether the condition had been diagnosed. The abnormality has never been associated in medical research with steroids or any other drugs, Fukumoto said. It may develop right along with the brain of a fetus, Zaias said. Stylish, smooth and muscular, Griffith Joyner won three Olympic gold medals in the 1988 Seoul Games and set world records that still stand in the 100- and 200-meter dashes. In the mid-1980s, Griffith Joyner moved from Watts, her home neighborhood in"}, {"response": 107, "author": "pmnh", "date": "Fri, Oct 23, 1998 (21:45)", "body": "shit in a way it's almost sadder, knowing this so arbitrary, you know?"}, {"response": 108, "author": "pmnh", "date": "Fri, Oct 23, 1998 (21:47)", "body": "sigh okay convoluted reasoning (but look who's reasoning)"}, {"response": 109, "author": "riette", "date": "Sun, Oct 25, 1998 (01:43)", "body": "Poor flo Jo. And her poor husband and kids."}, {"response": 110, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Oct 25, 1998 (12:32)", "body": "I wonder if Sonja has seen this in her cat scans?"}, {"response": 111, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Nov 10, 1998 (11:27)", "body": "Jean Marais died in France. The beast in Cocteau's Beauty and the Beast, among other screen credits. Cocteau's lover."}, {"response": 112, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Nov 10, 1998 (11:31)", "body": "is there a photo somewhere of him?"}, {"response": 113, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Nov 10, 1998 (14:18)", "body": "I don't have one. Try a web search?"}, {"response": 114, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Nov 16, 1998 (09:31)", "body": "Stokely Carmichael died in Africa. He started Black Power. He became Kwame Ture."}, {"response": 115, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Nov 16, 1998 (09:32)", "body": "More details: Stokely Carmichael, age 57, in Conakry, Guinea, cancer."}, {"response": 116, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Dec 14, 1998 (10:10)", "body": "rip Mo Udall, Lawton Chiles, Lord Lew Grade..."}, {"response": 117, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Dec 14, 1998 (10:11)", "body": "Lew Grade founded ATV, the first commercial TV station in the UK, and was responsible for series like ``The Saint,'' and the Muppets, The Persuaders, George and Mildred, Thunderbirds and (if I'm not mistaken) The Prisoner. He produced movies like the Pink Panther series, On Golden Pond, The Exorcist, Sophie's Choice, and the ill-fated Raise The Titanic. Of \"Raise The Titanic\" he said \"It would have been cheaper to lower the Atlantic.\""}, {"response": 118, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Dec 14, 1998 (21:51)", "body": "the saint? the val kilmer saint movie? loved pp, the muppets, sophie's choice (although it really made me cry). hopefully he was really really old."}, {"response": 119, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Dec 15, 1998 (10:48)", "body": "Mr. Roper from Three's Company. He died as a result of cancer."}, {"response": 120, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Dec 17, 1998 (15:42)", "body": "Novelist William Gaddis died yesterday, aged 75, of prostate cancer. Gaddis wrote the post WWII classics the Recognitions, JR, Carpenter's Gothic, and a Frolic of His Own. Apparantly, he was able to finish a fifth novel, \"Agape Agape\" before he died."}, {"response": 121, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Dec 17, 1998 (15:43)", "body": "love...love"}, {"response": 122, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Dec 18, 1998 (11:27)", "body": "love has died? (stacey, is that what agape means? this is how i read it-- a gape but is it read ah gahpeh?)"}, {"response": 123, "author": "PT", "date": "Fri, Dec 18, 1998 (13:29)", "body": "Agape is a greek word meaning: the deepest, most committed, form of love. Your second pronunciation is close. The accent is on the second syllable."}, {"response": 124, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Dec 18, 1998 (21:08)", "body": "yes, you got it wolf. Thanks for the additional explanation Patrick"}, {"response": 125, "author": "PT", "date": "Sat, Dec 19, 1998 (12:56)", "body": "You're welcome, anytime, Stacey."}, {"response": 126, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sun, Dec 20, 1998 (03:43)", "body": "although sometimes, and someplaces, you're much more welcome than others!"}, {"response": 127, "author": "stacey", "date": "Mon, Dec 21, 1998 (17:21)", "body": "*giggle*"}, {"response": 128, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Jan 14, 1999 (08:58)", "body": "Fred Astaire."}, {"response": 129, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Fri, Jan 15, 1999 (13:04)", "body": "Iron Eyes Cody is memorialized at http://www.kab.org/index.html"}, {"response": 130, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Jan 16, 1999 (19:50)", "body": "Whew that was a lot of obits."}, {"response": 131, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Feb  8, 1999 (07:33)", "body": "King Hussein of Jordan. Here's a good obituary done by the Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/hussein/hussein.htm New York Times editorial on the passing of King Hussein: http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/editorial/06sat1.html Queen Noor, (aka Lisa Halaby of San Mateo, CA) is his surviving wife."}, {"response": 132, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Feb 20, 1999 (18:45)", "body": "Gene Siskel. Thumb down."}, {"response": 133, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Feb 20, 1999 (20:54)", "body": "so sad."}, {"response": 134, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sun, Feb 21, 1999 (01:09)", "body": "we forget to mention that John Ehrlichman died on Valentine's Day..."}, {"response": 135, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Feb 21, 1999 (10:27)", "body": "who was he?"}, {"response": 136, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Feb 21, 1999 (14:28)", "body": "One of the Nixon staff. Here's Eberts tribute to Siskel: www.suntimes.com/output/eb-feature/rog21i.html"}, {"response": 137, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Feb 22, 1999 (08:54)", "body": "Wilmer \"Vinegar Bend\" Mizell, age 68. Major League pitcher (Cardinals, Pirates, Mets) 1952-62; U.S. Congressman, 1968-74. One of my favorite sports heroes from my days in St. Louis."}, {"response": 138, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Feb 23, 1999 (12:37)", "body": "wow. Siskel."}, {"response": 139, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Feb 26, 1999 (19:49)", "body": "Glenn Seaborg has died, at age 86. http://www.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Archive/glenn-seaborg-obit.html"}, {"response": 140, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Mar  4, 1999 (07:17)", "body": "Rob Haubner, an Intel manager and a member of the original i960 team, and his wife, Susan Miller, hacked to death by machete-wielding rebels in Rwanda, while on a trek to observe endangered mountain gorillas... six other western tourists reportedly lost their lives in this incident as well... Terrible!"}, {"response": 141, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Mar  4, 1999 (07:55)", "body": "Dusty Springfield, 59, breast cancer You Don't Have to Say You Love Me, Son of a Preacher Man I Only Wanna Be With You Rest peacefully, Dusty. What a sexy voice. And it was Uganda not Rwanda. Today's London Times ran a story on the Uganda killings claiming that the rebels specifically pulled out the British and American members of the party in protest against (I think) British and American support of the Tutsis. Six British people died, IIRC, at least one of whom was only about 23, a recent graduate taking a break before concentrating on his career. The French in the group were spared, as was one (British?) woman who faked an asthma attack."}, {"response": 142, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Mar  8, 1999 (08:21)", "body": "Stanley Kubrick 2001 Clockwork Orange Details at http://www.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/Movies/9903/07/kubrick.obit/"}, {"response": 143, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Mar  8, 1999 (08:39)", "body": "Where have you gone Joe Dimaggio? Joe Dimaggio, 84."}, {"response": 144, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Mar  8, 1999 (18:23)", "body": "to that great big baseball field in the sky...."}, {"response": 145, "author": "autumn", "date": "Mon, Mar 22, 1999 (23:35)", "body": "Joltin' Joe has left and gone away...hey hey hey..."}, {"response": 146, "author": "stacey", "date": "Mon, May 10, 1999 (19:02)", "body": "a sad day... \b http://www.cnn.com/books/news/9905/10/AM-Obit-Silverstein.ap/"}, {"response": 147, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, May 10, 1999 (19:37)", "body": "yesterday, dana something-or-other of different strokes fame, was found dead. she was 34 or 36."}, {"response": 148, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, May 11, 1999 (11:51)", "body": "as i recall, she fought a pretty continuous battle with drugs..."}, {"response": 149, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, May 11, 1999 (17:20)", "body": "yup, and it ended that way too. the day before, she told howard stern she was off drugs. sad, huh? (dana plato, 34).... i believe she had a child or two as well."}, {"response": 150, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, May 11, 1999 (17:27)", "body": ""}, {"response": 151, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, May 11, 1999 (17:28)", "body": "btw: above photo was from infoseek's entertainment site...."}, {"response": 152, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, May 21, 1999 (12:07)", "body": "Saul Steinberg, the wonderful and versatile artist best known for his countless appearances in the pages and on the cover of The New Yorker (the most famous being the oft-reproduced and imitated view of the world from a New York perspective), died at 84 on May 12."}, {"response": 153, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, May 21, 1999 (12:20)", "body": "Gene Sarazen, 97, pneumonia. On May 13."}, {"response": 154, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, May 27, 1999 (10:01)", "body": "Wrestling tour goes on after Owen Hart's death Emergency medical personnel give Hart CPR inside the wrestling ring \ufffd Thousands witness accident; television audience does not May 24, 1999 Web posted at: 7:33 p.m. EDT (2333 GMT) --------------------------------------- 'Wrestlers were openly weeping' What witnesses saw WWF: 'We have no answers' 'We thought they were just playing with us' --------------------------------------- KANSAS CITY, Missouri (CNN) -- A World Wrestling Federation tour was set to continue on Monday while an investigation looked for the cause of a fatal plunge by Owen Hart, a Canadian wrestler who went by the name \"Blue Blazer.\" Hart fell 50 feet, hit his head and died Sunday when a wire holding him in the air either broke or became disconnected while he was being lowered into the ring during a WWF match at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri. There were more than 16,000 people in attendance but viewers watching the event on pay-per-view television did not see the fall, which occurred about 75 minutes into the show. Recorded highlights of Hart's career were being shown at the time. 'Wrestlers were openly weeping' As Hart's fellow performers were boarding a plane in Kansas City on Monday for a cross-state flight to St. Louis, WWF President Vince McMahon Jr. said the death had provoked grief among the team. \"Wrestlers were openly weeping last night,\" McMahon said, his eyes filling with tears. The WWF canceled the encore and replay Pay-Per-View program that was scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday. The following live events were also canceled: Peoria, Illinois; Winnipeg, Manitoba; Hamilton, Ontario; Montreal; and Ottawa, Ontario. What witnesses saw Hart, 33, the younger brother of Bret (The Hitman) Hart, a star with rival World Championship Wrestling, fell as he was being lowered from the arena's ceiling as his match introduction was about to begin. Wrestler Owen Hart, right, applies a choke hold to his brother Bret Hart in this undated photo \ufffd It was a stunt he had performed before. Some witnesses said the cable snapped, while others said it appeared Hart was somehow disconnected from it. They said his head snapped backward when he hit a turnbuckle, one of the padded pieces of metal that hold the ropes together in each corner of the ring. Hart was given CPR inside the ring as the ring announcer haltingly told the audience that the incident was not scripted, as professional wrestling matches openly are. The wrestler was pronounced dead at a hospital. \"He was supposed to be lowered down into the ring,\" said Michelle Hindorff, a paramedic and dispatcher for Kansas City's ambulance service. \"It didn't get hooked on to him. He thought it was hooked on,\" she said. WWF: 'We have no answers' The World Wrestling Federation said it is investigating what went wrong. \"We at the WWF are saddened by the tragic accident that occurred here tonight,\" McMahon said Sunday. \"We have no answers as to how this happened yet. We will shortly.\" Hart curls a dumbbell while working out in a gym in this 1996 photo \ufffd 'We thought they were just playing with us' Hart was known for his acrobatic stunts and some members of the audience thought his fall was part of an act. \"We thought it was a doll at first,\" said 15-year-old Robert McCome. \"We thought they were just playing with us. We were really shocked when we found out that it was no joke.\" \"He was moving pretty fast (as he fell),\" said Jesse McDonald, who was sitting near the ring. \"His chin and neck hit the top rope.\" The arena fell into silence. \"I didn't see it, but from what I can gather, somebody slipped up,\" Hart's 83-year-old father, former wrestler Stu Hart, said from the family home in Calgary, Alberta. \"You don't get up 60 or 70 feet in the air without being properly anchored down,\" he said. \"I haven't talked to Vince McMahon yet, but somebody was careless or missed something or else Owen would still be here.\" The WWF is one of the biggest draws on cable and pay-per-view TV. The WWF admits that its events are more entertainment then sport. Hart's fall happened in the second part of an event called \"Over the Edge.\" The first portion, called \"Sunday Night Heat,\" was televised live on the USA cable network. The TV audience was being shown a montage of Hart's clips when he fell and the camera panned through the crowd while paramedics worked on him. The show stopped for 15 minutes before Hart was taken away, and the matches resumed. All seven of Stu Hart's sons entered professional wrestling, with Owen joining in 1989. He had recently told a magazine that he was planning to leave wrestling when his contract was up. Survivors include his wife, Martha, and two young children. His older brother Bret \"The Hitman\" Hart, the current heavyweight champ with the rival World Championship Wrestling, canceled a scheduled appearance on \"The Tonight Show\" Monday to fly home to be with his family in Canada. The WCW issued a statement on Owen Hart's death: \"We are shocked and sad"}, {"response": 155, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Thu, May 27, 1999 (10:22)", "body": "Oh, I have seen you have noticed Rob's untimely demise ( http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/restricted/read/news/9.10 ). Did You know Milli Vanilli was a German band? Rob lived in Munich, but the band was managed and produced by Frank Farian (the very man who did Boney M., who were, yes it's true, also a German band). Farian's famous studio is about 35 kilometers north of Frankfurt, right in my county."}, {"response": 156, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, May 28, 1999 (11:48)", "body": "i knew milli vanilli was german *grin*"}, {"response": 157, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Sat, May 29, 1999 (06:02)", "body": "Actually, we German men all have these braided hairdos, I thwear!"}, {"response": 158, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, May 29, 1999 (11:02)", "body": "and you all lip sync too, huh? *grin*"}, {"response": 159, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Sat, May 29, 1999 (12:52)", "body": "Well, some sync, some pay and some bust lip. Whaddaya expect, we here derive from headhunting tribes!"}, {"response": 160, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Jun 22, 1999 (12:01)", "body": "Clifton Fadiman http://www2.nando.net:80/noframes/story/0,2107,62064-98653-702226-0,00.html Hope that works."}, {"response": 161, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sat, Jul 10, 1999 (02:43)", "body": "Astronaut Conrad Dies In Motorcycle Accident By Dan Whitcomb LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Former Apollo astronaut Charles ''Pete'' Conrad Jr., who in 1969 became the third person to walk on the moon, died after crashing his motorcycle on a California highway, authorities said Friday. He was 69. Conrad was riding his 1996 Harley Davidson Thursday with his wife Nancy and a group of friends on a central California highway Thursday afternoon when he apparently lost control of his motorcycle on a curve and was thrown onto the pavement, said Ventura County deputy coroner James Baroni. He died about five hours later while being treated at a hospital for internal bleeding. An exact cause of death has yet to be determined pending an autopsy. Baroni said Conrad's wife and friends, who were traveling with the space legend to Monterrey from his home in Huntington Beach, saw the accident and summoned an ambulance, but did not immediately realize the extent of his injuries. ``Initially ... I don't think the family thought it was all that serious,'' Baroni said. ``He apparently flew off, landed on his chest, had some scrapes and bruises and a little difficulty breathing, but he was able to walk around and talk.'' Baroni said an ambulance crew brought him to a hospital emergency room where his blood pressure began to drop and his abdomen started to swell -- signs that he was losing blood. He was rushed into surgery, but his heart soon stopped beating. Conrad, a veteran of four space flights, was best known for his role as commander of the second lunar landing on Nov. 19, 1969, on the Apollo 12 mission. U.S. astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first person on the moon on July 20, 1969, followed by crewmate Edwin ``Buzz'' Aldrin on the Apollo 11 mission. In a 1996 interview with the Los Angeles Times, Conrad recalled that: ``the Earth resembled a beautiful blue marble suspended against a black velvet blanket.'' Conrad also described himself to the paper as a thrill-seeker, saying he enjoyed ``fast bikes, fast cars and anything that moves.'' Howard Benedict, director of the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation who knew Conrad and as a reporter covered the Apollo missions, said of the astronaut's death: ``We have lost not only a friend but a strong voice for the future in space. It was a shock to have him die so tragically.'' Benedict remembered Conrad's sense of humor, recalling his reaction when lightning struck Apollo 12: ``He said 'hey guys, I think we just got hit by lightning.' He said 'this place was lit up like a pinball machine in here'.'' Benedict said when Conrad -- who at 5-foot-6 (1.67 meters) was the shortest member of the crew -- took his first step onto the moon, a drop of three feet (1 meter), ``His first words were 'whoopee. That may have been one small step for Neil but it was a heck of a long one for me.'' NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin called Conrad a space ''pioneer'' who was deeply committed to his country.'' Conrad was born on June 2, 1930, and was interested in flight from childhood, building model airplanes and working in an airfield machine shop to pay for flying lessons at age 15. He piloted the Gemini 5 mission in 1965, commanded Gemini 11 in 1966 and Apollo 12 three years later. In his final space mission, Conrad headed the first crew in the Skylab space station, which sustained damage during its launch. He and his crew repaired Skylab during three harrowing spacewalks, saving the program from potential failure. Conrad retired from the U.S. Navy and NASA in 1974. After leaving the space agency Conrad devoted his time to developing reusable spacecraft, first with aerospace giant McDonnell Douglas and later as chief executive officer of a Newport Beach, California, company called Universal Space Lines. Jim Albaugh, president of Boeing, which now owns McDonnell Douglas, said of Conrad: ``He served his country so well and so enthusiastically as an astronaut, as a naval officer and as a private citizen. ``His accomplishments and legacy will endure.''"}, {"response": 162, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Aug 10, 1999 (18:18)", "body": "Two obits today, the inspiration for Crocodile Dundee and the world's oldest goldfish. From the Washington Post obituaries section 8/5/99: Rodney Ansell Crocodile Dundee Model Rodney Ansell, an Australian bushman who inspired the 1986 hit movie \"Crocodile Dundee\" has been killed in a shootout with police in the outback. Police said he shot and killed a policeman by a roadblock south of Darwin, capital of the Northern Territory, on Aug. 3 before being shot dead by the officer's partner. Local media said Mr. Ansell, once named Territorian of the Year, was the role model for Paul Hogan's knife-slinging outback hero Crocodile Dundee. Ken Shadie, who wrote \"Crocodile Dundee\" with Hogan and John Cornell, had seen a television interview with Ansell by British journalist Michael Parkinson. That interview fired Hogan's imagination about a bushman superstar that led to the making of the first Dundee film. Police could not explain Mr. Ansell's action, but said he might have been involved in a shooting incident on Monday night after which the roadblock was set up on the lonely Stuart Highway. Assistant Commissioner John Daulby told reporters Mr. Ansell could easily have evaded the roadblock but instead shot at a policeman from behind some bushes. And then there's: Tish, the world's oldest goldfish, 43. http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/newsid_414000/414114.stm"}, {"response": 163, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Aug 10, 1999 (18:22)", "body": "Victor Mature. 86. Of cancer. William Shatner's wife, found dead in the family swimming pool by Shatner last night."}, {"response": 164, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Thu, Aug 12, 1999 (18:45)", "body": "Food Network to Broadcast Salute to 'Two Fat Ladies' Jennifer Paterson Tribute Honoring the Memory of One of Television's Biggest Personalities Airs Sunday, August 15, from 9 - 11 p.m. ET. New York, August 10, 1999--Food Network today announced plans to broadcast a special tribute in honor of Two Fat Ladies' Jennifer Paterson. Paterson, 71, died early today at a hospital in London where she was being treated for lung cancer. The announcement was made today by Eric Ober, Food Network president and general manager. -- read the rest at http://www.foodtv.com/fn/contact/paterson/press.htm"}, {"response": 165, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Aug 12, 1999 (19:43)", "body": "wait, a 43 year old GOLDFISH??? Was it a koi?"}, {"response": 166, "author": "autumn", "date": "Sat, Aug 14, 1999 (00:11)", "body": "Waaaaahhhhhh! I loved the fat ladies!"}, {"response": 167, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sat, Aug 14, 1999 (12:32)", "body": "Me, too."}, {"response": 168, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Aug 14, 1999 (13:36)", "body": "Who were they?"}, {"response": 169, "author": "autumn", "date": "Mon, Aug 16, 1999 (23:09)", "body": "These two older British women have a cooking show on PBS. I love their rapport, they're always dishing out these saucy little comments (couldn't resist the pun!)"}, {"response": 170, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Aug 17, 1999 (01:18)", "body": "How did I miss something from the BBC?! I am now getting the Food Channel scrambled so I heard them mentioned in some future programming lineup = a tribute or whatever to these ladies. Must see if I can look sideways enough to see anything. Thanks, Autumn, dear."}, {"response": 171, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Aug 20, 1999 (12:28)", "body": "Posted: Friday August 20, 1999 12:45 AM As a motivational speaker, Kim Perrot told young women there was nothing they could not achieve. Elsa Hasch/Allsport HOUSTON (AP) -- Kim Perrot, the popular Houston Comets point guard who was the heart and soul of the two-time WNBA champions, died Thursday of lung cancer. She was 32. Perrot died peacefully with friends and family by her side at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, the team said. Perrot, diagnosed with lung cancer on Feb. 19, had been seeking alternative treatment in Tijuana, Mexico after undergoing surgery Feb. 24 to remove tumors in her brain, where the lung cancer had spread. \"The world is not as good as it was before 3 o'clock today,\" said Carroll Dawson, the executive vice president for basketball for the Comets. The Comets were in Los Angeles on Thursday preparing for Friday night's game against the Los Angeles Sparks. Dawson said the team planned to play the game. \"They thought she would want them to play, and I can guarantee you that she did. She would be kicking their tails if they didn't play,\" Dawson said. Coach Van Chancellor said even though he knew Perrot's condition was grave, news of her death still caught him off guard. \"I was just totally unprepared when they called me. I thought I would be ready for it but in no way was I ready,\" Chancellor told Houston television station KRIV. \"The entire WNBA family is devastated by this tragic loss,\" WNBA president Val Ackerman said in a statement. \"We will remember Kim as a woman of great heart and indomitable courage who refused to be daunted by any challenge.\" Her condition worsened during her second trip to Mexico. She returned to Houston last Saturday. \"It's totally changed my life,\" Perrot told Houston television station KTRK shortly after disclosing her illness. \"I've never been really sick or injured and now I'm faced with life or death. It's just tough. All I can do is put it in the hands of the Lord.\" The Lafayette, La., native arrived in Houston three years ago, fresh off the professional women's circuit in Europe. She was signed as a developmental player for the fledgling Women's National Basketball Association franchise here. Despite her 5-foot-5 frame, Perrot quickly became a starter and crowd favorite noted for ferocious play that helped the Comets clinch championships in 1997 and 1998, the league's inaugural seasons. Last year, Perrot averaged 8.5 points and 4.7 assists and made 84 steals in 30 regular-season games and was second in voting for WNBA defensive player of the year. During the offseason, Perrot began suffering headaches. After conducting several tests, doctors delivered the startling diagnosis of lung cancer for Perrot, a nonsmoker. The cancer already had spread to her brain when it was detected. \"I have the will to win. I won't accept anything less than winning.\" she told the television interviewer. \"With this type of illness I'm facing now, I take the same approach. I won't be defeated. I just feel confident this is just a challenge, just a trial for me. ... I work really well under pressure.\" After brain surgery, Perrot entered radiation treatment to attack tumors in her head. She went to Mexico for alternative medical procedures rather than submit to chemotherapy prescribed by her Houston doctors. \"Her fight off the court against cancer was heroic and brave,\" Houston Mayor Lee Brown said. \"Although she lost her battle, she leaves the legacy of a winner.\" Perrot played four seasons at Southwestern Louisiana. She scored 58 points against Southeastern Louisiana in 1990, the second-highest total in NCAA history. Perrot set 26 other school records, including the career scoring mark of 2,157 points. She played six years in Europe for pro teams in Sweden, Germany, Israel and France, returning to the United States in 1997. In one of her last public appearances, on June 22, Perrot accepted her second championship ring during a Comets home game. \"Who would have thought Kim Perrot would be a two-time WNBA champion?\" she said. \"When no one else believed in me, my teammates and the fans stuck with me.\" Despite her illness, Perrot made about 100 public appearances as a motivational speaker, often at schools. In one of her last regular columns for the Houston Chronicle's teen supplement \"Yo!,\" she told young women there was nothing they could not achieve. \"It's such an exciting time to be a female athlete in the U.S.A,\" she wrote. \"I encourage you young women to follow your dreams. It will take a lot of hard work and determination, but there are no limits to what you can do.\" Survivors include her mother, Consuella Perrot; two brothers, Craig Perrot and Kevin Perrot; and a sister, Loretta Perrot, all of LaFayette, La."}, {"response": 172, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Sep  5, 1999 (19:13)", "body": "Aug 23, 1999, John Jeffrey Chambers. My best friend since 1981. His roommate e'd me with the news. He went peacefully after complications from a seizure. I know he is in a better place, but I don't think he knew how much I love(d) him. He was 32."}, {"response": 173, "author": "mrchips", "date": "Mon, Sep  6, 1999 (00:20)", "body": "My condolences."}, {"response": 174, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Sep  6, 1999 (00:39)", "body": "Oh Wolf, I am so sorry!!! *hugs*"}, {"response": 175, "author": "mrchips", "date": "Mon, Sep  6, 1999 (00:42)", "body": "Koi are actually a Japanese carp species, and though they often are gold colored, they are not goldfish. With proper care (cleaned, aerated ponds) koi can live over 300 years and are often passed down many generations in Japanese families. They are quite popular in Hawaii."}, {"response": 176, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Sep  6, 1999 (11:29)", "body": "thanks, guys, for your thoughts *hugs*"}, {"response": 177, "author": "mrchips", "date": "Tue, Sep  7, 1999 (00:05)", "body": "Allen Funt, the human nature expert and creative genius behind/original host of Candid Camera . Dead at 84. Died peacefully at his home in California. Suffered a stroke in 1993 from which he never fully recovered. Candid Camera started on radio as Candid Microphone . Moved to television in 1948. Some form of the program has been on the air ever since. The program reached its zenith in the 1960s with a 7-year run on CBS. Other than news, was the first \"reality based\" program, pav ng the way for \"Cops,\" \"America's Most Wanted\" and other programs of the genre. When you least expected, you're elected, it's your lucky day Smile, you're on Candid Camera. With our hocus pocus, you're in focus, you're the star today Smile, you're on Candid Camera. It's fun to look at yourself, it's the tonic, tried and true, It's fun to laugh at yourself, as other people do. How's your sense of humor? There's a rumor You'll go far today. Smile, you're on Candid Camera."}, {"response": 178, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Sep  9, 1999 (09:35)", "body": "Smile!"}, {"response": 179, "author": "mrchips", "date": "Fri, Sep 10, 1999 (00:37)", "body": "Jim \"Catfish\" Hunter, righthanded pitcher, clubhouse prankster extroadinaire, and legendary barroom brawler. Cy Young Award winner. Ace hurler of the dynastic Oakland A's in the early 1970s of ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease). Age 53. Between the A's and Yankees, was on five World Series champions. When Hunter was drafted out of high school by the A's, iconoclastic team owner Charles O. Finley asked, \"What's your nickname?\" Hunter said, \"I don't have one.\" \"What do you like to do,\" Finley probed. \"Hunt and fish,\" the genial Southerner replied. \"This is your story,\" Finley said. \"Remember it. When you were six years old you ran away from home with your fishing pole. Your parents looked all day for you and when they finally found you, around three o'clock that afternoon, you had caught two catfish and was reeling in a third. You have been 'Catfish' ever since.\" And what a magnificent \"Cat\" he was. Jim Hunter. Baseball legend and Hall of Famer."}, {"response": 180, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Sep 10, 1999 (09:17)", "body": "And his team mates say he was very generous. He always bought eveyone food and drinks."}, {"response": 181, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Sep 10, 1999 (18:35)", "body": "true suthahnuh!"}, {"response": 182, "author": "mrchips", "date": "Sat, Sep 11, 1999 (22:01)", "body": "Actress Ruth Roman Dead at 75 LAGUNA BEACH, Calif. (AP) -- Ruth Roman, who starred opposite Gary Cooper and Errol Flynn and survived the Andrea Doria wreck at sea, has died. She was 75. Roman died Thursday in her sleep at her Laguna Beach home, said her son, Richard Hall. In 1956, she and her son -- then 3 -- were returning from Italy aboard the luxury passenger liner Andrea Doria when it was struck by another ship. More than fifty people died and 760 survived after the ship went down. The Boston-born actress got her start in community plays at age 9. She attended drama school and later moved to Hollywood. Roman appeared in some minor films before her big break in Stanley Kramer's 1949 \"Champion,\" which featured Kirk Douglas as an unscrupulous boxer. Following the film, Warner Bros. offered Roman a contract and she starred in nine films in less than two years opposite Cooper, Flynn and James Stewart. Roman also appeared in \"Beyond the Forest\" with Bette Davis, \"Three Secrets\" with Patricia Neal and \"Mara Maru\" with Flynn. Her other films included \"The Far Country\" with Stewart, \"Bitter Victory\" with Richard Burton and \"Dallas\" with Cooper. In all, Roman appeared in more than 30 movies, most of them in the 1950s, and a number of television shows in the 1960s and 1970s, including \"Naked City,\" \"Knots Landing\" and \"Murder She Wrote.\" Roman once told The [New York Times] of her shipwreck experience that she never feared she would or her son would die. She said she was dancing on board the Andrea Doria when, \"We heard a big explosion, like a firecracker.\" When it became clear the ship was sinking, passengers began piling into lifeboats. With her son, she climbed down a rope ladder to one of the boats, but it pulled away before they could hop on. Soon they were put on another lifeboat."}, {"response": 183, "author": "mrchips", "date": "Mon, Sep 13, 1999 (01:25)", "body": "Jazz Trumpeter Harry 'Sweets' Edison Dead At 83 (7/28/99, 1 p.m. PDT) - Jazz trumpeter Harry \"Sweets\" Edison, whose distinguishable soft sound led to a professional career working with a long list of famous singers and big-band leaders, died Tuesday (July 27) in Columbus, Ohio after a lengthy battle with prostate cancer. He was 83. Born in Columbus in 1915, Edison began playing professionally at the age of 12, and was soon performing with the Jeter-Pillars Orchestra in Cleveland and St. Louis. As a teen, he played with the Lucky Millinder band in New York. By the time he was 18, he had joined the Count Basie Orchestra, where Basie saxophonist Lester Young later gave him the nickname \"Sweets\" to describe his playing style. After the Basie band split up in 1950, Edison found himself in high demand as a session player for a variety of top-name vocalists. Throughout the decade, he logged time performing with Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Josephine Baker, Frank Sinatra, and Nat 'King' Cole. Edison also launched a solo career during this period, an endeavor that eventually yielded nearly three dozen releases, from Sweets at The Haig in the early 1950s to Live At The Iridium in 1997. In addition to playing with his own group, he appeared on the rosters of a number of big bands through the years, including those of Buddy Rich, Quincy Jones, Henry Mancini and Nelson Riddle. Though he had relocated to Los Angeles for much of his career, Edison's deteriorating health prompted him to return to his hometown of Columbus late in 1998. He had continued to perform, however, bringing his trademark sound to audiences with a trip to Europe last spring, and was scheduled to play at the Long Beach Jazz Festival in California this coming weekend. Edison is survived by his daughter, Helena."}, {"response": 184, "author": "mrchips", "date": "Thu, Sep 16, 1999 (16:51)", "body": "Reuters news 'Honeymooners' creator dies LOS ANGELES, SEPTEMBER 15 \ufffd Veteran comedy writer Harry Crane, who created the Jackie Gleason TV classic ``The Honeymooners'' and wrote gags for some of the funniest men in show business, has died at age 85, a spokesman said Wednesday. Crane succumbed to cancer Monday night at his Beverly Hills home, according to publicist Warren Cowan, who also was Crane's son-in-law. During a career that spanned half a century, Crane wrote jokes and sketches for such comic greats as Milton Berle, Jimmy Durante, Abbott and Costello, Laurel and Hardy, the Marx Bros., Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Joey Bishop, Danny Thomas, Henny Youngman and Red Skelton. But he is perhaps best remembered for giving birth to ``The Honeymooners,'' which started out as a 1951 comedy sketch Crane wrote featuring Gleason as New York bus driver Ralph Kramden, who is forever hatching get-rich-quick schemes with his sewer worker pal Ed Norton (Art Carney). The bit first appeared that year as part of the early DuMont television network's ``Cavalcade of Stars,'' then became a fixture on the CBS variety series ``The Jackie Gleason Show'' before being expanded into its own half-hour sitcom in 1955. As a principal writer for the Gleason variety show, Crane also helped create a number of Gleason's other signature characters. ``The Honeymooners,'' which co-starred Carney, Audrey Meadows and Joyce Randolph, aired just 39 episodes before leaving the air in 1956, but the classic series has enjoyed a considerable rerun after-life in syndication. The Brooklyn-born Crane began his showbiz career at age 19 as a standup comic in the ``Borscht Belt'' and was later recruited by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as a writer. He made his screenwriting debut with the 1943 Laurel and Hardy comedy ``Air Raid Wardens,'' and his credits also include ''The Harvey Girls'' (1946), starring Judy Garland, and ``Song of the Thin Man'' (1947) with William Powell and Myrna Loy. Moving into television in the 1950s, Crane developed long-term relationships with a new generation of entertainers, -- among them Gleason, Berle, Martin, Perry Como and Dinah Shore -- for whom he wrote series and specials. His TV credits include a number of major awards shows during the '50s, '60s and '70s. He also is credited with giving a career boost to such promising young comedy writers as Mel Brooks, Neil Simon and Garry Marshall, and he continued to contribute nuggets of humor to the biggest names in Hollywood until falling seriously ill several months ago. Crane is survived by his wife, Lillian, two daughters, three grandchildren and four great-grandchildren."}, {"response": 185, "author": "mrchips", "date": "Thu, Sep 16, 1999 (16:53)", "body": "\"One day, Alice! POW! Right to the moon!\""}, {"response": 186, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Sat, Sep 18, 1999 (16:37)", "body": "Lemme guess - that comet-discovering chap? But he died a while ago... (Wolf: Sorry.)"}, {"response": 187, "author": "mrchips", "date": "Sat, Sep 18, 1999 (19:05)", "body": "And so did Jackie Gleason, the guy famous for delivering that line."}, {"response": 188, "author": "mrchips", "date": "Thu, Sep 23, 1999 (17:16)", "body": "Oscar winner George C. Scott died Wednesday (Sep. 22, 1999) at his home in the Los Angeles suburb of Westlake Village. He was 71. Cause of death was not immediately disclosed. Scott won the best-actor Oscar in 1970 for his performance in the title role of Patton (1970). Critic John Gillett said at the time: \"Here is an actor so totally immersed in his part that he almost makes you believe he is the man himself.\" However, Scott refused to attend the Oscar ceremonies or even to accept the statuette, claiming that the Oscar race was a pointless contest that failed to contribute to the betterment of the industry or the acting profession. Scott was born October 18, 1927, in Wise, Virginia. He made three critically acclaimed cable movies in the last three years Inherit the Wind (1999), a remake of the classic about the historic Scopes Monkey Trial, Rocky Marciano (1999), in which he played the father of the late, great \"Brockton (Mass.) Blockbuster\", the undefeated heavyweight champion (1948-52), and a remake of Reginald Rose's award winning 12 Angry Men (1996), a jury-room drama in which he played Juror #3, the embitt red antagonist."}, {"response": 189, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Sep 27, 1999 (01:51)", "body": "From CNN Plane slams into side of Hawaiian volcano, killing 10 September 26, 1999 Web posted at: 8:43 p.m. EDT (0043 GMT) From staff and wire reports KAILUA KONA, Hawaii (CNN) -- Ten people on board a twin-engine sightseeing airplane died when it crashed on the side of Hawaii's Mauna Loa volcano. Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Diana Joubert said search crews located the wreckage at 6:30 a.m. Sunday at an elevation of about 10,500 feet. The volcano reaches 13,679 feet. Rescue crews later reached the remote site on the \"big island\" of Hawaii, where they found no survivors. The PA-31/350 Piper Chieftain, with a pilot and nine passengers, was operated by Big Island Airlines, which offers regularly scheduled sightseeing tours. \"The plane was totally demolished, just like a plane would be if it went into rocks at a high rate of speed,\" said Doug Lentz, spokesman for Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, where Mauna Loa is located. \"It's pretty rough terrain on the side of the volcano, with plenty of lava fields,\" said Roy Mann, the airline's operations director. Identities of the victims were not immediately released. The recovered bodies were being flown by helicopter to the city of Hilo on the east side of the island. The plane had taken off about 4:30 p.m. Saturday for a tour of Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea, two dormant volcanoes. About three hours later, Big Island officials notified Kona International Airport that the plane was an hour overdue. Searchers began looking for the plane but suspended their search when darkness fell. They resumed the search Sunday morning and found the plane about an hour later, Joubert said. Since a large part of the island is inaccessible by car, air tours are a popular way to see it, including the active Kilauea volcano. Helicopters and planes fly near the bubbling summit and then over nearby valleys to view rainbows and waterfalls. From John Burnett (who was on the air during the morning and had to scramble for his coverage: The plane crash in Hawaii Sat. eve. Sep. 25 was here on the Big Island. Was a two-engine tourist plane, a Piper Navajo Chieftain, with 10 aboard, including the pilot. It took off from Kona airport on the west side of the island at 4:22 p.m. Was reported missing shortly after 6 p.m. A Coast Guard helicopter discovered the still smoldering wreckage on the northeastern slopes of Mauna Loa (on the Hilo side) shortly after 6 a.m. Sunday. The plane, which was 16 years old and considered relatively young and airworthy, had slammed into the side of the mountain. Weather conditions were unknown. The last transmission from the pilot, who had worked for Big Island Air, the tour plane company, for over five years, was a request to enter restricted airspace, nothing unusual for a tour plane. It is the first mishap ever for Big Island Air. As of this posting, no names of victims have been released, but all ten aboard are confirmed dead. The wreckage was charred and most, if not all, will have to be ID'd through dental records."}, {"response": 190, "author": "riette", "date": "Mon, Sep 27, 1999 (05:00)", "body": "Boy, that's so tragic."}, {"response": 191, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Sep 27, 1999 (20:10)", "body": "euw, i heard about this on the news. very sad indeed."}, {"response": 192, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Sep 27, 1999 (20:24)", "body": "The last I heard they were still hunting for the remains of the 10th victim. It is very rugged terrain up on that a'a flow...That is another job I am glad someone else is willing to do...ID'ing the charred remains of crash victims!"}, {"response": 193, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Sep 27, 1999 (20:27)", "body": "sad that they have to look for teeth just to figure out who they were. i pray those people didn't suffer."}, {"response": 194, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Sep 27, 1999 (20:40)", "body": "If you saw the picture of the plane, the entire front 2/3rds is disintegrated into a few pieces of metal. Those people never knew what they hit or what hit them... Mercifully!"}, {"response": 195, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Sep 27, 1999 (20:46)", "body": "no, didn't see the actual footage."}, {"response": 196, "author": "riette", "date": "Tue, Sep 28, 1999 (05:16)", "body": "I'd rather not."}, {"response": 197, "author": "riette", "date": "Tue, Sep 28, 1999 (05:17)", "body": "Isn't it amazing how death slaps one in the face every time you open a newspaper or switch on the TV?"}, {"response": 198, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Sep 28, 1999 (10:32)", "body": "yup. number 1 reason NOT to have a tv"}, {"response": 199, "author": "riette", "date": "Tue, Sep 28, 1999 (14:30)", "body": "I refuse to watch the news. I don't mind blood and gore in movies - but for real I just can't handle it."}, {"response": 200, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Sep 28, 1999 (16:48)", "body": "I agree...I once asked my son when he was in mid-teen years if violence on TV made him desensitized to real carnage on the news. He immediately looked at me like I was some sort of mental deficient and told me TV is just acting. Real stuff on news they cannot wash off and go home for the night to their families. Where did today's kids get desensitized? and, How?!"}, {"response": 201, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Sep 28, 1999 (17:04)", "body": "From http://westhawaiitoday.com/display/inn_news/news1.txt By KEITH KOSAKI/West Hawaii Today HAWAII VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK - Two victims of the fatal tour airplane crash were identified preliminarily as Big Island residents Monday and federal officials began taking steps to determine the cause of the crash that killed all 10 people on board. Names of the victims weren't released officially, but the two Big Island residents believed on board were identified in news reports as Wade Abac, a passenger who worked at the Keauhou Beeach Hotel, and Kentucky native Dennis O'Leary, 53, the pilot of the Big Island Air Piper Chieftain aircraft. Jeff Hammerschmidt, a National Transporta-tion Safety Board board member, said at a press conference Monday while no preliminary cause has been determined, information such as the angle of impact and placement of the wings are important to the investigation. He said the NTSB's top priority is to get two of its investigators to the crash site. \"Things of that nature are all very important just to give us basic information from which to further analyze the accident scenario,\" Hammerschmidt said. He said the wreckage also appears to be contained in an relatively small area, \"which makes it easier from an investigative standpoint because you can stay in contained area and try to look at everything you need to,\" he said. Hammerschmidt said the twin-engine aircraft was not required to have a flight data recorder or a cockpit voice recorder on board, but did have a global positioning system. \"If it survived, we hope it contains some good memory-type data,\" Hammerschmidt said. Six NTSB officials, including Hammerschmidt, who was appointed by President Clinton, arrived late Sunday evening from Washington, D.C., in Kona. An NTSB investigator from Los Angeles arrived earlier that day to begin investigating one of the Big Island. The Big Island Air tour plane took off from Kona International Airport about 4:30 p.m. Saturday. The pilot's last radio transmission came at about 50 minutes later, requesting permission from the flight control tower to fly over the Pohakuloa Training Area near Saddle Road. A Coast Guard official said such transmission are routine. The plane was due back at the airport at about 6 p.m., and was reported overdue at 7:20 p.m., though it is not known exactly when it went down. The wreckage was discovered early Sunday morning by Hawaii County Fire Rescue personnel. Hammerschmidt said NTSB personnel met with officials from the Federal Aviation Administration, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and Big Island Air early Monday. He said officials from Piper Aircraft and Lycoming, the engine manufacturer, also planned to join the investigation. Hammerschmidt said Monday afternoon that the weather would play a factor in how quickly the investigators made it to the scene. He said one investigator specializes analyzing aircraft structure, such as the fuselage and wings. The other is a system person who looks at hydraulics and avionics, Hammerschmidt said. \"Our main priority was to get the two investigators up there as soon as feasible,\" Hammerschmidt said. The agency hoped to get two of its investigators to the crash site Monday afternoon, but they were stopped by poor weather conditions at the 9,800-foot level where the crash occurred. \"We were too socked in,\" he said. They were to try again at daybreak Wednesday. He said the NTSB plans to be in Hawaii two to three days, and will take any pertinent evidence from the wreckage to Washington, D.C., to continue the investigation. \"We don't know right now if we will need any of the wreckage,\" Hammerschmidt said. Hammerschmidt said he wasn't sure if there were any unusual conditions or and did not have details about Big Island Air's safety record. He said the FAA official did not bring up anything about the Kailua-Kona company's record during the Monday morning meeting. Other victims identified in news reports said Hank Risley, head of the New Hampshire state Department of Corrections, died in the crash. New Hampshire Gov. Jeanne Shaheen said Monday that Risley his stepmother were on board. Harry Kim, Hawaii Civil Defense Agency administrator, said the families of three victims still were not notified Monday afternoon. The American Red Cross has set up a center for victims' relatives at King Kamehameha's Kona Beach Hotel. The center will stay open as long as there is a need, said Red Cross public affairs officer Carole Nervig The crash was the Big Island's worst air disaster since June 11, 1989, when all 11 people aboard a twin-engine Beechcraft plane were killed when it slammed into a Waipio Valley ridge at about the 1,800-foot level. Also in 1989, an Aloha Island Air DHC-6 Twin Otter went down on the island of Molokai, killing 20 people. Since 1974, there have been five fatal air crashes within Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, killing a total of 43 people. Hammerschmidt said the NTSB has been proactive is air tour safety and even held"}, {"response": 202, "author": "mrchips", "date": "Wed, Oct  6, 1999 (20:52)", "body": "8 die as trains collide in London 160 injured, at least 17 seriously, in fiery wreck MSNBC staff and wire reports LONDON, Oct. 5 \ufffd At least eight people were killed and some 160 injured Tuesday when two trains packed with commuters collided and burst into flames near London's Paddington station. The last survivors were freed from the wreckage some five hours after the crash, NBC's Charles Sabine reported from the scene. AMONG THE injured, at least 17 were in serious condition. Survivors told of a fireball immediately after the collision and the rush to flee. One woman said it was \"mass panic\" as passengers rushed the doors in the car she was on. The collision occurred about two miles from Paddington, near Ladbroke Grove. Another passenger said her wagon \"went up into flames\" and tipped over. \"There were really badly hurt people, badly burnt people,\" echoed another commuter. \"Some people have been impaled by seats.\" And one of the passengers who saw the fireball recalled how he wondered if he and others would perish in the flames. SIDE CRASH? Passenger Mark Rogers said he \"was reading a book and found myself crashing into the person opposite me. The train was going over and over and over, and people were thrown onto the floor.\" \"People were screaming, a person pretty clearly dead, a woman who was thrown out of the train,\" he added. The accident happened at an intersection on the busy rail line, and might not have been head on but rather from the side. \"I think we hit on an angle, on the side,\" said BBC radio editor Phil Longman, who was on board the inbound train. An engine and a front car were on their sides, he said, and another was pointing at the sky. One of the train drivers survived the crash, but he could not confirm the fate of the other one. The cause was not yet known, but it comes as public dissatisfaction with the railway system's performance is at an all-time high. Consumer groups and regulators say the system, privatized two years ago, cannot cope with passenger traffic that is growing faster than forecast. They are calling for more investment for train maintenance. The accident happened on the same line as a 1997 train crash that killed seven people and injured 150. EIGHT WAGONS DAMAGED Reuters journalist Wolfgang Waehner-Schmidt, who was on one of the trains, an inter-city Great Western Trains service from Cheltenham to Paddington, said the collision was with a smaller local train. The other train was headed away from London, toward Wiltshire. It had left Paddington Station about five minutes before the accident happened shortly at 8:11 a.m. local time. Waehner-Schmidt said about eight wagons were damaged and smoke was coming from some of them. \"We were in one of the last carriages. We got out immediately, smashed the window and jumped out of the train,\" he added. 'AMAZED WE ARE ALIVE' Andrew Hoskin, who lives near the scene of the crash, said: \"It is a terrible mess. One train is completely off the rails.\" Danny Firth, a passenger on the Great Western train described the crash as \"an almighty bang and everything that was in front of me came flying forward. There was fire outside. It was general chaos. People were walking around with burns and bruises.\" \"I am amazed we are alive,\" said a 21-year-old woman sobbing with shock and relief after clambering out of a twisted carriage. \"The first I knew there was a sudden brake. The train flipped over on to its side. There were sparks and screams and seats falling all apart and lots of glass.\" The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report."}, {"response": 203, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Oct  6, 1999 (21:07)", "body": "From the BBC (detail on the below stories http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/special_report/1999/10/99/london_train_crash/newsid_465000/465503.stm Wednesday, October 6, 1999 Published at 18:54 GMT 19:54 UK Disaster in the rush hour Two trains collide in west London in what looks likely to be the UK's worst crash for more than 80 years, calling safety standards into question yet again. Emergency number: 0171 834 7777. The fatal collision 'At least 70 dead' Police say 28 passengers are confirmed dead and 42 others are believed to have died - with 100 other people still unaccounted for. Driver 'went through red light' Prescott orders rail safety review Train drivers threaten strike over safety Victims fight for life The Paddington train crash in pictures Q&A: Tom Heap answers some key questions Survivor Brendan Batley describes the crash \"The death toll is expected to rise sharply...\" \"The driver went through a red light...\" \"Dozens of patients remain in hospital...\""}, {"response": 204, "author": "mrchips", "date": "Wed, Oct  6, 1999 (21:43)", "body": "Amazing carnage. An incredible tragedy."}, {"response": 205, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Oct  6, 1999 (21:49)", "body": "Take a look at the BBC's pic of the wreck! (it won't be on here long as they change it frequently)"}, {"response": 206, "author": "mrchips", "date": "Wed, Oct  6, 1999 (21:51)", "body": "Oh God. You mean it will automatically change here, too as it does at their website?"}, {"response": 207, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Oct  6, 1999 (21:55)", "body": "No, it will show up as a little pink and blue square - just like when one goofs and the picture does not show up ... I believe just the maps I post in Weather on Geo update auto-magically!"}, {"response": 208, "author": "mrchips", "date": "Mon, Oct 11, 1999 (11:04)", "body": "SYDNEY, Australia (AP) -- Morris West, a best-selling Australian thriller writer, died Saturday. He was 83. West, who wrote \"The Devil's Advocate,\" \"Children of the Sun\" and \"Shoes of a Fisherman,\" died while working on his latest novel, \"The Last Confession.\" He wrote 27 novels, as well as screenplays, radio dramas and plays. His works, which have been translated into 27 languages, have sold more than 60 million copies worldwide."}, {"response": 209, "author": "mrchips", "date": "Tue, Oct 12, 1999 (23:06)", "body": "Chamberlain found dead at age 63 Pro basketball Hall of Famer may have suffered heart attack Associated Press LOS ANGELES, Oct. 12 \ufffd Wilt Chamberlain, a center so big, agile and dominant that he forced basketball to change its rules and the only player to score 100 points in an NBA game, died Tuesday at 63. CHAMBERLAIN WAS FOUND dead in his bed at his Bel-Air home at about 12:30 p.m., police said. There were signs that he might have had a heart attack, authorities said. Chamberlain was hospitalized with an irregular heartbeat in 1992, and his agent, Sy Goldberg, said the Hall of Famer was on medication. Known as \"Wilt the Stilt\" and \"The Big Dipper,\" the 7-foot-1 Chamberlain starred in the NBA from 1959 through 1973, when he played for the Philadelphia (later the San Francisco) Warriors, 76ers and Lakers. He later stirred controversy with boasts of his sexual exploits. Chamberlain scored 31,419 points during his career, a record until Kareem Abdul-Jabbar broke it in 1984. Chamberlain, who never fouled out in 1,205 regular-season and playoff games, holds the record for career rebounding with 23,924. \"Wilt was one of the greatest ever, and we will never see another one like him,\" Abdul-Jabbar said. Chamberlain, who began his professional career with the Harlem Globetrotters in 1958, was one of only two men to win the MVP and rookie of the year awards in the same season (1959-60). He was also MVP in 1966 through 1968. He led the NBA in scoring seven straight seasons, 1960-66, and led the league in rebounding 11 of his 14 seasons. \"We truly lost one of the icons of professional basketball and, more importantly for myself, someone who I've known for almost 40 years,\" a teary-eyed Jerry West, a former teammate and now the Lakers vice president, said at the Forum. Former Lakers star Magic Johnson called Chamberlain one of the greatest sports heroes ever. \"Wilt was my idol, and definitely changed the game of basketball,\" Johnson said. \"As a kid, I loved watching him play for Philadelphia.\" Chamberlain was such a force that the NBA changed some of its rules, including widening the lane to try to keep him farther from the basket. One of his most famous records is the 100 points he scored in the Philadelphia Warriors' 169-147 defeat of the New York Knicks on March 2, 1962, in Hershey, Pa. \"I spent 12 years in his armpits, and I always carried that 100-point game on my shoulders,\" Darrall Imhoff, the former Knicks center, said Tuesday. \"After I got my third foul, I said to one of the officials, Willy Smith, 'Why don't you just give him 100 points and we'll all go home?' Well, we did.\" Chamberlain also holds the single-game record for rebounds, 55, against Boston in 1960. He averaged 30.1 points a game in his career, including a record 50.4 in the 1961-62 season with Philadelphia. He also was one of the most versatile big men ever, leading the league in assists with 702 in 1967-68. He led his team into the playoffs 13 times, winning two world championships. The first came in 1966-67 with the Philadelphia 76ers, the second in 1971-72 with the Lakers, which won a record 33 straight games. His teams lost in the finals four other times and were beaten in the conference final six times. Bill Russell and the Boston Celtics almost always seemed to be the nemesis of Chamberlain-led teams, beating them twice in the championship series and five times in the conference finals. Three times, a series was decided by a seventh game that Boston won by either one or two points. \"Wilt Chamberlain had a great deal to do with the success of the NBA,\" said Red Auerbach, coach of those great Celtics. \"His dominance, power, demeanor and the rivalry with Bill Russell says it all.\" Long after his career ended, Chamberlain made news by claiming in an autobiography that he had had sex with 20,000 women. \"The women who I have been the most attracted to, the most in love with, I've pushed away the strongest,\" the lifelong bachelor said in a 1991 interview with The Associated Press. \"There are about five women I can think of I could have married. I cared for them a lot, but not enough to make a commitment.\" Before his death from AIDS in 1993, Arthur Ashe was critical of sexually promiscuous athletes like Chamberlain, saying the behavior reinforced racist stereotypes. Ashe added that he didn't believe Chamberlain's claim, concluding, \"I felt more pity than sorrow for Wilt as his macho accounting backfired on him in the form of a wave of public criticism.\" Wilton Norman Chamberlain was born on Aug. 21, 1936, in Philadelphia. He didn't begin playing basketball until he was in the seventh grade. He grew 4 inches in three months when he was 15, and was 6-11 when he entered Philadelphia's Overbrook High School. After leading Overbrook to three public school championships and two all-city titles, Chamberlain became one of the most recruited players ever with over 200 colleges interested. He chose the University of Kansas and Hall of Fame coach Phog Allen. "}, {"response": 210, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Oct 12, 1999 (23:09)", "body": "Thanks for posting this. I walked into the swimming stadium in Hilo right behind him. The was so HUGE!!! He was a frequent visitor to Hawaii!"}, {"response": 211, "author": "mrchips", "date": "Tue, Oct 12, 1999 (23:15)", "body": "He was a good friend of former Rainbow coach Bruce O'Neil. He once paid me a $50 tip for playing a request for him at Spat's nightclub in Honolulu when I was the D.J. there. I'd have done it for free. He had good taste in music, as well. His request was \"Until You Come Back to Me\" by Aretha Franklin."}, {"response": 212, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Oct 12, 1999 (23:19)", "body": "What a neat memory of him...a really nice guy!"}, {"response": 213, "author": "mrchips", "date": "Tue, Oct 12, 1999 (23:21)", "body": "20,000 women can't be wrong!"}, {"response": 214, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Oct 12, 1999 (23:39)", "body": "Yeah....so they say...just ask Magic Johnson!"}, {"response": 215, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Oct 13, 1999 (10:18)", "body": "I watched Wilt on tv (even imagining I saw the 100 point game), and saw him play against the St. Louis Hawks. I consider him the greatest athlete of all time, he excelled at basketball, volleyball, track and field, the NFL drooled over him as a potential wide receiver, boxing (he contemplated getting in the ring with Ali), and who knows what else. The list of 50 point plus games in the NBA is one Wilt game after another, occasionally punctuated by a performance from Jordan or soemone else. Arguably, you can say Jordan or Jim Brown was better, but he was so far ahead of his time that there never be another athlete who stood so tall among every one of his peers. Wilt Chamberlain. What a shock!"}, {"response": 216, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Oct 13, 1999 (10:33)", "body": "Wilt holds the single game rebound record with 55 (it happened during the same historic 1961-62 season during which he had his 100-point game; that year, he averaged 27.2 Rebounds per game and 50.4 points per game. Averaged!). Some wild facts about Wilt's 100-point game -- The final score was Warriors 169 - Knicks 147! Imagine how it must have felt to score 147 and *still* lose by 22! (Three Knicks scored over thirty -- Richie Guerin (39), Cleveland Buckner (33) and Willie Naulls (31)). Wilt's most amazing record from that season is for minutes-per-game -- he averaged 48.5. But... but... there's only 48 minutes in a game! Well, the Warriors were involved in ten overtime periods that season, which means that the team played 3,890 minutes in 80 games. Wilt played 3,882 of those minutes -- that's right, he only sat for eight minutes the entire season, and even then, it was not the choice of Chamberlain or his coach, nor was it due to injury -- Wilt was tossed from the game for multiple technical fouls."}, {"response": 217, "author": "mrchips", "date": "Wed, Oct 13, 1999 (12:23)", "body": "The Denver Nuggets used to score 140 regularly and lose in the mid to late 1980s, but if they had played against Wilt in his prime, he'd have probably scored 130 himself off their non-existent defense. I did not know the story about multiple technical fouls. To me, the most amazing stat about Wilt is that he played over 1200 games in his 14-year career and did not foul out (due to personals) ever. That's a streak that will likely never be matched, like Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak, and maybe Cal Ripken, Jr.'s consecutive games played streak. I also doubt there will ever be another undisputed heavyweight champion who retires undefeated after 49 or more fights (Rocky Marciano, 49-0, undisputed champion 1952-56)."}, {"response": 218, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Oct 13, 1999 (18:58)", "body": "Chamberlains teams lost *3 times* in game sevens against the Celtics by *1 or 2* points. Inches away from World Championships three times. And his Kansas team lost a national championship by 1 point in triple overtime to North Carolina. Wilt grew 4 inches in a couple of months in junior high. He entered high school at 6-11. He scored 51 points in his first college game, but later quit in disgust at the zone defenses the college teams were throwing at him and joined the Globetrotters. Who did Wilt think was the greatest basketball player of all time? Meadowlark Lemon. Wilt may go down as the greatest all around athlete of all time."}, {"response": 219, "author": "mrchips", "date": "Tue, Oct 19, 1999 (01:03)", "body": "Jim Moran Dies at 91 Source: Associated Press NEWARK, N.J. (AP) -- Jim Moran, known for outrageous publicity stunts in the '40s and '50s to promote products, Hollywood films -- and himself -- died Monday. He was 91. Sell an icebox to an Eskimo? Moran traveled to Alaska and did just that, at the behest of a refrigerator company. Change horses in midstream? Moran performed the feat during the 1944 presidential election, in the Truckee River in Reno, Nev. A longtime resident of Los Angeles and New York City, Moran spent the last three years of his life at the Actors' Fund Nursing and Retirement home in Englewood, said friend Mimi Brace. \"He was like an icon to many people, and a mentor as well. The world isn't the same without him. It's the end of an era,\" she said. Coddling an ostrich egg under a tailpiece of ostrich feathers, Moran managed to induce hatching in 1946. Not by coincidence did he pose during the gestation with a best-selling book, \"The Egg and I,\" which would soon become a comedy film starring Claudette Colbert. Acquaintances described Moran as a tall, rotund, blue-eyed Irish prankster. Gags like walking a bull through Ovington's -- a china shop on Fifth Avenue in New York -- may have been nutty, but Moran \"was crazy like a fox,\" said Herb Steinberg, a retired executive who worked at the MCA, Paramount and Universal film studios. When the producers of a Broadway show, \"Fanny,\" failed to win much ink, they turned to Moran. So Moran put a chimp in the driver's seat of an English taxi that had a trunk bearing the show's name and -- with Moran actually driving from the back seat -- motored around midtown Manhattan, Steinberg said. A picture landed in Life magazine. James Sterling Moran was born in Woodstock, Va., on Nov. 24, 1907. A 1945 Associated Press article said that before entering the publicity business, Moran was an airline executive in Washington and operated a studio where congressmen recorded speeches for their radio stations."}, {"response": 220, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Oct 25, 1999 (19:12)", "body": "Payne Stewart died today killed in a mysterious plane crash. The plane took off in Florida, went on autopilot and crashed in South Dakota. Stewart was known for his trademark \"knickers\"."}, {"response": 221, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Oct 25, 1999 (19:43)", "body": "That is very sad, indeed. I though him the best dressed golfer of them all. He will be missed!"}, {"response": 222, "author": "Irishprincess", "date": "Mon, Oct 25, 1999 (20:09)", "body": "Payne Stewart was from my hometown--there's a golf course here named for him. Oddly enough, I never got to meet him."}, {"response": 223, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Oct 25, 1999 (21:13)", "body": "Your home town would be...? Unless you came from a very tiny town, there is a good chance you would not have met him...or do you hang around golf courses a lot?"}, {"response": 224, "author": "Irishprincess", "date": "Mon, Oct 25, 1999 (21:23)", "body": "Springfield, Missouri, of course! He was here for a lot of golf tournaments and autograph-signings, so I could have seen him if I wanted, but I've never really had any interest in golf."}, {"response": 225, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Oct 25, 1999 (21:48)", "body": "Me too. I figure if I want to walk that far I'd rather hike and see something more interesting than a little white ball...! (Oh yes, you did tell me about Springfield...getting out a map...!)"}, {"response": 226, "author": "mrchips", "date": "Mon, Oct 25, 1999 (22:04)", "body": "Stewart, 42, was a sportsman and a champion, the essence of emotion at the Ryder Cup, playing on three winning teams. He won 18 times around the world, but made his name at home with three major championships - the last on an unforgettable day in June when he thrust his fist into the air to celebrate his second U.S. Open victory. Stewart\ufffds finest moment in a 20-year professional career came on Father\ufffds Day at Pinehurst No. 2, the famed course in North Carolina that became a stage for remarkable drama in the final round. A year after Stewart lost a four-stroke lead in the final round of the U.S. Open at The Olympic Club, he trailed Phil Mickelson by one stroke with three holes to play, then one-putted the final three greens for a stunning victory. His 15-foot par putt on the last hole was the longest ever to decide the Open in its 105-year history. Stewart thrust his fist in the air, an unforgettable image, let out a roar and later broke down in tears. The U.S. Open secured a spot in the Ryder Cup for Stewart, who could wear the Stars and Stripes as easily as his knickers. He never apologized for his patriotism, something he carried to all five of his Ryder Cup appearances. The knickers were not misleading. Stewart was a traditionalist. His father taught him to dance by having him stand on his shoes while he waltzed around the room, and instructed the son to be sure to dance with every woman at the table. Stewart\ufffds most cherished memory was the 1982 Quad Cities Open (in my hometown), because it was the only victory his father saw. William Stewart died in 1985, and when Stewart won the Bay Hill Invitational two years later he donated the winner\ufffds check to a hospital in his father\ufffds memory. While Stewart had an edge to him at times, and was especially surly during an eight-year slump during which he won only once, he never lost his respect for golf\ufffds traditions. Born Jan. 30, 1957 in Springfield, Mo., Stewart went to SMU in Dallas. He graduated with a business degree in 1979 and spent two years playing around the world. He met his wife, Tracey, while playing in Australia. They had two children - Chelsea, 13, and Aaron 10. Stewart\ufffds first breakthrough came in 1989 when he won his first major, the PGA Championship, at Kemper Lakes outside Chicago. Two years later, he won the U.S. Open at Hazeltine by defeating Scott Simpson in an 18-hole playoff. Stewart won more than $11.7 million in a PGA Tour career that began in 1980. He was ranked No. 8 in the world and was third on this year\ufffds money list with just over $2 million. Stewart had planned to go to Spain next week for the final World Golf Championship event, and still had the Grand Slam of Golf next month for the winners of this year\ufffds major championships. \"It's a tragedy,\" said Tiger Woods. \"I don't think anyone comprehends the scope of the loss at this point.\" excerpts \ufffd 1999 Associated Press."}, {"response": 227, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Oct 26, 1999 (02:02)", "body": "A Learjet carrying champion golfer Payne Stewart and at least four other people flew a ghostly journey halfway across the country Monday, its windows iced over and its occupants apparently incapacitated, before spiraling nose first into a grassy field. Everyone aboard was killed. The flight plan said two crewmembers and three passengers were on the jet, but there were reports a sixth person boarded the plane just before it took off from Orlando, Fla. The chartered, twin-engine Lear 35 may have suddenly lost cabin pressure soon after taking off for Dallas, government officials said. Air traffic controllers couldn't raise anyone by radio. Fighter jets were sent after the plane and followed it for much of its flight but were unable to help. The pilots drew close and noticed no structural damage but were unable to see into the Learjet because its windows were frosted over, indicating the temperature inside was well below freezing. Set apparently on autopilot, the plane cruised 1,400 miles straight up the nation's midsection, across half a dozen states. Authorities say the plane was \"porpoising,\" fluctuating between 22,000 and 51,000 feet. It presumably ran out of fuel some four hours after it took off. \"The plane had pretty much nosed straight into the ground,\" said Lesley Braun, who lives two miles from the South Dakota crash site. From FOX news"}, {"response": 228, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Oct 26, 1999 (10:07)", "body": "Stewart had a lot of ties to Austin golfers, like Ben Crenshaw. And a bunch of them had a press conference yesterday. He'll be missed around here. His coach lives in Austin and he had some kind of ties to Golfsmith."}, {"response": 229, "author": "mrchips", "date": "Fri, Oct 29, 1999 (00:53)", "body": "One of my favorite singer/songwriter/character actors, Hoyt Axton, died of congestive heart failure at age 61. He was a mountain of a man, standing over 6-2 and weighing close to 300 pounds. He was one of the original progressive/outlaw country songwriters and his songs were often covered by rock and pop acts in the 1960s. His best known songs are \"Joy to the World\" (a.k.a. \"Jeremiah was a bullfrog...\"), recorded by Three Dog Night and included in the soundtrack to the movie The Big Chill , and \"The Pusher\" (\"God damn the pusher man!\") recorded by Steppenwolf. I loved his own recordings, such as \"Poncho and Lefty,\" which was also covered by Willie Nelson, \"Della and the Dealer (and a Cat Named Kalamazoo)\" which he sang in a guest appearance on WKRP in Cincinnati, and \"Snowblind Friend.\" A an actor, Axton was best known as the traveling salesman/narrator in the movie Gremlins . I interviewed him in 1976 at K-108 Radio in Honolulu. He was massive, hulking, and extremely laid back. I found out why, when right in the middle of the interview, he pulled a joint the size of Omaha out of his sheepskin jacket pocket, lit up and started puffing away. He offered me a hit. I politely declined (I got a contact high from the air in the studio, anyway). Despite his lack of concern about illegal behavior publicly, he was otherwise thoughtful and well-spoken. He brought his guitar and did an \"unplugged\" liver version of \"Della and the Dealer\" on the air: If he could talk what tales he'd tell about Della and the Dealer and the dog as well but the cat was cool and never said a mumbling word. Hoyt, may you rest in peace in a place where your stash box is eternally full!"}, {"response": 230, "author": "mrchips", "date": "Fri, Oct 29, 1999 (00:55)", "body": "And of course, Hoyt played a \"live\" rather than \"liver\" version of the song. I'm really bad today. Think I'll vamoose!"}, {"response": 231, "author": "mrchips", "date": "Fri, Oct 29, 1999 (00:58)", "body": "And of course, Steppenwolf's \"The Pusher\" was included on the soundtrack of the legendary film Easy Rider . Hoyt Axton was one of the most important American songwriters of his generation."}, {"response": 232, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Oct 29, 1999 (01:04)", "body": "That was really nice, John! Thanks for the memories of a truly gifted man."}, {"response": 233, "author": "mrchips", "date": "Fri, Oct 29, 1999 (01:08)", "body": "Despite the fact that many know his face and voice, but not his name, he will be missed."}, {"response": 234, "author": "mrchips", "date": "Fri, Oct 29, 1999 (09:07)", "body": "Although he was best known as a singer/songwriter, his acting resume was quite extensive. Here it is, courtesy of the Internet Movie Database http://www.us.imdb.com Hoyt Axton Birth name: Hoyt Wayne Axton Date of birth: 25 March 1938, Duncan, Oklahoma, USA Trivia: Mother is Mae Axton, who wrote \"Heartbreak Hotel.\" (I did not know that) Actor filmography (1990s) (1980s) (1970s) (1960s) 1.King Cobra (1999) .... Mayor Ed Biddle 2.Kingfish: A Story of Huey P. Long (1995) (TV) .... Huey P. Long, Sr. 3.Number One Fan (1995) .... Lt. Joe Halsey 4.Season of Change (1994) .... Big Upton 5.Doorways (1993) (TV) .... Jake 6.Harmony Cats (1993) .... Bill Stratton 7.\"Civil War, The\" (1990) (mini) TV Series (voice) aka \"American Civil War, The\" (1990) (mini) (UK) 8.Buried Alive (1990/II) (TV) .... Sheriff Sam Eberly 9.Disorganized Crime (1989) .... Sheriff Henault 10.We're No Angels (1989) .... Father Levesque 11.Desperado: Avalanche at Devil's Ridge (1988) (TV) .... Sheriff Ben Tree 12.Dixie Lanes (1988) .... Clarence Laidlaw 13.Retribution (1988) .... Lt. Ashley 14.Christmas Comes to Willow Creek (1987) (TV) .... Al Bensinger 15.Guilty of Innocence: The Lenell Geter Story (1987) (TV) .... Charlie Hartford 16.Act of Vengeance (1986) (TV) .... Silous Huddleston 17.Dallas: The Early Years (1986) (TV) .... Aaron Southworth 18.Gremlins (1984) .... Rand Peltzer 19.\"Domestic Life\" (1984) TV Series .... Rip Steele 20.Black Stallion Returns, The (1983) (voice) .... Narrator 21.\"Rousters, The\" (1983) TV Series .... Cactus Jack Slade 22.Deadline Autotheft (1983) 23.Heart Like a Wheel (1983) .... Tex Roque 24.Endangered Species (1982) .... Ben Morgan 25.Junkman (1982) 26.Liar's Moon (1981) .... Cecil Duncan 27.Cloud Dancer (1980) .... Brad's Mechanic 28.Black Stallion, The (1979) .... Alec's Father 29.Smoky (1966) .... Fred Composer filmography (1980s) (1970s) (1960s) 1.Junkman (1982) 2.Mitchell (1975) 3.Legend of Hillbilly John, The (1973) ... aka Ballad of Hillbilly John (1973) ... aka My Name Is John (1973)... aka Who Fears the Devil (1973) 4.Easy Rider (1969) (song \"The Pusher\") Miscellaneous crew filmography 1.\"Flo\" (1980) TV Series (singer: title theme) Notable TV guest appearances 1.\"Murder, She Wrote\" (1984) playing \"Sheriff Tate\" in episode: \"Coal Miner's Slaughter\" (episode # 5.5) 11/20/1988 2.\"WKRP in Cincinnati\" (1978) playing \"T.J. Watson\" in episode: \"I Do, I Do...For Now\" (episode # 1.21) 3.\"Bionic Woman, The\" (1976) in episode: \"Road to Nashville\" (episode # 2.5) 1977 4.\"McCloud\" (1971) playing \"Johnny Starbuck\" in episode: \"Moscow Connection, The\" 5.\"I Dream of Jeannie\" (1965) playing \"Bull\" in episode: \"Fastest Gun in the East\" (episode #2.7) 10/24/1966 6.\"Iron Horse, The\" (1966) in episode: \"Right of Way Through Paradise\" (episode # 1.4) 10/3/1966 7.\"Bonanza\" (1959) playing \"Johann\" in episode: \"Dead and Gone\" (episode # 6.27) 4/4/1965"}, {"response": 235, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Oct 29, 1999 (13:47)", "body": "Jim Bohannon played his works for bumper music last night. Good stuff!! I had no idea he got around that much in sitcoms, but as a character actor, he was versatile enough to fit in almost anywhere. Thanks for the summary!"}, {"response": 236, "author": "mrchips", "date": "Sat, Oct 30, 1999 (01:48)", "body": "Notice he played a lot of sheriffs. In real life, he'd have to arrest himself!"}, {"response": 237, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Oct 30, 1999 (01:58)", "body": "...curious the mantles we choose to wear for the world to see. They are often the flip side of our true personaities...!"}, {"response": 238, "author": "mrchips", "date": "Sat, Oct 30, 1999 (02:09)", "body": "I'm basically sure somebody chose his casting. He was a cowboy \"type\" and sang and spoke with a molasses smooth Okie baritone. He, Waylon Jennings, and Sam Elliott all have those incredible Western voices that are wonderful for narration."}, {"response": 239, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Oct 30, 1999 (20:02)", "body": "...as in typecasting?! Yes, indeed! He had a wonderful voice, indeed!"}, {"response": 240, "author": "mrchips", "date": "Sat, Oct 30, 1999 (20:22)", "body": "Sure, typecasting. I wouldn't mind being typecast, if my type were in demand. There's MY whine! ;)"}, {"response": 241, "author": "mrchips", "date": "Sat, Oct 30, 1999 (20:23)", "body": "...too bad I CAN'T have the cheese to go along with it..."}, {"response": 242, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Oct 30, 1999 (20:36)", "body": "When next I see you - IRL - I'll bring the cheese. Please specify your preferences in this area...I am happy to oblige *smile*"}, {"response": 243, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Oct 30, 1999 (21:45)", "body": "and let's not forget the two men who were flying one of the blue angels' jets."}, {"response": 244, "author": "mrchips", "date": "Sun, Oct 31, 1999 (01:37)", "body": "They and the Thunderbirds have a lot of those accidents, it seems (probably not in relation to flight hours). But they do some incredibly high risk maneuvers to entertain the public. Fighter pilots in general must be prepared to die at any time. God bless them. I wouldn't want the job, even if I could do it."}, {"response": 245, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Oct 31, 1999 (01:10)", "body": "Please more information on this terrible accident."}, {"response": 246, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Oct 31, 1999 (10:23)", "body": "they said (msnbc) that two blue angels took off together. seconds later, a mushroom cloud was seen over a group of trees. two men pilot the plane. and in this case, the second pilot was in training to become one of the blue angels. both men were in their thirties. i'll try and find a link."}, {"response": 247, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Oct 31, 1999 (14:05)", "body": "for the latest on the egyptair situation: http://abcnews.go.com/"}, {"response": 248, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Oct 31, 1999 (14:07)", "body": "and on the blue angels: http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/reuters19991029_20.html"}, {"response": 249, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Oct 31, 1999 (17:18)", "body": "Thanks Wolfie...and now we have the Egyptian airliner crash off Nantucket, Rhode Island, USA in the same area as JFK's plane went down. No apparent survivors. Reuters and just about everyone is carrying the story."}, {"response": 250, "author": "mrchips", "date": "Sun, Oct 31, 1999 (19:17)", "body": "It was a 767 which is a fairly new aircraft. President Clinton actually talked to reporters today. Well over 100 Americans on board. He said there is no evidence at this point of any foul play. The plane went into a steep nosedive, just as JFK Jr's. plane did. I wonder if there is a \"Nantucket Triangle\" with a south end somewhere off Long Island (TWA 800)."}, {"response": 251, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Oct 31, 1999 (19:57)", "body": "My thoughts exactly, John. Hmmmm...Nantucket triangle indeed !"}, {"response": 252, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Nov  1, 1999 (19:04)", "body": "Walter Payton. 45. Sweetness. Payton was diagnosed earlier this year with primary sclerosing cholangitis, a rare liver disease. His only hope for survival was a transplant and he had been on a waiting list since February. Payton rushed for 16,726 yards in his 13-year career, one of sport's most awesome records. And Barry Sanders ensured it would be one of the most enduring, retiring in July despite being just 1,458 yards shy of breaking Payton's mark."}, {"response": 253, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Nov  1, 1999 (19:38)", "body": "That is so sad.... He was really a great person as well as a superb athlete. His like will not come to Chicago for a long time again, if ever!"}, {"response": 254, "author": "mrchips", "date": "Tue, Nov  2, 1999 (00:21)", "body": "He was a regular at the AFC-NFC Pro Bowl every year, both during his career and after it. I interviewed him after one game. His locker was right next to Eric Dickerson's, who was still putting up phenomenal numbers before he got weird and ignored his career. I asked Sweetness \"How long do you plan on playing?\" He smiled and said \"As long as Eric does.\" He retired before Dickerson, but the latter, who had a legitimate shot of beating Sweetness' records, turned out not to have the heart necessary. It s a shame. Payton was an excellent businessman (he owned the Studebaker's chain of dance clubs, among other holdings), and graduated from Jackson State at age 20. Unlike Dickerson or Barry Sanders, Sweetness did not have great speed or elusiveness. He made his yards after being hit. You had to bring him down. He was not running out of bounds or going out on his own. It is a shame that they could not find a donor liver for him. That could be me in a few years as I have Hepatitis C."}, {"response": 255, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Nov  2, 1999 (00:26)", "body": "Oh John...do not even say that. I know of your condition as you confided in me long time ago...but its enormity and gravity did not hit home till just now. I am doubly stricken."}, {"response": 256, "author": "moonbeam", "date": "Tue, Nov  2, 1999 (01:07)", "body": "I heard late this evening that Sweetness had metastatic liver cancer as well as the other disease, which is why they took him off the waiting list for transplants. It wouldn't have done any good... So sad. :("}, {"response": 257, "author": "mrchips", "date": "Tue, Nov  2, 1999 (11:57)", "body": "They had kept the bile duct cancer a secret until now. The early stories after his death said that he died awaiting a donor liver. That now is obviously not so, and it is extremely tragic. I never heard or read a bad word about him from anyone."}, {"response": 258, "author": "autumn", "date": "Sun, Nov  7, 1999 (16:01)", "body": "I am so saddened to hear of your medical problems, John...I will certainly keep a good thought for you. My mother-in-law had hepatitis (I don't know which kind) when they still lived in France and has some liver damage as a result. I just read the most interesting story last night about a little boy (age 5?) who needed a liver transplant and his brother gave him 1/3 of his to graft onto his existing liver. Apparently, the older brother's liver will regenerate and both are fine now. Anything could be p ssible down the road."}, {"response": 259, "author": "mrchips", "date": "Sun, Nov  7, 1999 (23:39)", "body": "Thank you for your kind words. I am fairly healthy at the moment and am optimistic about the future. But the news of Walter Payton, with whom I was acquainted, although not a personal friend, hit me hard. He was a class act and as far as I'm concerned, irreplaceable. Although they are farther down the road in Hep B research, Hep C research and indirectly, its patients--like me--cannot help but benefit from it as well. I've read literally thousands of medical articles on it and have become a pain in t e ass for internists. I finally found one who knew more than me and was delighted that I had done my own research. He is now my doctor."}, {"response": 260, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Nov  7, 1999 (23:46)", "body": "This news of your internest makes me a little less apprehensive...My internests have either died on me or were so sick they left the practice. I now have a GP and do my own homework. (Who is your MD, I wonder...)"}, {"response": 261, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Nov  7, 1999 (23:47)", "body": "No wonder they abandoned the practice = that is an i in their title, not an e..."}, {"response": 262, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Nov  7, 1999 (23:49)", "body": "Sacramento (California) Mayor Serna died of Kidney Cancer according to the Reuters ticker running across my desktop."}, {"response": 263, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Nov  8, 1999 (20:51)", "body": "john, which form of hepatitis do you have? didn't naomi judd make a full recovery (or go into remission) with hers? hadn't heard anything about mayor serna. was he young?"}, {"response": 264, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Nov  8, 1999 (22:28)", "body": "Joe Serna; Sacramento Mayor, Activist From Times Staff and Wire Reports SACRAMENTO--Mayor Joe Serna Jr., a college professor who picked grapes and tomatoes as a youngster and spent nearly two decades as an elected city official, died Sunday morning of kidney cancer and complications arising from diabetes. He was 60. Serna died in his home surrounded by his family. Although he had expected to finish his current term, the mayor announced in June that he would not seek a third term because of a recurrence of the kidney cancer he first experienced nine years ago. \"Joe was a true giant in the Latino community, and a visionary leader for all of Sacramento,\" said Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante in a statement. \"He leaves a great legacy of public service, whether he was standing in the fields fighting for farm worker rights or visiting the White House advocating for the city he so dearly loved.\" Serna, who was born in Stockton and reared in Lodi, served 11 years on the Sacramento City Council and was first elected mayor in 1992, then reelected in 1996. Because Serna died with more than a year left in his term, a special election will be held to pick a successor. The election will probably take place concurrently with the March 7 primary election, according to mayor's office spokesman Chuck Dalldorf. A follower of the late farm labor leader Cesar Chavez, Serna served on the Sacramento-area support committee for the United Farm Workers, and was a former member of the Sacramento Central Labor Council. In his youth, he served in the Peace Corps in Guatemala as a community development volunteer specializing in cooperatives and credit unions. More recently, Serna was a board member of the League of California Cities. He had also served on an array of municipal bodies, including the Sacramento Regional Transit board of directors, the Employment and Training Agency, the Metropolitan Cable Television Commission and the Air Quality Management Board. Serna earned a bachelor's degree from Sacramento State in 1966 and attended graduate school at UC Davis. He became a professor of government at Cal State Sacramento where he earned the distinguished faculty award in 1991. He is survived by his wife, Isabel, and two children, Philip and Lisa. The public is invited to gather Wednesday in Sacramento's Cesar Chavez Plaza to carry the mayor to a local church for services. Serna's family requested that all donations be directed to the UFW. Copyright 1999 Los Angeles Times"}, {"response": 265, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Nov  8, 1999 (22:30)", "body": "John has Hepatitis C..."}, {"response": 266, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Nov 10, 1999 (18:46)", "body": "ok, and this means? i know there's a couple of vaccines (a and b) and knew they are contagious (kind of, i guess). what about type c? i'll do some research in the meantime. thanks for the info on the mayor...."}, {"response": 267, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Nov 10, 1999 (19:53)", "body": "Type C as I understand it, is the most severe sort and eventually fatal (which is why John did not go on to Law School as he has planned to do...). He is hoping to stay healthy enough to live long enough for them to find a cure for it. I pray that he does...we will all be much the poorer for having lost him if he does not."}, {"response": 268, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Nov 18, 1999 (14:23)", "body": "THE PILLSBURY DOUGHBOY - DEAD AT 71 Veteran Pillsbury spokesman, The Pillsbury Doughboy, died yesterday of a severe yeast infection and complications from repeated pokes to the belly. He was 71. Doughboy was buried in a slightly greased coffin. Dozens of celebrities turned out, including Mrs. Butterworth, the California Raisins, Dolly Madison, Hungry Jack, Pam, Betty Crocker, the Hostess Twinkies, Suzie Q, Captain Crunch, Little Debbie and many others. The graveside was piled high with flours as longtime friend, Aunt Jemima, delivered the eulogy, describing Doughboy as a man who \"never knew how much he was kneaded.\" Doughboy rose quickly in show business but his later life was filled with many turnovers. He was not considered a very smart cookie, wasting much of his dough on half-baked schemes. Still, even as a crusty old man, he was a roll model for millions. Doughboy is survived by his second wife, Play Dough. They have two children and one in the oven. The funeral was held at 3:50 for about 20 minutes."}, {"response": 269, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Nov 19, 1999 (12:32)", "body": "Victims of the Texas A&M Bonfire collapse Miranda Adams, a sophomore in biomedical sciences from Santa Fe, Texas Christopher Breen of Austin, Texas -- 1997 graduate Michael Ebanks, a freshman in aerospace engineering from Carrollton, Texas Jeremy Frampton, a senior psychology major from Turlock, California Christopher Lee Heard, a freshman in pre-engineering from Houston, Texas Jamie Hand, a freshman in environmental design from Henderson, Texas Lucas Kimmel, a freshman in biomedical science from Corpus Christi, Texas Bryan McClain, a freshman agriculture major from San Antonio Chad Anthony Powell, a sophomore in computer engineering from Keller, Texas Jerry Self, a sophomore engineering technology major from Arlington, Texas Nathan Scott West, a sophomore oceanography major from Bellaire, Texas"}, {"response": 270, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Nov 19, 1999 (13:20)", "body": "How sad! I guess it is back to the drawing board to figure out a new \"tradition\" for the future years. I did not know they made bon fires that big anywhere in the world...but it IS Texas, and everything is bigger in Texas..."}, {"response": 271, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Nov 19, 1999 (20:48)", "body": "The whole bonfire at A&M is \"under review\"; they might keep it but make it smaller or safer somehow. Some folks around town are wearing arm bands, the flags have been at half staff."}, {"response": 272, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Nov 19, 1999 (20:54)", "body": "It is even on foreign news..."}, {"response": 273, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Nov 20, 1999 (09:42)", "body": "Doug Sahm died. You probably wouldn't know him unless you were from Austin. He died at a hotel in Taos, NM of a possible heart attack. He was 58 and had been complaining of chest pains for a couple of days. You might have heard his songs. \"She's about a mover\" and \"Mendocino\" among others. His band was the Sir Douglas Quintet."}, {"response": 274, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Nov 20, 1999 (09:43)", "body": "One of his girlfriends was Connie Coulton ."}, {"response": 275, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Nov 20, 1999 (12:29)", "body": "A twelfth A&M student died of his injuries - a freshman (17 years old!)"}, {"response": 276, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Dec 11, 1999 (21:50)", "body": "Madeline Kahn passed on Dec 3 of ovarian cancer."}, {"response": 277, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Dec 11, 1999 (21:51)", "body": "and let's not forget the three airmen who died after a C-130 crash landed at the Kuwait International Airport. And the 16 injured, please keep them in your prayers."}, {"response": 278, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Dec 11, 1999 (22:05)", "body": "Nor the chopper crash which claimed 15 servicemen's lives..."}, {"response": 279, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Dec 13, 1999 (21:40)", "body": "that's right, knew i forgot to add something to my post. i know three people in the region so please keep them in your prayers especially during the holidays!"}, {"response": 280, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Dec 13, 1999 (23:05)", "body": "Indeed! I shall, as I will for those near and dear to me here on the Spring. 'Catch 22' Author Joseph Heller Dead at 76 NEW YORK (Reuters) - Joseph Heller, the former ad man who turned his Second World War military service into the tragicomic anti-war novel ``Catch-22'' and gave the English language a new phrase for a no-win situation, has died at age 76, his agent said on Monday. Heller died at his home in East Hampton, New York, on Sunday night of a heart attack, a spokesman for his literary agent, Amanda Urban of International Creative Management, said on Monday. Heller had recently completed writing what would be his final novel, ``A Portrait of an Artist, As an Old Man''. ``Any time a great writer dies there's a great hole no other writer can fill ... because great writers are one of a kind,'' said Matthew Bruccoli, Jefferies Professor of English at the University of South Carolina, which houses an archive of Heller's works and letters. ``'Catch-22' turns out to be probably the most important novel of World War Two because it provided a new way of regarding war as a literary subject,'' said Bruccoli, to whom Heller recently had sent a typescript of his final novel. ``It's unlike any other war novel.'' ``Catch-22,'' written in 1961 and first dismissed by the critics, was named one of the best English-language novels of the century by the Modern Library this year. The darkly comic novel that describes a Second World War bombardier's quest to avoid the horrors of war coined the term ''Catch-22,'' which for millions of readers came to represent the feeling of being helpless against a capricious bureaucracy. For its main protagonist, Yossarian, the ``Catch-22'' is that he claims he is too crazy to fly any more bombing missions, but he is told by the military that anyone who seeks to avoid combat must be sane. ``I won't try to define 'Catch-22,''' Heller said in a 1998 interview with Reuters. ``I believe the book remains relevant in so many ways because it deals not so much with the war situation but our societal situation (in) which people are at the mercy of other people.'' Eliciting a range of reviews from ``pretentious, immoral and poorly written'' to ``the best American novel that has come out of anywhere in years'' the novel and subsequent 1970 film made Heller a millionaire. In 1998 he defended the novel against accusations that it was similar to ``The Sky is a Lonely Place'' by Louis Falstein, a little-known book published 10 years before ``Catch 22.'' Heller's second novel did not appear until 1974. The widely anticipated ``Something Happened,'' a bleak look at a moderately successful but emotionally vacant man who appears unaware he is having a breakdown as he muses about his life, inspired comparisons to John Cheever. Like ``Good As Gold,'' which followed five years later, ''God Knows'' in 1984, ``No Laughing Matter'' in 1986 and ''Picture This'' in 1988, it sold respectably but did not recapture the success of ``Catch-22.'' In 1994, Heller published ``Closing Time,'' a sequel to ``Catch 22'' followed in 1998 by the memoir ``Now and Then: From Coney Island to Here.'' Heller's ``We Bombed in New Haven'' (1968), an anguished response to the American military involvement in Vietnam, had a moderately successful run on Broadway. Joseph Heller was born May 1, 1923, in the Coney Island section of New York City. After high school he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force as a bombardier but soon transferred to cadet school after hearing bombardiers were turned into gunners and as Heller recalled, ``a gunner's life was worth no more than three days.'' Heller flew more than 60 bombing missions and during his tour of duty came to understand the true horror of his situation. After the war, Heller earned a Bachelor of Arts from New York University in 1948, a Master of Arts from Columbia University in 1949 and ultimately a Fulbright Scholarship to Oxford University. This led to jobs teaching English at Pennsylvania State University, writing advertising copy for Time and Look magazines, and as a promotion manager for McCall's magazine. Though Heller started writing in college, it was not until he was working that several of his short stories were published in Esquire and the Atlantic Monthly. Teaching jobs at Yale University and University of Pennsylvania followed, as well as television and screen-writing work. One day in 1982, Heller entered his Manhattan apartment building and was struck by a sudden weakness in his limbs. The next day he was in a hospital intensive care unit suffering from a rare creeping paralysis called Guillain-Barre syndrome, unable to swallow and nearly unable to move. Heller's struggle with the disease lasted several years before his body was completely back to normal. Heller divorced his wife of 35 years, with whom he had a son and daughter, and in 1987 married the nurse who helped him recover from Guillain-Barre syndrome."}, {"response": 281, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Dec 16, 1999 (14:05)", "body": "We know this Ranger's wife - also a National Park Ranger. How incredibly sad! Suspect in ranger shooting claiming self-defense FBI, though, says evidence doesn't support his assertion By Suzanne Tswei Star-Bulletin A 30-year-old California native arrested in connection with the fatal shooting of Big Island park ranger Steve Makuakane-Jarrell said he shot in self-defense, according to an affidavit filed in federal court. Eugene Frederick Boyce III, described as an unemployed transient, said he shot the ranger Sunday morning during a violent confrontation involving the two men and Boyce\ufffds three dogs, the affidavit filed today by FBI Special Agent Lisa Nielsen says. Makuakane-Jarrell, a 15-year national park veteran, was killed while investigating a vicious dog complaint at Kaloko-Honokohau National Historic Park, where he worked. Boyce said he turned the ranger\ufffds 9 mm semi-automatic pistol against the ranger during the struggle, \ufffdwhich resulted in the ranger shooting himself,\ufffd the affidavit says. But Myron Fuller, FBI special agent in charge, said evidence so far does not support Boyce\ufffds claim. Fuller declined further comment. Makuakane-Jarrell fell to the ground after he was shot, but he was still alive and squirming, the affidavit says. Boyce then shot him until he went limp. \ufffdIf I could have I would have emptied the gun, I shot him as many times as I could,\ufffd the affidavit quotes Boyce as saying. Fuller said Makuakane-Jarrell was shot twice, once in the arm and once in the forehead. Boyce dragged the body into nearby bushes to hide it, Fuller said. Boyce also hid the gun by burying it and placing a rock on top, he said. After his arrest, Boyce led investigators to the gun, the ranger\ufffds hand-held radio and a pepper spray canister. Boyce fled on foot with his dogs, one of which had been injured and later was abandoned during the flight. Investigators on Monday released a description of a suspect and asked for the public\ufffds help. Rewards totaling $41,000 also were offered. Boyce was arrested yesterday evening about 20 miles from the shooting. Fuller credited the quick arrest to a well coordinated manhunt by federal and county law enforcement agencies and 130 tips from the public. Boyce is in federal custody without bail on a charge of murdering a federal official engaged in official duties. Conviction on the charge may result in the the death penalty, Assistant U.S. Attorney Elliot Enoki said. Boyce\ufffds three dogs also were in custody, and the injured dog was treated by a veterinarian."}, {"response": 282, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Wed, Jan 12, 2000 (17:15)", "body": "Also departed in the last few weeks: Hank Snow Curtis Mayfield Moondog"}, {"response": 283, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Jan 12, 2000 (23:17)", "body": "Hall of Fame Pitcher Bob Lemon Dead at 80 NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hall of Fame pitcher and former New York Yankees manager Bob Lemon died Wednesday. He was 80. The cause of death was not immediately available. Lemon was 23-7 with a 2.72 earned run average on the 1954 World Series Champions Cleveland Indians on a staff that included fellow-hall of famer Bob Feller, Early Wynn and Mike Garcia who beat the New Giants four straight games."}, {"response": 284, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jan 24, 2000 (18:06)", "body": ""}, {"response": 285, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jan 24, 2000 (18:08)", "body": "Hedy Lamarr, actress and inventor Hedy Lamarr, the sultry, sexy screen star of the 1930s and 1940s who also conceived the frequency-hopping technique now known as spread spectrum, has died. Lamarr was found dead in her suburban Orlando, Florida, home January 19. She was believed to be 86. Born Hedwig Kiesler in Austria, Lamarr came to the US in 1937 after being signed by MGM. Among her most successful films was the 1949, directed Cecil B. DeMille classic, Samson and Delilah. In her 1992 book Feminine Ingenuity, Lamarr described how she came up with the idea of a signaling device for radio-controlled torpedoes that would minimize the danger of detection or jamming by randomly shifting the frequency. She and composer George Antheil developed the concept and received a patent for it in 1942. The concept was not developed during World War II, but when the patent expired, Sylvania put the idea to use in satellites. Spread spectrum also has found applications in wireless telephones, military radios, wireless computer links, and Amateur Radio experimentation. A more-detailed version of Lamarr's role in spread spectrum is described in the IEEE book Spread Spectrum Communications, published in 1983."}, {"response": 286, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Jan 24, 2000 (19:35)", "body": "It's a technology that is just now gaining widespread use in cell phone and wireless networking devices, it's somehow hard to put spread spectrum together with a sultry, movie star of the 30s. Amazing."}, {"response": 287, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Jan 24, 2000 (19:39)", "body": "I had no idea, either. I posted it in Radio as well. I think many will be amazed. Brains and beauty are not always mutually exclusive; some fortunate few have both!"}, {"response": 288, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Feb 10, 2000 (22:03)", "body": "LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actor Jim Varney, the voice of Slinky Dog in the \"Toy Story\" movies and the bumbling handyman Ernest in TV ads and a popular series of slapstick films, died Thursday of cancer at age 50, friends said. Varney, who lost two-thirds of his right lung to cancer in September 1998, died before dawn at his home in Whitehouse, Tenn., outside Nashville, his spokesman and former wife, Jane Varney said. \"He passed away very peacefully,\" she said. \"It all happened rather quickly.\" His death came just months after he reprised his voice role as Slinky Dog in a sequel to the 1995 computer-animated Disney hit \"Toy Story.\" A native of Lexington, Kentucky, Varney is best known for his role as Ernest P. Worrell, the grinning, tool-belted bumbler he has portrayed in a host of television commercials. His character always appeared opposite an off-camera, silent neighbor, whose attention he got with the line \"Hey Vern!\" before launching into a hard-sell. His Ernest persona has been the star of a series of nine slapstick comedy films dating back to the '80s, including \"Ernest Goes to Camp,\" Ernest Saves Christmas,\" \"Ernest Goes to Jail,\" \"Ernest Rides Again,\" \"Ernest Goes to Africa\" and \"Ernest in the Army.\" The Ernest character originally was created to help promote a newly opened amusement park in Bowling Green, Ky., his longtime attorney and friend, William \"Hoot\" Gibson, said. His battle with cancer was first revealed publicly in November after questions were raised about his loss of hair when he was seen at public appearances in connection with \"Toy Story 2.\" Following his 1998 lung surgery, he suffered a bout of pneumonia, then underwent radiation treatments after cancer was detected in his brain in January 1999, Ms. Varney said. She said cancer also was believed to have spread to his spine. Friends said he had been a heavy smoker. Still, he continued working, and \"it's really been in the last three months that he was laid up, not able to get around,\" she said. Varney will return posthumously to the big-screen in two upcoming films, according to his friend, Gibson. He co-stars with Oscar-winner Billy Bob Thornton in the comedic love story \"Daddy and Them,\" scheduled for release by Miramax Films later this year. In the film, written and directed by Thornton, Varney plays a character named Uncle Hazel, whose relatives are trying to rescue him from prison. He also will supply the voice of a cook named Cookie in the upcoming Disney animated feature \"Atlantis,\" due for release next year. ------------------ *sniff* i loved ernest!"}, {"response": 289, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Feb 10, 2000 (23:29)", "body": "I'm sorry, Wolfie! (He shouldn't have smoked!)(...which really scares me...)"}, {"response": 290, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Feb 11, 2000 (12:13)", "body": "you don't smoke do ya Marcia?!?!?! or are you referring to the infallable, indestructible ('cept by his own mind), dark-side personified (got in trouble for that once...) Mr. WER? hear that WER... pick up some other nasty habit... like posting here more often! *grin* (sorry, couldn't help m'self)"}, {"response": 291, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Feb 11, 2000 (13:45)", "body": "No, I am not the one I am concerned about. Never thought it made very much sense to smoke, actually. um...yes...! 'sok..."}, {"response": 292, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Feb 11, 2000 (17:42)", "body": "me either, didn't see the coolness in it. i loved jv in beverly hillbillies and i knew that slinky dog sounded familiar! think i saw all the ernest movies....."}, {"response": 293, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Feb 11, 2000 (19:48)", "body": "Hope you don't mind if I post some of John's comments on Jim Varney... Saw it on TV. Not unexpected. Varney also had a regular role in the Tv sitcoms \"Alice\" and \"Flo\" as Flo's boyfriend Milo Skinner, was host of the 1970s TV variety show \"Pop Goes the Country,\" was a regular on \"Johnny Cash and Friends\" and played Seaman Skinner on \"Operation Petticoat.\" He was great as Jed Clampett in the 1993 big screen version of \"The Beverly Hillbillies.\" Despite the lowbrow image, he was one of Hollywood's most bankable comedic actors. He was successful, if not famous, long before he hit it big as \"Ernest.\" I thought he was hilarious and often smarter than given credit for. Some of his best lines were ad-libbed. When he was being interrogated in the movie \"Ernest Goes to Jail,\" he ad libbed in an angst-filled rant, \"All right! I admit it! I kidnapped the Lindbergh baby!\" Too damn bad he was a Kentuckian, where tobacco is considered a staple of the fruits and vegetables food group.One other note on Varney's sophistication and self-deprecating sense of humor. In a 1997 episode of the animated feature Duckman (USA Network), Varney played the voice of a tobacco company CEO in an episode titled \"You've Come the Wrong Way, Baby.\""}, {"response": 294, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Feb 12, 2000 (21:21)", "body": "Tom Landry died"}, {"response": 295, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Feb 13, 2000 (11:11)", "body": "SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 13 \ufffd Cartoonist Charles M. Schulz died Saturday night at his home in Santa Rosa, just as his final strip \ufffd a poignant farewell to his readers \ufffd was headed for newsstands. He was 77. Schulz delighted the world with the adventures and adversities of Charlie Brown, his friends and a dog named Snoopy. *sniff*"}, {"response": 296, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Feb 13, 2000 (15:28)", "body": "I know. I have a little Snoopy sitting beside me. He has a wee Woodstock sitting on his head. Daisy Hill Puppy Farm's finest graduate is now an orphan! *sniff*"}, {"response": 297, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Feb 13, 2000 (18:17)", "body": "i have a snoopy stuffed animal that i've had for ages and you can tell it was loved on. he went through my son and now my daughter. don't plan on getting rid of it. wonder how i can get him white again!"}, {"response": 298, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Feb 13, 2000 (18:22)", "body": "Cornmeal and/or dry shampoo? Hmmm. Even baby powder? Someone on the internet must have \"how do I clean stuffed animals\"....Ask Jeeves???!"}, {"response": 299, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Feb 13, 2000 (18:32)", "body": "i don't think he's ever been cleaned (i might have thrown him in the washer once)."}, {"response": 300, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Feb 13, 2000 (20:27)", "body": "Oook. Hand wash gently...if he is stuffed with cotton or kapok you will be sorry if he gets soppy wet. What my mom used to do was make a very sudsy batch and whip it into a blur of teeny bubbles. Use this bubble froth to cleanse your Snoopy. Use an old wash cloth or some thing of this nature to get the best results. Change the place on the wash cloth often!!!"}, {"response": 301, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Feb 17, 2000 (15:45)", "body": ""}, {"response": 302, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Thu, Feb 17, 2000 (15:51)", "body": "This happened perilously close to where my son used to live and work: Three Dead in Cargo Plane Crash Near Sacramento SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Reuters) - An Emery Worldwide DC-8 cargo plane crashed into an auto salvage yard near Sacramento soon after takeoff late Wednesday, killing all three people aboard and sparking a huge fire, officials said. FAA Western Region spokesman Jim Whitehead said the cargo jet crashed shortly after the pilot reported a ``severe center of gravity problem,'' which refers to the way cargo is stashed in the aircraft's hold. Witnesses described seeing a fiery crash that ignited at least 100 cars and sent a huge black cloud of smoke into the nighttime sky. There were no reported injuries on the ground. ``I seen a big giant ball of fire in the sky,'' Brian Delaney told the local NBC television affiliate. ``I told my son I bet that plane went down and sure enough that's what happened.'' Officials said the plane was making a sharp left turn as it attempted to return to the airport when it crashed in the auto salvage yard near the California capital, he said. Capt. Dan Haverty, from the American River Fire Department in Rancho Cordova, Calif. a suburb of Sacramento, said the pilot reported unsettled cargo, which included transmission fluid, clothing and a small amount of detonating explosives. ``When our crews arrived there was a large fire burning and there was no chance of rescue,'' he said in a telephone interview. Authorities said Emery Flight 17 left Sacramento Mather Airport, a former U.S. air force base that has been converted for civilian use, shortly before 8 p.m. PST (11 p.m. EST) and was headed to Dayton, Ohio. Firefighting crews and other emergency personnel were on the scene, and the flames were dying down and the National Transportation Safety Board said it was sending inspectors to the scene of the fiery crash. Emery Worldwide announced last week it planned to replace its entire fleet of 28 DC-8's over the next five years. Based in Redwood City, Calif., Emery operates in 229 countries through a network of more than 500 service centers and agent locations around the world. Emery Worldwide is a subsidiary of CNF Inc. (CNF.N.), a $5.6-billion management company of global supply chain services based in Palo Alto, Calif."}, {"response": 303, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Sat, Feb 19, 2000 (17:56)", "body": "Benny Quick. December 22nd 1999 (just heard about it) - pop/beat singer since early Sixties (late Fifties?). Had some major singles then. I know people who played for him. Benny hanged himself on the day he was supposed to marry his girlfriend of many years. Curtis Mayfield, in January. Genius in music, genius in soul. And soul doesn't spell the music style, but his attitude, his civil rights involvement, his political stand. Screamin' Jay Hawkins. Saturday last week. Moondog. Late 1999, in Germany."}, {"response": 304, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Feb 19, 2000 (18:29)", "body": "Luved Screamin' Jay Hawkins...tres weird but really cool."}, {"response": 305, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Mon, Feb 21, 2000 (18:17)", "body": "Guy around here who rents PAs out did play in a band for him. There just came a new double CD out late 1999 with a recording of a 1998 concert in Paris (label: Roadrunner)."}, {"response": 306, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, Feb 21, 2000 (19:37)", "body": "I knew he was an expatriot living in Paris. I figured if anyone knew a connection with him it would be you! Wonder if John ever interviewed him..."}, {"response": 307, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Wed, Feb 23, 2000 (19:32)", "body": "Mezz Mezzrow worked in Paris, too, in the Fifties... Don't know if he stayed there, but I got two 78s from 1954 or 56 with him on it, one side features a nice drum solo."}, {"response": 308, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Feb 23, 2000 (19:40)", "body": "Don't know what his real name was, but what a great jazz name he has/had. You DO have a cool record collection with some of the guys you mentioned from time to time in it...*wow*"}, {"response": 309, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Mar  1, 2000 (15:46)", "body": "please pray for the little 6 year old Kayla (michigan) who died as a result of a gunshot (only one bullet in the gun-thank goodness) from one of her classmates. this has got to stop! my baby girl is 6 and i really feel this deeply."}, {"response": 310, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Mar  1, 2000 (15:56)", "body": "I know another little girl who just turned 6 ... You may be assured of my prayers as may this precious other little one!"}, {"response": 311, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Mar  1, 2000 (16:02)", "body": "*hugs*"}, {"response": 312, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Mar  1, 2000 (16:04)", "body": "*Big nurturing and protective H U G S* back atcha!"}, {"response": 313, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Mar  5, 2000 (19:38)", "body": "Girls on Way to Mardi Gras Parade Crushed by Truck NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - Two toddlers on their way to a suburban Mardi Gras parade on Saturday were crushed to death by the rear wheels of an 18-wheel truck as their mother prepared to cross a highway, police reported. There were conflicting reports about whether the double stroller carrying Veronica Carney, 2, and Jacqueline Carney, 1, was still on the curb or had just started across the busy road. At least two witnesses said the girls and their mother, Elizabeth Carney, 23, were all on the sidewalk when the tractor-trailer's rear wheels jumped the curb and crushed the stroller. Police in suburban Gretna near New Orleans said the rig driver, 40-year-old Derrick Williams, had a history of speeding and passing violations and was driving with an expired license when the accident occurred. The girls' mother was hospitalized after collapsing following the accident, authorities said, adding it appeared she had stepped into the street when the accident occurred. Hundreds of parade watchers about 100 yards away were oblivious to the afternoon accident. Williams was issued several citations for safety violations and the expired license, none of which police said were directly related to the accident. Police are continuing their investigation."}, {"response": 314, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Mar  5, 2000 (20:12)", "body": "oh my goodness.....those poor baby girls didn't know what hit them, thank goodness. their poor mother...."}, {"response": 315, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Mar  5, 2000 (20:16)", "body": "Print that out for your little munchkins and make them read it if they tend to chafe at your caution when they are at the parades! That's why I posted it. Poor babies, Indeed! And, how terrible for the parents! God needed a few more cherubs...*sniff*"}, {"response": 316, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Tue, Mar  7, 2000 (23:03)", "body": "Pee Wee King, co-writer of ``Tennessee Waltz,'' dies LOUISVILLE, Ky. (Reuters) - Pee Wee King, a songwriter, singer and bandleader who wrote the ``Tennessee Waltz,'' diedTuesday, a hospital spokeswoman said. King, 86, who was born Frank Kuczynski in Milwaukee, suffered a serious heart attack late last month and died with his wife and family at his bedside, a spokeswoman for Jewish Hospital said. King began his career playing accordion with local polka bands in Milwaukee and then moved into country music, in part because he and cowboy actor and singer Gene Autry got to know each other when both performed on the same Chicago radio station. It was as a songwriter that King had his greatest successes. Besides co-writing the ``Tennessee Waltz'' with Redd Stewart, King wrote such hits as ``Slow Poke,'' ``Walk Me By the River'' and ``Napoleon's Retreat.'' Patti Page turned the ``Tennessee Waltz'' into a hit when she recorded it on the flip side of her 1947 disc featuring ''Santa Claus Boogie.'' The waltz later became the state song of Tennessee. As a performer, King was a regular on the radio program ''Mid-Day Merry Go Round'' in Knoxville in 1936, and joined the ''Golden West Cowboys'' band. He became leader of the group that helped launch the careers of crooner Eddy Arnold, honky-tonk singer Cowboy Copas and singer Ernest Tubb. King's group also became the first full-time band for the Grand Ole Opry in 1937 at a time when Opry performers were part-time and often held other jobs to make ends meet. King was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1974. He is survived by his wife, a daughter and three sons."}, {"response": 317, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Apr 22, 2000 (14:58)", "body": "I saw him take his first breath in life and I saw him take his last Furman Bisher - Staff Writer Atlanta Journal-Constitution Wednesday, April 19, 2000 Let me tell you about Roger Bisher, the athlete. It won't take long because the career was short. He was well-built for a kid. Looked like an athlete. Could run like a deer. He had a coachable attitude. So the Pop Warner coach at Chastain Park talked him into coming out for the team. His brother Jamie was already a player. Roger looked like a natural. He pitched in with moderate enthusiasm, then discovered that the coach knew all about machinery, so while the others practiced, Roger talked machinery with the coach, who enjoyed talking machinery with Roger, and football got lost. End of career. His next career led to machines and science and stuff. He had a little workshop under the house out of which came some of the strangest sounds you ever heard. Sometimes it was crackling electricity. Sometimes it was an explosion, nothing major, just the budding scientist learning by trial and error. Once, he freeze-dried a dead bird he had found and won a prize in a citywide science contest. The paper printed his name wrong, Thomas Bisher. Made no difference to him. He knew who it was. On our street, he was everybody's repairman. TV, refrigeration, air-conditioning, appliances, plumbing, anything. As they say in sports, he could do it all. Best part, there was no waiting. Knock on the door and ask if Roger could come over and fix something. Oh, once in awhile I'd have to tell them, \"Soon as he finishes his homework.\" One of my neighbors said, \"He's kind of pricey, but he does good work and you can count on him.\" He liked to swim, but when we used to vacation at Hilton Head, sometimes you'd look around for him and he'd be gone. You'd find him with some maintenance men or guys installing something. Sometimes he'd be down or up or inside something, just as dirty as they were. Once I asked him why he didn't get out of his workshop and play games. He said, \"Daddy, you play golf for fun. This is my game.\" Junkyards were his playgrounds. He'd make friends with the man who ran the place and get rummaging privileges. Sometimes he'd take some kind of scrap or discard to make a trade, but that was usually a token. One of his closest friendships was made in a junkyard --- well, a scrap dealership would be more proper --- with a man named Dave Pirkle, who while Roger was still a youth, accepted him as an equal. After he and his wife developed their business, Prime Power Inc., and it grew out of a patch of woods into a good-sized complex, he didn't sit back and delegate. He was hands-on. Once, he and an associate, Rick Taylor, were working on a project at the Communicable Diseases Center and Roger spied a dumpster on the grounds. Being a natural forager, he jumped into the dumpster and began looking around when a CDC official showed up. \"I'd like to meet your president,\" he said to Rick. \"He's right here,\" Rick said, and at that moment, Roger, the president, stood up in the dumpster and said, \"Pleased to meet you.\" I took him to his first Indianapolis 500, and as soon as we hit town, he caught a taxi to a manufacturing company he'd corresponded with. It wasn't long before he was in the president's office talking shop, this sophomore at Georgia Tech. It was sort of like the time when Jesus disappeared and his parents found him in the temple talking with the elders, and I hope that isn't overdrawn. I took him to his first, and only, bowl game. Georgia Tech played Texas Tech in the Sun Bowl, but the highlight of the trip was crossing into Juarez, his first time in a foreign country. He was careful not to drink the water. The subject of Roger comes up today because I have lost him. A beautiful, handsome, loving man, no finer son has any parent ever had, and I grieve. Old men like me should be going first, not one who had so much to give to the world as he. Roger Chisholm Bisher passed away Monday afternoon. I saw him take his first breath in life and I saw him take his last. He was just 44, but in my heart he shall always be that smiling child blowing up his workshop. Thanks for giving me your time. e-mail: furman@ajc.com"}, {"response": 318, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Sat, Apr 22, 2000 (17:23)", "body": "What's your connecton with Roger, Marci?"}, {"response": 319, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Apr 22, 2000 (20:06)", "body": "None, whatever. It was sent to me by John and I wanted to post it somewhere on Good Friday (when he sent it to me). This seemed to be the right place. Had you ever heard of him?"}, {"response": 320, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Sun, Apr 23, 2000 (03:36)", "body": "Nope. Not really."}, {"response": 321, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Apr 23, 2000 (14:21)", "body": "*sigh* John, too."}, {"response": 322, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Mon, May 22, 2000 (19:33)", "body": "John forwarded these to me: Sir John Gielgud has died of natural causes at his home in London at age 96. Gielgud -- who made his name as a Shakespearean stage actor -- made his debut in Hamlet at age 17. He would later be known for defining the role. He went on to appear in 54 theatrical films, ranging from Julius Caesar to his Oscar-winning performance in Arthur. He was the last in a generation of classic British actors which included Sir Ralph Richardson, Sir Laurence Olivier and Dame Peggy Ashcroft. The West End's Globe Theater was renamed in his honor 10 years ago. He worked as recently as spring, appearing in the BBC's Merlin miniseries. John's note: Although Americans know Sir John best from his Oscar winning turn as the gentleman's gentleman, Hobson in Arthur\" (1981). Although he had many memorable roles, his best film role was almost assuredly as Cassius in the 1953 production of Julius Caesar, in which he shone throughout despite having to share scenes with Marlon Brando (Antony) James Mason (Brutus), Edmond O'Brien (Casca) and the forgotten but fabulous Louis Calhern (Caesar). He did a lot of voice only work later in life, taking narration jobs as both King Arthur (\"Dragonheart,\" 1996) and Merlin (\"Quest for Camelot,\" 1998), and was awesome as Guinevere's adviser Oswald in \"First Knight\" (1995) and Pope Paul IV in \"Elizabeth\" (1998). His movie career spanned back to the days of silent films, his first credited role was as Daniel in 1924's \"Who Is the Man.\" As fine of a film actor as he was, he was an even better stage actor, classically trained in the Royal Shakespeare Company. His body of work is as impressive as any actor's this side of the ancient Greek stage and he will be greatly missed. England's queen of romance novels has died at age 98. Barbara Cartland's trademark books matched uninitiated virgin women with handsome, rich worldly men."}, {"response": 323, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Sat, Jun  3, 2000 (11:46)", "body": "Johnnie Taylor Dead At 62 (6/1/00, 6 p.m. ET) - Veteran soul singer Johnnie Taylor has died at the age of 62. On Wednesday (May 31), Taylor seemingly suffered a heart attack at his home in Duncanville, Texas, just outside Dallas, and died at approximately 10 p.m. that night at the Charleton Methodist Medical Center in Dallas. No immediate information was available as to burial plans. Born May 5, 1938, Taylor was at one time a member of the Soul Stirrers, the gospel group that counts among its alumni Sam Cooke. His first charted single was \"Baby, We've Got Love\" (written by Cooke), which peaked at Number 98 in Billboard in late 1963. It was Taylor's third single, \"Who's Making Love,\" that catapulted him to fame. \"Who's Making Love\" spent 14 weeks on the Hot 100 chart in late 1968 and early 1969, peaking at Number Five and going gold. Taylor enjoyed moderate success with a string of singles after that, although it would be some time before he cracked the top 10 again. That happened in 1976, when \"Disco Lady\" was released. The single spent 19 weeks on Billboard's Hot 100 chart, and reached Number One. Besides being a huge hit, \"Disco Lady\" was the first single that was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), for sales of 1 million copies. After the heights that Taylor achieved with \"Disco Lady,\" his career returned to the moderate levels of success that he had been enjoying for years. While he never had another chart-topper, Taylor continued to perform year-round, which was the thing he enjoyed doing the most. Last year, LAUNCH asked Taylor if it bothered him to be so closely associated with his two biggest hits, when he had so many other songs in his catalogue. He told us it's exactly the opposite. \"No, because you gotta be related to something,\" he said. \"Some people sing a long time, don't be related to anything, you know what I'm saying? So those are masterpieces, and I'm not, no, I'm not, I have no, nothing about that - except have a lot of humbleness and appreciation.\" -- Bruce Simon, New York"}, {"response": 324, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Sat, Jun  3, 2000 (11:47)", "body": "http://www.personal.cet.ac.il/yonin/jt.htm"}, {"response": 325, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Jun  4, 2000 (01:12)", "body": "I wish more artists of the musical variety had websites of this magintude. What a great collection of his output. Amazing!"}, {"response": 326, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Tue, Oct 17, 2000 (08:08)", "body": "Vincent Canby, NY Times film and theater critic, 76, of cancer. http://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/16/national/16CANB.html Gus Hall, American Communist Party leader, 90, of complications from diabetes."}, {"response": 327, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Tue, Oct 17, 2000 (08:12)", "body": "I just heard this on NPR on the way in to Austin this morning. The debates are being reconsidered because of it. Gov. Mel Carnahan of Missouri, his son, and his chief advisor, in a plane crash. His Republican opponent has stopped campaigning."}, {"response": 328, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Wed, Nov  1, 2000 (13:38)", "body": "Steve Allen. Musician, songwriter, writer, and inventor of late night tv talk shows. The first host of the Tonight Show. Survived by Jayne Meadows and his kids. He died in his sleep after helpingndkids carve a pumpkin."}, {"response": 329, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Wed, Nov  1, 2000 (19:50)", "body": "He was one of the great ones of our time."}, {"response": 330, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Wed, Dec  6, 2000 (10:30)", "body": "Poet Gwendolyn Brooks, age 83. A Sunset of the City Already I am no longer looked at with lechery or love. My daughters and sons have put me away with marbles and dolls, Are gone from the house. My husband and lovers are pleasant or somewhat polite And night is night. It is a real chill out, The genuine thing. I am not deceived, I do not think it is still summer Because sun stays and birds continue to sing. It is summer-gone that I see, it is summer-gone. The sweet flowers indrying and dying down, The grasses forgetting their blaze and consenting to brown. It is a real chill out. The fall crisp comes I am aware there is winter to heed. There is no warm house That is fitted with my need. I am cold in this cold house this house Whose washed echoes are tremulous down lost halls. I am a woman, and dusty, standing among new affairs. I am a woman who hurries through her prayers. Tin intimations of a quiet core to be my Desert and my dear relief Come: there shall be such islanding from grief, And small communion with the master shore. Twang they. And I incline this ear to tin, Consult a dual dilemma. Whether to dry In humming pallor or to leap and die. A great poet spirit has died."}, {"response": 331, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Wed, Dec  6, 2000 (10:32)", "body": "A good starting place to learn about Gwendolyn Brooks: http://encarta.msn.com/find/Concise.asp?ti=02B3A000 Brooks, Gwendolyn Elizabeth Brooks, Gwendolyn Elizabeth (1917- ), American poet, the first African American to receive a Pulitzer Prize. Born in Topeka, Kansas, Brooks graduated from Wilson Junior College in 1936. Her first book of poems, A Street in Bronzeville (1945), was praised by critics as a clear and moving evocation of life in an urban black neighborhood. For Annie Allen (1949), Brooks was awarded the 1950 Pulitzer Prize in poetry. Her other works include the novel Maud Martha (1953); the children's book Bronzeville Boys and Girls (1956); and the volumes of poetry Selected Poems (1963), In the Mecca (1968), Riot (1969), Family Pictures (1970), Aloneness (1971), To Disembark (1981), The Near-Johannesburg Boy (1987), BLACKS (1987), Gottschalk and the Grande Tarantelle (1989), and Children Coming Home (1992). Her autobiographical work Report from Part One appeared in 1972. Brooks is noted for her adaptation of traditional forms of poetry and for her use of short verse lines and casual rhymes. Her work has always depicted black struggles, but after 1968 she became more active and outspoken in attacking racial discrimination. She also worked extensively to distribute black poetry. Brooks was named poet laureate for the state of Illinois in 1968, succeeding Carl Sandburg. In 1985 she was appointed poetry consultant to the Library of Congress, and in 1988 she was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame. Her many awards include the American Academy of Arts and Letters Award (1946) and a National Endowment for the Arts Senior Fellowship for Literature (1989),a lifetime achievement award. In 1990 Brooks became the first American to receive the Society for Literature Award from the University of Thessaloniki in Athens, Greece. She received the National Book Foundation's medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters in 1994."}, {"response": 332, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Dec  7, 2000 (21:55)", "body": "i used one of her pieces in a poetry interpretation contest in high school."}, {"response": 333, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Fri, Feb  2, 2001 (14:53)", "body": "poem For Gregory Corso By Robert Creeley Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2001, at 4:00 p.m. PT I'll miss you, who did better than I did at keeping the faith of poets, staying true. It's as if you couldn't do otherwise, had always an appetite waiting to lead. You kept to the high road of canny vision, let the rest of us find our own provision. Ruthless, friends felt, you might take everything. Nothing was safe from you. You did what you wanted. Yet, safe in your words, your poems, their humor could hold me. The wit, the articulate gathering rhythms, all made a common sense of the archaic wonders. You pulled from nowhere the kingly chair. You sat alone there."}, {"response": 334, "author": "sprin5", "date": "Fri, Feb  2, 2001 (14:54)", "body": "Michel Navratil, 92. The last male survivor of the Titanic."}, {"response": 335, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Feb  2, 2001 (18:16)", "body": "he was 3 years old when the ship went down."}, {"response": 336, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Feb  3, 2001 (19:16)", "body": "I wonder how many women survivors are still alive?"}, {"response": 337, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Oct 23, 2001 (00:11)", "body": "Dan Del Santo, famed Austin radio personality who had been on the lam since 1992, died recently. Del Santo's voice and personality is probably familiar to anyone who spent time in Austin in the lates 80s or early 90s. He used to do the world-beat music show on KUT and had been a fixture on the local music scene since the mid 70s. In '92 he was busted for pot, jumped bail, and disappeared. Here is his obit from today's statesman: Dan Del Santo, 1951-2001 From offbeat to world beat, Del Santo knew music By Michael Corcoran American-Statesman Staff Wednesday, October 17, 2001 Austin world music guru Dan Del Santo's nine years as a fugitive has ended in a small town outside Oaxaca in southern Mexico, where he was found dead. John Del Santo of San Diego said the U.S. Consulate in Mexico City notified him Friday that his brother had died the day before of internal bleeding. \"His girlfriend Gloria said he'd had terrible back pain after a couple of car accidents and used painkillers, which eventually caused the bleeding,\" the musician's older brother said. The bandleader, who wore colorful traditional African garb and coined the term \"world beat\" while leading an Afro-Cuban band in the 1980s, was 50. Del Santo disappeared from the Austin music scene in 1992 after being charged in Virginia with conspiring to distribute marijuana. But while he may have been avoiding the law, he was hardly on the run, ex-wife Anne Sherwood said. \"He lived outside of Oaxaca the whole nine years,\" said the mother of his two children. \"He played guitar in clubs under his own name.\" \"Austin City Limits\" producer Terry Lickona, who moved with Del Santo from Poughkeepsie, N.Y., to Austin in 1974, said he had occasionally heard reports from people who said they saw Del Santo playing at an Italian restaurant in Oaxaca. \"It was never a secret that he was in Mexico,\" Lickona said. Jim Carney, who heads the U.S. marshal's international investigation office in Washington, said such easy evasion is not uncommon considering the workload of Mexican police. \"We have no authority there, but we'll press the Mexican authorities to go after the violent offenders,\" Carney said. \"There are as many as 4,000 American fugitives in Mexico, and in the big scheme of things (Del Santo) must not have been a top priority.\" Deputy U.S. Marshal Kevin Connolly, whose office in Richmond, Va., handled the case, said his marshals knew where to find Del Santo. \"We notified the Mexican authorities of his whereabouts about two years ago,\" he said. After Del Santo was arrested Aug. 17, 1992, and released on his own recognizance, he sent a letter to the manager of Austin public radio station KUT resigning from his popular world music radio show \"due to an unseen family tragedy that will take me away from Austin for an indefinite period of time.\" When he didn't show up for his arraignment in Norfolk, Va., the next month to face charges of attempting to arrange the sale of more than a ton of marijuana to two Virginia men, Del Santo was deemed a fugitive. \"We couldn't figure out why he didn't just go to trial,\" Sherwood said. \"It didn't seem to be a strong case against him.\" But Lickona said Del Santo had become increasingly paranoid in the year or so before his arrest. \"After his divorce, he'd sleep on the floor in his office and rarely go outside. He didn't trust anyone.\" Most of all, though, Del Santo was terrified of the prospect of prison, Lickona said. \"He thought he was looking at 25 years.\" Lickona said he saw a completely different person in 1992 than the one he met in the early '70s, when Lickona was a disc jockey and Del Santo played in a progressive bluegrass band. \"We were like brothers,\" Lickona said. \"He was my best friend for 15 years, but then things started getting a little weird.\" Enchanted by the Texas \"outlaw country\" scene, Lickona and Del Santo came down from New York to the 1974 Willie Nelson Fourth of July Picnic and fell in love with Austin. \"Dan thought his music would fit right in, but when he saw that everyone else was doing the same progressive country style, he decided to do something new,\" Lickona said. Del Santo would call his new outfit the Professors of Pleasure. \"Before he went 'world beat,' Dan's music was offbeat,\" said former musical collaborator Mike Mordecai. \"It was this jazzy, bluesy, stream of consciousness stuff that just blew me away,\" Mordecai said. \"I told Dan that his deep voice called for a trombone player in the band, and a few days later he asked me to join.\" By the mid-'80s, Del Santo had become engrossed in African music and altered his band accordingly. He also started a Friday night world music tradition at KUT that ended with the cancellation of the 8-to-11 p.m. program just a month ago. Del Santo didn't hide his affinity for marijuana, which he often packaged in Mason jars. \"It was no secret that Dan sold the strongest pot in town,\" said Mordecai, noting that the rotund bandleader once posed in his marijuana field for an "}, {"response": 338, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Nov 16, 2001 (14:27)", "body": "Bands, fans loved Continental Club's Shoeshine Charley By Michael Corcoran American-Statesman Staff Thursday, November 15, 2001 \"Shoeshine\" Charley Miller often butchered the names of bands he introduced at the Continental Club. \"How 'bout that Hondo Escalator?\" he'd announce after a set by Alejandro Escovedo. At first the flubs were genuine, but Miller started doing them on purpose, to the delight of patrons. Miller, a beloved fixture at the South Austin club and a colorful presence in the city's music scene, died Wednesday of respiratory failure at the Monte Siesta nursing home. He was 64. Owner Steve Wertheimer turned Miller's shoeshine stand into a shrine at the news of the death. \"He left his personal stamp on the club, that's for sure,\" Wertheimer said. Miller was the third member of the Continental Club family to die recently. Fiddler Champ Hood died Nov. 3, and percussionist John \"Mambo\" Treanor died Aug. 20. Miller had been at the Continental for 10 years but had scarcely been seen in recent months because of failing health. He returned to the club Sept. 12 for a tribute concert that raised more than $3,000 to help pay his nursing home expenses. Miller had such a great time that night and stayed so late that he was locked out of the nursing home. He was often cantankerous, especially when clubgoers leaned against his stand or sat in his chair to watch the bands, but those who steered clear of his wrath instantly took a shine to the nattily attired character who looked like he'd stepped out of a 1950s juke joint. \"Some people would come just to see Charley,\" Wertheimer said. \"It didn't matter who was playing.\" Those who knew him best describe a soft core to his gruff exterior. \"When the Grey Ghost played the club for the last time, the Ghost was so sick, so weak, that Charley just cried like a baby,\" said Glover Gill, whose former band 8 1/2 Souvenirs featured Miller in its \"Happy Feet\" video. Miller also made cameo appearances in \"Lone Star\" and \"The Newton Boys.\" Peppering his down-home dialect with profanities, Miller didn't hesitate to give his opinion of bands he didn't like, especially loud ones. But he was an uncle figure to a host of Austin acts, including Junior Brown, who would often take Miller on tour with him to lead the guitarist to the stage. \"With me as a bodyguard, ain't no (expletive) gonna mess with Junior,\" the 130-pound Miller would boast. \"Charley was a special friend,\" Brown said in a written statement. \"He was unique because he wasn't afraid to completely open up his heart to people.\" Born in Smithville, Miller began shining shoes at age 10 in a \"whites only\" barbershop. As a young adult, he booked music at the legendary East Austin blues club Charlie's Playhouse. From 1959 to 1976, Miller ran the after-hours juke joint Ernie's Chicken Shack on Webberville Road and worked with Blues Boy Hubbard and other blues acts. It was while shining shoes at Antone's in the late 1980s that Miller met Wertheimer. \"I'd tell him, `Man, you ought to shine shoes at my club,' \" Wertheimer recalled, \"but he'd always turn me down.\" Then one day in 1991, out of the blue, Miller pulled up in a pickup with his shoeshine stand in the back. \"All right, where do you want me to set up?\" Miller said to Wertheimer. It wasn't long before Miller's elevated shoeshine chair became his throne and the club his kingdom. One night, a band was taking a set break deemed too long by Miller, so he went backstage and ordered the players to cut the chitchat and get onstage. Watching the band dutifully follow the orders, Wertheimer made Miller stage manager. \"It was his club, too, as far as he was concerned,\" Wertheimer said. When a second Continental Club opened in Houston last year, Miller insisted on moving there for a few months to make sure the club was being run right. \"Any time a touring band would come through, the first thing they'd ask is, `Where's Charley?' \" Wertheimer said. \"Everybody remembered him. He was a true character, one of a kind.\" Wertheimer plans to commission a bust of Shoeshine Charley to put near his cherished stand. Miller is survived by brothers William and Carl Miller of Austin and sister Eleanor Keys of Phoenix. Final arrangements for the funeral, expected to be Monday at King-Tears Mortuary, are pending. New York Times November 16, 2001 Ex-Rep. Bob Eckhardt, 88, Liberal Democrat of Texas, Dies By DAVID STOUT WASHINGTON, Nov. 15 \ufffd Bob Eckhardt, who survived for 14 years in Congress as a liberal Democrat from Houston despite a constituency that was considerably to his right politically, died on Tuesday in Austin, Tex., his hometown. He was 88. His family said Mr. Eckhardt had suffered a series of strokes. Mr. Eckhardt represented Texas's Eighth Congressional District from 1967 until 1981, losing his seat in the 1980 Republican landslide led by Ronald Reagan. Mr. Eckhardt was a man of deceiving appearance. With his flowing mane, loud bow ties, Panama hats and three-piece linen suits, he look"}, {"response": 339, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Nov 30, 2001 (07:28)", "body": "Now there are two. George Harrison My Sweet Lord http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/obituaries/george_harrison/default.stm http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20011130/en/obit_harrison.html OS ANGELES (AP) - George Harrison, the Beatles' quiet lead guitarist and spiritual explorer who added both rock 'n' roll flash and a touch of the mystic to the band's timeless magic, has died. He was 58. Harrison died at 1:30 p.m. Thursday at a friend's Los Angeles home following a battle with cancer, longtime friend Gavin De Becker told The Associated Press late Thursday. Harrison's wife, Olivia Harrison, and son Dhani, 24, were with him. ``He left this world as he lived in it, conscious of God, fearless of death, and at peace, surrounded by family and friends,'' the Harrison family said in a statement. ``He often said, `Everything else can wait but the search for God cannot wait, and love one another.''' With Harrison's death, there remain two surviving Beatles, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr. John Lennon was shot to death by a deranged fan in 1980. ``I am devastated and very, very sad,'' McCartney told reporters outside his London home Friday. ``He was a lovely guy and a very brave man and had a wonderful sense of humor. He is really just my baby brother.''"}, {"response": 340, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Nov 30, 2001 (07:31)", "body": "Another excerpt from the above AP story: After the Beatles broke up in 1970, Harrison had sporadic success. He organized the concert for Bangladesh in New York, produced films that included Monty Python's ``Life of Brian,'' and teamed with old friends, including Bob Dylan and Roy Orbison, as ``The Traveling Wilburys.'' Harrison was born Feb. 25, 1943, in Liverpool, one of four children of Harold and Louise Harrison. His father, a former ship's steward, became a bus conductor soon after his marriage. Harrison was 13 when he bought his first guitar and befriended Paul McCartney"}, {"response": 341, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Nov 30, 2001 (08:03)", "body": ""}, {"response": 342, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Jan  6, 2002 (14:30)", "body": "Catya Sassoon, 33. According to MSNBC, she died in her sleep after returning from a New Year's Party feeling woozy."}, {"response": 343, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Jan  8, 2002 (21:31)", "body": "Wendy's founder Dave Thomas *frown*"}, {"response": 344, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Mar  8, 2002 (22:44)", "body": "Mati Klarwein http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/Strasse/8599/mati2.html"}, {"response": 345, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Mar  8, 2002 (22:45)", "body": "Abdul Mati Klarwein's surrealistic renderings first came to the notice of the world when Carlos Santana personally chose the cover for the LP \"Abraxas\", but Mati's art is also associated with Miles Davis album covers in the 1970s. His works are Dali-esque and occasionally \"provocative\"."}, {"response": 346, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Mar  8, 2002 (23:00)", "body": "Sounds fascninating but did not recognize the name. I'll go edify myself."}, {"response": 347, "author": "alyeska", "date": "Fri, Mar  8, 2002 (23:45)", "body": "I was surprised that John Thaw passed. I loved him as Morse."}, {"response": 348, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Mar 23, 2002 (08:59)", "body": "LONDON, March 23 (Xinhuanet) -- England cricketer Ben Hollioake has been killed in a car crash in Australia, the BBC said here on Saturday. The 24-year-old died instantly in the accident involving his black Porsche 924, which came off the road in the early hours of Saturday morning (1600 Friday GMT) in Perth, Western Australia. Hollioake lost control of the Porsche as it came off a ramp on an expressway in the south of the city and hit a pylon. A 22-year-old female passenger is in a \"serious but stable condition\" in a Perth hospital after suffering serious head and chest injuries. Police have begun an investigation into the accident, in which no other car was involved. Relatives - including Hollioake's sister Eboni - who were travelling in a vehicle behind the Porsche, were first on the scene after witnessing the crash, police said. Constable Raphael Perez of the police operations center in Perth said that Hollioake \"failed to negotiate a bend and hit a pylon which rolled the vehicle\". He added that Hollioake's parents, who live near Melbourne, are being given counselling and treatment for shock. England's cricket side, currently playing New Zealand in the second Test in Wellington, were made aware of Hollioake's death at the lunch interval. They requested that the England flag be lowered to half-mast during the lunch break and black armbands were worn by both teams' batsmen. The 24-year-old Surrey all-rounder was born in Australia but moved to Britain from Perth in 1984. Hollioake played two Tests for England - against Australia in 1997 and Sri Lanka in 1998. Hollioake is the second Surrey player to die in a car crash in recent years, following Graham Kersey's similar accident near Brisbane in December 1996. Enditem"}, {"response": 349, "author": "wolf", "date": "Wed, Mar 27, 2002 (18:24)", "body": "Milton Burl and Dudley Moore today...."}, {"response": 350, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Mar 30, 2002 (12:27)", "body": "- Britain's Queen Mother dies at 101. Watch CNN or log on to http://CNN.com"}, {"response": 351, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Mar 30, 2002 (12:29)", "body": "and Billy somebody (sorry, can't remember the last name) died Thurs. He was famous for all sorts of movies including Some Like It Hot and he was responsible for pairing the odd couple-walter mattheau and jack lemmon"}, {"response": 352, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Mar 30, 2002 (12:35)", "body": "Billy Wilder !!! Indeed, he directed and produced many famous films."}, {"response": 353, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Mar 30, 2002 (19:37)", "body": "thanks for that marcia, i didn't mean any disrespect in my post (by forgetting his last name)!"}, {"response": 354, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Mar 30, 2002 (23:12)", "body": "The Queen Mother. Queen Elizabeth."}, {"response": 355, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Mar 30, 2002 (23:15)", "body": "Best thing I could find on the web: http://www.queenmother-100years.com/regmain.htm"}, {"response": 356, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sat, Apr 20, 2002 (22:20)", "body": "robert urich (sp?)"}, {"response": 357, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Apr 21, 2002 (21:14)", "body": "Correct spelling. from the official roberturich.com website. ROBERT URICH Biography For the past twenty-five years, Robert Urich has been one of the most popular and prolific actors on television. His \ufffdTVQ\ufffd, an index of recognition and likeability, is not surprisingly one of the highest in television, ranking in the top five. Urich has starred in over fifteen weekly television series\ufffd including the popular and long-running series\ufffd Spenser: For Hire and Vega$, which consistently earned top 20 ratings. He has also starred in the series\ufffd S.W.A.T., Gavilan, Soap, Tabitha, Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice, American Dreamer, Crossroads, Lonesome Dove, It Had to be You, The Lazarus Man, Vital Signs, PBS\ufffds Boatworks, UPN\ufffds The Love Boat: The Next Wave and the WB\ufffds animated drama Invasion America, and the current EMERIL on NBC. Upon concluding National Geographic\ufffds On Assignment series, Urich received the 1992 Cable Ace Award for Informational Host of National Geographic\ufffds Explorer, which he hosted for three years. He also received a 1992 Emmy Award for his narration of the Explorer film U-Boats: Terror on Our Shores. In addition to his success in weekly television series\ufffd, Urich has also worked extensively in movies for television, having received both critical and popular acclaim for The Defiant Ones, Young Again, The Comeback, Lady Be Good, Stranger At My Door, And Then She Was Gone, Survive the Savage Sea, Final Descent, and Miracle on the 17th Green, in which he was executive producer. Urich most recently completed two movies for CBS Television, For the Love of Olivia with Lou Gossett Jr. and Aftermath with Meredith Baxter. Urich has also starred in numerous mini-series\ufffd including Princess Daisy, Mistral\ufffds Daughter, the CBS dramatic telefilm To Save the Children, the highly-rated Danielle Steele\ufffds Perfect Stranger, two Spenser: For Hire movies for Lifetime and ABC, Tailhook, the Hallmark Hall of Fame feature Captain Courageous, The Angel of Pennsylvania Avenue for the Family Channel, CBS\ufffds Family Descent, and Final Run. Among Urich\ufffds feature film credits are starring roles in Turk 182! With Timothy Hutton, Endangered Species with JoBeth Williams, Ice Pirates with Anjelica Huston, Jock of the Bushveld, and most recently, Cloverbend. Urich has also performed on stage in productions that include The Hasty Heart in which he teamed with his wife, Heather Menzies, at the Kennedy Center for the Arts. He also completed a starring role as Billy Flynn in the touring company of Chicago, ending his successful run on Broadway. A small town high school football hero of Toronto, Ohio, Urich earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Radio and Television Communications at Florida Sate University while on a four-year football scholarship. While still a student, Urich hosted his own weekly television talk show. He subsequently earned an MA in Broadcast Research and Management from Michigan State University. Urich made his stage debut by talking his way into a community theater production of Lovers and Other Strangers. He spent the next 18 months performing at Chicago\ufffds Ivanhoe Theater and the Arlington Park and Pheasant Run Theaters, during which time he caught the attention of a talent agent and moved to Los Angeles to pursue a professional career. He landed his first series starring role in Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice based on the controversial movie of the same title. Shortly thereafter, he made his feature film debut in Clint Eastwood\ufffds second outing as Dirty Harry Callahan, Magnum Force \ufffd five lines before being crushed under a motorcycle by Eastwood\ufffds speeding car! Urich began to work steadily after Magnum Force with the police series S.W.A.T. and then his own starring roles in Vega$ and Gavilan. He has worked consistently ever since. In 1996, following the final production of the first season of The Lazarus Man, Robert was diagnosed with Synovial Cell Sarcoma, which is a rare soft tissue cancer. He underwent surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation for eight months. During treatment, he spoke very publicly about his cancer. Robert has been awarded many honors including the Gilda Radner Courage Award from the Roswell Park Cancer Institute. Urich continues to do a speaking tour throughout the United States, and he has publicly spoken more than 45 times to over 200,000 people across the country. The audiences range from Cancer Support Groups to Fortune 500 Companies. He has been featured on Primetime Live interviewed by Dianne Sawyer, and has appeared Extra, Oprah, The Today Show, Good Morning America and Larry King Live. He had been a frequent guest on The Tonight Show, Late Night with David Letterman, The Conan O\ufffdBrien Show, Live with Regis, and The View. He is survived by his wife, Heather, and three children, Ryan, Emily, and Allison."}, {"response": 358, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Apr 23, 2002 (18:37)", "body": "he was good looking too! Linda Lovelace, today (most famous for Deep Throat)"}, {"response": 359, "author": "wolf", "date": "Fri, Apr 26, 2002 (17:47)", "body": "left eye lopez from TLC in a car crash in hondurus....(yesterday)"}, {"response": 360, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Apr 26, 2002 (23:26)", "body": "is THAT who it was. Why Left Eye? *sigh* I am so out-of-it..."}, {"response": 361, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Jun 19, 2002 (07:10)", "body": "Jack Buck did the Cardinals games for about 30 years, I think I heard on NPR. What a great trio, Jack Buck, Harry Carey and Joe Garagiola. These three did the Cardinals games on KMOX that I listened to as a child growing up in St. Louis."}, {"response": 362, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Jun 23, 2002 (18:20)", "body": "Ann Landers Psychology Today magazine once praised the Ann Landers column for influencing how many people resolved their problems. Ms. Lederer was a strong believer in counseling and often sought advice from prominent experts when a reader's problem proved too complicated. Ms. Lederer answered hundreds of letters a day from the office in her high-rise apartment in Chicago, working on a typewriter because she did not like computers. Despite her illness, Ms. Lederer worked right up until her death. Sunday's edition of the Chicago Tribune carries her latest column."}, {"response": 363, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Jun 23, 2002 (18:23)", "body": "Agony aunt Ann Landers dies of bone disease June 23 2002 at 11:12AM By Jane Light Chicago - Ann Landers, who was reputedly the most widely read columnist in the world and famously urged her readers to \"wake up and smell the coffee\", died on Saturday at the age of 83, the Chicago Tribune reported. The Tribune, which had been her home base since 1987, said she died in her Chicago home of multiple myeloma - a malignant tumour of the bone marrow. Her real name was Esther \"Eppie\" Pauline Friedman Lederer, and according to the Tribune her column was for 40 years the world's best read and most widely syndicated - carried by 1 200 newspapers http://www.itechnology.co.za/index.php?click_id=5&art_id=qw1024822620422B211&set_id=9"}, {"response": 364, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Jun 30, 2002 (10:03)", "body": "Rosemary Clooney. and Arthur Spud Melin. Co-Invented the hula hoop. Melin was a co-inventor of the Hula Hoop, which ultimately became the lone job skill required of the nation's Hooters girls. Melin, however, has failed to capitalize on the success of Hooters, and was even denied when he attempted to legally change the spelling of his last name from \"Melin\" to \"Melon.\" Children around the world have always played with hoops, by rolling and throwing them or twirling them around the waist and limbs. For adults, hoop twirling has at times been recommended as a weight-loss measure (ancient Greece) and, ironically, denounced as a source of sprains, pains and even heart attacks (14th-century England). These hoops were once made of vines or other plants, wood, or metal. The conversion of the toy hoop into 20th-century Americana came thanks to Richard Knerr and Arthur \"Spud\" Melin, founders of the Wham-O Company. In 1957, an Australian visiting California told them offhand that in his home country, children twirled bamboo hoops around their waists in gym class. Knerr and Melin saw how popular such a toy would be; and soon they were winning rave reviews from schoolkids for the hollow plastic prototype they had created. The next year, the hula hoop, whose name came from the Hawaiian dance its users seemed to imitate, was marketed nationwide. Americans kids and adults alike were hooked: Wham-O sold 25 million hula hoops in two months. Almost 100 million international orders followed. Wham-O could hardly patent an ancient item, but did reinvent, manufacture and market the hula hoop for the modern world---for example, by using Marlex, a lightweight but durable plastic then recently invented by Phillips Petroleum. By the end of 1958, after $45 million in profits, the craze was dying down. But Richard Knerr was ready with another bombshell: that year he had discovered the \"Frisbie.\" http://web.mit.edu/invent/www/inventorsI-Q/hulahoop.html"}, {"response": 365, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Jul  9, 2002 (08:01)", "body": "Ted Williams. A real American hero. He batted .400 in a season and fought in two world wars. But his death has brought controversy and jokes on Jay Leno. The Splendid Shiver? Will Ted Williams hit over .400 in the year 2150? Don't count on it By Shankar Vedantam THE WASHINGTON POST Tuesday, July 9, 2002 A few hours after he died, the body of Ted Williams was removed from a Florida funeral home and taken to Arizona, where family members said his son had arranged for the 83-year-old baseball Hall of Famer to be drained of blood, filled with a freezing solution and floated inside a container filled with super-cold liquid nitrogen. Williams' death and a quarrel that has broken out among his children over the disposal of his body have sparked a macabre collision between technology and an old-fashioned family feud, raising ethical, scientific and legal questions. Williams' will might resolve whether his body will be thawed and cremated or will remain frozen. The executor of his estate is expected to file the will today or Wednesday in Florida. Williams, who played 19 seasons for the Boston Red Sox and missed three full seasons and most of two others because of military service, might be the biggest celebrity to be \"cryo-preserved.\" The Web site of the company that family members say has his body -- Alcor Life Extension Foundation of Scottsdale, Ariz. (www.alcor.org) -- indicates 49 people have been preserved in its frozen crypts. Nationwide, about twice that number have been cryo-preserved, and a thousand living people have signed up for the process at companies charging $28,000 to $120,000, which is Alcor's top price. While the exact location and condition of Williams' body could not be confirmed by family members, this much is certain: There is a growing industry called cryonics whose leaders say that frozen corpses could be thawed out one day and, with the help of technologies as yet unknown, revived from death, healed of afflictions and restored to youthful grace. No human has been frozen so cold and thawed alive. There is nothing in current science to suggest this will be possible. \"It's a bamboozle,\" said Herman Feifel, an emeritus professor of psychiatry and an expert on aging at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. \"They're milking the public. Hope never dies, I suppose. It's a bunch of baloney -- this is wishful thinking and will never occur.\" Williams, who 61 years ago was the last major-league baseball player to bat .400 in a season, died Friday at an Inverness, Fla., hospital. He had been in failing health for several years from strokes and heart disease. It is unclear whether the freezing procedure was something Williams had requested. His eldest daughter, Barbara Joyce Williams Ferrell, brought the procedure to light when she accused her half-brother, John Henry, of moving the corpse to Arizona to have it frozen. Ferrell, who is Williams' daughter from his first marriage, said her father wanted to be cremated and have his ashes scattered over the Florida Keys. She contends that John Henry and Claudia, children from Williams' third marriage, are behind the Alcor move. \"My dad's in a metal tube, on his head, so frozen that if I touched him it would crack him because of the warmth from my fingertips,\" Ferrell told a Boston television station. \"It makes me so sick.\" Eric Abel, a Williams family lawyer, told The Boston Globe that all preparations are in accordance with Williams' wishes. A spokesman for Abel said he was not accepting calls from the media Monday, and attempts to reach John Henry Williams were not successful. John Henry, whose parents divorced when he was 4, moved to Florida in 1991 to take over his father's business interests. He increasingly limited access to his father, drawing criticism from Williams' former teammates and friends. \"It hurts the whole image of everyone's thoughts about Ted when he was alive,\" said Haywood Sullivan, former owner and general manager of the Red Sox as well as a teammate of Williams, who was known as the \"Splendid Splinter.\" \"He was flamboyant, he was controversial, yet down deep he was a good person. That's what hurts so much: to see all this right now. It's tainting the whole situation.\" While Alcor did not return calls seeking comment Monday, the president of the next-largest company, the Cryonics Institute, near Detroit, said the cryonics technique was growing in popularity. Robert Ettinger said his company had frozen 41 corpses. He said he has also signed up more than 400 living people who have contracted with the company, mostly by making it the beneficiary of life insurance policies. Ettinger said the company asked that corpses be packed in ice immediately after death and taken to the facility or a morgue that was equipped for the procedure. Blood is drained from the body and replaced with a liquid containing glycerine. Simultaneously the body is cooled, either with cold air, ice or crushed dry ice. The body is then floated in a sleep"}, {"response": 366, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Jul 10, 2002 (23:36)", "body": "On Feb. 19, 1953, flying low on a bombing run far above the 38th parallel, Williams' F-9 Panther was hit by small arms fire and started leaking hydraulic fluid. With his plane shaking badly (he didn't know it was also on fire), his control panel lit up with warning lights, and his radio dead, Williams followed a fellow pilot back to base, flying without hydraulics and wrestling his stick all the way. Approaching the landing field, an on-board explosion blew off one of the wheel doors and Williams was forced to land his crippled jet at 225 miles-an-hour and on one wheel. When the F-9 finally came to a stop at the end of the runway after skidding over 2,000 feet, Williams walked away from the burning wreck as firemen hosed it down with foam. Fortunate but enraged, he reacted to nearly auguring in as if he had just popped out with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth -- he yanked off his helmet and slammed it to the ground. \"Ted Williams was what John Wayne would have liked us to think he was,\" said sportswriter Robert Lipsyte. \"Williams was so big, and handsome, and laconic, and direct, and unafraid in that uniquely American cowboy way. To me he epitomized the sense of the athlete as gunslinger.\" more stories like this at http://espn.go.com/classic/obit/williams_ted_obit.html"}, {"response": 367, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Jul 21, 2002 (08:30)", "body": "25-year old Gnutella pioneer Gene Kan http://news.com.com/2100-1023-942180.html?tag=cd_mh Lore Noto, 79, Monday after a lengthy battle with cancer. \"The former actor and artists' agent saw the possibilities in a small one-act show written by Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt when it was first produced in 1959 at Barnard College in New York. He commissioned the authors to expand the musical, which eventually opened at the tiny Sullivan Street Playhouse in Greenwich Village on May 3, 1960, to mixed reviews and no advance sale. \" The show? \"The Fantasticks\", the world's longest-running musical, which closed in January of this year. http://www.cnn.com/2002/SHOWBIZ/News/07/09/obit.noto.ap/index.html This is from the Sound Portraits mailing list: Sound Portraits has suffered another devastating loss. June Marie Jones, LeAlan Jones's grandmother and a matriarch of the Jones -- and Sound Portraits -- families, passed away yesterday at the age of 72. She died suddenly of a heart attack in her life-long home on Chicago's South Side, surrounded by family. Nearly a decade ago, June's blesing of her thirteen-year-old grandson's participation in Ghetto Life 101 made that project -- and all of the work that grew out of it -- possible. Believing that the stories of young people growing up in this country's ghettos needed to be heard, she took the courageous step of sharing her family's story with the nation and the world. June was a spectacular woman who lived an astonishingly rich life. In the last six weeks alone, she saw her grandson LeAlan graduate from college, her granddaughter Jeri graduate from high school, and her life celebrated in the movie version of Ghetto Life 101, which premiered in Chicago. June's nurturing spirit, courage, unflappable will, faith in God, and fierce dedication to her family were an inspiration to anyone lucky enough be in her presence. Our condolences and love go out to the entire Jones family: her husband Gus and her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. You can hear June singing \"One Day at a Time\" from the Ghetto Life 101 here: http://stream.realimpact.net/?file=realimpact/soundportraits/soundportraits/june _jones.rm that all has to be one line or the entire program is at http://www.soundportraits.org/on-air/ghetto_life_101/ Yousuf Karsh, portrait photographer. http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/entertainment/arts/newsid_2127000/2127298.stm Ward Kimble, in addition to being one of the true pioneers of character animation, was (with Ollie Johnson) one of the model train buffs at Disney whose passion for the hobby incited Walt to want to design a larger-scale railroad ride--which, in time, became Disneyland. site: www.mudcat.org. \"Barbara Carns died this morning, 7/9/02, at 6:60 AM. She was 76, and still a grand singer of blues, sea songs, labor songs, and just good songs. She lived in Plainfield, VT, with roots in New Bedford and Cape Cod; many will associate her with the Eisteddfod and Tryworks Coffee House in MA. Others remember her appearances at Fox Hollow and Champlain Valley Festivals. All her children were with her at the end: Tom, Robin, Dan, Louisa and George, and at her request, friends in her Vermont community gathered in her hospital room for goodbyes and some singing. She sang too. She had a gentle, classy exit . . .\" Richard (Dick) Korn, 79, Berkeley activist and therapist. Richard Korn was the founder of the Center for the Study of Criminal Justice in Berkeley, which participated in a number of penal system investigations, and was a therapist in New York and in the Bay Area, and was one of the inventor/developers of the therapy technique called \"psychodrama\", involving role-playing. Alan Lomax http://www.rounder.com/rounder/artists/lomax_alan/timeline.htm Lomax obit http://www.cnn.com/2002/SHOWBIZ/Music/07/19/obit.lomax.ap/index.html Rod Steiger"}, {"response": 368, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Aug  6, 2002 (20:15)", "body": "chuck hearn (spelling?)"}, {"response": 369, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Oct  6, 2002 (10:19)", "body": "Bruce Paltrow, director and family man. Survived by his daughter Gwenyth Paltrow and wife, Blythe Danner."}, {"response": 370, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Oct 27, 2002 (10:12)", "body": "Paul Wellstone, Senator from Minnesota, in a small plane crash on the eve of his election. There is talk of Walter Mondale or his son stepping in to the race at the last minute. Shades of Mel Carnahan."}, {"response": 371, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Oct 30, 2002 (12:59)", "body": "Karen Flaherty has passed. KAREN SHARKEY FLAHERTY Nov. 30, 1948 - Feb. 4, 2002 On February 4, 2002 Plenty lost a dear friend, sister, Board member, Treasurer and field worker when Karen Sharkey Flaherty passed away. Karen brought beauty, grace and courage into the Plenty circle. She was passionate with a gentle touch. She turned an unblinking eye on injustice in the world, especially the plight of women and children living in poverty. She lived for helping the victims of circumstances beyond their control, without hesitation, and often without consideration of her own health and well-being. Karen gave herself away. She had no enemies, only friends, by the thousands. Karen was a founding member of the Farm community where Plenty was born. She was a founding member of Plenty and served on the Board of Directors since 1988 and has been our Treasurer since 1989. She cofounded the Bhopal Justice Campaign to help the people of Bhopal, India obtain justice and compensation for their injuries as a result of a massive chemical accident at a Union Carbide plant that killed thousands of people in December 1984. Karen was deeply involved in Plenty\ufffds projects at Pine Ridge and Round Valley Indian Reservations. She was strongly committed to Plenty\ufffds Fair Trade programs and the Indigenous Women\ufffds Economic Development project (IWED), traveling to Beijing to attend the International Women\ufffds Conference in 1995 as a delegate of Plenty to help build awareness of Fair Trade. More recently, Karen was employed as a Project Administrator at the Florida Association of Voluntary Action for Caribbean Action (FAVACA) coordinating women\ufffds development projects in the Caribbean and Central America and participated in joint Plenty/FAVACA projects in Dominica with the Indigenous Carib Peoples. The Mayor of Oakland, California, Jerry Brown, declared Sunday, Feb. 10, 2002 : Karen Flaherty Day See http://www.farmnetnews.com which is the Spring's tribute to Karen, this was going to be the Spring's gift to her while she was living and now it is her memorial."}, {"response": 372, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Jul 28, 2003 (13:13)", "body": "Bob Hope He really loved it when people laughed. He lived for peoples laughter. And he died serenely last night at the ripe old age of 100. Thanks for the memories."}, {"response": 373, "author": "wolf", "date": "Mon, Sep  1, 2003 (12:00)", "body": "Charles Bronson http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=638&ncid=762&e=1&u=/nm/20030901/en_nm/people_bronson_dc"}, {"response": 374, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Sep  3, 2003 (13:15)", "body": "Tough buy movie star. Rough edged."}, {"response": 375, "author": "pmnh", "date": "Thu, Sep 11, 2003 (01:24)", "body": "woody allen said hope was the greatest movie comedian of all time, and i agree... from '39 to '51 or '52, he made some of the funniest films ever made... i think it's kind of a shame that those films aren't seen more, and that his reputation as a comedian is not at least the equal to that of the patriotic persona everyone identifies with him... anyway, i'm a huge fan of his... gonna miss him..."}, {"response": 376, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Sep 14, 2003 (19:58)", "body": "johnny cash, john ritter....."}, {"response": 377, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Nov 12, 2003 (08:09)", "body": "Art Carney, 85. Jackie Gleason's sidekick in the Honeymooners. Oscar Winner. \"Norton\""}, {"response": 378, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Jun 15, 2004 (09:55)", "body": "Ronald Wilson Reagan http://www.msnbc.com/comics/daily.asp?file=bo040614&vts=61420042141 http://www.ucomics.com/boondocks/2004/06/14/"}, {"response": 379, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Oct  8, 2004 (09:16)", "body": "Harbhajan Singh Khalsa Yogiji, known as Yogi Bhajan to hundreds of thousands of adherents worldwide, left his physical body at 9 pm MST on October 6th. His passing took place at his home in Espanola, New Mexico surrounded by family and friends. The cause of death was complications due to heart failure. He was 75 years old. An outstanding pioneer in many fields with a deep and compassionate insight into the human condition, he established permanent institutions, created spectacular events, and produced a prolific body of teachings. Memorial Services Photo Gallery Press Photos Press Release Meditations Discussion Forum Articles - Updated Videos In accordance with Sikh tradition, and his wishes, cremation will take place at Berardinelli's Family Funeral Services at 1:00 PM Saturday October 9th, 1399 Luisa Street Santa Fe, NM 87505. Click Here For more information, memorial services, events and ceremonies in his honor, or call (505) 367.1688. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to: \"Kundalini Research Institute\" for the Library of the Teachings of Yogi Bhajan, P.O. Box 249, Santa Cruz, NM 87567 USA If you would like to leave a message for Yogi Bhajan's family or staff please call 505-367-1661, or send email to ybmemorial@sikhdharma.org. NOTE: The information on this page is constantly being updated. Come back from time to time for the latest information and news. The first to publicly teach Kundalini Yoga, when he arrived in the West in 1968, he announced he had come to the West \"to create teachers, not to gain students\". A deeply devoted Sikh, his inspiration and example motivated thousands to embrace the Sikh way of life. Through his personal efforts, Sikh Dharma was legally incorporated and officially recognized as a religion in the USA in 1971. In 1971, in acknowledgement of his extraordinary impact of spreading the universal message of Sikhism, the president of the SGPC (governing body of Sikh Temples in India), Sant Charan Singh called him the Siri Singh Sahib, Chief Religious and Administrative Authority for the Western Hemisphere, and he was given the responsibility to create a Sikh Ministry in the West by the Akal Takhat, the Sikh seat of religious authority in Amritsar, India. He was honored with the title Bhai Sahib by the Akal Takhat in 1974. from http://www.sikhnet.com/yogibhajan"}, {"response": 380, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Oct 11, 2004 (09:19)", "body": "Superman. Christopher Reeve. Christopher Reeve, who became an international star in 1977's Superman and then proved to be a real-life superhero when a 1995 near-fatal riding accident turned him into a worldwide advocate for spinal cord research, died of heart failure Sunday, his publicist said. He was 52. Reeve fell into a coma Saturday after going into cardiac arrest while at his Bedford, N.Y., home, publicist Wesley Combs told the Associated Press. His family was at h side. More"}, {"response": 381, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Jan 25, 2005 (10:23)", "body": "Johnny Carson. My mom used to watch Jack Paar. Then there was Johnny. For 30 years he told America its bedtime story. 1925-2005. He was smooth and effortless. He made it seem easy. He was 79. He took over from Jack Paar on Oct 1, 1962 when I was a Junior in High School and turned it over to Jay Leno on May 22, 1992 30 years later."}, {"response": 382, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Jan 26, 2005 (06:54)", "body": "From Rick Herdon Thought you might be interested in this... (an article about the death of Kelly Freas) from 01/03/2005: http: //my.aol.com/news/news_story.psp?type=4&cat=0800&id=2005010315030001321120 The text follows quoted: == LOS ANGELES (AP) - Kelly Freas, an influential illustrator who produced sleek, stirring images for science fiction and fantasy books and helped shape the image of Mad Magazine mascot Alfred E. Newman, has died. He was 82. Freas died in his sleep Sunday at his home in Los Angeles, said his wife of 16 years, Laura Brodian Freas, the host of a Los Angeles classical music program. The cause of death was old age, she said. ``He always wanted to be a science fiction illustrator, and the life of a science fiction illustrator led him to so much more,'' she told The Associated Press on Monday. ``Life with a Mad artist was never boring.''"}, {"response": 383, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Feb 11, 2005 (10:56)", "body": "Playwright Arthur Miller Dies at 89 By Associated Press Published February 11, 2005, 9:39 AM CST ROXBURY, Conn. -- Arthur Miller, the Pulitzer prize-winning playwright whose most famous fictional creation, Willy Loman in \"Death of a Salesman,\" came to symbolize the American Dream gone awry, has died, his assistant said Friday. He was 89. Miller died Thursday evening, said his assistant, Julia Bolus. She did not give a cause of death. His plays, with their strong emphasis on family, morality and personal responsibility, spoke to the growing fragmentation of American society. \"A lot of my work goes to the center of where we belong -- if there is any root to life -- because nowadays the family is broken up, and people don't live in the same place for very long,\" Miller said in a 1988 interview. \"Dislocation, maybe, is part of our uneasiness. It implants the feeling that nothing is really permanent.\" Miller's career was marked by early success. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for \"Death of a Salesman\" in 1949, when he was just 33 years old. His marriage to screen star Marilyn Monroe in 1956 further catapulted the playwright to fame, though that was publicity he said he never pursued. In a 1992 interview with a French newspaper, he called her \"highly self-destructive\" and said that during their marriage, \"all my energy and attention were devoted to trying to help her solve her problems. Unfortunately, I didn't have much success.\""}, {"response": 384, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Feb 11, 2005 (10:57)", "body": ""}, {"response": 385, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Feb 11, 2005 (10:58)", "body": "Above pic. Honeymooners Arthur Miller and Marilyn Monroe with Sir Laurence Olivier and his wife, Vivien Leigh in Surrey, England, in July 1956. Mrs. Olivier was expecting a baby that December."}, {"response": 386, "author": "pmnh", "date": "Tue, Feb 22, 2005 (16:02)", "body": "HST: THE END OF THE WAVE, 2/20/05 What useful thing can be said this bleak day, when most of what we believe in seems so out of step with our neighbors, when so many dark fears alluded to in the past only in parody verge on barely challenged reality; when even the irony so beloved among our kind, challenged by the flag and ribbon wavers as being poisonous to the New America, withers from disuse. It is wasting as surely as the commonality that was the undergirding of what we supposed was our connecting faith, revealed nakedly now for what it is, what it has probably always been but for our softness: a marriage of convenience, no longer convenient. The Doctor told us it was only a \"tribal myth\" to them, and we believed him, but we lulled to their purposes anyway, constitutionally unable to conceive of their real ends, now facing the monstrous possibilities proposed by this new century filled with doubt and contempt, not only for the yokels out there bought on the cheap by smirking Empire, but for the ideas we believed so invulnerable, and for the selves so willing to believe them. And now to find we face it without him, too. Hunter Thompson wasn't what he was made to be by his critics, caught up as they were in the weirdness that preoccupied their attentions, a weirdness that wasn't what they perceived it to be, either, but that's to be expected, and even moreso now, gone over as he has to \"the guts of the living\", there to be modified, misunderstood, pigeon-holed and quantified by the foriegn codes of conscience that are the Aaron Browns of this tawdry mess of a planet he left behind. They were and are incapable of understanding what he was, a true-believing romantic of the old order, befitting a man who may have been among the last of his country's real patriots. What else can a genuine believer do, what protection does he have in the face of his enemy, but his dissent from their terms, from their mendacity, from the sham of their society? He fought them with his printed words, with his bombast and absurdism, with his life as object lesson lived for all we poor slobs who could only read about it, could only taste a little o that ignis fatuus that drove his high-flying prose, that elusive hunt for the American Dream; we tilted for it with him, unrelentingly, certain that it waited. Hunter Thompson called out the frauds and the fakers, the fat, sleek hypocrites the dream would protect us from, passed the promise on to those of us who might love it as he did, as Scott Fitzgerald did, as Thomas Wolfe, Jack Kerouac, and Allen Ginsberg did, all the doe-eyed dreamers of the last century and their sentimental, joyful ideas about America- Hunter believed it, and sold it to us by virtue of his jeering, frantic poetry, with all it's secret meanings, ellipses, detours and misdirections, his hysterical humor- always with the hidden, earnest light at it's center, the nearly child-like faith in the trip, the experience, the \"orgiastic future\" expressed in that ultimate justice, that vindication waiting for all of us, collectively, if only we would beat the whore-faced shit-eyed bastards together, once and for all... God, I loved him. I will miss him, as all of us who got it will miss him, our General in search for mythic dreams, our Doctor of hope, laughter, and commiseration; our fellow fallen believer. May the God who made him gather him to the place he dreamed on, where \"the pillars of this earth are founded\". And may the wind truly rise, the river really flow. Blasting caps would probably be nice, too."}, {"response": 387, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Feb 22, 2005 (18:06)", "body": "In the 1970s, Hunter Thompson inspired a legion of young journalists to believe that the best way to cover a story was to get tanked to the gills on drugs and alcohol, present oneself in a state of near-psychotic meltdown at the scene of whatever one was covering, and record the affronted and sometimes violent reactions of the people one encountered. Concepts like \"facts\" and \"objectivity\" were to be regarded as quaint, if not entirely notional. The author became the story. This was \"gonzo journalism.\" What Thompson himself never felt the need to point out \ufffd although other practitioners of what at the time was called the New Journalism, like Tom Wolfe, were quick to note it \ufffd was that his gonzo style rested on a foundation of solid journalistic experience. (Although he hadn't actually graduated from high school, Hunter had studied journalism at Columbia University, and he later worked for such publications as Time and the New York Herald Tribune.) Getting loaded didn't make you a journalist; nor did it make you a talented writer (another key requirement of the style). Getting loaded, in the case of most of his many young admirers, simply made them loaded \ufffd a time-honored way of avoiding the annoying work of actually sitting down to write the story. Hunter had immersed himself in the California biker culture to write a 1967 book called \"Hell's Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs.\" (Still a good read today.) But his later gonzo style only began to emerge in a 1970 article for Scanlan's Monthly called \"The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved.\" Returning to his home town of Louisville to cover the annual horse race, Thompson had been teamed for the first time with Ralph Steadman, an English illustrator with a spattery, apocalyptic style. \"Neither of us had brought any strange illegal drugs,\" Thompson wrote, \"so we would have to get by on booze.\" MTV News correspondent Gideon Yago also weighs in on Hunter S. Thompson and his legacy ... Hunter was subsequently assigned by Sports Illustrated to go to Las Vegas and cover something called the Mint 400 motorcycle race. He took along an associate, Oscar Zeta Acosta, a 250-pound Chicano legal-aid lawyer. They rented a car for the trip, and used Hunter's expense money from the magazine to stock its trunk with, as he later wrote, \"two bags of grass, 75 pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a salt shaker half full of cocaine, and a whole galaxy of multi-colored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers ... and also a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of Budweiser, a pint of raw ether, and two dozen amyls.\" more at http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1497300/20050222/index.jhtml?headlines=true"}, {"response": 388, "author": "cfadm", "date": "Wed, Mar  2, 2005 (15:53)", "body": "Jeff Raskin, inventor of the Mac http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jef_Raskin Raskin was born in New York City. He received degrees in mathematics (B.S. 1964) and philosophy (B.A. 1965) at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He earned a master's degree in computer science at Pennsylvania State University in 1967. His first computer program, a music program, was part of his master's thesis. Raskin later enrolled in a graduate music program at the University of California at San Diego (UCSD), but stopped to teach art, photography and computer science there, working as an assistant professor from 1970 until 1974. Raskin joined Apple in January 1978 as the company's 31st employee. For some time he was director of Publications and New Product Review, but also worked on packaging and other issues. Through this time he continually wrote memos about a much simpler-to-use computer, and suggested Apple start such a project. He later hired his former student Bill Atkinson from UCSD to work at Apple, and began the Macintosh project in 1979. The machine he envisioned was much different than the Macintosh that was eventually released, and had much more in common with PDA's than modern GUI-based machines. The machine was similar in power to the Apple II and included a small 9-inch black-and-white character display built into a small case with a floppy disk. A number of basic applications were built into the machine, selectable by pressing function keys. The machine also included logic that would understand user intentions and switch programs on the fly. For instance, if the user simply started typing it would switch into editor mode, and if they typed numbers it would switch to calculator mode. In many cases these switches would be largely invisible to the user. In 1981 Steve Jobs, who had supported the Macintosh project but was more deeply involved in shaping the direction for the Apple Lisa, was asked to stop interfering in the Lisa project. He directed his attention to Raskin's Macintosh project, intending to marry the Xerox PARC-inspired GUI-based Lisa design to Raskin's appliance computing, \"computers-by-the-millions\" concept. Raskin takes credit for introducing Jobs and other Apple employees to the PARC concepts, but it appears this is not really the case. Raskin also claims to have had continued direct input into the eventual Mac design, including the decision to use a one-button mouse as part of the Apple interface, a departure from the Xerox PARC standard of a three-button mouse. Larry Tesler, among others kurac, debates this claim. Raskin later stated that were he to redesign the interface he would use a two button mouse. Raskin left Apple in 1982 and formed Information Appliance, through which he implemented his original concepts for the Macintosh. The first product was a firmware card for the Apple II, called the SWYFT card, which was a keyboard-driven integrated application suite. Information Appliance later shipped the Swyft as a stand-alone laptop computer. Raskin licensed this design to Canon, who shipped a similar product as the Canon Cat. Released in 1987, the unit had an innovative interface which attracted much interest but it did not become a commercial success. Raskin claimed that its failure was due in some part to Steve Jobs, who successfully pitched Canon on the NeXT Computer at about the same time. Raskin also authored a text, The Humane Interface, in which he developed his ideas about human-computer interfaces. At the beginning of the new millennium, Raskin undertook the building of The Humane Environment (THE). THE is a system incarnating his concepts of the humane interface, by using open source elements within his rendition of a ZUI or Zooming User Interface. While best-known as a computer scientist, Raskin also had other interests. He conducted the San Francisco Chamber Opera Society and played three instruments. His artwork was displayed at New York's Museum of Modern Art. He received a patent for airplane wing construction. He was said to be an accomplished archer, target shooter and an occasional race car driver. Jef Raskin was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in December 2004 and died in Pacifica, California on February 26, 2005, at age 61."}, {"response": 389, "author": "cfadm", "date": "Wed, Mar  2, 2005 (15:56)", "body": "Jeff Raskin"}, {"response": 390, "author": "cfadm", "date": "Sat, Mar  5, 2005 (14:05)", "body": "http://www.obitcentral.com/ A central clearing house for obituaries on the web."}, {"response": 391, "author": "cfadm", "date": "Sun, Mar  6, 2005 (10:58)", "body": "March 03, 2005 Samuel Alderson Samuel W. Alderson was no dummy. But he designed one that saved countless lives. Born in Cleveland and raised in Southern California, Alderson graduated from high school at 15 and attended four colleges: Reed College, the California Institute of Technology, the University of California Berkeley, and Columbia University. His education was interrupted several times during the Depression when he would return home to help out in his father's sheet metal shop. During World War II, Alderson improved missile guidance systems for the U.S. military and developed a special coating that helped enhance vision on submarine periscopes. He then formed Alderson Research Labs, a company that designed an anthropomorphic test device later known as the crash test dummy. Weighing approximately the same as humans, these mechanical surrogates were used by the military and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to test ejection seats, parachutes and exposure to radiation. The first crash test dummies for the automobile industry were cadavers. Since the bodies deteriorated quickly during repeat trials and had no uniformity in size or shape, automakers began seeking a new way to test its safety features. Alderson built the first automobile test dummy in 1960, but few took notice until five years later when former presidential candidate and consumer advocate Ralph Nader published the book, \"Unsafe at Any Speed: The Designed-In Dangers of the American Automobile.\" In 1966, the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act passed, which authorized the government to set and regulate safety standards for motor vehicles and highways. Alderson's dummy, which was built specifically for automotive testing, resembled an average-sized adult man. It had a nearly featureless face, a steel rib cage, articulated joints and a flexible neck and lumbar spine. Instruments designed to collect data during crashes were implanted inside the dummy's head, chest and thighs. In 1973, Alderson formed Humanoid Systems, another company that designed and produced test dummies. Humanoid Systems and Alderson Research Labs competed against each other until 1990, when they merged to form First Technology Safety Systems. Today, Alderson's original dummy has been improved and expanded into a high-tech family that includes women, children and infants. Alderson died on Feb. 11 from complications of myelofibrosis and pneumonia. He was 90. from http://www.blogofdeath.com/"}, {"response": 392, "author": "cfadm", "date": "Mon, Mar  7, 2005 (10:15)", "body": "Hunter S. Thompson Hunter Stockton Thompson, the renegade writer who stretched the boundaries of journalism, committed suicide on Feb. 20 at the age of 67. He died at his fortified compound in Woody Creek, Colo., of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. Born in Louisville, Ky., Thompson finished high school, but missed the graduation ceremony because he was in jail serving a 60-day sentence for robbery. When he got out, Thompson enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and discovered a passion for journalism. He edited the sports section at an Air Force newspaper in Florida, then worked as a correspondent for the New York Herald Tribune and the National Observer. In the 1970s, Thompson helped pioneer the \"New Journalism\" movement. Utilizing first person narrative, he discussed current events and politics in a more novelistic and opinionated manner. While writing for Rolling Stone magazine, the gonzo journalist once covered a district attorneys' anti-drug conference after taking copious amounts of psychedelic drugs. The unapologetic and self-destructive writer never graduated from college, yet he bestowed on himself the title of \"the good doctor.\" His original voice filled nearly a dozen books, including \"Hell's Angels,\" \"Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72\" and \"Kingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star-Crossed Child in the Final Days of the American Century.\" Thompson was best known for \"Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream,\" the 1972 book that turned him into a counterculture icon. His latest book, \"Hey Rube: Blood Sport, the Bush Doctrine, and the Downward Spiral of Dumbness,\" was published in 2004. Thompson's influence reached from bookstores to newsstands to Hollywood. Cartoonist Garry Trudeau modeled the balding, pot-smoking character of Uncle Duke in the \"Doonesbury\" comic strip after Thompson, a move that angered the journalist. At one point, Thompson vowed to set Trudeau on fire, if they ever met. Bill Murray portrayed him in the 1980 film \"Where the Buffalo Roam,\" and Johnny Depp did so in the 1998 film \"Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.\" A film adaptation of \"The Rum Diary,\" Thompson's only published work of intentional fiction, is currently in production. Thompson became more reclusive in recent years, spending most of his time shooting firearms in his backyard. In 2000, he accidentally shot his assistant, Deborah Fuller, while chasing a bear off his property. Thompson also wrote the popular column, Hey Rube, for ESPN.com. In his most recent column (\"Fore!\"), he called Murray to discuss a new extreme sport: shooting golf balls like skeet. \ufffd Listen to a Tribute From NPR at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4507067 \ufffd Complete Coverage From The New York Times at http://nytimes.com/indexes/2005/02/21/books/authors/index.html"}, {"response": 393, "author": "wolf", "date": "Sun, Apr  3, 2005 (14:49)", "body": "Pope John Paul II, April 2."}, {"response": 394, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Apr  4, 2005 (07:19)", "body": "Yes, I was just going to say. He was a good Pope. And he went quickly without tying up everyone's energy for years like that other news story that he pushed off the front pages."}, {"response": 395, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Aug  8, 2005 (12:14)", "body": "Peter Jennings, ABC News Anchor. He died of lung cancer, maybe this will turn some folks off to smoking."}, {"response": 396, "author": "wolf", "date": "Thu, Aug 18, 2005 (19:55)", "body": "oh, that just broke my heart. now i have trouble watching world news tonight, seriously. he was the reason why i chose that news show over the others."}, {"response": 397, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Sep  4, 2005 (00:06)", "body": "CJ William Rehnquist, according to CNN."}, {"response": 398, "author": "wolf", "date": "Tue, Sep  6, 2005 (20:50)", "body": "you know he was at work the day before (i think it was the day before)? the dedication. gonna take a lot to fill those shoes."}, {"response": 399, "author": "cfadm", "date": "Fri, Mar 31, 2006 (20:29)", "body": "Bernard Epp. My wife's father died this afternoon. He was over 90 years old. In Abottsford, British Columbia, Canada."}, {"response": 400, "author": "pmnh", "date": "Sun, Jun 11, 2006 (15:40)", "body": "as a god self-slain on it's own strange altar: death lies dead (swinburne) (or very nearly, it appears)"}, {"response": 401, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Jun 12, 2006 (15:50)", "body": "'JAXON' KNOWN AS FIRST UNDERGROUND CARTOONIST By M.B. Taboada AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF Saturday, June 10, 2006 Austin artist Jack \"Jaxon\" Jackson, generally credited as the first underground cartoonist, died Thursday. He was 65. Jackson's body was found Thursday night outside the Pleasant Valley Cemetery in Stockdale, where his parents were buried. His death is being investigated as a suicide, according to the Wilson County sheriff's office. [] \ufffd Jack Jackson 1941-2006 Jackson's first underground comic, \"God Nose,\" appeared in 1964. He co-founded Rip Off Press, one of the first independent publishers of underground comics in San Francisco in 1969. Jackson was well known as a historian cartoonist who created graphic novels of Texas history, including \"Comanche Moon,\" \"Los Tejanos\" and \"El Alamo.\" He was the art director of Family Dog, which promoted concerts in San Francisco. Jackson received multiple awards for his work, including a lifetime fellowship of the Texas State Historical Association. \"He was someone very accomplished who had come before me and treated me like a peer and made me feel like I was a part of the club,\" said Sam Hurt, a 48-year-old Austin cartoonist whose work became prominent in Austin in 1980. \"Like a lot of cartoonists, there was something about (his) presence that resonated in his cartoons.\" Hurt described Jackson's work as having an \"amazing level of detail.\" A mentor to other cartoonists, Jackson was the first artist featured at the South Austin Museum of Popular Culture when it opened to the public in 2004. The museum will create a memorial for him, said Leea Mechling, executive director. \"He has left us with visions of imagined worlds and of the steps made on it by others,\" wrote Emma Little, a close friend of Jackson's, in an e-mail sent Friday to his friends and colleagues. \"He enriched our imaginations and our hearts.\" Jackson is survived by his wife Tina, and son Sam. A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. June 17 at Hyde Park Christian Church, 610 E. 45th St. http://www.statesman.com/search/content/news/stories/local/06/10jackson.html =="}, {"response": 402, "author": "historian", "date": "Mon, Jan 15, 2007 (19:13)", "body": "Alice Coltrane, Jazz Artist and Spiritual Leader, Dies at 69 By BEN RATLIFF Alice Coltrane, widow of the jazz saxophonist John Coltrane and the pianist in his later bands, extended her musical searches into a vocation as a spiritual leader. Dora E. McDonald, Secretary to Martin Luther King in \ufffd60s, Dies at 81 By SHAILA DEWAN Dora E. McDonald served as secretary and confidante to Dr. King in the most turbulent years of the civil rights movement. Larry Stewart, a Businessman Known for a Santa-Size Generosity, Dies at 58 By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Larry Stewart became known as Secret Santa for roaming the streets each December and anonymously handing money to people. news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 90, "subject": "Sports Business", "response_count": 0, "posts": []}, {"num": 91, "subject": "War Criminals and warcriminals.com", "response_count": 1, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "warcriminals", "date": "Thu, Sep 11, 2003 (01:42)", "body": "The site is rolling now. We need comments. That involves you. Questions? Comments? Observations? Praise? Blame? news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 92, "subject": "Nightline with Ted Koppel", "response_count": 4, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Oct 14, 1997 (15:04)", "body": "Last night I tuned in to see if they were doing something on John Denver. They didn't but I wasn't let down. They did an incredible Robert Krolich special on the effect of big money on nerds like me in Silicon valley, I watched the first 10 minutes and got the rest on tape. So I'll have a lot more to say later. It was awesome."}, {"response": 2, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Sat, Aug 14, 1999 (16:25)", "body": "Well, Terry, I think it is later..."}, {"response": 3, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sat, Aug 14, 1999 (16:32)", "body": "I was in Denver last year and they don't even mention him or play his music in the entire state that I am aware of, as we hunted for a station carrying his music. None to be found. Barry posted a long commentary on something on Nightline...perhaps he will add his comments here, too."}, {"response": 4, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Dec 18, 2003 (17:46)", "body": "From the Dean Blog: [quote]TONIGHT'S FOCUS: It's the question that has been hanging over this country since those awful moments on September 11th. Could it have been prevented? Now the co-chairman of the commission investigating the attacks says \"Yes.\" It's somehow easier to accept a tragedy if there was just no way to avoid it. If you start saying things like \"if only he had left two minutes earlier\" or \"if only she had missed the plane,\" you'll go crazy in the end. It's easier to accept something as an \"act of God,\" something that we had no control over. Because to think that somehow, by acting or not acting, a tragedy could have been averted, lives spared, is something that is almost impossible to live with. That is true especially of 9/11. There have been countless stories about people who survived because they left late for work, and people who perished because they got there early, or something like that. But could the attacks have been stopped before they started? That's the real question. A commission was formed to investigate. Were there structural problems in the government that prevented the sharing of information? Yes. Did agencies miss crucial information? Of course. But it's hard not to ask, in spite of all of the problems, was it really possible to have stopped the attacks? The chair of that commission, former New Jersey governor Thomas Kean, says that the attacks were preventable, and that there are those who bear responsibility for not stopping them, some of them still in positions of authority. Gov. Kean will be Chris Bury's sole guest tonight, and we'll talk about all of those issues. If there is responsibility, if people did make mistakes, it's hard to imagine how anyone could live with that. Every image of those buildings in flames would be a reproach. We rarely do a broadcast that consists of just a conversation between the anchor and a guest. That is what we're going to do tonight. I hope you'll join us. Leroy Sievers and the Nightline Staff ABCNEWS Washington bureau news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 93, "subject": "Kindy Friedman for Governor of Texas", "response_count": 4, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "WERoland", "date": "Thu, Sep  1, 2005 (19:05)", "body": "http://www.kinkyfriedman.com/"}, {"response": 2, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Sep  1, 2005 (23:39)", "body": "Kinky is on the Bill Maher show. I saw him down at BookPeople when Clinton came to town."}, {"response": 3, "author": "WERoland", "date": "Sun, Apr  9, 2006 (15:38)", "body": "Greetings Kinky Volunteers! Spring is upon us in Austin and there are plenty of large events that are prime for collecting petition signatures. We have found gatherings of this sort to be the most lucrative in our quest to get Kinky on the ballot. If you are interested in collecting signatures, please consider one of these opportunities. Here is a quick list of what is happening in our area this month. Saturday/Sunday, April 15-16 Bob Marley Festival at Auditorium Shores (Also, Market Days in Gruene draws 50,000 or more) Thursday, April 20 Old Settler's Festival in Driftwood begins and runs through the 23rd. Kinky will make an appearance Thurs. night and we will have tables all weekend. There are also plenty of other Events outside of Austin. Fiesta San Antonio and Houston International Week both run the last week or two of April. Weekends in Austin: although there are many festivals to attend to collect signatures, the parks and lakes are going to be crowded with folks spending time outdoors. These are great places to use as backup. If you would like to help out with Official Kinky Signing Stations, please feel free to contact our county coordinators to see when and where they need your help. You can find their contact info at: http://www.kinkyfriedman.com/klocal/Travis_County/ A hearty thanks to everyone and we wish all of you the best of luck!! Team Kinky"}, {"response": 4, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Apr  9, 2006 (22:10)", "body": "Those are some great events. news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 94, "subject": "John Kerry 2004", "response_count": 4, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Nov 20, 2004 (02:02)", "body": "Kerry blames bin Laden for defeat From combined dispatches Sen. John Kerry believes the videotape of Osama bin Laden that appeared days before the Nov. 2 election cost him the presidency, Fox News reported yesterday. The Massachusetts Democrat told Fox News the tape first aired by Arab television network Al Jazeera may have scared the American electorate. Mr. Kerry said the tape was released too late for his camp to rebut and the Democratic campaign couldn't counteract it in time for the election. Fox's Geraldo Rivera spoke with Mr. Kerry on Thursday as the senator and a slew of other notables \ufffd including wife Teresa Heinz Kerry, actors Robin Williams and Morgan Freeman, and comedian Chris Tucker \ufffd were in a holding room prior to the processional leading up to the formal opening of the William J. Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock. from http://washingtontimes.com/national/20041119-110514-1240r.htm"}, {"response": 2, "author": "pmnh", "date": "Mon, Jan 31, 2005 (14:59)", "body": "beginning to wonder if it really matters, why he lost... enough that he did... part of me thinks that all the elements which made america great in the past have reached a kind of critical mass, the result being the death of it's greatness, the preeminence of stupidity as it's defining virtue (virtuous because it is intentional, a willful choice intended to be defining)... i used to laugh at those who said that america wasn't a force for good in the world... needless to say, i don't laugh anymore, and don't know that i even think of myself as american anymore... i feel no kinship with that majority outside the city limits of austin... no bond between us, no shared ideas, no common history or anything else... seems every time i get cut off on the freeway, everytime someone does something uncivil and/or dangerous that puts others at risk because of their selfishness, it is inevitably a truck or an suv, with one of those idiotic ribbons on back... maybe what i feel then is an inkling to how the rest of the world feels towards us... (if it is, god help us)..."}, {"response": 3, "author": "pmnh", "date": "Mon, Jan 31, 2005 (15:39)", "body": "(speaking of stupidity as defining national characteristic) First Amendment No Big Deal, Students Say 1 hour, 5 minutes ago U.S. National - AP By BEN FELLER, AP Education Writer WASHINGTON - The way many high school students see it, government censorship of newspapers may not be a bad thing, and flag burning is hardly protected free speech. AP Photo It turns out the First Amendment is a second-rate issue to many of those nearing their own adult independence, according to a study of high school attitudes released Monday. The original amendment to the Constitution is the cornerstone of the way of life in the United States, promising citizens the freedoms of religion, speech, press and assembly. Yet, when told of the exact text of the First Amendment, more than one in three high school students said it goes \"too far\" in the rights it guarantees. Only half of the students said newspapers should be allowed to publish freely without government approval of stories. \"These results are not only disturbing; they are dangerous,\" said Hodding Carter III, president of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, which sponsored the $1 million study. \"Ignorance about the basics of this free society is a danger to our nation's future.\" The students are even more restrictive in their views than their elders, the study says. When asked whether people should be allowed to express unpopular views, 97 percent of teachers and 99 percent of school principals said yes. Only 83 percent of students did. The results reflected indifference, with almost three in four students saying they took the First Amendment for granted or didn't know how they felt about it. It was also clear that many students do not understand what is protected by the bedrock of the Bill of Rights. Three in four students said flag burning is illegal. It's not. About half the students said the government can restrict any indecent material on the Internet. It can't. \"Schools don't do enough to teach the First Amendment. Students often don't know the rights it protects,\" Linda Puntney, executive director of the Journalism Education Association, said in the report. \"This all comes at a time when there is decreasing passion for much of anything. And, you have to be passionate about the First Amendment.\" The partners in the project, including organizations of newspaper editors and radio and television news directors, share a clear advocacy for First Amendment issues. Federal and state officials, meanwhile, have bemoaned a lack of knowledge of U.S. civics and history among young people. Sen. Robert Byrd (news, bio, voting record), D-W.Va., has even pushed through a mandate that schools must teach about the Constitution on Sept. 17, the date it was signed in 1787. The survey, conducted by researchers at the University of Connecticut, is billed as the largest of its kind. More than 100,000 students, nearly 8,000 teachers and more than 500 administrators at 544 public and private high schools took part in early 2004."}, {"response": 4, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Feb  1, 2005 (08:30)", "body": "Nick, sometimes it does get scary outside the Austin City Limits, I hope this trend in thinking amoung high schoolers doesn't keep up. High school students seem too willing and lay down and get their freedoms trampled. news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 95, "subject": "Bush 2004 and bush2004.com", "response_count": 0, "posts": []}, {"num": 96, "subject": "Presidential Debates", "response_count": 10, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Oct  1, 2004 (08:32)", "body": "Tuesday at 7, the Vice Presidential Debate. On all the major networks. Cheney and Edwards square off."}, {"response": 2, "author": "bayouvetty", "date": "Fri, Oct  1, 2004 (09:09)", "body": "I agree that Bush didn't really lose any of his base last night. I was very interested in seeing Kerry's demeanor for myself. I thought that he seemed very presidential. He did a good job of explaining away the whole \"flip flopping\" issue IMO. It is plain that Kerry is a much better debator than Bush. I think that quality is important in a president. It will be a vital part of bringing the other world powers into a dialogue about stabilizing the volatilty in Iraq. (Terry)Bush's soundbytes which he repeated over and over. No kidding!!! Finally, at about 9:45 on his 3rd or 4th 30 sec Re-rebutal that he wasted with \"wrong, war, wrong place, wrong time\" I started yelling at the TV. I suppose that if you're someone like him, who can't think on their feet, your best defense would be to repeat that crap ad nauseum. That way he avoids more new topics that could trip him up"}, {"response": 3, "author": "gomezdo", "date": "Fri, Oct  1, 2004 (09:22)", "body": "As the night wore on, Bush was obviously running out of gas.....stumbling over the same 4 sentences he says repeatedly everywhere, having to obviously and not very confidently refer to his notes more often at the beginning of his answers/rebuttals, leaning all over that podium more and more. And occasionally he looked frustrated in the split screens when Kerry was talking. Glad the networks didn't follow that crap in that contract made up by both sides of not showing the other candidate while one is speaking. Maybe the media is finally finding a few cojones when it comes to this President. Maybe too little, too late, though. Anticipating the Edwards/Cheney debate. *What* a contrast in styles!"}, {"response": 4, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Oct  1, 2004 (12:04)", "body": "Bush may have been playing to the short attention span crowd. Someone who isn't paying attention and just walks by the tv would probably hear Bush saying this catchphrase, or one of the other ones (\"he can't make up his mind\" etc.). The man Bush was criticizing just wasn't the man on the other podium. Bush got thrown off his game. He was hunched over, looked fidgety, you were wondering if he was thinking \"please go on red light, do I have to say more\". Bush does better in front of partisan crowds where he's getting a lot of positive feedback. The next debate with the town hall meeting format should favor hime more with undecided voters asking questions. It was a good \"debate\" last night in spite of the 32 pages of silly rules. The rules actually helped Kerry. Lehrer's questions seemed right on and appropos. Lehrer did an excellent job. Though Kerry \"won\" the \"debate\" there wasn't much movement in the polls. Both went up by 1% in the poll I saw. But even the Republicans were agreeing Kerry pulled this off. If nothing else, he kept his chances alive."}, {"response": 5, "author": "zx6rider", "date": "Tue, Nov  2, 2004 (10:33)", "body": "OK... pre-warning: this post isn't about the debates. It's about the election. All this talk of different voting methods around the country. Why isn't is standardized. What does it take to get one technology, be it punch card, touch screen or in the case of my voting place fill in the dot a la SAT tests? Is the technology used a state legislated item? Shouldn't the election process be domestically uniform? This would be worth an ammendment don't you think? Or not? On the yes side, with uniformity, troubleshooting issues would be made much easier. Immediate archiving could happen (if computerized), the archive on a separate secure server. At the end the files could be compared for validity. To simple... Am I so technologically impaired that I've missed a glaring problem? Or is it all \"politics\"? *Terry, if you can create a topic in politics named simply \"U.S. Election Process\" and move this there, it would be cool. I hate to hijack topics."}, {"response": 6, "author": "pmnh", "date": "Tue, Nov  2, 2004 (10:43)", "body": "Shouldn't the election process be domestically uniform? i agree completely... whatever it takes, there needs to be debate, some kind of consensus... and a national election system that every voter can not only understand, but have confidence in... let the local yokels continue to control state, local elections... but the idea that the federal election process of the united states is at the mercy of partisan hacks (and worse) is unacceptable..."}, {"response": 7, "author": "zx6rider", "date": "Tue, Nov  2, 2004 (10:48)", "body": "I think ALL elections should be using the same method. Otherwise it's like when you go shopping(simplistic example, I know); Every store has a different payment device... it's confusing from store to store, state to state. If all elections were subject to the same voting method, I think it would help eliminate some of the \"local yokel\" shinnanigans."}, {"response": 8, "author": "pmnh", "date": "Tue, Nov  2, 2004 (11:02)", "body": "I think ALL elections should be using the same method. i agree, but i'm not sure that's doable... all politics really is local, to a certain degree... it'd be difficult enough to pry federal election authority from the entrenched interests (especially with all the states-rights pablum that is so en vogue with the pinheads on the right)..."}, {"response": 9, "author": "zx6rider", "date": "Tue, Nov  2, 2004 (14:20)", "body": "I understand... and agree to the difficulty involved. But idealist that I am, creating a secure universal means of voting in ANY election seems to me to be the only way to eliminate all the B.S. -- from both sides of the aisle. Yes, I'm a Dem. Yes, I was born in TX. Yes I now live in MA. I am also over 45, white, female, gay (read \"single\" by the I.R.S.), and more inclined to vote \"how does this effect me\" over \"partisan\". How's that for demographics?"}, {"response": 10, "author": "zx6rider", "date": "Tue, Nov  2, 2004 (15:31)", "body": "an addendum: I realize that my particular demographic profile is one of the most ignored in the political process. I also realize it is due to the historical political apathy of single white females (both Dem & Rep). It is my hope that this election begins a turn of the tide. news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 97, "subject": "North Korea and South Korea", "response_count": 2, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Tue, Dec  7, 2004 (16:48)", "body": "His defection to N. Korea 'big mistake' By DAVE GOLDINER Army deserter Charles Jenkins now admits what should have been obvious all along - defecting to Communist North Korea was a real dumb move. After nearly 40 years in the secretive dictatorship, Jenkins said the last straw came when the North Koreans brainwashed his daughters into being spies. \"I made a big mistake of my life,\" Jenkins, 63, told Time for this week's issue. \"But getting my daughters out of there, that was one right thing I did.\" Jenkins managed to leave North Korea this year after the Japanese government won the release of his Japanese-born wife. He admitted deserting and recently finished a short sentence in U.S. military custody. Jenkins, a sergeant, said he walked across the demilitarized zone in 1965 because of nagging insecurities and fears he would let his soldiers down. He landed in a bizarre and secretive Stalinist world, where beatings were common and dissent was forbidden. \"In North Korea, you learn real quick to say no when you mean yes, and yes when you mean no,\" Jenkins said. The seventh-grade dropout from rural North Carolina was ordered to teach English at a college, but ran into trouble when someone noticed a U.S. Army tattoo on his arm one summer. Soon, it was brutally ripped off his flesh with a knife and scissors - and no anesthesia. \"The doctor told me that they save anesthetic for the battlefield,\" he recalled. Jenkins eventually was \"introduced\" to his future wife - a woman who had been kidnapped from a Japanese island. They had two girls - now 19 and 21 - and he later figured out that the North Koreans wanted them to produce Western-looking kids to make into spies. \"They wanted us to have children,\" he concluded, \"so they could use them later.\" Source: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/wn_report/story/259275p-222082c.html"}, {"response": 2, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Feb 14, 2005 (07:30)", "body": "U.S. Is Shaping Plan to Pressure North Koreans By DAVID E. SANGER WASHINGTON, Feb. 13 - In the months before North Korea announced that it possessed nuclear weapons, the Bush administration began developing new strategies to choke off its few remaining sources of income, based on techniques in use against Al Qaeda, intelligence officials and policy makers involved in the planning say. The initial steps are contained in a classified \"tool kit\" of techniques to pressure North Korea that has been refined in recent weeks by the National Security Council. The new strategies would intensify and coordinate efforts to track and freeze financial transactions that officials say enable the government of Kim Jong Il to profit from counterfeiting, drug trafficking and the sale of missile and other weapons technology. Some officials describe the steps as building blocks for what could turn into a broader quarantine if American allies in Asia - particularly China and South Korea - can be convinced that Mr. Kim's declaration on nuclear weapons last week means he must finally be forced to choose between disarmament and even deeper isolation. China and South Korea have been reluctant to impose penalties on the North. To some degree the effort arises from Washington's lack of leverage over North Korea, and the absence of good military options, and it is far from clear that the administration's development of what one official calls \"new instruments of pressure\" will work. More than four decades of economic embargos of Cuba, tried by nine presidents, have failed, largely because European, Canadian and Latin American allies have not joined in. Nor have they succeeded against the Burmese, also a major source of drugs. The Secret Service has tried for years to halt North Korean counterfeiting dollars, and Australia and Japan have tried to end its sales of amphetamines and heroin. In interviews over the past three weeks, administration officials have denied that the renewed effort is part of an unstated initiative to topple Mr. Kim. But several officials say North Korea has stepped up its illicit trafficking and counterfeiting in part to make up for lost missile sales and a crackdown on cash transfers from North Koreans living in Japan, some of which are illegal. \"We think they are desperate to put more money into the nuclear program and we're trying to cut that off,\" said one senior official. More: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/14/politics/14korea.html news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 98, "subject": "Bush Second Term", "response_count": 3, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Jan 27, 2005 (03:36)", "body": "On the bloodiest day yet for US troops in Iraq, President George W. Bush declared yesterday that the upcoming Iraqi election is already a success and a \"grand moment for those who believe in freedom."}, {"response": 2, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Jan 27, 2005 (08:24)", "body": "Declaring it a success before it happens may be a bit premature. Civil war is still eminent."}, {"response": 3, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Jan 27, 2005 (09:01)", "body": "George W. Bush\ufffds re\ufffdlection was not his only victory last fall. The President and his national-security advisers have consolidated control over the military and intelligence communities\ufffd strategic analyses and covert operations to a degree unmatched since the rise of the post-Second World War national-security state. Bush has an aggressive and ambitious agenda for using that control\ufffdagainst the mullahs in Iran and against targets in the ongoing war on terrorism\ufffdduring his second term. The C.I.A. will continue to be downgraded, and the agency will increasingly serve, as one government consultant with close ties to the Pentagon put it, as \ufffdfacilitators\ufffd of policy emanating from President Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney. This process is well under way. Despite the deteriorating security situation in Iraq, the Bush Administration has not reconsidered its basic long-range policy goal in the Middle East: the establishment of democracy throughout the region. Bush\ufffds re\ufffdlection is regarded within the Administration as evidence of America\ufffds support for his decision to go to war. It has reaffirmed the position of the neoconservatives in the Pentagon\ufffds civilian leadership who advocated the invasion, including Paul Wolfowitz, the Deputy Secretary of Defense, and Douglas Feith, the Under-secretary for Policy. According to a former high-level intelligence official, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld met with the Joint Chiefs of Staff shortly after the election and told them, in essence, that the naysayers had been heard and the American people did not accept their message. Rumsfeld added that America was committed to staying in Iraq and that there would be no second-guessing. from The New Yorker's Seymour Hirsh http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/?050124fa_fact Hmmm, can an Iranian campaign be that far down the road. In: black reconnaissance Out: CIA covert ops news conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 99, "subject": "Iran", "response_count": 1, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Mar  6, 2005 (14:08)", "body": "Back off or suffer oil shock: Tehran AFP, Reuters March 07, 2005 OIL-rich Iran has raised the stakes in the standoff over its nuclear program, warning that any attempt to impose sanctions on its activities would lead to an energy crisis in the US and Europe. Referring the Islamist state to the UN Security Council, as the US had urged, would be \"playing with fire\", Iran's top nuclear official said yesterday. \"The first to suffer will be Europe and the US themselves,\" Hassan Rowhani said at a Tehran conference on nuclear technology and sustainable development. \"(It) would cause problems for the regional energy market, for the European economy and even more so for the US.\" more@ http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,12461201%255E2703,00.html news conference Main Menu"}]}]}